0:00:30 > 0:00:34This week the Roadshow has come to a perfect place
0:00:34 > 0:00:37for anyone who wants to take the time to reflect and to reminisce.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40A dignified building by the River Thames,
0:00:40 > 0:00:44it's been home to proud veterans of the British Army for over 300 years.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46The Royal Hospital, Chelsea.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09Like the first veterans who arrived in February 1692,
0:01:09 > 0:01:12the men here have willingly surrendered their army pensions
0:01:12 > 0:01:14in exchange for board and watchful care.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18They also qualify to wear a distinctive uniform.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21They're known to the world as the Chelsea Pensioners.
0:01:26 > 0:01:31The hub of life here at the Royal Hospital is the building, designed by Sir Christopher Wren.
0:01:31 > 0:01:36He drafted his first plans in 1682, paying meticulous attention to the
0:01:36 > 0:01:40needs of the veterans, as well as the aesthetic beauty of the place.
0:01:40 > 0:01:46Today Christopher Wren's purpose-built structure accommodates nearly 300 old soldiers,
0:01:46 > 0:01:51including survivors of the D-Day Normandy landings and the Korean War.
0:01:51 > 0:01:55Between them they represent most regiments and corps of the British Army.
0:01:58 > 0:02:03Among their ranks, past and present, are the winners of many decorations,
0:02:03 > 0:02:07including awards for gallantry and outstanding and unusual service.
0:02:07 > 0:02:11A lot of the men bequeath their medals to the Royal Hospital Museum,
0:02:11 > 0:02:14and they're displayed here in their memory.
0:02:20 > 0:02:24The long wards where the men sleep haven't changed much,
0:02:24 > 0:02:28since my grandfather, Sergeant Edward Nugent, arrived here in 1940.
0:02:28 > 0:02:33He spent 15 years at the Royal Hospital and I remember coming to visit him.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36His berth was exactly like this one.
0:02:42 > 0:02:44You might think that this place could be haunted,
0:02:44 > 0:02:48after all, thousands of people have died at Chelsea.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51Apparently there is just one haunting.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55It goes on in the Surveyor's Closet where Christopher Wren worked.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58Every now and then, it's said, you can hear the murmur of voices
0:02:58 > 0:03:02and the tinkle of teacups coming from this direction.
0:03:02 > 0:03:08And if you listen carefully, you can hear chatter and the occasional tinkle coming from outside.
0:03:08 > 0:03:12- That would be the Antiques Roadshow. - Are you together?- Father and son.
0:03:12 > 0:03:16Oh right, I didn't know if you were security or something like that.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18- What have you got? - Two pieces of jewellery.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22Oh, I'm in a no-go area, you see I spent all my married life
0:03:22 > 0:03:26running past jewellers' shops, with my wife trying to take me in, but that is very nice.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30- George IV.- I think you want to, really want to see Geoffrey Munn.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34He's just the right person for you, just right, you know.
0:03:34 > 0:03:39Ooh I like that as well, do I like that? I like that a lot.
0:03:40 > 0:03:45- Ooh yes, John Sandon.- Yes.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49Somehow the name John Sandon's coming to me as I look at this piece.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57Now what's a young man like you doing with acres of royal jewellery like this?
0:03:57 > 0:04:03Well, um, it all started ten years ago with the cuff links and the associated letter.
0:04:03 > 0:04:07They were on a local news programme as coming up for auction,
0:04:07 > 0:04:10and I rang and left a commission bid and...
0:04:10 > 0:04:12- And you got 'em?- I got them.- Wow!
0:04:12 > 0:04:16And we want to hear a bit about this letter too.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19"I send you these links as a souvenir of my Coronation,
0:04:19 > 0:04:23"when you attended me as one of my pages, George RI 1937".
0:04:23 > 0:04:25- Not bad, is it?- No.
0:04:25 > 0:04:32That one goes with the cuff links, and those cuff links were presented to Robert Montague Elliot,
0:04:32 > 0:04:36and he was the second son of the 8th Earl of St Germans,
0:04:36 > 0:04:41and he was a page of honour from 1937 to 1940.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45So bang-on provenance in the King's writing. He's an emperor too.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49- That's right.- And I think that's a marvellous thought, that his hand
0:04:49 > 0:04:52moved across this paper, and he took the care to give somebody
0:04:52 > 0:04:58something to a moment of enormous importance to them both really. Now which was the next one?
0:04:58 > 0:05:03Um, the next one was the small brooch at the front.
0:05:03 > 0:05:06- Made for King George V to give away.- That's right.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09And by Collingwood's who are very famous jewellers,
0:05:09 > 0:05:13and they specialised in making these royal presentation brooches.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16What do you feel when you acquire something like that?
0:05:16 > 0:05:20It's quite exciting in a way, because you've got the history behind it.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23That one was presented to a nurse
0:05:23 > 0:05:28that looked after Princess Victoria, the King's sister,
0:05:28 > 0:05:31some time in the early '30s, I believe.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34And this, this one here for George V too isn't it?
0:05:34 > 0:05:36Tell me about Korr underneath.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39Well, apparently, according to the family,
0:05:39 > 0:05:43it was added on afterwards. So whether this is,
0:05:43 > 0:05:47I don't know, a lady-in-waiting's badge or something like that,
0:05:47 > 0:05:51because it actually comes with all its bits and pieces.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54It's fitted as a brooch at the moment,
0:05:54 > 0:05:56but it's got its chain and its pendant fitting.
0:05:56 > 0:06:00That's typical of the very finest jewellery. It's always very versatile
0:06:00 > 0:06:06and it comes with a little Meccano set of a sort of car maintenance set underneath, really.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09And that's a sign of something really very distinguished.
0:06:09 > 0:06:13We can tell it's distinguished because it's made by Hennell's,
0:06:13 > 0:06:17a very old established London firm, who were supplying the court,
0:06:17 > 0:06:21and in a way this is all about duty. It's about royal duty, isn't it?
0:06:21 > 0:06:25and part of the duty is to leave little footprints in the sand
0:06:25 > 0:06:30to reward people, give them things that they're going to treasure.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34These are completely priceless things, but I suppose everybody wants to know
0:06:34 > 0:06:37which is the least expensive and the most expensive thing.
