0:00:08 > 0:00:11We've been scouring the country in search of more treasure
0:00:11 > 0:00:14and wanted to start in grand surroundings.
0:00:14 > 0:00:16So how about this magnificent setting?
0:00:16 > 0:00:18It's Manchester's town hall.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26Thankfully, these stairs were designed to allow Victorian ladies
0:00:26 > 0:00:30to ascend without ever having to look down.
0:00:30 > 0:00:35A gracious welcome indeed to a new series of the Antiques Roadshow.
0:01:17 > 0:01:21It's been a long time since we last visited Manchester Town Hall
0:01:21 > 0:01:25and, dare I say it, some of you might even remember it.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29The one common characteristic of the halls to which we take
0:01:29 > 0:01:31the Antiques Roadshow is size.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34We really do need somewhere that's big enough to accommodate
0:01:34 > 0:01:36up to 5,000 people in a single day.
0:01:36 > 0:01:40And here in Manchester, it was the great Victorian town hall
0:01:40 > 0:01:44that seemed to fit that bill superbly well.
0:01:44 > 0:01:47Good to see Hugh Scully doing crowd control 20 years ago.
0:01:47 > 0:01:50I'm glad to say we're still pretty popular.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52What have you got here, sir? Is that a Bruce tartan?
0:01:52 > 0:01:56I don't think so. I think it's Royal Stewart.
0:01:56 > 0:01:57I think it might be.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01Our expert Judith Miller, she'll have a look at that. Thank you.
0:02:03 > 0:02:05Before we throw the doors open for business,
0:02:05 > 0:02:08just time for a quick look round.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15As town halls go, this is one of the finest in the country,
0:02:15 > 0:02:20with some of Manchester's most famous sons watching over the proceedings.
0:02:20 > 0:02:23No expense was spared when it was built in 1877.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26Industrial Manchester was hugely wealthy.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29This building was a statement.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31Manchester had arrived.
0:02:31 > 0:02:33And wow.
0:02:33 > 0:02:35Just look at this.
0:02:35 > 0:02:38The jewel in the crown has to be the Great Hall.
0:02:38 > 0:02:43All around the walls are murals by one of the top artists of the day,
0:02:43 > 0:02:45depicting the city's colourful past.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51The 12 murals by Pre-Raphaelite artist Ford Madox Brown
0:02:51 > 0:02:53took 15 years to complete -
0:02:53 > 0:02:55far longer than anyone had expected.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59When Ford Madox Brown came to do this last one,
0:02:59 > 0:03:02he'd had a stroke and lost the use of his right hand,
0:03:02 > 0:03:06but the great men of Manchester Town Hall insisted he finish the job,
0:03:06 > 0:03:08so he had to paint it with his left hand,
0:03:08 > 0:03:11which is why it's a lot coarser and cruder than the others.
0:03:11 > 0:03:16But actually, given it's his left hand, it's still not half bad.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25As if by magic, the experts are already seated,
0:03:25 > 0:03:27the room is buzzing with excitement.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30I declare this new series well and truly open.
0:03:32 > 0:03:34Now one of the ultimate toys for boys
0:03:34 > 0:03:38has to be a large-scale racing car,
0:03:38 > 0:03:41and if it's got an exotic name like Alfa Romeo,
0:03:41 > 0:03:44all the better. And being red couldn't be better.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47So how come you've brought it along?
0:03:47 > 0:03:50This was my father's and I...
0:03:50 > 0:03:52He was given it as a child and played with it.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56He was very, very careful with his toys.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58And then I played with it when I was a small child
0:03:58 > 0:04:00and actually broke it.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02I still feel guilty now about what I did.
0:04:02 > 0:04:05Did you get into trouble? I did get into trouble
0:04:05 > 0:04:09and I feel guilty now, still, to this day, about what I did to that car.
0:04:09 > 0:04:10Which was what?
0:04:10 > 0:04:14Well, I broke the steering. It sort of doesn't steer very well.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17And I really still feel quite bad about that.
0:04:17 > 0:04:20But toys are meant to be played with. They are, yes.
0:04:20 > 0:04:23And when sometimes we see a toy that's in absolutely pristine
0:04:23 > 0:04:26mint condition, I feel slightly sad because whoever got given it
0:04:26 > 0:04:28didn't play with it. That's it.
0:04:28 > 0:04:30So why have a toy you don't play with?
0:04:30 > 0:04:32And the story about the bear?
0:04:32 > 0:04:36The bear is the same story really. That was my father's as well.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39They were always together, so I presume they're from the same era,
0:04:39 > 0:04:41but I really know nothing about them. Absolutely.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44They're both from the 1920s
0:04:44 > 0:04:47and the Alfa Romeo was produced by a French company called CIJ.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51And they produced them in various different colours,
0:04:51 > 0:04:52greens and blues and reds.
0:04:52 > 0:04:54This has seen a bit of wear. Yes.
0:04:54 > 0:04:56Your dad obviously played with it.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58It would have had leather straps
0:04:58 > 0:05:01but often these petrol filler caps are missing.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03So although, you know, it's got a bit of wear there,
0:05:03 > 0:05:06it's not in too bad condition.
0:05:06 > 0:05:08And the bear being felt,
0:05:08 > 0:05:11his uniform has got a bit grubby, hasn't it?
0:05:11 > 0:05:12That can be cleaned a bit.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15And he's a mechanical bear. Have you got the key?
0:05:15 > 0:05:17I haven't got the key. I couldn't find the key.
0:05:17 > 0:05:21Well, you can find a key, that's not too difficult to find. The motor's still there
0:05:21 > 0:05:24and you'd have wound him up, and he would have shuffled along.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28Made this time by a German manufacturer, Schuco.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32And I think he has great charm and if he can sit down,
0:05:32 > 0:05:35you almost want to put him in there to drive the car.
0:05:35 > 0:05:37That's just how I felt with it, I love him.
0:05:37 > 0:05:41They're family pieces, I'm sure they're never going to be sold. No.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45But one, a red one like this, recently changed hands, slightly better condition,
0:05:45 > 0:05:47for ?3,750.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54So a little bit less for yours, don't get too excited.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56And you did damage it. I did damage it, yes.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58Takes a bit more away,
0:05:58 > 0:06:00maybe 3,000.
0:06:00 > 0:06:04And the bear. Get him cleaned up a bit and he'll be worth
0:06:04 > 0:06:05?800 to ?1,200.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08You amaze me, you absolutely amaze me!
0:06:10 > 0:06:13I wish my father could hear that really.
0:06:13 > 0:06:16I'm sure he's looking down from above... I'm sure.
0:06:16 > 0:06:18..and forgiving your misdemeanours when you were that high.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23So I understand that Arthur Negus saw this chair back in 1969.
0:06:23 > 0:06:28Yes. That's true. I think my mum and her mum and dad actually came up here
0:06:28 > 0:06:31and got this actually signed by them
0:06:31 > 0:06:37and signed it to my mum, 5th February 1969, so...
0:06:37 > 0:06:40I know that he thought it was very interesting
0:06:40 > 0:06:43and I think he said it's possibly from Austria.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46So where did it originally come from? How did it come into your family?
0:06:46 > 0:06:49Well, it actually came from Trafford Park,
0:06:49 > 0:06:53which is where the world's first industrial park was actually created,
0:06:53 > 0:06:57but the hall that was knocked down had an auction in around 1930.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00And so they auctioned everything off
0:07:00 > 0:07:03and my great-grandfather came home with this amongst other things.
0:07:03 > 0:07:08It's certainly interesting. It's a chair with a difference because it's a musical chair.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10I know, it sounds like something from a fairy tale.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14It's a piece of furniture that really comes to life, doesn't it?
0:07:14 > 0:07:19There's the musical cylinder enclosed inside.
0:07:19 > 0:07:21Of course, the idea is that when you sit on it,
0:07:21 > 0:07:25the spring goes down and the music starts to play.
0:07:25 > 0:07:29Fantastic sort of fantasy carving, really, these scrolling branches,
0:07:29 > 0:07:34and there's a red deer inlaid to the back panel,
0:07:34 > 0:07:38and then on the seat inlaid in wood there are two chamois,
0:07:38 > 0:07:42or Alpine goats, inset into the centre of the seat.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46Well, Arthur Negus said Austrian. I beg to differ,
0:07:46 > 0:07:48a very brave thing to do. I think it's Swiss,
0:07:48 > 0:07:52almost certainly from a town called Brienz,
0:07:52 > 0:07:57and Brienz has a history of centuries of wood carving. Right.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00And in the mid 19th century there were a lot of German
0:08:00 > 0:08:04and British tourists who came to visit Brienz
0:08:04 > 0:08:08and this really was a souvenir that probably quite a grand visitor
0:08:08 > 0:08:10would have picked up.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12So as far as its value goes,
0:08:12 > 0:08:16in fact, it's very against the current taste
0:08:16 > 0:08:20for slightly streamlined furniture. It's a little bit fussy and ornate.
0:08:20 > 0:08:25However, the chair that your great-grandfather bought
0:08:25 > 0:08:27is really in a league of its own,
0:08:27 > 0:08:29and if this was to appear on the market now,
0:08:29 > 0:08:33I'm pretty certain it would fetch in the region of ?2,000.
0:08:33 > 0:08:37Really?! I would genuinely never have thought it.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40I don't know whether they'd have thought about selling it,
0:08:40 > 0:08:42but, my God, that's amazing.
0:08:42 > 0:08:46And as a child at heart, do you mind if I have a go? Go on.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50MUSIC PLAYS
0:08:58 > 0:09:02Now many people might wonder why a clock and watch man is discussing
0:09:02 > 0:09:05a leather and silver belt.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07Is this a thing you've ever worn, or not?
0:09:07 > 0:09:11Yes, I used to wear it in the '60s and '70s
0:09:11 > 0:09:13but then I was a lot slimmer
0:09:13 > 0:09:14and I could read the time.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17So now we're talking about reading the time,
0:09:17 > 0:09:21and this is the time that I shall pick it up
0:09:21 > 0:09:25and reveal, by pressing the button down here, what happens.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28And that drops forward and the wearer...
0:09:29 > 0:09:31..can read the time. That's it.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34But what a bit of fun. It's great. It's signed Cyma.
0:09:34 > 0:09:36It's Swiss,
0:09:36 > 0:09:39and it's got a full set of various Swiss marks
0:09:39 > 0:09:43including a little dog with "Trusty" written underneath. A great thing.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46What sort of date do you reckon it might be?
0:09:46 > 0:09:49I would say late 1920s or early 1930s.
0:09:49 > 0:09:51Spot-on, absolutely right.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54Movado did a watch called the hermetic watch
0:09:54 > 0:09:57which ladies used to use in a bag,
0:09:57 > 0:10:00closed in and out, and this is another form of hermetic watch.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03So it's more of a novelty item than a high-value item, to be honest.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05And if you were to put it to auction,
0:10:05 > 0:10:08bearing in mind it's had a bit of a hard life and it's a bit rubbed,
0:10:08 > 0:10:11I think you'd probably be looking at, sensibly, around the sort of
0:10:11 > 0:10:15600 mark. On a good day, it might even make up towards 1,000
0:10:15 > 0:10:17but it's a lot of fun, I like it.
0:10:17 > 0:10:18Oh, yes, thank you.
0:10:28 > 0:10:31This series, we're setting you at home, and our visitors
0:10:31 > 0:10:33here at Manchester Town Hall, a bit of a challenge.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35There's no prize but hopefully
0:10:35 > 0:10:38you'll learn some surprising facts about your treasures at home.
0:10:38 > 0:10:39This is how it works.
0:10:39 > 0:10:42I'll show you with these three strings of pearls.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45Now one of these is a very basic model
0:10:45 > 0:10:47worth about ?25.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50Another, bit more medium range,
0:10:50 > 0:10:51about ?250.
0:10:51 > 0:10:55And one of them is the creme de la creme
0:10:55 > 0:10:58worth ?25,000.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01But the thing is - to me, at any rate - they all look the same.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05So John Benjamin, our jewellery expert, who set this test,
0:11:05 > 0:11:07is going to reveal all shortly.
0:11:07 > 0:11:11But first of all, I'm going to find out if our visitors here can help me out.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18"Der Ring Des Nibelungen". The Ring Of The Nibelung. Yes.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21And down here it tells us that it's also "Die Walkure".
0:11:21 > 0:11:23Yes. The Valkyrie.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25So am I right in thinking that you've brought...
0:11:25 > 0:11:30I mean, this is a score for an opera by Richard Wagner.
0:11:30 > 0:11:32Yes, it is.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35When I think of Wagner, I don't think of Manchester, I must say. No.
0:11:35 > 0:11:39I think of Rhinemaidens swimming around, I think of goblins,
0:11:39 > 0:11:42I think of gremlins, I think of magical rings... Absolutely.
0:11:42 > 0:11:43..the Valkyrie themselves.
0:11:43 > 0:11:46If there's one piece of classical music that somebody
0:11:46 > 0:11:48who knows nothing about classical music might know,
0:11:48 > 0:11:50it's The Ride Of The Valkyries. Absolutely.
0:11:50 > 0:11:52HE SINGS
0:11:52 > 0:11:54Yeah, absolutely.
0:11:54 > 0:11:55I've brought it along
0:11:55 > 0:12:00and it's part of the Halle's archives here in Manchester.
0:12:00 > 0:12:02This is the Halle Orchestra?
0:12:02 > 0:12:04It is indeed, yeah, Manchester's very own.
0:12:04 > 0:12:09And it's only very recently come into our possession.
0:12:09 > 0:12:14There is actually a very strong connection with Wagner in Manchester
0:12:14 > 0:12:17in the form of one of our previous conductors,
0:12:17 > 0:12:25Dr Hans Richter, who conducted the Halle from 1899 until 1911.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27And direct descendants of his,
0:12:27 > 0:12:31his great-granddaughters, contacted us some months ago
0:12:31 > 0:12:37to say that they had his personal archive and collection
0:12:37 > 0:12:41in their possession, and they wanted to discuss with us
0:12:41 > 0:12:43us giving it a permanent home.
0:12:43 > 0:12:47So this is the great man himself?
0:12:47 > 0:12:50That is him, yes. When he came to Manchester,
0:12:50 > 0:12:54he was probably the most significant conductor of his age.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57He came to Manchester from the Vienna Philharmonic and...
0:12:57 > 0:13:02well, that says quite a lot. So you're telling me that this volume in itself,
0:13:02 > 0:13:09this opera score was designed to be used by a conductor performing? Yes.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12This was actually in the possession of the conductor Hans Richter? Yes.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Who was your conductor. He was our conductor,
0:13:15 > 0:13:17but more than that, he was very much
0:13:17 > 0:13:21a protege of the composer Richard Wagner,
0:13:21 > 0:13:27and this score was presented to Richter by the composer
0:13:27 > 0:13:30when Richter got married in 1875.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34If you look at the front, there's actually a personal dedication
0:13:34 > 0:13:36from Wagner to Richter,
0:13:36 > 0:13:41so it has actually been in Wagner's hands as well as in Richter's.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43There are some books that are interesting
0:13:43 > 0:13:45and some books that are quite important,
0:13:45 > 0:13:49and then there are some books that you open up and they're just immeasurably exciting.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53When I turn over the page, I see a whole series of lines
0:13:53 > 0:13:57written by Richard Wagner, who's got to be one of the great,
0:13:57 > 0:13:59great composers of the 19th century.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03Yeah, and we suspect that this was not the score
0:14:03 > 0:14:06that he conducted from, because family tradition has it,
0:14:06 > 0:14:09and indeed anecdotes that we have from players who remembered him,
0:14:09 > 0:14:14he conducted everything from memory. He had a photographic memory
0:14:14 > 0:14:17and he never used a score, which is fairly phenomenal.
0:14:17 > 0:14:19It is absolutely unbelievable.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23Well, it's a book that's not going anywhere. No.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26In a way, it's found its spiritual home. Absolutely.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29But of course, everybody's going to want to know
0:14:29 > 0:14:32how much something like this is worth. Mm-hmm.
0:14:32 > 0:14:35I could see this really flying at auction.
0:14:35 > 0:14:39In a special sale devoted to music, this is the kind of thing
0:14:39 > 0:14:42that could really capture the Wagner nuts' attention.
0:14:42 > 0:14:45Of whom there are many. What would it make?
0:14:45 > 0:14:49It could make ?10,000.
0:14:49 > 0:14:53It could make ?20,000. And it could even do better than that.
0:14:53 > 0:14:54Gosh.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56I'll try not to think about that!
0:14:56 > 0:15:00MUSIC: Ride Of The Valkyries by Wagner
0:15:13 > 0:15:15I think that one's the expensive one.
0:15:15 > 0:15:20Right, because you're looking at the clasps, aren't you, rather cunningly?
0:15:20 > 0:15:24And that, I think they look older than those.
0:15:24 > 0:15:27I'm going to go for that.
0:15:27 > 0:15:32I think that's best, that's basic and that's better.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35No...like that.
0:15:35 > 0:15:36Made your mind up? Yeah.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39We'll see if you're right later on. OK.
0:15:55 > 0:16:00In 1787, the wonderful horse painter George Stubbs exhibited
0:16:00 > 0:16:04a painting called Horses Fighting in the Royal Academy,
0:16:04 > 0:16:05together with a pair to it,
0:16:05 > 0:16:09Bulls Fighting, that we're not talking about here.
0:16:09 > 0:16:12And that painting disappeared thereafter,
0:16:12 > 0:16:13and was never seen again.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17The only reason we know of its existence at all
0:16:17 > 0:16:19was a print made of it.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22So help me here a little with the background to your painting.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25It was a present to me from my mother-in-law,
0:16:25 > 0:16:27and she in turn had been given it
0:16:27 > 0:16:32by her uncle and godfather, who came from South Wales.
0:16:32 > 0:16:34He was an estate agent called, I think,
0:16:34 > 0:16:38Harry Lambert, but he also dabbled in antiques
0:16:38 > 0:16:42and went to a number of country house sales.
0:16:42 > 0:16:43That's all I know.
0:16:43 > 0:16:46So it's been in your family for quite a long time, that's for sure.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48Certainly since the 1940s.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51Yes, yes. Well, we're rather thrown, in a sense,
0:16:51 > 0:16:53because we don't have a size for that panel.
0:16:53 > 0:16:58Except that we do know it was a panel, and not on canvas,
0:16:58 > 0:17:00and this is on canvas. Yes.
0:17:00 > 0:17:02So that's the first thing.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05The second thing is that the print itself
0:17:05 > 0:17:08is not far off the size of this, it's a little bit smaller. Right.
0:17:08 > 0:17:11So it could have provided a template
0:17:11 > 0:17:14for a copyist to make another version of Stubbs's painting.
0:17:14 > 0:17:16But as I said before,
0:17:16 > 0:17:19we're really thrown back at looking at the painting very carefully now
0:17:19 > 0:17:21to see whether it actually is a Stubbs.
0:17:21 > 0:17:23So I want you to do that with me,
0:17:23 > 0:17:26if that's OK, and we'll look at the quality of it.
0:17:26 > 0:17:28Now, do you know horses? Yes, very well.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31You're just exactly the right person to talk to, then,
0:17:31 > 0:17:35because...I mean, is that well observed, would you say?
0:17:35 > 0:17:39Not terribly, and this foreleg here has always worried me.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42It's a little truncated, isn't it? Yes, it is.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46And I was looking at the hair of the tail here as well. Yes.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49It looks as if it's been done in a bit of a hurry. Yes, exactly.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52These things add up, don't they? Then look at the shadows
0:17:52 > 0:17:57underneath the horses. They look rather perfunctory, don't you think?
0:17:57 > 0:17:58Yes, almost as though
0:17:58 > 0:18:01they've been put in as an afterthought. It's interesting
0:18:01 > 0:18:04because when you stand back from it,
0:18:04 > 0:18:07it really does work as a late-18th-century painting,
0:18:07 > 0:18:10and then when you really start to look into it and question it
0:18:10 > 0:18:13as we rightly must, then it begins to fall apart,
0:18:13 > 0:18:16doesn't it, slightly? Yes, I'd agree with you there.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18I mean, I don't really mind,
0:18:18 > 0:18:22because I really like the painting. Not everybody does,
0:18:22 > 0:18:24because it's a very aggressive painting.
0:18:24 > 0:18:31Yeah. But...I would say, having had a look at other Stubbs,
0:18:31 > 0:18:34because I've been to both the Stubbs exhibitions,
0:18:34 > 0:18:37I would definitely say that it's not as finely executed.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39Not of the quality. No.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42Well, I have to agree with you. And I think with that in mind,
0:18:42 > 0:18:44you can imagine that were it a Stubbs
0:18:44 > 0:18:47and were it that long-lost Stubbs,
0:18:47 > 0:18:50then we'd be talking about tens of millions of pounds.
0:18:50 > 0:18:55That's a pity. Yeah, I'm afraid we are not talking about tens of millions of pounds,
0:18:55 > 0:18:57we are talking about ?2,000 as a good copy.
0:18:57 > 0:19:01Right. Well, to be frank, I'm really rather glad it isn't a genuine Stubbs
0:19:01 > 0:19:03because I'd wonder what the heck
0:19:03 > 0:19:06I would have to do with it if it were.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08But as it is, I can take it home,
0:19:08 > 0:19:11put it back on my wall and enjoy it. Good.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13So thank you very much indeed. Pleasure.
0:19:15 > 0:19:20Do you know, I wanted to show this flat on this base,
0:19:20 > 0:19:23because do you find if you wear it,
0:19:23 > 0:19:26that it lies very flat against the skin? Yeah, definitely.
0:19:26 > 0:19:28Do you like that aspect of it? Yeah.
0:19:28 > 0:19:32Because with jewellery, sometimes we find jewellers make things
0:19:32 > 0:19:33and they kind of stand proud
0:19:33 > 0:19:36and you feel a little uncomfortable wearing them. Yeah.
0:19:36 > 0:19:38Not with this? No.
0:19:38 > 0:19:40Now, is it a family piece or where did it come from?
0:19:40 > 0:19:44It was a present for my mother-in-law, off her husband
0:19:44 > 0:19:46for a birthday.
0:19:46 > 0:19:47Do you know when?
0:19:47 > 0:19:50About 20 years ago. A-ha. Do you know,
0:19:50 > 0:19:53I mean, has she told you where it was bought from?
0:19:53 > 0:19:56It was bought at an antiques fair, ?200.
0:19:56 > 0:19:57Oh, really? Yeah.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00Looking at the piece itself
0:20:00 > 0:20:02and actually when you pick it up,
0:20:02 > 0:20:05you really see the potential of the piece.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09It's very sinuous, isn't it? It flows beautifully.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12Yeah. Now, the first thing. Those little drops,
0:20:12 > 0:20:15they look like classical vases.
0:20:15 > 0:20:19Yeah. And that's a giveaway, because it was made during a time
0:20:19 > 0:20:24when what we call Classical Revival jewellery was very popular.
0:20:24 > 0:20:29Around about, I suppose, 1865, 1870.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32Wow. OK. Did you have a look at this clasp?
0:20:32 > 0:20:34Yes.
0:20:34 > 0:20:36There, do you see what it is?
0:20:36 > 0:20:39It's fashioned as a miniature gold scarab beetle.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41Right, OK. So, what does that suggest to you?
0:20:41 > 0:20:44Maybe kind of Egyptian? It's trying to be
0:20:44 > 0:20:47something that reminds us of the time of Cleopatra.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52Right. And it performs the function extremely well.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55Now, if I turn it over, it's quite a simple piece, really.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58If I turn it over and put it back down on the table again,
0:20:58 > 0:21:03did you happen to spot
0:21:03 > 0:21:07that interspaced around the necklace
0:21:07 > 0:21:14are a series of little tiny maker's marks for Robert Phillips? Right.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18Now, Robert Phillips was a great man. OK. He was a goldsmith.
0:21:18 > 0:21:20He was working in London. OK.
0:21:20 > 0:21:22And he produced this kind of jewellery.
0:21:22 > 0:21:27Right. And need I tell you that it is highly collectable?
0:21:27 > 0:21:28Oh, very nice.
0:21:28 > 0:21:32So a price was paid, some years ago.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35I would like to think that possibly
0:21:35 > 0:21:38the person who sold it didn't quite recognise the potential.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40Mmm. Do you know what it's worth?
0:21:40 > 0:21:43Oh, I don't like to say.
0:21:43 > 0:21:44?3,000.
0:21:44 > 0:21:48Wow! Wow!
0:21:48 > 0:21:50Minimum. OK.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52Wow.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00Well, one of the most infamous periods of events
0:22:00 > 0:22:02during the Second World War
0:22:02 > 0:22:05took place in Singapore
0:22:05 > 0:22:09and Thailand, and that of course was the building
0:22:09 > 0:22:12of the Thai-Burma railway.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14But just before that,
0:22:14 > 0:22:16when the Japanese captured the Allies,
0:22:16 > 0:22:21they forced them to sign a document
0:22:21 > 0:22:25to say that they weren't going to escape as prisoners of war.
0:22:25 > 0:22:30Now, not many people know that the Japanese, at one period,
0:22:30 > 0:22:34squeezed 16,000 prisoners of war
0:22:34 > 0:22:39into a square in Singapore and kept them there
0:22:39 > 0:22:45for days on end under the blazing hot sun in order to force them
0:22:45 > 0:22:47to sign this non-escape document.
0:22:47 > 0:22:52Now, here we have a drawing - I've never seen one before -
0:22:52 > 0:22:55showing that incident, and it's called The Selerang Square Squeeze
0:22:55 > 0:23:01in Singapore in September 1942, an infamous event.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05But the extraordinary thing is the quality of the drawing.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08Now, I'm amazed, always amazed,
0:23:08 > 0:23:11that there were so many great artists
0:23:11 > 0:23:13who were captured by the Japanese
0:23:13 > 0:23:17during the Second World War, and we see many, many drawings.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20For example, Ronald Searle, the famous cartoonist
0:23:20 > 0:23:24who invented St Trinian's,
0:23:24 > 0:23:27he was captured by the Japanese. Who was the artist?
0:23:27 > 0:23:31The artist was John Mennie.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34He was a prisoner of war.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36This is me daughter-in-law's grandfather,
0:23:36 > 0:23:39who was captured whilst in Singapore,
0:23:39 > 0:23:43and he was in the prisoner-of-war camp with John Mennie.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46This gentleman here was a journalist,
0:23:46 > 0:23:48so we presume John Mennie asked him
0:23:48 > 0:23:52to take these out of the camp when liberation came.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55However, my daughter-in-law
0:23:55 > 0:23:58had no idea of these till the middle 1990s,
0:23:58 > 0:24:02when her grandfather had died. They were actually found in a shoebox.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05So these drawings, as far as you knew, didn't exist? Yeah.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07What about these portraits?
0:24:07 > 0:24:11We've got some really wonderfully drawn little portraits here.
0:24:11 > 0:24:12These are all the people
0:24:12 > 0:24:15who were in the prisoner-of-war camp who Mennie drew.
0:24:15 > 0:24:21Well, many artists risked their lives
0:24:21 > 0:24:22by drawing and painting
0:24:22 > 0:24:24in the prisoners-of-war camp.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27They could have been put into solitary confinement.
0:24:27 > 0:24:30They could have had food restricted from them, and they would have died
0:24:30 > 0:24:34as a result of this, because of course, many of these drawings
0:24:34 > 0:24:39were used after the war for war-crime trials as evidence.
0:24:39 > 0:24:43Every single one of these men depicted in these drawings
0:24:43 > 0:24:45would have worked on the Thai-Burma railway,
0:24:45 > 0:24:49the "death railway", as it's known, immortalised in the film
0:24:49 > 0:24:52The Bridge Over The River Kwai, of course.
0:24:52 > 0:24:57And of those men that worked on it, 60,000 Allied prisoners,
0:24:57 > 0:25:0016,000 died as a result of working on that railway.
0:25:00 > 0:25:06It took a year to build, solely to supply the Japanese war effort.
0:25:06 > 0:25:09So tell me about this. Have you done any research into the artist?
0:25:09 > 0:25:13Have you used the internet, for example? My daughter-in-law has.
0:25:13 > 0:25:16She actually found an internet site where John Mennie's family
0:25:16 > 0:25:19have actually set up a site
0:25:19 > 0:25:23showing pictures and sketches. And he was born in Scotland,
0:25:23 > 0:25:27and some of his drawings are actually in the Imperial War Museum.
0:25:27 > 0:25:30So his family have put a website together? Yes.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32Do they know about these drawings? I don't think so.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35You know, they would want to know that you've got these.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38They'd be desperate to see copies of them, I would think.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41It's very important for family documentation and family history.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45I'm sure my daughter-in-law will do that.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48Well, you know, it is a very, very important archive
0:25:48 > 0:25:51and from a value point of view, they are valuable.
0:25:51 > 0:25:52There are many people
0:25:52 > 0:25:57who collect them. I think if these came up for auction today,
0:25:57 > 0:25:59these that we've seen and the others you have
0:25:59 > 0:26:03would be worth somewhere in the region of ?800 to ?1,200.
0:26:03 > 0:26:07Right. It's a great archive. Yeah.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20John Benjamin set us this challenge earlier on
0:26:20 > 0:26:23to work out which of these three strings of pearls
0:26:23 > 0:26:27is the basic model, the better model and the absolute best model.
0:26:27 > 0:26:30Well, I've arranged them in the order I and our visitors
0:26:30 > 0:26:34think it is. So - basic, better
0:26:34 > 0:26:38and best. Right, John...
0:26:38 > 0:26:40Now, the thing is, they all look the same to me,
0:26:40 > 0:26:42so how should I be able to tell?
0:26:42 > 0:26:46There's three traditional types of pearl that I'm likely to see.
0:26:46 > 0:26:53Natural, saltwater pearls, which are incredibly rare and valuable,
0:26:53 > 0:26:54cultured pearls,
0:26:54 > 0:26:56and I wonder how many viewers
0:26:56 > 0:27:00have got a straightforward cultured-pearl necklace,
0:27:00 > 0:27:02and simulated pearls, which are also very, very common.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05What's the difference between the three?
0:27:05 > 0:27:09All right, well, let's start at the natural pearls.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12First of all, before we talk about that,
0:27:12 > 0:27:14let me just say how they get started.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17A pearl is a strange mutation of nature.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20You're a seashell lying on the seabed...
0:27:20 > 0:27:22Oyster, or any seashell?
0:27:22 > 0:27:25Oyster, can be different shells like clams.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27Oyster shell, let's say.
0:27:27 > 0:27:31A little grain of sand or grit works its way into the shell,
0:27:31 > 0:27:35and you know when you get a pebble in your shoe and it's, you know,
0:27:35 > 0:27:39you have to get rid of it? The seashell can't do that.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43What it does, though, is it builds layer upon layer
0:27:43 > 0:27:47of a kind of a comforting material around the grain of sand.
0:27:47 > 0:27:49That's called conchiolin.
0:27:49 > 0:27:53And that layer upon layer builds up for a period of time
0:27:53 > 0:27:55to form the pearl.
0:27:55 > 0:27:56Of course, the valuable ones
0:27:56 > 0:28:00are those pearls that are perfectly round. And then a cultured pearl?
0:28:00 > 0:28:03Cultured pearl is more straightforward.
0:28:03 > 0:28:08Man himself has put a mother- of-pearl bead into the oyster,
0:28:08 > 0:28:15and then it builds layer upon layer around that little bead nucleus.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18Then you have a cultured pearl. And a simulated pearl -
0:28:18 > 0:28:20well, it's a hollow glass bead
0:28:20 > 0:28:25covered with a material that's made usually of fish scales.
0:28:25 > 0:28:29Right. I'm already worried about my choices.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32Just looking at them, I couldn't tell the difference.
0:28:32 > 0:28:34Are there some tests you can do to try and work it out? Yes.
0:28:34 > 0:28:36I mean, I have to say
0:28:36 > 0:28:38that natural pearls are indescribably rare,
0:28:38 > 0:28:42so most people will not have a natural pearl necklace.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44Cultured pearls, quite heavy.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47When you look at the surface using the trusty lens,
0:28:47 > 0:28:49and the lens is all-important here,
0:28:49 > 0:28:51you often find that the surface isn't very regular,
0:28:51 > 0:28:54it's covered with little lumps and bumps.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57Simulated pearls, the fake pearls, if you will,
0:28:57 > 0:28:59under a lens, they're very smooth.
0:28:59 > 0:29:01And have you heard this old test that you can do?
0:29:01 > 0:29:03You get hold of the pearls,
0:29:03 > 0:29:05rubbing them across your teeth.
0:29:05 > 0:29:06It's a very good guide
0:29:06 > 0:29:10because the simulated pearls are very, very smooth,
0:29:10 > 0:29:13but the cultured pearls are very, very gritty,
0:29:13 > 0:29:16and indeed so are the natural pearls.
0:29:16 > 0:29:17So... Come on, then.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21Here's my test. So you have suggested that these are...
0:29:21 > 0:29:26These are the cheapest, they're the plastic ones. The ?25 one.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29Yes. I'm already dreading this, actually.
0:29:29 > 0:29:33And these are the cultured ones, and these are the natural ones.
0:29:33 > 0:29:35Well, Fiona, I have to tell you
0:29:35 > 0:29:38that you could not be more wrong if you tried.
0:29:38 > 0:29:40I knew it! I knew it! I'm so sorry.
0:29:40 > 0:29:43I feel almost embarrassed to tell you this. You couldn't have got it more wrong.
0:29:43 > 0:29:47Oh, no! These are the cultured pearls, these ones here.
0:29:47 > 0:29:49So they're worth around ?250.
0:29:49 > 0:29:51You see, they were so big, I thought they must be fake.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54Your ?25,000 necklace that you'd have cheerfully paid
0:29:54 > 0:29:58for that string there, they're worth ?25.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01No! Oh, no.
0:30:01 > 0:30:04So these? And your creme de la creme,
0:30:04 > 0:30:06the best of the best, are these ones here.
0:30:06 > 0:30:10That's the natural saltwater-pearl necklace, and I have to say
0:30:10 > 0:30:12you failed dramatically, Fiona.
0:30:12 > 0:30:16Failed on every count. Mind you, I think these look rather nice.
0:30:16 > 0:30:18You won't mind if I put these on, will you?
0:30:18 > 0:30:22If you'd read the news in the 1950s, I guarantee you'd have worn
0:30:22 > 0:30:25a pearl necklace. It would have looked fabulous. Maybe I should try it.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36When I was young, I used to have a little model village,
0:30:36 > 0:30:37but it wasn't nearly as smart
0:30:37 > 0:30:40as this Edwardian one.
0:30:40 > 0:30:43What's the story about this? Well, as you can see,
0:30:43 > 0:30:49it was a present for my father, but I found it just a few weeks ago
0:30:49 > 0:30:52on the top of a wardrobe
0:30:52 > 0:30:56in our family home, and it was wrapped up in brown paper.
0:30:56 > 0:31:01I didn't know what on earth it was, opened it up
0:31:01 > 0:31:05and thought it looked as if it had never been played with. So this box
0:31:05 > 0:31:09has remained unopened since your father put it away...
0:31:09 > 0:31:11As far as I know, yes, yes.
0:31:11 > 0:31:13..in the Edwardian period?
0:31:13 > 0:31:18Probably. So your father was Ernest, and we have it here, and this was given at Christmas,
0:31:18 > 0:31:22probably early 1900s? He was born in 1902.
0:31:22 > 0:31:27See the very formal way that that was addressed to your child.
0:31:27 > 0:31:30I know, incredible.
0:31:30 > 0:31:32Well, this box is probably the best-condition box
0:31:32 > 0:31:35I've ever seen from that period. I mean, it's immaculate.
0:31:35 > 0:31:40It was obviously made in Bavaria and then retailed in London.
0:31:40 > 0:31:44Right. And this was a very grand model village. This is a big box.
0:31:44 > 0:31:48Yes. So you found it on top of the wardrobe, you took it down,
0:31:48 > 0:31:50got it out of its brown paper.
0:31:50 > 0:31:53Yes. And did you put it together? No. You didn't?
0:31:53 > 0:31:54Terrified to touch it.
0:31:54 > 0:31:56You didn't put it together?
0:31:56 > 0:31:58No, I just looked to see what the pieces were
0:31:58 > 0:32:01and thought I'd better leave it alone.
0:32:01 > 0:32:03I hope you don't mind,
0:32:03 > 0:32:06but I couldn't resist putting it together.
0:32:06 > 0:32:10So I think I'm going to get some of the chaps to bring it in.
0:32:10 > 0:32:13Oh, right. Oh, so it's not in the box?
0:32:13 > 0:32:17It's not in the box, no. It's no longer in the box.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20Oh, it's lovely, isn't it?
0:32:20 > 0:32:24Beautiful. Yes. Thank you.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27Isn't it lovely? Yes. So what do you think?
0:32:27 > 0:32:32I think it's beautiful, yes, very nice indeed.
0:32:32 > 0:32:36It's amazing. Yes. The condition of this is staggering.
0:32:36 > 0:32:41I don't know if your father was just an incredibly well-behaved,
0:32:41 > 0:32:43good little Edwardian boy!
0:32:43 > 0:32:46Well, he did look after things, I know,
0:32:46 > 0:32:50but this really looks as if it hasn't been played with, doesn't it?
0:32:50 > 0:32:52Well, I think possibly at that period, he would be told
0:32:52 > 0:32:54to look after it very well
0:32:54 > 0:32:57and he was probably only allowed to put it together very carefully.
0:32:57 > 0:32:59Right. But look at the detail of it,
0:32:59 > 0:33:01these wonderful houses,
0:33:01 > 0:33:03the animals, the people.
0:33:03 > 0:33:08Lovely. And look at the train. I know.
0:33:08 > 0:33:12Well, spectacular condition. And valuation?
0:33:12 > 0:33:17I think this would easily sell to a collector
0:33:17 > 0:33:21for ?800, ?1,000.
0:33:23 > 0:33:26It's fabulous. Yes.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30So you're obviously a fan of Clarice Cliff.
0:33:30 > 0:33:35Yes. I mean, there's no question, it's marked Clarice Cliff.
0:33:35 > 0:33:36It is, yes.
0:33:36 > 0:33:40It's marked Clarice Cliff. It's fairly obvious.
0:33:40 > 0:33:41So where did you find them?
0:33:41 > 0:33:44That one on a car-boot, and this one at an antique fair.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47What did you pay for that one at the antique fair?
0:33:47 > 0:33:50That one was ?50. And this one, at the car-boot sale? 12.
0:33:50 > 0:33:53I've kind of got some good and some bad news.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56What would you like first, the good or the bad news?
0:33:56 > 0:33:58Oh, dear. I'll have the bad news first.
0:33:58 > 0:33:59Right. It's this one.
0:33:59 > 0:34:04Yeah? It might say "Bizarre by Clarice Cliff" on the bottom.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07Yeah. It does say "hand painted", and it is hand painted.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11Yeah. But it was never anywhere near Clarice Cliff. It's a fake.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13Oh. That's not so good then, is it?
0:34:13 > 0:34:16There is a version of the Antiques Roadshow in China. Yeah.
0:34:16 > 0:34:22And if a fake comes on the Antiques Roadshow, they get a hammer, and they smash the fake live on air.
0:34:22 > 0:34:24Do they? Has anybody got a hammer?
0:34:24 > 0:34:26No, you're not going to do that, are you?
0:34:26 > 0:34:29This is the BBC, we'd never do that. But sadly, it's a fake.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32The reason I wanted to show it is because it's important
0:34:32 > 0:34:36that people see what's wrong with them. The colouring is wrong.
0:34:36 > 0:34:39Yeah. The painting's wrong. And the mark,
0:34:39 > 0:34:41the mark is too...
0:34:41 > 0:34:44you see how the mark really sort of sits hard on the surface.
0:34:44 > 0:34:47And also as I kind of catch the light there,
0:34:47 > 0:34:49it's very harsh-looking.
0:34:49 > 0:34:53In fact, if you look at this piece, which is a genuine piece,
0:34:53 > 0:34:57you can see...you know, even if you compare those two marks,
0:34:57 > 0:35:00they're very different. Yeah, they are, aren't they?
0:35:00 > 0:35:03So this is a fake, sadly,
0:35:03 > 0:35:06and if we were in China, it would now be in broken bits on the floor.
0:35:06 > 0:35:08I'm glad we're not in China.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11This isn't a fake. This is a real piece of Clarice Cliff.
0:35:11 > 0:35:12It dates to the period
0:35:12 > 0:35:17just before the Second World War. Late 1930s. '38, '39.
0:35:17 > 0:35:19It's called Mr Fish, and he's a fish wall pocket.
0:35:19 > 0:35:23You paid ?50 for him. Yeah. You've made ?100 profit. Oh, very good.
0:35:23 > 0:35:27Very good, anyway. Minus the money you paid for that, of course.
0:35:27 > 0:35:28That's a shame.
0:35:28 > 0:35:30OK, thanks a lot.
0:35:31 > 0:35:34Sometimes for me, doing the Antiques Roadshow
0:35:34 > 0:35:37is a sort of form of exquisite torture, in ways,
0:35:37 > 0:35:39because I see things that I've always wanted
0:35:39 > 0:35:42and I know that within the next couple of minutes,
0:35:42 > 0:35:44they're going to be whisked away from me again,
0:35:44 > 0:35:46and I won't see them again.
0:35:46 > 0:35:50And this set of posters, produced during the war, is exactly that.
0:35:50 > 0:35:51It's fabulous to see them.
0:35:51 > 0:35:55I know why I love them, but I want to know why you love them.
0:35:56 > 0:36:00Well, I was first attracted to them...in fact, I didn't see them
0:36:00 > 0:36:05because they weren't on display in the bookseller's in Colchester that I got them from
0:36:05 > 0:36:09in the early 1980s, but the bookseller and I knew each other
0:36:09 > 0:36:13reasonably well by then, and we'd often chatted about his days
0:36:13 > 0:36:18in youth when he used to talk to HG Wells and George Bernard Shaw and that sort of thing.
0:36:18 > 0:36:21And he must have decided
0:36:21 > 0:36:24that I was the sort of person who deserved to own them,
0:36:24 > 0:36:27and he sold them to me for the princely sum of ?20.
0:36:27 > 0:36:30They're something I feel really attached to,
0:36:30 > 0:36:35because they speak of a time when this country was in great danger,
0:36:35 > 0:36:38possibly the only country in the world.
0:36:38 > 0:36:41I think you've hit upon exactly the most important factor.
0:36:41 > 0:36:45It is that feeling of great danger, "careless talk costs lives".
0:36:45 > 0:36:50This is propaganda to warn everybody. It's quite a serious point when you think about it.
0:36:50 > 0:36:54Don't talk about things, because you never know who's listening to you.
0:36:54 > 0:36:55"The walls have ears".
0:36:55 > 0:36:57The wallpaper here literally does have ears.
0:36:57 > 0:37:00As you can see, there are tiny Hitlers hidden there,
0:37:00 > 0:37:02and that is the great link between them all.
0:37:02 > 0:37:06You have Hitler and Goering appearing in the most unlikely places
0:37:06 > 0:37:07and the most absurd places.
0:37:07 > 0:37:12It's seriousness tinged with that sort of great British absurdity
0:37:12 > 0:37:13or feeling for the absurd.
0:37:13 > 0:37:17And on the top here we have the name of the artist, Fougasse.
0:37:17 > 0:37:19Now, that's not his real name, that's a pseudonym.
0:37:19 > 0:37:23His real name was Kenneth Cyril Bird.
0:37:23 > 0:37:25A fougasse was a particular type of French mine,
0:37:25 > 0:37:27and it was an unpredictable mine
0:37:27 > 0:37:29that could explode at any given point
0:37:29 > 0:37:31and got quite a bad reputation for that.
0:37:31 > 0:37:34There's a little bit of absurdity there as well,
0:37:34 > 0:37:36because he was the least unpredictable man.
0:37:36 > 0:37:39By all accounts, he was quite a sober, sort of sombre,
0:37:39 > 0:37:40quiet and calm man,
0:37:40 > 0:37:44so completely different from an explosive land mine.
0:37:44 > 0:37:48So that side of the absurdity for me really counts as well,
0:37:48 > 0:37:49but it's the look.
0:37:49 > 0:37:52As well as that humour, it's the look that really attracts me.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55They're very much in that Art Deco modernist style,
0:37:55 > 0:37:57this use of orange running along here,
0:37:57 > 0:37:59the colours, the very simple lines,
0:37:59 > 0:38:01the white space,
0:38:01 > 0:38:04and this font, it's quite minimal, it's quite modern
0:38:04 > 0:38:05and incredibly eye-catching.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08And after all, a poster has to be eye-catching
0:38:08 > 0:38:10because it's got to be read and noticed.
0:38:10 > 0:38:14I think he did a fantastic job designing them. Yes.
0:38:14 > 0:38:19There is one with a little bit of additional graffiti, I suppose. Yes.
0:38:19 > 0:38:22Someone here has added in some white shading
0:38:22 > 0:38:26to the windows and on the shoes here. That needs to be taken away professionally.
0:38:26 > 0:38:30Right. That shouldn't be there. It doesn't detract from them.
0:38:30 > 0:38:34It doesn't look dreadful and it's not sort of scrawl, which is good.
0:38:34 > 0:38:35If that gets done,
0:38:35 > 0:38:38because these are in such nice condition,
0:38:38 > 0:38:39I could see the set...
0:38:39 > 0:38:43Your ?20 turns into somewhere in the region
0:38:43 > 0:38:45of ?1,000 to ?1,500 for the set.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48Oh, really? As much as that?
0:38:48 > 0:38:51Absolutely. Iconic posters.
0:38:54 > 0:38:56Generally speaking, if I'm honest,
0:38:56 > 0:39:00when somebody comes onto the Roadshow with a cigarette case
0:39:00 > 0:39:04that's dented and worn and well used and damaged like this,
0:39:04 > 0:39:09what's going through my head is "How can I work out what the scrap value of it is so that I can be polite
0:39:09 > 0:39:11"and not suggest that the best thing to do
0:39:11 > 0:39:13"is put it into the melting pot?"
0:39:13 > 0:39:15But as you well know, your cigarette case
0:39:15 > 0:39:19has got some very interesting names around the outside...
0:39:19 > 0:39:22Yes. ..which elevates it ever so slightly
0:39:22 > 0:39:24above its scrap value.
0:39:24 > 0:39:26You can see on the front, it's been presented
0:39:26 > 0:39:28to Lieutenant Glover, so is that a relation?
0:39:28 > 0:39:30It's Andrea's grandfather.
0:39:30 > 0:39:32Your grandfather. Yes. Do you remember him?
0:39:32 > 0:39:35No, unfortunately not.
0:39:35 > 0:39:39He has been thanked by various people
0:39:39 > 0:39:42for looking after them while they were under his care in Malta.
0:39:42 > 0:39:44That's right, they were the members
0:39:44 > 0:39:48of the Russian aristocracy who were refugees on Malta at the time that he was there.
0:39:48 > 0:39:50He must have been very nice to them,
0:39:50 > 0:39:54because they've given him not only a cigarette case, but this very handsome
0:39:54 > 0:39:56presumably autograph book
0:39:56 > 0:39:59or artist's notebook,
0:39:59 > 0:40:01which I noticed just a moment ago
0:40:01 > 0:40:08had a...five-rouble note tucked into the pages, just to make the point.
0:40:08 > 0:40:12But on the book here,
0:40:12 > 0:40:14as well as on the box, I can see
0:40:14 > 0:40:18that you've got the names of some pretty interesting Russian types.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21There's a Tolstoy,
0:40:21 > 0:40:27there's a Pushkin, various princes and princesses of White Russian descent
0:40:27 > 0:40:31and members of the Romanov family.
0:40:31 > 0:40:34Now, you've also brought along a certificate, or rather a scroll...
0:40:34 > 0:40:35A scroll, yes.
0:40:35 > 0:40:39..which is even more exciting.
0:40:40 > 0:40:46As we open it up, there's a rather sentimental view of Moscow,
0:40:46 > 0:40:51presumably painted by memory from one of the aristocrats
0:40:51 > 0:40:55who has presented it "to Lieutenant Glover
0:40:55 > 0:40:58"in kind remembrance of the Russian refugees of St George's",
0:40:58 > 0:41:03which of course is in Malta. September 1919.
0:41:03 > 0:41:06And on this scroll, we've got the names of all sorts of interesting
0:41:06 > 0:41:09and eminent White Russians. We've got a general,
0:41:09 > 0:41:13a lieutenant general, we've got princes,
0:41:13 > 0:41:18countesses, princesses, all sorts of Russian luminaries' names,
0:41:18 > 0:41:22and I noticed a name down here - Oblensky,
0:41:22 > 0:41:26Prince and Princess Oblensky, who also crop up on your cigarette case,
0:41:26 > 0:41:29who I discovered had a son who went on to play
0:41:29 > 0:41:32rugby football for England. Right!
0:41:32 > 0:41:34Wow!
0:41:34 > 0:41:36Now, I don't know how much you know
0:41:36 > 0:41:38about the circumstances of the White Russians
0:41:38 > 0:41:42who ended up in Malta under the kind care of your grandfather.
0:41:42 > 0:41:46Just simply that they were part of the Russian Revolution.
0:41:46 > 0:41:47They were in danger
0:41:47 > 0:41:51and the British ships went to evacuate them
0:41:51 > 0:41:53and evacuated them to Malta,
0:41:53 > 0:41:55and therefore they were refugees there.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58Yes, and a lot of White Russian nobles,
0:41:58 > 0:42:02obviously generals in the army, chiefs of staff and politicians
0:42:02 > 0:42:06and others that were in danger under the Bolsheviks
0:42:06 > 0:42:10who had their card marked and their names on a very dangerous blacklist,
0:42:10 > 0:42:14made their way gradually south during 1918 and 1919
0:42:14 > 0:42:16until they got down as far as Crimea,
0:42:16 > 0:42:19down to Yalta, where they were collected by the navy,
0:42:19 > 0:42:21before getting to Malta.
0:42:21 > 0:42:27And now the interest from descendants of White Russians
0:42:27 > 0:42:30and from Russians in general
0:42:30 > 0:42:33in this period of Russian history is enormous.
0:42:33 > 0:42:37It is a stunning historical record that has fallen into your hands
0:42:37 > 0:42:39through your grandfather's care,
0:42:39 > 0:42:42and I'm sure it was very well deserved.
0:42:42 > 0:42:43I'm staggered by it,
0:42:43 > 0:42:48and slightly at a loss to know how to value something like this. Treated as a group,
0:42:48 > 0:42:50I would suggest
0:42:50 > 0:42:54that it ought to make, in a sale, somewhere between,
0:42:54 > 0:42:56say, ?8,000 and ?10,000.
0:42:56 > 0:42:58Oh, my goodness!
0:43:01 > 0:43:03But, you know, with the amount of money
0:43:03 > 0:43:08sloshing around with the descendants of White Russians, the sky's the limit.
0:43:08 > 0:43:10It could even make somewhat more than that.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13Wow. That's amazing, we had no idea.
0:43:13 > 0:43:17No. It's been in a wardrobe for the last...
0:43:17 > 0:43:21well, 50, 60 years, a lot of years, yes, yes.
0:43:21 > 0:43:23A lot of years. Goodness.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29Got a great piece of local history here.
0:43:29 > 0:43:31This is a handkerchief or a scarf,
0:43:31 > 0:43:35and it's about the Suffragette movement. Emmeline Pankhurst was a local lass.
0:43:35 > 0:43:37This was printed in 1918,
0:43:37 > 0:43:41and it's looking forward to what it hopes women will have achieved
0:43:41 > 0:43:45in 1981, so women's rights in 1981. What's fantastic
0:43:45 > 0:43:50is quite how many of these things have come to pass. So, look here.
0:43:50 > 0:43:53Army captain. Rank and file.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57And then a woman barrister, which of course we have now.
0:43:57 > 0:44:02And then my particular favourite.
0:44:02 > 0:44:06"Minding baby." Now, I reckon we've still got a bit of a way to go on that one,
0:44:06 > 0:44:13eh, ladies? Anyway, from Manchester Town Hall, until next time, bye-bye.
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