0:00:08 > 0:00:10Today we return to an estate in Yorkshire
0:00:10 > 0:00:13which is home not only to the ruins of Fountains Abbey,
0:00:13 > 0:00:17but also to a unique 18th-century water garden.
0:00:17 > 0:00:19The two were brought together in the 1760s
0:00:19 > 0:00:23and, since then, have been awarded the highest accolade -
0:00:23 > 0:00:25that of World Heritage Site.
0:00:25 > 0:00:26Welcome back to the Antiques Roadshow
0:00:26 > 0:00:30from the Fountains Abbey Estate near Ripon, in North Yorkshire.
0:00:31 > 0:00:32BELL RINGS
0:00:34 > 0:00:35BIRDSONG
0:01:12 > 0:01:13This is the fabulous view
0:01:13 > 0:01:16that wealthy Georgians would travel to see
0:01:16 > 0:01:18on a well-trodden tourist trail.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21The ruins of Fountains Abbey and the Water Gardens,
0:01:21 > 0:01:23designed by John Aislabie.
0:01:23 > 0:01:27At least, he spent the latter part of his life creating these gardens.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30Before that, back in 1695, he was the local MP for Ripon,
0:01:30 > 0:01:32and then Chancellor of the Exchequer.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39In 1721, disaster struck his career.
0:01:39 > 0:01:42He was expelled from Parliament, imprisoned in the Tower of London
0:01:42 > 0:01:45and disqualified for life from public office,
0:01:45 > 0:01:50all because of his part in the South Sea Bubble financial scandal.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58Within the walls of his prison cell in the Tower of London,
0:01:58 > 0:02:01John Aislabie found his own way of escaping -
0:02:01 > 0:02:05he spent his time dreaming of plans for a garden,
0:02:05 > 0:02:07and when he was released, he returned to Yorkshire and spent
0:02:07 > 0:02:12the rest of his life devoted to creating Studley Royal Water Garden.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18He consulted an architect, a water engineer, master masons
0:02:18 > 0:02:22and gardeners, and employed hundreds of local men from nearby Ripon,
0:02:22 > 0:02:25who dug and built the garden using the River Skell,
0:02:25 > 0:02:28to feed the canals, cascades and ponds.
0:02:28 > 0:02:30But it was John Aislabie's ideas
0:02:30 > 0:02:34and passion that created this amazing water garden.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39John Aislabie wanted to provide his visitors with one surprise
0:02:39 > 0:02:43after another so, at every twist and turn, there would be
0:02:43 > 0:02:49a strategically placed folly, or a cleverly engineered vista,
0:02:49 > 0:02:53providing his visitors with a place to stop, pause,
0:02:53 > 0:02:54and admire the scenery.
0:02:55 > 0:02:56Look at that.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05'And to give his guests a gentle fright,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08'they were encouraged into the serpentine tunnel.'
0:03:08 > 0:03:09I can't see a thing!
0:03:11 > 0:03:13Phew!
0:03:13 > 0:03:14Oh!
0:03:14 > 0:03:16I won't be doing that again in a hurry.
0:03:20 > 0:03:23And just upstream from the water gardens is Fountains Abbey,
0:03:23 > 0:03:26where people are gathering for today's Antiques Roadshow.
0:03:28 > 0:03:29Well, let's hope there are no frights,
0:03:29 > 0:03:33but lots of surprises in store for our visitors and our experts here
0:03:33 > 0:03:35in the gorgeous ruins of Fountains Abbey.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38And who knows? You might be in for a surprise yourself
0:03:38 > 0:03:39if you play along with our valuation game.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43Test your skills, press red on your remote control, or go to
0:03:43 > 0:03:48bbc.co.uk/antiquesroadshow on your computer or on your smartphone.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56What a glorious summer's day we're having here in Fountains Abbey.
0:03:56 > 0:03:57We're so lucky.
0:03:57 > 0:04:00And you came to my table and you put this in front of me
0:04:00 > 0:04:03and you said, "I reckon I've been sold a pup."
0:04:04 > 0:04:09Well, I was suspicious that I might have been sold a pup.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12I wasn't quite sure.
0:04:12 > 0:04:16I bought it as a Victorian...
0:04:16 > 0:04:20gold and diamond and amethyst brooch,
0:04:20 > 0:04:25but since then I've thought - this is quite bling-bling.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28Is it maybe a bit too good to be true?
0:04:28 > 0:04:31And why were you in the shop buying this?
0:04:31 > 0:04:36Well, my stepfather sold the farm that I grew up on -
0:04:36 > 0:04:41for which he's never been forgiven - and I had some cows of my own
0:04:41 > 0:04:45and, of course, they all went in the auction, and I thought I would
0:04:45 > 0:04:50spend the money on something that couldn't be frittered away.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54So I thought I would buy a piece of jewellery
0:04:54 > 0:04:57and I'm just wondering whether it was a good purchase,
0:04:57 > 0:05:00or whether I was sold a pup all those years ago.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02Now, how many cows did you sell?
0:05:02 > 0:05:07Well, there were eight altogether, but this is worth six cows worth.
0:05:07 > 0:05:08Six cows worth...
0:05:09 > 0:05:12- ..40 years ago.- Yes.
0:05:12 > 0:05:16This cost £285 which was an awful lot of money at the time.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18That's an awful lot of money.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22Well, rest assured that these are sparkling really well,
0:05:22 > 0:05:24because they are diamonds.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26Good.
0:05:26 > 0:05:31And the amethyst is a lovely colour amethyst.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33You know you can get amethysts that are pale in colour
0:05:33 > 0:05:37and they go all the way down to a deep, dark violet colour.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40And this has got this wonderful richness about it,
0:05:40 > 0:05:42this wonderful rich quality.
0:05:42 > 0:05:45The diamonds are cushion-shaped diamonds.
0:05:45 > 0:05:46Why they're so bright is
0:05:46 > 0:05:49because they've got very little inclusions inside.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53The date of this brooch is about 1850, it's sort of mid-Victorian.
0:05:53 > 0:05:58- Good.- This is...all this beautiful, scrolled, embossed work, in gold.
0:05:58 > 0:06:00So, the value, the value of six cows...
0:06:00 > 0:06:02Well, they've gone up a bit since then.
0:06:02 > 0:06:04Have they gone up a bit?
0:06:04 > 0:06:06Well, your brooch has also gone up a bit since then too.
0:06:06 > 0:06:10I would say that if you were to sell this at auction...
0:06:10 > 0:06:14It would be in the region of around about £3,000.
0:06:14 > 0:06:15SHE GULPS
0:06:17 > 0:06:19Well, that's a relief!
0:06:21 > 0:06:24- Thank you.- So all those beautiful cows you had,
0:06:24 > 0:06:27you know that they've all gone into this brooch and enjoy wearing it.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29Thank you.
0:06:34 > 0:06:39It's wonderful to see a child's book with child's illustrations in it,
0:06:39 > 0:06:43but in this condition, and for this date, 1879.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47"Juvenile Sketches by Robert Lowndes Aspinall and
0:06:47 > 0:06:50"Augusta Isabel Aspinall, intended
0:06:50 > 0:06:52"for their Aunt Bessie Aspinall."
0:06:52 > 0:06:54Do we know anything about them? Where do they come from?
0:06:54 > 0:06:57Yes, they lived in Chelsea, London.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00- Yes.- They were obviously a well-to-do family
0:07:00 > 0:07:05cos in the 1871 and 1881 census,
0:07:05 > 0:07:09- they had eight servants in each... - Good heavens!
0:07:09 > 0:07:12- ..in each census. - And you looked up these...?
0:07:12 > 0:07:18Yes, I found it and on top of that, when their mother was widowed,
0:07:18 > 0:07:20she moved to Folkestone where
0:07:20 > 0:07:23- Bertie - Robert - went to boarding school.- Yes.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27- And she even had seven servants in the house then.- In Folkestone?
0:07:27 > 0:07:29- Yes. - Which was the cheaper place to go.
0:07:29 > 0:07:32Chelsea - well, Chelsea wasn't very fashionable in those days.
0:07:32 > 0:07:33Ah, right.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37But here we are, look, this is a wonderful one of a cricket match.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40Look at this, all these stick people but they are really quite,
0:07:40 > 0:07:42quite remarkable, aren't they?
0:07:42 > 0:07:46All the carriages here, and the runners there,
0:07:46 > 0:07:49and the lady painting on the boundary.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51Goodness me, I hadn't even noticed that.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53She was the long stop obviously.
0:07:53 > 0:07:54Right.
0:07:54 > 0:07:57Or could she be...? Oh, and the couple down here, a couple,
0:07:57 > 0:08:01they're boxing, there's a fight going on down there.
0:08:01 > 0:08:03This is a child's imagination. How old were they?
0:08:03 > 0:08:06- Do you know how old they were? - Yes, yes, Robert was ten,
0:08:06 > 0:08:09and his older sister was 13.
0:08:09 > 0:08:13Yes. Oh, now, look at this one, by Augusta, this is at the zoo.
0:08:13 > 0:08:16Zoological Gardens - this must be in Regent's Park.
0:08:16 > 0:08:17I presume so.
0:08:17 > 0:08:22They've got a camel and a zebra here, parrots...
0:08:23 > 0:08:25..a flamingo,
0:08:25 > 0:08:30- a little baby trying to feed itself to the lions.- Yes.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33All the family is going out, this is absolutely wonderful,
0:08:33 > 0:08:38all in their dress, in this slightly primitive, but absolutely exact.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40You can...it's almost a diary of a nobody.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43We rarely ever see this sort of thing pictorially
0:08:43 > 0:08:46and for it to have survived, as I say, is quite remarkable.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51But going on from that, this is one I rather like.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54I suppose I like it because of the good colour in it.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56This is an enormous drawing room,
0:08:56 > 0:08:58and there they all are,
0:08:58 > 0:09:01there's the tea and all the buns on it.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04This one's the vicar, he looks as though he's got indigestion,
0:09:04 > 0:09:07and wonderful gossip going on in this corner.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09Two ladies in the height of fashion there.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11This is the sort of thing you just don't see.
0:09:11 > 0:09:16We see pictures of interiors in all the ladies' magazines, and all
0:09:16 > 0:09:19that sort of thing, but nothing like this, from the eyes of a child.
0:09:19 > 0:09:20So...
0:09:20 > 0:09:22you collected this, you bought it?
0:09:22 > 0:09:24In 1970.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27Why did you buy it? What attracted you?
0:09:27 > 0:09:30The fact that it was 35 children's illustrations
0:09:30 > 0:09:32of life in London at the time.
0:09:32 > 0:09:34Which is virtually unknown.
0:09:34 > 0:09:35Yes, absolutely.
0:09:35 > 0:09:37You'd never seen anything like it.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39Well, I haven't seen anything like it,
0:09:39 > 0:09:41and neither has the Museum of Childhood.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44I mean, if you saw that on the market now, how much would you pay for it?
0:09:44 > 0:09:50I think somewhere in the region of £2,000... More likely.
0:09:50 > 0:09:53It's a fabulous collection, thank you for bringing it in.
0:09:55 > 0:09:58So, a rather exotic-looking table in Yorkshire.
0:09:58 > 0:09:59Where does it come from?
0:09:59 > 0:10:06Well, my grandma bought it from the Hutton sale in Marske Hall in 1947.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09Marske Hall being a big property?
0:10:09 > 0:10:12Yes, it was, owned by the Hutton family.
0:10:12 > 0:10:14OK, and do you know how much she paid for it?
0:10:14 > 0:10:15£5.
0:10:15 > 0:10:17She must have liked it.
0:10:17 > 0:10:19Well, she didn't actually buy it, her mother did.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23She was at work and she wanted a coffee table from this sale.
0:10:23 > 0:10:28- Yes.- And they went for far too much, she said about £7 or £8 then.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30And this happened to be in the back room,
0:10:30 > 0:10:32it wasn't catalogued or anything,
0:10:32 > 0:10:34at the end of the sale it was brought in
0:10:34 > 0:10:37and she got it then.
0:10:37 > 0:10:38So it was extra to the catalogue.
0:10:38 > 0:10:40Yes, it was, they didn't know it was there...
0:10:40 > 0:10:43Oh, that was one of the great gems of going to house sales
0:10:43 > 0:10:47in the old days, that they just fished stuff out they hadn't spotted
0:10:47 > 0:10:50for the catalogue, and the reason I'm talking to you about this
0:10:50 > 0:10:54is it's got a stonking great big piece of porcelain in the middle.
0:10:54 > 0:10:56You've had a look at this porcelain obviously over
0:10:56 > 0:10:59- several cups of tea over your young years.- Yes.
0:10:59 > 0:11:01What conclusions have you come to?
0:11:01 > 0:11:04Well, I've always thought it was Chinese but, um...
0:11:05 > 0:11:07Yes, well, it is, it is Chinese.
0:11:07 > 0:11:09If you look all the way around,
0:11:09 > 0:11:12you can see the way the glaze runs to the edge.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14That is the original edge surface,
0:11:14 > 0:11:17this has not actually been cut out of anything else.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21This piece of porcelain was designed to do what it is doing,
0:11:21 > 0:11:25which is to go into the middle of a piece of furniture.
0:11:25 > 0:11:26Do you use it?
0:11:26 > 0:11:29Well, Grandma uses it as a table, as she has her newspapers
0:11:29 > 0:11:32and her glasses, you know, for cups of tea, it will sit there.
0:11:32 > 0:11:34Cups of tea? Well, I think that's exactly what it was
0:11:34 > 0:11:38used for in the mid-19th century. It dates to around...
0:11:38 > 0:11:391850.
0:11:39 > 0:11:43You've got images of couples and families out of doors...
0:11:44 > 0:11:49..enjoying themselves, playing games, drinking...
0:11:49 > 0:11:51looking at texts...
0:11:53 > 0:11:56..about to play musical instruments...
0:11:58 > 0:12:02..playing the Chinese game of Go, Chinese chequers.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04And all this beautifully painted,
0:12:04 > 0:12:09so that as a piece of porcelain is actually rather a fine work.
0:12:09 > 0:12:11Five pounds. Well...
0:12:12 > 0:12:15..if you were going to buy one of these today,
0:12:15 > 0:12:18I think you would have to shell out somewhere between
0:12:18 > 0:12:20£2,000 and £4,000.
0:12:20 > 0:12:21Very good, excellent.
0:12:23 > 0:12:24Grandma will be pleased.
0:12:27 > 0:12:30As a First World War enthusiast, I know all about Blues,
0:12:30 > 0:12:32you know, the uniform worn by
0:12:32 > 0:12:34people convalescing, wounded people,
0:12:34 > 0:12:37- back in Britain in hospitals.- Yes.
0:12:37 > 0:12:39I don't know that I've ever seen
0:12:39 > 0:12:41an actual Blues jacket.
0:12:41 > 0:12:43They're quite rare, aren't they?
0:12:43 > 0:12:47They are rare and the thing with this jacket
0:12:47 > 0:12:51- is it's a World War Two. - That's extraordinary because...
0:12:51 > 0:12:53the First World War, there were lots of reasons -
0:12:53 > 0:12:57if people walked about in civvies they were accused of being cowards,
0:12:57 > 0:13:01their uniforms were probably torn to pieces and, therefore,
0:13:01 > 0:13:02they were given a uniform,
0:13:02 > 0:13:05so although wounded, they were still in uniform.
0:13:05 > 0:13:07- Yes.- That was the key to it.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09Come the Second World War, all that's become meaningless.
0:13:09 > 0:13:10Um...
0:13:10 > 0:13:13I've never seen - as I say - certainly a Second World War one.
0:13:13 > 0:13:18They weren't used - or only at the very beginning, if at all.
0:13:18 > 0:13:19We have to say how we know -
0:13:19 > 0:13:22and it's very simple - inside there's a label dated 1940.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25- 1940.- You know, a War Department label, so there's no doubt,
0:13:25 > 0:13:29- this is a Second World War Blues uniform.- Blues uniform, yeah.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32And I think what happened was they probably had old stocks
0:13:32 > 0:13:34or they carried on making them to the pattern,
0:13:34 > 0:13:36they thought it was going to be the same,
0:13:36 > 0:13:38and they quickly realised it wasn't.
0:13:38 > 0:13:41- Wasn't, no. - Because by 1940 - the early part -
0:13:41 > 0:13:45there weren't thousands of wounded coming back anyway.
0:13:45 > 0:13:48I'm sure an enthusiast who wanted such a thing,
0:13:48 > 0:13:53will never find another, and therefore what would they pay?
0:13:53 > 0:13:56£50, £100, £200 for it - it's in that range.
0:13:56 > 0:13:58It's got to be somewhere in that range, yes.
0:13:58 > 0:14:00- Thank you very much.- You're quite welcome.
0:14:00 > 0:14:03Lovely to touch something I never thought I'd get hold of.
0:14:06 > 0:14:07It's an odd group of objects
0:14:07 > 0:14:10and I know the viewers at home will be thinking - what's the connection?
0:14:10 > 0:14:12- But there is one, isn't there? - Yes, there is,
0:14:12 > 0:14:15and they were all collected by my great-grandfather
0:14:15 > 0:14:18round the turn of the 19th century
0:14:18 > 0:14:20and they were bowling trophies he won.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24Are they treasured possessions within your family?
0:14:24 > 0:14:27Yes, they are, they're all still out on display.
0:14:27 > 0:14:31The clock works and my favourite is the...is the gnome.
0:14:31 > 0:14:34Is the gnome. I mean he's certainly the odd one out.
0:14:34 > 0:14:36I mean, these are...
0:14:36 > 0:14:39really quite high quality trophies.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43I mean, some of the trophies - you think of the trophies you get today,
0:14:43 > 0:14:45- they're made of plastic and plated. - Yes.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48I mean, whoever he was...
0:14:48 > 0:14:50played it to a level where you got some serious prizes,
0:14:50 > 0:14:52I mean, these are pretty good.
0:14:52 > 0:14:56If we take...the silver cup here...
0:14:56 > 0:14:59made by Walker and Hall from the 1890s.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01I mean, that's as good as it gets.
0:15:01 > 0:15:03I love the fact that he's put on there,
0:15:03 > 0:15:05"Having won for the third time."
0:15:05 > 0:15:07- You get to keep it.- You get to keep it, like the Schneider Trophy,
0:15:07 > 0:15:10they say, "You've won it three times,
0:15:10 > 0:15:12- "there you go, it's yours." - Right.- And the clock...
0:15:12 > 0:15:15I mean, that really is a case of Victorian bling.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17- Yes.- It's not the best clock.- No.
0:15:17 > 0:15:20- It's not a great movement.- No.
0:15:20 > 0:15:23But as a trophy, you know, to be handed that -
0:15:23 > 0:15:26you can imagine his face, and then on the flip side of that,
0:15:26 > 0:15:28you can imagine the disappointment
0:15:28 > 0:15:31when at some point he's handed a gnome. I mean, it must have been...
0:15:31 > 0:15:35I'd love to see that photograph of him being presented with the gnome.
0:15:35 > 0:15:37The value of silver has shot up over the last few years
0:15:37 > 0:15:41and that's where the value is. In a cup it's worth about sort of -
0:15:41 > 0:15:42- you know - £600-ish.- Right.
0:15:42 > 0:15:46- Which isn't a lot when you consider how decorative it is.- No, no.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49The clock I would say would have...
0:15:49 > 0:15:50a similar value.
0:15:50 > 0:15:51You know, it's not huge,
0:15:51 > 0:15:55- £600 maybe £700.- Right.- But...
0:15:55 > 0:15:57what I really like is the gnome.
0:15:57 > 0:16:01There's a company called Hesner and they're the most famous
0:16:01 > 0:16:04for making garden gnomes and I'm certain that he's of that factory
0:16:04 > 0:16:07and would date from the late 19th century,
0:16:07 > 0:16:09he would have been new as a prize,
0:16:09 > 0:16:13- and I would put him at somewhere around £800.- Gosh. Yes.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15So the one he was most disappointed with,
0:16:15 > 0:16:17is probably the best one, well, is the best one.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19Yes, it's my favourite so...
0:16:19 > 0:16:21- Good choice. Thank you very much. - Thank you.
0:16:24 > 0:16:25I'm the first to admit
0:16:25 > 0:16:30that I'm no expert in photographs and especially old photographs
0:16:30 > 0:16:31but this looks like it might be
0:16:31 > 0:16:33a picture of Hong Kong here.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35Is that right?
0:16:35 > 0:16:38I think it will be, probably in the 1890s, late 1890s.
0:16:38 > 0:16:39My, hasn't it changed?
0:16:39 > 0:16:42Because now, that whole hillside is filled with skyscrapers.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44Absolutely.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46But what intrigues me more,
0:16:46 > 0:16:49which is much more personal, is this other album
0:16:49 > 0:16:51and it's got a wedding photograph here.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53Is this a family group?
0:16:53 > 0:16:56Yes, I think that will be my maternal grandmother or my...
0:16:56 > 0:16:57a great aunt.
0:16:57 > 0:17:00Because all five of them went out to the Far East and
0:17:00 > 0:17:01all but one got married out there.
0:17:01 > 0:17:05I see, so this would be in the 1890s as well?
0:17:05 > 0:17:09Late 1890s, I think, possibly early 1900s.
0:17:09 > 0:17:13And...what are these items arranged on this next page?
0:17:13 > 0:17:16As far as I know, they are the, umm...
0:17:16 > 0:17:19wedding gifts that were given at that wedding.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22What's interesting for me is, today,
0:17:22 > 0:17:26people have been bringing in things just like this carving set,
0:17:26 > 0:17:30- these fish knives and forks, and brush sets.- Yes.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33Now here we've got the silver page
0:17:33 > 0:17:36and these spoons here look remarkably similar to those.
0:17:36 > 0:17:37They're not the same ones, are they?
0:17:37 > 0:17:40- As far as I'm aware those are the spoons, yes.- Good heavens!
0:17:40 > 0:17:43So, it's so nice to see them in their original brand-new
0:17:43 > 0:17:47presentation boxes here, and if we have a look at them.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52This is absolutely a copy of a Victorian fruit spoon.
0:17:52 > 0:17:54What I love about it
0:17:54 > 0:17:56is, instead of having an apostle,
0:17:56 > 0:17:58- which an English one would have... - Yes, yes.
0:17:58 > 0:18:02- ..it's got a Chinese figure, that's their take on it.- Yes.
0:18:02 > 0:18:03And if we turn it over,
0:18:03 > 0:18:07- it's got a couple of marks, and it's got the mark WH.- Yes...
0:18:07 > 0:18:10And that's a well-known maker, a firm called Wang Hing
0:18:10 > 0:18:13- who were making exactly in the 1890s.- Yeah, yeah.
0:18:13 > 0:18:18So, I love these because they are so...
0:18:18 > 0:18:21English, but with that lovely Chinese twist.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24- I think so, yes.- And a very good figure.- And we still use them.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26Well, that's really good to know.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29Now I've spoken to one of my colleagues
0:18:29 > 0:18:32- about the photograph albums.- Yes.
0:18:32 > 0:18:34And he thinks...
0:18:34 > 0:18:38they're well into four figures, we're talking of possibly approaching
0:18:38 > 0:18:42£2,000, maybe even more for those.
0:18:42 > 0:18:48The spoons I love and they're in lovely condition and...
0:18:48 > 0:18:53very unusual. I've never seen any of these spoons before
0:18:53 > 0:18:55with Chinese marks on.
0:18:55 > 0:18:59Today, I've seen almost identical English ones,
0:18:59 > 0:19:01- from the 1880s and 1890s. - Extraordinary.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04So, trying to put a value on these is quite difficult
0:19:04 > 0:19:06when you've not seen something the same before.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09- Yes.- I think...
0:19:10 > 0:19:12..certainly...
0:19:12 > 0:19:14- £700 to £1,000.- Mm-hm.
0:19:15 > 0:19:18- Yeah.- Happy with that? - Oh, yes, yes.
0:19:18 > 0:19:19HE LAUGHS
0:19:19 > 0:19:20And you'll carry on using them?
0:19:20 > 0:19:23Absolutely. Oh, yes, I like using them. I'm very fond of them.
0:19:23 > 0:19:27Wonderful documents, and lovely pieces of silver, thank you so much.
0:19:27 > 0:19:28Thank you very much.
0:19:28 > 0:19:31So, the sight of a box like this usually stops my heart,
0:19:31 > 0:19:34my pulse, but I've got a funny feeling that what is within
0:19:34 > 0:19:38is not going to continue that level of excitement and there it is.
0:19:38 > 0:19:40I think you're right!
0:19:40 > 0:19:42Tell me about it with you, this faithful dog,
0:19:42 > 0:19:44how did it come into your life?
0:19:44 > 0:19:46It came into my life -
0:19:46 > 0:19:51as many things do these days - from an internet auction site,
0:19:51 > 0:19:54and I was aware at the time that I bought it,
0:19:54 > 0:19:58that it was my infatuation with Imperial Russia
0:19:58 > 0:20:01that was getting the better of me, and, um...
0:20:01 > 0:20:04yes, and when I got it, I was pretty sure that it had.
0:20:04 > 0:20:05SHE LAUGHS
0:20:05 > 0:20:07Anyway, it was a rash purchase, but nonetheless
0:20:07 > 0:20:09a very interesting one for us
0:20:09 > 0:20:11because it is a fake Faberge object.
0:20:11 > 0:20:15- The person that made this object made it to deceive.- Yeah.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17And it may not be that the person who was selling it wanted to
0:20:17 > 0:20:20deceive you, because they may have been deceived in their own right.
0:20:20 > 0:20:22But the reason that we can tell that is
0:20:22 > 0:20:24because on the inside of the lid satin,
0:20:24 > 0:20:26which you've already spotted, in Cyrillic, it says,
0:20:26 > 0:20:30- "Faberge, St Petersburg, Moscow and Odessa."- Yeah.
0:20:30 > 0:20:33That would be a marvellous signpost to the fact that you had
0:20:33 > 0:20:35something enormously valuable,
0:20:35 > 0:20:38because the centre of the Faberge storm is what we call
0:20:38 > 0:20:41the objects of fantasy, the things that are,
0:20:41 > 0:20:43like so many of one's friends,
0:20:43 > 0:20:46utterly useless and charming. Those are the ones that are...
0:20:46 > 0:20:48the ones one values the most,
0:20:48 > 0:20:52and so it's the animal carvings and the flowers and the Easter eggs
0:20:52 > 0:20:54that are why Faberge's reputation is so excitable,
0:20:54 > 0:20:57and why these things are so intensely valuable.
0:20:57 > 0:20:59Well, it is a fake Faberge object,
0:20:59 > 0:21:01but in a way it's got qualities of its own.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04I mean, it's a very charming little sculpture of a white dog
0:21:04 > 0:21:07in perfectly chosen white stone, little black onyx snout
0:21:07 > 0:21:10and a gold collar with diamonds,
0:21:10 > 0:21:14and I suppose it cost a certain sum on internet auction.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16How much was that?
0:21:16 > 0:21:19I can't remember exactly, but I believe
0:21:19 > 0:21:21- around a thousand pounds.- Hmm.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24Well, it's a thousand pounds for a very joyful little fella
0:21:24 > 0:21:29made of stone, and maybe without the box he marches on, you know,
0:21:29 > 0:21:31as a little work of art in his own right.
0:21:31 > 0:21:36I suppose it must have a value, and I think maybe it's worth
0:21:36 > 0:21:37£300.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40The real rub of this is is that, had this been genuine,
0:21:40 > 0:21:44and I suppose there is the remotest chance that one could acquire
0:21:44 > 0:21:46an object of this nature that way,
0:21:46 > 0:21:50that you would have received a little registered parcel in the post
0:21:50 > 0:21:54four or five days after bidding, and you would have opened it and
0:21:54 > 0:21:57you would have been, well, a quarter of a million pounds better off.
0:21:59 > 0:22:01Even I knew that wasn't going to happen!
0:22:02 > 0:22:05Well, it has happened to people.
0:22:05 > 0:22:07- But it didn't happen in this particular case.- No.
0:22:07 > 0:22:10And in a way it's a powerful lesson,
0:22:10 > 0:22:13not only for the internet buyer,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16but for me and anybody else interested in works of art,
0:22:16 > 0:22:17and thank you very much for bringing it.
0:22:17 > 0:22:19My little bit of FAUX-berge.
0:22:19 > 0:22:21Fauxberge, absolutely!
0:22:21 > 0:22:24- Thank you very much.- Thank you.
0:22:24 > 0:22:26These were my grandparents.
0:22:26 > 0:22:28They shared the same birthday
0:22:28 > 0:22:30and they were married in the middle of the Second World War,
0:22:30 > 0:22:321st January 1941.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34They were married for over 70 years
0:22:34 > 0:22:38and they died very recently within three days of each other.
0:22:38 > 0:22:39So theirs is a real love story.
0:22:39 > 0:22:41- It is.- Spanning the decades.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44Well, over 70 years of married life,
0:22:44 > 0:22:47it's an amazing achievement really.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49You found a massive stash of letters
0:22:49 > 0:22:51when you were going through their home. Tell me about that.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53I had no idea they were there.
0:22:53 > 0:22:55I found a tea chest in a cupboard that I didn't know existed
0:22:55 > 0:22:57with some shoes on the top of it
0:22:57 > 0:23:01and when I looked underneath, there were over 250 letters and telegrams
0:23:01 > 0:23:03that they'd sent each other
0:23:03 > 0:23:06right from just before the Second World War,
0:23:06 > 0:23:07all the way through 1939-1945,
0:23:07 > 0:23:10whilst my grandfather was serving in the Army
0:23:10 > 0:23:11and my grandmother was a nurse.
0:23:11 > 0:23:13Did you parents know about that?
0:23:13 > 0:23:15My mother had heard that they'd written to each other,
0:23:15 > 0:23:18but nobody had seen that collection of letters at all.
0:23:18 > 0:23:19So, have you been reading them?
0:23:19 > 0:23:22I've read some of them. There's a lot to go through.
0:23:22 > 0:23:23I can imagine.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26But...and they're quite detailed and they tell quite a bit
0:23:26 > 0:23:28about war life and what they hoped
0:23:28 > 0:23:31would happen afterwards and the things that happened during the war.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33And they're also tremendously romantic, are they?
0:23:33 > 0:23:34Oh, they are, yeah,
0:23:34 > 0:23:37- there's some very moving, moving passages in them.- Let's see...
0:23:38 > 0:23:41"I'm very sorry, my beloved, I can't get home.
0:23:41 > 0:23:43"That's all I live for - home and you.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46"You are the most wonderful, marvellous, precious,
0:23:46 > 0:23:50"beloved, lovable, adoring, adorable, charming,
0:23:50 > 0:23:54"divine and loving sweetheart wife that has ever lived.
0:23:54 > 0:23:58"Darling, come a little closer and let me whisper in your darling ears,
0:23:58 > 0:24:01"all these loving words because they are meant for you, my sweetheart."
0:24:01 > 0:24:04- And it goes on, I mean... - And it goes on for pages.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07It does, and there's 250-odd letters like this.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10Yeah, both from my grandfather to my grandmother
0:24:10 > 0:24:12and back from my grandmother to my grandfather,
0:24:12 > 0:24:16and when they couldn't write to each other, they sent telegrams instead.
0:24:16 > 0:24:18- They were born on the same day... - The same birthday, yeah.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20..and died within three days of each other.
0:24:20 > 0:24:23Let me just read the end here. "Well, sweetheart it's bedtime" -
0:24:23 > 0:24:25- it's your grandfather writing.- Yes.
0:24:25 > 0:24:29"Goodnight, sweet dreams, I send all my love and everything to you,
0:24:29 > 0:24:32"my wonderful and loving wife, all my love, Fred,"
0:24:32 > 0:24:33lots of kisses and then,
0:24:33 > 0:24:36"PS, darling, I love you more than anything else in the world."
0:24:36 > 0:24:38I think that's true.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40Isn't that lovely to see these?
0:24:40 > 0:24:42- Thank you.- Thank you.
0:24:42 > 0:24:44MUSIC: "Goodnight Sweetheart" by Al Bowlly
0:24:46 > 0:24:50# All my prayers are for you
0:24:50 > 0:24:54# Goodnight sweetheart
0:24:54 > 0:24:59# Goodnight. #
0:25:01 > 0:25:04We've got this wonderful little carving of this monk here,
0:25:04 > 0:25:06and out of this begging bowl,
0:25:06 > 0:25:08see the tail emerging?
0:25:08 > 0:25:10He conjures a fabulous...
0:25:12 > 0:25:14..dragon which crawls up and meets him here,
0:25:14 > 0:25:16and he holds onto the horn.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18It's the quality, it's amazing.
0:25:18 > 0:25:19Thank you.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21It's difficult to know where to start
0:25:21 > 0:25:24with these wonderful little bits of Japanese sculpture.
0:25:24 > 0:25:25Where did you get them?
0:25:27 > 0:25:30A long time ago, I bought them and my husband bought me some.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33I just liked them because they were little,
0:25:33 > 0:25:36portable and just nice quality.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40It was just something I loved from the first one I ever saw.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42I stopped buying them about 40 year ago.
0:25:42 > 0:25:4440 years ago you stopped buying them?
0:25:44 > 0:25:47Yes, I had a daughter and I couldn't afford both.
0:25:47 > 0:25:49Yeah, well, you know.
0:25:49 > 0:25:52They are Japanese netsuke as I'm sure you know.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54These ones were made in the Meiji period.
0:25:54 > 0:25:59The Meiji restoration was 1868, so 1868 to 1912,
0:25:59 > 0:26:01and this is the period of the real flourishing of the arts
0:26:01 > 0:26:04in Japan and they made metalwork.
0:26:04 > 0:26:06These are mostly - but not all - ivory.
0:26:06 > 0:26:09- This one here is a bone one.- Yeah.
0:26:09 > 0:26:11But netsukes, originally, were the...
0:26:13 > 0:26:16- ..toggles...- Toggles. - ..or buttons, you had a netsuke...
0:26:16 > 0:26:19You didn't have pockets so you had a box or an inro
0:26:19 > 0:26:21hanging from your waistband,
0:26:21 > 0:26:22a little, tiny little bead
0:26:22 > 0:26:26called an ojime and the netsuke, and those were all in the round,
0:26:26 > 0:26:30rather like this one, but these ones were made to be decorative.
0:26:30 > 0:26:32They do it so well. Which is your favourite?
0:26:33 > 0:26:35- That one.- This one? Let's take a look at this.
0:26:39 > 0:26:42It's my husband and a baby, my baby,
0:26:42 > 0:26:44because my husband's got a tummy like that.
0:26:44 > 0:26:46Has he? Has he really? Is he here?
0:26:46 > 0:26:49You don't want to see him. Put it down.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52And was this one of the first ones you got?
0:26:52 > 0:26:53Er, it was quite an early one, yes.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56I think they're really beautiful things. I love them.
0:26:56 > 0:26:59You could look at these and talk about them for ever.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01We've got a little group here of people carrying rice.
0:27:01 > 0:27:05I mean, the rat and the quality of the tail on there is amazing.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07What was the most you had to pay for them?
0:27:07 > 0:27:08We have paid up to about...
0:27:08 > 0:27:11£200, I would think.
0:27:11 > 0:27:12That was quite a lot.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14Yes, it was a lot of money in those days.
0:27:14 > 0:27:17- But, I mean, some of them were very, very inexpensive.- Yeah.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20- Some of them were. - And this isn't all of the collection?
0:27:20 > 0:27:21No, I have one or two more.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24- You've got some more.- Yeah.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26- I think they're fabulous.- Thank you.
0:27:26 > 0:27:30It's difficult putting a valuation on a collective group of pieces.
0:27:30 > 0:27:33- Yeah.- And it is always somewhat guesswork.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36Just what's here has got to be...
0:27:37 > 0:27:39..£6,000 to £8,000.
0:27:40 > 0:27:42No!
0:27:42 > 0:27:44It has!
0:27:44 > 0:27:45This one here is...
0:27:45 > 0:27:47over £1,000 worth of netsuke.
0:27:49 > 0:27:50Good heavens!
0:27:50 > 0:27:52I didn't expect that sort of money.
0:27:52 > 0:27:56I knew they were nice and lovely to me,
0:27:56 > 0:27:59but I really didn't expect that sort of money.
0:27:59 > 0:28:01Well, they're fabulous things to see.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04- I would like to keep looking at these for days.- Thank you.
0:28:06 > 0:28:09We inherited this table from my husband's farming family
0:28:09 > 0:28:12and at Great-grandma's funeral,
0:28:12 > 0:28:17all the uncles declared that we were to inherit the Richard table,
0:28:17 > 0:28:20because there were no more Richards, and my husband's called Robert,
0:28:20 > 0:28:24at which point I said, "No, thank you, don't want that,
0:28:24 > 0:28:26"don't want anything French polished, fancy
0:28:26 > 0:28:28"in my house, it'll get ruined".
0:28:28 > 0:28:30And they all fell about the floor laughing,
0:28:30 > 0:28:33which I thought was quite rude.
0:28:33 > 0:28:36- Right.- And they then announced that I clearly hadn't seen it and maybe
0:28:36 > 0:28:39I should go and look at it before we did, and this was it, so...
0:28:41 > 0:28:43..they'd butchered things on it,
0:28:43 > 0:28:46and hidden underneath it, and danced on it and...
0:28:46 > 0:28:49so I thought it would be quite safe with my boys.
0:28:49 > 0:28:51Your boys are a bit rough and...?
0:28:51 > 0:28:54- Yeah, they're all built like farmers.- Right.- Yes.
0:28:54 > 0:28:57- So, where do you keep this, then? - This lives in our dining room,
0:28:57 > 0:28:59the conservatory, and it's used every day.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02When we first got it back to our house, it was...
0:29:02 > 0:29:05I didn't think it was very clean
0:29:05 > 0:29:06so I made my husband take
0:29:06 > 0:29:09it down to the local garage and he jet-washed the top.
0:29:09 > 0:29:11Did you get arrested?
0:29:11 > 0:29:13Most people clean their cars in the jet wash,
0:29:13 > 0:29:15not go in there with a gate leg table.
0:29:15 > 0:29:17I know, well, I think maybe we shouldn't have done,
0:29:17 > 0:29:20but it's nice and clean, it was, yeah.
0:29:20 > 0:29:22I don't know what to do with it, to look after it, which is
0:29:22 > 0:29:23partly why I brought it here.
0:29:23 > 0:29:26- How old do you think this is? - I think it's...
0:29:26 > 0:29:29300 or 400 years old, from its original state,
0:29:29 > 0:29:32cos I think it's made of old bedding boxes and things.
0:29:32 > 0:29:33Bedding boxes?
0:29:33 > 0:29:34Yeah, if you look underneath.
0:29:34 > 0:29:35Right, OK.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37You'll tell me. Yes.
0:29:38 > 0:29:39Now it is, you know, yes,
0:29:39 > 0:29:43a 300 or 400-year-old gate-leg table.
0:29:43 > 0:29:45- It's a lovely piece of furniture. - Yeah.
0:29:45 > 0:29:49Yes, it does need some TLC to bring it back up. Umm...
0:29:49 > 0:29:51I'm sure if this could talk, it could tell some
0:29:51 > 0:29:54- really, really interesting stories. - Yeah, sure, yeah.
0:29:54 > 0:29:58- It dates back to around about the 1700s.- OK.
0:29:58 > 0:30:00And, um,
0:30:00 > 0:30:02it's made out of solid oak.
0:30:02 > 0:30:05- What I'd like to have seen is a drawer.- OK.
0:30:05 > 0:30:07Because normally when you had these tables,
0:30:07 > 0:30:10- they normally have a nice, long drawer, but this one doesn't.- No.
0:30:10 > 0:30:14It would seat six to eight people comfortably,
0:30:14 > 0:30:15and do you sit round it and dine?
0:30:15 > 0:30:18We do, yeah, we do, it's used fully, yeah.
0:30:18 > 0:30:20Yeah, and I think that's really important that,
0:30:20 > 0:30:21you know, these things
0:30:21 > 0:30:25- are to be used, not to be looked at and treasured.- Yeah.
0:30:25 > 0:30:28- If we look at the tips, at each end. - Yes, they're loose, aren't they?
0:30:28 > 0:30:31- They're loose, they have been replaced.- Ah, yes.
0:30:31 > 0:30:35And that's where... On the underside, you can see they've been carved.
0:30:35 > 0:30:36Well, what's that from, then?
0:30:36 > 0:30:39They...someone's found a piece of old timber
0:30:39 > 0:30:41and instead of throwing it away -
0:30:41 > 0:30:42make good and mend.
0:30:42 > 0:30:46When we look at the base, oh, it's glorious, because
0:30:46 > 0:30:49along the rails there, they're all so thick and chunky.
0:30:49 > 0:30:51- Mmm.- It's...
0:30:51 > 0:30:54as I say, a good substantial piece of furniture.
0:30:54 > 0:30:56When this is waxed up...
0:30:56 > 0:30:58- Waxed?- This would be a lovely, lovely colour.
0:30:58 > 0:31:00- Don't jet-wash it! - No, no, I won't.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04Just put...get some wax and rub it in there and it will just glow
0:31:04 > 0:31:06- because the foundations are there. - Yeah.
0:31:06 > 0:31:09Waxing this up and giving it some good TLC,
0:31:09 > 0:31:11I would put a valuation on this, when it's done,
0:31:11 > 0:31:14- around a couple of thousand pounds. - Really?- Yeah.
0:31:14 > 0:31:17It's going to look great, cos it's going to be a good colour.
0:31:17 > 0:31:19It is, yeah. I'm pleased with it, thank you.
0:31:21 > 0:31:23Now I'm holding here
0:31:23 > 0:31:26photographs which I know were taken at the Nuremberg Trials in 1945.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31Now it's 70 years nearly
0:31:31 > 0:31:33since this event took place,
0:31:33 > 0:31:36and it may be that people have begun to forget how important it was.
0:31:37 > 0:31:42It wasn't just about sorting out the chaos of the Second World War,
0:31:42 > 0:31:46it was actually about establishing principles of international justice
0:31:46 > 0:31:48which have been maintained to this day.
0:31:48 > 0:31:51So, I know the story, but what do they tell you?
0:31:52 > 0:31:55They are evidence of my mother having worked there
0:31:55 > 0:31:58for the length of the trial,
0:31:58 > 0:32:00from 1945 into 1946
0:32:00 > 0:32:03and she's actually photographed on some of these photos.
0:32:03 > 0:32:07- Where is she?- She's at the...she's just on the right-hand side here.
0:32:07 > 0:32:09So she's in the middle of those three people
0:32:09 > 0:32:11in the back of that photograph. What was she doing?
0:32:11 > 0:32:16She was secretary to the chief judge who was Lord Justice Lawrence.
0:32:16 > 0:32:18Yes, yes, and she was there for a long time, I imagine.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20She was there for the full length of the trial.
0:32:20 > 0:32:23I'm trying to get my head round what that meant.
0:32:23 > 0:32:28You sit all the week listening to records of ghastly events
0:32:28 > 0:32:30and then what do you do in the evenings and weekends?
0:32:30 > 0:32:33- You go off and play, presumably. - I think they lived pretty well.
0:32:33 > 0:32:37- Well, I've heard that.- They certainly partied, they went away at weekends,
0:32:37 > 0:32:42they had a lot of rations, I mean, there's even a ration book here.
0:32:42 > 0:32:44- Yeah, and we've got maps and guides. - Yeah.
0:32:44 > 0:32:48So, in your off time, you just enjoyed what...
0:32:48 > 0:32:50I think they let their hair down.
0:32:50 > 0:32:54Yeah. This is a close-up of the presiding judges.
0:32:54 > 0:32:55Now, let's get this right.
0:32:55 > 0:32:58Geoffrey Lawrence was the sort of, the top judge...
0:32:58 > 0:32:59Yes, he was, yes.
0:32:59 > 0:33:04- But there were judges on the panel from America, from Russia...- Yes.
0:33:04 > 0:33:07- ..from France, in effect from the four powers.- Yes, yes.
0:33:07 > 0:33:11And so he was in charge of that judicial team and, of course,
0:33:11 > 0:33:14everything had to be multi-lingual and so there were translators,
0:33:14 > 0:33:17there were transcribers, it was a massive operation.
0:33:17 > 0:33:22Obviously, we all know that picture, there we are looking at the dock.
0:33:22 > 0:33:24I can't do them all and I don't really want to,
0:33:24 > 0:33:28- but we start with Goering, Hess. - Yes.- You know these are all,
0:33:28 > 0:33:31in a sense, terrible names from history.
0:33:31 > 0:33:34The trial was about bringing these people to justice
0:33:34 > 0:33:36in an international way
0:33:36 > 0:33:39that would satisfy justice in a sense for ever -
0:33:39 > 0:33:42that's what they wanted to achieve. This is an interesting document.
0:33:42 > 0:33:45She seems to have collected the signatures of most of the judges.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48- Yes.- And why is the paper headed Adolf Hitler?
0:33:48 > 0:33:50- I've no idea.- They must have acquired this.- Yes.
0:33:50 > 0:33:54- And it was a sort of rather grim souvenir of the time.- Yes.
0:33:54 > 0:33:56Geoffrey Lawrence, the presiding judge.
0:33:56 > 0:34:00Great names - Norman Birkett, the French judge, Shawcross,
0:34:00 > 0:34:03you know, they're all famous legal names.
0:34:03 > 0:34:07And the famous Russian judge, Nikitchenko, who was,
0:34:07 > 0:34:11I gather, very tiresome, you know, but you know they sorted it all out.
0:34:11 > 0:34:15- So that's a wonderful personal souvenir, isn't it?- Yes, yes.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18The other thing I like - I'm quite amused by - is that.
0:34:19 > 0:34:22Now I'm sure the Nuremberg Trials didn't produce
0:34:22 > 0:34:24souvenirs for people to take home.
0:34:24 > 0:34:27Well, maybe not quite like that, no.
0:34:27 > 0:34:30But certainly a souvenir, I think perhaps it was, let us say,
0:34:30 > 0:34:31acquired unofficially.
0:34:31 > 0:34:35- I think, I suspect that.- So, there was this young girl thinking,
0:34:35 > 0:34:38"Oh, I think I'll take something a bit more positive."
0:34:38 > 0:34:41- Yes, probably got tucked in the suitcase at some point.- And why not?
0:34:41 > 0:34:44Will you ever see another ashtray from the Nuremberg Trials?
0:34:44 > 0:34:45I doubt it.
0:34:45 > 0:34:46No, probably not.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49So, you know, she's shown me something I never knew existed.
0:34:49 > 0:34:50Yes.
0:34:50 > 0:34:52- That document is probably the best piece.- Yes.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55That collection of signatures is very rare
0:34:55 > 0:34:57and you'd never get it again.
0:34:57 > 0:34:59I don't think many people did that at the time.
0:34:59 > 0:35:01In value terms, that's probably...
0:35:02 > 0:35:04..£800, £1,000, £1,500.
0:35:04 > 0:35:06- It's such a rare document.- Yes.
0:35:06 > 0:35:10- Bizarrely, the ashtray is probably quite desirable.- Yes.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14Put it all together because of who she was, and what she did,
0:35:14 > 0:35:18- let's say £5,000 for the lot.- Wow. - Something like that.
0:35:18 > 0:35:19That's incredible.
0:35:19 > 0:35:21But it's not important.
0:35:21 > 0:35:24- No, it isn't, no, it's not going anywhere.- Good.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28You might ask why I'm interested in what
0:35:28 > 0:35:33looks like a sort of rather bizarre hedgehog or pile of nails,
0:35:33 > 0:35:36but I think that it's a sculpture by an incredibly interesting
0:35:36 > 0:35:39and influential American furniture designer.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42I think that this is a sculpture by a gentleman called Harry Bertoia.
0:35:42 > 0:35:44Correct, yeah.
0:35:44 > 0:35:47Who designed a number of well-known bits of furniture in America,
0:35:47 > 0:35:50and studied at a number of very influential schools, and worked with
0:35:50 > 0:35:53a number of influential designers like Charles and Ray Eames.
0:35:53 > 0:35:55- That's right. - But what I need to know from you
0:35:55 > 0:35:58is how on earth did it make its way to Yorkshire from America?
0:35:58 > 0:36:01Well, it was sent over from America
0:36:01 > 0:36:02by Harry Bertoia...
0:36:02 > 0:36:04to a company called Interiors International,
0:36:04 > 0:36:07who were manufacturing the range of furniture
0:36:07 > 0:36:09that included his particular wire chairs.
0:36:09 > 0:36:11And we had a showroom in London and a showroom, believe it or not,
0:36:11 > 0:36:14in Pontefract in North Yorkshire, and they decided to bring
0:36:14 > 0:36:19certain artefacts up from London to Pontefract and that's where it was.
0:36:19 > 0:36:22And then the parent company, unfortunately, went to the wall,
0:36:22 > 0:36:25and so they suddenly decided to sell these things off
0:36:25 > 0:36:27and I happened to be there at the right time.
0:36:27 > 0:36:29I was still working for them, but that's how it came about.
0:36:29 > 0:36:31And when was this? This must've been in the '70s.
0:36:31 > 0:36:35I bought this in about 1973, it came over about 1970.
0:36:35 > 0:36:37It's part of a series of sculptures entitled Bush.
0:36:37 > 0:36:39- Right.- So it's one of his Bush sculptures.- Yeah.
0:36:39 > 0:36:42And they come in various sorts of shapes and sizes
0:36:42 > 0:36:45- and they're made from patinated bronze.- Ah, that sounds interesting.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48He was hugely inspired by nature and it was the sort of randomness,
0:36:48 > 0:36:50but also the symmetry of nature. So you've got all these
0:36:50 > 0:36:52nail-like structures with these little beads
0:36:52 > 0:36:55all flowing out of this main copper trunk underneath here.
0:36:55 > 0:36:58- Yeah.- And you've got the randomness but also the symmetry,
0:36:58 > 0:37:00- it's still a very pleasing whole. - Yes, yes, it is.
0:37:00 > 0:37:03- And it's that pleasing shape you only get in nature.- Yes.
0:37:03 > 0:37:05When you bought it in 1973, how much did you pay?
0:37:05 > 0:37:07I think about £17 for it.
0:37:07 > 0:37:11£17 - maybe it's a considerable sum of money then, I suppose.
0:37:11 > 0:37:13- I bought some carpet as well. - Oh right, thrown in?
0:37:13 > 0:37:16No, no. And some Carrara marble ashtrays.
0:37:16 > 0:37:18- About £40 the lot, I think.- OK.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21My one concern about looking at the value today is it has had
0:37:21 > 0:37:23some life, I think it's fallen over.
0:37:23 > 0:37:25- It's been in the family.- Right. OK.
0:37:25 > 0:37:27They sell for considerable sums of money
0:37:27 > 0:37:30and I'd like to say that this should be worth at auction
0:37:30 > 0:37:32somewhere in the region of
0:37:32 > 0:37:34- £10,000 to £15,000.- Mmm!
0:37:34 > 0:37:36Wow, that surprises me.
0:37:38 > 0:37:41Brilliant! I never expected it to be worth that much.
0:37:41 > 0:37:44I said to my wife, "I don't think it will be worth a great deal,
0:37:44 > 0:37:46- "200 quid maybe." - And what did she say?
0:37:46 > 0:37:49She didn't say anything, I've got to ring her and tell her now.
0:37:50 > 0:37:52Repeat, 10 to 15.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55- £10,000 to £15,000. - Thank you very much.
0:37:55 > 0:37:57But there's possibly even better news.
0:37:57 > 0:37:59We're in Yorkshire, in England.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02- The market for these really is the States.- Yes.
0:38:02 > 0:38:05You may find that if you took it out to a good American auction house
0:38:05 > 0:38:07or an American dealer and put it for sale in that environment,
0:38:07 > 0:38:11- it could easily top 20,000 or maybe 30,000.- Crikey.
0:38:12 > 0:38:14That's very good, thank you very much.
0:38:18 > 0:38:20I like objects that have labels on them
0:38:20 > 0:38:24because it's the start of a journey of investigation
0:38:24 > 0:38:27and it really gives you somewhere where you can actually concentrate
0:38:27 > 0:38:31and start the ideas flowing about finding out about something.
0:38:31 > 0:38:33I always look at anything like this as a bit of detective work,
0:38:33 > 0:38:36you know, you have to find out, and there are clues on it.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39And when someone is kind enough to write a thing like that on there,
0:38:39 > 0:38:41you think your birthdays and Christmases have come all at once.
0:38:41 > 0:38:43And it says,
0:38:43 > 0:38:47"Taken by Sir Richard Strachan from Commodore Beaumoir..."
0:38:47 > 0:38:48using my best French there,
0:38:48 > 0:38:53"..after the Battle of Trafalgar, October 21st 1805."
0:38:54 > 0:38:56Who was Sir Richard Strachan?
0:38:56 > 0:38:57I don't know.
0:38:57 > 0:39:00I know that he was in the skirmishes after the Battle of Trafalgar,
0:39:00 > 0:39:02but that's all that I know about him.
0:39:02 > 0:39:05So, this hasn't come down in your family from him?
0:39:05 > 0:39:09No, I think there's no military, no naval people in my family at all.
0:39:09 > 0:39:12I think it must have been purchased by my grandfather.
0:39:12 > 0:39:16That would probably figure, because people often bought small things
0:39:16 > 0:39:21like this as ornaments and, although it says "taken after Trafalgar",
0:39:21 > 0:39:24one thing that is absolutely certain - this isn't a weapon.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28This would not have been on the gun decks of some great French warship
0:39:28 > 0:39:31that was being hammered into submission by one of Nelson's ships.
0:39:31 > 0:39:35- It's actually a cannon that's used for signalling.- Ah, right.
0:39:35 > 0:39:39So, it's a piece of communications equipment, if you like.
0:39:39 > 0:39:43Quite often, you found small cannons were used with a blank charge in.
0:39:43 > 0:39:46I don't think this was ever intended to fire a projectile.
0:39:46 > 0:39:50I think it just had a big charge of gunpowder rammed in it
0:39:50 > 0:39:53with a wad of oakum or tow or something rammed down on it
0:39:53 > 0:39:56and fired when they hoisted the signal.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59So, the flags would run up the halyard, for the signal flags.
0:40:01 > 0:40:04The people who were supposed to be reading that, heard a bang
0:40:04 > 0:40:06and thought, "Ah, I'd better look!"
0:40:06 > 0:40:08And, "Ooh, yes, they want us to come about.
0:40:08 > 0:40:10"Bring her about, number one."
0:40:10 > 0:40:13So, it was a communications equipment rather than a weapon
0:40:13 > 0:40:15because obviously it's tiny.
0:40:16 > 0:40:18But it's clearly the sort of thing
0:40:18 > 0:40:20that somebody who was a senior French officer
0:40:20 > 0:40:22probably had on his quarterdeck
0:40:22 > 0:40:25or something like that, for signalling purposes.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28And after the battle, whoever Sir Richard was,
0:40:28 > 0:40:31he acquired it from the vanquished Frenchman who probably was
0:40:31 > 0:40:33a bit miffed that he had to give it up.
0:40:33 > 0:40:36I mean, I would be, because I just think it's so beautiful.
0:40:36 > 0:40:38And this is a nice little gun.
0:40:38 > 0:40:43It's about 1750, something like that, made of bronze,
0:40:43 > 0:40:46probably in the Low Countries, Flanders, somewhere like that.
0:40:46 > 0:40:47Lovely, lovely patina on it.
0:40:47 > 0:40:51Please don't ever polish it, it's beautiful like it is, a lovely green.
0:40:51 > 0:40:53Worth...
0:40:53 > 0:40:56£1,500 to £2,000 - it's a nice thing.
0:40:56 > 0:40:58So, whoever Sir Richard was, I'm very glad
0:40:58 > 0:41:01- that he had it away from the French. - Thank you, Sir Richard, yes.
0:41:01 > 0:41:02Yes, thank you.
0:41:04 > 0:41:08What we're looking at here is really the madness, exuberance,
0:41:08 > 0:41:12of American design of the 1940s, '50s.
0:41:13 > 0:41:17That's right, it's an extraordinary time of kind of excitement and pride
0:41:17 > 0:41:19after winning the war and this sort of sense that
0:41:19 > 0:41:21we are the greatest nation,
0:41:21 > 0:41:23we've achieved all these things, incredible wealth of course,
0:41:23 > 0:41:25compared with the rest of the world, and it's expressed in this
0:41:25 > 0:41:29kind of silly frippery that you've got here, it's great fun, yeah.
0:41:29 > 0:41:31What first attracted you to these bags?
0:41:32 > 0:41:35Their sheer madness.
0:41:35 > 0:41:39I mean, who would have thought a carrot could be a fashion statement?
0:41:40 > 0:41:43Or a little mermaid. I mean, let's face it,
0:41:43 > 0:41:45they're not particularly practical.
0:41:45 > 0:41:47- Not at all. - But that wasn't the idea, was it? No.
0:41:47 > 0:41:50This was a time when, you know, we'd had all the deprivations
0:41:50 > 0:41:53of war - except the Americans hadn't had it nearly as much as we had.
0:41:53 > 0:41:55- Yes.- So we were all... People in this country,
0:41:55 > 0:42:00- looking back at this period, wouldn't think of all these mad designs.- No.
0:42:00 > 0:42:03So are you completely manic collectors?
0:42:03 > 0:42:06No, it's very difficult to buy these in this country.
0:42:06 > 0:42:09I'm fortunate that I travel with my job in the States
0:42:09 > 0:42:12and I always try and come home with a bag.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15But it's really the social history of them
0:42:15 > 0:42:17that we both get enthusiastic about.
0:42:17 > 0:42:22This is my favourite and it's a four seasons bag.
0:42:22 > 0:42:26It starts off with the summer here, and we go through to fall
0:42:26 > 0:42:29with pumpkins, and then winter, and then finally spring.
0:42:32 > 0:42:34Bag for all seasons.
0:42:34 > 0:42:36And of course some of them were probably kits
0:42:36 > 0:42:38when people got them, weren't they?
0:42:38 > 0:42:41Yeah, it's hard to know, I don't... I honestly don't know
0:42:41 > 0:42:44whether someone's had a kit and done the needlepoint themselves
0:42:44 > 0:42:48and followed a plan, or whether it was sold like that.
0:42:48 > 0:42:51- But you can just imagine, you know, a 1950s' Desperate Housewife.- Oh.
0:42:51 > 0:42:54- Walking along... - It's very Mad Men.
0:42:54 > 0:42:57This is Betty Draper and her life is rubbish and Donald Draper is
0:42:57 > 0:43:00sleeping with whoever, and all she wants is a silly handbag to
0:43:00 > 0:43:02show off to her friends. It kind of speaks of the era.
0:43:02 > 0:43:04There is something a bit desperate about them.
0:43:04 > 0:43:07- I think there is. - Almost trying too hard.
0:43:07 > 0:43:09You know, you've got the Cuban Missile Crisis
0:43:09 > 0:43:11and a bag made of lolly sticks.
0:43:11 > 0:43:13But that's what's lovely about them.
0:43:13 > 0:43:16That's what it's all about, it's all about letting go,
0:43:16 > 0:43:18forgetting all your troubles and being silly.
0:43:18 > 0:43:20- And walking around with a little bag.- Yeah.
0:43:20 > 0:43:23- It's great fun.- Is this the whole of your collection?
0:43:23 > 0:43:26- No.- No?- No, come down to our house
0:43:26 > 0:43:28and you'll see that it's certainly not.
0:43:28 > 0:43:32We have a special cupboard in the house with boxes of them
0:43:32 > 0:43:33and then what I like to do with them -
0:43:33 > 0:43:37because they sit very nicely, or the ones I tend to buy sit nicely -
0:43:37 > 0:43:41they're very useful for kind of putting precious keepsakes in,
0:43:41 > 0:43:44like tickets or scarves, you know, jewellery.
0:43:44 > 0:43:49I sort of, you know, swap round bags on a display in the bedroom.
0:43:49 > 0:43:51And valuation - you say you've got more -
0:43:51 > 0:43:55but I would look at this selection, and I would say that
0:43:55 > 0:44:01what we're looking at here is certainly in excess of £3,000.
0:44:01 > 0:44:04- Fabulous.- It's something I'm going to hang on to
0:44:04 > 0:44:07because I think they're only going to become rarer as we move
0:44:07 > 0:44:10further and further away from that point in history.
0:44:29 > 0:44:32Now, this luminous and vibrant oil sketch is by one of the
0:44:32 > 0:44:37greatest painters of everyday life that the Victorian era provided.
0:44:37 > 0:44:41The greatest since Hogarth, really - William Powell Frith.
0:44:41 > 0:44:45And it's painted in about 1866-67
0:44:45 > 0:44:50and it depicts Charles II on his last Sunday before he died.
0:44:50 > 0:44:53Are you particularly interested in history,
0:44:53 > 0:44:55that you've got this picture?
0:44:55 > 0:44:59Yeah, I think I've always been interested in history, actually.
0:44:59 > 0:45:02The other day the bank rang me up and asked me a question
0:45:02 > 0:45:04and said, "What is the password,
0:45:04 > 0:45:07"what was your favourite subject at school?" and that was history.
0:45:07 > 0:45:10Oh, well, there you are. And of course this is...he's about to die.
0:45:10 > 0:45:13He certainly looks rather bilious, doesn't he?
0:45:13 > 0:45:15And in contrast to Nellie Gwyn here with her spaniel,
0:45:15 > 0:45:17and his spaniel.
0:45:17 > 0:45:19She looks the picture of health. She's very pretty, isn't she?
0:45:19 > 0:45:24Yes. I'm told, actually, that the man who stood as the model for that,
0:45:24 > 0:45:28actually died a week after this was painted.
0:45:28 > 0:45:30Oh, that's very spooky, that's very spooky.
0:45:30 > 0:45:35Because he died of kidney failure, I think, and he looks really ill
0:45:35 > 0:45:38and these two gentlemen here are looking on worried, because,
0:45:38 > 0:45:40of course, they were worried about the succession, they didn't
0:45:40 > 0:45:43want another Catholic king. That's what they were really worried about.
0:45:43 > 0:45:47But what this picture is really about is excess.
0:45:47 > 0:45:51He's the Merry Monarch and it's Sunday, they should be in church.
0:45:51 > 0:45:55- Yes.- We know that but, instead, they're playing cards and drinking,
0:45:55 > 0:45:58and listening to music, and having a great time,
0:45:58 > 0:46:03and really it's based on one of those Dutch scenes of inn life,
0:46:03 > 0:46:06- you know, where they're having a massive party.- Yeah.
0:46:06 > 0:46:08And there's lots and lots of sort of neglect going along.
0:46:08 > 0:46:11In fact, you can see here, these spaniels are chewing a glove
0:46:11 > 0:46:15and eating out of a dish on the floor. That's a classic sort of Dutch trick.
0:46:15 > 0:46:16Tremendous, yeah.
0:46:16 > 0:46:19But what I really like about it is the way it's painted.
0:46:19 > 0:46:21This background is so sketchily done and yet, as I said,
0:46:21 > 0:46:25it's luminous and you've got this light coming in round the back
0:46:25 > 0:46:30and into the room, flooding it with light and everybody is glittering,
0:46:30 > 0:46:33you get a real sense of the silver on the table, there's loads of
0:46:33 > 0:46:37drinking going on and obviously it's taken its toll on the Merry Monarch.
0:46:37 > 0:46:40Frith's great trick was to arrange lots and lots of figures
0:46:40 > 0:46:42in really quite a small canvas, convincingly.
0:46:42 > 0:46:45Now, this is a study for the finished picture.
0:46:45 > 0:46:48Now the finished pictures - which are much larger -
0:46:48 > 0:46:49often make six figures.
0:46:49 > 0:46:50- Yeah.- Quite often.
0:46:50 > 0:46:53And this is from the height of his career
0:46:53 > 0:46:58so I'm going to put £12,000 to £15,000 on it today.
0:46:59 > 0:47:01Jolly good.
0:47:01 > 0:47:03Thank you.
0:47:05 > 0:47:09Do you remember how I told you, back at the beginning of the programme,
0:47:09 > 0:47:12that this was a thriving monastic community in the Middle Ages?
0:47:12 > 0:47:14We have here a relic from that time that was dug up
0:47:14 > 0:47:17from the ground of the ruins of Fountains Abbey, wasn't it?
0:47:17 > 0:47:20- It was.- Now tell me about this ring. Who did it belong to?
0:47:20 > 0:47:24Well, it probably belonged to Abbot Marmaduke Huby,
0:47:24 > 0:47:30who was the abbot here from 1495 to 1526.
0:47:30 > 0:47:32He's actually responsible for reviving
0:47:32 > 0:47:36the fortunes of the abbey and he's also responsible for building
0:47:36 > 0:47:39that tower which is now called Huby's Tower.
0:47:39 > 0:47:42- And I know you're English Heritage, aren't you?- I am.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45And English Heritage are responsible for maintaining the artefacts
0:47:45 > 0:47:47- associated with the abbey. - They are, yes.
0:47:47 > 0:47:49It's massive, this ring.
0:47:49 > 0:47:52He either wore it on his thumb or he was enormously fat?
0:47:52 > 0:47:55He may have been a large person, we don't know.
0:47:55 > 0:47:57It's likely that he wore gloves
0:47:57 > 0:47:59and therefore it would have fitted over gloves.
0:47:59 > 0:48:03Because if I try and put my thumb in it, see the sense of scale.
0:48:03 > 0:48:07That's about the diameter of my thumb and as much again.
0:48:07 > 0:48:11It's a lot about status. It's made of copper alloy, so bronze or
0:48:11 > 0:48:16brass, it's then been gilded by a very expensive process,
0:48:16 > 0:48:21mercury gilded, so it's designed to be a really fancy object.
0:48:21 > 0:48:22And then used as a seal,
0:48:22 > 0:48:25because this is an imprint of a seal that's come from here.
0:48:25 > 0:48:28It is, yes, so it would have been his personal seal.
0:48:28 > 0:48:30It also tells you something
0:48:30 > 0:48:35about just how wealthy the monks were here, which seems...
0:48:35 > 0:48:37When the order started here
0:48:37 > 0:48:40and they wore simple coarse sheep's robes, they didn't wear
0:48:40 > 0:48:43underwear in order to make it just that bit more uncomfortable.
0:48:43 > 0:48:47How did it go from that to gobstoppers of rings like this?
0:48:48 > 0:48:52Part of it was about the development of the site and how the riches
0:48:52 > 0:48:56of the abbey were built up, through the wool trade in particular,
0:48:56 > 0:48:59but a lot of it is actually in the name of the Lord,
0:48:59 > 0:49:03and showing how much, how pious you were at the time
0:49:03 > 0:49:06and also how influential you might be.
0:49:06 > 0:49:09And I think this ring nicely reflects his importance
0:49:09 > 0:49:12and the memory that he's left for visitors at Fountains Abbey.
0:49:15 > 0:49:20Two fabulous pieces of English domestic embroidery.
0:49:20 > 0:49:22Do you like them?
0:49:22 > 0:49:24- Oh, yes, I think they're lovely. - Do you?- Absolutely, yeah.
0:49:24 > 0:49:30They were made in about 1680 and maybe 1660 at the earliest
0:49:30 > 0:49:32but they are so beautiful.
0:49:32 > 0:49:34Did you buy them?
0:49:34 > 0:49:36No, no, I didn't buy them.
0:49:36 > 0:49:39My father passed away last year and they were in his flat
0:49:39 > 0:49:42and that's all really I know about them.
0:49:43 > 0:49:46Well, let's talk about the mirror frame to start with,
0:49:46 > 0:49:51because mirrors were a very expensive commodity, you know,
0:49:51 > 0:49:57they were real luxury aristocratic pieces to get a looking glass.
0:49:57 > 0:50:00And to make the best of what would have been
0:50:00 > 0:50:03really quite a small piece of glass in the middle,
0:50:03 > 0:50:08they created these wonderful mirror frames
0:50:08 > 0:50:11and you've got lots of symbols there,
0:50:11 > 0:50:15things that were of interest at the time.
0:50:15 > 0:50:18On either side you've got portraits.
0:50:18 > 0:50:20On your side, there's Charles I.
0:50:20 > 0:50:24- Right.- And on this side, there's Henrietta Maria.
0:50:24 > 0:50:27Now they were married in fact in 1625,
0:50:27 > 0:50:30so this is very much looking backwards to that time.
0:50:30 > 0:50:33And then elsewhere, you've got, again,
0:50:33 > 0:50:39motifs that were incredibly popular with that period.
0:50:39 > 0:50:41So you've got a carnation -
0:50:41 > 0:50:45a very kind of now flower of the latter part of the 17th century.
0:50:45 > 0:50:47Oh, right, OK.
0:50:47 > 0:50:53But then, bam, on either side, you've got these wonderful castles
0:50:53 > 0:50:57and a house with smoke belching out of the chimneys.
0:50:57 > 0:51:00I think those are great designs, aren't they?
0:51:00 > 0:51:02Now all these designs,
0:51:02 > 0:51:06the embroideress would have got out of a pattern book.
0:51:06 > 0:51:08- She wouldn't have drawn them freehand.- Right.
0:51:08 > 0:51:11They would have been available as patterns.
0:51:11 > 0:51:14I love this embroidery here.
0:51:14 > 0:51:17It's the judgment of Solomon and you can see, here is a child
0:51:17 > 0:51:23being held up by his foot, with a sword poised ready to dispatch.
0:51:23 > 0:51:26Right.
0:51:26 > 0:51:30And here are the two ladies arguing about whose child it actually is,
0:51:30 > 0:51:33so that's the story there.
0:51:33 > 0:51:37- Why is that face not embroidered? - It's not finished.
0:51:37 > 0:51:39Right.
0:51:39 > 0:51:45But it gives us a very good indication of how the work was done,
0:51:45 > 0:51:49you know, it was drawn first, or printed first,
0:51:49 > 0:51:53in this case drawn, and then embroidered on top.
0:51:54 > 0:51:59They are tip-top of what collectors are wanting,
0:51:59 > 0:52:02- apart from the condition of this one.- Right.
0:52:02 > 0:52:06So I'm going to say for the mirror frame,
0:52:06 > 0:52:09I'm going to put it at around £15,000.
0:52:13 > 0:52:15In that condition?
0:52:15 > 0:52:16In that condition.
0:52:18 > 0:52:22The embroidered picture is going to be worth a little less than that
0:52:22 > 0:52:24because they are not quite as rare,
0:52:24 > 0:52:29so I would put that at around £8,000 to £10,000.
0:52:30 > 0:52:33- But it's adding up nicely. - It's adding up nicely.
0:52:33 > 0:52:36They are wonderful objects,
0:52:36 > 0:52:41the very best example of English embroidery at this golden period
0:52:41 > 0:52:42and...
0:52:42 > 0:52:46it's been a bit of a treat for me.
0:52:47 > 0:52:50Well, been a treat for me as well, thank you.
0:52:50 > 0:52:51- Thanks very much.- Thank you.
0:52:53 > 0:52:57So one day, you and your sister were shopping in Chipping Norton.
0:52:57 > 0:52:59- Yeah.- Saw an antique shop,
0:52:59 > 0:53:02popped in and it happened to be Ronnie Barker's antique shop.
0:53:02 > 0:53:03Correct.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06And I think a lot of people don't realise that when Ronnie Barker,
0:53:06 > 0:53:10one of Britain's greatest comedians, retired...
0:53:10 > 0:53:13he opened an antique shop, and is that you with Ronnie Barker?
0:53:13 > 0:53:15- No, that's my sister. - But you were there.
0:53:15 > 0:53:18- I was there, yes. - So what happened? Tell me about it.
0:53:18 > 0:53:21We went in and my sister absolutely fell in love with them.
0:53:21 > 0:53:24They were actually Ronnie's himself.
0:53:24 > 0:53:28- He'd had them hanging on his snooker room wall in his London home.- Right.
0:53:28 > 0:53:31And then he'd moved to Oxfordshire and had too much stuff,
0:53:31 > 0:53:34so was selling, selling stuff on so...
0:53:34 > 0:53:37So like every good antique dealer, raiding his wall to fill the shop up
0:53:37 > 0:53:39- when he needed a bit of extra stock.- Yes.
0:53:39 > 0:53:41They're by Friedrich Goldscheider,
0:53:41 > 0:53:44who was a well-known factory in Austria.
0:53:44 > 0:53:45Yes.
0:53:45 > 0:53:47They date to the late 19th century
0:53:47 > 0:53:50- when Moorish, Arab subjects were very popular.- Yes.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53So your sister bought them. Can you remember how much for?
0:53:53 > 0:53:59They were priced at £180 each and she bought them both for £350,
0:53:59 > 0:54:03which looking back, he didn't really knock much off, for buying the pair.
0:54:03 > 0:54:04But you were buying from Ronnie Barker.
0:54:04 > 0:54:08But you were buying them from Ronnie Barker, yes.
0:54:08 > 0:54:13And it's no joke that they're worth twice that, so that's £700.
0:54:13 > 0:54:17She'll be a bit nervous about that now, hanging them on the...
0:54:17 > 0:54:20Well, as long as it's a good bit of wire, which it is.
0:54:20 > 0:54:23So all I have to say now is it's goodnight from me.
0:54:23 > 0:54:26And goodnight from him. Goodnight.
0:54:30 > 0:54:32- Is this your daughter?- Yes, it is.
0:54:32 > 0:54:36I think we've found the perfect wedding present for her.
0:54:36 > 0:54:39Oh, my! Really?
0:54:39 > 0:54:45Well, this is a Chinese bowl and it's got dragons on it
0:54:45 > 0:54:48- and it's got phoenix on it.- Mm.
0:54:48 > 0:54:53Now dragons and phoenix represent the Emperor and Empress of China,
0:54:53 > 0:54:56but it is also a symbol of conjugal bliss
0:54:56 > 0:54:59and they are frequently used as wedding gifts.
0:54:59 > 0:55:01Oh, right.
0:55:01 > 0:55:03So it's got to be the perfect present.
0:55:03 > 0:55:06Where did you get it?
0:55:06 > 0:55:09I think it belonged to my great-aunt
0:55:09 > 0:55:11who gave some items to my mother
0:55:11 > 0:55:15and I just took a fancy to it, and she said take it.
0:55:15 > 0:55:17How long ago was that?
0:55:17 > 0:55:22- Oh, probably about 10, 15 years, I can't remember.- Fabulous.
0:55:22 > 0:55:23Well, I mean it is, it's lovely,
0:55:23 > 0:55:28I mean, it's painted with these dragons, phoenix, we've got flowers,
0:55:28 > 0:55:31we've got Buddhist symbols around the border here,
0:55:31 > 0:55:33but if we turn it over,
0:55:33 > 0:55:35we've got a six-character Chinese mark.
0:55:35 > 0:55:40It reads from here first and it says Da Qing Daoguang Nian Zhi
0:55:40 > 0:55:42so it says basically,
0:55:42 > 0:55:46"Made in the Daoguang reign of the great Qing dynasty,"
0:55:46 > 0:55:50is how it translates, and this chap was an Emperor
0:55:50 > 0:55:56who reigned from 1820 to 1850, so the first half of the 19th century.
0:55:56 > 0:55:59They started by painting it in underglazed blue
0:55:59 > 0:56:02and then firing it and then it's come back out and they've
0:56:02 > 0:56:09then re-enamelled it with these iron red, green, yellow etc on it.
0:56:09 > 0:56:13And they were popular bowls, they'd been making this design
0:56:13 > 0:56:17since the Kangxi period, back at the end of the 17th century.
0:56:17 > 0:56:21Throughout the 18th century and 19th century, you see the same bowls,
0:56:21 > 0:56:23so without turning it over,
0:56:23 > 0:56:27I wouldn't have necessarily been able to tell you when it was made.
0:56:27 > 0:56:28Where do you keep it now?
0:56:28 > 0:56:32Um, I keep it in a pile of other similar sort of bowls
0:56:32 > 0:56:36and plates that I just like the look of. It comes out every now and again
0:56:36 > 0:56:38to have peanuts or something like that put in it.
0:56:38 > 0:56:41- It's a peanut bowl. - It's a peanut bowl.
0:56:41 > 0:56:44I love the fact that it's a peanut bowl. Well, you're very lucky
0:56:44 > 0:56:48that your peanut bowl is in such amazing condition.
0:56:48 > 0:56:50It is very, very flawless, really.
0:56:50 > 0:56:52It's definitely from this period, this is not a copy.
0:56:52 > 0:56:55There are subtle differences and they are difficult to tell.
0:56:55 > 0:56:58There's a slight way the inside of the base is finished,
0:56:58 > 0:57:00it's gone slightly brown,
0:57:00 > 0:57:03again, you can see the colour draining slightly from the rim.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06The quality of the painting is the other issue, it's a very good thing.
0:57:06 > 0:57:10Lovely object. And terrific wedding present, well done.
0:57:12 > 0:57:17The last one at auction fetched just over £20,000.
0:57:17 > 0:57:20Gosh. Mm.
0:57:21 > 0:57:24So it was worth coming today after all.
0:57:30 > 0:57:32- I think we'll share it. - No, we won't!
0:57:35 > 0:57:38Do you remember at the beginning of the programme
0:57:38 > 0:57:41I talked about the Georgian tourists who would flock here in their hordes
0:57:41 > 0:57:44to see the ruins of the abbey and the wonderful water gardens?
0:57:44 > 0:57:47Well, this is a kind of Georgian frock coat
0:57:47 > 0:57:50one of those tourists might have worn.
0:57:50 > 0:57:52One of our visitors brought it along today,
0:57:52 > 0:57:55picked it up for about £80 and it's worth several hundred pounds.
0:57:55 > 0:57:58And of course it wouldn't have been worn with the kind of things
0:57:58 > 0:58:00I'm wearing, but with lovely lace at the throat,
0:58:00 > 0:58:03lace coming out of the cuffs, a tricorn hat.
0:58:03 > 0:58:07I couldn't resist putting it on because it is a fabulous thing.
0:58:07 > 0:58:08From the ruins of Fountains Abbey
0:58:08 > 0:58:12and our visitors and the Roadshow team, until next time, bye-bye.
0:58:35 > 0:58:39Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd