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00:00Cut! Cut!
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, I take a look at the results of mudlarking in Australia.
00:54Everyone remembers the band Kiss and Claudia is in for a surprise.
01:00One of Australia's favourite sports, cricket.
01:04I take a look at an amazing collection.
01:08And Lee discovers the history of Welsh Lovespoons.
01:20Today I'm with Eric, a mudlarker.
01:23What's mudlarking?
01:24Mudlarking started back many centuries ago in London
01:28when young children would go through the mud that was left at low tide
01:33to get rope, glass, metals to sell so they could feed themselves.
01:38These days, mudlarkers are after historical artefacts.
01:43And Eric has a marvellous collection of what he has collected, mudlarking, over the years.
01:48Tell us a little bit about all the Chinese items.
01:51Well, most of these, well, all of these come out of the river, or the riverbank, and I believe all these places where they were found had Chinese cooks.
02:03That would be market gardeners and all that sort of thing, wouldn't it?
02:06Yes. Yeah.
02:06That would relate to the goldfields period of Victoria, wouldn't it, with the Chinese coming over for the gold.
02:12And over here, on this table, you've got some real treasures that you have found.
02:19So, we'll go over and we'll have a talk about those.
02:26Tell us about these items.
02:28Well, this one is a very early and rare teapot from the Bendigo Pottery, 1880s.
02:36And this one was dived in the Kampaspia near Echuca, and still come out in great condition.
02:42I've never, ever seen one, so it's...
02:44Very, very rare.
02:45Yeah, I think there's only one other one known.
02:47Right.
02:51Tell us about the bottles.
02:54This bottle here is called a Black Horse Whiskey, and they're very sought after by bottle collectors.
02:59I've dove 14 all up out of the rivers, and I believe they've probably been throwing in the river of paddle steamers.
03:09Yeah, or when they've been sitting there having a party and throwing a bottle in the river.
03:13Yeah, and this one was found in Millamene, New South Wales.
03:17Incredible condition.
03:19Yeah, for the age of it, been in the river for 140 years.
03:23Yeah.
03:24Unbelievable.
03:24This is an extremely rare flask from Glasgow.
03:33It's unusual to get something that old over here.
03:36So that would have come out early 1800s?
03:40Early.
03:41Or during the Gold Rush period?
03:43No, pretty early, probably early 1800s.
03:47Yeah, and you've got an item here relating to an early New South Wales police station, I believe?
03:53Yeah, this one was found at the Nillikman, and that come out of the middle of the river, believe it or not.
03:59We found two of these.
04:01Mm-hmm.
04:02Yeah, and they used to go on top of the hat in the early 1900s, late 1800s.
04:08Yeah.
04:08How we found that, I don't know, but yeah, been so small.
04:13Some policeman must have got angry with his work and thrown his hat in the river.
04:18Yeah, yeah.
04:19Tell us a little about this shot flask.
04:25Oh, this shot flask was found on the river bank.
04:28All right.
04:28And it's still in great condition for its age.
04:32Incredible being leather.
04:34Yeah.
04:35And surviving, isn't it?
04:36Yeah, and this was found up at Gerildry in New South Wales.
04:40Mm-hmm.
04:41And couldn't believe it when we give it a wipe over with the mud and this popped up.
04:48We think the mud preserved it.
04:50And over here we have a reference to a cannon that you found.
05:00Tell us a little bit about that.
05:01Ah, well, we were very lucky to find this.
05:03It's extremely rare.
05:05We found this up in Wanganala, New South Wales, in the Billabong.
05:10These days it's just for collecting.
05:16And collecting and it's telling Australia's early history, which is important, I think.
05:21That's right.
05:21Eric, thanks for showing us the treasures that you've found and the stories, what you get into
05:26doing mudlarking and the pleasure it brings you, but also as a collector, displaying and telling us
05:34some of Australia's early history.
05:36It's very important.
05:37No way.
05:38Thank you very much.
05:53Today I'm at the Wentworth Park Antics and Collectibles Fair in Sydney
05:57and Gabriella is going to try and guess what it is.
06:00Well, I have no idea what they are, but I think they might be some kind of counter for a game.
06:07So you would count the game with the different colours.
06:10They look like some kind of little nuts.
06:12Great.
06:14Mandy?
06:16Well, originally, when you were battling the box at me, I thought it might be Smarties.
06:22But, you know, I think that there's some sort of counters, counting beads for a game.
06:29Very good.
06:30And the different colours, so you would have different values in your game.
06:35Very good.
06:35Thank you very much.
06:36Okay, thank you.
06:37Okay.
06:38Do you want to guess the mystery object?
06:40Head to our Facebook and Instagram pages to enter.
06:46Today, Antiques Down Under is meeting a KISS superfan, and I think I'm in the right spot.
06:52Hello, Claudia.
06:56How are you?
06:57Is that you, Colin?
06:59Wow.
07:06Colin, this is super impressive.
07:09Forget front row tickets at the concert.
07:11You've got front row seats in your own living room.
07:14I'm guessing maybe your KISS obsession started when you were a teenager?
07:17Yeah, I was about 14.
07:19I'm now 63.
07:20So the collection started 49 years ago.
07:27So you are Gene Simmons, the demon.
07:30Tell me about the other characters.
07:32Correct.
07:33Yes, I'm the demon.
07:35Spitting blood and blowing flames and all that kind of thing is what Gene does.
07:40All the characters are about their alter egos.
07:43So Paul's the star man.
07:45Peter Criss, the cop.
07:46And Ace Frehley, the spaceman.
07:51When you think of KISS, it's all about the makeup and the blood spitting and the pyrotechnics.
07:55But there was a stage in the 90s where KISS were unmasked.
08:00They appeared and performed without their makeup.
08:02They did.
08:02They've done that for 17 years.
08:04How did the fans react when they first came out with that?
08:08A bit weird, a bit different.
08:09They changed their style a bit heavier.
08:11Yeah.
08:12And then after 17 years, they seen the light and put it back on.
08:16And that was the greatest time of my life.
08:25I think we need to unmask Colin.
08:30I think we need to be able to do that.
08:35That's warm.
08:36Yeah, that's warm.
08:38It's very Mission Impossible, isn't it?
08:40And now, here's my new face.
08:42How's that?
08:43That's great.
08:44But that was nice being my older ear.
08:46I suppose it was a bit of a bonus when you found the mask.
08:49The mask's a very special collector that was designed on Gene's face.
08:54That was Gene's moulded to his actual face.
08:56The costume is also an exact replica of what they wore back in 73 or 74.
09:02I love your shoes.
09:03They look nice, aren't they?
09:05They're fantastic.
09:06It looks like they should have smoke coming out of the nostrils.
09:08They should, shouldn't they?
09:09Yeah, for sure.
09:14You've got the stage set.
09:15Yes.
09:16You built that?
09:18Yes.
09:18There's nothing better than live music and this is as close as I can get.
09:22And your whole family is rather keen on your collection too?
09:25It's kept my family together.
09:27We've had a connection.
09:29You know, I could, you know, like now my grandchildren are coming through.
09:32Just behind me down there on the ground are all the clothes that my grandchildren wore that I've now got in dolls.
09:40My first born was in a Gene Simmons make-up before she was three hours old.
09:49I asked the nurse and she said, yeah, okay.
09:51I can just imagine the maternity ward that day.
09:54A little bouncing baby girl.
10:01Classic collectibles, what have you got?
10:03Classic collectibles, well, a couple of my favourites.
10:05A couple of pics from the, from the show.
10:08Um, Paul, I've got Gene Simmons.
10:10My daughter received Paul Stanley.
10:12Both have been played on stage.
10:13I see badges.
10:15Badges.
10:15I see trading cards.
10:17Cards, belt buckles, beer.
10:19I've got pairs of dispensers.
10:21We have Kiss Everything and Kiss is a part of, a big part of your life.
10:26Very big part.
10:27Why?
10:28Why do you love Kiss?
10:29You have to love something.
10:30You've got to have something in your life, whether it be religion,
10:32whether it be drugs, alcohol, whatever.
10:34This is my thing.
10:36You know, you're not feeling too good.
10:38It just pumps me up.
10:41Gives a kiss.
10:43Exactly.
10:44Doesn't get any better than that.
10:49I love this pinball machine.
10:51He's got your outfit on.
10:52He has, hasn't he?
10:55So when you were a teenager, you know, you're a bit in love with Kiss.
10:59Were you playing this pinball machine at the local milk bar?
11:01It was my favourite.
11:02I went to it all the time.
11:03And interesting, because the Kiss logo with the SS looking like the German SS in Germany,
11:10they banned that logo.
11:11They did ban it.
11:12And I'm lucky enough that I actually have a German back glass with the actual S's on it,
11:17the normal S's.
11:21We've got the family album.
11:23And of course, we've got the family album.
11:24A picture of you and Jean's hands.
11:26A picture of me and Jean.
11:27How exciting that day was.
11:31Here are my grandkids, Hunter and Xander.
11:34Cricket, Australia's favourite sport.
11:45I'm here with Andrew with his cricket collection.
11:59A massive willow all around the room, even stumps laying on the floor.
12:05Andrew even believes he's a famous Australian cricketer.
12:10He's got Steve Waugh's baggy green on.
12:14Do you play as well as Steve Waugh?
12:15Oh, not a chance.
12:17Not a chance.
12:18Love me cricket.
12:19But yeah.
12:20You did play when you were young though, didn't you?
12:22I did play till the last three years.
12:23Did you?
12:24Yeah.
12:24What inspired you to collect cricket memorabilia?
12:28Several years ago, when I was actually setting my bar up in the shed,
12:31I was going to put a row of old bats along the front of the bar.
12:35And that got to 20 bats along the bar and looked really, really good.
12:38And then next thing you know, there was a pile of 50 in front of the bar.
12:42So I had to set up the room here to actually spread them all out.
12:45And then and all the other cricket memorabilia?
12:48I keep picking that up.
12:49It's just followed me home.
12:50Followed you.
12:54I played cricket with four out of the five of my boys.
13:00I had four of them on the same ground at once.
13:02That was great.
13:03Yeah.
13:03And they all like coming up here and having a look and yeah.
13:07Seeing what else Dad's managed to find.
13:09Yeah.
13:10I've still got three boys playing cricket.
13:11So yeah.
13:12That's good.
13:12Who's going to inherit it all?
13:14How are you going to divide a cricket collection amongst all those boys?
13:17Yeah.
13:17Next question.
13:18Tell us about some of your favourite bats that you've got.
13:26The ones I really, really admire are the ones that come off the army ships.
13:30They were army issued.
13:32Right.
13:32They were on the boats and they weren't supposed to leave the boats by the,
13:35according to the writing on them.
13:37Right.
13:37Yeah.
13:37I've got three of those.
13:38And would they be from World War I, World War II?
13:41World War II.
13:42Mm-hmm.
13:42They were army issued.
13:43Right.
13:44Yeah.
13:44I've got a lot of captain signatures on the bats and a lot of ex-Australian players.
13:50Behind me, I've got about seven of the Bradman bats.
13:53Right.
13:54All lined up.
14:00Over there, you've got some cricket balls.
14:02That's the different colours.
14:04Yeah.
14:04That's just some of the different balls they use time to time.
14:07I've actually found a platypus one the other day.
14:09That was a brand they don't use anymore.
14:11Right.
14:11Yep.
14:12And I've got one in the little circle there that's signed by Shane Warne.
14:16Yeah.
14:16And the white ball, that was a bit of controversy over that, wasn't there?
14:19Yeah, when it first started.
14:21Yeah.
14:21Yeah.
14:21Yeah.
14:22They use them pretty readily now.
14:24Well, let's go around and have a talk about all of what you've got in this room and see
14:28what I can take home.
14:33To add to mine.
14:34Yeah.
14:35Now, Andrew, you've got a fabulous range of bats here.
14:43Tell us a little bit about them.
14:45I've just picked them up over time.
14:46A few of your famous Australian cricketers, ex-captains and ex-players.
14:50Yeah.
14:51Yeah.
14:52You've got Bob Simpson here.
14:53He was the Australian coach at one stage.
14:55Sam Trimble.
14:56I didn't know much about him.
14:57Bill Laurie.
14:57We know about him and the pigeons on the radio, on the tally broadcast.
15:02We hear that all the time.
15:03And look at the condition of the bat.
15:05Yes.
15:05It looks like it had a lot of dirty wickets played on.
15:09Or hit a few pigeons.
15:11Yes.
15:11Let's go and have a look at what you've got down in here.
15:15In here.
15:16And here, this is where you store your Bradman, I believe.
15:19There's several different styles of Bradman bats in there.
15:22There's three different styles of the older bats with the names burned in.
15:26Right.
15:27There's two of them all, modern Sykes and the Schlesinger.
15:30Yep.
15:30The V99.9.
15:33And the one beside it has actually been signed by him.
15:40Up the other end, I've got the Schlesingers and Pumas of Adam Gilchrist.
15:45Right.
15:46Yep.
15:46Yep.
15:47Yeah.
15:47He was a favourite to us all, I would say.
15:49Yeah, I think so.
15:50Andrew, along this wall under all these beautiful bats again, you've got all these.
15:58Tell us a little bit about them.
15:59Well, Alan Border, I believe, was the one that got Test Cricket back on the map after
16:05Kim Hughes and the African Tour, which destroyed the whole team for a while.
16:09And he was the man that pulled them all back and got the Australian cricket team up and
16:13running again.
16:14Yeah, that was certainly controversial, wasn't it?
16:19Along here, we've got something really, really special.
16:22And it just goes to show how good Australia is at cricket, doesn't it?
16:26It does.
16:26Australia, five, defeated England, nought.
16:31Can you remember that year?
16:32Oh, there's a few years like that, but yes, no, I do remember that year.
16:37Yeah.
16:37Well, that's Australia.
16:38And Australia's cricket.
16:39It is, it is.
16:40Thanks for showing us your cricket memorabilia.
16:42It's been an absolute fun time.
16:44It's taken me down memory road with my father being a cricketer as well.
16:49No, all good.
16:56No season of Antiques Ananda would be complete without a visit to Ian's fantastic collection.
17:08This time, Ian has promised to show us his collection of Welsh love spoons.
17:13Let's have a look.
17:18Oh, greetings, Lee.
17:19Nice to see you again.
17:21Wonderful to be here.
17:22We're going to have a look at a few spoons today.
17:25Well, I think we've all heard of spooning, but what is a Welsh love spoon?
17:30Well, a Welsh love spoon is not a very practical item.
17:35I wouldn't eat my Wheaties with one of these, but if I was a young lassie in Wales and my intended,
17:42instead of giving me an engagement ring, gave me one of these spoons, which he'd hand carved
17:47with lots of symbolism, I'd be quite excited.
17:51I see why you would be.
17:52What sort of symbolism do we have on this?
17:55Well, there's all sorts of meanings.
17:57They're not just decorative.
17:58I'll just pick one up here.
18:00This is good luck, the horseshoe, the heart is love, and balls meant the number of children
18:07I hoped for.
18:07So...
18:08Not very many.
18:09And the steadfastness with the lock and the key came up.
18:14But every one of them has symbolism carved into it.
18:18That one we're just looking at, that whole thing, including the balls,
18:22has been carved from a single piece of wood.
18:24Yes, they're all a single piece of wood.
18:26And if your intended was skilled enough to carve something as well as this, he could possibly
18:33build you a house or make you a kitchen or build a fence around the new property.
18:39The first recorded one is around 1660, and they probably existed before then.
18:45But a lot of things were destroyed prior to the restoration in the English period.
18:51What's your newest one?
18:56Well, I happened to be in Hobart and my wife said,
18:59you've got enough now, don't collect any more spoons.
19:02And these three long ones came up.
19:04One, two, and there's another one somewhere there.
19:07And I was traveling very light with seven kilos from Hobart back to Melbourne.
19:13And I had to go through the airport and I carried these tied together.
19:18And every person attending the airport wanted to know what they're all about.
19:22So they got an instant lesson in Welsh love spoons.
19:30The amount of skill that I'm seeing here is just extraordinary.
19:34Yes.
19:34Even a simple piece like this.
19:36Yes.
19:37How was that carved?
19:38Well, imagine the young man, he's got an idea.
19:41He wants to give something important, memorable to his intended.
19:46And he dreams up in his mind.
19:48Now we're going to do one that swirls like this.
19:51And all he has is a piece of wood, something like that.
19:55So he would draw what he intended, then gets out his pen knife and starts carving away by hand.
20:02So he's turned a block of wood into a memorable piece that's not really usable,
20:09but it has significance in the Welsh culture.
20:18Even more amazing, this one again.
20:21Yes.
20:22Where he's even carved balls in a chamber.
20:26Yes.
20:26And the chain and the lock.
20:29Yes.
20:29All out of one piece of wood.
20:31So there's no joins.
20:32Like you go to the jeweller and they open up a link and put it in.
20:36With these, they're carved out of one piece of wood.
20:39So it's quite a skill carving a chain out of a solid piece of wood.
20:43I don't suppose there's much else to do for a single man in Welsh villages at the time.
20:47Well, there was no television, no internet in those days.
20:50Ian, I've never even seen a single Welsh love spoon.
20:53Right.
20:54And yet, here's a whole collection of them.
20:55What got you started on this?
20:57Well, I have many collections, but I find the most exciting ones are things that people have not
21:04seen before or tend to be fairly rare.
21:08When I started to see a few of these around, I thought, well, these have a story to tell
21:13and they're very interesting.
21:14So I'll go for a few of those.
21:16So Ian, this is in a frame, but with another objects.
21:20Well, on board, they didn't have gift shops and you couldn't ring your family back home.
21:26So you sat on deck, long, arduous voyages, and you used available materials, scraps,
21:33and you made things.
21:35A little toy for the children, a sail seam rubber there, a splicer for your ropes for the rigging,
21:42a model of the ship.
21:43You used a bit of bone from last night's dinner and carved the ship on it.
21:47But the key one that concerns us today is the love spoon that was hand-carved in the 1830s,
21:54200 years ago.
21:55Ian, that's a wonderful story to go with such a marvellous collection.
21:59Yes.
21:59Thank you so much for having us here.
22:01It's been a pleasure.
22:02It's an intriguing subject and it's fascinated me and anyone I've ever shown this to.
22:08Now, here's Carol, who's going to tell us what this wonderful item is.
22:21Carol, put us out of our misery.
22:23What is it?
22:23It's a 1950s Italian piece, Cappo di Monti, and it's lipstick holders.
22:29Ah.
22:32So there were some guesses that it was a music box.
22:34Yes, right now it's not working because of their age, it's almost 100 years old.
22:39Generally, when the music plays, the ballena twirls around.
22:43Ah, beautiful.
22:45So, it's just lovely.
22:47So, I'd like that on my dressing room table.
22:50Thanks so much, Carol.
22:51You're welcome.
22:53Now that was tricky.
22:54Did you get it right?
22:56Don't forget, you can guess this week's What Is It?
22:58by heading to our Facebook and Instagram pages.
23:05Next time on Antiques Down Under, we take a look at 100 years of the Royal Adelaide Show
23:10at its present site.
23:11Come with us as we discover the past and the present.
23:15We'll see you next time.
23:29Missed an episode of Antiques Down Under?
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