- 2 months ago
Antiques Roadshow 2025 - Stephens House & Gardens 3
Category
🦄
CreativityTranscript
00:00Today we're in Finchley in North London. Once it was famous for its highwaymen,
00:08accosting travellers on its rural roads. Now it's a suburb with some impressive houses.
00:15One of the grandest is Stephen's House, a Victorian mansion set in 10 acres of garden,
00:21created with a family fortune made from ink. The success of Stephen's Ink was partly due
00:27to its adoption of the newfangled business of advertising, like this fabulous barometer
00:33of example with Stephen's Ink written at the bottom and the top. It's made from enabled tin
00:37in 1895 by Cromo of Wolverhampton and for our purposes today it's pointed to weather changeable.
00:44So let's hope it's wrong. I wonder what else our experts will uncover.
00:50It's always lovely when people bring me a little cardboard box which has such treasures.
00:54You're so lucky to have them. Yeah, we are, yes. And I think you know that, don't you?
00:58Yeah. I'll give you 50.
01:02Welcome to the Antiques Roadshow.
01:05MUSIC PLAYS
01:07MUSIC CONTINUES
01:09MUSIC CONTINUES
01:11MUSIC CONTINUES
01:13MUSIC CONTINUES
01:15MUSIC CONTINUES
01:17MUSIC CONTINUES
01:19MUSIC CONTINUES
01:21MUSIC CONTINUES
01:23MUSIC CONTINUES
01:24MUSIC CONTINUES
01:25MUSIC CONTINUES
01:26MUSIC CONTINUES
01:27MUSIC CONTINUES
01:28MUSIC CONTINUES
01:29MUSIC CONTINUES
01:30MUSIC CONTINUES
01:31MUSIC CONTINUES
01:32MUSIC CONTINUES
01:33MUSIC CONTINUES
01:34MUSIC CONTINUES
01:35MUSIC CONTINUES
01:36MUSIC CONTINUES
01:37MUSIC CONTINUES
01:38MUSIC CONTINUES
01:39MUSIC CONTINUES
01:40MUSIC CONTINUES
01:41MUSIC CONTINUES
01:42MUSIC CONTINUES
01:43MUSIC CONTINUES
01:44MUSIC CONTINUES
01:45MUSIC CONTINUES
01:46MUSIC CONTINUES
01:47MUSIC CONTINUES
01:48MUSIC CONTINUES
01:49MUSIC CONTINUES
01:50MUSIC CONTINUES
01:51And this other one, again, was from her family and didn't know anything about it.
01:56And I did take it round the corner to a jeweller and she said she thought it was glass,
02:02like a sort of blue glass, something like that.
02:04So I picked these two out of the collection that you had.
02:08And what did you think?
02:09I thought maybe they are both real.
02:15Because, you know, I don't know, I thought that one might be old.
02:18And that one, I kind of thought, yeah, maybe it's not glass.
02:23Because you took it, though.
02:24That's the only reason why.
02:27This one here is a rose-cut diamond.
02:31It's quite a large one.
02:33OK.
02:33I can't date the rose-cut, though I think it is definitely 19th or even 18th century.
02:40And it has got inclusions.
02:42They're natural inclusions in the stone.
02:44They always have been when the diamond was formed billions of years ago.
02:48And it has got a bit of yellow to it.
02:51But it has that age to it.
02:53You know, and it has that character, which you just, you can't manufacture.
02:58And then I looked at this one here.
03:00And I've given it a bit of a clean, because it was a bit dirty.
03:05And I looked and looked, and I can find two feather inclusions.
03:12And that, to me, indicates that it is a Sri Lankan sapphire.
03:18And it is a beautiful colour.
03:22It almost might be a colour-changed sapphire.
03:25I'd like to look at it in a different light source,
03:27because it's sort of got that violety, light blue quality about it.
03:32I think it is such a beautiful colour.
03:35And when I saw those veil inclusions, I thought, yes, it's not glass.
03:40But it's a sapphire.
03:43And it's about a 12-caratter.
03:45Is it silver?
03:46It's platinum.
03:48So, do you know where that came from?
03:51I think her mother's mother, maybe, but we don't know.
03:54So, at auction, I would say that this diamond would be around £5,000.
04:02The trinket, one that was found in the costume jewellery box.
04:05No.
04:06And this sapphire, I would say that's going to be between £9,000 and £12,000.
04:11Oh, my gosh.
04:13Wow.
04:15That's amazing.
04:16Not just glass, then.
04:18Not just glass.
04:19Thank you so much.
04:21Pleasure.
04:21Thank you very much for bringing them in.
04:23What are you going to do with them?
04:24Oh, my gosh.
04:25I'm sure they will go to their grandchildren and stay in the family, I'm sure.
04:32Wow.
04:40This is a great piece of furniture.
04:42This fabulous upholstered armchair.
04:45It's got to have a great story behind it.
04:47So, we were at an antiques fair in Earl's Court or Olympia about 20-odd years ago.
04:55I used to do that fair.
04:56And we saw this chair and we liked it very much.
05:01We were told it's a campaign chair, which was taken by a general or colonel to their battles wherever they fought them.
05:09And did you have it upholstered?
05:11We bought it as it is now.
05:13It has been re-upholstered from what it was.
05:16Right.
05:16I sit in it from time to time, but the children or anybody else is not allowed to sit in it because we try and keep it as good as possible.
05:25Are you allowed to sit in it or you're not invited?
05:27I was allowed to try it once.
05:29Can you just show me how it works?
05:31Yes, I will.
05:32I'd better take my shoes off.
05:44Just come down here.
05:46Yeah.
05:46Rest your book on there.
05:48Yeah.
05:48And then if you're feeling sleepy.
05:53Hey.
05:53Right, come on, let's come up.
05:59That is brilliant.
06:00Oh, that's interesting.
06:02Can you see that?
06:03J Foot and Sons, yes.
06:04Painted Seas Manufactures 171 New Bond Street, London.
06:09They designed it, made it, and here it is now.
06:14The idea of being a campaign chair, no.
06:17No.
06:18This is a Victorian chair.
06:21They were known as chairs for the disease of kings, commonly known as gout.
06:28Oh.
06:30If you've ever had gout, you know how painful it is, and everything has to be soft near you.
06:38So you'd climb into your soft chair.
06:41You would have your foot raised on your gout's stool.
06:46So this is known as a waiter.
06:49This is made out of mahogany.
06:50It's got this lovely little edge, which is, you know, beautifully made.
06:54This is all brass, which is all gilt lacquered.
06:57And on the reading stand, there would have been two little arms, which fold in there.
07:02And I think they've either been snapped off.
07:04Yeah.
07:04It's a fun piece of furniture.
07:06It's a conversation piece.
07:08So can you remember what you paid for it all those years ago at Olympia?
07:12A couple of thousand pounds, I think.
07:14Victorian furniture is not as fashionable as it used to be.
07:18Today, I think, if this is sold, it may fetch between 1,200 and 1,500.
07:25Not everything goes up, but everything can hold a good conversation and tell a great story.
07:31And you've demonstrated that today in bucket loads.
07:35But now you know what it is.
07:38So you are the king.
07:41Thank you very much.
07:48So here we are with two completely different watches, a lady's watch and a man's watch.
07:54And it's most unusual, normally you just concentrate on the one watch, but it's fun to do two different watches.
07:59So how did they come to be here?
08:01So they were both my grandparents.
08:02This was my grandfather's.
08:04My grandfather was born in 1907.
08:05I believe he was either given it as a gift on his 18th birthday or so or given it around then.
08:11So he's worn it quite frequently during his life.
08:13And then when he passed away, the year before I was born, was given to my father.
08:17And then he gave it to me.
08:18And then this one, he gifted this to my grandmother in the 60s at some point as a lovely, generous gift.
08:24So which one do you want to talk about first?
08:26Let's go with this one.
08:27So this is by a company called Jäger Lecoultre.
08:30And a lot of people know who Jäger Lecoultre are.
08:32They're very famous for their Reverso watches, which you can flip over.
08:35But what they're most famous for is a movement called the Duoplan movement.
08:40So a Duoplan movement was a revolutionary movement before the wristwatch, if you like.
08:45All watches were pocket watches and they were circular.
08:48The problem was trying to make a circular movement into a rectangular or to miniaturize a circular movement.
08:55It's actually much more difficult than it sounds.
08:56Sort of right angles in 1920s were right in the Art Deco period.
09:00So everything was great when it was a right angle.
09:02So they wanted things to go from circular back to rectangle or square.
09:06And what is also interesting is that the winder is on the back of the watch.
09:10And the reason for that is because aesthetically, particularly in the 1920s, 30s,
09:16the winder in those days tended to take away from the aesthetics of it.
09:21So they thought, let's have it on the back.
09:22And you can stick it on the back.
09:24It sort of sticks into the back of the wrist, but it's fine.
09:27So it's interesting.
09:28But I'm not going to put a value on it yet because I'd like to talk about your other wristwatch.
09:33About five years or more ago, I wouldn't be talking about this watch.
09:37But all of a sudden, these watches have become a bit more popular.
09:41The maker is Piaget.
09:42And Piaget specialized in ladies and gents wristwatches, but decorative ones, dress watches mainly.
09:48What's great about this is that the dial is made of...
09:52I think it's malachite.
09:53It is. It's made of malachite.
09:54We call that a stone dial.
09:56It's actually quite difficult to make a dial out of malachite.
09:59They have to be honed down to ruff a thing.
10:03And very often they were broken.
10:05And then you had to fix or paint the numerals on it.
10:08And all sorts of mistakes were made.
10:09And they became a jolly expensive thing to do.
10:11But highly desirable back in the 1960s.
10:15Move forward into the sort of 90s, the noughties.
10:19Incredibly unpopular.
10:20No one wanted them.
10:21No one cared for them at all.
10:23And for some reason, in the last sort of one to two years, they've just gone mad.
10:28So everybody wants them.
10:30What do you like about them?
10:32So this one I do wear very occasionally.
10:34Really nice and small, delicate.
10:36I think, as you mentioned earlier, like the square face.
10:38It's quite unusual to see a square face.
10:41Also, it's a little piece of my grandfather I can wear on my wrist.
10:43I never met him because he passed before I was born, unfortunately.
10:46And then this one, actually, I just love the vibrancy of the green face.
10:50We should talk about value.
10:52It's quite interesting because it's almost like a dichotomy.
10:54You've got the one that we like most and the one that we probably wouldn't wear very much at all.
10:59And yet the lower value one, which is the Ege La Couture, is at £800 to £1,000, maybe £8,000 to £1,200 at auction.
11:07OK.
11:08And conversely, the one that we wouldn't wear but has come up in popularity enormously is worth between £3,000 and £4,000.
11:16Wow.
11:16Wow, wow, wow, wow.
11:17Sure.
11:18OK.
11:18Yeah.
11:18Yeah, gosh, that's amazing.
11:20It is, isn't it?
11:20Quite staggering, yeah.
11:21I'd plug that and keep that one.
11:24Happy to do that.
11:25It's happy to take your advice.
11:26Thank you so much.
11:33I've seen and handled more walking sticks, walking canes, than most people have had hot dinners.
11:41I have never seen one with so much wonderful iconography on it.
11:47Just tell me where you found this amazing walking stick.
11:52My great-great-grandfather was a woodcarver in Illinois.
11:55It's clearly 19th century.
11:58Yes.
11:58I mean, I've just got to go through some of the iconography on this.
12:03You've got a squirrel just here.
12:06You've got a flying duck or goose.
12:09A fish and that lovely hair.
12:12There's an elephant.
12:13There's a turtle or a tortoise there.
12:16It's absolutely remarkable.
12:19If I saw this for sale, I know there would be a price tag for at least £800 to £1,000.
12:27Very nice.
12:28It's phenomenal.
12:31I love it.
12:32I've always loved it.
12:34It's one of the finest I've seen.
12:35So, obviously, alongside the Antiques Roadshow, one of the jewels of the BBC is Doctor Who.
12:51And it's really nice that you've brought along this collection today.
12:54Would you tell me a little bit about it?
12:55So, these books are originals that were purchased in 1976.
13:01Could be 77 if my memory doesn't serve as correct.
13:04But I was a five-year-old child.
13:07My brother took me to a local bookstore here in Finchley.
13:11And Tom Baker was the new Doctor Who of the time.
13:16There was a lot of fanfare at this character with the long scarf and jelly beans and his quirkiness.
13:22And the fact that he was coming to Finchley was a very big buzz for us kids.
13:28And he was dressed up as Doctor Who.
13:30So many kids showed up.
13:32My brother purchased all of these and got one for me.
13:35And Tom Baker signed the books to everyone, had time for all of the kids.
13:40Was completely in character for the entire day.
13:43I love to hear that kind of cherished childhood memory.
