0:00:03 > 0:00:09This sculpture weighs one and a half tonnes and is made from 500,000 pieces of Welsh slate.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12It's wonderfully intricate.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15This is one of only a few memorials to an amazing man,
0:00:15 > 0:00:20whose brilliant mind helped win the Second World War.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22His name was Alan Turing.
0:00:22 > 0:00:29So welcome to a second helping of the Roadshow from Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire.
0:01:02 > 0:01:06When we think of the Second World War, images of armed combat and
0:01:06 > 0:01:11deadly force and military technology come to mind, but at Bletchley Park,
0:01:11 > 0:01:17the sheer force of ingenuity displayed in huts like these, played just as big a role.
0:01:19 > 0:01:24One of those ingenious minds belonged to a Cambridge mathematician, Alan Turing,
0:01:24 > 0:01:29who turned his brilliance into breaking German wartime codes.
0:01:31 > 0:01:35When the Germans sent secret messages, they encoded them
0:01:35 > 0:01:39into incoherent text so the British and the Allies couldn't read them.
0:01:39 > 0:01:44The messages were sent using a highly secret and very complicated machine.
0:01:50 > 0:01:54And this is the machine that was causing all the problems -
0:01:54 > 0:01:57the Enigma machine. Looks like a simple typewriter. But press a letter,
0:01:57 > 0:02:04each letter will generate a hundred and fifty million million million options.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08Once the Enigma messages were intercepted,
0:02:08 > 0:02:12they were passed to Turing and the code-breaking team in these huts.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15But the messages were so scrambled, it made the task
0:02:15 > 0:02:22of decoding them almost impossible, without the help of some new British boffin-type technology.
0:02:22 > 0:02:26So Turing built an elaborate machine called the Bomb,
0:02:26 > 0:02:29which, using a complicated sequence of wiring and rotors,
0:02:29 > 0:02:32could decode messages within hours.
0:02:34 > 0:02:39At a time when the British needed to defeat the Germans in the sea battles of the Atlantic,
0:02:39 > 0:02:44or to ensure the plans for invading France on D-Day in 1944 were kept secret,
0:02:44 > 0:02:50Turing's technology became a crucial element in tipping the balance in favour of the Allies.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58Without this secrecy and organisation, or the brilliant minds of Turing
0:02:58 > 0:03:05and the Bletchley Park team, Britain and the Allies would have fought a much longer and bloodier war.
0:03:05 > 0:03:09Today we're here to celebrate those heroic wartime achievements.
0:03:09 > 0:03:15Over to our experts, who are busy uncovering more secrets from the past.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18So I understand you know this very well as an umbrella stand.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22Mm. Yes, it was in our hallway as a child, we've just grown up with it
0:03:22 > 0:03:26and we used to put our umbrellas in there when we used to come in, and that's it.
0:03:26 > 0:03:31- And I also hear that before coming in, you sort of thought of washing it in the dishwasher.- Yes.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35My mother died a year ago and we was clearing out her bits and I said...
0:03:35 > 0:03:39Went to put it in the dishwasher and my sister said, "Ooh, don't put it in the dishwasher."
0:03:39 > 0:03:42I said, "well it's not going to a Lalique or anything."
0:03:42 > 0:03:43so as I turned it over,
0:03:43 > 0:03:46- there's a sign under there and... - Let's have a look.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49So it says "R Lalique",
0:03:49 > 0:03:53- so there is a chance that it's by R Lalique, isn't it?- That's...
0:03:53 > 0:03:56- So it didn't go in the dishwasher. - That's a bit of luck.- Yes.
0:03:56 > 0:04:02I mean we know this, this is called... This appears in the 1932 Rene Lalique catalogue,
0:04:02 > 0:04:04and it's called La Monnaie Du Pape.
0:04:04 > 0:04:11"Monnaie du Pape" in French translates as monnaie - money, du - of the,
0:04:11 > 0:04:12Pape - Pope.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16The Pope's money, but in English we know it as the garden plant honesty.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18- A flower.- As the flower. - Oh, I see. Oh, I can see it.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21And if you look at that... Hold on a minute, I hear pennies dropping!
0:04:21 > 0:04:25- Oh, I can see it now, right. Everyone thought it was grapes. - It's honesty.
0:04:25 > 0:04:32No, it's monnaie du Pape, and it's quite interesting, in that the colour is a good 'un.
0:04:32 > 0:04:37I mean, amethyst for Lalique is really good, because in this case it's not size that counts,
0:04:37 > 0:04:44it's colour, because a colourless version in this size of Monnaie Du Pape
0:04:44 > 0:04:46is worth £800 to £1,000,
0:04:46 > 0:04:53whereas an amethyst one, just like yours, is worth about £5,000.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55GIGGLING AND APPLAUSE
0:04:55 > 0:04:57Oh, dear.
0:04:57 > 0:05:02Oh, dear! I won't put it on the staircase landing then, where it's been.
0:05:02 > 0:05:07- Or the dishwasher.- Or the dishwasher, really? Oh, right, OK.
0:05:11 > 0:05:16This is the Japanese god Raiden,
0:05:16 > 0:05:19and he's the god of thunder
0:05:19 > 0:05:20- and wind.- Right.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24Ah, we'd always been told it was called the wind god, but...
0:05:24 > 0:05:27This is his wind in a bag, you see.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29The wind's coming out,
0:05:29 > 0:05:35and it's frightening all these poor little people down on the ground.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38They're peasants falling over one another
0:05:38 > 0:05:41and this one, interestingly, is lying on his stomach.
0:05:41 > 0:05:42Yes.
0:05:42 > 0:05:47And you do do that in a thunderstorm in Japan
0:05:47 > 0:05:53because the thunder god enters you through your navel,
0:05:53 > 0:05:56so if you're the other way up
0:05:56 > 0:06:02you've got a problem, so you lie down on the ground on your stomach.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05It's carved ivory, elephant ivory,
0:06:05 > 0:06:10very, very nicely done, well executed,
0:06:10 > 0:06:13the details are very fine,
0:06:13 > 0:06:19- he's got this sort of hairy skirt on which you would expect.- Yes.
0:06:19 > 0:06:27It works all the way round. What I like about this one particularly is
0:06:27 > 0:06:34the mark, which says Nobuaki who is the carver, and it's been carved
0:06:34 > 0:06:40and blackened in a very jagged way which suggests lightning.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43It's a very... You know...
0:06:43 > 0:06:47One in a million people would realise it, but it works.
0:06:47 > 0:06:49Where did he come from?
0:06:49 > 0:06:54Well, I believe it comes from my maternal grandfather who
0:06:54 > 0:06:59worked on ships in the Far East prior to the First World War.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01That is all I know about it.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04Do we know when he started then in ships?
0:07:04 > 0:07:05- Absolutely no idea.- Right.
0:07:05 > 0:07:11This just lived in my grandmother's house and that's all I know about it.
0:07:11 > 0:07:18Well, my feeling is, he would have had to have picked it up in the 1880s, 1890s...
0:07:18 > 0:07:20and I don't know whether that fits in with...
0:07:20 > 0:07:23I... Without doing some research I wouldn't know.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27Anyway, I think it's a lovely thing and I think it would make
0:07:27 > 0:07:32- somewhere in the region of £1,200 to £1,500.- Good grief!
0:07:32 > 0:07:36- That's all right, isn't it? - Yes, very nice, thank you very much indeed!- Not at all.
0:07:40 > 0:07:44This is a really robust-looking child's high chair
0:07:44 > 0:07:49made of solid oak so it's really stood the test of time.
0:07:49 > 0:07:54Nice little cushioned back there so the child can sort of rest against it,
0:07:54 > 0:07:58and here it is in its upright position, but unlike a lot of the chairs, high chairs
0:07:58 > 0:08:02that you see today, this actually has various positions to it, doesn't it?
0:08:02 > 0:08:04When did it come into your family?
0:08:04 > 0:08:11The first I know about it was when my own husband sat in it
0:08:11 > 0:08:15and his brother, 78 years ago, 80 years ago.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18- Yes, so around 1930.- Mm-hm.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21And I expect you're wondering whether it was brand new for your husband
0:08:21 > 0:08:26and his brother or whether it actually pre-dates that time.
0:08:26 > 0:08:30I know it pre-dates it, but I don't know how, by how much.
0:08:30 > 0:08:35Well, a generation roughly works out to be 25 years and I can tell you
0:08:35 > 0:08:42that this chair is around 100 years old, so around 1910 or thereabouts.
0:08:42 > 0:08:47So your husband would take it back to being three generations,
0:08:47 > 0:08:49but actually it does go back to one just before that.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51So this is its sort of normal eating position
0:08:51 > 0:08:57and there's a ratchet at the side so it goes down into a low position,
0:08:57 > 0:09:01and with the wheels, presumably it could be wheeled around a room
0:09:01 > 0:09:03- for a child to play in it.- Yes, mm.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06And then also it goes into a rocking position.
0:09:06 > 0:09:11- Rocking position, mm.- Keep any child happy for hours.- Oh, yes, yes.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15And as to its value, well, I happen to have a baby at home
0:09:15 > 0:09:18and, um I know how much these chairs cost,
0:09:18 > 0:09:23you know, a modern chair would cost now, roughly in the region of sort of £100,
0:09:23 > 0:09:29and quite bizarrely this has a very similar value, around £100 to £150.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33- Mm.- But if I was having to buy a chair, now, for a child,
0:09:33 > 0:09:36I'd certainly choose one like this, rather than a modern one.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38Yes, exactly.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41Thank goodness artists sign their pictures, and I know not all artists
0:09:41 > 0:09:46sign their pictures, but look at that little signature there...
0:09:46 > 0:09:51"ARA", and you can also tell, not just that the artist's name is Ara -
0:09:51 > 0:09:54in fact, his full name is Krishnaji Howlaji Ara -
0:09:54 > 0:09:59but you can also tell, just by looking at those letters, that they're slightly trembly...
0:09:59 > 0:10:03this is not someone who's used to writing.
0:10:03 > 0:10:07There's something very interesting behind these pictures, but how do they come into your life?
0:10:07 > 0:10:14Um, they belong to my father, he worked for The Times of India in Bombay in the early '50s.
0:10:14 > 0:10:20- Ah.- And the garage where he took his car to be serviced, Ara was working there as a mechanic
0:10:20 > 0:10:25and he, I'm not quite sure how my dad saw the pictures, but he did, and he went back
0:10:25 > 0:10:28and told the art editor at The Times of India, "There's this fantastic
0:10:28 > 0:10:32"artist down at the local garage, come and have a look at his work."
0:10:32 > 0:10:38And he came down and looked at it, and then they promoted his work through the newspaper, and I think
0:10:38 > 0:10:45it was part of a growing new trend of Indian artists at the time and he was one of the leading lights of it.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48This is slumdog millionaire stuff.
0:10:48 > 0:10:53We have an artist who came to Mumbai as a five or seven year old,
0:10:53 > 0:10:56you know, one of those kids that one sees around there on the streets.
0:10:56 > 0:11:01And then got a living of, you know, hardly much of a living, a paltry living
0:11:01 > 0:11:08and yet was spotted, but what's so compelling is, it was your father who spotted this artist.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11Well, that's the story that my mother always says, um, I do know for sure
0:11:11 > 0:11:16it was The Times of India that promoted his work, and there was a lot of confusion in my family
0:11:16 > 0:11:22because my aunts thought my mother had been the model for this picture, but I can assure you she wasn't.
0:11:22 > 0:11:27If we just look at the pictures briefly, take the top one here,
0:11:27 > 0:11:33there's a sort of spirited, busy, colourful, spontaneous quality to it.
0:11:33 > 0:11:38There are weaknesses in the drawing because we're talking about someone who wasn't trained,
0:11:38 > 0:11:45but we're talking about someone who can actually use just their character and their energy to overcome that.
0:11:45 > 0:11:50And you know, I love this, it's just full of incidental street detail,
0:11:50 > 0:11:53and that water carrier and the squatting figure,
0:11:53 > 0:11:57looks like she's washing with a piece of material in front of her, and then
0:11:57 > 0:12:01this couple of curious kids putting their head into what looks like
0:12:01 > 0:12:04a disused brazier, all real life.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07And then the one below, which is so very different from the one above,
0:12:07 > 0:12:10not least because the materials are different.
0:12:10 > 0:12:16He's using pastel, by the looks of it, chalk, charcoal, a little bit of watercolour, so it's not just
0:12:16 > 0:12:23the subject matter that differs, but for this self-taught kid, or at best in their teens, is producing
0:12:23 > 0:12:29this type of painting, which can hold its own, you know, in a western context, to tell you the truth.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33Sometimes you could argue that this type of work actually works better
0:12:33 > 0:12:35because it's not over-complicated
0:12:35 > 0:12:38by what's going on in the West, there's this purity about it.
0:12:38 > 0:12:42So I suppose we ought to talk about a valuation for these two pictures.
0:12:42 > 0:12:48The Indian economy, doing so well, I think has greatly underpinned the desirability of artists like this.
0:12:48 > 0:12:53- Oh, right. - And of course he's no Rembrandt, but he certainly has a place.
0:12:53 > 0:12:58I would therefore confidently say that the one above is probably
0:12:58 > 0:13:02an £800 to £1,200 picture, - it's busy and it's interesting.
0:13:02 > 0:13:03And the one beneath,
0:13:03 > 0:13:07well she's quite saucy and she's got quite a presence.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09I would say about £1,500.
0:13:09 > 0:13:14Right. Very nice, very nice to know, thank you very much.
0:13:14 > 0:13:19Now, you know, we hear a lot about global warming these days, but it's nothing really new.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23We've had global warming periods before, and this bit of furniture
0:13:23 > 0:13:27actually reflects an earlier global warming period.
0:13:27 > 0:13:34A warm period at the end of the 18th century, between 1780-1790 and 1800,
0:13:34 > 0:13:38those 20, 25 years were very hot and the heat allowed women
0:13:38 > 0:13:41to wear fashionable, very thin, empire-style dresses
0:13:41 > 0:13:46and languorously lie around on sofas and so forth.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50And in order to give them something to do in this new fashion,
0:13:50 > 0:13:55they wanted to write their casual letters and so forth, and little notes on a table
0:13:55 > 0:14:01which was conveniently made to pull over the end of the sofa, and that was the beginning of the sofa table.
0:14:01 > 0:14:04We didn't have a sofa table in 1770.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08Fashion and climate didn't allow it and didn't need it.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11- Yes.- So tell me the family history.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15Well, my father was a trainee auctioneer,
0:14:15 > 0:14:21and he bought this, in the '30s I guess, for the princely sum of 30 shillings.
0:14:21 > 0:14:22- Really?- Yeah.
0:14:22 > 0:14:24Thirty shillings.
0:14:25 > 0:14:31Well, we can date this sofa table quite accurately as being after 1800
0:14:31 > 0:14:33because it has a half-circle loop
0:14:33 > 0:14:38and a platform and then splayed feet coming off, and immediately that will
0:14:38 > 0:14:42tell you between 1800 and probably 1820, that 20-year period.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45- It's earlier than I thought. - Wonderful rosewood, isn't it?
0:14:45 > 0:14:48- Yeah.- I mean I'm going to lift this chap up here.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52I mean, these corners are beautiful and there's brass inlay
0:14:52 > 0:14:56which is tricky, because brass and wood aren't natural partners,
0:14:56 > 0:15:00one expands and contracts at a different rate to another,
0:15:00 > 0:15:02- but nevertheless you've got most of it still.- Yeah.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05It's a lovely colour,
0:15:05 > 0:15:11and these patterns were introduced after 1815 in a shop in London
0:15:11 > 0:15:13by a man called Gaigneur who came from Paris
0:15:13 > 0:15:15- and started his workshop here.- Yeah.
0:15:15 > 0:15:19So now we can narrow it down to 1815-1820 and that's what we do.
0:15:19 > 0:15:22- But I love it. You're not going to do anything with this, are you?- No.
0:15:22 > 0:15:27- I mean...- We polish it occasionally. - That's all.- Yes.
0:15:27 > 0:15:28If you try and do anything here...
0:15:28 > 0:15:32the problem with rosewood is that if you strip it to re-polish, it will go black.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36- Yeah.- And you'll lose that wonderful honey colour, and it's much better
0:15:36 > 0:15:40- like this because it looks like family, and it is family.- Oh, it is.
0:15:40 > 0:15:42I think it's really just as it should be.
0:15:42 > 0:15:47You'd expect a little shrinkage, you'd expect these to pop up from time to time.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49Just lovely. Now, 30 shillings,
0:15:49 > 0:15:52I'm going to stand back and have another look at it,
0:15:52 > 0:15:55- very handsome, isn't it?- I think so.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59The whole thing is a very... This was made by a very, very good workshop.
0:16:01 > 0:16:06- With something as handsome as this and of such great quality...- Yeah.
0:16:06 > 0:16:11Even in this condition, today's market, between £4,500 and £5,000.
0:16:11 > 0:16:16- That's what I'd have hoped.- I know that the value means nothing because the family are going to keep it.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19On the other hand, what I hope will be of greater interest,
0:16:19 > 0:16:23when you read again about global warming, just think of this table.
0:16:29 > 0:16:32Tom, that is a very fine bear, what do you know about him?
0:16:32 > 0:16:36The bear is from 1910.
0:16:36 > 0:16:39He's a Steiff.
0:16:39 > 0:16:44- Yes.- And he was given to my great grandfather by the Duchess of Bedford.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46That all sounds incredibly precise.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49How do you know the date so absolutely pinpointed?
0:16:49 > 0:16:53He was in a hospital that she set up, the cottage hospital in Woburn,
0:16:53 > 0:16:57and he was in there over Christmas 1910,
0:16:57 > 0:17:01and he was given this bear as a Christmas present by the Duchess.
0:17:01 > 0:17:07Brilliant. Um, now, I mean, he's a fine-looking bear, isn't he?
0:17:07 > 0:17:12I don't know why you need me, really, I think you know all about it! Do you...
0:17:12 > 0:17:15- Looking at the audience, do you like this bear?- Yes.
0:17:15 > 0:17:16- Lovely.- It's great, isn't it?
0:17:16 > 0:17:22He is, I mean there are teddies and there are teddies, some really speak to you and I think that he is one.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25Tom, what do you actually like about this bear in particular?
0:17:25 > 0:17:29The realistic features, especially the nose and the face and things.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33Exactly, I mean Steiff, the person who designed the Steiff bears,
0:17:33 > 0:17:36a chap called Richard Steiff, designed these bears
0:17:36 > 0:17:40by going to the zoo and actually sketching captive bears,
0:17:40 > 0:17:44so you're absolutely right, it does look bear-like and it's got all the classic features
0:17:44 > 0:17:53of a good quality Steiff bear, in that it's got long, very thick mohair fur,
0:17:53 > 0:17:57it's got these big black boot-button eyes
0:17:57 > 0:18:01and the proportions are quite interesting.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04I mean, a modern teddy bear is very human in proportions,
0:18:04 > 0:18:08whereas here, if you, if you put his arms down, you can see his...
0:18:08 > 0:18:13- the bottom of his arms actually come down to below his knees.- Yes.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16And he's got very long feet as well.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20Now, there's one reason for that...
0:18:20 > 0:18:23and that is because he was designed in fact
0:18:23 > 0:18:25to go on all fours.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27- Oh.- That's how they were designed. - Oh, right.
0:18:27 > 0:18:34So hence the actual proportions of his arms and legs, if you like, are very different to modern bears.
0:18:34 > 0:18:37- Does he have a name?- Oh, yes - Ernie.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39And he's called Ernie because...?
0:18:39 > 0:18:41His original owner was called Ernie.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43- What, the one in 1910...? - Yes.- Ah, that's fantastic.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46- So he inherits his owner's name. - That's terrific.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48- Now, is he yours now?- Yes.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50All right.
0:18:50 > 0:18:53OK, is there somebody here to catch this young man?
0:18:53 > 0:18:56I'm just about to give you the value.
0:18:56 > 0:19:01Because the value is going to be between £3,000 and £5,000.
0:19:05 > 0:19:08Gosh, for the first time, Tom is speechless!
0:19:10 > 0:19:12What are you planning to do with him?
0:19:12 > 0:19:14Keep him in his nice condition.
0:19:14 > 0:19:19Very good, he's been obviously a well cared-for and much loved member of the family
0:19:19 > 0:19:24since 1910, and he looks as if he's good for another hundred years, thanks very much indeed.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31Do you know, I'm very excited by this,
0:19:31 > 0:19:32I can hardly believe it.
0:19:32 > 0:19:37That Massachusetts letter, "To my dear Annie" and it's one,
0:19:37 > 0:19:41two,
0:19:41 > 0:19:45three sides long and is signed "L A Borden" here.
0:19:45 > 0:19:49Do I have, in my hands, a letter from Lizzie Borden?
0:19:49 > 0:19:51It is Lizzie Borden. Um...
0:19:51 > 0:19:54She killed her step-parents.
0:19:54 > 0:19:59Her father, so patricide, I don't know what you say for step-mother.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01- Step-matricide.- Exactly.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03Sounds a bit like a mattress, but there we are.
0:20:03 > 0:20:08So how do I know that it is the killer Lizzie Borden?
0:20:08 > 0:20:14Well, the Bordens were my grandparents' cousins and neighbours
0:20:14 > 0:20:18in this small town, Fall River, which is on the Massachusetts/Rhode Island borders.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22Right, what was the little ditty? There was a ditty about her, wasn't there?
0:20:22 > 0:20:26Yes. "Lizzie Borden with an axe, gave her mother forty whacks,
0:20:26 > 0:20:29"when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty one."
0:20:29 > 0:20:33It was actually her step-mother who she disliked intensely.
0:20:33 > 0:20:35So here is the woman herself.
0:20:35 > 0:20:40- Yes. At about the time of the trial, I think.- Taken about the time of the trial.
0:20:40 > 0:20:45Yes, she did it with a hatchet that... I mean, this is all alleged,
0:20:45 > 0:20:47that she probably found it in the shed,
0:20:47 > 0:20:50her father used to kill pigeons with this hatchet.
0:20:50 > 0:20:54And so she was locked up and put on trial and all the rest of it.
0:20:54 > 0:20:58- Yes.- And she was acquitted. How could that possibly have been?
0:20:58 > 0:21:03Well, because they couldn't find any incriminating evidence to convict her.
0:21:03 > 0:21:08Her sister had noticed her putting a dress in the furnace at some point,
0:21:08 > 0:21:11but as you can imagine, Fall River on an August day,
0:21:11 > 0:21:17the policemen weren't actually probably very many of them on the ball,
0:21:17 > 0:21:21and any evidence that was, was destroyed, and so she was acquitted.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24Of course when she came out of prison, she went home, presumably.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27Yes, and she was a Sunday School teacher before the case.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30I don't think she was asked to be Sunday School teacher,
0:21:30 > 0:21:33that probably wasn't on her list of activities,
0:21:33 > 0:21:37but she was a great animal lover and she had a home for old horses.
0:21:37 > 0:21:38And who are these people here?
0:21:38 > 0:21:42Well, the letter that you mentioned was written to my grandmother.
0:21:42 > 0:21:43Yes, that was Annie.
0:21:43 > 0:21:48Yes. Lizzie wants to know the name of the stationer that she uses,
0:21:48 > 0:21:51and mentions that the weather's too cold
0:21:51 > 0:21:55so she hasn't been able to take the pony out,
0:21:55 > 0:21:59and as soon as she can, she will take my father...
0:21:59 > 0:22:03- And that is a picture of your father.- That's my father, yes.- On a boat somewhere.
0:22:03 > 0:22:08Goodness knows where they were when that was taken. Could be on the Fall River.
0:22:08 > 0:22:10Could be, they look incredibly serious.
0:22:10 > 0:22:15- Yes.- Now, Lizzie Borden is incredibly rare, autographically,
0:22:15 > 0:22:16she hardly ever comes up.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19But this has wonderful provenance.
0:22:19 > 0:22:26I think a letter like that, which shows a perfectly ordinary person,
0:22:26 > 0:22:30I would value this between £500 and £600.
0:22:30 > 0:22:32- Thank you. - Thank you, and that's amazing.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34I think it will go back to where it came from.
0:22:34 > 0:22:37- It will. It's not going anywhere. - It's not, but thank you very much.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40Look at this.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42Washing machine. Turn the handle...
0:22:42 > 0:22:45Isn't that marvellous?
0:22:45 > 0:22:47- It's even got a hose. - Yes, we used to use that.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49You used to play with all of these things?
0:22:49 > 0:22:51Only the washing machine and the cooker.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53So, but these were your toys.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55- They were, yes. - But these are still...
0:22:55 > 0:22:58The pastry set's still in the original box untouched.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01- Yes, no, yeah, never took them out. - And the detail is fantastic.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04The fridge, that's the thing that really makes me laugh
0:23:04 > 0:23:08because it's got prints of bottles of lime juice and cucumbers
0:23:08 > 0:23:13and butter and ice cream, it's just absolutely marvellous.
0:23:13 > 0:23:16And the cooker, this is alarming me a bit.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19- What's that for? - I think it still works.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22- You actually plug it in? - Yeah, you do.- It's a child's toy and you plug it in?
0:23:22 > 0:23:24It did, it did work, it did work years ago.
0:23:24 > 0:23:29- So what happens?- Oh, they just heat up.- They get hot?- Yeah, yeah.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33- I don't think that would go with modern health and safety regulations! - No, it wouldn't now.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35I mean, does the oven warm up inside?
