Antiques Roadshow 2024 - Cromford Mills 2
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CreativityTranscript
00:00Today, the roadshow is at Cromford Mills, in the beautiful Derwent Valley, located at
00:10the end of the Cromford Canal.
00:14This rural waterway looks quiet and tranquil now, but in the 19th century, it would have
00:18been busy with boats like this, bringing goods in and out.
00:23Times have changed, obviously.
00:25In fact, it's been designated a site of special scientific interest, and it's teeming with
00:31wildlife.
00:34Converted from diesel to electric, this narrowboat is the only one allowed to run on this waterway,
00:39ensuring the water remains clean for the wildlife.
00:41Operated by the Friends of the Cromford Canal, it's here to welcome our visitors today, who,
00:46just like our experts, are keen to see new treasures.
00:50It's kind of so science fiction, isn't it?
00:52So war of the world.
00:53I think I called it the spaceship.
00:56What do you think you'll do with it?
00:58Put it back in the box.
00:59Put it back in the box, really?
01:01For its age, it's in good condition as well.
01:03Seems a bit beer-stained, I think, in parts.
01:05Yeah, you'd expect that, you'd expect that.
01:07My husband says, you don't want that, it's a load of tat.
01:10So I said, well, I like it.
01:16Welcome to the Antiques Roadshow.
01:24Welcome to the Antiques Roadshow.
01:39When I see this, I just think, it is magical.
01:42It is a beautiful piece of jewellery.
01:44Please tell me, how did you get this brooch?
01:46I found this in my husband's sock drawer.
01:49He keeps all sorts of things in there.
01:51Maybe we don't want to know them all.
01:53I think it's really beautiful.
01:55And it does sparkle a lot when it's out in the sun,
01:57which it's not seen for a while.
01:59Is it something that was handed down through the family?
02:01I don't think so, no.
02:03Because I did ask him, and he just couldn't remember.
02:05Well, it certainly has given me a ray of sunshine
02:08to have a look at it.
02:09Because it is just quintessentially 1900.
02:14This is when jewellers started to work with platinum.
02:17This was a revelation, because they
02:21were able to really refine platinum.
02:23You must have seen, it's like lace, isn't it?
02:25It's so fine.
02:26It's really delicate.
02:27I think that's why I'm a little bit scared to wear it,
02:29perhaps, because I wouldn't want to break it.
02:32No, but the difference is that platinum is really strong.
02:35And that's why you could work it to such fine wires,
02:39because of its strength.
02:40Wow.
02:41And that's its beauty as well.
02:42It doesn't tarnish.
02:43And you've got a cluster of cushion-shaped diamonds
02:47in the centre here.
02:50So have you had a valuation?
02:52Do you know how much it's worth?
02:54It's been in the sock drawer, so no.
02:58I couldn't even hazard a guess, no.
03:01Well, at auction, I think this would go in the region
03:05of about £3,000.
03:07Wow.
03:08Oh, OK.
03:10It's fabulous.
03:11Oh, that's amazing.
03:12Thank you so much.
03:13Maybe it's going to come out of the sock drawer
03:15a little more often.
03:16I think it might be.
03:17Special occasions, definitely.
03:18And I'll try and put it somewhere safe
03:20so I don't keep losing it.
03:21Yes.
03:22That would be a good idea.
03:23That's amazing.
03:24Better ring the husband now.
03:25I know.
03:34I've seen these before, but not one like it.
03:36Do you know what it is?
03:37It's a YZ bird.
03:38You do know what it is?
03:39Yes.
03:40And a YZ bird is a sort of curious creature.
03:43Why do you have it?
03:44It was my grandmother's.
03:46OK.
03:48And she died when I was ten,
03:50so it's at least 60 years old, but I suspect a lot older.
03:54And you suspect correctly.
03:56So YZ birds were popular in the 1920s and 30s.
03:59Yes.
04:00They were made by a company called Henry Howell,
04:02who were set up in the 19th century,
04:04and they produced walking sticks and canes
04:06and that sort of thing.
04:07In the 1920s, they produced these
04:09based on these sort of cartoon-like characters.
04:11So it is made of wood, and the tail and the beak
04:13are both made out of cast phenolic,
04:15which is a type of early plastic.
04:18So some people call them Bakelite.
04:20He's a really nice... He or she?
04:22I always think of him as a he.
04:24I think he's a he too.
04:25This has a clock set in the centre.
04:27Yes.
04:28It used to work.
04:29It used to work.
04:30OK.
04:31My father actually bought a new clock to go in,
04:33but it didn't have the same face or anything.
04:36But he kept the old one.
04:37That's important.
04:38Did you keep the old one?
04:40Yes, that's the old...
04:41That is the original.
04:42Thank goodness.
04:43That didn't work.
04:44Thank goodness.
04:45I see.
04:46I'm sure he had good intentions.
04:48He wanted a clock that worked.
04:50Yes, and of course, why not in a quirky bird like this?
04:52But originality is key.
04:54Collectors for these just love them,
04:56and I've never seen a clock before.
04:58And my feeling is that if it were put up for sale at auction,
05:01it would fetch somewhere around £400 to £600.
05:04Are you joking?
05:05I thought it was £75.
05:07On the site, I'd looked, and I thought maybe £75.
05:10Don't trust everything you read on the internet.
05:12These are wonderfully collectible things.
05:16It's lovely to become acquainted with him.
05:28When I first saw this cup and saucer, I thought,
05:31oh, how lovely.
05:32Somebody has made a tea service for HK.
05:36Hilary Kay.
05:37How fabulous.
05:38Really, yeah.
05:39With a crown on the top.
05:40Obviously made for me.
05:43The truth is, HK is the imperial mark for Hong Kong
05:47while it was under British control.
05:49Now, tell me your relationship with this cup and saucer.
05:52How did you get it?
05:53OK, from 1992 to 1997,
05:56I was teaching in a Hong Kong secondary school,
06:00and in the run-up to the handover in 1997,
06:03everything which had the colonial insignia on it disappeared.
06:08As souvenirs.
06:09They disappeared.
06:10They just disappeared.
06:12Every piece of A4 paper used for exams with the stamp on,
06:16and also the cups and saucers,
06:18which were used for staff meetings and for visitors,
06:21they all disappeared as well.
06:22And I was a little bit disappointed
06:24at not having a little souvenir of my own.
06:26So I spoke to my principal and explained this,
06:30and she said, actually, come here.
06:32And she went to a little cabinet and said,
06:34this is the last one.
06:35And she gave it to me.
06:37And I was really pleased.
06:38And now it's back home.
06:39And it's my little connection
06:41with that momentous moment in history
06:43when the Chinese took over.
06:45Were you there at handover?
06:46Yes, I was there.
06:47It was a day even wetter than today, wasn't it?
06:50Yeah, quite.
06:51So we stood there, pouring it down with rain.
06:5312 o'clock came, the Royal Yacht came past
06:56with Chris Patton and the then Prince of Wales on it.
06:59It was one of those weird events
07:01because nobody really knew what was going to happen.
07:04Interesting times.
07:05Yes, very interesting times.
07:08Well, I hope you haven't planned a Caribbean cruise on this.
07:13You've already booked it?
07:15Yeah.
07:16Well, it'll probably get you a ticket to...
07:19It might get you a ticket to London.
07:21I'd put it at about £100.
07:23You see them changing hands for that sort of money,
07:26particularly in China.
07:28Indeed, yeah.
07:29It's a wonderful piece of history
07:32from a rather momentous time.
07:34Thank you very much for bringing it in.
07:36And it's priceless to me.
07:38Quite right.
07:44Inside this case is an incredible collection
07:47of glass models of gemstones.
07:49They all really gleam in the sunshine, don't they?
07:52They're absolutely wonderful.
07:53They're part of that strong tradition
07:55of Czechoslovakian glass-making.
07:57And if these were to come to auction,
07:59they would make £700 to £1,000.
08:02Thank you so much for bringing them.
08:04That just screams Vivienne Westwood, doesn't it?
08:07Naturally, you've got the photos here.
08:09Was it yourself or your friend?
08:11That's my friend in my jumper.
08:13We swapped.
08:14Wearing this particular jumper.
08:15How many pieces in this particular one?
08:17Lots. A waistcoat, a coat and scarf.
08:20Full sets.
08:21That must look incredible.
08:22It does, yeah.
08:23Well, it did.
08:24Have you got any of the jewellery?
08:25The only thing I have are some little pieces in there,
08:28little brochures.
08:29They're brilliant.
08:30I think if I was putting a value on the whole collection,
08:33£3,000 to £5,000 or something like that, possibly.
08:37It's a lovely collection, and for its age,
08:39and you partying quite hard in the 80s,
08:41it's in good condition as well.
08:43It's a bit beer-stained, I think, in parts.
08:45Yeah, you expect that, you expect that.
08:52So this is a gorgeous group of studio wares,
08:55but the interesting thing is this is one factory
08:57but two designers.
08:58I want to find out, what do you know about them?
09:00Well, I know that this piece was,
09:04we think, a practice piece made by Annie Potts
09:07and was given to my great-aunt Nellie,
09:10and she worked in the offices at Bullers,
09:12and she just gave her that in the 1930s.
09:15And I've loved him from a small child.
09:18But look at him.
09:19Yeah, he's beautiful, isn't he?
09:21He's mega.
09:22How you can create so much drive and so much energy.
09:25This little greyhound, he's running full pelt,
09:28absolute full pelt.
09:30Yeah, he's been with me ever since I was eight.
09:32Oh, that's amazing.
09:33I'm 65 now.
09:34So he is my joy.
09:36And then I think Auntie Nellie
09:38bought these other two pieces in the 1950s.
09:41So, of course, you've mentioned the name Bullers,
09:43and Bullers is a really interesting factory.
09:45Based up in Stoke-on-Trent in Milton,
09:48they were an industrial factory.
09:50They were making ceramic insulators.
09:52But in 1934, they decided that they wanted
09:55to dip their toe in the water of craft and studio ceramics.
09:59Now, you mentioned Annie Potts.
10:02Well, Annie was a really remarkable young woman
10:04because she was given the position of head of the studio
10:08at the age of 16 years old.
10:11And then on the other side,
10:13you've got these two later pieces,
10:15which are by another fantastic designer called Agneta Hoy.
10:19Now, between the two of them,
10:21they basically covered the direction and the design
10:24of what Bullers were making from 1934 up until 1952
10:30when they finally closed down the ceramic studio
10:32and the making of these kind of wares.
10:34I mean, if we look at the pieces by Agneta,
10:37her work has got that very true studio feel to it.
10:41You've got her monogram, you've got the Made in England mark,
10:44and you've got the Bullers mark.
10:46And the fact that these ones have all the studio marks
10:49very much lends to what you were saying
10:51about these being production pieces.
10:54Because if we pick this little chap up,
10:57who I've got up now, I think he's...
10:59Oh, I love this. He's my favourite.
11:01Because if we look underneath,
11:03all we've got there is AR pots.
11:05So I think this is a practice piece.
11:07I think this is her playing.
11:09So we've got to talk about values.
11:11That's why we're here.
11:13When it comes to Agneta's work,
11:15small pieces like this are between sort of 50 and 80 pounds.
11:19This little chap, I think,
11:21is a slightly different kettle of fish.
11:23What's it worth?
11:26I think a collector would probably want to be
11:28looking maybe £400, £600 for it.
11:30No.
11:32Nobody's having it.
11:34Well, that's good. I like that.
11:36That's fine. It's going to stay with you.
11:38But I just think it's such a charming, charming piece.
11:41I adore it. Thank you so much for bringing it in.
11:43Thank you for looking at them.
11:45My pleasure.
11:47Well, I was very surprised by the valuation.
11:49But coming from Stoke-on-Trent,
11:51they're sort of very special to me anyway.
11:55So I don't think that they will ever go anywhere other than my home.
12:06So, of course, this book was going to catch my eye,
12:09mainly because of what it says on its front cover.
12:12The front cover of this parchment book
12:14reads Cromford in Derbyshire,
12:16England, 1781.
12:18Couldn't be more appropriate.
12:20Where's this come from?
12:22It belonged to my three-times-great-grandfather.
12:24Right.
12:26It was originally his school book
12:28and then it became an accounts book.
12:30When he grew up, he worked as a handloom weaver.
12:33It was never associated with Arkwright's Mill, as far as I know,
12:36but did sell cloth to Struts,
12:39who had a mill down the valley at Belfast.
12:42So it couldn't be more local.
12:44Not really, no.
12:46So his name was Edward Allan.
12:48Yeah.
12:51Edward Allan.
12:53His book, December 1777.
12:55Yes.
12:57How old do you think he would have been when he wrote that?
12:59I think he was 16.
13:0116 years old.
13:03Yeah, and doing quite complicated exercises.
13:05I'm no mathematician,
13:07but this is how you estimate sizes, weights and measures.
13:09I can't follow it.
13:11You can't follow it, too.
13:13It makes me feel better.
13:15So there are pages and pages of this
13:17and he was quite accomplished.
13:20There are a number of pages,
13:22which are, I think, probably a little bit later
13:24than these early years in the 1770s,
13:26and they seem to be his accounts, his own personal accounts.
13:28Lists of things that he sold from his own loom here in Cromford,
13:32perhaps in the 1780s, 1790s.
13:34If we look here,
13:36there's a heading here that says,
13:38taken out of loom.
13:40Not just any loom,
13:42and not the loom that we're standing in,
13:44not Arkwright's loom, but his own loom.
13:46I find that incredibly moving,
13:48where he is writing down
13:50really the products of his own handwork
13:52in this very village
13:54in the end of the 18th century.
13:56He's accounting for how much he's selling these for.
13:58He sells to a Mr Joshua Weston, I think.
14:02He sells six pieces from his loom
14:04at eight shillings.
14:06We even get a little bit of detail
14:08about the kind of things he was weaving.
14:10If you look down here,
14:12he took about nine and a half yards of Czech.
14:14This is Czech cloth, isn't it?
14:17Flat, unpatterned cloth.
14:19Presumably this hasn't been seen
14:21by anyone particular before.
14:23Is this the first time you've had it out?
14:25You've just had this at home?
14:27Yes, it was passed down to me.
14:29It's a real privilege to be one of the first people
14:31to look at it with you.
14:33It's part of your family history,
14:35but it's also part of our national history
14:37in a very clear and concise way.
14:39This is somebody who was a weaver
14:41at one of the most important points
14:43in the early Industrial Revolution,
14:46factory weaving, which is what we see
14:48all around us here with Arkwright.
14:50His experience was of the very germ
14:52of the Industrial Revolution.
14:54That's tremendously important to me.
14:56Of course, it's going to have a commercial value.
14:58I think this has to be worth
15:00between £4,000 and £6,000.
15:02But even so,
15:04I imagine this is going to stay in the family.
15:06Of course.
15:08I'm just pleased that you like it.
15:10I like it very much indeed
15:12and it's been a real privilege
15:16For me, it was the perfect roadshow find.
15:18The way it had been looked after
15:20so carefully over all those generations
15:22since the 1770s,
15:24obviously really cherished
15:26and also just so local,
15:28actually came from here in Cromford
15:30at that date when these mills were being built.
15:32It's incredible.
15:36In recent years,
15:38painstaking restoration work
15:40has been carried out by the Arkwright Society
15:43to return water power to this historic site
15:45for the benefit of its visitors.
15:51When Richard Arkwright built Cromford Mill in 1771,
15:53he used the abundant local water supply
15:55to power his new machines
15:57which could spin cotton into yarn.
15:59He didn't need skilled workers
16:01for those machines
16:03but he needed plenty of them.
16:05And the local area was just sparsely populated
16:07and Cromford Village
16:09consisted of just a few houses.
16:13To find out how this site
16:15established itself as a hive of industry,
16:17I've arranged to meet Ailish Scott,
16:19Chief Executive of the Arkwright Society.
16:23Ailish, how did Arkwright go about finding his workers?
16:25Well, he did it the traditional way
16:27and he put an advertisement
16:29in the Derby Mercury.
16:31So this is a copy
16:33from 1771
16:35and we can see the advert here
16:37and Arkwright says in very bold letters
16:39wanted immediately
16:42journeymen, clockmakers
16:44and by that we mean a mechanic,
16:46an engineer.
16:48He wanted women and children.
16:50When you say women and children,
16:52I'm presuming a child who wore these
16:54would be far too young to work in the factory
16:56I'm glad to say.
16:58But these were all found on site?
17:00They were found on site
17:02and of course what Arkwright was looking for
17:04was families and the family unit.
17:06And children were working here from as young as what age?
17:08About seven to begin with.
17:10It's very hard to imagine.
17:12It would have been tough.
17:14We're talking about a 13 hour day
17:16very hot conditions
17:18and it was women and children
17:20predominantly that worked in the mill.
17:22And then the men from the family
17:24were weaving
17:26in the framework knitters in the village.
17:32From 1806, Cromford no longer put children
17:34under the age of 10 to work.
17:37But for those who were employed
17:39in Arkwright's mill,
17:41life was far from easy.
17:43Workers toiled day and night
17:45and although they did receive half wages
17:47if they fell ill,
17:49Arkwright was known to dock their pay
17:51if they were late.
17:53And he came up with an ingenious method
17:55of ensuring his workforce
17:57never voted with their feet.
17:59Tell me about these coins.
18:01I mean these are absolutely fascinating.
18:03In the late 18th century
18:06there was a shortage of coinage
18:08so what Arkwright did was
18:10he purchased Spanish dollars
18:12and he put his own mark on them.
18:14Cromford Mills.
18:16So he created his own currency?
18:18Yes, and of course people would
18:20purchase their goods in the local shops.
18:22Yes, presumably you couldn't use these
18:24anywhere else but around the local area.
18:26How ingenious, just as a way to pay his workers.
18:28Yes, and he was a real entrepreneur.
18:30What happened to Cromford Mills?
18:32Because what we see now
18:35is a wonderful heritage site.
18:37Arkwright expanded, he built Masson Mill
18:39which is just up the road.
18:41Here production ceased around 1840s
18:43and then it took on a new life
18:45as a laundry, a brewery
18:47and then a colour works.
18:49And in the 1970s
18:51unfortunately the site
18:53was in a real state of disrepair
18:55and a group of individuals got together
18:57and they formed the Arkwright Society
18:59and saved the site
19:01recognising just how special
19:03and important it is internationally
19:05and here we are today.
19:07It's wonderful to see, thank you.
19:11The sculpture that you've brought in today
19:13is called The Monument to the Unknown Potter
19:15but the potter who made it
19:17certainly wasn't unknown to you.
19:19Who was he?
19:21He was my adopted grandad.
19:23What was his name?
19:25Alex Burns.
19:27And what we have here is a maquette
19:29for a large piece of sculpture.
19:32A scale model for what he envisioned
19:34as a one and a half
19:36man-sized ceramic public sculpture.
19:38A memorial to the many
19:40artists, scientists,
19:42crafters, grafters
19:44in Stoke-on-Trent
19:46who were unnamed
19:48who built the brand value
19:50of so many of those major pottery companies
19:52and it was meant to epitomise
19:54sort of looking back
19:56but looking forward as well.
19:58So the two faces if you like here
20:01Yes.
20:03And do you know, was the sculpture ever actually made?
20:05Sadly not.
20:07So it just exists purely in this form?
20:09Yes.
20:11It really is.
20:13I suppose the phrase is brutalist
20:15which is a phrase we normally hear applied to architecture
20:17but certainly applies to pottery
20:19and even glass at this time
20:21with these very bold forms
20:23and very expressionist as well.
20:25So can I ask a bit more about him?
20:27What was he doing?
20:29He was an architect in the 1960s
20:31and he was an educator
20:33as well as a studio potter
20:35at Maidley College
20:37and he headed the art department there.
20:39It's interesting you say that
20:41because so many times we encounter
20:43in-studio ceramics works by artists
20:45that we've never heard of
20:47because they're teachers
20:49and teachers are busy teaching
20:51and they don't have time
20:53to be making things in kilns
20:55because they've got students
20:58and with ceramics
21:00as with so many other art forms
21:02it's about name and it's about profile.
21:04Now we started off by saying
21:06that it was the unknown potter
21:08and really that sums up his life
21:10in so many ways
21:12and that will be affected in the price
21:14and I think for that reason
21:16I put on it a value of £100-£150
21:18which doesn't even begin
21:20to approach what it means to you
21:22but I thank you very much for bringing it in
21:24it really is the most fantastic thing.
21:27As one of those unknown potters
21:29would have been really very moved by that.
21:31Thank you so much.
21:39This is such an interesting drawing
21:41because it's by someone
21:43who really isn't known
21:45as an artist at all
21:47but in his lifetime
21:49he was probably
21:51the most famous ballet dancer
21:53of all time
21:55and that's Nijinsky.
21:57He just had an energy and a rhythm
21:59and a sense of movement
22:01that the 20th century had never seen
22:03and famously was a member of the Ballets Russes
22:05under Diaghilev
22:07but he danced with Anna Pavlova
22:09he then went on to become a choreographer
22:11and choreographed ballets to music
22:13by Debussy and Stravinsky
22:15and all the great avant-garde
22:17musical artists of the time
22:19but this is rare
22:21because he's just not that well known
22:24How did this very special, rare drawing
22:26come to be yours?
22:28My grandmother, Millicent Emily
22:30was a lovely lady
22:32very kindly
22:34and fancied herself as an art collector
22:36so she went to London
22:38and she found this in a gallery
22:40and we've always been slightly surprised by it
22:42because it is almost disturbing
22:44as well as being a work of art.
22:46There is something quite psychologically
22:48sort of moving about
22:50this sort of figure in the centre
22:53Nijinsky was apparently fascinated
22:55by the circle
22:57and he sort of wrote that
22:59all art forms derived
23:01from the circle
23:03and I think you really see that in this
23:05you've got this wonderful circular
23:07movement around
23:09the piece of paper
23:11and I wonder whether this is his mind
23:13following perhaps the flow of a dancer
23:15the flow of limbs
23:17and he himself was such an elegant dancer
23:19and there is something
23:21balletic about this
23:23I mean in terms of value
23:25there are a few that have come up at auction
23:27but not many
23:29but if this were to come to auction today
23:31I think it would probably carry an estimate
23:33in the region of about £2,000 to £3,000
23:35Wow, right
23:37you've got it with even more respect
23:39It's really intriguing to see
23:47Our experts are always on the lookout
23:50for items with a local connection
23:54When Derby County, under manager Brian Clough
23:56lifted the first division trophy
23:58in May 1972
24:00it ushered in a golden era
24:02for the Rams
24:04James Broad has come across a collection
24:06of football memorabilia with links to the team
24:08who brought the trophy home for the first time
24:10in the club's history
24:12So we obviously have three
24:14Derby football shirts here
24:16and a sheepskin jacket which we'll address
24:19after this but let's start with these
24:21So where did you get these three from?
24:23The whole thing came about
24:25my son, my eldest son
24:27well not my youngest son
24:29a Derby County replica shirt
24:31and he said oh I like that one
24:33so I collect another one
24:35and I collect another
24:37and it snowballed
24:39now we've got 350 match worn shirts
24:41in the collection
24:43it's gone crazy
24:45That must be one of the biggest collections
24:47The white one is the first time Derby County
24:49won Division 1, 71-72
24:51so that's got a lot of history
24:53The red one is about 68
24:55Why it's so special
24:57there's a chap that lived in Cromford
24:59Ian Buxton wore that
25:01The blue one is when Derby
25:03played Real Madrid in Europe
25:05That is quite a rare shirt
25:07Henry Newton wore that
25:09My youngest son went and met Henry
25:11and he remembered it
25:13Can you tell me the story about the sheepskin jacket?
25:16He met a Derby County collector
25:18and his dad was a minor shareholder
25:20at Derby County
25:22and they had a bit of a charity night
25:24to make some money
25:26Brian Clough was there
25:28and he took the coat off
25:30and chucked it to the middle of the floor
25:32and he said raffle that off
25:34and Miss Bloke's dad won it
25:36on a raffle
25:38They're quite a difficult thing to value
25:40because it's very specialist with Derby
25:42but there are a lot of collectors
25:45You've got everything you want
25:47Match Day worn, you've got the provenance
25:49Conditions good
25:51If I was just valuing just the three of these
25:53football shirts
25:55I would be putting £5,000 to £8,000
25:57in the right sporting auction
25:59with all the provenance that you have
26:01and the coat £3,000 to £5,000
26:03so you're looking at £5,500 to £8,000
26:07I love the fact that you've got
26:09350 match worn shirts
26:11Thank you for bringing them
26:13It's been an absolute pleasure to see them
26:19I love this lamp
26:21It's kind of so science fiction
26:23It's so war of the worlds
26:25The entire design is very futuristic
26:27Tell me what you know about it
26:29and where it came from
26:31It came from my great-uncle and great-aunt
26:33who travelled in Europe
26:35in the 1920s, 1930s
26:37It was always at theirs when we visited
26:39and it came down to me
26:42It ties in very nicely with what I'm about to tell you
26:44about the age of this
26:46because I think this is Austrian
26:48and I think that it was made in around about 1910
26:50so it could be
26:52that they even bought it brand new
26:54on their travels
26:56It would have been quite an incredible thing
26:58to bring home with them
27:00and I presume you have rather sort of fond memories
27:02of what this looked like
27:04lit up
27:06Oh very much so
27:08I think I called it the spaceship
27:11It's not a million miles away
27:13What do you think about this?
27:15Iridescent dome on it
27:17I love it because it's like oil on water
27:19and I'm very sort of colour orientated
27:21The style of this is what we call Jungenstil
27:23so that's a more localised form
27:25of what we call Art Nouveau
27:27So it doesn't have the kind of
27:29sinuous kind of gracefulness
27:31that Parisian Art Nouveau has
27:33for instance
27:35but it has a more industrial look about it
27:37and the whole lamp is made of brass
27:39with a kind of anodised finish
27:41and you've got glass that's been formed
27:43into these roundels
27:45What I love about it is
27:47that it's something that has been lit up
27:49for
27:51well over a hundred years
27:53and continually used
27:55I love it
27:57Value
27:59I think this lamp is worth
28:01£1000
28:03Not for sale
28:06It's always nice
28:08to see some familiar faces
28:10from much-loved comics and cartoons
28:12turning up at our venues
28:14Years ago the joke was
28:16it's just a Mickey Mouse watch
28:18but nowadays the joke is slightly on the other foot
28:20One of my favourite comic book characters
28:22is Judge Dredd
28:24And every now and then we're graced
28:26with the presence of a certain
28:28walrus-moustached old soldier
28:30It's a classic, isn't it?
28:32Isn't that good?
28:35There is a character
28:37from the first world war period
28:39but the one that everybody can remember
28:41I think, is Old Bill
28:43Old Bill's creator Bruce Byrne's father
28:45is best known for his cartoons depicting
28:47life in the trenches of the first world war
28:49And over a hundred years
28:51since his first appearance
28:53Old Bill is still putting a smile
28:55on our faces
28:57So, we're looking at a collection
28:59of Old Bill
29:01So what's Old Bill to you?
29:03I just found some old postcards quite amused me. I like the the idea of the kind of gallows humor
29:10Yeah, I saw that the Tommy's through the First World War, you know, so those postcards spread into all sorts of other things
29:16Yeah, and then we came across items of pottery as well. So is the house filling up with old bill?
29:22I
29:23Think we've come to the point now where we've got quite a lot, you know, Captain Bruce Baird's father
29:29I think he was an extraordinary man. You know, he starts out with a career in the army
29:33He leaves in 1906 or seven to become an artist full-time
29:381914 he's called back to the colors and
29:41Serves and it takes part in the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915 and he invents this character this sort of
29:49curmudgeonly old sort of professional army soldier who looks like an old sergeant sort of thing
29:54Called old bill and somehow it just takes off and he becomes the symbol of the ordinary soldier in the First World War
30:02Yeah, I quite liked the idea of this character that somehow
30:07Got himself all the way through the First World War and basically is a survivor
30:12He boosted the morale of the ordinary soldier, you know to hell with all the officers and what they're doing
30:17You know, this is us sitting in the mud trying to survive and so he became a national figure
30:23You've got these things
30:25There's quite a lot of tableware of one kind or another and the teapot is a very nice thing to have
30:30Yeah
30:30I mean obviously you've got postcards magazines a copy of fragments from France, which was a weekly publication
30:36And then we come across to the bronze figure now
30:40One of the more famous old bill objects is a car radiator mascot
30:46Yeah
30:46Now if you think of early cars the radiator at the front on the top was the water filling cap
30:51You could unscrew that and you could put on a decorative one
30:54And so old bill was a popular character through that period with motorists
30:59So was he a lot of money 80 pound for it now. I've got to get it slightly difficult here
31:05Okay, because it is not as old as it might be. All right
31:11If you think about a radiator mascot here, we've got a figure which is
31:15So hollow inside how does that fit on the car the casting is on a column and on the bottom of the column
31:22There's a threaded
31:24Radiator cap in effect. Yeah, so you simply unscrew the existing one screw this on and then you've got it. Yeah, and
31:31In this case, it's not there
31:34Now the problem with famous things like that is that they were copied fairly regularly. So I'm sorry
31:41Everything else is absolutely fine. Yeah
31:44That is the one
31:46Okay, I'd be difficult piece if it was a real one it would be three four hundred pounds. I still like that
31:52That's fine. And you know, it's just interesting to find out about it and it's part of the old story
31:58Yeah, so what I can see is probably two or three hundred pounds and then you've got all the postcards, you know
32:04So you probably got a big collection. So I hope you continue to like old bill. Oh, we'll do. Yeah. Yeah, even though he's misled you
32:14You
32:19Have brought in today a very interesting looking cavalry officers sword and
32:24I'm guessing because I'm quick like that that it was owned by this chap here very much
32:29So he's my great uncle four times over and he was captain William Wright born in
32:351764 and he became captain of the Chesterfield troop of the Derbyshire Yeomanry Cavalry in
32:421807 and they sort of predated the police force because they coped with civil unrest
32:47they were there for the defense of the country and they were chosen from what was known as the
32:52Yeoman class because that it was felt they had a stake in the country
32:55No, they were minor landowners and because they were relatively well off the state didn't have to buy their uniforms buy their horses
33:03It supplied some arms to them
33:05but it was a very very much a local thing and I have so I've never ever seen anything from the
33:11The Derbyshire Yeomanry on the road show and it's just great that it's come here in Derbyshire my home County true
33:17I looked at the sword and I thought oh
33:21Something odd about that. The scabbard is actually etched and decorated as well. Yeah, that's very rare
33:26You didn't tend to see decorated scabbards. They have minimal decoration on them
33:31Now that makes me think that there's going to be something really
33:36fine when I put the blade out and
33:41Every inch
33:43Etched and decorated even down to the very very tip of the blade. There's that wonderful foliage
33:50Etching and then there's this inscription was the inscription for any special event
33:55It was a presentation sword for his services to the troop in Chesterfield
34:00So it's really a thankful present and I have found a newspaper article
34:05He described it as being a very costly sword and it being made by
34:10Elizabeth Gill in Birmingham and they they must have thought a great deal of
34:16Your ancestor the good captain to present him with such a beautiful thing as that
34:21It's an absolute cracker and I've just noticed as I turn the blade you can see the back of it. It's gilt
34:27Oh, yes, not spotted that before
34:30Well, I've only just noted it when you get the light on it
34:32So the whole of the back of the blade would have been gilded
34:35I have to say this is probably one of the best swords. We've had on the road show. Yeah, certainly my time
34:41I think with the picture of the owner
34:44That will be five thousand pounds easily. Really really I
34:50Can't think of enough superlatives if I had a thesaurus I couldn't do it. Thank you very much indeed
34:55Thank you
35:02Time for our favorite game called
35:09We've only been playing this for I don't know how many years basic better best of course now will you have brought along three
35:17Beautiful beautiful vases, which I'm assuming are Lalique
35:21Absolutely, we have to rank them in order of value
35:24So tell me about them. Well, of course Lalique is one of those names synonymous with the program over the years
35:29We've all valued these wonderful pieces
35:31But what I wanted to bring to the table was just something a little bit more exceptional
35:37Because of course when most people think of Lalique what they intuitively think of is that slightly transparent with the opalescent clear
35:45And many people are often surprised to know that he worked many of his vases in an absolutely wonderful
35:52kaleidoscopic rainbow of color color
35:55Transforms the value so much so that I've bought three examples as you can see one of them
36:00I would argue is a collector's favorite color
36:04One of the pieces here is considered one of the rarest colors
36:09And one of the pieces here is considered one of the most iconic
36:14Designs he ever created one vase is worth around
36:188,000 one vase is worth around
36:2214,000 and the best is worth
36:2620,000 pounds
36:29You're standing quite close
36:32that age-old question to you my friend is
36:35Basic better best right look tell me about this one with the fabulous serpent coiled around it exactly right
36:42And it is called serpent so an exquisite vase created in
36:471924 in a colorway called deep amber or dark amber in the middle this beautiful piece
36:53There is in a pattern called Formos relief decorated with with the fish again a
36:591924 design in a colorway called Jade green and
37:03This one at the end in this wonderful electric blue is called Sartre L grasshoppers
37:10so armed with the information
37:13I've no idea if you need them the clues are in my pocket
37:18You're looking like you're pondering very carefully. I think that's the collectors favorite the green
37:23That's what I would collect and what is it that particularly appeals to you about that one the depth of color?
37:29I'm drawn to so how would you rank them?
37:33basic better best right
37:35I'd go for
37:37Basic better the best because I think that's probably the oldest that's what I'd go for what do you think basic better?
37:45Best okay, so we've got lots of different permutations here. Well of the three ladies there
37:50One of them's got it, right
37:52As
37:59I always say to you
38:01Go with your heart go with your style go with what you love. Well. I would go for this as the most extraordinary
38:08Because of and the dog agrees with me as well because of the scales the way it's done the sinuousness of it
38:15I don't love the color the most, but I love the shape of this the most so I'm going to go
38:23I am going to go with you, and I'm going to go
38:27Basic that feels completely the wrong word in the circumstances better best
38:35Final answer um yes, that is my final answer
38:39You my dear friend are wrong
38:42I
38:50Can't remember what you said now, so is it basic yes better?
38:56Best well at least I got the best
38:59Absolutely, that is just the most dramatic vase
39:04Created in 1924 the year before the Paris exhibition that catapulted to the whole world
39:11What we now term Art Deco
39:13This is a man who was so pivotal in that exhibition producing things like this to show the world
39:19How great the French were this was a moment when the French stood on a global platform and said you might think you can do
39:26It but you can't do it as well as us and that is absolutely the epitome of that
39:32Just remind us then of the values for each one so a Formos in Jade green
39:371924 worth around 8,000 pounds
39:40So Terrell in electric blue around 1912
39:4514,000 pounds
39:47Serpent in dark or deep amber circa 1924
39:5320,000 pounds
39:55They are fabulous aren't they?
39:57well, I'd have them all but
39:59This is my favorite. Thank you will absolute pleasure well done. Thank you
40:10So
40:16When you pull this out of your extremely smart suitcase, I
40:21Literally put my hands together and thank goodness because it's an early English ebony table clock and we see so few of them now
40:28I'd love to tell you all about it, but I need to know what you know about it first
40:32Well, it's sort of part of the family. Really. I bought this about 30 years ago
40:37And it was the start of my clock collection and I love it
40:42Did you buy it because it was Pharoah of Pontefract? No, I don't know anything about Pharoah of Pontefract
40:49And in fact, I haven't even looked him up. Okay, so Pontefract is what sort of 40 or 50 miles north of here about?
40:55Yeah, so it's perfect for this location
40:57Pharoah of Pontefract was unusual in that he was one of the provincial clockmakers who made great clocks
41:02But he made very few of them and he worked in the early 18th century and this clock dates around 1720 1725
41:11Firstly the quality of the case is just supreme the complexity of the moldings of the case the ebony moldings really top quality
41:20Love the handle so you can see remnants of the gilding on the handle and it's a particularly pretty shape
41:26And what I love almost more than anything else is the door molding
41:30Normally door moldings are flat
41:32But this has this wonderful bolection molding and they're rare as hen's teeth
41:37They just give the dimension of the front of the clock an extra special fizz
41:43The dial is typical early 18th century
41:47Everything about it is absolutely right except the hands the hands have been replaced and they're just not good enough quality
41:53No, so if I turn it round
41:56Gently and we look at the back the back has got the molding as well
42:00It's meaningless to most people but if you're a clock spot like me and a clock spot like you it's super cool
42:05Isn't it?
42:06What a lot of provincial makers didn't do is
42:09Engrave their name on the back plate and this is nice because this to me is very typical
42:14early 18th century engraving
42:16So Farah really put himself out by making a clock like this of this quality because it would have cost quite a lot of money
42:22Yeah to make
42:24People will be saying what's the little cord on the back? That's the the repeat cord
42:29As you know, the owner would take it upstairs and use it at night
42:33And if you woke up in the middle night, he'd pull the cord and it would tell the time back to him to the nearest hour
42:39But we should talk about value at auction. It's going to be worth between four and six thousand pounds
42:45Possibly as much as five to seven thousand. All right. Okay. No, that's I'm that sounds good
42:49But at the end of the day, it's a family friend. It's a terrific clock. Thanks for bringing it in
42:53You're welcome
42:57When we see pieces like this on antics Roadshow
43:02Normally, they come from Italy, but in actual fact these pieces herald from somewhere much closer very much closer
43:09Yes, I should about 10 12 miles in in that direction. Yeah, so tell me how did they come into your life?
43:16It's a family heirloom my great great great grandfather down to my father worked with stone
43:23It's known as Ashford marble 19th century pieces in this case
43:27But Ashford marble is a bit of a misnomer, isn't it? It's not actually a marble
43:31It's limestone with I believe pitch or tar
43:36Integrated into it which lends itself to being cut and inlaid and what we see are these designs
43:41Which are other stones inlaid into the marble a technique we known as Pietra Dura
43:47Which is Italian and which gained enormous popularity in the 19th century very much under the patronage of the Duke of Devonshire
43:54Who was a huge collector of marbles particularly from Italy and needed pedestals to put them on and so use the local works at Ashford?
44:01To make these inlaid designs and just looking at this ink stand here that would stand on a large Victorian desk
44:08You can just really see that the way the Pietra Dura the technique of inlaying with hard stones
44:12There really is quite incredible. They've really captured the feel of dog rose
44:17I think it is in the other foliage there as well in the plants a lovely thing. You see you've got the the stand and the
44:22The lesser opener so which even has the same
44:25Decoration their real attention to detail lovely thing and again these two vases here
44:31With the color forget-me-nots and this which is intriguing because on the one hand you've got a lily of the valley. Yeah
44:38So far so straightforward, but turn it round and we don't know what it is. We're not at home
44:45Do you have these out at home do you display them? No, they're kept in a box. Oh, that's a shame, isn't it?
44:50I don't I don't damage them. They can be prone to chipping I can see on the candlesticks
44:56We do have a bit of damage on here. I have to say they are still very very desirable
45:03And I think in the present market a pair of vases like this would be two to three hundred pounds
45:09Something like this probably a hundred to a hundred and fifty
45:12two to three hundred for the candlesticks
45:14But the outstanding item is the desk stand here a really lovely thing a statement piece
45:20Yeah, a great piece of design and I think at auction I can comfortably see that making five to eight hundred pounds
45:28So in totally you've got well over a thousand pounds worth here
45:31So what would you think you do with it?
45:34Put it back in the box
45:38Well, thank you for bringing it in no problem
45:48Well, this is a rather magnificent sailors wool work from the 1860s
45:53But what is particularly unusual about it is that we actually know who did it and I understand you brought a photograph of him
46:00I have yes, this is William Langman
46:02he was a great great uncle and I have his record of service in the Royal Navy that shows
46:11Every ship that he served on and in particular it shows this ship
46:17And I think that's what inspired him to make this picture
46:20Well, you see HMS arrest is in the 1860s. It was based at the Cape of Good Hope station in South Africa
46:27So I think if this is probably where that depicts and he would have made this whilst he was based out in South Africa
46:34And here we show the the ship broadside in the harbour and we've got these mountains behind with depictions of palm trees
46:41But he was obviously a very very competent with the needle and you can see this this these are wool different color wools
46:48I'm like a linen or a cotton background with these very large stitches
46:53but you know with using lots of different colors, which are still pretty bright and
46:57These very sort of naturalistic colors and I particularly like all the different pennants and flags that are showing on the rigging
47:04And I wonder there's just showing one
47:06Person on deck and I wonder whether that maybe is perhaps a little self-portrait of William. That would be nice, wouldn't it?
47:12Now these are a very particular type of folk art these wool work embroideries
47:17And they were very popular between about the 1840s and the 1880s
47:22This one is in particularly fine condition as well because the colors are still really bright on it
47:27it's a really large size because generally speaking they're a little bit smaller than this perhaps for the two-thirds of the size and
47:33The fact that we know the ship we know where it is and we know who did it makes it all the more special really
47:40They sell for sort of mid hundreds perhaps
47:43But this one I think if it were to come up for sale at auction
47:46There'd be an awful lot of interest in it and it would make probably two to three thousand pounds and perhaps even upwards of that
47:53It's lovely to know but it's just for me
47:56It's just nice to look at something and know it's such a great example of your own family's history
48:02Thank you very much for bringing it into us today
48:16Now I think we're quite lucky right now because we're getting a little bit of sunshine and so we can see how amazing
48:21It is in the light tell me what do you know about it when my father-in-law was a young man about town he and his
48:27Cousin went on a trip out to Asia and they came back with a good many things
48:32And when he died, this was left to us and we just told it was a Japanese temple gate
48:38I know nothing more about it at all. It's right
48:40it is a model of a of a torii gates a Japanese temple gates or the entrance to a shrine and
48:47It's a it's really wonderful actually, it's very very well made as you may have seen it's inscribed at the front
48:53Yes, I've got no idea what it says. It's actually the name of the shrine and it says it's a Kushima Jinja
48:59Which is a shrine near Hiroshima and I wonder if he went there. It's quite possible. Yes. I don't know
49:06It was made during the Meiji era
49:09So it's between 1868 and 1912
49:12And it's a time when the samurai class disappeared and they were prevented from wearing swords and so sword makers and
49:20Armor makers had to find a new new business
49:23They had to produce something else to survive and so they would make objects like this exciting
49:28I think it's really lovely now. We can see how the gold
49:32Really shines in it is gold. It is gold inlay in iron and it's really beautiful
49:38If you look at it in detail, it's gold inlay all over and you have all these auspicious designs of cranes
49:44Which are a symbol of longevity in Japan
49:47You also have the imperial crest
49:51It's it's a really lovely piece and I looked at it for a while and I found I found a mark
49:57There is actually a mark underneath. Oh, well done. So it's a little crest. It's very very small
50:03It's just on the side here
50:05Yes, and it says Komai and Komai was the name of the artist who did that
50:10It was a workshop that produced the highest quality of these
50:14Items made for the West and do you like it? I love it. I have it out. I dusted it for you, especially
50:20Thank you very much. It was worth it
50:22I think I really love it and it's a very rare model as well. I've seen shrines
50:28Made like this whole pagodas, but I've never seen a gate. So it's very very unusual
50:35And I think many people would like it's actually if it were to come up at auction
50:38I think it would probably be selling for about fifteen hundred to two thousand pounds. Gosh
50:46It won't be sold I'm glad to hear that. Thank you very much for bringing it. It's really lovely
50:53It was really interesting to hear how it was made and I was quite surprised that it was worth anything at all
50:59I've been told not to dust it too often which suits me fine
51:06At
51:07First glance this may appear to be a rather unassuming portrait of a Victorian gent
51:11So, who is he? This is my great-great-grandfather
51:16Dr. Thomas Fonds and this picture has been sat in my parents house for as long as I can remember
51:22Just recently my husband and I've been doing some research. We found out that he became a police surgeon
51:29The interesting part is that he was involved in the jet the Ripper murders
51:33He started to do that. What was thought to be the first medical profiling?
51:36there was some thought around the time that Jack the Ripper had medical knowledge or was a surgeon and
51:43Dr. Thomas Bond was very clear. This was the work of someone that didn't have surgical skills
51:48I think a man who had a very very interesting life. I mean what a fascinating man
51:53I know so a couple of things that caught my attention
51:55Firstly the signature in the lower left GF Watts for George Frederick Watts and the date 1887
52:01He was sort of one of the pioneers of the Victorian era
52:04I mean, he was one of those famous artists of his day
52:06But this isn't necessarily what we would associate with him. Normally we think of what's we think of large-scale
52:12Colourful views on huge canvases which draw on human emotions and you know, love hate death
52:18I mean, they're sort of you know, some of them you have to look at with quite a deep breath
52:22Yes, but of course like a lot of artists as well as painting these grand canvases. He also painted portraits
52:29Probably to keep the money coming in. I mean, look, of course, this isn't one of Watts's huge canvases
52:34But I think actually the sitter is is really interesting for the reasons you discussed
52:39I mean he was like Watts was a pioneer of his day
52:42So not that this world could ever be sold
52:44but I think if this were to appear at auction I would expect to see itself or figure in a region of
52:5010 to 15 thousand pounds. Wow
52:52Fabulous, we shall have to look after it
52:54We've been talking, we'd probably like to get in touch with the Watts Gallery and
52:58and probably see if they'd like to have it on loan for a bit
53:00So, you know just for the story and what have you there
53:03I think sharing the story with a wider audience is definitely a good idea. Best of luck with it
53:07Thank you very much
53:10Two really rather nice pieces of jewelry here. How did these get into your collection?
53:14Well, they were on my husband's side from his mother, right?
53:19When she died, my husband said me mum had a lovely opal bracelet. You might like it
53:24Uh-huh. So we dug it out and that was that. Yeah, but in this piece
53:28I mean, it's a lovely piece. It's a lovely piece. It's a lovely piece. It's a lovely piece
53:32It's a lovely piece. It's a lovely piece. It's a lovely piece
53:36So we dug it out and that was that. Yeah, but in this big box
53:40was loads of stuff and I dug to the bottom and found that
53:43and my husband said you don't want that. It's a load of tat
53:47It's just a piece of glass. So I said well I like it
53:55Anyway, we'd like to know what it is. I'm sure you do
53:58Why did you think it was a piece of tat?
54:01It's very big for a sort of precious stone I would've thought
54:04Okay, so start with the bangle first, which you know are opals, so that's really, really beautiful.
54:11Do you wear that? It's a bit tight for me, so we've given it to my daughter and it fits her
54:16lovely. Oh, how wonderful. Lucky daughter. Well, as we can see, there are these wonderful opals,
54:23all graduating in size, which have got diamonds in between, which really help to bring out the
54:29beautiful play of colour, the greens, the blues, flashes of oranges that we see around each of the
54:34stones. It really is totally magnificent. And the added bonus, of course, with any piece of
54:41jewellery is having the original fitted box, which we have here. And if we open the box up,
54:48we can see that the piece was bought at Wartski's in Llandudno. Wartski's are now based in London,
54:55but this is where they were established and have gone on to be one of the most important jewellers
55:00in the world, known for selling Fabergé. I'll put you straight now, this isn't a piece of Fabergé,
55:05so let's calm things down just a little bit. But it really is a superb example of jewellery from
55:12the late 19th century. We're talking around about the 1880s, 1890s. But then, of course,
55:17we come on to the piece of tat, as you call it. So let's have a little bit of a chat about this.
55:23So this dates from the Edwardian period. What we do have are diamonds, which are set at the top
55:29here, and they are set into platinum at the front to give that lightness and delicacy,
55:35and to give strength to the design. And you need strength when you are supporting a big stone,
55:40as we have here. It's actually aquamarine. Right. It's got a really good strength of colour,
55:47and the colour's even all the way through the stone as well. So all in all, it's moved quite
55:53a way on from tat, hasn't it? Which is really good. So as far as value's concerned, I'm sure
55:58you'd like to know. So the aquamarine pendant, if this came up to auction, we would be looking
56:05at an estimate of £3,000 to £5,000. Well, that's a piece of glass.
56:10The opal bangle, of course, it's a magnificent piece. As I say, it's got the beautiful play of
56:19colours in the opal. The opals are in good condition. They haven't been worn. They've
56:22had the lovely box to keep them in. If that came up to auction, we would be looking at an
56:28estimate of £8,000 to £10,000. I didn't expect that. That's incredible.
56:40My daughter did well, didn't she? I think we'd better have another
56:45route in that jewellery box, don't we?
56:51Oh, we've had a top day here in Derbyshire, and our visitors haven't been deterred by the wet
56:56conditions, which serve as a little reminder of Cromford Mill's industrial past.
57:02This mighty newly installed water wheel in the original wheel pit generates 20%
57:07of the power used at the mill here, thanks to a 1957 vintage turbine. It's part of a plan to
57:14reduce the carbon footprint of the mill, but also a brilliant way to pay homage to the water that
57:18put Cromford on the map. From the Antiques Roadshow, until next time, bye-bye.