Filmed at Plas Newydd in Wales in 2015, appraiser Paul Atterbury examines a remarkable rediscovery from the family collection: a 200-year-old spyglass once owned by Napoleon Bonaparte. Gifted in the 1860s and linked to his exile on Elba, this historic telescope carries what Paul calls 'magic history.' Even in its damaged state, its association with Napoleon makes it immensely valuable, but how much this battlefield relic really worth?
Welcome to the home of Antiques Roadshow on YouTube. Here you'll find all the best clips from Britain’s most popular antiques appraisal show. From items that have been handed down the generations to those picked up in junk shops, discover their history and delight in the possibility that it could in fact be a priceless treasure.
It's quite easy to imagine that we might be in the Mediterranean.
Yes.
I mean, North Wales at its best, wonderful sea, wonderful sun.
And if we take ourselves to the Mediterranean,
that's really the story of this object, isn't it?
Now, you're Simon, you're the house and collections manager here.
Tell me about it.
Well, what we know about it is that it was given to the second Marquess's wife
when he was in charge of the Mediterranean fleet in the 1860s.
And it was given to her by the consul at Elba as a gift
because it was supposedly Napoleon's spyglass.
Well, that's it, isn't it?
This is a magic item because things are important,
part because of what they are,
but more important because of their associations.
Now, I am looking at something, I'm touching something
that, as far as we know, was touched by Napoleon.
Yes.
And I think that's, at that point, we're into extraordinary history.
Now, Elba is a key place.
That's where Napoleon went when he was first captured.
He escaped from there, started his new army,
and, of course, that leads to Waterloo in 1815.
So, in theory, if he had that with him in Elba,
did he take it with him to Waterloo?
It's a wonderful conjecture, isn't it?
It is, and we don't know what the story of it is
from the time of Napoleon until 1867, when he went to Sanderdale.
It becomes a family item at that point.
Yes.
And the inscription makes it clear it came into the family in 1867.
Yes.
So there's that wonderful block of mystery.
But whatever we do know, we know for certain that he owned it.
This is Napoleon's property.
Yes.
I mean, I'd love to have that vision, that he's standing on the Battle of Waterloo,
and it isn't going that well, you know, it's a close-run thing,
and he puts it up to his eye and he says,
oh, no, here come the Prussians.
And that would have been fantastic, wouldn't it?
It would, yes.
Sadly, we can't say that.
But what we can say for absolute certainty is
we are dealing, as I say, with magic history,
the history of a person who changed the world,
a person whose associations are immensely popular with collectors today.
I mean, is this a house treasure?
Definitely, yes.
It's recently been rediscovered in the basement, sadly, in pieces,
and we are going to put it on display very shortly.
And tell that story.
Yes.
Napoleon, everything to do with Napoleon, is mega stuff,
because it is so exciting.
Just to give you a context,
one of his many hats sold for something like a million pounds.
And it's a hat, but it's a hat that went on Napoleon's head,
and that's the key thing.
Without his association, it was 100 pounds, you know,
and that's the difference.
And I think, therefore, even in its shattered state,
I'm still going to say 50,000 pounds.
I know you can't sell it.
But good to know, anyway.
