what is he -- a mechanic? mechanic? he's a love machine. isn't that right, liam? oonagh... as long as i have any say your home is safe. okay? so you run a tight ship here, do ya? oh, you know. crack the whip? now and then. crash the cuffs? sir, can we just -- stick to -- the matter in hand. you said you had some information. for your ears only. ( whispering ) unh! sir, are you all right? you did that deliberately. you're lucky i didn't give you a squeaky voice. shall i call you a taxi, sir? oonagh! would you order a cab to kildargan? straightaway? yesterday.

( knock at door ) yes?! uh, tell me to mind me own business, but i was worried about you. siobhan. i can go away if you like. father mac. niamh, it's good to see you. what's going on, father? niamh -- don't. please. you know what i mean. i won't patronize you. i do want to say the right thing, but... which shows your father in a better light -- that he took his own life or that he just took off. i don't want to hear the right thing i just want -- i don't know what happened to your

father. he confided in you. no. i heard his confession from time to time, but confiding... i don't think brian did that. but to my mind it's inconceivable that he walked into the sea. what is it that people treat me like that?! like what? like with a total lack of respect! he's a gard. what does that mean? i don't treat people like that. maybe you should. what?! frankie, if you're a gard, you've gotta start behavin' like a gard. you're too nice. you can't be a gard and one of the boys at the same time. i'm part of the community. every community has an 'us' and a 'them' -- you're a 'them.' that's nice. anything else? all right, yes. you need more presence. i mean, look at ya -- there's more meat on a butcher's apron. you must come round more often. will i ask dr. ryan for steroids?

you can get them off me if you like. look, frankie, i like ya fine the way you are. but you've got to decide are you a human being or are you a gard? reporter: this ballykissangel confessional web site -- is this an australian idea? this what? guiltgone.com. "your one-stop confessional mailbox." my one stop -- ? "post your sins. praise the lord -- "is that mastercard or visa?" well, uh i believe we had a confessional... is your guilt gone? ( interview continues ) i gave the money back. father sheahan: father, it's a stunt -- why are we taking it seriously? because the television are taking it seriously. no, they're not, they're taking -- exactly. and they're taking it out of us and i want it stopped. i want to know who's behind it and

i want it stopped! father, i'm a priest. you want the cops. "the cops" are on their way. well, frankie is anyway. so what do you want? listen out. you'll hear things. and if i don't? if you don't what are you doing here? father mac: frankie? gard sullivan, father. what's occurring? excuse me? what's happening, father. there's a lot going on. well, as i told you, there's this confessional web site. oh, that. well i had a look at it. there's nothing illegal about it. so...not for us.

now, just hang on a second! these people are soliciting money here in bally-k. are they returning it for tax? father i have no idea. do you? i doubt very much they're local, anyway. it's probably some hustler in -- i don't know wargha-wargha. thank you for not very much, garda sullivan. something i can help you with, father? well, you're obviously on a roll. nice haircut by the way. gee, thanks. it's the first time i've been patronized by a kiwi today. i'm not a kiwi i'm an aussie. oh, is there a difference? ( tapping ) john. morning, niamh.

john, protecting me from the truth is not protecting me at all. now, dad's obviously in trouble -- what is it? okay, okay. he was broke. all right, he is broke. i don't know what happened to him do you? either way he doesn't have a pot to -- the bank owns it all. what? you gave him power of attorney. i know, but -- he needed cash lots of it. the ireland bank of commerce was happy to lend it. using the pub as collateral? not just the pub. the house? and the golf course. the priest's house? in your father's house there were many mansions. yeah, thanks, john. dot.com madness. "quadruple your money.com." so he thought. you know these internet companies that make millions overnight? he found one.

borrowed up to his jaxie piled in and... struck out. oh, yes. ( tapping ) ( tapping ) oh, shoot. dermot, how could ya... without tellin' me first? what? nothin'. get in line.

