0:00:02 > 0:00:06Since I began working on the Roadshow, I look more closely at how things were made.
0:00:06 > 0:00:11Look at the workmanship on these 18th century mahogany and boxwood chairs for example.
0:00:11 > 0:00:14Two of our furniture men, John Bly and Christopher Payne
0:00:14 > 0:00:18will find out exactly what's involved as they try to learn the tricks of the trade.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45Yes, this is an action-packed edition.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49Our researchers have been busy mining for more nuggets
0:00:49 > 0:00:52from over 500 hours of our archives.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55They found some of the most extraordinary finds
0:00:55 > 0:00:56ever uncovered at Roadshows.
0:00:56 > 0:00:58They're worth nothing.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00But when we look into them,
0:01:00 > 0:01:04we can give you another valuation which is that they're priceless.
0:01:04 > 0:01:05Ceramics expert Will Farmer
0:01:05 > 0:01:08remembers his first time in front of the cameras.
0:01:08 > 0:01:11I always said to parents and to grandparents,
0:01:11 > 0:01:13"One day I'm going to try and get on it.
0:01:13 > 0:01:15"I don't know how I'm going to!"
0:01:15 > 0:01:17And not everyone's dreams come true
0:01:17 > 0:01:20when it comes to the valuation moment.
0:01:20 > 0:01:21My goodness!
0:01:21 > 0:01:23After all those years!
0:01:26 > 0:01:31Every now and then, a piece turns up that brings out the groupie in our experts.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34When a piece turns up that's been touched by the stars,
0:01:34 > 0:01:37our experts love rolling out the red carpet
0:01:37 > 0:01:39to give the celebrity treatment.
0:01:42 > 0:01:46When somebody comes with a collection of rock and pop memorabilia,
0:01:46 > 0:01:50of course, immediately you go back to when you first heard, or saw,
0:01:50 > 0:01:53or were involved in that particular band.
0:01:53 > 0:01:56# Metal Guru Is it you... #
0:01:56 > 0:01:58If I didn't know better,
0:01:58 > 0:02:00I'd think I was here with Marc Bolan
0:02:00 > 0:02:04because you are incredibly alike.
0:02:04 > 0:02:07- Thank you. - Stature wise, in every way.
0:02:07 > 0:02:10Loads of diehard music fans come to the Roadshow,
0:02:10 > 0:02:14and they bring a whole raft of different kinds of memorabilia.
0:02:15 > 0:02:19The ultimate item that fans would want, high up on the list,
0:02:19 > 0:02:22would be an instrument or something that they'd worn.
0:02:23 > 0:02:27These fabulous dungarees, I think I recognise those.
0:02:27 > 0:02:30Yeah, Marc used to wear these quite often.
0:02:30 > 0:02:33These ones in particular are famous on Top Of The Pops.
0:02:33 > 0:02:36He performed a song called Metal Guru in them.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39He used to have "T Rex" in sequins
0:02:39 > 0:02:41and through the years, they've fallen off.
0:02:44 > 0:02:48And what else have we got here? This looks pretty full-on.
0:02:48 > 0:02:50Yeah, this is the original master
0:02:50 > 0:02:52of the two-inch multi-track of 20th Century Boy.
0:02:52 > 0:02:55The only one in the world.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58- May I lift the lid?- Yeah, it's in acid-free paper, of course.
0:03:00 > 0:03:02Pretty good, eh?
0:03:04 > 0:03:07It was a tricky moment when I had the box that held the tape.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09Should I unpack it, should I not?
0:03:09 > 0:03:12I don't know, no, I won't take it out.
0:03:12 > 0:03:15The crowd around me were really egging me on.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18Oh, go on! You're egging me on!
0:03:18 > 0:03:21So, yeah, I unpacked it.
0:03:24 > 0:03:26There we go, two-inch recording tape.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29You don't see much of that these days.
0:03:29 > 0:03:33No. Japanese technology as well, back in 1972 when it was recorded.
0:03:33 > 0:03:35It was released in 1973,
0:03:35 > 0:03:3920th Century Boy, but he actually recorded that when he was in Japan.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41If you put that on a tape deck now,
0:03:41 > 0:03:44it sounds perfect, like it was recorded yesterday.
