Seaton Delaval 1 Antiques Roadshow

We're just outside Newcastle on the windy northeast coast of England.

We're at a stately home...

"Nothing unusual in that," I hear you say...

but what is different is that local people raised almost

£1 million to stop this place falling into private ownership.

So what is it about this home that made them so keen to save it?

Welcome to the Antiques Roadshow from Seaton Delaval Hall,

home for centuries to the Delaval family.

There's a picture on the cover of the brand-new brochure

of many of the people involved in raising the money

that enabled the National Trust to buy Seaton Delaval Hall.

So why did 100,000 residents speak out

against the Hall being sold to private developers?

Was it because of the lineage

stretching back as far as William the Conqueror?

Was it because their ancestors worked down the family mines

or in the family glassworks?

Or was it the flamboyant lifestyle of previous residents here?

Whatever the reason, one of the most obvious answers must be that,

amidst the suburban sprawl, industrial landscape

and romantic coastal scenery, stands a haven of peace -

Seaton Delaval Hall.

Perhaps that's the most likely explanation as to why

the place is loved so much by the local community.

Designed in the early 1700s by the great Sir John Vanbrugh -

the architect of Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard -

its future was suddenly thrown into doubt by the death in 2007

of its owner, Lord Hastings,

who devoted a lifetime to its rescue and care.

But this isn't the first time that the local people have come to the rescue of the Hall.

At dusk on 3rd January 1822,

sailors out at sea thought the sunset seemed unusually bright.

Seaton Delaval Hall was on fire.

Hundreds of people rushed to the scene and managed to save

some of the building, and some of the family's portraits and possessions.

But, as a result, the Hall wasn't fully occupied by the family

until the 1980s, when the late Lord and Lady Hastings took up residence.

Even today, the Great Hall is preserved as a ruin -

a reminder of its past. As for the future,

well, the role of local people here at Seaton Delaval Hall is unique.

They can use the place for community gatherings and celebrations,

but also, they are crucial to the running of it,

and you can spot them working in the house.

That's Liz, (doing a guided tour.)

Even outside in the gardens,

volunteers like Michael are busy keeping it all looking beautiful.

Just one of the gardening team, making sure the grounds

are in perfect order for this week's Antiques Roadshow.

If my house was to catch fire this evening, that would be

the first thing that I'd grab to remove, take from the house.

I love it. I've had it 50-odd years.

Right. What do you think it is?

Just a naive toy.

I bought that from a gentleman whose family had lived in the same house

forever, and it was a house, little cottage in Shildon

which backed onto the original Darlington-to-Stockton railway

and I can only assume that that's a toy made by a father

for his son as he watched that chugging up and down

outside his back yard.

Well, that story is wonderful, and it could be fantasy,

but, actually, I'm thinking along the same lines.

-Really? Ah.

-Let's look at it briefly.

It's incredibly crude and it's made of re-used components.

This is probably a leg of a chair. That could be a stair banister.

It's old bits and pieces knocked together - as you say -

to please a child,

and it looks like a locomotive of the 1820-1830 period.

I think I should explain the reason why I'm so excited.

We're right at the birth of railways. The Stockton and Darlington -

up the road, in effect - was opened in 1825.

The Liverpool and Manchester -

Stevenson, the great name associated with it -

opening a few years later. It's not quite the Rocket, you know,

but it's looking like it.

It's certainly based on a locomotive of that period.

So, if this is actually recording those very early years

of railway history, it is an extraordinary document.

-Well, I love it.

-You love it.

-You'd save it from your house.

-Yes, I really do.

I'd save it from my house because I am holding what could be

the oldest toy train in the world.

Have you thought of that?

No, I'd never thought of it in that respect, no, not at all.

I mean crude, basic, like something that's been knocked together

by someone who wasn't even a very good carpenter.

I had things like that when I was a child.

-I expect you did, too.

-I certainly did.

But it's got to start somewhere. Now, if I'm right,

if this is the world's earliest toy train, what's it worth?

HE LAUGHS

That... I'd never thought of it in those terms.

It is, quite literally, one of those things that I won't part with.

I'll sell most things, but certainly not that.

-We'll never prove it.

-No, of course not.

It's either worth £20 as a piece of curiosity or it's worth...

£5,000.

You know, it's somewhere between those two, but we'll never prove it.

-No, never will.

-I mean, we both love it.

-I do. May I take it?

You... Sadly, you can take it.

Thank you very, very much. Glad to have shared your enthusiasm.

-And yours.

-Thank you.

Basically they were given to me, and I was very lucky.

I lived in Newport, Monmouthshire - as it then was called -

43 years ago, 1968...

and I was a student and there was another student who was graduating that year,

and he had found these. I think they were about to go in a skip.

I think if they'd gone in the skip, they would have been seriously damaged.

He told me that it was a church that was being destroyed

and so he rescued them. And he couldn't take them with him when he left,

so I took them from him, and I've carried them with me ever since.

Well, when you think about

all the churches that have been demolished

in the last 50, 60 years, it's scary to think

of the sort of things that would just be thrown in a skip.

-Absolutely.

-So, yeah, rescue is the word, isn't it?

-It is.

Well, let me just say that

when it comes to items of a religious nature,

they tend, generally, to be ignored,

-certainly from the 19th century, anyway.

-Yeah.

-And these are, I think it's fair to say, 19th century.

-Yes.

But there's a little bit more to them, I think,

in some respects. I think we've got part of the subject here,

-because they've formed a frame, haven't they?

-Yes.

-I can't help but think that there would have been something central.

-I wish I knew what it was!

Well, I think that'll keep you guessing for the rest of your life.

-Yes.

-But just looking at them stylistically, I can say that,

you know, that they are very much of the early 19th century.

-Oh, right.

-But they're also... They go back further in time

because there's a hint of the Italian Renaissance here.

-Yes, isn't there? They're lovely.

-And they're not late 19th because, you know,

late-19th-century angels tend to have large wings,

-they belong to the Pre-Raphaelite movement.

-Yes.

And these, I have to say, are a little bit earlier.

The good thing is, everybody loves angels.

Have you done any research on these people at all?

I haven't. I briefly looked to see whether I could find out what churches

were destroyed in Newport in 1967-1968,

without any success, I have to say.

OK, so, with something like this, you know, you're left pondering.

Who's going to be interested? It's the sort of thing I expect to find

in an architectural sort of salvage place.

Yes, oh, I'd hate to see them in a salvage place.

-Well, you've moved house with these, have you?

-They've lived in about 10 or 11 different places now.

Oh, my goodness me!

It's very difficult to put a definite value on them,

-because they are, you know, they're only plaster.

-Yes.

And I'm just sort of pulling a figure out of thin air,

but I can't help but think that if I went into an architectural place

wanting to buy these, I think they'd be asking me around about £800.

-Right.

-But, let's face it, you know,

how can you put a price on six angels?

-Absolutely.

-Because most of us are very happy to have one guardian angel in our lives.

-Yes.

-And you've got six.

-I know. Aren't I lucky?

-It's a very handsome oak director's clock, isn't it?

-Yes.

But what I particularly like is this magnificent

engraving down here of this iron bridge.

What do you know about that one?

It was donated to a Mr Bell in commemorating

the building of the bridge over the River Wandswick.

-Does the bridge still exist?

-Yes.

-Train bridge

-or road bridge?

-Train bridge.

-It just looks sensational.

-How local is it, just a few miles?

-About seven miles, perhaps.

Oh, right. Dated 1909, which is obviously

-the completion of the bridge, I imagine.

-Yes.

Now, these big director's clocks

were either made in the UK or in Germany.

They are all roughly this size, they come in oak, mahogany

or even in ebonised wood, but the instant giveaway

that the country of origin is one particular one,

is the fact that...

It is quarter-chiming, you've got your strike/silent,

but it's only two-train.

In other words, normally these big clocks have three trains,

-so going, striking and quarter-chiming.

-Right.

And I'd expect to see, on an English example, lots of gongs

or even eight bells, but here, we've just got the two trains.

So, let's just hear what sort of sound it's going to make

on the quarters. Just running it past the three-quarter.

CLOCK CHIMES

So, a nice, mellow quarter-strike really, isn't it?

Let's have a look at the movement.

There we go, a typical small-size German movement,

and even signed here.

Do you see that factory stamp down at the bottom?

-Oh, yes.

-The "W&H", that's Winterhalder and Hoffmeier.

