0:00:49 > 0:00:53Today we're back at Arley Hall and Gardens in Cheshire,
0:00:53 > 0:00:56and if you're a garden lover, prepare to be very excited,
0:00:56 > 0:01:00because this is one of the oldest country gardens in existence.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11And it's believed this double herbaceous border
0:01:11 > 0:01:13is one of the oldest in the country.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16Look at it - isn't it glorious?
0:01:18 > 0:01:22This has been home to the Warburton family since the 15th century,
0:01:22 > 0:01:25and it seems that successive generations have viewed the garden
0:01:25 > 0:01:27as being at the heart of this home.
0:01:27 > 0:01:30With records going back more than 250 years,
0:01:30 > 0:01:33it's such an important part of horticultural history
0:01:33 > 0:01:35that it is Grade II listed.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42The garden is best known for its fabulous herbaceous border.
0:01:42 > 0:01:45There's even a plan of it dating back to 1846 -
0:01:45 > 0:01:49the earliest plan for a herbaceous border ever found.
0:01:50 > 0:01:53This was a breakaway from the more formal gardens,
0:01:53 > 0:01:56pioneering the idea of mixing lots of plants and colours together
0:01:56 > 0:01:57in one space.
0:01:57 > 0:02:01And it must have caught the eye of artist George Elgood,
0:02:01 > 0:02:04who painted these watercolours in the 1880s and '90s.
0:02:05 > 0:02:07The plants were also much admired by
0:02:07 > 0:02:09the acclaimed garden designer Gertrude Jekyll,
0:02:09 > 0:02:12who wrote in this book, Some English Gardens,
0:02:12 > 0:02:14about one of the paintings done by George Elgood,
0:02:14 > 0:02:17and she said, "Throughout the length and breadth of England
0:02:17 > 0:02:21"it would be hard to find borders of hardy flowers handsomer,
0:02:21 > 0:02:25"or in any way better done than those at Arley in Cheshire.
0:02:25 > 0:02:27"It's easy to see in the picture
0:02:27 > 0:02:30"how happily mated are formality and freedom."
0:02:33 > 0:02:36What a gorgeous backdrop to see what stories will blossom
0:02:36 > 0:02:38on this week's Antiques Roadshow.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45We don't get many nuns brought into the Roadshow, funnily enough.
0:02:45 > 0:02:47No? Probably not.
0:02:48 > 0:02:52And here she is, a beautiful porcelain nun.
0:02:52 > 0:02:57I bought her a few years ago in Braderie de Lille, in France.
0:02:57 > 0:03:00I just loved her when I bought her, so I've had her ever since.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04What appeals to me about it is the really crisp modelling,
0:03:04 > 0:03:06it's like a piece of sculpture.
0:03:06 > 0:03:09A piece of sculpture in porcelain, and it's beautifully painted.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13When you look at this little border around the edge of her habit there,
0:03:13 > 0:03:16that's actually hand-painted. These tiny little scrolls.
0:03:16 > 0:03:19- Oh, right.- Isn't that gorgeous? - Yes, yeah.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22And the Bible that she's reading, when we look there,
0:03:22 > 0:03:24it's difficult to show it, but can you see there?
0:03:24 > 0:03:28- I can, I can.- There's an inscription in the Bible.- Yeah, Omnia.
0:03:28 > 0:03:31Exactly, it says Omnia Vanitas,
0:03:31 > 0:03:35which is from the Latin version of the King James Bible.
0:03:35 > 0:03:38- Right.- So she's a nun and she's reading the Bible.
0:03:38 > 0:03:42The irritating thing about this nun, the only irritating thing about her,
0:03:42 > 0:03:45there's no "Made in France" or factory mark or anything.
0:03:45 > 0:03:48- No, no.- So how on earth would you know what she was?
0:03:48 > 0:03:51Well, yeah, I don't.
0:03:51 > 0:03:54- I'm hoping you do! - I do, that's the good news!
0:03:54 > 0:03:58I do, because I recognise the kind of porcelain that she's made from.
0:03:58 > 0:04:01- Right.- I recognise the colour of the gilding here,
0:04:01 > 0:04:04it's a particular tone of colour, of gilding.
0:04:04 > 0:04:10I even recognise this blue that her Bible is bound with.
0:04:10 > 0:04:13- Yeah?- These are all features of one factory,
0:04:13 > 0:04:16and that factory is not in France.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18- Is it not?- It's in the East End of London.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21- No!- It's in Bow.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24- Really?- So she's a Cockney nun.
0:04:25 > 0:04:26Would you believe it?
0:04:28 > 0:04:29Can you believe that?
0:04:29 > 0:04:31- She's a Cockney nun.- Wow.
0:04:31 > 0:04:36And even more amazingly, from the way that she's decorated,
0:04:36 > 0:04:38she was made, and this is almost unbelievable,
0:04:38 > 0:04:45- she was made 1758, 1760. - No! Oh, my goodness.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49- 250 years old.- Oh, my goodness.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53- Wow.- And a really early piece... - I'm astounded.
0:04:53 > 0:04:59..of English porcelain by one of the best makers there is.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02- How much did she cost you? - 10 euros.- 10 euros?
0:05:02 > 0:05:04So maybe £8.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07This nun, made in London at Bow,
0:05:07 > 0:05:10cost you 10 euros.
0:05:10 > 0:05:14It's worth a minimum of 350 to 400.
0:05:14 > 0:05:17- Really?- 450...something like that. - Wow!
0:05:19 > 0:05:21Wow. That's amazing.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29These very sombre portraits are the kind of thing you might have seen
0:05:29 > 0:05:31in any Victorian parlour, aren't they?
0:05:31 > 0:05:33But the eyes rather follow you around the room.
0:05:34 > 0:05:36Who are they?
0:05:36 > 0:05:39This is my lovely great-grandfather, James Davies Taylor,
0:05:39 > 0:05:41and my great-grandmother.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45And really unusually, these are paintings over photographs,
0:05:45 > 0:05:47- did you know that?- Yes, I did.
0:05:47 > 0:05:49You can sort of tell once you know that they are.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52As a result, the eyes have been done in
0:05:52 > 0:05:54with this kind of very blue colour
0:05:54 > 0:05:56that perhaps wasn't really there. I don't know...
0:05:56 > 0:05:58- Your eyes are blue, though. - My family do have very blue eyes.
0:05:58 > 0:06:01That will be, they've brought them out.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04But incredibly, you've actually got the original photographs which were
0:06:04 > 0:06:08blown up and then painted over to make these.
0:06:08 > 0:06:11If you compare them, first of all your very pretty great-grandmother,
0:06:11 > 0:06:14you can see it's exactly the same pose, can't you?
0:06:14 > 0:06:17All they've done is added a great deal of colour,
0:06:17 > 0:06:20and made her look as though she's living and breathing, haven't they?
0:06:20 > 0:06:22And the same with him.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26All the props have been coloured in, that basket of flowers,
0:06:26 > 0:06:29and then he himself has been spruced up no end.
0:06:29 > 0:06:31His moustache looks rather splendid.
0:06:31 > 0:06:34Tell me, why did they bother to have these rather grand portraits made?
0:06:34 > 0:06:39We're not sure why they had them made, but he did die the year after.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43We believe he was instrumental in bringing about legislation
0:06:43 > 0:06:47to force the pit owners to insulate the wiring systems.
0:06:47 > 0:06:51- So this is down the mines? - Yes.- And the wires were uninsulated?
0:06:51 > 0:06:55Initially they were uninsulated, and people were dying because of it.
0:06:55 > 0:06:59I can imagine, actually. I mean, you're down the mine,
0:06:59 > 0:07:01you're very sweaty because it's incredibly hot,
0:07:01 > 0:07:05you're probably not wearing a shirt and it's pitch dark.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08You bump into something and give yourself 240 volts.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10No wonder it was dangerous!
0:07:10 > 0:07:12It's insane. It's absolutely unbelievable,
0:07:12 > 0:07:16and I once asked my grandfather why they didn't insulate,
0:07:16 > 0:07:17because I couldn't believe it,
0:07:17 > 0:07:20and he said the pit owners said it was too expensive.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23Well, there you go - money, money, money.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26And so how did he manage to get that done?
0:07:26 > 0:07:31Well, he supported a lady who had lost her husband to electrocution,
0:07:31 > 0:07:33and he supported her in a legal case,
0:07:33 > 0:07:37because although he wasn't a lawyer, he was well-versed in law.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40And he provided the funds for her to bring the case.
0:07:40 > 0:07:42They won the case. She wasn't compensated,
0:07:42 > 0:07:44but as a consequence of that,
0:07:44 > 0:07:48they had to insulate the wires, and that was passed throughout England.
0:07:48 > 0:07:51- What, nationwide?- We believe so.
0:07:51 > 0:07:54So where did he get the resources and funds
0:07:54 > 0:07:56to be able to represent this widow?
