0:00:02 > 0:00:06We've packed our bucket and spade this week for one of our great British seaside resorts.
0:00:06 > 0:00:08Welcome to the Roadshow from Bridlington.
0:00:46 > 0:00:50Apart from our desire to explore all corners of the country,
0:00:50 > 0:00:53we've been drawn to this part of the Yorkshire coast for a special reason.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01Each week we hear our experts wax lyrical about beautiful objects
0:01:01 > 0:01:03brought along to the show,
0:01:03 > 0:01:06so today, alongside the normal Roadshow, we're asking our experts
0:01:06 > 0:01:12to choose which era they believe produced the finest, most beautifully crafted objects -
0:01:12 > 0:01:14when was the ultimate age of elegance?
0:01:19 > 0:01:21So where could we stage such a show?
0:01:24 > 0:01:28How about a highly fashionable resort of the Edwardian era?
0:01:28 > 0:01:32The Bridlington Spa and Gardens was a clever idea, recognising
0:01:32 > 0:01:35that rain was as likely as sunshine during a typical British summer.
0:01:35 > 0:01:40It combined exterior and interior space for 5,000 people,
0:01:40 > 0:01:42right on the edge of the beach.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46From the very start, the riff-raff were strictly excluded -
0:01:46 > 0:01:50people deemed as objectionable were banned from admission.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54So all came to the spa in the best and most fashionable outfits.
0:01:57 > 0:02:02Tragically, two fires ravaged the original buildings in the early 20th century
0:02:02 > 0:02:05and in the 1930s a new centre was erected on the site,
0:02:05 > 0:02:08the Spa Royal Hall,
0:02:08 > 0:02:12and the resort saw something of a revival in the Art Deco era.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16It was a great venue in the days of the tea dance.
0:02:16 > 0:02:22One band leader described it as certainly the finest dance and concert hall on the coast.
0:02:27 > 0:02:29It's taken some knocks since then,
0:02:29 > 0:02:33so for the last two years it's been closed for a complete face-lift.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38And here she is today, looking a million dollars.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42What a perfect backdrop for this special edition of the Roadshow,
0:02:42 > 0:02:44celebrating the very best of elegant design.
0:02:44 > 0:02:47Let's see what beautiful lines catch our experts' eyes,
0:02:47 > 0:02:51as they start uncovering treasures brought along by our visitors.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55This is a beautiful Royal Worcester figure.
0:02:55 > 0:02:57She's known as the Bather Surprised
0:02:57 > 0:03:02but I'm always puzzled at the title. She doesn't look surprised at all!
0:03:02 > 0:03:04I think she's been expecting it to happen all along!
0:03:04 > 0:03:06She's a gorgeous girl,
0:03:06 > 0:03:10modelled by Sir Thomas Brock who was a great Victorian modeller.
0:03:10 > 0:03:15He actually designed the great central Queen Victoria Monument
0:03:15 > 0:03:18outside Buckingham Palace, so he was an important chap.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21- He made this model for Royal Worcester.- Right.
0:03:21 > 0:03:24- The colours are very 1920s.- Right.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28Earlier on they were stained ivory, darker in colour,
0:03:28 > 0:03:32- but she's a very boisterous modern girl of the time.- Yes, yes.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35And she's done in three different sizes. A large one,
0:03:35 > 0:03:38this is the medium size, and a little baby.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41But I think she's gorgeous. How did you come by it?
0:03:41 > 0:03:47It belonged to my grandma and I inherited it when she passed away.
0:03:47 > 0:03:51My grandparents were travellers with the fairground
0:03:51 > 0:03:58and I always remember that she said that it travelled in the wagon with them.
0:03:58 > 0:04:02They used to have to lay it on the bed when they moved from fairground to fairground,
0:04:02 > 0:04:06- and wrapped it in bedding to keep it safe.- She took it to fairs with her?
0:04:06 > 0:04:08Yes, because she loved it so much.
0:04:08 > 0:04:12- Golly.- But always as a child I used to see it in her bedroom
0:04:12 > 0:04:16and admired it and always hoped it would be mine one day, which it was.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19Because fairground people love porcelain.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22- They love especially Royal Worcester.- Yes.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25- Did they use to have any fruit plates?- Yes.
0:04:25 > 0:04:27I've got two fruit plates on my wall as well.
0:04:27 > 0:04:29- They loved fruit plates. - They're gorgeous.
0:04:29 > 0:04:35They came to the Worcester factory when I was there and asked me to let them have pieces from the museum.
0:04:35 > 0:04:40"Well, I'll buy that, Governor. I'll give you any money you like." Of course I couldn't sell them.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42She always had some lovely pieces did my grandma.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45- She seemed to have a good taste for nice things.- Wonderful.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49Wonderful to think this travelled round the country with the fair.
0:04:49 > 0:04:51Especially here at Bridlington of course
0:04:51 > 0:04:54- with all the marvellous fairground things here.- Yes.
0:04:54 > 0:04:57- Fascinating life, really.- It is lovely.- Going to all these places.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00I'm very proud of my, you know, family history.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03I'm sure, quite right to be, too.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05But she's a beautiful girl.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09She has one little bit of damage, I see. The thumb has come off.
0:05:09 > 0:05:13Yeah, that's been there as long as I've known, right from a child.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15- Don't worry too much about that. - All right.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18It's not too noticeable. But she's a gorgeous girl.
0:05:18 > 0:05:23I suppose in this condition one would expect for this size of figure
0:05:23 > 0:05:27- to be something like about £1,250. - Right.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30- So she's jolly, jolly nice. - She is.- So look after her.
0:05:30 > 0:05:31- Oh, I do. I do.- But she's beautiful.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33She is lovely.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39Do you know, this is the most remarkable collection,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42this double album here of cricketers, footballers.
0:05:42 > 0:05:46They're all little caricatures and they're all signed.
0:05:46 > 0:05:52- Where did they come from?- My father started collecting and did all the drawings when he was about 20.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54And he sent off for the signatures?
0:05:54 > 0:05:59Yes, he would send a letter and then hopefully get a reply with an autograph.
0:05:59 > 0:06:00I think it's quite amazing.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03Here we've got Jack Buchanan and Fred Astaire,
0:06:03 > 0:06:06- but they're both signed photographs, aren't they?- Oh, yes.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10Which is rather nice. I don't know how he managed to get hold of those.
0:06:10 > 0:06:15- If we go further on into the albums, we get things like Amy Johnson.- Yes.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18- And of course...- Of course. - She's a Bridlingtonian, isn't she?
0:06:18 > 0:06:21Hull and then... Yes, she's from Hull, yes.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25- Yes, and the first person to fly to Australia.- Yes, that's right.
0:06:25 > 0:06:30First woman to fly to Australia, first person to fly to Australia single-handed.
0:06:30 > 0:06:33And here is a picture of her craft.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35Desert Cloud.
0:06:35 > 0:06:36And we go on even further.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38Just finally here, this one caught my eye,
0:06:38 > 0:06:43which is of "Yours sincerely John Tenniel."
0:06:43 > 0:06:47- He was the man who... - Oh, the illustrator?- The Alice man.
0:06:47 > 0:06:48He did all those.
0:06:48 > 0:06:51There is a nice photograph of him.
0:06:51 > 0:06:54So he must have got him very early. I mean, I don't think he...
0:06:55 > 0:06:58He was basically a 19th century figure, wasn't he?
0:06:58 > 0:07:03- Well, he probably had some given by some other people. - Do you reckon?- I don't remember.
0:07:03 > 0:07:07- Swapsies or something like that? - Possibly something of the sort.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11So, it's a ridiculous thing to say, but did your father,
0:07:11 > 0:07:14did your father-in-law, actually love this collection?
0:07:14 > 0:07:16Oh, yes, he adored it!
0:07:16 > 0:07:20We were bombed out during the war and we all survived,
0:07:20 > 0:07:22but I think my father would grab
0:07:22 > 0:07:25the autograph books before wife and children!
0:07:25 > 0:07:31You've got hundreds and hundreds of these. 200, 250... I mean, just by looking through
0:07:31 > 0:07:36and having enthusiasm for some and possibly not so much for others,
0:07:36 > 0:07:38but they're all remarkable.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41It is remarkable to get a collection together like this,
0:07:41 > 0:07:42so comprehensive,
0:07:42 > 0:07:45- and such fun to look at.- Yes.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48I would put a price of about £1,500 to £2,000.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50- Really?- Yes.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53There you are. That's another unexploded bomb to take home!
0:07:53 > 0:07:54THEY CHUCKLE
0:07:54 > 0:07:56- Thanks for bringing them in. - Thank you.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02CROWDS DROWN SPEECH
0:08:03 > 0:08:05As you saw at the top of the programme,
0:08:05 > 0:08:08there's a good reason why we chose the Spa Bridlington for our venue,
0:08:08 > 0:08:13with its echoes of Art-Deco elegance, it's the perfect place
0:08:13 > 0:08:18to talk to some of our experts about which era they would choose as the ultimate age of elegance.
0:08:18 > 0:08:20Hilary Kay, you've got opening honours today.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24The kind of stuff you've brought is the stuff that reminds me of my parents' era.
0:08:24 > 0:08:26OK. Did you keep it?
0:08:26 > 0:08:28Should I have done?
0:08:28 > 0:08:29Well, wait and see.
0:08:29 > 0:08:32I think what I have to say
0:08:32 > 0:08:35is that the era that I've chosen, the 1950s, I've chosen because
0:08:35 > 0:08:41it's so full of optimism, it's so full of brand-new stuff.
0:08:41 > 0:08:46After the war almost anything goes,
0:08:46 > 0:08:48and the few things we've got here
0:08:48 > 0:08:50are a reflection of that.
0:08:50 > 0:08:55I suppose I also know 1950s things from my parents and from my grandparents,
0:08:55 > 0:09:00and it strikes a chord in me. There's a sort of resonance there.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02And looking at these things,
0:09:02 > 0:09:05they're not all icons but some of them certainly are.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08Let's look. This is so distinctive a fabric, these kind of patterns.
0:09:08 > 0:09:13This is perhaps the most influential piece of fabric design
0:09:13 > 0:09:15that you and I will see. It's called Calyx.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17It's designed by Lucienne Day.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20It was described as, "If you can't afford
0:09:20 > 0:09:25"a piece of abstract art, at least you can have them on your curtains."
0:09:25 > 0:09:28And that's what it is. Inspired by Calder and by Miro,
0:09:28 > 0:09:33this was designed for the zenith of design of the period,
0:09:33 > 0:09:36- ie the Festival Of Britain. - When you look at this,
0:09:36 > 0:09:42can this claim to be part of the British ultimate age of elegance?
0:09:42 > 0:09:45- Because Scandinavia had a big influence.- You're absolutely right.
0:09:45 > 0:09:51I think that the whole use of Scandinavian light materials,
0:09:51 > 0:09:57new fabrics, new types of manufacture, created a whole different look.
0:09:57 > 0:10:02I think that if one looks at this light and airy furniture,
0:10:02 > 0:10:07the stick-like legs, the uses of different woods,
0:10:07 > 0:10:09different shapes,
0:10:09 > 0:10:12the sparseness of the decoration,
0:10:12 > 0:10:13it speaks volumes to me.
0:10:13 > 0:10:18And the fact that we are now all returning to this look
0:10:18 > 0:10:21is a testament of its longevity and its influence.
0:10:21 > 0:10:25But not to the fashions of course, we're not returning to the fashions particularly.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29They really were remarkable back then in the '50s.
0:10:29 > 0:10:35They were. Again if one goes back to that sort of rebellion against all those restrictions of war time
0:10:35 > 0:10:39and with somebody like Dior, for instance, when he created the New Look,
0:10:39 > 0:10:43suddenly in came the hour-glass figure, femininity,
0:10:43 > 0:10:45luxury, wastefulness.
0:10:45 > 0:10:51All these things that were absolutely forbidden for the previous five, ten years.
0:10:51 > 0:10:58And it also meant subliminally that women were to be looked at in a different way.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01At the end of the war, the soldiers came back,
0:11:01 > 0:11:05the girls had to give up their jobs to give jobs for soldiers.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07They became housewives.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11What could be more applicable to this new housewife generation
0:11:11 > 0:11:12than the Dior dresses?
0:11:31 > 0:11:34- This is a very sort of classic boxing training pose.- Yes.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38- Who is he?- That is my grandfather who was born Cyril Hills
0:11:38 > 0:11:42out of Manchester, who boxed under the name of Darkie Ellis,
0:11:42 > 0:11:46became a Bridlington man and married a Bridlington lady.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49OK, I'm going to ask the obvious question.
0:11:49 > 0:11:51What happened to the genes?
0:11:51 > 0:11:52SHE LAUGHS
0:11:52 > 0:11:55Lightened along the years, I think.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59I would never have believed he was your grandfather. Did you know him?
0:11:59 > 0:12:02Unfortunately not. I wish I had.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06- His stories would have been wonderful.- Yes. What about your grandmother?
