0:00:38 > 0:00:40The Antiques Roadshow in the tropics? Not quite.
0:00:40 > 0:00:43We have left the British mainland behind,
0:00:43 > 0:00:48but the English Channel is just a short trek through the jungle from here.
0:00:55 > 0:00:58In fact, we've done a bit of island hopping
0:00:58 > 0:01:00and at 787 feet above sea level,
0:01:00 > 0:01:05St Boniface Down is the highest point on this particular blessed plot.
0:01:05 > 0:01:11During World War II when France was occupied, enemy forces were just 70 miles away.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18Yes, it is the Isle of Wight, and we've set our sights
0:01:18 > 0:01:23on the resort and health spa of Ventnor, 787 feet down there.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29At the turn of the 19th century, Ventnor consisted of
0:01:29 > 0:01:32a couple of farmhouses and a few fishing shacks.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34It was a difficult place to reach,
0:01:34 > 0:01:39but three events would dramatically change its face and fortune.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42Firstly, the coming of the railway.
0:01:42 > 0:01:48That got here in 1866 and brought visitors from Ryde, Newport and other towns on the island,
0:01:48 > 0:01:51plus holiday makers from much further afield.
0:01:51 > 0:01:5520 years later, a substantial pier was built
0:01:55 > 0:01:58offering deep-water mooring for steamers.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02And taking advantage of the mild climate and fresh sea air,
0:02:02 > 0:02:06an enormous hospital was built for people with chest ailments.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13With all these benefits, Ventnor's heyday had arrived...
0:02:13 > 0:02:18the population soared, and crowds flocked to the now fashionable resort.
0:02:18 > 0:02:22Today, Ventnor's Victorian beauty is well preserved
0:02:22 > 0:02:26and despite greatly improved communications,
0:02:26 > 0:02:29there's still a feeling of splendid isolation.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33So what do we have? An island that looks tropical, but isn't...
0:02:33 > 0:02:36where there are needles you can't thread,
0:02:36 > 0:02:40and a resort called Ryde where you walk.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46Not to mention Cowes that you can't milk...
0:02:46 > 0:02:53and Ventnor's Art Deco Winter Gardens, which have a distinctly summery feel.
0:02:56 > 0:03:02And in this relaxed holiday atmosphere, it's time for our experts to get to work.
0:03:04 > 0:03:05What treasures have you got?
0:03:05 > 0:03:11No self-respecting seaside town would not have Mr Whippy,
0:03:11 > 0:03:14but I didn't expect to find it on a girandole like this.
0:03:14 > 0:03:20Where has this fantastic piece of whimsy hung for the last few years?
0:03:20 > 0:03:24- Well, it hung above the fireplace in my mother's house.- Right.
0:03:24 > 0:03:30And now it hangs over the lounge fireplace in my house, which is also being used as a guest house.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33- Oh, right.- Yes.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37It is the most exuberant bit of carving I've seen for a long time.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39What's very amusing is...
0:03:39 > 0:03:43down in the bottom here you've got a rather stylised pineapple.
0:03:43 > 0:03:45Which is the symbol of hospitality.
0:03:45 > 0:03:49That's interesting, I didn't know anything at all about it.
0:03:49 > 0:03:53Well, it's perfect. I mean, this is all bells and whistles,
0:03:53 > 0:03:58everything's been thrown at it, it's a really interesting example
0:03:58 > 0:04:03of a late-19th-century revival of everything from mid-18th-century Chippendale
0:04:03 > 0:04:08with these extraordinary Rococo sea scrolls, the parcel gilding,
0:04:08 > 0:04:13and then the summit of the whole thing is this fantastic, almost heraldic cresting.
0:04:13 > 0:04:18Sometimes you get a bird or symbol which is a family heraldic symbol.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21- This is actually a carving of a pelican.- Oh, is it?
0:04:21 > 0:04:28In its piety and it's rather a sort of wonderful tale of how a pelican came back to find that its young
0:04:28 > 0:04:34were undernourished and underfed, so it actually starts to feed its children from its own breast.
0:04:34 > 0:04:39- That's interesting.- So echoing this idea of the hospitality, you've also got this pelican,
0:04:39 > 0:04:43prepared to sacrifice everything for their young. Any idea of its date?
0:04:43 > 0:04:50I have no idea at all, the only thing I know, that my mother was putting it out by the dustbin one day.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54- Oh, no.- And I retrieved it, because I thought it was too nice to go
0:04:54 > 0:04:57with the dustman, and I don't know anything else.
0:04:57 > 0:04:59I'm very glad it didn't go in the dustbin
0:04:59 > 0:05:03because it's a perfect example of this late-19th-century revival
0:05:03 > 0:05:07where they throw everything at it. I love this idea of having...
0:05:07 > 0:05:12In the 18th century, girandoles had candle branches, but you've got these latest mod cons
0:05:12 > 0:05:17which would have been with gas, then electricity. They're hollow right through.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21Made of mahogany, it's got one or two little losses
0:05:21 > 0:05:24on these panels here which are a bit pounced.
0:05:24 > 0:05:30- Yes.- They had applied bits of carving, where it's not pounced in these central bits of the field,
0:05:30 > 0:05:33which I think must have been further bits of parcel gilding,
0:05:33 > 0:05:38little gilt sprays of flowers which would have enriched these corners.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40I've never looked at it that closely.
0:05:40 > 0:05:44I love the fact that you've even got these wonderful old cobwebs
0:05:44 > 0:05:48- that have been there for some time. - Yes, yes.- It's really fun.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51Now, it nearly went in the dustbin.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54- Yes.- I'm glad it didn't, but it's got some value.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57If you tried to replace that, you might have to spend
0:05:57 > 0:05:59£2,000.
0:05:59 > 0:06:00Crikey.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02That does surprise me.
0:06:04 > 0:06:07I came to the Isle of Wight as a child, and like all children,
0:06:07 > 0:06:12I was fascinated by things typically to do with the island, such as Alum Bay and coloured sands.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14I found that extraordinary.
0:06:14 > 0:06:20I didn't collect things like this then, but of course these are sand pictures, aren't they?
0:06:20 > 0:06:22Are you an Isle of Wight person?
0:06:22 > 0:06:28No, I'm from the mainland, but I have an interest in the Isle of Wight and these I find very curious.
0:06:28 > 0:06:34They're from a long time ago because the times I've started coming to the Isle of Wight,
0:06:34 > 0:06:38there doesn't seem to be coloured sand at Alum Bay, or very little. These show the colours...
0:06:38 > 0:06:42These colours really were there, today they're stained and dyed colours.
0:06:42 > 0:06:45The Isle of Wight is a Victorian invention.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48I'll offend people by saying that, but it's largely true,
0:06:48 > 0:06:53Queen Victoria and Osborne and all that, and the souvenir to take home was something to do with the sand,
0:06:53 > 0:06:56and many manufacturers were set up making pictures like this.
0:06:56 > 0:07:01Here we have the Needles, here we have Carisbrooke Castle,
0:07:01 > 0:07:02familiar view,
0:07:02 > 0:07:05and here we have... oh, I don't know, where's that?
0:07:05 > 0:07:10Well, we think it's probably Steephill Cove, just a little way down the coast from here.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12This was a production line basis,
0:07:12 > 0:07:17lots of people in workshops and studios spreading glue on the paper
0:07:17 > 0:07:21and scattering the sand on to make the pictures which were then sold
0:07:21 > 0:07:23to visiting tourists.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27They're not particularly rare, but to me they're absolutely essential.
0:07:27 > 0:07:33We couldn't do a Roadshow in the Isle of Wight without sand paintings. Where did you find them?
0:07:33 > 0:07:36Unfortunately, car boot sales on the mainland, these, two.
0:07:36 > 0:07:41- They didn't sell here, they sold to trippers who took them home. - That's right.- What did you pay?
0:07:41 > 0:07:44These two for £5 the pair.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46The pair. And the other one, 50 pence.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49- 50 pence, jolly good. - Which I think is the best.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51I like that very much, nice colours.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55You're doing all right. In the right market they'd be £20-£30 each.
0:07:55 > 0:07:57- It's not the value, though. - It's not the value.
0:07:57 > 0:08:03You can assemble the story of the Isle of Wight through these tourist artefacts, so keep looking.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08I'm feeling a bit of an ass
0:08:08 > 0:08:12because I almost called this a donkey actually,
0:08:12 > 0:08:16but how could I make the mistake with a pair of ears like that?
0:08:16 > 0:08:18It's absolutely wonderful.
0:08:18 > 0:08:22- I thought it was a donkey. - No, look, look at those ears.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26- You don't get ears that long on a donkey?- Don't you?
0:08:26 > 0:08:29- It really is a beautiful stick.- Yes.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32It's made by one of the best manufacturers - Brigg.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35- It's clearly marked on the reverse here.- Yes.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39- Also it has a London hallmark for 1898.- Yes.
0:08:39 > 0:08:44That is reflected by the initials and the date on the front of it - SL 1898.
0:08:44 > 0:08:50It's technically an "in-date" because the date and initials on the front match the hallmark.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54- Yes.- This top is ivory, it's beautifully realistic.- Yes.
0:08:54 > 0:09:01Beautifully executed. I have to be honest with you, it's one of the best canes I've seen for a while.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04- And I can't help but giggle every time I do that.- Yes, yes.
0:09:04 > 0:09:07That's what makes it such a rare survivor. How fragile!
0:09:07 > 0:09:10I don't think it could have ever seriously been used.
0:09:10 > 0:09:16- Only when the grandchildren came. - Did it amuse them?- One was frightened.- Yes?- Yes, and backed off.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20It's beautiful. Have you ever considered a value?
0:09:20 > 0:09:25- We don't know.- You don't know. - That's why we came here, to get an indication.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28How about £1,000-£1,500?
0:09:28 > 0:09:29What!
0:09:29 > 0:09:33- Oh, no! You're joking. - Absolutely no problem.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35- It's absolutely beautiful. - Good heavens!
0:09:35 > 0:09:39I have no hesitation of putting that price on a cane like that
0:09:39 > 0:09:41in such beautiful condition.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44- Oh, my God!- I hope it keeps amusing the grandchildren.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48- Thank you for bringing it along. - Yes, thank you very much.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52I feel like the Grand Old Duke of York, up and down hills all day,
0:09:52 > 0:09:56I've left the Winter Gardens and I'm back up the top of St Boniface Down.
0:09:56 > 0:10:02I've come here to meet this week's collector, or collectors, there's a whole bunch of them.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13Meet the Isle of Wight Austins. Hello, everyone.
0:10:13 > 0:10:14Hello, Michael.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17What a jolly lot. How many of you are there?
0:10:17 > 0:10:22There's 75 of us, Michael, and about 99 cars, all Austins, on the island.
0:10:22 > 0:10:25- So somebody's got more than one? - They have.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28- And when did you form the club? - 1996.
0:10:28 > 0:10:33We didn't actually form the club, what happened was that, I appeared
0:10:33 > 0:10:37with an Austin Seven, somebody saw me and it grew like Topsy from there.
0:10:37 > 0:10:40What is the big appeal of Austins then?
0:10:40 > 0:10:46Well, with modern motorways, Austins are not really suitable, but here on the island...
0:10:46 > 0:10:53We do have a motorway, it's actually about 400 yards long, but it's the only bit we've got.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57The rest of the island is lovely country roads to drive on,
0:10:57 > 0:11:00what the Austin Seven was made for back in the '20s.
0:11:00 > 0:11:04Not all the cars are from the island. Where do they get them?
0:11:04 > 0:11:08It's grown because they've seen us out and about doing our little trips
0:11:08 > 0:11:14and every Sunday morning having a picnic, heard the champagne corks flying,
0:11:14 > 0:11:19they've all just wanted to join and it's just grown and grown, it's wonderful.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21Have you got a whole range of cars?
0:11:21 > 0:11:25Oh, yes, right from the very small little Austin Seven,
0:11:25 > 0:11:31which was the car really which saved the Austin Motor Company many years ago,
0:11:31 > 0:11:36right up to big limousines and even a London taxi.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38Do you take the cars off the island at all?
0:11:38 > 0:11:42Yes, Mike here has been the big organiser in the past,
0:11:42 > 0:11:46and we've been to France several times for holidays,
0:11:46 > 0:11:52round Normandy, and had wonderful times, absolutely wonderful times,
0:11:52 > 0:11:55and the cars have behaved faultlessly.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59They're obviously much loved. That's a sweet little one.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02Ah, that's Elvis, that's actually my wife's car.
0:12:02 > 0:12:08My wife has always loved Elvis Presley and so I bought her that car
0:12:08 > 0:12:11and we called it Elvis because it was a lot cheaper
0:12:11 > 0:12:15than me actually having plastic surgery, you see, so...
0:12:15 > 0:12:19The prices are coming down now, she could have had both.
0:12:19 > 0:12:25- Yes.- I love the way you bought it for your wife, called it Elvis and called it a "she".- Yes.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27Absolutely, yes.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29Which is the oldest car you've got here?
0:12:29 > 0:12:34The oldest car's a 1924 Austin 12
0:12:34 > 0:12:40which is a touring car, which has a remarkable history, it was actually found under a dust sheet in Australia
0:12:40 > 0:12:47and re-imported back into this country and restored, and it's the most beautiful example.
0:12:47 > 0:12:51- This is historically an important time for the make.- True, Michael.
0:12:51 > 0:12:57This is the centenary of the Austin make of motor car which remained at Longbridge,
0:12:57 > 0:13:04- outside Birmingham, and tragically, recently the Longbridge works has closed down.- Speaking of which,
0:13:04 > 0:13:10the weather is closing down. I'd better get back to the Winter Gardens. Any chance of a lift?
0:13:10 > 0:13:13Sure, I can give you a lift in my taxi.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16- Perfect.- The meter might be running.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46Now here we are in the Isle of Wight, but actually
0:13:46 > 0:13:49- with this piece of furniture we're in Scotland, aren't we?- Indeed yes.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52So how does Scotland come so far south?
0:13:52 > 0:13:59Well, the escritoire, as we were told, came down from my aunt and uncle who lived in Bearsden.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01- Where's that?- Just outside Glasgow.
0:14:01 > 0:14:07- Oh, yes.- North of Glasgow. It was a wedding present to my parents in, I think, around about 1928.- Right.
0:14:07 > 0:14:12And before it came to my aunt and uncle I believed it belonged to
0:14:12 > 0:14:16my uncle's parents who also lived in Bearsden so that was...
0:14:16 > 0:14:19- So it's got a very good Glasgow ancestry?- Yes, yes.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23Well, that all makes sense because of course it is a Glasgow piece.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25Now if I say to you, Charles Rennie Mackintosh.
0:14:25 > 0:14:27- Yes.- How do you react?
0:14:27 > 0:14:33- I'd be delighted if it was a design of his.- Don't get too excited because obviously, in modern terms,
0:14:33 > 0:14:36he is the great hero of that period,
0:14:36 > 0:14:42- architect, designer, in a sense the man who put modern Glasgow on the map in design terms.- Yes.
0:14:42 > 0:14:50What he and his reputation have overshadowed is a vast sub-structure of Glasgow furniture makers
0:14:50 > 0:14:57who were actually very good, very exciting, very dynamic and very modern, and we've tended to forget
0:14:57 > 0:15:01about them because he was the great hero, or he's become the great hero
0:15:01 > 0:15:07and I think in a sense, a piece like this gives us an opportunity to readdress history.
0:15:07 > 0:15:12I think this is just lovely, it's a lovely shape, scale, proportion,
0:15:12 > 0:15:15nice simple Art Nouveau-style inlay,
0:15:15 > 0:15:22we're looking at 1900-1910, exactly the period of Mackintosh, beautifully made...
0:15:22 > 0:15:25when you drop the full front down, look, isn't that lovely?
0:15:25 > 0:15:28- Yes, yes.- It's just such a contrast.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31All this dark wood, mahogany, suddenly you get this light wood,
0:15:31 > 0:15:36you get ivory handles, it's a beautiful, practical piece to me.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39- Yes.- It has all that sense of Glasgow modernism.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42Look at the way these are curved, they expand,
0:15:42 > 0:15:47and then they flare out again at the feet. It's pure Glasgow.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50This is sophisticated and modern and urban.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53If we take the drawer out,
0:15:53 > 0:15:59- there we've got the key. You knew that I'm sure.- Yes, indeed. - Do you know anything about Gardners?
0:15:59 > 0:16:04No, I tried to find out but I guess they're no longer in existence.
0:16:04 > 0:16:09A Gardner and Son were a manufacturer of furniture, a retailer of furniture,
0:16:09 > 0:16:15it started in 1832, Gardners remained in business until 1985 and they were then bought out,
0:16:15 > 0:16:18so here we have a piece made by a primary maker.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22They were the leaders of the furniture trade in Glasgow. Who's heard of them?
0:16:22 > 0:16:26This is exactly my case, you know, Mackintosh is great,
0:16:26 > 0:16:29but forget Mackintosh. If this was Mackintosh
0:16:29 > 0:16:35I'd be saying to you, £150,000, and it's nonsense! A lot of Mackintosh furniture is not well made.
0:16:35 > 0:16:42So you've got a great piece, in value terms this is probably £1,000. And to me that's ridiculous.
0:16:42 > 0:16:49Mackintosh is great, but a Mackintosh chair, not very well made, for £250,000, or this?
0:16:49 > 0:16:51Well, money apart, I'd rather have this.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55Here are two gesunking great shells.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59How did they fall into your life? With a clatter, I imagine.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03Well, I found, I found them in the garden just tucked under the hedge
0:17:03 > 0:17:08and I thought they looked interesting so I took them indoors and cleaned them up and give them a scrub.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10When you took the moss and grime away,
0:17:10 > 0:17:14did these rather haunting scenes reveal themselves to you?
0:17:14 > 0:17:19Yes, but I couldn't understand what was going on in the pictures at all.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23I was looking at the sort of quality, and some are
0:17:23 > 0:17:29very elaborate and yet the poor old elephant's got great big feet on him that's out of context.
0:17:29 > 0:17:31Well, he is out of context in a way,
0:17:31 > 0:17:36but what we need to do is look immediately at the subject matter of these two.
0:17:36 > 0:17:41They're Neo-Classical scenes, probably derived from Greek and Roman iconography
0:17:41 > 0:17:46but seen in a strangely Renaissance way too, so that's important
0:17:46 > 0:17:52because they were carved in Italy not far away from Rome itself, in Naples
0:17:52 > 0:17:56and the skill of the cameo carvers, better known in jewellery design,
0:17:56 > 0:18:00and less frequently in these very monumental shapes.
0:18:00 > 0:18:05They were probably brought back by the person that lived in your house,
0:18:05 > 0:18:07or perhaps their antecedents, in the 1880s,
0:18:07 > 0:18:09which was a very high point of this.
0:18:09 > 0:18:14- Are you pleased to have them in your house?- Yes, we quite like them.
0:18:14 > 0:18:19They decorate the room, they add to the ambience of the room quite nicely.
0:18:19 > 0:18:22I think it'd be even nicer having a drink in bed.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26That's true. It's an inspiration to get a good party going.
0:18:26 > 0:18:31Maybe you should have a party when you bring them back because the valuation
0:18:31 > 0:18:34is the good news, and a tiny bit of bad news too.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38In perfect order, they might have been worth in the region of
0:18:38 > 0:18:44£800 to £1,000, but, in my view, they're still worth
0:18:44 > 0:18:50maybe £400, £600 the pair because they're great curiosities and very rarely seen.
0:18:50 > 0:18:52Thanks for bringing them.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55You look very comfortable perched there. I can only assume
0:18:55 > 0:19:01- you've spent many hours gazing at ships through this telescope. - I certainly have.
0:19:01 > 0:19:06It's a wonderful telescope, and what first attracted me to it was this incredibly ornate mount here.
0:19:06 > 0:19:13Looking at it, initially I'm drawn to the maker's mark which I always look for with a telescope.
0:19:13 > 0:19:18R & J Beck Ltd, London, England, established 1837.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22Richard and Joseph Beck Limited, very good London makers.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25The "limited" allows me to date it very easily
0:19:25 > 0:19:29because that was used after around about 1894.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31Did you have an idea of the age of it?
0:19:31 > 0:19:38No, because I bought the telescope with a chair when I bought the house I live in now 18 years ago.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41- So it came with the house?- Yes. - Do you have a sea view?
0:19:41 > 0:19:46- Uninterrupted.- Uninterrupted sea view. So this really belongs with the house. Is it an old house?
0:19:46 > 0:19:49It's 1829.
0:19:49 > 0:19:551829, a very old house. Who was the original owner of the house? Who did you inherit this telescope from?
0:19:55 > 0:20:00- It was Major Parr and Mrs Parr of Parr's Bank.- Right.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03- I hoped you were going to say an admiral.- No.
0:20:03 > 0:20:07- An admiral would have been better than a major here.- Of course.
0:20:07 > 0:20:11But having said that, it really is a very beautiful telescope,
0:20:11 > 0:20:18in fact it was meant to look good because it is a real marine kind of gazer's telescope.
0:20:18 > 0:20:23It's on a lovely teak stand which has got these lovely scroll-work ties at the top here.
0:20:23 > 0:20:28It looks earlier than 1894-95 to me, this makes it look earlier,
0:20:28 > 0:20:31but this really dates it definitively.
0:20:31 > 0:20:37- It looks powerful. What sort of distance do you get?- You can see to the horizon with it.- Really?
0:20:37 > 0:20:40Yes, I can't always see the names on the ships.
0:20:40 > 0:20:45- I think it needs a little bit of TLC to the glass.- Does it focus well? - Very well, yes.
0:20:45 > 0:20:50It's a wonderful looking thing. What's very good, apart from its very original condition,
0:20:50 > 0:20:55you've got original lacquer which is lacking in certain parts around the scroll work here,
0:20:55 > 0:21:00but very original condition, teak stand with lovely revets down the side here,
0:21:00 > 0:21:05- the cross members with engraved decoration.- Same as the top.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09This is all decoration I don't generally expect on a telescope
0:21:09 > 0:21:12but obviously it was made to look good. That's its main attraction.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16Because it's a good-looking telescope, it's the kind
0:21:16 > 0:21:20that looks superb in a gentleman's library or on a terrace
0:21:20 > 0:21:25- and there are many reproductions around but this is a really good original version.- Lovely, isn't it?
0:21:25 > 0:21:28Lots of people would be very happy to own this.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31Have you ever thought about value on it?
0:21:31 > 0:21:33I was offered a certain amount a while back,
0:21:33 > 0:21:36but I knew it was worth more than he offered, it was a dealer.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39- Do you mind me asking how much he offered?- £600.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42I think that was a bit on the stingy side.
0:21:42 > 0:21:48- I can see this going into auction and without any hesitation making £2,000 at auction.- Really?
0:21:48 > 0:21:52- It's a lovely thing.- It is. - Great decorator's piece.
0:21:52 > 0:21:57- I've got to sell it, I'm moving and won't have any sea views, so it's got to go.- That's a shame.
0:21:57 > 0:22:00- It needs a sea view, I think. - It does, it's lovely.
0:22:00 > 0:22:04- Thank you for bringing it along. - Thank you very much, thanks.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06It's a really special picture, isn't it?
0:22:06 > 0:22:11Yes, it has got quite a history and my grandmother actually
0:22:11 > 0:22:16got off a bus in the middle of a Zeppelin raid in the First World War
0:22:16 > 0:22:19and it saved her life.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23Saved her life? How can a picture save someone's life?
0:22:23 > 0:22:27Well, she was on the bus and she was in a traffic jam and she saw it,
0:22:27 > 0:22:31and she jumped off the bus on impulse to go and buy it,
0:22:31 > 0:22:36it was in the middle of a Zeppelin raid, she was pulled to the back of the shop, later on when they emerged
0:22:36 > 0:22:42from the shop they discovered that all the glass was broken but the picture was intact, they went out
0:22:42 > 0:22:47onto the road and the bus was blown up, just a hole in the road.
0:22:47 > 0:22:53- Really?- Yes, she always told me I wouldn't have been here if it hadn't been for the picture.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56I was about seven when she gave it to me.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58That's quite a remarkable story.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02- Yes.- So it's not the Christmas association at all really.- No.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05But this picture effectively saved her life.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08Well, yes, my daughters and I, and my mother,
0:23:08 > 0:23:12would never have been around if it hadn't been for, for that.
0:23:12 > 0:23:16It's quite interesting, you've just caught a glimpse of this,
0:23:16 > 0:23:21- you've cut out this picture from what..?- It was the Daily Record.
0:23:21 > 0:23:25Yeah, it was 1916, this is September 19, 1916, isn't it?
0:23:25 > 0:23:32She goes out, she's heading towards Liverpool Street and this terrible tragedy occurs.
0:23:32 > 0:23:36- How can you put a price on something that saved your life? - You can't, can you?
0:23:36 > 0:23:41It's impossible but really special for you, tremendous piece to bring in.
0:23:41 > 0:23:45- Do you want to tell me what it is? - Yes, it's a car mascot.
0:23:45 > 0:23:52It is a car mascot and that begs the question - where is the car these days?
0:23:52 > 0:23:58Well, unfortunately it was sold, it was an Alvis, it was my father's Alvis.
0:23:58 > 0:24:03- What date are we talking about, that car?- Oh, he had the Alvis in the middle of the 1960s
0:24:03 > 0:24:06and he had it up until about 1997.
0:24:06 > 0:24:11- So the car was a '60s car, or was it older? - The car was earlier than that, yes.
0:24:11 > 0:24:15OK, because this car mascot would have been on a car
0:24:15 > 0:24:22that would have been around, initially in the late 1920s, early 1930s,
0:24:22 > 0:24:28and the fact it's a glass car mascot, well, there are no prizes for guessing who it's by.
0:24:28 > 0:24:31It has a very nice signature which we can see engraved
0:24:31 > 0:24:36on here that tells us of course that it's by that great man Rene Lalique.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39But what a strange-looking mount!
0:24:39 > 0:24:44I mean, this is Lalique from here...to here, OK?
0:24:44 > 0:24:48So just describe this rather strange-looking wooden mount.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50What is this thing here?
0:24:50 > 0:24:53After my father could no longer have it on the car,
0:24:53 > 0:24:59he dismounted it and my grandfather made the plinth for it, it's the inside of a 1960s television.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02- This bit here?- Yes, the glass bit.
0:25:02 > 0:25:07- So what is that?- I believe that's part of the photon tube from a television of that period.
0:25:07 > 0:25:12I'll believe you. So is this a device that allows you to illuminate this mascot?
0:25:12 > 0:25:17It used to light up, yes, it used to light up a nice mauve purply colour.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21Lovely, that was the great virtue of Lalique's car mascots.
0:25:21 > 0:25:27First of all, let's just say that this particular one was known simply, in this country,
0:25:27 > 0:25:31as the large dragonfly, and of course there's a small dragonfly.
0:25:31 > 0:25:36This I find the most interesting, it's in remarkable condition.
0:25:36 > 0:25:42Date-wise I would say around about 1928-1930.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45You would have paid either three guineas,
0:25:45 > 0:25:48or four guineas if you wanted it fitted for illumination.
0:25:48 > 0:25:55Not bad. If I was to go out and put a mascot like this on my car, I would have to dig deep
0:25:55 > 0:25:59because I saw one of these mascots sold
0:25:59 > 0:26:03only a couple of months ago, in London, um...
0:26:03 > 0:26:07and it made just short of £3,000.
0:26:07 > 0:26:13- Oh, that's very nice.- It makes you wonder what the Alvis is worth today, doesn't it?- Yeah,
0:26:13 > 0:26:15I wish he'd kept it.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20I probably wouldn't have chosen it, but it has a nice story behind it.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24It was left to my husband's grandfather by two great aunts,
0:26:24 > 0:26:29who'd done lots of travelling and were extraordinary women. Their father died when they were young,
0:26:29 > 0:26:32they had little money and set up two businesses,
0:26:32 > 0:26:37a creche and a laundry, and they built things up from that and then they'd gone travelling.
0:26:37 > 0:26:43- Apparently went round the world twice and even got shipwrecked off New Zealand.- When was this?
0:26:43 > 0:26:49Well, um...it must have been late 1800s but I don't know the exact...
0:26:49 > 0:26:52- Late 19th century.- Yes.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56That would actually make perfect sense for the date of this cabinet.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00If they'd done well in their businesses and they did a world trip,
0:27:00 > 0:27:06just as today, if you do a cruise, you were taken on a tour when you landed in...
0:27:06 > 0:27:10wherever it was, you would be taken to the manufacturers
0:27:10 > 0:27:14to see whether you wanted to buy something
0:27:14 > 0:27:17and so it was in the 19th century. Nothing has changed.
0:27:17 > 0:27:22And this could well have been picked up in where?
0:27:22 > 0:27:24I assume China or...
0:27:24 > 0:27:27You assume wrong.
0:27:27 > 0:27:30- Um, it's actually Japanese.- Oh.
0:27:30 > 0:27:34The Chinese, in centuries gone by, have produced wonderful things.
0:27:34 > 0:27:40But when it came to the late 19th century, almost nothing.
0:27:40 > 0:27:44The emphasis had switched to Japan.
0:27:44 > 0:27:50And this...I mean, I've been dealing with Japanese objects for nearly 40 years
0:27:50 > 0:27:54and this is as good as it gets,
0:27:54 > 0:27:56this is magnificent.
0:27:56 > 0:28:02The quality of the carving that's been thrown at this is phenomenal.
0:28:02 > 0:28:06Everywhere you look, it's just brilliant.
0:28:06 > 0:28:11- We've got a typical Japanese scene here of quail in millet.- Yes.
0:28:11 > 0:28:13They loved quail in millet.
0:28:13 > 0:28:19- The landscapes here are actually Chinese in style, this is taken from Sung painting.- Right.
0:28:19 > 0:28:24In China. And they've translated it to Japan. Flocks of birds...
0:28:24 > 0:28:28you find these carved on vases
0:28:28 > 0:28:31made of wood...
0:28:31 > 0:28:38panels here, shi-shi, these Buddhist lion leaping about on here, wonderfully done.
0:28:38 > 0:28:40Arthur Negus... do you remember Arthur Negus?
0:28:40 > 0:28:45Arthur, although he was into 18th-century furniture,
0:28:45 > 0:28:52wood was his great love and I think he would have seen this and he would have gone,
0:28:52 > 0:28:54you know, this would have turned him on.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57I can see him saying,
0:28:57 > 0:29:01"Oh, just look at the carving of that, it's wonderful.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04"Just look at the way that dragon comes round like that,
0:29:04 > 0:29:08"oh, you can feel it." All Arthur.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11It's great. The eyes are inlaid in horn to give them life,
0:29:11 > 0:29:14it's a splendid, splendid thing.
0:29:14 > 0:29:18We've got doors that open, we've got doors that slide
0:29:18 > 0:29:22in characteristically Japanese style.
0:29:22 > 0:29:25I don't want to be rude
0:29:25 > 0:29:27but it is filthy.
0:29:27 > 0:29:32- I tried to dust it, nervous about certainly the detail. - I'll tell you what you do.
0:29:32 > 0:29:36- You get a one-inch house-painting brush.- Yeah.
0:29:36 > 0:29:41And you go like that and all that dust will fly out.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44- Fine.- And it'll look a hundred times better.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47So, do we have it insured?
0:29:47 > 0:29:50Um, I'd have to check with my husband, I've got no idea.
0:29:50 > 0:29:53If you haven't, you jolly well should.
0:29:53 > 0:29:56Um, even in these depressed times,
0:29:56 > 0:30:01and the market is not strong for Japanese things at the moment,
0:30:01 > 0:30:06I think you wouldn't have any difficulty getting £10,000 to £15,000 for it.
0:30:06 > 0:30:10- So that means £20,000 for insurance.- Right.
0:30:10 > 0:30:15- I'll speak to my husband.- Thank you very much for bringing this over. - Thank you.- Thank you.
0:30:16 > 0:30:22So these beguiling faces normally hang on your dining-room wall and are part of your extended family?
0:30:22 > 0:30:24- Yes, they are.- How does that work?
0:30:24 > 0:30:30It was left to my husband, this painting, by this gentleman here.
0:30:30 > 0:30:31The strutting young man.
0:30:31 > 0:30:38Yes. Because he grew up to be Speaker of the House of Commons in the war
0:30:38 > 0:30:41and he was with Churchill all that time...
0:30:41 > 0:30:44absolutely hectic life as you can imagine.
0:30:44 > 0:30:50- If only coping with Churchill during the war.- Yes, exactly. That was an enormous task.
0:30:50 > 0:30:55And so the two girls are... this lady is
0:30:55 > 0:31:00Elsie, Lady Bradford, my husband's mother
0:31:00 > 0:31:04and that's his aunt, Isla.
0:31:04 > 0:31:11And then Douglas, he was a colonel in the army before that and then of course he was adopted to the Speaker.
0:31:11 > 0:31:17This is a very interesting picture, entwined with a very illustrious history, a great provenance,
0:31:17 > 0:31:23and is itself I think a rather glorious example of late 19th century society portraiture.
0:31:23 > 0:31:26- That's right.- I mean it's actually a very good picture
0:31:26 > 0:31:31to look at and you can't always say that about ancestral portraits, they can be quite strong medicine.
0:31:31 > 0:31:35The artist, Alfred Emslie, was quite sophisticated, a portrait painter,
0:31:35 > 0:31:40- but also a genre painter, he was aware of greater ideas in art.- Oh.
0:31:40 > 0:31:47And this painting has running through its canvas all sorts of ideas and influences from the past,
0:31:47 > 0:31:50bombarding down upon it and you've got this magnificent curtain,
0:31:50 > 0:31:54this swag, which one sees in Rubens and Titian.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57very good way of filling the back of a picture.
0:31:57 > 0:32:03- It's a good, important, elevating way of suggesting that this is a good society image.- Yes.
0:32:03 > 0:32:08And then of course - I love this - the speaker-to-be standing there with...
0:32:08 > 0:32:11and that's a crib from Van Dyck.
0:32:11 > 0:32:17- Really?- Yeah. Lord Bernard Stuart in the National Gallery, and it's a way of suggesting
0:32:17 > 0:32:24that this person has a little bit of attitude, will go places, this is a portentous sign of what's to come.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27- Yes.- And there he is, the speaker-to-be... I love that.
0:32:27 > 0:32:34I might explain that they were a very wealthy family living where the airport is now, London airport,
0:32:34 > 0:32:39had thousands of acres and they were considered rather like royalty.
0:32:39 > 0:32:43I see what you mean actually, yes, he's got that look.
0:32:43 > 0:32:45Yes, he has, hasn't he?
0:32:45 > 0:32:48And conversely, the girls are far more feminine,
0:32:48 > 0:32:52they derive from 18th-century ideas of portraiture seen in
0:32:52 > 0:32:54Fragonard and Boucher.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57The artist, Alfred Emslie, do you know anything about him?
0:32:57 > 0:32:59I don't know enough about him.
0:32:59 > 0:33:03He's important, not top rank, one might have imagined they'd have chosen
0:33:03 > 0:33:09a slightly grander painter but he was none the less a significant portraitist and genre painter.
0:33:09 > 0:33:14It's a lovely work, it's got a great history, it's an interesting artist,
0:33:14 > 0:33:17illustrious sitters, all sorts of references, Old Master references.
0:33:17 > 0:33:19- Yes.- It's got a lot going on in it.
0:33:19 > 0:33:25Whatever you do with it and wherever it ends up, you'll need to insure for about £15,000.
0:33:25 > 0:33:27I see.
0:33:27 > 0:33:31Right, thank you very much, it's very interesting to hear about the artist.
0:33:33 > 0:33:38I'm not quite sure which is the more hideous, your vase or my tie.
0:33:38 > 0:33:44- I think something can be done about my vase, but not a lot can be done about your tie.- That's true.
0:33:44 > 0:33:48- This is a Troika vase, you see on the bottom.- Right.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51But I've never ever seen this weird and wonderful colour way
0:33:51 > 0:33:56with this glitter effect on the top, can you explain that to me?
0:33:56 > 0:34:00Well, I found it in a local store. And I was attracted by the shape.
0:34:00 > 0:34:03So for 20 pence, I bought it but I really didn't like
0:34:03 > 0:34:07- the colouring which was very dark, dismal blue and orangey colour.- Yes.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11One Christmas I thought I'd quite like it to go into my bathroom
0:34:11 > 0:34:16which was a new bathroom and very aqua and turquoise bathroom.
0:34:16 > 0:34:23- Right.- So I just got a bit creative and stuck in the bathroom with a Christmas decoration in it
0:34:23 > 0:34:27- and then years after that I heard the name Troika.- So you painted it?
0:34:27 > 0:34:30- I did, yes.- You painted it to match the bathroom.- I did.
0:34:30 > 0:34:36- Then you sprinkled glitter over it. - Absolutely.- Which is coming off. - Absolutely, yeah.
0:34:36 > 0:34:41- And created a unique piece of Troika.- I've never seen one like it. - No, neither have I.
0:34:41 > 0:34:43Absolutely amazing.
0:34:43 > 0:34:50It's marked on the bottom Troika Cornwall and the letters AB which is a lady called Alison Brigdon
0:34:50 > 0:34:55- who was working at Troika between 1976 and 1983.- Right, OK.
0:34:55 > 0:35:00So there we are. Before its redecoration as you could call it,
0:35:00 > 0:35:03its coat of paint, it was worth about £200.
0:35:03 > 0:35:09- Great.- Now I think probably the paint won't come off, we could try paint stripper
0:35:09 > 0:35:15and get the paint stripped off, you get the £200 but I suspect that it's not going to happen.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18Thank you, yes, I feel sick, again.
0:35:18 > 0:35:20- Oh.- Still.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23It was my mother's,
0:35:23 > 0:35:28she had it I think round about the very early 1900s.
0:35:28 > 0:35:35And then it came to my sister, my eldest sister, and then to me, the youngest one of the family.
0:35:35 > 0:35:39Yes, how marvellous and in fact 1900's a perfect date for this
0:35:39 > 0:35:42because at that time the Art Nouveau Movement was felt
0:35:42 > 0:35:46and this is an Art Nouveau jewel, it's got a very sinuous line, hasn't it?
0:35:46 > 0:35:52- Very asymmetrical.- Yes. - And that's really a sort of visual signpost to me
0:35:52 > 0:35:55that it does date from about 1900.
0:35:55 > 0:35:59There are several other visual signposts. It's gold and silver,
0:35:59 > 0:36:06and we can say with confidence that it's an English jewel, an English jewel set with diamonds, isn't it?
0:36:06 > 0:36:08Yes, I treasure it very much.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10I'm sure you do. Do you ever wear it?
0:36:10 > 0:36:16Yes, I do, I wore it...um, six weeks ago on my 90th birthday.
0:36:16 > 0:36:21- On your 90th birthday, I can't believe that. How marvellous!- Yes.
0:36:21 > 0:36:27That's what it's all about. People say wearing diamonds is like having champagne, it lifts the spirits.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30- Does it do that for you? - Yes, it does, yes.- How fantastic.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33Especially when people admire it on you, yes.
0:36:33 > 0:36:39Rarely seen today, this degree of craftsmanship, because in 1900 this level of expertise,
0:36:39 > 0:36:44- this level of design, was expected almost everywhere, and today it's hard to find.- Yes.
0:36:44 > 0:36:49That's the fascination with older things, so we're lucky to have them.
0:36:49 > 0:36:53- A pretty English jewel from 1900.- I think I'm very fortunate to have it.
0:36:53 > 0:36:58Well, heaven knows, and in a sense its value is sort of limitless to you because it's family.
0:36:58 > 0:37:03It is, yes, it will go down the family so far as I'm concerned, I'd never sell it.
0:37:03 > 0:37:08That's the point of it. It's unchanging, it'll never fade, it will be exactly the same
0:37:08 > 0:37:11as it was for your mother and for your sister and for you
0:37:11 > 0:37:15in all the generations it's hoping to pass down through.
0:37:15 > 0:37:21I suppose we do have to consider its value because everybody's madly curious, so we mustn't cheat them.
0:37:21 > 0:37:29- No.- And it's very concentrated and it's exactly the right scale for today and I think really everybody
0:37:29 > 0:37:34would be pleased to give £2,500 to £3,000 for it today.
0:37:34 > 0:37:35Really?
0:37:38 > 0:37:42Gracious, I didn't expect that.
0:37:42 > 0:37:48Brilliant, well, I didn't expect to see you, and you've really been absolutely marvellous, a real star.
0:37:48 > 0:37:51- Thank you very much.- Fantastic, thanks for bringing it.
0:37:51 > 0:37:53Thank you, lovely.
0:37:53 > 0:37:58This could be the most exciting discovery of the day. Tell us what it is and where you found it.
0:37:58 > 0:38:05We have here a poster from the 1987 Antiques Roadshow when it came to Ventnor and I was working
0:38:05 > 0:38:10doing the interiors of a new building up the road, we took over an old office next door
0:38:10 > 0:38:15and I found this in the back room and I thought that it was rather a lovely poster
0:38:15 > 0:38:18since I'm a fan of the show and I had it framed
0:38:18 > 0:38:23and it now hangs in pride of place in our family pub in Ventnor.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26- Soon there'll be another alongside it from today's show.- Exactly.
0:38:26 > 0:38:308th October 1987, they worked a short day, 10am to 4pm.
0:38:30 > 0:38:32- We work longer hours now.- Yes.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35Thank you for having us here.
0:38:35 > 0:38:40From everyone on the Roadshow to everyone in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight, thank you and goodbye.