Dartington Hall 2 Antiques Roadshow


Dartington Hall 2

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Early morning in Devon.

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Another gentle start to the day, except in one corner of the county.

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Still two hours to go till the start of another Roadshow

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and already the queue is forming

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for our second visit to Dartington Hall.

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It looks as though the experts are in for a very busy day.

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A typical Roadshow means each and every expert will comb through

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thousands of items searching for treasures.

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For the team, a hearty breakfast is essential.

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Can you open that for me?

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EXPERTS CHAT

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Thank you.

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Oh! That's interesting.

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-Dishwasher proof, I'm afraid.

-Oh, well.

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-Very nice...

->

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-Good, what have you got, sir?

->

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Have you ever seen one with a fluted handle and the finger grips?

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Finger grips... it may be a musical instrument, you know. You never know.

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Meanwhile, last minute checks are being made to our cameras,

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getting ready to roll on the action.

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The doors are open. Have a good day!

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-That's for the dolls.

-Thank you.

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-He's always been chubby and happy.

-I bet...

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-and he's a money box.

-It's a money box, yes.

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My wife wanted a money box, she had a little one,

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you know, this size, but she wanted a bigger one.

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I don't think she dreamed of anything like this.

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I bet he held a lot of money.

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Well, at one point we had enough money in him, that we went to America for a holiday.

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-Good heavens.

-Yes, yes. He's a wonderful size, isn't he?

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He is, isn't he?

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He should be marked underneath the bottom, yes, there we are, it says, "Plichta, London, England."

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But not made in London, made locally here in Bovey Tracey.

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-Yes.

-Which is extraordinary.

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London was where Plichta had his sale room, his show room,

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he dealt in these, but made by Nekola, after he left Wemyss - up in Scotland,

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he came down to Bovey Tracey in the 1930s to make these wonderful porkers

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for, I suppose, the local market.

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-You bought this locally?

-Yes, in Torquay.

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Because it's very unusual to have a Bovey Tracey money box.

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They're usually just happy pigs,

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but this one is terribly rare in being a money box.

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Yes, and it's been so useful.

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Yes, I always think it's silly

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to have roses painted on the sides of a pig,

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but it just makes him happy and jolly, doesn't it?

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Yeah, I paid seven pound ten shillings for him... that was in 1950, yes.

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-A lot of money then...

-Quite a lot of money...

-..two weeks' wages.

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Two weeks' wages, three weeks with me, but he's gone up a bit in value.

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Nowadays, his price is going to be about...

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about £1200 - £1500...

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-1750, something like that... 1500 - £1750.

-You're kidding!

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Yes, so you've got to start collecting.

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I don't think I need to collect, I mean I've got him.

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< This is a very beautiful vase.

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Is it something that you've owned for a long time?

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It's been in the family a long time, it's been in since about 1930.

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My grandfather bought it at a house sale back in...

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-up in Staffordshire, I believe.

-In Staffordshire?

-Yes.

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When he died, it was passed... well we've got two...

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it was passed to my mother and my aunt.

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Do you know what it is, where it was made?

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Not really, er, all we know - it's oriental, Japanese.

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-It is Japanese, but it's Japanese made for the European market.

-Right.

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So you've got a Japanese blue and white vase

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that has been over-decorated, and the term for that is called clobbering.

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-Clobbering?

-Clobbering...and so this is lacquer, done in Japan,

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but to meet European taste.

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And in the 1850s, when Japan opened to the West, there was a mania for all things Japanese,

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and this vase absolutely falls squarely into that sort of taste.

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-Right.

-The amount of decoration, if we just turn it round.

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The lacquer is almost more beautiful than the porcelain...

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The porcelain is standard, that wouldn't have appealed to Japanese taste,

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but this would have gone very well into aesthetic interiors in the 1870s and '80s in England.

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Oh, right.

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What's also nice is that it's standing on its original base.

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The proportion of the base to the vase

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makes me feel that the base was made in England when the vase came over.

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-Yes.

-I just want to, if I may... Can I take this off?

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-Yes, yes, feel free.

-Let me just put this down.

-Yeah.

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And let's just have a look at the...

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put that down as well... have a look under the base.

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-The top does come off.

-OK, we'll be very careful.

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This is ebonised with a yew wood panel here

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and Adamesque decoration.

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I want to see, sometimes they're labelled underneath.

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Yes. Let's just do this very carefully.

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-Oh! Never looked underneath it before.

-Underneath here...

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you've got the label of James Edgar, and interestingly he describes himself as "Art Cabinet Factory."

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And art furniture is the term that people used in the 1870s

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for artistic furniture.

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Not just standard cabinet making, but things which were meant to have an artistic feel to them.

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And he was in Liverpool.

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Now, Liverpool's exactly the sort of area

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where many houses were being built.

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There were people like Lloyd Raynor,

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like John Grant Morris, who had Allerton Priory,

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and we know, from catalogues of sales of theirs,

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that not only did they buy contemporary paintings,

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-but they also bought oriental pots, as well.

-Yeah.

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-So one can picture this as part of a classic interior at that period.

-Yes.

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Let me put the vase back on top.

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Absolutely beautiful as a pair...

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As a vase, on its own, you're probably looking...

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As a single vase...

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-something at auction that might fetch £500, £800, for one vase.

-Yeah.

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But assuming the other one is in more or less the same condition...

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Perhaps just a little bit more of the glaze missing where -

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my auntie had a grocer's shop, she used to keep the eggs on top of the vase.

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-Probably not the best idea...

-No, no, but never mind.

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As a pair of vases...

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-..on stands, so really they become works of art in themselves, more than just individual vases.

-Yes.

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I think that you would need to insure these today for something like

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£5,000 or £6,000 for the pair.

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-Really? Gosh!

-They're beautiful and very evocative of that particular period.

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-Yes, yes.

-Try and keep the two of them together in the family.

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I'm sure you've heard it before...

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-I'm very pleasantly surprised by that.

-Thank you for bringing it.

-Thank you.

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Well, in English Georgian silver, this is a very, very unusual object.

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Do you know very much about its background or anything about it?

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Very little, only that it belongs to a very good friend of mine

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who's a retired naval gentleman

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and it was actually left to him

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by his mother's sister who worked for a gentleman in Hampshire.

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-Right, so that's about it.

-That's about it.

-OK.

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Well, in that case it's up to me.

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As you can see, it's beautifully hallmarked

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and it was made in London in 1818, but this is such an unusual piece

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to be English that I imagine that it was specifically commissioned.

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I mean, apart from the owl, which is a lovely thing,

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the base is all chased with animals,

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there's a tortoise there and lizards and a snail

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and it's all very nicely hallmarked

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-on the lid as well, on the top...

-Yeah.

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..and on the base. Now these were originally drinking cups,

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although you might not want to drink out of it,

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because it's unhygienic.

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And the idea goes right back to the 16th century

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and usually they're continental

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and they used to just put them down on the table as decorations

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and so I would imagine that someone had seen a continental one

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and decided that he would like an English one.

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-You obviously have no idea of its value?

-No.

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-Do you want to hazard a guess?

-Yes, I would.

-Go on then.

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Um...a couple of thousand?

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-It's probably more £8,000 - £10,000.

-Really?

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-Because it is such a rare object.

-Crikey.

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And it is charming and delightful and people love owls.

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-Yes, I do, I love owls.

-So I think it...it's great.

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-Thank you for bringing it.

-Thank you.

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-What do you know about this? >

-Very little really,

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it's been in the family a long time and I use it as a desk.

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-So it's inherited through the family?

-Yeah.

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Um, no idea where it came from originally?

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It might have come from a house they bought in Torquay many years ago

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that belonged to Lord Lascelles

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who was, I think, somewhere in line to the royal family.

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-Right, so it might have some...

-He was a traveller and soldier so he might have brought it back.

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Right, because it immediately speaks to me of something continental,

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but also somewhat medieval, it has this amazing hasp here,

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which is almost like a little castle on its own with all its turrets and pinnacles.

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Extraordinary, and then ironwork, covered in ironwork,

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which had originally red velvet behind it,

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so it would really have shone out against the walnut,

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these big, big planks of walnut.

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Er, on a stand, open stand and...

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Do you think was meant to go with this? Because we were never sure whether...

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Absolutely, I think this is a later stand, so I'm already suggesting

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-that this, this could be earlier, I think this is a 19th-century stand.

-Right.

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Which has been...has copied really a style that is earlier.

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And that style, to me, is Spanish,

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and it's a form that goes back to the 16th century

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and the term that's used for this form is a vargueno.

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The inside, I think, as you know, is extremely...

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surprising perhaps...

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Thank you very much.

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So the very, very heavy front

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drops down and reveals an absolutely delightful interior.

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Wonderful interior, lots of geometrical inlay of bone,

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lots of gilding, these little twisted columns that flank each of the drawers.

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Now to me, what's exciting is that this kind of thing,

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this Spanish cabinet, this vargueno

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is one of the prototypes, one of the fore-runners

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of the English escritoire, the English fall-front writing desk and also the cabinet on stand.

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The influence and the decoration here is from North Africa, it's really coming from the Moors.

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This one, I think, is a 17th century one.

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Now, of course, all these little drawers

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are fascinating and sometimes these pieces have little, not hidden drawers, but concealed drawers.

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-Anything going on here that I don't know about?

-A little one here.

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-I didn't know about that one. Anything else?

-One more below...

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Oh, right, so you've got this wonderful progression of drawers

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in the centre, coming out from this central architectural feature.

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I think that's lovely and I can also see here that the drawer linings

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are all made of walnut, so the whole thing is made of walnut.

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Well, it's not the kind of thing that everybody could give room to, so there's a slightly limited market.

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Now probably...

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£3,500 - £4,500, which might seem not enough for such an elaborate...

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No, that's around about what we had thought.

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That's good - no disappointment there.

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-No. Oh, we love it.

-We'll give it a polish.

-Excellent.

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Now, this is a very valuable dish.

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-Is it?

-Did you know that?

-No I didn't, no.

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And so when you have a large and valuable dish like this,

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you have to do what I do...

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hold it by both hands, otherwise you could have a disaster.

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-Yes.

-So where did you get it from?

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It belongs to my mother and my grandfather bought it in a sale

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in 1940 from a large house in North Finchley in London.

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This dish was painted by W S Coleman,

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who was the leading light of the Minton's Pottery studios

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operating in London in the 1870s

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and he was quite closely connected with Whistler

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and various members of the Pre-Raphaelites.

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You get the sort of Whistler...

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these peacocks and...

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orientally inspired decoration on the surface.

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In many ways, of course, all we've got here

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is...the pottery dish

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as a support...for a painting

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and Coleman was really a painter,

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so this is unusual, to the extent that it's...

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firstly a painting on pottery.

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-Yeah.

-But still, it's very collectable.

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The Minton studio is immensely admired and this is a very good one.

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Coleman was much copied

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and people in the studio sometimes painted designs by him,

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but this is HIM.

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-This is him.

-I told you at the beginning it was quite valuable.

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-Yes.

-I think if you wanted to buy one,

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you'd probably have to spend

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-about £4,000.

-Blimey.

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Do you know...

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I don't say this very frequently...

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it doesn't pay to get too enthusiastic about things,

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but what an emerald you have brought along here today.

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This is a fantastic looking gem.

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Please tell me where it came from.

