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00:00This week we're between St. Andrews and Glenrothes in the Kingdom of Fife and our
00:07home for the day is the Hill of Tarvit Mansion and Garden. This beautiful
00:12Edwardian manor house was home to the Sharp family from 1904 to 1948. One of
00:18the architectural features added during this time was this beautiful sundial
00:22featuring the goddess Sirius. If you look at it the latitude is correct but the
00:27longitude is two degrees off and that's because Frederick Sharp didn't want to
00:32be bound by anything as commonplace as Greenwich Mean Time. No, he opted instead
00:36for Gregory's Meridian which was a kind of romantic notion that Scotland had an
00:41alternative time to England and the Latin motto beneath reads something like I
00:46count only the sunny hours and today I think we're in luck and it's time for our
00:52experts to see what antiques have been brought in by our visitors. This diary
00:57is incredible. We know that it's Chinese because it actually tells us on the back
01:02it's a souvenir from China. That's a bold claim these are the first Christmas
01:05cards ever produced. Sorry, so I believe. He gave you a gift which is quite valuable. Tell me. So was it in this condition when your father gave it to you?
01:15No, I believe he power washed it. He did what? Welcome to the Antiques Roadshow.
01:22So what we have here with us is three paintings signed Hoggan. As I know you're very well aware, but some of our viewers at home might not be aware of, is that there are three paintings signed Hoggan.
01:47As I know you're very well aware, but some of our viewers at home might not be aware of, is that this is actually the christened name of the artist who later became Jack Vettriano.
01:56But I wanted to ask why you purchased them? What is it about the subjects that appeal to you?
02:00We bought them just because we live beside the sea and our kids used to dress in Victorian things.
02:08So this was the Victorian festival that they celebrate in Joppa? Victoria Day.
02:13And this presumably reminded you of your kids on the beach? Exactly.
02:16Yeah, this is very different to what his mature style became known for. Jack Hoggan left school at 15. He's from Methyl and Fife.
02:22Went into mining engineering, but it was when he was gifted a set of paints at the age of 21 that he taught himself to be an artist.
02:28He submitted a couple of paintings to the Royal Scottish Academy under the pseudonym Vettriano.
02:33They sold straight away and that's when he realised, I can make it as an artist.
02:37At this point in his career, he was looking at Victorian painters.
02:40And later, of course, he went on to develop that more kind of 1940s cinematic style.
02:46Can I ask whether you have a favourite of the three?
02:48Yes, my favourite is that one there with all the children on the beach.
02:52Yeah.
02:53It just reminded me of the time that we were there.
02:56Yeah, they're beautiful. They're not as common on the market as Vettriano's.
03:00He went on to be quite prolific artists.
03:02Hoggan's are a bit scarcer when they come up, but nonetheless still popular.
03:06So could I ask what you originally paid for these paintings?
03:10We bought them from Cancer Research Art Exhibition over a few years.
03:15The one in the middle we bought first and that was an amazing price of £125.
03:20And this one was £150 and that one was £180.
03:25If they were to go through an auction house at the moment,
03:28I would suggest that the central work could make something in the region of £5,000 now.
03:33Wow.
03:34Wow.
03:35And you'd probably be looking at around £2,000 to £3,000 each on the smaller pieces.
03:39They're really charming images.
03:40Didn't we do well?
03:41Yeah, you did very well.
03:42And I think they would attract the kind of competitive bidding that you always want to see in a sale.
03:47So...
03:48Oh, wow.
03:49Oh, thank you.
03:51You know, with the glut of TV programmes like this and the internet and books and research
04:01and all the stuff that's gone on for ages, it's kind of hard to find new ground.
04:05But for me, mid-century modern sculpture, an example of which we're looking at, is all about new ground.
04:11And I'm presuming that's why you bought it?
04:13Yeah, my flat's very mid-century, so it goes with all my furniture and brightly coloured walls.
04:20So where does it live at home?
04:22It lives on my sideboard.
04:23OK.
04:24Sort of very prominent in its place.
04:26Yeah, I love it.
04:27My mum absolutely despises it.
04:29Hang on, what?
04:30Your mum despises it?
04:31She really can't stand it.
04:32Yeah, both me and my dad really, really like it.
04:34So I notice it's signed on the back here with a monogram, CES 73.
04:40Do you know who this artist is?
04:42So we think so.
04:43We think it's Charles Sansbury.
04:45I completely agree with you.
04:47I think this looks like Charles Sansbury's work.
04:49That matches and even the date of 1973 matches.
04:52So he was born in 1916 and he died in 1989.
04:55So this is towards the end of his career.
04:57Now, I find Sansbury quite an interesting guy.
05:00So he started off with painting and then he started to teach.
05:03And actually most of his career was spent teaching.
05:06When I look at this, I think of skyscraper.
05:09I think of space rockets.
05:11But I also think of sort of modern sculptors of the day.
05:14So these sort of remind me of Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth,
05:18something along those lines.
05:19So he's really pulling together a lot of the sort of zeitgeist
05:22of that feeling, man landing on the moon.
05:25And then, of course, using this metal material.
05:28Now, he actually taught himself how to make sculptures
05:32in metal.
05:33So he studied and worked at a welding factory in Morpeth.
05:36So he was very much about truth to material.
05:38His work is known, but it's not enormously widely known.
05:43So was it in this condition when your father gave it to you?
05:46No, I believe he power washed it.
05:48He did?
05:49What?
05:50He power washed it?
05:52I believe so.
05:53I think it was quite dirty.
05:55It's not the easiest thing to clean.
05:56I don't suggest next time it gets dusty you get the power washer out again.
06:00A soft cloth will be perfectly fine.
06:02But it does seem to have a good original finish.
06:05It's an interesting piece, and putting a value on it is not easy.
06:09I think these figures really make it,
06:11and I think that whole architectural skyscraper space rocket thing really works.
06:14And I think that's going to resonate well with buyers.
06:18I'm going to say I think it would fetch £700 to £1,000.
06:21Wow.
06:22Yeah.
06:23I'm pleased with that.
06:24But it doesn't change my opinion on it,
06:26and I'll definitely be keeping it.
06:27Carry on enjoying it.
06:28It's great to meet somebody who just reacts to the object.
06:37So, I mean, a charming little medallion you brought us in to take a look at.
06:42What's the sort of connection to you?
06:44Well, it was given to my husband by the Premier of China in June 1985
06:50because he drove black limos,
06:52and when there was anybody coming into Edinburgh that needed that type of car,
06:57he would drive them around.
06:59So, he drove them around for quite a few days,
07:01and at the end of the stint he gave my husband this as a gift.
07:06So, it's 1985.
07:07Yes.
07:08His sort of grand tour.
07:09And he was Zhao Zizhang,
07:10and he was the third Premier of China,
07:13I think between 1980 and 1987.
07:15And actually, we know that it's Chinese
07:17because it actually tells us on the back it says,
07:19Souvenir from China.
07:20Oh!
07:21Is that what it is?
07:22Yeah, it is, yeah.
07:23And it comes, I think, in a little presentation box.
07:24Yes, yes.
07:25A little silk box.
07:26Yeah.
07:27Is that history?
07:28No.
07:29Because he was so excited when he got it.
07:30I wrote it down at the time because I thought,
07:32I'll forget all this.
07:33Yeah, yeah.
07:34And I just put it in the box.
07:35So, it's a type of sort of cinnabar lacquer.
07:38Cinnabar lacquer, this type of sort of red lacquer,
07:41has been around since the sort of sixth century.
07:43Right.
07:44And during the sort of Ming and Qing dynasties,
07:45it became really, really popular in China.
07:48The main ingredient is cinnabar ore,
07:50which is sort of mercury-based ore.
07:51Oh!
07:52I think it's probably,
07:53I think it's possibly one of the deadliest ores known to man.
07:55Oh!
07:56And then this one's got this lovely little brass or bronze
07:58around the side.
07:59Yeah.
08:00It's not an old one,
08:01so it would have been 1985.
08:02It would have been new.
08:03Yes.
08:04Without that provenance,
08:05I think you put this in an auction house in the UK,
08:07it probably makes £50.
08:08Right.
08:09But, with that story,
08:11I think you could find that that could make £500.
08:15Oh!
08:18Goodness!
08:19That's amazing.
08:20It's a lovely thing.
08:22Keep it, hand it down through the family.
08:24It's great, but don't lose the story.
08:25Okay, that's lovely.
08:27Shall I give it back to you now?
08:28Thank you very much.
08:36What have you got here?
08:38This is a very old shawl of my grandmother's.
08:42So you've known it all your life?
08:44Yes.
08:45And you were christened in it?
08:46I was christened in it.
08:47Wow!
08:48My daughter's been christened in it.
08:49My son.
08:50It's got a real family history.
08:51Yes.
08:52Elaine, have a look at this.
08:54It's amazing.
08:55Oh, it's printed.
08:57It's block printed.
08:58And it's got these stripes in it,
09:00which I think are silk.
09:02So the stripes are silk.
09:03Yeah.
09:04The rest of it must be some kind of very refined wool.
09:06Shall we open it?
09:07Oh, it's beautiful.
09:09Oh, this design here is a boating,
09:11what we call a paisley,
09:13which sort of originates from cashmere embroidered shawl.
09:17So it looks late 19th century,
09:19but there's something quite sort of,
09:22could almost be coming into the 20th century.
09:26Yeah.
09:27So taking the condition into account.
09:28Yeah, that is.
09:29Three, four hundred.
09:30Yeah.
09:31Thank you so much.
09:33That's made my day.
09:34I love it, don't you?
09:35I think it's really lovely.
09:36My mum, she'll be just thrilled to know a bit more about it.
09:54Tell me about your little clock.
09:55It was given to me by an old lady who I used to look after,
09:59about 25 years ago, I think.
10:01I don't know where she got it from.
10:03Well, it's actually French.
10:04And there's a bit of a clue because just down the bottom there,
10:07it says Al Lalique and right under there it actually says France.
10:12Oh.
10:13And a number.
10:14So this is René Lalique who started as a jewellery designer
10:18in the early part of the 20th century
10:20and then started moving into glass.
10:23So this is moulded glass,
10:25but he sculpted these in wax originally
10:28and then they made them.
10:29Oh.
10:30So you get lots of very beautiful details.
10:31It's got this lovely sort of opal effect to it.
10:34So opalescent glass.
10:35So for all it is, it is pressed glass.
10:38It's very fine quality pressed glass.
10:40Right.
10:41And they often did decoration on top.
10:42So all of this has all been cut around.
10:45And it's a really classic piece.
10:48What sort of birds do you think they are?
10:50Well, I always thought they were parrots.
10:52Well, this is one of these where it tests
10:54what sort of person you are,
10:55because you said parrot, I said budgie.
10:58But in the context of when this was made
11:01in the late 20s, early 30s,
11:03and they would have been called lovebirds.
11:05And of course, you see there's two on each branch.
11:06Yes, yes.
11:07Loving each other.
11:08Yeah.
11:09So do you love it?
11:10I love it.
11:11Yes, I do.
11:12Well, the friend who you cared for obviously loved you
11:14because she gave you a gift, which is quite valuable.
11:19Tell me.
11:21She gave you £2,000 to £3,000 worth.
11:23Really?
11:24Yes.
11:25Oh, my goodness.
11:26Oh, well done, her.
11:27Well...
11:28No, I just love it.
11:29Keep it treasured on the mantelpiece and well away from Freddie.
11:31I will.
11:32Yes, I will.
11:33Thank you very much.
11:34It's a pleasure.
11:36This is the most colourful piece of jewellery.
11:45It's absolutely beautiful.
11:47It almost looks modernist with its colour.
11:50And the brooch is set with old cut diamonds and emeralds,
11:54almost certainly Colombian emeralds.
11:56It's that beautiful bluish green, absolutely stunning.
12:00The best of the best.
12:01And the bottom here, do you know what that stone is?
12:03I guess ruby, but I'm not sure.
12:06No, it's not.
12:07It's actually a stone that the Victorians love to put in jewellery.
12:12It's a garnet.
12:13Right.
12:14And it's a cabochon garnet and this beautiful drop.
12:16And with all this multicoloured enamelling set in 18-carat gold
12:21and in the original box.
12:23How fantastic.
12:24So it was gifted to my great-grandmother by my great-great-grandfather,
12:29Robert Williamson, on the occasion of our wedding in 1874.
12:33Yep.
12:34And it was then inherited by my grandmother.
12:37But a funny story is, in the early 70s, when I was about three or four,
12:42my grandparents' house had a burglar in it.
12:46And my grandfather actually caught the gentleman in the act.
12:49And it was in the hall, ready to be stolen.
12:52So luckily we've still got it now.
12:54Oh, my goodness.
12:55So it's still within the family.
12:56Yes.
12:57Thank goodness.
12:58Well, you've said 1817.
12:59That's pretty much the date of this piece between 1870 and 1880.
13:04And the style of it is very much Tudor revival,
13:08or it's sometimes known as Holbein-esque,
13:11after the Tudor court painter Holbein,
13:13who painted these amazing portraits of women wearing jewellery
13:18very similar to this.
13:20It doesn't have a maker's mark either on the piece or on the box,
13:23but it's very much the type of thing that would have been made
13:26by Hunt and Roskell,
13:28who were goldsmiths and silversmiths working in this period.
13:32Have you worn it?
13:33No, I'm scared to wear it.
13:35I'd be upset if I lost it.
13:36So my mother wore it.
13:38This Tudor revival jewellery is really, really popular.
13:42It sells very well at auction at the moment.
13:45It's easily going to make between £4,000 and £6,000.
13:48Wow.
13:49Thanks very much.
13:53I thought it was costume jewellery, maybe £50 to £100.
13:56So I'm a bit shocked, actually, to be honest.
13:59I think I might wear it as a special occasion,
14:02but I'll have to really keep an eye on it, the value.
14:05But it's not going anywhere.
14:06It's staying in family.
14:12I love samplers and antique textiles,
14:17so I am thrilled to be looking at this beautiful collection,
14:19which, Fiona, you have brought along,
14:21from the Weems School of Needlework,
14:23which is just, what, a couple of miles down the road from here?
14:25Yeah, not much further.
14:26So tell me about the school.
14:28Set up 1877 in a room in Weems Castle.
14:32It was set up by Dora.
14:34Dora Weems, Lady Weems.
14:35Dora Weems, who was my husband's great-aunt.
14:38It's going to say you are Fiona Weems.
14:40I'm Fiona Weems.
14:41She was extraordinary.
14:42She was philanthropic.
14:44She set up an orphanage.
14:45She set up the needlework school.
14:47She was the reason that Weemswear was called Weemswear,
14:49because she supported the pottery
14:51and gave them samples to take moulds from.
14:54In those days, women and children had been stopped going down the mines
14:58in the 1840s, so there was very, very little employment for women.
15:02And so this was a way of giving women a skill from which to earn their living.
15:07And they'd be used to stitch the household linen, that kind of thing.
15:10It was household linen and white embroidery on white,
15:12so it was linen, handkerchiefs, little dresses for children
15:17with embroidery on them, that sort of thing.
15:19And so the way it worked, I mean, looking at this here,
15:22is the design would be drawn on tracing paper
15:24and then pricked onto the material.
15:26The client would choose a design from maybe something that size
15:30for a huge bed quilt.
15:32It would be blown up, drawn onto paper,
15:34pricked and pounced onto the material
15:38and either given to the client to work in their own time
15:41or done as a commission.
15:43And this one, it's quite a nice small design
15:46for a quilted hot water bottle cover.
15:48And when does this photo date from?
15:49We've been able to date it from one of the registers, 1903,
15:52which was the one time that all those girls were there.
15:55Tell me about these two pieces here.
15:57Well, this, we don't know the date as much.
15:59It's quite early.
16:00We think 17th or 18th century and stitched with vegetable dyes.
16:04This was made in the school and it's made with aniline dyes
16:09that were in use in those days in the 1930s.
16:12And you can see how the stitching has worn away
16:16and the threads have rotted in various places on it.
16:20So, in fact, this, which is several hundred years earlier than that,
16:24it's in a better condition.
16:26And what about these magnificent boxes here?
16:28I believe they're marriage boxes
16:30where a young girl would store up things for her marriage.
16:34And this was bought by Lady Victoria, my grandmother-in-law in France,
16:39which was obviously original.
16:40And then this one was made in the school in the 1930s.
16:43And if you open it, inside, you've got all the paper designs
16:49that were then pricked onto the new cloth to put on the new box.
16:53And we think that the box itself was probably made by the estate joiner.
16:57Isn't that wonderful?
16:58And the Weems family connection to the school of needlework
17:01is very strong, isn't it?
17:02There's always been, as I call them, a Weems woman,
17:05really sort of overseeing the place.
17:08And I took over from my grandmother-in-law, who is in this picture,
17:12who ran it from when she married in 1918
17:15to when she died, aged 104.
17:17Well, I have loved seeing these.
17:18I mean, this is a passion of mine, so it's a real treat.
17:21Thank you so much.
17:22Well, thank you very much for having us.
17:24So, tell me all about this piece of greenstone
17:32with a hole in the middle.
17:34Well, I was in an antique shop in the south of France,
17:38and it caught my eye.
17:39And when was this?
17:4020-plus years ago.
17:42Yeah.
17:43It was on sale, I think, for a princely sum of 40 euros.
17:46But I've always been curious about what it is.
17:48When I first saw it, I thought it might be Chinese.
17:51And then I wanted to establish whether it was jade
17:54or a softer material like boanite, which is a kind of serpentine,
17:58which they make things out of and looks like jade.
18:01So, I'd like to give it the hardness test
18:04and see if it's hard enough to be jade.
18:07Yeah, I think it is spinach jade.
18:10And you have no idea of its function?
18:12None at all.
18:13It's got a funny sort of lip on one side of it.
18:15But this?
18:16And there is an inset around the hole in the middle.
18:18But this?
18:19Yeah.
18:20The whole thing is not massively well-finished.
18:23It's got a slight rusticity to it.
18:25Yeah, it's slightly unrefined.
18:27I'm looking at this, and these are Mughal designs
18:30that I've seen on many other things.
18:32And you've got it on the outside there and on the inner circle.
18:36These little...
18:37They're almost three-sided elements, like Gothic treffles, but not quite.
18:43And then this, I'm sure, is a stylised lotus,
18:46which really draws me to India when the Mughals were the dynasty ruling India.
18:52And then I pondered on what I thought its function was.
18:56What did you think its function could be?
18:58I thought possibly as some kind of belt hanging, because it has a lip on it.
19:02It could be that.
19:03But I think it's a hair ornament.
19:06Hmm.
19:07I think the hair goes through there, makes a lump,
19:11and then you put a jade pin through there.
19:14Ah.
19:15And I think it's about 200 years old.
19:19Oh.
19:20You know, with a little bit of research,
19:21it turns out to be a Mughal hair ornament or a Mughal anything.
19:25It would command a price of between £500 to £800.
19:31Oh, that's a proper fit.
19:33I would say.
19:35Thank you very much.
19:42There are certain objects on the roadshow that I'm just instantly drawn to,
19:47and this is definitely one of them.
19:50Yeah.
19:51What can you tell me about it?
19:53The coach was made by a local man, Bill Watson.
19:56He was a shepherd, and he bred and judged sheep.
20:00One of the employees he was working with introduced him to the craft of corn dolly making,
20:05and he went on to make a considerable amount of corn dollies.
20:09Yes.
20:10One of these are craft skills.
20:11Yes.
20:12Of Great Britain.
20:13Very much of the rural crafts.
20:15Yes.
20:16You say corn dolly making, it has roots that go all the way back centuries.
20:19And this would have been made for the coronation?
20:22It was made as a commemorative piece.
20:24We think either for the coronation or for the golden jubilee.
20:27We're just not sure, unfortunately.
20:29It really is so intricate.
20:31We've got the four horses here with two riders, and then the carriage, this wonderful carriage.
20:37Yes.
20:38With the Queen and Prince Philip presumably in there.
20:41I'm going to go fairly conservative on this.
20:44I'd say I'd value that at between £100 and £200.
20:47Right.
20:48But who knows what would happen?
20:49Because if two people really wanted it, you'll never find another.
20:52Exactly.
20:53Yes, that is it.
20:54Thank you very much for bringing you to it.
21:08I'm looking at a table full of memorabilia.
21:12Relating to this, the series games, tell me about the games and how it was founded.
21:19So in 1314, it was the Battle of Bannockburn.
21:22Nineteen men from the village went to fight at the battle, and all 19 men came back.
21:27So Robert the Bruce himself, allegedly, guaranteed us a licensed party,
21:33which became an event where people would show strength, agility, speed,
21:38and has transformed into the games that we know today.
21:41I mean, we've got some history here which talks about the program.
21:45Further than that, we don't have much knowledge.
21:48And you're actually involved with the running of it in some way?
21:53Yeah, we're both on the committee. I organise the street market that also takes place at the games.
21:58Right.
21:59And I help coordinate all the volunteers to make sure, because it takes quite a bit of effort to organise a games.
22:03I can imagine. For those who've sadly never been to Highland Games, can you just unfold it for us and tell us what happens?
22:10So our Highland Games takes place in the middle of the village on the village green.
22:13It's for everybody in the village and visitors come as well.
22:16So an audience of what?
22:18Between 3,000 and 5,000 normally.
22:20My goodness. Okay. So I can picture the scene now.
22:23So we have wrestling, dancing, piping, the heavies. We have juniors, ladies and men's heavies.
22:30So that includes tossing the K bar for accuracy and distance.
22:34So there's all that. And then I was just looking at this cup earlier.
22:38Yeah. And that's for cycling.
22:40We have cycling and sometimes the cyclists end up in the burn because it's such a tight space.
22:45When does it happen?
22:46On the last Saturday in June every year.
22:49So let's just go through what we've got here.
22:52So there's a photograph up at your end.
22:55Yeah.
22:56Who is that and where is it?
22:57So that's the Games Committee back in the 1930s.
23:00Yeah.
23:01So that would have been a photograph of everyone that was involved in trying to organise the game.
23:05So the box itself with Ceres Games Fund on it, it's got a slot in the lid presumably for coin collecting.
23:12This box used to be carried house to house to gather collections from the villagers.
23:18And it was all to support the functioning of the games going forwards.
23:22I mean a collection like this, it should never be split up.
23:25It is part of not only your village heritage, but it's actually part of Scottish heritage.
23:30So I'm going to say that it's priceless.
23:33And I hope you're happy with that.
23:34Definitely.
23:35It's priceless to us.
23:36Great.
23:37And I ought to ask, has anybody ever been to the Ceres Games?
23:41Yes!
23:43Everybody.
23:44Amazing.
23:45Thank you very much indeed for bringing it in.
23:54Our visitors often come with medals and mementos of battle.
23:58The Crimean War saw an alliance of British, French and other forces fighting Russia over the balance of power in the Balkans and Middle East.
24:10And Mark Smith has discovered some items from key events in that conflict.
24:15The Crimean War, 1854 to 55.
24:20An ancestor of yours?
24:21Who was he?
24:22Yes.
24:23This is William Gibson, who was my great grandfather.
24:26So we know from his medals that he was in the Dragoons.
24:31He was.
24:32He was in what we would also know as the Scots Greys.
24:34There are probably only maybe two things that people know about the Crimean War.
24:39One is Florence Nightingale and the other one is the charge of the Light Brigade.
24:43Indeed.
24:44But actually, there are three really important quintessential points of the Crimean War.
24:52One is the charge of the Light Brigade.
24:54One is the charge of the Heavy Brigade.
24:57And the other one is the Thin Red Line, the 93rd Highlanders.
25:01Not only was he there, but he actually saw those three amazing bits of the Crimean War actually happen.
25:09Yes.
25:10So we are at the Battle of Balaclava.
25:13The Russians are attacking us and we send out cavalry.
25:18We all know that the Light Brigade charge and are cut to bits as they go.
25:23They go later in the day because, first of all, the Russians attack
25:28and they attack the 93rd Highlanders who don't form square.
25:33You always form square to take cavalry.
25:35But they didn't.
25:36They stood in a line.
25:37And the reporter, William Russell, wrote, they stood in line.
25:42And he called it like a thin red streak.
25:46But that becomes the Thin Red Line.
25:48And not only that, but they drive them away.
25:50And he saw it.
25:51Yes.
25:52Then the heavy cavalry see Russian cavalry on a hill and they charge.
25:58They actually charge quite slowly because it's uphill.
26:01And they beat them.
26:03And he was in the charge.
26:05He was.
26:06And then later in the day, he wheels past the Light Brigade just before they charge down the valley
26:13in the so well-known charge of the 600.
26:16Yes.
26:17This is his diary.
26:19And this diary, whilst incredibly difficult to read, I'll give you that,
26:23it does have some incredible little lines in it.
26:25Here.
26:26Some time the Cossacks galloped across the plain and charged the 93rd Highlanders to our right front.
26:32And this diary is incredible.
26:35Because not only does it place him in the charge, but it's an eyewitness account of two of the most amazing bits of the Crimean War.
26:44Have you ever read this?
26:45I have.
26:46I transcribed it a few years ago.
26:48There's a reference to the appalling way they were treated as soldiers and indeed the horses as well.
26:56And the hunger that they faced because they were just given biscuits to eat in the main.
27:02The medals are lovely.
27:03The Crimean War medal with Balaclava, Inkerman, Sevastopol.
27:07The Turkish Crimea, which always goes with the British one.
27:10And then his long service and good conduct medal in the middle.
27:14A fantastic group of medals.
27:16Have you ever thought what these are worth?
27:17I've got no idea.
27:19OK.
27:20Well, with the little diary, they're worth somewhere between £6,000 and £7,000.
27:24Goodness me.
27:27Gosh.
27:28Well done.
27:29More money than he ever saw in his lifetime.
27:32Absolutely.
27:33He was on a pension of three shillings and a halfenay, I think, a day.
27:3615.5p a week.
27:37Yeah.
27:38Fantastic.
27:39That is a real treat to see that.
27:41Thank you for bringing it in.
27:44A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you.
27:58Completely out of place on a glorious summer's day like this.
28:01Yes.
28:02But nonetheless, this is what you've brought me.
28:03You've brought me a little pile of sheets of paper, most of which seem to be kind of
28:08Christmas card.
28:09They look to be Victorian.
28:11Tell me a little bit about them, where they came from.
28:13So, yes, these are the very first Christmas and New Year cards ever produced.
28:19And they belong to my great-grandfather.
28:23OK.
28:24Well, that's a bold claim.
28:25These are the first Christmas cards ever produced.
28:27Sorry.
28:28So I was told.
28:29So I believe.
28:30No, when I think of Christmas cards, I definitely think of the Victorian era.
28:35And it's usually thought that the first Christmas cards came about in London in 1843.
28:40They came about a man called Henry Cole, who was an inventor, very, very bright man,
28:46had a lot to do with the early postal system.
28:48And it seems as though he created the first Christmas cards, so we're told.
28:52And Queen Victoria sent the first official Christmas card in 1843.
28:56So I'm really keen and interested to know, firstly, where these came from and what date
29:01do you think they were printed?
29:02I believe they were printed in 1841.
29:06Two years before.
29:07Yes.
29:08So my great-grandfather was a doctor and surgeon to a bookseller, Charles Drummond.
29:15He was also a printer.
29:16And he produced these, yeah, in 1841, put them in his shop window.
29:21They're so ephemeral.
29:22You can see them fluttering slightly in the summer breeze here.
29:25We've got weights to keep them from blowing away.
29:27But they've survived in really brilliant condition.
29:29Yes.
29:30We should say these are unused, aren't they?
29:32They are Christmas cards in that they open up.
29:34I think the idea is, obviously, you'd write a bit more than we would write on our modern-day Christmas cards.
29:40Yes, I believe that was the idea, so that the sender could write their own greeting.
29:44And these designs are fantastic.
29:45I mean, they're cheeky, they're funny, there's nothing terribly serious.
29:50These are not religious Christmas cards, are they?
29:52No, no.
29:53This chap with his missing front tooth, grinning a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you.
29:57This is a bit more serious with the time ticking away, but that's more of a New Year's card.
30:01Yeah.
30:02And that's a much older tradition.
30:03And that existed long before the Victorian era, especially in Scotland, New Year's traditions, of course.
30:07Yes, that's right.
30:08I think I'm more or less convinced that if we can surely date these to 1841, which I think with the provenance you've given me,
30:14with the documentation that you've brought with you around your great-grandfather,
30:18I'm convinced that certainly the earliest of these are 1841, so that's very significant.
30:23Yes.
30:24So there's probably some commercial value here.
30:25I think you've got eight, which I would consider to be genuinely Christmas cards.
30:29The others are more general greetings, notepaper.
30:32So I think we're looking at definitely £1,500 to £2,000 on this table.
30:36Wow.
30:37Wow.
30:38Yes, I wasn't expecting that.
30:42I'm delighted you brought them to show us.
30:45Thank you so much.
30:46It's been a pleasure.
30:47Thank you very much indeed.
30:49I was really surprised by the valuation.
30:53I had absolutely no idea at all how much they were worth.
31:06So it's a beautiful sort of colourful flowers.
31:09We've got beautiful flowers on the house, beautiful colours and flowers behind me.
31:13I mean, just the perfect backdrop for them.
31:15Tell me everything you know.
31:16They were in the house as a child when I grew up.
31:19They were my mother's.
31:21And all she told me that they were in the house when she grew up as a child as well.
31:27She was born in 1920 and I'm taking a guess that they're somewhere of that vintage.
31:32But other than that, I know nothing about them.
31:34OK.
31:35We've always just liked them.
31:36And do you know where they're from?
31:38Nope.
31:39Mother always referred to them as the Chinese vases.
31:41Chinese vases.
31:42They're not Chinese.
31:43They're actually Japanese.
31:44And they're by a particular factory called Fukugawa.
31:48In fact, Fukugawa lit their first kiln back in 1650.
31:51But these are much later.
31:53And I think your idea of them being about 1920 is probably pretty accurate.
31:57Somewhere between 1920 and 1920.
31:58But before I really go any further, I just want to talk about the quality of them.
32:03You know, and there's so much going on here.
32:06You know, the quality of these lovely gnarly branches here.
32:09You've got this underglazed blue and then picked out with these lovely sort of coloured enamels.
32:13And actually, it doesn't just end there, does it?
32:15So, you know, you turn this around and the decoration just continues.
32:19And actually, you've just got this lovely sort of profusion of colourful foliage and these lovely bright flowers on the back there.
32:26There's just a lot going on.
32:28And the other thing that strikes me about these is the fact that they're in perfect condition.
32:32And these were made for export.
32:34So, these were made for the Western market.
32:37Yes.
32:38Fukugawa, in fact, around this time, they won the grand prize at the Paris Exposition in 1900, I think, for, you know, an exceptional work.
32:47And actually, to my eye, these wouldn't have looked out of place in Paris in 1900.
32:52They are that good.
32:53If these came up for auction, I think these could make easily between £1,500 and £2,500, comfortably.
33:01They're not for sale.
33:02No.
33:03Good.
33:04We love them as they are.
33:10Scotland is known as the birthplace of golf.
33:13It was also in Scotland that the women's game first emerged in the mid-18th century.
33:18And just down the road from our venue is the historic Royal and Ancient Golf Club, St Andrews, and a museum brimming with antiques from the early days of women's golf.
33:29And Hannah Fleming, you've come along from the R&A World Golf Museum with some wonderful pieces of memorabilia which are all connected to women in golf.
33:38Indeed, yes.
33:39Yes.
33:40So, tell me about the boots.
33:41So, women have been playing golf with the first written reference to women playing golf in 1738.
33:48But by the 1890s, when women were playing the full course, but they didn't have the clothing that we have available now.
33:55These are a pair of boots that were worn by Mabel Stringer, who was part of the Ladies Golf Union, and they date from about 1894.
34:03And these were a kind of DIY item because they're studded with nails in the sole so that they could have greater grip on the grass when they're playing golf.
34:14We've got this wonderful pair of boots.
34:15What about the kind of outfits that women were wearing?
34:18I mean, obviously, they weren't allowed to wear plus fours.
34:19So, Mabel had a full long skirt as well as her red jacket.
34:24And this piece here is part of her costume.
34:26A piece of elastic with a button on it.
34:28Mm-hm.
34:29And how would that be used?
34:30When she got to her ball, she would put the piece of elastic around her knees to stop the skirt from flying up.
34:37So, what, she'd put it round the outside of the material?
34:39Yes.
34:40So that it couldn't go like that?
34:41Yes.
34:42And then what about this golf ball here?
34:43What's the significance of that?
34:45It might just look like an ordinary golf ball, but it holds such a fascinating story.
34:49So, in 1910, a female golfer called Cecil Leach played against a man for the first time, Harold Hilton, who was a twice amateur champion.
34:59She actually beat him.
35:00Oh!
35:01They played over multiple matches, and this is the ball that she used to defeat Harold Hilton.
35:07And Cecil would go on to win four women's amateur titles.
35:10What about this little bag here?
35:12So, this is a small prize that was given out as part of the putting club's matches.
35:19And so, it became tradition that the captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews gave a prize to St Andrews Ladies Putting Club.
35:27It's the oldest club in the world, and their membership was made up of daughters of the R&A members.
35:33So, there was quite a close relationship between the two clubs.
35:36So, this was a little prize that was presented to Miss Longmuir in 1911.
35:42Mmm.
35:43Well, I'm fascinated to see these, but I know someone who will be absolutely desperate to have a look.
35:48Gordon, come in.
35:49Gordon Foster.
35:50Here we are talking about women's golf.
35:52Yeah.
35:53Is there a value in this kind of thing?
35:55Oh, yeah.
35:56There's definitely a growing interest in women's golf.
35:58I think with the coverage it's getting on TV, and the prize money is now more, and so there's more people viewing it.
36:05And we're seeing some really dramatic finishes in some of the golf tournaments that are televised.
36:10And so, therefore, I think the interest is growing in collectors wanting to own pieces by more famous players.
36:17Just recently, we had the Solheim Cup at Glen Eagles a few years ago.
36:22Dramatic finish.
36:23Susan Pedersen holding the winning putt.
36:25You know, so if you can get something from a player like that, you know, a piece of memorabilia attached to a player like that,
36:33then it's becoming a growing collector's field.
36:36But looking at these pieces, these are fabulous, yeah.
36:38That's got the great story.
36:40Wow.
36:41Look, it's so interesting to hear about these items.
36:43Mmm.
36:44I pity the women trying to do the whole thing with their skirts.
36:47But good on them for being so determined and wanting to play, and for it not letting it be just a man's game.
36:52Lovely to see you, Gordon.
36:53And, Hannah, thank you very much.
36:54Thank you, Fiona.
37:01Well, here in front of me is a wonderful and quite disparate collection of beautiful glass items that united by one common factor,
37:08and that's the designer, Ronald Stennett Wilson, who I'm very honoured to say, in my opinion, was an amazing designer, but also a friend.
37:17Mm-hm.
37:18Who was Ronnie to you?
37:19Well, he was my uncle, Ronnie.
37:20He was self-contained.
37:21He inherited me and my sister and my two cousins when he married my aunt when I was about eight.
37:28He wasn't precious.
37:29We could do whatever we wanted, go wherever we wanted.
37:33He was just a very tolerant uncle.
37:36I think he was delighted to have inherited the family.
37:39I mean, he was a genius.
37:40Oh, yes.
37:41He started working for Jay Weedart & Co., importing design from Scandinavia.
37:46He then went over to Scandinavia and started to create his own pieces.
37:51That bowl, to me, is pure Scandinavian design.
37:55It influences, and the way he allowed it to get into his mindset.
38:00Now, you see, we look at these fish.
38:03Now, these are very much from the King's Lim period.
38:05Mm-hm.
38:06You know, when, in 1967, he decides he's going to do it himself.
38:09A couple of years later, gets sort of bought up by the monolith that is Wedgwood.
38:13Yeah.
38:14But creating these wonderful fish.
38:15I love the curve.
38:16Oh, the curve's fabulous.
38:17And, of course, you could buy these as individuals.
38:19Yes, which I am adding to my collection.
38:22But then also these.
38:23These are experimental pieces.
38:24Yes, yes.
38:25This is him playing, which he loved doing.
38:27He would have this collaborative ballet, you know, with a glassmaker.
38:31That's right.
38:32See whether an idea worked.
38:33Yeah.
38:34But also pieces like this bowl, which, again, form part of the range,
38:38which are all sort of named after places around his home.
38:40Yeah.
38:41In terms of prices, I mean, these are £30, £40 apiece.
38:44Yes, yeah.
38:45You know, this here, again, under £100, under £100.
38:48This, I think, to a collector of Ronnie's work, will know that that is a prototype.
38:53OK.
38:54Something that was probably inherited.
38:55You know, something that will have been in his home, but...
38:57Yes, my sister said, I must take that.
38:59This has never gone into production.
39:01No.
39:02But, you know, the provenance is cast iron.
39:04But this is the thing about Ronnie, you know, this whole table here, there's...
39:07You know, it's a few hundred pounds, but that, to me, is not what it's about.
39:11No. To me, it's priceless.
39:13It's about finding out who Ronald Stennett Wilson was.
39:16Yeah.
39:17He was the most generous man to me, in the end.
39:20A really, really lovely, lovely man, who...
39:23A lovely uncle, as well.
39:24Well, we have our shared memories.
39:26I mean, my abiding memory of him was...
39:30You're going to make me cry.
39:31No, I don't.
39:32He called me to see him two weeks before he died.
39:37And it was to say goodbye.
39:39Yeah.
39:40And I remember, as I left, he went, we won't see each other again,
39:43but God bless and be good.
39:45They were just lovely aunt and uncle.
39:47He was a joyous man.
39:49Yeah.
39:50And I feel incredibly privileged to have met him.
39:53Yeah.
39:54And I feel incredibly privileged to have had him as my uncle.
39:56Thank you so much.
39:57A pleasure.
39:58You brought back some amazing memories.
39:59Pleasure.
40:01I'm very proud of my uncle.
40:05I knew how he was one of the most preeminent glass designers
40:09of the 20th century,
40:10but coming here today has made me realise even more so.
40:13And to know that he was my uncle,
40:15and a lovely uncle,
40:16and a very tolerant, kind uncle.
40:18It's just...
40:19It means a lot to me.
40:20So, on this piping hot day, you've brought in quite a collection.
40:33Tell me about it.
40:34I've been collecting them for 45 years, and really just buy what I like.
40:38And animals have become, I suppose, a favourite topic of the range that I've got.
40:44How many do you have in total?
40:46About 100, I should think.
40:47Let's start at the beginning.
40:49These are Meerschaum pipes.
40:50Yes.
40:51Meerschaum is the German word for sea foam.
40:54Okay.
40:55It's like chalk.
40:56And it lends itself perfectly to the production of smoking pipes.
40:59It's porous, and so as the hot tobacco fumes are being sucked up the pipe and inhaled,
41:07because it's porous, it cools them before you take it into the mouth and the lungs.
41:10Right.
41:11And it also allows the substance, the Meerschaum,
41:14to take on this lovely amber colour from the tobacco.
41:17Okay, yes, because the new ones are all white, I think, aren't they?
41:19That they make...
41:20Exactly.
41:21The excellent B-side to that is that it also colours the carved bowl
41:25with those amber and brown hues.
41:28And the subject matter was often picked as something that would benefit from the slow colouring
41:33over time and the gaining of patina.
41:35So we have lion's faces which are going the colour of lion's faces.
41:39These were made largely in Austria and in France.
41:42Which is your favourite?
41:43I think this bulldog is rather spectacular and not necessarily the most artistic.
41:49They're extremely fine and they have to be seen as individual works of art.
41:53Yeah.
41:54And it's not just the quality of the carving, it's the conception in the first place.
41:57The idea that the bird has turned its head backwards towards the stem,
42:01with its beak resting across the stem, that is a work of art.
42:05It's not just a smoking pipe.
42:07Right.
42:08And look at the silver work, the stem on this one.
42:11Wonderful late 19th century silver work there.
42:14They come and go with fashions.
42:16Smoking pipes itself has declined in a big way.
42:19Of course.
42:20I think to treat the collection as a whole, I've seen about 40 of them today.
42:25Mm-hmm.
42:26And you say you've got another sort of 50 or 60 at home.
42:28Yes, yes, yes.
42:29I would imagine that a realistic auction estimate for the complete collection
42:34would be something like three to five thousand pounds.
42:37Okay.
42:38Excellent.
42:39Well, thank you very much.
42:40Pleasure.
42:41Absolute pleasure.
42:42Wonderful collection.
42:43Glad you like it.
42:44Well, they look interesting.
42:57We've got some beads, some African jewellery.
43:01African trade beads and what looks like a shanty gold.
43:05Certainly 22 and possibly 24 carat.
43:08What's the story?
43:09I was lucky enough in 1995 to go to Ghana and work in Kumasi,
43:17helping to transform an old royal palace into a museum of local culture.
43:25Really?
43:26Who gave you to remind me asking?
43:27Well, it was the king of Ashanti.
43:29Oh, only the king.
43:30Only the king.
43:31Only the king.
43:32Or Tungfo.
43:33They're not ancient Ashanti, I'm sure you know.
43:36No, no, no.
43:37They're probably made, I don't know, between 1970 and when you got them.
43:42Did anybody take a photograph of you being presented with this?
43:45Yes.
43:46Oh, do you have a photograph?
43:47I've got pictures, yeah.
43:48I would value that with those photographs and the story at 2,000 to 2,500 pounds.
43:56That is very good news.
43:58You know?
43:59In case of emergency, that's really good news.
44:02Emergency fund.
44:03Yeah.
44:04But I don't really want to part with them.
44:06Hello.
44:10What a collection.
44:11What can you tell me about them?
44:13Well, they were given to me by a friend.
44:16Sadly, they've been kept in the box for a long time because I've had nowhere to display them.
44:22So, have you heard of the name Fornicetti before?
44:24I hadn't, no.
44:25Piero Fornicetti started his company in 1940 in Milan.
44:29Known as the designer of dreams and you can see why he can take the most boring object, be it a magazine rack or a cup and sauce and just take it to a different level.
44:38Who would have thought these are just humble coasters?
44:41Transfer printed.
44:42Soleilun.
44:43Sun and Moon.
44:45Wonderful.
44:46Absolutely wonderful.
44:471950s.
44:48Turn them over.
44:491957.
44:50Beautifully marked.
44:51You've got seven here.
44:52There probably would have been eight originally, so I think one's got lost along the way.
44:56Right.
44:57Do you like them?
44:58I do like them.
44:59They're just a bit curious.
45:00And would it surprise you to know that they're actually very collectible?
45:03No, I had no idea.
45:05I think at auction they would fetch four to six hundred pounds.
45:10Oh, really.
45:11Right.
45:12I do.
45:13Gosh.
45:14I do.
45:15That is a big surprise.
45:16They are lovely.
45:17Well, thank you for telling me about them.
45:18My pleasure.
45:28I like this because there's a nice plaque which tells us a lot about it.
45:32It's a U-boat clock and it's from U-17 and Surrendered British Fleet, Never 27, 1918.
45:42So obviously you worked about it in 1918.
45:44Who was?
45:46It was my great uncle.
45:48He was also my godfather.
45:50Right.
45:51It belonged to him.
45:52He was a commander in the Royal Navy.
45:54I don't actually know how the clock came into his possession, but yes, he was in submarines at the time.
46:00So possibly he was involved when the U-boat surrendered.
46:04UC is a mine laying sub.
46:08And UC-17 was an extremely successful U-boat.
46:12I think it sank 96 Allied ships and damaged 29 more, being with mines or torpedoes.
46:19It's a bulkhead clock.
46:22So, France Happ, the maker from Kiel, clock serial number.
46:28And here is the Imperial German Crown with the M for Marine.
46:33So, Kriegsmarine.
46:34Key for locking and obviously winding because only two people allowed access to this.
46:40Okay.
46:41Very, very accurate because time accuracy in ships is vital.
46:48Brass construction, very heavy.
46:51And it's probably a fairly hefty piece of glass.
46:53And if you look there, it's a bevelled edge.
46:57Imagine your relative was a submariner?
47:00Yes, he was a submariner.
47:02Right.
47:03So, the U-boat fleet was surrendered.
47:05The majority of them came into Harwich.
47:07This was broken up in Preston, I think in 1919.
47:12Yeah.
47:13So, that would have been in there.
47:14And I would have thought, just going to look at that and think, actually, fair enough.
47:18I mean, a screwdriver and you've got yourself a very, very, very nice clock.
47:21Do you use it as a clock at home?
47:23Yes.
47:24I mean, it was in my parents' house from when I was a young child all the way through until
47:29I inherited it from my parents when they sadly passed away.
47:32Yeah.
47:33U-boat clocks are very collectible.
47:35I would think that's £2,000 worth.
47:39Well.
47:40So, very nice thing.
47:42Thanks very much.
47:48Now, I'm looking at a display on a table which includes a slightly blurry but very exciting
47:53photograph of a, I think she's a lady footballer.
47:56So, who is she?
47:57The lady in the photograph is a girl called Annie Hastie and she played for a famous football
48:02team in the early 20s called Dick, Kerr Ladies Football Team.
48:09So, what's the connection to you?
48:11My grandfather, he originally came from Cowcadden's in Glasgow where Dick Kerr originally came
48:18from as an industrialist and they made trams and they won a contract to provide trams for
48:24Carlyle.
48:25So, they opened up a factory.
48:27But what's the connection between him and her?
48:30Well, I think they had a wee brief relationship.
48:33Ah.
48:34But then eventually, I think he was a wee bit broken hearted and he had to come back up
48:39the road for family reasons.
48:41When he left, she gave him this medal.
48:44So, we've got two medals here, gold medals.
48:47Now, the first one is D.H. and 1914.
48:51So, the chances are that's somebody else, isn't it?
48:53Well, I think it's a relation of hers because it's the same surname.
48:58I think it's the same surname, yeah.
48:59But it's not her.
49:00No.
49:01So, we'll move on from that.
49:02Yeah.
49:03And then we come to the other one and this is to me the key thing because this is the,
49:07it says, the Dick Kerr Ladies Association Football Club and they were playing in a ladies
49:14league.
49:15Yeah.
49:16They ran parallel to male footballers.
49:17Well, we've got to remember here, Paul, very quickly that the backdrop here was the
49:18First World War.
49:19Yes.
49:20The women were actually working in the munitions.
49:21Oh, they'd taken over the men's jobs.
49:22Yes.
49:23They'd transferred the trams to munitions and all the ladies worked there, which was quite
49:24a physical job.
49:25Oh, yes.
49:26But they were looking for fun, they were looking for a wee bit of camaraderie, a collectivity
49:43and they then enjoyed their football and their breaks.
49:47Yeah.
49:48But they were not alone.
49:49I mean, there was a huge, massive support for ladies football at that time, which dropped
49:53in the 1920s, owing to different attitudes to women's football.
49:57Yeah.
49:58And there was a long gap before it came back.
49:59Coming back to this medal, the key thing which I'm going to read is it's got the most
50:03staggering information on the back.
50:05It does.
50:06It says, played 59 matches, won 58, drawn one.
50:13Well, that's a good start, isn't it?
50:15Yeah.
50:16Remember, she's the goalkeeper and it says, scored 393 goals, let in 16.
50:25Now, I can't imagine a team in the world that wouldn't want to have that record.
50:30Mm-hm.
50:31But I love this sort of blend of social history, industrial history.
50:35Yeah.
50:36And sports history.
50:37Aye.
50:38OK, so what have we got?
50:39The story is, not in financial times, but in historical terms, hugely interesting and
50:44valuable.
50:45Mm-hm.
50:46And so I think we're only really valuing the medals, because that's all there is.
50:49I'm going to put between, I think, 1,000 and 2,000 on them.
50:53Right.
50:54So a quarter of that is the gold.
50:56The rest is history.
50:57That's fine.
50:58I'm happy with that, aye.
50:59I've enjoyed this.
51:00My sort of, a way into ladies' football.
51:02Great.
51:03Mm-hm.
51:04Thank you very much.
51:05OK.
51:06I love it when we get a surprise, and when we open this jewellery box, there certainly
51:16is a wonderful surprise inside, a citrine and gold perure.
51:21How have you ended up with this?
51:22Well, I've inherited it, actually, from my mother, my great-grandfather, who was a jeweller,
51:27Edward Ewan, in the south-west of Scotland.
51:29Mm-hm.
51:30And I understand that he had bought it as an investment.
51:33Right.
51:34I'm not sure whether anybody has worn it.
51:36And then, so it was handed down to my grandmother, and she kept it in a safe.
51:41Oh, right.
51:42And we looked at it as children, and oohed and aahed over it.
51:45And then, it was handed down to my mother, and sadly, my mum passed away in December last
51:50year, and so now my sister and I have inherited this beautiful piece of jewellery.
51:55It's amazing, isn't it?
51:57It's absolutely wonderful.
51:58It's stunning.
51:59I can't believe it's been shut away in a safe for so long.
52:01Yeah.
52:02I mentioned that it was a perure.
52:03Yeah.
52:04Well, a perure is a set of jewellery, and you can have a number of pieces in a set.
52:08Mm-hm.
52:09We've got a bracelet.
52:10We've got a necklace.
52:11We've got a pendant which converts to a brooch or a bodice ornament.
52:15We've got a full corsage bodice ornament here as well.
52:19And then we have a pair of earrings.
52:22Sometimes, you would also get a tiara as well.
52:25But unfortunately, we don't have a tiara today.
52:27No.
52:28But I think we can be quite happy with what we do have.
52:30There's a little bit of work that's been done to the perure to make it more wearable.
52:35And that's with regard to the earrings.
52:38I don't know if you've noticed, but the earrings have post and butterfly fittings,
52:43which for the period that it was made, which is round about 1840,
52:48they normally would have had what we call shepherd's hooks fittings.
52:52So what I think has happened is to make it more wearable, somebody's converted them into a pair of little brooches,
52:59which look as though they were done towards the end of the 19th century.
53:02It's set in gold, gorgeous workmanship around the edge of the stones,
53:07which gives that beautiful lemony yellow colour more richness to it as well.
53:12And the other thing about it is that it's in a box by the great jewellers Hunt and Roskell,
53:19who were one of the most important jewellers in the Victorian period.
53:24Citrine is a slightly tricky stone for a lot of people.
53:29Yellow is quite hard to sell.
53:31But if we were looking at it from its richness of colour,
53:36then that also translates into what people associate the citrine meaning,
53:41which is basically wealth and prosperity.
53:45So if you were going to wear a piece today, which bit would you wear?
53:48Would you put it all on or would you just wear a little bit?
53:51I think putting it all on would be a bit too over the top.
53:54I do really love the bracelet. I do love it all.
53:58But I think the most wearable bit for me would be the bracelet, I think.
54:02Yeah, I can understand that because it's sort of big and bold,
54:05which is fashionable at the moment.
54:07But at the same time, it's got a sense of special quality, doesn't it?
54:12Yes, absolutely. It really does.
54:13Should it come up for auction,
54:15I would expect it to have an auction estimate of between £8,000 and £12,000.
54:19Oh, my goodness. Wow.
54:21Oh, goodness.
54:23It's been a joy to see. Thank you so much for bringing it in.
54:26Well, thank you very much. Thank you.
54:28Wow.
54:35I mean, it's just fantastic.
54:37I couldn't really put a value on it because, sentimentally,
54:40it probably means more than actually the monetary value,
54:43but I'm absolutely delighted.
54:45Growing up as a child,
54:47our mum would bring it out and we would wear the pieces
54:49and just think it's wonderful.
54:51But now we've actually got it.
54:53My sister and I were thinking, wow, what do we do with it?
54:57Didn't you know?
55:08We've almost finished for the day here in the ancient kingdom of Fife,
55:11but just time before we go for a little chat
55:14about one of the oldest languages in the country, Gaelic.
55:17And, Peter, you are the fifth national poet.
55:19You're a lecturer at St Andrews, not far from here,
55:21but also you are the first national poet who is a Gaelic speaker.
55:24Yes, so I'm the Scottish macker.
55:26And though the previous mackers all had Scots and English
55:29and made-up languages, I'm the first to write and speak Gaelic.
55:32Now, macker, tell me about that.
55:34What does it mean and what is your role?
55:36Well, I prefer macker to laureate
55:37because a macker is just somebody who makes.
55:39It's a very active role.
55:40And the mackers were attached to the Scottish court in medieval times.
55:44So they were Scots-language poets usually writing for royalty.
55:48How many people speak Gaelic now?
55:49There are 89,000 people who speak Gaelic
55:52and about 130,000 who have some comprehension.
55:55And that's a slight uptick from ten years ago,
55:57but it's also weirdly in a moment of crisis.
56:00So we're worried about it dying out as a community language,
56:03even as more speakers there are all over the country.
56:06Now, you brought a book along here
56:07which demonstrates the history of the Gaelic language here.
56:10Yes, so this is the Typographia Scotica Delica.
56:14And it's a list of all the books published between 1567 and 1914.
56:19And there are lovely wee snippets in it.
56:21Like, this is the first poetry book,
56:23and as a poet I'm really interested in this,
56:25published in Gaelic in 1751.
56:27This is Asher in the Sion Khan in Alpenoch,
56:31the resurrection of the old Scottish tongue.
56:33A book that this tells us is now very rare.
56:36There's a copy of it that tells us that in 1751
56:40it was burnt by the common hangman in Edinburgh.
56:43And why was it burnt?
56:44It was burnt because it was very Jacobite in the sympathies,
56:48but it was also a very rude book.
56:50Well, I'm sorry, we're not seeing more of it.
56:52Now, it's the end of our day.
56:54How do we say goodbye in Gaelic?
56:56Well, I'd say cheery and drast.
56:58Can I just say cheery?
57:00From the Antiques Roadshow, and Peter, cheery.
57:03Cheery.
57:04That was terrible.
57:05How about the cheery?
57:06We were fine.
57:07With a name like mine, it should be much better.
57:09Oh, that sounds like cheery.
57:11Enthusiastic.
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