0:06:37 > 0:06:42The least expensive was the stick pin, that cost something near £300,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45and the most expensive was the cuff links and the letter.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48They cost a little over £2,000.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52And the value, I think, is a lot to do with the letter, isn't it?
0:06:52 > 0:06:56Without that it would be a great deal less in your collecting experience.
0:06:56 > 0:07:01- That's right, yes.- I reckon this is a collection that's worth...
0:07:01 > 0:07:03£10,000, £15,000 as a group, isn't it?
0:07:03 > 0:07:05Wow!
0:07:07 > 0:07:10- Are you going to get a Faberge one now?- I'd like to,
0:07:10 > 0:07:13but I think they're a little expensive for me at the moment.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16You've given your heart and soul to this,
0:07:16 > 0:07:20- and will continue to. It's marvellous, thanks so much.- Thanks.
0:07:20 > 0:07:25My father remembers eating off them, their Sunday lunches.
0:07:25 > 0:07:28- Ooh, very naughty.- Yes, and that one was called the "ugly plate",
0:07:28 > 0:07:30because nobody liked the pansy.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34Well, eating off it hasn't done the pansy any good, as you can see,
0:07:34 > 0:07:37- the enamel in the centre there has worn off.- Yes, that's right.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39So what have we got here? We've got
0:07:39 > 0:07:42a passion flower, passiflora here,
0:07:42 > 0:07:44pansies here.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47- What's that one? - Well, maybe a peony, I'm not sure.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49An anemone or a peony.
0:07:49 > 0:07:56But what I like about seeing these botanical painting here in Chelsea, is the beginning of botanical
0:07:56 > 0:08:02- painting on English porcelain, started just down the road at the Chelsea Porcelain Factory.- Right.
0:08:02 > 0:08:10At Chelsea they copied the specimens of prints and drawings made at the Physic Gardens.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12That was in 1755.
0:08:12 > 0:08:14- This is in 1820.- Right.
0:08:14 > 0:08:20But not on porcelain made in London, but porcelain made up in Shropshire.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23- Right.- This is Coalport porcelain
0:08:23 > 0:08:29from 1825, and it's high, it's Regency, it's rococo, it's vivacious, it's scrolling.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33- It's terrific quality. - But it has no mark on the back,
0:08:33 > 0:08:35actually no distinguishing mark.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38Well, no because when people were retailing porcelain
0:08:38 > 0:08:43in the 18th and early 19th century, very often the retailers didn't want to know that it was made
0:08:43 > 0:08:50at Spode or Wedgwood or Coalport, because otherwise people went straight to the factories.
0:08:50 > 0:08:55The first people really to realise this were at the Spode factory and at the Wedgwood factory.
0:08:55 > 0:09:00They were some of the first people to stamp their mark, but the retailers didn't like it.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04- How much of the service have you got?- Well, I've got 12 plates, and three like this.
0:09:04 > 0:09:0612 of these, three of these,
0:09:06 > 0:09:11- is going to be somewhere in the region of £2,000.- Right, thank you. - It's a jolly nice service.
0:09:13 > 0:09:19I feel as if I'm sort of holding a living piece of Art Deco in my hands.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22It's wonderful, the way it catches the light. Just glorious.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24Much too old to be yours, though.
0:09:24 > 0:09:30Yes, indeed. It was my grandmother's, and neither of my sisters wanted it, so I got it.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33- Delighted to have it.- And your grandmother, an American lady?
0:09:33 > 0:09:35Yes, who spent a fair amount of time
0:09:35 > 0:09:40here in London and also in France in the years between the wars.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42- Ah, so she was sophisticated, elegant...- Yes.
0:09:42 > 0:09:46- And obviously very interested in fashion.- Oh, yes.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48And what it is, it's a 20th-century take
0:09:48 > 0:09:52on something called a Miser's Purse, which is a lovely name for it.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56You usually see them from much earlier periods, from the 18th Century,
0:09:56 > 0:09:58and they were called Miser's Purses
0:09:58 > 0:10:02- because it was difficult to extract money out of them.- It is.- Still is.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04Hard to get your lipstick out,
0:10:04 > 0:10:07out of an evening if you've had too much to drink.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12So you have to move the ring, you have to find where the opening is,
0:10:12 > 0:10:17delve inside, so they were called Miser's Purses.
0:10:17 > 0:10:23I think it's French, I think it's from the first half of the 1920s, so between 1920 and 1925.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29What they've chosen for decoration are cut steel beads.
0:10:29 > 0:10:32And cut steel, it sounds fairly prosaic.
0:10:32 > 0:10:37You think, "Steel that's very boring - why didn't they use something a bit more exciting?"
0:10:37 > 0:10:41But when you look very closely at each of these little beads,
0:10:41 > 0:10:44they're faceted, they're cut just like a gemstone
0:10:44 > 0:10:48and you get this wonderful shimmering quality to it.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52- And then how do you wear it? - I would wear it with one of grandmother's very smart dresses
0:10:52 > 0:10:56- that look straight out of Sargent's "Madame X".- Lovely!
0:10:56 > 0:11:00- My daughter does it now.- Great. - Just sort of over my hand like this.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04It would hold it this way, or you could do it on the arm this way.
0:11:04 > 0:11:08Provided you didn't have anything too heavy, and...
0:11:08 > 0:11:12All it would hold was the lipstick really. And a handkerchief.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15- And your taxi fare home, I hope. - That too, yes, of course.
0:11:16 > 0:11:23Um, now I'm building you up as if this is, you know, the world's most valuable and exciting Miser's Purse.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25Yes, well it's a treasure to me.
0:11:25 > 0:11:30It is a treasure but this 1920-1925 purse, within that period,
0:11:30 > 0:11:37we'd be talking about £200, maybe a little bit more, perhaps £300 but I would say that would be it,
0:11:37 > 0:11:42so it's not going to send you on a round-the-world trip.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46But the point is that these are now being really appreciated
0:11:46 > 0:11:52by people like you and me who just occasionally take them out on a special outing.
0:11:52 > 0:11:57- Absolutely - with that black dress. - Yeah, very, very stylish.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59Thank you very much indeed.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02Now, you're the Governor of the Royal Hospital.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04- Yes, I am, yes. - Is that a pleasant posting?
0:12:04 > 0:12:11It's a marvellous posting for a senior officer to end his career as a connection with the military.
0:12:11 > 0:12:12- I'm rather envious.- Yes.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16These things are nothing to do with the hospital. They're your own.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19- That's right. - Now, I have to say, what is this?
0:12:19 > 0:12:21Well, it's a bee, clearly,
0:12:21 > 0:12:26and it comes from the throne of the Burmese Kingdom which was sacked.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30In a sense, the Burmese Kingdom was put to an end by the British in 1885
0:12:30 > 0:12:34with the Royal Hampshire Regiment seizing the palace in Mandalay.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37And I'm not sure how, but this bee
0:12:37 > 0:12:41came into the property of my grandfather.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44It was one of about 20 on the back of a throne.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48This is one, I think, of only three or four that survive to this day.
0:12:48 > 0:12:50The Western significance of the bee
0:12:50 > 0:12:54- as the symbol of industry, of endeavour, of activity.- Yes.
0:12:54 > 0:12:56Which is very common.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00It's interesting to see it also had the same significance over there.
0:13:00 > 0:13:02Presumably carved wood, covered in lacquer.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05Now, that in itself is an indication of status.
0:13:05 > 0:13:09Um, lacquer was first used by the Chinese in the Han dynasty
0:13:09 > 0:13:12200 years before Christ,
0:13:12 > 0:13:15so it was a well-known material
0:13:15 > 0:13:17in the Far East.
0:13:17 > 0:13:22And it was always associated with quality, with wealth, with prestige,
0:13:22 > 0:13:25and the British were very fascinated by that.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28Queen Victoria had collections of Japanese lacquer,
0:13:28 > 0:13:33and so it may well be that those who were there in the 1880s thought, "Ah, lacquer - you know..."
0:13:33 > 0:13:39- Yes, might be, might be valuable. - Might be valuable and, "the Queen likes this".- Yes.
0:13:39 > 0:13:40So you say there are three or four.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42Where are they? Do we know?
0:13:42 > 0:13:45I think there's two in the Victoria and Albert here.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48I think there's another in America somewhere.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51Does it have emotional symbolic values to you as a family?
0:13:51 > 0:13:55Well, my family have always said that it's a very lucky bee
0:13:55 > 0:13:58and my wife of course is convinced that that is the case,
0:13:58 > 0:14:00and so she treats it rather carefully.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02How does it manifest its luck?
0:14:02 > 0:14:05Well, she says that if it's in a place which it's unhappy about,
0:14:05 > 0:14:08it will be found on the floor in the morning,
0:14:08 > 0:14:11and I think there is an occasion where that has proved to be so.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14Hopefully it's happy there and not going to jump off.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16- I hope no. - Moving on, it is sitting...
0:14:16 > 0:14:21it is placed on this fabulous shawl, so tell me about this.
0:14:21 > 0:14:24Well, my grandmother, during the Delhi Durbar of 1911...
0:14:24 > 0:14:29Her husband, my grandfather, was the Controller of the Viceroy's Household
0:14:29 > 0:14:32and he was put in charge of organising the Delhi Durbar in 1911
0:14:32 > 0:14:36and the women's programme for the maharanis,
0:14:36 > 0:14:38for the wives of the maharajahs,
0:14:38 > 0:14:41was separately co-ordinated by my grandmother.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45- It was a complete separation.- They weren't allowed to be with the men.
0:14:45 > 0:14:47All the maharajas' wives pooled together
0:14:47 > 0:14:51and produced a single present for my grandmother and this is it.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55It's a fabulous thing, it's got gold thread, wonderful colours.
0:14:55 > 0:14:59It's very contemporary. They were not giving her something
0:14:59 > 0:15:01that was in a sense traditionally Indian.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04- It was something that has a modern look about it.- Yes.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08If you think of the pattern, there's quite a lot of Western influence.
0:15:08 > 0:15:13It's as though they chose something they thought that she as a Westerner would appreciate
0:15:13 > 0:15:14because she can relate to it.
0:15:14 > 0:15:18I may be wrong, but that's my feeling, that's my response to it.
0:15:18 > 0:15:22The two things together really tell your story, as a family associated
0:15:22 > 0:15:26- with India over a long period of time.- That's why it's special.
0:15:26 > 0:15:31We've had a long link with the Indian army and this really is the sort of parts of the relics of it.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35Yeah. This is obviously a seriously important object.
0:15:35 > 0:15:41It would obviously would have importance to the government of Burma today as part of their history.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44- So much was destroyed, I regret to say, by us.- Yes.
0:15:44 > 0:15:49Um, and therefore there is very little surviving from pre-British Burma.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52We could be talking tens of thousands, we could even
0:15:52 > 0:15:57be talking of hundreds of thousands, if its significance is so important in cultural terms.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00- So I won't even guess. - Right, yes.- And similarly the cloth.
0:16:00 > 0:16:02This is a glorious object.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05Taken out of context, it's just a wonderful thing.
0:16:05 > 0:16:09- It works as part of your family history.- Yes.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12Again, in textile terms, it's worth several hundred pounds.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15- Yes.- But that, again, is not the point.
0:16:15 > 0:16:19It's just so exciting to see these. This is why British history is so wonderful.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23I agree. Thank you very much.
0:16:23 > 0:16:29"Charles Dickens' buttons, worn by him on his smoking jacket
0:16:29 > 0:16:34"with certificate of his sister-in-law Georgina Hogarth."
0:16:34 > 0:16:36How did you come by this?
0:16:36 > 0:16:39Well, back in the early 1970s in business, I was introduced to
0:16:39 > 0:16:43a lovely gentleman by a colleague who dealt in various artefacts
0:16:43 > 0:16:46and he was selling bric-a-brac and so forth
0:16:46 > 0:16:50and one time he said, "Could you loan me £100?"
0:16:50 > 0:16:54He said "I've got good security for you. This is worth more than a hundred,"
0:16:54 > 0:16:59and he said, "but if I don't come back to by the end of the year you could keep this, and I assure you
0:16:59 > 0:17:02"it's worth more than 150."
0:17:02 > 0:17:05So the telephone went, he was going to meet me with the money.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09I expressed my disappointment because we'd hoped to keep it.
0:17:09 > 0:17:11He said, "Would you like to keep it?"