0:23:35 > 0:23:37I don't know, I don't think so.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39I think it's just the top.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41How wonderful.
0:23:41 > 0:23:46- Have you noticed the original box of the cooker, which is this...- Yes. - ..has got a maker's mark on it?
0:23:46 > 0:23:49Er, I hadn't taken a lot of notice really, no.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51- Because it says on the top "AEG". - Yes.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54But here's the maker's mark, just on the end of the box.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58- Right.- And that's the mark of a company called Tipp & Co.- Tip and...
0:23:58 > 0:23:59Tipp & Co... T-I-P-P.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02One of the few German toy makers that survived the Second World War.
0:24:02 > 0:24:04- Oh.- About when did you receive these?
0:24:04 > 0:24:10- 50 years ago.- It fits, absolutely fits, it's nice to find something...
0:24:10 > 0:24:13or so many things, in original boxes.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15- Yes.- So beautifully preserved,
0:24:15 > 0:24:19wonderful, wonderful print on the lid of that box there.
0:24:19 > 0:24:22- Mm.- You know, they're not antiques, but I think they still,
0:24:22 > 0:24:24being so beautifully preserved, have some value.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26In terms of what they're worth,
0:24:26 > 0:24:31- the Tipp & Co cooker, probably looking at £40 or £50.- Right.
0:24:31 > 0:24:38- And the other pieces on the table here, about £100, £150 for the group of them.- Really? OK.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40- It's not the value, it's just...- No, I know.
0:24:40 > 0:24:45..the wonderful romance of having these toys from your childhood so beautifully preserved
0:24:45 > 0:24:49- and kept together like this. It's a real charming thing to see. - Thank you.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56These little embroideries, do you keep them in a darkened room?
0:24:56 > 0:24:59Well, they are on my upstairs landing, they're not in the bright light.
0:24:59 > 0:25:02Right, because one of the things which is so nice,
0:25:02 > 0:25:05- is that the colours are still being held.- Yes.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07What can you tell me about them?
0:25:07 > 0:25:09I know very, very little about them
0:25:09 > 0:25:13except that they were left to me in my mother's will, with the proviso
0:25:13 > 0:25:17that I pass them on to my daughter, and she to hers, etc.
0:25:17 > 0:25:21And I don't know anything about them at all, really.
0:25:21 > 0:25:25These little pictures, they were made in the Regency times,
0:25:25 > 0:25:27around 1800, 1805.
0:25:27 > 0:25:29What's quite unusual about them -
0:25:29 > 0:25:33because one sees little tea caddies with this filigree-rolled paper...
0:25:33 > 0:25:38- Right.- ..but you don't often see paintings or pictures as a whole,
0:25:38 > 0:25:40and when we say rolled paper,
0:25:40 > 0:25:46it's literally little pieces of paper been rolled over and then one edge has been gilded.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50Time consuming, but when it works it looks fabulous.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54The embroidery's very, very pretty.
0:25:54 > 0:25:58But it's beautiful, the colours are absolutely exquisite.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02- Really?- These things are quite collectable because of the condition,
0:26:02 > 0:26:06- what makes these again is the frames are all original.- Yes.
0:26:06 > 0:26:10Originality is so important.
0:26:10 > 0:26:16What are they worth? In today's market, I would put a value on these of about £2,000.
0:26:16 > 0:26:20- For both of them? Really?- For both of them, yeah, they are so charming.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22- Right.- They are so charming.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27This is a piece of trench art.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29It's made from a fired shell
0:26:29 > 0:26:32of which millions were fired during the First World War.
0:26:32 > 0:26:38It's slightly unusual in as much as it's dedicated to somebody - to a Private Frost.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41What's Private Frost's relationship to you?
0:26:41 > 0:26:44Well, I recently found out that this was in the family.
0:26:44 > 0:26:49Just like, I'm talking to my granddad about the war and his childhood.
0:26:49 > 0:26:54He explained to me he had an uncle who fought in the First World War
0:26:54 > 0:26:57who was Private Frost.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00It's just amazing to think that somebody in my family
0:27:00 > 0:27:04had to go through that, and I thought that was really special to have.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07Well, I think you're absolutely right.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09This, I'm of the opinion,
0:27:09 > 0:27:11- was made by a friend.- Oh, I see.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15There was a huge amount of mate-ship in the First World War -
0:27:15 > 0:27:19- you'd always look after your chum in the trenches.- Yeah.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21You weren't always in the front line.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25A lot of the time you were in reserve lines and you were bored witless.
0:27:25 > 0:27:26There was nothing to do,
0:27:26 > 0:27:30so they'd make things with anything they could get hold of.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33The principal thing they could get hold of was brass cases,
0:27:33 > 0:27:35and it was normally decorative,
0:27:35 > 0:27:38but this is dedicated to your great-great-uncle.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41Yeah, we're not sure of much about him really, but,
0:27:41 > 0:27:45rough dates, we were thinking he would have been 24.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48- How old are you?- I'm 24.
0:27:48 > 0:27:49Coincidence.
0:27:50 > 0:27:54I think this is a perfect example
0:27:54 > 0:27:56representing the First World War.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59- It's got no huge monetary value.- No.
0:27:59 > 0:28:04But it's wonderfully indicative of somebody who fought and was a member of what was known as the PBI.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07- Oh, right, what's that? - The Poor Bloody Infantry!
0:28:07 > 0:28:12Because he was the poor sap who, at the peep of a whistle, he had to climb up a ladder,
0:28:12 > 0:28:16go over the top of a trench, slog across no man's land
0:28:16 > 0:28:19into the face of fixed machine-gun fire.
0:28:19 > 0:28:23The courage involved in that is phenomenal.
0:28:23 > 0:28:25It's unimaginable really, isn't it?
0:28:25 > 0:28:29But in the case of your great-great-uncle, he was one of the ones who didn't come back.
0:28:29 > 0:28:33No, just so sad, what they had to go through and...
0:28:33 > 0:28:36And all the more poignant because you're the same age he was.
0:28:36 > 0:28:42- I just can't imagine. - It makes you think about just what they sacrificed for us.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45And here we've got the medals he won for doing this,
0:28:45 > 0:28:49you've got the one with the rainbow ribbon, is the Victory Medal,
0:28:49 > 0:28:53and the rainbow ribbon, all the Allied Forces, 13 of them, have the same medal
0:28:53 > 0:28:58and they used the rainbow to signify that group of people who fought together.
0:28:58 > 0:29:01- Oh, I see, yes.- The other one is the First World War medal
0:29:01 > 0:29:07and they'll both have his name, number and his regiment engraved round the edge,
0:29:07 > 0:29:12and the big bronze plaque is the so-called death plaque,
0:29:12 > 0:29:16and that would be presented to his next of kin after he died,
0:29:16 > 0:29:18with a small piece of typewritten paper
0:29:18 > 0:29:22with the regnal signature of the King, thanking him for their service.
0:29:22 > 0:29:28And this I always find very upsetting about First World War medals -
0:29:28 > 0:29:32because of the numbers made, what we discussed,
0:29:32 > 0:29:35- they're worth about £20 each.- Wow!
0:29:35 > 0:29:38Coupled up with the death plaque, might be £80,
0:29:38 > 0:29:44and this fantastic little piece of trench art is probably worth no more than £20.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47But it's what it represents, what it means to you.
0:29:47 > 0:29:49Yes, I mean, we don't care about that, it's just
0:29:49 > 0:29:53amazing to think that that was a member of my family who fought for,
0:29:53 > 0:29:55for what we have today, I suppose.
0:29:55 > 0:29:56Absolutely right.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01What I love about Victorian architecture, this house being typical,
0:30:01 > 0:30:05is this wonderful sort of exuberance, eccentricity, ornamentation.
0:30:05 > 0:30:09It's actually complete madness, in stylistic terms, when you look at it,
0:30:09 > 0:30:12and I think is was such a great period, they just broke all the rules,
0:30:12 > 0:30:15and when you come to a desk like this, in a sense it carries it on.
0:30:15 > 0:30:18When you think, well, what's the historical precedent for this?
0:30:18 > 0:30:22There isn't one. it's a bit of Gothic, bit of this, bit of that,
0:30:22 > 0:30:26it's a complete invention of its time and I think that's wonderful from that point of view.
0:30:26 > 0:30:31- Do you agree?- Yes, absolutely, I've always liked Arts and Crafts, I like Gothic,
0:30:31 > 0:30:35- I like all the features on it, that's why I bought it. - You bought it?- Yeah.
0:30:35 > 0:30:41- Long time ago?- In, er, '93.- Right. - Yeah.- And do you sit at it and work?