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It belonged to my aunt, um, who died three years ago,

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she was born about 1915, I think.

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I know it's difficult because if you don't know very much about them,

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it's difficult to really sort of convey the sort of person that she might have been,

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but would she have been the kind of woman

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that would have worn a gem like this and shown the thing off?

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I think she, they would have worn it,

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all of them wore stuff like that in their social life.

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Now first of all, I think we can appreciate the intensity,

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what you might call, the saturation of colour,

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it's very deep green.

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Now, you often find these where they're very pale,

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where they're very washed out,

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and they can be quite large,

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but actually, they're ever so slightly, um, pastelly.

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-The valuable ones are the ones that have a great deal of dark blue-green colour.

-Right.

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The quality of this stone

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is the kind of stone

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that would have been mined and cut in around about say 1910-1915.

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That was the zenith, if you like, of the pre-First World War period of jewellery design

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where firms like Cartier, firms like Tiffany,

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-were making jewellery like this, which is extremely pretty, easy to wear.

-Yes.

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And also with the calibre of gem that is peerless.

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It's just what they did, that's how they made their reputation.

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The colour of the stone is also set off

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by the little diamonds around the square frame.

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That square shape works very well.

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So we know it's this Colombian stone, it comes from one of these two mines

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which were the Chivor or Muzo mines, in Columbia, which had this kind of terrific gem.

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-Right.

-They often have little fissures running through them.

-Right.

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There we are, we've got some fissures

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going through the stone itself, um, it weighs...

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And looking at it, I would estimate the weight of the stone,

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-maybe around about three and a half carats.

-Right.

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It's not very deep, but it spreads very beautifully. It's a lovely ring.

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I would suggest to you that if it was offered in an auction,

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it would be estimated at around

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£8,000 - £10,000.

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I think it's one of the loveliest stones of its type

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I've seen on the Antiques Roadshow, it's lovely.

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-That's very nice.

-Thank you for bringing it in.

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I think everybody would agree,

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this is a very, very pretty picture, this lovely, young girl

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standing at the terrace looking somewhat reverential,

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eyes cast down, and I believe wearing a mantilla...

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Just over the terrace here, lightly touching there a white handkerchief.

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Now, who is she?

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-She is the artist's sister.

-Right, how do you know that?

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My mother had it from the actual lady who's in the picture

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-and it was her brother that painted it.

-How wonderful.

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-Well, the artist, the signature here...

-Yes.

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..is William Bennett and it's dated 1901.

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Now, he's not a very, very well known artist, in fact, he's a very little known artist.

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But occasionally, you know, you come up with great works by artists

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who perhaps very few people have heard of.

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It's in its original mount and original frame.

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Where do you hang this picture?

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-It's been behind the wardrobe for several years.

-Why was that?

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Because I had a picture painted for my husband, of his dog, and I put that up instead.

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So what...

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explain it a little bit more...

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I mean were you happy with that?

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There's lots of light in our house and I didn't want that to get the light on it too much.

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Well, that's admirable to do that because...

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-if it had been hung for a long time...

-Drains the colour...

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..it would have just faded and it wouldn't be as nice.

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-That's right.

-I think, looking at the technique,

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it's interesting, the variety of techniques...

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here with the railings and the bar there on the terrace

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and even the painting of the handkerchief...

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quite loosely painted, but when we look at the face,

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it is not just pedantically painted in miniature,

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but it's a different way of painting - much more detail, softer

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to give a contrast between the human portrait

0:18:320:18:36

and the representation of a face, and also the drapery.

0:18:360:18:41

What I am quite interested in is certainly the kind of iconography.

0:18:410:18:45

I mean, why is she dressed like this?

0:18:450:18:46

Her brother, the artist, seeing his sister in some really rather innocent way

0:18:460:18:52

and the ivy has a kind of iconography with fidelity and so on,

0:18:520:18:57

so I'm sure it's a kind of brother's idealised viewpoint of, of his sister.

0:18:570:19:04

Well, I believe he was accepted for the Academy in London

0:19:040:19:07

and I think he might have took that and had it...

0:19:070:19:11

-As a possible exhibited work, yes.

-Yes.

0:19:110:19:14

Well, I think it's absolutely beautiful

0:19:140:19:17

and I think most people would agree.

0:19:170:19:19

It has a sweetness about it,

0:19:190:19:21

-but I don't think it's over-sentimental.

-No.

0:19:210:19:23

But together, the frame, the original frame and the mount,

0:19:230:19:27

we must come to think of its value...

0:19:270:19:29

And I would have thought,

0:19:290:19:30

because he's not a very well known artist,

0:19:300:19:33

-but a beautiful picture, somewhere between £3,000 and £5,000.

-Oh, right.

0:19:330:19:37

Didn't realise as much as that.

0:19:370:19:39

-No, well it's a lovely thing, thank you very much indeed.

-Thank you.

0:19:390:19:43

Bunny, you've brought us your personal menagerie, isn't that wonderful?

0:19:450:19:50

Childhood memories - but before you tell us about them,

0:19:500:19:53

remember in Northern Ireland, Mount Stewart, you came across that rare Steiff bear?

0:19:530:19:57

-Never forget it.

-It went on to be sold for £23,000.

0:19:570:20:02

Did they only make bears, Steiff?

0:20:020:20:04

No they didn't, they, in fact, started off, um, with a little miniature elephant

0:20:040:20:10

and then the bears were on wheels

0:20:100:20:13

and then they started making teddy bears in 1903,

0:20:130:20:16

but they make every animal in the book, and they still do.

0:20:160:20:19

Any animal you think of, they make, including this lovely rooster here,

0:20:190:20:25

who is not mine, I have to say, he came in today and I asked them if I could borrow him for...to show you.

