Hughenden Manor 2 Antiques Roadshow


Hughenden Manor 2

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This week, the Roadshow team

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has infiltrated Hughenden Manor in Buckinghamshire.

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Now, Hughenden is a house with a secret.

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It's common knowledge that it was the home of Benjamin Disraeli,

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the Victorian Prime Minister.

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But what happened here during World War II,

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none of us have known anything about.

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Until very recently, that is.

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Like many country houses in wartime,

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Hughenden was taken over by the military,

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but not just to provide comfortable accommodation.

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Otherwise, why would Hughenden be on the hit list for German bombers?

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These days, a helpful member of the National Trust

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sits in the hallway at Hughenden, to welcome visitors.

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Hello.

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In the war years,

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a rather more stern military policeman sat in the same place,

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and would admit only those with top-security clearance.

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Disraeli's drawing room had become literally that. A drawing room.

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Dozens of artists sat here at lines of desks,

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their job was to interpret aerial photographs of mainland Germany.

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From these, they drew target maps for a range of Allied missions,

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missions like the legendary Dambusters raid,

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and the bombing of Hitler's secret bunker in the Austrian Alps.

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This is the very map,

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and the spot marked "A" pinpoints the Fuhrer's hideout.

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The drawings were then carried from the manor, through the woods,

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to a photographic studio, set up in this former ice house.

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A camera team would then photograph them,

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and a strictly limited number of copies were made.

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It was nicknamed "Operation Hillside".

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Finally, the maps were brought to the stable block,

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where a fleet of cars were waiting to deliver them,

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driving under cover of darkness to airfields throughout Britain.

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Then the RAF would put them to effective use.

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It took 60 years before we discovered

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what really happened at Hughenden Manor.

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Today, on the rear lawn, and under the full gaze of the general public,

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the Antiques Roadshow is ready to do its vital work.

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No need to draw you a map.

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You know, it's great for me to come back to High Wycombe,

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because I went to school here during the war,

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and especially to see beautiful Royal Worcester pieces.

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From one extreme of here, High Wycombe...

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I now live in Worcester, and to see this together, here...

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This is marvellous, isn't it?

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This is part of a coffee set. A cup...

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Just a coffee cup and saucer, but...

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I've got the whole set, actually, it's a boxed set,

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-and I took a photograph to show you.

-A picture, yes.

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-Not uncommon.

-No.

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These were made in considerable numbers in the 1910s, '20s, '30s.

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-Yes.

-But they're beautiful. You've got the whole set?

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Yes, my father gave it to my mother as a wedding present in 1932.

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Did he? Isn't that lovely?

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They make wonderful presents, don't they? But do you use them?

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Never. The only time I ever remember the plate being used

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was when I was sick in bed,

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and my mother brought up a bunch of grapes and gave it to me.

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-This plate here?

-Yes.

-Did she?

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-The grapes on the plate to cheer you up, obviously.

-Yes.

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-That's beautiful.

-I'm scared to use them, because I...

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Well, don't be scared to use them,

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-but treat them with great care...

-Yes.

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..because they're works of art. They're incredible.

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This is signed by the painter here, Horace Price,

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and he was one of the great fruit painters of all time,

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and he was marvellous.

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Those strawberries, and the plums, I mean...

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You can feel the bloom on them, can't you?

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Absolutely gorgeous, but what is extraordinary is this...

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What is this?

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Well, I found these, my parents never referred to them,

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and when we were sorting out their affairs,

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I think it was after my mother died,

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and I presume that my father sent for a pattern,

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perhaps he was wondering what to buy her for a wedding present,

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-because this is nearest because of being fruit.

-Yes.

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I just found them among her things, just sort of lying there.

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I've never seen these out in the open,

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these would be for the dealers,

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so they could show customers what was the possibility of being made.

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These should never have left the factory or the dealer's hands,

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-so it's very... And this one is... this one is gorgeous, isn't it?

-Yes.

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-This is for a dressing table set.

-I see.

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There would be the pieces on the tray,

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-and a candlestick to light your way to bed at night.

-Yes.

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Instead of the fruit, this is painted with a landscape

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-in the style of Corot.

-I see, yes.

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And the great painter copying Corot's style

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at Royal Worcester was Harry Davies.

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Now, this isn't signed,

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but it certainly looks like the work of Harry Davies.

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-Right.

-And if so, that's an incredibly valuable piece.

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-But marvellous that it's got out in the open.

-Yes.

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But the whole thing is marvellous.

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A coffee set like that, with the six cups and saucers in a fitted box,

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is going to be worth about £3,000, £4,000,

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but these...they're beautiful.

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I mean, if that is actually Harry Davies' own work,

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those watercolours on the candlestick and the tray...

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-Yes.

-I mean, you're looking at about £2,000 or £3,000 just for that.

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And perhaps a bit less for the fruit paintings.

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Do you know who painted that one?

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It looks like the work of Harold Austin.

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-Right.

-I think the same painter as this little saucer.

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-I see.

-Very like his work.

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Thank you very much.

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When I was 16, I bought my first roundabout horse,

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from the Billy Smart family.

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Now, didn't they have an antique shop locally here?

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In Cookham, and that's where I bought it,

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and then I started collecting roundabout relics ever since,

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horses, carved work, everything to do with roundabouts.

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And tell me, these are very unusual in that they are centaurs,

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-with a man's torso on a horse's body.

-Yes, on a horse, yeah.

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We've got three that we're looking at here,

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all carved with obviously recognisable faces. French?

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That's General French from the Boer War.

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-Yeah, and Buller?

-General Buller, yeah.

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But you can imagine, at that time, when a fairground arrived,

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-of course, these people were the heroes.

-Yeah.

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They were the ones that the kids wanted to sit on.

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Exactly, so they were all fighting to get on,

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and ride their favourite General,

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-Kitchener, or Buller, or Roberts, or French.

-Exactly.

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Now, Spooner were based in Burton on Trent, weren't they?

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They were one of the great companies.

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Another great company was Anderson.

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Anderson of Bristol, yeah.

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-And they, I think, started out as carvers of...

-Ship figureheads.

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And this, rumour has it, is an Anderson figure.

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This is an Anderson, yeah.

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Now, tell me why it's in a completely different scale,

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and is also of somebody unrecognisable.

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-This was made for a hand-turned children's roundabout.

-Right.

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And it would have had about four horses, and cockerels, and...

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-This one?

-That's the one, yeah.

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This was made for Thomas Prewitt, quite a famous showman.

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All the rounding boards, all the animals, were made by Andersons.

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There's four centaurs on there, and to my knowledge,

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they're the only four that were ever made by Andersons.

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So, how did this one arrive in your hands?

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A friend in America phoned me up,

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and said there was an Anderson centaur coming up

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in an auction in about three months' time,

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so they sent me the photographs,

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there were about 20 or 30 that had come through.

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I started research, and I found this photograph,

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and then realised Anderson did carve what appears to be that one set.

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-Interesting.

-Then I was excited.

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-You were hooked.

-Somehow, I had to get this.

-Yeah.

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And then I researched it further,

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and the auctioneers asked me if I knew who the figure was,

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and I said no. I didn't, at the time.

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-Would you have told them?

-No!

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Of course not.

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So, that was really it,

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so then I had to try and research who the captain was.

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Well, there are a few tiny clues.

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The first, if we just turn it round, I love here...

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This looks like a little whale, or a dolphin.

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On the back of the saddle.

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-That's right.

-OK, so we know that he's definitely a seaman,

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and then he's got a white star on his lapel, here.

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But, I suppose, the big giveaway are the initials

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carved into the top of his telescope, "E. J. S."

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That may not mean anything to anybody out there,

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but you and I know that relates to Captain Smith.

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-That's right.

-He was the captain of the Titanic.

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-He was.

-I know you bought this recently,

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so I feel I can ask the question,

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how much did you pay for it in auction?

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It was 13,500 dollars.

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Oh, actually, that doesn't sound a lot.

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But, of course, it was your secret, wasn't it?

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Yeah, exactly, nobody knew it was the Titanic captain.

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Now, as far as prices on these are concerned...

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The two larger figures, I would say,

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would fetch 15 to 20,000 dollars each,

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which is about, what... £13,000...

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12 or 13,000, yeah.

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-This... I'm going to stick my neck out on this.

-Go on, then.

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Because everything in me says that I should be valuing it

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at the same, or slightly less, because it's smaller.

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-Yeah.

-But there is that wonderful, unknown X factor,

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-which is the Titanic link.

-Yeah.

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I AM going to stick my neck out. I'm going to say £15,000 to £20,000.

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I mean, I think it's a great piece.

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Wow, that's excellent.

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Well, once in a while on a Roadshow, you see something,

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and you don't know exactly what it is, but the quality stands out,

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and this is such a piece. How long have you had it?

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In the family, probably 25 years we've had it,

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and then, before that, it was with my aunt.

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-So, it's come down through the family?

-Yeah.

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What do you know about it?

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All I know is that it's English Civil War,

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and it's a water bottle on the side of a horse.

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Water bottles, at the time, were made in leather,

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and they were normally called blackjacks, as you might know.

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-Yes.

-The name originated because when they air-dried the leather,

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that was called "jacking".

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-Right.

-The leather was dark, so it was known as "blackjack."

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-Right.

-And you think it dates from the Civil War period?

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-That's what we were always told, but...

-1640-1650.

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-Something like that.

-I don't actually think it's English.

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Oh, well, fair enough.

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I think it's Mediterranean,

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and more specifically, probably Spanish, or possibly Portuguese.

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The English blackjacks at the time tended to be shaped like flagons,

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-and this is a different shape.

-Right.

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And also, on this, you have the extraordinary silver decoration.

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-I know.

-Which I have never seen before.

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I think it's absolutely beautiful.

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I think probably, originally,

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they would have had a broad piece of leather,

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and they would have stitched the silver

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into the flat piece of leather,

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so, if we could see inside,

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we would see the back of the silver threads...

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And they've curled it round...

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And then, curled it round,

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and then wet it, put it on a mould and shaped it,

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and that's how I think it would have been made.

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And blackjacks in Nelson's time, they were known as "boots"

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and were the origin of the expression, "fill your boots".

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Have a lot to drink, fill your boots.

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-OK.

-And being the quality this piece is,

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I'm sure it would have belonged to a nobleman or a grandee of the period.

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To me, it's museum quality, and I think if that came up at auction,

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it deserves to have an estimate of perhaps £3,000 to £5,000 on it.

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-Very nice.

-I think it's a terrific example

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-of an early 17th century blackjack.

-Thank you.

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"C. Rein and Son, patentees, sole inventors and only makers,

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"30 Charing Cross Road, London."

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So, that's rather fun. Looks a bit like a stylised swan, doesn't it?

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It does a bit, yes.

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Well, of course you know what it is.

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-Yes, it's a hearing device or a hearing piece.

-Absolutely.

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-A trumpet, an ear trumpet.

-Yes.

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So, the sound is actually... Does it actually...

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-Oh, it actually works very well.

-It does, doesn't it? Yes.

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-Gives an extraordinary echo.

-Yes.

-In your ear.

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Well, it was my ex-husband's,

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and when we were clearing out the house,

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-he was about to throw it in the dustbin.

-Right.

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And I said "Oh, I've always liked that. Can I have it, please?"

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And so he said, "Yes, here you are, take it."

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So...about to go in the dustbin, that's an interesting thing to do.

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Plus, it looked like just brass,

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because we'd never cleaned it,

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and I thought, "Oh, I'll give it a polish up."

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-And then, of course, you saw...

-And then I saw the inscription, yes.

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-So, in fact it is electro-plated on nickel.

-Right, yeah.

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I think I would probably just leave it, actually, as it is, there.

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Date-wise, I would think we're looking,

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certainly into the 19th century,

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-probably the latter part of the 19th century.

-Right.

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Value...

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I should think, £400 to £500.

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That's good for something that was going to go in the dustbin.

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She's a very pretty girl, and how did she come to you?

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Well, her story in our family started in the 1880s,

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and my grandmother had beautiful handwriting,

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and a rather well-to-do lady went to her school,

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and asked for a little girl who did nice writing,

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and they chose my grandmother,

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and she had to go to this lady's house, one evening, after school,

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every week, and she was given a "tasty and nutritious tea,"

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then she had to write the lady's letters,

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because the lady had arthritis or rheumatism,

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something that stopped her from writing.

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So, your granny was essentially the secretary?

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-You could say that, yes.

-Well, how old was she at this time?

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-She was born in 1872, so she was quite a little girl.

-Yeah.

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And, when the old lady died, she left the lady to my grandmother,

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because she'd noticed that she used to gaze at her.

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While she'd been penning these beautifully written letters,

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she'd seen this thing, and she inherited it.

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-That's right.

-Now, I want you to stroke it. Do you want to stroke it?

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-Yes.

-Now, what do you think of when you're stroking it?

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-What material?

-She feels a bit like marble...

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-She feels like marble...

-She feels like...

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That's exactly... She FEELS like marble,

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and, you know, it isn't marble.

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This is a material called Parian ware.

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It was developed very early on in the Victorian period,

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up in Staffordshire,

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and it was because of a rise in the wealth of Victorian England,

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-people want to fill their houses with ornaments.

-Yes.

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But there isn't enough marble to go round,

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besides, marble is extremely expensive,

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so when the Staffordshire potters came up with this material,

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which feels like marble, they called it Parian,

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named after the island of Paros, where classical marble was mined.

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The wonderful thing about this is that you can pump it with water,

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so it becomes a liquid.

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-Yes.

-And you can pour the liquid into moulds,

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so once you've made the moulds,

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you can actually make hundreds, if not thousands, of these pieces.

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So, this very pretty young girl was produced originally by the artist

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whose signature appears on the back, William Calder Marshall, R.A.

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Now, he was actually elected to the Royal Academy in the 1850s,

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so that gives you a bottom date,

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it wasn't all that old when your granny was penning those letters.

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-Right.

-Um, I think in this state,

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if you were to put her up for auction,

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-she would probably fetch somewhere in the region of £300 to £500.

-Yes.

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But she's worth a lot more to you,

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-because of that lovely family association.

-Yes.

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I inherited it from an uncle who lived in Malta.

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I've had it about 10 years.

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I understand that it's an old family,

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going two or three generations back, anyway.

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Other than that, I don't know.

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Well, the interesting bit about it is the Maltese, actually,

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in what you've just said,

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because I've been toying with where it was made,

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and it's got some marks on it inside, up in the lid,

0:17:290:17:33

but they are so indistinct,

0:17:330:17:35

that they don't really tell me anything,

0:17:350:17:37

certainly not, quickly being able to have a look at it here.

0:17:370:17:41

-Yeah.

-It's very much in the French taste, and in the Swiss,

0:17:410:17:47

if you like, of the period of about 1810-1820, something like that.

0:17:470:17:52

And you've got the sort of classical motifs and designs,

0:17:520:17:56

and workmanship and elements that are all typical of the period.

0:17:560:18:00

It's got French Empire, in a way, coming into that period,

0:18:000:18:04

or the end of the French Empire,

0:18:040:18:06

but I'm not immediately sure that it's Swiss,

0:18:060:18:08

and I'm not certain it's French,

0:18:080:18:10

so when you say that the family came from Malta,

0:18:100:18:14

there's a possibility that it might be Austrian or Italian.

0:18:140:18:19

The way it's made...it's made of 18 carat, or possibly 20 carat gold,

0:18:190:18:23

there's no hallmark to say which...

0:18:230:18:26

and it's chased onto a matted ground, they've applied gold work,

0:18:260:18:29

and it's very difficult to see in this bright sun that's appeared...

0:18:290:18:34

In fact, it's done in more than one colour,

0:18:340:18:37

so you have green gold and yellow gold.

0:18:370:18:40

-Was it actually used for snuff?

-It's snuff, that's right.

0:18:400:18:43

Have you had it valued, at all?

0:18:430:18:45

I've no idea of the value.

0:18:450:18:48

An uncle of mine, from whom I inherited it,

0:18:480:18:50

had it looked at by the Victoria and Albert, I think.

0:18:500:18:54

-Oh, right.

-This was a note that we found that sits within the box.

0:18:540:18:59

So, I'm probably now going to now prove that I'm talking rubbish.

0:18:590:19:03

I don't think you are.

0:19:030:19:04

5th November 1946, that's a long time ago.

0:19:040:19:07

Well, that's when it was either sent in,

0:19:070:19:09

or viewed by them, I'm not sure how.

0:19:090:19:11

"Dear Sir, if you bring your snuff box along,

0:19:110:19:13

"I will endeavour to tell you something about it.

0:19:130:19:16

"I'll make it clear that our regulations

0:19:160:19:18

"do not permit us to give a valuation."

0:19:180:19:20

-Obviously, it was seen and it comes with a note.

-OK.

0:19:200:19:24

"Period approx. 1810. A beautiful piece of work.

0:19:240:19:26

"Mark does not denote French or English,

0:19:260:19:29

"so probably Italian Neapolitan."

0:19:290:19:31

-OK, well...

-Or Austrian.

0:19:310:19:33

Well, there we are, so I haven't told you very much,

0:19:330:19:35

but I haven't wasted your time.

0:19:350:19:37

But we CAN, under BBC regulations, we can actually give you a valuation.

0:19:370:19:42

And I would reckon this is £3,000, possibly even £4,000.

0:19:420:19:46

£3,000 to £4,000.

0:19:460:19:47

Gosh, really?

0:19:470:19:49

Condition's wonderful.

0:19:490:19:51

Hughenden Manor's secret war effort would have remained secret,

0:19:580:20:01

if not for one extraordinary coincidence...

0:20:010:20:04

Victor Gregory, you came here a couple of years ago on a visit,

0:20:040:20:08

tell us about that.

0:20:080:20:09

I came here with my grandson, he wanted to know

0:20:090:20:13

where I'd been in the RAF, and we came over here on a visit.

0:20:130:20:16

One of the stewards saw me talking to my grandson,

0:20:160:20:20

and it went from there, really,

0:20:200:20:23

and it's grown from there too, really,

0:20:230:20:26

it's got more and more publicity,

0:20:260:20:28

and more and more people are interested.

0:20:280:20:31

You told him you were one of the people who produced the maps.

0:20:310:20:34

I told him that I was working in the drawing office,

0:20:340:20:37

and I'd been involved in the map on Berchtesgaden.

0:20:370:20:42

Ah, you've mentioned that.

0:20:420:20:43

I actually have that, and there it is...

0:20:430:20:46

This must look very familiar to you...

0:20:460:20:48

this was Hitler's country hideaway.

0:20:480:20:50

This was Hitler's hideaway.

0:20:500:20:52

We produced this map here at Hughenden for two factors.

0:20:520:20:57

there was a plan during the war to assassinate Hitler,

0:20:570:21:01

and the assassination attempt was going to be made by special forces,

0:21:010:21:06

and a very large RAF raid,

0:21:060:21:08

and this map was produced for the very large RAF raid,

0:21:080:21:12

which took place on 25th April 1945.

0:21:120:21:16

And then he committed suicide.

0:21:160:21:18

Five days later, he committed suicide,

0:21:180:21:20

we didn't catch him at Berchtesgaden,

0:21:200:21:22

because he was hiding in the bunker in Berlin.

0:21:220:21:25

But you would have, because that's a beautiful map.

0:21:250:21:28

And do you keep in touch? Are there any of you left?

0:21:280:21:31

Well, I'm certainly one who's left, as is obvious today.

0:21:310:21:35

There is another lady living in West Wycombe,

0:21:350:21:38

Katherine, who was here as a WAAF,

0:21:380:21:40

but it's been very difficult to locate anyone.

0:21:400:21:44

Lots of sons and daughters have got in touch with me,

0:21:440:21:47

and said, "My mother or father was here",

0:21:470:21:50

and I've shown a few people around the house.

0:21:500:21:52

It's been very emotional for these people, too.

0:21:520:21:55

But you've lived to tell the story.

0:21:550:21:58

This is a collection of English Victorian jewellery,

0:22:010:22:04

you couldn't get more absolutely English-looking jewellery than this,

0:22:040:22:09

so, tell me, is it family bequeathed pieces from the source of England?

0:22:090:22:13

Yes, quite a few pieces of jewellery were inherited by my mother,

0:22:130:22:18

from her mother and her grandmother.

0:22:180:22:21

-So, we're going back a few generations.

-Yes.

0:22:210:22:24

Have they been valued? Have you taken them to a jeweller?

0:22:240:22:27

Has he said anything about them at all?

0:22:270:22:29

I've never had them valued,

0:22:290:22:31

and I think some of the pieces were last valued about 40 years ago,

0:22:310:22:35

for probate purposes.

0:22:350:22:36

-40 years?

-Yes, about £2.

0:22:360:22:39

-£2?

-Yes.

0:22:390:22:40

The garnet snake, therefore, was valued at a couple of pounds.

0:22:400:22:44

-I think so.

-It's a garnet snake, in its original fitted box,

0:22:440:22:48

mounted in gold, coiling round in this rather pretty shaped case,

0:22:480:22:53

and those were the days, perhaps,

0:22:530:22:54

when you could buy a snake for a couple of pounds, I don't know.

0:22:540:22:58

It's a lovely piece, it's English, mid-Victorian, lovely garnets.

0:22:580:23:02

The type of garnets are called pyrope garnets,

0:23:020:23:06

there are different names for different colours of garnets.

0:23:060:23:10

These are this deep blood-red pyrope garnet,

0:23:100:23:13

and snakes are very good indeed for garnets,

0:23:130:23:15

they blend beautifully together,

0:23:150:23:18

doesn't the fitted box look lovely?

0:23:180:23:20

-It's lovely.

-It really does.

0:23:200:23:22

So, that's a garnet necklace,

0:23:220:23:24

and there's a garnet brooch, English, 1850,

0:23:240:23:27

garnet drop in the middle, a pyrope stone, and a garnet in the bud.

0:23:270:23:32

And you've got a gold locket, do we know who the subject is, here?

0:23:320:23:35

That's my great-grandmother.

0:23:350:23:37

Right, OK, and this therefore was the locket she probably wore?

0:23:370:23:42

I would think so. It has her initials on it.

0:23:420:23:45

It's got this monogram on it, that was a Victorian feature,

0:23:450:23:48

that they would put a little monogram on a locket,

0:23:480:23:51

which, I have to say, restricts them a bit,

0:23:510:23:53

you put an engraving on it,

0:23:530:23:55

and it slightly narrows the appeal in a commercial market.

0:23:550:23:58

-Yes.

-Then you've got this brooch, what do you know about this?

0:23:580:24:01

I don't know anything about it.

0:24:010:24:03

I'm not sure if it was my grandmother's,

0:24:030:24:05

or my great-grandmother's.

0:24:050:24:07

-It's just there.

-Part of the group.

0:24:070:24:09

-Yes.

-Did you know that it was a big diamond in the middle?

-No.

0:24:090:24:13

Mm, well, it is.

0:24:130:24:16

It's an old Victorian cut diamond,

0:24:160:24:18

and did you know that it weighs about...

0:24:180:24:20

Well, you didn't know that it weighs about two carats.

0:24:200:24:25

-Oh.

-It's a large, chunky diamond in the star in the middle.

-Right.

0:24:250:24:30

So, this is going to be a surprise,

0:24:300:24:32

-these prices that I'll give you.

-It is.

0:24:320:24:34

Well, let's start from this end, here.

0:24:340:24:36

The oval Victorian gold locket,

0:24:360:24:39

I suppose, in a nice box like that,

0:24:390:24:41

-£250 for it, possibly.

-Gosh.

0:24:410:24:43

The garnet brooch, here...

0:24:430:24:45

I think you're looking at least at £400 to £500,

0:24:450:24:48

-probably £600 on that one. It gets better.

-Really?

0:24:480:24:52

It does, yes, it gets better.

0:24:520:24:55

The garnet snake, I've always had a great affection for snake jewellery,

0:24:550:24:59

what do you think that's worth, then?

0:24:590:25:01

I know you've got no idea, but take a stab at it.

0:25:010:25:04

-£800.

-Yeah, that's very good. I think so, yes...

0:25:040:25:08

Well done, that's around about £800.

0:25:080:25:11

This thing, which for all I know,

0:25:110:25:13

you might have thought was paste, or something like that,

0:25:130:25:16

-a bit of glass...

-Um, yes.

0:25:160:25:17

Well, it's not the greatest diamond in the world,

0:25:170:25:20

but it IS a two carat brilliant-cut old mined Victorian diamond,

0:25:200:25:24

-so, do you think it's worth £1,000?

-I would hope so.

0:25:240:25:27

Well, I think it's worth £2,000.

0:25:270:25:30

-Wow.

-And, in fact, I'd go so far as to say that it's such a pretty stone,

0:25:340:25:38

in an appealing gold mount, £2,000 to £2,500...

0:25:380:25:40

So, let's say minimums of £2,000, £800,

0:25:400:25:44

£2,800, £3,000...

0:25:440:25:46

-£3,500 to £4,000.

-Gosh.

0:25:460:25:49

-So, last valued in 1960s, for £2.

-Yes.

0:25:490:25:55

This is the Roadshow for you.

0:25:550:25:57

You know precisely what this is, don't you?

0:26:020:26:04

Yes, it's a wine cooler.

0:26:040:26:06

The interesting thing is that we can date it fairly accurately,

0:26:060:26:10

it's English, made of mahogany,

0:26:100:26:12

-and it would be made between 1827 and 1835.

-Right.

0:26:120:26:17

It's an extremely important example.

0:26:170:26:19

-Really?

-It's wonderful.

0:26:190:26:21

I'll tell you why, and how we can date it.

0:26:210:26:23

A - it's a sarcophagus shape,

0:26:230:26:25

which became extremely popular after the death of Nelson,

0:26:250:26:28

particularly with the Classical renovations

0:26:280:26:31

and restorations being carried out throughout Europe,

0:26:310:26:34

the Grand Tour, and our military and naval campaigns.

0:26:340:26:37

Now, this is the bit that's probably the latest clue...

0:26:370:26:41

The vine leaves, this type of carving, was almost continental,

0:26:410:26:45

it was not an English type of carving,

0:26:450:26:48

and, of course, it alludes to wine from the continent,

0:26:480:26:51

rather than England.

0:26:510:26:52

By the 1810 period, we'd lost most of our wine production in this country,

0:26:520:26:57

so we imported it, and this is an instant indication

0:26:570:27:00

that of course it's a wine cooler,

0:27:000:27:01

there are the grapes and the vine.

0:27:010:27:04

Now, inside, well, it's a typical...

0:27:040:27:06

Look at the wonderful quality hinges, as you'd expect,

0:27:060:27:10

a very expensive and important piece when it was made,

0:27:100:27:13

with its original lead lining,

0:27:130:27:15

and in the bottom, that's where the plug was, originally,

0:27:150:27:18

to let the melted ice out,

0:27:180:27:20

and the ice, of course,

0:27:200:27:22

would have come from an ice house similar to here,

0:27:220:27:25

which has its own history.

0:27:250:27:27

In terms of value, wine coolers vary hugely.

0:27:270:27:31

Most of them range between £4,000 and £6,000.

0:27:310:27:35

This one, because of its obvious clues to date,

0:27:350:27:38

and the importance of manufacture,

0:27:380:27:40

-I would say between £8,000 and £10,000...

-Really?

0:27:400:27:43

..is a true value for that.

0:27:430:27:45

-Oh, really?

-Yes.

-I thought about £500.

0:27:450:27:47

Well... what can I say? No, no, no, £8,000 to £10,000.

0:27:470:27:52

Thank you very much.

0:27:520:27:53

And it's a joy to see, it's a real pleasure.

0:27:530:27:56

-So, we need to insure it, then.

-I think I would.

-Thank you.

0:27:560:27:59

-I don't do vehicles, is there any furniture?

-Some rubbish.

0:28:120:28:16

Well, this is not rubbish, what's this?

0:28:160:28:18

What a wonderful way to arrive at an Antiques Roadshow.

0:28:180:28:21

Me van, it's an Austin 12, and it's a proper...

0:28:210:28:23

-What date?

-1936, this one,

0:28:230:28:25

and we use it all the time, driven all over the place,

0:28:250:28:29

and we camp in the back.

0:28:290:28:31

I learned to drive on an Austin Ruby, it's about the same..

0:28:310:28:34

Have you got something back here for me?

0:28:340:28:36

See what we've got in here.

0:28:360:28:38

-In the back.

-Oh, great, oh, local chairs.

0:28:380:28:41

-Local chairs.

-Are you a local man?

0:28:410:28:43

-I'm afraid so.

-What do you mean, "afraid so"?

0:28:430:28:46

High Wycombe chairs...

0:28:460:28:47

But these came from my great-grandfather's factory.

0:28:470:28:50

We've got the set of four...

0:28:500:28:53

So, that's two of them, and that's typical Wycombe run-of-the-mill,

0:28:530:28:59

built...what, 1850s on to about 1900?

0:28:590:29:02

So, let me get this right, so your...

0:29:020:29:05

-Your family made them.

-Yeah.

-OK.

0:29:050:29:07

-In their workshops.

-In their factories in the town,

0:29:070:29:11

from the 1850s, up to when it burned down in 1936.

0:29:110:29:14

I know the Mealing family, as chairmakers,

0:29:140:29:16

go back to about 1814-1820.

0:29:160:29:18

Yeah, well, these are theirs, and as I say, we have a set,

0:29:180:29:22

and we have a set of the straight-backs,

0:29:220:29:25

and a set of the slat-backs.

0:29:250:29:26

Most people know this as a Windsor chair,

0:29:260:29:29

but Windsor chairs are from High Wycombe,

0:29:290:29:31

and just the great centre of chair-making in the world, really.

0:29:310:29:35

Well, they went all over the empire, didn't they?

0:29:350:29:37

Talking about the empire...

0:29:370:29:40

Queen Mary, the Queen Mary.

0:29:400:29:42

We're hopping about... now, we've got Queen Mary.

0:29:420:29:44

This is another Wycombe chair, now, it's a bit tatty, but it's used,

0:29:440:29:49

I've got a pair of these,

0:29:490:29:50

The Queen Mary... They were the second-class saloon,

0:29:500:29:54

they came back to Wycombe for repair,

0:29:540:29:56

but war broke out, it converted to a troop ship.

0:29:560:29:59

This is the Second World War.

0:29:590:30:01

Converted to a troop ship.

0:30:010:30:03

We ended up with two, and there must be hundred in Wycombe.

0:30:030:30:07

-Which most people know as Ercol.

-Yes, yes, and this is Wycombe beech.

0:30:070:30:11

This is why, apart from the fact you have the river as well,

0:30:110:30:14

but we have water, but the beech growing here

0:30:140:30:17

was why they were able to make these chairs.

0:30:170:30:19

This is typical.

0:30:190:30:20

-That's elm, but the arm of that is typical.

-And...

0:30:200:30:24

Lovely, comfy chairs, a bit tatty,

0:30:240:30:27

but meant to be used, it's not a museum piece,

0:30:270:30:30

and we have two, and we have Grandfather's comfy chair,

0:30:300:30:33

they didn't make those as well, they made these, here we are...

0:30:330:30:37

My father used to go motor-racing with the son.

0:30:370:30:39

And that's the comfy chair,

0:30:390:30:41

machine-made, typical sort of stuff we churned out, good at Wycombe...

0:30:410:30:45

I think that's beech again, isn't it?

0:30:450:30:47

Yes, it is, you can tell,

0:30:470:30:49

the flecks here are a typical giveaway of beech.

0:30:490:30:51

And there was a firm in Wycombe, called the Russian Cane Work,

0:30:510:30:55

which is still in Wycombe, that did all this caning.

0:30:550:30:59

What I like about this, the fact that it's cane,

0:30:590:31:02

is that caning came in in about the 1660-1680 period,

0:31:020:31:05

the Charles II, James II,

0:31:050:31:07

and this chair is copying that Carolean, Jacobean revival

0:31:070:31:10

of the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660-1680.

0:31:100:31:12

-In a completely modernised form...

-Machine-made, yes.

0:31:120:31:16

Twenties, 1920s look, but one thing about value,

0:31:160:31:19

double-caning always makes more money,

0:31:190:31:21

-when things are sold at auction.

-Oh, right.

0:31:210:31:24

It's difficult to value, because they're priceless.

0:31:240:31:27

My wife sits in this, doing her sewing,

0:31:270:31:29

that's in the kitchen, I use that in the study,

0:31:290:31:32

you know, it's family stuff.

0:31:320:31:33

-Without the family history, that's a £500 chair.

-Yeah, probably.

0:31:330:31:37

The Windsors...

0:31:370:31:38

Well, they're only £100 each, there's two.

0:31:410:31:43

Well, there's the set, and then the others, to go with them...

0:31:430:31:47

Perversely, these are probably worth more,

0:31:470:31:50

there's great interest in that great Art Deco liner,

0:31:500:31:53

-albeit they're second-class saloon.

-Oh, second-class.

0:31:530:31:56

So, £500-£800 the pair, perhaps more. Thank you very much.

0:31:560:32:00

No, thank you for your time.

0:32:000:32:03

They belonged to my grandmother's brother, and she was Danish.

0:32:060:32:10

When the war broke out,

0:32:100:32:12

unfortunately, he went off and joined the Nazi party.

0:32:120:32:16

-Oh, dear.

-And it caused a bit of a rift in the family,

0:32:160:32:20

and...after the war,

0:32:200:32:22

when my grandmother came over to England to live permanently,

0:32:220:32:26

I don't think they ever saw each other again,

0:32:260:32:29

but she came over with the bear,

0:32:290:32:32

-as a memento of her brother.

-And it was his bear?

0:32:320:32:35

It was his bear, yes.

0:32:350:32:37

Great-Uncle was born in 1907,

0:32:370:32:39

and we know it was given to him at some point during his...

0:32:390:32:44

Either at his birth,

0:32:440:32:45

or he was a couple of years older.

0:32:450:32:47

That does actually tie in with when these particular ones,

0:32:470:32:50

-which are known as the muzzled ones, the muzzled bears.

-Yeah.

0:32:500:32:54

As you probably know, they were emulating, typical of the day,

0:32:540:32:59

when they'd had these performing real bears in the streets,

0:32:590:33:02

poor little things, poor big things, but...

0:33:020:33:05

..but very dangerous without the muzzle, and this is made by Steiff.

0:33:050:33:11

-Yes.

-You know?

-We know because he's got the little button in the ear.

0:33:110:33:15

-You found the button. So, you knew that?

-Yes.

0:33:150:33:20

The fact that these performing bears were around, they thought,

0:33:200:33:24

"Well, we'd better try out a performing bear with the muzzle,"

0:33:240:33:29

-and they made a lot.

-Right.

0:33:290:33:30

They made silver ones, they made black ones,

0:33:300:33:34

they made dark brown ones, they made this beige colour,

0:33:340:33:38

in different sizes, and really, for a very short period,

0:33:380:33:41

because, rather like the black ones they tried out,

0:33:410:33:45

children went "Aaagh," because he's very frightening.

0:33:450:33:48

What did you think when you first saw him?

0:33:480:33:51

I remember seeing it when I was about six,

0:33:510:33:53

and it wasn't something I wanted to see again after that.

0:33:530:33:56

Yes, exactly. Anyway, it didn't take off for that very reason,

0:33:560:34:00

-just that children were frightened.

-Yes.

0:34:000:34:03

And so, because of that, they're rarer,

0:34:030:34:06

and these are very much in demand for bear collectors,

0:34:060:34:11

teddy bear collectors love these.

0:34:110:34:14

He's not a very rare colour, he's very worn here.

0:34:140:34:19

20 years ago, he'd have been more valuable,

0:34:190:34:22

because they didn't see enough of them.

0:34:220:34:26

-Right.

-We've had a lot coming onto the market.

0:34:260:34:29

Having said that, even in an auction,

0:34:290:34:32

he's going to be worth somewhere around £2,000.

0:34:320:34:35

-OK.

-What a character, I think you should give him a name.

0:34:350:34:39

We'll have to think of a name.

0:34:390:34:40

-What was the name of your great-uncle?

-Beur.

0:34:400:34:43

-Beur.

-Doesn't really go, does it?

-Doesn't ring, no.

0:34:430:34:47

Beur the bear.

0:34:470:34:48

It's an interesting bronze, it's a type of model I haven't seen before.

0:34:500:34:54

It's entitled at the base, "The Treasure Seeker",

0:34:540:34:58

and here we have a man digging, presumably for gold,

0:34:580:35:01

and like most bronzes of this period,

0:35:010:35:03

typically, of the bronzes made in 1890s-1900s in Austria and Germany,

0:35:030:35:09

it's signed on the side, here, we can see the signature.

0:35:090:35:12

"T. Curts," and also, on the back, it has the retailer's mark,

0:35:120:35:17

so, if we turn it round,

0:35:170:35:19

we can see that it was retailed by a firm in Vienna,

0:35:190:35:22

but there's something slightly different about this bronze.

0:35:220:35:26

Isn't there, just?

0:35:260:35:28

Very unusually, it's in two pieces, and we can reveal all now,

0:35:280:35:32

if we lift up the treasure seeker, lo and behold, he's found his gold.

0:35:320:35:37

And there we have it, a naked lady, lain out,

0:35:390:35:42

slightly risque for the time,

0:35:420:35:46

which is why, obviously, she was covered up on most occasions,

0:35:460:35:49

and all respectable men could have these bronzes in their drawing room

0:35:490:35:54

or dining room, and, depending on who your friends were that came round,

0:35:540:35:58

you could reveal what was underneath, or not, as the case may be.

0:35:580:36:02

Any idea of the value of the bronze?

0:36:020:36:04

-No idea.

-It's an unusual model, and with the erotic connection,

0:36:040:36:08

I would think, if that came up at auction,

0:36:080:36:10

it would probably fetch between £800 and £1,200.

0:36:100:36:13

-Really?

-Yeah, it's a delight to see the treasure seeker and his friend.

0:36:130:36:17

-Thanks for bringing them in.

-Thank you.

0:36:170:36:21

Now, if there was a fire in your house,

0:36:240:36:27

and you had to grab one object, what are you going to grab?

0:36:270:36:32

I think I'd grab two, actually, I'd grab the two beer mugs.

0:36:320:36:36

Does that tell me something?

0:36:360:36:38

We do use them, it's nice to pull them out on special occasions.

0:36:380:36:42

They're 18th century, they're actually tankards, not mugs.

0:36:420:36:46

-Oh, right.

-They've got lids.

0:36:460:36:47

Mugs don't have lids, tankards do.

0:36:470:36:49

That's not what I would grab.

0:36:490:36:51

-Right.

-Do you know what I would grab?

-Um...

0:36:510:36:56

You're going to go for the dirtiest thing, aren't you?

0:36:560:36:59

Close, well, it's one of the dirty...

0:36:590:37:01

I'm going to grab that.

0:37:010:37:02

-Right.

-So, when did you get that?

0:37:020:37:05

I got that at an auction, local to here in Watlington,

0:37:050:37:09

about four or five years ago.

0:37:090:37:11

I've researched the hallmarks,

0:37:110:37:13

and the catalogue said it was early 1800s,

0:37:130:37:15

but it didn't have the King's head on the hallmark,

0:37:150:37:19

so I thought, "That doesn't sound right."

0:37:190:37:21

So, it was going fairly cheaply.

0:37:210:37:23

Well spotted, because it certainly isn't early 1800s,

0:37:230:37:28

-it's actually early 1700s.

-Right.

0:37:280:37:30

-We've actually got the hallmarks here for 1726.

-Right.

0:37:300:37:36

Last year of the reign of George I,

0:37:360:37:38

-and the maker is a chap called William Darker.

-Right.

0:37:380:37:42

London maker.

0:37:420:37:43

It is a very early and a rare form of sauce boat.

0:37:440:37:48

It's fascinating, if you go back, not...

0:37:490:37:52

In fact, to the end of the reign of Queen Anne,

0:37:520:37:55

you might just find a sauce boat.

0:37:550:37:57

We didn't have sauce boats in England, we didn't need them.

0:37:570:38:01

English food was so good, the raw materials.

0:38:020:38:06

You know they talk about good English fare,

0:38:060:38:09

that was a great compliment to English food.

0:38:090:38:12

It didn't need spicing up in any way.

0:38:120:38:15

Now, in France, things were very different.

0:38:150:38:19

The French raw materials were pretty awful,

0:38:190:38:22

so what did the French chefs do?

0:38:220:38:24

They developed sauces to disguise how bad the food was.

0:38:240:38:27

But what happened in the early 18th century

0:38:270:38:30

was that English aristocrats started to...

0:38:300:38:33

one or two had done it before... but started to employ French chefs.

0:38:330:38:36

They made sauces, there was nothing to put them in.

0:38:360:38:39

So, they started making sauce boats,

0:38:390:38:43

and, of course, they followed the French idea

0:38:430:38:46

of the two lips and the two handles.

0:38:460:38:48

One thing that we do have... The Victorians, God bless them,

0:38:480:38:52

have added their own initials there.

0:38:520:38:55

That does have an effect on the value.

0:38:550:38:58

The original initials, funnily enough,

0:38:580:39:01

are just tucked on the handle there.

0:39:010:39:03

-Right, yeah.

-Those certainly are right for the reign of George I.

0:39:030:39:08

So, what did you pay for it?

0:39:080:39:11

It was £160.

0:39:110:39:13

£160... Ah, yes, interesting.

0:39:130:39:19

I think that you could easily think of adding another nought to that.

0:39:190:39:25

-Really? Mm.

-Easily, such a rare piece.

0:39:250:39:29

This is one of the most exciting pictures

0:39:310:39:34

I've ever seen on a Roadshow,

0:39:340:39:36

so thank you for making my day, probably my year.

0:39:360:39:39

Is that an interesting start?

0:39:410:39:44

-Has that raised your hopes?

-It's made our day, too.

0:39:440:39:47

Well, I haven't told you enough, yet.

0:39:470:39:49

As you can clearly see, it is signed by the Irish artist, Paul Henry.

0:39:490:39:54

Now, I have to ask you, have you any Irish blood in you?

0:39:540:39:57

-None.

-No, we haven't.

0:39:570:39:59

Oh, really? So how did this picture come to your family?

0:39:590:40:03

Well, it was owned by my parents, and it's now in my brother's house,

0:40:030:40:08

and as far as I know, it's been there about 50 years.

0:40:080:40:11

Really? So, no real connections.

0:40:110:40:14

-None.

-And do you know about Paul Henry?

0:40:140:40:16

-Only this amount.

-Only this amount,

0:40:160:40:18

as in the picture you've been seeing for the last few years, yes.

0:40:180:40:22

-Beautiful painting.

-Well, it is, and Paul Henry, obviously an Irishman,

0:40:220:40:28

studied in Belfast, and like many good artists,

0:40:280:40:32

he went abroad in the 1890s, to Paris,

0:40:320:40:37

and allegedly, he studied with Whistler.

0:40:370:40:39

I can't quite see the connection, but that's allegedly.

0:40:390:40:42

But the point is that after he'd worked in Paris,

0:40:420:40:46

he then came back to Ireland in 1910,

0:40:460:40:49

and, really, was part of a very academic group, a very Irish group.

0:40:490:40:54

This was the time when Ireland was asserting itself,

0:40:540:40:57

wanted national identity,

0:40:570:40:59

and Paul Henry, I think, did this very well,

0:40:590:41:02

he was a great, great painter,

0:41:020:41:05

and he captured the Irish spirit in simple landscapes,

0:41:050:41:11

and this is a wonderful landscape,

0:41:110:41:12

painted, I think, probably later in the 1930s,

0:41:120:41:15

in the Connemara area, and I love the whole perspective.

0:41:150:41:21

Here you are, rather low down,

0:41:210:41:23

-looking up at these cottages over the bog here.

-The light.

0:41:230:41:27

Yes, and these wonderful, strong clouds coming over,

0:41:270:41:30

it's about to throw down a huge amount of rain any second.

0:41:300:41:34

And it's wonderful. Also, I like the type of painting,

0:41:340:41:36

it's quite blocky, and it's free,

0:41:360:41:39

and I love that sort of feeling to it.

0:41:390:41:40

It's very uncluttered, isn't it?

0:41:400:41:43

Very uncluttered, exactly.

0:41:430:41:45

In fact, some of his work was used in posters for the tourist industry,

0:41:450:41:49

"Come to Ireland," that sort of thing.

0:41:490:41:51

-I see.

-And it's much more than a landscape painting.

0:41:510:41:55

-Yes.

-It's a bit of propaganda, as well.

0:41:550:41:57

Now, you may be interested to know...

0:41:570:42:00

Also, the Irish market has moved quite dramatically upwards,

0:42:000:42:03

and 20 years ago, if you'd come to me and had showed it to me,

0:42:030:42:07

I would have been interested, but not that interested, money-wise.

0:42:070:42:11

But now, with the Irish being such a buoyant economy...

0:42:110:42:15

a lot of rich Irish people making money...

0:42:150:42:18

They are very interested in buying...

0:42:180:42:20

-They want their paintings back.

-Exactly.

0:42:200:42:22

So...is it insured?

0:42:220:42:24

-As far as I know, no.

-No, we don't think so.

-No, not at all.

0:42:240:42:28

Well, I think if it appeared on the market today,

0:42:280:42:33

we'd be talking at least £40,000 to £60,000.

0:42:330:42:37

-Oh, never!

-That's unbelievable.

0:42:370:42:41

It's amazing, it's quite amazing.

0:42:410:42:43

And I think you may well find that is slightly conservative as well,

0:42:430:42:48

but to find good Irish pictures gets tougher and tougher,

0:42:480:42:52

so, as you can see, I'm really excited,

0:42:520:42:55

and I can't thank you enough, what a day.

0:42:550:42:57

-Thank you very much for the information.

-Pleasure.

0:42:570:43:01

Many important things have happened at Hughenden Manor.

0:43:010:43:04

Disraeli, planning the nation's future,

0:43:040:43:06

those RAF types beavering away at their maps in World War II,

0:43:060:43:09

and their spirit lives on.

0:43:090:43:11

We have our own team planning the route for the next Roadshow target.

0:43:110:43:15

Top secret at the moment, of course...

0:43:150:43:17

As soon as we have the details, we'll let you know,

0:43:170:43:20

but for now, from Buckinghamshire, goodbye.

0:43:200:43:22

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