Fountains Abbey 1 Antiques Roadshow

It'll come as no surprise to you

to learn that we are very weather dependent on the Antiques Roadshow,

and the series so far has experienced

some of the wettest weather since records began.

So today we've been praying for a break in the clouds,

and it looks like our venue has answered our prayers,

because one has just appeared.

But then, this was a very important place of worship

nearly 800 years ago.

Welcome to the ruins of Fountains Abbey

near Ripon in North Yorkshire.

You might think it's crazy to set up a Roadshow in a ruin.

I mean, what if this brief burst of sunshine doesn't last,

and it starts to rain again?

Well, usually we use a marquee,

but this time we have the oldest wet-weather cover we've ever used.

Known as the solarium, it started out life as a refectory,

and then it was used as a store for the Abbey's food and produce,

and amazingly, it's in almost as good a nick now

as it was when it was built back in 1170.

Quite an achievement for 13 disillusioned monks

with a dream to set up a monastery in the middle of nowhere.

The Cistercian monks led austere lives,

and spent most of the day in silent meditation and prayer.

They were known as the White Monks,

because of the coarse sheep's wool robes they wore,

and they didn't wear underwear beneath them,

just to make them that bit more uncomfortable.

It took 80 years to build Fountains Abbey, and as it grew,

so too did its economic and political clout.

It was a highly organised and self-sufficient community,

and eventually became one of the wealthiest monasteries in Britain,

lived in by 500 people - that's equivalent to a medieval town.

Fountains Abbey was home to the monks for four centuries,

until Henry VIII ordered its dissolution,

since when it's remained a ruin,

albeit one of the biggest and best-preserved in Europe.

And let's hope our visitors,

flocking in from nearby towns like Ripon and Harrogate

won't need to take advantage of the wet-weather cover

kindly provided by the monks.

This is just the kind of thing you'd need

if you'd been standing in a long queue at the Antiques Roadshow

-for a couple of hours.

-Yeah.

A seat or stool, and formed from three lovely squidgy cushions,

and you think, "Wow that's going to be comfortable," until you do that.

HOLLOW KNOCKING

Then you realise they're not three squidgy cushions at all,

-it's all made from pottery, isn't it?

-Yes.

-Where did you get it?

Well, I bought it in auction, it was damaged, it cost £100,

you know, which I felt was a good price.

-Right. But it was damaged?

-Yes.

Faulty goods.

Cost £500 - I had to repair it.

THEY LAUGH

-So, £500?

-Yes, yeah.

But it's worth it.

Yeah, well, absolutely.

I mean, look - the restoration's been beautifully done,

so that's fine.

But, I mean, you don't know where it's from or anything like that.

No, no history, no.

Well, it's a garden seat, and that's the name we give

to seats which are often made out of pottery or porcelain,

and they're made for use in the garden or in a conservatory,

where it's damp and wet,

and you couldn't have wooden furniture or upholstered furniture.

-Yeah.

-This is ideal.

Um...

What's interesting about this, apart from the fantastic modelling -

you know, it's just a brilliant idea, isn't it,

three cushions like this -

but it's the wonderful painting on it.

This is a style of painting that I recognise so well.

-It originates, actually, in Wales in the 1820s.

-Oh, right.

And it makes it really interesting and easy to date a piece like this,

-just by virtue of these wonderful flower sprays.

-Yes, yeah.

And we're looking at a date of around 1835 or 1840.

Lovely.

I don't think it actually matters who made it,

or when it was made, just look at it.

-Right.

-It's glorious.

-Yeah.

Actually, I don't know who made it.

That's the problem, there's not a mark on it.

Minton would have been a candidate,

but it's not in the Minton shape books -

I've checked.

Right.

So we just have to say an English pottery garden seat.

Still a mystery.

-Still a mystery, but it's English, and we've dated it.

-Good.

-Good.

-And your £100 purchase price...

£500 restoration job...

you must have felt a bit anxious after that, did you?

-It's a beautiful piece, and I love it to bits.

-Yeah.

-So you don't care, really?

-I don't care about the cost.

You just invested the money because you wanted...

-I've never seen another one.

-No, you won't see another one.

I've never seen one.

No.

But I think the fact that it's restored doesn't matter.

I don't think anyone will care.

They will just look at this,

and they will fall in love, as I have done, as you did.

Yeah, yeah.

And I think they'd pay...

-..£3,000 for it.

-Lovely, yes.

-Maybe more.

-Yes.

Good for the family's future.

Absolutely.

Yes.

Now, I'm very fond of clocks, but I'll tell you something,

I'm quite glad I don't own this,

because I wouldn't want to move it around the house too much.

No, it doesn't get moved a lot, no, you're all right.

-HE LAUGHS

-What sort of weight is it?

It's about 125lb, somewhere there.

It's a massive calendar mantel clock.

And obviously, something big like this,

it's been a presentation or something of that sort.

What do you know about it?

Me mother bought it 60 year ago at a house clearance sale.

-What did she pay? Do you remember?

-30 shillings.

30 shillings?

-That's, what, £1.50 in new money, isn't it?

-Yeah.

You said it came with a pair of vases.

Yes, but she gave them away, she didn't want 'em.

Well, I mean it would have been new then,

it would have been a very generous present.

-It would, wouldn't it?

-Ooh, yeah.

The black slate - and I say black slate because this is slate,

-it's not black marble.

-Yeah, yeah.

Obviously, the brown is marble, but this is black slate,

and it was used, basically, as a symbol of mourning

after the death of Prince Albert.

-Ah.

-And this is the sort of full-blown example of it,

within two decades after his death.

You can see the visible Brocot escapement there,

with the ruby pallets, obviously striking nicely.

You've got a lovely barometer there, beautifully enamelled,

absolutely lovely, and then this is the piece that I adore,

is this perpetual calendar.

-And you've seen that click...

-That doesn't work.

-It doesn't work?

-No.

-It would be quite easy to get it going, I'm sure.

-Yes.

But I mean, you've got the moon, the phases of the moon in there,

and then you've got, obviously, day, date and month,

and it will be perpetual,

-it will absolutely counteract for each leap year as well.

-Yeah.

-Yes.

-It should be that good.

It's a top-of-the-range item, very, very busy, even down to the bezels.

When you think that most bezels are just gilt brass,

but this - you've actually got it all chased.

It's been beautifully done with gold flower heads.

It's superb quality.

Is it French?

-French throughout.

-That's what I thought, yeah.

Apart from the fact of the case,

which might have been made of Belgian slate.

The only thing that I'm slightly not happy about is the eagle.

I bought that a year ago, just to set it off.

-To set it off!

-HE LAUGHS

-To make it even taller!

-Yes! THEY LAUGH

I don't what was... could have been a lion on top.

I mean, I think that this is absolutely right,

-can I just remove that?

-Yeah.

But that's obviously pretty new, and I'm not...

I don't think it goes with it terribly well, to be honest.

Well, I like it.

-That's all that matters.

-THEY LAUGH

-Size is slightly against it.

-Yeah.

If it was a little bit smaller, it'd be rather more money,

but at auction it's still going to make

£2,500 to £3,000.

Mm-hmm, yeah.

-Are you happy with that?

-Yes, yes, yes.

Good.

I'll tell you something, it's not a bad investment on 30 bob, is it?

Ah, no, no, no.

Takes a lot of polishing.

THEY LAUGH

What a wonderful collection of Inuit carvings.

Where did you get them?

In the late '60s, I was a dental officer on Baffin Island,

in the high Arctic,

travelling from settlement to settlement,

and providing dental care.

In the process, I got very interested in their carvings.

But each of these is carved by a man -

or a woman -

that I treated, and so some of them were for payment for the dentistry,

but others I would negotiate and buy off them.

And did they have good teeth?

Oh, no, their teeth was absolutely terrible, really.

SHE LAUGHS

I extracted over 7,000 teeth in three years.

My goodness.

And what about this one?

This is, I think, the most interesting.

Um...

The carver is a man, or was a man called Noah - he's dead now -

one of the most famous of the carvers, born in 1900,

and he needed new dentures.

So I made him some new dentures, and because I knew he was a carver,

I said, would he carve me something?

And he came back a few days later with this.

And it is a man who has a very bad abscess on a tooth,

which is closing his eye, there.

That's fascinating, and of course,

you've got wonderful examples of the Inuit, with their Shamanist...

-That's right.

-..inspiration, and also their transformation.

-A man transforming.

-This one, yes.

This is a Shaman, he's dancing, he's beating his drum,

and he's going into a trance and changing into a wolf.

This is a very interesting piece, it's by a 14-year-old girl,

-and it's a piece of caribou thigh bone carved as a musk ox.

-Musk ox.

And this is a seal hunter, and as soon as they kill a seal,

they blow some water into the mouth of the seal,

and say a little prayer,

thanking the seal for the food that he's giving to them.

-And this - I love this - again a Shamanistic subject.

-That's right.

That was Joe Curley, and he was a Shaman.

He had three wives and 24 children,

and that again is a Shaman, but changing into an arrow.

Of course, Shamans were the witch doctors of the Inuit.

-Yes.

-And very important in their society.

And inherited, so you could only be a Shaman

if your father or mother was a Shaman.

And, of course, a lot of these carvings were made of soapstone.

That's right, and interestingly, each village has its own supply,

so just by looking at the colour, you would know this is Lake Havar.

By looking at that, you would know that was Eskimo Point,

and so they're absolutely characteristic of each village.

And a tremendous amount of the carvings here

were inspired by and supported by James Houston,

who actually went and lived with the Inuit in Cape Dorset.

That's right, an Englishman, an artist in his own right,

who settled in the Arctic and saw the potential,

encouraged them to do carvings and also paintings and prints.

These pieces came from really what we call the "Golden Era"

-of Inuit carving.

-Yes, yes.

And of course these are the pieces now that are being sought after,

and in terms of when you were buying them,

you were obviously swapping for dental work

or doing a bit of bartering.

That's right, two or three extractions and a carving.

SHE LAUGHS

Well, it certainly was the best-paid dental work

I think you will have had,

because a carving like this nowadays would sell

for anywhere between £4,000 and £5,000.

And the same with the Shaman turning into the wolf -

that's an important subject, especially with the drum,

-so again, the same.

-Yes, indeed.

So we're looking at probably here,

in excess of £15,000.

Well, they're not for sale, because, as I said,

each one has a very personal relationship to me.

And I hope you've written that down.

I'm in the process of doing it, yes.

Good.

So, where do you keep this?

This is kept in our dining room.

Right...

I inherited it from my mother, who died in February,

but it's come from my great aunt, who was born in 1886.

I don't know the date of it.

I'd love to know if it came from my great-grandfather.

Well, I'm not sure if you're aware - it was never a dining room piece.

-Ah.

-It was always intended for the kitchen.

Ah, I thought so.

It is a dresser base,

and the rack would have been tied or screwed to the wall.

Ah, that explains...

There's no evidence of marks on here, where -

what we call shoes - there's no marks there.

So the rack would have been tied to the wall or screwed to the wall.

It's not very deep, so you can actually get to it.

I understand, thank you, yes, that's interesting.

This is made out of oak.

The linings, when you open the drawers, is pine.

So it's a country piece.

It was never - as I say - a sophisticated town piece.

Um...

The handles have been put on later.

Originally, when we look at it as a whole,

you see these lovely brass swan neck handles - they weren't there.

They just had handles just below the escutcheon there.

-Oh, I understand, yes.

-And that's why we've got that little shadow.

-I wondered about that.

-You see?

The date of it is around 1800,

so it's George III period,

and it's standing on little pad feet

just to give it a little bit of elegance.

The condition is very, very good.

I love the idea we've got these three long boards and no splits.

They haven't warped or undulated, and the colour is very, very good.

The shame is that the handles have been replaced,

because the collectors, who go nuts for this,

they want to tick all the boxes knowing it's all original.

It's worth, in this condition,

um...

around £1,200 to £1,500.

-If it had the original handles...

-Mmm...

..it goes up to £2,000.

So we've got to pull it back because it's not quite original.

I still love it as it is.

I love animals, and I love horses,

and that's what attracted me to this piece.

What's the story behind it?

It belonged to my husband's grandparents.

It's been in the family for about - I think - 100 years.

Um... And the story was that Grandpa went to Paris with his wife,

and she saw it, and I think she burst into tears

because she was so moved by it, and he bought it for her.

It made me feel very poignant, and I mean, it's such a beautiful thing.

I mean, I don't know much about the artist, to be honest.

It's signed, "E Drappier" -

that's Edmond Ernest Drappier, I believe - and it's dated 1906.

And it was cast in a French foundry,

-but it's got all the accoutrements of war.

-Yes.

And "Epave" on the front which I think means wreck in French.

-Yes.

-And it's the wreck of a horse, really, the wreck of a relationship.

-I mean, it's actually quite topical...

-Yes, it is.

-..because of the film War Horse.

-Yes, absolutely. Because of Joey.

Which was a powerful testimony to the relationship

between a soldier and his horse,

and this bronze is real storytelling -

it's storytelling by the fact that something's missing.

It tells a story because of the thing that's not there,

and that's the rider.

And I find that so moving, and it's just beautifully modelled, and...

it does everything for me.

There's the butt of his rifle, there's a broken wagon wheel.

A helmet.

Helmet, it's from the Franco-Prussian War.

-I would have thought.

-Yes, that's what we think, yes.

-From the date.

And from the helmet.

And...

You know, I've looked up auction records for this

and it actually makes a reasonable amount of money.

I think one like this came up in April this year,

and it made £3,000.

Yes, I can believe that.

It's worth every bit of it, isn't it?

-Beautifully done.

-Well, I just think it's wonderful.

-Yes.

The phrase, "Talk softly but carry a big stick" comes to mind.

-It's pretty impressive, isn't it?

-It is indeed.

And where does it come from?

It's a Fijian war club.

But it was bought in this country, though,

so we didn't export it illegally.

And we were on leave from Fiji in 1969,

and I went into the local pub in a village in County Durham,

saw this on the wall, and knew exactly what it was,

and so I offered the publican a price for it, and he said,

"Well, I'll think about it,"

and three years later, when I was on leave again,

I went back into the pub and I said, "Have you thought about it?"

-and he said, "Yes, I'll sell it to you."

-And it was still on the wall?

Well, by that time he'd decided that hunting prints were the decor,

so he'd put this into a store room,

and he kept his word, he sold it to me.

And do you have a connection?

Yes, and this is my grandson, who is my Fijian war club carrier.

-So it's quite appropriate, then?

-Yes.

THEY LAUGH

Do you know much about how they were made, or the age, and..?

I don't know too much about how they're made.

I think it's a couple of hundred years old,

because it's a very fine specimen.

Yeah. It really is a fine specimen.

You get whacked by that, you're going to know about it.

But the way they would make them is -

as a sapling, they would bend them, tie them off,

you would choose the one you wanted, which would be...

Cos this, in its natural form without carving,

would be incredibly strong.

They would tie it off and let it grow like that.

When it got to a big size, chop it around and decorate it.

And I think it's an indigenous wood called vesi or something like that.

-Vesi.

-Vesi, yeah.

It's just such an impressive piece.

I mean, if you're the tribal leader, you're the club carrier,

so eventually you're going to get it.

-Eventually.

-THEY LAUGH

I mean, they are really sought-after.

I mean, this one has taken a bit of a battering.

Er... You know, there's a few marks on it,

but it's so beautifully carved,

and over the last few years, the market for these has shot up,

everyone is trying to get back what was originally theirs -

you know - their heritage, as it were.

And it would have a good value.

Mm-hmm.

£8,000?

Whoo!

-It's good money.

-HE LAUGHS

We know there isn't a better specimen in the Fiji Museum.

-Well, that's why I would value it to that.

-Yes.

And I think that could be conservative,

because these are so sought-after.

-You like it more, don't you?

-THEY LAUGH

I'm not saying anything!

And I'll hand it to you, then, as the club carrier, it's yours.

You should have it like this, James.

-Like this?

-No, like that.

-Both hands.

-Right.

-No Fijian chief carries his own war club.

-Well, there you go.

He always has a carrier.

But you'll soon have your own carrier.

Oh! One day, hopefully.

-HE LAUGHS

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Thank you.

When it comes to our Basic, Better & Best challenge this week,

I like to think I might have a reasonable chance

of getting it right this time,

because we're looking at handbags, vintage handbags.

I like to think I know a little bit about those,

well, certainly I like to wear them on my arm, anyway.

Our specialist, Ronnie Archer Morgan,

has brought three handbags along

from the '30s, '40s and '50s.

The basic one is worth £200, the better, £1,000,

and the best, the princely sum of £2,000.

So, I'm going to enjoy looking at these,

and we'll see what our visitors think, as well.

Which do you think is which?

Um...I think the basic one is the green.

Which do you think is which?

-This is the bottom one.

-That's basic, OK.

-Yes.

I'd be tempted with that one.

It's the only one that would tempt me, yes.

The better, I would say, would be this one.

Can I ask you, which of these handbags would you choose

as the best for your fair wife?

I think I'd choose this one.

That's the best, OK.

And the best, the little jewelled handbag.

I would say this one here.

Oh, dear.

And this is the best.

Do you think I've ever bought a handbag for her after 50 years?

SHE LAUGHS

This is a lovely French 18th-century picture of Diana and Actaeon.

So where did you get this from?

Um... I actually found it in a junk shop in Australia,

in the Southern Highlands, near a place called Barrol.

-Many years ago?

-Um...

About eight years ago, so quite recently.

-And have you done some research on it?

-Yeah.

Did a bit of research, looked on the internet for ages,

and came up with a print, or an etching,

which seems to relate to the picture.

-Could I have a look at that?

-Yeah.

And by Pierre Berchet,

and it's almost...it's the reverse image of this picture,

because Diana and Actaeon as a subject matter

-was painted quite a lot in the 18th century.

-Right.

And he was born in 1659. As you probably know, he died in 1720.

Yeah.

Now, is this by him?

Well, looking at the quality, this is actually quite good quality,

and I would certainly say this is French,

and the story is,

Actaeon comes along and looks at Diana,

and of course, not supposed to do that -

she's nude - and he starts turning into a stag,

and then eventually the hounds jump onto him and he's killed.

Right.

But it is beautifully done,

and the quality, actually, of the face here is very, very good.

Now, it was very dirty, was it, when you got it?

Yeah, it looked interesting, but I'm not an expert on art by any means.

-It was filthy...

-Mmm.

..and I had it restored, and the person that did it

said it was covered in flies and filth,

and it was really thick and dirty, you couldn't really see anything,

and it was only... Until she cleaned it, you could see...

-Well, it's cleaned really well.

-Yeah.

Now, is it a copy of this picture, or another version?

Yeah.

Well, I can't stand here and tell you that is definitely by him.

-Yeah.

-But it's certainly "school of."

-And it is 18th century.

-Yeah.

Um...

What did you pay for it?

Off the top of my head, about £600. £600-£700.

Well, I think, just on pure decorative quality,

-and taking into account the age on this...

-Yeah.

I think it's worth about £6,000 to £8,000 in the current market,

-it's really nice.

-Yeah.

You obviously spent some money having it restored.

Yes, a bit, yeah, yeah.

So, did you put the frame on here?

I did. It was my attempt to try and get something

that I thought went with it, and it looks quite new and shiny,

I have to say, at the moment, looking at it here.

It would be quite nice to have an 18th-century frame on here,

because it would make it look much more important.

And it just so happens

that Rupert's been looking at one just before I came on.

Right.

-So I'm going to hand this to you...

-Thanks.

-..and have a look at it.

-Now, take one end of this, Dendy.

-OK, OK, OK.

-Let's have a look, now, let's just see.

-Over there.

Now, what do you think about that?

Would you like this on the picture?

Yeah, it looks good, doesn't it? With a bit of age to it, I think.

Looks really good.

And so, having valued it at £6,000 to £8,000,

I think that with that on,

because the frame must be worth - as it's partially carved -

a couple of thousand pounds,

I think it makes it more like £10,000, doesn't it?

I think it really looks the business.

Gives you an idea of what it's going to look like, that's the main thing.

-Yeah.

-You can just see it hanging in someone's palazzo.

And I think it makes it...

It makes it a much more important thing in the period frame.

Pictures maketh a room.

Yeah.

-HE LAUGHS

-Marvellous.

-Brilliant. Thank you, thanks a lot.

-There you are, job done.

-I'm afraid you can't have the frame.

-HE LAUGHS

Well, this looks like an extraordinarily luxurious object.

Tell me about it with you.

Well, I inherited it from my mother,

who I think must have inherited from her great-grandmother, possibly.

Um... Apart from that, I know very little about it.

My mother never wore it, it would not have been her style -

I think it's a bit ostentatious.

I do remember as a child raiding the dressing table

and taking it out, occasionally playing -

-I think that's probably where it got slight damage.

-Aah!

-You didn't bite it, did you?

-Possibly!

-Yes, I thought I could see teeth...

-Fed it to the dog or something!

Yes, quite! But what we can be absolutely certain of

is that it's actually sold in London,

because the lid satin of the case

tells us it was sold in Oxford Street,

and it's presented in the most extraordinarily luxurious way.

What it is presenting, into this wonderful sunlight today,

is the illusion of pure gold.

And I'll say the illusion of pure gold,

because it is made of a gold alloy,

but the surface has actually been enriched with gilding,

and there was a purpose in all of this.

Because this is what we call Etruscan jewellery.

It's in the Etruscan manner,

and Victorian society was driven nearly mad

by archaeological pursuits.

The love of the past transcended anything

the Antiques Roadshow could do.

There were books about the past,

there were photographs of ancient jewellery,

and it actually inspired people to dress up as Etrurian princesses

in smoggy old London, and this was a prevalent style.

And this rich gold surface is actually harking back

to the ancient jewellery found in Etruria and Ancient Greece

and in Rome,

and it's an odd concept to have a pious Victorian lady

walking around wearing these.

We know it belonged to a Victorian lady, we know it's 1860,

we know that she's prosperous enough to afford gold,

to shop in Oxford Street for the finest jewellery,

so we can raise her ghost a little.

But she was almost certainly a widow.

Right.

We see here in the front that there are vine leaves and grapes.

The vine is actually an emblem of death.

And so we have quite a joyful thing, um...blazing with gold,

but it's harking to somebody who's gone from her life.

Oh, right, this is fascinating.

-And this is unusual to have gold jewellery for mourning.

-Mmm.

More often than not it was made of jet or steel or something like that.

But perhaps she's long into mourning,

and coming into a new part of her life,

but we can, I think, be absolutely certain that that's the case.

So, value.

Um... In a funny way, perhaps one doesn't necessarily want jewellery

that is evocative of, frankly, the grave.

But I think this is extraordinarily wearable.

Anybody would be pleased to give in the region of

£800 to £1,200 for this suite of jewellery,

and they'd walk away with a complete entity from the past

that they could wear and enjoy,

and it's thrilling to see it, thank you very much.

Mm, well, thank you.

Now, earlier on, I was telling you about these vintage handbags

that our specialist Ronnie Archer Morgan has brought in

for our Basic, Better & Best challenge.

I've been showing them to our visitors.

They've all come up with a different idea

of which is the basic, worth £200,

the better, worth £1,000, and the best, worth £2,000.

Now, Ronnie, I've...

I've just gone along and chosen what I like the best,

because I find it so hard to tell,

because these are '30s, '40s and '50s handbags, aren't they?

-Yeah.

-Now, you are very interested in handbags,

which isn't necessarily an interest you'd associate with a chap.

HE LAUGHS

So what gets you excited about vintage handbags?

Well, when I came into the antique business,

I came from a fashion-connected background,

and as I was going round the markets and the salerooms,

I saw an opening for handbags.

Because I just thought they were fantastically made,

beautiful objects, that were being neglected by collectors.

And, as we know, some handbags are worth a fortune.

-Did you have your own collection?

-Yes, I did.

I had about 50 bags,

and I needed the deposit for a flat,

so I had the idea of taking them to a gallery,

suggesting the idea of an exhibition,

which had never been done before.

-An exhibition of vintage handbags?

-Exactly, yeah.

And contacting the fashion press...

and, in fact, the fashion press were really interested,

and about three or four major fashion magazines

covered that exhibition.

And...

the result of that was,

I had the deposit to buy the most important thing

that I've ever bought in my life - my home.

So, talk us through these bags, then.

I mean, as I say, I've made my selection here,

basic, better and best, simply because I like this one the best.

I love that one, yeah.

But go on, how do we assess these bags?

Well, I think your fashion instincts and your sense of dress

has worked here, because you've got the best right.

-But you've got the other two wrong.

-Oh!

-Which...

-OK.

So where do we start, then? Which is the basic?

This is the basic, so we'll put that there.

Now tell us about this bag then, cos it looks like it has...

You know, I mean, they could be semi-precious stones, I don't know.

This is suede.

It's all paste, and the enamel's cold-painted.

The silver frame is not silver, it's just made to look like silver.

But it is fantastic quality antelope suede, and it's from the 1930s,

and that one is the one that's worth about 200.

-So the better one, £1,000, then.

-Yeah.

-And what is this?

-It's crocodile.

-Gosh.

-But it's turquoise green, it's a very, very rare colour.

It's hard to tan that colour to that kind of purity.

It's a fantastic size. It's a very unusual shape.

I love these crossed circular rings here,

and this cylindrical catch with the cuts in it,

and it's in immaculate condition,

and when you open it up, it's bottle-green kid leather inside,

piped in gold.

A fantastic bag.

But it doesn't have a great maker - it's not a maker that anybody knows.

-And this is what, '40s, '50s?

-1940s.

-Well, it's a fabulous colour, certainly, I thought that.

-Yeah.

So, hooray, this is the best one.

This looks like it's made out of fancy string.

It is.

It's made by a wonderful designer, one of my favourites,

called Roberta di Camerino, in the mid-'50s.

When she was a little girl,

she helped out in her grandfather's pigment factory,

and learned to mix pigments, hence you get these exciting colours,

bubblegum pink and peppermint green.

But it's dyed cord, but it's laid over bright pink...

Ohh!

That's lovely.

..kid leather, and inside, the same.

The chain... The handles here are adjustable.

And it's in beautiful condition, isn't it?

It is in amazing condition.

The people that carried her bags were people like Grace Kelly,

Elizabeth Taylor...

She's a designer's designer,

and nearly all the handbag designers of today

look to her early designs for inspiration.

-And that's why it's worth £2,000.

-That is.

And it's a very rare survivor.

Ronnie, thank you very much,

certainly that is a beautiful handbag.

And who knows? You might have a bag or two

belonging to your mother or your grandmother languishing at home,

or, like me, you might have thrown them away and be regretting it now.

If you still have got them, bring them along to a Roadshow,

we'd love to have a look at them.

Have a look on our website for more details about handbags

and what to look for, that's...

Today, we've had silver from China, from Russia, from Turkey,

all round Europe, North America, South America,

and I'm glad to say we've now got something

from the other corner of the Earth, because, looking at the kangaroo,

it's fairly obvious where this piece comes from.

So how did a piece of Australian silver end up in Yorkshire?

I've no idea, to be honest.

Um... It was my grandfather's, who then gave it to my mother,

who then gave it to me.

And it's been in a cabinet at my house for several years now,

and I've often wondered where it's come from,

so I'm hoping you can shed some light on it.

Well, I have to say that Australian silver

sometimes lacks a little bit of interest and quality,

but this is really superb quality.

The way the base is textured, we've got these lovely sinuous palm trees,

the leaves falling down and then supporting this bowl at the top.

We've got fruiting vines at the ends with parrots perched on the top,

we've got everything here,

but most important of all is we've got some marks at the bottom,

and an awful lot of these cups are not marked.

This one has the mark for Kilpatrick and Company.

They were from the State of Victoria.

Founded in Melbourne in the mid-19th century,

and this piece dates from round about 1865,

so it's pretty old, and it always fascinates me,

how things of that age from the other side of the world

-end up here in Yorkshire.

-Yeah.

Now, there's one thing missing about this,

which you may not have ever realised.

It should have been covered with an emu's egg.

-Oh, really?

-This is the lining, the inside.

So the outside would have been this grey-blue colour,

and if you look around the edges,

you can see there's a gap

where the egg would have fitted down inside these mounts,

and on the top and on the bottom.

Having said that, you know, this is a good piece.

I would expect, if this went into auction, you would get

-at least £2,000, maybe more.

-Goodness.

That's been sat there for years! SHE LAUGHS

-Amazing.

-What's going to happen now?

I'll get it insured. THEY LAUGH

Well, you've got to put probably £3,000 or more on it for insurance.

-Right.

-It is a very rare thing.

-Really?

And especially to get it hallmarked,

and just wonderful to see a thing from so far away end up here.

Well, thank you very much, that's been a big surprise!

-SHE LAUGHS

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Two pottery figures.

Where do they come from?

Um...they belonged to our grandmother,

-and she was one of the first women doctors.

-Uh-huh.

And in order to fund her training,

because she was first of all a nurse,

she went to work as a nanny, nurse-cum-governess,

for a family, and they were into jute,

and so they of course travelled a lot around those parts,

-and they gifted her a few quite special things.

-Yes.

And these were two of the things that were gifted.

And what did she think she'd been given?

Tang dynasty figures.

-Right, so she thinks they're Chinese.

-Yes.

-And you think they're Chinese?

-Yes.

-And you think they're Tang?

-Yes.

Of course they are Tang dynasty -

I say "of course" because earlier on today,

I saw a very good imitation of a Tang pottery figure -

but these are genuine,

and there are various reasons for telling you that,

but just take it from me, for the time being, they are genuine.

I fished them out because, um... they're all to do with death.

Mmm.

We are only a few yards away from the dead door

here at Fountains Abbey.

The door through which the corpses were taken

to be buried in the ground just behind us,

and in China from the...well, right up until the second century BC,

if you were very important, if you were an emperor,

or king of your own particular part, when you died...

"I'm sorry, you're going to have to die!"

LAUGHTER

Because you would want all of your retinue to come into your tomb dead

as well, and of course that would include your 250-odd wives.

This practice, oddly enough,

seemed to be really quite unpopular with the general population.

So they started replacing human sacrifice by pottery sacrifice,

and of course the most famous pottery sacrifice

is the Terracotta Army, created for the Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang

in just - well, just before 200BC.

And those are life size, those are about seven feet high.

They're the first, sort of, real replacements

for human and animal sacrifice.

And by the time we get to the Tang Dynasty...

they get down to this size.

So there they are, lovely.

Now, those would have been quite valuable, um...30 years ago.

But so many have come out of the ground,

that unless they are very unusually coloured -

blue glazes or something like that -

the value's not particularly high,

considering, yes, they are, they were made

somewhere between, let's say 700AD and 1000AD.

-Yes.

-You know, before this place was built.

-Yes, yes.

Er... And I'm going to put a value of about...

Mmm... Let's say...

£400 to £600 on each.

On each, ooh, very nice.

They're lovely though, aren't they wonderful?

-I think they're great.

-Yes.

Now, this looks like an ordinary wedding band,

so I'm interested, why did you decide to bring this in?

Well, me husband's had it for 25 years-plus.

He's always thought there was something different about it,

because it's got no hallmarks, but it's got some writing on it.

But everyone just says it's just a bit of old scrap metal.

And then we went to the jewellers to take in some old broken jewellery,

and we got offered £108 scrap value for it.

-What, for this, or..?

-For that.

-For that on its own.

-When was this?

-Last week.

-Last week!

-Yeah!

-THEY LAUGH

-£108 last week?

-Yeah, yeah.

Fantastic.

Going back 25 years ago, how did your husband acquire it?

He was on a camping trip with the boys, just really young,

and he was in this stream, and just come across it.

And it was just - this gold just glinting in the stream

-and he just picked it up.

-Yeah, yeah.

And then what happened?

-So £108 last week...

-Mm-hmm.

So what stopped you from melting it down?

Um... The jeweller started to ask if he found it in the mud,

or something like that, um... and he went, "No, in a stream,"

and he started raising his eyebrows a little bit, and said,

"If I was you I, would take it to an auctioneer,"

and the auctioneer - my husband took it then, this week -

and they said again "Yes, it's just scrap value, £135."

So we've come just for the day out, just to try it!

LAUGHTER Just in hope!

Well, I am delighted that you came with this ring.

Um...I love the feel of gold.

There's that allure of gold that's captured man's imagination

for thousands and thousands of years,

and it's got this beautiful yellow shine to it, hasn't it?

And you can feel, sort of, the weight of history, actually,

when you pick it up, and it's...

-Because it's 22 carat gold - quite a high carat gold.

-Yeah.

-But what this is, is your poesy ring.

-Mm-hmm.

And a poesy ring... A sort of a loose translation,

-it's like a poetry ring...

-Yeah.

..because it has the inscriptions inside,

usually from a loved one or to a loved one.

And inside here is the inscription, in English,

"A virtuous wife preserveth life."

Right.

So that's what it... that's what it means -

that's what it's saying inside.

And this is about 17th century.

-This is incredible!

-I know!

-17th century!

It's when I were looking at it, they kept saying 17th century,

I'm thinking, "Well, it's got to be worth more than £100, surely..."

-That's what I thought!

-Exactly! Absolutely.

Well, the value is a little bit more than £108.

Right...

THEY LAUGH

So, I would say the value would be in the region

of about £2,500.

Oh, well...

Yeah...

It's more, isn't it?

I am so pleased you didn't take £108 last week,

and have melted down a 17th-century ring.

-Yeah.

-Can you imagine?

I know, yeah.

I know your husband found this a very long time ago,

but you should really just contact your museum, your local museum,

-and declare it.

-Mm-hmm.

And so then they can go through with you the procedures,

the correct procedures for when you find something

that could possibly be under the Treasure Trove Act.

-Right.

-It's a bit of history,

and to find this and have this brought along here

in this amazing abbey, fantastic.

-Thank you both very much indeed.

-Thank you, thank you.

Well, this is a very pretty, girly thing,

but that isn't really the point here,

because you're a lady on a mission, aren't you?

Yes, yes.

Um... Basically, it's one of the very few things of my grandmother's

that I own,

and she was brought up in Vienna, and had to come to this country

just before the war, so I'd just like to know,

is this one of her special objects that she brought from home?

Well, I mean - you know - I've got goose bumps at that,

because of the implications of leaving Vienna in 1938.

I mean, there's one reason why people left Vienna in 1938.

Yes, absolutely.

And the other - what happened..?

Well, my sick grandfather, because he was over retirement age,

he couldn't come into England, and so he had to stay in Vienna,

and so it was just my grandmother and her children,

including my father, that were allowed out.

So, come on, what happened?

I believe that he stayed in Vienna for two years,

and then he was rounded up, and eventually ended up in Riga,

where he died, probably about three months later.

Ooh.

Well...

I mean, it's absolutely right.

I mean, you know, this is Viennese.

We know it's Viennese, because, actually, it's written on it.

You...

That means nothing to you,

this little portcullis gilded logo in the bottom,

but that is the gilded logo

of one of the finest glass companies in the world,

which is J & L Lobmeyr, who shared the same bonds as your family.

So they had a really hard time, too.

And they are still in the same premises in Vienna

that they've occupied for 150 years.

So, what is this?

Well, the object itself is historic revival -

what we have is,

the original vessels of this type were firstly shells, sea shells,

and then rock crystal -

they were carved out of mineral rock crystal in baroque...

slash - coming into Rococo style, from the 17th century.

And so...and then you get into the 18th century

with these Rococo archetypal opposing sea scrolls in enamels,

highlighted in gold,

this little chap coming up here in 18th-century costume,

and I suppose, stylistically, you get the idea of the shell

-in the fact that it's asymmetric here.

-Yes.

Made in Vienna in about 1900,

and you'd get about £400 or £500 for it, you know, if you sold it.

But, I mean, how big's the story?

Absolutely, no - I've no intention of selling it,

as I said, I just wanted to know its history, thank you very much indeed.

-It's a wonderful thing, back to you.

-It's beautiful, thank you.

I'm almost totally bowled over by seeing this collection.

They are the most glorious set of little skittles

in the form of elephants.

They're made out of felt,

they're stuffed with a kind of wood straw, and the king pin -

this wonderful king elephant with his crown and his jacket -

absolutely fantastic.

Now where did you buy them?

-We didn't buy them.

-Oh!

They belonged to my mother-in-law's cousin...

A lovely wee Irish lady - and towards the end of her life,

she lived with my parents-in-law

and when we would go over and visit and bring our children with us,

occasionally these skittles came out of the cupboard,

and were allowed to be played with down the corridor,

and they would roll balls at them, then they were put away again,

so we've always sort of known that they were there,

and I think they might have been Alice's childhood toy,

-but I don't know how old they are.

-How fascinating.

When do you think she was born?

Um... Round about 1897.

Sounds like a rather precise "about!"

-SHE LAUGHS I...

-That's fine, it's perfect.

Because that fits in with the date of these.

They're made by a company called Steiff,

-who are perhaps better known for making teddy bears.

-Mmm.

Margarete Steiff - the lady who set up the Steiff factory -

started the business in Germany in 1880,

and the very first product she made was an elephant.

-Right.

-She was always very partial to elephants.

The first little product in fact wasn't a toy,

-it was an elephant-shaped pincushion.

-Right.

So I don't know where this love for elephants came, but she was -

you know - very much, that was her... Her little icon, if you like.

And the first thing that people usually say about Steiff is,

"Oh, I know all about Steiff, they have a button in their ear."

-Yeah.

-OK, where's the button?

They don't have any buttons.

They have bells round their necks, but no buttons.

And that's because the buttons didn't come in until 1904.

Oh, right.

-That makes sense.

-So that's why I wanted to know how old Alice was,

because if Alice was born in 1897, you know,

-if she got these at the age of five or six...

-Yes.

-..that would actually fit in quite...

-It would, wouldn't it? Yes.

-..fit in quite well.

-Yeah.

Er... They are - I think - absolutely charming,

I mean, they come in different, er...qualities -

some of them come in velvet.

-Right.

-These, as I mentioned, are felt ones.

-Mmm.

And felt, I think...

As you have noticed, felt is the kind of caviar for moths.

-Absolutely!

-If there is any bit of fabric in the house

that's made of felt, they will zero in on it.

So who's done a bit of cross stitch on there?

Alice must have done that, yes.

Nobody else has touched them.

They've never been out of her hands, I don't think.

Well, she obviously loved them hugely.

To keep them for 90... 93 years, I think.

-And...and to darn them.

-Yes, yeah.

And they have a value.

They are very collectable

and the auction price, I would say, would be

between £9,000 and £10,000.

No!

All stitched up, with...knocks and stuffing coming out like that?

I thought...

I don't know what to say!

I just wanted to know they were old...and loved.

Wow!

Well done, Alice! SHE LAUGHS

Gosh!

-Well done, Alice.

-Oh, goodness!

-Old and loved indeed.

Yes, yeah.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you. Thank you.

Do you know, in the two or three days before we arrived here

at Fountains Abbey,

much of the grounds here were submerged in water,

and we all worried this whole thing was going to be a total wash-out.

But, look, we've had the first day of sunshine we've had in weeks.

Must be divine intervention.

From the ruins of Fountains Abbey,

and the Roadshow team, until next time,

bye-bye.