Kelvingrove Art Gallery

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0:00:43 > 0:00:48You are now looking at the first - and, so far, the only - place in Britain

0:00:48 > 0:00:51to have held the title "European City of Culture".

0:00:53 > 0:00:56It came as no surprise to the people of Glasgow, but if

0:00:56 > 0:00:59you're wondering what it is about this city

0:00:59 > 0:01:03that puts it in the same class as Athens, Paris, Florence or Madrid,

0:01:03 > 0:01:07then you need look no further than the fine art galleries and museums

0:01:07 > 0:01:08owned by Glasgow City Council.

0:01:08 > 0:01:10A few examples.

0:01:10 > 0:01:14The People's Palace is a museum of social history,

0:01:14 > 0:01:17tracing the roots of Glasgow's prosperity

0:01:17 > 0:01:20from the 18th-century trade in tobacco, sugar and cotton...

0:01:22 > 0:01:26to the 19th century, when iron, steel and shipbuilding

0:01:26 > 0:01:30won the city an earlier title - "The Workshop of the Empire".

0:01:30 > 0:01:33SHIP'S HOOTERS SOUND

0:01:33 > 0:01:37All of that led to some very wealthy citizens who could afford to indulge

0:01:37 > 0:01:40their taste for the finer things in life.

0:01:40 > 0:01:44One big-hearted shipping magnate decided to bequeath all his treasures to the city,

0:01:44 > 0:01:47but he did impose one big condition -

0:01:47 > 0:01:52the whole lot had to be displayed far from the industrial heart of Glasgow,

0:01:52 > 0:01:57which is why I can now step out of Pollok Country Park

0:01:57 > 0:02:02and straight into Sir William Burrell's Collection.

0:02:06 > 0:02:09Altogether there are 9,000 pieces here.

0:02:09 > 0:02:13It's a wonder Burrell had time for business.

0:02:18 > 0:02:22The Burrell is a newish building containing some ancient treasures,

0:02:22 > 0:02:26but this decidedly old building, once the home of a tobacco baron,

0:02:26 > 0:02:28contains Glasgow's Gallery of Modern Art.

0:02:30 > 0:02:32"Modern" did I say?

0:02:32 > 0:02:34It's nearly Tomorrow's World here...

0:02:34 > 0:02:37we're talking Turner Prize winners

0:02:37 > 0:02:39and installations of a challenging nature

0:02:39 > 0:02:43that some people refuse to acknowledge as art at all.

0:02:51 > 0:02:57Of all Glasgow's assets, this must be the star - the Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery

0:02:57 > 0:03:02is very nearly the most popular cultural attraction in Britain.

0:03:02 > 0:03:06Since it recently reopened after three years of renovation,

0:03:06 > 0:03:11people have flocked here in their tens of thousands to swarm over the three floors of galleries.

0:03:11 > 0:03:15Today, in the main hall, there's something else for them to swarm over

0:03:15 > 0:03:19as Kelvingrove makes room for the Antiques Roadshow.

0:03:23 > 0:03:26I'm pleased to say I'm in a Glasgow state of mind.

0:03:26 > 0:03:31- Glad to hear it.- And you've brought me an example

0:03:31 > 0:03:37of a name that quite honestly doesn't necessarily travel well out of this part of the world.

0:03:37 > 0:03:41- No.- There's the initials - MHW.

0:03:41 > 0:03:44- Do you want to tell me? - Marion Henderson Wilson.

0:03:44 > 0:03:49Who's so well thought of here that in this museum there are several examples of her work.

0:03:49 > 0:03:51Beautiful pieces. I've seen them.

0:03:51 > 0:03:53I think so, too. Um...

0:03:53 > 0:04:00- Bearing in mind that this is a lady who was working here in Glasgow at the right time.- Yeah, absolutely.

0:04:00 > 0:04:03- The motto for this city is, "Let Glasgow Flourish".- Yeah.

0:04:03 > 0:04:07And by gum, it didn't half flourish in the Glasgow School of Art.

0:04:07 > 0:04:09In the 1890s and early 1900s.

0:04:09 > 0:04:15But what a sconce, I mean there's nothing, for want of a better word, namby-pamby about this, is there?

0:04:15 > 0:04:18It's a piece of sculpture.

0:04:18 > 0:04:24It's got an architectural presence about it and what we've got is that wonderful face.

0:04:24 > 0:04:25She's lovely, isn't she?

0:04:25 > 0:04:28- She's gorgeous.- My heart's going.

0:04:28 > 0:04:30You know I've got a flutter.

0:04:30 > 0:04:35And just the attention to detail, those flowing tresses.

0:04:35 > 0:04:38Are we talking about something that you found in a car boot?

0:04:38 > 0:04:41No, my great aunt left me it

0:04:41 > 0:04:42on her death.

0:04:42 > 0:04:44See you're a canny lot up here.

0:04:44 > 0:04:47You're very canny, you don't let anything go that you know is quality.

0:04:47 > 0:04:50It's a virtue, trust me.

0:04:50 > 0:04:54So, I've not seen one sold but I daresay, it's got to be,

0:04:54 > 0:05:00- as far as I'm concerned, at least £1,000 of somebody's money.- Right.

0:05:00 > 0:05:05That's more of a guesstimate than an estimate.

0:05:07 > 0:05:10Well, it's not often on a busy Antiques Roadshow day

0:05:10 > 0:05:13that I get a chance to sit down on the floor

0:05:13 > 0:05:16and play with a toy, so I'm very privileged.

0:05:16 > 0:05:18Will you catch it?

0:05:23 > 0:05:25Wonderful!

0:05:25 > 0:05:28Well, it's a great looking object,

0:05:28 > 0:05:33forget the fact that it's just a toy, I just love the object as it is.

0:05:33 > 0:05:39I love its stripy pyjama paintwork which indicates that it's a taxi.

0:05:39 > 0:05:45But if I may be personal, it looks a little bit old to belong to you, so where does it come from?

0:05:45 > 0:05:52It was originally my father's and I think it's over 90 years old.

0:05:52 > 0:05:56Have you ever played with it? No, it was put away and that was it.

0:05:56 > 0:06:00We just felt it wasn't a thing to be played with, really.

0:06:00 > 0:06:04Well, thank you for letting me have a chance to play with it,

0:06:04 > 0:06:07because it's actually better quality

0:06:07 > 0:06:11than some of the run-of-the-mill toys of the period.

0:06:11 > 0:06:15For instance, it's got bevelled glass in the front windscreen here.

0:06:15 > 0:06:18Then other nice details.

0:06:18 > 0:06:22For instance, it's got windows that go up and down

0:06:22 > 0:06:25and, much more exciting for me,

0:06:25 > 0:06:31is that it has these three plaster passengers in here.

0:06:31 > 0:06:36Now a tin toy will survive because tin is quite a robust material.

0:06:36 > 0:06:41- The things that very seldom survive are these plaster figures.- Right.

0:06:41 > 0:06:44And they, when you look at the detail, for instance,

0:06:44 > 0:06:47in the chauffeur, or the taxi driver, I should say,

0:06:47 > 0:06:53and the two passengers in the back, they are wonderfully painted and very lifelike.

0:06:53 > 0:06:56Now, it's obviously a nice day at the moment

0:06:56 > 0:06:59because they're driving along with one of the other

0:06:59 > 0:07:06interesting extras folded down but, if the weather turned nasty,

0:07:06 > 0:07:10they could always raise the roof,

0:07:10 > 0:07:12a wonderful oilskin folding roof,

0:07:12 > 0:07:15a bit like in an old-fashioned perambulator.

0:07:15 > 0:07:20I think it's absolutely splendid and what I like also to see

0:07:20 > 0:07:23is the original price tag on there.

0:07:23 > 0:07:27- One and six? - I think it says four and six.

0:07:27 > 0:07:31And I just think this is the most handsome car.

0:07:31 > 0:07:38It would have been made around about 1911-1912

0:07:38 > 0:07:42in Germany and I think that four and sixpence today

0:07:42 > 0:07:45would be more like £5,000 to £8,000.

0:07:45 > 0:07:49What? You're joking.

0:07:49 > 0:07:51Oh, dear!

0:07:52 > 0:07:54"Oh, dear!"

0:07:54 > 0:07:56I'd hoped it would be a "yippee".

0:07:58 > 0:08:01So what precisely drove you into the frenzy

0:08:01 > 0:08:04that caused you to lay out a tenner on this lot?

0:08:04 > 0:08:10It was a secondary auction house in Glasgow and it was 1982 or 1983 and

0:08:10 > 0:08:14I was only interested in one piece of glass was that piece there which

0:08:14 > 0:08:18I knew was Orrefors and Edvard Hald.

0:08:18 > 0:08:22And I hadn't a clue what they were.

0:08:22 > 0:08:26But I quite liked it, I thought it was quite futuristic for the time

0:08:26 > 0:08:28and I liked the clean-cut lines.

0:08:28 > 0:08:33Well, let's take them in turn, your Edvard Hald piece, Orrefors, 1930s.

0:08:33 > 0:08:39Orrefors, Sweden, the revolutionary Swedish glass works, probably the most important glass works

0:08:39 > 0:08:45of the 20th century, through these futuristic designs really set the pace of 20th-century glass making.

0:08:45 > 0:08:48- Right. - So that's a nice piece, I like it.

0:08:48 > 0:08:52The second piece you bought is Kaj Franck for Nuutajarvi.

0:08:52 > 0:08:56So we've come forward from the 1930s to the 1960s.

0:08:56 > 0:08:58This is 1960, Nuutajarvi, Finland.

0:08:58 > 0:09:02Kaj Franck is one of the most influential post-war glass designers.

0:09:02 > 0:09:07His stuff really is part of our contemporary repertoire. He's not very famous,

0:09:07 > 0:09:10but he was probably one of the most influential designers.

0:09:10 > 0:09:13But the piece that really has caught my eye is this.

0:09:13 > 0:09:18This is a densely marbled glass called Lithyalin.

0:09:18 > 0:09:23There are two forms of this, there's Hyalith, which is black, and Lithyalin, which is coloured.

0:09:23 > 0:09:29Now this was developed in about from 1800 for Count von Buquoy in Bohemia.

0:09:29 > 0:09:36It was then spread, the idea of these very densely marbled glass, but looks actually like porcelain.

0:09:36 > 0:09:40- I thought it was, at first.- Of course, people think it's porcelain.

0:09:40 > 0:09:44So it was then, the idea spread and it was made at St Louis in France,

0:09:44 > 0:09:49- at Moser in Czechoslovakia.- Oh, did Moser make it, yeah?

0:09:49 > 0:09:55- But most interestingly it was made by John Ford's Glassworks at Leith, in Edinburgh.- Is that right?

0:09:55 > 0:09:58That's right! So my suspicion is

0:09:58 > 0:10:01that this is feasibly a piece of Scottish glass.

0:10:01 > 0:10:03Right.

0:10:03 > 0:10:05So let's see what your tenner bought.

0:10:05 > 0:10:12It bought an Edvard Hald 1930's optic moulded vase worth £200.

0:10:12 > 0:10:17- Wow!- It bought a Kaj Franck vase, signed up, all fully signed

0:10:17 > 0:10:23- on the base, with a small chip on the rim somewhere, value £100.- Wow!

0:10:23 > 0:10:28And a potential John Ford piece

0:10:28 > 0:10:32with a hairline crack in one of the handles, which is going to knock it.

0:10:32 > 0:10:35Nonetheless, in pristine condition,

0:10:35 > 0:10:38we would be talking minimum of £1,000.

0:10:38 > 0:10:41With its handle not broken, but cracked...

0:10:41 > 0:10:45- £400 to £600.- Right.

0:10:45 > 0:10:49So for your tenner I reckon you've grabbed a thousand.

0:10:49 > 0:10:52- That's all right. - Can I come with you next time?

0:10:52 > 0:10:55I've got a fiver, let's go wild.

0:10:55 > 0:10:58Well, you must have a very big room in your house.

0:10:58 > 0:11:03We have actually, yes, and, you know, this doesn't quite reach the ceiling, but nearly.

0:11:03 > 0:11:07It's a great joy to see a big piece of furniture that hasn't had the top

0:11:07 > 0:11:12cut off or the bottom cut off, or reduced to fit into a small place.

0:11:12 > 0:11:14This truly is magnificent.

0:11:14 > 0:11:18- Thank you.- I mean this is a wonderful piece of furniture,

0:11:18 > 0:11:21but when you look at it, what sort of image do you get?

0:11:21 > 0:11:25- It's romantic, isn't it? - My wife really loves it.

0:11:25 > 0:11:29It's Elizabethan romanticism, I think.

0:11:29 > 0:11:31But it's 19th century.

0:11:31 > 0:11:36So you look at those two things together, we tie them up and you come to 1850-1860.

0:11:36 > 0:11:41- Really, that early? - Absolutely, because after that it started getting less romantic,

0:11:41 > 0:11:46less majestic and more mass produced in appearance. OK?

0:11:46 > 0:11:49On a technical point, there was a man called Richard Bridgens

0:11:49 > 0:11:53who was very much influenced by the late Regency style.

0:11:53 > 0:11:59And he tied together those late Regency proportions, which this has,

0:11:59 > 0:12:05and this revival of Romanticism and the age of medieval chivalry and so forth,

0:12:05 > 0:12:10which started in the 1840's, 1850's really gathered momentum.

0:12:10 > 0:12:13Now Bridgens inspired many people

0:12:13 > 0:12:18and there was a publication called Blackie's Catalogue.

0:12:18 > 0:12:23- Which was published in 1862 and this is in it.- Really?- Yes.

0:12:23 > 0:12:25That's how you can really date it.

0:12:25 > 0:12:28Now, nice elements which give it this positive dating. One is,

0:12:28 > 0:12:31of course, the fret panels to the doors at the base.

0:12:31 > 0:12:36And also, there are one or two little bits come off here,

0:12:36 > 0:12:41but the quality of that is undeniable, and when you close it,

0:12:41 > 0:12:45I mean, nothing's shifted in 150 years!

0:12:45 > 0:12:49Amazing, and I think that's just so smart.

0:12:49 > 0:12:51Then you come to these columns.

0:12:51 > 0:12:57This was an idea of the 17th century - barley sugar twist turning.

0:12:57 > 0:12:59This one is actually a little bit loose.

0:12:59 > 0:13:01It gives you an idea of how it was made.

0:13:01 > 0:13:06You had this huge pole on a lathe and you literally walked

0:13:06 > 0:13:09- up and down it, gradually creating this barley sugar twist.- Wonderful!

0:13:09 > 0:13:12Now the nice thing there, is these.

0:13:12 > 0:13:16Now those are Tudor-esque, Elizabethan little medallions

0:13:16 > 0:13:19and you think, "When did that all happen together?"

0:13:19 > 0:13:22And it is 1850-1860.

0:13:22 > 0:13:25We come right to the top and then you've got those

0:13:25 > 0:13:31Disneyworld little balls with pearls on and spires on the top.

0:13:31 > 0:13:36But we know that the man who ordered this bookcase was a serious librarian,

0:13:36 > 0:13:37I mean he didn't just buy books,

0:13:37 > 0:13:41he bought books which were beautifully and expensively bound,

0:13:41 > 0:13:44and that's why we've got these curtains here.

0:13:44 > 0:13:46- I've got the books.- Have you really? - Mm, mm.

0:13:46 > 0:13:52- So you inherited the bookcase and the books?- And the books as well. - How wonderful! Oh, what a joy!

0:13:52 > 0:13:53Golly gosh!

0:13:53 > 0:13:58Solid rosewood everywhere, the quality is unsurpassed.

0:13:58 > 0:14:04We have to talk about value and there's a lot of conversations these days about

0:14:04 > 0:14:06antique furniture being down in the market.

0:14:06 > 0:14:10Well, that's not across the board, that's only for certain things.

0:14:10 > 0:14:15The best things have remained as good as ever, and this is one of the best things.

0:14:15 > 0:14:22Today, if you went into a shop or at a good sale and you wanted to buy this, you'd have to give £8,000.

0:14:22 > 0:14:23Right.

0:14:23 > 0:14:26As an exceptional and most wonderful bit of furniture.

0:14:26 > 0:14:31- Lovely, thank you very much. And thank you for giving me the history. - Pleasure.

0:14:34 > 0:14:37Now, I see you're wearing a costume brooch there.

0:14:37 > 0:14:40Would you call that costume jewellery as well?

0:14:40 > 0:14:41- Yes, I would.- Why?

0:14:41 > 0:14:48Well, maybe when I was about 20, I would wear marquisite brooches.

0:14:48 > 0:14:52- Marcasite?- Yes.- Right, and that is set with marcasites. - Well, I thought it was.

0:14:52 > 0:14:54Where did the necklace come from?

0:14:54 > 0:14:56I was given it by an aunt

0:14:56 > 0:15:00and I haven't worn it because it's too small for me.

0:15:00 > 0:15:06It's very short isn't it? Now we see an awful lot of what might be called costume jewellery, that's brought

0:15:06 > 0:15:09into the Roadshow and the vast majority

0:15:09 > 0:15:12of costume pieces are frankly nominal value,

0:15:12 > 0:15:15decorative colourful pieces.

0:15:15 > 0:15:17Then occasionally you come across something

0:15:17 > 0:15:20that sets it off as being slightly more special.

0:15:20 > 0:15:24The necklace itself is mounted in silver.

0:15:24 > 0:15:29The little glittery gems, they're marcasite.

0:15:29 > 0:15:34Now these green and blue stones, let me tell you what they are.

0:15:34 > 0:15:42The light blue gems are stained blue chalcedony,

0:15:42 > 0:15:46and the green ones are called green amazonite.

0:15:46 > 0:15:49- Will you remember those two names? - No, probably not.

0:15:49 > 0:15:55I'm going to turn it over and I want you just to have a look there.

0:15:55 > 0:15:57Can you see the little stamp on the back?

0:15:57 > 0:15:59- Yes.- OK, now under my lens,

0:15:59 > 0:16:03that has a little monogram and "935"

0:16:03 > 0:16:06and the little monogram is "T"

0:16:06 > 0:16:09and a little small "F".

0:16:09 > 0:16:14That tells me that this necklace is by a celebrated German craftsman

0:16:14 > 0:16:17by the name of Theodore Fahrner.

0:16:17 > 0:16:25We've got to date this to perhaps the end of the First World War, running up to about 1925,

0:16:25 > 0:16:27so it's quite a forerunner of the Art Deco look.

0:16:27 > 0:16:32As a piece of costume jewellery, what do you think it might be worth?

0:16:32 > 0:16:35£30-£40?

0:16:35 > 0:16:37Maybe as far as 50, I don't know.

0:16:37 > 0:16:42I think this necklace is worth in the region of £1,500.

0:16:44 > 0:16:47- Well, I'm really shocked at that. - I thought you might be.

0:16:47 > 0:16:51Because it's just in a cardboard box in my dressing-table drawer.

0:16:51 > 0:16:55His jewellery is exceptionally collectable.

0:16:55 > 0:16:59There are people who absolutely go for Theodore Fahrner,

0:16:59 > 0:17:03because he worked in what was called the Jugendstil style, the young style.

0:17:03 > 0:17:06He's an important craftsman.

0:17:06 > 0:17:09You've got a piece of Fahrner jewellery.

0:17:09 > 0:17:12It's no costume piece, ma'am.

0:17:12 > 0:17:14Have you ever been to Russia?

0:17:14 > 0:17:17Yes, last year we went to St Petersburg in Russia.

0:17:17 > 0:17:20Right, and did you see all the Matrioshka dolls?

0:17:20 > 0:17:23- Yes.- And you saw that you could get lots of political ones?

0:17:23 > 0:17:26- Yes, I saw that. - Which do world leaders.

0:17:26 > 0:17:29- Did you see the connection between those and this?- Yes, I did.

0:17:29 > 0:17:35Here we are looking at the world as it was, what, in the 1970s?

0:17:35 > 0:17:37In the 1970s.

0:17:37 > 0:17:39So it's the East versus the West, isn't it?

0:17:39 > 0:17:46Yes. I bought it in the 1970s for my daughter who was a toddler then.

0:17:46 > 0:17:51I wanted her to have an interest in current affairs and political figures

0:17:51 > 0:17:54and I bought it for that reason

0:17:54 > 0:17:57so it would be a fun way for her to learn to play chess

0:17:57 > 0:18:00and use history as well as playing chess.

0:18:00 > 0:18:02Now, with the advantage of 30 years,

0:18:02 > 0:18:05it's amazing how things have changed.

0:18:05 > 0:18:08You know, we've got really famous people of the time

0:18:08 > 0:18:13in this confrontational situation. Let's look at some of the key players.

0:18:13 > 0:18:16We've got Kissinger, obviously, as the castle,

0:18:16 > 0:18:19we've got the Pope as the bishop.

0:18:19 > 0:18:23We've got... This is Miss World, who is the Queen.

0:18:23 > 0:18:27It's everything about American society and culture.

0:18:27 > 0:18:31And Ford. And other world leaders of the West along there,

0:18:31 > 0:18:35from Mrs Ghandi, Giscard D'Estaing, and others,

0:18:35 > 0:18:40facing Chairman Mao...

0:18:40 > 0:18:42Makarios...

0:18:42 > 0:18:45That's Idi Amin, I think.

0:18:45 > 0:18:49Others I look at and think, "Who on earth is that?"

0:18:49 > 0:18:51That in itself is interesting, how history has changed.

0:18:51 > 0:18:54Do we know who made it?

0:18:54 > 0:18:57- I don't know. - They're wonderfully modelled.

0:18:57 > 0:19:00That's Harold Wilson stretching the pound in your pocket.

0:19:00 > 0:19:04And they're made by somebody with a very sharp eye.

0:19:04 > 0:19:06That is the most extraordinary thing about it.

0:19:06 > 0:19:10But did you sit there, you and your daughter,

0:19:10 > 0:19:12- fighting the world wars?- Yes.

0:19:12 > 0:19:14- Who used to win?- My daughter.

0:19:14 > 0:19:17Was she the reds or the whites?

0:19:17 > 0:19:21- She was the whites.- She was looking ahead to the way it was going to be.

0:19:21 > 0:19:23I think this is a remarkable thing.

0:19:23 > 0:19:26It's a wonderful period piece.

0:19:26 > 0:19:31Normally we're dismissive of things made of resin as it's a material used often for copies and fakes.

0:19:31 > 0:19:35Here the material is irrelevant, it's what they're saying that is important.

0:19:35 > 0:19:38- Yes.- What did you pay?

0:19:38 > 0:19:42I paid about £30 for it in the 1970s.

0:19:42 > 0:19:45Well, the value is almost academic. I mean I think it's probably...

0:19:45 > 0:19:49- say, £300.- Really? - It doesn't matter.- No.

0:19:49 > 0:19:52To a collector of the politics of that period,

0:19:52 > 0:19:54this is a wonderful object.

0:19:54 > 0:19:55Well, here we are,

0:19:55 > 0:20:01this is part of the Lewis Carroll industry, really.

0:20:01 > 0:20:04These were printed, these little postage stamp cases,

0:20:04 > 0:20:08in the late Victorian period.

0:20:08 > 0:20:11And they slide out like this,

0:20:11 > 0:20:14and this bit is for your stamps.

0:20:14 > 0:20:17- Where did they come from? - My father gave me

0:20:17 > 0:20:23the book and stamp booklet for my 40th birthday.

0:20:23 > 0:20:31And it came from my great grandmother whose father was a don at Oxford

0:20:31 > 0:20:34at the same time as Lewis Carroll was.

0:20:34 > 0:20:38And apparently my great grandmother was one of Lewis Carroll's young lady...

0:20:38 > 0:20:41- Little ladies, yes. - Yes, his little ladies, indeed.

0:20:41 > 0:20:44This is not in good condition, it's foxed.

0:20:44 > 0:20:47But you've got this lovely inscription here,

0:20:47 > 0:20:51"Millicent Bigg, from the inventor, May 25th '96."

0:20:51 > 0:20:56And this other one here, which is rather nice, "Millicent Bigg

0:20:56 > 0:21:00"from the author May 25th 1896."

0:21:00 > 0:21:05Instead of being worth...£80,

0:21:05 > 0:21:07we're talking about £1,500.

0:21:07 > 0:21:09That's wonderful. That's lovely.

0:21:09 > 0:21:13- Well, thank you so much for bringing them in.- Thank you very much.

0:21:16 > 0:21:19I'm always intrigued by boxes. What's in this one?

0:21:19 > 0:21:22It's just something I found in a skip.

0:21:22 > 0:21:24I'm a bit of a midgie-raker.

0:21:24 > 0:21:30- What's a midgie-raker?- Somebody who wastes their time looking through skips and things, for wee goodies.

0:21:30 > 0:21:32So let's see what's inside.

0:21:32 > 0:21:35Is this the best of your finds, then?

0:21:35 > 0:21:37Yes, the most interesting, yes.

0:21:37 > 0:21:40- Should I look at these...? - Well, some's a bit iffy.

0:21:40 > 0:21:45- Yes. I mean, beautiful, beautiful glamour shots.- Lovely costumes.

0:21:45 > 0:21:47Aren't they fantastic glamour shots?

0:21:47 > 0:21:50And some of these are signed here.

0:21:50 > 0:21:52Most of them are signed.

0:21:52 > 0:21:56- Where are they from, then?- I think they're from the Windmill Theatre.

0:21:56 > 0:21:59- London's Windmill Theatre? - Yes, I think so.

0:21:59 > 0:22:01Right. They're a bit bent.

0:22:01 > 0:22:05Yeah, they were a bit crushed so I spent three nights ironing them before I came here.

0:22:05 > 0:22:08- You ironed them? - Yes, I ironed them.

0:22:08 > 0:22:11Put them in a book and flattened them down. That was the best I could do.

0:22:11 > 0:22:13Well, well done, you.

0:22:13 > 0:22:17I can imagine they would have been even more bent before you did that.

0:22:17 > 0:22:22I love these, "To Bertie, sincerely, Susan Denny".

0:22:22 > 0:22:27Bertie's been a lucky man because every girl in there has been signing a photograph to him.

0:22:27 > 0:22:30The Windmill Theatre in London, I'm sure you know,

0:22:30 > 0:22:32was a very well known theatre.

0:22:32 > 0:22:35I suppose we remember it for being open throughout the war years.

0:22:35 > 0:22:38- The theatre that never stopped, really.- Yes.

0:22:38 > 0:22:42Some of them say 1950, 1951 and 2.

0:22:42 > 0:22:45What's lovely are the costumes that they're wearing,

0:22:45 > 0:22:50very glamorous indeed. And, for a collector, what a treasure trove.

0:22:50 > 0:22:54- Have you any idea how much they might be worth?- No, nothing at all.

0:22:54 > 0:22:56To a collector I think, um...

0:22:56 > 0:23:01a single image like this could be worth £2, £3 or £4.

0:23:01 > 0:23:04The glamour element adds a lot to a collector's interest.

0:23:04 > 0:23:07And what do you think - 200 in here, maybe?

0:23:07 > 0:23:10- Have you counted them? - That's about fair, yes - 200.

0:23:10 > 0:23:15- So 200, I mean at least £400, £500 worth.- Oh, great!

0:23:15 > 0:23:18- So off you go midgie-raking! - Yes, I will.

0:23:21 > 0:23:26The only people I know who use white gloves to touch objects are the National Trust.

0:23:26 > 0:23:29- Are you from the National Trust? - Strangely enough, no, I'm not.

0:23:29 > 0:23:33I'm dressed as the ghost of a highway robber, Adam Lyle deceased.

0:23:33 > 0:23:37And that's quite apt as I've brought a rather macabre object in today.

0:23:37 > 0:23:40- It doesn't look macabre. - Well, it might not do,

0:23:40 > 0:23:43but it's a business card holder

0:23:43 > 0:23:45made from the skin of an executed criminal,

0:23:45 > 0:23:48William Burke, who along with his partner, William Hare,

0:23:48 > 0:23:54used to engage in body-snatching, where they would find unsuspecting people, take them home,

0:23:54 > 0:23:58murder them and sell their bodies to be dissected at medical schools.

0:23:58 > 0:24:00- The infamous pair.- Indeed.

0:24:00 > 0:24:05In a twist of irony, when Burke was caught, they took his body to the medical school,

0:24:05 > 0:24:09had him dissected and decided to use some of his body to make a few souvenirs,

0:24:09 > 0:24:12including this little object here.

0:24:12 > 0:24:15How did a reasonable chap like you come across THAT?

0:24:15 > 0:24:19My boss, a few years ago, back in 1988, actually managed to buy this

0:24:19 > 0:24:22at auction from the family of one of the doctors associated,

0:24:22 > 0:24:26descendants of one of the doctors, Dr Hobbs,

0:24:26 > 0:24:32and they sold it at auction and we managed to buy it back in 1988 for £1,050.

0:24:32 > 0:24:34How do you know that is what you think it is?

0:24:34 > 0:24:37Has an historian proved it?

0:24:37 > 0:24:42At the auction in 1988 it was verified by a Home Office pathologist

0:24:42 > 0:24:48and we do know that Dr Hobbs, whose family owned this, was a colleague of the famous Dr Robert Knox,

0:24:48 > 0:24:52who dealt solely with Burke and Hare back in the 1820s.

0:24:52 > 0:24:55It has been well kept and it's been

0:24:55 > 0:25:00on loan at the Police Museum in Edinburgh so it should be quite well kept.

0:25:00 > 0:25:04- But then you yourself have been dead for several years. - Yes, a century or so.

0:25:06 > 0:25:13Well, I look at ceramics virtually every day and I've never seen a pearl-ware tea bowl like it.

0:25:13 > 0:25:14Where did you get it?

0:25:14 > 0:25:18From a second-hand shop about five or six years ago.

0:25:18 > 0:25:21- And how much did you pay for them? - Ten pence.

0:25:21 > 0:25:24Ten pence?

0:25:24 > 0:25:31Early 19th-century tea bowl in good condition should be at least £30, but one with soldiers on,

0:25:31 > 0:25:38commemorating the Battle of Waterloo,

0:25:38 > 0:25:43with a portrait of General Blucher there,

0:25:43 > 0:25:48one of Lord Wellington there, and dated 1815,

0:25:48 > 0:25:52- it's got to be £300. - All right, as much as that?

0:25:52 > 0:25:55- That's a surprise. - It's a fantastic thing.

0:25:55 > 0:25:58I've never seen one before.

0:26:00 > 0:26:06We bought the clock in an antique shop in Ayr in 1970 and

0:26:06 > 0:26:11we just had moved into a Victorian house with high ceilings and cornices

0:26:11 > 0:26:18and we saw this clock and we said, "Well, we have to find a home for that clock", and we've got one,

0:26:18 > 0:26:21- so we just bought it. - And you fell in love with it?- Yes.

0:26:21 > 0:26:24- Fantastic!- It's been sitting in the corner now for 36 years.

0:26:24 > 0:26:32Everything about it is Georgian, from the hollow-cornered panel on the plinth, reeded quarter columns

0:26:32 > 0:26:36with their gilt metal Corinthian capitals, all the way through to the swan-neck pediment at the top.

0:26:36 > 0:26:41Absolutely through and through this is 1770s-1780s,

0:26:41 > 0:26:43- but it's not.- Right.

0:26:43 > 0:26:48It's almost 100 years later in the 1870s-1880s,

0:26:48 > 0:26:54so it's a fairly late Victorian mahogany long-case clock.

0:26:56 > 0:26:59And if we turn it through the half hour....

0:26:59 > 0:27:01MELODIC TINKLING

0:27:01 > 0:27:07Terrific. And you hear that every single day, doing that, fantastic.

0:27:07 > 0:27:11- All day, all night, yes. - Can you hear it lying in bed?

0:27:11 > 0:27:12We can hear the chime.

0:27:12 > 0:27:16We hear the hour chime right through the house.

0:27:19 > 0:27:22I have it.

0:27:22 > 0:27:25Absolutely massive movement,

0:27:25 > 0:27:30huge, but totally typical of the Victorian period from the 1880s,

0:27:30 > 0:27:35very high quality, beautifully made, almost certainly made in Clerkenwell, which is the

0:27:35 > 0:27:40centre of the clock-making industry in London at this particular time. How much did you pay for it?

0:27:40 > 0:27:47I paid £400 for it, but that was a long time ago. That was in 1970, I think it was.

0:27:47 > 0:27:52OK. If this was a Georgian long case clock

0:27:52 > 0:27:55from 1770 and it was quarter chiming,

0:27:55 > 0:28:00at auction it would be worth between £6,000 and £8,000.

0:28:00 > 0:28:07- But it's not.- It's just as good quality, if not better quality, than a Georgian long case clock,

0:28:07 > 0:28:12but today, at auction, it's worth between £3,000

0:28:12 > 0:28:17and £5,000, but in my opinion they're greatly under valued.

0:28:17 > 0:28:21So why don't we just finish off by hearing it right through the hour.

0:28:23 > 0:28:26CHIMING FOLLOWED BY GONGS

0:28:28 > 0:28:30And away it goes.

0:28:41 > 0:28:48Now, when I saw you carrying this in, I thought it was just a standard Gladstone leather bag,

0:28:48 > 0:28:51but when you open it, it's something else. Let's have a go.

0:28:54 > 0:28:57Up comes this and then at the back here

0:28:57 > 0:29:04these sort of instruments of torture, and this is obviously a burner,

0:29:04 > 0:29:08- but what does this do? - For curling your hair.

0:29:08 > 0:29:10- You'd have heated it up there.- Yeah.

0:29:10 > 0:29:12And put these tongs in your hair.

0:29:12 > 0:29:18- And rolled your hair.- Just roll it around, so it's the Carmen rollers of the late 19th century.

0:29:18 > 0:29:23- And what were these other pieces for?- They must have been for other bits to do with hair.

0:29:23 > 0:29:26- So this would have contained your powders and soap.- Yeah.

0:29:26 > 0:29:32This is probably for a lady to go travelling with. I've never seen something in this sort

0:29:32 > 0:29:39of design before, so quite unusual, and probably dates from round about 1890-1900.

0:29:39 > 0:29:42And then over here is something a bit earlier.

0:29:42 > 0:29:45Yes, this is more special.

0:29:45 > 0:29:48And this was made, as you can see by the side handles here,

0:29:48 > 0:29:54for travelling, so you would have taken this wherever you went in your horse-drawn carriage.

0:29:54 > 0:29:56Well, we always presumed it belonged to a doctor

0:29:56 > 0:30:03- and he travelled with it round, no? - Well, probably the other way round.

0:30:03 > 0:30:06It was very expensive to call out a doctor in the 19th century

0:30:06 > 0:30:10so therefore you would try to dose yourself.

0:30:10 > 0:30:14So at home, or when you were travelling, you'd

0:30:14 > 0:30:19have had these wonderful cabinets which open up and up and up,

0:30:19 > 0:30:22to cure every possible illness.

0:30:22 > 0:30:26And just a bit on health and safety on this, because

0:30:26 > 0:30:29you've got to be very careful that some of these bottles don't

0:30:29 > 0:30:36hold their original contents, because they often contained laudanum and also often poisons.

0:30:36 > 0:30:40So this dates from around about 1820 and this was given to your family?

0:30:40 > 0:30:48- It was my daughter's great- grandmother's, and she got it for her 21st.- She got given it for her 21st?

0:30:48 > 0:30:51- Yeah.- That was quite an expensive present.

0:30:51 > 0:30:58Even back in the 1820s, this would have been an extraordinary high class expensive piece of kit to own.

0:30:58 > 0:31:01They're called medicine chests or apothecary's chests, but this really

0:31:01 > 0:31:05- is the very best you can buy. - Really?

0:31:05 > 0:31:10The Gladstone bag is a novelty thing, probably worth £100 to £150.

0:31:10 > 0:31:14This, however, is something much more exciting

0:31:14 > 0:31:21- and to a collector you're probably talking about £3,500 to £4,000. - That's nice.

0:31:21 > 0:31:24- Very nice 21st birthday present. - Yes.

0:31:25 > 0:31:28Well, tell me about this mug that you've brought to me today.

0:31:28 > 0:31:32I only know that it belonged to someone in my grandmother's family

0:31:32 > 0:31:37and passed to her, and in turn to me, and so I've...

0:31:37 > 0:31:41really no idea what it is exactly or where it's come from.

0:31:41 > 0:31:45I think there may be a Russian connection, but that's all I know.

0:31:45 > 0:31:49Well, there's a very strong Russian connection indeed and in fact the first thing that one

0:31:49 > 0:31:55notices about this beaker is the fact it's emblazoned with the Romanov crown, and beneath it are

0:31:55 > 0:31:59the initials NA in Cyrillic, and not only NA but NIIA and

0:31:59 > 0:32:05this refers to Nicholas and Alexandra, and this is the year of their coronation in 1896.

0:32:05 > 0:32:09And in a sense it's not a terribly valuable object because it's only enamelled base metal.

0:32:09 > 0:32:12- Have you used it at all? - No, it's simply been stored.

0:32:12 > 0:32:17Right, and curiously perhaps a little bit unloved in a way and a bit misunderstood?

0:32:17 > 0:32:20Yes, I think just probably it

0:32:20 > 0:32:25wasn't believed to be of any value so it was just held as a kind of mysterious object.

0:32:25 > 0:32:28Well, it is a mysterious object and in fact it's simply not even a rare one.

0:32:28 > 0:32:32Nearly half a million of these were made at the coronation of Nicholas and Alexandra.

0:32:32 > 0:32:36But they do have rather a baleful history and I don't know whether you've ever heard of this,

0:32:36 > 0:32:39but at the coronation in 1896 it was thought a good idea

0:32:39 > 0:32:45for the commoners to celebrate this with a party, a festival in the Khodinka Meadow, and what seemed

0:32:45 > 0:32:49to be a jolly good idea turned out to be one of great tragedy,

0:32:49 > 0:32:55because free beer was to be distributed amongst the people who wanted to celebrate the coronation.

0:32:55 > 0:32:58Half a million people turned up and it's possible that half a million

0:32:58 > 0:33:02people were given a beaker much like this, to drink the beer from.

0:33:02 > 0:33:05But the Russians are very fond of alcohol, and when they learned that there was

0:33:05 > 0:33:11free beer available, they charged forward and knocked each other over and it turned into a blood bath

0:33:11 > 0:33:16because 1,500 people were drowned in the mud as they trampled each other to death.

0:33:16 > 0:33:21This is part of Russian history that people put enormous store by, because it was one of the very

0:33:21 > 0:33:24first tragedies of the reign of Nicholas and Alexandra,

0:33:24 > 0:33:30and it's a miracle really that this beaker that you've brought us today tells that very silent story.

0:33:30 > 0:33:32Of course, in a way it would be nice to carry away something of

0:33:32 > 0:33:35a happy note from the Antiques Roadshow, but this is a deeply

0:33:35 > 0:33:41sensational thing to tell you and I couldn't resist it really, but it's very redolent of Russian history.

0:33:41 > 0:33:45I don't suppose you think it's a very valuable object now.

0:33:45 > 0:33:49It would be hard to put a value on something like that, certainly.

0:33:49 > 0:33:52Did you say it was made of metal or enamel or something?

0:33:52 > 0:33:55Yes, it's enamelled base metal and so it has no intrinsic value whatsoever.

0:33:55 > 0:33:58Yes, so in that sense it seems quite basic.

0:33:58 > 0:34:03Very basic and in a way it should be measured in perhaps under £100.

0:34:03 > 0:34:06But people are very interested in Russian history now and I think

0:34:06 > 0:34:12there's absolutely no doubt that if this came up for sale that it ought to fetch £400 or £500 because it is

0:34:12 > 0:34:15redolent of that very tragic moment.

0:34:15 > 0:34:18Thank you for bringing it. I wish it was happier news in a way.

0:34:20 > 0:34:25I found this watercolour about a year ago in an antique centre.

0:34:25 > 0:34:27It was quite anonymous.

0:34:27 > 0:34:34I bought it for £115 and on the back there was just a little bit of information about it.

0:34:34 > 0:34:38It said "The mermaid and the fisherman, "

0:34:38 > 0:34:40a monogram "CR"

0:34:40 > 0:34:46dated 1890. And when I first saw it, I just got this wonderful kind of...

0:34:46 > 0:34:51cold shivers went through me, I just thought it was such a beautiful jewel-like thing.

0:34:51 > 0:34:54At this point it was just the beauty? It didn't have any further resonance for you?

0:34:54 > 0:35:00Well, it looked to me like a book illustration, so I thought it might

0:35:00 > 0:35:05be fun to track down the book that it appeared in, so I looked on the net

0:35:05 > 0:35:10and it led me to a story called "The Fisherman and his Soul"

0:35:10 > 0:35:14which was written by Oscar Wilde, which was published in its first

0:35:14 > 0:35:19edition in 1891, so it was the year after this had been painted.

0:35:19 > 0:35:20- So the dates worked. - The dates worked.

0:35:20 > 0:35:28I went to the British Library search engine and got some bibliographic details about it, and it turned out

0:35:28 > 0:35:35that it was illustrated by a man called Charles Ricketts, so this could have been the mysterious CR.

0:35:35 > 0:35:42So, from there, I went to the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh to look

0:35:42 > 0:35:50at an original copy of the book, and it so happened that the illustration appeared in it, but in woodcut form.

0:35:50 > 0:35:52So that's really all I know about it.

0:35:52 > 0:35:54- That's as far as you got.- Yes.

0:35:54 > 0:35:56But how decadent is that subject?

0:35:56 > 0:36:04- Here is this androgynous figure feeding this mermaid oysters from its, or her or his lap.- Yeah.

0:36:04 > 0:36:06And this...

0:36:06 > 0:36:11all these sea shells and this coral and these pearls in the mermaid's hair are extraordinarily beautiful.

0:36:11 > 0:36:14And this tinge of pink in the sky.

0:36:14 > 0:36:17- I suppose that, if it's dawn, makes that Hesperus.- Right.

0:36:17 > 0:36:20Oh, no, that's the evening star, Hesperus.

0:36:20 > 0:36:22- I can't remember what the dawn star is, but...- I don't know.

0:36:22 > 0:36:24- But anyway it's all very allegorical.- Yes.

0:36:24 > 0:36:30The whole thing gives off this wonderful whiff of that decadent time of Wilde.

0:36:30 > 0:36:33And of course Wilde's great illustrator

0:36:33 > 0:36:36previous to Ricketts, or alongside Ricketts, was Aubrey Beardsley

0:36:36 > 0:36:41and it's his interpretation of Wilde's books, the Yellow Book and so on,

0:36:41 > 0:36:44that we're used to seeing, the visualisation of Wilde's works.

0:36:44 > 0:36:51But Ricketts was at least as evocative and actually, in a way, though not so simple as Beardsley,

0:36:51 > 0:36:56this, I think, encapsulates the whole spirit of the age.

0:36:56 > 0:36:59You know Wilde met Ricketts through having seen a copy

0:36:59 > 0:37:02of a periodical that they'd produced called The Dial.

0:37:02 > 0:37:04- You know this.- Yes.

0:37:04 > 0:37:06And of course,

0:37:06 > 0:37:09Wilde instantly became friends with Ricketts and his partner Shannon.

0:37:09 > 0:37:14So if this is by Charles Ricketts, and I think it is...

0:37:14 > 0:37:17you might have to do just a little bit more work on it, to place it

0:37:17 > 0:37:21in time and space, you know, just to be absolutely 100% sure.

0:37:21 > 0:37:26But if it is, then this has got to be one of the most evocative images

0:37:26 > 0:37:29of that era that I've ever seen, that exists, really.

0:37:29 > 0:37:33This is the Ricketts that everyone wants to find and never does.

0:37:33 > 0:37:36You know, this is the thing, this is the kind of picture

0:37:36 > 0:37:41that epitomises that era perfectly, and it's in wonderful condition.

0:37:41 > 0:37:45- Yeah.- So I think that, and this extraordinarily powerful erotic

0:37:45 > 0:37:51charge that it seems to have, will get the collectors off the mark.

0:37:51 > 0:37:55It crosses borders. Not only is it visual, it also appeals to the book collectors.

0:37:55 > 0:37:59There's going to be 100 people who'd like to own this, well, thousands I think...

0:37:59 > 0:38:04Only 100 would be able to afford it because I think it's worth between £10,000 and £15,000.

0:38:09 > 0:38:13- That's amazing. - It's an absolutely stunning picture. - Thank you very much.

0:38:13 > 0:38:19- Definitely the find of the day, if not the year, for me.- Thank you.

0:38:21 > 0:38:25Apart from the exciting items brought in by our visitors,

0:38:25 > 0:38:30there are over 8,000 pieces on display here at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum

0:38:30 > 0:38:33and I've only seen about 4,000 of them, so I've

0:38:33 > 0:38:37decided I'm going to come again, and the Antiques Roadshow team has kindly agreed to come with me.

0:38:37 > 0:38:44So, until Kelvingrove Part Two, with thanks to the people of Glasgow for being with us, goodbye.

0:38:54 > 0:38:56Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd