Walmer Castle 1 Antiques Roadshow

It's 20 years since the Antiques Roadshow was last on the south

coast of Kent, and today we've come to Walmer Castle, near Deal.

Now run by English Heritage,

Walmer Castle was one of several Tudor forts built by Henry VIII.

Overlooking the English Channel, it was the ideal location to protect

Britain from invasion by the Spanish, and then later, the French.

It has also been home to the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports since 1736.

The Lord Warden, appointed by royalty,

was the official keeper of the coast.

One in particular has become synonymous with Walmer.

13 years after the Battle of Waterloo,

the Duke of Wellington was given the post.

It was 1829, he was also serving as Prime Minister.

He was a national hero, what we'd call today a celebrity.

Wellington enjoyed the privacy of Walmer.

He spent every autumn here, in his sleeping and living room

set up in the warmest part of the draughty castle.

But the old warhorse liked things spartan.

No comfy mattress for him, he preferred his old campaign bed.

These are the great man's famous boots,

he had them specially designed for himself and his army

to be more comfortable, but crucially, waterproof.

With specially waxed calf leather,

the origin of the Wellington boots we wear today.

And it was in this room on the 14th of September 1852,

the Iron Duke spoke his last words.

He accepted a cup of tea, and then sitting in this chair,

aged 83, he died.

Wellington's death marked the end of an era.

The hero of Waterloo was gone.

Wellington-mania reached fever pitch as preparations were

made for a state funeral of unparalleled splendour.

The trade in memorabilia went through the roof.

In London, along the line of Wellington's funeral cortege,

special stalls were set up selling refreshments,

like Duke of Wellington wine and cake, and other adapted mementos.

Charles Dickens was among a number of people appalled at what

he called, "This trade in death."

But business was brisk.

I wouldn't be surprised

if we see a few pieces of Wellington memorabilia today.

Let's join our experts and visitors at today's Antiques Roadshow.

Lovely, bright, sunny day.

Glaring sunshine down on this

golden-yellow gem

in a gold mount.

My father bought that in 1945.

During the war, he was in the RAF,

and he was serving in Ceylon and in Burma.

When my mother and him got married, 1947, he gave it to my mother.

-Did she wear it?

-Oh, my mother wore it a lot.

Every time she went out. She was a party girl in the '60s,

and in the RAF, you used to go out a lot. And my mother wore that a lot.

And I remember her saying to me,

"Stephanie, put this on my finger when I go out."

And she also used to say to me,

"When you're grown-up and a big girl, this is going to be yours."

-Because it's topaz, and topaz is my birthstone, from November.

-Oh, right.

Well, let me tell you a little bit about it.

The interesting thing you said was that your father acquired it

in 1945 in Ceylon or Burma.

-Ceylon - which, of course, Sri Lanka today.

-Yes.

And that would be right.

Because the stone like this would have been sourced

probably from a local mine.

I think possibly Ceylon.

Let's talk about the mount.

The mount is gold and has a slightly eastern sort of look

to the setting, to the gallery of the stone as well.

-The stone weighs something like 30 carats.

-Wow.

And it's not a topaz,

and it's not a citrine - which is the stone it's often confused with -

it is a golden-yellow sapphire.

Goodness me.

How do I know it is a sapphire?

Because I can use my lens, and I can look into the stone.

And I can see that it has tell-tale marks that we find in sapphires.

And they're typical stones that you find in Ceylon.

So that's what it is.

So what do you think it might be worth?

30 carats, Ceylon yellow sapphire - not the best depth of colour,

but an incredibly rare size and a specimen stone.

I think that your father - and indeed your mother - would be

pleased to find out that you've got a stone worth £3,000 there.

-No!

-Yes.

Really? Wow.

That is lovely. My dad would be thrilled.

But far rarer than you might have thought it was.

Looking at this street scene,

I know it's not painted in this country because it looks

a bit Colonial in the middle.

-Do you know where that's painted?

-I do, yeah,

it's painted in McQuarrie Street in Sydney in Australia.

Which is a very well-known place.

-It is. It's quite a big street there.

-So how did you find it?

-I found it in a house clearance.

-Oh.

This and a couple of others came from one house, all Australian.

And I just liked it so much I decided I'd keep it.

Now, down the bottom right here, you have the signature, Frank Payne.

-Do you know who Frank Payne is?

-Not really, no.

-I couldn't find very much about him.

-You can't find him at all?

I'm going to have to surprise you now.

That Frank Payne, HE actually was a SHE.

Right. That's a surprise!

And was a nickname for Francis Mallalieu Payne.

And she was born in Brisbane in 1885.

And came over to England in 1905, and studied in Paris.

Of course, Paris was the centre in the early 1900s for going to study

and learn impressionistic style, which this is painted in.

And then she went back to Australia

and became quite well known for doing magazine covers,

and children playing on beaches, and this type of scene.

So it's rare, because Australian artists are rare.

Perhaps there aren't as many as there are here.

She died in 1976, born in 1885.

We've got to guess when this was painted.

And looking at the frame here, I think this is 1930s-'40s,

that sort of period.

And it's got the modern buildings around the old colonial ones there.

But I love it. What's this going to be worth?

Well, I think if I lived in Sydney, I would be prepared to

-pay £2,000-3,000 for it at auction.

-Wow! Really surprised at that!

Really surprised, yeah.

You're about ten times over what I thought.

Whereabouts in your house does this little pig live?

Usually on the windowsill in the kitchen.

Is that why he's a little bit broken?

Well, it's been broken as long as I can remember.

I think it must have belonged to my parents

and then my grandparents, but it always seems quite old.

-I'm quite fond of it, really.

-A think he's really cute.

He is a little sleeping piglet, decorated with thistles, decorated

by hand, and he's by Wemyss, quite clearly marked on the back.

-Yes, I've seen that on the back.

-And impressed as well.

-This would have been made around about 1900, 1910.

-Oh, I say.

And Wemyss were a factory in Fife, in Scotland,

who made large pigs about this size.

-But they made these little piglets as well.

-Right.

-And they didn't make that many of them.

-Really?

-This is a very rare Wemyss piglet.

-Is it?

-It is.

Is it all right on the windowsill?

You MIGHT want to change that in just a second.

-My goodness me!

-Despite the fact that looks like he's fallen off...

Yes, it a bad crack across there.

This piglet would still make a good price at auction.

-Would it?

-Yep.

More than £25?

Despite its battered and broken cracks -

a Wemyss collector would still pay £5,000-8,000.

-GASPS

-What?!

-Oh, my goodness!

I can't...I can't believe it!

And that's with all his cracks.

My goodness.

-Thank you!

-It's a pleasure.

I am so pleased, I badly need a new kitchen!

LAUGHTER

Well, he's bringing home the bacon, so...

Thank you, thank you so much!

I was the first person in the queue, I got here at 6.15am.

And I've been seen already, so it was definitely worth getting up

at 4.30am on a Sunday morning, yes.

So you're telling me you found this on a beach?

-Yes, when I was five years old.

-I just don't believe it! How?

I was walking along the beach, looking down at the ground,

and it was there amongst the shingle.

-They're just extraordinary, comical, aren't they?

-Yes, very amusing.

Absolutely, look at that face. I mean, once seen, never forgotten.

We've got someone who can look at these for you.

So I'll give you a ticket, put you in the queue,

and hopefully we'll find out all about them.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

This has had a hell of a journey.

I think this is South America, Mexico, that sort of period.

Whether its 18th, 17th century or earlier,

we do need to take that further.

Just on style alone,

I think that's worth £300-400.

Oh! OK.

Maybe my mother won't think it's quite so evil!

What I see here is what I would call a combination piece of furniture.

Two pieces of furniture, incorporated into one piece.

You explain to me what you know about it.

My great-grandmother on my mother's side bought it in Hastings,

apparently, in about 1900.

And she left it to my mother, who in turn left it to me.

-I like the idea, it spins around, it rotates.

-It spins round.

When I was a child, in New Romney, Aunt Kitty used to visit us -

my father's godmother - on an annual visit. An inspection, almost.

-Yes, yes.

-And she was a great talker, but a very slow eater.

And, on one occasion, my sister and I looked at each other, she had

not finished, the rest of us had, so we spun the table around and gave

her an empty plate, which meant that we could get on with our pudding.

-Did she notice?

-No!

-Brilliant, brilliant.

-So it does have its uses.

Absolutely. There is quite an array of different woods here.

-This wood here, which is in segments, this is mahogany.

-Ah.

With the boxwood lining.

On the edge, this is Goncalo Alves, which is here and here.

Right.

As I say, this is the combination piece which fascinates me.

Is that.

-What was that for?

-Well, I hope you'll tell me.

I've always thought, blown bottles,

the old-fashioned wine bottles, would fit in to those circles,

and there would be ice in there. But I don't know.

Good theory.

How would you get the water out though?

Well, those presumably were plugs, originally. I don't know.

When somebody's restored this, if they have taken the little

plugs out... As I say, when I looked underneath,

I couldn't see an area for the water to drain out of.

So that confuses me.

It confuses me as well, I can tell you!

I guess I can agree, that this is what we call lead-lined,

so something, whether it was a plant, or whether it was

magnum-sized bottles which went in there which were kept cool.

So really, this is, I can only describe it as a one-off,

a bespoke piece of furniture.

I love the base, this foreswept base, with simple brass castors.

All totally original.

But, unfortunately, it has been heavily restored,

-which undermines it a little bit.

-Yes, of course.

The date of it is around 1790-1800. George III.

Very, very pretty piece of furniture.

It's practical because it seats six to eight people comfortably.

I'll be quite happy putting a value on this between 1,500-2,500.

But thank you for bringing it along.

You have brought a piece of furniture which breaks the rules.

Actually, it's a wonderful conversation piece.

-After dinner, when I lift the middle out.

-Yes, yes.

And we still wonder what it was for.

In these two photographs I can see one person who is in both.

-Who might she be?

-It is me!

Now, what were you doing at this glamorous event - which, I think

we can see by all the paperwork here,

was the Royal Variety Performance?

I was invited to be a programme seller for the performance.

And then after the performance, we were invited to the party afterwards.

The get-together with all the artists that had been in the show.

And that happened for all the Royal Variety Performances

that you were involved in? You went backstage, you met and mingled?

Endless famous people, which you don't realise

until you sit down and go through the programme.

What an extraordinary thing.

So how did you get involved?

I'm a member of the Lupino family,

and we were quite a big family all those years ago,

with pantomimes and theatre. And my mother was Sissy Lupino,

and my father was Cliff Diamond, and they were in musical hall,

and travelled all over England in the theatres.

And I suppose, perhaps, people of my generation will remember

the Royal Variety Performance for that extraordinary performance

-in 1963 when the Beatles came.

-It was unbelievable.

-There were just rapping on the doors...

-The fans!

Yes, it was quite frightening.

They did their act, they were the top of the programme.

And then, of course, after the performance,

they all came down, and as you see, it was breakfast time.

-And they all sat, and that's one of the photographs.

-You lucky girl!

I suppose the memorable thing about that Beatles performance in 1963

-was that John Lennon quip, which I'm sure you were there to hear.

-Yes.

Which is, you know, I can't remember it exactly -

"I need some help with this last number, you lot on the cheap seats,

"if you can clap along, and the rest of you, if you'd rattle your jewellery."

Which, you know, considering that the Queen was there,

-that was quite a cheeky comment.

-Too right.

-Did it bring the house down at the time?

-Of course it did, yes.

-Took them by surprise.

-Exactly.

And, of course, you've got this signed here,

you've got the programme signed here,

and on the back of the ticket here there is another signature.

There are lots of other signed programmes.

-This one, for instance, has got Liberace.

-Yes.

-And I can see you in the midst of Liberace's big love thing.

-Yes, yes.

We've got one here with Tommy Cooper signed.

I mean, what you have here is a fabulous archive - you know

that as well as I do. And it's also a valuable archive.

The cream of the crop, obviously, has to be the Beatles section.

The central section here.

And a signed Beatles Royal Variety Performance programme,

-that's going to be £4,000-6,000 before you start.

-Right!

I thought you might like that.

And then, obviously, we go one to the other signed items.

And the whole archive,

and we haven't even unpacked the whole suitcase.

-There is a suitcaseful!

-Yes.

I've been through it,

and I would say that what you've got is probably worth about £10,000.

My!

Unbelievable. No wonder they moan, because I'm a hoarder.

I hang onto everything, and that's the result!

I don't think the family should moan at all, I think

they should say, "Jolly good, Mum," and, "Jolly good, Granny."

-It's wonderful that you've kept everything.

-Oh, that's great.

So here we are sitting in the Roadshow's tea tent,

which seems a very suitable place

to look at this wonderful object.

Now, I know it's a lazy Susan,

but there must be something behind it.

They're so rare to see today.

Yes, it came from my great-grandparents' house.

They lived in south Somerset,

a small village called Misterton, near Crewkerne.

And it is always an object of curiosity,

-because of the vibrant colours.

-I think these colours are fantastic.

They'd lift any table.

And, of course, to me, it's much more important,

because it has a wonderful local connection here.

Up the road in Ramsgate was the home of AWN Pugin,

-the great architect, the great designer. And he designed this.

-Yes.

He designed a number of ceramic pieces,

working with Herbert Minton, through the 1840s.

And one of the last things he did, as far as we know,

was this lazy Susan.

These were new, coloured glazes developed in 1849 at Minton's.

And he loved these colours.

They were Victorian colours, they were Gothic colours.

And he thought, "Right, I can use these new colours on this piece."

Which is, in a sense, Gothic for the home.

It's domestic Gothic.

And that connection, to me, makes it very exciting.

I know there are marks on the bottom which we needn't show,

it says Minton, and there's a date code for 1873.

I think to me it is an insight into what the Victorian tea table,

dining table, looked like.

It was filled with spectacle and colour

which changed from course to course.

We've put some very delicious-looking scones on it to go with our tea.

I think I have to demonstrate what it does while I offer you a scone.

Thank you very much.

Oh, splendid!

And as you enjoy the scone, of course,

it is quite a valuable thing.

Were it not for the significant damage,

it would be quite a valuable piece.

-It's now down to what you might call decorative value.

-Yes.

£200, £300.

-But it's still what it is.

-Yes.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Some people would say that this is

an ugly, black table clock.

-What do you think? Honestly?

-Honestly?

I loved it, ever since I was a kid.

It was always in my grandfather's house on the mantelpiece

in the drawing-room, where you weren't allowed in, really.

I always looked at it and though it was lovely.

It was my great-grandfather's, he bought it for his wife.

And then it got handed down to the grandkids.

And you're not a grandkid, you're a great-grandkid.

-Great-grandkids, yeah.

-It's yet to get to you?

-No, not quite.

-But you really do like it?

-Yes, I really do.

Because it's that lovely childhood memory,

hearing it chime at night and during the day.

-Yeah, good, yeah. Lovely chime.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

LAUGHTER

Well, it's actually quite a technical clock.

The good news is, too, that it's by a famous clockmaker,

a man called Daniel Quare.

He was born in 1648, and he died in 1724.

Making him about 75 years old when he died,

which was a ripe old age then.

He was so commercially brilliant at making clocks that

the sort of people who came to his daughter's wedding included

ambassadors, princes and princesses.

And he was a brilliant clockmaker.

So that's the background to the man himself.

And this clock is a typical example of his work. Let's open the door.

Beautiful, gilt-brass dial. Signed, D Quare, London.

Absolutely typical signature.

And he had certain quirks to the clocks that he made.

The handle - he always made handles which were what

we call double-S handles. You can see the shape, the double-S.

His hands were always of this typical form.

And he also, very often, used this dot marking around...

What we have here is the false pendulum aperture.

And rings around the winding holes.

But what I really, really like about this clock, is, when we turn

it round, it has the most beautiful engraving on the backplate.

And there was another contemporary of Daniel Quare's,

a man called Thomas Tompion, who was even more famous than Daniel Quare.

And at the peak of Quare's career,

he and Thomas Tompion shared the same engraver.

And the man that engraved this backplate was also used by Tompion.

And he was, in my opinion,

the greatest engraver for backplates for table clocks in the world.

So...

Put it all together, and you have a clock made around 1695.

Ebony-veneered case, with what we call a basket top.

If you were to buy this clock retail at the moment,

one of the most famous makers in the country,

excellent - not the greatest example,

but one of his better examples - you would have to pay

in the region of £75,000 for it.

-GASPS

-Bingo!

Crumbs.

-You're the great-grandchild, so...

-LAUGHTER

-How many years do you have to wait for this?

-A couple.

-Will there be a few family arguments over it?

-Yes, I'll bet. Yeah.

Well, fantastic - let's hope it comes your way.

-Yeah.

-Thanks for bringing it along.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Our regular challenge this week is a little bit different.

Our glass expert, Andy McConnell, has brought along these four glasses.

And three of them are imposters, only one is genuine.

And what should we be looking for?

Well, three of them are made in the 20th-century here,

and one is 1780.

Andy's got some clues for you, though,

to help you work out which is which.

Does this diamond-point engraved glass depicting a country scene

hail from the 18th-century, or is that a 20th-century city fox?

Is this a rare, Regency glass engraved with vines,

or is that decoration just a little too fruity?

Is this bruiser a genuine late 18th-century rummer?

Or is it too good to be true?

Wear around the base can be a sign of genuine age, but are those

chips off an old block, or have they been added more recently?

So, Andy, what can you tell me about these glasses?

Well, they're all rummers - R-U-M-M-E-R -

it first appears in the English language

in about 1700 as a corruption from the German romer - R-O-M-E-R.

The reason that these are interesting is that you can

actually use them at home.

And they're the size of glasses that we have today.

This being particularly yours, we thought.

LAUGHTER

Oh, you know me well, Andy.

And what should we be looking for?

Well, you've got to be looking for fuzzy glass, really.

That's a start. You're looking at rustic.

You've got to remember,

what was manufacturing like in 1800 relative to 1920?

Well, the tools were better, the furnaces were better, so the

worse it is, broadly speaking, the more likely it is to be old.

All right. What I'm looking for, then,

is the most basic kind of glass.

I'm ruling this out, because it's too fine and too massive.

-Now, you're Andy's mum, aren't you?

-I am, yes.

-Now, what do you know about glass?

-I absolutely know nothing, I'm afraid...

-That's not much help!

-..except what's in it!

Yes, here, a woman after my own heart!

And is it down to you that Andy's quite as eccentric

-and bonkers as he is?

-No, nothing to do with me at all.

All I did was produce him, and then leave him to get on with it.

I think you've got lots to be responsible for there.

Does anyone here know about glass?

Anyone?

OK, votes - this one?

-ALL:

-Yes.

-Yes?

-This one?

-No.

-This one?

MIXED YES AND NO

Fewer yeses.

-Yes!

-Oh, a lot of yeses.

And, actually, there was

a yes there from behind the camera from one of the production team.

Erm...

Well, that chimes with what I was going to say.

I think this is too basic. You agreeing with this, Mum?

-Yes, right.

-Too basic. Too grand, too swanky, not enough imperfections.

This one's got some imperfections, but it's very fine on the base.

Could be that one, because it's so beautifully done.

This one, I can see the gradations of the glass.

Tool marks.

And I got more yeses for this one.

-And you like this one, don't you?

-That was my original thought.

That's good enough for me, we're going for that one as being

-the genuine one, and the three being imposters.

-Thank you, Lord!

I've done Fiona Moments six times...

and she still hasn't got one right!

AUDIENCE GROANS Come on!

-I thought you were helping me! What's that all about!

-Thanks very much!

-It's that one.

-You're sacked! Which is it? Oh...

Well that's certainly the roughest-looking one.

I helped you as much as I could! I really did.

I thought it was a double bluff. All right, tell me all about it.

This is a really rough, old thing.

It's full of striations, it's pitted,

it's been used a million times. It's tonnes of wear on the foot.

But the middle is so grey with this one.

Remember, the processes were so basic, they were burning on coal.

And they were using very basic tools.

And, for me, that is a perfect wineglass,

it is just absolutely right.

Why do rummers still maintain their popularity?

I'd be happy to drink out of this one tonight.

-But you can have that one.

-LAUGHTER

Every once in a while on the Roadshow we get in artist

who wants to be a great artist.

Now, do you think he was a great artist, and who was he?

He was Gerald Moore.

I think he would have liked to have been a great artist.

He was a very prolific artist, I know that.

-But professionally, he started as a dentist.

-I see!

Which is why, if you look at the back legs of the bull,

they do look rather dental, don't they?

They look like an enormous molar that's been pulled, you're right.

-Exactly!

-It's quite hallucinogenic, isn't it? It is from the '60s.

How on Earth did you get it?

He was our dentist at that stage,

and it was given as a gift for my grandmother.

And it's hung in the dining room for 30 years.

My husband here, who has been part of the family for the last 35

years, he has always hated it.

And whichever dining room it's been in,

he has sat with his back to it. So that has been the story of it.

And so, presumably, you would be quite keen to hear that it's

worth a fortune and you'll have to sell it?

Exactly! I hope it's not going to stay in the family.

I hope it's worth a lot of money and we can sell it.

LAUGHTER

I hate it.

All right, do you know what's supposed to be going on in it?

-It's Europa and the bull, isn't it?

-Yes, well done.

And Europa, of course, was immortal.

Fancied rotten by Zeus, and he changed himself into a bull

so he could come down and ravish her.

And this is the act of ravishing we're seeing here.

But it's done in the manner of a very great artist called Chagall.

It's like one of his dream pictures, he always has bulls

and horses in them. And it's like a dream, really.

Only I personally think a bit of a nightmare, I'm afraid.

I'm with you.

Which is why I only have to put £400-600 on it.

-Well.

-OK.

-So I'm afraid you're stuck with it.

Unfortunately, we might have to take it home!

LAUGHTER

A malacca cane. A really odd-looking wood, isn't it?

And it's made from the stem of a rattan palm from southeast Asia.

-Where did you get it from?

-It belonged to my father.

He used to carry it at all the time in the '50s when he walked

-down the street, he thought it was a good gimmick, I think.

-Absolutely.

The top of the handle is made of marine ivory.

It's a tusk from an animal like a walrus.

An animal that lives in the sea.

And is decorated with small, silver circles.

Inlaid into the ivory. And that is called pique work.

It's beautifully decorated. I love these hearts and flowers.

But the best bit, for me, looking at the top, is the date.

1688.

I did wonder if that was a commemorative of

the Glorious Revolution, but I think it's actually that date.

I think that's a completely genuine date.

And there are also two initials, RS,

so I would love to have known who RS was.

And the malacca cane has this wonderful, natural gloss to it.

It's incredibly strong.

I think this is a really good example of an antique which is as

fit for purpose now as it was when it was made, over 300 years ago.

But probably a little bit more valuable than a modern walking stick.

I think it's worth in the region of...

600, 700, maybe £800.

Yes, I don't think I'll be selling it. It has sentimental value.

Of course. And I'd like to be able to picture your father

walking along with it in the '50s.

It's certainly the earliest-dated malacca cane I have ever seen.

When the sun hits it like this, the gold lustre

and the ruby lustre, incredible colours, aren't they?

They're beautiful, aren't they? I liked it when I saw it first.

Where did you get it from?

It was part of a collection of work

that was from an elderly woman's house

when was she moved into supported accommodation.

It was my friends who collected it,

and they wanted me to go through this collection to find out

if there was anything in it that was particularly valuable.

-And you spotted this?

-And I spotted this, amongst other things.

But when I first spotted it I didn't recognise it for what it was,

I don't think. I saw it as a Spanish plate.

But I liked it,

and they offered it to me in return for looking through these dishes.

So that's how I got it.

When you see lustre like this, we only think of one name,

and that's William De Morgan, the great potter who rediscovered

the Spanish and Italian lustres in the 1870s.

And painted dishes like this.

And the control of the colours is so well done. He was a genius at that.

Like many of the earlier De Morgan pieces,

you don't expect to see a mark, because he brought in blank dishes

from all sorts of makers, and just did the painting.

And the underside -

although, no name - is as much of a signature as anything.

Because this concentric decoration, inspired by the lustres of

early Spain and Italy, is a classic look of a William De Morgan dish.

We're looking at about 1875, thereabouts,

is the period he would have made this.

When you look at these closely, you see all sorts of details in them.

But I think De Morgan dishes really work successfully from afar.

This would have hung on a wall, put on a piece of furniture,

made to make a statement across the room, as it does today.

And, inevitably, pieces like this are fairly expensive.

The dish that you fell in love with is going to be

-worth between £2,000-3,000.

-Wow.

Crikey! Yes, well, there you go.

-I'm glad to give it a good home.

-LAUGHTER

I'm so delighted to see these today.

What we have here are basically

the fashion look-books of their day.

Mostly, they're from 1927, 1928.

And then one that's a little earlier, from 1923.

Tell me, where did you get them?

My husband and I lived in Belgium for many years,

and we used to like to do the local brocantes, or car boots,

and we found them on one of the annual village brocantes, in fact.

And we were so surprised and so pleased to find them.

As it says here on the title, Tres Parisien, and Le Mode, Le Chic.

It's basically all the high fashions of the day.

The illustrations themselves,

some of them are by names that are still very known to us today.

Such as Worth.

And we have others throughout the book, Poiret,

and all the really famous designers of the day.

These would have been produced to showcase the season's fashions.

The illustrations are called pochoir illustrations

they're loose in the book.

Not only do we have the illustrations themselves,

we have all these silhouettes.

As a lady of fashion, what you should be looking for, really.

It's an absolutely brilliant historical reference of what

the fashions were like. Are you a costume collector, particularly?

Not at all. We just found the books with the fashion plates

and thought they were so wonderful. I do like the 1930s period,

and some of the clothes in there are just so colourful

and almost actual for today.

I think that's the good thing about a lot of 1920s fashion, that it

is very wearable today, and why it remains as popular as it does.

So often you see these broken up,

and people take the illustrations and they're framed.

So what is so nice about this is that we have a complete record.

Can I ask how much did you pay for them at the time?

I can't remember exactly, but wouldn't be more than 30 euros.

-30 euros for the whole collection?

-Yes.

I'm hoping you will be very pleased to hear that,

if they went for auction, I would think collectively

they would have value in the region of about £1,200-1,500.

Oh, excellent!

That's good. That's really good.

My eyes light up when I see jewellery that has impact.

And these, definitely,

have got a lot of impact.

Now, you tell me what you know about these jewels?

The Joseff Jewelry was started in the '30s.

He designed for all the films, like Gone With The Wind,

and lots of stars wore his jewellery.

My sister and I used to go to lots of vintage shows

and we saw a lady selling these. And we bought lots.

And we love it, it's all very dramatic.

That is the right word, it is absolutely dramatic.

-Now, this is costume jewellery that we're talking about here.

-Yes, yes.

-It is not gold.

-No, sadly.

-LAUGHTER

Sadly! It'd be quite a weight, actually, if it was gold.

But, all the same, I love jewellery which has quality.

And it doesn't matter what it's made of,

-as long it it's been manufactured well.

-Yes.

And here we have as good as it gets in terms of costume jewellery.

Now, you mentioned the word Joseff Of Hollywood,

and he was a gentleman born in Chicago in 1905.

He actually had an apprenticeship in a foundry.

So he started to explore making artefacts,

and then jewellery designs later on came into play.

He moved over to Hollywood with his brother,

and he made great friendships with the various elites in Hollywood.

He tried to get his jewellery designs made, but he couldn't

get them made, so he actually had to make them himself at first.

And then, as he started to get into the movies,

and his jewellery became such an iconic part of the movies

as well, of course, his business grew and developed.

He supplied about 90% of the movie stars.

You had Marlene Dietrich, you had Vivien Leigh,

you had Greta Garbo, you had Elizabeth Taylor -

all these amazing women wearing these jewels which had such impact.

And then, of course, the public thought, "I want some of that, too."

So then costume jewellery really did snowball into being

-made for the general public to be able to buy, like yourself.

-Yes.

-I hope you wear these.

-I do.

-And enjoy them, and do you get lots of comments?

-Always, always.

-And how much did you pay for these?

-I think that was approximately £50.

£50.

So, in auction,

I would expect this would go for a round about £1,000-1,500 now.

Good heavens, that's amazing! I can't believe it.

That's wonderful, thank you.

This is a wonderful little autograph book.

And as soon as you open it, you think, oh my gosh,

the first signature is Queen Victoria!

I have a feeling this little autograph book belonged to

someone who was very, very well connected.

Do you know anything about it?

My mum just got it from an antique shop.

Found it in Rochester market in the '60s when I was at art school.

-Right.

-For £1.

In ten years of doing the Roadshow,

I haven't seen a pot quite like this.

Actually, if we turn over the first page,

it's still great. We're not going downhill from Victoria here.

We've got George IV, we've got William IV.

And if we flick through here, we've even got the Duke of Wellington.

And what better signature could you ask for?

I know, very apt for where we are today, isn't it?

It says TR Lallement, France.

I guess this was made in the '20s or '30s.

Lallement was painting pots like this in Paris.

But it's so stylish! Look at that stepped top and inverted rim.

-It's just gorgeous.

-And the little waves around the top.

-Little waves.

I honestly think there's £1,000-1,500 worth of signatures in this book.

Oh, wow! That's nice to know. I love it.

And I just love that pot so much that...

-£600-800?

-OK, right.

It's fantastic, I really, really love it.

Well, I'm sorry to have to tell you this,

but I think you're a complete rotter!

Why?!

Because I filmed an item earlier with Fiona about rummers

from my own collection, which is similar to these,

but yours knocks spots off mine,

and there are not many people who can upstage me around here.

LAUGHTER

In fact, I think this is the most amazing collection of

late-18th-century, engraved British glass that anybody's ever brought into me.

So where did they float into your life?

Well, they belonged to my mum,

and before that they belong to my granny.

And I don't know who they belonged to before that.

Do you use any of them?

No, they live in a corner cupboard so I can actually see them.

-OK, so they're on show?

-Yes.

-They are rummers.

This is the generic name for this type of generous, bold wine glass.

And they are collected today because they're so usable.

They may not be usable in your house,

but that is the size of a wine glass today. They're practical.

They are all in the neoclassical style.

This one, we can tie down to a date, because it commemorates

the opening of the Wear Bridge at Sunderland in 1796.

The neoclassical engraving, very nice quality.

-Are they two separate...

-There are various sets here, yes.

The ones at the front are one set, the ones at the back,

and the Sunderland Bridge rummer.

So their value comes in two forms.

I'm going to give my value for them,

and then you're going to show us the other value they have.

This one being the star,

this one has an auction estimate of £400-600.

-And then you can... £80-120 the rest.

-OK.

Immaculate condition.

-So the global valuation on these is roughly £2,000.

-Wow, thank you.

But there's a kick in the tail, isn't there?

-Because your Gran taught you something else about these glasses?

-Yes.

Come on, show us how it works.

PURE, SUSTAINED NOTE

-Can you play the Roadshow theme?

-Unfortunately not!

LAUGHTER

Well done, you! Very good! Thank you very much for bringing them in.

Well, here we are in Walmer.

We're standing just a few hundred yards from the Channel coast.

-That's right.

-This way, I believe.

So it's appropriate that you brought me this little book.

Captain Webb On The Art Of Swimming.

-You've brought me a book, and a ring.

-Yeah, that's right.

Tell me a little bit about what they are.

The ring was presented

to my great-great-great-grandfather, George Toms,

after he was pilot to him on the first successful channel swim

on the 25th of August, 1875.

So they gave him a ring as a thank you.

And the book was written after the event.

It's got the history and the narrative of the swim in there.

And George Toms is mentioned a few times.

It ties the history up, really.

-And the ring itself is inscribed.

-Yes.

It's not just the ring, "Presented by Captain M Webb to

"Mr Toms for his services on the occasion of swimming the Channel."

-That's right.

-"25th of August, 1875."

-Yes.

So this is one of our great, national sporting heroes.

Yeah, I think he was quite a hero of the time.

He had matches named after him, and cigarette cards and stuff.

-He was in the water just under 22 hours, I believe.

-22 hours?

-Yeah.

-Now, as I understand it, it's just over 22 miles across the Channel?

-Yeah.

But with the tides taken into account, he actually swam 39 miles,

as it takes him down the Channel and back up again, and then into Calais.

It does sound as though you know all about the sea?

I'm a crew at the lifeboat station,

the local lifeboat station at Walmer.

I've been on the crew there about 14 years.

So we enjoy the sea, always lived next to the coast, so...

So knowledge of the tides is really a matter of life and death?

Yes, for them, certainly.

This is just marvellous to see these two things together.

-Think you very much.

-Association is everything.

The book and the ring together, I think

-must be worth somewhere between £1,000-1,500.

-Oh, wow.

Yeah, that's interesting.

That's brilliant, thank you very much.

In the late 1920s, early '30s, these figures would have been

the height of sophistication and fashion.

So what's a 20-something's interest in two beautiful,

semi-naked women in the 21st century?

I've always found them interesting as a kid.

When I used to go to my grandparents' house.

And then they've been moved up into another room in the house,

and they've always been the main centre of attention in the room.

-So they've always been in your family?

-They've always been in my family.

They were given to my great-grandmother

-by my great-grandfather.

-Wow. I mean, they are beautiful.

If you look at the Art Deco period, it sums up in your mind

an image of Egyptian, of Greece, and just strength.

They are by one of the really good sculptors of this time.

Joe Descomps was 1870s born, up to, I think, 1948, 1950 when he died.

You have the signature there, Joe Descomps,

and really, this is what he was known for.

Figures in bronze like this of scantily clad ladies, dancers.

The great thing about them is no-one's cleaned them.

They have a slightly worn look.

All this is bronze with gilding and jewelled necklaces.

The market for Deco has never really fallen away.

This one, at auction,

easily £2,000-3,000.

And this one, I just love.

-£3,000-5,000.

-Oh!

Thank you very much.

This is my father's diary from the Second World War.

He was a prisoner of war from 1941. And he kept quite a detailed record.

He was a huge keeper of records.

This is actually just a part of what he kept.

Well, he wasn't just a diarist, looks like he was an artist too.

Are these his drawings?

Yeah, he did sketch a lot of camp life. A lot of scenes

that they found, I think, quite amusing, at the same time,

despite the situation been quite grim and very uncertain,

you literally didn't know what your future was going to be.

I've turned to this one, and it's

a picture of soldiers going to a barbed-wire gate.

And it says here, "So this is to be our home?

"We enter Oflag 5A, 9th of October, 1943."

Is that where he was kept prisoner?

This was after the Italian capitulation.

He had previously been in Italy in a couple of camps,

now he was moved up to Germany,

because the Germans swept everybody up and took them all up

on a cattle train up to Germany.

So that is where he spent the next years.

These are photographs.

-Is this him?

-Yes, that's my father.

He is Second Lieutenant David Gordon Blair.

He was always known as Gordon all his life,

because his father was called David. It saved a bit of confusion.

What was his life like in the prison camps?

Really, he had a fairly quiet life.

In fact, he involved himself in things...

Amazing, it may seem, things like amateur dramatics.

They actually put on performances. He also produced these magazines.

He collaborated with other people in producing magazines for the camp.

We have a couple of examples here.

But he spent a quiet war. We're not talking about a Hero Of Telemark.

This is my father's life.

It was something that was incredibly important, but at the same time

something that didn't emerge for 30 years after the war.

It sat in a cupboard.

And this is a photograph I've just shown to you,

-showing a play, in the prison camp, presumably.

-I know.

Some of them, of course, had to dress up as women.

Which caused some amusement.

But it's an amazing historical document.

It's one of the reasons I wanted to bring it today.

Because although he was in an ordinary man, and he would describe

himself as such, in a very ordinary war,

really, behaving himself, actually.

This is possibly an untold story of what went on.

It wasn't all about digging tunnels, and being heroic,

and jumping fences on motorbikes.

It was just survival and keeping your spirits up in this way.

We've turned to a page here, which has labels.

Why did he keep the labels from food tins, from Red Cross parcels?

The food was of such critical importance to you as a prisoner.

In his written diary, he talks about the lack of food.

And it was a severe lack of food.

So to obtain anything remotely exotic was amazing.

So it would have had a very deep meaning to him.

-Probably beyond that which we could comprehend by looking at these labels now.

-I should imagine so.

Here we have apple and blackberry jam.

That has come from the Red Cross parcel from England.

Some of it from Canada, I think, Australia.

He was captured with Australians, so there's a great Australian link.

He kept in contact after the war, with certainly one of them.

This is a wonderful record of his history in the prisoner of war camp.

I think, if this...

were on the open market today.

I think a collector would probably pay for this,

and these two reviews,

something in the region of £1,000-1,500.

And the value's immaterial to you.

Absolutely, it doesn't reflect anything.

To some big extent, this IS my father.

Which is why I felt a big sense of disquiet this morning

when I was putting these in a bag to bring here.

It's a hard, emotional idea to lay your father out in public.

And I hope, really hope, he would not disapprove of what I'm doing.

That I'm doing it with good motive.

-I think he would be very pleased that you did.

-Thank you.

-Which one of you owns the scent bottle?

-We both do.

That must get complicated when you share the scent?

So was it inherited or something you bought, or...?

It was inherited from our mother.

My parents really loved antiques,

and they collected all sorts of different, interesting things.

Our mum went to an antique fair near where we lived,

-and bought the bottle for 75p.

-OK.

And then later in the day, she went back

and the person she bought it from wanted to buy it back from her.

-For a huge profit?

-I don't know.

Well, I think they realised they had made a mistake in selling it.

-So they offered her the 75p back, and she said no.

-Yes.

I think she was very wise. It's a sweet, little bottle.

It's by Baccarat, one of the best French makers.

Cameo glass, all beautifully decorated in these lovely layers.

I think in the sunshine today, it really comes out,

this lovely orchid decoration.

This was a time when perfume didn't come packaged.

You would go to the chemist and buy it loose,

and it would go into a beautiful bottle.

And also, orchids - we can go to the supermarket

and buy an orchid for £10.

If you had orchids at the period this bottle was

made in late 19th century, you were somebody of wealth.

So, Baccarat, expensive orchids, expensive perfume, expensive...

75p has turned into £150.

-Wow!

-That's lovely!

-Thank you.

There are few things more distinctive than

Martin Brothers' pottery.

And I think if we went round this crowd here and asked them

their opinion, it would be a very mixed

and split audience between love, loathe and plain curiosity.

So I have to ask, of those three, which are you?

I was left a very small vase, which isn't here, many years ago,

and I fell in love with Martinware.

And then, back in the '70s,

one could buy Martinware very cheaply in London.

They used to have quarterly sales

in which they'd have 40 or 50 pieces in auction.

But in the '70s, whilst Martin Brothers was beginning to become

recognised, it was still derided by many people.

So you were, absolutely, you were a pioneer!

You were out there at the front.

So what were you paying?

I'm curious what were these things costing you back in the '70s?

This was 450.

-In April '76.

-Right.

This, I bought in Sandwich, about 650.

In real terms, not to reveal my age,

but I was a wee nipper when you were buying these.

But £450 and £600 was still a reasonable amount of money.

That was still a considered investment.

And I think it is about that recognition.

People were starting to look at the Martin Brothers.

Four brothers, Robert Wallace, Charles, Walter, Edwin,

who were manufacturing these pieces.

They were a very curious bunch of potters, really.

They were a curious factory.

Sometimes they would go months on end without firing, creating things.

Things would go wrong, firings would get lost.

They started their life - I'm sure you've done your research yourself -

in 1873, based in Fulham.

And in 1877 they moved to Southall,

which became their home up until the First World War.

And across that period, this is what they were doing.

And, of course, the genius is Robert Wallace. He's the grand master.

He's the absolute pinnacle of what was going on there,

creating these wonderful, grotesque birds, as we now call them.

With wit and humour, and curious little looks.

And this chap here, this pair of birds, just turn it round,

they're giving each other a hug. These boys are friends.

But they were very, very skilled potters.

And I think that's why the market has developed so much.

What was the connection for you? What drew you to them?

I think they're very amusing to look at.

Each time you look at them, you look at them in a different way.

The Americans are apparently buying a lot of this stuff now,

that is where it all ends up, in America.

They're going all over the world.

They're going to Australia, South Africa, Canada, America.

So what are people going to pay you today for them?

The vase - lovely example.

Decorated with Robert Wallace's classic wally birds.

Very desirable in today's market.

That vase today?

-£10,000.

-THEY GASP

Wow.

The bird in the middle.

He's a big example, he's an early example, 1884.

He's got a lovely expression.

He does have a little firing line across his beak, which,

unfortunately, will hold the value back.

The big collectors are put off by very visible damage

to a key part of the bird. And it's a shame,

because as a result that means he's only worth 40,000.

THEY GASP

Gosh.

Wow. Amazing!

This is a late pairing. This is a 1907 bird.

It's a double, the doubles are very desirable.

It's a great looking pair, good colour.

But it isn't as big as that one, at the end of the day,

and we've got to factor that in.

And because it isn't as big, but it is a double,

-it's worth £60,000.

-THEY GASP

Gosh!

Well!

It's unbelievable!

So your pioneering spirit, nearly 40 years ago,

has resulted in a table collection here, well in excess of £100,000.

Gosh.

APPLAUSE

Well, it just goes to show, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

What a valuation - a six-figure sum.

We've seen birds like this on the Roadshow before,

but not a collection on that scale.

And, I think, the best way to describe them?

Interesting.

From the Antiques Roadshow, at Walmer Castle,

until next time, bye-bye.