0:00:41 > 0:00:45Any programme that's seen as much of the world as the Roadshow
0:00:45 > 0:00:48is bound to have picked up a bit of folklore along the way,
0:00:48 > 0:00:51and many's the tale that is told by the old log fire
0:00:51 > 0:00:52at the end of a day.
0:00:52 > 0:00:56Some of the team beg Henry Sandon to tell them the one about the time
0:00:56 > 0:01:00he single-handedly brought London's traffic to a standstill
0:01:00 > 0:01:03when a bus driver spotted him, abandoned the vehicle
0:01:03 > 0:01:08in the middle of Oxford Street, rushed over and gave him a huge, wet kiss.
0:01:08 > 0:01:10Henry was flabbergasted...
0:01:10 > 0:01:15As it turned out, the bus driver was a woman, but even so...
0:01:15 > 0:01:17There's more where that came from, but tonight
0:01:17 > 0:01:22as well things you won't have heard, we're concentrating on things you won't have seen before
0:01:22 > 0:01:25with some more items that came our way recently.
0:01:26 > 0:01:28Kedleston Hall was a lovely place,
0:01:28 > 0:01:33and David Battie, a programme pioneer, man and boy
0:01:33 > 0:01:36started his day there with one of his favourite Roadshow yarns.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38We get a lot of items brought in
0:01:38 > 0:01:41which are broken in some way.
0:01:41 > 0:01:48The most bizarre I ever had, was a figure which the lady's mother had broken the hand off,
0:01:48 > 0:01:55and in the 1920s, stuck it back again with condensed milk,
0:01:55 > 0:01:57and 60 years on, it was still there!
0:01:57 > 0:01:59It had worked perfectly!
0:01:59 > 0:02:02- This is another variant on the theme.- Yes.
0:02:02 > 0:02:07Er, we've got a nasty donk in the side here,
0:02:07 > 0:02:11and somebody has repaired it on the inside with bubble gum,
0:02:11 > 0:02:14which is really rather nice.
0:02:14 > 0:02:19- Where did it come from?- Er, I don't know, it's just something
0:02:19 > 0:02:22- what were always in our house. - Really?
0:02:22 > 0:02:24It's just from me mother's side, you know.
0:02:24 > 0:02:30- Well, it's possible that it's made not that far from here.- Mm-hmm.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33It's made of earthenware pottery.
0:02:33 > 0:02:34Yeah.
0:02:34 > 0:02:39It's a very reddish clay, which you can see on here,
0:02:39 > 0:02:42might come from Jackfield, somewhere like that
0:02:42 > 0:02:46and then it's been joggled with coloured slips
0:02:46 > 0:02:48to produce this extraordinary...
0:02:48 > 0:02:55tortoiseshell effect, which is as good as I've ever seen.
0:02:55 > 0:03:00It's absolutely fantastic and it's INCREDIBLY thin!
0:03:00 > 0:03:01It's a wonderful bit of potting.
0:03:01 > 0:03:03It's really thin.
0:03:03 > 0:03:08And they've just relieved the mouth, with a little cream-coloured slip
0:03:08 > 0:03:13and the handle is what we call a strap handle but it comes down
0:03:13 > 0:03:16into this beautiful little terminal.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18He's just gone...pip...pip
0:03:18 > 0:03:20and you've got that.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22It's just brilliant.
0:03:22 > 0:03:24- D'you love it?- Yeah, I like it.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26- How much?- No idea.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29Well, I think, you know, it is a bit nibbled
0:03:29 > 0:03:34and you have got the chewing gum repair to do something about,
0:03:34 > 0:03:40but how often does one see a really good bit of mid-18th century -
0:03:40 > 0:03:45this is 1750 - so it's been around for 250 years.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48I didn't realise it was that old.
0:03:48 > 0:03:50How often do you see one as good as that?
0:03:50 > 0:03:55You really don't. I think, you know, there are dealers in London
0:03:55 > 0:04:01who specialise in fine English pottery and I think
0:04:01 > 0:04:05they would want that pretty much and the market is strong.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09So I think we're probably looking at somewhere between
0:04:09 > 0:04:12£600 and £1,000.
0:04:12 > 0:04:15- So much?- So much.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18- That's a surprise, that. - It is, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:04:22 > 0:04:27Well, I love this fantastic scarlet silk velvet on the shelves,
0:04:27 > 0:04:29but unusually, they slope upwards -
0:04:29 > 0:04:32they can't be good for displaying everything.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36No, that's true but this is a very special cabinet
0:04:36 > 0:04:39and the shelves slope for a very good reason.
0:04:39 > 0:04:43In fact, it's the display cabinet for the trophies
0:04:43 > 0:04:48from a local grammar school. It became surplus to requirements,
0:04:48 > 0:04:53so I went to the proper authorities and said, could I buy it.
0:04:53 > 0:04:59I made my bid and because it is such a specialist cabinet,
0:04:59 > 0:05:04it wasn't useful for anyone else, so in the end I managed to get it.
0:05:04 > 0:05:06And how much was your bid for?
0:05:06 > 0:05:08I don't know if I should tell you!
0:05:08 > 0:05:10- £40.- £40.- £40, yes.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13It's the most fantastic quality.
0:05:13 > 0:05:16It's this very, very richly figured rosewood.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19- Yes.- Carved in the solid, there's no wastage
0:05:19 > 0:05:20of any of this rare timber.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24You've got stylised fleur-de-lys clasps in the corners,
0:05:24 > 0:05:27you've got this amazing shaping to the glazing
0:05:27 > 0:05:32and even the shelves are carved in the solid with this bead and reel.
0:05:32 > 0:05:36It's a really fantastic example from about 1825, 1830.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38- As early as that?- As early as that.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40Did it need restoration?
0:05:40 > 0:05:43- Not the cupboard itself, no. - But it needed a base.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47It needed a base, yes, and my wife carried the sizes of the cupboard
0:05:47 > 0:05:50around in her handbag, and finally, several years later,
0:05:50 > 0:05:54we were in the Lake District and looking in an antique shop
0:05:54 > 0:05:55and we discovered this
0:05:55 > 0:05:57but the two don't really go together.
0:05:57 > 0:06:01No, because you've got rosewood and you've got oak at the bottom.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03What's great is, because this is a bit earlier,
0:06:03 > 0:06:06- 1790-1800, George III... - This?- ..oak chest...
0:06:06 > 0:06:10and it would have been in all the servants' bedrooms in a house like this.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13But this was definitely for public display
0:06:13 > 0:06:15- in the grander rooms down below. - Yes.
0:06:15 > 0:06:19And your Lake District treasure, although it doesn't fit exactly,
0:06:19 > 0:06:23is a sort of thing which - though slightly earlier -
0:06:23 > 0:06:27wonderful quality, perhaps nowadays would be worth
0:06:27 > 0:06:30- £1,000-£1,200 at auction.- Oh.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34- Very nice too.- And this, which is a little bit later, fantastic quality,
0:06:34 > 0:06:38is the sort of thing that instead of being worth £40
0:06:38 > 0:06:39you could easily pay £2,500 for.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43- Good heavens! - So I'm delighted you saved it.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45Thanks very much.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52The back of the picture is, in many ways, the most interesting part.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54You've got a little label here stuck on in 1982
0:06:54 > 0:06:57suggesting that we've got a picture by Teniers
0:06:57 > 0:06:59and maybe it's worth a lot of money...
0:06:59 > 0:07:02- Is that what you're hoping? - Hoping!
0:07:02 > 0:07:04Well, in part, I'm going to have to let you down.
0:07:04 > 0:07:07- Right.- But we'll explain why.- Yes.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09The back tells us quite clearly
0:07:09 > 0:07:12- this is not a mid-17th century painting.- Oh, right.
0:07:12 > 0:07:14Teniers was painting in the 1650s.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18- Yes.- And this is absolutely typically a 19th century canvas,
0:07:18 > 0:07:2019th century stretcher,
0:07:20 > 0:07:23- it's a completely 19th century picture.- Right.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26- And we know that from the back. - Mm-hmmm.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28And now if we have a look at the front,
0:07:28 > 0:07:33we'll have some more detail shortly, but tell me, how did you get it?
0:07:33 > 0:07:37Um, it was my aunt, who was Dutch, and she had to flee Holland
0:07:37 > 0:07:40when the Germans invaded, and on her return
0:07:40 > 0:07:43her father was given that as a welcome home present.
0:07:43 > 0:07:46How lovely to have peasants carousing...
0:07:46 > 0:07:49- Yes.- ..as a welcome home... it's a very jolly scene, isn't it?
0:07:49 > 0:07:51Yes, I love it.
0:07:51 > 0:07:57Well, having now decided for certain that it's not a period picture,
0:07:57 > 0:08:00it's still full of all the charm of a Teniers
0:08:00 > 0:08:04but with a slightly more modern approach to it.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08This is not a face...he looks like a little garden gnome, doesn't he?
0:08:08 > 0:08:10- Right!- He's not got a very...
0:08:10 > 0:08:12He's not got a 17th century face,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15- it's very much a 19th century face. - Yes.
0:08:15 > 0:08:16I love how they're counting
0:08:16 > 0:08:19how many drinks they've been buying each other.
0:08:19 > 0:08:20Lovely detail, isn't it?
0:08:20 > 0:08:25You've got a signature here which unfortunately, I can't read
0:08:25 > 0:08:28- but it doesn't matter because we know that it's not by Teniers. - Right.
0:08:28 > 0:08:33- That having been said, it's still a very charming picture.- Yes.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35And if you were to sell it, at auction,
0:08:35 > 0:08:40it's such a lovely scene, it would probably make somewhere between...
0:08:40 > 0:08:42- £2,500 and £3,500. - Right, thank you.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46- So it's a lovely picture.- Yes, we love it.- But sadly, not by Teniers.
0:08:46 > 0:08:49- That's all right, I still love it, I still love it.- OK.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56One of the most familiar images in cinema history
0:08:56 > 0:08:57has to be this -
0:08:57 > 0:09:00the great gorilla, King Kong... who drew these?
0:09:00 > 0:09:04I've actually done these myself, using a graphite pencil.
0:09:04 > 0:09:10- Why?- Ever since, from a child, I've loved black and white horror movies,
0:09:10 > 0:09:12but I think my favourite has always been King Kong
0:09:12 > 0:09:14and I'm still a fan at 46.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16So you've never escaped him?
0:09:16 > 0:09:17- Never.- What about you?
0:09:17 > 0:09:21What's it like to have a dad who's obsessed with horror?
0:09:21 > 0:09:24Um...it's a little bit weird but I've grown up with it.
0:09:24 > 0:09:29Like, when I was little, I didn't always play with Barbie dolls and everything,
0:09:29 > 0:09:32I used to play with Dad's little King Kong things.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34So it's different, it's something to talk about.
0:09:34 > 0:09:38- But your fixation goes further. If you come over here...- Yup.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42..we can actually meet him!
0:09:42 > 0:09:44So, what is he?
0:09:44 > 0:09:49Mr Kong, so the seller informs me
0:09:49 > 0:09:53- comes from a disused cinema in Bridport in Dorset...- Right.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55..called the Electric Palace Cinema,
0:09:55 > 0:09:59and when the gentleman purchased it, Mr Kong was standing inside.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03Do you think he'd been there since 1933 or even '34?
0:10:03 > 0:10:05We thought that he dates from the '30s and '40s
0:10:05 > 0:10:09and probably was used as some kind of promotion or advertising
0:10:09 > 0:10:10for the original film.
0:10:10 > 0:10:12Right, now where does he live now?
0:10:12 > 0:10:17At present, he lives in my back room.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20I can fill you in a bit, because by a strange act of chance,
0:10:20 > 0:10:22- I live in Bridport.- Oh, right.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24And I know the Electric Palace.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27- Really?- And I used to go to it, before it closed, but I can tell you
0:10:27 > 0:10:30in all the times I've been to that cinema, I never met him.
0:10:30 > 0:10:31You never met him?
0:10:31 > 0:10:34- So all I can think of, is when it finally closed...- Yeah.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38..he was found in some store room and they must have thought,
0:10:38 > 0:10:39- "Who wants this?"- Yeah!
0:10:39 > 0:10:42- "Nobody, only some lunatic would want it!"- Only a mad person!
0:10:42 > 0:10:45What did you pay for this extraordinary creature?
0:10:45 > 0:10:47Er, I actually paid £200 which...
0:10:47 > 0:10:51- Phew!- ..a few "phews" going around the country!
0:10:51 > 0:10:55Well, I don't think that's bad at all. Let's give some Kong values.
0:10:55 > 0:11:00- The rarity of the great issue of King Kong in 1933, is the original poster.- Yeah.
0:11:00 > 0:11:05It was simultaneously released all over the States - there were thousands of posters.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07- Must have been.- I think six survive,
0:11:07 > 0:11:12and I think the last one that sold, fetched 34,000.
0:11:12 > 0:11:15- Gosh.- But don't get wound up.- No!
0:11:15 > 0:11:19This is not one of those great Roadshow movie moments - "And King Kong is worth... "!
0:11:19 > 0:11:24- Yes. - I think King Kong is probably, to an addict, worth £200-500,
0:11:24 > 0:11:28exactly what you paid, he's very battered, he's had a hard life...
0:11:28 > 0:11:30But if he is... which he appears to be...
0:11:30 > 0:11:35an original 1930s foyer presentation piece
0:11:35 > 0:11:38- which would greet people coming to see this exciting movie...- Yup.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40..he's a great survivor.
0:11:40 > 0:11:42- Brilliant.- Well, thank you very much.
0:11:42 > 0:11:43Thanks very much, anyway.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50- Well, this a wonderful photograph of E A Maund...- That's right.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53..the famous African explorer
0:11:53 > 0:11:56dressed - he almost looks like a mannequin, doesn't he?
0:11:56 > 0:11:58Sort of...almost stuffed!
0:11:58 > 0:12:02There's another one, that's a little bit more English, isn't it?
0:12:02 > 0:12:06Nothing African about that. And look at this moustache!
0:12:06 > 0:12:10- Wonderful, yes!- He must have spent hours waxing that in the morning!
0:12:10 > 0:12:13It's quite incredible, absolutely splendid!
0:12:13 > 0:12:15Now, you've got these two Africans here,
0:12:15 > 0:12:16tell me the story.
0:12:16 > 0:12:22Well...um... my grandfather was an explorer
0:12:22 > 0:12:26and he was fighting against Rhodes for mining concessions...
0:12:26 > 0:12:30This is Cecil Rhodes, the founder of Rhodesia, modern Zimbabwe?
0:12:30 > 0:12:36..that's right, Cecil Rhodes... against Cecil Rhodes for mining concessions
0:12:36 > 0:12:40in Rhodesia, and Rudd had just got a concession, perhaps a bit dubiously,
0:12:40 > 0:12:46and he was trying to overturn that, and persuaded Lobengula that he ought to send two of his indunas
0:12:46 > 0:12:48to see there really was a great, white queen,
0:12:48 > 0:12:52and did she have the powers that were said, so it was agreed
0:12:52 > 0:12:56and he dressed them up in Capetown, took them over to England
0:12:56 > 0:12:58and they had an audience
0:12:58 > 0:13:00with Queen Victoria and Lord Knutsford.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04Rhodes was sufficiently worried while this was going on,
0:13:04 > 0:13:08to go over to England to try and circumvent this,
0:13:08 > 0:13:12and the company my grandfather worked for, did a deal with them
0:13:12 > 0:13:15so when he got back to South Africa, his new boss was Rhodes,
0:13:15 > 0:13:18so having been against him, he was now working for him.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22And they became great friends, to the extent that Rhodes agreed
0:13:22 > 0:13:26to be godfather to the eldest daughter, born out in South Africa.
0:13:26 > 0:13:27And here it is...
0:13:27 > 0:13:30"...shall be delighted to be the godfather..."
0:13:30 > 0:13:31and it's Rhodes, that's wonderful.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34This is quite a collection, very exciting.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37African explorers don't turn up every day
0:13:37 > 0:13:41and you've got some of your grandfather's papers here
0:13:41 > 0:13:44on Matabeland and Mashonaland.
0:13:44 > 0:13:48It's a tremendous collection. Obviously, you would never sell it,
0:13:48 > 0:13:51- but do you have any idea about values?- None whatsoever.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55Well, I think it's a great story and some great photographs.
0:13:55 > 0:13:56I think we're talking
0:13:56 > 0:14:00- somewhere in the region of £2,000 here.- Good Lord!
0:14:00 > 0:14:02- Wonderful to see it! - Thank you very much.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05I've been looking at so many single vases today
0:14:05 > 0:14:09where one has been lost or split up in a family,
0:14:09 > 0:14:11it's so nice to see here the pairs staying together
0:14:11 > 0:14:13- as they were always intended.- Yes.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16- Have these always been together in your family?- Yes, they have.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19They probably represent two generations.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21Which d'you think are the earliest?
0:14:21 > 0:14:22I'd have thought these, really.
0:14:22 > 0:14:28They look that, perhaps, because they are inspired by Old Chinese -
0:14:28 > 0:14:31one is looking there at a pair from the 1920s, in fact.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34- Are these chinoiserie?- Mmm.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36If you look at the designs themselves
0:14:36 > 0:14:39- that's the Old Willow Pattern isn't it, in a way?- It is, yes.
0:14:39 > 0:14:41- But look at those colours.- Yes.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44Where have you seen those yellows, orange, flame-reds?
0:14:44 > 0:14:46You don't normally see the greens, do you?
0:14:46 > 0:14:51- It's Clarice Cliff, isn't it? It's typical 1925-30.- Yes.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53And so, an old design brought up-to-date.
0:14:53 > 0:14:57- Uh-huh. - And there's the maker of those -
0:14:57 > 0:14:59"Wiltshaw and Robinson, Carlton Ware".
0:14:59 > 0:15:04And Carlton really was in its heyday at this period, so a pair of vases,
0:15:04 > 0:15:07probably a wedding present from the '20s
0:15:07 > 0:15:11going back a previous generation, a previous marriage perhaps,
0:15:11 > 0:15:14can we think here, because these are even older.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17- Are they?- I mean, these would have been a wedding present
0:15:17 > 0:15:20- probably in 1900-1902, that sort of time.- Mm-hmm.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24So going back a generation before, and what a splendid pair they are.
0:15:24 > 0:15:29- They're nice.- These are the work of the Moorcroft factory.
0:15:29 > 0:15:34This one, the monogram there, it's not really very clear,
0:15:34 > 0:15:36but we've got "W M Des" -
0:15:36 > 0:15:38- that's William Moorcroft...- Mm-hmm.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41- ..and a great British potter, he really was.- Yes.
0:15:41 > 0:15:46Starting off as a decorator within another pottery in Stoke,
0:15:46 > 0:15:50in Burslem, in fact - "Macintyre, Burslem, England" -
0:15:50 > 0:15:53and Macintyre's big designer was Moorcroft
0:15:53 > 0:15:58who brought in a new technology and a whole new taste to Britain.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00I mean these are Art Nouveau,
0:16:00 > 0:16:01so a family buying these
0:16:01 > 0:16:05- would have been really very much avant-garde and of the day.- Oh.
0:16:05 > 0:16:10So two pairs, of really very different generations,
0:16:10 > 0:16:13probably rather different in price, too.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17These pairs, as Carlton Ware, a good maker, and a pair
0:16:17 > 0:16:19are going to be, oh...
0:16:19 > 0:16:24- £500-£600. - Mm-hmm, that's nice.- That isn't bad!
0:16:24 > 0:16:29And, here we've got Art Nouveau and Moorcroft and perfect condition,
0:16:29 > 0:16:32good designs, so one's looking there...
0:16:32 > 0:16:34a pair of them too...
0:16:34 > 0:16:36What, sort of...oh...
0:16:36 > 0:16:42- £2,500 to £3,000. - Really?- Mmm.- Oh!
0:16:42 > 0:16:44- Yes.- Goodness!
0:16:45 > 0:16:49Do tell me how you got him in the first place.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53I was given him 33 years ago, by a friend of my parents,
0:16:53 > 0:16:57whose wife had died a few years earlier. He was moving house,
0:16:57 > 0:17:00and clearing out, and because I liked bears, he asked my parents
0:17:00 > 0:17:03if I'd like him, so he gave him to me, and other than that
0:17:03 > 0:17:06we don't know anything about him at all.
0:17:06 > 0:17:10He is a spectacular bear and when you brought him in,
0:17:10 > 0:17:16I couldn't believe it, because he's in such good condition for his age
0:17:16 > 0:17:21and I actually would put his age at somewhere around 1910.
0:17:21 > 0:17:28Now that's an ancient bear, as teddy bears go, because teddies really started in 1903, 1904.
0:17:28 > 0:17:34Just a bit later, 1908, 1910, there was a firm in London
0:17:34 > 0:17:41called J K Farnell, and they were making soft toys and they started teddy bears and...
0:17:41 > 0:17:46It's very difficult to say, that is definitely a Farnell.
0:17:46 > 0:17:50I am 90% sure it's a Farnell and I'll tell you why.
0:17:50 > 0:17:54Because he's got his claws stitched inside, and now,
0:17:54 > 0:17:58all other teddy bears have their claws stitched on the outside
0:17:58 > 0:18:00and that was their, if you like, signature tune.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03Whereas the Steiff had a button in their left ear,
0:18:03 > 0:18:09Farnell have this, and very few of them have any other marks.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11- So did you ever take him to bed?- No!
0:18:11 > 0:18:14- You didn't? - No, I was told he was very, very old
0:18:14 > 0:18:18and I'd got to take good care of him, so he sat on a chair in my bedroom.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21So that's why he's in such good nick!
0:18:21 > 0:18:25It's in immaculate shape compared with most bears
0:18:25 > 0:18:27of a much later date.
0:18:27 > 0:18:33They're very much in demand, these Farnell bears. I mean, have you any idea of his value?
0:18:33 > 0:18:37- Not a clue!- Not a clue, not a clue.
0:18:37 > 0:18:42Well, he's not a Steiff, so he's not going to make hundreds of thousands,
0:18:42 > 0:18:47but he is a Farnell and I'm going to stick my neck out and say that
0:18:47 > 0:18:49you should be insuring him
0:18:49 > 0:18:51for £5,000.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53Good grief!
0:18:55 > 0:18:57As you know, the Roadshow travels round Britain
0:18:57 > 0:18:59and every time we go somewhere
0:18:59 > 0:19:01I think what are the local products?
0:19:01 > 0:19:03You know, what are we going to see?
0:19:03 > 0:19:05Or what am I hoping to see, in that area.
0:19:05 > 0:19:09Derbyshire means many things, but it means pottery and it means Denby pottery
0:19:09 > 0:19:13but in this particular case, it means a particular designer
0:19:13 > 0:19:15working at Denby who I've never seen.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19And had I written my shopping list today, before I came here,
0:19:19 > 0:19:22of the things I'd really like to see today, this is it.
0:19:22 > 0:19:27All these pieces have one thing in common, don't they? What's that?
0:19:27 > 0:19:32They were made at Denby pottery in the 1950s, by Tibor Reich.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35Right, exactly. Why do you like them?
0:19:35 > 0:19:39Um...they're very different and they fit in with modern houses
0:19:39 > 0:19:42and they're original.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45He was an interesting man, wasn't he?
0:19:45 > 0:19:50He was born in Budapest in 1916, and then presumably in the late '30s
0:19:50 > 0:19:53like some other Europeans, he came to Britain.
0:19:53 > 0:19:56- He came to Derby.- He came to Derby.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00And then he looked round what to do, and one of the places he stopped
0:20:00 > 0:20:03for six months was the Denby Studio.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06Most of his career, actually, he was a textile designer.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08The pottery is a very small sort of interlude
0:20:08 > 0:20:13and although it's what appeals to you and me, we must never forget
0:20:13 > 0:20:16that his primary function was a textile designer.
0:20:16 > 0:20:17- That's fair, isn't it?- Yes.
0:20:17 > 0:20:21And he is much better known in that field
0:20:21 > 0:20:24and I think his commissions included a lot of work
0:20:24 > 0:20:28for the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, cos he was in Stratford.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31Designs were made for 10 Downing Street, for Concorde,
0:20:31 > 0:20:36you know, he's quite an established figure in textile terms.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40When I look at pieces like this, well, let's look at this bird...
0:20:40 > 0:20:42I think that's a fantastic piece.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45What it is to me is, South America meeting Picasso
0:20:45 > 0:20:48and if you marry them together with contemporary design
0:20:48 > 0:20:49this is what you get.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51- Is that fair?- Yes.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55And I think there's a lot of Picasso influence on these pieces.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59- Where do you buy your pieces? - Um, at auction.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01I go to a lot of auction sales.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04- And how often do you find them? - Rarely.
0:21:04 > 0:21:06So how many have you got, in total?
0:21:06 > 0:21:08Um, oh, about 30.
0:21:08 > 0:21:12That's pretty good, that must be most of the output!
0:21:12 > 0:21:15- I've not got them all! - No, but I think in my life,
0:21:15 > 0:21:17even though I've known all about it,
0:21:17 > 0:21:19- I think I've seen about three pieces until today.- Gosh!
0:21:19 > 0:21:22- So...that's cos you've got it all, no wonder!- Oh!
0:21:24 > 0:21:28I'd love to find a piece. I've never seen a piece to buy,
0:21:28 > 0:21:31but equally, while these are very rare and desirable
0:21:31 > 0:21:33and I imagine quite expensive,
0:21:33 > 0:21:36you could go to a boot fair tomorrow and find that,
0:21:36 > 0:21:37- couldn't you?- Yes.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39Most of them aren't marked in an obvious way.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42There's a paper label, often washed off.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45That was in the bottom of a box of rubbish!
0:21:45 > 0:21:48When I first saw it, it was in the bottom of a box of rubbish
0:21:48 > 0:21:50at an auction sale!
0:21:50 > 0:21:51And did you buy it then?
0:21:51 > 0:21:53Unfortunately, somebody else spotted it
0:21:53 > 0:21:56and the price was beyond me at the time.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58So what was that?
0:21:58 > 0:22:02- It went for £800.- Gosh.- But I caught up with it at a later date.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04- And bought it?- And bought it.
0:22:04 > 0:22:06So that's a very expensive piece.
0:22:06 > 0:22:10- Yes.- To some people that would seem an act of complete lunacy.
0:22:10 > 0:22:13I don't think that's so, I think, he is a very rare man
0:22:13 > 0:22:16and for those who can appreciate really avant-garde design
0:22:16 > 0:22:20in this period, which is certainly a burgeoning market,
0:22:20 > 0:22:22these prices are entirely reasonable.
0:22:22 > 0:22:26The plates, at £300, £400, £500...
0:22:26 > 0:22:28I can go with that.
0:22:28 > 0:22:30For once, you've fulfilled my ambition -
0:22:30 > 0:22:33the right thing in the right place, thank you.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39Paul Atterbury finding perfect happiness at Kedleston Hall.
0:22:39 > 0:22:43And that's what all our experts hope to find, wherever we go.
0:22:43 > 0:22:45Earlier this year, we pitched up
0:22:45 > 0:22:47at Swansea's Brangwyn Hall
0:22:47 > 0:22:52and the moment she arrived, Hilary Kay was able to indulge a personal passion of hers...
0:22:52 > 0:22:55the bygone days of sail.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59She's perhaps the most famous ship
0:22:59 > 0:23:00that still exists today.
0:23:00 > 0:23:05- Yes.- The Cutty Sark. A lovely model of the Cutty Sark.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09Do you know why she's called the Cutty Sark?
0:23:09 > 0:23:13Yes, it's to do with, the figurehead is wearing
0:23:13 > 0:23:17a short, white shift or dress.
0:23:17 > 0:23:19- Called a cutty sark. - That's right, yes.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23People think that the Cutty Sark is such a wonderful name
0:23:23 > 0:23:26it must be something to do with cutter, or tea clipper,
0:23:26 > 0:23:29but in fact, it's from a poem by Rabbie Burns -
0:23:29 > 0:23:32Tam O'Shanter features this particular figure,
0:23:32 > 0:23:39the witch called Nannie, who's wearing this cutty sark,
0:23:39 > 0:23:41her hand outstretched to grab the tail of the grey mare
0:23:41 > 0:23:43to escape from the farmer.
0:23:43 > 0:23:48It's a wonderful, completely obtuse kind of figurehead!
0:23:48 > 0:23:51She's not the spirit of adventure, none of those things!
0:23:51 > 0:23:55So there she is, a ship that was named after a woman's underskirt.
0:23:55 > 0:23:56A shirt, yes!
0:23:59 > 0:24:03But what is the relationship between the Cutty Sark and your family?
0:24:03 > 0:24:05Is there a link there?
0:24:05 > 0:24:07Other than that my father was a merchant seaman,
0:24:07 > 0:24:12and on one of his voyages, the SS Pencarrow,
0:24:12 > 0:24:16they left Barry with a load of anthracite coal
0:24:16 > 0:24:20which was destined for South America, Buenos Aires.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24On that voyage, which took ten months, Dad had a little cabin,
0:24:24 > 0:24:26and in that cabin he made this.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30And in fact, that's a picture taken during that voyage,
0:24:30 > 0:24:32he's the one on the right.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34So this is your father, on board the ship
0:24:34 > 0:24:38- where he actually made the Cutty Sark.- That's correct.- Fabulous!
0:24:38 > 0:24:41Well, I suppose if you've got that length of time,
0:24:41 > 0:24:43- it's a great hobby.- Absolutely.
0:24:43 > 0:24:45Where did he get the plans?
0:24:45 > 0:24:47Because this is a beautifully scratchbuilt model.
0:24:47 > 0:24:49That is a question I cannot answer.
0:24:49 > 0:24:52I know he had plans and I saw them, years ago,
0:24:52 > 0:24:56but where he got them from, I don't know, but they are to plan.
0:24:56 > 0:24:59- Yes.- And in fact when I went up to see the Cutty Sark,
0:24:59 > 0:25:04I purchased a set of plans and checked it, and it's perfect.
0:25:04 > 0:25:09- A son checking up on his dad's work! - Yeah, that's right.
0:25:09 > 0:25:12I tell you what's going through my mind is...
0:25:12 > 0:25:16If I was sitting down wanting to make this model
0:25:16 > 0:25:19and thinking of an hourly rate over ten months,
0:25:19 > 0:25:22we ought to be looking at the crown jewels
0:25:22 > 0:25:25- from a financial point of view. - Yeah, absolutely.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28- Just doesn't work that way though! - No, no.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32I mean the value, for an object like this, is tiny
0:25:32 > 0:25:36in proportion to the number of hours that went into the making of it.
0:25:36 > 0:25:38I'd say an auction value would be...
0:25:38 > 0:25:42£400, £500 - maybe £600 -
0:25:42 > 0:25:45because of what she is, of who she is -
0:25:45 > 0:25:48- because she is the Cutty Sark. - Yes, yes.
0:25:48 > 0:25:54As a piece of your dad's passion and as a piece of maritime history,
0:25:54 > 0:25:55it's priceless.
0:25:55 > 0:25:58- Absolutely. - Thank you very much.- Thank you!
0:26:01 > 0:26:04So you bought a collection of ceramics.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06- Yes.- What sort?
0:26:06 > 0:26:10Mainly Royal commemorative ware, and I saw that jug in there
0:26:10 > 0:26:16and I thought it looked quite nice, and I liked the inscriptions on it
0:26:16 > 0:26:17and I thought it was funny!
0:26:17 > 0:26:21You said it was a collection of Royals, this of course isn't.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23- No, no.- It's Imperial.- It is.
0:26:23 > 0:26:28Because the man at the centre of the action is none other than
0:26:28 > 0:26:32Napoleon Bonaparte.
0:26:32 > 0:26:37This is a delightful example of British cartoon art,
0:26:37 > 0:26:42wrapped around the jug, so it's making a political statement.
0:26:42 > 0:26:47Napoleon Bonaparte, after losing in 1814, was sent off to Elba,
0:26:47 > 0:26:52in the Mediterranean, but unfortunately that wasn't far enough
0:26:52 > 0:26:55because he escaped, and of course, he came back
0:26:55 > 0:27:00and gathered another grande armee, and the Battle of Waterloo
0:27:00 > 0:27:03was in fact just over a year later.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05So, when this jug says,
0:27:05 > 0:27:11"Bonaparte Dethron'd April 1st 1814",
0:27:11 > 0:27:14- it's being triumphant rather too... - Quickly!
0:27:14 > 0:27:20I love the fact that he's in chains and begging for forgiveness.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23What he's actually saying here, he's saying...
0:27:23 > 0:27:27"Oh, Cursed Ambition, What hast thou brought me to now?"
0:27:27 > 0:27:33And there is the Devil looking out of his pit, and saying,
0:27:33 > 0:27:39"Why, to me, Come Come along, thou hast been a Most Dutiful Child".
0:27:39 > 0:27:43In other words, Bonaparte has been playing the part of the Devil
0:27:43 > 0:27:45throughout Europe.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49- Yes.- I love this thing, but it has, so to speak, been in the wars!- Yes.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53- The Napoleonic Wars have done for it.- Yes.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57- And that's a great shame, because it detracts hugely from the value.- Yes.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00But it's a classic example of something that...
0:28:00 > 0:28:07showing the staples and the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
0:28:07 > 0:28:10is rather charming. If this were mine,
0:28:10 > 0:28:15I wouldn't take the trouble to have it restored or even tarted up.
0:28:15 > 0:28:17Where's it from?
0:28:17 > 0:28:23- I was told it was Dillwyn Pottery, Swansea.- Dillwyn Pottery, Swansea?
0:28:23 > 0:28:28They certainly produced what we call these canary yellow jugs and...
0:28:28 > 0:28:31- There's no mark. - There's no mark on the bottom
0:28:31 > 0:28:35it's highly likely to be them, and of course canary yellow
0:28:35 > 0:28:38is very expensive glaze to put onto a piece of pottery.
0:28:38 > 0:28:42Yellow is the most difficult monochrome colour
0:28:42 > 0:28:43- on a piece of pottery.- Oh?
0:28:43 > 0:28:46- How much d'you think you've got invested in that?- I dunno.
0:28:46 > 0:28:48- 50?- £50?
0:28:48 > 0:28:52I would be very happy to offer you £50 for it.
0:28:52 > 0:28:53Would you?
0:28:55 > 0:29:01But if you were selling it in a proper commemorative auction, you could, even in that state,
0:29:01 > 0:29:04get a price certainly in the region
0:29:04 > 0:29:05- of £300 to £500 for it.- Oh!
0:29:06 > 0:29:08That's nice to know.
0:29:10 > 0:29:13Well, we're in this capacious Art Deco hall
0:29:13 > 0:29:15and now we've got a wonderful Art Deco drawing.
0:29:15 > 0:29:16How did you come by it?
0:29:16 > 0:29:20Well, my father found it in his father's garage,
0:29:20 > 0:29:24after my grandfather had died. He'd never seen it before,
0:29:24 > 0:29:27but he did know that my grandfather worked
0:29:27 > 0:29:30as an architect on Broadcasting House.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33- Which this shows.- Yes, this is the entrance hall, we believe.
0:29:33 > 0:29:37It's a wonderful memento, and your father being intimately involved
0:29:37 > 0:29:41with one of the most important civic architectural commissions
0:29:41 > 0:29:43of the 20th century as well.
0:29:43 > 0:29:46- What did he do? - Well, we believe my grandfather
0:29:46 > 0:29:49actually drew up the plans, that was the job that he was given.
0:29:49 > 0:29:55Apart from that we're not too sure, but it was obviously a building that was very close to his heart.
0:29:55 > 0:30:00What I love is - architects do this, and it's a whole subject in itself -
0:30:00 > 0:30:05they commission people to give the public or the commissioner
0:30:05 > 0:30:09an idea of how, from a human point of view, it would work,
0:30:09 > 0:30:12and there seems to be at work here, an artist who,
0:30:12 > 0:30:15in that suggestive, half draughtsman-like way,
0:30:15 > 0:30:18manages to perfectly express it without putting too much
0:30:18 > 0:30:20on the architecture itself,
0:30:20 > 0:30:22- which after all has to be conveyed. - Yes.
0:30:22 > 0:30:27What do we know about the artist himself,
0:30:27 > 0:30:30H R Thompson? I have to say, I've never heard of him.
0:30:30 > 0:30:33I've not been able to find anything out about him at all.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36Have you considered what it might be worth?
0:30:36 > 0:30:40I don't know, I've never found anything remotely like it so...
0:30:40 > 0:30:43I think it's a very chic piece.
0:30:43 > 0:30:44I think its worth about
0:30:44 > 0:30:45£5,000-£6,000.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48Oh! Really?
0:30:48 > 0:30:50Good grief!
0:30:51 > 0:30:54Oh, I never would have thought that.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57Really?! Ohhh...goodness me!
0:31:01 > 0:31:04So who was Captain Samuel Blackmore?
0:31:04 > 0:31:07He was my great-uncle on my father's side of the family.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10He was a sea captain and he sailed
0:31:10 > 0:31:14from Swansea to South America
0:31:14 > 0:31:17at the beginning of the 20th century
0:31:17 > 0:31:20and on one of his voyages
0:31:20 > 0:31:25he managed to save a ship and save the lives of some people
0:31:25 > 0:31:31and when he returned to Mexico, the people presented him with this watch
0:31:31 > 0:31:34- to say thank you. - What a lovely, lovely presentation.
0:31:34 > 0:31:37So, the ship obviously was Mexican,
0:31:37 > 0:31:40- as were, no doubt, the seamen.- Yes.
0:31:40 > 0:31:41This is in Spanish
0:31:41 > 0:31:43and to be honest, I can't read that
0:31:43 > 0:31:45because my Spanish isn't very good.
0:31:45 > 0:31:48Have you just got any translation at all?
0:31:48 > 0:31:51A friend did translate it, for me and it says...
0:31:51 > 0:31:52You've got it there?
0:31:52 > 0:31:54- Yes.- Let's have a look.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58"To the Captain of the English ship, Rosefield, Samuel Blackmore -
0:31:58 > 0:32:02"Gratitude for saving the Mexican mailboat Morelos
0:32:02 > 0:32:07"on 16th September, 1906".
0:32:07 > 0:32:09It's a cracking presentation because...
0:32:09 > 0:32:12Have you ever opened the back at all?
0:32:12 > 0:32:16- Well, I have had a look, yes. - Well, look at that, I mean that is,
0:32:16 > 0:32:19that is absolutely...lovely.
0:32:19 > 0:32:23Because basically, it's saying there -
0:32:23 > 0:32:24"Repetition",
0:32:24 > 0:32:26"Grande Sonnerie",
0:32:26 > 0:32:30and, "in passing and at will".
0:32:30 > 0:32:33Now, do you know what "grande sonnerie" means?
0:32:33 > 0:32:34Not really, no.
0:32:34 > 0:32:37Well, most clocks strike the hour.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40Some clocks strike the quarters,
0:32:40 > 0:32:42but a grande sonnerie
0:32:42 > 0:32:45is something that on every quarter
0:32:45 > 0:32:48strikes the hours AND the quarters.
0:32:48 > 0:32:50So, to have a pocket watch
0:32:50 > 0:32:53that's grande sonnerie, is technically superb
0:32:53 > 0:32:55and also very, very rare.
0:32:57 > 0:33:02And that is stunning, absolutely stunning.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05Everything is fully jewelled,
0:33:05 > 0:33:08it is as nice a quality Swiss movement as you'll ever, ever see,
0:33:08 > 0:33:11and it looks rather unloved, sitting in a box...
0:33:11 > 0:33:14Is it in a drawer at home or does somebody ever wear it?
0:33:14 > 0:33:16On top of the kitchen cupboard.
0:33:16 > 0:33:20- Top of the kitchen cupboard... - Mmm, right on the top!
0:33:20 > 0:33:23Because if you put that to auction now,
0:33:23 > 0:33:27you'd get an absolute minimum - an absolute minimum -
0:33:27 > 0:33:30of £6,000-£8,000.
0:33:30 > 0:33:33- Thanks very much.- So don't leave it on top of that unit!
0:33:33 > 0:33:36And whatever you do, don't let it slip into a box of cereal
0:33:36 > 0:33:39- and get chucked away. - No, we won't do that.
0:33:39 > 0:33:41I don't know where to start, to be honest,
0:33:41 > 0:33:43because it's not very often
0:33:43 > 0:33:46I'm faced with so many fantastic signatures.
0:33:46 > 0:33:51I suppose I might as well start with some particularly famous people...
0:33:51 > 0:33:53Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy...
0:33:53 > 0:33:55Here we have a signed photograph of them.
0:33:55 > 0:33:59Superb, obviously definitely by them.
0:33:59 > 0:34:00Diane... is that you?
0:34:00 > 0:34:02- Yes. - How did you happen to have this?
0:34:02 > 0:34:04It's from my mother.
0:34:04 > 0:34:08I was very young when they played the Empire Theatre in Swansea.
0:34:08 > 0:34:13I imagine my mother or grandmother had their autograph from the theatre,
0:34:13 > 0:34:18- they didn't stay with us on this occasion.- What do you mean?
0:34:18 > 0:34:22- We had a theatrical guesthouse. - A theatrical guesthouse?
0:34:22 > 0:34:24Most of these people stayed with us.
0:34:24 > 0:34:28So, basically you, or your mother, was in a superb position
0:34:28 > 0:34:33- to gain all of these signatures and postcards.- Right, yes.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36In this autograph book, there's not only a signed photograph,
0:34:36 > 0:34:40we've also got the autograph book signed.
0:34:40 > 0:34:45Normally, when I see Laurel and Hardy in an autograph book
0:34:45 > 0:34:48I put £300 to £400 on those two signatures.
0:34:48 > 0:34:52- You're joking! - No, I'm not joking at all.
0:34:52 > 0:34:53So, you've got two -
0:34:53 > 0:34:56and I think that the postcard is better than the autograph,
0:34:56 > 0:34:59so the postcard is £400-£600.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03So, all of a sudden, those two pages
0:35:03 > 0:35:06- are £700 to £1,000. - Oh, my goodness me!
0:35:06 > 0:35:07Where do we go from there?
0:35:07 > 0:35:10I don't think I can deal with it all, there's too much here!
0:35:10 > 0:35:15I mean, this album is just full
0:35:15 > 0:35:18of music hall people, radio people, it's endless.
0:35:18 > 0:35:23But this fascinates me as well, because what you have here,
0:35:23 > 0:35:25is a sort of coverlet which people have signed.
0:35:25 > 0:35:29- Yes.- Did your mother embroider all of these afterwards?
0:35:29 > 0:35:32- Yes, she did. - Well, what's interesting is,
0:35:32 > 0:35:36in effect, what she's done is devalue the signatures.
0:35:36 > 0:35:38- Oh, right.- Because in fact you...
0:35:38 > 0:35:40OK, she's embroidered over the signatures,
0:35:40 > 0:35:43- but we can't see them any more.- That's right.
0:35:43 > 0:35:46I see there's a couple she didn't embroider over,
0:35:46 > 0:35:50maybe she just got fed up with doing it, I don't know.
0:35:50 > 0:35:52Whoever it was didn't come to much,
0:35:52 > 0:35:55could be dead so we didn't bother.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58- She didn't feel it was worth embroidering over them?!- No!
0:35:58 > 0:36:01Well, there are a few that I can immediately pick out
0:36:01 > 0:36:02which are quite interesting.
0:36:02 > 0:36:06Here we've got the hypnotist, Peter Casson,
0:36:06 > 0:36:11who was quite a stage show at the time. Did you meet him at all?
0:36:11 > 0:36:16Well, I was a child at the time, but my mother did, he hypnotised her in our kitchen.
0:36:16 > 0:36:18- No!- He did, yes.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20What, to do the washing-up?
0:36:20 > 0:36:24- Yes, she said it was one of the worst experiences of her life.- Really?
0:36:24 > 0:36:26She said it was very strange, yes,
0:36:26 > 0:36:28but he had her rising from a chair I believe...
0:36:28 > 0:36:30Oh, fantastic, that's really amazing.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34- Are any of the signatures duplicated on here and in the book?- Yes.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37Because if you've got double, then it doesn't really matter.
0:36:37 > 0:36:41They all tie in to make a kind of cohesive example, really,
0:36:41 > 0:36:43of everyone's signatures.
0:36:43 > 0:36:45Even this on its own,
0:36:45 > 0:36:48is probably worth maybe
0:36:48 > 0:36:52- £500-£800, just as an item on its own.- Well, well!
0:36:52 > 0:36:56So if we start to flick, the price mounts very quickly.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59- Mmm.- And I think because of the history behind it
0:36:59 > 0:37:02to keep it all as a lovely kind of unit,
0:37:02 > 0:37:04I think is a nice thing to do.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07- It's been a pleasure to look at it. - Thank you very much.
0:37:11 > 0:37:15This beautifully tooled leather box here,
0:37:15 > 0:37:18is exquisite in its construction
0:37:18 > 0:37:22with all the little gold flowers embossed round the edge
0:37:22 > 0:37:26and I have to say that the content is really lovely.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30Now, tell me a little bit about this, and indeed all these pieces.
0:37:30 > 0:37:31They belonged to my mother
0:37:31 > 0:37:35and she left them to me in her will.
0:37:35 > 0:37:39And there were three children and they divided up the jewellery
0:37:39 > 0:37:41and I got this section.
0:37:41 > 0:37:46- So I don't know very much about it and I'd love to know more.- OK.
0:37:46 > 0:37:49This box here, with the name in the lid,
0:37:49 > 0:37:50- Harvey and Gore...- Yes.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53..one of the most important London jewellers...
0:37:53 > 0:37:56- Oh, I see. - ..specialising in antique jewellery.
0:37:56 > 0:38:01I think this piece was probably made around about 1740-1750.
0:38:01 > 0:38:03- Oh, really? - Middle part of the 18th century
0:38:03 > 0:38:06and it's a remarkable piece of jewellery.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09Why? Because of its amazing condition.
0:38:09 > 0:38:15- Yes.- Now these stones here are all foiled at the back,
0:38:15 > 0:38:17and there was an C18th tradition
0:38:17 > 0:38:21- that a gemstone wouldn't just be set in a metal mount.- Yes.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25- They would put tinfoil behind to enhance the colour.- Oh, I see.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28And these are golden-brown topaz.
0:38:28 > 0:38:30I wondered what jewels they were.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33In typical fashion, if I turn it over
0:38:33 > 0:38:37we can see that the back is all solid silver,
0:38:37 > 0:38:41the back's enclosed and that is very much of that period.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44How would they have worn it? There's a little clip...
0:38:44 > 0:38:48- It's a corsage brooch, it would be worn as a corsage pin.- OK.
0:38:48 > 0:38:52- Here, I would imagine there was a matching brooch.- Yes.
0:38:52 > 0:38:54Now you mentioned you've got siblings.
0:38:54 > 0:38:58- Yes.- Is it possible the brooch at the bottom was given to one of them?
0:38:58 > 0:39:00- No, no...- No?- They...
0:39:00 > 0:39:03That's a relief by half!
0:39:03 > 0:39:07Now, so that's that piece, there.
0:39:07 > 0:39:08This piece here...
0:39:08 > 0:39:15Well, I have to say, this is absolutely...wonderful.
0:39:15 > 0:39:21This really moves me. This is a diamond double-headed flower brooch
0:39:21 > 0:39:25and it is absolutely glorious.
0:39:25 > 0:39:29Like all these antique diamonds, they're not the modern, flashy cuts,
0:39:29 > 0:39:31they're the older, cushion shapes.
0:39:31 > 0:39:35They have a soft brilliance about them.
0:39:35 > 0:39:38These old diamonds come from places like Brazil,
0:39:38 > 0:39:42and they come from all sorts of interesting sources around Calcutta
0:39:42 > 0:39:45and places like that, so these are the old diamonds.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48- They're not found deep in volcanic pipes...- Yes.
0:39:48 > 0:39:52..that you see in modern diamonds, from places like Kimberley.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55The old diamonds were found in dried-up river beds.
0:39:55 > 0:39:57You'd be walking along a river bed,
0:39:57 > 0:40:00and there would be a ten carat diamond crystal.
0:40:00 > 0:40:01These are the old goods.
0:40:01 > 0:40:04- In India, or...?- Indian stones. - Fantastic.
0:40:04 > 0:40:09These two flower heads are PACKED with antique diamonds!
0:40:09 > 0:40:15- They are absolutely integral to this piece.- I'd no idea, no idea at all!
0:40:15 > 0:40:17Turning it over, we see
0:40:17 > 0:40:20they're actually mounted up also in gold.
0:40:20 > 0:40:22Now, look at this frame at the back.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25That is a double clip frame,
0:40:25 > 0:40:30and I would suggest that maybe your mother in the 1920s or '30s,
0:40:30 > 0:40:32took the original brooches -
0:40:32 > 0:40:34which weren't in this type of setting...
0:40:34 > 0:40:38- D'you know where I think they were? On the front of a tiara.- Oh, really?
0:40:38 > 0:40:44She's had a jeweller remount them with a brooch frame on the back.
0:40:44 > 0:40:46And then, and then!
0:40:46 > 0:40:50A third piece, just to finish off the group.
0:40:50 > 0:40:52This pink leather box...
0:40:52 > 0:40:55I thought, "I wonder what's going to be in here,
0:40:55 > 0:40:58"I wonder if it's going to be a pearl necklace".
0:40:58 > 0:41:02What a lovely little piece of jewellery this is!
0:41:02 > 0:41:04- These are made about the 1920s.- Yes.
0:41:04 > 0:41:07Now, this is before cultured pearls.
0:41:07 > 0:41:11At the start of the 1920s, that man, Kokichi Mikimoto,
0:41:11 > 0:41:14- introduced the world to cultured pearls.- Yes.
0:41:14 > 0:41:19These are natural pearls, they've got that smooth, even lustre.
0:41:19 > 0:41:22- Yes.- And in the 1920s when this would have been sold,
0:41:22 > 0:41:26this piece of jewellery would have been an ENORMOUS amount of money.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30A pearl necklace could cost the price of a house, in those days.
0:41:30 > 0:41:31Good heavens!
0:41:31 > 0:41:34Then, when cultured pearls were introduced to the world,
0:41:34 > 0:41:37the market for natural pearls absolutely nose dived.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40So, you've brought along today,
0:41:40 > 0:41:46three absolutely cracking pieces of jewellery.
0:41:46 > 0:41:50Well, let's talk a bit about what they might be worth.
0:41:50 > 0:41:54This is a rare piece, it's exquisite in its condition,
0:41:54 > 0:41:56and I'd suggest if you were selling it,
0:41:56 > 0:41:58it would achieve in the region of
0:41:58 > 0:42:01£2,500 to £3,000 today.
0:42:01 > 0:42:02Wow.
0:42:02 > 0:42:07The pearl necklace... they're not as expensive today,
0:42:07 > 0:42:12but the beauty, the consistency and the colour of those pearls
0:42:12 > 0:42:15leads me to suggest we're looking at around about
0:42:15 > 0:42:18- £2,500-£3,000.- I love this necklace. It's lovely to wear.
0:42:18 > 0:42:23I'm not surprised, easy to wear, which is important with jewellery.
0:42:23 > 0:42:28Now we move on to, in my opinion, the piece de resistance,
0:42:28 > 0:42:30the diamond double flower head brooch.
0:42:30 > 0:42:37I think you've got in the region of 12 carats of diamonds here.
0:42:37 > 0:42:40Many of them are colourless and without flaws.
0:42:40 > 0:42:44I think that this piece is worth around about... if you were selling it today...
0:42:44 > 0:42:45£15,000.
0:42:48 > 0:42:49Gosh!
0:42:52 > 0:42:54Amazing, amazing.
0:42:55 > 0:42:59- So, this is what I saw you filming with our Marc Allum.- That's right.
0:42:59 > 0:43:00Some fabulous signatures here.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03Would you mind autographing it for me?
0:43:03 > 0:43:05Oh, I say, that would be an honour.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08- Thank you.- Trouble is, there's not much room here!
0:43:08 > 0:43:10Well, I'm sure we can find a small space.
0:43:13 > 0:43:15- It's not easy! - SHE LAUGHS
0:43:18 > 0:43:21- Right.- That's fine, that's lovely, thank you ever so much,
0:43:21 > 0:43:23- Mum will be delighted. - I'm honoured, thank you.
0:43:23 > 0:43:27- What colour would you like to be in? - Oh, a nice dark blue, I think.
0:43:27 > 0:43:29- Certainly, I'll do that for you. - Thanks.
0:43:31 > 0:43:35And with that artistic moment, from Swansea, goodbye.