St Andrews University 1 Antiques Roadshow

Welcome to St Andrews,

which sits at the edge of the North Sea on the east coast of Scotland.

In medieval times, the shrine of St Andrews

was one of the most important places in the world for pilgrims.

These days, pilgrims come here for very different reasons -

to play on famous golf courses, to attend Scotland's oldest university

or just to soak up the history that can be found all around the town.

Welcome to the Antiques Roadshow from beautiful St Andrews.

Until the 15th century,

if you lived in Scotland and wanted a serious education,

you had to travel, sometimes to England and mainly to France,

but when political and religious tensions erupted across Europe,

it became too dangerous for Scots to travel abroad

to foreign universities.

There was only one thing for it. The country needed its own university.

And the ideal place was St Andrews which was, by then,

a thriving cathedral city full of theologians and monks.

Perfect to take on the task of educating Scottish students.

With the Pope's blessing,

the university first opened its doors in 1410

but it wasn't until a few years later

that Scotland's oldest university celebrated

with a service in the cathedral and bonfires in the streets.

# Jesu Christe

# Jesu Christe... #

Life for the students was monastic.

Aged 13, they'd be up at five, mass at six,

lessons at seven, all in Latin, all before breakfast,

and then afterwards more lessons and more prayers,

and they certainly weren't allowed to enjoy themselves.

I mean, they weren't allowed out without permission.

Very different from student life today.

One tradition the students DO still enjoy here is Raisin Monday.

For centuries, when freshers begin here at university,

an older student took them under their wing to show them the ropes,

and to show their gratitude,

the freshers presented the senior student,

here in the cloisters, with a pound of raisins,

which was once a very expensive treat.

These days, more likely to be a bottle of wine.

600 years on, the university has recently launched its celebrations

with a visit from a famous couple who met while studying here at St Andrews.

Who could I possibly mean?

Of course, I'm referring to Prince William and Kate Middleton,

now the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

Following in those royal footsteps are our specialists,

who are soaking up the surroundings of St Andrews' oldest college,

St Salvator's.

If I was going to have a wee dram on a cold morning in St Andrews,

this is certainly a nice, big piece to take it out of.

I think you're right!

And where did you get this wonderful piece?

Well, I retired in 1996

and I was invited to take my office furniture with me.

The centrepiece of my office

was a three-piece leather Chesterfield suite.

I didn't need it but there was no point in leaving it behind

so I just took it away.

Simultaneously, my stepdaughter had bought a little hotel in the country

and rummaging around in the attic one day she came across this whisky jar.

Now, she had no use for the whisky jar

and I had no use for this suite, so we did a swap.

There was a problem, however,

because the cork seal, or gasket,

had dried out over the years

and you couldn't get the top off.

So, I filled a bath with hot, soapy water,

and my wife was kind enough to pass this in to me

and I wrestled with it like... Rrr! And I got the top off it!

We then got it all cleaned out and washed out

and filled up with the finest Speyside malt.

And are you a fan of the finest Speyside malt?

Oh, I think so, yes! Everyone in St Andrews is a fan,

or at least all my friends are.

They certainly are! Well, it's a marvellous jar.

Obviously originally for a retailer, maybe a pub, maybe a shop somewhere.

Yep.

Possibly made by...

I've seen some of these made by a company in Glasgow

-called John Baird & Son Glassmakers.

-Right.

-Not definitely but possibly.

It's a wonderful shape and lovely little detailing here

-with the "Old Scotch" on it.

-Yeah.

And made in the late 19th century, so...

It would certainly take quite... Do you know how much it actually takes?

No, I've never had enough money to fill it right up!

-It could certainly take quite a lot.

-More than a case.

-It would take more than a case.

-Yep.

-What does it taste like, dare I ask?

-Do you want a wee taste?

-A wee dram?

-A wee dram!

-Yous just help yourself, lassie.

-Oh, right!

Well, this is a first.

Not that I would ever have a wee nip of whisky at this time in the morning,

-but there you go.

-Quite right.

Oh...!

Wonderful!

I'd be accused of advertising if I said what whisky it was, I suppose.

I think you would... Oh, wow! That's...glorious.

This is a lovely piece and I think if you came to sell this,

it would go for £800 to £1,000.

