- 2 days ago
On one of the wettest days in Roadshow history more than 2,000 people queue to see Fiona and the experts who are sheltering beneath the canopy of this station run by West Somerset Railway.
火车站古董店 (Railroad Station Antiques) 是北阿拉巴马州深受收藏家、装饰达人和“寻宝者”喜爱的热门去处。这里拥有24,000平方英尺的广阔空间，您定能在此觅得心仪之物，将其收入囊中！
火车站古董店 (Railroad Station Antiques) 是北阿拉巴马州深受收藏家、装饰达人和“寻宝者”喜爱的热门去处。这里拥有24,000平方英尺的广阔空间，您定能在此觅得心仪之物，将其收入囊中！
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TravelTranscript
00:05BIRDS CHIRP
00:49When you arrive at the Antiques Roadshow, you want to make something of an entrance.
00:52In the past, I've arrived on a bike, on a boat, vintage car.
00:56I've even flown in on a World War II Dakota.
00:58This time, I'm coming in on a steam locomotive, taking me all the way to the end of the line.
01:11Since it was opened in 1874, Minehead Station was the terminus of the branch line that came out of Taunton
01:17and stopped at ten picturesque stations, including Bishop's Lyddiard, Willerton, Crocombe-Heathfield and Dunster.
01:24For almost a century, the trains carried people, goods, even animals down the line to Minehead.
01:31Today, most of the passengers on board are coming to the Antiques Roadshow.
01:35At least, I think so. Who's coming to the Antiques Roadshow today?
01:38Excellent. That's what I like to see.
01:40But back in 1964, there were some even more special passengers, some real A-listers,
01:45when the Beatles popped on board to film part of A Hard Day's Night.
01:51At Crocombe-Heathfield Station, they were filmed running along the platform,
01:54and word quickly got out, and soon there were hordes of schoolgirls streaming through the fields,
01:59running towards the station, screaming, crying.
02:03Beetlemania had arrived in Somerset.
02:07Despite such A-list passengers, the line was closed just seven years later.
02:12But almost immediately, the local council stepped in, bought the line,
02:16and a trust was set up, the West Somerset Railway.
02:19And now, with the help of an amazing 1,100 volunteers,
02:24a timetable of heritage train services operates across nine months of the year.
02:30Well, we've now pulled into Minehead Station. Here we are.
02:32And our experts are already hard at work on the platform,
02:35so let's see what treasures they've uncovered.
02:42On this rather dreary day, we're stood here.
02:45There is a definite sense of anticipation about me telling you what this bracelet is all about.
02:51But before I tell you about the bracelet, I'd like to know how it came into your possession.
02:55I was given this by my godmother.
02:59Well, I say my godmother, but actually she was married to my godfather.
03:04And he was Severod Romanowski.
03:10What I know is that he was born at the beginning of the Russian Revolution
03:14and was the son of the Grand Duke, and he was born in St. Petersburg.
03:18He died before I even remembered him.
03:24But Valli, his wife, took on the godparent duties.
03:29Gosh.
03:31And about nine years ago, I was visiting her,
03:35and she drew out this green jewellery box,
03:41and she said, I want you to have this.
03:45And inside was that?
03:47Inside was that.
03:48And originally, it was a pair of cufflinks,
03:51which she, I believe, then had made into a bracelet.
03:54Into a bracelet.
03:55Yeah.
03:55But your godfather's a fascinating character, really, in many ways,
03:59because he was the last of the Romanoff line.
04:02To put it a little bit in context for everybody,
04:04he was the great-great-grandson of Tsar Nicholas I.
04:07And sadly, his mother had to live in exile for a while in Sweden.
04:12And he went with his grandmother to actually be reunited with her
04:17after his father and uncle had been killed in 1918.
04:21Now, his mother, Sophia, came back from Sweden and lived in London in exile.
04:26So she settled here, and that's how we, again,
04:29end up with a piece of jewellery being actually with us today.
04:32It's a piece of jewellery which I think is absolutely stunning in its own right.
04:36It's a lovely sort of rosy gold colour to it.
04:39It's nice and soft and warm,
04:40and it really brings out the colour of the gemstones that we have.
04:44And if we start at the top, we have the moonstone here, we have carnelian,
04:48we then have the black onyx, and at the bottom here, garnet.
04:52So, again, they're more sort of of the hard stone, semi-precious stones,
04:56as opposed to your precious stones that we often get in cufflinks
05:01and pieces of jewellery from this period,
05:04which is the late 19th century that we're looking at.
05:07And I love the decoration around each of the stones,
05:10which, of course, is one of the symbols from the Romanoff coat of arms.
05:16You'll see that appearing on there.
05:18So what about the piece of jewellery?
05:20Well, it is stunning. I absolutely adore it.
05:23It is this conversion piece, though. It's been adapted.
05:25And as a pair of cufflinks, we might have had some marks on the cufflinks.
05:30And, of course, the Romanoffs were associated
05:32with a number of very important jewellery designers, manufacturers,
05:37makers of the time, including, of course, Fabergé.
05:40Now, we can't say that they might have had a Fabergé mark on them.
05:46It's a lovely piece of jewellery,
05:47but, naturally, we have to value it as what we are seeing today.
05:51If it came up for auction,
05:53I would anticipate the estimate to be round about £5,000 to £7,000.
06:10This is a rainy day.
06:11This has really brightened my day up, no end.
06:14And I hope that it has for you, as well,
06:16hearing more about the history of the family
06:18and how important it obviously is to you.
06:23If you took a train from Minehead station
06:25to catch the boat for the continent,
06:28this is just a sort of swanky souvenir.
06:30You might have come back.
06:31You didn't get it that way, but how did it come to you?
06:34The actual piece was inherited from a late aunt
06:38whose husband was an auctioneer, valower and estate agent
06:44in the town of Neath, where I live, you see.
06:47And as a young man,
06:49I always fancied these pieces on a mantled shelf.
06:52So I made the point clear to my aunt
06:55and quietly they followed down the line to me, you know?
07:00And what was it about this in particular that attracted you
07:02at such a small age?
07:03I can't really say that...
07:05I've always been interested in galleons, really.
07:09And to this very day, galleons of any sort or sailing ships.
07:13If you were to buy it in 1860, 1870,
07:16you would have probably gone to Austria.
07:18This is typical Vienna enamel work
07:22from the last part of the 19th century.
07:24And it's really, it's a magnificent object.
07:26It's a useless object.
07:27It is useful only for decoration.
07:29But it's based on something which is called a neph,
07:33which would have been to hold salt on a table.
07:35And of course, it comes from a time when salt was very valuable.
07:38And if you're sitting below the salt or above the salt,
07:40you are in a different social position.
07:42So big silver versions would have held salt.
07:46But this is a small decorative version.
07:48It's on a bronze body.
07:50And all of these enamel panels will have been painted by hand.
07:54And often with enamel, different colours fire at different temperatures.
07:58It is a work of art.
08:00It's also a work of art which is very fragile.
08:03And had you reached up onto that mantel shelf as a child
08:06and grabbed it and dropped it,
08:08it would have been not in the lovely condition it is today.
08:11And as something like that, it has some value.
08:16You inherited it, so it is standing, you know, money.
08:20But were you to retake that continental journey today
08:23and go to an antique shop,
08:25you'd probably be paying £5,000 for it.
08:28Because really, really, well, I'm amazed.
08:31Shall I say it again?
08:33I'm truly amazed.
08:34You know, you hear these things regularly on the antique shop.
08:37It's not everybody's cup of tea, but it's such a good quality thing
08:41that there's a ready market for it.
08:43Well, I'm surprised.
08:43So £5,000.
08:45It's nice to hear.
08:46It's a pleasure.
08:46Thank you very much indeed.
08:51OK, so we've got steam going on, we've got dust,
08:55we've got quite a grubby, dirty box.
08:58What does it mean to you?
08:59It came from the sale at Slapperdon
09:03from Miss Barnsley's house up at Orville.
09:05OK, so the Barnsley collection...
09:08It belonged to the Barnsley family, yes.
09:10And what is it you liked about it?
09:13The fun of seeing what's inside.
09:17When you say, when you see what's inside,
09:19I mean, we all need a bit of sunshine and light in our life.
09:22And then when you open this up,
09:25you really get the wow factor.
09:27And that is just unbelievable to see.
09:32You've got the pomegranates.
09:35That, to me, symbolises in history, all over the world, fertility.
09:40In some cultures, you would smash a pomegranate on the floor
09:44in front of a new bride.
09:45How many seeds were spread,
09:47denoted how many children she was going to have.
09:50You have the two lions coming together.
09:52Lions symbolise strength.
09:54Two strong families coming together.
09:56So I think this is a marriage chest.
09:59A present to someone you, obviously, are devoted to and love intensely.
10:06Where I get confused on this is there's so many things going on.
10:09And it has this real colonial look to it, almost.
10:13Now, you would sort of think, OK, well, this is 1680, 1690, that sort of period.
10:20But then if we add that colonial influence to it, there's 50 years behind the times in styles.
10:26So that then takes up 1720, 1730, which explains the rococo vases of flowers.
10:34And I think that's the sort of period it is.
10:35It's early part of the 1700s, value-wise.
10:40I think it's tired, it's tatty, the hinges are missing, all of that goes against it.
10:49£8,000 to £12,000.
10:57So here we are in Minehead, at the railway station, with a very suitable frock.
11:07Tell me about it.
11:09This is a dress and matching coat by a designer named Ken Scott,
11:15who I have researched a little and found he was born in America,
11:21but actually worked largely in Italy.
11:25And he was very, very popular, I believe, in the 60s and 70s.
11:29And he was sort of the forefather of pop art and psychedelic clothes.
11:36Absolutely. If you look at that, what do I see?
11:39I see yellow submarine.
11:41I see 1968.
11:42I see everything that was going on.
11:44Look at all those colours. Fantastic.
11:46And the beading work and everything.
11:49Amazing dress.
11:50What drew you to it?
11:52I went to an auction, and this was the very last item that was for sale.
12:00So I waited and waited until the very end.
12:03Lots of people had got up and left, and I thought I had no chance of buying this.
12:09But there was only one other bid against it.
12:11So I made my bid and won the item.
12:15And your lovely daughter here, who looks stunning in it.
12:20Just fabulous.
12:21I mean, it just says it's a real statement.
12:23And he was right ahead of his time, really, with this sort of design.
12:28Now, just between you and me, you know, it's only us here.
12:33Okay.
12:34What did you pay for it?
12:36Just under £100.
12:38Oh!
12:39£100.
12:40Well, £100, probably pretty well spent.
12:46Because I think in a specialist vintage sale, this would make between £800 and £1,000.
12:59I think I may have just lost it.
13:05You say that you love me, say you love me, all of the time.
13:11Out through the gate, you turn left for the Antiques Roadshow.
13:16Well, it was my mother-in-law's originally.
13:18We think it's a piece of Clarice Cliff, but we don't know for certain.
13:21If we spin it over on the back, we've got all the things we'd want to see.
13:25Bizarre by Clarice Cliff, and actually an impressed mark here, which is 9 over 32.
13:30Which tells us that it's September 1932.
13:34Damn it.
13:35Mum did absolutely spot on.
13:37It is as right as rain can be.
13:40It's a 1932 wall plaque in a pattern called Sungay.
13:44You're looking at a plate worth somewhere between £300 and £500.
13:47Great.
13:53Now, you've brought a lovely set of playing cards, but they have a link to a financial crisis.
13:59Really?
14:00What do you know about them, and how did you come to have them?
14:03I came to have them because between 60 and 70, I worked in a bank in the city.
14:07And, of course, I was near an awful lot of auction houses, places like that.
14:11These were purchased at an auction house, and they usually came in boxes of mixed ephemera,
14:16which were of no great value.
14:19These are Dutch playing cards.
14:21Yes.
14:21They're engraved, and I think they date to about 1720.
14:25Oh.
14:26Now, part of the reason why I think this is because throughout the cards, there are lots
14:32of merchants and ships and banknotes are showing up.
14:36And I think these banknotes and stock certificates, which I can see, are all references to stock
14:41market bubbles.
14:43Round about this time in 1720, there were new explorations being made and new settlements
14:48in places like the Mississippi and in the East Indies.
14:52And the people who were travelling out there were trying to get investment.
14:56Tons of people invested and thought they were going to make their fortune.
14:59And as so often happens, this all exploded and people lost a fortune and the bubbles burst.
15:04I think that they have to do with the South Sea bubble and the Mississippi bubble.
15:10This one, number five, the five of hearts, there's a chap here who seems to be a merchant,
15:15and he's holding a kind of stock certificate in his hand.
15:18And in the distance, there's a sort of ship sailing away.
15:21And this tiny little village in the distance, which is Batavia, which is what we now call
15:27Indonesia.
15:28Why did they appeal to you?
15:30Because there's something from the past that someone else has had and used, who are no
15:34longer here, obviously 250 years ago or more.
15:37And it's so interesting to think that it would have cost them quite a bit of money to buy this
15:41pack.
15:42So it's got a history.
15:44They are very rare, I think.
15:46Oh, really?
15:47There are some series of playing cards that were produced in Holland around this time to
15:52do with the Mississippi bubble and the South Sea bubble.
15:55Right, right.
15:55But I can't particularly find any trace of these.
15:58And it looks like we have a good series of full 52 cards, 53 cards even, that there
16:05is.
16:05Yeah.
16:06I think if you saw them coming up at auction today, I think you would expect them to make
16:12something like £2,000 to £3,000.
16:15Really?
16:18I thought you were going to say maybe £100,000.
16:20£3,000.
16:22That's fantastic, isn't it?
16:23It's a royal flush.
16:27Here we are in a rather smoky Minehead station.
16:31And it's a very exciting day.
16:34But something else happened at Minehead station on the 2nd of March 1964, which was also a
16:41very exciting day.
16:42Or we could always say it was quite a hard day.
16:45Because this is something going on with a huge number of people there.
16:52Was there anybody in the crowd who actually either wanted to or was at, saw the Beatles
16:59that day?
17:00Yes.
17:01Yes.
17:02Because it was the day that the Beatles came to Minehead to film A Hard Day's Night.
17:07I mean, how exciting was that?
17:09And this is a fantastic photo archive of what happened that day.
17:13Now, where were you?
17:14I was stood in a field.
17:16You were one of these.
17:17One of these in there.
17:18Great.
17:19How do you get the time of school?
17:21My friend, who at the time, came onto the station and was allowed to take photos.
17:26Amazing.
17:27So he took all the photos and then offered me a set at the end.
17:31And I had a set.
17:33Amazing.
17:34So was there a really big build-up in Minehead?
17:37I mean, how long before it happened did everybody know that the Beatles were coming?
17:41Not that long.
17:42They came to film, but also to present a small teddy bear to a young girl from Willerton.
17:48And she's in the picture as well.
17:50So this is what's going on.
17:51I couldn't work out what the Beatles were doing with what is obviously an incredibly reluctant
17:56little girl who was not a fan.
17:58So she's being presented in the end with a prized teddy bear.
18:03And I've never seen a child reluctant to be hugged by a beetle.
18:06Mind you, it was probably not helped by the fact that all of them were smoking heavily
18:10at the time.
18:11They were in those days, yeah.
18:13So you were there in the crowd, as were, it looks like, the whole of Minehead Youth.
18:19All turned out.
18:20I can see.
18:21And how long were they here for?
18:23Were they here just for a little while?
18:24Just for a day.
18:24Just for a day.
18:25I mean, let's talk very briefly about A Hard Day's Night, the first Beatles film.
18:30It was at the height of Beatlemania.
18:32It was supposed to be this sort of mockumentary, a sort of mock documentary of a sort of day
18:37in their life.
18:38And it started off on the train with them escaping from their fans.
18:42Hence, the first section had to be filmed on a train.
18:45And here we are in Minehead.
18:48Now, the popularity of the Beatles defies all predictions.
18:53We all thought, well, they're going to be popular while us fans are still around and,
18:59you know, buying things.
19:01But it's the next generation who are equally enthusiastic and equally collecting.
19:07And although with photographs given to you by your friend, you don't own the copyright.
19:13But you do own the objects.
19:15Yes.
19:15And that's going to be of value to a collector.
19:19And I think we're talking about 25 photographs here.
19:22And I think we're talking about at least £1,000 and maybe as much as £1,500.
19:29So that day spent on a very chilly field on the 2nd of March 1964 may just reap you some
19:37benefit.
19:38Cool.
19:39Thank you very much.
19:40Pleasure.
19:44Traditionally on a day like today, we say that this is good weather for ducks.
19:47But actually, I think this is an ideal day for terrapins.
19:51So, lovely object.
19:53How did you come by it?
19:54It came into my possession.
19:55It was given to me when I was quite a young lad back in the 1950s.
20:00My father bought it.
20:02He was an antique dealer.
20:04Paid the equivalent of 10 shillings for it.
20:0650p in today's money.
20:09I had a number of tortoises at the time.
20:12And because it was sort of tortoise, terrapin related, he passed it to me.
20:17As a gift?
20:18As a gift.
20:19What a lovely gift, I have to say.
20:22Okay.
20:22So what is it?
20:23Well, it's Japanese.
20:25And it probably dates, or it does date from the Meiji period, which is 1868 to 1912.
20:31I guess it's a fairly broad brushstroke.
20:34I mean, when you see this close up, it is absolutely, the carving, the quality of carving
20:38is exquisite.
20:39I mean, the wood is probably a little difficult to identify.
20:43I think, you know, maybe a sort of a fruit wood or something like that.
20:46But, you know, they can be all different sort of types of wood.
20:48You know, you've got this rather poor terrapin at the bottom, maybe mum, who's being sort
20:55of, you know, piled on top of.
20:56And she's either just sort of poking out to tell them off, or sort of going back in to
21:00kind of get away from it all.
21:01So one of the first things I was starting to do was kind of a look around it for a
21:05signature
21:05or something like that, which I'm pleased to say we have found.
21:11So if we turn it over and we have a look just underneath, we can see there that we've
21:15got this signature.
21:17Yeah.
21:17And that actually reads as Tadukatsu.
21:21Right.
21:21And Tadukatsu, we've seen some other examples of sort of terrapins by Tadukatsu.
21:28So it was clear that that was really where he mastered.
21:31Now, it's Japanese.
21:34It's a Netsuki.
21:35Now, what is a Netsuki?
21:37Well, a Netsuki traditionally formed part of the sort of formal dress, the kimono.
21:42And underneath, you'll see that this has two little holes in it for the cord that went
21:46through for the toggle, which attached to the in-row.
21:49And the in-row was a little four-cased purse, if I want for a better word.
21:53What is clear from this, that this is exceptional quality.
21:57There is a real renewed passion for Japanese items, particularly Netsuki, particularly when
22:03something is of this quality.
22:04And I think if that came up for auction today, I'm going to say that it would probably bring
22:11somewhere between £3,000 to £5,000.
22:13Agreed.
22:15That is quite something for something so tiny.
22:25Hello.
22:26Antiques Roadshow.
22:28They're amazing, aren't they, these?
22:30They are.
22:30They are, yes.
22:31I used to use them in my home.
22:33Yes, I had one in my home, but I could only afford one in those days.
22:37I like them because they were Bakelite, and I love the design.
22:40I think these were designed in the 30s, but these ones are made in the 50s, aren't they?
22:45Yes, they are.
22:45Yes, they are.
22:46And, of course, you've got the three best colours.
22:49Well, I've actually got a lot more than these, and I used to be a telephone engineer back
22:53in the 50s.
22:54That's where it all started originally, where I used to fit these things.
22:58Really?
22:59And maintain them for the post office telephones as it was then.
23:03So, how many have you got?
23:04I've got about 80 altogether.
23:06Why, no?
23:0980 telephones?
23:1080 telephones, and an automatic telephone exchange to make them work.
23:15What a passion.
23:16Yes, it is indeed.
23:17I think these were probably the greatest invention of the 19th century.
23:21Yes, I would agree with you there.
23:23And they have become so popular today, but, of course, landlines are going to be obsolete
23:29within a few years from now, because everybody uses mobiles.
23:33Let's hope not.
23:34Yeah, but that's what makes these desirable, because they're almost obsolete now.
23:40This one is probably from the 1890s, close to the time when Alexander Graham Bell invented
23:47the telephone, and he was closely followed by Elisha Gray.
23:51In fact, they were within hours of submitting the designs, patents for these things.
23:58And this candlestick, also made in the 50s, but designed much earlier, probably in the 20s
24:06and 30s.
24:07Do you see these in those Hollywood films with Fred Astaire?
24:11Yes, you do.
24:12They're great.
24:13And that one, that's 70s, isn't it?
24:18That is 70s.
24:19Yeah.
24:19It's 77.
24:20You know which the best one here is, don't you?
24:23Yes.
24:23Jade green is the piece de resistance.
24:27Yeah, it is.
24:27It is indeed.
24:28It really is.
24:29And very rare.
24:30The value of that is pretty stable and pretty high.
24:35The value of some of these has dropped a bit, because people don't use landlines so much.
24:40But this one, in an auction, would be estimated at six to seven hundred pounds.
24:48And it does occasionally go for more.
24:50And it does.
24:51And it could easily make, I'm known to make twelve hundred pounds.
24:55Yes.
24:55But on the table here, you've got what I can sort of quickly guesstimate, estimate, at about
25:02two to two and a half thousand pounds.
25:04So it's a really lovely collection, and it's great to see them.
25:13This is yours, is it?
25:15Uh, yes.
25:15My father-in-law bought it in a charity sale for a charity he supported, and nobody wanted
25:22to buy it in the auction, so he stuck his hand up to help the charity out and bought it
25:27for 40 pounds.
25:28How long ago was this?
25:29Oh, it's about 15 years ago.
25:32Oh, right.
25:32But it's not his cup of tea, so we got it for the next Christmas, because we like it.
25:37Do you know what it is?
25:39I believe, by looking on the internet, it's a Chinese ancestor painting.
25:45Okay, not far off.
25:47Okay.
25:48It's just that the Chinese ancestor paintings are done on a conveyor belt system, very like
25:58their porcelain.
25:59Yeah.
26:00And in fact, there was an English painter called Deavis, who did the same thing.
26:04He had a studio, and he went and said, I want my family painted.
26:09And he said, well, choose a canvas from over there, all these bodies.
26:15You chose one, and then you put the heads on.
26:20Right.
26:20But here, you went to the Chinese studio, you got there with the bodies, but they didn't
26:27bother with the heads.
26:29They had just archetypal heads.
26:32Any head would do.
26:33So you had a female head, and you went a male head, or an old male head, or a young
26:38male head,
26:38and that was it.
26:39And they vary in quality, really, according to how much you could afford.
26:44Right.
26:45They're in court robes.
26:47In court robes, you could tell quite a lot about the person.
26:50Yeah.
26:50You could tell where they were, and what they did.
26:55And the symbols are different.
26:59So here we've got two birds, and each one of those is different because they're posed in
27:04a different way.
27:06We've got a bat, and it's red.
27:10Red in Chinese is a symbol of happiness.
27:15And the word for bat in Chinese is fu, which means, or is a homophon for happiness.
27:23Yeah.
27:24So a red bat is double happiness.
27:26Oh, wow.
27:28So there they are.
27:29They're sitting on a throne or a bench.
27:33She's wearing a complex headdress, and he's wearing a knob in his cap.
27:41And those vary as well, and you can tell the status from what they're made of.
27:46So they may be made of jade, or croissonne, or silver, or gold, or whatever.
27:51Right.
27:52Do you know what it's painted on?
27:53No, it's one thing I'm really interested about, actually, what it is actually painted on.
27:57I'm guessing rice paper, but you can't paint on rice paper.
28:02There you are.
28:04I definitely have learned something new.
28:05Try drawing on it.
28:07Oh, yeah.
28:07It goes through a soggy mess.
28:09It's actually an ordinary, modern paper.
28:13And I say modern, we're talking here about the end of the 19th, early 20th century.
28:18I guess it's acid-bleached.
28:22So, £40 15 years ago, was it worth the day?
28:30If it were a bog standard one, of that date, I think it would be worth 50 pounds.
28:38But because it's such a nice one, and there's such a lot of extra detail, I think probably
28:45£300 to £500, it could even make a bit more than that.
28:51Nice thing.
28:52It is.
28:52Thank you very much.
28:54Not at all.
28:58Well, I must say I'm going to break a tradition here, because it's not often that I curtsy
29:06to my owners, but I am in front of a descendant of glass royalty.
29:12Absolutely.
29:13And that's yourself, madam.
29:14So, please tell me why I'm being so reverential towards you.
29:18Well, the piece of glass we have in front of us was actually engraved by my great-grandfather,
29:26who is Ernest Guest of 1873, and not only did he engrave it, he made the machine to produce
29:37the wavery lines and the rosettes, and this is the very first piece, and I thought, you
29:43know, this is heritage, isn't it?
29:46It is.
29:47I mean, take it in itself, this is not the most remarkable piece of glass that I'm likely
29:54to see, even in the next ten minutes.
29:57But what you're not saying is that Guest Brothers were one of the leading Stourbridge glass-making
30:03families in the late 19th century, and your grandfather invented the system by which glass
30:11is not actually engraved.
30:13I'm going to have to correct you there, because this is etched.
30:16Etched.
30:17This is created, this is acid etching.
30:19The machine that your grandfather invented, driven by a pre-existing pattern on a template
30:27of a machine called a pantograph, sent a needle around this vessel.
30:33The vessel rotated slowly on a plate, and it scratched through the resist in the manner
30:39like this, exposing the raw glass beneath it.
30:42And what happened is that the exposed glass was burnt by the acid, and then when it says
30:51time, three, two, one, out she comes.
30:56And then you placed in water to neutralise the acid, and then the resist was removed, leaving,
31:02and now it was finished.
31:04That's the finished thing.
31:05But what happened is it became entirely ubiquitous, it was a cheap way of deprecating glass.
31:13And if you look at the impact, if we regard your grandfather's idea as a stone, and we throw
31:21into a pond, splash, the ripples of that invention continue to be felt in world glassmaking today.
31:29Do you value it as one of its type, or do you value it as the prototype?
31:35If it's the prototype, and I've no doubt that this is, then that has to be a more valuable
31:42piece, but then it's still, I mean, you know, maybe it's worth as much as a hundred quid,
31:46if you're really lucky, but it's not every day that I meet glassmaking royalty.
31:51Thank you very, very much indeed.
31:55Well this joyous little bronze figure of a naked young woman actually comes straight
32:02from the gates of hell.
32:04This little piece is by perhaps one of the world's best known sculptors, Auguste Rodin.
32:12Quite a name.
32:13Where did you get him from?
32:14My mother bought her.
32:16My mother and father gave up two summer holidays in order to afford her.
32:20Did they really?
32:22Yes.
32:22Well look, we are looking at certainly one of the greatest 19th century sculptors, Auguste
32:26Rodin, born in 1840, symbolist, romantic, and he died in 1917 during the First World War.
32:35But the name of the piece?
32:37Yes.
32:38The name of the piece is La Petite Désespoir, which means the little despair.
32:44Despair, yeah.
32:44And this is what I mentioned earlier, the gates of hell.
32:48Yes.
32:48Now, just to put this in context, the gates of hell was an enormous design for a doorway,
32:56for a museum of decorative arts in Paris, which was never actually built, so the door was never
33:03used.
33:03But, I think for nearly 40 years, Rodin did designs for this enormous door, which was
33:10based on probably one of the greatest of stories, Dante's...
33:15Dante's Inferno.
33:16Inferno.
33:17That's right, yeah.
33:17From the Divine Comedy, written in the 14th century.
33:22And of course, by doing these studies of hell and purgatory and paradise, Rodin was understanding
33:30all the human emotions.
33:32Yes.
33:32And, you know, reading into this figure, very beautifully modelled, you can just start
33:38to understand the skill of Rodin, what was in his mind.
33:42I mean, the good news is, it is signed.
33:46I mean, we've got a full signature here, A. Rodin, and then crucially, it has the signature,
33:57Alexis Roudier.
33:58Now, as one of the world's greatest sculptors, he only wanted the finest foundries to cast
34:07his works, and he was very concerned about the correct colour of the bronze, the quality
34:14of the bronze, and of course, the finish, because the patina, this rich, greeny-black,
34:20sort of waxy finish this has, was all put on artificially.
34:25Oh.
34:26But he gave the Roudier foundry the work from, I think, certainly the later, sort of 19th
34:33century.
34:34And that foundry cast his work even after his death, right up until 1952.
34:41So we know this figure's pre-1952.
34:44Right.
34:45As I say, dating these is tricky, because they carried on casting them after the death of
34:50Rodin, but I think this is after 1917, but before 1952, it's a good one.
34:57Today at auction, this would carry an auction estimate of between £30,000 and £50,000.
35:04So...
35:04Wow.
35:05She's not going anywhere.
35:07So you're no longer in despair.
35:09I'm not in despair, no.
35:32It's time for our new guessing game, Changing Fortunes.
35:35To mark 40 years on the road this year for the Antiques Roadshow, our experts have set
35:39us a new challenge.
35:41If you'd been buying antiques back when we started in 1977, what would have been the best
35:46investment?
35:47Well, this week, our expert, Ronnie Archer Morgan, has set us a challenge.
35:51Of these three items, which has just kept pace with inflation, which has made a moderate
35:57profit, and which has skyrocketed in value.
36:00So, Ronnie, you've got three lovely Art Deco items here.
36:05What's made you pick these?
36:06Well, as you said, they're three items from the Art Deco period, the collecting of which
36:12was revived in about 1977, when the Antiques Roadshow was born.
36:17People collected these in those days because they thought some of them would rise in value.
36:22And I've chosen three items, all different materials and all different functions.
36:27Well, let's start with this force here, which is beautiful.
36:30What can you tell me about this?
36:31It's by the firm of Hagenauer.
36:33They were a workshop and factory in Vienna, established by Karl Hagenauer, with a C.
36:40And he originally made things for the Vienna Werkstatt, where the greatest designers of the
36:47early 20th century work.
36:49And this would have been made probably by his son, Karl Hagenauer, with a K. And this would
36:54have probably been made in about 1930.
36:56And it's signed under here.
36:59And I think it says, made in Austria, Vienna.
37:01And it's got the WHW mark of the workshop of Hagenauer.
37:07And it's made out of?
37:08Silvered bronze.
37:09It's a gorgeous thing.
37:11Yeah.
37:11What about this?
37:12This was made by Keith Murray for Wedgwood.
37:15And he was actually born in New Zealand and emigrated when he was a young boy.
37:19And he trained as an architect.
37:21But at the same time, he was interested in industrial design and so on.
37:26And he liked simple forms based on his architectural background.
37:30And again, very collectible.
37:32That's also signed underneath, full signature, Keith Murray.
37:36What about this little object here?
37:38This looks the most humble of the three.
37:40Well, not so humble.
37:41It's a cigarette box by a very interesting designer called Alexander Knoll, who was French.
37:47And he liked to develop his own secret ways of making things.
37:52He would join wood without nails, without hinges, without rivets.
37:57And also, in the 1920s, 30s, when that was made, cigarettes were very fashionable.
38:03Of course.
38:04But they're not very fashionable now.
38:06Yeah, but it's a lovely box.
38:07I need you to help me out here.
38:08So let's number these three, two, one.
38:10So three being the one that has just kept price with inflation, hasn't really made a profit.
38:15Two being the one that has risen in value, perhaps only moderately.
38:18And then one being the one that's absolutely skyrocketed.
38:24You think, hang on, three, two, one.
38:27Anyone else?
38:29I mean, I have to say, my money's on the horse, personally.
38:32Yes.
38:32Yes.
38:33I mean, the thing I wonder about this is because smoking is so fallen out of fashion, I can't
38:39help feeling that the value of anything associated with smoking would not have kept its value.
38:45Oh, Ronnie.
38:47It's easy, isn't it?
38:49I love these games.
38:51I also get quite competitive, as you know.
38:53I think, what I agree with the majority, just about kept price with inflation, made a moderate profit, absolutely gone
39:01through the roof.
39:03Wrong.
39:04Oh, no.
39:05OK.
39:06Whose advice was that then?
39:08Really?
39:09Don't tell me it's this one.
39:11Gone through the roof.
39:12No!
39:15Gone down a little in value, if not a lot.
39:20Just stayed level, just maintained its value with inflation.
39:26Are you kidding?
39:26Because, I've got to be honest, I just found this rather unimpressive.
39:29He's a sort of a very collected designer.
39:35His things make a fortune.
39:37This is a very modest thing by him.
39:39So, in the 70s, this was what, about £40 to £70?
39:44Maybe £100.
39:45Maybe £100.
39:46So, what's it worth 40 years on?
39:48£1,500 to £2,000.
39:51Wow.
39:52This now?
39:54That's £100, £120, which means it's actually gone down in value.
39:59And this was £500 or £600?
40:01And that's £1,500 to £2,000 a day, which is about staying level with inflation and gone up a
40:06little bit.
40:07Well, that's it then.
40:09Useless.
40:10A lot of you.
40:12Ronnie, what can I say?
40:14Well done.
40:14You got them all wrong.
40:15All of them.
40:16Go on.
40:22This is a little jewel of the picture.
40:26They are clearly zinnias in a little bowl and it's been painted in pastel.
40:32So, because it's pastel, you get these incredible colours coming through of the flowers.
40:37How did it come to be yours?
40:38Well, actually we bought it at a car boot sale with some other things, yes.
40:43I can't remember what we paid for it, but we obviously needed something else in the box, but not this
40:48particular one.
40:49Yeah.
40:49So, how many things were in a box with it?
40:51Oh, there was 10 or 15 items in the box, yeah.
40:56And did you even notice this in the box?
40:58We didn't.
40:59No.
40:59We didn't notice in the box, no.
41:00And we were going through it and saw a signature on there and it's from America.
41:05We did a little bit of research, but found nothing.
41:07So, we knew this was on today, so hopefully you can give us more information on it.
41:13So, the picture is signed.
41:15It's signed in the top right corner and it's signed Laura Hills.
41:19Now, that was actually Laura Coombs Hills.
41:22And she is actually one of the most famous flower painters in America.
41:28She was born in somewhere called Newburyport, which is in Massachusetts.
41:31And she actually lived until she was over 92.
41:36Like a lot of female artists in the late 19th century, she was one of those people who wasn't supposed
41:42to go to art school.
41:43She had very little training, but she came and she loved flowers.
41:48She originally trained actually as a miniaturist.
41:50And what I love about this, though, is that because it's pastel, you really get the sense of colour from
41:57those flowers.
41:58And if you look a little bit closer, you can see these lovely strokes of pastel.
42:02And even though this was probably painted really quite a long time ago in the early 20th century,
42:08so probably a hundred years ago, it feels as if these flowers could live with us today.
42:13Now, how much did you pay for that box of ten things?
42:16I can't honestly remember, but it wouldn't be more than a couple of pounds.
42:19So you'll be very pleased to know then that your box for a couple of pounds turned out to have
42:25a little picture that's worth two to three thousand pounds.
42:28Oh, my goodness.
42:31Yes, I like it even more now.
42:38Well, obviously, a small or miniature carriage clock.
42:43Who is A.M., one of your relatives?
42:45Yes, that's my great-grandmother, Amy Montagu.
42:49OK.
42:51Let's have a look at what's inside.
42:54Ooh.
42:56Ooh, ooh, ooh, look at that.
42:59Now, do you know what sort of enamel we call that?
43:03Is it cloisonné?
43:04No, it's chamlevé.
43:05Ooh.
43:06Slightly different technique because, if you like, this is, they get a flat bit of brass and they scoop out
43:12bits and then it's enameled.
43:14Whereas cloisonné, it's a flat bit and it's built up with fences, if you like, filled.
43:20So this is chamlevé, but the size is lovely.
43:27Really sweet.
43:27We've got the usual white enamel dial, but then we've got a dial mask, which is beautifully multicolored enamel, and
43:36these fantastic Corinthian columns.
43:40But I can see around my side, which is very, very unusual, that we've got, instead of glass panels, we've
43:49got solid chamlevé panels and an enamel back door as well.
43:56Really, really lovely.
43:59French, of course, dating from the late 1800s, 1895, possibly as late as 1905.
44:09And a quick look in the back door, and sadly, I say sadly, it doesn't really make a lot of
44:15difference, but I can't see any maker's mark.
44:17No factory stamp, nothing like that at all.
44:20It does have its original lever platform, which is super, and it obviously hasn't run for a few years.
44:28Do you not have it running?
44:30Well, it belongs to my brother, and he's been looking after it for the last few years.
44:36And he assured me last night that it had been for a refurbishment some time ago.
44:43Well, he lied, as it hasn't been done for quite a long time.
44:48So, do you and your brother have any thoughts on, I mean, do you have it insured, for instance?
44:53Erm, I don't believe he does. Erm, I'm hoping it's not too valuable, because my mother gave it to him.
45:00To him, and not to you. And not to me, but...
45:03So, at what sort of figure would you get more upset?
45:07Well, if it was more than a few hundred pounds, I'd begin to be a bit, erm...
45:12Would you?
45:12...twitchy.
45:12Well, you're going to be a very unhappy lady.
45:15A very unhappy lady indeed then, aren't you?
45:18Because sadly it isn't yours.
45:20So, I'm going to tell you that if I was retailing this, I would be looking for a minimum of
45:27£5,000.
45:27A jammy...
45:30HE LAUGHS
45:32He always had a good eye for things, my brother, still does.
45:35Well, you could always go home and suggest that he gives you a couple of grand to make up for
45:39it.
45:39You'll be delighted, and I'm thrilled for him too.
45:42Great.
45:46This is a pleasure to see.
45:48It's a beautiful bit of ceramic, and the silver work on it is equally really, really nicely executed.
45:53There is one, actually, unfortunately rather disappointing aspect of this, is it's empty.
46:00HE LAUGHS
46:01This is a mug that's been made in China for the European market.
46:07OK.
46:08It was not made for Chinese people to use.
46:10It was made to go straight onto a ship and be exported to Europe.
46:15Right.
46:15There was a demand for these sorts of things, and beer mugs, for example, were something that were used in
46:20Europe,
46:21but they simply weren't used in China at all.
46:24Perhaps you can tell me how you have ended up with this tankard.
46:28My late husband's first wife was Danish.
46:31I have no knowledge about it, so it's just come down to me now.
46:35That makes a lot of sense.
46:36I'd love to know its history.
46:38That makes a lot of sense to me because the silver lid for this, well, stein, we'll call it, rather
46:45than a tankard,
46:46is Danish and marked in Denmark.
46:48So we've got the story now from China...
46:52Yes.
46:52..to Copenhagen...
46:54Yes.
46:54..where somebody very proudly, I suspect, took it off the ship, or was sold it, having been on the ship,
47:02and thought, what a nice mug, but it's not nice enough, I'm going to elevate it.
47:06The mount is really, really nice quality and must have cost an awful lot of money when they put it
47:13on there.
47:13The detail down to the little heart-shaped thumbpiece here,
47:18which has been really expertly surrounded by silver with a hole cut out,
47:22so that you can still put your thumb on top of it.
47:25And you've got a gilt coin in the top, which is not uncommon.
47:30This incidentally, the mug itself is about 1770, 1780.
47:35The inside of the lid, thankfully for me, is fully marked.
47:40It's got a full set of Danish hallmarks on for 1781.
47:44So tell me, have you ever used it in hot blow?
47:46No.
47:47Never?
47:48Never.
47:48Does it sit on the side?
47:49It sits on the sideboard.
47:50OK.
47:50I might snack, can I?
47:52I think you should.
47:53It seems a shame not to.
47:54I suspect that whoever originally owned this was very proud of it,
47:58and used it to drink his beer out of and show off to his friends.
48:00Yes.
48:01Because otherwise, why bother?
48:02Why go to all that trouble?
48:03Good idea.
48:04In the current market, the mug itself, without the lid, without any silver at all,
48:07it's worth about £800, which is a lot for a bit of ceramic.
48:12The silver lid itself has been added to it.
48:15Now that the two of them together, it's a rare thing.
48:19You were going to struggle to find another one.
48:21But if you did, and let's say you walked into a shop and found you,
48:24if you had to pay less than £3,000 for it, you would have bought a bargain.
48:30Brilliant.
48:34I'm definitely going to fill it up.
48:37With champagne or beer?
48:38With champagne.
48:54With champagne.
48:56So, if I asked you to try and think of Britain's most eminent naturalist,
49:04who on modern media has put across more about plants and animals in the world
49:10than anyone else you could think of, a national living treasure,
49:14whose name would you say?
49:15Attenborough.
49:15Of course.
49:16Of course, yes.
49:18This man, James Sowerby, was the David Attenborough of his day,
49:23which is about 1790, 1800 or something, without any doubt.
49:27He was a working man from quite a humble background
49:31who painted flowers with the most extraordinary precision
49:36and presented it to the public, part-published, as coloured engravings
49:41and enabled an entire generation to start enjoying plants
49:45and understand what they had in their garden.
49:47And this, you've got to try and remember, is just after Captain Cook's voyages.
49:52Yes.
49:52So, you've got Sir Joseph Banks coming back, you've got Kew Gardens about to start.
49:56He was an interesting man, Sowerby.
49:58Was he related to you?
50:01Yes, he's...
50:01James Sowerby was my five times great-grandfather.
50:07Quite a while ago, isn't it?
50:09Quite a while ago.
50:09Quite a while ago.
50:10He ran almost a sort of family business, didn't he?
50:12I mean, all these objects around here belong to him.
50:14I just love this sort of dead armadillo and there's a telescope
50:17and a rather nice shell there.
50:19In his house in Lambert, he had his own private museum.
50:21All of this would have been spread around and people would come visit
50:24and see all the original specimens that he was illustrating as well,
50:28just as a scientific resource.
50:31Fascinating.
50:32If you're just going through some of these, you've got about 20 plates
50:35from the finished album here.
50:38And isn't that lovely?
50:39It's so delicate, that.
50:41It's a beautiful thing.
50:43And then the seeds, separately rendered and coloured,
50:47so that you can see at all stages in the plant's maturity
50:50what it was supposed to look like and go into your own garden and identify them.
50:53So not only artwork, but also science.
50:56This one, which I think is convolvulus,
50:59but I think he's done those colours so delicately
51:01and you'd really be able to identify that plant too, scientifically.
51:05So before, you've got to imagine, people were painting plants artfully
51:09to arrange them in a pleasing way.
51:12But this is the first time that they'd scientifically been carefully recorded.
51:17Now, even if you just said that this wasn't complete
51:20and it's impossible to tell whether it is,
51:21or even the smaller ones, which are equally beautiful but just smaller,
51:26whether they're complete, it doesn't really matter.
51:29If you say that each one of these is worth about, I don't know, £100,
51:32you're easily looking, it seems to me, at £4,000 to £6,000 for the group.
51:37I know it seems a lot, doesn't it?
51:39When you add it up, they're just so lovely.
51:41I think that people would just frame them up and just use them as decoration.
51:50As someone who is a self-confessed obsessive about 20th century design,
51:55it's always so exciting to find a piece that sort of becomes a landmark,
51:59a signpost to how movement's changed.
52:02So I've got to ask you, something that excites me so much,
52:05how do you come to be the proud owner of this vase?
52:08I saw it at an antiques fair, Cheltenham Racecourse I think it was,
52:12and I just loved it, first sight.
52:15Turned it up and saw the signature on the bottom and thought,
52:17yes, this is worth having.
52:19And paid?
52:20And the price was right, it was no more than £25.
52:23Good Lord.
52:24Well, what we're looking at, for me, is one of those pivotal moments.
52:28It's that actual point where certainly studio glass,
52:32hot glass in this country, transforms itself.
52:35Because we're looking at a piece that is made by a gentleman called Peter Wheeler.
52:40Now, underneath here we've got P. J. Wheeler, RCA, Royal College of Art, 1967.
52:48But the real key thing about that is, whilst we're looking at a piece by Peter Wheeler,
52:52who then went on to be a very key player at the great firm of Whitefriars.
52:57Ah, I thought so, yes.
52:59But more importantly, we're looking at a piece that is influenced
53:01by one of the greatest exponents of the studio glass movement, Sam Herman.
53:07Ah.
53:07And Sam Herman, at this point, was his tutor.
53:11Sam came down to the Royal College of Art, 65, 66,
53:15and basically established this new hot working kiln.
53:18And you can see Sam's work in it, you can see the style, you can see the design.
53:22And that's what makes this vase so fantastic.
53:26It's heart-shaped, and for me it's like the beating heart
53:29of the modern studio glass movement.
53:32That's fabulous.
53:33Well, let's look at your £25 investment.
53:36It's an important piece, and today you're looking more like £600 to £800.
53:42Are you serious?
53:43Totally and utterly serious.
53:45Wow.
53:46Well, it's not going to be sold.
53:47I just love it too much.
53:49But thank you, that's wonderful.
53:52I think this little lump of metal could tell a tale or two of its own.
53:58Where does the tale of this mortar, which is used for grinding herbs and spices,
54:04where does that tale start for you?
54:06It starts with three great aunts who used to live in Barnsley.
54:10Right.
54:11And they all died within months of each other.
54:15Did they really?
54:15And then it was divided up between the family and was handed down to my father.
54:20And that was about 50 years ago.
54:22Right.
54:22Because, yeah, in the deep and distant past you would grind herbs and spices for cooking.
54:28Yes.
54:29But also, you know, a pharmacist would use it for preparing lotions and unctions and things.
54:36And what fascinated me about this is that it has a name on it.
54:42Yes.
54:42Because a lot of the mortars I see are plain and we have the name John Broke.
54:48Yes.
54:49So he presumably cast this little vessel.
54:53And if we turn it round, there's a little surprise on the back because there's a really potent date.
55:02And you know what it is.
55:04Yeah.
55:051588.
55:061588.
55:07So are we looking at a piece that was made in the year that the Spanish Armada set sail to
55:15overrun Britain?
55:17Yeah.
55:18John Broke's initials also appear singly on the front.
55:24So the I, which is the J, John Broke.
55:28And also, rather beautifully, there is a shield containing three wheat sheaves.
55:34Now, I'll be honest, I just can't think where that armorial actually comes from.
55:39Have you looked into it?
55:41We've searched on the internet and found no information at all.
55:45No, because it has the shield front and back.
55:47Yes.
55:48But the lettering, it's so gorgeous and raised, isn't it?
55:52Absolutely.
55:52Well, what's nice is the inside is patinated and the outside, indeed, is quite shiny.
55:59This is bronze, but I think there's a lead content in it.
56:03Right.
56:03And there'll probably be, you know, tin, maybe a bit of zinc.
56:07So it has this lovely, lovely soft colour.
56:11It's a fairly ordinary piece.
56:14Now, I'll be honest, I see late 16th and a lot of 17th century plain mortars.
56:22And you've probably seen them.
56:23They're worth about £50.
56:25Yeah.
56:25Which seems almost criminal for something so old.
56:30I think this is right, you know, and I think this is an Elizabethan piece.
56:34And I mean, how many Elizabethan pieces come wandering into the Antiques Roadshow?
56:39Not many.
56:42It's a good one.
56:43It's worth £10,000.
56:47I'm joking.
56:51Oh, my goodness.
56:54I had no idea.
56:56Yeah.
56:57What a wonderful surprise for that lady.
57:00Adam tells us this is probably the rarest mortar we've ever had on the Roadshow.
57:07We have battled the rain, the steam.
57:10We've loved the trains.
57:12We've seen some wonderful items, as always, from the whole Roadshow team.
57:16Until next time.
57:16Bye-bye.
57:26Bye-bye.
57:27Bye.
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