Bishop Auckland 1 Antiques Roadshow

What did the Romans ever do for the Antiques Roadshow?

Well, apart from anything else, they built a nice long straight road that

will lead us to our destination this week in the North East of England.

The Victorians did their bit for communications by erecting a viaduct

to carry their new railway line across the River Wear, to link up the spreading clusters of industry.

But for all the wielders of power and influence here, the greatest authority has been held in the hands

of a long line of religious men.

This is Bishop Auckland and for nine centuries the bishops of Durham

have lived here at Auckland Castle.

To date, 55 bishops have resided at Auckland Castle -

soldiers, scholars, statesmen, builders and architects too.

In 1660, John Cousin took what had been a run-of-the-mill dining hall and converted it into...

well, come and have a look.

It's one of the finest and largest private chapels in Europe

complete with original organ in good working order.

Around the walls are the heraldic shields of successive bishops.

Henry VIII's Prime Minister Thomas Wolsey shares the honours here,

although there's no doubt who takes pride of place.

John Cousin's coat of arms covers the entire ceiling.

The present Bishop of Durham, Tom Wright, might well have his name

in lights for leading a campaign

to save this series of stupendous paintings.

They've been hanging here for 250 years but in 2001 the Church Commissioners let it be known

that they could be up for sale -

that is when the campaign started.

So will Jacob and his 12 sons stay put?

Stay tuned.

Auckland Castle has always enjoyed a reputation for hospitality - guests were once offered

the choice of hunting in the woods or strolling in the formal gardens.

I think the Roadshow can do a bit of both.

The gardens are open, the hunt is on.

So, cats, large cats, little cats, you collect cats, do you?

I have got large ones and small ones and everything in between.

-Oh.

-In every room in the house.

-In every room.

-Including the "little boys' room".

-How many cats?

-Well, more than 10,000, I would think.

More than 10,000 cats!

And did you marry her for her cats?

-No, for her good looks.

-Oh.

-Thousands and thousands of cats, these are all ceramic cats, I mean they're not real cats?

-No, no, no.

No, they're not ceramic cats only,

-I have every media, bronzes, silver.

-Wood.

-Gold.

These are two British cats, aren't they? I think they're great - what can you tell me about those?

As far as I know, this was bought in Newcastle about 20 years ago,

it had no provenance whatsoever, no back stamp,

I wasn't told anything about it, it just spoke to me. I wanted it.

It was a ridiculous price and it was only two or three years ago

that a guy wrote a book about Canney Hill.

-Canney Hill, the pottery up...

-Just down the road from here.

-That's right.

-Yes.

It was only then I found out that this was, indeed, a Canney Hill cat.

You think the coloured one is a Canney Hill, do you?

Yes, I was told so by the man who wrote the book.

These are usually called Rockingham, aren't they? With the colours, the Rockingham glaze, from Yorkshire.

-But not necessarily so, I mean they were made all over the North.

-Right.

And it's very very difficult to say where these were made, but they look as though they're from the same model

but they're decorated differently, of course, so the coloured glaze one is lovely, isn't he?

-I think it's dangerous to be sure that they are Canney Hill.

-Right.

-Yes.

-But I think there's a possibility that they are, but I...

shall we say north-east, you know north-eastern cats, they're north-eastern cats really.

But this is a miniature, tiny little thing compared to that, isn't it?

Isn't it tiny and delicate?

Absolutely beautiful, how long have you had him?

About ten years.

So these cats perhaps around about the 1890-1900 date,

those two, this one about the 1750 date.

At one time these things used to be called Chelsea, little Chelsea seal.

-Yes.

-It's got a little seal on the bottom to stamp your letter and most beautifully inscribed in French

with a love token, these are little tokens of love to give to somebody,

nothing more, right by the cat.

I think I paid the bill for that one.

Did you? Ooh, what did you pay?

-Go on.

-It was expensive.

340 seems to come to mind.

About £340, yes, yes, but he's a super little chap, isn't he?

I think he's absolutely beautiful, highly collectable and in super condition.

I can't see a thing wrong with it,

but I think you've got to look at something like £1,000 for it

and going up in price - these little charmers, absolutely.

-Are you sure I gave it to you?

-Ho, ho, no way.