Well, I'll no' be selling it, so it doesn't matter!

I'd be a social outcast in St Andrews

if that were to disappear from my dining room!

I understand this is a real Scottish heirloom?

Apparently.

This, here, is what it's all about. Could you read that for me?

I'll have a go. "This China Dish was used by His Royal Highness, Prince Charles Edward,

"as his Porridge Cup when halted in the house of the Reverend Alexander Keith

"from Inverness. After the disaster of Culloden it was obtained by his daughter,

"afterwards Lady Naismyth, and left by him as an heirloom to the family."

Fantastic, so... Sorry, that was Charles Edward Stuart?

-Bonnie Prince.

-Bonnie Prince Charlie.

-Yep.

Bonnie Prince Charlie.

-We have this on a paper label on this bowl.

-Mm-hm.

Can you tell a bit me more about how this came into your family?

It was Reverend Alexander Keith, my six-times great-grandfather,

so it's come through the family line from there,

through Lady Naismyth and then to our line.

Ah. That's very, very good.

-Now, Bonnie Prince Charlie. Culloden was, what, 1746?

-Yeah.

That's right. So after 1746, we're talking about.

Let's have a little think about this story, let's look at the bowl.

Japanese porcelain around about 1680, 1700,

-so actually that could possibly tie up.

-Yes.

This sort of porcelain was made in Arita. It's Imari-decorated.

And it was made for the great houses of Europe.

It was made for the royal palaces and stately homes.

So this is the sort of place that Bonnie Prince Charlie

might've gone to.

I'm usually very suspicious of paper labels on objects.

You see pieces of wood saying, "A piece of the true cross."

How many pairs of Queen Victoria's stockings have we seen

with labels saying that?

This label, without you being able to verify that,

-is more or less...

-Take it with a pinch of salt.

-Absolutely.

But you can trace that back through the family

-and that counts for a great deal.

-Right.

-Very, important.

-So don't lose it.

-Absolutely.

Well...

From a commercial point of view it's quite...an interesting...one.

If you take away the label and the provenance attached to this bowl,

on the market it's maybe £150, £200, even though it's 300 years old.

Yep, yep.

If this can be backed up, this label...

Right.

If you all, through the family,

can confirm that that is absolutely right,

-it's going to be...ten times that.

-Oh, right.

-Maybe, it could be 2,000, maybe £3,000...

-Gee, whiz!

-..as a piece of Jacobite memorabilia.

-Right.

So, here we are looking at an old lady.

-I don't know who she is. Who is she?

-She's my four-times great-granny.

-Four times?

-Four times.

And she's known in the family as Granny Melville

but she was Margaret Iles when she was born,

and the name's been handed down and I'm the fourth one.

You're the fourth Margaret Iles?

-Yes, it misses a generation each time.

-Oh, I see.

-How many children did she have?

-13 that we know of.

She must have...

She must be the progenitor of most of the families round here then.

That's what it says, progenitor of many families in Kirkcaldy -

the Beveridges, the Guthries

and I can't...the Williamsons - and I can't remember all the others.

I picked this out because I thought it was just such a good portrait

of about 1860 I'd say. Would that be right for the date of the lady?

She was born in 1778 and she died in 1874.

She was 96 years and seven months when she died.

-Crikey, she did terribly well.

-She outlived her husband by 50-odd years.

Obviously she wasn't worn out!

I just thought it was such a good portrait, so psychological somehow,

and it's caught a wonderful sense of humour, which she'd have needed

with 13 children, that's for sure, and incredible strength of character

and a twinkle in her eye. It's completely beguiling, isn't it?

I love looking at it.

I'm afraid I don't know who it's by, which...

-That's what I really wanted to know.

-Of course it is. But, you know,

sometimes you can't know, it's just not possible.

There are too many local people, you see,

and they are all of them trained. At this time in the 1860s,

there were plenty of people who could have done it.

But a way of finding out - you need specialist local knowledge -

-is to write to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery...

-Right.

..and show them a photograph of it. There may be some local suspects

who could fit the bill and give you an idea at least.

In market terms - worth about £1,000 to £2,000 at the very most.

-In personal terms...

-She's priceless.

