Leeds 2 Antiques Roadshow

We've really hit a high note here at Leeds Town Hall,

in fact, so much so that our experts can conduct a whole new programme.

So welcome to a Second Symphony from the Roadshow in Leeds.

For 150 years, Leeds Town Hall

has proudly watched over the city's evolving skyline,

and from its inception, music has played a central role

in the life of this remarkable building.

The town council considered it essential to have a built-in

instrument here to bring musical events to the people of Leeds.

A vital organ, you might say.

In harmony with the splendour and scale of the town hall,

this is the largest three-keyboard organ in Europe,

containing a staggering 6,500 pipes,

one for every pound it cost to construct.

At 50 feet high, 47 feet wide and 27 feet deep,

this was such an enormous undertaking that the workshop

where it was assembled had to be rebuilt to accommodate it.

And the swell box, which amplifies the sound,

is so cavernous that a dinner party was once held inside it.

Our experts are getting in tune too.

Will there be the odd bum note, or a perfect rhapsody?

Let's find out.

What a super Parian model.

It's, of course, made by Minton, as you probably know,

and well-marked but I think it's absolutely wonderful.

-Yes.

-Marvellous girl and the lion, isn't it? How have you come by it?

Um she was given to my parents by a next door neighbour

quite a few years ago, and when my Dad died, I retrieved that

from everything else that was going for clearance really, yes.

-So saved?

-Saved, yes.

-And now loved.

-Yeah.

It's a super model, isn't it?

This girl is cutting the toe nails of this lion, a most improbable thing to do.

-Yes.

-Of course the subject is called The Lion In Love.

-Is it?

-And the lion is in love with the girl.

-Oh.

-I'd like to be that, and she's looking up at him.

-Yeah.

I wonder what face she's pulling? She's cutting his toe nails.

He looks quite wild.

But that's a lovely thing to do, cutting one's toe nails.

I mean, my wife does it for me and I know it's because she loves me

but otherwise she wouldn't do it, but he's great.

It was modelled by Klagman, who modelled it in 1864

and the actual figure was made in 1864 when he modelled it.

-Ah.

-So it's not a very common model to find.

-No.

-And it was modelled from a great marble that was in the Great Exhibition in 1851,

-so modelled directly from that but reduced, of course, in size.

-Yes.

The original marble model would be seven times as big as this one

but this is in a Parian body and I think it's absolutely wonderful.

So have you ever wondered how much it's worth?

I often...yeah, I have done, really she's...

she's hidden away most of the time because she's so big.

But when I do see her, I do think, "I wonder how much she's worth?"

-Yes, yes, she is big. Difficult to display but it should be out and enjoyed.

-Yeah I know, yeah.

-It is absolutely beautiful.

-Yes.

-I reckon you're looking at something between £800 and £1,000.

-Really?

-She's absolutely beautiful.

-Yes.

-So The Lion In Love, you're in love with the lion.

-Yeah.

He's a great chap, isn't he?

I think it's a marvellous lion. Ah!

I think everybody knows what a rocking horse looks like,

or at least they think they do

until they see a rocking horse like this and it is completely different

to every rocking horse that one's familiar with in this country.

What was your relationship with it?

Is it something that you sat on as a...

well, I think probably not recently, but did you sit on it as a child?

I certainly did, yes, yes, I certainly did,

it was in my aunt's house.

-Yes.

-In Headingley, a little house, occupied the hall,

virtually filled the hall

and, yes, I used to go and see her every Saturday, have a little ride.

Fantastic, what a wonderful excuse to go and see Auntie.

So it's been restored?

-Yes.

-And I must say a beautiful job has been done on it, and I can see you're grasping photographs.

-Oh, my goodness... so this is how it was?

-Yes.

-This is off its stand.

-Just before it was restored, yes.

It had been fairly badly treated.

I wanted to restore it but Yvonne wanted a proper man to do it.

And, as wives usually do, she got her way.

-Exactly, yes.

-Amazing.

This particular type of horse was patented in 1862.

It is, in fact, an American horse.

-Oh.

-American?

-No family connections with America?

-None at all, no.

-None.

-Isn't that interesting.

From the head, coming down, underneath the belly,

we've got this strip of metal.

-Yes.

-Which acts as a sort of governor, if you like.

-That's right, yes.

-And at the base,

you have these wonderful concentric flat springs

which are then attached to the legs here and so, when a child is on it,

-it gives an incredibly realistic ride.

-It does, doesn't it?

-Completely different to one on rockers.

-Exactly, exactly.

The inventor, a man called Jesse Crandall, just got it right.

It wasn't his first invention using springs, but he gradually,

over the years, perfected it,

so that this really was the ultimate sprung horse

and I could certainly see that this would have been made

-round about the turn of the century.

-Right.

-The 20th century, of course.

-Yes.

Does it still have a life?

-Oh, yes, yes, yes. We have grandchildren.

-Yes.

At Christmas there were two on him and one hanging on in front.

-Oh, my goodness, so it does...

-Oh, yes, um, when we had him restored,

the restorer said that he should be in a museum, and I said,

"No, he's part of the family, he's going to be used."

Now, it would have been quite an expensive toy when it was purchased,

I mean, these were luxury goods by any stretch of the imagination,

and it's a valuable toy still.

I'm going to ask how much you paid for the restoration.

-£600.

-600?

-I think that's very, very good value, I must say.

-I didn't.

-You, you had to write the cheque and you thought it was a lot of money?

-Exactly, yes.

I have to say, I do think that was money well... really well invested,

showing what it was like before and what it's like now.

If you wanted to sell it, which I'm sure you wouldn't,

but an auction price for something like this

would be in the region of perhaps £3,000, so I think your £600...

-Really? Good, good investment.

-"Good," he says, exactly.

-Your £600 has actually made this object.

-Yes.

So I get the impression that you've known this a long time,

but I'm not sure about that, what's the story?

-No, the story behind that one is it's my brother-in-law that actually gave that to me.

-Right.

He just said to me, all he knew about...

it's French, it's a French person,

but I don't know anything about it whatsoever.

And what about the big beast?

And this one is my grandma's, she'd had this for years.

It was always up on top of the little dresser that she had and I always admired it,

-and she said, "One day that will be yours, Karen."

-Gotcha.

So, in fact, I'm right, you have known these

-for different lengths of time.

-Different.

And the reason I say that is that there's a general rule

that signed glassware is more valuable than unsigned glassware.

That's a fact. Now this one has the word "Galle" written across here,

-have you ever heard of Emile Galle?

-Not really, no.

Emile Galle was one of the greatest glass makers ever in history.

He's just an absolute... a genius in glass making.

French, 1900, and this looks exactly like his work, except it's fake.

-Oh.

-So if it were right, and it really truly was by Galle,

then it would be worth £500 or £600.

As it is, it's worth a bit less.

-This one, on the other hand, has no signature at all.

-No.

But it's much more interesting than that.

-How are we doing so far?

-Well, I don't even understand what it is, or where it...

we thought it could be for a candle, something for a candle.

I think you're right, I think you're right.

-This piece at the top is a socket for something.

-Mm.

So what it is, it probably was a candlestick

that's missing its sconce.

It was made in Bohemia, what is now modern Czechoslovakia,

in about 1860-1870,

it's concentric layers of glass laid on top of one another,

cut through, gilded and hand painted.

-Right.

-And whereas some people might think this is a sort of

fairly ghastly piece of kitsch - there is that school of thought.

-Yes.

-Others still like it a lot, particularly in the Middle East,

where it's very popular and whereas the value of many antiques

has gone down, this sort of taste has stayed constant.

-Right.

-So, let's do what they're worth.

Well, the vase is worth about 20 quid.

-Oh, right.

-Your wedding ring that I found in it...

is... Geoffrey Munn tells me worth is about 150,

-so you can have that back.

-Thank you.

-The vase is worth £600 to £1,000 at auction.

-Right.

Thank you, mmm, that surprised me, yes.

I mean, they look quite like the sort of remnants

of a watch repairer's stock or something. How did you get them?

My father-in-law was very interested in clocks and watches

and it was a hobby of his and he used to go round collecting them

and try and repair them where he could.

People would bring him old watches and, you know,

if he could get them working, he would repair them to give them back.

Others would just say, "I don't want it".

So maybe he thought these were beyond repair...

this is the residue, is it?

Probably, we found lots of little parts of them as well.

And any more watches in this envelope or not?

Um, there's a couple of wrist watches, a few bits and pieces.

-Do you mind if I just pour them all out?

-No, I don't think...

If they're like the last lot, there's not anything of great...

That's about it.

Um, well, on the whole it's nothing special, really,

-a lot of stainless steel schoolboy type watches.

-Right.

-But that sort of suddenly makes it all come alive a bit, doesn't it?

-Yes.

Typical World War I silver wrist watch.

Did you know this was in there?

No, no. Well, I knew there was watches, but I hadn't really looked at them in any detail.

How do you know it's World War I?

The dial is the absolute giveaway.

These large numerals and the hands,

some dials were left plain but many had luminous paint.

This one has not got luminous paint.

-Right.

-And hopefully there'll be a set of hallmarks inside

so I'll be able to tell you whether it's,

sort of, 1914, 1918, something like that.

And, actually, it's rather nicer than that.

Because there is the word "Rolex"

and there's "W" and "D", which is the Wilsdorf case,

and you've got a full set of import marks,

it's come in through London in 1916.

-Oh, very old then.

-For a wrist watch it is quite old.

-Yes.

-It's also signed "Rolex" here, so it's the real thing.

-Wonderful.

And this is the jewel amongst...

if I can be so rude to say the rest of the rubbish.

-Brilliant.

-And you, you never thought that that actually was a good piece on its own?

Well, it doesn't say "Rolex" does it?

It doesn't on the dial, no, it doesn't.

If it said "Rolex" on the dial it would be even better

but then, of course, you wouldn't have missed it, would you?

-No, no, absolutely not.

-Now we know what it is, £600 at auction.

Brilliant, that's wonderful.

-Are you happier?

-Yeah, that's lovely. Thank you.

-Good.

Do you know, if my granddad could come back from the dead

to find that his grandson was paying the best part of twelve shillings for a bottle of water,

that's 60p to a certain generation,

he'd want me certified. We just take water for granted though, don't we?

-We do.

-We really do and you've brought along what has to be

the most incredible Art Deco water filter that I've ever cast eyes on.

So are you going to tell me that this was originally in

The Queen's or The Griffin Hotel here in Leeds and was, you know,

sort of people were supping that, you know, in the '20's and '30's?

-Not really.

-No, well where's it been?

It's been on a farm.

-In a shed, it's been.

-No, no, it originally started in a farmhouse.

Me Gran and me Grandad had it in farmhouse

and it was handed down to me parents and then handed down to us.

-Right.

-But originally it was on the draining board of this farmhouse

and me grandparents had two drums, oil drums,

outside on each side of the door as you're going in, full of rainwater,

and I think that's what they were doing, purifying the rain water.

I'm not quite sure about it really.

Right, well it's remarkable to think that more people died

through drinking water than they ever did anything else,

-so small beer was a safer option.

-Yes.

But I've had a sneaky look underneath this.

I don't know who made it, all I know is it's the first one I've seen

and I just love this decoration,

this wonderful decoration, nice stylish, geometric. What's it worth?

-How do you value something you've never seen before?

-Don't know.

Um, well I think, you know, bearing in mind I don't know the maker, there's no mark,

it's got to be £300 or £400 of somebody's money.

I'm just trying to work out how many bottles of water that would equate to.

What I call this is, to me, is a universal friend.

Oh, I see, a universal friend.

-What do you call it?

-It thought it was a chaise lounge.

-Right.

-A little one.

Yeah, absolutely, it is a little chaise longue, the reason why

I say that is because it's got an interesting story behind it.

Well, it was made by my great grandfather for me father

-but unfortunately he only died about three months after me grandfather was born.

-Really?

Yes, because in those days they put it on a hand cart,

they couldn't get it in the back of a wagon and, pushing it round,

he caught his leg on a rusty nail,

got gangrene in it and unfortunately he died.

-Oh, what a sad way...

-Yeah, yeah, sad that, really sad, yeah.

-In fact, I've got a photo of me grandfather.

-Let's have a look.

Thank you, and this is the gentleman who made it?

That's the gentleman who made it, yes, yes.

So me grandfather sat in it,

me father sat in it, me brother and meself have sat in it,

my daughters have sat in it,

and the grandchildren are sitting in it now, so...

So that's why I give it the term 'universal friend'.

-Yeah, because everybody's been...

-Who hasn't sat on it?

-Even me wife's sat on it, yeah.

-Really?

-Oh, she has, yeah.

Oh, it's lovely, it's a real treasure as a piece as a whole

because, you know, to find one in scale is quite unique

-because you see these miniature pieces and they don't quite work.

-No.

This, to me, works in every way.

What date is this... when was it made?

Well, me granddad were born 1904 so it would be around that,

you know 1904 or 1903 when me great grandmother were expecting,

you know, and me grandfather was alive.

Are you familiar with the wood? Do you know what wood it is?

Well, it's mahogany it is, yeah.

-It's actually walnut.

-It's walnut is it? Oh, right.

Yes, a lot of people would have thought, at first glance, it is mahogany but it's actually walnut.

Oh, that's bad news because I'm a cabinet maker and I've been one all me life and...

We all make mistakes.

I thought it were mahogany.

No, it's walnut.

-Um, these are the original castors, these ceramic castors.

-Yeah.

With little gilt lacquer collars.

-Obviously the upholstery...

-Oh, it's been reupholstered, we had that done.

But when you squeeze it, you can hear the horse hair underneath so that's original.

-Oh, my friends, the old style upholstery.

-Brilliant.

I mean, all the turnings are individually turned because they're all not exactly the same.

They're all slightly different, aren't they?

Yes, I did notice that yeah, every one just a slight variation on a theme.

-And this incised carving.

-Yeah.

-It's sweet, it's absolutely sweet.

This is a real collector's piece

and I would put a value on this between £600 and £800,

but this would sell very, very quickly

-because it's just so desirable.

-Yeah, yeah.

But, please assure me, it will not leave the family.

Oh, no, it won't leave the family, it won't leave the family.

Well, this is a magnificent ring, isn't it?

-Tell me, where did you find it?

-In a field just outside Doncaster.

-And how did you find it?

-With a metal detector.

-Ah, and what do you think about him with a metal detector?

-I think it's very interesting.

-Do you go out with him?

-No, no, no.

-Is it the other woman, really?

-Yes.

There always is another woman in one way or another, this is the best sort.

What did you feel like when you found that?

-It was quite near to the A1.

-Yes.

And I'd been there a few days prior and the only thing I'd found was a couple of cruddy Roman coins.

-Cruddy Roman coins! Well, that would satisfy me actually.

-Yeah.

But you've raised the stakes enormously, haven't you,

because what you've found is an utterly magnificent

courtly gold ring with a crystal intaglio on the inside.

Tell me what you know about it.

Well, the... it's called the brazen serpent.

The intaglio on the front is called the brazen... the subject matter of the...

The subject matter, yes, is called the brazen serpent.

-Yes.

-And there's the cruciform with the serpent wrapped round it, Moses praying and a corpse at the side.

-Yes.

-And if you look in the book of Numbers, Chapter 12, verse 8, it tells you all about it.

And you're so in love with this thing, that you can do it just like that, chapter and verse.

Well, I'm telling you, if I found this thing, there would be nobody more in love with it than me.

It presumably dates from about 1580.

It has been to the Northern European Museum and they said 1500 to 1520.

Yes, and we know it's a very high status ring because it does have a rock crystal intaglio on the front,

which would have been coloured at the back and foiled with silver.

-Yes.

-And it would be a very bright effect.

Curiously enough, these references to Biblical quotations,

these rebuses, which is what it is,

it's a visual interpretation of the Bible,

are not only what they are at face value,

but they also have a talismanic significance all of their own.

The brazen serpent is associated with all things medical.

-Yes.

-And it may be that the owner of this courtly ring was worried about his health,

he may even have been a medical practitioner who was using it as a talismanic purposes of his own,

and as I look at it here,

I can see that there are traces of black enamel - champleve enamel -

it's dropped into the surface of the gold and the condition of it is very far from perfect.

-Yes.

-And, in a funny way, that couldn't matter less to me, I don't really mind at all.

I can see everything that the goldsmith wanted to tell us.

I can almost see the owner of this passing over the field where you found it, in some way or another,

and your joy in finding it is exactly paralleled by his anxiety in losing it,

so here we have one of your ancestors, one of mine,

-losing something of very high status indeed, going through all the agonies of that.

-Yes.

And then, 400 years later, you come along

and it's immediately paralleled by your excitement and your ecstasy at finding it.

You can value these, because the only reason that we recognise what they are is through precedent,

and there are magnificent collections of rings

in the British Museum and the Ashmolean Museum.

If such a ring was perfect,

-it would be immensely valuable if it was in mint condition.

-Yes.

It really would be.

I mean, £25,000 would not be out of the question for this ring.

But, life being what it is, the plough has hit it,

it's been turned over and the intaglio is cracked.

The shape of it is distorted, the enamel has gone.

I don't mind a bit and, in this condition,

perhaps it's worth £4,000, £5,000. Who cares?

It's got all the magic of something from the English Renaissance

and I couldn't be more thrilled to see it, thank you very much.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-I saw this from a distance and I knew instantly what it was.

-Yes.

Japanese lacquer, inlaid in ivory,

showing the scene of a Japanese hero killing a serpent

and then I got close to it and thought, "Ooooh."

-It's brilliant.

-You don't regret then, picking on it?

-No, I don't, I think it's a magical object.

-Yes.

-Well, we can see what it is from the back.

-Yes.

-Royal Worcester.

-Yes.

Printed mark, and the date, 1876.

-Yes.

-And also the impressed mark as well.

-Yes.

Now, Worcester was one of only two or three factories

who satisfactorily, at this date, in the '70s and '80s,

made copies, or inspired by,

Japanese lacquer, ivory, wood, you name it.

They did it brilliantly.

Perhaps Worcester was the best.

The wheel is actually a Mon of one of the Samurai

and that's who this will be, and one can check it up.

Do you love it?

Yes. I fell in love with it the first time I saw it.

-A friend bought it in the '50s, for seven and six, at auction.

-Gosh!

And, um, this friend of mine said,

"Right, when I die, you can have that."

And maybe you were ticking the days off.

Not quite, not quite.

Well, a Royal Worcester collector would probably not want it.

-They like, sort of, peach bloom and little landscapes and stuff.

-Yes.

Um, the aesthetic movement people would be the ones who would want this

and I think, because they're into kind of quirky things,

this would be high up on their shopping list.

In 35-40 years, I've never seen this particular one.

I don't suppose they made many of it.

I think it would make... I'm going to go out on a limb here,

everybody's going to tell me I'm mad...

I think that would make between £2,000 and £3,000.

You've got good taste.

-Thank you very much.

-You're welcome.

-This has got to be the ultimate gentleman's toy.

-I'm sure.

From the Edwardian period, but I wonder how gentlemanly you might think it is

that he's comparing a rather glamorous beautiful looking Edwardian lady with a race horse.

I don't like it, the idea at all, really.

But it's a beautiful thing, I must admit.

It is a beautiful thing, he's favourably comparing this lady

with a race horse, but he's doing so, none the less.

On the bottom it says, "Where thoroughbreds meet"

which presumably refers to a race track where he finds

the two things he's most interested in...horses and Edwardian ladies.

-And women, yes.

-If we open it up,

we can see that it's hallmarked for London 1909,

which is, of course, the end of the Edwardian era

and a time where woman are thinking more about getting votes

and stopping being treated like race horses for a change.

-Indeed.

-It's 18 carat gold, it's beautifully enamelled on the front

with a very glamorous Edwardian lady tickling the chin of a race horse.

-Yes.

-And as you know, presumably, it's a vesta case.

-Is it?

-For striking matches. Have you always had it?

No, I believe it was my father's.

Ah, but he wasn't the first owner, I take it?

-No, it was given to him by... he forgot who gave it to him actually.

-What a lovely present.

-Mm.

And you approve of this comparison between ladies and horses?

Well, not really, no.

But I still think it's a beautiful thing.

It's a beautiful, beautiful thing.

-Vesta cases are extremely well covered as a collector's area.

-Yeah.

And this is a very rare vesta case.

As a consequence, good rare vesta cases tend to attract an awful lot of interest.

-Right.

-I think you'd be very hard pressed

-to go and buy this for less than about £3,000.

-Wow!

I think this is an astonishing image, because here is Ghandi,

as far as I can see, not only photographed

but I imagine actually in Britain and in the North of England.

How does this come about?

These are my two grandparents, Percy Davis and Kathleen

and my grandfather owned three cotton mills

and in 1931 he knew that Ghandi was going to come over to England

and he wanted to invite Ghandi to come up to the cotton mills

and look at the effects of the boycott the Indian Government

was putting on the Lancashire cotton mills,

look at the effect on the workers. It was causing unemployment.

-Right, well let's go back a bit.

-And hardship.

The British textile industry was very dependent upon the Indian trade since the Victorian period.

We...one of the purposes of Empire was to have a market for our goods,

-a guaranteed market, and we sold textiles to India steadily through the 19th century.

-Yes.

But also, of course, in the fervour that built up towards independence,

which was very strong in the 1930s, there was essentially - as you say -

a boycott about not importing or not buying British goods,

so it was very much a politically driven event.

-Yes.

-Which Ghandi, of course, was absolutely at the head of.

-Yes.

Um, non violence and all that,

but trade wars as aggressive as you like,

and so I think it was very brave

of your grandparents to get him involved,

but he agreed, he came up here.

Yeah, I think the whole visit was arranged by this particular man here.

-Yeah.

-And so he came to stay in my grandparents' house.

-So he stayed there?

-Yeah, he slept in my father's bedroom,

and my father was away at school actually,

-but my uncle was there at the time.

-So that's your grandmother again.

-Yeah, that's right.

-Is that at their house?

-Yeah and that's my uncle there, Uncle Ron.

-Right.

The other one, I mean, I like very much this picture

because, of course, this is about the change of idea.

Here is Ghandi meeting mill workers' families.

-Mm, that's right.

-And he could see the problems,

the hardships that his policy was causing,

and I think this is a very important change of direction because,

I mean, he went back and he changed it, didn't he?

I gather it changed a couple of years later or so, I'm not sure.

Yes, I mean he didn't drop the boycott completely.

But he realised that you couldn't generate, sort of, world peace

by putting people out of work.

Yeah. I think he was very sympathetic to the workers

but he did say that his workers were affected far more,

far more people affected in India than they were in Lancashire.

-I think it's true, but he still took this on board.

-Yeah.

-Now what's this?

That's the letter from Ghandi.

-God, it's a letter, signed "Ghandi".

-Yes, signed by Ghandi.

That's a wonderful thing, so this is after he's stayed.

"I have delayed too long in thanking you and your husband

"for your wonderful kindness to me and all my party when you received

"as guests in your beautiful farmhouse last Saturday and Sunday."

-So he stayed for the weekend.

-Yeah.

"I shall not forget the peace and beauty of that Sabbath

"and I deeply hope that its results may lead to permanent goodwill and friendship."

-He's saying it all, isn't he?

-Yeah.

He's sorted this out, negotiated a peaceful development to both advantages.

-I think it's, it's a wonderful vision on a bit of history.

-Yeah.

And I think your grandparents were obviously also very good politicians.

They were Socialists, yeah.

-Yeah, but they were battling for the Socialist principles which he, Ghandi, could share.

-Yeah.

I think it's a great story. Have you got tons of other stuff?

-I've got quite...

-I've got a lot of other stuff.

-A basement full.

-Really? Yeah. A big story.

-Big chest full.

Well, the little bit I've seen here, as a vision of history,

I think is probably, to a collector, worth, oh, you know, £5,000.

-You know, in Indian history this is important.

-Yeah.

-Indians are great collectors.

-Yeah.

-They would all buy this back now.

-Really?

-It's their history as well as our history.

Yeah, that's interesting.

So it has a great future as a great story.

I understand this is a relic from the BBC's past so, Geoff, tell me about it.

Well, um, in about the late '70s

I was doing sound effects for the local drama group

and I needed something to switch things and amplify things on stage

so I came across this in a local warehouse in Leeds

and it turns out it's a BBC outside broadcast unit from the '50s.

I don't even know where to begin...

-so you've got a light, is this a cue light?

-That's your cue light, yes.

OK, that I am familiar with.

So I can switch that on and off from here, from the control panel

and you'd have somebody stood in front of the microphone

on tenterhooks waiting to speak and you say,

"When the red light goes out, you can start," you see.

Oh, I see, what I'm used to is when the red light goes on.

-And then it's recorded on here?

-Yeah.

Now, so what kind of things did they used to say into this, into this kind of kit?

Well, I mean, I've been told that this is actually 1950 onwards

so they wouldn't have done war time broadcasts, but you can imagine,

"Boom, boom, boom, boom... this is London calling."

Everyone's nodding behind you here, yeah.

Everybody...a load of people here remember it

but I've got a couple of little scripts here which I've prepared

and these are actual, these are actual broadcasts.

-OK.

-Which Alvar Liddell did during the war.

Oh, I've got to have a go. Right, shall we have a go?

What do you think? All right, into this.

Are you ready, so when the red light goes out...

-Will you record it?

-I'll get recording, OK?

Here is the news and this is Fiona Bruce reading it.

"The three fighting services have carried out another small night raid, details are not yet available.

"Our bombers have attacked aerodromes in the Low Countries

"and again mined enemy waters." What do you think?

-Very good.

-Oh, you're just saying that. Can we hear it back?

I think you probably can, yes.

'Here is the news and this is Fiona Bruce reading it.

'The three fighting services have carried out another small night raid...'

I don't think that's posh enough for then.

No, no, you're not quite right for BBC sound radio.

I'm going to need elocution lessons.

I have heard they're setting up a new service called the television service.

Right, I might give that a go.

Seek out a new career,

Geoff, thanks very much.

It was on an internet site.

I were after a garden statue, I'd just finished the back garden,

I put a bid in on it and I left it for three days,

and three days later I found out I'd won it.

So I had to go and collect it in Barnsley.

-So how much did you pay for it?

-£20.

-Right, OK.

-It was starting bid.

And a lot of hard work carrying.

Well, I'm staggered that you can buy something like this for £20.

Did you know how big it was when you, when you bid for it?

They did give a description of the length and the size, but I thought it were an exaggeration.

-OK.

-They said it were over five foot.

Well, five foot and five ton I think because it's just taken eight burly fellas to bring this in today.

-Yeah, sure.

-So is this, is this something that he came home with

and you said, "What have you done?"

I said, "Will it fit in t' attic?".

-In t'attic?

-In t'attic, yeah, cos I didn't know how heavy it was.

And then he wanted to put it on t'dining room table

but, I mean, I said,

"What happens at Christmas, then? We won't be able to eat us dinner."

Can we have a look at it? Because, you know, from a distance

when I saw this, I thought, "Oh, what a great bronze,"

because it looks, to all intents and purposes like bronze,

and to be honest with you, I was thinking big names

and thinking maybe it's Bugatti, maybe it's Rembrandt Bugatti,

the great sculptor from, you know, the early 1900s,

but it's from a little bit further south, isn't it?

I think it's Africa.

Well, I think you know more about it than I do, in that department.

I have looked it a little bit and I've looked at this R Josamu

and I'm not sure if it's spelt like that, I think it's Josiramu.

I think it's Robert Josiramu.

-Whoever this man is, he's very, very clever.

-I think he's a genius.

I, well, I'll go with the flow on that one,

but I'm assuming that this has been carved in the last 20-30 years.

I don't think it's of any... not of any great age.

Yeah, I know it's not an antique, I do appreciate that.

No. Normally when you see African carvings, they're normally...

-first of all they're in like soapstone or steatite.

-Right.

And this one is in serpentine,

but let's have a look at the composition.

-Right.

-Because first of all it is, literally, a herd of elephants.

And, you see, when I look at this,

I can only marvel at this man's ingenuity,

because this chap's looked at a block of stone

and he's seen it for what it is,

because I love the way he's textured it.

-Exactly.

-You do get that lovely leathery...and those ears!

I know, it's stunning, isn't it?

They're just stunning and they've been polished.

What are you going to do with it?

You're keeping it where at the moment?

Well, it was actually intended to go at side of pond in t'garden

and now I've seen what it is, I got in touch with Leeds City Museum

-and they're doing an anthropology display or study and it's lasting five years.

-Yes.

So I've asked them if they want it.

-It should be touched.

-Yeah, I've been doing it ever since it arrived.

I don't want this locked up in my house.

I want 1,000, 10,000 people to come and touch it.

I want them to touch it like my grandchildren do.

-I don't mind them sitting on it.

-Hang on, hang on.

At moment it's on t'floor behind the dining room table

so you can't see...

you've actually to walk in to look at it, so it's wasted.

I honestly believe that if I went, you know, into the right gallery,

I wouldn't be surprised to see a price tag, not of £800,

I wouldn't be surprised to see a price tag of nearer £5,000 on something like this.

So I don't know if that's colouring your vision and your...

because I think it's a very noble...

-I don't care what it's worth.

-You don't?

I'll do my best to get it over to that gallery.

I'm going over to see them this afternoon.

Do you know, I'm a really nosy person,

I'm also one of those unprincipled people

who read other people's diaries.

-And I guess you are as well.

-Yes, definitely.

So this is a diary, tell me about whose diary it was

and whose private business you have been nosing into.

Well, this is a Mr George Needle

and he was my father's great, great, great grandfather

and he was a stage coach driver for the Royal Mail.

Oh, right. So he's really sort of recording the end of an era.

He is, definitely, history in the making, what he's done.

Just at the time when these mail coaches were starting to really

go away from the scene and trains and things were starting to come in.

-Yes.

-So it's a real look at Queen Victoria's England, isn't it?

Now, we've got a couple of pistols here as well, what's the connection to the diary?

The pistols is what...obviously, he took passengers on the coach

and obviously the mail as well,

but for protection from the highwaymen and that,

he would give the little gun to the ladies, sitting in the back,

for protection, and obviously he would use it, or his guard.

I think that's very interesting, and there's a reference in the diary,

isn't there, to pistols being cleaned at Lancaster.

Yes, he's actually stated that he had to clean...

-Now I think that the pistols that were cleaned at Lancaster were not these two pistols.

-Don't you think?

Because the Mail would be issued with its own pistols

and they would be much bigger and much more effective than these two.

This one here is a cheap little Birmingham pocket pistol that,

when it was made, if you'd have paid five shillings for it,

it would have been probably about right, so really very cheap.

-Perfectly effective, one shot.

-Yes.

But not really the thing that you would want to guard a mail coach with.

-No.

-The other one's a bit more interesting because if you've

only got one go with that, then you've got six with this one

and it's an early type of revolver that we call a pepper box

and it differs from a true revolver because the barrels

are all put together in a group

rather than having a rotating cylinder

that shoots through a single barrel.

But this is known as a Cooper type pepperbox

and it will have been made in Birmingham

in about the sort of 1840s, 1850s.

Value, with these two nice associated pistols,

probably about £500 the lot,

but I think it's worth so much more than that

because you're listening to somebody who's saying,

who's telling you about his...

well, he probably thought it was a very ordinary life,

but I think that's what makes it an absolutely extraordinary piece.

-Thanks for bringing it.

-Thank you.

For about seven years I was out of work, due to medical reasons,

and in order to do something productive,

I volunteered in a charity shop

but eventually, you know, my long term aspirations are to work

and so I identified this as a potential way

of working my way off Benefit.

I've always been fascinated by glass and so these are the pieces which I've amassed, or some of them.

OK, so you're asking for my opinion as to whether you've got the eye, basically?

Absolutely, really, yes, yes.

So what sort of money are you paying for these things?

Ranges from some which are a bit more expensive, in the £10 range

and some which are a bit cheaper, in the £2 range.

OK. Well, I've arranged these very specifically into the league divisions.

The premiership is actually empty, there is nothing...

-if there were another rail, the premiership would be here.

-Right.

-But you have no premiership.

-Right.

You have first division, second division and third division.

-Right.

-So your stuff with limited commercial value is here and your best things are here.

-Right.

-So where are you finding this stuff?

Um, mostly in charity shops, boot sales occasionally

and then the odd piece I've been quite adventurous with

and got in an antique shop.

-How much was that?

-£20.

Well, that's a nice piece of Murano, Sommerso,

and that's a nice thing,

I mean, it's not up on this top shelf by accident.

My personal favourites here,

you've got a nice Perthshire paperweight here, that's 40 quidder,

so how much did you pay for that?

Um, £2.

You know, so you know that's where you've got to be concentrating.

My favourite things here are these little candlesticks

-by Erik Hoglund, he's a Swede.

-Hoglund.

Hoglund, it's a signed piece,

made by Boda, really attractive very zappy, they're £100 the pair.

-How much did you pay for them?

-£2 the pair.

-Learn!

You're getting there, you know, if you can concentrate, look at this,

this is a really nice quality piece of Murano glass,

very nicely made, quality is what...

that's look, this is quality.

Look at how all these concentric lines

are all fitted in there by trails.

-That's a nice piece, how much did you pay for it?

-£15 that.

Yeah you're getting a little, little toppy for something that's worth £40,

so you just get your prices down.

This is very nice antique glass, these are look pieces,

this is a nice antique, I mean you're getting there, you know,

but you've got to move up.

But I'm behind you, you know, so learn, that's what you've got to do,

but I think you've got, you concentrate uphill on this stuff

and I think you can do it.

-Thank you.

-Be courageous.

I'm hugely grateful for your input, thank you very much indeed.

You're most welcome. Good luck.

So, yours or a family piece or how did you get it?

Well, it comes from my grandfather

and he had a big collection of clocks and watches

and when he died he left them to different members of the family.

So do you know anything about it at all?

I know it's got this chime on it that chimes three times, I think,

with the quarter of an hour, I used to play with that when I was a child.

-OK, it's very typically French looking.

-Right.

-Typical miniature carriage time piece.

-Uh-huh.

And look at this lovely dial, isn't that so pretty?

-It's beautiful, isn't it?

-Sort of mauve translucent enamel.

-Yeah.

-Lovely filigree hands and lovely bands of little gilt decoration there, absolutely charming.

-Yes.

But the give away, as you said,

that it's a repeater, is the knob on the top,

-and that's presumably what you played with as a youngster.

-Yes.

Well, the other give away, of course, is we can see the two gongs

and I'm going to press the button now

and you should see and hear it all.

BELL CHIMES

So, as you see, it did the hours and then the ding-dong for each quarter.

You have to imagine 100 and odd years ago when people travelled,

particularly to house parties,

there were very very few houses with gas or electric light,

so you could have had this on your bedside

and if you wanted to know the time in the dead of night,

-you could just have leaned out and pressed that, and it always repeats to the preceding quarter.

-Right.

So even at one minute to 11,

-it will still do what it did then, which is 10:45.

-Wow! Great.

I love it, if that came on the market now, at auction.

-Uh-huh.

-About £3,000.

Wow! I was expecting you'd say a couple of hundred.

Listen, if I saw it in a shop for a couple of hundred, I'd be a happy boy.

Seeing two little boxes like this is a really great pleasure. Where did you get them from?

Well, they've come down through the generations of my mother's family

and I can remember seeing them as a child at my grandparents' house.

We know nothing about the date they were purchased prior,

so there's no provenance, no letters or receipts.

They just suddenly appeared. They were there.

As a small child they were in my grandparents' sitting room, one each side of the sideboard.

And could you remember them ever using them?

No, they were just there for show.

-Oh, I see, so they're like trophies.

-That's right, yes.

-What I find very interesting is the tops of them.

-Yes.

-Um, these little prints.

-Yes.

They're after an Irish illustrator, Adam Buck,

-and there are people who collect Adam Buck prints.

-Yes.

And when you see these little prints,

they will, they're a real collector's dream.

Oh, are they? That's interesting.

-They're lovely. Do you know what wood they're made out of?

-No.

-Is it walnut?

-It's actually burr yew.

-Burr yew, oh.

-Oh, really?

I can see where you're coming from with walnut,

-because it's like that, burry.

-Yes.

-But it's yew wood.

These are Regency.

-Yes.

-They're made about 1810.

-Yes.

1810-1815.

-Right.

-Would you open that one for me, please, sir?

Aren't they delightful? They are absolutely exquisite,

-this is fantastic, isn't it?

-Yes.

Whether this is the original... do we know?

I think it is because I know that they did tapestries as well

so it probably is original, yes.

-Right, because there would have been lots of little spoils of silks in here.

-Yes.

-And no doubt over the years they've...

-They've used.

-They've been used or they've just rotted away.

-That's right, yes.

-Very, very pretty, so nice to see the tray full.

-Yes.

And, yeah, on both of them, both of them, very, very pretty.

That's superb, thank you, thank you.

Wonderful little gilt mounts,

little lion paw feet, as I say, Regency.

Now the 64,000 question... what are they worth?

In today's market, which is rather volatile,

I would say these are worth between £3,000 and £5,000.

In all the years I've been in the business,

I haven't seen a pair like this before.

I would call them a matched pair, because they're not mirror image,

but they must be extremely rare and I think they're,

I think they're wonderful, they're wonderful things.

Thank you. We're very proud to own them, yes, thank you.

I don't think I've ever seen a sadder looking ivory

but there's something quite sort of charming about it.

That's right, I've always been very fond of it.

It was from my grandparents.

My grandfather was a painter/decorator in Bradford

and he was, from what we understand he was paid with the ivory,

probably in the 1920s or 1930s

but we don't know any more of the story than that.

That's the story that's been handed down in the family.

-And do you like him?

-I love him, I think he's lovely

and it's also a connection to the fact

he was always there in my grandparents house.

-And you remember it as a child?

-Yes, that's right.

It's Dieppe ivory which is French Normandy coast

and that is really the centre for carved ivory figures like this.

But it's such an unusual carved figure,

being a tramp or a sort of vagabond,

but the detail on it is really quite stunning.

I mean, with Dieppe ivories,

they imported the ivory from West Africa

and it was the centre of carved ivory making

since the sort of 16th century,

but in the late 19th century there was a huge demand

for these sorts of things, but this is such an unusual piece.

The quality... I mean, even to have the back carved like that,

the way his jacket is torn,

the quality is really mind-blowing actually.

And the detail on the carving,

I mean, you can see there the sad expression on his face

and the way he's got his hands tucked underneath his shirt

and it's just so beautifully carved.

I mean, the skill, and all of this was carved with drills and then polished off and chiselled by hand.

So the amount of hours in this piece is staggering really.

So the value I'd have thought

would be comfortably sort of £600 to £800,

-which is what it would fetch today at auction.

-Right, gosh, yes.

He's just such a charming little thing.

Is that sort of what you had in mind with the bill?

No, I had no idea at all. It's just always been there and just today

I was coming along and I thought I'd pop it in my back and see what,

if I could find anything more out about it.

Well, it's small but it's beautifully printed

-and it has its driver and I love it.

-Yes.

-What made you bring it in?

It was a last minute spur of the moment thing, brought something else

-and I thought maybe I'll take the car as well.

-Very good so...

Because it has the provenance so that makes it more interesting.

She has, "It has the provenance", she says, indicating a scrap of paper. What is that scrap of paper?

-This was a gift to my late husband's uncle.

-Right.

His sister gave it to him on his 21st birthday

and that sister was my late husband's mother, my mother-in-law.

I'm still with you, but only just.

What date was the birthday?

-July 10th 1925, his 21st.

-And what does this say?

-This says,

"Many Happy Returns for your 21st. For I've the key of the door, lads,

I've the key of the door, I've never been 21 before, tra, la, la, la, la."

-Excellent.

-"I am paying the chauffeur 12 months wages in advance,

"I have also filled her up with petrol and oil so that she won't cough.

"I enclose a half pence,"

-I would have thought she would have put "a halfpenny" in those days.

-Yes.

But, however, "So that you can get a drink on your travels,

"your loving sister, Kathleen. Good bye." In inverted commas.

-That's so great.

-Isn't that lovely?

So the car and the chauffeur with twelve month exploring,

exploring the highways and byways of Britain in this.

-Well, the car itself is a little German car but I think you knew that.

-Yes, yes.

-Because it actually does say.

-It does actually say, yes.

-"Made in Germany" on it. And it's what's known as a "penny toy".

-Uh-huh.

Originally these little toys may have been sold for a penny

but actually I think this is a bit too sophisticated to be a proper penny toy.

It could have been made by one of several manufacturers.

The best known is a company called Mayer,

and even though it's a tiny toy,

these penny toys are very desirable these days

and I wouldn't see any question that that would get in excess of £200

-if it ever came to auction.

-Goodness me.

It's an absolute cracker.

Thank you very much, that's really lovely and very interesting.

I'm looking at your leaf dish to try and work out sort of what the design shows.

It's sort of a bit smudged, isn't it?

There's a Chinese fence with rock work and this is bamboo

and then here we've got a rather curious sort of Buddhist emblem.

A Buddhist emblem tied in ribbons.

Have you thought about the design?

Not really, I just like blue and white.

Right, so are you a collector?

More of a magpie. I just see things and if I like them and I can afford them, I buy them.

-So where did you get this one from?

-At the local second hand market.

-Oh, right, recently?

-Around six months to a year ago.

-OK, what did it cost you, can I ask?

-£35.

-Right.

Where do you think it was made?

The design's Oriental but I think it's English.

That's right because there you've got a Chinese scroll

-rolled out there.

-Ah.

But the shape isn't Chinese at all.

Curiously, the Chinese were not very good at moulding,

and this is beautifully moulded.

There you've got... it's a leaf, isn't it?

You've got an entire vine leaf has been rolled out into the clay and the mould's made from that,

that's a real leaf, so all the little veins there are...

-there's a lot of detail.

-Yes.

Um, it's terribly hard to paint on,

so no wonder it's blurred a little bit.

But it's a copy of the Chinese, any clues? Let's have a look.

Oh, there's a little mark there,

is that a Chinese symbol?

Oh, it's trying to be but that's a workman's mark, a little "tf",

and that mark is the type of thing used early at Worcester.

-Ah.

-I'm getting quite excited seeing that, because looking at this glaze,

it's not the hard whiteness of Chinese,

it's a slightly creamy-bluey feel of Worcester

and slightly misshapen, slightly primitive,

and this is really quite early, right at the beginning

of the factory when they were copying two things.

They were copying the Chinese,

which is the design straight out of a Chinese dish,

and they were copying Meissen

the great German porcelain from Dresden, from Meissen,

and they specialised in leaf and plant shapes

and the idea of a leaf dish is something straight out of Meissen.

-And Worcester have copied that here in about 1754-55.

-So early?

That's very early.

-So you've done quite well, haven't you?

-Have I?

-Have you any idea what you think it might be worth?

-I've no idea.

It's in such wonderful condition, it's so rare,

-I mean, it's going to be, ooh, £3,500.

-No!

Really?

Really?

-Ooh, thank you very much.

-It's fantastic.

SHE LAUGHS

Do you know there's something slightly unsettling about this doll asleep in this case.

Tell me her story.

It was passed to my mother

and it was a relative, a child,

and I don't know whether it was a cousin, or some other relative,

but the little girl who owned it had been ill

and the doll just laid on the bed for a few days

and she died, did the little girl.

Shortly after she died,

the doll and all these little bits were put in this case and it was sealed,

and then my mother got the doll

and, of course, it was... I've known it all my life

there and I've never really taken much notice of it.

But today

as it's been opened for the first time.

So this is the very first time.

-Yes.

-In 100 years.

That that doll has been opened.

And it's the first time I've touched it.

To see her laid there asleep,

it's very emotional for me, very emotional.

And you've known this doll all your life?

Yes, she's...well, yes, as long as I can remember

but she's been in my possession for more than 30 years now

because she's been passed down to me from my mum.

So when I got married, I took her to my new home.

And that's just an amazing thing.

Here is this doll with this tragic story of the little girl

and she's been in this case and now today we're going to take her out

to look at her and find out a little bit more about her.

-It's really exciting.

-Yes, I mean, she's a very, very beautiful doll.

May I take her out of the case?

She's in all the original clothes and everything as the doll was bought.

She is absolutely beautiful and, of course,

there she is with her eyes open.

Yes, that's as I've always known her.

I mean, beautiful real hair, fantastic,

all original clothes. I mean, that's just spectacular and, of course,

you never ever really get to see 100 year old doll

in this sort of condition,

because, of course, she's been preserved in this case

for all that time.

She's a German doll

from the very end of the 19th century,

-beginning of the 20th century.

-Yes, she came from Germany?

Yes, she's an Armand Marseille doll.

-Oh, right.

-And very, very pretty doll, very good number, 3,200.

So, just looking in the case...

obviously they wanted to keep special things from the little girl,

so there's dolls house furniture,

I suppose some money that she had when she died

and, most tragically I suppose, also some of her hair.

I mean, it was a very common thing in the Victorian period

to actually preserve some hair of a loved one who'd died.

Today opening it, and seeing it,

um, as I say, I've never felt emotional before, but I do now.

In fact, I've a big lump

and it's the German side of my mother's family

that we don't know anything about.

That is there in the doll.

-In the doll.

-Yes.

It seems rather the wrong time now to talk about value.

This doll has far more value to you as a family,

being handed down to the girls in the family.

Doll collectors do love to know about the owners of the dolls,

they do love to know a story and this particularly story, tragic and poignant as it is,

would add considerably to the value of the doll.

So the history would mean the doll would probably sell for £600, £700,

-but that's not the point...

-No, she's not for sale.

..Of the story, I mean, it's just not the point of the story.

This is a wonderful part of your family history.

Yes, my mother always said, "You never open that"

but today we've opened it and I felt quite guilty when we opened it,

I really did.

I'm glad we've done it now, I'm really glad we've done it

and I do feel much more connected with her.

Remember these elephants

that Eric was looking at earlier in the programme,

and the owner wasn't quite sure what to do with them,

all 25 stone of them.

Well, we spoke to Leeds Museum and they thought about it for about 30 seconds

and said yes, they'd be delighted to have them.

So these elephants are hot footing it, straight from the Roadshow

just down the road to Leeds Museum.

And do you think you'll be happy there?

Yes, they say they will. What a marvellous ending to our show.

From Leeds Town Hall, bye bye.

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