0:00:40 > 0:00:43We thought the team had been looking a bit peaky lately,
0:00:43 > 0:00:45so we've brought them down
0:00:45 > 0:00:49to Devon's first fashionable seaside resort - Exmouth -
0:00:49 > 0:00:54to let them enjoy a little rest, recuperation and of course Roadshow.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58"Diversion and Bathing by the Sea"
0:00:58 > 0:01:01has been the motto here since the 19th century.
0:01:01 > 0:01:05With over two miles of life-size sandy beaches, Exmouth has been
0:01:05 > 0:01:07a favourite destination for generations,
0:01:07 > 0:01:11but its strategic location, at the mouth of the River Exe,
0:01:11 > 0:01:14made it important long before all that.
0:01:14 > 0:01:18Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh often sailed from Exmouth Harbour
0:01:18 > 0:01:23across the Atlantic on their Empire-building exercises.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27Not all the historical figures attracted to Exmouth were men.
0:01:28 > 0:01:34Famous former residents include Lady Nelson and Lady Byron
0:01:34 > 0:01:36and then there was Powder Monkey Ann.
0:01:36 > 0:01:42Powder Monkey Ann, real name Nancy Perriam, lived here in Tower Street.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45And she earned her nickname not from the sale of cosmetics
0:01:45 > 0:01:48but because she was one of the very few woman
0:01:48 > 0:01:49to have served in Nelson's fleet.
0:01:49 > 0:01:54Alongside her husband she fought at the Battle of St Vincent and The Nile.
0:01:55 > 0:02:00In battle, Powder Monkey Ann carried cartridges of fresh gunpowder along
0:02:00 > 0:02:04narrow gangways and up and down ladders to the waiting cannons.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08A tough life, but it didn't do her any harm.
0:02:08 > 0:02:14The Navy gave her a pension which cost them quite a lot, as she lived to the age of 97.
0:02:14 > 0:02:19At the other end of the social scale was Mary Anne Clarke, who lived here
0:02:19 > 0:02:23in Imperial Road as mistress to Frederick, Duke of York.
0:02:24 > 0:02:31In 1806 their relationship became a political scandal when the duke was charged with corruption.
0:02:31 > 0:02:37He was accused of promoting officers after Mary Anne Clarke had taken bribes from them.
0:02:37 > 0:02:40It's said that when the affair ended,
0:02:40 > 0:02:44Clarke threatened to reveal all in her memoirs: a shrewd move which forced the government
0:02:44 > 0:02:50to provide her with a huge pension in return for her silence.
0:02:50 > 0:02:54And we're hoping for a few more interesting stories in today's Antiques Roadshow
0:02:54 > 0:02:58which is being held at Exmouth Pavilion on the Esplanade.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02Well, it really looks good enough to eat, doesn't it?
0:03:02 > 0:03:06- It does.- It's not a real cake at all, made of pottery.- Yes.
0:03:06 > 0:03:07What's the story?
0:03:07 > 0:03:11It was a wager between my great-great-grandfather Edward Holland.
0:03:11 > 0:03:17- Right.- And his cousin, Josiah Wedgwood the Third,
0:03:17 > 0:03:21that Josiah couldn't make a mould
0:03:21 > 0:03:26in the shape of a Charlotte russe in jasperware.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30Let's have a look at the really strange object because in here we have a case...
0:03:30 > 0:03:33exactly like the real, the real...
0:03:33 > 0:03:37- Indeed yes.- Is that pudding, or a cake? What is a Charlotte russe?
0:03:37 > 0:03:39It's a pudding. It's an old Victorian pudding.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42- Right.- Made of sponge fingers...
0:03:42 > 0:03:46I don't know what they put inside it, sort of jelly stuff...
0:03:46 > 0:03:51- Because here is rather like the shape of a mould for a jelly.- Yes.
0:03:51 > 0:03:58- But you've got the entire cake here itself and these I suppose are the sponge fingers all around here.- Yes.
0:03:58 > 0:04:00They look so real, don't they?
0:04:00 > 0:04:04- They do.- And this is the icing that will be decorating the cake.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08Not produced in real icing sugar, but this is Wedgwood's own jasperware.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11- Yes.- Um, very finely modelled in clay and looking like a real cake.
0:04:11 > 0:04:16- Indeed.- So it was your great-great-grandfather had the wager.- Yes.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19- Do you know when the wager was? - No, I don't, I'm afraid.
0:04:19 > 0:04:23Presumably he was living in the beginning of the 19th century?
0:04:23 > 0:04:25Yes, 1805 he was born.
0:04:25 > 0:04:31Oh, right, so I suppose that would make this piece, I suppose, therefore 1830s would it have been?
0:04:31 > 0:04:32Yes, probably about that.
0:04:32 > 0:04:36Because Wedgwood developed the confits in this material
0:04:36 > 0:04:39looking like pastry, a little bit earlier,
0:04:39 > 0:04:43around about 1805 because at that time during the Napoleonic War
0:04:43 > 0:04:47- there was a shortage of flour in England.- Oh, yes.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51And it became fashionable to make copies of pies and pastries
0:04:51 > 0:04:56out of Wedgwood's pottery, so it was placed on the table, like the real pies,
0:04:56 > 0:05:01- and I guess this is a rather elaborate version of that idea.- Yes.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03But the design there is classic Wedgwood.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07- Yes.- And there you've got a design with love trophies.
0:05:07 > 0:05:11- Yes.- Very much a symbol of love, the quiver and arrows, the love doves.
0:05:11 > 0:05:14- Yes.- And a little garland there.
0:05:14 > 0:05:19- Um, it's really nicely done, that sort of design was made in Wedgwood in the 1770s, 1780s.- Yes.
0:05:19 > 0:05:24So they had some designs in their stock and they put them together
0:05:24 > 0:05:28to try and work out the wager.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30- Yes.- I wonder if it was good enough to win.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33I don't know, I would imagine so.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35Do you think it would have fooled people?
0:05:35 > 0:05:41- Oh, yes, I think so.- They made a few of them, I've seen a couple in collections of Wedgwood in America.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45- Have you?- But some time ago, you don't see them very often.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49- No.- Because I guess they were so difficult to make.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52What's it worth as a very realistic pudding?
0:05:52 > 0:05:54Is it worth I suppose £1,000.
0:05:54 > 0:06:00- Really?- It's so rare and, and a lovely thing.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03- Oh, that's very nice.- Thank you very much, thank you.- Thank you.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08Now, I was lucky enough earlier this year to go to Canada.
0:06:08 > 0:06:12I've been before but this is the first time I got really involved
0:06:12 > 0:06:16in what you might...what is now called First Nation material.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19I went to museums, I went to collections,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22and although we see things of this type on the Roadshow,
0:06:22 > 0:06:26I'd never really thought about it, and so seeing this today,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29it's a great treat for me, but also I think,
0:06:29 > 0:06:32"God, you know, this is fantastic material."
0:06:32 > 0:06:35What is it doing in Exmouth?
0:06:35 > 0:06:39Well, I first remember this stuff as a child, we used to play with it,
0:06:39 > 0:06:43my brother and my sister and I, and, um, my grandfather travelled
0:06:43 > 0:06:48from Scotland when he was age 18 to work for the Hudson Bay Company
0:06:48 > 0:06:52- in Canada as an apprentice clerk. - What sort of date?
0:06:52 > 0:06:56Er, that would have been 19... around about 1910, I think.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59And eventually he managed the trading post at Churchill.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02- He married a Cree Indian lady... - Hang on.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06Stop there. That must have been terribly unusual at the time.
0:07:06 > 0:07:10Er, they didn't talk about it, it was not the done thing.
0:07:10 > 0:07:12Did he ever come back with her?
0:07:12 > 0:07:16Er, no. He came on leave back to stay with family in Scotland
0:07:16 > 0:07:21on several occasions but didn't bring his wife and children with him
0:07:21 > 0:07:25and in letters to his family, he didn't even mention her by name,
0:07:25 > 0:07:28he called her "the missus", I think, or something like that.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32- So he was stepping out of line in a way.- Absolutely, yeah.
0:07:32 > 0:07:37- It was taboo to marry somebody from the Colonies or...- But she was your grandmother.- Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
0:07:37 > 0:07:41- So you never met her.- No, and we had this photograph of her.- What's this?
0:07:41 > 0:07:46This is a photograph of her with my father and my Uncle Ronnie.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49So hang on, so this is your grandmother, the Cree lady...
0:07:49 > 0:07:52- Yeah.- ..with your father and your uncle?- Yeah.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54So you just have this photograph.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57That's all we have, the photograph and the beadwork, yes.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59So how did the beadwork come back?
0:07:59 > 0:08:02- My grandfather died.- Out there?
0:08:02 > 0:08:07Out there. And my father and his brother were shipped back to Scotland
0:08:07 > 0:08:09- to live with their aunt. - As children?- Yes.
0:08:09 > 0:08:14So they were taken from their mother and she never saw them again?
0:08:14 > 0:08:16- No.- What an extraordinary story.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19Yeah, my grandfather mentioned in his will that he wanted his sons
0:08:19 > 0:08:22to have a good education and I think that...
0:08:22 > 0:08:25we think that that's the reason they were sent back to Scotland.
0:08:25 > 0:08:30Right, we're talking what... When do you think this was made? 1910...?
0:08:30 > 0:08:32We think between 1900 and 1915, around about there.
0:08:32 > 0:08:36So it might have come with his wife as part of her dowry, perhaps?
0:08:36 > 0:08:42- Possibly. Or we didn't know whether she'd made some of this beadwork. - Herself.- Herself, yeah.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45Because what you've got, 1900, obviously we're no longer dealing
0:08:45 > 0:08:48with warring tribes and building, making things
0:08:48 > 0:08:50entirely for tribal purposes.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53Peace reigns, up to a point,
0:08:53 > 0:08:57and therefore tourism has taken over, and this is why
0:08:57 > 0:09:00you get so many echoes of European design
0:09:00 > 0:09:04contrasted with traditional First Nation design, because many
0:09:04 > 0:09:07of these pieces will have been brought back by visitors.
0:09:07 > 0:09:10- A tablecloth is not a traditional item.- No.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14Whereas the shirt is. This started out as a warrior's shirt,
0:09:14 > 0:09:18by 1900-1910 it's become something entirely ornamental.
0:09:18 > 0:09:19Do you know the background to it?
0:09:19 > 0:09:25We know that my grandfather made reference to buying some doe skins
0:09:25 > 0:09:28to make a jacket, now that's a date I think about 1917.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32Right, so this may be, that may be that jacket,
0:09:32 > 0:09:35in which case the embroidery may be by your grandmother.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39- Yeah, we think it could well be, yeah.- So we can date that piece.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42Dating the others is hazardous in the sense that we know
0:09:42 > 0:09:46they're not 19th century, with the possible exception of the bag,
0:09:46 > 0:09:49but they're probably 1900 onwards
0:09:49 > 0:09:53but not much later than 1916, '17, '18, I would think.
0:09:53 > 0:09:56So you've got here remarkable pieces,
0:09:56 > 0:09:59but I think what makes it to me much, much more exciting is that...
0:09:59 > 0:10:02I mean, in effect you're quarter Cree, aren't you?
0:10:02 > 0:10:05- Yeah, absolutely.- Have you always felt proud of that?
0:10:05 > 0:10:09I have, personally, yeah, but my father never talked about it.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12- I think at the time we grew up... - It was shameful.- It was, yeah.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14- It was not acceptable. - Have you been to Canada?
0:10:14 > 0:10:18- No, I'm hoping to.- You must, because you know, you will find you fit in,
0:10:18 > 0:10:21it's your tradition, your background, your culture.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25- Yeah, I look forward to doing that. - Now, shall I start going through it?
0:10:25 > 0:10:27If you like yeah, I mean...
0:10:27 > 0:10:31- Well, those are going to be about £2,000 to £3,000.- Really?
0:10:31 > 0:10:36Um, those a bit less, they're smaller, say £1,000 to £1,500.
0:10:36 > 0:10:42These are going to be £800 to £1,500 each,
0:10:42 > 0:10:44Um, this is interesting,
0:10:44 > 0:10:47this may be an earlier piece, I suspect,
0:10:47 > 0:10:50partly because it's still got the traditional decoration.
0:10:50 > 0:10:54Also, we're always told that this red bordering
0:10:54 > 0:10:58originally was taken from the red coats of British soldiers.
0:10:58 > 0:11:02- Really?- That's how they got that red fabric, and on domestic pieces,
0:11:02 > 0:11:06they had this red rim to say, "Look, we've killed British soldiers."
0:11:06 > 0:11:10So that could go back to the 1880s or even 1860s,
0:11:10 > 0:11:14or be later, just done in that traditional style.
0:11:14 > 0:11:17But again you're looking at probably £2,000 there.
0:11:17 > 0:11:22Shirt... Find me another outside a museum.
0:11:22 > 0:11:25- Yeah.- Of that period. 1920s and '30s,
0:11:25 > 0:11:29- the price is a fraction because it's common tourist ware.- Right.
0:11:29 > 0:11:35An authenticated shirt, OK not 1880s but going back to the 1900s, £5,000.
0:11:35 > 0:11:42- Crikey.- So, you know, you're looking at £10,000 to £15,000 at least... - Yeah.- ..for this group.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46Well, it's a slightly battered
0:11:46 > 0:11:49but very good looking handbag. BVS,
0:11:49 > 0:11:51the initials on it... Who was BVS?
0:11:51 > 0:11:54She was my grandmother, Beatrice Violet Scofield,
0:11:54 > 0:11:59she was born in 1884 and she married a Rochdale mill owner,
0:11:59 > 0:12:03Benjamin Scofield, who was about 40 years older than her,
0:12:03 > 0:12:06and this was her handbag.
0:12:06 > 0:12:08It's quite a weight, isn't it?
0:12:08 > 0:12:12It's very heavy and men always complain we carry too much,
0:12:12 > 0:12:17- but they did in those days as well. - Shall we have a delve inside?- Yes.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20It's more like a dressing case than a handbag!
0:12:20 > 0:12:23- Incredible, isn't it?- Incredible to think that she carried it around.
0:12:23 > 0:12:28Silver fittings dating from the early 1920s and all with enamelling
0:12:28 > 0:12:31on them, and it's in great condition, isn't it?
0:12:31 > 0:12:34- Beautiful.- So I guess she would have been in her 40s
0:12:34 > 0:12:37- when she had this bag. - I would think so, yes.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40There's the wallet... Just sort of goes on and on.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43- A beautiful looking... - Compact.- Compact, yes.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45- Propelling pencil.- Pencil.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47So, did you know your grandmother?
0:12:47 > 0:12:51Oh, yes, she was a very Victorian lady, we used to stand by the piano
0:12:51 > 0:12:56while she played music, or do ballet, we were terrified of her, actually.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58- So, a fearsome character. - Very fearsome.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01But tiny, really Victorian and very small.
0:13:01 > 0:13:05The bag, a crocodile bag, made in England,
0:13:05 > 0:13:08and these fittings here were all made in England
0:13:08 > 0:13:11in the early 1920s. They have various hallmarks on them,
0:13:11 > 0:13:13they were assayed in Birmingham.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16Oddly enough, the compact is Austrian,
0:13:16 > 0:13:20and in the late 19th century Austria, and Vienna in particular,
0:13:20 > 0:13:24was a centre for enamelling, so this is just the tail end of that.
0:13:24 > 0:13:27It is a difficult thing to value. Somebody else's initials on it.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31But the enamelling is in good condition and the fittings alone
0:13:31 > 0:13:33are worth £600.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36Gosh! Amazing!
0:13:37 > 0:13:42When I heard earlier on that there was a guy outside with 37 pictures,
0:13:42 > 0:13:45- I thought it was a wind-up, but it's not.- No.
0:13:45 > 0:13:49- Where on earth did you get these from?- From a recycling yard.
0:13:49 > 0:13:51- Hang on, a recycling yard?- Yes.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54So you mean they were going to get scrapped?
0:13:54 > 0:13:58- All of them, yes.- They were going to get turned into something else.
0:13:58 > 0:14:02- All of them.- And how come you actually fell for these things?
0:14:02 > 0:14:05Well, my granddad and grandmother were in the Masons in Cornwall
0:14:05 > 0:14:09and I saw this lot altogether and knew they were from one Lodge.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12They're history, I just couldn't see them scrapped.
0:14:12 > 0:14:16So all these represent things that are quite close to your family life
0:14:16 > 0:14:20- as it were.- Yes.- And there's an image here of the entire Lodge
0:14:20 > 0:14:23at some point in its history, assembled.
0:14:23 > 0:14:28Yes, it looks like their annual meeting.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32And the look of civic pride upon their faces is almost palpable
0:14:32 > 0:14:34but it's the individual images,
0:14:34 > 0:14:36particularly the ones sitting over there,
0:14:36 > 0:14:39that really strike me as remnants of a bygone age.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43Yes. The regalia and the medals
0:14:43 > 0:14:47and what they represent, I find it fascinating.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50We need to sort of reflect a bit on the history of the Freemasons
0:14:50 > 0:14:53because they are an extraordinarily ancient organisation.
0:14:53 > 0:14:57I gather it was in the medieval period they began as stone masons
0:14:57 > 0:15:01and indeed some of the regalia does reflect exactly that,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04the instruments of stone masonry. I mean that fellow over there,
0:15:04 > 0:15:08he's showing them almost with a sort of tribal leader's intensity.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10There he is, these objects glowing on his chest.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14This is a man not to mess with, certainly within the Lodge.
0:15:14 > 0:15:19As they developed they became more and more both a secret society
0:15:19 > 0:15:21and a society devoted to charity.
0:15:21 > 0:15:24- Yes, yes. - But also at the same time
0:15:24 > 0:15:27developing a little bit of a bad reputation amongst those
0:15:27 > 0:15:31who weren't part of them, probably because of all of the secret signs
0:15:31 > 0:15:33and handshakes and what have you.
0:15:33 > 0:15:38There's something, to me, quite poignant about this. We're looking at 38 pictures
0:15:38 > 0:15:41that were once regarded almost as sort of reverential objects
0:15:41 > 0:15:44and you find them in a recycling yard!
0:15:44 > 0:15:48- Can I ask you how much you paid for them?- I offered £100, they accepted.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51£100. I mean, it's ridiculously cheap on one level,
0:15:51 > 0:15:53ridiculously cheap because you're dealing...
0:15:53 > 0:15:55apart from anything else...
0:15:55 > 0:15:57with 38 very good frames.
0:15:57 > 0:16:02Some fumed oak frames themselves can be worth up to £100 each.
0:16:02 > 0:16:07This is one of those intangible areas that we have to be prophets about.
0:16:07 > 0:16:12But I reckon you could be one day talking about an important collection and a complete collection
0:16:12 > 0:16:17of a part of British history that has all but disappeared.
0:16:18 > 0:16:22A bit of a sea breeze this morning, right beside the sea,
0:16:22 > 0:16:25but this was never meant to be sailed on the ocean, was it?
0:16:25 > 0:16:30No, it was in sailing ponds or lakes, inland waters only.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33- And you've sailed her?- I have yes, when I was a teenager.
0:16:33 > 0:16:37I used to go as a young lad to the Highgate Ponds in London
0:16:37 > 0:16:40and watch the older men sailing these
0:16:40 > 0:16:44and the old gentleman who owned it felt he couldn't deal with it any more.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46He said, "If you bring your father and £3, you can have her."
0:16:46 > 0:16:49It took me a month to talk my dad into coming up.
0:16:49 > 0:16:52And the condition was that I didn't tamper with it or alter it.
0:16:52 > 0:16:54Where were you living at that time?
0:16:54 > 0:16:59In a place called Camden Town, used to go on a bus, carried her on a bus.
0:16:59 > 0:17:02- Up to Highgate Pond.- The boat and some sandwiches up to the pond
0:17:02 > 0:17:05for the day and then back again, yes.
0:17:05 > 0:17:07Well, this is... What's it termed?
0:17:07 > 0:17:11- A ten rater.- A ten rater which was a serious model yacht, wasn't it?
0:17:11 > 0:17:13- Yes.- They had various classes.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16They did and they used to have competitions around a course,
0:17:16 > 0:17:19they had buoys in the pond and you had to sail the course.
0:17:19 > 0:17:23- And how long would that take? - Oh, half an hour or so, yes.
0:17:23 > 0:17:27And a very ingenious self-steering gear, how does that work?
0:17:27 > 0:17:29You analyse the wind pattern on the water,
0:17:29 > 0:17:32then set these different things up,
0:17:32 > 0:17:36different slides, so it would go to halfway across and then turn,
0:17:36 > 0:17:40but if you got it wrong, you had to run round to the other side!
0:17:40 > 0:17:42And do you sail her today?
0:17:42 > 0:17:45No. No suitable water and getting a bit old to run round after her.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47So what's going to happen to her?
0:17:47 > 0:17:51I'd like to pass it on to someone else to look after it for another 50 years.
0:17:51 > 0:17:55Lovely idea. I suggest you take it up to one of the great ponds,
0:17:55 > 0:17:58- like the Round Pond. They're still racing such yachts.- Yes.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00I'm sure you'll find an enthusiast, just like you were.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03- And it cost how much, again, in 1953?- £3.
0:18:03 > 0:18:08£3. Well, a beautiful piece, fully working order, today we're probably talking a figure
0:18:08 > 0:18:12of between £1,200 and £1,800
0:18:12 > 0:18:15so a good return on your £3 investment.
0:18:15 > 0:18:17It certainly is, thank you very much.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21For 16 or 17 years I normally look at antique silver on the Roadshow,
0:18:21 > 0:18:24but I have a secret passion,
0:18:24 > 0:18:27and these are my secret passion, electric guitars.
0:18:27 > 0:18:32I've been in love with them since the age of 12, maybe 13.
0:18:32 > 0:18:37- Now how many have YOU got? - At the moment I've got about 80.
0:18:37 > 0:18:43Well, I have to say you've brought along one particular guitar that is
0:18:43 > 0:18:45full of wonderful memories for me,
0:18:45 > 0:18:49because on my 13th birthday I went to a guitar shop
0:18:49 > 0:18:53in Surbiton in Surrey and I saw this particular guitar here
0:18:53 > 0:18:57- which I think is a Watkins Rapier, isn't it?- Yes, it is, yeah.
0:18:57 > 0:19:02So it should date from around that time, am I talking about 1963?
0:19:02 > 0:19:06Yes, they date from the early '60s up until about the mid '60s.
0:19:06 > 0:19:11Right, and I saw this hanging on the wall and I thought it was wonderful,
0:19:11 > 0:19:15so I went home to my parents, "I want an electric guitar, I want an amplifier!"
0:19:15 > 0:19:18They said, "Oh, far too expensive".
0:19:18 > 0:19:21I've got a feeling this was 30-something pounds at the time?
0:19:21 > 0:19:25I think at the time it was about £29.19.11
0:19:25 > 0:19:28- or something like that, yes. - Wonderful!
0:19:28 > 0:19:32Next to this we've got a guitar which I've heard about
0:19:32 > 0:19:36but never seen and it's called a Dallas.
0:19:36 > 0:19:40This is the Dallas Tuxedo which is quite legendary
0:19:40 > 0:19:44in the guitar world because it was the very first guitar
0:19:44 > 0:19:47that was commercially built in this country
0:19:47 > 0:19:50and this one dates from about 1957-58.
0:19:50 > 0:19:55Fantastic. Right, now lastly this is an unusual guitar.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58This is the Gretsch Traveling Wilburys,
0:19:58 > 0:20:01- which was a promotional guitar. - Oh, right.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03I've heard about these.
0:20:03 > 0:20:06Well, it's got the signature, or the facsimile signature,
0:20:06 > 0:20:08of the five Traveling Wilburys.
0:20:08 > 0:20:14Ah! Look at that. So we've got "Nelson"...
0:20:14 > 0:20:18that was George Harrison, "Lucky" is Bob Dylan,
0:20:18 > 0:20:22"Otis" is Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra,
0:20:22 > 0:20:28"Charlie T" is Tom Petty, of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers,
0:20:28 > 0:20:33- and "Lefty" is Roy Orbison. - Yes, it was, that's correct, yes.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36So, I suppose now two of them are no longer with us,
0:20:36 > 0:20:39this is probably going up in value.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43I think they have gone up very considerably.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46I've got to ask you, which guitar do you like playing the most?
0:20:46 > 0:20:50Well, Alastair, I was hoping you wouldn't ask me,
0:20:50 > 0:20:53- because I'm not actually a guitarist. - What? What?! This is all a front?
0:20:53 > 0:20:58- I'm a drummer.- You're a drummer? - Yes, I...- Can't believe it.
0:20:58 > 0:21:05I am, and, um I've never been able to play guitar, and I think probably one of the reasons that I collect guitars
0:21:05 > 0:21:08is because I'd love to be able to play them,
0:21:08 > 0:21:13but I haven't got the ability to do so, and I have tried over the years.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17- And I've brought somebody with me... - Right.- ..who can demonstrate.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21For old times sake, I'd love to hear what the Watkins Rapier sounds like.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24So let's hand it over to him,
0:21:24 > 0:21:27and give us a twiddle.
0:21:28 > 0:21:30CRACKLE
0:21:30 > 0:21:32Very old!
0:21:53 > 0:21:55Excellent.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02If you ever have deja vu, you're probably having it now
0:22:02 > 0:22:07because this furniture has indeed been seen on the Roadshow before, isn't that right?
0:22:07 > 0:22:11Yes, it was first shown at a recording in Tavistock approximately two years ago.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14And it was...a very strong story attached to it.
0:22:14 > 0:22:18There was a story because this is part of a set of four items
0:22:18 > 0:22:23of furniture made by Robert Thompson, the Mouseman, in Yorkshire.
0:22:24 > 0:22:30They were made for my father, also there was another set of four
0:22:30 > 0:22:32identical pieces of furniture
0:22:32 > 0:22:35made for my father's identical twin brother.
0:22:35 > 0:22:40Unfortunately, my father's twin brother lost his life
0:22:40 > 0:22:45in the war and we are unaware of what happened
0:22:45 > 0:22:48to the mouse furniture itself that he held.
0:22:48 > 0:22:54Well, since your visit to the show, as you know, we had a letter. This letter was from a lady called...
0:22:54 > 0:22:57who used to be called Elizabeth Mills.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00She too was a twin, she and her twin brother, the Mills twins,
0:23:00 > 0:23:04knew your father and your uncle when they were young.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08And when your Uncle Charles died,
0:23:08 > 0:23:12- that furniture was given to the Mills twins.- Oh...!
0:23:12 > 0:23:15As a keepsake, and she still has it.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19- Oh, that's...!- Would you like to meet her?- I certainly would.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22- Oh, my word!- Elizabeth Smiley, once Mills.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24How do you do?
0:23:24 > 0:23:26- And who are you?- James.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28- Ken's son.- Ken's son.
0:23:28 > 0:23:34Well, tell us your side of the story, tell us about the furniture, knowing the twins.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39Well, it's a long time ago, before the war,
0:23:39 > 0:23:44we were living fairly near the next village in Yorkshire
0:23:44 > 0:23:50and we were all at school, boarding school, and we used to meet,
0:23:50 > 0:23:55play tennis, went skating on Shibden Lake
0:23:55 > 0:23:58and saw each other in the holidays.
0:23:58 > 0:24:03And they were known as the First Twins and we were the Mills Twins.
0:24:03 > 0:24:08So we were always invited, the four of us, to parties and things.
0:24:08 > 0:24:15And then the war came. We were all going to university but sadly the war stopped that.
0:24:17 > 0:24:23And Charles was in the RAF and his plane was lost
0:24:23 > 0:24:29and his mother decided that he would have liked
0:24:29 > 0:24:33the Mills Twins to share some of the furniture
0:24:33 > 0:24:36that was given to them on their 21st.
0:24:36 > 0:24:42- There's that story.- Isn't that amazing?!- All we need now is the evidence itself...
0:24:42 > 0:24:45the furniture, which we have.
0:24:46 > 0:24:48Oh, my word!
0:24:49 > 0:24:51And that is mine.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53Together at last.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56- Isn't that amazing?!- Yes.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00Oh, it's so wonderful! Oh, it's so....!
0:25:00 > 0:25:04Oh, well...! So thrilling, it really is!
0:25:04 > 0:25:06Let's just look at the photographs.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10- That's a photograph...- These are the Mills Twins, this is you.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13- At 21.- At 21 with your brother.
0:25:13 > 0:25:15That's my twin brother...
0:25:15 > 0:25:18- And here is the picture of the First Twins.- ..became a General.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22- Charles and...- Kenneth.- Kenneth.
0:25:22 > 0:25:25And you're the son of...
0:25:25 > 0:25:27That's right, I'm the son of Kenneth.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29Those are lovely photographs.
0:25:29 > 0:25:33- All reunited by this furniture. - That's lovely.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38This is a great pig! Wonderful pig.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40Is it a male or a female...?
0:25:40 > 0:25:43Looking at the eyes, it has to be a girl, I think.
0:25:43 > 0:25:45Oh, yes. Sweet little thing.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48And of course marked under the base,
0:25:48 > 0:25:52says, "Wemyss Made in England".
0:25:52 > 0:25:54It does.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56Which puzzles everybody because,
0:25:56 > 0:26:00- I mean, Wemyss naturally they think is Scotland.- That's right.
0:26:00 > 0:26:06Up in Wemyss. But it was designed and made by Nekola, Karel Nekola.
0:26:06 > 0:26:11- Mm-hm.- Who moved down from Wemyss in the 1930s when they packed up.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14- Right.- And came down here, locally to Bovey Tracey.
0:26:14 > 0:26:16Just round the corner.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20- Just round the corner, yes, it's just a few miles from here. - That's right.
0:26:20 > 0:26:25And there is a Wemyss display and a place in Bovey Tracey called The Marble House.
0:26:25 > 0:26:29- Is there?- There is, I've seen it many times but never linked the two.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32So it's very much a local thing now, down here in Devon.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35So the making would be by mould.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39- Right.- And painted all over with these mad, mad, mad flowers.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42I don't know what the flowers are. Are they Devon flowers?
0:26:42 > 0:26:45- We thought they were clovers because...- Oh, clovers.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48- That's what we thought. - Are you a farmer?
0:26:48 > 0:26:51We've got a small farm, we specialise in traditional and rare breeds,
0:26:51 > 0:26:54- British rare breeds.- Yes. - We haven't got any pigs.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57- But no pigs.- Maybe we should start thinking about it.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01I think you should! It's a great chap. How did you come by it?
0:27:01 > 0:27:04This used to be my grandmother's and she collected it,
0:27:04 > 0:27:07I couldn't tell you when. When she died, she passed it down
0:27:07 > 0:27:10to my parents and I moved house a couple of months ago
0:27:10 > 0:27:13and they gave it to me as a house-warming present.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16It's absolutely great. What do you reckon the value is?
0:27:16 > 0:27:19- I have absolutely no idea. - It's incredible.
0:27:19 > 0:27:23They go by size, porkers, in Wemyss,
0:27:23 > 0:27:26you know, the bigger they are, the better they are.
0:27:26 > 0:27:30Some of them are made incredibly with flat, or lying on their backs,
0:27:30 > 0:27:33all sorts of funny things, but this is a normal wonderful chap,
0:27:33 > 0:27:36or girl. I think it's absolutely marvellous.
0:27:36 > 0:27:42- I reckon you're looking at now over £1,000.- Really?
0:27:42 > 0:27:46- Perhaps £1,200, something like that. - Amazing.- Incredible.
0:27:46 > 0:27:50- And I suppose that's more than a real bit of pork.- It's a lot of bacon, isn't it?
0:27:50 > 0:27:53- But congratulations on it and look after it.- Thank you.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57- And look after it well.- I will. That's a promise, that's a promise. Thank you very much.
0:27:58 > 0:28:02That box was sent to my father by the Duke and Duchess of York,
0:28:02 > 0:28:07as they then were, became of course George VI and Queen Elizabeth...
0:28:07 > 0:28:10At a later date.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13- ..and then she became the Queen Mother.- Yeah.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17Because my father was up at Glamis Castle attending the Queen Mother,
0:28:17 > 0:28:20or Duchess of York, as she was then, when Princess Margaret was born.
0:28:20 > 0:28:25- So your father was a gynaecologist? - He's a gynaecologist.- And he was on duty.- Yes, that's right.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28Was he Scottish? Why was he up there?
0:28:28 > 0:28:34No, he was taken up by the then absolutely top-notch gynaecologist in the country called Sir Henry Simpson.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38- Right.- Who was, I would say, my father's mentor.
0:28:38 > 0:28:41- Yeah.- And over the next half...
0:28:41 > 0:28:47between 1930 and perhaps 1950, I would say that my father took over his position.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50So the box, which is a cigarette box, says,
0:28:50 > 0:28:57"To FN Reynolds from Elizabeth and Albert, August 1930".
0:28:57 > 0:29:01- Indeed.- There's two curiosities to me about this, one is that...
0:29:01 > 0:29:05do you give your gynaecologist a cigarette box?
0:29:05 > 0:29:08Today it would seem extremely odd,
0:29:08 > 0:29:12but of course in those days it was a very acceptable present.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15Yes, um, yes, I think my father
0:29:15 > 0:29:20always received a lot of presents, rather more presents than he did fees, I think.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23That's why the family are very poor today!
0:29:23 > 0:29:27- And this is the secret of gynaecology?!- I think so! - That you take the present.- Yes.
0:29:27 > 0:29:30- The other thing is that it's Elizabeth and Albert.- Yes.
0:29:30 > 0:29:34At that point, putting it crudely, you know, we have the heir and the spare.
0:29:34 > 0:29:38- Right.- He was the spare, he was the Duke of York.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42- Yes.- She was the Duchess of York with no hint how history was going to be.
0:29:42 > 0:29:47They expected to play a minor role from that point on, but nothing to do with being heir to the throne.
0:29:47 > 0:29:51- No.- The Prince of Wales, who was to become Edward VIII of course,
0:29:51 > 0:29:55was fulfilling that role, they were just sort of in the background.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58- Yeah.- And so this as a result, is very informal
0:29:58 > 0:30:02and he's still using his birth name "Albert".
0:30:02 > 0:30:04- Yes.- Which to me is the key thing.
0:30:04 > 0:30:07- He only became George when he came to the throne.- Yes.
0:30:07 > 0:30:10So that's the box, which is a very nice silver box.
0:30:10 > 0:30:13- The letter I think is wonderful. May I read it?- Of course.
0:30:13 > 0:30:18"Dear Mr Reynolds, we are sending you a very small box of cigarettes
0:30:18 > 0:30:23"as a slight souvenir of August 21st and I will also take this opportunity
0:30:23 > 0:30:26"of wishing you a Happy Christmas and a good 1931.
0:30:26 > 0:30:28"My husband would have written but he is in bed
0:30:28 > 0:30:31"suffering from the effects of anti-tetanus
0:30:31 > 0:30:34"injected after a horse had kicked a hole in his leg.
0:30:34 > 0:30:39"But he wishes to join with me in sending all good wishes."
0:30:39 > 0:30:43- What an extraordinarily informal letter, wonderful.- Lovely.
0:30:43 > 0:30:46With the, "I am very sincerely, Elizabeth"...
0:30:46 > 0:30:49Well, they'd had a very intimate experience together,
0:30:49 > 0:30:53he was there while she was giving birth and I suppose,
0:30:53 > 0:30:56they must have developed a sort of friendship, which this hints at.
0:30:56 > 0:30:59- Yes.- And again it's a written, it's a personal letter,
0:30:59 > 0:31:01she's even addressed the envelope,
0:31:01 > 0:31:06it's been stamped, it's gone the usual way. Again this underlines
0:31:06 > 0:31:11- the fact that at that point they were very unimportant people, relatively.- Yes, yes.- And it also...
0:31:11 > 0:31:13From 185... 145 Piccadilly.
0:31:13 > 0:31:17Not from Buckingham Palace or Clarence House or any of that.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20I think it's a lovely, it really puts the box in context.
0:31:20 > 0:31:24- It does, it makes the whole thing a little bit more.- Very personal.
0:31:24 > 0:31:26Yeah, it does, it does.
0:31:26 > 0:31:30It's slightly ironic that in the end smoking finished him off,
0:31:30 > 0:31:32but, you know, let's not go there.
0:31:32 > 0:31:34- And my father.- Really?
0:31:34 > 0:31:35Let's not go there either.
0:31:35 > 0:31:37Now these are wonderful things.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40Value... Funnily enough, letters from the late Queen Mother
0:31:40 > 0:31:43are not that rare, she was a great correspondent.
0:31:43 > 0:31:47- Sure, sure.- And so that one, full of personal detail,
0:31:47 > 0:31:50is going to be £150, £200.
0:31:50 > 0:31:53She was not a rare correspondent, unfortunately.
0:31:53 > 0:31:58The box, nice silver cigarette box of 1930
0:31:58 > 0:32:01is going to be £200 or £300.
0:32:01 > 0:32:05Because of what it represents and because it ties in with the letter,
0:32:05 > 0:32:08I think I would at least triple that.
0:32:08 > 0:32:14- We're looking at the most sort of £1,500 for the story.- Quite unimportant.- Totally unimportant.
0:32:14 > 0:32:19Quite right, but to me it's just being in touch
0:32:19 > 0:32:22with that strange period in our history when all was about to change.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26- It was certainly an interesting time. - Thank you very much.- Thank YOU.
0:32:27 > 0:32:31I can tell you it was collected about 1900
0:32:31 > 0:32:34by this gentleman here, George Luton.
0:32:34 > 0:32:38He was a merchant seaman so whether he was able to bring it back
0:32:38 > 0:32:42- on the ship that he was on, I don't know.- I mean this all started
0:32:42 > 0:32:45when they were killed for their meat
0:32:45 > 0:32:47when the crew needed food.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51And somebody said one day, "I think I'll keep that turtle shell.
0:32:51 > 0:32:55- "That's almost big enough for a boat," or something like that.- Yeah.
0:32:55 > 0:32:57"I'll take it home with me."
0:32:57 > 0:33:01- Right.- And that's how it developed from very early times.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04Well, this of course is what we misname tortoiseshell.
0:33:04 > 0:33:08- Right.- This is where all the tortoiseshell decoration comes from.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12- Oh, right.- Not from tortoises.- But turtles.- Turtles. That's right.
0:33:12 > 0:33:16And we were very late in the UK in taking that on as a decorative medium.
0:33:16 > 0:33:20It was in the Middle and Far East much earlier,
0:33:20 > 0:33:24- came to Europe round about the late 17th, early 18th century.- Right.
0:33:24 > 0:33:28Used in the form of marquetry in contrast with brass.
0:33:28 > 0:33:31And thin sheets of this were produced,
0:33:31 > 0:33:34depending on what colour you put underneath it,
0:33:34 > 0:33:37you got amber, green, red tortoiseshell. That's all it was,
0:33:37 > 0:33:39it was what colour base you used.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42Once this is warmed it becomes pliable.
0:33:42 > 0:33:44Ah, I didn't know that.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47And you flatten it and then you can cut, to a 16th of an inch,
0:33:47 > 0:33:50you can cut thin slices which create pieces
0:33:50 > 0:33:54not much bigger than each of those. So really and truly the great age
0:33:54 > 0:33:59for tortoiseshell veneering was from 1690 to 1720
0:33:59 > 0:34:07and then again 1810-15 through to, I suppose, about 1840.
0:34:07 > 0:34:10Now, I think this is older than 1900.
0:34:10 > 0:34:14- Do you?- It has a patina. I mean, it is like a piece of timber
0:34:14 > 0:34:19and it doesn't get to look that that in just 100 years.
0:34:19 > 0:34:21- Right.- It really doesn't.
0:34:21 > 0:34:23This is an ancient piece.
0:34:23 > 0:34:27- What does it look like underneath? - Let's have a look.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32Still got the backbone in place.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35- Gruesome! Oh, dear!- No flesh on it!
0:34:35 > 0:34:41No, this is... I'm sure this is late 18th-, early 19th-century,
0:34:41 > 0:34:45- Absolutely.- That's good news.- Oh, sure, this is a very rare thing.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47- Oh, really? - This is a very rare thing.
0:34:47 > 0:34:52It doesn't make it very valuable but to me, it's academic -
0:34:52 > 0:34:56- it's a fascinating piece. - And to me.- Yes, of course.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59But on the market, could be anything -
0:34:59 > 0:35:04- £2,000 to £3,000.- Good grief! - Oh, yes, but...who knows?
0:35:04 > 0:35:07- But it's wonderful. - Well, it's family history,
0:35:07 > 0:35:10- so it stays in the family. - Of course.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13- A tea cosy.- Yes.
0:35:13 > 0:35:16- And has the tea cosy got any story?- Yes,
0:35:16 > 0:35:22it was made to go on the Titanic and this gentleman was the designer,
0:35:22 > 0:35:26the embroidery designer for the linens that went onto the Titanic
0:35:26 > 0:35:30and I understand he worked for Bannerman and Sons
0:35:30 > 0:35:32which is a big property company,
0:35:32 > 0:35:37and it belonged to his daughter who I knew for many years
0:35:37 > 0:35:42and nursed her for a number of years. She was very, very proud of it.
0:35:42 > 0:35:44The white star.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47- The star of David, yes. - You know, for the line.
0:35:47 > 0:35:50Yes, so how do you know it was actually meant for the Titanic?
0:35:50 > 0:35:53Well, there was originally a letter from her father,
0:35:53 > 0:35:57starting, "Dear Winifred, do not allow this to become damaged or destroyed,"
0:35:57 > 0:36:02telling her that he took it from the batch that was made to go onto the Titanic.
0:36:02 > 0:36:06Well, this is incredible because anything to do with the Titanic
0:36:06 > 0:36:08causes tremendous excitement.
0:36:08 > 0:36:12- Yes.- There's the really good news and the not so good news.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14Well, it never went on the Titanic.
0:36:14 > 0:36:19Exactly. And in that sense, if somebody as they were getting into the lifeboat
0:36:19 > 0:36:21had grabbed one of these and put it on his head
0:36:21 > 0:36:24and brought it back, we'd be talking...
0:36:24 > 0:36:28£30,000, £40,000...
0:36:28 > 0:36:30But even though it didn't go on the Titanic,
0:36:30 > 0:36:35- I still think this is £300... - Really?- ..£400.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39- Very, very difficult to value, because this is a one-off.- Yes.
0:36:39 > 0:36:41It's a complete one-off.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45You're holding a rather poignant looking object, what is it?
0:36:45 > 0:36:49It's a certificate presented to my great grandmother,
0:36:49 > 0:36:53to Sarah Thead, and presented to her by Queen Victoria,
0:36:53 > 0:36:58who signed it. It's a prize for working at Windsor Castle.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01And how did you come across it?
0:37:01 > 0:37:04I found it in a drawer after my grandmother died,
0:37:04 > 0:37:09and my grandmother always told me that her mother,
0:37:09 > 0:37:13she was put into an orphanage with two other sisters
0:37:13 > 0:37:18and this is where we looked and found out they'd gone to the workhouse
0:37:18 > 0:37:21somewhere up in the Middlesex area
0:37:21 > 0:37:24and we traced them down and found them.
0:37:24 > 0:37:30- So the family traced back your great grandmother to the paupers' house. - To the pauper house.
0:37:30 > 0:37:35- And did you get the facts of that? Did you get the details? - Yes, it broke my heart
0:37:35 > 0:37:40- to see that, my great-grandmother, "Occupation, pauper." - "Occupation, pauper."- Pauper.
0:37:40 > 0:37:43Then she was taken from the workhouse, you discovered...
0:37:43 > 0:37:47- To Windsor Castle.- To work for the Queen?- Yes.- Amazing juxtaposition!
0:37:47 > 0:37:49- Workhouse then the Queen. - Then the Queen.
0:37:49 > 0:37:52And it says here, "..Received a prize of £1 at the annual meeting
0:37:52 > 0:37:55"held at Windsor on the 16th day of July
0:37:55 > 0:37:59"for having continued four years in her first place of service."
0:37:59 > 0:38:04- So she was rewarded for having made it from the workhouse into Windsor. - Into Windsor, yes, yes.
0:38:04 > 0:38:07- What a wonderful tale. - Yes. Absolutely.
0:38:07 > 0:38:09- And a very poignant one for you. - That's right.
0:38:09 > 0:38:14She moved then to Sherborne and then down to Chudleigh, where I live, in Devon
0:38:14 > 0:38:17and did so well for herself.
0:38:17 > 0:38:22- And given with this was this picture behind.- Yes, that's right.
0:38:22 > 0:38:25Which shows the young Queen Victoria being told...
0:38:25 > 0:38:28- rather like the young Elizabeth I... that she's about to be Queen.- Yes.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32- Absolutely.- Adding to the sentiment. - Yes.- Isn't that touching?
0:38:32 > 0:38:36I mean, this is the young Queen Victoria, that was your young great grandmother,
0:38:36 > 0:38:40- there's a sort of feeling of synergy there as well.- Absolutely.
0:38:40 > 0:38:42And as to the value of these?
0:38:42 > 0:38:46Well, the value is of course massively from the family point of view.
0:38:46 > 0:38:51- Who knows what they're worth? A few hundred pounds, probably. - Yes, but still precious.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54- Who cares!- Yes. Thank you very much.
0:38:54 > 0:38:58This is a most impressive looking family tree. Is it your own?
0:38:58 > 0:39:01- Yes, it is.- I see it starts with Edward Austen
0:39:01 > 0:39:03who took the name of Knight.
0:39:03 > 0:39:07- Who was he?- Edward Austen was Jane Austen's brother.- THE Jane Austen?!
0:39:07 > 0:39:13THE Jane Austen, and he changed his name to Knight when he inherited Chawton and Godmersham estates.
0:39:13 > 0:39:15- And you're a descendant?- Yes.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18- So you're a direct descendant of Jane Austen?- Yes.- Wow!
0:39:18 > 0:39:23- She's my great great great grandfather's sister.- Fantastic!
0:39:23 > 0:39:26So you feature on this family tree, presumably, near the bottom?
0:39:26 > 0:39:30- Yes, yes.- How wonderful and I'll just fold the family tree away
0:39:30 > 0:39:33for the moment so we can see the rest of the items
0:39:33 > 0:39:35that are brought along.
0:39:35 > 0:39:37Which are a wonderful selection
0:39:37 > 0:39:41and seem mostly to be contemporary with that period.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45- Yes, I think they are.- Who is the man in the daguerreotype?
0:39:45 > 0:39:49That is Edward Knight, the son of Jane Austen's brother,
0:39:49 > 0:39:55- that's another Edward Knight.- So that's Jane Austen's nephew?- Yes.
0:39:55 > 0:39:59And this is wonderful, "The New Game of Emulation...
0:39:59 > 0:40:03"The amusement of youth of both sexes
0:40:03 > 0:40:06"and calculated to inspire their minds."
0:40:06 > 0:40:09Isn't that terrific? And then a line that could be straight out
0:40:09 > 0:40:13of Jane Austen itself, "Abhorrence of vice and a love of virtue."
0:40:13 > 0:40:16- Brilliant.- Looks a fascinating game, have you ever played it?
0:40:16 > 0:40:19No, I haven't, I don't know how to. I'd love to have a go.
0:40:19 > 0:40:24Looks fiendishly complicated but it's exactly the right period for Jane Austen.
0:40:24 > 0:40:27- Yes, it is.- And if I remember rightly, the Austen family
0:40:27 > 0:40:31were great ones for playing games and acting plays within the family.
0:40:31 > 0:40:33- Absolutely, yes.- So the chances are
0:40:33 > 0:40:36that Jane herself would have played this game.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39Almost certainly, yes, I mean the date's right, it's 1804.
0:40:39 > 0:40:43- Yes.- And this is from the games drawer at Chawton and we know
0:40:43 > 0:40:47that when she living at Chawton cottage, which she was given by her brother,
0:40:47 > 0:40:53she used to go along to Chawton great house when the family were there, with her brothers used to stay there
0:40:53 > 0:40:56and they'd have games evenings so I'm sure she'd have played that.
0:40:56 > 0:41:00This is absolutely remarkable. It's wonderful literary history here,
0:41:00 > 0:41:03and it's in beautiful condition too.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06And here we have a silhouette, I suppose that's too much to hope
0:41:06 > 0:41:09- that it's Jane, is it?- I'm sure it is, yes. ..I wish it was!
0:41:09 > 0:41:12- It's the right sort of period, early 19th century.- Yes.
0:41:12 > 0:41:17Showing a young girl playing with a cup and ball. And here we have
0:41:17 > 0:41:21an ivory cup and ball, now tell me about this.
0:41:21 > 0:41:25Well, that is Jane Austen's cup and ball, that is her own cup and ball.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28- You're sure about that? - Absolutely certain, yes.
0:41:28 > 0:41:31How astonishing! And is it recorded that she played with it?
0:41:31 > 0:41:33Yes, it is, yes, that was...
0:41:33 > 0:41:38She's well known as spending hours with her cup and ball, she could do over 100 in the cup...
0:41:38 > 0:41:43I don't know how good she was on the spike, but it's one of the things she used to enjoy doing.
0:41:43 > 0:41:45Well, it's absolutely wonderful,
0:41:45 > 0:41:48because it's typical of a cup and ball of the period,
0:41:48 > 0:41:52made of ivory, nice baluster ring turning here
0:41:52 > 0:41:54with the ball on the top.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57- And then you can play it two ways, can't you?- Yes.
0:41:57 > 0:42:00You can either flick it up and land on there
0:42:00 > 0:42:03or the other one is landing on there, isn't it?
0:42:03 > 0:42:08That's the easy way, in the cup. The hard way is getting it on the spike.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11It's in pretty good condition, a bit chipped but...
0:42:11 > 0:42:14- It's been used! - Yes, it's been used by Jane Austen.
0:42:14 > 0:42:18Yes, and generations since. My son plays with it.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21Well, I have to say, this is a quite remarkable collection,
0:42:21 > 0:42:23and it's wonderful to see
0:42:23 > 0:42:28because, I mean, Jane Austen is the Holy Grail
0:42:28 > 0:42:30for a lot of literary collectors,
0:42:30 > 0:42:33she's absolutely up there with the gods
0:42:33 > 0:42:37and to see all this which is directly related to her, is a great treat.
0:42:37 > 0:42:41And we have to put values on the items.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44I think probably the daguerreotype of her nephew
0:42:44 > 0:42:47is worth maybe a few hundred pounds.
0:42:47 > 0:42:50Again with the family connection,
0:42:50 > 0:42:55the game with the cups and ball there, about the same sort of value.
0:42:55 > 0:42:59The silhouette, as it's not directly related, but it's great fun,
0:42:59 > 0:43:03and that's probably worth £150, £200.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06- This I think is superb, and lovely condition.- Yes.
0:43:06 > 0:43:10I wouldn't be surprised if a game collector, if it came on the market,
0:43:10 > 0:43:14would pay several hundred pounds for that, it's quite delightful.
0:43:14 > 0:43:18But this is the piece de resistance, absolutely wonderful.
0:43:18 > 0:43:22And used by Jane Austen frequently.
0:43:22 > 0:43:25And if that came up on the market
0:43:25 > 0:43:31and was accepted by potential buyers as definitely being Jane Austen's,
0:43:31 > 0:43:34I would expect that to fetch
0:43:34 > 0:43:37something in the region of £20,000, £25,000.
0:43:37 > 0:43:41- Goodness me.- Well, it is literary history, no more, no less.- Yes.
0:43:41 > 0:43:45And it's been a complete joy to see it, thank you very much indeed.
0:43:45 > 0:43:48Thank YOU very much.
0:43:48 > 0:43:51According to my information, the estuary of the River Exe
0:43:51 > 0:43:55is an important habitat for wading and migrating birds,
0:43:55 > 0:43:57which makes it a perfect place for the experts
0:43:57 > 0:44:01because they love a place to snuffle around and then move on from.
0:44:01 > 0:44:06We've all agreed we like Exmouth so much, we shall be a little sad to leave, but leave we must.
0:44:06 > 0:44:09And so, until the next time, from Devon, goodbye.