Hartland Abbey 1 Antiques Roadshow

This week, our location has to be our most dramatic setting in this series.

Nestled near to this rugged coastline is our venue for this week's Roadshow,

and it's a bit of a find.

Hartland Abbey in North Devon, about 15 miles from Bude,

is one of those rare stately homes that's still a home.

In almost 1,000 years, it's never been sold so,

not only is it a stunning building, it's also Roadshow heaven, stuffed full of objects with tales to tell.

Welcome to the Antiques Roadshow, from the point where Devon meets Cornwall.

BELL RINGS

Hartland Abbey.

It may not be on the most visited list of Britain's great houses,

but it's one of those places that lures you inside with a promise of tantalising stories.

Today, the Stucleys are guardians to its hundreds of years of family history.

Whether it's the people in the recent photos,

or in the ancient family portraits,

it's clear that every member of the family has made their mark,

particularly this one, Sir George Stucley. He was MP for Barnstaple in the 19th century

and he commissioned an ambitious Gothic makeover of the house.

He commissioned George Gilbert Scott, architect of St Pancras Station,

to design this incredible Alhambra passageway.

But, living with an ancestor's taste in interior decoration, can be a mixed blessing.

Sir George modelled this room on the House of Lords.

But, by the 20th century, it was all felt to be a bit gloomy,

so someone decided at some point to put wallpaper on the ceilings and the walls.

It was only when the current owner stripped away the old paper these fascinating murals were discovered,

depicting significant moments in history at which the Stucley family were apparently present,

like the landing of William the Conqueror, for example.

'The magic of somewhere like this is, you never know what might turn up.'

Hm. Portraits of the Poltimores.

That name sounds familiar.

These are some of the ancestors of our very own picture specialist Mark Poltimore,

who's related to the Stucleys of Hartland.

In fact, he used to holiday here as a child,

so it's only fair that he has opening honours on today's show.

Well, how wonderful to be in North Devon and to see a picture

of probably one of the most famous villages in North Devon, Clovelly,

which is clearly depicted here. What's your connection with Clovelly?

My family used to have a long association with the ownership of the village of Clovelly,

and this painting is done by Walter Fane who was my great great grandfather's brother.

So the whole thing is absolutely heaped in family history?

That's right.

Both the village and the artist. Tell me about Walter Fane?

Walter's day job was a soldier.

He was born in 1828, and then he joined the army.

And wherever there was a spot of bother in the Empire, he went out there.

-So he quelled...

-He was in India, I think, wasn't he?

-That's right.

-But did he actually live in Clovelly?

-No. He was born in Lincolnshire.

How come is he painting Clovelly? Was he on holiday?

Like people of taste and distinction, he came down to North Devon for his holidays and he painted that.

So here we have distinguished soldier, painting the most beautiful oil painting.

That's quite something to undertake.

So he's full of confidence, so much so he's signed it twice,

on the left-hand side, and the right-hand side.

Tell me more about the village here because, has it changed much over the last hundred odd years?

-The roof line of the Red Lion has changed slightly, following renovation eight years ago.

-Right.

But otherwise, it's exactly the same. We have a lime kiln here. Crazy Kate's Cottage.

Crazy Kate's Cottage? Tell me about Crazy Kate.

Kate was the wife of a fisherman.

-And when she saw her husband drowning, it turned her mind, unfortunately.

-I'm not surprised.

It's a memorial to her, but it's known as Crazy Kate's Cottage.

And then these wonderful cliffs, rising 300 or 400 feet above the village.

-So, have you ever had it valued?

-No, I haven't.

-Well, I would say something like this was worth between £7,000 and £10,000.

-Yeah.

I think it's a fantastic view.

Daily news reports, daily newspapers, and now the internet. They've seen off the barometer.

It's not something we find practical any more really around the home.

We know what's going to happen,

probably the day before we experience the weather of the day.

Why on Earth do you have this? Do you still use it?

Well, I do, to a point, I have to say, but it's been very much a family piece, and I love the Art Deco.

And it's just got a lovely form and shape.

It has, I think it's that, that's the real appeal here. Where did you get it?

-Did you buy it because it was a stylish piece?

-No, very much not.

My grandmother, who is from Cornwall actually, gave it to me as a gift.

And her sister owned a jewellery shop in Cornwall.

And I believe it used to be left in the window of the jewellery shop

and possibly used as a marketing tool, to lure people in to see what the weather might be doing.

That's great! But the greatest thing about it, is the style.

-As you rightly say, it just screams Art Deco style.

-Absolutely.

Use of chrome, very geometric lines, and of course this stepped base here.

-All sort of suggestive of skyscraper, speed and the machine. Just a wonderful looker.

-Yes.

-For that reason, I could easily see somebody looking at £350, £400 for it.

-Yeah, wonderful, yeah, super.

-It's a lovely piece, and something I'd like to display in my home.

-Yes, yes, well you're not going to!

-Enjoy it, in that case.

-I will do, thank you.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Mm! Well, there can't be a much better way to start the day

than with a spoonful of cream.

-It's fantastic!

-It's not just cream, it's clotted cream. Devonshire clotted cream.

We've always made it. I was born and bred here.

-You and your family have been involved in making clotted cream for generations?

-Oh, yes.

We were all brought up on cream.

Is this what the clotted cream would have been sold in?

Well, clotted cream, there's various forms of selling the cream. This was for general...

Back in the late 1800s, this was how it would have been sold from the local dairies and nationally.

This pot would have been made in the middle of the 19th century

when they were able to make pots mechanically because, up until this time they were handmade.

So you had a pot that was a regular size, so you knew exactly the amount of cream you were going to get.

-Yes, that's right.

-But I love this one.

It says: "Cream is recommended for children and invalids."

Now this is not quite the sort of information that we would be giving these days, is it?

-Oh, cream's very healthy! Some people say it's fattening, but it's not.

-I couldn't have guessed!

So, tell me about this bowl in the front here?

The other things what I've brought you. The milk is put into bowls, similar to this.

Then it's settled for 12 hours, and gently heated for 20 minutes

until you get the right scud on the top, or scud, or head, whichever you like.

Then it's put into a cool place for another 24 hours to let the head rise.

-Then you dip it off with a skimmer and put it in those.

-So this is a dairy pan?

-Yes.

Not just a dairy pan, this is a dairy pan with connections,

because this is the coronet of a viscount.

-Oh, I didn't know.

-So this pan...

-That's what I want to know, yes, right.

This pan, made by Mintons in the Edwardian period,

was for an aristocratic family, household,

in their own personal dairy.

And, to show that, it has this viscount's coronet on it.

So it is a stately cream pan.

-Very good.

-Oh, I've come up market, then!

And this fantastic pail.

A pottery body, with a brass cover,

made of earthenware, by Malings, which was a very successful pottery in Newcastle.

It dates from about 1910.

They became successful on the back of being able to make mechanical cream jars.

They put the money they made from making those

into producing much more decorative wares.

This one would have been on a counter of a shop,

and the customer would come in with their jug

-and the shopkeeper then would dip out their milk.

-And pour it into the jug.

-Proportionately you see, that one is a pint, that's a half pint. You get various sizes.

-Aren't they wonderful?

-And they hook inside there.

-And so that just stood on the grocer's counter all day to keep it fresh.

-That's right, yes.

-Well, it's a most beautiful object.

I suppose we need to think about values.

This cream pan by Mintons has been elevated from the every day

just by the addition of the coronet.

I would put that somewhere around £500.

The spoon, because they always got broken, is very much a collector's item

and I would say £200 to £300 for the spoon.

But of course, the piece de resistance is this fantastic Maling milk pail.

Beautiful condition.

Where are you ever going to find another one?

I think I would expect to have to pay somewhere in the region of £6,000.

HE CHUCKLES

Ah, that's a very... I didn't think you'd put it so much as that, to be quite honest.

You've made me worth a bit more.

-Not at first sight a particularly interesting object.

-No.

-Just a sort of brown stick.

-Yes.

Do you like your brown stick?

I like it because it was my brother's godmother's,

-so it gives me a memory of her.

-Right. Did she give it to you?

No. When she died, the executor of her will gave me the chance to choose something

-because I'd helped look after her.

-Right.

And that was always on the table in her drawing room,

-so it made me think of her.

-Very good.

We've got here a lotus bud.

Ah, I wondered what it was.

So, which religion is associated with the lotus?

Oh, dear, um.

-Would that be Buddhism?

-It would, it would.

-Oh, gosh.

