Oxford Flog It!

This architectural jewel has been standing here since 1668.

It's the Sheldonian Theatre and it was designed by one of Britain's

most famous architects - Sir Christopher Wren.

There can be no mistaking the fact that today, "Flog It!" is in Oxford.

Designing this theatre changed Christopher Wren's life.

It shifted his interest from mathematics to architecture.

So without the Sheldonian, we might not have ever seen

one of the world's most famous buildings - St Paul's Cathedral.

Without a queue like this, we wouldn't have a show to make

because it's all about the people.

You're so important and it's great to see

how everybody's turned out today.

They all want to know the answer to a very important question which is...

ALL: What's it worth?

As ever, we have an eager team of experts to provide the answer.

Leading the team here in Oxford are...

Charlie Ross, whose extensive knowledge and enthusiasm is invaluable to the show.

If we make some money for you, what are you going to spend it on, other than me?

Charlie knows that's not how it works.

Tracy Martin, a 20th-century specialist who's catching up fast.

How do I delve into your bag?

And she has youth on her side.

They're football teams of the early fifties.

I wouldn't remember those either, would I, really?

Coming up, Charlie hopes for some divine intervention.

I'm going to pick one up and pray.

Tracy is shocked to hear how people treat their treasured belongings.

-My husband used to play with it.

-How did he use to play with it?

He used to dive....

Dive-bomb it?

As the theatre fills up, I get the chance to meet people

and get a sneak preview of some of their treasures.

Isn't that lovely? A mail coach.

-Is it a bookmark?

-Yes it's a bookmark, a page marker.

-Is that what it is?

-Yes.

What's it worth? A fiver?

No, it's got to be worth a little bit more than that surely. I'd say that was worth around 30 to £50.

-Really?

-Yes. Look at the quality of that and look at the colours.

That's really nice.

It's been kept out of the sunlight.

Charlie is up first with Janet and he's enjoying a little bit of guesswork.

Sometimes you can judge the contents by the box and I'm beginning

to think this isn't a leather box, it's leatherette.

I'm expecting silver plate or something. Hope I'm wrong.

-I'm wrong. What wonderful colours.

-They're beautiful colours.

Fabulous colours. I think even from here they're silver.

Bean-top coffee spoons. Where did these come from?

From an aunt and uncle of mine. I inherited it when they died.

My uncle always used to buy beautiful things for his wife

-and I always thought they came from abroad but I'm not sure.

-We'll have a look at one.

They're English. I'm certain. The case looks English and I'm expecting to see an English hallmark.

You can tell they're coffee spoons.

-Why?

-The shape?

Partly the shape.

They have got a bean top.

A coffee bean. Even if you look at the top of that one there, you can see the line

making it a coffee bean. Isn't that interesting?

They're silver and enamelled I'm expecting them to be 1920s, 1930s period.

They're in fabulous condition.

The only thing I think is slightly disappointing is the bean top themselves.

I'd like to see a bit of ivory

or possibly a bit of mother of pearl whereas if you look at the crazing on those,

they're merely composition which I think let down the rest of them.

The bowls are fabulous. These shell motif bowls.

I'm going to pick one up and pray.

-If they're EPNS they're worth about three quid.

-Oh, dear!

They won't be because they're enamelled.

They're silver

and they're Birmingham.

Made in Birmingham

and they're on a "P".

A "P" appears on the Birmingham in 1914 or 1939.

The start of two wars which is easy enough to remember.

Looking at the case, I think they're probably the earlier of the two.

That sounds a bit vague but because they aren't Victorian or earlier,

it's not going to make much difference in terms of value.

-Sadly, I'm going to disappoint you now I think by saying that they're worth less than £50.

-Really?

-Surprisingly, they aren't that rare.

-Right.

Are you happy to sell them if I say that?

-Yes, that's fine thank you.

-You don't want to see them again. We'll put a reserve on them, an estimate

of 30 to £50 with the fixed reserve at 30.

If two people really like them, there's an upside.

There's not an upside into hundreds of pounds sadly, all right?

-Yes, thank you very much.

-Thank you for bringing them along.

I agree with Charlie. They have the look of something pre First World War.

Next up, a little glamour from the 1920s.