0:20:250:20:30

He's got lovely cut felt body and he would have had, in the comb,

0:20:300:20:34

a little button which showed he was by Steiff.

0:20:340:20:37

So it's very clever to have a label. But they also made...

0:20:370:20:40

and I've got this here, they made pigs...

0:20:400:20:43

I've got a pig here,

0:20:430:20:44

but I've also got my personal weasel.

0:20:440:20:47

He's got his button in his ear here, he's missing his tail

0:20:470:20:52

and I've got to send him off to Steiff to see if they'll put another one on.

0:20:520:20:56

But just to give you an idea of the range...

0:20:560:20:58

But they made all those animals, but they're not the only people.

0:20:580:21:03

And we jumped on the bandwagon,

0:21:030:21:05

the British, and Chad Valley and Farnell and various other makes.

0:21:050:21:10

But what about everyone who's got old toys up in the attic or whatever, stuffed toys.

0:21:100:21:16

What's the most valuable? What should they...

0:21:160:21:18

Well, I think what they could have in the attic, which is more likely,

0:21:180:21:22

is something like this, which is...

0:21:220:21:24

This is a Merrythought, he's lost one eye, he's actually a rattle.

0:21:240:21:29

He's not particularly valuable, but he will go up in value if he's looked after.

0:21:290:21:35

That's another thing we've got to worry about because a lot of these...

0:21:350:21:39

the earlier ones are stuffed with this wood shavings and, of course,

0:21:390:21:42

then you get woodworm.

0:21:420:21:44

Then you get the felt coats, they get moth-eaten.

0:21:440:21:48

And you can see this one here, um,

0:21:480:21:50

he's a very valuable Steiff, but look he's got moth-eaten,

0:21:500:21:53

even while he's been sitting on my dressing table.

0:21:530:21:56

Even while we've been talking.

0:21:560:21:58

That's very sad... So they're old and they get musty and dusty.

0:21:580:22:03

Do they get sort of infested with things?

0:22:030:22:05

Um, quite often, mine don't, but if they did...

0:22:050:22:09

I'd put them in the freezer

0:22:090:22:11

for 72 hours and it kills the little blighters.

0:22:110:22:15

Which is the most expensive one? The most valuable, rather?

0:22:150:22:20

Um, one I was given,

0:22:200:22:22

and that is a Steiff.

0:22:220:22:24

I'm afraid the Steiff are still the most valuable.

0:22:240:22:27

Now, he's only particularly valuable because he's also made of lamb's wool,

0:22:270:22:32

rather than anything else - very unusual, very rare.

0:22:320:22:35

Peter Rabbit, which Beatrix Potter commissioned Steiff,

0:22:350:22:39

because she couldn't find anybody to make a soft toy like Peter Rabbit of her drawings.

0:22:390:22:45

She commissioned Steiff

0:22:450:22:46

and he's one of the first Peter Rabbits. He's got a black Steiff button in his ear...

0:22:460:22:52

-Yeah.

-..um, which means he's 1905. He's very early and, I have to say,

0:22:520:22:58

-I was offered £10,000 for him.

-Gosh!

0:22:580:23:01

-And I couldn't sell him, because I was given him.

-Yes.

0:23:030:23:05

This is a collection of Quentin Crisp.

0:23:070:23:10

Tell me what do you think of when you think of Quentin Crisp?

0:23:100:23:13

Well, he was my uncle, so I...

0:23:130:23:16

you know, I have family recollections of him, but he was an amazing person because he always...

0:23:160:23:22

stood up for his own principles, in spite of everything.

0:23:220:23:26

And he was a very talented, clever man,

0:23:260:23:29

he was an artist, he was a writer and a raconteur.

0:23:290:23:31

To me, I associate him with the period in the '70s when he made...

0:23:310:23:37

when a film was made of this book - The Naked Civil Servant -

0:23:370:23:40

-for which he's very well known.

-Yes.

0:23:400:23:41

And inside, he's inscribed it to you.

0:23:410:23:44

-Yeah.

-And up here we've got this lovely etching of him,

0:23:440:23:48

in a characteristic pose, I think.

0:23:480:23:51

-Something of a dandy, wasn't he?

-Absolutely, yes.

0:23:510:23:54

And very precise about the way he wanted to present himself.

0:23:540:23:57

-Oh, yes.

-Lovely, lovely detail on this. And tell me about this one.

0:23:570:24:01

Well, this one he did for my mother and it must have been in the 1930s

0:24:010:24:06

and he gave it to her for a Christmas present, I think, one year.

0:24:060:24:09

But the lovely thing to me, is that it's very 1930s...

0:24:090:24:13

-Absolutely, isn't it?

-..in style, as is the dog.

0:24:130:24:15

-That was my dog when I was little, he was called Walker.

-Walker.

0:24:150:24:19

He was a mongrel. He drew that for me for one Christmas, I think,

0:24:190:24:24

in straight lines, and I always thought it was so lovely.

0:24:240:24:28

To me, he also became a public figure

0:24:280:24:29

because he was outspoken about his views about homosexuality

0:24:290:24:33

and in a way he didn't fit into the normal mould, is that right?

0:24:330:24:36

Oh, that's right and in New York he was completely accepted,

0:24:360:24:40

but, I think, even if he'd stayed in London,

0:24:400:24:43

-by that time, people of his type were more accepted.

-Yes.

0:24:430:24:48

But when we walked with him in New York...

0:24:480:24:50

he was revered, everyone said, "Good morning, Quentin. Morning.

0:24:500:24:53

"How nice to see you," you know.

0:24:530:24:55

You have a lovely pile of letters here and I can hear his voice, that acerbic tone.