0:07:56 > 0:07:59We believe the funds came from the Foresters,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02which was almost like an early welfare system
0:08:02 > 0:08:03prior to the welfare state.
0:08:03 > 0:08:06- So everyone would put the dividends in...- The workers?
0:08:06 > 0:08:09The workers would put their dividends in and when they were
0:08:09 > 0:08:11in dire need, they were supported from the fund.
0:08:11 > 0:08:13From the fund, I see.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15And this medal.
0:08:15 > 0:08:17Yes.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19- What does it mean? - Well, it says on the back...
0:08:19 > 0:08:22- You've got the medal with you. - Yes, I have got the medal with me.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24It says "with thanks for services rendered" on the back.
0:08:24 > 0:08:27- And it's from the Foresters? - It's from the Foresters.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29So the community must have absolutely adored him
0:08:29 > 0:08:30- for this kind of work.- They did,
0:08:30 > 0:08:33and when he died the whole of Barnsley turned out,
0:08:33 > 0:08:35and apparently my grandad said he remembered the streets
0:08:35 > 0:08:39being completely blocked with the whole of the community,
0:08:39 > 0:08:40who were mourning his loss.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44Isn't it extraordinary, the depth of stories that lie behind images
0:08:44 > 0:08:46that you might just skip over occasionally?
0:08:46 > 0:08:48Yes, and I'm so proud of him,
0:08:48 > 0:08:50because he did so much for the community.
0:08:50 > 0:08:51So, they're not worth very much,
0:08:51 > 0:08:54- and I don't suppose you expected them to be, did you?- No.
0:08:54 > 0:08:56I would have thought, even so,
0:08:56 > 0:09:01he seems to me a very important man in the early trade union movement.
0:09:01 > 0:09:03Before it all began, almost,
0:09:03 > 0:09:05and so that makes it important, in that sense.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07I'm going to put £500 on the pair.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12And the medal, which has got to have an interest in value,
0:09:12 > 0:09:13perhaps the same again.
0:09:13 > 0:09:17- So a total of £1,000. - That does surprise me.
0:09:17 > 0:09:19They're very precious, we'd never, ever sell them.
0:09:19 > 0:09:21I wouldn't either, if they were mine.
0:09:24 > 0:09:29Cockerels. You see them in nearly every continent in the world.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32Where do you think this cockerel was made?
0:09:32 > 0:09:34Well, I don't know, but I come from The Potteries
0:09:34 > 0:09:37and I wondered whether he came from there or from Ironbridge,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40somewhere like that, because I think he is bronze
0:09:40 > 0:09:42and he is extremely heavy.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44So, you're thinking Ironbridge
0:09:44 > 0:09:47- and all that cast metal, all the foundries?- Yes.
0:09:47 > 0:09:51Well, certainly from a foundry, but not in Britain.
0:09:51 > 0:09:56- In fact, he is absolutely, definitely Austrian.- Oh!
0:09:56 > 0:09:59Cast in a bronze factory in Vienna,
0:09:59 > 0:10:03and the most well-known is the Bergman bronze foundry.
0:10:03 > 0:10:09- Right. - So, absolutely, he weighs...- A tonne.
0:10:09 > 0:10:12..a tonne, doesn't he?
0:10:12 > 0:10:15The foundry was first started in 1860
0:10:15 > 0:10:17by a man called Franz Bergman
0:10:17 > 0:10:20and he then handed on the factory to his son,
0:10:20 > 0:10:23who was another Franz, around 1900.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27And I think that he was made in the early part, then,
0:10:27 > 0:10:30of the 20th century. But the problem is, the mouldings,
0:10:30 > 0:10:32the castings remained the same.
0:10:32 > 0:10:35They were handed down from father to son,
0:10:35 > 0:10:40so it's quite difficult to tell exactly when he was made.
0:10:40 > 0:10:43He has a slightly indistinct stamp underneath
0:10:43 > 0:10:47that has been painted over. It's a two-handled urn with a capital B.
0:10:47 > 0:10:52That confirms what I already feel about it. Who did he belong to?
0:10:52 > 0:10:57He belonged to my uncle Harry, who was 20 years older than my father.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00And so did you know this as a child?
0:11:00 > 0:11:03No, I didn't meet him until my uncle Harry had died
0:11:03 > 0:11:06and then he came to live with my father and then eventually,
0:11:06 > 0:11:10he's died and he's come down to the rest of the family.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13He just keeps on moving on, don't you?
0:11:13 > 0:11:17The paintwork is in such good order and that is a really nice thing
0:11:17 > 0:11:20because a lot of these bronzes get very scratched over the years.
0:11:20 > 0:11:24The glass eyes are perfectly intact and he's very colourful, isn't he?
0:11:24 > 0:11:26Yes, he's very smart, isn't he?
0:11:26 > 0:11:28I've seen a lot of cockerels
0:11:28 > 0:11:32and they fetch around £300
0:11:32 > 0:11:35- but that's when they are this size. - Oh, right.
0:11:35 > 0:11:40This is...not quite life-size, but he really weighs a tonbe,
0:11:40 > 0:11:43- and on a great scale. - He's a big boy!
0:11:44 > 0:11:47And he's worth £3,000.
0:11:47 > 0:11:49Ooh, that's nice. That's a surprise.
0:11:50 > 0:11:54Oh, well, you were worth lugging around!
0:11:56 > 0:12:00Jewellery. It's about love, it's about power,
0:12:00 > 0:12:03but it can also be a little bit about scandal.
0:12:03 > 0:12:05Who would have thought it with a beautiful bracelet like this?
0:12:05 > 0:12:07Tell me about the history.
0:12:07 > 0:12:12Yes, well, it's supposed to have been given by the Prince of Wales
0:12:12 > 0:12:16to his wife, although at the time,
0:12:16 > 0:12:18she wasn't held to be his wife.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20It was a secret marriage.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23This was when he was trying to persuade her to come back to him.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26We're talking George IV here, aren't we?
0:12:26 > 0:12:29- He eventually became George IV.- Yes.
0:12:29 > 0:12:34He married, in secret, Mrs Fitzherbert in 1795
0:12:34 > 0:12:37and this is when he was trying to persuade her
0:12:37 > 0:12:40to come back to him in about 1799.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42So how did the bracelet come into your family?
0:12:42 > 0:12:45It was passed down through my immediate family
0:12:45 > 0:12:49and probably was given to my great-great-great-grandmother.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52Of course, it's all around the time of George IV,
0:12:52 > 0:12:55who of course was Prince Regent to start with.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58He had quite a complicated love life, really, didn't he?
0:12:58 > 0:13:00- I think that's the best way of putting it!- Yes.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04Very much in love with Mrs Fitzherbert, the love of his life,
0:13:04 > 0:13:07but of course, he had quite a reputation for gambling
0:13:07 > 0:13:10and building up debts and it was correct that
0:13:10 > 0:13:13the government said they would pay off all his debts
0:13:13 > 0:13:15if he married Caroline of Brunswick,
0:13:15 > 0:13:18so she comes over and they get married,
0:13:18 > 0:13:20but it doesn't quite work out. Well, I think when you're in love
0:13:20 > 0:13:24with somebody as much as he obviously was with Mrs Fitzherbert,
0:13:24 > 0:13:26it was never going to be, was it? It's such a shame.
0:13:27 > 0:13:30The bracelet itself is made of gold.
0:13:30 > 0:13:33We have this lovely, delicate chainwork around here
0:13:33 > 0:13:36and then the detailing across the top
0:13:36 > 0:13:39which has got an inscription on it in French, which is...
0:13:39 > 0:13:41"Rejoindre ou Mourir."
0:13:42 > 0:13:47That is supposedly a clue to its provenance.
0:13:47 > 0:13:52"Let's get back together," "Let's get reunited or I'll die."
0:13:52 > 0:13:55- So tragic!- The point being that when he tried to woo Mrs Fitzherbert
0:13:55 > 0:13:59in the first place, there was a mock stabbing.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02He supposedly tried to kill himself
0:14:02 > 0:14:04to try and persuade her to marry him.
0:14:04 > 0:14:08So this is possibly a link back to that first occasion.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11It just shows the passion that you can have for somebody.
0:14:11 > 0:14:13It's extraordinary, isn't it?
0:14:13 > 0:14:14So, that's the inscription there.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17We also have a lovely bit of agate in the centre
0:14:17 > 0:14:20and then a little turquoise in the middle there.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24Turquoise in the language of lapidary and stone and love
0:14:24 > 0:14:25means, basically, forget-me-not,
0:14:25 > 0:14:29because it's supposed to be the true colour of the forget-me-not flower.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31What we have here is a slightly
0:14:31 > 0:14:34green colour which is its original colour.
0:14:34 > 0:14:37Then when it's polished, it goes to that lovely forget-me-not blue
0:14:37 > 0:14:40and then reverts back over time to the green.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42If we carefully turn it over,
0:14:42 > 0:14:44there is a little locket on the back.
0:14:46 > 0:14:50If we open it up, we have inside
0:14:50 > 0:14:54a very, very daintily painted little eye.
0:14:54 > 0:14:59That's always been said to be George IV or the Prince of Wales' eye
0:14:59 > 0:15:03but I suspect it may be a bit too feminine
0:15:03 > 0:15:07and I wonder whether it's actually the adopted daughter,
0:15:07 > 0:15:10so that might tally.
0:15:10 > 0:15:13It's also got an inscription on the inside of the locket as well.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16That says "mirror of my heart".
0:15:16 > 0:15:19Oh, it just gets so fabulous, doesn't it, as we go through?
0:15:19 > 0:15:21So, all in all, I just think
0:15:21 > 0:15:23it's an absolutely gorgeous piece of jewellery.
0:15:23 > 0:15:26I think with the Royal provenance that we have with it,
0:15:26 > 0:15:30which hopefully we can secure, in an auction environment,
0:15:30 > 0:15:36you would be looking at an estimate of £2,500 to £3,000.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39It's got the possibility to fly, though,
0:15:39 > 0:15:43because everybody does really love a little bit of scandal.
0:15:51 > 0:15:52Your plate?
0:15:59 > 0:16:01It's funny - I've done vases
0:16:01 > 0:16:03and decanters and windows
0:16:03 > 0:16:05on the Antiques Roadshow,
0:16:05 > 0:16:07but this is the first time ever
0:16:07 > 0:16:09- I've done eye baths.- Is it?
0:16:09 > 0:16:13It is. and so when you came in this morning, I thought,
0:16:13 > 0:16:15that is such an interesting collecting area,
0:16:15 > 0:16:17and you've made it your own.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20- Yes, I have.- So, tell us about it in your life.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22One of the schools around here, the local school
0:16:22 > 0:16:23was having its 200th anniversary
0:16:23 > 0:16:25and we started getting out the stuff
0:16:25 > 0:16:27that had been in the school for a long time.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31One of the things was a first aid kit, and that was in it.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33And I loved it.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36It's lovely, isn't it? A lovely colour.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38So I said to the headteacher, can I give you my plastic one
0:16:38 > 0:16:41that I've got at home and can I have that?
0:16:41 > 0:16:42And he said yes.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45So I had it and then I've just collected them ever since, really.
0:16:45 > 0:16:50- How long ago is that? - Oh, 20 years, a bit more.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52- Do we have your entire collection here?- You do, yes.
0:16:52 > 0:16:55OK. They were in everybody's home, weren't they?
0:16:55 > 0:16:57We all had one when we were kids.
0:16:57 > 0:16:59You'd get something in your eye,
0:16:59 > 0:17:02- your mum would get some warm water with salt...- Yes.
0:17:02 > 0:17:06And you'd put it there and then she would tell you to blink.
0:17:06 > 0:17:09- Yes.- And it worked!
0:17:09 > 0:17:13- It was warm water, you didn't have to buy some product or anything.- No.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15- A bit of salt.- Bit of salt in there. Warm water and salt.
0:17:15 > 0:17:17So, where do you find them?
0:17:17 > 0:17:20I go round antique fairs, and it gives you an excuse.
0:17:20 > 0:17:22You don't have to spend a lot of money
0:17:22 > 0:17:24but you can be in an antique fair and get something.
0:17:24 > 0:17:27Or the children buy them for me. They see them somewhere
0:17:27 > 0:17:29in a junk shop or something and I sort of acquire them, really.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32They are, funnily enough, an extremely collected area.
0:17:32 > 0:17:37Don't feel as if you are alone in the world of this bonkers mission.
0:17:37 > 0:17:43You're not. The people who collect them most are ophthalmic surgeons,
0:17:43 > 0:17:46- eye doctors. - Really?- Most of these,
0:17:46 > 0:17:49it's fairly easy to guess where they are from
0:17:49 > 0:17:54because it says "British made,"
0:17:54 > 0:17:56which I find is a bit of a giveaway -
0:17:56 > 0:17:58I think they're probably Polish!
0:17:59 > 0:18:03They were made largely in Yorkshire for at least 300 years,
0:18:03 > 0:18:08but you haven't got any that are very much more old than 100 years,
0:18:08 > 0:18:10and they really are... I've kind of grouped them.
0:18:10 > 0:18:18Your best ones are here and some of these are approaching 100 years old.
0:18:18 > 0:18:22So, I think that you were paying about three quid for these.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24I mean, that's fine.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28They sell for that kind of money and maybe a little bit more,
0:18:28 > 0:18:31but where you are spending a tenner, for instance,
0:18:31 > 0:18:34on things that are about a hundred years old,
0:18:34 > 0:18:36then I think that you're buying quite well
0:18:36 > 0:18:39because I think these are sort of 20 quid each.
0:18:39 > 0:18:4020 to 30.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44One like that has got to be 30 or 40 quid.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47Isn't it funny? Look at that, the way it is all falling over
0:18:47 > 0:18:51and being badly made. It's brilliant, I love it.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53I love badly made stuff.
0:18:53 > 0:18:56So, here you've got thruppence each, as it were,
0:18:56 > 0:18:57and here you've got the cream.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00What you need to aspire to is that level there.
0:19:00 > 0:19:01OK.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04And it's fun doing this, isn't it?
0:19:04 > 0:19:07It is. My family buy them for me so I'll tell them now,
0:19:07 > 0:19:09they have to buy me more expensive ones!
0:19:13 > 0:19:16You can't walk down the high street these days without tripping over
0:19:16 > 0:19:21mobile phone shops, estate agents and tanning shops.
0:19:21 > 0:19:25But what happens if you're in the 1930s and you wanted to tan at home?
0:19:25 > 0:19:31You get, of course, the Vi-Tan home tanning machine.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35Why on earth do you have this rather scary-looking device?
0:19:35 > 0:19:38It is quite terrifying, isn't it?
0:19:38 > 0:19:42This belonged to my grandfather and when he passed away,
0:19:42 > 0:19:45it was one of the things I inherited from him.
0:19:45 > 0:19:47So, this was a chap, who, in the 1930s or 40s,
0:19:47 > 0:19:49had a home tanning machine.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53Was he some kind of bronzed Adonis therefore?
0:19:53 > 0:19:55He was a man of means, I think.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59He had his own aeroplane. He had a Sopwith Pup.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02A guy used to fly with him and he was the writer
0:20:02 > 0:20:04of the Broons cartoon in the Sunday Post.
0:20:04 > 0:20:07They're the Scottish cartoon characters?
0:20:07 > 0:20:09There the Scottish cartoon characters, that's right.
0:20:09 > 0:20:12My grandfather, whose name was Robert Buchanan Henderson,
0:20:12 > 0:20:15was actually the inspiration for Hen Broon and if you look
0:20:15 > 0:20:18at the character in the cartoon, it's very much like Grandad.
0:20:18 > 0:20:20Very tall, upright, long, angular face,
0:20:20 > 0:20:23little bristle moustache and quite the man of the house.
0:20:23 > 0:20:27So from Broon to brown if he stood in front of this thing for a very,
0:20:27 > 0:20:29very long time and got a good tan!
0:20:29 > 0:20:30As you can see from the label here,
0:20:30 > 0:20:32it was made by the Thermal Syndicate Limited.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34In the late 1930s,
0:20:34 > 0:20:38they released the Vi-Tan which was a home tanning machine,
0:20:38 > 0:20:42something you plugged into the electrical socket and you stood in front of it.
0:20:42 > 0:20:44I just love the label on the back here.
0:20:44 > 0:20:46"Always wear the goggles provided when near the lamp.
0:20:46 > 0:20:51"Normal initial exposure, three minutes at three feet.
0:20:51 > 0:20:54"No effect will be felt for three or four hours.
0:20:54 > 0:20:57"Under exposure is better than over exposure."
0:20:58 > 0:21:01I mean, it's kind of terrifying, isn't it?
0:21:01 > 0:21:05- It is.- It's not exactly the most valuable piece in the world but in its day,
0:21:05 > 0:21:09you mentioned he was a man of means and he would have had to have been.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13They cost about £15 so when you think the average weekly wage
0:21:13 > 0:21:18at that time in 1930s and '40s was around £6 a week,
0:21:18 > 0:21:21you have two weeks just to afford this,
0:21:21 > 0:21:25so it's very much a wealthy person's piece but today,
0:21:25 > 0:21:29I think somewhere in the region of £30 to £50 as a curiosity.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32Yes, well, it certainly is very curious.
0:21:32 > 0:21:35- You wouldn't want to plug it in, would you?- Please don't do that.
0:21:35 > 0:21:37Please get it looked at before.
0:21:37 > 0:21:39You know what? I don't think I would want to stand in front of it either.
0:21:39 > 0:21:42I think, basically, would you prefer to stand in front of that
0:21:42 > 0:21:44or a nice holiday in the Costa Del Sol?
0:21:44 > 0:21:47Come on! We know the answer, don't we? Fantastic, thank you very much.
0:21:47 > 0:21:48Thank you very much.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57So, on the table, we have a set of miniature World War II medals
0:21:57 > 0:22:01showing that a man was in Burma.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04We have an Indian army ordnance corps cap badge,
0:22:04 > 0:22:10we have the prisoner of war postcards sent back from Japanese prison of war camps
0:22:10 > 0:22:11and then we have this.
0:22:11 > 0:22:17- What is this?- This is a diary kept by my father, who was taken prisoner
0:22:17 > 0:22:23in Singapore on the 15th of February 1942 and the diary is written virtually
0:22:23 > 0:22:30daily from the 15th of February until September 1945 when he was released.
0:22:30 > 0:22:33In that time, he was in Changi jail
0:22:33 > 0:22:37and seven months on the Thai Burma railway...
0:22:37 > 0:22:39including the River Kwai
0:22:39 > 0:22:44and the stories that we all know from that magnificent film.
0:22:44 > 0:22:52Included in it is the emphasis on the malnutrition, the cruelty,
0:22:52 > 0:22:55the lack of any hope, virtually,
0:22:55 > 0:22:59of knowing when it was going to be over,
0:22:59 > 0:23:01and then the comments where somebody has died,
0:23:01 > 0:23:05and it's not quite matter of fact, but
0:23:05 > 0:23:10there were 130,000 working on this railway
0:23:10 > 0:23:13and 67,000 or 70,000 died.
0:23:13 > 0:23:18I think at night, he would sit down literally and fill in,
0:23:18 > 0:23:21just saying it was a good day or a bad day.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23There's no drama in it, it's not dramatic.
0:23:23 > 0:23:26Like these terrible people and these terrible tortures.
0:23:26 > 0:23:28It does mention it and they were terrible,
0:23:28 > 0:23:33like growing bamboo through you and leaving you out for 24 hours with a
0:23:33 > 0:23:36bowl of water you can't reach and things like that.
0:23:36 > 0:23:38In the end, it was survival and
0:23:38 > 0:23:40the camaraderie to help each other through.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42Did he ever tell you how he kept it?
0:23:42 > 0:23:44- How did he keep it?- He buried it.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46- He buried it?- Yes.- Where did he get the ink from?
0:23:46 > 0:23:48They made the ink from...
0:23:49 > 0:23:52..fruit, from spices, from...
0:23:52 > 0:23:56from anything they could lay their hands on that they couldn't eat but
0:23:56 > 0:23:58they could use for other purposes.
0:23:58 > 0:24:04There is this moment here where the ink probably ran out and they moved to a pencil.
0:24:04 > 0:24:07What is the significance of this moment?
0:24:07 > 0:24:11There was a five-day train journey in metal, er...
0:24:12 > 0:24:15..carriages which were rice carriers
0:24:15 > 0:24:18with 28 or 30 people per carriage.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20They were unable to sit down.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24There was no food, no sanitation and it was a five-day journey from
0:24:24 > 0:24:29Singapore to Ban Pong which was west of Bangkok and the beginning of the railway.
0:24:29 > 0:24:32How long did he work on the railway for?
0:24:32 > 0:24:36Seven months. The railway only took one year to build.
0:24:37 > 0:24:44They say a person died per railway sleeper and it was 215km long.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46When he came home?
0:24:46 > 0:24:49He was repatriated back to the UK,
0:24:49 > 0:24:55kept in the Army because they were in such a miserable state, and posted to Germany
0:24:55 > 0:24:59as part of the Army of Occupation, but probably a more gentle job
0:24:59 > 0:25:02to get back to normal health.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05It is such a unique record.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07I don't think...
0:25:07 > 0:25:10I've really ever seen a diary written like this.
0:25:10 > 0:25:16You can't imagine in any way what these people went through and yet,
0:25:16 > 0:25:19your father sat there and kept a record
0:25:19 > 0:25:21in this tiny, tiny writing
0:25:21 > 0:25:25of every day and as his friends died
0:25:25 > 0:25:31he wrote their names, and because I've seen some of them written in and I know you've told me
0:25:31 > 0:25:35that you've been out to Thailand and Burma to see where they are buried now.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38It's almost impossible to put a price on this.
0:25:38 > 0:25:43I mean, how can you put a price on five and a half years in a prison camp, when,
0:25:43 > 0:25:45bless him, he probably had nothing?
0:25:47 > 0:25:49A bowl of rice to him was worth the earth.
0:25:50 > 0:25:52I would imagine if something like this came up
0:25:52 > 0:25:55for auction and was sold,
0:25:55 > 0:25:58it would actually really wouldn't realise what it would be worth.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02It would probably be £600 or £700.
0:26:03 > 0:26:06But to what he went through,
0:26:06 > 0:26:10there is no price that you could put on this.
0:26:10 > 0:26:11Because of this one man,
0:26:11 > 0:26:16we at least have the story of a lot of people who were in those camps and
0:26:16 > 0:26:20who didn't come home, but at least the amount of effort they put in
0:26:20 > 0:26:22to staying alive is recorded here.
0:26:25 > 0:26:30Well, here we are, poised in front of three copies of the most iconic
0:26:30 > 0:26:33children's book of the 20th century,
0:26:33 > 0:26:35Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak,
0:26:35 > 0:26:41and here are you and I am wondering why you collected three copies.
0:26:41 > 0:26:47Well, about ten years ago we were on holiday in California in Laguna Beach
0:26:47 > 0:26:50and in most of those small American towns,
0:26:50 > 0:26:55there are always fundraising things going on.
0:26:55 > 0:27:01- Yes.- Fundraising for the local library and Brenda came to me and said,
0:27:01 > 0:27:03"I've bought a copy of Where the Wild Things Are,"
0:27:03 > 0:27:05which she was very pleased about.
0:27:05 > 0:27:08She said, "and it's a first edition."
0:27:08 > 0:27:10I said, "Let's have a look."
0:27:10 > 0:27:13I turned the page over and said, "Do you know it's signed?"
0:27:13 > 0:27:15- I didn't.- She didn't!
0:27:17 > 0:27:18So, how much did you pay for it?
0:27:18 > 0:27:2025 cents.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22Let's just have a look at this.
0:27:22 > 0:27:2525 cents and you say it's a first edition.
0:27:25 > 0:27:29- Yes.- Well, let's just look inside.
0:27:29 > 0:27:35Here is the first page and it's copyright 1963, first edition,
0:27:35 > 0:27:37Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak.
0:27:37 > 0:27:41Yes. And this is the signature here.
0:27:41 > 0:27:43Maurice Sendak. To Jeffrey and Emily.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45Boo!
0:27:45 > 0:27:47Well, that's wonderful. So,
0:27:47 > 0:27:50you bought this first edition and what I would say is wrong with it
0:27:50 > 0:27:52- is it's lacking a dust wrapper. - Yes.
0:27:52 > 0:27:54Which is a great shame, yes.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57But about these other two? You've got one here in Welsh?
0:27:57 > 0:28:01Well, buying the first one set us off to look at every copy
0:28:01 > 0:28:05of Where the Wild Things Are that came along.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09In the local flea market, that's where the Welsh edition turned up.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13- And the third one?- The third one was a car-boot sale.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16It's the 25th anniversary edition.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18What are you going to do with these?
0:28:18 > 0:28:22I think it's been published in very nearly every language in the world,
0:28:22 > 0:28:26so we've got a lot to go at if we can get a first edition of every one?
0:28:26 > 0:28:28- Have you got children? - We've got grandchildren, yes.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32We've got four grandchildren so we definitely need another one.
0:28:32 > 0:28:35So you're going to give one to one, one to another, one to another?
0:28:35 > 0:28:38It would be a lucky dip, I think!
0:28:38 > 0:28:41Right, let's start off with prices, shall be?
0:28:41 > 0:28:43The three you've got.
0:28:43 > 0:28:45The 25 years edition,
0:28:45 > 0:28:49it's not going to be terribly valuable but I imagine £20 or £30.
0:28:49 > 0:28:53The first Welsh edition, probably a similar amount of money.
0:28:53 > 0:28:56It does have a dust wrapper but the condition is not terribly good.
0:28:56 > 0:28:58But this one is going to be worth...
0:28:59 > 0:29:02- ..£3,000.- Oh, my goodness!
0:29:02 > 0:29:06Now, you're going to break up the family if you start distributing that, aren't you?
0:29:06 > 0:29:08What are you going to do?
0:29:08 > 0:29:10The best thing about it is,
0:29:10 > 0:29:14it's an absolutely wonderful story to read to the grandchildren.
0:29:18 > 0:29:20I couldn't help noticing your potty, sir.
0:29:20 > 0:29:23Are you worried about the length of the queue?
0:29:23 > 0:29:26- I am, yes.- In case you get caught short?
0:29:26 > 0:29:30Where did you come by this marvellous potty?
0:29:30 > 0:29:32My dad knew some friends,
0:29:32 > 0:29:37an old couple of men that never got married and they were moving into town
0:29:37 > 0:29:40where they could walk to the shops so he thought,
0:29:40 > 0:29:44I will go and see them off before they go.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47They said to him, "Do you want this pot?"
0:29:47 > 0:29:49He said, "Yes, I'll have that, that's lovely."
0:29:49 > 0:29:51Playing music.
0:29:51 > 0:29:54And that's how I've come to get it.
0:29:54 > 0:29:56So, it plays music. It says, "Ooh landlord,
0:29:56 > 0:29:59"fill the flowing bowl" which is a drinking song, isn't it?
0:29:59 > 0:30:04I think it is, yes, but it's changed, hasn't it, to fill this.
0:30:04 > 0:30:09Clearly. Oh, look, it's got "patent non-splash thunder bowl".
0:30:09 > 0:30:12Well, sir, I shall leave you with your potty and hopefully
0:30:12 > 0:30:15you won't be waiting so long you'll find yourself in need of using it!
0:30:26 > 0:30:28Well, you don't have to be too keen on clocks to think that this is
0:30:28 > 0:30:30actually rather nice.
0:30:30 > 0:30:32- Do you like it?- I love it.
0:30:32 > 0:30:35- It is beautiful.- Is it yours or a family thing?
0:30:35 > 0:30:36It was my father's.
0:30:36 > 0:30:39My father passed away a few years ago and I found a whole collection
0:30:39 > 0:30:42of clocks and watches that he had accumulated.
0:30:42 > 0:30:45He was one of these people that could repair anything and understood
0:30:45 > 0:30:47everything from first principles,
0:30:47 > 0:30:50but he always said this was his favourite clock.
0:30:50 > 0:30:55The story is that it was either the clock or a family holiday and he went for the clock!
0:30:55 > 0:30:56Wow!
0:30:56 > 0:30:59Where was the holiday to?
0:30:59 > 0:31:03I imagine it would have been somewhere like Frinton-on-Sea
0:31:03 > 0:31:06and I know for a fact that my sister was scared of going on the beach
0:31:06 > 0:31:10and screamed so it was probably a wise choice.
0:31:10 > 0:31:11Well, we'll see later,
0:31:11 > 0:31:14but let me just tell you that it's English through and through.
0:31:15 > 0:31:20Mid-19th century, sort of 1850, possibly 1855.
0:31:20 > 0:31:24It's everything that the English clock collectors want.
0:31:24 > 0:31:26The wood is satin wood.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29Two winding squares, one for going, one for striking.
0:31:29 > 0:31:31You've got this fantastic...
0:31:31 > 0:31:34subsidiary seconds at the 12 o'clock position.
0:31:34 > 0:31:39The size is lovely and you associate most clocks with a pendulum,
0:31:39 > 0:31:42don't you? This doesn't have a pendulum.
0:31:42 > 0:31:46It has the most fantastic giant platform.
0:31:46 > 0:31:49Lovely. Let's look at this dial.
0:31:49 > 0:31:53Beautifully engraved, lovely fleur-de-lis hands.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55It is a really nice dial.
0:31:55 > 0:31:58The only thing I can fault on it, there's no signature.
0:31:58 > 0:32:01Looking at the side,
0:32:01 > 0:32:03twin fuses, the original chains,
0:32:03 > 0:32:06maintaining power for the going train,
0:32:06 > 0:32:09which is what you would expect, and then on the back,
0:32:09 > 0:32:12you've got this large coiled gong
0:32:12 > 0:32:16and you've got the most fantastic regulation scale there
0:32:16 > 0:32:18for the back of the platform.
0:32:18 > 0:32:20Size is not too big.
0:32:20 > 0:32:22It is top-of-the-range.
0:32:22 > 0:32:24I don't know why it is not signed.
0:32:24 > 0:32:26We will never know, but it is anonymous.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29I suppose that holds it back a bit.
0:32:29 > 0:32:31So, what would be your chosen holiday now?
0:32:34 > 0:32:38I think I'd go for Honolulu.
0:32:38 > 0:32:40- OK.- I've never been to the South Seas.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44So, what's that going to be for two of you?
0:32:44 > 0:32:46I suspect about £10,000.
0:32:46 > 0:32:50- About ten grand? - Yes.- So, Frinton or this?
0:32:52 > 0:32:54Or Honolulu or this?
0:32:55 > 0:32:58How do you think it equates?
0:32:58 > 0:33:03Well, I think I'd rather keep the clock than go to Honolulu.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06Well, I certainly would, particularly as the clock,
0:33:06 > 0:33:11if you were to sell it at auction, would make a minimum of £15,000.
0:33:11 > 0:33:14- Wow!- So, I would put it to you...
0:33:16 > 0:33:20..that it was a very good decision to have made initially by your father.
0:33:20 > 0:33:24He made a lot of good decisions, so, he's done it again.
0:33:27 > 0:33:31It's not every day that I get to record with a piece of glass that is
0:33:31 > 0:33:33larger than my mouth!
0:33:34 > 0:33:36But that is the case today.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39You've brought this along on your barrow.
0:33:39 > 0:33:43This is a beautifully made piece of stained glass, I really must say.
0:33:43 > 0:33:45Tell us how it fits in your life.
0:33:45 > 0:33:50I was working next-door to a property which was being refurbished and
0:33:50 > 0:33:55there was a stone facade on the side of the house that my son wanted a
0:33:55 > 0:34:01stone facade for his cottage, but behind the stone facade was this window,
0:34:01 > 0:34:05so I took the stone facade down and took the window down,
0:34:05 > 0:34:08paid the man, and I have had it for 13 years.
0:34:08 > 0:34:11It is beautifully made.
0:34:11 > 0:34:13Looking at the joinery around here,
0:34:13 > 0:34:18this is all oak and the skill that went into making this
0:34:18 > 0:34:23is extraordinary, really, and around the other side, of course,
0:34:23 > 0:34:27you have wrought iron straps on it to protect it, because we are on the
0:34:27 > 0:34:29inside here, aren't we?
0:34:29 > 0:34:32This is the inside and this is the outside.
0:34:32 > 0:34:34This is where the oak is.
0:34:34 > 0:34:38I would think it's somewhere about 1880.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41Its value rests on who is going to buy it, of course,
0:34:41 > 0:34:43and what you're going to use it for.
0:34:43 > 0:34:45You've got to have a very specific place for it.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47I notice you haven't done anything with it.
0:34:47 > 0:34:50It's just sat in your garage for the last 13 years, hasn't it?
0:34:50 > 0:34:53Well, I've been waiting for planning permission for my extension!
0:34:53 > 0:34:56- To do what?- To do an extension to our house.
0:34:56 > 0:34:58- Oh, you're going to use it?- Yes.
0:34:58 > 0:35:00Oh, brilliant. Look, I tell you.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02It's English, 1880s.
0:35:02 > 0:35:04- How much did you pay for it?- £150.
0:35:04 > 0:35:0613 years ago?
0:35:06 > 0:35:10- 13 years ago.- Well, I think that if you went into a reclamation yard
0:35:10 > 0:35:15and wanted to buy this today, I don't think you'd get any change from 500 quid
0:35:15 > 0:35:20and then I reckon that this barrow is worth another hundred quid,
0:35:20 > 0:35:24so I reckon the lot is 600 quid, so I reckon 150 quid,
0:35:24 > 0:35:26- you've done all right, mate! - Very good.
0:35:26 > 0:35:28Thanks for bringing it in.
0:35:28 > 0:35:30Thanks very much.
0:35:32 > 0:35:37You might think you're looking at a portrait by a European artist of the 1930s.
0:35:37 > 0:35:39In actual fact, this painting
0:35:39 > 0:35:43was done by an Indian artist in the 1950s.
0:35:43 > 0:35:44It's obviously a portrait.
0:35:44 > 0:35:46Can you tell me something about the sitter?
0:35:46 > 0:35:48Yes, the sitter is my mother.
0:35:49 > 0:35:53It was painted in India and...
0:35:54 > 0:35:58..the artist worked for Grindlays Bank,
0:35:58 > 0:36:02which was where my father worked, and that's how we got to know...
0:36:02 > 0:36:05That's how he came to paint your mother?
0:36:05 > 0:36:07- Yes.- Well, the artist has actually signed his name.
0:36:07 > 0:36:11A very well-known artist in India today, Krishen Khanna.
0:36:11 > 0:36:13So, obviously, you have a family relationship with him
0:36:13 > 0:36:16- or you had a family relationship with him?- Yes, my mother did.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20I was too young at the time but my mother knew him and I believe has kept
0:36:20 > 0:36:22in touch occasionally.
0:36:22 > 0:36:26The story of Grindlays bank is fascinating because Krishen Khanna,
0:36:26 > 0:36:30his family originally came from Lahore and with the separation of India
0:36:30 > 0:36:35and Pakistan, they moved to Shimla, where he worked in Grindlays Bank.
0:36:35 > 0:36:39Absolutely. The artist gives up banking in 1960
0:36:39 > 0:36:42and he becomes a professional painter.
0:36:42 > 0:36:44He takes the leap although he had very little money,
0:36:44 > 0:36:48he took that big step to become a professional artist and of course,
0:36:48 > 0:36:52most of the works we know of his date from that later period,
0:36:52 > 0:36:54from the '60s, '70s, '80s etc.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58It's extremely rare to find a picture by Krishen Khanna from 1954.
0:36:58 > 0:37:00From this experimental phase,
0:37:00 > 0:37:05he had just taken a few evening classes in painting and was practising and
0:37:05 > 0:37:08he went on to become a really important figure,
0:37:08 > 0:37:13one of the great modern painters of India, along with MF Husain, Raza,
0:37:13 > 0:37:15Souza, Gaitonde,
0:37:15 > 0:37:19all of these names that have now really achieved celebrity globally.
0:37:21 > 0:37:23It's a fascinating picture.
0:37:23 > 0:37:28It's very, very much rooted in the European painting of the 1930s.
0:37:28 > 0:37:33It has a very, very luminous effect with a nice impasto,
0:37:33 > 0:37:36this very thick painting.
0:37:36 > 0:37:38Krishen Khanna has become a big name and what has happened is,
0:37:38 > 0:37:41the whole market for modern Indian painting has gone through the roof,
0:37:41 > 0:37:45partly with the birth of private museums in India,
0:37:45 > 0:37:49with the Indian diaspora, Indians in Britain, in America,
0:37:49 > 0:37:51in south-east Asia,
0:37:51 > 0:37:56who want to reclaim some of this modern heritage and who have started to collect.
0:37:56 > 0:38:01Do you have any idea of the value of a 1954 Krishen Khanna painting?
0:38:01 > 0:38:02None, none whatsoever.
0:38:02 > 0:38:04It has never been valued.
0:38:05 > 0:38:09I mentioned to my mother that I might bring it here today and she said,
0:38:09 > 0:38:11"Go ahead, see what happens."
0:38:11 > 0:38:13But no idea whatsoever.
0:38:13 > 0:38:17Well, I think she would be happy to know that were it to be offered at
0:38:17 > 0:38:20auction, it would probably be with an estimate of something like
0:38:20 > 0:38:22£30,000 to £50,000 today.
0:38:26 > 0:38:29- Crikey!- Are you shocked, or am I?
0:38:30 > 0:38:32I think you're going to make her a very happy lady today.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36Thank you very much indeed.
0:38:36 > 0:38:37She will be.
0:38:42 > 0:38:43Well, I'm mindful that these days,
0:38:43 > 0:38:48ladies don't do so much lunch as they are doing afternoon tea.
0:38:48 > 0:38:51Absolutely. I'm having afternoon tea on Sunday.
0:38:51 > 0:38:56Oh, are you? Are you using your best china, that's what I want to know?
0:38:56 > 0:38:58- Afraid not.- I'll tell you what,
0:38:58 > 0:39:03if I was to produce this china for anybody, they would have to be very,
0:39:03 > 0:39:04very good friends.
0:39:04 > 0:39:09- Where has it all come from?- It comes down on my mother's side and was
0:39:09 > 0:39:11given to her by my grandmother
0:39:11 > 0:39:16and I believe it was her great-grandmother's wedding set.
0:39:16 > 0:39:18When did she get married?
0:39:18 > 0:39:22It must have been around about 1830 something like that.
0:39:22 > 0:39:25Right, OK. You know full well who made this?
0:39:25 > 0:39:32- Yes.- Because on the base of this saucer, we have a mark.
0:39:32 > 0:39:36That is a mark of the Rockingham porcelain factory.
0:39:36 > 0:39:44The mark there is the puce mark, and that mark was used from 1830 to 1832.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47- Oh, right.- So that would tally in absolutely perfect.
0:39:47 > 0:39:53- Yes, yes.- What strikes me is the quality of the flower painting.
0:39:53 > 0:39:55It's absolutely beautiful.
0:39:55 > 0:39:56It is, it's exuberant.
0:39:56 > 0:39:58I mean, let's just take this one cup.
0:39:58 > 0:40:02Everything you see on there has been painted by hand.
0:40:02 > 0:40:04But what an expert hand.
0:40:04 > 0:40:08Now, this is just a selection of about how many pieces?
0:40:08 > 0:40:10- About 50, I think.- About 50.
0:40:10 > 0:40:13What was left after my father tended to break it...
0:40:14 > 0:40:18- When washing up. - Well, it's a high-risk area.
0:40:18 > 0:40:21Rockingham porcelain has been a victim of trends
0:40:21 > 0:40:24and it's been a bit of a downward trend when it comes to price.
0:40:24 > 0:40:31So I think it's fair to say that what was worth, let's say,
0:40:31 > 0:40:35£3,000 25 years ago is probably
0:40:35 > 0:40:39nearer £1,500 - £2,000 today.
0:40:39 > 0:40:41- But does it matter? - No. Not at all.
0:40:41 > 0:40:45Course it doesn't matter because this is the best of
0:40:45 > 0:40:49Yorkshire porcelain and let me tell you, coming from a Lancastrian,
0:40:49 > 0:40:52that is the ultimate tribute.
0:40:55 > 0:40:59MUSIC: Everything Stops For Tea
0:41:05 > 0:41:10HENRY SANDON SPEAKS
0:41:10 > 0:41:13in a Stoke-On-Trent museum.
0:41:15 > 0:41:19So, tell me, how did a piece of modernist Americana get here
0:41:19 > 0:41:21- in leafy Cheshire?- Well, I was
0:41:21 > 0:41:28living in America and a friend of mine's aunt passed away and I helped clear out her estate.
0:41:29 > 0:41:32And this was one of the things that we found and
0:41:33 > 0:41:36I was given it as a gift for helping
0:41:36 > 0:41:39do the bull work of clearing everything out.
0:41:39 > 0:41:41So you obviously love it as much as I do.
0:41:41 > 0:41:43I do indeed.
0:41:43 > 0:41:48It's made and designed by Homer Gunn, who is a recognised artist in America.
0:41:48 > 0:41:50He did a lot of monuments.
0:41:50 > 0:41:56He studied in the Rhode Island School of design and art, 1938 - 41.
0:41:56 > 0:42:00And the origins of this are in the Art Deco period, the interwar period,
0:42:00 > 0:42:03which is when he would have been getting his act together
0:42:03 > 0:42:05to become the sculptor that he actually was.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09Some people say his work is brutalist, but it's very simplistic,
0:42:09 > 0:42:11in my mind.
0:42:11 > 0:42:13I love horses, as you can tell,
0:42:14 > 0:42:17and I love the way he's just made this move
0:42:17 > 0:42:23as if it is jumped together almost out of a tube into life.
0:42:23 > 0:42:26You must have loved it to bring it back from America.
0:42:26 > 0:42:28I do, I love the fluidity of movement in it.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32The simple construction but it really gives the shape of the horse
0:42:32 > 0:42:35- and the movement.- Just two lines of brass.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38- Yes.- And a little bronze mop on it.
0:42:38 > 0:42:42To give the symbolism of its eye and its ears and its mane,
0:42:42 > 0:42:45and it's even got a bit of movement in the curve of its spine.
0:42:45 > 0:42:49And when we look at it around here, its body is just two circles.
0:42:49 > 0:42:52And its tail is even floating away this way.
0:42:52 > 0:42:56It looks as if it's going to just jump over a fence and float away.
0:42:57 > 0:43:00He was an important designer in several art circles in America.
0:43:00 > 0:43:03The Boettcher six were one that springs to mind.
0:43:03 > 0:43:07And he actually did several big monuments.
0:43:07 > 0:43:10Symphony Orchestra monument, big gallery monuments,
0:43:10 > 0:43:16but this works in a small and simple and acute style.
0:43:16 > 0:43:19- How long have you had it? - Since 1994.
0:43:19 > 0:43:23Well, it's made in 1965 and on the base,
0:43:23 > 0:43:29we can see it's signed, or inscribed, Homer Gunn '65.
0:43:29 > 0:43:34And it is very typical of the period of the brutalist modernist period.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36These are the antiques of the future.
0:43:36 > 0:43:39These are the things which are making the money now.
0:43:39 > 0:43:42There's not lots of his work available,
0:43:42 > 0:43:44but those that do command some good prices.
0:43:44 > 0:43:45Really?
0:43:45 > 0:43:51And this simple set of circles probably out of a couple of pounds' worth
0:43:51 > 0:43:55of material, a couple of circular pieces cut into sections,
0:43:55 > 0:43:59is now going to be worth £1,500.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02- Very good.- Thanks for bringing it to England because I love it.