0:30:41 > 0:30:45- Er, sometimes, sometimes. - So, it hasn't quite fulfilled its function?
0:30:45 > 0:30:48Not completely, it sits in a room where I've got all my books
0:30:48 > 0:30:50but I've got a modern office elsewhere, which I...
0:30:50 > 0:30:52Well, we've used the word "Gothic".
0:30:52 > 0:30:57I mean, obviously in Gothic you think Pugin and pointed things and Burgess.
0:30:57 > 0:31:01This has moved on, this is one of these curious phrases called "Reformed Gothic",
0:31:01 > 0:31:07which is much more stripped down, much more ornamental in a decorative sense,
0:31:07 > 0:31:11breaking the rules of classical Gothic, it's not archaeological.
0:31:11 > 0:31:15You've got this lovely marquetry work with these sort of illusionistic things.
0:31:15 > 0:31:17- Yeah.- That look as though they're actually carved.
0:31:17 > 0:31:24It's a familiar type from the 1860 to 1880 period, it's what we like.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27Gothic had moved on, it's become something much more modern by that time.
0:31:27 > 0:31:34What I find curious about this desk is this tile panel underneath.
0:31:34 > 0:31:35- Yeah.- Do you?
0:31:35 > 0:31:40Er, yes, I've never seen one on another desk, I mean usually it's completely open.
0:31:40 > 0:31:44Exactly, I've seen hundreds of desks and I've never seen that.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47What's the function? It doesn't make sense, therefore what's it for?
0:31:47 > 0:31:50- Yeah.- Have you ever thought about it?
0:31:50 > 0:31:53- Not really. I just thought of it as a decorative feature.- Yeah, right.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56If you come at it from a different direction, which I'm going to,
0:31:56 > 0:31:59I don't think this is a desk.
0:31:59 > 0:32:02- Oh, right.- And I'll tell you why, this is my thinking.
0:32:02 > 0:32:04If you look at the back here,
0:32:04 > 0:32:08there are four places where holes have been filled.
0:32:08 > 0:32:12- Yes.- So something... Why should there be holes there?
0:32:13 > 0:32:15Ah, interesting.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18It means because there was something at the back.
0:32:18 > 0:32:24And if it was fairly narrow along the back, it wasn't the upper part of a desk with smaller drawers,
0:32:24 > 0:32:28it was probably something like a mirror.
0:32:28 > 0:32:33I think this was part of a bedroom set and this was probably the wash stand.
0:32:33 > 0:32:37- Where do you put the slop bucket from your ablutions?- Underneath.
0:32:37 > 0:32:40- Underneath, yeah, and suddenly it begins to make sense.- OK.
0:32:40 > 0:32:43And at some point in its history and I don't know...
0:32:43 > 0:32:47- Not recently, maybe 50, maybe 100 years ago.- Yeah.
0:32:47 > 0:32:51This ceased to be part of a dressing table set and became a desk.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54The leather was inset, which obviously wasn't there,
0:32:54 > 0:32:58- it had a different sort of top, as it would have done.- Yeah. - Maybe a solid wood top, who knows.
0:32:58 > 0:33:01- Interesting.- And so they cut the...
0:33:01 > 0:33:06Made the top, inserted the leather and logically they would have taken that away,
0:33:06 > 0:33:08because it has no function whatsoever as a desk.
0:33:08 > 0:33:10Probably a lot of work to take that away, though.
0:33:10 > 0:33:13But it would have wrecked it cos it's all part of the structure.
0:33:13 > 0:33:19- Yeah, yeah.- And it looks fine. The quality's fantastic and the quality of the drawers, the detailing,
0:33:19 > 0:33:21everything about it is high quality.
0:33:21 > 0:33:27- What did you pay?- I paid £2,400. - Well, I think that's absolutely bang on, you know, it's probably...
0:33:27 > 0:33:33- I was going to say two to three, possibly maximum four thousand, so you did all right.- Yeah.
0:33:33 > 0:33:38- Whether the person selling it to you knew the history actually doesn't matter.- No.
0:33:42 > 0:33:47We have here, in a sense, the star of the show, one of the Enigma machines.
0:33:47 > 0:33:52Simon Greenish, you're the Director at Bletchley Park, incredible to see the real thing.
0:33:52 > 0:33:53How did it work?
0:33:53 > 0:33:57It's a wonderfully complex machine, despite the small size.
0:33:57 > 0:34:01- Because it just looks like a kind of fancy typewriter really. - It looks like a typewriter,
0:34:01 > 0:34:03and in fact, in many ways, it works like a typewriter.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07When you press these keys you get an encoded letter
0:34:07 > 0:34:11which you then send through the Morse code system, it's received at the other end
0:34:11 > 0:34:16and has to be put through an identical machine, put to the same settings, and out comes the message.
0:34:16 > 0:34:21And so... All this is what enabled the encoding to take place?
0:34:21 > 0:34:27That's right, within this machine there are 158 million, million, million different options,
0:34:27 > 0:34:29so you can see how complex this machine was,
0:34:29 > 0:34:33and why I believe the Germans never believed you could break it...
0:34:33 > 0:34:34the numbers are simply too big.
0:34:34 > 0:34:37Of course, here is where the code was broken.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40Have you got, still, any of the decryptions, encryptions of the time?
0:34:40 > 0:34:44Yes, yes, we have, we have a number of them and, of course, at the end of the war,
0:34:44 > 0:34:48most of the information was disposed of, and destroyed, but just to give an illustration,
0:34:48 > 0:34:52this book contains the decrypted messages that were received at Bletchley.
0:34:52 > 0:34:56They were all stuck into books like this and we have hundreds and hundreds of them
0:34:56 > 0:35:00- so if you look through the various messages... - So this is what it really meant?
0:35:00 > 0:35:03This is what it really meant and this of course is written in German.
0:35:03 > 0:35:10At the height of the war, Bletchley was decoding in excess of 6,000 of these messages every single day.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13- Every day?- Every single day, it was an extraordinary process.
0:35:13 > 0:35:19And much of the information that was decoded here was absolutely crucial to the war, wasn't it?
0:35:19 > 0:35:24Absolutely vital, yes, including the one which is... There is the translation of it...
0:35:24 > 0:35:27The message sent by the double agent Garbo
0:35:27 > 0:35:32to Madrid and it ended up in front of Hitler, and it was the message that persuaded Hitler
0:35:32 > 0:35:37that there was a further attack to come at D-Day, and he kept his forces in Calais
0:35:37 > 0:35:41as opposed to actually sending them down to Normandy to repulse the D-Day attack.
0:35:41 > 0:35:45This was a double agent, a German in Britain who was turned by British Security Services.
0:35:45 > 0:35:49- Yes.- "After personal consultation with my agents Johnny, Dick and Dorick..."
0:35:49 > 0:35:51- His fictitious team.- "...whose reports I sent today,
0:35:51 > 0:35:56"I am of the opinion, in view of the strong troop concentrations in south-east and eastern England
0:35:56 > 0:35:58"which are not taking part in the present operations..."
0:35:58 > 0:36:02The present operations being the massive D-Day landings...
0:36:02 > 0:36:07"...that these operations are a diversionary manoeuvre designed to draw off enemy reserves
0:36:07 > 0:36:10"in order then to make a decisive attack in another place." And so Hitler saw this?
0:36:10 > 0:36:14Hitler saw that message and presumably acted on it,
0:36:14 > 0:36:19because he kept the troops in the Calais area whilst the D-Day landings were happening.
0:36:19 > 0:36:20Which was absolutely decisive.
0:36:20 > 0:36:24- Absolutely.- The D-Day landings took us to Paris.- Yes, that's right.- Won the land war.
0:36:24 > 0:36:26The D-Day landings started the end of the war.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29How amazing, and that was all because of this machine.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32- All because of this.- Or machines like this one.- Yes, yes.- Incredible.
0:36:32 > 0:36:34- Simon, thank you.- Thank you.
0:36:41 > 0:36:44So who are these charming people, do you know?
0:36:44 > 0:36:50No, we don't really but we think the scene is based in Cornwall, Mevagissey we think.
0:36:50 > 0:36:53The artist is a chap called Max McKinley...
0:36:53 > 0:36:56there's sort of something slightly weird about them -
0:36:56 > 0:36:58they've each got a bottle of Optrex in them.
0:36:58 > 0:37:02You wouldn't normally expect to find a bottle of Optrex in a picture.
0:37:02 > 0:37:07- I assume that they were advertising pictures for a campaign. - Yes, they were.
0:37:07 > 0:37:11The tradition of these pictures is very much Norman Rockwell, an American artist,
0:37:11 > 0:37:16who painted these very cosy, cheesy sort of subjects in a pre-war era
0:37:16 > 0:37:20and here we have the English version of it, and they're very charming as a result.
0:37:20 > 0:37:25Valuing these sorts of pictures is really quite difficult because commercial art, as it is,
0:37:25 > 0:37:29doesn't come up for auction very often and actually I think is rather under-valued,
0:37:29 > 0:37:35but these are so delightful and they make you smile, and I think that's very valuable.
0:37:35 > 0:37:39So I suppose they would be worth somewhere around £500 apiece, something like that.
0:37:39 > 0:37:43- That's great, thank you so much. - Not at all, it's been a pleasure.
0:37:46 > 0:37:52Now, for somebody who can profess to be a serious collector of moustache cups
0:37:52 > 0:37:55there's obviously something missing in your life.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57Well, it's missing from your top lip, isn't it?
0:37:57 > 0:38:03Yes, from about 1955-2000 I had a handlebar moustache.
0:38:03 > 0:38:07- Let's have a look. - This is a picture of me.
0:38:07 > 0:38:12And I need to know whether you prefer your husband with, or without?
0:38:13 > 0:38:16- Definitely without. - Definitely without.
0:38:16 > 0:38:18Yeah, I put up with it for over 30 years.
0:38:18 > 0:38:22- You put up with it for over 30 years. - Yes, it was a messy horrible thing.
0:38:22 > 0:38:24A marriage made in heaven.
0:38:24 > 0:38:29She never believed that a kiss without a moustache is like beef without mustard.
0:38:29 > 0:38:31Oh, my goodness me.
0:38:31 > 0:38:35Only a man could say that, I can tell you that for a fact.
0:38:35 > 0:38:38Er, so when did you start collecting these?
0:38:38 > 0:38:41Er, I was first given one...
0:38:41 > 0:38:44- my 21st birthday. - And how many have you got in total?
0:38:44 > 0:38:47This is just a selection, I believe.
0:38:47 > 0:38:49I've got around 550.
0:38:51 > 0:38:56I'm not sure whether we're looking at a collection or an obsession, do you know that?
0:38:56 > 0:39:00This is a... This is the sort of thing that, you know, was a must
0:39:00 > 0:39:04for every sort of Victorian gentleman and into the Edwardian age, you know.
0:39:04 > 0:39:10I'm just intrigued to see the variety of what you've got here,
0:39:10 > 0:39:14cos some of these were made on the Continent, some are made in Staffordshire.
0:39:14 > 0:39:18This one, you can see... I mean, that's got to be a good 'un, hasn't it,
0:39:18 > 0:39:21when you turn it upside down... Royal Crown Derby.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24We've got so many here, what do you think's your rarest cup?
0:39:24 > 0:39:27- I believe the Belleek moustache cup. - Oh, right at the bottom there.
0:39:27 > 0:39:32I believe that's the only one outside of the Belleek Museum,
0:39:32 > 0:39:37although there may well be one in an American collection.
0:39:37 > 0:39:41Unfortunately, because we're clean shaven men, we can't really demonstrate this,
0:39:41 > 0:39:42What I need is...
0:39:42 > 0:39:44I need someone...
0:39:44 > 0:39:49See, all these chaps are clean shaven. Have we got... Oh, there's one here, all right.
0:39:49 > 0:39:52Would like to just... Can we... Can we drag... Do you mind?
0:39:52 > 0:40:00I mean, I am so pleased that I've shaved mine off, because I would feel totally inadequate
0:40:00 > 0:40:04next to a man like you there, so I can only assume you were a Flying Officer or whatever,
0:40:04 > 0:40:06cos that looks very RAF to me.
0:40:06 > 0:40:09- I was in the RAF, yes.- You were in the RAF, right, excellent.
0:40:09 > 0:40:15There's a cappuccino there, would you mind taking a sip out of our BBC Antiques Roadshow mug...
0:40:15 > 0:40:20give it a go and go for it. OK, right, let's have a see,
0:40:20 > 0:40:23A-ha, yes.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26Can you pass me a... Thank you very much Dave, thank you.
0:40:26 > 0:40:31Would you like to just remove the debris up there? I always found it quite useful having a moustache,
0:40:31 > 0:40:35Once you had breakfast you could continue eating all the way to work couldn't you?
0:40:35 > 0:40:40- Yeah.- So let's try, the Victorian moustache cup and let's see what the result is.
0:40:43 > 0:40:44OK.
0:40:44 > 0:40:48Perfect, I rest my case. Yes.
0:40:48 > 0:40:51Excellent.
0:40:51 > 0:40:54Thank you very much for that. Thank you very much indeed.
0:40:54 > 0:41:02I mean it's a matter really of, of deciding, you know, what on earth 500 moustache cups are worth.
0:41:02 > 0:41:07You see I can't find them and now I know why I can't find them, because you've bought them.
0:41:07 > 0:41:13You seem to have bought every one that's turned up, so when it comes to values,
0:41:13 > 0:41:17it's all... I mean some are worth obviously more than others, aren't they?
0:41:17 > 0:41:22For example if I was to go out and look for a Royal Crown Derby one, I don't think I could get one of those
0:41:22 > 0:41:28for less than £200 you know, and if I could just pick out one more,
0:41:28 > 0:41:35it's going to be the Belleek one because that is obviously something of a rarity, and, er...
0:41:35 > 0:41:37I've never seen one before...
0:41:37 > 0:41:43So if somebody was to tell me that was worth £300 to £400, I would not be surprised, OK.
0:41:43 > 0:41:47So your entire collection, if you wanted to go out and replace it today,
0:41:47 > 0:41:53you're going to be spending in excess of £20,000.
0:41:53 > 0:41:56- How does that make you feel?- I'd be pleased if he got rid of them.
0:41:56 > 0:42:01So, was it worth 30-odd years of having to kiss this man with a moustache? That's the big question.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05- I'm not going to answer it. - No, no, no, no, tell me later.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08- You've surprised me. - Thank you very much indeed.
0:42:08 > 0:42:09- Thank you.- Thank you.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12This beautiful bisque head doll, what's her story?
0:42:12 > 0:42:19Well, my great-grandfather, Charles Crampton, was butler to the Dean of Lichfield
0:42:19 > 0:42:25towards the end of the 19th century and he had two daughters, my great aunts,
0:42:25 > 0:42:30their names were Gertrude and Edith, and they had a collection of dolls.
0:42:30 > 0:42:38This is one of them, and they've come down through the family and I'm now custodian of the collection.
0:42:38 > 0:42:42Well, she's certainly a beautiful, beautiful doll and now if we just turn her over,
0:42:42 > 0:42:49- just to have a look, and not surprisingly, here on the back, it's a Jumeau doll.- Yes, yes.
0:42:49 > 0:42:51Jumeau was the Rolls Royce of doll makers,
0:42:51 > 0:42:57French factory, many of the clothes designed by Madame Jumeau in the period,
0:42:57 > 0:43:01and this, with her nice closed mouth
0:43:01 > 0:43:03- and fabulous, fabulous... - Aren't they wonderful?
0:43:03 > 0:43:09..paperweight eyes, absolutely beautiful, they're such, they're such deep blue, absolutely wonderful.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13- And the lashes, as well. - I know, don't you wish we had these lashes? Look at them.
0:43:13 > 0:43:19They're painted lashes and pierced ears, this is absolutely typical of a doll from sort of 1885-1890
0:43:19 > 0:43:24so just at that period, and you were saying your great-grandfather was a butler.
0:43:24 > 0:43:30- Yes, he was.- I would say that a doll of this quality, and obviously price, because when this doll was bought,
0:43:30 > 0:43:37she was very, very expensive, so I wonder if perhaps the employers, when your great-grandfather
0:43:37 > 0:43:42- had a baby daughter, if the employers gave as a present.- Yes, quite possibly, quite possibly, yes.
0:43:42 > 0:43:47Because really it is a spectacular doll, beautifully jointed wrists.
0:43:47 > 0:43:53- Yes.- Everything you'd expect. These wonderful gloves, marvellous, and these shoes,
0:43:53 > 0:43:57do you know, the amazing thing is, a pair of little shoes like this,
0:43:57 > 0:44:01can sell for about £250.
0:44:01 > 0:44:03Good gracious, just the shoes?
0:44:03 > 0:44:08Just the shoes, and the doll, have you any idea what she's worth?
0:44:08 > 0:44:12Well, it has been suggested to me that she is quite a valuable doll
0:44:12 > 0:44:16but I don't know, specifically, how much she would be worth.
0:44:16 > 0:44:22Well, sadly, period dolls have gone down a little bit in value, of late,
0:44:22 > 0:44:25- but Jumeau have really kept their prices quite well.- Yes, OK.
0:44:25 > 0:44:32So this lovely little doll that's been so well looked after, is worth between £2,000 and £2,500.
0:44:32 > 0:44:36Good gracious me, that's a lot more than I expected,
0:44:36 > 0:44:41- I thought she was quite valuable, but I didn't realise as much as that.- She's a beautiful example.
0:44:41 > 0:44:45Not that I shall be selling her. She'll stay in the family and I have a daughter
0:44:45 > 0:44:49so she'll pass on to my daughter and hopefully down the generations.
0:44:49 > 0:44:52- Very good, she's in a good family. - Thank you.
0:44:54 > 0:45:01In a year at the Antiques Roadshow, I see hundreds, if not thousands of scientific instruments.
0:45:01 > 0:45:04I have to admit, not one of these before,
0:45:04 > 0:45:10so it really excites me and hopefully we can find out what it is, and how it works.
0:45:10 > 0:45:14This is actually a model of the very first dynamo, effectively,
0:45:14 > 0:45:19where the coils were revolved in front of a magnet rather than the magnet revolved in front of a coil,
0:45:19 > 0:45:24so, in that sense, it's a forerunner of maybe all today's dynamos and magnetos.
0:45:24 > 0:45:27Er, obviously we have here...
0:45:27 > 0:45:29big horseshoe magnets
0:45:29 > 0:45:32and then a handle here that rotates...
0:45:32 > 0:45:34- Yes.- ..the coil.- Yes.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37And that then converts
0:45:37 > 0:45:39- the mechanical energy here...- Yeah.
0:45:39 > 0:45:42..into electrical energy that comes out there.
0:45:42 > 0:45:46Yes, they see electrical energy from there.
0:45:46 > 0:45:48- But it's early, isn't it? - It's very early.
0:45:48 > 0:45:54My belief is that this is made in about 1840 by John Newman, who I understand
0:45:54 > 0:45:59was the maker for Michael Faraday, or the Royal Institution, at least, when Michael Faraday was there.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03I don't know that there'd be that many earlier ones perhaps in existence,
0:46:03 > 0:46:06I know there are some, and some were produced before it,
0:46:06 > 0:46:09but you're getting to the start of the days of electricity, really.
0:46:09 > 0:46:14Obviously we've got the name of the maker here, and again the name actually on the magnets.
0:46:14 > 0:46:16- Yes.- So how did you come by it?
0:46:16 > 0:46:21I was working in a university and a physics department was closing down,
0:46:21 > 0:46:23they threw away a whole load of stuff.
0:46:23 > 0:46:26This was amongst it and I grabbed it, with some other stuff,
0:46:26 > 0:46:31and it lay in my living room for a long time, maybe ten years before we down-sized our house
0:46:31 > 0:46:36and because it's not a beautiful object, it's a fascinating object, I was thinking of getting rid of it
0:46:36 > 0:46:40and when I did the research to see what it might be worth, I couldn't find much about it
0:46:40 > 0:46:44and then I found one and it was very early, which is kind of why I think it's...
0:46:44 > 0:46:47It's a great object but it's still not much to look at.
0:46:47 > 0:46:49Well, I disagree with you.
0:46:49 > 0:46:53Er, in its own way, it has a certain beauty, I love the detail of it,
0:46:53 > 0:46:59just here we have a little sort of reservoir for the mercury
0:46:59 > 0:47:03and you could, you know, fill it up with mercury then push it back in,
0:47:03 > 0:47:06and then should you drop a bit, the mercury would run into the channel here.
0:47:06 > 0:47:09- Yeah.- That sort of design feature.
0:47:09 > 0:47:12I mean amazing, I mean, it was thrown away by a university.
0:47:12 > 0:47:16And it could have easily been thrown away years ago by myself.
0:47:16 > 0:47:20I remember offering to sell it to a friend, I said, "Take it, it's yours for 50 quid".
0:47:20 > 0:47:23I admire you for saving it, and not accepting the £50,
0:47:23 > 0:47:29because I think it is hugely important in the history of electrical science.
0:47:29 > 0:47:33I mean, they must be extraordinarily rare.
0:47:33 > 0:47:38At auction I wouldn't be surprised if this made a substantial figure,
0:47:38 > 0:47:41I mean, not £50, not £500,
0:47:41 > 0:47:45but more like £6,000 to £8,000 or even £8,000 to £10,000.
0:47:45 > 0:47:47I mean, it is a museum piece.
0:47:47 > 0:47:48Thank you. Not bad, eh?
0:47:48 > 0:47:54- Thank you,- Brilliant.- Yes.- I thought you were really going to disappoint me, publicly humiliate me.- No.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57- Fantastic piece. - Brilliant, thank you.
0:47:57 > 0:48:02"Corporation of London, May 1937."
0:48:02 > 0:48:08So what are you doing, as an Australian, with a London Corporation spoon?
0:48:08 > 0:48:13Well, it was my late husband's spoon, he was in London in 1937
0:48:13 > 0:48:18and all the children were given one of these spoons to commemorate the coronation.
0:48:18 > 0:48:21- Now this one is actually rather special.- Really?
0:48:21 > 0:48:24- And do you know why?- No.
0:48:24 > 0:48:29It's special because what we've got there is George VI.
0:48:30 > 0:48:36Now I see hundreds of spoons, we get them brought in all the time, Edward VIII.
0:48:36 > 0:48:39- Right.- They are very common
0:48:39 > 0:48:44because there was plenty of time to prepare for the coronation of Edward VIII, which of course never happened.
0:48:44 > 0:48:49- Yes. Uh-huh. - And by the time of the abdication, there was very little time
0:48:49 > 0:48:53to prepare souvenirs and so on, for the coronation of George VI.
0:48:53 > 0:48:59- Oh, right.- So everyone thinks Edward VIII is rare. He's not, he's common.
0:48:59 > 0:49:02- Oh.- George VI is the rare one.
0:49:02 > 0:49:07- Rare one. Good heavens!- So it makes it a very interesting spoon.
0:49:07 > 0:49:10Do you know I've been waiting ages for somebody to bring one in
0:49:10 > 0:49:12and you've brought it all the way from Australia.
0:49:12 > 0:49:16I don't know why I put it in my case. Something told me to bring it, I don't know why.
0:49:16 > 0:49:19Well, there we are, the vibes I was sending out. You picked up on them.
0:49:19 > 0:49:26- That's what it was, yeah. - So I would say, value wise, for this, you'd be looking at least £100.
0:49:26 > 0:49:30- Good heavens!- So are you pleased you brought it all the way? - I'm very pleased I brought it.
0:49:30 > 0:49:34I was offered 20 for that in Australia a few years ago.
0:49:34 > 0:49:35I'll give you 30.
0:49:40 > 0:49:46If I'm right in thinking, this dark picture is a window into the forgotten life of...
0:49:46 > 0:49:52Well it's arguably the most important collector, certainly in Germany,
0:49:52 > 0:49:55but possibly in the whole of Europe in the first part of the 20th century.
0:49:55 > 0:49:59Yeah that's correct, it's my great-grandfather James Simon.
0:49:59 > 0:50:03- Unbelievable.- He started his collecting very early,
0:50:03 > 0:50:07apparently he had his first Rembrandt when he was 18,
0:50:07 > 0:50:13but he donated everything to create the museums that are in Berlin today,
0:50:13 > 0:50:18especially on the Egyptian side and also in the bronzes and art.
0:50:18 > 0:50:24So all these artistic and collecting genes are running through your body, are they?
0:50:24 > 0:50:25I wish.
0:50:25 > 0:50:28So you've ended up with a picture of him,
0:50:28 > 0:50:31and the picture itself is a little museum.
0:50:31 > 0:50:35I mean every one of his important objects, it looks,
0:50:35 > 0:50:42are standing or lying, or on the wall around him, and in the picture there, I think we can see a Filippino Lippi,
0:50:42 > 0:50:47- one of the great treasures of the Renaissance, which I believe was destroyed by bombing.- Yes.
0:50:47 > 0:50:51And how come that you ended up with this picture and can I be so rude as to ask...
0:50:51 > 0:50:53how come you didn't end up with the rest of the collection?
0:50:53 > 0:50:59I wish I could, unfortunately he gave it all away, and that was his dear wish, was to, er...
0:50:59 > 0:51:02But all except this picture.
0:51:02 > 0:51:06Well, this picture is of him, so...
0:51:06 > 0:51:11it's a family thing, a memorial to what he has achieved.
0:51:11 > 0:51:13- Now James Simon was Jewish.- He was.
0:51:13 > 0:51:19What I find really surprising is that, as a prominent Jewish family in Berlin in the 1930's...
0:51:19 > 0:51:20that they survived at all.
0:51:20 > 0:51:26Hitler made a decree that our family be left alone,
0:51:26 > 0:51:30due to the quality of the collection that was donated.
0:51:30 > 0:51:32How extraordinary. And was much taken from the family?
0:51:32 > 0:51:37Everything else. I mean they were left destitute, but alive.
0:51:37 > 0:51:39Part of the collection was in East Berlin,
0:51:39 > 0:51:44the rest in the West and a major museum is now being built to house it.
0:51:44 > 0:51:49That is correct, there's an annexe being built on Museum Island in Berlin
0:51:49 > 0:51:52which will house the entrance into all the museums,
0:51:52 > 0:51:56because his collection will be spread among a lot of them,
0:51:56 > 0:52:00and it will be known as the James Simon annexe.
0:52:00 > 0:52:05David Chipperfield, the architect, has designed it and hopefully it will be built by 2012.
0:52:05 > 0:52:07I have to say it's thrilling that you've ended up with this
0:52:07 > 0:52:10and perhaps you know, one day it might end up in the museum.
0:52:10 > 0:52:15I can't tell you who painted it but what I can tell you is, it's preparation for a larger picture.
0:52:15 > 0:52:19This feels like a posed sketch, a sort of modello.
0:52:19 > 0:52:25I suspect it's by someone quite prominent because this is a man who was in touch with great art.
0:52:25 > 0:52:29One day we'll find out, but what I can tell you is, given the importance of the man,
0:52:29 > 0:52:36given the museum, and given the fact that it incorporates all these other objects in that compelling way,
0:52:36 > 0:52:40I would put a valuation of £2,000 to £3,000.
0:52:40 > 0:52:42Thank you very much.
0:52:42 > 0:52:48If you had the Filippino Lippi in the middle, it would be worth about 20 million pounds.
0:52:48 > 0:52:53The whole collection has been recently valued at over 20 billion.
0:52:56 > 0:53:00Well, this is a nice little reminder of what you could have had.
0:53:00 > 0:53:06Yes, sad but true but I'm donating this picture to the annexe in Berlin
0:53:06 > 0:53:10- and I'm just going through the motions of that now.- Good for you.
0:53:10 > 0:53:12Thank you very much indeed.
0:53:16 > 0:53:19When I'm not doing a Roadshow, you can picture me
0:53:19 > 0:53:24scrubbing the floors just like this lovely little toy here. Whose was it?
0:53:24 > 0:53:30It was my mother's and she used to keep it hidden away from us mostly
0:53:30 > 0:53:33and I think she had some sentimental attachment to it,
0:53:33 > 0:53:39but we used to ask her quite often, "can we see Busy Lizzie work?" and so she...
0:53:39 > 0:53:43We'd get it out and she'd wind it up and away it would go.
0:53:43 > 0:53:48And Busy Lizzie she is indeed, there's the name underneath there,
0:53:48 > 0:53:52patented both in Britain and made in Germany
0:53:52 > 0:53:56and dating from around the mid 1920s.
0:53:56 > 0:53:58The key, that particular key,
0:53:58 > 0:54:04is very much the maker's mark of a company called Gunterman, a German company based in Nuremberg.
0:54:04 > 0:54:08- Right.- But the jury is out on a specific manufacturer.
0:54:08 > 0:54:10Right.
0:54:10 > 0:54:14When I first saw the box, I got terribly excited because I thought it was the original box,
0:54:14 > 0:54:17but actually it says on here "pair of book ends".
0:54:17 > 0:54:24- Ah, right.- So having, having just about to congratulate you on keeping the original box with it, sadly not.
0:54:24 > 0:54:28But these toys are very desirable, it's a great action,
0:54:28 > 0:54:33it's beautiful condition, it's by, we hope, that very good German maker.
0:54:33 > 0:54:38- Right.- And value would be between about £400 and £600.- Wow.
0:54:38 > 0:54:42But she also has...how to say it... another use which is priceless
0:54:42 > 0:54:46which is, you know, wind her up, put her down on the parquet flooring, go out for the day
0:54:46 > 0:54:49and by the time you come back, everything will be sparkling.
0:54:51 > 0:54:54Sweet, isn't she?
0:54:54 > 0:54:56Just what I'll be doing when I go home.
0:54:59 > 0:55:01That's it, she's had enough.
0:55:03 > 0:55:06This looks like the Chrysler building on the back boiler, doesn't it?
0:55:06 > 0:55:11It's absolute distillation of Art Deco madness. Tell me about it for you.
0:55:11 > 0:55:13Well, I actually don't know anything very much about it.
0:55:13 > 0:55:18It was my grandmother's and she gave it to me, so I don't know anything about it
0:55:18 > 0:55:20which is why I'm here, asking you basically.
0:55:20 > 0:55:24I think it's a pretty lavish gesture for Granny to give you that, I must say
0:55:24 > 0:55:25and it doesn't happen to everybody.
0:55:25 > 0:55:30This is a diamond double clip from the late 1920s or '30s.
0:55:30 > 0:55:36It evokes a level of entertaining that's completely gone now, people simply don't go to dances
0:55:36 > 0:55:40with their fellows in black tie, wearing the best dress they possibly could,
0:55:40 > 0:55:46kind of bedizened with diamonds, probably made from you know, a very, very important house such as...
0:55:46 > 0:55:50Garrard, I think in this case would be a useful candidate.
0:55:50 > 0:55:56I think it's English and it's a swirling, switch-back piece of Art Deco jewellery.
0:55:56 > 0:55:57What do you feel like when you wear it?
0:55:57 > 0:56:00Er, slightly nervous.
0:56:00 > 0:56:05No, I actually really like it because it's really sparkly which is really...
0:56:05 > 0:56:09And I like the style because I quite like Art Deco because
0:56:09 > 0:56:12it's a bit plainer and I quite like that sort of simplicity, the bit in the middle.
0:56:12 > 0:56:17I suppose it is simple, it's a miracle of setting, of mounting and of architecture if you like.
0:56:17 > 0:56:23White metal in honour of pure white watery diamonds, set in pave set here,
0:56:23 > 0:56:30brilliant diamonds with baguette diamonds coming out on these strange sort of stylised flower motifs.
0:56:30 > 0:56:35And those are two sort of highly sophisticated examples of 20th-century diamond cutting.
0:56:35 > 0:56:40But more miraculously is when we turn it over, we can see on the back that
0:56:40 > 0:56:45it's what we call a diamond double clip, it takes apart to make two brooches,
0:56:45 > 0:56:49which a girl would wear on either side of the top of her dress, or on her lapels or something,
0:56:49 > 0:56:53so versatility, charm, structure, design...
0:56:53 > 0:56:54It's what everybody wants.
0:56:54 > 0:56:58This is a thing very much of the moment. Did you know that?
0:56:58 > 0:57:03- Er, no.- It's very, very high fashion, it was anything but when I first encountered jewellery,
0:57:03 > 0:57:08which is far too long ago, it was hopelessly out of fashion, people broke them up
0:57:08 > 0:57:13and scorned them, and now it's exactly what everybody wants.
0:57:13 > 0:57:17And it is a conspicuously valuable object.
0:57:17 > 0:57:21I think it would be jolly hard to buy that under any circumstances less than, well,
0:57:21 > 0:57:24£14,000 today.
0:57:24 > 0:57:26Really?
0:57:26 > 0:57:29Er, that's quite a lot more than I had anticipated actually.
0:57:29 > 0:57:34Ah, so I shall have to wear it with even more nervousness in the future then.
0:57:34 > 0:57:36Well, wear it with pride, for Granny.
0:57:36 > 0:57:39- Oh, I certainly do.- Fabulous, yes, wonderful, thank you.- Thank you.
0:57:41 > 0:57:46We've had a fascinating day here at Bletchley Park, home of World War Two code breaking,
0:57:46 > 0:57:48and do you know, what went on here was so secretive
0:57:48 > 0:57:54that it wasn't generally known about until the 1970s when it was finally declassified, and it's only now
0:57:54 > 0:57:58that the men and women who worked here finally have been recognised with a medal.
0:57:58 > 0:58:03This is what it will look like, "1939-1945, we also served"
0:58:03 > 0:58:08and they certainly did, the work they did here was crucial to winning the Second World War.
0:58:08 > 0:58:11From Bletchley Park and the Antiques Roadshow, bye-bye.
0:58:18 > 0:58:21Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:58:21 > 0:58:24E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk