0:00:03 > 0:00:04Take a look at this! It's the most extraordinary water jug
0:00:04 > 0:00:06in the shape of a ram.
0:00:06 > 0:00:10We're very lucky to have it here today, because it's 600 years old.
0:00:10 > 0:00:11It dates from the Middle Ages
0:00:11 > 0:00:15and it tells us so much about the history of our location today.
0:00:15 > 0:00:17Welcome back to the Antiques Roadshow
0:00:17 > 0:00:20from Scarborough in North Yorkshire.
0:01:03 > 0:01:08You might think of Scarborough as a quiet, unassuming seaside town.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12But in the late Middle Ages, this was a bustling, prosperous port.
0:01:12 > 0:01:14Its bays were a safe haven for shipping
0:01:14 > 0:01:17and trade was brisk at home and abroad.
0:01:18 > 0:01:23This led King Henry III to grant a royal charter in 1253,
0:01:23 > 0:01:25allowing a six-week-long festival
0:01:25 > 0:01:27to be held here every year.
0:01:27 > 0:01:32And the world famous Scarborough Fair, a song, of course, was born.
0:01:32 > 0:01:34Trading restrictions were lifted.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38For 45 days, there was a free market for all goods.
0:01:38 > 0:01:41Every day at low tide, these sands would have been packed
0:01:41 > 0:01:45with traders and merchants not just from Britain, but from abroad.
0:01:45 > 0:01:47Places like Scandinavia and the Baltic States
0:01:47 > 0:01:50selling everything from pickled herring,
0:01:50 > 0:01:53to ironwork, cloth, pottery.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56That green Scarborough jug is a rare survivor of tableware
0:01:56 > 0:01:58made here and sold at the fair.
0:02:01 > 0:02:02Today at the Spa Grand Hall,
0:02:02 > 0:02:05we've created a modern-day version of Scarborough Fair,
0:02:05 > 0:02:08with visitors bringing their treasures from far and wide.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10Our ceramics team will be fighting over the chance
0:02:10 > 0:02:12to look at the medieval water jug later.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18So we're looking at an object
0:02:18 > 0:02:21which has got a connection with a character in your family?
0:02:21 > 0:02:24Indeed. My grandfather.
0:02:24 > 0:02:28The family joke is that he was responsible for the First World War.
0:02:28 > 0:02:32Because everywhere he went, there was a major scrap.
0:02:32 > 0:02:37He was on the Somme, he was at Passchendaele, he was at Ypres.
0:02:37 > 0:02:42Yeah? And at one stage he was buried under a building for four days
0:02:42 > 0:02:45and when they took him out, they made him mayor of the town!
0:02:45 > 0:02:48Mayor of the town? Indeed.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50We know which town it is, but we haven't been back yet,
0:02:50 > 0:02:52any of us, but we'd like to.
0:02:52 > 0:02:54You've probably got the keys to every pub in...
0:02:54 > 0:02:59Anyway! Well, he came back with shrapnel in his knee,
0:02:59 > 0:03:04a liking for strong drink, and this scent bottle.
0:03:04 > 0:03:06That scent bottle. And that is what history we know.
0:03:06 > 0:03:11We know it came back with him when he was repatriated in 1918.
0:03:11 > 0:03:15Right. We don't know if it was new, whether it's French.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17He came back from France,
0:03:17 > 0:03:21but then so did most servicemen come back through France.
0:03:21 > 0:03:25Exactly. So where's it been lurking since he brought it back?
0:03:25 > 0:03:29In a drawer. My grandma wouldn't have it in the house
0:03:29 > 0:03:32and obviously he didn't part with it.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35He just tucked it away quietly in a drawer
0:03:35 > 0:03:38and it's pretty much been there ever since.
0:03:38 > 0:03:40It begs the question why?
0:03:40 > 0:03:45Well, I think just good old-fashioned reserve, if you like.
0:03:45 > 0:03:47Yorkshire reserve. OK.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49When you look at an object like this,
0:03:49 > 0:03:52the emphasis is in the stopper, isn't it?
0:03:52 > 0:03:54It is. And when you look at that stopper,
0:03:54 > 0:03:57it's beautifully moulded
0:03:57 > 0:04:03with what appear to be sort of almost little ondines or mermaids
0:04:03 > 0:04:05or ladies dancing away in...
0:04:05 > 0:04:10They are. With a certain amount of abandon. Yes!
0:04:10 > 0:04:12And the shape of it is so geometric,
0:04:12 > 0:04:14it's almost like a cog, isn't it?
0:04:14 > 0:04:18But I can understand, if I dare use the word,
0:04:18 > 0:04:20Yorkshire prudery.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22Indeed. Can I use that word? I would suggest so.
0:04:22 > 0:04:24Because it's all in the dropper.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27I'm going to just slowly take that out
0:04:27 > 0:04:29and I'm going to lay that flat.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33And I'm going to look at that incredible stopper.
0:04:33 > 0:04:34Look at that dropper.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37And the idea being
0:04:37 > 0:04:39that you would take that
0:04:39 > 0:04:41and dab it behind your ears.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44You would. There is something rather sensual
0:04:44 > 0:04:47about dabbing perfume behind your ears
0:04:47 > 0:04:51with a lady in a certain state of undress. Absolutely.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55I wish I could tell you who made it.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59It's very much in the style of Rene Lalique. Yes.
0:04:59 > 0:05:01But there's no Lalique mark on there.
0:05:01 > 0:05:05The thing is, you say this came back in 1918.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08It's quite early. Most of these bottles
0:05:08 > 0:05:10didn't materialise until the 1920s,
0:05:10 > 0:05:12so I'm learning something now.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16I'm learning that you know it came back then. Indeed. No question.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19Let's put it like that. I'll feel a bit safer.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22Would it have been new when he bought it? It would have been new
0:05:22 > 0:05:25and it would have been made probably in France as well. Right.
0:05:25 > 0:05:29So I'm glad to know it's got that wonderful tradition.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33I'm glad to know exactly how the First World War actually started,
0:05:33 > 0:05:35and that your grandad was responsible!
0:05:35 > 0:05:39And I'm glad to tell you that if you wanted to replace that today,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42you'd probably have to part with around about
0:05:42 > 0:05:45the best part of 100 to ?150. Very nice.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48So it's got everything going for it,
0:05:48 > 0:05:51including a naked woman.
0:05:51 > 0:05:53Fantastic. You can't ask for more than that. In a bottle.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56No. What more could you want?
0:05:57 > 0:06:00So tell me, who was Sam Pringle?
0:06:00 > 0:06:03Sam Pringle was my great-great-uncle.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05He was born in 1881.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07According to the label on the back,
0:06:07 > 0:06:09he was out in the Far East in the 1880s,
0:06:09 > 0:06:12actually about the time this building was being erected.
0:06:12 > 0:06:13Correct.
0:06:13 > 0:06:17What was he doing out there? He was a guarantee engineer on ships.
0:06:17 > 0:06:18The guarantee engineer is the man
0:06:18 > 0:06:21who accompanies a ship when it's being delivered.
0:06:21 > 0:06:23Yes. These come from him? Yes.
0:06:23 > 0:06:29He was in Nagasaki, saw the work being done out there,
0:06:29 > 0:06:32and sent home for English black silk
0:06:32 > 0:06:37and the drawings were drawn up by a draughtsman at Wall's End.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41They were sent out to Nagasaki and embroidered out there.
0:06:41 > 0:06:44How interesting. I'm interested because here we have silk images,
0:06:44 > 0:06:48a spectacular embroidery of a male lion
0:06:48 > 0:06:50and a tiger confronting each other.
0:06:50 > 0:06:55If I'd seen these without the story you've given me,
0:06:55 > 0:06:57I would have said these were certainly Japanese
0:06:57 > 0:06:59or possibly Chinese images.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01But the fact that you have a family history
0:07:01 > 0:07:04which obviously seems to suggest something different,
0:07:04 > 0:07:06is very interesting, and I might have to change my view
0:07:06 > 0:07:07on some of these things.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10What I can tell you is if you go to Shanghai today,
0:07:10 > 0:07:13you will see work like this being carried out.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16So I suspect that the workman -
0:07:16 > 0:07:19workman or workwoman -
0:07:19 > 0:07:21probably a woman, I would think,
0:07:21 > 0:07:23who actually embroidered these,
0:07:23 > 0:07:26was probably Chinese.
0:07:26 > 0:07:30Yes. Because the rest of it, this beautiful frame,
0:07:30 > 0:07:31this paulownia wood frame,
0:07:31 > 0:07:34to me looks very, very Japanese.
0:07:36 > 0:07:39When you stand here and move ever so slightly,
0:07:39 > 0:07:43you see the fur as a three-dimensional entity.
0:07:43 > 0:07:45And if you look really closely, I mean the whiskers,
0:07:45 > 0:07:48the eyes, the eyelashes,
0:07:48 > 0:07:53you feel as if you could actually stroke the whole animal.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55The way the frame has been taken
0:07:55 > 0:07:58so that the glass doesn't touch the embroidery
0:07:58 > 0:08:00is the secret of why they're in such fantastic condition.
0:08:00 > 0:08:05So a real mixture. A European design sent out to Japan,
0:08:05 > 0:08:07worked by a Chinese,
0:08:07 > 0:08:11using thread brought back from England,
0:08:11 > 0:08:13Macclesfield, of course,
0:08:13 > 0:08:16was the great silk manufacturing part of England.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18I have to say I'm surprised because the Chinese
0:08:18 > 0:08:20are not bad at embroidery themselves.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23And then brought back by this Englishman.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25They are fabulous things.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27Um, difficult to put a value on.
0:08:27 > 0:08:31I would say that if you put these up for auction today,
0:08:31 > 0:08:34you would probably get somewhere in the region of two to ?3,000.
0:08:34 > 0:08:36Yes.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42Boxes are always fascinating.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45"What's in there?" But what have you been doing to this one?
0:08:45 > 0:08:49It's so bashed. It came off a demolition site.
0:08:49 > 0:08:52We were demolishing a building in Ramsgate.
0:08:52 > 0:08:54It started off as a Victorian house, then it became a hotel,
0:08:54 > 0:08:57and then it had been a school at one point
0:08:57 > 0:08:59and in its last incarnation, it had been a chapel.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03And we were knocking it all down and it came out the rubble.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05It was going in the skip. Gosh!
0:09:05 > 0:09:08Into a skip? That's where it was going to go, yeah.
0:09:08 > 0:09:10It's interesting you should say a chapel.
0:09:10 > 0:09:12Because when we get inside,
0:09:12 > 0:09:15we've got this absolutely fascinating
0:09:15 > 0:09:20little silver, what looks like a book. It is silver, then?
0:09:20 > 0:09:23Oh, it is silver. It will be silver.
0:09:23 > 0:09:25Indicating there
0:09:25 > 0:09:28that we've got some sort of continental aristocrat. Right.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32But of course when we then get in here, wow!
0:09:32 > 0:09:36What it is, of course, is a reliquary.
0:09:36 > 0:09:41And in here we've got all these tiny, tiny fragments.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43They'll be bits of bone, bits of cloth.
0:09:43 > 0:09:46Each from a particular saint.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49Some of whom you'll never have heard of!
0:09:49 > 0:09:52Others are actually quite important,
0:09:52 > 0:09:54particularly just there
0:09:54 > 0:09:56we've actually got the Virgin Mary.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59Now that is Premier League,
0:09:59 > 0:10:02from the point of view of saints and relics!
0:10:02 > 0:10:05They got a bit of the Virgin Mary. Exactly.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08And others, of course, all named.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10So absolutely wonderful.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13But on the back, clearly as a relic,
0:10:13 > 0:10:18we've got IHS, which, of course, is for Christ.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22Date-wise, I would think we're looking into
0:10:22 > 0:10:25the earlier part of the 19th century.
0:10:25 > 0:10:29OK. In fact, we've actually got here
0:10:29 > 0:10:33the name of an Italian retailer. Yeah. Rome or something, yeah.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36So a fascinating little box.
0:10:36 > 0:10:39A reliquary, as it is. Right.
0:10:39 > 0:10:41Value wise.
0:10:41 > 0:10:44Now, the bad news is,
0:10:44 > 0:10:48that church pieces don't do very well.
0:10:48 > 0:10:49It had to be, didn't it?
0:10:49 > 0:10:51So that is the bad news.
0:10:51 > 0:10:56But I would have thought we might be looking at 300 to ?400.
0:10:56 > 0:11:01OK. On this one. It's interesting. I didn't know what it was.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04You bring these things here to find out what they are.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07Thank you very much.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13My parents came to Scarborough on their honeymoon,
0:11:13 > 0:11:16probably encouraged by posters like this.
0:11:16 > 0:11:20It really was selling the image of the beach babe.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24You could see this as a young Diana Dors or Liz Taylor.
0:11:24 > 0:11:26What made you interested in these posters?
0:11:26 > 0:11:29I've been collecting posters for the last ten years
0:11:29 > 0:11:33and they've all got their own individuality.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37The bathing belles, as we call them,
0:11:37 > 0:11:42are the most highly desirable of all the posters, really.
0:11:42 > 0:11:47Because it gives a picture of a sunny holiday by the sea.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50I don't think there were as many people on the beach today
0:11:50 > 0:11:52as there were in these posters!
0:11:52 > 0:11:54Maybe no, no. That's right!
0:11:54 > 0:11:55But it really was selling this.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58After the war, people were going on holidays,
0:11:58 > 0:12:01going to the seaside. Very exciting.
0:12:01 > 0:12:04I suppose lots of men hoping to meet beautiful bathing belles like this!
0:12:04 > 0:12:10Possibly so. These posters date back from the '50s and into the '60s.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14Butlin's, for example, just down the road at Filey,
0:12:14 > 0:12:16was Butlin's premier camp.
0:12:16 > 0:12:22And, of course, at the time, that was the place to go for a holiday.
0:12:22 > 0:12:23Oh, absolutely.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26It really does sell the idea of coming here
0:12:26 > 0:12:27for your two weeks' holiday
0:12:27 > 0:12:30when the mills closed in Scotland, or whatever,
0:12:30 > 0:12:32and you came to a really attractive place.
0:12:32 > 0:12:34And I notice even here
0:12:34 > 0:12:36the bandstand.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38Yes, the Sun Court Theatre,
0:12:38 > 0:12:41The Spa where we are even today,
0:12:41 > 0:12:44it's a fabulous poster is this one.
0:12:44 > 0:12:47Sweep of the South Bay, the Castle Headland,
0:12:47 > 0:12:49the girl in the candy-striped dress.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52And a look-alike Clark Gable!
0:12:52 > 0:12:55This is all about coming to Scarborough for your holidays.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58But also the link with The Scarborough Flyer.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01Yes, we're the premier holiday trains.
0:13:01 > 0:13:03This was a letterpress poster,
0:13:03 > 0:13:09giving the times of the train as it left King's Cross to Scarborough.
0:13:09 > 0:13:10And you'd have seen these,
0:13:10 > 0:13:15of course, all over the stations up and down the country.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18I think they're a very glamorous way of advertising Scarborough
0:13:18 > 0:13:20as a destination for your holidays.
0:13:20 > 0:13:23And, of course, in valuation terms,
0:13:23 > 0:13:26posters have gone up quite a lot. Indeed.
0:13:26 > 0:13:31I would say that some of these posters you're talking 400 to ?600.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34Yes, I think you're right in that bracket.
0:13:34 > 0:13:36This one slightly lower. About 200 for that one.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39So just looking at what we have here,
0:13:39 > 0:13:42this is going to be over ?2,500.
0:13:42 > 0:13:46Yes, possibly so. I don't think we're a million miles adrift.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49Any more at home? Yes, one or two at home.
0:13:49 > 0:13:52All the delights of Scarborough. It is indeed. Thank you.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57# Kiss me, honey, honey, kiss me
0:13:57 > 0:14:01# Thrill me, honey, honey, thrill me
0:14:01 > 0:14:04# Don't care even if I blow my top
0:14:04 > 0:14:07# But honey, honey Uh-huh?
0:14:07 > 0:14:09# Don't stop Never stop. #
0:14:09 > 0:14:13So why did you bring me this locket today?
0:14:13 > 0:14:15What made you... Well, we live south of Birmingham.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18We've come up for a week's holiday
0:14:18 > 0:14:22so I had to bring things that were small and that I could carry.
0:14:22 > 0:14:24It's something that I've always...
0:14:24 > 0:14:27I inherited from my grandma's jewellery box.
0:14:27 > 0:14:32And I've always thought it was lovely and I've worn it quite a lot.
0:14:32 > 0:14:36It's very stylish. Did you think it was jet? Well, I wondered.
0:14:36 > 0:14:40And I hadn't, you know... It's similar. But it's too light.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43It is too light. It's a mourning jewel. And we know this
0:14:43 > 0:14:47because the head is garlanded with black grapes, an emblem of death.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50So this is an object made to commemorate somebody else.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54The deceased's photograph would be inside, or a lock of hair.
0:14:54 > 0:14:56But we want to sweep all of that aside.
0:14:56 > 0:15:01Right. And get really down to this. Whitby is very famous for jet.
0:15:01 > 0:15:02It's simply up the coast.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05The demand was so enormous for these things in the 19th century
0:15:05 > 0:15:07that it couldn't be met by the material.
0:15:07 > 0:15:11So they went about making simulants of it,
0:15:11 > 0:15:15made of glass and I don't know what else - seal sometimes.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18But guess what your pendant is made of? I have no idea!
0:15:18 > 0:15:21Rubber! Rubber?!
0:15:21 > 0:15:24It's the first rubber jewel that I've done for the Antiques Roadshow.
0:15:24 > 0:15:28It's a simulated jet made of hardened rubber,
0:15:28 > 0:15:30rubber hardened with sulphur.
0:15:30 > 0:15:32And if you scratch it and smell it,
0:15:32 > 0:15:37you can actually smell the rubber coming from it.
0:15:37 > 0:15:41And you can scratch away when you get home!
0:15:42 > 0:15:44But... Wow.
0:15:44 > 0:15:47I think it's stunning. It's a great piece of design.
0:15:47 > 0:15:49It's slightly dark and haunted to me
0:15:49 > 0:15:51because the black grapes mean death.
0:15:51 > 0:15:53Here's the head of a mourner, a Greek mourner.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56Neo-classical taste, all terribly exciting.
0:15:56 > 0:15:58And do you know what, it's hardly worth a thing. No.
0:15:58 > 0:16:00It might not be worth 30 or ?40.
0:16:00 > 0:16:02But it's loaded with interest to me.
0:16:02 > 0:16:07And you've brought me a rubber jewel from the 1860s, 1870s.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10I think I might know who that came from, then. My great-grandmother's.
0:16:10 > 0:16:12It's stunning. I'm absolutely thrilled with it.
0:16:12 > 0:16:15It's beautiful. I think you should carry on wearing it.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19In the 1920s and '30s,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22the firm of Shelley rose to the top.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24And they had a marketing strategy
0:16:24 > 0:16:28that actually said, "Fine as fine bone china can be."
0:16:28 > 0:16:30And that was their marketing. And look at this.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33It's so exquisitely fine.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35And also glamorous.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39We actually call this period for them "the glamorous years".
0:16:39 > 0:16:42Tell me, how do you come to own such a wonderful example of their work?
0:16:42 > 0:16:47I was given it by an elderly relative who'd gone into a home
0:16:47 > 0:16:49for my 21st birthday.
0:16:49 > 0:16:51Just a few years ago, obviously.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53You are kind!
0:16:53 > 0:16:56So was your relative a stylish lady?
0:16:56 > 0:16:59Yes. Her clothes, her interiors?
0:16:59 > 0:17:02Yes. Can I ask, if it's not a rude question,
0:17:02 > 0:17:05was there a bit of money "in them thar hills"?
0:17:05 > 0:17:08Yes. Well, that adds up
0:17:08 > 0:17:10because these services were not only very beautiful,
0:17:10 > 0:17:12very elegant, very much of their era,
0:17:12 > 0:17:14but they were actually very expensive.
0:17:14 > 0:17:19Shelley worked on this quality product. These were classy things.
0:17:19 > 0:17:21Classy sets, elegant sets,
0:17:21 > 0:17:23for elegant and classy people.
0:17:23 > 0:17:28And what you're looking at is also in terms of the shape and style
0:17:28 > 0:17:29it's the mode shape.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32Can you imagine you're going to invite your friends round
0:17:32 > 0:17:36to drink out of conical cups with triangular handles
0:17:36 > 0:17:39with a set decorated with abstract butterfly wings.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42I think she must have been making a bold statement.
0:17:42 > 0:17:46I think so. The set was designed around 1930
0:17:46 > 0:17:49and the designer is a young man called Eric Slater.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53Eric Slater joined Shelley to work alongside his father,
0:17:53 > 0:17:55the great Walter Slater.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57Walter was a great designer as well.
0:17:57 > 0:17:59But Eric brought a little bit of pizzazz,
0:17:59 > 0:18:03a little bit of the jazz age, into the Shelley works.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06This period is really classed as their pinnacle.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09Have you used it? No. Never? Never.
0:18:09 > 0:18:14I have visions of you lounging on your couch with your flapper outfit
0:18:14 > 0:18:16with a cup of tea on the go!
0:18:16 > 0:18:18I'm frightened to look at it, hardly!
0:18:18 > 0:18:20Oh, you mustn't be frightened to look at it.
0:18:20 > 0:18:22It's a glorious set,
0:18:22 > 0:18:25and in terms of Shelley of this period and of this pattern,
0:18:25 > 0:18:28the market's out there and it's still very, very strong.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31In all honesty, because you've got such a complete set,
0:18:31 > 0:18:34in such glorious condition,
0:18:34 > 0:18:36you're going to have to part with
0:18:36 > 0:18:39something in the region of ?2,000 to replace it.
0:18:39 > 0:18:41Right.
0:18:43 > 0:18:44But go on, use it!
0:18:45 > 0:18:49I dare you!
0:18:49 > 0:18:52It belonged to Winston Churchill. Oh, really?
0:18:52 > 0:18:56He had it in his war room on his desk throughout the whole war.
0:18:56 > 0:19:01Really? Yes. How does it come to be in your possession?
0:19:01 > 0:19:04It was in my family. It was given to my great aunt
0:19:04 > 0:19:08who read to Clementine, the wife of Churchill.
0:19:08 > 0:19:14Oh, I see. It was given to her by the daughter of Churchill
0:19:14 > 0:19:17as a thank you. For reading to Clementine.
0:19:17 > 0:19:20So your great aunt... Yes.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22..read to Clementine when she lost her sight.
0:19:22 > 0:19:25Yes. Why was she chosen to read to Clementine?
0:19:25 > 0:19:27She had a really nice voice.
0:19:27 > 0:19:33And this was given as a gift by... Lady Mary Soames...
0:19:33 > 0:19:35Read the letter to us. The daughter of Churchill.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37"I hope you will accept this small
0:19:37 > 0:19:40"memento from among my mother's possessions.
0:19:40 > 0:19:44"I know how much she enjoyed your company
0:19:44 > 0:19:46"and being read to by you.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50That's so sweet. "You made her weekends less lonely.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53"With my grateful thanks, Mary Soames."
0:19:53 > 0:19:57And Mary Soames was Clementine's daughter. Yes.
0:19:57 > 0:20:00That is fantastic. So the fact it's so masculine
0:20:00 > 0:20:04is obviously why it was his and not hers. Yes.
0:20:04 > 0:20:06Paperweights like this are from the late 1850s,
0:20:06 > 0:20:11just after the Crimean, depicting scenes from the war.
0:20:11 > 0:20:15Normally, a paperweight like this, pressed glass,
0:20:15 > 0:20:17transfer print,
0:20:17 > 0:20:22is worth about ?50, maybe, if you're lucky.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26But the Churchill connection, and with this letter of provenance,
0:20:26 > 0:20:29would probably make that worth ten times that. Wow.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32?500 a collector would happily give for that.
0:20:32 > 0:20:35I love it. I love the story behind it all.
0:20:35 > 0:20:38Thank you. Thanks for bringing it in. Thank you very much.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42Ian, why are you so excited about a pair of old spoons,
0:20:42 > 0:20:44especially when one's got a hole in it!
0:20:44 > 0:20:47I'm so excited because these are about the earliest silver
0:20:47 > 0:20:50we've ever had on the Roadshow.
0:20:50 > 0:20:52Really? How old are they?
0:20:53 > 0:20:56This one about 1350.
0:20:58 > 0:21:01That one about 1300.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03Goodness me!
0:21:03 > 0:21:06That is the beginning of what's known as the early English type of spoon.
0:21:06 > 0:21:10And it's known from the top - see the little acorn there?
0:21:10 > 0:21:12It's an acorn knot spoon.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15That's the very first top you get on English spoons.
0:21:15 > 0:21:19And this one you get for the next couple of hundred years.
0:21:19 > 0:21:21That dies out about 1350.
0:21:21 > 0:21:22And that's a diamond point.
0:21:22 > 0:21:27That we think was modelled on a medieval pricked spur.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30A medieval pricked spur?
0:21:30 > 0:21:33Imagine a knight with his armour and everything on,
0:21:33 > 0:21:35and a spur when he's on horseback.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37And if you look at it like that,
0:21:37 > 0:21:40that's exactly what a medieval spur is like at the end.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42Amazing!
0:21:42 > 0:21:46And to think that somebody was eating from these
0:21:46 > 0:21:48all those hundreds of years ago.
0:21:48 > 0:21:50When you look at the shape of them,
0:21:50 > 0:21:54they don't hold an awful lot, do they? No.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56And particularly so on this one.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00Because, of course, dental care wasn't good.
0:22:00 > 0:22:05And so they actually had a lot of gooey food!
0:22:05 > 0:22:07So they deliberately ate gooey food
0:22:07 > 0:22:10to spare their teeth because they couldn't chew very easily.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12It was the fact they'd lost their teeth, very often.
0:22:12 > 0:22:14Especially top end of society,
0:22:14 > 0:22:17because they were eating a much richer diet, sugar coming in,
0:22:17 > 0:22:20they were the only ones that could afford it.
0:22:20 > 0:22:22If these are the two oldest spoons,
0:22:22 > 0:22:24then, that you've seen on the Roadshow,
0:22:24 > 0:22:27I'm assuming they're very valuable.
0:22:27 > 0:22:29The interesting thing is that actually,
0:22:29 > 0:22:32that one with no marks, and with a hole in it,
0:22:32 > 0:22:35its value is not going to be enormous.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37A thousand pounds.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40Which in comparison to other spoons...
0:22:40 > 0:22:42This one, although it's a little more modern,
0:22:42 > 0:22:44is going to be more valuable
0:22:44 > 0:22:48because it has something even more exciting -
0:22:48 > 0:22:54which is one of the very earliest maker's marks ever recorded.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57Most of these, when you find them, have no marks at all.
0:22:57 > 0:23:00But there is the chap who actually made this spoon
0:23:00 > 0:23:02in about 1350.
0:23:18 > 0:23:20I'm going to play devil's advocate,
0:23:20 > 0:23:22because I think there are people out there
0:23:22 > 0:23:24who would say this bedroom suite is ugly!
0:23:24 > 0:23:26Why is it not ugly?
0:23:27 > 0:23:31I just love it because of the time period,
0:23:31 > 0:23:35because it's Art Deco, because it's from its era.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37It's class. It's classy.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39The lines, I just adore it.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42OK. Now you said Art Deco. Mm.
0:23:42 > 0:23:44Actually what you've got here is something
0:23:44 > 0:23:46that has those kind of lines,
0:23:46 > 0:23:49but it's actually a little bit later than that.
0:23:49 > 0:23:51It's quite a strange thing in many ways.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53It's made of aluminium.
0:23:53 > 0:23:55Or it's got an aluminium skin on it.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59It comes from a period just post-war. Mm-hm.
0:23:59 > 0:24:01What is interesting about it is
0:24:01 > 0:24:04I think it's a slightly unrecognised design classic.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08It was made by a company called Hunting Aviation.
0:24:08 > 0:24:10You know as well as I do, that during the war,
0:24:10 > 0:24:12there were a lot of companies
0:24:12 > 0:24:14building aircraft for the war effort.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17Hunting Aviation were one of those companies.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20So maybe it starts to come together.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24Maybe we can look at this and see elements of aircraft design in it.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26Certainly the material we have.
0:24:26 > 0:24:31Was there anything in that initially that attracted you to this?
0:24:31 > 0:24:33Well, only my war interest.
0:24:33 > 0:24:36Yeah. Which is massive. Yeah.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39You're a collector of wartime memorabilia and things, are you? Yes.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42Where did you buy it from? Where did it come from?
0:24:42 > 0:24:46My ex-brother-in-law's in-laws.
0:24:46 > 0:24:47I don't know how it came about,
0:24:47 > 0:24:50but they offered me the chance to buy it.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53And I couldn't refuse. It's something you use now?
0:24:53 > 0:24:55My daughter does, not me.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57Well, the company, Hunting Aviation,
0:24:57 > 0:25:02was started by a chap called Edgar Percival in 1933.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05He designed a lot of interesting transport aircraft,
0:25:05 > 0:25:07experimental jet aircraft,
0:25:07 > 0:25:10but post-war, when they didn't need any more aircraft,
0:25:10 > 0:25:12these companies were struggling.
0:25:12 > 0:25:14So they diversified.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17And this was the kind of stuff they diversified into.
0:25:17 > 0:25:19I don't think a lot of these ventures
0:25:19 > 0:25:21were commercially successful for these companies.
0:25:21 > 0:25:24That was the problem. I've never seen or heard of it before.
0:25:24 > 0:25:25You won't see much of it around.
0:25:25 > 0:25:29It was, I think, too far ahead of its time in many respects.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31And it wasn't the most glamorous looking furniture.
0:25:31 > 0:25:35Have you ever tried to find out more about the suite as such?
0:25:35 > 0:25:38Years ago, I can't remember when,
0:25:38 > 0:25:41I wrote to the Victoria and Albert Museum.
0:25:41 > 0:25:43And sent photographs. Yes.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47They asked if they could have the dressing table.
0:25:47 > 0:25:48Did they offer you a price for it?
0:25:48 > 0:25:51Zilch! Zilch! OK.
0:25:51 > 0:25:53So they wanted you to donate it. OK.
0:25:53 > 0:25:55That's an interesting point.
0:25:55 > 0:25:59Because the dressing table is the most desirable part of the suite,
0:25:59 > 0:26:00and for obvious reasons.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03It looks quite special. Yes. So...
0:26:03 > 0:26:06Value. What should the V have paid you for it?
0:26:06 > 0:26:08Granted it might have been quite a long time ago.
0:26:08 > 0:26:13Current auction prices on the dressing table tend to be
0:26:13 > 0:26:15about 400 to ?600 at auction.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17I think it's undervalued.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20I think it's got a way to go.
0:26:20 > 0:26:24I was not willing to split what I thought
0:26:24 > 0:26:27was perhaps the only complete set.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31Yes. Because I've not seen anything or I've not heard anything. Yep.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34So I was really, for no monetary gain,
0:26:34 > 0:26:37I saw no reason to split what's a full bedroom set.
0:26:37 > 0:26:41A sensible move. Because actually, you don't see very much of it around.
0:26:41 > 0:26:43Thank you. Pleasure.
0:26:48 > 0:26:53This is a lovely summer view of King's College, Cambridge.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56Did you go to King's College? No, I didn't.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00So how come you have it? I'm very lucky. It belonged to my grandmother
0:27:00 > 0:27:05who went to a May Ball there, before her 21st birthday,
0:27:05 > 0:27:08and when it came to the time of her 21st birthday,
0:27:08 > 0:27:11her uncle invited her to go and visit him
0:27:11 > 0:27:14and said that she could pick anything from his antiques shop
0:27:14 > 0:27:17and she saw this and fell in love with it.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20And that's how it came to belong to me.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22And I've loved it for ever!
0:27:22 > 0:27:27She had very good taste. I suppose it reminded her of her May Ball.
0:27:27 > 0:27:28Exactly.
0:27:28 > 0:27:31Let's look at the picture. It's quite architectural, isn't it?
0:27:31 > 0:27:32Mm. In style.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35The reason being it's painted by an artist called Henry Rushbury,
0:27:35 > 0:27:36down here.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39Henry Rushbury, I've always liked him.
0:27:39 > 0:27:41I've known him more as an etcher
0:27:41 > 0:27:43than being a watercolourist,
0:27:43 > 0:27:45although he did do watercolours,
0:27:45 > 0:27:46And you see lots of his etchings
0:27:46 > 0:27:49and they sell for ?100, 150.
0:27:49 > 0:27:51And they're really good.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53But he was a draughtsman, etcher,
0:27:53 > 0:27:55watercolourist. A very clever man.
0:27:55 > 0:28:00And he was also the official, or one of the official, war artists
0:28:00 > 0:28:03in World War I and World War II.
0:28:03 > 0:28:05OK. He was born in the 1880s.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08Died in the 1960s.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10And he was even knighted in 1964.
0:28:10 > 0:28:12He was Sir Henry Rushbury.
0:28:12 > 0:28:14So he has a very good track record.
0:28:14 > 0:28:15But he's very overlooked today.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18But when you look at this beautiful study,
0:28:18 > 0:28:19here we've got a summer's day,
0:28:19 > 0:28:21there are people out in the punts.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23The detail is incredible.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26If you look closely, you'll see a lot of pencil work.
0:28:26 > 0:28:28You can see this is the work of an etcher.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31The detail. But he's able to put it into watercolour.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34A very, very nice present
0:28:34 > 0:28:35for your grandmother to have.
0:28:35 > 0:28:37And what's it worth today?
0:28:37 > 0:28:42Well, I think this is one of the nicest ones I've ever seen.
0:28:42 > 0:28:45As I said, he doesn't often come up in watercolour.
0:28:45 > 0:28:49I think that is worth at least 1,000 to ?1,500.
0:28:49 > 0:28:51Fantastic!
0:28:51 > 0:28:53It's so special to me
0:28:53 > 0:28:55that that's lovely,
0:28:55 > 0:28:58but it's so... Such a lovely memory of Granny,
0:28:58 > 0:29:00because she just loved it there
0:29:00 > 0:29:02and had such a great time. Rather sweet.
0:29:07 > 0:29:11We've got a marvellous family of hippopotami,
0:29:11 > 0:29:13bathing in blue mud.
0:29:13 > 0:29:15Where did you find it?
0:29:15 > 0:29:17It belonged to a friend.
0:29:17 > 0:29:19His great-uncle had it.
0:29:19 > 0:29:21His name was Henry Tonks.
0:29:21 > 0:29:25He bought it in London, probably about 1908, 1910.
0:29:25 > 0:29:28Was this Henry Tonks connected to the Slade?
0:29:28 > 0:29:29Yes, he was Professor of Slade.
0:29:29 > 0:29:33He did a lot of drawings for the War Ministry in the First World War
0:29:33 > 0:29:38over in the trenches. I think it came from the South Bank Thames.
0:29:38 > 0:29:41An Arts Crafts pottery.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44It's marked on the bottom A H Gerrard.
0:29:44 > 0:29:48Millbank. Millbank on the banks of the Thames.
0:29:48 > 0:29:51A H Gerrard was a known sculptor.
0:29:51 > 0:29:53He worked with people like Eric Gill.
0:29:53 > 0:29:57It is pottery, but it is a piece of sculpture.
0:29:57 > 0:29:58I love it.
0:29:58 > 0:30:01They're almost emerging out of the mud
0:30:01 > 0:30:03and it has an abstract quality to it.
0:30:03 > 0:30:05You've still got the lovely quality.
0:30:05 > 0:30:06Hippopotami are not blue.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09No. But somehow, it all works.
0:30:09 > 0:30:12There's something which encapsulates that sort of spirit
0:30:12 > 0:30:14of the Art Deco movement.
0:30:14 > 0:30:17It has an abstract quality about it,
0:30:17 > 0:30:18but it's very naturalistic as well.
0:30:18 > 0:30:20If this was to come to the saleroom,
0:30:20 > 0:30:23it's difficult to put a price on it
0:30:23 > 0:30:25because there isn't a record for it.
0:30:25 > 0:30:27But as a decorative object alone,
0:30:27 > 0:30:30we'd be looking 600 to ?800.
0:30:30 > 0:30:32Yeah. If we can establish some more about Gerrard,
0:30:32 > 0:30:34it could be double that.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37It's priceless as far as the family's concerned.
0:30:37 > 0:30:39Absolutely. So it doesn't matter.
0:30:40 > 0:30:44We all know who this is by, don't we, with the little mouse here?
0:30:44 > 0:30:46Robert Thomson. Of Kilburn. Kilburn.
0:30:46 > 0:30:49That's about an hour away from Scarborough, where we are today?
0:30:49 > 0:30:52Yes, something like that.
0:30:52 > 0:30:54Is this a piece you've had a long time?
0:30:54 > 0:30:58Yes, since about 1950.
0:30:58 > 0:31:00Something like that.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02And did you buy it from them?
0:31:02 > 0:31:06Yes, my husband and I wanted Thompson furniture,
0:31:06 > 0:31:09so we built up things as we could afford them.
0:31:09 > 0:31:11What set you up on the Mouseman trail?
0:31:11 > 0:31:16I think the first thing I had was two bookends,
0:31:16 > 0:31:20which friends gave me for my 21st birthday. And I still have them!
0:31:20 > 0:31:22That's lovely. Those were the first.
0:31:22 > 0:31:25So that was out of the blue. Yes.
0:31:25 > 0:31:26And this gave you... This gave me...
0:31:26 > 0:31:31You're a Yorkshire lass, presumably? Yes, I am, yes.
0:31:31 > 0:31:33So this was bought new from him? Yes.
0:31:33 > 0:31:35Did you ever go to the factory?
0:31:35 > 0:31:38The workshop, sorry. The workshop, yes.
0:31:38 > 0:31:42In those days, you could go round his workshop and see them working.
0:31:42 > 0:31:46This is post Second World War, late '40s, early '50s? Yes.
0:31:46 > 0:31:48How exciting! Did you ever meet him?
0:31:48 > 0:31:51Oh, yes! Mousie Thompson, he was called! Yes, indeed. Yes.
0:31:51 > 0:31:52Everything was ordered from him.
0:31:52 > 0:31:56And we would sometimes call to see him.
0:31:56 > 0:32:00And sit over the fire with him.
0:32:00 > 0:32:02And he'd be smoking his pipe.
0:32:02 > 0:32:07And the mantelpiece and everything was his own carving and things.
0:32:07 > 0:32:10So it's still there. You can see it now. It's a sort of showroom.
0:32:10 > 0:32:14And did you ever see the... Working them? Yes, yes.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17Yes, the workmen would be adzing the top.
0:32:17 > 0:32:21And the adze, a man would stand...
0:32:21 > 0:32:25The adze is like an axe on sideways.
0:32:25 > 0:32:27And they would sort of chip it like this.
0:32:27 > 0:32:29Standing on the wood, literally chipping it away.
0:32:29 > 0:32:31What's so extraordinary about this
0:32:31 > 0:32:33is that everybody looks at this and thinks,
0:32:33 > 0:32:35especially on the dining table,
0:32:35 > 0:32:37how unstable it is. But it's not.
0:32:37 > 0:32:39I want to show you something here.
0:32:40 > 0:32:42It's so beautifully made.
0:32:42 > 0:32:45So this is a very wobbly, uneven surface, but it's not.
0:32:45 > 0:32:49No, it's not. It's a good surface, really.
0:32:49 > 0:32:54This is the whole point of it, is that you can, despite the look,
0:32:54 > 0:32:57put a glass on and not spill your wine or water on the table.
0:32:57 > 0:32:59You've done some spilling on this, haven't you?
0:32:59 > 0:33:04Yes, I always have a vase of flowers, a bowl of flowers,
0:33:04 > 0:33:07and it gets a knock, or I water something and, um...
0:33:07 > 0:33:10I'm afraid it's, yes...
0:33:10 > 0:33:12The most dangerous thing. But it is wonderful oak.
0:33:12 > 0:33:16He always used English oak. Yes. All English oak.
0:33:16 > 0:33:19Quercus robur. Yes.
0:33:19 > 0:33:22Matured for seven years before he used it.
0:33:22 > 0:33:25Did you ever see it in the street? They used to put it out.
0:33:25 > 0:33:27Big blocks of... Air dried.
0:33:27 > 0:33:29Outside in the high street, wasn't it? Yes.
0:33:29 > 0:33:32You saw that? Oh, yes. Wonderful!
0:33:32 > 0:33:35They're probably still there! I wish I could have been in your pocket
0:33:35 > 0:33:39to see it happening! Lovely! What's the ashtray doing?
0:33:39 > 0:33:44He actually gave it to me. I don't know whether it was an occasion
0:33:44 > 0:33:46when we ordered something or paid for something.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48Or just went to see him.
0:33:48 > 0:33:51But he took it off the sideboard and gave it to me.
0:33:51 > 0:33:55A present. Isn't that sweet? Lovely.
0:33:55 > 0:33:57What lovely memories. Fantastic.
0:33:57 > 0:33:59So you have a whole suite of furniture. Yes.
0:33:59 > 0:34:03I have to give you some sort of value on this one.
0:34:03 > 0:34:09The auction prices of these are roughly what you can buy a new piece
0:34:09 > 0:34:10from the Thompson workshops today.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12You can order a similar piece like this.
0:34:12 > 0:34:14You don't get the lovely patination,
0:34:14 > 0:34:18and this wonderful personal history that you've got.
0:34:18 > 0:34:20Having met him.
0:34:20 > 0:34:22That makes it quite difficult to value.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25Because if you went to the workshop today and ordered this,
0:34:25 > 0:34:30there are similar things in the catalogues for 6,500, ?6,600.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32So that's roughly the sort of price range.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35But the memories and the history you've got are absolutely wonderful.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38Yes. To have met him, I'm really jealous!
0:34:38 > 0:34:39Yes.
0:34:40 > 0:34:42We tend to always think
0:34:42 > 0:34:47that the First World War was fought in the terrible muddy trenches
0:34:47 > 0:34:49of Flanders and France.
0:34:49 > 0:34:53But these artefacts here tell us that on one occasion at least,
0:34:53 > 0:34:58that it came across the Channel to England's green and pleasant land.
0:34:58 > 0:35:01Can you tell me about these? Yes.
0:35:01 > 0:35:05I brought in a fragment from a naval bombardment of Scarborough,
0:35:05 > 0:35:09which took place on 16th December 1914.
0:35:09 > 0:35:13The post office was hit, the lighthouse was hit,
0:35:13 > 0:35:15The Grand Hotel was hit.
0:35:15 > 0:35:18And many other domestic properties.
0:35:18 > 0:35:21So it was a very important part of Scarborough's history.
0:35:21 > 0:35:24And they went round the next bay to Hartlepool.
0:35:24 > 0:35:27They did. Hartlepool, Whitby and Scarborough.
0:35:27 > 0:35:32And these have been picked up by somebody walking in the street
0:35:32 > 0:35:36thinking, "Thank goodness they've gone." And it's a sort of memento.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39That's been engraved with "Hartlepool"
0:35:39 > 0:35:42and that's even posher with a nice silver plaque on it. Yes.
0:35:42 > 0:35:44Where did you get these from?
0:35:44 > 0:35:47This one came from the flea market in Pickering.
0:35:47 > 0:35:50And this one came from a car-boot sale, just recently.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53Just for a pound or two. That's really what they're worth.
0:35:53 > 0:35:56Scrap metal, however interesting it may be,
0:35:56 > 0:35:58generally has fairly limited value.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01But I think their value lies in the social documentation
0:36:01 > 0:36:03of when the civilian population
0:36:03 > 0:36:07of this country realised that total war meant total war.
0:36:07 > 0:36:09Yes. Thank you.
0:36:15 > 0:36:17This is a bit of a find.
0:36:17 > 0:36:20It is, yes. And it was found in 1857?
0:36:20 > 0:36:24That's right. It was found on New Queen Street
0:36:24 > 0:36:28and it was the site of Nesfields brewery
0:36:28 > 0:36:30when they were digging out the foundations.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33So they were fond of drinking in that part of Scarborough?
0:36:33 > 0:36:36Very much so, yes. What did they find, apart from this?
0:36:36 > 0:36:39They found the back end of an aquamanile as well
0:36:39 > 0:36:42which is what this is. The hind quarters.
0:36:42 > 0:36:46Aquamanile is a posh term for a water jug.
0:36:46 > 0:36:47That's right, yes.
0:36:47 > 0:36:51It's from the days before running hot and cold water.
0:36:51 > 0:36:55Yes. In the medieval period, in the 14th century,
0:36:55 > 0:36:57water would be brought to the table
0:36:57 > 0:36:59in an aquamanile for you to wash your hands.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02If you were someone of importance,
0:37:02 > 0:37:04you would have a fancy jug for that purpose.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07This is pretty fancy. It is, yes.
0:37:07 > 0:37:09It was fine tableware of its day.
0:37:09 > 0:37:13What are we talking, 12th, 13th century? Yes, roughly then.
0:37:13 > 0:37:16Now, why have you got this?
0:37:16 > 0:37:18Well, much as I'd like to have it for myself,
0:37:18 > 0:37:21it actually belongs to Scarborough.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24It's part of Scarborough's heritage.
0:37:24 > 0:37:28It's from the museum just up the road. The Rotunda Museum.
0:37:28 > 0:37:31And, indeed, it's now called Scarborough ware.
0:37:31 > 0:37:35If you actually look at where the clay's exposed,
0:37:35 > 0:37:39it has this bright pinkish fabric. That's right.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42And that's how it's recognised, even in fragments.
0:37:42 > 0:37:44In my 26 years on the Roadshow,
0:37:44 > 0:37:46I have never seen anything of this calibre.
0:37:46 > 0:37:48This wonderful fleece.
0:37:48 > 0:37:50It's so gorgeous.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53He's done this by taking a knife or something very sharp
0:37:53 > 0:37:56and just pushing the pottery up.
0:37:56 > 0:37:58Piece by piece by piece.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01You end up with this shaggy, woolly coat.
0:38:01 > 0:38:03It's a wonderful thing.
0:38:03 > 0:38:07I've wished for one of these to come in for years and years and years.
0:38:07 > 0:38:09Thank you very much to you and your museum.
0:38:09 > 0:38:11I'm not going to put a value on it
0:38:11 > 0:38:13because museums, quite rightly,
0:38:13 > 0:38:16don't put valuations on their objects.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19But I need to put it in some sort of perspective.
0:38:19 > 0:38:24This reminds me of an 18th-century Barnstaple jug I recorded
0:38:24 > 0:38:28at Bishop's Auckland some years back. A slipware jug.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32Same sort of, that wonderful informal pottery. Yes.
0:38:32 > 0:38:35This pre-industrial revolution stuff.
0:38:35 > 0:38:39An object that is 600 years younger than this.
0:38:39 > 0:38:45And on that, I put a valuation of 20 to ?30,000.
0:38:47 > 0:38:49OK!
0:38:49 > 0:38:54And this is much, much rarer.
0:39:19 > 0:39:23So two beautiful jewels from an era long gone.
0:39:23 > 0:39:25Did they come to you in your family?
0:39:25 > 0:39:28Yes, the brooch I inherited recently from my mother.
0:39:28 > 0:39:31And this is just generally a family piece.
0:39:31 > 0:39:33A family tiara! Yes.
0:39:33 > 0:39:35And also a necklace. We can turn it upside down,
0:39:35 > 0:39:38put a chain on it and turn it into a necklace.
0:39:38 > 0:39:41And a family tiara. You probably wore it at your wedding?
0:39:41 > 0:39:44I did, and my mother did, and I think my grandmother did.
0:39:44 > 0:39:48Stunning, isn't it? What did it feel like? Was it amazing?
0:39:48 > 0:39:50I was just nervous that it would fall off! Yes!
0:39:50 > 0:39:52I can well understand that.
0:39:52 > 0:39:55Everybody will be wondering how on earth that can become a tiara,
0:39:55 > 0:39:58but it's actually attached to what is called the frame
0:39:58 > 0:40:01with these funny nuts and bolts at the top.
0:40:01 > 0:40:03These jewels were made to be versatile
0:40:03 > 0:40:07because it's not only a tiara, but upside-down it's also a necklace.
0:40:07 > 0:40:11These are real pearls, and there's a very big distinction
0:40:11 > 0:40:13between natural pearls and cultured pearls,
0:40:13 > 0:40:15which one sees more often today.
0:40:15 > 0:40:20They were extraordinarily valuable at the time this was made.
0:40:20 > 0:40:24We can be assured this is an object of enormous importance
0:40:24 > 0:40:27in design terms
0:40:27 > 0:40:29and also in technique.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32It's enormously difficult to build up these settings in gold
0:40:32 > 0:40:35and pierce them and open them up.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38This is, of course, made by hand.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40But the extreme irony of it is there's hardly a sign
0:40:40 > 0:40:42of human activity on the surface.
0:40:42 > 0:40:46Because the pitch of craftsmanship is so shrill,
0:40:46 > 0:40:49that we think this thing has fallen out of heaven, really,
0:40:49 > 0:40:52because we don't see any sign of human activity.
0:40:52 > 0:40:56Even the box, there's this wonderful sky blue velvet,
0:40:56 > 0:40:57very fine velvet,
0:40:57 > 0:40:59lined with satin in a leather box,
0:40:59 > 0:41:01gold tooled.
0:41:01 > 0:41:03And so it's a very high pitch of luxury.
0:41:03 > 0:41:05It was worn by your grandmother,
0:41:05 > 0:41:07but I suspect there's one generation before that.
0:41:07 > 0:41:09How old do you think it is?
0:41:09 > 0:41:11I think it's probably about 1890.
0:41:11 > 0:41:14That would make sense. It would be her mother. Yes.
0:41:14 > 0:41:17And there are all kinds of amorous, subliminal messages
0:41:17 > 0:41:20with the pearl for Venus and the diamond for ever.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23And so, too, with this one. Was that also hers?
0:41:23 > 0:41:25That was definitely my mother's.
0:41:25 > 0:41:29I don't know whether it came from her mother or somewhere else.
0:41:29 > 0:41:30And you've worn that?
0:41:30 > 0:41:33Only once. And what was that? Come on, tell us!
0:41:33 > 0:41:37No just on a jacket because I felt I ought to wear it. Yes.
0:41:37 > 0:41:40It's completely stunning and it's a sort of mayfly.
0:41:40 > 0:41:41A mutant mayfly.
0:41:41 > 0:41:45He's so marvellous. Made of sapphires, diamonds and pearls.
0:41:45 > 0:41:49With ruby eyes. But actually, in a funny way,
0:41:49 > 0:41:52there's a chance that this is also a bee brooch.
0:41:52 > 0:41:54There's a sort of rebus for this as well.
0:41:54 > 0:41:59Because it's "bee" sure, when you close it, of my love.
0:41:59 > 0:42:01These things are very amorous.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03Here are the stones and the pearls again.
0:42:03 > 0:42:07This was a language understood by the first recipient of that.
0:42:07 > 0:42:09And lost over time. Very strange.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12But goodness, they're wonderful, joyful things.
0:42:12 > 0:42:14I'd just be afraid of wearing that.
0:42:14 > 0:42:16Afraid of losing it, I suppose.
0:42:16 > 0:42:21I do see that. But another stratagem they used at the time,
0:42:21 > 0:42:23was to ask the lady's maid or the dresser
0:42:23 > 0:42:25to stitch these onto the clothing.
0:42:25 > 0:42:28I don't have a lady's maid! You've let them go?!
0:42:28 > 0:42:30That's awful, really!
0:42:30 > 0:42:33Anyway, you may have to stitch it on yourself, then!
0:42:33 > 0:42:35But they did exactly that.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38So it would be pinned on and you won't lose it.
0:42:38 > 0:42:42You don't want to lose it because these are quite valuable objects.
0:42:42 > 0:42:44They're very desirable. In mint condition.
0:42:44 > 0:42:49And a curiously contemporary piece of jewellery.
0:42:49 > 0:42:55It's very easy to wear, it's ice white and beautiful. And diamonds.
0:42:55 > 0:42:57And so somewhere, I suppose,
0:42:57 > 0:43:00close to ?10,000 for that.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03And then this one not too far away, either.
0:43:03 > 0:43:06So I'll say about the same thing for that.
0:43:06 > 0:43:08Eight to ?10,000. Gosh.
0:43:08 > 0:43:10My niece is the next one to wear this.
0:43:10 > 0:43:13She gets married in a couple of months.
0:43:13 > 0:43:16Maybe she'll have to have a police escort or something!
0:43:16 > 0:43:19Roaring sirens, yes, exactly! I'm sure she'll be thrilled.
0:43:19 > 0:43:22With you watching, I think everything will be just fine.
0:43:22 > 0:43:24Wonderful. Thank you. Thank you. Lovely.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30We've had such a wonderful day here in Scarborough by the seaside.
0:43:30 > 0:43:34So many people have come to see us with fascinating objects
0:43:34 > 0:43:36and now as the day draws to a close,
0:43:36 > 0:43:38we need to think about finding one of these
0:43:38 > 0:43:41to get off to our next venue.
0:43:41 > 0:43:44No rest for the wicked! Until next week, bye-bye!