13:46And also meeting one of your heroes and for it to be such a good experience.
13:51The inscriptions in these books are quite special, I think.
13:57And I just wanted to read a couple of them, if that's all right.
13:59Sure, please do.
14:01So, this is Doctor Who and the Doomsday Weapon.
14:03To Ketan, from Who, with love, Tom Baker.
14:07And then this one says, Who is Amit?
14:12Who is who?
14:14Tom Baker is who?
14:15It was super special to have all these almost personalised messages to everybody that came through the door and everybody that bought a book.
14:24Sadly, my brother passed away over ten years ago, so the books that are assigned to him will go to his kids.
14:33So, just talking about the books themselves.
14:36Back in the 70s, if you wanted to see an episode of Doctor Who, you better watch it live, otherwise you're not going to have another opportunity.
14:44And Target, the publisher, what they would do was issue these paperbacks that came out pretty soon after the episodes, and then all of the fans of Doctor Who would have a whole bookshelf of them that they could refer to, they could read essentially the story of each episode.
15:02I mean, these are collectible and desirable things.
15:05I think the way in which they've all been inscribed makes them very personally valuable.
15:12If they came up at auction, I could genuinely see them making as much as £400.
15:17Oh, right. Okay.
15:19More than I expected. I mean, I think because it's so personalised, I know there's a signature connected to it.
15:26They're not going anywhere. They won't be sold.
15:29Definitely my nephews are going to get some of the books.
15:31Thank you so much for bringing them along.
15:36Not far from Stephen's House and Gardens is a museum dedicated to a North London resident famed for his witty and comic illustrations from the early 20th century.
15:45And I'm taking a look at a rare archive of his work.
15:49We see lots of gadgets and contraptions here at the Antiques Church, and sometimes we refer to them as being a bit Heath Robinson.
15:56But what do we mean by that?
15:57Well, of course, we're referring to W. Heath Robinson, the artist and illustrator.
16:01Peter, you're his great-nephew.
16:03Yes.
16:04This picture, this absolutely sums up Heath Robinson for me.
16:07Doesn't it, doesn't it?
16:08The kind of incredibly complicated gadgets and contraptions, but with huge dollops of humour as well.
16:16Tell us what we're looking at with this one.
16:17Well, what we're looking at here is the laying of the foundation stone of Waterloo Bridge in 1934, which was a grand occasion, you know, laid by the King of Time.
16:27But what he's done in typically a Heath Robinson way is replace it within something very down-to-earth with a lot of humour.
16:38So let's talk through what we're seeing here.
16:40So we've got all sorts of dignitaries here.
16:42Their music is being piped up from the riverbed.
16:45Yes.
16:46This steamboat powering all the air to all the people below, all the dignitaries, with their badge of office, fantastic bare skin.
16:55And here, the foundation stone, the brick, is being laid.
16:58So this is what I know him for.
17:00But he was also an illustrator.
17:02An illustrator of books.
17:02Yeah, absolutely.
17:03Obviously, we mostly know his work for the humorous work, but he was an incredibly gifted illustrator.
17:10This was 1902, where he decided to do a children's book called Uncle Lubin, with his own children in mind, a fantasy story of this lovely uncle who's trying to look after his nephew, who is captured by a pelican.
17:26And it's about his journey around the world trying to find him.
17:29Here he's constructed a boat, and he's sailing off the high seas to try and find him.
17:34But what's so typical about this one is this bringing it back to just the normal kind of details.
17:40He's got his broly, he's got his jam, because he'll need that, won't he?
17:44A candle hanging from the front.
17:45And a candle, always a candlestick.
17:47But what strikes me about it is how beautifully drawn it is.
17:51And the colours are gorgeous, aren't they?
17:54Yes, the colours are gorgeous.
17:55So this is from the First World War.
17:57Yes.
17:57So here we have the front.
18:00Here are the Germans.
18:02Here are the Brits.
18:02He's looking rather warily.
18:04And then down below ground, both sides are tunnelling, but they seem to have tunnelled to exactly the same spot.
18:11And suddenly, they meet underneath, and there's a sort of comic horror in their faces.
18:16And the title of this is Third Return to Emma Smith, please.
18:20Because he's here, you know, and the only thing he can think of is when he's buying tickets at the underground station.
18:27It's wonderful in that way.
18:29And then he carried on through to the Second World War.
18:31Then he carried on to the Second World War.
18:32And this has a different tone, I would say.
18:34You're absolutely right, Fiona.
18:35This is obviously dealing with possible Nazi occupation of the country.
18:39There's a darker side, and he's very much focusing on the machinery of, you know, these extraordinary tanks and so on, bringing in humour and the humanity, but there's always that slight edge.
18:52So, as this tank stops here, it's pushing on this rope, which is then attached via the church steeple, down here.
19:00It makes this contraption work, which is melting fresh Dorset butter.
19:05The butter then pipes down here, creating this lake of melted butter, which the tank is now skidding on.
19:10Exactly.
19:10And the German soldiers are slipping on.
19:12Yes.
19:13I mean, obviously, occupation was a thing that Britain feared.
19:15Yes.
19:16And what he's doing here is he's finding some humour in that.
19:21Exactly.
19:21Easing the anxiety.
19:22He died before the end of the Second World War in 1944, and he's buried just down the road from here in East Finchley.
19:29So, you were left with all his work as a family, and you had to decide what to do with this all.
19:33Exactly.
19:33Because he was prolific, wasn't he?
19:34Yes.
19:35So, you set up a museum?
19:36We set up a museum.
19:37We've got probably about 2,000 pieces there.
19:40Right.
19:40I've grown up with Heath Robinson.
19:41My parents loved Heath Robinson.
19:43What a treat to see them.
19:45Peter, thank you so much.
19:45Oh, thank you, too.
19:52So, it's always lovely on the roadshare when people bring me a little cardboard box, which has such treasures inside it.
20:00And you didn't fail today.
20:02This is a fantastic collection of American badges.
20:06Yeah.
20:06Where did you get them from?
20:07So, they belong to my father, Harold Moss.
20:09Although he grew up in Northern Ireland, his uncle in Manchester had a dry cleaning business, and they had the contract for the American servicemen during the war, and they had the badges to put onto the uniforms after they'd dry cleaned them.
20:21And his uncle gave him a set of the badges, I presume, at the end of the war, and he would have been about 10 years old.
20:27That is a great present.
20:29I would have loved that when I was 10.
20:31And the thing about what you've got is you've got some great badges with perfect provenance, because there are so many copies of these things.