0:24:550:25:00

"And now, I suppose," he says "you're away sitting on the prom eating a box of chocs,"

0:25:000:25:04

I can hear him say "chocs",

0:25:040:25:06

"during the hols. I hope you have a jolly time and return fully refreshed."

0:25:060:25:11

-So he sent you a lot of letters?

-Yes, he was a great cor...

0:25:110:25:14

He always answered letters. I was the bad correspondent,

0:25:140:25:18

but if ever I wrote, I always got a letter by return of post.

0:25:180:25:22

I think it's a wonderful collection, it really is stunning

0:25:220:25:25

and I get a very strong feeling of the man and his humour and his, his...

0:25:250:25:29

In a way, his impishness... it's quite difficult to value

0:25:290:25:33

-because it is an entirety and to put separate values on it wouldn't work.

-No.

0:25:330:25:38

I think you're talking about £2,000 for the whole thing.

0:25:380:25:41

Yes, well I've got a lot more sort of memorabilia and things at home.

0:25:410:25:45

-Have you?

-Yes.

-Well, it could be more because he had...

0:25:450:25:48

he lived in America...there are lots of collectors.

0:25:480:25:51

Thank you so much for bringing them in, it's a great collection.

0:25:510:25:54

They were made by my grandfather who was a sculptor,

0:25:540:25:58

Charles Sargeant Jagger and...

0:25:580:26:01

Fantastic, I never knew he did jewellery.

0:26:010:26:03

Well, not many people did, I think.

0:26:030:26:05

Before the First World War,

0:26:050:26:07

his work was quite soft and like this,

0:26:070:26:11

and then he, through his experience in the war,

0:26:110:26:17

his work changed completely and...

0:26:170:26:19

You mention the war, because you know,

0:26:190:26:22

now you've mentioned his name, Charles Sargeant Jagger,

0:26:220:26:25

I'm sure most people that have heard that name will be aware of

0:26:250:26:28

his wonderful sculpture for war memorials.

0:26:280:26:31

-This involvement in the war obviously gave him that sort of eye and passion to represent it in some way.

-Yes.

0:26:310:26:38

There's a wonderful memorial at Hyde Park Corner.

0:26:380:26:42

Um, fantastically well known model of a soldier at Paddington Station

0:26:420:26:49

and some people probably walk past that statue, rushing to get a train home

0:26:490:26:53

without really appreciating how, how important it is. So with all that knowledge of his sculpture

0:26:530:26:59

I'm absolutely, you know, amazed that these jewellery pieces are by him.

0:26:590:27:03

These are just superb...

0:27:030:27:05

It's just this lovely delicate ring,

0:27:050:27:07

-we have a little moonstone, little conical sort of moonstone...

-Yes.

0:27:070:27:12

with little leaves and typically - Arts and Crafts this would be called.

0:27:120:27:16

Did he used to have a little workshop somewhere?

0:27:160:27:19

I don't know, all I know is

0:27:190:27:20

that his wife gave up her career as a concert singer

0:27:200:27:24

to also make jewellery.

0:27:240:27:25

-I say.

-And I believe that she made the other ring.

0:27:250:27:28

-This might be by his wife?

-I think so.

-It's not as delicate as the other one.

0:27:280:27:32

-No.

-And this... I'm not entirely sure whether this is a stone of some sort like a jasper

0:27:320:27:37

or it could almost be a piece of ceramic.

0:27:370:27:39

-This piece would be by him as well, no doubt, wouldn't it?

-Yes.

0:27:390:27:42

-I mean this is just wonderful.

-I guess that he made that for her.

0:27:420:27:46

She was also a psychic

0:27:460:27:47

and, and whether there's any connection with the crystal ball,

0:27:470:27:52

because she had a crystal ball that she used to read.

0:27:520:27:55

-So this is a miniature crystal ball.

-I'd like to think that.

0:27:550:27:58

-Nice if she could see into the future with that.

-Yes.

0:27:580:28:01

It's lovely the way this, this rose,

0:28:010:28:03

this very simple rose with leaves and such on it,

0:28:030:28:06

and then this lovely, lovely drop hanging from it.

0:28:060:28:10

-Mm.

-Wonderful!

0:28:100:28:12

Have you ever thought about what value these would be?

0:28:120:28:15

Well, I've wondered, I mean...

0:28:150:28:16

I don't want to sell them, but...

0:28:160:28:18

I certainly understand that.

0:28:180:28:20

Yes, but I'm interested to know, you know.

0:28:200:28:23

-I mean this ring might be by his wife you said, didn't you?

-Yes. Mm.

0:28:230:28:27

I'd have thought that might be £300 - £500, something like that perhaps.

0:28:270:28:32

-Gosh, mm.

-This one, which is beautiful, and being by him,

0:28:320:28:36

-I'd have thought that one might be £700 or £800 perhaps, that one.

-Yes.

0:28:360:28:42

And this piece, I'd have thought might be £1,500, £2,000...

0:28:420:28:48

I'm pleased you brought them, thank you.

0:28:480:28:50

Oh, thank you.

0:28:500:28:51

It was loved at some time because it's all been mended with a lovely set of rivets, joining it together.

0:28:530:28:58

-Look at those rivets, John.

-Yes.

0:28:580:29:00

I love riveted things, I find them fascinating.

0:29:000:29:03

It kept the pot together, otherwise it could have been thrown away...

0:29:030:29:07

before they had fine glues they used to use rivets.

0:29:070:29:09

I don't think we ever saw... you never saw a riveter at work,

0:29:090:29:13

but he used to come up Grandpa's street.

0:29:130:29:15

And Grandpa would bring out the pots and, um, and he had a treadle on his bicycle.

0:29:150:29:19

Treadled away and drilled little tiny holes either side of the crack,

0:29:190:29:24

and then he had a hot box in front of him,

0:29:240:29:27

took out metal wires,

0:29:270:29:29

put them into the holes and pulled them together and as they cooled,

0:29:290:29:33

they clamped the piece shut.

0:29:330:29:34

And there it is, as perfect as the day it was riveted...

0:29:340:29:38

I...probably a hundred, two hundred years ago, those rivets.

0:29:380:29:41

But would you leave those rivets alone?

0:29:410:29:43

I mean modern restoration could hide that damage invisibly.

0:29:430:29:47

I'd leave the rivets, they're part of its life.

0:29:470:29:50

-You've always loved rivets, haven't you?

-Some of my favourite pots are riveted.

0:29:500:29:54

CROWD LAUGHS

0:29:540:29:56

Underneath the damage, you've got a splendid bit of Chinese porcelain

0:29:560:30:00

and quite a rare shape and displayed properly clean...

0:30:000:30:05

-a couple of hundred pounds, isn't it?

-The rivets cost about sixpence each.

0:30:050:30:10

-They belonged to my father.

-Right.

0:30:100:30:12

And I believe that he inherited them from his father

0:30:120:30:17

because my grandfather, in the early part of the 20th century,

0:30:170:30:21

was an avid collector.

0:30:210:30:22

-Right.

-And went to auction sales almost weekly

0:30:220:30:27

and after my grandfather died,

0:30:270:30:30

which was 1966,

0:30:300:30:31

my grandmother tried to dispense things that he had acquired...

0:30:310:30:36

-Scattering it...

-..throughout the family.

0:30:360:30:39

Eventually, there was a load left that went to sale

0:30:390:30:42

and I think this was something that my father took.

0:30:420:30:44

-So it came to your father?

-It came to my father.

0:30:440:30:47

Right, there's a lot of sort of mythology about scrimshaw, I love it

0:30:470:30:51

because I think there is this basis of accuracy about the stories,

0:30:510:30:55

which is that pieces were made by sailors in their idle moments.

0:30:550:31:00

Now, a lot of it is fake. Another mass of it has been decorated later.

0:31:000:31:06

You can find an early tooth, there's nothing to stop you engraving a scene on now.

0:31:060:31:11

And you get many pieces which have simply far too much going on,

0:31:110:31:15

there's the name of the ship, there's a whale hunt, er, there's a date,

0:31:150:31:19

there's flags and bells and the whole thing's over the top.

0:31:190:31:22

These are fantastic because they're simple,

0:31:220:31:25

there's no... you can see these have been done very early indeed.

0:31:250:31:28

We're early in the 19th century

0:31:280:31:30

and they have a primitiveness that I think has enormous appeal.

0:31:300:31:35

Many of the subjects, as you can see here on this piece,

0:31:350:31:39

and here, are sort of from popular imagery.

0:31:390:31:43

The sailor didn't sit thinking, "Oh, I'll do Britannia."

0:31:430:31:46

-No.

-He had something to copy, so this piece represents that tradition

0:31:460:31:50

-and in fact there's a walrus about to be slaughtered there.

-Yes.

0:31:500:31:54

Some of these come from the same popular imagery as a Staffordshire figure.

0:31:540:31:58

That's the same date probably as a Staffordshire pottery figure, the 1840s,

0:31:580:32:03

-and the popular imagery is from a similar printed source.

-Right.

0:32:030:32:07

So that in a sense is, is very nice, but what one would expect.

0:32:070:32:12

I mean this is the one that I find particularly exciting,

0:32:120:32:15

those images I'm used to...

0:32:150:32:17

This is quite different because you've got these primitive matchstick men...

0:32:170:32:21

it's really very crude.

0:32:210:32:23

You've got people in boats,

0:32:230:32:25

you've got all sorts of things going on, these very, very crude ships.

0:32:250:32:29

These could be earlier.

0:32:290:32:31

-We could be going back to the 1820s with this.

-Really?

0:32:310:32:34

The other thing is, what is it?

0:32:340:32:35

Now this is probably a stay busk and this is what sailors gave their girls

0:32:350:32:42

and it was inserted into their stays and so it had intimate contact.

0:32:420:32:47

-Oh.

-So it was like a love token.

0:32:470:32:49

So you sat there out in the Arctic North carving away,

0:32:490:32:53

then you rushed home and you gave it to your girl,

0:32:530:32:55

-who immediately plunged it...

-It would be near your sweetheart's heart.

-Exactly.

0:32:550:33:00

So that's what that is. They are expensive these things, there is no doubt.

0:33:000:33:04

I mean a group like this is going to be...

0:33:040:33:07

£2,000, something like that.

0:33:070:33:09

That really is amazing.

0:33:090:33:11

-Where did you dig this thing up?

-In my back garden.

0:33:120:33:16

I think it's extraordinary, and where is your back garden?

0:33:160:33:19

It's in a farmhouse on the edge of Dartmoor.

0:33:190:33:22

So this you found in Dartmoor?

0:33:220:33:25

-On Dartmoor, yes.

-On Dartmoor.

0:33:250:33:27

-In the garden...

-It's what's called a char dish for potted fish,

0:33:270:33:32

-and they were made in Lancashire.

-Oh!

0:33:320:33:37

It was this, the char dish generally is made in the Liverpool area,

0:33:370:33:42

either in delft or in this case,

0:33:420:33:45

I think in pearlware which is a slightly blue glazed earthenware.

0:33:450:33:49

-Yes.

-But an exciting thing of discovering a 1790s dish like this,

0:33:490:33:54

-in your garden, it's amazing.

-Yes.

0:33:540:33:56

I think you should do some more digging.

0:33:560:33:59

I mean I'm afraid the condition is poor, but you could have it tidied up

0:33:590:34:04

and it would then be worth £200 or £300...

0:34:040:34:06

-But you didn't dig this up?

-No I didn't dig that up.

0:34:060:34:09

That belonged to my grandfather and then passed down to my parents

0:34:090:34:13

and eventually came to me.

0:34:130:34:15

It used to frighten me because of the face of the monkey.

0:34:150:34:18

-I think he's quite benign.

-Well, I didn't when I was four.

0:34:180:34:21

Oh, I see, yes, yes, yes.

0:34:210:34:23

Er, this was made in China in 1760-1770.

0:34:230:34:27

Oh, as early as that?

0:34:270:34:29

Yes, for export to Europe, er, and they normally come in twos.

0:34:290:34:36

Yes, I've got another one.

0:34:360:34:38

And what's the condition of the other one?

0:34:380:34:41

The other one has a broken arm.

0:34:410:34:42

The arm that is clasping in the front, the elbow's missing.

0:34:420:34:46

-Actually missing?

-Yes.

-That's a great pity.

0:34:460:34:48

People love them because they're really quite zany animals, aren't they?

0:34:480:34:52

-Yes.

-They have a naive charm.

0:34:520:34:55

Slightly curious that they both face the same way.

0:34:550:34:58

It would be better if they didn't,

0:34:580:35:00

and if they both face different ways they will be worth more than they are now,

0:35:000:35:06

-which is still about £3,000 - for the two of them.

-Good grief!

0:35:060:35:11

And now we come to the third element of this wonderful group.

0:35:120:35:16

This is made of enamel,

0:35:160:35:19

enamel on copper and, of course,

0:35:190:35:21

the great centre for making these pieces was Limoges.

0:35:210:35:25

-Yes.

-And this is a 16th-century piece,

0:35:250:35:30

down there it says, "Aoust" - August.

0:35:300:35:34

It's lost, it's lost the "s" nowadays in French

0:35:340:35:37

because they put a circumflex on the top, don't they?

0:35:370:35:40

-Yes.

-Er, its surface is a bit mucky

0:35:400:35:44

and it's suffered a little bit round the edge,

0:35:440:35:47

but it is basically in very nice condition.

0:35:470:35:51

These were very much collector's pieces that they had in their cabinets.

0:35:510:35:56

So we've got August with the harvest going on, these are very expensive.

0:35:560:36:03

This one, as I say, is a bit nibbled round the edge,

0:36:030:36:06

but I still think you're looking at...

0:36:060:36:09

£2,000 or £3,000 for this as well.

0:36:090:36:13

-Yes, well, well, well.

-So...

0:36:130:36:16

What an amazing gamut of things, I mean, brilliant!

0:36:160:36:19

Is it something you've had a while or not?

0:36:210:36:24

Um, about three and half years, since my grandfather died.

0:36:240:36:27

-So he left it to you?

-That's right.

0:36:270:36:29

-And you've done nothing to it because...

-No.

0:36:290:36:32

..it's fairly... I won't use the word "rough"

0:36:320:36:34

because that sounds rude, but it's in untouched condition.

0:36:340:36:37

Do you have it going at home?

0:36:370:36:39

Er, no, no, we don't.

0:36:390:36:41

So do you know what sort of date it is?

0:36:410:36:43

Well, um, we have had it valued back in '91

0:36:430:36:48

and my understanding was that it was approximately 1780.

0:36:480:36:53

I think that's a pretty good guess, give or take five years.

0:36:530:36:57

Here we are, signed by William Allam of London who was a very nice maker,

0:36:570:37:03

made some superb watches and also good English bracket clocks.

0:37:030:37:06

He started work in the 1740s right through until about the 1780s.

0:37:060:37:11

We've got twin subsidiaries, one is fairly obviously strike

0:37:110:37:14

and silent to switch off the strike.

0:37:140:37:17

And do you know what this one here is?

0:37:170:37:19

No, not really, no.

0:37:190:37:22

It sort of goes from zero to 60, some people might be tempted to think it's seconds.

0:37:220:37:26

It's not, it's actually, it's what we call a rise and fall

0:37:260:37:30

that works on a cam that lifts the pendulum up and down.

0:37:300:37:34

We've got the mock pendulum here and I'll show you how that works.

0:37:340:37:39

Literally like this, now... Oh, gosh, why have you...

0:37:390:37:42

why have you got this paper in here?

0:37:420:37:44

I put that wadding in to keep that pendulum from swinging about

0:37:440:37:48

because it was knocking in the car.

0:37:480:37:50

-Look, here's the pendulum lock, so you just pop it in there.

-Oh, right.

0:37:500:37:53

That's it, it's rigid and you can move the clock, it's locked there for ever.

0:37:530:37:57

-Fantastic, yeah.

-But if I release that,

0:37:570:38:00

and then I can show you just by moving the pendulum

0:38:000:38:03

how that mock pendulum is working now

0:38:030:38:06

and do you see there it's just swinging within that aperture?

0:38:060:38:11

Right, yeah.

0:38:110:38:12

And that meant in the old days

0:38:120:38:14

that if it was sitting on a table or a mantelpiece,

0:38:140:38:17

you could see at a glance that it was running.

0:38:170:38:19

-Right.

-So there we are...

0:38:190:38:21

It's, I think, a very pretty clock,

0:38:210:38:24

it has an anchor escapement and, in all honesty, with that mock,

0:38:240:38:28

that mock pendulum, it is more likely that it was verge

0:38:280:38:32

and it's been converted to anchor.

0:38:320:38:34

The case is what we call an inverted bell top

0:38:340:38:37

and it's ebony-veneered, it's not too big,

0:38:370:38:40

-you know the joy of these bracket clocks is the small size.

-Yeah.

0:38:400:38:44

If it was significantly bigger, it would be less value.

0:38:440:38:48

So what was the valuation that you mentioned in 1991?

0:38:480:38:52

I believe it was just over £2,000.

0:38:520:38:54

Right, so what do you reckon it could be today?

0:38:540:38:57

Um, possibly £2,500 maybe £3,000, tops, I would imagine.

0:38:570:39:01

Well, I think you'll be pretty pleased because in this state,

0:39:010:39:04

at auction it would make between £5,000 and £6,000.

0:39:040:39:08

-Right.

-And in full retail condition,

0:39:080:39:11

I could see it retailing for just over £10,000.

0:39:110:39:16

Wow.

0:39:160:39:17

This is a wonderful and very grand piece of furniture.

0:39:170:39:21

It's a side cabinet of a form that's known in France as a meuble d'appui -

0:39:210:39:25

-a side cabinet.

-Oh, right.

0:39:250:39:27

It looks as though it's fallen straight out of a French palace.

0:39:270:39:30

Can you tell me anything about it, how you came by it?

0:39:300:39:33

Well, basically it was in the house when my father-in-law bought it, back in 1958.

0:39:330:39:39

And an antique collector had lived there for several years,

0:39:390:39:43

he died and we just kept it and then my mother-in-law,

0:39:430:39:47

back in 1980, brought down this copy

0:39:470:39:52

and she said, "There, it looks identical,"

0:39:520:39:54

and it was in the Palace of Monaco.

0:39:540:39:57

So it did come out of a nearly French palace.

0:39:570:40:00

But we really didn't know anything about it...

0:40:000:40:03

other than we thought it's obviously a copy.

0:40:030:40:06

But then a few years back, on Christmas Eve,

0:40:060:40:09

um, I was taking some glasses out of it and the hinges were broken on this side

0:40:090:40:15

and as I opened the door, the other side, this door fell out, there was a newspaper in French...

0:40:150:40:20

-Yes.

-..behind the door.

0:40:200:40:22

So we took it to someone and they translated it,

0:40:220:40:26

we read a bit about it, but it appeared

0:40:260:40:29

that there were two made for the French Exhibition in 1851.

0:40:290:40:34

Are you sure it's 1851 or is it 1855?

0:40:340:40:37

It might have been 1855, I know it was the 1850s.

0:40:370:40:40

There was an exhibition in Paris in 1855 and that's exactly the period of this piece.

0:40:400:40:45

-Really.

-So it's quite feasible.

0:40:450:40:47

When I was working in France, South of France, I went to Monaco,

0:40:470:40:52

to actually go and see the piece that was in the palace there

0:40:520:40:55

and you can see it in the postcard there.

0:40:550:40:58

-Fascinating, yes, absolutely.

-And I asked them for some information about it...

0:40:580:41:02

which they weren't very forthcoming with...

0:41:020:41:04

but on the historical tour, on the headset,

0:41:040:41:07

they talked about a Japanese piece with some semi-precious stones.

0:41:070:41:10

So whether that one is Japanese and then this was a French copy

0:41:100:41:15

made of it for the Exhibition, we don't know.

0:41:150:41:18

-We're hoping you can tell us some more.

-OK, not Japanese...

0:41:180:41:22

I'm not sure where that came from. Um, it's, it is French.

0:41:220:41:27

It's in Napoleon III style.

0:41:270:41:29

It very likely dates from precisely when you said, from the 1850s.

0:41:310:41:35

In style, it owes to earlier French furniture,

0:41:370:41:41

things from the late 17th century, made in the Gobelin factory in Paris.

0:41:410:41:47

Designs by people like Andre Charles Boulle who was a cabinet maker to Louis Quatorze, to Louis XIV.

0:41:470:41:53

And there are many features on this which you actually find on 17th and early 18th-century furniture.

0:41:530:41:59

This, however, is made, as I said, in the mid-19th century

0:41:590:42:03

and I think it is undoubtedly made by the same cabinet maker as this piece

0:42:030:42:08

that's in Monte Carlo, um...

0:42:080:42:10

That one's in a lot better condition, very shiny as against this one.

0:42:100:42:15

With all the bits fallen off...

0:42:150:42:17

We can come onto the condition questions with this,

0:42:170:42:19

you obviously have lost quite a lot of the hard stones.

0:42:190:42:23

We've got a few of them at home.

0:42:230:42:25

Keep them and they can be re-applied. It can certainly be restored.

0:42:250:42:29

The mounts here are absolutely comparable to the ones you find on 18th-century furniture.

0:42:290:42:35

It's got a wooden top and one would expect this to have a marble top -

0:42:350:42:41

a thick marble slab. And I notice...

0:42:410:42:43

-I think that one did.

-Looking at this one, it's got mottling on, that's missing, that can be replaced,

0:42:430:42:49

but it would undoubtedly benefit from a considerable amount of tender loving care.

0:42:490:42:54

It's just, it's looking a little sad and if you can imagine it just brought back.

0:42:540:42:59

Er, the little bits of brass inlay that are lifting at the side, that I noticed,

0:42:590:43:04

-the bits of veneer are missing, if those could be returned...

-Yes.

0:43:040:43:07

..you would have something that looked, you know, palatial as I guessed at the beginning.

0:43:070:43:12

Um, once it's restored...

0:43:120:43:16

I think it's something that really ought to be insured

0:43:160:43:19

-for something like £15,000.

-Really?

0:43:190:43:21

-I think in its present state, it's probably worth about half of that.

-Yes, right.

0:43:210:43:26

-Thank you for bringing it in.

-Thank you very much.

-OK.

0:43:260:43:29

And with that, I do believe we've come to the end of the road

0:43:290:43:32

for this particular season.

0:43:320:43:34

We all need a fresh set of tyres.

0:43:340:43:36

But for now, from Dartington Hall in Devon, goodbye.

0:43:360:43:39

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