Castle Coole 2 Antiques Roadshow

This week we return to Castle Coole on the most south-westerly

county in Northern Ireland, and you're in for a bit of a treat.

I love those items on the Roadshow that remind

you of the days of Upstairs Downstairs

and today we're going to show you a unique time capsule.

Welcome to the Antiques Roadshow from Castle Coole,

in County Fermanagh.

One mile outside Enniskillen sits

James Wyatt's architectural masterpiece - Castle Coole.

And last time we visited, we showed you all the grand rooms inside,

but from the outside there appears to be something missing.

There's no basement.

You can't see it from here,

or from here,

or even from here.

You see there's a hidden part to Castle Coole.

Follow me, all will be revealed.

When this house was built in the late 1700s,

it was the fashion that, in order not to spoil the look of the place,

there should be no hint of the small city hidden away where

servants were toiling underground,

so the domestics and anyone making deliveries to the house

had to use the tunnel and remain unseen.

Look, even the old keys are here. Huge, aren't they?

Fantastically heavy.

There was a strict hierarchy among the way the servants lived.

Footmen, for example, would share just one room, like this one.

And in fact the very last footman at Castle Coole - Charles Battle -

lived in this room and here he is.

He left in 1936, and apparently footmen were chosen for the job

because of their good looks.

I guess in his day he was a very handsome chap.

The servants' hall is where they ate their meals, socialised

and took a well-earned rest.

It's like they just stepped away for a moment.

On the 3rd September 1891, the head cook at Castle Coole, Mrs Wasp,

was busy with preparations for a special supper for Lord Belmore

and his family.

That night there was to be a ball to celebrate

the 21st birthday of the eldest son, Armar.

Upstairs, the family were excited,

getting themselves dressed up ready for the ball.

The Earl and Lady Belmore had 12 other children,

and the evening ahead was a big moment in their social calendar.

After the ball, one of the children wrote,

"A magnificent supper prepared by Mrs Wasp,

"would have satisfied those who live, not wisely, but too well,

"and rarely have such splendid fruits graced a board in this country."

And all thanks to the dedicated team who lived hidden away downstairs.

And from one dedicated team to another,

it's time for us to welcome our guests,

as we join our experts on the lawns

of the National Trust's Castle Coole.

Well, here we are in County Fermanagh and, as a person who's

mad about pots, County Fermanagh means only one thing to me

and that is the Belleek factory, which is a factory here in Ireland

making, and still making today, high quality pottery and porcelain.

And here you've got a little piece of Belleek which,

although it's not immediately obvious,

is actually a little box, because the lid comes off.

What can you tell me about it?

My granny - was given it to her on Christmas 1940

for a Christmas present from her mother-in-law at the time,

and my granny then gave it to me some years ago,

and since that she's passed away.

I've had it ever since but nobody's ever seen it before.

It's been in the house and that's where it sat and...

And it's probably been... never been more than a few miles

-away from the place that it was made.

-Correct, yeah.

-Which is rather lovely, isn't it?

-Yeah.

But it's actually a very interesting piece of Belleek.

It has a title, as most Belleek things do.

-Uh-huh.

-And the title is Jack At Sea, so Jack's a little sailor boy.

-Yes.

-And he's at sea and you can see that he's smiling.

-Yes.

-And it has a box that goes with it, it's one of a pair,

and the other box is called Jack On Shore, and it depicts

the same boy looking really glum like that, because he's not at sea.

-He's not at sea.

-So it's comic and fun.

-Yes.

-And the design for these two trinket boxes was

registered by the Belleek factory on the 13th November, 1868.

But we know that things were designed, say in the 19th century,

but production may have carried on for a long time.

-Yes.

-So what we need to do is to see

what mark is on the bottom of these pieces,

because one of the marvellous things about Belleek

is you can date them quite accurately from the mark.

So let's have a look. Let's put that there.

There we go, and here we see the black mark.

Yes.

For a period between 1926 and 1946.

So this is the third period mark,

so we know that the box was made within that period,

so that fits with your own family knowledge of it.

-Yes.

-It's a rare shape, it's a rare form.

-Yes.

-But it's also coloured, and that makes it even more desirable.

I think I can safely say that for the rarity here, the appeal,

we're looking at a piece that is worth...

around £1,000.

GASPS OF AMAZEMENT

HE LAUGHS

-Well, it's a rare piece.

-So it is a very rare piece.

It's an absolute joy to see it here in its home county.

-Yeah, didn't travel too far.

-No.

When a beautiful box comes to the table, I get very excited

about what could be inside, so I'm going to open it and reveal

what looks like a book, because I'm going to turn it round here now and

you might think, "What's a jewellery specialist doing with a book?"

But, in fact, it opens out

to reveal it as a bracelet.

Now tell me, how did you come to have this?

Well, it was given to me when I was quite young.

It was my great-grandmother's, and it has her name on it.

Well, this is what I love, is that, especially in the Victorian period,

they loved novelty jewels and this is absolutely quintessentially that.

It's absolutely exquisite.

I just love the chasing and the engraving and the piercing.

And what did you think when you saw this?

I don't really remember the first time I saw it.

I was quite young, but I've always loved it and treasured it.

And you've appreciated the work that's gone into this.

-Absolutely.

-I mean this is all hand-done.

All hand-pierced, which I just think is just fabulous, you know,

to have a little tiny saw to saw all these pieces,

I can assure you is no mean feat.

It's got this blue enamel

and that would indicate to me that it

would be around about 1840-1845, that sort of period.

-Right, OK.

-And with these half pearls on the spine of the book, it would

be about sort of 15 carat gold.

Do you wear it?

I have done. It was my "something old" on my wedding day.

Oh, really?

Yes, but sadly it's a little neat now.

It is actually just... I think it might have had a change,

because it's a bit small

-and another panel could have been taken out.

-Ah, OK.

But the fact that usually, when something like this is named,

it sort of limits its appeal,

but I think "May" - well, that's a lovely May month -

-so I think that wouldn't be of too much detriment to the piece.

-OK.

And I would say at auction you would be

looking in the region of about £2,000 to £3,000.

That's very nice, except it's not going anywhere.

Not going anywhere, no. Good.

So, this looks very like you.

No, it's actually in fact my grandmother.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-And it was done in 1942.

-'42, that's correct.

-In the middle of the war.

-That's right, yes.

By an Italian artist called De Gennaro.

That's correct, yes.

-Did you know him well?

-Not really, no.

-No.

I was just introduced to him

and he decided to do my portrait and that's how it happened to be done.

-He thought you'd make a good sitter, obviously.

-Obviously.

And so are you granddaughter?

-Yes.

-I see. And Mum in the background here?

-In the background, yes.

-It is extraordinary,

it's a bit like that Oscar Wilde story

The Picture of Dorian Gray, you know, when generations age but the

portrait stays fresh, and then it's turned around and here you are.

Younger still than here, it seems.

It's drawn in pastel, isn't it?

Drawn in pastel.

-Now, portraitists often do this.

-Yes.

Because pastel is something they can work in much more quickly

and that means they can turn out a portrait in...how long did it take?

I think it took quite a few hours, you know.

I was sitting for about three weeks at two hours a day.

It was quite a while, you know.

-Ah, well he took his time.

-Yes.

There are other pastel portraitists who can turn it out in an hour.

Extraordinary, isn't it?

-It would have taken months to do an oil painting.

-Exactly.

-What's going on here? Is that your husband?

-That's my husband.

-And when was that done?

-That was done two years before this portrait.

-I see, and did he...?

-1940.

Did your husband pay for this to be done?

He did, yes, eventually.

LAUGHTER

He was obviously very charming. He's got a lovely smile, your husband.

-Yes, he had, very nice.

-That's very good.

So how were you feeling when this was done?

You look rather sort of frozen cold, actually.

Yes, I wasn't too happy doing this.

I was just doing it because

everybody said, "You must have it done."

So I just went and said, "All right," but I wasn't too happy.

I thought, I didn't know whether to smile or not

and then I decided not to smile.

Oh, dear. Well, you're a good smiler, it's a shame.

Now, he's not a well known artist.

Not really, I think he just came during the war,

and that's what happened. He was probably more French than Italian.

It sounds like it. I nonetheless

think it's rather a good portrait in its way.

You do look as though you've got other things to do, though,

-in the painting.

-Yes, that's right.

-I have to say.

Yes, I think so.

Now, I would say that this portrait, if it was to come

on the market would probably only be worth about £1,000 to £1,500.

Oh, yes, but it's not really the worth of it, you know.

It's just a family piece, and you know...

-It means so much more to a family.

-More, much more.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

Thank you very much indeed, thank you.

I love it when people bring chairs on to the Antiques Roadshow

because every chair tells a story.

Do you have a story?

It's been in my husband's family for a long time.

His grandfather had it, gave it to his father,

and he gave it to us, but we really don't know what all that is about.

Do you have a history of this being in Ireland?

Yes, I would assume it has always been in Ireland, yes.

-Right. Because I think it's been moved over from Scotland.

-Oh.

Probably as part of the Plantation Movement.

Yes, the date would fit, yes.

1681, a lot of Scottish Presbyterians came over to Ireland,

mainly in the north, to be settled and given land to work.

Not very politically correct today, but it was what happened,

it's part of the history,

and I believe part of this chair's history,

which makes it very important.

It's a really unusual chair

but there are some in the Trades Hospice

in Trinity - Trinity House,

I think it's called - in Aberdeen.

Oh, really?

With different types of trades carved onto the back.

And there are some, I believe, in Belfast as well.

Really?

Which were always thought to be Irish.

-But I'm sorry to disappoint Irish viewers, they're all Scottish.

-Oh.

It probably came into the east coast of Scotland,

ie Aberdeen, probably from Sweden, in the 17th century.

It's absolutely right that date. And when you think how

many of these dates are completely wrong on furniture.

But what I'm absolutely fascinated by is this hammer.

I mean, is there a guild called The Guild of Hammermen?

-I don't think so.

-I don't know.

-I don't.

-I just don't know.

But just look for a minute at the detail. You've got this

hammer here with a metal head and then it looks like four fins

where it's been...the handle's been solidly pinned or riveted in.

And just there, a little hole there so he can just hang it up

-when he's finished work at the end of the day.

-Oh, yes.

This tells such a wonderful story.

And it's basically...

-and more or less in its entire original state.

-Good.

I think it's a fascinating chair.

You've had it for a long time.

Do you value it highly?

Value doesn't matter.

It was curiosity, really, to find

out what all that was about.

I think that curiosity for this would put it in the region of...

£2,000 to £3,000.

Oh, really? Well I hope the family will keep it.

That was always our intention, that it will go on down.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Wonderful group of spoons, but is there any history behind them?

Unfortunately, I don't know.

A friend of mine, they belong to her and she asked me to bring them.

Now she knows they're old,

but apart from that she doesn't know anything else about them.

Right, well, they are a very exciting little group of spoons.

First of all they're Irish, which is very nice.

Secondly, if you look at these,

-can you see how they come into a point there?

-Yes, yes.

That is known as Irish Pointed Old English,

but sometimes referred to as Celtic Point.

Now most Irish silver you find was produced in Dublin,

but if we look at what's happening here,

-can you see we've got the maker's mark and then word "sterling"?

-Yes.

Now in this case, these were actually made in Cork.

-OK, yes.

-And Cork is very desirable.

Now, normally when you come across serving spoons like this,

you find literally just the plain bowl, as we've got with this one.

But this, it only gets better.

Yes, that's really unusual, isn't it?

We've got that lovely strainer in the centre.

There are all sorts of theories as to what that was used for.

And of course date-wise we're looking at the of the 18th century.

-That old?

-Oh yes, these are George III,

about 1790-1800, that sort of date.

-That's very old.

-Could just spill over into the early 19th century.

All sorts of theories.

Some people say it's for serving up peas -

scoop it out, drain it, serve it.

I'm not convinced by that.

One of my favourite explanations - I don't know that it's true -

is that it was actually for getting rid of maggots out of game.

Oh, oh, dear.

Well, maybe, maybe not.

Then the six bright-cut ones, those we see again

the "sterling" together with "CT" and that would be Carden Terry.

-Oh, right.

-A very important Cork silversmith,

really going into the 19th century, early 19th century.

Difficult market at the moment.

Right.

But value-wise, the six spoons,

those have got to be £150 - £200 each.

Very good.

The pair, because of the strainer,

I'm going to say we're looking at somewhere around

the £2,500 mark for the pair.

Really? She'll be delighted. She'll be very surprised.

-Right!

-But she'll be delighted.

HE CHUCKLES

-I've been a jewellery valuer for 39 years.

-Right.

And I can truly say that in my experience I have never ever seen

a box like this, and I've certainly never seen the contents like that.

That is stupendous.

In the world of antique jewellery,

that is something special.

I was given this by my mother-in-law, who sadly passed away,

and she was a very theatrical person

and she loved this sort of thing, and she would have worn these

at the parties at Castle Coole and she gave it, very generously,

to me, obviously before she died, and I've always treasured them.

Novelty jewellery is a Victorian feature. You know,

you get things modelled in the form of things - cats, dogs.

-Yes.

-You get crystals painted in relief,

you get things like this, but

very, very rarely, first of all do you get something that is so perfect

in its composition and colour and, for me, I think this is unique.

Do you think that they were in that case,

or do you think that someone got hold of a bird's cage

and thought "I'll put the owls inside the cage"?

Because thinking about it, you don't tend to put owls in bird cages.

They've always, as far as we know in our family, been like that.

As far as the date of these is concerned,

around about 1865 to about sort of 1868

would be the right period for them.

That's when Victorian novelty jewellery really took off.

The birds themselves are beautifully coloured in brown

and coloured sort of enamel

to depict the feathers at the back.

Enamel decoration there,

realistically suggestive of tawny owls, I think.

Right, tawny owls.

The condition of them is generally speaking really very good.

There's a few little flakes of colour missing at the front,

but to be honest with you, I think that the damage is so minimal,

I don't think people would worry too much about it,

because I think from the point of view of buyers,

these are of paramount interest.

Naturalism, birds - which people love.

-Yes.

-The cage...

The box in itself.

You know, it's got such meaning and such personality.

I would like to think that if these ever came up at auction -

I'm sure you'd never sell them - but if they came up at auction,

someone would comfortably pay £3,000 for them.

Goodness.

I think they are so rare, they are fabulous.

Well it's very nice, you saying such lovely things about them

because I've always been very fond of them and I do wear them.

I'm just trying to think the last time I wore them and I think...

You'll be horrified to hear, it was at a Harry Potter fancy dress party.

We get some very unusual items on the Roadshow

but I think this is the first time we've ever actually had

a First World War cross from the battlefield.

-Now, this was your grandfather, I believe?

-Yes, it was, yes.

Tell me a little bit about him. You have a photograph of him there.

Yes. My grandfather, he was in the Battle of the Somme

and he was serving there, and he was hit by a shell.

It didn't explode but took both his legs off.

He was taken to a clearance station

and, obviously, he died,

and then this was a cross off his grave.

You've got another photograph, which I believe shows a different cross.

Yes.

So, this, I think, would have been the original cross

-erected by his comrades.

-Yes.

-After he died.

But these original crosses didn't survive for very long,

because what was called the Graves Registration Unit -

and you can see the GRU here -

they were responsible for replacing all of the crosses

with a uniform white cross, which this is one.

And so, after the First World War in the 1920s,

they had a massive programme of having to replace

all of the war graves crosses and they put these in.

But, after they'd erected these,

there was then an even bigger programme

to replace all of the war graves crosses with proper stone,

-um, stone headstones.

-Yes.

And so families were offered the chance to actually have

one of these crosses sent back to them, if they wished to do so.

Now I think most families said "No."

They regarded it as too sad or possibly too gruesome.

-Yes.

-In the instance of your family, they said, "Yes".

-Yes.

These were mass produced in their hundreds of thousands.

Well, Britain and the Commonwealth lost nearly a million men,

so you can imagine the quantities that were produced.

Um... But this is a very, very rare survivor and I think

what's rather poignant is, at the bottom of the cross,

-although it's protected with silver foil..

-Yeah.

..is the soil that was actually still clinging to it

-when it was pulled out.

-That's correct, yes.

And you've very sensibly tried to protect it.

It's an extremely unusual object.

In fact, it has virtually no collector's value as such.

-No.

-But absolutely priceless to the family

and also because you simply don't come across them.

Occasionally, you find them in churches,

and in memorial halls, but this is the first one

I've ever come across actually in private hands and it's wonderful.

Thank you very much for bringing it in.

You're welcome, yes. I wouldn't sell it anyway.

Good, I'm delighted to hear it.

Picture yourself in the year 1920-1925.

You've been invited to go to some function -

reception, dance, cocktail party, whatever it may be.

You've got to wear something that looks quite practical,

but makes a good impression.

And what we have in the box, I think,

services that need extremely well.

It's a brooch, set with a line of five white stones.

Tell me as much as you know about it.

It was my grandmother's and she left it to my father

and when my mother died, she left it to me, and I've always worn it.

I've worn it to dinner dances, I wore it in the back of my dress

when Lady Diana used to start that craze.

-Oh, right, so...

-Yeah, on the back.

So your grandmother would have worn it, you know, in 1925.

She would have worn it to dinner dances,

-my mum wore it and then I've been wearing it.

-Oh.

Did your mother give information regarding what it was,

anything about it?

Well, there's always been a family myth that my grandmother,

who built the Strand Hotel in Portstewart,

that most people knew about and went to for holidays

in Northern Ireland before package holidays were popular...

She was quite a wealthy woman, and the myth was

that she bought diamonds from landed gentry who were on their uppers.

I was always told by my father and my mother

that these diamonds probably were set into the bar by her,

they were diamonds that she had bought.

So they've been sourced from disparate, different sort of places?

I don't know if they're all from one person, if they're a match or not.

-I don't know anything about the diamonds themselves.

-Mm.

Well, first of all, let's just confirm exactly what they are,

-because they are diamonds.

-All right. Good!

So that's the first thing to reassure you about.

They're round brilliant-cut diamonds,

they're all period-cut stones.

Now, the thing about them is that they're awfully large.

Yes, we always thought maybe they would make five nice solitaire rings.

-Solitaire rings.

-Yeah, more practical.

-One for each finger!

It's worth going through the weights of these stones.

1.25 carats,

1.25 carats, 1.25 carats,

1.25 carats,

one and three-quarter carats.

So that's mine in the middle, for my ring!

Shall we run through the values individually,

to give you an idea of what the value of this brooch,

as a composition, would be, that you wear?

This one here, £2,500 by itself.

£2,500, £2,500,

£2,500.

That's £10,000 for the four small stones,

then you've got the big one in the middle.

And the big one in the middle is slightly off colour

so I'm going to be a little bit cautious on that,

it's a disappointing £3,000.

In other words, your brooch - line of diamonds -

is worth £13,000 to £16,000.

Now, don't forget, that's what you can sell it for -

and you have to bear in mind that for insurance purposes,

you'd be looking at the best part of £25,000 to £30,000 for it.

Ooh, better get it insured!

You might consider that.

It is a sparkling, spectacular, fabulous diamond line brooch.

Thank you. Lovely, thank you.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

At first glance, a rather undistinguished

piece of white porcelain, flat white porcelain.

What's the family history?

Well, the family history is,

-it was given to me 20 years ago by an aunt.

-Right.

I thought it was quite pretty,

but there's something special about it and magical about it.

There is indeed, and we are looking at in ambient light,

in other words, the light is coming in and it's bouncing off

and what we see is an image of a lady wearing a turban, and her hand.

But this is a very special process,

a ceramic process invented in the mid-19th century

and it transforms utterly when you hold it up against the light.

CROWD GASPS

That is fantastic.

Mm-hm. It's beautiful

It's absolutely beautiful.

And your aunt, did she actually have it hanging up in a window?

She didn't, but when I was in possession of it,

I put it up to the window and I could see the glory of it then.

But I didn't have the appropriate place to put it up, so I just put it in my wardrobe.

But it was a younger sister who thought it was worth looking at.

These were very, very popular in the mid-19th century.

-They were called lithophanes...

-Yes.

..which means a light-revealing stone,

-because it has a sort of stony look.

-Yes.

-And the place you put them, was in the windows.

-The window.

Sometimes you could even make lamps of them.

Fantastic detail and it's one of the best lithophanes I've seen.

They were basically sold to people going abroad,

they were basically souvenirs.

She did travel a lot.

She would have been a lady who would have travelled quite a bit.

I don't know the origin...

If you went to a foreign gallery in Munich, for example,

you might want a copy of one of the masterpieces in the gallery

and that's a relatively inexpensive way

of getting one of those copies back home.

Don't often see them.

The most celebrated manufacturer is usually considered to be

KPM Berlin and there could be a mark underneath the frame.

If there is, it's likely to be Berlin.

-Value - somewhere around £200 to £300.

-Mm-hm.

Great thing.

Well, in the early 20th century,

Diaghilev's Ballets Russes was taking the world by storm.

He produced this new way of theatre, of ballet,

from theatrical costumes to these wonderful dancers.

And the impact of his whole performance was felt everywhere -

from costumes, to textiles, to sculpture, to porcelain.

And this, for me, just reeks of everything to do with Diaghilev,

and to do with the Ballets Russes.

But tell me, how do come to be in possession of such a wonderful object?

Well, it belonged to my mother's aunt and uncle,

who lived in San Francisco

and at the outbreak of the Second World War,

after my mother's uncle died,

her aunt and cousin came back to Northern Ireland,

but, of course, they couldn't come directly,

so they had to come through... They flew to Portugal and then overland

up through Europe, into Ireland and so into Northern Ireland.

And it's just been in the family, and I recently was given it.

-So they were there in the '20s, during that period.

-They were, yeah.

You wonder whether it had been bought there. Well...

I really don't know.

Well, interestingly it MAY have been bought there,

-but it certainly wasn't MADE there.

-Right.

We've got to come right back across the Atlantic

and go back into Europe. In fact, we've got to go into Germany,

we've got to go into Thuringia and we have to go to one of the smaller

but good sort of Volkstedt factories that were working at that time.

And they were actually a firm

that were producing this kind of ware at this kind of period.

And if we move just round here,

we have got quite a little complex mark,

a crown and some interlaced characters there,

and this is for a firm called Aelteste Volkstedter.

And, basically, this is typical of their sort of work

and they're looking across at other factories of the time

and they're looking at what other people are doing,

and if you look at the movement and the dance and the pose,

I mean, it is very sort of balletic, isn't it?

It's lovely, yes.

And so when she brought this back, did it go in the hold then,

-did it get packed up with all their possessions?

-It absolutely did not, no.

My mother's aunt insisted on having it with her all of the time,

so she nursed it the whole way.

Wow! Well, what a long journey it's had and I think

because it has got that wonderful essence

of the 1920s and that lovely elegant feel,

it's a kind of figure that sort of exudes romanticism.

And I think because of that,

I think people would actually find it incredibly appealing.

So to go out and replace this today, I think you're going to look

at a price tag somewhere between £800 and £1,200 for it.

My goodness!

It's a wonderful thing and I'm glad that she nursed it all the way home.

-Thank you.

-It's lovely, thank you.

-Thank you very much.

We've had a very interesting day here at Castle Coole, to say the least.

We've had one or two very dubious items - dare I say "fakes".

Nice one.

What can you tell me about this?

I bought it about 14 years ago

and I have a small collection of sculpture

and the price I paid for it was quite reasonable,

but after buying it, within six to eight months,

the dealer came back to me and offered me

four times the money that I paid for it.

It has been sitting on its stand at home, you know, for years

and I've often wondered,

why did he come back and offer me more money for it,

so the question I'm asking you is,

is it genuine and what it's worth?

So he feels he made a mistake, does he?

I've no idea, but I was dubious when he came back.

-Let's talk for a second about it before I pronounce on it.

-Right.

Well, you know, Antoine Louis Barye,

-one of the greatest French sculptors of the Animalier School.

-Right.

Started about 1840 and his work was very, very popular indeed.

This is the Lion Et Serpent - Lion And Serpent -

a very well known model.

And he made a lot of things in his own studio

-and then a lot of things were made posthumously.

-Right.

-And well into the 20th century.

-Right.

In fact, there was a whole group of fakes of his

and other animal bronze sculptures done in Paris in the 1960s

and a certain gentleman went to jail for doing them.

Really? OK.

-So, I have to make a pronouncement.

-Right.

Is this right, or is it wrong?

It's 100% genuine.

Very good, I'm pleased with that.

Now we have to value it.

I love the colour, it's that nice green patination that Barye liked.

It doesn't have a lot of the bells and whistles that you want,

like the caster's marks and, that Barye also put on, the Barbedienne foundry,

so I think it's relatively late, could be even 1900.

-Really? OK.

-Yeah, so I think it's posthumous.

So you paid a "reasonable" price.

Is it dangerous of me to ask you what you paid for it?

I paid about 3,000.

-3,000 - and you call that reasonable?

-Yeah.

Then the dealer came back

-and offered you three or four times more.

-Yes.

-Well, I think you should have taken it.

-Really?

But I'm wondering, in real life, whether he actually would have

-paid you £9,000 - £12,000 for it.

-Right.

I think, today, it's worth certainly between £5,000 and £6,000.

That's not bad, not bad. It's good.

Phew, it's genuine.

HE LAUGHS Very good, thank you.

We were really hoping we were going to see some Irish pictures today,

and here they are with a vengeance.

They're absolutely lovely and they're by Harry Epworth Allen,

done in 1942 and 1943.

And where are they of?

They're scenes from Achill Island,

which is off the coast of County Mayo.

It's on the west coast of Ireland.

I see, and this one's got a big mountain in the background,

-what's that?

-Yes, that's - as far as I know - that's called Slievemore,

and the village here, I think, is the village of Keel on Achill Island.

They've been in the family home since I've been a child

and no-one in the family knows whether they're prints

or whether they were originals.

In fact, they ARE originals, but they're in egg tempera.

-Now do you know what that is?

-No.

-Well, you know you can mix watercolour with just water...

-Yes.

..and you can mix it with thickening agents of all kinds,

and one of the things you can mix it with is the yolk of an egg,

a chicken's egg, and it actually works extremely well

because it gives a lovely translucent look to the colours

and that's what we're seeing here, painted on boards.

This lovely sort of pastel effect that you get

-is typical of egg tempera.

-I see.

-And each of them is dated on the back, '42 and '43.

-Yes.

This is just at the time when Harry Epworth Allen

was just beginning to take up tempera

as part of what you might call the British tempera revival.

-I see.

-And did your family know the artist?

No, I didn't... I don't think so.

I think the only reason that they're in the house is because my mother

was from County Galway and, when we were children,

she brought the family twice to Achill Island

for a holiday in the summertime, and...

-So it had fond memories for the family.

-That's right.

So they bought these.

Well, that's the only conclusion that the family have come to.

Well, he also... He was such an interesting man,

he was a bit of a war hero.

In the First War, he won the military medal and lost his leg,

and so he was invalided really for the rest of his life,

and he worked for quite a long time

as Arthur Balfour's private secretary.

Now, Arthur Balfour was, of course, the British Prime Minister,

-but his money came from a steel works in Sheffield.

-I see.

And that is where Harry Epworth Allen came from - Sheffield.

-He was a Yorkshireman.

-Oh, I see.

And part of the Yorkshire Group of artists,

but he went to Ireland quite a lot.

I mean, if you look, they're heavily stylised with simplified forms

for the sides of the gable ends of the houses,

and it's almost abstracted, isn't it?

And the dry stone wall is rather... Almost surreal,

-the way it's painted, don't you think?

-Yes.

These people, I suppose they're cutting peat?

Yes, stacking the turf.

And these mounds - yes, stacking the turf -

-and these mounds are turfs.

-That's right.

-To keep the buildings warm in the winter.

-Sure.

You're thrilled I hope to hear that they're originals.

Oh, yes! Oh yes, indeed, that's great, yes.

And so I suppose, with all that talk, you've not really known

-whether they were valuable or not.

-No.

Well, in fact, they are valuable.

They're worth between, well, £6,000 or £7,000 each.

My goodness!

CROWD GASPS AND LAUGHS

That's telling you, that's wonderful. Yes.

Well, modern British pictures

-are very, very sought after at the moment.

-Yes.

And he was another one of these strange British artists

who had a unique vision of things and that's what people like,

they like that individuality, that eccentricity

and that determination to go your own way

-and see things with your own vision.

-OK.

They're very beautiful.

Now, I know there are earlier compacts

and, in fact, you've got some of them here,

-but, to me, the glory days are Art Deco.

-Yes.

And I love these Art Deco compacts. What got you started?

Well, I got married in 1973

and I had to go to auction to buy some furniture.

One of the things that I bought was a box

for five quid, in those days,

and in it was an Art Deco compact

which had the most glorious powder puff

and I fell, instantly, madly in love

and I've just gone from bad to worse.

-I mean, these are just sensational, look at the styling!

-Thank you.

This is everything of Art Deco -

there's the power, the speed, the excitement.

I mean, women were going through a very interesting change time

at that, you know, at that period.

They were into, I mean, real...

the sort of make-up, smoking, drinking, having fun.

-Like today.

-Exactly the same,

which is obviously why you've got into this.

And which is your favourite?

I mean, I know which my favourite is, I've decided, but...

-OK, that one, probably.

-This one?

Yes, yes, I think it's very special,

the workmanship in it is absolutely exquisite.

Well, you're right.

Well, this one would be my favourite, I think that's exquisite.

I mean, the styling of it, but also the Deco ones.

And this one here, this is a beautiful little thing

and inside it has its original bill of sale.

-"Theodore Foster, silversmiths, one vanity case, 1921."

-Yeah.

50. I mean, that is a phenomenal sum of money for a little vanity.

-Isn't it?

-But, of course, these were luxury goods.

This one, I love, the fact that you can...

This is your digital diary of today.

That's, yes, that's 1950s, that one.

So you decided when you went to your hairdresser and...

-Yeah.

-..and all the rest of it.

You certainly couldn't lose it in your handbag

because it's so big.

Come on then, how many have you got? Admit to it.

-OK, in front of witnesses, about 500.

-About 500.

And that is a small collection

because I belong to the British Compact Collectors Society

and there's ladies who have thousands.

It is a bit of an addiction.

Could we use "a love affair"?

-A love affair.

-I like... a love affair's good.

-A love affair with compacts.

-Yeah, a love affair.

OK, we have to look at them as a collection

and some of these are very, very special indeed.

Now, I know what it's like as a collector

because you don't often add up your whole collection

and work out how much it's worth, or even how much you spent on it.

But I'm looking at some of these compacts here

and I see some of them at £300 to £400,

maybe some at £500,

some a little bit less, obviously, but you've got 500.

-Ish, ish.

-Ish.

That's a bit... Well, if we just take the 500

and we say an average of £200.

OK, you'd better do the maths.

That adds up to maybe £100,000.

Ohhh! Oh, my goodness!

CROWD LAUGHS

I can see my daughters' digital clocks ticking immediately.

-They now love them.

-Oh, absolutely.

-"We've always liked them, Mum!"

-They will always polish them.

CROWD LAUGHS

£100,000!

You won't see that too often on the Roadshow!

Well, it's been a day of fascinating revelations here at Castle Coole.

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