0:00:02 > 0:00:03We're always searching for treasure,
0:00:03 > 0:00:07so we've come to an apt location - the Yorkshire Museum and Gardens.
0:00:07 > 0:00:11You see, it's a place that already boasts pretty incredible discoveries
0:00:11 > 0:00:14that have been literally unearthed from beneath the ground here.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16So let's hope we find a few more,
0:00:16 > 0:00:18as we return for a second visit to York.
0:00:20 > 0:00:21BELL DINGS
0:01:04 > 0:01:07The great minds of the York Philosophical Society
0:01:07 > 0:01:09were hard at work in the 1820s,
0:01:09 > 0:01:14planning a home for the new discoveries exciting scientific thinkers of the day.
0:01:14 > 0:01:16And this was the result -
0:01:16 > 0:01:18the museum in the heart of York.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21It opened in 1830 and it was something of a pioneer.
0:01:21 > 0:01:23Set in its own botanical gardens,
0:01:23 > 0:01:27it's one of the first purpose-built museums in the country.
0:01:28 > 0:01:32Not that it made much difference to most of the people of York,
0:01:32 > 0:01:35because this place was an exclusive club.
0:01:36 > 0:01:38When the museum first opened,
0:01:38 > 0:01:41I wouldn't have been able to get through those doors quite so easily,
0:01:41 > 0:01:44because women were not allowed to be members of the York Philosophical Society.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47And when non-members were finally admitted to the museum,
0:01:47 > 0:01:50it was for a very steep shilling.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53The working classes were only admitted in 1838 -
0:01:53 > 0:01:56and even then it was just once a year, at Whitsun.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58Fortunately, times have changed.
0:02:00 > 0:02:03Some of the rather grand founders of the museum might be shocked
0:02:03 > 0:02:06to learn that many of the most talked about recent acquisitions
0:02:06 > 0:02:09have not been found by archaeologists
0:02:09 > 0:02:12but by...local people using these -
0:02:12 > 0:02:14metal detectors.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18The Yorkshire Museum encourages anyone who's found an antiquity
0:02:18 > 0:02:21to bring it here, to their Finds Officer,
0:02:21 > 0:02:24and they've had quite a few in recent years.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27Like this stash of Viking silver
0:02:27 > 0:02:30known as the "Vale of York Hoard".
0:02:30 > 0:02:32Look at this - it's another amazing find here in the museum.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34It's called the "Middleham Jewel"
0:02:34 > 0:02:38and it was discovered near the medieval castle of Middleham
0:02:38 > 0:02:40by an amateur detecting enthusiast.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43Whoever wore this, almost certainly a woman,
0:02:43 > 0:02:47had significant status and wealth because it's solid gold
0:02:47 > 0:02:49with this huge sapphire here.
0:02:49 > 0:02:51But more importantly than that,
0:02:51 > 0:02:55it is a charm, if you like, designed to protect
0:02:55 > 0:02:57from the dangers of childbirth.
0:02:57 > 0:03:01All this was designed to house the most precious thing of all -
0:03:01 > 0:03:06some tiny fragments of soil from a shrine or some kind of holy site.
0:03:07 > 0:03:12So whatever 15th-century woman wore this round her neck...
0:03:12 > 0:03:13was taking no chances.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17We'll see more excavated treasures later in the show.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20In the meantime, let's see what our experts are digging up.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25You know, everywhere you go in York, you fall over pieces of stone.
0:03:25 > 0:03:28Here we are, in the Museum Gardens -
0:03:28 > 0:03:31the place is absolutely covered in bits of antiquity
0:03:31 > 0:03:35and you bring in these. Where did you get them from?
0:03:35 > 0:03:37Various places.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41This one here from a dealer, it was languishing in a garden in Kent.
0:03:41 > 0:03:45- Yes.- I just saw it on the website and the photo didn't do it justice,
0:03:45 > 0:03:48and when I saw it, I had to have it.
0:03:48 > 0:03:51OK, I think we ought to go back and decide why you wanted
0:03:51 > 0:03:53to collect these pieces of stone.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57Because quite often they are neglected
0:03:57 > 0:04:00- and they end up in people's gardens or used as doorstops.- Yes.
0:04:00 > 0:04:03Various people have told me they're not worth anything
0:04:03 > 0:04:06and I don't care, because they're early works of art
0:04:06 > 0:04:10and sooner or later, there's not going to be much left.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12I think you hit the nail on the head there
0:04:12 > 0:04:14when you say they are early works of art.
0:04:14 > 0:04:16- This is quite the most stunning one, isn't it?- Yes.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18I don't think it's medieval.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22I think it's a bit later than that. 1500-1600, something like that.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25- Yeah, later.- What a piece!
0:04:25 > 0:04:27And you can imagine him on the side of a building -
0:04:27 > 0:04:31on the side of Hogwarts, perhaps! I don't know, something like that.
0:04:31 > 0:04:33The other one - over here - this little lion over here,
0:04:33 > 0:04:38if you look at the face on the lion, it's much more a Neo-Classical face.
0:04:38 > 0:04:40Yes, yeah.
0:04:40 > 0:04:41I think it's more secular
0:04:41 > 0:04:45and I would have thought dated from the 18th century,
0:04:45 > 0:04:47or possibly even the 17th century.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50And then the two down here... tell me about this one here.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53This was in a salvage yard in Worcestershire
0:04:53 > 0:04:56and the guy said it was Victorian, so I took a punt on it,
0:04:56 > 0:04:57because I thought it was older.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00- It had been re-used in a 19th-century wall.- Yes. - And turned around.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02That's why he thought it was Victorian?
0:05:02 > 0:05:04I said, "Maybe that's why it's NOT Victorian".
0:05:04 > 0:05:06Well, I think you're absolutely right.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08I don't think it is Victorian
0:05:08 > 0:05:11and obviously they did use, or re-use,
0:05:11 > 0:05:15sensible pieces of stone like this for their work.
0:05:15 > 0:05:19And again, it's just that spirit, and the ear's in the wrong place
0:05:19 > 0:05:22and the hair, and it's kind of that grotesqueness that I liked.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24I like you using the word spirit
0:05:24 > 0:05:26because these all have spirit, don't they?
0:05:26 > 0:05:30- Yes.- There is something in them that actually comes through.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34- This lion, I would put at about 17th or 18th century.- Yeah.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36I think about the people that carved them.
0:05:36 > 0:05:41Well, I think about them too because they would have ended up very high on buildings, wouldn't they?
0:05:41 > 0:05:44And you would look up at them, if you could actually see them at all.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48- Yes.- And this one here, which is very sharp - you know -
0:05:48 > 0:05:51I can see why he thought it might have been Victorian.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53- Yeah.- But I would have thought it was earlier.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56I think the thing about this whole collection is it has spirit.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58How much did you pay?
0:05:58 > 0:06:00Um, moving round...
0:06:00 > 0:06:03- I paid 500 for that.- Right.
0:06:03 > 0:06:07- I paid 200 for this, delivered. I think this was about 400.- Yes.
0:06:07 > 0:06:08I think this was more because
0:06:08 > 0:06:11I'd had a little bit to drink and it was in an auction,
0:06:11 > 0:06:14and I paid 1,500 for that but I just thought it was sweet.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17Well, I have to say, you've done incredibly well.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20I think the prices are really neither here nor there,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23as far as these pieces were works of art.
0:06:23 > 0:06:25Nothing, I think, medieval here,
0:06:25 > 0:06:30but all good sort of 16th, 17th, 18th century here.
0:06:30 > 0:06:35My favourite, of course - the one that is strongest, I suppose -
0:06:35 > 0:06:38the most secular probably, is this one here
0:06:38 > 0:06:42and I would say that that's your - £500, you said -
0:06:42 > 0:06:45let's add a nought and say £5,000.
0:06:45 > 0:06:47- Wow!- I can't see that that...
0:06:47 > 0:06:49I didn't think that, I really didn't.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52I would have been happy with anything around 500, you know?
0:06:52 > 0:06:54- Undoubtedly.- That's wonderful!
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Prices on the others, you know, the prices you paid are very little.
0:06:58 > 0:07:02- Except that one.- As you say - except that one possibly.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05- The wine, I assume, was very good? - It was, a good day.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08- Good, excellent. - Thank you very much.- Thanks.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13Now, they say all the nice girls love a sailor.
0:07:13 > 0:07:15Do you love your sailors?
0:07:16 > 0:07:19That would be giving the game away, wouldn't it, really?
0:07:19 > 0:07:22- I love this one.- What, just that one there? Not his two mates?
0:07:22 > 0:07:23Well, the whole thing.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27I love it too. It is... It's just very, very stylish.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29So is this something you bought?
0:07:29 > 0:07:32No, this actually belongs to my mother,
0:07:32 > 0:07:35and it was given to her when she was in her late teens.
0:07:35 > 0:07:39It was a gift from a family who lived in the same village as she did,
0:07:39 > 0:07:42in Cockthorpe, Norfolk, as they were leaving
0:07:42 > 0:07:45to go to... I think it was South Africa.
0:07:45 > 0:07:49They were going to go and set up as a farm over there.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53- It was a parting gift from them. - So they were sailing off?
0:07:53 > 0:07:55- They were indeed. - And they left their sailors behind.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59- Yes. - It was made in France, in Paris.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02It's by a firm who has a peculiar name,
0:08:02 > 0:08:04so I'll spell it and say it - it's R-O-B-J -
0:08:04 > 0:08:09which was from the man who founded it, Jean Born, in 1908.
0:08:09 > 0:08:11He took the first initials of his name - B-O-R -
0:08:11 > 0:08:12reversed them and added the J.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15So I suppose in French it would be Robj,
0:08:15 > 0:08:19but most collectors call it Rob-J.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23It is marked on the bottom and they were a firm that never made anything
0:08:23 > 0:08:27but they commissioned the very best designers to make pieces.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31Little trinkets and ceramics, little objects de luxe,
0:08:31 > 0:08:35and it was really continuing a tradition of Parisian galleries
0:08:35 > 0:08:37and shops that only sold the very best pieces.
0:08:37 > 0:08:41In the 18th and early 19th century you went to the Palais-Royal
0:08:41 > 0:08:44to buy jewellery and little boxes and things
0:08:44 > 0:08:47and Jean Born continued that tradition.
0:08:47 > 0:08:50He died in 1922 in a car crash
0:08:50 > 0:08:54but his business partner continued the tradition and introduced
0:08:54 > 0:08:58this line of decanters in 1928 and they were very successful.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01And I think you can see why because it just says, late '20s,
0:09:01 > 0:09:04early '30s, it screams Art Deco.
0:09:04 > 0:09:06The hands are sort of square,
0:09:06 > 0:09:10their faces have this slightly diabolic look.
0:09:10 > 0:09:13Even the idea of three sailors back to back - there's a certain,
0:09:13 > 0:09:15there's a joie de vivre about it.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17If we take the hats off,
0:09:17 > 0:09:19there is the bit inside,
0:09:19 > 0:09:21and I suppose also it's well designed
0:09:21 > 0:09:24because each head becomes a pouring part,
0:09:24 > 0:09:27so no matter where you pour it from, it won't dribble.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31I think it's a very smart piece
0:09:31 > 0:09:34and it's something that in, you know,
0:09:34 > 0:09:37in a very smart gallery in Paris
0:09:37 > 0:09:40would sell for a smart price,
0:09:40 > 0:09:42and I think that price would be £2,000.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44Ooh!
0:09:44 > 0:09:46Several more, if it was in euros.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49LAUGHTER Well, I'll pass that on to my mother,
0:09:49 > 0:09:51she'll be delighted to hear about that.
0:09:51 > 0:09:52Well, I think she'll have to fill it
0:09:52 > 0:09:55with a rather expensive bottle of liqueur.
0:09:55 > 0:09:56Thank you.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00Most people would probably look at it and think,
0:10:00 > 0:10:02what an extraordinary looking clock,
0:10:02 > 0:10:05because it doesn't fit that sort of grandfather clock look.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07That's partly why I like it, because it is different.
0:10:07 > 0:10:09So how did it come to you?
0:10:09 > 0:10:14Well, actually my late grandfather, in his later years,
0:10:14 > 0:10:16turned quite eccentric
0:10:16 > 0:10:19and he used to go to the local auctions every week
0:10:19 > 0:10:21and the understanding I have -
0:10:21 > 0:10:24he used to fall asleep on the front of all the sofas and things
0:10:24 > 0:10:28and he used to nod off, and if the auctioneer couldn't sell anything -
0:10:28 > 0:10:31he seemed to know my grandfather - and would strike it down to him.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33My parents used to dread him coming home!
0:10:33 > 0:10:37At one stage in his room he had five grandfather clocks,
0:10:37 > 0:10:41all striking at different hours, but he seemed to love it.
0:10:41 > 0:10:43And so he didn't pay, I understand,
0:10:43 > 0:10:46more than about ten shillings for anything,
0:10:46 > 0:10:50- so in Yorkshire terms, it's ten bob. - Wonderful image of an auction house.
0:10:50 > 0:10:52Yes, and my eccentric grandad.
0:10:52 > 0:10:56This business of taking bids off the wall and that sort of thing.
0:10:56 > 0:10:58In this instance, something wasn't selling
0:10:58 > 0:11:02- and he knew your grandfather would have it.- It was a large farmhouse.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05- There he was, slumbering at the front.- Yes. Exactly. - That's fantastic.
0:11:05 > 0:11:07Would you like to hear where it comes from?
0:11:07 > 0:11:11- Oh, please, there's no markings on it.- I had a look at it earlier
0:11:11 > 0:11:13and I couldn't find any markings on it either
0:11:13 > 0:11:18but I do know that the movement is German.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20- Oh, really?- And the case is almost certainly French.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24- Gosh, well, you do surprise me. - Does it surprise you?- It does.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26It's very typically French
0:11:26 > 0:11:29and it has this lovely organic quality about it.
0:11:29 > 0:11:33Yes, lovely, because it's got a dandelion on the face, which I think is rather nice.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36And everything else is to do with flowers, leaves,
0:11:36 > 0:11:38and it has that lovely organic shape
0:11:38 > 0:11:43that starts at the bottom and works up to the branches at the top.
0:11:43 > 0:11:49- Yes.- And it works, and it's very typical of the 1910-1920 period,
0:11:49 > 0:11:50that Art Nouveau period.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53- So that clock's about 100 years old? - Round about that.- Yes, yes.
0:11:53 > 0:11:57It is just possible that it's got a bit of German blood in it.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00- Gosh!- These grilles here are slightly Germanic.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03If you can imagine the grilles on a radio, on a wireless set.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06- Oh, yes.- Do you know what I mean? It has that feel about it.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09It's possible that this is French-German border
0:12:09 > 0:12:14but I'm almost certain that the case is French and the dial and movement are German.
0:12:14 > 0:12:16It's not everyone's cup of tea.
0:12:16 > 0:12:18At auction it has to be worth
0:12:18 > 0:12:20between £1,000 and £1,500.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24Goodness me, I was thinking somewhere about £600-£800.
0:12:24 > 0:12:27- Well, I think it's £1,000-£1,500. - Gosh, that's fabulous!
0:12:27 > 0:12:31Well, it's not for sale. I love it. It's going back in my dining room.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34Well, you've done a beautiful job of restoration too.
0:12:34 > 0:12:36Oh, very kind, thank you very much.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40Demand for various antiques changes according to vagaries of fashion
0:12:40 > 0:12:43but one of the categories that's really performed well over the years
0:12:43 > 0:12:45have been wine bottles.
0:12:45 > 0:12:50They really have proved to be very popular amongst collectors
0:12:50 > 0:12:54and what they really like is sealed examples.
0:12:54 > 0:12:58So you start with a bottle like that and it's nothing special.
0:12:58 > 0:13:03But when you add THAT to it, that changes the game.
0:13:03 > 0:13:10A sealed example of an early bottle from 1770 is a good thing.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12Have you known it from new?
0:13:12 > 0:13:15No, no. Maybe about ten years!
0:13:15 > 0:13:17And how did it come into yours?
0:13:17 > 0:13:20Well, when I left the Army, I got a job moving furniture
0:13:20 > 0:13:24and we were down in London, moving a lady up to Yorkshire
0:13:24 > 0:13:26and she was going to throw it out.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28I asked her if I could have it, and she said yes, so I took it.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31Bloomin' great! Well, I think that's really nice.
0:13:31 > 0:13:351770. What are we, 240-250 years ago?
0:13:35 > 0:13:38Do you know anything about James Oakes Bury?
0:13:38 > 0:13:40- No.- I do.
0:13:40 > 0:13:41- Do you?- I do.
0:13:41 > 0:13:44- Ooh!- I know something about him
0:13:44 > 0:13:46because I think his name
0:13:46 > 0:13:50was James Oakes and he lived in Bury St Edmunds.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52Not Bury itself?
0:13:52 > 0:13:54Not Bury, Lancashire, but Bury St Edmunds,
0:13:54 > 0:13:57because I've had a little word with somebody
0:13:57 > 0:14:01and I found that he was a wool merchant in Bury St Edmunds,
0:14:01 > 0:14:05a prosperous man, and you can trace him.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07His diaries are published,
0:14:07 > 0:14:10you can actually buy his diaries and follow his life.
0:14:10 > 0:14:14- Good heavens!- And that makes a difference to value.
0:14:14 > 0:14:18- So you start with a bottle like that and it's £100.- Yes.
0:14:18 > 0:14:23You add a seal to it like that, that makes it £700,
0:14:23 > 0:14:28and you add the actual individual who owned this
0:14:28 > 0:14:31and you can add a few more quid to that,
0:14:31 > 0:14:35- which is not bad for something you blagged as a removal man!- Yeah.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37- Pretty good, eh? - Yeah, so what's it worth?
0:14:39 > 0:14:40- £800 and some more.- No!
0:14:40 > 0:14:43- It is.- I was going to say 20 or 30.
0:14:43 > 0:14:46- Hold on a minute! - BOTH LAUGH
0:14:47 > 0:14:52- It belonged to one of my ancestors. - Right.
0:14:52 > 0:14:56- Rear Admiral John Manley, I believe. - Fantastic!
0:14:56 > 0:15:00Who was born, I think, at the beginning of the 1700s
0:15:00 > 0:15:02and died somewhere in the late 1700s
0:15:02 > 0:15:04but I'm not quite sure exactly of the date.
0:15:04 > 0:15:08- OK. And so he could well have used this.- Yes.
0:15:08 > 0:15:12Had it in his pocket, maybe to show people where he'd been,
0:15:12 > 0:15:16the battles he had partaken in. It does show a lot of wear and tear.
0:15:16 > 0:15:20I refer to the date, and it's down there, 1754.
0:15:20 > 0:15:26"A new terrestrial globe by Nath" - that's Nathaniel - "Hill",
0:15:26 > 0:15:27a very well known
0:15:27 > 0:15:31scientific instrument maker. You don't get a better name than that.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35- Right.- 1754. That's before Captain Cook had done his exploratory...
0:15:35 > 0:15:38Yes, we had worked that out from the...
0:15:38 > 0:15:41- Australia is sort of, obviously, the bit there that's missing.- Yes.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44Look at that, Australia is only partly delineated.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47I can just see Van Diemen's Land there.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50And look, New Zealand just gets a little...
0:15:50 > 0:15:52- sort of dot in the middle of the ocean.- That's right.
0:15:52 > 0:15:57And, furthermore, North West America is actually just described as
0:15:57 > 0:16:01"Unknown", so I mean, it's fantastic, isn't it?
0:16:01 > 0:16:02Yeah, absolutely.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06- Your ancestor was sailing the seas, very unknown seas.- Yes.
0:16:06 > 0:16:11This really does still hold its colours and its detail,
0:16:11 > 0:16:14- and even the little clasps, they're all there.- Yes.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17- Let's have a look at the fella who this belonged to.- There he is.
0:16:17 > 0:16:21It's a real treat to put a personality to an object.
0:16:21 > 0:16:24They're so often torn apart and of course...
0:16:24 > 0:16:26This is his ship, yes.
0:16:26 > 0:16:30But this is the same ship -
0:16:30 > 0:16:33- were you aware of that?- No. - No, I didn't know that, no, no.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35- Broadside and sternside.- Oh, no, no.
0:16:35 > 0:16:40So they could show off all the sort of technical detail of the rigging
0:16:40 > 0:16:42and the sort of number of guns.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46This was probably on board that ship for many a decade.
0:16:46 > 0:16:47Right.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51Something completely different, I fear, hiding in this box.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53Those are his buckles, and I know that.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56Wow, that's all I can say, absolutely wow!
0:16:56 > 0:16:59- These are the best shoe buckles I think I've ever seen.- Really?
0:16:59 > 0:17:02I just found them in the bottom of a drawer when I was clearing out.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05- You lucky thing, you lucky thing. - ALL LAUGH
0:17:05 > 0:17:08These are not diamonds, I'm sure you know that...
0:17:08 > 0:17:10No, I don't think... They're paste.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13- They're paste...- Yes, OK. - ..which is English lead glass.
0:17:13 > 0:17:17- Right.- It was easy to cut - easier to cut than diamonds -
0:17:17 > 0:17:23and one of the great manufacturing skills of the time, making these,
0:17:23 > 0:17:26was done, more often than not, by top quality silversmiths.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29The best ones were always set in silver.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33These have got... I think that's the leftovers of the leather polish from your shoes.
0:17:33 > 0:17:36- Right.- These would buff... This is probably solid silver.
0:17:36 > 0:17:39Yes, I haven't ever cleaned them or anything.
0:17:39 > 0:17:40No, they don't need cleaning, really.
0:17:40 > 0:17:44And things like this were made... from the sort of 1660s.
0:17:44 > 0:17:49Pepys wore them. Out of fashion by the 1790s. These are enormous.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52This was the age of dandyism really and the bigger, the better.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54So what a potted history!
0:17:54 > 0:17:57We've got the man, the ship, we've got the globe
0:17:57 > 0:18:01that took him to all the various battles he no doubt partook in.
0:18:01 > 0:18:03- Right.- I've not seen a better pair.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06I think they're worth £1,000 to £1,500.
0:18:06 > 0:18:08- Wow!- In an auction.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10Gosh, OK.
0:18:10 > 0:18:15The globe. That's a really good one.
0:18:16 > 0:18:17If I was putting that in an auction,
0:18:17 > 0:18:21my estimate would be £5,000 to £7,000.
0:18:21 > 0:18:23It's THAT good, condition is...
0:18:25 > 0:18:27Right, thank you.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29THEY LAUGH
0:18:29 > 0:18:32MUSIC: "Rule, Britannia"
0:18:51 > 0:18:53So anyone familiar with that wonderful mug
0:18:53 > 0:18:57with the alphabet across it by Eric Ravilious
0:18:57 > 0:18:59will recognise the style of this print,
0:18:59 > 0:19:02which is of course by Eric Ravilious and it's signed by him -
0:19:02 > 0:19:06both printed and in pencil, bottom right.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08And it's done in the late 1930s
0:19:08 > 0:19:12and it's of Newhaven Harbour in East Sussex, isn't it?
0:19:12 > 0:19:17- Yes.- It's not something you see very often. Why is it yours?
0:19:17 > 0:19:21It belonged to my father-in-law and he would have bought it new.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26When he was a young man, he kind of set up his bachelor pad with all modern furniture...
0:19:26 > 0:19:28Oh, he wanted to be modern?
0:19:28 > 0:19:30Oh, very! We've still got some of the modern furniture.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34And this was one of the things he obviously bought then
0:19:34 > 0:19:36and it's been in the family ever since.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39It's also one of the first things Eric Ravilious did
0:19:39 > 0:19:41in the way of prints, in colour,
0:19:41 > 0:19:45because he'd done woodcuts on a smaller scale and monochrome.
0:19:45 > 0:19:48But this, to me, although it's a very sort of muted palette,
0:19:48 > 0:19:50is an explosion of colour
0:19:50 > 0:19:52and into a much bigger size,
0:19:52 > 0:19:56and of course it's a different medium, really, it's a lithograph.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00- He also called it his homage to Seurat.- Right, I can see why.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02- Yes, you sort of can, can't you? - Yes.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05- It's got that open light about it, hasn't it?- Yes.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08There's a sort of strange stillness about it,
0:20:08 > 0:20:11and even the boats steaming into the harbour
0:20:11 > 0:20:12seem sort of frozen in the water
0:20:12 > 0:20:16and there's no people milling around at all.
0:20:16 > 0:20:18It's extraordinarily still
0:20:18 > 0:20:22and even these clouds sort of hang in the sky, statically.
0:20:22 > 0:20:25And the light in it is very extraordinary as well,
0:20:25 > 0:20:28very strongly lit and highly stylised to suggest that light.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31In this way it's extremely modern.
0:20:31 > 0:20:32Yes, yes.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34But a very individual
0:20:34 > 0:20:38and British take on modernism for the late 1930s.
0:20:38 > 0:20:41Anyway, terrific print, and what's going on here?
0:20:41 > 0:20:44- Cos I notice the signature's... - Well, knowing my father-in-law,
0:20:44 > 0:20:47he would have trimmed it to go into the clip frame he wanted
0:20:47 > 0:20:52but we didn't actually realise until we took it out yesterday that he'd actually left that little bit there.
0:20:52 > 0:20:56- Oh, I see, so he's cut a little bit off and then...- He'd have cut it.
0:20:56 > 0:20:58He wouldn't have known that it was important,
0:20:58 > 0:21:02it was just a print that he bought as a young man that he really liked.
0:21:02 > 0:21:03Do you think it's important?
0:21:03 > 0:21:07Well, when I was looking it up on the internet, as one does...
0:21:07 > 0:21:10- Yes, of course.- ..it kind of said that this one was elusive,
0:21:10 > 0:21:12that was the word they used.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16So I thought, mm, perhaps we better bring it in and have a look.
0:21:16 > 0:21:17Yes, it is a rare print.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19I'll tell you about the missing bit first.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21It's probably worth about 2,000 quid.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23ONLOOKERS GASP AND LAUGH
0:21:23 > 0:21:25- Serious?- Yes.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30Well, I thought the whole picture, if we were lucky, it would be worth 1,000.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33No, it's worth about £4,000 as it is.
0:21:33 > 0:21:37That's fantastic! Well, it's still going up in the clip.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40- No, I think we'll frame it properly when we get home.- Yeah!
0:21:40 > 0:21:41It's still going up on the wall.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43- Well, quite right.- That's wonderful!
0:21:43 > 0:21:46But it is a really, really wonderful image, I just love it.
0:21:46 > 0:21:47Yes, oh, yes.
0:21:49 > 0:21:51So here, we're standing in front of the Yorkshire Museum
0:21:51 > 0:21:54with a treasure from Yorkshire, aren't we?
0:21:54 > 0:21:57And what a joy to see a piece of jewellery gleaming in the sun,
0:21:57 > 0:21:59set with sapphires and coloured glass,
0:21:59 > 0:22:03and in a way, it's an object of national importance.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07Tell me all about it and what your relationship is with it.
0:22:07 > 0:22:12Well, I actually was the lucky person who found the ring,
0:22:12 > 0:22:15metal detecting, and it's been through all the treasure process
0:22:15 > 0:22:17and it's been declared treasure
0:22:17 > 0:22:19and it's recently been acquired by the Yorkshire Museum.
0:22:19 > 0:22:25And of course everybody's itching to know where and how you found it.
0:22:25 > 0:22:26And I'm jealous already.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29Well, it was found in fields near York,
0:22:29 > 0:22:31with the permission of the landowner,
0:22:31 > 0:22:35with a metal detector on a York club outing.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38What did it feel like, when you first saw it? What was it, to you?
0:22:38 > 0:22:42Well, when I first dug down and saw the glint of gold,
0:22:42 > 0:22:43I knew it was special...
0:22:45 > 0:22:46Didn't know how old it was at the time
0:22:46 > 0:22:50and then, obviously, I showed it to the members of the club
0:22:50 > 0:22:52to try and get an opinion
0:22:52 > 0:22:56and we thought medieval but then when the British Museum examined it,
0:22:56 > 0:22:59they've come back with 10th or 11th century.
0:22:59 > 0:23:0210th or 11th century, my goodness me!
0:23:02 > 0:23:05I mean, thousands of years in the ground and untouched,
0:23:05 > 0:23:07and precious stones are untouched by that, gold is untouched by it.
0:23:07 > 0:23:11Glass is touched a little bit, it alters its character a little,
0:23:11 > 0:23:16but glass is a perfectly respectable and ancient...material
0:23:16 > 0:23:17to use in jewellery.
0:23:17 > 0:23:21And I have a feeling that this might be glass simulating garnet work
0:23:21 > 0:23:24and I think that might be a key to the age of it, mightn't it?
0:23:24 > 0:23:27That's what the British Museum said,
0:23:27 > 0:23:29that's why they came up with the later date.
0:23:29 > 0:23:32Garnet was used more in the 6th and 7th century,
0:23:32 > 0:23:36so there's a little bit of mismatch with the dates at the moment.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38We still need to do more research.
0:23:38 > 0:23:41What I'd really love to hope is that this is a Viking ring
0:23:41 > 0:23:44because York is the great Viking centre, isn't it?
0:23:44 > 0:23:46It's the most marvellous connection if one could make that.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50- I think without a shadow of doubt, it's a man's ring.- I think so.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53I'd like to think of that as a Viking warrior using that,
0:23:53 > 0:23:55an emblem of his status -
0:23:55 > 0:23:59that he could afford pure gold, he could afford to have sapphires,
0:23:59 > 0:24:01and the sapphire is critical too, isn't it? Tell me about that one.
0:24:01 > 0:24:04It is, apparently, it's the second oldest sapphire
0:24:04 > 0:24:06that's been found in the country,
0:24:06 > 0:24:09which is quite mind-blowing.
0:24:09 > 0:24:12- The oldest was a Roman one, 5th century.- Yes.
0:24:12 > 0:24:15Yesterday and today is the first time I've seen it in the flesh for two years...
0:24:15 > 0:24:17- And still exciting? - Still exciting, yeah.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20The light is falling on it. You made light fall on it.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23It had been in the darkness for possibly a thousand years.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25It's not yours any more, is it?
0:24:25 > 0:24:27No, it's been acquired by the Yorkshire Museum,
0:24:27 > 0:24:30which I'm very proud to be associated with,
0:24:30 > 0:24:34because it's in such good company with the artefacts already there.
0:24:34 > 0:24:36Yes, exactly. And I suppose everybody wants to know,
0:24:36 > 0:24:39it's a lottery win in an emotional sense,
0:24:39 > 0:24:42but it's a lottery win in another sense in that, of course,
0:24:42 > 0:24:44the museum has bought it from you,
0:24:44 > 0:24:48- and that figure is public, isn't it? - It is, yes, £35,000.
0:24:48 > 0:24:50£35,000 for a dream.
0:24:50 > 0:24:52Basically, the monetary reward
0:24:52 > 0:24:55that the Treasure Valuation Committee put on it
0:24:55 > 0:24:58gets shared between the finder and the landowner.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01So there'll be a happy farmer in Yorkshire now.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05Well, I think a very happy farmer, but content in the concept
0:25:05 > 0:25:09that he's actually sold something of really national importance
0:25:09 > 0:25:11and it's now safe, and that's critical, isn't it?
0:25:11 > 0:25:15It's been marvellous to talk to you about it, thank you very much.
0:25:15 > 0:25:16Thank you very much.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19Well, they say there's nothing new invented under the sun
0:25:19 > 0:25:22but every now and again, a designer comes along
0:25:22 > 0:25:24to have a tweak and improve.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27And we've been sitting for thousands of years but I love chairs
0:25:27 > 0:25:29and I love to see chairs,
0:25:29 > 0:25:33and this is a beautiful chair but tell me, where did it come from?
0:25:33 > 0:25:36Well, we bought a new house about two years ago,
0:25:36 > 0:25:38a 1930s house,
0:25:38 > 0:25:40and it was in with the package.
0:25:40 > 0:25:43So when we went around the house it was in there,
0:25:43 > 0:25:46and then when we moved in, we found it, and it was still in the house.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48Wow, so just one of these left behind.
0:25:48 > 0:25:49- Yeah, two, left behind.- Two?
0:25:49 > 0:25:52So we've two of these. We couldn't bring them both down with us today.
0:25:52 > 0:25:56So what did you think when you saw them? Did you like them?
0:25:56 > 0:25:59Well, we love them, the style of them's absolutely gorgeous
0:25:59 > 0:26:02and the low seats are really, really nice, aren't they?
0:26:02 > 0:26:04They did have a cover over the top,
0:26:04 > 0:26:08so for a while they had pots of paint balanced on while we decorated
0:26:08 > 0:26:12and then once we finished that and took the dust cover off,
0:26:12 > 0:26:14we realised how nice they were.
0:26:14 > 0:26:20So, basically, you've had pots of paint balancing on
0:26:20 > 0:26:23what I'm going to say to you is a British design classic.
0:26:23 > 0:26:27It was designed in 1946 by a gentleman called Eric Lyons.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29Oh, right.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32Eric Lyons was an architect, first and foremost,
0:26:32 > 0:26:34but after the war, he got into product design
0:26:34 > 0:26:38and he actually developed a range of furniture called the Tecta -
0:26:38 > 0:26:42which is this - for the Packet Furniture Company in Great Yarmouth.
0:26:42 > 0:26:46- Right.- Now, this chair actually has the most brilliant name,
0:26:46 > 0:26:49- it's called the "demountable easy chair".- Brilliant!
0:26:49 > 0:26:53I'm sure you found it very easy to demount yourself out of it.
0:26:53 > 0:26:55- Yes, definitely, yes.- Absolutely.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57It is comfort but the thing is
0:26:57 > 0:27:01that it actually sums up everything about product design,
0:27:01 > 0:27:05just after the war. It's bent plywood, this one's covered in oak.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08It's all about the new ideas that they were coming up with,
0:27:08 > 0:27:10that came out of the war effort.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12They were having to think on their feet
0:27:12 > 0:27:16and new products and new ways of manufacturing were developed and this is one of these products.
0:27:16 > 0:27:21I mean, we've got a fantastic label just underneath - there it is -
0:27:21 > 0:27:24the "Tecta", actually there with the "E Kahn & Co",
0:27:24 > 0:27:29who were a subsidiary company that worked with Packet Furniture.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32But, you know, it's a fantastic piece of furniture.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36I have to ask, what do you think of the fabric and all this covering as well?
0:27:36 > 0:27:39Well, we're not a big fan. When we took the sheets off it,
0:27:39 > 0:27:42we were going to get it reupholstered and change the fabric.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45What you've got is the original fabric and not only that,
0:27:45 > 0:27:48the fabric is also designed by somebody really important.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52- Oh, right.- It was actually designed by a lady called Marianne Straub.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55- Right.- Who in the 1940s to 1960s was probably one of the leading
0:27:55 > 0:27:58commercial textile designers of her day.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00You've got a chair that is in many museums...
0:28:00 > 0:28:02is considered an absolute classic,
0:28:02 > 0:28:05and it got left behind in your house.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08And we stood on it to paint the ceiling.
0:28:08 > 0:28:12Well, why not? You've got to use these things for something.
0:28:12 > 0:28:14I'd probably say maybe stop standing on it.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16- Right.- I'd also say don't re-cover it.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18- Yes.- Live with it.
0:28:18 > 0:28:22It's had a life and the life tells a story of what it is, as a chair.
0:28:22 > 0:28:24It's a beautiful shape, it's a beautiful form,
0:28:24 > 0:28:25it's by a great designer.
0:28:25 > 0:28:27You've got two of them
0:28:27 > 0:28:30and if you had to go out and replace them,
0:28:30 > 0:28:32you'd need about £1,000-£1,500 to buy them again.
0:28:32 > 0:28:36- Wow, interesting!- Surprise.
0:28:36 > 0:28:38That's very surprising!
0:28:38 > 0:28:43This was donated to Fairfax House about 15 years ago and it's come with no information whatsoever.
0:28:43 > 0:28:47Now, this is the lovely Fairfax House here in York, fantastic townhouse museum.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50Yes, we have a fantastic furniture collection
0:28:50 > 0:28:54- but this isn't something we specialise in.- OK, how flattering!
0:28:54 > 0:28:57A museum has come to the Roadshow to find out about it.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00- Of course! - What have you found out about it?
0:29:00 > 0:29:04We know it came to England in the 1940s with a family that was escaping persecution during the war,
0:29:04 > 0:29:06a German Jewish family.
0:29:06 > 0:29:10But other than that there's nothing really to give us
0:29:10 > 0:29:13any idea about provenance or where it's come from.
0:29:13 > 0:29:16OK, but being a rather good museum, I know you'll have done...
0:29:16 > 0:29:20you'll have picked up on some of the clues. It says here, "Hubertusburg",
0:29:20 > 0:29:23which is indeed the name of this palace,
0:29:23 > 0:29:26and also here on the date, in Latin,
0:29:26 > 0:29:30the equivalent of 1763.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34You've got a little figure here of Victory,
0:29:34 > 0:29:38or Fame, blowing her trumpet and peace being declared,
0:29:38 > 0:29:43and in fact 1763 was the year in which the Treaty of Paris
0:29:43 > 0:29:45marked the end of the Seven Years' War.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48This was a complicated war and I won't go into the complexity.
0:29:48 > 0:29:52- No.- But part of it was that Prussia was also at war with Austria
0:29:52 > 0:29:56and their part of the Treaty was settled at Hubertusburg,
0:29:56 > 0:29:58at this very palace.
0:29:58 > 0:30:02So this actually commemorates the end of the Seven Years' War,
0:30:02 > 0:30:05as far as the Prussians and the Austrians were concerned.
0:30:05 > 0:30:09And if we look inside... let's see, here we go,
0:30:09 > 0:30:12there is more sort of declaration of peace.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15We've got down here it says, "Germania Pacata".
0:30:15 > 0:30:18I guess that means, more or less, "Germany at peace".
0:30:18 > 0:30:22So everything about this tells us it's peace.
0:30:22 > 0:30:25Hubertusburg was actually built by Augustus I -
0:30:25 > 0:30:28otherwise known as Augustus the Strong -
0:30:28 > 0:30:31the man we constantly refer to when we talk about Meissen porcelain,
0:30:31 > 0:30:34- the very first European porcelain factory.- I see.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37And by the time peace was signed at Hubertusburg, it was his son
0:30:37 > 0:30:40Augustus III who was in charge.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42Now this is the thing that really -
0:30:42 > 0:30:45I think this is where you're going to learn a little bit, I hope.
0:30:45 > 0:30:48Here you have a tantalising little paper label.
0:30:48 > 0:30:52It's a collector's label and it's sadly ripped off here and there.
0:30:52 > 0:30:57But what I can make out here is the German word for...
0:30:57 > 0:31:04Well, a silver cabinet...of the prince and it says "Albrechtsb..."
0:31:04 > 0:31:08Well, Albrechtsburg is where the Meissen factory was
0:31:08 > 0:31:12and, my guess is, possibly where Augustus the Strong
0:31:12 > 0:31:14had his cabinet of curiosities.
0:31:14 > 0:31:17And then you've got a very neatly written number,
0:31:17 > 0:31:19which is a category number.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23So I believe this was in the collection of Augustus III
0:31:23 > 0:31:27and that it went into his collection at the Albrechtsburg,
0:31:27 > 0:31:30back at HQ.
0:31:30 > 0:31:36So the question is, how did it get from there to Fairfax House?
0:31:36 > 0:31:40And the clue you gave is this family that was fleeing from Germany.
0:31:40 > 0:31:42- Yes, yes.- Yeah.- That's remarkable.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45And I do know that some of the porcelains
0:31:45 > 0:31:48were actually de-accessioned - that's the polite word -
0:31:48 > 0:31:50were sold out of the Albrechtsburg,
0:31:50 > 0:31:54I think it was in the late 1890s or the early 20th century.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58It's just possible that this is a perfectly bona fide sale.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00If that hadn't been the case,
0:32:00 > 0:32:04then one would have to think about the possibility of this having been...what's the word?
0:32:04 > 0:32:06Liberated.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08LAUGHTER
0:32:08 > 0:32:09It's a lovely thing.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12And an irony for a piece that went into the Albrechtsburg -
0:32:12 > 0:32:15famous for its Meissen porcelain is, contrary to appearances -
0:32:15 > 0:32:17it's not made of porcelain.
0:32:17 > 0:32:19Is it enamel?
0:32:19 > 0:32:20It's enamel, it's enamelled copper.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23An amazingly important moment in European history
0:32:23 > 0:32:25and so beautifully captured.
0:32:25 > 0:32:27It's a lovely, lovely thing.
0:32:27 > 0:32:29So lucky old Fairfax House, I'd say.
0:32:29 > 0:32:32- Indeed.- And Fairfax House have no intention of knowing its worth.
0:32:32 > 0:32:36None whatsoever but if you happen to tell us, we wouldn't mind!
0:32:36 > 0:32:38You need to know for insurance.
0:32:38 > 0:32:40I guess that if you were selling it on the open market,
0:32:40 > 0:32:43you might get somewhere in the region of £4,000 or £5,000 for it,
0:32:43 > 0:32:46so maybe insure it for a little bit more than that.
0:32:46 > 0:32:48Lovely. That's very helpful, thank you.
0:32:48 > 0:32:51I have watched this
0:32:51 > 0:32:53wending its way through the queue
0:32:53 > 0:32:54for hours and hours and hours.
0:32:54 > 0:32:57And finally it got to my desk
0:32:57 > 0:33:00and I'm so pleased to see it! I mean, you can sort of...
0:33:00 > 0:33:01It's beautiful.
0:33:01 > 0:33:04It does have a certain charm to it.
0:33:04 > 0:33:09- OK, so it's a wooden leg.- Yes. - How did you get it?
0:33:09 > 0:33:13- Because I can see you are not legless.- Yet.- Yet!
0:33:13 > 0:33:18Hopefully soon. It was just... It was a birthday present off somebody.
0:33:18 > 0:33:19Yeah.
0:33:19 > 0:33:21That said they thought I would appreciate it.
0:33:21 > 0:33:24And I was quite shocked cos when I opened the door,
0:33:24 > 0:33:28the person was holding it like a bat and I thought...
0:33:28 > 0:33:31I kind of saw my life flash across my eyes and then I thought,
0:33:31 > 0:33:35actually, no, that's not a bat, it's a wooden leg!
0:33:35 > 0:33:38And actually, yeah, I really do appreciate it, I love it.
0:33:38 > 0:33:40It's a great object, you know.
0:33:40 > 0:33:42It's a rather strange birthday gift
0:33:42 > 0:33:46but, you know, I don't know what happens in York.
0:33:46 > 0:33:47If the leg fits.
0:33:47 > 0:33:49If a leg fits, wear it, I say.
0:33:49 > 0:33:52It is an early one. I would say it's early 19th century,
0:33:52 > 0:33:55so it could even be Napoleonic.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59I know! When I say "Napoleonic"
0:33:59 > 0:34:03I look at you, and you're going "Kerching! Kerching! Kerching!"
0:34:03 > 0:34:09Well, it is a bit of a kerching - I would say it is £500-£700.
0:34:09 > 0:34:13- Really?- No! No way! - Got it, exactly.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16Now you did think that when you came in earlier on today?
0:34:16 > 0:34:20- No! I just thought...- So why did you...?- I hate it, I really hate it.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23I've had to carry it around all day long.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26He won't allow it in our tent, we're tenting.
0:34:26 > 0:34:28We've come from Merseyside in a tent
0:34:28 > 0:34:31and he won't let it in the tent because he's scared of it.
0:34:31 > 0:34:36- I like it a lot more now, I have to say.- How mercenary!
0:34:36 > 0:34:39So you hate it. Why did you bring it? Why did you come along today?
0:34:39 > 0:34:42Well, Lily just mentioned the Antiques Roadshow
0:34:42 > 0:34:45and I've watched it every week, all my life,
0:34:45 > 0:34:50and the fact that like made it to this point and met you -
0:34:50 > 0:34:52because I just, I love you.
0:34:52 > 0:34:56And I feel like you've brought me up, in a way. I really do!
0:34:56 > 0:34:59That's made my day! How fantastic!
0:34:59 > 0:35:05- You've made my day.- It's made ours. £500-£700! Who wants to buy a leg?
0:35:09 > 0:35:12This is a stunning piece of furniture, how long have you had it?
0:35:12 > 0:35:14I inherited it from my mother
0:35:14 > 0:35:18and it's been in my house ever since.
0:35:18 > 0:35:21She inherited it from her father
0:35:21 > 0:35:24and we have a letter at home,
0:35:24 > 0:35:30relating to the transfer from my grandfather back in 1939.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33- It's going down the female line. - Yes, it will go to my daughter.
0:35:33 > 0:35:35So that's a trend you'll continue.
0:35:35 > 0:35:38As long as there are daughters to pass it on to.
0:35:38 > 0:35:41It's beautifully inlaid. Do you know where it's from?
0:35:41 > 0:35:45All we know is that... it is known within the family,
0:35:45 > 0:35:49and in this original letter, as an Italian travelling desk.
0:35:49 > 0:35:53Well, Italian is right. Both pieces of furniture are Italian.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56- It is made of rosewood, as is the chair.- Right.
0:35:56 > 0:36:01Rosewood, ivory inlaid with ebony sort of borders.
0:36:01 > 0:36:06- Yes, yes.- Although these are both 19th century pieces of furniture,
0:36:06 > 0:36:09made around 1890 in Italy, they both relate
0:36:09 > 0:36:13- to pieces of furniture from different centuries.- Ah, OK.
0:36:13 > 0:36:18The desk itself is of a form known as a bureau Mazarin.
0:36:18 > 0:36:20These two pedestals,
0:36:20 > 0:36:24each with three drawers, four feet and then a central X stretcher,
0:36:24 > 0:36:29- is pure bureau Mazarin form. - Right.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32One thing that strongly points to this being 19th century,
0:36:32 > 0:36:35rather than the 17th century,
0:36:35 > 0:36:37is this superstructure here.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40You don't normally get these superstructures on bureaux Mazarins.
0:36:40 > 0:36:44- Right.- But whereas the origins for the desk date back
0:36:44 > 0:36:45to the late 17th century,
0:36:45 > 0:36:48around 1680s when these desks were first made,
0:36:48 > 0:36:50this is sort of different altogether.
0:36:50 > 0:36:56- OK, OK.- The origins for this are 15th century Italy.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00- Right.- And it's known as a Savonarola chair.
0:37:00 > 0:37:02Yes.
0:37:02 > 0:37:04And Savonarola is here in person.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07- Yes.- This central medallion is the man himself.
0:37:07 > 0:37:12- Yes.- He was a 15th century friar, Dominican friar...- OK.
0:37:12 > 0:37:18..based in Florence, and he had a chair like this in San Marco,
0:37:18 > 0:37:22near Florence, so 15th century origins.
0:37:22 > 0:37:26- Yes.- 17th century origins, but both made in the 19th century.
0:37:26 > 0:37:28Right.
0:37:28 > 0:37:32Now, had they been pieces from their original centuries...
0:37:32 > 0:37:36- Yes.- ..they would have been obviously very high in value.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40- Right.- As it stands, if you were to sell a chair
0:37:40 > 0:37:43and a desk like this, now,
0:37:43 > 0:37:47at auction, you would get something in the region of £3,000.
0:37:47 > 0:37:49Thank you very much.
0:37:49 > 0:37:51It's a lovely piece of furniture
0:37:51 > 0:37:54and it is a part of the family and...yeah.
0:37:54 > 0:37:56And is the chair comfortable?
0:37:56 > 0:38:00No, it's not. The chair is used in a similar situation as this.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04We have it in the hall, put coats on it, that sort of thing. It's lovely.
0:38:06 > 0:38:10How much do you know about your panel?
0:38:10 > 0:38:12Well, very little, apart from the fact
0:38:12 > 0:38:15that it has been inherited through my mother
0:38:15 > 0:38:19and it came down through her uncle, who came from quite a large family
0:38:19 > 0:38:21that came originally from Liverpool...
0:38:21 > 0:38:22Right.
0:38:22 > 0:38:27..where they founded a company in dyes, originally aniline dyes,
0:38:27 > 0:38:30and then this moved over to chemical dyes.
0:38:30 > 0:38:33Right, and so that - I think we can say -
0:38:33 > 0:38:37was a very successful business, because of course that created
0:38:37 > 0:38:40all sorts of different possibilities with textiles.
0:38:40 > 0:38:43But what it tells me is that they were successful,
0:38:43 > 0:38:46and therefore probably quite well established,
0:38:46 > 0:38:48and we can even say wealthy family.
0:38:48 > 0:38:52Because something like this would be in the ownership of a family
0:38:52 > 0:38:54that had disposable income.
0:38:54 > 0:38:58In the 19th century terms, this is what I would call
0:38:58 > 0:39:01a Grand Tour souvenir.
0:39:01 > 0:39:05Do you know what the technique is here?
0:39:05 > 0:39:07I have no idea, no, I haven't.
0:39:07 > 0:39:11Well, to all intents and purposes, it's a picture
0:39:11 > 0:39:14but it is incredibly cleverly made.
0:39:14 > 0:39:17It is called pietra dura
0:39:17 > 0:39:19and it's a plaque or panel
0:39:19 > 0:39:23that is composed of irregularly cut
0:39:23 > 0:39:26and highly polished stone -
0:39:26 > 0:39:31marble, semi-precious stone and precious stones, intricately laid -
0:39:31 > 0:39:33almost like a jigsaw puzzle -
0:39:33 > 0:39:36to form this amazing picture.
0:39:36 > 0:39:42And the absolute skill of the creator was that he could see
0:39:42 > 0:39:46the intrinsic beauty in the stone,
0:39:46 > 0:39:51so he used its natural qualities to put it in the right place,
0:39:51 > 0:39:53and you can see this just so clearly
0:39:53 > 0:39:57here in the glass and the neck of the wine bottle.
0:39:57 > 0:40:00I think this is probably a slice of chalcedony
0:40:00 > 0:40:04and that gives it the opaqueness.
0:40:04 > 0:40:07You can see the glass is there.
0:40:07 > 0:40:10Something else that I love is the actual subject matter.
0:40:10 > 0:40:15You've got this lovely figure of a child crouching down
0:40:15 > 0:40:19with what would have been a very new fangled object -
0:40:19 > 0:40:21which is a mouse trap -
0:40:21 > 0:40:24and this lovely cat - sitting there.
0:40:24 > 0:40:29She's almost redundant because the mouse trap will take over her work.
0:40:29 > 0:40:34And all of this is being overseen by this old lady who's spinning.
0:40:34 > 0:40:38So, where do you think it might have been bought from?
0:40:38 > 0:40:42Somewhere in Italy, possibly Rome.
0:40:42 > 0:40:44Florence, I think. It's Florentine.
0:40:44 > 0:40:49Florentine, dating from somewhere around 1890, that sort of thing.
0:40:49 > 0:40:53So they would have been established by then, aniline dyes,
0:40:53 > 0:40:56we're talking about the middle of the 19th century,
0:40:56 > 0:40:59and towards the end of the century they would have made their money.
0:40:59 > 0:41:04- So they were able to afford something like this.- Wonderful.
0:41:04 > 0:41:07I think it's fabulous, really lovely!
0:41:07 > 0:41:09It's so vibrant and colourful.
0:41:09 > 0:41:12- Well, it has a value.- Aha.
0:41:12 > 0:41:16- And I'm going to give you an auction estimate.- Right.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19These sort of things do very well at sale
0:41:19 > 0:41:21and a pre-sale estimate, I think,
0:41:21 > 0:41:25would be somewhere in the region of £4,000-£6,000.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30Yes, it's amazing!
0:41:32 > 0:41:35I couldn't believe you brought me such a huge piece of Whitby jet.
0:41:35 > 0:41:37Where on earth did you find it?
0:41:37 > 0:41:39Well, it was my father's.
0:41:39 > 0:41:40He had it about 40 years.
0:41:40 > 0:41:42In his youth and as a young man,
0:41:42 > 0:41:45he used to go round sale rooms quite a lot
0:41:45 > 0:41:48and he bought an awful lot of rubbish
0:41:48 > 0:41:50but he also bought one or two nice things.
0:41:50 > 0:41:54And then that was handed down to me and we've had it about 40 years.
0:41:54 > 0:41:58Well, it's an amazing, huge piece of jet.
0:41:58 > 0:42:00Yes.
0:42:00 > 0:42:04And, of course, jet is fossilized monkey-puzzle tree.
0:42:04 > 0:42:05It's a little bit like coal.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08It was carved and it was a little industry in Whitby,
0:42:08 > 0:42:13of course made highly popular by Queen Victoria with popular mourning jewellery.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16It's signed "John Speedy, Whitby".
0:42:16 > 0:42:21- Yes.- John Speedy actually won a prize for the best jet carving in 1861.
0:42:21 > 0:42:24- Oh, really? - And that was for a bunch of flowers.
0:42:24 > 0:42:28But this, I think, is every bit as good.
0:42:28 > 0:42:31- It is the top of the tree of jet carving.- Amazing.
0:42:31 > 0:42:34I don't think you could probably find a better piece of jet.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36I've shown it to several colleagues.
0:42:36 > 0:42:38Nobody's seen a piece this big or this good.
0:42:38 > 0:42:42And, as a consequence, it's worth a reasonable amount of money.
0:42:42 > 0:42:43Oh, even more interesting!
0:42:43 > 0:42:47Well, I think you'd be interested to hear that,
0:42:47 > 0:42:50to the right collector, they would pay £2,000 for this.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53Oh, excellent, delighted!
0:42:53 > 0:42:57Well, I'm delighted you've brought it in, thank you so much,
0:42:57 > 0:42:58it's an amazing thing.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01- And how great to be here in York, just down the road.- That's true.
0:43:01 > 0:43:04- A bit of Yorkshire.- Indeed.- Thank you so much.- Thank you very much.
0:43:07 > 0:43:09Now, York and chocolate,
0:43:09 > 0:43:12it's like Norwich and mustard,
0:43:12 > 0:43:16and of course we should be looking at a tin of cocoa
0:43:16 > 0:43:18but it's slightly battered.
0:43:18 > 0:43:23What makes it worthy of sitting on a plinth here?
0:43:23 > 0:43:26- It's travelled a long way. - OK, where from?
0:43:26 > 0:43:28Antarctica. This was in the tent
0:43:28 > 0:43:31with Scott of the Antarctic when he died.
0:43:31 > 0:43:33This was one of a couple of tins of cocoa that were left,
0:43:33 > 0:43:37as part of his Terra Nova Expedition.
0:43:37 > 0:43:40And he took it with him, he ran out of fuel,
0:43:40 > 0:43:44he couldn't melt down any more snow to mix with the cocoa to drink,
0:43:44 > 0:43:46and he and his fellows died.
0:43:46 > 0:43:49And in 1912, eight months after he died,
0:43:49 > 0:43:51an expedition went out to rescue him,
0:43:51 > 0:43:55and found his body, buried his comrades, and rescued this tin
0:43:55 > 0:43:59and his diaries and brought it back and it was given to the company.
0:43:59 > 0:44:01Extraordinary, extraordinary story.
0:44:03 > 0:44:06I mean, let's talk a little bit about Scott.
0:44:06 > 0:44:13This extraordinary hero who was beaten to the South Pole.
0:44:13 > 0:44:17The disappointment that Scott felt in January,
0:44:17 > 0:44:21when he realised that he'd been beaten to the pole.
0:44:21 > 0:44:26He turned round, he set off back towards what he hoped was safety.
0:44:26 > 0:44:2929th March, it was the end.
0:44:29 > 0:44:32I mean, that was the last entry in his diary.
0:44:32 > 0:44:38The last entry read, "For God's sake look after our people".
0:44:38 > 0:44:42An object of huge power. It shared those last moments with Scott.
0:44:44 > 0:44:46And...I don't want to handle it.
0:44:46 > 0:44:49I mean, I know there are white gloves available.
0:44:49 > 0:44:54But I feel actually by putting my hand on this object,
0:44:54 > 0:44:57I will be shaking hands with Scott,
0:44:57 > 0:45:01which is an extraordinary powerful emotion for me, personally.
0:45:01 > 0:45:05It came back. It went to the manufacturers, to Rowntree's,
0:45:05 > 0:45:09who I think sponsored in some way, the trip.
0:45:09 > 0:45:13- Then what happened?- It was kept in our archive for a very long time.
0:45:13 > 0:45:17We know that it was with my predecessor Joe Burr in the 1970s.
0:45:17 > 0:45:20I have a photograph of him holding it.
0:45:20 > 0:45:23Then, probably about 16 years ago, it went missing.
0:45:23 > 0:45:27And then I got the job as archivist quite a few years ago,
0:45:27 > 0:45:31and I decided I really want to find this. I'm going to search for it.
0:45:31 > 0:45:35And one day, when I was collecting something else from another factory,
0:45:35 > 0:45:38I found this anonymous looking tin, in amongst some other tins.
0:45:38 > 0:45:40It was getting quite battered
0:45:40 > 0:45:43and I recognised the very distinctive rust markings
0:45:43 > 0:45:45on the label from that photograph with my other colleague
0:45:45 > 0:45:48and thought, "I think that might be the tin".
0:45:48 > 0:45:52I didn't believe it for a while, so I didn't tell anyone for a few weeks.
0:45:52 > 0:45:54And I eventually said, "I think I've found that tin".
0:45:54 > 0:45:58And my colleagues all said, "Oh, well done".
0:45:58 > 0:46:02So there was your eureka moment, your find, the find of your career.
0:46:04 > 0:46:09I mean, Scott is still regarded by many as the ultimate British hero.
0:46:09 > 0:46:12By some, latterly,
0:46:12 > 0:46:17his actions have been looked at, re-examined.
0:46:17 > 0:46:22Was he culpable for the loss of life of that entire expedition?
0:46:22 > 0:46:23Who knows?
0:46:23 > 0:46:28What I do know is that there is an extraordinary passion
0:46:28 > 0:46:30for anything to do with Scott.
0:46:30 > 0:46:35The Scott Polar Research Institute for instance, in Cambridge,
0:46:35 > 0:46:39has a wonderful museum with lots of Scott memorabilia there.
0:46:39 > 0:46:44It's an object which, in a way, is completely worthless.
0:46:44 > 0:46:49It's a tin of cocoa! Probably not much good to drink.
0:46:51 > 0:46:56But you look at it in another way and it is utterly priceless.
0:46:56 > 0:46:58It's worth a lot to us.
0:46:58 > 0:47:01We know that as far as value goes, it's only worth about £800.
0:47:01 > 0:47:04We've seen another Scott plate that appeared on the Roadshow
0:47:04 > 0:47:08and that was the value but to us it's worth a lot because we,
0:47:08 > 0:47:10as a company and as employees,
0:47:10 > 0:47:16put so much into that expedition and so this is our remembrance of that.
0:47:16 > 0:47:17Exactly, exactly.
0:47:17 > 0:47:21Well, I think whether we say that it's something
0:47:21 > 0:47:24that shouldn't be put a price on...
0:47:24 > 0:47:28All I can say is that I think an insurance figure of £800
0:47:28 > 0:47:33does not compensate you for an object of this power
0:47:33 > 0:47:37and I think that, certainly for an insurance point of view,
0:47:37 > 0:47:39you should be putting more like £5,000 on it.
0:47:39 > 0:47:45So it's...it's something I don't really want to value
0:47:45 > 0:47:49because the idea of it ever being an insurance claim
0:47:49 > 0:47:51fills me with dark, dark dread.
0:47:51 > 0:47:54But it's an object which, as I say,
0:47:54 > 0:47:57sitting here, and if I put my hands round it,
0:47:57 > 0:48:00my hands would be in the same place as Scott of the Antarctic
0:48:00 > 0:48:05and there aren't many objects you can say that about. Thank you.
0:48:07 > 0:48:09A vivid example of how
0:48:09 > 0:48:14the most humble of objects can prove extraordinarily moving.
0:48:14 > 0:48:17Remember this ring - discovered by a metal detectorist -
0:48:17 > 0:48:19that Geoffrey Munn looked at earlier?
0:48:19 > 0:48:24Well, here it is now, in pride of place in the Yorkshire Museum
0:48:24 > 0:48:27and it's just one of hundreds of fascinating objects
0:48:27 > 0:48:29that these days, anyone can see.
0:48:29 > 0:48:31Our thanks to our hosts for making us so welcome.
0:48:31 > 0:48:36From the Antiques Roadshow team and the Yorkshire Museum, bye-bye.