oonagh, i can't say what they'll do. if we don't own fitzgerald's anymore -- i understand that, but i'd say you asked. speculation, oonagh. he's dad's solicitor not the bank. he says -- he says fitzgerald's isn't living up to its potential. he sees the books. it's not a criticism of you. you and paul were doing as well as anyone could. but he says the bank may not see the pub as a... social service? ( sighs ) well, i think i know what you're going to say now, niamh, but let me go through the motions anyway. if we're doing as well as anyone could, and it's still not enough what use is fitzgerald's anyway? it-it's real estate, isn't it?

i don't care, grainne, i will not have blackmail in this house, it's -- immoral? yes, it's immoral. and extortion isn't? what extortion? that money was freely given. actually, this is getting a bit out of hand. oonagh: what is? oh hi, luv. what's goin' on? uh, family conference. i was just tellin' the children that we ought to pull together. because things are getting a bit out of hand? exactly. you know it's not polite to listen to other people's private conversations. no, it's not. no. it's not. and i don't know what he's told you but we're not out of here yet. and we won't be. niamh: i felt ashamed, brendan... i love my father but i don't think i could forgive him for this. he must have had his reasons, niamh. i don't care. oonagh could lose her home. you're so sure he's still alive.

aren't you? the only way my father could die -- god would have to ask his permission. ( both chuckling ) family conference? we've come back from worse. indeed we have but we're not comin' back from this because it's not gonna happen. all i care about is the family. ( kids arguing; door slams ) well, all i care about is you. you've a good heart, paul. well, i got a black heart if the need arises. ( chuckles )

brendan: okay, mrs. kelly i'll be back tomorrow with nuala's homework. frankie, is the car broken down? you know it's illegal for a bike not to have a working light. at night. oh, and you don't use it at night? frankie, it's a dynamo. it only works when the wheels go round. i know where you live. six figures -- i don't know exactly. ireland bank of commerce, yeah. i don't know yet, luv. i'm getting a sort of picture, but i -- ( doorbell ) i have to go, sean. yeah, me too. give him a hug for me. yeah. bye for now. ( sighs )

mrs. dillon? yes? sorry to trouble you. my name's werslip. from the credit bank of ireland. not the ireland bank of commerce? no. hello. but i thought the ireland bank of commerce -- has first claim on everything -- they do. only we didn't know. don't ask. the fact is, we lent your father the same amount against assets we thought were clear. will i write you a check? what?! what can i tell you? you can tell us where he is. you can tell us if he's alive or dead. ah. in which case, your condolences? i wouldn't have thought so. ( alarm clock )

ah, frankie! siobhan. it's in the post. the new one. not here yet, then. i've created a monster.

best of three? i'm not in the mood. fair enough. i'm vincent. how's it goin'? i've only been here a day. you're the priest. yeah. you're from australia? sure am. you everbeen? i reckon you could afford it. here you go, mate. how much is the sack worth? what?! how much money in the sack? from the web site. hang on a second -- hey, take it easy. i'm not gonna give you a hard time. how far down does the river go?

far enough. show me. vince: how come everything's so green? dermot: god said it was the law. thank you.

( horn honks ) dermot: i think the company was foreign, i can't remember. but i do remember reading how a bloke suckered a whole bunch of irish investors apparently. vince: you into all that stuff? yeah -- i think i'm becoming a nerd. ha ha! go on. i dunno, i just thought a religious web site had a better chance of working in ireland than brazil. really? i didn't think this was a very religious country anymore. no, but there are enough yanks who think it is. these confessions people make -- you give 'em penance? oh, god, yeah.

i was brutal. you wanna try me? i don't go to confession, father. oh. but i don't want to do this anymore. good. i don't know how to get out. liam: how much did you get? donal: i don't know. it's all in reals. doesn't look like very much. it's ten thousand in pounds. no way! um-hmm. is it a windup? why? what would be the point? listen to me, donal. don't try and cash it, not yet.