0:17:11 > 0:17:14So we agreed on it, so it's been in the family since then.
0:17:14 > 0:17:19Fantastic. Although it looks like a book, it's not because when we
0:17:19 > 0:17:24open it up inside, there are Charles Dickens' buttons and underneath them
0:17:24 > 0:17:28we've actually got a hand-written
0:17:28 > 0:17:32little letter that says, "I certify that these buttons
0:17:32 > 0:17:40"were always worn by my brother-in-law Charles Dickens on his smoking coat at Gad's Hill
0:17:40 > 0:17:43"from the time of his going there to...
0:17:43 > 0:17:47"Until his death - 9th June 1870".
0:17:47 > 0:17:51And then it's signed Georgina Hogarth.
0:17:51 > 0:17:58Very interesting because Georgina Hogarth was basically Charles Dickens' wife's sister.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02- Wife's sister, yes. - And I'm going to let you into a little bit of a secret.
0:18:02 > 0:18:06There were a lot of rumours about at the time, and later, that his
0:18:06 > 0:18:09relationship with her may have been slightly more than platonic.
0:18:09 > 0:18:13- Is that right?- Yes, and I think it's actually ironic that,
0:18:13 > 0:18:17in terms of her authenticating his buttons,
0:18:17 > 0:18:19if anybody knew, it was going to be her,
0:18:19 > 0:18:23because bearing in mind that she probably buttonholed him.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27Oh, there's something else here.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30"Made by Riviere & Son".
0:18:30 > 0:18:34They were amongst the best bookbinders in the country.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37Then based in London, now based down in Bath,
0:18:37 > 0:18:42but the actual quality of this is absolutely fantastic.
0:18:42 > 0:18:46Now, anything to do with Dickens, very, very collectable.
0:18:46 > 0:18:53- I think to the right person, I could see someone paying £2,000 for this. - Could you?- Absolutely.
0:18:53 > 0:18:57If you remember the street cry, "Stop me and buy one,"
0:18:57 > 0:18:59you'll know the theme we're about to introduce.
0:18:59 > 0:19:03This week's collector, Robin Weir, is not a flake
0:19:03 > 0:19:07but a serious historian of ice cream and everything about it.
0:19:07 > 0:19:11Robin, when did people start making and eating ice cream?
0:19:11 > 0:19:15Well, the earliest records of ice cream are around the sort of 1650s
0:19:15 > 0:19:18in Naples, and this is where ice cream really started,
0:19:18 > 0:19:21and it was a very, very extravagant thing to have.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25You needed a lot of servants, you needed people who knew how to make
0:19:25 > 0:19:28ice cream and you had to have access to ice, which was very expensive.
0:19:28 > 0:19:33So what's the earliest relic or bit of evidence you've got here of the ice-cream story?
0:19:33 > 0:19:36Well, the earliest thing that we've got probably is this print
0:19:36 > 0:19:39which is a Neapolitan ice-cream seller.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42It's from about 1840 but this was one of the first prints
0:19:42 > 0:19:46- of somebody actually selling ice cream.- And what is this guy doing?
0:19:46 > 0:19:49Well, this is a Russian ice-cream seller.
0:19:49 > 0:19:52It's a sculpture by a man called Napoleon Jacques,
0:19:52 > 0:19:56who was a Frenchman, and it's incredibly detailed.
0:19:56 > 0:19:59You can see he's holding a little ice-cream glass here
0:19:59 > 0:20:03which was what they used before the ice-cream cone was invented.
0:20:03 > 0:20:05And those are what he's holding?
0:20:05 > 0:20:07Well, these are English ones.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10- Penny licks? - Yes, these are penny licks
0:20:10 > 0:20:12and this is how they served ice cream initially.
0:20:12 > 0:20:17They would get a glass like this, they'd put the ice cream into it
0:20:17 > 0:20:21and then you would lick it out, then you'd hand it back and the next person
0:20:21 > 0:20:24would use it, and so on. They never got washed.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26They were ultimately outlawed.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29- Because...- They were spreading tuberculosis.
0:20:29 > 0:20:31This is a particularly interesting one.
0:20:31 > 0:20:37It's about the meanest one I've ever seen. You'd get almost no ice cream in it!
0:20:37 > 0:20:40- It's a trick glass!- Almost, but when it has ice cream in it,
0:20:40 > 0:20:45- it actually looks much bigger than it really is.- So these are obviously moulds.
0:20:45 > 0:20:49Are you telling me that you make an ice cream in the shape of...?
0:20:49 > 0:20:52Oh, yes, these are lead pewter moulds.
0:20:52 > 0:20:58These are old ones, and what you do is, you start off with the mould,
0:20:58 > 0:21:02and then you pour in all the various colours of ice cream.
0:21:02 > 0:21:06This was really ice cream - or sorbet in this case - as decoration.
0:21:06 > 0:21:07It was table decoration.
0:21:07 > 0:21:12Obviously you'd eat it, but everyone would ooh and aah when the servants brought it in.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16- It would be a pity to spoil it. - Well, it is a pity to spoil it.
0:21:16 > 0:21:20The ultimate thing would be to do a mould in the shape of your own head. What an idea.
0:21:20 > 0:21:26Well, I was offered one of George Washington's head this morning, from somebody in America!
0:21:26 > 0:21:31And what is your collection comprised completely?
0:21:31 > 0:21:35- What have you got altogether? Hundreds of...- This is a tiny bit.
0:21:35 > 0:21:40I got involved in ice cream when my children started slipping into the supermarket trollies
0:21:40 > 0:21:42ghastly flavours of ice cream
0:21:42 > 0:21:46and I started to try and make ice cream and one gets obsessive
0:21:46 > 0:21:52- and you buy more and more ice-cream stuff. We've now got over 400 books on it.- And your favourite flavour?
0:21:52 > 0:21:55My favourite flavour of ice cream
0:21:55 > 0:21:59is Parmesan cheese ice cream served with a fresh pear.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02And that is a very old thing.
0:22:02 > 0:22:06People get all excited, saying, "My goodness, savoury ice creams, how ridiculous!"
0:22:06 > 0:22:11The Georgians and Victorians had dozens of flavours like this.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14Well, give me a vanilla and a Flake any time.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17This one is a very exotic shape so tell me about this one.
0:22:17 > 0:22:22Yes, that's the old...rose that blew over in the gale. That's where it snapped,
0:22:22 > 0:22:26it died off, so I dug the root up and carved that on the root there.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28And what was your chosen subject here?
0:22:28 > 0:22:30- The devil.- The devil.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33Well, I'm a bit of a devil.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35- You were in Africa?- Yes.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38- You were in Italy?- Yes. - Then you went to France and Germany.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40So they used you well, didn't they?
0:22:40 > 0:22:43- They did indeed. - Now, what regiment?
0:22:43 > 0:22:45- The Scots Greys.- Scots Greys?
0:22:45 > 0:22:49- The Royal Scots.- So you weren't on horses then, you were in tanks.
0:22:49 > 0:22:51In tanks, yes. On tank command.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54I think you gave up your horses in Palestine?
0:22:54 > 0:22:57- That was right, that's right, yes. - When?- About 1940.
0:22:57 > 0:23:01Yeah, I bet it broke your heart didn't it, so part with your horses?
0:23:01 > 0:23:04It did, but we had to take part in a man's war, as Churchill said.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07Yes, so then what happened?
0:23:07 > 0:23:10Well, I left the Scots Greys in '45 and went to the Lifeguards.
0:23:10 > 0:23:13- Really?- Yes.- How long for?
0:23:13 > 0:23:16- 20 years.- Good Lord.- Yes.
0:23:16 > 0:23:20- And how did you finish up? - I was a Corporal of Horses in the Lifeguards and then
0:23:20 > 0:23:25in '65 I left the Lifeguards and went to the Honourable Artillery Company for 14 years.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27Gosh, so you became a gunner.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30I became a gunner. Actually I was a musician, I was in the band.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32That's wonderful, isn't it?
0:23:32 > 0:23:36- But you've got all these for the coronations and...- Jubilees.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38Jubilees, that's unusual.
0:23:38 > 0:23:43This is a unique group and I would think that any collector would love this group.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46- Yes.- And he would pay something like...
0:23:46 > 0:23:49- £1,500, £1,600 for it. - Really, really?- Yes.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54This lady is an adopted aunt of mine
0:23:54 > 0:23:56who I'd known all my life.
0:23:56 > 0:24:00She was a wonderful woman and my mother got to know her during the war,
0:24:00 > 0:24:04- and so I've known her since I was a little boy.- Really? How interesting.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08Yes, her father was a wealthy man.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12- Right.- And I understand he lost his money from some business enterprise.
0:24:12 > 0:24:18And she had been educated at home and all of a sudden had to
0:24:18 > 0:24:21earn money, earn her keep.
0:24:21 > 0:24:26And she came down to London and she made her living as a dance hostess in the '30s
0:24:26 > 0:24:32- and she died about ten years ago when she was 90.- Really? Gosh.
0:24:32 > 0:24:37And her husband died last year, he was 96 and he was a remarkable chap as well.
0:24:37 > 0:24:39So dancing kept them very young.
0:24:39 > 0:24:44- Yes, yes, it certainly did. This is a picture of her, in her 30s.- Right.
0:24:44 > 0:24:49Just pre-war. And I think that was about sort of '37, '38.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52- With a charming companion. - Charming companion, yes, yes.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54- Such a great photograph. - Yes, it's a lovely photo.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58You can see the likeness there, that sort of rather wonderful look.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01I love it. It's such a wonderful portrait
0:25:01 > 0:25:04and she looks so sweet and fun and engaging
0:25:04 > 0:25:07with the doll and the elephant here.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09It's sort of casual,
0:25:09 > 0:25:13not the typical formal portrait you had from the century before.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15So it's a very informal and charming portrait.
0:25:15 > 0:25:18It's painted here by an Edwardian artist
0:25:18 > 0:25:22called William Raymond Symonds
0:25:22 > 0:25:26- and it's dated 1910.- Yes. - So that gives us a good indication
0:25:26 > 0:25:28She's probably here, what...?
0:25:28 > 0:25:30- About five, six.- Yes, exactly.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33And actually, this picture was exhibited
0:25:33 > 0:25:35in the Royal Academy in 1910.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37- Was it?- And she was called "Beryl"
0:25:37 > 0:25:39- which I assume is right.- Yes.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43- We have a slight condition problem here, with the picture.- Yes, yes.
0:25:43 > 0:25:48I mean, just don't be alarmed and I wouldn't advise everyone to do this with their pictures,
0:25:48 > 0:25:52but if I just get a bit of spit and you just do that...
0:25:52 > 0:25:56And you see how this varnish, which is called blooming varnish -
0:25:56 > 0:26:02it's not a swear word - it's just where, it's really rotting varnish, it's old varnish.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05And it's very easy to clean. Take it to any restorer,
0:26:05 > 0:26:09they'll strip the varnish off and put on a new varnish.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11Is that a very expensive process?
0:26:11 > 0:26:16It depends where you go to, and you want to go to someone reputable who'll do the job well
0:26:16 > 0:26:21and I think it probably would cost £1,000 maybe £2,000 to have done,
0:26:21 > 0:26:24because it is a skilled job.
0:26:24 > 0:26:30But it's such a beautiful thing, and I really love it.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33I would say something like this would be worth between sort of
0:26:33 > 0:26:36- £7,000 and £10,000, that sort of price.- Mm, yes.
0:26:36 > 0:26:38So well worth having cleaned.
0:26:38 > 0:26:42Yes. I mean, although it's not damaging the picture,
0:26:42 > 0:26:44you can't see it really,
0:26:44 > 0:26:47and you want to see all these wonderful vibrant colours.
0:26:47 > 0:26:52The clean will show you everything the artist intended you to see.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56Well, this is far and away above the average triple top table.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00This immediately tells us that it's a games table and will have
0:27:00 > 0:27:04two tops which open up and provide us with a third surface for something.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08Before we do that, tell me about the family history.
0:27:08 > 0:27:15Well, basically in 1900, Earl Rosslyn said the reason he wasn't the richest man in the world
0:27:15 > 0:27:22was because all the wheels in these casinos were fixed so as to suit the bank.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26If he got an honest wheel, his system would guarantee to win.
