Blackpool 2 Antiques Roadshow


Blackpool 2

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The inspiration for Britain's most famous seaside landmark

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came from the Great Paris Exhibition of 1889 when the Mayor of Blackpool

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decided that Mr Eiffel had had really rather a good idea.

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So welcome to a second helping of the Roadshow from Blackpool Tower.

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2,500 tonnes

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of steel, five million bricks and a cost in today's money

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of £21 million.

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That's what it took to build the Blackpool Tower, back in 1894.

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It was considered to be the greatest single piece of British engineering of the time.

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And just in case of disaster, the Manchester architects

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of Tuke and Maxwell designed it to topple into the Irish Sea.

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It does get windy!

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The plan was to build towers as tourist attractions

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up and down the country. It failed in places like Morecambe and the Isle of Man,

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making Blackpool Tower all the more desirable.

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When the public were first admitted to this Victorian entertainment complex, the riff-raff

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were kept at bay by a small

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but significant charge of sixpence for the privilege.

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And what was on offer beside a trip up the tower?

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Tea dances to tunes from the mighty Wurlitzer organ, but there were rules.

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"Gentlemen may not dance unless with a lady." "Disorderly conduct means immediate expulsion."

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and "On Sundays, please remain seated, as no dancing allowed."

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Our palatial venue for the day hosted many a fine tea dance and artiste,

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so today we're hoping for a few more neat steps and performances from our specialists.

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Let's see what they have to offer.

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-Have you said your prayers?

-Sorry?

-Have you said your prayers?

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Why, what do you mean?

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-Because you've brought a prayer machine.

-I have? Oh, right, OK.

-This is for saying prayers.

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-Right.

-It's an incense burner, and you'll find that throughout the world, all religious communities

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at some stage burn incense and the incense goes up to heaven, and that's the idea of this thing.

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-Right, OK.

-It's called a koro, which is the Japanese term for an incense burner, so that clarifies

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where it's from, but how did it get from Japan to here?

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My nan had a friend that worked out in Malaysia, was a banker out there,

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and he gave her this piece as a present and I think it was probably about the 1950s.

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When I was growing up she used to keep it in the hall with the dusters in it.

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Were they Buddhists?

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-No, no, I don't think so.

-So it's never been used...

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-I don't think so.

-..in your time.

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No, not as far as I know, no.

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Well, you take the lid off... And it's a pretty chunky old lid.

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Let's just move that off. My goodness, it's heavy!

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..and you put the incense inside here and it's an offering,

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but by putting this on, the incense has to escape

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through the vent holes here.

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The vent is cast

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with this extraordinary frieze. Now, to Western eyes they look like swastikas, well they are swastikas,

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they're Buddhistic swastikas.

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The swastika in Oriental art means "the heart of Buddha"

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so, by allowing your prayers to waft through this symbol, you're getting into the heart of Buddha.

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And on top, he's called the karashishi and he is a guardian,

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Buddhistic guardian, dog and you can see he's looking quite friendly.

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He's playing with this lovely brocade ball which spins around.

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But it's a wonderful piece of workmanship and it would be easy

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to overlook something that is really quite subtle.

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This bronze, smooth bronze, actually contains this beautiful design,

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and then in the centre here, do you know what that is?

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No idea, no.

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Well, it's a badge, we would call it a crest,

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it's armorial, it is actually the crest

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of the Tokugawa clan, so the ruling clan of the 19th century.

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This piece was made probably at about the same time as this ballroom.

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Japanese works of art were finding their way into Europe

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in huge quantities at that time. There was an enormous interest in Europe in things Japanese.

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If you look up at the ceiling, you'll see one Japanese character. I spotted him before,

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he's come straight out of The Mikado, but there was this interest in Japanese works of art

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which brought these things to Europe. I guess this was made

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almost certainly in Kyoto where I've seen them, even to this day,

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-they do this inlay work.

-By hand?

-By hand, tapping in, so it's a jolly nice object.

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So back to saying prayers, how much do you think it might fetch?

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-I've got no idea, no idea.

-It's very difficult to say actually

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because this market goes up and down, up and down

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and with financial uncertainty and Japan being in quite a bad state,

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I reckon that today this is probably worth somewhere in the region

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-of let's say between £3,000 and £4,000.

-Really?

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Oh, I'll get that holiday booked!

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So get out the joss sticks.

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That's fantastic, thank you very much.

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I can't tell you a lot about them. They actually belonged to my mother-in-law.

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When I first looked at them, I didn't even realise they were mosaics.

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So it was only because somebody had a magnifying glass that we realised

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they were the mosaics that she kept referring to.

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One or two are quite pretty but I have to say

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-that this one in particular...

-You hate it?

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-..I really don't like it at all.

-You would never wear it?

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-No, absolutely not.

-No, what exactly do you dislike about it?

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-It's so glittery.

-It is glittery, isn't it?

-And shiny and sparkly

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-and I don't really like sparkly.

-No. It is very sparkly.

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It's sparkly because there are little copper filings

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imprisoned in a glass background.

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They've come a long way to your mother-in-law, in the main from Italy.

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They're the grandest tourist objects you could think of - they're souvenirs.

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If you came to Blackpool

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you might take away a paste brooch with a tower on it,

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-if you went to Rome or Florence, you'd come back with a micro mosaic.

-Right.

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Everywhere you went, you'd be shown miraculous mosaics in the ceilings of Santa Maria Maggiore

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in Rome or perhaps in Pompeii, and you wanted a little bit to bring back to smoky, smoggy old London.

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As a souvenir, a very grand souvenir, mounted often in gold.

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The miracle of these is that they're not made of stone,

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but of glass, and glass is an extraordinary material, you can...

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when it's viscous you can stretch it and stretch it, rather like toffee and then snap it,

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and make tiny little tesserae,

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which are a reference to hard stone mosaics but actually in this case, they're made of glass.

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It may have helped to achieve this dazzling effect

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because they could choose the colours, get the grading of the size

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correct for the subject matter,

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but they could also heat the tiny tesserae

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in a furnace and to sort of... viscosity I think is the right word. Good word, isn't it,

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viscosity? And then they fuse together. When they cool,

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they grip one another with an atomic bond within the glass.

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And so they're pretty durable. Here are some sort of bucolic scenes, aren't there?

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There's a goat herd who's stopped,

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perhaps sleeping out under the moon or something like that,

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with his dog, and every nuance of his jacket is represented

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with a different colour of tiny, tiny glass tesserae.

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Those are the doves of Pliny from Hadrian's villa,

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probably sold to somebody who had just seen them...

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a Roman mosaic in a wall in a town covered with dust from Vesuvius

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and then revived again. Terribly exciting stuff,

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still is actually...

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And some are of gold and very sophisticated at the back.

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But anyway, ballpark figures, goodness, doves of Pliny...

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maybe £200, £300, £400. Perhaps a more fully-blown one £600 to £800,

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and an enormous one of gold with granulation making a reference to ancient techniques...?

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Well, if somebody wants it...

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and that's really the essence of it, isn't it? Do they these days?

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I think so because of their quality, perhaps not to wear,

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but for collectability, maybe £1,200.

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Without a mount maybe again only £400 to £600. But I love them.

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I think they're a great statement of the past.

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-Thanks for bringing them.

-Thank you.

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Do you know I'm sure, initially as soon as people see this

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on screen, they'll think, "Oh, that's a nice telescope."

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And, of course, it's not a telescope, is it?

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No, I've always had a passing interest in cameras and, of course,

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being a Blackpool boy, I'm interested in anything that's made in Blackpool and a camera dealer approached me

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about 15 years ago and said he'd found a camera made in Blackpool and was I interested?

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-And this is that camera.

-Yeah.

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It's a wonderful little item, everything we need to know

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about it is essentially written on a front plate.

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It's made by the British Ferrotype Company.

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-Now I know that it was made between around about 1905 and up to about 1915.

-Right.

-We've got a number

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of over 2,000 on here but I'm not sure exactly how many were made.

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-I have to say, they don't turn up very, very often.

-Yes, yes.

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What we've got is something that takes a magazine of what we call ferrotype plates.

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-Yes.

-You know what a ferrotype plate is, I'm sure.

-Yes.

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-It's a small metal disc with light-sensitive emulsion on it.

-Yes.

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That is inserted via the back section here, into a spring-loaded magazine.

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We can then start to operate the camera.

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We can have our subject in front here, we can essentially line them up through a very simple gun sight

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on top there that you just look through and the person goes in front here and that's it.

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Once you've lined them up, we use a vacuum-operated shutter,

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which you haven't got here, a bulb shutter.

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We take the photograph and as soon as it's taken, we basically push this.

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-Which has jammed.

-Which has jammed, unfortunately.

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The ferrotype plate drops down into the developing reservoirs

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-in the bottom here, and within a minute, within a minute, we have a finished product.

-Amazing.

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Amazing, absolutely amazing.

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Now, here's a finished product.

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This is a tiny little ferrotype plate,

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portrait of a young boy that may even have been taken on Blackpool sea front.

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-Yes, yes.

-Circa 1905-1910.

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Now, of course, you paid for the little ferrotype plates

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and, I suspect, given your little advertising case here,

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you've got to pick the style of the little frame

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that you can put it in, because I see that we've got a selection there

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with some painted enamelled flags.

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-Yes.

-And different gilt borders.

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Around the time of the First World War, the young man

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would have had his photograph taken and his wife or his girlfriend

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would put it in a brooch and she would wear it with pride whilst he was away at the war.

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What a lovely story...

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In essence, that is a sweetheart brooch.

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-That's right.

-A form of sweetheart brooch, and very poignant.

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These don't come up for sale often, they're not something that turns up that frequently,

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so putting a value on it is difficult, but I think the current auction value is going to be

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around about £700 to £1,000.

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Well, yes, I paid about two hundred quid for it.

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Well, I think you did all right, 15 years ago, didn't you?

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It's a wonderful object and again, it epitomises Blackpool in many ways.

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-When I first saw this, I thought it looked Dutch.

-Yeah.

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So I was a bit surprised when, on the top of the drawers here I found

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"Lancaster", absolutely local, and then on this side

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-it says "Gillows".

-Yes.

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So it's a very, very locally made piece.

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It is, yes.

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So this is something that you have bought, or inherited?

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Yes, yes. I bought it, 40 or 50 years ago.

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And where did you get it from?

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Harrogate.

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Antique fair in Harrogate.

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Right, and so why did you buy it?

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Because I liked it.

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That's a good answer. Well, what was it you liked about it?

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It was Gillow, and Gillow to me was one of the best northern furniture makers

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we had, without any doubt, he and his brother.

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And the name of Gillows, these days, will really add value

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-to a piece of furniture.

-Yeah.

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This is very handsome, it's a demi-lune shape,

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wonderful mahogany, a good colour

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and very smart with these box wood stringing.

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-Yes, stringing, yes.

-And I would say this dates to around 1800, about that sort of time.

-Yes.

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And Gillows only started to stamp their furniture right at the end of the century so this...

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-perhaps relatively early piece of stamped Gillows furniture.

-Yes. Yeah.

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I do have to wonder about these handles which don't seem to me

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-absolutely characteristic of Gillows.

-Yes.

-Perhaps you can... What do you think about the handles?

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-Yes, I think the same.

-You think the same?

-Yes.

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But there's also something on the inside which I'm not quite sure about, do you know what

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-happened there or...?

-No, I don't.

-No? It's curious, I wonder if perhaps there was a...

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-Maybe something spilt.

-Something spilt probably, a little bit of repair in there.

-Yes.

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But I think it's interesting to see the inside

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because it's two very simple shelves.

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-The top shelf lovely polished mahogany.

-Yes, yes.

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The bottom shelf really quite crude.

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Yes, true.

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And a smart piece of furniture which is in fact a bedside piece.

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-Yes.

-And I like to think of this as the sort of en suite bathroom of the day.

-Yes.

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So that at night, when you couldn't go into the bathroom

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-or you had to trot down the corridor...

-That's right.

-..in the freezing cold,

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-you had your potty in the bottom there.

-It's a potty cupboard, really, isn't it?

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-It's a potty cupboard, it's a lavatory.

-Yes, yes.

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And I think a very, very handsome lavatory and a Gillows lavatory makes it even more worthwhile.

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Now I dread to think what you paid for it 40 years ago.

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-Well, I think about £600.

-So it was quite a lot of money then?

-Yes, it was, yes.

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I think if you were to sell it now, you would be looking at around £2,000 to £2,500,

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so it's gone up since you bought it,

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but if one looks at inflation and all that kind of thing, it may not have gone up hugely.

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-Yes, yes, no it hasn't, no, no.

-But I hope...

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-do you have this by your bedside?

-Yes, by my bedside.

-Dare I ask?

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-Do you have a...?

-No. No I haven't.

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I love seeing pictures by artists I've never come across before.

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-I see this is signed Bannerman down the bottom here.

-Yes.

-Do you know who he is?

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Yes, I do. He is now dead but I knew him about 30 years ago, and we bought this in the 19...

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in the mid 1970s. He lived in Cromarty in Scotland.

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What I do know, I have one listing for him, living in Aberdeen in 1933 and exhibiting one picture,

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and I also know that he studied in Paris and I think that's what a lot of the artists did in the,

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you know, 20th century, went to Paris because of the Impressionists

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and all the studios where they could study and come back.

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-Do you know where this was painted?

-Yes, I believe it was painted

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in about 1950 in the wardrobe of Sadlers Wells Theatre in London,

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because Mr Bannerman, Charles Bannerman, lived in Islington at that time.

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It looks '50's and there are little things in here like the light,

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and they've put material over the top to direct light down here

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so they're not going to strain their eyes sewing on all the sequins. It's a wonderful scene.

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But what I find interesting

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is that I've never come across his work, which makes me think

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he was a teacher, or an illustrator, or did commercial work.

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Do you know how he did make his living full time?

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Well, I believe he was a graphic artist and I believe he designed the original for Rice Krispies.

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What, "Snap, Crackle and Pop"?

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Yes, so I believe.

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Well that's fantastic. Well, we have to put a value on this

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and I think you know really, looking at it... I said he's an artist

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that's really never come up for sale before, but that doesn't matter

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and that's what I love about this business, because you look at it, so what, the quality's there

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and I think it's good enough to make somewhere in the region of £800 to £1,000.

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-That's interesting.

-Good.

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My Scottish geography probably isn't brilliant, but Kilmarnock I think

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-is sort of southwest of Glasgow, is that right?

-It is indeed, yes.

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-Sounds like you're from that part of the world.

-I am originally from there.

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So does that mean you've known this clock a long time?

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I have known it all my life, I have, because it was my father's wedding present to my mother in 1939

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and I was born in 1941 and grew up with this clock.

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My father was very musical.

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He had a lovely, lovely singing voice and he was very keen that I should learn to play the piano,

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and he insisted I practise half an hour every night

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from six o'clock till half past, and I used to practise the piano

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with one eye on the clock and one eye on the music, practising...

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As soon as it was at half past six, the lid went down on the piano and I said, "That's it!"

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-This thing literally watched over you the whole time.

-Yeah, it did. It did.

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And does it bring any other memories back, other than those of it watching over you?

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Well, my mother was... she had hidey holes all over the house

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for money and one of her hidey holes was inside the clock.

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-Down in here?

-Inside, yes.

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-Incredible.

-Have a look.

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I'll tell you something, I bet there's a good few people out there

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-who'd rather have had their money in the bottom of this than in offshore banking!

-I would think so.

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So let's talk briefly about the Scottish clock-making industry.

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I actually prefer the items from the east coast -

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from Aberdeen, Montrose, Arbroath down to Edinburgh and Leith.

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They tend to be very elegant clocks, long slender trunk doors to make them look really very handsome.

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We come over to the west coast and they're a little big chunkier and this is...

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-although you've got this lovely tapered case, it's quite a chunky clock, isn't it?

-It is. Yes, it is.

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-What sort of date? Had you, had you thought about a date for it?

-Well, my father bought it in 1939

0:19:010:19:06

-but I think it's a little bit older than that.

-Oh, it is indeed, I think we could say 1850 give or take

0:19:060:19:11

-a few years in all honesty.

-Right.

0:19:110:19:13

Quite austere, the plain, circular white-painted dial in this drum-head case.

0:19:130:19:19

As I say, the tapering's good, but we've got very heavy mouldings

0:19:190:19:23

-and a fairly heavy plinth, so very, very different from the east coast clocks.

-Yes.

0:19:230:19:29

Clocks lower down the range, mid range and lower,

0:19:290:19:33

has actually not done terribly well over the last year and a bit.

0:19:330:19:37

I hope you're not going to be too disappointed when I tell that if it went to auction, it wouldn't more

0:19:370:19:42

-than about £2,500.

-No, I'm very pleasantly surprised.

0:19:420:19:45

I really didn't think it would be as much as that.

0:19:450:19:48

The main thing is, you've got all those memories.

0:19:480:19:51

-Yes.

-And it still works.

0:19:510:19:53

-It does.

-Just keep living with it and loving it.

0:19:530:19:56

Yes, I do. I love it, I do.

0:19:560:19:59

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

0:19:590:20:01

You know I've never come across a miniature illuminated manuscript before.

0:20:010:20:08

And this is what this is.

0:20:080:20:10

It is absolutely fantastic.

0:20:100:20:12

It's late 17th, early 18th century,

0:20:120:20:15

and it's red leather

0:20:150:20:18

and it's got little acorns here in the corner

0:20:180:20:21

and these wonderful little flowers and garlands, too.

0:20:210:20:25

It is absolutely delightful.

0:20:250:20:27

And inside, inter folia fructus est, there is the most wonderful

0:20:270:20:32

Lord's Prayer

0:20:330:20:34

illuminated with a coat of arms.

0:20:340:20:36

Now do you know anything about this coat of arms?

0:20:360:20:39

Well, I found out that the motto at the bottom -

0:20:390:20:43

"Foy Pour Debvoir"

0:20:430:20:44

-is apparently the motto of the Duke of Somerset.

-Yes.

0:20:440:20:48

And, also, I believe it may be related to the Seymour family, part of the coat of arms appears to be...

0:20:480:20:54

-This is Jane Seymour?

-Part of it, I believe.

0:20:540:20:57

Yes, it's lovely. And look at this wonderful... It's all...

0:20:570:21:01

-it's all on vellum.

-Yes.

-Which is a skin of course, and it looks

0:21:010:21:06

absolutely fantastic.

0:21:060:21:08

And if I turn the page, it changes again,

0:21:080:21:10

but what this page, I think,

0:21:100:21:12

shows better than possibly the page in gilt

0:21:120:21:14

is - "Heavenly Father Immortall God" -

0:21:140:21:20

-how tiny the handwriting is.

-It is very, very tiny.

0:21:200:21:23

-It's absolutely amazing.

-Wonderful, yes.

0:21:230:21:25

And there are a whole 70 pages of this.

0:21:250:21:28

It is just absolutely incredible.

0:21:280:21:31

Now tell me about it, where did it come from?

0:21:310:21:34

-Well, it's been in the family for a few years now.

-Yes.

-It belonged to an elderly relation of my wife's

0:21:340:21:39

who died about eight or nine years ago, and her father

0:21:390:21:42

was one Canon Mackintosh, who was for some time vicar of Oldham

0:21:420:21:46

-we believe in the 1920s and 1930s.

-Yes.

0:21:460:21:49

We can only assume that somehow he had it in his possession...

0:21:490:21:53

-And here he is.

-..and it came down through the family.

-Yes. I wonder where he got it from?

-I wish I knew,

0:21:530:21:57

-I do.

-Because it's much older than he is, obviously.

0:21:570:22:00

-Oh, yes, it is indeed.

-But I mean it really is quite incredible.

0:22:000:22:03

-Now what about value?

-Yeah, well, I wouldn't have a clue.

0:22:030:22:06

And you're going to say to me, "How would you know how much

0:22:060:22:09

-"its value is as you've never seen one before."

-That's a good point.

0:22:090:22:13

-I'm going to guess, that's what I'll do.

-Yes, yes.

0:22:130:22:15

I wouldn't be surprised, if I went to a book fair or something like that,

0:22:150:22:20

I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't marked £2,500.

0:22:200:22:25

Goodness me.

0:22:250:22:26

Shazzam! Kapow! Those are the words that you normally associate with Batman, and here he is.

0:22:260:22:33

Now I have to ask you, is he yours?

0:22:330:22:35

-It's my husband's.

-Right, OK, and was your husband a Batman fan?

0:22:350:22:39

I don't think he was. I think that's why he's in such decent condition.

0:22:390:22:43

You're absolutely right, he really can't have been a great Batman fan.

0:22:430:22:46

He is in just such superb condition. He's made out of lithographed tin plate, as you probably know.

0:22:460:22:51

Um, with a celluloid plastic head, but even his cape,

0:22:510:22:55

on the back, which normally gets really very badly damaged over time,

0:22:550:22:58

-is normally worn, so no, clearly not a Batman fan.

-No, probably not.

0:22:580:23:03

-He was made by a company called Nomura...

-Right.

0:23:030:23:05

-..in Japan. They released him in 1966 to coincide with the fantastic TV series...

-Right.

0:23:050:23:12

..which I think is one of the campest things to air on TV. I used to love watching those repeated.

0:23:120:23:17

-Um, he's battery powered and he walks and, as you probably know, his head lights up.

-Yeah.

0:23:170:23:23

You have the box as well which is a really desirable feature. Box and model in mint condition like this...

0:23:230:23:30

He's a little bit worn at the top there, from probably sitting in his box but his condition is fantastic.

0:23:300:23:34

-Mm, yeah, mm.

-Prices vary widely.

0:23:340:23:37

1997 one sold at auction for £300.

0:23:370:23:40

-In America, they go up and down and fluctuate but they've sold for as much as 5,000.

-Oh, gosh, right.

0:23:400:23:46

I'm going to be a little bit more cautious than that, and say I think he's worth about £1,500 to £2,000.

0:23:460:23:51

Golly gosh! I'm absolutely stunned, that was his 7th birthday present.

0:23:510:23:58

This looks exactly the type of box that I would expect to find a nice bit of antique silver in.

0:23:580:24:02

You can imagine my surprise when I opened it and found a farmyard scene.

0:24:020:24:06

Er, do you use this?

0:24:060:24:09

Not recently. We have used it.

0:24:090:24:11

-And what do you use it for?

-It's salt, pepper and mustard.

0:24:110:24:14

And any particular occasion you might get it out for?

0:24:140:24:16

-Christmas.

-Quails' eggs?

0:24:160:24:18

Not done that yet, but that's a good idea, we might do that one.

0:24:180:24:21

I was trying to work out what kind of birds they were. These are,

0:24:210:24:24

-I've seen before, the little chicks, I think are hens, normal farmyard hens.

-Right.

0:24:240:24:30

Your mustard pot, on the other hand, appears to me to be

0:24:300:24:34

a quail or perhaps a partridge.

0:24:340:24:36

I'm no ornithologist but I... It's certainly not a hen

0:24:360:24:39

-and it looks like it might be quite good to eat.

-Yes.

0:24:390:24:43

You obviously know that that's a mustard pot, inside there you've got a little spoon,

0:24:430:24:48

a glass liner - which holds the mustard - which is probably the one that's been with it all its life.

0:24:480:24:53

-That is the original.

-That's the original one?

0:24:530:24:55

And inside the whole of the body it's been gilded,

0:24:550:25:00

-so that if any mustard should get stuck down the side, it won't do the silver harm.

-Oh, right.

0:25:000:25:04

It won't corrode the silver, because mustard's ferociously evil with silver, it eats it away.

0:25:040:25:10

This is all made by the same man.

0:25:100:25:13

The quail

0:25:130:25:15

is in fact marked on the base for London 1897,

0:25:150:25:19

and the maker's Sampson Mordan.

0:25:190:25:21

-He was probably the best of what we call the novelty silver makers...

-Oh, right.

0:25:210:25:27

..making animal forms in little snuff boxes and vesta cases,

0:25:270:25:31

though I've never seen this mustard pot before.

0:25:310:25:34

It's a very scarce model.

0:25:340:25:36

The pepper pots and salt shakers in the form of chicks are not uncommon, this is very uncommon.

0:25:360:25:43

I suspect that this was a set that was put together with which to eat quails' eggs.

0:25:430:25:48

The interesting thing about this that you might want to know is that because it's so unusual

0:25:480:25:53

and because there are collectors for mustard pots who would give their right arm for this quail,

0:25:530:25:58

if we can call it a quail, I think the whole set together

0:25:580:26:01

if you went into a retail shop and tried to buy it, would cost you somewhere in the order of £4,500.

0:26:010:26:08

Wow! That's a lot of money.

0:26:080:26:10

Er, yes, mm. That is astonishing.

0:26:110:26:15

Paul, you've been busy looking at other people's items today and giving valuations.

0:26:150:26:20

It's very unusual, you've brought along something of your own.

0:26:200:26:23

-Tell me about it.

-I grew up in the 1950s with "Watch With Mother"

0:26:230:26:27

-and of course this is Teddy from "Andy Pandy".

-This is Teddy from "Andy Pandy"!

0:26:270:26:31

I used to watch "Andy Pandy".

0:26:310:26:33

-So how did you come to own Ted?

-How do I come to have Teddy?

0:26:330:26:36

My mother was a puppeteer who worked for the BBC in the 1950s for the "Watch With Mother" series.

0:26:360:26:44

She did "Andy Pandy", she did "Bill and Ben the Flowerpot Men", "Wooden Tops". That was her life.

0:26:440:26:50

It was also of course my early life, because it started in 1950

0:26:500:26:53

when I was five and there's always been this story that I was the model for Andy Pandy.

0:26:530:26:58

Was there? You've brought some photographs here. Let's have a look. So this...?

0:26:580:27:02

That's the group. I mean that's the famous characters.

0:27:020:27:05

-So, Andy Pandy, Bill and Ben.

-Yes.

0:27:050:27:07

Weed, Looby Loo.

0:27:070:27:09

-Loo and of course Teddy.

-And Teddy!

-And here he is.

0:27:090:27:12

-There was more than one of each puppet for all sorts of purposes.

-So Teddy had stunt doubles, did he?

0:27:120:27:17

Or maybe he is the stunt double. The point is all the others

0:27:170:27:21

from that sequence are in museums, this is the only one that ever escaped,

0:27:210:27:27

but it was given to my mother,

0:27:270:27:28

when the programme ended, by the producer.

0:27:280:27:32

-And this is your mother here?

-This is my mother here operating.

0:27:320:27:34

Now, in fact she always operated Andy Pandy.

0:27:340:27:37

Her friend, who isn't in the picture,

0:27:370:27:40

Molly Gibson, operated Teddy...

0:27:400:27:42

I think it was a spare Teddy or a Teddy that wasn't going anywhere else that came to her.

0:27:420:27:47

It must have been so exciting for you at five.

0:27:470:27:49

It was very exciting because it was television which was so new,

0:27:490:27:52

and sometimes I went to Alexandra Palace with her.

0:27:520:27:55

It was filmed live in those days, so it was happening in front of you,

0:27:550:27:59

and it was just part of my life, you know the way these things are.

0:27:590:28:02

And can you...? Can you work him?

0:28:020:28:04

I'm not the world's greatest puppeteer, I have to say, but, you know, he-he-he he does walk.

0:28:040:28:11

Oh, he's so sweet. He had a very special way of saying goodbye at the end of the programme didn't he?

0:28:110:28:16

You must forgive my terrible voice, but the programme ended with...

0:28:160:28:19

-HE SINGS:

-# Andy is saying goodbye #

0:28:190:28:22

and they all sat there and waved.

0:28:220:28:26

Bye, bear.

0:28:260:28:27

Bye, bear.

0:28:270:28:29

ORIGINAL RECORDING: # Andy is waving goodbye

0:28:290:28:34

# Goodbye

0:28:340:28:36

# Goodbye. #

0:28:360:28:42

For me, a painted portrait is not just about conveying information - a photograph can do that -

0:28:420:28:49

but it's about memorialising a time in life, and I find myself deeply drawn to this.

0:28:490:28:54

I mean I suppose we need to start with who is he?

0:28:540:28:57

Yes, actually me uncle called Michael Snowdon who sadly died six weeks ago. We think it was,

0:28:570:29:05

well, we know it was painted by a friend of his what lived in Stallingborough.

0:29:050:29:09

It's signed in the bottom corner.

0:29:090:29:11

Yes, er, and we think he just did it as a... you know, because they knew each other.

0:29:110:29:16

So this, in a sense, is a remnant

0:29:160:29:20

of a life, a life that was obviously quite close to you.

0:29:200:29:24

Oh, yes, yeah, yeah. Me and Steph are cousins, and he knew us both as our uncle.

0:29:240:29:29

And he actually, when he died he was 67.

0:29:300:29:32

We don't know how long ago this painting was painted

0:29:320:29:36

but we think it'd probably be about 50 years ago.

0:29:360:29:39

I mean rather like Elizabethan portraiture, I always think

0:29:390:29:43

one of the great tests of a very good image is how you can read extra dimensions in it,

0:29:430:29:48

and, of course, in this instance, it's a gift, is it not,

0:29:480:29:52

-because we have behind him all of this porcelain? And we have it here as well.

-Mm, yeah.

0:29:520:29:57

I'm no ceramic expert, but I've spoken to colleagues on the show

0:29:570:30:01

and this is jasperware, jasperware, Wedgwood,

0:30:010:30:03

which dates from the 1950s and '60s

0:30:030:30:07

-so pretty well about when this picture was painted.

-Yeah, yeah.

0:30:070:30:10

It's not hugely valuable but it is, none the less, a wonderful accompaniment to the image.

0:30:100:30:15

So, I mean it's trying to tell you something, isn't it?

0:30:150:30:18

I mean for me, looking at this, here is a man who, or a young man,

0:30:180:30:23

who's a bit of a connoisseur, who has taste.

0:30:230:30:25

Who has interests beyond the normal, and then I find myself deeply drawn to his hand -

0:30:250:30:30

incidentally his beautifully painted hand -

0:30:300:30:34

and on it a ring, which is rather unusual because this is a portrait of what? The 1960s?

0:30:340:30:41

And he is wearing a ring in that sort of rather unusually flamboyant way.

0:30:410:30:47

It's full of rather sort of curious tricks this painting, isn't it?

0:30:470:30:51

He was a very artistic man, he was actually a flower arranger,

0:30:510:30:55

he had a shop in Howarth and he also was a musician.

0:30:550:30:59

He went to the Royal Academy of Music in London where he was a pianist. So he was very artistic, if you like.

0:30:590:31:06

And what I think is so clever about this painting is yes, sure, it says in a literal way with the ring

0:31:060:31:12

and the odd tricks around, that this is what this man's about,

0:31:120:31:15

but it's the expression as well. There's a feeling of...

0:31:150:31:18

a sensitivity, introspection, fragility.

0:31:180:31:23

We need to value this intriguing object, and...

0:31:230:31:27

Jackson, Ken Jackson, although dead, was a considerable force in portrait painting in the area...

0:31:270:31:33

-Right.

-..and it needs to be taken seriously.

0:31:330:31:36

He's not that prominent, perhaps one day will become so, but I would comfortably value this picture

0:31:360:31:43

at £800, £900, possibly even £1,000.

0:31:430:31:47

-But of course its value is this memorial, is it not?

-Oh, it'll never be sold. I'd never sell it, no, no.

0:31:470:31:51

These lovely vintage clothes that a lot of people end up taking to a charity shop.

0:31:510:31:57

-Yes.

-Why did you keep them?

0:31:570:31:59

Well, I think it was mother who kept them and then, because I do tend to hoard things,

0:31:590:32:04

I just kept them in the box where they've been all this time.

0:32:040:32:07

Right. And this lovely early one here, lovely chiffon and lace.

0:32:070:32:11

Well, this one was bought

0:32:110:32:14

for her when she was 21 and it was to go to a Founders Day at a school

0:32:140:32:20

in Highgate in London,

0:32:200:32:22

and that's the group of older girls at the Founders Day.

0:32:220:32:28

-That's a very, very high stylish dress.

-Yes.

0:32:280:32:31

So this is 19...?

0:32:310:32:33

-1931.

-1931.

0:32:330:32:35

Absolutely perfect for that period. And then this dress here?

0:32:350:32:39

-That's 1934, that was a wedding dress...

-Yeah.

0:32:390:32:45

..for a double wedding. At the time, it had a train and it had a big veil.

0:32:450:32:52

And beautiful simple silk, very highly stylish for the 1930s,

0:32:520:32:57

really beautiful,

0:32:570:32:59

that wonderful colour which was so 1930s to be married in, and she was a very tiny lady.

0:32:590:33:04

She was. Well, I could never fit into it.

0:33:040:33:06

-My sister could never fit into it and I think I got dressed up in it when I was about ten.

-Yes.

0:33:060:33:12

And that was when it fitted.

0:33:120:33:14

-Now this is a fascinating one.

-Yes.

0:33:140:33:17

Well, this one was a copy

0:33:170:33:20

of the Duchess of Windsor's wedding dress in 1937,

0:33:200:33:26

which had this distinctive high neck, which this has got, and the little buttons.

0:33:260:33:32

What's fascinating to me about this is, when you think about it,

0:33:320:33:36

-Wallis Simpson was so reviled in some ways, wasn't she?

-Yes.

-I mean, you know she...

0:33:360:33:41

Because for the King to abdicate in those days...

0:33:410:33:44

I mean it was a tremendous thing and Wallis Simpson was really regarded very badly.

0:33:440:33:49

-I know, not popular.

-Not pop... except that women secretly really loved her style.

0:33:490:33:55

-The fashion.

-Her fashion, you know, and also, in some ways it was like a dream, she managed to get the King.

0:33:550:34:01

-Yes.

-You know, she managed it and he gave up everything for love.

-Of course.

0:34:010:34:06

So there was something in that, that people felt...

0:34:060:34:09

-And also she said, "Two things in life - you had to be rich and thin".

-Yes, well...

0:34:090:34:13

-And this dress here, obviously 1940s.

-Yes, well it was about 1943.

0:34:130:34:19

Yes. Obviously they weren't using silk now because we're talking

0:34:190:34:23

about parachutes and everything else and the thing is,

0:34:230:34:25

it's rayon.

0:34:250:34:27

-Yes.

-And that was...that was terribly fashionable at the time.

-Yes.

0:34:270:34:32

-And do you ever think about values of these?

-Not at all. I haven't any idea, no.

0:34:320:34:37

In a specialist vintage auction, you know you're certainly talking this one

0:34:370:34:43

-maybe £200.

-Yes.

-This one, again this beautiful silk,

0:34:430:34:47

the Wallis Simpson connection, I think again £200.

0:34:470:34:50

You know, in a special sale possibly a bit more.

0:34:500:34:54

And this one, although not the beautiful silk but very much rayon, the 1940s style

0:34:540:34:58

is very "in" at the moment, young people really love the 1940s,

0:34:580:35:03

and I could see somebody paying at least £200 for this. So you have a lovely collection here.

0:35:030:35:08

-Thank you.

-And with all the photographs too, marvellous.

-Thank you very much.

0:35:080:35:12

The English excelled in the manufacture of duelling pistols and after about...

0:35:120:35:18

1770, when gentlemen stopped wearing swords, they then didn't have the means to settle their differences.

0:35:180:35:25

This is a long time before they got lawyers involved to settle things expensively, but less bloodily.

0:35:250:35:31

And so they went for pistols.

0:35:310:35:33

And then you start to see, from about the sort of 1770s onwards,

0:35:330:35:38

this development of these very, very high quality

0:35:380:35:42

flintlock pistols that are completely identical as a pair,

0:35:420:35:46

and they have one purpose and one purpose only.

0:35:460:35:49

I always call that "judicially sanctioned murder" because that's what it is.

0:35:490:35:54

It's amazing that in a country where the common law recognises

0:35:540:35:58

that if you kill somebody with intent, you are guilty of murder -

0:35:580:36:02

and in those days of course it was a capital offence -

0:36:020:36:05

that it allowed this practice.

0:36:050:36:07

Where did you get these from?

0:36:070:36:09

They're very, very interesting because they're very rare.

0:36:090:36:13

Well, I can remember them at home from being a child.

0:36:130:36:16

In fact I shouldn't say it but me and my brother used to play with them when we were about ten year old.

0:36:160:36:20

-Playing pirates I suppose?

-Well, yeah.

0:36:200:36:23

Before that it was me father's and I think it was handed down to him from his father.

0:36:230:36:28

They do go back quite, quite a way I believe, yeah, but I've no proof of that though.

0:36:280:36:32

They date from about 1775 to 1780.

0:36:320:36:39

If you were going to buy a pair of duelling pistols to make sure

0:36:390:36:43

that you had the means to settle your differences

0:36:430:36:46

then if you had the money you'd get a Wogdon because he just built the very, very best,

0:36:460:36:51

and he was so famous that there was actually a poem written about him

0:36:510:36:55

and it started off with "Hail Wogdon,

0:36:550:36:57

"patron of that leaden death."

0:36:570:36:59

I can't think of any other gun maker who's actually been immortalised in verse.

0:36:590:37:04

And we can see his name on the top of the barrel there.

0:37:040:37:08

Simply writes "Wogdon, London" -

0:37:080:37:10

you needed no other advert for it.

0:37:100:37:12

They have this lovely ergonomically shaped hockey stick style butt

0:37:120:37:16

that just sits in the hand.

0:37:160:37:18

Yeah, it fits, yeah.

0:37:180:37:20

You really would have difficulty at 30 or so paces, missing with those.

0:37:200:37:24

And yet the statistics show that very few people were ever killed duelling.

0:37:240:37:29

Two, obviously one for each party, they're exactly the same,

0:37:290:37:32

and I think one of the greatest things about this set is the box, which is absolutely original.

0:37:320:37:38

Now it needs a bit of TLC I'm afraid - it's obviously had a hard life - but there's nothing

0:37:380:37:44

that a really good furniture restorer couldn't do to put that right.

0:37:440:37:49

-Have you thought about what they might be worth?

-Well...

0:37:490:37:53

with the way you're talking about them, you seem quite pleased about them,

0:37:530:37:56

I'm thinking it might be a bit more than I thought.

0:37:560:37:59

probably, possibly £1,000.

0:37:590:38:01

-How much?

-£1,000 possibly?

0:38:010:38:03

Well, I think we need to do a bit of multiplication.

0:38:030:38:06

If these came on the market, in this state, they would make somewhere between £10,000 to £15,000.

0:38:060:38:12

They are an absolutely fantastically pair of pistols

0:38:120:38:16

by the greatest British maker, and they're just wonderful.

0:38:160:38:18

Well, this jewel-like iridescence to me is as good as a signature.

0:38:180:38:23

As we look at a fabulous example of a Royal Lancastrian vase by Pilkingtons.

0:38:230:38:28

How do you get to be such a wonderful, fortunate owner?

0:38:280:38:32

-Well, it's not actually mine.

-Ah.

0:38:320:38:34

Sadly. It belongs to my Godmother,

0:38:340:38:37

who inherited it from her mother, who worked

0:38:370:38:41

at the Royal Lancastrian pottery together with her husband.

0:38:410:38:46

And in 1925, or thereabouts,

0:38:460:38:50

the vase was given to her because, sadly, he died

0:38:500:38:56

just before the end of the war, literally days.

0:38:560:38:59

So this is a portrait of him?

0:38:590:39:01

-This is my Godmother's father.

-Oh!

0:39:010:39:05

What a wonderful piece and of course done at the factory itself.

0:39:050:39:08

Done at the factory, apparently during lunch break

0:39:080:39:13

and it was sketched, just from, you know, a scrap of paper and then somebody...

0:39:130:39:18

one of the tilers, or one of the painters decided

0:39:180:39:21

to turn it into a tile and fire it, and presented it to them.

0:39:210:39:25

How wonderful to have these two pieces that are so joined together,

0:39:250:39:30

and the face of a worker who was actually at the factory.

0:39:300:39:33

-Absolutely.

-And of course the factory was originally created for the manufacture of tiles.

-Yes.

0:39:330:39:39

It was pure chance. They were actually excavating and digging around the ground in Manchester

0:39:390:39:45

looking for coal seams when they stumbled upon a bed of clay, and from that arose the factory.

0:39:450:39:50

-Oh, right.

-Very quickly the company developed.

0:39:500:39:54

Now in 1906 the firm launched their art wares, their lustre art wares,

0:39:540:40:02

to huge acclaim and there were very, very significant artists there at that time from Gordon Forsyth...

0:40:020:40:09

-Yes.

-..Richard Joyce and of course the artist responsible for this.

0:40:090:40:13

If we look underneath, very clearly.

0:40:130:40:15

William Salter Mycock.

0:40:150:40:18

William Salter Mycock.

0:40:180:40:21

And it's a beautiful signature.

0:40:210:40:23

The signature is as artistically flourishing as the vase itself.

0:40:230:40:27

Yes, they're fascinating, aren't they? I don't know what it's supposed to look like but they're...

0:40:270:40:32

Well, it's just a very ornate and wonderful monogram.

0:40:320:40:35

Now in terms of lustre wares, this is just so typically Mycock's style.

0:40:350:40:40

He was known for flourishing birds and flowers

0:40:400:40:46

-and more scroll work.

-Right.

-Each artist was basically allowed

0:40:460:40:49

to develop their own style, there were no tight restrictions, but what they did do

0:40:490:40:54

was produce just quality.

0:40:540:40:56

Now if this were to come up for sale today, I think you'd cause quite a stir.

0:40:560:41:02

You have maybe the tile that goes with it as well, maybe it's two separate lots,

0:41:020:41:06

but the history is all interlinked, but I think for just the vase alone,

0:41:060:41:10

I don't think you'd see much change at an auction room out of maybe £800 or £1,000.

0:41:100:41:17

Oh, she'll be very happy to hear that.

0:41:170:41:19

-Well, I can only hope that maybe you are the favoured Goddaughter.

-I'm the only one.

0:41:190:41:25

I'm always excited when a group of inanimate objects like this tells a story not only of your relations,

0:41:250:41:33

your grandfather in this case, but this takes us right back into

0:41:330:41:36

-the earliest years of motoring history.

-That's correct.

0:41:360:41:39

-When was he born, your grandfather?

-In the 1860s in Northampton.

0:41:390:41:47

His father was a labourer but he managed to get

0:41:470:41:52

an apprenticeship, a poor boys apprenticeship.

0:41:520:41:55

They were a manufacturer of gas engines and he stayed there

0:41:550:41:59

until he joined Daimler cars in 1896.

0:41:590:42:05

1896, that's a very important date.

0:42:050:42:07

What you've got here is his original indenture.

0:42:070:42:10

-That's correct.

-And it says, "here witnesses Alfred Bush at the age of 14, or thereabouts,

0:42:100:42:17

"a poor boy of the Parish"

0:42:170:42:20

blah, blah, blah and he's "apprenticed to Henry"...

0:42:200:42:23

looks like Hobbs or Mobbs, "in the town of Northampton, iron foundry".

0:42:230:42:28

As far as I know, he went to the machine shops and fitting shops

0:42:280:42:31

and learned the full craft, as they did in those days.

0:42:310:42:34

Fantastic.

0:42:340:42:35

In 1896 he then moved to the newly formed motoring company, the first motoring company in the UK.

0:42:350:42:41

Yes, correct, yes.

0:42:410:42:43

-It was called Daimler but previously called "The Horseless Carriage"?

-The Horseless Carriage Company

0:42:430:42:47

which evolved into Daimlers.

0:42:470:42:49

He then got his motoring licence and you've still managed to retain that.

0:42:490:42:54

-Yes.

-And here's "the motor car act of 1903"

0:42:540:42:57

before 1905 you didn't need a licence, did you?

0:42:570:43:00

No, you just got into a car and that was it.

0:43:000:43:02

-And here is it dated 1st January, 1905, 1906 and 1907 so he had it for three years.

-That's it.

0:43:020:43:09

Why it's in a tatty condition is you had to take it with you the whole time.

0:43:090:43:13

You couldn't get into a motor car, or it was illegal, without your licence.

0:43:130:43:17

-And then moving on a few more years, he's now got his licence, 1905, so he can drive the Daimler.

-Yes.

0:43:170:43:23

And in that same year, the, I think it was the Prince of Wales bought his first car

0:43:230:43:28

in 1905 and it was a Daimler.

0:43:280:43:32

Yeah, and, well, actually my grandfather

0:43:320:43:35

had something to do with that. He did remember, recalled to my mother

0:43:350:43:41

that the Prince had a ride in the car, and when he got out of it, he said,

0:43:410:43:46

"The days of the horse are limited."

0:43:460:43:48

Now how he could imagine that

0:43:480:43:51

from one of those things, I do not know, but he was obviously a very far-sighted man.

0:43:510:43:56

It's a wonderful story of your granddad's motoring life

0:43:560:43:59

because he was obviously a marvellous driver because we have two trophies he won here.

0:43:590:44:04

-Yes.

-This one is for the... I think the Box Hill.

0:44:040:44:08

-Bexhill.

-Bexhill, I beg your pardon.

-Bexhill Trophy of, um, yes, 1905

0:44:080:44:14

and it was presented by Earl de la Warr.

0:44:140:44:17

And he also went to Brighton

0:44:170:44:20

and when they got down to Brighton they had trials along the front

0:44:200:44:24

and that was one of the races there.

0:44:240:44:28

Lots of history again.

0:44:280:44:30

lots of things to get early motoring enthusiasts over-excited.

0:44:300:44:35

Um, what you must do is write down the story and put it with it.

0:44:350:44:37

The whole archive should never be split up, it should be kept together.

0:44:370:44:42

If something like this ever did go to sale,

0:44:420:44:45

I think it could easily make between £12,000 and £15,000.

0:44:450:44:49

Good Lord! I wouldn't have thought that much, because I wouldn't have thought.

0:44:490:44:54

Well, no, I would have thought a bit more than the scrap value but...

0:44:540:44:58

A lot more than scrap value, you're talking...

0:44:580:45:01

the history of the motor car here.

0:45:010:45:04

Now I'm sure my two sons would not mind me saying

0:45:040:45:08

that when they were small and came to Blackpool, they went to the Pleasure Beach

0:45:080:45:12

and they were convinced that was the place you went to when you died.

0:45:120:45:16

I'm mentioning this more as a way of an introduction,

0:45:160:45:18

because you are a director of that wonderful institution which I'm glad to say is alive and well, yes?

0:45:180:45:24

-Absolutely, Eric. I the finest form, thank you.

-Good.

0:45:240:45:27

Now you have brought along a few items today from your archive.

0:45:270:45:32

The archive goes back 113 years since the Pleasure Beach first started at South Shore in Blackpool.

0:45:320:45:38

But these are from our Ice Show of 1938, Dashing Blades. It was the second show in the ice drome.

0:45:380:45:46

The first was called Marina, but during that run

0:45:460:45:49

our managing director then, saw the show Checkmate in the West End, Sadlers Wells.

0:45:490:45:56

He met the designer of the set and the costumes and was so inspired

0:45:560:45:59

by his work that he asked him to come to the Pleasure Beach

0:45:590:46:02

and do our costumes, our sets, and indeed our programme for 1938

0:46:020:46:07

and these are examples of that design work.

0:46:070:46:10

And that designer's name was?

0:46:100:46:12

Edward McKnight Kelfman... Kauffer.

0:46:120:46:15

Exactly, Edward McKnight Kauffer.

0:46:150:46:18

It's interesting because he's a big name.

0:46:180:46:21

He is a big name in poster design, certainly in that period,

0:46:210:46:24

-because he was designing for Shell.

-Yeah.

-But anyway,

0:46:240:46:28

let's have a look at his work because we'll start off

0:46:280:46:31

with this design, because we've actually got here the end result.

0:46:310:46:35

And these girls, you know, the chorus line if you will.

0:46:350:46:38

I'm full of admiration for these girls, because

0:46:380:46:41

-not only could they dance, but they could dance on ice as well.

-Yes.

0:46:410:46:45

Um, so that's, that's one that I particularly like, but I do...

0:46:450:46:51

I do also like this. The fascinating thing,

0:46:510:46:54

there's all sort of influences there and I mean Picasso is one,

0:46:540:46:58

and on top of that, you know, there's sort of elements of sort of Russian constructivism.

0:46:580:47:04

But without making this too much of an art lesson, the overall effect is quite, quite dramatic.

0:47:040:47:09

But he's happy in that idiom,

0:47:090:47:11

but he's also doing this sort of thing as well.

0:47:110:47:15

So he can turn his hands to sort of classical costume.

0:47:150:47:19

-So how many...? How many in the archive? That's what I'd like to know.

-We have 18 of these,

0:47:190:47:24

-but the archive of course is enormous.

-Well, I mean these things,

0:47:240:47:27

they just do not turn up, you know, on the art scene.

0:47:270:47:31

They don't turn up at auction to the best of my knowledge anyway,

0:47:310:47:35

-so it's a bit of a stab in the dark...

-Yes.

0:47:350:47:38

..when it comes to putting a value on what you've got there but I wouldn't hesitate to say between

0:47:380:47:45

-£6,000 maybe £7,000.

-Mm.

-And, um,

0:47:450:47:51

you know, to be honest with you, the proof of the pudding

0:47:510:47:54

would only be in the selling, but that is a situation

0:47:540:47:57

-that's never going to occur.

-I don't think so.

0:47:570:48:01

-Thank you.

-Thank you, Eric, very much indeed.

0:48:010:48:04

-So, really a very unusual subject - the Crucifixion on the back of a watch.

-Indeed, yes.

0:48:040:48:10

-Are you a very religious man, or not?

-Not particularly, no.

-So what is it

0:48:100:48:14

that appeals to you about this watch?

0:48:140:48:16

It's been in the family for a number of years.

0:48:160:48:19

It belongs to my son.

0:48:190:48:21

His grandfather left it to him, who...

0:48:210:48:23

it was given to him by his father,

0:48:230:48:25

-so it's been in the family for quite a few generations.

-Right.

0:48:250:48:30

Well, as I say, it's a very, very unusual scene on a watch

0:48:300:48:35

and just looking at it, I see we've got

0:48:350:48:37

a very intriguing inscription all around the band here,

0:48:370:48:44

in Latin, and I notice you've got a little translation there.

0:48:440:48:47

-Yes.

-What exactly does it say?

0:48:470:48:50

"Stay awake because you do not know

0:48:500:48:54

"the day or the hour".

0:48:540:48:57

-Well, very intriguing, eh?

-Mmm.

0:48:570:48:59

And this is even more intriguing.

0:48:590:49:01

Open the back and of course it's a silver watch, we've got the cuvette signed by a maker called Ratel -

0:49:010:49:07

R-A-T-E-L - with an address

0:49:070:49:11

in Paris and underneath it says "horloger" to the Pope.

0:49:110:49:16

Well, I don't know this man and I have never ever

0:49:160:49:20

-seen a watch before signed watchmaker to the Pope.

-Right.

0:49:200:49:25

The watch itself is...

0:49:250:49:26

Well, there it is...

0:49:260:49:28

It is a keyless winding Swiss movement,

0:49:280:49:34

-fairly late, the latter part of the 19th century.

-Right.

0:49:340:49:38

As I say, very intriguing inscription,

0:49:400:49:42

a very intriguing back and... wow, look at that dial!

0:49:420:49:46

I've never seen anything like that before on a watch.

0:49:480:49:51

I believe all the numerals are the Stations of the Cross.

0:49:510:49:55

-Right.

-The hand is the spear,

0:49:550:49:58

I think there's a sponge and nails on the other hand.

0:49:580:50:01

There is. There's a hammer, the nails,

0:50:010:50:03

where Christ was nailed to the Cross.

0:50:030:50:07

It is absolutely incredible.

0:50:070:50:11

The enamel is mint, it's perfect.

0:50:110:50:13

I see we've got two different things. We've got

0:50:130:50:16

sort of things in red around there and then there's an arrow

0:50:160:50:20

in that six o'clock position that drops us down to the outer ring,

0:50:200:50:24

-which you say are the Stations of the Cross.

-Yes.

-It's all enamelled

0:50:240:50:27

obviously in French, and then we've got the maker's name Ratel

0:50:270:50:33

within that basically Crown of Thorns in the centre.

0:50:330:50:38

Just suffice to say

0:50:380:50:40

it's very, very scarce and a very difficult one to price up.

0:50:400:50:45

I'm going to have a little guess.

0:50:450:50:48

It's so unusual. Those inscriptions on the dial

0:50:480:50:52

-and the hands particularly are just superb quality.

-Yes.

0:50:520:50:56

So I'm going to suggest something between £3,000 and £4,000.

0:50:560:51:01

-Oh, very nice.

-Are you happy with that?

-I am indeed very happy.

0:51:010:51:06

It's a nice thing to be handed down. I think it's great

0:51:060:51:09

-and I'm sure you'll continue to do so.

-Oh, yes.

0:51:090:51:12

Well, we've had a lot of things on the Antiques Roadshow and I think we even once had John Lennon's toilet,

0:51:130:51:19

but what made you think of bringing this toilet seat in today?

0:51:190:51:26

Because it came from

0:51:260:51:28

the old Conservative Club on Victoria Street,

0:51:280:51:32

and it's part of Blackpool's history,

0:51:320:51:36

and that was in the Conservative Club

0:51:360:51:38

when the Conservative Party Conferences were here.

0:51:380:51:41

When the conference ended it was like a herd of wildebeests getting to the club first, all the MPs running.

0:51:410:51:47

-To get on this?

-To get on that. The Prime Minister had the edge on them.

0:51:470:51:53

-Was he a faster runner?

-He would have to have been.

0:51:530:51:56

But the thing is, the nice thing is, it's even got its date here - 1899.

0:51:560:52:01

Now this was a nice early thing, that the Blackpool Conservative Club

0:52:010:52:05

were absolutely right at the forefront...

0:52:050:52:08

-Oh, yes.

-..because flush toilets were quite new, so this was quite...

0:52:080:52:12

That's probably why they ran as well, because to see it,

0:52:120:52:15

you know, it was a very nice thing.

0:52:150:52:17

-Oh, yes.

-And the whole thing about this is the lovely piece of,

0:52:170:52:21

-as you say, social history.

-Yes.

0:52:210:52:23

And you really do wonder, not to put too fine a point on it, who sat here?

0:52:230:52:28

I wonder. I think they should have had a visitor's book

0:52:280:52:32

-and signed it.

-Now, you know, do we think Winston sat on this with his cigar?

0:52:320:52:37

-I think so.

-I think so, too.

0:52:370:52:39

Debating whether to put income tax up perhaps.

0:52:390:52:42

Well, it's fantastic and I love it.

0:52:440:52:46

-So when this was knocked down they took...?

-They took it to another club

0:52:460:52:51

and it was pushed in the cellar and they didn't sort of value its worth

0:52:510:52:56

and one day the Chairman knocked his ankle on it

0:52:560:52:58

and he said, "Get rid of that so-and-so thing!" I said, "Can I have it?"

0:52:580:53:02

And he said, "Well, yeah, if you want it."

0:53:020:53:04

THEY CHUCKLE

0:53:040:53:06

And I didn't even have a bag, I walked through the streets carrying it home.

0:53:060:53:10

-So you're quite attached to this seat?

-Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Yes, I am.

0:53:100:53:16

What's it worth? Do you have any idea what it's worth?

0:53:160:53:18

Monetary value I would think, nothing.

0:53:180:53:22

But novelty, entertainment, certainly historical

0:53:220:53:27

I think it's, I think it's fabulous.

0:53:270:53:30

Isn't it marvellous? I mean, here we are, this wonderful setting

0:53:300:53:34

of the Blackpool Tower, and here we've got the Blackpool Tower.

0:53:340:53:39

So what's your actual connection with this amazing object?

0:53:400:53:43

I'm lucky enough to be the General Manager of the tower.

0:53:430:53:46

I've been here for six years now

0:53:460:53:48

and we're custodians of the model and of the building,

0:53:480:53:51

-hopefully for many years to come.

-Wonderful.

0:53:510:53:55

This inscription down here,

0:53:550:53:57

"This was presented to John Bickerstaffe" now who was he?

0:53:570:54:01

John Bickerstaffe was the Mayor of Blackpool in the 1800s

0:54:010:54:05

and he went to Paris and saw the Eiffel Tower and said, "We want one of those for Blackpool."

0:54:050:54:11

In actual fact they built a tower that is 518 feet 9 inches

0:54:110:54:15

to the top of the tower, but at the bottom,

0:54:150:54:18

being very clever Victorians, decided to build an entertainment complex.

0:54:180:54:21

-To make a bit of money.

-To make a bit of money.

-And so 1898 is actually when the tower was opened?

0:54:210:54:26

It was... We were opened in 1894

0:54:260:54:29

-but this was actually presented to Mr Bickerstaffe in 1898.

-Right.

0:54:290:54:32

That's interesting, because the hallmarks there

0:54:320:54:35

are for Sheffield and it's the firm

0:54:350:54:38

of John Round, a very famous Sheffield firm,

0:54:380:54:41

and they're actually 1897,

0:54:410:54:43

so we're that year earlier with the inscription.

0:54:430:54:47

What I think's lovely though, when we look at the fantastic detail

0:54:470:54:51

of this, right down to what was actually happening

0:54:510:54:55

in each section. "Billiards, cafe, restaurant"

0:54:550:54:58

then we've got "the circus, pavilion concerts, dancing,

0:54:580:55:03

and "variety shows". Now there's what appears to be

0:55:040:55:08

tarnish over here. What's actually happened, at some stage, perhaps 20, 30 years ago,

0:55:080:55:13

this was all lacquered and I can perfectly understand, I mean this is a cleaning nightmare,

0:55:130:55:20

-this is the cleaning job from hell.

-I realise that.

-Right.

0:55:200:55:25

And clearly they decided it was a very good idea

0:55:250:55:28

to have the whole thing, basically a nail varnish type lacquer.

0:55:280:55:31

But after 10, 15 years it begins to deteriorate

0:55:310:55:36

and that's what's happened there. Getting to the stage where it really needs

0:55:360:55:40

looking at again. The detail coming up here though

0:55:400:55:43

is absolutely fantastic, all the mouldings and so on.

0:55:430:55:47

And I love the fact that we've actually got

0:55:470:55:50

lifts going up and down. It looks as though those must have worked at some stage.

0:55:500:55:55

I believe they did.

0:55:550:55:57

-We wouldn't like to try them now.

-No.

-Wouldn't do it any good.

0:55:570:55:59

And then up to this very famous top.

0:55:590:56:03

It's interesting as well because with this we can actually see how it's constructed

0:56:030:56:09

and we've got all these nuts and bolts underneath

0:56:090:56:12

and all the pins and so on. It's a bit of a Meccano set when you...

0:56:120:56:18

That was my thoughts entirely, yes.

0:56:180:56:20

So, have you ever had it valued?

0:56:200:56:23

It has been appraised by Arthur Negus, believe it or not,

0:56:230:56:26

on Antiques Roadshow many years ago but he didn't put a valuation on it.

0:56:260:56:29

-He refused.

-Oh, he chickened out.

-I wonder whether you're a little braver?

0:56:290:56:33

I'm going to be brave.

0:56:330:56:36

Now is it known at all what it cost originally?

0:56:360:56:39

-It actually cost £120.

-Do we know what it weighs?

0:56:390:56:43

700 ounces of silver.

0:56:430:56:45

700 ounces today, just the raw material's going to cost £7,000...

0:56:450:56:51

that's before you've started doing any work on it at all.

0:56:510:56:54

I would be very surprised, if you asked for it to be made again,

0:56:560:57:01

if you were asked anything less than £100,000 to have it made.

0:57:010:57:07

That's beautiful.

0:57:070:57:09

I mean it is such an amazing thing and one thing you can be certain of, you know,

0:57:090:57:13

-it's unique.

-Absolutely.

0:57:130:57:15

You know, coming along to the Roadshow, for some people it can be a life-changing event.

0:57:170:57:22

Dorothy, it's fair to say it was a life-changing event for you,

0:57:220:57:25

because you were on the Roadshow five years ago in Manchester.

0:57:250:57:28

-It was, at Longsight Baths.

-Yes.

0:57:280:57:30

-Where I met Ian Pickford.

-Ian Pickford, our expert.

0:57:300:57:33

-Yes.

-Who valued one of your items.

0:57:330:57:36

-He told you it was worth about £2,000 or something.

-Correct, yes.

0:57:360:57:39

And what did you do with it?

0:57:390:57:41

Well, Ian asked what I was going to do with the item and I said "I'm going to sell it

0:57:410:57:46

"and I'm going to donate the money to the St James' University Hospital in Leeds, known as Jimmy's,

0:57:460:57:52

"to the liver transplant unit where I had a transplant."

0:57:520:57:55

-You had a transplant there yourself, didn't you?

-Yes.

-And ever since then...

0:57:550:57:59

That just came into your head at that moment and since then you've been fund raising for the hospital.

0:57:590:58:04

I have. With good friends behind me, yes.

0:58:040:58:07

Very good to see, lovely to see you on the programme.

0:58:070:58:10

-Lovely to see you too.

-And very nice of you to come back.

-Thanks.

0:58:100:58:13

Thank you, not just to Dorothy, but to all the people who've come from Blackpool.

0:58:130:58:17

We've had a wonderful day, I hope you've enjoyed it. Until next time, bye-bye.

0:58:170:58:20

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd.

0:58:380:58:41

E-mail [email protected]

0:58:410:58:44

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