I suppose in value I think probably £300 to £400 for the coloured one,

perhaps £200 to £300 for the plain tortoiseshell glazed one, but a joy is in what they've done.

-Is in having them, absolutely.

-So look after all these cats.

This is a sight to warm a girl's heart, my goodness, look at this car!

That's a cracker, isn't it?

Can I get it working?

Let's see it go, now there's somebody there ready to catch it. Woah!

-That... Oh, my goodness, there's some life in it yet, isn't it?

-Oh, yes.

And it says here "Christmas Present 1926".

Were you the lucky recipient of this Christmas present?

Yes, I was, fortunately.

Now how old were you in '26?

Er, three, coming towards four.

It's in remarkably good condition - did you ever use it, age three?

Yes, we had a long corridor, it would run very nicely along there,

yes, those were the days.

Let's just have a look at this, because in here

we've got the driver,

very useful spare can of petrol.

-Oh, definitely.

-And then, er,

in the back here you've got the opening side door and it's also

got a brake light,

it has those magic words "Made in Great Britain"

and there are several companies that it could have been.

It could be made by Chad Valley, it could be made by Mettoy, it could be made by Wells or Brimtoy.

-I just can't pluck one particular maker out of the hat.

-Mm.

What I can tell you is it's of good quality, it's a good size,

and it's in good condition.

This might, today, in a specialised auction, fetch around £300 to £500.

-So it's... It has kept pace with inflation, plus some.

-Yes.

But I have to say I love the shirt!

So Maggie, you're the Bishop's wife.

This is your magnificent home behind.

-That's right.

-And this is your family portrait.

Yes, this is my grandmother,

my mother's mother, and she met on a bus, an amateur artist, called

Miss Hoadley, who spotted her and thought she'd be a good subject

to sit for her.

So this is a result of talent spotting of your grandmother.

On the bus, yes, and my...

my grandmother then had my mother

who was named after the artist, Miss Hoadley, her name was Ruth

and she became her godmother,

and in later life, when my mother got a scholarship to go to college,

Miss Hoadley, the artist, paid for my mother to go to college, which was wonderful, so she became...

-What a wonderful story, that chance encounter.

-She became a fairy...

The fairy godmother, that chance encounter, so this picture

is a document about the changing family fortunes in a way.

For my mother, certainly, yes, yes, she did, changed her life.

I don't know anything about the artist, a Miss Hoadley, but I can say that it's an amateur hand

-of some competence, obviously a wealthy woman who didn't need to paint.

-No, that's right.

-But spotted your grandmother and has produced a charming family artefact from the object.

-Yes, she has.

It's worth a few hundred pounds, but I suspect to you, an awful lot more.

It will go on down through the family, and it does mean a lot to us, yes.

-Does it hang on the Palace walls?

-Yes, it does, not alongside the most famous paintings there though.

-Nice change from the bishops up there.

-Absolutely.

That's the most fantastic hat I've ever seen in my life, and what a colour it is, and obviously

you've got a very keen eye for colour, as this is colourless

and yet colourful, isn't it?

Absolutely, I adore bright colours,

I really do, but yes, the beautiful black with just

these little bits of white, I really loved when I bought that.

Yes, very smart, and I think in a way, black and white, the smartness

of black and white's been overlooked really since the 19th century,

hasn't it? When it was very popular, but here it has a specific meaning

on this locket, and what did you think when you first saw it?

Well, I assumed it was a Victorian mourning locket and would have had

a portrait or lock of hair of the dead person inside.

I'm sure, as you said, that it is a mourning jewel, it's a reference to

the person within the locket, the image of the person within, and we can be absolutely sure

that it's made for a widow, and that sounds a rather strong thing to say,

but in the Victorian language of flowers, ivy, which we see here,

is emblematic of marriage.

-Right.

-And black ivy, of course, is a signal that the marriage is over,

and let's open it up - tell me about that tiny leaf.

Well, it was a four-leaf clover when I bought it.

-Yes.

-But it seems to have lost almost all of its leaves now.

Well, it may have lost some leaves, but I bet it hasn't lost any of its magical power. I'm going to close it

quickly because the wind is just going to whisk it away

in front of us, and that really would be a disaster, wouldn't it?

And the chain is a ladies' watch chain - it would have actually have gone round the neck as a single

strand and then underneath the belt and then a watch would be suspended

underneath the belt, but it works terribly well here and, and, um,

really enviable thing, and I have no concept of what you paid for it then.

I have no recollection, unfortunately, none whatever.

-Well, I think it's completely irrelevant.

-Yes.

-But I think anybody would be jolly pleased to have this

-thing for maybe £600 - £700 today.

-Really?

-My goodness.

-And it gets worse, because people want these chains too,

they're very fashionable and, and I think we can, we can add

another £400, £500, £600 for that.

-Really? Goodness me.

-Yes.

And I nearly didn't bring it to you.

I was hot and tired and I nearly went home.

Well, I spotted you with your hat actually, and I suddenly thought,

"That's the girl for me today", and I think you have been.

It's a most marvellous jewel. I love it and thank you for bringing it.

-Oh, I'm so so pleased, thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Now I've been told you were a little bit concerned about your wife being lonely when you

were doing nights, so you decided to go out, go out and buy her a bit of something to keep her company.

Yes, I did, it started as a joke, but she expected something else,

you know, four legs and furry, but it didn't work out like that.

-Oh, you were looking for a guard dog, were you?

-Well, something that barked, preferably.

-Yes.

-Instead I got Fred.

-Fred.

-Fred.

-Would you like to introduce me to Fred?

-This is Fred.

Right, OK.

Hello, Fred... Do you say "hello", or do you say "how"? I'm not sure.

It doesn't matter, he doesn't answer back.

I suppose the big question is, "Why Fred?"

I thought it was something different, unique if you like, and it stands out.

It does, do you put him sort of near the window so anybody gazing in will think, "I'm not going in there".

-He is quite close to the window, yes.

-Quite a bit yeah, yeah.

-Yes, scary.

He is, well, he is and he isn't, I mean, let's have a look

at the character, because this chap initially would have started off life as a shop sign.

-Right.

-And he would have stood outside a tobacconist's.

-Yeah.

-OK, now let me get one thing absolutely straight, I mean initially

this is the sort of thing that you might have found outside a tobacconist's in the mid-west,

probably around about 1880 or thereabouts.

But I've got to say that this one does not date quite from then.

This was not around when Abraham Lincoln was President of the United States.

-No.

-This was probably made, in all honesty, when Bill Clinton was the President of the United States.

-Right.

-Just how much did you have to pay for this, er, this security system?

Well, I paid £400.

Well, do you know, that's exactly what he's worth, but at least it adds a new dimension

to the word "I'm just nipping out for an Indian, darling".

-Yes.

-Certainly does, yes.

I'm so pleased to see this today.

I recognised it instantly because I have a piece similar to this one.

Right.

Can you tell me a bit about it?

-Yes, um, what I can remember is, my wife and I bought it in the mid-'70s in Sunderland.

-Yes.

-And I think it was called The Sunderland College of Art and Design.

-Right.

And there was a visiting lecturer from America called Charlie Meakin,

and that piece definitely has his signature on the back, so we're sure he made that.

Let's have a look - yes, I see it there, yes, great, great.

Well, I bought my piece quite a bit later in the early 1990s,

when I'd gone to work at Sunderland Museum,

and I was so thrilled to see glass like this, this beautiful, beautiful

-swirling blue shades of glass, fell in love with it right away, just as you have, clearly.

-Yes.

What's so nice is that Charlie Meaker came to Sunderland

to set up the glass course there, and that was well over 30 years ago now.

And he, really...

there's a long tradition of Americans, foreigners, coming in to the area to make glass,

and I mean, why, you might ask... was glass making such a big thing

in the north east and particularly in Sunderland?

And that's because just the coal...

I mean coal is underneath the earth here everywhere as you know,

and the raw materials, all the coal, the colliers that took the coal out round the country, and this

is in the days before steam, and they would need to come back

from delivering the coal with ballast

in their holds and a very good form of ballast was sand, and they would

nip across the Channel to Northern France or to Belgium,

where the best quality sands were, and they would fill the holds,

bring the sand back, and that was, of course, the raw material for the glass making.

And, and can you tell me, you bought these pieces...

What sort of prices were you paying for them then?

-We paid about £70 for that.

-Right.

At the same time we bought that...

-as we'd bought this one, they let us have this for 30.

-Yes.

-And then we went back and got this for about 60.

Right, right, right.

Well, really for studio glass of this quality and just such wonderful pieces,

it's not out of the way at all,

and today I'm sure you'd have to pay well over £200 for it,

and a bit less for these flat-blown pieces, so thank you so much for bringing it, and great to see it.

Thank you, thank you, yes.

This is a Caterpillar Club badge that was presented to my father.

He was in the Second World War, and these

were presented, as I understand it, to people whose lives were saved

by parachute, the connection being the caterpillar, the silkworm,

-the parachutes were made of silk.

-And did he get back safely?

He was, he spent the rest of the war in Stalag IV B

in a POW camp, and made it back at the end of the war.

Right, well, you've got the certificate and of course it was awarded along with the certificate

so it's nice to have the certificate of membership.

Er, very interesting because the Irving Air Chute Company instituted in 1922,

the Caterpillar Club, so as you say, everyone who was saved when they bailed out of an aircraft

by parachute would have been a member of the club and would have been awarded a little gold caterpillar.

What I think is extraordinary is how the Irving Air Chute Company with their parachutes saved so many lives.

-Do you know how many lives they saved?

-Thousands, I would imagine.

Thousands, well by the end of the war, they saved over 20,000 lives,

-so this saved his life.

-Yes.

And he spent the rest of the war in relative security, I suppose, out of harm's way.

-Apart from the cold, he used to complain about.

-Apart from the cold,

yes. I think what's wonderful

is that he is now a member of a rather select club, the Caterpillar Club,

and today they do come up on the market.

The caterpillar, which is made of gold of course, and the certificate,

-would be worth something in the region of £200 to £250.

-Really?

Well, that is a surprise, that's excellent, thank you very much.

Now I know it's a sin,

and standing here in the gardens of the Bishop's Palace I feel doubly guilty,

but I really covet this piece - I would love to go home with it.

-You can't have it!

-It really speaks to me because it's so full of energy

and when you first showed it to me, I thought, "It's a piece of ormolu",

you know, it's a piece of cast metal,

but then when you pick it up, it's very light and in fact it's made from

carved wood with gilt gesso on it -

it is breathtakingly beautiful, why did you get, how did you get it?

Um, well for the same reason you wanted it!

I saw it and I wanted it.

Another reason was that it was slightly disguised.

-Ah.

-At some time it had had an additional bit on the back,

in plaster, er, and it made it look slightly iffy.

But you only have to look at the front, and you know.

So you took off that addition.

We took the back off, yes.

-Right.

-So in a way I like it,

because it was rescued, because the dealer hadn't a clue what it was,

that's always a great pleasure to, you know,

have one up on a dealer.

I love it, I also love it because I can also imagine the pot that I'm going to put on top.

It had cream ware, shepherd and shepherdess on top.

-Oh, lovely.

-Which will probably go back.

-I think it's English rather than French,

and it's first period Rococo, so we're talking about 1725-1730.

-As early as that?

-Um, so very early and just breathtaking quality.

And I know it's had a few knocks and a few bashes but I think that adds to the overall patina of it all,

it just speaks of age, quality, and this wonderful flowing carving, it just...

I'm very excited to have it in my hands.

Um, when did you buy it?

Um, it must have been about 45-50 years ago.

-Oh, where from?

-Well, it was in the Portobello Road.

-Where all the bargains were made all those 40 or 50 years ago.

-Yes, yes.

I'm pretty certain there was a degree of fierce bargaining over it.

-I probably paid £70... £80 for it I think.

-£70 to £80.

I remember thinking that he knew it wasn't rubbish at the time, but I thought it was well worth that.

So he probably thought it was a 19th-century reproduction

and you could see that it was actually an 18th-century original. Quality speaks through, doesn't it?

-Doesn't it?

-Well, today I could see this in a smart West End shop

and they wouldn't be asking £40 or £50.

I think they'd be asking £6,000 - £7,500. Um, and if you had

a pair they'd be more like £20,000.

-Sadly I haven't.

-Anyway, it's a fabulous piece, I hope you enjoy it

and I hope you get it up back on your wall as soon as possible.

So tell me, where have you been shopping for this?

Well, when we bought our house, this furniture was in the hall

and the previous owner offered to sell it to us and it looked so right

in the hall that we agreed to buy it and then probably a week

before we took possession of the house, he decided to send it to the saleroom so...

so I had to go to the salerooms at Darlington and bid for it.

We understood the previous owner of the house that had owned the furniture, his wife

was from Scandinavian descent, we were told that his furniture belonged to her grandparents.

-So can we date that, by that history then?

-Well, I think it would be late, late 19th century.

-You don't need me here at all.

-Is it right then?

-Exactly right.

-Oh.

I think there aren't many people who know about this type

of furniture, it's quite scarce and very scarce in this country anyway. But it is certainly Scandinavian.

-Thank you.

-My guess would be it's Norwegian.

Firstly the wood is pine.

-Pine.

-So that is a... Why not?

In Scandinavia there's plenty of pine trees, so that's a start, it's not always a clue, but it's a good one.

I love the style of this - what is so interesting is the historical background behind all this.

Most countries in the 19th century had the historismus or historical revival style started.

In England we have the Jacobean revival, Elizabethan revival

and the so-called Jacobethan when the styles were all muddled up together.

Well, most countries throughout Europe

and the developed world started to go back to their own historical past to see "What can we do?

"What can we actually produce of our past?"

and Norway especially, and to a certain extent Denmark, were creating their own Viking style.

And this would be known as Old Norse or Fornordisk...

I think... I can't pronounce it in Danish, but anyway Fornordisk style

which from about 1870 they were starting looking at

their early furniture, so they're using these designs copying this Runic design, sort of early Runic,

so this would be the latter part of the 19th century...

you could see that on a piece of worn early pre-Saxon Viking type carving, even in this country...

You think of the Danes, the Vikings coming over here, especially the North of England, it's the sort

of style you might see in a church round here, no reason why not at all.

And again this, this is typical, you can imagine the prow of a big Viking ship.

-Yes.

-Having that on, that's exactly where it's from

-and it's got the same style here actually.

-Yes.

Slightly different so they actually don't match, interestingly enough.

I suspect this is slightly earlier.

-Really?

-Because it's a little bit of sort of Gothic influence, the English Gothic influence,

the Arts and Crafts Movement, William Morris and I think that that's slightly earlier, 1870-1880,

and that's the first thing, hang on, as I just said, we've got people who are reviving all over Europe,

the old styles, "We'll throw a bit of Gothic in but what's our style?"

The Runic style, the Old Norse style.

It's very interesting to see that and this,

again, the whole thing is completely decorated in this Old Norse style, so what was the value you agreed?

I think it was only maybe £200 to £300 for each piece.

And this is what, 30 years ago?

It was in '72, 1972.

Er, that bench today I would...

for a retail replacement...

so if you went to a shop to buy it and the shop, the chap knew about

this modern interest in Norwegian and Danish furniture,

I would insure that for £1,000 and the table...

I think I prefer the table myself.

-Yes.

-So I must be careful not to overvalue it.

-I do.

-You do as well? So...

-I do.

-I think yes, we'll put £1,250 as we both like it.

-Yes.

-On the table.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you, antiques of the future.

Yes, thank you very much.

Philip, thanks for taking a few minutes from your table. I have to ask you about these paintings.

Jacob and his 12 sons, there's a campaign to save them. What is the story?

I must say it's nice to come in from the madding crowd

for a moment or two, particularly to be with this illustrious lot.

These are hugely important, Michael, these are by Francisco Zurbaran,

who was one of the big big names in 17th-century art

and one of the biggest names certainly in Spain,

and the story of them is even more epic.

They were commissioned for a missionary group in Mexico,

Zurbaran sends them over by sea and then allegedly pirates grab the boat,

and certainly they must have been fairly sophisticated pirates

because they knew what they had, and these things then end up in London.

And in the 18th century, they were bought by Bishop Trevor.

-The Bishop of Durham.

-The Bishop of Durham.

Well, the Church Commissioners obviously think they're a great asset...

Are they valuable, are they good?

Well, they are really, really good pictures.

I can't overstress how important they are, I mean firstly they're hugely valuable, they're worth,

I suspect over 20 million...

who knows where they might end up at auction...

but they also exemplify what the artist was about - he had a sort of almost filmic clarity

and a sense of illusion and naturalism about the way he could paint, in fact you could even say

that up close they look like film stills...

rather cunningly taken film stills...

from a well-lit studio.

-What was that price again?

-Over 20 million.

-So what are the prospects?

The prospects are quite good so far.

The Church Commissioners wanted to sell them and Bishop Tom Wright and his wife Maggie...

the present Bishop of Durham...

led a very successful campaign and they've achieved a stay of execution, about five years.

They've got five years, you've had five minutes. Back to the garden.

I'm off, yes.

Tell me, how did this get into such a grubby state?

It was actually like that when I bought it, it was a bit worse actually, somebody told me

you're not supposed to clean it, but I've had a go.

Well, no, no, you should do, you should do. So where did you buy it?

Um, it was actually a car-boot sale.

-Now this sounds promising, how much did you pay for it?

-Just £10.

£10. What made you buy it?

Just the fact that it would stand up and I knew it was silver

because it was in amongst loads of, like, silver-plated and electro-plated silver.

I mean, you're absolutely right, so what we've got in here

-are the hallmarks for Birmingham for 1903.

-Right.

But next to it, there's the maker's mark

and that becomes very interesting. Do you know who made it?

-No, I haven't got a clue, no.

-No, it's by Liberty & Company.

Now it gets even more interesting

because this decoration

is absolutely typical of Archibald Knox.

-Archibald Knox was so important in English art history.

-Yes.

Because he was the chap who introduced this celtic form into Art Nouveau

so today, Archibald Knox does make a huge difference and especially when you've got the enamel.

-Yeah.

-We have got a little bit of a problem -

-the actual catch section is missing there.

-Yeah.

Not too serious, that can be attended to, so your £10-worth,

what's that today? In this condition we're looking at about, at auction,

say they would estimate I think between £300 and £400.

-Wow.

-So you've done OK for your tenner.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Well done, you.

-Thank you.

This gentleman is exquisitely sculpted, I think, I love it,

absolutely love it, I think I would happily take it home and own it. What I'm going to have to do,

I'm going to have to look at it, because essentially I need to know who it's by.

It's signed Pilkington Jackson, 1928.

-He was born in the 19th century, wasn't he? In the what, 1870s.

-1887.

1887, right, OK,

I think he's kind of not well known enough, to be honest with you.

-I think you might get a different response in Scotland.

-Yes, I think you might well be right.

I mean what do you know about this bronze? Is it a family item or...?

It was given to my grandfather by the sculptor.

Um, the history is that during the 1920s a committee was set up

to buy David Livingstone's birthplace at Blantyre,

do it up because it was very much in ruins.

-Yes.

-And set it up as a museum to David Livingstone.

-Yes.

And part of the intent was to get

a series of mobile backlit tableaux.

-Right.

-Sculpted, illustrating various phases of Livingstone's life.

-Right.

-And they commissioned Pilkington, Jackson and Haswell Miller to do these two artefacts.

-My grandfather was chairman of this committee.

-Right.

-Which is how he was involved and he and Pilkington Jackson became friends.

-I see.

-And this

is a studio model for what was eventually a tableau in wood.

So this, even though it's in bronze,

-it's almost a study for part of another sculpture.

-Yes, effectively.

Ah, now that's very interesting.

Um, what's this that you have here?

-Oh, this was a book that among other things illustrates various tableaux.

-Right. And that's one of them.

-And I think that probably is the one for which...

-Ah, right, so this is one of the heads.

That is Joseph Wainwright, who was obviously much older.

-Right, OK.

-I think this chap, his name was Bargey, he was a student in Edinburgh University.

-Oh, really?

-OK.

-It was either one of those two.

Ah I see, how fascinating.

I know as a sculptor that he was largely responsible, or he was in charge of the sculpture

-at Edinburgh Castle, wasn't he?

-That's right, the War Memorial.

-The War Memorial, that's right, yes.

-In Waverley Gardens. Very dramatic.

-Absolutely, that's why obviously you would say

that he's much, much better known in Scotland.

-Yes, right.

-I have to say I think it's a beautiful piece, I think

-it has such great ties and associations for you - it's obviously a very personal thing as well.

-Yes.

-And in some ways it's difficult to put a value.

-It's academic.

Yeah, I can't put a value on that.

My feeling is that if that came for sale in London it would make around

£3,000 and we're talking auction value, but it is exquisite and it's been a pleasure to talk about it.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

I've got two sisters here, now there's definitely one of you who would qualify for being zany, yes?

There's one that's not here, the eldest one, probably.

Well, I want to know who's collecting chamber pots.

-They're mine, they're mine, yes.

-So what on earth started you collecting miniature chamber pots?

Um, these two little ones here belonged to my grandfather and when he died, we as grandchildren,

were told we could select an item of our grandfather's

and I chose the two chamber pots and started the collection from then.

How much are you paying for these sort of things at the moment?

Um, it varies, I mean I've had some bought as presents, around about £15...

£20, you know, it varies, yeah.

-Do you pay a little bit more, because they're a bit cheeky, aren't they?

-They are.

-With an eye in the bottom.

-They have little sayings on them as well.

-"Keep me clean, use me well,

"what I see I'll never tell"

-Yes, well there you are, promises, promises.

-Yes.

We know it was made abroad because it says "foreign" on the base.

-Yes.

-So that was an introduction with these, your grandfather was a bit of a collector?

-He was, yes.

-OK, because he collected this figure.

-He did, yes.

And so this was something that you were able to choose?

Did you both have a choice?

Yes, it was quite a vast collection really.

-I chose a lot of glassware which I've got at home, yes.

-Did you?

Yeah. It was possibly one of those things that was left and it's not the most pretty item, but...

-Don't you think so?

-No.

-All in the eye of the beholder, isn't it?

-So you, it wasn't you, was it?

-No, no, no.

-No, OK, we've got that established, haven't we?

-Yes.

-And then you say there's a mark on the back.

-There is, yes.

OK and I'll read if from here because it says "C Vyse 1931 Chelsea".

Charles Vyse, good potter, Charlie Vyse.

-OK.

-Quite a regular exhibitor,

-he was exhibiting from about 1919 way up until 1963.

-OK.

And he was based in Chelsea, in Cheyney, or near Cheyney Walk.

He is, for me, the three-dimensional Laura Knight,

in other words, whereas Laura Knight was going out there painting Romanies

and travellers, Vyse for his part was going out modelling these people.

-Right.

-Um, not just travellers but also, people off the streets

in Chelsea, flower sellers, when there were real characters, but he did do a huge series

of this type of figure, this is all hand-painted, no transfers here,

we're not skimping, you know, this has all been very delicately done

and just the modelling of this small child's face is so sympathetic.

As I say he is managing to capture what Dame Laura Knight managed

-to capture, capture on canvas. But if I can lift it off... can I do that?

-You can, yes.

Because it would have been bolted in and for the benefit of the camera,

let's just look... there's the mark, look, C Vyse,

'31 Chelsea, and not to skimp,

but a little bouquet of flowers there.

-Yeah.

-So you know, whereas most potters wouldn't, you know,

wouldn't think to put anything behind an object, but this object has been modelled to be seen in the round.

-Yeah.

-So I've got to tell you that this particular figure, if I wanted

to go and buy it today, it would be in the region of £1,500.

OK, now you're smiling.

-Yeah.

-I'm not so sure but that's probably why you're wearing those sunglasses, isn't it?

-So tell me, he was a shepherd who had a blind sheepdog.

-Sheepdog, famous sheepdog.

And he was able to operate and do his job with a blind sheepdog.

-They actually won trophies and different medals at different shows and things.

-Amazing!

Never heard a story like that before.

And this was... This was his crook.

This was his crook, this is, he used to make these as well but this is the one like in the photo.

Oh, I can just see, I can just see perhaps the top of,

the top of it there, and what relationship was he to you?

He was my Dad.

-Right, so obviously very special.

-Very, very special.

And was he shepherding locally?

Yeah, Walsingham, Cuckfield, Woodland, other local areas and things.

I'm going to give you that back because the other thing

that you brought in is this, which I think is...

I mean on a day like today, I have to say, just having it on my lap

is bringing me out into a little bit of a flush,

-but tell me what this is.

-That's his christening gown,

and he got christened in it

and some of his family before that,

his father and family before that.

-Did he come from a line of shepherding?

-No.

Yet his christening gown,

you can imagine this little baby done up like this,

but he'd look just like a little new-born lamb - it's a wonderful mohair plush christening gown -

I've never seen the like.

And when was he born?

1914, he was born.

So yes, this harks back to an earlier period, I mean this...

it actually looks as if it's made out of teddy bear material, it's extraordinary, isn't it?

I thought it was goatskin or something like that.

It does, it looks like the real thing but actually when you look

at it closely, it is actually mohair,

so yes, this probably dating from the 1870s-1880s.

Well, it is an unusual one and I think that collectors

would be interested because it says

quite a lot about the period and also the area - I could see that

in a specialised auction perhaps going for £200, something along those lines.

Not a huge fortune, but then I think it's an object that needs to be displayed.

-Yes.

-And there are only certain types of buyer who would display it,

-usually museums.

-Yes.

And we all know what the state is of the museums at the moment,

they're always strapped for cash, so that depresses the price a bit.

-Yes.

-But I think certainly we should be talking about £200 at auction,

-I think it's lovely and it's great to put the whole thing into context.

-Whole thing, yes.

"My end is good to cheer the reaper heart,

"when used aright I strength and joy impart.

"MB 1767"

-Your jug?

-My jug.

Are you any relation of MB?

No idea who MB is, but it's been in the family for a considerable period of time, that's all.

And how did it get into the family?

The earliest recollection that I have is that apparently my mum

found it in a rubbish tip on the family farm - it was being thrown away,

apparently, and that, and in fact, there's another jug as well, not as decorative as this, much plainer.

-And where is this family farm?

-Gower Peninsula in South Wales, which is where my family comes from.

Well, it is in pretty ropy old condition.

-Yes.

-From where it's come from.

-Yes.

-I mean if you've been on a dung heap for a few years,

-this is what happens, unfortunately you go slightly scabby.

-Yes.

The technique used by the potter on this pot is something

called slip decoration and slip decoration.

You can see it best here, on this patch here...

is something you can achieve, different layers of colour by staining a clay in different colours,

-you apply them rather like icing sugar.

-Right.

In successive surfaces, you can carve through

and do lots of whirly lines and then you cover the whole thing in...

in this case, a very sort of honey-coloured glaze.

But unfortunately a lot of the slip has rather lived up to its name, it's slipped off.

This cream-coloured slip here that you see in the royal crown and in the flower, the rose,

is what should have covered this unicorn and you can see it's gone,

-it's degraded, that's the term.

-Mm.

And when we come round to the royal escutcheon, the coat of arms "honi soit qui mal y pense"

and there it is with the Irish harp, the fleur de lys, the lion,

again all of the cream colour has gone, and oh, but this fellow here...

have you looked at the lion close up?

-Yes.

-Good, isn't he?

-Brilliant.

I mean he's straight out of Walt Disney or one of the great cartoons,

the character is absolutely fantastic.

We're looking at a form of pottery

that came naturally to people living in a pre-industrial revolution world.

This is a natural piece of potting,

the sort of thing the industrial revolution killed, if you like.

Well, 1767 is the date of the inscription and indeed 1767 is the date of the piece.

It comes back again here and the MB is repeated, it says "Morgan Binaham"

or so it seems to be. Morgan is quite Welsh, isn't it?

-It is indeed, yes.

-So you found it on the Gower Peninsula.

-Yes.

But it made a little sea voyage before it got to the Gower Peninsula.

-It crossed the Severn estuary, it actually came from Barnstaple - this is a piece of Devonish pottery.

-Yeah.

Every time you drive through Devon,

you'll see that wonderful iron-rich earth, the earth that provides the raw material for things like this.

Have you had a valuation?

We did, about five years ago, I suppose,

and they said it might be worth £400 or £500 perhaps, maybe more.

I have to just tell you that this is the best Devonish harvest jug

I have seen on the Roadshow,

in spite of its condition, it is still a glorious object

and that's, you know, that's 21 years on the Show.

-That's not bad.

-So, um, so let's be a little bit

more generous on the valuation, let's say between £6,000 and £9,000.

Can you saw that again slowly?

A very high-class tip.

Oh, and found on a rubbish tip.

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Thank you very much indeed.

This is the sort of antique that fascinates me, it's a bottle of Bishop Auckland stout..

Sadly, it's empty.

Our day is over as well, so while saying many thanks to Bishop Tom Wright for his extreme hospitality,

I'm happy to tell you he's invited us to come again, so we're going to.

Until the next time, from Auckland Castle, goodbye.