Retrospective Antiques Roadshow


Retrospective

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Transcript


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For the last six months, our trusty truck has scoured the country,

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from the Highlands of Scotland to the south coast of Devon.

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And now we've reached journey's end for this series, and frankly,

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it's time for a well-earned rest.

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But not before we take stock of what's been another memorable year

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for the Antiques Roadshow.

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CHIRPING

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Our team of experts have been busy this season.

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Over the last six months, they've

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met over 30,000 visitors, all eager to share their treasures with us.

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When an object, a treasured antique, is valued on the programme,

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we're often asked, what happened next?

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When the cameras have stopped rolling, did the owner keep it,

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did they sell it? Where did it end up?

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Oh, my gosh. Oh!

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Are you joking?!

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Tonight is your chance to see the most talked-about finds screened

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across this series, and to discover

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what happened after their starring role.

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And here we have possibly the most exciting dolls

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which have ever come on to the Roadshow.

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And what about those rare and precious antiques that our experts most wanted to find?

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Well, a lady has come along today who thinks she might just have found one.

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We begin this special look back in Devon.

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Our visit to the Britannia Naval College started with a lucky find for ceramics specialist John Axford.

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It was an even luckier moment for David, who'd brought

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this delicate vase in, as he'd dropped it just before meeting John!

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It's a nice little glass vase - where did you get it?

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It belongs to a friend of mine.

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Ah. Why didn't he come?

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I'm down here on holiday.

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So, you go on holiday with your friends' vases?

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Yes, see whether I can get rid of them!

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He knows I like the show so he said, "Why don't you take something down?" I said, "I've got nothing."

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He said, "Take this down."

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Fabulous, it's very pretty.

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It's glass, overlaid glass - a white base and red glass on top of it.

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It's got all sorts of things on it - a little bat here,

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we've got a little twin fish symbol here,

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rockwork, pine trees, prunus, it's got it all going on.

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On the base, we've got a little mark on the bottom,

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a four-character mark, it's a Chinese mark, the mark of one of the Chinese emperors. Oh, is it?

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He thought it was Japanese. No, it's a Chinese vase.

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It says Qianlong, and he reigned for most of the 18th century,

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from 1736-1795. The problem is, you can have a perfectly good

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18th-century vase and an unscrupulous person will mark it.

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Right. It's lovely quality.

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The base is like jasper. And the mark is done really well.

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I have no reason to believe this is not a perfectly genuine

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18th-century Chinese glass vase, a really nice thing. Lovely.

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It's worth a fair bit.

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Is it? ?3,000 or ?4,000.

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Is it?!

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It's a damn good thing. Don't say it.

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It's a damn good thing it didn't break when you dropped it earlier!

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I know.

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GASPING

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That's why I gave up cricket.

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John, that was a great way to kick off our day at Dartmouth, and then it had an even happier ending.

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Yes, they took the vase, very pretty vase, up to auction

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and they put it under the hammer. And it went for...?

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It went for ?30,000, so I expect they were pleased.

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And you valued it at ?3,000 or ?4,000?! Yes. So, what happened?

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Well, the Chinese market for imperial goods has rocketed. It's sizzling hot.

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Things have gone up 50-fold in five years,

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and no-one can keep pace on where things are going to go.

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Two weeks ago in New York, a vase made 22,000 times its estimate.

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we'll tell you after this special look back at the year.

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It was in the small Yorkshire village of Saltaire

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After 33 years on the Roadshow, his patience finally paid off with this almost 1,000-year-old bronze.

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for all the hard work I'd done over the years.

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Brilliant. So he gave me this, the one thing I admired.

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He got it from an auction house in Bradford,

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and it was being used as a doorstop.

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At the end of the auction, he'd seen the vase,

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and I don't know what he gave for it,

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but he made a bid and came home with it.

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How fascinating, that's wonderful. Do you like it?

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I love it, it's my favourite piece.

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Where do you think it comes from?

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Myself, I would say Chinese, but I'm not 100%.

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My grandad did mention Chinese, he had tried to look it up.

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It is Chinese.

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What age do you think it might be?

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I don't know, 200 years old, would it?

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It is undoubtedly

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the oldest bronze we've ever had on the Roadshow. Seriously? Yes.

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The question is exactly when this dates from.

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I think with these cords on here,

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we're beginning to look as if it might be Yuan Dynasty,

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which followed the Song,

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and that ran from 1279 to 1368.

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I think that's when it dates from. Right, yeah.

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We've got here cast in these squiggles,

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which are actually based on chilong, which are sea dragons.

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Right. And then that's been infilled

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with key fret.

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And it's beautifully done.

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And then, on the side, you've got these

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dragon handles.

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It's got

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condition problems.

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It was at some time buried.

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Right, yeah. I think this verdigris on here, which some

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naughty person has had a go at cleaning, I notice.

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No more, thank you.

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No, no, I've never cleaned it. I don't know if my grandad ever did.

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Right. I think this fairly definitely indicates that

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this was a burial gourd.

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One of the handles looks as if it might come off at any minute.

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Yes, it's a bit...

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The foot has come off and been put back.

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But we're looking at something which is

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pushing 1,000 years old, you know.

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If this were in a smart dealer's catalogue in London...

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Yeah.

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..I could see it having a price tag of somewhere between

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?10,000 and ?15,000.

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Seriously? Seriously?

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Yay!

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That's really unbelievable, to be honest. Thank you, Grandpa!

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Thank you very much, yeah!

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Owner Matthew tells us he's still coming to terms

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with that valuation, but has recently decided

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to sell the bronze and have a big family holiday.

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It was another record-breaking day at Swindon's Steam Rail Museum.

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There, Fergus Gambon, a doll enthusiast from childhood days, made this remarkable find.

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I brought Aunt Mary Ann to visit you.

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You brought Aunt Mary Ann to visit me?

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Rather alarmingly, I see some loose limbs here. Yes.

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They're here, but they're separate. Let's get the whole thing out...

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Those are the legs.

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..and see what we've actually got.

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The more I look, actually, the more astounded I'm becoming.

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That's great, let's lie her down.

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Did you play with this as a child?

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No, no, no. No?

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She was handed on to me about eight years ago by my 98-year-old aunt,

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who's known her all her life.

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It was my granny's and my great-granny's before that.

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So she's lodged with the family for many generations.

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For a long time, yes. I've always had an interest in dolls of this type.

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She's very elegant. She's very elegant.

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She's carved from a single piece of wood.

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And her torso is shaped to show off the fashion that she's wearing.

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Do you know anything about 18th-century English fashion?

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This is a sack, isn't it?

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Oh, clever, yes, indeed, exactly.

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A sack-back dress. When we turn her round...

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You can actually see the colour, because she's been lying on that.

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Look at the brilliance of that colour.

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While we've got her his way, we can see how her hair was made -

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real hair woven onto little ribbons and tied around.

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These are all seriously early features...

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Oh, right. ..and get doll people very excited indeed.

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And for me, the incredibly exciting

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and wonderful thing about this doll...

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..is that using her dress, her costume, as an aid to dating,

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and looking at the way she's made... Right.

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..I think she dates from about 1740.

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1740?! 1740.

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Crumbs!

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She is a seriously early English doll. And as such,

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she's quite a major discovery.

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You can imagine on the Roadshow,

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dolls are coming in here in vast numbers.

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And here, we have possibly the most exciting doll that's ever come on

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to the Roadshow. A real, real significant find.

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I don't think the condition is an issue, as regards the value.

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Right. There have been a number of dolls of this importance on

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the markets in the last few years, both in London and

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one, in fact, in Las Vegas.

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And based on the price of those dolls, I have a fairly accurate idea

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of what I think she would make in a saleroom. Right...

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And that figure is...

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?20,000.

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Oh, no!

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I don't want that responsibility!

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Sue is definitely not selling her doll,

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and Aunt Mary Ann went straight to specialist

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conservationists after her trip to the Roadshow, and is looking

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resplendent today, complete with a new nose and restored clothing.

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Not bad for a toy first played with in the reign of George II!

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I reckoned she was special. I didn't know she was that special.

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She is a real Roadshow discovery.

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Oh, fantastic.

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Over the years, our experts have seen lots of buried treasures,

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objects literally dug up out of the ground.

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This year, we managed to unearth our oldest piece of treasure trove.

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It fell to veteran expert Henry Sandon at Chatsworth.

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It's incredible to come here to Chatsworth

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and find the earliest piece we've had on the programme

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here on this table before us -

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an Ancient Egyptian head.

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I suppose it's about Middle Kingdom, which is...

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Yes, 1700 to 1750 BC.

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Over 3,700 years old.

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3,700 years old!

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That's older than me!

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It's not looking in such bad condition, all things considered.

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How did you come by it?

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I dug it up out of a back garden in Derby.

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In your own back garden? Yes, doing some gardening,

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and I hit it with a spade.

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Hopefully I didn't do too much damage to it, but I hit it with a spade.

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So presumably, someone had used it as a garden ornament

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or rockery or something like that?

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Yes, something along those lines, in the past.

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But it's incredible to discover it!

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I suppose, I mean, you ought to have this investigated in

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perhaps the British Museum or something like that.

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I did take it down to them 12, 18 months back,

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for them to take a look at.

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Initially, when I sent them the e-mails and the pictures, they

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arranged for me to go down, but they said, in all honesty, we're expecting

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it to be a fake. Possibly an early fake, Roman, but a fake nonetheless.

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I opened it up there and I think the guy's jaw dropped,

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and before I knew it, I had the whole department arranged around the table

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having a look at it.

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They were like, "Yes, actually, it's genuine."

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Incredible. 4,000 years ancient and found in Derby!

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It goes back before the city of Derby started!

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It does. Isn't that incredible?

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I suppose one's got to think of a value.

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?10,000 upwards or something like that?

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I mean, it's a major thing, it really is a fantastic object.

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I think I'm speechless.

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For the first time ever!

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Now he's able to talk again,

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Andrew tells us he's definitely keeping his Egyptian head -

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as he told us, it's a one-off, so why sell it?

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More buried gems came our way

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when jewellery specialist Geoffrey Munn found not one but two

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medieval rings this past series. The first came

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as a complete revelation to its owner at Beverley Minster.

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Why on earth did you bring me this ring to the Antiques Roadshow?

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Curiosity, basically.

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And what sparked that curiosity? Was there anything about it?

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Well, the setting, for one thing.

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The size of the ring -

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because my mother had large fingers and it didn't fit.

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I've never seen the ring on her hands, ever.

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I've never found any marks on it, so I'm curious.

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It was in a pioneer matchbox, wrapped up with cotton wool, so,

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is it there for sentimental reasons?

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If so, why?

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I'm baffled.

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Well, I'm a bit baffled too,

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I'm terribly grateful in a way that she didn't wear it, because,

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would it surprise you to know that this ring

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was exactly the same age as Beverley Minster?

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It is at least 600 years old.

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Good grief.

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And what we can tell about it is that some stage or another,

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I've looked at it enormously carefully with my lens,

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and there are tiny, tiny traces of earth

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under the setting and beyond it.

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So it is an excavated object, without any doubt at all.

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I'm farming stock, my grandparents were farming stock,

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so, one of them has maybe picked it up. Found it in a field. Yep.

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It is the most marvellous object.

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It hums with all the magic of medieval England.

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It's a 15th-century ring, at very least, and it's very charming too,

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because it's an illusion that it's made of two bands.

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One is matt and the other faintly polished.

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Those are undoubtedly emblematic of two lives drawn together,

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if you like, by the stone in the middle.

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And this is a love ring, and it's rather touching, really.

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We can say with every confidence that it was lost at some stage or another.

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What we know about it is that it was a reasonably high-status owner,

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because it's made of pure gold.

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Most people didn't have access to pure gold.

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And fewer people would have access to a sapphire,

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which is rather crudely cut, in a way. It's not quite a cabochon,

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but it's simply lapped in a simple way.

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This is not only an enormously interesting object,

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but an intensely valuable one.

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There was a ring sold at an auction room in London which was almost

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identical in design, set with a tiny diamond,

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and it fetched ?20,000.

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Are you joking?!

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What the heck do I do with it now?

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No idea. I'd keep it if it were mine.

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Owner Paul is doing just that,

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this time not in a matchbox, but in a safe.

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But the second ring Geoffrey saw had a different destiny.

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This time it came to light at Swindon after our next guest had unearthed it on nearby farmland.

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Well, I was out detecting with three friends in a field one evening.

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It was just getting to dusk, and we said, "Come on, time to go home,"

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so they switched off their metal detectors,

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popped them on their shoulders.

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I just carried on walking to the car, got a bleep

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with the metal detector, dug it up, and it was quite dark by that time,

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and one of them said, "It looks like a bit of gold paper."

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I pulled it out and said, "Blimey."

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We didn't quite realise how old it was until we got it under the light.

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And then the pulse was quickening - how long was it before you realised

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that it was something really ancient?

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I looked through a few books and realised that it's probably medieval.

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The next stage then is to hand it in under the Treasure Act.

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Under the Treasure Act, when something's made of precious metal and it's over 300 years old,

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you have to submit it to your finds officer at the museum, don't you?

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Yes. And I should think the finds officer was pretty overwhelmed, wasn't he or she?

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Oh, yeah, absolutely, she'd never seen a ring like that.

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Neither have I, and my pulse has quickened,

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and I wasn't even there on that dark, dusky night.

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It's set with a natural diamond crystal, isn't it?

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It is, yes. It's a cubic diamond, cubic crystal of diamond,

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it's not actually been cut.

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In a way, that's a pointer to its age,

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because diamond cutting

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is a later sophistication than you would expect in a ring like this,

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which is mid to late 15th century, isn't it? Yep.

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It's a love ring. Around the shank is an inscription

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once inlaid with black enamel.

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You've almost memorised that, haven't you?

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Amour mi tien.

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It means "love hold me".

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Love keep me.

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And at the back is a true lovers' knot.

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The more it's pulled, the tighter it becomes.

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So this is a fantastic emblem of a medieval love affair

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that we can only guess at.

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I'm sick with envy, I wish a moment like that had happened to me.

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Without a shadow of doubt, if this was sold

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under the right circumstances,

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that it could come near to, well,

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?40,000.

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Oh! Blimey!

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Can't believe that. 40,000?!

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And true to Geoffrey's word, that ring went on to sell recently

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for ?42,000, and the proceeds were split with the owner of the land.

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Jonathan, who brought it into the Roadshow, tells us he's using

0:19:340:19:37

his share to pay for a new bathroom and much-needed car repairs.

0:19:370:19:40

But how does that saying go?

0:19:410:19:44

All that glisters is not gold?

0:19:440:19:46

So, what have you brought me? My pot of gold. Your pot of gold. Yes.

0:19:470:19:51

Wow! Tell me,

0:19:510:19:52

what is this pot of gold, where did you get it from?

0:19:520:19:54

It was my grandfather's,

0:19:540:19:56

and he died in 1924,

0:19:560:19:58

and he had a carousel all his life, you know...

0:19:580:20:03

The funfair? The funfair one, yes.

0:20:030:20:05

And this is what he used to paint the horses with and

0:20:050:20:10

things like that. Fantastic.

0:20:100:20:13

It's pure gold, 24-carat gold.

0:20:130:20:15

Is it? Yes.

0:20:150:20:16

Can I open the top and have a little look inside?

0:20:160:20:19

Yes, certainly. I've never had a pot of gold before.

0:20:190:20:23

No rainbow today. No, we need a rainbow, we do!

0:20:230:20:26

Wow, look at that, that's unbelievable. And it's powder.

0:20:260:20:30

It's like gold dust, yes.

0:20:300:20:32

Exactly.

0:20:320:20:34

That is incredible.

0:20:340:20:36

I don't think I've ever seen anything like it.

0:20:360:20:39

It has a smell about it, doesn't it?

0:20:390:20:41

Money does, doesn't it?! Always!

0:20:410:20:43

Well, we would have to test it to make sure,

0:20:460:20:50

but yes, you are talking about 22-carat, up to 24-carat gold.

0:20:500:20:56

I would say this is going to be roughly around about

0:20:560:20:59

?7,000 to ?9,000.

0:20:590:21:01

That is a fantastic find at the end of your rainbow.

0:21:040:21:08

My goodness. I shall go on holiday!

0:21:080:21:11

Sadly, when they came to test the pot,

0:21:140:21:16

it turned out to be flaked paint.

0:21:160:21:18

Sorry, Agnes.

0:21:190:21:20

Looks like your holiday is on hold.

0:21:200:21:22

And another visitor to the Roadshow didn't get the happiest of outcomes either.

0:21:240:21:28

It was bought off the internet about six to eight weeks ago

0:21:280:21:32

by my brother, who is on holiday at the moment,

0:21:320:21:35

and I offered to bring it along for a valuation.

0:21:350:21:39

And what did he pay?

0:21:390:21:40

I think he paid ?700 for the owl.

0:21:400:21:43

And what was it described as when he went to bid for it?

0:21:430:21:46

It was described as a Martinware tobacco jar.

0:21:460:21:50

Well, the Martin brothers are really quite a serious name in

0:21:500:21:54

the decorative arts market, especially nowadays.

0:21:540:21:57

They're a trio of brothers that came to some great prominence at the end

0:21:570:22:01

of the 19th century, predominantly through the manufacture

0:22:010:22:05

of grotesque wares, grotesque birds.

0:22:050:22:07

In fact, their most popular range, the things most people see them for,

0:22:070:22:12

and deemed to be most iconic for,

0:22:120:22:14

are what we call the Wally Birds. They produced them in great

0:22:140:22:17

quantities from the 1880s through to the end of the century.

0:22:170:22:23

As a result, they are incredibly sought-after.

0:22:230:22:26

A bird of this size would probably realise somewhere in the region

0:22:260:22:31

of ?20,000 to ?25,000. Really?

0:22:310:22:36

If it were right.

0:22:360:22:37

Right...

0:22:370:22:39

And that is unfortunately where I've got to be the bearer of bad tidings.

0:22:390:22:43

OK. He is good.

0:22:430:22:46

He is in fact incredibly good, and that is the problem at the moment.

0:22:460:22:50

The market has become so strong, and so boisterous, that there are some

0:22:500:22:56

very, very clever people out there doing some very, very clever work.

0:22:560:23:00

And I have to say that unfortunately, he is -

0:23:000:23:04

we've got to use the right word - he's a fake. He's a fake.

0:23:040:23:07

But all's well that ends well,

0:23:080:23:10

as David revealed when he came back recently.

0:23:100:23:13

So, once you'd found out from Will Farmer

0:23:150:23:18

that it was a fake, what did you do?

0:23:180:23:20

I was advised by Will

0:23:200:23:23

that he would verify it for me, that I should look to try

0:23:230:23:26

and get my money back. Because the Roadshow said they would

0:23:260:23:29

verify it for me, I sent them a nice little e-mail,

0:23:290:23:32

mentioning the fact that it had been on the Roadshow,

0:23:320:23:35

and they, without hesitation, really, gave me a full refund.

0:23:350:23:40

And how much did you buy it for?

0:23:400:23:42

Initially, ?700.

0:23:420:23:44

So it was worth getting the refund!

0:23:440:23:46

Certainly was, definitely.

0:23:460:23:48

I'm very pleased with the outcome, and it was thanks to the Roadshow

0:23:480:23:51

and Will Farmer as well, his intervention,

0:23:510:23:54

that I was able to get the refund quite quickly.

0:23:540:23:57

I was disappointed on the day, because I was hoping

0:23:570:24:00

that it was the real thing. Just unfortunate that I bought a fake.

0:24:000:24:03

I'm glad you got your money back. Yeah, so am I.

0:24:030:24:05

Our look back on this year's most talked-about finds takes us

0:24:130:24:16

back to the splendid backdrop of Beverley Minster.

0:24:160:24:18

This memorable encounter for expert Graham Lay

0:24:180:24:21

didn't begin too promisingly.

0:24:210:24:25

This looks like two members of the Women's Land Army. Is that true? No.

0:24:250:24:31

No. Oh, have I offended you somehow?

0:24:310:24:34

Yes. Why is that? They look like Women's Land Army.

0:24:340:24:37

We aren't Women's Land Army.

0:24:380:24:40

Well, what were you, then? The Women's Timber Corps.

0:24:400:24:44

Women's Timber Corps? Yes. So this is you, is it?

0:24:440:24:47

Yes, it is. That's me.

0:24:470:24:50

Now, I know a little bit about that, but many people

0:24:500:24:54

will never have heard of the Women's Timber Corps.

0:24:540:24:56

So, you were a member of the Women's Timber Corps when?

0:24:560:24:59

1942.

0:24:590:25:01

At 17 and a half.

0:25:010:25:04

We finished in 1945.

0:25:050:25:08

And what did you have to do?

0:25:080:25:10

What was the purpose of the Women's Timber Corps?

0:25:100:25:12

The purpose of the Women's Timber Corps was first of all to get the men

0:25:120:25:18

from felling the trees into the forces.

0:25:180:25:21

So, we had to learn how to fell a tree.

0:25:210:25:23

Then, we were taught how to measure

0:25:230:25:27

for pit props and telegraph poles.

0:25:270:25:29

That's what you were cutting the trees down for? Yes.

0:25:290:25:32

That's a very valuable service, making pit props in particular for the mining of coal during the war.

0:25:320:25:39

So, you were a lumberjack, were you? No.

0:25:390:25:42

Lumber Jill. Lumber Jill!

0:25:420:25:45

Is that what you were called?!

0:25:450:25:46

Yes. How bizarre, that's quite strange, isn't it?

0:25:460:25:49

Wonderful time. Wonderful time, really, wonderful friends.

0:25:560:26:01

And then we lost...

0:26:020:26:04

We lost our families, you know, brothers...

0:26:080:26:11

..in the war.

0:26:120:26:14

Dreadful, really.

0:26:140:26:16

But we were, we were all good friends and we worked very hard.

0:26:160:26:21

I wouldn't have missed it for the world, but I didn't know what I was going to do.

0:26:220:26:26

You did your bit.

0:26:260:26:28

Oh, most definitely. You did your bit, and I'm very proud of you.

0:26:280:26:32

Thank you very much. Thank you.

0:26:320:26:34

Perhaps the most moving story this series was told to

0:26:390:26:42

jewellery specialist Joe Hardy at Tatton Park in Cheshire.

0:26:420:26:46

This is my aunt, my late father's sister and her eldest daughter.

0:26:480:26:53

And this is where? This is in Venice,

0:26:530:26:55

taken in about 1935, I think. And this is

0:26:550:27:00

one of the daughters again with her sister,

0:27:000:27:03

taken in Brussels, where they lived, where they were being educated.

0:27:030:27:06

And this is their son Freddie.

0:27:060:27:08

Oh, lovely, lovely photo.

0:27:080:27:15

And in 1939,

0:27:150:27:18

my father was afraid for their safety,

0:27:180:27:20

and they came back to Manchester.

0:27:200:27:22

But when Chamberlain said "peace for our time", they went back,

0:27:220:27:26

because of the elder daughter's exams, and

0:27:260:27:29

sadly, it was a terrible decision, because they ended up in Auschwitz.

0:27:290:27:32

Oh, my goodness me.

0:27:320:27:34

They were taken to the camps, yes.

0:27:340:27:36

These cards here that you have, what are these?

0:27:360:27:39

These are letters that my aunt wrote to my father and his brother

0:27:390:27:44

during the time they were in France.

0:27:440:27:52

and the Germans crossed the Channel,

0:27:520:27:54

that then they would come directly to our house

0:27:540:27:56

and take our family, because we were Jewish.

0:27:560:27:58

Then he didn't hear anything from her at all for the next few years.

0:27:580:28:02

For the next few years? He waited?

0:28:020:28:04

He waited, only until the end of the war,

0:28:040:28:06

when the Red Cross got in touch, 1945, and they found out

0:28:060:28:09

what had happened, that they had been taken to Auschwitz and gassed,

0:28:090:28:14

burnt in the crematorium.

0:28:140:28:16

With the children? With the three children as well.

0:28:160:28:22

Oh, my goodness. They were all taken. So, erm,

0:28:220:28:34

My aunt must have left her phone number.

0:28:340:28:37

And she brought all the jewels that had belonged to my aunt.

0:28:370:28:40

Sadly, my father was so distraught at the time,

0:28:400:28:43

he never kept a record of who she was.

0:28:430:28:45

And actually now, my brother and I are going to La Baule

0:28:450:28:53

or her descendants, because somebody will know the story.

0:28:530:29:00

And this watch here was one of the collection

0:29:000:29:03

which was then given back to your father by this neighbour, this lady?

0:29:030:29:07

That's my very precious remnant of the story.

0:29:070:29:10

It is such an elegant watch, which goes with the elegance

0:29:100:29:13

of your aunt in the photograph that you showed us.

0:29:130:29:16

She was a Manchester girl - you don't expect a Manchester girl

0:29:160:29:20

to have died in the Holocaust, particularly.

0:29:200:29:22

No, of course not. So, that's a very sad story, and my

0:29:220:29:24

father could never talk about it, he was just heartbroken.

0:29:240:29:28

And so it's left to our generation to keep the memory of it alive.

0:29:280:29:32

And since then, Jackie has been to France for an emotional meeting

0:29:320:29:36

with the family who helped her aunt.

0:29:360:29:38

They presented her with pieces they kept for her aunt,

0:29:380:29:40

which they've held on to for 60 years.

0:29:400:29:43

that they most want to find,

0:29:590:30:01

that they dream of turning up to a Roadshow.

0:30:010:30:04

It remains to seen quite how many we unearth,

0:30:040:30:06

as we welcome a whole new set of visitors

0:30:060:30:09

to our new series later this year. But Jill here...

0:30:090:30:11

Jill, you're the first one to come out of the woodwork.

0:30:110:30:15

And you think you might have found one of these valuable antiques.

0:30:150:30:18

You screamed when you saw it on the television. I did, I was absolutely amazed.

0:30:180:30:24

Let's just remind ourselves. Shall we have a quick look? Yes.

0:30:240:30:27

Well, what we see the least of are almost

0:30:270:30:34

is the jewellery designed by the neo-gothic architect William Burges,

0:30:340:30:38

who is really the greatest genius

0:30:380:30:40

of 19th-century design and architecture. But he also dabbled

0:30:400:30:45

in jewellery specifically,

0:30:450:30:46

and he made designs for his intimate circle.

0:30:460:30:50

We know about them because the designs remain at the Victoria Albert Museum.

0:30:500:30:54

Is that what these are here, then? Yes, most definitely they are.

0:30:540:30:57

And very tantalisingly, it says on the top of here,

0:30:570:31:00

six of these in silver and three of these in gold.

0:31:000:31:05

So we've nine chances of the Antiques Roadshow flushing

0:31:050:31:07

these out of the United Kingdom somewhere.

0:31:070:31:09

So these are designs for brooches, are they?

0:31:090:31:11

Yes, and they're almost certainly bridesmaids' brooches.

0:31:110:31:14

So, Jill, what did you think when you saw Geoffrey there?

0:31:140:31:17

I was speechless for a second or two.

0:31:170:31:20

I just thought, it can't possibly be my brooch.

0:31:200:31:24

He was looking at the first two brooches, but my brooch was underneath.

0:31:240:31:28

And I thought, no, it can't possibly be my brooch.

0:31:280:31:31

So I rushed upstairs and rushed back down again and I thought, "It is!"

0:31:310:31:35

Were you there holding it up against the television trying to check?

0:31:350:31:39

Two days before the programme came on the television, I'd actually been going to sell it

0:31:390:31:44

and I'd put it out on top to sell, to take to the local market

0:31:440:31:48

because I thought it might be worth a few pounds. Oh, gosh!

0:31:480:31:52

So it was really incredible because it's been stuck at the bottom of my jewellery case for 20-odd years.

0:31:520:31:59

And which one of these do you think it is? I think it's that one.

0:31:590:32:02

I think it's that one.

0:32:020:32:03

Well, get it out. Let's have a quick look. I think it is that one.

0:32:030:32:07

It's broken, I'm afraid.

0:32:070:32:09

It's that one.

0:32:090:32:10

Right.

0:32:100:32:12

You're the very first person who's come forward, so it's very exciting.

0:32:120:32:17

I've no idea. You don't know either, do you?

0:32:170:32:20

I can't wait. Well, Geoffrey Munn, he's going to be very excited,

0:32:200:32:23

is going to have a look, and then we'll find out.

0:32:230:32:26

Wonderful!

0:32:260:32:27

Our best bargain buy screened this series

0:32:310:32:34

has to be a pretty cup and saucer found by John Sandon in Brighton.

0:32:340:32:40

A tea bowl and saucer for drinking tea

0:32:400:32:43

in the Chinese style.

0:32:430:32:44

But on the bottom, the famous crossed swords mark of Meissen.

0:32:440:32:49

Meissen, one of the great European factories, the oldest porcelain factory,

0:32:490:32:53

and perhaps the most famous, and therefore, the most imitated of all

0:32:530:32:56

and the most commonly faked mark is the crossed swords.

0:32:560:32:59

So what's important is the provenance and the history.

0:32:590:33:02

Yes, well, I've only had it for about six months.

0:33:020:33:06

I was moving into a new house

0:33:060:33:08

and I didn't have any crockery cos I'd been in a shared house,

0:33:080:33:11

so I was going to lots of car-boot sales and just buying loads and loads of plates and saucers,

0:33:110:33:16

things like that and I just liked mismatched different coloured things

0:33:160:33:20

and I saw this and I bought that as well.

0:33:200:33:23

So what do you think you bought? Well, I thought it was old.

0:33:230:33:27

I got it home and I looked and I kind of recognised

0:33:270:33:31

the little signature thing on the bottom, but I didn't know what it was.

0:33:310:33:34

Yes, they're the swords of Saxony where the Meissen factory was established

0:33:340:33:39

and of course, the mark was introduced as a form of protection in the 1720s.

0:33:390:33:44

Everyone was imitating Meissen back then,

0:33:440:33:47

so they put the mark on in order to protect the real thing.

0:33:470:33:50

But of course, as soon as they put a mark on, they gave a sign for everyone else to copy.

0:33:500:33:54

From that time onwards, everybody put the crossed swords on.

0:33:540:33:57

But what they didn't do was really match the quality

0:33:570:34:00

so it's really the detail we look at to see if it's really Meissen or not.

0:34:000:34:04

In this case, I think, really...

0:34:040:34:05

How close do you have to look to see this is quality?

0:34:050:34:08

Yeah, the little flowers, absolutely miniature.

0:34:080:34:11

It's pretending to be Chinese,

0:34:110:34:13

because that's what the great porcelain was at the time.

0:34:130:34:15

A very distinctive style.

0:34:150:34:17

And this style of Chinoiserie painting was developed at Meissen around the 1720s.

0:34:170:34:24

We're looking at a design that was in fashion in the early 1730s.

0:34:240:34:27

1730s? That old?

0:34:270:34:29

Well, it is. It really is that age.

0:34:290:34:32

It looks new.

0:34:320:34:33

Yeah. I didn't think it was that old, cos it was in such good condition.

0:34:330:34:37

And at the car-boot sale, they probably thought it was new. Yeah, probably.

0:34:370:34:41

My, oh my.

0:34:410:34:42

It was a set made for a king, made for a prince,

0:34:420:34:45

it was the most expensive porcelain of its day... Wow.

0:34:450:34:47

..and it's pretty expensive now.

0:34:470:34:50

So, go on, tell me, how much was it at the car-boot sale?

0:34:500:34:54

Well, I think it was about ?2.50.

0:34:540:34:56

I never spent any more than ?3.50 for anything.

0:34:560:34:58

Well, you haven't half done well. This is something else.

0:34:580:35:02

Because it's in wonderful condition, it's top quality

0:35:020:35:06

and in mint condition.

0:35:060:35:08

So what's it worth? Um, single cup and saucer...

0:35:080:35:12

how about ?5,000?

0:35:120:35:13

GASPING AND LAUGHTER

0:35:130:35:16

Seriously?

0:35:170:35:18

Oh, my...

0:35:200:35:21

Owner Poppy still loves her boot sale buy

0:35:250:35:28

and says she's holding on to them for a future investment. Wow.

0:35:280:35:32

Perhaps the best reaction to a Roadshow revelation

0:35:370:35:40

happened at the end of our day in Saltaire,

0:35:400:35:43

and it was another antique from China that prompted the interest.

0:35:430:35:47

I don't think it's ever been dusted in a long time.

0:35:490:35:53

It's my mum's and it just sits on a shelf in the dining room.

0:35:530:35:56

And how did your mum get it?

0:35:570:35:59

She said it was from her mum and dad

0:35:590:36:01

when she was a little girl, they all went to Torquay on holiday

0:36:010:36:05

and they went into a sort of junky antique-y type shop

0:36:050:36:09

and her dad spotted it and at the time she said

0:36:090:36:13

it was all black and grimy

0:36:130:36:14

and he spent the holiday with a little toothbrush

0:36:140:36:17

shining it up.

0:36:170:36:18

Cleaning it up?

0:36:180:36:19

We have what is a hollow vessel in the middle

0:36:190:36:22

and it seems to be surrounded by branches,

0:36:220:36:26

pine tree, growing round its own trunk.

0:36:260:36:30

And there's a lovely detail here, when we get into this side,

0:36:300:36:33

how the outer branches

0:36:330:36:35

undercut themselves, and you get

0:36:350:36:38

a really quite complicated in-and-out of the branches.

0:36:380:36:43

Do you know where it's from?

0:36:430:36:44

Um, China?

0:36:440:36:46

It's from China.

0:36:460:36:48

Pine trees are very important in China.

0:36:480:36:51

They are symbols of longevity and permanence.

0:36:510:36:54

If you go into a scholar's studio and you look at the table

0:36:540:36:58

and you look at the things that he's laid out, his writing equipment,

0:36:580:37:01

you'll find an ink stone and you'll find

0:37:010:37:03

a little pot of water into which he will dip his brush

0:37:030:37:07

to get the ink and then write on the paper.

0:37:070:37:10

And I believe that this is likely to be a brush washer,

0:37:110:37:16

so you put water in it,

0:37:160:37:17

but although it's actually of a pine tree,

0:37:170:37:20

it's not carved in pine. This is actually carved

0:37:200:37:23

in bamboo. OK. How old do you reckon it might have been?

0:37:230:37:27

I've no idea.

0:37:270:37:28

Do you want to have a guess? Go on. Um...

0:37:280:37:31

120-ish?

0:37:310:37:32

120 years.

0:37:320:37:34

Well let us go back another...

0:37:340:37:37

300.

0:37:370:37:39

Really?

0:37:390:37:41

Yes. Maybe 400.

0:37:410:37:43

This was being carved

0:37:430:37:47

around 500 years ago.

0:37:470:37:48

Oh, my gosh.

0:37:480:37:50

So it's a rare survivor.

0:37:500:37:52

Oh, my gosh.

0:37:520:37:53

It's survived your cleaning techniques.

0:37:530:37:56

I'm just going to say one more thing about the shape.

0:37:560:37:58

It alludes to rhinoceros horn.

0:37:580:38:02

Rhino horn was another very favoured material for the Chinese scholar,

0:38:020:38:07

but I'm glad to say this is not rhino horn, from one point of view,

0:38:070:38:10

from the point of view of the rhino.

0:38:100:38:12

But from the point of view of value, a rhino horn of the 1500s

0:38:120:38:17

would have been a very, very expensive object.

0:38:170:38:21

Being bamboo, I'm afraid, it's not in the same league. Yeah.

0:38:220:38:26

So, this little scholar's object is probably only worth

0:38:290:38:33

somewhere in the region of, let's say, between ?6,000 and ?9,000.

0:38:330:38:36

Oh, my gosh!

0:38:360:38:37

Are you joking?!

0:38:390:38:41

My mum's in Florence, I'll have to ring her up!

0:38:420:38:44

It's a wonderful, wonderful object.

0:38:460:38:50

I can't believe it!

0:38:510:38:53

We've seen some fantastic responses to this series'

0:38:530:38:56

treasure trove on the Antiques Roadshow.

0:38:560:38:58

Our thanks to all who waited so patiently

0:38:580:39:01

to see our team of experts.

0:39:010:39:03

Let's hope there may be a surprise in store for you

0:39:030:39:05

if you visit us this year.

0:39:050:39:06

But before we go, one last mystery to unravel.

0:39:080:39:12

I've been looking forward to this -

0:39:120:39:14

the moment has come to put Jill out of her misery.

0:39:140:39:18

Very nice to see you! I sense a plot! Yes!

0:39:180:39:21

And you're central to it!

0:39:210:39:23

Jill thinks she may have found one of the brooches by William Burges,

0:39:230:39:36

You appealed for it on a programme, Jill was watching it

0:39:360:39:39

and thinks she may have found it.

0:39:390:39:42

Before you look, what would it mean

0:39:420:39:44

if it is indeed one of William Burges' brooches?

0:39:440:39:45

It would mean the absolute world to me.

0:39:450:39:48

I found these designs in the Victoria Albert Museum,

0:39:480:39:51

and I published them in a book I wrote with Charlotte Gere,

0:39:510:39:54

my co-author, and we were terribly excited by them,

0:39:540:40:01

pivotal architect in the 19th century.

0:40:010:40:03

And it raised our subject up into an entirely new category,

0:40:030:40:07

in a way,

0:40:070:40:10

and they are artistic in every sense of the word.

0:40:100:40:13

But I can hardly talk, I'm so excited! Come on, then!

0:40:130:40:17

It's too much! Jill, let's get it out and have a look.

0:40:170:40:20

Oh, my goodness me. I think it might be that one.

0:40:200:40:24

I don't think there's any shadow of doubt,

0:40:240:40:26

and I think that is absolutely...

0:40:260:40:30

I honestly can hardly articulate it. I think it's absolutely marvellous.

0:40:300:40:35

And it's completely different manufacture

0:40:350:40:38

to what one might have expected.

0:40:380:40:41

It's slightly heavier and massier than I thought the design would be.

0:40:410:40:44

But in every sense of the word, it is it... Is it?!

0:40:440:40:48

It's pulse-making!

0:40:480:40:50

Honestly, it is a Tutankhamen experience on the Antiques Roadshow!

0:40:500:40:54

I have to say that only television can do this -

0:40:540:40:57

there is no other medium that could have flushed this out,

0:40:570:41:01

from not only the United Kingdom,

0:41:010:41:03

but potentially from the entire world.

0:41:030:41:05

Can I tell you something? Yes.

0:41:050:41:08

Jill was going to sell it down the local market

0:41:080:41:11

and thought she might get a few quid for it!

0:41:110:41:13

Two days before. Two days before?

0:41:130:41:15

Gosh, I'm going to stalk you for the rest of my life,

0:41:150:41:18

I think it's absolutely marvellous, isn't it?

0:41:180:41:20

Geoffrey, how rare is this?

0:41:200:41:23

It's beyond rare. I never hoped to see it.

0:41:230:41:26

Jewellery designed by artists

0:41:260:41:28

and architects of this calibre are hardly measurable.

0:41:280:41:32

The Cecil Higgins Art Museum has just bought

0:41:320:41:35

a settle by William Burges, a piece of furniture,

0:41:350:41:38

and without putting too fine a point on it,

0:41:380:41:40

they've just paid just shy of ?1 million for that piece of furniture.

0:41:400:41:47

?850,000, they paid for it, very recently.

0:41:470:41:51

Money isn't the greatest fascination

0:41:510:41:54

What we're sharing together is IT.

0:41:540:41:56

I'm interested to know about you, the moment of recognition.

0:41:560:41:59

What happened when you saw that?

0:41:590:42:00

I did a little scream and ran upstairs to find it!

0:42:000:42:08

What do you think now that Geoffrey's told you that it is...?

0:42:080:42:16

Well, I think, measured against the settle,

0:42:160:42:18

it is an extraordinarily valuable object.

0:42:180:42:22

Somebody lucky enough to buy that from you at said boot sale

0:42:220:42:25

would have walked away with something close to ?10,000.

0:42:250:42:29

Oh, my God!

0:42:290:42:33

So, that was quite a... You like it a bit more now!

0:42:330:42:38

With two days from selling it. I just forgot to take it down to the market.

0:42:380:42:42

Jill also confessed to me that she didn't like it very much!

0:42:420:42:46

I didn't like it! I'm assuming you're liking it a little more now?!

0:42:460:42:48

I love it! Oh, my goodness! I always loved it,

0:42:480:42:53

and I never, ever dreamt

0:42:530:42:56

that I would ever lay hands on it or see it.

0:42:560:42:59

Isn't that wonderful? It's very, very moving stuff for me.

0:42:590:43:02

The tables of the Antiques Roadshow are turned, because usually

0:43:020:43:05

it's the owner of the object that is given this jolt of surprise -

0:43:050:43:09

this time round, it's the specialist who's got it big time,

0:43:090:43:12

and I'm frankly trembling with it!

0:43:120:43:13

Thank you very much! I think we're going to have to take Geoffrey away

0:43:130:43:17

and wipe him down with a damp flannel! He's in such a lather!

0:43:170:43:20

What an amazing find.

0:43:200:43:22

We appeal for all sorts of wonderful antiques in this series,

0:43:220:43:26

so if you think, like Jill here, that you might have one,

0:43:260:43:30

please bring it along to our next series of programmes.

0:43:300:43:33

All the details of when our recordings are going to be

0:43:330:43:36

are on our website -

0:43:360:43:39

And also, there are clips on our website which show the items

0:43:390:43:42

we've appealed about throughout the series.

0:43:420:43:45

Who knows, it could be you, and we would be thrilled to see it.

0:43:450:43:50

MUSIC: Boombastic by Shaggy

0:44:210:44:22

# Mr Lover Lover, mmm

0:44:220:44:24

# Mr Lover Lover, girl

0:44:240:44:28

# Mr Lover Lover, mmm... #

0:44:280:44:30

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