We've certainly seen some wonderful quality today and I've just been joined by Hilary who has Lalique.

That's one of the top names in glass isn't it?

-I think so.

-How did you come by this?

It was given to me by my parents.

It was handed down and I think it belonged to my uncle.

Wonderful opalescence.

-You can see that, it's quite thick.

-It's beautiful.

It's signed there which means this was made before he died.

Vessels that were made afterwards were just signed Lalique.

This pattern was around in the early 1920s

up to 1930s.

-You can date it to around that period.

-Oh, right.

-Where has it been in the house?

-It's been wrapped up.

Then I brought it out a year ago and I had it on a shelf.

-Admiring it. It's lovely.

-Which is lovely.

I've done some price comparables and some guides

-and these bowls sell for around £200 to £300.

-Oh, right, yes.

-We have a book price for this.

-I see, yes.

-£200 to £300.

Only problem being...that.

-A little bit of damage.

-It's got a chip.

That can be sorted out but it might cost £80 to do it so that will affect the price.

I'm scared to put two to three on this. I'd like to go one to two with a reserve of one

to get things started because I still feel it might do £150.

-Are you happy with that?

-Not really, no.

I would've hoped it would go for more than that and have a reserve of 140.

£140, let's call the valuation 140 to 200, fixed reserve at 140. I'm rather hoping for the top end.

If there's two people in the saleroom that are going to buy their own restoration work,

are capable of doing this or they know a friend that can do it,

-they won't be put off or frightened by it.

-Oh, good.

Because it IS a £200 to £300 bowl.

-Yes.

-It's just that chip.

-People are so fussy nowadays.

-I'm sure they are.

-You know who you are!

Fingers crossed for Hilary we get it away.

Over to Tracy, whose attention has been caught by a rather unusual little chap.

What a fantastic piece of Brannam pottery.

-He's quite ugly, isn't he?

-Very ugly.

He's actually called an ugly.

-Really?

-That's his name as well.

-There's something cute ugly about him.

-I know, yes.

How did you come to have this little character in your life?

My mother-in-law gave it to me.

How long ago did she give that to you?

About 40 years.

-A long time.

-A long time ago.

Is it something you've taken a shine to and wanted?

I think it was because my husband used to play with it.

How did he use to play with it?

-He used to dive...

-Dive-bomb it?!

Then you came to its rescue. You've looked after it.

I think that's why she gave it to me.

She knew you'd take good care of it.

Do you know what it's actual function is?

That's why I brought it because it's got such a big mouth.

There's a reason for its big mouth because it's a spoon warmer.

-You'd pop your spoons in there, warm them up, put water in the bottom.

-Really?

Do you know anything about the Brannam Pottery?

No, not at all.

I saw two pieces on an antique show

and I thought I've something with that name

and the date, 1911.

If we turn it over, Brannam Pottery was established in 1881.

When we turn it over, this Barum

is actually the Roman name for Barnstable.

We have the date, 1911 here and we have W Borrowman.

That's the name of the designer.

This particular gentleman studied

with Royal Doulton before going on to work for this particular pottery.

They were really well known for making these uglies or grotesques as they're also known. I love him.

We've got some problems, haven't we? We've some damage to the glaze.

Whether that's because your husband dive-bombed him, I'm not too sure.

We've some little chips to the ears here, as well.

How would you feel if we stick him into auction with a reserve of £60?

-Yes.

-Yes, you'd be all right with that?

I'm thinking 60 to 100 but I know he's really upset now.

He's telling me he wants to go to someone that's going to love him.

How could Audrey say she doesn't love him?

He's lovely.

I think he'll be loved by the bidders. Over to Watcombe Manor Saleroom, in Watlington

just outside Oxford where Jones and Jacob Finer Auctioneers will be selling all of our lots.

They'll be two auctioneers on the rostrum today. Francis Ogley and owner Simon Jones.

There's just enough time to see what Simon makes of our ugly little friend from Devon.

This is a lovely little story. Audrey wants to see the back of this because she doesn't like it at all.

I love it, a bit of West Country Pottery a bit of Brannam ware.

We've put 60 to £100 on this. Possibly a spoon warmer?

Or possibly a small salt.