0:03:44 > 0:03:46You feel as if he's right there.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48I've been in the studio listening to that,
0:03:48 > 0:03:50it's like Marc is there with you.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54It's this kind of material that I find really difficult to value.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57I'd have said somewhere between £5000 and £10,000
0:03:57 > 0:04:00is where I would put the value for that.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02They don't care what it's worth.
0:04:02 > 0:04:06They're just so thrilled to have something
0:04:06 > 0:04:11that was owned or worn by, or signed by their idol.
0:04:11 > 0:04:12Value is meaningless.
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Of course, anything that belonged to anybody famous
0:04:17 > 0:04:21immediately has that "X factor" attached to it,
0:04:21 > 0:04:24and I suppose the Beatles are still the band
0:04:24 > 0:04:26that create the highest amount of fervour.
0:04:26 > 0:04:30So, what makes you think this is John Lennon's lavatory?
0:04:30 > 0:04:32Um, we saw it advertised
0:04:32 > 0:04:34in a music magazine
0:04:34 > 0:04:38by a guy who dealt in architectural antiques
0:04:38 > 0:04:43and he was dealing with some of the items coming from Tittenhurst Park,
0:04:43 > 0:04:44which is John Lennon's former home.
0:04:44 > 0:04:46- Have you used it yet?- No, no.
0:04:46 > 0:04:49That's essential, I think.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53Our friends have had photographs taken whilst actually sitting on it.
0:04:53 > 0:04:58- OK. What did you pay for it? - We paid at the time just over £500.
0:04:58 > 0:05:01I think you got a bargain and an antique of the future.
0:05:04 > 0:05:08There are conventional ways to bond with your idol,
0:05:08 > 0:05:10usually just getting an autograph.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15"Be all right with the freak and funky, Jimi Hendrix."
0:05:15 > 0:05:17What a classic line!
0:05:17 > 0:05:20It's in an autograph book
0:05:20 > 0:05:23with bits of Mitch Mitchell's drumsticks as well,
0:05:23 > 0:05:24Jimi Hendrix's drummer.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26How do you happen to have these?
0:05:26 > 0:05:28We just went to see Jimi.
0:05:28 > 0:05:30It was April 1967.
0:05:30 > 0:05:34We were waiting outside on the stage door, me and my friend.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38A bit of drama occurred because someone stole his guitar
0:05:38 > 0:05:41as it was being loaded onto the bus for them to go home.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44This person ran up the street. We ran up, following Jimi.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48- You gave pursuit after Jimi Hendrix's guitar?- Yeah.
0:05:51 > 0:05:52As a kind of reward
0:05:52 > 0:05:57for "helping", in inverted commas, to catch the man,
0:05:57 > 0:05:59Hendrix handed over this tiny ring.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01- That's Jimi Hendrix's ring?- Yes.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03- So he gave you that?- Yeah.
0:06:03 > 0:06:06- It looks like something out of a Christmas cracker.- I know!
0:06:06 > 0:06:12When someone puts an object in front of you and says, "This belonged to Jimi Hendrix,"
0:06:12 > 0:06:15of course the first thing you are going to think is,
0:06:15 > 0:06:17"Right, this has got to be qualified.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20"I've got to be sure that this is correct."
0:06:22 > 0:06:24# I gotta get out of here as fast as I can... #
0:06:24 > 0:06:28And sometimes the stories are just so right, they are so there
0:06:28 > 0:06:31straight away that you know you don't have to question them.
0:06:31 > 0:06:33Hold on, a sec. I've got to wear it.
0:06:33 > 0:06:35It was just like him, he was a flamboyant.
0:06:35 > 0:06:38I'm quite flamboyant as well. Does it suit me?
0:06:38 > 0:06:40No, actually it's a bit small for me.
0:06:40 > 0:06:44It fits on my little finger. It's a Christmas cracker ring but at the end of the day,
0:06:44 > 0:06:47it's not quality that's important here, is it?
0:06:47 > 0:06:51I looked at it and I thought, this ring was worn by Jimi Hendrix
0:06:51 > 0:06:55and not only that, several of my colleagues put it on as well
0:06:55 > 0:06:59because putting on an object like that...is strange.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01You cannot describe it.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04There's a little bit more to it than an average autograph page.
0:07:04 > 0:07:08- I think the whole lot is going to make £500 to £700 at auction.- Yeah.
0:07:14 > 0:07:18But there's one star that shines brighter than any other
0:07:18 > 0:07:20and that's a Hollywood star.
0:07:20 > 0:07:25I bought it some years ago at a jewellery sale in a hotel in Scotland
0:07:25 > 0:07:28where my husband and I used to go quite a lot.
0:07:28 > 0:07:32It also belonged to a very beautiful woman, Ingrid Bergman.
0:07:32 > 0:07:33Oh, how marvellous.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37An actress whom I admired, I've seen most of her films.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39That one was particularly interesting for me
0:07:39 > 0:07:42because I did see Ingrid Bergman when I was very young
0:07:42 > 0:07:46in London and spoke to her for a short while where I work.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50So it was particularly evocative to me and I remember that meeting very well.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53It's evocative to everybody, she was a luminously famous,
0:07:53 > 0:07:57beautiful creature and my father was hopelessly in love with her.
0:07:57 > 0:07:59She was a byword for grace and beauty.
0:07:59 > 0:08:02This is a spectacularly tasteful brooch, isn't it? Do you wear it?
0:08:02 > 0:08:05Thank you. Yes, I do, to the right occasion.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07- Not a lot.- No.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10I'm very proud to wear it and I love wearing it.
0:08:10 > 0:08:13It was very, very impressive to me to find this thing
0:08:13 > 0:08:18and perhaps when a diamond and pearl jewel of that nature that you know
0:08:18 > 0:08:23is worn by a very famous person, then it adds value enormously to it.
0:08:23 > 0:08:24What I'd like to know,
0:08:24 > 0:08:28is there any way of finding out, is whether she ever wore it in a film
0:08:28 > 0:08:31or is there a photograph of her wearing it?
0:08:31 > 0:08:34I'm sure there will be a photograph. That would be very satisfying
0:08:34 > 0:08:36and would help the value enormously.
0:08:36 > 0:08:41I don't really hesitate from valuing that at something like £15,000 today.
0:08:41 > 0:08:46My word. It's quite a lot more than I paid for it.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48And I do love pearls.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51Well, pearls and diamonds, it's a very subtle combination.
0:08:51 > 0:08:55I must say it suits you very well and I'm so thrilled to see it.
0:08:58 > 0:08:59After that item went out,
0:08:59 > 0:09:03eagle-eyed viewers found a photo with Ingrid Bergman wearing
0:09:03 > 0:09:06just that brooch, which pinned down the celebrity provenance.
0:09:13 > 0:09:16Our next guest is no stranger to star items,
0:09:16 > 0:09:19having sold celebrity collections in his day job as an auctioneer.
0:09:19 > 0:09:22Will Farmer is one of our younger ceramics specialists
0:09:22 > 0:09:26but we like to think he came of age when he first stepped in front
0:09:26 > 0:09:29of our cameras four years ago, a day he remembers well.
0:09:32 > 0:09:37My first ever show I vividly remember was the children's Roadshow.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39Meet the next generation.
0:09:40 > 0:09:43This young girl had come and sat down with me and she unfolded
0:09:43 > 0:09:48this collection of Beswick and she was responsive and excited.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52I just thought, right, let's go for this. We've got to have a go.
0:09:52 > 0:09:56My great granny on my mum's side died and she collected them
0:09:56 > 0:09:57as soon as they first came out
0:09:57 > 0:10:01and she gave them to my mum and my mum gave them to me.
0:10:01 > 0:10:04Now, the Beatrix Potter range were basically instigated
0:10:04 > 0:10:07by a lady called Lucy Beswick.
0:10:07 > 0:10:11I was spoon-fed antics literally from cradle
0:10:11 > 0:10:14and as my mum says, "You are a cradle to graver."
0:10:14 > 0:10:17She said, "You'll do nothing but antiques."
0:10:17 > 0:10:21That mixed in with fairly precocious child
0:10:21 > 0:10:26who liked going on stage and being in musicals and singing and doing plays.
0:10:26 > 0:10:30Always joked, always sort of said to parents and to grandparents,
0:10:30 > 0:10:32"One day I'm going to try and get on it.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34"I don't know how I'm going to do it."
0:10:34 > 0:10:37Everybody wanted to own Jemima Puddle Duck
0:10:37 > 0:10:40and Benjamin Bunny and Pigling Bland.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42'The recording side of it didn't bother me.'
0:10:42 > 0:10:45It was about the fun of just being there.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49Duchess is at the top of the table because she's at the top of the tree.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53Out of all your collection, if you had to go and get another Duchess
0:10:53 > 0:10:54and buy her at a fair,
0:10:54 > 0:11:02you would probably have to part with the best part of £1,500 to £2,000.
0:11:02 > 0:11:05Wow! I'll keep her then.
0:11:05 > 0:11:10I really remember the one distinctive thing which was that Christmas
0:11:10 > 0:11:13cos it was the Boxing Day show
0:11:13 > 0:11:18and I had sort of hesitantly forewarned the family
0:11:18 > 0:11:23that it could be shown so we were in the living room watching the telly
0:11:23 > 0:11:28and there was this overhead shot with all the animals on it and my voice.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle Duck, they're all here, aren't they?
0:11:32 > 0:11:33And I was like, "Ah!"
0:11:33 > 0:11:36And the whole room, everybody was just like, "Ah!"
0:11:36 > 0:11:40There was that classic thing which I'm sure happens to everyone
0:11:40 > 0:11:44the first time they're on telly, the phone's going, "You're on telly!"
0:11:44 > 0:11:46"Yes, we know." It was amazing.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49Really quite an amazing thing.
0:11:52 > 0:11:56Will Farmer, a man who knows his Susie Cooper from his Clarice Cliff.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59Our furniture experts have taken a lifetime to gather their knowledge
0:11:59 > 0:12:03but even they regularly come across new skills and techniques
0:12:03 > 0:12:05used in the making of antique furniture,
0:12:05 > 0:12:07which gave us an idea.
0:12:09 > 0:12:13Two of our top specialists are John Bly and Christopher Payne.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16Between them, they've done over 50 years on the Roadshow.
0:12:16 > 0:12:19Palpitations over good parquetry...
0:12:19 > 0:12:21Look at this, isn't this splendid?
0:12:21 > 0:12:24I think I could probably play for hours with this.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26..and delirious over dovetails.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29Oh, look at those. Look at the colours!
0:12:29 > 0:12:30Can you believe it?
0:12:32 > 0:12:34Having admired the craftsmanship for so long,
0:12:34 > 0:12:36can they make it themselves?
0:12:36 > 0:12:40Wanting to find out, we sent them back to school at West Dean College.
0:12:40 > 0:12:45Do you think that in 100 years' time, somebody's going to find these pieces?
0:12:45 > 0:12:48Yes, we'll sign them. They'll be rather good.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52John Payne and Christopher Bly. Let's confuse everybody, historians.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55We wanted to see how far they could get in making
0:12:55 > 0:12:57a seventeenth-century joint stool in a day.
0:12:57 > 0:13:02- Guiding them from stump to stool will be Mike.- All right, lads.
0:13:02 > 0:13:03This is what we're up to today.
0:13:03 > 0:13:06A 17th century joint stool,
0:13:06 > 0:13:09out of ash and oak.
0:13:09 > 0:13:12Joints to cut, timber to shape.
0:13:12 > 0:13:15That's quite a lot of work.
0:13:15 > 0:13:18The name is a corruption of joined school
0:13:18 > 0:13:22and it describes the first type of seating
0:13:22 > 0:13:25that was joined together, rather than being nailed together.
0:13:27 > 0:13:28Mind the fingers.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31- Don't hit it too hard, either.- Oh!
0:13:31 > 0:13:34'I suspect we'll be taken right back to basics.'
0:13:34 > 0:13:35I don't suppose in a day we'll get
0:13:35 > 0:13:39the experience that an apprentice had over seven years in the 18th century
0:13:39 > 0:13:41but we'll see how far we get.
0:13:41 > 0:13:42In here, I'll use a fro.
0:13:42 > 0:13:48Once it gets into the timber, it's pushed to and fro.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50And thence the name!
0:13:50 > 0:13:53It's difficult to realise how different this could be
0:13:53 > 0:13:56from the Antiques Roadshow. We stand or sit at a table,
0:13:56 > 0:13:59I walk around looking at furniture, but here I'm trying to make something.
0:13:59 > 0:14:04All those years of experience and criticism are down to zero.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06Look at that!
0:14:06 > 0:14:09- Excellent.- Very good!
0:14:09 > 0:14:12I think it's a great opportunity to actually get back
0:14:12 > 0:14:14into making something.
0:14:14 > 0:14:16Feeling the wood again.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21- Oh, that is so good, isn't it? - Isn't that nice?
0:14:21 > 0:14:23Old ways work best!
0:14:23 > 0:14:27My family business, antique dealers, was started by my grandfather,
0:14:27 > 0:14:29who was the first one in the family to take
0:14:29 > 0:14:33an academic interest in old furniture in 1891.
0:14:33 > 0:14:39The family had been dealers in Tring, where I live, since 1820.
0:14:39 > 0:14:40I like taking corners off.
0:14:40 > 0:14:43You've got to make it square, John.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47- It has to be square eventually! - I was going to have a rounded one.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50We've got to use that for a leg, you can't nick away at the edges.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54I suppose cabinet-making was also part of my in my life because
0:14:54 > 0:14:57I was born behind the shop and in a workshop
0:14:57 > 0:15:01so I can cut a joint but it's a long time since I did.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05We're just about there. That's just about square.
0:15:05 > 0:15:09Now, we'll take this into the workshop to plane it a bit more
0:15:09 > 0:15:11and then it's gonna become a leg.
0:15:13 > 0:15:17Now, we're going to be rough planing to start with.
0:15:17 > 0:15:18- Right.- I'll stand back.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25I was in my grandfather's workshops, aged four.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27I was given this saw and I was taught to saw.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30- Quite ferocious.- It's a biter! - Attacking it.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34I used to cut bits of doweling and things like that and
0:15:34 > 0:15:38I've always had the smell of sawdust in my nostrils, if you like.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40- Keep your fingers out of the way, John.- I will.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44I went on, I graduated to make this box which
0:15:44 > 0:15:46I don't think I'm particularly proud of but I was nine.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50It's not very square. My name written in.
0:15:50 > 0:15:55Not dated, I think about 1958.
0:15:55 > 0:15:57An antique of the future for the Antiques Roadshow.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07No electric tools here. We wanted to make Chris and John's
0:16:07 > 0:16:12experience as close to a 17th century carpenter's as possible.
0:16:12 > 0:16:14Tell you one thing, John, it's...oh!
0:16:17 > 0:16:19You see a mortise and tenon joint now,
0:16:19 > 0:16:22you'll have some respect for it, Christopher.
0:16:22 > 0:16:25It's much more difficult than I thought.
0:16:25 > 0:16:28There's nothing quite so beautiful and tactile
0:16:28 > 0:16:32as feeling a chisel go through across the grain on a piece of wood.
0:16:32 > 0:16:35You can feel the life in the tree. It's terrific.
0:16:35 > 0:16:38It's something indescribable until you to do it and once
0:16:38 > 0:16:40you've done it, you want to do it again.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43I can see we'll look at furniture on the Roadshow in future
0:16:43 > 0:16:47with, not quite a microscope, but a loop like the jewellery boys have.
0:16:47 > 0:16:51Yes. We might even turn up with a bag of tools.
0:16:58 > 0:17:00They've been at it for a few hours now
0:17:00 > 0:17:03and time's running out for Chris and John to complete their stools.
0:17:03 > 0:17:08- Look, what a dream.- Lucky we're not being paid by the hour for this.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10It would be a very expensive stool.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13There's just enough time to peg the stool frame.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15Now we have a nice, round pin,
0:17:15 > 0:17:18just the size we want to go into the joint.
0:17:25 > 0:17:29- Let's have an inspection. - Oh, yes, it looks just right.
0:17:29 > 0:17:33The day is over and although they haven't finished their stools,
0:17:33 > 0:17:35they did pretty well.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37It's amazing what you two have done today.
0:17:39 > 0:17:43- Looks like we've fallen between two stools, I think.- Oh, dear!
0:17:43 > 0:17:46This has taught me an awful lot really.
0:17:46 > 0:17:49Firstly, the work that goes into it, the time it takes
0:17:49 > 0:17:55to make a fairly simple stool like this is quite an effort, isn't it?
0:17:55 > 0:17:57What it's done for me is to renew my respect
0:17:57 > 0:18:01for 17th and 18th century cabinet-makers.
0:18:01 > 0:18:05We forget all the things that we're looking at, how skilled they were
0:18:05 > 0:18:09and that's been wonderful and actually to make a frame up
0:18:09 > 0:18:11has been very rewarding.
0:18:11 > 0:18:14What's going to be such fun is when I'm next on Antiques Roadshow
0:18:14 > 0:18:18with John, we'll be fighting for the joint stool to talk about it.
0:18:18 > 0:18:21We'll bore for England but it'll be great fun. What a great day!
0:18:24 > 0:18:28John Bly and Christopher Payne on a steep learning curve.
0:18:28 > 0:18:31Every Roadshow has at least one object that seems to stand out
0:18:31 > 0:18:35for our audience and it's not always the object that's worth the most.
0:18:35 > 0:18:38Every now and then, it's something which
0:18:38 > 0:18:41doesn't have much financial value but has enormous emotional impact.
0:18:44 > 0:18:49Most people think the Roadshow is all about high-value extreme rarity
0:18:49 > 0:18:52but to me, these are just as interesting.
0:18:52 > 0:18:56I remember a lady at Swansea who came and sat down at my table
0:18:56 > 0:19:02and she brought out a carrier bag with all sorts of bits of ephemera,
0:19:02 > 0:19:07which is paperwork in other words, and it related to a soldier
0:19:07 > 0:19:11who had gone missing in India at the beginning of the 20th century.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13This is a relative of yours?
0:19:13 > 0:19:15Yes, it was my grandmother's brother
0:19:15 > 0:19:18and he was a soldier during the First World War
0:19:18 > 0:19:21and was sent out to India where he never came back from,
0:19:21 > 0:19:23but he wasn't killed in action,
0:19:23 > 0:19:25he just disappeared there.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27What do you mean disappeared?
0:19:27 > 0:19:30Well, from the letters and the things that have come back,
0:19:30 > 0:19:33it seems he'd had enough and walked out one day.
0:19:33 > 0:19:36- Good Lord! And never turned up? - Never turned up.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39And with it was his diary.
0:19:39 > 0:19:46- And it says, "Made great mistake... which means a lot."- That's right.
0:19:46 > 0:19:52Clearly, he'd done something terrible and he absconded.
0:19:52 > 0:19:59He walked off, walked away. And they never heard or saw from him again
0:19:59 > 0:20:05and that to me, actually, it brought a tear to my eye, I have to say.
0:20:05 > 0:20:08My grandmother spent a long time hoping he'd turn up.
0:20:08 > 0:20:10When the troop ships were coming back,
0:20:10 > 0:20:13because they lived just outside Swansea at that time,
0:20:13 > 0:20:15she'd go down to meet the troops.
0:20:18 > 0:20:24His sister stood at the dockside day after day after day,
0:20:24 > 0:20:27as the ships came back with all the soldiers,
0:20:27 > 0:20:30hoping that he would be one of those coming down the gangplank
0:20:30 > 0:20:33but he never did, he never returned.
0:20:34 > 0:20:37In the history of the world, it's an insignificant problem
0:20:37 > 0:20:40but to the individual and to the family,
0:20:40 > 0:20:43it's one of the greatest tragedies that could ever happen.
0:20:47 > 0:20:52The First and Second World Wars were times of enormous loss and tragedy.
0:20:52 > 0:20:58Such periods often produce very powerful objects associated with them.
0:20:58 > 0:21:04What you've brought me here is a portfolio of lithos,
0:21:04 > 0:21:08of lithographic prints by this artist, Henri Pieck,
0:21:08 > 0:21:12of views of Buchenwald, the concentration camp.
0:21:12 > 0:21:15The Buchenwald drawings were brought in by a young girl whose mother
0:21:15 > 0:21:17had found them in a charity shop. What a story!
0:21:18 > 0:21:22I thought very, very strongly that although they were horrific images,
0:21:22 > 0:21:24showing what that life was like, I thought,
0:21:24 > 0:21:29"We have to do this. We have to address difficult subjects."
0:21:29 > 0:21:31Let's start at the beginning,
0:21:31 > 0:21:34printed in Holland, Dutch artist.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37The most important thing is that he spent
0:21:37 > 0:21:39quite a long time in a concentration camp,
0:21:39 > 0:21:42presumably Buchenwald, because he was a communist.
0:21:42 > 0:21:47The Holocaust was not just about
0:21:47 > 0:21:49what was done to the Jews in the Final Solution,
0:21:49 > 0:21:54it was about Communists, it was about people with mental difficulties,
0:21:54 > 0:21:57it was about gypsies, it was about a whole host of people
0:21:57 > 0:21:59who were unacceptable to the Third Reich.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03How did you feel when you saw these?
0:22:03 > 0:22:07They're just very emotive and you look at them and for me,
0:22:07 > 0:22:10there's no personal attachment to them but I look at them
0:22:10 > 0:22:14and think it's just desperate. They are desperate.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17I think what they reveal is, as you say,
0:22:17 > 0:22:20the sheer desperation of life in the camp.
0:22:20 > 0:22:23If you weren't killed, if you didn't die,
0:22:23 > 0:22:28this is how you looked. I just think they're such powerful records
0:22:28 > 0:22:31of a time which we are in danger of forgetting.
0:22:31 > 0:22:33We have to accept
0:22:33 > 0:22:35that we have done terrible things
0:22:35 > 0:22:40and we mustn't forget it. Forget the value, they're powerful,
0:22:40 > 0:22:43they're emotive as you say, they're our history.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49It's very rare that an object has an actual imprint of history upon it
0:22:49 > 0:22:52but at Norwich Cathedral, some were brought in that bore
0:22:52 > 0:22:55the scars of a monumental tragedy.
0:22:55 > 0:23:01A man brings in a box containing two broken and glued dishes.
0:23:01 > 0:23:05I looked at these and I thought, "Ah, I know where these are from."
0:23:05 > 0:23:07You tell me.
0:23:07 > 0:23:10Well, my father picked them up during the war
0:23:10 > 0:23:12when he was in Hiroshima.
0:23:12 > 0:23:15He went to pick survivors and prisoners of war up.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18He went to Hiroshima and picked these pots up.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22- What was your father doing there? - He was in the medical corps.
0:23:22 > 0:23:26- That was his job was in the army. - Did he talk about what he saw?
0:23:26 > 0:23:28Not at all.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31- It must have affected him. - I think it did, yes.
0:23:31 > 0:23:35It did affect him. He hardly went out of Norfolk once he got home.
0:23:35 > 0:23:40- So it did affect him.- Your father may not have spoken about Hiroshima
0:23:40 > 0:23:42but these bowls do.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52'Picking up those bowls,
0:23:52 > 0:23:56'you could feel your way back to 1945.'
0:23:56 > 0:23:59The human brain is wired to think
0:23:59 > 0:24:02that objects can communicate and they do.
0:24:14 > 0:24:19I can tell you that to get a glaze to run on a piece of porcelain,
0:24:19 > 0:24:22you've got to take the temperature up to 1,300 and beyond.
0:24:22 > 0:24:23'1,300 degrees centigrade.'
0:24:23 > 0:24:28This little bowl, which was a very modest piece of Japanese porcelain,
0:24:28 > 0:24:32went through a second firing. That's how hot it got.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36The temperature, even six miles outside Hiroshima,
0:24:36 > 0:24:40went up to 1,300 degrees centigrade.
0:24:40 > 0:24:42And over.
0:24:42 > 0:24:45And that's why you have these globules of glaze,
0:24:45 > 0:24:49as the thing began to run for the second time.
0:24:52 > 0:24:55We're looking at a little piece of
0:24:55 > 0:24:58fossilised history
0:24:58 > 0:25:02which, when you begin to look into it, tells you just how horrific
0:25:02 > 0:25:05a nuclear bomb going off is.
0:25:05 > 0:25:08That, for me,
0:25:08 > 0:25:14epitomises the power of a modest object.
0:25:14 > 0:25:19Something we may just biff away and you know the story behind it.
0:25:19 > 0:25:24So, when you bring two ordinary, destroyed,
0:25:24 > 0:25:29frankly ugly little broken pots, they are worth nothing.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32But when we look into them,
0:25:32 > 0:25:36we can give you another valuation which is that they're priceless.
0:25:41 > 0:25:42Some memorable Roadshow finds
0:25:42 > 0:25:47that speak more powerfully than mere money. Join us tomorrow,
0:25:47 > 0:25:49when we try to answer the almost impossible question
0:25:49 > 0:25:54of what's been the most beautiful item ever seen at a Roadshow.
0:25:54 > 0:25:55It was beautiful, it was subtle,
0:25:55 > 0:25:58it was well made and I've never forgotten it.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01All these years, my mind will always go to that piece.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04And when is an antique not an antique?
0:26:04 > 0:26:08A question that's caused some controversy.
0:26:08 > 0:26:11It should not include, basically
0:26:11 > 0:26:15the massed produced junk that came out of the 20th century.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17There is no reason for that.
0:26:17 > 0:26:20Before we go, you may be thinking that everyone who attends a Roadshow
0:26:20 > 0:26:23leaves with a pleasant tingle of excitement
0:26:23 > 0:26:26about their meeting with an expert. Sadly, it's not always the case.
0:26:26 > 0:26:30We turn the clock back to a visit to Mount Stewart in Northern Ireland,
0:26:30 > 0:26:34as Tim Wonnacott is about to value this man's lifetime's treasure.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38From a ship's fitting, whether it's a cross channel ferry or a liner
0:26:38 > 0:26:44or whatever, and people buy marine artefacts and that's what this is.
0:26:44 > 0:26:48So, the steward would fill the copper reservoir with water.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50You whizz open, wow,
0:26:50 > 0:26:53the wash hand basin which would be filled
0:26:53 > 0:26:55by pressing this little nickel tap.
0:26:55 > 0:26:58You'd have you wash and when you've had your wash...
0:26:58 > 0:27:04Whoosh - it disgorges the waste into a galvanised container on the back
0:27:04 > 0:27:06and when that needs to be disgorged,
0:27:06 > 0:27:10you undo the bottom flap and take out this fellow.
0:27:10 > 0:27:12When it's full, you chuck it overboard.
0:27:12 > 0:27:13Where did you get it from?
0:27:13 > 0:27:17I went to an auction, you understand?
0:27:17 > 0:27:20It was antiques at this auction.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23That's why it was so expensive.
0:27:23 > 0:27:25Did you have to pay a lot?
0:27:25 > 0:27:30Well, I paid £52 in old currency.
0:27:30 > 0:27:32- In the 1950s?- Yes.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36- 52 old pounds?- Yes. - Gosh, that was a price!
0:27:36 > 0:27:39If you were selling it at auction, in a marine sale,
0:27:39 > 0:27:41I think you could get between £200 to £300 for it.
0:27:41 > 0:27:45- Is that all?- Yeah. That's all.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48My goodness, after all those years!
0:27:48 > 0:27:52Keeping anything myself for 50 years.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55I can only get £400.
0:27:55 > 0:27:56£400 top end.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58I never heard the like.
0:28:01 > 0:28:04Until next time, bye-bye.
0:28:22 > 0:28:26Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:26 > 0:28:30E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk