Bletchley 2 Antiques Roadshow


Bletchley 2

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This sculpture weighs one and a half tonnes and is made from 500,000 pieces of Welsh slate.

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It's wonderfully intricate.

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This is one of only a few memorials to an amazing man,

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whose brilliant mind helped win the Second World War.

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His name was Alan Turing.

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So welcome to a second helping of the Roadshow from Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire.

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When we think of the Second World War, images of armed combat and

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deadly force and military technology come to mind, but at Bletchley Park,

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the sheer force of ingenuity displayed in huts like these, played just as big a role.

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One of those ingenious minds belonged to a Cambridge mathematician, Alan Turing,

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who turned his brilliance into breaking German wartime codes.

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When the Germans sent secret messages, they encoded them

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into incoherent text so the British and the Allies couldn't read them.

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The messages were sent using a highly secret and very complicated machine.

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And this is the machine that was causing all the problems -

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the Enigma machine. Looks like a simple typewriter. But press a letter,

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each letter will generate a hundred and fifty million million million options.

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Once the Enigma messages were intercepted,

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they were passed to Turing and the code-breaking team in these huts.

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But the messages were so scrambled, it made the task

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of decoding them almost impossible, without the help of some new British boffin-type technology.

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So Turing built an elaborate machine called the Bomb,

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which, using a complicated sequence of wiring and rotors,

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could decode messages within hours.

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At a time when the British needed to defeat the Germans in the sea battles of the Atlantic,

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or to ensure the plans for invading France on D-Day in 1944 were kept secret,

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Turing's technology became a crucial element in tipping the balance in favour of the Allies.

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Without this secrecy and organisation, or the brilliant minds of Turing

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and the Bletchley Park team, Britain and the Allies would have fought a much longer and bloodier war.

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Today we're here to celebrate those heroic wartime achievements.

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Over to our experts, who are busy uncovering more secrets from the past.

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So I understand you know this very well as an umbrella stand.

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Mm. Yes, it was in our hallway as a child, we've just grown up with it

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and we used to put our umbrellas in there when we used to come in, and that's it.

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-And I also hear that before coming in, you sort of thought of washing it in the dishwasher.

-Yes.

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My mother died a year ago and we was clearing out her bits and I said...

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Went to put it in the dishwasher and my sister said, "Ooh, don't put it in the dishwasher."

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I said, "well it's not going to a Lalique or anything."

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so as I turned it over,

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-there's a sign under there and...

-Let's have a look.

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So it says "R Lalique",

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-so there is a chance that it's by R Lalique, isn't it?

-That's...

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-So it didn't go in the dishwasher.

-That's a bit of luck.

-Yes.

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I mean we know this, this is called... This appears in the 1932 Rene Lalique catalogue,

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and it's called La Monnaie Du Pape.

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"Monnaie du Pape" in French translates as monnaie - money, du - of the,

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Pape - Pope.

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The Pope's money, but in English we know it as the garden plant honesty.

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-A flower.

-As the flower.

-Oh, I see. Oh, I can see it.

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And if you look at that... Hold on a minute, I hear pennies dropping!

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-Oh, I can see it now, right. Everyone thought it was grapes.

-It's honesty.

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No, it's monnaie du Pape, and it's quite interesting, in that the colour is a good 'un.

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I mean, amethyst for Lalique is really good, because in this case it's not size that counts,

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it's colour, because a colourless version in this size of Monnaie Du Pape

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is worth £800 to £1,000,

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whereas an amethyst one, just like yours, is worth about £5,000.

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GIGGLING AND APPLAUSE

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Oh, dear.

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Oh, dear! I won't put it on the staircase landing then, where it's been.

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-Or the dishwasher.

-Or the dishwasher, really? Oh, right, OK.

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This is the Japanese god Raiden,

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and he's the god of thunder

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-and wind.

-Right.

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Ah, we'd always been told it was called the wind god, but...

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This is his wind in a bag, you see.

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The wind's coming out,

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and it's frightening all these poor little people down on the ground.

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They're peasants falling over one another

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and this one, interestingly, is lying on his stomach.

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Yes.

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And you do do that in a thunderstorm in Japan

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because the thunder god enters you through your navel,

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so if you're the other way up

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you've got a problem, so you lie down on the ground on your stomach.

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It's carved ivory, elephant ivory,

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very, very nicely done, well executed,

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the details are very fine,

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-he's got this sort of hairy skirt on which you would expect.

-Yes.

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It works all the way round. What I like about this one particularly is

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the mark, which says Nobuaki who is the carver, and it's been carved

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and blackened in a very jagged way which suggests lightning.

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It's a very... You know...

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One in a million people would realise it, but it works.

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Where did he come from?

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Well, I believe it comes from my maternal grandfather who

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worked on ships in the Far East prior to the First World War.

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That is all I know about it.

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Do we know when he started then in ships?

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-Absolutely no idea.

-Right.

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This just lived in my grandmother's house and that's all I know about it.

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Well, my feeling is, he would have had to have picked it up in the 1880s, 1890s...

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and I don't know whether that fits in with...

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I... Without doing some research I wouldn't know.

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Anyway, I think it's a lovely thing and I think it would make

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-somewhere in the region of £1,200 to £1,500.

-Good grief!

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-That's all right, isn't it?

-Yes, very nice, thank you very much indeed!

-Not at all.

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This is a really robust-looking child's high chair

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made of solid oak so it's really stood the test of time.

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Nice little cushioned back there so the child can sort of rest against it,

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and here it is in its upright position, but unlike a lot of the chairs, high chairs

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that you see today, this actually has various positions to it, doesn't it?

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When did it come into your family?

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The first I know about it was when my own husband sat in it

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and his brother, 78 years ago, 80 years ago.

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-Yes, so around 1930.

-Mm-hm.

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And I expect you're wondering whether it was brand new for your husband

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and his brother or whether it actually pre-dates that time.

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I know it pre-dates it, but I don't know how, by how much.

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Well, a generation roughly works out to be 25 years and I can tell you

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that this chair is around 100 years old, so around 1910 or thereabouts.

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So your husband would take it back to being three generations,

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but actually it does go back to one just before that.

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So this is its sort of normal eating position

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and there's a ratchet at the side so it goes down into a low position,

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and with the wheels, presumably it could be wheeled around a room

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-for a child to play in it.

-Yes, mm.

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And then also it goes into a rocking position.

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-Rocking position, mm.

-Keep any child happy for hours.

-Oh, yes, yes.

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And as to its value, well, I happen to have a baby at home

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and, um I know how much these chairs cost,

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you know, a modern chair would cost now, roughly in the region of sort of £100,

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and quite bizarrely this has a very similar value, around £100 to £150.

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-Mm.

-But if I was having to buy a chair, now, for a child,

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I'd certainly choose one like this, rather than a modern one.

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Yes, exactly.

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Thank goodness artists sign their pictures, and I know not all artists

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sign their pictures, but look at that little signature there...

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"ARA", and you can also tell, not just that the artist's name is Ara -

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in fact, his full name is Krishnaji Howlaji Ara -

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but you can also tell, just by looking at those letters, that they're slightly trembly...

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this is not someone who's used to writing.

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There's something very interesting behind these pictures, but how do they come into your life?

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Um, they belong to my father, he worked for The Times of India in Bombay in the early '50s.

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-Ah.

-And the garage where he took his car to be serviced, Ara was working there as a mechanic

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and he, I'm not quite sure how my dad saw the pictures, but he did, and he went back

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and told the art editor at The Times of India, "There's this fantastic

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"artist down at the local garage, come and have a look at his work."

