Eastbourne Bandstand 2 Antiques Roadshow

When I was told we were filming at a bandstand, I was surprised,

as thousands of people come along to a Roadshow,

and there aren't many places

that can accommodate that number of people.

But today's venue is unique.

Welcome back to Eastbourne's seaside bandstand,

perched right here on the beach.

We're in a beautiful county here today - East Sussex,

a part of Britain that's been lovingly portrayed

by many artists.

And our experts are hoping they may find the work of one in particular -

a man whose paintings we've seen before on the Roadshow -

the 20th century artist and designer Eric Ravilious.

Today, we're in his home town.

Born in 1903, he may not be a household name,

but he's one of the most important English artists

of the inter-war years.

And in the Towner Gallery,

just a stone's throw from Eastbourne bandstand,

is the biggest collection of his works.

And this is what he's most famous for -

watercolours.

He wanted to reclaim the British tradition of watercolour landscapes,

which, by the 1930s,

had become rather old-fashioned and chocolate-boxy.

Look at this, for example - this rusted old horse-drawn bus.

Nothing chocolate-boxy about that.

And this is my particular favourite -

it's just about ten minutes from here.

It's a combination of graphic design

and art.

You can still see the pencil lines

where he's drawn this wonderfully sinuous river

snaking through the landscape.

And this kind of cross-hatching here.

That had never been done before in watercolour.

He was a real innovator.

It wasn't just in watercolours that Ravilious made his mark.

His beautiful, finely detailed wood engravings

helped revive block printing as an art form.

With the increasing use of photography,

it had more or less died out.

In fact, Ravilious was a great all-rounder.

He went on to design Wedgwood pottery, like this.

He also created murals,

glass and furniture,

advertising posters,

as well as lithographs for books.

His was a prolific career, but sadly cut short at the age of 39.

As a war artist, Ravilious was flying with the RAF in 1942,

when his plane was lost without trace

during a rescue mission in Iceland.

It makes you wonder -

what else could he have gone on to create if he'd survived?

Back in the bandstand, the crowds are gathering,

as our experts prepare for another busy day.

Remember, if you want to test your antiques knowledge,

why not play along with our valuation game?

You can do this via the red button on your remote control

or our app. Good luck!

Pots of all sizes - small and large - and an array of colours.

So, are you a collector?

No, not really.

It was an auntie of mine that died.

And she, I believe, got them from an uncle of her husband's.

-So he was the collector?

-Yes.

He collected antiques.

And when would he have been buying these and putting these together?

I was thinking it was...

Well, he was really, really old when I knew him.

And that was back in the '60s, '70s, so...

You know, would have been sort of...

-I don't know.

-Middle of the last century, maybe?

-Maybe, yeah.

-It's interesting,

because what he was actually putting together at that time

was a collection of art pottery, studio pottery,

by various makers.

But the interesting thing is, he will have been buying them at a time

when they were terribly unfashionable,

when people didn't want this kind of item.

And it's a little bit of a visionary thought to start buying this.

I've got to ask you - do you have a favourite amongst them?

-That one there.

-You like that one?

With the incised birds and the floral decoration.

Well, it's an interesting vase,

but, for me, out of the table,

there's one that stands out.

And it's that one.

-The dark blue vase.

-That's my least one!

-Your least favourite?

-Yes!

Why is it your least favourite?

Because...I'd imagine sort of...

ashes, people's ashes, in it!

-On the mantelpiece.

-We're thinking funereal!

-Yes!

-OK.

Well, what we have got, really if you look from all of this array,

this one stands out because, for me, who made it.

And if we turn it upside down,

underneath, we have one tell-tale little mark

impressed in there,

which is the initials WHT,

which stand for a gentleman called William Howson Taylor.

And William Howson Taylor was owner-operator

of one of the greatest Arts & Crafts manufacturers of pottery

at the beginning of the 20th century.

And that was the Ruskin Pottery Works.

He established the factory in 1898,

and ran it right through to about 1936.

But this piece is so early.

I actually think this piece dates from around 1898 to 1899,

when the factory was first up and running.

And that's what makes it important.

And that is what will set the collectors' pulses racing.

It's in a decorative glaze that we would call a souffle.

He was incredibly experimental with his glazes,

creating all kinds of different effects.

But this is a dark blue souffle glaze.

And do you know what, it's a great vase, it's a great shape

and it stands out from the rest.

The other vases here on the table range in price

from £20, £30

up to maybe £80 or £100.

But that, as an early piece

of Ruskin pottery from William Howson Taylor,

is going to realise with a collector

-somewhere in the region of £500 or £600.

-You're joking!

I don't joke about these things.

Crikey! I wasn't going to bring that - thought I'd just sling it in!

Well, I'm really glad that you did.

So, Beachy Head, quite local to here.

I used to walk over this

when my daughter was first born,

so about 34 years ago, I used to walk over this virtually every day.

What drew you to this poster?

Well, I'd seen a print in a shop,

and loved it,

and was talking about it with my parents

and they said, "I think we've actually got the original poster."

And it had been folded up in a bag

and was in a really bad condition.

It was all torn and holes,

and so I literally just had it restored.

Do you have any idea how your parents got the poster?

No, it's just sort of been in the family.

It goes back to my grandparents, possibly my great-grandparents,

but we don't really know who had it or why.

It was just, as I say, folded up in a bag of things,

so we don't really know.

It's by Allinson,

a very famous artist.

Very distinctive style.

And obviously "frequent electric trains",

-so it's going to be post-1948.

-Yes.

And he died in '59, so we can date it quite precisely.

But really interesting style. Great colours, and...

I mean, most people that collect posters

want earlier posters.

They want the Art Deco ones - they're the most popular.

But railway posters, of course, they've got their followers.

I just think the colours in this

-are magical.

-Yes.

-And you said, obviously you've had it restored.

-Yes.

Would you mind telling me how much that cost you?

-Around £300.

-Yes.

It's very well done. That's the good thing.

But we've got a restored poster.

It's not from the golden era of posters.

But it's by a very good artist.

And I think if this came up to auction,

-you would certainly get £800 for it.

-Gosh! Really?

That's lovely!

So, well done, parents, and well done, you!

Yeah, for keeping it, and doing something with it. So that's lovely.

When you came to my table,

you brought out a tissue. I thought you were going to blow your nose!

Instead, you unravelled the tissue

to bring out this beautiful brooch.

I was amazed!

So, tell me, how did you acquire this?

I was given it last year by my mother's cousin.

And I just wanted to know something about it, really.

-And have you worn it?

-No.

I'm very pleased to have it, but it's not really my taste.

Right. So, this is English, I would say.

Made in about 1905, 1910, that sort of period.

And what really catches my eye

is the rubies and diamonds.

And so often today,

we have rubies and sapphires in modern jewellery

that are heat-treated, that have all been heated,

and they all look quite uniform in colour. It's to enhance the colour,

which is permanent.

But back in the 1900s,

1910s,

they were the original colour,

and that is what I love about it,

is that you've got these rubies that are not uniformed in colour -

they've got character.

And I think, with coloured gemstones,

it's all about the character as well.

It's about the colour, it's about the intensity of the colour.

And these rubies, I would say,

have come from Burma.

That's where I think they've come from.

That's quite amazing, isn't it? All that way, 1900,

-how they got over here.

-Yes.

And they're all in this milgrain setting,

which is very typical of this period.

Milgrain setting is when you've got these tiny little, like, balls,

reeded balls, around each setting.

-And as it's in platinum...

-Oh?

-Yes, platinum.

-Oh, OK.

You're starting to like it a little more, I can see!

The piercing out of the designs here is so intricate.

One missed saw blade,

suddenly, you've ruined the piece.

And I'm going to turn it over,

because I think the back really does reveal...

I'll just take this pin out of the way here.

I mean, the back is stunning.

-Have you actually looked at the back?

-No.

-The back... You see how beautifully pierced out it is?

-Yes.

And that, to me, is just telling me that the craftsman

has really taken pride in making this piece,

and is also trying to make the diamonds and the rubies

sort of really suspend and have as little metal

around them as possible.

I think it's fabulous.

I think it really is fabulous. It's lovely.

Yes, I think it's fabulous too. I just might not wear it!

I definitely think you should.

But I think, at auction,

you'd be looking at around about

£7,000 to £9,000.

What?!

Really?!

Oh, my goodness! Really?

-That's amazing. Thank you.

-It's a beautiful piece.

Well, um...is this flotsam or is it jetsam?

This is my first ship!

Is it really?

Yea, and I'm bearing down on you now.

So tell me, where did you come by such a fantastic object?

On the south coast,

people love to put bits of shipwreck in their front gardens,

and this one was in the reject pile, so someone gave it to me.

But I had to have it. Look at that beautiful bronze fin.

I just had to have it.

It's a wonderful, wonderful bit of bow

of a vessel made perhaps 100 or 150 years ago.

And where you're standing is the front of the bow

and here we have the planks...

coming right to the front there, to form a V shape.

And this must have been at least 100ft long, this vessel.

Well, yes, it's certainly 19th century, if not older.

It's got the handmade bronze nails in it.

You know, it's a fantastic thing,

but really, to be honest, it's not the fact that it's part of a ship,

is what makes it so magnificent.

What we're looking at here is just a beautiful sculptural object.

-It is.

-Look what nature has made here.

You couldn't actually make something as fantastic as this.

-That's right.

-It's so sculptural

and, you know, the colours,

the way the bronze has gone into the wood on it,

it's just a superb, superb item.

So I take it you're a keen beachcomber?

Do you have many pieces of this stature?

I have a fleet of ships now.

Not as big as this!

OK!

But the beauty of this one is

that we know it was landed locally.

We think it comes from Newhaven,

maybe 30 or 40 years ago.

Well, I think certainly

people are generally missing a trick with these things.

You could see this in a lovely warehouse apartment

or in a gallery, beautifully lit,

on a lovely white wall.

I think...you know, what would somebody pay for this?

Personally, I could see it selling in a gallery for

£500 to £800, perhaps.

Something in that region.

Good grief! My wife said

it's only worth one bicycle parking space in the shed!

Well, I would disagree with her there.

HE CHUCKLES

I think I bought my first digital watch

in probably about 1972.

It was a Seiko and it was

a liquid crystal display.

Now, of course, this one pre-dates that.

Talk me through it.

Well, this particular watch I purchased with my first week's wages,

back in 1969.

At the time, I was earning £7,

and this was £3.

So it was half a week's wage back then.

So, I thought this was so amazing

that this first non-mechanical watch was available.

And I purchased it, because I was so... It was space-age!

You've had it from new in the original box,

-which is fantastic.

-Oh, yes.

-But is this still running?

-Oh, yes.

It's very simple.

There's just one button.

You push the button, and it just gave the time for a fraction of a second

and then went off.

They did that because they couldn't show it full-time,

because the battery wear was so great,

if you used it once a day for two weeks,

you'd flatten the battery.

So, you tended to...after the initial showing somebody,

you didn't want to use it.

So, Clive Sinclair, obviously quite an innovator.

I have a calculator of his at home

that was made for the Queen's Jubilee in 1977.

Lovely silver-fronted thing.

Again, that ran out of battery very, very quickly.

And I see you've got something else here as well.

This is his original product.

This is what he brought to the market when he first started.

This was an amazing micro-radio,

in kit form, that he produced.

And this was '67.

And he produced this.

And so I've never seen one originally in this condition,

because it came from my father-in-law,

and it was an electrical shop in Sydenham

and he used to sell these things in his shop.

It was old stock.

Wonderful - the original price, still in its packaging.

-What more could you ask?

-That's right.

And you managed to get a battery,

-you managed to get that back working.

-Yeah.

Gosh! I don't think it would equate to half your week's wages now.

Sadly, no.

But I'd still happily say that in its original box,

this is probably going to do,

I should think, £250 to a collector.

And there would be many people like yourself

who are very interested in early electronic things.

Now, I have to ask you,

do you have one of his C5s as well at home?

Well, quick story with that.

My wife's the only person who has actually had an accident with a C5.

The C5 ran into the back of our car.

So that's the only part that we've got with the C5!

But I nearly purchased one, because towards the end of it,

-they were selling them very cheaply.

-They were.

You could pick one up for £100 or something. I was tempted,

but after seeing these other products,

I thought, "No. It's a step too far."

Let him stick to the small stuff.

Anyway, it's great to see it

-and I love the condition.

-Thank you very much.

We have a most unusual circular-top, tripod-based table.

Now, what's your story behind this table?

We don't know very much about it at all.

It's certainly been in the family for over 100 years.

It came through my husband's family.

We don't know much about it.

It's a beautiful, decorative table,

but practically, it's not a great deal of use,

because if you try to put things on it, they wobble and spill.

Do they?

Well, you look at the surfaces.

Just dip it down...

Unless you're very careful

and make sure that things only go in the centre...

If you move something slightly,

-over it goes.

-Right.

OK, well,

there's a reason for these what we call compartments.

Yes.

And the reason is, it's called a supper table.

Right.

The big plates...the dish would go in the centre.

And the little plates would go around the edge.

-Right!

-So it's a supper table.

-And people come and collect their...

-They'll collect a plate,

take something from the bowl, and off they go.

Well, that's very interesting.

Once you know, it becomes quite obvious.

And then suddenly, it's fit for purpose. It works.

-Yes.

-But if you're trying to dine off it,

it doesn't work, does it?

No.

Made around about 1760.

Unfortunately, it has been re-carved

to imitate a Chippendale piece of furniture.

Originally, this table was just a plain circular table

and someone's thought,

"We'll make it into a more important piece of furniture,

"into a supper table."

So all this carving has been done later.

-Added later? Well, how amazing.

-It's clever.

Very clever.

But it hasn't enhanced the piece of furniture.

Has it detracted from it?

Well, to a certain market, it has.

To the collector, it's undermined it.

The American market,

they love this type of furniture.

-Because it's very ornate.

-It's very decorative.

-Yes.

When we look at the base,

and we look at the carving,

we can see that's a little bit flat as well.

If it was 18th-century carving,

it would be much more crisp

and the fluidity would be marvellous.

Would it indeed?

But nevertheless, it's a decorative piece of furniture,

it's 18th century, re-carved...

When do you suppose it was re-carved?

It could have been done in the Victorian times.

That would be totally acceptable to be done in Victorian times.

-But it's clever, because that's one piece of wood.

-Yes.

-It's amazing it's come out of a tree that size.

-Yes.

It's mahogany.

And because of what's happened to it,

it just has a decorative value

between £800 to £1,000.

Yes. Oh, well, that's a lot of money, isn't it?

But it will stay with the family,

because it's been with the family for such a very long time.

-Right.

-There it will remain, I hope.

I had a fairy godmother.

I was a florist at the time and she became a customer.

And I was the only one that had the patience to serve her!

And eventually we became very friendly

and she had told me about her past.

She was the daughter of a ship-owner

and she launched a ship.

I think it was the Cunard line.

And she was given, because of that,

a casket,

biggish casket, of silver.

And she kept it some years and hated it

so she sold it and she bought this.

And then she gave it to me later on.

It's a very nice item she bought with all of that chestful of silver.

If we turn it over, we see it is marked rather faintly

on the underside.

Atelier Hagenauer was the manufacturer of bronze,

so Austrian, Austrian bronze.

Beautifully hammered,

very realistically done.

I think this was inspired by an American-born actress and dancer,

and her name was Josephine Baker,

who took Paris by storm

in the 1920s and 1930s.

And famously, she did the banana dance

with the banana skirts.

And she was an African American dancer

and I think she is the inspiration behind the creation of this bronze,

which would date from around that time, around 1930s.

Yes, and that fits, actually,

because this fairy godmother, she did dance

-but she was a passionate devotee of Covent Garden.

-Was she?

-That would all actually tie in rather nicely.

-It fits.

It's a desirable item today.

I'm going to say that I think, if this came up for auction,

we would estimate it at between £2,000 to £3,000.

I did consult some colleagues,

and they actually think I'm being a bit conservative,

and it might make a little bit more.

-Yes. Oh, I'm pleased for her!

-Good.

So her silver loot was well spent.

Well spent, and nice to know she knows about her too.

-What a lovely, lovely thing, it really is.

-Thank you very much.

-My pleasure.

-Nice to have had it identified properly.

And which is your favourite?

-I've always liked this one.

-This one.

-It's very good, isn't it?

-Yes.

I think it's... Do you know what these two dots mean?

No idea.

Those on a Japanese object indicate that she's very beautiful.

Eyebrows which are miles too high!

I think she's probably supposed to be a character

called Okame, who is chubby-cheeked

and cheerful.

And although she's only got a single lid,

like the rest, she's an inro -

a little box or series of boxes

made over 300 years,

which the Japanese wore at the waistband

to contain medicines,

herbs, and in some cases, tobacco.

And probably this one was used for tobacco.

The Japanese smoked tobacco in very small quantities, tiny quantities,

which they put in a tiny bowl like that

with a long stem.

And they took one puff

and knocked it out, and then did another one.

-Oh!

-It dates from the mid-19th century.

Unusually, it's been carved on the back

with tassels on...

I think it's probably supposed to be a fan, actually.

And the netsuke

is of manju form,

which is rice cake.

And again, very nicely carved,

particularly nicely carved, this one.

That's going to be worth around

-£700 to £900.

-Oh, gosh!

Did you buy them?

No, they belonged to my uncle.

He gave me this one some years ago,

but these all arrived very badly packaged from Africa

just recently, because he lived over there

and he has recently died and left me these.

-Do you like them?

-Yes, I love them.

I've always liked them. I saw them as a child.

Now, we quite like this, don't we?

Yes, that's an interesting one because of the...

It's a two-case inro.

That is to say, one there, one there

and the lid.

That makes it a two-case.

Carved with a dragon on one side...

..and seal characters on the other.

It's actually great fun.

And I particularly like the netsuke, because we've got

the pod of a lotus...

..which has got the seeds

-popping out.

-Perfect, but they've no purpose.

They've no purpose - just a bit of amusement.

And if you think of the skill

of cutting that round

so that you've carved it all the way round

to let the seed pop out,

but NOT pop out...

-It's incredible. I didn't realise it was all made in one piece.

-Oh, yes.

That dates from around...

..1850, somewhere around there.

And that's worth

-£700 to £900.

-Oh, right!

This is the one that intrigues me.

Because it is not a material that is much used

for making inro.

-And that's ivory.

-Yes.

I thought it might be.

And this is a one...two...three...three-case inro,

which has been very finely

gilt and painted

with landscapes.

And they're really sort of in the Chinese style of painting

rather than the Japanese style of painting,

although it's Japanese.

That's, I think, slightly later.

We're probably looking at the early 20th century there.

But it's a nice thing.

Yes, it is.

-What's that?

-What's that, yes?

Well, you wouldn't know from that. It's apparently just a black blob.

But actually what it is is silver,

which has tarnished.

And that's the moon.

-Oh, I was going to say, is it the sun?

-Silvery moon.

That would make...

£3,000 to £5,000.

What?!

Oh, my God!

What's it worth overall?

I would have thought

that you are probably looking at

around £10,000 to £15,000 worth here.

Good heavens!

I had no idea!

-Good!

-No idea.

Well, it was an inheritance, actually.

-Yeah.

-So, wonderful.

We meet some remarkable characters

while recording the Antiques Roadshow.

Few have left such an impression as this man -

Colonel Oliver Keith.

We discovered he was here on a family outing

in rather moving circumstances.

I met his wife Gillian and daughter Serena to discover more.

We'll be talking to your father and your husband a little bit later on.

He's brought along, amongst other things, some lead soldiers

that I know Graham Lay wants to look at.

It's an unusual set of circumstances that have brought you here

to the Roadshow, isn't it?

It is. My father was diagnosed with cancer

and they decided to stop the chemotherapy

back in December.

Since then, we have taken a decision to go through his house

and start filming him ourselves

with some of his items,

to get a potted history,

not only for ourselves but also for his grandchildren,

so that as they grow up,

they can get to know their grandfather.

From that, we discovered some lead soldiers

and we discovered the history behind them.

We saw the Antiques Roadshow was coming to Eastbourne,

so we gave the researchers a call

and just asked them if they'd be interested

and to our shock, huge shock,

they said yes, they'd love to come and see them.

Well, honestly, we feel rather honoured

that this precious time you have left together,

that you've chosen to come and spend a day with us.

I was talking to you earlier on and you're wonderfully upbeat and jolly

and he's a great character. We've been having some laughs together.

How is he dealing with it all?

I think he's gone on for another day because he's meeting you!

It gave us another day to...

He's fine. He's a soldier.

He comes from a long military background

and that's how you do deal with it.

And he's just enjoying

whatever we do now. We're all very lucky.

Well, we're very lucky to have you here.

And we're so looking forward to meeting him later on.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Now, I really love these things.

Where did you get it?

It belonged to my late mother.

I don't know where she actually got it from,

-but I know it's been in the family for such a long time.

-How long?

I don't know. I just remember it from when I was very young.

Yes, well, obviously not since the 1920s, when I think it was done.

No, I don't think so!

-But you don't know who it's by, I suspect?

-No.

I don't know anything about it, really, at all.

The minute I saw it, I knew who it was by. He's such a cool chap.

He's called William Barribal,

and he's the inventor of the Barribal Girl,

as it became known, because he used to do posters

for the railways.

And in fact, recruitment posters for World War I at first.

He was classically trained as an artist,

went to the Academie Julian in Paris,

but came back and became one of Britain's

best commercial artists in the 1920s and between the wars.

He worked for Waddingtons

and produced a series of playing cards

with beautiful flapper girls on them.

With a very distinct style,

hence the Barribal Girl.

And she is a Barribal Girl.

Oh, right!

And I was wondering...because this picture has got a dedication -

"To Rene, from his pal Barrie".

That's William Barribal, and that's his signature underneath.

"Barribal", you can just see it.

I don't know. We don't have a Rene in the family.

Oh, I see.

So, William Barribal, fantastic artist.

Except it's not entirely the whole story.

You see, it is a William Barribal, no question of that,

but it's over a print.

It's over a print of his own picture.

So what he's done is he's picked out the figure

in body colour, in this white heightening

and this streak of light forming a gap in the curtains behind her,

and little dabs of red, here and here,

just focusing on the girl

in a very dramatic way.

Done by him, over a print of his own picture.

Why would he have done that?

Well, because I think perhaps

he might have wanted to give Rene a gift,

but didn't want to give Rene an original.

Something like that,

or perhaps was in a hurry, couldn't do it.

Something like that. You often do get that. Artists will do that.

They'll give them a print they've gone over, then dedicate it.

But I don't care. It's a Barribal.

And the fact that it's over a print,

well, it's still a Barribal

and it's one of the very nicest, funnest ones I've ever seen.

Don't you agree?

I love it. I love the dramatic background,

but also, it's very, very delicate

and I love the red that just brings it all together.

It's lovely.

These little sort of dabs of red give a real mystery to it,

and the fact that she's picked out in that white

means that she really stands out against this background.

-I think it's really dramatic and fun.

-Yes, it is.

I think it's worth between £800 and £1,200. About £1,000.

-Lovely!

-Worth every penny.

-Yes.

Do you know, I absolutely love pieces like this!

-OK.

-But where did you get it from?

It actually belongs to my wife's family.

Way back, I think it belongs to the great-grand-uncle

and then pass it on to the great-uncle

then to my wife's mum,

who is here,

and then to my wife, so we have it with us in the house.

Absolutely fascinating as a piece. Do you know how old it is?

Um, no clue. That is why we are here.

-We want to know the history of it.

-OK.

Well, actually, history is important here.

And I think social history is important,

because today, we're in the throwaway society.

Something's damaged, it gets thrown away.

But this is actually quite early.

The date of the ceramic part

is late 15th, early 16th century.

So...

when you think that is about 500 years old...

Not bad.

But when it was new,

which it was 500 years ago,

it was taller than this.

Ah!

And then, somebody's managed to drop it...

-OK.

-..damaged the top.

Of course, they wanted to keep it going.

So they trimmed it back

and put a silver mount on,

just to keep it going.

No marks on the silver mount, but that's quite usual.

It could be 16th, 17th century.

I love them.

But...despite the fact that the pot itself is about 500 years old,

it's actually worth very little money.

-Wow!

-Sorry about that!

That's...that's not the big issue.

The thing in there is the story

and the history behind it.

I'm so pleased you said that!

So...

What is it worth?

Well, if it was just the pot on its own,

er...£50.

But because it's got the silver mount,

this has actually come off better

than had it been in its original state.

It's now worth more.

And...we're looking probably £200, £250.

That's nice.

That's good, yeah.

That's good.

At least we know it is 500 years.

It's lived to that age

and we've got it with us.

When you think, they've just dug up the bones of Richard III.

And that's the sort of date we're looking at here.

Wow!

This is a lovely little collection of lead soldiers, lead figures.

Why have you brought them along?

I've brought them along because they've been in the family

since my grandfather collected them

in the early 1870s.

He was born in 1858

and he was the youngest of three brothers.

They were a Liverpool family

and he was the odd one out

in that he was mad keen about the Army.

Ever since he could sort of get off his mother's knee.

And he was obviously too young to join the Army.

He had an army of his own - lead soldiers.

-And this is the army - his army?

-Yes.

-What was his name?

-George.

This photograph here - this isn't him, is it?

That's George up there.

-Good grief!

-When he was in fact serving in South Africa.

Did he travel all over the world with his service?

Yes. He started his service in Burma.

He had two tours there.

A lot of the rest of the time he was in India,

up on the Northwest Frontier.

Did he take his army with him?

This is his personal army, isn't it?

He took the army with him, but what we don't know is how much,

because certain parts were left in Liverpool with his two brothers.

Would they send instructions to each other, the brothers?

Did they ever!

By letters.

Were they fighting any particular battles or any particular countries?

They were not fighting any particular battle in real life.

It was all on this make-believe land

of which he, George - Emperor George - ruled with a rod of iron.

And his two brothers were only ever promoted to be generals.

Bearing in mind he was the youngest of three sons.

As far as we know, they obeyed his instructions,

such as firing a 21-gun salute on their mother's birthday.

-What, with one of these cannons?

-Oh, yes.

I have to say, it looks like... If you look at this one, for example,

it looks like it's actually been fired.

Certainly that one has.

And I can tell you from experience, I have fired them.

That will disappear over there.

That will disappear in two bits.

And they are rather lethal.

Yes, I can imagine!

But how long ago was he playing with these?

Well, he would have started, I think, when he was about 14, 15.

So that would have been 18...

-1875, something like that?

-Yes, a bit before that.

Because in fact he got a competitive commission

in the Army, in the Royal Scots Fusiliers, in 1878.

You see, the thing that puzzles me

is that it's understood, as far as I'm aware,

that war gaming as a pastime

actually started at the beginning of the 20th century.

Now, here we have possible proof

that actually war gaming started,

maybe even with your grandfather,

25 years earlier than that.

You're correct,

because in his letters home,

he does mention

he took the bulk of the army out

on his first posting to Burma, to Rangoon,

where he shared a bungalow with the regimental surgeon

who was a bachelor

and indeed, they war-gamed.

They laid out on the floor of their living room

an enormous sort of canvas mat

and that was it.

Well, I think what is wonderful

is not just having your grandfather George's

model soldiers,

with which he played war games with his brothers

and other friends.

You've got the fascinating book

which describes how the war games took place.

You've also got - and this is what amazes me -

these fantastic photographs

of your grandfather.

So we can see the man himself

who actually played with these, I think,

wonderful little objects.

And you've got how many hundreds?

I would think altogether we've got about 1,000.

I've never actually counted them!

OK. Of actually very early figures.

Together with the book, together with the photograph

-and presumably a lot of other ephemera...

-Yes.

I would think we'd be looking in terms of

£3,000 to £5,000.

Yes.

It's a great little collection.

Thank you so much for bringing them along. It's been a pleasure.

So it's got everything you want from a miniature carriage clock

and I'm going to ask you first -

do you like it or do you think it's a bit twee?

It's very nice. I appreciate the artwork.

I think it's very well made.

But I know nothing about it at all.

-Do you have it working at home?

-No, I don't.

I don't know how to wind it up, and there's two ends to that key.

I'll explain it all later, but in the meantime,

I'll start by saying it's a lovely size. It's a miniature size.

It's got a very pretty dial,

it's got a beautifully cast case

and the obviously lovely thing about it

are the miniature panels on the sides of the clock.

-Now, they're actually painted on ivory.

-Wow!

She's in perfect condition.

And this one, she has a little crack,

but bar that, they've very, very pretty.

The dial is very typically circa 1900

with these beautiful floral reserves there.

And the mask is also engraved with foliage.

Super.

The case is cast

with little caryatid figures, that sort of half-human figures,

and then just going away to the bottom of the case

and looking lovely.

And the whole thing of course is cast in brass

and it's been gilded, so it's gilt brass.

And...

a lovely little clock like this SHOULD

have a maker's name. Have you ever looked inside?

I can't find a name. I can find a number, but no name.

A number but no name.

In there, about a quarter of the size of my little fingernail,

is a stamp which has a beehive on it.

And on the top it says "A and M"

and that is the factory stamp of Margaine,

who is a very fine maker of carriage clocks.

You mentioned it had a number and it does.

Underneath that little impressed mark is a number

and that number

is exactly the same as the number on the key.

So that's the original key to the clock.

-Have you the carrying case?

-I'm afraid I don't, no.

Because that lovely little case

probably would have been numbered as well,

so the whole thing would have been en suite.

-Yes.

-But it's gorgeous.

And you really don't know how to wind it up?

No, and I'm also worried about over-winding it.

Difficult to over-wind,

because you're not going to put too much vigour into the winding of it.

So the fat end of the key goes on that square there

to wind the clock up.

And then the thin end of the key

goes on this hand-setting bit here,

which says "aiguilles", which is the French for hand-set,

-but only ever turn the hand in the direction of the arrow.

-OK.

So that's the point of the double-ended key.

So...well, let me tell you

that it is, of its type, it's top of the range.

It's a beautiful little clock

by a very good maker.

Numbered key.

The sort of thing collectors love.

Price at auction

is going to be in the region of

£3,000 to £4,000.

Good heavens!

-Gosh!

-And by the time it's done up,

in other words, cleaned and overhauled,

maybe have that little crack in the ivory sorted out,

-it certainly would be retailing for about £6,000.

-Good heavens!

Thank you.

It's difficult to imagine how revolutionary

this vase must have looked to the eyes of people in late 1930,

early 1931,

when this Clarice Cliff piece was made.

Can you tell me what you know about it?

Well, it was my grandmother's.

She lived in Bethnal Green in East London,

and a friend had given it to her.

Someone who lived there as well.

And so it's just always been in the family.

But she never really valued it - she just put her sweet papers in it!

So it was never really anything of importance.

-It was just something we all liked.

-Something you lived with.

Yeah, and we've all bid for through the generations.

Have you ever been tempted to find how much it might be worth?

I did, actually. Last year, I took it to a local valuation.

And they would have offered me £1,000 for it.

So that just gave me the inclination that perhaps it was worth something.

So we've put it high up on the bookcase, behind the books,

just so it's safe!

OK. Well, it's a Clarice Cliff vase.

The factory name for the shape

is a twin-handled lotus jug.

And it's decorated with the Lugano pattern.

I'll just turn it round.

Really, really wonderful bright colours.

It's from a range called the Applique range.

And the Applique range

is called that because of the technique

that was used to decorate the piece.

And that was done using Indian ink.

They outlined the design in Indian ink.

They then applied the colour,

and then in the heat of the kiln, the Indian ink burnt away

and that gave them a really nice clean, sharp edge.

And it's a difficult technique

and it meant that the vase was really quite an expensive vase.

And as a result, not many of them sold.

It is actually a very, very rare

-Clarice Cliff vase.

-Oh, right.

This is only the fourth example

that's been recorded with a blue sky like this.

They come with a blue sky, sometimes an orange sky.

This is only the fourth example with a blue sky.

Right.

I have just noticed,

rather unfortunately, there's a fine hair crack.

And it makes me wonder

if you ought to have accepted that offer of £1,000.

I don't think so, because it's part of our family now.

We're used to seeing it and used to just telling everyone to be careful,

you know, don't jump on the floorboards,

because it makes things rattle and it could fall off.

I don't think so. I don't think I regret that.

No, OK.

Well, I don't think you should regret it.

Because I think it's worth five...

£5,000?!

..to £7,000.

Oh, my God!

Oh!

I've got to get it home!

Well, the first thing I notice about this

is this enormous crack across the front.

-Have you been rather careless with your antiques?

-No.

He came into our house in 1943, apparently.

And he was found on the back seat of my father's car

from when he was in London.

Apparently had a huge air raid on

and this little man arrived through the back window of the car.

-Catapulted out of someone's house?

-Out of a building.

Catapulted out of a building and into Father's car,

so he said, "You've broken the window. I'm taking you home."

And he's lived with us ever since.

But it wasn't until the other day we looked at the back of it

and we found it was...

-A little bit older.

-A little bit older than I thought it was.

I can tell you that it is made out of wax.

It's a wax relief,

rather like a wax silhouette,

although it's a little bit more three-dimensional

than the wax silhouettes that we see.

The unusual thing about it

is that it isn't George III or a member of royalty.

He's not a politician.

And of course you could commission a wax relief like this

of yourself, but you'd have to have a bit of money.

You'd have to be reasonably rich.

And he, to me, looks like a working man.

Yes, I agree.

Shirt sleeves rolled up, pipe in hand.

Let's look at the back.

-This is what you were talking about.

-This is what I'm interested in.

Well, it tells us a bit about him.

He is Mr William Hoyle.

Born March the 20th, 17...something.

"Monday morning, about half past 11 o'clock."

Pretty old English!

It's not much of a claim to fame, is it?

So we're still really none the wiser.

"He worked at the Brown's factory

"from the year 1787."

One way and another,

I think I've raised more questions than answering them.

But perhaps one thing I can tell you

is what I think it's worth.

Oh, yes!

That'd be nice.

Well, I think it's worth around £300 to £400.

That's very nice indeed. Thank you.

Now, when it comes to half-dolls,

there are half-dolls and there are half-dolls.

And there are a number of factors that we have to consider,

-and I'm pleased to say that yours are ticking all the boxes.

-Yes.

Number one, first and foremost,

their arms are free from their body,

meaning that they are more complicated to manufacture.

Number two, they are the epitome of their fashion,

with wonderful smoky-eyed make-up,

beautiful fashionable cloche hats and bonnets.

And number three, they are all holding things in their hands,

from a powder box to a little bouquet of flowers

-to a hand mirror.

-Yes.

All of these factors add up

to make your half-dolls really right up there in the best that there are.

So, where did you acquire these?

-Where were these bought?

-I bought them in Amsterdam in about the 1970s.

-Do you remember what you paid for them at the time?

-Yes.

In guilders, the equivalent, about £45 each.

There are many makers. All kinds of factories made these,

from Heubach to Schneider to Ernst Bohne & Sohne.

So in terms of the factories,

they're sometimes difficult to identify.

Are these all different makers?

These are certainly all German.

I think the two on the outside are probably the same factory,

with a separate factory in the centre.

But they are all so much of their period,

so much of their style.

And I think you've got to look in terms of value

that they're going to have increased quite considerably

from your £45.

If you think they were £45 each originally,

you are now looking at your half-dolls being worth

£500 to £600.

For the three of them? That's amazing.

No, not for the three - each.

That's nice to know.

-You're looking at the best part of £1,500 to £2,000.

-Really?!

Gosh, fantastic. I'm pleased to hear that. Thank you.

I came to Eastbourne today to the Roadshow

really hoping to see an Eric Ravilious.

The big local artist who lived in Eastbourne.

But here

we've got two woodblocks

by another Eric - Eric Slater,

who I know is a local artist.

-He lived in Seaford, didn't he?

-He did indeed.

-Studied at Hastings.

-Yes.

And produced these wonderful woodblocks.

Got a lovely 1920s, 1930s feel to them.

And local views.

Have you always been interested in him?

My interest started when I was left a painting by my uncle,

which is this one here.

Um, and...

I didn't know about Eric Slater, and I didn't even know

about woodblocks,

but I was moving to Seaford some years ago.

I've now found out the way the pictures were put together

and I'm just absolutely fascinated by it -

the clouds, the colours and the perspective.

With all these different colours,

of course this represents a different colour for each woodblock,

so he'd have to carve out each block

and with the definition on the sky and the boat,

and then have to place the block on the paper

at different times to get the colours.

And to get that all lined up is just extraordinary.

-Absolutely amazing.

-And a lot of work.

And what I like - here we have a view of the entrance,

which I'm pretty sure is Newhaven harbour.

I think it must be.

And called Morning Calm.

And this to me is so evocative of the 1920s,

'30s print-making.

And today, this is very much in vogue.

The top one here, which is the coastguard station,

-that's Cuckmere Haven on the top, isn't it?

-It is.

I think that's lovely. Absolutely lovely.

-And the two figures there.

-Yes.

And he's basically signed them here, Eric Slater,

and you've got the title.

And they would have been done in an edition,

-and I think the edition is about 50 each, isn't it?

-I believe so.

Well, do you know, this is the sort of thing

if I was collecting today

would be collecting for the future.

Because he doesn't make a huge amount of money,

but that doesn't matter.

-There's a lot of work that's gone into these.

-Indeed so.

And you'd probably pick these up for

-I would think maximum £300 or £400 each.

-Yes.

-So, really lovely.

-Yes.

And it's just wonderful to have two great local scenes

of the entrance to Newhaven and Cuckmere Haven

-in this fantastic backdrop.

-Yes.

-With the sun shining.

-And the sun shining as well.

So, beside the seaside, beside the sea,

with three jewels, or is it two?

I think they're two.

Tell me about it.

Because this diamond

used to be in this ring.

And it was left to my daughter

by my mother-in-law.

And she's got very narrow, very small, beautiful fingers

and she couldn't wear that one.

-No.

-So we thought it's better to use it

so she can wear it.

-We haven't damaged anything.

-No.

We've just taken out, very carefully,

and made it into a ring to fit her.

-And then I put that one in.

-Yes.

Just to have something, and I kept the original box.

-Very, very sensible.

-So it's actually two.

Two jewels. That's what I suspected.

Yes, it is, absolutely.

But they both have got very, very interesting histories.

-I think I want to deal with this one first.

-That one belonged

to my other daughter, from my mother-in-law again.

Yes, and it's perfectly obvious it's by Boucheron.

So who bought it at Boucheron?

I don't know. My mother-in-law was born and brought up in France,

by Greek origin,

and then she married my father-in-law in 1925, 1924

and she came to England.

So they often went to Paris,

so it could have been my father-in-law or her father.

Well, I think it probably dates from her time in Paris

and she was clearly a very discriminating buyer,

because Boucheron is one of the most famous firms in the world

for making jewellery, in tandem with Cartier and Faberge.

And so it's the highest possible level of craftsmanship

and here we see it.

This is a plaque of jade,

mounted in platinum,

with a sort of stylised ribbon behind in sapphires and diamonds.

But this is superbly tight work,

very meticulous, very shrill pitch of perfection indeed.

And the disc of jade

actually anticipates the Art Deco period,

where there was a sort of whiff of the orient

brought in to a rather geometric style.

And I suspect this is just a hint before that breaks out, really.

Maybe 1920 that this was made.

And then, by 1925, 1927,

things had got much more sort of geometric and robust.

And that brings us on to this ring,

which is actually a really beautiful expression of the Art Deco period,

and in fact, it's a pulse-making object, really.

It looks so modest.

It is made of rock crystal, which is nothing to do with glass at all.

-I didn't know that.

-And it's a stone.

And it's lapidary work,

and it's cut... It looks almost a machine-age object, doesn't it?

Yes, it does. I thought it was plastic!

Well, that's good.

Well, it most certainly isn't. It's ice-cold, water-white rock crystal.

And it looks like sort of Fernand Leger,

the painter Fernand Leger,

the sort of machine age of jewellery.

And that's all terribly relevant,

because it's retailed by Rene Boivin,

who is another very famous French jeweller,

but famous also because they had a designer there

who is becoming the absolute focus of interest in jewellery,

called Suzanne Belperron

and she was a manufacturer and a designer for Boivin

and then went out and made her own reputation on her own,

and I don't think there's a shadow of doubt

that this is actually designed for Boivin by Belperron

to accommodate this not insubstantial diamond.

-Yes.

-So you'd have a water-white rock crystal Art Deco ring

with a water-white diamond in the middle,

an older-cut diamond,

-and it's sort of an essay in colourless-ness, isn't it?

-Yes.

And the return of light and scintillation...

Two stones - one valuable,

one perhaps not valuable, but decorative.

And these are astonishing evocations

of Parisian glamour, aren't they?

-Yes.

-They are.

And it's exactly what people want today.

And with want comes dizzy value.

-Yes.

-And I think that this Boucheron brooch here,

made of actually tiny, tiny sapphires and diamonds,

and jade of no particular value,

is nudging

-£18,000.

-What?!

Ooh!

Yes.

But that's not the end of it.

Oh!

-Because the diamond here...

-Yes?

..intrinsically is worth

another dazzling £15,000.

Ooh!

And it was jolly fortunate that you kept the original context of it.

You were very careful to have done that.

And I'm going to sigh a breath of relief,

because this is a very, very exciting moment indeed.

You do have something

that is the centre of jewellery collecting at the moment.

People want this jewellery,

this colourless Art Deco statement, more than you can ever imagine.

And so I think,

if you were to put that diamond back in there,

that a value of something like

£55,000 to £60,000 would be appropriate.

Yes.

Ah!

Hmm. Ouch!

BOTH LAUGH

After over 30 years in the world of jewellery,

it takes a lot to get Geoffrey Munn excited,

but that proved a real pulse-raising moment for him

and for us.

We were rather hoping today

that we might see some work by the local artist Eric Ravilious.

Remember we saw his paintings at the top of the programme.

Well, we nearly got there.

What about those lovely images by another local artist,

another Eric - Eric Slater.

And how fitting to see them here in Eastbourne.

From the bandstand and the whole Roadshow team,

until next time, goodbye.

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