Cracking little gargoyle, great fun, good colour, lots of interest

because it's a slightly unusual shape from that factory.

-This is a good collectible, isn't it?

-It is, yes. A popular potter.

Can you see this fly away at the top end?

I think it'll go mid estimate because there's a little bit of damage to some of the decoration.

-Nice thing, though.

-It is, very attractive.

I thought he'd like it.

Before the auction kicks off, let's take another look at the rest of our lots.

In stylish mood, Charlie picked out the elegant box silver coffee spoons belonging to Janet.

I couldn't ignore the early Lalique bowl.

Even with the chip, it should generate plenty of interest.

Tracy had a bit of fun by choosing the grotesque Brannam pottery spoon warmer guaranteed to warm hearts.

First to go under the hammer, Janet's coffee spoons.

-These aren't a lot of money are they really? They're nothing. 30 to £50.

-Not really.

Charlie, what's going on here? That's the value, isn't it?

Who wants them? Worried about damaging them.

You'd forever worry about chipping the enamel, wouldn't you?

-That's right.

-You never used them? No, always kept in the box.

Let's hope they go to a good home and we get the top end.

The Harlequin set of coffee spoons, enamel backs.

Ivory coloured bean finials. £30.

20 start me.

20. 22 anywhere? 22, 25, 28, 30.

-At £30. in the room, at 30.

-A bit more, please.

All done at £30, selling at 30.

-They've gone.

-Oh, well.

It's so interesting because that's quality but nobody wants them.

You'd like to think they would be were worth £30 of spoon, wouldn't you?

-I'm afraid the estimate was right.

-Quite correct. There we go.

-Thank you for bringing them in.

-Thank you.

I hope they've gone to someone who really enjoys them.

Next, that beautiful bowl by Rene Lalique.

-It's a nice piece, apart from the little chip.

-I know.

-That's holding it back.

Right now it's down to this lot in here.

It's packed in this room, surely someone wants some Rene Lalique.

-I hope so.

-We're going to find out right now.

Lot seven is the shallow opalescent bowl. Here we go.

What can we say for that? Couple of hundred pounds for it?

Here we go.

140 I am bid, 150, 160, all done at 150.

Back now at 160.

160. Bidding? 170,

180, 190, 200.

We're climbing, they like it.

220, 210, 220.

220, all done at 220. All finished and done at 220.

-By the door at 220.

-£220.

-That's OK. It was damaged.

-That's good. That's OK.

Don't forget it was only a 7 1/2 inch bowl.

-That's good.

-Happy?

-Yes, I'm happy.

-That was a bit of fun and thank you so much for coming.

If you have anything like that and you want to sell it, bring it along to one of our valuation days

and you can pick up details from the BBC website or from your local press.

I seem to be spending the day surrounded by glamour.

I've just been joined by Audrey who's looking absolutely fabulous and so are you.

My Dynasty look.

-You both look great.

-Oh, thank you.

Tracy, you look smashing.

Red and black, doesn't that work?

I'm looking a bit dull, aren't I, really? I should wear bright clothes.

-Listen, we love that Brannam pottery.

-Do you really?

From the West Country and what a cheeky little devil!

Had a chat to the auctioneer and he said even though there's a tiny bit of damage on the top,

it should do the top end plus a bit more because it's such fun and you just want to hold this thing.

-He's beautiful, I love him.

-He is...rather nice.

-I think he'll do really well.

-Going to wave goodbye to it?

I don't mind if it doesn't sell.

You're changing your mind now, aren't you?

Have you fallen in love with him again?

It's too late to do that because it's going under the hammer right now and it's going to sell.

The salt pot, great fun,

what can we say for him? 60 or £70 for him?

70 I'm bid. 75 anywhere? £70. 75, at £75 all done.

80, 85, 90, at £85.

It is yours at 85. All done at 85.

That was so quick.

That was brilliant, I'm really pleased. He's going to a good home and someone is going to love him.

Good sale. He did appeal to the bidders, I knew he would.

Later we seek an extraordinary bit of auction room drama.

570, 580.

-My heart is pounding.

-Bless you.

Wow!

Well done, Shirley.

First I'm off somewhere very special.

The Ashmolean was the first public museum in Britain and it's still one of the greatest.

We're here filming on a Monday so it's closed to the public but we've

got special permission to film in one of my favourite haunts.

They've recently spent millions refurbishing this museum

but the area we're filming in today hasn't changed since the 1950s - the print room.

It's called the print room but it houses one of Britain's greatest

collections of European prints and drawings dating from the 15th century up to the present day.

The collection had a great start in life.

In the early days, in the 1840s, it acquired, through public subscription,

50 Raphael and 50 Michelangelo drawings. Absolute originals.

From the celebrated collection of the artist Sir Thomas Lawrence.

I've got to say, they are heavenly.

I'm this close to the greatest works of art I've ever seen in my life,

in fact, in history.

These are chalk studies, showing composition, light and shade, muscle tones, it's incredible.

You can learn so much from coming here.

If you want to see Raphaels and Michelangelos, you do have to book a special appointment,

otherwise there's 25,000 other drawings and prints here

from artists such as Rembrandt, right through to Stanley Spencer.

And I've taken the opportunity today to come and talk to John Whitely,

who's the senior curator here about his love and passion for drawing and why it's so important.

John, you've always loved drawings, you're very passionate about them.

What is it that makes you gravitate towards these?

Drawings are very unlike paintings, they tell us something about

the intimate thoughts of the artist as they are preparing a work of art.

The paintings of the artist executed on the basis of these drawings

tend to be very finished statements.

They are for the public, they are for posterity and they don't give away as much as a drawing does.

They're not so polished, are they?

They're not so polished, also they are full of the kind of

thoughts that an artist has as he's moving towards the finished image.

This helps us to explore the innermost thoughts of the artist as he's preparing his composition.

You've selected three here from this vast collection.

Show me what you're looking into, what you can learn from each artist and what he's trying to do.

The drawing of the jockey by Degas shows the back

drawn in a certain position and then the buttocks are pulled forward.

He changes his mind about where the leg goes and draws it over the leg.

It gives us an idea of how the artist is using his black chalk

with a kind of rage as he draws the leg in one place and then the jockey moves and he draws it in another.

-At speed?

-At great speed.

Although it must be said that although this drawing appears to be a drawing done on the racecourse,

it certainly isn't, it must have been a professional model,

or possibly a jockey whom the artist brought back to the studio and he poses for the artist in order to

-give this impression of spontaneity, which then the artist will translate into the painting.

-Incredible.

Let's look at the Turner.

Tell me what you see and what you can learn about Turner there.

The Turner is a very different work of art from the Degas, because it's a finished statement.

It's a watercolour by an artist who has done this as a work of art in its own right

and he would have expected a collector, or a friend, to acquire this watercolour from him.

Or he did it for his own pleasure, that's quite possible.

An image that he wanted to take back from Venice that would record for him

the impression of light and colour on the Venetian lagoon.

It doesn't look finished, because it's so impressionistic

and the colour is laid on in thin washes that gives a sense of air and atmosphere of weather and time of day

to this view of buildings and that's the real subject of this picture.

He didn't go to Venice to paint Venice.

-He went to capture an effect of Venetian light.

-It's beautiful isn't it?

It's absolutely beautiful. Let's look at Leonardo.

Well, Leonardo lies at the very beginning of the Italian Renaissance,

the early Renaissance in the 15th century, central Italy,

when drawing came into its own as an important method

of preparing a work of art.

He's using it as a way of thinking aloud

and when I said a drawing is fascinating because it allows us to

enter into the silent thoughts of the artist,

this is a particularly good case in point.

In this case, he is not working from nature, but he's drawing up something that he's inventing,

but it's owing to the years of close study

of the natural world that enables him

to draw like this from his imagination.

Thank you for you time. Can I borrow you for a second more to select a few drawings

from some of my favourite artists so I can do what most people do when they come to visit?

Yes, by all means. We'll take out boxes of Samuel Palme and Burne-Jones.

You can sit as a member of the public, don white gloves and look at them to your heart's content.

This is what I have been waiting for. He's got to be my favourite artist, Edward Burne-Jones,

one of the Pre-Raphaelites.

This is just superb.

Wonderful purple ground

with almost like a gold leaf image of this beautiful woman.

But his work is just full of passion and mythology and romance.

He came to Oxford in the 1850s to study religion and had some

art lessons by Rosetti and became one of the four founding members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood.

It's a small study of a beautiful angelic lady.

I didn't like this when I first saw this. I picked it up and thought, "I'm not sure."

But actually the more you look at this,

the more beautiful this woman becomes.

The burnt siennas and umbers...

and lovely muddy browns.

This is good because anybody can come here,

work their way through these volumes, be so close to your heroes.

Right, I'm going to move on to some Samuel Palmer now.

Gosh, I could spend all day here.

This is quite interesting, because this is, you could say, mixed-medium.

It is pencil, watercolour, pen and ink and a white grounding.

It's a very, very clever technique.

This is a self-portrait and he's about 19 years old.

Done when he was living in London. This is a few years later when they moved down to Shoreham.

The family moved down to Shoreham

to escape the sort of smoke and the smog of the city.

And there's a child-like quality in his composition.

It's almost as if it's a book illustration.

Everything is happy about the picture,

a little bunny rabbit hopping along.

But you don't really see trees growing like that.

It's just wonderful.

In fact, it's really nice, actually

looking at artists' works where they've just done it for themselves,

it's not a commission, and they don't care how it's finished.

Sometimes they look better unfinished.

It makes you use your imagination more.

Let's rejoin the team at the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford

and see what's happening next.

Charlie's found an art nouveau frame that he's very excited about.

Wendy, I spotted you in the queue

-and I looked at this frame and my eyes lit up.

-I know, I saw.

What can you tell me about it?

It was given to me as a birthday present,

-roughly about 40 years ago...

-Right.

I just thought that I'm cleaning it and cleaning it

and I'll probably wear it out.

-You've cleaned it jolly well because you haven't worn it too much, have you?

-No.

-What do you clean it with?

-Well, it used to be silver or whatever.

Then on your programme I saw

-it was better to use washing-up liquid.

-Absolutely right.

-So I continued with that.

Well done. The great thing about these frames is not to clean them too hard

because they're pressed silver and therefore you can very easily wear holes in them.

I've had a bit of a blow, though, with this.

I took one look at it and I thought, "Pure art nouveau.

"This is wonderful, this is 1890.

-"It's going to be worth hundreds of pounds." Then I looked at the hallmark.

-Oh.

I'm afraid, I have to say,

that when it was given to you as a present, 40 years ago, it was new.

Oh, dear. Not old.

-It looks old.

-It's early '70s.

It's quite difficult to look at the mark because it's full of washing up liquid.

It's 1972 or 1973. So, it's got some age, it's 40 years old.

But, funnily enough, when you look at the back,

the Victorian ones were backed in a sort of velvet.

-A blue velvet. Nearly all of them.

-Yes.

-If I'd known that, I'd have put some on that.

-Well, you could put it on

but you'd still have to alter the hallmark.

-Yes.

-But it's typical art nouveau influence.

-It's got an inscription on the bottom of it, hasn't it?

-Yes.

"Friendship is love without his wings." Byron.

-Yes.

-Are you a reader of Byron?

-No.

-No, neither am I!

-BOTH CHUCKLE

-But it doesn't have any particular sentimental value?

-Not really, no.

-I'd hate you to sell it and then regret it the next day.

-No.

So, Wendy, any ideas on value now that I've shot you down in flames?

Yeah. I thought £40, £50?

I think you're about right.

I think £40/£50 would be my valuation on that.

-Yeah.

-We could put an estimate of £40 to £60 on it. We'll put a reserve on it.

Shouldn't need a reserve on, but a discretionary reserve of £40.

-OK.

-We're not going to send you around the world, I'm afraid.

-No. That's a shame.

-A meal out is is probably - for one - is about what we're going to manage.

'I'm glad to hear that Wendy has been listening to our silver cleaning tips.

'I've just been asked to look at some jewellery,

'so it's time to get some help from Pippa Deeley, one of our jewellery experts.'

Queue-jumping here with Pippa.

I don't know your name.

-Peggy.

-Peggy. Meet Peggy, Pippa.

-Hi, Peggy.

-Have a quick chat to Peggy because she's got some pearls she'd like to show you.

The anticipation of what's inside! They're beautiful, aren't they?

They're not mine, they're a friend's. I said I'd bring them, you know, to see how much they were worth.

OK, let's get down to the nitty-gritty, shall we, eh, Peggy?

-Please.

-Yes. What's it worth?

Um, I would put this in auction at round about...the £200 mark.

Yes, I wondered if that would be about it.

-There you go, Peggy. You know now.

-Thank you. Yes.

-You can catch the bus now.

-Thank you.

'Next, it's Tracy who has found something she adores.'

The minute I saw this, I absolutely fell in love with it.

It's just everything that I adore in jewellery.

The wonderful enamelling in blue here and the gold...

It is just gorgeous. Now I'm hoping that you're going to tell me

it's been passed down from generation to generation to generation

and that it's a treasured item that's been in the family for ages.

-40 pence in a charity shop.

-Oh!

That's so unfair, isn't it?!

Have you ever found anything like that for 40p in a charity shop?

-We wish.

-No, me neither.

-It's gorgeous.

-It is. You're so right, it is absolutely gorgeous -

it caught my eye straightaway.

I've had a look at it, together with some of my colleagues...

It's not actually marked.

We've been all over and we can't find any markings anywhere.

Because of this beautiful blue enamelling work,

we're guessing that it is gold

and we're going with nine carat gold,

which is kind of the lowest grade gold.

Let's look at this wonderful thing...

If we turn it over, to start off with the back,

we have this kind of pocket at the back.

-You presumed it was a mourning case?

-I did, yes.

-It's actually for keepsakes.

-Right.

And when we turn it round like that, we've got this beautiful scarab.

-Now, you say you bought it at a jumble sale...

-Charity shop.

-Charity shop for 40p.

-That's right, yes.

-Did you know instantly, or were you taking what we call in the business a punt?

Well, it glittered and it was just in a basket of bits and bobs, you know, bric-a-brac.

Obviously it gleamed.

I like Egyptian history, so 40p, couldn't go wrong.

What a bargain. No, you can't go wrong. I don't think it's British.

I think it's probably European,

but the whole obsession with the uncovering of the tombs in the late 19th century,

then all into the 1920s with Tutankhamun -

I think this is older than 20th century.

I think this is more 19th century. Have you worn it?

Yes, on a bootlace, around my neck.

Oh, fabulous!

-On a leather bootlace.

-Yes, one of them cheap, black things?

-That's right, yes!

-Nothing like a little bit of class, is there?

What sort of money did you have in your head that you thought it may be worth?

Well, I thought it may be worth between £700 and £1,000.

Right. And why did you think that?

Because I had taken it to a jewellers.

-OK.

-And they've given me an estimate value.

-Was that recent?

-About 10 years ago.

-So, quite a while ago, then?

Yes. But I understand that is the retail value.

Yes, OK, I'm starting to panic slightly now.

Retail value and insurance value are always much higher than auction, that's the way it is.

I think, personally, I would like to put a reserve of £250 on it.

-Fine.

-Is that all right?

-Yes. Fantastic.

-Good.

-Thank God for that. With a pre-sale estimate of £250 to £350.

-Yes.

I'm really looking forward to selling this at the auction - I love it,

and I'm hoping that little scarab will scuttle away and make us loads of money.

'Charlie's having an art nouveau day.

'He's found a lovely piece of copper.'

Wendy, I saw this across the Sheldonian and ran to it

because I got very excited by it.

-Where did it come from?

-It came from a local bazaar.

-Did it?

-Yes. A Christmas bazaar.

-How long ago?

-That was about 10 years ago.

Oh, my goodness me, I'm under pressure here. I'll ask what you paid for it later.

-Yes.

-Do you know what it is?

-I thought it was...

-What was it when you bought it?

It looked different, it was very dull. I thought it was a tankard?

I think it's not a tankard because we've got a little lip here.

If we just open up the top there, we've got a little spout.

-So it's a jug.

-Oh, yes.

I think it's an ale jug or it's in the form of an ale jug.

It's got the most wonderful art nouveau motifs on it.

-Do you know how old it is?

-'20s?

-1920s. It's earlier than that.

-Is it? Ah.

What really drew me towards it...

I wonder whether it might be from the Newlyn School,

in the West Country, by a chap called John Pearson. We'll come to that in a minute...

It's got a real arts and crafts hammered look to the top of it.

1880? Then the Art Nouveau movement, 1890 onwards here.

So you've got a mixture of styles, really, in a way.

-We'll have a look at the bottom and see if there's something exciting.

-Right.

Why's it always...

-disappointing when you look at things?

-Oh, no!

I've been building you up and building you up and there we are,

JS and SB, whoever they are. I was hoping

to see a chap called John Pearson from the Newlyn School.

It does, however, have a registration number on it.

409942.

I think if we look that up, we'll find that it's 1890 or thereabouts.

So we're spot on there.

I just love the look of it.

Sadly, it isn't fabulously valuable.

-Oh.

-Did you think it was when you brought it along this morning?

-Not really.

-Thank goodness for that!

BOTH LAUGH

-Have a guess.

-But I like it.

Oh, you like it? Why do you want to sell it?

-I thought it would be an opportune time.

-Yes.

I've got lots of bits and pieces which I've been collecting.

-It is something to clean, isn't it?

-It is.

-Are we price-sensitive?

-What's it worth?

-About £20 I think?

I think it's worth £50. I like it.

I'm going to put an estimate of £40 to £60 on it...

with a reserve, a discretionary reserve, at £40.

So it's worth twice what you think it's worth.

-Yes, that's amazing.

-You're now very excited.

-I am!

Thank you for bringing it along and you probably gave it a clean, didn't you?

-Yes, I quickly buffed it up.

-We're very grateful, thank you. Send your bill to Flog It.

There's just enough time to have one last look at what our experts have picked out to take off to auction.

Wendy's silver frame isn't as old as it might have been

but it's still very decorative.

The Egyptian-designed gold pendent is absolutely stunning

and certainly not run-of-the-mill.

Shirley should get a good return on her 40 pence investment.

I loved this ale jug that Charlie picked out.

It would have been nice to have a Newlyn mark on it but it's still a beautiful thing.

It's Wendy's silver frame first. Let's see how it fares.

It's gorgeous. It's a classic size - 6x4 - and it's early 1970s.

So it's not that old. That's why we could only put £40 to £60 on it.

-Shame.

-It was a birthday present, wasn't it?

-Yes.

-40-odd years ago?

-Yes.

Wow, if that would have been a period piece...

I thought it was when I saw it across the room on valuation day.

-I ran across to it, as you remember.

-Yes.

I thought, "Oh, we'll have this, thank you."

And then I looked through the glass and it was '70s

but it's still lovely and if it was 1890, it would probably would have a few holes in it.

-It's in super condition.

-This is just such a bargain buy for somebody.

-Lovely.

But you've got to be here. You've got to be in the right place at the right time.

You certainly have. And somebody will be.

It's a one-off, that's the beauty of it. That's what antiques are about.

It's going under the hammer now.

The silver photograph frame, embossed verse from Byron.

£40, start me?

-50, I've got.

-Ooh!

-£50. 55 anywhere?

55. 60. At £55.

In the room at 60. 65. 70?

70. 75. 80. 85. 90.

This is more like it!

95? 100. 110?

At £100. All done at £100?

Yes, that's what I like to see.

Well done with that, Wendy. Good Lord.

Because the new chrome-plated ones are £40 to £50 so this has got to be worth twice as much.

-Yes. I'm glad we took it in.

-Thank you.

-Well done.

That was a nice surprise.

'Good, I'm glad it went over the estimate.

'I had the chance earlier to see if Simon liked the ale jug.'

I love this, Simon. Absolutely love it.

It belongs to Wendy

-and I don't think for much longer at £40 to £60 valuation.

-It'll go away.

This one's going to fly away. It's in the art nouveau style.

-Copper ale jug. Absolutely beautiful.

-Yes. Lovely.

It's got a nice registration mark on the bottom to give you the date of making, or the date of design.

-Good quality.

-Have you done any further research?

-We haven't.

We've put the number in the catalogue so people can see

and look it up themselves and they'll find it's about 1900. It's just lovely.

Hopefully, what? £80, £100?

Yes, I think that's fair enough. There's quite a bit of art nouveau.

It's in good company here because there's a few other items. That's what it's all about.

That's it. Find the treasures, we'll sell them.

'It's up next so let's see if he's right.'

We're going to put the copper ale jug under the hammer. It belongs to Wendy.

-How much did you pay for this?

-It was one of my more expensive purchases, it was 20 pence.

And Charlie, our expert, has put, what, £40 to £60 on this?

-Pounds, not pence.

-I know! That's a great profit, isn't it?

-Yes.

-It really is. I had a chat to Simon, the auctioneer...

-Oh, yes?

He said it could even exceed that.

-Really?

-Yes. On a good day, he's looking at the top end plus.

-Good stuff.

-Yes.

-Wow.

-If we could do one of those every day, it would be quite good, wouldn't it?

-Yes!

Lot 99 is the copper ale jug.

Here it is.

There we go, with the plant forms.

What can we say for that? 40 or £50 for it?

£45, I'm bid. 48?

£45 then. 48. 50.

55. 60. 65. 70. £65 then.

Down in front of me at £65? All done at £65?

-Hammer's gone down.

-Sensational.

-That was very good.

-Thank you very much.

-Great pleasure.

-That was a profit, wasn't it?

Good result for a jug that was bought for only 20 pence.

Our next lot is a gold scarab which was bought for a similar princely sum.

Hopefully right now we're going to turn 40 pence into maybe £350.

That's what I'm hoping for, Shirley, at the top end of Tracy's estimate.

I'm being ambitious, but I love this lot.

I really do and I don't know why you're selling it. It cost you nothing.

Well, I've had it for a long time and I've worn it...

-How many years? 10?

-About 10, yes.

I wore it at the beginning on a leather strap.

-Mmm?

-And then I put it away so I thought, I saw Flog It...

Give it a go.

The rearing cobras.

-It's my favourite lot. I absolutely adore it.

-It is nice.

-Stunning.

When you were waving at me across the valuation day floor

and I came over and saw it... It's absolutely gorgeous.

Yes. That cartouche of the scarab in blue enamel and turquoise enamel in the middle, stunning.

Things are going well, hopefully this will, it's going under the hammer. Good luck.

A Victorian pendant, decorated with two rearing cobra

flanking a scarab.

£300 for that?

£560, I've got.

No!

Straight at 560!

570 anywhere? 570. 580. 590. 600.

-610.

-I can't believe it!

-This is so beautiful.

-640? At 630, before I go to the phone?

-Come on.

-630? 640.

-Someone on the phone behind us.

-It's still going.

-650. 660?

660. 670.

680?

680. 690. 700.

-I can't believe this.

-£700!

710. 730. 750. 770.

-Gosh.

-My heart is pounding.

800? 820?

840.

860. 880.

900? 920.

-I just don't believe it.

-940?

960. 980. 1000.

-Yeah, 1,000!

-1,050.

1,100. 1,150.

1,200. 1,300.

1,400.

-1,500...

-Shirley, what is going on?

-I don't know.

-1,600. 1,700.

1,800. At £1,800, on the telephone at £1,800?

-All done at £1,800?

-Wow!

-ALL: Yes!

-Well done, Shirley!

-Well done. I can't believe it.

-Thank you.

-£1,800.

-How much did that cost again?

-40 pence.

-40p.

What can you buy for 40p?!

My estimate was a bit out.

But I don't care!

-There was something special about it.

-There must have been something special but I don't know what.

-Wow, wow, wow!

-Yay!

What are you going to do with all that money?

Well, a holiday. It's my son's 30th birthday next Friday.

-OK.

-So he'll have something special.

-Fantastic.

-Gosh.

-I'm so pleased for you.

That's auctions for you. You can't predict what's going to happen.

I told you, somebody here today was going home with a lot of money.

-Well done. Well done.

-I'm blown away.

Even better - it sold for over £1,000, the commission drops to 10%.

-I hope you've enjoyed today's show. Sadly we're running out of time.

-I have.

-I know you have!

And so have you. Well done. Keep watching

because there's going to be many more surprises to come but for now, from Oxfordshire, it's cheerio.

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