- 7 weeks ago
Antiques Roadshow 2025 - Lister Park and Cartwright Hall 1
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CreativityTranscript
00:00This week's Roadshow comes from Lister Park in the Yorkshire city of Bradford.
00:08Our visit here today coincides with Bradford being chosen as City of Culture and across
00:152025 all sorts of venues are celebrating every kind of art. It started with a grand opening
00:23ceremony and events have continued throughout the year celebrating the best of Bradford.
00:32Many of them are taking place at Cartwright Hall our venue for today. It has wonderful
00:37exhibitions inside and fascinating pieces outside like this one. Normally there's a
00:45classical bronze statue here on display but artist Osman Youssefzada has wrapped it in
00:51this blue fiberglass to symbolise the migrant experience of wrapping up your
00:55possessions and life ready for a new start. Today though it's all about unwrapping and
01:04our experts are busy unpacking treasures brought to their tables. Good luck,
01:09perseverance and wisdom. So which relates to you? Oh gosh I'm just the jack of all trades.
01:16To be rid of the hands. What will hold for a wish? Cutting wedding cakes has ruined more
01:22sword blades than warfare. Champagne tonight. Welcome to the Antiques Roadshow.
01:29You've brought a bit of a doodle to my table here but on closer inspection it's quite an interesting
01:59doodle. This face looks a bit familiar. John Lennon. A bit of a hero of mine. The Beatles is the best
02:06group in the world. They're not doing too bad have they? Yeah. Where's you Gary? We bought it in
02:10holiday about 18 years ago when we were in Las Vegas at the Caesars Palace. Original John Lennon
02:16drawn in a blue pen, handwritten and signed. I'd be getting into Jazzman. I've been trying to avoid it
02:21all my life with love John Lennon. And it's initial JL 79. Does he do a lot of sketches like that? Oh yeah.
02:28He was a serial sketcher. He was sketching from when he was a little boy. He was sketching right up
02:33until his death. He just couldn't stop sketching. So do you pay a lot for it? I'm a bit reluctant to tell you
02:40because then the wife will find out. Go on. Just between me and you? I have two thousand pounds. Two
02:46grand. You need to get your hearing tested. I didn't say that. Well do you know what? It might have been a bit of
02:57money at the time and you probably might have been paying about the odds but they're not going down in
03:02price. And I could clearly see this if this was a proper authentication five grounds. Really? Yes.
03:09I'll tell the wife that one then. This is a beautiful vase. I'm almost lost for words for it because it is
03:21just glowing. Isn't it? I mean it just and especially in today's sunlight it is absolutely glorious. How did
03:30it end up here today? It was a mistake. I was at an antique fair and I bought it. I thought it was
03:36one thing. Right. And it wasn't. What did you think it was? I thought it was Royal Lancaster. I can see
03:41why. So the luster and the sort of stylized design. I then decided it was fake copy and it went under the
03:50kitchen sink for two years. Went under the kitchen sink? Yes. Did you have a leak or something? No it just happened to be
03:57rattling around. And I happened to be looking on the internet one night and out pops that vase.
04:02And it was like hang on a minute that's the vase that's under the sink. So what did the internet
04:06say it was? The internet said it was Zolny Pech. Right. Which I believe is Hungarian. It is Zolny
04:13from Pech in Hungary and it is the most brilliant example of their work. At the turn of the 19th
04:22into the 20th century they developed what were called Eosenglazes. So these this lovely sort of
04:28ruby luster this sort of gold luster. But these were incredibly difficult to fire in the kiln.
04:33And when you turn it round here we've got the rising sun. We have this path with these geese.
04:40It is a work of art. This is as good as any painting. In fact it's harder to paint
04:46in ceramics like this. Anyone can take a bit of oil to canvas and call themselves Leonardo da Vinci.
04:52But to paint on something like this because you are painting your work of art and it's going into
04:57the kiln. And when you look inside you can see how these runs. This is what happens to the kiln. It almost
05:03melts it to the point of destruction. And then you either get magic or failure. But you have got magic.
05:09And this is the most beautiful vase. Zolnay is red hot right now. Hungarian people are buying it back.
05:17Can you remember what you paid for it? I paid £20. You can add a few notes to that. Your £20
05:24mistake vase. If that was going to auction I would estimate that £5,000 to £8,000. And I expect it to
05:33make towards the upper end. If not a little more. I don't know what to say. I am genuinely
05:39flabbergasted. Thank you. It was a mistake. That's not a bad return is it? Champagne tonight.
05:54I really like this. And I'm really curious as to know what made you bring that to the roadshow. Well,
06:00I'm fascinated by the Wild West. So when I see something like this, which I think came from
06:08America, I like it. What makes you think it came from America? I don't know. I just do. Because it
06:14does. Oh, does it? Okay. It's a powder horn. Yes. You know, for carrying the powder that you...
06:20Put in the musket. Exactly. And it's cow horn. This is a fabulous thing. I think it's stunning.
06:26Yeah. And it's the sense of design and the way it's executed. I've never seen such high relief on an
06:34American powder horn. Where did you buy it? Skipped an auction market. It was just on a stall.
06:40Was it a lot of money? Well, I paid £90, I think. It was enough. It was, yeah. But it's important to me
06:48because I like it. This is an amazing example. I've never seen one with relevant points filled in with
06:56colour. I don't know whether it's wax or a kind of lacquer. And this would have been colourful. It would
07:02have been garish originally. You know, this would have been bright green, like emerald green. And in the
07:10end there, we've got a picture of a woman. Oh, I didn't know that. In a big hat. There's her face.
07:18There's her shoulders. Yes. And it's set in under the transparent horn. Wow. And you've never seen
07:24that before. No. No. And I just wondered if it's a kind of pinup that the hunter carried this pinup.
07:32Because it looks like a printed image. I mean, one can't tell and you'll never take it out. You can't.
07:37No. No. This is very curious. I've never seen that. Really? Gosh. Oh, amazing. Fabulous thing. Value.
07:46I think it would be estimated at 1,500 to 2,000. What? Good heavens. It's one of the best
07:57I've ever seen. Really? Yeah. I'm absolutely thrilled. Thank you.
08:01Well, I'm looking at two beautifully painted playing cards from Iran. How come you own these
08:19quite rare little playing cards? Yeah, I'm from Iran. And these are like a collection
08:24of my family. It's from Qajar dynasty. So that would pitch these over 150 years old.
08:31The game of Ghanifa did die out in Iran. Yes. It did.
08:35Really at the end of the 19th century. So they're actually lacquered card. These were all hand done
08:43and each suit had a particular colour. And this is actually a seated bowman. But on this side,
08:51this beautiful young woman, she's got a wine glass in her right hand and a bottle in the other. She's
08:58having a good time. Yes. Now on the value front, 40, 50 pounds each. Okay. I'm just going to keep them
09:07to have peace of my country with me all the time. Fantastic.
09:22Do you know, I don't know whether I was more enamoured of Milo the Jack Russell or your chair
09:31when you first arrived. I think it was the dog. I think it was. I'm a Jack Russell man. I've always
09:34had Jack Russells. But obviously, your chair is centre stage as well as Milo. And I have to say,
09:40as soon as I saw it, I was kind of, whoa, that looks very interesting. And what did I do? I asked
09:46you if we could turn it upside down and have a look at it. Because often they have a stamp on the
09:50bottom of them. Right. It had a stamp, Morant. So that to me means an awful lot. But means an awful
09:57lot to you too, doesn't it? Because your name is Morant. Yes. Tell me all about it.
10:02I was tracing my family ancestry. And I found that George Morant started a furniture business back in
10:11the late 1700s. Yep. And this is one of his chairs. You have a credible family history right back to
10:20George. My great, great, great, great grandfather. That's pretty amazing. Yeah. So, how did you find it?
10:28Back in 2020, I put Morant furniture into an online auction site. And this came up. Right.
10:38Along with quite a few other items. The other items were like in the thousands of pounds. Yeah.
10:43And this was there for £36. You bought this for £36? Plus £50 delivery. It cost more to
10:51deliver it than you actually paid for the chair. Yeah, it was in Coventry. Right. Okay.
10:54The name Morant in the history of furniture is very, very important. We're talking about someone in
11:02effect who was almost kind of like a latter-day Chippendale in a way. These were not just people
11:07who made furniture. They were interior designers. And interior designers and suppliers of furniture
11:13to royalty and the aristocracy. So, quite an incredible pedigree and history. Now, looking at this chair,
11:20it's not in A1 condition. I mean, that kind of doesn't matter. It's mahogany. Mm-hmm. It looks
11:26to me to be sort of William IV in style. Also has a design registration kite mark on the side there,
11:33which I haven't deciphered as yet, but I think you had a go at it, didn't you? I believe it's 1843.
11:39Okay. So, that makes it Victorian, not William IV. So, we've got that kind of crossover, kind of slightly
11:44gothic-y, the Canthus-y look, that crossover period. I'll be honest with you. In 36 years of being in
11:51this business, it's the first Morant chair I've ever touched. Wow. So, to me, it's quite exciting in a
11:59way. I'm going to talk about value. I can't believe you paid £36 for it. I think it's worth £3,000 to £5,000.
12:09Really? Really. I'm amazed. Is that in the condition it's in? Yeah, that's in the condition
12:19that it's in. It's getting repaired. In the meantime, wherever you've got it parked in the
12:25house, I'm sure Milo will enjoy sitting on it in the meantime. I don't know if you'll be sitting on it
12:29anymore, Milo. I mean, I thought it might have been £100 if that, but £3,000 to £5,000? Stunning.
12:44Well, we've got two rather lovely, delicate rings here. How did you come across them?
13:02Er, that one was left to us by her great, great auntie. Okay. She used to collect antiques and
13:09jewellery. Yeah. And this one we found in, like, a Bookerback junk shop. Really? Gosh.
13:14Yeah, we spent, what was it, £20? Yeah. Don't tell your dad. Brilliant. Really, really pretty. Have
13:21you got a favourite? Er, that one. Mine too. Yeah, it's gorgeous, isn't it? Well, they're both actually
13:28what we call mourning rings, and one of them is slightly older than the other. This one is what we
13:34call a Stuart crystal mourning ring, and it dates from the mid to latter part of the 17th century,
13:41and then this one is a crystal mourning ring, and on the band, on the inside, there's a date of 1781.
13:50Now, mourning rings during this period were seen as really important remembrance for loved ones,
13:57and embracing that rather than necessarily being completely sad about the person that's died. It was
14:03very much about remembering them as a person, which is good, isn't it? But this one here,
14:08which is the older ring, also has some gold inside the Stuart crystal, which has dislodged,
14:15unfortunately, and it would have actually had initials spelled out, which is a real shame. And
14:20this one here, with all of the stones, actually has quite a lot of wear on the surface, but even so,
14:26it's a lovely old ring. Now, mourning jewellery is highly collectible now,
14:31people absolutely love it, particularly when it's a lot older. Are you a fan of jewellery as a whole?
14:37Um, yeah. Yes, yeah, and how about you?
14:40Uh, not so much as this one. Well, she's lovely, and obviously a bit of a sleuth, you know,
14:47going out and finding all these beautiful pieces in bric-a-brac shops. It's fantastic.
14:52So, as far as value is concerned, the one that we have here, which you found in the bric-a-brac store,
14:59paid £20. How does £400 to £600 at auction sound?
15:09You're not selling it though, are you? No. I think if it hadn't been as worn on the top,
15:15we would have been looking at nearest £600 to £800 as an auction estimate, with the potential to
15:21get a little bit higher if we get the, you'd have got the bidding frenzy going. The one that
15:26belonged to your great-great-a-auntie. That one's lovely, and these are highly collectible. A
15:32shame we've got that little bit of damage in there, but nevertheless, auction estimates we'd
15:38be looking at between £800 and £1,200. Wow. Wow. It's fabulous.
15:45In 2025, the nation's spotlight has been turned on Bradford as City of Culture. It's a prestigious
15:58prize, awarded every four years to a city to celebrate its arts, culture and heritage. And
16:04there are events all across Bradford, attracting people from the city and beyond.
16:09It's inspired a rich diversity of artistic expression, from performance, sculpture,
16:21such as Saad Qureshi's Tower of Now, a tribute to the rich variety of life in Bradford.
16:29Another project for 2025 is a collaboration between local artist Raswan ul Haq and our venue,
16:35Cartwright Hall, exploring the ancient tradition of Islamic calligraphy.
16:42Raswan, you're an artist who specialises in Islamic calligraphy as an art form,
16:48and it has a long and honourable tradition, doesn't it?
16:50It certainly does. If we look at this one, which is 18th century, and you can see that it's a horse,
16:56but it's also Arabic calligraphy. Arabic has this wonderful plastic quality,
17:01so it's writing, but it's also art, you know, and it's flowing. You can use letters in a variety of
17:09different ways. And these are your tools, the tools of your trade. So tell me about your two inks.
17:15So this ink over here, it's been made from the ground from Bradford City Football Club,
17:22and there's a special mushroom here. It's a shaggy ink cap mushroom, and it gives you a dye.
17:27So I added that, and it's made of beautiful ink. And the red one? Bradford is known for its curry
17:33houses. So here we took some turmeric and also some chilli powder, and I mixed them together,
17:40but they will fade. So I added some red oxides from the river here, the River Beck.
17:46Now this is fascinating. Yeah. Because this is a piece you did in conjunction with a boxing gym.
17:51I wanted to do something different. So what we did was we took a group of boxers down to the British
17:57Library, and then they looked at some really old texts. So they chose some texts, and we brought all
18:03the texts here. And now you've created this fantastic dynamic figure with this punch and then this swoosh
18:09of red here. Yeah. So with this figure, you see some Arabic writing, but you also see letters that spring
18:15out. So this dot represents over a thousand years ago. And this nukta is from a script that was developed
18:22in Persia about 400 years ago. Representation in Islamic art is not the same as in the Western
18:31tradition at all. It's not. It's not. So whenever I'm doing a calligraphy for a mosque or a holy place,
18:36then I won't have a drawing of a figure. We will just have calligraphy. Boxing and calligraphy don't,
18:43on the face of it, sound like two things that go together. What made you put those together?
18:48In calligraphy, there's an enormous amount of discipline that you have to do. So you have
18:52to practice daily. Same with boxing. And also you have times where you go into the zone and in the
19:00moment you forget everything. And the same happens in boxing as well. Very interesting to hear about
19:07this. A venerable tradition. Thank you so much for explaining it to me. Thank you.
19:19I think it's fairly well known that I'm very fond of swords. This is the 1821 45 pattern.
19:35But it seems to be put through a boil wash. It's a lot smaller than it should be.
19:39Why have you got a miniature sword? This was presented to my great,
19:45great grandfather in 1856. At that time he was six years old and he was the mascot of the North
19:53Gloucestershire Militia, which I believe is a voluntary regiment. And at that time in April 1856,
20:00the regiment was in Aldershot being presented to Queen Victoria. And Queen Victoria took special
20:05notice of him and asked him what he would like as a gift because she took a liking to him. And he
20:11suggested, he suggested he'd like a horse. So that's a fairly punchy call, isn't it?
20:17I don't think she thought that was a very good idea. So she suggested making him a sword,
20:21a special sword just for him. And she presented some money and commissioned this sword. So it's
20:26much smaller so that it would fit. And yes, there's his sword belt, which is absolutely teeny weeny.
20:32Yes. I wore it myself once or twice when I was six or seven years old and it was tight on me even then.
20:37Fabulous. It's the 1821 slash 45 pattern with the little folding guard on it. The folding guard
20:47was to ensure when you wore it, it sat flat and didn't wear a hell in your uniform. Have you ever
20:54wondered about that? I have often wondered about that. I wonder what it is and why it's there. It says
20:59proved. Ah, I've never noticed that before. Right. When a sword's made, it's put in a striking block
21:08and it has to flex. Oh wow. I've never tried that. And once you've done both that,
21:15you then check the blade for straightness. And in this case it is dead straight. It then becomes
21:22a proved blade. Shows the quality of the sword. Is it steel? It's steel. Oh yeah. Very good steel.
21:28These are known as the gothic hilted swords. Right. They are probably one of the most elegant
21:34of the swords. As a fighting weapon, it's about as much good as a short stick.
21:40Because the guard is weak. But as I said, elegant, elegant weapons. Just what every six-year-old needs.
21:46Indeed, the perfect birthday present. And it's still very sharp, I notice. Oh, it would have been.
21:51Has it ever been used for cutting wedding cakes? Yes, at all family weddings. Stop it. Oh no.
21:58Cutting wedding cakes has ruined more sword blades than warfare. Oh. You are putting, they're mostly
22:04made out of fruits, okay. So you've got acids in them. If you really feel that you must, and I really
22:09advise against it, they must be cleaned assiduously afterwards. So, have you considered what it's
22:16worth? A few years ago, I remember popping to an antiques fair in Sheffield, where I'm based,
22:21and a local expert there, on my description, suggested that if I took it round to his shop
22:26the next week, he'd give me two or three hundred pounds for it. So I was quite pleased at that.
22:29It's very generous. Not. Oh. Full-size sword of that pattern is four to six hundred. As they get smaller,
22:41they get more valuable. Oh. And also you've got the little story, which is etched here on the chape.
22:48I would put that at a conservative eight hundred to a thousand. That's very nice. Those are terribly
22:55elegant swords. A miniature one. And with the Victoria Connection, it's fabulous.
22:59I'm very glad to know some more about it, personally. I think, because it's such an
23:05important family heirloom, it makes you feel more connected to the item, knowing where it
23:09came from and its importance. Yeah. It makes me like it even more, actually.
23:13So this is an Ossie Clark dress, who was probably the preeminent designer of the 1970s.
23:37Were you a great follower of fashion? Not especially. I did have a Saturday job in a
23:42boutique in Bradford. I bought this one from a different boutique, I have to say. But it was
23:48just, it was such a bargain. It was in the sale. I was still at school. I didn't have much money,
23:53just my Saturday job money. And I thought, I have to have that dress. And because it's the only
23:59special dress I've ever had, that's why I've still got it now. Well, it's absolutely fabulous
24:04to see it. Ossie Clark, he was from Lancashire, went to Manchester School of Art. And when he left
24:10Manchester School of Art, he went on to the Royal College, where he was quickly spotted. And he was
24:15introduced to a monk called Alice Pollock, who had a boutique called Quorum. And she brought him
24:20in to do lots of designs for her, and quickly became incredibly successful. But not monetarily,
24:27because even though he was a brilliant pattern cutter, he gave away so many clothes to pop stars of
24:33the day. People like Mick Jagger, and his girlfriends, and lots of film stars. So everybody
24:38wanted an Ossie Clark dress. Basically, they weren't terribly good at business. So after a few
24:43years, they parted ways. And their deaths were bought up by a company called Radley. And this dress
24:48is actually Ossie Clark for Radley dress, which was slightly later in date. It would be the very early
24:541970s? Yes. Would that be the sort of date that you purchased it? Yes. So how did this make you
24:59feel wearing this in the 1970s? As a very young girl, obviously. Really special. You can see how
25:05beautifully it hangs. It felt. I felt a million dollars wearing it. Yeah. Yeah. No, it's lovely.
25:11And it's very typical, his style. Little sort of puff sleeves, very tight bodice, low cut, you know,
25:17long flowing dress with the frill on the hem. And he was very influenced by dance and people like the
25:23dancer Nijinsky. Sort of very free flowing dresses. Almost 1940s in his inspiration,
25:31but very much in a 1970s style. And a lot of these designs were, the patterns were by his then wife,
25:38Celia Burtwell. Yes. And it's the pieces with the Celia Burtwell prints that are particularly
25:43desirable. If you were to sell it at auction, you're probably looking at around £400 to £600,
25:49possibly upwards of that. And retail, I regularly see them in excess of £1,000. Goodness.
25:55Because they are, they are really desirable pieces. That's amazing.
26:07We think we know what they are. Yeah. We think they're some sort of, um, sari plinching block,
26:11but they were abandoned in my mum and dad's garden. So they woke up in the morning and there were suddenly
26:16two beautiful wooden boxes with 20 of these inside. Really? How long ago was this? 30 years.
26:22Okay. Well, I mean, you're absolutely right in your assumption of what they are. Yeah. There were
26:27lots of these. I mean, literally millions. I mean, this is a pattern that would have been put,
26:32not necessarily always on a sari. It could have been on other things as well. It could have been used
26:36curtains, you know, shawls. Yeah. I mean, are they hand-carved? Yeah, all hand-done.
26:40So it's a lot of work, isn't it? It's a lot of work gone into this. This looks like a 19th century
26:45one, right? Okay. Yeah, this does look like a late 19th century one. But one of these would be
26:50between 30 and 50 pounds each one. Wow. Right, you know, uh, I really like these. I love seeing
26:55things that come from India. So thank you for bringing it in. Thank you very much. Thank you.
26:58Is this yours? It's my mother's. My grandmother gave it as a gift to my mother. Okay. My mother used
27:10it for when me and my sister were kids and played games. To play, pretend we went to the shop or a
27:15cafe. And we did the same thing. We drank orange squash from it. And children do. Yeah. But I mean,
27:20yours is a bit more fancy than mine. So let's look at it. I mean, this has got, what's it say?
27:25A bond where fine China foreign. Now, this will either be Japanese or German. And just after the
27:36war, when people wouldn't want to buy Japanese or German goods, they put foreign on it. So it's not
27:43saying it's German or it's Japanese. Right. This is probably German China made in the French style. And
27:49this is gold luster. It's a gold goal. Should we root my hands? Well, for a wish.
27:56This might buy you chips up in Bradford. Okay. It's tens of pounds, I'm afraid. Okay.
28:00Okay. But price is memories. It's memories. Yeah, exactly. That's great. Let's drink to granny. Cheers. Cheers.
28:16Well, I've seen you winding towards me with this gigantic sculpture. And I nearly fell off my chair.
28:21There's only one person that this could be. And that is a person who I once met. Arthur Dooley,
28:27from my hometown of Liverpool. A welder in the shipyards. He was a real firebrand character.
28:33A Catholic communist sculptor. How do you know this piece?
28:39I've had it all my life. My mum used to sit me on the radiator and make me polish it from about the
28:45age of three. Pretty emotional about this piece. Yes. My dad collected art and sculpture. And we've
28:53been left with some very nice things. This one, of course, has the memories from polishing.
28:58But unfortunately, my dad died when I was only five years old. So it really is a heart piece.
29:06But this is a memory of your father. Absolutely. As well as being a beautiful sculpture.
29:10What do you like about it? I love the feel of it, actually. I get cross with people that put
29:15sculpture behind things and you can't feel them. It'd be great in front of a mirror, wouldn't it?
29:21Because they can see the back of it as well. It used to be. It isn't now, but it used to be.
29:25Here it's signed Gladiator by Arthur Dooley. It's dated AD 71. So the year for that is 1971.
29:33Quite an early work for him. He was a boxer. And he's been known to get up and have a fight with
29:40people in pubs over art. His foundry was in Kirby, just outside Liverpool. He would have made a plaster
29:47maquette out of this and then he would have sent it to that foundry in Kirby, where they would have
29:52just made a mould of it and then he would have polished it. He's left this edge here purposely
29:59unpolished and a bit rough to complement against the polished bronze.
30:05See how much it's worth? I would say that if this went into auction, it's going to have a
30:11pre-sale estimate of £5,000 to £6,000. OK. But you know what? I think it could go
30:18for a little bit more as well. It's that good. I love it. I really do. Let's say I'd fire in the
30:26house. It would be the first thing that I dragged out other than the dog and my other half.
30:30I was born in 71. My dad bought it and it all feels like a bit of a connection, shall we say.
30:46This is a really awesome landscape. It's unmistakably the hand of Trevor Grimshaw,
31:05who became very well known for these very timeless, smoky industrial landscapes. But what's so
31:10incredible about it is that he usually draws on a tiny scale, whereas this is absolutely monumental.
31:20Where did you find it? I managed to buy it from a friend of Trevor called Jimmy,
31:27and he was a carpenter. He did odd jobs for Trevor and rather than be paid for these jobs,
31:34he took pictures in lieu of payment. And you managed to buy this from Jimmy?
31:38Yes. I just happened to be at the right place at the right time. Simple as that, really.
31:43Well, lucky you, because this is quite an extraordinary feat of drawing. It's not painted.
31:50It's all in pencil. He's managed to achieve this really incredibly atmospheric sort of smoky effect,
31:57sort of mystical, sort of mysterious quality. You can feel the smog.
32:02And then to contrast that with this bold industrial framework that stretches across
32:11the foreground, he's been a real master at getting every possible tonal difference.
32:16You know, he did go to art school. He was at Stockport College of Art in the 60s.
32:21And then he went on to develop this incredible style that is absolutely his own.
32:26He's always put in the same category as Lowry, for obvious reasons. It's an industrial landscape.
32:32And I always think that's a bit unfair, because Grimshaw developed a very different style.
32:40It's actually really hard to value. I'm not surprised, to be honest.
32:44You don't really see Grimshaw's on this scale. His little ones come up all the time.
32:48I think a few thousand pounds. Yeah.
32:50An auction estimate, you'd already put much more than that on this. Let's say,
32:54you know, four to six thousand. But with an estimate of four to six thousand, I think
32:59you would get some crazy competition for this. And it would make much, much more than that,
33:04because this is a really special thing. I mean, you could just, I could look at it all day.
33:08Thank you. Thank you very much.
33:10We like a challenge on the roadshow, and we're drawing inspiration from Bradford's Asian community,
33:19with a selection of mystery items, courtesy of our specialist in Asian arms and works of art,
33:25Ranjit Singh. Ranjit, but we're calling them mystery items. They're frankly terrifying.
33:30I mean, look at them. They are, but what I want you to do, Fiona, is think outside the box.
33:36OK. All right. I'm going to give you two options for each object.
33:41All right. And make sure you're all listening, because you're going to be helping me.
33:45So the one closest to you, is it a device to stop intruders into an Indian fort in the 18th century?
33:56Or is it an expanding cannonball shot from the 18th century?
34:02If it was a device to repel intruders, how would it work?
34:06One of the balls would be inserted into a little bracket on top of the entry to the fort,
34:15and when the door would be opened, and then intrude... Exactly. Yep.
34:20Drop down. Or a cannonball that would kind of shoot out of a cannon and then expand.
34:25Exactly. As it went.
34:27Right. OK. Now, do not tell me this is a fancy rolling pin. I'm not buying it.
34:37No. Not a rolling pin. But is it an object for an Indian wrestler,
34:44Bailwan or a strongman, to strengthen his muscles? Or is it used by Indian washerwomen
34:52when they're washing their clothes on the riverside? What, so, to beat the clothes?
34:59And if you're, if you're using this to strengthen your muscles,
35:02it's not very heavy. So how would you use it to strengthen your muscles?
35:07So nowadays, modern weights, you do get different, different weights. So perhaps this is for a beginner,
35:14or maybe it's more for endurance than strength. OK.
35:20But there is some damage to this part. So is it used for beating clothes in a barrel, maybe?
35:29Oh, I see. What about that scary looking thing down there?
35:34I mean, it's not that sharp, actually, if at all. OK. Is it a South Indian hunting boomerang? Or is it...
35:46..a South Indian ceremonial ricicle for the Maharaja to have the first harvest?
35:54Young lady, what do you think? Can you remember? Yeah.
35:59Is that to shoot out of a cannon or to drop to hurt an intruder?
36:05I would probably go to drop from the ceiling.
36:08Drop from the ceiling. And at the end?
36:11Boomerang. A boomerang.
36:13Ooh. That one's to do with rice, the first crop.
36:18You sound very sure about that. Sure, yeah.
36:20LAUGHTER I think that's for testing your strength.
36:26Is that how you do your weights, like that? No.
36:28LAUGHTER
36:30A peg washing!
36:33Peg washing, yes.
36:35So we've got all options now. So I'm going to go for the cannon.
36:39I'm going for the cannon, I'm going for a washing implement,
36:42sort of pound the washing and wring it out.
36:45And that, if it's not very sharp, it's either because it's old and it's got blunt,
36:49or it's because it's ceremonial. So let's go for ceremonial.
36:53OK. This is, in fact, an 18th century tribal hunting boomerang.
37:02It's quite similar to an Australian boomerang, except it doesn't come back.
37:07All right.
37:09I knew I'd get you with this one, because I believe there is a European tradition
37:15of beating clothes. Yeah.
37:17But it is an 18th or 19th century exercise club.
37:23So how would you use it?
37:25There are techniques to use it. Let's see them.
37:32Are you going to make me do this on TV?
37:34Do we want him to do this? Yeah. All right. Come on.
37:37OK. I'm no expert. People train with these all their lives. I'll give it a go. I'm going to take my...
37:44Let's all stand back.
37:46The trick is to get it upright and to balance the weight there.
37:51And so you start there and you swing it like that.
37:56And the light weight is because you are working the ligaments, working the joints,
38:05working the endurance, getting yourself fit and stronger, maybe warmed up for something a little
38:09bit heavier. Very impressive, Ranjit.
38:19So you've got two wrong so far. Yes, I know.
38:22You don't need to remind me.
38:23That is an 18th century expanding cannonball shot from India.
38:32So if you notice, one ball is slightly bigger than the other.
38:36So that means when it's folded up and put in the cannon and shot,
38:40the different weights make the concertina expand and then you get the circular motion,
38:48say no more. You know, it's going to do some damage.
38:51Yes, it is. And they are quite sharp.
38:53Yeah. Wow. God, how fascinating was that?
38:57Oh, my goodness. Really interesting. Thank you so much.
39:00God, can I give it a go?
39:03Okay, watch out, everybody.
39:08Yeah, well done.
39:09I see what you mean.
39:21Every once in a while, I see something that I absolutely want to own and this is one of those
39:28things. I love these guys. I love the object. Tell me what you know about it.
39:32Well, I really, I know nothing except I bought it on online auction with my daughter in mind.
39:39She's studying marine biology and she loves the octopuses.
39:42So octopuses in Japan mean good luck, they mean perseverance and they mean wisdom. So which one of
39:50those three relates to you?
39:52Oh gosh, I'm just the jack of all trades.
39:54You don't know. I'd say perseverance.
39:56Perseverance.
39:57It's a difficult field to get into and I'm really excited that I'm doing it. So, you know.
40:02This guy must be perseverance.
40:04Yeah, yeah, he's getting in there.
40:05He's getting in there. But wisdom as well.
40:08Why yes, very wise.
40:09Absolutely. And that sort of aquatic theme continues throughout. I mean,
40:14we've got this amazing decoration on the front. We've got these lovely, look at these kind of
40:18crashing waves, which goes all the way around the outside of this, what is called a moon flask.
40:25And then on the back, we've got these lovely kind of aquatic plants as well. So it is
40:29an aquatic feast. There we are. So Japanese. This may well have been one of a pair. So if I'm lucky
40:39enough, I could find the other one. If I get there before you do, I can get it. And I come around
40:44to the sort of shape of it. So this was made, I think, in about sort of 1870.
40:49I do. Yeah, sort of 1870, 1880, right in the middle of what they would call that sort of aesthetic
40:54Japanese movement here and elsewhere in Europe. I mean, the quality of it. I'm the one thing I
41:01will say is I'm amazed it's not signed. If I'd done this, I'd want to sign it because I want
41:06everybody to know I made it. Having said all of that, I will say that actually Japanese porcelain
41:12is a little out of fashion. And I think that's sad, really. I think if that came up for auction,
41:18it would make between eight to twelve hundred pounds. Well, that's wonderful. Hopefully it's
41:26more than you paid for it. It is. Great. Well, there you go. There's a profit in it as well. That's good.
41:41I brought a playbill from the Lambra Theatre. It's about 100 years old. And they just basically
41:46advertised what would be going on in the theatre that week. But they're super rare. I mean,
41:50in 35 years, I've found three of them. The Lambra Theatre has dazzled audiences in Bradford for over
41:57a century, welcoming legends from Laurel and Hardy to Morecambe and Wise. With its iconic domed facade,
42:05it remains a key landmark, taking centre stage in the City of Culture celebrations.
42:10And Lisa Lloyd is waiting in the wings.
42:18So you've brought in three playbills. Why specifically the Alhambra?
42:21I came to university 35 years ago, and within two days, I'd got a job working at the Alhambra,
42:27showing people to seats, selling ice creams. And it was just a joyous place to be. And I became
42:32enchanted with the place. And on the walls of the corridors, they've got some of these posters up.
42:37And I thought, one day, I'll own one. And 35 years later, I own three.
42:41Three shows the rarity of them, really. Yeah.
42:43But you know, they are rare items, because they're just throwaway items. You know,
42:47they're printed on the thinnest paper. So I guess perhaps these were saved maybe by somebody who's
42:53one of the acts and thought that they would just keep it as a memento. But the Alhambra really is a
42:59local landmark, isn't it? Yes. One that was built in 1914. It must have been a magnificent site.
43:05Yes. And it's really prominent in the city centre. There's a lot of development gone around there,
43:09but the Alhambra's still there. Yeah, the rooms are still really visible, aren't they?
43:12Yeah. It's such an iconic theatre. I just love the social history that's in the stories that must be in
43:18these playbills. Well, I think, you know, we think some of these names, there's one or two that I
43:22recognise here. For the later one, that's 1958. So Jimmy James and this one, Jimmy Jewel, they were
43:29huge stars at the time, because this really was the heyday of variety performances. So which is
43:35the earliest one you've got? Presumably this is the earliest. Yeah, this is the earliest. So this is 1926.
43:40I actually got this from a bookshop in Melbourne, in Australia. In Australia? Yeah. Albert Whelan was a
43:45big Australian star. So I imagine it found its way back with him or somebody that he knew. Yes,
43:50as you can see is Albert Whelan, the Australian. Roy Rivers, musical unicyclist. He was still
43:55performing into his eighties. A musical unicyclist. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, he was huge in the States.
44:00He went on to have a big career in the States. So you find out some things and then other names are
44:05just lost to time. Yes. By the 1960s, with television, really, it was kind of very much in decline. Yeah,
44:12it was. A lot of the acts had dropped away. Variety was dead, really. They're really interesting social
44:19documents, aren't they? And, you know, I'm really delighted that you've brought them along today.
44:24You do see playbills come up for sale. And I would guess you're probably looking at maybe
44:29one to two hundred pounds each for them, that sort of price. And, you know, in the Bradford
44:34Year of Culture, it's really nice to have a little piece of Bradford history. So thank you very much.
44:39No, you're very welcome. Thank you.
44:47Well, this is something I didn't think I'd be valuing today. A lovely little 1970s Lego set. Whose is it?
44:53It's our mum's. It's your mum's? Yeah. And where did your mum find it? At a car boot. At a car boot.
44:59At a car boot. And how much did your mum pay for it? Three pounds. Three quid. Brilliant. So who's the big
45:04Lego collector? Me. Yeah. You? For me, it's pure nostalgia. And that's with everything with
45:10collecting. You have your tin plate trains and people grew up around them. And Lego was something
45:14that I absolutely loved as a kid. This particular set is around 1970s, 1974, I think this one was
45:20produced. And some of the earlier Lego, like the Lego systems, is really, really finding its feet in the
45:25market now. And there's huge collectors for it worldwide as well. So the fact that you're finding
45:29this at a car boot is brilliant. Do you actually follow the instructions? Because when I was a kid,
45:34I got the instructions and then just threw them away. If it's a set, yes. But my patience
45:39so much dwindles. So I usually just like make my, we have like a lot of spares and I just make my
45:43own things out of that. I can relate to that. That's exactly what I did. So all my sets were
45:47incomplete. A bit like this one. So this one is actually missing. Probably missing the bench.
45:51Just need two, two by four of the same age. You're also missing the instructions as well. So the
45:57instructions with Lego sets adds quite a lot of value to them. Probably 20% of the value. We do have the whole box though.
46:02You do have the box. And to be fair, considering this is 50 years old or so, it's in pretty good
46:06condition as well. But yes, you are missing the bench, but you have got the most important
46:10bit of the biggest. Exactly. The money maker. Exactly. Exactly. Brilliant.
46:1510 times what you paid, you probably get 30 to 50 pounds. Oh, that's lovely. And I think if you
46:21could find these blocks and you can find the instructions, 50 to 80. Do they have to be like
46:25the aged pieces or can I just literally get some out where I can draw like when I get home? No,
46:30it's got to be the aged pieces. I think you two are fantastic and well done on your three pound investment
46:34as well. Wonderful. I saw this glittering in the sunshine and it's a wonderful little thing.
46:50Obviously, it's Mark Dunhill, so it looks like a cigarette lighter, doesn't it? Yeah. Where did
46:54you get it from? I don't know. My husband died recently and I was clearing his desk and this just
47:00popped up. Oh, I'm really sorry to hear that. But did you think he was maybe a secret smoker?
47:06No, he was a secret hoarder. A secret hoarder. Well, one thing I can say is he hoarded something
47:12really, really good here because this isn't a cigarette lighter at all, is it? No.
47:17It's a ladies compact. So, the obvious one is if we open the front hatch here, we have powder
47:24inside with a little mirror. There we go. Pull this section out here, we have a lipstick. If we pull
47:34this out here, a mascara, and if we flip open what would have been the whip cover, we have a perfume
47:41holder or bottle, which is made of aluminium to stop the perfume degrading the metal. On the bottom is a
47:49little number, a design registration number for 1928. Is it gold-plated or is it just? It's actually
47:56gilded brass. Do you know it's quite a valuable little item? I've no idea what it's worth. 700 to a
48:02thousand pounds. This is by Archie Rhys Griffiths. That's right. He's a pit painter. So, he started as
48:26a coal miner and became an artist in the 1920s. Yes. Have you ever been down a pit? I have. I've been to
48:33Capstone Colloury going towards Wakefield. When you get down there, they turn out the lights. So,
48:37all you've got is a man's helmet and... That black, that dark is like the dark you've never seen above
48:44ground, isn't it? It's astonishingly velvety dark. That's correct. Somehow, this painting captures the
48:51mood. And these lanterns here, you've got five lanterns, and they reveal what the title of the
48:56picture is. Horlier's in difficulty. Yes. This cart, which is probably carrying coal, is on four
49:04steel wheels that have fallen off the rails, I think. And you see this horse here, pulling incredibly
49:09hard. You see the energy there. And there's another man there, and he's pushing with his legs from the
49:14back. Yes. And these two men trying to get the thing back on the rails. Very, very effective. It's oil on a
49:21piece of old plywood, isn't it? Yes, yes. Yeah. A lot of times, artists, especially poor artists,
49:27would have found anything to paint on. Possibly a box of wardrobes and things like that, perhaps.
49:33Well, as a result, you know, it suffered a bit because he hasn't prepared it properly,
49:36and so you see the grain of the wood through it. But even so, it's very dirty. It's probably got sort of
49:42coal dust on it or something, I don't know. Possibly. Can I show you what it would look like if you
49:46cleaned it? Yes. And you can see, really, that the light begins to work. Now, if this picture
49:55was cleaned and varnished, you'd be able to look into it like a wet stone and see these colours and
50:00subtleties. Yes. I was thinking about value, and it's so moody and dramatic. Two to three thousand pounds.
50:08Oh. Oh. Very good. Fantastic end to a fantastic day. And I'm sure when it's cleaned up,
50:22it's going to be a really great piece. And the valuation was, well, quite frankly stunning.
50:35You came to my table with a very ordinary black box. Yes. Well, when I opened the box,
50:47there was no ordinary jewel inside. So please tell me, how did you acquire this? Well,
50:52this was my mother's. I think she bought it in the early 70s. She wore it out an awful lot to dinner
51:00dances, round table, this kind of thing with my father. And Jane saw it a long time ago and always
51:08admired it, didn't you? Yeah, definitely. It's so beautiful. It's so fine. You're absolutely right.
51:13I mean, we have the name Grima. Yes. It filled my heart with joy when I saw it, because I absolutely
51:20love Andrew Grima's work. I mean, he's sort of the godfather of the modernist jewelers. He transformed
51:27jewelry in this country from the 60s right up until the early 2000s. Yes. Do you think your mother went
51:34to German Street to buy from his shop there? It wouldn't surprise me. Yes. It certainly wouldn't
51:40surprise me. She has that kind of style. It was just big slate slabs in front of the shop and tiny
51:47windows where you had to sort of peer through, like you were looking through an Aladdin's cave.
51:51Oh, right. Yeah. And his workshop at the time, they were doing things that no one else was doing.
51:57He would have this wonderful symbiotic relationship with his craftspeople and he would give them sort
52:04of like, make me a leaf brooch. And they're going, well, how am I going to do that? And he said, well,
52:07you're the maker. Yes. I'm the designer. You know, so that's your problem. You've got to solve that.
52:12Yes. And this is a beautiful leaf and it has the one diamond and that is to represent a dew drop.
52:21Yes. Yeah. The casting process to make something like this is incredibly skillful.
52:28And I mean, to show all the veins like this, it's so thin and delicate. And the way that he's managed
52:35to get the leaf as if it has fallen on the ground, every single jewel he made was different.
52:43Yeah. Oh, wow. Yeah. So when you wear this brooch, you know, no one else is going to be wearing it,
52:49but they will all be admiring it. That's for sure. Yeah. And that's why his jewelry is so collected.
52:57So, gosh, I would say that's going to be at least £6,000 to £8,000. Wow.
53:06I wasn't expecting that. That's amazing. I didn't expect that. But she had a good eye,
53:12I have to say, bless her. Oh, my gosh. But she bought it herself? Yes. Or did your father buy it?
53:16No, she bought it herself. Oh, she bought it herself. That's even better.
53:20Highly approve of women buying jewelry for themselves. Yeah.
53:27On The Roadshow, we've been fortunate to see many fine works by the renowned furniture maker,
53:36Robert Thompson, crafted in his workshop here in Yorkshire, and all featuring his trademark signature
53:43of a carved mouse. And there's no shortage of them on Ronnie Archer Morgan's table today.
53:50The pieces you've bought are remarkable. Thank you.
53:53You've really got an eye for quality. But every piece you've chosen is precision.
54:00Like this wonderful money box. The big slice of cheese with a mouse going through
54:06and poking its head out the other side. Yeah.
54:09Look at that. Yeah, it's good. I mean, look at that.
54:12Isn't that clever? Yes.
54:13I just love it. So witty. Robert Thompson carried on the tradition that William Morris started
54:22in the 19th century of bringing craft back to production. These owls, they're extraordinary.
54:31Late 50s into the 60s. Yeah.
54:33And they've got their breakfast in their mouths. They have.
54:37And they're a pair, but they're a flanking pair. Yeah.
54:40So they face in opposite directions. I mean, they're just stunning. So what did you buy first?
54:48I think it was probably the ashtrays. And then what made you want to go on?
54:53Because we just love wood. We love anything nice. We like things that are tactile.
54:58I mean, you've got this wonderful stool here. Look how that's made. It's gorgeous.
55:02I mean, that's just a stunning bit of Yorkshire oak, which is what everything is made from.
55:08Yes. And the tapering leg there. I mean, that's not easy to do. No.
55:12No. Lovely craftsmanship. And you've got the little mouse again there.
55:16Yes. The signature. I mean, it's not rare, this stuff. There are a couple of things on this table
55:23that are rare, and it's these. What did you pay for those? About £600 each.
55:28About £600. You were brave. Well, yes, brave, but we love them, so...
55:34But I like that, because that's a commitment to what you love. Yeah.
55:37Yeah. Isn't it? I mean, do you like these? I mean, they're amazing. Who doesn't?
55:41Yeah. I mean, it's not that you don't see a mouse man stuff. It's that you don't
55:46see a group of things by mouse men like these. They're extraordinary. And I suppose you want
55:54me to value them. A stool like that could easily make £800. Wow. Good.
56:02A pair of those, bookends, £500 to £600, £400 to £500. These owls are something else.
56:09You paid £600 each? Yeah. Yeah. They'd now make, comfortably, £6,000 each. No way.
56:19Wow. Wow. So the whole lot here is between £14,000 and £15,000. Wow. Wow.
56:28You are so clever. Wow. Thank you. You've got such a great eye.
56:32You're not going anywhere. We're keeping them.
56:44Whenever the cameras are about to stop rolling at the end of a day at the roadshow, I always think
56:48that is the moment to have a cup of tea. Even better with a biscuit. And look, this is a special tin
56:54to commemorate Bradford City of Culture. Editable archives. And inside are the most beautiful biscuits,
57:04all telling a different story about the history and the culture of Bradford over the centuries.
57:10And I'm going to pick one. I think this one. It says, welcome in English and in Arabic and in Burmese,
57:17a meld of languages to reflect Bradford itself.
57:23Mmm. Delicious. From the Auntie Strojo and everybody here, bye-bye.
57:47I'm again still here.
57:51Bye-bye.
57:53Bye-bye.
57:55Bye-bye.
57:59Bye-bye.
58:06Bye-bye.
58:15Bye-bye.
58:16Bye-bye.
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