20:38And you have some of the most recognisable American badges from World War II.
20:43So, for example, you have this one here, which is the 101st Airborne, known as the Screaming Eagles.
20:48All-American, 82nd Airborne.
20:50The 1st Infantry Division, 8th Air Force.
20:55Now, these are the badges that people who like this stuff know about, because the 101st and the 82nd are the airborne units, the paratroopers, who dropped into Normandy on D-Day.
21:05It is the men of what was known as the Big Red One who were massacred on Omaha Beach on the 6th of June.
21:14And every B-17 that we ever see a film of probably came from the 8th Air Force.
21:21So you have the badges that most people know about and actually want.
21:25Have you ever thought what this lot might be worth?
21:28Not a clue.
21:29Really?
21:29Honestly, no idea.
21:31They are possibly worth more than you think.
21:33That's unusual, I know, because they are just cloth badges, aren't they?
21:36But because you have got the most well-known, the most sought-after badges, I think your collection is easily worth £3,000.
21:45Oh my goodness, I thought maybe a few hundred.
21:49No.
21:50That's incredible.
21:52My father-in-law used to go on and on and on.
21:56Please don't get rid of them, please don't get rid of them.
21:58That's a real treat.
21:59Thank you for bringing them in.
22:00Thank you so much.
22:04Well, I think my dad would be so excited, quite emotional to bring them on his behalf.
22:10I sort of still feel that they're his rather than mine.
22:14I don't think he suspected they would have been worth quite so much.
22:28A beautiful sundial by Thomas Wright, who was a famous instrument maker, and he had workshops in Fleet Street, sort of five miles that way in the city of London.
22:39And it's signed and dated?
22:41Yes, 1729.
22:42So, he was considered one of the best of his period, and he was maker to King George II.
22:48So, you've got something here quite unusual, and by one of the best makers of the early 18th century.
22:54But where did it come from?
22:56So, the sundial is from St. Mary at Finchley, which is actually only 300 metres away from us.
23:02And I became interested in it because of a Turner painting that was actually painted of St. Mary at Finchley.
23:11And you've brought a copy along here?
23:12We've brought a copy along.
23:13This painting was painted in 1793 or 1794, when Turner was only 18 or 19 years old.
23:20So, it's not in his usual style.
23:23And in front of the church, you will see the sundial's base.
23:27So, it's a Georgian stone base.
23:31And it had this sundial on top.
23:34Since then, we've had to remove the sundial because it was in danger of being stolen.
23:39But recently, we've undertaken a project in which we're planning to restore the sundial.
23:45And, well, we'd like some advice, really, because we don't want to put the original sundial back there.
23:51But maybe there's something else we could do instead.
23:53Well, certainly that shouldn't be a problem.
23:55I mean, getting the pedestal restored is not a big problem.
23:58And as you've got the original here, have a replica made,
24:01and maybe not make it in a material that is potentially going to be stolen again.
24:06But there's all sorts of modern materials that you could do.
24:09Have you ever thought why you need a sundial in the churchyard?
24:13Assume there is a clock in the tower.
24:15Yes, there is a clock on the south side of the tower.
24:19And we know that the clock was there from 1800.
24:23Right.
24:24But we presume the sundial reigned supreme before then.
24:28Yeah.
24:29I mean, if you can imagine back in the 18th century,
24:31the majority of your congregation wouldn't have had access to an accurate timepiece.
24:36So they were summoned to church by the ringing of the bell, be it matins or even song.
24:43You know, clocks of the period were not all that accurate.
24:47The sundial is much more accurate.
24:48So whoever was in charge could have actually made sure that the time given by the sundial
24:54corresponded with the time on the clock tower.
24:56And the value of the original with the pedestal,
24:59we're probably talking about a figure of two and a half to three thousand pounds.
25:03So it'd be great to put a replica back where it originally came from.
25:08Sometimes the objects we see on the roadshow speak of moments of great human suffering.
25:14As part of its independence from British rule in 1947,
25:18India was partitioned into two separate nations, Pakistan and India.
25:24Religious violence followed, creating millions of refugees.
25:27Among them was a young artist whose family were forced to flee to Pakistan.
25:33We've got two really extraordinary paintings here.
25:36They're both all on canvas.
25:38And both of them are absolutely packed with incredible details.
25:45And once you look through the details, they're actually both signed Sohail.
25:49This is quite a well-known Pakistani artist called Tazatuk Sohail.
25:53So these are quite far from home.
25:55And I'm wondering how you came to have two of them.
25:58I bought them from him after I gave him a lift home from Bayswater Road.
26:04And so we became friends.
26:07So I think they really give quite an insight into his mind
26:13because there is so much detail captured in them.
26:16And he did have a really interesting life.
26:19You know, having fled India for Pakistan after partition,
26:21that must have been quite a traumatic experience, which he carried with him.
26:26He remembered seeing people murdered as he was, you know, being taken to Lahore, I think.
26:33And then to come from that context to London in the 1960s to study.
26:39He studied at St. Martin's.
26:40I mean, the contrast between post-partition India and cosmopolitan London clearly really informed his work.
26:48And it feels like we're sort of entering a journey in his mind with all these characters
26:53that he maybe had come across at some point in his life and he sort of pulled them all together.
27:00This painter, he's called it the world of storytellers.
27:03I think that says a lot because it does feel like it has this other narrative to it.
27:09And then on the back, he's given a subtitle, Liars and Hypocrites.
27:14He was always quite critical, wasn't he, of humankind and what people could do to each other.
27:19Exactly.
27:20And he always really held birds and animals above humans.
27:24And I think you see that in the pictures.
27:26There's lots of animals that pepper the story.
27:31I think in the larger painting, it's almost like a kind of storyboard.
27:37It's almost, you have little squares of images that your eye kind of wants to read through all of them
27:44in quite a chronological fashion until you get right to the bottom.
27:47Yeah.
27:48Because I also find there's quite a juxtaposition between the really bold colouring,
27:54which is quite hopeful and joyous.
27:55Yeah.
27:56But then you look a bit closer and there's some quite dark imagery.
27:59Yes.
28:00Like look at this line of skulls with their tongues hanging out, which is really quite compelling.
28:06The other thing that I think makes them really jump out is he's got quite an unusual technique.
28:11So they're both oil on canvas.
28:13But what he used to do was paint the broad colour.
28:18That's right.
28:18And then he'd either turn the paintbrush around and use the tip of the brush or a knife to literally carve out the outline.
28:26You can really see it here in the features of this man in the foreground.
28:31So he was almost painting in reverse.
28:33What's your favourite thing about them?
28:36You know, for me, it's colour.
28:38And the details, I think, I just think he was a fantastic artist.
28:43I really do.
28:44And I really wanted to help, actually.
28:46He's definitely someone who I think should be more well-known today.
28:50I agree.
28:51In terms of putting auction estimates on these paintings, it's amazing that you bought them directly from him
28:57because that's a great provenance.
28:59I think were this one to come up auction, this smaller one,
29:02we'd probably put an estimate in the region of £7,000 to £9,000.
29:05And for this larger work, I think that would carry an estimate more like £2,000 to £3,000.
29:10Wow.
29:11That's fantastic.
29:13No, they're great to see.
29:14So, diamonds are forever, but for however long has this been in your family?
29:26So, we believe it's from the 1950s.
29:29It was my grandmother's.
29:31She had a second husband, and he was a bit of a gambler, a bit of a rogue,
29:36and he took her money to gamble with, and she asked for it back.
29:41And instead of getting the money back, she got a brooch brought for her.
29:44Ah, well, was that a romantic gesture or not?
29:46I think not, actually.
29:47Yeah, questionable.
29:48Yeah, very questionable.
29:50So, it separates in half, and my grandmother had two daughters, my mother and her sister.
29:55And when my grandmother passed away, each sister took a half.
29:59And then when, sadly, my aunt passed away, they were reunited again.
30:03So, there is strong sentimental value.
30:06Massive, double-barreled sentimental value, really, isn't it?
30:09Wonderful.
30:10This is a very lovely example of 20th century design,
30:14just a little later than a style called Art Deco, which was slightly more geometric.
30:20It's undoubtedly English.
30:21And this is what we call a diamond double clip,
30:23because it comes apart to be worn separately.
30:26So, we lift up the pin here, and then slip a fingernail underneath this, lift it up.
30:33There they are, the diamond double clips taken apart.
30:37This is the most marvellous bit of mechanism, really, is the right word.
30:40Well, one of the signs that this is a 20th century brooch
30:43is that it's set in white metal for the diamonds.
30:46Sometimes the white metal is platinum, sometimes it's white gold.
30:49But I think this is white gold.
30:51You had an idea that you knew where they come from.
30:54We were told it was mapping and web, but we have no evidence of that.
30:57No, but I think it's absolutely likely that it is.
31:00It looks the style.
31:02A very famous jeweller with royal warrants at the time.
31:06Hugely enviable, covetable is the right word.
31:08And with all of that comes a jolly nice value, I think.
31:11Something like between £8,000 and £10,000 to buy it again today.
31:17Well, I've got smacked.
31:21Well, he was true to his word.
31:23We don't know what he lost, though, do we?
31:24That's true.
31:25But never mind, you've got this, and it's come through,
31:28and your grandmother had it and treasured it, because it is treasure.
31:31Thank you very much for bringing it.
31:32Wonderful.
31:33Thank you very much.
31:34Well, I never knew it was worth so much, so he did her a good turn.
31:42There were always strong memories with it, because she wore it,
31:45and the fact that it went to the two sisters afterwards
31:48has always made it quite an emotional piece for me.
31:51I think I might wear it now.
31:53I think it's going to look rather glamorous on my shoulder here.
32:06It's a letter written on the morning of the Battle of Waterloo by Wellington.
32:12I mean, you can't get a much more important historical piece here.
32:17Let's establish a timeline on this letter.
32:20Brussels has been crossed out.
32:22Waterloo has been written in.
32:253 a.m. in the morning,
32:28eight hours for Bonaparte's first gun that's fired.
32:33And at the transcript,
32:36it's Wellington saying everything will be all right if the Prussians arrive,
32:41which they did in very much the nick of time.
32:45The battle could have gone either way.
32:47Wellington himself said it was a damn close-run thing.
32:51Tell me about the letter.
32:52The letter was in the care of my grandmother.
32:55She was a historian and wrote some volumes on Wellington.
32:59It's been with my parents for as long as I can remember.
33:04Have you ever sort of wondered
33:05what a little flimsy piece of paper like that might be worth?
33:09Well, my mother bought it at auction and I never asked her,
33:14and she's sadly long gone.
33:16But it did occur to me to wonder.
33:20I think if you had to buy it at auction,
33:24I think you'd be looking at £2,000.
33:26You could have said zero, you could have said more.
33:30But thank you very much.
33:32Historically priceless.
33:33I think so.
33:35I mean, you're never going to see anything else like it.
33:38And buy Wellington.
33:39It's my favourite part of the day.
33:53Basic, better, best.
33:55I don't know why I say it's my favourite,
33:56because I almost always get it wrong.
33:58Don't I, Sir Hat?
33:59No, you don't.
33:59Yes, I've got it wrong with you.
34:01So Sir Hat, of course, is our ceramic specialist.
34:03And you've brought along three incredibly ornate items.
34:08Tell me about them.
34:08So we're going to take a look at what you might find
34:11on the dining table of royalty and nobility in 18th century Europe,
34:17and specifically trompe l'oeil, meaning to fool the eye.
34:21It just looks so real.
34:22And I guess to show status, that you could afford things like this.
34:24Exactly.
34:25I mean, porcelain at this time was very expensive.
34:28And where were these made?
34:30So these were made at Meissen in Germany,
34:32and they are from the 1740s onwards.
34:36Let's start with the cherries, then.
34:38I mean, this is incredibly intricate and ornate, isn't it?
34:42Yes.
34:42This is from a known service,
34:44a service that has over 2,000 pieces in it.
34:48Not of trompe l'oeil, of all sorts of dinner wares.
34:51From the 1740s.
34:52And yes, it's got some damage.
34:55Some of the leaves and stems are chipped.
34:57Yes, there's a little break here, isn't there?
34:59I mean, the thing that strikes me about this
35:01is how beautifully made it is.
35:03You feel like you can pick up a cherry
35:05and pop it in your mouth.
35:07All right, what about this one here?
35:08OK, so an apple surrounded by flowers around 1840 in date.
35:14Now, the interesting thing about this
35:16is that the lid lifts off.
35:18So it was made to be used, unlike the cherries.
35:22So perhaps this was used for a fruit compote.
35:26But look at all those colours.
35:29It would have taken numerous firings
35:32to get all of those colours right.
35:34What about the peas and the pea shoots?
35:35I mean, that's just amazing, isn't it?
35:37It kind of boggles the mind
35:39as to how they are even standing up.
35:41Again, a bit of damage.
35:451750s.
35:46But the interesting thing about this to note
35:48is the green border and the gilding.
35:51So more decorative on the border than the cherries.
35:55And it's from the service, perhaps,
35:57but not one that we've been able to identify so far.
36:01And what values are we talking about?
36:03One of these is worth £1,500.
36:07One of them, £5,000.
36:10And one of them, £9,000.
36:14Right.
36:15OK.
36:17Any ideas?
36:19Well, I'm going to go for the middle one is best.
36:21All the paintwork and it's been pristine conditions.
36:25I'm going to go for that.
36:25OK.
36:26And then I'm going to go for the cherries and then the other one.
36:30OK.
36:30So basic is the peas, cherries is the better, and the apple is the best.
36:34What do you think?
36:35I think the one on the left, I think that's most expensive.
36:39And then I'm going for the cherries and then the apple.
36:43The apple being the basic?
36:44Yeah.
36:45You're married, aren't you?
36:46Yeah, yeah.
36:47We are married, but we're not sure how long it's going to last now.
36:53Come on, ladies, what do you think?
36:55I'm going to go for the peas as the best, then potentially the apple and then the cherries.
37:00OK, so lots of different answers.
37:01I'm not sure how helpful that is.
37:03On the one hand, that could be the most rare, because you've not been able to find any other like it or place it in anything.
37:10But on the other hand, that might mean it's not so valuable because it's got no context, unlike this, which is a hugely popular service.
37:18And this, of course, is pristine, but it's a century later.
37:21So I am going to say basic, better, best.
37:28You sure?
37:29No.
37:30You got one right.
37:33OK, which did I get right?
37:35Basic.
37:35It's a century younger than these two.
37:37Exactly.
37:38And by this time, production techniques meant they could make these things with multicolors and not exactly churn them out, but they were made in quantity.
37:47Better, the peas in the pods.
37:51I mean, it's very nice.
37:52Yes, it is, but it's from an unidentified service.
37:55It was probably made as a standalone piece.
37:57However, the cherries.
38:00The cherry on the top.
38:01There's 2,000 pieces in this service.
38:03That must mean it's really easy to get one of these pieces from this service.
38:07Well, it's not.
38:08Why is that?
38:09That was commissioned by Count von Brühl.
38:13Now, he was the then Prime Minister of Saxony and just so happened to be the head of the Meissen factory.
38:21Because if we'd known that, Sir Hat.
38:25Right.
38:26So, that was made in 1746.
38:28And as far as the research shows, the cherries, there was only one ever made.
38:34So, that is unique.
38:36This, ladies and gentlemen, is the crucial information we didn't have.
38:40So, we have Basic at...
38:431,500 pounds.
38:45Better at 5,000.
38:47And Best at 9,000.
38:50Well, they've been extraordinary to see.
38:53I've never seen anything like this.
38:54Thank you very much, Sir Hat.
39:05We've had quite a few comments about how stylish this cabinet looks.
39:09And it is super stylish, isn't it?
39:11Amazing.
39:12Yeah.
39:12We've even got the owner here.
39:14Tell us a bit about her.
39:16So, this is my great-aunt, Phyllis, who worked for the American Foreign Service.
39:20And she lived in Germany, different parts of Europe, and bought this, I think, around the mid-50s.
39:27She passed away in 2019, when she was 99.
39:31Well, we'll just have a closer look at what it is, because it's spectacular.
39:35I was so thrilled to see this.
39:37Inside, of course, is a canteen of cutlery.
39:39It's not just a piece of furniture.
39:40Yeah.
39:41And it is quite recognisable as the work of Jörg Jensen, famous Danish silversmith,
39:46who was at the cutting edge of style throughout the whole career of Jensen himself.
39:50But the firm of Jensen started about 1900.
39:54Oh, wow.
39:55So, he spanned about two or three different art movements.
39:58Okay.
39:58Art Nouveau, the early 1900s.
40:00Mm-hmm.
40:01Then into deco, 30s, 40s, wartime.
40:04And then into more sort of mid-century modern.
40:07And your cutlery set bridges those latter two styles.
40:10The designer of your cutlery was a chap called Gundorf Albertus.
40:15Okay.
40:15He was a sculptor, as was Jensen himself.
40:18So, they understood not just silversmithing, but the forms and shapes.
40:23Albertus designed your cutlery set originally in 1930.
40:28Okay.
40:29Wow.
40:29Some people will instantly recognise it.
40:32It's called the cactus pattern.
40:34Now, I'm just going to pull out one of the spoons so we can have a closer look.
40:38That's the cactus motif in the centre.
40:41Completely plain stem.
40:43Circular bowl.
40:44And then the full marks on the back, which are Jensen.
40:49And these are soup spoons.
40:50Soup spoons only came in in the early 20th century.
40:53Wow.
40:53Some of the Jensen's pieces have what they call import hallmarks, so you can date them exactly.
40:59This one doesn't.
41:00She obviously bought it either in Germany or maybe came in from Copenhagen.
41:04So, we're saying 1955, 1956, you reckon is when she might have got it.
41:09I think so, yeah.
41:10We'll go down the drawers just slightly.
41:12Yeah.
41:13Wonderful.
41:13I mean, look at those knives.
41:14What's not to like about those?
41:16I love the handle.
41:17It's got such a weight to it.
41:18Exactly.
41:19The handles are solid silver.
41:21The blades are stainless steel because silver is just a bit too soft.
41:24And also, we go down a bit further.
41:27Look at that.
41:28You've got all the serving pieces.
41:30Yeah.
41:31But what tops the whole thing is the cabinet.
41:33Yeah.
41:34What about you?
41:35What do you think about it?
41:36Is it something you quite like?
41:37I mean, we love it.
41:39And I think not only because we like the style and just how kind of pretty it is, but also as a kind of memento to Phyllis as well.
41:47So nice that you've got a tangible memory of her through this.
41:50And do you use the cutlery yourselves?
41:52We haven't yet, but we host a Thanksgiving dinner every year.
41:56So we're planning on laying the table and having all the cutlery out.
42:00You're so lucky to have that.
42:01Yeah, we are.
42:02And I think you know that, don't you?
42:03Yeah.
42:04It is the Antiques Roadshow, so we have to value it.
42:07Normally, the ones that turn up on the market are loose.
42:10So without the cabinet, 12 of each of these that you've got, you usually get about 3,000 to 5,000 pounds.
42:17Oh, wow.
42:18Loose.
42:19But the cabinet takes it onto a different level altogether.
42:23With the cabinet, I think you're probably 5,000 to 8,000 pounds.
42:28Wow.
42:28And I'm sure if you had two people really keen for it, it could even get more than that.
42:34Wow.
42:34It's one of these things that just doesn't turn up very often.
42:36Yeah, yeah.
42:37Thank you so much for bringing it and sharing it today.
42:39It's not quite three o'clock, but I'd be ready for a cup of tea.
42:48How about you?
42:49Yes, that would be good.
42:50What can you tell me about it?
42:52It's a family thing.
42:53I don't really know much about it.
42:55I was clearing my mother's flat and I found it in a cupboard.
42:57So it is Chinese.
42:59And I think this was probably made during the reign of the Qianlong Emperor.
43:04So that's between 1736 and 1795.
43:07It's export wear, so it was actually made for the West.
43:11And it's got a very kind of floral, European feel.
43:15So this kind of black on white, this sort of grisard decoration.
43:19There's a lot of interest in collecting particularly unusual rare items generally.
43:24But, you know, in this instance, you know, a rare, unusual design on a piece of Chinese export porcelain,
43:30it ticks a lot of boxes for those collectors.
43:32Because I think if that came up at auction, it would carry a pre-sale estimate of £1,000 to £1,500.
43:39Well, it's amazing.
43:41So I was thinking about £40, £50.
43:43I'll give you £50.
43:45No.
43:45Well, he's a handsome devil.
43:57He is, isn't he?
43:57How did he charge into your life?
43:59Well, we first set eyes on him in New York.
44:03He was with my wife's father's cousin in a flat.
44:08Eventually, after she passed away, it got passed down to us.
44:12And we've treasured it ever since.
44:14Quite right, too.
44:15It's a magnificent bronze.
44:17Do you know anything about the sculptor?
44:19No, nothing at all.
44:20P.J.
44:21Men, Pierre Jules, Pierre Jules Men, 1810 to 1879.
44:26He is one of the great figures of the French animalier school,
44:32which was a kind of renaissance of interest in the depiction of animals as naturalistically as possible.
44:40Pierre Jules Men is respected as being one of the best of the animalier sculptors.
44:49Reason being, as you can see, the finish is extraordinary.
44:53That the attention to detail, the sharpness of the cast, the difference in the colours in the patina,
45:00which pick out the light and the dark, all of this is better than the norm.
45:04I can see that the base, because it's naturalistically cast as a sort of foliage and mud,
45:10it's got a bit of dust in the recesses.
45:12Yeah.
45:12And one of the beautiful things about Pierre Jules Men's bronzes is that patina,
45:18which is so easily destroyed by overcleaning.
45:22So it's good to see that there is...
45:23We haven't cleaned it.
45:25You haven't cleaned it, have you?
45:25You have an excuse, do you?
45:27No, no.
45:28You don't want to get in there with sort of hard brushes or potions, chemicals.
45:33I know.
45:33Good.
45:34So for all the reasons described as above, the real quality of the cast, it's got it all.
45:40I think at auction, this would happily be £2,000 to £4,000.
45:45Wow.
45:47Hanging on to it or going on a Caribbean cruise?
45:49No, no, no, no. Hanging on to it, for sure.
45:52No, wonderful thing.
45:52Well, thank you very much.
45:53Pleasure. Thanks for bringing it.
46:28It's a really good way of putting it.
46:30It's sort of meaningfully made with integrity, which is really what the Arts and Crafts movement sort of stands for.
46:38The Arts and Crafts was really a sort of an English take, if you like, on the European or French Art Nouveau.
46:46It dates from around 1910.
46:48It's incredibly well made, isn't it?
46:50And very sort of elongated in its form.
46:54Do you know how this copper panel here was made?
46:57I don't know how it was made.
46:58Well, it's called repoussé work.
47:00So, the design is actually hammered on from the reverse of the panel.
47:04And the timber is oak.
47:07It's really easy to spot when you see these medullary rays, these sort of iridescent flecks within the grain of the timber.
47:16I mean, really, it was all about sort of high-quality materials, good craftsmanship, you know, really reacting against mass industrialisation of the Victorian period.
47:26It obviously means a lot to you.
47:29Do you remember what you paid for it, roughly?
47:31I think I paid around 400 for it, which was a significant amount of money for me.
47:37I think it was the main chunk of a bonus that I got at the time.
47:44So, Arts and Crafts furniture has had various fluctuations within the market.
47:49At the moment, it's probably, if you went back to a retail outlet to buy it, worth more than double what you paid for it, around £1,000.
48:00But the thing I love about it is that we, as humans, keep sort of learning our lessons while forgetting them and then learning them again.
48:08And so this is, what, around 115 years old, and we're beginning to sort of come back to those Arts and Crafts ideas and understandings of, you know, valuing objects and them being around for longevity.
48:23Thank you so much for bringing it along.
48:25Thank you very much.
48:26Thank you very much.
48:56I went down to Cornwall St Ives with my parents, and we were on summer holiday, and they started buying some paintings.
49:05I think they ended up with about four or five different paintings and sculptures, and we just about got it in the car.
49:12Well, I mean, look, I think Dennis Mitchell is a really interesting artist.
49:14He's known as Barbara Hepworth's studio assistant, but I think actually that sort of plays down his talents.
49:20I mean, he was a very, very accomplished sculptor, and he produces beautiful polished bronzes.
49:26In fact, this work here, which is titled Zila, and this is a reference to the sculpture which we see here in the painting.
49:32He made this sculpture, which is 10 foot high, in bronze, wood, aluminium, and also then painted this.
49:39So it's part of a series all relating to this work.
49:42The bronze is actually in the University of the Andes in Colombia.
49:45So what are we looking at here?
49:47Well, this is painted using oils on board, and you can see how the artist has then scratched out the surface to give this very clean white line showing the ground beneath.
49:57And that same scratching in, you can see here, this is how he signed it and dated it.
50:01There he is.
50:01Dennis Mitchell, with a date, 61.
50:04Well, I mean, I think this is a really nice, interesting work.
50:08I think if this were to turn up at auction, I would expect to see itself for a figure in the region of £3,000 to £5,000.
50:15That's very nice.
50:17More than I expected, but I'm not going to have said it.
50:21It's a lovely piece.
50:23Well, thank you for bringing it along today and for sharing it with us.
50:26Appreciate the information. Thank you.
50:27Our book specialist, Justin Croft, has come across a collection that shines a light on the lives of author A.A. Milne and his son, Christopher, during World War II.
50:41My table's completely full, and you've brought me a collection of books and letters.
50:45First of all, we've got a pile of four Winnie the Pooh, A.A. Milne books.
50:50So these are probably the most famous books in all English children's literature, aren't they?
50:54When we were very young, the house at Pooh Corner, Winnie the Pooh, and now we are six.
51:00Incredibly famous, Winnie the Pooh, obviously the beloved character, but also Christopher Robin, the little boy, about who all the books deal.
51:09And Christopher was a real person, wasn't he?
51:12He certainly was.
51:13He was your godfather.
51:13Yes.
51:14And you knew him as a young girl.
51:15Yes.
51:16What were your impressions of him?
51:17Yeah, we used to go down to Devon, and he had a bookshop in Dartmouth for a long time.
51:23And, you know, going down there for holidays always meant I was coming back with books, which is great.
51:29What really has caught my eye here are these letters.
51:33You've brought me, I think, 12 letters in all, and I've just had a moment to pull out a few.
51:38This one really caught my eye.
51:39September 1943, written by A.A. Milne from his farmhouse in Hartfield in Sussex.
51:45And it reads,
51:46Dear Mrs Bertram, I was delighted to get your letter.
51:49My wife and I have always wanted to be in touch with somebody in Moon's company.
51:53C.R. Christopher Robin.
51:56Yeah.
51:56Has been called Moon since he first tried to pronounce Milne.
52:00I can think of him no how else.
52:03So from now on, don't let us lose each other.
52:06It's very urgent, isn't it?
52:07It is very.
52:08Why didn't he want to lose touch with Mrs Bertram?
52:11Mrs Bertram was my mother, and Major Bertram was my father, and he was the commanding officer in Christopher's regiment.
52:21So your father was serving, obviously, in the Second World War, in the North Africa campaign.
52:25It would have been in 1943.
52:27Did A.A. Milne get in touch with your mother to find news of Christopher?
52:31That probably happened out in Africa.
52:33It was suggested between my father and Chris that he and my mother should get in touch, and they just exchanged news all through the war.
52:42So this letter is to Mrs Bertram, your mother.
52:46But it's telling us all about Christopher Robin at war in North Africa.
52:50Yeah.
52:51I don't know about you, but that's not an aspect of Christopher Robin's life I knew about.
52:55No.
52:56I think we always think of Christopher as being forever six years old.
52:59Yes.
52:59Yes.
53:00But of course he wasn't.
53:01He grew up.
53:01That's right.
53:03And this is an amazing insight, I think, into A.A. Milne, the author of the Christopher Robin books, because he struck up this really very urgent conversation with your mother.
53:13Yes.
53:14Of course he's desperate for news.
53:15He's desperate for news all the time.
53:17And of course your mother was desperate for news of her husband.
53:20Yes.
53:20So there's this incredible triangle in these letters.
53:23Yes.
53:23With news coming out of North Africa, funneled through your mother.
53:28Yes.
53:28And I honestly don't think anybody knows about this.
53:32Have these letters been seen by anyone else?
53:34No.
53:34Nowhere.
53:35So they're not published?
53:36They're not published, no.
53:37There is this, I think, final letter from that period where A.A. Milne is reporting back.
53:43He's received a letter from Christopher in Italy and he's really quoting directly from it.
53:50And Christopher writes, I think I must start with the gloomy news so as to be able to finish cheerfully.
53:56Bertram has been wounded.
53:58I can't imagine what you would have felt like to receive a letter like that.
54:02Apparently he climbed up, he'd fallen down a bank when he was shot and he climbed back up again.
54:07I mean, you just can't believe it.
54:10Extraordinary bravery.
54:11Yeah.
54:12Well, look, you obviously remained in touch.
54:14The circumstances of war brought your families together.
54:17You said Christopher was your godfather.
54:18That's right, yes.
54:19And he really beautifully has signed copies of his father's books to you in 1947.
54:27You've got the full set, signed by Christopher Milne and A.A. Milne, which is lovely in itself.
54:33They're not first editions.
54:34No.
54:35But nonetheless, they're signed.
54:36So I would have thought this little pile of books is probably worth £2,000 to £3,000 on its own.
54:41The letters are really hard to value.
54:43Yeah.
54:43I've not read them all.
54:44But from the content and the quality, the wit and the humour that goes into letters in such difficult circumstances, I think they're very moving.
54:51So I would guess that the archive together, all the paper materials, are probably worth between £8,000 and £10,000.
54:58Wow.
55:00We were thinking hundreds.
55:03These are culturally very significant things.
55:05I'm delighted you still have them.
55:06Thank you very much.
55:07Thank you very much.
55:37There's one of only two that we know still exist.
55:40And it shows the Thames Tunnel.
55:42So it shows the two brick-lined tunnels at the front.
55:46And then if I just move this bit away is the tunnelling shield, which was the great engineering innovation that allowed for the Thames Tunnel to be built.
55:56It was the world's first tunnel under a river.
55:59And it was pioneered by Mark Isambard Brunel and his son, arguably much more famous, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, who worked on it when he was only 19.
56:09Gosh.
56:09And this was built when?
56:11They started construction in 1825, so 200 years ago.
56:15It's about the time the seam train's around there.
56:17Yeah, absolutely.
56:18Later on, the tunnel would become part of the underground network as we know it today.
56:23It takes about sort of 30 seconds to go through these days on an underground train.
56:27But it actually took them 18 years to dig the tunnel.
56:32Wow.
56:33And what was the purpose of this?
56:35So once they'd started digging the tunnel in 1825, they ran into all sorts of problems and they needed a bit more cash.
56:41So they started making these beautiful models to really kind of get some more investors excited about the project.
56:47So kind of proof of concept?
56:49Absolutely.
56:50So the model itself was owned by Mark Isambard Brunel, but it was made by children from the philanthropic society.
56:57And it was for children who had committed crimes or children of parents who had committed crimes.
57:03And it was sort of that grand tradition of kind of Victorian philanthropy to give these children a kind of better chance in life.
57:08So as well as the model in our collection, we've also got this lovely guidebook that was also made by the same sort of group of children.
57:17And this actually shows you the completed tunnel from Wapping to Rotherhithe.
57:22How wonderful to see this.
57:24Cash in, thank you very much.
57:25It's the end of our day.
57:27I've got a train to catch.
57:28From the Antiques Roadshow.
57:29Bye-bye.
57:38Bye-bye.
Be the first to comment