RAF Coningsby 2 Antiques Roadshow

I think it's fair to say that for the Antiques Roadshow,

we generally visit historic buildings,

with resplendent gardens and emerald lawns,

so today's venue,

with its miles of concrete runway and idling jets,

makes a nice change.

Welcome back to RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire.

JET ENGINE ROARS

This air base is bristling with the latest jets flying every day,

because Coningsby is a QRA - Quick Reaction Alert station -

meaning they're part of the UK's first line of air defence,

always ready to spring into action.

JET ENGINE ROARS

Coningsby has been central to the nation's defences

since it became operational in 1940,

at the height of World War II,

and back then, Lincolnshire was known as Bomber County.

There were more airfields here than anywhere else in the UK,

and because it's so flat, it was the perfect place to launch

and land Britain's Air Force.

Coningsby's modern concrete runway meant large bombers could

operate from here.

In 1943, these runways brought a very special squadron to Coningsby -

arguably the most famous British squadron of them all -

617, the Dambusters.

They'd just flown their daring mission to knock out the German dams

using the ingenious bouncing bombs created by Barnes Wallis.

Sadly, 53 out of the 133 brave crewmen lost their lives,

and many were injured in the operation.

The squadron was temporarily relocated here

while the survivors recuperated

and the squadron was brought back to operating strength.

PLANE ENGINES RUMBLE

Today, it's mainly the RAF's state-of-the-art Typhoon jets

that are regularly flying in and out of here.

The pilots need to be ready for action at all times,

much like our experts, who are waiting to see

what our Lincolnshire visitors have brought today to RAF Coningsby.

So, a carved piece of wood. Yeah.

Nothing very special about it. No.

It's got the date on the back, so we know when it was made. Yeah.

But what was it made for?

That's what I brought it for, actually. I haven't got a clue.

Well, I wonder if these guys know what it's for. Any ideas?

A ruler, perhaps? A ruler.

Oh, yeah. It could be used... Well, it's a straight edge,

certainly could be used for a ruler. Ceremonial?

Ceremonial - it's the sort of thing you hold to give you a bit of power.

Speaking stick? A what?

Speaking stick.

Speaking stick...

Somebody said it'd be good for a letter opener, for big letters.

Yeah. Or maybe... A shoehorn.

A shoehorn, I hear.

Yeah, that could work as a shoehorn. That would...

For big feet. For big feet, yes.

For long toes. Now, it's...

It's chip-carved.

You can see how it's carved like this,

so the quality is not of huge merit,

I have to say.

It's obviously made by somebody, you know, in their spare time,

just playing about, would you think?

Yes. It's that sort of thing. It's what we call folk art.

That's right. It's the sort of thing that,

if you gave me a penknife and a bit of wood,

I could hack away at this.

It wouldn't be as good as that

but it's something that I could produce something with, anyway.

So, a bit of folk art,

and what's the thing that's closest to a woman's heart?

Money? Any ideas?

Money, usually. Money?

Money is the closest thing. I would think so. Well...

Maybe, just think something that's physically closer -

her underwear. OK?

Oh, right. So, this is what is called a stay busk.

In the 18th century, your stays was your corset, OK? Yes.

So this would have fitted down...

I'm not wearing a corset today.

It would have fitted down in a pocket in the front

of your corset, OK?

It went down like that,

which meant that you had to stand up very straight.

It meant that you had to keep your stomach in... Yes.

..and meant that it lifted your breasts,

which was very important. Oh...

So, it was given to you by your lover.

Oh, really? So if you wanted to give your lover something that was

closest to her heart, you would have carved this piece of wood in 1775,

and A-S is probably the initials of his wife or his girlfriend or

whatever it is, and then she would have worn it,

and every time she put it in,

she would have remembered her husband or lover. Ah...

Is that...is that...? Cos of the...

Are they hearts, are they? They're hearts.

Ah, yeah. It's a love token.

Yeah, ah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Isn't that nice?

It's brilliant. Do you like it more now?

Yeah, yeah, I mean...

I mean, I've heard many things what it's been,

but that's presumably the best one yet, I think,

and obviously, you're right.

And also, what is also nice,

and I personally like about it, it's actually...it's been used,

cos obviously this has been touched a lot.

Yeah, yeah.

I love it. No, I think it's a great piece.

Value, it's dated 1775,

English, chip-carved, a love token,

lots of story behind it -

at auction, ?800-?1,200.

Oh, my goodness.

Well done.

I thought...?10 the most.

I can't believe it. So, erm...

I think it's something to give to your wife.

I will do.

CHEERING

Thanks very much. Thank you.

Well, as a jewellery specialist,

I wouldn't normally be looking at a barometer,

but I can see something sparkling

in the sunlight that you're holding there,

so how are the two related? Yes. Not to worry.

The story also includes a diamond brooch,

which I found inside the barometer.

Gosh. How did you find it?

I bought the barometer in an antique market in Nice,

on the French Riviera,

and when I got it back to my hotel room,

I realised it wouldn't fit inside the suitcase,

so I took it to pieces, and inside the back,

behind the plate, was hidden,

wrapped up in a silver purse,

the diamond brooch.

Oh, what a romantic story. One would hope so.

And when you got it out, did you think that it was diamonds,

or did you think it was paste?

Well, I wouldn't know the difference.

I wouldn't have any idea at all,

but I did hold it in the sun,

and the way it caught the light, even I thought it must be valuable.

Ah, well, you've obviously got an eye,

and it is, it's a beautiful Art Nouveau, diamond and gold brooch.

It's got some French marks on the back,

so that fits in nicely with your story as well,

and very delicate detailing,

with the floral work around the gold that we see here,

so, absolutely gorgeous, and if we look at the back,

it's got this really sweet little pin, which opens up.

It's quite stiff, like that. All right, I didn't know that.

And then you would clip it to the edge of your lapel or your dress.

Right. Absolutely gorgeous piece of jewellery.

I absolutely love it.

Now, I'm wondering how much you paid for the barometer?

Erm, well, it started at 100 euros... Mmm.

..and after negotiation, it came down to 50 euros. Oh.

The guy that sold me it,

obviously, didn't have any idea what was in the back of it.

No, exactly.

Well, he might be kicking himself now... Oh, I think so.

..because the brooch, at auction, would fetch between ?800 and ?1,200.

Wow, that's incredible.

Thank you very much.

Firstly, I want to say, I think,

a big thank you for bringing this in.

So, how did you get it in to us?

We sent a photograph to your website,

and wondered if you were interested in seeing it,

and thankfully you were.

And we came and collected it and here it is. You did.

It's wonderful for me, cos I arrived here,

and this presumably arrived last night or this morning. Yes.

And you've emptied it, I assume? Oh, yes. What was in it?

Oh, lots of things. Lots. Oh, glass.

Glass, silver. Silverware, everything.

What a thought. Yeah. Anyway, thank you for doing that.

Now, we know who this is by, don't we? Maple.

Maple's. There's a label there saying Maple.

So over here we have the good old Maples label there. Maple.

Yeah, that's much as we know about it, I'm afraid.

Maple's is a really important firm.

I mean, you can see on that label, it says, Buenos Aires,

and Paris and London, so they were an international firm,

roughly 1850 to about 1950,

and they were literally one of the biggest

and most successful furnishing firms in the world.

I mean, London was the centre at the time,

vying with Paris, perhaps.

A really important firm,

but it just looks so good in the light here.

Do you know what the wood is?

We think satinwood but we're not 100%.

That's a pretty good guess. LAUGHTER

Absolutely, and it's just the most wonderful golden colour

in this natural daylight. Yeah. Isn't it?

Glorious. It's so beautifully made.

But what is interesting about Maple's,

and we think of those antique furnishers, it's always handmade.

Well, yes, the drawers are handmade, but Maple's weren't shy.

They were a commercial firm and they made things.

They had steam machinery and electric machinery,

so these things were made, you know, partly by machine,

and we shouldn't be shy of that. No.

We always feel, "Oh, it's handmade, so it's better."

This is beautifully made, and really expensive, exotic timber.

Satinwood comes from South America, the Caribbean Basin

and from the East Indies, and I think this is the East Indies.

And just little details like this.

It's silver-plated. Isn't that lovely?

You know, we're so used to the brass handle -

a little lovely silver-plated handle,

and in there, I first thought it was painted,

but it's inlaid, isn't it? It is, yeah.

You can just feel a slight bump there, so it's inlaid.

So, a lot of extra work, a lot of expense.

Erm, I mean, to me, Maple's, they made...

He was knighted, I think, for his furniture-making and design.

He was a great businessman.

The father started the business in the 1840s or '50s,

and the son, Sir John, took it over and became a great businessman.

Oh. So, they made the best furniture.

Now, tell me, is this something that's come from the family?

My father bought it in 1946 from a house sale,

but that's all we know.

We don't know how much it cost, or anything else about it.

I mean, something like this is...

I mean, furniture is not easy at the moment. No.

Erm...

And this is quite late. We haven't talked about the date.

Have you any idea what date it is?

No. No, no. None whatsoever.

You can't help me out at all?

No, I'm sorry. I'm afraid not.

It's... I'm afraid we can't. I think it's the...

It's the 20th century, and it's very difficult to tell

whether it's just before or just after the Great War,

but something about the shape of those handles suggests

it's got that slightly Art Deco feel,

as though it's literally on the cusp, 1910-1920.

But this sort of furniture's not as popular as it used to be,

but the size of this alone will help the value.

So, what do we think?

No, I've no idea. No idea. If you...

No idea. Not at all.

Of all things... of furniture that is not wanted,

this is something that is wanted.

I think, if you went to replace that in a decent sort of antiques shop,

if you could ever find it...

Yeah.

40,000 or ?50,000.

Really?

Good grief. Oh, my word.

The insurance is going to have to be altered a bit.

We had no idea. Oh, we'd no idea.

Do you know? I'm really quite intrigued by these wager cups.

Mm-hm?

They are both made in the same year,

but they're made in completely different locations.

Hmm.

So, how did that come about?

Well, that's inherited... All right.

..and so it's been in the family, probably, 60, 70 years,

as far as I know, cos I've had it over 50 years. Right.

Fine. And that one, I think my husband bought in the '70s.

Right.

But do you know how to use them?

Well, I think I do. Yes.

Right. You fill...

..with drink. Yes.

And that one with drink. And that one with drink, yes.

And then you drink from there,

keeping this level, cos that's the wager,

but it's still full of drink,

and then you drink from there. Right, actually...

That's how my husband used to tell it, so...

That's how he did it. Now, I do it a different way.

Mm-hm. OK, because, in fact, there are two things going on.

One is, you can use them as marriage cups,

One is, you can use them as marriage cups,

and the other as wager cups.

Oh. Now, as a marriage cup...

Yes. ..you flip them over,

and you have, the husband gets the skirt...

That's unfair.

..and the wife gets the...

gets the tumbler section,

and they drink together. Right, together.

OK? Oh, right.

So that's how that works,

but when it gets messy is when you actually use it as a wager cup.

Yes. You've got to remember, the originals of these were

made in the 16th century,

and there wasn't any television.

This was entertainment during a feast. Yes.

So what you have to do as a wager

was fill that right up to the brim... Mm-hm.

OK, and fill that right up to the brim,

and then you had to, one arm behind your back,

drink the entire contents here,

without anything spilling out of there. Spilling.

Oh. Now, I've tried this...

and I wish I had stripped off before I did it,

because you concentrate so much on what you're doing there,

you forget about what's going on,

and you tend to naturally do that... Yes.

..and you suddenly get this cold, wet feeling. Feeling.

So...

I think it's marvellous, the way you've managed to match those up.

So, the reason I'm intrigued here with these wager cups

is that when we look at the marks on this one...

Mm-hm. ..they're actually for St Petersburg in 1862.

Mm-hm. Which, in itself, absolutely fine.

But then, the one you very cleverly found to match... Yes.

when we look there, that's made in London

in exactly the same year. The same year.

Oh... So, I think what's... So, who's copied who?

I don't think anybody's copied anybody.

Ah...

I think what's happened is that this particular type of cup is

absolutely typical of Hanau in Germany,

and I think both cups were made in Germany.

One was sold to a St Petersburg goldsmithing family or firm... Yes.

..and the other was sold to a London firm. London firm.

And you have very cleverly brought them together. Wow.

Oh.

They are actually of really fine quality, so together,

if those came up together, I...

I could see them approaching ?10,000 without a lot of problems.

Oh.

That gives you indigestion.

LAUGHTER

Do you need a drink? LAUGHTER

We have a very nice set of beautiful Coalport China here.

These were my nan's Now, I never knew my nan.

She died before I was born. Mm-hm.

But I always remember when we visited Grandad's house,

that if I went into Grandad's bedroom,

there on the dressing table, in the middle of the room...

All laid out. ..taking pride of place.

It was still all laid out as it was, as if Nan was still alive.

Do you think that a ventriloquist's dummy is a little bit creepy?

Yes. OK.

I'm very sorry, Rusty. LAUGHTER

The more you look at it, the weirder it gets.

Where did you get it from?

It came from Nampula, which is northern Mozambique,

and it's what's known as shetani,

which is Swahili, meaning Satan.

That makes sense!

PLANE ENGINES RUMBLE

Well, this is quite a thing.

So, this is a bit of Russian tree?

Yes, it is.

And what's the story with it?

So, I'm from the Petwood Hotel, which is based nearby.

During the Second World War it was requisitioned by the RAF,

and it was the officers' mess for 97, 619 and 617 squadrons.

And 617 was the Dambusters squad? Correct.

And this bit of tree dates back to one of their raids,

when they were sinking the German battleship, the Tirpitz.

The Tirpitz was based up in a Norwegian fjord,

and it was a long old raid to do -

it was about nine hours' flying time.

So, the Lancaster crews needed to refuel,

and pilot Nicky Knilans and his crew landed in northern Russia

to refuel before going on to compete their raid.

Unfortunately,

they couldn't quite get enough height sufficiently quickly

when they had to go on to a flight raid,

still laden with a 12,000-pound Tallboy bomb,

and they brushed the tops of the trees.

This bit of tree ended up through the nose of the Lancaster,

into the cockpit... Ooh! ..next to pilot Nick Knilans.

Oh, that makes me feel all funny.

What, all this?! All of it.

All of it - so there was no getting rid of it,

it had to go to Norway with them. So...

So, it must have gone through the cockpit and up through...

or be dangling below.

Absolutely, so it's...we're imagining this

partially in the cockpit and partially outside the plane.

So, they continue their raid, drop the bomb in Norway,

come back to RAF Woodhall,

and the crew thought, "Oh, well, this is just too good to forget,"

so they brought it back to the officers' mess

and mounted it above the bar.

So, imagine, from a Russian forest, up through the cockpit,

above your bar - well, this tree's seen life, hasn't it?

We've been surrounded today by historic aircraft from World War II,

and you've brought along, in cartoon form,

some of the characters

who would have flown in them.

Is this your collection, or

something that's come down to you?

It used to be me great-grandmother -

she used to go to Teignmouth on holidays after the war,

and she used to bring one of the characters back

as a souvenir every year, so it's what she's collected over the years.

It's appropriate that she got them on holiday in Devon,

but, of course, they were made down there -

these are from Bovey Tracey pottery,

and a series affectionately known as Our Gang. Our Gang.

And they started modelling these in 1940, during the war,

and they were sort of cartoon versions of the officers

and figures that people were getting to know around the streets.

You've got here the flying figures -

you've got this airman here, with his parachute,

the Woman's Air Force, the WAAF,

and he's always a popular one -

that's the... he's the air-raid warden.

They made figures of the national heroes -

they made a figure of Churchill,

it was perhaps the best known of the series,

and I think there were 19 figures in all. 19.

Gwyneth Holt was the modeller, to begin with, of the series,

and they issued a new figure every few months,

and it encouraged people to collect them

and to give patriotic support,

because parts of the proceeds from those

went to support the war effort, and that's what they're about.

So, you've got six out of the series,

and, I mean, they're inevitably popular things with collectors.

Probably the rarest ones are the politicians - Roosevelt,

if you managed to find him,

he normally sells for a couple of hundred pounds alone,

but these chaps are... and the lady there,

are going to be sort of between 50 and ?100 each.

That's excellent.

Now, does it belong to you or does it belong to you?

What's the story behind it?

It belongs to me.

I was given it by my granny for my 18th birthday,

which was in December,

and it's a family heirloom, so it was my great-great-great-aunt's,

and it was given to my granny in...

the 1950s? '50s, I think. '40s or '50s.

1950s. Did she wear it? Yeah, she's worn it a few times, I think.

A couple of times. Yeah. Not very much.

So, you were given this necklace not that long ago -

what did you think when you were given it?

I actually started crying! She cried.

Did you? Why? 40 minutes on and off.

Cos you thought it was...?

I was just so shocked.

I didn't expect to get something that special.

Cos you recognise it as being something a bit special.

Yeah, definitely. All right, and have you worn it?

Cos it's very wearable, isn't it?

It... I've got a leavers' ball for my school... Yes.

..in July, and I'm going to wear it then.

Good. Good, you should. Yeah. I was told...

Are you going to have a dress for the occasion as well?

I am. My mum's making it for me. Really? What colour? No pressure(!)

It's dove grey.

Dove grey, so the colour of the dress is going to blend in

with the colour of the stones in the necklace.

I ought to say first of all, it's a necklace - well, you know that.

It's a necklace.

Before I come on to the stones themselves,

let's look at the main thing about this -

which is the name Liberty. Mm.

Liberty are so important in the world of jewellery -

particularly jewellery which was made when this was made,

which was round about the turn of the century,

so this was actually made in about 1905.

These blue stones, they look like turquoise -

and they look like stones, but they're not.

They're actually little blobs of blue glass

that have been set on gold,

and suspended on the bottom you have little blister pearls -

blister pearls means misshapen white pearls, natural pearls.

And then these graduated stones in the middle,

and you may or may not know this, are called moonstones.

And you have to understand that nowadays jewellery like this

is actually quite highly sought.

So the fact that it's been a family piece

that's come through to you now,

I think your legacy is a really rather wonderful thing,

because it does have quite a good value.

When you wear it for your ball, with your dove grey dress,

you need to consider the fact that round your neck you're wearing

?3,000 of necklace.

Oh, my God! OK.

Right...

Better be careful, then.

You must be careful of it. Yes. OK.

If you really want to know what everybody loves, Liberty,

a beautiful fringed necklace in absolutely impeccable condition,

in its original case,

with the name Liberty in the lid,

you've been left something quite dynamic.

OK.

Enjoy it, won't you? Yeah, we will!

Thank you. Thank you very much. Pleasure.

Glad to have helped. Thank you.

Well, this looks like a welcome gust of Asian exoticism

on this blustery Lincolnshire day, doesn't it?

It's a mahout riding his elephant. Yes.

My family lived in Eindhoven in the south of Holland,

and I think it's been there all along.

It's certainly got a Dutch-Flemish carved feel about it,

hasn't it? Yes.

I mean, to me, it's one of the most moving and beautiful objects

I've ever seen on the Antiques Roadshow. Thank you.

Who likes to think that they own it?

I actually own it on behalf of my wife.

LAUGHTER

Was it a present from her?

It was an 80th birthday present ten years ago,

and she bought it on the internet.

Well, it's a thing called majolica,

and majolica is just a highly-glazed earthenware.

Also, I suppose, because this dates from the late 19th century,

and you think Queen Victoria, Empress of India,

this was all the rage... Mm-hm. ..this lovely exotic type of stuff.

Of course we know what it is, don't we? It's a nativity.

Nativity - isn't it wonderful?

The three kings, Mary and the baby Jesus.

What did you pay, or would you rather not say,

on the internet? Oh, I don't mind saying, no, 1,200.

1,200... Yes. ..ten years ago. Yes.

Well, we'll see about that later.

Its slightly muted colours tell me

that it's German or Austrian, and I think, really, it's worth...

?800-1,200. Yeah? Yeah, that's good.

I think it's a glorious thing.

15th, early 16th century.

?1,500-2,000. Oh, wow!

That's a lot more than I thought.

OK, so, how do you reckon your ?1,200 has done?

Well, I'm not sure. I'd like to think that it's doubled.

You're absolutely right. It has just about doubled.

Oh! So, at least ?2,500 for it.

Oh, wow, that's wonderful!

So, if I might say so, a very generous birthday present.

He deserved it.

I've got a generous wife!

Oh, dear.

I'm going to start with a warning -

I don't want to get you too excited.

There are huge amounts of copies out there of these chests.

Basically, what they would do is they would get horse-drawn carts

which were 19th, 18th century, smash them up for the wood

and rebuild them into chests like this.

So, have you done any research as to what it is?

I know very little about this piece of furniture.

I've had people come into my house and had things mentioned to me -

possibly Spanish, possibly German, possibly Portugal...

Churches have been mentioned, but we know very little.

None of those.

Not even close!

THEY LAUGH

Er, and it's weird.

It's one of those things that I've been sort of looking at it

and changing my mind as I've been going along,

because they made these from, you know, 18th century,

as we know them, right up until now, like I said. Yes.

And there are a few clues on this - I mean, firstly, what's it for?

Have you had any ideas? Because it's useless, as much as anything.

We don't know what it's for, I mean,

we find it useful just to put our odds and sods in it,

basically speaking, because it's so big inside.

Where did you get it from?

I've owned it for probably seven years,

approximately seven years,

and I originally got it from a pine dealer

that got this from a house clearance. OK.

So... And, again, know nothing about its history or anything.

Slightly worrying on the old pine dealer front,

but if we go through what it's for, it's got a pretty useless door here

and when you said odds and sods, that's exactly what it's for.

Right, OK. Bits and pieces, storage -

it can be anything from textiles to foods, and it's got the old...

That slides back...

..and you can see inside, all this -

and what I like is this locking mechanism.

Then this has secret drawers here -

do you want to show me how those work?

Absolutely. Um...

Slide that across...

Slide this across,

and this moves across as well,

and it's got a further component in this end, which is very unusual.

Yeah, and did you know all that when you bought it?

No, we knew about the chest, and we saw the bottom bits,

but this sliding piece, no.

And when you say the bottom bit,

you mean the drawer down on the front there?

There's one at the front as well, yes.

And how does that one open?

There's a pin inside here which we lift out...

If I can get it...

..and there we have it.

You can get into... It's got like a separate bottom to it. Mm.

Secret bottom to it. All good signs.

This is Indian, and teak - a teak wood, a form of hardwood. Is it?

Er, it's really hard, and without a bit more, like I say,

right up until the last minute, I'm thinking, "Is it quite good enough?"

But I think it's 19th century and perfectly all right.

The reason being is, because it is so useless,

with that silly door on the top.

It's a tricky thing to value,

and, again, I've been changing my mind, because some sales,

they can do really well, other sales they can almost be given away.

My gut feeling is it would go into an auction

at sort of 700-900, and...

That's cool. Yes, that's cool.

That's good. Possibly make a thousand.

Yes, lovely. But it's absolutely right - the colour is great,

and it's just a really lovely piece of furniture,

and a good buy from you.

Now, we're right here in the thick of things

with the Dakota engines going in the background,

and you've brought along a pair of old boots,

and it isn't often I get to value a pair of old boots on the Roadshow.

No. Why have you brought them with you?

Well, they were the boots that my husband was wearing

when he had to bail out of the Vulcan aeroplane

because it caught fire. What was he doing?

He was the navigator plotter, and they'd finished their exercise

and were returning to base when it caught fire over the North Sea -

but they were able to get onto good old Lincolnshire soil,

and they were the first thing of his body to touch the ground

in Lincolnshire. That's fantastic. Those boots, yes.

Still got a bit of soil underneath, I expect. Probably, yes!

And what's this next to you?

This was the handle of the parachute

that he had to pull for his escape,

and afterwards the men in the workshop at RAF Waddington

put it onto this little plinth as a memento of that day,

the 17th of January, 1977.

Well, the Vulcan bombers were really part of our front-line force...

Mm-hm. ..during the Cold War... Correct.

..to protect us from the perceived Soviet enemy... Yes, yes.

..if you like. Yes, and he started his career here in RAF Coningsby.

Did he? Mm.

And what about this very crude picture here? Yes.

Tell me about that. I love this picture.

When he landed, near Spilsby, he was rescued by a farmer,

and the farmer took him to his farmhouse.

Because he'd hurt his neck, they lay him in front of the Aga cooker

in the warm, because it was January.

When his little son came in from school,

here's this man lying on the floor in front of the Aga,

and he drew this picture, a little boy, Richard -

it must have been a marvellous day for him -

and he sent it to the mess at RAF Waddington

with the get-well message on.

Good grief! Which I've treasured all these years.

I've spoken to him since and... I made contact with him,

and took him a picture of the Vulcan as a reminder. Do you know what?

I find this very moving, actually. I really do.

Well, it's a lovely story.

It's more marvellous that all five of them got out of the plane.

Yes. They didn't always. Absolutely. Did he ever fly again?

No. Why not? He was invalided out after that. Right.

Well, you know, this is the time

when I come to say what these things are worth... Yes.

..and I've got to say,

you've presented me with a bit of a problem here,

because what are a pair of old boots worth? Yes!

Not very much, to be honest with you. Not very much!

The handle from a parachute, not very much. Yeah, yeah.

A child's drawing, not very much. Mm.

So, from a commercial point of view, the value is negligible.

Probably not even ?20. No.

But from your point of view, they are priceless. Yes.

Now, this is a portrait of a rather elegant young gentleman.

Do we know who this man is?

Well, the painting belongs to my wife... Yes.

..it was given to her by her mother-in-law,

who was Vivienne White, and she was a McEwen,

and so it's highly possible that that's an 18th century McEwen.

OK.

Because I'm very interested -

because down the bottom here it's signed G Roth, which is George Roth,

and dated 1777.

Now, George Roth is not a very famous artist,

but he is listed as a late 18th century artist

who actually lived in London,

but he also painted some portraits up in Norfolk,

so came up to this area.

So, that's what drew my interest to this.

But the other thing I'm going to say about it -

he's a very good looking man - but what's happened to this?

Because it looks as though it's had a lot of overpainting on it.

Well, that's right, because Vivienne gave the painting

to my wife Sally in a box... Oh, yes?

..and it had been cut to ribbons... Oh, dear.

..and my wife's an artist,

and obviously Vivienne expected that she could do something

with the painting.

So, Sally had it professionally repaired and restored. Mm.

It has been quite well restored,

but I can see the damage, because I can see the overpaint,

but I find the picture quite charming, because it...

Although Roth wasn't particularly well known,

so he wasn't as good as Reynolds,

but he had a style, slightly naive style, and you look at this,

and the dog here, you can see where there's been restoration on the dog,

because the teeth there,

he looks as though he's going to bite him any minute!

Look at those white teeth!

He's either had whitener on his teeth,

or I think these have been highlighted or repainted. True.

But also, looking at the face here, if you look closely at the face,

you can see that the eyes... there's been so much overpaint.

And it's such a shame. Yes. Because I will give you two values on this.

One is if it had been in good condition,

and one... that it's in this condition.

So, which one am I going to give you first?

I'm going to give you the one in this condition,

which is about ?600-?900.

OK. Had it been in good condition...

..I would have been saying ?2,000-?3,000.

So, it's a shame that it was cut to ribbons!

HE LAUGHS

But at least you've kept an ancestor alive.

Thank you!

It's a bit of a wreck.

Has it been through the wars? I have no idea.

And how did it get to you?

Er, my grandfather used to do house clearances, that sort of thing.

Uh-huh. So, I should say he would have acquired it from there. Yeah.

I was told once upon a time it was owned by a famous writer, author...

OK. ..but I don't know who, or... Here in Lincolnshire?

I've no idea.

Can't tell you much about it. Great(!) Great.

All right, let's start here, then.

You've seen this. Yep. You've seen this little name down here.

What did you make of that?

Naderman, or something like that, of Paris.

Absolutely right - it says "Naderman a Paris,"

and, in fact, the Naderman family are very well known

both for making harps and for playing harps. Right.

And this is Daddy Naderman, this is Jean-Henri Naderman,

born in the 1730s, and manufacturers of harps.

Now harps were THE aristocratic instrument of choice.

Every aristocratic home had a harp in it.

It was a piece of furniture as much as it was something to be played.

Mm. Now, the soundboard is wonderful. Look at this.

This is, I would say, definitely pre-Revolutionary.

You've got these festoons, trophies of hunting,

and then down here, musical instruments,

and all of that, to me, reminds me of France before the Revolution...

Right. ..when he was making harps, but what...

and in fact, we know that he made harps for Marie Antoinette.

So, a serious maker, very serious maker.

But, boy, it looks as though when the Revolution hit France in 1789,

maybe this harp was spirited off to Lincolnshire.

I don't know! Possibly. We don't know what happened.

A lot needs doing to this. It's basically a wreck. Right.

A wreck from the Revolution. HE CHUCKLES

I can just see Robespierre's troops going through the salon,

saying, "Get rid of ze 'arp.

"Send it to Lincoln."

Um, I don't know.

Still, there is enough of it left to give us some idea

of that wonderful period before the Revolution

when they were all powdering their wigs.

I reckon if you were to spend money

on putting this thing into working order,

and heaven knows how much that would cost,

I'd be very surprised, if it was in working order,

if you couldn't get somewhere between ?5,000 and ?10,000 for it.

Right.

Lovely!

Is that good? It is very good, yeah.

Yeah, very, very good.

So, what tempted you to bring in this Rolex to me today?

Well, I saw the programme a few months ago, of the Rolex watch,

and I thought, "Well, that's similar to my husband's watch,"

so I said to him, "Shall I bring it to the next Antiques Roadshow

"when it's in Coningsby?"

Which is what I've done today.

And when did you have this last international service...?

It was about 11 years ago.

Rolex serviced it. OK, good.

And they supplied this bit of paperwork,

which is very helpful to me.

Right. Let us say, first of all,

that the model is The Submariner

without the date. Right.

And really, by far the most exceptional thing

is that little, very, very small T, white T, in a white circle.

Right.

This is what they refer to as the tritium mark,

and it implies that it was a Rolex issue to the Navy,

but a good number were also issued to the British Army,

and, with a proper catalogue,

I could tell you exactly for which unit it was made for.

Right. And this is absolutely lovely. Really lovely.

Just going to very quickly check one or two things.

At the 12 o'clock position we've got the reference number,

and I can see that is the 5517.

Down on the bottom here, it will have its serial number,

which is five million, two hundred-something, and in fact,

that conforms to exactly what Rolex have told you there. Right.

On the back you have got the War Department arrow,

and then you've got a number /77, which is 1977.

And one or two of the other things to point out are the hands.

They're not the normal, what we call Mercedes hands,

these are the sword hands, again,

much more standard for the tritium watches,

and by far the most important thing that makes it stand out

is the bezel.

On your bezel, it has the minute marks going the whole way round -

the standard Submariner just has it from 0 to 15.

Right. It's lovely! Smashing.

The only thing I can fault on it, of course,

is that this leather strap is much later. Yes.

It would have had a NATO strap,

which is a sort of webbed, canvassy type thing -

a much, much thicker, much more durable strap,

and it would never have had a steel, oyster type bracelet.

Right. So, forget that strap -

the main thing is that the head of the watch is 100% right.

Smashing. Thank you.

Will your husband be pleased? I think so, yes!

I hope so! OK.

So, would it surprise you to know

that actually they're really pretty scarce?

Oh, right, how many were made?

Well, we think probably around 1,200,

but a lot would have got really very badly damaged

and we're now probably talking existing ones left

in the low hundreds.

Right.

These things have been making really exceptional prices at auction.

In this condition, being 100% right,

I'm going to quote you

around ?40,000. ALL GASP

Oh, my goodness me!

SHE LAUGHS

That's fantastic!

Well, everybody seemed quite surprised about that!

Not half! It's only a watch!

This is a seriously scarce object, and highly collectible.

So, tell me,

where does it all start with this little group of objects?

Well, it starts, actually, when I was born, 92 years ago, in Paris,

and this was always one item that I loved, and that got me interested

in African and other Oriental artefacts.

So, this was in Paris in the '20s? Yes, yes, it was.

Yes. Gosh.

A very important time. Yes.

It's been with me ever since. Do you sleep with it?

Well, somebody did! Exactly, cos it's a pillow, or neck rest.

Yes, it is. Yes. Not very comfy, I wouldn't have thought. Not at all.

No. I've tried it.

But it's a rather curious mix of things -

the figures at the front don't seem to sort of match up.

No, no, they don't, because I have a friend

who was in the French Army doing his military service.

He knew I liked carvings and sculpture, et cetera,

and he brought me back a quantity of art from Africa after his service.

These are only a couple of them, but that's how I acquired those.

And then, lastly, this also comes from Africa, we think.

I mean, obviously, we'll come onto where

it really comes from, but... Yes, yes, quite.

Yes, that was acquired...

..that I...someone that I knew, a friend of mine,

and he came from Bulawayo, and I met him when I was living in Belfast,

and this was something that he thought I should have. Yes.

And if you could take one home, which one would you take?

I'd take the lot! Well, you can only take one, how about that?

Oh, dear.

Well, I'd probably take this. Excellent,

because I'd take this. LAUGHTER

I thought you would. HE CHUCKLES

Well, I'm going to come on to why.

These African figures are average quality, to be perfectly honest.

Yes, quite. Yes. However, this, of course,

although your man from Bulawayo may have given it to you,

as I think you know, is not from Bulawayo.

Yes, that's right. Um, it's Tongan.

Mm-hm. And it's... Ah, Tongan! ..it's called an apa'apai,

and it's a club, usually made of a wood called ironwood,

or casuarina... Yes.

..and it's really a very dense, hard wood, which gives this the ability

to be carved with this fantastic array of geometric designs. Mm.

The shaft here is just unbelievably intricately carved. Yes, I know.

And they're all different.

These appear relatively frequently on the market... Mm-hm.

..always slightly different... Yes.

..but the most interesting thing is,

I just wonder when your Bulawayo man acquired it,

because I think that this is probably a 19th century piece,

not a 20th century piece. Mm.

So, he may have given it to you in the 20th century... Yes, exactly.

..but it was already an old, considerably old, piece then.

Yes, I would think so. Yeah.

So, I've rather dismissed those. Yes, of course.

You're taking that home. Yes. So, that's OK.

So, I'm going to get a very nice prize.

And how much do you think it's worth?

Well, it's worth a few hundred, I suppose.

A few hundred.

Even better. I'm going to do very well. Oh!

Because... I'm coming home with you, then.

Because I think it's worth somewhere between ?7,000 and ?10,000.

7,000 and 10,000! Not bad.

That's not bad, is it? Wow.

That's amazing.

No wonder you gave me this to take home!

This looks like something a maharani would wear.

Now, you're obviously an Art Deco lady, so what drew you to this?

It was on a piece of furniture at an antique fair.

It was obviously a furniture dealer,

and it was in its box, all shiny and winking at me,

so he didn't ask for very much money, about ?50,

so I thought, "Oh, that looks lovely,"

and I fiddled about with it

and thought, "Yes, I'll have that, please."

So, obviously the bracelet is metal with these glass stones,

that you can just push out one of them

and replace it with one of the others... Mm-hm.

..and, I mean, it's very adaptable -

this is the wonderful thing about something like this. I know.

You can have it all red stones... Absolutely.

Shall we say rubies? Which, if course, they're not. Yeah.

You can have blue stones, and they just pop in and out.

Yep, no problem.

You see, the ingenuity of something like this, from the 1920s,

made in Czechoslovakia, with these wonderful, faceted stones,

really beautiful design, and so good to wear.

Absolutely and not too precious,

so you could wear it, and enjoy wearing it.

So what attracted you to the Art Deco period in particular?

Oh, gosh, absolutely wonderful.

Everything about it - the furniture, the jewellery,

especially the jewellery -

no, but very, very artistic. I love it.

Rather than Art Nouveau, I definitely go for the Art Deco.

And do you wear this a lot?

I don't, actually.

Not so much. I prefer the little bangles that I have,

the '20s bangles, which aren't so precious.

I'm always scared of losing the little baguette stones in that,

not the big stones that interchange,

but I think if I lost a little green baguette, that might be a bit hard.

I'm not a very delicate person, unfortunately.

SHE CHUCKLES

I think I might lose the stones in it, but I love it,

I do have it in a cabinet at home with other bits of jewellery.

So, you paid about ?50 for it. Yeah, ?50, yeah.

Which was actually quite a lot, in some ways... Yes, yeah.

..for something that we know is just metal and glass. Yeah.

I thought it had a bit of quality about it.

I thought... Yeah. It definitely does. Mm-hm.

I mean, it's beautifully designed.

This was designed for one of the big couture houses,

I wouldn't be surprised,

and I could certainly see it selling for between ?400 and ?500.

Oh, really?!

Oh, that's a little bit more than I just told my friends earlier.

THEY LAUGH

INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYS: I Wanna Be Loved By You

I've seen plenty of advertising posters in my time,

but they're normally on paper. Yes.

These are on sacking - hessian.

These posters are for Osram, the German light bulb company.

"Save fuel at home - but when you MUST use light, use Osram."

I think it's very clear that there's a sort of strong wartime feel here,

which is kind of appropriate for where we are today.

Did you buy these?

No, I've had them about 38 years, and my husband dragged them

out of a skip. He dragged them out of a skip?

Yeah, so I told him to drag them back again,

but he didn't, he brought them home,

so they've been under our bed for about 38 years.

So, you won't have these up at home at all? No.

Not something I'd hang on my wall!

Osram were a company founded in Germany in 1906.

They were very successful, and they had branches all over the place,

all over the continent, and in Britain, of course,

which is why these are in English.

The company's name, which is rather unusual,

comes from a combination of the elements osmium and wolfram,

which were commonly used in filaments,

and during the 1920s and '30s,

they became quite well known for producing very avant-garde,

modernist and sometimes quite quirky poster designs -

very strong, very bright, very visual -

one, for example, of a sort of light-bulb man dancing down a stage.

Yeah, I've seen that one.

Really, really great designs, and these are very much in that vein.

But what attracts me to them, as well as that,

is that there's almost a sort of propaganda element in them. Yeah.

I mean, if you look at this chap here, he's, you know,

strongly holding up the house and sort of holding this factory. Yeah.

What sort of era? Wartime. Wartime. Yep, Second World War. Mm.

And look at her. Yeah.

I mean, she's typical of the sort of lady at the home front, as it were.

Yeah. I mean, everything about her says strength and control.

You know, these are strong people,

and it's that sort of propaganda element

that I find, actually, really rather more interesting.

I have to say, I haven't seen these designs elsewhere,

and Osram is collected. Mm.

It is a name that people tend to collect,

but it's not there up in the top rank along with railway posters

and cruise liner posters from the early 20th century,

but, as a bit of skip diving, that little activity,

I'm afraid your husband was right to keep them, and you'll be glad

you didn't send them back to the skip from where they came.

I think I could easily see them fetching, for the pair,

?400-?600 at auction. Oh, right, yeah.

I didn't think they'd be that much,

but probably worth bringing home from the skip, then.

Yeah. I would have certainly said so. Yeah.

Blue sky, huge crowd, great jewellery.

One's a pendant, which I have here,

and one is this rather dark, slightly sombre-looking box.

Tell me a bit about where they came from.

Well, I inherited them from my grandma.

They were originally hers, and then they got passed on to me.

OK. Well, this square, dark-leather box

contains a little gold flower brooch.

The flower itself is very sensitively wrought,

it's very delicate, it's very sweet.

It's not demonstrative, it's not a big, loud piece,

but it fits beautifully into the box itself,

so we can say with confidence that this piece is right for this box.

Now, I've looked at the mount of the flower at the back

for a mark or a name, and do you know something?

There isn't one.

However, when we look inside the lid of the box,

we see that it has the name Vever.

Now, Vever were a French company based in Paris.

They were started off, ooh, going way back in the 19th century,

by Paul Vever.

He then had a son, and then there were two further...

Well, his grandsons, then,

so by around about the end of the 19th century,

1900, the two grandsons really do take on the control of the shop,

and they were very, very brilliant men,

Paul and Henri Vever, and they started to develop a niche

in this kind of naturalistic jewellery,

and this is the era, this is the period,

where jewellery was very, very much flowing, female forms,

flowers, birds and enamel,

and that's the material that the blue flower is made of. OK.

The lines are diamonds mounted in gold.

Now, the flower itself

looks a little bit like a convolvulus flower,

which we know as bindweed, actually,

you know, that stuff that binds up and goes round the fences?

Actually, this particular flower is morning glory.

That's a better name. It's a much better name.

And it's a delicate example of the flower made into a bit of jewellery.

OK, now, that's that.

When we move on to this pendant here, this is an un usual piece.

Now, did you get some feedback at all

as to when this might have been made?

Anything at all to help us along a bit?

I... I don't know, really. I know my grandma had it,

so I'm guessing probably 40, 50 years they had it.

That's when I think it may have been made.

It's quite difficult, actually,

cos it doesn't conform with any particular style or design,

but I wonder if it might have been

literally made in the middle part of the 20th century.

This design - you'll see that this charming little ram

has got this large body that's made out of a complete natural pearl -

a baroque pearl.

And this style of taking a pearl goes right the way back

to the Renaissance period,

whereby you would take a pearl in nature

and the goldsmith would look at it

and think, "What can I create round the pearl

"that makes it into a recognisable shape?"

So, this particular goldsmith has taken this huge pearl,

he's mounted it in 18 carat yellow gold,

and then he's further supplemented it buy finding another pearl,

a real pearl, and turned it into the face of the little ram.

And then he's augmented it

by putting some little sapphires into the eyes.

OK, now, would you like me to give you an idea

of what I think they might be worth?

Yes, please. Good, OK.

The Vever brooch, I think that would probably be worth

something like ?5,000. ALL GASP

Ooh! Wow.

That's a lot of money! Well, could easily make six or seven.

Wow. Now this one here.

Difficult. Tricky.

The pearl is huge!

It's not signed, it's not numbered, we don't know who made it,

but you would agree, it's a very, very attractive piece.

?6,000. Wow!

Wow. In other words, what am I saying here?

Well, 11,000 or 12,000 for the two.

Phew!

That's a lot of money!

I think they represent some absolutely beautiful,

dynamic jewellery that would be of great appeal should

they ever be sold, not that you will ever sell them I'm sure. No!

But, at the same time, they really do hit the spot

when it comes to what is commercially viable.

So, well done, you. Thank you.

Thank you.

It's the end of our day here at RAF Coningsby,

and with me is a little chap who wanted to join me in saying goodbye.

Brace yourselves.

It's not the prettiest face you'll ever have seen.

How do you think it's gone so far?

"Who, me?" Yes, you.

"Marvellously."

OK, I know I'm not going to make a ventriloquist,

but from this ventriloquist's dummy

in the form of a Toby jug from the 1940s,

and the whole team at the Antiques Roadshow,

and, of course, the RAF here at Coningsby,

until next time, bye-bye.

The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-time has transformed

our understanding of a condition that affects 1 in 100 children.

The world is illogical,