Now, they did make big-size movements as well,

but this is the slightly cheaper version.

So... Is it something you've bought recently, or not?

Approximately 15 years ago. I bought it from a friend.

-And what did he charge you?

-He charged me...I think...

-it was around about £400.

-400 quid.

Do you think you were tucked up, or do you think you got a fair deal?

I'll wait and see.

RICHARD LAUGHS

I think your £400 today is going to be

-roughly £1,500 at auction.

-My goodness.

-So, he didn't do you too badly, did he?

-He's forgiven.

Forgiven! Great word, I like it.

Well, it's unusual to see one work by John Gilroy,

but four lovely watercolours by this artist is very unusual.

Is he a friend of the family, or did you buy them, or...?

-He was a friend of my mother's family.

-Right.

And these pictures were all done in her autograph album.

-Oh, I see, in a sort of visitors' book sort of thing, was it, or...?

-Well, they were friends.

-Right.

-I think, quite close friends.

-More than friends.

-Oh, right, was he an admirer?

-I think so.

-An admirer, that's correct, yes.

-And is this beautiful woman here your mother?

-Yes.

Oh, how lovely, so it really is a very sort of intimate portrait.

-Very special.

-Special portrait.

-And Gilroy was also the man responsible for the great Guinness advertisements.

-Indeed.

If I remember, the man with the girder on his shoulder...

"Guinness gives you strength".

-That's it, and also the toucans.

-Yes.

Which was...you know...

still I think used 30 or 40 years later, wasn't it?

-Two can.

-Two can, exactly.

And he did do royal portraits, as well.

-So he did royal portraits and I believe he painted Churchill.

-Yes.

-And Gielgud and...

-All the important people.

-And your mother-in-law, your mother.

-That's correct.

But aren't these drawings absolutely...

-These sort of cartoons here, I love.

-These are First World War cartoons.

First World War, so, he wasn't that old,

-because I think he was born in 1898.

-Correct.

So, towards the end of the First World War - he was in his 20s, so he was a young man.

-Yes, that's true, yes.

-And I love this, "a small scotch". Do you know anything about that?

My father-in-law was Scottish

and when I was 50,

my generous mother-in-law presented me with those.

Oh, how lovely. So was your father-in-law a small man?

Yes, he was.

-Or did he like scotch?

-BOTH: Both!

When he discovered I came from Durham, he said,

"Oh, well, he can no' help that".

I love it. Well, they're unique, they're very intimate to you,

and I think that they're absolutely lovely.

The more I look at them, the more I love them, and the more,

in my mind, the value's going up. Probably not a good thing, actually!

All we have left of sentimental value, rather than money.

Exactly, exactly. Well, do you want to know what they're worth?

-Yes, well of course.

-Yes, please.

I've going to say for the four, because it's going to be a bit easier. I think for the four,

they're worth around sort of £1,500 to £2,000.

-Really?

-They're jolly nice.

A collection of enamel lapel badges

from various local racing venues, and a racing game.

You must be a man of the turf.

No, they belonged to me grandfather

and when he died, in 1953, they were left to me.

So, every time he went to a meeting, he got a lapel badge.

Well, no, he joined the actual racecourse,

and that was what you used to get when you paid your subscription.

OK. Well, I also assume, when he couldn't go racing, he took a game that he could play at home.

I don't know exactly where this came from.

All I know is that he used to own five pubs in Durham

and whether somebody came into the pub and offered it to him or not,

-I don't know.

-Well, I'm very excited about the game,

more than the lapel badges. We might be talking about, I don't know,

£20, £30, £40 each.

But you've got quite a lot of them.

They all add up - a few hundred pounds.

But this is something very special.

This is made by a manufacturer called William Britain,

who manufactured these in London.

Very famous for making lead soldiers

over a period from 1890 all the way up to...

They're still in production today.

William Britain's obviously long gone,

but this is a very early, 1880/1890, gaming toy.

So how it worked was that you would actually wind

a piece of string around here, give it a tug then this inertia wheel

would spin around and that would activate all the horses

to race round the course,

and obviously one would win.

Well, he obviously loved it and it's obviously been well played with.

If you had to buy it today,

you're talking about a figure between £800 and £1,200.

Ooh.

