Cheltenham Town Hall 2 Antiques Roadshow


Cheltenham Town Hall 2

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Charles Dickens once said of today's Roadshow location,

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"Rarely have I seen a place that so attracted my fancy,"

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and do you know, I think quite a few famous residents would agree,

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not least the late, great Arthur Negus,

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founding father of the Roadshow, of course,

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and who lived here for many years.

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Welcome to a return visit to Cheltenham.

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On the day before the Antiques Roadshow,

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there are always 101 things to be done.

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Lights need checking, miles of cables need laying,

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sets need to be laid out...

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Hmm, that sounds far too much like hard work for me.

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Far below all this activity, I've been told there's something

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rather interesting in the bowels of the building.

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From 1903, when the town hall opened,

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it was at the heart of Cheltenham's social life,

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so you might expect, 100 years on,

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to find something rather intriguing down here.

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Let's have a look. What can we see?

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Mm, what's in these books?

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Wouldn't you know it?

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It's from the local Echo, 1980 -

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"TV Antiques Roadshow In Town," and, look, there's Angela Rippon.

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This is the first time that the Antiques Roadshow

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came here to Cheltenham.

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It would be great to find something

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from the town hall's famous musical past.

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Here we go, "First Annual Festival.

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"The first performance of works by Benjamin Britten

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"conducted by the composer."

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Gosh, so when it came to classical music,

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Cheltenham was where it was at.

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As well as Benjamin Britten, many great composers performed here -

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William Walton, Vaughan Williams and Gustav Holst.

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And in the cultural capital of the Cotswolds -

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also renowned for its exquisite silver, immaculate furniture

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and rustic pottery - our experts are in position,

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and hoping to make their own mark with some exciting discoveries.

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Whenever I see a piece of painted enamel on an object of silver

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like this, it always gets the pulse ticking a little faster.

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What can you tell me about its past history?

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Well, all we know is that when my grandmother died in about 1977,

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we found it in her house.

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My father hadn't lived with her as a boy, so he'd never seen it before.

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We looked at it, it was a bit black,

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it had been on her mantelpiece, I think.

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It went on a shelf at home, and just carried on being black.

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Then about a year ago, I've got a friend

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who's staying in Amberleigh, and I took it to show her,

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and while we were looking at it,

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another friend of ours turned up for a cup of tea.

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-She works at the Court Barn Museum at Chipping Campden...

-Yes.

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..and recognised what it was.

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So we went to Chipping Campden and showed this to the Harts,

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and they agreed that it had been made there,

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and that it was probably valuable.

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Well, what you've hit on is absolutely right, because

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when you look at how it's made,

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it absolutely screams Arts and Crafts.

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These rather crude riveted feet,

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which are all done absolutely deliberately.

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-Yes.

-You know, it's not just bad making.

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-No.

-That's how they deliberately made it,

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and then it's got this almost impressionistic enamel on the top.

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And this period was probably one of the peak periods

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for enamelling in the British Isles,

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and, of course, this came out of the very famous

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Guild of Handicraft workshop in Chipping Campden,

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and there's one name... Do you know

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the famous name associated with the Guild of Handicraft?

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Well, Ashbee.

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-Charles Ashbee.

-Yes.

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He is an absolutely iconic name at the moment.

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People are going crazy over his stuff.

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So what I would need to do a little bit of work on, is to find out

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whether this was actually designed by Ashbee.

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If we turn it up and look at the bottom,

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you can see it's got the Guild of Handicraft mark there

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and the date letter is actually 1906.

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Now, that's exactly the period

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when Ashbee was running the Guild of Handicrafts.

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Lovely box. Very, very stylish, and, do you know, 20 years ago,

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I really disliked this stuff.

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-Do you like it?

-I do now, yes.

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-So do I.

-I mean, I don't think my father did, when he found it.

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It looked old-fashioned.

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And it's funny how tastes change.

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I used to love Georgian coffee pots and simple silver.

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Now I'm really into this Arts and Crafts silver

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and I think this is a lovely little box, highly collectable.

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Now, if it IS designed by Ashbee,

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we're probably looking at

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-£4,000 to £5,000.

-Wow.

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So, not a bad increase.

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Not bad at all.

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What I've brought is two chairs and a table.

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-What, these two chairs we're sitting in?

-Yes, yes.

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I bought these at auction last year for £160.

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-Yes.

-And they're from Laurie Lee's house

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and I also got a letter from his widow stating the fact.

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-That these are Laurie Lee's?

-Yes.

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So Laurie Lee, the man who wrote Cider With Rosie,

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that seminal book of the 1950s-60s

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that we all had to study at school...

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-Did you study it at school?

-Yes, I did, yes.

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Yes, so, was it written on this table?

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I'm not sure about that, but I'm sure he sat in these very chairs.

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Well, Laurie Lee was born in 1914

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and he was born in Slad, down here in Gloucestershire,

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a few miles away from where we are at the moment,

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and brought up by his mother's family.

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His father went off to war in 1914 and he didn't get killed,

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but he decided not to come back to his family,

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so he was brought up in a female environment in this

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tiny little Slad valley, which all figures in his little book.

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But I'd love to feel - although it probably wasn't -

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that Cider With Rosie was written, forged, on this piece of wood here.

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-Yes.

-There's the coffee stain - tremendous!

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-And look, you haven't cleaned it off.

-No.

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You see here, this is all, this is all wax from the candle.

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-Oh, from the... Candle wax, yes.

-You see the candle.

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So this dim little cottage,

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writing by the light of a candle,

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mug of hot coffee to keep warm, writing Cider With Rosie.

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I don't suppose it happened on this table,

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-but indeed this was Laurie Lee's table.

-Quite.

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An invalid table, late Victorian.

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At auction - how much did you pay for it?

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I paid £160 for the three items.

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Well, I suppose if they went into auction now

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and you forgot the Laurie Lee implications,

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-I think that they would make, possibly make £100.

-Yes.

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So you paid £60 over because it was Laurie Lee's.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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Well, I think catalogued properly

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and with this wonderful association from an author who wrote

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a seminal book of the 20th century,

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we're talking about £5,000.

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HE LAUGHS At least.

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So where do you keep it? Where do you keep it now?

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-Um...

-You obviously don't bother to polish it.

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No, no, it's just kept in the house, just on the landing.

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That's brilliant. Thanks very much.

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My husband worked for The Beatles, he worked for Apple Corps,

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and we were invited to the opening party of their new shop.

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The Apple shop? Brilliant!

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Yes, the Apple shop, which was on the corner of Baker Street

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-and Paddington Street.

-Yes, right, exactly.

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And they'd got The Fool, who were a Dutch group,

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to design some amazing clothes.

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This was just the beginning of the hippie,

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slightly getting hippie thing.

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Yes, I'm just trying to think, the Apple shop, which was this

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-extraordinary edifice with a big mural...

-Wonderful painting.

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..on the outside of it.

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That opened, I think, in December '67, didn't it?

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-That's right, yes.

-With a huge fanfare,

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and it was full of these wonderful, sumptuous clothes

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in extraordinary colours, extraordinary fabrics,

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and the trade mark was the Apple logo.

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Obviously, The Beatles set up the Apple recording label,

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they called it, tongue in cheek, Apple Corps, spelt C-O-R-P,

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and the Apple shop was a sort of offshoot

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of the Apple Corporation, which was their record label.

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-So you were there, lucky girl.

-I was there at the opening party.

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-How was it?

-It was packed - absolutely packed -

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and we were allowed to buy garments at the opening party,

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so I bought this, a blue brocade dress,

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and another top for my husband.

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Where they are, I don't know, so this is the only remaining one.

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And we were also invited to listen to, not the final mix,

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but the final run-through of Hey Jude.

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We went up to this tiny little studio

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and I sat on a little banquette with Paul McCartney on one side

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and out came this incredible song, which just went on and on and on.

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And Paul was really worried, he said, "Is it too long?"

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and we all said, "No, no, it's fabulous, it's fabulous."

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-Extraordinary and exciting times.

-Yes.

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-I mean, the... Let's just do the postscript to the Apple shop.

-Yes.

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-Because the Apple shop...

-Didn't last long, no.

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No, it closed in the July, the following year,

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so it had a very short run.

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Well, they had an awful problem with people just coming in

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-and taking things.

-Shoplifting?

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"Oh, I'm a friend of George,

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"he said I could have six dresses," that sort of thing.

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They had a lot of trouble with that, so I think they lost a lot of money.

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-Right.

-But, um...

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But the psychedelic dream sort of continues

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when I look at this painting here.

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Now, I had a look at the back of it, and it says, "Philip Sutton"

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-and it's 1981, which is, you know, later than the psychedelic era.

-Yes.

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But it has a sort of feeling of psychedelia to it.

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Is that you?

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That's me looking a bit like somebody from Trixie comic

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-of the 1960s, but, yes, that is me.

-And are you wearing...?

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I'm wearing this, yes. Wearing that.

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And what's the background?

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Because the background looks like a sort of scene

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from Yellow Submarine in a way, doesn't it?

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Well, it could be, but in fact, it's After The Flood,

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-Noah's ark, after the flood.

-Oh, right.

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-So there's the ark.

-Yes.

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And there's Mrs Noah and Mr Noah, my cat and a dog.

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And I'd made this for an American client because I was making

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-applique and embroidered quilts and wall hangings.

-Yes.

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And I made that for an American client, and Philip Sutton,

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who's a friend of ours, saw it and he said, "Shall we do a swap?"

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And I made him a bedspread and he painted my portrait,

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and I decided I wanted to be painted behind this, which I found.

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Brilliant, brilliant.

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Well, Philip Sutton, he is a Royal Academician,

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he's represented in Tate Britain,

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he was a tutor at the Slade School of Art in the 1950s and '60s,

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so he is well known

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and I know that Philip Sutton himself says of his work

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that he feels like he's a musician running through fields of colour,

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and using each of the colours a bit like a musical instrument,

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creating wild music... So, in a way,

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that sort of psychedelic feel continues.

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And even though this is dated 1981, it's still...

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He still has that feel of the late '60s and early '70s, it's terrific.

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OK, so it comes down to the nuts and bolts, which is the value.

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And I think that the coat here,

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I could see that

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easily fetching £400 or £500.

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Wow! Just the dress?

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The Philip Sutton is slightly more difficult to value.

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I'm going to be slightly cautious

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-and put a value of £1,000 to £1,500 on it.

-Wow.

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BUT it's got a long way to go.

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But that's a portrait of me wearing this dress,

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so my family are going to have a portrait of me and the dress.

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They can set up - like Matisse had a museum -

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the painting, the object from the painting next to it.

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It'll be like a little shrine, a little shrine to you in the corner.

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I've even got the shoes I used to wear with this,

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I used to wear silver...

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Not tights, because they didn't have tights in those days -

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silver stockings, which scratched like mad,

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and silver shoes, and I thought I was fabulous!

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# Those were the days, my friend

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# We thought they'd never end

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# We'd sing and dance for ever and a day

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# We'd live the life we choose

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# We'd fight and never lose

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# For we were young and sure to have our way... #

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You may remember in our Antiques Roadshow in Wimbledon

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that one of our visitors brought along a Bible,

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which had that magic name in it - Negus -

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and it once belonged to the Negus family.

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And, of course, the late, great Arthur Negus is indelibly

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linked to the Antiques Roadshow years gone by,

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so we were very pleased to reunite the Bible with the Negus family.

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-And, Ann, you're Arthur's daughter.

-Yes.

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What did you think when you got the call about this?

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Well, I was so excited, it's a wonderful thing to have

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because I have very little of my history to go on,

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so this told us everything. It's lovely.

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-It's a real link to the past, isn't it?

-Yes, absolutely.

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You've got "Charles and Harriet Negus".

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-Yes, that's my great-grandfather.

-Your great-grandfather.

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And great-grandmother, yes, and since having the Bible,

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because of the entries, we have managed to trace back to the 1700s.

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-Really?

-At the present time.

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We hope to go further. It's lovely, wonderful to get it.

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Now, even though it's a long time now since your dad presented

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the Antiques Roadshow, but everyone remembers his name.

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I mean, people keep coming up to me and talking about him.

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I'm amazed, I'm amazed, yeah, I am amazed,

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but I always thought he didn't have a proper job like other fathers.

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He was always bringing home funny things and bits of furniture

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and the talk, you know, but as I got older,

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I appreciated how much he really was engrossed with it, loved it.

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Well, what came through was his real passion for it, I think.

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He had a... Well, as a boy, you see - father a cabinet-maker -

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he just lived with antiques the whole time,

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absolutely the whole time. It's lovely, really, to be recognised.

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Well, it's lovely to have you back on the programme.

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It feels entirely fitting to have a Negus back amongst our midst.

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Well, thank you for asking me, it's been most enjoyable.

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You know, a lot of people say, "Well how old does it have to be,

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"to be an antique?"

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And, of course, according to HMRC - Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs -

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it should be 100 years old,

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and, thankfully, we don't stick too strictly to that,

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because if we did,

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we wouldn't be able to see this wonderful cabinet...

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-That's right.

-..which has come from the Gordon Russell Museum in Broadway

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-and was made in 1925.

-1924.

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1924. That's the first mistake for me!

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Have you got the label in the drawer that we can...?

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I think it's in this one, isn't it? Can we have a look?

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Ah, there we go.

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Oh, it does say 1925 on the label - that was the exhibition.

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That was the exhibition in Paris,

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where it won the gold medal at the Paris Exhibition of 1925.

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-And designed by Gordon Russell, Sir Gordon Russell.

-Yes.

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Now, there was another influence before him,

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the Chipping Campden, there was a movement there of Arts and Crafts.

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The Guild of Handicrafts brought down from Whitechapel in London...

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-Right.

-..by CR Ashbee, the architect.

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Right, now those people were quite exclusive, weren't they?

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What they produced was expensive,

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whereas I think Gordon was important because he thought that

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machinery could help him make furniture for the average person

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that they could afford, and that's his great contribution, isn't it?

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It is indeed.

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And it was his line of utility furniture which we see a lot of.

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-Indeed.

-But it's always quite exceptional,

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it always has that little bit of difference,

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-but let's talk about this cabinet.

-Yes.

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Because this is a chance for me to talk about a piece of furniture

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which equates...

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My field is 18th-century furniture,

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and yet, when you see something like this,

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this, to me, is the equivalent.

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This is 20th century, 18th century. This is wonderful.

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And he was so clever because he reversed what you'd expect to see.

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A Queen Anne cabinet would have had this wonderful work

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enclosed by a pair of doors, but he's opened it up

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so you see these panels of inlay and marquetry - they're beautiful -

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and inside, there are two things that strike straightaway, little details.

0:17:450:17:49

Now then, if you take that hinge strap up to there,

0:17:510:17:54

this is Queen Anne, it could be Queen Anne.

0:17:540:17:57

But this part is absolutely totally Arts and Crafts, isn't it?

0:17:570:18:01

-Absolutely.

-Wonderful design.

0:18:010:18:03

-And then another revival are these oyster veneers.

-Yes.

0:18:030:18:06

Revival of the 17th century,

0:18:060:18:08

parquetry lined with boxwood and ebony. I...

0:18:080:18:12

-And the oysters are laburnum.

-Laburnum, yeah.

0:18:120:18:16

-May I...?

-Yes, please.

0:18:160:18:18

Oh...

0:18:180:18:19

Still works perfectly.

0:18:190:18:21

Oh! What a joy! Just...

0:18:210:18:23

Wonderful, er...

0:18:230:18:26

-Dovetails.

-Dovetails.

0:18:260:18:27

Just, just superlative.

0:18:270:18:29

Well, now, I know that the museum... This, of course, is without price,

0:18:290:18:33

there's nothing quite like it - it is priceless.

0:18:330:18:36

It is a priceless piece.

0:18:360:18:38

But, commercially, we have to look,

0:18:380:18:40

and I know everybody wants to know the sort of price range.

0:18:400:18:44

It would certainly be in the range of £50,000 to £60,000.

0:18:440:18:48

This sort of furniture is so sought after and so wonderful.

0:18:480:18:53

Who knows? I mean, that might be an underestimation,

0:18:530:18:55

but it is a great joy for me to see and talk about something

0:18:550:18:59

which I can enjoy as much as a piece of 18th-century furniture.

0:18:590:19:03

-So do we.

-Thank you very much.

-Not at all, you're welcome.

0:19:030:19:06

It's amusing to reflect that such a tranquil figure as this

0:19:070:19:10

was created by such a wild Bohemian.

0:19:100:19:13

Yes, she was known for her wildness and she would never

0:19:130:19:17

take no for an answer, so she'd go up to you at a dinner party

0:19:170:19:20

and say, "Oh, your face is so interesting, I must sculpt you,"

0:19:200:19:23

and she would introduce herself to everybody famous

0:19:230:19:26

and just push herself.

0:19:260:19:27

So we're talking about Fredda Brilliant, the Polish sculptress

0:19:270:19:31

-who emigrated to Australia, went to Russia, went to India.

-Yes.

0:19:310:19:36

And created a very considerable reputation for herself, not only

0:19:360:19:41

as a woman on the stage, but as a creator of sculptures and portraits.

0:19:410:19:46

Absolutely, absolutely.

0:19:460:19:48

She was my aunt, she was married to my mother's brother.

0:19:480:19:52

My mother's brother was Herbert Marshall,

0:19:520:19:54

famous film producer, theatre manager and all that.

0:19:540:19:57

They met in Russia, were married in Russia,

0:19:570:20:00

so they spent years in Russia.

0:20:000:20:02

So a lot of her early work was Russian.

0:20:020:20:04

Then she went to India, and did a lot of the Indian people.

0:20:040:20:08

-And there's a great story I recall about how she met Picasso in...

-Yes!

0:20:080:20:14

Picasso says, "Come to my house in the south of France, to sculpt me,"

0:20:140:20:19

and it would have happened, had he not pinched her bottom?

0:20:190:20:22

He pinched her bottom, but what was worse for Fredda,

0:20:220:20:25

he pinched her bottom when her husband was in the room.

0:20:250:20:28

-Oh, no, no!

-And this was just a no-no.

-Doubly bad.

0:20:280:20:31

So, you have this maquette, this preparatory bronze,

0:20:310:20:36

for what is arguably the most famous image of Gandhi.

0:20:360:20:41

-Yes.

-The statue in Tavistock Square.

0:20:410:20:44

-Yes.

-Which she created, she made,

0:20:440:20:46

and I think it was unveiled by Harold Wilson, was it not?

0:20:460:20:50

Harold Wilson, yes, yes.

0:20:500:20:52

And it's now a place of pilgrimage. I see it from time to time

0:20:520:20:55

and there's quite often flowers in front of it.

0:20:550:20:57

Yes, that was the whole idea,

0:20:570:20:58

for people to put flowers into the shrine.

0:20:580:21:00

Oh, I'm with you, so it's got... Right.

0:21:000:21:02

It was done for that and she was very proud of that,

0:21:020:21:04

that when Indians first came to England to live,

0:21:040:21:07

the first thing they would do would be go to Tavistock Square and put

0:21:070:21:10

flowers as a thank you for a safe journey, or having arrived finally.

0:21:100:21:13

And on his birthday, there's a pilgrimage

0:21:130:21:15

goes into Tavistock Square of the Indian League

0:21:150:21:18

and other dignitaries, and they lay all these flowers around him.

0:21:180:21:22

-Every year they do this.

-It's rather thrilling to think

0:21:220:21:25

your aunt has created such an emotive, almost divine image

0:21:250:21:29

-like that, isn't it?

-Yes, yes.

0:21:290:21:31

-Now how did you come by it?

-Well, in her latter years,

0:21:310:21:34

I used to go over to America where she was then residing,

0:21:340:21:36

and help her to try and sort out 90 years of mayhem, which wasn't easy.

0:21:360:21:41

Her whole life and all her chaotic...

0:21:410:21:43

Her whole life and all her bronzes

0:21:430:21:44

and all her paperwork that she'd kept for ever...

0:21:440:21:46

So I would go over there

0:21:460:21:47

and we became very close and then she became older and sick

0:21:470:21:51

and she ended up leaving me everything.

0:21:510:21:54

-Everything?

-Everything.

0:21:540:21:56

So, it's not just this?

0:21:560:21:57

No, I have a shed with maybe... at least 50 pieces of hers.

0:21:570:22:01

Now, they're not all finished, a lot of them are just plasters.

0:22:010:22:04

Well, that's exciting, the creative process.

0:22:040:22:06

And no direction. Yes. And no direction as to what to do with them.

0:22:060:22:09

Quite obvious to me that Fredda needs another,

0:22:100:22:13

another bit of exposure, another look at the world.

0:22:130:22:16

-The world needs to look at HER, indeed.

-Yes, yes.

0:22:160:22:18

Well, I think that this, as a one-off piece,

0:22:180:22:23

must be worth, given its significance

0:22:230:22:26

in the history of the representation of this man,

0:22:260:22:30

-£20,000.

-Yes.

0:22:300:22:33

But you have 50 other pieces.

0:22:340:22:36

Yes, they're not all as good as this,

0:22:360:22:38

but there are other pieces, yes.

0:22:380:22:40

I think it's about time that Fredda came out of the dark.

0:22:400:22:43

Had a look at the world, I think so.

0:22:430:22:45

She would enjoy it, by the sounds of it.

0:22:450:22:47

Ooh, she'd love it, she's been in the shed for ten years,

0:22:470:22:49

so it's time, it's time she came out of the shed and the world saw her.

0:22:490:22:53

-Thank you.

-Pleasure.

0:22:530:22:55

This is a very stylish centrepiece, possibly a fruit stand,

0:22:560:23:00

something like that,

0:23:000:23:01

and there are two things that intrigue me about it.

0:23:010:23:04

One is the design and the other is that it doesn't have a glass liner.

0:23:040:23:08

-What happened to the liner?

-Well, two friends of mine...

0:23:080:23:12

One of them owned it

0:23:120:23:14

and I always admired it, and one day they had a major spat,

0:23:140:23:17

as only queens can, and he threw it at the other one

0:23:170:23:22

and the legs bent and the liner unfortunately broke.

0:23:220:23:26

Ah, well, I've heard some interesting stories about history of objects

0:23:260:23:29

and that's one of the best!

0:23:290:23:31

The design is particularly interesting

0:23:310:23:33

and if we turn it up and have a look at the hallmarks,

0:23:330:23:37

it's got the maker's mark of William Hutton & Sons,

0:23:370:23:41

and the date letter for 1902.

0:23:410:23:44

Now, there's one very famous designer associated with William Hutton

0:23:450:23:50

-and that is the name of Kate Harris.

-Mm-hm.

0:23:500:23:54

And this design on the front, which is very stylish,

0:23:540:23:57

very Art Nouveau, is very much Kate Harris's style,

0:23:570:24:01

and not only that, on the sides here we've got pink tourmalines...

0:24:010:24:06

Oh, it is tourmaline?

0:24:060:24:07

..set in, so they're quite valuable in their own right.

0:24:070:24:10

The stones themselves are probably worth £500 on their own.

0:24:100:24:15

Ooh, very nice! Thank you.

0:24:150:24:17

But the whole thing, I would think,

0:24:170:24:19

has got to be worth between £2,000 and £3,000.

0:24:190:24:23

-Even better!

-BOTH LAUGH

0:24:230:24:26

We're here on hallowed ground in the hall,

0:24:280:24:31

where Captain Scott of the Antarctic talked,

0:24:310:24:35

where Edward Wilson, the doctor on the expedition, talked,

0:24:350:24:40

where Shackleton talked,

0:24:400:24:42

where Amundsen, who actually got to the South Pole first, talked.

0:24:420:24:47

-Yes.

-In this hall here. And we have holy relics

0:24:470:24:50

from the last expedition here

0:24:500:24:54

-and wonderful pictures from the first expedition.

-Yes.

0:24:540:24:58

Why have...? Why are you here? Why are these here?

0:24:580:25:00

You couldn't come to Cheltenham without seeing something of

0:25:000:25:03

one of his most famous sons,

0:25:030:25:04

who was my great-uncle, Edward Wilson of the Antarctic.

0:25:040:25:07

-Right.

-As you say, medical doctor on Scott's expeditions

0:25:070:25:09

and Chief of Scientific Staff.

0:25:090:25:11

But the family have just made quite a large donation

0:25:110:25:14

to the museum here of artefacts from the expedition

0:25:140:25:17

to mark the centenary of his death, which happened 100 years ago.

0:25:170:25:19

100 years ago, including this very holy relic.

0:25:190:25:23

Indeed. It's a compass which was used by him

0:25:230:25:26

on the South Pole journey and went to the South Pole with him,

0:25:260:25:30

and then was found on his body in November 1912 by the search party.

0:25:300:25:34

And it's a prismatic compass, it's got liquid in it.

0:25:340:25:38

It has some sort of oil in it. I'm not very sure what.

0:25:380:25:41

-So that wouldn't freeze.

-To make sure it didn't freeze, yes.

0:25:410:25:43

That wouldn't freeze, and then two watercolours,

0:25:430:25:46

which are so fabulous,

0:25:460:25:48

which are as fresh and as bright as they could possibly be.

0:25:480:25:51

-This one of The Discovery, which was the first expedition.

-Yes.

0:25:510:25:55

-Not the one he died on, but the earlier expedition.

-Yes.

0:25:550:25:58

-Discovery At Hut Point - with beautiful sky.

-Yes.

0:25:580:26:02

And this one here, of one of the great icebergs,

0:26:020:26:05

absolutely pristine, as though they've never come out of an album.

0:26:050:26:09

He had a very strong eye for colour, he had a sort of...

0:26:090:26:12

You know, musicians have perfect pitch,

0:26:120:26:14

-he had sort of perfect eye for colour.

-He had perfect eye.

0:26:140:26:17

Quite remarkable. He used to sketch outside with a pencil

0:26:170:26:19

and he made colour notes on his sketches and then

0:26:190:26:22

-he would paint up the watercolours in the hut, or on the ship.

-Yes.

0:26:220:26:26

Because he couldn't have done it outside

0:26:260:26:27

or they would have frozen. Yes, yes.

0:26:270:26:29

-Absolutely. And this wonderful hoodie here at the end.

-Yes.

0:26:290:26:33

That doesn't look used to me.

0:26:330:26:35

It doesn't look used to me either. It's a puzzle.

0:26:350:26:37

-It came down through one of his brothers.

-Yes.

0:26:370:26:39

It was passed to my brother as his South Pole balaclava,

0:26:390:26:42

but in those days "South Pole" and "Antarctic"

0:26:420:26:44

were used interchangeably, so, you know,

0:26:440:26:47

if you were to go by family,

0:26:470:26:48

you'd say it was taken to the South Pole,

0:26:480:26:50

but I don't think so. I think, my view... I don't know, you tell me,

0:26:500:26:53

but my instinct is it's an early balaclava

0:26:530:26:55

probably from the first expedition.

0:26:550:26:56

Well, no, I'm sure it's... I'm sure it's his balaclava.

0:26:560:26:59

-I don't think it was used.

-No, I agree.

0:26:590:27:01

He left it back at Hut Point and it went back home.

0:27:010:27:04

And these were all made by Jaeger, weren't they?

0:27:040:27:06

-I believe so, yes.

-All these warm goods.

0:27:060:27:08

I mean, that really is a nice warm...

0:27:080:27:10

It's beautiful, isn't it? I mean, it's in almost pristine condition.

0:27:100:27:13

And the other thing too, it has a certain style to it too, doesn't it?

0:27:130:27:17

-Yes.

-It's not just a piece of covering,

0:27:170:27:19

felt covering your face or anything like that.

0:27:190:27:21

-No.

-It has a certain style.

-Yes.

0:27:210:27:23

These are never going to come out of captivity, I hope.

0:27:230:27:25

No, well, they're safely stored in the museum

0:27:250:27:28

and these are safely stored at his old school at Cheltenham College,

0:27:280:27:31

so they're not going to come onto the market,

0:27:310:27:33

but it would be interesting to know what you think.

0:27:330:27:36

From his wardrobe, this wonderful Jaeger hood,

0:27:360:27:39

what are we talking about?

0:27:390:27:41

£2,000, £3,000?

0:27:420:27:44

It depends how much you attach to his name,

0:27:440:27:47

because it has a value as an historic object

0:27:470:27:49

and then something for his name as well, probably.

0:27:490:27:52

-I think easily that sort of price.

-Yes.

0:27:520:27:54

For the watercolours, which are really brilliant

0:27:540:27:57

and of the Antarctic itself...

0:27:570:27:59

..we have to be talking in the region of...

0:28:010:28:04

£20,000 each.

0:28:040:28:05

But this piece here, which I...

0:28:070:28:11

This relic, which I hardly want to touch - this compass.

0:28:110:28:14

How do you value something like that?

0:28:140:28:16

Found on his body. Yes, but I've got to!

0:28:160:28:19

-I would have thought about £150,000.

-Goodness.

0:28:190:28:23

You know, that is an incredible piece. This is wonderful, thank you.

0:28:230:28:27

Thank you.

0:28:270:28:29

Look, I don't know whether this is the smallest object that we've

0:28:300:28:33

recorded on the Antiques Roadshow, it's certainly the smallest object

0:28:330:28:37

I'VE ever recorded on the Antiques Roadshow,

0:28:370:28:39

and it takes the form of

0:28:390:28:42

almost a tiny finger ring, but it's so small, it wouldn't fit a baby,

0:28:420:28:47

it's absolutely minute, which means that, although it clearly is a ring

0:28:470:28:53

of some description, I wonder if it's not necessarily for human use.

0:28:530:28:57

I want you to tell me what you know about it,

0:28:570:29:00

because it's a very small object.

0:29:000:29:02

Well, as far as I understand, it's a vervel,

0:29:020:29:05

which was used in hunting with a hawk.

0:29:050:29:08

-Or a falcon.

-Or a falcon, yes.

0:29:080:29:11

-Yeah, so a vervel is a little tiny silver ring...

-Yes.

0:29:110:29:17

-..that is used as a kind of a slide piece...

-Exactly, yes.

0:29:170:29:20

..to go through the sort of leather lash that ties round

0:29:200:29:26

the foot of the falcon.

0:29:260:29:28

So the interesting thing is the age of it.

0:29:280:29:31

Now, what do you know about the age of this piece?

0:29:310:29:34

It belonged to Sir Henry Lee, who was the Champion of Elizabeth I.

0:29:340:29:39

And apart from that, I know very little.

0:29:390:29:43

Now, this kind of object is incredibly rare,

0:29:430:29:47

so how do you know that it was Sir Henry Lee's?

0:29:470:29:50

What makes you think it was Sir Henry Lee's?

0:29:500:29:53

Well, the other items that came with it

0:29:530:29:55

when I acquired it were Sir Henry Lee's seal -

0:29:550:29:58

there were several of these, this is the only one I still have.

0:29:580:30:02

Of these vervels.

0:30:020:30:04

Together with his will.

0:30:040:30:06

Which is pretty cast iron, really.

0:30:060:30:07

-Yes, it is.

-There's another reason that we can say with some confidence

0:30:070:30:11

that it was originally the property of Sir Henry Lee,

0:30:110:30:15

is because when we look round the tiny little hoop -

0:30:150:30:19

I need my lens for this because it is absolutely tiny -

0:30:190:30:22

it is engraved "Sir Henry Lee".

0:30:220:30:25

Interesting, now I never realised that.

0:30:250:30:27

-Did you not know that?

-No, I didn't.

0:30:270:30:29

I knew from the paperwork that I had, that it was authentic,

0:30:290:30:33

but I hadn't realised that.

0:30:330:30:34

It's also supplemented by a little crest on that.

0:30:340:30:37

Now, I don't know Sir Henry Lee's personal crest,

0:30:370:30:40

but I think the chances are, if you can look him up, check him up,

0:30:400:30:43

you'll find that that has got his crest as well.

0:30:430:30:46

So tiny as it is, it has an awful lot of information packed into it.

0:30:460:30:50

Yes, it has.

0:30:500:30:51

Now, I've never had to value one of these before and I defy

0:30:510:30:55

someone to be accurate with what something like this would be worth.

0:30:550:31:00

It is very old, 16th century, and very rare.

0:31:000:31:05

I would like to think that an estimate

0:31:050:31:07

of around about £1,500 to £2,500 for it would be the right quote.

0:31:070:31:13

-Yes.

-I wouldn't be surprised if someone came

0:31:130:31:16

and paid considerably more for it because it's just so rare.

0:31:160:31:20

It is actually - can I put it like this? - it is a national treasure.

0:31:200:31:25

I've seen most animals cast in bronze before and this is charming,

0:31:250:31:30

but I must say, I've never seen a monkey with a pair of binoculars.

0:31:300:31:33

No.

0:31:330:31:34

It was given to me

0:31:340:31:36

by a next-door neighbour as a graduation present

0:31:360:31:39

and she had a cabinet of curiosities and I'm afraid she didn't like

0:31:390:31:44

this monkey and I don't think she didn't like me, but I quite liked it

0:31:440:31:48

as a child, so she gave it to me, but I know very little about it.

0:31:480:31:52

And is it the fact that it's just charming, that you liked it?

0:31:520:31:55

Yes, I think it's because it's curious, and I thought about it

0:31:550:31:58

and wondered whether it was a bit of a skit on Darwin,

0:31:580:32:01

because it seems to be looking at its own toes,

0:32:010:32:03

which is quite interesting.

0:32:030:32:05

Exactly, but I think that's the charm about it.

0:32:050:32:07

I mean, it's so unusual to find a bronze like this.

0:32:070:32:10

I mean, a monkey - I think you're right, he's examining his foot.

0:32:100:32:13

-I mean, it's Austrian, 1910.

-Yes.

0:32:130:32:16

Very much in the Bergman style.

0:32:160:32:18

Bergman made all of the best bronzes, and they're cold painted,

0:32:180:32:21

so they're cast and then painted cold,

0:32:210:32:24

and literally made for export, sold all over Europe.

0:32:240:32:28

There was a huge craze for them, but this is actually quite a rare one.

0:32:280:32:31

-Right.

-I think you chose well out of the cabinet of curiosities.

0:32:310:32:36

-Yes.

-I would love it and I think anyone would love it

0:32:360:32:39

and would be prepared to pay £600.

0:32:390:32:42

-Wow, right.

-Maybe even a bit more.

0:32:420:32:44

Lovely, thank you very much, that's great.

0:32:440:32:46

Now, tell me the story of how this biscuit came to have a stamp

0:32:500:32:54

and a Cheltenham address on it.

0:32:540:32:56

Well, it was sent by my great-uncle to his mother.

0:32:560:33:00

He was in Ireland at the time, in the army.

0:33:000:33:03

-This was, what, 19...?

-1915.

0:33:030:33:06

And he sent the biscuit to her

0:33:060:33:09

and then it was followed up by a postcard, which says,

0:33:090:33:12

"The food is running short, so could we perhaps have the biscuit back?"

0:33:120:33:17

Well, let's look at this postcard, here it is.

0:33:170:33:19

"Did they get my biscuit at home?

0:33:190:33:21

"I hope, if you did, you did not mistake it for a dog biscuit.

0:33:210:33:24

"Food is running short,

0:33:240:33:25

"I hope if you have my biscuit, you will send it back."

0:33:250:33:29

Now, he was obviously a bit of a character.

0:33:290:33:31

-He was...

-What was he thinking of, sending a biscuit through the post?!

0:33:310:33:34

Well, I suppose they were reputed to be

0:33:340:33:37

very, very hard and presumably to be sent through the post

0:33:370:33:41

with a stamp and address on, it must have been.

0:33:410:33:44

I can tell you, I would never have expected to see

0:33:440:33:47

a stamped and addressed biscuit.

0:33:470:33:50

No, no, I think it is

0:33:500:33:52

a little bit more of a curiosity than value, really, but, yes.

0:33:520:33:56

Well, it's certainly unique.

0:33:560:33:57

Yes, I think it probably is. I hope so anyway.

0:33:570:34:00

This must be the very first time that anyone's brought

0:34:050:34:08

a brick to the Antiques Roadshow.

0:34:080:34:10

You're not a brick layer or something, are you?

0:34:100:34:12

Definitely not, no, I've never worked on a brickyard

0:34:120:34:15

-or anything else building bricks at all, so...

-What's the story?

0:34:150:34:19

Well, I used to be a soldier many years ago and in 1987

0:34:190:34:25

I was in Berlin when Rudolf Hess died,

0:34:250:34:28

and was there when they actually dismantled Spandau Prison

0:34:280:34:32

after Rudolf Hess had passed away.

0:34:320:34:34

And, basically, they tore down the...

0:34:340:34:39

prison into rubble and dust

0:34:390:34:42

and then got rid of it into the North Sea

0:34:420:34:45

and I just couldn't stand by and let all of history

0:34:450:34:48

just be deleted in a single go like that, so I...

0:34:480:34:51

This is a part of our... This really is a part of our modern history,

0:34:510:34:55

isn't it, our 20th-century history?

0:34:550:34:57

Yeah, it's the final chapter

0:34:570:34:59

of the Second World War, as far as I'm concerned.

0:34:590:35:01

But I was there - I took it and was in a lot of worry for a long time,

0:35:010:35:05

so it's been hidden for 25 years and now it has finally come out.

0:35:050:35:10

Well, do you know, this is what

0:35:100:35:12

we very often on the Antiques Roadshow never see -

0:35:120:35:15

a real, live witness to historical events.

0:35:150:35:18

This prison - Spandau Prison - which was famously

0:35:180:35:21

the home of the seven Third Reich Nazis who were imprisoned

0:35:210:35:25

after the Nuremberg Trials,

0:35:250:35:27

-and the last one of whom was Hess, of course...

-Yeah.

0:35:270:35:30

-..died in 1987.

-That's right.

0:35:300:35:33

And this is a piece of that history.

0:35:330:35:36

What did your comrades think of you taking a brick?

0:35:360:35:39

I didn't tell anyone.

0:35:390:35:40

You didn't tell anyone? I'll tell you something interesting.

0:35:400:35:44

My father was in the occupation army after the Second World War,

0:35:440:35:48

in Germany, in Berlin,

0:35:480:35:49

and he was one of those soldiers who guarded Hess

0:35:490:35:54

and I can imagine that he would have...

0:35:540:35:56

He'd have passed that at some point.

0:35:560:35:58

He may even have stood there having a cigarette or something,

0:35:580:36:00

-you never know, do you?

-No.

0:36:000:36:02

Quite incredible to hear about. Well, I mean, for heaven's sake,

0:36:020:36:05

what is something like this worth?

0:36:050:36:07

It's almost impossible to say.

0:36:070:36:09

I mean, it's actually a piece of history.

0:36:090:36:11

From the point of view of the brick, it's worth almost nothing -

0:36:110:36:13

what's a brick cost these days?

0:36:130:36:15

-40 pence?

-Something like that.

0:36:150:36:17

But actually, as a piece of history,

0:36:170:36:18

I reckon a militaria collector, a historian,

0:36:180:36:22

I reckon he'd easily pay you £100 for that.

0:36:220:36:25

Where are you going to find another one?

0:36:250:36:27

Nowhere, that's the point, so I'm lucky to have it,

0:36:270:36:30

and I will keep it.

0:36:300:36:32

You know, I've been waiting all day

0:36:320:36:34

for a fine piece of Winchcombe Pottery to turn up,

0:36:340:36:36

because it's not too far from here, Winchcombe,

0:36:360:36:38

and here it is at last, and in particular, it's joyful to me

0:36:380:36:42

because it's not only got

0:36:420:36:44

the Winchcombe Pottery - WP - mark on it,

0:36:440:36:46

but it's got the mark of the potter himself - ST - for Sid Tustin.

0:36:460:36:49

Right.

0:36:490:36:50

I knew Sid Tustin very well, he was a wonderful old chap,

0:36:500:36:53

-worked in the factory till he was 90.

-90?!

0:36:530:36:56

And he told me that he made, over his lifetime at Winchcombe Pottery,

0:36:560:37:00

-over a million pieces of pottery, most of them very small.

-Yes.

0:37:000:37:04

And this is a giant pot for Sid because he never made big pots.

0:37:040:37:09

How come you have it?

0:37:090:37:10

Well, I was in Moreton-in-Marsh, actually,

0:37:100:37:12

not very far from here and not very far from Winchcombe

0:37:120:37:16

and I saw it in the window,

0:37:160:37:18

recognised that it was Winchcombe Pottery

0:37:180:37:20

and went in and bought it, and it's been in the family ever since.

0:37:200:37:24

-And loved.

-And very much loved, yes,

0:37:240:37:27

and because my eldest son has grown up with it, it's always been there.

0:37:270:37:31

-That's jolly nice.

-Yes, yes.

0:37:310:37:32

My boys have all grown up with my pots

0:37:320:37:35

and so it's lovely to pass the knowledge on to them

0:37:350:37:38

-and the joy on to them.

-Absolutely, yes.

0:37:380:37:40

-Because it's a lovely piece.

-Yes.

0:37:400:37:42

Sid was a wonderful man.

0:37:420:37:43

I used to go and have tea with him quite regularly and he worked,

0:37:430:37:47

of course, for the Winchcombe Pottery right back in the 1910s,

0:37:470:37:50

and a wonderful chap, and with his brother, Charles,

0:37:500:37:54

they did most of the hard work making these pots.

0:37:540:37:58

A wonderful factory and they've left this legacy of great pieces.

0:37:580:38:02

-Yes, yes.

-And I think it's wonderful, it's got, I suppose,

0:38:020:38:06

twos in the shape of swans, twos and swans swimming round.

0:38:060:38:10

-Yes, yes, very, very simple.

-Very simple.

-Yes.

0:38:100:38:13

This is made in the earthenware body,

0:38:130:38:15

the clay dug up from the back of the factory site.

0:38:150:38:18

Really, was it dug up on the site?

0:38:180:38:20

Yes, dug up on the site, and I think it's great.

0:38:200:38:23

-Not of huge value yet.

-No, no.

0:38:230:38:26

-£100 to £200, perhaps, something like that.

-Yes.

0:38:260:38:29

-Not enormous.

-I think I bought it for £6, I think,

0:38:290:38:32

and that's all I had in my purse at the time,

0:38:320:38:35

so I rushed in and bought it, so...

0:38:350:38:37

But the joy that it's given is inestimable.

0:38:370:38:39

Oh, absolutely, yes, yearly, every year.

0:38:390:38:41

-So lovely to enjoy it.

-Thank you very much.

0:38:410:38:43

-There it is.

-Thank you. Thanks.

0:38:430:38:46

I have to tell you that's not the box for this piece of jewellery.

0:38:490:38:52

-Right.

-Now, I'm not entirely sure

0:38:520:38:57

whether we've ever done a tiara on the Antiques Roadshow.

0:38:570:39:03

I'd have to talk to my colleague Geoffrey Munn,

0:39:030:39:06

but I can't ever remember us having done a tiara,

0:39:060:39:09

and if we've ever done one,

0:39:090:39:11

it is never one quite as tremendous as this one is.

0:39:110:39:17

It is an extraordinary work of art.

0:39:170:39:20

Tiaras are meant to impress and, do you not agree, it impresses?

0:39:200:39:25

Yes, it does.

0:39:250:39:26

I want you to tell me as much as you know about it.

0:39:260:39:30

Well, my grandfather was Governor General of New Zealand

0:39:300:39:34

and his wife, for her public duties, would wear tiaras

0:39:340:39:38

and so this was hers,

0:39:380:39:40

and she wore it when the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh

0:39:400:39:44

came to visit after the Coronation in 1953, their visit after that.

0:39:440:39:49

And then she gave it to her daughter.

0:39:490:39:52

So your grandmother wore it

0:39:520:39:53

-for this spectacularly important sort of occasion.

-Yes.

0:39:530:39:57

The Queen going to New Zealand, so it begs the question -

0:39:570:39:59

have you ever worn it?

0:39:590:40:01

Yes, I wore it for my wedding day, yes.

0:40:010:40:04

-Did people comment on it?

-Yes, they thought it was lovely.

0:40:040:40:07

-Did you feel special?

-Yes, I did.

0:40:070:40:09

Yeah, well, there we are, you see, d'you know what tiaras do?

0:40:090:40:12

-They make you feel special. They do.

-Yes.

0:40:120:40:15

Tiaras are made to look like crowns, really, and if you think about

0:40:150:40:20

the time when this was made, which is around about I suppose, what, 1900...?

0:40:200:40:24

-Right.

-And tiaras were worn for grand occasions

0:40:240:40:27

and there's not much better than the Queen going out to New Zealand,

0:40:270:40:32

-where you would wear your formal, important jewellery.

-Right.

0:40:320:40:36

The balance of it is terrific.

0:40:360:40:40

Turquoise, diamonds

0:40:400:40:44

and real salt-water pearls,

0:40:440:40:47

mounted up in scrolling formation...

0:40:470:40:50

And there is the base,

0:40:520:40:55

which is a sort of velvet lining,

0:40:550:40:56

-so that when you wear it on the head, it doesn't cut in.

-Mm.

0:40:560:41:01

So it's got to have that slight buffer.

0:41:010:41:03

So you get the idea of the formal frame if it's worn this way,

0:41:030:41:08

but you know the Victorians were incredibly practical people.

0:41:080:41:12

When you look at the back of it, you have these little finials.

0:41:120:41:18

-Can you see that little screw mechanism there?

-Yes.

0:41:180:41:21

You unscrew the screw at the side...

0:41:210:41:25

you can then dismantle the entire framework from this,

0:41:250:41:31

and if you can imagine it, you can then wear it as a necklace...

0:41:310:41:37

So either a tiara or a necklace and there, I'm delighted to say,

0:41:370:41:41

you have the original extension pieces that hook in to the ends

0:41:410:41:47

of the tiara and you can wear it as a rather splendid necklace, as well.

0:41:470:41:53

Very important to have those little bits and pieces

0:41:530:41:56

-because it's that that really drives the price.

-Right.

0:41:560:42:01

Tiaras are very interesting. They're very much treated as one-off pieces

0:42:010:42:06

and whenever they come into auction houses and they're sold,

0:42:060:42:09

you know, there's always tremendous interest in them.

0:42:090:42:12

Once upon a time, they were considered rather ostentatious.

0:42:120:42:15

Nowadays, young ladies getting married often will hire tiaras,

0:42:150:42:20

because it really does finish the outfit off.

0:42:200:42:23

So you see how things have changed.

0:42:230:42:25

Well, they're great diamonds, they're great turquoises,

0:42:260:42:30

it's a big, splendid look.

0:42:300:42:32

What do I think that will fetch?

0:42:320:42:33

£25,000 to £30,000.

0:42:330:42:35

Oh, my God! Really?

0:42:350:42:38

SHE LAUGHS

0:42:400:42:43

Gosh! I'm trying not to swear!

0:42:440:42:47

Yeah, I think so, that sort of money...

0:42:480:42:50

And don't forget, that's just what you can sell it for.

0:42:520:42:54

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

0:42:540:42:57

-SHE LAUGHS

-That's brilliant.

0:42:570:43:00

What a reaction!

0:43:000:43:02

A great way to close our event here in Cheltenham.

0:43:020:43:05

And our mission to find Cotswolds' treasures also came good.

0:43:050:43:08

Top marks to our experts in uncovering those exciting finds.

0:43:080:43:12

From Cheltenham Town Hall and all of the Roadshow team, bye-bye.

0:43:120:43:17

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