0:00:02 > 0:00:07This little tractor was used by the land girls in World War II.
0:00:07 > 0:00:08It was painted green for camouflage,
0:00:08 > 0:00:12and the steering was made lighter to help the lady drivers.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15So it's earned its place in the tractor hall of fame.
0:00:16 > 0:00:20Just the way to make a return visit to the Antiques Roadshow
0:00:20 > 0:00:23at the Royal Agricultural University in Gloucestershire.
0:01:07 > 0:01:09Now, you might not think that teaching farming and agriculture
0:01:09 > 0:01:11would include art and antiques,
0:01:11 > 0:01:14but here at the Royal Agricultural University near Cirencester,
0:01:14 > 0:01:18which has been here since 1845, I've been having a little look
0:01:18 > 0:01:21around and found some rather interesting pieces.
0:01:25 > 0:01:29Here in the university chapel is a piece by an artist synonymous
0:01:29 > 0:01:33with the countryside, and a local boy to boot - William Morris,
0:01:33 > 0:01:34the Arts and Crafts designer, of course,
0:01:34 > 0:01:37whose pieces make a regular appearance on the Roadshow.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42He created that stained glass window of a flaming star
0:01:42 > 0:01:45and the zodiac for the university in 1865,
0:01:45 > 0:01:48after the chemistry professor helped him with his printing.
0:01:50 > 0:01:52And what about these watercolours?
0:01:53 > 0:01:58They're made from studies of British trees and used as a teaching tool.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02A tree would be selected and then, on a particular twig,
0:02:02 > 0:02:06a ribbon would be tied, and then it was painted
0:02:06 > 0:02:09throughout the year to observe the changes during the seasons.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13So, for example, here in January, the twig is dormant.
0:02:13 > 0:02:17And then it begins to bud, it goes through the summer...
0:02:17 > 0:02:19June 24th - it's in full leaf.
0:02:20 > 0:02:25So it was a bit like a time-lapse film of the tree,
0:02:25 > 0:02:30educational, of course, but also just beautiful, don't you think?
0:02:41 > 0:02:43When it came to teaching students about farm animals,
0:02:43 > 0:02:46paintings like these in the 1800s would have been used.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50Now, this ox might look disproportionate to us,
0:02:50 > 0:02:53HUGELY fat, but the artist deliberately painted the animals
0:02:53 > 0:02:59in this exaggerated way because these were the ideals of the breed.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01These paintings were also a useful way of teaching
0:03:01 > 0:03:05agricultural students about the different breeds, and actually, now,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08these are hugely sought-after - these paintings - as works of art.
0:03:13 > 0:03:16Outside in the grounds, our experts are eagerly searching out
0:03:16 > 0:03:19what we hope will be our own best in show,
0:03:19 > 0:03:22and if you'd like to play along with our valuation game, visit...
0:03:28 > 0:03:32Over the years I've seen quite a few animal traps and snares,
0:03:32 > 0:03:33but this takes the biscuit. And it's got
0:03:33 > 0:03:35quite an interesting history, hasn't it?
0:03:35 > 0:03:38It certainly has. It was manufactured in 1794.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42It came into my family, really, in payment for a debt.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44It came into the possession of a vicar who had
0:03:44 > 0:03:46a section of land on this large estate.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49He wanted it, obviously, as a poacher's trap,
0:03:49 > 0:03:52and he got wind of the fact that his daughter was going to elope
0:03:52 > 0:03:55with one of the local poachers, so he thought,
0:03:55 > 0:03:58"Right, I'll get this set, I don't want this to happen."
0:03:58 > 0:04:02And it actually did the job and did in fact catch the said poacher.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06Obviously, when the poacher met his comeuppance with this,
0:04:06 > 0:04:09he couldn't elope with the vicar's daughter,
0:04:09 > 0:04:12and it caused somewhat of a huge rift in the family,
0:04:12 > 0:04:14and so they wanted to get rid of it
0:04:14 > 0:04:17and they paid off this quite substantial debt at the time
0:04:17 > 0:04:21to my ancestor's public house - at which they'd run up this bill -
0:04:21 > 0:04:24and it was hanging on the wall for a great many years afterwards.
0:04:24 > 0:04:27You know, these were as a deterrent for poachers and trespassers,
0:04:27 > 0:04:30and it was actually banned in the 1860s as a practice,
0:04:30 > 0:04:33but before then, they were widely used.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36Widely used in many large estates all across the country.
0:04:36 > 0:04:40And when you look at it, it's just unbelievable,
0:04:40 > 0:04:42I just can't get over the damage
0:04:42 > 0:04:45that this thing would do. When you...
0:04:45 > 0:04:47It would sever the leg.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50When you load it... I mean, even loading it would be scary.
0:04:50 > 0:04:53So it would be locked down into position,
0:04:53 > 0:04:54the man would come along...
0:04:55 > 0:04:57..and that's it - bang. You know, takes your leg off,
0:04:57 > 0:05:00- it's not just damaged. - Yes, doesn't bear thinking about.
0:05:00 > 0:05:03Most of them are sort of dated or aged about early 19th century,
0:05:03 > 0:05:07but to have this one as late 18th century is quite rare in itself.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10But...it's so gruesome,
0:05:10 > 0:05:14and I wonder how many people were actually caught in these traps.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17I would think more than we actually realise.
0:05:17 > 0:05:19But they are hugely collected,
0:05:19 > 0:05:23and what makes this one interesting is that story.
0:05:23 > 0:05:27And value-wise, I think it would make...3,000?
0:05:28 > 0:05:31That's very interesting, yeah, yeah, it is.
0:05:31 > 0:05:35I think I'd like to donate it to a museum at some point in time.
0:05:38 > 0:05:40Do you know, probably one of the most common forms of
0:05:40 > 0:05:43English silver is the cup and cover, trophy cup.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45They go back hundreds and hundreds of years
0:05:45 > 0:05:49and they've been presented for various reasons,
0:05:49 > 0:05:52but principally as a way of displaying silver
0:05:52 > 0:05:54in a very grand style.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58This one is a very typical, early 19th century trophy cup,
0:05:58 > 0:06:01decorated all over with grapes, and I think we can assume
0:06:01 > 0:06:04this was taken off the silversmith's shelf,
0:06:04 > 0:06:08and then this lovely finial was added to the top of it.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10- Right. - And, of course, the inscription.
0:06:10 > 0:06:13Perhaps you'd tell me what you know about the original owner of this?
0:06:13 > 0:06:16The original owner was my great-great-grandfather,
0:06:16 > 0:06:20who was a crew member on the Widgeon, which won the yacht race.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23How he got to take it home as a crew member, I don't know,
0:06:23 > 0:06:27but it's travelled to Africa and now it's back in England.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29This is a very grand prize.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31I understand, from the Royal Yacht Club,
0:06:31 > 0:06:34- or from your correspondence from the club that I had a peek at...- Yes.
0:06:34 > 0:06:38- ..that in 1937 this was valued at £30.- Right.
0:06:38 > 0:06:39- Which was an enormous sum of money.- Yes.
0:06:39 > 0:06:42So for a member of the crew to take it away,
0:06:42 > 0:06:45I think you'd consider your great-grandfather very lucky indeed!
0:06:45 > 0:06:51- Now, in front of us I see, we've got the original course map...- Yes.
0:06:51 > 0:06:56..of the race. Well, the race moved onto salt water in the 1840s,
0:06:56 > 0:07:00so this was one of the last Thames races on the river.
0:07:00 > 0:07:04- This does place it at a very early point in yacht racing.- Right.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06And that's the reason I think
0:07:06 > 0:07:08it's a very fascinating piece of silver.
0:07:08 > 0:07:13Now, this was made in 1836.
0:07:13 > 0:07:18And it's hallmarked for London and is made by a rather unusual maker
0:07:18 > 0:07:21called Richard Atkins and William Somersall,
0:07:21 > 0:07:24who don't produce all that much silver.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28But they've clearly made the finial, or cast the finial separately,
0:07:28 > 0:07:34on behalf of the Royal Yacht Club, to make it personalised, to present.
0:07:34 > 0:07:37Now, I think the interest in yachting is sufficient that
0:07:37 > 0:07:40if you had to go and buy this, or if it came up for sale,
0:07:40 > 0:07:43whereas without the inscription
0:07:43 > 0:07:48you're looking at a cup worth maybe £3,000, £4,000,
0:07:48 > 0:07:52with the inscription on, this is going to be worth somewhere
0:07:52 > 0:07:56in the order of £8,000, possibly even £10,000.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00You're joking! SHE LAUGHS
0:08:00 > 0:08:02- THAT is a surprise. - I'm not joking.
0:08:02 > 0:08:05Wow!
0:08:05 > 0:08:08I didn't expect that, I thought 300-400 if I was lucky.
0:08:08 > 0:08:09DUNCAN LAUGHS
0:08:12 > 0:08:17A lovely rural environment in which we see a fox,
0:08:17 > 0:08:19but does he stay in your jewellery box
0:08:19 > 0:08:21- all the time, or do you wear him? - I have never worn it.
0:08:21 > 0:08:26- My mother wore it a lot, but I never have done.- Oh, that's such a shame.
0:08:26 > 0:08:27Perhaps I might now!
0:08:27 > 0:08:29Yeah, and how did it get into your mother's collection?
0:08:29 > 0:08:33Bit of a strange story actually, there was a wealthy heiress
0:08:33 > 0:08:36in Wiltshire who had a big estate.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39She employed a relation to look after the estate,
0:08:39 > 0:08:42and I believe they were meant to be getting married,
0:08:42 > 0:08:43but I'm not quite sure about that.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46They left for their London house one evening.
0:08:46 > 0:08:50The next day, she lost most of her house in a house fire.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54The poor dear was so traumatised by this that she
0:08:54 > 0:08:59advertised for a companion, and my mother's aunt was the companion.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04However, not long after she'd been in the job, the heiress died,
0:09:04 > 0:09:07her relation inherited all her estate,
0:09:07 > 0:09:10- and he married my mother's aunt. - Ohhh!
0:09:13 > 0:09:15And she left all her jewellery to my mother.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18Oh, how lovely, isn't that superb?
0:09:18 > 0:09:20So she was in the right place at the right time.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23Yes, we don't know whether they went and spent the money on
0:09:23 > 0:09:24buying jewellery, or whether it belonged
0:09:24 > 0:09:26to this heiress in the first place.
0:09:26 > 0:09:30Well, I suppose that's a question that we'll never really know.
0:09:30 > 0:09:34But what we do know is that it's late Victorian in age,
0:09:34 > 0:09:37and at the height of this period, the late Victorian period,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40which had been all about romance and nature.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43Queen Victoria had adored all those elements, and it was reflected a lot
0:09:43 > 0:09:47in jewellery at the time, whether it be through flower brooches
0:09:47 > 0:09:50or animal brooches, as we see with the fox
0:09:50 > 0:09:52that we've got in front of us.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55A lot of the time, they were gold.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59Some of the time, they were jewelled with maybe just gold
0:09:59 > 0:10:01and a little ruby eye, which...
0:10:01 > 0:10:04We've got ruby eyes in the diamond brooch as well,
0:10:04 > 0:10:07but here we've got all diamonds all over the body,
0:10:07 > 0:10:10which I think is just superb, and the craftsmanship
0:10:10 > 0:10:14and the way that he's full of energy is fantastic really.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18And when we look, we can see it's what we call pave set with diamonds,
0:10:18 > 0:10:22so it's like a pavement of lovely, old, brilliant-cut diamonds,
0:10:22 > 0:10:25nice and soft in the way that they're cut,
0:10:25 > 0:10:28but with that beautiful fire and brilliance that we see,
0:10:28 > 0:10:29which livens it up.
0:10:29 > 0:10:33And then we look at the reverse, and we see how important
0:10:33 > 0:10:37the reverse of a brooch is to the front, because it just shows that
0:10:37 > 0:10:41there's quality of craftsmanship there. So it's absolutely gorgeous
0:10:41 > 0:10:44in the way that the whole piece has been constructed.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47At this time, there were lots of country pursuits
0:10:47 > 0:10:49going on in the Victorian period,
0:10:49 > 0:10:53and to have a fox brooch was just a reflection of one of those pursuits.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56So I do hope that you will start to wear it, because...
0:10:56 > 0:10:59- THEY LAUGH - Perhaps my granddaughters might.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02Well, you never know, do you? Because it's just so...
0:11:02 > 0:11:05so sumptuous, and obviously the story behind it is exceptional.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08There are lots of collectors out there for items like this,
0:11:08 > 0:11:10all types of animal brooches,
0:11:10 > 0:11:14and with the quality that we have in this brooch,
0:11:14 > 0:11:16I wouldn't be surprised for it to fetch
0:11:16 > 0:11:19between £2,000 and £3,000 at auction.
0:11:19 > 0:11:22Oh, thank you very much. It's lovely to know about it.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28Well, this has to be one of the oldest bits of furniture
0:11:28 > 0:11:31that I've seen - certainly on the Roadshow -
0:11:31 > 0:11:33that I've actually seen for a long time.
0:11:33 > 0:11:34So, tell me where it's come from.
0:11:34 > 0:11:38Well, it belongs to the church of St Michael & All Angels, Brinkworth,
0:11:38 > 0:11:42- which is in North Wiltshire, not too far from here.- Right.
0:11:42 > 0:11:49It's been, as you can see, rather neglected and unloved for many years,
0:11:49 > 0:11:52and simply, we feel that we'd like to know more about it.
0:11:52 > 0:11:55Well, the first thing that strikes you,
0:11:55 > 0:11:57obviously it's in pretty poor condition, it's a bit of a wreck.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01However, the important thing really is that it has two locks,
0:12:01 > 0:12:06which give us a guide that it would be a church coffer.
0:12:06 > 0:12:11Now we've had two-locked coffers in churches from the 1300s,
0:12:11 > 0:12:15and then, in 1538, there was a law brought in,
0:12:15 > 0:12:19really to protect the church, the fabric of the church,
0:12:19 > 0:12:22the faith of the church and the solidity of the church,
0:12:22 > 0:12:25to make sure that the parish registers were kept.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27But not only just in a drawer somewhere,
0:12:27 > 0:12:31but in a coffer which was locked by two locks,
0:12:31 > 0:12:34and either a church warden, or two church officials,
0:12:34 > 0:12:37or a dignitary in the town or parish would have one key,
0:12:37 > 0:12:39and the church warden would have the other.
0:12:39 > 0:12:45And remember that this represents the reason why
0:12:45 > 0:12:47genealogy in this country is so easy.
0:12:47 > 0:12:50You know, when people sit before their computers
0:12:50 > 0:12:54and trace their generations back, it's only because of the 1538 rule
0:12:54 > 0:12:56that we can do that so easily.
0:12:56 > 0:13:00So, the fact that it's metal-bound would suggest that
0:13:00 > 0:13:05it's after 1538, but I think that this coffer started life
0:13:05 > 0:13:11as a plain two-locked coffer, could be 1340 to 1400,
0:13:11 > 0:13:13and it's a 15th century chest,
0:13:13 > 0:13:18which was later bound by these iron bars to conform with the law
0:13:18 > 0:13:19brought in in 1538.
0:13:19 > 0:13:23That's why I say it's the earliest piece I've seen.
0:13:23 > 0:13:27The fascinating thing is that the parish registers have to be altered.
0:13:27 > 0:13:31Auntie Aggie and Uncle George are getting married, or whatever,
0:13:31 > 0:13:35and they have to register them, and they've lost one of the keys,
0:13:35 > 0:13:38and so they dash around and get the carpenter or chippie,
0:13:38 > 0:13:41and he has to hack the lock out so they could open it to keep
0:13:41 > 0:13:44the parish registers up to date... and they never replaced it.
0:13:44 > 0:13:46Great stuff, wonderful story.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50This must not be touched, this is museum condition.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55Any restoration on this would spoil it completely.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58Just leave it as it is, this is what it should look like,
0:13:58 > 0:14:00and, of course, it must never be sold.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04I mean, not that you'd ever get dispensation, I think,
0:14:04 > 0:14:06to sell it anyway. Very difficult to value,
0:14:06 > 0:14:10but to a collector of really early, primitive furniture,
0:14:10 > 0:14:14- as this is... And it's curious it's made of elm, isn't it?- Yes.
0:14:14 > 0:14:20If it turned up in a sale, I think £6,000, £8,000.
0:14:20 > 0:14:23There's just no telling. Leave well alone and treasure it.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25We will, thank you.
0:14:27 > 0:14:31- May I ask where you come from? - Hong Kong.
0:14:31 > 0:14:32- Hong Kong?- Yes.
0:14:32 > 0:14:33- HE GASPS - I love Hong Kong.
0:14:33 > 0:14:36And when did you come to this country?
0:14:36 > 0:14:39Soon after I married, I think around about 17 years.
0:14:39 > 0:14:42- Really?- Yes.- OK.
0:14:42 > 0:14:48- And where do these come from? - They are actually from my husband.
0:14:48 > 0:14:51- Well, these are both Chinese. - Yeah.
0:14:52 > 0:15:00This one is made of spun brass, and you can tell that it's spun
0:15:00 > 0:15:03by these concentric lines.
0:15:03 > 0:15:07And they put a sheet of brass on the end of a pole
0:15:07 > 0:15:10and slowly push it round like that, and you end up with a bowl.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12- We've got a mark on the bottom... - Yes.
0:15:12 > 0:15:16..which has been cast into it. Can you read the mark?
0:15:16 > 0:15:19- Yes, in Mandarin it's... - I'll correct you if it's wrong.
0:15:19 > 0:15:21LAUGHTER
0:15:21 > 0:15:26Yeah, um... "Da Ming Xuande nian zhi."
0:15:26 > 0:15:29That's pretty good, and do you know what it means?
0:15:29 > 0:15:33- Yes, Da Ming is the big Ming dynasty.- Yeah.
0:15:33 > 0:15:40- And Xuande is one of the periods of the emperor.- Uh-huh.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44- Nian is the year that it's made. - Made, yeah.
0:15:44 > 0:15:48Well, the curious thing is about Chinese bronze,
0:15:48 > 0:15:51and therefore brass, is that for some reason
0:15:51 > 0:15:57they opted to put Xuande's reign mark on to bronzes.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00- Oh, I see.- And they've done it from the reign of Xuande
0:16:00 > 0:16:03up to the present day, they're still doing it.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07- So it's not actually that year?- No. - Oh, I see!
0:16:07 > 0:16:13- It's actually 1920s. - Ohhh, I see. All right, yes.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17The...
0:16:17 > 0:16:22bowl itself has been engraved with two dragons,
0:16:22 > 0:16:25and there is the Buddhistic pearl of wisdom,
0:16:25 > 0:16:29which they are supposedly disputing.
0:16:29 > 0:16:31They're in amongst the clouds,
0:16:31 > 0:16:35and we've got a stylised Chinese character in the centre.
0:16:36 > 0:16:43This one would probably have been generated in this country,
0:16:43 > 0:16:46in the sense that it was made in China,
0:16:46 > 0:16:50- exported to England...- Hmm.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54..in about 1775, 1780.
0:16:54 > 0:16:59It's a sort of Mandarin palette, we call it over here,
0:16:59 > 0:17:02with these particular purple colours on it.
0:17:03 > 0:17:06It actually had quite an influence on the English factories
0:17:06 > 0:17:09of that period, and you'll find that Worcester copied it,
0:17:09 > 0:17:12for example, at that time.
0:17:12 > 0:17:16And bowls were very popular at that date.
0:17:16 > 0:17:22They're always cracked, and it's due to Chinese packing.
0:17:22 > 0:17:28They put the bowls one on top of the other in the ship,
0:17:28 > 0:17:32which hit a storm, and they all went bonk, bonk, bonk,
0:17:32 > 0:17:35and got here cracked. And they were still saleable.
0:17:36 > 0:17:40Values? Well, this one is actually a lot better than
0:17:40 > 0:17:47most of the period, that would make around £80 to £120,
0:17:47 > 0:17:51and that one, actually about the same, yeah.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53- Mm, OK, yeah.- OK?- Yes.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56- Thank you very much for bringing them in.- Thank you.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00This man is witnessing a family reunion,
0:18:00 > 0:18:03because we have the grandson, the grandfather and
0:18:03 > 0:18:06the great-great-great-grandfather of the grandson.
0:18:08 > 0:18:12Now, what can you tell me about your ancestor?
0:18:12 > 0:18:14Well, he was in fact a clergyman later in life.
0:18:14 > 0:18:19This is when he was about 19, I believe, and he had
0:18:19 > 0:18:22a parish in Kent and then a parish in Lambeth.
0:18:22 > 0:18:25And people were dying of cholera,
0:18:25 > 0:18:28and he and some business friends got together and started
0:18:28 > 0:18:32the Prudential Assurance Company, of which he was the first chairman.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34- So a man of the cloth...- Yes.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36- ..is the first chairman... - Of the Prudential Assurance.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38..of a financial services company that's around today.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41There was a special act of Parliament made to allow
0:18:41 > 0:18:44- such a thing to happen, apparently. - Because men of the cloth were
0:18:44 > 0:18:45thought to be safe in the job, or...?
0:18:45 > 0:18:49Well, on the contrary, they were not trusted, I don't think...
0:18:49 > 0:18:51LAUGHTER
0:18:51 > 0:18:53That's astonishing.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56So, how would it work, the very early system that he championed?
0:18:56 > 0:18:59The whole point of it was to pay for funerals,
0:18:59 > 0:19:04and the Prudential took a penny premium from people every week
0:19:04 > 0:19:08which paid for the funeral - that was all it covered.
0:19:08 > 0:19:10The church and finance coming together
0:19:10 > 0:19:12- in so seminal a form...- Yes.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15..as the founding of that, of that very famous company.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18Do you live with this picture as well, is it on your wall?
0:19:18 > 0:19:21- It's not on my wall, it's on my grandfather's.- Uh-huh.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24- He will inherit it one day, I hope. - Prepare yourself.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27Or his sister, perhaps. GRANDFATHER LAUGHS
0:19:27 > 0:19:28Play your cards right.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31Now, I suspect you're going to ask me who painted this picture.
0:19:31 > 0:19:34Well, I have an idea of who painted it.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37I think we've both got an idea, because it's written on the back.
0:19:38 > 0:19:40However, whether or not we can ever
0:19:40 > 0:19:42prove that it is by John Glover,
0:19:42 > 0:19:44who it is ascribed by -
0:19:44 > 0:19:47the prominent landscape painter
0:19:47 > 0:19:50who went to Australia but also did the odd portrait -
0:19:50 > 0:19:53- that is difficult to establish.- Mm.
0:19:53 > 0:19:55The date of this painting is 1820s.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58There were a lot of portrait painters around at that period.
0:19:58 > 0:20:02Possibly with time one could prove that it was by John Glover,
0:20:02 > 0:20:04but I have to say, you know,
0:20:04 > 0:20:06looking at it now, I'm not convinced,
0:20:06 > 0:20:08because he has a very distinctive style,
0:20:08 > 0:20:13he used a split brush, and this isn't in that particular mode.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15When it comes to who can afford pictures,
0:20:15 > 0:20:17well, people associated with money,
0:20:17 > 0:20:20like the Prudential, are obviously a target.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23Someone who founded so eminent a company
0:20:23 > 0:20:25really belongs in that company in some way.
0:20:25 > 0:20:30So, here's a challenge. Just as a portrait of your ancestor,
0:20:30 > 0:20:32it's worth probably, I don't know, a few hundred pounds,
0:20:32 > 0:20:34£500, £600.
0:20:34 > 0:20:38However, as the founder of such a famous company,
0:20:38 > 0:20:42providing it can be conclusively proved to be of him,
0:20:42 > 0:20:45why not £6,000, £7,000, £8,000, £9,000, £10,000?
0:20:46 > 0:20:49So what I say is, men and women of the Prudential, come and get it.
0:20:52 > 0:20:53Don't tell them where it hangs, though.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55LAUGHTER
0:20:58 > 0:21:02It just so happens that today I've got a sign that says
0:21:02 > 0:21:05"miscellaneous" on my table.
0:21:05 > 0:21:07It might as well say "weird and wonderful",
0:21:07 > 0:21:10because there's something about your standard lamp
0:21:10 > 0:21:13which qualifies on both accounts.
0:21:13 > 0:21:16So, is this something that's been sitting in your dining room,
0:21:16 > 0:21:18or your living room?
0:21:18 > 0:21:20No, my great grandmother,
0:21:20 > 0:21:25- she went to auctions in country houses in the 1940s.- Yeah.
0:21:25 > 0:21:28And she would buy items there and then
0:21:28 > 0:21:32give them to relations as Christmas presents.
0:21:32 > 0:21:36- Did they? Right.- It used to be a case that people that had these
0:21:36 > 0:21:39- houses couldn't afford the upkeep. - Yeah.
0:21:39 > 0:21:45So they had to sell the contents and then the house would be demolished.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49I wish I could go back in time, and I think, certainly,
0:21:49 > 0:21:52the 1930s, and dare I say, into the '50s,
0:21:52 > 0:21:55when all these houses were being demolished,
0:21:55 > 0:21:57there were some great things to be had,
0:21:57 > 0:22:00but how would I react if somebody gave me THIS for Christmas?!
0:22:00 > 0:22:03SHE LAUGHS Yep, I know.
0:22:03 > 0:22:07It is, without question, an interesting object, because it's
0:22:07 > 0:22:11actually composed of celluloid, these are sort of celluloid panels.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14So it belongs to the 1930s, when people were experimenting
0:22:14 > 0:22:17with all types of plastics.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19So when it's illuminated...
0:22:19 > 0:22:22Well, it's all in the eye of the beholder,
0:22:22 > 0:22:26but it almost becomes tasteful. This is very now.
0:22:26 > 0:22:31This is very vintage. Vintage is the buzz word these days.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34So what nationality do you think it is?
0:22:34 > 0:22:35Well, again, it's a tricky one.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37I mean, personally, I think it's British.
0:22:37 > 0:22:40I can't even say who made it, there's no maker's mark on there.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44All I would just point out is that the frame - or the body -
0:22:44 > 0:22:46is probably wood, with these
0:22:46 > 0:22:49celluloid strips laid on, alternating.
0:22:49 > 0:22:52- It's very sort of psychedelia, isn't it?- Yes.
0:22:52 > 0:22:57- Are you using it? - No, it's been in my garage in sacks,
0:22:57 > 0:23:00sort of for the past...ooh, ten, twelve years.
0:23:00 > 0:23:04- It's been relegated to your garage? - It's been in the garage, yes.
0:23:04 > 0:23:07And you've got the nerve to bring it on the Antiques Roadshow(!)
0:23:07 > 0:23:11Well, we've shown it to the elite of Cirencester here,
0:23:11 > 0:23:14and it sort of does beg the question - what's it worth?
0:23:14 > 0:23:20I mean, I can only offer you a guesstimate rather than an estimate.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23I think there's plenty of people out there who would be
0:23:23 > 0:23:25more than happy to pay somewhere in the region
0:23:25 > 0:23:29- of £400 or £500 to own it. - Really? Oh, right.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33I usually see china painting by John Stinton of Highland cattle,
0:23:33 > 0:23:35- but here's two watercolours.- Yes.
0:23:35 > 0:23:37How did they come into being?
0:23:37 > 0:23:41I believe that John Stinton, the artist,
0:23:41 > 0:23:45married into my mother's family, and at some stage they were
0:23:45 > 0:23:48passed to an aunt of my mother's,
0:23:48 > 0:23:50who then passed them down the family.
0:23:50 > 0:23:53John Stinton Junior spent all his life at the Worcester factory
0:23:53 > 0:23:55painting Highland cattle on vases.
0:23:55 > 0:23:59They said he grew to look like a Highland beast!
0:23:59 > 0:24:02And the incredible thing, I talked to his young son
0:24:02 > 0:24:05Harry Stinton, who his father taught to paint Highland cattle.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08I said, "Your father must have been many times up to Scotland
0:24:08 > 0:24:10- "to paint Highland cattle as well as that."- Yeah.
0:24:10 > 0:24:12"Oh", he said, "No, Dad told me he never went
0:24:12 > 0:24:15"further north than Droitwich,"
0:24:15 > 0:24:18which is about five miles north of Worcester.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20So I said, "Well, how did he paint the cattle like that?"
0:24:20 > 0:24:22He said, "People sent him postcards."
0:24:22 > 0:24:25- But such incredible scenes.- Yes.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27You can see this heather glowing and the mist rising
0:24:27 > 0:24:30in the mountains in these watercolours,
0:24:30 > 0:24:32they're absolutely super paintings,
0:24:32 > 0:24:36and this one is quite clearly signed here. "J Stinton."
0:24:36 > 0:24:38- Yeah. - So there's no getting away from it,
0:24:38 > 0:24:41but one of the problems is nowadays, there are people who fake
0:24:41 > 0:24:44these paintings, and there are a number
0:24:44 > 0:24:47of these paintings coming around, you have to be terribly careful.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50But these are absolutely super, aren't they?
0:24:50 > 0:24:52You could never disguise the quality of
0:24:52 > 0:24:55a real John Stinton Highland cattle.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59The values are zooming up now, so I hope they're well insured,
0:24:59 > 0:25:02because a really good painting like this...
0:25:02 > 0:25:04- It's a little bit foxed at the back. - Yeah.
0:25:04 > 0:25:06But it can be cleaned up easily.
0:25:06 > 0:25:08This one is in very good condition,
0:25:08 > 0:25:11it grips you, with the spirit of the Highlands
0:25:11 > 0:25:14coming out of it all the time, an incredible quality painting.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16These are rare pieces.
0:25:16 > 0:25:21I would think that nowadays the value of a pair of these
0:25:21 > 0:25:25is going to be between £2,000 and £3,000.
0:25:25 > 0:25:28So they ought to be looked after and loved very much,
0:25:28 > 0:25:32kept out of sunlight and just enjoyed and admired.
0:25:32 > 0:25:35- Yes, yes.- The quality is super.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37Yeah, they've been on the wall for quite a few years,
0:25:37 > 0:25:41- but they'll stay in the family. - Yes, good, well done.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46This iridescence is really quite striking, isn't it?
0:25:46 > 0:25:49In the light here, it's absolutely shimmering,
0:25:49 > 0:25:53and I guess that's what caught your eye when you first saw it, is it?
0:25:53 > 0:25:55Yes, yes, indeed.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57Tell us the story, how did you get into this?
0:25:57 > 0:26:00- I got it as a Christmas present in 1962.- OK.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04They were found in a manor house in the attic.
0:26:04 > 0:26:09The lady who owned the manor house was hard-up,
0:26:09 > 0:26:12so she crawled up the attic with my sister
0:26:12 > 0:26:15and they found 50 presents which they wanted to give
0:26:15 > 0:26:21at that particular Christmas, and that was found, and I was given it.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23So why have you brought it along today, then?
0:26:23 > 0:26:27Because I don't know how old it is, or where it comes from.
0:26:27 > 0:26:31I've been told not to put it in the dishwasher again.
0:26:31 > 0:26:33LAUGHTER
0:26:33 > 0:26:35- You've been putting this in the dishwasher?!- I have.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38Oh, you are a nutter, really, I mean, really.
0:26:38 > 0:26:41You know that there's a signature because you pointed it out to me.
0:26:41 > 0:26:45Well, I didn't know that, I didn't know that for many years!
0:26:45 > 0:26:49- Dishwasher!- And then the local WI
0:26:49 > 0:26:52had an antiques lady coming around and she said...
0:26:52 > 0:26:56LOUDLY: "Oh, my goodness, it's even got a signature!"
0:26:56 > 0:26:58That's got some voice she had there.
0:26:58 > 0:27:01I thought so, and I said, "I've put it in the dishwasher."
0:27:01 > 0:27:04Don't put it in the dishwasher, no, no, that would be silly.
0:27:04 > 0:27:07This is the mark of Lobmeyr, the mark is fairly clear
0:27:07 > 0:27:11to see, "JL Lobmeyr", and it's the poshest glass shop in Europe.
0:27:11 > 0:27:14Oh, really?!
0:27:14 > 0:27:18- Really.- Whereabouts in Europe? - Vienna.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20- Right, OK.- They're still there.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23They never made glass, they commissioned it from makers
0:27:23 > 0:27:25and sold it under their own mark,
0:27:25 > 0:27:29and so you have this portcullis logo which is J & L Lobmeyr,
0:27:29 > 0:27:32JLL, and it looks like the House of Commons portcullis,
0:27:32 > 0:27:34- is what it really looks like. - I know, yes.
0:27:34 > 0:27:38And so they're really posh, very nice quality here.
0:27:38 > 0:27:41It's all hand-painted and hand-gilded and hand-blown,
0:27:41 > 0:27:48and the iridescence is applied chemically, and its date is 1925.
0:27:48 > 0:27:50Oh, not very old then!
0:27:52 > 0:27:55- Well, 1925?- Yeah.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58That is only a few years older than I am.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00Well...
0:28:00 > 0:28:04It can't be hardly anything then, it's so young.
0:28:04 > 0:28:05SHE CHUCKLES
0:28:05 > 0:28:08- Nouveau going into the Deco style. - Is it?
0:28:08 > 0:28:13- It is, really, and it's worth about £300 or £400.- Is it?
0:28:13 > 0:28:17So not bad for digging around in the loft.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19300-400? Oh, right, good, sell it!
0:28:23 > 0:28:27- But don't put it in the dishwasher! - No, no, I won't, no, obviously, no.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43If there's one word that sends a ripple of excitement
0:28:43 > 0:28:46through the Roadshow, it has to be Faberge.
0:28:46 > 0:28:49It's virtually guaranteed to give our jewellery expert,
0:28:49 > 0:28:50Geoffrey Munn, the vapours.
0:28:50 > 0:28:54Now, take a look at these four beautiful pieces of Faberge
0:28:54 > 0:28:57from the era of the Russian tsars, from the Romanovs.
0:28:57 > 0:29:00When I say four pieces of Faberge, I mean three,
0:29:00 > 0:29:04because one is a fake, and, in fact, such a cunning fake,
0:29:04 > 0:29:09it's probably the cleverest copy Geoffrey says he's ever seen.
0:29:09 > 0:29:11So for this week's Rogues Gallery,
0:29:11 > 0:29:13can you spot which is the odd one out?
0:29:13 > 0:29:15Here are some tips from Geoffrey.
0:29:16 > 0:29:19This luxuriously decorated paper knife bearing the emblem
0:29:19 > 0:29:23of Imperial Russia suggests a direct commission from the Romanovs.
0:29:23 > 0:29:27Like all the objects here, it carries the Faberge hallmark,
0:29:27 > 0:29:29but is it an authentic piece from the early 1900s?
0:29:29 > 0:29:33MUSIC: Pink Panther Theme by Henry Mancini
0:29:33 > 0:29:37Well, this is an exuberant frame decorated with pink guilloche enamel
0:29:37 > 0:29:40overlaid with laurels and bows,
0:29:40 > 0:29:43but is it a piece from pre-revolutionary Russia?
0:29:44 > 0:29:48Another frame, this time carrying a photograph of Queen Alexandra.
0:29:49 > 0:29:52It's equally fine in its workmanship...
0:29:52 > 0:29:54but could this be the rogue in the pack?
0:29:55 > 0:29:57And finally, this little treasure -
0:29:57 > 0:29:59a powder-blue enamelled box.
0:29:59 > 0:30:02Everything suggests it's a piece made in the Faberge studio,
0:30:02 > 0:30:04but does it convince you?
0:30:07 > 0:30:11It really is a magical name, isn't it, Faberge?
0:30:11 > 0:30:14I mean, it's quality, value, craftsmanship.
0:30:14 > 0:30:16You get so excited when any turns up on a Roadshow.
0:30:16 > 0:30:19I do, and it's a wonderful subject really, it has everything,
0:30:19 > 0:30:23it's got fallen dynasties, mad monks, treasure, flower,
0:30:23 > 0:30:25Easter eggs, um, and it brings out
0:30:25 > 0:30:28almost sort of childlike joy in everybody that sees it.
0:30:28 > 0:30:32Well, I know....I know three of these are very valuable, and one...
0:30:32 > 0:30:34In the end, I think they're all beautiful.
0:30:34 > 0:30:36This is so utterly fabulous, I'll be heartbroken
0:30:36 > 0:30:39if it's not Faberge, so I'm going for this one
0:30:39 > 0:30:41as being the cunning imposter,
0:30:41 > 0:30:43but where do we start when looking at Faberge?
0:30:43 > 0:30:47Well, I think the shrillest pitch of perfection really,
0:30:47 > 0:30:50this is the absolute zenith of the goldsmith's art.
0:30:50 > 0:30:53It's precise and the techniques are taken to the limits, really,
0:30:53 > 0:30:57and the reason that that happened was that every skill belonged
0:30:57 > 0:30:58to a certain workshop.
0:30:58 > 0:31:01And so the enamellers would be making this part of the frame,
0:31:01 > 0:31:04and the chasers making that part of the frame,
0:31:04 > 0:31:07and the jewel-setter perhaps putting the ruby in there.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10And of course, Faberge, jeweller to the tsars.
0:31:10 > 0:31:13Absolutely, to Alexander III and to Nicholas II,
0:31:13 > 0:31:16and most famous of all for the Imperial Easter Eggs,
0:31:16 > 0:31:19and there were 50 of them made, and we've really no hope at all
0:31:19 > 0:31:21of ever finding one on the Antiques Roadshow.
0:31:21 > 0:31:23- If we did...- We can live in hope, Geoffrey, come on!
0:31:23 > 0:31:28- I know, and we'd be £20 million better off if we did.- Really?
0:31:28 > 0:31:30Yes, those are the pitch of value,
0:31:30 > 0:31:34and it explains why these things are so compelling and so valuable,
0:31:34 > 0:31:36but the techniques that you see in front of us,
0:31:36 > 0:31:38you'd expect to see on an Imperial Easter egg -
0:31:38 > 0:31:40gold chasing, enamelwork.
0:31:40 > 0:31:43All three of them are decorated with what we call guilloche enamel.
0:31:43 > 0:31:45This is a metal armature brought against
0:31:45 > 0:31:49a mechanical engraving device, and then it's flooded with enamel,
0:31:49 > 0:31:51and you see through the enamel onto the engraving,
0:31:51 > 0:31:54which looks rather like silk, or a radiating star.
0:31:54 > 0:31:58It does, yes, that moire silk here...is what it reminds me of.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01Yes, it's a sort of trompe l'oeil thing in a funny way,
0:32:01 > 0:32:04and that would perhaps be a silk frame that somebody had encountered,
0:32:04 > 0:32:06but Faberge, by waving a magic wand,
0:32:06 > 0:32:08has turned it into precious metalwork.
0:32:08 > 0:32:09Which one is it?
0:32:09 > 0:32:12Well, I've said I think this is the cunning imposter,
0:32:12 > 0:32:15but to be honest, I really didn't know what to look for.
0:32:15 > 0:32:19Sometimes fakes are overly charged.
0:32:19 > 0:32:21They're always bigger and better and more ambitious,
0:32:21 > 0:32:24and more alluring is the right word,
0:32:24 > 0:32:27because they are actually tangible lies, somebody has made a fake
0:32:27 > 0:32:30to deceive you, to actually get money from you,
0:32:30 > 0:32:33and if you are unfortunate enough to have a friend who tells you lies,
0:32:33 > 0:32:36you are the victim of the person that tells you lies,
0:32:36 > 0:32:37and we are the victims of the fakers,
0:32:37 > 0:32:42because they are telling a lie that you can actually pick up and hold.
0:32:42 > 0:32:45I have a feeling you're heading towards telling me
0:32:45 > 0:32:49that that paper knife that I love so much is the cunning fake.
0:32:49 > 0:32:51- Well, it is the cunning fake.- Oh!
0:32:51 > 0:32:52HE LAUGHS
0:32:52 > 0:32:55- It is.- But it's just too splendid!
0:32:55 > 0:32:57It was too splendid, that's the problem.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00Yes, perhaps. But of course there are some categories of works of art
0:33:00 > 0:33:03that are completely overwhelming. There are genuine categories
0:33:03 > 0:33:05of Faberge that are just as elaborate and charged
0:33:05 > 0:33:09and decorated as that, and they're extraordinarily valuable.
0:33:09 > 0:33:12- But this one? No. - So how can you tell?
0:33:12 > 0:33:15You can tell because it's a rather awkward piece of design.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18I think the first thing about the luxury of Faberge
0:33:18 > 0:33:21and his contemporaries actually was that they were made by designers,
0:33:21 > 0:33:23so you look for a fluidity of design,
0:33:23 > 0:33:26a perfect harmony of proportion and animation
0:33:26 > 0:33:30and decoration and colour, and here you simply don't have it.
0:33:30 > 0:33:34The handle of this is far too wide for the blade, quite cumbersome,
0:33:34 > 0:33:38it probably means that the faker's machinery was more capable
0:33:38 > 0:33:40of making this than another thing.
0:33:40 > 0:33:42And then perhaps the setting of the diamonds,
0:33:42 > 0:33:45but most of all, to charge it up with references to the
0:33:45 > 0:33:49Danish royal family, and to put the imperial eagle of the Romanovs
0:33:49 > 0:33:52on the front is really like signing it twice "Rembrandt",
0:33:52 > 0:33:54not once, but twice.
0:33:54 > 0:33:56Let's talk about values then. What about these three?
0:33:56 > 0:33:59Intrinsically, none of them have a particularly high value.
0:33:59 > 0:34:02This is silver, enamelled blue with the little gold rim,
0:34:02 > 0:34:05a small ruby in it, and intrinsically worth
0:34:05 > 0:34:06low hundreds of pounds,
0:34:06 > 0:34:10but because it's by Faberge and it's in absolutely pristine condition,
0:34:10 > 0:34:14it might cost you in the region of £40,000.
0:34:14 > 0:34:15Oh, my goodness!
0:34:15 > 0:34:17HE LAUGHS
0:34:17 > 0:34:19And then we'll work up here.
0:34:19 > 0:34:22This is actually not the fake, it's a guilloche enamel frame
0:34:22 > 0:34:25with amatory trophies above, and it has an original photograph
0:34:25 > 0:34:28of Queen Alexandra - sister of the Tsarina.
0:34:28 > 0:34:31It has an inventory number on it that tells us
0:34:31 > 0:34:33through archival material that this was
0:34:33 > 0:34:36bought by members of the imperial family to give away.
0:34:36 > 0:34:40- So this is going to be in the region of £100,000.- Oh, my goodness.
0:34:40 > 0:34:42If not more.
0:34:42 > 0:34:44Actually, more.
0:34:44 > 0:34:46- HE LAUGHS - £120,000.
0:34:46 > 0:34:48- It's going up all the time. - But actually, oddly enough,
0:34:48 > 0:34:51the scale of the object isn't always the thing,
0:34:51 > 0:34:53but this is actually a bigger frame,
0:34:53 > 0:34:56decorated with triumphal laurels and true lover's knots,
0:34:56 > 0:35:00a neoclassical object, silver gilt.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02So this is, um, £150,000, and...
0:35:02 > 0:35:06- ONLOOKER: Wow!- I know.
0:35:06 > 0:35:08And this?
0:35:08 > 0:35:10I can hardly bear to hear it actually.
0:35:10 > 0:35:12Well, in my view, it has absolutely no value at all,
0:35:12 > 0:35:15because a friend who tells you lies has got to go.
0:35:15 > 0:35:16- And... - LAUGHTER
0:35:16 > 0:35:18..it's a better world without it.
0:35:18 > 0:35:21Those are eye-watering values, my goodness.
0:35:21 > 0:35:24If you want to know more about Faberge and how to tell
0:35:24 > 0:35:28the difference between genuine Faberge as opposed to
0:35:28 > 0:35:30fake Faberge, have a look at our website...
0:35:38 > 0:35:41It's probably best if we get the geography out of the way first.
0:35:41 > 0:35:45It is...a German table clock.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49What on earth is a German table clock doing here?
0:35:50 > 0:35:53Well, it came to me from my father's family,
0:35:53 > 0:35:57and I have absolutely no idea how he got it,
0:35:57 > 0:36:02but it's always been around and has become part of the furniture.
0:36:02 > 0:36:04Well, let's look at the clock, shall we?
0:36:04 > 0:36:07It's made of brass and would originally have been gilded.
0:36:07 > 0:36:09Looking at the dial...
0:36:09 > 0:36:11beautiful, thin chapter ring
0:36:11 > 0:36:13and a lovely engraved pastoral scene in the centre.
0:36:13 > 0:36:16And it's starting to rub away.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19What I particularly like about this is the hand,
0:36:19 > 0:36:23which sounds strange, but it is the original hand
0:36:23 > 0:36:26and it's beautifully pierced out, and I think it helps to say at
0:36:26 > 0:36:31this juncture that this is a clock that was made in around 1630, 1640.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34I'm going to turn it over - with your permission -
0:36:34 > 0:36:38and just look at the underside, and under here we've got a bell,
0:36:38 > 0:36:41which is what the clock strikes the hours on.
0:36:41 > 0:36:46And then you open it out, and inside we've got this marvellous movement.
0:36:46 > 0:36:48Underneath the hammer here,
0:36:48 > 0:36:50we've got the signature, "Johannes Klassen",
0:36:50 > 0:36:55and we've got an M or an N. And I think it's an N for Nurnberg.
0:36:55 > 0:36:57If it's possible, let's take it out of the case.
0:36:59 > 0:37:01Because I think we're going to find...
0:37:03 > 0:37:07..those slip out... and away it goes like a mad train.
0:37:07 > 0:37:11That's the hammer that would ordinarily strike the bell,
0:37:11 > 0:37:12and it'll stop in a minute.
0:37:12 > 0:37:18But what I love about this is this fantastic melange of wheels
0:37:18 > 0:37:21and spring barrels. There's a spring barrel,
0:37:21 > 0:37:23that's what we call the fusee.
0:37:25 > 0:37:28This is the spring barrel that allows you to strike the hours,
0:37:28 > 0:37:30this is the power source for the hammer to work.
0:37:30 > 0:37:33It's fantastic.
0:37:33 > 0:37:39This is why collectors want to buy clocks like this.
0:37:39 > 0:37:42Anyway, we've got to get down to what it's worth.
0:37:42 > 0:37:46And, at auction, I hope that a collector would pay
0:37:46 > 0:37:49between £7,000 and £10,000 for it.
0:37:49 > 0:37:53Really? Good. Well, they're not going to, because I'm keeping it.
0:37:56 > 0:37:59This is a really unusual piece you've brought along.
0:37:59 > 0:38:01Where on earth did you get it from?
0:38:01 > 0:38:05I bought it a couple of years ago on a car boot in Cardiff.
0:38:06 > 0:38:08- Good heavens, from a car-boot sale? - Yeah.
0:38:08 > 0:38:11It doesn't sound like you're from England. Where are you from?
0:38:11 > 0:38:15- I'm from Czech Republic.- Are you?
0:38:15 > 0:38:18Well, this is very much an English piece.
0:38:18 > 0:38:21And do you know what it might be?
0:38:21 > 0:38:26Mmm... First time, when I bought that, I thought
0:38:26 > 0:38:28- that it's some key pendant.- Yes.
0:38:28 > 0:38:32Or something like that and when I check on the website,
0:38:32 > 0:38:36probably some seal matrix, very old.
0:38:36 > 0:38:42It is exactly that, it's a seal matrix, but an extremely old one.
0:38:42 > 0:38:46- Really?- It's made of silver...
0:38:46 > 0:38:51and it's got Latin inscription round the edge which, I think, says
0:38:51 > 0:38:53"Amabile Martel", which means,
0:38:53 > 0:38:55literally, "Lovable Martel."
0:38:55 > 0:39:01Now Martel sounds a French name, and, of course, it's not long after
0:39:01 > 0:39:03the Norman Conquest, so there are lots of Normans
0:39:03 > 0:39:09all around the country, and this dates from about 1350.
0:39:09 > 0:39:12- Really? - So it's almost 700 years old.
0:39:12 > 0:39:15When I first looked at it, I thought this was a goblet,
0:39:15 > 0:39:20but it's actually a medieval maiden's face right in the centre.
0:39:20 > 0:39:23You've got a really lovely little piece.
0:39:23 > 0:39:25What did you pay for it?
0:39:25 > 0:39:29I don't remember, £2 or £3, very cheap.
0:39:29 > 0:39:33That's not a bad find, you know, because it's worth now...
0:39:33 > 0:39:36I should think between £1,200 and £1,500.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39Oh, my! I am shocked!
0:39:41 > 0:39:45Now that we're into marking the centenary of the First World War
0:39:45 > 0:39:49in all sorts of ways, being British, we tend to think of it
0:39:49 > 0:39:51very much as a European conflict,
0:39:51 > 0:39:53but, of course, it's not true, is it?
0:39:53 > 0:39:55There's a big American component.
0:39:55 > 0:39:59What we're looking at are American posters from the First World War,
0:39:59 > 0:40:01- and you're an American. - Yes, I am.
0:40:01 > 0:40:05So, in a sense, you're telling the story for me, aren't you?
0:40:05 > 0:40:08America came into the First World War in 1917,
0:40:08 > 0:40:11and clearly what the posters reveal -
0:40:11 > 0:40:15as British posters did from 1914 onwards -
0:40:15 > 0:40:19is that the war was a concept that had to be sold,
0:40:19 > 0:40:20and people had to be
0:40:20 > 0:40:21persuaded to take part.
0:40:21 > 0:40:23Why did you start this route?
0:40:24 > 0:40:29I was skiing in Vermont in the 1960s, the weather was poor
0:40:29 > 0:40:33and I was killing the day by looking at an old antique shop,
0:40:33 > 0:40:36and I came across a poster.
0:40:36 > 0:40:39It had no special meaning to me, but the colours were so vibrant
0:40:39 > 0:40:44and I was entranced. So I bought one and I saw others,
0:40:44 > 0:40:46and over the years I kept picking them up.
0:40:46 > 0:40:50- Where have you got to now? How many?- 85.- Oh!
0:40:50 > 0:40:51THEY LAUGH
0:40:51 > 0:40:54Let's look at one or two. There are two themes.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57One is about recruitment, getting people to fight
0:40:57 > 0:40:58and support the war.
0:40:58 > 0:41:01- The other is about, of course, paying for the war.- Yes.
0:41:01 > 0:41:03We forget, both in Britain and in America,
0:41:03 > 0:41:08how much the public was encouraged to buy bonds,
0:41:08 > 0:41:13put money into the war, and both of these are about buying bonds
0:41:13 > 0:41:16and therefore giving money to the American government
0:41:16 > 0:41:18to support the war.
0:41:18 > 0:41:21This is a very famous one. Do you know about this one?
0:41:21 > 0:41:22Well, a little bit.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25This happened to be the most expensive one that I got.
0:41:25 > 0:41:28I was told that this is the only one where America was being
0:41:28 > 0:41:33bombed or attacked, and so it had a special meaning to collectors.
0:41:33 > 0:41:35For some reason, that's one of the most famous posters.
0:41:35 > 0:41:38It was by Joseph Pennell, very good artist.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41There are two versions, one with a white background,
0:41:41 > 0:41:44and one that you've got with a darker background,
0:41:44 > 0:41:45and for some reason
0:41:45 > 0:41:49they've always been top of the tree in terms of American posters.
0:41:49 > 0:41:52This is a much more direct and aggressive thing.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55"We don't want the German boots
0:41:55 > 0:41:59marching in a bloody way over America.
0:41:59 > 0:42:01- And this is a very emotive message, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04It's very aggressive, it's the Americans saying
0:42:04 > 0:42:06the Germans are dreadful, which of course
0:42:06 > 0:42:09was the British message of 1914.
0:42:10 > 0:42:14This one is extraordinary, because what it's saying is...
0:42:14 > 0:42:18I mean, the pretty girl, the pretty girl sells anything, we know that.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21And, of course, the pretty girl could sell war just as she could
0:42:21 > 0:42:24sell soap powder or bicycles, and here she's saying,
0:42:24 > 0:42:28"These are all Americans, fight for liberty."
0:42:28 > 0:42:31Liberty's the strong word. Then look at this list of names,
0:42:31 > 0:42:35they come from every nationality, and this is America saying,
0:42:35 > 0:42:39"This is what we are, we're a multicultural country,
0:42:39 > 0:42:41"we're all Americans and we can unite."
0:42:41 > 0:42:44Now, this, again, is the other theme.
0:42:44 > 0:42:47So far, they've really all been about raising money.
0:42:47 > 0:42:52Here we've got this wonderful image of a naval ship, a submarine,
0:42:52 > 0:42:55the colour, you've got camouflage on the ships,
0:42:55 > 0:42:57and again it's just about,
0:42:57 > 0:43:01"This is what we've got to do, we've got to keep the sea lanes open."
0:43:01 > 0:43:05And that was because Britain was starving in 1917,
0:43:05 > 0:43:08we were at our worst moment in the war, we were about to lose it
0:43:08 > 0:43:10because of the German submarine menace, and we were
0:43:10 > 0:43:13totally dependent upon American supplies,
0:43:13 > 0:43:15- even before you joined the war.- Mm.
0:43:15 > 0:43:19And so this is you saying, "Yes, that's how it is,
0:43:19 > 0:43:21"we've got to keep the war going."
0:43:21 > 0:43:25And I think the final one is the third great theme,
0:43:25 > 0:43:28which is, you know, exploit sentimentality,
0:43:28 > 0:43:31exploit women, exploit the home.
0:43:31 > 0:43:32This is about nursing.
0:43:32 > 0:43:37"Join up, help in another way. Women have their role to play."
0:43:37 > 0:43:39They are just great things.
0:43:39 > 0:43:41So you've got 85. Let's go through it -
0:43:41 > 0:43:44- that one, if you had the white one...- Yeah.
0:43:44 > 0:43:48..you'd be looking - in good condition - at about £800.
0:43:48 > 0:43:52- OK.- Possibly more. The beige one is slightly less.
0:43:52 > 0:43:56What we've looked at range in price from between -
0:43:56 > 0:44:01in pounds, I'm going to say - £200 to £800 to £1,000.
0:44:01 > 0:44:03- Oh, wow. - These are the ones we've looked at.
0:44:03 > 0:44:07- Uh-huh.- And this is six or seven from 85.- Yeah.
0:44:07 > 0:44:11Let's take a mean average of £400 per poster, and obviously
0:44:11 > 0:44:15the ones with just words on are much less than the pictorial ones.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18The better the image, the better the value.
0:44:18 > 0:44:22- I make that round about...- 32,000.
0:44:22 > 0:44:24- ..£32,000.- Yeah, wow.
0:44:27 > 0:44:29Not bad for £10 a pop.
0:44:29 > 0:44:31HE LAUGHS
0:44:31 > 0:44:32I'm quite surprised, that's great.
0:44:34 > 0:44:37These tiny little totems are obviously a bit more portable
0:44:37 > 0:44:39than the real thing, but they've travelled a long way,
0:44:39 > 0:44:43and I want to know how you come to have them.
0:44:43 > 0:44:47My grandmother gave me these for Christmas a couple of years ago.
0:44:47 > 0:44:51She used to collect lots of ivory, she used to live in Canada,
0:44:51 > 0:44:53so these are obviously from Canada.
0:44:53 > 0:44:56It's a lovely present to be given, I have to say,
0:44:56 > 0:44:58because I'm very, very jealous of these.
0:44:58 > 0:45:00These are miniature totem poles,
0:45:00 > 0:45:04miniature representations of huge totem poles that were placed
0:45:04 > 0:45:09outside of the homes and the dwellings of people from the Haida.
0:45:09 > 0:45:12Now, the Haida come from British Columbia.
0:45:12 > 0:45:14The Haida carved everything out of cedar, they lived in
0:45:14 > 0:45:18a very lush, rainy environment, and, certainly,
0:45:18 > 0:45:22you'll be hard-pressed to find old totems any more,
0:45:22 > 0:45:24- because they rotted away.- Yes. - Because they were made of wood.
0:45:24 > 0:45:28So 19th century totem poles are very rare in that respect.
0:45:28 > 0:45:31The reason that we have miniature examples like this
0:45:31 > 0:45:34is that, in fact, actually, they were made for tourists.
0:45:34 > 0:45:37So what we have here are little tourist souvenirs.
0:45:37 > 0:45:41Do you know what sort of ivory these are carved out of?
0:45:41 > 0:45:44I think... I was told it was whale ivory.
0:45:44 > 0:45:47Right, OK. Well, it's certainly marine ivory.
0:45:47 > 0:45:49If we look closely at them,
0:45:49 > 0:45:51and if particularly we look at this larger totem here,
0:45:51 > 0:45:54and we turn it around, we can see that it has a line
0:45:54 > 0:45:57down the back of it, this very crystalline line,
0:45:57 > 0:46:00and that's a marine ivory. It could be walrus ivory,
0:46:00 > 0:46:02that's quite often what they're carved from.
0:46:02 > 0:46:06What is lovely about these two that your grandmother has given you
0:46:06 > 0:46:08is that these are early 20th century ones.
0:46:08 > 0:46:12They've got lovely patination, they're coloured in nicely
0:46:12 > 0:46:17and I think these date from probably around about 1920 or 1930,
0:46:17 > 0:46:20which makes them a lot, lot more interesting.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23I have to say, I think this little one doesn't have the quality
0:46:23 > 0:46:26and interest of this particular totem here,
0:46:26 > 0:46:31so I think this one is probably worth around about £200 or £300.
0:46:31 > 0:46:34But this one here, which is a classic representation
0:46:34 > 0:46:37with lovely colouring, patination, nicely done,
0:46:37 > 0:46:39I think is more likely
0:46:39 > 0:46:41worth about £500 to £800.
0:46:41 > 0:46:44Wow, OK.
0:46:44 > 0:46:47So, that was a lovely present to be given by your grandmother,
0:46:47 > 0:46:48I have to say, but these are something
0:46:48 > 0:46:50- you should cherish and look after. - Yes.
0:46:50 > 0:46:53Because they're obviously part of your family's ancestry,
0:46:53 > 0:46:55so to speak, being associated with Canada.
0:46:57 > 0:46:59Two 20th century jewels, tell me about them.
0:47:00 > 0:47:07My mother was left some jewels by her aunt, Aunt Gracie in Jamaica,
0:47:07 > 0:47:12she brought them back to this country and she had them
0:47:12 > 0:47:15designed by Andrew Grima, and he did...
0:47:15 > 0:47:18I've got one of the drawings there that he did,
0:47:18 > 0:47:21of one of the designs. I don't know how she
0:47:21 > 0:47:24got to Andrew Grima or how she heard about him, but that's really
0:47:24 > 0:47:29all I know. I was left one of them
0:47:29 > 0:47:31and given one for my 50th birthday.
0:47:31 > 0:47:34How marvellous! Well, she found Andrew Grima in Jermyn Street,
0:47:34 > 0:47:37- at the top of Jermyn Street and Duke Street.- Yes.
0:47:37 > 0:47:39And I can remember that, because I'm 20th century too.
0:47:39 > 0:47:42- Oh, right.- And when I first started to work in London,
0:47:42 > 0:47:45it was the most magnetic and glamorous shop you can
0:47:45 > 0:47:47ever imagine, it was clad with slate
0:47:47 > 0:47:49and it had coloured glass in the window
0:47:49 > 0:47:52and these wonderful jewels shining out from it, and it was a thing
0:47:52 > 0:47:56very much of that moment. And this is real patronage, isn't it?
0:47:56 > 0:47:59That she chose Andrew Grima to make modern jewellery,
0:47:59 > 0:48:01to spend her money, there wasn't a question of the future,
0:48:01 > 0:48:04she wanted something wonderful to wear. Do you wear them?
0:48:04 > 0:48:06Absolutely. Yes, I do wear them,
0:48:06 > 0:48:08I've worn both of them and I love them.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11The level of patronage of Andrew Grima is
0:48:11 > 0:48:12at the highest possible level.
0:48:12 > 0:48:15The Royal Family are terribly interested in his work,
0:48:15 > 0:48:17and Princess Margaret took a piece of lichen from a tree
0:48:17 > 0:48:21and took it to him to have it cast in gold into a brooch,
0:48:21 > 0:48:24- and Princess Anne has jewellery by Andrew Grima.- Right.
0:48:24 > 0:48:27It was an absolute magnet for the highest level of society,
0:48:27 > 0:48:30but also people who wanted something intensely modern that said
0:48:30 > 0:48:33something about them really and their existence,
0:48:33 > 0:48:36and so, as you can tell, I'm a tiny bit excited to see them!
0:48:36 > 0:48:37THEY LAUGH
0:48:37 > 0:48:40But I'm even more excited to see a design for a piece of jewellery.
0:48:40 > 0:48:44Well, my mother kept that very carefully, and when she gave me
0:48:44 > 0:48:46the brooch, she said, "Be sure to keep this drawing."
0:48:46 > 0:48:49This one is meant to be a sea anemone,
0:48:49 > 0:48:51that was how it was described to her.
0:48:51 > 0:48:54- Yes, jellyfish almost.- But I haven't got the drawing of that,
0:48:54 > 0:48:57- and I never have had, and I've never seen it.- No.
0:48:57 > 0:48:58But I have managed to keep the other one.
0:48:58 > 0:49:01Well, I can tell you that, actually, drawings for jewellery,
0:49:01 > 0:49:03are actually rarer than the jewels themselves.
0:49:03 > 0:49:06- Oh, really? Oh, right.- Much, much rarer, because they're tossed aside,
0:49:06 > 0:49:10and people wear them, and so this is an enormously exciting moment,
0:49:10 > 0:49:11and it's a thing OF the moment.
0:49:11 > 0:49:15- These things have returned to being enormously fashionable.- Right.
0:49:15 > 0:49:18They are very, very enviable, they're almost museum quality.
0:49:18 > 0:49:20I mean, this, with the design, is something that the
0:49:20 > 0:49:23Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Museum, would want from you.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26- And so, having told you all of that...- Yes.
0:49:26 > 0:49:28..these are enormously valuable objects in every sense
0:49:28 > 0:49:31of the word, aesthetically as well as intrinsically.
0:49:31 > 0:49:33I can tell you, with every confidence,
0:49:33 > 0:49:37- that this is worth £8,000 to £10,000.- Right.
0:49:37 > 0:49:41And our marvellous jellyfish, undulating in the sea like this...
0:49:41 > 0:49:44very organic creature, well,
0:49:44 > 0:49:45£5,000 or £6,000.
0:49:45 > 0:49:48Right, thank you very much.
0:49:48 > 0:49:50Well, thank YOU very much, actually. I mean, I loved it.
0:49:50 > 0:49:52- I met Andrew Grima.- Did you?
0:49:52 > 0:49:54Yes, I did, enormous charm,
0:49:54 > 0:49:56and not for nothing was it a sort of honeypot.
0:49:56 > 0:50:01How did you come to have a present from Stalin?
0:50:02 > 0:50:06Well, my uncle was a member of the UK delegation
0:50:06 > 0:50:07at the Yalta Conference.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10Oh, that was the conference in 1945.
0:50:10 > 0:50:14- 1945.- With Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin,
0:50:14 > 0:50:18effectively partitioning Germany after the Second World War.
0:50:18 > 0:50:20Partitioning most of Europe, yes.
0:50:20 > 0:50:22And my uncle - who was a fairly senior member of
0:50:22 > 0:50:25the UK delegation - asked Stalin
0:50:25 > 0:50:27whether he could have Grandfather Frost,
0:50:27 > 0:50:30who was part of a centrepiece at the banquet, afterwards.
0:50:30 > 0:50:32Now, you're calling him Grandfather Frost
0:50:32 > 0:50:35- because he looks like Father Christmas?- Yeah.
0:50:35 > 0:50:36But for the communists...
0:50:36 > 0:50:39Communist Father Christmas didn't exist.
0:50:39 > 0:50:41- Terribly sad, isn't it? - Yeah.- No Christmas.
0:50:41 > 0:50:42- No Christmas. - Under the Communist regime.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45- So this was Grandfather Frost.- Yeah.
0:50:45 > 0:50:46I'm just trying to picture the scene,
0:50:46 > 0:50:51so you've got Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin...
0:50:51 > 0:50:53- Yeah.- ..all the delegation around,
0:50:53 > 0:50:56- basically shaping post-war Europe... - Absolutely.
0:50:56 > 0:51:00..and the falling of the Iron Curtain, partitioning up Germany,
0:51:00 > 0:51:03and your uncle thinks, "Hang on a minute, I rather like that,
0:51:03 > 0:51:05"my nephew could do with that,"
0:51:05 > 0:51:08in amongst all these momentous decisions being taken!
0:51:08 > 0:51:12Absolutely, and he picked him out and asked Stalin
0:51:12 > 0:51:16whether he could have him for his nephew, who was me, aged four.
0:51:18 > 0:51:20And Stalin said yes and gave it to him.
0:51:20 > 0:51:23You were only four, I guess you probably weren't asking
0:51:23 > 0:51:25- questions like, "What was Stalin like?"- No.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28I mean, did your uncle ever talk about it later on, or...?
0:51:28 > 0:51:30Well, he used to talk about the Russians,
0:51:30 > 0:51:33because he was then in the United Nations afterwards,
0:51:33 > 0:51:38and, yeah, he said Stalin was to all intents and purposes
0:51:38 > 0:51:42fairly genial, but behind the geniality, of course,
0:51:42 > 0:51:44he was an appalling man.
0:51:44 > 0:51:48I mean, it's interesting to think about Stalin giving you
0:51:48 > 0:51:53a present, when, of course, millions of Russians died under Stalin...
0:51:53 > 0:51:56- Absolutely, yeah. - ..under his regime,
0:51:56 > 0:52:00but here he was handing over a doll to your uncle, for a little boy.
0:52:00 > 0:52:03Exactly, well, I suppose it showed him up in a good light,
0:52:03 > 0:52:07and, after all, he was after territory all the time anyway.
0:52:07 > 0:52:11So he thought, "You have that, I'll take post-war Hungary."
0:52:11 > 0:52:13Yeah, absolutely, something like that, yes!
0:52:13 > 0:52:16And where does Grandfather Frost live now?
0:52:16 > 0:52:18In the upstairs loo.
0:52:18 > 0:52:20LAUGHTER
0:52:20 > 0:52:22- In the upstairs loo?- Yeah.
0:52:22 > 0:52:25- He was present at a momentous time in history.- Yes, exactly.
0:52:25 > 0:52:27I think you could do better than the upstairs loo!
0:52:27 > 0:52:31Well, I think so, yes, there's not much history that goes on up there.
0:52:33 > 0:52:37Well, your teapot's emblazoned with anchors, you've got dates of
0:52:37 > 0:52:41famous sea battles, and the greatest name of all, that of Nelson, there.
0:52:41 > 0:52:43But are we looking at a splendid commemorative,
0:52:43 > 0:52:46or heaven forbid, could it really be Nelson's teapot itself?
0:52:47 > 0:52:50Because a lot depends on the family history really,
0:52:50 > 0:52:52and how close can you trace it back to Nelson.
0:52:52 > 0:52:59Well, my grandmother's maiden name was Barlow, and so,
0:52:59 > 0:53:06if you go up the line, she descends from Admiral Sir Robert Barlow,
0:53:06 > 0:53:09who commanded one of Nelson's ships,
0:53:09 > 0:53:13and his third daughter married Horatio Nelson's...
0:53:13 > 0:53:16brother, yes, I've got it.
0:53:16 > 0:53:21Here we have an order of battle from the Mediterranean in 1804,
0:53:21 > 0:53:25orders given by Nelson, and listing his captains, there.
0:53:25 > 0:53:29And we have, on the Victory, that's Nelson himself...
0:53:29 > 0:53:32and further down here, there's the Triumph,
0:53:32 > 0:53:35commanded by Sir Robert Barlow.
0:53:35 > 0:53:39So there he is, serving under Nelson in 1804.
0:53:39 > 0:53:41Of course, Barlow's daughter has an even closer link,
0:53:41 > 0:53:43because she became Countess Nelson.
0:53:43 > 0:53:45That's right, yes.
0:53:45 > 0:53:48She married the... Was it Nelson's brother?
0:53:48 > 0:53:50Brother William, yes.
0:53:50 > 0:53:52Because when Nelson died at Trafalgar,
0:53:52 > 0:53:55he inherited the title and he became the 1st Earl Nelson.
0:53:55 > 0:53:57That's right, yes, I get a bit confused.
0:53:57 > 0:54:00It is confusing, of course, but the nice thing is,
0:54:00 > 0:54:03there's the direct link right down from your ancestors,
0:54:03 > 0:54:05going straight down to you and to this teapot.
0:54:05 > 0:54:09- That's right.- So it came down from there.- Yeah, that's it.
0:54:09 > 0:54:13Well, you've also brought along this lovely drawing of Emma there,
0:54:13 > 0:54:15and, of course, although it's perhaps not
0:54:15 > 0:54:18the earliest copy of this famous image, it does show her beauty.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21Yes, yes, she was gorgeous, wasn't she?
0:54:21 > 0:54:25And, of course, Nelson sharing his home at Merton with her.
0:54:25 > 0:54:29And while he's away at sea, one can imagine her living there,
0:54:29 > 0:54:32entertaining and, of course, entertaining with
0:54:32 > 0:54:35the very fine china and silver that Nelson had been given.
0:54:35 > 0:54:37Let's look at the teapot.
0:54:37 > 0:54:42So there we have the anchor and the name of Nelson at the top,
0:54:42 > 0:54:44and the date there, 2nd of April,
0:54:44 > 0:54:46which is the date of the Battle of Copenhagen.
0:54:46 > 0:54:49And we've got...there are all these other battles.
0:54:49 > 0:54:52All these dates would have been sort of key to the history
0:54:52 > 0:54:55of Nelson's victories, but probably the most important one
0:54:55 > 0:54:57is in the front there.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00Because that had just happened, probably when he was likely
0:55:00 > 0:55:02to have been given this chinaware.
0:55:02 > 0:55:05The ladies of London and the citizens of London
0:55:05 > 0:55:07clubbed together and presented Nelson with chinaware
0:55:07 > 0:55:10when he attended a banquet with the Lord Mayor.
0:55:10 > 0:55:14He rode in the Lord Mayor's coach and was supposedly given some
0:55:14 > 0:55:17very fine chinaware that was used at the banquet.
0:55:17 > 0:55:19But it's slightly confusing when you look at the teapot,
0:55:19 > 0:55:21because it's not a British teapot at all.
0:55:21 > 0:55:23- It's actually French.- Really?
0:55:23 > 0:55:26And Nelson was out there fighting the enemy,
0:55:26 > 0:55:28but here was a teapot of French porcelain!
0:55:28 > 0:55:30Really? Oh, gosh...
0:55:30 > 0:55:32But probably old chinaware from France that was
0:55:32 > 0:55:36hanging around in London, and they painted the decoration on there
0:55:36 > 0:55:39of oak leaves and proud British emblems there,
0:55:39 > 0:55:41and gave Nelson this French service
0:55:41 > 0:55:45- which would have gone to his home at Merton.- Yes.
0:55:45 > 0:55:47When Nelson died, there was an inventory
0:55:47 > 0:55:50made of all the contents of Merton,
0:55:50 > 0:55:55and the chinaware was listed, and they list two services there.
0:55:55 > 0:55:57One was the Nelson service,
0:55:57 > 0:56:00which was a porcelain set, partly Coalport, partly French,
0:56:00 > 0:56:05decorated with the oak leaf border and Nelson's arms emblazoned on it.
0:56:05 > 0:56:08- And there was also the Baltic service.- Oh.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11That's the only description it gives in the inventory.
0:56:11 > 0:56:14So, is this the teapot from that Baltic set?
0:56:14 > 0:56:17- Ooh, wouldn't it be nice? - Exciting to think that,
0:56:17 > 0:56:22Emma pouring tea for Nelson out of that actual teapot.
0:56:22 > 0:56:24- Can you imagine it? - No, not really!
0:56:24 > 0:56:28Well, not that I've got it, anyway.
0:56:28 > 0:56:30If it is the one from that set,
0:56:30 > 0:56:33and there's every reason to think it is...
0:56:33 > 0:56:35- That it is?- ..of course, it's an expensive piece,
0:56:35 > 0:56:37it's quite a special teapot!
0:56:37 > 0:56:40Nelson's teapot, there it is, what history!
0:56:40 > 0:56:43- So, what's a tea pot worth?- God...
0:56:43 > 0:56:45I mean, just trying to think, how much would it...?
0:56:45 > 0:56:49Would you have tea with Nelson? Shall we say, erm...
0:56:49 > 0:56:50£20,000?
0:56:50 > 0:56:53You're jo... You're joking.
0:56:55 > 0:56:57You're joking.
0:56:59 > 0:57:01I'm going to cry!
0:57:01 > 0:57:02LAUGHTER
0:57:03 > 0:57:04Such history!
0:57:06 > 0:57:10- It's a special teapot. - I'm speechless.
0:57:10 > 0:57:14Oh, God. I can't believe it. I've seen it all my life, and...
0:57:17 > 0:57:20Never sort of had the whole collection of things together.
0:57:20 > 0:57:24Now it all adds up to a nice bit of English history,
0:57:24 > 0:57:25and I'm thrilled.
0:57:25 > 0:57:28Yes, well, quite. I'm thrilled that I knew
0:57:28 > 0:57:31this was on today and I brought it along.
0:57:31 > 0:57:33Wow, that's quite something.
0:57:38 > 0:57:40It's been something of a day of firsts
0:57:40 > 0:57:43here at the Royal Agricultural University.
0:57:43 > 0:57:46Not only was John Bly - one of our most seasoned experts -
0:57:46 > 0:57:49presented with the oldest piece of furniture he's ever seen
0:57:49 > 0:57:51at an Antiques Roadshow, but what about
0:57:51 > 0:57:53that advice from that wonderful lady who was
0:57:53 > 0:57:55talking to Andy McConnell about her piece of glass?
0:57:55 > 0:57:58She says she always washes her antique glass
0:57:58 > 0:57:59by sticking it in the dishwasher.
0:58:01 > 0:58:03I can't say I'd recommend it.
0:58:03 > 0:58:07And all day we've been filming in gale-force winds and rain,
0:58:07 > 0:58:10and just as we're coming to the end of our day
0:58:10 > 0:58:12here at the Royal Agricultural University,
0:58:12 > 0:58:15for the first time, the sun has come out. Typical.
0:58:17 > 0:58:20From the whole Antiques Roadshow team, until next time,
0:58:20 > 0:58:22and let's hope the sun's shining. Bye-bye.