don't worry about that. did you ever see that film, charlie varrick? "hi. i'm molly." donal, this isn't mob money. this is from quig -- this is from quigley. let's just see how things pan out. ten grand! this check you received -- how much was it for? niamh: six figures. near enough seven. pounds? um-hmm. which belongs to the bank. one of them, yeah. the one he borrowed it from. what a guy. he is to his family.

what was he thinking? my guess... he could stand to lose everything... but not if it meant leaving nothing to us. but he wasn't ill, was he? he could have bounced back. he doesn't do miracles, father. he would have been bankrupt. ( sighs ) the way i hear it, your tenants at the pub are living on borrowed time. that's what i mean. but if it's not my father's money, how can it be mine? i'd love to help them. what if i did? you? sure. the bank's money my conscience. i want to do the right thing. you would be. if the church doesn't know what's right, who does?

that's what we're here for. cash or check? thank you, mr. ganley. you're welcome. have a good day. bye bye. brendan! i need your computer, mate. uh, father -- vincent. call me vincent. well, vincent, whatever. if the school computer is about to become a church resource at any moment -- you're not gonna charge me, are you? no. but the thought had crossed my mind. well?

not yet. dermot, i'm sure they're very tragic, but that's the point, isn't it? i know, da but i just think -- all right. all right. okay, let's go. "and if in your infinite mercy "this one time you could "restore her even to partial health "i will be truly thankful." dermot, do you think we'd be doin' this unless we really had to? okay, brendan, you ready? no more mr. nice guy. no, no -- you don't have to write that.

"paul dooley this is god.".. grainne: "paul dooley, this is god." "and this is how it's going to be." "the money from this rip-off "goes back or i'll tell the -- " "taxman." "grainne can keep the boots." i didn't even get the hat! "i haven't finished yet, sport."

"sport?" ah. cup of coffee, i think. father vincent i'll take dictation... but i don't do coffee. fair enough. buy you a beer? you're gettin' more irish by the minute. okay, everyone drink up -- i won't say it again. brendan: oh, oonagh... what has got into that woman? edso, put some love into her life, will ya? i've gotta wait until tuesday. ha ha! come on now, on your way.

brendan. father. thanks for tonight. ( gibberish ) yeah. safe home, louie. unh... thank you, frankie. gard sullivan. i hope you're not driving home on that thing. come on, father, let's go. unh-unh. father. gard. i'm goin' nowhere. and i'd really appreciate it if you'd shut that door. frankie: why are you doing this, father?

paul! there's a draft. hey, i'm paying the bills. do you leave your front door open? i own the place. don't want it much but what can you do? paul, i think you better get in here! he hasn't told you, has he? gard, what can i get for you?

( computer beeps ) ( siren ) i have not committed a crime, and that is not the issue! i'm avril burke.

vincent sheahan. i saw you up on the galllops this morning. i can cash them for you -- no questions asked. captioned by captioneering we spell out service

fiona: they say that charity begins at home-- but that's not always the case. for southwell in nottinghamshire it began right here at the minster. welcome to the roadshow. ♪ we like to take you off the beaten track in the roadshow

in hope of finding some hidden treasure. and this week... i think we've succeeded. the norman nave, the glorious 13th century chapter house, and these magnificent towers known locally as "the pepper pots," make southwell minster one of the lesser-known jewels in the crown of nottinghamshire. but why is it called a minster when it could just as well be called a cathedral? well, many cathedrals have their origins in monastic communities where monks lived together and need a place of worship. a minster, however is created by the people living around it. priests and the local community come together and contribute their money and their time to create a mother church for an area, known as a minster. and southwell is one of only five in the country. here in the chapter house, each one of these seats represents the original communities

that contributed towards the minster, and this is where they used to meet. during the 1800s it was this community spirit that led one of the canons here, reverend john becher to set up a charity to build this... southwell workhouse, less than a mile from the minster, and one of about half a dozen remaining in its original state. just like in oliver twist it's easy to imagine mr. bumble and his matron stalking these corridors. men, women and children were housed here. they were separated into two groups: the idle and profligate paupers-- a euphemism for the unemployed and life for them was very grim--

and the infirm and guiltless paupers-- they usually had an easier time of it. the only way you could leave the workhouse was if someone outside offered you a job, and that was rare. days were spent breaking stones, turning mills, and, down here in the cellar salting meat. they'd put salt on it here to preserve it and then hang it from these bars. the work was punishing. and when it came to bedtime, straw mattresses-- and they're very hard. it's this historic backdrop which welcomes us to southwell and i'm looking forward to seeing what the people of nottinghamshire have to being through these doors. expert: now, i think you were at school a lot more recently than i was and i'm sure you remember your geometry barely. so how would we describe that clock? of what form would we call that?

well... not a trick question really, but... we've always called it a diamond-shaped clock but it isn't, really is it? it's a parallelogram on the top-- i think we'd call it a rhombus. i was working up to a rhombus. you were. i was very impressed. the main thing is, it's a really charming little item. right. dials all the way round. we'll start at the front with the timepiece style-- we call it a timepiece because it doesn't strike-- signed by asprey. that's pretty useful isn't it? right, yes. the next one is a barometer. coming round we have although the hand is missing we have a calendar here, and on this bezel we've got the days of the week and two little knurled knobs that you can twist that round. and then we have appointments on the last side which is great. we're missing the hands and the glass-- it's not the end of the world-- and in the top, of course, we have a little compass again with the needle missing, and the glass on that.

so condition is not brilliant, is it? no. no. it's always been like that ever since i've known it but no, we know the condition's not good. so how long have you known it for? um, how long have i known my husband? um... difficult. very. about 30-odd years i've known of its existence. it's always sat in my mother-in-law's house and then when she died we had things to clear out and it came, and, unfortunately, now lives in our attic. seriously? seriously, yes. so you never have it going? don't know how to. sorry, what do you mean you don't know how to wind it up? no, don't know how to wind it up. okay. well, you're certainly right the front bezel doesn't open and there's no place there to wind it up. no. the secret of all these little goodies are the opening doors at the back. oh, look. and there they are. oh, gosh. and what we've got here is a nice 8-day movement with a massive

spring in there and then the linkages are missing for the calendar but on the appointments, there are two little knurled wheels here so you can alter the two hands to set the date and the time of your next appointment. it's a great little toy, isn't it? it's fun. why would you need a compass? i presume this is designed for a desk-- why would you need a compass? this is a sort of gentleman's compendium. right. the compass really not greatly significant, unless he wanted to know which door to leave the house by. any thoughts on date? no. i'm gonna turn it so i can look at this. well, all silver items always have a full set of hallmarks and there we are: "london, 1911." right. and it's asprey. can you imagine what that would have cost if you, for instance, nowadays you wandered into bond street to buy a thing like that? i wouldn't have enough money in my purse, then.

i certainly wouldn't have enough money in my purse, now. if it was new, something like that today, with a little bit of restoration in a retail shop you would see that for at least £5,000. that's somewhat more than i expected. oh, what a fine collection of tobacco jars! have you been collecting these for a long time? yes, almost 40 years. what started you off? i inherited one-- i'm afraid it's not here today-- from my grandmother. i used to play with it as a child, apparently. ( laughs ) yes, yes. did grandmother smoke? no. no. probably granddad. i think he smoked a pipe at one time. because these are all for tobacco, and made in germany in the 1880s to '90s running into the early years of the 20th century. they always have a figure of someone or other, or an animal. this is most unusual. it's a dog; lift the head off

and put the tobacco inside it, and then take it out when you need the tobacco. keeps it cool and dry inside. this here's amusing, because it leaves the dog's eyes behind it! yes, i think it's about the only one like that. some of them are absolute fun. this chap with the wheelbarrow he's resting his stomach on the-- i feel great sympathy with that-- as he wheels the thing along. he's a good one, isn't he? and i think they're great, but the strange thing about it is that although tobacco now smoking, is off-limits, really people don't like it anymore the objects that are used in it have become very popular. and in america, especially they're mad keen on them. this figure smoking a pipe would be terribly popular in america. things like the cowboy over there they like such characters that represent america in a way. and i have a few myself. i've got this little chap with a beetle running down his nose.

