Tatton Park & Brighton Antiques Roadshows

Phew – what a hot one! I’ve just got back from the Brighton Antiques Roadshow, where the blazing sun was as continuous – and welcomed – as the thousands who turned up today. This was my second outdoor event, the first having been Tatton Park last week. I always enjoy these more than indoor events when the weather’s as jolly as this, but I do feel slightly sorry for those in the queue. I always make sure my table is stocked with enough cold water and two chairs to give at least a little respite after standing for so long.
I was on the Collectables table at Tatton Park, and the Miscellaneous tables today, so I’ve seen an enormous range of pieces from Victorian ceramics to snuff boxes to treen, silverplate, and even Pokemon cards! I did manage to film one piece today and, unusually for me, it was furniture. My lips are sealed – tune in to see what it was!
One special collection sticks out in my mind however. Today, I was lucky enough to be brought a lifetime’s collection of propelling pencils, many made by the renowned Victorian company of Sampson Mordan. The gentleman had begun collecting in Venice, on his honeymoon in the late 1950s. The staggering thing was that he had recorded the price he had paid for every pencil in a pocket book ever since then. Pen and pencil collectors – gotta love ’em! A true enthusiast, he had no idea about their value, other than the price he paid which has never exceeded £50. I picked out three examples which, making a total of around £1,500, were worth more than the remaining 50 or so pencils. Alas, by the time they arrived late in the day, the filming schedule was over-subscribed, so all I’m going to say about the special three right now is that they were made by Mordan…for more information you’ll have to read a forthcoming copy of BBC Homes & Antiques magazine.