Plas Newydd 2 Antiques Roadshow

Today the Antiques Roadshow is returning to the Isle of Anglesey.

And overlooking the Menai Straits,

Plas Newydd has been home to the Marquesses of Anglesey for 200 years.

And each has made his mark on the house.

In 1898, Henry Cyril Paget became the fifth Marquess of Anglesey,

known as "The Dancing Marquess".

Henry's flamboyance would have made Liberace look like a wallflower.

And he adored amateur theatricals,

and would always make sure his role required

several jewel-encrusted costumes.

His spending was on an epic scale.

During the '60s, after he inherited the title,

he spent what today would be the equivalent of £14 million a year.

Now, not even his riches could withstand that level of assault.

By June 1904, he was bankrupt.

To pay his creditors, a massive sale was organised

of the family's art and antiques. There were 17,000 lots.

These are just some of the catalogues.

Everything was up for grabs.

Even his pet dogs, and their little silk jackets.

Henry, meanwhile, retired to Monte Carlo,

where just a year later, aged 30, he died.

The era of mad excess was over.

His cousin Charles, who succeeded him,

introduced more sober measures to the house,

such as the installation of central heating and additional bathrooms.

But he also commissioned a rather important painting.

In 1936, Rex Whistler was commissioned to create this mural

here in the dining room, something that would compete

with the house's stunning views of the Welsh mountains,

and this is the result.

Partly North Wales coastline, partly pure fantasy.

And it's full of in-jokes and conversation pieces,

like Windsor Castle here, derelict and crumbling,

to reflect the abdication crisis that was going on at the time.

The man shown sweeping the street is Whistler.

And the little boy with a fishing rod is the Sixth Marquess' son.

But this tale has a tragic end.

When Whistler took leave of the family,

it was with the intention of returning soon.

He painted a burning cigarette in the mural

and told the Marquess he would smoke it when he returned.

He never did.

Whistler, like many others, went off to war.

But on the 18th July, 1944, on his first day of action in Normandy,

he was killed by a German shell.

And Whistler's witty mural was to remain unfinished.

I wonder what other stories we'll hear today at the Antiques Roadshow.

When I saw you coming towards me earlier, I thought you were

carrying a really nice cabinet for a table, for jewellery or miniatures.

But when you came closer, I noticed that it had a little brass tap.

Tell me, what do you think this is?

Well, my father has made a research on it,

and I think it's a fishing cabinet.

But we're not quite sure.

My father fished on the Dovey River

-in mid-Wales. That was his hobby.

-Right.

-And an antique collector, as well?

-He had an eye for antiques.

-He saw this as unusual.

-I'll be honest, I've asked my colleagues.

None of us have ever seen anything quite like it.

-And it is a little bit Heath Robinson, isn't it?

-It is.

It's obviously a multi-drawered box,

but it's got a few tricks, hasn't it?

And I think we've got to go straight to the lid.

Because hidden up here is a lid within a lid.

And inside here you have a metal-lined little tank,

which presumably, with the fishing theme, is for live bait.

-That's right, yes.

-And it's got quite a big capacity.

There's a tube running round the bottom, which comes up

and then down again.

And I note on this side there's a little,

sort of outlet for the same pipe.

And I think that is probably to attach a pump,

to pump air into your tank,

to keep the bait active.

Because, you know, if the water was warm,

your live bait would go all drowsy.

So when it came to fishing and putting that bait on a hook,

you didn't want it all sort of limp in the water, did you?

You want it to, you know, get the fish. So, it's absolutely ingenious.

Even the drawers are metal-lined.

-And...

-Air vents.

-Air vents for whatever you were keeping in here.

And no doubt you didn't just have live bait.

You had your lures, your hooks, your lead weights, all the things.

It's made of pine.

-It's painted to look like oak.

-Oak, right.

And what date is it?

Date-wise, I think around the late Victorian era.

About 1880, something like that.

It has this lovely patina and wear and tear

that I just think gives it so much character, doesn't it?

It does, yes.

-It's a real Victorian thingamajig, isn't it?

-It is.

People fish all over the world.

I know wealthy clients who have their own fishing rooms.

They're looking for paintings, accoutrements, the best rods

to deck out their fishing room and their rod room.

-I think they'd love this.

-Would they?

-Yeah.

I'm going to say at auction that would go in

-with a £500-£800 estimate.

-Right.

Maybe make over 1,000.

Oh, right. OK.

For a pine box, that's not bad.

HE LAUGHS

I know very little about chess.

-And clearly, this is a chess clock.

-Yes.

So, just explain to me how long do you get to do a move,

or is it not like that at all?

In usual tournaments,

each player would get two hours for all the moves.

So, when you make a move, your clock's going.

As soon as you've made your move, you press your side of the clock.

It stops your clock from working and sets your opponent's clock.

Looking down here the clock on the left,

you can see its little pendulum bobbing away.

And, then, presumably, when that move is finished, it goes like that.

And that starts the one on the right bobbing away, as well.

-That's right, yeah.

-So, where did you get it from?

Well, we were having a clear out at the chess club

and we found it just left lying on old shelves.

It was won as a prize, I believe,

many years ago by some members

of the chess club who are no longer with us.

So, it actually belongs to Wigan Knights Chess Club.

Well, I think it's a great thing to find.

Now, let's just have a look further down on this cast-iron plate.

It's signed Fattorini & Sons,

and they were a very, very large firm in Bradford.

There is the back saying Bradford.

Now, most of the items that I've seen Fattorini retail

are things that came in from the United States.

And I have no reason to suppose that this isn't American,

especially made to be retailed by Fattorini's.

What sort of date would they have used timepieces like this?

We're not really sure.

We're thinking around 1885, 1890, something like that.

Fits in absolutely perfectly with what I consider to be

the date of manufacture on this.

I have to be honest here, I haven't seen one before.

Have you done any research on it at all?

Well, I tried to do a bit of research.

I actually posted a picture of it on the English Chess Forum

and I got an e-mail from someone offering me £50 for it,

and he offered to pay the postage as well if I would sell it to him.

Doesn't sounds terribly generous, does it?

I know that there are massive collectors of chess clocks.

But I haven't really handled anything this early before

and I just love seeing those pendulums bob away.

When one stops, the other starts. I think it's great.

There is a little crack straight down the middle of that glass,

but that's a very, very easy repair.

It's worth your while doing.

Somebody somewhere is going to give you in the region

-of £1,000 for this.

-Oh, right, right.

-So, is that reasonably good news?

-Yeah, that's not bad at all, yeah.

I think the next game that you play should use

this old mechanical clock,

cos I think it's great.

Well, this is the sort of jewel that would have been worn

in a house like this. But with you,

-it's got a different history, doesn't it?

-It has a bit, yes.

Tell me all about it.

Well, I think it's my great-great-grandmother's,

although there could be a couple of extra greats in there,

give or take a few.

And it was always called, in my family, the Havelock Diamonds.

That sounds rather smart. And why the Havelock Diamonds?

Because it was General Havelock's,

and when he went on campaign in Afghanistan and India in the Army,

he wanted something of his wife's

to remind him of his wife while he was away. And every night,

-apparently, he slept with it under his pillow.

-Oh, gosh.

-And, sadly, he died of dysentery.

-Oh!

So, as he was dying, he was holding this, apparently, and said,

-"Give it back to my wife and tell her I love her."

-Oh, my goodness.

THEY SPEAK OVER EACH OTHER

Sorry, you didn't expect that?

No, I didn't, but it's highly affecting

and it's what jewellery is all about.

It's always intensely personal.

It's worn very close to the person and it's given by people

in a situation like that and it's wonderful.

In a funny way, it's saying all of that.

There is some amatory significance here with the bow above,

the true lover's knot.

-but it's an odd concept to take it away.

-It is.

I mean, a piece of handwriting or a photograph

would have been more conventional.

But it was the piece of jewellery that his wife loved

and he thought that would remind him of her, really.

What date is that? Help me with that.

Well, I think he died about 1850,

-I'm not certain, but that sort of date.

-Interesting.

Sometimes these provenances get a little bit romantic

and it may be a little bit later than the date you've given me.

-Yes, it might be.

-The point is, like all relics,

it's not the authenticity of the relic,

it's the belief in the relic that really counts

and whether it's grounded in fact or not,

this is a stunning piece of jewellery.

It's undoubtedly an English jewel.

We know that from the handwriting of it,

the autograph character of it.

-It's been mounted in gold.

-Is it gold?

And silver in the front.

Ah, that explains it.

It helps me date it because this is the bricks and mortar

of jewellery and how we recognise things from certain periods.

It's late 19th century and it's a perfectly beautiful thing

doing what it ought to do in the sunlight.

Diamonds and sunlight have an affinity, they refract the light,

they break it up into the constituent parts of the rainbow

and it's doing it, isn't it?

Yes, it's beautiful. It's stunning.

It looks better than I've ever seen it looking today!

Usually, it's sitting in a safe

and it comes out for weddings in the family.

Well, that's lovely. When will the next one be?

Next May, my son's getting married, so that'll be nice.

That will be lovely.

Diamonds are forever and this is forever.

I might be cold-blooded enough that it was worth about £5,000 or £6,000.

Right!

It doesn't really matter, the value,

it's just a nice story in the family. But, gosh...

It's one of the most touching stories I've ever heard

in my life in jewellery and that's not nothing, as they say.

It's lovely.

-My cousin was clearing the house and actually put it in the bin.

-No!

My mother said, "Well, I like this, could I take it home?"

-So you know who it's by?

-It is Moorcroft, isn't it?

It is. It's a mid-1920s piece

and it's in a pattern called Moonlit Blue.

It's a lovely example.

-You wouldn't throw it in the bin today, would you?

-No, I wouldn't.

Quite right because if you were to throw it in the bin,

you'd be throwing £1,000 away.

Right. Oh, right...

Oh, yes, thank you.

Have you had it long?

It's been in the family as long as I can remember.

It's lovely, it's a little bronze oil lamp in the Roman style

with a moon which represents the lunar goddess, Diana, the Huntress.

-Where do you keep it at home?

-It's always been on the mantelpiece.

Oh, really, just sitting on the mantelpiece?

So, it's been in the family 100 years that you know of?

-At least, yes.

-Well, it's about 2,000 years old.

-Is it really?

-Yes, it is.

-Gracious me!

It's actually Roman, possibly first century,

and it's such nice condition

that I think something like this is easily £1,000.

Goodness gracious me.

Maybe as much as £1,500.

Thank you very much indeed.

So, you've got your lamp but there's a catalogue.

What's the connection between the two things?

The catalogue is of an auction of the estate of Sir Winston Churchill.

-Is the lamp in it?

-The lamp is in it.

-Shall we have a look?

Lot number 27.

Oh, here we are. The Chinese celadon crackleware vase table lamp.

-Five pounds.

-Yes.

We've got the lamp, we've got the catalogue,

but is there any further proof that this is the same one?

Yes, there is a sticker on the base.

Oh, right, shall we have a look at that first?

-OK, so, this is actually the original lot label?

-Yes, it is.

Right, that makes things quite different.

If that was Mr A N Bloggs' lamp, it's worth £20 or £30.

-Do you know how much of a difference that piece of paper makes?

-No.

-About £2,000.

-Goodness me! That's amazing.

Simply because it was Winston Churchill's.

What an intriguing piece of furniture.

There's clearly quite a lot to look at

so let me start with the easy one,

the Sarah Grevile,

and then, the date, 1676.

Have you had it since then?

No. It came into my family in about 1930 when my great aunt bought it.

We always referred to it as a prie-dieu

and she bought it from a house sale at Mostyn Hall.

The only information we have about it is a photograph of it

in the auction catalogue.

Other than some research that we've done,

we don't really know that much more about it.

Yes, it's called, as you rightly say, a prie-dieu.

That means so you can pray to God. The French for "praying to God".

I have never seen this before

in this type of what is ostensibly a hall side table. Let me show it.

Underneath here, we have, to my astonishment,

the kneeling part, the kneeler.

So, down there, kneeling, praying like that.

I think that's fascinating.

It's really a first for me.

That's what so intriguing about the Antiques Roadshow.

It doesn't matter how long you do it,

you always see something you've never seen before.

It's a convenient piece of furniture.

It's normally something that would stand in the hall

and you can imagine it with umbrella stands and things.

But this is made for a small, private devotional use.

I don't think it was made for a church.

It could have been a convent or something that, that's possible.

If only you could tell us more about its history.

But the date says 1676.

I hate to tell you that this sort of furniture didn't exist in 1676.

I think that's one question that we have always had as a family,

whether or not this really was a 17th-century piece of furniture,

or whether it was a Victorian reproduction.

There were two things that have intrigued us.

Who was Sarah Grevile and really, how old is it?

That's why we are here.

Did you find out anything about Sarah Grevile, did she exist?

We believe so.

My great aunt bought the piece from Mostyn Hall

and tracking backwards to Sarah Grevile,

who married somebody called Fulke Grevile in 1665 or thereabouts.

-So, it ties up?

-Yes.

-That's fascinating.

It's so rare to get that sort of history or provenance

because I would have thought the answer is,

probably made for the Mostyn family to celebrate Sarah Grevile,

let's say a 200th anniversary or something like that.

It may well have been for that sort of reason.

You see this type of carved furniture in the Victorian era.

But it's not reproduction because it didn't exist.

It's a Victorian imagination of 200 years later.

So, in terms of value, you've probably guessed already,

-it's not going to set the world alight, I'm afraid.

-No.

-£500.

-Yes, OK.

But it was very interesting to find out

what we wanted to find out about it,

which is, what is it and how old is it?

And you've done that, so thank you very much.

We have a great tradition of Eisteddfods in Wales,

every region has them.

It's a huge competition,

mainly of poetry and all sorts of arts, music...

And I was rather intrigued to see that today you've brought

a silver chair from the national Eisteddfod.

Could you perhaps tell me a little bit more about it?

This chair was won by my grandfather, John Ellis Williams,

in 1916, so it's just coming up to its centenary.

I understand it was for the Aberystwyth Eisteddfod

which would be quite an important one

because, obviously, Aberystwyth has been a major centre

of learning in Wales, as it still is today.

It is a huge competition where they have many thousands of entrants,

and everybody enters their prose or their poetry under

a nom de plume, as such.

So, the big reveal is when the prize is actually announced.

That's right.

And is this the original manuscript?

That's right, yes.

That's the manuscript of the ode that he won it with.

It's about Ystrad Fflur,

which is a ruined monastery quite close to Aberystwyth.

And this "Eldon", presumably that's his nom de plume?

That's right.

And, in fact, it's a name for my uncle, as well.

He was born a few years later.

Oh, right, so he was obviously named after that.

Are you the present custodian of this?

Well, all of these items are actually held by different members of the family.

-We've had to bring them all together today from different homes.

-Right.

So, we don't regard any of us as owning them individually,

-they sort of move around.

-As the family.

And this, obviously, this is your grandfather here.

-This is him, yes.

-OK.

We associate Eisteddfod chairs with being actual, proper,

the bardic chair... It's a large wooden chair.

They vary enormously in style and quality from year to year.

Obviously, this is very interesting in that it is a silver example.

It is made by a Sheffield medallist who made things on commission.

But it is tradition that was used quite a lot in medieval times,

giving small silver chairs the winners of the Eisteddfod.

I know as it's a family piece you're probably not going to be

unduly worried about price on it.

But, I think if it were to come up for auction,

you're probably looking at somewhere in the region of maybe

-£2,500, £3,500.

-Gosh, really?

-Something like that for it.

-Wow.

Well, thank you.

Pleasure.

Here we are today in these fabulous surroundings.

There's a hubble and bubble, the background noise is wonderful.

We're all enjoying it.

And we take that for granted.

But what I'm not able to do today, with you, is take that for granted.

Because here I am with two people who are deaf.

It's a learning experience for me,

and, actually, one that I'm really, really pleased to be able to do.

I'm hoping I can learn a great deal,

and even perhaps learn some sign language from this.

Actually, one thing I've already found out is that that works well!

HE LAUGHS

But let's talk about what we've got in front of us here,

because this is a collection that's very pertinent to you two.

Can you explain a little bit about it?

Well, I've been collecting deaf-related memorabilia now

for maybe 10 years.

Partly because I'm interested in deaf history.

Helen, myself and Ethan were part of a deaf historical

re-enactment group. So, we like going to meet deaf people,

deaf schools or where there's deaf festivals to explain a little bit

about our history and what deaf people were like in the old age,

-whether it was the 17th century or more recently in the 1930s.

-Right.

And along the way,

I've sort of collected books, posters,

ear trumpets and hearing aids.

That's a fascinating idea.

I don't think many people would actually stop to consider

how people with that sort of disability managed to get through

life in the 16th, 17th or 18th century, for instance.

Well, there's quite a bit of research which I've done.

Some of the most famous references are by Samuel Pepys in his diary

where he describes his boss,

George Downing, who Downing Street is named after,

-having, say, deaf informers in his pay.

