0:00:06 > 0:00:08Today's Antiques Roadshow returns to the spectacular coast
0:00:08 > 0:00:11of north-west Devon.
0:00:12 > 0:00:14What a view!
0:00:14 > 0:00:17And it's certainly windy.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19Down there, nestling in its own little valley,
0:00:19 > 0:00:21is Hartland Abbey,
0:00:21 > 0:00:24which is today's location for the Roadshow.
0:00:24 > 0:00:25Back there is Hartland Point,
0:00:25 > 0:00:27marking the end of the Bristol Channel
0:00:27 > 0:00:29and the start of the Atlantic.
0:00:29 > 0:00:30That way is Cornwall.
0:00:31 > 0:00:35This is a dramatic coastline with wild weather
0:00:35 > 0:00:37and stories to match.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19This is Hartland Quay, 15 miles along the coast from Bude.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24Once it was a thriving harbour,
0:01:24 > 0:01:27the only way of bringing in supplies to the remote Hartland area.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29But there isn't a harbour here any more.
0:01:29 > 0:01:34Its pier was washed away after the last cargo came here in 1893.
0:01:35 > 0:01:38Strong winds, treacherous seas, vicious rocks,
0:01:38 > 0:01:41mean this coastline is famous for one thing,
0:01:41 > 0:01:43shipwrecks.
0:01:43 > 0:01:44And the first recorded wreck
0:01:44 > 0:01:46was at Hartland in the 14th century,
0:01:46 > 0:01:48and since then, hundreds of ships
0:01:48 > 0:01:52have been lost here, some with terrible casualties.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54It's still dangerous now.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01As long as there have been wrecks, the sea has washed up objects
0:02:01 > 0:02:04on the shore, like this find from the ship, the Green Ranger,
0:02:04 > 0:02:07that was wrecked here in 1962.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11Thankfully, no-one was killed.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14The ship was being towed to be re-fitted
0:02:14 > 0:02:16when a line broke in fog,
0:02:16 > 0:02:19but a heroic lifeboat rescue attempt was thwarted
0:02:19 > 0:02:21because the Green Ranger's seven crew members
0:02:21 > 0:02:23were so convinced of their watery fate,
0:02:23 > 0:02:26they were sitting below decks drowning their sorrows,
0:02:26 > 0:02:27and couldn't be tempted out.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30It wasn't until the next day that the men of Hartland
0:02:30 > 0:02:33finally brought them safely to land.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38And there's a direct link between shipwrecks and Hartland Abbey,
0:02:38 > 0:02:41because the story goes that when it was founded in the 11th century,
0:02:41 > 0:02:45it was as a gesture of thanks for the safe delivery from a shipwreck
0:02:45 > 0:02:47of the father of King Harold.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49Anyway, let's hope the lifeboats are in for a quiet day,
0:02:49 > 0:02:51as hundreds of Devonians have arrived
0:02:51 > 0:02:53for today's Antiques Roadshow.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58It's a beautiful pot.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02I think it's absolutely lovely with these swans swimming
0:03:02 > 0:03:04- on this matt blue ground. - Yes.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06Which is fantastically rare.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08Usually, flying in the sky.
0:03:08 > 0:03:10- Oh, really?- Wonderfully done, and the date of it...
0:03:10 > 0:03:11Oh, here we are!
0:03:11 > 0:03:16The Royal Worcester mark gives you a date of five...ten dots, ten dots.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20- 1901.- Oh, was it? Oh, I thought it was older than that.
0:03:20 > 0:03:21But it's absolutely beautiful
0:03:21 > 0:03:26and very, very rare to get the swans swimming in the water.
0:03:26 > 0:03:28Charlie Baldwin was an incredible painter
0:03:28 > 0:03:31- of swans.- Oh, right.
0:03:31 > 0:03:33And specialised in them.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35And they are now, of course,
0:03:35 > 0:03:37some of the most collectable of Royal Worcester pieces.
0:03:37 > 0:03:39- Oh, really?- So, what's its history?
0:03:39 > 0:03:43Well, it's been in the family, I would think, about a hundred years.
0:03:43 > 0:03:46My mother passed it on to me.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49I did have it valued about 20 years ago,
0:03:49 > 0:03:52and they put 2,500 on it.
0:03:52 > 0:03:55I think you'd better change your insurance.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57Right. Really?
0:03:57 > 0:04:00- I think, if this was flying swans... - Yes.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04..it would be £5,000, £6,000, perhaps.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08Because of the rarity of the swimming swans, £7,000 to £8,000.
0:04:08 > 0:04:13Good grief! Oh, dear.
0:04:13 > 0:04:15I'd better not drop it on the way out, then.
0:04:15 > 0:04:18No. I hope you won't.
0:04:18 > 0:04:19Thanks, Mum.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22God bless her.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28It's very realistic, this snake.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32It moves and feels uncannily
0:04:32 > 0:04:35like the real thing.
0:04:36 > 0:04:38Spookily good. Ssss.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41I'm sure it hissed at me, there.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45- Do you know what it's made of? - No.
0:04:45 > 0:04:50It's made of iron, by an armourer in Japan.
0:04:50 > 0:04:57Japanese metal work was breathtakingly good.
0:04:57 > 0:05:00They would spend two years, three years on one blade,
0:05:00 > 0:05:03hammering it, folding it, heating it,
0:05:03 > 0:05:08until it was fantastically sharp.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10And as a, sort of, sideline,
0:05:10 > 0:05:16they would make amusing metal work objects, like this.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19The articulation is... Ooh, he's alive, I swear it!
0:05:19 > 0:05:22..is all on the inside so you can't see it.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25So would this sort of thing have been exported or...
0:05:25 > 0:05:28This would have been exported.
0:05:28 > 0:05:33He has gold eyes. We've got a tongue in there and a row of teeth.
0:05:34 > 0:05:35He's brilliant.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40The greatest maker of these, in fact,
0:05:40 > 0:05:43I think the man who developed them was called Myochin.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47And I... Because this one's so good
0:05:47 > 0:05:49I had hoped that this was by him.
0:05:52 > 0:05:56But we have a maker's mark, which is Su Shin.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00One would call it school of, school of Myochin.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02What sort of date, is there, on it?
0:06:02 > 0:06:05Well, they're fiendishly difficult to date.
0:06:05 > 0:06:11- But I'd be happy to date this one to mid-19th century.- OK.
0:06:11 > 0:06:12Where did he come from?
0:06:12 > 0:06:16I inherited it from my grandfather,
0:06:16 > 0:06:18and I don't know where he got it from.
0:06:18 > 0:06:20He was a Scot, so it could have come from trading activities
0:06:20 > 0:06:23in the Far East in the beginning of the 20th century.
0:06:23 > 0:06:24- Yes, yes, yes.- Possibly.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28I think he's utterly wonderful. Do you like him? You like it?
0:06:28 > 0:06:32Really scary when I was a child.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34- Really?- I didn't like... He moved...
0:06:34 > 0:06:35Thought it was real, yeah.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37Didn't like it.
0:06:37 > 0:06:39He's actually quite valuable.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42£1,200 to £1,500, possibly a bit more.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44Thank you.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55We've got this fabulous quilt,
0:06:55 > 0:06:56photo of royal memorabilia,
0:06:56 > 0:06:59and a car. What's the story?
0:06:59 > 0:07:01I inherited it from my mother,
0:07:01 > 0:07:02and she inherited from a gentleman,
0:07:02 > 0:07:05who had been in service at Sandringham,
0:07:05 > 0:07:08whose father was head chauffeur for royalty,
0:07:08 > 0:07:13and his wife was lady-in-waiting and she was a seamstress at the time.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17His wife was given this piece of patchwork in recognition
0:07:17 > 0:07:18for her time in service,
0:07:18 > 0:07:21and it was said that it was all ballgown dresses
0:07:21 > 0:07:23of the ladies of the household.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26So, if that's true or not, I'm not 100% sure,
0:07:26 > 0:07:28but it's all silk.
0:07:28 > 0:07:30And when she retired she came to Devon to live
0:07:30 > 0:07:33she didn't complete it because, sadly, she passed away,
0:07:33 > 0:07:34but my mother inherited it
0:07:34 > 0:07:38and we've had it wrapped up in tissue paper in the wardrobe ever since.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41I mean this is stunning silk, beautifully done,
0:07:41 > 0:07:43and you would like to think that these pieces
0:07:43 > 0:07:45might have been dresses worn by the princesses.
0:07:45 > 0:07:47Yes, that's what we were told, yes.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49Well, I mean that's lovely,
0:07:49 > 0:07:51and, you know, I'd love to think that,
0:07:51 > 0:07:54and with its royal associations, you know,
0:07:54 > 0:07:57we've got to give it some value.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59I don't think it's going to be tremendously valuable.
0:07:59 > 0:08:00No, no, no.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03I think this is a piece that's going to be more valuable to you.
0:08:03 > 0:08:04Very much so, it's a family heirloom, really.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07You know, I would say, if it came up for sale,
0:08:07 > 0:08:11with its royal connections you know maybe £100 roughly.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15Yes, yes, I understand, yes, yes.
0:08:15 > 0:08:16The photograph.
0:08:16 > 0:08:20The photograph is what was wonderful
0:08:20 > 0:08:23because Mr Cornell senior, the actual chauffeur,
0:08:23 > 0:08:25was given this on his retirement,
0:08:25 > 0:08:27and it was signed by all the princes of the household,
0:08:27 > 0:08:29of Sandringham, which was quite special.
0:08:29 > 0:08:30So these are all the children
0:08:30 > 0:08:32- of George V.- Yes, they are, yes.