If there is one word guaranteed to quicken the pulse

of any glass expert on the Roadshow, it is Lalique,

and Eric Knowles knows a thing or two about Lalique.

He's given us three vases.

One of them is worth about £400 - that's the basic one.

The better one is worth 800.

And then the best one is worth £2,000.

Now, which is which?

It's certainly not obvious to me, so I'm going to ask our visitors,

see if they've got a clue.

We're fortunate enough to see quite a lot of salt-glazed stone ware

on the Antiques Roadshow,

but with its wonderful border of beautiful flowers,

there's a little bit more to this than meets the eye.

But tell me your connection to it.

Well, it belongs to my mother-in-law, one of a pair,

and the other one has a sunflower on,

and we looked for something interesting to bring along

and then when I looked at the bottom I saw "17-1-82",

I said, "Oh, 1982," and she went,

"Hardly, Maggie! I'm 90, and I remember it as a very little girl."

And that's... We don't know anything about it.

So you don't know where it came from or who made it?

-No, no. She doesn't, either.

-Let me unravel the mystery for you a bit more.

-You pointed out that mark on the bottom.

-Yes, 1982.

"17-1-82."

-Not 1982, but 1882.

-OK.

And above here, we have a very important mark.

-"RW Martin, London and Southall".

-Oh, right.

Which stands for Robert Wallace Martin, one of the Martin Brothers.

-Oh.

-Who at the end of the 19th century were probably

-the most famous studio potters of their time.

-Really?

-Oh, yes.

They became renowned

for the manufacture of fine stone ware

and they're really famous for their wonderful comic grotesque birds,

-which we call the Wally Birds.

-Ah.

But the nice thing about the Martin Brothers is that every single piece is unique.

Every single piece is different. But they had a wonderful understanding

of the potter's art and all the way through from 1873,

when they first started in Fulham, to 1915,

-when they closed in Southall, they produced beautiful pots.

-Oh.

Now, this one does have one little bit of damage.

-Damage, yes.

-Just on the edge of the foot.

But, that said, your lovely Martin Brothers jug

would easily fetch somewhere in the region of £600 to £800.

Oh, really? That's amazing.

So, I think you can go back now and inform your mother-in-law...

You can impart all that information, but continue to love it

-with a little bit more knowledge.

-OK. Thank you very much.

Now, what do you think, in the 18th century, was the greatest fear

and danger to many houses throughout the world, but certainly in Britain?

-Fire.

-Correct. Well done. You're absolutely right.

This house being a prime example.

I mean, gutted in the great fire in the early 19th century,

and the central part of the house clearly never recovered.

And that was the big problem, and so the ingenuity of dozens and dozens

of inventors and patentees went into making candle wick trimmers.

Because, you've got to think,

in the 18th century, candles were not as well refined as the candles

we have today, and the wicks did gutter and splutter

and grew long and incandescent, and if you just cut it off,

what happened to the bit that you cut off?

-It would fall on the floor.

-It would fall on the floor,

and go through a gap in the floorboards,

where there would be a lovely draught underneath

and the house would burn down. And so, as I say,

the ingenuity of all sorts of inventors went into creating

candle snuffers that avoided that.

So, your candle is guttering, it needs trimming, you open that...

just as a pair of scissors.

Originally, this would have automatically risen as you scissored it.

As you closed it, cut the wick, it snaps down, trapping the bit of wick in the box.

Very simple, very ingenious and it must have saved many a house.

This example was made in the second quarter of the 19th century.

They're not quite Georgian - maybe in the 1840s.

They are... Where do you think they were made?

-Italy or...

-No, no, they are English.

-They're English.

-They are, almost without doubt, made in Sheffield.

-Right.

-Possibly Birmingham.

So, they are a perfect example of one of the measures taken

to avoid the great danger of 18th- and early-19th-century houses.

What are they worth?

In that condition...

Interesting, but less than perfect... Probably £100, the lot.

-Right.

-But you can't get away from, I think,

-the fascination of the story.

-Well, my grandfather actually...

Even though he had electricity and gas, he read by candle.

-Right up to his dying day.

-And did he use these very ones?

Yes. That's why they're like that now.

Right, so they've been used and overused for much longer than their normal working life.

I would think so!

We have got three glass vases here.

One's worth 400, another's worth £800,

and then the best one of all is worth £2,000.

Have a little look and tell me which you think is which.

I would think, maybe, that one.

-This one?

-Basic.

-Basic.

-I think.

-No, this one.

-That's the better one.

-The better one.

Right, which means by an inexorable process of deduction...

-Quite.

-..this is the best.

-The best one.

-Why do you think this is the best one?

It's old, it looks old.

-The best is this one?

-Probably, because it's more small and dinky.

It's just prettier and fancier than the other two.

-So, you think this is the best one?

-Yes.

-This is pretty lovely, this one. Are you sure?

-You're trying to persuade me.

-Well...!

-I don't know, I just have a feeling about it.

-A feeling?

-Yes.

What do you think? What do you think, Fiona?

-You tell me.

-Well, now, that would be telling.

-Eric Knowles is going to tell us very shortly.

-OK.

-Are you going to stick with these?

-Yes, I will do.

There's one area of antiques that's seen a meteoric rise

in the last few years, and that's in all things Chinese.

You've brought along a very pretty tea set that's typical of tea sets

made in Canton and Shanghai in the early 20th century.

And if we pick this up, and have a look at the bottom,

it's got the maker's mark - "HC" for Hung Chong.

Fairly prolific maker in the late 19th century

and early 20th century, but decorated in typical prunus leaves,

and has become very sought-after in just the last few years.

But you've also brought along...this.

Now, that's what I call a bowl.

It seems that you have some connection with the Far East here.

Is that where they were acquired?

Yes, Great Uncle lived in Shanghai in the early 20th century

and he worked for ICI, and then he was captured during the war,

and, after the war, he took everything to South Africa with him,

and it's passed down the line,

-so we've got hundreds of Chinese things.

-Hundreds?

-Hundreds.

SHE LAUGHS

Well, that's a good start!

This, actually, isn't Chinese.

-Oh, right.

-It's Japanese.

-Oh, right.

-Japanese is still pretty sought-after,

but not quite had the same rise in popularity that the Chinese market has seen.

But it's a well-known design with all these wonderful lily leaves

round the side, and it looks like it's had a little bit of damage

in places, but it's obviously had quite a history.

Great parties.

HE LAUGHS

But the main thing about silver from this part of the world

is the Chinese themselves are buying huge quantities.

A Chinese tea set like that, a few years ago,

would have made £300.

Now, that is worth 700, 800, maybe 1,000.

Wow.

This bowl - made again in the early part of the 20th century -

is not solid.

It's actually lined and a lining of silver and hollow inside.

If I tap it...

-HOLLOW TAPPING

-Come in!

..you can hear that it is hollow inside.

Still, it's staggeringly good size, isn't it?

Apart from being a little dirty! When cleaned up, it will look terrific,

and I think that, also, is a pretty saleable piece.

-I would comfortably think that would make 4,000.

-Right.

This is a copy of Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets.

As every Harry Potter fan will know,

that's the second in the series -

the one after The Philosopher's Stone -

-but this is a rather special volume to you.

-Yes.

-Signed, on the title page, by members of the cast.

-Yes.

-Can you tell me who's who here?

-There's Rupert Grint, who played Ron,

Emma Watson, who played Hermione,

-Chris Columbus, who was the director of the first two films...

-Right.

-..Daniel Radcliffe...

-Daniel Radcliffe, excellent.

..and a signature from Sean Haggerty.

-Sean Haggerty, who played Oliver Wood.

-Yes.

Okey dokey. How have you come by this volume?

Well, I was an extra on the first two films.

And I gave it to the director, Chris,

and he got it signed by the cast and himself.

-I've got the first book signed, but didn't bring it today.

-You've got The Philosopher's Stone?

-Yes.

-But not a first edition.

-No, not a first edition.

Well, this is not a first edition, either. On the back of the title page, we should have a full set

of numbers there - zero to ten - which we haven't, but I don't think that matters in this instance.

-It's the signatures and the history that it all means to you.

-Yes.

That sounds to be a very sort of glamorous actress lifestyle you were leading as a young lady.

Not really, it just got me out of school for a few weeks!

This is a document that says you were allowed to take time off school and go and be an extra in the films.

-Yes.

-What did you actually do?

-Just got dressed up as a witch

and was around in the background, basically! It wasn't very glamorous.

-It sounds like fun.

-Yes.

-And you got paid for this?

Just £35 a day. Nothing to break the bank.

-But when I was eleven, that was quite a lot.

-A fortune.

-Yes, a fortune.

-Excellent stuff.

Well, you got to see the stars of the show, and I guess this means a great deal to you.

Yes, it was a really good experience.

Yes, well it's a very nice volume. Because it isn't a first edition,

-it doesn't have that sort of high, high value.

-Yes.

-But I, nevertheless, say,

if you ever came to sell it, in the current market, it would be

very well received, and something like £400 to £600 would be

an auction price that I would be quite confident of achieving.

Oh, right, brilliant.

-Thanks very much for coming along today.

-OK. Thank you very much.

When it comes to Lalique, who can forget one particular item

that came Eric Knowles' way a couple of years back at a Roadshow in Scotland?

It's been up in our loft. We were cleaning out our loft

and we came across this, and we were going to bin it.

-We thought it was just a heap of junk.

-Yeah.

So, we were going to bin it and then we thought, no,

we'll hold on to it - we heard the Antiques Roadshow was coming.

And that's how I've held on to it, but I bought it at a car boot.

And it had a plant inside it, a kind of purple plant.

That was the reason we bought it - for the plant -

-because it was quite nice in the bowl.

-Yeah. Do you know who made it?

-No, I don't know anything about it.

-Oh, right, well can I tell you?

-Yes.

OK. If you look very carefully, there's actually a name on it,

and the name is sort of lurking behind here. We'll turn it around.

And that name is Lalique.

And, so...

-Have you heard of Lalique?

-Lalique? No.

Lalique, no? OK. Well, you're on a rapid learning curve today.

-So car boot.

-Yes.

For plant, how much were they asking for the plant?

-I only paid £1! The vase and the plant.

-You paid a pound, right, OK.

-Well, it's worth a mere £25,000.

-Oh, my God.

Looking back at that, it was a heck of a moment, wasn't it?

It was. I waited 28 years for that moment.

28 years on the Antiques Roadshow, that is,

so, yeah, very special, very special indeed.

-Now, we've got more Lalique.

-Yeah.

-You like your Lalique, Eric, I know.

-Yeah.

-So you set us a challenge. There's a basic vase here worth, what, £400, is it?

-£400.

-The better one, £800, and then the best one 2,000.

-Correct.

-Everyone thought something different amongst those I asked.

-Oh, good.

Now, I feel confident that this one is the basic one.

-OK.

-It was an absolute toss-up between these two.

-Yes.

-I think they're both beautiful. I thought,

that's better and this is the best, just because I like it best.

-But I couldn't be any more scientific than that.

-So, you want to know which one's right, do you?

-I do, and I have a horrible feeling I've got it wrong.

-Well, bit of yes and a bit of no.

-Fiona, forgive me, I've taken a bit of a liberty with you.

-Right.

-Because we've gone back a few series.

-Nothing new in that, Eric.

No, but, either way, I hate to say that I've played a little bit of a trick in so far as...

Let me, first of all, tell you that this is the basic one.

This is the better one. Now, when I say "trick", I'm simply mentioning this to you.

To all intents and purposes, anybody would be forgiven for thinking

that was a Lalique vase, because it's actually very well designed,

and the use of the opalescent is fantastic.

-But this is not Lalique.

-Oh.

-This is a firm called Verlys.

There were lots of other people making opalescent glass in France, who were his contemporaries.

Sabino is another name, and Barolac in Czechoslovakia.

But that is quite a special piece, and that is why it's worth £400.

So, even though it looks like Lalique, it could be as beautiful as Lalique,

because it's not actually Lalique...it's basic.

This particular one is just that bit exceptional, because it's a great design.

So often the design is quite... wanting, for better of another word.

But this one... I can tell you now...

This is your better, and this is called "Acacia"

and it's beautifully stained, it's a lovely shape, it's a great design.

Lalique is the master of design. He transforms what is,

to all intents and purposes, a simple, moulded glass vase,

and he turns it into a work of art. It's a rare talent.

Now, from a value point of view, we're looking at around about £800.

So, 400, 800,

but when it comes to 2,000, right next to you.

Because, well... I hate to say -

it is bigger, but there's better definition, it's a great design.

The staining which has all been applied, just lifts those feathers.

-It's called Plumes.

-And is it rarer?

It is rarer. So, it's got the two qualifications -

rarity and size on its side, so I have to say...

I knew there was something going for it!

-Well, you got that one right.

-Well, there you are.

Ten out of ten, at least for this one.

Size and rarity - that's what you're looking for in Lalique.

If you think you might have some Lalique at home, Eric would certainly like to see it.

Why not bring it along to one of our Roadshows?

You can see the dates and our locations on our website:

Unfortunately, I can't tell you a great deal

apart from I inherited it from my mother, but I think

it might be a bit older than that - possibly her mother, grandparents,

something like that, but that would be about the turn of the century.

No information was imparted to you, this is a special locket

-within the family context?

-I'm sorry, nothing at all, no.

So, there's nothing, really, we can add to that.

My mother died some years ago, so I can't go and ask questions.

Well, it follows and conforms with the design of many lockets.

It's never been a locket that opened, though, has it?

No, you would remove that back and perhaps use it to contain...

perhaps hair, or indeed, these days, of course, a photograph.

And it's pink and green enamel on a black background.

-Oh, I thought that was just painted.

-No, no, it's enamelled.

And then to almost augment that, to reinforce that issue,

on the tapered pendant loop, there's another flower, as well.

It's mounted on a modern gold chain, and I'm terribly disappointed

to tell you that the chain is not very exciting at all.

No, I'm not interested in the chain, anyway.

It's the locket that's got a bit of a focus to it and the reason is -

and I've been perhaps a little bit naughty

because I'm showing it the wrong way round,

because this is the back of the locket

and you can see all the delicacy of the design there with that

stylised spray, but when you turn it over,

the front of the locket is surely a tour de force of decoration.

That is a very serious design on the front of that locket.

So, it's a cloisonne effect,

where they fill individual little cells with colour.

And the work is incredibly deft, and when you look at the complexity

of the design here, it's really very, very concentrated.

It's tiny, individual little cells of colour

forming a stylised naturalistic floral study.

Now, the story about it is, in the 19th century in France,

in around about 1860-70, there was a jeweller called Falise.

Now, Falise was one of these very important pioneering goldsmiths

who was active at that time, and he had a son.

So, there were father and son working together,

and they specialised in this kind of incredibly intricate detail of work.

They were inspired by the East -

Japan, India, Persia - and they executed these designs

with incredible complexity of style and panache.

Now, this isn't signed, but I think it shouts Falise.

So, there's the front again. Let's look at the back once more.

Enamelled device on the back, and that's another feature of Falise -

it's not just enough to do the front, let's do the back as well.

The value of Falise is reasonably substantial.

If... Now, I'm going to be a little careful here.

IF, after research, it was established, categorically, that it was Falise,

-then would you feel happy with £1,000 for it?

-Much happier, yes.

-Well, it's not worth £1,000, unfortunately.

-Oh, shame.

-I think it's worth £3,000 to £5,000.

-Good Lord!

Wow! I'd no idea it was that.

Well, it's only a little glass, but, boy, does it tell a big story.

-It certainly does.

-Go on.

They were sold to raise money for the widows of the miners

killed in the Hartley Pit Disaster in 1862.

And where's Hartley Pit?

-That way. Not very far.

-And how far?

-Ooh, five miles at the most.

Five miles. So, the nature of the accident was,

as far as I understand it,

that there was a beam across the deep shaft

and the cage that took the miners down that big, big pit...

The beam broke, and the cage collapsed right to the bottom

-and the elements of the beam jammed the cage down the bottom.

-That's right.

And 199 of them died down below

and five died on the surface, attempting to rescue them.

And it was a disaster that changed the face of mining

in that, from that day forward, two shafts needed to be sunk for a pit,

because if you blocked one, nobody could get out.

So, what's your connection with it?

It actually belongs to my mother-in-law and she was left it

by someone who lived in the village, when they died.

So, when you consider what this glass represents,

to do a valuation on it seems almost a travesty.

But we must, because that's the essence of the Roadshow.

And so if you were to put this glass into auction,

you'd probably get no more than £150 for it.

But what's the message that this glass sends to us?

Well, it's written very clearly on here and it says,

"Accidents will happen".

That's right.

Now, just tell me... We're in Northumberland.

How come you've got this fantastic GERMAN table regulator?

This clock has been handed down through my family for about five generations.

The story goes - can't be 100% sure it's accurate -

that there were three sisters.

One of them wanted to marry a Danish Count, and the family was against it.

But her two sisters helped persuade her parents to allow the marriage

to go ahead, so the Count had three clocks made,

and this is one of them. He gave two to the sisters who had helped persuade the parents,

and one to his wife as a wedding present.

That is a great story.

It's a great story. I can't guarantee the accuracy but it's...

And there's every possibility it could be right -

this would have been an amazingly expensive thing

when it was new, and to commission three, well...

-Yeah. He was a Count.

-Yes, but not all counts are wealthy!

Clearly, this one was.

-So, I have to say that W Bofenschen is not a maker that I know particularly well at all.

-Right.

But looking at the case style,

the bronze and the gilt-bronze,

we'd be looking around about the 1830s-1840s.

-Right.

-And I see from this rectangular-footed base,

-it should have a glass dome. Do you have that?

-I have one.

It's not the original one,

but I do have a glass dome it's normally under, yes.

Right. OK, well, let's just look at the clock.

First of all we've got this wonderful running seconds

around this outer chapter ring,

and then you've got twin subsidiaries there,

for the minutes and the hours.

But the most beautiful thing about it is its visible escapement,

which is a coup perdu spring-detent escapement.

It's absolutely superb.

And then, running down to the pendulum, which I'm briefly going to stop...

Not only is that incredibly heavy, but look at the complexity.

It's bi-metallic, so you've got strips of brass and steel,

and then you've got this wonderful temperature scale here.

And at the moment, it being a rather warm day,

it's going up from average towards the warm.

-On a very cold day, it would be right down here towards the German kalt - cold.

-Yes.

Just set it going again.

That is as lovely a pendulum as I've ever seen.

Does this actually indicate the temperature?

-This pendulum compensates for the change of temperature.

-Ah, right.

What accuracy are you getting out of it at home?

It loses about two or three minutes over a week, between windings.

-Then it needs serious adjustment.

-Right.

You should get this to... I would say to you,

within...a couple of seconds a week, I'd like to see this.

-Is it possible for me to adjust it?

-Yes.

Because if I stop the pendulum, and we just turn around...

-From the back, you can see here, your fine adjustment on the pendulum.

-Oh, right.

By moving this knob,

that effectively is like a rack and pinion,

it's moving the suspension spring up and down

within there, and here you've got a knob.

-That's much more for coarse adjustments.

-Right.

It is absolutely gorgeous. Well, I'll tell you something -

German precision table regulators are very scarce,

very scarce indeed.

As a result, it's actually quite a difficult thing for me to price,

-not that you'll ever sell it, I'm sure.

-No. It's my daughter's.

Your daughter's. What a lucky girl!

I'm going to say to you that, at auction,

I can see this making between...

-20,000 and 25,000.

-Oh, wow!

It is a sensational and highly technical object.

Very, very hard to find another, although you say there are two more!

And I'll tell you something - technically, it's the finest clock I've ever seen on the Roadshow.

Oh, my word! Oh, God!

I'm pleased I brought it along for you, then.

So I am I, absolutely.

We get some colourful characters at the Antiques Roadshow -

we've had our fair share of them today -

but none, may I say, as colourful as this chap.

Sir Francis Delaval.

In the 18th century, resident of Seaton Delaval Hall.

Now, he liked practical jokes, and going to bed as a guest at Delaval Hall

while he was in residence, was a pretty unnerving experience.

For example, guests would be going to bed,

undressing and suddenly find that one of the walls

of the bedroom would be raised by a mechanical hoist,

and suddenly they would be exposed, in their nakedness, to the public view.

And if you think that's bad, even worse...

There was one bedroom with a four-poster bed

and by dint of a mechanical winch on the other side of the wall,

the four-poster bed would be lowered,

complete with occupants, into a tank of cold water

in the middle of the night!

Certainly not somewhere I'd like to have stayed.

The reason we know what he looks like,

is this is one of the paintings saved by the local community

from the fire here at Seaton Delaval Hall.

So here he is, Sir Francis Delaval, prankster extraordinaire.

From the Antiques Roadshow, until next time, bye-bye.