0:00:03 > 0:00:05Here's a spooky idea.
0:00:05 > 0:00:08What if an antique could be haunted?
0:00:08 > 0:00:11Some people who've visited the Roadshow reckon theirs are.
0:00:11 > 0:00:15Just one of the stories coming up, as we delve deep into the archives
0:00:15 > 0:00:17for another Priceless Antiques Roadshow.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45We've trawled through over 500 editions of the Antiques Roadshow
0:00:45 > 0:00:48to put this series together, right back to its earliest days
0:00:48 > 0:00:53when the cameras first arrived at Hereford Town Hall in 1979.
0:00:53 > 0:00:57From the day of that first recording it was clear nearly every object has a story.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01And it's our experts who uncover them. For this episode
0:01:01 > 0:01:04we've unearthed some of the oldest pieces ever to hit the screen.
0:01:04 > 0:01:09It's 2,000 years BC, so this object is 4,000 years old.
0:01:09 > 0:01:13And then coming right up to date, 20th century specialist
0:01:13 > 0:01:17Mark Hill has a hot tip on contemporary collecting.
0:01:17 > 0:01:20People are really taking an interest in the market and its designs
0:01:20 > 0:01:22which are quite fantastic.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26We will also dig into Henry Sandon's past to find out what makes him tick.
0:01:26 > 0:01:30When she came back from hospital there was the first body laid out,
0:01:30 > 0:01:32together with his pots that he'd been buried with.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35That got me interested in pots, really.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41I always know when something special has come to light at a Roadshow.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43I can see a gathering of experts huddled in a corner,
0:01:43 > 0:01:45intently examining an object.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49Nothing's guaranteed to whet their appetites more than pieces
0:01:49 > 0:01:51that are of a great age,
0:01:51 > 0:01:54and these are some of the earliest finds that have come our way.
0:02:02 > 0:02:04This is, I suppose, by far
0:02:04 > 0:02:08the oldest thing we've ever had on the Antiques Roadshow.
0:02:08 > 0:02:12I think it was Tavistock that I saw the oldest piece I have ever seen.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16It was absolutely wonderfully exciting to hold one of these things
0:02:16 > 0:02:21that had been going for, I suppose, 3,000 year's BC.
0:02:23 > 0:02:25It's a stele, meant to go with the grave,
0:02:25 > 0:02:28and it actually depicts the dead person
0:02:28 > 0:02:31- that's him on the right -
0:02:31 > 0:02:36being led into the Gods by all the leading Gods.
0:02:36 > 0:02:40I suppose the most famous one, the Jackal-headed Anubis,
0:02:40 > 0:02:43but they're all there. And then this wonderful hieroglyphs
0:02:43 > 0:02:46as a description of what has actually happened
0:02:46 > 0:02:49and what has been put into the tomb.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53'All the world opens up to you, Egypt back in those times.'
0:02:53 > 0:02:57It's mind boggling because of the great age of the thing
0:02:57 > 0:03:00and the history that it's gone through -
0:03:00 > 0:03:04the people that have known it or knew it when it was first made.
0:03:04 > 0:03:07You picture the past.
0:03:07 > 0:03:12Egyptian things survive by being buried in tombs.
0:03:12 > 0:03:17Perhaps more modern things which were made for use don't survive.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20They get damaged or thrown away or badly treated.
0:03:20 > 0:03:24But old pots can survive quite incredibly well.
0:03:24 > 0:03:28'It's in incredible condition. Considering its age, the colours
0:03:28 > 0:03:33'are, I suppose, almost as great as when they were first painted there.'
0:03:33 > 0:03:36In value terms, age doesn't necessarily count.
0:03:36 > 0:03:38In value terms, things that are made today
0:03:38 > 0:03:42can be worth more than something made thousands of years ago.
0:03:42 > 0:03:48The last one of any reputable quality and date, equal to this
0:03:48 > 0:03:54sort of thing, went for something like about £2,000 - £2,500.
0:03:54 > 0:03:58Which may not seem desperately much considering the great age of it,
0:03:58 > 0:04:00but they're not terribly uncommon objects.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04One tends to think it's going to be one of its kind, but they do exist.
0:04:04 > 0:04:05Each one is individual,
0:04:05 > 0:04:09but they do exist in large numbers.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11Age doesn't count. I mean, look at me!
0:04:11 > 0:04:13I don't count for anything, and I'm quite old!
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Certainly one of the oldest things I've ever found was
0:04:17 > 0:04:19a Bronze Age fibula, a brooch.
0:04:19 > 0:04:24It came from a very remote time when society was tiny
0:04:24 > 0:04:27and somehow it was all the more magical for that.
0:04:29 > 0:04:31It belongs to a friend of ours.
0:04:31 > 0:04:36He has a fad for metal detecting and he found this
0:04:36 > 0:04:42in a field somewhere outside Portumna, which is in County Galway.
0:04:42 > 0:04:47I could almost see the woman wearing it on a dun-coloured shawl,
0:04:47 > 0:04:49and the fact that she lived in a very tiny community
0:04:49 > 0:04:53and that her life expectancy was probably no greater than about 28
0:04:53 > 0:04:57and yet she may have been my ancestor or anybody's ancestor.
0:04:57 > 0:05:03This is a souvenir of a very remote past, and very exciting.
0:05:03 > 0:05:09It's 2,000 years BC, so this object is 4,000 years old.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11This is really the beginning of Irish history.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13Have you got a metal detector?
0:05:13 > 0:05:16No, I haven't, but I'll buy one now, most definitely.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19- I know, I think I am! - Put on my wellingtons and out I go!
0:05:19 > 0:05:22It was a very enviable thing. I would love to have found it.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25I don't necessarily want to buy it but to find such a thing
0:05:25 > 0:05:27would be the most magical experience of one's life.
0:05:29 > 0:05:31I am now touching, to my knowledge,
0:05:31 > 0:05:35the oldest piece of furniture we've ever had on the roadshow.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39This has to be 1400s. They were made to take vestments
0:05:39 > 0:05:43and, of course, the church plate and tithes and money.
0:05:43 > 0:05:44Hence all these locks,
0:05:44 > 0:05:47and of course all the church wardens had a lock each.
0:05:47 > 0:05:50The owner actually wasn't the owner, it was a curator.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52It had come out of a church.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54Hadn't been opened in his memory.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56We do wonder,
0:05:56 > 0:06:00if it's opened up, we may find a skeleton, something like that.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03- Has it not been opened? - Not to my knowledge, no.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05- For how long?- Never.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07- Good heavens!- No.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11Well, if anybody should ever question whether this programme
0:06:11 > 0:06:15is totally unrehearsed, we're now going to find out!
0:06:15 > 0:06:17Anyway, we opened it.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20Slid the great bar across.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28HE IMITATES CREAKING HINGE.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39What's the date of the newspaper?
0:06:39 > 0:06:43- Ah! September 1963?! - THEY LAUGH
0:06:46 > 0:06:49I think it was a sort of nervous laughter because he was
0:06:49 > 0:06:52quite convinced there was going to be something horrific in there.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55I was looking for a pile of white fivers, but still...
0:07:00 > 0:07:05Sometimes on the Roadshow we even get to TASTE a bit of history.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08Well, I've always been very interested in wine,
0:07:08 > 0:07:11not just drinking it, but also in the history of wine.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14And so you can imagine my excitement
0:07:14 > 0:07:16when we were in the Kilmainham hospital in Dublin
0:07:16 > 0:07:22and someone came in with a bottle of wine dating from 1750.
0:07:22 > 0:07:26- 1750? Over 200 years old?- Absolutely.
0:07:26 > 0:07:28- And the cork has just gone in? - Just now.
0:07:28 > 0:07:33Now the extraordinary thing about this wine was that it had remained
0:07:33 > 0:07:37corked - the cork was in the top - for more than 200 years
0:07:37 > 0:07:40and on that very day, whether it was...
0:07:40 > 0:07:42I don't know if it was the heat of our hands
0:07:42 > 0:07:46or the heat of the television lights, the cork went into the bottle.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48What do you think's inside it?
0:07:48 > 0:07:50Well, they're usually
0:07:50 > 0:07:53filled with Madeira wine.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56We just, it so happens, have a glass handy.
0:07:56 > 0:07:59So after more than 200 years...
0:08:00 > 0:08:02..there seems to be
0:08:02 > 0:08:06a bit of sludge.
0:08:06 > 0:08:08What does it smell like?
0:08:08 > 0:08:10But it wasn't altogether successful.
0:08:14 > 0:08:16THEY LAUGH
0:08:16 > 0:08:18It tasted, to be honest with you,
0:08:18 > 0:08:22not that I've ever tasted paraffin, but I imagine that if I had done,
0:08:22 > 0:08:25it would have tasted something like this wine.
0:08:25 > 0:08:27Well, that... That kills it forever!
0:08:27 > 0:08:28THEY LAUGH
0:08:28 > 0:08:33The myth about old wine in old bottles - it's unspeakable!
0:08:35 > 0:08:39There are some occasions though, where old does mean valuable.
0:08:40 > 0:08:44My aunt had it on her mantelpiece all her life.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46She lived in the same house from the 1920s until she died
0:08:46 > 0:08:48at the age of 94, about four years ago.
0:08:48 > 0:08:52So it's been sitting on the mantelpiece and has now come down to you?
0:08:52 > 0:08:55- That's right, yes.- Soon as I saw the piece, I knew it was special.
0:08:55 > 0:08:59But I was trying my hardest not to give anything away.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03We've got a material called Delft. To look like Chinese porcelain,
0:09:03 > 0:09:07they took a pottery clay and covered it with a thick, white glaze.
0:09:07 > 0:09:09And it looks like a nice, white, china body.
0:09:09 > 0:09:11But it's soft, it chips easily
0:09:11 > 0:09:14and when it chips you get this coarse, clay colour inside.
0:09:14 > 0:09:17The owner clearly had very little idea.
0:09:17 > 0:09:20They figured it must be old but had little idea of its real age
0:09:20 > 0:09:22and certainly not of the rarity.
0:09:22 > 0:09:26Lots of things are telling me this is London, 1660.
0:09:26 > 0:09:29As I held the piece it was speaking to me as being
0:09:29 > 0:09:32something very special indeed.
0:09:32 > 0:09:35Anything from that age, you're talking quite a rare piece indeed.
0:09:35 > 0:09:38Really? Even though it's so battered?
0:09:38 > 0:09:41- Well, I like to see battering on these.- Oh, right.
0:09:41 > 0:09:44That is telling me more that it's got some age.
0:09:44 > 0:09:48Cautiously one is thinking, £50,000?
0:09:48 > 0:09:50Really? Oh!
0:09:50 > 0:09:56- And it could...some have made over £100,000...- Oh dear.
0:09:56 > 0:09:59..for pieces of such importance.
0:09:59 > 0:10:02Right! Well, it isn't insured, I don't think.
0:10:02 > 0:10:03It needs to be insured.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06It needs to be looked after. it needs to be researched.
0:10:06 > 0:10:10- It's a major discovery.- Is it really? - It's so exciting,
0:10:10 > 0:10:13I'm shaking holding it here but I'll put it down carefully.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16Because it is a wonderful thing, wonderful condition.
0:10:17 > 0:10:18What a piece!
0:10:23 > 0:10:26Of course age isn't the only prerequisite to collecting objects.
0:10:26 > 0:10:29Some of the latest passions are for pieces made in recent years,
0:10:29 > 0:10:32and they can prove a good investment, too.
0:10:32 > 0:10:3720th century glass specialist Mark Hill has this tip to beat the credit crunch.
0:10:42 > 0:10:44I think the wise pounds this year will be
0:10:44 > 0:10:47spent buying postwar Czechoslovakian glass.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49I see this as a great investment for the future.
0:10:49 > 0:10:53After the Second World War, three major countries, apart from England,
0:10:53 > 0:10:56revolutionised 20th Century glass design.
0:10:56 > 0:11:00You have Scandinavia, and of course Italy with their island of Murano,
0:11:00 > 0:11:01and Czechoslovakia.
0:11:01 > 0:11:06The third, Czechoslovakia, has been completely ignored up till now.
0:11:06 > 0:11:10Because of the Iron Curtain and the Communist regime in control of
0:11:10 > 0:11:13the country at the time, you tended to find there was no research done.
0:11:13 > 0:11:17It's just beginning to change and people are really taking
0:11:17 > 0:11:19an interest in the market and its designs,
0:11:19 > 0:11:21which are quite fantastic.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24I've chosen this particular piece which I feel to be really good.
0:11:24 > 0:11:28And it crosses the masterpiece and mass-produced.
0:11:29 > 0:11:34It was designed by a great Czechoslovakian glass master called Pavel Hlava.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37He's a name that certainly isn't recognised or generally known,
0:11:37 > 0:11:40but is known by a very select number of good collectors.
0:11:40 > 0:11:43You can find examples of postwar Czechoslovakian glass
0:11:43 > 0:11:47literally from everywhere from a car boot sale to a local auction house
0:11:47 > 0:11:49or even a good quality junk shop.
0:11:49 > 0:11:53A piece like this you can find for anything from £20 to £100
0:11:53 > 0:11:55depending on the size and colour.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59I think this is a surefire bet to rise in price in future.
0:12:02 > 0:12:05Joining the Antiques Roadshow has allowed me to catch up with
0:12:05 > 0:12:08some of the legends that go back to the earliest days of the show.
0:12:08 > 0:12:12One of my favourites is a story of Oxford Street being brought to a standstill
0:12:12 > 0:12:15when our well-known pot collector, Henry Sandon,
0:12:15 > 0:12:18was spotted getting onto a number 73 bus.
0:12:18 > 0:12:21Turned out the driver was one of his biggest fans
0:12:21 > 0:12:23and abandoned the cab to give Henry a kiss.
0:12:23 > 0:12:26Henry was delighted, the lady driver was in seventh heaven
0:12:26 > 0:12:29and the passengers were just plain confused.
0:12:29 > 0:12:33It's that kind of adulation that's followed Henry around for years.
0:12:33 > 0:12:34But what makes him tick?
0:12:38 > 0:12:40I was born in London.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44I'm a cockney, bred and born, and very proud of it.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48I came to Worcester in the 1950s. 1953 - Coronation year,
0:12:48 > 0:12:51to sing in the cathedral choir
0:12:51 > 0:12:54and teach music at the grammar school and conduct.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00And that's how I met my wife who was a Worcester-born girl,
0:13:00 > 0:13:05and Barbara was the young soprano in it, and we fell in love.
0:13:09 > 0:13:14We were married in 1956 in the cathedral and from there onwards
0:13:14 > 0:13:18I've been firmly established in Worcester.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21I wasn't interested in antiques till I married Barbara.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23Don't mention that!
0:13:23 > 0:13:28But I got interested in antiques through an excavation in my garden
0:13:28 > 0:13:31which was right by the side of Worcester Cathedral.
0:13:31 > 0:13:34And when Barbara went into hospital to have our first child,
0:13:34 > 0:13:36I didn't want to attend the birth.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40Well, you weren't allowed to attend the births in those days.
0:13:40 > 0:13:42And I stayed at home and excavated the garden
0:13:42 > 0:13:45and went down through all the levels, medieval levels,
0:13:45 > 0:13:49down into the Roman levels and found Romans with their pots.
0:13:51 > 0:13:55When she came back from hospital there was the first body laid out
0:13:55 > 0:13:58together with his pots that he'd been buried with.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01That got me interested in pots really
0:14:01 > 0:14:06and I immersed myself in the history of Worcester porcelain.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11Then when the position at the Worcester Porcelain Museum turned up,
0:14:11 > 0:14:14I applied for it and got it.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19As curator, I did a number of jobs.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22I had to organise the factory tours
0:14:22 > 0:14:29and also then I dealt with the museum collections, but mainly it was to act
0:14:29 > 0:14:33as liaison between the history of the place and the workers on the factory.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40'The clay goes to one of the oldest machines in the world,
0:14:40 > 0:14:41'the potter's wheel.'
0:14:45 > 0:14:48I loved and admired the people on the factory.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50They were wonderful craftsmen
0:14:50 > 0:14:54and, very kindly, they let me in on all their secrets so I'd learn
0:14:54 > 0:14:57how they did their paintings, how they did their engravings.
0:14:57 > 0:15:01They were terribly kind to me as a non-knowledgeable person
0:15:01 > 0:15:05in this field and told me everything they could.
0:15:07 > 0:15:13'Plate decoration calls for a good deal of skill as a juggler.'
0:15:17 > 0:15:20'Hand painting is reserved, of course,
0:15:20 > 0:15:22'for the most expensive services.'
0:15:22 > 0:15:24Henry was friends with all the painters
0:15:24 > 0:15:28and every plate holds a memory for him.
0:15:29 > 0:15:31I had this painted by David Peplow for me.
0:15:31 > 0:15:36I provided him with the dish and asked him to do blue scale,
0:15:36 > 0:15:41like in the 18th century work, with fabulous birds and exotic insects
0:15:41 > 0:15:45and incredibly marvellous gilding. Of course, the gilding is often
0:15:45 > 0:15:49much more lengthy and difficult than the painting.
0:15:49 > 0:15:54I wanted to know how long such a piece would take to actually do.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57He did the whole work, right the way through
0:15:57 > 0:15:59and he told me that it had taken him
0:15:59 > 0:16:03400 hours of craftsmanship time in the whole thing.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07When I showed it to the art director at the factory,
0:16:07 > 0:16:13he said they would have to charge £10,000 for a piece like this.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15He inscribed it on the back,
0:16:15 > 0:16:20"To my good friend Henry Sandon, from David Peplow, January 1978."
0:16:20 > 0:16:23A long time ago. But I love that very much.
0:16:25 > 0:16:30'Flowers, birds, people, animals.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33'A colourful tribute to the craftsmanship and skill
0:16:33 > 0:16:36'which has been passed on through the years.'
0:16:36 > 0:16:39I was curator for 17 years.
0:16:39 > 0:16:44When I retired, they all contributed to a retirement book.
0:16:44 > 0:16:48Looking through this, it brings back such wonderful memories
0:16:48 > 0:16:51of these great people that I've known.
0:16:51 > 0:16:55There's Pat Rigby painting butterflies on a leaf.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58Brian Cox with his birds.
0:16:58 > 0:17:03And this is Francis Clarke, painting the portrait of Dr John Wall,
0:17:03 > 0:17:07which is a very important person of course, here at Worcester,
0:17:07 > 0:17:11the founder of this factory way back in 1751.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16Henry's time as curator had a profound effect
0:17:16 > 0:17:18on the artists who worked at Worcester.
0:17:21 > 0:17:26Henry made quite a contribution to the painter's' skills by letting us
0:17:26 > 0:17:28go along to the museum and experience the museum,
0:17:28 > 0:17:32not just look behind a glass case, but actually handling
0:17:32 > 0:17:38the china, studying the painters, discussing the painters.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42One day, I went in, asking where is his new acquisition,
0:17:42 > 0:17:46which was a small jug which was one of the first pieces known
0:17:46 > 0:17:50of Royal Worcester to be made. It was a tiny jug
0:17:50 > 0:17:54with "Wigornia" written on the bottom. He said "Here you are"
0:17:54 > 0:17:56and handed me this little jug,
0:17:56 > 0:18:01which was a bit of a shock cos he'd just paid £22,000 for it.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04I think I'd paid £12,000 for a house.
0:18:06 > 0:18:09Throughout Henry's time, he would encourage us to experiment
0:18:09 > 0:18:11with our work, to push ourselves forward,
0:18:11 > 0:18:15to try to achieve as good as the previous century.
0:18:17 > 0:18:20Henry encouraged the painters at Worcester for decades,
0:18:20 > 0:18:24but now the days of creating pots there are coming to a close.
0:18:24 > 0:18:28I've loved the Worcester factory most of my life
0:18:28 > 0:18:33and it's sad to see it now in administration.
0:18:33 > 0:18:35They have suffered enormous losses.
0:18:35 > 0:18:39Hardly any of the great people are still here.
0:18:40 > 0:18:44But it is sad to meet some of the old craftsmen
0:18:44 > 0:18:47from the factory around the town who have lost their jobs.
0:18:47 > 0:18:51And some of them have tears in their eyes when they talk about it.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54But the museum, of course, is here still
0:18:54 > 0:18:59and will continue in perpetuity. We are here for ever more.
0:19:03 > 0:19:06Our Henry on home turf.
0:19:06 > 0:19:08Quite a few of our experts are very adept
0:19:08 > 0:19:13at bringing an object back to life by reconstructing its past.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17Who owned it, moments it might have witnessed, that kind of thing.
0:19:17 > 0:19:21But some of our objects seem to have a spooky life of their own
0:19:21 > 0:19:23which have given our experts a bit of a chill.
0:19:36 > 0:19:39I was confronted by this man who was utterly white.
0:19:39 > 0:19:42And he was so astonishing to look at, I thought,
0:19:42 > 0:19:46we must ignore it and just treat him as an ordinary member of the public.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50I am dressed as the ghost of a highway robber, Adam Lyle, deceased.
0:19:50 > 0:19:55I work as a ghost tour guide and my costume is to dress up in the same costume I wore.
0:19:55 > 0:19:57I was quite often greeted with people wondering if
0:19:57 > 0:20:01I was the item myself, being something that was 200 years old.
0:20:01 > 0:20:06- I've brought a rather macabre object in today.- It doesn't look macabre.
0:20:06 > 0:20:10It might not do, but it's a business card holder actually made from
0:20:10 > 0:20:14the skin of an executed criminal, a man, William Burke,
0:20:14 > 0:20:16who along with his partner, William Hare,
0:20:16 > 0:20:18used to engage in body snatching.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22Although he was actually there to show me this wallet made of
0:20:22 > 0:20:25human skin, that somehow became less of the focus then this
0:20:25 > 0:20:30bizarre conversation that we were having which we both played straight.
0:20:30 > 0:20:32In a twist of irony, when William Burke was caught,
0:20:32 > 0:20:36they took his own body to the Medical School, had him disected
0:20:36 > 0:20:39and decided to use some of his body to make a few souvenirs.
0:20:39 > 0:20:43The major memory I have of it was just so many people
0:20:43 > 0:20:48being really quite freaked out by the fact that it was human skin.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51As soon as we told people, you could see them noticeably recoil
0:20:51 > 0:20:54as if somehow it would jump up and bite them.
0:20:54 > 0:20:55I did fondle this wallet.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59It was just like a rather delicate, silky feel to it,
0:20:59 > 0:21:01but it was human skin all right.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09It's giving me collywobbles to think about it.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13- She is so ugly.- She is, yes.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17When I used to go and visit my great aunt and uncle's house,
0:21:17 > 0:21:20they'd put a tea-towel over the top of it or turn her face to the wall
0:21:20 > 0:21:23because I was so frightened of looking at her face.
0:21:23 > 0:21:26I've got to the point that I can take something in my hand
0:21:26 > 0:21:30and really feel an energy coming out of them.
0:21:30 > 0:21:34And when I saw the pedlar doll at Uppingham,
0:21:34 > 0:21:38I really, really didn't want to film it.
0:21:38 > 0:21:43As far as I was concerned, it not only looked horrid,
0:21:43 > 0:21:48but actually, being around it made me feel horrid,
0:21:48 > 0:21:53and even thinking about it is making me feel quite wobbly in my tummy.
0:21:54 > 0:21:57Well, I think, if you look at her carefully,
0:21:57 > 0:22:01perhaps the explanation is that originally her face would have been
0:22:01 > 0:22:06made of a composition, made with papier mache or something like that.
0:22:06 > 0:22:09With a gauze or material over it.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12And of course, over a period of time, this has broken down.
0:22:12 > 0:22:15I thought, actually, I'm not sure
0:22:15 > 0:22:18that children aren't going to be a bit scared by this doll.
0:22:18 > 0:22:20This is really horrible.
0:22:20 > 0:22:25We honed in on her lovely basket of all the knick-knacks
0:22:25 > 0:22:29and toasting forks and things like that and a little roll of music.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33And it had this one black, glass eye
0:22:33 > 0:22:36that, wherever you were filming it from, you could feel
0:22:36 > 0:22:38this beady eye following you round.
0:22:40 > 0:22:44We came out of it perfectly all right but I can remember,
0:22:44 > 0:22:47to this minute, exactly how I felt
0:22:47 > 0:22:49when I saw it and I really didn't want to record it.
0:22:51 > 0:22:53Portraits are very evocative things.
0:22:53 > 0:22:59They are, after all, a memorial to an individual's life, often long gone.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02And they can carry that spirit with them.
0:23:02 > 0:23:05I remember one particular piece in Arundel Castle
0:23:05 > 0:23:08in which a couple came to me with a picture that was haunted.
0:23:10 > 0:23:15Well, historically, there's evidence that it is haunted,
0:23:15 > 0:23:16but I do believe myself that it is.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19And we have had evidence ourselves that it is haunted.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23When it hung in our cottage in Yorkshire,
0:23:23 > 0:23:26my husband and I were downstairs and had recently had our daughter,
0:23:26 > 0:23:30who was three months old, asleep in her cot.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32Everything was very quiet and then, all of a sudden,
0:23:32 > 0:23:37we heard Brahms' Lullaby being sung over the monitor.
0:23:39 > 0:23:41I was really quite frightened.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44- I bet you were.- I sent my husband immediately up the stairs.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46I couldn't go up myself.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50And I said, "I'll just stay down here and continue to listen."
0:23:50 > 0:23:55I tiptoed and got to the very top stair, opposite the bedroom,
0:23:55 > 0:23:57and just as my foot touched the top landing,
0:23:57 > 0:24:00the music stopped immediately.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03- That's spooky.- It was spooky.
0:24:03 > 0:24:08I recall that they had a few newspaper articles
0:24:08 > 0:24:10of when it used to hang in a pub
0:24:10 > 0:24:15and they handed me a glazed, framed copy of one of the articles
0:24:15 > 0:24:18and the glass cracked in my hand.
0:24:18 > 0:24:22I realise it sounds like a great excuse,
0:24:22 > 0:24:26but at the time, both they and I were happy to attribute it to the ghost.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30It doesn't surprise me at all that this has got a haunted past
0:24:30 > 0:24:33or a haunted association. It's an unusually characterful work
0:24:33 > 0:24:37by a primitive painter who hasn't any of the constraints
0:24:37 > 0:24:40that society portrait painters normally suffer from.
0:24:40 > 0:24:44There were a good fun couple, energetic, plausible people.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47But whenever anybody tells you a ghost story,
0:24:47 > 0:24:50you're inclined to look at them rather sceptically.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53However, in this case, I sort of...
0:24:54 > 0:24:58..was a good half way there to believing it, actually.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05Not too sure I'd like that portrait in my house.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09Our team of experts are generally a well-mannered bunch but they all get
0:25:09 > 0:25:12very excited when an intriguing piece arrives at a Roadshow.
0:25:12 > 0:25:15This sometimes triggers a bit of healthy rivalry
0:25:15 > 0:25:19behind the scenes as to who gets to talk about the object on camera.
0:25:19 > 0:25:23This latest confession comes from Henry Sandon's son, John,
0:25:23 > 0:25:26who's often in competition with his father.
0:25:30 > 0:25:33It's great to appear on the Antiques Roadshow with my dad
0:25:33 > 0:25:36and we share so many interests, as well as friendly rivalry.
0:25:36 > 0:25:39- What is inside?- Assorted biscuits.
0:25:39 > 0:25:41- Assorted biscuits?- Yes.
0:25:41 > 0:25:43Dad and I have made all sorts of great discoveries of
0:25:43 > 0:25:45pottery on the Roadshow.
0:25:45 > 0:25:48We almost take it in turns to find a rare and valuable piece.
0:25:48 > 0:25:51We joke with each other as to who is going to turn up
0:25:51 > 0:25:53with the next best piece on the show.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57I really did feel very envious when a lady came along to him,
0:25:57 > 0:26:00she produced some plates out of a biscuit tin.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03And she apologised for them being chipped and cracked,
0:26:03 > 0:26:07but, of course, what wonderful plates they were!
0:26:07 > 0:26:11Well, all I know is that they're Merrymen plates and Delft.
0:26:11 > 0:26:12Merrymen plates and Delft?
0:26:12 > 0:26:16- Yes.- You're absolutely right. Good grief.
0:26:16 > 0:26:18She didn't think they'd be
0:26:18 > 0:26:21that special but Dad's excitement couldn't be hidden.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23It can't be the full set?
0:26:23 > 0:26:25There's six in the set.
0:26:25 > 0:26:28- That's right, there are.- And you've got the blessed six of them.
0:26:28 > 0:26:33- How did you get these? - I was left them by Auntie Dorothy.
0:26:33 > 0:26:36- Auntie Dorothy?- Yes. - And where did she get them from?
0:26:36 > 0:26:39Well, I'm not sure but I think it was her grandmother.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41If only I'd been there,
0:26:41 > 0:26:44and realised it was the whole set in there, the full Merrymen plates.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47These are terribly unusual plates.
0:26:47 > 0:26:49- Are they?- Do you appreciate that?
0:26:49 > 0:26:53- Oh yes.- They're vaguely imitating the Dutch who had sets like this.
0:26:53 > 0:26:55They would stand in a cabinet door,
0:26:55 > 0:26:57on the mantelpiece or something like that.
0:26:57 > 0:27:00Tom Byrne used to have his on the mantelpiece
0:27:00 > 0:27:02and there they sat and looked at you.
0:27:02 > 0:27:04He can't have had a biscuit tin?
0:27:04 > 0:27:07No, he didn't have a biscuit tin.
0:27:07 > 0:27:13But the shape of them is very, very typical of this date, which is 1727.
0:27:13 > 0:27:17I'd have been just as excited as Dad and would have thought about
0:27:17 > 0:27:19how envious he would have been if I'd spotted these.
0:27:19 > 0:27:24- In the sale, nine years ago, it fetched...- Yes.
0:27:24 > 0:27:30..a set, a matching set like this, fetched £18,000.
0:27:30 > 0:27:35No, keep going. I'll get the mortgage yet.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39I think because of the escalation in Delftware, tin-glazed pottery,
0:27:39 > 0:27:45I think probably you've got to think in terms of 20 to £25,000.
0:27:45 > 0:27:49- Oh! I will get some of the mortgage paid off.- You will.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56That's just about it for this edition.
0:27:56 > 0:28:01Next time, prepare to witness some of the most bizarre pieces ever to arrive at a Roadshow.
0:28:01 > 0:28:05And that actually, was once a dog and is now a dog-skin buoy.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07So this is a dead dog?
0:28:07 > 0:28:11We do some detective work with art sleuth Philip Mould.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14What's intriguing is that beneath here is a portrait that has,
0:28:14 > 0:28:16for some reason, been abandoned.
0:28:16 > 0:28:20And we've some outstanding items that have been touched by royalty.
0:28:20 > 0:28:24It says Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King Charles I.
0:28:24 > 0:28:28See you next time on Priceless Antiques Roadshow.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:28:47 > 0:28:50E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk