Windsor The Great Antiques Map of Britain

'Britain is stuffed with places famous for their antiques,

'and each object has a story to tell.'

Hello!

'I'm Tim Wonnacott,

'and as the crowds gather

'for their favourite outdoor events around the country,

'I'll be pitching up with my silver trailer

'to meet the locals with their precious antiques and collectables.'

I'm feeling inspired myself. Thank you very much.

'Their stories will reveal why the places we visit

'deserve to be on the Great Antiques Map of Britain.

'Today we're in regal company at the Royal Windsor Horse Show

'in the heart of Berkshire.'

-HE LAUGHS

-'Lots of eager owners

'have come along to show us their intriguing items...'

It is a splendid piece of silver.

-Isn't it?

-It's beautiful, yes.

We're very proud of it.

'..which represent this area's unique antiques heritage.'

Here we are, standing in Windsor,

around about there, aren't we?

I'd say more just there.

'Also, of course, they want to find out

'what their precious objects are worth.'

Between £400 and £600.

£50 to £100.

Let's say £1,500 to £2,000.

'And can you imagine how much this old oar might fetch at auction?'

-It's a fantastic story, isn't it?

-Wow.

No, I'm not visiting the Queen today,

but I am visiting the grounds of Windsor Castle

to go to the Royal Windsor Horse Show...

don't you know.

Hi!

'Windsor Castle is the oldest and largest

'occupied castle in the world,

'looming high above the Thames since Norman times.

'Royal life dominates Windsor,

'and the family's love of all things equestrian

'means horses are a huge part of the town's character.

'Princes William and Harry went to school locally

'at world-famous Eton College,

'in the footsteps of the great and the good,

'including 20 of our Prime Ministers.

'So, Windsor's history and pedigree are certainly not in question.

'The Royal Windsor Horse Show has been a big deal

'since it began in 1943.

'At this year's event, 4,000 horses are taking part,

'watched by 54,000 visitors over five days.

'And among those visitors are some plucky locals,

'who've brought along their favourite treasures for valuation.

'First up is Tom, with a gigantic plan of where we are.'

What I've got is an Ordnance Survey map of Windsor

from about the 1890s.

But the most interesting thing about it is it's 25 inches to the mile,

so it's absolutely enormous of scale,

which is relatively unusual.

Here we are, standing in Windsor,

around about there, aren't we?

I'd say more just there.

Oh, I can tell a man who got a first in Geography.

-THEY LAUGH

-Anyway,

we have got Windsor Castle ramparts up there

and there are Windsor Castle ramparts, the North Terrace,

on this marvellous Ordnance Survey map.

Half of the charm of the maps is the way they look so lovely

and there's real craftsmanship gone into them.

The interesting thing is, and certainly in this central section,

is how little has changed.

Normally, if one looked at a map from the 1890s,

it would be incredibly different from today.

But here, because of Windsor Castle and the Home Park and the park

and because of Eton and the college, a lot is the same as it was.

But what I think about this edition,

which is the 1893 edition of the 25 inch,

they're still colouring every element on this by hand.

-These are all watercolour paints.

-Yes.

So, the Thames, where it's coloured in,

isn't printed on, it's painted on,

-which is marvellous, isn't it?

-It's astonishing.

-So, a labour of love.

-Yes.

Every dwelling house coloured pink,

every carriageway coloured yellow,

and the river itself blue and all the other watercourses.

It's a work of art, really, isn't it?

I think so.

They are so beautiful.

'But what's the value of this beautiful map?

'Go on, have a guess,

'and I'll tell you later.'

'In this horsey town, the Guards Polo Club was founded in 1955

'and games are played on the Crown Estate's Windsor Great Park.

'From one of the horsiest local families

'is professional polo player Sebastian,

'who's brought along a couple of equine heirlooms.'

Horses have been in my family,

race horses and polo horses have been in my family...

..back several generations.

I, myself, am a third-generation polo player,

but my family, before that, were heavily involved with racehorses,

including Marcus Beresford,

who was the manager of the King's stables here,

King Edward VII, and King George V.

Tell me about the timepiece?

In 1908, Minoru was purchased,

it was an Irish stallion thoroughbred.

The stallion actually won the 2,000 Guineas and the Epsom Derby.

The shoe that was on the horse for the Derby was taken off

and then mounted in a special way for presentation purposes,

which is exactly what's happened here.

They've attached an oddball flag to the top,

which says Derby 1909.

