Prideaux Place 2 Antiques Roadshow


Prideaux Place 2

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This week we return to Padstow in Cornwall.

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Since its founding, pilgrims have flocked here

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along the ancient pathway known as the Saints Way.

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Today, holidaymakers are still drawn here, but like us, they've arrived by a more direct route.

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We've set up camp at the Elizabethan manor house, Prideaux Place.

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The Prideaux family have lived here for 14 generations,

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and a very hospitable clan they are, too.

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So, let's not wear out our welcome. On with Padstow, show two.

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-And what have you got?

-Well, it's this, rather unusual.

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Oh, yes, do you know what it is?

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I know what it is, yes.

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Go on, tell me.

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It's a cricket cage.

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Is that the same as cricket box?

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No, it's not.

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So what do you do with it?

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Chinese Mandarins in the 18th century

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used to carry their pet crickets in it.

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They liked to walk, take them for walks on summer evenings

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and the crickets sang and it's one of those esoteric Chinese pleasures, you know?

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Well, it's an early iPod,

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if you know what an iPod is.

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-Yes.

-I don't, I have to say,

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-but I gather it's something that zizzes in your ear.

-Exactly.

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Well, that's what this is.

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As the insect stridulates,

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which is the correct technical term...

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Yeah, yeah, with its legs, yeah.

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This vibrates, and it's a sound box.

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Oh, it's a sound box, I see.

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It's very clever.

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The Chinese and indeed, the Japanese, loved to have crickets playing.

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No radio, no television,

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so they had these gourds,

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and they were made from a clay mould

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which was fired and they then grew the gourd inside

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and it took up the decoration that was on the inside of the mould

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and here we've got immortals and rocks

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and with this collar round here, and then of course, the top is ivory.

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And it's been pierced with this beautiful lotus and foliate decoration.

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This actually dates from the Qianlong period which was 1736 to 1795.

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-Yes. I thought that, yes.

-Mid 18th century.

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Very nice.

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The sort of thing which the Chinese market is now quite strong for.

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-It would fetch a good £600 to £900, possibly even £1,000.

-Yeah.

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Jolly nice, find yourself a...

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-A cricket!

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you very much indeed.

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Well, she's not exactly an oil painting, is she?

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-No, she's not lovely at all.

-Did she used to frighten the children?

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Not really, no, but they just knew that they couldn't touch her.

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-Well, am I allowed to?

-Yes.

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Thank you very much. We have here,

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I'm pleased to say, a rather unusual doll

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because I'm used to seeing dolls, carved wooden dolls, smiley faces,

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pink cheeks and all the rest of it, but they're usually white,

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and to have a black doll is a bit unusual.

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What I'd like to do is to take her down through the layers, if I may.

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-Yes.

-Is that allowed?

-There's a lot.

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There are a lot of layers, aren't there?

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I have a feeling this might take some time,

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so talk amongst yourselves for a moment

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and we'll get back to this when it's a layer or two down.

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What, what do you do with him?

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Well, he just stands as an ornament, really.

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I don't... when you say, "What do I do?"

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What does he do in so far as ringing or belling or whatever?

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Well, that's it, exactly. Inside, we've got this mechanism...

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-Yeah.

-..which is actually a bell.

-Yes.

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So the idea would be, you're having dinner or something,

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-and mostly they work actually by, say, pressing the tail.

-I see, yes.

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And that then releases the bell mechanism

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and obviously, then your servant comes along and does whatever.

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So, they really are great fun.

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This one almost looks as though the nose should do something as well.

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Well, I thought the same actually, but it's never worked since I've had it, so...

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-No, it is all a bit jammed up in there.

-It is, yes.

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-Could that be put right?

-Yes.

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I mean, it really needs somebody like a clock maker, I think,

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or a clock restorer to work on it,

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because they have the necessary skills.

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-But to get that working, it needs a little winder on there.

-Yeah.

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And it'd be great fun, the next dinner party.

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-Yeah, brilliant.

-Yes.

-Absolutely.

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-Do you know when it was made?

-No idea, and I'd like to ask you.

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-Made in London...

-Yeah.

-..in 1902.

-Right.

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By a chap called William Hornby...

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William Hornby.

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..who actually specialised in quite a lot of these novelty items.

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-Oh, right. That's very interesting.

-Value?

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No idea.

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Well, pigs are popular. Table bells are very sought-after.

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Yes, oh, good, yeah.

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Auction estimate, I should think £1,000, £1,500.

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-Really?

-Really.

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Well, I'm pleased I came.

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-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

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For modesty's sake, shall I keep her drawers on?

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-No, take them off.

-Shall I?

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And what are your thoughts about the doll's age?

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I really don't know.

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I know she's... I'm about the third generation

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that she's been passed down to and for a certainty,

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she was passed before that, she's always been in the family.

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There are lots of clues, here, about the age of the doll

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and I have to say, that the body is not one of them.

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The body I think has been added later.

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-Certainly, the lower body has.

-Yes.

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The doll herself looks a little bit like a skittle.

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-Can you see?

-She's flat at the back.

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She is, she has this flat area on the back here.

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She wouldn't... She's almost certain to be English.

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She is carved of a soft wood.

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The eyes are enamelled and inset.

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And her whole form, the size of her head, the sort of short neck, the sloping shoulders,

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I think that she's dating from the last part of the 18th Century,

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so between 1790 and perhaps 1800.

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-That's my feeling.

-Gosh.

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She's missing, obviously, the point of her nose there.

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She doesn't have a chin and she has this rather...

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I mean, they look like sort of piranha teeth.

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She looks a bit like a voodoo doll.

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Don't say that! I was feeling rather warm and sensitive towards her.

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But she's not lovely.

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Her hair, which is nailed onto the head,

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is made of...

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It looks as though it's made of dyed flax? Look, I don't think it's wool.

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I think it's actually fibres, flax fibres that have been dyed.

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Yes, I didn't know what it was.

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And her whole body has been covered

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with a kind of whiting called "gesso" and then painted black.

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And originally, I would have said her lower legs would have been very similar to her arms.

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-Yes.

-This is, this is spurious - that's been done later.

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I find her, actually, rather appealing,

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-don't you?

-Mm, I do, I love her.

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-Does she have a name?

-Topsy.

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Topsy! I like a doll that has a name.

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I didn't call her that. She's always been known as that.

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-And do you remember her as a child yourself?

-I do.

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I was allowed to look at her and touch her, but never play with her,

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and my mother was the same before that.

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Which is why she's in reasonably good condition. It's hard to put a price on family.

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I mean some members of one's family are priceless and others actually

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-you'd be happy to give away for a couple of pounds.

-True.

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And she's... Topsy has got good things and bad things.

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On the down side, it's her condition -

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the fact that she has new, additional lower legs, but on the up side,

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she's black, and that that sort of balances it out,

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-so I'd say that we'd be talking about between £1,000 and £1,500.

-Really?

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Oh.

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Well, she's not, she's not leaving home.

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So even though she's been seen naked in public,

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-she's not allowed to leave home.

-No, she's not leaving home.

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So, can you tell me what it felt like when you saw what was apparently

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your bracelet in this newspaper article

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-about Princess Margaret's sale?

-Wow!

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LAUGHTER

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I was just absolutely stunned, really, and amazed.

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Yeah, I mean, it's a piece of jewellery

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that I don't actually wear very often. In fact, not at all any more.

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-It lives in my underwear drawer.

-That sounds like a very nice place!

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There was enormous press coverage

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for what was a very high-profile sale, for obvious reasons.

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And here we see it with this price ticket of £54,000,

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so that must have been a bit of a thrombi-making session!

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-Yes, mm.

-Yes, I bet it was.

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Well, and here we have two

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gorgeous jewels, one in the form of

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an articulated tiger skin, isn't it?

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Abutting tigers one to another,

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and a brooch en-suite and made of enamelled gold,

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set with diamonds, and tiny little emerald eyes.

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Tell us about the history of this for you. Where did it come from?

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It came from Kutchinsky in Bond Street.

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It was a gift from my ex-husband.

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I also had the ring, but unfortunately, that was stolen

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many years ago. I don't wear the bracelet any more,

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but I do wear the brooch.

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Let's see what it looks like when we put it on you, because this is...

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-There's something of the sort of femme fatale in all of this.

-Yes.

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It's a type of jewellery made in 1920s and set with sapphires

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and they were invented by Cartier

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and I feel that Kutchinsky is making tribute to those.

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-And the date of this brooch, of this bangle?

-It would be '68, '69.

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So exactly contemporary with Princess Margaret,

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and really, a wonderful thing.

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-What do you feel like when you wear it?

-Fantastic.

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Very good, excellent! Well, I'm not surprised really.

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It suits you very well, I must say. And are there opportunities...

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Do you ever take it out from your underwear drawer?

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No, not really, no. In fact, I sort of...

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I know it sounds awful, but I almost forgot I had it, until last week.

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-And then it was a jolt, wasn't it?

-It actually fell off my arm once,

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and I think that's probably why I don't wear it,

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because I'm afraid of losing it.

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I think that's a risk well worth taking

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because it does look absolutely fantastic there

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and I suppose for a second, we've got to try to consider

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what's the difference between the £54,000 for a royal bangle at auction

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and one that's owned privately,

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that's here in Cornwall.

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Unfortunately, it's an absolute gulf of difference.

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I think people wanted to go to the Princess Margaret sale

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to carry something away from her, and she was so glamorous,

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to be in the public eye, in her youth, and so beautiful.

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So it's strange that lightening should strike twice -

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a princess, but also one of the most beautiful women in the world,

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and she had a great sense of style in her clothing and in her jewellery.

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Evidently, you have exactly the same sense of style

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which is very, very good news, indeed.

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But, um, but there is a huge gulf of difference and in that sale,

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there was a set of three plastic umbrellas

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that fetched £2,600 and I suppose if we had to take that down,

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or amplify it up, rather, to look at your jewellery,

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the difference between Princess Margaret's bangle at £54,000 and your own with its brooch,

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is that yours is probably worth about £8,000

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and the brooch something like £2,000, but it's just...

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I think value's a complete red herring, really.

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It's simply not relevant and curiously enough,

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that shows that that's true, if nothing else.

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-Thank you.

-Thank you for bringing it.

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It's brilliant where it is. Thank you.

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Now, when I first saw this picture,

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I noticed on the back, an auction number from a sale in the 1940s.

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-That's right.

-You're not going to tell me

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-you bought it in the 1940s.

-No, I didn't no.

-Far too young.

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Yes, my mother-in-law bought it at a local auction room.

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She was very interested in art

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and she probably didn't pay very much for it,

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because just being ordinary working class people,

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she had a perchance for art and bought quite a lot, and it's been in the house ever since.

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Have you begun to think who it might be and what it is and what it represents?

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Well, it is signed "A Cuyp".

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-"A Cuyp" in the bottom left hand corner. Good and bold.

-Yes, it is.

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But we believe, well I don't know,

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but apparently the old masters, when they were young masters,

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they used to just get their students to paint most of their work for them

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and then they finish them off and sign them.

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That's the story that I've got and apart from that,

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I know nothing about it at all.

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Well, Albert Cuyp was one of the most prominent old master painters

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of the 17th century. He died in about 1691.

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And following his death, he just got more and more and more famous.

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So much so, that by the middle of the 18th Century,

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people were scrabbling to get his work.

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There was one collector, an iron master,

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who had over 40 of his paintings.