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And he came down and looked at it, and then they promoted his work through the newspaper, and I think

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it was part of a growing new trend of Indian artists at the time and he was one of the leading lights of it.

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This is slumdog millionaire stuff.

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We have an artist who came to Mumbai as a five or seven year old,

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you know, one of those kids that one sees around there on the streets.

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And then got a living of, you know, hardly much of a living, a paltry living

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and yet was spotted, but what's so compelling is, it was your father who spotted this artist.

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Well, that's the story that my mother always says, um, I do know for sure

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it was The Times of India that promoted his work, and there was a lot of confusion in my family

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because my aunts thought my mother had been the model for this picture, but I can assure you she wasn't.

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If we just look at the pictures briefly, take the top one here,

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there's a sort of spirited, busy, colourful, spontaneous quality to it.

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There are weaknesses in the drawing because we're talking about someone who wasn't trained,

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but we're talking about someone who can actually use just their character and their energy to overcome that.

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And you know, I love this, it's just full of incidental street detail,

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and that water carrier and the squatting figure,

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looks like she's washing with a piece of material in front of her, and then

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this couple of curious kids putting their head into what looks like

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a disused brazier, all real life.

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And then the one below, which is so very different from the one above,

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not least because the materials are different.

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He's using pastel, by the looks of it, chalk, charcoal, a little bit of watercolour, so it's not just

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the subject matter that differs, but for this self-taught kid, or at best in their teens, is producing

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this type of painting, which can hold its own, you know, in a western context, to tell you the truth.

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Sometimes you could argue that this type of work actually works better

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because it's not over-complicated

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by what's going on in the West, there's this purity about it.

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So I suppose we ought to talk about a valuation for these two pictures.

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The Indian economy, doing so well, I think has greatly underpinned the desirability of artists like this.

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-Oh, right.

-And of course he's no Rembrandt, but he certainly has a place.

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I would therefore confidently say that the one above is probably

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an £800 to £1,200 picture, - it's busy and it's interesting.

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And the one beneath,

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well she's quite saucy and she's got quite a presence.

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I would say about £1,500.

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Right. Very nice, very nice to know, thank you very much.

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Now, you know, we hear a lot about global warming these days, but it's nothing really new.

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We've had global warming periods before, and this bit of furniture

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actually reflects an earlier global warming period.

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A warm period at the end of the 18th century, between 1780-1790 and 1800,

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those 20, 25 years were very hot and the heat allowed women

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to wear fashionable, very thin, empire-style dresses

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and languorously lie around on sofas and so forth.

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And in order to give them something to do in this new fashion,

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they wanted to write their casual letters and so forth, and little notes on a table

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which was conveniently made to pull over the end of the sofa, and that was the beginning of the sofa table.

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We didn't have a sofa table in 1770.

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Fashion and climate didn't allow it and didn't need it.

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-Yes.

-So tell me the family history.

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Well, my father was a trainee auctioneer,

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and he bought this, in the '30s I guess, for the princely sum of 30 shillings.

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-Really?

-Yeah.

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Thirty shillings.

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Well, we can date this sofa table quite accurately as being after 1800

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because it has a half-circle loop

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and a platform and then splayed feet coming off, and immediately that will

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tell you between 1800 and probably 1820, that 20-year period.

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-It's earlier than I thought.

-Wonderful rosewood, isn't it?

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-Yeah.

-I mean I'm going to lift this chap up here.

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I mean, these corners are beautiful and there's brass inlay

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which is tricky, because brass and wood aren't natural partners,

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one expands and contracts at a different rate to another,

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-but nevertheless you've got most of it still.

-Yeah.

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It's a lovely colour,

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and these patterns were introduced after 1815 in a shop in London

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by a man called Gaigneur who came from Paris

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-and started his workshop here.

-Yeah.

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So now we can narrow it down to 1815-1820 and that's what we do.

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-But I love it. You're not going to do anything with this, are you?

-No.

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-I mean...

-We polish it occasionally.

-That's all.

-Yes.

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If you try and do anything here...

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the problem with rosewood is that if you strip it to re-polish, it will go black.

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-Yeah.

-And you'll lose that wonderful honey colour, and it's much better

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-like this because it looks like family, and it is family.

-Oh, it is.

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I think it's really just as it should be.

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You'd expect a little shrinkage, you'd expect these to pop up from time to time.

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Just lovely. Now, 30 shillings,

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I'm going to stand back and have another look at it,

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-very handsome, isn't it?

-I think so.

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The whole thing is a very... This was made by a very, very good workshop.

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-With something as handsome as this and of such great quality...

-Yeah.

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Even in this condition, today's market, between £4,500 and £5,000.

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-That's what I'd have hoped.

-I know that the value means nothing because the family are going to keep it.

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On the other hand, what I hope will be of greater interest,

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when you read again about global warming, just think of this table.

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Tom, that is a very fine bear, what do you know about him?

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The bear is from 1910.

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He's a Steiff.

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-Yes.

-And he was given to my great grandfather by the Duchess of Bedford.

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That all sounds incredibly precise.

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How do you know the date so absolutely pinpointed?

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He was in a hospital that she set up, the cottage hospital in Woburn,

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and he was in there over Christmas 1910,

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and he was given this bear as a Christmas present by the Duchess.

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Brilliant. Um, now, I mean, he's a fine-looking bear, isn't he?

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I don't know why you need me, really, I think you know all about it! Do you...

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-Looking at the audience, do you like this bear?

-Yes.

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-Lovely.

-It's great, isn't it?

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He is, I mean there are teddies and there are teddies, some really speak to you and I think that he is one.

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Tom, what do you actually like about this bear in particular?

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The realistic features, especially the nose and the face and things.

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Exactly, I mean Steiff, the person who designed the Steiff bears,

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a chap called Richard Steiff, designed these bears

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by going to the zoo and actually sketching captive bears,

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so you're absolutely right, it does look bear-like and it's got all the classic features

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of a good quality Steiff bear, in that it's got long, very thick mohair fur,

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it's got these big black boot-button eyes

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and the proportions are quite interesting.

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I mean, a modern teddy bear is very human in proportions,

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whereas here, if you, if you put his arms down, you can see his...

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-the bottom of his arms actually come down to below his knees.

-Yes.

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And he's got very long feet as well.

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Now, there's one reason for that...

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and that is because he was designed in fact

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to go on all fours.

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-Oh.

-That's how they were designed.

-Oh, right.

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So hence the actual proportions of his arms and legs, if you like, are very different to modern bears.

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-Does he have a name?

-Oh, yes - Ernie.

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And he's called Ernie because...?

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His original owner was called Ernie.

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-What, the one in 1910...?

-Yes.

-Ah, that's fantastic.

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-So he inherits his owner's name.

-That's terrific.

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-Now, is he yours now?

-Yes.

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All right.

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OK, is there somebody here to catch this young man?

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I'm just about to give you the value.

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Because the value is going to be between £3,000 and £5,000.

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Gosh, for the first time, Tom is speechless!

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What are you planning to do with him?

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Keep him in his nice condition.

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Very good, he's been obviously a well cared-for and much loved member of the family

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since 1910, and he looks as if he's good for another hundred years, thanks very much indeed.

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Do you know, I'm very excited by this,

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I can hardly believe it.

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That Massachusetts letter, "To my dear Annie" and it's one,

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two,

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three sides long and is signed "L A Borden" here.

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Do I have, in my hands, a letter from Lizzie Borden?

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It is Lizzie Borden. Um...

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She killed her step-parents.

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Her father, so patricide, I don't know what you say for step-mother.

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-Step-matricide.

-Exactly.

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Sounds a bit like a mattress, but there we are.

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So how do I know that it is the killer Lizzie Borden?

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Well, the Bordens were my grandparents' cousins and neighbours

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in this small town, Fall River, which is on the Massachusetts/Rhode Island borders.

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Right, what was the little ditty? There was a ditty about her, wasn't there?

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Yes. "Lizzie Borden with an axe, gave her mother forty whacks,

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"when she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty one."

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It was actually her step-mother who she disliked intensely.

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So here is the woman herself.

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-Yes. At about the time of the trial, I think.

-Taken about the time of the trial.

0:20:350:20:40

Yes, she did it with a hatchet that... I mean, this is all alleged,

0:20:400:20:45

that she probably found it in the shed,

0:20:450:20:47

her father used to kill pigeons with this hatchet.

0:20:470:20:50

And so she was locked up and put on trial and all the rest of it.

0:20:500:20:54

-Yes.

-And she was acquitted. How could that possibly have been?

0:20:540:20:58

Well, because they couldn't find any incriminating evidence to convict her.

0:20:580:21:03

Her sister had noticed her putting a dress in the furnace at some point,

0:21:030:21:08

but as you can imagine, Fall River on an August day,

0:21:080:21:11

the policemen weren't actually probably very many of them on the ball,

0:21:110:21:17

and any evidence that was, was destroyed, and so she was acquitted.

0:21:170:21:21

Of course when she came out of prison, she went home, presumably.

0:21:210:21:24

Yes, and she was a Sunday School teacher before the case.

0:21:240:21:27

I don't think she was asked to be Sunday School teacher,

0:21:270:21:30

that probably wasn't on her list of activities,

0:21:300:21:33

but she was a great animal lover and she had a home for old horses.

0:21:330:21:37

And who are these people here?

0:21:370:21:38

Well, the letter that you mentioned was written to my grandmother.

0:21:380:21:42

Yes, that was Annie.

0:21:420:21:43

Yes. Lizzie wants to know the name of the stationer that she uses,

0:21:430:21:48

and mentions that the weather's too cold

0:21:480:21:51

so she hasn't been able to take the pony out,

0:21:510:21:55

and as soon as she can, she will take my father...

0:21:550:21:59

-And that is a picture of your father.

-That's my father, yes.

-On a boat somewhere.

0:21:590:22:03

Goodness knows where they were when that was taken. Could be on the Fall River.

0:22:030:22:08

Could be, they look incredibly serious.

0:22:080:22:10

-Yes.

-Now, Lizzie Borden is incredibly rare, autographically,

0:22:100:22:15

she hardly ever comes up.

0:22:150:22:16

But this has wonderful provenance.

0:22:160:22:19

I think a letter like that, which shows a perfectly ordinary person,

0:22:190:22:26

I would value this between £500 and £600.

0:22:260:22:30

-Thank you.

-Thank you, and that's amazing.

0:22:300:22:32

I think it will go back to where it came from.

0:22:320:22:34

-It will. It's not going anywhere.

-It's not, but thank you very much.

0:22:340:22:37

Look at this.

0:22:370:22:40

Washing machine. Turn the handle...

0:22:400:22:42

Isn't that marvellous?

0:22:420:22:45

-It's even got a hose.

-Yes, we used to use that.

0:22:450:22:47

You used to play with all of these things?

0:22:470:22:49

Only the washing machine and the cooker.

0:22:490:22:51

So, but these were your toys.

0:22:510:22:53

-They were, yes.

-But these are still...

0:22:530:22:55

The pastry set's still in the original box untouched.

0:22:550:22:58

-Yes, no, yeah, never took them out.

-And the detail is fantastic.

0:22:580:23:01

The fridge, that's the thing that really makes me laugh

0:23:010:23:04

because it's got prints of bottles of lime juice and cucumbers

0:23:040:23:08

and butter and ice cream, it's just absolutely marvellous.

0:23:080:23:13

And the cooker, this is alarming me a bit.

0:23:130:23:16

-What's that for?

-I think it still works.

0:23:160:23:19

-You actually plug it in?

-Yeah, you do.

-It's a child's toy and you plug it in?

0:23:190:23:22

It did, it did work, it did work years ago.

0:23:220:23:24

-So what happens?

-Oh, they just heat up.

-They get hot?

-Yeah, yeah.

0:23:240:23:29

-I don't think that would go with modern health and safety regulations!

-No, it wouldn't now.

0:23:290:23:33

I mean, does the oven warm up inside?

0:23:330:23:35

I don't know, I don't think so.

0:23:350:23:37

I think it's just the top.

0:23:370:23:39

How wonderful.

0:23:390:23:41

-Have you noticed the original box of the cooker, which is this...

-Yes.

-..has got a maker's mark on it?

0:23:410:23:46

Er, I hadn't taken a lot of notice really, no.

0:23:460:23:49

-Because it says on the top "AEG".

-Yes.

0:23:490:23:51

But here's the maker's mark, just on the end of the box.

0:23:510:23:54

-Right.

-And that's the mark of a company called Tipp & Co.

-Tip and...

0:23:540:23:58

Tipp & Co... T-I-P-P.

0:23:580:23:59

One of the few German toy makers that survived the Second World War.

0:23:590:24:02

-Oh.

-About when did you receive these?

0:24:020:24:04

-50 years ago.

-It fits, absolutely fits, it's nice to find something...

0:24:040:24:10

or so many things, in original boxes.

0:24:100:24:13

-Yes.

-So beautifully preserved,

0:24:130:24:15

wonderful, wonderful print on the lid of that box there.

0:24:150:24:19

-Mm.

-You know, they're not antiques, but I think they still,

0:24:190:24:22

being so beautifully preserved, have some value.

0:24:220:24:24

In terms of what they're worth,

0:24:240:24:26

-the Tipp & Co cooker, probably looking at £40 or £50.

-Right.

0:24:260:24:31

-And the other pieces on the table here, about £100, £150 for the group of them.

-Really? OK.

0:24:310:24:38

-It's not the value, it's just...

-No, I know.

0:24:380:24:40

..the wonderful romance of having these toys from your childhood so beautifully preserved

0:24:400:24:45

-and kept together like this. It's a real charming thing to see.

-Thank you.

0:24:450:24:49

These little embroideries, do you keep them in a darkened room?

0:24:530:24:56

Well, they are on my upstairs landing, they're not in the bright light.

0:24:560:24:59

Right, because one of the things which is so nice,

0:24:590:25:02

-is that the colours are still being held.

-Yes.

0:25:020:25:05

What can you tell me about them?

0:25:050:25:07

I know very, very little about them

0:25:070:25:09

except that they were left to me in my mother's will, with the proviso

0:25:090:25:13

that I pass them on to my daughter, and she to hers, etc.

0:25:130:25:17

And I don't know anything about them at all, really.

0:25:170:25:21

These little pictures, they were made in the Regency times,

0:25:210:25:25

around 1800, 1805.

0:25:250:25:27

What's quite unusual about them -

0:25:270:25:29

because one sees little tea caddies with this filigree-rolled paper...

0:25:290:25:33

-Right.

-..but you don't often see paintings or pictures as a whole,

0:25:330:25:38

and when we say rolled paper,

0:25:380:25:40

it's literally little pieces of paper been rolled over and then one edge has been gilded.

0:25:400:25:46

Time consuming, but when it works it looks fabulous.

0:25:460:25:50

The embroidery's very, very pretty.

0:25:500:25:54

But it's beautiful, the colours are absolutely exquisite.

0:25:540:25:58

-Really?

-These things are quite collectable because of the condition,

0:25:580:26:02

-what makes these again is the frames are all original.

-Yes.

0:26:020:26:06

Originality is so important.

0:26:060:26:10

What are they worth? In today's market, I would put a value on these of about £2,000.

0:26:100:26:16

-For both of them? Really?

-For both of them, yeah, they are so charming.

0:26:160:26:20

-Right.

-They are so charming.

0:26:200:26:22

This is a piece of trench art.

0:26:250:26:27

It's made from a fired shell

0:26:270:26:29

of which millions were fired during the First World War.

0:26:290:26:32

It's slightly unusual in as much as it's dedicated to somebody - to a Private Frost.

0:26:320:26:38

What's Private Frost's relationship to you?

0:26:380:26:41

Well, I recently found out that this was in the family.

0:26:410:26:44

Just like, I'm talking to my granddad about the war and his childhood.

0:26:440:26:49

He explained to me he had an uncle who fought in the First World War

0:26:490:26:54

who was Private Frost.

0:26:540:26:57

It's just amazing to think that somebody in my family

0:26:570:27:00

had to go through that, and I thought that was really special to have.

0:27:000:27:04

Well, I think you're absolutely right.

0:27:040:27:07

This, I'm of the opinion,

0:27:070:27:09

-was made by a friend.

-Oh, I see.

0:27:090:27:11

There was a huge amount of mate-ship in the First World War -

0:27:110:27:15

-you'd always look after your chum in the trenches.

-Yeah.

0:27:150:27:19

You weren't always in the front line.

0:27:190:27:21

A lot of the time you were in reserve lines and you were bored witless.

0:27:210:27:25

There was nothing to do,

0:27:250:27:26

so they'd make things with anything they could get hold of.

0:27:260:27:30

The principal thing they could get hold of was brass cases,

0:27:300:27:33

and it was normally decorative,

0:27:330:27:35

but this is dedicated to your great-great-uncle.

0:27:350:27:38

Yeah, we're not sure of much about him really, but,

0:27:380:27:41

rough dates, we were thinking he would have been 24.

0:27:410:27:45

-How old are you?

-I'm 24.

0:27:450:27:48

Coincidence.

0:27:480:27:49

I think this is a perfect example

0:27:500:27:54

representing the First World War.

0:27:540:27:56

-It's got no huge monetary value.

-No.

0:27:560:27:59

But it's wonderfully indicative of somebody who fought and was a member of what was known as the PBI.

0:27:590:28:04

-Oh, right, what's that?

-The Poor Bloody Infantry!

0:28:040:28:07

Because he was the poor sap who, at the peep of a whistle, he had to climb up a ladder,

0:28:070:28:12

go over the top of a trench, slog across no man's land

0:28:120:28:16

into the face of fixed machine-gun fire.

0:28:160:28:19

The courage involved in that is phenomenal.

0:28:190:28:23

It's unimaginable really, isn't it?

0:28:230:28:25

But in the case of your great-great-uncle, he was one of the ones who didn't come back.

0:28:250:28:29

No, just so sad, what they had to go through and...

0:28:290:28:33

And all the more poignant because you're the same age he was.

0:28:330:28:36

-I just can't imagine.

-It makes you think about just what they sacrificed for us.

0:28:360:28:42

And here we've got the medals he won for doing this,

0:28:420:28:45

you've got the one with the rainbow ribbon, is the Victory Medal,

0:28:450:28:49

and the rainbow ribbon, all the Allied Forces, 13 of them, have the same medal

0:28:490:28:53

and they used the rainbow to signify that group of people who fought together.

0:28:530:28:58

-Oh, I see, yes.

-The other one is the First World War medal

0:28:580:29:01

and they'll both have his name, number and his regiment engraved round the edge,

0:29:010:29:07

and the big bronze plaque is the so-called death plaque,

0:29:070:29:12

and that would be presented to his next of kin after he died,

0:29:120:29:16

with a small piece of typewritten paper

0:29:160:29:18

with the regnal signature of the King, thanking him for their service.

0:29:180:29:22

And this I always find very upsetting about First World War medals -

0:29:220:29:28

because of the numbers made, what we discussed,

0:29:280:29:32

-they're worth about £20 each.

-Wow!

0:29:320:29:35

Coupled up with the death plaque, might be £80,

0:29:350:29:38

and this fantastic little piece of trench art is probably worth no more than £20.

0:29:380:29:44

But it's what it represents, what it means to you.

0:29:440:29:47

Yes, I mean, we don't care about that, it's just

0:29:470:29:49

amazing to think that that was a member of my family who fought for,

0:29:490:29:53

for what we have today, I suppose.

0:29:530:29:55

Absolutely right.

0:29:550:29:56

What I love about Victorian architecture, this house being typical,

0:29:580:30:01

is this wonderful sort of exuberance, eccentricity, ornamentation.

0:30:010:30:05

It's actually complete madness, in stylistic terms, when you look at it,

0:30:050:30:09

and I think is was such a great period, they just broke all the rules,

0:30:090:30:12

and when you come to a desk like this, in a sense it carries it on.

0:30:120:30:15

When you think, well, what's the historical precedent for this?

0:30:150:30:18

There isn't one. it's a bit of Gothic, bit of this, bit of that,

0:30:180:30:22

it's a complete invention of its time and I think that's wonderful from that point of view.

0:30:220:30:26

-Do you agree?

-Yes, absolutely, I've always liked Arts and Crafts, I like Gothic,

0:30:260:30:31

-I like all the features on it, that's why I bought it.

-You bought it?

-Yeah.

0:30:310:30:35

-Long time ago?

-In, er, '93.

-Right.

-Yeah.

-And do you sit at it and work?

0:30:350:30:41

-Er, sometimes, sometimes.

-So, it hasn't quite fulfilled its function?

0:30:410:30:45

Not completely, it sits in a room where I've got all my books

0:30:450:30:48

but I've got a modern office elsewhere, which I...

0:30:480:30:50

Well, we've used the word "Gothic".

0:30:500:30:52

I mean, obviously in Gothic you think Pugin and pointed things and Burgess.

0:30:520:30:57

This has moved on, this is one of these curious phrases called "Reformed Gothic",

0:30:570:31:01

which is much more stripped down, much more ornamental in a decorative sense,

0:31:010:31:07

breaking the rules of classical Gothic, it's not archaeological.

0:31:070:31:11

You've got this lovely marquetry work with these sort of illusionistic things.

0:31:110:31:15

-Yeah.

-That look as though they're actually carved.

0:31:150:31:17

It's a familiar type from the 1860 to 1880 period, it's what we like.

0:31:170:31:24

Gothic had moved on, it's become something much more modern by that time.

0:31:240:31:27

What I find curious about this desk is this tile panel underneath.

0:31:270:31:34

-Yeah.

-Do you?

0:31:340:31:35

Er, yes, I've never seen one on another desk, I mean usually it's completely open.

0:31:350:31:40

Exactly, I've seen hundreds of desks and I've never seen that.

0:31:400:31:44

What's the function? It doesn't make sense, therefore what's it for?

0:31:440:31:47

-Yeah.

-Have you ever thought about it?

0:31:470:31:50

-Not really. I just thought of it as a decorative feature.

-Yeah, right.

0:31:500:31:53

If you come at it from a different direction, which I'm going to,

0:31:530:31:56

I don't think this is a desk.

0:31:560:31:59

-Oh, right.

-And I'll tell you why, this is my thinking.

0:31:590:32:02

If you look at the back here,

0:32:020:32:04

there are four places where holes have been filled.

0:32:040:32:08

-Yes.

-So something... Why should there be holes there?

0:32:080:32:12

Ah, interesting.

0:32:130:32:15

It means because there was something at the back.

0:32:150:32:18

And if it was fairly narrow along the back, it wasn't the upper part of a desk with smaller drawers,

0:32:180:32:24

it was probably something like a mirror.

0:32:240:32:28

I think this was part of a bedroom set and this was probably the wash stand.

0:32:280:32:33

-Where do you put the slop bucket from your ablutions?

-Underneath.

0:32:330:32:37

-Underneath, yeah, and suddenly it begins to make sense.

-OK.

0:32:370:32:40

And at some point in its history and I don't know...

0:32:400:32:43

-Not recently, maybe 50, maybe 100 years ago.

-Yeah.

0:32:430:32:47

This ceased to be part of a dressing table set and became a desk.

0:32:470:32:51

The leather was inset, which obviously wasn't there,

0:32:510:32:54

-it had a different sort of top, as it would have done.

-Yeah.

-Maybe a solid wood top, who knows.

0:32:540:32:58

-Interesting.

-And so they cut the...

0:32:580:33:01

Made the top, inserted the leather and logically they would have taken that away,

0:33:010:33:06

because it has no function whatsoever as a desk.

0:33:060:33:08

Probably a lot of work to take that away, though.

0:33:080:33:10

But it would have wrecked it cos it's all part of the structure.

0:33:100:33:13

-Yeah, yeah.

-And it looks fine. The quality's fantastic and the quality of the drawers, the detailing,

0:33:130:33:19

everything about it is high quality.

0:33:190:33:21

-What did you pay?

-I paid £2,400.

-Well, I think that's absolutely bang on, you know, it's probably...

0:33:210:33:27

-I was going to say two to three, possibly maximum four thousand, so you did all right.

-Yeah.

0:33:270:33:33

-Whether the person selling it to you knew the history actually doesn't matter.

-No.

0:33:330:33:38

We have here, in a sense, the star of the show, one of the Enigma machines.

0:33:420:33:47

Simon Greenish, you're the Director at Bletchley Park, incredible to see the real thing.

0:33:470:33:52

How did it work?

0:33:520:33:53

It's a wonderfully complex machine, despite the small size.

0:33:530:33:57

-Because it just looks like a kind of fancy typewriter really.

-It looks like a typewriter,

0:33:570:34:01

and in fact, in many ways, it works like a typewriter.

0:34:010:34:03

When you press these keys you get an encoded letter

0:34:030:34:07

which you then send through the Morse code system, it's received at the other end

0:34:070:34:11

and has to be put through an identical machine, put to the same settings, and out comes the message.

0:34:110:34:16

And so... All this is what enabled the encoding to take place?

0:34:160:34:21

That's right, within this machine there are 158 million, million, million different options,

0:34:210:34:27

so you can see how complex this machine was,

0:34:270:34:29

and why I believe the Germans never believed you could break it...

0:34:290:34:33

the numbers are simply too big.

0:34:330:34:34

Of course, here is where the code was broken.

0:34:340:34:37

Have you got, still, any of the decryptions, encryptions of the time?

0:34:370:34:40

Yes, yes, we have, we have a number of them and, of course, at the end of the war,

0:34:400:34:44

most of the information was disposed of, and destroyed, but just to give an illustration,

0:34:440:34:48

this book contains the decrypted messages that were received at Bletchley.

0:34:480:34:52

They were all stuck into books like this and we have hundreds and hundreds of them

0:34:520:34:56

-so if you look through the various messages...

-So this is what it really meant?

0:34:560:35:00

This is what it really meant and this of course is written in German.

0:35:000:35:03

At the height of the war, Bletchley was decoding in excess of 6,000 of these messages every single day.

0:35:030:35:10

-Every day?

-Every single day, it was an extraordinary process.

0:35:100:35:13

And much of the information that was decoded here was absolutely crucial to the war, wasn't it?

0:35:130:35:19

Absolutely vital, yes, including the one which is... There is the translation of it...

0:35:190:35:24

The message sent by the double agent Garbo

0:35:240:35:27

to Madrid and it ended up in front of Hitler, and it was the message that persuaded Hitler

0:35:270:35:32

that there was a further attack to come at D-Day, and he kept his forces in Calais

0:35:320:35:37

as opposed to actually sending them down to Normandy to repulse the D-Day attack.

0:35:370:35:41

This was a double agent, a German in Britain who was turned by British Security Services.

0:35:410:35:45

-Yes.

-"After personal consultation with my agents Johnny, Dick and Dorick..."

0:35:450:35:49

-His fictitious team.

-"...whose reports I sent today,

0:35:490:35:51

"I am of the opinion, in view of the strong troop concentrations in south-east and eastern England

0:35:510:35:56

"which are not taking part in the present operations..."

0:35:560:35:58

The present operations being the massive D-Day landings...

0:35:580:36:02

"...that these operations are a diversionary manoeuvre designed to draw off enemy reserves

0:36:020:36:07

"in order then to make a decisive attack in another place." And so Hitler saw this?

0:36:070:36:10

Hitler saw that message and presumably acted on it,

0:36:100:36:14

because he kept the troops in the Calais area whilst the D-Day landings were happening.

0:36:140:36:19

Which was absolutely decisive.

0:36:190:36:20

-Absolutely.

-The D-Day landings took us to Paris.

-Yes, that's right.

-Won the land war.

0:36:200:36:24

The D-Day landings started the end of the war.

0:36:240:36:26

How amazing, and that was all because of this machine.

0:36:260:36:29

-All because of this.

-Or machines like this one.

-Yes, yes.

-Incredible.

0:36:290:36:32

-Simon, thank you.

-Thank you.

0:36:320:36:34

So who are these charming people, do you know?

0:36:410:36:44

No, we don't really but we think the scene is based in Cornwall, Mevagissey we think.

0:36:440:36:50

The artist is a chap called Max McKinley...

0:36:500:36:53

there's sort of something slightly weird about them -

0:36:530:36:56

they've each got a bottle of Optrex in them.

0:36:560:36:58

You wouldn't normally expect to find a bottle of Optrex in a picture.

0:36:580:37:02

-I assume that they were advertising pictures for a campaign.

-Yes, they were.

0:37:020:37:07

The tradition of these pictures is very much Norman Rockwell, an American artist,

0:37:070:37:11

who painted these very cosy, cheesy sort of subjects in a pre-war era

0:37:110:37:16

and here we have the English version of it, and they're very charming as a result.

0:37:160:37:20

Valuing these sorts of pictures is really quite difficult because commercial art, as it is,

0:37:200:37:25

doesn't come up for auction very often and actually I think is rather under-valued,

0:37:250:37:29

but these are so delightful and they make you smile, and I think that's very valuable.

0:37:290:37:35

So I suppose they would be worth somewhere around £500 apiece, something like that.

0:37:350:37:39

-That's great, thank you so much.

-Not at all, it's been a pleasure.

0:37:390:37:43

Now, for somebody who can profess to be a serious collector of moustache cups

0:37:460:37:52

there's obviously something missing in your life.

0:37:520:37:55

Well, it's missing from your top lip, isn't it?

0:37:550:37:57

Yes, from about 1955-2000 I had a handlebar moustache.

0:37:570:38:03

-Let's have a look.

-This is a picture of me.

0:38:030:38:07

And I need to know whether you prefer your husband with, or without?

0:38:070:38:12

-Definitely without.

-Definitely without.

0:38:130:38:16

Yeah, I put up with it for over 30 years.

0:38:160:38:18

-You put up with it for over 30 years.

-Yes, it was a messy horrible thing.

0:38:180:38:22

A marriage made in heaven.

0:38:220:38:24

She never believed that a kiss without a moustache is like beef without mustard.

0:38:240:38:29

Oh, my goodness me.

0:38:290:38:31

Only a man could say that, I can tell you that for a fact.

0:38:310:38:35

Er, so when did you start collecting these?

0:38:350:38:38

Er, I was first given one...

0:38:380:38:41

-my 21st birthday.

-And how many have you got in total?

0:38:410:38:44

This is just a selection, I believe.

0:38:440:38:47

I've got around 550.

0:38:470:38:49

I'm not sure whether we're looking at a collection or an obsession, do you know that?

0:38:510:38:56

This is a... This is the sort of thing that, you know, was a must

0:38:560:39:00

for every sort of Victorian gentleman and into the Edwardian age, you know.

0:39:000:39:04

I'm just intrigued to see the variety of what you've got here,

0:39:040:39:10

cos some of these were made on the Continent, some are made in Staffordshire.

0:39:100:39:14

This one, you can see... I mean, that's got to be a good 'un, hasn't it,

0:39:140:39:18

when you turn it upside down... Royal Crown Derby.

0:39:180:39:21

We've got so many here, what do you think's your rarest cup?

0:39:210:39:24

-I believe the Belleek moustache cup.

-Oh, right at the bottom there.

0:39:240:39:27

I believe that's the only one outside of the Belleek Museum,

0:39:270:39:32

although there may well be one in an American collection.

0:39:320:39:37

Unfortunately, because we're clean shaven men, we can't really demonstrate this,

0:39:370:39:41

What I need is...

0:39:410:39:42

I need someone...

0:39:420:39:44

See, all these chaps are clean shaven. Have we got... Oh, there's one here, all right.

0:39:440:39:49

Would like to just... Can we... Can we drag... Do you mind?

0:39:490:39:52

I mean, I am so pleased that I've shaved mine off, because I would feel totally inadequate

0:39:520:40:00

next to a man like you there, so I can only assume you were a Flying Officer or whatever,

0:40:000:40:04

cos that looks very RAF to me.

0:40:040:40:06

-I was in the RAF, yes.

-You were in the RAF, right, excellent.

0:40:060:40:09

There's a cappuccino there, would you mind taking a sip out of our BBC Antiques Roadshow mug...

0:40:090:40:15

give it a go and go for it. OK, right, let's have a see,

0:40:150:40:20

A-ha, yes.

0:40:200:40:23

Can you pass me a... Thank you very much Dave, thank you.

0:40:230:40:26

Would you like to just remove the debris up there? I always found it quite useful having a moustache,

0:40:260:40:31

Once you had breakfast you could continue eating all the way to work couldn't you?

0:40:310:40:35

-Yeah.

-So let's try, the Victorian moustache cup and let's see what the result is.

0:40:350:40:40

OK.

0:40:430:40:44

Perfect, I rest my case. Yes.

0:40:440:40:48

Excellent.

0:40:480:40:51

Thank you very much for that. Thank you very much indeed.

0:40:510:40:54

I mean it's a matter really of, of deciding, you know, what on earth 500 moustache cups are worth.

0:40:540:41:02

You see I can't find them and now I know why I can't find them, because you've bought them.

0:41:020:41:07

You seem to have bought every one that's turned up, so when it comes to values,

0:41:070:41:13

it's all... I mean some are worth obviously more than others, aren't they?

0:41:130:41:17

For 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

0:41:170:41:22

for less than £200 you know, and if I could just pick out one more,

0:41:220:41:28

it's going to be the Belleek one because that is obviously something of a rarity, and, er...

0:41:280:41:35

I've never seen one before...

0:41:350:41:37

So if somebody was to tell me that was worth £300 to £400, I would not be surprised, OK.

0:41:370:41:43

So your entire collection, if you wanted to go out and replace it today,

0:41:430:41:47

you're going to be spending in excess of £20,000.

0:41:470:41:53

-How does that make you feel?

-I'd be pleased if he got rid of them.

0:41:530:41:56

So, was it worth 30-odd years of having to kiss this man with a moustache? That's the big question.

0:41:560:42:01

-I'm not going to answer it.

-No, no, no, no, tell me later.

0:42:010:42:05

-You've surprised me.

-Thank you very much indeed.

0:42:050:42:08

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

0:42:080:42:09

This beautiful bisque head doll, what's her story?

0:42:090:42:12

Well, my great-grandfather, Charles Crampton, was butler to the Dean of Lichfield

0:42:120:42:19

towards the end of the 19th century and he had two daughters, my great aunts,

0:42:190:42:25

their names were Gertrude and Edith, and they had a collection of dolls.

0:42:250:42:30

This is one of them, and they've come down through the family and I'm now custodian of the collection.

0:42:300:42:38

Well, she's certainly a beautiful, beautiful doll and now if we just turn her over,

0:42:380:42:42

-just to have a look, and not surprisingly, here on the back, it's a Jumeau doll.

-Yes, yes.

0:42:420:42:49

Jumeau was the Rolls Royce of doll makers,

0:42:490:42:51

French factory, many of the clothes designed by Madame Jumeau in the period,

0:42:510:42:57

and this, with her nice closed mouth

0:42:570:43:01

-and fabulous, fabulous...

-Aren't they wonderful?

0:43:010:43:03

..paperweight eyes, absolutely beautiful, they're such, they're such deep blue, absolutely wonderful.

0:43:030:43:09

-And the lashes, as well.

-I know, don't you wish we had these lashes? Look at them.

0:43:090:43:13

They're painted lashes and pierced ears, this is absolutely typical of a doll from sort of 1885-1890

0:43:130:43:19

so just at that period, and you were saying your great-grandfather was a butler.

0:43:190:43:24

-Yes, he was.

-I would say that a doll of this quality, and obviously price, because when this doll was bought,

0:43:240:43:30

she was very, very expensive, so I wonder if perhaps the employers, when your great-grandfather

0:43:300:43:37

-had a baby daughter, if the employers gave as a present.

-Yes, quite possibly, quite possibly, yes.

0:43:370:43:42

Because really it is a spectacular doll, beautifully jointed wrists.

0:43:420:43:47

-Yes.

-Everything you'd expect. These wonderful gloves, marvellous, and these shoes,

0:43:470:43:53

do you know, the amazing thing is, a pair of little shoes like this,

0:43:530:43:57

can sell for about £250.

0:43:570:44:01

Good gracious, just the shoes?

0:44:010:44:03

Just the shoes, and the doll, have you any idea what she's worth?

0:44:030:44:08

Well, it has been suggested to me that she is quite a valuable doll

0:44:080:44:12

but I don't know, specifically, how much she would be worth.

0:44:120:44:16

Well, sadly, period dolls have gone down a little bit in value, of late,

0:44:160:44:22

-but Jumeau have really kept their prices quite well.

-Yes, OK.

0:44:220:44:25

So this lovely little doll that's been so well looked after, is worth between £2,000 and £2,500.

0:44:250:44:32

Good gracious me, that's a lot more than I expected,

0:44:320:44:36

-I thought she was quite valuable, but I didn't realise as much as that.

-She's a beautiful example.

0:44:360:44:41

Not that I shall be selling her. She'll stay in the family and I have a daughter

0:44:410:44:45

so she'll pass on to my daughter and hopefully down the generations.

0:44:450:44:49

-Very good, she's in a good family.

-Thank you.

0:44:490:44:52

In a year at the Antiques Roadshow, I see hundreds, if not thousands of scientific instruments.

0:44:540:45:01

I have to admit, not one of these before,

0:45:010:45:04

so it really excites me and hopefully we can find out what it is, and how it works.

0:45:040:45:10

This is actually a model of the very first dynamo, effectively,

0:45:100:45:14

where the coils were revolved in front of a magnet rather than the magnet revolved in front of a coil,

0:45:140:45:19

so, in that sense, it's a forerunner of maybe all today's dynamos and magnetos.

0:45:190:45:24

Er, obviously we have here...

0:45:240:45:27

big horseshoe magnets

0:45:270:45:29

and then a handle here that rotates...

0:45:290:45:32

-Yes.

-..the coil.

-Yes.

0:45:320:45:34

And that then converts

0:45:340:45:37

-the mechanical energy here...

-Yeah.

0:45:370:45:39

..into electrical energy that comes out there.

0:45:390:45:42

Yes, they see electrical energy from there.

0:45:420:45:46

-But it's early, isn't it?

-It's very early.

0:45:460:45:48

My belief is that this is made in about 1840 by John Newman, who I understand

0:45:480:45:54

was the maker for Michael Faraday, or the Royal Institution, at least, when Michael Faraday was there.

0:45:540:45:59

I don't know that there'd be that many earlier ones perhaps in existence,

0:45:590:46:03

I know there are some, and some were produced before it,

0:46:030:46:06

but you're getting to the start of the days of electricity, really.

0:46:060:46:09

Obviously we've got the name of the maker here, and again the name actually on the magnets.

0:46:090:46:14

-Yes.

-So how did you come by it?

0:46:140:46:16

I was working in a university and a physics department was closing down,

0:46:160:46:21

they threw away a whole load of stuff.

0:46:210:46:23

This was amongst it and I grabbed it, with some other stuff,

0:46:230:46:26

and it lay in my living room for a long time, maybe ten years before we down-sized our house

0:46:260:46:31

and because it's not a beautiful object, it's a fascinating object, I was thinking of getting rid of it

0:46:310:46:36

and when I did the research to see what it might be worth, I couldn't find much about it

0:46:360:46:40

and then I found one and it was very early, which is kind of why I think it's...

0:46:400:46:44

It's a great object but it's still not much to look at.

0:46:440:46:47

Well, I disagree with you.

0:46:470:46:49

Er, in its own way, it has a certain beauty, I love the detail of it,

0:46:490:46:53

just here we have a little sort of reservoir for the mercury

0:46:530:46:59

and you could, you know, fill it up with mercury then push it back in,

0:46:590:47:03

and then should you drop a bit, the mercury would run into the channel here.

0:47:030:47:06

-Yeah.

-That sort of design feature.

0:47:060:47:09

I mean amazing, I mean, it was thrown away by a university.

0:47:090:47:12

And it could have easily been thrown away years ago by myself.

0:47:120:47:16

I remember offering to sell it to a friend, I said, "Take it, it's yours for 50 quid".

0:47:160:47:20

I admire you for saving it, and not accepting the £50,

0:47:200:47:23

because I think it is hugely important in the history of electrical science.

0:47:230:47:29

I mean, they must be extraordinarily rare.

0:47:290:47:33

At auction I wouldn't be surprised if this made a substantial figure,

0:47:330:47:38

I mean, not £50, not £500,

0:47:380:47:41

but more like £6,000 to £8,000 or even £8,000 to £10,000.

0:47:410:47:45

I mean, it is a museum piece.

0:47:450:47:47

Thank you. Not bad, eh?

0:47:470:47:48

-Thank you,

-Brilliant.

-Yes.

-I thought you were really going to disappoint me, publicly humiliate me.

-No.

0:47:480:47:54

-Fantastic piece.

-Brilliant, thank you.

0:47:540:47:57

"Corporation of London, May 1937."

0:47:570:48:02

So what are you doing, as an Australian, with a London Corporation spoon?

0:48:020:48:08

Well, it was my late husband's spoon, he was in London in 1937

0:48:080:48:13

and all the children were given one of these spoons to commemorate the coronation.

0:48:130:48:18

-Now this one is actually rather special.

-Really?

0:48:180:48:21

-And do you know why?

-No.

0:48:210:48:24

It's special because what we've got there is George VI.

0:48:240:48:29

Now I see hundreds of spoons, we get them brought in all the time, Edward VIII.

0:48:300:48:36

-Right.

-They are very common

0:48:360:48:39

because there was plenty of time to prepare for the coronation of Edward VIII, which of course never happened.

0:48:390:48:44

-Yes. Uh-huh.

-And by the time of the abdication, there was very little time

0:48:440:48:49

to prepare souvenirs and so on, for the coronation of George VI.

0:48:490:48:53

-Oh, right.

-So everyone thinks Edward VIII is rare. He's not, he's common.

0:48:530:48:59

-Oh.

-George VI is the rare one.

0:48:590:49:02

-Rare one. Good heavens!

-So it makes it a very interesting spoon.

0:49:020:49:07

Do you know I've been waiting ages for somebody to bring one in

0:49:070:49:10

and you've brought it all the way from Australia.

0:49:100:49:12

I don't know why I put it in my case. Something told me to bring it, I don't know why.

0:49:120:49:16

Well, there we are, the vibes I was sending out. You picked up on them.

0:49:160:49:19

-That's what it was, yeah.

-So I would say, value wise, for this, you'd be looking at least £100.

0:49:190:49:26

-Good heavens!

-So are you pleased you brought it all the way?

-I'm very pleased I brought it.

0:49:260:49:30

I was offered 20 for that in Australia a few years ago.

0:49:300:49:34

I'll give you 30.

0:49:340:49:35

If I'm right in thinking, this dark picture is a window into the forgotten life of...

0:49:400:49:46

Well it's arguably the most important collector, certainly in Germany,

0:49:460:49:52

but possibly in the whole of Europe in the first part of the 20th century.

0:49:520:49:55

Yeah that's correct, it's my great-grandfather James Simon.

0:49:550:49:59

-Unbelievable.

-He started his collecting very early,

0:49:590:50:03

apparently he had his first Rembrandt when he was 18,

0:50:030:50:07

but he donated everything to create the museums that are in Berlin today,

0:50:070:50:13

especially on the Egyptian side and also in the bronzes and art.

0:50:130:50:18

So all these artistic and collecting genes are running through your body, are they?

0:50:180:50:24

I wish.

0:50:240:50:25

So you've ended up with a picture of him,

0:50:250:50:28

and the picture itself is a little museum.

0:50:280:50:31

I mean every one of his important objects, it looks,

0:50:310:50:35

are standing or lying, or on the wall around him, and in the picture there, I think we can see a Filippino Lippi,

0:50:350:50:42

-one of the great treasures of the Renaissance, which I believe was destroyed by bombing.

-Yes.

0:50:420:50:47

And how come that you ended up with this picture and can I be so rude as to ask...

0:50:470:50:51

how come you didn't end up with the rest of the collection?

0:50:510:50:53

I wish I could, unfortunately he gave it all away, and that was his dear wish, was to, er...

0:50:530:50:59

But all except this picture.

0:50:590:51:02

Well, this picture is of him, so...

0:51:020:51:06

it's a family thing, a memorial to what he has achieved.

0:51:060:51:11

-Now James Simon was Jewish.

-He was.

0:51:110:51:13

What I find really surprising is that, as a prominent Jewish family in Berlin in the 1930's...

0:51:130:51:19

that they survived at all.

0:51:190:51:20

Hitler made a decree that our family be left alone,

0:51:200:51:26

due to the quality of the collection that was donated.

0:51:260:51:30

How extraordinary. And was much taken from the family?

0:51:300:51:32

Everything else. I mean they were left destitute, but alive.

0:51:320:51:37

Part of the collection was in East Berlin,

0:51:370:51:39

the rest in the West and a major museum is now being built to house it.

0:51:390:51:44

That is correct, there's an annexe being built on Museum Island in Berlin

0:51:440:51:49

which will house the entrance into all the museums,

0:51:490:51:52

because his collection will be spread among a lot of them,

0:51:520:51:56

and it will be known as the James Simon annexe.

0:51:560:52:00

David Chipperfield, the architect, has designed it and hopefully it will be built by 2012.

0:52:000:52:05

I have to say it's thrilling that you've ended up with this

0:52:050:52:07

and perhaps you know, one day it might end up in the museum.

0:52:070:52:10

I can't tell you who painted it but what I can tell you is, it's preparation for a larger picture.

0:52:100:52:15

This feels like a posed sketch, a sort of modello.

0:52:150:52:19

I suspect it's by someone quite prominent because this is a man who was in touch with great art.

0:52:190:52:25

One day we'll find out, but what I can tell you is, given the importance of the man,

0:52:250:52:29

given the museum, and given the fact that it incorporates all these other objects in that compelling way,

0:52:290:52:36

I would put a valuation of £2,000 to £3,000.

0:52:360:52:40

Thank you very much.

0:52:400:52:42

If you had the Filippino Lippi in the middle, it would be worth about 20 million pounds.

0:52:420:52:48

The whole collection has been recently valued at over 20 billion.

0:52:480:52:53

Well, this is a nice little reminder of what you could have had.

0:52:560:53:00

Yes, sad but true but I'm donating this picture to the annexe in Berlin

0:53:000:53:06

-and I'm just going through the motions of that now.

-Good for you.

0:53:060:53:10

Thank you very much indeed.

0:53:100:53:12

When I'm not doing a Roadshow, you can picture me

0:53:160:53:19

scrubbing the floors just like this lovely little toy here. Whose was it?

0:53:190:53:24

It was my mother's and she used to keep it hidden away from us mostly

0:53:240:53:30

and I think she had some sentimental attachment to it,

0:53:300:53:33

but we used to ask her quite often, "can we see Busy Lizzie work?" and so she...

0:53:330:53:39

We'd get it out and she'd wind it up and away it would go.

0:53:390:53:43

And Busy Lizzie she is indeed, there's the name underneath there,

0:53:430:53:48

patented both in Britain and made in Germany

0:53:480:53:52

and dating from around the mid 1920s.

0:53:520:53:56

The key, that particular key,

0:53:560:53:58

is very much the maker's mark of a company called Gunterman, a German company based in Nuremberg.

0:53:580:54:04

-Right.

-But the jury is out on a specific manufacturer.

0:54:040:54:08

Right.

0:54:080:54:10

When I first saw the box, I got terribly excited because I thought it was the original box,

0:54:100:54:14

but actually it says on here "pair of book ends".

0:54:140:54:17

-Ah, right.

-So having, having just about to congratulate you on keeping the original box with it, sadly not.

0:54:170:54:24

But these toys are very desirable, it's a great action,

0:54:240:54:28

it's beautiful condition, it's by, we hope, that very good German maker.

0:54:280:54:33

-Right.

-And value would be between about £400 and £600.

-Wow.

0:54:330:54:38

But she also has...how to say it... another use which is priceless

0:54:380:54:42

which is, you know, wind her up, put her down on the parquet flooring, go out for the day

0:54:420:54:46

and by the time you come back, everything will be sparkling.

0:54:460:54:49

Sweet, isn't she?

0:54:510:54:54

Just what I'll be doing when I go home.

0:54:540:54:56

That's it, she's had enough.

0:54:590:55:01

This looks like the Chrysler building on the back boiler, doesn't it?

0:55:030:55:06

It's absolute distillation of Art Deco madness. Tell me about it for you.

0:55:060:55:11

Well, I actually don't know anything very much about it.

0:55:110:55:13

It was my grandmother's and she gave it to me, so I don't know anything about it

0:55:130:55:18

which is why I'm here, asking you basically.

0:55:180:55:20

I think it's a pretty lavish gesture for Granny to give you that, I must say

0:55:200:55:24

and it doesn't happen to everybody.

0:55:240:55:25

This is a diamond double clip from the late 1920s or '30s.

0:55:250:55:30

It evokes a level of entertaining that's completely gone now, people simply don't go to dances

0:55:300:55:36

with their fellows in black tie, wearing the best dress they possibly could,

0:55:360:55:40

kind of bedizened with diamonds, probably made from you know, a very, very important house such as...

0:55:400:55:46

Garrard, I think in this case would be a useful candidate.

0:55:460:55:50

I think it's English and it's a swirling, switch-back piece of Art Deco jewellery.

0:55:500:55:56

What do you feel like when you wear it?

0:55:560:55:57

Er, slightly nervous.

0:55:570:56:00

No, I actually really like it because it's really sparkly which is really...

0:56:000:56:05

And I like the style because I quite like Art Deco because

0:56:050:56:09

it's a bit plainer and I quite like that sort of simplicity, the bit in the middle.

0:56:090:56:12

I suppose it is simple, it's a miracle of setting, of mounting and of architecture if you like.

0:56:120:56:17

White metal in honour of pure white watery diamonds, set in pave set here,

0:56:170:56:23

brilliant diamonds with baguette diamonds coming out on these strange sort of stylised flower motifs.

0:56:230:56:30

And those are two sort of highly sophisticated examples of 20th-century diamond cutting.

0:56:300:56:35

But more miraculously is when we turn it over, we can see on the back that

0:56:350:56:40

it's what we call a diamond double clip, it takes apart to make two brooches,

0:56:400:56:45

which a girl would wear on either side of the top of her dress, or on her lapels or something,

0:56:450:56:49

so versatility, charm, structure, design...

0:56:490:56:53

It's what everybody wants.

0:56:530:56:54

This is a thing very much of the moment. Did you know that?

0:56:540:56:58

-Er, no.

-It's very, very high fashion, it was anything but when I first encountered jewellery,

0:56:580:57:03

which is far too long ago, it was hopelessly out of fashion, people broke them up

0:57:030:57:08

and scorned them, and now it's exactly what everybody wants.

0:57:080:57:13

And it is a conspicuously valuable object.

0:57:130:57:17

I think it would be jolly hard to buy that under any circumstances less than, well,

0:57:170:57:21

£14,000 today.

0:57:210:57:24

Really?

0:57:240:57:26

Er, that's quite a lot more than I had anticipated actually.

0:57:260:57:29

Ah, so I shall have to wear it with even more nervousness in the future then.

0:57:290:57:34

Well, wear it with pride, for Granny.

0:57:340:57:36

-Oh, I certainly do.

-Fabulous, yes, wonderful, thank you.

-Thank you.

0:57:360:57:39

We've had a fascinating day here at Bletchley Park, home of World War Two code breaking,

0:57:410:57:46

and do you know, what went on here was so secretive

0:57:460:57:48

that it wasn't generally known about until the 1970s when it was finally declassified, and it's only now

0:57:480:57:54

that the men and women who worked here finally have been recognised with a medal.

0:57:540:57:58

This is what it will look like, "1939-1945, we also served"

0:57:580:58:03

and they certainly did, the work they did here was crucial to winning the Second World War.

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From Bletchley Park and the Antiques Roadshow, bye-bye.

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Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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E-mail [email protected]

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