Falmouth National Maritime Museum 1 Antiques Roadshow

We've reached our Falmouth -

from where Sir Robin Knox-Johnston set sail

for the first non-stop solo voyage around the world, and from where

Dame Ellen MacArthur broke the record

with her solo trip back in 2004.

We're about to set sail on our own voyage of discovery.

Welcome to the Antiques Roadshow

from the National Maritime Museum, Cornwall.

Today the Antiques Roadshow is setting out its stall

at the National Maritime Museum, Cornwall.

It was established here because Falmouth

was one of the most important maritime ports in the country,

with stories of brave endeavours at sea,

of survival against the odds, and intriguing mysteries.

This may be the greatest mystery

the Roadshow has ever attempted to uncover.

It's a ship's strong box from the 18th century

and if I was strong enough to lift it and shake it,

which I'm not, because it's incredibly heavy,

I could tell you that there's something rattling around inside it.

But, despite several attempts over the years,

no-one has ever managed to unlock its secrets.

But today, we're going to try and crack it

and see if it contains hidden treasure.

It's particularly intriguing because the strong box could have

been aboard a ship that plied the seas

for the Royal Mail Packet Service,

which carried mail, money and important documents to destinations

in Britain's ever-expanding empire during the 1800s.

The Packet Service was unique to Falmouth.

Formed in 1689, it consisted of around 40 ships

that would carry gold bullion to pay troops fighting overseas.

This made journeying the oceans fraught with danger.

Packet captains ran the gauntlet of enemy ships

from Spain and France, sent to capture them.

In 1807, Captain William Rogers was attacked by French privateers.

Sick of being hounded, Rogers turned to fight,

despite being outnumbered three to one.

He became a national hero by shooting the French captain,

winning the day, and not losing a man.

Rogers was meant to throw all the ship's valuables overboard

if set upon, and this would have included

the contents of his on-board safe, which brings us back to this one.

Because this strong box was part of the Customs Service

on board the ships, they were used to carry things like money,

documents, maps, Customs have to be present by law when we open it,

so let me introduce Trevor, who is from Customs.

This is Chris, our locksmith or safe-cracker

and hopefully we're going to be opening this strong box

and finding out what's inside.

And as our experts prepare for another busy day,

why not try our valuation game?

To take part, press red on your remote control.

We'll give you your final score and Roadshow rating

at the end of the programme. Good luck!

I can see that the love of cleaning silver

isn't high up on your list of preferences.

Where's it been for all these years?

-Well, kept in a cupboard, wardrobe, mainly.

-Yeah?

Wrapped in paper, in tissue paper, black tissue paper.

And what's its history before that?

Well, it's just been handed down through the generations

-on our father's side.

-Right.

-We don't know any significance about it.

-Do you know what it is?

-Well, I understand it's a porringer, whatever that means.

-Yes.

A porringer is a name, basically, for a bowl for serving broth.

Oh, yes.

They were very popular in the second half of the 17th century,

so we're actually looking at a pretty old piece of silver here.

And if we turn it up, it's got a lovely set of marks on the bottom.

We've got a date letter "R" for 1674, so Charles II.

The maker's mark, FS, is recorded, but we don't know who it is

because most of the records of silversmiths of that period

were destroyed in a fire at the Goldsmiths Hall

-towards the end of the 17th century.

-Yes.

But what is no nice about this porringer

is that it has all the features that you would expect to see

on a piece of Charles II silver.

And that is this heavy and somewhat rather crude and clumsy embossing.

Yes.

And the reason you've got that is that, after the Civil War,

from sort of 1660 onwards, silver was in very short supply

so it was made in light gauge, and in order to strengthen it,

they embossed it with these big, rather clumsy figures.

-And we've got a deer on the front here.

-Yes.

And if we turn it round,

we've got the hound chasing it on the other side.

-But the technical expertise is not magnificent.

-No.

But it has a charm, and there are plenty of collectors

that like silver of this period,

particularly people who actually collect porringers.

Do they? Oh!

So, a piece of silver of this age, and an object like this,

is actually quite sought after.

-Is it?

-Yeah, to the tune of £3,000 to £4,000.

Golly!

So, is it going back in the piece of paper?!

We shall have to just have a family discussion, I think.

-Thanks for bringing it along.

-Thank you very much, thank you.

There she goes!

BYSTANDERS LAUGH AND CHEER

That was fantastic!

That is, I would say,

-the most unusual toy I've seen for a very long time.

-Really?

And so amusing. And so, who are the figures?

Well, I don't know, but they seem to be grannies

and I can't really understand why grannies would be

on a toboggan or a rollercoaster.

Hang on, not all grannies are old, you know!

I'm a granny and I would love to go on a toboggan and rollercoaster!

I'd probably scream all the way.

And we've got a mark on it, here.

MMN, which stands for Max Moskowitz of Nuremberg.

Oh, really?

And he was one of the many in the factories in Nuremberg

who were making these toys.

But really unusual ones like this. And I think because of that,

I mean, he didn't probably make very many.

And a lot of them were sent to America and I'm intrigued to know

where you got it yourself, because I've never seen one.

-Well, I actually got it from America.

-Did you?

Yes, from an American collector, and he didn't quite know what it was

and it just fascinated me, and I thought I'd have to have it.

I think it's absolutely wonderful.

We're dating really quite an early tin plate toy,

to the 1920s, 1921,

and it's in very good condition.

I mean, it's working, for a start

and the fact that all the paint is all there,

it's obviously been played with, but it's in very good condition.

