Tavistock Antiques Roadshow


Tavistock

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This week, the Antiques Roadshow is racing through Devon,

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our destination - the historic town of Tavistock on the edge of Dartmoor.

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Wonderful country and a breeding place for myth and legend.

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At nearly 1,000 square kilometres - make that 368 square miles - Dartmoor is the largest

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and the wildest area of open country in the south of England.

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Distinctive granite tors, abandoned tin mines and Bronze Age settlements are scattered all over the place.

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You can see how it would appeal to writers.

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Arthur Conan Doyle did his bit to immortalise Dartmoor

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with his terrifying tale of The Hound Of The Baskervilles Versus Sherlock Holmes,

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and HERE is the very swamp where the half-starved beast lay in wait for its victims.

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The dog was around here somewhere, too.

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HOWLING

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The great moor land was also said to be the lair of witches

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who infested the granite tors,

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luring young men into the swamps and watching them sink to their deaths.

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Even now, when a mist descends, the imagination can run wild.

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Right, that's enough myth and legend, here's an ancient fact.

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There's gold in them there moors.

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Well, tin, actually.

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The miners who dug the stuff up needed somewhere to have their tin evaluated,

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and 700 years ago a royal charter to do just that was granted to a town by the name of...

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Tavistock, and this is it.

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Tavistock already had a thriving weekly market which Henry I had agreed to back in 1105.

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The first traders set up their stalls here in Market Street

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exactly 900 years ago, and they're still doing it.

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An unknown poet has written,

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-IN A WEST COUNTRY ACCENT:

-"I love to go to Tavistock on market day when people flock by train and bus

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"and trap and car, from every village near and far they bring their butter, cream and cheese,

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"their chickens and their ducks to please the many folk who find their way to Tavistock on market day."

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The only chickens and ducks we see today will be made of porcelain, I think.

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The most recent market to open here is one for antiques.

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And in a comradely way, the traders of Tavistock's Pannier Market have offered up their pitches

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to our experts for what we hope will be an historic roadshow.

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You know, some people love gnomes and some people loathe gnomes.

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-What are you?

-I think they're hideous, but then that's only my personal opinion.

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They're my wife's, actually, and she likes them and her family like them so...

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-So descended to your wife, have they?

-Yes, indeed, they belonged to her grandparents many years ago,

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and they owned hotels down in Cornwall, in Weybridge, and they seem to remember these,

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er...chappies were in the hotels and in the foyer, you know, welcoming people as they went in.

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They're welcoming creatures, aren't they? Lovely happy faces.

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Oh, they have, and you can tell they're Cornish.

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This chap's collecting money from people,

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and this chap's obviously taking the tourists' photographs.

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You'd better not go to Cornwall after this!

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Now, a lot of people think they're English creations, but of course they

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don't come from England originally, they come from Germany.

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And these are German gnomes in terracotta,

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painted terracotta, um, somewhere in date about 1900, incredibly early.

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They're about the earliest gnomes you're likely to come across.

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There are a few earlier ones,

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they became very popular in Europe and then came over to England

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somewhere about the 1880s, 1890s, and I suppose they derive really

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from, um, you know, the Ring of the Nibelung, you know, they're little miners and getting money and...

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But the camera is fantastic, isn't it?

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A little box Brownie, yeah.

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An early box camera, yes, and in date quite right for about 1900,

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so they're both very, very early gnomes and as such are very collectable.

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They just stand around looking handsome, I suppose.

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-So they're not Cornish piskies after all.

-They're not, no!

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But I think they're great, though you obviously don't like them.

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I'm only joking, really, we can give them house room.

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Give them house room now, because they are reasonably valuable.

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I suppose a good pair like this,

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in very, very good condition,

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I suppose they're going to be at auction something like about £2,000.

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-Well, you do surprise me.

-So look after them.

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-Will do.

-And cheer them up.

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-Well, they'll keep smiling, don't worry.

-Keep smiling!

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This is probably the most uncomfortable suit of clothes

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I think, I've ever seen.

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It's made of, er...sacking or canvas.

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-Yes.

-With this incredibly coarse stitching. Where did you get it from?

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Um, well, I actually work for a museum, local, Dartmoor Prison,

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and they obtained it last year.

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It was from Exeter Prison, it's either originated from Dartmoor or Exeter.

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They weren't sure themselves but other than that...

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Well, certainly, as far as dating is concerned,

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the National Penitentiary Service, which was formed in 1850, I think,

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the prisoners of that service wore the broad arrow outfit, the uniform.

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-Right, yes.

-And so we're certain... We know that it can't be before 1850.

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-Oh, right.

-And I think the National Penitentiary Service was abolished in about 1920 or thereabouts,

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-so it wouldn't be after 1920.

-No, no.

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So it has to be in that sort of actually fairly broad corridor.

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-Yes.

-It's certainly a really uncomfortable uniform.

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Can you imagine wearing this on a really cold icy winter's morning with probably no underwear?

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It must have been incredibly uncomfortable to use.

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What about the broad arrow? What do you know about that?

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We believe it meant that...

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it's a government symbol, something like that.

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Absolutely right, it was quite common at the time for guns and anything really belonging to the government

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to be marked with this broad arrow, so I guess what they were saying here

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that the prisoner was - for the time that he was in prison - property of the government.

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I can't imagine there are very many of these around in the country.

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It must be almost unique, I would think.

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-Yes.

-But you've brought in something else...

-Yes.

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-..That I find fascinating and actually quite gruesome at the same time.

-It is really.

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-This is a real, genuine cat o' nine tails.

-Yeah.

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And has this come from the same place?

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It did, yes, we don't know any background to that at all, that's the thing.

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OK, well, um, it's a pretty gruesome object, and of course the origin,

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really, in common use came from the Navy in the 17th and 18th century.

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And it brought about such common phrases, for example, as, "Don't let the cat out of the bag"

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and, "Not enough room to swing a cat."

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-On board ship, of course, room was very, very tight.

-Yeah.

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But this is extraordinary, because this has never, ever been used, thank goodness, I think I should say.

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It looks almost new. I mean, if you'd said to me this was made last year, I'd have believed you.

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But I think it has to have some age to it, it's a genuine...

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Oh, that's interesting, we've got a wax seal on the end

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that says, "Prison Commission, Home Office".

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-That's interesting. I think probably that means it's 20th century.

-Right.

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And you've got to remember that corporal punishment, of course, continued until the...what?

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1950s, even '60s, I think...

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-I wasn't sure.

-..With birching and beating with the cat o' nine tails, in prisons in particular.

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Now, what about value? Have you thought about that?

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-We haven't got a clue.

-How do you put a value on something like this?

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We really haven't got a clue with these, no. We really don't know.

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It's very, very hard to put a value on objects such as these.

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There are collectors of police and prison memorabilia, of course.

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I guess that if something like this came up on the open market today,

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it's such a rare object, such an unusual object, that I think it could sell for

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-several thousand pounds, probably two, maybe even £3,000, because it's so rare.

-Yes, thank you.

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And as far as the cat o' nine tails is concerned, not quite that much,

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but it is a very collectable object...

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-Thank you.

-..I'm afraid to say, and my guess is, again if it came up

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on the open market, that it would sell for £500-600.

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-Amazing.

-Quite extraordinary.

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-Tell me about her.

-Well, she was my mother's,

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and so I did see her from time to time. I mean, she was brought out.

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-Were you allowed to play with her?

-I didn't, but I know my mother did.

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My mother was born in 1905, and she played with her a lot, I think.

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-Can I hold her?

-Yes.

-Um...

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Now you said your mother was born in 1905.

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-Yes, she was.

-So this doll actually was born a bit later, as it were,

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she was registered in 1909.

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-Oh, right.

-In fact, she could have even been registered

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in 1911, even a bit later than that, so your mother would have been what?

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-Six or something.

-Perhaps, could it have been...

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I don't think she'd have been given a bisque doll, which is what it is -

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-it's, unglazed porcelain...

-Yes.

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..If she was really a baby,

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so if she was sort of six, it would have been perfect.

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-I see.

-She's kept it very well, although the stringing's

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a little bit loose, but that's what happens with a bit of elastic.

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It sort of starts going a bit loose, you know, like all of us when we get later on in life.

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Now, behind, I mean, I immediately knew what she was

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because of the mould of her face,

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because of the charming little smiling mouth.

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-She's got a lovely, lovely expression.

-She is a darling.

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And do you know what she's known as?

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She's German, and they call her, "Mein Liebling", my darling.

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-Oh, really?

-Yes, and behind...there is, underneath the wig,

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"K*R...Simon & Halbig...117."

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Now, the K*R is Kammer - or Kammer with an umlaut over the "a" -

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and Reinhardt, together with Simon and Halbig.

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Now, Kammer and Reinhardt designed it but made the body,

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and Simon and Halbig made the head according to the design,

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and 117 is what we call the hundred mould of Kammer and Reinhardt.

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-Yes.

-Have you any idea of her value?

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None, no.

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-No? None whatsoever?

-Not at all, no.

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So if I said she was worth 300, what would you think?

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Well, she could be, I don't...I honestly don't know.

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Well, if you add a nought and say between £3,000 and £4,000, would that make you feel a bit better?

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I am...I am astonished, and my mother would have been astonished, too.

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-She's a real little darling, isn't she?

-Good gracious, yes.

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And I nearly didn't bring them!

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The box says, "Clock".

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Yes, there is a clock.

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Yes, this is one of those relatively inexpensive American clocks that were made to simulate marble.

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They were sent over to this country in quite large numbers to...

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to combat, as it were, the influx of marble clocks from the Continent,

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made for very much...let's say the cottage market.

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-So I can see the clock's dismantled, this must have been a restoration project.

-Yes.

-Who did it belong to?

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-My husband.

-And he enjoyed mucking about with clocks?

-Oh, yes.

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This is obviously the movement in here, I can see the bell poking out.

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But while I was glancing earlier,

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I can see a telltale sign of a problem that these, as I say,

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inexpensive clocks often have, and yes, look,

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there is further evidence of what I think I'm going to find.

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Oh, dear, yes,

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-this has got the best example of this problem that I have ever seen.

-Yes.

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-The only thing holding it together is the lacquer on the outside.

-Yes.

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The woodworm have really gone to town.

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There's nothing you can do, and this clock really boils down to a set of spare parts.

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Now come on, David, nationality.

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We've got to try and get this right.

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I've been looking at these things for 30 years,

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and I sway backwards between China and Japan,

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and I've never really formed a definite opinion.

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-Well, they're export, I presume?

-Oh, yeah, and they're characteristically

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Chinese in style, but that doesn't mean to say they can't be Japanese.

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-Cos the Japanese were copying the Chinese styles.

-Yeah.

-So let's go for it, then, what is it?

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-Japanese.

-Chinese.

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So you think Chinese? OK, well, we'll give it some more thought.

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Yeah, OK.

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So what do you think this extraordinary object could possibly have been used for?

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Well, it was sold to me as a warmer, but how it works or what...

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-A warmer?

-Yes.

-A warmer of what, do you...?

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-I'm not sure.

-It is a food warmer, um...

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and to understand the principle behind it, you have to...

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we have to cast our minds back into the 18th century

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and imagine how people lived, and you might imagine a rather dark, cold, inhospitable room

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which might have been somebody's bedroom,

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and they might have decided they wanted a warm snack in the middle of the night.

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The kitchen was miles away,

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your staff had all gone to bed.

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How do you get your food warm?

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-You might have a bit of soup, something like that, and that's what these were for.

-Oh, right.

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Can you speculate how you warm food in that?

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It's difficult, isn't it? I guess a candle or something went in there.

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Yeah, yeah.

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-There must be something missing out of the top here.

-Absolutely right.

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I have seen... You say you haven't seen one before,

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I have seen one before illustrated in a book.

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And your piece is, in fact, missing...

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a little bowl that rests in the centre here, and this was the lid that went on the top to keep it warm,

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and to combine a knop or a handle with a little taper stick, so you would have had a little

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taper in the top with a flame alight that you could have used to light the burner underneath.

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It's English Delft, and it dates from about 1760-1770.

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They were made in London. We think they were probably made in Lambeth.

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A very, very reassuring thing to see is, when we turn the piece over,

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we've got a numeral painted on the base,

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the same numeral there on the lid, so we know that these two pieces

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have been together since 1760-70 when they were made.

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Um... But really a very, very rare object.

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The design is terribly interesting, too, these wonderful scroll handles

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and human masks, human masks applied to either side.

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And that typical symptom of Delft,

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it's an earthenware body covered in a white tin glaze, and the glaze chips

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off very easily to give you these...little imperfections, I suppose you'd call them.

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On Delft, minor chipping isn't really an issue.

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What probably is more of an issue with this is the lack of the bowl.

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Can you tell me where you got it?

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I bought it from an antique show last summer, and I paid 700 for it.

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-700, and they knew what it was?

-They knew what it was, yeah.

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Yeah, well, I think you did tremendously well, because...

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if we start at the top and say...

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if you had the liner, the bowl,

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and if the cover wasn't in rather cracked condition,

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-I'd be saying 4,000 or 5,000 on this.

-Really?

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It is extremely rare.

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I think without the bowl

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you're still going to be 1,500, probably £2,000.

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-That's fantastic.

-So that's what I call good investment,

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buying last year for £700, and doubling your money in 12 months.

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-Fantastic, thank you very much.

-Good, wonderful.

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We were having a look at this earlier

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and trying to decide whether it was Japanese or Chinese,

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and I've always kind of thought they were Japanese

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because I've got a catalogue, a 1920s catalogue,

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by a company called Yamanaka, and they were a Japanese company which imported goods into Europe,

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and these are illustrated in it.

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So I kind of, without really thinking about it, assumed they were Japanese,

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but...the more one looks at it,

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the more one suspects that actually it's not Japanese, it's Chinese.

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It's red lacquer over carved wood.

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The dragon here is pursuing the Buddhistic pearl of wisdom

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which it's managed to catch in here.

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Actually, I see it's got my moustache on it, which is...

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But the thing that clinched it for me as China, not Japan, is this panel.

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I was in the Forbidden City in Peking earlier in the year,

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and there are panels almost identical to that

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over some of the doorways,

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and I think this is definitely Chinese, not Japanese.

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I think the date is 1920s, um...

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but the interesting thing is that the form

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is rather like a George III English chair.

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-Yes.

-Mahogany chair.

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-Do you sit in it?

-Yes, now and then.

-You do?

-Yes.

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Well done, where did it come from?

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-Um, I bought it when I was 12 years old.

-When you were 12?!

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Yes, yeah, from a house clearance.

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Very precocious, if I might say so.

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Well, I went there with my father,

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and he was doing something there, I don't know what he was doing exactly,

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but, um...I liked the look of it, and I bought it for £12.

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-Really?

-Yes.

-And when was that?

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That'd be 1939. I'm 78 now, so...

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What on earth was a 12-year-old doing buying a chair?

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You could have bought a bicycle!

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Ah, I already had a bicycle.

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Very good! What attracted you to it?

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-Well, I just liked the intricate carving on it.

-Yes.

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Have you bought more antiques since?

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-No, no.

-How extraordinary!

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A flash in the pan, well done, you.

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I remember these selling in salerooms in London in the 1970s for quite a lot of money,

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and it's the sort of thing which moves in cycles, in and out of fashion.

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But I have to be quite honest, the market at the moment is...

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I mean, the market really is flat, not just for this, but for a whole raft of things,

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and I think if you put this into an auction today, I suspect it would probably make in the region of

0:20:100:20:17

£400, £500, something like that, so it's not a bad investment.

0:20:170:20:22

Not a bad investment, no.

0:20:220:20:24

-Can I... Can I do something?

-Yes.

0:20:240:20:26

I want to sit in it.

0:20:260:20:27

-It's very comfortable, actually.

-It's good, isn't it?

-Yes, it is.

0:20:300:20:33

-I can see why you bought it. Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

0:20:330:20:37

Everyone here at the Roadshow has personal items that they cherish,

0:20:410:20:45

but there is one symbol of a momentous day in people's lives

0:20:450:20:48

that often gets thrown away or forgotten about, and that's the wedding dress,

0:20:480:20:52

but not in Barbara Churchill's case. You've not only got your own dress,

0:20:520:20:56

-but you've got how many others? 140?

-That's right.

0:20:560:20:59

Why do you collect wedding dresses?

0:20:590:21:02

They...are worn on a very happy occasion

0:21:020:21:05

and then invariably put in a box.

0:21:050:21:08

I thought, you know, it's a shame that such happiness is packed away.

0:21:080:21:12

Even if marriages go wrong in the end,

0:21:120:21:15

that day is a special day.

0:21:150:21:18

So when did wedding dresses come in?

0:21:180:21:21

White wedding dresses came in in the Victorian times when Queen Victoria

0:21:210:21:26

had a white dress, so everybody wanted to follow fashion, basically.

0:21:260:21:32

White, I suppose, symbolising purity.

0:21:320:21:34

Purity, that's right, and a green dress

0:21:340:21:39

had the sort of hint that maybe...

0:21:390:21:43

you know, there'd been a bit of frolicking in the grass, so they seemed to die out.

0:21:430:21:49

So there's a stigma attached to a coloured dress.

0:21:490:21:51

Very often, very often.

0:21:510:21:53

Well, you've got a selection of your huge mass of dresses.

0:21:530:21:57

Are these as old as they appear, these pretty ones?

0:21:570:21:59

These are from the 1940s.

0:21:590:22:03

This pink one here is not actually mine, but it's on permanent loan,

0:22:030:22:08

because I show them occasionally for charity,

0:22:080:22:11

and the lady who wore this dress had really gone to the shop to buy

0:22:110:22:17

some white fabric, but when she got there, she didn't have enough...

0:22:170:22:22

coupons, so she had to have pink.

0:22:220:22:25

You mean white was more expensive than any other colour?

0:22:250:22:29

-Absolutely, absolutely.

-This is very pretty, too.

0:22:290:22:32

This one is a friend...was a friend of mine,

0:22:320:22:35

and she was getting married six weeks after her mother had died,

0:22:350:22:40

and so her father was a little bit perturbed about her wearing white,

0:22:400:22:46

so out of respect for Mum and Dad, she went and purchased a grey dress.

0:22:460:22:51

Right, because a dress doesn't necessarily look...

0:22:510:22:54

or rather it can look older than it is because people choose different styles, don't they?

0:22:540:22:58

Absolutely, absolutely, yes.

0:22:580:23:00

I mean, that looks terribly old there, and it probably is, is it?

0:23:000:23:03

This one is from 1887, and they came very often in two pieces, rather than in the single piece.

0:23:030:23:11

-That's a two-piece?

-That's a two-piece, yes, it is,

0:23:110:23:14

and the belt covers up the join.

0:23:140:23:17

Actually, when it was made, it had lace all around the collar

0:23:170:23:22

and all draping over the sleeve.

0:23:220:23:25

This is a photograph of the lady.

0:23:250:23:28

-Oh, that's the very dress.

-That's the very dress.

-There it is.

0:23:280:23:31

Good Lord, women have all the fun, don't they?

0:23:330:23:35

Here he is, looking very staid, and she looks ravishing.

0:23:350:23:39

And this is your own wedding dress. Is it as it was on the great day?

0:23:390:23:44

No, nothing like it.

0:23:440:23:46

-This dress has been worn about 20 odd times since I actually wore it on my wedding day.

-By you?

0:23:460:23:53

No, once when I was 21 I had it cut off so I could

0:23:530:23:57

wear it without tripping over, and then after that it was reduced

0:23:570:24:02

again to be worn in many pantomimes by the fairy,

0:24:020:24:06

and I think it's been in about 20 pantomimes since then.

0:24:060:24:10

It's paid for itself, that's what I was looking for.

0:24:100:24:13

-You've got the ultimate dust trap here, tell me.

-I'm afraid I have!

0:24:160:24:20

I love it, but my wife hates it.

0:24:200:24:21

I have to clean it.

0:24:210:24:25

And how long have you had this?

0:24:250:24:28

Well, my mother bought this in Kingsbridge market in 1954 for £4.

0:24:280:24:34

She then took it on to Saltash and painted it white,

0:24:340:24:39

and she painted all the leaves green and all the flowers red and yellow and blue.

0:24:390:24:43

She did a beautiful job of it.

0:24:430:24:46

Then years later... My mother incidentally died in 1999, aged 102,

0:24:460:24:50

and years later the central heating took over, and the whole thing disintegrated.

0:24:500:24:57

I had some friends round for tea one night, Andrew Sharrick and his mother from Tedburn St Mary,

0:24:570:25:02

and I told them about this, so he asked to see it, and he said, "Cor, I'd love to restore it!"

0:25:020:25:10

I said, "Andrew, help yourself," and what you see today

0:25:100:25:14

is the result of Andrew's handiwork.

0:25:140:25:17

What a wonderful, wonderful story.

0:25:170:25:19

I believe this is made out of solid ebony.

0:25:190:25:23

-Right.

-And it would have been one hand who would have made it and executed it.

0:25:230:25:28

-It would have been made for the European market in Ceylon, it's Ceylonese.

-Right, right.

0:25:280:25:34

It's quite crude, I mean it... the whole is beautifully executed,

0:25:340:25:38

-but when you get into it, it's quite crude.

-Right.

0:25:380:25:41

If we look closely at the baskets, when we look at the detail there, it's not as sharp as it could be.

0:25:410:25:47

-Right.

-When we come down onto the base, you can see again, if you look

0:25:470:25:52

at the lion paw foot, instead of being a nice, big, generous paw,

0:25:520:25:56

it's a little bit on the mean side.

0:25:560:25:59

-Naive I think would be the word, would it?

-Yes, naive or crude.

0:25:590:26:02

So originally it was designed for holding a plant,

0:26:020:26:06

an aspidistra or something like that.

0:26:060:26:09

Really, I suppose you want to know what it's worth in today's market.

0:26:090:26:12

Yeah, yeah, I would.

0:26:120:26:14

-I would place a value in today's market at about £1,500.

-Really? Oh.

0:26:140:26:19

It's not hugely valuable, but it's interesting.

0:26:190:26:22

For four quid, that's not bad, is it?

0:26:220:26:24

Absolutely, she's done well, the girl did well.

0:26:240:26:28

£1,500?! My gosh!

0:26:280:26:32

There, do you like it any better now, dear?

0:26:320:26:34

Well, yeah.

0:26:340:26:36

How did you get this here?

0:26:360:26:38

-With some very strong men.

-How many very strong men?

0:26:380:26:41

Only two, very strong.

0:26:410:26:43

I haven't lifted it up, but I'm intrigued to know two things.

0:26:430:26:47

I want to open it as soon as possible, and I want to know if there's anything inside it.

0:26:470:26:51

-Ah, mmm...

-I mean, you obviously know what it is.

0:26:510:26:54

-Yes.

-Is it...?

0:26:540:26:57

-It's locked.

-It is locked.

0:26:570:26:59

This will be bogus.

0:26:590:27:01

Yes. How that ever fooled anybody,

0:27:010:27:03

hopefully there's a keyhole in the top here.

0:27:030:27:06

-Yes, would you like the key?

-Ah!

0:27:060:27:09

-Can I open it?

-You can try.

0:27:090:27:12

I think that...

0:27:120:27:15

Oh, have I got it right? I have.

0:27:150:27:18

I'm really excited. Drop those off...

0:27:180:27:23

-How many turns?

-Just the one.

0:27:230:27:26

Oh, look at that!

0:27:260:27:27

Isn't that fantastic? There's nothing in it!

0:27:300:27:33

-No.

-That's wonderful,

0:27:330:27:34

I think the condition of it is amazing.

0:27:340:27:36

-It's called an armada chest.

-Yes.

0:27:360:27:38

I'm sure you know that, armada chest after the armada, 1588.

0:27:380:27:45

One would like to believe that perhaps.

0:27:450:27:48

There's absolutely no reason, looking at this,

0:27:480:27:51

with the exception perhaps here, one or two 20th-century nuts.

0:27:510:27:56

-Have you put those on?

-Not me, no.

0:27:560:27:59

-I can't see anything about this that isn't original.

-No.

0:27:590:28:03

And it could well be 16th-century.

0:28:030:28:06

-What is so amazing, our surname is Drake.

-It isn't?!

-Yes.

0:28:060:28:10

-Are you a direct descendant?

-Oh, no.

-Perhaps this came from him!

0:28:110:28:15

If you're going to take provenance, it's going up in value considerably.

0:28:150:28:19

-How did you get it?

-My father bought it from a junk shop on the south coast somewhere, I think.

-Really?

0:28:190:28:26

I've no idea, before I was born.

0:28:260:28:29

-Right, and you've inherited it.

-I've inherited it.

0:28:290:28:31

I think it's tremendous. Do you think it's worth something?

0:28:310:28:34

-How much did your father pay for it?

-I have no idea, absolutely no idea.

0:28:340:28:39

Is it worth anything?

0:28:390:28:41

Of course it's worth something,

0:28:410:28:43

-because it's in such good condition, it is such a fantastic bit of history.

-Yes.

0:28:430:28:48

I would say it's worth round about £1,000.

0:28:480:28:52

800-1,200 would be a sensible saleroom estimate.

0:28:520:28:55

Now, here is a woman, obviously a high-ranking Naval officer,

0:28:570:29:03

and she looks to me stern but somehow kind.

0:29:030:29:07

-Did you know her?

-She was my great aunt, and she was also my godmother.

0:29:070:29:11

She was superintendent of the Wrens in Portsmouth during the war.

0:29:110:29:15

Oh, I see, right.

0:29:150:29:17

But that was only a part of quite a glorious career.

0:29:170:29:20

She's mentioned in quite a number...a lot of literature,

0:29:200:29:24

in Portsmouth, and then after the war,

0:29:240:29:27

she became the director of the Land Army until 1950 when it was disbanded.

0:29:270:29:31

-I see.

-And so she was part of disbanding the Land Army.

0:29:310:29:36

-Well, altogether an extremely capable woman, then.

-Yes.

-Extremely capable.

0:29:360:29:41

Yes, and the antithesis of the great career was that she went back

0:29:410:29:46

to the west of Ireland, lived the rest of her life and started a raspberry farm

0:29:460:29:52

and was well known as quite a character with the locals in the west of Ireland.

0:29:520:29:57

-I bet.

-Yes.

-Well, would you agree that she's stern but kind?

0:29:570:30:00

Cos I think this portraitist, whose name is Middleton Todd, Arthur Middleton Todd,

0:30:000:30:04

is well known to an entire generation, a younger generation of artists whom he taught,

0:30:040:30:09

and was involved in setting an example to. Apparently a very modest man himself.

0:30:090:30:13

I often like to think of the chemistry between a sitter and an artist,

0:30:130:30:17

and it seems to me that this stern but kind woman

0:30:170:30:21

rather got on with this artist, because she looks as though she's about to laugh, don't you think?

0:30:210:30:26

-Yes.

-Now, anyway, I think it's a very successful painting, you know it's quite dirty, don't you?

0:30:260:30:31

-Perhaps you don't.

-Yes, probably.

-Well, it is quite dirty,

0:30:310:30:33

and it would clean, and I think that she would come alive.

0:30:330:30:36

I think she'd look great.

0:30:360:30:38

-Yes.

-Even more characterful. Have you ever thought of value?

0:30:380:30:41

Probably not, cos she's a family member.

0:30:410:30:44

No, I'd like to give the whole collection with her medals, her CBE...

0:30:440:30:48

-You've got the medals, her medals here.

-These are her medals,

0:30:480:30:53

her CBE, and I'd really rather they went to a museum in Portsmouth.

0:30:530:30:57

-They should be returned to Portsmouth.

-Whoever owns it needs to have some identity

0:30:570:31:02

with the sitter, otherwise it doesn't really, you know, have much relevance.

0:31:020:31:06

-No, no.

-And in that sense, in the open market, um...

0:31:060:31:09

a portrait of just somebody isn't really going to be worth that much.

0:31:090:31:14

-No, no.

-Unless it's a very beautiful girl or an extremely handsome or terribly important man, you know.

0:31:140:31:20

-Yes.

-And so really in the open market you couldn't put more than...

0:31:200:31:23

-I don't know, er, £1,000 or £2,000 on this.

-As much as that?

0:31:230:31:26

Well, as much as that perhaps, you know, but incalculable value to yourself, the family,

0:31:260:31:32

-and perhaps to the Naval museum.

-Yes, I think the Wrens perhaps.

0:31:320:31:36

Anyway, it's a really interesting life and a good portrait of her, I think.

0:31:360:31:42

-Yes, thank you, thank you very much indeed.

-Right.

-Thank you.

0:31:420:31:46

-How old are you?

-I'm 13.

0:31:460:31:48

-And what's a 13-year-old doing with a snuff box?

-Well, um...

0:31:480:31:51

And medals and all sorts of objects?

0:31:510:31:53

Well, I was the only grandchild interested in all this, and my grandad wanted to give it to me

0:31:530:31:58

because he didn't want to give it to anyone else because he thought I'd look after it.

0:31:580:32:02

-And it's really maintaining the family history.

-Yeah.

0:32:020:32:05

-So you're the family historian.

-Yeah.

-Well, you've got to keep these very, very carefully.

0:32:050:32:09

I'm quite interested in the engraving on the cover here. What's his name there?

0:32:090:32:14

-John Brockington.

-John Brockington, is that your name?

0:32:140:32:17

-Yeah, I'm Sam Brockington.

-You're still Brockington, wonderful.

0:32:170:32:21

But this is extraordinary, because we've got a skull and crossbones here,

0:32:210:32:25

which is quite an unpleasant symbol, if you like, and here you've got the clasped hands of friendship,

0:32:250:32:31

so it makes me wonder why we've got the two opposing symbols, really,

0:32:310:32:34

in juxtaposition, quite strange, but it's a wonderful object,

0:32:340:32:38

and it's something that obviously he would have used every day.

0:32:380:32:41

It's really...really history of your grandfather, your great-grandfather,

0:32:410:32:45

-your great-great-grandfather.

-Yeah.

-And you need to start writing

0:32:450:32:48

it down, because it's great to be a family historian.

0:32:480:32:51

-Long may you continue.

-All right, thank you.

0:32:510:32:53

A bulging bag, what have we got?

0:32:530:32:55

All kinds of rubbish in there, I'm afraid.

0:32:550:32:57

Anything you like.

0:32:570:32:59

-Right, there it is.

-Oh, that's a good start.

0:33:010:33:04

-What do you reckon?

-Do you know what it is?

0:33:040:33:07

-It's a piece of Bow, isn't it?

-Yeah.

0:33:070:33:09

-Yeah.

-Is it an eggcup? It's jolly large for a hen's egg, isn't it?

0:33:090:33:12

-One wonders whether it's not actually a drinking cup.

-Right, yeah.

0:33:120:33:15

After a Chinese Blanc de Chine original, about 1755, 1760, so a nice and early one and rare but...

0:33:150:33:23

-Slightly damaged.

-Where did it come from?

0:33:230:33:26

Well, it came originally from a boot sale, a friend bought it,

0:33:260:33:28

-and I bought it off him, because I liked it.

-Are you a frequenter of boot sales?

-'Fraid so, yeah.

0:33:280:33:33

-Have you ever been to the market here?

-Yes, many times.

-Bought?

-Oh, yes. It's always a good market here.

0:33:330:33:39

-What did that one cost you?

-Well, I had to pay a few quid for it.

0:33:390:33:42

He knew it was good, but we didn't quite know what it was.

0:33:420:33:45

I think probably in that state about £30-40.

0:33:450:33:47

Yeah, that's good, that's fine, that's good. Well, it's not worth a lot. Right, er...

0:33:470:33:52

A piece of... A piece of glass.

0:33:540:33:56

Do you know what that is?

0:34:000:34:02

I've got a vague idea. It's an oil lamp, isn't it?

0:34:020:34:05

It's a lace-maker's lamp.

0:34:050:34:07

Lace-maker's.

0:34:070:34:10

It should be...mid-18th century.

0:34:100:34:14

Oh, right.

0:34:140:34:16

-What do you think?

-You know that wonderful review of...

0:34:160:34:20

in a newspaper of a play called I Am A Camera?

0:34:200:34:25

Somebody wrote a review of this play, which said, "Me no Leica,"

0:34:250:34:30

which I think is rather wonderful. And it applies to this object.

0:34:300:34:34

I don't trust that an inch.

0:34:340:34:37

-That is a reproduction worth very little money.

-Good heavens.

0:34:370:34:40

-There you go.

-Bad one, I'm afraid.

0:34:400:34:42

Win a few, lose a few.

0:34:420:34:43

Oh.

0:34:480:34:51

-Oh.

-You like that one?

0:34:510:34:54

-Do you like it?

-I like it, yeah.

0:34:540:34:57

That's really very nice and rare, with this pie-crust rim.

0:34:570:35:02

-This is a piece of English Delft, probably Bristol.

-Right.

0:35:020:35:07

I'm not good on the English Delft factories,

0:35:070:35:09

and I have this slight fear that most other people aren't either.

0:35:090:35:13

-We seem to change our opinion of where a piece of Delft was made every other week.

-Oh, right.

0:35:130:35:18

Somebody digs up a shard in Wincanton, and they find

0:35:180:35:23

another one in Liverpool, and is it halfway between?

0:35:230:35:27

That's sort of 1760.

0:35:270:35:30

A rare thing. How much was this?

0:35:300:35:33

-I didn't pay very much for it, I bought it at a boot sale again.

-How much is not very much?

0:35:330:35:39

£1.

0:35:390:35:41

Will you take two?

0:35:410:35:43

No, no, no, I'll be more clever than that.

0:35:430:35:45

Well, you'd be mad to. I think we're pushing the upper hundreds here.

0:35:450:35:50

-Really?!

-Yeah, I think 600, 800, no problem at all.

0:35:500:35:54

-Oh, right. Oh, big money, then?

-You did well there.

0:35:540:35:57

Right, so this telegram reads, "Thank you all so much for the lovely carnations

0:35:590:36:05

"and for your thoughts of us both, Winston and Clementine Churchill."

0:36:050:36:09

And then you have a note which says, "With all good wishes, Winston S Churchill."

0:36:090:36:14

And then you have a pennant. What's the story?

0:36:140:36:18

-Well, my grandpa was Churchill's bodyguard from 1950 to 1965.

-Really?

0:36:180:36:24

And as far as I know, they were given to him when Churchill died.

0:36:240:36:28

-It must've been a very interesting job, did he tell you stories... No, he wouldn't have.

-Not particularly,

0:36:280:36:33

but the impression I got was he spent a lot of time painting, oils of Churchill obviously,

0:36:330:36:38

-and travelling to the South of France.

-Have you got any of the paintings?

0:36:380:36:42

-Unfortunately not, I think they're worth quite a lot of money nowadays.

-They're worth an incredible amount.

0:36:420:36:47

-Now, there's good news here and there's bad news here.

-OK.

0:36:470:36:50

-Right, what do you want first?

-Er, whichever, I have to have them both sometime.

0:36:500:36:54

Brave lad, brave lad, right, here we go.

0:36:540:36:56

This note here is a facsimile.

0:36:560:36:59

-It's not a real note.

-Oh, really?

0:36:590:37:01

Yes, so instead of being worth loads if Churchill had actually signed it,

0:37:010:37:06

it's worth virtually nothing,

0:37:060:37:08

but it's a curio and it goes with the rest of the stuff.

0:37:080:37:11

There's little enough value in the telegram.

0:37:110:37:14

But the pennant I think is fantastic, and it's a wonderful relic

0:37:140:37:18

-and with the provenance that your family can give it...

-Yes.

0:37:180:37:22

..I'm going to say £1,000.

0:37:220:37:24

Oh, really? That's fantastic.

0:37:240:37:26

Thanks. Any more in the bag?

0:37:260:37:29

Ooh!

0:37:330:37:34

Where did this come from?

0:37:380:37:40

Same sort of place, I'm afraid, boot sale.

0:37:400:37:43

What do you do as a job?

0:37:440:37:47

Building is my job, is what I do, but...

0:37:470:37:50

-Really?

-..But at the weekends I go to boot sales.

0:37:500:37:53

You have an amazing eye, you know.

0:37:530:37:55

-No, you do!

-Really?

0:37:550:37:57

Yeah, you do, I mean OK, you get it wrong occasionally.

0:37:570:37:59

-Oh, yeah, I did there, didn't I?

-But that doesn't matter.

0:37:590:38:02

I mean, basically you're honing in on the real thing, um...

0:38:020:38:06

And of course you're going to make mistakes, we all make mistakes,

0:38:060:38:10

but this is a really very nice South Staffordshire box.

0:38:100:38:16

There's a transfer print under here and then hand colouring on top.

0:38:160:38:20

Date - about 1770,

0:38:200:38:24

and I tell you the extraordinary thing about this one

0:38:240:38:27

is that it's in perfect condition.

0:38:270:38:29

These enamel boxes...

0:38:290:38:31

This is a layer of enamel on copper.

0:38:310:38:34

-Right.

-And they're always bust, they're always chipped or cracked, and this one isn't.

0:38:340:38:38

Yeah.

0:38:380:38:40

Go on, how much?

0:38:400:38:42

Er, that one, I think I paid 50 pence for that one.

0:38:420:38:48

Sorry about this.

0:38:480:38:49

What's the housing market like down here?

0:38:510:38:55

I think you wouldn't have any trouble getting...

0:38:580:39:01

..700.

0:39:020:39:03

How much?!

0:39:030:39:05

-You wouldn't have any trouble getting £700 for that.

-Good grief!

0:39:050:39:10

-That shocks me.

-Give up the building.

0:39:100:39:11

That shocks me, I'm probably better at this by the sound of it. I'm amazed, so how old is it?

0:39:110:39:17

1760-1770.

0:39:170:39:20

-Good grief.

-Any more?

0:39:200:39:22

So you were at D-Day, and this was with you, was it, as a mascot or what?

0:39:220:39:26

No, no, no, I didn't even know I was going to have to sound this horn at all.

0:39:260:39:32

I was with the Army Commandos, and we came in

0:39:320:39:36

on the beaches near to Quistreham, and there was a bit of

0:39:360:39:40

a thing went on about whether or not the radio sets we had would work well in a built-up area.

0:39:400:39:48

They were perfectly all right for open country, and so I understand that

0:39:480:39:53

the French commander,

0:39:530:39:55

Commandant Philippe Keifer,

0:39:550:39:59

produced a horn and, er...and said, "Well, look, find somebody to sound this."

0:39:590:40:04

And the adjutant came and pointed at me and said, "You can sound a hunting horn, you sound it."

0:40:040:40:11

And when I tried it, I found that it was a little

0:40:110:40:14

different from a straightforward English hunting horn.

0:40:140:40:17

You've got to give it a little more puff with this.

0:40:170:40:21

And when we...when we finally came and bashed our way through and came to the German gun battery, we were

0:40:210:40:27

ready to go, I found the radios were working quite well,

0:40:270:40:31

so I thought, "Well, I won't have to sound it."

0:40:310:40:35

And what happened?

0:40:350:40:36

Well, my commanding officer,

0:40:360:40:39

Colonel Dawson,

0:40:390:40:41

he said "OK, sound the bloody thing just for the hell of it!" And...

0:40:410:40:46

And so I sounded the tally-ho twice, just for the hell of it.

0:40:460:40:51

Well, just for the hell of it, could I ask you to give us a blast now?

0:40:530:40:57

Well, I can't reach the high notes, I don't think I can make the tally-ho, but, um...I'll have a go.

0:40:570:41:03

-Any more?

-Er...

0:41:090:41:11

Yeah, a nice old dish.

0:41:150:41:17

Well, it would have been nice to go out on something good, wouldn't it?

0:41:230:41:27

Oh.

0:41:270:41:28

-We did.

-Oh!

0:41:280:41:30

Oh, right.

0:41:320:41:33

That's a corker, isn't it?

0:41:330:41:35

You like it?

0:41:350:41:37

And this was local again?

0:41:370:41:39

I bought it in here, in this building.

0:41:390:41:41

-They have things at the weekend and...

-How long ago?

0:41:410:41:44

Oh, that was a few years ago, about six years ago, I think.

0:41:440:41:47

That's not very long, is it?

0:41:470:41:49

-No, no, but...

-And how much?

0:41:490:41:51

It was on a stall with a pile of junk,

0:41:510:41:54

and I gave the guy £35 for it.

0:41:540:41:55

It makes me weep. I think it's a lovely, lovely dish.

0:41:580:42:02

-Right.

-Wonderful bird in the middle here.

0:42:020:42:05

-Right.

-Um... Stylised flowers round here,

0:42:050:42:09

terrific palette.

0:42:090:42:11

Again, I think probably Bristol.

0:42:110:42:14

A few nibbles round the rim.

0:42:140:42:15

-Yeah.

-An odd, curious firing thing here, which is not a problem.

0:42:150:42:22

-Not? I thought it was damaged.

-Yes, I did too, but it isn't, no.

0:42:220:42:25

-The back stop.

-Little crosses and ticks on the back,

0:42:250:42:28

exactly what you expect, beautiful clean back there to it.

0:42:280:42:32

Yes.

0:42:320:42:34

Well, your 30 quid has turned into £1,000.

0:42:340:42:38

1,000?!

0:42:380:42:40

Good grief! Really?

0:42:400:42:42

-I'd no idea!

-Give up the day job.

0:42:420:42:45

Thank you very much indeed, that's absolutely fantastic.

0:42:450:42:49

-You've made my day in Tavistock, I have to say.

-Good.

0:42:490:42:52

It's a fantastic group of things, you've got a great eye.

0:42:520:42:56

-You're very kind, thanks very much indeed.

-Thank you very much indeed.

0:42:560:43:00

Well, time's up, we've had a couple of cases of deja vu today, some of the items that were brought in were

0:43:000:43:06

purchased here at the Pannier Market originally, so in a way they've come home, and now we're going home,

0:43:060:43:12

but we're coming back, so until Tavistock 2, from Devon, goodbye.

0:43:120:43:18

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