0:00:46 > 0:00:49Today, the Antiques Roadshow is delighted to be back at Ightham Mote
0:00:49 > 0:00:51near Sevenoaks in Kent.
0:00:51 > 0:00:57And look, here in this medieval courtyard is this huge dog kennel.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01It was built in the 1890s for a Saint Bernard - what else? - called Dido,
0:01:01 > 0:01:05and it's the only dog kennel in the whole of the land to be Grade I listed.
0:01:05 > 0:01:07Let's hope none of our team end up in it later!
0:01:10 > 0:01:15After the National Trust acquired this 14th-century moated manor house
0:01:15 > 0:01:17in the late 1980s,
0:01:17 > 0:01:20they undertook what was then their biggest conservation project,
0:01:20 > 0:01:23to preserve its 700-year-old history.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27This involved stripping back its many layers,
0:01:27 > 0:01:30which revealed a few unexpected finds.
0:01:34 > 0:01:38Graffiti was discovered on some windowpanes, like this one, and it reads -
0:01:38 > 0:01:44you can see it there - "Ann East April 1791".
0:01:44 > 0:01:45Now, we know she didn't live here,
0:01:45 > 0:01:48but she must have been a pretty upper-class visitor,
0:01:48 > 0:01:52because it's believed this was etched onto the glass using a diamond.
0:01:56 > 0:01:58To maintain the historical integrity of the building,
0:01:58 > 0:02:02the National Trust decided to conserve the house with the same features it
0:02:02 > 0:02:05had when they acquired it in 1985,
0:02:05 > 0:02:08and so many of these older finds have been hidden away again.
0:02:08 > 0:02:11But there are a couple that can be accessed on special occasions,
0:02:11 > 0:02:17like this one. This is a Victorian balustrade, but behind here...
0:02:17 > 0:02:19I've been given special permission to do this...
0:02:19 > 0:02:22There it is.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25It's a secret compartment, and if I lift it out...
0:02:27 > 0:02:32..what you can see here is a trompe l'oeil - an illusion of a balustrade -
0:02:32 > 0:02:34that was painted directly onto the wall.
0:02:34 > 0:02:38And what's remarkable about it, is this dates back to the 1600s.
0:02:40 > 0:02:43The conservation work took 20 years to complete,
0:02:43 > 0:02:45and cost about £10 million.
0:02:49 > 0:02:50And here's another interesting fact for you.
0:02:50 > 0:02:55There are 35,000 cobblestones in this courtyard,
0:02:55 > 0:02:59and we know this because every single one was taken up and numbered during
0:02:59 > 0:03:02the restoration, before being put back in its place.
0:03:05 > 0:03:08I'm sure our specialists will take the same level of care and attention
0:03:08 > 0:03:11with the objects on this week's Antiques Roadshow.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13Let's see what the people of Sevenoaks and beyond have brought in.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20This is a classic Victorian painting.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24People often ask me how I know who a picture is by.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28I just look at these children, I know straightaway who the artist is.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30It's Charles Hunt, it can't be anybody else.
0:03:30 > 0:03:35- What do you know about it?- Well, we inherited it from my wife's father,
0:03:35 > 0:03:39and the reason that he bought it - about 30 years ago, I imagine -
0:03:39 > 0:03:44was because he was a member of the Worshipful Company of Makers of Playing Cards.
0:03:44 > 0:03:47- Really?- It's a City of London livery company.
0:03:47 > 0:03:50- I never knew that!- Yep. It was formed in 1628,
0:03:50 > 0:03:53during the reign of King Charles I.
0:03:53 > 0:03:57And the purpose of the company was to protect the London makers of
0:03:57 > 0:03:59playing cards from cheap foreign imports.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02- Quite right.- Yes, absolutely, yes!
0:04:02 > 0:04:06And, as members of the family I'm a member of the company as well,
0:04:06 > 0:04:09and my brother-in-law, and my son.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12So, it's the sentimental value for us.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14Well, what a fantastic thing to have,
0:04:14 > 0:04:18because this is a really good example by Charles Hunt.
0:04:18 > 0:04:23He was born in 1829 and died in 1900.
0:04:23 > 0:04:25The Victorians stuck to the same subject matter,
0:04:25 > 0:04:28and Charles' speciality was children.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31But what a fantastic subject.
0:04:31 > 0:04:36Here we've got two children building a card castle, and the old boy,
0:04:36 > 0:04:38or the old fisherman, looking on.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42I love the flowers in his hair, the old portrait on the wall there.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46I mean, this is a classic one, and a large one by him.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49For your information, the signature is right here,
0:04:49 > 0:04:51and he quite often does, like, graffiti on the wall.
0:04:51 > 0:04:54You've got graffiti on the wall, and you've got "Charles Hunt" here,
0:04:54 > 0:04:56and then I think there's a date, which I can't quite make out.
0:04:56 > 0:04:58But it's wonderful.
0:04:58 > 0:05:00So, what's it worth?
0:05:00 > 0:05:07Well, I think today this would make somewhere in the region of
0:05:07 > 0:05:09£5,000-£7,000.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12Wow. That's wonderful.
0:05:12 > 0:05:14I'm not selling!
0:05:14 > 0:05:19Maybe not, but I will tell you that had you asked me to value this in
0:05:19 > 0:05:241988 or '89, I would have been saying probably £6,000-£9,000 then.
0:05:24 > 0:05:27It just shows you how fashions change.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29But this will have its day again.
0:05:29 > 0:05:30In fact, it's having its day again now.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33I'm so glad to have seen it, it's a wonderful one by him.
0:05:33 > 0:05:34Thank you very much indeed.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38Well, I really like these sort of things, because, for me,
0:05:38 > 0:05:41this is a proper antique, not like all this modern stuff.
0:05:41 > 0:05:43This is 300 years old...
0:05:43 > 0:05:46- What?- 300 years old, but...
0:05:47 > 0:05:49..I want you to guess where it's from.
0:05:49 > 0:05:54Is it from China, is it from Japan, or is it from Korea?
0:05:54 > 0:05:55I think it's from China.
0:05:56 > 0:05:58I'm just guessing.
0:05:58 > 0:06:02- Why do you think it's from China? - Um, s...
0:06:04 > 0:06:08I don't know, actually. I just thought it might come from China, yeah.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11This vase is a lesson in Japanese ceramics.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14- Really?- Yeah. There are three points which tell me in every way that this
0:06:14 > 0:06:18is Japanese. The first one is the colour of this cobalt blue,
0:06:18 > 0:06:20it's got a rather inky colour to it.
0:06:20 > 0:06:23The Chinese one would probably be brighter than this.
0:06:23 > 0:06:29The next thing, which I don't think you ever see it on Chinese ceramics,
0:06:29 > 0:06:31is this scroll border.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33It's called a karakuza scroll,
0:06:33 > 0:06:35and it's supposed to be derived from octopus tentacles.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38That is very specifically Japanese.
0:06:38 > 0:06:41And the last thing, if we turn it up and look at the base...
0:06:44 > 0:06:45..it's got five little spur marks.
0:06:45 > 0:06:48That's something you wouldn't see on a Chinese vase, either.
0:06:48 > 0:06:52- OK.- That's to stop the base falling, and you see it on dishes, as well.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54Put all those things together,
0:06:54 > 0:06:59you have a marvellous 300-year-old Japanese vase made in Arita.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01It's lovely, it's a proper antique.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04It is painted with chrysanthemums, it's really lush,
0:07:04 > 0:07:05it should have had a cover on it.
0:07:05 > 0:07:11Yes, it did. It was broken, and it got thrown away, and it became a lamp.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14My father made a wooden top for it and put a lampshade on it.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16That's a pretty senior lamp.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20- Yeah.- When this vase was made, it was made for the export market.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22So, it was made in 1700, thereabouts.
0:07:22 > 0:07:27It was designed to be placed in one of the grand houses of Europe,
0:07:27 > 0:07:30in Britain you would find things like this in Hampton Court Palace.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32They would have gone into royal households.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35And so it was a very, very smart piece of porcelain.
0:07:35 > 0:07:38I would be thrilled to have that as a lamp in my drawing room!
0:07:38 > 0:07:39THEY LAUGH
0:07:39 > 0:07:42- Have you had it valued before? - No, no, I just inherited it.
0:07:42 > 0:07:46My mother died a few years ago, and my mother used to go to house sales,
0:07:46 > 0:07:47and that's where I think she got it.
0:07:47 > 0:07:49Well, well done, her. I think it's fabulous.
0:07:49 > 0:07:53When it comes to its value today at auction, it's missing its cover,
0:07:53 > 0:07:55it would have had a pair to it.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58It's probably less than I think it should be.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00If this was Chinese it would be worth five times as much.
0:08:00 > 0:08:04- Yeah.- I think now at auction, it's £800-£1200.
0:08:04 > 0:08:06- Really? As much as that? - No, as little as that!
0:08:06 > 0:08:10LAUGHTER
0:08:10 > 0:08:11I think it's a wonderful thing.
0:08:14 > 0:08:17These pincushions take us back to a different era,
0:08:17 > 0:08:20when ladies like you and I would be sitting
0:08:20 > 0:08:22in a wonderful room like here,
0:08:22 > 0:08:25sewing, because that was an acceptable thing for us to do,
0:08:25 > 0:08:28and showed that we were cultured, and we had leisure time.
