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00:00I'll see you next time.
00:30Welcome to Antiques Down Under.
00:33We're on the search for incredible antiques and collectibles.
00:37From private collections, historic homes, backyard sheds, museums and galleries.
00:42We'll be talking to the experts, the custodians and the passionate collectors.
00:47Coming up on this episode of Antiques Down Under,
00:50Elizabeth visits an avid collector of antique jewellery.
00:55Shangri-La, a catch-up with the villagers in their new gallery and studio.
01:00ADU discovers the world of miniature books.
01:06And Claudia and Lee talk Wedgwood.
01:19Today, Antiques Down Under is visiting a collector of miniature books.
01:25Louise, welcome to Antiques Down Under.
01:27Thank you, Gregor.
01:28You've got an incredible collection here.
01:30I've never seen so many.
01:31How do you ever get time to read them?
01:35Rarely have I read one.
01:36I don't think my eyes would take it.
01:39But they are legible with the naked eye.
01:43Which is your favourite?
01:45And which was the one that you started with?
01:47Oh, the one I started with, this little beauty here, which was a gift to my sister of a very close friend of my grandmother.
01:55And when I was living in England, she gave it to her, and I just would not leave it alone.
02:00And being the generous, biggest sister, she went, oh, you have it.
02:05And I did.
02:06And from that, this is what...
02:08Entire collection started.
02:10Favourites?
02:10Oh, God, that's too hard.
02:11I mean, I love the silver-fronted ones, the fancy bindings, you know, you can't go past those, the tiny ones, the sets.
02:19You know, it's...
02:20I can't pick one.
02:21Honestly, I can't pick one.
02:22I have to say that one then, because that's what started...
02:24That's what lit the fuse.
02:25It's always...
02:25Now, the silver ones, why silver?
02:32I think it was just because they became a competition in later years as to who could make the most beautiful, who could do the tiniest type.
02:40And they were perfect gifts.
02:41A lot of them are religious orientation.
02:44These are biographical, Tennyson, Longfellow, they seem to be popular.
02:48I mean, even a cuckoo book.
02:49I mean, can you imagine having that in the kitchen and worrying about the fat splatter?
02:52Yeah, I know.
02:55The real reason for them basically began because they were so small and they could be used to travel with.
03:03And then they got more prolific and the titles grew from sort of religious and almanacs.
03:10It became a lot more historical poetry, biographies and just general fiction.
03:19Earlier you were telling about a very famous aristocrat.
03:22Look, there was absolutely, like you, a passionate collector.
03:25Of miniature books.
03:26Yes, I mourned that one.
03:28Louis XVI gave his wife, Marie Antoinette, one little miniature book and she just loved it.
03:35And she managed to get together the most beautiful collection of miniature books.
03:39They were stunning.
03:41They would have been beautifully jewelled and all sorts of things.
03:44Sadly, in the revolution, the French Revolution, just gone.
03:48And over there you've got some really, really small ones with little miniature magnifying glasses.
03:55Yeah, they are, would you believe, the replacement for a philofax or a planner.
04:00Right.
04:01They're almanacs and how on earth they didn't get lost in handbags and things, I don't know.
04:06But they were, again, this was more of a competition.
04:08And the term is bijou, which is another term for small or chic and sometimes a jewel.
04:17So they were very much a case of, you know, you give them to someone, it's a lovely gift.
04:25These are bone, ivory?
04:29Some of them are bone.
04:30I think it's called ivorine.
04:32And they're obviously mostly religious books.
04:39Also on the religious theme, we've got over here the Koran.
04:43Yes, yes.
04:44This is a tiny little one that most of the time, there was millions of these sent into the Middle East.
04:50Right.
04:50And they would wear that around their neck on a chain.
04:54Interesting.
04:54Yeah.
04:55That's one of my favourites.
04:56This one came out with the Allied newspapers.
05:01Right.
05:01And it was a set they marketed as the Vest Pocket Library.
05:05That has a special story you were telling me about.
05:08Yes, that's right.
05:08It was something I, when I was living in London, I saw it at Portobello Road.
05:12And every week I'd go back and hope it would have come down in price and it didn't.
05:17And finally on my last week before I was heading back to Australia, I went in and she said,
05:21oh, you could have it for £50.
05:26How long have you been collecting for?
05:28It started when I was 19.
05:29It's very, very hard to find them.
05:31It's jewellery shops, flea markets, antique fairs.
05:36You'd be surprised.
05:37I mean, they pop up in all sorts of strange places, but less and less, unfortunately, these days.
05:42Well, it's been fascinating talking to you today.
05:44Thank you very much.
05:44Thanks for coming on the show.
05:46I'm with Jessie here at the Wentworth Park Antique and Collectibles Market.
06:06And Jessie's going to try and guess what this is.
06:09Well, it looks like some type of fossil to me.
06:13Some rock.
06:14Some insola.
06:15Sorry, Cliff.
06:16I'm not quite sure.
06:17Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
06:19Well, look, yeah.
06:21The striations.
06:22Yeah.
06:23I see.
06:23Yeah, I would just go with a fossilised rock.
06:27I'm not sure.
06:28Good.
06:29Thank you very much.
06:30Yeah.
06:30What do you think, Carol?
06:32Oh, I'm not too sure.
06:34I mean, it's some kind of rock.
06:37It's got all the grains.
06:39It could possibly be old, but honestly, I have no idea.
06:42Ha, ha, ha, ha.
06:44A piece of rock.
06:45Right.
06:46Okay.
06:46All right.
06:47Thank you, Carol.
06:49Do you want to guess the mystery object?
06:51Head to our Facebook and Instagram pages to enter.
07:01As an antique dealer, I have many collectors and most of them are middle-aged.
07:06Today, I'm with a very vibrant, young collector of antique jewellery.
07:11Hi, Bella.
07:12Hello.
07:13It's lovely to be here and amongst your collection.
07:16So we've got a little bit of history between the two of us.
07:19How did we meet?
07:20We met because of this ring.
07:22Yes.
07:23I was walking around Camberwell with my sister, V, and we stopped by a beautiful store as always,
07:28and you took a look at this ring and asked you to know the history of it.
07:32And so we had a bit of a chat about it, and then the rest is history.
07:35This collection of yours goes way back to your grandfather, is that right?
07:44The love for collecting, yes.
07:46Oh, the love of collecting, yes.
07:48I got to witness firsthand his love for collecting via anything that you can possibly imagine.
07:54He had at the time ivory pieces, he had clocks, he had these little soldiers that he liked hand painting.
08:01I just watched the love that he would pour into finding the pieces that he loved that made that home his.
08:07And so the art of collecting is not fully in what you actually collect, but the histories and the art.
08:15I think collecting to me, it's not restricted to antique jewellery.
08:18So like everything that has, I suppose, that human touch of the care that goes behind the craftsmanship.
08:25That's what drives me to collect jewellery and other things, but in particular with the jewellery that we're going to talk about today.
08:31The pieces are very much sentimental and they very much have a meaning that either the meaning is conveyed by the pieces themselves or I gave them meaning.
08:42These rings are very significant because they belong to a history with your grandfather.
08:48Perhaps you can tell us what these mean to you.
08:51The big driver behind my love for collecting is my granddad.
08:54Yes.
08:54And back home, I don't know if it's an international thing or not, but we do have these graduation rings and each different career will have a different stone that symbolises it.
09:07For law, it's a ruby.
09:09And I had to study law twice.
09:11So when I moved here, I had to redo my degree.
09:14Some would say it's crazy.
09:15Some would say you must really love the law.
09:17Either way, I got two beautiful rings out of it.
09:19Now, this is a significant piece, possibly, of Australian jewellery.
09:25And this comes from?
09:27That one came from Canada.
09:28And the meaning behind it and the wording that is in there is just...
09:33Auld lang syne.
09:34It's that reminder of times there once were and that maybe you won't have any more.
09:40This instrument here, I'm calling it a telescope.
09:43So it's looking forward to the future.
09:45Yes.
09:45And it's a very important piece of Australiana because it says to Captain George A. Jenny, a memento from miners, workmen and friends, Wai Karinga, South Australia, 1888.
10:01We've got some interesting mispa rings.
10:05And this one here has got two hearts and an arrow.
10:09Yes.
10:10And the word mispa underneath.
10:11Yes.
10:12So the two hearts means the bonds between two people.
10:15Mm-hmm.
10:16And the arrow means...
10:18Cupid.
10:18Cupid's heart.
10:21Always add a little bit of love to these pieces.
10:24And mispa is also important for you.
10:27Mispa, I think we spoke about it before.
10:30Jewelry, to me, has a different meaning.
10:31It's not just how beautiful it is.
10:33It's the stories that they create and the stories that they form moving forward too.
10:37Like that fob that we were talking about.
10:40But in relation to mispa, I think when you move, when you're really closely connected to certain people, it feels like your heart is never fully there.
10:50There's always a bit or a little piece of it missing.
10:54And mispa, that's what it means to me.
10:56It's the fact that even though my sister is in Melbourne, I'm elsewhere.
10:59Well, it's just, no matter how far we are, we're always somehow connected.
11:05That's what mispa represents.
11:07Bella, I've been in heaven.
11:08Thank you very much for sharing your passion for collecting antique jewellery.
11:13I'm here in the Shangri-La Hotel in the Rocks in Sydney, and I'm going to catch up with Krista Billich, and she's going to show me Billich's latest exhibition.
11:43Hi, Krista, how are you?
11:50Well, my good friend Gregory.
11:52Hello.
11:52Oh, gorgeous.
11:53Welcome to our new gallery.
11:56It's good to see you again.
11:57Yes, you look charming as ever.
11:59Let me have a look at you.
12:01You're going to show me Billich's new exhibition.
12:03Yes, at the Shangri-La Hotel.
12:05Yeah.
12:06We can't get much better, can we?
12:07Now, show me some of the other works of L'Art that have got it on display here.
12:18Well, we have this beautiful sailing piece, and that is basically from Sydney to Hobart.
12:24You know, this is a great entertainment, but he captured the movement, the colours, and the energy of sailing.
12:32Yeah.
12:32That's really the important part of what we've collected.
12:35Of that show, yeah.
12:40We are a little bit ahead of time because they're already in Hobart.
12:45Fair enough.
12:46Let's have a quick look at what else we've got across here.
12:49So, figurative is always, you know, he loves that.
12:53He loves the cityscapes by route, and then Matera at the back.
12:58And I've got something very special for you over there.
13:02Okay, let's go have a look, shall we?
13:08Now, Krista, tell us about these two beautiful works of art.
13:12Remember the time when we had COVID.
13:16Billich painted at home.
13:17And that painting is called Distanting Brings Closeness.
13:22And if you look at the painting, you can actually see how people all have their hands up,
13:28saying like, don't come too close, don't come too close.
13:31And he puts in the birds because they were free.
13:35They could fly.
13:37We, like you can see in the painting, we were all isolated.
13:42Then we have another one here that is art and culture.
13:45It is just about the Victorian art centre.
13:50You know, they have that lovely spiral.
13:52Right.
13:53And you'll have in this particular painting, the artists being outside.
13:58They're outside the building.
14:01So they're bringing the culture, the ballet, the musicians to us.
14:05A beautiful piece of works of art.
14:07Thank you very much.
14:08Well, it's been fantastic visiting the exhibition, but let's go and meet Billich in his studio and learn a little bit more about him, shall we?
14:19Are you ready for that one?
14:20I'm ready for that one.
14:21Welcome to Billich's studio.
14:28You haven't been here before, Gregory, haven't you?
14:31No, I haven't.
14:31Let me take you to the Grand Master.
14:36Now, that is his assistant here.
14:39And then here we have Billich himself.
14:42Great to see you again.
14:44Well, welcome to the Billich studio.
14:46Billich, I believe you're doing something in Paris shortly.
14:49Yeah, well, it's taken him about 90 years to invite me to have a show in Paris.
14:55But it's better late than never, isn't it?
14:57It sure is.
14:59I'm very proud of the fact that I hang in so many different places in the world.
15:06So you're looking forward to Paris?
15:08Absolutely, because I'm always you there.
15:11The last time I was there was about two years ago.
15:14It was a long time.
15:15And that time didn't result with an invitation to show.
15:24However, it came in the mail.
15:27Everything always comes to those that wait, though, doesn't it?
15:30Exactly.
15:31Provided you don't stress yourself in the waiting period.
15:37It's part and parcel of the life of an artist.
15:41Billich, thank you for coming on the show again.
15:51My pleasure.
16:13Antiques Down Under is at the exhibition Wedgwood.
16:17Master Potter to the Universe at the David Roche Foundation in Adelaide.
16:22Lee, this is where it all begins.
16:241759, when Wedgwood starts his business.
16:27Look at this cauliflower teapot.
16:30Marvellous, isn't it?
16:32And the cauliflower teapot is the beginning of a series of vegetable wares that were terribly popular in the Georgian period.
16:37And they were all made possible by Wedgwood's invention of the Green Glaze.
16:48Lee, this is the Wedgwood Portland vase, the most celebrated piece in Wedgwood's history.
16:55Why is it so important?
16:57Well, Claudia, it was the first time that anyone had managed to copy a glass vase from antiquity in pottery.
17:03So who was Portland?
17:04The Duchess of Portland was an extraordinary rich woman with a great collection,
17:09and she was happy to lend the vase to Wedgwood in order to have it copied.
17:13So, speaking of lending, you've lent this Portland vase to the exhibition.
17:18How did you come by it?
17:19It showed up at auction in New York some years ago.
17:23It wasn't properly identified.
17:25I did see pictures of it, and I thought, nah, it can't be.
17:29How I forgot about it, and then a few months later, I had an email from a client,
17:34and he said, is this what I think it is?
17:36And I said, yes, it is.
17:37And he said, do you want to buy it?
17:40So I said, yes.
17:42Now, is this what we think it is?
17:43We're talking a piece from 1790.
17:47Between 1790 and 1793, made by Wedgwood himself, an extraordinary piece,
17:53one of the finest pieces of pottery that you're ever likely to find.
18:00Wedgwood is really a constant in our lives.
18:04It starts from birth with Peter Rabbit nurseryware,
18:07and then we grow up and we have our dinner sets and Granny's covered veggie dish.
18:11But people mainly think of the blue and white.
18:14Well, you say blue and white, and everyone thinks blue and white,
18:18but we look at this cabinet, and the first thing you see is it's not all blue and white.
18:23The great thing about Jasper Ware was it was a white body.
18:26It could be stained different colours,
18:28and when they were put together and fired in the kiln,
18:31the colours didn't run into each other.
18:33And this was a great step forward.
18:35Mercury from 1874, we've got Minerva 1890 in black basalt.
18:46Yes, these are from a series of library busts that were produced by Wedgwood in the 18th century,
18:52and the company continued to produce them for some time after.
18:55The gentleman of the middle class would buy them in sets and set them around the house
19:01so that his friends would know just how tasteful he was and how well-educated.
19:09Josiah Wedgwood was very clever.
19:11He employed different designers to capture the zeitgeist of the time,
19:15and that idea went all the way through the Wedgwood career.
19:17And I particularly love the kangaroo.
19:20This is by artist and sculptor John Skeeping, 1927.
19:24But he did a whole series of animals.
19:26He was commissioned to do 14, but only 10 went into production,
19:30and here are some of them.
19:32The refining group, they were produced in various bodies,
19:36mostly creamware, an 18th century body,
19:38which goes back to our cauliflower teapot earlier,
19:41basalt, caneware, various others.
19:43They continue to issue some of the animals right through to the 1980s,
19:46including what was originally known as Tiger and Buck,
19:49but was rechristened Escape.
19:54So now we're moving into the 1970s.
19:58Now this is a designer, Eduardo Palozzi, who's Scottish.
20:02And he's got a very, very pop art feel.
20:06So these are very punchy, very colourful.
20:08They are, aren't they?
20:09And the first thing you think when you look at them is,
20:11that's not Wedgwood.
20:13But what is Wedgwood?
20:14Wedgwood has always been a company that responds to the fashions of the time
20:19using the latest technology.
20:21This is just more of the same.
20:23They're using the relatively new process of screen printing
20:26that made this sort of plate possible
20:28and producing something for the current market.
20:30Josiah Wedgwood was a man of vision.
20:37And we think of things like buy one, get one free
20:40and money back guarantees as a late night TV hard sell.
20:43But they were invented by Wedgwood.
20:46He was a great marketer.
20:47Not just a great marketer, but a great man.
20:50He was a well-known scientist.
20:52He was prominent in the movement for the abolition of slavery.
20:55He treated his employees well.
20:57He built them their own village with schools, hospital,
21:00even its own train station.
21:01And he left us a great legacy, one that we can enjoy today.
21:11So we had some good guesses on this one,
21:13but I want to know, Doug, where is this from?
21:18So, this is actually from the Somme.
21:22It is a bullet, a German bullet from a Morse rifle.
21:26You can see on the back here,
21:27it's got the signature of a British officer,
21:30the military signal here.
21:32I lived in Toulouse, France for five years.
21:34I went up there, worked on a friend's farm,
21:36and I found it in a riverbank.
21:38I think it was an old trench, and I digged it out from there.
21:41Oh, my goodness me.
21:43So this really is the moment when time stopped for this person.
21:48Exactly.
21:48I hope it saved his life.
21:50Let's hope it did save his life.
21:53Now that was tricky.
21:54Did you get it right?
21:56Don't forget, you can guess this week's What Is It?
21:58by heading to our Facebook and Instagram pages.
22:05Next time on Antiques Down Under,
22:07we visit the highlights of Potts Point and some of its history.
22:12Gregory and I discover the world of George Jensen.
22:14I visit Potts Point Vintage, an exciting vintage shop.
22:21And the bells are ringing in an interview with Leo Schofield.
22:25Mr.
22:55That's an episode of Antiques Down Under.
22:57Check us out on Nine Now.
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