Brighton College 1 Antiques Roadshow


Brighton College 1

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This week we're in a seaside town that was loved by royalty and was

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a magnet for the aristocracy and high society.

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So the Antiques Roadshow team should feel quite at home.

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Welcome to Brighton, a Prince's playground.

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It was Brighton's lively reputation and seaside that attracted the Prince of Wales here back in 1780.

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And where the Prince went, the rest of London's high-society followed.

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In 1800 it was described as being, without exception, one of the most fashionable towns in the kingdom.

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It was a Prince Regent, later King George IV, who was

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largely responsible for Brighton's air of elegance and decadence.

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He came here in the 1780s hoping the sea water would ease his gout,

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but the attractions of racing, gambling and the theatre proved even more alluring.

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The Prince decided that Brighton, just 50 miles from London, was a perfect place for a country

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house, and instructed his aides to look for a modest seaside residence.

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We don't know whether sea water did improve the Prince's gout,

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but certainly he's not alone in thinking that being by the sea is good for your health.

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And although a charming little beach hut is good enough for peasants like

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us, the future king could afford to be a bit more flamboyant.

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And this is the seaside pad he ended up with.

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Brighton Pavilion, in all its eccentric glory, was

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designed by John Nash and completed in the early 1820s when the Prince Regent was crowned King George IV.

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And what had started out as a respectable farmhouse was transformed into a fabulously

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over-the-top Indian and oriental fantasy.

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And inside, the sumptuous furnishings designed from floor to ceiling for maximum dramatic effect

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created a magnificent setting for the new monarch.

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One of the King's passions was food, and the most elaborate banquets were

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held here in the banqueting room, where the French chef

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Marie-Antoine Careme created menus with as many as 60 dishes.

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However, Queen Victoria was not so amused by this Oriental exuberance,

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and in 1845 the pavilion was put up for sale.

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Among the prospective buyers were the founders of a new school, Brighton College.

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But they couldn't afford it, so they designed this, their own school, just down the road.

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But its pupils haven't entirely escaped the Pavilion's oriental influence.

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Mandarin Chinese is compulsory for all students.

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We don't know whether local or far-flung items will turn up

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here today, but our specialists are all set for the unexpected.

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-Is this a Brighton boy?

-No, he's a Londoner, north London.

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So who is he?

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He's Frank Wollaston, and he's my grandfather.

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-This is your grandfather?

-Yes.

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This is your grandfather as Icarus?

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As Icarus, yes.

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Who got too close to the sun and got burned?

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Absolutely. I'm sure he did at times.

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Why do you say that? What sort of man was your grandfather?

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He was a very interesting character, very cosmopolitan, he spoke several

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languages, they travelled with the act they had, the Montague Brothers.

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So your grandfather was an actor?

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No, he was actually, he was physical training, this was the act.

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That's him?

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Ah, the Montague Brothers. So, what were they?

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They look like sort of nude models.

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They were sort of painted white to look like statues, and the act

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was that somebody played the sculptor

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and then they came alive and did all these poses of the typical Greek...

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But obviously pretty naked, the original Full Monty.

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The original Full Monty!

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-As you can see, there's not much there.

-I've never heard about this type of act.

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-Did you ever meet your grandfather?

-No, he died, unfortunately, before I was born.

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He died in 1939. So quite young.

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And this picture, I suppose, is painted, what, about 1900?

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Yes, he was 18 then, that sounds right, I think.

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So we can assume that the artist, we can see it's signed in the bottom

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left-hand corner of this picture, Albert Herter, may have seen them, been impressed by these figures,

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and decided to incorporate it into the picture in the form of

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your grandfather as Icarus?

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Mm. Absolutely, yes.

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Do you happen to know, did your grandfather go to America?

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-Yes, he did, actually, yes.

-New York.

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Yes, he went to New York, but I don't think that's how... I know the artist was American, I believe.

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Albert Herter was an American painter.

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He painted murals, interiors, portraits, landscapes.

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A bit of everything, really. He's also quite collected as well.

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The only problem with this picture is, rather like Icarus, it seems to have got too close to the sun.

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I don't know what's happened to it,

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but there's a sort of craquelure that's become overly accentuated.

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In really good condition, this painting would be worth £12,000.

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-Goodness.

-Gosh.

-But in this state, it's worth, I should think, £3,000 to £5,000.

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Right, OK. Thank you.

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-But what a portrait of a grandfather!

-Yes.

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Now, anybody gazing at this vase would be forgiven for thinking that it was a piece of

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Japanese Satsuma pottery, because it's got all the credentials, the colour and the decoration.

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But we both know that it's actually a piece of glassware.

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And what I'm intrigued to know is how a piece of glassware of this type found its way to Brighton.

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It came from my Aunt Betty, a cousin of my mother's.

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She either gave it to me when we helped her move house, or

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unfortunately she passed away just before Christmas so it could've been with her belongings then.

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-But it was in a big black sack in the garage.

-Like a plastic bin liner?

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-Afraid so, yes.

-Yeah?

-Yes.

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-OK.

-Until this morning.

-Until this morning?

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Yes. It's been sitting there, and it was only because we were coming along

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today, I thought, I saw it poking out and I bought it with me.

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Was there anything else poking out of the sack, or just this one at the moment?

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Er, a game of Scrabble!

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No? OK. Well, you've made the right decision, you brought the vase.

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First of all, have you noticed how it tones?

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It goes from this sort of rich, almost coral colour,

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and it's sort of slightly paler around this bulbous base.

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But what I find lovely

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is this decoration, because this is quality enamelling.

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And whenever you see a piece like this, the first thing you do, you want to turn it upside down.

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You want to have a look to see if there's any mark whatsoever.

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But there isn't, but what you have got, look, you've got these multi-layers, if you will.

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So you've got almost three layers of glass.

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Good sign, that's called overlay.

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But the decoration is pure Japanese.

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These are chrysanthemums, if my knowledge of botany is right,

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and that, of course, is the flower of Japan.

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But if this could talk to you, it would talk to you in a quasi

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French Black Country accent,

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because this was actually enamelled by the great Jules Barbe,

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a Frenchman who came to work for Thomas Webb.

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Thomas Webb and Sons in Stourbridge,

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the greatest makers of Victorian glassware.

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It isn't marked, but, to be frank with you,

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you don't need a signature, because this is the signature, the quality of the decoration.

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So, Jules Barbe, craftsman.

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I'm looking at you now, are you liking this a bit more as I've been talking about it?

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I think it's hideous, but the more you talk about it, the more I'm beginning to like it, I think.

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If I was to tell you that if I want to go and buy one of these,

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I wouldn't get one for less than £1,500.

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-You're joking?

-1,500.

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-Even to people in Brighton, that's a lot of money, isn't it?

-1500 pounds?

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-Yes, 1500 pounds.

-I like it better.

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-I do like it better!

-Can I make a suggestion?

-Yes.

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When you go home, go back to that black plastic bin liner and look

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very careful, because these would almost certainly have come in pairs.

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-In pairs?

-In pairs.

-I'm looking tonight.

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So look at these opals breaking up the sunlight.

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They're refracting the light, they're actually making a spectrum

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of it, and it's a miracle of natural science.

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Did you feel that way about it when you first saw them?

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Yes, when I first opened the case, I went, ah!

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-That's fabulous. It's like a butterfly's wing, in a way, isn't it?

-Yes.

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I'm very interested to know where you first saw these. How did that happen?

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They belonged to a friend who passed on, and we were able to buy them from her estate.

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I can't remember what we paid for them,

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but it was in the early 70s, it wouldn't have been an awful lot

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because we didn't have an awful lot of money at that time.

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Well, in a sense opals are not particularly valuable stones, particularly when they're small

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like this, but it doesn't diminish their amazing appeal.

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And, in a sense, the stones of which these objects are made

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are not central to their importance,

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because the people that made them weren't interested in intrinsic value, in fact they scorned it.

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What they really were interested in was craftsmanship, and these are two

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superb jewels from the arts and crafts movement.

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Tell me, what did you think about the lid satin when you saw that?

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The inscription is to a Mr and Mrs Gaston?

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I thought that was probably that Mr had had them made for Mrs.

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In a way, he probably did make them for her, but they're a very, very famous married couple of arts

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and crafts jewellers of the highest possible calibre, and they had some very high calibre friends, too.

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They were Quakers, and they were friends of the Cadbury family, who had all the means to have

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jewellery made, but, rather like the Gaskins, they scorned intrinsic

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value for its own sake and everything had to be made by hand.

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-It's very evident from this, this is exactly what happened.

-Oh, right.

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And they learned all of that from an even more distinguished source.

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They were a friend of William Morris, and so were

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right at the absolute pinnacle of English arts and crafts jewellery.

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A high point, but a later point, really.

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They date from anywhere between 1900 and 1920,

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and so they're a late expression of what William Morris wanted to achieve,

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and so these are very, very good things. Do you enjoy wearing them?

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Yes, I do. I don't wear them every day, obviously, because they look a bit fragile.

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They are a bit fragile. Probably less fragile than you think,

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but they would've wanted you to wear them.

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They wanted, actually, a beauty to pervade everything

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in the tradition of William Morris, so having said all of that people want these things really badly.

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I must say, I think they're absolutely perfect.

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They're in perfect condition, in their original boxes, they're signed, extraordinarily attractive.

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So, without mincing words, £3,500 for that one.

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Never?

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-Gosh.

-And £2,000 for that one.

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Well, that is a surprise. Really.

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Carved ivories like this are a real passion of mine. Is this from your collection?

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Yes, it is, and it was passed to me from my father,

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who brought it at an antique shop in London.

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And, as my mother says, he paid far too much money,

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and, at that time, it was in the hundreds.

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-Wow. And when was that?

-That was about 30 years ago.

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And do you know much about its history, or where it's from?

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Not really, only that my father had put a little note on the back, so

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that's all I know about it, which is why I bought it here today.

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The note says it's Flemish, which isn't entirely wrong.

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There were centres for carving ivory like this

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in Dieppe in France, Germany, you know, Flemish.

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-But this one, I think, is German.

-Oh, right.

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And it would date from the early part

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of the 18th century, 1700, 1720, and it's carved in such high relief.

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The scene is almost like a bacchanalian wine party.

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This one here falling in this unfortunate position,

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you wouldn't want to be him.

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Today, it's not so much it's not acceptable,

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but it's just a little bit odd, but then it was the norm.

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The condition of it is fantastic.

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The carving, which is done with wheels, all this is done by hand,

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Carved with foot-pedalled drills, and it is exceptional quality.

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And it's even got the little initials here of the workman.

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Looks like a GV, or a CV.

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That again would add to it. It's in the lovely frame, which I don't think is as early as the ivory.

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It's a later frame, this is more of a late 19th century frame.

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But I'd have thought, well, what did he pay?

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In the hundreds. I don't know exactly, but it was about maximum £200.

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Which was a reasonable amount.

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-Exactly, yeah.

-These have, sort of always on the up.

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Condition is the key.

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This one, I'd have thought, a couple of thousand.

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-Oh, lovely.

-Not bad, is it?

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So he had better taste than he was given credit for.

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And I'll tell my mother that.

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-She'll be happy about that.

-Good. Well, thank you for bringing it in.

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Thank you very much indeed.

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You've probably gathered from the dragon and the bamboo

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all over this mug, where it comes from.

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-Yes, yes.

-China.

-Yeah.

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It's what's known as Chinese export silver.

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It is, indeed, made in China but it was made for Europeans to buy and bring home to wherever they lived.

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Most often you get engraving of ownership from sea captains or from the commercial fleet

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that were doing so much business with China in the 19th Century.

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They treated themselves to a mug or large tankards and coffee pots and things. They came home with them.

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Where did you get it from?

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This was a gift from my uncle who was in the Merchant Navy.

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-He was.

-Yes, he was, indeed.

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That link doesn't surprise me at all in that sense.

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That's extraordinary that he should be a sea captain and you've got a direct connection back to China.

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-Presumably he bought it in China?

-I would guess so, yes.

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I would imagine they did stop off at some point and pick one of these up.

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-So, yeah.

-This is made in around Hong Kong or Kowloon in about

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1900, 1910 by a man called Wang Hing who was a very prolific Chinese silver maker.

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This silver now is going up and up in popularity

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because it's being exported back to China.

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It's come full circle. Now it's going back into the hands of Chinese

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-people, the descendants of those who made it in the first place.

-OK.

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Erm... It's a little bit rubbed, the faces on the side of the mug are just losing their detail a little bit.

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However, it's a very nice object and I would suggest that in order

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to go and buy that you're going to have to pay the thick end of £1,000.

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That's quite sensational, yeah. Wow!

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EXPLOSION

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That was spectacular!

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Tell me how it started?

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Well, I've always been interested in the theatre and I spent most of my life in Hong Kong

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and I used to get fed up with the dinner parties and talking about the supermarket and all the rest of it.

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So, I said, "Let's go upstairs because I've got a small, little theatre and I'll perform on it."

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They all thoroughly enjoyed it. When I retired I wanted a bigger theatre and I found this in an antique shop.

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-I paid £60 for it. I got this and two other theatres as well.

-£60?

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Fantastic. When was that, when did you start performing this one?

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This was about 27 or 30 years ago.

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How splendid! So this is your seascape.

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Tell me, how many others have you got?

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Quite a few! I've got a full Round The World In 80 days which lasts for

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an hour and a half but you don't want something to last that long.

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-No.

-I mean, I've got the Cinderella, I've got Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs.

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-So you can keep children happy for hours on end.

-Yes.

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The thing is each one is planned so when I pass over I can give it

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to my children and they can bring it out and completely resurrect

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-what's all been done before.

-That's wonderful.

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But what a lovely, lovely thing and you've also these wonderful sound effects.

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You invented them.

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Well, I put them together, let's put it like that.

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THUNDER SOUND EFFECT

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Yes, well I really covet this.

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But it's such a delight to see you using it because you don't see people like that any more.

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If you do they're using modern things.

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This is such a lovely one because it dates right back to Benjamin Pollock

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when he was the famous printer of toy theatres

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in probably the mid-19th Century and it went

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-right on and he was so well known that even Charlie Chaplin...

-Yes.

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-And Robert Louis Stevenson...

-Winston Churchill had one.

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-And Winston Churchill, so it was the most fantastic time of entertainment instead of a television.

-Yes.

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So this probably dates from 1880, it could be 1870.

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Of course, the back drops are a bit later. You've added...

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The back drops are German.

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They're reasonably modern, not Pollock's.

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No. But if you've got all those other drops, and stories,

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and this wonderful antique

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facade, it must be in the thousands, possibly 1,000-1,500.

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-The price doesn't matter to me.

-Good!

-I would never, ever sell it.

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Wonderful.

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Well, the name Tiffany is a name probably we all know.

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This is a little, silver cigarette case quite boring,

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got the date on it, 1963.

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But, actually,

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it's quite a resonant object, isn't it?

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Tell me about how it came into your hands?

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Well in 1963 President Kennedy came to Ireland

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to visit his ancestral home in Wexford.

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He spent three further days there in Dublin, Cork and Galway and

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on his Cork visit he was received by the Lord Mayor of Cork,

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Sean Casey who was my dad.

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He gave this as a present to my mam and dad.

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And were you there on that day when he visited Cork?

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I was only eight years of age but it's a memory I'll always have.

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-And this is a photograph that records that particular event.

-Yes.

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There's JFK in the centre here, and your father, presumably, he's the mayor with his

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-chain of office.

-That's right.

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And it's engraved, "To his worship, the Mayor Of Cork,"

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your dad, "From President John F Kennedy"

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-and the date, June 1963.

-That's right.

0:20:120:20:15

-He was with you in Cork in June and the 22 November 1963...

-The whole world was shocked.

0:20:150:20:22

As a result, this is a box which already had a great sort of aura with it, the fact that it had been

0:20:220:20:29

given to your dad by President Kennedy, but also

0:20:290:20:33

it must have been an object almost of remembrance then, later on that year.

0:20:330:20:40

Yes, and very much so, because my dad died four years later.

0:20:400:20:45

So, it's a memory of them both, really.

0:20:450:20:49

It's not really something that one should be thinking about value

0:20:490:20:53

but I'm going to talk about value because the two values I'm going to give are so completely different.

0:20:530:20:59

On the one hand you have a

0:20:590:21:02

basically pretty, modern, unexciting, very unfashionable object, ie a silver cigarette case.

0:21:020:21:09

And, as such, the weight of it,

0:21:090:21:13

I would have said value around £120-£125. But...

0:21:130:21:18

You have this kind of fairy dust sprinkled over an object like this.

0:21:180:21:24

I could easily see that, in auction, probably in the States,

0:21:240:21:29

fetching well into four figures.

0:21:290:21:32

So £1,000 plus.

0:21:320:21:33

It is a piece of American history, it's a piece of Irish history

0:21:330:21:37

and it's a piece of your own family history.

0:21:370:21:39

Very much so.

0:21:390:21:41

Well, it wouldn't be a day at the seaside without a seagull

0:21:450:21:48

and I have to say this has to be the most stylish seagull I've ever seen.

0:21:480:21:53

But tell me, where did he come from?

0:21:530:21:55

Well, I used to live in London.

0:21:550:21:58

Many years ago it was bought at Heal's in Tottenham Court Road

0:21:580:22:03

by my late sister and then she gave it to me.

0:22:030:22:06

So what year would your sister have bought this for you, do you remember?

0:22:060:22:11

I would think it must be about 1940 something or the other.

0:22:110:22:15

I can't be really sure.

0:22:150:22:17

I think it might be a little bit earlier.

0:22:170:22:19

I have a vision of you girls tripping down the Tottenham Court Road

0:22:190:22:23

-maybe in the 1930s.

-Could well be.

0:22:230:22:26

Especially with it having that feel, it's in the height of the Art Deco movement.

0:22:260:22:30

I mean to have gone into Heal's or a similar store and buy something like this for me is such a statement.

0:22:300:22:37

You're saying a lot about you as a person, the things

0:22:370:22:40

that you want in your home and the things that you like around you.

0:22:400:22:43

-True.

-Because this is Art Deco at its absolute pinnacle.

0:22:430:22:49

It's designed by Adnet. Now there are two Adnets, Jean and Jacques.

0:22:490:22:54

Brothers who were leading forces in the field of modernism.

0:22:540:22:58

They really created some of the best Art Deco of the period from 1925

0:22:580:23:05

at the big Paris Exhibition, right through.

0:23:050:23:07

They had a vision of everything being clean and pure.

0:23:070:23:11

They would take a form like this and pare it down to the finest and most simple line.

0:23:110:23:17

I think if you look at this you can see there's nothing left but what is completely essential.

0:23:170:23:24

-So where does it live at home?

-On my television.

-Of course.

-Yes.

0:23:240:23:27

Why would a seagull not live on top of your television, quite frankly.

0:23:270:23:32

-It's the perfect place.

-It is a nice place for it.

0:23:320:23:35

Well, he's a wonderful thing and they are popular because they are

0:23:350:23:39

-so stylish and they fit with modern design and modern homes today.

-True.

0:23:390:23:44

And, to go and find another one, well, even taking into

0:23:440:23:46

-consideration there's a little bit of damage to him.

-Yes, there is.

0:23:460:23:49

Even taking that into consideration, you're going to have to go out with £300-£350 to go and buy him again.

0:23:490:23:57

-Oh.

-But I'd certainly be happy to pay that for him and if anyone can

0:23:570:24:00

distract you for a few moments, I'd like to see if I can whisk him away.

0:24:000:24:05

I'd think you'd be lucky to do that.

0:24:050:24:07

You're going to come after me?

0:24:070:24:09

You've brought along today, I don't know how many objects

0:24:150:24:18

which I've selected just a few.

0:24:180:24:21

Where did they all come from?

0:24:210:24:22

My grandfather was the Austrian ambassador to China after the war

0:24:220:24:27

and these are some of the things that were

0:24:270:24:30

passed down amongst an awful lot of other stuff as well.

0:24:300:24:33

-Right, do you like them?

-Yes.

-You do. OK, well I'm gonna go through these.

0:24:330:24:37

This is a snuff bottle.

0:24:370:24:41

Snuff-taking in China was a major activity

0:24:410:24:46

in the 18th and 19th centuries.

0:24:460:24:48

They are now very collectible.

0:24:480:24:52

This one is enamelled with insects, butterflies, there's a cricket down here.

0:24:520:24:59

A beetle.

0:24:590:25:01

It's terrific fun.

0:25:010:25:03

This has got a Jiajing reign mark on it, which is a late 18th and early 19th century reign mark,

0:25:030:25:09

and reign marks, of course, on Chinese objects,

0:25:090:25:13

you never trust them.

0:25:130:25:14

Once in a while, it's right, and I think this is right.

0:25:140:25:18

I think it's of the period.

0:25:180:25:21

And, as such, I think it would make £700 to £1,000.

0:25:210:25:26

Oh, my goodness.

0:25:260:25:28

-So, that's quite nice.

-Oh, wow.

0:25:280:25:31

This is a seal.

0:25:310:25:33

If you were a Chinese calligrapher, or if you painted paintings,

0:25:330:25:38

you used a chop, as we are pleased to call them - a seal.

0:25:380:25:41

Here we've got one which is in soap stone. It's a very soft stone.

0:25:410:25:48

That was ideal for carving intricate characters.

0:25:480:25:50

It's in the form of a Buddhist lion

0:25:500:25:57

and two pups.

0:25:570:25:59

Absolutely charming.

0:25:590:26:01

They've used the stone cleverly so the faces are reddish

0:26:010:26:07

and an inscription in here as well.

0:26:070:26:10

Date, difficult. I think that's early-19th, possibly 18th-century.

0:26:100:26:16

It could be 1750 and a jolly nice one.

0:26:160:26:19

-£1,000 to £1,500.

-Oh my...

0:26:190:26:23

-The other two are Japanese.

-All right.

0:26:230:26:27

This one is of a potter, decorator, we see a lot of.

0:26:270:26:33

A man called Sobei Kinkozan.

0:26:330:26:35

This little box made for the West, it's not an object that the Japanese or the Chinese would use at all.

0:26:350:26:43

What it is is an incense burner.

0:26:430:26:45

So you'd burn a little bit of incense in there and it would all smoke out through those holes. Date?

0:26:450:26:53

That's about 1900.

0:26:530:26:56

In stonkingly good condition.

0:26:560:26:58

£2,000 to £3,000 on that.

0:26:580:27:01

-That's my favourite.

-Is it?!

0:27:020:27:04

-That's cos it's the most expensive!

-No!

0:27:040:27:08

This is a really unusual piece of Japanese cloisonne work.

0:27:100:27:16

It's on a silver body which is always a good sign.

0:27:160:27:23

Usually they are on a brass body and they may have

0:27:230:27:25

a silver top and bottom but I think this is silver all the way through.

0:27:250:27:30

And...

0:27:300:27:32

A mark. And very rarely do you get a mark of one of the top makers.

0:27:320:27:38

This is Kyoto Namikawa.

0:27:380:27:42

And Namikawa is the tops.

0:27:420:27:45

Date?

0:27:450:27:47

1900, 1910.

0:27:470:27:50

Glorious little object.

0:27:500:27:52

That would make in the region of £2,500 to £3,500.

0:27:520:27:58

Oh my... That might be my favourite now.

0:27:580:28:01

THEY LAUGH

0:28:010:28:03

Now, that's the least. I'll have that one, then.

0:28:030:28:05

-Thank you very much, indeed.

-Thank you.

0:28:080:28:11

Well, "bottoms up" is the phrase that comes to mind with all these cocktail shakers here.

0:28:140:28:18

-You've got a large collection of these.

-Indeed. Absolutely, something in excess of 120.

0:28:180:28:24

-120!

-Indeed.

-Have you used them all?

0:28:240:28:27

I have, with one exception, tried all of them.

0:28:270:28:30

-I like your style. You're obviously keen on a cocktail.

-Indeed.

0:28:300:28:34

-Which is the oldest?

-The oldest one is this one. That's about 1900-1905.

0:28:340:28:39

Why did you start collecting cocktail shakers?

0:28:390:28:42

I've had an interest in cocktails for a number of years,

0:28:420:28:45

initially with a drama group that we ran in central London and cocktails

0:28:450:28:50

were fairly high on the agenda.

0:28:500:28:53

-Higher than rehearsals?

-Indeed, indeed.

-Quite right!

0:28:530:28:56

On the subject of cocktails, I have actually developed one for you.

0:28:560:28:59

It's called Bruce's Blue.

0:28:590:29:01

This is my very own cocktail, created in my honour?

0:29:010:29:04

-Indeed it is.

-Do you know, that's why I love working on this programme.

0:29:040:29:08

It will become obvious why it's called Bruce's Blue.

0:29:080:29:12

Actually, it reflects your punk era.

0:29:120:29:16

-Oh, when I had blue hair.

-Blue hair, absolutely. Absolutely.

0:29:160:29:19

That was a long time ago.

0:29:190:29:22

So Bruce's Blue.

0:29:220:29:24

Absolutely!

0:29:240:29:25

-Chin-chin.

-Be truthful about this.

0:29:280:29:30

Ooh, that's lovely.

0:29:330:29:35

That's delicious.

0:29:350:29:37

Sorry, folks, definitely not for you!

0:29:400:29:43

-What's in it?

-It's whisky,

0:29:430:29:46

blue curacao and lime juice.

0:29:460:29:48

-It's nothing complex.

-Oh...

0:29:480:29:50

Bottoms up. Mmm...

0:29:520:29:55

Ten or 15 years ago you'd have been looking at this in a skip,

0:29:550:30:00

quite possibly, or in a charity shop.

0:30:000:30:02

Did you get that from there?

0:30:020:30:05

No, I actually found it at the back of my father's garage.

0:30:050:30:10

It was just covered in cobwebs.

0:30:100:30:12

Aw, I'm almost feeling sorry for it but you saved it.

0:30:120:30:15

Yeah, my brother threatened to put it out into the skip

0:30:150:30:20

which was just outside my dad's house and I couldn't have that,

0:30:200:30:24

so I took it home.

0:30:240:30:26

I think you did the right thing.

0:30:260:30:28

1950s, probably late 1950s, and it's obviously a cocktail/drinks cabinet.

0:30:280:30:32

You would have your glasses displayed inside here

0:30:320:30:35

and maybe some bottles of nice things to drink underneath there.

0:30:350:30:38

What really interests me about this is you're looking

0:30:380:30:42

at a fantastic piece that shouts the 1950s.

0:30:420:30:44

Starting at the bottom, you've got these splayed legs.

0:30:440:30:47

Very typical of the 1950s into the 1960s.

0:30:470:30:51

Moving up this nice curved front

0:30:510:30:53

and then this wonderful patterning on this yellow here.

0:30:530:30:56

The colour itself is quite important.

0:30:560:30:59

This was a new colour, a new furniture for a new generation

0:30:590:31:01

and new style, post-war. Things were moving forward.

0:31:010:31:04

The key to that is the 1951 Festival Of Britain.

0:31:040:31:08

This was all about the world of tomorrow, today.

0:31:080:31:11

Science, nuclear, atomic patterns.

0:31:110:31:13

That's reflected in the patterns on here.

0:31:130:31:16

If you look down here, this little star motif,

0:31:160:31:18

as well as being like a star in the sky,

0:31:180:31:20

it's almost like an atomic structure, too.

0:31:200:31:23

These look almost like little cells, whizzing around under a microscope.

0:31:230:31:27

The great thing about this is the superb condition.

0:31:270:31:29

It's not worn, it's got its original panels of glass underneath.

0:31:290:31:33

Even its original handles, super. That's going to make it appealing.

0:31:330:31:38

Any piece that shouts the style of the day really has to be collectible in the future.

0:31:380:31:43

If you looked at it in a shop, perhaps even here in Brighton, or in a good retro shop

0:31:430:31:47

in the centre of town, you'd be maybe £150, £200. Perhaps a bit more depending on the shop.

0:31:470:31:53

You seem a little disappointed.

0:31:550:31:57

That's what I thought it would be, maybe 200.

0:31:570:32:00

-You're absolutely spot on but the most important thing is enjoy it.

-Thank you.

0:32:000:32:04

Thank you very much.

0:32:040:32:06

Is that the school tie of Brighton College?

0:32:100:32:12

Is he a Brighton College schoolboy?

0:32:120:32:14

-He is, yes.

-All right, and who is he?

0:32:140:32:16

-That was my father.

-How old is he in that?

0:32:160:32:20

I guess about 12 or 13, starting at the school.

0:32:200:32:23

-Just at the outset.

-Which I think was about 1919.

0:32:230:32:28

I see, and it's by...?

0:32:280:32:30

By Harry Mileham, my grandfather. So he painted his son.

0:32:300:32:34

And this, this amazing painting.

0:32:340:32:36

-And that, yes.

-This huge, amazing painting.

-Yes.

0:32:360:32:39

First of all, I love the shape, don't you?

0:32:390:32:41

It's a kind of letterbox shape, really.

0:32:410:32:43

-Yes.

-But it's very good for lots of figures.

0:32:430:32:46

Very like a last supper. The composition is probably based on a famous last supper.

0:32:460:32:50

Yes, I've heard that.

0:32:500:32:53

I see from the label on the back that it's called The Pardoner's Prologue.

0:32:530:32:57

-Yes.

-So this is the beginning of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Is that right?

0:32:570:33:02

Yes, I think it was a stop half way.

0:33:020:33:04

-A stop half way.

-It was the first, yes.

0:33:040:33:06

I see, so these are all the people who were going to tell their tales

0:33:060:33:10

and that must be the wife of Bath in the middle, surely.

0:33:100:33:13

It is, with her cherry stone saying "amour".

0:33:130:33:15

-Yes, which is love, of course.

-Yes.

0:33:150:33:18

Tell me a bit more about it?

0:33:180:33:21

Well, this is the Pardoner...

0:33:210:33:23

-The fellow here.

-This chap here.

0:33:230:33:26

-He looks unpleasant.

-He was an unpleasant person.

0:33:260:33:29

It was his trade to sell pardons, religious pardons,

0:33:290:33:31

-to people who'd sinned but he'd sell them to them, was that right?

-Yes.

0:33:310:33:35

I think he went on about money being the root of all evil

0:33:350:33:38

-which is exactly what he was.

-Yes, exactly.

0:33:380:33:41

-And then...

-Who's this fellow?

0:33:410:33:42

-That's Chaucer.

-I thought it might be. That's the man himself.

0:33:420:33:46

And on his right is the knight.

0:33:460:33:48

-From the Knight's Tale.

-This is my uncle, this little boy here.

0:33:480:33:52

-Your father's brother?

-His brother, who also went to Brighton College.

0:33:520:33:55

-OK.

-And I think that's him again.

0:33:550:33:57

Well, it's an extraordinary mixture of colours. Very bright.

0:33:570:34:01

It's like a piece of stained glass.

0:34:010:34:03

We've got a signature and a date of 1924.

0:34:030:34:06

It's an interesting time in British art generally because it's just after the first war

0:34:060:34:11

and a lot of artists were going completely modern -

0:34:110:34:13

goodbye to all that, reject all the Victorian values.

0:34:130:34:16

This one stayed firmly in British history for his subject, didn't he?

0:34:160:34:21

-Yes, he did.

-I have a feeling he might be one of those artists

0:34:210:34:24

who's been slightly passed by, by fashion that dictates these things.

0:34:240:34:28

I absolutely agree.

0:34:280:34:31

It's painted meticulously. He must have been a hard worker.

0:34:310:34:35

-Did you know him, did you ever watch him paint?

-No, no... I saw him...

0:34:350:34:39

He was an old man when I was young.

0:34:390:34:42

I think I was about eight when he died.

0:34:420:34:45

I remember him working in his studio which was at the bottom of the garden.

0:34:450:34:50

In those days he was just doing stained glass.

0:34:500:34:53

-He made stained glass? How interesting.

-There's quite a bit in local churches.

0:34:530:34:57

But it remains a marvellously decorative thing, I think.

0:34:570:35:02

And it's rather a long time since I read my Chaucer.

0:35:020:35:06

I can't exactly remember all the stories.

0:35:060:35:09

But I would have fun remembering them through this picture.

0:35:090:35:13

They're all there, actually, if you do.

0:35:130:35:16

I think it's worth about £8,000 to £12,000 now.

0:35:160:35:21

Right ... Well, thank you very much.

0:35:210:35:24

Thank you.

0:35:240:35:25

He's lovely, isn't he? The nicest lion that I've seen.

0:35:270:35:30

I bought him two years ago at an antique shop near Guildford and it cost me £5.

0:35:300:35:35

Excellent. What do you know about it?

0:35:350:35:38

I just liked its face and I thought it looked old

0:35:380:35:40

and kind of hope that it is old. I'm not sure if it's a reproduction.

0:35:400:35:45

Sure, they do reproduce these.

0:35:450:35:48

He isn't a reproduction. I think the face is beautifully done.

0:35:480:35:54

It's hard to say where it's from. I think it's Scandinavian.

0:35:540:35:57

The lion features heavily in Scandinavian iconography.

0:35:570:36:00

-I think it's 17th, if not 16th century.

-Wow, fantastic.

0:36:000:36:04

And, actually, it looks to me - and it's hard to say -

0:36:040:36:07

but it's actually a mount or a foot of a piece of furniture.

0:36:070:36:10

It's made of bronze. So, you say £5...

0:36:100:36:16

-Bought in an antique shop two years ago?

-Yes.

0:36:160:36:20

I don't think I would've paid £5 for it.

0:36:200:36:24

I would have had to pay £1,500 for it.

0:36:240:36:26

Wow! Wow!

0:36:260:36:30

-Gosh.

-Slightly better than...

-Good grief.

0:36:300:36:33

That is... Wow, that's amazing.

0:36:330:36:35

-Pretty good, eh?

-Wow.

-It's the nicest thing I've seen today.

0:36:350:36:39

Well, I've not seen a table cabinet on the Antiques Roadshow

0:36:430:36:47

for five or six years and now I have two.

0:36:470:36:49

They're both totally different in construction and decoration.

0:36:490:36:52

This one, probably south German, could be Scandinavian.

0:36:520:36:56

Not quite sure, difficult to determine,

0:36:560:36:58

but painted biblical scenes,

0:36:580:37:00

architectural columns and, without doubt, 17th century.

0:37:000:37:05

1670 to the end of the century.

0:37:050:37:09

And this one, totally different.

0:37:090:37:11

But we know precisely where it came from.

0:37:110:37:14

This is Spanish and this could be any time between 1710-1720 and 1750.

0:37:140:37:20

I'm relying on you now to tell me a bit more about it.

0:37:200:37:23

Yes, it came from my ex-partner's family estate in northern Spain.

0:37:230:37:28

And I inherited it when he died.

0:37:280:37:31

Right. And it was a Spanish family?

0:37:310:37:34

Yes, an old Spanish family.

0:37:340:37:36

Right. This, at first glance, is a table cabinet.

0:37:360:37:39

On the other hand, the feet are not original.

0:37:390:37:43

It looks very much like the centre part of the interior

0:37:430:37:48

of a Bargueno, which is a drop-down writing cabinet.

0:37:480:37:52

This could be the part that slotted in.

0:37:520:37:56

Particularly with this architectural cabinet here.

0:37:560:38:00

This traditionally was where the great man would keep

0:38:000:38:04

his secrets to show his new cabinet friends, as they were called.

0:38:040:38:08

Let's have a look at the construction.

0:38:080:38:10

Basically, this is an early use of tortoiseshell or turtle shell

0:38:100:38:15

as it should be called and brass inlay with walnut around it.

0:38:150:38:21

This was a natural tortoiseshell which is given the colour

0:38:210:38:24

by a background of red which shines through.

0:38:240:38:28

It was a sort of equivalent, if you like,

0:38:280:38:31

of brass and tortoiseshell veneers, and marquetry,

0:38:310:38:35

which was boullework, which was going on at round about the same time.

0:38:350:38:39

Does it have pride of place indoors?

0:38:390:38:41

Not really. I have a fairly modern house with modern paintings and stuff in it. It's in my bedroom.

0:38:410:38:48

It's quite dramatic though, if you have one dramatic item on its own,

0:38:480:38:52

rather than a cluttered look of antiquity.

0:38:520:38:54

So, Spanish, difficult to say which part of Spain it came from.

0:38:540:38:59

Today's value, probably in the region of between £3,500-£4,500.

0:38:590:39:04

Just a fascinating thing and thank you.

0:39:040:39:06

Thank you very much.

0:39:060:39:08

At every Roadshow, I long for someone

0:39:110:39:14

to bring in something related to the most famous sea battle of all time,

0:39:140:39:19

the Battle of Trafalgar.

0:39:190:39:21

And you've brought in this naval general service medal, with a Trafalgar clasp.

0:39:210:39:27

Now where did it come from?

0:39:270:39:29

My great-great-great-grandfather was Admiral Spencer Smythe

0:39:290:39:36

who's shown in the picture there and he was a midshipman.

0:39:360:39:40

He joined the Navy when he was 11.

0:39:400:39:44

At the Battle of Trafalgar, he was 13 years old.

0:39:440:39:47

-He didn't serve on Victory?

-No, he didn't. On HMS Defiance.

-OK.

0:39:470:39:52

On the edge of the medal

0:39:520:39:54

is impressed his name, Spencer Smythe, midshipman.

0:39:540:40:01

These are very rare medals.

0:40:010:40:03

But I can't believe that you've actually got a picture

0:40:030:40:06

of the person who was the midshipman at the Battle of Trafalgar,

0:40:060:40:10

while all the wood splinters were smashing around you

0:40:100:40:13

and the cannonballs were coming through the side of the ship.

0:40:130:40:16

A horrendous scene of carnage and blood.

0:40:160:40:21

But this portrait here, when do you think that this was taken?

0:40:210:40:24

Well, we're not certain.

0:40:240:40:27

Obviously they're all very elderly gentleman and there's only a few of them left.

0:40:270:40:31

They're all wearing their medals.

0:40:310:40:34

I would imagine when he was in his 70s.

0:40:340:40:37

So this is that medal there, is it?

0:40:370:40:39

-That he's wearing on his breast?

-Yes.

0:40:390:40:41

The very medal that I'm holding in my hand.

0:40:410:40:43

Do you know, I think the last time that I saw one of these naval general service medals

0:40:430:40:49

with a Trafalgar clasp has got to be at least two or three years ago.

0:40:490:40:53

They're so rare with the Trafalgar clasp.

0:40:530:40:55

You've also brought this watercolour in.

0:40:550:40:57

Tell me about the watercolour.

0:40:570:40:59

It was painted by my great-great- great grandfather after the battle,

0:40:590:41:04

some years after the battle,

0:41:040:41:06

I would imagine just from memory. We've got two of them.

0:41:060:41:09

-You've got a pair?

-Yes, a pair.

0:41:090:41:11

OK.

0:41:110:41:13

Well, certainly

0:41:130:41:15

this clasp alone with this medal

0:41:150:41:18

fetches quite a considerable sum.

0:41:180:41:21

It's pushing on to £5,000.

0:41:210:41:23

I think with the print here,

0:41:230:41:25

with the pair of watercolours which are beautifully executed,

0:41:250:41:30

I think we would be talking about

0:41:300:41:34

an auction value...

0:41:340:41:35

of between £8,000 and £10,000.

0:41:350:41:39

Goodness me. Thank you very much.

0:41:390:41:43

So how did this splash of colour come into your life?

0:41:450:41:49

When I bought a house 25 years ago, it was left in the house.

0:41:490:41:54

-This was left in the house?

-Yes.

0:41:540:41:57

Right, well, that was quite something to leave in a house.

0:41:570:42:00

Have you reflected on what it might be that was left in the house?

0:42:000:42:05

I've no idea what it is, actually. I know...

0:42:050:42:09

Because it's by Henry Miller...

0:42:090:42:11

Because it's signed in the bottom right-hand corner.

0:42:110:42:14

We've looked it up on the computer and there are similar paintings of his.

0:42:140:42:19

That's as much as I know about it.

0:42:190:42:21

This watercolour, with washes, heightened with body colour,

0:42:210:42:24

is signed and dated in the bottom right-hand corner, Henry Miller.

0:42:240:42:29

1955.

0:42:290:42:30

You haven't just got an interesting picture here.

0:42:300:42:33

You've got a painting by a celebrated writer -

0:42:330:42:36

one of the great celebrated writers of the 20th century.

0:42:360:42:39

Henry Miller was also a bit of a shocker.

0:42:390:42:42

He wrote a book called Tropic Of Cancer, which was the equivalent

0:42:420:42:47

of Lady Chatterley's Lover, which was banned because of its sexual heat.

0:42:470:42:52

And later on he was feted - George Orwell and others called him

0:42:520:42:57

one of the greatest writers of our times.

0:42:570:43:00

But then he turned into a painter as well.

0:43:000:43:03

This man had no end of talents.

0:43:030:43:05

What you've got here, in a complex, colourful way,

0:43:050:43:09

is a writer expressing himself in another medium.

0:43:090:43:13

-I mean, if all writers could paint like this there'd be an awful lot of interesting pictures.

-Yes.

0:43:130:43:19

Have you thought what it might be worth?

0:43:190:43:21

Absolutely no idea.

0:43:210:43:22

It was a very generous little house-warming present.

0:43:220:43:25

It's worth £2,000.

0:43:250:43:27

Really? Fantastic.

0:43:270:43:29

I never expected that.

0:43:290:43:31

Well done. Thank you very much.

0:43:310:43:33

In this series, I'm asking our experts which items did they see

0:43:470:43:50

most often, what's brought the most often on to the Roadshow?

0:43:500:43:54

And which item would they most like to see, that they really fantasise about finding?

0:43:540:43:59

John Bligh, you're our longest standing

0:43:590:44:01

-furniture expert.

-Still standing.

0:44:010:44:03

I'm assuming that you would most like to see some kind of furniture?

0:44:030:44:06

Well, yes. And I was trying to think and I

0:44:060:44:09

think honestly it has to be the bow-front chest of drawers.

0:44:090:44:12

Clearly we don't have one here. I guess it's rather difficult to cart it along!

0:44:120:44:16

It's a different story with furniture. Not as easy to bring.

0:44:160:44:18

Basically, they bring photographs, like this.

0:44:180:44:22

That actually is the most popular, the commonest.

0:44:220:44:26

Now we have to remember that this is the standard form.

0:44:260:44:29

Too short, three long drawers. Fairly deep, commodious indeed.

0:44:290:44:33

They were made in huge numbers throughout the 19th century.

0:44:330:44:36

Believe it, these things, although they're 150 years old,

0:44:360:44:40

probably £100, £150, and it's a fine, it's a good antique.

0:44:400:44:44

Drat! I knew you were going to say that

0:44:440:44:46

because I've got one like this and I paid more than that!

0:44:460:44:49

-And they're terribly commonplace?

-I'm afraid so, but the market goes up and down.

0:44:490:44:54

-So this is the kind of thing you see most often?

-Absolutely.

0:44:540:44:56

I will have four or five photographs of chest of drawers like that.

0:44:560:45:00

Either straight front or bow-front in every programme.

0:45:000:45:03

What would you most like to see? Presumably something French, ornate, a bit of Chippendale perhaps?

0:45:030:45:08

Well, it's always nice to find something one can

0:45:080:45:11

have an attribution for, either a maker or a particular house or area.

0:45:110:45:16

And here, of course, probably one of my favourite places in England,

0:45:160:45:20

is Brighton's showpiece, which is the Royal Pavilion.

0:45:200:45:24

And there, the Prince's architect and designer and interior decorator, was Henry Holland,

0:45:240:45:29

who liked French furniture, modern French, Greco-Roman and Chinese,

0:45:290:45:33

or Oriental, and it's the Chinese that gets me.

0:45:330:45:36

I just find it fascinating that they were importing flat-pack tables and chairs.

0:45:360:45:40

Flat-pack furniture? I assumed that was a modern mass-produced phenomenon that we have these days?

0:45:400:45:46

No, it was that, really, that caught the imagination of Henry Holland,

0:45:460:45:51

and it was 1802, 1804,

0:45:510:45:53

that the Prince started to redecorate the inside,

0:45:530:45:56

and it took probably the next 20 years.

0:45:560:45:59

Sadly, after which, he only visited twice.

0:45:590:46:02

The great hedonistic days of the pavilion were when he was Prince Regent.

0:46:020:46:06

He spent all that money on it and only visited twice?

0:46:060:46:09

Oh, God, yes. After 1822.

0:46:090:46:11

Up to then, he nearly lived here.

0:46:110:46:13

Is it then because it's so delicate

0:46:130:46:15

that there's so little of this furniture left?

0:46:150:46:18

Up to a point, but also, when he died in 1830,

0:46:180:46:21

the place was closed up and Queen Victoria, particularly,

0:46:210:46:25

-was slightly embarrassed at what had gone on here.

-It was all a bit hedonistic for her?

-It was too much.

0:46:250:46:30

And it was closed, and they took a lot of the things out

0:46:300:46:33

and put them into the royal palaces.

0:46:330:46:35

And that's when a lot of things disappeared,

0:46:350:46:38

and that's why we always think there's a possibility, and actually

0:46:380:46:42

that's the excitement, of finding something that can be traced

0:46:420:46:46

to one of Crace's drawings like this.

0:46:460:46:48

I was in New York recently

0:46:480:46:49

and there was a pair to that table in New York.

0:46:490:46:52

If I'd got any money I'd buy it. It's actually 85,000, which is not

0:46:520:46:56

a huge amount of money, but it's a lot for a table that collapses.

0:46:560:47:02

If we could say it came out of Brighton Pavilion, anywhere

0:47:020:47:06

-with a definite attribution, you can treble that or quadruple it.

-Really?

0:47:060:47:09

Oh, yes. That's the great turn-on. It's so exciting.

0:47:090:47:13

Any of you can oblige?

0:47:130:47:15

Yes, well, it hasn't walked in so far.

0:47:150:47:18

No, there's the rest of the day.

0:47:180:47:19

Yes, there's the rest of the day, as you say.

0:47:190:47:22

And, if you have any of this furniture that would quicken the pulse of John Bligh here,

0:47:220:47:27

do please bring it in or contact us, and you can find us at our website.

0:47:270:47:31

Some people are going to look at the screen and say,

0:47:410:47:43

"Oh, no, here he comes again,

0:47:430:47:44

"Will Farmer with yet another piece of Clarice Cliff."

0:47:440:47:47

But, in my defence, there is Clarice Cliff

0:47:470:47:50

and then there is Clarice Cliff.

0:47:500:47:52

Shall we say the best and then the rest?

0:47:520:47:55

And, for me, what we're looking at is by far the best.

0:47:550:47:58

I'm glad to hear that.

0:47:580:47:59

Tell me a little bit about it from your side.

0:47:590:48:01

About 50 years ago I was at an auction.

0:48:010:48:03

I bought a big box of stuff, china, etc. That was in the box.

0:48:030:48:07

I paid the equivalent of about 20p.

0:48:070:48:09

-20p?

-Took it home, kept it in my apartment for a couple

0:48:090:48:12

of years until I went to America, and my mother said, I love your vase.

0:48:120:48:17

I said, Ma, you can have it. Gave it to my mother.

0:48:170:48:20

Came back 20 years later and she went to the Brighton Museum and she saw

0:48:200:48:26

Clarice Cliff in Brighton Museum, thought it might be worth something.

0:48:260:48:29

She had it valued about 15 years ago,

0:48:290:48:32

and I think it was about 1,200, 1,500,

0:48:320:48:34

which I thought was a little high.

0:48:340:48:36

But she said she didn't want to sell it.

0:48:360:48:38

Let's see what more I can tell you about it.

0:48:380:48:40

It sounds like mum's a bit of a detective, to have gone to Brighton

0:48:400:48:43

and seen Clarice Cliff in Brighton

0:48:430:48:45

she will have gone to the first ever exhibition of Clarice Cliff's wares.

0:48:450:48:48

-It might have been.

-But what we are looking at is a pattern that's called sliced circle.

0:48:480:48:53

The design was created in 1929.

0:48:530:48:55

It sometimes does overlap into 1930.

0:48:550:48:59

-And today it really does tick all the boxes.

-Oh, good, I'm glad.

0:48:590:49:02

So you paid, just remind me?

0:49:020:49:04

It was three and six

0:49:040:49:05

in those days, just under 20p.

0:49:050:49:08

-For the whole box of other stuff as well.

-And we'd like to see a profit.

0:49:080:49:11

-Yeah.

-Something was muted around 1,200 a few years ago?

0:49:110:49:15

-Yeah.

-Well, I'll happily give you the 1,200. Is that all right?

0:49:150:49:19

-No.

-No, OK. You're quite right,

0:49:190:49:21

cos if I gave you £1,200 I would be quite seriously short-changing you.

0:49:210:49:25

-Really?

-Let's be dead straight and cut to the chase and say that you

0:49:250:49:28

would struggle to replace this vase for much less than £5,000 to £6,000.

0:49:280:49:32

Really? Very nice. My mother's going to be really happy to hear that. Excellent.

0:49:320:49:36

Do you know this is a bit of a clonky old candlestick,

0:49:360:49:39

isn't it? What's happened to it?

0:49:390:49:41

It's all bent. It's got cracks

0:49:410:49:43

in the top and it's very worn out.

0:49:430:49:45

Why's it so worn out?

0:49:450:49:46

My granddad dug it up in the back garden of my dad's holiday house.

0:49:490:49:55

He dug it up in the back garden?

0:49:550:49:57

It's quite old you know. Look at it, look at the way it's made.

0:49:570:50:00

Did you ever notice it's got a line down the side there?

0:50:000:50:04

-No.

-Well this candlestick is made in two halves

0:50:040:50:06

and the two halves are then fitted together.

0:50:060:50:09

Now that tells me something about it.

0:50:090:50:11

Also on the bottom, which is quite unusual for this type of candlestick, there's some initials.

0:50:110:50:16

GMD.

0:50:160:50:18

Now, I don't have any idea what those initials stand for.

0:50:180:50:22

But one thing I will say to you

0:50:220:50:25

is that this candlestick is 250 years old.

0:50:250:50:29

Can you believe that?

0:50:290:50:31

-No. Not really.

-250 years old.

0:50:310:50:33

When your granddad was digging in the garden, he dug up one of a pair of Georgian candlesticks.

0:50:330:50:39

So this was made around in about 1765 to 1770.

0:50:390:50:43

Now, what do you think would make this more valuable?

0:50:430:50:46

Er, maybe a bit of polish.

0:50:480:50:50

Maybe bit of polish, yes. But how about the other candlestick?

0:50:500:50:54

-Do you fancy going to dig up the other one?

-No.

0:50:550:51:00

-A pair of Georgian candlesticks like this would probably be worth around about £300 at auction.

-Wow!

0:51:000:51:08

But one on it own is worth a little bit less than half than that, given that it has some damage.

0:51:080:51:13

-Anyway, it's fabulous and it's very old, and maybe you should give it a little polish, eh?

-Yes.

0:51:130:51:20

Now, you have brought along this beautiful car mascot.

0:51:250:51:28

But what happened to the beautiful car that she once sat on?

0:51:280:51:31

Well, it wasn't sitting on a car when we bought it.

0:51:310:51:34

We acquired it like that.

0:51:340:51:36

But we had a collection of vintage and veteran and sports racing cars,

0:51:360:51:40

including a Silver Ghost Rolls, and my husband thought that she was

0:51:400:51:45

so similar to the lady on the Silver Ghost Rolls that she might have been a prototype of an earlier mascot.

0:51:450:51:51

Obviously, you and he had great eye, because you're absolutely right,

0:51:510:51:55

this mascot is made by the same sculptor, Charles Sykes.

0:51:550:52:00

He made the famous Flying Lady.

0:52:000:52:02

But what is little known he also made this lady, and she's actually called Mystery.

0:52:020:52:09

Now, Rolls-Royce were thinking about producing a car and going to call it

0:52:090:52:14

Mystery, and this was going to be the mascot that sat on top of that particular radiator cap.

0:52:140:52:20

However, that project got scrapped and also the design of this didn't really work.

0:52:200:52:25

Because as you were going along and it rained,

0:52:250:52:28

the rain must have actually got caught in her drapes there.

0:52:280:52:31

So they produced a prototype, and I have to say,

0:52:310:52:36

in all my years of looking at mascots and classic cars,

0:52:360:52:41

this is only the second one I've ever seen.

0:52:410:52:44

So extraordinarily rare.

0:52:440:52:46

My husband always intended to try and find out more about it, perhaps when he retired.

0:52:460:52:50

Unfortunately, he didn't live long enough to do that.

0:52:500:52:55

But did you have the same interest in cars as he?

0:52:550:52:58

Well, yes, because my brother and my father were both interested in cars and motorbikes,

0:52:580:53:03

and my brother advertised the vintage Bentley that he had bought and decided to sell and buy another one.

0:53:030:53:09

And my husband was 21, and it was advertised in Motor Sport,

0:53:090:53:13

so we met through an advert in Motor Sport - my husband came and bought it.

0:53:130:53:17

So buying the Bentley, he met you.

0:53:170:53:20

-He met me.

-Fell in love.

0:53:200:53:21

Well... My brother always...

0:53:210:53:24

-Or did he fall in love with the Bentley?

-My brother always said he had to marry me to get the spares!

0:53:240:53:29

So I had to endure that when I was young, you know what brothers are like.

0:53:290:53:34

Well, I'm envious of all your cars and I'm very envious of this mascot,

0:53:350:53:40

because she is not only a beautiful mascot, but extraordinarily rare.

0:53:400:53:45

And as I said, only two are known.

0:53:450:53:48

One turned up in America and it made in excess of 20,000.

0:53:480:53:53

But that was a signed one, Charles Sykes. This isn't signed.

0:53:530:53:56

So I think here in the UK, if she was sold, it would be more like £5,000 to £7,000. But...

0:53:560:54:03

Lovely. We're going to keep it.

0:54:030:54:05

I'm delighted. All you need now is a car to put it back on.

0:54:050:54:08

Well, true. I've got a Bentley still.

0:54:080:54:11

-Do you have any French connections in your family?

-No, none at all.

0:54:140:54:17

So can I inquire how you actually came by this, which is a very French clock?

0:54:170:54:21

It was a gift to my father from his employer.

0:54:210:54:24

-I would say 35 to 40 years ago.

-And it's just sat around in the hall.

0:54:240:54:28

Just sat indoors on a little table.

0:54:280:54:32

Well, it's called an annular clock or a circle tournant,

0:54:320:54:36

because of the two horizontal chapterings

0:54:360:54:39

which actually turn on a horizontal basis.

0:54:390:54:42

So it is a turning circle, or an annular because of the circular chaptering.

0:54:420:54:46

And it's a particularly good one.

0:54:460:54:49

It does have a name, which is going to be extremely difficult to see, because it's buried.

0:54:490:54:54

But I managed to have a quick look.

0:54:540:54:55

It is signed by a maker called Lechopie a Paris,

0:54:550:54:59

which is engraved in rather fine script along the bottom.

0:54:590:55:02

And there were three or Lechopies.

0:55:020:55:05

One particular one called Adam, who was Adam Lechopie, was working

0:55:050:55:10

until 1789, and I reckon that absolutely pins the clock to him.

0:55:100:55:14

It's the third quarter of the 18th century.

0:55:140:55:17

And it is absolutely a staggering piece of work.

0:55:170:55:20

Because the quality of chasing, the bronze the gilding which is

0:55:200:55:24

in very fine condition, clearly it's never been cleaned since you had it.

0:55:240:55:29

And the inlaying of the marble into the panels of the side doors is exceptional.

0:55:290:55:34

One interesting point I would like to show you is,

0:55:340:55:37

-if you look at the case, can you see a thin line running down there?

-Yes.

0:55:370:55:43

And down there. The same line is repeated on the back.

0:55:430:55:46

So to make the case, they basically cast two halves, two pieces, identical and then they soldered

0:55:460:55:54

them, or welded them, in the fashion of day, soldered them together, and after which, the "sizzler",

0:55:540:56:01

the chaser, would have gone over and covered every detail and put all this in.

0:56:010:56:05

This would have been cast in sand, so it's a rough piece of work at the time.

0:56:050:56:09

The reason you can see those lines is because, in the soldering process,

0:56:090:56:13

they used to use arsenic, and it just bled through.

0:56:130:56:17

If the clock was cleaned, it would disappear again.

0:56:170:56:20

If we look at what effectively is the front of the clock, because here is where the hours are read,

0:56:200:56:26

we've got a door that opens, and that's how you get in to wind the movement.

0:56:260:56:30

Basically, it is a standard clock movement, made to fit in here

0:56:300:56:34

by using a right-angled bevel gear.

0:56:340:56:36

They shoot the power up to the top, and there's a couple of wheels in here that turn this.

0:56:360:56:42

So you've actually managed to drive from the vertical movement

0:56:420:56:45

to a horizontal plate, and it's easy to see. Striking on the hour.

0:56:450:56:49

It is a stunning piece. I have been thinking about the value. Have you ever had it sort of valued?

0:56:500:56:55

No, a few years ago, a gentleman offered my dad...he just said 4,000.

0:56:550:57:00

That's not a bad bid, was it?

0:57:020:57:04

It was a long time ago. But I don't know what it is now.

0:57:040:57:08

Well, I have been struggling between the two and I'm going to go in the middle of what I thought.

0:57:080:57:12

-I reckon we're probably looking at 12,500.

-Oh!

0:57:120:57:15

God!

0:57:150:57:16

It's a good thing he didn't accept it.

0:57:190:57:22

Goodness!

0:57:220:57:23

-Ooh!

-Very nice piece. Thank you.

-Thank you, thank you very much.

0:57:230:57:28

We have been bathed in glorious sunshine all day here at Brighton College,

0:57:310:57:35

and lots of old boys from the college have turned up,

0:57:350:57:37

and one of greatest old boys of all has turned up -

0:57:370:57:40

our Antiques Roadshow old schoolboy Michael Aspel!

0:57:400:57:43

-How nice to see you!

-Well, thank you. And you. Isn't this glorious?

0:57:430:57:46

Were you just paying a social call or did you bring something along?

0:57:460:57:49

Both, really. I just wandered past and heard people enjoying themselves and I thought I'd pop in.

0:57:490:57:53

But I did bring an object, which was given to me

0:57:530:57:57

on a very special birthday about 30 years ago,

0:57:570:58:00

and I asked... They said, what would you like? And I said a telescope.

0:58:000:58:03

Because I wanted to study the heavens, and they had these great things on tripods, and I got this.

0:58:030:58:07

Which is very nice.

0:58:070:58:09

But not quite what you were expecting?

0:58:090:58:11

No, but I consulted an expert, and it's just what I thought - sort of 1820, worth 150 quid.

0:58:110:58:16

Belonged to a midshipman. Story of my life. I see no ships!

0:58:160:58:18

I can't believe you've waited this long to bring

0:58:180:58:21

something along when you worked on the programme for such a long time.

0:58:210:58:23

Well, I felt shy about it, really.

0:58:230:58:25

I didn't want to embarrass them.

0:58:250:58:27

-Now that I'm not working on it, I can do what I like!

-Exactly!

0:58:270:58:30

-Well, on that note, from Brighton College and the Antiques Roadshow, until next time, bye-bye.

-Bye.

0:58:300:58:37

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:58:450:58:49

E-mail [email protected]

0:58:490:58:52

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