0:08:28 > 0:08:29- Yes.- Where did you get these?
0:08:29 > 0:08:33Well, I found them in my late cousin's attic,
0:08:33 > 0:08:38and I've worked out that they belonged to her great-grandmother.
0:08:38 > 0:08:40So this was obviously a lady of leisure.
0:08:40 > 0:08:42- Yes.- Who was she married to?
0:08:42 > 0:08:47Well, she was married to my cousin's great-grandfather Edward Joy,
0:08:47 > 0:08:53who used his own father's knowledge of how to produce oil from linseed
0:08:53 > 0:08:55and rape to found an oil company.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59And that oil company, Edward Joy and Sons,
0:08:59 > 0:09:05provided the oil for Stephenson's number one locomotive and the rocket,
0:09:05 > 0:09:08and Scott of the Antarctic, and Shackleton,
0:09:08 > 0:09:10but unfortunately their oil froze.
0:09:11 > 0:09:15So, obviously all that wealth allowed this lady to indulge her passion for sewing.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19Quite a few of these have obviously been handmade -
0:09:19 > 0:09:22probably by the lady herself - and others are commercial.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26Now, we're really talking about early 19th century,
0:09:26 > 0:09:30so, you know, 1815, 1820.
0:09:30 > 0:09:32There obviously was a little Scottish connection here.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35- Yes.- Because of the thistle.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39We read that it was in memory of the death of
0:09:39 > 0:09:42Princess Charlotte in November 1817.
0:09:42 > 0:09:45Exactly, so that dates it very nicely for us
0:09:45 > 0:09:47to that very interesting period.
0:09:47 > 0:09:52And so you've got this absolutely charming little cage.
0:09:52 > 0:09:54- That's my favourite.- All the mice in the cage.
0:09:54 > 0:09:58I mean, that is really very, very unusual.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01And also, the little chair over here.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03- I love that one.- The beadwork.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05And those beautiful little bellows.
0:10:05 > 0:10:09So, all these things are about sitting round the fireside.
0:10:09 > 0:10:10Yes. And the cards,
0:10:10 > 0:10:13which I think they might have been playing cards together, as well.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16Absolutely. This is telling us about this leisurely society,
0:10:16 > 0:10:18but also somebody who is quite wealthy,
0:10:18 > 0:10:20who's got the time and the inclination.
0:10:20 > 0:10:24And what is interesting now is that sewing sort of went out of fashion.
0:10:24 > 0:10:30- Yes.- But nowadays, with programmes on television about sewing,
0:10:30 > 0:10:34it's coming back into fashion, and these can only go up in value.
0:10:34 > 0:10:39- Oh, really?- I would say that this little cage,
0:10:39 > 0:10:44the chair, this little bellows, the cards, and this,
0:10:44 > 0:10:47would certainly fetch £100 each.
0:10:47 > 0:10:48Really? Goodness.
0:10:48 > 0:10:53The collection, I would say, would be easily £600-£700.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56Goodness me!
0:10:56 > 0:10:59Extraordinary, really, for such tiny things.
0:10:59 > 0:11:00Oh, I'm amazed.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06Well, if you asked me to close my eyes and think of somewhere impossibly
0:11:06 > 0:11:08remote to where we are now in Ightham Mote,
0:11:08 > 0:11:11think of somewhere on the other side of the world,
0:11:11 > 0:11:14I might say the South Seas, the South Pacific, just like that.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16And this is, in a sense, where you're taking me here,
0:11:16 > 0:11:18with what you've brought me.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21This manuscript, this pile of manuscripts.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23Let's just have a look. The title of this is
0:11:23 > 0:11:25"Upolu or A Paradise of The Gods,
0:11:25 > 0:11:31"being a description of the antiquities of the chief island of the Samoan group".
0:11:31 > 0:11:34I couldn't have predicted that I was going to be taken there today.
0:11:34 > 0:11:35What are these? Tell me about them.
0:11:35 > 0:11:40They are manuscripts and drawings put together by a man called
0:11:40 > 0:11:45Handley Bathurst Sterndale, who is my wife Bridget's great-great-uncle.
0:11:45 > 0:11:50He travelled widely in the 19th century and got to Australia and
0:11:50 > 0:11:52the Polynesian islands in the late 19th century,
0:11:52 > 0:11:54where he put his story together,
0:11:54 > 0:11:57and produced the extraordinary line drawings.
0:11:57 > 0:12:00Let's have a look at it, I'm dying to look at the images in this album.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04This is the first image in the book, and even this, I have to say,
0:12:04 > 0:12:06I'm slightly dumbstruck by.
0:12:06 > 0:12:09This is entitled "The chief of Falealili and his family".
0:12:09 > 0:12:14So this is an indigenous Samoan family, as seen through the eyes,
0:12:14 > 0:12:17through the lens, of Mr Sterndale, our traveller.
0:12:17 > 0:12:20I'm sort of trying to think what he would've made of a scene like this,
0:12:20 > 0:12:25and how he processed it in his mind to turn it into this extraordinary image.
0:12:25 > 0:12:28The women are seminaked, it's a dark interior,
0:12:28 > 0:12:31wonderfully lit by this torch burning in the background.
0:12:31 > 0:12:33It's a really dramatic picture.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36They are extraordinary, and beautifully done, I think.
0:12:36 > 0:12:38Beautifully done is really true, isn't it?
0:12:38 > 0:12:40I think they're exquisitely executed.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43You could look at these under a lens for hours and see the craftsmanship
0:12:43 > 0:12:46and the work that has gone into this.
0:12:46 > 0:12:50This isn't an amateur sketch, this is a very heavily finished drawing,
0:12:50 > 0:12:51perhaps made from an earlier sketch.
0:12:51 > 0:12:54But let's have a look at a couple more.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Again, there's something really very curious about these,
0:12:57 > 0:12:59it's something which brings you up short.
0:12:59 > 0:13:03Of course a traveller in Samoa in the 19th century would be excited
0:13:03 > 0:13:08and slightly at a loss to know how to depict what he was seeing,
0:13:08 > 0:13:11but these are amazing. This is "Veki, or a great rock squid".
0:13:11 > 0:13:14This is the rock squid which he, presumably, saw.
0:13:14 > 0:13:16Perhaps invented, but probably was there.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19There's almost a cartoon element about that, isn't there?
0:13:19 > 0:13:23Turn on a couple more pages, again,
0:13:23 > 0:13:25"Koviu, or a great land crab of Sir Francis Drake".
0:13:25 > 0:13:29So, these extraordinarily huge crabs on a beach.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32This is Robinson Crusoe, isn't it?
0:13:32 > 0:13:34This is quite clearly an image of Robinson Crusoe,
0:13:34 > 0:13:36drawn from a picture in his mind,
0:13:36 > 0:13:39probably from reading exploration and travel stories.
0:13:39 > 0:13:40And this bat flying overhead.
0:13:40 > 0:13:43And clearly, he was interested in how local people lived,
0:13:43 > 0:13:46so of course he would have been interested in the architecture,
0:13:46 > 0:13:48thatched huts, palm trees above,
0:13:48 > 0:13:51and I think he was very interested in faces, too.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55I think his faces show a real care of observation.
0:13:55 > 0:13:59He's interested to put across expression but also attitude.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01This is an extraordinary picture.
0:14:01 > 0:14:03These are people armed to the teeth.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05He's wearing a tin helmet, here.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07And when I first opened it,
0:14:07 > 0:14:11I saw that there was actually an explanation on this first page about
0:14:11 > 0:14:12how Sterndale created these pictures,
0:14:12 > 0:14:16and I think it's worth looking at in detail. Look at this.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19"The drawing materials used were of the rudest kind,
0:14:19 > 0:14:21"no better being there obtainable.
0:14:21 > 0:14:25"Chiefly, painted bones, pens of quill or tortoiseshell,
0:14:25 > 0:14:28"the lead of bullets, the down of birds,
0:14:28 > 0:14:31"and the black paint used by savages for tattooing,
0:14:31 > 0:14:34"which is made from the smoke of the candlenut,
0:14:34 > 0:14:38"and the contents of the black sac of the sepia or great cuttlefish".
0:14:38 > 0:14:40So, whatever he could get his hands on!
0:14:40 > 0:14:44Absolutely, but what an extraordinary result he's created.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48I think you can tell I'm quite excited by these,
0:14:48 > 0:14:51and I'd like to think a bit about value.
0:14:51 > 0:14:55It's got a great deal in its favour. Of course it's unique. Samoa.
0:14:55 > 0:14:57I see manuscripts from all over the world,
0:14:57 > 0:15:00and travel manuscripts, people are very excited by.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03If this were an Australian manuscript, people would be very excited by it.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06But Samoa, you simply don't see.
0:15:06 > 0:15:11It's also a place which has amazing resonance in all sorts of literary culture.
0:15:11 > 0:15:14Think about Robert Lewis Stevenson,
0:15:14 > 0:15:19who was based in Samoa shortly after this, and wrote a lot about Samoa.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23This is before Stevenson was in Samoa.
0:15:23 > 0:15:24So, what shall we put on it?
0:15:25 > 0:15:31I think I'm really happy to put a figure of between £20,000 and £30,000 on it.
0:15:31 > 0:15:33Really?
0:15:33 > 0:15:36Well, I'm amazed!
0:15:36 > 0:15:38But, as you'll probably often hear,
0:15:38 > 0:15:42this is more important to us as a family record than it is as a value.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45But we might take some care of it from now on!
0:15:45 > 0:15:48- I'm delighted to hear it!- Yes, not just shove it under the bed!
0:15:52 > 0:15:55So, when I was young, decorating the Christmas tree was always a sort
0:15:55 > 0:16:00of... It was full of joy and colour, baubles and stars.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03I'm just looking at this collection of glass and card Christmas
0:16:03 > 0:16:06decorations here, and hammers and sickles on stars.
0:16:06 > 0:16:10These aren't the decorations that we used. What's the story?
0:16:10 > 0:16:13Well, this is a collection of the Soviet New Year tree decorations.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16So you say New Year tree, not Christmas tree, and that's important, isn't it?
0:16:16 > 0:16:20Because Christmas was sort of slightly problematic after the Revolution,
0:16:20 > 0:16:22and under the new Soviet regime, wasn't it?
0:16:22 > 0:16:24Yes, as a holiday it was banned,
0:16:24 > 0:16:27and did not exist until the Soviet Union collapsed.
0:16:27 > 0:16:30The tree itself was banned altogether,
0:16:30 > 0:16:33but unable to combat the traditions, what the Soviets did,
0:16:33 > 0:16:36they took the tree and moved it to the New Year, and said,
0:16:36 > 0:16:37we are going to have a New Year tree.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40Because you've got to have a holiday after all, haven't you?
0:16:40 > 0:16:42Yes, you do. And what they did,
0:16:42 > 0:16:45instead of putting angels and Bethlehem stars and other pretty things on it,
0:16:45 > 0:16:50the tree became a display for the current agenda in the country.
0:16:50 > 0:16:54The achievements, technology, goals, political stuff,
0:16:54 > 0:16:56that was all honoured.
0:16:56 > 0:16:59And subsequently, decorations were produced, ornaments were produced,
0:16:59 > 0:17:03to reflect that. So, you have hammers and sickles,
0:17:03 > 0:17:07you have a military angle in the form of a tank, believe it or not.
0:17:07 > 0:17:11Aeroplanes, because in the 1930s, the country was obsessed with flying.
0:17:11 > 0:17:13And this one is the one that intrigues me, as well.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15That's a corn, isn't it?
0:17:15 > 0:17:17Corn. Corn came much later.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21After we went through military, space, which as you can see,
0:17:21 > 0:17:23corn came under the Khrushchev times.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26And what happened is, in 1959,
0:17:26 > 0:17:30and you get the Khrushchev men to the United States, was the official state visit.
0:17:30 > 0:17:33He was so impressed with the American agricultural sector,
0:17:33 > 0:17:38that his next goal for the nation was, we must catch up and outrun America.
0:17:38 > 0:17:41He was also very impressed with growing corn.
0:17:41 > 0:17:43Of course, Russia is totally not suitable for it.
0:17:43 > 0:17:45Absolutely. But he made them do it, didn't he?
0:17:45 > 0:17:47Oh, yes he did. A total failure.
0:17:47 > 0:17:52But as a result, almost every Soviet family, for quite a while after that,
0:17:52 > 0:17:54had one of these on their tree.
0:17:54 > 0:17:57So this represents, in a way, what the Soviets wanted people to think.
0:17:57 > 0:18:01We were a new state, we were moving forward, everything was positive.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04Not positive in a pretty, sort of, joyous and colourful way,
0:18:04 > 0:18:07but it was about military might,
0:18:07 > 0:18:10conquering the skies and conquering outer space, as you say.
0:18:10 > 0:18:12By the 1950s and '60s,
0:18:12 > 0:18:15we start to see sky rockets as well as zeppelins of the '20s and '30s.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18So, did you use these pieces at home, are these family things?
0:18:18 > 0:18:22Some of them are, the rest of them I did collect in the '90s,
0:18:22 > 0:18:25just because I realised that the era is going away,
0:18:25 > 0:18:29and they will never be repeated, one hopes.
0:18:29 > 0:18:32I think, in terms of value, the very basic ones,
0:18:32 > 0:18:35I suppose you're looking at around, sort of, £5-£10.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39The larger ones, you're looking at maybe £15-£30,
0:18:39 > 0:18:41or even £40 for some of the ones in perfect condition.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44Were they the sorts of prices you were paying?
0:18:44 > 0:18:47- I mean, is that the sort of thing...?- I probably paid a little less.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51I would also add that some of the things are almost impossible to find now.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53And I think that is the most important thing about these.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55It's not the financial value,
0:18:55 > 0:18:58it's actually recording something and preserving something that says
0:18:58 > 0:19:01so much about an age which has passed,
0:19:01 > 0:19:03and hopefully will never come back again.
0:19:04 > 0:19:08It's lovely to meet two local ladies, both who are friends,
0:19:08 > 0:19:10and I gather you've both brought along the same painting.
0:19:10 > 0:19:12We have. Some years ago,
0:19:12 > 0:19:16after I moved into the village where Frances lives, they came to lunch,
0:19:16 > 0:19:19and her husband looked at the painting on our wall, and said,
0:19:19 > 0:19:22"I think I recognise that painting".
0:19:22 > 0:19:27And we then discovered that Frances and David had the other one hanging
0:19:27 > 0:19:30in their dining room, and they must be the same lady.
0:19:30 > 0:19:35So, this one is yours, and this one is in your home.
0:19:35 > 0:19:38Correct, yes. This was from my husband's aunt,
0:19:38 > 0:19:40it came down through the family,
0:19:40 > 0:19:44and we just couldn't believe when we sat there for lunch looking at the same picture.
0:19:44 > 0:19:46Have you done any research?
0:19:46 > 0:19:48Yes. We believe she's Victoria Caldonia,
0:19:48 > 0:19:51who posed in Rome for a lot of artists.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55And the original painting is in the Royal Collection.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59But this is a classic iconic image of the day, it's a symbol of beauty.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01- Yes.- When everybody would, well,
0:20:01 > 0:20:03wanted to hang these famous pictures at home,
0:20:03 > 0:20:06and just enjoy the art work.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08And these are really very different copies,
0:20:08 > 0:20:10because your one is in an oil painting,
0:20:10 > 0:20:12painted on canvas like the original,
0:20:12 > 0:20:15and similar in size and scale to the original,
0:20:15 > 0:20:18whereas your one is smaller,
0:20:18 > 0:20:21and this isn't canvas, this is porcelain.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23Yes, porcelain, yes.
0:20:23 > 0:20:24A different material indeed.
0:20:24 > 0:20:28I'm probably a bit biased because I love pots rather than paintings,
0:20:28 > 0:20:33but the painting is very finely executed as a direct copy of the oil.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36But here, such a different material to work on.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40The thing I've always loved is the way the pearl shines.
0:20:40 > 0:20:42You feel you can just pick it out of her hair.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45Yes, it's almost raised up, isn't it, a little bit there.
0:20:45 > 0:20:49- Yes, it is.- The process of painting onto porcelain is a rather complex affair.
0:20:49 > 0:20:53You don't just mix the colours like you would on an oil.
0:20:53 > 0:20:57The artist would take metal oxide, just powdered colour, mixed with oil,
0:20:57 > 0:20:59and painting them onto the glaze.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02And then it goes into a kiln at a huge temperature,
0:21:02 > 0:21:06and that little powdered glass melts and mixes together,
0:21:06 > 0:21:10and gradually over one, two, three, even ten firings,
0:21:10 > 0:21:14building up a few colours at a time, layer upon layer.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17So this work would have taken many months.
0:21:17 > 0:21:23Is that why this one is pink, the skirt, and that one blue?
0:21:23 > 0:21:26Visiting each other's homes and seeing them, you've probably
0:21:26 > 0:21:28noticed there's a spot the difference,
0:21:28 > 0:21:30you've been playing spot the difference!
0:21:30 > 0:21:33I suppose neither artist had the original in front of them,
0:21:33 > 0:21:36they usually copied them from books of engravings,
0:21:36 > 0:21:38they wouldn't even have seen the original.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40It was an exercise in copying.
0:21:40 > 0:21:43Whenever a porcelain painter, if he can, he doesn't use blue.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47Blue enamel tends to go powdery and decomposes a bit,
0:21:47 > 0:21:51so he may even have changed it on purpose, knowing that blue won't last.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54But the artist here, who's signed it,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57and there signed at the bottom, Otto Wustlich,
0:21:57 > 0:22:02and he's one of the best painters of porcelain plaques made at Berlin,
0:22:02 > 0:22:05and we're looking about 1850, 1860.
0:22:05 > 0:22:08It was the great time for Berlin porcelain painting.
0:22:08 > 0:22:14So, your copy as an oil painting, larger and very detailed,
0:22:14 > 0:22:16is not by anyone famous,
0:22:16 > 0:22:22and therefore a charming copy worth a few hundred pounds, £300 maybe.
0:22:22 > 0:22:23We just love having it.
0:22:23 > 0:22:25It's a great image all the same.
0:22:25 > 0:22:30- Yes.- But, simply because of the great work involved in making this
0:22:30 > 0:22:32in porcelain, you're the lucky one,
0:22:32 > 0:22:37because you've got the magic name of Wustlich on Berlin porcelain,
0:22:37 > 0:22:43and so there we multiply that one up to £6,000.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46I think I'd better take Carol out for lunch!
0:22:46 > 0:22:48LAUGHTER
0:22:49 > 0:22:52Gosh, that's amazing.
0:22:52 > 0:22:56And you can always go and visit the cheaper copy next door!
0:23:05 > 0:23:07LAUGHTER
0:23:15 > 0:23:18There's a name on this silver tray that you brought along connected to one
0:23:18 > 0:23:24of the greatest political scandals of modern times, Ivanov.
0:23:24 > 0:23:29- What can you tell me about it? - Ivanov was a Russian naval attache,
0:23:29 > 0:23:33who became infamous for sharing a mistress
0:23:33 > 0:23:36- with the Minister of War, Profumo. - John Profumo.
0:23:36 > 0:23:40- John Profumo.- So this is the name, let's find it here.
0:23:40 > 0:23:41Ivanov here.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44This is the signature of Ivanov.
0:23:44 > 0:23:48Yevgeny Ivanov. And let's remind ourselves, so this is 1961 we're talking,
0:23:48 > 0:23:51and he had an affair with Christine Keeler,
0:23:51 > 0:23:55who simultaneously had an affair with John Profumo,
0:23:55 > 0:23:56the Minister of Defence.
0:23:56 > 0:23:59And when this emerged in the public domain,
0:23:59 > 0:24:02that they were sharing a mistress,
0:24:02 > 0:24:05a suspected Soviet spy and the Minister of Defence,
0:24:05 > 0:24:07John Profumo had to resign, in 1963.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13How do you come to have Ivanov's name engraved on a silver plate?
0:24:13 > 0:24:18My father was a senior naval officer in the Israeli navy,
0:24:18 > 0:24:24and he was sent to London as a naval attache at the embassy in 1956.
0:24:24 > 0:24:27When he left, he got this as a farewell present,
0:24:27 > 0:24:32with all the signatures of all the then acting naval attaches.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36And did your father - I mean, having known Ivanov -
0:24:36 > 0:24:38did he suspect that he was a Soviet spy?
0:24:38 > 0:24:41Well, I was a child at the time.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44When this came to light I was always asking my father,
0:24:44 > 0:24:46"Were you a spy, too?"
0:24:46 > 0:24:48- Was he?- Well, he never acknowledged, so I don't know.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51You've got a picture there, what does that show us?
0:24:51 > 0:24:55Yes. This picture shows one of the banquets they used to have at the
0:24:55 > 0:24:59Dorchester Hotel and other, like, fabulous places.
0:24:59 > 0:25:01So this happens to be my mother,
0:25:01 > 0:25:05- sitting next to Ivanov. - Looking gorgeous.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08- So this is Yevgeny Ivanov here. - This is Yevgeny Ivanov, yes.
0:25:08 > 0:25:10How remarkable.
0:25:10 > 0:25:13Even people who have never heard of Ivanov,
0:25:13 > 0:25:14they've heard of the Profumo affair.
0:25:14 > 0:25:16It's a piece of our political history, this.
0:25:16 > 0:25:18- Yes, it is.- Fascinating.
0:25:24 > 0:25:27Well, there's nothing more intimate and personal
0:25:27 > 0:25:30than a Victorian lady's sewing box.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33And, I mean, this is a very good example.
0:25:33 > 0:25:35- Where did it come from? - It was from my grandmother.
0:25:35 > 0:25:37Well, it was always in my grandmother's house.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40So, as a child, I just remember it sitting on the side,
0:25:40 > 0:25:43and that's as far as I know about it. I don't know anything else about it.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46Well, let's have a look at what's inside,
0:25:46 > 0:25:51because it comes from an age of poetry and literature and romance.
0:25:51 > 0:25:54Sewing, of course, was a very acceptable craft,
0:25:54 > 0:25:57everything's mother-of-pearl, cut steel.
0:25:57 > 0:26:02And we've got the usual utensils and reels, indeed a thimble.
0:26:02 > 0:26:06But start lifting the lids, and there are just treasures galore,
0:26:06 > 0:26:10and the first piece is this amazing miniature tennis racket,
0:26:10 > 0:26:12a late Victorian one.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15And this was made, because it is signed on the handle,
0:26:15 > 0:26:18by Mordan & Company of London,
0:26:18 > 0:26:21who were specialists in small silverware.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23- Right.- And this, and I'm sure you've...
0:26:23 > 0:26:25Yes, as a child I remember writing with it.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28You remember writing, doing little drawings?
0:26:28 > 0:26:29- Yeah.- That's sweet.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32And this bears the date 1894.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34- Yes.- It's a very good little piece.
0:26:34 > 0:26:40And also, being actually from the great steel city of Sheffield myself,
0:26:40 > 0:26:44some miniature knife and fork, little penknife,
0:26:44 > 0:26:48and the most delicate pair of scissors I've ever seen!
0:26:48 > 0:26:52And they are still attached to the original cards on which they were
0:26:52 > 0:26:54purchased, which are embossed.
0:26:54 > 0:26:56And there on the back...
0:26:56 > 0:27:00"From Joseph Rogers & Sons of Sheffield".
0:27:00 > 0:27:01I mean, really fantastic.
0:27:02 > 0:27:08Now, I know when I saw you earlier that you'd been unable to get...
0:27:08 > 0:27:10- Lift the top out. - ..lift the tray out.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14- And so, in a way, we're going to reveal something...- What's inside?
0:27:14 > 0:27:16..that you never knew about,
0:27:16 > 0:27:18or if you did you were so small you've forgotten.
0:27:18 > 0:27:20- I've forgotten, exactly.- Yeah.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22So, shall we do it?
0:27:22 > 0:27:24- Yes, do.- OK, now I think if I just get...
0:27:24 > 0:27:26We did play around with this earlier.
0:27:27 > 0:27:28- Oh, Lord!- And there we are.
0:27:28 > 0:27:32It's just stuffed with more things.
0:27:32 > 0:27:37The first thing I saw inside was this delightful handkerchief,
0:27:37 > 0:27:40hand embroidered, with the name Marianne.
0:27:40 > 0:27:45Which is the same as, yeah, Mary Anne, that's the same.
0:27:45 > 0:27:50Right. So there's a little key for you to start your own research.
0:27:50 > 0:27:52And another, probably late Georgian piece,
0:27:52 > 0:27:57a silver mounted crushed morocco purse, just to slip into your bag.
0:27:57 > 0:27:59- Yes.- It sort of concertinas out,
0:27:59 > 0:28:03perhaps with a sovereign or a sixpence to get you home.
0:28:03 > 0:28:07And back to the sentimental side of things,
0:28:07 > 0:28:10things people sent to her would be kept in this box.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13There's something here with a romantic rose.
0:28:13 > 0:28:15- Isn't that beautiful?- Yeah.
0:28:15 > 0:28:20On the value front, the little tennis racket propelling pencil is
0:28:20 > 0:28:22£600-£800.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26The three little miniature utensils, I mean,
0:28:26 > 0:28:28they're clearly worth £100 each.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32And having totted up very quickly everything else,
0:28:32 > 0:28:35you've got contents alone of 2,000,
0:28:35 > 0:28:39maybe another 400 for the box, so 2,400.
0:28:39 > 0:28:41- Lovely.- Yeah. But it's more than money to you, isn't it?
0:28:41 > 0:28:46It's treasures, it's all those treasures I want to just now look through, certainly.
0:28:46 > 0:28:48Yeah, really excited. Thank you very much.
0:28:50 > 0:28:52What a fascinating urn you've brought in.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55I must admit, it wasn't an urn when I purchased it from a local auction,
0:28:55 > 0:28:57it was sold as a silver-plated ewer.
0:28:58 > 0:29:00Right, interesting.
0:29:00 > 0:29:02Well, it's certainly not a ewer.
0:29:02 > 0:29:06It is an urn, and it's also not electroplated.
0:29:06 > 0:29:08Which is good news to me, thank you very much.
0:29:08 > 0:29:10Well, I've done a bit of research on it as well,
0:29:10 > 0:29:13but I'd like you to confirm whether I'm right or wrong,
0:29:13 > 0:29:15- if that's possible.- OK, OK.
0:29:15 > 0:29:17So, what do you think it is?
0:29:17 > 0:29:20Well, it's got a H stamp on it, which I looked at on the internet,
0:29:20 > 0:29:24and it was dated 1799-1803, so I'm not sure about that.
0:29:24 > 0:29:27It's got a London hallmark on it as well, and it's got the initials
0:29:27 > 0:29:30JE, which is John Ewer, if I remember rightly,
0:29:30 > 0:29:34- but I'll have to check that one out. - Right, that's pretty good going.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37Right. 1803 is the actual date.
0:29:37 > 0:29:39Crikey.
0:29:39 > 0:29:42John Eames is the maker.
0:29:42 > 0:29:45And you're quite right, it was made in London.
0:29:45 > 0:29:48- Crikey.- Now, Eames is actually a very important maker.
0:29:48 > 0:29:51And he did produce quite a range of things.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54He had a very large market in sort of tea services.
0:29:54 > 0:29:59This sort of thing. But an urn like this could easily have formed part
0:29:59 > 0:30:01of quite an important tea service.
0:30:01 > 0:30:03It is fascinating,
0:30:03 > 0:30:06when you look, for example, we've got these Egyptian features.
0:30:06 > 0:30:08That's what brought it to my attention.
0:30:08 > 0:30:10Because I love them. I thought it was fantastic.
0:30:10 > 0:30:12That of course reflects the Battle of the Nile.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15- OK.- So you've got all the Napoleonic wars going on.
0:30:15 > 0:30:20The French actually did a lot more of this Egyptian work than we did.
0:30:20 > 0:30:24But the whole piece actually has quite a French feel, I have to say, to it.
0:30:24 > 0:30:28- Oh, really?- Designwise, rather more than the English Regency.
0:30:28 > 0:30:29Beautifully made.
0:30:29 > 0:30:31Absolutely beautifully made.
0:30:31 > 0:30:33Wonderful, all the decoration round here.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36If you notice in the background, it's just nicely textured.
0:30:36 > 0:30:38Various leaf work and so on.
0:30:38 > 0:30:42It really is a tour de force of craftsmanship.
0:30:42 > 0:30:45What did you pay for an electroplated ewer?
0:30:45 > 0:30:47OK, well, there's a bit of a story about that.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50I actually bought it for myself and have now given it to my mother
0:30:50 > 0:30:54because she saw something like this on a television programme...
0:30:54 > 0:30:57- Right.- And she fell in love with it. So I've now presented to her...
0:30:57 > 0:31:00- Lucky mother.- The price is, Mum, if you're watching, I'm sorry,
0:31:00 > 0:31:03- it was £90. In total.- £90.
0:31:03 > 0:31:05- Yes.- So do you feel you've overpaid?
0:31:05 > 0:31:09No, not by your description. I think I've underpaid drastically.
0:31:09 > 0:31:11I think you are absolutely right.
0:31:11 > 0:31:15The price on it today, it's a very unusual and rare piece.
0:31:15 > 0:31:18But urns are not popular,
0:31:18 > 0:31:21so you've got things pulling in different directions.
0:31:21 > 0:31:25But £90 paid for it, today at auction,
0:31:25 > 0:31:28I would say starting price would be 2,000.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32Crikey. OK. Mother, can I have it back?
0:31:32 > 0:31:34It could easily go to three.
0:31:34 > 0:31:38OK. Well, thank you very much for that good news.
0:31:38 > 0:31:40She'll be getting it back. It's going back to her.
0:31:40 > 0:31:42- So I won't keep it. - Let her enjoy it.
0:31:42 > 0:31:43Yes. She enjoys it thoroughly.
0:31:45 > 0:31:51In 1916 in a place called Kut, which is in their terms Mesopotamia,
0:31:51 > 0:31:54what we would call Iraq, there was a siege.
0:31:54 > 0:31:59It lasted months, as the Turkish forces besieged the British force,
0:31:59 > 0:32:02which was sort of bottled up in this town.
0:32:02 > 0:32:05And this man was actually there and at the end of that siege,
0:32:05 > 0:32:09he was taken prisoner. And then a voyage of discovery started for you
0:32:09 > 0:32:13because you went up into a loft and you found this trunk.
0:32:13 > 0:32:15What did you find in this trunk?
0:32:15 > 0:32:20I found family photographs of my in-laws on the top section and
0:32:20 > 0:32:25underneath, it was just chock-a-block with bits of paper, and I thought,
0:32:25 > 0:32:28what on earth am I going to do with this lot?
0:32:28 > 0:32:29So, who is this gentleman?
0:32:29 > 0:32:33He is the grandfather of my late husband.
0:32:33 > 0:32:36His name was Kenneth Dalston Yearsley.
0:32:36 > 0:32:38Known to the family as the Brigadier.
0:32:38 > 0:32:39That's how I knew of him.
0:32:39 > 0:32:41Now, when the Brigadier...
0:32:41 > 0:32:45- Yes.- ..as it were, was captured, he was taken into a prison camp,
0:32:45 > 0:32:47guarded by Turkish soldiers,
0:32:47 > 0:32:52and his real sort of reason for living then was to actually escape
0:32:52 > 0:32:56from the Turks. So you opened the Brigadier's trunk and inside it
0:32:56 > 0:32:57- are all these papers.- Yes.
0:32:57 > 0:32:59So, what did you start to do?
0:32:59 > 0:33:01A friend that's interested in military history,
0:33:01 > 0:33:05I just showed him the diaries and it took a very long time, but I very
0:33:05 > 0:33:09slowly started to make sense of some of the things I've got.
0:33:09 > 0:33:12And I'm really horrified to say that with that initial reaction of,
0:33:12 > 0:33:14"Oh, gosh, I don't know where to begin with this.
0:33:14 > 0:33:17"I don't want to sort it out, it's too much like hard work,"
0:33:17 > 0:33:18I did put some bits in the bin.
0:33:18 > 0:33:21Yeah. And some of the bits that you put in the bin
0:33:21 > 0:33:25- are these little bits of paper here, aren't they?- That's right, yes.
0:33:25 > 0:33:26Secret postcards.
0:33:26 > 0:33:30He set up this postcard system, which I just think is amazing.
0:33:30 > 0:33:33- Yes.- And what did you make of these little bits of paper?
0:33:33 > 0:33:38They are secret messages, sent between Turkey and England.
0:33:38 > 0:33:43They took two thin postcards, split them through,
0:33:43 > 0:33:46and then put these secret messages inside.
0:33:46 > 0:33:50An indication that there was a message in the postcard
0:33:50 > 0:33:55was by the fact that the Reverend V Yearsley,
0:33:55 > 0:33:59the full name reverend would be put in as opposed to Rev,
0:33:59 > 0:34:02also that his name would be doubly underlined.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05And that would alert them that there was a message inside.
0:34:05 > 0:34:07- Yes.- Known to them as bananas.
0:34:07 > 0:34:13They were called bananas because just as you peel a banana and get to the fruit inside,
0:34:13 > 0:34:18so you split the postcard and got to the fruit of the message inside.
0:34:18 > 0:34:21When the postcard arrived in England,
0:34:21 > 0:34:24it's then razored open and there...
0:34:24 > 0:34:25Very much looks like it...
0:34:25 > 0:34:29..is the reveal of the secret message inside.
0:34:29 > 0:34:33- Yes.- Which is so small. - That's right.- It's so small.
0:34:33 > 0:34:35I'm going to use this magnifying glass here.
0:34:35 > 0:34:39"The taking over the barracks could not commence until first machine was
0:34:39 > 0:34:43"sighted, so that aeroplane should not land till they'd seen
0:34:43 > 0:34:45"large white squares spread out."
0:34:45 > 0:34:46Right. Could I say,
0:34:46 > 0:34:51that's all to do with one of the escape plans at the camp Changri,
0:34:51 > 0:34:52- the second camp.- OK.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55So the secret messages were going backwards and forwards to try and
0:34:55 > 0:34:59organise getting this plane to come in and take them all out.
0:34:59 > 0:35:01And that's all about the markers to show where to land.
0:35:01 > 0:35:03That one never came off.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07Eventually, through all of this espionage, as it were, and tunnel planning,
0:35:07 > 0:35:09- he did escape.- He did.
0:35:09 > 0:35:11And they made it to the coast and they sailed to Cyprus.
0:35:11 > 0:35:13- Correct.- And they were free.
0:35:13 > 0:35:16Yes. And that there is K D Yearsley.
0:35:16 > 0:35:19Sitting down. It's an incredible story.
0:35:19 > 0:35:23I would say you have something here which is utterly unique.
0:35:23 > 0:35:28It is something which the Imperial War Museum would cry out for.
0:35:28 > 0:35:31I think if you were to sell this,
0:35:31 > 0:35:35you would find someone easily to pay £3,000
0:35:35 > 0:35:38for your trunk that you found in the loft.
0:35:40 > 0:35:42It's all priceless to me, completely and utterly.
0:35:42 > 0:35:46It was an amazing journey I've been on and still am in fact going on.
0:35:46 > 0:35:50Discovering what there is... with the whole episode.
0:35:50 > 0:35:53And although I never met the Brigadier,
0:35:53 > 0:35:56I feel as though I've really got to know him through reading his diaries.
0:35:59 > 0:36:00What a cracking pair of chairs.
0:36:00 > 0:36:02What can you tell me about them?
0:36:02 > 0:36:06Well, my great-grandfather was a very successful businessman and he bought
0:36:06 > 0:36:12these plus many other antiques, we think, around about 1900, 1910.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15And these two, all we know is that we think they are hall chairs,
0:36:15 > 0:36:18maybe 150, 200 years old.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22So, we are desperate to find out something and also the background,
0:36:22 > 0:36:25we would be very interested to know this crest that's on here.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28Well, I'm desperate to find out more about them.
0:36:28 > 0:36:29You've got no more history.
0:36:29 > 0:36:32I'm totally relying on you to come up with some of the answers.
0:36:32 > 0:36:34OK. Well, we can talk about the wood.
0:36:34 > 0:36:36- Yes.- Mahogany.- Right.
0:36:36 > 0:36:40The very finest quality mahogany, really good quality.
0:36:40 > 0:36:42The carving is fantastic.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45These wonderful eagles here, they're just brilliant.
0:36:45 > 0:36:46I'm not quite sure what that there...
0:36:46 > 0:36:48Is that pineapple, or cone?
0:36:48 > 0:36:51Pine seeds are a sign of longevity, something like that.
0:36:51 > 0:36:54- I think there's a reference here. - Yes.- In this lyre support.
0:36:54 > 0:36:56And of course, they're made to go in a hall.
0:36:56 > 0:36:58- Yes.- You've only got two of them?
0:36:58 > 0:37:00- Only two, yes.- Where are the rest of the set?
0:37:00 > 0:37:02Never been in the family.
0:37:02 > 0:37:06It's always been two, handed down, generation to generation.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09These are made probably in a larger set, six or eight,
0:37:09 > 0:37:12I don't think we'll ever find out exactly.
0:37:12 > 0:37:14If we could, and I tried and tried and tried,
0:37:14 > 0:37:17I can't work out this crest that you asked me about.
0:37:17 > 0:37:19It's beautifully painted, all the original colours.
0:37:19 > 0:37:21It's a hart, isn't it?
0:37:21 > 0:37:22It's a hart above a heart.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25The animal, a hart. So that is traceable -
0:37:25 > 0:37:26I'm sure with time we could trace.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30- Yes.- If we could trace the family, we could possibly trace the house,
0:37:30 > 0:37:32if we could trace the house,
0:37:32 > 0:37:35we might be able to trace the maker or designer.
0:37:35 > 0:37:38- That'd be good.- A designer comes to mind, somebody called George Smith,
0:37:38 > 0:37:411808, he produced designs.
0:37:41 > 0:37:43The quality of this is good enough to be Gillows of Lancaster,
0:37:43 > 0:37:46who were making the most wonderful things out of mahogany.
0:37:46 > 0:37:48Speculation - I don't know.
0:37:48 > 0:37:52I just know that I absolutely love them, they're brilliant chairs.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55- We love them, too.- But are they worth anything, what do you think?
0:37:55 > 0:37:59Well, they must be worth hundreds, each, I hope!
0:37:59 > 0:38:02- But I really don't know. - Based on what?
0:38:02 > 0:38:05Based on, just, gut feeling. I mean, if I went into an antique shop,
0:38:05 > 0:38:07I'm sure they'd charge an awful lot of money for them.
0:38:07 > 0:38:09I think if you went to an antique shop, unresearched,
0:38:09 > 0:38:12so if we didn't know where they come from,
0:38:12 > 0:38:13minimum of £5,000.
0:38:15 > 0:38:17OK!
0:38:17 > 0:38:18That's good to know!
0:38:19 > 0:38:21Yes. Very good.
0:38:23 > 0:38:25So this vase takes you back a bit, does it?
0:38:25 > 0:38:27Yes, quite a long time.
0:38:27 > 0:38:30In Finland, when I went with my husband.
0:38:30 > 0:38:31How long ago was that?
0:38:31 > 0:38:331987.
0:38:33 > 0:38:35He was working in the embassy.
0:38:35 > 0:38:37I wanted a bit of glass.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41I like something from everywhere we've served,
0:38:41 > 0:38:44and the Ambassador's wife said,
0:38:44 > 0:38:48go to this place, so that's what we did.
0:38:48 > 0:38:53So you chose, of all the stuff around in the shop that day,
0:38:53 > 0:38:57a truly classic example of Finnish glass,
0:38:57 > 0:39:00which is called the string of pearls.
0:39:00 > 0:39:01Did you know it was called that?
0:39:01 > 0:39:06- No.- That's what these are, and the designer,
0:39:06 > 0:39:09it's all written on the base.
0:39:09 > 0:39:13What we have is the designer Gunnel Nyman.
0:39:13 > 0:39:15Gunnel Nyman was a woman.
0:39:15 > 0:39:19- Oh, really?- Gunnar is the man and Gunnel is the female.
0:39:19 > 0:39:22- Yes.- Then we have Nuutajarvi,
0:39:22 > 0:39:25which is the name of the glassworks where it was made,
0:39:25 > 0:39:28and then it says 1947-87.
0:39:28 > 0:39:33You bought this in '87, which was the year they reissued a greatest hit.
0:39:33 > 0:39:35So, the design originates from '47.
0:39:35 > 0:39:42- Yes.- But it has proved such a classic that it was reissued in '87,
0:39:42 > 0:39:45when you were working in Helsinki, your husband was.
0:39:45 > 0:39:48And when we're talking about the string of pearls,
0:39:48 > 0:39:52it's fairly clear why it's got that name.
0:39:52 > 0:39:54It's beautiful, the way it comes round.
0:39:54 > 0:39:58Oh, I think you're so right, it is beautiful.
0:39:58 > 0:40:00It is. I mean, this is so understated.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02This is not all-singing, all-dancing.
0:40:02 > 0:40:04- No, no.- This is all-whispering.
0:40:04 > 0:40:09And the beauty of it, we're dealing in high optic lead crystal here,
0:40:09 > 0:40:11which plays havoc with the eye.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14Now, the whole point of this is,
0:40:14 > 0:40:17as you look at the vase, the question is,
0:40:17 > 0:40:19how many strings of pearls can you see?
0:40:20 > 0:40:22Because actually...
0:40:22 > 0:40:24You see two...
0:40:24 > 0:40:27It's almost a reflection inside, don't you?
0:40:27 > 0:40:30You see two. So, you're absolutely getting the point.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32So you have one string of pearls,
0:40:32 > 0:40:36which are the bubbles that are manually put into the glass,
0:40:36 > 0:40:38before it is over-cased.
0:40:38 > 0:40:42You get the raw glass, you make the dents in it,
0:40:42 > 0:40:45and then you lower this into a second gather of glass...
0:40:45 > 0:40:48- Oh, you do it twice? - You do it twice.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52So you're, as it were, drowning the bubbles, leaving the bubbles in there.
0:40:52 > 0:40:56Now, the great examples, the best examples of these,
0:40:56 > 0:41:00you can see at least two sets of pearls.
0:41:00 > 0:41:02But in the really good ones, you get three.
0:41:02 > 0:41:06Now, as I'm looking down here, I'm getting three sets of pearls.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08Yes, I can see three now.
0:41:08 > 0:41:11- It depends how you're holding it. - Oh, it's great, this,
0:41:11 > 0:41:14you coming in and me being able to tell you about your own stuff,
0:41:14 > 0:41:18and seeing stuff you've never seen before, it's such a pleasure!
0:41:18 > 0:41:21And so here you have a really superb example.
0:41:21 > 0:41:23You don't remember how much it cost, do you?
0:41:23 > 0:41:25Not all that much, really.
0:41:25 > 0:41:29- OK.- I wouldn't have spent that much on it.
0:41:29 > 0:41:33An original of these would be £800, you selling at auction, this is.
0:41:33 > 0:41:38Reproductions actually hold their value quite well, 4-6.
0:41:38 > 0:41:42And with the number of strings that you have in here,
0:41:42 > 0:41:45it's more like a 6-er. 600, now.
0:41:45 > 0:41:49Really? 600? I only paid 20-odd, I'm sure.
0:41:49 > 0:41:50Well, you know,
0:41:50 > 0:41:54what it is is an affirmation that you've got amazing taste, gal!
0:41:54 > 0:41:58I mean, you know, it's a subtle thing, and this is the one you chose.
0:41:58 > 0:42:02And it just comes out of history beaming.
0:42:02 > 0:42:06So you brought me a gold ring here with a tiny lock of hair in it,
0:42:06 > 0:42:09- tell me all about it.- Yes, well, we bought it at an auction - well,
0:42:09 > 0:42:13my grandpa did. And it's Lord Byron's hair.
0:42:13 > 0:42:17It used to belong to his banker, who lived in Athens.
0:42:17 > 0:42:19We only bought it about 20 years ago.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22Well, Lord Byron, as so many people know,
0:42:22 > 0:42:25was a sort of rock star in the literary world in the 19th century.
0:42:25 > 0:42:29He was hugely famous, immensely privileged because he was a baron.
0:42:29 > 0:42:31He wrote romantic novels and poems,
0:42:31 > 0:42:33and the whole world really knew about him.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36But unfortunately he died rather an early death.
0:42:36 > 0:42:38Do you know how old he was when he died?
0:42:38 > 0:42:41- I think you do.- I think he was 36. It says on the inside of the ring...
0:42:41 > 0:42:43- It does.- ..engraved.
0:42:43 > 0:42:48So, we're going to look inside, and see the commemoration of him there,
0:42:48 > 0:42:51and it says Lord Noel Byron,
0:42:51 > 0:42:55died the 19th of April 1824, aged just 36.
0:42:55 > 0:42:57He actually died of a fever.
0:42:57 > 0:43:00Absolutely right, and completely spot-on.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03And the whole world really mourned him, the whole literary world,
0:43:03 > 0:43:06for sure. And, in an age without photography,
0:43:06 > 0:43:10there was a terror that one wouldn't be able to remember anybody without
0:43:10 > 0:43:12a photograph, and it was a very real thing.
0:43:12 > 0:43:15Now, Lord Byron could certainly have portraits and drawings made of
0:43:15 > 0:43:17himself, and undoubtedly did,
0:43:17 > 0:43:19but there was a tradition to make mourning jewels.
0:43:19 > 0:43:21And in making out a will,
0:43:21 > 0:43:24you'd leave a provision at the end of the will that several memorial rings
0:43:24 > 0:43:27were to be made and distributed amongst your friends.
0:43:27 > 0:43:30And in an age without photography, what better souvenir of your existence,
0:43:30 > 0:43:32your very life, was the hair.
0:43:32 > 0:43:34- Yeah, a ring.- A ring, yes of course the ring,
0:43:34 > 0:43:36but also the hair contained in it,
0:43:36 > 0:43:40so you were actually in touch with the person that had gone up to a
0:43:40 > 0:43:43much higher authority, to a literary world in the sky.
0:43:43 > 0:43:46So, this is a very, very exciting object indeed, isn't it?
0:43:46 > 0:43:49- Yes.- What do you feel about it when you're carrying it around?
0:43:49 > 0:43:51Well, when we were waiting in the queue this morning,
0:43:51 > 0:43:53it was a bit nervous because I was holding it,
0:43:53 > 0:43:56and we didn't know how much it was worth, if it was expensive,
0:43:56 > 0:43:57or just a fake.
0:43:57 > 0:44:01But, yeah, it's a bit nerve-racking carrying it around!
0:44:01 > 0:44:03Well, it is.
0:44:03 > 0:44:05It's almost like carrying around a little ghost in a box, isn't it?
0:44:05 > 0:44:07- Yeah.- To have a piece of Lord Byron's hair.
0:44:07 > 0:44:09And it's an utterly stunning object.
0:44:09 > 0:44:12It's made of chase gold, and we know it's a mourning jewel
0:44:12 > 0:44:15because there are bands of black enamel on there.
0:44:15 > 0:44:18But also roses, full-blown roses along the side, chased here,
0:44:18 > 0:44:21which are in themselves an emblem of death.
0:44:21 > 0:44:23One might argue that this is a slightly macabre object,
0:44:23 > 0:44:26but let me tell you, it's a massively sought-after object.
0:44:26 > 0:44:31There are very enthusiastic collectors of rings who like to find
0:44:31 > 0:44:34the ones with very specific provenance like yours,
0:44:34 > 0:44:38and it would fill a marvellous gap in a certain collection that I know about, and many others.
0:44:38 > 0:44:41And I'm absolutely confident that that person,
0:44:41 > 0:44:43if it were ever to be offered for sale,
0:44:43 > 0:44:47would be more than willing to pay up to £10,000 for it!
0:44:48 > 0:44:51Oh, wow!
0:44:51 > 0:44:53I wouldn't have expected it was that much.
0:44:53 > 0:44:57But it was just a ring in a box, but now that I know...
0:44:57 > 0:45:01I think, if it was a child, it would be white on the outside.
0:45:01 > 0:45:03Absolutely right, you've been reading a lot about that, yes.
0:45:03 > 0:45:07An unmarried person, it would be white as a sign of purity,
0:45:07 > 0:45:09and that didn't necessarily apply to Lord Byron!
0:45:09 > 0:45:11LAUGHTER
0:45:34 > 0:45:36Dame Helen, you're the head of the National Trust,
0:45:36 > 0:45:38now proud owners of Ightham Mote,
0:45:38 > 0:45:40and when you took this place on in 1985
0:45:40 > 0:45:45- it was then the biggest restoration project the National Trust had ever done.- Ever done, yes.
0:45:45 > 0:45:48And this is a rare survival, tell me about it.
0:45:48 > 0:45:52Well, this is one of the few objects in the house that we have from the
0:45:52 > 0:45:55families who lived here before the National Trust took over.
0:45:55 > 0:45:59What happened, this object is a portable font.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03It's mid-19th century, it's by a maker called Charles Meigh,
0:46:03 > 0:46:05white Staffordshire stoneware.
0:46:05 > 0:46:06And in the 19th century
0:46:06 > 0:46:13they made these fonts that could be taken to people who had had babies
0:46:13 > 0:46:14that were at risk of dying.
0:46:14 > 0:46:18Of course, in those days, there was high infant mortality,
0:46:18 > 0:46:22and the local priest very often wanted to baptise the child quickly,
0:46:22 > 0:46:23just in case it died.
0:46:23 > 0:46:28And so, these travelling fonts were made in order to fulfil that need.
0:46:28 > 0:46:32In this case, we know it was used to baptise Thomas Collier Ferguson,
0:46:32 > 0:46:37the 19th-century family who owned this house, then into the 20th century.
0:46:37 > 0:46:41And it was found completely by chance at the time we took over the house...
0:46:41 > 0:46:43- Which was 1985.- ..which was 1985,
0:46:43 > 0:46:45on a bonfire in the local village.
0:46:45 > 0:46:49And somebody spotted it and thought that it must be significant,
0:46:49 > 0:46:51as it is, and rescued it and brought it back to us.
0:46:51 > 0:46:52So someone was going to burn it?
0:46:52 > 0:46:55Someone... I don't know quite how it would be burnt.
0:46:55 > 0:46:57How extraordinary. And then the person thought, "Well, actually,
0:46:57 > 0:47:01"I think this must have something to do with Ightham Mote," and brought it back.
0:47:01 > 0:47:02And brought it back. And we spotted it.
0:47:02 > 0:47:05And now it lives in the chapel here. It's a Tudor chapel, of course,
0:47:05 > 0:47:09because what's wonderful about Ightham is that it has changed over the centuries.
0:47:09 > 0:47:14It represents almost every era of architectural history.
0:47:14 > 0:47:17And it's something about persistence,
0:47:17 > 0:47:19it's something about the fact that we -
0:47:19 > 0:47:24and generations of families and the local people who rescued the house
0:47:24 > 0:47:27in the mid-20th century - have endured, and so, for me,
0:47:27 > 0:47:29it's a symbol of endurance.
0:47:29 > 0:47:31- Dame Helen, thank you so much. - Thank you very much.
0:47:34 > 0:47:38My two-times great-grandfather, John Pennington Thompson,
0:47:38 > 0:47:41he owned Mere Hall in Bolton.
0:47:41 > 0:47:43His family had four cotton mills.
0:47:43 > 0:47:47When he died, he donated the house, Mere Hall,
0:47:47 > 0:47:53and the grounds to Bolton and the house became Bolton Art Museum.
0:47:53 > 0:47:56- This service...- And the service belonged to him, yes.
0:47:56 > 0:47:59Well, it's covered in gold, as you can see.
0:47:59 > 0:48:02This is a service that would have been used for dessert.
0:48:02 > 0:48:04It's got serving dishes and a centrepiece.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06But it's a service, also,
0:48:06 > 0:48:10that gives the people who are dining a political message.
0:48:10 > 0:48:14- Right.- Because when you look at this border,
0:48:14 > 0:48:18it's made up of relief moulded flowers picked out in gold.
0:48:18 > 0:48:20There's a thistle - Scotland.
0:48:20 > 0:48:21A shamrock - Ireland.
0:48:22 > 0:48:24Rose - England.
0:48:24 > 0:48:27So this is what we call a union service.
0:48:27 > 0:48:30- Right.- It's in support of the union.
0:48:30 > 0:48:33And that was making a political statement while you had your pudding.
0:48:33 > 0:48:36Wow! Which is rather clever, isn't it?
0:48:36 > 0:48:38Yes. Not only have we got that,
0:48:38 > 0:48:41but you can see on all these pieces that you've brought with you,
0:48:41 > 0:48:43different painted panels.
0:48:43 > 0:48:48So each panel is like a little individual painted work of art, isn't it?
0:48:48 > 0:48:51I mean, really, the only word is rich, isn't it?
0:48:51 > 0:48:54- Yes.- You were telling people how rich and grand you were.
0:48:54 > 0:48:56So the big question is, who made it?
0:48:56 > 0:48:58- Any ideas?- No idea at all.
0:48:58 > 0:49:00I've looked on the back and there's only a number.
0:49:00 > 0:49:02There's a number, isn't there? Yes.
0:49:02 > 0:49:03995.
0:49:03 > 0:49:05- And that's all we know. - It's a pattern number.
0:49:06 > 0:49:12The only thing it tells me is that this is a service made in the, perhaps,
0:49:12 > 0:49:17in the late 1820s and 995 is quite a low pattern number,
0:49:17 > 0:49:19so it's a factory that started relatively late on.
0:49:19 > 0:49:23It wasn't one of those big established makers like Derby or Worcester.
0:49:23 > 0:49:26It was a more minor maker, probably in Staffordshire.
0:49:26 > 0:49:31So whilst it's very, very glitzy and very, very grand,
0:49:31 > 0:49:33it's not a top-flight set.
0:49:33 > 0:49:35- Yep.- How much of it have you got?
0:49:36 > 0:49:39There's 20 pieces with just the flowers on.
0:49:39 > 0:49:41- Yeah.- And 17 of the other.
0:49:41 > 0:49:46- Wow.- This main fruit dish and two of these tureens.
0:49:46 > 0:49:47So 37 pieces in total?
0:49:47 > 0:49:49Yes, 37 in total, yes.
0:49:49 > 0:49:52So, really, you've got 37 works of art.
0:49:52 > 0:49:55- Yes.- 37 hand-painted pieces.
0:49:55 > 0:49:59By rights, based just on the man hours that it's taken to make this set,
0:49:59 > 0:50:03it should be worth an absolute fortune, shouldn't it?
0:50:03 > 0:50:04You'd have thought so, wouldn't you?
0:50:04 > 0:50:06You're now going to disappoint me, aren't you?
0:50:06 > 0:50:08LAUGHTER
0:50:08 > 0:50:13No. Well, you know, normally what the Roadshow is about is, you know,
0:50:13 > 0:50:17showing people wonderful things and saying how wonderful they are and,
0:50:17 > 0:50:19therefore, how valuable they are.
0:50:19 > 0:50:22But, I'm afraid, I'm going to turn it around a bit and say
0:50:22 > 0:50:24this is a fabulous set...
0:50:25 > 0:50:29..and it's worth £1,500.
0:50:29 > 0:50:30Oh. OK.
0:50:30 > 0:50:32Now, that's not nothing.
0:50:32 > 0:50:34- No.- But for the magnificence of this,
0:50:34 > 0:50:39I think it's actually insulting and I've actually upset myself by quoting
0:50:39 > 0:50:42so little on a set as beautiful as that.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45I absolutely love it and, really,
0:50:45 > 0:50:47if there's a lesson to be learned from this,
0:50:47 > 0:50:52Regency porcelain of this quality is selling for very little and it's a
0:50:52 > 0:50:55- great time to go out and buy some if you haven't got it.- OK.
0:50:57 > 0:50:59Is this something you bought, inherited,
0:50:59 > 0:51:02ran up on one of those long, dark winter evenings?
0:51:02 > 0:51:07No. My great-uncle gave it to me about 20 years ago now.
0:51:07 > 0:51:10And I just really wanted to know if it was real.
0:51:10 > 0:51:14It's real and it is really real and it's really, really, really nice.
0:51:14 > 0:51:18- Yeah?- Yeah. It's one of the nicest examples I've ever seen.
0:51:18 > 0:51:20- Wow.- You know what it is, don't you?
0:51:20 > 0:51:22- Yes. I do.- It's what they call straw work.
0:51:22 > 0:51:24Yeah, yeah.
0:51:24 > 0:51:26And sometimes they call it straw marquetry.
0:51:26 > 0:51:28That's what I'd come across it as, yes.
0:51:28 > 0:51:32It is from the Napoleonic wars, from prisoners interned near Peterborough.
0:51:32 > 0:51:36About 1790 to about 1815.
0:51:36 > 0:51:38And that's when this would have been made.
0:51:38 > 0:51:40But it's exemplary quality.
0:51:40 > 0:51:45It's very hard to do work as fine as this and I've never, or rarely,
0:51:45 > 0:51:49seen one whole pictures, whole scenes on the top.
0:51:49 > 0:51:53And this intricate work here, where you've got this foliate,
0:51:53 > 0:51:56thin foliate design inlaid in the strands of straw.
0:51:56 > 0:51:59And this would have been brightly coloured.
0:51:59 > 0:52:01- Yes.- Do you mind if I open it?
0:52:01 > 0:52:04- No, do. Because...- You can see the colours that it would have been
0:52:04 > 0:52:05originally from inside the drawers.
0:52:05 > 0:52:08That's how it would have looked all over.
0:52:08 > 0:52:12It was an industry and they made all sorts of things - card cases,
0:52:12 > 0:52:16needle cases. This is a sweetheart casket, really.
0:52:16 > 0:52:18And it's got a little heart there, you see.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21Do you know, I'd never seen that. I didn't notice that.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24And these colours are what would have been all over it.
0:52:24 > 0:52:26And it's faded. It's faded beautifully.
0:52:26 > 0:52:29I mean, it sort of glows. It's almost golden.
0:52:29 > 0:52:34They made these from scraps of straw about the prisons they were
0:52:34 > 0:52:36interned in. I think they got straw out of their mattresses.
0:52:36 > 0:52:39They dyed the stuff with vegetable dyes.
0:52:39 > 0:52:40Anything that was available.
0:52:40 > 0:52:44They boiled up animal bones to glue the pieces of straw
0:52:44 > 0:52:48they'd painstakingly cut to apply.
0:52:48 > 0:52:51How they did this foliate work on top, I don't know.
0:52:51 > 0:52:55It's amongst the finest quality I've ever seen in this work.
0:52:55 > 0:53:00And the good pieces make a lot of money.
0:53:00 > 0:53:03This piece, in this condition,
0:53:03 > 0:53:08could sell at auction for between £2,000 and £3,000.
0:53:08 > 0:53:10Wow.
0:53:10 > 0:53:12Wow. I wasn't expecting that.
0:53:12 > 0:53:14I thought it was good,
0:53:14 > 0:53:17because my great-uncle that gave it to me gave us nice things,
0:53:17 > 0:53:20but I hadn't realised it was quite that much.
0:53:20 > 0:53:21Wow.
0:53:27 > 0:53:29Do you have these hanging on your wall?
0:53:29 > 0:53:33No, they've been in my loft for about 14 years.
0:53:33 > 0:53:35- Oh, so, you really, really like them, then?- No.
0:53:37 > 0:53:39Where did they come from?
0:53:39 > 0:53:42My husband bought them in a boot sale about 15 years ago.
0:53:42 > 0:53:45- Where was that?- He doesn't really remember, so... We've had them ages.
0:53:45 > 0:53:48- He doesn't remember what he paid for them or anything?- No.
0:53:48 > 0:53:50So, you don't know what they are, either?
0:53:50 > 0:53:53No. My son-in-law thinks they're Indian and that they're about
0:53:53 > 0:53:58mid-18th century, because he thinks he's the expert, so...
0:53:58 > 0:54:02Well, he's kind of, you know, verging in the right direction.
0:54:03 > 0:54:04But he's completely wrong.
0:54:06 > 0:54:09The frames are Chinese, 18th century.
0:54:09 > 0:54:17They enclose an inner mount, which is enamel on copper.
0:54:17 > 0:54:20Very, very beautifully done.
0:54:20 > 0:54:22Then there's another border,
0:54:22 > 0:54:28this time with rough-cut garnets, probably, in gilt beading.
0:54:28 > 0:54:33The frame encloses these two scenes.
0:54:33 > 0:54:35What's going on?
0:54:35 > 0:54:39I find the iconography deeply puzzling.
0:54:39 > 0:54:41The obvious thing is this elephant.
0:54:41 > 0:54:46- Yeah.- Could this be, as has been suggested, Indian painting?
0:54:46 > 0:54:47No.
0:54:47 > 0:54:49How do I know it's not Indian painting?
0:54:49 > 0:54:51By the eyes of the elephant.
0:54:51 > 0:54:54Only the Chinese painted elephants' eyes like that.
0:54:54 > 0:54:58- Oh.- So, this is definitely Chinese.
0:54:58 > 0:55:00The white elephant is symbolic of the Buddha,
0:55:00 > 0:55:03so it's a Buddhistic significance.
0:55:03 > 0:55:11Here, we've got an English girl holding a flaming pearl.
0:55:11 > 0:55:15The flaming pearl is fought over in the sky by two dragons,
0:55:15 > 0:55:18and is also Buddhistic.
0:55:18 > 0:55:23This one, we have in the centre a Buddhist lion from Canton.
0:55:23 > 0:55:27We've got two buildings looking like a temple or a cathedral.
0:55:27 > 0:55:32A very common the way for a Chinese artist to say,
0:55:32 > 0:55:38this is a western landscape, because they're not Chinese buildings.
0:55:38 > 0:55:40But here, what's going on here?
0:55:40 > 0:55:44We've got a man presenting a military gentleman
0:55:44 > 0:55:46with a silver urn.
0:55:46 > 0:55:48Yeah. Weird.
0:55:48 > 0:55:49Why?
0:55:50 > 0:55:57The way he's got his hands suggests that he's cradling that thing.
0:55:57 > 0:56:01He's receiving it with love and attention.
0:56:01 > 0:56:06It's not just a silver urn that he's going to put soup in.
0:56:06 > 0:56:07Yeah.
0:56:07 > 0:56:12I think that these two are symbolic
0:56:12 > 0:56:14of the death of this girl.
0:56:15 > 0:56:16Oh.
0:56:16 > 0:56:22And that is symbolic of the husband receiving her soul.
0:56:22 > 0:56:28- Ah.- And that neoclassical urn is typical of the symbolism
0:56:28 > 0:56:33that you find of mourning at the Tomb of Werter, for example.
0:56:33 > 0:56:35Oh, wow.
0:56:35 > 0:56:37I think they're just the most
0:56:37 > 0:56:41amazing things that I've seen in ages.
0:56:41 > 0:56:44- That's good.- I would get them out of the attic.
0:56:44 > 0:56:49I think you should spend a bit of money getting them cleaned,
0:56:49 > 0:56:53because I think they would fetch £15,000 to £20,000.
0:56:57 > 0:56:59- Well done, hubby.- Yes!
0:56:59 > 0:57:01Oh, my gosh.
0:57:01 > 0:57:02That's brilliant.
0:57:03 > 0:57:05- I was just going to say, it's her inheritance.- Yeah!
0:57:06 > 0:57:07Oh, wow.
0:57:07 > 0:57:09Well, if you get another one...
0:57:09 > 0:57:10Share it, yeah.
0:57:10 > 0:57:12..don't split them up.
0:57:13 > 0:57:15Wow. That was a surprise.
0:57:15 > 0:57:18And I'd love to hear that phone call between that lady and her husband
0:57:18 > 0:57:21when she rings him to tell him that car-boot-sale buy
0:57:21 > 0:57:26all those years ago is worth £15,000 to £20,000.
0:57:26 > 0:57:28We love that on the Roadshow!
0:57:28 > 0:57:30From here at Ightham Mote and the whole Roadshow team,
0:57:30 > 0:57:32until next time, bye-bye.