you have many more at home, do you? a total of about 30 altogether, yes. and you're finding them more difficult to find nowadays? yes. on average, to collect one it takes about two years to find it. one over two years nowadays? yes. well, that shows great strength of character to do it, really. what's the most you've had to pay for them? £150. for... that one. this girl, she's very, very beautiful, isn't she? egyptian, almost isn't she? she is, yes. well, i reckon she's such a beautiful girl, in such super condition, i think certainly a couple of hundred, at least. nowadays, even the quite ordinary ones are pushing up towards the £100 bracket. but you don't smoke, yourself? no, never smoked. ( laughing ) i think it's wonderful! so carry on collecting and enjoy them because they're enormous fun. well done. thank you.

the hog's back, in surrey-- is that right? yes. yes. a good artist always has a strong sense of place. and it's by adrian daintrey, and it's painted in 1937. have you had it long? it was bought at auction in the early 1960s by my father. and it was in the catalogue, and it was misnumbered on the catalogue. and my father said, "that's it! that's my painting!" mummy said, "no, no, no! wrong lot number." oh, i see. so he said, "no, that's my painting," and he bid for it and got it for £2. wrong-footing everyone else who may have been confused by the numbering problem. he must have been very certain in his mind about what he wanted to do on that day, by the sound of it. yes, he did. well, he's quite an interesting artist. he was a friend of antony powell. do you know who i mean? dance to the music of time and all this sort of thing? yes, yes. and he could have been the model for anthony powell's barnby in dance to the music of time. and although powell never actually modeled any of his figures on people directly there were little bits of them in

some of his fictive heroes. and barnby was quite a louche character very, very '30s sort of a person. daintrey himself might have had an element of that in it. although he lived in surrey not far from hog's back, he used to stay a lot with quite wealthy patrons and he met a lot of them through powell. and he would stay the weekend and-- it was the great age of the country weekend in the 1930s. often his landscapes you can be fairly sure he was staying at the big house, nearby, because clearly something is going on over here. what do you suppose that is? i thought it was scaffolding on a building. yeah, i think building something. and so perhaps a folly or a summer house to a bigger house-- it's difficult to tell. but the sky is painted in a not-a-very-english way, somehow, it's sort of rather impressionistic manner. and actually the signature color scheme of the entire thing is very '30s-- it's brown and white and this very strident green. artists of this time in britain were looking for a new way of looking at the british landscape

bringing in new ideas from france, the openness of light. and they called the impressionists-- at the time they called them the "sun painters." and so really what they're looking for always is new ways of rendering light. so it's quite experimental all of which adds up to quite an interesting period piece, i'd say. have you ever thought about its value? i haven't thought about its value, because we love it, and it's just going on being an appreciated painting. good. it's appreciated in money as well. not a huge amount, but i'd say his £2 then is worth about £2,000 now, that sort of thing. lovely. it's lovely. it's part of the family. so, two rings, two ladies-- what's the story? they belonged to my cousin and her father had a box i think, of cuff links and the rings were amongst them. so we're here with them today. and what do you know about them? well, all that she said was that her father was a collector,

and she just asked if we could bring them in and just see more about it because-- we're just as curious. i'm thrilled to see them. they're very pure gold they're absolutely sort of buttery-yellow gold, and that the first thing that fellows like me who are interested in the history of jewelry, notice. because a high-quality gold of this color is almost a sort of patination and is a signal to me that these are very old rings, indeed. this is what we call a posy ring, and "posy" means-- it derives from poetry. and inside there is a little poem, and it's arranged in what we call champleve enamel it's been engraved and then flooded with black enamel. and it reads... "by faith i live... the which i give." and it's a rather sort of convoluted shakespearean phrase that i think really means that when this ring is given as a wedding ring, that that brings with it the responsibility of faithfulness and love and protection and all good things from a husband to a wife. so this is the wife's wedding ring,