And I suppose I've got to put a price on it for you,

and I would say that a collector in this country

would be looking at £1,000 to £1,500.

Wow!

Gosh, that's good!

HE LAUGHS

Come on, Granny.

Go.

CROWD LAUGH

I don't know what she was like in real life,

but she doesn't look very happy there, does she, really?

I think she's a perfect old dragon, frankly!

Who is she? What's the story?

She was my great-great-grandmother

and her husband was a man called Sir William Blingorn,

a German, who was a personal friend of Prince Albert.

And when Prince Albert came over to England to marry Queen Victoria,

he asked William to come with him, so he'd have a close friend here.

Right.

The ring belongs to her.

It was handed to my grandmother and my grandmother gave it to me.

So there's the family tradition, it goes right back to the 19th century.

The man who owned this originally

was someone who had this friendship...

-Yes.

-..with the Prince Consort.

That's right.

The ring is quite a bold sort of cluster of stones.

It's come down to you in remarkably good condition. Did you know that?

There's no damage,

there's no apparent wear to the mount or anything like that,

so you've looked after it. Have you worn it?

-I've worn it a great deal.

-Oh, you've looked after it very well!

I'm very fond of it.

I don't blame you, because it's a big bold-looking cluster ring

set with a cluster of colourless stones.

A lot of people would look at those stones and wonder what they were.

-Do you know what they are?

-I think they're diamonds. I hope they are.

Well, they are diamonds. They're table cut diamonds,

and unlike modern cut diamonds

which are often much more sparkly because they've got more facets,

these diamonds here are very simplistic in their cut.

They're very chunky, square stones, literally with tops cut off

and we call them table cut stones.

I mentioned about the quality of the setting.

Have a look at that at the back,

that lovely polished, gold mount in the setting.

Where do you think it was made? Any ideas?

As he was German, I was wondering if it was German, but I don't know.

I think yes, Continental manufacture,

but would it be a surprise to hear that, in spite of its condition,

it was made in about 1700?

-Really?

-Mmm. And that's what makes this unusual,

because old diamonds, like this, were cut in that particular way,

and after that, sophisticated cutting started to come in.

Diamonds were sparkly, because they learned the technique

of cutting diamonds properly for the first time.

But the old diamonds, particularly on the Continent,

did look really rather drab.

-But, actually, that's the character of the stones in the ring.

-Yes.

So it's got a wonderful family background.

I'd love to know what she was like.

Well, my grandmother was brought up by her.

She was orphaned as a baby.

And she was brought up by The Dragon, as we always called her.

Don't think she'd have appreciated that!

Well, one story she told me, that she had a pet lamb

which she used to feed when she was a very little girl,

a lamb called Barley.

And one day at dinner, she said to her grandmother, this old lady,

"I haven't seen Barley today. Do you know where he is?"

And she turned to this small child and said, "You're eating her"!

So that's why we call her "The Dragon".

Hmm. So she was a gentle soul, wasn't she, really?!

Anyway, not withstanding this dreadful tale of Barley,

made up with lamb chops and mint sauce, which is a horrible story...

-Awful!

-Awful story.

..the ring itself is worth £4,000 to £5,000.

Good Lord!

-There we are.

-How wonderful!

And I've been cheerfully wearing it, thinking nothing of it.

Nothing wrong in that. Carry on wearing it, but be aware of the fact

you've got a ring on your finger worth several thousand pounds.

SHE LAUGHS

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Now, I love these sort of French clocks very, very much

and I have to ask you, do you have the original dome for it?

Yes, I do, at home, yes, I do.

And do you have it running?

No, unfortunately it hasn't run as long as I've known it.

And so it's a family thing, if you've known it for ages, is it?

Yes, yes, it is. It belonged to my grandfather, yes.

He won it in a penny farthing race back in the 1800s, late 1800s.

He used to do a lot of racing bikes and penny farthings, then.

Penny farthings particularly? Gosh.

Yes, penny farthings in particular.

What a fabulous prize!

-So, late 1800s.

-Yes.

It all fits in absolutely perfectly, because it dates from 1885-1895.

All fits in beautifully.

The French were manufacturing wonderfully complicated clocks

and this is a real compendium.

But they were doing things on industrial themes and marine themes.

But this is actually equally desirable.

And the reason is, because you've got the pair of globes.

I mean, let's start at the bottom.

Standard timepiece movement, not a striker, obviously.

Thermometer in the middle, sadly the tube has broken,

but that's the least of your worries,

and then we have an aneroid barometer at the top

and right at the very top, we have a little compass.

It's a great thing,

but the thing that makes it superb are the pair of globes.

A terrestrial globe and a celestial globe.

I see the globe is signed just down here, Bertaux,

and it gives an address in Paris

and the celestial is signed by a different maker, Delamarche,

at the same address, which is quite fun.

So it's all absolutely 100%

and this would have been a very generous present at the time.

It's a really nice object, and if it were mine,

I would probably regild it, resilver some of it, polish the marble

and just get it looking in top retail.

So, even in this state, I have absolutely no hesitation

in saying to you that it would fetch at least £3,500 to £4,000.

Oh, my goodness.

And how appropriate, now that cycling is so popular in the UK,

that we have something won by an early penny farthing racer.

Yes, thank you!

If I was living in 1911

and I had a chance of having my portrait painted,

who was the best person I could possibly get to paint my portrait?

And it would be this person, John Singer Sargent.

I can hardly believe what I'm seeing here.

It is fantastic, and it's the most beautiful black chalk drawing,

dated 1911.

-Now, who's the sitter?

-It's my great-great aunt Pamela.

So, what sort of person was Pamela?

Well, she's quite a young girl here, but she grew up to be

one of the great society beauties of the 20s and 30s.

Very glamorous, as you can probably imagine.

She even turned down Edward VIII.

She wouldn't have anything to do with him, but of course he went on

and married Wallis Simpson afterwards.

Pamela was always dressed fantastically.

Pearls always round her neck, that sort of person, really.

What a wonderful story. I think that's fantastic.

And you can just see here, you know, she is so pretty as a child,

and what she'd have grown into. No wonder Edward VIII was interested.

Well, it is a fantastic study

and the thing about Sargent... who's an American,

and he came over and studied in Paris and came over here,

and he became what I call the greatest flapper artist.

He painted these elegant ladies, beautiful oil paintings

and lots of drawings like this.

I suppose if you couldn't afford to have your portrait

painted in oil, you'd go for one of these.

-That's the story.

-Is that what happened?

-That's exactly the story.

Well, they couldn't have chosen a better person to paint her.

And after he'd finished in Paris, he came over and painted in London

and all the aristocracy wanted him to paint their portraits.

So you can't afford the oil, this is what you'd come up with.

And I think it's absolutely stunning.

It is on French paper, and he often used this,

because sometimes these can be very clever prints

and you get confused, but this is black chalk on French paper,

absolutely typical of what he was using at the time.

And I see you've got the brooch here.

Yes. It's amazing it's survived so long, really.

-I know, and here it is in the picture.

-Yes.

Shown to us here, and it's just so lovely to have the two together.

So do you have it hanging at home?

Well, it is hung up, yeah.

-And have you got it insured at the moment?

-I believe so.

Do you know how much for?

Yes, it's currently insured for £10,000.

OK, well, you're going to have to readjust that,

because they're rare.

He's probably the most collectable portrait painter

you could want to own, really, and I would put on this,

if it came up for auction, about £30,000 to £50,000.

Oh, really now?

-At least.

-Goodness me!

The reason being, he's an American

and he is the most famous portrait painter, really,

-of the 20th century.

-Goodness, wow!

It's stunning.

Oh, it is, it's really beautiful.

While Chris works away here trying to open the strong box

- good luck with that -

Trevor, you're from Customs

and this strong box used to be in Customs House here, didn't it?

Yes, Fiona. I worked here for 25 years as a Customs Officer

and quite recently the office closed,

so the artefacts from the office were donated to the Maritime Museum,

but this chest sat in what was our rest room for many years.

in fact we even had a TV sitting on top of it, at one stage.

In the 25 years that I was there,

there was one attempt to open it, and it failed,

so as far as I'm aware, that has not been opened in living memory.

Now it had to go up to ministerial level, didn't it?

To get permission for us to open this box.

Because we hadn't opened it, there was an old sort of caveat that

if ever anybody attempted to open it, that we should be informed,

and when yourselves came to say that you were going to open it,

we had to take permission from our senior managers,

and it went right the way up

and even the ministers are aware that we're opening this today.

-I sincerely hope there's something interesting inside, then!

-So do I.

And whatever's in here...

does it automatically belong to you, then? To Customs.

We'll have to wait and see what's in there.

I'll make a judgement once we get in there and see what's in there.

What will inform that judgement? Whether it's valuable enough?

Yes, or of any significance to the Border Force.

But, I mean, who knows?

And what would be of significance to the Border Force?

We're not expecting someone to be stowed away in there,

so what kind of thing?

Yeah, I would suggest primarily, cash.

There may be cash because this was used to retain cash

from duties paid, or fines.

Any important documents

perhaps relating to legislation or Acts of Parliament.

And there's another way of looking at this.

This could be the greatest anti-climax of all time.

I mean there's something in there

because I'm told something is rattling around.

Ye-es, well, could be some officer's love letters! Who knows?

-Treasure map...

-That would be exciting!

I don't know.

Until we open that, it is pure speculation.

-Are you curious?

-I'm desperately curious, yes!

It's quite appropriate to see a lifeboat board like this.

Where did you get it from?

Well, we went to see a house that was for sale

and it was called The Old Coastguard Station

and, believe it or not, it was in a skip, upside down

and I love skips, so I jumped in it and picked it up

and I couldn't believe to see "Lifeboat Station",

everything else with it.

And did you know what it was when you saw it?

No, I had no idea, and eventually we bought the ex-Coastguard Station

and I got in touch with a local historian

and he told me that, actually, the abbreviation, what it means.

Bad and thick weather watch.

And we've got there "B" and "TWW". The thick weather presumably is fog.

-Totally, because when it's thick it's like pea soup.

-Yeah.

And every time the station was on call,

and the lifeboat had to be on a rescue,

they would put "on" or "off".

So if they're on duty, you'd have it set on, off duty.

-And that showed everyone who was available.

-Yes.

Most of these don't exist any more, they sell them all off

-and... Did you convert it to a house?

-Yes.

Which is what happens a lot now.

And these were just thrown in the skip.

They're not particularly well-made,

but they're a real piece of local history.

You can see these little peg holdings here.

This is where pegs would have sat

and that's where reports would have been hung, on those.

Imagine all the different stories that have been on this board.

And this would date from the early part of the 20th century

and you just imagine how much more of a dangerous occupation

-it was then. It's a lot safer now.

-Oh, yes.

And it's great to see all of the names down here,

all of the stations.

Most have gone because they were just sold off.

I mean, it's not great quality.

It never was meant to be something of great quality.

It's a bit rough, it's had a bashing, but these were working boards.

But people are starting to appreciate these things now,

more than they were, and I think to a collector,

it's tricky, but I would say around the £300 mark. But who cares?

-It's not value. All these coastguards have saved people's lives.

-Exactly.

And we owe so much to the lifeboats, it's unbelievable,

and we should celebrate them.

A lot of people watching the show will recognise

some of these from their own lives

and you know precisely how they came to England, don't you?

I do.

My father was a contracts manager for a company called Danesco,

which imported Scandinavian things, mainly Denmark and Finland,

and these were things that he imported.

So if somebody owns one of these, Arabia crockery, Holmegaard glass,

then it's pretty well down to your dad.

It is, yes.

So we're really dating,

the earliest things here are Bent Severin's Princess glasses.

And there they are.

And I personally think, I think it's arguable

that these are probably the most beautiful wine glasses ever made.

I think they're absolutely gorgeous, I really do.

Of course they're completely impractical

because you come to pour this

-and the pressure of the wine has the tendency to knock 'em over.

-Yes.

And the result is of course, that these are really quite sought-after

because the casualty rate is so high.

What's your favourite?

Probably the Gulvvases.

Gulvvases, Gulv vase. "Gulvvase" means floor vase.

They weren't really vases to put things in,

they were vases as objects in their own right.

These are credited to Otto Brauer

who was a glassblower at the Odense plant for Holmegaard.

You also have this, by Chister Holmgren.

This is a spirit decanter.

And the last one, I don't recognise, but I suspect you do.

I do, because this was a chalice that was given to my father

in thanks for all the work he'd done,

as part of their commemoration of being open for 150 years.

-There we go, 1825-1975 - 150 years of Holmegaard Kastrup.

-Yeah.

So, 1957 is Bent Severin's Princess glass.

Otto Brauer is, 1962 is the design date of the Gulvvase.

And these are also contemporary with it,

these are '50s into the '60s, the Arabia crockery.

And what's happened is that these companies are gone.

Everything has now closed.

Anybody that isn't closed is in desperate trouble, really,

because the imports from China

of mass-made, mass-market stuff

inspired entirely by these guys, and the girls,

have completely wiped them out.

So these are very fashionable items.

The Princess glasses, this one,

they're about £50 each, for the large claret.

That's a lovely sized glass.

The spirit decanter, £15,

the ceramics, you know that sort of mark, but the money's here.

This is probably...£150?

The red one is probably worth more,

£200, really, even though it's smaller

because this is precisely where the market is.

That's the object that is a dream object, if you like.

Total value here, about £500 or £600.

-But it's your life, isn't it?

-It is, yes.

-Fantastic, thank you very much.

-Thank you.

-So here we are, back in the days of the Music Hall.

-Yes.

-And the name is Harry Champion.

-That was his stage name.

Harry Champion, Royal Performance here, Royal Variety Performance.

-That's it.

-And what is he to you?

Well, he's my grandfather, and my father worshipped him.

Consequently Clive, we've got so much memorabilia about the Music Halls,

I just didn't know what to bring.

What was his act?

His act was singing, mostly, between 50 and 60 songs he'd got.

I think he'd do a little time-step at the end.

So he was a song and dance, yes.

And throw in a few gags as well.

-And a few gags, so comedian, song and dance.

-Yes.

Very much in that tradition. What were his dates?

1865-1942.

So he lived quite a long time.

He did, through both World Wars, yes.

This obviously was the Royal Variety Performance

at the London Palladium, 1935.

-He did three.

-He did three? And this was the last one, obviously.

Yes, and these command performances were before, as you see,

-King George V and Queen Mary.

-Yes.

And I think he must have tickled the fancy of the King.

No, I think he tickled the fancy of the Queen.

She used to love The Crazy Gang.

Yes, well he did a lot of shows with The Crazy Gang.

So, Music Hall was really the precursor of television.

This is what people entertained themselves with in the evening.

-Exactly.

-They didn't turn on EastEnders,

they just went down to the East End and went to the Music Hall.

Very, very popular.

And here he is, Harry Champion again,

"By the Royal Command performer" he's dated there, this is in 1937.

-Yes.

-Original singer of Any Old Iron and Henry VIII.

Is that what he sang? So he was the first person to sing these songs.

Yes. Any Old Iron, I think was his most popular song.

Any Old Iron, yes.

I love this picture here.

This is by Bruce Bairnsfather

who did all the First World War pictures that we see.

You know, he did the pictures of "If you knows of a better 'ole"

those ones, that series.

Yes. Well, he was standing in the wings

when Harry was on the stage, and he just did that quickly.

-And that's a picture of his back?

-Yes.

With this wonderful hat, batty hat, and all these buttons down the back.

And "Wood Green, November 1938".

That would be Wood Green Empire.

Wood Green Empire, yes. And this one here which I think is rather,

a rather sad photograph here, this one.

-This is of the dog.

-It was his...

..in front of the sideboard, in front of a picture of him.

-It was his beloved Bill, the dog.

-The dog was Bill?

Yes, and when he died, the photographer came round

and they headed it in the paper,

"Waiting for a call that will not come".

-Waiting, yes.

-Yes, waiting for his boss's call.

Well, I would have thought, I mean I can't value things individually,

but you have a collection here

that is certainly worth £5,000, if not considerably more.

Really?

But, I wouldn't part with it for any less.

And I'm sure you wouldn't either.

# Any old iron, any old iron

# Any, any, any old iron

# You look neat, talk about a treat

# You look a dapper from your napper to your feet

# Dressed in style with a brand new tile

# And your father's old green tie on

# I wouldn't give you tuppence for an old watch chain

# Old iron, iron! #

Ha-ha!

How much of a challenge is a lock like this, Chris?

Well, it's not too much of a challenge.

You've got to have a certain amount of skill of hand

and fairly good eyesight.

And how many hours has it taken to get,

to establish the shape of the lock, to create the keys, file them down

and get them to the point where we could open this strong box?

The actual hours I put in to making the keys for this thing,

probably in the region of ten, actually doing it.

-Ten hours just to make one key?

-Yeah.

And what does it tell you about the age of this, the mechanism itself?

I would put this at around 1820.

-So 19th century?

-Just into the 19th century.

Looking at this box, and the mechanism, is there anything

about this that can give us any clue as to what might be inside

or whether there might be something valuable inside, or not?

There's no clue whatsoever.

You can only go by what it would be used for,

and it would be used for carrying valuables of some description.

-Well, I'm told it's not been opened in living memory.

-That's right.

So your keys will unlock the mystery. That's correct.

No pressure, then.

No pressure, none at all!

Now looking at this mask closely, I can see two names.

We've got a name most people know, Clarice Cliff,

but there's also this other name, "modelled by Esme M Bailey".

Now, you can tell me who that is, can't you?

-Yes, that is my mother in fact.

-Oh!

Yes, she was 18 when she modelled this.

She went to art college, and her father, my grandfather,

had a shop in Bristol, which sold Clarice Cliff wares.

And so she was taken up to Stoke-on-Trent for about two weeks

and went to Clarice Cliff's workshop

and was given a lump of clay and said "get on and make something".

And she made four masks and then came back home

and about two or three months later it arrived back with the other three

and Mum looked at them in the box

and thought that they were awful, because of the bright colours!

She thought the colours were so garish, she just didn't like them.

So she was responsible for the model.

Well, she modelled... Clarice Cliff then chose the colours.

-Did the colours, finished them for her.

-And Mother didn't approve?

Not at all, she wanted more subdued colours.

So what happened to the ones Clarice Cliff sent?

-Mum put them in a jumble sale.

-OK!

Yes, so they...I've grown up with this story all my life.

I think you've got a picture of her, haven't you?

And I've got a photograph of her here, this is in 1931.

Well, she's quite a glamour puss.

She was, yes. She was 18 at the time.

So your mum must have been quite a groovy lady,

to have been given what we would call an internship today,

because Clarice Cliff was really, at that time,

very famous, very fashionable.

It was the contact with my grandfather. They were quite friendly

and, you know, he was selling a lot of the Bizarre ware at the time.

How come you've got this one?

She regretted, all her life, not actually keeping them.

And in 1998, she had a phone call from a friend

saying one of the masks was in an auction.

So my brothers and myself said, "You've got to go down,

"you've got to buy it, no matter what it costs, you've got to buy it."

So, in other words, 67 years later, Mum went, in her wheelchair,

with a friend, and bought this mask back in auction.

What did she pay?

£1,000.

Well, I think £1,000 is a fair price,

but how can you put money on those memories?

Not at all, you can't. It is just so magical, really.

That's a very magical, special object.

And thank you for sharing the story with us.

Thank you very much, thank you.

I love the way that the light drifts across this picture.

It's a silvery, pervasive light,

and it's thrown this old lady's face, into the most wonderful relief

and elderly faces are much more interesting than young faces.

I'll agree to that one, yes!

So will I. And who's it by?

-Walter Osborne.

-Ah!

Who I know very little about.

And this is the very first time I've seen the old lady outside

and the light is totally different to what it is at home -

the light is flatter, more subdued.

so I'm now seeing highlights and textures I've never noticed before.

That's very interesting, because that's exactly what he does.

That's Walter Osborne. Born in Dublin and working,

I think this is about, this is early for him...

he died young, aged 40-something

but this is about 1882-3, which is very early for him.

Yes, because he was quite young at that point.

Yes, very young.

And up here, actually, we've got his signature, which is rather useful.

It's very hard to read

but there are four letters after his name

which I think say "ARHA"

which means Associate of the Royal Hibernian Academy.

-Hibernian, OK.

-Yes, so that of course is Dublin.

-Yeah.

And it tells us it's before he was elected a full member,

which I think was in 1880... mid-1880s anyway.

so it's definitely before then.

And when he was at art college in Antwerp, he was studying there,

and there is a very Dutch feel about this picture.

That drifting light comes straight out of the tradition of Vermeer,

really, doesn't it?

I've looked at her ever since I was a small child.

In fact, it's the first image I can remember as a tiny toddler.

And I've lived with it all my life.

I knew nothing about her until recently.

I found a book on her, and it came from my grandfather,

so going back to 1920-24, and I've admired and loved her all my life.

I just feel she's lived a good, hard life, and worked

and there's a feeling of serenity and content

and she's seen it all around her. A pastoral life.

-Yes.

-And she's lovely, and comforting.

What you were saying about textures and colours, this is what I love

about Walter Osborne, this is what he was so good at.

I'm not quite sure what material we'd call that,

but somebody who knows about clothes

would certainly know what that was made of, and that was made of.

He's identified the textures so well.

And this lovely dab of light along the edge of the saucer.

This little still life, that's perfection in itself, isn't it?

It's beautiful. I mean that's very small and yet it stands out clearly.

He hasn't bothered at all with the background, but it works very well,

just to throw her out at us, in this light, it's terrific, and her face.

I mean, that is a map of experience, isn't it?

I agree with you, totally. Yes, a lifetime of love and...

I think she's actually probably just dozing off!

The end of a session, yes, just had a long artist's session.

I think that this early work

is one of the nicest things I've ever seen by him.

Now, what's it worth?

I really have no clue, but it was valued for us in 1990, I think,

round about £7,000-ish.

-Well, I think probably about £40,000.

-Four zero?

Four zero, zero, zero, zero.

OK, thank you very, very much!

Well, hello dear, welcome back!

My God!

What a lovely old lady!

We found them in a local antique shop.

I think they'd been in there for a little while

and people just by-passed them.

The only thing they could really tell us

was that they think they're about 100 years old

and they think they could have come from Belgium or Germany,

possibly from a fairground,

but they didn't, not really much information on them.

Where do you keep them?

He lives in our bedroom, and he lives in our front room.

-You have this clown in your bedroom?

-Yeah.

-OK.

I'm not 100%, but I don't think these are 100 years old.

-I think that the chances are, they may date from around about 1960.

-OK.

And I say that purely from a stylistic point of view.

I wouldn't necessarily have said Germany.

I can't rule it out, because they've got more of an Italian look to them.

-OK.

-So I think that just might be where they started off life.

Do you know, when it comes to what were they used for,

I think they're the obvious thing for a fairground, aren't they?

So I think they are, they are props.

-I have to say, by the way, that they are ceramic.

-Oh, right.

Because I tapped this one and it gave a funny metallic feel to it,

but they are ceramic. And do you know what?

I like these clowns, and I'll tell you why I like them,

because they make me smile.

And anything that can lift your spirits in this day and age,

-is worth having in your home.

-Yes.

Because I've never seen a pair before sold.

How much did they ask you, when you had to buy them?

-700 for the two.

-For the two?

-Yes.

I think that's a pretty good investment.

I don't think you'd have any problems

finding somebody prepared to pay £1,000.

-Find me another pair.

-Yeah.

-That's the interesting question, isn't it?

-Yeah.

The moment to open this strong box has arrived.

I don't know why, I feel a bit nervous about it.

And what do you think? Are you excited?

-AUDIENCE:

-Yes!

Let's hope there's something in there, then!

-Do you think you can open it?

-Of course.

I like your confidence. off you go, then.

Oh, my goodness!

-Well!

-It's empty!

CROWD GASP AND LAUGH

At least I know, for 25 years, I wasn't sitting on a treasure trove!

And do you want to know what was making that rattling noise?

The lid of a Biro!

CROWD LAUGH AND CLAP

This could possibly be the worst moment of my entire career!

Trevor, would Customs be interested in this?

I'll inform the Minister.

This is a toy that combines two of my favourite elements.

One is magic,

and the other is the very earliest use of entertainment for children.

Now, how did you get it?

Well, it's been passed down from my husband's grandmother.

-Yes.

-And that's all we know about it.

We have called it "the toy" but we don't know anything about it,

the age, or in fact whether it was a children's toy

or amusements for adults.

I don't know and we'd just like to know more about it.

Well, is it a toy? Is it demonstrating a scientific property?

Is it a piece of mystery? It's a bit of everything.

Let me show what it does.

There is a wonderful piece of magic because on the easel at the moment

is this portrait that he's completed, a portrait of a lady,

but we might say, "We're rather bored with that,

"what we'd really like is a naval battle scene,"

so we put that coaster underneath the box

and suddenly that scene appears on the artist's easel.

How does it happen?

Now, a magician should never give away the secret of the trick.

However, underneath here is a circle, a disc of paper

and on the disc is painted all the different scenes

that you see here, in miniature,

and as you put the scene underneath the box,

so through magnets, inside the box and on the picture itself,

-so the right little version of that painting appears on his easel.

-Yes.

I mean, it's simple when you know how,

but if you didn't know about magnets, gosh, that's exciting.

Looking at the prints on it,

they look almost 1720s-1750s,

and you think to yourself,

-"Well, I wonder if it could be dating from that period."

-Mm, yes.

-But actually I think it's a good deal later than that.

-Yes.

My own feeling is that it's dating from perhaps 1810-1820.

So this artist with his various different scenes,

what's he going to be worth?

I'm going to put a value of between £500 and £700 on it.

Right, yes.

And I have a feeling people might be queuing up to pay that for it.

Well, now, you've brought along this brooch which,

I have to be honest with you, is pretty distressed.

This is broken off and in the normal scheme of things,

I doubt very much I would have given it a second look.

It's designed as a hoop

and then the top of it is designed as a sort of a stylised ram's head.

Any idea where it came from?

Yes. A maiden aunt of mine gave it to me many years ago.

I don't know where she had it from. I kind of thought it was Victorian.

Well, I would agree with you, it's 19th century,

made in around about 1865, that sort of period.

It's a good example of what we call revivalist jewellery.

But it's in worse than good condition, it's broken off,

it's a bit worn, it's a bit bent, it's a bit tired, bit miserable.

Sorry about that, John.

LAUGHTER

But, a feature that needs to be pointed out.

Did you happen to see that there?

There's two little tiny back-to-back letter Cs.

-Did you ever see that?

-No, I didn't.

-You didn't, did you?

No, I didn't.

Well, now I'm going to tell you something.

Those back-to-back Cs are the monogram

of someone called Fortunato Pio Castellani.

One of the great names.

19th century revivalist goldsmith working in Rome,

producing this kind of jewellery

that looks as if it was sort of Roman or Etruscan

and his jewellery is incredibly collectable today.

So in spite of the damage, I know it's in less than perfect condition,

but get that restoration done, you're talking about

the best part of £1,000 for it.

Really? Oh, goodness.

Just because of that Castellani mark.

Oh, and I lost it some years ago.

I put an ad in the local press with a reward

-and somebody rang and they'd found it.

-Meant to be.

-So it was, wasn't it? Thank you, John.

-What a find, thank you.

Do you know, when I was asked to come down to Falmouth

to do the Roadshow, who's the artist I really wanted to see?

Henry Scott Tuke, and here we have three.

I looked at these and I thought, "Mm, somebody must have stolen them

"from Falmouth Polytechnic," or are you from Falmouth Polytechnic?

I am from Falmouth Polytech, yes,

I'm one of the joint curators of this marvellous collection.

We have 279 Tukes, it's the largest collection in public hands

in this country and it's a living collection.

Although a bulk were given to us in the '60s by someone

who also persuaded his friends to give further paintings,

it's still, we're still collecting.

We have a catalogue of 277

which was only done about two or three years ago

and now we have already received two more Tukes to add to the collection.

I think it's fantastic, and especially down in Cornwall.

You know, dear old Tuke, he's been a hero of mine for years

and if you said to me,

"Who of The Newlyn School do you really admire?"

Stanhope Forbes, yeah, but Tuke is the one I absolutely love

because he went through these various periods

and you've got three pictures here from sort of different periods.

And so we'll start from the more modern one here

which is a sketch for Morning Splendour.

Yes, study for Morning Splendour.

And the original of that is in Baden Powell House.

Baden Powell House, it was bought for the Scout Movement, yes.

Because you know, when these were originally shown,

the type with the nudes in and the naked boys,

it was very, in Edwardian times, you know,

it was a bit frowned on at the RA.

You know, this was breaking new ground.

And, you know, people sort of tended to raise an eyebrow.

But the one thing that he does, that a lot of the other artists

of that period don't, he gets the light.

The light on the backs of their shoulders, the light on the sea,

and this wonderful... It's that Edwardian period, it's early 1900s,

and he did that right up to the 1920s, those sort of pictures.

Yes, and it's an idyllic period

and when you think what's going to come,

-the First World War...

-Absolutely.

-..it makes it even more idyllic.

-Absolutely, and it's Cornwall at its best.

-Yes.

Then we come down here to the harbour scene in Falmouth

with the fisherman in his rowing boat.

A large example.

-It appears to be the only one in the original Tuke frame.

-Yes.

-This is the standard Tuke frame.

-Yes.

I'm a bit of a fusspot because I love them in this sort of frame.

And the wet watercolour look, this wet look you get,

he was so good in oil and in watercolour,

and you've really got the movement of the boat here,

and I love all the moored boats here. It's just fantastic.

That is quite interesting because this is actually painted

-from his studio on Castle House Quay.

-Oh, yes.

And the building is still there.

How interesting. And he also worked from a boat, didn't he?

He did, but that was painted from a boat.

-Yeah, and this is on Lily, he painted on Lily?

-Yes.

We come to this picture and to me, this is, of all Tukes,

the iconic Tuke. I remember buying cards of this in the 1970s

because I just thought it was just so fantastic. Our Jack.

Our Jack, of course, is Jack Rowland,

the model that he used a lot, but it's just the natural look,

the way he's looking out at you, with Falmouth in the background,

the sails. Tuke understood about water and about the feeling,

you know, of sail,

and the interesting thing about the dates on these.

You've got this one which was done 1920s, 1921 as a sketch.

The one down here which is 1904,

and then the one of Jack Rowland

-which is in the 1880s.

-Yeah.

And to me, that's the crucial period for him.

Absolutely fantastic, so we've got the two oils

and the watercolour, and even though it's a sketch and it's unsigned,

that is worth certainly £20,000 to £30,000 for that one.

This one here, the watercolour,

I think it's an exceptionally big one for him and it's really good.

I think that could make £20,000, the watercolour,

which is a lot of money for one like that.

But now we come to Our Jack, the iconic picture.

Now, you know, people say, "Oh, if it's big, a big nude,

"we know that they make, can make £100,000."

But I look at this

and it's got everything good in the right size picture

and I know that if that came up,

that's a £200,000 painting in auction.

It is that iconic.

So, when you add the whole lot up, you're getting up from £240,000

to £300,000 so then you have to add more on for replacement because,

you know, and to replace these you'd probably have to put

at least £500,000 on those three.

And how fantastic the Falmouth Polytechnic has them

and they're on view to the public and long may everybody enjoy them.

Thank you and I hope they will.

-When I was about your age...

-Yeah.

..in my grandfather's shed was a little mower quite similar to that.

-Oh, right.

-And I used to cut the grass with it.

Yes, what manufacturer was it?

-What manufacturer? I think it was Webb.

-Oh, right.

Um, that would probably be a Whippet,

might have been a Wasp or maybe a Witch.

Goodness me, so this is a subject about which you know

an awful lot by the sound of it.

Yeah, I mean I've got a collection, roughly 30 of them,

and I obviously collect them,

I've been collecting them about four years and learning about them.

And it's just my hobby, really.

-Goodness me. So, 30 lawn mowers in only four years.

-Yeah.

-Where do you store them?

-I keep six of them in my bedroom.

-Right!

-And I keep all the rest in my shed.

OK, well, again when I was your age,

-I collected things in a really crazy way.

-Right.

And I think the human race is divided into two types.

-There are those of us who collect and those of us who don't.

-Yeah.

-And we're both collectors.

-OK.

Can you tell me something about these?

Well, that one at the back there, I've refurbished that.

-You did this yourself?

-Yeah, with another collector.

Good Lord. It looks beautiful.

It's an 1898 Green Salenz Metal,

they made roughly a million of them between 1869 and 1939.

This is obviously the eight inch cut and one of the things

that I find interesting about it is this casting on the side here,

-that's unique, that particular piece of handle.

-Right.

But that number, as far as I know,

-that's unique to that mower.

-Wow. And this one?

This one, this is an 1880s, I believe, or maybe 1890s,

-it's a Follows and Bates Manchester.

-Right.

And I only know of seven of these in existence.

Where did you get that?

I got this online, on an online auction site, about...

I think it must have been three months ago.

Good Lord.

-Well, in this strange reversal of roles, you are the expert.

-Right.

-So instead of telling you, because I don't know.

-Yes.

I'm going to ask you to tell me what it's worth.

Would you have any idea on what it's worth?

I haven't got a clue, I just haven't got a clue.

OK, this one at the back here, one of these recently sold

on an online auction site, three months back,

-for I believe it was around £300.

-Wow.

And then this one at the front here, very rare, only seven of them,

-as far as I know, so that might be more like £500.

-Good Lord.

So altogether this is maybe £800 worth of lawnmowers.

Wowee, you're a rich young man. Well, I have to say,

I'm completely bowled over by how much you know about these things.

You know everything there is to be known by the sounds of it.

You are a true expert and a true collector.

I've seen a few standing cups in my time, but I've never seen

anything quite as impressive and magnificent as this.

Standing cups developed in Germany in the 16th and 17th centuries

and were relatively common there, but over here they're much rarer.

But apart from the obvious magnificence of the size,

this has got a very curious inscription,

which I'm going to take the lid off and read.

It says "1633, from mayor to mayor,

"to the town of Penmarrin,

"when they received me, it was in great misery. Jane Killigrew."

What's all that about?

Well, Jane Killigrew was married - Lady Jane Killigrew -

was married to Sir John Killigrew and they lived in Falmouth.

She was a bit of a naughty girl and not very happy in her marriage

and she had an affair with the governor of Pendennis Castle,

in Falmouth, and as a result of this, Sir John sued for divorce.

-She ran away and hid in Penryn, took refuge in Penryn.

-Yes.

-Which is a town about a mile up the road.

-Yes.

She stayed with us for about 20 years

and she finally got her divorce

and as part of her marriage portion,

when she got her divorce, she apparently bought this cup

and presented it to the town of Penryn and we've had it since 1633.

And to bring it up to the modern days,

-every time we have a new mayor go into office...

-Yes.

The outgoing mayor passes it to the incoming mayor for safe keeping.

-Very unique.

-Well, absolutely unique.

Interestingly enough, it was made in London

because on here we've got a lovely set of hallmarks.

It has a date letter here which is actually for one year earlier, 1632,

but the date letters ran from May to May

rather than January to January, so that doesn't surprise me

that the date is engraved one year later,

and it also has the maker's mark, RS.

He is a known maker, but we don't know what his name is,

but he is recorded as making mainly church silver, so he's gone out

of his comfort zone here and made something quite spectacular.

And the only ones I've really seen that are vaguely similar to this

are what are called steeple cups

and on the lid of a steeple cup would be literally a silver steeple.

But I can't remember ever picking up a cup of this date,

-and we're talking of a period of Charles I.

-Mm-hmm.

One of such fantastic size.

It's a great colour and the story behind it is just superb

and she must have been one very, very grateful lady

-because this was an expensive piece of silver in its day.

-Yes, yes.

Now the Killigrews, from what I've heard,

some of them were almost near pirates and isn't Jane supposedly...

Was she a pirate or was she muddled up with somebody else or...?

What's the story about that?

-Well, I think she's much maligned, I don't think she was a pirate.

-No.

But I do think that her mother-in-law, Mary Killigrew,

was a pirate because she was nearly sent to the gallows

for her pirate's... I think she raided some ships,

-some Spanish ships and took them to Ireland.

-Yes.

And she got into big trouble and they nearly hung her.

She got pardoned but I think Jane is always looked on as a pirate

but I don't think she was a pirate. I don't know.

It can only happen in Cornwall, you can have lady pirates.

Oh, yes, yes, yes. They're still around, yeah.

Well, this is an exceptional object, absolutely exceptional,

and it's such a real pleasure for me to even see something,

let alone handle it like this, and because of that,

we're looking at something that's pretty valuable.

I'm thinking it's got to be worth between £100,000 and £150,000.

GASPS OF ASTONISHMENT

Gosh.

Well, that's really good news.

Penryn's very proud of its cup and that will be...

-I think they should be.

-It's wonderful to know.

The story, the object, everything about it is magical,

so I doubt if I'll ever see a cup like this again on the Roadshow.

Yes, I doubt if it will ever come out of Penryn again,

it hasn't been out since 1633 so...

Yeah, but thank you so much for bringing it along.

It's been a pleasure, thank you very much, thank you.

And what an amazing way to end our show.

We've seen some marvellous items today.

The strong box was one of them, its contents sadly are not.

From the Antiques Roadshow in Falmouth

and our strong box and our team, until next time, bye-bye.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd