The Most Loved Antiques Roadshow Treasures Worth Thousands | Antiques Roadshow UK

0:00 Oh, my dear, speechless.

0:02 Really?

0:03 Yes.

0:04 It's beautiful, isn't it?

0:06 Look at the gleaming and the gleam of gold there.

0:09 This is actually a brooch but it broke, so I use it as a necklace.

0:13 But I will have it repaired one day.

0:15 It's worth it, I think.

0:16 They're rather fascinating, aren't they?

0:18 Were they your great-grandmother's?

0:20 They were my great-grandmother's, yes, and came down to me.

0:23 From Germany?

0:25 From Germany, yes.

0:26 I think what's significant about this jewellery

0:28 is that it's made of filigree and granulation,

0:31 which is typical of all types of folk jewellery,

0:35 from the Mediterranean up to the north countries and Denmark and Scandinavia.

0:40 The bracelet itself is a later addition,

0:42 because the colour of the gold is different and the phrasing of the metal.

0:45 Ja, I wondered why.

0:47 So… And yet, there are holes here for stitching,

0:50 or at least some kind of textile.

0:52 And it's my idea that this was once a hair bracelet,

0:55 that there was tightly woven lock of hair supporting this bracelet.

0:59 Around it?!

1:00 Around it.

1:00 And this is what we very often find,

1:02 that of course this is perishable and wears out.

1:05 And yet, a gold clasp remains.

1:07 And so, they string it on to, perfectly sensibly, a later gold bracelet.

1:12 But hair I'm pretty certain that it was, actually.

1:14 Oh, that's interesting.

1:14 It's an idea we're totally at odds with in the 20th

1:17 century but… It must have been strong hair.

1:19 Well, I think it was.

1:20 I think it really was.

1:21 Well, good Teutonic hair, you see.

1:23 That's what we want.

1:24 But anyway.

1:25 They're a marvellous survival.

1:27 But oddly enough, having opened your little Pandora's box of jewellery here,

1:31 it's not the jewellery that you have in the case that's interested me,

1:34 but it's the necklace you've got round your neck.

1:36 Can you take that off?

1:37 Yes.

1:37 Let's have a really good look.

1:39 I thought it belongs to one…- You thought it became part of it?

1:44 Yes.

1:44 Yes, I think it's not actually part.

1:46 Because it's similar.

1:47 The clasp, if you look at it, it's similar to…- Well,

1:51 it's decorated again with these tiny granules of gold,

1:54 which… Gold is the most mysterious commodity

1:57 because you can solder granules of the tiniest,

2:01 tiniest, dust-like proportions to the surface of gold

2:04 and give it this very interesting texture.

2:06 And that's been going on since very ancient times.

2:09 And these have erroneously been called muff chains.

2:13 They're not muff chains.

2:14 Because they were long, it was assumed that a muff would hang on it

2:17 and you'd put your hands through it…- Oh, I see!

2:19 ..and it's quite nice to be able to sort of demolish

2:20 that terminology once and for all because they simply are not muff chains.

2:25 They're simply there for decoration.

2:26 It dates from about 1840.

2:28 And it's this one that's really disproportionately valuable.

2:32 Because complicated gold jewellery, not easy to wear in the 20th century.

2:36 And these two, fascinating as they are, they're worth low hundreds of pounds.

2:42 Say £350, £450 for the clasp alone and with the bracelet, £500.

2:50 But this one, put it down on your little inventory for £2,000.

2:57 Surprised?

2:58 Yes.

2:59 Good.

3:00 Well, I remember my father buying it, along with a lot of mess silver.

3:03 He was in the Royal Scots Fusiliers,

3:06 and the regiment was going to India and my father retired.

3:10 That was in 1935, I think.

3:13 And he bought this and several other pieces, which I didn't keep when he died.

3:18 I sold them because, quite honestly,

3:20 insurances and everything else was too much.

3:22 But I've always loved this.

3:24 I'm not surprised, actually, because looking at it very quickly,

3:27 my initial reaction is a spoon warmer.

3:30 Absolutely.

3:31 Then you get a big surprise when you open the lid.

3:34 This is it, because… Now, a money box?

3:37 Yes, a swear box on the table.

3:39 Oh, a swear box?!

3:40 Yes!

3:41 Oh, isn't that…?

3:41 And anybody who swore had to put something in there.

3:44 Do you know what they had to put in?

3:45 No, I don't.

3:45 Well, I suppose earlier, you could have put a sovereign in.

3:48 Absolutely, yes.

3:48 And that would soon add up.

3:49 I don't know what date it is or how old it is, actually.

3:52 Well, first of all, of course, it does straightaway beg the question,

3:56 is it original or not, the fact that it is a swear box?

3:59 Well, this is what I'd like to know.

4:00 It's… And here's another surprise, actually,

4:03 because normally if you get a spoon warmer of this form,

4:05 of which there are many around, they're electroplated.

4:08 Yes.

4:09 And that's silver.

4:11 This is silver.

4:12 But there's another surprise because it's Irish silver.

4:16 Really?!

4:16 So what is a Scottish regiment doing with a piece of Irish…- I wouldn't know.

4:21 Well, the date of this… Here we are– it's Dublin 1866.

4:26 Right.

4:27 There has to be a reason for that.

4:28 But I know, definitely it was the swear box.

4:31 And actually the maker there… Actually, the maker, funnily enough,

4:34 is this mark over here, which is the "JS".

4:37 But we've got the name West appearing underneath there.

4:40 And this is something they did in Dublin.

4:42 You'd get the maker as we've got there,

4:44 and then you'd get the retailer putting his stamp on.

4:47 Right.

4:47 Little lock.

4:48 Of course, being money inside, obviously it has to be locked up.

4:51 No key, I'm afraid.

4:53 It should be pretty easy to find a key It'll be a very basic key for that.

4:58 But interestingly, it's marked also, you can see, in the lid there.

5:02 Yes.

5:02 Now, that confirms that the lid is original to the nautilus shell.

5:08 It's lovely the way that they've done the flush hinge there as well.

5:11 Yes, I think it's lovely.

5:12 Because had this been a spoon warmer,

5:14 either it would have been left open…- Right.

5:18 Some do have lids, but they have a slot cut at the front for the spoon.

5:24 So this convinces me… That it's a swear box.

5:28 That it was made as a swear box.

5:30 Yes.

5:31 So, fascinating object.

5:33 I have to say, it's a very difficult object to put a value on.

5:36 Have you got it insured or anything?

5:38 Yes, it's… Well, I mean, it's in the household insurance.

5:41 I haven't…- Oh, it's not specified?

5:44 No.

5:45 I suggest you perhaps insure it for somewhere around £5,000.

5:48 Really?

5:49 Yes.

5:50 I bought it six years ago in Stow.

5:54 And I was a little concerned when I got it home to notice

5:57 that the drawers seemed to be made out of recycled pieces of timber.

6:02 Really?

6:03 And I wonder whether it's entirely original.

6:06 Let's have a look.

6:07 I mean, I've seen… Nice oak lining…- The underside.

6:11 Oh!

6:12 Right!

6:12 Now I see what you mean.

6:14 Well, you should see the second drawer is even more interesting.

6:17 In as much as it's more brightly coloured.

6:21 That's fantastic.

6:23 That is fantastic.

6:25 The other one?

6:28 Very similar.

6:29 Oh, right.

6:30 I tell you what, I'm going to put this one on top of that one.

6:34 Well, let me allay your fears first of all.

6:36 There's nothing wrong with this.

6:38 These pieces of furniture, particularly in the country,

6:42 were made on large estates.

6:44 And this was where they would have stored wood that was not used.

6:48 Whether or not it was carved,

6:50 it was cut for a purpose and then simply not used and kept in the workshop.

6:55 And then one day, somebody was asked to make

6:57 a little chest of drawers for one purpose or another,

6:59 in this case, most likely a house on the estate or a servant's bedroom.

7:03 "And what shall we use for the lining?" "Use some

7:05 of that old stuff we've got in the corner there,

7:07 you know." "Well, it's got carving." "That won't matter.

7:10 No one will see." And so they used these boards,

7:13 which in this case were prepared, were made for panelling in a room.

7:22 And if this was made in 1740, these panels were 150 years old.

7:28 These panels are 1500, 1550– 16th century.

7:34 Difficult to be precise.

7:36 Either Tudor or early Elizabethan.

7:39 And they are wonderful.

7:40 I've seen, obviously, pieces of furniture with similar carving

7:44 on and I've seen sometimes some decorations, (INDISTINCT).

7:48 We know that they used to paint a lot

7:51 of furniture in the 1540s through to the 1580s.

7:54 But never have I seen the pigment protected, as it were.

7:59 I've never seen it as pure as this.

8:02 This is like the day it was painted.

8:05 Here you can see the thickness.

8:06 It's a sort of tempera.

8:09 It's a wonderful texture.

8:11 And that's never, never really been corroded by anything.

8:15 Just never been touched.

8:17 So these were stacked up for 150 years and then bunged into a little chest.

8:22 And you can see where they've chamfered the edges off to make it fit.

8:26 Absolutely stunning.

8:27 Imagine, you know, a panelled room.

8:30 These are from a panelled room, I'm sure.

8:32 It's not a Tudor rose, is it?

8:34 Well, yes, yes, absolutely.

8:35 Almost a stylised…- A stylised Tudor rose.

8:38 And this is a sort of almost a guilloche moulding,

8:42 a guilloche banding pattern there.

8:44 I think they are wonderful!

8:46 Wonderful!

8:47 But what do you do now?

8:48 I mean, sort of… Sort of put them on the wall and… Maybe

8:52 you should protect… Maybe you just leave them as they are, I don't know.

8:55 Difficult to keep showing your friends every time they come round.

8:58 It is, yes.

8:58 How much did you pay for the chest?

9:00 £1,000.

9:02 Well, it's worth £1,000.

9:03 It's a little fruitwood chest of drawers.

9:05 I mean, it's certainly improved on that in six years.

9:09 But these are a bonus.

9:11 I suppose that panel is worth about £1,000.

9:15 And that one £1,000.

9:17 You surprise me.

9:19 It's very exciting!

9:20 Very exciting.

9:23 Wow!

9:24 I say, what a marvellous brooch.

9:26 My goodness me.

9:28 Is it a family one?

9:29 Yes, it came from my great-grandmother to my nana

9:33 then my mum and then it's passed down.

9:35 When do you think it was made?

9:36 I haven't got a clue.

9:38 Come on, have a go.

9:40 Great-grandmother, so 18-something?

9:42 No, absolutely not 18 at all.

9:44 This is actually a 20th-century brooch,

9:45 so maybe the story's got a little bit sort of embroidered.

9:49 And the point about it is that it's a 20th-century design.

9:53 It's a very art deco design, a very Odeon-style object.

9:57 And if one looks at it quite carefully, it reminds you of a visit to one

10:01 of those enormous cinemas with the decoration around the ceiling.

10:04 What's even more special about it is is

10:06 that the diamonds used in its manufacture are modern cut.

10:10 And what's frowned upon when you find a jewel like this is to find older-cut

10:14 diamonds that have been used for jewellery

10:16 in the past included in such an object.

10:19 And this is absolutely not the case.

10:20 These long diamonds here are what we called baguette diamonds.

10:24 And they're used to great effect for a rather geometrical design that actually,

10:28 in this instance, owes its origins a bit to Mexican design.

10:31 And here in the middle, we've got rather a substantial brilliant-cut diamond.

10:36 So it is a diamond…?

10:37 Oh, it is a diamond.

10:38 We didn't think it was…- You didn't think it was a diamond?

10:41 No.

10:41 No?

10:41 Goodness!

10:42 No, no.

10:42 It's quite a good thing.

10:44 Curiously enough, with diamonds,

10:45 if you want to make an immediate judgement as to whether a diamond is a diamond,

10:48 it's the imperfections in it that tell you instantly that it is.

10:52 Deep in the diamond, almost imperceptible without a very strong lens,

10:56 is a black deposit, which is a piece of carbon that's not crystallised.

11:01 Diamonds are simply crystallised carbon.

11:03 It's an element, expressing itself in this particular way because

11:06 of intense heat and pressure many millions of years ago.

11:10 There are some problems with it that I noticed as I turned it over.

11:13 It's out of true.

11:14 Had that damage been more critical then we would have been in serious trouble.

11:18 But we're not really.

11:19 And it needs cleaning and a little bit of adjustment.

11:23 And you know the direction to which this is all leading, don't you?

11:26 That this is a really substantially good, valuable object.

11:31 If there's a chance of putting a name to it,

11:33 a maker, then that would add to it even more.

11:36 But you have to brace yourself,

11:38 strap yourself into the seat because we've got a really, really good one here.

11:42 And if you went into a West End shop to buy such an object again,

11:46 I think it's possible that they would ask you £12,000 for it.

11:50 Good God!

11:52 Dear me.

11:52 I didn't think it was that val… We didn't think these were diamonds.

11:55 No, well, they are diamonds.

11:56 They're all diamonds.

11:57 And you've got a very valuable brooch.

11:59 Thank you.

12:00 Thanks very much for bringing it.

12:01 Thank you very much for looking at it.

12:04 Thank you.

12:04 This wood has been cut with one of those really rough two-man saws.

12:10 And this panelling has stayed together for 300 years.

12:14 Yes.

12:16 If a picture's on panel, it makes an enormous difference.

12:19 You can almost date the picture from the back.

12:21 And this is a wonderful panel.

12:23 If every picture tells a tale, please tell me.

12:25 [Man] Well, some years ago, my father and I,

12:28 we were refurbishing a room in our Tudor house,

12:32 and there was a Victorian fireplace which we took out,

12:35 which revealed a Tudor fireplace.

12:38 And above that was layers and layers of wallpaper.

12:41 So we decided to start scraping it off

12:44 and, er…- So the wallpaper was stuck to this?

12:47 Yes.

12:48 It's obviously a smart 17th-century house.

12:52 And it's wonderful.

12:53 I mean, the red brick glows.

12:55 These houses did glow then.

12:58 It's a fair bet to assume that this is a real house, it's not a fantasy house.

13:02 And this, I'm sure, is by an English painter not a Dutch painter.

13:08 About, say about 1700, 1710, 1720.

13:12 The panelling tells us that, the whole way it's put together.

13:16 We can trace the history of this sort of painting very easily.

13:21 And the reason, as you can see,

13:23 the reason I wanted to show the back of the panelling

13:26 is there's not a split… barely a split on this panel.

13:29 And the reason is this is seasoned wood, 20-year-old wood.

13:32 So it doesn't move.

13:34 Good lesson for builders today.

13:36 Wonderful.

13:36 Well, I just wondered if… To me and my mother,

13:39 we think that this is out of position compared with the landscape,

13:43 which looks quite normal.

13:45 And it seems to me as though they've

13:47 put the landscape in and then as an afterthought, they've put the building.

13:52 Well, had you thought that really the landscape that we know

13:56 today in England is basically an invention of the 18th century.

14:00 This artist is very happy putting in these abstract shapes.

14:05 I mean, this is a wonderful abstract painting as well.

14:07 And this formality of gardens is something that comes from Europe,

14:14 imposing an architectural statement on the landscape.

14:19 In fact, in Britain now,

14:21 because of Capability Brown and Humphry Repton, we do exactly the opposite.

14:24 We garden to the landscape.

14:26 We like to garden as though it's natural.

14:29 But there's another thing, which is very interesting.

14:32 You said this picture was over the mantelpiece.

14:35 That's right.

14:35 One of the interesting things about the fashion

14:38 of having your house painted was that they replaced portraits.

14:44 So it was actually exactly where it should have been for the fashion of the day.

14:51 I think it's wonderful.

14:53 And I think it's very interesting.

14:54 I mean, I've never seen such a complete British painting of this period, anyway.

15:02 It's very difficult to price something like

15:04 this, but I think at least £10,000 to £15,000.

15:07 It's a wonderful object.

15:09 Thank you.

15:10 Thanks very much.

15:11 Oh, my dear, speechless.

15:13 I'm speechless