0:00:05 > 0:00:08Today, we're making a return visit to Polesden Lacey,
0:00:08 > 0:00:10near Dorking in Surrey,
0:00:10 > 0:00:12the home of Margaret Greville,
0:00:12 > 0:00:16a high society lady who wasn't all that she seemed.
0:00:16 > 0:00:18Three British monarchs were entertained here.
0:00:18 > 0:00:21Not bad for a woman who was born illegitimate,
0:00:21 > 0:00:24was raised in a modest Scottish boarding house
0:00:24 > 0:00:27and who went to enormous lengths to reinvent herself.
0:00:27 > 0:00:29Welcome to the Antiques Roadshow.
0:01:16 > 0:01:19Margaret Greville's mother was a domestic servant.
0:01:19 > 0:01:20On Margaret's birth certificate,
0:01:20 > 0:01:23the father is just a man who happens to share
0:01:23 > 0:01:27the same surname as Margaret's mother, for respectability.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30They weren't married and he wasn't Margaret's father.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33Margaret was the illegitimate daughter of this man,
0:01:33 > 0:01:36William McEwan, the millionaire Scottish brewer.
0:01:36 > 0:01:39And when she grew up, she inherited his fortune,
0:01:39 > 0:01:43worth £65 million in today's money.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46It really is a rags to riches story.
0:01:46 > 0:01:50And this Edwardian house, gifted to Margaret by her father,
0:01:50 > 0:01:52is home to some of the finest collections
0:01:52 > 0:01:55you can find anywhere in Britain today.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58And they were amassed over a short period of time
0:01:58 > 0:02:00in a series of shopping sprees.
0:02:02 > 0:02:07Mrs Greville used art historians to help her amass her collections.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10They were effectively her personal shoppers.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14Mag, as she was known, had an open cheque book.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18She cut a swathe through 2,000 years of cultural history,
0:02:18 > 0:02:20buying it up wholesale,
0:02:20 > 0:02:25filling her new build home with the most beautiful art and antiques.
0:02:33 > 0:02:37Many of the Dutch old masters she inherited from her father.
0:02:37 > 0:02:39Other items she bought,
0:02:39 > 0:02:42like the Romans sarcophagus dating from 3 AD,
0:02:42 > 0:02:47marooned here in the middle of an Edwardian corridor.
0:02:47 > 0:02:50It's difficult to describe her personal taste.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52Certainly it was eclectic and she hoovered up
0:02:52 > 0:02:55whatever she thought her many society guests would love
0:02:55 > 0:02:59and that would create the right kind of atmosphere
0:02:59 > 0:03:00for her many parties.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02And Italian art was a favourite.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13Margaret Greville collected beautiful and celebrated objects
0:03:13 > 0:03:17rather like she collected people, the cream of society.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22Today, Polesden Lacey and its incredible collections
0:03:22 > 0:03:24are looked after by The National Trust
0:03:24 > 0:03:27so the perfect place for our experts to look at your treasures.
0:03:27 > 0:03:28And don't forget,
0:03:28 > 0:03:31if you want to play along with our valuation game at home,
0:03:31 > 0:03:34just press red on your remote control or go to...
0:03:36 > 0:03:38..on your computer or on your smartphone.
0:03:42 > 0:03:44What's more appropriate for a punchbowl
0:03:44 > 0:03:47than to be supported by a figure of Mr Punch himself?!
0:03:47 > 0:03:51But I must say, by the amount of dust on it,
0:03:51 > 0:03:53- I don't think it's had a lot of tender loving care.- No.
0:03:53 > 0:03:58- Where do you keep it? - On the floor behind the sofa!
0:03:58 > 0:04:01Where do you display something like this in a modern home?
0:04:01 > 0:04:04- How did you come to have it? - It's my mother-in-law's.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07I'm not too sure if she bought it or swapped it.
0:04:07 > 0:04:11She died eight years ago and my father-in-law,
0:04:11 > 0:04:15just before he died, recently, gave it to me.
0:04:15 > 0:04:16Oh, right.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18- So it's really your inheritance? - Yes.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21When he gave it to me, he said, "This is your inheritance."
0:04:21 > 0:04:24Well, I mean, what we have is a piece of majolica,
0:04:24 > 0:04:27this great Victorian glazed pottery.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30- OK.- And it really is just meant to amuse
0:04:30 > 0:04:32and I think it certainly does that.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34- Right.- The...
0:04:34 > 0:04:38Majolica is a great Staffordshire Victorian invention.
0:04:38 > 0:04:43Several factories produced the best majolica, Minton and Wedgwood
0:04:43 > 0:04:45and another one - George Jones.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47And we always look to see whether there are any markings, here.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50This is by the great factory George Jones.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52They've got the registration mark.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55- That's when they copyrighted and patented the design.- OK.
0:04:55 > 0:04:58That tells us it was made 1873-1875.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01- So this goes back quite a long way.- Wow.
0:05:01 > 0:05:03And at the time, of course,
0:05:03 > 0:05:07it was used for festive celebration, in enjoyment.
0:05:07 > 0:05:09- You can imagine it filled with punch.- Yes.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12At the time... It would have been a pricey object
0:05:12 > 0:05:14in Victorian times because George Jones was a good maker.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16Good majolica was costly.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19It went into grand homes and was much to be admired.
0:05:19 > 0:05:22And it went out of fashion and then back into fashion over the years.
0:05:22 > 0:05:24It's gone up and down.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28In a way, you've probably missed the boat a little bit
0:05:28 > 0:05:30because it used to be more valuable than it is now.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32While it's been stuck behind the sofa,
0:05:32 > 0:05:35- it's been going down in value. - Aw-w!- But...
0:05:35 > 0:05:38But the good news is it's still worth a fair old bit.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41Say five years ago, when it went down there,
0:05:41 > 0:05:43it would have been worth probably...
0:05:43 > 0:05:45£10,000.
0:05:45 > 0:05:47GASPS
0:05:47 > 0:05:50- It's only half that, now.- Oh!
0:05:50 > 0:05:52That's amazing. Oh, dear!
0:05:56 > 0:05:59I do like a picture being presented to me
0:05:59 > 0:06:01with all the details on it
0:06:01 > 0:06:03so I don't have to think!
0:06:03 > 0:06:05And on here you've got the name of the artist...
0:06:12 > 0:06:14- Yes.- Fantastic.
0:06:14 > 0:06:17And I can see that it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1852.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20Turner died in December 1851.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23I just think it's fantastic to have all that information
0:06:23 > 0:06:27- and a picture of his house painted so soon after he died.- Yes.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32Turner is the most important artist, to me, of the 19th century.
0:06:32 > 0:06:34- Is he? Yes.- Why? Because of the impressionism.
0:06:34 > 0:06:38- So how did you get it? - We bought it through our family.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41We are connected with Turner but...
0:06:41 > 0:06:45- Turner wasn't married but his uncle, John, we come down that line.- OK.
0:06:45 > 0:06:50And so my father had it and my grandfather had it.
0:06:50 > 0:06:51Alexander McInnes,
0:06:51 > 0:06:53I've hardly ever seen any work by him
0:06:53 > 0:06:55- and there's very little known about him.- Yes.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59And we know he was exhibiting from 1848 until the 1860s.
0:06:59 > 0:07:02- So quite a short period of time. - Yes, definitely.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04And you know, he could have been a friend of Turner's
0:07:04 > 0:07:05- at the end of his life.- Yes.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08- Maybe painting in tribute. He wanted to paint him, I think.- Yeah.
0:07:08 > 0:07:09With him in the front!
0:07:09 > 0:07:12Well, I think it's so interesting because what I can tell you,
0:07:12 > 0:07:16this hung in the Royal Academy and it was number 349 in the line.
0:07:16 > 0:07:18- How interesting! Good gracious.- Yeah.
0:07:18 > 0:07:22- Yes!- And I'm wondering whether your ancestor bought it at the RA,
0:07:22 > 0:07:25maybe as a memory of Turner's house.
0:07:25 > 0:07:27That could be, couldn't it? Yes.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29- There's a lot of inscriptions on the back.- Yes.
0:07:29 > 0:07:31And I see there's a translation here,
0:07:31 > 0:07:35"The lodging house situated on the banks of the Thames
0:07:35 > 0:07:38"betwixt Battersea Bridge and Cremorne Gardens, Chelsea,
0:07:38 > 0:07:44"in which the late JMW Turner RA died on 19 December 1851."
0:07:44 > 0:07:47He lived incognito there with...
0:07:47 > 0:07:52- Under the name of Mr Booth...- Yes. - ..because his helper was Mrs Booth.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54The caretaker was Mrs Booth, wasn't she?
0:07:54 > 0:07:56- The housekeeper.- That's right. That's right, yes.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59So we've got Turner with the housekeeper in the picture.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02- And there's Turner with his folio... - Yes.- ..and Mrs Booth
0:08:02 > 0:08:05- busying herself in the garden.- Oh, I didn't realise that was Mrs Booth!
0:08:05 > 0:08:06Well, I'm guessing that it is.
0:08:06 > 0:08:09- I think you're right, yes. - I would like to add to the story
0:08:09 > 0:08:11- cos I think it is and he's probably put it in.- Yes, I'm sure.
0:08:11 > 0:08:14And he lived near Cremorne Gardens and that was a pleasure garden
0:08:14 > 0:08:16where they had these fantastic firework displays.
0:08:16 > 0:08:19- That's right.- And I can just see him up there,
0:08:19 > 0:08:21- painting away and doing it. - He loved it, that's right.
0:08:21 > 0:08:22- It's just fantastic.- So happy.
0:08:22 > 0:08:26You know, he was living under a pseudonym with his housekeeper.
0:08:26 > 0:08:29- That's right, yes.- And did they have a relationship or not?
0:08:29 > 0:08:31- I think they did.- I think they did!
0:08:31 > 0:08:34And it's so real because it's only the year after that it was painted.
0:08:34 > 0:08:37- That's right, yes. - So what do we put on it?
0:08:37 > 0:08:40- I mean, you look at that, it's historic.- Yes.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43- It's so historic.- Yes.- Because he's just died, it's been painted,
0:08:43 > 0:08:45- it's been exhibited at the Royal Academy.- I see that.
0:08:45 > 0:08:47I love all the advertising.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49- Yes, it's nice.- It's just fantastic.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51So I'm going to say...
0:08:51 > 0:08:52if this came up,
0:08:52 > 0:08:56it would make somewhere in the region of, certainly,
0:08:56 > 0:08:584,000-6,000.
0:08:58 > 0:09:02- Very good.- Because of the history and because of the labels on the back.
0:09:02 > 0:09:03- Lovely.- Right, thank you.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09Now, Madame, the minute you speak to me,
0:09:09 > 0:09:11it will be evident to our viewers
0:09:11 > 0:09:14that you hail originally from la belle France.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16- Well, yes, I can't hide it. Can I?! - You can't.
0:09:16 > 0:09:17But which city do you come from?
0:09:17 > 0:09:20- Nancy.- That is my favourite city.
0:09:20 > 0:09:22And if you want to see great Art Nouveau
0:09:22 > 0:09:24that is the place to go.
0:09:24 > 0:09:25Anyway, before people are thinking
0:09:25 > 0:09:28that we're doing our bit for the Nancy tourist board,
0:09:28 > 0:09:31I think it's fair to say that we should be looking at
0:09:31 > 0:09:35three pieces of glass that originally were made in that city.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38And made by a man whose name is synonymous
0:09:38 > 0:09:40with the best in Art Nouveau design.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44And that man, of course, was Emile Galle.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46- Ah, Emile! I didn't know that. - Emile Galle.
0:09:46 > 0:09:49You've brought along three pieces of glass
0:09:49 > 0:09:52that were probably made no more than a few miles away
0:09:52 > 0:09:54from where you lived.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57And so you've brought them over to the UK
0:09:57 > 0:10:00and I just want to know a little bit more
0:10:00 > 0:10:02about how you came by them.
0:10:02 > 0:10:05Well, they were all the time in my grandparents' house,
0:10:05 > 0:10:09in the kitchen - on the windowsill, a big windowsill.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12They had a big chimney and there was a windowsill above
0:10:12 > 0:10:13and they were there.
0:10:13 > 0:10:15I thought they were a bit ugly.
0:10:15 > 0:10:20And they had sprigs of thyme or stuff, all herbs, in them.
0:10:20 > 0:10:22And that's what they were used for.
0:10:22 > 0:10:24- OK.- And they looked very dark actually.
0:10:24 > 0:10:27- And I never thought much about them. - Never thought much about them?- No.
0:10:27 > 0:10:30What's the French word for decadence?
0:10:30 > 0:10:32- La decadence!- La decadence.
0:10:32 > 0:10:37Because the idea of using Galle vases to stick your herbs in
0:10:37 > 0:10:40is a total anathema!
0:10:40 > 0:10:44And you French are supposed to have a monopoly on good taste?!
0:10:44 > 0:10:48Anyway, these are interesting pieces of Galle glass.
0:10:48 > 0:10:53Let me just explain that he does all manner of glassware.
0:10:53 > 0:10:57He does glass in the studio, which are really glass sculptures.
0:10:57 > 0:10:59But certainly around about 1900,
0:10:59 > 0:11:01he is producing this type of glassware
0:11:01 > 0:11:04on, believe it or not, an industrial scale.
0:11:04 > 0:11:07Because there are well over, you know,
0:11:07 > 0:11:12- 200 people employed at the Galle glassworks.- Yeah.
0:11:12 > 0:11:13Let's start with this one
0:11:13 > 0:11:16because the glass in question is cameo glass.
0:11:16 > 0:11:19So you've got one layer of glass blown over another
0:11:19 > 0:11:23and then cut through using an acid cutter, hydrofluoric acid.
0:11:23 > 0:11:26- OK.- You've got the Galle signature, there.
0:11:26 > 0:11:28And this tells me this dates to
0:11:28 > 0:11:31around about 1900, 1902.
0:11:31 > 0:11:34And I love the design. It's a lovely shape.
0:11:34 > 0:11:35Very pretty.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37So this one,
0:11:37 > 0:11:39the colours are more autumnal.
0:11:39 > 0:11:44And these designs are very much,
0:11:44 > 0:11:45you know, florals
0:11:45 > 0:11:48or in this case they are sort of, like, a tree-type design.
0:11:48 > 0:11:52But the one I like best
0:11:52 > 0:11:55- is this one.- I thought it looked like...
0:11:55 > 0:11:57Well, believe it or not,
0:11:57 > 0:12:00when it's sold in the salerooms,
0:12:00 > 0:12:02they call it Lake Como.
0:12:02 > 0:12:06So I would say on a valuation scale...
0:12:08 > 0:12:11This one, an auction estimate would probably be
0:12:11 > 0:12:16- around about £800 to 1,000.- Oh!
0:12:16 > 0:12:19This one would probably be in the region of
0:12:19 > 0:12:23around about £700-900.
0:12:23 > 0:12:25And as for this one,
0:12:25 > 0:12:30I tell you now that you wouldn't get any change,
0:12:30 > 0:12:32certainly if you wanted to buy it from a dealer,
0:12:32 > 0:12:35- you wouldn't get any change from £2,000.- Oh, my!
0:12:37 > 0:12:39Who's a lucky lady?!
0:12:39 > 0:12:41My lucky day.
0:12:41 > 0:12:42Just promise me one thing,
0:12:42 > 0:12:46that you're never going to stick a flower or a herb in these again!
0:12:48 > 0:12:51- Merci beaucoup.- Oh, merci a vous.
0:12:51 > 0:12:53- Merci. Je suis tres, tres contente!- OK.
0:12:56 > 0:12:58Do you know, I have an admission to make,
0:12:58 > 0:13:02- I used to go to bed with a Mickey Mouse.- Right!
0:13:02 > 0:13:05- But not quite as old as these two.- Right.
0:13:05 > 0:13:06Where did they come from?
0:13:06 > 0:13:09We found them when we were clearing my mother's house.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12She died last year, she was 92.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15These were in an oak chest
0:13:15 > 0:13:18at the bottom of a great pile of family photographs.
0:13:18 > 0:13:20They were in a plastic bag.
0:13:20 > 0:13:21I had never seen them before in my life.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24She'd never shown them to us as children.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26I know nothing about them.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29I mean, it's not surprising, then, they're in such good condition.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33- Walt Disney created Mickey Mouse in 1928.- Right.
0:13:33 > 0:13:36And he was in a film called Steamboat Willie...
0:13:36 > 0:13:38- Oh, right!- ..in 1928.- Right.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41And he just completely took off.
0:13:41 > 0:13:43Everybody wanted a Mickey Mouse.
0:13:43 > 0:13:48And these were made by a firm called Dean's, in the UK.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50- Oh, right!- So they're actually British...- They are British!
0:13:50 > 0:13:52- ..Mickey Mice.- Right.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55It's really funny cos this one looks as if he's actually looking at me.
0:13:55 > 0:13:56Yes!
0:13:56 > 0:13:59And this one looks as if he's praying for help!
0:13:59 > 0:14:02- They're original from the 1930s. - Right.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05So would that fit in with your mum getting them?
0:14:05 > 0:14:08Well, she was born in 1920 so I guess so.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11Would they have been toys or souvenirs?
0:14:11 > 0:14:12Well, they were toys but your mum
0:14:12 > 0:14:15obviously didn't play with them much at all
0:14:15 > 0:14:18because they are, for this age, they're in remarkable condition.
0:14:18 > 0:14:20However there is one problem.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22There's no Minnie?
0:14:22 > 0:14:23That's a big problem!
0:14:23 > 0:14:25We thought that might be Minnie because it's different.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28No, I'm afraid Minnie had a little skirt!
0:14:28 > 0:14:32- And of course Minnie is much more valuable than Mickey.- Right, right.
0:14:32 > 0:14:33The other little problem
0:14:33 > 0:14:37is they've actually lost their little tail.
0:14:37 > 0:14:39- Oh, really?!- They had tails
0:14:39 > 0:14:43and they were very rat-like and they changed.
0:14:43 > 0:14:45People didn't like them being quite so rat-like,
0:14:45 > 0:14:46- so they made them softer.- Right.
0:14:46 > 0:14:49So that's how we know, with the big hands,
0:14:49 > 0:14:51- these are early examples. - Oh, right.
0:14:51 > 0:14:54And because the condition is good,
0:14:54 > 0:14:57I would still value them at
0:14:57 > 0:14:58at least £600.
0:14:59 > 0:15:02I don't know who's more surprised, the mice or me!
0:15:04 > 0:15:06That is incredible.
0:15:07 > 0:15:08Wow!
0:15:13 > 0:15:15So how are two sisters going to share this?
0:15:15 > 0:15:17Well, there are two birds!
0:15:19 > 0:15:23Tell me how they came to belong to you both.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26Well, it goes back to childhood.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29I won't say how long ago but we used to be dragged around flea markets.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31It was on the first Sunday of every month
0:15:31 > 0:15:34that they used to have these sort of events that we got...
0:15:34 > 0:15:37- In England or...?- No. - In France, mainly in France.
0:15:37 > 0:15:39- We went on holiday in France. - Yes, our mother's French
0:15:39 > 0:15:42and so we used to spend our summer holidays in France.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45So yes, this was lying on the pavement.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48It's about the only thing we actually got excited about
0:15:48 > 0:15:51- cos most of the rest of it is all dusty and...- It was our height!
0:15:51 > 0:15:54And we saw this and we thought, "This is worth coming for."
0:15:54 > 0:15:57- It was about our eye level, as well! - Yes.- So what did you do?
0:15:57 > 0:16:00- We made a lot of fuss. - "Maman, maman!"- "Maman, maman!" Yes.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03- "I want, I want." - Well, we thought they were real birds
0:16:03 > 0:16:05because they do look extremely realistic.
0:16:05 > 0:16:06And I bet they move pretty well.
0:16:06 > 0:16:09And then somebody wound it
0:16:09 > 0:16:12and the little beaks were yapping away
0:16:12 > 0:16:15- and it was tweeting beautifully but now...- It doesn't?
0:16:15 > 0:16:17- Not so much. It's erratic. - Well, since our brother...
0:16:17 > 0:16:19- He's over there.- Yes, our brother.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22- He actually tweaked the tails and things.- We blame him!
0:16:22 > 0:16:25- So he's blamed for life, is he? - He is!- Yes, yes, yes!
0:16:25 > 0:16:27He's not allowed to touch it anymore.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30But maybe it just needs a little bit of oiling.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33This dates back to the late 19th-century
0:16:33 > 0:16:35and Roullet et Decamps...
0:16:35 > 0:16:38I'm sure you speak better French than me
0:16:38 > 0:16:42but it was a very well-known factory in Paris
0:16:42 > 0:16:44and they made all sorts of things
0:16:44 > 0:16:48- from prancing bears to birds to smoking monkeys.- Oh, right!
0:16:48 > 0:16:50All sorts of things.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54And it's quite unusual to have two birds and to have it so big
0:16:54 > 0:16:58because it is a very nice size.
0:16:58 > 0:17:01Cos you get the little tiny ones that sit on the table
0:17:01 > 0:17:03but this is a serious one, if you like.
0:17:03 > 0:17:07The even more serious ones had ormolu all round them
0:17:07 > 0:17:10and this is painted to look like ormolu.
0:17:10 > 0:17:12And of course it was made to hang.
0:17:12 > 0:17:14You've got the hanging loop, there.
0:17:14 > 0:17:19And they were taken out on high days and holidays to entertain guests.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22- And the children, yes!- And probably to entertain the children!
0:17:22 > 0:17:23It kept us quiet for a long time, anyway.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26- We used to play with it for hours. - It would have a stop-starter.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29I have to say, I'm holding my hand on it.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34- It's starting to hurt actually! - That's evidence!
0:17:34 > 0:17:36Because if I let go, they are going to start moving
0:17:36 > 0:17:40- but I don't think they're going to start making a noise.- Who knows?!
0:17:40 > 0:17:43- Shall we try?- Yes. - Oh, yes, fingers crossed.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46VERY FAINT TWEETING
0:17:46 > 0:17:48- A tiny tweet!- Come on, tweet.
0:17:48 > 0:17:50- Very good movement.- Yes.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54And the sound was so realistic, as well.
0:17:54 > 0:17:58Do you know, I don't think it would take much to get it going again.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00- To bring its tweet back. - It could well be
0:18:00 > 0:18:03that it just needs a bit of TLC.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06I think partly probably because our mother put it away,
0:18:06 > 0:18:09- out of harm's way.- Could have got a bit damp?- It might have.- Yes.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11- It could have got a bit damp. - It perhaps hasn't been used as...
0:18:11 > 0:18:13The feathers are pretty good.
0:18:13 > 0:18:15These in particular are wonderful colours
0:18:15 > 0:18:18and they very often came from Amazon parrots
0:18:18 > 0:18:19and that sort of thing.
0:18:19 > 0:18:20If you could get this going,
0:18:20 > 0:18:22and I don't think it would be too big a job,
0:18:22 > 0:18:26assuming that can be done, we're talking probably around
0:18:26 > 0:18:28£3,000 to 4,000.
0:18:28 > 0:18:30- Oh, gosh.- Oh, well, from something off the pavement!
0:18:30 > 0:18:34Just as well we did spot it and bring it home!
0:18:34 > 0:18:36Well, that's a nice number because there are three of us.
0:18:36 > 0:18:38Yeah!
0:18:39 > 0:18:41You've brought along what looks like
0:18:41 > 0:18:44the instrument panel from a Lancaster.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46Why have you got it?
0:18:46 > 0:18:51Well, my father was with 625 Squadron during the war, in Lincolnshire,
0:18:51 > 0:18:53and he flew Lancasters.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56And I bought this from a museum in Essex,
0:18:56 > 0:18:58who were closing down,
0:18:58 > 0:19:00really as a tribute to him.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03And I took it home and said to the wife,
0:19:03 > 0:19:05"Wouldn't it make a lovely headboard above the bed?"
0:19:05 > 0:19:07You're kidding!
0:19:07 > 0:19:11I take it from the fact that it's here and not on your bed
0:19:11 > 0:19:14- that your wife didn't agree! - She put her foot down and said,
0:19:14 > 0:19:16"No. Emphatically not."
0:19:16 > 0:19:18Funny that!
0:19:18 > 0:19:20- So he flew Lancasters?- He did.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22Where did he fly? What happened to him?
0:19:22 > 0:19:25He was shot down on his 14th mission,
0:19:25 > 0:19:28- flying on a raid to Leipzig.- Right.
0:19:28 > 0:19:30And we've got his logbook here, as well.
0:19:30 > 0:19:32- This is the logbook? - This is the logbook, yeah.
0:19:32 > 0:19:36And on the 14th mission, all it says is,
0:19:36 > 0:19:38"Missing, nothing heard after take-off."
0:19:38 > 0:19:40And there we are, there's the entry.
0:19:40 > 0:19:42- That's pretty final, isn't it?- It is, it is.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45It really is. And you've got some photographs?
0:19:45 > 0:19:46Yes, I have. Yes.
0:19:46 > 0:19:49That's my father coming out of the rear door of the plane.
0:19:49 > 0:19:51- That's marvellous. - Him in the cockpit.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54That's his crew and unfortunately
0:19:54 > 0:19:56they were all killed on that raid.
0:19:56 > 0:19:58- He was the only survivor.- Gosh.
0:19:58 > 0:20:00So how did he get out?
0:20:00 > 0:20:03Well, the plane caught fire and as the pilot,
0:20:03 > 0:20:05he tried to retain control of the aircraft,
0:20:05 > 0:20:08keeping it level so his crew could bail out.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11It then unfortunately flipped over on its back
0:20:11 > 0:20:16and he fell through the Perspex canopy above the pilot seat.
0:20:16 > 0:20:20And his story goes that he was plummeting to ground,
0:20:20 > 0:20:22reached for his parachute,
0:20:22 > 0:20:24- it wasn't there.- Oh, my goodness.
0:20:24 > 0:20:26He went through a search light beam
0:20:26 > 0:20:29and saw it was on a strap about ten foot above him.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32So there he was reaching terminal velocity,
0:20:32 > 0:20:34he managed to pull it down, strap it on
0:20:34 > 0:20:36and pull the D-ring at the last minute,
0:20:36 > 0:20:39landed in a plough field and just broke his shoulder.
0:20:39 > 0:20:42And I say just... He survived, in other words!
0:20:42 > 0:20:44- That's an astonishing story actually.- Yeah.
0:20:44 > 0:20:45How old was he then?
0:20:45 > 0:20:48- About 21. Yeah, very young. - Gosh, very young.
0:20:48 > 0:20:49So were a lot of them.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53It's incredible that men of so young an age
0:20:53 > 0:20:56- should be in such a responsible position.- Yeah.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59I think they looked upon it as a bit of an adventure. You know?
0:20:59 > 0:21:02It's the boys' own thing, in charge of an aircraft with seven men in it
0:21:02 > 0:21:03- and everything else.- Yes.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07And when did your father's aircraft crash?
0:21:07 > 0:21:12It was in 1944. February 1944.
0:21:12 > 0:21:16And he subsequently ended up in Stalag Luft III.
0:21:16 > 0:21:18- The Great Escape!- That's the one.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21Yes, he was there six weeks before it took place.
0:21:21 > 0:21:23And he remembers the build-up
0:21:23 > 0:21:26and the secrecy involved in setting it up.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29He was also there when they came in to announce
0:21:29 > 0:21:30that they'd all been shot.
0:21:30 > 0:21:33- Oh, really?- Yeah.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36Did you ever talk to your father when you were growing up
0:21:36 > 0:21:39about his time in the Second World War?
0:21:39 > 0:21:42I did but he was very reluctant to talk about it
0:21:42 > 0:21:44until the latter part of his life,
0:21:44 > 0:21:47when I made him write down his experiences.
0:21:47 > 0:21:49So we have that on record.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52I think he probably just felt a degree of guilt
0:21:52 > 0:21:54- about the loss of his crew.- Really?
0:21:54 > 0:21:56And I think that affected him throughout his life.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00But let's just take a look at the instrument panel for a minute.
0:22:00 > 0:22:02It's incredible, isn't it?
0:22:02 > 0:22:04Look, all these individual instruments.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07The altimeter, the airspeed indicator,
0:22:07 > 0:22:09the artificial horizon.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12All of the instruments you would need to fly
0:22:12 > 0:22:14this giant four-engine bomber.
0:22:14 > 0:22:16What is puzzling me,
0:22:16 > 0:22:18and this is a big puzzle to me,
0:22:18 > 0:22:22is why the instruments are in this board.
0:22:22 > 0:22:25Because every single instrument panel from a Lancaster
0:22:25 > 0:22:27I've ever seen
0:22:27 > 0:22:29is aluminium...
0:22:29 > 0:22:31with a black finish.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34It's been made very professionally
0:22:34 > 0:22:35but nonetheless,
0:22:35 > 0:22:38I suspect it's probably never actually been in a Lancaster.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40Doesn't detract from the fact that it's a great object.
0:22:40 > 0:22:42So let's look at values.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46I think the value of the instrument panel,
0:22:46 > 0:22:49the value of the logbook,
0:22:49 > 0:22:51the documents... Have you got other documents, too?
0:22:51 > 0:22:54- I have, yes.- Lots of other documents? - Yes, I have.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57OK. I think we'd be looking in terms of
0:22:57 > 0:23:01- £3,000 to 4,000.- Really?
0:23:01 > 0:23:02Fantastic.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05It's a family peace so, as everybody says,
0:23:05 > 0:23:06it won't leave the family.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09But thank you, that's very interesting.
0:23:12 > 0:23:13When the sun comes out,
0:23:13 > 0:23:15I'm glad to say people turn out in their thousands
0:23:15 > 0:23:17to come and see our experts on the Roadshow.
0:23:17 > 0:23:20And we have such a huge queue today. I want to show it to you.
0:23:20 > 0:23:22This is the beginning of the queue, back there.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26- Are you ready for your wait in the queue, there?- ALL: Yes!
0:23:26 > 0:23:28How long have you been told you'll have to wait?
0:23:28 > 0:23:30ALL: Three hours!
0:23:30 > 0:23:31Three hours!
0:23:31 > 0:23:34- Well, they seem quite happy about it.- If we're lucky!
0:23:34 > 0:23:35If you're lucky!
0:23:35 > 0:23:38And then the queue goes all the way along here,
0:23:38 > 0:23:39as far as the eye can see,
0:23:39 > 0:23:41and then it doubles back round here
0:23:41 > 0:23:43and then round again
0:23:43 > 0:23:46and somewhere down there is the end of it.
0:23:46 > 0:23:47Shall we go and find it?
0:23:48 > 0:23:51# Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun
0:23:51 > 0:23:53# The Japanese don't care to
0:23:53 > 0:23:55# The Chinese wouldn't dare to... #
0:23:56 > 0:23:58This is about halfway.
0:23:58 > 0:24:00# In the Philippines they have lovely screens
0:24:00 > 0:24:02# To protect you from the glare
0:24:02 > 0:24:04# In the Malay states there are hats like plates
0:24:04 > 0:24:07# Which the British won't wear... #
0:24:07 > 0:24:09And then the queue comes all the way down the hill,
0:24:09 > 0:24:11all the way along here.
0:24:11 > 0:24:13You are so nearly at the front!
0:24:13 > 0:24:15Because this is the front.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18And then all these good people will see our experts,
0:24:18 > 0:24:20who are all waiting here.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24# But mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday
0:24:24 > 0:24:26# Out in the midday
0:24:26 > 0:24:28# Out in the midday Out in the midday sun! #
0:24:30 > 0:24:32Interesting paintings, these.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34- Yes, they are.- Do you like them?
0:24:34 > 0:24:37I've had the pleasure of having them in the family home
0:24:37 > 0:24:39- for the last 35 years. - Ah, wonderful.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41Did you buy them?
0:24:41 > 0:24:43No, they were bought by
0:24:43 > 0:24:47my stepchildren's maternal grandfather.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50I think around about 1948
0:24:50 > 0:24:52or the early '50s.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54Yeah, and where was he buying?
0:24:54 > 0:24:56I think he bought them in London.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58Oh, in London? Right, OK.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00We have here a mother
0:25:00 > 0:25:03and she's by...
0:25:04 > 0:25:06a table with a vase on it.
0:25:06 > 0:25:10And there's a peony in the vase.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13Now, the peony is a symbol of beauty.
0:25:13 > 0:25:14Yes.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17So a Chinaman would read this
0:25:17 > 0:25:19as a beautiful lady.
0:25:19 > 0:25:24This one's even more redolent with meaning.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26Is it?
0:25:26 > 0:25:32I mean, you can't look at a Chinese painting
0:25:32 > 0:25:34and see it as we would,
0:25:34 > 0:25:37as a landscape.
0:25:37 > 0:25:41There's something else going on in there.
0:25:41 > 0:25:43This beautiful lady
0:25:43 > 0:25:46is in a garden.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50She's looking at herself in a mirror.
0:25:51 > 0:25:55And this painting is not just a painting of a girl in a garden,
0:25:55 > 0:25:57- it's symbolic.- Is it?
0:25:57 > 0:26:01And it's symbolic of the Three Friends Of Winter
0:26:01 > 0:26:03who survive winter.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06And we've got the pine,
0:26:06 > 0:26:11which is very subtly just shown as a gnarled trunk...
0:26:11 > 0:26:14The pine, plum blossom
0:26:14 > 0:26:16and the bamboo.
0:26:17 > 0:26:18It's signed.
0:26:18 > 0:26:20I can't read that, I don't know the signature
0:26:20 > 0:26:22but it's probably findable.
0:26:22 > 0:26:27Typically for Chinese paintings they're on silk.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29Some are on paper but mostly silk.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32But what about the frames?
0:26:32 > 0:26:33Once you start looking at these...
0:26:35 > 0:26:37..the thing becomes utterly fascinating.
0:26:37 > 0:26:40- Yes, I love the frames especially. - You do?- Yes.
0:26:40 > 0:26:43- OK, so you have looked at them? - Oh, yes. Yes.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45So what are these?
0:26:45 > 0:26:49- I don't really know, perhaps you could tell me!- Ah!
0:26:49 > 0:26:52It's like all owners. They've never looked at their objects.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54Perhaps not too closely!
0:26:54 > 0:26:57- They're mushrooms.- Mushrooms? Good heavens!
0:26:57 > 0:27:00I've never ever seen mushrooms
0:27:00 > 0:27:02on a Chinese-style frame.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04I mean, extraordinary.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06The mushroom, or the toadstool,
0:27:06 > 0:27:10is symbolic in China.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13It symbolises long life.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16And I think that these frames are jolly nearly
0:27:16 > 0:27:19- contemporary with the painting. - Are they?
0:27:19 > 0:27:21I think actually they're Regency.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24I think they're late 18th, early 19th century.
0:27:24 > 0:27:28And that's more or less what we're talking about for the paintings.
0:27:28 > 0:27:30So what are they worth?
0:27:30 > 0:27:31Well, you know the Chinese
0:27:31 > 0:27:35- are going crazy for anything that's theirs.- I know.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38Probably cos they're different sizes
0:27:38 > 0:27:40and they don't relate to one another,
0:27:40 > 0:27:43one would split them.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45And they would probably make...
0:27:46 > 0:27:49£3,000 to 5,000 each.
0:27:49 > 0:27:50Oh, that's very good.
0:27:52 > 0:27:53- I'm delighted.- Thank you so much.
0:27:58 > 0:28:00Well, this is a lovely mahogany table
0:28:00 > 0:28:02and I can kind of date it by these legs.
0:28:02 > 0:28:05The sort of Victorian heavily-turned leg,
0:28:05 > 0:28:09rather like the aesthetic movement of the 1880s, 1890s.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13And I notice here we've got a maker's brass label.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16Ferrabee and Rucks of Gloucester.
0:28:16 > 0:28:17So it's not a London-made peace
0:28:17 > 0:28:19but it's a magnificent piece of timber, here.
0:28:19 > 0:28:22These three big mahogany boards pleated together.
0:28:22 > 0:28:25But clearly it does more than...
0:28:25 > 0:28:27Well, is it a dining table and what does it turn into?
0:28:27 > 0:28:29Well, it's obviously a lovely dining table.
0:28:29 > 0:28:31You can get about eight people round it.
0:28:31 > 0:28:34And you can see these brass plates at the end,
0:28:34 > 0:28:35which are locators.
0:28:35 > 0:28:39The top turns right over and gives you a skittle table.
0:28:39 > 0:28:42Right, I've seen billiard tables but they're bit more rectangular.
0:28:42 > 0:28:44- Yeah.- This is a skittle table, that makes sense.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47- Can you show me how it works?- OK!
0:28:47 > 0:28:49- You better lead me through this.- OK.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54- Lift together.- Yeah.- Turn.
0:28:54 > 0:28:56- Swap hands.- Right.- And again.
0:28:58 > 0:28:59Oh, I see.
0:29:01 > 0:29:03Well, there we go.
0:29:03 > 0:29:05Well...
0:29:05 > 0:29:06That is unexpected!
0:29:06 > 0:29:09- So now presumably this comes up, does it?- Yeah.
0:29:09 > 0:29:11Up we go, right.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14- Oh, I see so we've got... - And I have...
0:29:14 > 0:29:16Out of the cupboard, here, comes...
0:29:18 > 0:29:20..nine skittles and a ball.
0:29:20 > 0:29:24You can imagine the idea of being in some Victorian parlour,
0:29:24 > 0:29:27can't you, in the late 19th century?
0:29:27 > 0:29:29Gaslight or possibly if the house was wealthy enough
0:29:29 > 0:29:31the beginning of the electric light
0:29:31 > 0:29:33just beginning to come into the houses,
0:29:33 > 0:29:35probably with their own power plant.
0:29:35 > 0:29:38These are ebony, I guess. So what do we do now?
0:29:38 > 0:29:40Well, I'll just take you through it, first.
0:29:40 > 0:29:42- There's a release handle here.- Yes.
0:29:42 > 0:29:44Which pushes a pin up, there,
0:29:44 > 0:29:46and pushes the ball down.
0:29:46 > 0:29:48And it also operates the shoot.
0:29:48 > 0:29:50- Put your thumb on there. - Oh, I see, and you shoot it.
0:29:50 > 0:29:52Yeah, a big stiff pull.
0:29:52 > 0:29:53- And then...- Whoa!
0:29:56 > 0:29:57Eh, not bad! Three!
0:29:58 > 0:30:00- How many goes do I get?- Three.
0:30:00 > 0:30:02OK, here we go again.
0:30:02 > 0:30:04You're going to tell me you can do it in one go!
0:30:04 > 0:30:06When you release it, do it slowly
0:30:06 > 0:30:08and you can sight it through further across.
0:30:08 > 0:30:10Oh, I see, that moves!
0:30:10 > 0:30:12Oh, I see!
0:30:14 > 0:30:16Oh! Not bad, eh?!
0:30:16 > 0:30:18- Well done.- Right, now the challenge.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21- OK?- Yes, third ball, ninth skittle.
0:30:25 > 0:30:27Oh, no!
0:30:28 > 0:30:30Well done anyway!
0:30:30 > 0:30:33Wow, that is amazing.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36And I suppose you want me to value it or something like that, do you?
0:30:36 > 0:30:39Well, possibly! As you can see also on the top, here,
0:30:39 > 0:30:41there's a maker's plate also.
0:30:41 > 0:30:44but I've no idea how old it is either. Late 1800s?
0:30:44 > 0:30:48I think 1880, something like that, from the furniture point of view.
0:30:48 > 0:30:52- OK.- From the style of the legs, etc, that Japanese influence.- Yeah.
0:30:53 > 0:30:54I mean, at auction,
0:30:54 > 0:30:562,000 to 3,000?
0:30:56 > 0:30:57That's good, yeah.
0:30:57 > 0:31:00- It's a question!- OK, well...
0:31:00 > 0:31:02More?!
0:31:02 > 0:31:03That's sounds all right to me.
0:31:03 > 0:31:06- I mean, it's difficult to place but it's a...- Yeah.
0:31:06 > 0:31:09I think the point is it'd be jolly hard to find another one.
0:31:09 > 0:31:11Indeed. I've never ever come across any one, at all.
0:31:11 > 0:31:13I want another go now!
0:31:15 > 0:31:18They were left to me by my grandmother.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20We actually just found them in a jewellery box
0:31:20 > 0:31:21in the back of the cupboard
0:31:21 > 0:31:24when she passed away, like, three years ago.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27- So definitely a surprise, there. - It certainly is.
0:31:27 > 0:31:29- And she hadn't worn them or anything?- Not really, no.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32I've never seen her wear them at all
0:31:32 > 0:31:34so it was just like a hidden treasure.
0:31:34 > 0:31:36Oh, that's wonderful, isn't it?
0:31:36 > 0:31:39The last thing that you thought you were going to find!
0:31:39 > 0:31:41And two really very pretty rings, as well,
0:31:41 > 0:31:42- and very different in design.- Yeah.
0:31:42 > 0:31:44Is there one that you prefer?
0:31:44 > 0:31:46- I would probably wear one more than the other.- Yeah.
0:31:46 > 0:31:48I'd probably wear this one more,
0:31:48 > 0:31:51purely cos I want it as my own ring when I get married.
0:31:51 > 0:31:53- So...- Anybody lined up?
0:31:53 > 0:31:57No, not yet! I have the ring, just waiting for the guy, so...
0:31:57 > 0:31:59Well, you never know, he might just be around the corner,
0:31:59 > 0:32:01- you don't know.- Hopefully, yeah.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04Well, diamond rings, as I say, everybody loves them.
0:32:04 > 0:32:06Girl's best friend.
0:32:06 > 0:32:09And they've been popular throughout the centuries.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12But more so since, really, the 1920s, 1930s
0:32:12 > 0:32:15when diamond cutting developed to the modern brilliant cut,
0:32:15 > 0:32:18- as we know it today...- Yeah. - ..which these two rings are.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20This one in a cluster formation
0:32:20 > 0:32:23and this one of course as a single-stone ring.
0:32:23 > 0:32:26Now, it was Chanel who said that you can show the greatest of worth
0:32:26 > 0:32:28- in the smallest of volumes.- Yeah.
0:32:28 > 0:32:31And you certainly can when it comes to a diamond ring.
0:32:31 > 0:32:35We value diamonds through a number of different elements.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38There's colour, clarity, carat size.
0:32:38 > 0:32:41And all these come together
0:32:41 > 0:32:44to form the main value of the actual diamond.
0:32:44 > 0:32:46And naturally cut comes into it too
0:32:46 > 0:32:48but that's mainly down to, a lot of the time,
0:32:48 > 0:32:51- people's taste and fashion at the time.- Yeah.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54Now, as far as carat size is concerned,
0:32:54 > 0:32:56which is what a lot of us are really concerned with,
0:32:56 > 0:32:58the size of the stone,
0:32:58 > 0:33:00the single-stone that we have there
0:33:00 > 0:33:03- is estimated at about 1.5 carats.- Yeah?
0:33:03 > 0:33:05So good weight, good-looking ring
0:33:05 > 0:33:08- and perfect for an engagement ring, yeah!- Yeah!
0:33:08 > 0:33:09And then the cluster ring, here,
0:33:09 > 0:33:12surprisingly we've got more than the single-stone.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15- We've got, in total, about 2.5 carats.- Yeah?
0:33:15 > 0:33:17Yeah, so you're not changing your mind? No?
0:33:17 > 0:33:21- No, not just yet.- No? Well, quite right as well.
0:33:21 > 0:33:23Because when we come down to valuing them,
0:33:23 > 0:33:25we're looking also at the colour and the clarity.
0:33:25 > 0:33:29Now, these are very equal in those two areas.
0:33:29 > 0:33:31They're bright, they're lively stones.
0:33:31 > 0:33:35There are a few flaws in each of the diamonds
0:33:35 > 0:33:38but nothing too much to worry about, really.
0:33:38 > 0:33:40So, as far as fashion's concerned,
0:33:40 > 0:33:43today the most popular cut of stone - the brilliant cut -
0:33:43 > 0:33:47is the most fashionable in the single stone, as we have here.
0:33:47 > 0:33:50And although this one weighs less, really,
0:33:50 > 0:33:52than the 2½ carats that we've got in this ring here,
0:33:52 > 0:33:55this one's going to be worth just that little bit more
0:33:55 > 0:33:56than the cluster ring.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59So the cluster ring, we're looking at a value, at auction,
0:33:59 > 0:34:03- of round about £2,000 to £2,500.- Wow!
0:34:03 > 0:34:07I wasn't expecting that at all, no.
0:34:07 > 0:34:09And then the single-stone ring,
0:34:09 > 0:34:13you'd probably expect to reach about £3,000 to £4,000 for that.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16Wow! Definitely keep hold of that one, then!
0:34:18 > 0:34:21- Wow!- Well, I hope you find the young man
0:34:21 > 0:34:22who you'd like to present it to you.
0:34:22 > 0:34:26- Definitely! Thank you.- Pleasure.
0:34:30 > 0:34:33Now, I come to this from a very personal point of view.
0:34:33 > 0:34:34Seeing this, I thought, "Gosh!"
0:34:34 > 0:34:37I've got a really...
0:34:37 > 0:34:38wonderful personal connection to it,
0:34:38 > 0:34:41because here we have a thing advertising...
0:34:41 > 0:34:43An enamel sign advertising Turkish baths.
0:34:43 > 0:34:47But the key thing is here, "92 Jermyn Street."
0:34:47 > 0:34:49Now, when I was at school in London, in my last year,
0:34:49 > 0:34:51a friend and I used to skive off
0:34:51 > 0:34:53when we should have been doing sport
0:34:53 > 0:34:56and we used to come and go to the Turkish baths.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59And it was a wonderful, sort of secret thing to do -
0:34:59 > 0:35:01an escape from reality.
0:35:01 > 0:35:04And, of course, I also liked it because, in a sense,
0:35:04 > 0:35:06it was taking us into what was then - even then -
0:35:06 > 0:35:08becoming quite a rare experience.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11What took you into Turkish baths?
0:35:11 > 0:35:14Well, as someone about the same age as you,
0:35:14 > 0:35:16I went to the one in the Imperial Hotel in London
0:35:16 > 0:35:19- and then put it aside. - That was one of the best, wasn't it?
0:35:19 > 0:35:22- It was one of the best, definitely. - It was really Turkish in its layout.
0:35:22 > 0:35:25Yes, there's only Harrogate now that can match it at all.
0:35:25 > 0:35:27- With all those tiles and everything?- Yeah.
0:35:27 > 0:35:29Let's just think a bit about the Turkish bath.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32I mean, it was something that was there
0:35:32 > 0:35:35through Victorian, Edwardian Britain. It was in our life.
0:35:35 > 0:35:38Where does it come from and why did it stop?
0:35:38 > 0:35:43Well, it actually came because David Urquhart, the politician,
0:35:43 > 0:35:46visited... He was a diplomat. He went to Turkey.
0:35:46 > 0:35:49He wrote a book called The Pillars Of Hercules
0:35:49 > 0:35:51and described the bath
0:35:51 > 0:35:53and an Irish doctor, Dr Barter,
0:35:53 > 0:35:58who ran a hydropathic establishment, said, "This is just what I need.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02"The dry heat of the Turkish baths cures people.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05- "They can stand a higher temperature than in steam."- Right.
0:36:05 > 0:36:07And then David Urquhart
0:36:07 > 0:36:11and his working-class political groups
0:36:11 > 0:36:13built them all the way round England, about 35 of them.
0:36:13 > 0:36:16- When was the first one?- 1856.
0:36:16 > 0:36:19And from then on, many big hotels had them.
0:36:19 > 0:36:20They were at stations.
0:36:20 > 0:36:22They were all over the place, weren't they?
0:36:22 > 0:36:25And I think they were just a way of life, for both men and women.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28It's important that there were women's days and men's days.
0:36:28 > 0:36:30And then why do you think it died out?
0:36:30 > 0:36:34It died out mainly because they were very expensive to run.
0:36:34 > 0:36:36You had to keep all the three rooms -
0:36:36 > 0:36:38the different hot rooms that people pass through -
0:36:38 > 0:36:41hot all day long, even if there was no-one there.
0:36:41 > 0:36:44So it's really part of our social history and that's why I like this.
0:36:44 > 0:36:46Tell me its history.
0:36:46 > 0:36:52- Well, it belonged to a chain of Turkish baths in London.- Yes.
0:36:52 > 0:36:54One of the few chains.
0:36:54 > 0:36:56And a friend in the Ephemera Society
0:36:56 > 0:36:59tipped me off that she knew someone who had one,
0:36:59 > 0:37:01and I'd never seen a Turkish bath sign before,
0:37:01 > 0:37:05let alone an enamel one, and I just couldn't resist it, I'm afraid.
0:37:05 > 0:37:07You couldn't resist it because it's your subject?
0:37:07 > 0:37:11- It is my subject, yes.- Does he have a name?- He has a name, yes.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14- Deborah called him Alphonse.- Oh, I think that's quite suitable, really.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17- It is.- You bought him because you were addicted to the subject,
0:37:17 > 0:37:20and I understand it. I think I would have done the same.
0:37:20 > 0:37:22- Was he expensive?- About £500.
0:37:22 > 0:37:24- HE INHALES - Gosh!
0:37:24 > 0:37:27- More than many baths would have cost.- Yes, yes.
0:37:27 > 0:37:31Well, actually, I think, even though it's a bit battered,
0:37:31 > 0:37:34I think it's such an exceptional thing.
0:37:34 > 0:37:36I could imagine today
0:37:36 > 0:37:39you could double that. Because...
0:37:39 > 0:37:43- on the usual principle, "Find me another."- Yes.
0:37:43 > 0:37:45It's a wonderfully rare thing but, above all else,
0:37:45 > 0:37:48it's brought back all my memories of that skiving off
0:37:48 > 0:37:50- when I should've been doing other things.- Yes.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53I should have been doing school things, and there I was,
0:37:53 > 0:37:54enjoying the hot room.
0:37:54 > 0:37:57- Yes.- Thank you very much. - I'm glad. Thank you.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02Now, we wouldn't normally start something to do with ceramics
0:38:02 > 0:38:06on a book with a drawing of men on penny-farthings.
0:38:06 > 0:38:09But there's a connection, isn't there? What is the connection?
0:38:09 > 0:38:11The connection is
0:38:11 > 0:38:13because the sketch
0:38:13 > 0:38:16is of Doulton factory workers
0:38:16 > 0:38:19all going to work on their penny-farthings.
0:38:19 > 0:38:23My grandfather used to work at Doulton in Lambeth
0:38:23 > 0:38:28and the ceramic is... I think it would have been a leaving gift,
0:38:28 > 0:38:31in the form of a tig,
0:38:31 > 0:38:34where all the ceramists... Ceramicists?
0:38:34 > 0:38:37- Potters. Potters is easy! - Potters - that's easy.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41I like "potters". All the potters signed their names all around it
0:38:41 > 0:38:44and they also, er,
0:38:44 > 0:38:47illustrated and wrote articles
0:38:47 > 0:38:49in the studio notes,
0:38:49 > 0:38:51which came out every year.
0:38:51 > 0:38:54But I've been given to understand that there's only about...
0:38:54 > 0:38:56I don't know, a handful.
0:38:56 > 0:38:58It's almost like the handwritten, in-house magazine
0:38:58 > 0:39:01- of what they were up to.- Absolutely. - What sort of things did they do?
0:39:01 > 0:39:04They wrote about their holidays,
0:39:04 > 0:39:07how they went down to Devon for their...
0:39:07 > 0:39:10Cos they all used to take their holidays at the same time.
0:39:10 > 0:39:12Exactly. It was called the potters' fortnight,
0:39:12 > 0:39:15which was the last week of June and the first week of July.
0:39:15 > 0:39:20Everybody thinks of, you know, dark, satanic mills of smoke and chimneys
0:39:20 > 0:39:23but these were really amazing places,
0:39:23 > 0:39:27where raw clay came in one end and, through a lot of people's work,
0:39:27 > 0:39:31a lot of people's talent, amazing products came out the other end.
0:39:31 > 0:39:33So, obviously, because it was a factory
0:39:33 > 0:39:36and the factory had to shut down, they had the potters' fortnight
0:39:36 > 0:39:39and they all went away on holiday together. I think that's so...
0:39:39 > 0:39:41Because ceramics is a team effort.
0:39:41 > 0:39:45You know, the person who made the clay, who put the handles on,
0:39:45 > 0:39:47who did the glazing, the decor...
0:39:47 > 0:39:50Every department all relied on the previous person,
0:39:50 > 0:39:52so, obviously, they built a close bond
0:39:52 > 0:39:54and what often happened as well,
0:39:54 > 0:39:57is the son would follow the father, mother, daughter -
0:39:57 > 0:40:00all the skills were passed down the generations.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02But here we have, you know...
0:40:02 > 0:40:06What a wonderful example for a Doulton collector.
0:40:06 > 0:40:08All these names -
0:40:08 > 0:40:10George Tinworth, Frank Butler,
0:40:10 > 0:40:13and the rest of their colleagues who worked at the Lambeth factory.
0:40:13 > 0:40:15It's something which would be
0:40:15 > 0:40:17a centrepiece for any Doulton collector.
0:40:17 > 0:40:19And here, you know,
0:40:19 > 0:40:23an original, handwritten, in-house magazine, if you like.
0:40:23 > 0:40:26If it was ever to come on the market, which I know it wouldn't,
0:40:26 > 0:40:29this would be - two pieces together - £2,000.
0:40:29 > 0:40:32- Really?- Yes.
0:40:32 > 0:40:34Look after it, Claire.
0:40:34 > 0:40:36Well, it's good that it's going to stay in the family
0:40:36 > 0:40:38because, you know, this is passed down in the family
0:40:38 > 0:40:40and it's part of your family history.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43- But it's part of British pottery history as well.- Yeah.
0:40:43 > 0:40:45And it's been a pleasure to see you today.
0:40:45 > 0:40:48- Thank you very much indeed. - Thank you.- Glad I brought it.
0:40:51 > 0:40:55Who is this rather soigne-looking young woman with the pipe?
0:40:55 > 0:40:58Well, that's my mother, and her name was Gertie Halton
0:40:58 > 0:41:02and she was Mrs Greville's lady's maid.
0:41:02 > 0:41:07And she worked for her from 1928 until 1931,
0:41:07 > 0:41:11and then Mrs Greville asked her to go with her to South America.
0:41:11 > 0:41:14- On a cruise?- On a cruise.- And was she very discreet, your mother,
0:41:14 > 0:41:16- about working for Mrs Greville?- Very, yes.
0:41:16 > 0:41:18Because she must have seen amazing people come and go here -
0:41:18 > 0:41:21politicians, royalty, movie stars.
0:41:21 > 0:41:24Yes, she used to stand at the top of the staircase
0:41:24 > 0:41:27and watch all the visitors arriving.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30And this is her on deck here, it says.
0:41:30 > 0:41:35Yes, on the Cap Arcona. I think that was the name of the boat.
0:41:35 > 0:41:38- Those were the days of travel! Look at that.- Beautiful.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41The pot plants and the tables there.
0:41:41 > 0:41:43Everything.
0:41:43 > 0:41:47- And my mother looking quite, er, flirty, I think, too.- Flirty Gertie.
0:41:47 > 0:41:48Yes, flirty Gertie.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51Have we got any pictures of Mrs Greville in here?
0:41:51 > 0:41:53Yes, we have. This is her here.
0:41:53 > 0:41:55She's sitting there
0:41:55 > 0:41:56with the captain and two friends.
0:41:56 > 0:41:59I mean, these wonderful photographs tell us so much
0:41:59 > 0:42:01about a particular time of life
0:42:01 > 0:42:04and about your mother's involvement in the fascinating history
0:42:04 > 0:42:06of the woman who owned this house, Mrs Greville.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09- Yes, yes.- She was quite a character.- Yes, she was.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22It's hard to imagine that this picture is this picture.
0:42:22 > 0:42:24So why on earth did anybody in the family
0:42:24 > 0:42:27decide to keep it when it looked like that?
0:42:27 > 0:42:30- You're not my husband!- No!
0:42:30 > 0:42:35- Well, why did he choose it? - Er, he... His father knew of it.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38It had always been in the family house. The aunt died.
0:42:38 > 0:42:41The house was emptied of all the furniture.
0:42:41 > 0:42:44That was just left in this attic room.
0:42:46 > 0:42:49He just knew that that was the picture that his father knew,
0:42:49 > 0:42:52that he'd always described - this big marine picture.
0:42:52 > 0:42:57- The family had been bombed out during the war.- Right.
0:42:57 > 0:43:00They lived in Balham. And the house was actually set alight,
0:43:00 > 0:43:04so whether it's smoke damage or not, we don't know.
0:43:04 > 0:43:05My husband's father was a child.
0:43:05 > 0:43:08- Him and his brothers and sisters used to...- Throw darts at it?
0:43:08 > 0:43:12- Throw darts at it.- As you do.- And it had a great big split with the dart.
0:43:12 > 0:43:15But, in fact, he's then obviously moved it from that house.
0:43:15 > 0:43:17- Yes.- Here we see a slightly cleaner version of it.
0:43:17 > 0:43:20- But it's just the flash?- Well, no, nothing had been done to it.
0:43:20 > 0:43:21That's taken at my own house.
0:43:21 > 0:43:25It was so fragile, so thin, when we moved it.
0:43:25 > 0:43:28It was in the back of the car and, literally,
0:43:28 > 0:43:32the paint was beginning to sort of literally flake off over every bump
0:43:32 > 0:43:35and it was like an eggshell. It really was.
0:43:35 > 0:43:39Why, I don't know, but he decided to approach a local artist
0:43:39 > 0:43:42to see if we could get it restored.
0:43:42 > 0:43:45- At that point, you couldn't even see what was going on in it.- No.
0:43:45 > 0:43:47No, when I first saw it, all we could see was the flags.
0:43:47 > 0:43:49We literally couldn't see the ship or the...
0:43:49 > 0:43:51And the rock - that wasn't even...
0:43:51 > 0:43:54I don't think we could even really see that until, actually,
0:43:54 > 0:43:58- after the restorer had actually cleaned it.- I assume it's Gibraltar.
0:43:58 > 0:44:01- Certainly, it looks to be Gibraltar.- Yes, I think it is.
0:44:01 > 0:44:04So we've got a British man at a morning salute, I suppose.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06Does anybody know what the ship is?
0:44:06 > 0:44:09Yes, I've been in touch with the National Maritime Museum
0:44:09 > 0:44:13and they say that the detail here
0:44:13 > 0:44:17and the gold round here, er,
0:44:17 > 0:44:20is identical to the first Britannia,
0:44:20 > 0:44:25which was built, I think, in somewhere 1682.
0:44:25 > 0:44:28- Well, how nice to actually have Britannia in the house, too.- Yes.
0:44:28 > 0:44:31It's amazing what has come out of it all, isn't it?
0:44:31 > 0:44:37We now know that the scene is of about 1710-20, that sort of period.
0:44:37 > 0:44:39I'm sure the picture is of that period, too.
0:44:39 > 0:44:41- Do you think it is as old as that?- Absolutely, yes.
0:44:41 > 0:44:45- How long ago did you restore it? - It was restored...
0:44:45 > 0:44:49- Yes, just ten years ago. - Ten years ago?- Yes, ten years ago.
0:44:49 > 0:44:51And what did you pay for the restoration?
0:44:51 > 0:44:53Er, I think it was about...
0:44:53 > 0:44:56- I think it was about £1,200.- Right.
0:44:56 > 0:45:00You know, early 18th-century marine subjects like this are,
0:45:00 > 0:45:03you know, quite collectable. Condition is everything, though.
0:45:03 > 0:45:05- Yeah.- There is still a commercial value to it
0:45:05 > 0:45:08and your £1,200 investment in it, as it were,
0:45:08 > 0:45:10I think was a very good investment.
0:45:10 > 0:45:14In this condition, it's probably now worth £2,000, £3,000 -
0:45:14 > 0:45:16that sort of level.
0:45:16 > 0:45:19Well done for your husband spotting there was something worth keeping.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22Oh, yes, he'd never sell it. Never sell it.
0:45:22 > 0:45:27This is one antique that a child CAN play with.
0:45:27 > 0:45:31- Please tell me that it's had an active life.- A very active life.
0:45:31 > 0:45:32- Good.- It was given to my husband,
0:45:32 > 0:45:37I suppose in about 1941-42, by his grandfather.
0:45:37 > 0:45:42And he used it, his brother and sister used it.
0:45:42 > 0:45:45My children used it, my nieces and nephews used it.
0:45:45 > 0:45:47So it's had a very active life.
0:45:47 > 0:45:49When I tried to put my granddaughter in it,
0:45:49 > 0:45:53the son who wants to inherit it said, "Get her out of there!"
0:45:56 > 0:45:57Well, I think he's wrong.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00I'm so pleased to know that it's been at every meal time
0:46:00 > 0:46:01that your children have had.
0:46:01 > 0:46:04If I look closely, will I find bits of custard and apple crumble
0:46:04 > 0:46:07- hidden amongst it? - I think porridge, up in here.
0:46:07 > 0:46:10Well, it is the most perfect little chair.
0:46:10 > 0:46:13It's like a miniature version of a Regency dining chair.
0:46:13 > 0:46:15It's made of mahogany.
0:46:15 > 0:46:17It dates from around 1830,
0:46:17 > 0:46:20so, late Regency, George IV.
0:46:20 > 0:46:23And, er, the detail and the carving on it
0:46:23 > 0:46:26is normally overlooked on these small chairs,
0:46:26 > 0:46:28so they haven't stinted on anything.
0:46:28 > 0:46:33The carved back rail, the crest rail, the scroll arms,
0:46:33 > 0:46:36the reeded arm supports, and then, of course, the sabre legs.
0:46:36 > 0:46:39So much nicer than just a standard turned leg.
0:46:39 > 0:46:41Rather curiously,
0:46:41 > 0:46:45- the one thing I really love about it is the drop-in seat.- Right.
0:46:45 > 0:46:47Now, you've probably heard
0:46:47 > 0:46:49people talking about horsehair-filled sofas.
0:46:49 > 0:46:52And sometimes people say, "It's got horsehair seat."
0:46:52 > 0:46:56And, of course, the actual stuffing can be horsehair.
0:46:56 > 0:47:02But did you know that the fabric that's on here is woven horsehair?
0:47:02 > 0:47:07- I wondered. I wondered. It's incredible.- It is very durable.- Yes.
0:47:07 > 0:47:09And this, I have no doubt,
0:47:09 > 0:47:13is the original upholstery for the drop-in seat.
0:47:13 > 0:47:16I must say, once it starts getting holes in it,
0:47:16 > 0:47:18it can be really itchy for legs.
0:47:18 > 0:47:20The problem with a lot of these chairs,
0:47:20 > 0:47:22because they're in two sections -
0:47:22 > 0:47:25you can unscrew them in the central area there -
0:47:25 > 0:47:27is that very often the base,
0:47:27 > 0:47:30which can also serve almost as a small table
0:47:30 > 0:47:32if you take the top off, so often gets...
0:47:32 > 0:47:34You know, parts company with the chair.
0:47:34 > 0:47:37And you end up either with the base and no chair
0:47:37 > 0:47:38or the chair and no base.
0:47:38 > 0:47:40- This has even got its original footrest.- Yes.
0:47:40 > 0:47:43So it's a very sort of complete example.
0:47:43 > 0:47:45So, your son who wants to inherit -
0:47:45 > 0:47:47does he have any idea of the value, do you think?
0:47:47 > 0:47:49Absolutely none whatsoever.
0:47:49 > 0:47:51It's just that it's been in the family for so long
0:47:51 > 0:47:54and, you know, he rather fancies having it.
0:47:54 > 0:47:56I think it's worth around £800,
0:47:56 > 0:48:01- maybe £1,000. - Oh, right, OK. Excellent.
0:48:01 > 0:48:04The value doesn't matter, as I'm sure everybody says.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06It's fascinating to know, though. Thank you.
0:48:09 > 0:48:11Well, these are in appalling condition,
0:48:11 > 0:48:15but these are the original designs - watercolour designs -
0:48:15 > 0:48:18for parlour games, for board games.
0:48:18 > 0:48:20Carpet croquet here.
0:48:20 > 0:48:23This one is a board game, obviously with dice to throw.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25Some more lawn bowls here.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29And these, what I suppose we now call objects of virtue.
0:48:29 > 0:48:33These little thermometers on ivory towers and all that sort of thing.
0:48:33 > 0:48:38- Your company did these and your company started when?- In 1795.- 1795?
0:48:38 > 0:48:41Well, these all date from about the 1840s,
0:48:41 > 0:48:441830s-40s, I would say.
0:48:44 > 0:48:46But they are all in the most appalling condition.
0:48:46 > 0:48:48Tell me about them.
0:48:48 > 0:48:51Er, they were all in our family company safe in Hatton Garden,
0:48:51 > 0:48:53- up on the fifth floor...- Yeah?
0:48:53 > 0:48:55..when we sadly took a direct hit in the Blitz
0:48:55 > 0:48:58- and the building was absolutely flattened.- How did you survive?
0:48:58 > 0:49:01- How did we survive? - You look extremely well on it!
0:49:01 > 0:49:04Fortunately, all... Yes, moisturiser, etc!
0:49:04 > 0:49:07Very fortunately, we were working with MI9,
0:49:07 > 0:49:11making small prisoner-of-war escape kits hidden within chess boards,
0:49:11 > 0:49:14within all sorts of funny, unusual things -
0:49:14 > 0:49:16buttons, all sorts of things, with compasses.
0:49:16 > 0:49:18I didn't know there was an MI9.
0:49:18 > 0:49:22Yes, MI9 helped prisoners of war escape during the war.
0:49:22 > 0:49:24I have to say, those sound awfully complicated
0:49:24 > 0:49:27and rather espionageful!
0:49:27 > 0:49:30These seem to be very ordinary and rather lovely things
0:49:30 > 0:49:31that we get on the Roadshow -
0:49:31 > 0:49:34the original objects come through all the time.
0:49:34 > 0:49:37Your family made all these games?
0:49:37 > 0:49:41Yes, these designs are all, effectively, life-size scale designs
0:49:41 > 0:49:44that the salesman would take around and meet people
0:49:44 > 0:49:47and then take an order and go back and make it actual sizes
0:49:47 > 0:49:49exactly as they are, so everything's life-size.
0:49:49 > 0:49:52And, of course, all these appear to have dates on them -
0:49:52 > 0:49:561877, 1878 - but, of course, they're not that date,
0:49:56 > 0:49:59they are the pattern numbers, aren't they?
0:49:59 > 0:50:02They're the pattern numbers, the number you'd write in the order book
0:50:02 > 0:50:04- when somebody wanted to order one. - That's as simple as that.
0:50:04 > 0:50:06So we're showing three pages here
0:50:06 > 0:50:10but you've got hundreds more inside here of these wonderful games.
0:50:10 > 0:50:14- Now, who invents them? Who makes these designs?- All the family.
0:50:14 > 0:50:17It was all...from eight generations of creativeness.
0:50:17 > 0:50:21This is all my grandfather, my great-great-grandfather and so on.
0:50:21 > 0:50:25Now, why are they kept in such horrible folders like this?
0:50:25 > 0:50:28They were put in this folder by my grandfather after the war
0:50:28 > 0:50:31- and they've been locked in a bank safe ever since.- Yes.
0:50:31 > 0:50:33So they've never really seen the light of day.
0:50:33 > 0:50:37- They've not been photographed?- No, no, no.- Or anything like that at all?
0:50:37 > 0:50:40Well, to start with, they really need proper protection.
0:50:40 > 0:50:42They need, probably, going to a restorer -
0:50:42 > 0:50:46somebody who's going to make sure that the oxidisation,
0:50:46 > 0:50:48which is obviously happening to them,
0:50:48 > 0:50:53and the brittleness of the edges of the pages is stopped.
0:50:53 > 0:50:57They then need putting in proper acid-free folders -
0:50:57 > 0:51:01Mylar folders, which are acid-free - and stored in that way.
0:51:01 > 0:51:05And this wonderful archive needs photographing, above all,
0:51:05 > 0:51:07so that others can enjoy it.
0:51:07 > 0:51:09I'm sure there's a grand history that can go with it.
0:51:09 > 0:51:11But we love to see these things
0:51:11 > 0:51:14and it is rare for an 18th-century company,
0:51:14 > 0:51:17established in the 18th century,
0:51:17 > 0:51:19to have anything like this now.
0:51:19 > 0:51:24And a direct bomb hit - well, that adds to their flavour, as it were.
0:51:24 > 0:51:26How can I value it? It's impossible.
0:51:26 > 0:51:29I mean, if I put £10,000 on them, is that enough?
0:51:30 > 0:51:32People have tried to...
0:51:32 > 0:51:35Or report that there's a picture of the original chess-set design,
0:51:35 > 0:51:38- people have tried to buy it for silly amounts of money.- Yes.
0:51:38 > 0:51:40I would imagine more than that.
0:51:40 > 0:51:43So they need archiving properly,
0:51:43 > 0:51:46they need photographing properly, we need a book on them.
0:51:46 > 0:51:48We need to see them properly written up.
0:51:48 > 0:51:52- We want to see it coming out in time for Christmas.- Absolutely!
0:51:54 > 0:51:56I've got to tell you
0:51:56 > 0:51:59that this is by far the most beautiful piece of silver
0:51:59 > 0:52:00I have seen all day.
0:52:00 > 0:52:05And I've seen some pretty good things. It is breathtakingly lovely.
0:52:05 > 0:52:08It's got these wonderful enamelled wisteria here.
0:52:08 > 0:52:10We turn it round,
0:52:10 > 0:52:13we've got Narcissus,
0:52:13 > 0:52:14we've got birds,
0:52:14 > 0:52:17all done in applied silver
0:52:17 > 0:52:20and lovely enamel - shaded enamel,
0:52:20 > 0:52:22so it gives it that softness.
0:52:22 > 0:52:23And then we come round,
0:52:23 > 0:52:25lovely clumps of irises here
0:52:25 > 0:52:28and then, most interestingly,
0:52:28 > 0:52:31we come to these three carp.
0:52:31 > 0:52:35But before we talk about those, have you any idea where it comes from?
0:52:35 > 0:52:38Well, I know it's been in our family for 40 years.
0:52:38 > 0:52:42My parents inherited it from a lady who was quite well travelled
0:52:42 > 0:52:45in the early part of the 1900s.
0:52:45 > 0:52:47But any more than that, no, we don't know.
0:52:47 > 0:52:50Well, if we turn it upside down...
0:52:52 > 0:52:55- ..it's got some marks that look eastern.- Yes.
0:52:55 > 0:52:58And a lot of people might think that they were Chinese
0:52:58 > 0:53:00but it's not - it's Japanese.
0:53:00 > 0:53:04And it's made about 1880, 1885.
0:53:04 > 0:53:08I've spoken to my colleague David Battie
0:53:08 > 0:53:10and he's looked at this mark
0:53:10 > 0:53:13and told me it's made by a company called Magayoshi.
0:53:15 > 0:53:17And I must admit, I'd never heard of them.
0:53:17 > 0:53:21But he was telling me that the carp...
0:53:21 > 0:53:24They are actually trying to jump up a waterfall
0:53:24 > 0:53:28- and they symbolise the struggle for improving yourself.- OK.
0:53:28 > 0:53:30So all very symbolic.
0:53:30 > 0:53:33So I presume, if you've inherited it,
0:53:33 > 0:53:37- you haven't the faintest idea what it's worth.- No.
0:53:37 > 0:53:39- It's worth £4,000 to £5,000.- Right!
0:53:39 > 0:53:41OK.
0:53:41 > 0:53:44Very good. Lovely. Not sure what I'm going to do with it now!
0:53:44 > 0:53:46THEY CHUCKLE
0:53:46 > 0:53:49No, it is just the top, top-quality work
0:53:49 > 0:53:52coming out of Japan at that period.
0:53:52 > 0:53:55And I think it is a sublime piece of silver
0:53:55 > 0:53:58and just something I really covet.
0:54:00 > 0:54:03Do you know that with jewellery,
0:54:03 > 0:54:06we can often tell the age of something
0:54:06 > 0:54:10not necessarily from the contents but from the box itself?
0:54:10 > 0:54:12That's something I didn't realise.
0:54:12 > 0:54:17I love jewellery boxes and this red leather box,
0:54:17 > 0:54:20which is a kind of kidney shape,
0:54:20 > 0:54:23- to me, looks Georgian.- Really?
0:54:23 > 0:54:24Yeah, looks Georgian.
0:54:24 > 0:54:28And, indeed, when you look inside it,
0:54:28 > 0:54:30it really just confirms for me
0:54:30 > 0:54:34what the contents are because, within the box...
0:54:34 > 0:54:37we have a garnet set.
0:54:39 > 0:54:44Now, this is a very comprehensive collection of jewellery.
0:54:44 > 0:54:48There is nothing missing at all.
0:54:48 > 0:54:52The quality and condition are A1.
0:54:54 > 0:54:57How on earth have you managed to keep it so impeccable?
0:54:59 > 0:55:04I've only worn it twice since I was given it,
0:55:04 > 0:55:06when I was still a teenager.
0:55:06 > 0:55:10And I wore it to a couple of dances
0:55:10 > 0:55:14and since then, having got married
0:55:14 > 0:55:17to a gentleman who doesn't enjoy dancing much,
0:55:17 > 0:55:18I haven't worn it since!
0:55:18 > 0:55:22Disappointing! Do you think it's a bit restrictive because of...
0:55:22 > 0:55:24- Oh, no!- No, so... - It's gorgeous to wear.
0:55:24 > 0:55:27It's so pretty on, it really is.
0:55:27 > 0:55:30But very floral and, I think, for a young girl
0:55:30 > 0:55:33- rather than an older person. - I love garnets.
0:55:33 > 0:55:36- January's birthstone, of course.- Oh, right.
0:55:36 > 0:55:40And the thing about the set is to see the beautiful way
0:55:40 > 0:55:42that the box displays it.
0:55:42 > 0:55:47Now, the garnets here are what is termed Pyrope.
0:55:47 > 0:55:49You have as follows...
0:55:49 > 0:55:55A garnet necklace of floriate clusters - little floral clusters.
0:55:55 > 0:55:57A garnet cruciform brooch.
0:55:57 > 0:56:00A circular garnet brooch.
0:56:00 > 0:56:03A pair of drops for the ears - drop earrings.
0:56:03 > 0:56:07And even a pair of bracelets.
0:56:07 > 0:56:11It is a totally complete set of garnet jewellery,
0:56:11 > 0:56:16mounted in gold, made in around about 1810, 1815.
0:56:17 > 0:56:19- So this is Georgian. - As early as that?
0:56:19 > 0:56:21As early as that.
0:56:21 > 0:56:25Georgian jewellery is very hot at the moment.
0:56:25 > 0:56:28Georgian pieces, whatever they are, everybody loves.
0:56:28 > 0:56:33There's a reappraisal of jewellery from the Georgian times
0:56:33 > 0:56:36because it's recognised for its purity
0:56:36 > 0:56:38and its sheer sense of beauty.
0:56:38 > 0:56:41Because of the fact you've got the set,
0:56:41 > 0:56:45because of the fact you've kept it in such fantastic condition,
0:56:45 > 0:56:46in the original box,
0:56:46 > 0:56:50with all the condition that it's in, it's worth...
0:56:50 > 0:56:52around £10,000.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55SHE GASPS I don't believe it!
0:56:57 > 0:57:01It's nothing like that on my household insurance!
0:57:01 > 0:57:04Don't forget, that's just what it will be to sell it.
0:57:04 > 0:57:08If you lost a set like that and went to a smart shop in London
0:57:08 > 0:57:12and replaced it, at least -
0:57:12 > 0:57:15at least - £15,000 to £20,000.
0:57:15 > 0:57:21- Good heavens above! I'm astounded! I am truly astounded.- It's wonderful.
0:57:25 > 0:57:27We've been so lucky here today -
0:57:27 > 0:57:31bathed in sunshine in the beautiful grounds of Polesden Lacey.
0:57:31 > 0:57:35And it would be about this time that the owner, Mrs Greville,
0:57:35 > 0:57:37would be getting ready to greet her guests
0:57:37 > 0:57:40who would have arrived for some fabulous party.
0:57:40 > 0:57:43Picture the scene - the guests would be gathered in the central hall
0:57:43 > 0:57:46with a drink in their hand, given to them by the butler,
0:57:46 > 0:57:49and Mrs Greville would be about to walk down the stairs.
0:57:49 > 0:57:52Just before that happened...
0:57:52 > 0:57:54the gramophone would be wound.
0:57:57 > 0:58:00And the latest tunes would be played. Noel Coward.
0:58:00 > 0:58:04And Mrs Greville would walk down the stairs and pause halfway down.
0:58:06 > 0:58:09That was a woman who knew how to make an entrance.
0:58:09 > 0:58:13From the Antiques Roadshow in Polesden Lacey, and Noel Coward,
0:58:13 > 0:58:15until next time, bye-bye.