-Right.

And Samuel Pepys describes in one of the fires of London,

not the Great Fire,

but one of the many fires that happened, how a deaf boy actually

came to the tavern with Samuel Pepys

and he was relaying the story in sign language.

And George Downing, who was Pepys's boss, was fluent in sign.

And was interpreting it back for Samuel Pepys's benefit.

Sir George Downing was born in Kent in the Kentish Weald

in the 17th century.

And it's believed that at that time there's evidence that there was

a large deaf community in Kent.

It was genetic deafness, and that's where he learnt to sign

because he grew up with a lot of deaf people around him.

That's what we believe.

That's absolutely fascinating, I have to say.

We've got one book here that's part of your collection.

I've had a look at this, and it's called

The History Of The Life And Adventures Of Mr Duncan Campbell.

Now, I know that Duncan Campbell was a Scottish soothsayer.

He was deaf.

And this is an account of his life.

And this was written by Daniel Defoe, wasn't it?

Yes, they think it's Daniel Defoe.

It seems to be generally accepted that it is.

Other things you have in the collection, of course,

are some early hearing aids and some ear trumpets.

I particularly like this one, this is a French hearing trumpet.

It's faux tortoiseshell, early 20th century,

and, in fact, actually, it works remarkably well.

It really does pull in that ambient noise.

So, obviously, you've accumulative some fascinating material

associated with deafness.

It's the first time I'd ever seen a collection like this.

The book, I think, is worth around about

£200 or £300, as a fourth edition.

The hearing trumpet, around about £150-£200.

You've got lots of ephemera, I know, that is very interesting, as well.

But I think what we have here is worth, cumulatively,

around about £1,000.

There's just one thing I'd like to say to you before the finish,

and that's...

Here we are at one of the most beautiful locations

we've ever been to, overlooking the Menai Straits

looking at the Welsh hills,

and you've come in with a magnificent picture today.

Two hours ago, I was called over to your queue in Miscellaneous.

-You showed me a photograph on your camera of this painting.

-Yes.

And you wondered whether it was worth bringing it in.

-And you went home to get it.

-Yes.

It's made my day, seeing it. It's absolutely fantastic.

It's by Montague Dawson,

who's probably one of the best 20th-century marine painters.

But it's a very early work by him.

-Is it?

-Yes, it is.

-I didn't realise that.

-It is.

-It's early '30s.

-It is early '30s.

So, how did you acquire it?

Well, my husband's great-grandfather,

he bought it in 1935

from the National Gallery in Birmingham.

And then my husband's inherited it since then,

and he's had it for the last 24 years.

And you've kept it in wonderful condition.

Montague Dawson, he was born in the 1890s.

He was in the Navy during the First World War,

-and then, afterwards, he took up painting full-time.

-Right.

And what I find with marine artists which is interesting,

all the good ones, they actually sail and understand the sea.

In this picture, you can see that just by the way it's been painted

broad strokes here, Dawson really, really understands the sea.

And he gets the movement of the picture.

-And he painted right up till 1973, when he died.

-Yes.

And his later work is of clippers, which you see a lot of.

But my favourite period is this period, the 1930s.

Well, we believe there's also two in Buckingham Palace.

-Prince Philip's Bluebottle.

-That's right.

-And he was a favourite of the royal family, as well.

-Yes.

I love the way that the boat has rounded the racing buoy, there.

They're trying to make it go faster

so they're hauling up the sail to get extra speed.

There are the others trying to catch up.

But what is so special about this is the colours

and the foam on the bow of the boat, the racing yacht.

-And it is so real.

-Yes, it is, isn't it?

And that's what I love about this, it's got everything going on.

-It's fresh.

-I mean, even the men look like men!

-The figures, they look real, don't they?

-They are.

-The best I've seen on this type of picture.

-Yes.

It's got everything I would ever want in a Dawson.

And if this came up for sale,

I would expect this to make

£40,000-£60,000.

SHE LAUGHS

That's fantastic!

I'm speechless.

Thanks for going home to get it.

It's all right.

So, my fortunate photography did do good in the end.

It was very good photography.

Freda, you worked as a land girl

-here during the Second World War.

-I did, yes.

-And how old were you when you came?

-20.

-20. So, a slip of a thing!

I had my 21st birthday here.

-And how old are you now, Freda?

-I'll be 93 in August.

And what did you think when you came to Plas Newydd?

I was first given the job of hand-milking eight Guernseys

in what is now the tea room.

The aim of the Marquess of Anglesey, number six,

was to build a herd up for the war effort.

And we ended up milking 110 -

mostly shorthorn cows at the home farm.

-This is you here, as a land girl.

-That's me.

-What a gorgeous picture.

I did the poultry, as well, so he's a Muscovy duck.

They get quite tame as long as you feed them.

And he would follow me everywhere.

-And these are your breeches, are they?

-They are, yes. My best ones.

These are your best ones?

Because they're in pristine condition, aren't they?

-So, when did these get worn?

-When I went out on my day off.

We were allowed to take Friday off one week

and have Monday the following week.

And as long as you paid your own fare,

you could go home for a long weekend about every three or four months.

-How many years did you work here?

-Four years, I would say.

-Nearly, anyway.

-And happy years?

-Oh, very. Very, yes.

-We were very well looked after.

-Any romances, Freda?

I was married while I was here, but to an old friend,

an old school friend.

He was a Spitfire pilot, and whilst I was here...

..I got the telegram that he was missing in action.

And, fortunately, he was all right.

His aeroplane wasn't.

So, we were a week before we knew he was all right.

-That must have been an anxious time.

-The Angleseys were so kind to me.

And we got married shortly afterwards by a special licence.

But, of course, I was still here.

And there's no-one else left that I can share these memories with.

-I'm delighted to be here.

-We're so glad you shared them with us.

-Thank you so much.

-It's been lovely.

Well, what a fabulous property, fabulous backdrop,

and an utterly gorgeous-looking ring on the table. How did you get this?

It was left to me by my grandma, who handed it to my mum

-and then handed it to me. I've only had it recently.

-Right.

It's absolutely stunning, it really is.

And in the sunlight it looks extraordinary.

-I'm sure you're aware it is a diamond.

-Yes.

-Yes!

Says it all, doesn't it? With all the way that the light's

shining on it, the sparkle we're getting from it.

It really is extraordinary.

The cut of the stone is what we refer to as an "old-cut" stone,

which can date it to round about the Victorian period.

Now, obviously that's quite a long period of time,

-but I date it to around about the 1840s, 1850s for the diamond.

-Mm.

But the actual mount - it has been remounted at a later date,

and this was a fashionable thing to do,

and your grandmother probably wanted it to be more in keeping

with the time and put it into much more of a 1930s mount

with these lovely diamond-set

shoulders, as well, which is fabulous.

And I've had a chance to have a good look at it

with our jeweller's loupe,

which magnifies everything that's going on by ten times -

so it's quite exciting, looking inside the diamond -

and also had a chance to gauge the size of it.

So, the approximate weight of it is round about four carats.

So, that's a good size for the diamond.

The colour of it, even in this light, we can see that it's drawing

some colour, which means it's got a little bit of yellow coming off it.

Now, I think that's not a bad thing

when you're wearing it against your skin.

Some colour suits some people more than a very white stone.

But those who love their white diamonds are looking at the top end

of the colour scale, and this is lower down.

And then, of course, there's the clarity that we have to look at,

and that's the condition of the ring.

Inside the stone, which I can see with the lens, there are some

flaws in there which, again,

do have an effect on the value.

And also, it's a little bit chipped around the edge.

It's a stone that's been well loved and worn.

Of course, jewellery is meant to be worn.

So, I've kind of talked it down a bit, haven't I, really?

But, obviously, value is the emotional side for you.

-It won't be sold, anyway.

-No, well, that's good,

because it's good to keep these things in the family.

But you might like to know that at auction somebody would be

prepared, for this style of ring,

because the potential is there to cut it maybe slightly smaller,

but improve that clarity by taking away those flaws,

we've got the potential of somebody paying, I would say,

between £8,000 and £10,000.

-Well, that's very nice. Thank you.

-My pleasure!

Wow. This is a real objet de vertu, an "object of virtue".

French.

It's a beautiful sort of imitation Chinese lacquer

called vernis Martin,

a process developed by the Martin family in the 18th century.

Is it something you've had since the 18th century?

I wouldn't have thought so. It came out of my great-grandparents' house

-in New York.

-Oh, right. So, it's come from America.

-Yeah. My mother gave it to me.

-So, it's very sentimental.

-Yeah.

It's nice, because it's my great-grandmother, so...

Because it's got things inside it.

-There's a broken mirror in there and a little inscription.

-It says,

"Pocket Book belonging to Esther Bull, 1742-1783."

Yeah. And that's about the date.

-This is late 18th century.

-Mm-hm.

It's a beautifully painted thing.

It's got other little memories in it. This is an ivory...

-..little plaque. It's a sort of aide-memoire.

-Mm-hm.

"My beloved mother departed this life Monday the..."

-"7th"?

-"..of February, 1797." Wow.

It's got scissors and a knife,

and it's got a lace-threading pin in gold.

-Oh, right.

-That's gold, that is.

So, would you like to know the sort of value of a piece like this?

-For insurances, yeah.

-For insurance purposes, a piece this good,

in this kind of condition, I think would be worth between

£2,000, £2,500, maybe even £3,000...

-Gosh.

-..to a collector. It's very special.

-Goodness.

It's in remarkable condition.

-Mm-hm.

-And it's stunning.

-Oh, well, thank you very much.

-And thank you so much for bringing it.

A pleasure.

So, there are two things that immediately strike me

about this clock. Firstly, it's incredibly wide, isn't it?

-It is, yes.

-And secondly, Joseph Willman of Bangor

is obviously a very local maker. What do you know about him?

He's my three times great-grandfather, and he's

actually from, we think, Rothenburg in the Black Forest in Germany.

-So, when did he come to the UK?

-He came to the UK via Ramsgate in 1846.

I assume he came straight to Bangor. He met and married a lady

from Bangor in 1849, and they had seven children

-and lived here until he died in 1891.

-Right!

Well, let us have a look, because you probably know from your

research that there were two Willmans around this time.

-There was Sebastian, wasn't there?

-His brother.

-Right.

And then Joseph, who was certainly still working in the late 1870s.

-Yes.

-Got a big painted dial here.

But I want you to note that this rolling moon doesn't actually roll.

-It's a dummy.

-Yes.

Now, on an earlier clock one would have seen this rolling around

and it would have been a great decorative thing.

-The case is really pretty ornate, isn't it?

-Yes.

I mean, for something that's probably as late as 1870.

We've got these lovely free-standing fluted columns and then the similar

fluted pilasters, giving the effect of a double column,

the sort of thing we saw much more regularly in the Liverpool area,

to make it much more impressive.

And then running down we've got, again,

matching massive freestanding fluted columns flanking the trunk.

But note these really pretty unusual for this period

gadrooned patera that have been applied to the case right

the way down to a massive roundel on the plinth there.

Absolutely typical with the quarter-cut veneers of mahogany,

and there you can see the carcass underneath. That's a soft wood.

-That's a pine carcass.

-Right.

-And you can see where little bits of veneer have come off.

-Yeah.

Had you always been looking for one of these clocks?

I started the family history in 2005.

And immediately we found out that there was a watch and clock maker

in the family, my husband said it would be lovely for me to own one.

And we did look.

And when we moved onto the island the local auctioneers had put

in the newspaper for sale

a long-case Joseph Willman of Bangor clock.

-So you had to buy it, didn't you?

-Well, yeah!

My husband had to buy it, anyway!

-Can I ask what he paid?

-Yes.

He paid about £800 with the fees and everything,

and then we had somebody look at

the balances and things like that for us.

Well, as I've been telling all long-case clock owners,

over the last three years the prices have tumbled down for anything

what I would call mid-range and below, and that is this,

-because it is a late clock.

-Yeah.

You probably paid a fair price at the time,

and if you put it back into auction,

you'd probably see £500 or £600 only.

But it doesn't matter. You were chasing this as part of your family.

Joseph Willman, there he is.

And how far are we from Bangor?

Well, probably about seven miles away from Bangor right now.

So, it's local and it's family.

-The price is not important.

-No, it isn't.

This is one of my favourite objects.

It's small, it's scientific and it's perfect. It doesn't get much better.

A pocket sundial. Do you love it?

-Love it!

-SHE LAUGHS

What do you like about it?

I love the fact it's got some scratchings there

and you can see how it's changing its colour over time a little bit.

-It's quite a beautiful piece.

-Now, it's in its original box,

but I'm going to discard that for a moment, because I want to get at it.

So there's the box with its lovely red velvet interior.

And a lot of people made these dials. It was actually

invented by a man called Butterfield,

who was working in Paris in 1700.

And they're known as Butterfield dials, after him.

But you were going to say, "Hang on a minute,

"it doesn't say 'Butterfield' on it," which it doesn't.

This is made by a man called Duhamel, Duhamel a Paris.

I think what everybody discovered was that it was such a popular

little bit of kit that they all jumped in on the act.

The date of this may be 1710, 1720.

Certainly, he was working at that time.

OK, that's what I've got to say about it. What's your story?

I've come to North Wales to help some family members with

their property, and we've discovered this in the attic, cleaning it out.

And we've done quite a few loads to the tip,

and, luckily, we spared this one.

We don't know when it was bought or where it was bought.

I had no idea what the item was.

-I thought we'd come to the Roadshow to find out.

-Well, isn't that great?

This is what a lot of travellers would have had.

On the back - I'm just going to turn it over - we can see a whole

lot of capital cities and big towns in Europe,

and alongside is a number. Any idea what that might be?

-No!

-Good. Right answer! It means I can now look clever.

Alongside each of these towns and cities is the latitude.

Here you are, you're actually in Marseille, OK?

And you say Marseille is at 43 degrees latitude.

You need to alter the little bird on the gnomon

so that his beak goes to 43, which is the right angle.

You then point that compass to north,

and we should be able to read off the time in Marseille.

And here it is, reading it off, at half past two.

There's a time difference between us and Marseille,

-so I'd say that's bang on.

-I think you're right.

-Absolutely.

So, there we go. It works, it's perfect. Nothing to go wrong.

It's not like some clock that runs out of wind or battery.

It's just a fabulous object.

What I love about this is the fact that it's in its original case,

it has everything there, it's untouched, nobody's been at it

with the silver polish, which so often happens, unfortunately.

And I would put it at

-between £1,200 and £1,800 on any day of the week.

-OK!

-Fabulous, fabulous object. Thank you for that.

-Thank you!

This item begs the question

"When is a magazine rack more than just a magazine rack?"

Well, for me, it's when it's been handled by one of the greatest

designers of the 20th century and one of my absolute all-time

favourite designers, Piero Fornasetti.

So, I have to ask, why is it here between us in this garden? Tell me.

Well, my partner

and I bought it about eight years ago in Aberystwyth in a shop that

recycles furniture, and they were delivering some new items,

and we saw it there and we said, "Oh, can we buy that?"

And we got it for a couple of quid.

-You're joking.

-Yeah, a couple of quid.

It's never me, you know! It's never me!

Did you recognise and know who it was?

I didn't, but John did, sort of vaguely recognised it

but wasn't quite sure. And we thought, "Well, why not?"

You thought you'd just pay and take your chance and work it out later.

-Yeah.

-We do also have the most clear, fantastic mark to the bottom,

clearly saying, "Fornasetti - Milano, Made In Italy".

So if anything were in doubt, that's the final. Don't lose that.

There's something about Fornasetti.

There's something about the way he handles his design,

the way he approaches things.

It's about trickery and trompe l'oeil and being clever and witty

and looking at things from so many different angles.

As a designer, his real rise to fame happened in the early 1950s.

He had an association with the great architect Gio Ponti,

and his work and his career just rocketed.

In fact, over his career, he's credited with making

over 11,000 different designs and objects.

His mind was just never-ending.

And he would take all kinds of elements from architecture,

the sun, the moon, ancient history, women's faces,

whatever it would be, and he would play with them.

And they would turn into the most glorious household objects.

So, this magazine rack is a lovely example.

It's in a pattern called Libri.

The Libri range, to do with books and bookcases,

was first launched in 1954.

This, for me, looking at it,

-is absolutely bang-on original.

-Excellent.

It is an early, early example.

And, yes, it's a little bit knocked, it's a little bit scuffed,

it's been used.

But the Fornasetti purists will like that.

And, personally, I think you'd be hard pushed to replace this

either with a specialist dealer or in a specialist sale

-for much less than £800-£1,200.

-Right.

-That's incredible.

-HE INHALES SHARPLY

That's made quite a profit, hasn't it?

I was told that it was a death mask from a First World War soldier.

There is a date on the back.

-But...he looks a bit happy to me.

-SHE LAUGHS

Well, he does, and do you see, it's got KG,

which is for Keller & Guerin?

It's German, Keller & Guerin.

-I called him Ken.

-You called him Ken!

Well, it was actually Keller, but, you know, Ken's fine.

And I would think this is probably of somebody famous in Germany.

I don't think it's anything to do with the war.

But it is dated 17/1/1916.

And people do collect death masks.

Because it's very, very unusual,

I would say it's worth between £400 and £500.

Wow.

Wow! So, Ken done well.

Ken has done well, yes!

-He'll still hang in the kitchen. He'll have pride of place.

-Good.

-And have you done any homework?

-No.

-No? Cor!

-I thought, "Why should I do it when you've got experts?"

-I see!

OK. Well, they all belong to the same sort of period.

These are all late 18th century. OK?

So, you're probably looking around about £80, £80.

With this one, you're probably nearer 200 or 300.

And your teapot, which has survived intact, remarkably, is, again,

if I want to buy that,

I'm going to guess around £300 or £400 for it.

It's a great, great fossil, I have to say. I love it.

I see ones like this that I think come from Wyoming rather than China.

Actually, this one's got a lot of patination to it, as well.

It's also got a lot of relief to it. Often, they're quite flat,

and this one's left a lot of sort of meat on the fish!

-It's a really, really nice one.

-How much do you think?

-HE SIGHS

-Quite a lot of money.

-I think so.

-Fossils like this have really rocketed.

-I think so.

-You reckon it's touching £1,000?

-I think it's 1,200.

-I love it.

Well, on the table here we've got three items which

I selected from a large album that you brought to me a little earlier.

I chose a photograph of a young man in an RAF uniform...

I chose this photograph, which appears to be of the Apollo 11 crew,

and I chose this drawing of the Apollo-Soyuz mission with

the two spacecraft linked up,

-American-Russian space mission of 1975...

-That is correct, yes.

..which has a signature here.

Could you start off by telling us

a little bit about what these three items are?

Yes. Well, these, as you say,

are part of a collection which was amassed during the teenage

years of our son, who, from the age of about six,

was obsessed with aircraft and everything associated with it.

Living at RAF Valley, we used to see the Hawk aircraft

and the helicopters flying over, and it became his ambition to join

the Royal Air Force, which he eventually did.

So, the young man in the photograph here is your son.

Yes, that's correct. Mark.

Mark Philip Jones, who was an acting pilot officer

when that photograph was taken.

But one of his interests was collecting

the autographs of the various mission members,

and he wrote, through Nasa, to many of them

and obtained a large number of particular autographs.

Particularly proud of the Apollo 11 one,

with Buzz Aldrin and Collins,

and, of course, Neil Armstrong.

-Neil Armstrong here.

-Yes, that is correct.

And later on,

he entered into communication with a number of the astronauts,

and he sent a drawing of the Apollo-Soyuz mission

to Deke Slayton, who was a member of that mission,

and he got the drawing back from him

with a little bit of a commendation

on it and also mission patches.

So, we have a large variety of items which could be of interest.

He eventually decided that he wanted to join the Air Force.

He wanted to fly, but, regrettably, he couldn't because of his eyesight.

So, he decided that engineering would be the thing.

And he had an RAF scholarship and, regrettably,

going to start his second year,

he was killed in a road traffic accident.

But these are very important to us.

Whether they have any value or not we don't care,

we just feel that it's worthwhile bringing it along for you to see.

Well, I'm glad you did.

I mean, it's a remarkable story of a young man,

-and a young man with a real sense of purpose, I think...

-Yes.

..slightly a man on a mission, wanting to achieve something,

and he obviously achieved a huge amount

-in what must have been a relatively short life.

-Yes. He was 19.

And this is a photograph taken by...

-Was this taken by you?

-It was taken by me, yes.

He had come back from his commissioning

ceremony at Cranwell,

went into his bedroom, came back with his uniform on, said,

"Right, Dad, take a photograph of me."

-And this is it.

-And that's it.

Well, I picked it out partly because I love the photograph,

but also on the back is a signature.

And that's not his signature.

No, that is Buzz Aldrin.

Later on, Mark actually met Buzz Aldrin, and he had that

photograph with him, and Buzz very kindly countersigned it for him.

It's quite remarkable. And it also gives it very firm provenance.

Often, the question with signed space material is simply,

"Is it real?" But what's superb here is how personal they are.

It links it directly to an individual,

-and in this case, a very special individual.

-Yes.

Does it have a commercial value?

I suspect you're probably not interested in that at all.

-Not while we're alive.

-No.

But since it's the Roadshow, people like to hear

whether these things have value.

-This is part of a collection of about 40 items I counted up.

-Yes.

And many of those are signed photographs,

and just one of these on its own is going to be worth a fair few

hundred pounds, maybe well into the thousands.

This particular one, which is the Apollo 11 crew,

is the photograph that everybody wants, of course.

I think putting all of them together, I think

we're reaching a value of between £4,000 and £5,000.

Which is gratifying,

because it is our intention to leave the collection

to Mission Aviation Fellowship

for them to benefit from the proceeds of its sale.

I think that's a wonderful idea.

And thank you very much for sharing these

and sharing the story with us here.

Thank you very much. I do appreciate it.

This is about the punchiest punch bowl I've certainly seen today,

probably ever seen in Chinese silver. It clearly is Chinese.

I'm sure you can tell that from the decoration.

What I'd like to know is what does it mean to you? Do you use it?

It's not used at all, no, and it's kept away in a cupboard.

-We don't even display it.

-You don't?

-No.

-So, how did you come to have it?

A very, very close family friend was very close to me dad,

and after her husband had passed away,

my dad looked after her for many years,

and he received it about 20 years ago as a thank you.

Well, a wonderful thank-you present!

You've got every conceivable type of Chinese iconography

embossed into this bowl.

It's so vast that there's plenty of room for everything.

There are gods of good fortune,

there are buildings and beasts

and mountains and mist

and a Buddhist lama, and you've got Immortals on it.

-There's virtually everything.

-It's fascinating, it really is.

This has been made about 100 years ago, just a little bit more.

-Oh, right.

-And it's made for the European market.

It wouldn't have been made for Chinese people at all.

It's a European tradition, drinking punch.

The most extraordinary thing about it is its sheer monumental size.

I can give an indication of it. It weighs a tonne!

As you've probably already worked out!

The mark on the bottom is a man called Wang Hing,

who was arguably the best silversmith of his generation.

He was supplying silver to the foreign market.

But it's always very good quality,

and this is the very best quality I've ever seen by him.

The decoration is beautifully rendered.

As we go round the bowl, some of the animal figures and the buildings

and the people on it are gorgeously chased

in very skilful silversmithing.

Is any of this making you feel like getting it out of the cupboard

-and perhaps putting it on the table?

-Yeah, this weekend!

-THEY LAUGH

-A few straws!

Fill it up with something strong and give everyone some.

Plenty to go round.

Over the last two or three years, the market really has softened

quite a lot and things aren't making the money they used to.

But this bowl is so big and so well decorated and so heavy

and so monumental, if it came up for auction it would make

somewhere in the order of, say,

£8,000 to £10,000.

Wow.

That's amazing. It really is.

-Wow.

-It's a lot of punch.

-It is!

It is a lot. But it does mean a lot to me dad.

I don't think he'd even part with it for twice that amount.

-Well, let's get it out, get some punch in it and celebrate.

-Yeah.

Definitely!

-Sunlight and gold. Look at it. It has to be gold...

-Beautiful.

..looking like that, doesn't it? What a wonderful, wonderful object.

-And it's a gold box, isn't it?

-Yeah.

But the gold box is secondary to its real function.

But let's look at the box bit first, because that's really the key,

literally the key, to what we're going to see next,

because inside we see a key.

But it is a box, and inside we can see the name of the supplier,

and he's JM Badollet & Sons of Geneva.

And that's sometimes a clue, to people who know about these things,

that this is going to be an automaton.

-And you know it is, don't you?

-Yes. I do.

Let's look at the outside for a second.

This is blue enamel on gold, and there are diamonds.

These are lilies of the valley, each set with rose diamonds,

and they're returning the light in the most wonderful way in the sun.

This is made for an exotic clientele.

This is the sort of thing that maharajahs and sultans

and Chinese emperors wanted to own,

and it was made in Geneva. 1820.

And they made a speciality of making export ware of toys,

and this is a toy for a grown-up.

Have you enjoyed playing with it?

I've only actually seen it work four times now,

-because I'm too scared to actually wind it up.

-Ah!

And I wound it up earlier and I think and pray

and hope that it's going to work for all of us!

-Probably not!

-Rather an exciting moment. Shall we give it a go?

-Yeah, definitely.

-Absolutely. Here we go.

-Oh! Look at that.

-BIRD TWITTERS

LAUGHTER

-Perfect!

-Isn't he marvellous? And he's made of hummingbirds' feathers.

-I didn't know that!

-And his beak is of ivory,

and he's got little ruby eyes.

And it's a miracle of craftsmanship and clock-making skill, really.

Inside, there are little bellows and pipes.

And the leather has to be so subtle and so pliable that they're

made of chicken skin, not of leather itself, but chicken skin bellows.

-Wow.

-It's a massively complicated piece of machinery,

and it's an evolution of mechanism that's awe-inspiring, isn't it?

It's amazing that it's lasted, really.

And it's a child-like joy for everybody.

I think everybody enjoyed that, really.

It takes us back to something in our dim and distant past

that is highly evocative and magical in every sense of the word.

And who wouldn't want it?

Well, I can tell you that the whole world wants it,

-and they want it really, really badly.

-Really?

And consequently, it's an extraordinarily valuable object,

dizzily valuable.

And I can tell you, with every confidence,

that it's worth £35,000.

AUDIENCE GASPS

-Wow!

-SHE LAUGHS

It's amazing! Beautiful.

I'm not going to say

I'm not going to sell it, because we probably will.

-It'll break your heart, won't it?

-Wow!

-I'm too scared to own it.

-You've owned it for a long time.

-Yeah.

-How long?

-Well, my aunt died nine years ago,

and she had it since 1966.

She left it to my mother, and so it goes down to me. It's mine now.

And it is beautiful. I don't know what to do with it now! But wow!

-Shall we make him do it again?

-Yes, please.

And then you must try and tell me what it really feels like

-when you hear the bird singing.

-OK.

-Here we go.

BIRD TWITTERS

It's magical to see it, it really is, you know?

-HE CHUCKLES

-I'm going to cry now!

SHE LAUGHS

-Oh, goodness me!

-I think

-I

-am!

-Absolutely beautiful.

-Brilliant.

Remember I told you at the beginning of the programme

about the Fifth Marquess of Anglesey,

that fabulously flamboyant, spendthrift character?

I was hoping something of his would turn up today, and lo!

Here it is. Do you remember, I told you he loved his amateur theatricals?

And here is a poster from one of his productions, the Gaiety Theatre.

That actually was the chapel!

Anglesey Castle. He decided "Plas Newydd" wasn't grand enough,

so he called it "Anglesey Castle".

In June - June 2nd, 1902.

"The Marquis of Anglesey's Company, Aladdin."

He played Prince Pico, but also, look at this,

"The Butterfly Dance by the Marquis of Anglesey".

He was known as "The Dancing Marquess".

It was obviously a fabulous production. And, of course,

we've put on our own production here today at Plas Newydd.

I'm not sure it's up to these glamorous standards,

but I hope you've enjoyed it.

From the whole Antiques Roadshow team, until next time, bye-bye.