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-Really?

-And towards the end of the 18th Century,

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the collecting became so voracious that, believe it or not,

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although this man was born in the Netherlands, there were no Cuyps left in the Netherlands.

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-Everyone wanted them.

-Yes.

-Particularly in England.

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Now when that great collection was sold, many of these paintings made their way to English stately homes

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-and now a lot of them can be found in America.

-Yes.

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So Cuyp was zeitgeist.

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Cuyp just hit a nerve with 18th Century taste and sensibility.

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-Yes.

-And looking at this picture,

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which does represent a Cuyp composition,

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and as you point out, has a Cuyp signature,

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looking at it, it's quite interesting to ask the question -

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what was it that did it for 18th Century man?

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What was it about this type of paint, this type of approach,

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that just hit that nerve of exquisite sensitivity?

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Well, I think the answers actually lie in this picture because,

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if you look at the reading and theory on art in the 18th century,

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particularly the work of Joshua Reynolds and his discourses,

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they were a bit frightened of nature.

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Man, then, in England, was a little bit scared.

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-Yes.

-But somehow, artists who were able to tame nature,

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make it look less wild, simplify it,

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were those who were the flavour of the month.

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And Cuyp was one of those people who could do that.

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Nature being sometimes a little bit rough,

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we've all seen cows in the field.

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They can look a bit soiled and dirty and spooky sometimes.

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He knew exactly how to make them look sedate and gentle,

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-almost like great classical rocks.

-Yes.

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Now, if this were by Cuyp, it would be worth an awful lot of money,

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and you're already beginning to work out that he had assistants

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-and that it may not be by the big master.

-No.

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Well, I have to tell you, because of his fame, because this man

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pushed all the buttons, there were a huge amount of copies.

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Obviously, yes.

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-So you're pretty well getting to the thought that this might be a follower.

-Yes.

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-I'm afraid it's more than a follower. It's a 19th century copyist.

-Really?

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If this were by Cuyp, it would be worth many, many hundreds of thousands of pounds.

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-Yes.

-If it were a studio of Cuyp, or even an assistant of Cuyp,

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-it might be, perhaps, 50, 60, £100,000.

-Yes.

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But I'm really sorry to have to come right down for you on this.

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Prepare yourself - it's worth about £1,000.

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Oh, well, that's better than nothing, isn't it?

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It was the interest to know, you know, we were just interested.

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The value of the painting is...

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Well, it would have been relevant if it had been a real one,

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but it was just the interest of finding out a bit of the history of it and what it was all about.

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Well, that's a great attitude.

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-Yes, well, thank you very much.

-Pleasure.

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These are the sweetest little pair of pocket pistols

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I've seen for a long time.

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But tell me - what's a girl doing with a pair of pistols?

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I was given them by a friend, quite a long time ago.

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I'm not quite sure why he gave them to me. I don't know.

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He was a very good friend

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and I don't really know anything about them either, nothing.

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I didn't enquire about them. I was just a little bit shocked.

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They've just been in a drawer, they've travelled all over the country with us and today

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just seemed the perfect chance to find out about them.

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-So here I am!

-OK, well what you've got here

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are a pair of early 19th century pocket pistols.

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Now the fact they're contained in a case, really,

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is because that's the way they were presented.

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That's the way they were bought -

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-a complete kit, if you like to call it that.

-OK, yes.

0:17:370:17:39

The pistols have got octagonal turned off barrels, brass box top mounts.

0:17:390:17:45

They're percussion pistols, made in the first half of the 19th Century.

0:17:450:17:50

Beautiful little things.

0:17:500:17:51

And to cock them, you pull back on the hammer and at the same time,

0:17:510:17:55

this little folding trigger flips out.

0:17:550:17:58

If you're worried by a footpad

0:17:580:17:59

or someone who you think is going to do you some danger,

0:17:590:18:03

you simply fire, pull the trigger.

0:18:030:18:05

-Would you keep it in your pocket like that?

-Yes, but you would keep them with the trigger folded,

0:18:050:18:11

so nothing catches when you're pulling them out of your pocket.

0:18:110:18:15

What I really like about this cased set

0:18:150:18:17

is this teeny-weeny, absolutely tiny little powder flask.

0:18:170:18:22

-It's a real sweetie, isn't it?

-It is.

0:18:220:18:25

And this is what you would have kept your powder in, your gunpowder.

0:18:250:18:29

You probably kept that in your coat pocket and you could...

0:18:290:18:33

You could keep your balls in the other pocket

0:18:330:18:35

and the whole thing would allow you to load and fire again and again if you wanted to.

0:18:350:18:40

And you'd probably get ten or 15 shots out of this.

0:18:400:18:43

The black powder would last you ten or 15 shots.

0:18:430:18:46

You wouldn't actually need an awful lot of powder

0:18:460:18:49

to fire the very small bullet.

0:18:490:18:51

-Have you ever thought about value?

-I haven't.

0:18:510:18:54

-My husband and I actually thought they were duelling pistols...

-HE LAUGHS

0:18:540:18:58

-I know...

-I shouldn't laugh. No, that's not fair.

0:18:580:19:02

-No idea at all, none.

-OK. Obviously, it does have a value.

0:19:020:19:05

I think if it came up for auction today, you'd probably get something in the region of £600-£800 for it.

0:19:050:19:11

It's amazing really, isn't it?

0:19:110:19:13

I mean, just for something so little. Golly.

0:19:130:19:17

"Mother Hubbard Deluxe, The Times Furnishing Ltd, London."

0:19:190:19:25

What a cupboard!

0:19:250:19:29

Yes, it's it's a real period piece of, I imagine, 60 or 70 years ago.

0:19:290:19:36

The sort of piece a lot of kitchens had,

0:19:360:19:38

but which a lot of people threw out when they became modern.

0:19:380:19:41

Well, you see, that is the whole point, because something like this

0:19:410:19:44

would have been the ultimate, the ultimate thing for the modern woman. Remember we're talking about...

0:19:440:19:51

About 1920, so after the First War, and this is for the sort of professional middle classes.

0:19:510:19:57

The kitchens have got smaller, so here you have this fabulous thing,

0:19:570:20:02

all singing, all dancing, and I'm dying to have a look inside and see

0:20:020:20:06

-what it does, but what I can see from here is you've got this lovely drawer slide enamel work surface.

-Yes.

0:20:060:20:14

Cutting.

0:20:140:20:16

-Rolling.

-Pastry.

0:20:160:20:17

All those things, just at the right height. Is this something you've had or have you acquired it?

0:20:170:20:22

-I bought it at a household auction in Truro about ten years ago.

-Right.

0:20:220:20:26

Along with, you know, the usual household junk.

0:20:260:20:30

And it just stood out.

0:20:300:20:31

-I think we need a trip round.

-A tour round the cabinet.

-You take me round your cupboard.

-I will indeed.

0:20:310:20:37

The first thing I think you... Is the most interesting is the household wants indicator.

0:20:370:20:45

-Oh, look at that! Isn't that fantastic?

-Yeah.

-Look what we've got.

0:20:450:20:49

We've got everything that you could possibly want for your shopping list.

0:20:490:20:53

So we've got "bulbs, electric".

0:20:530:20:57

That's very helpful.

0:20:570:20:59

We've got "fruit - dried, fresh and glace".

0:20:590:21:02

-Isn't it fantastic? And look - olives!

-I know, surprisingly.

0:21:020:21:05

We think of olives as the really modern thing but here they are.

0:21:050:21:08

So there you've got the storage cupboard. Now what about here?

0:21:080:21:13

Yeah, do you want me to open this? This is a...

0:21:130:21:16

tambour-fronted cupboard...

0:21:160:21:20

-with a sprung shelf.

-A wobbly shelf.

0:21:200:21:23

Now that's interesting.

0:21:230:21:25

You see here, you've got indentations so I would think this must have been

0:21:250:21:30

for somewhere for putting jars of things that needed perhaps being compressed or pressure put on them.

0:21:300:21:36

-Yeah.

-How extraordinary!

0:21:360:21:39

And then the ventilating hole at the back to keep everything fresh.

0:21:390:21:42

-Yes.

-So this is acting as a cupboard and a larder.

-Yes, it is, yes.

0:21:420:21:45

You've got the mesh there, which a lot of larders have, too.

0:21:450:21:49

I'm going to have a look in here. Oh, look! Isn't this fantastic?

0:21:490:21:52

It's a flour sifter.

0:21:520:21:56

-So you put your flour in here...

-Yeah.

0:21:560:21:58

-Out it comes here.

-There's the sifter there.

0:21:580:22:00

So does this... And out comes the flour here.

0:22:000:22:03

Ready to be made into the pastry and rolled here.

0:22:030:22:07

Yup, all in one.

0:22:070:22:08

-Eggs at the back.

-Eggs, yup, absolutely.

0:22:080:22:10

What do you think these were for?

0:22:100:22:13

Jars of perhaps spice or sugar or something like that.

0:22:130:22:15

-Yes, sugar, yeah.

-Possibly, yeah, I should think so.

0:22:150:22:17

And more cupboard space down here.

0:22:170:22:21

-And there you've got a rolling pin, the original rolling pin there.

-Oh, look at that!

0:22:210:22:26

It really is what all, all ladies would have absolutely given their eye teeth to own something like this.

0:22:260:22:32

-Yeah, yup.

-And of course what you've got at the bottom is...

0:22:320:22:36

-it's on castors.

-That's right.

0:22:360:22:38

So you could move it round in the kitchen to get

0:22:380:22:41

exactly the place that you needed it.

0:22:410:22:43

Actually made in quite a simple wood.

0:22:430:22:45

I think the wood is probably ash or something like that.

0:22:450:22:48

Is it? Right, yes, I, yeah...

0:22:480:22:49

And I notice that you've been polishing it, which is fine.

0:22:490:22:52

-But what you just need to remember is the more you polish it, the darker the wood will get.

-Right.

0:22:520:22:58

So if you like the colour, all you need to do

0:22:580:23:01

from now on, is to give it a good old buff up with the duster.

0:23:010:23:04

Right. Not the polishing, yeah.

0:23:040:23:06

But you know, you've made my day and I have to tell you, if you and I had been at the auction together,

0:23:060:23:11

I would have competed very, very seriously.

0:23:110:23:14

Well, I'm very glad you weren't.

0:23:140:23:17

So what did you pay for it?

0:23:170:23:18

-About £250.

-How long?

-About ten years ago. Well, that was a lot of money.

0:23:180:23:23

-It was.

-You really must have wanted it.

0:23:230:23:25

I did want it a lot, and it's given me an enormous amount of pleasure.

0:23:250:23:29

-OK, so £250 ten years ago, and I'd say £600 today.

-Right.

0:23:290:23:34

And I think if we went round the group here, there are lots of ladies

0:23:340:23:38

who'd like to own this and I'm, I'm counting myself as one of them.

0:23:380:23:42

So do you love clocks, or is it a hobby, or what is it?

0:23:430:23:46

Yes, it is a hobby, yeah. Got quite a number, yes.

0:23:460:23:50

Is this one of your nicest or just something you've pulled out to bring me today?

0:23:500:23:54

It's one of the most interesting, I think.

0:23:540:23:56

That's why I thought I'd like to let you have a look.

0:23:560:23:58

-Well, you made a pretty good decision, to be honest.

-Yes.

0:23:580:24:01

-You obviously know it's a lantern clock.

-Yeah.

0:24:010:24:05

And do you know this maker at all?

0:24:050:24:07

-Thomas Bradford of London - are you familiar with him?

-Not, not really, no.

0:24:070:24:11

Well, I have to say that there were two working around just before and just after 1700 and then

0:24:110:24:16

another one recorded from sort of 1700 through to about 1760,

0:24:160:24:20

so I'm not going to try and pretend to you which one it is,

0:24:200:24:23

but I'm going to say to you, this is in my opinion just after 1700.

0:24:230:24:27

Yeah.

0:24:270:24:29

And the joy is that at the moment, as I'm looking at it, it's absolutely untouched.

0:24:290:24:34

We'll take off the doors which you know...on all lantern clock doors

0:24:340:24:37

you just lift up, slip the other one off as well...

0:24:370:24:40

Just look at the wheel work in there.

0:24:400:24:45

There is no wear on it. When did you last see this thing running?

0:24:450:24:48

Well, I've had it about 15 years.

0:24:480:24:51

My grandfather died in 1947 and to my knowledge it hasn't run since 1947.

0:24:510:24:58

So as a young lad, you never recall seeing it going at all?

0:24:580:25:01

No, no. I never saw this one going.

0:25:010:25:04

I think that's why it's in such fantastic condition.

0:25:040:25:07

I would imagine this rope hasn't been replaced for well in excess of 100 years.

0:25:080:25:13

So often these things have been respiked there,

0:25:130:25:17

so that they accept chains, but this has never been touched.

0:25:170:25:21

I can see under here that it's got a lovely verge escapement.

0:25:210:25:25

-The Victorians messed these things around so badly and this hasn't been got at.

-No.

0:25:250:25:30

And that's the joy. This is as honest as you can come across

0:25:300:25:35

and it's miniature, it's so scarce, so I'm probably going to give you...

0:25:350:25:39

Hopefully a rather nice surprise.

0:25:390:25:42

Are you?

0:25:420:25:44

As a collector of clocks, and you said you had a few.

0:25:470:25:49

-Yeah.

-You must have thoughts of what this is worth.

0:25:490:25:52

Yes, roughly.

0:25:520:25:53

-Give me a rough thought.

-Well, a thousand or so.

0:25:530:25:56

"A thousand or so." Gosh.

0:25:560:25:59

Well, I am going to excite you

0:26:010:26:03

because this, at auction today, would make between £6,000 and £8,000.

0:26:030:26:08

It's absolutely stunning.

0:26:080:26:09

Now word has reached me you've brought in some local specialities.

0:26:110:26:14

-Is that right?

-Yes, that is correct.

0:26:140:26:16

What have you got hidden in there?

0:26:160:26:19

Right, well now, this should have something on the bottom, does it?

0:26:190:26:22

-Yup.

-Yes, it does, it's Newlyn, so do you know what that means?

0:26:220:26:26

It originates from Newlyn?

0:26:260:26:27

Bang on, yes! It's from the Newlyn Industrial School, which made

0:26:270:26:31

these sort of hand-crafted copper wares in late 19... Oh, God!

0:26:310:26:35

-We've got another one!

-Yup, yup.

0:26:350:26:38

-Yeah.

-Right. And that's also Newlyn as well and, well, this wonderful because we've got...

0:26:380:26:44

-Do you know what this is?

-Troika.

-Troika.

-And where was that made?

-Newlyn.

0:26:440:26:48

I don't need to do my job any more, do I?

0:26:480:26:51

So shall we just hand it back to you and then you can, you can tell me what they are?

0:26:510:26:54

-Thank you.

-What do you think they are?

0:26:540:26:56

Well, this one we think...

0:26:560:26:58

-Well, an inkwell.

-Mm.

-Yeah?

0:26:580:27:01

-Right.

-Does it need a pot?

0:27:010:27:02

Yes, it would have had a glass liner inside but it's a really

0:27:020:27:06

nice example, these sort of octopus decorations are very typical, as indeed are the fish.

0:27:060:27:12

You get sort of ships and little views of St Michael's Mount,

0:27:120:27:14

octopuses, spiky fish and things like that.

0:27:140:27:18

And the Newlyn Industrial School was established in the 1890s, in 1890 in fact.

0:27:180:27:24

It was part of that movement, the Arts and Crafts Movement we call it, where people were interested in

0:27:240:27:30

making industrial crafts and also passing on their skills to local people.

0:27:300:27:35

There's a similar school in Keswick, the Keswick School of Industrial Arts,

0:27:350:27:39

who made very similar products and these were made by local people and it's a very typical example.

0:27:390:27:44

Um, this one, if I give that back to you and look at yours, this is typical, as I say,

0:27:440:27:48

particularly sort of fish with nice sort of spiky fins and things.

0:27:480:27:51

-What do you think this is?

-Letters.

0:27:510:27:54

Exactly, a little letter rack, and again there's the mark on the back.

0:27:540:27:58

The great thing about these is the mark, because there's a lot of very similar pieces around, which people

0:27:580:28:02

often say are Newlyn because that makes it more interesting.

0:28:020:28:04

-Right, yes.

-But these are definitely marked - that's no problem.

0:28:040:28:07

Let's have a look at this bit of Troika.

0:28:070:28:09

Erm, these date, as I say, to the late 19th, early 20th century, circa 1900, give or take ten years.

0:28:090:28:16

-When do you think this one dates to?

-No idea.

0:28:160:28:20

-This one dates to the 1970s.

-Right.

0:28:200:28:21

So for all it was made in Newlyn just the same, it's a generation later.

0:28:210:28:26

The Troika factory was actually established in 1963 in St Ives

0:28:260:28:30

by two people, Benny Sirota and Leslie Illsley,

0:28:300:28:33

and they started off making quite fine sculptural wares which they found didn't sell.

0:28:330:28:38

So in the '70s they started making this sort of rough textured ware which has become very popular.

0:28:380:28:43

It's really a phenomenon of the internet age.

0:28:430:28:45

Pieces like this were in people's homes.

0:28:450:28:48

They became collectible and people started selling them on the internet.

0:28:480:28:52

I haven't asked - are these your pieces or something you've collected...

0:28:520:28:55

-They're our Nan's.

-Nan's, yes.

-Right, and why can't Nan be here today?

0:28:550:28:58

She's just had an ear infection so she's at home.

0:28:580:29:01

-So she's sent her proxies today.

-Yup.

-Right. Do you actually like them?

0:29:010:29:04

They're lovely. It's funny because we've all actually got things that we like.

0:29:040:29:08

-Yup, yup.

-Was that planned? That seems..

0:29:080:29:11

No, it wasn't! I really like them.

0:29:110:29:13

And have you grown to like them today, or have you always admired them?

0:29:130:29:17

No, no, no, we've always liked them. I've always said to my Nan, I want that in your will.

0:29:170:29:20

Well, I think we've got some good news for Nan.

0:29:200:29:23

Your piece on the end - £80-£120.

0:29:230:29:26

It's not yours yet, of course!

0:29:260:29:28

Your piece...

0:29:280:29:30

-Um, it's a nice piece, about £150-£180.

-Yup. Brilliant.

0:29:300:29:34

And your piece here, about £250-£300.

0:29:340:29:37

-Excellent.

-Does that make you love them any more?

-Yes.

0:29:370:29:41

That's so shallow, but never mind.

0:29:410:29:43

It's nice you love them.

0:29:430:29:45

A rather angry cat here, I think. Don't you agree?

0:29:450:29:48

I do agree.

0:29:480:29:49

He looks as though he's just kicked that teapot to pieces and of course the one artist

0:29:490:29:54

that one knows who does cats and dogs and humorous pictures, is Louis Wain.

0:29:540:30:01

And, er, you've got... Almost like a page from an album here.

0:30:010:30:06

-And you've had these quite a long time?

-Yes, nearly 50 years.

-Round about.

0:30:060:30:10

-Have you?

-Yes.

-I see there's a label on the back that says "Tuck".

0:30:100:30:13

Raphael Tuck and Sons. They were fine art publishers.

0:30:130:30:16

And did they publish these pictures?

0:30:160:30:19

Yes, they published those, yes. Published them either as a whole piece or as little individual cards.

0:30:190:30:24

-Well, I'm glad you kept them after you working for Tucks and you kept them.

-Yes.

0:30:240:30:27

Because Louis Wain's very interesting because he was born in 1860 and he started doing work for

0:30:270:30:33

the Illustrated London News in the early 20th century but of course then

0:30:330:30:39

he went on to doing these humorous pictures of cats and he became so famous there was a Louis Wain Annual.

0:30:390:30:46

-That's right.

-And unfortunately he was incarcerated into a mental home in 1924.

0:30:460:30:51

24.

0:30:510:30:53

When he was there, he was forgotten about and somebody went into the mental home and saw this person

0:30:530:31:00

drawing cats and dogs and said "Oh, you draw just like Louis Wain"

0:31:000:31:04

and he said "Well, I AM Louis Wain"

0:31:040:31:05

and this chap was very shocked and he was quite well to do and he got a subscription going to, erm,

0:31:050:31:13

rescue him from this home, to put him into a nicer home.

0:31:130:31:16

And he was moved. They raised enough money through famous people

0:31:160:31:19

to take him out of this home, to go somewhere else in Hertfordshire where he spent his days.

0:31:190:31:26

And, er, some years ago I had a phone call from somebody and I was actually asked to go to a mental home.

0:31:260:31:32

Not because I'd gone mad, but, to go and look at some Louis Wains

0:31:320:31:36

and it was the home where he had been put inside.

0:31:360:31:40

Anyway, when I got there they showed me these Louis Wains and they had

0:31:400:31:43

one right one and all the rest were wrong and I couldn't understand.

0:31:430:31:48

And they said "Well, they were painted by the inmates, they used to copy his work."

0:31:480:31:52

But it was an extraordinary experience.

0:31:520:31:54

But these are fantastic and very, very good examples.

0:31:540:31:59

Now I have seen many fakes of his work and how do you know about a right one and wrong one?

0:31:590:32:05

Well, I always look at the eyes and if they look mad, you know...

0:32:050:32:08

-Oh, yes.

-Stary, then they are, you know.

0:32:080:32:11

Well here we have, the one on the left here.

0:32:110:32:13

Not as pretty as some of his cats.

0:32:130:32:15

He looks very angry.

0:32:150:32:17

-But this one is wonderful.

-Yes.

0:32:170:32:19

He went through a psychedelic period and some of his pictures, I mean,

0:32:190:32:23

they're like 1960s but were done much earlier, because he died in 1939.

0:32:230:32:29

But they're like, like the hippy things of the 1960s - bright colours.

0:32:290:32:33

This is very interesting because it tells four different stories.

0:32:330:32:36

I love this one here because here, wonderfully mad stary

0:32:360:32:40

eyes there which as I said, talking about how you know, his, I mean...

0:32:400:32:46

You know, he wasn't insane but his sort of wonderful sort of spontaneity about painting these cats

0:32:460:32:53

and the stary eyes come out and there's a really good example,

0:32:530:32:57

and that's what you don't get in the fake ones.

0:32:570:32:59

Absolutely fantastic. And then they turn around and leave the dog on its own down at the bottom there.

0:32:590:33:07

Wonderful. The one on the left here, it is certainly quite valuable because

0:33:070:33:10

people like his work today and I think that would probably make about £2,000, certainly £1,500 to £2,000.

0:33:100:33:18

-Yes.

-This one, I think, is the more valuable and,

0:33:180:33:22

would certainly make somewhere in the region of £2,000-£3,000 at auction.

0:33:220:33:28

-Oh, well.

-But very good examples.

0:33:280:33:30

-Have to come out from under the bed then, won't they?

-Yes.

0:33:300:33:33

Ever since I was a little boy, I have been fascinated by big guns.

0:33:330:33:38

I remember sitting having a photograph of me taken

0:33:380:33:41

when I was five years old, sitting astride a great cannon at Carisbrooke Castle.

0:33:410:33:46

This is a great gun. Where did you find it?

0:33:460:33:49

Where did I find it?

0:33:490:33:51

Well, funny you say when you were five years old, when I was about

0:33:510:33:54

five years old, the cannon was discovered in the garden and it was up at the end of the Green Walk

0:33:540:34:00

and during the war, the garden had become completely overgrown.

0:34:000:34:04

-This is here, is it?

-This is here. The gun originally was on, was defending the estuary in Padstow.

0:34:040:34:08

-Right.

-Was moved here, latter half of the 19th century, I suppose, and

0:34:080:34:14

um, rumour had it that there was a cannon in the garden.

0:34:140:34:18

It was completely overgrown. It was my uncle, Tim Parr, armed with a compass, a machete

0:34:180:34:22

and old garden plan, hacked his way through the jungle to find the mythical cannon, and... and he did.

0:34:220:34:30

And aged five, finding Henry VIII's cannon was quite, was quite something.

0:34:300:34:35

-Well, it's fascinating because we've been calling it a cannon.

-Right.

0:34:350:34:39

Now interestingly enough, at this period, and of course it is Henry VIII in period, at this period

0:34:390:34:45

all guns had names and a cannon was a name for a specific size and type of gun.

0:34:450:34:51

-And a saker was a particular type of gun, and this is a saker.

-Right.

0:34:510:34:55

Now, a saker is a gun that is very long for its bore.

0:34:550:35:00

-And you can see how this is very long and narrow and has a relatively small bore.

-Sure.

0:35:000:35:06

But what's more interesting is that it's made not of bronze,

0:35:060:35:09

as the majority of guns were at that time, but of cast iron.

0:35:090:35:15

And the reason why that makes it quite rare is because the cast iron

0:35:150:35:21

technology, the industry, was in its infancy at that time.

0:35:210:35:27

Henry, of course, had limited funds, but he wanted to arm his country. Particularly the south coast.

0:35:270:35:34

And so he wanted a huge number of guns and wanted to buy them cheaply.

0:35:340:35:38

So in order to do that and to reassure himself of supply, he

0:35:380:35:43

decided that he'd import gun founders from Europe, particularly Italy and France. I think this is quite early.

0:35:430:35:49

Erm, I think probably this dates in the 1540s

0:35:490:35:56

and actually, if it is, this makes this the

0:35:560:36:00

earliest known gun, cast iron gun, still in existence in this country.

0:36:000:36:07

Have you ever thought about the value?

0:36:070:36:09

No. I mean, for me it's just always been utterly priceless.

0:36:090:36:14

It's quite difficult to put a value on a piece like this because it's incredibly rare.

0:36:140:36:17

It's incredibly early.

0:36:170:36:20

I think it's probably worth between £25,000 and £35,000.

0:36:210:36:27

Wow! Wow!

0:36:270:36:30

So here's a little bee brooch and it's buzzing away in the sunlight, isn't it? Scintillating like mad.

0:36:300:36:36

Tell me about all about it.

0:36:360:36:39

I worked here for 40 years and Mrs Prideaux-Brune died and she left me in her will.

0:36:390:36:43

-Oh, isn't that marvellous?

-Yes.

-And what was your work here?

-I was cook-housekeeper.

0:36:430:36:48

-Mm, oh, that's very good.

-I came for a week to try out, a big party up here, and I stopped for 40 years.

0:36:480:36:53

So you were a sort of temp, really, then?

0:36:530:36:55

Yes, I was, for a week.

0:36:550:36:57

Fantastic, and you actually lived...

0:36:570:36:58

Where did you, you lived on site?

0:36:580:37:00

Yes, in the front, the front of the house, overlooking the deer park.

0:37:000:37:03

-Lovely rooms.

-Goodness, and so 40 spectacular years.

0:37:030:37:06

Did you see lots of wonderful jewellery worn when you were here?

0:37:060:37:09

Oh, marvellous, marvellous, marvellous, yes.

0:37:090:37:10

-Mm, I bet.

-Marvellous, marvellous.

0:37:100:37:12

And what a touching thing to receive, actually.

0:37:120:37:15

I don't know whether you've thought about the fact that it was a bee.

0:37:150:37:18

-Have you thought about that?

-No, no, no.

0:37:180:37:21

Because it's actually a very interesting emblem of love, frankly, and that's what it was.

0:37:210:37:26

And it's "bee" and then "sure of my love".

0:37:260:37:31

And in diamonds, so it's forever. Now, and also it's decorated with

0:37:310:37:33

black enamel, the wonderful sort of buzzy bee body there is, is black enamel.

0:37:330:37:39

But the real key to what this is all about

0:37:390:37:41

is this box which, curiously enough, when you're involved with jewellery,

0:37:410:37:45

the boxes are a bit like picture frames and you can instantly tell where they're made.

0:37:450:37:48

-Yes.

-And just looking at that, I know it's a French box.

0:37:480:37:51

-Yes.

-And in the top of the lid I was completely amazed to see

0:37:510:37:55

that it was made by a firm called Rouvenat and Lourdes.

0:37:550:37:58

And they were an enormously important jewellery maker in the, in the 19th century in Paris.

0:37:580:38:05

And Rouvenat's greatest claim to fame was that he showed at the L'Exposition Universelle

0:38:050:38:09

in Paris in 1867 an enormous spray of lilacs and diamonds, a completely naturalistic one.

0:38:090:38:16

And it was bought by Empress Eugenie who was the wife of Napoleon III, so at that level of patronage,

0:38:160:38:23

it goes without saying that this is of the highest possible level of craftsmanship and inspiration.

0:38:230:38:28

-Oh, I see.

-The highest possible level of everything one could expect from a piece of jewellery.

0:38:280:38:33

And curiously enough, perhaps not so much to do with the weight of the diamonds or anything, but for the

0:38:330:38:38

fact that it's a little piece of history which almost would have been lost if the case had been lost.

0:38:380:38:42

What do you feel like when you see it? What does it... What do you feel?

0:38:420:38:46

I treasure it to think that Mrs Prideaux-Brune gave it to me.

0:38:460:38:50

I really treasure it. I wore it a couple of times but I think it's marvellous.

0:38:500:38:54

Yes, a very exciting thing for me to find, I must say, a sizzling

0:38:540:38:56

-piece of French jewellery with a wonderful, wonderful history.

-Yes.

0:38:560:39:01

And a rather startlingly desirable thing.

0:39:010:39:04

-I mean that sort of measured value is to do with how much people really want things.

-Yes.

0:39:040:39:09

People really would want this very much.

0:39:090:39:11

It's very compact, very wearable, it's full of history and context.

0:39:110:39:15

And so, astonishingly, we have to value it today for, well, £9,000.

0:39:150:39:22

Oh!

0:39:220:39:23

Oh, no! Oh, dear!

0:39:260:39:29

Marvellous, thank you very much.

0:39:290:39:31

-It is marvellous news.

-You've made my day.

0:39:310:39:33

You've made mine, absolutely. Dreamboat stuff, really marvellous.

0:39:330:39:38

This is a crackingly pretty little portrait of a girl. What do you know about it?

0:39:380:39:42

She was left to my father in a will.

0:39:420:39:44

And, it's a family ancestor called Harriet Cockburn.

0:39:440:39:49

Just wanted to find out the date.

0:39:510:39:54

We think it's probably 1818 but we're not sure.

0:39:540:39:56

Well, I'm sure it's one of your ancestors, but it's earlier than 1818.

0:39:560:40:01

By the style of the dress and the handling of the head, this is a work of the 1780s.

0:40:010:40:08

And there's one artist who this reminds me of very, very strongly, who was working in the 1780s.

0:40:080:40:15

He was an artist who went on to become the greatest definer of the Regency face and Regency glamour.

0:40:150:40:23

He's the artist through whom we know George IV, and many of the great figures of the early 19th century.

0:40:230:40:30

And that artist's name is Sir Thomas Lawrence.

0:40:300:40:32

Thomas Lawrence - young Tom, as he was known then - was a boy genius.

0:40:320:40:38

His father was the owner of an inn, The Bear Inn, which was on the road from Bath to London.

0:40:380:40:43

And he was one of those incredibly ambitious dads

0:40:430:40:46

who forced his son to do all sorts of things to prove his cleverness.

0:40:460:40:50

At the age of eight, he got him to stand on the tables of the inn and recite fluent Milton.

0:40:500:40:56

And, er, he was also encouraged to draw people, and he showed early on a great skill of drawing.

0:40:560:41:03

Now because this kid was amazing, his dad took him to Bath. And there, can you believe it?

0:41:030:41:09

At the age of 14 years old, he was given his own portrait practice.

0:41:090:41:14

Bath then of course was the great fashionable centre of Britain and high society

0:41:140:41:20

flocked to his doors, flocked to the doors of this 14-year-old child, to be painted and drawn by him.

0:41:200:41:26

But why do I think that it's by Lawrence?

0:41:260:41:30

What are the characteristics of this picture that make it so compellingly

0:41:300:41:33

like the greatest portrait painter of the age, at this tenderly young age?

0:41:330:41:39

That hand pointing with the arm raised, in a most unusual and ambitious gesture for that date.

0:41:390:41:45

Now, if you're looking at your average pastel painter of this period, your provincial pastel

0:41:450:41:49

painter, because pastel painting was quite a business in those days, you would never see something

0:41:490:41:54

that was quite so theatrical and, if you want, avant garde, for a child.

0:41:540:41:59

If you turn the picture over,

0:41:590:42:02

I notice that there is a later label identifying her as Harriet.

0:42:020:42:07

But underneath, you can see the remains of a label

0:42:070:42:10

and this rather exciting-looking, probably oak, panel, on which the pastel is applied or laid.

0:42:100:42:19

That would have had a message on it.

0:42:190:42:21

The young Thomas put, on every one of the pictures that he did, a little

0:42:210:42:25

message telling clients to keep it out of the damp and the light.

0:42:250:42:30

Well, Thomas Lawrences are very desirable. They're very sought.

0:42:300:42:36

The late works are the ones that the museums want and American

0:42:360:42:41

and Continental collectors are particularly interested in acquiring.

0:42:410:42:45

This is nonetheless a particularly fine and charming example of an early Lawrence.

0:42:450:42:51

And I would have very little hesitation

0:42:510:42:54

about putting a valuation of £12,000 to £13,000 on this.

0:42:540:42:58

Right! It's well loved anyway.

0:43:010:43:03

It sits on my father's wall and will

0:43:030:43:06

stay there for a while yet, I hope.

0:43:060:43:08

I'm glad to hear it.

0:43:080:43:11

Now is the time to say goodbye and now is the time to heave a sigh

0:43:110:43:13

and prepare for what, for some of us, is the long drive home.

0:43:130:43:17

Many thanks again to the people of Padstow for joining us.

0:43:170:43:20

And from Prideaux Place, until the next time, goodbye.

0:43:200:43:23

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