0:00:50 > 0:00:54I dreamt that I dwelt in marble halls.
0:00:54 > 0:00:59It's difficult not to get lyrical in a place as glorious as this, although to be strictly accurate,
0:00:59 > 0:01:01the marble is alabaster,
0:01:01 > 0:01:06and this Roman temple is not actually in Rome.
0:01:26 > 0:01:31This Mediterranean paradise is, in reality, on the north coast of Norfolk.
0:01:35 > 0:01:41We're within a stone's throw of the quaintly named Wells-next-the-Sea, and the whole area,
0:01:41 > 0:01:46with its windmills and nature reserves, represents rural Britain at its most romantic.
0:01:49 > 0:01:54Holkham Hall was built in 1734 by Thomas Coke, spelt C-O-K-E.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56He was certainly a travelling man.
0:01:56 > 0:02:00The design of Holkham was inspired by his rambles through Italy
0:02:00 > 0:02:03during the inevitable Grand Tour.
0:02:03 > 0:02:06In Thomas's case it was a very long Grand Tour.
0:02:08 > 0:02:09He was away for six years
0:02:09 > 0:02:14and by the time he got back, Coke was bursting with European culture.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18He'd assembled the finest collection of classical statues ever seen.
0:02:25 > 0:02:30Holkham Hall is crammed with mosaics, pictures and a vast collection of books.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33The library has been called "the most beautiful room in England".
0:02:34 > 0:02:37There's a perfect symmetry to this place.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41Starting at the library, you can walk in a straight line
0:02:41 > 0:02:45from one end of the house to the other, providing all the doors are open.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48Meanwhile in the grounds of Holkham Hall,
0:02:48 > 0:02:52a winding queue of visitors snakes its way to the Antiques Roadshow.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55I've looked for a mark but there isn't one.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58The mark I'd like to find is the mark of the Meissen factory.
0:02:58 > 0:03:03- Oh, right.- You've been collecting nodding figures for a while.
0:03:03 > 0:03:04Yes, for a long time,
0:03:04 > 0:03:09but I hadn't got any money, so I had to buy something that was cheap,
0:03:09 > 0:03:12and these little ones and this one in particular,
0:03:12 > 0:03:13were about a pound each.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15- A pound each?- When I first started,
0:03:15 > 0:03:18but I haven't collected them for a long time,
0:03:18 > 0:03:20- I've got too many.- How many in all?
0:03:20 > 0:03:23- Over 100.- 100.- Yes.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27And the one I would be looking for would be a Meissen example.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31- Yeah.- Because Meissen, we know, certainly produced these nodding figures,
0:03:31 > 0:03:33but they weren't the first.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35- No.- Do you have a Chinese one?
0:03:35 > 0:03:38Yes, I have, a bisque one.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40Yes. They are wonderful, aren't they?
0:03:40 > 0:03:43And I love it when they go to town completely.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46- With this one we have the tongue as well.- Yeah.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48They are hilarious. I suppose...
0:03:48 > 0:03:51- This was the bargain buy, actually. - What did it cost you?
0:03:51 > 0:03:53£25.
0:03:53 > 0:03:55And how long ago was that?
0:03:55 > 0:03:5715 years ago,
0:03:57 > 0:03:59but these I paid more for
0:03:59 > 0:04:03because they were sold to me as in the style of Meissen.
0:04:03 > 0:04:08- Yes.- Whether they are, I don't know, because they're not marked.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12Well, certainly these, this and this, these are certainly German,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15probably one of the factories in Thuringia,
0:04:15 > 0:04:18but they haven't marked it with Meissen, which is good,
0:04:18 > 0:04:20because that would have meant it was a fake.
0:04:20 > 0:04:25The odd one out is the guy right in front on our little merry band.
0:04:25 > 0:04:30He, of course, is Japanese and he has a much slower action, doesn't he?
0:04:30 > 0:04:31Great fun, isn't he?
0:04:31 > 0:04:35Yes, and then we've got an elephant, I've never seen one like this before.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38- Have you not?- Well, I've seen them in the rear car windows.
0:04:38 > 0:04:39Oh, right, I don't buy those.
0:04:40 > 0:04:44Well, it's a delightful thing and a terrific sense of humour.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46That's what got the collectors
0:04:46 > 0:04:50in the late-17th century interested in the Chinese figures,
0:04:50 > 0:04:52these Nodding Mandarins as they were called.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54What a lovely collection.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58Which ones do you want that you haven't got already?
0:04:58 > 0:05:01Well, no, I'm not having any more.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04- You've stopped, have you? - I've stopped.- So it's no longer...
0:05:04 > 0:05:06- It's...- That's it.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08OK.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11The prices you've given me are about the right range.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14I would think that you could buy individuals like this,
0:05:14 > 0:05:17these German ones, these biscuit ones,
0:05:17 > 0:05:20for prices in the region of, say, £20 to £60 or something like that.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24When you do see a Meissen one, I'm sure you'll be very tempted.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26Oh, I would.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30Because an 18th-century Meissen original, not unlike this copy,
0:05:30 > 0:05:32an 18th-century original is going to cost you
0:05:32 > 0:05:36- somewhere in the region of £10,000 or £20,000.- Oh, not much then!
0:05:36 > 0:05:38LAUGHTER
0:05:43 > 0:05:45BIRD WHISTLES
0:05:51 > 0:05:55- Is that it?- Almost.
0:05:55 > 0:05:57- Oh, that was it.- That's it.
0:05:57 > 0:05:58He's stopped.
0:05:58 > 0:05:59BIRD WHISTLES AGAIN
0:06:01 > 0:06:05My father says it's a hen bird because it always has the last word, yes.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08- Charming.- Charming.- What does your mother say to that?
0:06:08 > 0:06:12My late mother, well, yes, she probably went along with that.
0:06:13 > 0:06:19Oh, I love these so much, and he's so colourful and he's got his own tune,
0:06:19 > 0:06:23and every one of them are different, and that's what I love about them.
0:06:23 > 0:06:27- Very dainty and very colourful isn't it?- Exactly. Where do you keep him?
0:06:27 > 0:06:31- In my living room, yes.- Yes.- And I love it, and I've always loved it.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33- Has it always worked as well as this? - Yes, it has.
0:06:33 > 0:06:37I inherited it from my parents and so I've known it almost for the whole of my life.
0:06:37 > 0:06:44Yes, yes. Well, these were made mainly in Switzerland and they were
0:06:44 > 0:06:46made really for the French market.
0:06:46 > 0:06:51A man called Bontems invented these singing birds,
0:06:51 > 0:06:55and they were very popular at the end of the 19th century,
0:06:55 > 0:06:59so this would be somewhere in the region of 1890.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01They made a lot of them in the 1920s,
0:07:01 > 0:07:04copying the earlier ones, cos they were so popular.
0:07:04 > 0:07:10And, the sound, amazingly, only comes out of one little place, which is just here.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12- Yes.- And yet he's so...
0:07:12 > 0:07:15- You can hear him from a long way away.- Beautifully clear, yes.
0:07:15 > 0:07:20- Beautifully clear, and all the movements are so realistic, aren't they?- They are.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22The cage is again cast,
0:07:22 > 0:07:24and it's very decorative,
0:07:24 > 0:07:28slightly sort of dusty, as they all are.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32- Now do you have any idea of his value?- No idea, no.
0:07:32 > 0:07:36It's never spoken about it. I just love it for its own sake.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40The value would be in the region, if you were buying it
0:07:40 > 0:07:43from a dealer or from a shop, you'd
0:07:43 > 0:07:49be talking about £1,500 something like that, £1,000 to £1,500.
0:07:49 > 0:07:54At auction he might go for £600 to £800, so a dealer has to make his mark.
0:07:54 > 0:07:59So he's a lovely collectable piece which will go on going up in value.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02- Yes, well, I'm pleased you enjoyed it as much as I do.- Yes.
0:08:02 > 0:08:04I wish I had one myself.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06- Do you really? Yes, it's lovely. - HE WHISTLES
0:08:08 > 0:08:10So here's a portrait.
0:08:10 > 0:08:11Who is it of?
0:08:11 > 0:08:16It's of Thomas Huson who was my great-grandfather.
0:08:16 > 0:08:23- Right.- And he lived, latterly in Bala, North Wales, where he painted mostly in that area.
0:08:23 > 0:08:26- I see.- Apart from watercolour and oils, he worked in metal.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28- You've brought this along too.- Yeah.
0:08:28 > 0:08:31This, this is amazing, I like this. It's a fire guard, isn't it?
0:08:31 > 0:08:32It is, yes, yes.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35- So that would make this a salamander.- Yes.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39He's also done this, hasn't he? You brought this tile which he's painted.
0:08:39 > 0:08:41He painted and had it fired, I guess.
0:08:41 > 0:08:45- Yes.- I don't think he understood the firing of things very well,
0:08:45 > 0:08:49but it's come out rather sort of modern, hasn't it? I rather like this.
0:08:49 > 0:08:50It's almost haphazard,
0:08:50 > 0:08:53- the way the colours have run, but it's rather lovely.- Yes.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56But you often see this artist's work on the market
0:08:56 > 0:08:58and usually they're large landscapes.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02- Yes.- Quite often at the beginning or the end of the day, a sort of crepuscular view,
0:09:02 > 0:09:05- I love that word, meaning twilight. - Yes.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07Just an effect, a weather effect sometimes
0:09:07 > 0:09:10and plenty of clouds and lots of low light coming in...
0:09:10 > 0:09:13- Yes.- ..streaming across and giving hard relief to the landscape.
0:09:13 > 0:09:19You can see, with some of these little landscapes that you've brought along, where it all comes from.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21This is probably painted out of doors.
0:09:21 > 0:09:25I understand, from family history, it was his oil sketch for
0:09:25 > 0:09:29a major watercolour, which I think was exhibited at the Royal Academy.
0:09:29 > 0:09:31- Right.- He used to sketch in oils,
0:09:31 > 0:09:34- on these little panels...- They're called pochade by the French.- Ah.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37- Yes, because you can put them in your pocket.- Ah, yes.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41I love this actually, because, it's got such a made feel about it.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44You can tell that he's gone out there in the hills,
0:09:44 > 0:09:45and with the back of the brush...
0:09:45 > 0:09:50- Oh, yes.- ..with this part here, he's pushed through the paint...
0:09:50 > 0:09:52- Oh, yes.- ..and got an effect
0:09:52 > 0:09:56of the stalks of the undergrowth and the trees, just in the wet paint.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58It's painted with some speed
0:09:58 > 0:10:01but he's got a very good effect of disappearing distance
0:10:01 > 0:10:03and the haze and a bit of foreground detail,
0:10:03 > 0:10:06but all very impressionistic, and I like this one very much.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08That can't be Bala, can it?
0:10:08 > 0:10:11- No, that's up the North Wales coast, I guess.- Yes.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14I cannot find it on Ordnance Survey but it's got to be North Wales.
0:10:14 > 0:10:16Almost worth a bit of a pilgrimage on a bicycle.
0:10:16 > 0:10:18I don't know about a bicycle, no.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22- Perhaps not.- Not for me.- You can tell he enjoyed pushing that paint around
0:10:22 > 0:10:25because look at the way he's painted his own palette.
0:10:25 > 0:10:28He's got exactly the same colours that you see in this one.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32- Right there, you can even see these blues and greens and the browns.- Yes.
0:10:32 > 0:10:36You can almost imagine him coming straight from painting that,
0:10:36 > 0:10:39and painting this self-portrait with his palette.
0:10:39 > 0:10:44- Yes.- These two particularly nice little landscapes here.- Yeah.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47Well, I think they'd probably be worth about £200 or £300
0:10:47 > 0:10:49on the open market just as they are.
0:10:49 > 0:10:51I've got 12 of this size.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55And the copper fireguard?
0:10:55 > 0:10:57Well, what do you think?
0:10:57 > 0:10:58Haven't got a clue.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01- Well, I would have thought sort of £200 or £300.- You think so?
0:11:01 > 0:11:05Yes, people love that sort of thing and it's very Arts And Crafts,
0:11:05 > 0:11:09and that's this man's time and anything like that can...
0:11:09 > 0:11:12- has the look, particularly when it's well made like that.- Yeah.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17- Got to be worth it. His larger oil paintings of landscapes fetch quite a few thousand pounds.- Do they?
0:11:17 > 0:11:22I've seen one go for about £6,000, as much as that.
0:11:22 > 0:11:24So he's quite sought after.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27- Oh.- This, I don't think would quite come into that league.
0:11:27 > 0:11:29He's got quite a sympathetic face.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32I wouldn't mind him hanging around, as it were, but...
0:11:32 > 0:11:34He watches over our dining table.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36- Keeping an eye on the proceedings?- Yeah.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40Probably worth about £2,000 to £3,000 I should think on the open market.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43Insure it for £3,500, a little bit more, that sort of thing.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46- Good, thank you very much indeed. - Thanks.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49You say they're tarnished.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51- Yes.- They're not tarnished at all.
0:11:51 > 0:11:52- Oh.- This is silver gilt,
0:11:52 > 0:11:57- so they're made in silver with a thin coating of gold.- OK.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59They have the initials "AR" for Queen Anne,
0:11:59 > 0:12:03so presumably given by her to someone.
0:12:03 > 0:12:08- Was it someone in your family? - Queen Anne gave them to Lady Oxford who's an ancestor,
0:12:08 > 0:12:11and they've been passed to each generation, to the eldest daughter.
0:12:11 > 0:12:14- Oh, right.- Um, from then, so...
0:12:14 > 0:12:16They're actually made by a silversmith,
0:12:16 > 0:12:20and a specialist spoon maker, called John Ladyman in 1711,
0:12:20 > 0:12:23so right in the Queen Anne period,
0:12:23 > 0:12:28and when they have this sort of top like this, they're called dog nose.
0:12:29 > 0:12:31- How many have we got in the set?- 12.
0:12:31 > 0:12:3412. Have you any idea how valuable
0:12:34 > 0:12:40a set of 12 Queen Anne, royal, dog-nose pattern spoons are?
0:12:40 > 0:12:44Um, no, I know that they're special because my mother had always told me that.
0:12:44 > 0:12:50She kept them locked in a safe, as I have, and that's about it really.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53Well, they are in fabulous condition
0:12:53 > 0:12:57and I wouldn't have any hesitation in saying
0:12:57 > 0:13:01- they should be worth £4,000 to £5,000.- Gosh, that's fantastic.
0:13:01 > 0:13:02- Do you use them ever?- No.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06- Probably not now. - No, I won't be, no, definitely not.
0:13:06 > 0:13:08- Thank you for bringing them along. - Thank you.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13Well, this is wonderful, really wonderful.
0:13:13 > 0:13:15Now how long have you had this?
0:13:15 > 0:13:18It's been in the family about 70 years.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21My father, just before the Second World War,
0:13:21 > 0:13:25went to a house sale in Axminster to buy some garden equipment,
0:13:25 > 0:13:26a wheelbarrow, fork and spade,
0:13:26 > 0:13:30and it was a sale of a deceased high-ranking British army general
0:13:30 > 0:13:33who had a lot of weapons, lot of gun swords,
0:13:33 > 0:13:36and the dealers from all over the country were there at the sale.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40There was great excitement and at the end of the sale, which took place in the house,
0:13:40 > 0:13:46the dealers headed for the London train and my father went out to the garden to get his wheelbarrow
0:13:46 > 0:13:48and there was the cannon, and he was only person there.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51The auctioneer asked for a bid and my father bought it for £5.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55He had an Austin Seven. How he got it home, I'm not sure.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57But yes, he paid £5 for it.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00- And what year? - That was in the late 1930s.- Right.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03My mother wasn't terribly impressed because he went home
0:14:03 > 0:14:05without any garden equipment,
0:14:05 > 0:14:08and also, I suppose £5 was about a week's wages in those days.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11- Well, of course, yes.- You can't do a lot with a cannon.- No.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13But it's been in the family ever since.
0:14:13 > 0:14:15Let us identify it.
0:14:15 > 0:14:20- It's a seven pounder, rifle muzzle loader mountain gun.- Right.
0:14:20 > 0:14:25One doesn't see enough of these physically to be very knowledgeable.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29My own knowledge comes from reading, photographs,
0:14:29 > 0:14:32and this is a treat for me to actually see one.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36Now, what we've done today, we've taken it apart
0:14:36 > 0:14:40and now these two lads here are going to put it back together.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43But let me tell you, before they start,
0:14:43 > 0:14:47that it took something like 28 seconds to assemble.
0:14:47 > 0:14:51Now we're going to give these lads the opportunity to beat that record.
0:14:51 > 0:14:57- I think they had four people to do it, so perhaps allow twice that. - Oh, yes, twice that then.
0:14:57 > 0:15:00Of course, this sort of gun would be used extensively
0:15:00 > 0:15:05in the North West Frontier of India, Afghanistan,
0:15:05 > 0:15:07that area.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10At that time in the 19th century,
0:15:10 > 0:15:15they would have been used against Indian troops, on mountain ranges.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17This is the whole point of a mountain gun.
0:15:17 > 0:15:23That you could take it up, with the mules, and with the team of gunners,
0:15:23 > 0:15:24up the mountain passes,
0:15:24 > 0:15:29and fire at height, fire down to troops advancing, especially cavalry.
0:15:29 > 0:15:34- It must have been terribly hard work in that terrain and the heat.- Oh, yes, and the heat, yes, absolutely.
0:15:34 > 0:15:38I believe it has a range of over 3,000 yards, which is about a mile and half,
0:15:38 > 0:15:44which staggers me for a gun of 130 years ago, that's amazing.
0:15:44 > 0:15:46Now, who timed you?
0:15:46 > 0:15:48No-one hopefully.
0:15:48 > 0:15:50You'll have to do it all over again now.
0:15:50 > 0:15:55I think if it had been the real thing, we'd have been dead by now.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57Yes, but what a magnificent thing.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02Now we come to the very tricky part of valuation.
0:16:04 > 0:16:08Well, these things are truly rare today,
0:16:08 > 0:16:15and I understand that they haven't got one at the Rotunda at Woolwich Royal Artillery Museum.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18They haven't got one at Fort Nelson, which is part of the Tower of London,
0:16:18 > 0:16:22so you can see that these things are pretty rare,
0:16:22 > 0:16:28and I'm sticking my neck out because I feel that the value of this
0:16:28 > 0:16:31would be something like £20,000.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35- £20,000?! Good heavens! - I would, £20,000 today
0:16:35 > 0:16:38because this is really something.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41Oh, I'm absolutely dumb-struck at that.
0:16:41 > 0:16:46- Thank you very much.- To tell you the truth, I'd like it myself.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49- That's a great compliment. - It would look nice in my garden.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54A cast-iron money bank in the form of...
0:16:54 > 0:16:56I think it's a mule rather than a horse,
0:16:56 > 0:16:59and a little boy sitting there.
0:16:59 > 0:17:05Made in America almost certainly, and I'd like to see it in action.
0:17:05 > 0:17:08I know it's going to do something, cos there's a button on it.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11Now I don't usually ask my customers for money,
0:17:11 > 0:17:15and you may get it back again, but can I have a coin?
0:17:15 > 0:17:16I only have a 2p.
0:17:16 > 0:17:17That's fine.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20You're not trusting me with anything bigger than a 2p!
0:17:20 > 0:17:23So that goes in the back there,
0:17:23 > 0:17:26and then I'm going to ask you to push the button
0:17:26 > 0:17:30because I know what's going to happen and I want to keep my hands away.
0:17:30 > 0:17:35Well, it sort of half works because the full effect
0:17:35 > 0:17:42is for this little chap then to be kicked by the mule, and then the coin
0:17:42 > 0:17:43drops down there.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47In fact what we can see on the bottom here
0:17:47 > 0:17:49is the name of this particular bank.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53It's got a long name, it's not called the kicking mule bank.
0:17:53 > 0:17:57- Right.- It's called, "I always did 'spise a mule",
0:17:57 > 0:18:00that's the name of the bank.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04If we have a look at the bottom of it, there may be some information.
0:18:04 > 0:18:06Yeah, that's what I wanted to see.
0:18:06 > 0:18:13You can see there's a patent date, patented April 27th, 1897.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15And I can tell you who made it.
0:18:15 > 0:18:19It was made by an American company called J & E Stephens.
0:18:21 > 0:18:22So that's my clever stuff.
0:18:22 > 0:18:26Now it's time for your clever stuff. Where did it come from?
0:18:26 > 0:18:30- Car boot.- I hate that, and you're going to tell me it was last week.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34No, last summer, last summer.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36Please don't tell me that you paid 10p for it.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39No, £5.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41So, in less than 12 months,
0:18:41 > 0:18:44what does £5 boot fair buy turn into?
0:18:47 > 0:18:49How about £500?
0:18:49 > 0:18:51Goodness! You're joking?!
0:18:51 > 0:18:54- No, I'm not, it is £500. - Is it really?
0:18:54 > 0:18:57- Absolutely.- Goodness me.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59Crikey.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01THUNDER RUMBLES
0:19:03 > 0:19:07So if I was to ask you whether you or your husband was on the square, what would you say?
0:19:07 > 0:19:15- No idea.- No idea. Well, it's all in the decoration on your little mug, and what a honey of a mug,
0:19:15 > 0:19:18because this is all sort of Masonic decoration.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22Now you obviously didn't buy it as a Masonic jug so...?
0:19:22 > 0:19:23No. In a mixed lot at an auction.
0:19:23 > 0:19:29- A mixed lot?- At an auction.- And how much did you pay for that mixed lot? - Less than a tenner.- Really?
0:19:29 > 0:19:34Well, the material itself is milk glass or milch glass.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37Now the reason I say "milch" is that's the German word,
0:19:37 > 0:19:41and the chances are this was made either in Germany or Bohemia,
0:19:41 > 0:19:47and this is the sort of glass that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart just might have drunk out of.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50It's getting fuller by the minute, have you noticed?
0:19:50 > 0:19:56Anyway, the reason I say that is this dates to about 1770.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58I thought it was old.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01And if I wanted to buy one today, it would probably cost me
0:20:01 > 0:20:05the best part of £300 to £400, which is more or less what this suit
0:20:05 > 0:20:10cost me to have dry cleaned the last time I did anything like this for the Antiques Roadshow.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13- Oh.- So not a bad buy for £10, eh?
0:20:13 > 0:20:14- 1770.- 1770.
0:20:14 > 0:20:19Every time you look at that, think of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
0:20:19 > 0:20:21Thank you. And rain.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23Why me, God?
0:20:23 > 0:20:24Why me?
0:20:25 > 0:20:28Noel Coward wrote, "Very flat, Norfolk."
0:20:28 > 0:20:33At the moment it's also very wet, and in Roadshow language that means "plan M" - marquee.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36That's where we're going. The show goes on.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49The heavens are throwing everything at us today.
0:20:49 > 0:20:54- Absolutely.- And you've brought us a whole collection of Four Seasons.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56- That's right. - Tell me about this collection.
0:20:56 > 0:21:02Well, they're colour woodcuts, Japanese, birds, plants,
0:21:02 > 0:21:07and particularly attractive to me, because I'm a printmaker
0:21:07 > 0:21:10and I simply love the work of the Japanese artists,
0:21:10 > 0:21:14their design, the composition and the colour.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16What sort of prints do you make?
0:21:16 > 0:21:18I'm a linocut printmaker.
0:21:18 > 0:21:22- Which is very much in the tradition of wood block.- Exactly.
0:21:22 > 0:21:24What you get is blocks of colour.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27That's right, one printed on top of the other.
0:21:27 > 0:21:31And it's no accident then, that these should end up with you, because these
0:21:31 > 0:21:35are spectacularly good examples of Japanese wood-block printing.
0:21:35 > 0:21:40That's right, these very much influenced my grandfather
0:21:40 > 0:21:44who was an early colour woodcut artist,
0:21:44 > 0:21:49and I followed in the tradition but I've never done it in wood.
0:21:49 > 0:21:54And I want to know, how do you start with the original, in your own line?
0:21:54 > 0:21:57Oh, a drawing done out in the field, somewhere like this in...
0:21:57 > 0:22:00- In the rain?- Sometimes, yes.
0:22:00 > 0:22:01So a drawing is where we start.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05- Yes.- And that's where these Japanese artists, that we're looking at here,
0:22:05 > 0:22:07that's where they started.
0:22:07 > 0:22:12They started producing a watercolour, and having done the watercolour,
0:22:12 > 0:22:16the original artwork is sent along to the man who's going to cut the wood blocks.
0:22:16 > 0:22:22Just looking through these you can see what effect Japanese art
0:22:22 > 0:22:25- had on the European mind in the late-19th century.- Enormous.
0:22:25 > 0:22:27This is really where the Art Nouveau starts.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31Japaneserie, which comes to Europe when the Europeans discovered
0:22:31 > 0:22:35Japanese art, comes in in the late 1850s.
0:22:35 > 0:22:39We had been used to straight lines,
0:22:39 > 0:22:43regularity, repetition, classicism.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46And suddenly they are faced with prints, not unlike these.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50These are a little later than that period but they're not unlike these,
0:22:50 > 0:22:53where suddenly the whole notion of what is symmetric
0:22:53 > 0:22:54goes out of the window.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57Suddenly you find compositions
0:22:57 > 0:23:01which don't obey European rules of symmetry
0:23:01 > 0:23:04and I've picked out a couple.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07Well, I mean, that is sensational.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10To dare to leave that
0:23:10 > 0:23:13without anything on it and put all the composition into that corner,
0:23:13 > 0:23:16I mean, all the detail, is incredible.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19- It is.- The balance... - It is absolutely breathtaking.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21An art teacher at one of the salons would say,
0:23:21 > 0:23:25"Well, what are you doing with this space? You can't have space."
0:23:25 > 0:23:28But it is perfectly balanced. We've got how many?
0:23:28 > 0:23:30- 21.- 21, and they're all by the same artist.
0:23:30 > 0:23:36- I think so, yes. - The date of these is probably pushing the year 1900.
0:23:36 > 0:23:41We're actually into a period where Europe is already underway with her own Art Nouveau,
0:23:41 > 0:23:44but this is where the whole Art Nouveau spirit started in Europe.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48Wonderful, well 21, each one is a little masterpiece,
0:23:48 > 0:23:51and to put a value on them,
0:23:51 > 0:23:56I think if you averaged each of these 21 out at...
0:23:56 > 0:23:58£300.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03Well, I can't work that out.
0:24:03 > 0:24:05- Well, we're getting on. - I don't want to.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08We're getting on for £6,000 for the collection of the birds here.
0:24:08 > 0:24:13And then returning to the Four Seasons, set of four.
0:24:13 > 0:24:16I would have thought that each of those albums was £1,000.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19You've got about £10,000 worth of prints.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23Well, I'm gob-smacked, but thank you.
0:24:26 > 0:24:33This handy little device is in fact the world famous Antiques Roadshow people-counter clickerer.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37It registers the number of people who turn up to a show. Normally we average about 1,600.
0:24:37 > 0:24:43Today, in spite of the elements doing all it could upon us, we have clocked up nearly 2,500 visitors.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47It says a lot for some people's stamina, strength and courage.
0:24:48 > 0:24:53These are enormous bound sample volumes, I think there's a special name isn't it, what is it?
0:24:53 > 0:24:57- Passementerie.- Passementerie, now we'll have to remember that
0:24:57 > 0:25:01and, to be honest with you, I didn't know that technical name.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05But they're quite stunning because they're enormous
0:25:05 > 0:25:06and if we just open one at random
0:25:06 > 0:25:09and look at the selection that we've got there...
0:25:09 > 0:25:13Look at that, they're just absolutely stunning.
0:25:13 > 0:25:18Now, I look at these, I'm looking at the style of the inking here and all these pieces.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23I would have said these were late-19th century perhaps.
0:25:23 > 0:25:251870-1880 perhaps.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27We think that's about the age of them, yes.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30Right, can you tell me where you acquired them?
0:25:30 > 0:25:33- They were found in a skip. - Oh, right, I love skip finds.
0:25:33 > 0:25:37- There's nothing better than a good skip find.- We have four of them.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40- So this is half the collection? - This is half the collection, yes.
0:25:40 > 0:25:44How do you use them? Do you just put them on the shelf and forget about them?
0:25:44 > 0:25:48- No, I actually do use them in my everyday work.- Ah.
0:25:48 > 0:25:50Because I make these kind of trimmings.
0:25:50 > 0:25:55- So these are a wonderful source of reference to you?- They are an incredible source of reference.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57I recently did some work for the National Trust.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01- They had a particular set of furniture they wanted trimmings for.- Yes.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05And they didn't have any references to the originals at all.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08- Ah, I see.- Obviously we knew the age and that kind of thing,
0:26:08 > 0:26:13- so we looked through the books and found some things we thought might be suitable.- Right.
0:26:13 > 0:26:18And then worked from there and used one, not to copy but as a reference.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21They're obviously an invaluable source of reference.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23- Mm.- If we flick through and start to look,
0:26:23 > 0:26:25they're beautiful, they really are.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27There's every kind of...
0:26:27 > 0:26:31Literally, there's everything from silk to wool.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33Yeah, there is a bit of everything in them.
0:26:33 > 0:26:35Yeah, it's just absolutely wonderful.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37Look, what a selection.
0:26:37 > 0:26:43I think of a lot of these pieces of trimmings as being French.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45- Would I be correct in assuming that? - Yes.
0:26:45 > 0:26:50Sadly these days, most of it is done in countries like India and China.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53- Right.- Because it's incredibly labour-intensive.
0:26:53 > 0:26:55Economies of scale, I suppose.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58Sorry, interrupting you, I've noticed here that this, in red ink, says,
0:26:58 > 0:27:01"Warners, Windsor Castle order 28th..."
0:27:01 > 0:27:03of the eighth, or is it the fifth?
0:27:03 > 0:27:06- sorry, 1925. "Sent out," it says. - Yes.
0:27:06 > 0:27:11So obviously this has been used for a fairly esteemed client.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15- Mm, absolutely. - You can't get much more esteemed than royalty.- Absolutely.
0:27:15 > 0:27:21That's very interesting, even though this is 1925, obviously these are older,
0:27:21 > 0:27:26so they're catalogues that would have been used and used, so everything seems to be represented here.
0:27:26 > 0:27:30- Mm.- Staggering variation and absolutely wonderful.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33Frankly, putting values on things like this is nigh on impossible.
0:27:33 > 0:27:36- Yes.- For you, they're absolutely invaluable.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38- Yes.- Because they're an incredible reference source.
0:27:38 > 0:27:43- And you'd never be able to buy another one.- No.- Nobody's going to make a new one like that.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47I feel that if I came across one volume like that at auction,
0:27:47 > 0:27:52I would suspect that someone would happily pay £200 for it,
0:27:52 > 0:27:57and that's without having the kind of interest that you have, essentially.
0:27:57 > 0:28:03So at the end of the day, maybe you've got £600 to £800 worth,
0:28:03 > 0:28:08£700 to £1,000 worth of good 19th-century material there.
0:28:08 > 0:28:13- But staggering, really lovely, and it's been a joy to look at them. - Thank you. Thank you very much.
0:28:15 > 0:28:19You know, over the past, I suppose, 15 years, since I've been doing this Roadshow,
0:28:19 > 0:28:22I've been waiting for a piece with this particular stone to come in.
0:28:22 > 0:28:24Oh, right.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26Tell me how you got it.
0:28:26 > 0:28:29Well, it actually belongs to my mother,
0:28:29 > 0:28:32and it originally came from HER mother,
0:28:32 > 0:28:36and was bought for her by her father,
0:28:36 > 0:28:40so I suspect it was bought somewhere 1920s to 1930s.
0:28:40 > 0:28:45So '20s to '30s would actually be a little later
0:28:45 > 0:28:50- than the date of manufacture of the brooch.- Oh, right, so he would have bought that second-hand?
0:28:50 > 0:28:52I presume so,
0:28:52 > 0:28:56because I think that the piece was probably made in around about 1900.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00- Right.- Something like that. Now, have a look at it, three-leaf clover.
0:29:00 > 0:29:06Clearly, this is a good piece of jewellery, made just at the end of the Victorian period.
0:29:06 > 0:29:10Now, the issue of this piece is -
0:29:10 > 0:29:13or are - these green stones.
0:29:13 > 0:29:19- What are they?- Well, my mum thinks they are garnets.
0:29:19 > 0:29:22Well, they are garnets.
0:29:22 > 0:29:27- I think everyone assumes that garnets are red.- Yes.
0:29:27 > 0:29:32But in the period that this was made, in around about 1900,
0:29:32 > 0:29:36there was a discovery of the green garnets
0:29:36 > 0:29:40in a mine in the Russian Urals.
0:29:40 > 0:29:44They are incredibly rare to find
0:29:44 > 0:29:48in sizes above half a carat each.
0:29:48 > 0:29:50Each of the individual garnets
0:29:50 > 0:29:57weighs around about 1.3 to 1.5 carats.
0:29:57 > 0:30:00- That is very, very, rare.- Oh, right.
0:30:00 > 0:30:02Then, as if that wasn't enough,
0:30:02 > 0:30:05- you've got the diamond in the middle as well.- Yes.
0:30:05 > 0:30:07Which is quite a serious stone.
0:30:07 > 0:30:10Now, the brooch, if we turn it over,
0:30:10 > 0:30:13we see that it's all the original mount and frame,
0:30:13 > 0:30:16but it's been... what I would call platinised -
0:30:16 > 0:30:22it's actually been plated to enhance the white colour of the diamonds on the front.
0:30:22 > 0:30:27But the original mount would have been gold and silver.
0:30:27 > 0:30:34Now, from all that I'm saying, you can assume that I'm very excited by seeing it,
0:30:34 > 0:30:37but also, this is a valuable piece of jewellery.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40- Has it been valued? - No, not to my knowledge.
0:30:40 > 0:30:46Well, how much are the individual little leaves worth?
0:30:46 > 0:30:48I would suggest
0:30:48 > 0:30:51that each individual leaf
0:30:51 > 0:30:55is, by itself, worth £2,000.
0:30:55 > 0:31:01You multiply that up by the group of three - £6,000.
0:31:01 > 0:31:05Then you reckon the diamond in the middle, £8,000.
0:31:05 > 0:31:07So this brooch which is something...
0:31:07 > 0:31:10This is for me, personally,
0:31:10 > 0:31:13something of a Holy Grail of a piece of jewellery.
0:31:13 > 0:31:16I can get very moved by stones, and this is it.
0:31:16 > 0:31:20So I think, in my opinion, if you were selling it,
0:31:20 > 0:31:23- it would make £8,000 to £10,000.- Wow!
0:31:23 > 0:31:25That's fantastic!
0:31:25 > 0:31:29This is a pedigree piece of jewellery if I ever saw one. Fantastic.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31THUNDER RUMBLES
0:31:31 > 0:31:35He's not the prettiest thing ever.
0:31:35 > 0:31:40I think you're both much more good looking. Tell me where you found him.
0:31:40 > 0:31:41He's from Scotto Estate.
0:31:41 > 0:31:45He's lived in the hall at the Shaws' house
0:31:45 > 0:31:50and sort of moved about from loft to garage to office.
0:31:50 > 0:31:55- Never on show? - Well, probably years ago when he was a little bit smarter, but...
0:31:55 > 0:31:57Oh, that's such a shame,
0:31:57 > 0:32:03because he's aching to be looked after and restored, and put back to his glory
0:32:03 > 0:32:06that he once was, and what is exciting for me,
0:32:06 > 0:32:10even though he's a monkey, which is not, I don't think, the prettiest animal
0:32:10 > 0:32:16that you can have as an automaton, but he's a real character,
0:32:16 > 0:32:22and in the mid-19th century, particularly in Paris, they had performing bears, monkeys.
0:32:22 > 0:32:24They would perform in the streets,
0:32:24 > 0:32:30and so, if you like, the musical-box makers of the day started thinking,
0:32:30 > 0:32:33"Ah, we're going to make an automaton,"
0:32:33 > 0:32:37a smoking monkey or a bear that's performing to music.
0:32:37 > 0:32:43And the great thing about this is, it is by one of the earliest automaton makers of the 19th century,
0:32:43 > 0:32:49called Alexandre Nicolas Theroude, and he was born in 1807 in Paris,
0:32:49 > 0:32:57and believe it or not, he did many, many of these monkeys doing different things.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00By 1900, he was no more.
0:33:00 > 0:33:05In 1878 he went bankrupt, can you believe?
0:33:05 > 0:33:12Poor chap. And if he only could be up there listening today, he would be so excited to see this monkey,
0:33:12 > 0:33:15because, if you just look underneath here,
0:33:15 > 0:33:17- look at that wonderful vibrant colour.- Yes, yes.
0:33:17 > 0:33:22Now that is silk satin. He was an expensive automaton in his day.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26He would have gone into the drawing rooms of the rich, the aristocracy,
0:33:26 > 0:33:29and hence, you say he was at...
0:33:29 > 0:33:31- Scotto Hall, yes.- ..Scotto Hall,
0:33:31 > 0:33:33- and probably started his life there. - Oh, right.
0:33:33 > 0:33:38And could have been entertaining the lords and ladies of the day,
0:33:38 > 0:33:43in the drawing room, and, poor chap, look what he's come to! The loft!
0:33:43 > 0:33:45But he's come to the Roadshow, so that's something!
0:33:45 > 0:33:51And this is not going to cost you, or whoever owns it, too much to put right.
0:33:51 > 0:33:58His face is made of papier mache, and he would have been made around 1860.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01- Have you had him moving? - No, we haven't, no. We daren't.
0:34:01 > 0:34:05So shall we see if he's going to behave?
0:34:05 > 0:34:08- Yes.- Oh, he is going to. MUSIC STARTS
0:34:11 > 0:34:15- His head goes, yes. - Quite a good tone.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18He should have more movement in his hand.
0:34:18 > 0:34:22He should have his head turning and nodding.
0:34:22 > 0:34:26- He should have his jaw going up and down.- Oh, yes.
0:34:26 > 0:34:30And his eyes seductively going...
0:34:30 > 0:34:32shutting nearly and then opening again.
0:34:32 > 0:34:39- Oh, right, yes.- So he's got a little bit stiff in his old age, and he could do with a little bit of oiling.
0:34:39 > 0:34:42SUDDEN HEAVY RAINFALL Cut!
0:34:44 > 0:34:49- Oh, dear! We're in the dry anyway. - He's still fine.
0:34:49 > 0:34:54They did say it was going to be diabolical. Now I know what diabolical means!
0:34:54 > 0:34:58# Raindrops keep falling on my head
0:34:58 > 0:35:04# But that doesn't mean my eyes will soon be turning red
0:35:04 > 0:35:07# Crying's not for me
0:35:07 > 0:35:13# Cos I'm never gonna stop the rain by complaining
0:35:13 > 0:35:16# Because I'm free
0:35:16 > 0:35:20# Nothing's worrying me. #
0:35:21 > 0:35:24- Are you ready? - Ready as we'll ever be.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27Standing by.
0:35:27 > 0:35:28Before the next downpour...
0:35:31 > 0:35:34Were you to restore him,
0:35:34 > 0:35:39I think you're going to be in the region of £1,000 to restore him.
0:35:39 > 0:35:44- Not his clothes, but certainly the harp.- Right.
0:35:44 > 0:35:49And one recently went for auction and it was sold,
0:35:49 > 0:35:52- but in better condition, for £5,000. - Wow!
0:35:52 > 0:35:56He's been collecting dust all that time.
0:35:56 > 0:35:58Worth doing. It is, yeah.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02- So it's worth doing. Do you think the owner will do?- I would think so.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05- I don't think he'll live in a garage any more!- Oh, good, good.
0:36:08 > 0:36:12This is great. Now, I'm sure there's a story here.
0:36:12 > 0:36:13Yes, there is, Roy.
0:36:13 > 0:36:21What happened was, a family went from Norfolk down to Gloucestershire, to a funeral,
0:36:21 > 0:36:23and, after the funeral, they came back to the house,
0:36:23 > 0:36:26and there was some old tea chests,
0:36:26 > 0:36:31and the little lad with the family, he rummaged around in the tea chests,
0:36:31 > 0:36:32and came out with this,
0:36:32 > 0:36:38and crazed his father to take this home, and his father kept saying, "No, put it back."
0:36:38 > 0:36:42But his mother said, "Oh, let him take it if he wants it."
0:36:42 > 0:36:43So he brought it home.
0:36:43 > 0:36:48And the neighbour, he was a friend of mine,
0:36:48 > 0:36:51and spotted this in the sandpit outside
0:36:51 > 0:36:56in the back garden, so he called me along and I came and had a look.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00As soon as I saw what it was, I felt I must have this,
0:37:00 > 0:37:04and I offered them a price for it and explained to them what it was,
0:37:04 > 0:37:07and I then became the owner of it.
0:37:07 > 0:37:10Jolly good! I mean, I don't have to tell you,
0:37:10 > 0:37:14because I can see that you've been in the service yourself.
0:37:14 > 0:37:18- I was in the Norfolk Fire Service for...- It's a chief's helmet. - This was a chief's helmet.
0:37:18 > 0:37:23That's right. But so often, you get these damaged, because... wear and tear, I suppose,
0:37:23 > 0:37:28- and often the crown pieces are damaged where they go through a doorway or whatever.- That's right.
0:37:28 > 0:37:32And the combs are often damaged, but this is in lovely condition.
0:37:32 > 0:37:35These were worn up until more or less the last war,
0:37:35 > 0:37:39and then, of course, with the electricity being installed in so many houses,
0:37:39 > 0:37:45firemen were electrocuting themselves so they went into the fibre helmets, as you know.
0:37:45 > 0:37:51- That's right, mmm.- But this particular one, I suppose, was about the turn of the century,
0:37:51 > 0:37:53so the value of such a helmet today
0:37:53 > 0:37:56would be in the region of £600 to £700.
0:37:56 > 0:38:02- Oh, right.- I hope that pleases you. - Yes, very much so.
0:38:02 > 0:38:06I love a parcel, and I love a parcel that's got a treasure in it.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09Rather a dilapidated, dirty treasure, I'm afraid.
0:38:09 > 0:38:12I don't know, these look pretty good to me.
0:38:12 > 0:38:16To find a bit of what looks like North American Indian beadwork
0:38:16 > 0:38:20here in the middle of Norfolk does slightly surprise me.
0:38:20 > 0:38:24- Who went over to America to get these?- Nobody.- Oh!
0:38:24 > 0:38:28My grandfather, who I don't think ever went to America in his life,
0:38:28 > 0:38:31was very into animals, and what have you,
0:38:31 > 0:38:36- and he went off to see the Wild West Show run by Buffalo Bill.- Oh?
0:38:36 > 0:38:39And he was presented with these by Buffalo Bill.
0:38:39 > 0:38:43I don't know which Wild West Show it was, but it was a long time ago.
0:38:43 > 0:38:47- That's how they got here. - That's the most staggering story.
0:38:47 > 0:38:51So we're actually... I'm holding Buffalo Bill's gauntlet?
0:38:51 > 0:38:53- Yes.- Every image...
0:38:53 > 0:38:57I mean, the sort of classic image of Bill Cody, Buffalo Bill,
0:38:57 > 0:39:02- is of him in his hat with these great gauntlets. - Gauntlets, that's right.
0:39:02 > 0:39:04It's part of his trade mark, isn't it?
0:39:04 > 0:39:06Now, I know that in his show,
0:39:06 > 0:39:11he was particularly involved with the plains Indians, the Sioux and the Pawnee.
0:39:11 > 0:39:17- Right.- I guess this must be either Sioux or Pawnee work.
0:39:17 > 0:39:23- Now, he came over, Buffalo Bill, he brought his show over in 1887.- Yes.
0:39:23 > 0:39:27- And he set up a proper Wild West encampment.- Indeed.
0:39:27 > 0:39:31And I wonder how your grandfather actually met him.
0:39:31 > 0:39:35- I mean, was he in the sort of inner circle or...? - Well, not that I'm aware of
0:39:35 > 0:39:39but he was very into animals and he had this private zoo, and he probably...
0:39:39 > 0:39:44I'm assuming that he went to the show to see what animals might be available,
0:39:44 > 0:39:50because having brought them over from America, it's much cheaper not to have to take them back again,
0:39:50 > 0:39:54so I suspect that the horses and the buffalo may have stayed in this country.
0:39:54 > 0:39:59I don't think that he ever had any buffalo in his collection. He had a lot of peculiar animals,
0:39:59 > 0:40:01but I don't remember seeing pictures of buffalo.
0:40:01 > 0:40:03But I suspect he went with that in mind
0:40:03 > 0:40:08and because, probably, Buffalo Bill was only too keen to encourage possible purchasers,
0:40:08 > 0:40:12he made this presentation as a sort of "come on", so to speak.
0:40:12 > 0:40:17So your grandfather was a sort of eccentric collector of animals of all types?
0:40:17 > 0:40:19Very eccentric, yes.
0:40:19 > 0:40:24I mean, he'd travel anywhere to find whatever he wanted, or what he thought he wanted.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27He went up to the exhibition in Glasgow
0:40:27 > 0:40:31where they'd brought over a herd of Lapland reindeer, and he bought the herd of reindeer.
0:40:31 > 0:40:37- Well, as you do!- Exactly! Brought them back to Bedfordshire, but there was one snag.
0:40:37 > 0:40:40They only had hay, instead of the lichen that the reindeer liked,
0:40:40 > 0:40:43so it was a learning curve for the reindeer. But they did survive.
0:40:43 > 0:40:48- He also liked them to be ridden. - To be ridden?- To be ridden, to be ridden.- What, everything?
0:40:48 > 0:40:50Yeah, he used to get...
0:40:52 > 0:40:56..keepers to ride everything. I just brought one, but I mean...
0:40:56 > 0:40:58That's fantastic!
0:40:58 > 0:40:59I don't think I've ever seen...
0:40:59 > 0:41:01I don't think I've seen a pig...
0:41:01 > 0:41:03a pig being ridden before.
0:41:03 > 0:41:05That is just dynamite! Is that him?
0:41:05 > 0:41:08- No, that's one of the keepers. - One of the keepers.
0:41:08 > 0:41:11I suppose the pig wouldn't let just anybody ride him, would it?
0:41:11 > 0:41:14So everything could be ridden, I mean, reindeer and so on?
0:41:14 > 0:41:16The reindeer were ridden and they also pulled a sledge.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19- Yes?- They were all non-carnivorous.
0:41:19 > 0:41:23Well, he had one pair of cheetahs - they weren't ridden. He had a bear.
0:41:23 > 0:41:25They weren't ridden!
0:41:25 > 0:41:28He had a sloth bear that the keeper used to...
0:41:28 > 0:41:30it used to follow the keeper down to the pub.
0:41:30 > 0:41:32- That's great. - And have a bottle of beer.
0:41:32 > 0:41:37It got a real taste for beer and it got out one day and actually went down the pub
0:41:37 > 0:41:41on its own, and created a lot of problems.
0:41:41 > 0:41:46- So there we are, it's all a lot of amusing stories.- Exactly!
0:41:46 > 0:41:49- Did you know him?- Yes, I did, but, I mean, only as a small child.
0:41:49 > 0:41:54I remember going to the house and running around the house wearing these gloves,
0:41:54 > 0:41:58dropping beads everywhere, which I now bitterly regret...
0:41:58 > 0:42:01But I very much would like to make sure
0:42:01 > 0:42:05that they don't fall apart any more, and they need some form of restoration.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08They do need some sort of restoration.
0:42:09 > 0:42:11And it needs to be properly done.
0:42:11 > 0:42:15- Yeah.- You may have to get them over to North America,
0:42:15 > 0:42:18to the States somewhere, to do it properly,
0:42:18 > 0:42:21because just looking round down here on the fingers,
0:42:21 > 0:42:26it looks as if these threads are actually going, disintegrating.
0:42:26 > 0:42:29So I think you have got, probably,
0:42:29 > 0:42:33just a few years to grab this and get it conserved.
0:42:33 > 0:42:38I mean, the first thing to say is that beadwork of any description
0:42:38 > 0:42:40is terribly valuable to...
0:42:40 > 0:42:45Back in America, where it originated - that's obvious.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48But if you combine that with the iconic status
0:42:48 > 0:42:51of somebody like Buffalo Bill,
0:42:51 > 0:42:54you're talking, actually, quite a lot of money, here.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58I think we should start at £10,000.
0:42:58 > 0:43:00Right.
0:43:00 > 0:43:01And maybe go up from there.
0:43:01 > 0:43:04Right. Thank you very much indeed.
0:43:04 > 0:43:07And I'm just left with this wonderful picture of you,
0:43:07 > 0:43:10running round your grandfather's house, being Buffalo Bill.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13- Or maybe it was Annie Oakley. - I can't remember.
0:43:13 > 0:43:18- I think it was probably Annie Get Your Gun, I can see you in that role. - It probably was, yes.
0:43:18 > 0:43:20- It's been great, thanks very much. - Thanks a lot.
0:43:20 > 0:43:25And despite a very changeable day, we've had a splendid time here at Holkham Hall.
0:43:25 > 0:43:27Thanks very much to our hosts,
0:43:27 > 0:43:32and until the next time from Wells-next-the-Sea in North Norfolk, goodbye.