0:12:06 > 0:12:09My grandmother passed away last year at the age of 92.
0:12:09 > 0:12:10So you had lots from her?
0:12:10 > 0:12:13Yes, lots. She was quite reticent about the past.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16It was, "What's in the past is in the past. It doesn't matter."
0:12:16 > 0:12:21- Were there secrets? - There possibly are. That's for me to find out as I go along, I think.
0:12:21 > 0:12:25- Why did he change his name? - No idea, total mystery to us.
0:12:25 > 0:12:30I'm told that his mother and his sisters actually had a business on Bridlington Beach
0:12:30 > 0:12:34as fortune tellers and made a very comfortable living.
0:12:34 > 0:12:35So he was a sort of showman?
0:12:35 > 0:12:40Definitely. He actually, I believe, boxed in the fairground boxing booths as well.
0:12:40 > 0:12:45Right, so we're going into a very sort of basic level of boxing at that point.
0:12:45 > 0:12:47This is dated 1933.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50He's there with... Is that his manager?
0:12:50 > 0:12:52I don't think it's his manager.
0:12:52 > 0:12:56- I think it's probably one of his trainers.- Right.
0:12:56 > 0:12:57He's a stylish, elegant man.
0:12:57 > 0:13:02- I think he definitely was for the era that he came from.- Yes.
0:13:02 > 0:13:04They look a classic lot, don't they?
0:13:04 > 0:13:08- They definitely are!- Real sort of heavies of that sort of sport.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11- There he is.- That's right.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13Now let's think about his name.
0:13:13 > 0:13:16I mean, today nobody would call themselves that.
0:13:16 > 0:13:20And yet he was called Cyril, but he chose to be called Darkie.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23I suppose that was accepting his popular name.
0:13:23 > 0:13:28He must have chosen to call himself that, so I imagine that was his nickname anyway.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31I would imagine so. If you speak to people around Bridlington
0:13:31 > 0:13:35- who can remember that era, they always knew Darkie Ellis.- Yeah.
0:13:35 > 0:13:39- So we've got here a lovely scrapbook.- That's right.
0:13:39 > 0:13:44- These are his bouts, aren't they? - They are his bouts.
0:13:44 > 0:13:47"England's best middleweights, Darkie Ellis and Donald Keys."
0:13:47 > 0:13:49What was his status in this sport?
0:13:49 > 0:13:51Was he just a local boxer? Did he make good?
0:13:51 > 0:13:53I think he made quite good.
0:13:53 > 0:13:57At one time he was classed middleweight champion of England, of Northern England...
0:13:57 > 0:14:01- Yes, it was regional at that point. - That's right, it was regional.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04Now that's interesting. Is that your grandmother?
0:14:04 > 0:14:06That is my grandmother, yes.
0:14:06 > 0:14:08They're a stylish couple.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10It's like gangster's moll.
0:14:10 > 0:14:15- Exactly!- The Untouchables sort of era.- It's straight out of Al Capone.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17It is, it's fantastic. I love it.
0:14:17 > 0:14:21My grandmother went on to become a very well known local landlady
0:14:21 > 0:14:24in Bridlington and she ran the Crown Hotel in Bridlington
0:14:24 > 0:14:26for a very long time later on in life.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28Yeah. I think it's a great story.
0:14:28 > 0:14:32- We haven't talked about the poster. What a great image.- It's fantastic.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35Now what we're looking at here is an international.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37Belgium versus England,
0:14:37 > 0:14:41Four Belgian boxers, four British boxers, including...
0:14:41 > 0:14:45There he is. And he's obviously the great hero of the time.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49He's the most important person, the feature on the poster.
0:14:49 > 0:14:52It brings to life not just him, but that whole sort of sense
0:14:52 > 0:14:54of what boxing was as a popular sport.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56This is quite a valuable item.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58One, it's a sporting poster.
0:14:58 > 0:15:01Move yourself away from your family connections.
0:15:01 > 0:15:04It's a great image, it's also about black history.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07Now black history is something that
0:15:07 > 0:15:10we are becoming increasingly, quite rightly, aware of.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13It's so much a part of our culture in Britain.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16It doesn't start in 1948-49, it goes back much longer.
0:15:16 > 0:15:19And images like this underline the fact that
0:15:19 > 0:15:24we have a very, very strong black cultural history going back to the 18th century.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27Therefore today that would be a very desirable object
0:15:27 > 0:15:29because it focuses very much on that.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32There he is, as I say, no colour differentiation.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35He's one of a team fighting for England against Belgium.
0:15:35 > 0:15:38You've got a poster here which is worth several hundred pounds.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41But that's in a sense incidental.
0:15:41 > 0:15:42You need to know that.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45What you've got to do, and it's not for me to tell you,
0:15:45 > 0:15:48but it's such a fantastic story, you've got to find out more!
0:15:48 > 0:15:52lots and lots of questions, and to go back to the beginning,
0:15:52 > 0:15:57- what happened to the genes?- Exactly, Pandora's box I always associate... - Well, it may be tricky,
0:15:57 > 0:15:59- but you've got to open it. Thank you.- Thank you.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04Now, I've travelled all over Yorkshire
0:16:04 > 0:16:08and I have yet to come across a Yorkshire tea plantation.
0:16:08 > 0:16:12so I can't fathom out how come you've got Yorkshire Tea.
0:16:12 > 0:16:16But one thing's for certain, you like your teapots big!
0:16:16 > 0:16:19I mean, this is the biggest county in England...
0:16:19 > 0:16:24Hang on, hang on, Eric. Yours may be big, but mine is bigger.
0:16:24 > 0:16:25- Oh ho!- What do you make of that?
0:16:25 > 0:16:31- Hey, I have to concede defeat that is a whopper.- It is.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34It is a whopper but unfortunately my spout is not quite as big as yours.
0:16:34 > 0:16:37You have upstaged me here.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40- But do you realise? Look at your arm, Eric.- I'm doing it!
0:16:40 > 0:16:42You've gone into teapot mode.
0:16:43 > 0:16:45Short and stout. Yes, exactly.
0:16:45 > 0:16:47But the problem with our teapot is
0:16:47 > 0:16:50that somebody did obviously try to pour tea out of this. Was it you?
0:16:50 > 0:16:53- No.- You haven't tried pouring out of this?
0:16:53 > 0:16:56Because the burden of tea in there would be ridiculous.
0:16:56 > 0:17:01And so our handle, I'm afraid, has taken a turn for the worse.
0:17:01 > 0:17:03Was yours seriously for tea?
0:17:03 > 0:17:06This? This is the sort of thing they'd use for Sunday schools
0:17:06 > 0:17:08because this is a late Victorian one.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11I just love it because it's like brand-new.
0:17:11 > 0:17:14But that started off life definitely east of Whitby, didn't it?
0:17:14 > 0:17:19Yes, this is from Japan, around the year 1900. Yours is...?
0:17:19 > 0:17:25Well, this is maybe 1890-1900. So they're of a similar vintage.
0:17:25 > 0:17:26Both enamelled.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29Beautifully done. Yours obviously in the right style.
0:17:29 > 0:17:34And mine... Well, what's yours worth? Because does size matter?
0:17:34 > 0:17:36I'm afraid it does, Eric. Ha-ha!
0:17:36 > 0:17:37This is spectacular.
0:17:37 > 0:17:39Beautiful enamelling, damaged though it may be,
0:17:39 > 0:17:44- it's probably worth somewhere in the region of £2,000.- Gosh!
0:17:44 > 0:17:47Well, at this end,
0:17:47 > 0:17:52- we're nearer £200.- Right.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55But given the choice,
0:17:55 > 0:17:59I'd rather take this one home with me. No disrespect over there.
0:17:59 > 0:18:02- This is a working teapot.- It is.- Yes.
0:18:02 > 0:18:04And has that done a few charities?
0:18:04 > 0:18:07- It has, it has indeed. - And it's been in the family?
0:18:07 > 0:18:10Yes, many years. It belonged to my great aunt
0:18:10 > 0:18:14who had three of these giant teapots which she used.
0:18:14 > 0:18:17So, as they say in this part of the world,
0:18:17 > 0:18:19"You can sup some stuff out of that."
0:18:19 > 0:18:20There's a good few cups in that.
0:18:20 > 0:18:23- 50 cups.- Ooh!- 50 cups.
0:18:23 > 0:18:24- Only in Yorkshire. - SHE LAUGHS
0:18:26 > 0:18:29Of course, I'm just looking at his bird.
0:18:29 > 0:18:31LAUGHTER
0:18:31 > 0:18:33But isn't he magnificent, that bird?
0:18:33 > 0:18:36- It's a lovely bird.- Is it a falcon?
0:18:36 > 0:18:40It's a falcon and I've always been told it's a peregrine falcon.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44- Peregrine falcons have royal connotations. - Yes, they're royal birds.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46That's very interesting
0:18:46 > 0:18:50- They've got wonderful mottled plumage on their underbellies.- Yes.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54- They have longer wings, longer than a hawk anyway.- That's right.
0:18:54 > 0:18:57And actually looking back from his wonderful plumage,
0:18:57 > 0:18:59what about his owner's?
0:18:59 > 0:19:00Well...
0:19:00 > 0:19:06This is one of my forebears. It's my father's family.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10We don't know an awful lot about him but it's always been in the family
0:19:10 > 0:19:12and probably most of the time in Yorkshire.
0:19:12 > 0:19:17What I like is this wonderful silk doublet that he's wearing
0:19:17 > 0:19:21with slashed silk revealing this lovely colour underneath.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25And I suppose these might be pearls or some kind of braiding,
0:19:25 > 0:19:28or maybe silver. Certainly he's got rather a smart belt
0:19:28 > 0:19:33with gold fittings and obviously a gold dagger handle there.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37All this means that he's a man of rank, I think.
0:19:37 > 0:19:39Well, this is what's interesting.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42The peregrine falcon and the royal connection,
0:19:42 > 0:19:46so the story in our family is that he was actually a falconer to the king,
0:19:46 > 0:19:48the king being James I.
0:19:48 > 0:19:53- Yes.- Now there's no documentary evidence for that as far as I know,
0:19:53 > 0:19:56but that's the story that's come down to us.
0:19:56 > 0:20:01And then round his tunic here you've got this silken rope,
0:20:01 > 0:20:04it seems to be silk. Then I think that's a lure, isn't it?
0:20:04 > 0:20:06I suppose it could be. Which goes round like that.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10Yes, swing it around his head to attract the bird's attention,
0:20:10 > 0:20:13after he's loosed it, to get it back again.
0:20:13 > 0:20:14So all the detail is there.
0:20:14 > 0:20:16Whoever's painted this
0:20:16 > 0:20:20- has understood the falconry side of things very well, hasn't he?- Yes.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24It's painted in oils on this very large panel,
0:20:24 > 0:20:27which is actually several pieces of wood joined together,
0:20:27 > 0:20:30so I think from the costume that it's about 1620.
0:20:30 > 0:20:35- Right.- Which is incidentally about 15 years after Guy Fawkes.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38- Yes.- Just to place it, you know, in the reign of James I.
0:20:38 > 0:20:39In terms of authorship,
0:20:39 > 0:20:43we're beginning to be able to put names to pictures
0:20:43 > 0:20:47of this vintage rather more accurately than we had been able to.
0:20:47 > 0:20:50And in this case, it's just possible...
0:20:50 > 0:20:52There was an artist called John Souch
0:20:52 > 0:20:56working in Chester at around this time,
0:20:56 > 0:20:58who covered much of the north of England.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02It's possible that it's got his dabs on it, as it were.
0:21:02 > 0:21:04Um, you asked me about condition.
0:21:04 > 0:21:08- SHE LAUGHS Not good.- It's not brilliant, no.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11- I think there's a lot of original paint under here.- Yes.
0:21:11 > 0:21:12This area, which is water-damaged,
0:21:12 > 0:21:16- is as much in the varnish as it is in the paint.- Right.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19- Which is good news.- Yes. - I think there's some original paint under there.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23You don't really know until you start stripping it back.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25There is quite a lot of work to do to put it right,
0:21:25 > 0:21:28- to get it looking absolutely spiffing.- Yeah.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32But maybe £2,000 or £3,000 worth of work, as much as that.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35But then you've got to look at what value the painting is.
0:21:35 > 0:21:40- Falconry's very popular in the Middle East, from whence it came of course.- Yes.
0:21:40 > 0:21:41Any picture with a falcon in,
0:21:41 > 0:21:44the Arab market is going to get very excited about.
0:21:44 > 0:21:49- I'd be very surprised if it didn't make £20,000 or £30,000.- Right, yes.
0:21:49 > 0:21:50- Insure it for 30,000.- Right.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53OK, yes.
0:21:53 > 0:21:56- I know, it's a responsibility, isn't it?- It is, rather.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58But that's stewardship, isn't it?