Not just engraved it, but done it in enamels,

and the colours that you see on that inscription

are mirrored in the colours that are underneath.

So, they wouldn't be random colours,

they will be associated with the Royal Household...

-Wow, I didn't know that.

-..or his stable.

I wouldn't be surprised, if you were to sell it,

if it didn't make in the order of, say, £1,500-£2,000.

Wow.

Tell me about this rather exotic-looking red leather case

with George V's cipher on it.

What's the connection with your family?

My grandfather, David Dornay,

who belonged to the 10th Royal Hussars...

The whole regiment were going to be shipped from Southampton to Egypt.

My grandfather looked after a horse on that passage

called Gay Corinthian.

And it was obviously a very special horse to King George V at the time.

And, as a thank you, he was presented with these cuff links.

-Well how extraordinary is that?

-Incredible.

These are made of 18 carat gold

and they were made by Carrington and Co,

and Carrington's had the Royal Warrant for Victoria and Albert

and for Edward and for George V,

so they were the jewellers in London

who made the special pieces of jewellery for the royal family.

And these presentation cuff links, with George V's seal on.

I like to think of that young officer in Egypt

being especially taken to one side by his commanding officer

and being presented with the King and Emperor's pair of cuff links.

-Incredible.

-I mean that is special, isn't it?

'And the value of the cuff links?

'Find out later.'

'Windsor sits firmly on the Great Antiques Map

'for the eponymous chairs.

'Legend has it that when King George III sat on one of these chairs

'for the first time,

'he declared it the most comfortable chair he'd ever sat on.

'Well, the more likely reason for the name

'is that Windsor was a centre for distribution.

'The chairs were made 20 miles up the road in High Wycombe,

'once the chair-making capital of the world.

'These days, the delightful Wycombe Museum

'is the perfect place to see some examples,

'and what a peach this place is.

'Oh, look at this, it's Windsor chair heaven.

'What a treat to see so many versions in one place,

'each with the characteristic saddleback-shaped elm seat,

'which makes them, oh, so comfy,

'but with variations to their backs, arms and legs.

'The collections and interpretation officer is Dr Catherine Grigg.'

Now, are you going to be able to help me interpret

this particular Windsor chair?

-Cos this is quite unusual, isn't it?

-It is, it's a rare one.

So, just the early date, for a start, makes it unusual.

So, it dates to about 1740.

They were not made in very large numbers back then,

so it makes a rarity that it survives.

And, very unusually, we think we know

the name of the man that made it.

So, he was called John Pitt.

There's are about five that survive that we know were made by him.

-Gosh.

-And the way he kind of gives himself away

as the maker, as it were,

is particularly in the chair legs.

-He does these cabriole legs.

-Yes.

Quite a shallow cabriole.

Very unusually, as well, cabriole legs at the back,

but one of the very specific things about the way he makes a cabriole leg

is this little notch here,

and that says John Pitt to us quite loudly.

This Windsor chair on top of the plinth is pretty special, isn't it?

Yeah, it's one of the nicest examples

of an early-19th-century Windsor chair.

Like all locally-made chairs, it has an elm seat,

but yew wood was an expensive and a very attractive wood,

so they were used for the nicest examples, like this one.

Most Windsor chairs have one splat,

so splat is that middle bit.

This is so unusual. It's got three splats in the back

and then it's got an additional two splats in the side,

which is just so unusual

and that you know, obviously, extra time went into making it,

as well as using the best wood.

Why was it such a fertile place, the Thames Valley,

for these things to be made in this area?

There's so many beech woods

that it was actually known as the Buckinghamshire weed,

it just grew so prolifically.

And it happens that each wood is very good

for the turned parts on a Windsor chair,

which is so characteristic of the Windsor chair.

So, what developed was that turners worked out in the woods

so they set up their workshops

as sort of, you know, little temporary huts

and they became known, not as turners, but bodgers.

And when Victoria visited High Wycombe,

isn't there a famous archive photograph?

The town put up this huge arch of chairs to welcome her,

because, by 1877, the town was so much associated with chair making.

'Could be a modern sculpture, couldn't it?

'Now, we have a rather battered example of the species,

'with an original top and reproduction legs,

'rescued by Valerie.'

It's lovely. I love it.

I think this is old.

I had the sense that it was probably early 19th century

or maybe 18th century, I don't know.

That's one thing I'm hoping Tim will tell me.

My family's been here since 1881.

And my father, actually,

-was a founder member of the Windsor Horse Show.

-Really?

-Yes.

So, it's appropriate that here we are at Windsor Horse Show...

-Definitely.

-..and you've come with your treasured Windsor chair.

Absolutely.

Looking at this chair is a bit like a detective story really,

because you have to pick over the various parts

to understand quite what was made when and where.

We know that the colour scheme, the bits of it that you can see,

areas of brown look and areas of green

with another pale colour underneath

would indicate that this has been re-painted.

Then it's got bust, then it's gone into a loft

and it's probably stayed there for 150 years

until you came along and thought, "There's a chair that I can do up."

But actually, thank goodness, you didn't do it up,

cos it's better in this unpainted, original state.

What gives you the idea as to the age that it actually has

is these turned front supports.

They are turnings which probably date the chair to about 1820.

If I was saying to you,

"Should you or should you not have the legs replaced

"with a style of leg that would be more appropriate

"to a forest chair of this type," the jury's out really.

But what I would do is to have the four later legs painted.

I'd re-paint and rub down the replaced legs two or three times

to get them into a rubbed-down, worn state

that looks like the old and original paint that's on the chair.

If it had the original legs with the original paintwork on it,

this chair would be worth, I guess, about £600-£900.

But with its replaced legs and all that paintjob to do,

I think somebody might pay you,

perhaps, £100-£200, something like that.

-Well, it's not being sold anyway.

-Exactly!

-I sit on it.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you very much for coming.

That's a treat.

'Windsor loves a pageant and a bit of pomp and ceremony.

'In Queen Victoria's time,

'when there was a really major celebration,

'elaborate temporary structures were erected like this canopy

'to enhance the statue of the Queen on her Diamond Jubilee.

'A small part of that canopy now belongs to Elias.'

What was interesting about it is

it looks like it's made of stone.

Was actually made of wood and canvas.

The person who actually made it was a chap called Mr Nut.

So, tell us about the plaque then.

I'm not sure what it's made of, but it was actually, it's inscribed

that it was actually from a structure on Castle Hill in Windsor.

If we look at the plaque, you can see it's made of oak,

a thin panel of oak, that actually says, crudely, 1897 on the back.

but, to my mind, crucially, in gold paint.

Because if you look at the moulded lion

that's been applied to the oak plaque,

and what's happened is it's discoloured, it's got dirty

and that's why the colour's come down.

But once upon a time, it was as bright a gold as that.

And the thing is made out of plaster.

It's a type of dental composition.

They also made picture surrounds on all sorts of devices

out of this dental composition.

It's easy to work, it's easy to mould,

it dries quite quickly.

And when it is dry, if you cover it in a thin layer of plaster,

which is what's happened here, called gesso,

then you can put gilding on the top

and the gilding doesn't get absorbed by the compositions.

And I just wonder whether our architect, Mr Nut,

in terms of the temporary nature of the things that he made,

simply commissioned picture-frame-type makers

to make the decorations that he would have applied

to the temporary structures.

It certainly was part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations,

which is really lovely.

If you were to sell it,

the best place to sell it is somewhere in Windsor.

I mean, this is the primary place of interest related to this object.

And I suppose in Windsor,

it might make as much as £50 to £100, something like that.

Very nice too.

'It's a magical day.

'Riders, visitors, and splendid horses are all having a great time.

'And so too are our owners,

'who are flocking to us with their fascinating objects.

'Next up, from the Berkshire Federation of Women's Institutes,

'is Sue.'

I've brought along a couple of items

that I thought might be of interest to you.

There's a tea urn and a silver presentation cup.

It's called the Disraeli Silver Presentation Cup.

As far as these objects are concerned, I think they're riveting.

-This copper job is a samovar or tea urn.

-Oh, right.

Some of these have a spirit burner underneath to warm it up.

Some of them, you take the top off

and you shove in a red hot pig of iron

and that keeps the tea nice and warm inside,

then you draw it off through the tap.

But what's great about this one is,

you got the Buckinghamshire presentation

to one of the WIs in 1925,

because the publishers of this magazine, the WI magazine,

if every member of a WI

signed up and subscribed to this magazine for a year...

-Three shillings.

-..At three shillings,

then they gave you the tea urn at the end of the year.

We're not sure, perhaps you can tell us

how many of these were actually produced?

-I would think thousands and thousands.

-Oh, would you.

-Yes, I would.

-Right.

-And Fattorini and Co, who made it...

-Yes.

..were a mass production firm of metalworks of this type.

Oh, that's very interesting.

But by far the grandest piece on the table

is this silver cup and cover,

which is in the 17th-century style.

It's got what's called lappets, which are these cut bands of silver

that look like stylised leaves running around the bottom,

and the most gorgeous finial,

which is about to burst forth and reveal a delicious fruit, one feels.

Anyway, it's inscribed -

"Presented to the Buckinghamshire Federation of Women' Institutes

"in 1929" by no lesser person than Mrs Disraeli,

who would have been the niece-in-law of Benjamin Disraeli,

the celebrated British Prime Minister,

who, of course, lived at Hughenden, just outside Windsor.

And it is a splendid piece of silver.

-Isn't it?

-It's beautiful, yes.

We're very proud of it.

So, as far as the Buckinghamshire Women's Institute's concerned,

who gets this prize?

Previously, it was given out for outstanding craftwork.

-OK, so it's a craft award, essentially.

-It was a... Yes.

Yes, exactly. Well it is a beautifully crafted piece of silver.

It actually dates from 1927, so I bet Mrs Disraeli, at the time,

went to a silversmiths and she bought this as a presentation piece

-and then presented it the WI.

-Very kind of her.

-Exactly.

-So, it's, in silver terms, a modern piece...

-Right.

..but beautifully crafted, it's a good weight.

I am going to give you a value on it.

'But I'm going to keep Sue and the rest of you in suspense until later.

'World War I incurred immense loss of life on all sides.

'Almost a million British soldiers were killed.

'Thousands had bravely charged over the tops of trenches,

'knowing they faced certain death.

'Among those fighting were five and a half thousand former pupils

'of Eton College.

'1,500 of them did not return.

'They're all recorded in a book brought along by Mike.'

I've always had an interest in the First World War,

and I saw this book for sale.

It's a list of all the old Etonians

who fought and died in the First World War.

As we flip through,

there are a tragically large number of entries in red,

-which represent the fallen.

-They do.

And this is privately printed as a memorial

to the people who fought and died in that conflict.

Yes, yes.

The pages are all irregular,

because, once upon a time, they would have been hand cut.

So, when it was printed,

the pagination would have kept continuous sheets

and then somebody went around with a rough blade

and actually cut each page to separate it

-and make it in this form.

-I didn't know that.

Here it says, look,

"Printed privately for Eton College in the Riccardi Press font

"by Philip Lee Warner," etc., etc.,

and then dated 1921.

It's a moving volume, I have to say.

Yes, yes, it is.

And, as Eton is an adjunct to Windsor,

very appropriate that here, today, in Windsor,

we should have this thing as a reminder of the sacrifice.

Indeed, indeed.

And the author of this book, interestingly,

-was a former house master at Eton.

-Oh, right, I didn't know that.

And, for him, when compiling the list,

must have been a terrible process because half the people that

he would have recognised would have been in his house.

Yes, he would have known many of them.

What do you particularly like about collecting things

associated with the First World War?

My grandfather fought on the Somme

and was wounded but survived,

and I think it's the personal stories.

It's not so much the military or the great strategic overview,

it's the personal stories of either

the sons of aristocrats or the ordinary people

who were sons of miners or factory workers.

They all went through this and they all had a story to tell.

They did, yes.

Anyway, thank you very much for bringing your volume to show me.

Commercially, I think this book is worth, in fact,

-a small amount of money on the market.

-Yes.

-I mean, a few pounds.

-Yes.

But as a part of a collection,

and particularly in relation to its association to this place,

Windsor and Eton, it's most appropriate.

-And, anyway, thank you for bringing it in.

-Thank you.

'Ah, isn't that a classic picture?

BOAT HORN SOUNDS

'The locals are splashing about on the River Thames

'in whatever way they choose.

'These canoes are the latest in a long line of racing

'and working craft to have operated around here.

'I'm off to the River and Rowing Museum

'up the road in Henley to find out more

'with Head of Collections and Exhibitions Eloise Chapman.'

Just tell me about this extraordinary dugout.

What's so special about this?

This is an Anglo-Saxon boat dug out form one single trunk of a tree,

and it was found in the bottom of the river.

And the little joker above it?

Yes, this is a Medieval log boat, so about 500 years later.

1030 AD this one.

And this has also been largely dug out from one tree, an oak tree,

but a slight change in sort of design.

You've got some more technology in this one,

so it's got a couple of struts across it

and then a couple running along the length of it to strengthen it.

-So, there's 500 years in between these two...

-Yeah...

and a little technological change. THEY LAUGH

Technology has moved on from one hollowed out one

to a vaguely flat-bottomed one.

But, of course, this has a resonance

for this particular bit of the Thames, doesn't it, around Henley?

Yes, that was found at Shottesbrooke,

which is just down the road from here.

And it was probably used on the Thames,

probably as a trading boat, we think,

because it's quite flat-bottomed,

perfect for poling up the river, carrying bulky goods.

What sort of goods would have been traded up and down the river?

So, from around here, there's a lot of brewing,

so you've got the malt and the grains going down the river.

You've also got timber from the surrounding woodlands and wool.

'Alongside the fascinating relics of old working boats,

'there are shiny examples of pleasure and racing craft

'from the past.

'And Henley has a fair bit of heritage in this department.'

The regatta in Henley started in the 1830s, didn't it?

1839, yeah, the regatta in Henley. And it was set up...

There were only two races on the first one.

And it was due to the popularity of the Oxford Cambridge boat race,

which had been held in Henley ten years earlier,

they thought they could cash-in, basically,

on this new popularity for regattas

and so they held one here.

-And, obviously, it grew in popularity pretty quickly.

-Yes.

And today, it's a massive

international, social and competitive event.

'A somewhat exotic craft that's still raced on the Thames

'is a flat-bottomed dongola.

'It was all the rage at the turn of the 20th century,

'with mixed teams taking part.

'And a dongola oar has been brought along

'by the Chairman of the Eton Excelsior Rowing Club, Peter.'

It belongs to the rowing club.

We won it in 1892, I believe

We've got a photograph that matches the dongola, so we can tie it up.

So, we actually see some characters who done this racing?

Indeed, yes. I think the man in the front there

is holding that dongola, or certainly one very similar.

Well, we've got inscribed into it, look, in a pokerwork,

so they do this with red hot pokers,

and you drag the red hot poker over the surface

and it engraves by burning, effectively,

the outline of this beast.

-We've got a dragon, haven't we, really?

-Yes.

And it says Dongola Championship of the Upper Thames

with the date 1892.

Your photograph's dated 1892.

they're all hanging onto these paddles,

-so it could well be...

-Must be.

-..the same paddle.

But what strikes me about this thing is

-its incredibly light, isn't it?

-It is, yes.

Dongola racing started in Maidenhead in 1886,

which is the year after the relief of Khartoum,

where the British tried to rescue General Gordon,

but they failed by a couple of days,

cos they were a bit late in getting there.

But their general, General Wolseley, offered a prize to the battalion

that could paddle up the Nile quickest.

This frantic paddling that happened with little paddles like this

became known as the dongola race,

the race to get to Khartoum.

And when they came back,

they started dongola racing on the Thames,

-so it's a fantastic story, isn't it?

-Wow.

And I think, as a result of the history,

it would actually do quite well as a marine artefact.

And I reckon, in a sale,

you could get, probably, the top end of £400-£600 for it.

-But you're not going to sell it, are you?

-Certainly not.

You're going to keep paddling the canoe?

Indeed we are. THEY LAUGH

'What about that massive scale map that Tom brought along?

'We got hold of specialist Philip Curtis for some expert advice.'

We would put £500 to £700 on it.

Of course, to the right buyer,

with somebody with a house or estate covered by the map,

it could be worth considerably more.

'Those George V cuff links in Sebastian's family

'could fly at auction.'

I can see, with the story about your grandfather,

-those cuff links making £4,000, £6,000.

-Wow.

And that's as an auction estimate.

Put it in the auction and anything might happen.

Fantastic.

'And as for Sue's treasures from the WI?

'Well, locally, the copper tea urn might fetch as much as £150 to £200.

'And the Disraeli silver trophy?'

Between £400 and £600.

So, if you have to insure it before you give it out as a prize,

you should be insuring it for £1,200.

Right, thank you very much.

OK, which may or may not encourage you to give it out

-to one of your crafty members.

-Yes!

Now, the WI was always thought to be jam and Jerusalem,

but that's not the case any more, is it?

No, we're inspiring women now.

We've gone forwards and we're more wine and cheese

than we are jam and Jerusalem.

I love it, I'm feeling inspired myself.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Well, what a wonderful time we've had in Windsor,

and such quirky objects.

In fact, you could say we've had a right royal time.

Cheerio!