Drew Finds Ancient Hercules Statue Steeped In History I Salvage Hunters

Hello. Alright. How you doing? Hi. How are you doing? You okay? Nice to meet you. Good. Nice to meet you. Mint. Sasha. Lovely to meet you. How you doing, Tate? And lovely little dog. Hello. Pixel. Are we alright to have a look around? Of course. Yeah? Keep it warm? Shall we start over here? Yeah, let's go for it. Cool. Hello, doggie. Hello. Oh, you've got a friend there. Yeah. Oh. Come on in. Right then. Wow. Look at those. Tell me where you got these from. The lions. Yeah. I'll have to put you down, Pixel. Oh. These are great. Have you had them a while? I've had these quite a while, actually, yeah. That colour stone, is that South Cheshire or Staffordshire stone? I'm thinking they are from Derbyshire. Extraordinary things. Mm-hmm. What sort of age do you think they are? That's a very, very hard question. Yeah. I could be lazy and go, oh, the 17th century, but they're not there earlier. Because of the way they've been finished at the back is so rough. Uh-huh. So if they'd have been done by maybe the Georgians, it would have been a tidier cut. Right. So is the back rough because you wouldn't have seen it? I think so. Would it have been high? They wouldn't have had the kit, probably, to saw them. So they just chipped away at it. And then that's just been a corbel. So it'd be a window or whatever, or a doorway, and those would have been in it. What do you want from them? Maybe we'll come back to them. Do you want to think about it? Yeah. Are you liking them too much? They're sort of family, they are. One thing he has in the yard here, and I can't take my eyes off them, is a pair of corbels. These are extraordinary. These are really early. So there's no mechanical instruments whatsoever being used to carve these. Nothing. Not even to carve the block itself. So you're going back to 1600s. But Mend loves them. Price-wise, depending on age, somewhere between 6,000 and 8,000 for the pair, maybe more. They are quite incredible. Tell me about this. I've had that for a long time. That is, from what I can see, a Penrhyn slate. So we're walking along discussing staddle stones, and then we happen across this slate sundial that he has in the middle of the yard here. Well, every now and again you look at something and go, that's rather special. That is exquisite. That is a thing of real joy and beauty and rarity. And it's just got it all. It is of museum quality. It's that good, and it's something that I really want to own. This stunning piece of engineering has everything going for it. The dial is complete with no damage, which is a rare find for such a delicate piece dating from the 1800s. And it's highly detailed, with morning, evening, and nighttime zones. Made in Glasgow by highly regarded craftsman Richard Melvin for the Crystal Palace Company in London. It could be worth around £3,300. You make me an offer. If you're interested. £1,600. I don't think I'll let it go for that. Well, really, I never bid dealers. I hate doing that. You need to tell me a price. If it's yours and you've got it and you're selling it. I want £4,000. I'll give you one more bid, I'll give you £2,000 for it. Make it turn off. Can I pick it up? Yeah, of course you can, yeah. Tea. Can I pick it up and see if there's anything underneath? No, just the fixings and marks. You sure you're ready to sell it? Let's have a look at something else. Sure? Yeah. Because I'm going to give you £2,500 for it. Let me have a think about it. Can we come back to that? We can come back to it. All right, let's keep going. Shall we have a look in here? Yeah, sure. I absolutely love shops like this. You've got some more of these corbel heads. These are in 19th century ones, but in a medievalist taste. What about the statue? You're not interested in that? The what? The little statue. Which little statue? In there. That's a rare one. There's another Derbyshire piece. I'm looking at a pair of stone heads and then Ment said to me, what about this? And it was something he's tucked away in a corner. I don't immediately recognise what the figure's representing, but I do recognise the figure. I have seen it before, particularly with that lion skin draped across the head. The whole thing has just got a really good look to it, and I'm here to buy something with a bit of oomph to it. This is certainly that. This carved white marble statue is called Winter and depicts a young Hercules, the Greek and Roman god, famed for his strength. A superb piece, it dates from the mid-19th century and is by celebrated neoclassical sculptor Emil Wolf. Wolf lived and worked in Rome and had a wealthy clientele, selling many of his pieces to the aristocracy and royals, particularly the Russian and the English. Today, a number of Wolf's works are in museums and private royal collections. This piece could be worth around £3,400. What's the history? I've done a little bit of research on it. Right. And I did ring up somebody about it, and he says if it's a good one, they'll go for about 15,000. It's great. Can I be honest with you? I'd be absolutely flabbergasted if that made 15,000 quid. No, I don't think it'll make 15,000. So, how much is it today? This? Four or five. No. You've got to leave me something in the job. Mm-hm. Um, 2,800 quid. Can you go free? No. Tell you what, do you want to just do what we always do and just meet in the middle, 2,900? Are you making money? Yep. I should imagine so. Yep. OK. We'll go for that. Deal? 2,900. 2,900 for that. OK, then. Happy? All right, you got your deal. 2,900 pound for young Hercules, that's OK with me. I think he's worth 3,250 to 3,400. So there's some money to be made. Not a great deal, but there's money to be made. So, if I'm buying that, I do want to buy the two corbels as well. So how much are they? No. No? No. I'm not selling those. Really? No. I can't let them lions go. Why? What we do. You know... That would make a living. Oh, I know, but you see, I'm... You've been clever enough to buy them, you reap the reward and then you go and find some more. Oh. That's our job. I don't think, no matter what money you give me for those lions, I don't think I'll sell them. Of course you would. Somebody offer you 20 grand for them, you'd walk away? Er... I'd sell them for 20,000. Yeah, I bet you would, yeah. Well, there you go. That's it. You've got to have that killer, take the money. You've got to. But anyway, I'm happy with this. Yeah. Yeah, it's a good thing for that money, I think. I'd want to try and tempt you again, before we go, on the sundial. What are your thoughts on it? Whether you want to let it go? Because it is a lovely one. It's a nice one. He's a well-known maker. He's, you know, so... So it's up to you. That's what I can pay. Yeah. It gives me a working profit, if I can get rid of it. So what are you saying then? £2,500. And I'll buy it off you, and I'm all right with that. And that's it. Sold. Sold? Yep. Lovely, thank you very much. Sold. I'm very happy with that, that's a lovely thing. Thank you. Thank you, because I know it wasn't easy for you to part with. We went round the yard, we had a look at a few bits and bobs, and we came back to the sundial. I'm very happy. I managed to buy something extraordinary. £2,500 for a piece of slate and a couple of bits of bronze. I'm in. Coming to Drakelow Barn Antiques today, as ever, always interesting to go somewhere new. You never know what you're going to find, and we've managed to walk away with a few bits and bobs. The top thing for the day has to be that sundial. It is extraordinarily good. It's a showpiece. It's the maker, in some ways, showing off. It's the guy who ordered it showing off as well. It is of museum quality. It is of great interest. The story goes his punishment for murdering his family was that he was given 12 tasks, and one of the tasks was to go up into the mountains to slay a lion that had impenetrable skin and armour-shredding claws. Well, obviously, Hercules was successful in his task, and he took to wearing the lion's skin as a cloak of armour. And if you look at the wonderful sort of paw details and the tail and the ears, it's just superb. But who is the artist? Well, that's been fairly easy to confirm. This marble piece is by Emile Wolfe, a very successful 19th-century sculptor who worked in the classic Greek and Roman style. Emile created many important and impressive works of art, and they're now scattered in museums around the world. So we have an artist of note with a royal connection and a wonderful example of his, of Hercules immortalised in marble.