0:21:58 > 0:22:01That's the thing about handing on family things,
0:22:01 > 0:22:04- you need to look after them. - I think that's exactly right.
0:22:06 > 0:22:08I'm having a nanny moment.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11- Are you having a nanny moment? - Oh, very much so, yes.
0:22:11 > 0:22:12Now, look.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14We've got five prams here.
0:22:16 > 0:22:20- I happen to know that this isn't the lot.- No, unfortunately.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24Now I think... Am I allowed to call you a bit of a prammy?
0:22:24 > 0:22:26You can call me a prammy. I'm proud to be a prammy.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29- How many have you got at home? - Another ten at home
0:22:29 > 0:22:31and another one on the way!
0:22:31 > 0:22:33THEY LAUGH
0:22:33 > 0:22:35And where are they all?
0:22:35 > 0:22:39We live in a large house so they've taken over the front living room
0:22:39 > 0:22:41and in the hallway and upstairs.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43They live indoors, the perfect climate for a pram.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46Absolutely. And do they get an outing ever?
0:22:46 > 0:22:48They get an outing most days unless it's raining.
0:22:48 > 0:22:51- We don't do rain in prams.- No, quite.
0:22:51 > 0:22:54But looking around...
0:22:54 > 0:22:58That's a pram dating from the latter part of the 19th century,
0:22:58 > 0:23:01slightly sort of Mary Poppins-esque.
0:23:01 > 0:23:03What I love about it
0:23:03 > 0:23:09is this fabulous barley twist brass handle at the front there.
0:23:09 > 0:23:14Huge wheels and the forerunner of everything else we see here today.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17So the prams that we're looking at around and about here
0:23:17 > 0:23:19are mostly 1950s and '60s.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21Yes, yeah.
0:23:21 > 0:23:26You've concentrated on that particular period, haven't you? Why?
0:23:26 > 0:23:29I think it's deep bodies and big wheels for me.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31I just love the shape of the pram.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35I just think they're absolute beauties of craftsmanship.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37In the 1950s, there were certain companies
0:23:37 > 0:23:40which were top of the range, weren't there?
0:23:40 > 0:23:43- Yes.- And I would have thought... Was LBC one of them?
0:23:43 > 0:23:47- LBC was one of them, Marmet. - This being a Marmet.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50Particularly in the Queen. The Queen is the actual model name.
0:23:50 > 0:23:55- Right.- And they followed with a Lady and a Marmet Princess.- Oh, right.
0:23:55 > 0:23:56And so it goes on and on.
0:23:56 > 0:24:02What I think is very telling is that in fact it was often a make of pram
0:24:02 > 0:24:06that sold the job to the nanny.
0:24:06 > 0:24:08Oh, yes, that's very true.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12I think a house, a mum, would advertise saying,
0:24:12 > 0:24:14"Nanny required. We have a Marmet pram."
0:24:14 > 0:24:17Or a London Baby Coach, whatever.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20That usually filled the vacancy.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24I was trying earlier to work out what the collective name
0:24:24 > 0:24:25for a group of prams is.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27I've come up with the name a push of prams.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30- Oh, very good! - It's definitely a push of prams.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33- Yes.- And as far as value's concerned.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37What do you put on something?
0:24:37 > 0:24:43A classic pram from the 1960s in really tip-top, restored condition?
0:24:43 > 0:24:47Well, I think like any collector it depends on the make and model.
0:24:47 > 0:24:51If it's a pram that you want, you will pay like any collector would.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53The most I paid for my prams was the Queen.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56She was the model I always wanted and I absolutely adore her.
0:24:56 > 0:25:01She'll never be sold. To me she's priceless and I paid £700 for her.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04- And in this...? - In restored condition.- Very good.
0:25:04 > 0:25:09If she wasn't in that condition, especially if the wheels need rechroming,
0:25:09 > 0:25:12I would only maybe pay £250, £350.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16Well, I hope you've got lots of grandchildren to put in these.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18Hopefully in a couple of years.
0:25:18 > 0:25:22- Daughter's just wed but hopefully yes.- She's working on it.- Yes.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26- Fantastic. Thank you for bringing in your push of prams.- Thank you.
0:25:28 > 0:25:32I've interrupted your busy day because I'm sure you have some strong views
0:25:32 > 0:25:34on the ultimate age of elegance.
0:25:34 > 0:25:39- What would you choose?- Well, mine would be the days of Charles II.
0:25:39 > 0:25:44Wonderful, wonderful flamboyant ways and wigs and hats with plumes.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48All gone. But of course the days before it,
0:25:48 > 0:25:51in the City of Worcester where I come from, were very different.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54Before Charles II came to the throne we had Oliver Cromwell
0:25:54 > 0:26:00and pots like this, you know, with poems on, and a chamber pot
0:26:00 > 0:26:03- to do your necessary. - Do your business.- Yes.
0:26:03 > 0:26:10And the poem says, "Fast and pray and pity the poor.
0:26:10 > 0:26:14"Amend thy life and sin no more."
0:26:14 > 0:26:17So you had to be pious even while you were answering a call of nature!
0:26:17 > 0:26:22But the only fun in life was sort of tipping it out of the window on top of a Roundhead's head!
0:26:22 > 0:26:24And then you get sent to prison.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28And of course it all changed so dramatically with Charles II.
0:26:28 > 0:26:31Oh, yes. Charles II came back and the Restoration.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34Everything is peacockish and wonderful, exciting.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38- And you get slipware like this made. I mean this is...- Seen this before!
0:26:38 > 0:26:42Well, this is a copy, a copy of the original Ozzie the owl.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46But you drink out of this and it's all full of fun. Gorgeous.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50And ornamentation, of course, and design and beauty.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53But life was like that. It grew exciting and wonderful.
0:26:53 > 0:26:55What do you think you'd have been doing?
0:26:55 > 0:26:57Well, I would have been a Cavalier.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00I hope, you know, because I helped Charles II escape
0:27:00 > 0:27:02after the Battle of Worcester...
0:27:02 > 0:27:05- Oh, you did, did you?- Oh, I did. - Right, OK!
0:27:05 > 0:27:08So I would have become a Cavalier.
0:27:08 > 0:27:11This little piece is just a fragment of a pot
0:27:11 > 0:27:13that I found in a well in Worcester.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16Now that's me, dressed up in a Cavalier's costume.
0:27:16 > 0:27:20- That's how I would have looked. - So you'd have liked the clothes?
0:27:20 > 0:27:23Oh, I would have loved it, with a waistcoat and a wig
0:27:23 > 0:27:26and a plumed hat and everything.
0:27:26 > 0:27:30You know, carrying a cane as you walk around the town
0:27:30 > 0:27:33and lovely gaiters and things.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35I can just picture myself dressed like that.
0:27:35 > 0:27:38BAROQUE MUSIC PLAYS
0:27:56 > 0:28:00It's tiny, it's a tig as big as a thimble.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03And is it yours?
0:28:03 > 0:28:06It's my wife's actually.
0:28:06 > 0:28:08It is ridiculously small for a tig.
0:28:08 > 0:28:11You know that a tig, or a loving cup as it's also known...
0:28:11 > 0:28:13- I thought it were a loving cup. - It is.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16The idea is you pass it down the bench.
0:28:16 > 0:28:19Three handles, so one handle to the next neighbour.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23They then turn it to the next and so it rotates as it goes down the line.
0:28:23 > 0:28:28- But that is ridiculously small for a tig, so it's a miniature.- Yeah.
0:28:28 > 0:28:30And do you know who it's by?
0:28:30 > 0:28:36Well, I think it's by Mackintosh, in't it? Is it Moorcroft Mackintosh?
0:28:36 > 0:28:38- Macintyre.- Macintyre, is it?
0:28:38 > 0:28:41Macintyre. It says Macintyre there.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43William Moorcroft was famously employed by them,
0:28:43 > 0:28:45that's where he made his name
0:28:45 > 0:28:48before going on to set up his own Moorcroft factory.
0:28:48 > 0:28:53Pretty little thing. Decorated with what? Cyclamen? I'm not a botanist.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56Beautiful thing, but it is very, very small.
0:28:56 > 0:28:59The real article...
0:28:59 > 0:29:02- Has it got to be bigger? - I'm afraid, the real article...
0:29:02 > 0:29:04A real tig should be this size.
0:29:04 > 0:29:10And if it were this size it would be worth getting on for £1,500.
0:29:10 > 0:29:15So we go from £1,500 down to...
0:29:17 > 0:29:19..£1,500.
0:29:19 > 0:29:20Mmm...
0:29:20 > 0:29:23That's £1,500?
0:29:23 > 0:29:25Because they say smaller the better.
0:29:25 > 0:29:26HE CHUCKLES
0:29:26 > 0:29:28So that's £1,500?
0:29:28 > 0:29:31It's small and exquisitely formed.
0:29:36 > 0:29:40Well, you've brought along today this most astonishing sword.
0:29:40 > 0:29:44Now it's made by Wilkinson and I happen to know quite a lot about it.
0:29:44 > 0:29:46But I'd like to hear the story from you.
0:29:46 > 0:29:51I acquired this in the late 1960s, about 1968.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54I'm a collector of edge weapons,
0:29:54 > 0:29:57and a dealer contact in Southend-on-Sea had this.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02I was quite astonished to be given the chance to obtain it,
0:30:02 > 0:30:05because I had bought a small German knife
0:30:05 > 0:30:08which he was fascinated with and we did a straight swap.
0:30:08 > 0:30:10I had a funny feeling I'd got the best of the deal.
0:30:10 > 0:30:15I just knew that at the time because I had a bit of information about the sword.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18What they told me was this was the pattern piece
0:30:18 > 0:30:22that had been used as a model for the swords made for the personal bodyguard
0:30:22 > 0:30:27of Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, in about 1928-1929.
0:30:27 > 0:30:31It's been in Wilkinson Sword's pattern room all that time.
0:30:31 > 0:30:33Now at about that time,
0:30:33 > 0:30:36Wilkinson went into private ownership
0:30:36 > 0:30:38and they cleared out a lot of their old stock.
0:30:38 > 0:30:40I was well delighted to get hold of it.
0:30:40 > 0:30:45I thought whatever the story, this has got to be a piece worth having.
0:30:45 > 0:30:49That's an astonishing story of how you actually obtained it.
0:30:49 > 0:30:53Haile Selassie of course, the Lion Of Judah,
0:30:53 > 0:30:57came to the throne I think in about 1930.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00He was Regent until about that time.
0:31:00 > 0:31:06These swords were made by Wilkinson, as you say, for his personal bodyguard.
0:31:06 > 0:31:09Now, the interesting thing about this is
0:31:09 > 0:31:14that Wilkinson's pattern piece, which this is,
0:31:14 > 0:31:20was the only one that was made with a hilt and a cross piece.
0:31:20 > 0:31:23All the others that were sent across to Ethiopia
0:31:23 > 0:31:26were sent without furnishings, as it's called.
0:31:26 > 0:31:27They were sent naked, if you like.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30There weren't very many others manufactured.
0:31:30 > 0:31:34There were 20 manufactured for Haile Selassie's bodyguard.
0:31:34 > 0:31:38Of course he was deposed in...what? 1973, 1974, something like that.
0:31:38 > 0:31:42So we don't know what's happened to the others. They may not exist any longer,
0:31:42 > 0:31:48they may be sitting rusting in some Ethiopian shed somewhere. Who knows?
0:31:48 > 0:31:50So this could be unique.
0:31:50 > 0:31:54It's the most beautifully-made sword, typically by Wilkinsons,
0:31:54 > 0:31:58who made lots and lots of decorative and commemorative swords.
0:31:58 > 0:32:04This has a wavy blade, this beautiful wavy blade,
0:32:04 > 0:32:06which is made of steel, of course.
0:32:06 > 0:32:11And it has this gorgeous, gorgeous gold and red flame effect
0:32:11 > 0:32:14running right the way down the blade.
0:32:14 > 0:32:18But the unique thing about this of course is the pattern.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20It's the pattern from which the others were judged.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23So there is not another one of these
0:32:23 > 0:32:26and that's what makes it interesting to me.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29So in the late '60s you swapped this for a knife.
0:32:29 > 0:32:35- Yes.- Worth £30?- £14 was the value of the knife.- £14! OK.
0:32:35 > 0:32:39I think today this sword is so unique,
0:32:39 > 0:32:43it's worth between £2,000 and £2,500.
0:32:43 > 0:32:45Not a bad investment.
0:32:46 > 0:32:47I'm surprised.
0:32:49 > 0:32:53My father was a vicar in Slaithwaite in Yorkshire
0:32:53 > 0:32:55and then it was in the vicarage
0:32:55 > 0:32:57and then it was moved to Cleckheaton.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00I really remember it from the Cleckheaton vicarage.
0:33:00 > 0:33:02I would be about nine years old then.
0:33:02 > 0:33:08I don't know where it came from, only that it was actually a gift from somebody to my father
0:33:08 > 0:33:15and it remained in the hallway in the vicarage as a centrepiece.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18My father absolutely adored it
0:33:18 > 0:33:24and, when he retired, he moved into a dormer bungalow
0:33:24 > 0:33:27and he even had it put on the staircase in the dormer bungalow
0:33:27 > 0:33:30going up the stairs so that he could see it every day.
0:33:30 > 0:33:33- So he loved the picture. - Absolutely adored it.
0:33:33 > 0:33:36And did he do any research on the painting at all?
0:33:36 > 0:33:39I don't think he did. I've done more of the research.
0:33:39 > 0:33:43I've tried to find things out but come to a dead end every time.
0:33:43 > 0:33:46- Well, I can help you there. - Ah, wonderful, fabulous.
0:33:46 > 0:33:51The picture is a copy after a Dutch artist who was working in Rome
0:33:51 > 0:33:56- in 1620, an artist called Gerrit van Honthorst.- Oh.
0:33:56 > 0:33:58And it is The Nativity.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01This is a 19th century copy of that picture.
0:34:01 > 0:34:03The real giveaway with this painting
0:34:03 > 0:34:05is the 19th century Florentine frame.
0:34:05 > 0:34:09- Right.- We call them sort of Palazzo Pitti frames.- Right.
0:34:09 > 0:34:13They're hand-carved Florentine frames of the 19th century
0:34:13 > 0:34:16and students and artists would copy the great masters
0:34:16 > 0:34:20that were hanging in the Uffizi and the Pitti Palazzo.
0:34:20 > 0:34:27In 1993, there was a car bomb that went off just outside the Uffizi
0:34:27 > 0:34:31and unfortunately The Nativity by Honthorst was destroyed.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34Two other major pictures by Manfredi were destroyed
0:34:34 > 0:34:37and also 30 great masters were damaged.
0:34:37 > 0:34:41So the original painting, a totally priceless painting,
0:34:41 > 0:34:43is no longer with us.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45And sadly also on that particular day
0:34:45 > 0:34:49when these great old masters were destroyed,
0:34:49 > 0:34:5226 people were wounded and six people died.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55There are only eight copies listed,
0:34:55 > 0:34:58- but undoubtedly there's more around the world.- Yes.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01The original painting that was destroyed
0:35:01 > 0:35:04was three times the size of your picture.
0:35:04 > 0:35:08Good gracious me! I thought mine was...big enough!
0:35:08 > 0:35:11And of course this oil on canvas,
0:35:11 > 0:35:15Honthorst would have been really influenced by Caravaggio,
0:35:15 > 0:35:16the great master of light.
0:35:16 > 0:35:20This was probably painted by... The original was painted by candlelight.
0:35:20 > 0:35:24You get a real sort of radiant light coming from baby Jesus,
0:35:24 > 0:35:29right through all the figures, right to the top. A kind of ray of hope.
0:35:29 > 0:35:31The light of the world.
0:35:31 > 0:35:33So in terms of value...
0:35:33 > 0:35:37The original oil painting by Honthorst, literally priceless,
0:35:37 > 0:35:39of course is no longer with us.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42But a copy, a 19th century copy after the picture
0:35:42 > 0:35:45is worth approximately £4,000 to £6,000.
0:35:45 > 0:35:48Very good. Lovely. Thank you very much indeed.
0:35:48 > 0:35:50Thank you very much.
0:35:52 > 0:35:54- So it's not a set of golf clubs, then?- No.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57It's something the ladies aren't allowed to see, I'm afraid.
0:35:57 > 0:36:01OK, hide your eyes, girls. Hide your eyes.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04Oh! It's very naughty!
0:36:04 > 0:36:06Have you seen one of these before?
0:36:06 > 0:36:08Can you see what it is yet?
0:36:10 > 0:36:11It's a lady on a potty.
0:36:11 > 0:36:13THEY CHUCKLE
0:36:13 > 0:36:15- It's more than that, isn't it?- Yes.
0:36:15 > 0:36:17Because it's a lady with a purpose.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21Now what does she do? Fly up this way? There we go. Whee!
0:36:21 > 0:36:26She does all sorts of things and on her bottom here she's got a blade
0:36:26 > 0:36:30and what she is, actually, is a cigar cutter.
0:36:30 > 0:36:32A novelty cigar cutter.
0:36:32 > 0:36:36OK, so how come you have got it?
0:36:36 > 0:36:39Because it's not a kind of girlie thing to have, is it, really?
0:36:39 > 0:36:44It's been passed down through the family. My great-great-grandad.
0:36:44 > 0:36:46That's about all I know about it.
0:36:46 > 0:36:50But I do know that the ladies in the family were never allowed to see it.
0:36:50 > 0:36:55It was always on his watch chain in his waistcoat pocket.
0:36:55 > 0:36:58And when asked, "No, you can't look at it."
0:36:58 > 0:37:01- It was his secret. - His secret.- His secret passion!
0:37:01 > 0:37:06Then when my mother inherited it, I was allowed to look at it.
0:37:06 > 0:37:08And told, you know, "It's the naughty lady."
0:37:08 > 0:37:09SHE GIGGLES
0:37:09 > 0:37:11I think she's great.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14Just the sort of thing that a grandfather should have
0:37:14 > 0:37:16on the end of a watch chain, actually.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19Something naughty and rather rascally.
0:37:19 > 0:37:22She's dating from around 1900, 1910.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25Made of brass. And in fact I would have said she's...
0:37:25 > 0:37:28Because she's such a cheeky little thing,
0:37:28 > 0:37:31I think she's going to have a reasonable value.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33I'd put her at about...
0:37:33 > 0:37:36Oh, £100, £120. I think she's terrific.
0:37:36 > 0:37:38Yes, I think she's gorgeous.
0:37:41 > 0:37:43In this splendid Art Deco building,
0:37:43 > 0:37:47we're asking some of our experts to choose their ultimate age of elegance.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50Eric Knowles, with the era you've chosen you should feel at home.
0:37:50 > 0:37:54I do. I mean this is Bridlington's Art-Deco temple. It really is.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57Yes, I mean, those inter-war years really do it for me
0:37:57 > 0:38:01because it was the age of Thoroughly Modern Millie,
0:38:01 > 0:38:04when it was stylish to raise your skirts and bob your hair.
0:38:04 > 0:38:06People just wanted to have a party.
0:38:06 > 0:38:08They'd had the horrors of the First World War
0:38:08 > 0:38:12and there's this new generation, this new emancipated woman,
0:38:12 > 0:38:17and they were able to get out and follow their heroes and heroines on the silver screen.
0:38:17 > 0:38:22Because Hollywood introduced glamour to the working classes in general.
0:38:22 > 0:38:24I mean, this figure is...
0:38:24 > 0:38:26This is Josef Lorenzl.
0:38:26 > 0:38:31I affectionately always refer to him as Legs Lorenzl.
0:38:31 > 0:38:32Here's this woman.
0:38:32 > 0:38:36I mean, she is the epitome of perfect health and form.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41Again this was an age where people took, you know,
0:38:41 > 0:38:45a great interest in their own health.
0:38:45 > 0:38:47Certainly the lines of this are beautiful.
0:38:47 > 0:38:49As indeed this cocktail shaker.
0:38:49 > 0:38:50Well, can I do it?
0:38:50 > 0:38:55You know, I've always fancied working at The Savoy behind the bar.
0:38:55 > 0:38:56SHE LAUGHS
0:38:56 > 0:38:59- You're wasted, Eric! - I love a good Manhattan.
0:38:59 > 0:39:02I know the perfect place in Manhattan that does it.
0:39:02 > 0:39:04Again, you look at something like that,
0:39:04 > 0:39:09we're moving through this Art Deco period into Modernism.
0:39:09 > 0:39:14Again, just to show you, I mean that could have come off a motor vehicle.
0:39:14 > 0:39:15Such a strange-looking thing.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18When it is a cocktail shaker, of course.
0:39:18 > 0:39:21After the First World War, we're talking about the 1920s,
0:39:21 > 0:39:25and people were coming out of such a desperately tragic time,
0:39:25 > 0:39:28and drabness and sadness. They wanted glamour and exoticism.
0:39:28 > 0:39:32They did. I mean the women, they got Rudolph Valentino.
0:39:32 > 0:39:35So that was the exotic side of it.
0:39:35 > 0:39:39When it comes to speed and streamline,
0:39:39 > 0:39:42everybody is moving forward.
0:39:42 > 0:39:45Think of Brooklands and Bugattis and Bentleys.
0:39:45 > 0:39:47And, "Anyone for tennis?"
0:39:47 > 0:39:50People became, you know, far more,
0:39:50 > 0:39:53for want of a better word, worldly.
0:39:53 > 0:39:56As far as elegance goes... Bugattis and that kind of thing,
0:39:56 > 0:39:59that was the ultimate elegance, but for the women it was the clothing.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02Especially the sort of shimmy dresses.
0:40:02 > 0:40:05Now bear in mind in their mothers' day,
0:40:05 > 0:40:08a glimpse of stocking was looked on as something shocking.
0:40:08 > 0:40:11Wow! all of a sudden legs are on the scene.
0:40:11 > 0:40:15And those dresses, they were designed to move
0:40:15 > 0:40:20because people would go out dancing in a way that they'd never done before.
0:40:20 > 0:40:25The dresses, you know, they were very, very streamlined.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28I mean, I look sometimes at the dresses and I see skyscrapers.
0:40:28 > 0:40:31JAZZ MUSIC PLAYS
0:40:46 > 0:40:50This is a work table, but there's a little story behind this.
0:40:50 > 0:40:54There is, yes. It's always ever been known as Granny's sewing table.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57It was left to me by my granny about 15 years ago.
0:40:57 > 0:41:02I can remember it from childhood, being in her bedroom
0:41:02 > 0:41:05with all her needles and threads and buttons.
0:41:05 > 0:41:09She never threw anything away, so she cut buttons off things and kept them in tins.
0:41:09 > 0:41:14There was always a piece of thread that would nearly match. If not quite perfectly, it would do.
0:41:14 > 0:41:18I always admired it and always played with it.
0:41:18 > 0:41:20When she died it was left to me.
0:41:20 > 0:41:25I think if it had been a work table it might have had a bag underneath
0:41:25 > 0:41:27but I can't ever remember there being a bag.
0:41:27 > 0:41:31This is how it's always been including the sort of bowed top.
0:41:31 > 0:41:34- Right, yes, warts and all. - Warts and all.
0:41:34 > 0:41:37What this is, actually, it's a Regency piece of furniture
0:41:37 > 0:41:41and the word is rosewood.
0:41:41 > 0:41:44When rosewood was first introduced it was known as princeswood.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48Because we had kingwood, or the French had kingwood,
0:41:48 > 0:41:52they found this wood and it was known as princeswood.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55So it's a highly sophisticated piece of furniture.
0:41:55 > 0:41:59- Really?- To me it's just beautifully drawn.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02It's made of rosewood veneer and satinwood.
0:42:02 > 0:42:05We have the top, which is crossbanded in satinwood,
0:42:05 > 0:42:13and down the legs it's simulated in bamboo in this lovely yellow colour
0:42:13 > 0:42:15which is again solid satinwood.
0:42:15 > 0:42:18Then it finishes in an elegant rosewood,
0:42:18 > 0:42:22rosewood legs inlaid with boxwood.
0:42:22 > 0:42:23Now what's so nice with this,
0:42:23 > 0:42:27you can imagine this in the early 19th century, round about 1810,
0:42:27 > 0:42:30that the Regency, or the late Georgian, household,
0:42:30 > 0:42:33they'd be sitting there.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36- Yes, you're right, it did have a long bag.- Right.
0:42:36 > 0:42:40- That would have been holding the wools and silks and things.- Yes.
0:42:40 > 0:42:43And then the lady of the house would have been sitting there
0:42:43 > 0:42:45elegantly doing her sewing.
0:42:45 > 0:42:48This is a really good piece of furniture.
0:42:48 > 0:42:53I would put a valuation on this around £5,000 or £6,000.
0:42:53 > 0:42:55Never!
0:42:56 > 0:42:58My word!
0:42:58 > 0:43:00Granny would be so thrilled.
0:43:00 > 0:43:04She would be absolutely thrilled to pieces, she really would.
0:43:04 > 0:43:09It's...it's just Granny.
0:43:11 > 0:43:14In among all the objects brought along by our visitors today,
0:43:14 > 0:43:18we've had a bit of fun with our experts choosing their ultimate age of elegance.
0:43:18 > 0:43:20I wonder which one you'd choose.
0:43:20 > 0:43:22I thought I'd join in the fun,
0:43:22 > 0:43:24so based on the criterion of fashion alone,
0:43:24 > 0:43:28I've plumped for the 1970s, and this vintage dress
0:43:28 > 0:43:32by that master of elegance, none other than Christian Dior.
0:43:32 > 0:43:36So from the very elegant Spa of Bridlington, bye-bye.