Bowood House 2 Antiques Roadshow

This week the Antiques Roadshow returns to Wiltshire,

but there's something big missing.

Any ideas?

It's the house itself.

The original Bowood House near Chippenham was razed to the ground

in the 1950s, and what you see now,

gorgeous though it is, is simply a type of conservatory, an orangery.

In its heyday, this Wiltshire estate,

home to the Marquises of Lansdowne,

would have employed dozens of servants.

With 90 rooms, Bowood House was large enough to rival any in the country.

The upstairs-downstairs lifestyle of much of the aristocracy

became unsustainable during the early part of the 20th century.

Death duties and the loss of many heirs

and the men who worked on the estates during the two World Wars,

meant that life had changed.

The great houses became white elephants in danger of extinction.

When the bulldozers pulled up at Bowood in 1955

to demolish the main house, it was the end of an era.

The family had already been living in

what was known as the "little house" for many years,

as the main house became dilapidated,

and, wisely, they saved as many treasures as possible.

These days, while the Marquis of Lansdowne still lives at Bowood,

the majority of the house is dedicated to a museum and gallery.

And the family's precious art collection has been shared with visitors

since the house opened its doors to the public in the mid 1970s.

For a small house, Bowood has a big reputation.

In fact when our experts heard we were coming here,

there was a real buzz of excitement.

There's something to please everyone in the collection.

Fine diamond jewellery, Indian antiques,

museum-quality porcelain, even Queen Victoria's wedding chair.

It sounds like the perfect fantasy Roadshow.

With finds like those vying for our expert attention, let's hope

today's visitors to the Antiques Roadshow come up with the goods.

You brought in this tiny little box and...are many, many questions.

Now, hopefully on the Antiques Roadshow

we can answer most questions, but I think with this one,

I'm going to be at a bit of a loss.

But tell me its history to begin with.

OK. Well, I brought this in on behalf of my father.

He bought it with my late mother,

it was one of the first things they bought when they were married

and he bought it from Petticoat Lane in London for about £20 or £30,

which was quite a lot of money for him then.

And they just found it really enchanting

because there's a code on one of the sides,

a sort of numerical code that he's never been able to crack.

And we just wondered really what the story was about it.

Good. OK, well, let's get some clues.

It's got a name on the top, which I read as J Jones.

Now, that was the person who probably gave it.

Because every time you took it out and used it

you would remember that particular person.

If you open the lid, and there's a little compartment in there.

Could be for snuff it's quite airtight,

could be for something else.

But there's another clue if you open up the back,

there's another similar compartment

with a glass panel on it and just a trace of silvering.

So I think that's a mirror.

So what would you need a mirror for?

Something cosmetic?

Spot on!

So it could be for rouge, or for patches.

OK. In the 18th century, patches were used to cover up pock marks,

if you had a blemish on your face,

or they were used in order to signify if you were married or not.

So if you had a patch on the left cheek or the right cheek

meant you were either engaged or married.

If it was beside your eye it's meant you were passionate.

And if it was in your forehead, it means you were quite serious.

So it was a code, you talk about codes,

it was a code to actually signify socially where you stood

without actually having to ask somebody or chat them up,

you immediately knew if they were married or not.

So, fascinating thing. What I really like, though,

is the motto that goes round the outside.

Yes, it says, something like, "The ring is round and hath no end,

"so unto my love, now my friend,"

or the other way round, but something along those lines.

So I think that answers many of the questions.

We also know the date, because it's here on the top - 1785.

And then it's got a chain of numbers.

Now that's the enigma. What is that?

Maybe it's his mobile phone number.

CHUCKLES

So that's a question I cannot answer.

What is it? A patch box, but also a love token.

So how apt that it was a present

-from your father to your late mother.

-Yes.

How enchanting. Lots of sentimental value.

Commercially, probably £800 to £1,200 today.

Gosh, that's a shock.

I'm sure my dad will be pleased, but it really is

the sort of, I think the sentimental value more than anything.

Brilliant.

We have the archetypal piece of local interest here.

Devizes Comprehensive, Wiltshire.

And this caption to this cartoon reads,

"Miss Hoskins, you know we're not allowed

"to use the cane in the school!"

And here is Miss Hoskins, nearly naked with a cane

and there's a poor... What is it, a lion?

Yes. In 1980, April 1980, when I was a student at Devizes School,

I am a current member of staff at Devizes School also...

Right.

..two lions escaped from the circus.

From the circus, of course, in Devizes, there's that big green.

-The green, next door to school.

-Yes.

And the obvious place for lions to wander

when they've escaped is a school, and they came into school

during a lunch break and obviously caused havoc.

-To say the least!

-Yes, and managed to find their way into two classrooms

where students were eating their lunch

and eventually were rounded up by members of staff,

shut into classrooms, the circus staff came and rescued them.

And who owned the circus?

It was Sally Chipperfield's circus.

I think there's a little piece on there, there's a little poster.

Oh Sally Chipperfield's Circus, school visit.

Yeah. And in those days... Yeah, school visit, yeah!

-I love it, I love it.

-It was, yeah!

In those days they still had wild animals in the circus.

-Well, it's by JAK, of course, the great cartoonist...

-Yes.

-..of the Evening Standard.

-Right.

Raymond Jackson was his name and he... Oh, he was,

he was doing these for about 30-odd years.

And it's almost, it's rather like,

-Giles-like, do you remember Giles...

-Yes.

-..who did all those wonderful cartoons of schools?

-Yep.

-Are the teachers something like this today, do you think?

-Well...

-The sort of...

-Similar!

Terribly inelegant, isn't it? I think it's absolutely wonderful.

And so, the lions, they didn't eat any of the children?

No, the only casualty, apparently, was a cheese and pickle sandwich.

-Oh, yeah.

-Oh, I think it's a wonderful story

and this sits in pride of place in the school.

Yes, in the school reception area.

-And you're going to ask me to value it, aren't you?

-Yes.

Well, JAK cartoons, he's one of the greats in the 20th century.

He was an emotional man.

One of his signatures, actually, is three fingers.

-Right.

