Lacock Abbey 1 Antiques Roadshow


Lacock Abbey 1

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This week we've come to a place that may look strangely familiar.

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There's nothing strange about it,

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this is a place that television just loves...

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Welcome to Lacock in Wiltshire.

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Ironically, when you look closely at Lacock you realise that

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TV aerials don't exist here, neither do satellite dishes, burglar alarms

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or those lovely yellow lines.

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It's not that the villagers have spurned 20th century life,

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it's just that the National Trust, who own Lacock,

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are keen to retain as much of its old world charm as possible.

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Living here has its pros and cons.

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On the one hand you get to live somewhere beautiful,

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on the other you get those awful film people

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banging on your front door wanting to turn it into the backdrop

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for their next big production.

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Mind you, it has to be said, Lacock has never been exactly camera shy.

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In 1995 approval was granted for the High Street to be transformed

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into the Regency town of Meriton

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for the BBC's version of Jane Austen's Pride And Prejudice.

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This pub became the exterior of the Meriton Assembly Hall

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where the Bennet girls meet Mr Darcy for the first time.

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Lacock's screen credits are long. Emma, The Mayor Of Casterbridge,

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Moll Flanders, Tom Brown's Schooldays...

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the only person who hasn't been here it seems is Indiana Jones.

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The village was old long before any of the aforementioned were dreamed of...

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It dates back to the 13th century

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when Lacock Abbey was founded by Ella, Countess of Salisbury.

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Today, the Abbey's lawns provide the location for a screen icon almost

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as venerable as the abbey itself,

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and cameras roll for the Antiques Roadshow, scene one, take one.

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These are the most sumptuous silkwork pictures that I have ever seen.

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I am just completely spellbound by them.

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The way the house has been sewn and this incredible reflection

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of the house in the water,

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all sewn in silk and taken directly

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from this watercolour and I am sure if I stood back from them,

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I wouldn't be able to know what the medium of this is.

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-It only reveals itself as you get closer.

-Right.

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I mean the workmanship is just fantastic.

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Yes, yes.

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What relationship do you have with them?

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This was my grandmother's

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and she lived in north Wales,

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she did quite a few pictures from north Wales and then moved to Minehead,

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that was after her husband died.

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So was she a trained artist?

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Not that I'm aware of, no. I think this entirely started off as a hobby

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and she was then encouraged, um, after one or two had been produced to actually exhibit them.

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And was she successful? Did she sell her things?

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Yes, she did, um, to my certain knowledge she sold maybe 20 or more.

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-But she was, she was basically an amateur.

-Oh, very much so, yes, yes. Very much so.

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One of the things that strikes me immediately is that she had the most

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passionate love of nature and the outside world, she has grasped here

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the total atmosphere, there is this lovely bend in the river,

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this beautiful oak tree with all the sort of strength and elegance

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of a statuesque tree, all the sun on the trunk here and the detail

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of the little wild flowers, the thistles, the ferns,

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the grasses, but what's interesting is, the stitching is all long stitch

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and in some places she's done it over the top of an under layer

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so you get this relief.

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That's why you get this tremendous

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-feeling of depth in it.

-It's almost a 3D effect.

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And the silks themselves are shaded so she must have

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bought good quality silks. Do you know where she got them from?

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I have no record of that at all.

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Because she was in north Wales and the tradition for this sort of wonderful silk work was London

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and so she was incredibly sophisticated in her tastes.

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I just think they are totally mind-blowing and they're in the most amazing, amazing condition

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and I am going to place a price on each of £500,

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going up towards £1,000 for these bigger ones.

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Obviously I will never ever part with them.

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-And you can't replace them.

-As they are a family heirloom, they are irreplaceable.

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This is an interesting group of Royal Worcester pieces

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that one generally finds in a home in Worcester itself.

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To come all the way down here to Wiltshire and find a group of Royal Worcester pieces

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like this, is a bit strange.

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-How does it come to be?

-Well, my mother came from Worcester

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and it all either belonged to my grandparents or my mother,

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it's now passed on to my wife, Eileen.

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Any piece you like particularly?

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-Well, I fell in love with the tea service...

-Yes.

-..when I first met my future parents-in-law.

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It's very much of the 1910s,

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it's a pattern called Pekin which was named I think after the town in China where they had the...

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they had a rebellion I think or something like that,

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and Pekin has been a very popular pattern for a very long time,

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but your set goes back to about the 1910 period.

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-Have you got the whole set?

-Yes.

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I mean it's 100 years old.

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Yes, yes, yes.

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That would take you back. You've got here the

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blackberries and autumnal fruits, beautiful painting on a little vase,

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a little pot pourri vase for the

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smells to come out of the holes at the top, by Kitty Blake.

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Kitty Blake was a very daring woman for her time.

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She wore bright red lipstick and smoked fags

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and she was terribly annoying to the Worcester Factory.

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They hated this blessed girl

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because she fought them tooth and nail for permission to get the girls

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to be allowed to sign there, and this one is signed.

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There it is, Blake.

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Kitty Blake, a marvellous girl and she ran a marvellous group of girls,

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painters at the factory who were called "The Saucy Six"

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and they were very very naughty girls.

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They made life hell for the foreman.

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-Good for them.

-Good for them.

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-You've got some more like that, haven't you?

-Yes.

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More like this?

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-Yes.

-Oh, they're rather valuable, and also this is about the same...

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just a bit before that date, 1920,

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this is about 1905 and the Hadley factory

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-which was a breakaway from the Royal Worcester.

-Oh, really?

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But a nice little pot that one, but the gem of the whole thing to me,

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apart from your tea set, is this chap.

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-Oh, really?

-Is that one, yes.

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-That's my husband's favourite.

-Is it?

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Right, this is Highland sheep or sheep in a...

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no, sheep in a, in a lowland setting I suppose, mainly they're always put

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up in the Highlands of Scotland when they're by Harry Davies

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but this is by Ernie Barker, E Barker,

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the signature there,

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who was the pupil of Harry Davies and, um he was an extremely fine

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sheep painter, beautiful painter indeed, Ernie Barker,

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but he had to be in the shadows of Harry Davies and if that were

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-a Harry Davies piece, you wouldn't go home without an escort.

-Really?

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Highly collectable.

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The tea service, um, probably only going to be about £250, £300,

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the little Hadley vase going to be about £200,

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the Kitty Blake going to be about £400

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but the gem of the thing is of course the Ernie Barker piece,

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-and I reckon you're looking at say about £1,200.

-Gosh.

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-So look after them won't you?

-We will, yeah.

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-Guard them...

-I shall be very careful going home now.

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If you use the Pekin set, I'll think of you when using it, enjoy, but careful with it.

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-Thanks very much indeed.

-Thank you very much.

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Well, if I hadn't read the first line and recognised the handwriting,

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and indeed recognised this

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British Antarctic Expedition Terra Nova stamp there, I would

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realise that it was Edward Wilson, Dr Edward Wilson who went with

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Captain Scott on his last expedition to the South Pole,

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which he got to and of course Amundsen, the Norwegian had got there first,

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and they died coming home, they all froze together.

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I must read it "January 3rd 1910".

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But that is wrong, it should be 1911.

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He just forgot... I always forget about dates, you know, when you go over to the New Year.

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"I want you to thank the dear old home cook for

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"her plum pudding which we ate on New Year's Day and found simply tip-top."

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That's very Edwardian, isn't it?

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Yeah, it's a different era.

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"It couldn't possibly have been nicer or have

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"kept better or have been more appreciated by everyone in the mess

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"and the shillings and six pennies and things will all be treasured

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"for all time by the finders.

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"I had a button which I shall take south with me."

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That's absolutely fantastic.

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I have to say that letters

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from the Antarctic are incredibly rare.

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I think if it came up for sale,

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it would be quite in excess of £2,500.

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Really? Gosh!

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Thank you very much.

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We bought it three years ago in

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an antique shop in Lincoln and the antique shop owner told us that it

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came from a house clearance from a lady who lived in a cathedral close

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and he understood that her father had spent some time in India

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and we fell in love with it, that's why...

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It's one of those sort of love it or hate it,

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because the decoration is just so profuse.

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People often imagine that the value is therefore extremely high,

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I'm wondering what you might have paid for it in your antique shop.

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Um, we paid £90 so not very much.

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Well, we see quite a lot of these on the Antiques Roadshow

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and normally it's where people have been travelling in India around the

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turn of the century, so around 1900

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and they've just seen them and they've never seen anything like this.

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The value of it is not particularly high, in the region of £100 to £150

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so I think you did perfectly well

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and it's just really interesting to see that somebody

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your age isn't just buying modern furniture.

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It's really nice to see that you have an eye for something like this as well.

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Well, this is just a serious peach of Edwardian glass making,

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tell me what's your association?

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Well, I inherited it from my grandmother who told me that her

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father made it, probably as a test piece, and he came from Stourbridge.

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Well, this absolutely fits, this was made in 1910 so that...

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your grandfather... that seems about right.

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-Yes.

-It's an exquisite form of cutting, it's extremely difficult

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to replicate and is associated with one firm, and one firm alone.

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This is Stevens and Williams who were the finest British glassmakers

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of the Edwardian era, they overtook Thomas Webb as the greatest makers

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and this is a cracked ice pattern which is extremely difficult to do.

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I've seen glass cutters trying to replicate and tearing their hair out in the process, so here we have

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a polo mint or lifebuoy shape

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with this fabulous leaf pattern coming out,

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I bet it looks absolutely fab with...

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-With a liquid.

-with a three dimensional...

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with a liquid inside it, it must really come alive.

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I'm sure you'll be delighted to hear that if you wanted

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-to replace it, you'd have to pay £1,800 to £1,500.

-Really?

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If you were just selling it, you'd get at least £1,000.

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-Wow!

-Pretty good, eh?

-Marvellous inheritance.

-Well, cheers.

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LAUGHTER

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This seems to me to be all French Revolution. Am I right?

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-Yes.

-Well, I have to say, why?

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Um, I've had a passion about the French Revolution

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since the age of about 12, my mother has a French porcelain collection,

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Sevres porcelain and I used to hear romantic stories

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about Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette and I also watched a programme

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on Blue Peter about the life of Marie Antoinette and I just found

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her very fascinating and from there, I got to learn about the Revolution.

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This is probably a very rude question but in 1989

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the Bicentenary of the French Revolution, I was in France, celebrating with the French.

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-So was I.

-You were there?

-Yes, I was 15 at the time, yes.

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I didn't want to ask, but you've answered the question.

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Let's begin with the French things.

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I mean this seems to me to be pretty obvious.

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-It's one of the cockades worn by the Revolutionaries.

-Yes, but it's a very potent symbol at the time.

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This actually was there, wasn't it?

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It's quite magical just to think that

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and if you wore that, you were immediately showing your

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allegiance to the French Revolution and if you didn't wear that,

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people would wonder why you weren't and questions would be asked

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and you might be on your way to the guillotine.

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It was a case of "You're with us or against us."

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Let's look at the British element, I mean I know this is English

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-cream ware of that period.

-Yes.

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But it has a revolutionary image,

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it has a guillotine, it has all those messages that that implies.

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-Yes.

-Now what is this saying?

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Well, this is a cartoon of the British

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and this is Louis XVI's brother holding aloft his head, because his brother actually

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denounced him because of the French Revolution.

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He pretended to be a revolutionary, so here we're saying that he was,

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he had something to do with his own brother's execution.

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But was this made to be bought by British sympathisers

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or people who were horrified by the events? Do we know?

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I have no idea, I suppose it's like us buying

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Punch magazine now.

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It was simply a contemporary reference.

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You knew it was going on, so you bought this jug,

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because it had a slightly shock horror image on it,

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the beheaded Frenchman.

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Yes, so he used to be called Philippe Egalite.

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This is also English, isn't it?

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You've actually got again the image of the guillotine.

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-Yes.

-Quite dramatically so.

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It's a bit like when we have a coronation now.

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-This is a commemorative item.

-Yes.

-But I think what is...

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I mean a coronation mug is unequivocally celebratory.

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-Yes.

-These have a very complicated dual message.

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I myself find it really hard to understand why we were producing such things, yes.

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I think the rarest thing to me must by the fans, and here we have

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-an amazing survival.

-Yes.

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Um, this is a fan of the revolution showing the Estates-General...

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Yes, yes.

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..which was the revolutionary parliament.

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Yes, it hadn't been convened in 400 years so...

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And there it was, and a commemorative fan.

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What could be more transient than a paper object.

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This was a throwaway item.

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-When people went to the theatre obviously they were incredibly hot, so fans were...

-Fans were used.

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-Yes.

-But you know, the idea of this surviving.

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I suppose at the time people thought, "Gosh these things are important,

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"we must keep them for posterity."

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But this must be unbelievably rare.

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-The only other one is in the British Museum as far as I know.

-Even the French don't have one?

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No, no, actually funnily enough when I go to France, quite often, it's very hard to find memorabilia there.

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This is the only thing that I've bought in France.

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This is a death certificate. Er...

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So when you were chopped off, you got a piece of paper.

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They loved keeping their records,

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they were very good at record keeping.

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It was the great French bureaucracy being born.

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Bit later the Code Napoleon, all that stuff comes out.

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-Yes.

-I think what you've done is remarkable, now I mean obviously

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we talk about values. I'm sure you know better than me, the value of all this.

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I sort of don't want to know.

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-I'll deal with the things that are very straightforward.

-Yes.

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This has had restoration as you're aware

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-and it's £600 to £800 in this condition.

-Yes.

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This again is in a poor condition,

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it doesn't matter, it's the image that counts.

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But again that affects the value.

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But I think things like the fan must be...

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-I mean I can hardly dare to put a value on it.

-Yes.

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-We must be dealing in thousands.

-I dread to think...

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-I'm not going to name a figure, I mean this is such a rarity.

-So delicate.

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If nobody in France has one of these... You could name your price.

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-Yes, absolutely, yes.

-What's the key?

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This is actually very interesting.

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It's going back to where it started, my fascination with Marie Antoinette.

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This actually was opened a corner cabinet on one of her barges,

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which is nice because she might well have touched it.

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-How, how do you know?

-Um, because it came from somebody

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that owned the corner cabinet and somehow it got sideways to me.

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This is the magic, you know, I'm holding it,

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it's round your neck, Marie Antoinette may have held it.

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It's like a reliquary, isn't it?

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It is, you cannot get closer to the event than that.

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Right, amazing. Keep wearing it.

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-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

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Nice to meet you.

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So you've brought me in a laptop to value which I don't

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think I'm really qualified to do, but what's more interesting to me

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is an amateur Cine Kodak film. Tell me about it.

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It's a film that I've had hanging around for over 25 years.

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-It was in some stuff I inherited from my mother.

-Right.

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And I believe that it was filmed in about 1931

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and probably by my grandfather.

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And of what?

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-Of Brooklands.

-Of course, it says so.

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That's right, it says...

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-Says so on the box.

-I decided to try and get it looked at,

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and what we came up with was a series

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-of stills which I saw, and on it I noticed one particular car.

-Right.

0:18:410:18:46

And the word "Bluebird" came to mind.

0:18:460:18:49

Fantastic, well personally I mean Brooklands has got a soft place in

0:18:490:18:53

my heart because I went to college there

0:18:530:18:56

and my lunch break was spent sitting on the banking, thinking about all the

0:18:560:19:00

cars that used to race by, so um, I'd love to have a look,

0:19:000:19:03

-and you've got it on the laptop.

-Yes, I have.

-So let's have a quick look.

0:19:030:19:08

There we see the banking, where I used to sit having my lunch,

0:19:080:19:12

and there are some cars going round and you're right.

0:19:120:19:15

It's the Bluebird, well that is a really iconic car obviously

0:19:150:19:20

and the person associated with it is obviously Malcolm Campbell.

0:19:200:19:23

-Of course.

-And interestingly, um, the factory where it was made,

0:19:230:19:27

-all the Bluebirds was made, was actually at Brooklands.

-Yes.

0:19:270:19:31

So it's an obvious place where it would have gone for test.

0:19:310:19:34

-It looks lovely up the banking though, doesn't it?

-It does.

0:19:340:19:38

Um, my suggestion is,

0:19:380:19:40

get some advice from the National Film Archive

0:19:400:19:42

about storage, about the way it should be preserved and so on.

0:19:420:19:47

You've obviously put it onto a CD so it can be seen again.

0:19:470:19:51

This is the first time this film's ever been shown, so it's a premiere.

0:19:510:19:55

Just fantastic. Brooklands is still open, it's a national museum

0:19:550:19:58

and they would love to have a copy I'm sure.

0:19:580:20:01

Finally price...

0:20:010:20:03

it's the only footage we know of this, extremely rare,

0:20:030:20:06

you've got the only one which has never been copied apart from on this CD,

0:20:060:20:11

so rare, historic, valuable?

0:20:110:20:13

Mm, not terribly, historically valuable, commercially maybe between

0:20:130:20:19

£600 and £1,000 so for insurance maybe around about £1,200.

0:20:190:20:24

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you, you've made my day.

0:20:240:20:27

I go back 20 years to when I was a kid.

0:20:270:20:30

20 years?!

0:20:300:20:31

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

0:20:330:20:34

Here, we have a Russian picture,

0:20:360:20:38

but I'm a little bit worried about the artist, who I don't really know,

0:20:380:20:41

-and, indeed, the date, 1981, so it's almost wet, really.

-Yes.

0:20:410:20:46

Tell me about it.

0:20:460:20:47

Well, um, Dr Ushinov, he came from the Russian hierarchy, I guess,

0:20:470:20:51

because he was a child... He was in the Winter Palace in St Petersburg.

0:20:510:20:55

-Right. So he was a White Russian, a White Russian.

-A White Russian.

0:20:550:20:59

And when the Red Army came to St Petersburg,

0:20:590:21:01

-his family had to leave, very, very quickly.

-I bet.

0:21:010:21:04

-And in his bedroom he had a painting.

-Right.

0:21:040:21:06

It was a painting of this scene.

0:21:060:21:09

-Right.

-He ripped the painting off the wall,

0:21:090:21:12

and when he came to America, he decided to recreate it.

0:21:120:21:15

-Right.

-On the back of this painting,

0:21:150:21:17

-there is a piece of the original picture.

-Oh, is there?

0:21:170:21:20

So, he rebuilt this, it was a photograph,

0:21:200:21:22

and a piece of the original, and between the two of them,

0:21:220:21:26

he recreated the picture, so he had this childhood memory, so he could take it to America.

0:21:260:21:30

So this young, this young lad...

0:21:300:21:32

-Yes.

-..terrified out of his wits, ran upstairs, cut this bit of canvas.

0:21:320:21:37

-Ripped it.

-Ripped it, ripped it out, can we look at it?

-Sure.

0:21:370:21:41

-Here it is.

-That's where it is.

0:21:410:21:42

Ah I see, isn't that...

0:21:420:21:45

It's definitely much earlier, isn't it? But it was rolled in his pocket or down his trouser leg.

0:21:450:21:51

That's why it's so damaged.

0:21:510:21:52

It's a great story. Was he a professional artist, Dr Ushinov...

0:21:520:21:55

-I think he probably was, was he?

-Yes, he came to America

0:21:550:21:57

-and he became a dentist to make his living.

-Yeah, right.

0:21:570:22:00

But then when he retired in his 50s he started painting.

0:22:000:22:03

All his paintings are in galleries unfortunately,

0:22:030:22:06

this is the only one in a private collection.

0:22:060:22:08

And I wanted to buy it from him,

0:22:080:22:10

because I'd seen it in his house, for my wife's birthday

0:22:100:22:13

-and he said he doesn't sell his paintings.

-Right.

0:22:130:22:16

Then two years later I was walking past his house, he said, "You wanted to buy that painting."

0:22:160:22:21

I said, "Well, yes, but then I didn't know what your paintings sold for."

0:22:210:22:25

He said, "I haven't given you a price yet, come in and let's talk,"

0:22:250:22:28

and he said, "As long as you promise me it stays in the family setting,

0:22:280:22:32

"I'll sell it to you for a thousand dollars,"

0:22:320:22:35

-so I bought it and my wife got it for her birthday that year.

-In 1981?

0:22:350:22:39

No, about 1986 I bought it.

0:22:390:22:41

Right, right. I have to say, if I'm being really honest with you,

0:22:410:22:46

I think he may have been a better dentist than a painter.

0:22:460:22:48

-Am I being a bit rude here?

-No, that's fine.

-Thank goodness.

0:22:480:22:51

I loved it because of what it was. It's his life in his pictures.

0:22:510:22:54

It's the story that's so great

0:22:540:22:56

and to you it is priceless and to the great doctor it is priceless.

0:22:560:23:00

I think if it appeared on the market it wouldn't be the easiest picture to sell, I'm afraid.

0:23:000:23:05

So I think that the price you paid

0:23:050:23:07

was one for the story and for the whole, you know, the soul of Russia.

0:23:070:23:13

Watch this market very closely

0:23:130:23:15

because it will be I think, one day, a good investment for you.

0:23:150:23:18

-Right, thank you.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much indeed.

0:23:180:23:21

On the Roadshow we're well used to seeing the best of everything,

0:23:230:23:28

the most valuable of everything, the rarest of everything, the smallest of everything.

0:23:280:23:32

In this instance we've definitely got the longest.

0:23:320:23:35

Why do you need a ladder this long? Where does it live?

0:23:350:23:40

It lives in my barn, it's been in my barn, um,

0:23:400:23:44

for as long as we've been there

0:23:440:23:46

and I think it's probably been there since the house was built.

0:23:460:23:49

-Which is when?

-1880.

0:23:490:23:52

-So you don't have any use for it and you...

-I have a theory...

0:23:520:23:55

-I want a theory from you.

-I think they used it

0:23:550:23:57

for cleaning the gutters because it would be exactly the right height.

0:23:570:24:00

But that was the day when they had three gardeners, because you can't get this out by yourself...

0:24:000:24:05

I think the fact that it was

0:24:050:24:07

used for cleaning your gutters is actually fortuitous, in that it was

0:24:070:24:10

made for something else. What do we think it might be?

0:24:100:24:13

Well, there were fruit trees all round the house but it's rather long for fruit trees.

0:24:130:24:17

Absolutely. Fruit trees, as we know, are getting smaller and smaller.

0:24:170:24:21

-Absolutely.

-But no fruit tree has ever been this big.

-No.

0:24:210:24:24

And also a fruit ladder would have been much more portable,

0:24:240:24:26

they would have had to have moved it from tree to tree

0:24:260:24:29

quite easily, and single-handed as well, and, as you say, it takes

0:24:290:24:33

two or three people to set it up.

0:24:330:24:35

There aren't that many trades that I can think of that would need it,

0:24:350:24:38

and I am going for a thatcher.

0:24:380:24:41

As it will never be used again, it's a museum piece, this really

0:24:410:24:45

ought to end up in a sort of country crafts farm museum somewhere

0:24:450:24:49

and as it has only such limited use and value and appeal,

0:24:490:24:54

its value is actually quite limited.

0:24:540:24:57

-Minimal, yes.

-Minimal. I mean, let's say, as a curio, £100.

0:24:570:25:00

Yeah, that's what I thought.

0:25:000:25:03

Now, you and I know what this is,

0:25:050:25:08

but I'll tell you something, a great number of people watching will have

0:25:080:25:11

absolutely no idea that this is a clock.

0:25:110:25:13

They will just assume it's a lovely globe on a stand.

0:25:130:25:17

This is the sun.

0:25:170:25:19

That is indeed the sun and, as you probably know, depending on

0:25:190:25:22

the time of year, you can screw the sun up or down from there to there.

0:25:220:25:26

-Correct.

-So you can get a true image where the sun is,

0:25:260:25:31

and the giveaway is here.

0:25:310:25:35

"The Empire Clock"... Now, where do you think that was made?

0:25:350:25:38

-Probably the British Isles somewhere.

-Well, you would think so,

0:25:380:25:42

but the give away, which is slightly cheating, is on the base,

0:25:420:25:47

and it says "Made in France".

0:25:470:25:49

The French were very good at this sort of thing and the joy of this

0:25:490:25:53

is the whole overall condition, it is totally untouched,

0:25:530:25:57

and how did you get it in that state?

0:25:570:26:00

It was given to me by my previous boss

0:26:000:26:04

and he died not long after.

0:26:040:26:06

-Lovely present, and it was like that when you got it?

-Yes.

0:26:060:26:10

I'm just so pleased that you haven't attempted to do anything to it,

0:26:100:26:13

because an untrained hand with something like this

0:26:130:26:16

would make it horrible, but this is just cracking at the moment.

0:26:160:26:20

I'm just going to show you how to move

0:26:210:26:25

the globe around, and certain people

0:26:250:26:28

would try maybe to move the globe by hand, but you mustn't.

0:26:280:26:31

Always turn the globe, and there it is, turning like that.

0:26:310:26:35

And you can also position

0:26:370:26:40

this particular ring here over any country.

0:26:400:26:44

If you want to be in New York, we go there, or come round here

0:26:440:26:49

to the UK there for the Greenwich Meridian

0:26:490:26:52

and you can read the time there and

0:26:520:26:55

the chapter ring, the equatorial chapter ring is divided into

0:26:550:26:59

two sections, 12 hours of daylight in red enamel

0:26:590:27:03

and 12 hours of black enamel symbolising night.

0:27:030:27:07

You probably also noted -

0:27:080:27:10

this is rather fun - it says here "cable". Had you noticed that?

0:27:100:27:14

No, I didn't know that was there.

0:27:140:27:15

Under the patent it says "cable" and there's a little red line.

0:27:150:27:20

We're talking about the early part of the 20th century here

0:27:200:27:22

and you can follow these red lines around the Pacific Ocean,

0:27:220:27:27

the whole way round here, to Eastern Australia

0:27:270:27:31

and then you can see other cables

0:27:310:27:33

that they've laid in across the Atlantic and you can generally see

0:27:330:27:38

how the world was developing from a telecommunication state even then.

0:27:380:27:44

It is a lovely object.

0:27:440:27:45

The clock movement, which is an eight-day movement,

0:27:450:27:48

is contained within this base,

0:27:480:27:50

and look at this lovely column, it's so beautifully cast...

0:27:500:27:54

some acanthus leaves here...

0:27:540:27:56

it is superb.

0:27:560:27:59

So if somebody came along and said,

0:27:590:28:01

"That scruffy old globe, I'll give you 3,000 quid," would you take it?

0:28:010:28:05

-I'd give it some thought.

-So it's tempting you.

0:28:050:28:08

-It would tempt me.

-How about 4,000?

0:28:080:28:11

-Tempted even more so.

-Yeah, sort of half a car.

0:28:140:28:17

But it was a gift from somebody who I don't have any more.

0:28:170:28:20

Well, there you go, so keep it, because it's a lovely thing.

0:28:200:28:23

The last one of these I had was not that long ago,

0:28:230:28:26

it was about 2½ years ago at a good antiques fair, sold for £6,500.

0:28:260:28:31

Did it? Oh.

0:28:310:28:33

I'd have to need money to sell that.

0:28:330:28:35

Well, then, never sell it, because it's a lovely thing.

0:28:350:28:38

Did you buy this in the 1970s?

0:28:400:28:42

No, I could never have afforded it.

0:28:420:28:44

-No, but did you know it existed then?

-I didn't even know it existed.

0:28:440:28:48

So do you come at it as a design enthusiast, or what?

0:28:480:28:51

As a design enthusiast. I love mid-20th-century design,

0:28:510:28:55

I try and put it in a home and use it

0:28:550:28:58

and bring that element of optimism that we had then.

0:28:580:29:02

-So your house is full of things like this?

-I'm afraid so.

0:29:020:29:04

And what do you think about that?

0:29:040:29:06

Well, most of it I think is tat. Very expensive tat, but tat.

0:29:060:29:11

Expensive tat then, expensive tat now?

0:29:110:29:13

Both, I think, because a lot of the stuff was expensive at the time, wasn't it?

0:29:130:29:17

Yes, so I detect a certain domestic disagreement on this little...

0:29:170:29:21

There is a little bit of a conflict

0:29:210:29:23

but there's also an understanding where both of us are coming from.

0:29:230:29:27

-So you're a long way apart, it seems.

-I'm afraid so, yes.

0:29:270:29:30

-So you live with these things reluctantly?

-I do.

0:29:300:29:34

-They grow on you, but...

-They're part of the package you took on.

0:29:340:29:37

Exactly, exactly, that's just the way it is, yes.

0:29:370:29:40

Um, these are wonderful examples of Weltron products, as you well know,

0:29:400:29:45

and what we've got here is a radio, a tape player,

0:29:450:29:49

-a gramophone all combined. It looks like a space station.

-Indeed.

0:29:490:29:53

And I'm not going to do it

0:29:530:29:55

but you can imagine it sort of flying through space, and this,

0:29:550:29:58

the space ball, plays something very long forgotten

0:29:580:30:02

called an eight-track cassette. Do you still have some of those?

0:30:020:30:06

I've got a few but unfortunately they're jolly hard to get hold of

0:30:060:30:09

and the only one that plays well is Down Mexico Way by Tijuana Brass.

0:30:090:30:14

-Hard luck.

-It's marvellous, it's marvellous!

-Absolutely marvellous.

0:30:140:30:18

-Both had bolt-on speakers, or you might say additional speakers.

-Yes.

0:30:180:30:22

-Have you got them both?

-Yes.

0:30:220:30:23

And this also, although it doesn't need it, had a pair of...

0:30:230:30:27

Yes, I haven't got those.

0:30:270:30:28

They also made other things.

0:30:280:30:30

I've seen, um, a sort of alarm-clock radio.

0:30:300:30:34

-Yes, I've got one of those.

-It looks like a control panel of a spaceship.

0:30:340:30:38

Yes, that's right. I could have brought that along as well.

0:30:380:30:41

Don't encourage him, please.

0:30:410:30:43

I think it must be a wonderful house to live in,

0:30:430:30:46

-full of boy's toys.

-Boy's toys.

0:30:460:30:48

Now, these are classics, I can understand entirely where

0:30:480:30:51

you're coming from, you say they're plastic tat, what's the point,

0:30:510:30:55

but in fact...we're talking about antiques of the future.

0:30:550:30:58

-They are those, yes, yes.

-This is it, nothing could have

0:30:580:31:01

a better period resonance, 1969-1970...

0:31:010:31:05

here it is, colours, style, shape.

0:31:050:31:08

-Optimism.

-Optimism, as you say.

0:31:080:31:10

Fantastic images of the way we thought the world was going to be,

0:31:100:31:14

so I'm going to ask you a basic question, which you can guess -

0:31:140:31:17

what did you pay?

0:31:170:31:19

-500 quid.

-500 quid.

0:31:190:31:21

The price that you paid is about right.

0:31:210:31:24

-Right.

-These ones go,

0:31:240:31:26

randomly, as far as I can see, from about £30 to about £150.

0:31:260:31:32

-Yeah, I paid 50 quid for it.

-That's bang in the middle.

0:31:320:31:34

-Why not go for the whole Weltron range?

-Absolutely...

0:31:340:31:37

This is the 2007, isn't it?

0:31:370:31:39

Yes, and there's a 2005.

0:31:390:31:41

And this is the 2001. The speakers are 2003.

0:31:410:31:44

-So there's more to come?

-There is.

0:31:440:31:46

The bad news is... I hope you've got a big house.

0:31:460:31:49

Have you recovered? I saw you

0:31:550:31:56

charging through the gate as we were closing them.

0:31:560:31:59

I've just got my breath back, because I only heard about the show

0:31:590:32:04

on the Wiltshire Radio about two and a half hours ago,

0:32:040:32:09

so I raced home,

0:32:090:32:11

put the chair in the back of the car.

0:32:110:32:13

We probably exceeded the speed limit a little on the way here.

0:32:130:32:17

-And straight into recording.

-Straight into recording.

0:32:170:32:20

-Lovely, all part of the service.

-Well, excellent service.

0:32:200:32:23

This is a wonderful chair, where did you get it from?

0:32:230:32:26

Well, I was in Brighton. I saw an antique shop, I walked in,

0:32:260:32:31

and there just inside the door was this chair, looking rather dusty,

0:32:310:32:36

and the chap said, "Well, I think I've got some more downstairs."

0:32:360:32:41

Lo and behold, there were five more, and two carvers, covered in dust.

0:32:410:32:45

Don't tell me you didn't buy the whole set.

0:32:450:32:48

You did buy the whole set?

0:32:480:32:50

I did buy the whole set, absolutely.

0:32:500:32:53

They were looking in pretty poor shape, the seat needed...

0:32:530:32:57

seats needed recovering

0:32:570:33:00

and I was...

0:33:000:33:01

I was delighted with them because I love the wood.

0:33:010:33:06

-You know what wood it is?

-Well, satinwood, yeah.

0:33:060:33:09

-Yes, where does that come from?

-But a particular type.

0:33:090:33:11

That I don't know, I think you could tell me.

0:33:110:33:15

I just want to turn it round,

0:33:150:33:16

I'm just going to swivel it round

0:33:160:33:18

because it's going to be a lovely colour, you really do

0:33:180:33:21

-see the colour on the back there, look at this here.

-It's so rich.

0:33:210:33:25

Absolutely, solid satinwood, but the quality of this and

0:33:250:33:29

that lovely flat back, they're late 19th century and one of the reasons

0:33:290:33:32

is you've got this splat here with the shoe there in two pieces.

0:33:320:33:37

If this was a Georgian chair, firstly it wouldn't be in satinwood

0:33:370:33:41

but the shoe would be separate, there'd be a line there as well.

0:33:410:33:45

That's the easiest way of telling, but the colour of this satinwood...

0:33:450:33:49

I don't think I've ever, ever seen this type of chair in satinwood.

0:33:490:33:53

It's a copy of, or inspired by the Chippendale chairs,

0:33:530:33:57

the Chippendale directory of 1754.

0:33:570:34:00

-Yes.

-That sort of carved splat back

0:34:000:34:02

with this Gothic OG detail here,

0:34:020:34:04

very, very nice, and the cabriole legs, a little bit plain,

0:34:040:34:07

a shame not to see a bit of carving on the cabriole leg

0:34:070:34:10

but that really good strong claw-and-ball foot,

0:34:100:34:13

-typical of that Chippendale mid 18th century period, but copies.

-Yes.

0:34:130:34:17

-You say you bought them in...?

-I bought them in 1980.

0:34:170:34:20

At the sharp end of the market in Brighton so...

0:34:200:34:24

-Did you bargain a bit?

-I did.

0:34:240:34:26

May I ask you what you paid for them?

0:34:260:34:29

For the six chairs and two carvers at that time, it was £5,000.

0:34:290:34:34

-A lot of money.

-A lot of money.

-A lot of money in 1980.

0:34:340:34:37

Yes, but I just fell in love with them, and as I think you have.

0:34:370:34:40

If you bought them for five and you're keeping them

0:34:400:34:44

and not selling them, you should insure them now for £20,000.

0:34:440:34:47

Right.

0:34:470:34:48

I'll bear that in mind!

0:34:490:34:51

-Worth running in at the last moment to the Antiques Roadshow.

-Absolutely.

0:34:510:34:55

In 1968

0:34:570:35:00

I underwent a Damascene conversion.

0:35:000:35:02

I was then working as a porter

0:35:040:35:07

in a saleroom in London, in a porcelain department,

0:35:070:35:11

and I hated it,

0:35:110:35:13

absolutely hated ceramics.

0:35:130:35:15

-Really?

-And then one of these came in.

-Yes.

0:35:150:35:20

And I looked at that, and I thought, "Ah,

0:35:200:35:25

"such fun the man who made this has had,

0:35:250:35:30

"moulding the clay, sculpting it and then glazing it and firing it,"

0:35:300:35:36

and really almost overnight I suddenly thought,

0:35:360:35:40

"I can understand ceramics,"

0:35:400:35:41

and of course I've been hooked ever since, but this was what set it off.

0:35:410:35:45

-Really?

-People call them tobacco jars because the lid comes off

0:35:450:35:49

and they imagine they keep tobacco in it, but actually

0:35:490:35:53

you can't get your hand in.

0:35:530:35:55

-I suppose not.

-And you can't keep it weighted, and it's not airtight.

0:35:550:35:59

-No use at all.

-It has no use, it sits on a shelf,

0:35:590:36:04

and the expression changes.

0:36:040:36:05

Yes, as he turns round.

0:36:050:36:07

As he turns round.

0:36:070:36:09

He's just a bit of fun.

0:36:090:36:11

He was made by a man called Robert Wallace Martin,

0:36:110:36:14

who was the elder brother of eight children,

0:36:140:36:18

four of whom worked in the Martin Brothers pottery,

0:36:180:36:21

which was firstly in London

0:36:210:36:23

and then in Southall on the banks of the canal,

0:36:230:36:27

and Robert Wallace was the one who actually sculpted the pieces.

0:36:270:36:31

The nice thing about the Martin Brothers is that they

0:36:310:36:35

invariably signed everything

0:36:350:36:39

"R W Martin and Brothers, London and Southall"

0:36:390:36:44

and they dated "21.11.1896".

0:36:440:36:50

-I've never really sort of taken much notice...

-Where did he come from?

0:36:510:36:55

It came via my mother. I really loved it as a child,

0:36:550:36:59

it used to sit on the mantelpiece

0:36:590:37:02

and I was always told to behave because he's watching me.

0:37:020:37:06

-And did you believe it?

-Um, I didn't believe it.

-No.

0:37:060:37:10

She said, "When I come back in the room, if you've moved, he'll know,

0:37:100:37:13

"because his head will have moved."

0:37:130:37:15

I didn't know his head moved because he was very high on the mantelpiece,

0:37:150:37:19

and when she came back in the room she said, "What have you been doing?"

0:37:190:37:24

I said, "Nothing, Mum, nothing," as one would.

0:37:240:37:26

"He's moved his head, you must have been doing something to attract him."

0:37:260:37:30

I just loved him and I suppose she knew that I've always...

0:37:300:37:33

I've always loved him and in 1953 she said, "You must have him,"

0:37:330:37:37

and in actual fact that was the only thing from my family

0:37:370:37:41

that ever came in my direction.

0:37:410:37:43

So he's a good bird.

0:37:430:37:46

Beautiful bird.

0:37:460:37:48

And he's going to be worth a good £5,000 to £10,000.

0:37:480:37:53

Wowee. Well, worth hanging on to.

0:37:530:37:56

-Well, I'm actually lying to you, it's worth more than that.

-Is it?

0:37:560:38:00

It's nearer £20,000.

0:38:000:38:02

Is it really?

0:38:020:38:04

I've looked in, you know, one or two books and seen that

0:38:040:38:07

it could be worth something, so...

0:38:070:38:10

I would happily put a quote of £20,000 to £30,000.

0:38:100:38:14

Wowee. I always thought he was lovely. He's got even better now.

0:38:140:38:18

-I'm very jealous.

-Thank you very much.

0:38:180:38:21

Well, some wise old bird tells me that we shall be bringing

0:38:230:38:27

our cameras back to Lacock, the world's most photographed village,

0:38:270:38:30

and when we do, we shall tell the story of the visionary

0:38:300:38:33

who took his first snapshot of that building back in 1835.

0:38:330:38:38

Until then, from Wiltshire, goodbye.

0:38:380:38:40

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