-The Buddha is nearly always shown on a lotus throne.

-Oh, really?

-It's made of an Oriental rosewood around the middle of the 19th century.

-Yes.

Extraordinary technical skill

to get all these runnels carved at exactly the right distance apart,

not running into one another,

and ending in very fine inscribed lines.

-It's a technical tour de force, this.

-Oh, really?

Although it doesn't look like anything very exciting.

It becomes more exciting when you take the front off,

and inside you've got a grotto with swirling clouds.

You've got inlay in mother of pearl and gold, with a deity. I don't know which one he is.

It's a thoroughly beautiful object.

-Its only drawback is this was originally hinged.

-Yes. You can see it's broken.

-It's broken, yeah.

It would be possible to get it fixed but I don't know that I would bother, really.

-I think this is a small devotional object for one man.

-Oh, really?

And he would probably carry this around Japan when he was on his travels.

Which they all did at that time.

And he would carry this with him, open it up

and he would pray to his god, and then close it up again.

Well, it was a very nice thing to be left, I think.

How much would one have to pay to own an object like that?

-Getting on for £1,000.

-My goodness! Such a little thing, good heavens!

-It's a rarity.

-Oh, it is, oh, thank you.

-It's a rarity, yeah.

You know the game by now. Paul Atterbury has set us a little challenge.

Here are three postcards. One, a basic postcard worth a couple of quid.

One, rather more significant in value, £50.

And then one is worth £100, which is a fantastic price for a postcard.

I've no idea which is which but, have a look, try and work it out.

In the meantime I'll ask our visitors, see if they can help.

-Do you collect postcards?

-No, I don't.

-Right.

Basic, £2. Better, about £50.

-Best about £100.

-Right.

-Which do you think is which?

And the best is there.

This style of thing is very popular. If it's popular, people presumably will pay for it.

It was this.

It's very unusual. I've seen postcards of these before, and that one. But I've never seen that before,

-and I'm getting on a bit!

-Madam!

Basic, better, best.

There can't be many of them around like that.

-Can I swap those two?

-Oh, you want to change your mind? OK, hang on.

Well, lapis lazuli.

It's called lapis lazuli because it means

"the stone of the midnight sky".

I don't think anything could be more poetic than that, could it?

-Was that one of the reasons you were drawn to it?

-My husband and I went to an auction in Exeter,

and it was obviously quite near to my birthday.

We saw the bangle and thought just how beautiful it was. We both like jewellery.

-Jewellery-buying husbands are incredibly rare, so you'd better keep him on, I think.

-I will.

-Almost non-existent, especially ones who get it right.

-Yes.

The shape of it is actually a very ancient shape,

it's a torc-shaped bracelet. Look at this illusion at least of pure gold.

It probably isn't made of pure gold but it wants to give that effect.

It's a shape that derives from the ancient world, from Greek jewellery, and also Celtic jewellery.

It's interesting because the maker of this object was very interested in the past.

In the 19th century, there was a supreme lack of self-confidence about design, and they thought

if they looked to their antecedents,

that somehow everything that they did would be honourable and worthy.

So Greek and Roman jewellery was a source,

Renaissance jewellery a source, Assyrian jewellery was a source.

And the greatest exponent of that style in London perhaps

was a man called Robert Phillips.

He had a tiny premises just south of Trafalgar Square

which was the venue of the contemporary elite, the intellectual elite,

the aristocratic elite, the royal elite. Queen Victoria was a customer.

And this bracelet, presumably made in the 1870s, comes from the finest point of Phillips' career.

-And it's thrilling to see it.

-It's just a very beautiful piece, it's lovely to wear.

It's a stunning combination of colours, isn't it? The stone of the midnight sky, buttery yellow gold.

The surface of this jewel has been enhanced to make it look as if it's pure gold,

because the torc itself in antiquity would simply open by bending it.

You'd simply tear it open and put it on your arm and leave it there.

-But this is actually beautiful engineering as well.

-Superb, yes.

-Hinged and sprung.

We know that it's by Robert Phillips because there's a little signature here

which is a trademark really, to alert me and others to the fact this is a very, very distinguished maker.

He was one of the few jewellers that turned the jewellery world, the goldsmiths' world, round in London.

And took it from what was really quite banal and mass produced, into high art.