0:27:26 > 0:27:31- Right.- And he boasted it all over London until everybody got really fed up with him,
0:27:31 > 0:27:36and the King, King Edward VII, he told Sir Hiram Maxim,
0:27:36 > 0:27:39- the great American. - The machine gunner?
0:27:39 > 0:27:44Yes, who had written a book on Monte Carlo facts and fallacies.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47Knew all about it, and told him to deal with it and sort it out.
0:27:47 > 0:27:50- Right.- So Sir Hiram said, "All right,"
0:27:50 > 0:27:54and he had this built, purely for the occasion.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57- This table?- This particular table.
0:27:57 > 0:28:05And on 19th September, 1908, in a flat in Piccadilly, they each had £10,000 worth
0:28:05 > 0:28:09of chips - the equivalent of about £500,000 of our money.
0:28:09 > 0:28:16And with only observers and a secretary, they played and played till the 29th September
0:28:16 > 0:28:23when Rosslyn admitted he was broke, that his system was no damn good and he had to give it up entirely.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26- And it was on this table? - On this table.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28Let's have a look at it. OK?
0:28:28 > 0:28:32And this is what Sir Hiram Maxim made.
0:28:33 > 0:28:37This is the wheel that he invented to be absolutely cheat-proof, right?
0:28:37 > 0:28:41So there would be no possibility... and of course it was small enough
0:28:41 > 0:28:43for them to take to pieces like this.
0:28:43 > 0:28:47They could see there was no possible way that this could cheat,
0:28:47 > 0:28:49so the poor chap was proved to be...
0:28:49 > 0:28:52And there were arbiters, and there were umpires from both sides.
0:28:52 > 0:28:54Well, now, how very difficult
0:28:54 > 0:28:59- to put a value on such a thing. - Impossible.- It is really.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01What I like about it honestly
0:29:01 > 0:29:04is such magnificent craftsmanship, as a cabinet maker.
0:29:04 > 0:29:08- Look at these...- I think that's a very good approach to it.
0:29:08 > 0:29:10How much would it cost to make such a thing today?
0:29:10 > 0:29:14Without that provenance... The provenance doubles it.
0:29:14 > 0:29:20- It would cost probably between £10,000 and £15,000 to make such a thing today.- Yes, I'm sure of it.
0:29:20 > 0:29:24And we'd easily double that because of that marvellous provenance.
0:29:24 > 0:29:28Now can I put across four, I'll have a thousand on 20 to 24, OK?
0:29:28 > 0:29:30Oh, I don't know about that.
0:29:30 > 0:29:34Hard on the BBC if you make it, but there you are.
0:29:38 > 0:29:43- Oh, oh, it was so close.- Close, yes, my dear fellow.- Rolled it in there.
0:29:43 > 0:29:47We'll have your pay in no time at all, take it from me.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50I only know that it's been in the family for years.
0:29:50 > 0:29:53I think it belonged to my great great aunt.
0:29:53 > 0:29:55And now my mother has it, but I know nothing.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58We just have it for decoration, it's one of a pair.
0:29:58 > 0:30:03This is a trembleuse cup and saucer, designed and named after people who had the trembles.
0:30:03 > 0:30:07It was intended for infirm people who had shakes.
0:30:07 > 0:30:11The cup sits very firmly inside the saucer there,
0:30:11 > 0:30:17so however much you've got a shaking hand, you can't possibly spill your coffee or chocolate.
0:30:17 > 0:30:21Made by the great Sevres factory, the mark tells us all we need to know.
0:30:21 > 0:30:28There is the Sevres mark, the monogram of Louis XV, and the initial date letter. The "N"
0:30:28 > 0:30:33in the middle is the year code for 1766 so it goes back to that year,
0:30:33 > 0:30:38and the painter's symbol on the top tells us it was painted by Noel, a great painter at Sevres.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41He specialised in these wonderful ornaments and decorations
0:30:41 > 0:30:46of formal scrags, borders, and the quality is just so sensuous.
0:30:46 > 0:30:48- So a pair of them?- Yes.
0:30:48 > 0:30:51And the other one's in just as good a condition as this one.
0:30:51 > 0:30:56That's so important too, because a single cup and saucer of this quality
0:30:56 > 0:30:59is going to be pushing £5,000.
0:30:59 > 0:31:00Oh!
0:31:02 > 0:31:05You're joking.
0:31:05 > 0:31:09So a pair of this quality, absolutely stunning, £10,000.
0:31:09 > 0:31:13You need a steady hand in order to take that in, don't you?
0:31:13 > 0:31:17Absolutely. Maybe you should hold onto it for a bit longer.
0:31:18 > 0:31:22I'm delighted to say that David Linley has popped in to see us.
0:31:22 > 0:31:25Your design headquarters are up the road.
0:31:25 > 0:31:30- Yes, just Pimlico Road, just behind here.- How long have you been here? - Been here about 12 years now.
0:31:30 > 0:31:34- Have you brought anything in for us?- Well, I brought this mystery object for you.
0:31:34 > 0:31:36Oh.
0:31:36 > 0:31:39Which I collected on the Pimlico Road.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42You'd better do something with that. So you bought that locally?
0:31:42 > 0:31:46Yes, I always try and collect things that I find interesting.
0:31:48 > 0:31:54We try and use the old to inspire the future.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58- So how old is this? - This is about 1840
0:31:58 > 0:32:00and, as you'll see,
0:32:00 > 0:32:04it's a rather ingenious pocket lectern.
0:32:05 > 0:32:11There you are, you see, and this opens like this
0:32:11 > 0:32:13and goes onto a table.
0:32:13 > 0:32:15What will they think of next? Quite wonderful.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18And obviously this is the kind of thing that inspires you.
0:32:18 > 0:32:23Absolutely. I mean, to me, invention and quirky objects...
0:32:23 > 0:32:26I believe that furniture and collecting should be fun
0:32:26 > 0:32:33and that, you know, here's an object that is something that I'd never seen before and you still
0:32:33 > 0:32:40continuously find things, you know, that inspire us as designers to make things interesting.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44Speaking of which, from this to this.
0:32:45 > 0:32:52Well, this is a humidor based on the four gates going into Istanbul.
0:32:52 > 0:32:56And what we've done is, we've used all sorts of different crafts
0:32:56 > 0:33:00such as turning and carving and inlay, as you can see here.
0:33:00 > 0:33:02How many kinds of wood?
0:33:02 > 0:33:06There's about five or six different woods here, but the craftsmanship
0:33:06 > 0:33:09is the link that I think is what is fantastic.
0:33:09 > 0:33:11And inside, again,
0:33:11 > 0:33:15we're just using every space available, a little ashtray,
0:33:15 > 0:33:19that's for your cigars in there and all the bits.
0:33:19 > 0:33:23And again you can see the pattern through the back.
0:33:23 > 0:33:27And the only change really from the 18th and 19th century
0:33:27 > 0:33:29is the fact that we can now use laser technology
0:33:29 > 0:33:35to create very highly complicated designs that you can see here.
0:33:35 > 0:33:39It's from antique furniture that these designs come to mind?
0:33:39 > 0:33:46Absolutely. I remember going round with my mother, going to Urbino and seeing this amazing room
0:33:46 > 0:33:51full of false perspective, all done in marquetry, beautiful 15th century
0:33:51 > 0:33:57intarsia work and that's what inspires me, by looking back and seeing how things are created
0:33:57 > 0:34:01and how we can include them for work in pieces of furniture for today.
0:34:01 > 0:34:06The Linley sense of humidor. Who knows? 100 years from now,
0:34:06 > 0:34:10- people will be saying, "Look at this wonderful old thing."- I hope so.
0:34:10 > 0:34:16Well, on the face of it, this looks rather disappointing, doesn't it?
0:34:16 > 0:34:18- A rather...- I suppose so, yes.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21- A rather stained little print.- Yes.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23Can you tell me a little bit about it?
0:34:23 > 0:34:26Well, it was left to me by an old colleague at work.
0:34:26 > 0:34:28- Yes.- And, um,
0:34:28 > 0:34:32she had marvellous stories about all sorts of things.
0:34:32 > 0:34:36Some of them were very fantastic and so I didn't really listen
0:34:36 > 0:34:40very much when she said she had a connection with the Empress Eugene.
0:34:40 > 0:34:45- Aha, of France that is of course. - Yes, exactly,
0:34:45 > 0:34:48and so I didn't really take much notice and I didn't expect
0:34:48 > 0:34:54her to leave it to me anyway, and then it came and I wished I'd learned more from her at the time.
0:34:54 > 0:34:56Right, if we raise this
0:34:56 > 0:34:58like so,
0:34:58 > 0:35:04we see this incredibly interesting portrait bust of Napoleon and it's full of wonderful symbolism which is
0:35:04 > 0:35:13perhaps lost to certain people today, but in 1815 or '16 when this was made, these were very potent symbols.
0:35:13 > 0:35:19And here, we have the snake eating its tail, a symbol of eternal life.
0:35:19 > 0:35:23It's in this rather wonderful frame which looks like a sort of sunburst
0:35:23 > 0:35:29- and perhaps alluding to royalty, because of course he was treated as a royal.- Yes.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31And of course the eagle of France.
0:35:31 > 0:35:36- And it luckily tells you it's Napoleon.- Yes, it's very lucky it tells you it's Napoleon.
0:35:36 > 0:35:40I'm always very keen on labels like that. Us experts use them all the time, you know.
0:35:40 > 0:35:43And here of course the flag of France.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46- They've managed to fit in a lot in a small space.- They have,
0:35:46 > 0:35:53and then if you just pop this back here, actually, suddenly, you see this is a little
0:35:53 > 0:35:56homage to Napoleon as well.
0:35:56 > 0:36:01And we have the violets. Aren't they sort of Napoleon's flower?
0:36:01 > 0:36:04- Yes, definitely.- And if you look very carefully
0:36:04 > 0:36:08there are portraits of Napoleon here, the outline, the profile of Napoleon,
0:36:08 > 0:36:10and I think there's two more.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14Yes, there's one here and there's another one tucked away there.
0:36:14 > 0:36:18Nobody would find them if they didn't look very closely.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20Exactly. It's an interesting idea
0:36:20 > 0:36:24if you think that this was perhaps hanging in an English person's home.
0:36:24 > 0:36:30- And when you had the Wellington relations to come to dinner, you would...- Clamp it down, yes!
0:36:30 > 0:36:35Exactly. And then when you had your French cousins, you would open that up as your
0:36:35 > 0:36:40wonderful homage to Napoleon and oh, look there's something written here.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43- Oh, that I didn't know.- I've just seen that, it says "London" -
0:36:43 > 0:36:46all I can read - and then "1816".
0:36:46 > 0:36:48- 1816.- But look, is that a "B"
0:36:48 > 0:36:50for Bonaparte, do you think?
0:36:50 > 0:36:52- Isn't that fascinating? - It's magnificent.
0:36:52 > 0:37:00So that probably dates it to a year after the print, so it really is very, very contemporary.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02There's a huge following of Napoleon.
0:37:02 > 0:37:07- Yes.- And a lot of collectors, and I think something like this
0:37:07 > 0:37:12- could make... This is a guess, I think £1,500 perhaps even £2,000. - Oh, goodness me.
0:37:12 > 0:37:15- It's just unique, I think.- Yes.
0:37:15 > 0:37:18- This is Armentieres here.- It is, yes.
0:37:18 > 0:37:23And this is a trench map which came out during the First World War.
0:37:23 > 0:37:28Now, you look rather young to have been in the First World War.
0:37:28 > 0:37:29These belonged to my grandfather
0:37:29 > 0:37:34- on my mother's side.- On your mother's side, to be specific.- Yeah. - That's splendid.
0:37:34 > 0:37:40- Did you ever go to Armentieres? - I did, I was in there in 1940
0:37:40 > 0:37:42prior to the evacuation of Dunkirk.
0:37:42 > 0:37:46Gosh, how did you manage to get out of Dunkirk?
0:37:46 > 0:37:51- Well, I was busy, but you can ask my mate.- Go on, tell me, how did he get out?
0:37:51 > 0:37:52How did we get out?
0:37:52 > 0:37:59- Is it both of you were at Dunkirk? - We were both there but we didn't know one another then.- Right.
0:37:59 > 0:38:01We rowed out to one of the big boats,
0:38:01 > 0:38:06but it wasn't Dunkirk, you see, it was for about ten miles of beaches.