0:08:32 > 0:08:33And this was in 1908.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36We're looking at, you know, the future George VI,
0:08:36 > 0:08:39we're looking at the Duke of Windsor.
0:08:39 > 0:08:42- Yes.- We're looking at the lost prince, John.
0:08:42 > 0:08:43- Yes, John.- And, of course,
0:08:43 > 0:08:45- you have all the signatures here. - Yes.
0:08:45 > 0:08:46Probably, John signed by Mary,
0:08:46 > 0:08:50- because he'd be too young to sign his name.- Yes, could be, could be.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53This is a really momentous time in British royalty.
0:08:53 > 0:08:54Well, yes.
0:08:54 > 0:08:57You know, we see lots of royal memorabilia, obviously.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00I've seen a lot of photographs,
0:09:00 > 0:09:03not of all of them together, actually, that's rare in itself.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07But it's the signatures that make this so special.
0:09:07 > 0:09:11To have all those signatures of those youngsters.
0:09:12 > 0:09:13Pessimistically,
0:09:13 > 0:09:16I think it could sell for £3,000.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18Oh, goodness me, gosh.
0:09:18 > 0:09:19Optimistically, maybe even £5,000.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22Oh, my goodness me! Would never have believed it.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26Better look after it a bit better, didn't I?
0:09:27 > 0:09:30Absolutely superb inkstand.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33- Actually, I'd love to own it myself. - Really?
0:09:33 > 0:09:35But how long have you had it?
0:09:35 > 0:09:37- Well, it actually belongs to my mother-in-law.- Right.
0:09:37 > 0:09:41And she bought it in a jumble sale. She's 91, now.
0:09:41 > 0:09:45It's Alice and she bought it when she was ten.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49Her mother gave her two old pennies to spend in the jumble sale
0:09:49 > 0:09:53and she spent one on this one.
0:09:53 > 0:09:55A very shrewd mother-in-law.
0:09:57 > 0:10:00And she took it to school and used it, the ink well.
0:10:00 > 0:10:02Oh, I love it, I love it.
0:10:02 > 0:10:04Well, there are so many collectors
0:10:04 > 0:10:07who would give their eye teeth for this.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11- Really? - There are three groups.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14There are people who collect owls, and this as I say an absolute joy.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17There are people who collect ink wells, and of course ink
0:10:17 > 0:10:25going in there, and there are people who collect... And what we've
0:10:25 > 0:10:27got here is the maker's mark
0:10:27 > 0:10:31of Sampson Mordan and Company.
0:10:31 > 0:10:35They are the one of the most collectable
0:10:35 > 0:10:37and sought after of all firms.
0:10:37 > 0:10:38Oh, gosh.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40It was made in about 1900.
0:10:40 > 0:10:47So, what is the Sampson Mordan owl ink well worth today?
0:10:47 > 0:10:51- I'm going to stick my neck out. - Right.
0:10:51 > 0:10:57And I think you'd be jolly lucky to acquire this today
0:10:57 > 0:11:03for an investment of one penny for the sum of £500.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06Oh, really? That's fantastic. She'll be so pleased.
0:11:06 > 0:11:08That's wonderful.
0:11:08 > 0:11:10And I think she is, as well.
0:11:10 > 0:11:11Yes, yes, she is.
0:11:15 > 0:11:16You don't look, to me,
0:11:16 > 0:11:19like the typical sort of person who would sew.
0:11:19 > 0:11:21Not really, no.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23So, what's with the thimble?
0:11:23 > 0:11:25The thimble, basically my great aunt gave it to my mother
0:11:25 > 0:11:27and she left it in her sewing box for 25 years
0:11:27 > 0:11:29and she recently discovered it,
0:11:29 > 0:11:30and has given it to me,
0:11:30 > 0:11:32and we want to find out more about it, basically.
0:11:32 > 0:11:33What a kind gift.
0:11:33 > 0:11:36- Yes.- It's made of tortoiseshell and gold.- Yes.
0:11:36 > 0:11:38You can probably see that very clearly here.
0:11:38 > 0:11:40Have you ever wondered or read what's written underneath here?
0:11:40 > 0:11:43- "Piercy's patent". - Piercy's patent.
0:11:43 > 0:11:45Piercy's patent, John Piercy was a goldsmith
0:11:45 > 0:11:47and maker of small fine objects,
0:11:47 > 0:11:50who's registered in Snow Hill, part of Birmingham
0:11:50 > 0:11:52well known for its jewellery trade, in about 1818,
0:11:52 > 0:11:56- So, this probably dates from around then, around 1820.- Wonderful.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59It's quite a scarce thing. Often you find the little gold parts,
0:11:59 > 0:12:01but the tortoiseshell is normally quite badly damaged.
0:12:01 > 0:12:03- Yes.- You've obviously looked after it well.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06It's just been sat in the sewing box, so no-one's handled it,
0:12:06 > 0:12:09touched it, so it's stayed in quite good condition.
0:12:09 > 0:12:10Such a small thing.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13- It's actually got quite a nice value.- Oh, really?
0:12:13 > 0:12:15I can see collectors paying there are many, many thimble
0:12:15 > 0:12:17collectors and I can see collectors paying
0:12:17 > 0:12:21anything from sort of £350, £400 for it.
0:12:21 > 0:12:24Cor, that's pretty good.
0:12:24 > 0:12:25That's quite nice, actually.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28So, do you think any other members of your family might want it back?
0:12:28 > 0:12:32Mum might, might take it back off my hands now.
0:12:34 > 0:12:35"My dear Mrs White,
0:12:35 > 0:12:39"I am writing to let you know how very much I appreciate
0:12:39 > 0:12:43"the magnificent job which you did during your recent visit
0:12:43 > 0:12:47"of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, to Jamaica.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50"Indeed, I must say, "that in spite of all your
0:12:50 > 0:12:52"additional responsibilities, "which were many,
0:12:52 > 0:12:56"you never failed to be your usual charming self."
0:12:56 > 0:13:01And this is from Sir Colin Campbell, who was at Kings House, Jamaica.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04- Yes.- Now, how did you get this letter?
0:13:04 > 0:13:05My Mum used to be
0:13:05 > 0:13:07the housekeeper there.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10And he was the first Governor, Jamaican Governor General,
0:13:10 > 0:13:13and she was the head housekeeper
0:13:13 > 0:13:14and a lot of dignitaries
0:13:14 > 0:13:16passed through visiting.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18And the Queen Mother visited,
0:13:18 > 0:13:22and that was a gift left to her.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24- This brooch here?- Yes.
0:13:24 > 0:13:25- Good grief!- On her visit.
0:13:25 > 0:13:29- How amazing. That's absolutely gorgeous.- Yes.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33It's gold, and then it's set with cultured pearls in the centre,
0:13:33 > 0:13:36and, of course, we've got the initials "ER" at the bottom.
0:13:36 > 0:13:37Yes, lovely.
0:13:37 > 0:13:40And it is from the period that it was given to her, the late '50s,
0:13:40 > 0:13:42early '60s, very typical of that period.
0:13:42 > 0:13:43Early '60s.
0:13:43 > 0:13:47Wonderful, natural outline of the brooch in this leaf,
0:13:47 > 0:13:50textured leaf design which was very popular
0:13:50 > 0:13:51at the time.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54But then, of course, we move to this bangle here,
0:13:54 > 0:13:56and how did she obtain this bangle?
0:13:56 > 0:13:59Another visitor to the King's house
0:13:59 > 0:14:03- was Haile Selassie.- Gosh!
0:14:03 > 0:14:04Because, of course,
0:14:04 > 0:14:07he was associated with the Rastafarian Movement, wasn't he?
0:14:07 > 0:14:09- Yes.- Yes, the Rastafarians revere him as a prophet,
0:14:09 > 0:14:11so that was very important to them.
0:14:11 > 0:14:14I mean, the streets were lined from the airport.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16The crowd was ten thick.
0:14:16 > 0:14:18The Rastafarians saw he was going to bring
0:14:18 > 0:14:20peace and harmony and...
0:14:20 > 0:14:21Yes, to the world.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23..to the world, didn't they?
0:14:23 > 0:14:25And, of course, he was Emperor of Ethiopia.
0:14:25 > 0:14:26Not only that,
0:14:26 > 0:14:29Haile Selassie also has connections with this abbey, here.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31Indeed he does, doesn't he? He came to stay, didn't he?
0:14:31 > 0:14:32That's right.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35He was living in Bath at the time, for a few years,
0:14:35 > 0:14:38and he came here and opened the village fete which
0:14:38 > 0:14:41we actually have a photograph, here,
0:14:41 > 0:14:44of him when he was at Hartland.
0:14:44 > 0:14:47So, here he is, and Sir Dennis Stucley,
0:14:47 > 0:14:50the then owner of Hartland Abbey isn't that amazing?
0:14:50 > 0:14:52- That's something yes. - Yes, exactly,
0:14:52 > 0:14:55but why would he bring a bangle like this to Jamaica,
0:14:55 > 0:14:58I mean, it is a magnificent piece of jewellery,
0:14:58 > 0:15:01gold, beautifully tooled
0:15:01 > 0:15:03in this lovely rope work manner,
0:15:03 > 0:15:06and the black detailing that goes around it.
0:15:06 > 0:15:07Thinking it might be camel hair.
0:15:07 > 0:15:10Well, it is hair, but it's not camel hair,
0:15:10 > 0:15:12it's actually elephant hair.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16They're seen as themselves as having peace and harmony, as well,
0:15:16 > 0:15:20and so to plait the hair, as we have here, within the bangle,
0:15:20 > 0:15:23has great sentimental connotations to it,
0:15:23 > 0:15:25and, of course, we also have the cipher
0:15:25 > 0:15:28on the front here as well.
0:15:28 > 0:15:32So, two beautiful pieces of jewellery for, obviously,
0:15:32 > 0:15:36a lady that he was very, very fond of,
0:15:36 > 0:15:38Selassie and also the Queen Mother.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41Very appreciative of the work that she did,
0:15:41 > 0:15:44and, I can tell she was extremely well loved by both of you, as well.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48- Still is.- And still is, that's wonderful. Naturally, values.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52If they came up for auction with all the history that we have with them,
0:15:52 > 0:15:54the supporting letters, etc.
0:15:54 > 0:15:56the brooch would probably fetch
0:15:56 > 0:15:58somewhere between £600 and £800
0:15:58 > 0:16:01and the bangle, I think, which is absolutely gorgeous...
0:16:01 > 0:16:04- Yes.- ..probably around about £1,500 £2,000.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07Lovely, lovely.
0:16:07 > 0:16:08That's interesting.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12It's so good to see
0:16:12 > 0:16:14a genuine 17th century
0:16:14 > 0:16:17piece of oak furniture
0:16:17 > 0:16:19in this wonderful condition.
0:16:19 > 0:16:21What do you know about it?
0:16:21 > 0:16:25Well, it was something I always admired. I worked for somebody,
0:16:25 > 0:16:27and they became very close friends,
0:16:27 > 0:16:29and she said to me, "When I die, I'd like you to choose
0:16:29 > 0:16:31"piece of furniture"
0:16:31 > 0:16:32and I chose this.
0:16:32 > 0:16:33- Right.- I've always loved it.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35She had it in her, in her home.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38And what do you use it for now? Where is it placed in the house?
0:16:38 > 0:16:40Well, it was quite a job emptying it.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43It's full of Christmas things, actually, and photographs.
0:16:43 > 0:16:44Right, right.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46Well, this piece of furniture was a piece,
0:16:46 > 0:16:48which, let's say, travelled around.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51- That's what we wondered.- Hence the carrying handles on the sides.
0:16:51 > 0:16:54- Yes, yes, it's very heavy. - It is extremely heavy.
0:16:54 > 0:16:57And these handles would take the weight?
0:16:57 > 0:17:01Yes, they would be strapped around and put on the back of a cart
0:17:01 > 0:17:05and when we see these lovely dental mouldings along the top,
0:17:05 > 0:17:07it, to me, just says it's an English piece of furniture.
0:17:07 > 0:17:09- Yes.- It's lovely.
0:17:09 > 0:17:14- Yes.- Very simple, unpretentious, and you've got this raised panel.
0:17:14 > 0:17:15But when it's opened, it's fabulous.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17It's stunning, isn't it? I know.
0:17:17 > 0:17:20- Because all these handles they're original.- Mm, Yeah.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22And, I'm just going to pull this drawer open here.
0:17:22 > 0:17:25Just to say how original this piece is.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28Look at that! That handle's never ever been disturbed.
0:17:28 > 0:17:30It's exactly the same place, yes.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34Yeah, beautiful, and it just sits so comfortably there, doesn't it?
0:17:34 > 0:17:36Mm, mm.
0:17:36 > 0:17:41The date of this, I say, is about 1680-1690.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43It's an early piece of furniture.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46It's a marriage piece, a marriage chest.
0:17:46 > 0:17:47Oh, that's nice to think of that, yes.
0:17:47 > 0:17:50Presents and linens and lace,
0:17:50 > 0:17:53they would have been placed in these drawers.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56The condition is lovely, it's really really good.
0:17:56 > 0:18:01Unfortunately, the only thing which has happened you've got
0:18:01 > 0:18:05the original hinge here but this hinge at the bottom, here,
0:18:05 > 0:18:08that's been replaced, and the same on the other side, I did notice.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10Right, right, right.
0:18:10 > 0:18:13But, apart from that, it's a genuine article.
0:18:14 > 0:18:19The colour is delicious, made of oak.
0:18:19 > 0:18:21The top, as you can see, is in two planks.
0:18:21 > 0:18:25- And see these little delves? - Yeah.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27Because it's never been disturbed,
0:18:27 > 0:18:31they're just slightly raised up, and that's a lovely little feature.
0:18:31 > 0:18:33A lot of antique things have gone down in value,
0:18:33 > 0:18:34but when you get something like this,
0:18:34 > 0:18:38which is honest, straightforward and holding a colour,
0:18:38 > 0:18:43this is what the collectors want, this wonderful patination.
0:18:43 > 0:18:46I would put a value on this between £3,500 £4,500.
0:18:46 > 0:18:48Right, right.
0:18:48 > 0:18:52It's just such an honest collectable piece.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55Now, when I was growing up in the Scottish Borders,
0:18:55 > 0:18:57I had an irrational fear of the dentist,
0:18:57 > 0:19:00and when I saw this, today,
0:19:00 > 0:19:02it came rushing back.
0:19:02 > 0:19:05Tell me about this.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07Well, this is a...
0:19:07 > 0:19:09Georgian tooth key.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11- It's for extracting molar teeth. - Yes.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13It's what all the best...
0:19:13 > 0:19:14My dentist assures me,
0:19:14 > 0:19:17it actually belongs to a very good friend of mine,
0:19:17 > 0:19:21and he assures me that it's what all the very best dentists were using
0:19:21 > 0:19:22- in the mid 1700s.- That's...
0:19:22 > 0:19:24So, you might be interested in this.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27But, equally, you might be interested in how it actually works.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29I just say I know what you're going to do, now, and I'm...
0:19:29 > 0:19:30So, he's been teaching me how to use this,
0:19:30 > 0:19:32and the first thing you need to do
0:19:32 > 0:19:34is to make the patient say "ah".
0:19:34 > 0:19:37- Right, OK, so aaaaah. - Aaaaah, so, aaaaah, OK,
0:19:37 > 0:19:41and then, you sort, of pick it up and you, then you insert it
0:19:41 > 0:19:42very gently, like this,
0:19:42 > 0:19:46and, um, you, sort of, wind it round like this, and then.
0:19:46 > 0:19:48- And is it going to make a noise? - It does make a noise.
0:19:48 > 0:19:52- Oh, I mean...- There. It comes out.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55- And the patient collapses. - And the patient collapses.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57And then you could actually put it in again, quite quickly,
0:19:57 > 0:19:59- and do it all over again. - Do it all over again.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01It's quite easy, really.
0:20:01 > 0:20:03Well, you know something, actually,
0:20:03 > 0:20:04it's Georgian I would think,
0:20:04 > 0:20:06you know 1760-1780,
0:20:06 > 0:20:09and it is what all the up-market dentists would use.
0:20:10 > 0:20:13I'd probably value it at about £60 to £80.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17- Really?- But I'd pay you double not to use it on me.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22It never ceases to amaze me,
0:20:22 > 0:20:23how far people will travel
0:20:23 > 0:20:25to come to the Roadshow.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29We've had people come from New Zealand, from Australia, from China.
0:20:29 > 0:20:30But this is a first,
0:20:30 > 0:20:33because you've interrupted your honeymoon to come to the Roadshow.
0:20:33 > 0:20:34That's correct.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37My goodness, and you got married in the house here, didn't you?
0:20:37 > 0:20:40- That's right, yeah.- We got married on Saturday, yes.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42Just on Saturday.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44And this is you in the Alhambra hallway, here.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46I was filming in there earlier on, actually.
0:20:46 > 0:20:48And were you there? Were you a bridesmaid?
0:20:48 > 0:20:51- Yes, did you have a lovely day? - Yes.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53I bet you looked beautiful in your bridesmaid's dress.
0:20:53 > 0:20:56So, what happened, then? Where did you go on your honeymoon?
0:20:56 > 0:20:58We've been to London for a few days.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01And did you bring anything along today?
0:21:01 > 0:21:03- We did bring some china along, today, yes.- And was it worth it?
0:21:03 > 0:21:06Oh, absolutely, it's been an absolutely wonderful day.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09What I was meaning was, was it worth bringing the china?
0:21:09 > 0:21:11Not really.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19Well, I have to say, this is a fairly impressive cuckoo clock.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23Are you a collector, or have you acquired it fairly recently?
0:21:23 > 0:21:25I've got several clocks but this is the most valuable.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28And how long have you had it for?
0:21:28 > 0:21:29About seven year.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31And where did it come from?
0:21:31 > 0:21:35A house clearance, and all these bits was fall off,
0:21:35 > 0:21:37it was wet and damp, you know.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39So, you have actually
0:21:39 > 0:21:40done the restoration, yourself?
0:21:40 > 0:21:42Yes, my cousin, mainly.
0:21:42 > 0:21:46There will be a cuckoo in here. Does anything else happen?
0:21:46 > 0:21:48- Music box in the bottom. - A music box?
0:21:48 > 0:21:50- Yes. - I like. How many tunes does it play?
0:21:50 > 0:21:52It plays six tunes.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55I'm going to turn it round, it is quite heavy.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59I notice, here,
0:21:59 > 0:22:01we have part of an old trade label
0:22:01 > 0:22:04- from Camerer Kuss and Co.- Yes.
0:22:05 > 0:22:09And I'll take the back away, and again,
0:22:09 > 0:22:12down here below the gong, another trade label from Camerer Kuss.
0:22:12 > 0:22:13Yes.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16And the joy of this cuckoo clock, compared to many,
0:22:16 > 0:22:19this is a spring-driven clock.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21Many of the later cuckoo clocks, as you know, hang on the wall
0:22:21 > 0:22:26- and they have those weights that look like pine cones.- Yes.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30But this is a wooden plated, Fusee cuckoo clock.
0:22:30 > 0:22:35And just looking at the style, with this metal bridge,
0:22:35 > 0:22:37across here, and these
0:22:37 > 0:22:39lovely little coiled springs
0:22:39 > 0:22:41on the edge of the ratchets,
0:22:41 > 0:22:44I'm fairly happy to say to you
0:22:44 > 0:22:46that this is by a very good maker called Johann Baptist Beha.
0:22:46 > 0:22:49- Right. - And we're talking here
0:22:49 > 0:22:53a date of the mid-19th century, so this is a good early clock.
0:22:53 > 0:22:56Let us also just have a look down here
0:22:56 > 0:22:59at the musical box.
0:22:59 > 0:23:03Gosh, that's pretty fine, as well,
0:23:03 > 0:23:04with four bells
0:23:04 > 0:23:08and a magnificent comb.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11So, we'll see if the cuckoo's doing his thing. OK.
0:23:15 > 0:23:19So, he didn't really want to do very much there, did he?
0:23:19 > 0:23:20One o'clock that was.
0:23:20 > 0:23:22Right, OK.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26Right, now, here he comes up two o'clock.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29Oh, we won't go off on two o'clock. I can tell you that.
0:23:29 > 0:23:30Oh, when does he...?
0:23:30 > 0:23:32It only goes off is that because it's not meant to?
0:23:32 > 0:23:34Yeah, I don't, I don't think it's meant to.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36OK, so it only goes off...
0:23:36 > 0:23:37Three o'clock he should go off.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39Three o'clock, six o'clock and nine do you think?
0:23:39 > 0:23:42- No, every hour.- Every hour, but not at one and two.
0:23:42 > 0:23:45- Not at one and two.- OK, that's a new one on me. I love it.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51OK, so there he is, cuckooing.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53And here we have the music.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00What's this one?
0:24:07 > 0:24:10- I don't know what that tune is, to be honest.- He's stopped.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12No, and then so you reckon it will do another tune
0:24:12 > 0:24:14- at four o'clock etc, etc.- Yes.
0:24:14 > 0:24:16But he doesn't want to do it at one and two.
0:24:16 > 0:24:18Just pop it back together.
0:24:22 > 0:24:23So, it's got its trade label,
0:24:23 > 0:24:26- it's by one of the best makers of this sort of clock.- Yes.
0:24:26 > 0:24:28It's a very good size,
0:24:28 > 0:24:30but it is very much in the rough.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33It does need complete restoration.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35So, in its current state,
0:24:35 > 0:24:38I reckon it at auction in the region of £2,000.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40Somewhere about it.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44- Are you happy with that? - Yes.
0:24:44 > 0:24:45When it is restored,
0:24:45 > 0:24:48it would certainly be in the region of £5,000.
0:24:48 > 0:24:49It would?
0:24:49 > 0:24:53But there's a big difference between in the rough and top retail.
0:24:56 > 0:25:01I don't often get pictures on the Roadshow with the glass
0:25:01 > 0:25:02shattered on its front.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05It's been twenty years in my garage, that's why it's broken
0:25:05 > 0:25:08and for twenty years I've been threatening to throw it away.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12About forty years ago I owned a mansion
0:25:12 > 0:25:14the other side of Bideford
0:25:14 > 0:25:18and it had about fifteen bedrooms,
0:25:18 > 0:25:22and all my guests and myself saw an apparition.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26Not every night, now and again, of a woman walking along the corridor
0:25:26 > 0:25:29in the bedrooms, about one o'clock in the morning.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31At the same time, you could always hear piano.
0:25:31 > 0:25:32It was always Chopin being played,
0:25:32 > 0:25:34you could hear this throughout the house.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37They were looking at a ghost?
0:25:37 > 0:25:39Yeah, yes,
0:25:39 > 0:25:40but it was a friendly ghost, I mean,
0:25:40 > 0:25:43you know, the apparition, you couldn't see what it was,
0:25:43 > 0:25:46all you could see was a blue haze.
0:25:46 > 0:25:48And then, one day, the amazing part was,
0:25:48 > 0:25:52one day I was in Bideford, in a little street in Bideford,
0:25:52 > 0:25:54and an old lady came out of a shop and said,
0:25:54 > 0:25:56"Are you master of Hills?"
0:25:56 > 0:25:57That's, do I own Hill House?
0:25:57 > 0:25:59"Yes".
0:25:59 > 0:26:02She took me round the back of the shop and gave me this picture
0:26:02 > 0:26:05and I was shocked because that picture is painted
0:26:05 > 0:26:07in the drawing room of Hill House, my house,
0:26:07 > 0:26:09and that's the apparition we'd seen
0:26:09 > 0:26:12and that's the piano she was playing on.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15So, I then hung the picture back in its place
0:26:15 > 0:26:18and nobody heard this all again for years.
0:26:18 > 0:26:22By returning her to the house, you put the ghost to rest.
0:26:22 > 0:26:26Yeah, and I tried giving this back to the people who own the house now,
0:26:26 > 0:26:28and they don't want it so.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30Do we, therefore, suppose that they're suffering
0:26:30 > 0:26:32as a result of not having this picture?
0:26:32 > 0:26:36I don't know. You can suppose that, but it's all a bit...
0:26:36 > 0:26:37I mean, I must say, I'm, sort of,
0:26:37 > 0:26:39slightly shivering having heard that story.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42She's painted by, or rather,
0:26:42 > 0:26:46drawn in pastel by an artist called Cyril Roberts.
0:26:46 > 0:26:48It's signed and dated in the lower left-hand corner.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52A reasonably prominent pastel painter,
0:26:52 > 0:26:54who worked in Paris.
0:26:54 > 0:26:59- I mean, she is not what you would describe as a modern taste face.- No.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02She's not, you know, one of those
0:27:02 > 0:27:04diaphanous, impressionist figures
0:27:04 > 0:27:07that we attach considerable price tags to, these days,
0:27:07 > 0:27:12but, as for value, well, as a pastel in not great condition
0:27:12 > 0:27:15the surface is not as fresh as it could be,
0:27:15 > 0:27:18the subject isn't ideal but is quite pretty.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21It's worth perhaps £500 or £600.
0:27:22 > 0:27:26So ghost, or no ghost, it's not the sort of thing
0:27:26 > 0:27:30that you can really leave knocking around in your garage,
0:27:30 > 0:27:31- I suggest.- No, no, OK.
0:27:43 > 0:27:46Who is responsible for these little toys?
0:27:46 > 0:27:49- My dad. - Your dad. He collects them, does he?
0:27:49 > 0:27:50Yes.
0:27:50 > 0:27:52If you had to pick one,
0:27:52 > 0:27:55- which one would you pick? - That one.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58- Do you know what that is? - Yes.
0:27:58 > 0:28:01- What is it? - Shishi.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04Very good, excellent. A shishi is exactly what it is.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08It would be a Buddhist lion if you were Chinese,
0:28:08 > 0:28:11but he was actually carved in where?
0:28:11 > 0:28:13- Japan. - She knows her stuff.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17I tell you, twenty years from now, she'll be on the programme.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19She wants to be a pilot, so I don't know about that.
0:28:19 > 0:28:21Oh, well we have pilots as experts on the programme,
0:28:21 > 0:28:24- it's quite possible.- There you go. - Yeah, he's carved in wood.
0:28:27 > 0:28:32And he's a really strong vigorous bit of carving.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35I mean you see this hole?
0:28:35 > 0:28:37That's where the cord would have gone,
0:28:37 > 0:28:40which you tied it there,
0:28:40 > 0:28:43but it's actually jolly big for a netsuke
0:28:43 > 0:28:45and it may be just an okimono,
0:28:45 > 0:28:48but it's got age.
0:28:48 > 0:28:53I mean, it's early-19th, even possibly 18th-century in date.
0:28:53 > 0:28:55Very, very nice.
0:28:57 > 0:29:01These two are an object lesson
0:29:01 > 0:29:03in ivory carving.
0:29:03 > 0:29:05- That's elephant ivory. - Yes.
0:29:05 > 0:29:06And they're both water buffalo.
0:29:08 > 0:29:09This one is quite nice,
0:29:09 > 0:29:12dating from the second half of the 19th century,
0:29:12 > 0:29:17but if you look at the way the carving has been done
0:29:17 > 0:29:21for this rope, for example, it's actually not that good.
0:29:22 > 0:29:27It doesn't, kind of, work as a rope should do.
0:29:27 > 0:29:31Whereas, this one, is absolutely fantastic,
0:29:31 > 0:29:34just look at the way that runs across his back.
0:29:34 > 0:29:36And you can tell how old it is,
0:29:36 > 0:29:40by the fact that his backbone has worn
0:29:40 > 0:29:45and we've also got wear to the rope at those two points.
0:29:45 > 0:29:49You'll never find that on a later one.
0:29:49 > 0:29:53We've got a reserve, here, with a signature in it,
0:29:53 > 0:29:56but it's too worn to read.
0:29:56 > 0:29:59So, that's, I think, a very, very nice one.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02And...
0:30:02 > 0:30:05- ..do you know anything about this one?- No.
0:30:05 > 0:30:07Do you like this one? You like that one.
0:30:08 > 0:30:12But what have we got? We've got a temple bell.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15- And it's a sennin, isn't it? - With a what?
0:30:15 > 0:30:17A sennin, I think.
0:30:17 > 0:30:19Oh, now we're getting in here deep.
0:30:19 > 0:30:23Actually, no, but I'm very impressed.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26This is a wonderful Japanese legend
0:30:26 > 0:30:31- of a girl who fell in love with a priest.- OK.
0:30:31 > 0:30:33And the priest spurned her.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36He said, "I don't want anything to do with you."
0:30:36 > 0:30:41And, so, she turned into a demon and she lured him to a temple bell
0:30:41 > 0:30:44and he went inside the bell
0:30:44 > 0:30:48and she wrapped herself round the bell
0:30:48 > 0:30:52and then made it red hot, so he was burnt to a cinder.
0:30:52 > 0:30:55And this is her, and she's called Hannya,
0:30:55 > 0:31:00and she's got that horrid face you can recognise her by.
0:31:00 > 0:31:03So, that's what that is.
0:31:03 > 0:31:06So, what values do we have?
0:31:07 > 0:31:10Has he had any training on what to buy or...
0:31:10 > 0:31:11- No.- Just good eye,
0:31:11 > 0:31:15that's what I've always put it down to, but maybe I'm biased.
0:31:15 > 0:31:16Well, I have to say,
0:31:16 > 0:31:18I'm full of admiration.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20He has got almost
0:31:20 > 0:31:25entirely good objects.
0:31:25 > 0:31:27That one would fetch around
0:31:27 > 0:31:28£1,500 to £2,000.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33That one would fetch
0:31:33 > 0:31:37around £300 to £500, only, because he's not that good.
0:31:37 > 0:31:40Hannya would fetch around
0:31:40 > 0:31:42£700 to £1,000
0:31:42 > 0:31:46and that one would fetch around
0:31:46 > 0:31:48- £1,500 to £2,500, as well. - Really?
0:31:48 > 0:31:51Sitting on the table,
0:31:51 > 0:31:55£10,000 to £15,000 worth at least.
0:31:55 > 0:32:00I hope he didn't pay more than that.
0:32:04 > 0:32:09What a beautifully made bowl you've brought in.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12- Is it a family one? - It is.
0:32:12 > 0:32:14It belonged to my husband's aunt
0:32:14 > 0:32:19and she was given it as a wedding present in 1932 by her company,
0:32:19 > 0:32:22and that was quite a nice wedding present for her.
0:32:22 > 0:32:24Very generous present.
0:32:24 > 0:32:26And when you look at the way it's actually produced
0:32:26 > 0:32:31we've got all this lovely piercing, that's all hand piercing,
0:32:31 > 0:32:33beautifully engraved.
0:32:33 > 0:32:35In fact, the engraving would have been done
0:32:35 > 0:32:37- before the piercing.- Right.
0:32:37 > 0:32:39And then all of these swags,
0:32:39 > 0:32:41as you go round, are all cast separately
0:32:41 > 0:32:43and applied to the body.
0:32:43 > 0:32:46I mean, it's made the way it should.
0:32:46 > 0:32:47Right.
0:32:47 > 0:32:49Do you know where it was made?
0:32:49 > 0:32:52- No, I don't.- Well, in fact the marks
0:32:52 > 0:32:54we've got underneath, here,
0:32:54 > 0:32:56are actually for The Netherlands.
0:32:56 > 0:33:01- Oh. - From the 19th century. 1850-1860.
0:33:01 > 0:33:02Gosh.
0:33:02 > 0:33:07But what's been happening there? The handle's all out of shape.
0:33:07 > 0:33:10- Ah, well that happened during the war.- Right.
0:33:10 > 0:33:11The bowl always lived on the sideboard
0:33:11 > 0:33:16but a V2 bomber hit the house.
0:33:16 > 0:33:18That was blown off the sideboard and,
0:33:18 > 0:33:20as we understand,
0:33:20 > 0:33:22that got bent but the glass never got broken.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25Wow! It's generally the other way round.
0:33:25 > 0:33:27- yes, exactly, yes. - The glass gets broken.
0:33:27 > 0:33:31But, amazing that that glass has actually survived.
0:33:31 > 0:33:35- Yes.- So, what is a 19th-century Dutch,
0:33:35 > 0:33:41blasted-by-a-V2 bowl actually worth?
0:33:41 > 0:33:46I would have said that bowl, today, probably set you back the best part
0:33:46 > 0:33:50- of £2,000.- Gosh, my goodness.
0:33:50 > 0:33:52It's a delightful bowl.
0:33:52 > 0:33:55Yes, so very generous wedding present, wasn't it? From her boss.
0:34:02 > 0:34:06Well, the French have two words for jewellery, we only have one.
0:34:06 > 0:34:08They have a word for gem set jewellery,
0:34:08 > 0:34:09and a word for artistic jewellery.
0:34:09 > 0:34:11This is joaillerie
0:34:11 > 0:34:14and this is bijouterie, and, in a way,
0:34:14 > 0:34:16we've brought the polarity of what it means, to the table.
0:34:16 > 0:34:19But tell me about them with you, what about this diamond star
0:34:19 > 0:34:24- it's yours, isn't it?- Yes, it has come down through the family,
0:34:24 > 0:34:29it's one of three and the two others are still in the family, I believe,
0:34:29 > 0:34:33and I don't often get a chance to wear it, needless to say.
0:34:33 > 0:34:36No, what do you feel like when you do wear it?
0:34:36 > 0:34:37I've worn it to a ball.
0:34:37 > 0:34:40Yes, and was it like champagne? Did it raise your spirits and...
0:34:40 > 0:34:42Quite nervous about it
0:34:42 > 0:34:44but my husband's father insisted
0:34:44 > 0:34:46that I wear the star to this ball because, you know, showing off.
0:34:46 > 0:34:47- He was quite right.- Yes.
0:34:47 > 0:34:49And interesting that there were three of them
0:34:49 > 0:34:51because there's a little fitting on the back,
0:34:51 > 0:34:53and it actually suggests to me
0:34:53 > 0:34:55- that it's part of a tiara. - Yes.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57- And did you know it was? - No, I don't know much about it.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00Maybe the flanking ones are smaller that's the convention
0:35:00 > 0:35:01with these things
0:35:01 > 0:35:05and it's a highly successful jewellery design, the star, really
0:35:05 > 0:35:08because, of course, the diamonds return the light like the stars do.
0:35:08 > 0:35:10- Yes.- And date-wise, any thoughts about that?
0:35:10 > 0:35:12Eighteen something?
0:35:12 > 0:35:15Yes, eighteen something's really good because it was a fashion
0:35:15 > 0:35:19that existed in 1800 and was still going strong
0:35:19 > 0:35:20in the 20th century.
0:35:20 > 0:35:23Even Chanel made jewellery in the form of stars like this.
0:35:23 > 0:35:27- Oh, yes, yes.- But this is an English star and it's backed in gold
0:35:27 > 0:35:30and set in silver and the diamonds are there simply decoratively.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33Their value is not in their sort of gemmology of them,
0:35:33 > 0:35:34- the purity of them, the colour. - Yes.
0:35:34 > 0:35:37But it's actually all about the return of light
0:35:37 > 0:35:39and a beautiful object.
0:35:39 > 0:35:41These objects are really made at about the same time.
0:35:41 > 0:35:45They're both mid 19th-century jewels with very different intentions.
0:35:45 > 0:35:49- This is art jewellery. Tell me about that.- Well, this one, I think,
0:35:49 > 0:35:51my grandfather must have collected it.
0:35:51 > 0:35:53He was in the Royal Navy
0:35:53 > 0:35:56and he, sort of, bought things all over the place.
0:35:56 > 0:36:01And I inherited a desk off him and this was in a cigar box.
0:36:01 > 0:36:04- In a secret box. - Well, just a jumble of, sort of...
0:36:04 > 0:36:07A jumble thing because it's slightly naughty, isn't it?
0:36:07 > 0:36:09It is, the concept of it is slightly naughty
0:36:09 > 0:36:12because here is a Satyr, a half man, half goat,
0:36:12 > 0:36:18associated with, sort of, carnal love in antiquity
0:36:18 > 0:36:21and he's trying to advance his relationship with a siren,
0:36:21 > 0:36:25a mermaid, and they're in a thick embrace, there
0:36:25 > 0:36:29- and it's made of steel. - Really?- Steel?
0:36:29 > 0:36:32Yes, it's rather wearing sables on the inside of your mackintosh
0:36:32 > 0:36:34because it's steel on the outside.
0:36:34 > 0:36:38- Yes.- And on the inside is beautifully lined with pure gold.
0:36:38 > 0:36:42It's a very, very distinguished object, indeed.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44It's the sort of object made throughout Europe,
0:36:44 > 0:36:47and one of the manufacturers of such objects was a fellow in Paris,
0:36:47 > 0:36:51oddly enough, called Tissot, and it may be that he made that.
0:36:51 > 0:36:53I think it's sculpture in miniature.
0:36:53 > 0:36:55It says everything about art jewellery, to me,
0:36:55 > 0:36:59and we've got to have a little bash at valuing them. Curiously enough,
0:36:59 > 0:37:01for the reasons that you were a little bit reticent
0:37:01 > 0:37:03to wear this to that dance,
0:37:03 > 0:37:06is the reason it's not as valuable as it jolly well ought to be,
0:37:06 > 0:37:10because the fashion for wearing these in the UK has fallen away.
0:37:10 > 0:37:12- Yes.- That kind of entertaining doesn't really happen.
0:37:12 > 0:37:15But I think that's probably got to be
0:37:15 > 0:37:17worth £4,000 to £5,000 of anybody's money
0:37:17 > 0:37:21and I'd like to think it was worth more, but it just might not be.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24This one here, is worth, well,
0:37:24 > 0:37:26close to as much.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30- Good grief.- I think somebody who wanted that very much,
0:37:30 > 0:37:34would be quite keen to give, you know, £2,000 to £3,000 for it
0:37:34 > 0:37:35if it was properly described,
0:37:35 > 0:37:37because it's a highly original concept
0:37:37 > 0:37:38and there are avid ring collectors,
0:37:38 > 0:37:41so what a strange story masses of diamonds, masses of art,
0:37:41 > 0:37:46- both apparently valuable, and both you love, don't you?- Yes.- Yes.
0:37:46 > 0:37:48- What do you think now? - I'm amazed.
0:37:54 > 0:37:58People bring along ships made of all sorts of things to the Roadshow,
0:37:58 > 0:38:00often of matchsticks, of course.
0:38:00 > 0:38:01What's this made of?
0:38:01 > 0:38:05Cloves, you can smell it, actually cloves.
0:38:05 > 0:38:09- So you can. So... - Its smell lasts.
0:38:09 > 0:38:12- So, each individual clove. Look at that!- Yes, yes.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15- And do you know how old it is? - Between 1850 and 1900.
0:38:15 > 0:38:17And why make a ship out of cloves?
0:38:17 > 0:38:22Well, the Ambonese, in Indonesia, it's a native tribe in Indonesia
0:38:22 > 0:38:28made these as tourist attractions, which they then sold to the tourists.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31The smell of that time has come down through the centuries.
0:38:31 > 0:38:33- Yes, yes.- It's an amazing thing to see.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35Yes, it's something so unique
0:38:35 > 0:38:39that, well, that's why I thought I'd bring it along today.
0:38:39 > 0:38:42Well, one day on the Roadshow, we'll have smellovision.
0:38:44 > 0:38:48Wish you could smell it. So strongly of cloves.
0:38:53 > 0:38:54This drawing is titled
0:38:54 > 0:38:57- "Putting the Changi Guardian to bed".- Yes
0:38:57 > 0:38:59Now what was the Changi Guardian?
0:38:59 > 0:39:04The Changi Guardian was the newspaper for the prison camp of Changi.
0:39:04 > 0:39:08And eight copies were typed each day,
0:39:08 > 0:39:11and I have one of the copies, just here.
0:39:11 > 0:39:13This is an original copy.
0:39:13 > 0:39:17That's an original printed, or should I say typed,
0:39:17 > 0:39:19in Changi Gaol by one of the characters
0:39:19 > 0:39:21that you see in this cartoon.
0:39:21 > 0:39:23Well, Changi Gaol, of course,
0:39:23 > 0:39:28was used by the Japanese to house prisoners who were in Malaya,
0:39:28 > 0:39:31Singapore
0:39:31 > 0:39:35- during the Second World War.- Yes. - From 1942 onwards.
0:39:35 > 0:39:39Changi Gaol was built to house
0:39:39 > 0:39:41600 people.
0:39:41 > 0:39:43The Japanese put 5,000 people
0:39:43 > 0:39:48in that gaol for three and half years.
0:39:48 > 0:39:53My grandparents were in Malaya at the time.
0:39:53 > 0:39:56My grandfather working for the Colonial Service
0:39:56 > 0:39:59as an agricultural chemist. He was taken by the Japanese.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01Both my grandmother and my grandfather
0:40:01 > 0:40:04spent the whole three and half years in Changi Gaol.
0:40:04 > 0:40:07And were they separated in Changi Gaol?
0:40:07 > 0:40:09They were. There was the men's section,
0:40:09 > 0:40:11or the men's camp, and the women's camp.
0:40:11 > 0:40:15So, they had little contact with each other during that time.
0:40:15 > 0:40:20They had to secretly pass notes to each other,
0:40:20 > 0:40:23through friendly guards
0:40:23 > 0:40:26or people who were passing from section to section,
0:40:26 > 0:40:28that they knew they could trust.
0:40:28 > 0:40:31Should they have been found out, then it was very, very dire indeed,
0:40:31 > 0:40:33the consequences.
0:40:33 > 0:40:38- I should imagine.- Yes.- And this one, this little note here says,
0:40:38 > 0:40:39"My dearest one."
0:40:39 > 0:40:42So, is this one of the notes they would have passed to each other?
0:40:42 > 0:40:44This is one from my grandmother to my grandfather.
0:40:44 > 0:40:47It would have been folded up as you see into a very small space
0:40:47 > 0:40:50and passed through the camp that way.
0:40:50 > 0:40:53"I am glad that the Red Cross have been misled
0:40:53 > 0:40:57"and our true conditions of living
0:40:57 > 0:41:01"and housing have not been revealed". Why do you think that is?
0:41:01 > 0:41:03They were pleased that their parents
0:41:03 > 0:41:07didn't really know what plight they were in,
0:41:07 > 0:41:11because they were in a dreadful state, all of them.
0:41:11 > 0:41:14My grandfather kept a diary for the first year while he was in there,
0:41:14 > 0:41:18and after five months or so, in the diary,
0:41:18 > 0:41:22they are saying how thin they are becoming from starvation diet.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25Little did they know they had another three years of this.
0:41:25 > 0:41:26Incredible, isn't it?
0:41:26 > 0:41:29It is. My grandfather caught malaria,
0:41:29 > 0:41:33my grandmother had dysentery three times while she was in there
0:41:33 > 0:41:35and the priest offered her the last rites.
0:41:35 > 0:41:40- Really?- The last time, and she said,
0:41:40 > 0:41:43if I do go, if you could get my wedding ring to my grandfather
0:41:43 > 0:41:47in the men's camp, then he will know. She survived.
0:41:47 > 0:41:50Now, you've brought along a few drawings, paintings, as well.
0:41:50 > 0:41:53Now, what does this one show?
0:41:53 > 0:41:55This one is painted by my grandmother
0:41:55 > 0:41:59this was painted in the gaol and this shows how, in the women's camp,
0:41:59 > 0:42:01they got a little privacy.
0:42:01 > 0:42:05They put a curtain on bamboo poles going across here,
0:42:05 > 0:42:07so, in between each curtain there was a bed.
0:42:07 > 0:42:09And this really illustrates the living conditions.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12Their living conditions as it was for the women.
0:42:12 > 0:42:13Now, this photograph.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16This is just after they'd got back.
0:42:16 > 0:42:18They both were in hospital when they arrived in Britain,
0:42:18 > 0:42:21because they came back as skeletons on stretchers,
0:42:21 > 0:42:25and so, this is shortly after they bought their dream cottage.
0:42:25 > 0:42:28- This is in their garden. - Now, that's marvellous.- Yes
0:42:28 > 0:42:32And do you have many more drawings and pictures and documents?
0:42:32 > 0:42:35Yes, many many paintings and drawings from my grandmother.
0:42:35 > 0:42:40- How many do you have? - I must have forty or fifty.
0:42:40 > 0:42:43A number of these very good cartoons
0:42:43 > 0:42:46by a man called C Jackson.
0:42:46 > 0:42:51Well, you know, we come to the stage where we have to talk about value,
0:42:51 > 0:42:55but I sometimes feel rather uncomfortable
0:42:55 > 0:42:58with items such as these, talking about value.
0:42:58 > 0:43:02There is a collector's market, would you believe,
0:43:02 > 0:43:05for this type of item, and if you've got forty or fifty paintings,
0:43:05 > 0:43:08I would think that the market would be
0:43:08 > 0:43:11in the low hundreds, maybe £300 £400,
0:43:11 > 0:43:13- but the value isn't is not the important thing.- No, no.
0:43:13 > 0:43:17It's the historical aspect, the fact that here we have
0:43:17 > 0:43:22living proof, documentation, of a period in our history
0:43:22 > 0:43:26that many people have forgotten about, of the Second World War.
0:43:26 > 0:43:27Yes, yes.
0:43:27 > 0:43:32And I'm so glad to have seen it, and been witness to this today.
0:43:32 > 0:43:35Thank you very much, indeed, thank you.
0:43:37 > 0:43:41Boys Preparatory School, and you know it does exactly
0:43:41 > 0:43:43what it says on the tin,
0:43:43 > 0:43:47- because out of that box, came this. - Yes.- And it is wonderful.
0:43:47 > 0:43:52We've got eight students, a teacher. He looks like,
0:43:52 > 0:43:55he looks like a school master should do, doesn't he?
0:43:55 > 0:43:58With his moustache, but he doesn't have a cane so...
0:43:58 > 0:44:00- No.- That's one good thing.
0:44:00 > 0:44:03- That's Mr Brown. - That's Mr Brown?
0:44:03 > 0:44:05Now, you're saying that with some conviction.
0:44:05 > 0:44:07Did you play with this, then?
0:44:07 > 0:44:09Oh, yes, of course I did.
0:44:09 > 0:44:13But it's much too old to be yours, so, it came to you as a child?
0:44:13 > 0:44:15- Yes, yes. - Whose was it before?
0:44:15 > 0:44:17- Well, it came from my mum's side of the family.- Right.
0:44:17 > 0:44:19I don't know much any other history.
0:44:19 > 0:44:22- Did you go on to be a school mistress?- Oh, no.
0:44:22 > 0:44:25- You got it all out of your system early did you?- Yes, yes. Oh, yes.
0:44:25 > 0:44:28The whole thing is just gorgeous.
0:44:28 > 0:44:31Now, I'm absolutely certain that it's all come from Germany.
0:44:31 > 0:44:34- Do you think so?- Absolutely. On the back, there,
0:44:34 > 0:44:36- it says "foreign".- Yes.
0:44:36 > 0:44:39And that is a very good indication that it came from somewhere
0:44:39 > 0:44:43- that didn't want to identify itself. - Oh, I see, yes.
0:44:43 > 0:44:46So, my feeling is that it's around about the time
0:44:46 > 0:44:47of the First World War.
0:44:47 > 0:44:50- Would that fit in with your mum's...?- Yes, because she was born in '08.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53- There we go. - So that would be about it. - That would fit in.- Yes.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56- Because she wouldn't have been given it as a tiny tot.- No. Oh, no.
0:44:56 > 0:44:58She'd have been given it when it was more, you know,
0:44:58 > 0:45:00she was old enough to be able to deal with it.
0:45:01 > 0:45:03It's absolutely charming.
0:45:03 > 0:45:07I think it's given you, obviously, a huge amount of play value.
0:45:07 > 0:45:12- Oh, yes.- I'm hoping that I can get my play value out of it too.
0:45:12 > 0:45:14But value-wise,
0:45:14 > 0:45:16I would put it at between
0:45:16 > 0:45:18£400 and £600 without any question
0:45:18 > 0:45:22and, I think, on a good day, it could fetch even more than that.
0:45:22 > 0:45:26- Yes. Oh, well, it'll never go, leave our family.- Quite right too.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28- I'll leave it to one of the things. - So, there we go. The class of 1915.
0:45:28 > 0:45:31- That's right, yes.- Just great.
0:45:39 > 0:45:43Well, Vue De Launceston, I mean, it's a French title,
0:45:43 > 0:45:46but I assume we're looking at Launceston in Cornwall, here.
0:45:46 > 0:45:48Yes, yes.
0:45:48 > 0:45:51And tell me, why is it in French?
0:45:51 > 0:45:54It belonged to my great-great-great grandfather.
0:45:54 > 0:45:56He was Mayor of Launceston
0:45:56 > 0:45:59in the second half of the 19th century.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03When he was a very young man, he was fishing in the river
0:46:03 > 0:46:06and he got into some sort of difficulties.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09The castle at the time was being used,
0:46:09 > 0:46:14I think, as a prisoner-of-war camp for higher ranking
0:46:14 > 0:46:18French naval officers and one of them spotted
0:46:18 > 0:46:21my great-great-great grandfather
0:46:21 > 0:46:24and he went over his boundary and rescued him,
0:46:24 > 0:46:27and they struck up some sort of a friendship
0:46:27 > 0:46:32and he later presented him with this picture.
0:46:32 > 0:46:35A wonderful, wonderful story and of course let's just think about it,
0:46:35 > 0:46:37because I can see in the bottom right-hand corner,
0:46:37 > 0:46:39it's got a date 1808.
0:46:39 > 0:46:42So this was a French prisoner-of-war
0:46:42 > 0:46:46and the detail that this officer has painted,
0:46:46 > 0:46:50it's like a miniature, and I think he's, sort of, hankering for home,
0:46:50 > 0:46:53because I feel the, sort of, Frenchiness feel to it.
0:46:53 > 0:46:57And it's not, obviously, in deepest Cornwall, is it?
0:46:57 > 0:47:00And it seems quite a liberal existence.
0:47:00 > 0:47:03There he is,
0:47:03 > 0:47:05probably allowed outside the confines of the prison,
0:47:05 > 0:47:08- so a sort of open-air prison, really, wasn't it?- Yes.
0:47:08 > 0:47:10That chance meeting,
0:47:10 > 0:47:13I think is just wonderful and you've got a piece of history,
0:47:13 > 0:47:18and I think a really, really beautiful view of Launceston
0:47:18 > 0:47:20from the early 19th century.
0:47:20 > 0:47:24So, the great moment, valuation.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26Is it something you've considered?
0:47:26 > 0:47:27Well, it only belongs
0:47:27 > 0:47:30half to me, because my sister owns the other half,
0:47:30 > 0:47:31so I can't really sell it.
0:47:31 > 0:47:34I wasn't suggesting you sell it.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37I've got strict instructions to pass it on to my nephews, so.
0:47:37 > 0:47:41Shall I whisper it to you, then? No, well, it is difficult to value,
0:47:41 > 0:47:43because nothing similar's been on the market.
0:47:43 > 0:47:48But I would say something like this was worth at least £2,000 to £3,000.
0:47:48 > 0:47:51- Thank you very much. - Thank you.
0:47:54 > 0:47:56Gosh, it's delightfully wonky, isn't it?
0:47:56 > 0:47:58- That's right, yes. - But that begs the question
0:47:58 > 0:48:03is it misshapen because it's cheaply made or because it's very early?
0:48:03 > 0:48:06- What do you know about it? - Well, they were given to me from my uncle's estate
0:48:06 > 0:48:08and my father brought them over amongst some other dishes,
0:48:08 > 0:48:12said, "You can have those." So, I've had them ever since.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15- And are they things you just liked? - Yeah, I just liked collecting plates
0:48:15 > 0:48:17so it was something I've always enjoyed having, actually.
0:48:17 > 0:48:21I mean, the design, I suppose, Japanese influence, here
0:48:21 > 0:48:26somewhere back along the line, but these were made in Italy,
0:48:26 > 0:48:29they're Italian porcelain.
0:48:29 > 0:48:32And, actually the backs are such an extraordinary colour.
0:48:32 > 0:48:35- Yes.- As if it's so dirty and it really is, isn't it?
0:48:35 > 0:48:39I mean, it does feel dirty and scruffy, because this was amongst
0:48:39 > 0:48:41the very earliest Italian porcelain.
0:48:41 > 0:48:43We're going back to the 1740s.
0:48:43 > 0:48:46They hadn't really discovered the pure white porcelain
0:48:46 > 0:48:49that made porcelain in Japan, and made porcelain in Meissen,
0:48:49 > 0:48:51which was the great European porcelain.
0:48:51 > 0:48:53Instead they've used local clays,
0:48:53 > 0:48:56and produced their own version, which is this colour.
0:48:56 > 0:48:59It is, I think, just charmingly irregular.
0:48:59 > 0:49:01Yes, that's right.
0:49:01 > 0:49:03They come from near Florence.
0:49:03 > 0:49:06This was the first period of production at the Doccia factory.
0:49:06 > 0:49:11At that time they were developing nice bright colours.
0:49:11 > 0:49:13I love this flame orange, it's really a super colour.
0:49:13 > 0:49:14Yeah, it's beautiful.
0:49:14 > 0:49:16- Is that what appealed to you? - Oh, yes, I think they're stunning.
0:49:16 > 0:49:19I did think they were Chinese, originally,
0:49:19 > 0:49:21but I'm not terribly sure on ceramics, so...
0:49:21 > 0:49:24The Chinese would have made them, and the Japanese,
0:49:24 > 0:49:25so perfectly formed.
0:49:25 > 0:49:28Instead, these are as if they melted in the kiln
0:49:28 > 0:49:30and they couldn't get the temperature quite right
0:49:30 > 0:49:32at this time.
0:49:32 > 0:49:34It just took a few years to perfect it.
0:49:34 > 0:49:36By ten years later they were making superb porcelain at Doccia.
0:49:36 > 0:49:41But at this early first period I like it, because it went wrong.
0:49:41 > 0:49:45- Oh, right.- And the design Tula Panno we call this.
0:49:47 > 0:49:48So quite rare things to find.
0:49:48 > 0:49:50- Oh, really?- Yes, so...
0:49:50 > 0:49:52They were just given to me in a pile of other plates
0:49:52 > 0:49:55and I thought, "I'll keep those," and I've had them ever since, so...
0:49:55 > 0:49:59You did the right thing, because now the pair are worth
0:49:59 > 0:50:01£3,000.
0:50:01 > 0:50:04Really? Really?
0:50:04 > 0:50:06I thought a couple of hundred.
0:50:06 > 0:50:09I never thought it would be that much.
0:50:09 > 0:50:12- Wow, gosh, shocked.- It's good that they're wonky and early.
0:50:12 > 0:50:14Well, I'll treasure them even more now, actually.
0:50:17 > 0:50:20- This is what every bookseller dreams of.- Really?
0:50:20 > 0:50:22Going through a load of second-hand books
0:50:22 > 0:50:24and suddenly coming across
0:50:24 > 0:50:26inscriptions by the author,
0:50:26 > 0:50:30or even better, as in this case, a poem by the author.
0:50:30 > 0:50:32"When I was a farmer And walked o'er my land,
0:50:32 > 0:50:37"I found a gold sovereign Wherever I did stand.
0:50:37 > 0:50:40"But now I'm a scribbler And nude as a carrot
0:50:40 > 0:50:43"All stuck full of feathers And words like a parrot".
0:50:43 > 0:50:46And then this wonderful inscription, here, and it says,
0:50:46 > 0:50:49- "For Maggie and Marcus". - Yes
0:50:49 > 0:50:51And then "With love from Carol"...
0:50:51 > 0:50:53That's his wife.
0:50:53 > 0:50:56.."and Ted Hughes",
0:50:56 > 0:50:59which is who we're talking about. It's a wonderful inscription
0:50:59 > 0:51:02on a perfectly ordinary book.
0:51:02 > 0:51:04So, what is the connection between you and Ted Hughes?
0:51:04 > 0:51:09Well, we met through a fur coat I won't go into...
0:51:09 > 0:51:11- Through a fur coat!- I won't go into it any more than that.
0:51:11 > 0:51:13Are you sure you don't want to expound?
0:51:13 > 0:51:17No. And we became really good friends. My then husband
0:51:17 > 0:51:20and Carol and Ted and we had many many happy evenings.
0:51:20 > 0:51:25- Because he used to live down here. - Yes.- Obviously he lived down here. - Yes, yes, yes, yes.
0:51:25 > 0:51:27That was when he was Poet Laureate, was it?
0:51:27 > 0:51:31- Before and after, yes.- Well, you have these wonderful inscribed books,
0:51:31 > 0:51:33you've also got this... How did he give this to you?
0:51:33 > 0:51:37I mean, this is a poem, and it says,
0:51:37 > 0:51:40"For Maggie and Marcus with love from Ted" in pencil, there,
0:51:40 > 0:51:43- and then this extraordinary poem here.- Yes.- Which I can hardly decipher at all.
0:51:43 > 0:51:47- No, nor me.- It's called, "Fox Riddles".- Riddles.
0:51:47 > 0:51:50- Go on, what's the first line? - I would have to see it, I don't know it by heart.
0:51:50 > 0:51:52No. "Who's the best dressed in the" something "room?"
0:51:52 > 0:51:53Gentleman in England.
0:51:53 > 0:51:56In England, yes. Oh, anyway, it goes on like that.
0:51:56 > 0:51:59- It is quite difficult.- It's enormously difficult, isn't it?- Yes.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02But how lovely to have these that were actually,
0:52:02 > 0:52:07that he actually did and gave you on various occasions.
0:52:07 > 0:52:09He used to turn up with, with his latest book,
0:52:09 > 0:52:11and then he would inscribe it either for us or for our children.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14I suspect this is unpublished, isn't it?
0:52:14 > 0:52:16- I think it is unpublished. - Well, it...
0:52:16 > 0:52:19I did show it Carol and she didn't think it was published.
0:52:19 > 0:52:20..from your point of view it's unread,
0:52:20 > 0:52:25as well. This, I think, is rather fun, this piece, here.
0:52:25 > 0:52:28It's nothing that one would think of Ted Hughes as doing, really, is it?
0:52:28 > 0:52:31No, I don't know that he's known for his drawings.
0:52:31 > 0:52:35- Yes, and yet you have, over here, you've got other things actually.- Yes.
0:52:35 > 0:52:39- Signed by him, and there's a pike. - Well, he was a great fisherman,
0:52:39 > 0:52:42but I think he was very comfortable drawing,
0:52:42 > 0:52:44it only took him a moment to do them.
0:52:44 > 0:52:46- And this one for Leo, September 1990.- That's my son, yes.
0:52:46 > 0:52:50Werewolf's friend. I mean that's an absolutely wonderful inscription,
0:52:50 > 0:52:54- isn't it?- Yes.- Well, I suppose we have to go on about price,
0:52:54 > 0:52:58- which always seems a shame. - Yes, it does really.
0:52:58 > 0:53:00I mean, he was a greatly loved poet and, you know,
0:53:00 > 0:53:04benefited us all, I'm sure, by his wonderful poetry.
0:53:05 > 0:53:09A signed poem, unpublished, has got to be worth the best part
0:53:09 > 0:53:12of £1,000.
0:53:12 > 0:53:16The books, themselves, not desperately valuable,
0:53:16 > 0:53:18first editions maybe.
0:53:18 > 0:53:21Somewhat abused, I think, they've been read.
0:53:21 > 0:53:24- Read in the bath or whatever. - Yes.- But it hasn't affected them, really, at all,
0:53:24 > 0:53:27and they are all in superb condition, are going to be worth,
0:53:27 > 0:53:31what, I don't know, £400 or £500 each, easily.
0:53:31 > 0:53:34- They're really very exciting. - Thank you.
0:53:38 > 0:53:42At first look, this looks like it should be a piece
0:53:42 > 0:53:46of Wedgwood Fairyland Lustre by Daisy Makeig-Jones, but it isn't.
0:53:46 > 0:53:48What's going on?
0:53:48 > 0:53:51Well, Daisy Makeig-Jones was my great aunt
0:53:51 > 0:53:54and, really, I've brought it along, today,
0:53:54 > 0:53:58just to get to know a bit more about what it really is.
0:53:58 > 0:54:02My brother's got one and my sister has another design,
0:54:02 > 0:54:04and it will be interesting to see your opinion of this one.
0:54:04 > 0:54:09Well, I've looked at it, and this is one of her original drawings,
0:54:09 > 0:54:16this is her original drawing for the plaque, and it is very rare.
0:54:16 > 0:54:18You know her, she was your great aunt,
0:54:18 > 0:54:20but she was a very interesting character,
0:54:20 > 0:54:23she wrote, not a begging letter, but she basically wrote a letter
0:54:23 > 0:54:26to the Wedgwood firm to say "I want a job as a designer,"
0:54:26 > 0:54:28and they took her on as a trainee
0:54:28 > 0:54:31and in two years she had her own studio.
0:54:31 > 0:54:34She started off doing what Wedgwood called ordinary lustres,
0:54:34 > 0:54:39which were plain, sort of, a powder colour grounds with dragons,
0:54:39 > 0:54:42butterflies, dragonflies, that type of thing on it,
0:54:42 > 0:54:45and then in 1915-16 she started her Fairyland Lustre.
0:54:45 > 0:54:48And it's interesting, she wrote a little book
0:54:48 > 0:54:51called "Glimpses of Fairyland", which was partially
0:54:51 > 0:54:55a brochure, partially made-up stories, which she illustrated
0:54:55 > 0:54:58and one of the things she used to describe Fairyland Lustre
0:54:58 > 0:55:01was the stuff that dreams are made of,
0:55:01 > 0:55:04so, it's rather lovely that this design has that same name on it.
0:55:08 > 0:55:10There's this, as well. What's going on here?
0:55:10 > 0:55:12This is very curious.
0:55:12 > 0:55:13We've always wondered what it is,
0:55:13 > 0:55:15because it looks like plastic,
0:55:15 > 0:55:19it's got her goblins
0:55:19 > 0:55:22clearly running through, but we have no idea.
0:55:22 > 0:55:24And this belonged to Daisy?
0:55:24 > 0:55:26We believe so, yes.
0:55:26 > 0:55:28Well, it's not plastic,
0:55:28 > 0:55:29it's glass
0:55:29 > 0:55:32and it's actually one of the rarest pieces of pressed glass
0:55:32 > 0:55:34in the world.
0:55:37 > 0:55:38Must take care of it.
0:55:38 > 0:55:40Nothing to do with Daisy Makeig-Jones
0:55:40 > 0:55:45apart from she owned it. It's actually made by John George Sowerby in Gateshead
0:55:45 > 0:55:48in the north-ast of England in the 1870s.
0:55:48 > 0:55:51It's a type of glass which they called Queen's Ivory.
0:55:51 > 0:55:54Nobody has ever seen one.
0:55:54 > 0:55:56Sunderland Museum have a piece of one
0:55:56 > 0:55:59and that's the only one anybody has seen.
0:55:59 > 0:56:02I rang three prominent collectors, today,
0:56:02 > 0:56:04and they've all said they've never seen one.
0:56:04 > 0:56:07So, it's not the rarest piece of pressed glass in the world,
0:56:07 > 0:56:09but it's one of them.
0:56:12 > 0:56:16So, I suppose, we've got to come to values.
0:56:16 > 0:56:20Designs by Daisy Makeig-Jones don't come up.
0:56:20 > 0:56:23When, in 1931, she was sacked by Wedgwood,
0:56:23 > 0:56:28she stormed into the office and she ordered a boy to smash all her vases,
0:56:28 > 0:56:30so they're a difficult thing to value.
0:56:30 > 0:56:34Likewise, the piece of pressed glass nobody in the world's ever seen apart from a fragment.
0:56:34 > 0:56:37We know them from catalogues, which is why we know.
0:56:37 > 0:56:39And, bizarrely, they're described as tiles,
0:56:39 > 0:56:42although I think they're actually tiles for making into plaques like this,
0:56:42 > 0:56:46not tiles to put in the bathroom it's simply not thick enough to plaster on the wall.
0:56:46 > 0:56:52So, it is difficult to value but I rang a leading pressed glass collector this afternoon
0:56:52 > 0:56:57and I said to him, "I yu saw this for sale, would you pay a thousand pounds for it?"
0:56:57 > 0:57:00And he said, "I'd hesitate, but I would."
0:57:00 > 0:57:06So, your aunt's bit of plastic is a very rare piece of thousand-pound glass.
0:57:06 > 0:57:12This, if it was a plaque by Daisy Makeig-Jones, we would know exactly what value it is.
0:57:12 > 0:57:16Again, it's a difficult thing to say, but I know if this came for auction
0:57:16 > 0:57:23- we'd be looking at a figure between £6,000 and £8,000, potentially more. - OK, thank you very much indeed.
0:57:23 > 0:57:28So, I'm going to give you that back. I've spent almost my whole Roadshow career
0:57:28 > 0:57:32- hoping one of those turns up - Thank you very much indeed.
0:57:33 > 0:57:35Remember at the beginning of the programme
0:57:35 > 0:57:38I was telling you that this area has long been famous
0:57:38 > 0:57:42for shipwrecks and objects that have washed up on the shore over the centuries.
0:57:42 > 0:57:49Well, you might be imagining, as I did, caskets of jewels or gold coins
0:57:49 > 0:57:53perhaps not a can of peanuts. But this has an amazing provenance,
0:57:53 > 0:57:57because this was on a ship during the Second World War
0:57:57 > 0:58:01that was dispatched from this area, an American ship to help the troops at D-Day.
0:58:01 > 0:58:03It was a cargo ship full of food.
0:58:03 > 0:58:06It was torpedoed and it sank, and this washed up on the shore.
0:58:06 > 0:58:09Now, even though there was rationing at the time,
0:58:09 > 0:58:12the people that found it, never ate the peanuts,
0:58:12 > 0:58:14and I can tell they're still in there.
0:58:14 > 0:58:19From the Antiques Roadshow at Hartland Abbey, bye-bye.
0:58:44 > 0:58:48Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd