Fountains Abbey 2 Antiques Roadshow


Fountains Abbey 2

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Today we return to an estate in Yorkshire

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which is home not only to the ruins of Fountains Abbey,

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but also to a unique 18th-century water garden.

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The two were brought together in the 1760s

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and, since then, have been awarded the highest accolade -

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that of World Heritage Site.

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Welcome back to the Antiques Roadshow

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from the Fountains Abbey Estate near Ripon, in North Yorkshire.

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BELL RINGS

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BIRDSONG

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This is the fabulous view

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that wealthy Georgians would travel to see

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on a well-trodden tourist trail.

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The ruins of Fountains Abbey and the Water Gardens,

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designed by John Aislabie.

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At least, he spent the latter part of his life creating these gardens.

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Before that, back in 1695, he was the local MP for Ripon,

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and then Chancellor of the Exchequer.

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In 1721, disaster struck his career.

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He was expelled from Parliament, imprisoned in the Tower of London

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and disqualified for life from public office,

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all because of his part in the South Sea Bubble financial scandal.

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Within the walls of his prison cell in the Tower of London,

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John Aislabie found his own way of escaping -

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he spent his time dreaming of plans for a garden,

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and when he was released, he returned to Yorkshire and spent

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the rest of his life devoted to creating Studley Royal Water Garden.

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He consulted an architect, a water engineer, master masons

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and gardeners, and employed hundreds of local men from nearby Ripon,

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who dug and built the garden using the River Skell,

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to feed the canals, cascades and ponds.

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But it was John Aislabie's ideas

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and passion that created this amazing water garden.

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John Aislabie wanted to provide his visitors with one surprise

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after another so, at every twist and turn, there would be

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a strategically placed folly, or a cleverly engineered vista,

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providing his visitors with a place to stop, pause,

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and admire the scenery.

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Look at that.

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'And to give his guests a gentle fright,

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'they were encouraged into the serpentine tunnel.'

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I can't see a thing!

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Phew!

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Oh!

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I won't be doing that again in a hurry.

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And just upstream from the water gardens is Fountains Abbey,

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where people are gathering for today's Antiques Roadshow.

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Well, let's hope there are no frights,

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but lots of surprises in store for our visitors and our experts here

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in the gorgeous ruins of Fountains Abbey.

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And who knows? You might be in for a surprise yourself

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if you play along with our valuation game.

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Test your skills, press red on your remote control, or go to

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bbc.co.uk/antiquesroadshow on your computer or on your smartphone.

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What a glorious summer's day we're having here in Fountains Abbey.

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We're so lucky.

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And you came to my table and you put this in front of me

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and you said, "I reckon I've been sold a pup."

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Well, I was suspicious that I might have been sold a pup.

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I wasn't quite sure.

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I bought it as a Victorian...

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gold and diamond and amethyst brooch,

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but since then I've thought - this is quite bling-bling.

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Is it maybe a bit too good to be true?

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And why were you in the shop buying this?

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Well, my stepfather sold the farm that I grew up on -

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for which he's never been forgiven - and I had some cows of my own

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and, of course, they all went in the auction, and I thought I would

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spend the money on something that couldn't be frittered away.

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So I thought I would buy a piece of jewellery

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and I'm just wondering whether it was a good purchase,

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or whether I was sold a pup all those years ago.

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Now, how many cows did you sell?

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Well, there were eight altogether, but this is worth six cows worth.

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Six cows worth...

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-..40 years ago.

-Yes.

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This cost £285 which was an awful lot of money at the time.

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That's an awful lot of money.

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Well, rest assured that these are sparkling really well,

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because they are diamonds.

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Good.

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And the amethyst is a lovely colour amethyst.

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You know you can get amethysts that are pale in colour

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and they go all the way down to a deep, dark violet colour.

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And this has got this wonderful richness about it,

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this wonderful rich quality.

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The diamonds are cushion-shaped diamonds.

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Why they're so bright is

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because they've got very little inclusions inside.

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The date of this brooch is about 1850, it's sort of mid-Victorian.

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-Good.

-This is...all this beautiful, scrolled, embossed work, in gold.

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So, the value, the value of six cows...

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Well, they've gone up a bit since then.

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Have they gone up a bit?

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Well, your brooch has also gone up a bit since then too.

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I would say that if you were to sell this at auction...

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It would be in the region of around about £3,000.

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SHE GULPS

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Well, that's a relief!

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-Thank you.

-So all those beautiful cows you had,

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you know that they've all gone into this brooch and enjoy wearing it.

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Thank you.

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It's wonderful to see a child's book with child's illustrations in it,

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but in this condition, and for this date, 1879.

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"Juvenile Sketches by Robert Lowndes Aspinall and

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"Augusta Isabel Aspinall, intended

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"for their Aunt Bessie Aspinall."

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Do we know anything about them? Where do they come from?

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Yes, they lived in Chelsea, London.

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-Yes.

-They were obviously a well-to-do family

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cos in the 1871 and 1881 census,

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-they had eight servants in each...

-Good heavens!

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-..in each census.

-And you looked up these...?

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Yes, I found it and on top of that, when their mother was widowed,

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she moved to Folkestone where

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-Bertie - Robert - went to boarding school.

-Yes.

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-And she even had seven servants in the house then.

-In Folkestone?

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-Yes.

-Which was the cheaper place to go.

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Chelsea - well, Chelsea wasn't very fashionable in those days.

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Ah, right.

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But here we are, look, this is a wonderful one of a cricket match.

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Look at this, all these stick people but they are really quite,

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quite remarkable, aren't they?

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All the carriages here, and the runners there,

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and the lady painting on the boundary.

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Goodness me, I hadn't even noticed that.

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She was the long stop obviously.

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Right.

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Or could she be...? Oh, and the couple down here, a couple,

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they're boxing, there's a fight going on down there.

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This is a child's imagination. How old were they?

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-Do you know how old they were?

-Yes, yes, Robert was ten,

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and his older sister was 13.

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Yes. Oh, now, look at this one, by Augusta, this is at the zoo.

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Zoological Gardens - this must be in Regent's Park.

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I presume so.

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They've got a camel and a zebra here, parrots...

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..a flamingo,

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-a little baby trying to feed itself to the lions.

-Yes.

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All the family is going out, this is absolutely wonderful,

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all in their dress, in this slightly primitive, but absolutely exact.

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You can...it's almost a diary of a nobody.

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We rarely ever see this sort of thing pictorially

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and for it to have survived, as I say, is quite remarkable.

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But going on from that, this is one I rather like.

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I suppose I like it because of the good colour in it.

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This is an enormous drawing room,

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and there they all are,

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there's the tea and all the buns on it.

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This one's the vicar, he looks as though he's got indigestion,

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and wonderful gossip going on in this corner.

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Two ladies in the height of fashion there.

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This is the sort of thing you just don't see.

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We see pictures of interiors in all the ladies' magazines, and all

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that sort of thing, but nothing like this, from the eyes of a child.

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So...

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you collected this, you bought it?

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In 1970.

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Why did you buy it? What attracted you?

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The fact that it was 35 children's illustrations

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of life in London at the time.

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Which is virtually unknown.

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Yes, absolutely.

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You'd never seen anything like it.

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Well, I haven't seen anything like it,

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and neither has the Museum of Childhood.

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I mean, if you saw that on the market now, how much would you pay for it?

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I think somewhere in the region of £2,000... More likely.

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It's a fabulous collection, thank you for bringing it in.

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So, a rather exotic-looking table in Yorkshire.

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Where does it come from?

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Well, my grandma bought it from the Hutton sale in Marske Hall in 1947.

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Marske Hall being a big property?

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Yes, it was, owned by the Hutton family.

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OK, and do you know how much she paid for it?

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£5.

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She must have liked it.

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Well, she didn't actually buy it, her mother did.

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She was at work and she wanted a coffee table from this sale.

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-Yes.

-And they went for far too much, she said about £7 or £8 then.

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And this happened to be in the back room,

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it wasn't catalogued or anything,

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at the end of the sale it was brought in

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and she got it then.

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So it was extra to the catalogue.

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Yes, it was, they didn't know it was there...

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Oh, that was one of the great gems of going to house sales

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in the old days, that they just fished stuff out they hadn't spotted

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for the catalogue, and the reason I'm talking to you about this

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is it's got a stonking great big piece of porcelain in the middle.

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You've had a look at this porcelain obviously over

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-several cups of tea over your young years.

-Yes.

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What conclusions have you come to?

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Well, I've always thought it was Chinese but, um...

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Yes, well, it is, it is Chinese.

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If you look all the way around,

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you can see the way the glaze runs to the edge.

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That is the original edge surface,

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this has not actually been cut out of anything else.

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This piece of porcelain was designed to do what it is doing,

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which is to go into the middle of a piece of furniture.

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Do you use it?

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Well, Grandma uses it as a table, as she has her newspapers

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and her glasses, you know, for cups of tea, it will sit there.

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Cups of tea? Well, I think that's exactly what it was

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used for in the mid-19th century. It dates to around...

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1850.

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You've got images of couples and families out of doors...

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..enjoying themselves, playing games, drinking...

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looking at texts...

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..about to play musical instruments...

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..playing the Chinese game of Go, Chinese chequers.

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And all this beautifully painted,

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so that as a piece of porcelain is actually rather a fine work.

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Five pounds. Well...

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..if you were going to buy one of these today,

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I think you would have to shell out somewhere between

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£2,000 and £4,000.

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Very good, excellent.

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Grandma will be pleased.

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As a First World War enthusiast, I know all about Blues,

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you know, the uniform worn by

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people convalescing, wounded people,

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-back in Britain in hospitals.

-Yes.

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I don't know that I've ever seen

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an actual Blues jacket.

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They're quite rare, aren't they?

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They are rare and the thing with this jacket

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-is it's a World War Two.

-That's extraordinary because...

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the First World War, there were lots of reasons -

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if people walked about in civvies they were accused of being cowards,

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their uniforms were probably torn to pieces and, therefore,

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they were given a uniform,

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so although wounded, they were still in uniform.

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-Yes.

-That was the key to it.

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Come the Second World War, all that's become meaningless.

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Um...

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I've never seen - as I say - certainly a Second World War one.

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They weren't used - or only at the very beginning, if at all.

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We have to say how we know -

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and it's very simple - inside there's a label dated 1940.

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-1940.

-You know, a War Department label, so there's no doubt,

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-this is a Second World War Blues uniform.

-Blues uniform, yeah.

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And I think what happened was they probably had old stocks

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or they carried on making them to the pattern,

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they thought it was going to be the same,

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and they quickly realised it wasn't.

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-Wasn't, no.

-Because by 1940 - the early part -

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there weren't thousands of wounded coming back anyway.

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I'm sure an enthusiast who wanted such a thing,

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will never find another, and therefore what would they pay?

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£50, £100, £200 for it - it's in that range.

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It's got to be somewhere in that range, yes.

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-Thank you very much.

-You're quite welcome.

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Lovely to touch something I never thought I'd get hold of.

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It's an odd group of objects

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and I know the viewers at home will be thinking - what's the connection?

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-But there is one, isn't there?

-Yes, there is,

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and they were all collected by my great-grandfather

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round the turn of the 19th century

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and they were bowling trophies he won.

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Are they treasured possessions within your family?

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Yes, they are, they're all still out on display.

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The clock works and my favourite is the...is the gnome.

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Is the gnome. I mean he's certainly the odd one out.

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I mean, these are...

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really quite high quality trophies.

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I mean, some of the trophies - you think of the trophies you get today,

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-they're made of plastic and plated.

-Yes.

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I mean, whoever he was...

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played it to a level where you got some serious prizes,

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I mean, these are pretty good.

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If we take...the silver cup here...

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made by Walker and Hall from the 1890s.

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I mean, that's as good as it gets.

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I love the fact that he's put on there,

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"Having won for the third time."

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-You get to keep it.

-You get to keep it, like the Schneider Trophy,

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they say, "You've won it three times,

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-"there you go, it's yours."

-Right.

-And the clock...

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I mean, that really is a case of Victorian bling.

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-Yes.

-It's not the best clock.

-No.

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-It's not a great movement.

-No.

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But as a trophy, you know, to be handed that -

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you can imagine his face, and then on the flip side of that,

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you can imagine the disappointment

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when at some point he's handed a gnome. I mean, it must have been...

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I'd love to see that photograph of him being presented with the gnome.

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The value of silver has shot up over the last few years

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and that's where the value is. In a cup it's worth about sort of -

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-you know - £600-ish.

-Right.

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-Which isn't a lot when you consider how decorative it is.

-No, no.

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The clock I would say would have...

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a similar value.

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You know, it's not huge,

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-£600 maybe £700.

-Right.

-But...

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what I really like is the gnome.

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There's a company called Hesner and they're the most famous

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for making garden gnomes and I'm certain that he's of that factory

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and would date from the late 19th century,

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he would have been new as a prize,

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-and I would put him at somewhere around £800.

-Gosh. Yes.

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So the one he was most disappointed with,

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is probably the best one, well, is the best one.

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Yes, it's my favourite so...

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-Good choice. Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

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I'm the first to admit

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that I'm no expert in photographs and especially old photographs

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but this looks like it might be

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a picture of Hong Kong here.

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Is that right?

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I think it will be, probably in the 1890s, late 1890s.

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My, hasn't it changed?

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Because now, that whole hillside is filled with skyscrapers.

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Absolutely.

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But what intrigues me more,

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which is much more personal, is this other album

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and it's got a wedding photograph here.

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Is this a family group?

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Yes, I think that will be my maternal grandmother or my...

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a great aunt.

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Because all five of them went out to the Far East and

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all but one got married out there.

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I see, so this would be in the 1890s as well?

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Late 1890s, I think, possibly early 1900s.

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And...what are these items arranged on this next page?

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As far as I know, they are the, umm...

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wedding gifts that were given at that wedding.

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What's interesting for me is, today,

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people have been bringing in things just like this carving set,

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-these fish knives and forks, and brush sets.

-Yes.

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Now here we've got the silver page

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and these spoons here look remarkably similar to those.

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They're not the same ones, are they?

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-As far as I'm aware those are the spoons, yes.

-Good heavens!

0:17:370:17:40

So, it's so nice to see them in their original brand-new

0:17:400:17:43

presentation boxes here, and if we have a look at them.

0:17:430:17:47

This is absolutely a copy of a Victorian fruit spoon.

0:17:480:17:52

What I love about it

0:17:520:17:54

is, instead of having an apostle,

0:17:540:17:56

-which an English one would have...

-Yes, yes.

0:17:560:17:58

-..it's got a Chinese figure, that's their take on it.

-Yes.

0:17:580:18:02

And if we turn it over,

0:18:020:18:03

-it's got a couple of marks, and it's got the mark WH.

-Yes...

0:18:030:18:07

And that's a well-known maker, a firm called Wang Hing

0:18:070:18:10

-who were making exactly in the 1890s.

-Yeah, yeah.

0:18:100:18:13

So, I love these because they are so...

0:18:130:18:18

English, but with that lovely Chinese twist.

0:18:180:18:21

-I think so, yes.

-And a very good figure.

-And we still use them.

0:18:210:18:24

Well, that's really good to know.

0:18:240:18:26

Now I've spoken to one of my colleagues

0:18:270:18:29

-about the photograph albums.

-Yes.

0:18:290:18:32

And he thinks...

0:18:320:18:34

they're well into four figures, we're talking of possibly approaching

0:18:340:18:38

£2,000, maybe even more for those.

0:18:380:18:42

The spoons I love and they're in lovely condition and...

0:18:420:18:48

very unusual. I've never seen any of these spoons before

0:18:480:18:53

with Chinese marks on.

0:18:530:18:55

Today, I've seen almost identical English ones,

0:18:550:18:59

-from the 1880s and 1890s.

-Extraordinary.

0:18:590:19:01

So, trying to put a value on these is quite difficult

0:19:010:19:04

when you've not seen something the same before.

0:19:040:19:06

-Yes.

-I think...

0:19:060:19:09

..certainly...

0:19:100:19:12

-£700 to £1,000.

-Mm-hm.

0:19:120:19:14

-Yeah.

-Happy with that?

-Oh, yes, yes.

0:19:150:19:18

HE LAUGHS

0:19:180:19:19

And you'll carry on using them?

0:19:190:19:20

Absolutely. Oh, yes, I like using them. I'm very fond of them.

0:19:200:19:23

Wonderful documents, and lovely pieces of silver, thank you so much.

0:19:230:19:27

Thank you very much.

0:19:270:19:28

So, the sight of a box like this usually stops my heart,

0:19:280:19:31

my pulse, but I've got a funny feeling that what is within

0:19:310:19:34

is not going to continue that level of excitement and there it is.

0:19:340:19:38

I think you're right!

0:19:380:19:40

Tell me about it with you, this faithful dog,

0:19:400:19:42

how did it come into your life?

0:19:420:19:44

It came into my life -

0:19:440:19:46

as many things do these days - from an internet auction site,

0:19:460:19:51

and I was aware at the time that I bought it,

0:19:510:19:54

that it was my infatuation with Imperial Russia

0:19:540:19:58

that was getting the better of me, and, um...

0:19:580:20:01

yes, and when I got it, I was pretty sure that it had.

0:20:010:20:04

SHE LAUGHS

0:20:040:20:05

Anyway, it was a rash purchase, but nonetheless

0:20:050:20:07

a very interesting one for us

0:20:070:20:09

because it is a fake Faberge object.

0:20:090:20:11

-The person that made this object made it to deceive.

-Yeah.

0:20:110:20:15

And it may not be that the person who was selling it wanted to

0:20:150:20:17

deceive you, because they may have been deceived in their own right.

0:20:170:20:20

But the reason that we can tell that is

0:20:200:20:22

because on the inside of the lid satin,

0:20:220:20:24

which you've already spotted, in Cyrillic, it says,

0:20:240:20:26

-"Faberge, St Petersburg, Moscow and Odessa."

-Yeah.

0:20:260:20:30

That would be a marvellous signpost to the fact that you had

0:20:300:20:33

something enormously valuable,

0:20:330:20:35

because the centre of the Faberge storm is what we call

0:20:350:20:38

the objects of fantasy, the things that are,

0:20:380:20:41

like so many of one's friends,

0:20:410:20:43

utterly useless and charming. Those are the ones that are...

0:20:430:20:46

the ones one values the most,

0:20:460:20:48

and so it's the animal carvings and the flowers and the Easter eggs

0:20:480:20:52

that are why Faberge's reputation is so excitable,

0:20:520:20:54

and why these things are so intensely valuable.

0:20:540:20:57

Well, it is a fake Faberge object,

0:20:570:20:59

but in a way it's got qualities of its own.

0:20:590:21:01

I mean, it's a very charming little sculpture of a white dog

0:21:010:21:04

in perfectly chosen white stone, little black onyx snout

0:21:040:21:07

and a gold collar with diamonds,

0:21:070:21:10

and I suppose it cost a certain sum on internet auction.

0:21:100:21:14

How much was that?

0:21:140:21:16

I can't remember exactly, but I believe

0:21:160:21:19

-around a thousand pounds.

-Hmm.

0:21:190:21:21

Well, it's a thousand pounds for a very joyful little fella

0:21:210:21:24

made of stone, and maybe without the box he marches on, you know,

0:21:240:21:29

as a little work of art in his own right.

0:21:290:21:31

I suppose it must have a value, and I think maybe it's worth

0:21:310:21:36

£300.

0:21:360:21:37

The real rub of this is is that, had this been genuine,

0:21:370:21:40

and I suppose there is the remotest chance that one could acquire

0:21:400:21:44

an object of this nature that way,

0:21:440:21:46

that you would have received a little registered parcel in the post

0:21:460:21:50

four or five days after bidding, and you would have opened it and

0:21:500:21:54

you would have been, well, a quarter of a million pounds better off.

0:21:540:21:57

Even I knew that wasn't going to happen!

0:21:590:22:01

Well, it has happened to people.

0:22:020:22:05

-But it didn't happen in this particular case.

-No.

0:22:050:22:07

And in a way it's a powerful lesson,

0:22:070:22:10

not only for the internet buyer,

0:22:100:22:13

but for me and anybody else interested in works of art,

0:22:130:22:16

and thank you very much for bringing it.

0:22:160:22:17

My little bit of FAUX-berge.

0:22:170:22:19

Fauxberge, absolutely!

0:22:190:22:21

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

0:22:210:22:24

These were my grandparents.

0:22:240:22:26

They shared the same birthday

0:22:260:22:28

and they were married in the middle of the Second World War,

0:22:280:22:30

1st January 1941.

0:22:300:22:32

They were married for over 70 years

0:22:320:22:34

and they died very recently within three days of each other.

0:22:340:22:38

So theirs is a real love story.

0:22:380:22:39

-It is.

-Spanning the decades.

0:22:390:22:41

Well, over 70 years of married life,

0:22:410:22:44

it's an amazing achievement really.

0:22:440:22:47

You found a massive stash of letters

0:22:470:22:49

when you were going through their home. Tell me about that.

0:22:490:22:51

I had no idea they were there.

0:22:510:22:53

I found a tea chest in a cupboard that I didn't know existed

0:22:530:22:55

with some shoes on the top of it

0:22:550:22:57

and when I looked underneath, there were over 250 letters and telegrams

0:22:570:23:01

that they'd sent each other

0:23:010:23:03

right from just before the Second World War,

0:23:030:23:06

all the way through 1939-1945,

0:23:060:23:07

whilst my grandfather was serving in the Army

0:23:070:23:10

and my grandmother was a nurse.

0:23:100:23:11

Did you parents know about that?

0:23:110:23:13

My mother had heard that they'd written to each other,

0:23:130:23:15

but nobody had seen that collection of letters at all.

0:23:150:23:18

So, have you been reading them?

0:23:180:23:19

I've read some of them. There's a lot to go through.

0:23:190:23:22

I can imagine.

0:23:220:23:23

But...and they're quite detailed and they tell quite a bit

0:23:230:23:26

about war life and what they hoped

0:23:260:23:28

would happen afterwards and the things that happened during the war.

0:23:280:23:31

And they're also tremendously romantic, are they?

0:23:310:23:33

Oh, they are, yeah,

0:23:330:23:34

-there's some very moving, moving passages in them.

-Let's see...

0:23:340:23:37

"I'm very sorry, my beloved, I can't get home.

0:23:380:23:41

"That's all I live for - home and you.

0:23:410:23:43

"You are the most wonderful, marvellous, precious,

0:23:430:23:46

"beloved, lovable, adoring, adorable, charming,

0:23:460:23:50

"divine and loving sweetheart wife that has ever lived.

0:23:500:23:54

"Darling, come a little closer and let me whisper in your darling ears,

0:23:540:23:58

"all these loving words because they are meant for you, my sweetheart."

0:23:580:24:01

-And it goes on, I mean...

-And it goes on for pages.

0:24:010:24:04

It does, and there's 250-odd letters like this.

0:24:040:24:07

Yeah, both from my grandfather to my grandmother

0:24:070:24:10

and back from my grandmother to my grandfather,

0:24:100:24:12

and when they couldn't write to each other, they sent telegrams instead.

0:24:120:24:16

-They were born on the same day...

-The same birthday, yeah.

0:24:160:24:18

..and died within three days of each other.

0:24:180:24:20

Let me just read the end here. "Well, sweetheart it's bedtime" -

0:24:200:24:23

-it's your grandfather writing.

-Yes.

0:24:230:24:25

"Goodnight, sweet dreams, I send all my love and everything to you,

0:24:250:24:29

"my wonderful and loving wife, all my love, Fred,"

0:24:290:24:32

lots of kisses and then,

0:24:320:24:33

"PS, darling, I love you more than anything else in the world."

0:24:330:24:36

I think that's true.

0:24:360:24:38

Isn't that lovely to see these?

0:24:380:24:40

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

0:24:400:24:42

MUSIC: "Goodnight Sweetheart" by Al Bowlly

0:24:420:24:44

# All my prayers are for you

0:24:460:24:50

# Goodnight sweetheart

0:24:500:24:54

# Goodnight. #

0:24:540:24:59

We've got this wonderful little carving of this monk here,

0:25:010:25:04

and out of this begging bowl,

0:25:040:25:06

see the tail emerging?

0:25:060:25:08

He conjures a fabulous...

0:25:080:25:10

..dragon which crawls up and meets him here,

0:25:120:25:14

and he holds onto the horn.

0:25:140:25:16

It's the quality, it's amazing.

0:25:160:25:18

Thank you.

0:25:180:25:19

It's difficult to know where to start

0:25:190:25:21

with these wonderful little bits of Japanese sculpture.

0:25:210:25:24

Where did you get them?

0:25:240:25:25

A long time ago, I bought them and my husband bought me some.

0:25:270:25:30

I just liked them because they were little,

0:25:300:25:33

portable and just nice quality.

0:25:330:25:36

It was just something I loved from the first one I ever saw.

0:25:360:25:40

I stopped buying them about 40 year ago.

0:25:400:25:42

40 years ago you stopped buying them?

0:25:420:25:44

Yes, I had a daughter and I couldn't afford both.

0:25:440:25:47

Yeah, well, you know.

0:25:470:25:49

They are Japanese netsuke as I'm sure you know.

0:25:490:25:52

These ones were made in the Meiji period.

0:25:520:25:54

The Meiji restoration was 1868, so 1868 to 1912,

0:25:540:25:59

and this is the period of the real flourishing of the arts

0:25:590:26:01

in Japan and they made metalwork.

0:26:010:26:04

These are mostly - but not all - ivory.

0:26:040:26:06

-This one here is a bone one.

-Yeah.

0:26:060:26:09

But netsukes, originally, were the...

0:26:090:26:11

-..toggles...

-Toggles.

-..or buttons, you had a netsuke...

0:26:130:26:16

You didn't have pockets so you had a box or an inro

0:26:160:26:19

hanging from your waistband,

0:26:190:26:21

a little, tiny little bead

0:26:210:26:22

called an ojime and the netsuke, and those were all in the round,

0:26:220:26:26

rather like this one, but these ones were made to be decorative.

0:26:260:26:30

They do it so well. Which is your favourite?

0:26:300:26:32

-That one.

-This one? Let's take a look at this.

0:26:330:26:35

It's my husband and a baby, my baby,

0:26:390:26:42

because my husband's got a tummy like that.

0:26:420:26:44

Has he? Has he really? Is he here?

0:26:440:26:46

You don't want to see him. Put it down.

0:26:460:26:49

And was this one of the first ones you got?

0:26:490:26:52

Er, it was quite an early one, yes.

0:26:520:26:53

I think they're really beautiful things. I love them.

0:26:530:26:56

You could look at these and talk about them for ever.

0:26:560:26:59

We've got a little group here of people carrying rice.

0:26:590:27:01

I mean, the rat and the quality of the tail on there is amazing.

0:27:010:27:05

What was the most you had to pay for them?

0:27:050:27:07

We have paid up to about...

0:27:070:27:08

£200, I would think.

0:27:080:27:11

That was quite a lot.

0:27:110:27:12

Yes, it was a lot of money in those days.

0:27:120:27:14

-But, I mean, some of them were very, very inexpensive.

-Yeah.

0:27:140:27:17

-Some of them were.

-And this isn't all of the collection?

0:27:170:27:20

No, I have one or two more.

0:27:200:27:21

-You've got some more.

-Yeah.

0:27:210:27:24

-I think they're fabulous.

-Thank you.

0:27:240:27:26

It's difficult putting a valuation on a collective group of pieces.

0:27:260:27:30

-Yeah.

-And it is always somewhat guesswork.

0:27:300:27:33

Just what's here has got to be...

0:27:340:27:36

..£6,000 to £8,000.

0:27:370:27:39

No!

0:27:400:27:42

It has!

0:27:420:27:44

This one here is...

0:27:440:27:45

over £1,000 worth of netsuke.

0:27:450:27:47

Good heavens!

0:27:490:27:50

I didn't expect that sort of money.

0:27:500:27:52

I knew they were nice and lovely to me,

0:27:520:27:56

but I really didn't expect that sort of money.

0:27:560:27:59

Well, they're fabulous things to see.

0:27:590:28:01

-I would like to keep looking at these for days.

-Thank you.

0:28:010:28:04

We inherited this table from my husband's farming family

0:28:060:28:09

and at Great-grandma's funeral,

0:28:090:28:12

all the uncles declared that we were to inherit the Richard table,

0:28:120:28:17

because there were no more Richards, and my husband's called Robert,

0:28:170:28:20

at which point I said, "No, thank you, don't want that,

0:28:200:28:24

"don't want anything French polished, fancy

0:28:240:28:26

"in my house, it'll get ruined".

0:28:260:28:28

And they all fell about the floor laughing,

0:28:280:28:30

which I thought was quite rude.

0:28:300:28:33

-Right.

-And they then announced that I clearly hadn't seen it and maybe

0:28:330:28:36

I should go and look at it before we did, and this was it, so...

0:28:360:28:39

..they'd butchered things on it,

0:28:410:28:43

and hidden underneath it, and danced on it and...

0:28:430:28:46

so I thought it would be quite safe with my boys.

0:28:460:28:49

Your boys are a bit rough and...?

0:28:490:28:51

-Yeah, they're all built like farmers.

-Right.

-Yes.

0:28:510:28:54

-So, where do you keep this, then?

-This lives in our dining room,

0:28:540:28:57

the conservatory, and it's used every day.

0:28:570:28:59

When we first got it back to our house, it was...

0:28:590:29:02

I didn't think it was very clean

0:29:020:29:05

so I made my husband take

0:29:050:29:06

it down to the local garage and he jet-washed the top.

0:29:060:29:09

Did you get arrested?

0:29:090:29:11

Most people clean their cars in the jet wash,

0:29:110:29:13

not go in there with a gate leg table.

0:29:130:29:15

I know, well, I think maybe we shouldn't have done,

0:29:150:29:17

but it's nice and clean, it was, yeah.

0:29:170:29:20

I don't know what to do with it, to look after it, which is

0:29:200:29:22

partly why I brought it here.

0:29:220:29:23

-How old do you think this is?

-I think it's...

0:29:230:29:26

300 or 400 years old, from its original state,

0:29:260:29:29

cos I think it's made of old bedding boxes and things.

0:29:290:29:32

Bedding boxes?

0:29:320:29:33

Yeah, if you look underneath.

0:29:330:29:34

Right, OK.

0:29:340:29:35

You'll tell me. Yes.

0:29:350:29:37

Now it is, you know, yes,

0:29:380:29:39

a 300 or 400-year-old gate-leg table.

0:29:390:29:43

-It's a lovely piece of furniture.

-Yeah.

0:29:430:29:45

Yes, it does need some TLC to bring it back up. Umm...

0:29:450:29:49

I'm sure if this could talk, it could tell some

0:29:490:29:51

-really, really interesting stories.

-Yeah, sure, yeah.

0:29:510:29:54

-It dates back to around about the 1700s.

-OK.

0:29:540:29:58

And, um,

0:29:580:30:00

it's made out of solid oak.

0:30:000:30:02

-What I'd like to have seen is a drawer.

-OK.

0:30:020:30:05

Because normally when you had these tables,

0:30:050:30:07

-they normally have a nice, long drawer, but this one doesn't.

-No.

0:30:070:30:10

It would seat six to eight people comfortably,

0:30:100:30:14

and do you sit round it and dine?

0:30:140:30:15

We do, yeah, we do, it's used fully, yeah.

0:30:150:30:18

Yeah, and I think that's really important that,

0:30:180:30:20

you know, these things

0:30:200:30:21

-are to be used, not to be looked at and treasured.

-Yeah.

0:30:210:30:25

-If we look at the tips, at each end.

-Yes, they're loose, aren't they?

0:30:250:30:28

-They're loose, they have been replaced.

-Ah, yes.

0:30:280:30:31

And that's where... On the underside, you can see they've been carved.

0:30:310:30:35

Well, what's that from, then?

0:30:350:30:36

They...someone's found a piece of old timber

0:30:360:30:39

and instead of throwing it away -

0:30:390:30:41

make good and mend.

0:30:410:30:42

When we look at the base, oh, it's glorious, because

0:30:420:30:46

along the rails there, they're all so thick and chunky.

0:30:460:30:49

-Mmm.

-It's...

0:30:490:30:51

as I say, a good substantial piece of furniture.

0:30:510:30:54

When this is waxed up...

0:30:540:30:56

-Waxed?

-This would be a lovely, lovely colour.

0:30:560:30:58

-Don't jet-wash it!

-No, no, I won't.

0:30:580:31:00

Just put...get some wax and rub it in there and it will just glow

0:31:000:31:04

-because the foundations are there.

-Yeah.

0:31:040:31:06

Waxing this up and giving it some good TLC,

0:31:060:31:09

I would put a valuation on this, when it's done,

0:31:090:31:11

-around a couple of thousand pounds.

-Really?

-Yeah.

0:31:110:31:14

It's going to look great, cos it's going to be a good colour.

0:31:140:31:17

It is, yeah. I'm pleased with it, thank you.

0:31:170:31:19

Now I'm holding here

0:31:210:31:23

photographs which I know were taken at the Nuremberg Trials in 1945.

0:31:230:31:26

Now it's 70 years nearly

0:31:290:31:31

since this event took place,

0:31:310:31:33

and it may be that people have begun to forget how important it was.

0:31:330:31:36

It wasn't just about sorting out the chaos of the Second World War,

0:31:370:31:42

it was actually about establishing principles of international justice

0:31:420:31:46

which have been maintained to this day.

0:31:460:31:48

So, I know the story, but what do they tell you?

0:31:480:31:51

They are evidence of my mother having worked there

0:31:520:31:55

for the length of the trial,

0:31:550:31:58

from 1945 into 1946

0:31:580:32:00

and she's actually photographed on some of these photos.

0:32:000:32:03

-Where is she?

-She's at the...she's just on the right-hand side here.

0:32:030:32:07

So she's in the middle of those three people

0:32:070:32:09

in the back of that photograph. What was she doing?

0:32:090:32:11

She was secretary to the chief judge who was Lord Justice Lawrence.

0:32:110:32:16

Yes, yes, and she was there for a long time, I imagine.

0:32:160:32:18

She was there for the full length of the trial.

0:32:180:32:20

I'm trying to get my head round what that meant.

0:32:200:32:23

You sit all the week listening to records of ghastly events

0:32:230:32:28

and then what do you do in the evenings and weekends?

0:32:280:32:30

-You go off and play, presumably.

-I think they lived pretty well.

0:32:300:32:33

-Well, I've heard that.

-They certainly partied, they went away at weekends,

0:32:330:32:37

they had a lot of rations, I mean, there's even a ration book here.

0:32:370:32:42

-Yeah, and we've got maps and guides.

-Yeah.

0:32:420:32:44

So, in your off time, you just enjoyed what...

0:32:440:32:48

I think they let their hair down.

0:32:480:32:50

Yeah. This is a close-up of the presiding judges.

0:32:500:32:54

Now, let's get this right.

0:32:540:32:55

Geoffrey Lawrence was the sort of, the top judge...

0:32:550:32:58

Yes, he was, yes.

0:32:580:32:59

-But there were judges on the panel from America, from Russia...

-Yes.

0:32:590:33:04

-..from France, in effect from the four powers.

-Yes, yes.

0:33:040:33:07

And so he was in charge of that judicial team and, of course,

0:33:070:33:11

everything had to be multi-lingual and so there were translators,

0:33:110:33:14

there were transcribers, it was a massive operation.

0:33:140:33:17

Obviously, we all know that picture, there we are looking at the dock.

0:33:170:33:22

I can't do them all and I don't really want to,

0:33:220:33:24

-but we start with Goering, Hess.

-Yes.

-You know these are all,

0:33:240:33:28

in a sense, terrible names from history.

0:33:280:33:31

The trial was about bringing these people to justice

0:33:310:33:34

in an international way

0:33:340:33:36

that would satisfy justice in a sense for ever -

0:33:360:33:39

that's what they wanted to achieve. This is an interesting document.

0:33:390:33:42

She seems to have collected the signatures of most of the judges.

0:33:420:33:45

-Yes.

-And why is the paper headed Adolf Hitler?

0:33:450:33:48

-I've no idea.

-They must have acquired this.

-Yes.

0:33:480:33:50

-And it was a sort of rather grim souvenir of the time.

-Yes.

0:33:500:33:54

Geoffrey Lawrence, the presiding judge.

0:33:540:33:56

Great names - Norman Birkett, the French judge, Shawcross,

0:33:560:34:00

you know, they're all famous legal names.

0:34:000:34:03

And the famous Russian judge, Nikitchenko, who was,

0:34:030:34:07

I gather, very tiresome, you know, but you know they sorted it all out.

0:34:070:34:11

-So that's a wonderful personal souvenir, isn't it?

-Yes, yes.

0:34:110:34:15

The other thing I like - I'm quite amused by - is that.

0:34:150:34:18

Now I'm sure the Nuremberg Trials didn't produce

0:34:190:34:22

souvenirs for people to take home.

0:34:220:34:24

Well, maybe not quite like that, no.

0:34:240:34:27

But certainly a souvenir, I think perhaps it was, let us say,

0:34:270:34:30

acquired unofficially.

0:34:300:34:31

-I think, I suspect that.

-So, there was this young girl thinking,

0:34:310:34:35

"Oh, I think I'll take something a bit more positive."

0:34:350:34:38

-Yes, probably got tucked in the suitcase at some point.

-And why not?

0:34:380:34:41

Will you ever see another ashtray from the Nuremberg Trials?

0:34:410:34:44

I doubt it.

0:34:440:34:45

No, probably not.

0:34:450:34:46

So, you know, she's shown me something I never knew existed.

0:34:460:34:49

Yes.

0:34:490:34:50

-That document is probably the best piece.

-Yes.

0:34:500:34:52

That collection of signatures is very rare

0:34:520:34:55

and you'd never get it again.

0:34:550:34:57

I don't think many people did that at the time.

0:34:570:34:59

In value terms, that's probably...

0:34:590:35:01

..£800, £1,000, £1,500.

0:35:020:35:04

-It's such a rare document.

-Yes.

0:35:040:35:06

-Bizarrely, the ashtray is probably quite desirable.

-Yes.

0:35:060:35:10

Put it all together because of who she was, and what she did,

0:35:100:35:14

-let's say £5,000 for the lot.

-Wow.

-Something like that.

0:35:140:35:18

That's incredible.

0:35:180:35:19

But it's not important.

0:35:190:35:21

-No, it isn't, no, it's not going anywhere.

-Good.

0:35:210:35:24

You might ask why I'm interested in what

0:35:250:35:28

looks like a sort of rather bizarre hedgehog or pile of nails,

0:35:280:35:33

but I think that it's a sculpture by an incredibly interesting

0:35:330:35:36

and influential American furniture designer.

0:35:360:35:39

I think that this is a sculpture by a gentleman called Harry Bertoia.

0:35:390:35:42

Correct, yeah.

0:35:420:35:44

Who designed a number of well-known bits of furniture in America,

0:35:440:35:47

and studied at a number of very influential schools, and worked with

0:35:470:35:50

a number of influential designers like Charles and Ray Eames.

0:35:500:35:53

-That's right.

-But what I need to know from you

0:35:530:35:55

is how on earth did it make its way to Yorkshire from America?

0:35:550:35:58

Well, it was sent over from America

0:35:580:36:01

by Harry Bertoia...

0:36:010:36:02

to a company called Interiors International,

0:36:020:36:04

who were manufacturing the range of furniture

0:36:040:36:07

that included his particular wire chairs.

0:36:070:36:09

And we had a showroom in London and a showroom, believe it or not,

0:36:090:36:11

in Pontefract in North Yorkshire, and they decided to bring

0:36:110:36:14

certain artefacts up from London to Pontefract and that's where it was.

0:36:140:36:19

And then the parent company, unfortunately, went to the wall,

0:36:190:36:22

and so they suddenly decided to sell these things off

0:36:220:36:25

and I happened to be there at the right time.

0:36:250:36:27

I was still working for them, but that's how it came about.

0:36:270:36:29

And when was this? This must've been in the '70s.

0:36:290:36:31

I bought this in about 1973, it came over about 1970.

0:36:310:36:35

It's part of a series of sculptures entitled Bush.

0:36:350:36:37

-Right.

-So it's one of his Bush sculptures.

-Yeah.

0:36:370:36:39

And they come in various sorts of shapes and sizes

0:36:390:36:42

-and they're made from patinated bronze.

-Ah, that sounds interesting.

0:36:420:36:45

He was hugely inspired by nature and it was the sort of randomness,

0:36:450:36:48

but also the symmetry of nature. So you've got all these

0:36:480:36:50

nail-like structures with these little beads

0:36:500:36:52

all flowing out of this main copper trunk underneath here.

0:36:520:36:55

-Yeah.

-And you've got the randomness but also the symmetry,

0:36:550:36:58

-it's still a very pleasing whole.

-Yes, yes, it is.

0:36:580:37:00

-And it's that pleasing shape you only get in nature.

-Yes.

0:37:000:37:03

When you bought it in 1973, how much did you pay?

0:37:030:37:05

I think about £17 for it.

0:37:050:37:07

£17 - maybe it's a considerable sum of money then, I suppose.

0:37:070:37:11

-I bought some carpet as well.

-Oh right, thrown in?

0:37:110:37:13

No, no. And some Carrara marble ashtrays.

0:37:130:37:16

-About £40 the lot, I think.

-OK.

0:37:160:37:18

My one concern about looking at the value today is it has had

0:37:180:37:21

some life, I think it's fallen over.

0:37:210:37:23

-It's been in the family.

-Right. OK.

0:37:230:37:25

They sell for considerable sums of money

0:37:250:37:27

and I'd like to say that this should be worth at auction

0:37:270:37:30

somewhere in the region of

0:37:300:37:32

-£10,000 to £15,000.

-Mmm!

0:37:320:37:34

Wow, that surprises me.

0:37:340:37:36

Brilliant! I never expected it to be worth that much.

0:37:380:37:41

I said to my wife, "I don't think it will be worth a great deal,

0:37:410:37:44

-"200 quid maybe."

-And what did she say?

0:37:440:37:46

She didn't say anything, I've got to ring her and tell her now.

0:37:460:37:49

Repeat, 10 to 15.

0:37:500:37:52

-£10,000 to £15,000.

-Thank you very much.

0:37:520:37:55

But there's possibly even better news.

0:37:550:37:57

We're in Yorkshire, in England.

0:37:570:37:59

-The market for these really is the States.

-Yes.

0:37:590:38:02

You may find that if you took it out to a good American auction house

0:38:020:38:05

or an American dealer and put it for sale in that environment,

0:38:050:38:07

-it could easily top 20,000 or maybe 30,000.

-Crikey.

0:38:070:38:11

That's very good, thank you very much.

0:38:120:38:14

I like objects that have labels on them

0:38:180:38:20

because it's the start of a journey of investigation

0:38:200:38:24

and it really gives you somewhere where you can actually concentrate

0:38:240:38:27

and start the ideas flowing about finding out about something.

0:38:270:38:31

I always look at anything like this as a bit of detective work,

0:38:310:38:33

you know, you have to find out, and there are clues on it.

0:38:330:38:36

And when someone is kind enough to write a thing like that on there,

0:38:360:38:39

you think your birthdays and Christmases have come all at once.

0:38:390:38:41

And it says,

0:38:410:38:43

"Taken by Sir Richard Strachan from Commodore Beaumoir..."

0:38:430:38:47

using my best French there,

0:38:470:38:48

"..after the Battle of Trafalgar, October 21st 1805."

0:38:480:38:53

Who was Sir Richard Strachan?

0:38:540:38:56

I don't know.

0:38:560:38:57

I know that he was in the skirmishes after the Battle of Trafalgar,

0:38:570:39:00

but that's all that I know about him.

0:39:000:39:02

So, this hasn't come down in your family from him?

0:39:020:39:05

No, I think there's no military, no naval people in my family at all.

0:39:050:39:09

I think it must have been purchased by my grandfather.

0:39:090:39:12

That would probably figure, because people often bought small things

0:39:120:39:16

like this as ornaments and, although it says "taken after Trafalgar",

0:39:160:39:21

one thing that is absolutely certain - this isn't a weapon.

0:39:210:39:24

This would not have been on the gun decks of some great French warship

0:39:240:39:28

that was being hammered into submission by one of Nelson's ships.

0:39:280:39:31

-It's actually a cannon that's used for signalling.

-Ah, right.

0:39:310:39:35

So, it's a piece of communications equipment, if you like.

0:39:350:39:39

Quite often, you found small cannons were used with a blank charge in.

0:39:390:39:43

I don't think this was ever intended to fire a projectile.

0:39:430:39:46

I think it just had a big charge of gunpowder rammed in it

0:39:460:39:50

with a wad of oakum or tow or something rammed down on it

0:39:500:39:53

and fired when they hoisted the signal.

0:39:530:39:56

So, the flags would run up the halyard, for the signal flags.

0:39:560:39:59

The people who were supposed to be reading that, heard a bang

0:40:010:40:04

and thought, "Ah, I'd better look!"

0:40:040:40:06

And, "Ooh, yes, they want us to come about.

0:40:060:40:08

"Bring her about, number one."

0:40:080:40:10

So, it was a communications equipment rather than a weapon

0:40:100:40:13

because obviously it's tiny.

0:40:130:40:15

But it's clearly the sort of thing

0:40:160:40:18

that somebody who was a senior French officer

0:40:180:40:20

probably had on his quarterdeck

0:40:200:40:22

or something like that, for signalling purposes.

0:40:220:40:25

And after the battle, whoever Sir Richard was,

0:40:250:40:28

he acquired it from the vanquished Frenchman who probably was

0:40:280:40:31

a bit miffed that he had to give it up.

0:40:310:40:33

I mean, I would be, because I just think it's so beautiful.

0:40:330:40:36

And this is a nice little gun.

0:40:360:40:38

It's about 1750, something like that, made of bronze,

0:40:380:40:43

probably in the Low Countries, Flanders, somewhere like that.

0:40:430:40:46

Lovely, lovely patina on it.

0:40:460:40:47

Please don't ever polish it, it's beautiful like it is, a lovely green.

0:40:470:40:51

Worth...

0:40:510:40:53

£1,500 to £2,000 - it's a nice thing.

0:40:530:40:56

So, whoever Sir Richard was, I'm very glad

0:40:560:40:58

-that he had it away from the French.

-Thank you, Sir Richard, yes.

0:40:580:41:01

Yes, thank you.

0:41:010:41:02

What we're looking at here is really the madness, exuberance,

0:41:040:41:08

of American design of the 1940s, '50s.

0:41:080:41:12

That's right, it's an extraordinary time of kind of excitement and pride

0:41:130:41:17

after winning the war and this sort of sense that

0:41:170:41:19

we are the greatest nation,

0:41:190:41:21

we've achieved all these things, incredible wealth of course,

0:41:210:41:23

compared with the rest of the world, and it's expressed in this

0:41:230:41:25

kind of silly frippery that you've got here, it's great fun, yeah.

0:41:250:41:29

What first attracted you to these bags?

0:41:290:41:31

Their sheer madness.

0:41:320:41:35

I mean, who would have thought a carrot could be a fashion statement?

0:41:350:41:39

Or a little mermaid. I mean, let's face it,

0:41:400:41:43

they're not particularly practical.

0:41:430:41:45

-Not at all.

-But that wasn't the idea, was it? No.

0:41:450:41:47

This was a time when, you know, we'd had all the deprivations

0:41:470:41:50

of war - except the Americans hadn't had it nearly as much as we had.

0:41:500:41:53

-Yes.

-So we were all... People in this country,

0:41:530:41:55

-looking back at this period, wouldn't think of all these mad designs.

-No.

0:41:550:42:00

So are you completely manic collectors?

0:42:000:42:03

No, it's very difficult to buy these in this country.

0:42:030:42:06

I'm fortunate that I travel with my job in the States

0:42:060:42:09

and I always try and come home with a bag.

0:42:090:42:12

But it's really the social history of them

0:42:120:42:15

that we both get enthusiastic about.

0:42:150:42:17

This is my favourite and it's a four seasons bag.

0:42:170:42:22

It starts off with the summer here, and we go through to fall

0:42:220:42:26

with pumpkins, and then winter, and then finally spring.

0:42:260:42:29

Bag for all seasons.

0:42:320:42:34

And of course some of them were probably kits

0:42:340:42:36

when people got them, weren't they?

0:42:360:42:38

Yeah, it's hard to know, I don't... I honestly don't know

0:42:380:42:41

whether someone's had a kit and done the needlepoint themselves

0:42:410:42:44

and followed a plan, or whether it was sold like that.

0:42:440:42:48

-But you can just imagine, you know, a 1950s' Desperate Housewife.

-Oh.

0:42:480:42:51

-Walking along...

-It's very Mad Men.

0:42:510:42:54

This is Betty Draper and her life is rubbish and Donald Draper is

0:42:540:42:57

sleeping with whoever, and all she wants is a silly handbag to

0:42:570:43:00

show off to her friends. It kind of speaks of the era.

0:43:000:43:02

There is something a bit desperate about them.

0:43:020:43:04

-I think there is.

-Almost trying too hard.

0:43:040:43:07

You know, you've got the Cuban Missile Crisis

0:43:070:43:09

and a bag made of lolly sticks.

0:43:090:43:11

But that's what's lovely about them.

0:43:110:43:13

That's what it's all about, it's all about letting go,

0:43:130:43:16

forgetting all your troubles and being silly.

0:43:160:43:18

-And walking around with a little bag.

-Yeah.

0:43:180:43:20

-It's great fun.

-Is this the whole of your collection?

0:43:200:43:23

-No.

-No?

-No, come down to our house

0:43:230:43:26

and you'll see that it's certainly not.

0:43:260:43:28

We have a special cupboard in the house with boxes of them

0:43:280:43:32

and then what I like to do with them -

0:43:320:43:33

because they sit very nicely, or the ones I tend to buy sit nicely -

0:43:330:43:37

they're very useful for kind of putting precious keepsakes in,

0:43:370:43:41

like tickets or scarves, you know, jewellery.

0:43:410:43:44

I sort of, you know, swap round bags on a display in the bedroom.

0:43:440:43:49

And valuation - you say you've got more -

0:43:490:43:51

but I would look at this selection, and I would say that

0:43:510:43:55

what we're looking at here is certainly in excess of £3,000.

0:43:550:44:01

-Fabulous.

-It's something I'm going to hang on to

0:44:010:44:04

because I think they're only going to become rarer as we move

0:44:040:44:07

further and further away from that point in history.

0:44:070:44:10

Now, this luminous and vibrant oil sketch is by one of the

0:44:290:44:32

greatest painters of everyday life that the Victorian era provided.

0:44:320:44:37

The greatest since Hogarth, really - William Powell Frith.

0:44:370:44:41

And it's painted in about 1866-67

0:44:410:44:45

and it depicts Charles II on his last Sunday before he died.

0:44:450:44:50

Are you particularly interested in history,

0:44:500:44:53

that you've got this picture?

0:44:530:44:55

Yeah, I think I've always been interested in history, actually.

0:44:550:44:59

The other day the bank rang me up and asked me a question

0:44:590:45:02

and said, "What is the password,

0:45:020:45:04

"what was your favourite subject at school?" and that was history.

0:45:040:45:07

Oh, well, there you are. And of course this is...he's about to die.

0:45:070:45:10

He certainly looks rather bilious, doesn't he?

0:45:100:45:13

And in contrast to Nellie Gwyn here with her spaniel,

0:45:130:45:15

and his spaniel.

0:45:150:45:17

She looks the picture of health. She's very pretty, isn't she?

0:45:170:45:19

Yes. I'm told, actually, that the man who stood as the model for that,

0:45:190:45:24

actually died a week after this was painted.

0:45:240:45:28

Oh, that's very spooky, that's very spooky.

0:45:280:45:30

Because he died of kidney failure, I think, and he looks really ill

0:45:300:45:35

and these two gentlemen here are looking on worried, because,

0:45:350:45:38

of course, they were worried about the succession, they didn't

0:45:380:45:40

want another Catholic king. That's what they were really worried about.

0:45:400:45:43

But what this picture is really about is excess.

0:45:430:45:47

He's the Merry Monarch and it's Sunday, they should be in church.

0:45:470:45:51

-Yes.

-We know that but, instead, they're playing cards and drinking,

0:45:510:45:55

and listening to music, and having a great time,

0:45:550:45:58

and really it's based on one of those Dutch scenes of inn life,

0:45:580:46:03

-you know, where they're having a massive party.

-Yeah.

0:46:030:46:06

And there's lots and lots of sort of neglect going along.

0:46:060:46:08

In fact, you can see here, these spaniels are chewing a glove

0:46:080:46:11

and eating out of a dish on the floor. That's a classic sort of Dutch trick.

0:46:110:46:15

Tremendous, yeah.

0:46:150:46:16

But what I really like about it is the way it's painted.

0:46:160:46:19

This background is so sketchily done and yet, as I said,

0:46:190:46:21

it's luminous and you've got this light coming in round the back

0:46:210:46:25

and into the room, flooding it with light and everybody is glittering,

0:46:250:46:30

you get a real sense of the silver on the table, there's loads of

0:46:300:46:33

drinking going on and obviously it's taken its toll on the Merry Monarch.

0:46:330:46:37

Frith's great trick was to arrange lots and lots of figures

0:46:370:46:40

in really quite a small canvas, convincingly.

0:46:400:46:42

Now, this is a study for the finished picture.

0:46:420:46:45

Now the finished pictures - which are much larger -

0:46:450:46:48

often make six figures.

0:46:480:46:49

-Yeah.

-Quite often.

0:46:490:46:50

And this is from the height of his career

0:46:500:46:53

so I'm going to put £12,000 to £15,000 on it today.

0:46:530:46:58

Jolly good.

0:46:590:47:01

Thank you.

0:47:010:47:03

Do you remember how I told you, back at the beginning of the programme,

0:47:050:47:09

that this was a thriving monastic community in the Middle Ages?

0:47:090:47:12

We have here a relic from that time that was dug up

0:47:120:47:14

from the ground of the ruins of Fountains Abbey, wasn't it?

0:47:140:47:17

-It was.

-Now tell me about this ring. Who did it belong to?

0:47:170:47:20

Well, it probably belonged to Abbot Marmaduke Huby,

0:47:200:47:24

who was the abbot here from 1495 to 1526.

0:47:240:47:30

He's actually responsible for reviving

0:47:300:47:32

the fortunes of the abbey and he's also responsible for building

0:47:320:47:36

that tower which is now called Huby's Tower.

0:47:360:47:39

-And I know you're English Heritage, aren't you?

-I am.

0:47:390:47:42

And English Heritage are responsible for maintaining the artefacts

0:47:420:47:45

-associated with the abbey.

-They are, yes.

0:47:450:47:47

It's massive, this ring.

0:47:470:47:49

He either wore it on his thumb or he was enormously fat?

0:47:490:47:52

He may have been a large person, we don't know.

0:47:520:47:55

It's likely that he wore gloves

0:47:550:47:57

and therefore it would have fitted over gloves.

0:47:570:47:59

Because if I try and put my thumb in it, see the sense of scale.

0:47:590:48:03

That's about the diameter of my thumb and as much again.

0:48:030:48:07

It's a lot about status. It's made of copper alloy, so bronze or

0:48:070:48:11

brass, it's then been gilded by a very expensive process,

0:48:110:48:16

mercury gilded, so it's designed to be a really fancy object.

0:48:160:48:21

And then used as a seal,

0:48:210:48:22

because this is an imprint of a seal that's come from here.

0:48:220:48:25

It is, yes, so it would have been his personal seal.

0:48:250:48:28

It also tells you something

0:48:280:48:30

about just how wealthy the monks were here, which seems...

0:48:300:48:35

When the order started here

0:48:350:48:37

and they wore simple coarse sheep's robes, they didn't wear

0:48:370:48:40

underwear in order to make it just that bit more uncomfortable.

0:48:400:48:43

How did it go from that to gobstoppers of rings like this?

0:48:430:48:47

Part of it was about the development of the site and how the riches

0:48:480:48:52

of the abbey were built up, through the wool trade in particular,

0:48:520:48:56

but a lot of it is actually in the name of the Lord,

0:48:560:48:59

and showing how much, how pious you were at the time

0:48:590:49:03

and also how influential you might be.

0:49:030:49:06

And I think this ring nicely reflects his importance

0:49:060:49:09

and the memory that he's left for visitors at Fountains Abbey.

0:49:090:49:12

Two fabulous pieces of English domestic embroidery.

0:49:150:49:20

Do you like them?

0:49:200:49:22

-Oh, yes, I think they're lovely.

-Do you?

-Absolutely, yeah.

0:49:220:49:24

They were made in about 1680 and maybe 1660 at the earliest

0:49:240:49:30

but they are so beautiful.

0:49:300:49:32

Did you buy them?

0:49:320:49:34

No, no, I didn't buy them.

0:49:340:49:36

My father passed away last year and they were in his flat

0:49:360:49:39

and that's all really I know about them.

0:49:390:49:42

Well, let's talk about the mirror frame to start with,

0:49:430:49:46

because mirrors were a very expensive commodity, you know,

0:49:460:49:51

they were real luxury aristocratic pieces to get a looking glass.

0:49:510:49:57

And to make the best of what would have been

0:49:570:50:00

really quite a small piece of glass in the middle,

0:50:000:50:03

they created these wonderful mirror frames

0:50:030:50:08

and you've got lots of symbols there,

0:50:080:50:11

things that were of interest at the time.

0:50:110:50:15

On either side you've got portraits.

0:50:150:50:18

On your side, there's Charles I.

0:50:180:50:20

-Right.

-And on this side, there's Henrietta Maria.

0:50:200:50:24

Now they were married in fact in 1625,

0:50:240:50:27

so this is very much looking backwards to that time.

0:50:270:50:30

And then elsewhere, you've got, again,

0:50:300:50:33

motifs that were incredibly popular with that period.

0:50:330:50:39

So you've got a carnation -

0:50:390:50:41

a very kind of now flower of the latter part of the 17th century.

0:50:410:50:45

Oh, right, OK.

0:50:450:50:47

But then, bam, on either side, you've got these wonderful castles

0:50:470:50:53

and a house with smoke belching out of the chimneys.

0:50:530:50:57

I think those are great designs, aren't they?

0:50:570:51:00

Now all these designs,

0:51:000:51:02

the embroideress would have got out of a pattern book.

0:51:020:51:06

-She wouldn't have drawn them freehand.

-Right.

0:51:060:51:08

They would have been available as patterns.

0:51:080:51:11

I love this embroidery here.

0:51:110:51:14

It's the judgment of Solomon and you can see, here is a child

0:51:140:51:17

being held up by his foot, with a sword poised ready to dispatch.

0:51:170:51:23

Right.

0:51:230:51:26

And here are the two ladies arguing about whose child it actually is,

0:51:260:51:30

so that's the story there.

0:51:300:51:33

-Why is that face not embroidered?

-It's not finished.

0:51:330:51:37

Right.

0:51:370:51:39

But it gives us a very good indication of how the work was done,

0:51:390:51:45

you know, it was drawn first, or printed first,

0:51:450:51:49

in this case drawn, and then embroidered on top.

0:51:490:51:53

They are tip-top of what collectors are wanting,

0:51:540:51:59

-apart from the condition of this one.

-Right.

0:51:590:52:02

So I'm going to say for the mirror frame,

0:52:020:52:06

I'm going to put it at around £15,000.

0:52:060:52:09

In that condition?

0:52:130:52:15

In that condition.

0:52:150:52:16

The embroidered picture is going to be worth a little less than that

0:52:180:52:22

because they are not quite as rare,

0:52:220:52:24

so I would put that at around £8,000 to £10,000.

0:52:240:52:29

-But it's adding up nicely.

-It's adding up nicely.

0:52:300:52:33

They are wonderful objects,

0:52:330:52:36

the very best example of English embroidery at this golden period

0:52:360:52:41

and...

0:52:410:52:42

it's been a bit of a treat for me.

0:52:420:52:46

Well, been a treat for me as well, thank you.

0:52:470:52:50

-Thanks very much.

-Thank you.

0:52:500:52:51

So one day, you and your sister were shopping in Chipping Norton.

0:52:530:52:57

-Yeah.

-Saw an antique shop,

0:52:570:52:59

popped in and it happened to be Ronnie Barker's antique shop.

0:52:590:53:02

Correct.

0:53:020:53:03

And I think a lot of people don't realise that when Ronnie Barker,

0:53:030:53:06

one of Britain's greatest comedians, retired...

0:53:060:53:10

he opened an antique shop, and is that you with Ronnie Barker?

0:53:100:53:13

-No, that's my sister.

-But you were there.

0:53:130:53:15

-I was there, yes.

-So what happened? Tell me about it.

0:53:150:53:18

We went in and my sister absolutely fell in love with them.

0:53:180:53:21

They were actually Ronnie's himself.

0:53:210:53:24

-He'd had them hanging on his snooker room wall in his London home.

-Right.

0:53:240:53:28

And then he'd moved to Oxfordshire and had too much stuff,

0:53:280:53:31

so was selling, selling stuff on so...

0:53:310:53:34

So like every good antique dealer, raiding his wall to fill the shop up

0:53:340:53:37

-when he needed a bit of extra stock.

-Yes.

0:53:370:53:39

They're by Friedrich Goldscheider,

0:53:390:53:41

who was a well-known factory in Austria.

0:53:410:53:44

Yes.

0:53:440:53:45

They date to the late 19th century

0:53:450:53:47

-when Moorish, Arab subjects were very popular.

-Yes.

0:53:470:53:50

So your sister bought them. Can you remember how much for?

0:53:500:53:53

They were priced at £180 each and she bought them both for £350,

0:53:530:53:59

which looking back, he didn't really knock much off, for buying the pair.

0:53:590:54:03

But you were buying from Ronnie Barker.

0:54:030:54:04

But you were buying them from Ronnie Barker, yes.

0:54:040:54:08

And it's no joke that they're worth twice that, so that's £700.

0:54:080:54:13

She'll be a bit nervous about that now, hanging them on the...

0:54:130:54:17

Well, as long as it's a good bit of wire, which it is.

0:54:170:54:20

So all I have to say now is it's goodnight from me.

0:54:200:54:23

And goodnight from him. Goodnight.

0:54:230:54:26

-Is this your daughter?

-Yes, it is.

0:54:300:54:32

I think we've found the perfect wedding present for her.

0:54:320:54:36

Oh, my! Really?

0:54:360:54:39

Well, this is a Chinese bowl and it's got dragons on it

0:54:390:54:45

-and it's got phoenix on it.

-Mm.

0:54:450:54:48

Now dragons and phoenix represent the Emperor and Empress of China,

0:54:480:54:53

but it is also a symbol of conjugal bliss

0:54:530:54:56

and they are frequently used as wedding gifts.

0:54:560:54:59

Oh, right.

0:54:590:55:01

So it's got to be the perfect present.

0:55:010:55:03

Where did you get it?

0:55:030:55:06

I think it belonged to my great-aunt

0:55:060:55:09

who gave some items to my mother

0:55:090:55:11

and I just took a fancy to it, and she said take it.

0:55:110:55:15

How long ago was that?

0:55:150:55:17

-Oh, probably about 10, 15 years, I can't remember.

-Fabulous.

0:55:170:55:22

Well, I mean it is, it's lovely,

0:55:220:55:23

I mean, it's painted with these dragons, phoenix, we've got flowers,

0:55:230:55:28

we've got Buddhist symbols around the border here,

0:55:280:55:31

but if we turn it over,

0:55:310:55:33

we've got a six-character Chinese mark.

0:55:330:55:35

It reads from here first and it says Da Qing Daoguang Nian Zhi

0:55:350:55:40

so it says basically,

0:55:400:55:42

"Made in the Daoguang reign of the great Qing dynasty,"

0:55:420:55:46

is how it translates, and this chap was an Emperor

0:55:460:55:50

who reigned from 1820 to 1850, so the first half of the 19th century.

0:55:500:55:56

They started by painting it in underglazed blue

0:55:560:55:59

and then firing it and then it's come back out and they've

0:55:590:56:02

then re-enamelled it with these iron red, green, yellow etc on it.

0:56:020:56:09

And they were popular bowls, they'd been making this design

0:56:090:56:13

since the Kangxi period, back at the end of the 17th century.

0:56:130:56:17

Throughout the 18th century and 19th century, you see the same bowls,

0:56:170:56:21

so without turning it over,

0:56:210:56:23

I wouldn't have necessarily been able to tell you when it was made.

0:56:230:56:27

Where do you keep it now?

0:56:270:56:28

Um, I keep it in a pile of other similar sort of bowls

0:56:280:56:32

and plates that I just like the look of. It comes out every now and again

0:56:320:56:36

to have peanuts or something like that put in it.

0:56:360:56:38

-It's a peanut bowl.

-It's a peanut bowl.

0:56:380:56:41

I love the fact that it's a peanut bowl. Well, you're very lucky

0:56:410:56:44

that your peanut bowl is in such amazing condition.

0:56:440:56:48

It is very, very flawless, really.

0:56:480:56:50

It's definitely from this period, this is not a copy.

0:56:500:56:52

There are subtle differences and they are difficult to tell.

0:56:520:56:55

There's a slight way the inside of the base is finished,

0:56:550:56:58

it's gone slightly brown,

0:56:580:57:00

again, you can see the colour draining slightly from the rim.

0:57:000:57:03

The quality of the painting is the other issue, it's a very good thing.

0:57:030:57:06

Lovely object. And terrific wedding present, well done.

0:57:060:57:10

The last one at auction fetched just over £20,000.

0:57:120:57:17

Gosh. Mm.

0:57:170:57:20

So it was worth coming today after all.

0:57:210:57:24

-I think we'll share it.

-No, we won't!

0:57:300:57:32

Do you remember at the beginning of the programme

0:57:350:57:38

I talked about the Georgian tourists who would flock here in their hordes

0:57:380:57:41

to see the ruins of the abbey and the wonderful water gardens?

0:57:410:57:44

Well, this is a kind of Georgian frock coat

0:57:440:57:47

one of those tourists might have worn.

0:57:470:57:50

One of our visitors brought it along today,

0:57:500:57:52

picked it up for about £80 and it's worth several hundred pounds.

0:57:520:57:55

And of course it wouldn't have been worn with the kind of things

0:57:550:57:58

I'm wearing, but with lovely lace at the throat,

0:57:580:58:00

lace coming out of the cuffs, a tricorn hat.

0:58:000:58:03

I couldn't resist putting it on because it is a fabulous thing.

0:58:030:58:07

From the ruins of Fountains Abbey

0:58:070:58:08

and our visitors and the Roadshow team, until next time, bye-bye.

0:58:080:58:12

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0:58:350:58:39

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