Trentham Gardens 2 Antiques Roadshow

This week, the Antiques Roadshow makes a return visit

to Trentham Gardens in Stoke-on-Trent.

And although there's been an estate here for almost 1,000 years,

it's the last century that's seen the most dramatic changes here.

For hundreds of years, Trentham was a great estate.

In the 18th century, its grounds were landscaped by Capability Brown.

It was a show-piece for its owner,

George Granville Leveson-Gower, the Duke of Sutherland.

The only people who were allowed to enjoy the grounds

were those fortunate enough to be invited to stay.

By 1905, though, all that had changed.

The once immaculate estate had fallen into decline

and the fourth Duke of Sutherland tried and failed to sell it.

Six years later, most of Trentham Hall was demolished,

the contents of the house were sold off for a measly ?500,

and the family moved away.

The gardens, though, were up for grabs.

Every possible use for the land was considered.

A miniature railway transported visitors to an Art Deco

open-air swimming pool, while boat rides gave families

the chance to enjoy Capability Brown's lake in style.

Throughout the 1930s and '40s,

it was known as Trentham Gardens Pleasure Park.

Trentham Gardens was no longer for the privileged few.

Local people from Stoke-on-Trent began to flock here.

It became known as the Playground of the Potteries.

Trentham Ballroom was built on the grounds in 1931.

In its day, it saw performances by countless dance bands and gigs

by acts including Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin

and, in 1963, the Beatles.

Sadly, by the 1970s, Trentham Gardens was fading

and faced an uncertain future.

Over the next few years, the pool was filled in,

the estate and its former attractions were largely abandoned

and its once-famous gardens overgrown.

The fate of the 725-acre estate

hung in the balance for 20 years until, in 1996, it was

bought by owners with an ambition to restore it to its former glory.

The task was enormous, but in 2004, the gardens were finally opened.

Much has been done,

thousands of trees have been planted, to restore

Capability Brown's former landscape.

And as for the Italianate Garden,

well, it's been uncovered, replanted

and look at them, they're glorious.

Trentham Gardens is once again the Playground of the Potteries

and attracting people in their droves

for today's Antiques Roadshow.

Let's see what they've brought along for our experts.

Well, I think this is a fascinating vase,

but what is it you want to know about it?

Well, I'd really like to know how old it is

and what the characters mean.

Well, it's charming. You probably know it's Chinese.

Yes. I don't know if you've done any homework on it,

but the type of decoration, where they've painted in under-glaze blue

and then painted with over-glaze enamels, it's called Wucai.

It dates from the middle of the 17th century.

Well, I wondered if it did and then somebody told us

it was actually 19th century, but we weren't certain.

No. This is definitely not a 19th-century vase.

This is usually referred to as the transitional period, which is

the transition between the Ming dynasty and the Qing dynasty.

But it's the subject which I think is so fascinating.

What's written down here is two phrases of a poem.

It's from a Chinese love story called the Yu Jiao Li,

which translates in English to The Two Fair Maidens.

I'm not sure, I'll have to check.

But so we've got these fair ladies

and they're all involved in embroidery.

Yes. Now, have you had a look at what this one's doing?

No, what?

She's got, this robe here, it's got a dragon on it. Yes.

It's a dragon robe.

So you see the dragon head and it's got some scales there.

And she's mending it. Ah!

And it's got another subtle meaning interwoven in.

They're not just making, embroidering robes for their lovers,

but her mending a dragon robe is supposed to represent

correcting a mistake or an error of the emperor.

So it's got actually a bit of a political meaning, woven

into the whole fabric of the love story, which I think is fabulous.

There is a problem with this vase. Yes. The cracks.

Well, it has got a crack on the back... Yes.

..but it's worse than that.

Oh. What have you done with the top two inches?

Well, they were never there, when I got it.

Well, they were there once.

No, all that was in it was a teasel.

It had a teasel in it. Well, I mean, it's a shame.

This vase used to be two or three inches taller than this.

All right, OK. And if you look closely at the top of the rim,

we've got glaze all over here.

But if you look at the top, it's been ground off and polished.

Of course, it absolutely wrecks its value.

I suppose you want to know what it's worth or what it would have

been worth if it hadn't been sawn off.

I guess so. Well...

Rare transitional vases with stories illustrated on them,

something like this could fetch 25 or ?30,000.

Right.

And now it's only worth ?3,000.

Right.

Well, that's good. Thank you.

So if I had to match an object to an owner, you

would be literally the last person I would put this to here today.

It is quite gruesome. What are you doing with it?

Well, I've just started out in the antiques trade

and I picked it up at auction. OK.

It's an odd one for someone starting out in the trade to buy.

What was it that attracted you to it?

I really like the carving, it's beautiful.

I didn't know, first of all, what the carving was.

And then with a bit of research, I found out it's the Last Judgment.

I found out it's a stiletto sword.

They were usually used to, I can't pronounce it,

the coup de grace on the battlefield,

to give, like, the mercy kill.

Yes, exactly. The coup de grace, the final...

I think it's more of a protection dagger

rather than a battlefield piece or like you say,

the piece which would finish someone off, as a mercy kill.

But date-wise? I was guessing 1510, 1520. OK.

I think it's more 17th century, so early 1600s,

but, you know, more research is needed.

Country of origin, you say Italian? I would, yeah, Italian.

I would go more German. Yeah. But they did...

And the stiletto thing, obviously, well, that's basically where we get

the stiletto heel from, in women's shoes, it comes from the dagger.

Oh, right, OK.

But I still can't put the two together, it's kind of...

I don't take it out every day. No, good.

I think it's just stunning quality.

This is a fruit-wood handle, all carved here.

And like you say, you've got God there judging.

You've got the sort of final trumpeters going down,

descending into hell with the skeletons at the bottom.

And then, on the other side, you've got the devil there.

And again, more people sort of in their... Not a good state. No.

And really the message it's giving out is that

if you meet the person that has this stiletto, he is pretty much God

and he's sending you to where you don't want to be.

Did you pay much for it? ?120. OK.

Because obviously if you're starting out life as a dealer,

you want to make a profit. So would you guess you've done well?

I'd guess I've done well.

I think you've done very well

because I would put that into an auction at 2,000 to ?3,000.

Oh, that's brilliant.

SHE LAUGHS

Thank you very much.

SHE LAUGHS

You've got the dealer's laugh. THEY BOTH LAUGH

That's not a good thing.

You've done incredibly well and I'm very jealous.

I just love it. Thank you.

Original paintings of prize fighters, boxers,

are particularly rare.

In terms of condition,

your painting has certainly been through quite a few rounds.

Can you tell me what's happened to it?

Well, it hung in the tap room of my parents' pub for,

well, about 80-odd years.

And it's probably covered in nicotine

because you could never see for smoke in the tap room.

And then, for the last 40 years, it's stood on the bedroom floor.

First at my parents and then at my house.

It's had a rough life, I think.

It has had a rough life, but it's a very, very interesting subject.

Do we know who he is?

He's Bob Brettle.

Now, Bob Brettle's quite famous.

Can you tell me a bit more about him?

Well, he was the Welterweight Champion of England.

He was born in Portobello in 1832, near Edinburgh.

And he only lived to about 40.

Not surprisingly, some of the fights he had.

The first fight he had was 80 rounds.

80 rounds, that's extraordinary. 80 rounds.

And we've got a framed newspaper, page out of a newspaper,

with one of his fights on that actually goes 34 rounds on Tuesday

and 100 rounds on Wednesday.

My goodness!

And he won it because he was the only one left standing.

It's unbelievable, isn't it? No wonder he had a short life.

Yeah, yeah.

Now in terms of the painting, if we look at this,

it is an original oil on canvas that's been laid down onto card.

In the top right-hand corner, you can see the paint separation.

That's probably from heat in the pub. It must have been near a fire.

But further down, it's been creased, there's been repairs.

So it has been through the wars.

Throughout my career, I've seen a handful of really good

pugilist pictures, but they are very, very rare.

Now often, the ones of him and other prize-fighters,

they were done by amateurs from original lithographs.

One of the reasons I think the painting is by an amateur,

is you get this very one-dimensional feel in the figure.

And we look at the fists here too, they're very flat.

But it's still going to date probably to the

last half of the 19th century.

So I hope when I give you the value

I'm not going to get a knockout punch. No.

But this picture is a very rare subject

and certainly worth 1,000 to ?1,500.

Without the damage,

then it would be worth at least three or four times that.

It's the condition that lets it down.

But it's a real rarity and thank you for bringing it to us.

My pleasure.

How long have you had this lovely piece?

Well, it's come from my grandmother's

and I played with it as a child.

She used to keep it down the side of the couch in her front room,

you know, the best room.

I was always allowed to just look at it, play with it a little.

Then she gave it to my mother.

And now it's mine. So that's actually all I know about it.

Well, if I told you it was 1840. Right, OK.

And they're little papier mache dolls. Oh, right.

It's known as an automaton, but it's not

a musical automaton because it's really early for an automaton.

Right. It winds.

The winding mechanism was probably made near Neufchatel in Switzerland

and sent over and put into the box,

which was then decorated, probably in England.

The little dolls are all probably French dresses.

Right. They are absolutely enchanting.

They're one of my favourite automata.

They're in marvellous condition. I thought they were.

I didn't realise they were papier mache.

But they're absolutely enchanting, absolutely enchanting.

I think if I was born in 1840, I wouldn't be looking like that.

THEY LAUGH

I don't think any of us would.

The only thing I'm really concerned about is,

whether it's going to work.

But before we start making it work, I'm going to just put a price on it.

And have you any idea?

OK. I've no idea whatsoever.

You haven't looked on anything? No, no.

Well, I'm going to put a price of 2,000 to ?3,000 on it.

Really? Wow.

Gosh, that's fantastic.

I've always liked it a lot, but I'm surprised at that, I really am.

Right. Let's try. Don't you dare disobey me.

Ah.

THEY LAUGH

I love the little one on a swing. Yes, so do I. So do I.

Come on, give us a hand.

One, two, three.

Blooming hellfire.

I'm not sure it's big enough.

Is this is where you keep your marmalade? No.

I keep it on my windowsill.

Did you buy it?

No, I found it in an old bag in a garden of a very old

gentleman that I'm friends with, along with a few other things.

Wow, that certainly gets your eyeballs burning, doesn't it?

I saw it in the presentation case in my grandma's house

in Germany and fell in love with it ever since I was a child.

OK. Well, this is Czech from the '70s.

I went to the factory before it closed down. This was made at Exbor.

I showed it to a guy who valets my car, who's

got a bit of an interest and he said, "Oh, I think it's majolica."

So I just like it.

I can see why he thinks it's majolica, but it's not.

This is cream-ware and it's about 1760.

The blokes made them and the girls decorated them.

This is physically a very demanding piece of glass to make.

I've seen them working on identical pieces, albeit much smaller

than this and they would use palette knives, just like fine artists,

to build up this coloured gold leaf to create the gilding.

Despite its huge scale,

I think it's only a couple of hundred quid, to be honest. OK.

It's a really rare thing and even though it's broken,

it's about ?1,500 worth.

Thank you. Happy?

Oh, yes, really happy. Good. Thank you.

Here we are surrounded by all this equipment

needed to make a modern film or television programme.

And yet we have here its earliest forebear.

This is a movie camera dating from around 1910, 1915.

Now I take it you must be a real enthusiast to own such a thing?

I bought it because I liked it, rather than knowing

anything about photography or movies or anything.

I just liked it as a piece of furniture.

It is and do you know, the interesting thing is,

you say it's like buying a piece of furniture.

Here we've got this fabulous mahogany body bound with brass.

And down here beside me you've got the matching carrying case.

Similarly, really robustly and beautifully made.

When you bought it, which was what, recently? No. 1980.

What did you know about it at that point?

I didn't really know anything at all.

It was supposed to have got some history with a guy called

Cherry Kearton, but that didn't mean anything to me.

You might as well have said the Man in the Moon.

Well, Cherry Kearton, of course, is a name

to conjure with in early movie making.

I mean, one could possibly describe him as

the David Attenborough of his day.

He was very involved with creating wildlife and nature photography,

right back, really from the 1890s, right the way through.

So that's a bit about who might have owned the camera.

Now let's just look at the camera itself.

The viewfinder is straight through from the back to the front.

And if I open this up,

we can actually see the shutter in operation.

Look at that.

It's just a hole cut into the body of the camera

and this swinging sector goes round and creates the moving image.

Wonderful. I mean, it's basic technology, but it works. Yeah.

And then this side, we can actually look at the mechanism.

And again, with the winding handle, we can see that it grabs the film,

it pushes it through, it's guided on the sprockets on these wheels.

And it's feeding through from one film canister

into another film canister.

And on this canister is something that makes my heart beat faster.

This monogram says W in the centre and it says K Co Limited.

It relates to a man called James Williamson. Right.

James Williamson was one of the Victorian pioneers of movie making.

Oh, right.

Based in Hove, he was a movie maker himself.

He specialised in these sort of one-minute comedies.

In 1910, he set up his own camera company -

Williamson Kinematograph Co Limited.

Right.

And his cameras are thought to be some of the very best

because he was a movie maker himself,

so he knew what he wanted in a camera. Knew what he was doing.

I'm going to ask you what you paid.

Well, it was a long time ago,

but I think it was pretty close to ?400.

I think that if that link to Kearton could be proved,

we're talking about 3,000 to ?5,000.

Happy days.

HE LAUGHS

Fantastic.

Yeah, great that is, isn't it?

Standing in front of Trentham Hall, this is just the sort

of table I could imagine the Dukes of Sutherland having in their house.

So how do you have it in your house?

Well, as far as I know, my best understanding is that this

was produced by Thomas Forrester in the early 1880s

as one of three for his three sons.

And it has remained in the family ever since.

So you are a Mr Forrester?

I am indeed, yes.

And this was made by your grandfather, great grandfather?

Great grandfather. Thomas Forrester.

And I understand that they did make quite a number

in order to get three good ones.

They would have to

because to make one is a challenge.

But to make three,

and presumably three the same, so they didn't fight,

that would be, I mean, they probably made 20 or 30 of them.

Because not only could they have bent in the kiln,

they could have got burnt in the kiln as well.

Because this would have been made and fired once to biscuit stage.

It would have been glazed and fired again.

Then it would have been painted and fired again.

And then gilded and fired again.

So all those times in the kiln, it could have either bent,

it could have cracked, it could have got burnt.

And this is all completely freehand painted.

Even the background, everything completely hand-painted.

So to have produced this - and we are talking the 1870s, 1880s -

at that time, in coal-fired kilns,

this really is the most amazing tribute to the skills of your family

and the skill-set that was in Stoke-on-Trent at that time.

Oh, thank you. So is it on display,

is it hidden under a cover or locked away in a room?

Usually, it's in secure storage.

From time to time, we have it out at home.

Because I can see there's some little bits of wear here.

Obviously, it has been used in its time. Yep.

You know, it's purely hypothetical because I don't think you'll

ever sell it, but, you know, there is a market for this.

It is, you know, it is a showy piece of porcelain and some

people like that. And let's be fair, where would you get another one?

But if you were to sell this, it would easily make five, six, seven,

even ?8,000.

Well, I'm not surprised, but I've no intention of selling it.

Let me shake your hand. Thank you very much. It's a pleasure.

It's an interesting group of objects you've got here.

Where did they come from? Thank you.

They are all from China.

My father was born in China.

They were China inland missionaries to convert the...

The Chinese, yes. Very non-PC now.

Absolutely, yes.

And his mother brought him home when he was four,

along with his brother, on the Trans-Siberian railway.

Oh, my goodness. And these followed him.

Really? Yes.

So aged four, he didn't buy them, who did?

No. Well, we think they are birth gifts.

Right, so we're talking about the beginning of the 20th century.

1907. 1907.

I have pictures of my father,

which is this one.

Oh, yes, right.

And my grandfather and his wife. Yes.

And these two are?

This is my father, James.

And this would be their nurse, ayah, I don't know.

Yes, ayah, yeah.

Fascinating. Thank you.

Well, your birth suggestion is probably quite right

because these are on necklaces

to be worn as good luck and good health.

We've got characters here which say fu gui shou chang,

which is happiness, long life and all that sort of stuff.

And we've got a bat here.

Do you see the bat? Oh, yes.

Well, I'm Battie, am I not? Yes.

So I collect batty objects.

So you won't be leaving with this.

THEY LAUGH

The bat is a symbol of happiness. Mm-hmm.

Here we've got a boy riding a qilin.

A qilin is a mythical beast which has the feet of a deer,

the tail of a camel, the head of a dragon and various other bits.

And he is the symbol of almost everything which is good.

Gracious. Nice things in here, comparable.

They, I think, are hair pieces, worn by a woman like that,

as a diadem, as we would today.

So what are they worth?

These two are silver.

That one is worth around three to ?500.

That one is spectacular.

I think one would say probably two to 3,000 on that one.

And each one of those is going to be

500 to ?1,000.

It's beginning to clock up. Good gracious!

I think you've probably got three to 5,000 in there.

Bit of a shock?

Yes. Thank you very much.

Well, the word iconic,

I think, is often overused,

but I'm going to use it here.

We're looking at four iconic

images of Shackleton's

ill-fated Antarctic expedition in the early 20th century.

This is his ship, marooned on the ice, The Endurance. Yes.

We have two sets of very cold-looking penguins,

encased in ice.

And a very chilly dog here.

I recognise these as examples of photographs by the Australian

photographer, Frank Hurley,

who travelled with Shackleton down to the Antarctic.

And on one of them, yes, I can see a signature.

This does say Frank Hurley.

On another one, I can see just the tail of a signature.

But if I'm honest, I worry a little bit.

These photographs were reproduced in great quantities,

quite soon after they were first printed.

I really want to know that I'm looking at

original Frank Hurley prints.

Is there anything you can tell me about them,

and how you got them, where they came from, that would reassure me?

Well, they came from my grandfather.

I acquired them when he died.

He was a cellist on the White Star Line.

And he met Frank Hurley while he was on the White Star Line.

When you're a musician, you have a lot of free time because you're

not playing all the time. And they used to play cards a lot.

The rumour in the family was that this was maybe payment of a debt.

But he did know Frank Hurley.

That's a pretty good provenance.

I love the idea of your grandfather as cellist and part-time gambler.

Oh, yes. And I have this image...

He liked his flutter. Did he? Oh, yes.

I like the idea of, you know, the possibility of Hurley

and him sitting down and playing cards. And that really reassures me.

So when I see this signature, Frank Hurley,

I'm reassured that this is the real thing.

We're looking at four very high-quality photographs

of one of the great explorations of the 20th century.

This in particular, The Endurance, jacked up on the ice there,

marooned, you know, it's one of the great images of the 20th century.

I think I'm looking at a figure of about 1,500 to ?2,000.

Oh, as much as that? That's nice.

SHE LAUGHS

Yes. Yeah. Thank you very much.

Well, I'm 6'3" tall

and I think that kind of calibrates the height of this

absolutely massive Doulton stoneware jardiniere.

It really is stunning.

So stunning indeed that, with apologies to Gracie Fields,

it really is the biggest aspidistra pot in the world, isn't it?

Yes, certainly. And as I'm talking,

I can hear my voice echoing inside this massive vessel here. Yes.

Can you tell me anything about it?

Yes, quite simply, we have a Victorian house

and we'd been looking for a large jardiniere to fit in our hall

for some time.

We saw this in a local auction about five years ago

and thought it was just the piece.

It wasn't till we actually got to the sale room

we realised just how big it was.

But decided, no, it fitted and it is beautiful.

It sits in a lovely position in the corner of our hall.

And presumably in the kind of house for which it was made.

Yes, precisely.

You know, this was probably made in about 1900, 1910,

that kind of date. Yes. And our house was built around 1895.

There we are. You know, it's found its natural habitat,

which is really rather sweet, isn't it?

What I love about it, apart from its size and grandeur, is the

quality of the decoration.

And these flowers here have been hand-worked.

They've been carved in clay, not moulded,

like most pots are moulded or mass-produced in some way.

These are all hand done.

But the effect is absolutely luscious,

and to my eyes, really beautiful.

The colouring's subtle, it is a true work of art.

Is there a mark on the bottom here because I really can't lift it up?

It is extraordinarily heavy, as you can imagine.

It's got FCP written on the bottom.

Right. OK.

Well, that must stand for Frank or Francis C Pope. Oh, right.

Who was an artist at Doulton's from the end of the 19th century,

I think about 1880, into the 1920s.

And really one of the leading artists there.

Wonderful.

Now you say you bought it recently. Yes.

You know I'm going to ask you this. HE LAUGHS

How much was it?

We paid 1,600 for it, which we have

no idea whether that represents good value, it's just we loved it.

It fits with the house. So you buy something you like, don't you?

I think, of all things, that is all that matters.

But, you know, you're not going to retire on any profit that

you've made from this.

I don't expect you mind.

You know, it's worth...it's got...

You can't stand back and look at that

and say it's worth less than ?1,000.

Probably worth ?1,500. And, you know, there we are.

Fine. But that's not the point.

Thank you. Thank you very much indeed.

Well, the clouds have gathered in this afternoon,

but I'm really pleased to see such a pretty pendant.

It's really brightened up my afternoon.

So how have you managed to come with it today?

It belongs to my wife.

It originally came into the family through her grandmother.

We think that it was either a wedding present or

an anniversary present from her grandfather to her grandmother.

Oh, how lovely.

Well, the Edwardian era that this has been produced in would

certainly fit in naturally with her grandmother, wouldn't it?

Something like this would be worn to some really quite special

occasions, I would have thought.

But the versatility of this pendant is something that really

strikes me and I absolutely love.

Because what we have here, of course, is a little screwdriver

which is kept within this gorgeous box.

And you can actually interchange each of these panels.

So it's very multifunctional and a piece of jewellery for every

colour of dress that you might have really, isn't it?

It's just great. Exactly.

We've got beautiful platinum metalwork, set with very small

but perfect diamonds in there. Absolutely adorable.

Then the actual enamel discs that we see here,

it's an enamel work called guilloche enamel.

The pattern is engraved onto the platinum disc

and then the enamel is poured over.

And it makes it look as though the actual pattern is textured

on the top of the enamel.

I see. But it isn't, it's completely smooth.

So it gives off this very sumptuous look that's really quite pretty.

The pierced work, as well, adds to that delicacy.

The fashion for the time was a lot of lace work and silks,

so you can just imagine this lovely floating, elegant period.

Yes. Yeah, really gorgeous.

This period of jewellery is becoming really quite

fashionable at the moment, which is great news for you.

There is, of course,

a little bit of wear around the edge of each of the pieces.

I like that, though,

because it shows that the piece of jewellery was loved and worn.

Naturally, any collector would have to take that into consideration

though and so, consequently, I think we'd be looking at between

2,500 and ?3,000.

If they had the opportunity.

THEY LAUGH Thank you.

I see from the uniform that's beside you

that you were a member of

the Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps.

That's correct, yes.

And I see from the front cover of this newspaper,

a Southampton newspaper, it says,

"Angels sail on mercy mission."

What does that refer to?

The army nurses were deployed to the Falklands after the ceasefire.

And this was the day we boarded the troopship

to sail to the South Atlantic, on the 19th of June, 1982.

So that was really a very short time after hostilities finished.

Yes, it was. And the after-effects of war was very evident.

What were some of the injuries that you had to treat?

Well, there was general accidents, but there was also,

with the mine clearance, the soldiers were

suffering from injuries as a result of mine clearance.

Well, these photographs tell a little bit of the story of

your journey down to the Falklands and what happened down there.

So if we look at this one here,

this shows you, where is that?

Well, we were just approaching Ascension. It was early morning.

Now that's beautiful weather, by the look of it.

It was. It was warm, sunny and very, very comfortable.

But then this picture shows you in the snow.

What was the temperature there?

Well, at sea, it was minus-18 that day.

But it was well below zero on land.

I can believe it.

Is this the hospital?

Yes, that's the small King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

And this large picture, here at the end. That's me.

Nearest to me, this is you here.

Yeah, that's it, in the operating theatre.

Now, Margaret Thatcher visited you, didn't she?

She did, yes, in January 1983.

And here's a photograph of it.

She came to the hospital and visited and she thanked

everybody, personally, for everything we'd done.

Now, you were awarded the South Atlantic Medal.

Tell me about that.

Well, this has only come about recently.

When David Cameron came into power,

he ordered a review of all modern conflicts,

post-Second World War.

And as a result of this review, the nurses and nursing sisters

of the QAs were allowed to apply for the medal.

How many of them have been issued?

Well, I haven't an accurate number,

but I know two of us have already received them.

Well, that makes that, I suppose, quite a rare medal awarded to you.

Yes. If there are only two at the moment issued.

What does it mean to you, to have had that experience?

I remember feeling really rather special to have been able

and been allowed to go down and do this work for our soldiers.

We have to look at the value of objects

and I feel slightly awkward doing that.

Frankly, the photographs,

well, they're personal to you, aren't they? They are, yes.

But the medal, now that's something that's very different.

Because it was awarded to you,

I think it has quite an interesting value.

I think it could, possibly, if ever this came up for auction,

make three, four,

maybe even ?5,000.

It's an incredibly scarce medal and I think it's wonderful.

It's a testament to your bravery really because you didn't know,

I suppose, what to expect when you went down there.

We had no idea.

We sailed into the unknown.

A painted plaque that belonged to Tony's auntie.

She used to work in service across the road from Trentham Park.

I don't really know much about the age of it or who did it,

but we're interested to find out.

This is the auction details that went on over seven days in 1919,

selling off cottages, land, farms. Farms.

Anyone would recognise the view, of course.

That's here at Trentham, isn't it?

Let's have a look.

That's what I wanted to see.

There's the signature of the artist, JE Dean.

And that's Teddy Dean,

who was a great painter at Minton's.

"Cottage with a good garden. Yearly rental, ?4."

It's not much, is it? Amazing.

And behind that little advertisement lies the story of Trentham Gardens,

Trentham Hall in the 20th century.

The house, of course, is as it was in its heyday.

I think by that date,

all this had been demolished or half of it, hadn't it?

And you can imagine how splendid the gardens were then.

As they look again now.

Then the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland decided to try something

else with this property. They created the Art Deco swimming pool.

And you went to that pool.

Yeah, we all went. Yes. You all swam in it? Yes.

And what was it like?

We did have photographs. Absolutely wonderful.

I used to have lunch in the ballroom every day

because I worked in the estate office.

Made in Stoke at Minton's.

And here it is, a lovely plaque worth

?1,000.

That's lovely, that's really lovely.

Well, I talked about Trentham at the beginning

of the programme and how it had changed.

I didn't think I'd get to meet a mum and her three daughters

who could tell me so much about it. And bring me this as well.

Thank you so much. Oh, you're welcome. Thank you.

When I first knew I was coming to Stoke with the Roadshow,

Trentham Park, I had an idea what I might see.

What I didn't expect to see was a naked woman wrestling a goat.

So tell me, what's the story? How did this come into your life?

Well, I've been interested in ceramics for a long time.

I saw this came up at auction and I'd never seen such a large piece.

Technically, it would be quite difficult to make something like

this without, say, the arms drooping or the legs of the goat bending.

Yes. And nobody else seemed to be interested

and I could afford it, so I bought it.

Right. Right. So, at home, where do you have it?

Is it pride of place?

Well, sort of, yeah.

Cos she's got no clothes on, she's on the mantelpiece, above the fire.

Right, keeping warm.

Cos you can't, she's too long to turn round all the time,

so we have a mirror at the back, so you can see all round.

Right, see her attributes to their full. Yes.

And why not?

Well, shall we take a closer look at her?

I mean, she's here, so she's rather an athletic girl,

it's got to be said.

And locked in combat with this goat.

I'm not sure if she's got it by the horns

and is dragging it towards her or if it's about to give her a butt,

so she's resisting it. Certainly, it's an action piece.

And the first thing that strikes me when I saw it,

is this wonderful face.

This almost puckish, mischievous expression.

It really, really is great.

And this wonderful sort of 1920s bobbed hairstyle.

Look a bit closer. There is a mark on it.

It says "A Gory, Paris." I'm sure you've seen that.

Affortunato Gory was an Italian sculptor

who studied in Florence

and he was active from 1895 to about 1925.

He was particularly known for his works in bronze.

and had a thing for nudes, you might be surprised to learn.

This is going to date to around about 1920 or thereabouts.

And it's a fabulous thing.

It shouts, in fact, it screams Art Deco.

In the best way.

It's fun, it's nice, it's decorative, it's very decorative.

I can see this striking a chord in a sale room today.

Now, you say you found it in an auction. How long ago was that?

2005.

I think, if she were to come up at auction today,

just on decorative appeal alone,

I think she should easily make between 300 and ?500. Mm.

I think it shows as well,

that there are still bargains to be had.

You've clearly got a good eye.

You found this, you love her, you enjoy it.

And thank you for bringing it in.

Well done, you. Thank you.

Well, we may well be in Trentham Gardens today,

but you've brought a little bit of Hollywood to this

part of Staffordshire. Mm-hmm.

And if I can name drop,

you have brought along a garment,

which we're going to look at in a moment,

which once belonged to Maria de los Dolores Asunsolo Lopez-Negrete.

Really? Now, I don't normally sort of read

things from papers on this programme,

but that's a name that doesn't quite roll off the tongue.

But we know her better as... Dolores del Rio.

Dolores del Rio.

Way back in the '20s and the '30s, '40s,

she was the female answer to Rudolph Valentino. True.

She was said to have the most beautiful face in Christendom.

You know all this because you are the owner of this amazing shawl.

I am. I have kept it for 30 years.

It was given to my daughter when she was about 18.

But as children these days leave all their belongings with you

when they leave home, I've still got it.

I'm led to believe it belonged to a friend.

Marjorie Trueman.

She'd been an art student

and she often entered competitions in newspapers and this was a prize.

Well, let's have a look at the prize.

It's being modelled here by Annie. Annie, could you...?

I mean, always wanted to say this. Could you give us a twirl?

Could you give us...? Just give it... Just... There we go.

Thank you very much indeed.

The weird thing about your shawl is that, you know,

from the floral composition, which is all hand-stitched,

it has got a sort of a Chinese look to it. Hasn't it?

But, I mean, the long tassels and everything else, they are made

for movement, rather like a shimmy dress of the same period.

So when you wore that and walked from A to B, people would notice.

They would. Now, what is interesting...

With anything like this, you need provenance, don't you?

And if we pay close attention, we can see the very same garment

being worn by Dolores, probably sometime in the 1930s.

I would think so. I would've thought.

So I would probably estimate your shawl at auction at somewhere

between ?3,000 to ?5,000.

CROWD GASPS CROWD MEMBER: Wow!

Wow. SHE CHUCKLES

I should warn you that what you said earlier about your daughter

not coming back for things...

That may well change once she finds out...

Yes, I think it might suddenly disappear. OK. Thank you.

One thing I love to do

when I get a spare bit of time is to wander around country houses.

And one place I always head for in country houses is

the gentleman's desk,

the aristocrat's desk -

the powerhouse of the house, if you like.

And the desk seal,

the little tiny seal used to imprint an impression on a wax seal on

a document or a letter is something that always catches my eye. Yes.

And I have to say that if I could collect one thing, and I don't need

to start collecting another thing, it would probably be desk seals.

I'm so delighted that someone has started to collect them.

What kicked you off? Well, they were my father's.

He was a postal historian,

and in the early '70s, we used to go round to stamp and postcard fairs,

and I'm afraid I got sent ahead of time to have a look and see if

I could find a seal and, you know, sort of negotiate on his behalf.

So you were young, nimble and athletic, and sort of sent off

to flutter your eyelids to try and get a good deal on these things.

Sure. What were you paying?

It could be...not very much.

You know, we could get them for as little as perhaps ?5, ?15,

?30, ?35.

So how many did he collect? I think there's about 127.

Wow.

Well, they've got a great history.

They date right back to sort of ancient Roman and Egyptian times...

Right. ..and Mesopotamian times. Mm-hm.

Sealing official documents,

wax began to be used in the 10th century.

But they really peeked in sort of the Georgian period

and the Victorian period.

And most of these date from, I believe, the Victorian period.

Right. And many different types of materials, from gold to all

these hard stones, from chalcedony all the way through to agate.

So variety abounds,

and I think it is that that really appeals to most collectors.

They were often engraved on the base,

so if we pick up this one here, which is my favourite...

So just on the base here,

they'd be engraved in intaglio, so they've been engraved inside... Yes.

..with an armorial, or a coat of arms,

or something that had a meaning to its owner. Yes.

This one in particular I adore.

So backwards, we have here - settled with thanks.

And I love this one because just above it -

it was obviously for invoices - there's a little sort of hanged man.

The invoice is dead, I suppose. Yes, he's rather nice, isn't he?

I mean, I should imagine something like that would probably

fetch ?150, ?200. Really?

That's jolly nice.

They are quite sought-after things. Are they? Oh. Right.

That's nice news. It's not just me that would like to collect them,

and your father, of course. Values do vary widely. Sure.

And it comes down to materials

and also the quality of manufacture and the detail.

So a little piece like this with its mother-of-pearl handle, you're

probably not looking at certainly under ?100, I would've thought.

But some of these wonderful hard stone pieces -

there's fantastic hard stone here -

we're talking ?300, ?400, ?500 even. Really?

It's not a bad return when you were spending sort of ?5,

?10, ?30, is it? It was worth a look, wasn't it?

So how many did you have again?

127.

So even if we said 127 at ?100,

which would be a ridiculously low valuation for them,

we're talking a considerable sum of money, aren't we?

That's really nice to hear. Well done, Father.

Do you think it would meet with his seal of approval?

I'm sure he'd be delighted. THEY LAUGH

Earlier this year, I did a major tour of North America's greatest

glass museums - Toledo, New York, Brooklyn and Corning.

And in these museums, the work of one of the great heroes

of American glass-making is prominently displayed.

And they look just like that,

and they are designed by Frederick Carder.

Now, I know that you know that he's not American at all.

No, he was born in Brierley Hill in 1863

and went over to Corning about 1903, I believe. OK.

And how do you know all this? What's it to do with you?

I'm his great-great-niece. Oooh!

So, tell us about what you know about him.

He started off at his parents' pottery,

and then he went over to America, over to Corning

and to Steuben Glass.

Yeah, but the story is slightly more complicated than that.

The essence is absolutely true.

What Frederick Carder was, was the technical artistic

director of Stevens Williams.

They were a major...the best glass makers in Stourbridge

at the end of the 19th century - 1890, 1900.

And Carder was dispatched on a fact-finding mission to the States.

He was supposed to go and do industrial espionage, nick all their

best ideas, bring them back and feed them into Stevens Williams.

But what did he do? He took the money and stayed.

They saw his talent, which was certainly undeniable,

and they said, "Will you stay? And we'll play you a fortune."

And he became pretty much the leading glass designer

in America of his age, in the Art Nouveau period.

And his stuff is distinguished by this iridescence.

This is called Aurene.

And it's not difficult to know that

because it's exactly what it says on the bottom - Aurene.

And then there's the 232, which is the shape.

So Aurene is the range of this iridescence glass

and 232 is the specific model.

The market for this is in America,

where he is lauded as a glass-making hero.

And if you were to sell this,

they would have to pay ?300 to ?400 for it, which is

nothing compared to the family connection between you

and a design by your great-great-uncle.

And I think that's magical. And I'm so chuffed you came along.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

So you brought in a photograph album, which belonged to your uncle.

He was one of the secretaries to Mrs Gandhi. Prime minister of India.

First lady prime minister of India. Yes.

I can see from the ciphers on this that it's a saddle cloth

from the 17th Lancers, the Death or Glory Boys.

It belonged to Colonel Samuel Boderson,

who led the charge at the Battle of Ulundi in 1874.

Against the Zulus? Against the Zulus, yes.

And he's obvious travelled widely

because there's sort of Downing Street,

there's one there of the Kremlin.

Mrs Gandhi with Fidel Castro.

Here she is, obviously, quite a lot later on with Ronald Reagan.

It's fantastic, really. Yeah, he did travel everywhere with Mrs Gandhi.

This incredibly embellished saddle cloth would have gone over

the horse, and the saddle would have gone on top of it.

And you've got an oil painting of his horse,

presumably that is the saddle cloth.

We... It must be. Yes, it was found in a loft, that picture.

Well, I think it's quite a significant document

of Indian politics throughout

the mid-to-latter part of the 20th century.

You know, I would've thought it might be worth ?500 to ?1,000.

Well, it's not for sale. Yeah.

Well, obviously, it's part of your family history. It is.

Thank you very much.

It's quite a scarce object, you know. They don't turn up very often.

What's it worth?

I guess, the painting, the photograph,

the saddle cloth, it's going to be worth at auction today

somewhere in the region of ?2,000.

2,000?

Well, that's nice.

So you queued up to the Antiques Roadshow with a brick. Yes.

Tell me about the brick.

Well, it was found in our garden when we moved house.

My husband looked at it and he said, "Wow, it's Longton Hall!"

Now, he is a Longton Hall china fanatic.

And he couldn't believe that the brick was made by Longton Hall.

We've had it for 15 years and he's cherished it.

THEY LAUGH

It's fabulous. I mean, you...

I mean, thankfully,

you've also brought this wonderful

coloured figure from the Longton Hall factory.

And of course, Longton Hall was the first porcelain factory

in Staffordshire.

And it ran from 1750 to 1760.

And she is a lovely example. She's really pretty. Yes.

I suppose, at the time, she's competing with figures

made at Chelsea and Bow and Derby.

But she's a lovely theatrical figure.

But in terms of compare and contrast...

Yes, I think he's got every book on Longton Hall.

And we lived... As children, we lived near to Longton Hall.

Well, we are Longtonians.

Is it on display in the display cabinet?

SHE LAUGHS

It's hidden. It's hidden? It was on display for a while...

It is a little secret of shame. ..in the kitchen.

But the brick, of course, didn't come from the porcelain factory.

It's not porcelain, it's brick.

And it's a 19th-century thing, it's not an 18th...

It's not 250 years old, it's sometime in the last century.

So I assume it comes from what, the colliery? Longton Hall colliery?

Yes. It must be. But what a wonderful thing to have. Yes.

I can't say the brick's got much commercial value.

I wouldn't expect it to.

But the figure is charming. She has got a little bit of damage

here and there. Yes, we did realise that.

And she is broken in the waste.

But she's a rare figure, she's a very colourful.

She's... I suppose, in the market today,

she's worth, what?

?800, maybe ?1,000. Really?

Is she? She's a great thing. She's a lovely thing. Wow.

Oh, good. SHE LAUGHS

Thank you. Thanks for your interest.

The subject of this gorgeous little oil painting is very

different to the beautiful gardens of Trentham behind us.

And of course, it's signed lower left - AT Hibbard,

which I know as Aldro Thompson Hibbard,

an American artist.

So we're going all the way to America.

And it's a gorgeous little oil painting.

Tell me how it's come so far.

Well, I inherited it many years ago.

My father's sister lived in America,

and she collected a lot of paintings.

And when she died, my father was an executor with his brother.

And they decided it would be nice

if all the members of the family had one of her paintings.

So I just picked out a snow scene,

and that is what arrived from America.

And it has lived with us ever since. He was born in Cape Cod, 1886.

He comes to Europe just before the First World War.

But he settles back in Rockport.

He studies at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

It's believed he studied under the great

American Impressionist artist Frank Benson.

But later on, he got very much a name for himself

and he became the sort of

New England artist for winter scenes.

And I think this little picture,

although he painted much bigger canvases,

really sums him up as a great kind of colourist,

a great plein air painter, a man who would paint literally on the spot.

There's not a great deal of white.

No. I mean, that's the cleverness about it.

You get that hue, that beautiful winter hue.

And I love the little cottages in the front, too.

The date of this picture is quite difficult

because he painted the same sorts of subjects for quite some decades.

But I would date it to about 1940 to 1950. Ah.

Very collectible, actually.

There are a lot of collectors that buy his pictures

and compete at auction for them. Oh.

And in terms of value, for this gorgeous, vibrant,

lovely little picture, ?3,000 to ?5,000.

GASPING: You're joking!

I had no... 3,000 to 5,000? Good heavens.

Gosh. SHE LAUGHS

Yes, I'm just sort of trying to work out who he's meant to be.

That's not really a Staffordshire costume, is it?

SHE LAUGHS Is that how people dress locally?

Well, I don't know.

Well, just look. He's wearing robes there.

And it looks like a little round bobble hat there.

But I guess I think he's meant to be a Chinaman. I think so.

Do you think so? So, family history?

It's been in the family a very, very long time.

Grandpa would always speak of it,

and his father would always speak fondly of it.

So it has been in the family a long, long time.

So this was your grandfather's. Did he tell you anything about it?

I always remember as a child I'd sit on his knee

and it'd sit on the mantelpiece. And he just...

He'd always make the joke that it's a Chinaman,

but he's from Staffordshire. THEY LAUGH

So, is it your figure? Has it come down to you?

Um, no, it's still a family figure. Yeah. Do you like it?

I love it cos it's so unique-looking and it's such a character.

Yes. I mean, there is so little to it.

I mean, we've got here a very sort of simple, crude, clumsy figure.

There's not really much to look at at all.

SHE LAUGHS But I suppose we can forgive that

because it does have quite a bit of age.

It goes back...

Well, I suppose we're looking at the middle of the 18th century.

Wow. We're going back to

around about, well, 1750s, '60s.

Something like that. Quite a long time ago.

And it was made here in the potteries.

It is an early piece of Staffordshire

and actually quite a rare figure indeed. So...

At that time, most china, most good ceramics came from the Orient, came

from China, and I'd have guessed that must be the inspiration here.

They're copying the idea of a little Chinese figurine that might

have come from a Chinese temple and been imported.

And they've made their own version in Staffordshire clay. Ah!

This would have been made in a small family firm,

just somewhere in the area

all those years ago.

The piece is made in a simple cream and then it is decorated,

well, very big basic splashes.

One can see... I guess here, that little mottling.

I think that's what we would call sponging. Yeah.

Could you imagine just getting a simple sponge and decorating

it there? Patting it on.

You can't get much more naive than that, can you?

There's very little to him.

And in the past, these have been referred

to as Wedgwood Wheeldon figures or just as Wheeldon.

And to find him surviving from 1750s

and with... There's no damage!

I mean, it's in incredible condition.

No wonder it's treasured.

It's quite expensive. How about...

..?5,000, ?6,000? CROWD GASPS

Wow.

Well, that is exactly what we hoped to see.

We couldn't come to Staffordshire, to what was once

the playground of the potteries, without seeing a nice bit of china.

And here we have it.

Lovely piece of early Wedgewood Wheeldon.

Perfect.

From Trentham Gardens and the Antiques Roadshow, bye-bye.

They might tell me one of my twins has died.

They are not going to say that baby.