0:44:06 > 0:44:11This is what's called a duck's foot pistol because it looks
0:44:11 > 0:44:13like a duck's foot. Sort of.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16And it was made in about 1770.
0:44:16 > 0:44:19And it was designed purely for law and order,
0:44:19 > 0:44:22to intimidate large groups of people.
0:44:22 > 0:44:24They are rare, rare things.
0:44:24 > 0:44:26There's huge amounts of fakes.
0:44:26 > 0:44:30And I'm pleased to say I've had a really good look at this and I am
0:44:30 > 0:44:32certain that this is not one of them.
0:44:32 > 0:44:36Oh, well that's very nice to know. Very nice to know.
0:44:36 > 0:44:42- Where did you get it?- I bought it in a shop in Pudsey.
0:44:42 > 0:44:47- Oh, yes?- Where they sold not only at the time current firearms but also
0:44:47 > 0:44:49they had an antique section.
0:44:49 > 0:44:51And I popped in one day.
0:44:51 > 0:44:55He brought one out, he brought that out, and I said, I'll have it!
0:44:55 > 0:44:57So it was a bit of an impulse buy then.
0:44:57 > 0:45:00- Yes.- Well, I think it was a very good impulse.
0:45:00 > 0:45:02It's a lovely, lovely thing.
0:45:02 > 0:45:07And, if we just look at it, you can see on the side, the maker's name.
0:45:07 > 0:45:09- Laugher.- Right. Yep.
0:45:09 > 0:45:12He was the man who made it in the 1770s.
0:45:12 > 0:45:15If you imagine that you were the captain of a merchant ship
0:45:15 > 0:45:17and you had a couple of these, you had a mutinous crew,
0:45:17 > 0:45:19you stood on the quarterdeck...
0:45:19 > 0:45:22If you had two of these, the crew is not going to try and storm you.
0:45:22 > 0:45:25You can say, "Right, you lot, back below decks."
0:45:25 > 0:45:26And really this...
0:45:26 > 0:45:31This predates the 19th century perfection of the revolver,
0:45:31 > 0:45:33which gave you five or six shots.
0:45:33 > 0:45:35That gave you four automatically.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38Over a spread, and certainly,
0:45:38 > 0:45:42no crowd would want to have a go at anybody armed with that.
0:45:42 > 0:45:46If you had to go and buy that today, in a buoyant market, at auction,
0:45:46 > 0:45:50you'd be paying something like £3,500 for it.
0:45:50 > 0:45:51So, quite a lot of money.
0:45:51 > 0:45:53And it's a fantastically good thing.
0:45:53 > 0:45:56It's been just great to see it here today.
0:45:56 > 0:45:59- That's good. That's good.- Nobody will argue with that, will they?
0:45:59 > 0:46:00Thank you very much. No, they won't.
0:46:04 > 0:46:07I like to think this is the young Mary Berry.
0:46:07 > 0:46:08THEY LAUGH
0:46:08 > 0:46:10Could be.
0:46:10 > 0:46:12Actually, the date is 1942.
0:46:12 > 0:46:14Now, how do I know that?
0:46:14 > 0:46:16Luckily for me, there's a label on the back.
0:46:16 > 0:46:19Telling me that the painting is by Doris Zinkeisen
0:46:19 > 0:46:21and, on the label, it says "ICI".
0:46:21 > 0:46:24Very strange idea...
0:46:24 > 0:46:28for a chemicals company to have a label on the back of a painting.
0:46:28 > 0:46:32Now, the reason for that is because during the war -
0:46:32 > 0:46:34don't forget, these were the darkest days of the war, 1942 -
0:46:34 > 0:46:37ICI, in order to encourage the Home Front,
0:46:37 > 0:46:40commissioned a series of paintings from different artists,
0:46:40 > 0:46:45but particularly from Doris Zinkeisen, who painted this,
0:46:45 > 0:46:48of women working on the Home Front. This is called The Kitchen Front.
0:46:48 > 0:46:52It's on the label. So, it's a wartime propaganda poster, really.
0:46:52 > 0:46:55It was made as a poster, and this is the original painting.
0:46:56 > 0:46:58Because you didn't know who it was by when you brought it in,
0:46:58 > 0:47:00you hadn't looked at the label, had you?
0:47:00 > 0:47:04I'd seen the ICI part and I wondered what the connection was with ICI.
0:47:04 > 0:47:07- That's always interested me. - That's the connection.
0:47:07 > 0:47:10So, you didn't know who she was, Doris Zinkeiser?
0:47:10 > 0:47:12She was one of two sisters. Doris and Anna.
0:47:12 > 0:47:14They lived together, shared a studio,
0:47:14 > 0:47:16and they both painted quite similarly.
0:47:16 > 0:47:19But Doris, in my opinion, is the better painter.
0:47:19 > 0:47:22In those days, you might have said
0:47:22 > 0:47:24that she was "only" a poster artist,
0:47:24 > 0:47:27but then her society portraits and, also,
0:47:27 > 0:47:31she worked for the London Theatre doing set design and costume design.
0:47:31 > 0:47:35Raised her up to a much higher level than just that.
0:47:35 > 0:47:36In latter years, we have come
0:47:36 > 0:47:39to really appreciate those very things you like about it -
0:47:39 > 0:47:42its simplicity and the stylised forms.
0:47:42 > 0:47:45- Yes.- And it's modernity, for 1942.
0:47:45 > 0:47:47So, you didn't know who it was by,
0:47:47 > 0:47:50you didn't know what it was really about, you didn't know its date -
0:47:50 > 0:47:51why did you buy it at all?
0:47:51 > 0:47:56I bought it at an auction, and I bought it simply because I liked it,
0:47:56 > 0:47:59and I still do. I bought it about 20 years ago
0:47:59 > 0:48:02and I just love the simplicity.
0:48:02 > 0:48:05I like the lines of it and the naivety, really.
0:48:05 > 0:48:08It's got a wonderful light to it, and an innocence as well.
0:48:08 > 0:48:11- Yeah, very stylised. - Very stylised.
0:48:11 > 0:48:15- I like it.- It is, I think, a really sunny, lovely picture.
0:48:15 > 0:48:19Now, what did you pay for it in that auction 20 years ago?
0:48:19 > 0:48:20It was a few hundred.
0:48:20 > 0:48:24I honestly can't remember, but it was a few hundred.
0:48:24 > 0:48:26That's all right. Well, you know,
0:48:26 > 0:48:29her fashionable portraits from the '20s and '30s,
0:48:29 > 0:48:32which are often of very glamorous society women,
0:48:32 > 0:48:34are quite valuable things.
0:48:34 > 0:48:36In fact, they are very valuable things.
0:48:36 > 0:48:38This is much more interesting than them, to me,
0:48:38 > 0:48:41because it's a wartime thing and it means something.
0:48:41 > 0:48:44She's trying to put a message across.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47But, nonetheless, I can't put it at the 20-30,000 that they are.
0:48:47 > 0:48:50I'm going to put £2-3,00 on this one.
0:48:50 > 0:48:52Oh, wow. Thank you.
0:48:52 > 0:48:55Yeah. I honestly didn't expect that, no.
0:48:57 > 0:49:00Regular viewers of the Roadshow may remember me at Walmer Castle
0:49:00 > 0:49:03last year when I found the most fantastic collection
0:49:03 > 0:49:06of Martin Brothers pottery. And here we are,
0:49:06 > 0:49:10before Arley Hall and you've turned up with this monumental piece
0:49:10 > 0:49:14of Martin Brothers for me. But how's it come in to your possession?
0:49:14 > 0:49:19Well, my grandfather had a collection of Martinware,
0:49:19 > 0:49:22which has just always been in the family.
0:49:22 > 0:49:24And he lived in Battersea,
0:49:24 > 0:49:28and I think he probably collected it around
0:49:28 > 0:49:32about the time it was made and produced.
0:49:32 > 0:49:35So, we're talking about the beginning of the 20th century, are we?
0:49:35 > 0:49:38- Yes.- So was he a man of means?
0:49:38 > 0:49:41I wouldn't like to say. He died before I was born,
0:49:41 > 0:49:44but I think he must have had some money
0:49:44 > 0:49:47to be able to buy such things.
0:49:47 > 0:49:50Well, it would suggest, at that time, if he was a businessman,
0:49:50 > 0:49:52if he was a professional man,
0:49:52 > 0:49:54he would have probably been going up to Holborn,
0:49:54 > 0:49:57to the premises where they used to retail the wares.
0:49:57 > 0:50:00But look at it, What a fantastic piece of work for them.
0:50:00 > 0:50:03Beautifully pottered. This is all characteristic.
0:50:03 > 0:50:07You know, the carving, the scrolls, the faces, these grotesques...
0:50:07 > 0:50:10We do have one slight issue, do we not?
0:50:10 > 0:50:11We certainly do. Yes. Yes.
0:50:11 > 0:50:14Let's just have a quick look round the other side,
0:50:14 > 0:50:18and what was once a fairly stunning and spectacular, perfect vase
0:50:18 > 0:50:23is now a rather stunning and spectacular...damaged vase.
0:50:23 > 0:50:25What happened here?
0:50:25 > 0:50:28The Martinware pottery was packed up during the war,
0:50:28 > 0:50:30and they had a cellar,
0:50:30 > 0:50:33and I was told that it was damaged by a bomb.
0:50:33 > 0:50:36Was this the only one that met with damage?
0:50:36 > 0:50:38That's the only one that was damaged.
0:50:38 > 0:50:40Well, out of a collection,
0:50:40 > 0:50:44to have only one and the rest survive is no bad thing.
0:50:44 > 0:50:48But it is a shame, and obviously, it IS going to impact on it.
0:50:48 > 0:50:51Had the Luftwaffe not dropped a bomb so perfectly placed
0:50:51 > 0:50:53to take away the foot on your vase,
0:50:53 > 0:50:56you would have been looking in its perfect order
0:50:56 > 0:50:58somewhere in the region of £8,000-10,000.
0:50:58 > 0:51:00Oh, good heavens.
0:51:00 > 0:51:04Oh, wow! That is just amazing.
0:51:04 > 0:51:06But what did they cost you?
0:51:06 > 0:51:08Where is that value now?
0:51:09 > 0:51:11Well, it's not so bad.
0:51:11 > 0:51:15Because Martin Brothers collectors are tolerant and I still think,
0:51:15 > 0:51:20despite all of this, despite that loss, despite that damage,
0:51:20 > 0:51:22it's worth about £3,000 in today's market.
0:51:22 > 0:51:25My goodness. But all the damage?
0:51:25 > 0:51:27- With all the damage. - That's just amazing.
0:51:29 > 0:51:34Whenever I think of images of Victorian streets, shops,
0:51:34 > 0:51:40I think of very visual and colourful enamel signs like this.
0:51:40 > 0:51:42So where did you get this sign?
0:51:42 > 0:51:46This sign was bought while on holiday in Cornwall with my parents,
0:51:46 > 0:51:49- when I was a child.- You bought a few, did you, as a family?
0:51:49 > 0:51:51Yes, it's been in a collection over the years.
0:51:51 > 0:51:54- Right.- There was about four that we bought while we were on holiday.
0:51:54 > 0:51:56Has the collection grown?
0:51:56 > 0:51:59Yeah. There's about 35, 40 that we've got now.
0:51:59 > 0:52:03Fantastic. And of course they were originally made for use outside.
0:52:03 > 0:52:06And I think we can see that there's rusting,
0:52:06 > 0:52:09there's wear where somebody has obviously hammered them
0:52:09 > 0:52:12onto a wall, and, I mean, they do fake them now.
0:52:12 > 0:52:14So, as far as an old one's concerned,
0:52:14 > 0:52:17you should be looking for this dark rust staining
0:52:17 > 0:52:18and lots of wear and tear.
0:52:18 > 0:52:21What caught my eye with this one is, obviously,
0:52:21 > 0:52:25the central beautiful Greek maiden.
0:52:25 > 0:52:28And, of course, she's chiselling the title of the sign -
0:52:28 > 0:52:30"There's No Tea like Phillips's" -
0:52:30 > 0:52:35with a mallet, but what the enamel designers have done,
0:52:35 > 0:52:39they've taken an image, really, from a Victorian painting.
0:52:39 > 0:52:43These do evoke a past age like nothing else.
0:52:43 > 0:52:48Their heyday was 1870 through to the 1950s,
0:52:48 > 0:52:51and, of course, with modern advertising,
0:52:51 > 0:52:56the life of these very expensive signs was soon over.
0:52:56 > 0:52:58The market for these has really grown.
0:52:58 > 0:53:02This is a very good example. Super state.
0:53:02 > 0:53:06I would suspect at auction it's going to make around £2,500.
0:53:06 > 0:53:08Really?
0:53:10 > 0:53:11Thank you.
0:53:13 > 0:53:17Now, you know, for those people who watch this programme regularly,
0:53:17 > 0:53:19and I am told that there ARE people
0:53:19 > 0:53:21- who watch this programme fairly regularly...- Yes.
0:53:21 > 0:53:26..they will know that when they look at a brooch like that,
0:53:26 > 0:53:28that it's Art Deco.
0:53:28 > 0:53:33Which would mean it was probably made in the 1920s or '30s.
0:53:33 > 0:53:38Now, have you had this brooch in your family since the 1920s or '30s?
0:53:38 > 0:53:41No, I've had it since the '50s.
0:53:41 > 0:53:44I inherited it from my mother-in-law.
0:53:44 > 0:53:48- Right.- And she bought it from Robb's the jewellers in Pitlochry.
0:53:48 > 0:53:52- Right.- And Mr Robb told her...
0:53:52 > 0:53:56that the emeralds with the diamonds round it
0:53:56 > 0:54:00was originally drop earrings for the Seventh Duchess of Atholl.
0:54:02 > 0:54:06And that, of course, is a tremendous provenance
0:54:06 > 0:54:09- and pedigree, because that's Blair Castle...- Blair Castle.
0:54:09 > 0:54:11..in Perthshire, which is located
0:54:11 > 0:54:13what, seven, eight miles away from Pitlochry?
0:54:13 > 0:54:16- Yes.- For the benefit of everybody watching,
0:54:16 > 0:54:21let me show you, YOU know this, but in classic Deco fashion,
0:54:21 > 0:54:25it's not just one component, it's two,
0:54:25 > 0:54:30and if you turn it over, there are a pair of clips at the back.
0:54:30 > 0:54:35So, what you do, you pull back the prong fitting like that...
0:54:35 > 0:54:38you pull out the clip like that...
0:54:40 > 0:54:43..and then you can wear one...
0:54:43 > 0:54:46- As a clip.- ..as a clip on each side of your little jacket.
0:54:46 > 0:54:48- I've worn it once like that. - Have you?
0:54:48 > 0:54:53If I just put that back into place again, and close it up,
0:54:53 > 0:54:55let's talk about what it's set in.
0:54:55 > 0:54:59- White metal. Platinum. - Yes.- You know that.- Yes.
0:54:59 > 0:55:05Look at those stones! What fantastic colour they are.
0:55:06 > 0:55:09- What you know about those? - I know they're emeralds.
0:55:09 > 0:55:12- They are. - But I don't know much more.
0:55:12 > 0:55:14- All right, well, shall I tell you something about them?- Yes.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17The best ones in the world come from Colombia.
0:55:17 > 0:55:21- Yes.- They are of that genre.
0:55:21 > 0:55:25- Yes.- They are set in borders of diamonds
0:55:25 > 0:55:29in pear-shaped frames and larger diamonds
0:55:29 > 0:55:31going round the outside.
0:55:31 > 0:55:39Each of the stones weighs over - in my assessment - two carats.
0:55:39 > 0:55:45So there's probably two carats, two carats...four carats.
0:55:45 > 0:55:48- Might be a bit more than that, but I'm being a bit careful here.- Yes.
0:55:48 > 0:55:50And the diamond frames.
0:55:50 > 0:55:54- Oh, that's good. - Everybody likes things like this.
0:55:54 > 0:55:57And everybody likes a bit of colour like that,
0:55:57 > 0:56:01because they are really, really super-duper,
0:56:01 > 0:56:03top-of-the-range stones.
0:56:04 > 0:56:06What do I think they're worth?
0:56:06 > 0:56:09Well, I think your brooch
0:56:09 > 0:56:13is probably worth something in the region...
0:56:13 > 0:56:16of £40,000 today.
0:56:16 > 0:56:18That's nice.
0:56:18 > 0:56:20What are you going to do with it, now?
0:56:20 > 0:56:23I'm going to do exactly what I've done with it the past few years.
0:56:23 > 0:56:26Keep it, wear it when I go to something nice,
0:56:26 > 0:56:30and eventually, my daughter behind me will inherit it.
0:56:30 > 0:56:36It really is a truly splendid Deco brooch,
0:56:36 > 0:56:38of high quality,
0:56:38 > 0:56:41- it's a classy piece and I congratulate you.- Thank you.
0:56:44 > 0:56:46What a gorgeous brooch.
0:56:46 > 0:56:49I wouldn't mind being that daughter who is going to inherit it.
0:56:49 > 0:56:53Walking around with a £40,000 brooch? Lucky girl!
0:56:53 > 0:56:56Our day here is drawing to a close. Our crowds are leaving.
0:56:56 > 0:56:59We've been very glad to have them. And from the whole Roadshow team
0:56:59 > 0:57:01here at Arley Hall, until next time, bye-bye.