Hampton Court Castle 1 Antiques Roadshow

This week, the Antiques Roadshow comes from the splendours of Hampton Court Castle.

Not to be confused with the palace by the Thames that belonged to Henry VIII,

this fortress was built 80 years, and four King Henrys, before that.

Welcome to the Antiques Roadshow, from Herefordshire.

This week we've come to one of the most rural and sparsely populated places in England -

the county of Herefordshire.

Nestled in a remote valley is a little known gem -

Hampton Court Castle.

You might wonder why a castle was built in such secluded surroundings,

but the Welsh border is only 14 miles away, and in the 15th century,

this was a strategic stronghold,

defending the English from uprisings

led by the Welsh hero Owain Glyndwr.

Glyndwr was the last native Welsh person to hold the title "Prince of Wales",

but his long-running revolt was ultimately unsuccessful,

his armies quashed by Henry IV.

With the Welsh threat under control, Henry IV gave these lands

as a wedding gift to another hero, one who fought on his side.

The lucky chap was the brave Sir Rowland Lenthall, who fought at Agincourt,

and did rather well out of it.

It's recorded that the ransom money he earned from the French noblemen he captured

paid for the rebuilding of this place.

Sir Rowland managed to secure a license to crenellate -

medieval planning permission to turn his manor house into a castle -

a great honour among noblemen, and a way of showing one's rank.

With battlements and turrets,

he went to town, proudly displaying his lordly status in stone.

Centuries of change mean little of the original medieval interior survives,

but thanks to the Arkwright family,

who moved here 400 years later, the spirit of the age remains.

In the early 19th century, there was a passion for all things medieval,

and John Arkwright had his home redesigned to evoke those long-lost days of chivalry and romance.

It took twelve years to complete,

and the remodelled castle was hailed as a Herefordshire Windsor.

What a magnificent place to welcome our guests, as our experts prepare for another Roadshow.

Let's hope they find something suitably regal.

This pair of dolls are absolutely exquisite. Everything you look at...

the more you look at them, the more detail you see.

What do you love about them?

Well, I like them because they're not pedlar dolls,

but professional dolls, and you can tell that she's selling biscuits

and eggs, and he's the gardener.

Whether it was made specially for a gardener in the area...

-A special commission.

-Special commission.

-You say "in the area". What area are we talking about?

I believe they were made by sisters

and they were made near Portsmouth, I think, in Milton.

-And are they marked?

-Yes, there's a label underneath.

OK. Let's have a look,

-Ah, and there it is, C&H White, Milton, Portsmouth.

-Yes.

Well, it says everything that you want to know. Now, the only similar dolls that I've seen to this -

and I think that they were by White as well -

were in the Portsmouth Museum.

Right, right.

And I don't think that they're commercial dolls, in a way,

because they are so intricate and there's so much detail there,

that nobody could make their living by creating these.

I think that these were made...

almost as a hobby.

Are you a collector, or...?

Yes, I collect folk art, I've been collecting folk art for 20-odd years

and that's what appealed to me.

I bought them at auction and unfortunately I was outbid

-and I found the dealer that bought them, and I bought them from him.

-So you gave him a quick profit.

I had to give him a profit, yes,

but that's how much I liked them.

Excellent. Well, let's just enjoy looking at them because,

if we start with their little faces...

-they have a very particular look to them, don't they?

-Yes, yes.

-Almost cartoony.

-That's right.

-But obviously much too early for that.

They're made of white kid, the eyes are little black beads

-and they have this very sort of pointed nose, don't they?

-That's right, yes.

I like the idea of these being specially commissioned, for, perhaps,

somebody that they knew in the village, and maybe

these are the initials of that particular gardener.

-..of the gardener.

-I-S-H... And here we've got the date, 1826.

-Yes, yes.

The market is interesting with these. How long ago did you buy them?

I bought these probably, roughly about four years ago, yes.

All right, I'm going to ask you what you paid...

-You don't have to tell me.

-Well, I paid, no, I paid the dealer £550.

-For the two.

-For the two.

-Well, I have to say, in the intervening years

there have been a series of landmark sales which have featured dolls similar to this,

and I think that your £500 for the pair,

has now changed to between £8,000 and £10,000 for the pair.

Really? Wow!

Very nice,

very nice, yeah.

Well, it doesn't matter, they're just still very nice dolls, yes.

The word "pretty" really doesn't do this box justice.

I think it is absolutely exquisite.

Where did you get it from?

-Well, my father collected boxes, mainly smaller silver boxes.

-Yes.

And this was among the collection, and I didn't understand it,

I didn't know what it was for, which is why I brought it along.

I see, and do you know where he got it from?

I think he'd have bought it in the '60s, when he started collecting.

Right, well he obviously had a tremendous eye because

this is one of the most beautiful boxes I've seen in a long time.

It was actually made in Vienna,

but then sent to France, for a sort of final input, if you like,

because on the front, along here, it says "D'apres le Gobelin a Paris Musee Cluny",

in other words, "after the Gobelin tapestry in the Cluny Museum in Paris".

And as you can see, this is very much sort of 15th-century style of tapestry,

but it's surrounded by these beautiful flowers all round the edge,

which I think are so delicately done.

It dates from about 1900-1910,

so the early 20th century,

but the thing that really caps it,

is if we open it up...

it's got a similar sort of scene inside but instead of being painted on ivory, which the front is,

this time it's engraved,

so you get a stronger sort of look

with the same inscription at the bottom, but fabulously done

and such an unusual thing to find.

-It is actually, I think, just a trinket box.

-I wondered what it was.

Just sat on a dressing table to put your little treasures in,

but a very, very nice one, so a real little treasure.

Lovely plain enamel round the sides here,

and the great thing about it is,

it's undamaged, because once enamel

becomes chipped or cracked,

the value drops tremendously.

Now, value.

It's quite a collector's piece,

and I think a box like this

is probably worth between £1,500 and £2,000.

Really?

That's amazing,

-That is amazing.

-I simply love it.

-Thank you.

-I want to put it in my pocket and walk away with it.

-Ah.

Well, it's got to be the best wrapping I've seen for a long time. I think that's fantastic.

-I don't think you should make fun of my conveyance.

-No, I love it.

Let's get it down here,

it won't fall off the ground. Well, it's a bit of a belter...

-has it got a story?

-I've known it for the last 50 years.

It used to sit on a shelf halfway up the stairs, in the family home.

And then I inherited it in the mid-'80s.

I don't know what it is, so I just hoped you'd tell me what it was, and from where.

My guess is Japan, but I don't know whether that's right or not.

Someone here suggested it might be machine-made, which I think

is rather sad, if it is, but I hoped it was handmade, but there we are.

-And that's why you're here.

-Yes.

It is handmade, all hand-painted, all the gilding's been done, it's very thick gilding, you can feel.

-Yes.

-There's no printing on this of any sort,

-so it's a fabulous piece of production, really.

-Yes.

You're absolutely right, it is Japanese.

It's a type of pottery rather than porcelain, called Satsuma pottery

which was made really in the Meiji period from 1868 to 1912.

It carried on after that.

But it's characterised by a rather sort of pale biscuit-coloured pottery with a very fine crackle,

which we could probably find somewhere in here if we look very closely - you can see a fine crackle.

-Right, yeah.

-We see a lot of Satsuma on the programme here and the quality range is enormous. But this is a...

It's a really nicely done thing. We've got figures here having picnics

under wisteria - it's all rather idyllic.

The reverse has got a different scene...

We've got a peacock there with the eyes in the tail, but it was made for the export market.

-It wasn't made for the Japanese at all.

-Right, right.

Condition is obviously important, and we've got a little bit of wear.

This scroll round the top here is called a karakusa scroll,

and in Japanese visual arts it derives from octopus tentacles.

-Oh, right.

-Which surrounds the rim, very nice quality.

-I suppose when it comes to its value...

-Yes.

Well, the Japanese market hasn't been great.

-No.

-It has fallen off in the last few years to some extent, but it's very large, it's in good condition,

the quality is pretty good.

I think in the auction world it's going to be, what, £2,000?

-Maybe a little more.

-Oh, wonderful, right. Thank you very much indeed.

Nice thing to see, thank you.

Here we have a picture with a plaque - "JBB Wellington".

James Booker Blakemore Wellington. It is an immensely important name

in the world of photography and the history of photographic process,

so I'm delighted to be able to see

a picture of the great man himself

in his workshop, and in fact, producing a boat, of all things.

Now, can you tell me your relationship to James?

-He was my great uncle.

-Right.

Married to my grandmother's sister.

-Right.

-Always known as Uncle Blake.

Right. Do you know, it's almost kind of too important for me to explain how amazing this man was.

He studied as an architect.

By the 1880s he went over to New York

and he met Eastman, of Kodak Eastman fame, and in meeting him,

decided that photography was something he was going to take up.

In doing so, he became one of the best amateur photographers of the Victorian period.

Now, here we've got a collection of medallions that he won, mainly

for his amateur photography, and they're from all over the world.

Here, on my right, I have a wonderful example of perhaps one

of his most important photographs.

This one is called "Eventide".

This one in fact is a photogravure and it was very well known

in its time, in the late 19th/early 20th century.

Again we have a couple of wonderful examples. Shows how cosmopolitan he was, as well -

of pictures that he took out in India

of the Taj Mahal, and these ones are albumen prints.

Wonderfully clear, late 19th-century photographs,

and another one of the gatehouse to the Taj Mahal here,

with all the carriages parked in front.

Evocative, wonderful photographs of the period.

Now, what do you know about him as a man?

Well, he was a much loved uncle,

not that I actually knew him, but my father was very, very fond of him,

and he used to work in his workshop with him, and learned an awful lot about making things.

Well, I think his workshop tells us an awful lot about why he probably became so famous.

He was in fact a major mover and shaker in the processes of mass producing photographs, in fact.

He opened a factory called Wellington and Ward, but he invented

this machine that could produce ten million prints in two days.

That's quite staggering. That's the kind of quantity we only think about in a modern age, so to speak.

Eventually his factory was bought by Ilford,

so we have one of the most famous names in photographic history -

Ilford - and in fact what we find is, that he is in fact a founder member.

I've been having a think about the value of this. This is an archive of museum quality,

and in terms of his place in photographic history,

I feel that this is worth £10,000 to £15,000.

-That's amazing.

-It's an absolute pleasure to see it.

-Good. I'm glad I brought it in.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

Jewellery in fitted boxes always gets me very excited.

So when I opened it, I looked at it, and I looked at it again...

and there's something very strange about it, in that it is paste.

Now, tell me, how did you get this?

I saw it in a jeweller's about 30 years ago in Hereford, and I liked it,

and I had a new green ballgown for a special event,

and thought, "That's just the thing to wear with it!"

-so I bought it, knowing nothing about it at all.

-Did you know that this was paste?

I thought it probably was, by the price.

-How much was it?

-£100.

-£100.

This is, I think, a fabulous example of vintage paste jewellery.

Paste is glass, so you've got green glass,

and colourless glass set in silver.

A few years ago, we would have disregarded it, because it wasn't diamonds, but look how wonderfully

it glistens in the sun. I mean, it could absolutely be the real thing.

Why it looks like the real thing

-is because it would have been made by a jeweller.

-Yes.

Jewellery to me is all about quality, craftsmanship and design,

and this has absolutely everything.

Now, this today is just so highly desirable.

There's a real revival of vintage paste jewellery.

And the fact that you bought it to wear with your ballgown

is exactly how it would've been worn in the 1900s. This was made in 1900.

-Did you have your hair up when you wore this?

-Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Fantastic. Well, that is exactly the same.

People would have had their hair up, they would have had a great bare chest ready to wear fantastic jewels,

and so this is really, really special, and the fitted case

is signed by the retailer James Hardy.

Now, £100, and how long ago was that?

-30 years ago.

-£100.

-Yes.

I think if you were to buy this today, you'd be looking in the region

of around about £1,500, £2,000.

Oh, good grief.

I mean, it is just absolutely exquisite, I love it.

The fact that it made me look twice, fantastic. Well, thank you so much for bringing it in.

Thank you, thank you very much.

A pleasure, thank you.

We bought this piece back in 1984,

from a dealer down south and the price on it was too much for us

at the time, so I came to a compromise with the dealer

that if we gave him a 17th-century coffer, would he consider

taking a bit of money on top of it,

and that was what actually happened.

-And how much did this cost you?

-It cost £500.

What date did he say this piece was?

Anywhere between 1650 and 1680.

Yeah, and that follows through because if you look very closely,

the panels are right, in my opinion - I think they're great.

Can we just come down and have a look at them here,

because this is what I love, is this wonderful moustached character, Charles I...

with his head dress and these bizarre wings,

so he's imitating, like a fairy.

But these 17th-century candlesticks, that's something to follow, because if you're going

to collect 17th-century pieces, look for candlesticks like that.

And the other thing I can't quite work out - is that a bat?

-This winged thing?

-Looks like a bat.

But the whole thing is very, very stylised.

See, if it's later, it would be more contrived,

but the whole thing works, the whole panels are filled.

It's really, really attractive. What I found quite interesting here is that when we pull this drawer open,

I notice this little hole here and obviously this hole works this way...

when we lift up the lid,

a piece of wood went into this little hole here,

and secured in that area there,

and so it was difficult to open the drawer, because locks were expensive,

and they obviously only wanted to buy one lock instead of buying two.

A nice little feature.

I think you did very, very well.

Because of these panels, it sets a different precedent

to ordinary coffers.

It's a great piece of furniture which is made out of oak,

say 1685,

and I would put a value on this between £2,500 and £3,500.

-Really?

-So you did the wise thing of trading up and keeping it.

-Incredible.

-So it's fantastic.

-Lovely. Thank you very much indeed.

-The pleasure's mine.

-Thank you.

-This is a family treasure.

-Right.

It's paintings of butterflies,

which my father's... mother's...brother painted.

-Right.

-Early Victorian times.

-OK.

He was a very ill child and person.

He was so ill he wasn't able to have a job himself, but he painted most beautifully.

When he died, his brother

put them all together and bound it in this book.

And if we just open it up to the first page, which sort of introduces

the whole thing, we can see...

as you say, beautifully illuminated,

all done by hand and highlighted with gold,

"Book of British Butterflies, drawn in watercolour by Percy Grant".

-And this is the Grant family.

-That's right, yes, yes.

Yes, and if we just go to the next page, we will see -

"In memory of Percy Grant, who after a short life devoted to the study of painting and astronomy..."

And he died aged 28 years in 1894,

and it is his brother, Cecil Grant,

who's basically compiled this album as a sort of memorial to him.

-Indeed, absolutely.

-And you've kept it ever since, in the family.

That's right, yes, we have, yes.

If we just turn over an example of one of the butterflies here,

we'll just see how absolutely exquisitely they are painted.

And as I understand it, the young Percy was literally doing these

-sitting up in bed.

-He was, yes.

-For a lot of the time.

-Yes, he was. And what I love is that so often

in the butterfly books and butterfly paintings you'll see, the butterflies

are flat with both wings like this,

and these are as if they're in flight. And one of my favourites...

I think there are about 60 in all, in the whole album.

This lovely blue colour. Almost sort of like a blueberry.

I mean it's just wonderful, you can feel these butterflies

almost fluttering off the page.

Absolutely. The detail,

I mean I just think the detail

on that is absolutely amazing.

It's exquisite. And what's so amazing with this detail

is that he did this

when he was very ill, and do we know

what he was suffering from,

and what he finally died of?

I think - I'm not absolutely sure -

but I think he died of consumption,

-which in those days was pretty incurable, wasn't it?

-Yes.

-So it makes it all the more poignant in a way, doesn't it?

-Yes.

That he was a dying man.

-Yes.

-And yet he was doing this beautiful work.

-And he's achieved this, you know, in really very,

very difficult physical and presumably emotional circumstances,

he was, you know, sitting there.

The whole way it's been kept and put together, and then bound

so beautifully in this lovely binding

with the butterflies on the spine as the memorial to Percy,

to young Percy,

it's absolutely fantastic.

It's obviously a family piece that's not going to go anywhere.

This obviously is a one-off,

it's completely unique and there's no other like it in the world.

I have to say it's one of the most competent hands that you could see

as an amateur, I mean, he really is fantastically good.

Also what I love is that it's butterflies,

in that here was this man who didn't really get the chance in life

to blossom physically,

and yet his maturity, his blossoming comes out on the pages themselves.

Am I right in thinking that in Victorian times when

paintings were done, there was sort of symbolism, and the butterfly,

the symbol of the butterfly is the resurrection? Am I right in that?

-Yeah, absolutely.

-So that's also rather nice.

-Absolutely.

I think if it came up for auction, you'd be looking certainly at £4,000 to £5,000,

-something like that.

-As much as that?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Gosh.

-It's a really beautiful object and you know, wonderful, super. Thanks so much for bringing it.

-How very kind of you, thank you very much indeed.

-Pleasure.

I saw you waiting in the queue, and obviously,

I knew what was inside here, it's going to be a musical instrument.

But what really took my attention

was the label here which says, "Bob Marley and the Wailers,

"Hammersmith Odeon, June 1976",

and I really hoped that the instrument inside

could have been his.

I'm led to believe that it is. One of his many.

-And what's the history behind it?

-OK, I bought the guitar in 1982,

off a friend of mine who had a band, and he decided he'd put down the guitar and you know, do decorating.

And he'd bought it off a member from Thin Lizzy.

-That famous band.

-And he was...and apparently the chap from Thin Lizzy

had bought it from a chap from Osibisa,

who I understand supported Bob Marley in the late '70s,

and one of them had bought it off the Marley team after the concert at the Hammersmith Odeon.

And I've just kept it hidden away ever since.

Well, here on the Antiques Roadshow

we're always talking about provenance, but normally it's to do with old furniture,

but it's just as important with music memorabilia.

Now, Bob Marley's classic Gibson

is the one that's now in the museum in Kingston, Jamaica,

and he was known to have an aluminium scratch plate here,

and around the switch here he had a sort of rugby-shaped aluminium plate,

and that's the very, very famous one.

What we need to find is a photograph of him

actually playing this instrument, hopefully at the Hammersmith Odeon. Have you looked at all?

-I haven't, I haven't done that, no.

-Well, maybe I can encourage you to do that.

-I think I will.

It will make a massive difference to the value of such an item.

The story you just gave me - we all believe it,

but if you were asking me to write a big cheque for you, I would want

just a bit more, I'd love to see Bob playing this instrument and then I'd write you that very big cheque.

As it is, great guitar...

-Do you play it?

-I'm learning.

You're learning. So you would enjoy it.

If you went to a store today to buy that as a second-hand Gibson,

what is it, late-'60s, early-'70s...

you can get the date from Gibson, it's got a serial number -

you'd probably have to pay between £1,500 and £2,000.

Put that magical name on it, one used and played by Bob Marley.

you could be talking a figure of probably £25,000 - £30,000.

-Does that encourage you to find out?

-I might have a look at photographs, but I think I might just keep it.

Ah. Good for you.

It's that moment on the Antiques Roadshow when it's time for a rendition of "Singin' in the Rain".

It was glorious earlier on, and what's happened?

The heavens have opened. But we're going to enjoy ourselves, aren't we?

-ALL: Yes.

-In your blue macs. It takes more than a spot of rain to put us off.

How good to see two absolute classic Victorian paintings

in their typical frames,

and I can imagine them hanging in a beautiful Victorian house.

-Tell me more about them.

-Well, we inherited them about five years ago

from an old lady that we used to look after for many years, and we had the choice of what paintings

we wanted, so my husband chose that one, and I chose that one.

Ah, I wonder why.

I wonder why.

There he is... The culprit.

Well, he's got an eye for a pretty lady, that's certainly true.

This is by Henrietta Rae, who was also known as Mrs Ernest Normand,

and she was born in 1859, and died in 1928,

so she lived a long life.

And what I like about this picture is that while she stayed very much

in the Victorian era for her subject matter,

there was a great vogue for painting literary and classical subjects,

her palette has become much looser and much wider, so she's looked

at Impressionism here, and so it's not that photographic exactness you see, it's much more modern

in its execution and it's possibly a sketch for something bigger.

Do you have any more information about that?

Yes, we've researched on the net and it's "Psyche at the Throne of Venus",

it's the big one that this is the "Throne of Venus" from.

-Yes, the big one would have been almost certainly a Royal Academy picture.

-Oh, yes, yes.

-Yes, exactly.

-Well, I think it's wonderful, and tell me, do you hang it today in your home?

-Unfortunately, no.

We've downsized, so we haven't got room for her any more.

-Oh.

-Either of them, in fact.

-Right, well, let's look at the other one.

This is by an English artist, in spite of his name - Rossi -

called Alexander M Rossi,

and he specialised, again at the turn of the century,

in beautiful domestic scenes,

usually of children, and often on a beach.

And here we have the child here, and children playing on a beach with their mother.

And again it's beautifully done, very well executed.

The Victorians were great technicians, but they knew their, dare I say it, limitations.

If you wanted to buy a picture by Rossi, you wanted to buy

a picture of a beach scene.

If Mr Rossi suddenly painted pictures of cows,

it wouldn't be something that his public would want him to do.

So they're a bit unloved at the moment, are they?

-Well, we love them, we love them.

-You love them.

-But we haven't got room.

-But you can't...so that's under the bed.

Yeah, no, they're on top of the wardrobe, all wrapped up in their packaging.

Well, probably very safe, very safe.

OK, shall we start, with the Henrietta Rae?

I think that this is probably the more valuable of the two.

And I would estimate in today's market, it's probably worth £3,000 to £5,000.

-Really?

-That sort of thing.

And the Rossi is a little bit sketchy, but probably

in the region of £1,500 to £2,500.

-Oh, right.

-So not bad for your cupboard.

-No, no, no.

But your husband probably chose the more expensive one.

I'm not sure if he realised that.

No. Not at the time, no.

-Thank you so much.

-OK, thank you very much.

A house as old as this, of course, has so many stories and secrets.

And it has its fair share of tragedies as well.

Yes, and this is just one such story. The story of Henry Arkwright,

who was the sixth of 12 children who lived here. This was their home

in the middle of the 19th century.

And Henry at the time of his death, which is what this represents, was 28 years old.

In 1866, he went with his mother and two sisters on a trip to the Alps

and being 28 and in the prime of life, he decided he would like to try to climb Mont Blanc,

and he did so with the help of a guide and two porters,

and his sister also went part of the way up the mountain with him.

And so what went wrong?

Well, unfortunately the party was going up a little-used part of the mountain to try

to make a slightly shorter climb and a loud noise was heard to one side

and it was immediately recognised

by one of the guides as a serac, a sort of curling piece of ice, falling, breaking away and falling

onto the snow, and of course, an avalanche immediately followed.

And two of the party were able to move to the correct side of the mountain to escape.

But unfortunately, Henry and his guide and porters were all killed in the accident.

So these are the artefacts that belonged to Henry?

And were they found straight away?

No. Henry's body was buried in the glacier for 31 years

before it was found in 1897.

Somebody just walking on the mountain about 9,000 feet below

where the avalanche had happened came upon his remains in the snow.

And these items are some of the things by which he was identified,

-and some of the items that he had in his pockets, and so on.

-Incredible.

So this little hankie - he must have had this in his pocket?

He did indeed, and indeed, this handkerchief with the blue border

is mentioned in reports, and it has his name.

"H. Arkwright" and "84th Regiment" on it - he was in the army at the time of his death,

and also you've got here a couple of plum stones, which is what climbers at the time used to put

in their mouths, to keep it moist when they were climbing, as they got to altitude.

-So they would suck on them.

-Yes, to stop their mouths from drying out.

-And here he is.

-In a portrait by his sister Mary.

Mary was back here when Henry was out at the Alps with his mother.

-That's right.

-So his mother wrote to his sister to say what had happened.

This is her reply - it's absolutely heartbreaking.

It says "Oh, mother, mother, God's holy will be done, that dear, dear, dear Henry

"is with his Saviour, but how will our broken hearts be healed?"

-Terribly poignant.

-Terribly sad story, but it's rather wonderful that it's back here today.

-Isn't it?

It was remarkable to find it at all. I assumed it would long since

have been dispersed, but it was terrific to find the descendants

of the lady who wrote that letter had kept it safely all these years.

-Yes, he's sort of been found again.

-Yes. Thank you.

-It's a pleasure.

I find people either love or hate English domestic embroideries.

Now, which camp do you fall in?

It's certainly not my favourite picture.

But I think the work in it is absolutely amazing.

Good, OK, so you can appreciate what went into it, even if you don't.

Oh, absolutely, and I think perhaps part of the reason I don't like it very much is that it's faded.

And the other thing is, we've kept it out of the light

so you don't really see it as you enter the room.

Well, I think putting it in a situation like that has stopped it

from fading any more, but you're right, it's not quite as bright as perhaps one would like it to be.

The first thing to say is,

what's it depicting? Well, it's depicting an Old Testament scene,

the old gentleman pointing upwards to the heavens here.

And if we go up further,

is this a view of heaven, this wonderful castle with the windows,

look, made of mica, so that you can actually see them glittering?

It's embroidered on pale satin.

Imagine the scene -

candlelight, dark, panelled walls,

and suddenly the candlelight plays

over this reflective surface with this psychedelic pattern on it -

my goodness - that would be really eye-catching.

-I'm not persuading you, am I?

-No, I must admit I'm feeling a little bit

for the person who actually embroidered it.

Because she was possibly doing it by candlelight.

These embroideries were generally done

by ladies of leisure.

It was a sign of being gentlewomanly,

because you had leisure time.

It showed that you were not of working class, because you had enough

leisure time to be able to spend it

on creating something beautiful, but it wasn't just that.

It also showed your prospective husband

that you had patience, that you were diligent, that you were tidy,

that you were obedient, that you could sit quietly and be occupied,

you weren't going to be a threat, you weren't going to be out gallivanting.

It's dating from 1650-1680,

it's a Stuart embroidery.

So, it's a family piece?

Yes, but I've no idea

-who had the patience to sew like that.

-One of your forebears, I guess.

-Well, my husband's forebears.

-Your husband's forebears.

-Yes, yes.

I think it looks OK at the moment, but there is a problem in the...

Oh, you've found it.

the problem in the centre here, and that is purely time.

These materials were not designed to last for 400 years,

this was not the idea,

so it's inevitable that with dust,

-with light, with temperature changes, it begins to deteriorate.

-Yes.

But even so, it has a value.

The market for these is very much driven by the States.

The American collectors really appreciate what they call the "folk art" qualities

of this type of embroidery and I would see it easily fetching

-between £4,000-£6,000.

-Would you?

But we're not going to sell it.

I'm very pleased because actually something that's been

in the family for all these years,

deserves really to be handed down, and I'm glad that it will be.

Well, when I see an object like this, it tells me something about

your family and previous generations because somebody, way back in the mists of time, was in the money.

Because an object like this would have been costly when it was new.

-Right.

-Now, it is a piece of Victorian silver.

-Yes.

And as far as Victorian silver goes, it, you know,

for my money, it doesn't get much better.

-Mm.

-Because it's got that magic name on it, it's all in a name to a certain degree.

If we look at the actual decoration here, it's actually signed in the bottom, it says "Elkington".

-Right.

-So they're the makers.

-Right.

-But they had a very good art director called Morel-Ladeuil,

and this shouts Morel-Ladeuil, but having said all that,

-what is wonderful is that you've got a letter here.

-That's right.

Which is stuff that most people in this business dream about finding.

-Yeah.

-Because it's from Elkington themselves!

-Can I read some of this?

-You can.

It's Elkington & Co. Ltd, 1899, OK.

"This silver tazza you sent us for description is in repousse chasing

"by Morel-Ladeuil, principal designer,

"Messrs Elkington. The work is very costly, being the original and no copy of it".

And "it was exhibited at the Vienna Exhibition"

and then it goes on to tell us that the subjects represent the seasons.

-That's right.

-With summer being represented by this nubile, gossamer-draped, naked lady.

But let's just have a look at the construction, let's just start with the base.

-Can you see these crowing cockerels?

-Yeah, they're lovely.

Look at the quality of the casting,

and they've been chiselled to get that wonderful detail, so they herald the morning.

-Yes, beautiful.

-And then we find our way up to this wonderful,

this repousse work, which has been sort of beaten from behind and then chased, all hand done.

-Fabulous.

-I've just checked the hallmark, and the hallmark in actual fact is Birmingham, 1859.

-Is it?

-So it had been around for some time.

-Right.

So it goes without saying that they'd had it in their showroom

-as a great example.

-Right, yes.

-And they'd bring it out for international exhibitions.

-Oh, wow. Wow.

So there, it's in your family, you've just grown up with it, I assume?

-I have, loved it, we love it.

-You do?

-Yes.

-So that's all that matters, really.

-That's right, it is.

But there again, you know, we have to think about the sort of value that we're looking at here really,

-and it's a tricky one, because there isn't another.

-Well, no, I thought that.

I think that if I wanted to buy this, I wouldn't get any change from somewhere between

-at least £5,000 to £6,000.

-Wow! Fabulous.

So, it seems a shame to put a bunch of grapes on it really, doesn't it?

What do you suggest?

Well, I think bananas actually, I'd put bananas all the way round,

-it would just look a treat, wouldn't it?

-Oh.

-But what a wonderful thing to treasure.

-Thank you, it's lovely.

"Elizabeth...Cooper,

"born April 14th...

"1771".

So who was Elizabeth Cooper?

I assume she was my great-great-grandmother, or some relative on my grandfather's side.

Great-great-grandmother? Come on, I think there are a few more "greats".

-Well, another great then.

-I think we've got a few greats,

-so it's your great great grandmother.

-Yeah.

On your mother's side.

-On my grandfather's side.

-Grandfather's side, so you're a Cooper that married somebody else.

-Yeah.

-Got yer. 1771!

It's absolutely bang on, that's exactly how old this is.

-It's 240 years old.

-Yes.

-Well, that's nice.

-They lived in Wordsley,

in the Stourbridge area, so is it from there?

Important glassmaking centre. One can't tell, you know,

it doesn't say, unlike ceramics, it doesn't tell you on the tin...

-No.

-..who made it.

But this is certainly an English wine goblet of that period.

Just at a point where the mid-18th-century drinking glasses

which had those tiny little bowls,

turned, because of a change in drinking etiquette of the period,

into the big goblets that we see before us.

-Right.

-That's a real blinder, isn't it? I mean, funnily enough,

it's got hops on here which means that it's for drinking beer.

-Beer, beer.

-It's a beer glass.

-Is it a beer glass?

-Yes,

and it's as English as the day is born, it's absolutely right,

it's a lovely form. Do you use it?

No, it's in a glass cabinet.

-Oh, I think once in a while - Christmas Day.

-Should I, should I? I wouldn't trust myself.

No. I think every Christmas, you should toast her health and say,

"Thanks Grandma, great-great-great great-great Grandma".

And "to your £400 drinking glass".

Really?

Very nice, thank you.

In the bottom left hand corner is a monogram,

and it's the monogram of the most prominent watercolourist at work

in England in the late 19th century -

-Myles Birket Foster.

-Didn't know that.

How did it come into your life?

It's quite a story, actually.

I was a dairy farmer and I bred dairy shorthorn cattle, which is the subject of the picture.

In 1986, the eldest of my children got married

-and we had the reception, after the wedding service, at the farm.

-Right.

It went on until the evening.

It was later in the evening, all the guests left and one of them bumped into a cow on the way out

because they had to drive out through the field.

-He bumped into a cow.

-He drove his car into a cow.

OK, so your daughter's guest bumps into one of your cows.

What happens next?

Well, then it came to an insurance claim, compensation for the cow,

because the cow had been entered to be exhibited at the Royal Show four weeks later.

Oh, right, so it was a special cow?

It was a special cow - she was lamed, it hurt her leg,

so she was unable to be shown, so there was a financial loss involved.

And although his insurance company would mend the car, it wouldn't pay for mending the cow.

So I was a bit miffed about it at the time, but he was a very good friend of mine,

so I didn't upset him, and I didn't say anything.

Three, four years later, I think,

he passed away,

and I was very surprised to be told that he'd left me this picture,

which I'd much admired in his house,

-in his will.

-Of the same type of cow that he'd knocked.

The same type of cow that he'd knocked and that I'd bred.

Well, he's given you a watercolour

by a really very eminent water colourist, much copied, much faked.

Myles Birket Foster is known for his rather sweet,

but very precise images of rustic England,

particularly rather pretty girls in meadows,

anything to do with farming and the outdoors, and cottages and what-have-you.

And although he appears rather saccharine and sweet, in fact,

what distinguishes him from artists of the period is how precise he is.

You can understand every form.

If you look at the way those cows are done, if you look at the way

that the eaves are portrayed, or the little face of the farm boy behind,

they're all very complete, very crisp, very credible images,

which is what I really like about Birket Foster.

Can I ask you a question? This picture, painted in about 1870-1880,

is actually a rather special thing.

What was your financial loss on your prize cow?

The cow involved was valued at about £1,000 at the time she was hit.

And I suppose the value would have been reduced by about £600.

Well, that's rather sad.

-After the accident.

-Well, I must say I'm beginning to rather feel for the cow.

But it does have a happy ending.

That £600 that you lost

has been replaced with a picture worth about £2,500.

Well, thank you very much. Brilliant.

Every Roadshow is different. We never know what's going to turn up,

and sometimes the most unlikely things are brought along.

But then there are items that our experts claim to see,

week in, week out, at a Roadshow.

But this series, I'm asking them what would they most like to see,

what would be their dream object if it turned up on their table?

Now, Alastair Dickenson silver specialist, of course,

what about what you see most often, and what do you see brought along,

in their hundreds and thousands?

I see, most of the time, things like Britannia metal teapots.

-Britannia metal - what's that?

-Yeah, Britannia metal is an alloy of tin - mostly tin,

90% tin, about 8% copper, and 2% antimony.

But it wasn't until the invention of electroplating in about 1840,

that they started to plate it, and make it look like silver.

One of the ways of telling that this is a piece of Britannia metal

is that it's actually stamped "EPBM",

"Electroplated Britannia Metal".

Similar to electroplated nickel silver which is stamped "EPNS".

-Which is more valuable?

-Which is slightly more valuable.

Britannia metal - the big problem with it, is that so much of it

is in terrible condition because you might see a black spot on it.

People think that black spot is probably tarnish.

If we look at this piece, which is a hot water pot, dated about 1870,

got a black spot here.

That's not tarnish, that's the base metal showing through from the electroplating which is covering it.

-So the more you clean it, the more you reveal the base metal.

-Exactly.

So presumably you must get a lot of people turning up at the table

thinking "I've got a lovely piece of silver here, a bit grubby",

but a lovely piece, and then they're a bit gutted really, when they find it's only worth a few pence.

They are very polite and smile sweetly,

and I do my best to bring them down gently.

Well, if this poor old hot water jug

is something you see in its hundreds and thousands -

poor, unloved hot water jug - what would you most like to see?

If you ask anybody in silver, "What's the most famous name?"

they're probably going to answer "Paul de Lamerie".

He started his career in 1713,

but by 1716, he was goldsmith to the king, so he was a very talented chap,

right at a young age.

But by the time we get to the mid-18th century, he's really flying high.

I've always wanted to find these candelabra

in this picture here.

In the high Rococo style with these male torsos holding these branches,

all very ornate, very asymmetrical, typical Rococo.

But these have an interesting history.

They were made for George Anson, Admiral of the Fleet,

and in 1744 he captured a Spanish treasure ship

that was sailing from Manila to Acapulco.

But what a treasure ship,

because when he arrived home in Portsmouth,

32 wagons were loaded with silver treasure.

-Off the ship.

-Off the ship, including 2,600,000 pieces of eight,

150,000 ounces of silver,

and ten gold bars for good measure.

Now, Anson's share of that booty was enormous,

enough for him to build and buy a huge house which he had in Hertfordshire called Moor Park.

And he called in the best silversmith of the day - Paul de Lamerie -

to make silver for that house.

And after his death, they passed through various generations

of the family, and ended up with the Earls of Lichfield,

who put everything into auction in 1893,

when they made about £780,

-which was a lot of money in 1893.

-I'll say.

-And they've disappeared from that time.

-And they've never been seen since then?

They've not been seen since then, and I would love to know where they are.

-So this is the only record we've got.

-This is the only record we've got.

-And if they did appear now...

-Yes?

What would they be worth?

Probably £1.5m, £2m.

Anyone got one of these? Wow!

Yeah, they are spectacular looking.

-So, you'd rather have these than this.

-Yes.

-Lovely hot water jug.

It's a tough choice, but...

I'm afraid so.

If you think you know where these candelabra are - if you see one -

if one is just lurking unloved in your attic, who knows?

Come along to the Roadshow,

or contact us at our website, which is:

Well, this takes me back to the 1950s, Whirlygig children's TV,

and a Pelham puppet.

Now, Bob Pelham, who started the puppets -

in World War II, he was called "the wonky donkey officer"

because he produced donkeys that moved around.

When he left, and started up in Marlborough and started producing these

fantastic puppets, and they were incredibly successful at the time.

Here he is...and of course,

they had their own TV show. When did you get them?

Well, early 1950s, yes.

Because he came into production in '52,

and I remember him on the television, with his friends Colonel Beetroot...

-Do you remember Colonel Beetroot?

-I think I do.

..Who remembers Colonel Beetroot? Does anyone? Have we got anybody?

-Colonel Beetroot and Susie Swede.

-Oh.

And do you know, Emily, he was a bit of a rascal on the television,

he was a bit naughty, and the funny thing about him is

that not a lot of people liked him.

-Oh, didn't they?

-No, but what is wonderful here is that you have him in tremendous condition.

Your granny must have been a very good girl when she was little,

because she's looked after him, very, very well.

And he's in his original early box with all the documentation,

-you've kept everything.

-Yes.

Emily, do you like him?

You do?

Well, you'll have to think of a little story for Mr Turnip, I think.

So, in terms of value,

Pelham puppets have gone down, there are a lot of similar ones we see,

they range from, I don't know, £50, maybe £100.

And of course, he wasn't popular.

But because of that, he's worth a little bit more than some

of the other ones, and because Granny was such a good girl, and kept him

in such good condition, and all his box, would you like to know how much he's worth?

-Because he's very old.

-He's very old.

-And very interesting.

Yes, and he's as old as Granny and I.

So that's not very old.

Before we let that one slip.

But would it surprise you

if I told you that he would probably sell for about £1,200?

-THEY GASP

-No!

Goodness gracious. Well, I must say, I've never seen another one, ever, ever.

Well, he's more special than I ever thought he would be.

Well, this is "Select Orchidacaeous Plants" and it's the finest copy

that I think I've ever seen of it.

It's by Robert Warner, here, with the notes on the culture

by Benjamin Williams, and the date is 1862 to 1865,

so it came out in parts.

The reason I say it's such a fine copy

is that it has a very good presentation inscription.

It says, "Presented to Alfred Ernest Warner on his wedding day,

"3rd December 1878 by his affectionate uncle, the author, Robert Warner".

And so what relationship was Alfred to you?

He would have been the brother of my great-great-grandfather.

All the Warners have been very keen gardeners and that's passed down the generations.

Now this plate here is particularly beautiful -

lovely greens and gorgeous purples and mauves,

with a little bit of red, and all that sort of thing.

So really, this book is a sort of heirloom for you.

-It is. It is, indeed, yes.

-And an heirloom that you're going to give your daughters.

-Yes, I've got a real problem now, because I have two...

-Well, of course you have, two daughters.

So I have to find another copy of the book.

Yes, absolutely, so what will you do with your heirloom? Do you like it?

-Yes.

-You do?

-Yes.

-I think just look at it, admire it.

-I think so.

-Be very careful with it.

I think it's absolutely incredible.

These plates are just absolutely delicious.

I mean look at that, it's a tiger orchid, beautifully hand-coloured,

and looks absolutely tremendous.

That is quite a feat of Victorian colouring.

Some of them almost have a sheen, almost a gloss over parts of the image.

Oh, yes, yes, that was often applied, it is the egg white which is actually put on the paint,

which gives them that gloss, that depth of feeling.

And this one here, just one more there, which is pure white.

Do you grow orchids at home? Do you have them?

We do. We've got one growing in our toilet at the moment.

So what do you do when you want to go?

Dear, oh, dear. No, this is lovely,

its an absolutely fantastic book, and I believe you bought it recently.

I did, it was part of the estate

of my cousin who died, and my other cousins very kindly let me buy it

at the probate valuation at the time.

-Mm, and what was the probate valuation?

-Do I really have to tell you that?

-Well, you want me to give something to you.

-It was about £2,000.

Right, well, I will have to value it.

It's the best copy I've ever seen, presentation copy.

If you've got two girls, one of them's going to divorce you because you've got to give it to one of them.

I would say it's worth between £8,000 and £10,000.

Well, that was a wonderful reaction from you lot.

That's the problem.

-Expensive problem.

-Wonderful, thank you for bringing it in.

Thank you very much for seeing it.

We've got two Chinese jade carvings here of lotus.

Last week I was in a park, just outside Beijing, and you could see,

going into the far, far distance, lotus, absolutely fabulous.

When you see them like that, you can understand why the Chinese get

so very, very excited and why they use them so much.

They represent purity -

I think it's because they rise out of squelchy filthy mud, but they come out looking perfect and clean,

and you tend to see all the Bodhisattvas, the gods,

Buddhas, seated on lotus thrones,

-they're fabulous things.

-Oh, right.

-Anyway, how did you get them?

My great-grandfather bought them in the 1940s and he had a collection

of 16 pieces, and unfortunately, now we only have four of them,

two of which are here, and we don't know anything about them,

so we thought we'd bring them along and see what we could find out.

Great, really nice things to see.

This one here

is just a lotus with its pod and a bud there.

This one's got all sorts of things going on -

if we look round it, it's got... Have you seen that - a bat?

Oh, no, I never saw that before.

Bats represent blessings and happiness.

-Oh, right.

-We've got bamboo here,

this represents fidelity.

There's also I think... Yes, there is a...

Just make out those scrolls at the end, that's a lingi fungus,

which represents longevity, so we've got a sort of symphony of symbolism in Chinese art here.

-Yes.

-It's a really nice thing.

Jade's a really hard material, it's carved by wearing it down

by abrasion, so to carve that is a hell of a thing,

really quite a feat.

We don't know how it got the brown marks on the back, unfortunately,

so if you could tell me, that would be quite interesting.

Yeah, I'll put it down for a second.

If you take a jade boulder...

-Yeah.

-..from a river,

-the outside is brown.

-Oh, right, I never knew that.

When you carve it, you carve into the centre and the centre of the

-stone is clear, so this is the skin from the outside of the stone.

-Right.

And they leave it there to highlight it, it's there entirely deliberately

and it's something that the collectors admire, they like it.

-Right.

-It isn't dirt, it is supposed to be like that.

I thought it was burnt.

No, it's really nice.

Dating jade is difficult. This one, I think, is 19th century, this is possibly at the end of the 18th,

so really good things really.

Um, have you had a valuation before?

Yes, in 1951 my great-grandfather died.

And my great grandmother had them all insured so we've got

the documentation of all 16 pieces.

So we're not 100% sure which ones we've actually got out of the sixteen,

but the valuations we've got are that one of them was worth 85...

-I think it's shillings, is it?

-Eighty five, no pounds, £85.

£85, and the other one was £225 and that was in 1951.

That's quite a lot of money.

-Yes.

-Well...

-A lot of money.

Yeah. Well, they've gone up a bit since then.

The Chinese market is good, the Chinese like buying jades.

And this one's gone up quite a lot

-this one might be now about £3,000. £4,000 perhaps.

-Right.

This one's probably gone up about a hundred times since then.

-Right.

-That's about £15,000 to £20,000.

-Wow!

-What happened to the rest?

Just different family members got different pieces.

Obviously it's spread out and we've just got these two, and another two,

-so, yes.

-You need to round them up.

Yes, we do really, yes.

Well, I'm amazed,

and so will my Mum be.

Wow, thank you.

Thank you very much,

-they're terrific things.

-Thank you.

Emma Peel, in "The Avengers" - an iconic '60s series, who could forget it?

Now, look at that cat suit.

Now look at this catsuit! Someone has brought along to the Roadshow today the very selfsame catsuit

that Emma Peel wore in this series, and I couldn't resist trying it on.

I wore Shirley Bassey's coat in St Fagans, and now this! Couldn't be any better.

I hope you've enjoyed this Roadshow half as much as I have.

From Hampton Court Castle, until next time, bye-bye.

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