-Are you going to put it on your wrist?

-Yes, yes.

I think so, and look at that. And opens and closes.

-It turns you into Helen of Troy, something like that, do you think?

-Not quite sure.

-What does it feel like?

-It just feels so glamorous actually, yes, wonderful.

-And it increases your pulse a bit when you see that?

-Yes, it does, and my husband's, I hope.

Yes, indeed, absolutely.

This is the sort of jewellery that's very widely collected.

It's the focus of a great deal of academic study at the moment.

So, in every possible way, this is a deeply enviable object. As we can see, everyone's looking at it.

With that comes quite high value.

This could fetch £8,000.

In a wildly impulsive moment, in the right kind of sale, it might go as high as £10,000.

-I think it would take a great deal more than £10,000 to get that off your wrist.

-Absolutely.

-It's never going to leave, is it?

-Thank you so much.

-Isn't it marvellous?

Well, it's windy, it's looking a bit stormy, good for surfing?

In certain locations here, there's a couple of sheltered bays you could go to.

-I bet there's a secret surf spot.

-There is, but I'm not telling you, or anybody else.

-You could tell me and then you'd have to kill me.

-Yeah, I would.

So let's talk about surfing in the area. I mean,

presumably Newquay is the centre for UK surfing?

Yes, definitely in England, definitely.

-And have you always been a surfer? Are you a Newquay boy?

-No, definitely not.

I moved from a city to North Devon 18 years ago.

And why didn't you get any new boards?

I did to begin with. Then, a couple of years after starting surfing,

I was out surfing and I'd seen someone riding an old board.

And the way he rode it just looked nicer than new boards, and that was the start of it really.

Let's wind back the clock a bit. Because surfing,

-unlike Australia or California, which had a sort of Hawaiian influence, didn't it?

-Yeah.

-Surfing started here rather differently. It started really with body boards.

-Yeah.

There's pictures from the 1920s of people riding these, obviously prone, lying down.

That continued, still continues.

There's a world championships in Cornwall every year riding these, no wet suits.

-You need to be a hardy, hardy animal to be doing that in the Cornish waters.

-Yes, definitely.

So, we've got represented here, boards from the '60s and the '70s

-and obviously the

-'50s. Pre, yeah. '40s, '50s, these.

The bigger boards tend to be from '63, '64, up to '67

when we had the transitional boards which are these ones. Slighter shorter.

Bigger fins on them. Then they went to the even shorter boards.

It basically just follows the fashion.

I'm just back from Australia and like to think I'm a surfing expert.

Of course you're going to show how little I know!

So, the development of surfing in Newquay really didn't start until the '60s, did it?

No, Doug Wilson and Bill Bailey, the lifeguards,

and they were using like a hollow plywood board, a kind of rudimentary surfing.

And an American turned up with a fibreglass board and sold it to them when he left.

And suddenly the light bulb went on.

Four Australians came with another board,

and they got together and basically started Bilbo.

So it was from there, for 20 years

-they were making 50, 70 boards a week.

-Which is going some.

-Yeah.

Now, as far as prices are concerned,

I know that an absolutely spectacular board

went for a world record price of US 220,000,

-and that was a couple of years ago. I guess you're not paying that money for these?

-No, definitely.

-The American and Hawaiian markets are a different ball game altogether.

-Yeah, yeah.

-So you're paying what, £200, £300, that sort of figure?

-I've paid £3 for this one at a car-boot sale,

and I've paid £400 for one of the bigger boards.

-I have a feeling, after today, you may not be able to get another one for £3, I'm afraid.

-That's right.

-But the others, yes, are in the hundreds.

-Yeah.

Fabulous collection, thanks very much indeed.

-And I'll find out where that secret beach of yours is.

-I'll tell you off camera.

-Off camera, OK.

-It'll just be yours and my secret.

-Yeah.

-Brilliant.

SPOOKY VOICE LAUGHS: Wipe out!

Here you are boss, deal done.

Many collectors...

The wind is moving the ship to the left and right.

HE LAUGHS

I reckon this is a really nice, lovely early piece of glass,

and I'm just dying for you to tell me how you know it.

We found it when we cleared my great aunt's house,

who was living in Gibraltar.

And we found it in an understairs cupboard, locked up,

-wrapped in newspapers.

-Just this piece?

Along with other pieces.

There are three like this and about 15 to 20 other pieces of...

-15 to 20 others?

-Yeah.

Great. So you arrive at the house, the cupboard's locked, then what?

We tried to find a key, so we found an old key box

and in there were all sorts of keys. As we went in,

we opened the door and there was a treasure trove of things,

all sorts of things wrapped up in newspaper,

and as we went further in, we found this collection.

-How big is this staircase?

-Pretty big.

-So a Narnia?

-Yes.

It's quite plain for Spanish glass.

You know, the Spanish are known for fairly ebullient taste.

Over-the-top by English standards.

We like it conservative and kind of Yorkshire pud-like,

and this is a bit too Yorkshire pud to be on show in a grand house,

so what we're looking at, I think,

is a rustic object, so it's glass with a function.

You actually kept stuff in it.

You know, it is wonky-donkey but I do love these handles.

I think they look like, you know, ears...

You know, with these tiny ribbons, the way they come round.

There's not a scratch on it and if you think that's late 17th,

early 18th century, how about that for condition?

Well, I think on a valuation, this one is worth £2,000.

So if we multiply £2,000 by 25,

my maths isn't good, but that's £50,000!

Wow, wow.

There is one thing that I might point out,

is that down where we live we've got some stuff called washing-up liquid.

SHE LAUGHS

And I tell you, this could do with a little lick because...

-The dust is protecting it.

-I reckon you can fill a hoover bag off this.

LAUGHTER

Paul Atterbury, you set us quite a challenge with these postcards,

I have to tell you.

One worth about £2, wasn't it? Another worth 50 and another,

what was to me an astonishingly high figure, £100.

I didn't know you could get postcards worth £100.

I've had a bit of a go... Basic, better, best, I reckon.

We see so many postcards.

The postcard is the sort of e-mail, the Twitter of its time.

A few words, just a message, off it goes.

And people sent them in millions and millions and millions.

Postcards were a big thing from the early 1900s.

They're mostly just souvenirs but the ones I've picked here,

all tell different stories.

Go on, then, put me out of my misery. How does this work?

Well, you may be a great postcard writer,

but you're not a great postcard picker, I have to say.

OK, we'll start at the bottom. Basic.

Right. Why?

This is a very pleasant picture

of some ladies in smart tea gowns on a train

travelling to Liverpool to catch a ship.

Good story, nice colour.

It's early 1900s.

It was issued by a railway company to promote their services

and it exists in huge quantities.

It's part of a series, people collect those series

but it's not a rare card, so that's the basic.

Better...

-is that one.

-I've got it completely wrong!

-I'm afraid you have.

Oh, goodness! OK, so this... When I touch this and I could feel...

I wondered if it might be hand-painted.

You're nearly right. This is what's called...

Printed by a posh wire process which is a French process

of the '20s and '30s which is like hand-applied stencils.

It's hand-printed but not hand-painted.

And a great category for collectors is signed artist cards.

This is by an Italian called Giuseppe Meschini,

and it's a classic Art Deco image.

It's one of a series, he's famous for these.

It's like a fashion shot.

It's wonderful in its printing, its colours.

It is a hand-crafted object but in a large quantity.

-Therefore it's only worth about £50.

-Only. But it's still £50 pounds.

Which brings us to the one

I thought was the most basic and you say it's the best.

-Is that because it is of a specific event?

-Yep.

In 1913 for the first and only time,

motor racing was held on Weymouth Beach.

And that is a photograph of that July event in 1913.

It was taken by a famous local photographer called Seward,

who did hundreds of Weymouth views, most of which went into postcards.

It just so happens that this one,

that may be the only one that survives.

It was a small issue at the time.

The event came and passed very quickly, it's all over in a day.

And there wasn't one in 1914, so the story ends.

And so this photograph of a Benz motor car sitting on the sands

in Weymouth is incredibly rare,

and so that is at least £100.

It looks dull, but it's the story it tells.

I must say, it didn't catch MY eye,

but £100 is an amazing figure for a postcard.

Are there postcards worth more than £100?

Yes. £100 is not a lot.

There are postcards worth many hundreds of pounds.

In America, for example,

early shots, by which I mean 1900 shots, of baseball teams

can fetch 1,000,

-and the world record for a postcard is £31,700...

-Wow!

-..set in 2002.

-And what was that of?

Well, it's 1840.

Someone did a drawing, put a stamp and address on the back and sent it,

and it's right at the beginning of postal history

and it's the first postcard.

I don't collect them but I'll show you something.

Here's a slightly different postcard.

And this is the sort of thing I would collect.

Miss Pullen.

Yeah, it's an address, it's blank. There is a picture.

It's a topographical scene of no particular interest.

Why do I like that? Look at the stamp.

It's sideways.

-That...

-What makes THAT so special?

-There's a whole language of stamps.

He doesn't need to write a message.

What that stamp means sideways is "I'm longing to see you".

It's a love message and there's a whole...

-Isn't that amazing?

-..story of postcards

where what is not said is what is important,

and everybody knew that, so she got that and thought,

"Ah, he loves me."

That's all that matters. He didn't need to say a word.

-You old romantic.

-Ah. It's a postcard. That's my bit.

You learn something every day on this programme.

If you've got postcards at home and you want to find out

a bit more about them, why don't you have a look at our website.

And if you've got some postcards, bring them along to a programme.

We'd love to see them.

It's a jolly good-looking gentleman's watch,

so obviously not yours.

No, it belonged to my husband's grandfather.

-Right.

-Family came from India.

-Which explains the retailer. Walters & Co of Calcutta.

-Yes.

It's a lovely thing.

I really like it. I'm going to take it off its strap.

What do you think is unusual about that?

Well, obviously the little...

-Exactly.

-..cover for the winder.

-Absolutely right.

-Yes.

And we can unscrew that and access the winding crown there.

Some would say a possible start of an early waterproof watch.

I don't know from the dial who made it.

Let's have a look if there's any possibility of finding out inside.

It's a screw back.

The movement is lovely, lovely quality.

Lever escapement,

damascene nickel movement, Swiss throughout,

but not signed by anybody and no factory mark of any sort.

The case, I see there,

is very nicely hallmarked in 14-carat gold.

There were various strange wrist watches

that seemed to start life

in the Indian market.

The West End Watch Co had Swiss products

that were retailed in Calcutta.

Also in waterproof-type cases.

In that instance, they tended to be made by people like Longines

and shipped out to the Indian market.

And this is an item, frankly, that is really quite scarce.

The date - round about 1920.

All the luminous paint is still on there.

When do you last recall it being used?

-Never.

-Never!

-It's been in the drawer.

Oh, what a shame.

So nobody... You haven't seen anybody wear it at all?

No. No, I haven't.

Well, the reason it's in such great condition

is it HAS sat in the drawer for all those years.

I love it!

There's a great interest in early wrist watches,

particularly wrist watches of this sort,

and the condition is all-important.

-It's mint.

-Wow!

Well, I'm sure most wrist watch jewellers would very happily pay

a minimum of £1,500 to £2,000 for it.

Well, that's lovely.

It would've been an expensive thing new.

-Yes, yes.

-I love it.

The garnets on this Reliquary are blazing red,

and they're blazing red because it's a reminder of the fact

that this is a relic of the true cross

and it's a reminder of Christ's blood.

It's an object of veneration. Tell me about it with you?

Well, it's been in the family for quite a long time.

It was given to a member of the family,

I suppose about 100 years ago.

And it was supposed to have been passed down

by Sir Thomas More through that family.

It's a most marvellous relic indeed and although it's not impossible

that the relic within came from Saint Thomas More,

we can actually rule out the fact that it's any earlier

-than the mid-19th century.

-Oh, really.

It is a supreme example of exuberant Neo-Gothic design

perfectly suited to contain a relic of what is presumed to be

a relic of the true cross

and somebody venerated and believed in it,

-and that's what really counts.

-Yes.

So do you feel a little bit about that

when you heard about it or not?

-I didn't really think it was probably quite as old as I'd been told.

-No.

But, you know, it meant a lot to my grandmother,

-who was an ardent Catholic.

-Yes.

When we were children and anything special was happening,

or when we went away, she would make us kneel down in front of this

-and kiss it, to make sure that we were safe.

-Wonderful.

I think all this is very, very fascinating

and the great cliche about relics of the true cross

is that they proliferate to the extent where it's said that

you could build a boat with them as there are so many

and amongst them perhaps, perhaps, perhaps, some are genuine.

It would be lovely to think that.

But the thing about relics is, it's not their authenticity that matters,

it's the history of their veneration which is so deeply fascinating.

There's been an exhibition at the British Museum of relics,

and people have come in profusion to see that.

Enormous number of people have visited it,

and it's interesting that you refer to Saint Thomas More

because he is a late saint,

and the idea that he should own fragments of the true cross

is very, very captivating.

Perhaps somebody believed in that and then commissioned

a silversmith or jeweller in the mid-19th century to contain that.

The craftsmanship of the object itself is very redolent

of John Hardman Powell, who was a manufacturer in Birmingham

who worked for Pugin and for William Burgess

and it is somewhat of a Gothic fantasy

and we're in the most embarrassing position of having to value it.

And I think it's utterly absurd to try to value it as a true relic

because it would be almost heresy to do that,

so we'll just put that aside completely

and try to value it as a piece of 19th-century decorative arts,

and I feel in a way that somebody would be very pleased

to give £2,000, maybe £3,000 for it, if it found the right place.

Gosh, that's very nice, I must say.

But the right place is with you, isn't it?

It is. And then with my children.

Yes. I envy you. I think it's marvellous.

What a stunning little object.

A model of Brighton Pavilion.

I think it's a piece of tourist ware.

When Brighton Pavilion was first built,

nobody had seen anything quite like it, with its turrets...

So in the early 1800s when Prince Regent was visiting Brighton,

this sort of tourist ware was there on sale.

It would date from about the early 1800s. Did you buy it?

Nearly 30 years ago, and I was offered three objects.

This and a similar, little unscrewable thing, a wooden thing,

and a piece of glass, I think, out of a washboard. I don't know why

but they insisted I had to have all three.

They said, "No, that's it, three of those."

-So the price you paid?

-£21 for the three.

-£21, what a bizarre figure.

-It was a lot of money then.

So, what is it?

I didn't know when I bought it, but if you unscrew the top...

-..off it comes and here is a grater which is loose...

-How brilliant!

..so we'll take him off...

and that piece and then... squeaky noise.

-Perfect.

-And there...

-Is the nutmeg.

-..is a piece of nutmeg.

-So, it's a treen spice tower.

-Right.

-The grater sits at the top.

-Indeed.

-The gratings fall down

into compartment number two and the storage compartment

-is compartment number three.

-Yes.

That really is a most fantastic little thing.

This would have had this slightly treacly-coloured glaze over it.

So the foundation is a simple wood, a local wood.

It could have been beech, a soft wood, which would have been turned,

then it would have had some sort of base layer of paint,

then it would have been decorated on the top and then varnished.

Of course, over time, these were used, they were novelties,

they were in the kitchen, but they were decorative ornaments as well,

so the varnish has gone. However, to me, the appeal of it is

-that it just sings old kitchen, life, food...

-Yes.

Nutmeg was a fantastic spice because it could be used

for puddings as well, fruit... It was being used all the time.

Grated on scrambled eggs, whatever you want,

-and kept in the thing so it would keep it fresh.

-Yes.

Your little jewel is worth...

..£3,000.

THEY GASP

No, you can't be right.

Have you any more at home like this?

THEY LAUGH

No, I'm afraid I haven't. I wish I had, I wish I had.

So we've got these two notebooks with quite sort of boyish writing.

-Who is. . ?

-That was my brother, 15-years-old...

-Right.

-About 1944, 45 and I was ten-years-old.

-Right.

-He was writing these notes every day during that period...

-During the war?

..of every plane that he saw going over the house or round about.

-In Reading, this was.

-Right.

-So he was noting it down.

-Fantastic, and even drawing them on occasions.

-Yeah, all on his own.

-English planes going away...

-Yes, the bombing raids.

-Rather than

German planes coming over us, he was noting us going to them.

It's a great bit here. One night, "about 250 to 300 Halifaxes

"and a few Lancasters,

"flying south east." I mean, that's a lot of planes.

Just after the bombing raids. And there's another one in there,

850 Lancasters accompanied by a Liberator

going to bomb Cologne.

But he would have only known that the following day when the reports...

He counted all these Lancasters going out.

-There is one extraordinary entry in here.

-There is.

Friday, December 15th, 1944

and he notes in the afternoon that a Norseman was going east, south east.

Well, a Norseman is an American military transport plane.

-Now, Glen Miller... the famous American...

-Band leader, yeah.

-..musician, flew out of England...

-On that day, on this day here.

As far as we understand, there was only one Norseman

that flew that day, so your big brother is standing in Reading,

-"Oh, look, there's a Norseman." Had no idea of the significance.

-No.

And then the next day, Glen Miller is gone.

-Disappeared in the Channel.

-So that's the very plane.

In 1969, he read in the newspaper that that's the day...

and he put the two together.

How extraordinary is that?

I'm emotional when you think, crumbs, that can't be.

Puts you completely in touch with a well known moment in history.

Yes, it does.

And those are the only two books you've got?

Yeah, only two books, yeah.

So, what are they worth? I suppose they might make...

-the best part of £1,000 at auction.

-Oh, that's...

Yeah, emotional and fascinating and poignant, the whole thing is.

So, we've got a pin cushion, some samples of cloth and scissors.

So we know he's a tailor,

but an extraordinary depiction, riding on a goat.

-What's the family history?

-Well, he belonged to my great grandfather.

I don't know how... where he got it from, but he used to be

a Sandon of Savile Row who were quite famous tailors.

Oh, right. Namesakes of ours but a tailoring firm.

They were a tailoring firm, yes.

And the window of the firm had a black velvet covering to it,

and just this standing in the middle of it.

-Oh, well it's a very appropriate thing to advertise a tailor's ware...

-Absolutely.

..because, of course, this is perhaps one of the most famous tailors of all.

-We have here Count Bruhl's tailor.

-That's right, yes.

Count Bruhl was the wealthiest man in Saxony

and was famous for his lavish banquets.

And the story goes that on one occasion

he wanted a very special set of clothes made for an upcoming banquet,

and he said to his tailor that,

"If you can make them in time and really well, you can have anything you want."

And the clothes were duly delivered and the tailor said,

"Well, yes, I'd like my reward, please."

He asked for an invitation to come to the banquet himself,

to attend the fantastic banquet.

And this was an astonishing thing for a humble tailor to ask of poor Count Bruhl,

and it was unheard of for a tailor to come to the lavish court of Augustus and Bruhl.

So, as a result, the Count says, "Well, I'll see what I can do."

But Count Bruhl owned the Meissen porcelain factory

and he had a word with the modeller there, Kaendler,

and says, "Can you make a model of my tailor on a goat,

"so that then we can have him on our table,

"so he sits at the king's table, at the banquet."

But not really there, just in porcelain.

-So here we have the Meissen porcelain version of Count Bruhl's tailor.

-Right.

Sitting at the banquet in all his finery.

And this is the sort of clothes... I don't know...

Did Sandons of Savile Row make suits like that?

No, they didn't. They made uniforms, army uniforms, I think.

Here we've got the most splendid costume,

all of it decorated in gold, but they're making fun of the poor chap.

They put him on a goat,

which rather sort of suggests his more lowly origins,

but pretending to be a fine gentleman.

These were made in several sizes, normally they're little ones.

-Right.

-But this the jolly big full size. And really quite wonderful.

-I mean we're looking here, an example from the 1840s, that sort of time.

-Right.

When this particular subject was particularly popular in Britain.

You see far more of the Count Bruhl's tailors in England

-than you do in Germany.

-Oh, right.

But they're rarely in as good a shape as this.

-Stuck in the window where it was, I guess it was looked after.

-Yes.

Because I can just see a tip of a horn missing here but...

-That happened during the war.

-Oh.

My mother used to put velvet cushions on top of him,

so that the bombs wouldn't get at it, and one day she broke the horn.

Well, it's actually quite an expensive chap, nowadays.

I suppose a good large size Count Bruhl's tailor...

-£12,000.

-GASPS

SHE GIGGLES All right, that's very nice to know, yes.

-It's lovely to meet him and to meet a namesake.

-Yes, yes.

Of all the things we've seen at the Roadshow,

I never thought I'd see a collection of surf boards,

let alone hear that the most valuable surf board ever

was US220,000, my goodness.

But I suppose we are in the part of Devon famous for its surfing.

Very close to the beach and in this kind of weather,

who wouldn't want to surf?

From the Antiques Roadshow in Hartland Abbey,

until next time, bye-bye.