0:38:06 > 0:38:13- Yes, yes.- And we came off at a place called Bray Dunes which is almost...
0:38:13 > 0:38:17- And how did you manage to escape the bullets?- Well, you had to dodge!
0:38:17 > 0:38:23- Dig a hole in the sand.- When they came over you, in the sand dunes. - Gosh, gosh.
0:38:23 > 0:38:25That's absolutely wonderful,
0:38:25 > 0:38:31- but you're both here now and you're both in the same regiment.- Now, yes. - The Royal Hospital Regiment.
0:38:31 > 0:38:36The idea of these, they were issued to the Army to show where the trenches were.
0:38:36 > 0:38:42And I notice you've got one here, you've got quite a few, but you've got one here of Arras.
0:38:42 > 0:38:45- Arras.- I went through there on the way to Belgium.
0:38:45 > 0:38:47But this one shows all the trenches.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50It does, yeah, all the blue ones, yeah.
0:38:50 > 0:38:54All the blue ones and all that sort of thing. Now, as you can imagine,
0:38:54 > 0:39:00First World War trench maps, by their very nature, are bound to be very easy to get lost -
0:39:00 > 0:39:04in the mud, in the terrible conditions out in France,
0:39:04 > 0:39:08so to find the ones that survive is quite a good thing.
0:39:08 > 0:39:11- And I've got four!- You've got four?
0:39:11 > 0:39:14Anyway, let's cut to the value.
0:39:14 > 0:39:16What do you think?
0:39:18 > 0:39:22- A tenner a piece.- Go on, have a guess.- I haven't got a clue how much.
0:39:22 > 0:39:28No, I think we can do better than a tenner a piece, I think we do something like £100 each.
0:39:30 > 0:39:33- Oh, where we going? - Where are we going?
0:39:34 > 0:39:39This is a beautiful brooch. It's very old. How long have you had it?
0:39:39 > 0:39:42Oh, I suppose about 25 or 26 years,
0:39:42 > 0:39:48I think I was around about 70-odd then and I'm nearly 92 now.
0:39:48 > 0:39:52Fantastic! Isn't that marvellous? And any idea where it was made?
0:39:52 > 0:39:54Could possibly be French.
0:39:54 > 0:39:58Well, it is French, actually. Now, tell me about how this brooch came to you.
0:39:58 > 0:40:05Well, let me see. It was around about 1977, something like that.
0:40:05 > 0:40:09And, er, my lady had gone out for the day
0:40:09 > 0:40:14and it was very strange because she had gone out to lunch with her friend
0:40:14 > 0:40:20and I thought, "Oh, good, that gives me time to do a little job in the house."
0:40:20 > 0:40:21We'd just lost our housekeeper,
0:40:21 > 0:40:30and I was working away, came in to the flat, just as she rang the bell to say she was coming home, come in.
0:40:30 > 0:40:36I opened the door, and her friend and she moved in followed by two men.
0:40:36 > 0:40:42The one with the dispatch case said to me, "Lay down on the floor, this is real,"
0:40:42 > 0:40:46and produced a pistol or a gun in front of me, you know.
0:40:46 > 0:40:48- No!- And I looked at him and I said, "What?"
0:40:48 > 0:40:51- so surprised.- I should think so.
0:40:51 > 0:40:55And then he turned round and said, "Don't be bloody stupid, this is real."
0:40:55 > 0:41:01- No!- So I said, "You get the hell out of it! I'll call the police!"
0:41:01 > 0:41:06- in which both he and his partner turned round and rushed out of the house.- So you drove them off?
0:41:06 > 0:41:11I drove them off. I chased them part of the way down the road but lost them at the corner.
0:41:11 > 0:41:13You are absolutely fantastic.
0:41:13 > 0:41:15I came back,
0:41:15 > 0:41:19sat down on the doorstep and burst into tears.
0:41:19 > 0:41:20Oh, no, oh, goodness.
0:41:20 > 0:41:22Well, you were very, very brave.
0:41:22 > 0:41:27And I think your lady thought you were very brave to give you such a beautiful brooch.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30Yes, she gave me one or two very nice things in her life, you know.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33Well, I've got something startling to tell you.
0:41:33 > 0:41:39There's a tiny mark on the clasp here which has the initials of a craftsman called Aucoc.
0:41:39 > 0:41:42It's A-U-C-O-C.
0:41:42 > 0:41:45Now, he's a very important jeweller working in Paris in 1900,
0:41:45 > 0:41:47perhaps not for his own sake quite so much,
0:41:47 > 0:41:52but that he trained somebody who was the towering genius of the Art Nouveau Movement
0:41:52 > 0:41:57called Rene Lalique, who made the most spectacular jewellery and then moved into glass.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00He's the greatest genius really of the Art Nouveau Movement,
0:42:00 > 0:42:04never mind in jewellery, and this was his master.
0:42:04 > 0:42:07It's chased gold and enamel with diamonds in platinum
0:42:07 > 0:42:11and it incorporates everything that's important about Art Nouveau.
0:42:11 > 0:42:15It's highly sculptural. There are four portraits of children here
0:42:15 > 0:42:19in relief in gold, and it includes these marvellous flower motifs
0:42:19 > 0:42:25and this is a distillation of all that was going on in the Art Nouveau Movement in 1900 in Paris.
0:42:25 > 0:42:29A very dramatic and beautiful jewel.
0:42:29 > 0:42:34And the combination of this, and your story of how you acquired it, is an absolute bombshell.
0:42:34 > 0:42:37But there are two bombshells to hurl around here. Not only is that
0:42:37 > 0:42:40the most moving story I've ever heard in my life,
0:42:40 > 0:42:42but the value is another.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45And I have to say I think that it should be insured for £8,000 today.
0:42:45 > 0:42:47Oh, my gosh!
0:42:47 > 0:42:50Ooh, oh, golly.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58It's been a double pleasure for us today - the usual chance to see some fine objects
0:42:58 > 0:43:04and the unusual opportunity to get an understanding of the kind of work that goes on here, the organisation,
0:43:04 > 0:43:07the dedication, the loving skill that goes into making sure
0:43:07 > 0:43:13that men who have served well are now themselves served well.
0:43:13 > 0:43:17So until the next show, from the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, goodbye.