-Known as three-fingered JAK.

-If you notice, everybody's got three fingers.

-Oh, yes, yes.

They've only got three fingers.

-Anyway, all his cartoons, three fingers.

-Yeah.

So, I'm going to value this somewhere between £300 and £500.

-Wow.

-Lock it up.

Yes. We'll nail it to the wall.

-It's a great piece.

-It's lovely, yeah.

-Thank you.

-Thank you ever so much. Thank you.

Well, it's the original box of a Christmas present to my grandmother

from her prospective husband, containing a Royal Worcester basket.

Oh, how fantastic.

For Christmas 1914.

And look at this, "Porcelain, with great care,

"from the Royal Worcester Porcelain Company Ltd, Worcester. Fragile."

Obviously the address there. This is so lovely.

December the 21st.

-Oh, I love this. I mean...

-'14.

..don't get me wrong, I would love to know the contents of this box,

but I would be depriving the Sandons of that moment.

Well, I think that they are going to be very excited to see this later.

-Oh, good.

-A really nice thing and a really lovely survivor,

-and later, we'll see what's in there as well.

-Good.

-Thank you ever so much.

-Thank you.

A pair of goats pulling a chariot. How long have you known them?

I've known them most of my life.

They were in my grandmother's house when I first went there

when I was about aged ten.

And they were on top of a desk in the drawing room.

And my grandmother died and my mother put them

on the top of the desk in her drawing room.

And my mother died

and I've got them on the top of a desk in my drawing room.

So it's... But I know very little about them,

apart from fact that they belonged to my grandmother.

What kind of woman was your grandmother?

She was very Victorian, very austere, very straight

and, sadly, I never knew my grandfather,

but she was not the person to be argued with.

OK. And so do you feel these reflect her as a person?

LAUGHTER

Not really, because they're known in the family

as the loony goats, and my grandmother wasn't a loony goat,

I'm afraid, no way.

Have you ever looked at how they're made?

Well, they seem a bit, sort of, cheap to me,

-they're sort of pressed, there's no...

-That's right.

..there's no substance to them, they're not solid.

They're very, as you say, they're quite insubstantially made,

-they're just stamped out of sheet metal.

-Yep.

And then part of it, the chariot, has been gilded

and the goats themselves plated,

which is why they've tarnished,

but the good thing is, nobody's ever really tried to clean it.

But, yes, it's very insubstantial

and I'm sort of amazed that they've managed to, sort of,

stay intact with all the little bits of wire around them.

-There is a glass dome that goes over the top of it.

-Yes.

And somebody suggested the glass dome might be worth more than they are. I don't know.

-And do you know what this is?

-Well, it's a scent bottle.

It's a scent bottle, yes.

It's just a very decorative way of making a holder for a scent bottle.

The bottle itself is green glass, with gilt paint

and, really, it doesn't look as though it's ever been used, does it?

-No.

-And so they were made in France around 1890,

a real little French frivolity.

Either someone in your family might have gone out there

and bought them or they might have been exported to England

-and sold as a rather exotic sort of decorative little item.

-Yes.

-As a novelty they're worth about £300.

-Oh, never, surely.

I mean, to me they're just sort of two loony goats, they're...

£300! Right.

Thank you very much.

I really love objects

that encapsulate the time and place they were intended for

and looking at this collection here,

that could only really be America in the 1950s.

I've always been a collector and I like...

Particularly I'm interested in design history

and I love the style of them,

and also the fact that they're functional, they work, so...

-So you actually listen to them, too?

-I listen to nearly all of them,

I have them in all different rooms of the house.

Much to my wife's irritation, because although I have about 100,

she can't listen to The Archers on any of them

because that's broadcast on long wave and these are all medium wave.

Of course, of course.

It's a... From a design perspective, as you were saying,

it's a very interesting collection

because these are more than just objects of technology.

They're also objects of fashion.

The pocket transistor radio is completely contemporary with

the arrival of the teenager in American society.

The first transistor radios

were manufactured in the States from 1954.

1956, the Japanese get in on the act and they really make it their own.

I think I'm correct in saying that the majority that we have here

are actually Japanese models.

They are indeed, yes.

And I think the Japanese, really, why they become so successful

is because they've got this mastery of producing decorative things.

And we've got this lovely example here,

Bulova, with atomic age styling on the dial, lovely cream body

and this chrome highlight there,

which really recalls 1950s automobile design.

They're also quite telling of the period

in which they were made politically.

Now, I gather some of these markings, these arrows on the dial

of the Bulova have a particular meaning.

Can you tell me more about those?

Yes, it was the Cold War period in America

and it was deemed by the government that these arrows indicated

the frequency you had to tune into

-for important announcements in the event of a nuclear war.

-Wow.

In case the Russians shut down all the other stations,

that you would get your announcements

on those points on the wavelength.

They are really lovely things,

and of course we move from these objects of real finesse, actually -

the Bulova especially is really quite a stylish piece -

to the more novelty.

I mean, this is pure kitsch of 1950s America, it really is, the owl.

-Wonderful piece, with these eyes that light up...

-They do light up

-when you're tuning it.

-..when it's used.

It's not going to show up in the sunlight.

But a really lovely fun thing. Moving on to value.

I mean, these vary quite dramatically,

probably the Bulova is the most valuable, about £200 to £300.

The other examples, roughly £100 each.

I think just the novelty value of this alone

gives it that kind of value.

But it is a lovely, lovely collection.

In fact, this is quite a nice one here. How do you switch this on?

RADIO CRACKLES

Very seldom do I see something on the Roadshow that I actually own myself,

but I've got one of these at home

and it's a great piece of amusement, isn't it? Still.

The grandchildren love it.

What's this circuit board?

OK, this is part of the RCA 110, this was the launch computer

-that launched the Saturn Vs that went to the moon.

-Oh, my God.

It says in here, "Wheel of Life,"

we probably know it better as a zoetrope.

But what it is, actually, is an optical toy

through which you get this magic of movement.

So what about these, these parts here?

-So these are parts of the Saturn V itself.

-Right.

The Saturn V was split into multiple stages

and one of the stages had a computer circuit ring in it

and these are parts of the computer that was on that.

-So these are proper space-flown pieces.

-Absolutely.

William Horner, and he was the guy responsible...

-Yeah.

-..in the 1830s. Local lad, wasn't he, Horner?

He was born in Bath and he died in Bristol.

I'm an astronomer and I used to work for the European Space Agency

-and I've also done some writing work for NASA.

-Right.

And I've met a lot of the Apollo moon walkers.

And value, with all these strips here,

I put it at around £500 to £700.

Nice, yeah, yeah, but it's not for sale.

Well, fortunately I've got one, so I don't need another!

Space memorabilia is just going up and up and up.

And I reckon there's probably £2,000 or £3,000 worth of material here.

-Oh, wow.

-Without too much trouble.

-Wow.

-It's just brilliant.

What have we got here? Oh, we've got

the man who takes his head off and passes it along.

This is a most extraordinary box,

I haven't seen one of these for a long time.

Made by the porcelain works at Worcester for sending things in.

How did you come by it?

Well, it's the box of a Christmas present

to my grandmother for Christmas 1914.

A Miss A Venton was your...

-My grandmother.

-Your grandmother.

-Yes.

I say. It's come all the way from Worcester, and what does it contain?

It's a Royal Worcester porcelain basket.

That's the box and here is the basket.

That's the basket.

My word, there we are, and with a flower basket

for putting flowers in, you put roses or daffs or whatever you want

into the basket and it's absolutely beautiful, isn't it?

They made a number of these, these are quite a common shape,

I see these quite often, but it's very nice.

Do you think the present of this led to the wedding?

I'm sure it helped, yes.

Well, God bless the basket and, value, of course it's in...

inestimable in the family, isn't it, because this led to you eventually.

Eventually, yes.

But in value, ah, about £300, £400.

-Oh, right, yeah.

-The box is probably more valuable than the pot.

But it's wonderful, thank you so very much for bringing it in.

Oh, good. I'm glad you're interested in it. Thank you.

What's the significance of bees, Lady Lansdowne?

Well, the bees I collect

because Sir William Petty, his crest was a bee hive.

So, the Petty Bees have always been part of our family crest.

And Sir William Petty?

Sir William Petty was Cromwell's Chancellor.

So bees have always been a very potent symbol.

A busy bee is a potent symbol.

Busy bees, indeed. And you like wearing them?

I love wearing them. I have lots of them and I scatter them

all round sort of randomly in a rather bizarre way.

Interesting word, scatter.

Because these things were made at the end of the Victorian period,

in fact, your two bees that you have here are late Victorian.

Classic late Victorian designs. Gold and silver,

studded with diamonds in the wings and in the body,

except that what's interesting is that one of the bees is set

with rubies and one of the bees is set with sapphires.

They're nearly identical, but not quite.

As far as the question of scatter,

it's an interesting thing also to note that they're always going to

be worn on your dress, but also they were worn on things like parasols.

Oh, interesting.

So, they were called scatterbugs and you would scatter them

all over your clothes and on your accessories.

So, if, can you imagine if you're walking down the road

and you've got this bug on your parasol,

"Oh, my goodness me, look at that."

-and it becomes a little conversation piece.

-A-ha.

You get the idea. The other way these are worn

is worth pointing out, this ruby and diamond one

in its original fitted box, if we lift up the block,

we notice it's got the original... Did you know that?

No, I didn't know that was in there.

-Well, that is a hair comb fitting.

-Oh, really?

In other words, you would screw the hair comb fitting to the back

of the bee, and you would put it at the back of your bun.

And you'd look fabulous.

And there it would tremble, naturalistically.

The Victorians were very practical people.

Right, if they were being sold together, as two bees,

you would be looking at £12,000 to £15,000 today.

Well, they're not going anywhere...

-I doubted that they would.

-..because I love them.

I doubt that they would.

-But I can tell you they're very nice bees.

-Thank you.

My grandparents travelled extensively, pre-war,

and obviously ended up in Cairo at one point, and my grandfather,

who loved to collect beautiful things, bought this canopic jar.

Yeah, well, I collect scarabs

but I never had the luck to find one of these.

But as you know, as you've just said, it's a canopic jar

and you probably know these jars were put in the tombs

of embalmed bodies with the embalmed vital organs

inside each one of them,

-because there were four, this is one of four.

-Oh.

And each one of the four jars would have had a different head

representing one of the four sons of Horus,

and Horus was one of the most important gods in the Egyptian pantheon of deities.

And he was like a sky god,

and as you've probably heard of the eye of Horus, the Wedjat eye,

well, this is one of his sons.

And this son is called Imsety.

-And this one would have contained the liver.

-Oh.

And they left the heart actually in the mummified body

because they believed that the heart could be tested

to see if the person had had a good life

and they tested it by weighing it with a feather,

and if the heart was lighter than the feather,

then they'd had a good life

and they could pass through into the next world.

And they're usually either made of alabaster,

calcite or limestone and this one's alabaster as...

This is the receipt, isn't it, for it?

-Yes, yes.

-From what date was this?

-1935.

-1935, this is really good provenance.

And it's from an antiquities merchant called

Abd El-baki Aly El Gabry, excuse my pronunciation.

Better than mine.

It says here, "The undersigned Abd Baki Aly El Gabry hereby

"declares solemnly that the under-mentioned antiquities

"have been sold to EJ Saville of Cairo."

-My grandfather.

-That's your grandfather.

And the top piece here is the alabaster canopic jar,

sold for £5 sterling in 1935.

That's remarkable, to have that.

Um, this type is usually from the 19th dynasty,

that's about 1290 BC to 1180 BC.

-That's the time of Ramses and Set.

-OK.

So, if it's confirmed, and I'm sure it is,

that it's from that date, it could make £4,500

and it could possibly make more.

Gosh, that's amazing. I hadn't expected that.

This is a kind of a magic moment, really

because I know the story here,

and you've got all this sea of faces

and we're about to start talking about your dad.

-That's right, Andy, yes.

-And it's magic.

Come on, off you go, tell us about your dad.

Well, this is my dad, Samuel Bachelor.

He was born in 1898, and at age 15 he was apprenticed to

Royal Brierley Crystal in Brierley Hill where I was also born.

-Stourbridge.

-Part of Stourbridge Glass, that's right.

Unfortunately he was called up for World War I service,

where he was unfortunately gassed and a POW.

So when he came back to work, he was always short of breath.

But he continued work, and in 1939, Steven and Williams

or Royal Brierley Crystal, brought out a prototype,

and there were only three made.

One went to King George VI, the other went to Saudi Arabia

and this one was on my father's bench when World War II broke out.

The factory closed, it didn't reopen until 1947.

And when he got back to his bench, there was this.

So he took it home with him.

And I have it.

Isn't it magic?

This is part of his work, it's called intaglio,

which is not quite the same as a deep cut.

He was presented, after 40 years' service,

with this wonderful vase.

VASE CHIMES

And with a fat pension, of course.

No pension at all, he retired, sadly he only lived four years

after his retirement because his breath wasn't very good.

Well, bearing in mind, I mean, many of those who were

gassed in the First World War never made it back to anywhere.

Fortunately he made it home, otherwise I wouldn't be here.

Yeah. So you're telling the story about this.

I'm telling the story about my dad, Samuel Bachelor,

and I'm Brian Bachelor.

Well, it's very nice to have you here, Brian, sweet.

Well, look, what we're talking about is really this enormous...

Your dad is a representative of this enormous number

of highly skilled craftsmen...

That's right.

..who were employed in 100,000 industries across this country

as engineers or body shop painters...

-Correct.

-..or gilders or...

-That's right.

..intaglio glass engravers.

And the method for intaglio is different, as you say, to cutting.

-This is cut crystal.

-Yes, yes, he had...

-But this is intaglio cut crystal.

-Intaglio crystal.

And what you did is, on these they used rotating wheels.

That's right, he sat at his workbench like that.

And he could print your name on a vase or on a piece of...

a water tumbler, just like that.

And he had to do it in reverse,

because the way that he worked is that the wheel,

-the turning wheel...

-Wheel.

-..was here.

-That's right.

-And he had to cut that mirror.

-That is correct.

So he had to learn the entire alphabet, plus dates,

-and all the rest of it, in reverse.

-That's right.

And if that isn't a skill, I don't know what you think is,

-you lot!

-That's right.

And so what you do, he would have padded doughnuts.

He had... His elbows had to rest on two patches.

I'm telling you, guys, if you put your elbows on the table...

-He's like that all day.

-..all day...

-From half past...

-..for his entire career.

From half past seven until half past five every day, doing this.

Breathing in lead crystal dust up his hooter.

-Yes, that's right.

-On top of the mustard gas

that the Germans had stuck up his hooter.

Given him, yeah, that's right, that's right. Yes.

And the skills is fabulous.

I mean, it doesn't take much to work out that

-that is a beautiful thing, isn't it? I mean it really is.

-Definitely.

-The fact it's for putting fags in...

-That's right.

-..you know there would be ten soldiers of...

-Ten cigarettes!

..fags, pointing out of this...

-That's right, yes.

-..is what it is.

-Yes.

So, I tell you, the value of this stuff is...

Oh, it's pitiful, I mean, it's just... I barely can bring myself

to say that it's there, it's not worth 100 quid, it's not.

-But...

-But the fact is that you represent

-tens of thousands of...

-That's right.

..people who've come down the generations from a job

-to a job from Grandpa to a job to Pa, a job to myself.

-That's right.

And it's all gone, 5,000 in Stourbridge, to five today.

Thomas Webb and Corbett has gone, so has Stuart Crystal,

and they were all there, working away in the '20s, '30s.

And what a pleasure it is to be here on the Antiques Roadshow,

just to catch that snapshot of you and your dad.

-That's right.

-It's bloomin' great. Cheers, guv.

Cheers. Thank you very much.

APPLAUSE

You brought in this beautiful Japanese album.

But, actually, it relates to a different country rather than Japan.

Yes, it was related to China.

My great uncle went over there in 1897

and he was over in China as a missionary,

but he was in there during the time of the Boxer Uprising.

-Fantastic, well, is he portrayed here?

-Yes, this is him.

-This gentleman at the back, pointing.

-This gentleman.

Yeah, pointing in the camera. And this is dated May 5th 1905.

-Yes.

-Was it given as a gift?

-It was sent as a birthday present, yes.

Now, it's absolutely full of images

-that he actually took while out there.

-He took them. Yes.

And what's interesting about that is it was

a very important part of history.

-Oh, yes.

-The Boxer Revolution.

-Yes, yes.

It was a time when the Chinese wanted

to get out of all Western influence.

That's right, they were against all the foreign nationals,

especially trade and the missionaries as well.

So they decided to kill them.

So an international force was put together.

I think it was the Americans and the British and...

-There were quite a few, yes.

-Quite a few.

I think I saw something about German forces as well.

-Yep.

-Yes.

-Because they all had interests in China,

-so it was important that they...

-Yes.

..they supported their interests.

So, we'll just open up another few images.

Here is this distinguished looking gentleman here.

-Yes.

-Who's he?

One of the Generals who negotiated the escape of my uncle

and his family from the mission

where he was serving during the Boxer Rebellion.

They had to flee where they were

and these people are the bodyguard before they left.

So he was very lucky to escape with his life.

He was very lucky to escape with his life.

There were 100 and odd missionaries and families killed

-as well as those.

-And here's an image of the...

Of the house that he went back to, a complete ruin.

Was he a man of derring-do? I mean...

Well, I don't know,

he spent a couple of years later in outer Mongolia

as a missionary, you know, seeing what it was like out there.

And sort of arrived in Hawaii, America,

but, yes, he was a very capable person.

Well, I think this is a very important document.

None of these photographs have ever been published before.

-No.

-They're all done by him.

-Yes.

It's a, you know,

this went on to create the beginning of the Chinese Republic.

Oh, yes, he saw the birth of the Chinese Republic

when he was over there, yes.

-So, the people who are interested today...

-Yes.

..are modern-day Chinese.

-That's right, yes.

-So an important document.

-Hm.

It's potentially worth, at auction, between...

certainly £1,000 and £1,500.

Oh, right. Didn't even think it would be worth that, but, as I said,

it's the family value that...

Of the person that he became, yes.

I know, but lovely to see it

and thank you so much for bringing it in.

Thank you very much, then.

You've got some medals here from a Private Emmett Carson,

from the 101st Airborne.

Who is he?

This man is my biological father...

..who I found

after ten years of searching.

How did you find out about him?

I was clearing out my mother and father's loft.

They'd passed away within six months of each other

and I happened to be up there

clearing out the loft and I found these airmail letters,

letters from Emmett to my mother.

When you read these letters,

what did you find out?

Well, I found out that the father I thought was my father wasn't,

but he was a wonderful man that brought me up.

-And no-one had ever told you this?

-No, no.

Gosh, that must have been a shock.

I'm afraid that everybody in the family was told to secrecy.

I wasn't to find out.

-So...

-So, you found out in your...

I'm 50 years old and I find out that poor old Dad is not my dad...

..but this GI, who lives in North Carolina,

is my biological father.

Gosh, that's like an earthquake...

-Well...

-..in your life.

..I was very distraught for a couple of years

and I had to find him.

There's something inside that said to me, "I've got to find him."

And so did you find your biological father?

I found the family.

Sadly, he had died, in-between times.

-And that's how you got these medals, is it?

-Yeah.

When I was there, my cousin said to me,

"Look, when he died,

"the military flag was put on his coffin

"and there were coffin bearers and

"it was given to him because he was military."

And he said to me, "Look, you are his son, you should have them."

Tell me about the photograph album that you found.

The first time we went there,

my lady cousin said to me

"Do you want to look at the family Bible?"

Happened to be the photograph album

of the whole family from about 1870

up to the modern day.

And I'm looking through it and we're going through,

"That's your great-grandpa, that's your grandma," and all this

and then she said... We came to this photograph of this lady,

and she said, "We don't know who this is," she said,

"but it's in the album," and I said, "Well, I know, it's my mother."

-Goodness.

-So, obviously Emmett had put it in the album.

So what does it mean to you to have these

and to have the flag that was on his casket?

Well...

It's... I can't explain it really.

It's unexplainable because it's all down here, you know.

I get emotional about it still, now, as you can see.

It just means I've had...

I was lucky, I had two fathers.

I had one that gave me life and one that brought me up,

so I was very fortunate.

During my 30 years of the Roadshow

and I don't remember seeing early playing cards like these

and you have collected them.

I have indeed, yeah.

Tell me what started it.

Well, initially, it was an interest in history

and a passing interest in playing cards.

And about 20 years ago,

I bought a replica pack,

which you can buy for about £5... Actually, this one.

Subsequently, I managed to go online

and go to an auction

and I picked up these first -

which is just 20, obviously, of a set of 52.

So, going to auctions,

seeing what the dealer has to offer, I've managed to collect them.

And did you collect the rest of the set?

I haven't been able to find the rest of the set yet,

so there's 32 I've still got to find.

Gosh, so you've got a target?

I have got a target.

These ones, I think, are earlier, aren't they?

They are.

They're from an earlier period

and it's called the Knavery of the Rump.

So this, as you know, is the front of the pack

-but it's a facsimile, it's not the real one...

-Yes.

..and it's showing the title of the pack,

which is the Knavery of the Rump,

which is basically cocking a snook at Cromwell and his parliament.

That's right.

There are a lot of vignettes here, which are showing...

-Satirical.

-..things that happened.

Exactly, satirical things that happened at the time and...

-Very entertaining.

-It is entertaining.

You go back down the history and find out more about

-just that three lines...

-Yes.

-..and it can tell you

-so much more about what was really happening at the time.

-Absolutely.

And, actually, I'm a bit ignorant,

who was Lady Lambert...

who was being very strong with Oliver?

-I've absolutely no idea.

-THEY LAUGH

Oh, fantastic, and all these

are part of this 50 pack

and you've just got two to get.

I have got two to find somewhere.

Well, now, I recognise these wonderful illustrations -

probably from etchings by Francis Barlow...

-Right.

-..who was known as the first English illustrator of books...

-Uh-huh.

-..but he was a painter,

etcher and illustrator,

and he was so brilliant

with his political sketches -

and you've got these wonderful ones.

You don't really need to play a game,

you can just pass them round in a gentleman's club,

although I think they probably played rummy and whist.

Yes.

But they are so amusing you want to look at them and not pass them on.

They can take up a bit of time looking at them...

-Absolutely.

-..as it were.

I do happen to know that a set of these,

you say you've only got 50 out of the 52.

I've got 50 out of 52 of those, yeah.

-And these are 1685.

-About that.

-Well, I'm just going to stick my neck out on these...

-Uh-huh.

..because, let's assume you're going to get the last two,

-these are going to be worth £12,000.

-Wow!

Right. OK.

OK.

The interesting part for me

is that the later ones,

which were the Marlborough ones -

-these ones.

-Yeah.

I think those were also by Francis Barlow.

They're much more intricate, but I think he got better and better...

-Yeah.

-..as he got on in his life.

In the same way, you have got...how many of these?

I've got a full set of those.

Again, maybe £6,000 to £8,000.

-Right.

-So you've got, say, £12,000 here.

-Yep.

Say £7,000 there,

-so that's £19,000.

-Right.

What did you pay for these?

About £1,200.

-£1,200? Well they've gone up since you bought them.

-Right.

When did you buy them?

They've... Oh, about five, six years ago.

Yeah, I think we're going to go to £3,000 for these...

-Right.

-..and counting.

-Right.

It's so exciting and wonderful for the Roadshow

because we haven't had anything like this before.

Yeah. I thought it was interesting to show people.

-And wonderful for me, I never stop learning.

-No, OK.

-Thank you very much for bringing them.

-Thank you, Bunny.

Well, it feels like all the fun of the fair today, doesn't it,

with the tents and the excitement building, and the sunshine?

And there's nothing more linked to a fairground, I guess,

than one of these - a fairground horse.

What's the story for you?

Well, I bought it at auction about eight years ago,

and I go to auctions fairly regular.

I've never seen one before and I just fell in love with it

and I thought, "If I don't buy it, I'm never going to see another one."

So, it was catalogued as a 19th-century carousel horse

and I don't really know much more about it than that.

Somebody did tell me that it...

Because it faces to the right, it's American

but that's all I know about it really,

-so I was hoping you could tell me a bit more about it.

-Sure.

Well, that's an interesting point that you've made

because it is facing this way -

which is basically anticlockwise, round a carousel.

Now, most horses that you see

are designed to go the other way,

clockwise, and that's a little indication

that it could be American.

The American horses had the romance side,

that's the highly decorated side, on the outside -

and also, being so highly decorated,

I think this is probably from the outer layer.

-You know, there were probably three layers...

-Right.

..of horses, certainly two -

and he would have been on the outer layer.

The carousel comes from a Middle Age system of training knights,

where knights would gallop on horses and try and hit things

-that were put in a circle around them...

-Oh, I see.

..and that was called a "carousela", a "little battle",

and, from that, came this, really -

a derivation of that particular word.

Now, you bought it, what, as a piece of sculpture, almost?

I just bought it because I love it, really,

and I suppose it is a piece of sculpture and it was...

I bought it at a time when I had

more disposable income than I have now

and I just fell in love with it and thought I wouldn't see another one,

and I justified it by the fact

that it's cheaper to keep than a real horse

and it doesn't need mucking out.

So, yeah, I went for it and it...

I always hesitate to tell people how much I paid for it

because it was a lot of money, but I love it.

So, let's think about it.

It's a late-19th century American carousel horse,

from, I think, one of the collectable makers,

Dentzel.

So, I think that I'd put a figure of £3,000 to £5,000 on it

as a sort of middling estimate -

but knowing that the market is in the States for these

and it may be that if the right person out there sees it...

it could take off, but it's not something I can see

is going to cross the Atlantic any time soon.

No, I don't think I'll ever be able to get rid of it,

but that's good to hear

because I paid less than that, so that's a relief.

Oh, very good. Well, we like a happy, smiling face

when we give a valuation. Excellent.

Well, thanks very much for bringing it in and...

-I hope it continues to give you lots of pleasure...

-Yes.

..and for this one, too, as she grows into it.

I think she'll probably claim it, at some stage, as her own.

-So, obviously I can see you've got some programmes.

-Yes.

-They're in Italian.

-They are. They're...

At the end of the War,

my grandfather was in Rome

and they were all given three days off at the end of the war...

-Oh, right.

-..and all his friends

-decided to go and enjoy the company of the local ladies...

-And...

..but my grandfather decided -

because he'd never been - he would go to the opera.

So he went three nights running and these are the programmes.

And he went three nights running.

Oh, my God. He was obviously a very cultured gentleman.

He was wonderful, he was absolutely wonderful.

Oh, what a fantastic story.

So, I'm sure they're probably not worth anything

-but I just think it's... I love the story...

-That's great, yeah.

..and the fact that he kept them and brought them back.

-It obviously had a very strong impact on him.

-Yes, absolutely.

Oh, brilliant. Oh, well, I hope you have a great day today...

-Thank you very much.

-..and one of our experts

-would be very happy to look at them for you, I'm sure.

-Thank you.

This huge leatherbound volume looks like a monster book, doesn't it?

And, in fact, it says, "Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll."

But further down it says, "A Motion Picture",

which, of course, is quite strange.

-So, let's open it up and have a look.

-Mm-hmm.

-If you don't mind supporting that.

-Yeah, of course.

This is signed, "To Anne Waddington from Alice in Wonderland" and...

what this is, in fact, is an amazing presentation script

for the 1933 Paramount film Alice In Wonderland.

The title page, there, is amazing

but before we talk about that,

tell me a little bit about how you came to have this.

This used to be my great-grandmother's,

-who passed it on to my mother.

-Right.

The book is signed, "From Alice in Wonderland,"

the actual actress herself.

So we believe it was given to a friend of my great-grandmother

and, when my mum saw it,

-I think she said she was 17 years old and said...

-Right.

"..Oh, my gosh, this is absolutely amazing."

And so my great-grandmother said, "Well, you can have it."

So, gave it to her and she's just had it in the house all these years

and never really knew what to do with it.

So my husband and I thought we'd take it down

and find out a bit more, if we can, about it.

Well, I don't think I've ever seen a script quite like this -

-a presentation script.

-Beautiful, isn't it?

Yeah, if we look at this frontispiece,

we can see that we've got very early Cary Grant here,

we've got WC Fields

and, actually, let's turn a little bit further

because I think this was probably made, perhaps,

to present to some sponsors or something like that...

Oh, right.

..because what it is, it's a complete storyboard as well

with characters, costumes,

storyboarded out with all of the script.

It really is a magnificent thing.

Now, to be frank with you,

having seen nothing like this before -

and I've seen quite a few movie scripts -

it's quite difficult to try and, kind of,

think about what something like this is worth.

But do you know? I'm going to put

£5,000 to £8,000 on this.

Oh, my!

I won't give it back to my mum.

I'm off.

It really, really is a staggeringly good piece of movie history...

-Yeah, my gosh.

-..I think.

And actually, an absolute delight to see it.

-So, thanks ever so much.

-Oh, thank you very much.

I'm off, I'm running.

It's too heavy to run with.

-Thank you.

-Pleasure.

Sorry, may I interrupt a second?

A matching pair.

I like this. I think it's quite sweet,

what made you bring it here today?

Well, I collect pigs and I also collect Vestas

and I just wondered if it was worth anything.

-126.

-Yes.

-Simon and Halbig.

-Yep.

Circa 1930, the flirty eye

is going to be worth £400 to £600,

and the one without the flirty eyes, even though they're twins...

-Three to five?

-Three to five.

Fantastic, that's great.

Wonderful. Sorry to interrupt.

It was plated all over. It's cast brass, but heavy casting.

-Normally these are sheet metal.

-Right.

-This is really nice.

They come from my grandfather.

He used them to go and find,

obviously, the girlfriend at the time.

Did the girlfriend at the time become your grandmother?

-She did.

-Ah, that's lovely.

And it's got a nice curly tail

back there and little hooves.

I... It's just nice.

I'm always known for lifting up dolls' dresses,

I get teased like mad.

And what I like about it is,

the striker is inside the head.

Normally the striker's on the side or on the belly

but it's inside there and this is solid cast, this bit...

She's very grand, isn't she?

Got wonderful hair.

..and it's just really nice.

I suppose it's Edwardian,

1920s maybe.

Have you ever had her valued?

Half-heartedly.

Right, and...?

They said £1,000.

Well, I'm going to say £2,000 to £3,000.

Worth about...

£200 to £250 to a collector.

That's good.

He's called Harry. So, I've had him since I was eight

and he's a member of our family.

Ah, I'm not surprised.

How do you do, Harry?

You are very lucky.

You are very lucky and so are you.

Well, not only am I fascinated by jewellery

but I love architecture as well

and there's something about this necklace

that really has an architectural feel,

and almost a religious feel.

So how did you come to have it?

It's a family piece that my grandmother inherited

from an aunt of hers

and has come down, through my grandmother and my mother.

to my sister and I.

Part of this family was quite religious.

Auntie Claire, whose necklace it was, was quite religious.

Now, whether she actually had this piece made personally for her

or she inherited it from her mother,

we don't know that -

but all the stones actually do represent different saints.

That's right, because we've actually got a...

Well, a description here from the jewellers, Lewis Abbot,

which relates to also the box -

so we know that the two are combined

and it's not something that

they've written after the purchase, which is great...

-No, that's right.

-..isn't it?

-And it does say how important those saints were and...

-Yes.

..with relation to how they should have gems associated to them

-as well...

-Yes.

-..and for many centuries,

we've known that gems are associated with months for birthdays

and various love symbols

through the Victorian period they were picked up on -

and to see them associated with saints is really lovely.

I mean, we can pick out, also, from this list, here,

which is in a different hand from the from the letter...

-Yes.

-..or description up here.

So, this must, maybe, have been done by her?

It may be done by her

-or even my great grandfather.

-Yes.

Well, he studied it very carefully and

has listed all the saints

and also then related them to the stone

that they're associated with

and also the month that the stones related to.

So let's have a look here,

we've got St Andrew associated with the sapphire -

which, of course, is the stone associated with April,

the month of April.

And there's the gorgeous sapphire just sparkling there.

And then further down... If we just go down to St John,

we've got emerald associated, of course, with the month of June -

which is just there. The lovely little stone there.

And on it goes, with all the different stones that we've got.

So, it's set in probably nine carat gold

because it's quite a nice pale gold

and all the detailing is very delicately done

with the trefoil motifs that we see here.

So, a fun piece of jewellery and, date-wise,

it fits in around about the 1860s, 1870s.

So, does it ever come out?

I wore it at my wedding.

-Did you?

-And I also wore it at Christmas to a Christmas do.

-Uh-huh.

-Because, yeah...

I haven't told my sister that...

Oh, no.

..but it was a high-end Christmas do.

But, yes. I have worn it occasionally

and I would wear it again

because it's such a nice piece of jewellery to wear as well.

It is, isn't it? It's absolutely wonderful and go with any outfit

-because of all the colours...

-Yeah.

-..in there as well so it's great.

Now obviously it's a family piece.

-You're not going to sell it, are you?

-No.

It's going to stay within the family but I think

in an auction environment, should it go in for sale,

because of all the stones and the story

and the fun side to it as well, we'd be looking at an estimate

of round about £1,500 to £2,000.

Blimey.

We didn't think it was going to be as much as that.

It's not often on the Antiques Roadshow that we get to use,

let alone wear the items that we see,

and you two, me and this mannequin

are wearing some fantastic 1930s and 1940s suits

-by Montague Burton.

-Indeed.

-Yeah.

But you look the whole part.

-I mean...

-Thank you.

-..tell me the whole story.

How did you get into this?

Well, we're both interested in the tailoring industry

and we're both '30s and '40s re-enactors.

We go all over the country doing re-enacting and World War II events.

Yeah, and we just love the era.

Yeah. We love the clothes and it's...

-As you can see, we wear it most weekends.

-Yeah.

But it's not just the clothing. I mean, literally, from top to toe -

the shoes, the trousers, the suit, the hair.

I mean, it's magnificent.

What do your friends think. I mean, how old are you?

-28.

-Yeah, both of us are 28.

-OK, what do they think of all of this?

-Slightly odd.

No, no, we've got a lot of friends who re-enact with us,

who are used to it, and then our

work colleagues and other friends just sort of go, "Fair enough."

-Accept it, yeah.

-Well, it was very much sort of a moment in history,

-a moment in fashion history, really.

-Definitely.

Montague Burton came over...

I think he came in 1900 and, shortly afterwards,

founded his company selling clothes in 1903

-and was enormously successful.

-Yeah, yeah.

By 1929, hundreds of shops, mills, factories.

I mean, he really captured that moment of, sort of...

In a way, would you say tailoring for the masses?

Yeah, tailoring for...

Yeah, definitely tailoring for the masses and sort of

allowing the everyday man to buy a tailor-made suit,

which a lot of people couldn't afford back then.

I think his big thing was, most of his shops, if not all of them,

had the billiards hall above the shop,

so it drew the customers in.

He was a sharp guy, this Lithuanian Jew who came over in 1900,

but it wasn't just that,

-it was also these seductive catalogues.

-Yes.

Look at how smart you can be, look how marvellous you can look.

And certainly wearing this suit, I'm sure you're the same,

-you do feel sort of proper, I think.

-Yeah, you do. Yep, definitely.

So how much of your life has it taken over?

I mean, you do re-enactments, you say,

but you seem to have so much more than just the suits.

Yeah, I've sort of collected all the...

collectibles that go with it, really,

and anything that sort of interests me and it's got...

Displays the suits and...

It's just... Love it, fantastic.

-You've got to have it?

-Yeah, I have really.

-Do we think we're perhaps a little obsessed?

-Yeah, a little bit, maybe.

-Yeah, definitely.

-But there's a lot to get obsessed about.

I mean, not only do you look, sort of, the sharpest cats in town,

but just looking at the tailoring of these pieces...

-I mean, I can't help noticing the back on this suit.

-Yes, that's...

-He really captured the style of the day.

-Definitely.

I mean, this suit here's a particularly rare suit,

British tailored by Burton.

It's more... The back belt and the knife pleats

are more common in American tailoring.

This one's extremely rare - maybe...

Probably about £500, £600 - maybe more on a...

If someone really wanted it, they would pay...

maybe £1,000 plus.

Maybe someone like you might pay £1,000 plus.

There's a big difference. I mean, you really are dedicated collectors

and I suppose for these pieces here,

-these mean more to you as a collector...

-Yeah, definitely.

..than perhaps they might fetch on the market.

I mean, anything, I suppose, from £5 to sort of £10,

-maybe even up to £50 for a piece.

-Yeah.

So you've got a fantastic collection here

that really is going to be, what? £1,200 to £1,800 worth, I suppose.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Plus the cup, maybe up to £2,000.

Yeah, definitely, yeah.

Hot property now, hot property of the future,

but I can tell you one thing, I am boiling hot and you must be too,

so I think I'm going to go and change back out of this

-and hand it back. Thank you very, very much.

-Thank you very much.

-Fantastic collection.

-Cheers, thank you.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Now, for those of us who think, "What sort of thing is this?"

-It's a cigarette box.

-That's right.

Made at a time when people still smoked...

-Yeah, I know.

-..but this is made in around about 1900.

Now, I know a little bit about it, but I'd like you to tell me

a little more that I can add to.

So, first of all, where's it come from?

Comes through my family,

my grandfather received it.

We were told, in the family, from the Tsar -

but, of course, not directly, I'm sure.

My grandfather was a metallurgist

and he was asked,

by the White Russians, to go over

and help sort out the guns

that weren't firing...straight or I don't know quite what

but they weren't behaving themselves very well.

So when would that have been?

About the time of Tsar Nicholas II, do you think?

Yes, it must have been. The Revolution.

-Well, the White Russians, of course, they were loyal to the Tsar.

-Yes.

They are fighting against the Bolsheviks, the Reds.

That's right.

And we all know what happened to the Tsar in 1917

when the Revolution came.

Well, let's have a look.

It's made of silver,

there's a little circular disc in the middle

and it is blue enamelled decoration

and what enamel that is!

Because it's covered in this very smooth,

almost wet,

polished covering of Royal Blue.

Yeah.

And, of course, when you look carefully,

you see that the background to the blue

are all these little individual wavy lines.

It's quite a simple piece, really,

-as far as the construction's concerned.

-Yes, it is.

The middle - and you mentioned Russia -

well, that's quite right, it's a Catherine the Great rouble.

-That's right.

-Gold rouble.

-I was always told it was a rouble.

-You were told that?

-Yeah.

-Let's look inside it, shall we?

First of all, diamonds...

-Yes.

-..in this little lip.

-That's right.

-When I lift up the little lip...

..inside, we have,

which I'm really delighted to see more than anything else,

-is the original cigarette...

-Yes.

-..that's been left there.

-Yes. Might need it one day.

-Right.

Now, looking at the marks inside the box...

just down here,

we see that there is a little stamp of a woman's head in profile,

-called a Kokoshnik - the Russian mark.

-Oh, right.

The mark on the right of that has got a little tiny monogram,

which is the work of a man called Hollming...

Right.

-..who was a craftsman working for Faberge.

-Faberge, yes.

And sure enough, on the right-hand side of that,

the Faberge stamp there.

-Very nice indeed.

-Oh.

What do we like to see on the Antiques Roadshow?

-Nice things.

-And we like to see Faberge.

-Oh, do you?

Well, of course, we love Faberge, of course we do.

With one little teeny caveat.

Yes, I know.

What exactly happened there?

Well...

my family didn't keep boxes,

so it was only wrapped in a, sort of,

soft cloth covering

and I shoved it into my little safe -

which was rather small,

bit hard - and it, sort of, got knocked.

So, in other words, an absolutely pristine, perfect Faberge box...

I know.

..you SHOVE IN to your safe.

So, there is a little bit of a defect in one corner...

-Yes.

-..but not absolutely terrifying

because I think, these days,

with the sophistication of craftsmen and workshops,

you could get that repaired...

-Oh, great.

-..and it should be repaired as well.

-Oh, right.

Has it been valued?

Years ago, when my father first gave it to me, 35 years ago,

I took it to London and had it valued

and I was told it was worth £900 -

that was before its damage.

So, in perfect condition, it was valued...

-Absolutely perfect condition...

-..at £900.

..with more cigarettes in it, I may say.

With more cigarettes. So, what's it worth today?

No idea.

-£6,000 to £8,000.

-AUDIENCE GASPS

No?!

I'm amazed.

Lovely.

Amazing.

Do you remember the chap who told us

earlier in the programme, so movingly,

about his father who he discovered

was actually an American GI

and he only found out when he was in his 50s?

Well, the other thing he showed me was this marvellous document.

I want to show it to you.

"Over there: Instructions for American servicemen in Britain 1942."

Presumably something his father read.

There's two marvellous bits in it.

First of all,

"The British are tough."

"The English language didn't spread across the oceans

"and over the mountains and jungles, and swamps of the world

"because these people were panty-waists."

And then, one other golden nugget of advice.

"When you see a girl in khaki or air force blue

"with a bit of ribbon on her tunic, remember,

"she didn't get it for knitting more socks than anyone else in Ipswich."

How brilliant. These are rules you could live by.

From Bowood House, and the whole Antiques Roadshow team,

till next time, bye-bye.