-..incalculable.

-Yes.

-Thanks ever so.

-Thank you.

Every week at the Antiques Roadshow we see countless objects that,

to the untrained eye, can look almost identical.

I mean, I often wonder why a teapot, for example, can be worth

a few pounds and then another teapot can be worth thousands of pounds.

Well, to test my powers of observation and yours at home,

our experts are setting us a challenge in this series,

bringing along objects that perform an identical function,

but have very different values.

This week it's the turn of jewellery specialist Geoffrey Munn.

He has brought along three cigarette cases.

Now have a look - one is a basic model worth £150 to £200.

One is a better model - well, considerably better

because it's worth £7,000 to £8,000.

And then the best one is worth,

in my mind anyway, a staggering £100,000.

Now he'll be telling us a little bit later on, which it is,

but, first of all, I'll ask our visitors to see if they can guess.

Come on, guys, have a look. One of them is a hundred grand.

So, what do you think?

You're all pointing at something different, that's no help at all!

The decision to admit women to the university in 1877

was very controversial. It was thought by the men

that this was not a good...not a good move, to maintain standards.

And indeed there was a protest by the students

and the members of College at the time,

where they walked down to the pier.

At the end of the pier, they hurled their academic caps into the sea.

That's the reason why there are no degrees for men

at St Andrews that actually have an academic cap.

It was also decided therefore, that women couldn't be...

get the same degree as a man.

-So they dreamed up this new scheme which was a lady's degree...

-Yes.

..LLA or Lady Literate in Arts. And it was given to them,

-they wore it on a sash, and this is an original sash.

-Like this, yes.

-They wore that and it was in the place of a gown or cap.

-Excellent.

Where did you get them from?

Well, this one came from...I bought it in '84 soon after I arrived here.

And that came from what you might describe as a junk shop

in Garbridge quite nearby, long since gone.

-I think I paid £8 for it.

-Right.

-Well...

-I thought it was desperately rare until about a week ago,

when, on an internet site,

-I found this.

-Well I'm glad to say they are both silver, these,

and for £8 I think your investment was rather good.

From one side of the world, we go right across to

the other side of the world

because you've got a really lovely decorative silver goblet here,

that, I think it's not too hard to see -

-with all these figures on the side - that it comes from China.

-Mm-hm.

It's got typical sort of really profuse figures

and foliage round the side, absolutely what you'd expect

from a piece of silver made in the last quarter of the 19th century.

Most importantly, if we turn it up and look at the bottom,

it's got the mark LC - that's for Leeching of Shanghai,

prolific maker in the 1870s-1880s.

So you've actually got a very nice piece of silver by a good maker.

And if we start with the two badges,

their value is almost certainly going to be

to someone in and around St Andrews. They could be worth hundreds,

it just depends who would want them, and how much they would want them,

but they're certainly lovely things, rare things.

The Chinese goblet though is rather a different matter.

Can you remember what you paid for it?

-I think about £140.

-140?

-It was a lot of money in those days, to me.

-That was. It's a lot of money to everyone.

-Mm-hm.

But not as much as it's worth now, because I would comfortably

say that's worth at least £2,000 now, probably more.

-Good grief!

-Yeah.

They came into our family in 1939 through a great-aunt.

Was she out in China? A missionary or something?

No, as far as I know,

she was a nursing attendant to Reginald Johnston.

-Who he?

-He was in fact the tutor to the last emperor in China.

-Ah, to Pu Yi.

-Pu Yi, yes.

-Now prior to that, we would need to go back to Yuan Shih-kai.

-Yes.

Who tried to reinstate dynastic rule in 1916.

Yeah, yeah, so the question is - are they made for the Emperor Pu Yi,

or Yuan Shih-kai, or are they Republic?

Yuan Shih-kai gifted them to the Emperor,

who, in turn, gifted them to Reginald Johnston

who took them back.

That is the most fantastic pedigree, if we can prove it.

-There is a slip of paper, yes.

-A slip of paper?

-Yes.

-Perfect.

That's just what we want,

I mean - you know - that is as good as it could get, really.

Yeah, poor Pu Yi - he was the last emperor and he ended his days,

after the Republic was declared, as a gardener,

which he was for 60 or 70 years, something like that.

There was that wonderful film

that was made of the sort of end of his time.

My favourite bit was - actually, I'm not sure it came in the film,

maybe it was in the book. Once he was banished,

the Forbidden City was emptied and this retinue of the emperor -

ex-emperor -

and all the servants, the concubines,

and wives - everybody came out in a file,

and it took something like ten hours for them to all empty out

and in the middle were the eunuchs.

Now, eunuchs actually controlled everything in China -

they were the administrators.

And they came out weeping copiously because their livelihoods

were now gone, and holding a little jar in which was their testicles.

THEY CHUCKLE

Maybe they were hoping they could be put back, I don't know.

-And then he ended up in a garden.

-That's right, yes.

-As a gardener.

-Yes.

-And apparently was quite happy.

-Yes.

We're talking about a date in the early years of the 20th century,

and this kind of painting that we've got on here is much more akin

to classical scroll painting than it is to ceramic painting.

And this way of treating a tree with a black trunk and branches,

and little dots of colour for the leaves

or flowers, very characteristic of the period,

as is this wash of green with the black on it.

So I have no doubt that they date from that period.

What one would like to find on the bottom is a Yuan Shih-kai mark.

And we don't got - as the film says.

Yes, we've got - that's "hall", that's "made for" -

so it's made for the hall of the "benevolent"...

And benevolence, yes.

They made various changes to this mark, for different halls,

but what's nice about it is it's brilliantly painted -

that is a really top-class mark.

The handles are unusual, dragon handles.

The emperor's symbol was a dragon.

Sadly we've got a lot of damage to the handles -

they've been off and stuck back again - but it's not a killer.

The Chinese market, as you probably realise,

has gone mad in the last two or three years.

They like very much porcelain which up to this point

we would not have rated.

A few years ago, I would have put that in a sale...

those pair in a sale with the damage,

£200 to £300 and they wouldn't have fetched any more than that -

that's all they would have made.

And now, with fingers crossed,

we could be looking at £20,000 to £30,000.

But if they made more, I would not be in the least surprised.

The bad hair, the maniacal grin, the knobbly knees,

it could be me at the end of an Antiques Roadshow day,

but in fact it is, of course, Dennis the Menace and his dog Gnasher.

And I'm surrounded by Beano, Dandy,

Warlord, they're sort of icons, certainly these two are,

from my childhood.

Wonderful pieces of artwork. How did you get them?

We were surveying a warehouse that we'd purchased in Dundee,

formerly a DC Thomson's warehouse.

Now, we ought to say DC Thomson is perhaps THE best-known publisher,

dealing with comics and still in business today,

printing newspapers and so on.

But Dundee is perhaps best known for DC Thomson and in fact I think

-in Dundee there is a statue, isn't there, of Desperate Dan?

-Yes.

Striding down Dundee High Street.

Yes, and in part of the warehouse there was an old boiler housing,

obviously not used for decades. Black, no electricity, no lighting,

so had the torches out, having a good root about to see what was in there.

-As you do.

-As you do.

And there was some boarding over in the far corner,

so these were facing the wall, so we couldn't actually see what they were,

and then when we pulled them back, to reveal these,

I thought, "They're fantastic."

Now, I hope I'm right in saying that

-DC Thomson are aware that you have these.

-Yeah, yeah.

A representative for them came along to the building. There was some other

artwork there and they actually destroyed it on the spot.

-What, tore it up?

-Tore it up.

And we said, "And these?" They said, "No, they're old display boards,

"we're not interested in retrieving those, you can have them."

-So you basically got sign-off.

-Yeah.

-Right, great.

Well, I mean let's just talk a bit about these images.

The Beano started in 1938, Dennis the Menace with his... What was it?

Not as fine a dog as yours here,

but I think wasn't Gnasher an Abyssinian wire-haired tripe hound?

-OK.

-Something like that, obviously not as purebred as your own.

As far as dating the artwork is concerned,

there are some clues, and that is that Dennis

didn't actually make it onto the front cover of Beano until 1974.

With Dandy, Desperate Dan didn't make it to the front cover

of Dandy until about 1985.

And as we know, Warlord didn't exist before 1974,

it went out of business in 1986,

so I would say that these are all dating from that '83-'84-'85 period.

So that sort of nails the date.

As far as value's concerned,

I am sure that we're talking about

a couple of thousand pounds each, if not more.

Typical things to sell on the internet,

if you ever decided to part with them.

But no, I mean, to me, it's brought back

a lot of memories, and thanks very much indeed

-for bringing them in.

-Thank you.

# Dennis the Menace

# He's a bundle of dynamite

# Oh, the things he says and the things he does

# Will make you shake with fright... #

-What are you studying?

-Maths.

-Well, that's no use at all.

# You'd better be on your toes... #

I think this one's the best.

# Bound to be a calamity no matter where he goes... #

-If I get the 100,000 one right, do I get it?

-Sadly, no.

Nice try, though.

# When he looks at you with those eyes of blue

# He'll steal you heart away... #

I think your bronze

might be described as something of a conversation piece,

so I'm intrigued to know for how many generations

she's been causing a little bit of chat in your family.

Well, my great-grandfather bought her, so I'm told,

and she's just always been in the family.

In fact quite a few of the family possessions were used

-during the Great Depression to pay bills.

-OK.

So this is one of the few things that survived.

So let's have a look at your lady

and I have to say that I find her totally fascinating and beguiling

because I've never seen a posture of... No, I didn't!

-Would you please?

-LAUGHTER

I've never seen a posture of this type before.

And so it comes under the heading of innovative,

and then I look at the way that it's been worked. And I'm thinking

this has been made to go in a certain position,

either in a library -

I mean it's got a more of a gentleman's feel to it.

And I notice there's a signature round here -

if I can show it - down here.

And it says "Crenda". Now, I don't know who Crenda is -

I've got to put my hand up - but what I do know

is that he is a very credible sculptor,

because I think that this just needs a sort of a waxing

and it'll be brought back to, you know, total life.

-Does she have a name in your family?

-My mother just said she was Psyche.

Psyche. So what price

a bronze which, date-wise, I would suggest

is probably around about 1895-1905?

But you know, if I wanted to buy your Psyche,

well, I would say round about £1,500 to £2,000.

-Oh, really?

-So I think this is a treasure.

-Thank you.

She is to us and she'll always stay in the family.

Earlier on, our jewellery specialist, Geoffrey Munn,

set us all a challenge.

He brought along three cigarette cases, one a basic model

worth about £150 to £200,

a better case, worth in the region of £7,000 to £8,000

and then the best one, worth a whopping £100,000.

Our visitors have all had a go at guessing,

I think I could fair say guessing, so have I.

Now, Geoffrey, I have to say, this was, so far for me, the hardest,

because I'd absolutely no idea. Why cigarette cases?

Because that's not what I would have thought you would bring along.

Well, they're sort of an extension of jewellery in a way.

It's a high form of dress

and there was a time when people

said they "wore" a cigarette case, because they'd go out to dinner

in white tie, fantastic studs, cuff links,

so it was a status symbol at the highest possible level

and of course the craftsmanship lavished on it

was also marvellous, as you see here.

-I mean, deeply unfashionable now...

-Yes.

..to have a cigarette case.

When were they introduced? When did they become...?

Well, when people stopped snuffing which was...

Do you snuff? You stopped in time?

I've never... No, I have snuffed on a Roadshow once, horrendous!

Well, snuffing gave way to cigarettes and to smoking,

and it's just another way of getting the nicotine.

Well, I decided, just to be contrary,

because this LOOKS the most expensive,

-I put it as basic because I thought you might be playing a trick.

-Me?!

-Better - even though this is older.

-Yes.

Best because it's got an inscription that might add to its value.

-But, to be honest, I've no idea. So, go on.

-Help us?

What should we be looking for?

Well, in a funny way,

it was a challenge for me to bring something to muddy the waters

and you might have assumed that that was the best,

because it's a massive show

of gold and it's by Cartier which is one of the great firms.

-I didn't spot that.

-No, no, but anyway that doesn't matter.

But it's evident and it's an extraordinarily chic object

and so you could easily be forgiven for thinking that that's best

and it's a great guess. And then better and why not?

But the core of this one is silver

and it's been overlaid with nine-carat gold.

So its intrinsic value and its status value isn't quite the same.

The fact that both are engraved detracts from their value.

-Oh.

-Yes, because unless it's a very, very serious provenance,

perhaps you don't really want to have somebody else's cigarette case

with a presentation inscription in it that doesn't refer to you.

The most mysterious and the best one really is this one here.

-So the one that I put as basic, is the best one?

-Well, frankly, yes.

-And everything else is wrong as well.

-Oh, gosh! Right. OK.

And so the trick has worked. I have beguiled you.

-I've befuddled you in front of millions of people.

-Great.

-Great.

-I'm not at all embarrassed.

-Yes.

-No.

All right. So, the basic one is which one, then?

The basic one is here, and the better one is there

and the best one is there.

-Excellent, so all wrong.

-A three-card trick.

-OK.

But it's a very specialist area

and these things are sought after for different reasons.

So why is this the best one?

I think, if angels were smoking, this would be their cigarette case.

This is the most beautiful piece of goldsmith's work

you could ever hope to see.

It's so sophisticated.

It's a complete swan song of goldsmiths' work.

It comes from 1915 but what makes it so desirable

and so collectable is that it's made by the most famous goldsmith

ever to have lived, and it's by Carl Faberge.

I should have known there'd be a Faberge.

-You should have known.

-Gosh. And where...? How can you tell?

Well, tiny, tiny marks on the inside.

The signatures are on the inside.

-So that's the Faberge signature there.

-Yes.

And the purity of the gold.

And these here are tiny diamonds, are they?

Tiny rose diamonds set into platinum, just to help you find

the clasp for your Faberge cigarette case, when you are at a ball

-in St Petersburg, dancing.

-As you do.

-As you do.

To walk out into the snow where your troika awaits you

to take you back to your palace with your box, like snow on the ground.

I mean, that's what that's all about, it's poetry in goldsmith's work.

Well, given that I thought £100,000 of Faberge cigarette case

was worth about 150 quid,

I won't be applying for an apprentice job

with Geoffrey any time soon.

Oh, dear. Anyway, if you have a cigarette case at home

and want to know about how you can tell what it might be worth,

find out a little bit more about it,

why don't you look at our website?

Whenever I see paintings by this particular artist,

I feel I need my sunglasses on.

Tretchikoff has always been imprinted in my mind

as the prints one sees in people's houses,

certainly in the '50s and '60s -

because he became well-known through his prints.

-Yes.

-And here we have two original Tretchikoffs. How did you get those?

Um, I bought them off the internet.

I've been collecting the prints for years,

his most iconic print is The Green Lady.

Absolutely.

And I've got Miss Wong, and I've got about over 50 original prints,

but I was really wanting an original.

And just tell me, do you know the title of this one?

-Yes, it's Beyond Reality.

-And how do you know that?

The gentleman I bought it off, I've got this catalogue.

-You found the catalogue?

-Yeah.

-Could I have a look at it?

-Yeah.

And here we have, listed in this catalogue,

number 13, Beyond Reality,

and, interestingly enough, the exhibition was in Durban.

As we know, he's a South African artist - actually a Russian artist.

-That's right.

-Tretchikoff, who, born in 1913,

went to South Africa and became very well-known there.

And the famous print of the lady that you saw,

produced by Frost and Reed over here - and you often see it

in all the houses - and that's how artists become well known.

-They paint a picture, but through prints...

-Yes.

It's a classic thing, you know, about Tretchikoff

-how he became so well known through his prints.

-Yeah.

And here we have two originals. So you bought them on the internet.

-Yeah.

-And what did you pay for them?

I paid about 3,500 for two of them,

but I had to pay a further 1,000 to get that one restored.

OK. This one is absolutely beautiful

and I think that that's worth £10,000 to £15,000.

-That's fabulous.

-Yeah. And it could make more.

That one there, value on that

would be somewhere in the region of £4,000 to £6,000,

-maybe £5,000 to £7,000.

-That's good too.

And I think it's extraordinary you bought them

off the internet for £3,500 for two,

-because three years ago...

-Yeah.

..when you purchased these, these were making very good money,

-so you did jolly well.

-Yeah, that's smashing.

Just popped out from work

for a brief minute and I've got something in my bag

that I wondered if it would be of any interest, not an antique?

-What have you got?

-It is a programme from a fashion show -

the Don't Walk Fashion Show - that Kate Middleton appeared in

when Prince William was in the audience.

-The transparent thing with her underwear on display?

-Yes.

-Let's see.

-Her name's quite clearly mentioned.

"Kate Middleton" - how fantastic.

Don't Walk Fashion Show.

Because, of course, we have seen that image

and now the dress has sold for a lot of money, hasn't it?

-Mm.

-It's been bought by a private collector.

-It has.

-So were you

-at the fashion show?

-I was at the fashion show with my sister

-and we were near William when he was watching...

-How exciting.

..watching her coming down the catwalk.

How extraordinary. And, of course, after the wedding and, you know,

so much in the news now, William and Kate, aren't they?

You've got two copies of it, why's that?

The top copy is my own copy and the second copy,

I believe, belongs to William himself.

I collected it from the table he was sitting at,

with his party, after they'd left.

-So that was William's one?

-This is William's copy.

And it's got his thumbprint on it, just there.

THEY CHUCKLE

-I can't believe it. You just walked in here with this.

-Mm.

-Fantastic.

I didn't think it was going be of any interest, really.

Well, it is. It may be of value. I couldn't say but you need to see

-one of our experts. Great.

-Good, thank you very much. Thank you.

-It was very kindly given to me by an elderly aunt.

-Really? Recently?

-Um, yes, a few months back.

-And what's her back story with it?

I mean, just to be given a piece of Moorcroft like this is one thing,

-but what's the background?

-If I'm honest, I don't know.

-Really?

-Yeah.

Had you always admired it, or did it arrive in out of the blue?

More or less, yes. I'd never seen it before.

I was delighted when I opened it.

Wow. And was there any sign of sentiment about why it was given?

As a gift? Or was just time to move it on to a new owner?

Just time to move on, yeah.

So takes pride of place in your home, I assume?

-No, in the spare bedroom out of the hands of small children.

-Oh, really?

-Yeah.

-How small?

-Very small.

-Oh, that small? OK.

-Yes.

Well, it's probably not a bad idea.

This is Moorcroft quite clearly, but for me this is...

this is Moorcroft with just some added essence.

I mean, Moorcroft laid his hands on every single piece that he made,

every single piece that was decorated in the factory,

because he was responsible for drawing the tracing paper designs

that would then be handed to the outliners.

They would trace over them, onto the body of the pot to tube line,

but they were following his line,

they were following his designs.

So for me, unlike many other pottery designers

who just handed their work away,

there is an essence of William Moorcroft

in every single piece that he produced.

-And he never relinquished that, you know.

-OK.

-He stuck with that.

And this is him on a particularly good day, if you ask my opinion.

Date-wise, we're somewhere between 1900 and 1905.

It's that early period where he's found his feet,

he's working for James Macintyre,

he's been given this artistic freedom to just go for it,

and, boy, hasn't he done it here?

A combination of wonderful shape, beautiful, sinuous handles

and a pattern that we call "freesia".

-Freesia, OK.

-Absolutely.

And not only that, it's freesia on a white ground.

Now, Moorcroft - it is one of those names,

it's known the length and breadth of the country -

we all know it.

But what a lot of people maybe don't realise

is quite what's happening to Moorcroft at the moment.

And I am continually stunned on a daily, weekly, monthly basis

as I watch these pieces change hands from one person to another.

There seems to be this never-ending admiration

and respect for a designer of this calibre.

So that comes down to the point of,

what would somebody exchange to take this away from you?

I sense it would have to be something serious, in fact

-I sense that you love this.

-I do, although it's in a spare room,

I do, I love the colour and the fact it's got the three handles.

But, yeah, it is quite special.

Well, "special" is absolutely spot-on, perfect word.

And special to me, means that if you had to go and replace this,

and go to a specialist dealer, or somebody who really is

at the top of the game, and the top of the market with this,

you're going to have to part with about £8,000.

Well...

Now, there's a phrase that has emerged, I don't know why,

over the last few years, which I am sure you've used, I've used,

everybody here has used - you see it in every gift shop in Britain,

-which is...

-"Keep calm and carry on."

And so when I unroll this,

no-one's going to be surprised at what they see.

-No.

-Because I'm sure everyone's got one somewhere in their office.

-You seem to have quite a few of them.

-Yes, yes.

-Why?

Well, I believe I acquired them

from my father who was in the Royal Observer Corps.

I believe that's where my mum and dad actually met.

The actual background to this famous message runs back to 1940.

The Germans are about to invade Britain and there was a real fear

that that was actually to happen, and everybody knows

if we hadn't won the Battle of Britain, they might have.

-Yes, yes.

-And every post office, every public body in Britain,

was issued with posters like this and the orders were,

the moment the Germans set foot in Britain, the posters go up.

So what the Government was telling the Great British nation

was, "Keep calm and carry on."

Yes.

And, of course, September 1940, invasion off, posters useless -

-in the bin.

-Yes.

And that was the end of the story

and of course it was then forgotten about.

Many, many years ago on a completely different Roadshow,

a lady came who'd been a postmistress

in a village in a remote part of Britain, and she brought in a couple

which were the small size and she told me the story.

She said that she had them ready, drawing pins in hand,

and, of course, then nothing happened and in fact,

at the end of that day, she gave me one of those. She said,

-"I'm going to throw them away, so have one."

-Crivvens.

And so I did, and I took it home and thought nothing of it.

This was years ago. Then I read an article in a paper which said that

this has become so famous because there are no originals,

all the originals have been thrown away,

there's only one or two surviving and they're...terribly rare.

And I thought, "Well, that's a bit odd, I've got one on my wall!"

And, blow me, you've got one, two, three... How many have you got?

There's five there - these are the five best ones -

and approximately 15 in this pile, but I haven't counted them properly

because I'm scared of damaging them even more than...

I have to say, these are in very good condition.

These ones, I can see they've had a harder life.

So why did you come today?

Some months ago, last year, I believe, I was watching The One Show

when there was an article there about a bookshop

somewhere in England, Barter's Books, who had found a poster in the loft.

And, of course, after watching that, I thought,

"Well, I've got about 20 of those.

I have had another assessment done of the posters but I was told

they're common as muck, they're worthless,

and it made me almost think twice about coming today, but I thought,

"No, I'll go for a second opinion from the respected..."

OK, I'll give you a second opinion.

Common as muck is, I have to say, completely untrue

but I think I read an article in a national newspaper which said,

"There is only one known survivor." That is also completely untrue.

So somewhere between those two stories we have the truth.

The point is, rarity is very important.

Everyone has forgotten, from the reproductions,

that there actually was an original.

-Yes.

-This is the original. This is as issued in 1940.

Now, do you realise you're probably sitting on

the world's stock of original "Keep Calm And Carry On" posters?

I had never thought of it like that.

I knew they were originals but I never,

never thought of it in worldly terms.

-You have the monopoly.

-Wow. Oh, wow.

Gosh.

I think if one of these came up for sale, it would fetch £1,000.

-For one?

-For one. Because they're perceived to be so rare.

How many have you got, 20 or so?

20, not all in as good condition as this.

No. There's an interesting debate here.

If you've only got one and it's worth £1,000,

it's worth £1,000.

If you suddenly say, "Oh, but I've got 19 more,"

is that another £19,000?

-Or does the price suddenly collapse?

-Yes, I had thought of that.

-Because all the under-bidders in the world can now have one.

-Yes.

Well, the answer is, we don't really know until we try.

I think you have got a very rare and unusual item.

Potentially, I don't think you've got £20,000...

-No.

-..because it doesn't work like that.

-No.

-But you've got several thousand pounds, possibly £10,000...

-Gosh.

..if there are enough in good condition.

I've got another one at home. LAUGHTER

Keep calm and carry on -

that could be our motto at the Roadshow, because you never know

what'll turn up, what the weather's going to throw at us.

Oh, in case you're wondering about those programmes

for the fashion show that Kate was at with her transparent dress,

Paul Atterbury had a look at those and thought probably about £500.

So not bad, given the lady who brought them had popped in

for five minutes from the office.

We've had a great day here at St Andrews.

Until next time, from all the Roadshow team, bye-bye.