then? i think it probably is. can't be absolutely certain, but i'm wondering quite how many men would have worn wedding rings at that time anyway. but it's in fantastic condition, and the enamel has remained. and it's a secret thing. you put it over your finger like that, and then the phrase is completely hidden from the rest of the world. and perhaps it was lost. perhaps it fell from a finger onto the ground, whatever-- we can only guess. we only know it landed up in a cuff link box. as far as we know. bit of an anachronism, really, because that ring is about 350 years old. really? it's a 17th century ring possibly late 16th century. and an astonishing survival. how can you tell from this ring how old it is? that's a very good point because stylistically it looks exactly like my own wedding ring. you can tell by the styling of the script. it's to do with calligraphy in this case. but it's a very, very good question. there's no hallmark on it; on this one, there is. in fact, it's not a hallmark but only a maker's mark. and let's look at the front of it. and what do you think that one's for?

well, we actually were talking about this and we thought that because of the lamb or the ram that it was a seal for a wax seal. well, i'm absolutely certain it is a seal but it's also a religious reference as well, because this is the agnus dei, the lamb of god. very often he's carrying a staff with a banner on it. and on the back, which is the most touching thing that i've ever seen in a ring of this nature it says simply "a father's gift." i wonder what that was. it's a father to a son. i think this is definitely a man's ring. and perhaps it was when a man became of age, perhaps when he was 21 to have his own signet and this is probably a pious person living 400 years ago. wow... i've got shivers. my hairs on my arms and back! i can't believe it. but it's too small for a man's ring isn't it? well, people were smaller then. their diet wasn't so great so they were shorter and slimmer. but anyway, i think we can say with absolute certainty these are both english rings. i'm mad about this i love it to bits, and lots of other people will love it.

and with that kind of collectability comes high value. okay. right. right. and so... well, £800 to £1200 for that one... oh, wow. and... gosh, for this one? yeah. gee. £4,000 to £5,000 for that one. my goodness! we're gonna on a caribbean holiday. so, are you a fan of the roadshow? not exactly. i came along with my dad because nobody else would come with him, oh, what a shame. and then i'm here, so... but does this belong to you? yes. i inherited it from my godmother just before christmas, and it's a money box that my brother and i used to play with when we were little, and that's as much as i know. so tell me how long can you remember it for? probably about 15 years. we used to play with it because the lid was stuck on and it was just a challenge to see who could open it first. right. so, a money box in quite an unusual form

i think probably in the form of an old tollhouse, which would make sense. yep. made of mahogany. and i rather like this sort of crest it's like a horse's head as the chimney. and does that get you in our out? it doesn't really turn it anymore, this part underneath doesn't really turn; it think it used to. so the turret lifts off, and then you can get the money out. i think it should date from somewhere around the end of the last century, 1880. now, anything unusual is always collectible, but i just want to inject a little note of caution here. because they were so popular they were such a collector's item during the sixties seventies and eighties they have been known to be copied and copies do exist, and they're hard to tell the difference. so as a copy which i don't think this is, but as a copy, we would say £200 or £300 as a novelty box.

but as the real thing... £2,000 to £3,000. i'm amazed. absolutely amazed. that's quite a good inheritance. a siebe gorman 12-bolt diving helmet. yeah. it's a great object. it is. it is. i've got plenty i can say about it but what can you tell me? well, i've been a diver in the rail industry since 1968, using scuba and more modern equipment, but just at 1968 we took over from the guys who were using these. so i met mr. jones who was the diver who's had this helmet, at his base in hollyhead just before he retired. and because they were retiring and we were taking over, this equipment was surplus so we were able to buy it as scrap, basically. how amazing. and presumably

you had a chance to speak to jones the diver? yes, i did. yes. did he tell you what it was like, actually wearing one of these great things on your head? he told a few stories. one of the ones was that when they were inspecting the harbor walls, because obviously it's very cumbersome in this they were lowered down in cages and then towed by a boat along the wall so that they could see it, which sounded a bit horrendous to me. and the other story he told, which i don't know if it's true or not, was that his colleague got his finger stuck in a hole in the harbor wall and had to cut it off himself to get up, but whether that's true or not i don't know. um, he... also told a lot of stories about using explosives underwater when they lowered the harbor bed at hollyhead. so not so much about what it was like in it but a lot of anecdotes about using it. okay, let me do my bit which is the historical stuff. siebe gorman probably the name most associated with this kind of closed diving helmet.

siebe invented something very similar to this in the 1840s went into partnership with his son-in-law, gorman, and together, in england they set up siebe gorman, ltd. and they produced these. the diving helmets came in all sorts of different styles. this is the 12-bolt version, it's got 12 bolts to attach it to your suit. they also had 3-bolt versions, 6-, 8-, and so on. and they have acquired a sort of iconic status, really. any shop that sells nautical antiques, any nautical-themed restaurant has to have one of these. and because of that, it's put the price up to perhaps a figure which is more than they're actually worth. but also it's encouraged a huge number of facsimiles to be made. but this is the real thing. it's a late one, so it's a post-war one i would say, and as far as value is concerned

you would be very unfortunate to get less than £3,000 for it and on a good day the market could push it up to £4,000 or £5,000. and what's great is to see a real one when one usually sees so many fakes, and also to have somebody who was just one handshake away from wearing it himself. thanks very much for bringing it in. thank you. so, your aunt was the collector of doulton? yes. i think she was related slightly to somebody connected with doulton. and she probably was presented with a couple of pieces first and then she decided to keep going on it, because she enjoyed it. that sort of makes sense because the pieces you brought are not the standard doulton pieces. we see a lot of doulton slater's patent, we see a lot of what i call, rather unkindly, the doulton drainpipe work. yes. but these pieces have much more artistic pretension. this jar, for example. if you look at the patent on it, it's one of doulton's very, very best designs.

and it takes you to that extraordinary period where the art nouveau, the period of organic fluid movement is beginning to move over towards the geometric art deco. and this piece is almost caught slap-bang in the middle of that change. it's a very unusual piece to find. it is, yes. and it's beautifully marked on the bottom with all the marks you'd expect for a piece of doulton of the early 20th century. but this is the piece that really caught my eye. tell me about it. it's been one of my favorites. it was on the mantelpiece since long as i can remember when we were visiting my aunt, and i always picked it out as a piece that i did like very much. now, is that because you're a farmer? possibly it was, yes at the time, yes. the vast majority of doulton figures we see are bone china or earthenware figures produced at doulton's secondary factory

up at burslem, stoke-on-trent. but this, like the jar is made of a material called stoneware very hard pottery, and it comes from lambeth, which is where doulton started off. yes. and unlike those terribly sentimental some might say even "kitsch" bone china-- ( laughs ) i can hear the letters coming in!-- those bone china figures that doulton are famous for, this has something far more gutsy this is a really beautiful piece of rather melancholy sculpture. yes. yeah. and the artist responsible for producing the original sculpture of this was a man called leslie harradine. he left doulton in 1912, so we know that this piece was produced in the very early years of the 20th century. so in other words, it's in that extraordinary twilight period, as we now see it leading up to the first world war. and it really represents the end of an era.

they didn't know it at the time, but many people felt that this was the end of all that grinding toil in the fields, and, my goodness if you actually look at the expression in the man's face, you can see that there is hard toil. so your aunt with her possible relations in the doulton company she did you a service, she brought you some interesting objects. yes, very much. i think this is a beautiful object it's a decorative object and it's probably worth somewhere between £300 and £500. this is something more. this is an object that makes a statement and it has strong sentiment to it-- not sentimentality but sentiment. and i think that's probably in the same region maybe a little bit more-- £400 to £600. it ought to be worth more. yeah. well, i'm surprised that it is as high as you say. so you're actually pleasantly surprised. pleasantly surprised, yes. well, okay, let's call it a deal, then. yes, right.

this series, we've delving into the minds and hidden passions of our experts to see what two items they would save if they had to run out of the house if there was a fire. now, geoffrey munn you're our jewelry man so i'm assuming your two items jewelry's got to be one of them. well, it's one of them but i brought two, and one of them's conspicuously bigger than the other. this is a serving bottle that i actually use when we have dinner parties. and tell me what you think of it. well, i've got to say, to be honest, i wouldn't give it a second glance. what's so special about it? well, it's a very early one. it's the earliest recorded form of serving bottles and it predates all decanters. decanting wine is a very nice thing to do because it enhances the flavor of the wine but what i like about this one is that it's come straight off a table from 1720, 1740. and there are two ghosts living in this bottle,

there are sort of genies in a bottle, really. the first genie is the man that made it in 1720 in a furnace possibly in vauxhall in southeast london, and that's his breath, that's a fossil of his breath. he's blown this glass. and then, presumably it's bought somewhere in london, perhaps somewhere else in the united kingdom, we don't know, and for possibly a man of quite high status who's interested in wine in 1740, and a very convivial person who wants wine to help along his party. well, you certainly are something of a romantic when it comes to describing the past lives of objects and the ghosts that might haunt them. now, this other thing must have a ghost or two i'd say. absolutely guaranteed, i think. this one contains the hair of king edward iv who died on april 9, 1483. and you're going to say immediately, "well, it doesn't look as if it's made in 1483." it doesn't. and also how can you be sure that it is his hair? well, it's a well recorded fact this his tomb was broken into at windsor they rediscovered his tomb and the antiquaries fell on it they were so fascinated to find the body of an english king. what, grave robbing?

well, it's a sort of grave robbing. in fact, it did upset people a little bit. it was always done by license-- if these tombs were found in a cathedral or perhaps in a castle there was permission to do this. and when they found the tomb it was the lead coffin and they opened it and found that the body of the king was only partially preserved. the head and the hair was in a state of preservation but the feet were said to be swimming in a sea of corruption. okay, i'll stop you right there, because that's putting me right off. and they took cuttings of the hair. and where is the hair, then? now, the hair is in the laurel here, the laurel wreath. is it? and it's been pulverized it's been chopped into tiny, tiny, tiny fragments. and then the twig on which the leaves hang is a single hair from the king's head. good grief. and it's painted onto the surface of it. that's a convention for an 18th century mourning ring, which i suppose, in a funny way, this is. it's more of a reliquary than a mourning ring but you see this type. and on the reverse it's inscribed

"the discovery of the tomb in 17--" "edward iv. discovered march 13, 1789." yes. and 1789 is a pivotal year for monarchy. they were just preparing the guillotine for the french king and queen. so, deep fascination with monarchy, deep fascination with something ancient and this is an incontestable relic of king edward iv. this is well recorded, there's a piece of his hair at the society of antiquaries, and a literary account of it and a visual account and that's pure magic to me. so it's dead cert, this one. in more ways than one! and if this has got ghosts what must this have? well, that's most certainly a ghost. geoffrey, thank you. thank you. expert: this is-- this is unbelievable. this is so beautiful! look at those figures. first off, all this decoration, and this very style, has to be 17th century

but early 17th century. it could... it could be 1590. but i think that to be safe let's say 1600 to 1610. right. this is the most beautiful quality. and look here in the center-- there's hearts and handshakes. i mean, it's obviously a betrothal box, isn't it? mm-hmm. have you any idea where it could have come from? do you have any family history at all? it's been in the family for as long as anyone can remember. as children we used to hide things in it because it's got so many secret compartments. but other than that, we know very little about it. so, no sort of continental family background? quite possibly in portugal. well, there's a thought. i was going to say northern european. right. his costume could be dutch could be scandinavian-- now, it could be portuguese-- why not? let's have a look at it anyway. the whole th