Worthing Flog It!

The great British seaside. We've been in love with it for years.

And that's why we're in Worthing. It's a picture-postcard scene.

We've got the pier, we've got the beach,

and the pavilion, which is the venue for today's star attraction.

Welcome to Flog It!

This is Sussex, by the sea.

That's a nice photograph.

Worthing was an inspiration for playwrights Oscar Wilde and Harold Pinter.

It's fitting that we should follow in the theatrical tradition today,

because our venue is the impressive Pavilion Theatre on Worthing seafront.

Just about to go on stage for Act 1 are our two experts, David Fletcher and Michael Baggott.

The first thing David Fletcher ever sold was a live rabbit.

And look, he's still an animal lover today!

Even I can work it! Vaguely!

-He's got a lovely face!

-He's looking at you.

-Yeah, he's got his eye on me!

And Michael Baggott's got his hands full, as always.

-Who wants a sticker?

-I do! Where are you going to put it?

This is a dangerous operation. You saw, my hands never left my arms!

Flog It!

-Coming up, David gets excited.

-Look what I found, Mum!

-Michael gains an admirer.

-You're the best.

-He is the best.

-Can you say that again?

And I discover surrealist art.

Isn't that just incredible? I might even have some vivid dreams tonight!

Well, it's 9.30, it's time to get the doors open, let's go inside!

Come on, everybody!

Well, everybody's now safely seated inside the Pavilion Theatre,

and it looks like we've got a full house. Are you ready for Act 1? Well, so am I.

It looks like David Fletcher is our first expert to the tables.

Let's take a closer look at what he's spotted.

David's fascinated by a mysterious object belonging to Adam and Nicola.

-Nicola.

-Hello.

-And Adam.

-Hiya.

-You brought your mum out for the day?

-Something like that.

-She doesn't get out very often?

-No, not at all!

-It's nice of you to bring her out. I'm glad you've come to Flog It!

-Thank you.

You've brought with you a...gizmo, really.

-Yes.

-It looks to me as if it's made of marine ivory.

We can tell that by looking for flecks,

and they are really quite distinctive here.

Now, marine ivory really means walrus ivory,

as opposed to elephant ivory.

Ivory today, for obvious reasons, is not as fashionable as it was,

but this was made a long time ago, and it's entirely legal to sell it.

So there's no problem there.

As I say, it is a gizmo in the sense that it does two or three different things.

If I can unscrew it there...

We have...a pen,

not a fountain pen, but a dipper.

And at the other end, of course, a paper knife.

One other thing which I suspect is going to be the case,

is that if I look through this little hole at the end,

I'm going to see a black-and-white photograph.

The image is so tiny, our cameras can't film it.

But this is very similar to what David could see.

I'm sure the moment you saw this, you thought, "I've got to go to Hastings!"

-We went there last year!

-Did you?

-Yeah, we did!

This type of magnifying device is known as a Stanhope

because it was invented by the third Earl of Stanhope,

who obviously hadn't got much to do with his time.

-No!

-He was probably very thrilled with it, and I must say, it is miraculous.

Does it belong to you, Adam, or to your mum?

I found it when I was clearing out my nan's house at the back of a cupboard.

Your clever dick of a son, he goes in, says, "Look what I found, Mum!"

-That's right!

-It's not the sort of thing you want to keep?

-No, it's something different,

-but it's not something from this sort of age, really.

-No. This isn't going to make the earth,

let's be honest, but it's good fun, and I'd like to suggest an estimate of £30 to £50.

-That's OK!

-All right.

-Go ahead.

OK. We'll go ahead, and I'll see you both at the auction.

-Lovely, thank you.

-Bye-bye.

Lots of handshakes, there you are.

I like the weathered look!

LAUGHTER

Michael's making time to talk to Carol about an item she's brought in.

Carol, you've brought this lovely watch in for me today

with a silversmith's name on it.

A very good retailer's name on it - Asprey.

-Can you tell me, where did it come from?

-It was my mother's.

She had it for a very long time and she used to keep it in her jewellery box

and get it out and have a peep at it now and again.

She loved it, she thought it was very pretty, but she never wore it, because it's a pin

and she wouldn't put pins in her clothes.

Understandable, because it's quite... If we pick him up,

even though he's small, it's a heavy little weight,

and if you had something light on, it would eventually pull a hole in it.

This was made in the late '40s, early '50s, as a piece of cocktail jewellery,

and you could imagine those beautifully turned-out ladies

in their thick, heavy coats, tailored.

And that would be...

I don't wear one myself, but it would be poised there,

-and would fit in quite well.

-Yes, yes.

The case, I imagine, is nine-carat gold.

The little suspension chain and clasp that it's on, we have got a little mark for that,

-and that's stamped 750, so we know that that's 18 carat.

-OK.

And we've got those three little greyish pearls set in,

which might conceivably, from the colour, be Scottish freshwater pearls,

so it's a lovely little thing.

But there we've got the face, and that's rather luxurious.

The black enamel dial, with the little gold spots for the hours.

We've also got the gold weights,

if nothing else, that case must weigh several grams.

I think it would be sensible if we put an estimate of £100 to £150,

a fixed reserve of £100 on it.

-OK.

-And hopefully, the Asprey name alone will carry it on from that.

-Yes, yes.

-Why have you decided to part with it?

I'm doing the same thing as my mother did - it's in a box,

-and I'm looking at it occasionally and popping it back in.

-Not pinning it on?

No, it's very pretty, but it's not something I would wear.

I think it's almost becoming a collector's piece now.

So let's put it into the auction and hope it ticks away to a profit for you!

-That'd be great.

-Marvellous. Thank you.

We're having a marvellous time here in Worthing, everybody's thoroughly enjoying themselves.

It's jam-packed in the pavilion, getting rather stuffy,

so I thought I'd do my next valuation outside, on the pier,

not just to get some fresh air, but also to take in the beautiful scenery

and listen to Dave perform on the pier - take it away for some seaside entertainment!

HE STRUMS TUNELESSLY

-Is that it?

-That's about my lot, I'm afraid! Would you like to have a go?

I've got to say, that's about all I could do as well.

Tell me about this wonderful mandolin, how did you come by it?

Well, I usually go to a boot fair Sunday mornings,

and I was wandering around, no rush,

and I saw it lying under a bench.

I picked it up, I asked the gentleman what he wanted for it.

-What was the price tag?

-Well, it was expensive - it was £3!

And I was a bit worried about getting my money back.

-You didn't try and knock them down?

-I did. I tried £2.50, but got rejected.

I'm not surprised! I'd have smashed it over your head for being cheeky!

-I think you got a bargain for £3.

-Do you? Oh, good.

-I did wonder once whether it wasn't genuine.

-Can I have a closer look?

-Yeah.

Cos you know about wood, Paul!

-What wood is it?

-That's rosewood.

-And what's this banding?

-It's all rosewood.

-Is it?

Yeah, it's just different sections of the grain showing through.

-So looking at this, that's mother-of-pearl inlay, can you see that?

-This?

Basically, mother-of-pearl is just very, very thin slices of seashell,

inlaid into the tortoiseshell.

-Would that be done by hand?

-Yes. Isn't that beautiful?

-It is.

And this, I thought first off perhaps it was broken, but it's not.

No, the neck's been cut away on purpose inside the sound hole.

That's because this instrument was either designed to be plucked,

-or strummed with a plectrum.

-Right.

-I'd say this is around 1850s to 1870s.

-Really?

-Yes.

This is an early one.

It's really, really nice,

It's got that lovely Neapolitan bowl shape to it.

These instruments were first made in this kind of form and shape

-in the early part of the 17th century.

-Yeah.

HE PLUCKS NOTES

-And it's derived from the lute.

-Mm-hm.

-So your £3...

-Yes?

-What do you think it's worth?

-Oh, double. How about six?

OK, how about 250?

-That'll do!

-That'll do you, won't it? There you are.

-Thank you!

I say we put that into auction with a value of £150 to £250. Reserve at 150.

-Sounds good to me.

-Happy?

-Very happy.

-See you at the auction.

-Thank you, Paul. Thank you very much.

-That's OK. I'd be keeping that.

-Yeah.

We are now halfway through our day,

and we have found some real gems, a few surprises there,

so let's make our way across to the auction room, before the experts finally relax in the sun,

and put those valuations to the test, shall we?

Let see what the bidders think.

Packed and ready to go.

We have Carol's gold watch with that all-important maker's name.

Nicola and Adam's 100-year-old Stanhope, made from marine ivory.

David's early 19th-century mandolin with its beautiful mother-of-pearl inlay.

I'm getting excited, and I hope you are,

because it's time to put our experts' valuations to the test.

We're doing it in this building, Denhams Auctioneers.

Before I go inside and catch up with our owners,

who are probably really nervous, let's have a chat with today's auctioneer, Simon Langton,

see what he's got to say.

As you can see, the sun's shining, so let's hope he's in a good mood.

I want to know what Simon thinks of my item, the mandolin.

The reserve's been reduced to £120.

I have been punchy, I put 150 to 250 on this because of its quality.

A little bit punchy, a little bit excitable...

But it's better than the norm.

Oh... Crumbs, it's top-drawer, this is the biggest news in mandolins, but you're a bit high,

-I'm a bit low, perhaps we'll meet in the middle.

-Let's make music!

Well! Steady on!

It's your job to get on the rostrum and find a buyer that's going to fall in love with this.

David's wife, Shirley, has joined us for the sale.

..Thank you, sir.

Hello, pleased to meet you as well. You've come to wave it goodbye.

-Yes, sadly.

-I tell you something... Sadly? Ooh, do you want to keep it?

Well, you might be, because I had a chat to the auctioneer earlier,

and you know what he said - he said he thought it was a bit punchy.

He would put it at about 100 to 150.

So his top end is my lower end, but it doesn't really matter, does it?

They don't mind if it's going home. I think the pressure's off.

Next time we come to Worthing, we'll probably see him busking along the seafront.

Let's see if we hit the high notes now - it's time to sell it.

The six-stringed mandolin, tortoiseshell, mother-of-pearl,

two labels on it, a handsome-looking mandolin.

What do we say, £100 for it?

75 then, come along, let's make music together. Come along, now.

50, if we dare. 40, then. Thank you. And five. 50. And five.

At £55, do I see 60?

At £55, looking for 60. At £55, 60 I've got. And five, 70.

And five, 80.

And five, 90. And five. 100. 105, if it helps.

It's only money!

At 105, good for you. At 105, we're using discretion here.

At 105, going to sell, at 105.

Hammer's gone down. He sold it, with discretion. We wanted 120, he sold it at 105.

-So he's used a bit of discretion. Is that OK?

-Yeah, that's fine.

-It's gone, anyway, it's gone.

-Won't have to string it now.

-That'll help toward the golden wedding!

It's got him out of playing it, hasn't it? Let's face it!

-The golden wedding?

-Yes!

-Wow! 50 years!

-On Friday!

-Well, that's a bit of money towards the celebration.

-That's right.

-Buy a box of champagne.

-Yeah.

-Job done!

Not what I'd had hoped for, but still a good return on £3.

Let's hope we can do the same with the Stanhope.

It's a mixed bag, really - a letter opener,

we've got this wonderful Stanhope which eagle-eyes found.

-Tell us about that.

-I just found it in the back of the cupboard.

-Fascinated?

-Yes.

-Were you?

They're incredible, aren't they?

It's the thing which sums up Victorian life.

Victorians loved this sort of thing. Things that did other things.

The question is, will this lot out here love this?

Let's find out, shall we? It's going under the hammer.

Victorian pierced ivory paper knife, the end incorporating a Stanhope.

Come along, now.

What do we say for this one? I'm bid 20 and 2, 24, 26.

28, 30 and 2, 34, 36.

£36, are we all done? At 36, selling at 36, do I see 38?

No, it'll be at 36. Selling at £36 then...

-It's gone. £36. Straight in. Happy?

-Yeah, fine, thank you.

-It's not a lot of money, but it's a great learning experience.

-Definitely.

-Definitely.

It's a great thing to start collecting, because it's affordable.

Oh, go and play football. It's probably more interesting, isn't it?

Well, that certainly brightened my day! Next up is a bit of class.

Unfortunately, Carol can't be with us. But we have our expert, Michael Baggott,

and we have a value of 100, £150.

It's fabulous quality, there's a lot of gold weight in it,

and then it's got the Asprey name, so I don't want to commit myself before the action,

but it should sell, 100%.

Let's find out what the bidders think. It's going under the hammer right now.

Pendant watch, by Asprey's - who's over this one?

Starting us here at £50 and five. 60, and five. 70, and five.

80, and five. 90, and five. 100.

It's sold.

120, 130, 140, 150,

160, 170, 180, 190, 200. And 20.

240, 260... 240 standing, all done at 240, do I see 260?

At 240, and selling at 240 then...

£240.

-Bang, the hammer went.

-That's great. It was a come-and-buy-me, wasn't it?

-I think it was. You're right - the name got it away. Quality always sells.

-Brilliant.

Who's going to tell her?

I think a phone call from you is a joyous thing.

A phone call from me, it could be bad tidings.

A runaway success, well over estimate.

Well, so far, so good.

That completes our first visit to the auction room today.

We're coming back here later on in the show, so hopefully, fingers crossed,

there should be one or two big surprises, so don't go away.

Now, when you think of surrealist art, you think of lobster telephones

and sofas in the shape of Mae West's lips,

and also iconic names like Salvador Dali, Max Ernst and Magritte.

But England had its surrealist artists, too. And this was their HQ.

Farley Farm in deepest rural Sussex. Be prepared for a surprise.

In 1949, the surrealist artist Roland Penrose and his wife, the photojournalist Lee Miller,

made this place their home.

Surrealism is a revolutionary art movement which features the elements of surprise and juxtaposition.

It's been described as an exploration of the subconscious. Like a dream.

And the Penroses lived in it.

Today, their former home, Farley Farm, is full of their artworks and that of their friends.

It's a unique art gallery, museum and archive.

The main rooms in the house had been left largely as they would have been when the Penrose family lived here.

The room I am in now is the dining room.

As you can see, the walls have been painted with a bright sunshine yellow,

which is an incredibly bold move.

And what dominates the room - you can't miss it -

it's not just the fireplace, but it's a mural on the wall inside.

Painted by Roland, it's the Sun God. Isn't that just incredible?

But it's the dining table that the Penroses entertained all their friends at.

The likes of Pablo Picasso and all.

Could you imagine the conversations that went on around this dining table?

I'm just about to find out as I'm now going to have a chat with Antony Penrose, their son.

So, how did your father meet your mother?

-They met at an absolutely wild fancy dress party.

-An elite party?

It was a surrealist party.

They were all dressed in what you might imagine the surrealist version of a fancy dress costume was.

And they met, and my father describes the moment as though he had been struck by lightning.

-It's a great crack. He was never the same again.

-Love at first sight?

Yes indeed. Although she was married and would have been living in Cairo,

but he tracked her down, pursued her,

then finally in 1939 she came to live with him in London, just as the war began.

Lee Miller was a model before becoming a surrealist photographer and photojournalist.

She even risked her own life, documenting World War II.

But much of her work was unpublished.

Did Roland paint her at all?

Many times. And he painted her really in a very perceptive way.

He really understood the inner workings of her in a way that I don't think anybody else did.

Was this the first time he painted your mother?

Yes, he painted her like this in 1937, soon after he had met her.

Tell me a little bit about it.

Well, you can see her legs are earthy. Roland was very intuitive

and he found metaphors for things that he couldn't explain in other ways.

So, earthy legs, she was grounded. Really earthy sort of personality.

And the upper half?

Well, her body has become the sky because she was very strongly dissociated.

It's like she didn't live inside her body.

He knew this, didn't know how to explain it,

so he just painted her with her body like the sky.

He used a lot of visual metaphor in his work.

-For example, you see the face is the Sun.

-It's a golden ball.

Well, that was the brilliance of her intellect and the warmth of her personality encapsulated in there.

And I see she's got two birds as hands. One's a swallow.

Yes, the swallow comes because she should have been living at this moment with her husband in Cairo.

And Roland was hoping that she would fly like a swallow,

migrating from North Africa and come and live in his home in London.

-That's so romantic.

-It is, isn't it? It's lovely.

You grew up here. It must have been quite an unusual upbringing. Tell me about that.

Well, it seemed perfectly normal to me.

Didn't really occur to me that it was anything different

until I got to be in my teens.

And then I suddenly realised that, yes, perhaps it was unusual.

So everything that was unusual seemed normal

and your normal life at the time must have seemed unusual?

Well, it took my long time to discover what normal was. That was for sure.

But growing up in a surrealist household did come with its perks.

Well, I can recognise one person in the photograph.

Possibly the greatest artist of the 20th century. Pablo Picasso.

-But who's the other little chap?

-Well, that's me.

-Aren't you lucky!

-I know.

-So lucky. How old were you?

-I was three-and-a-half.

-Can you remember that day?

It's just on the edge of my memory. I remember that he smelled good.

He smelled of Gauloises cigarettes and cologne.

And that was very unexpected for a small English boy.

You can't meet anybody more important to have your photograph taken with.

Well, he was very important to me.

And he was instantly a friend. Somebody that I felt good with.

And that continued for the years afterwards.

-You're a lucky man to have met him.

-Indeed I am.

Thank you so much for talking to me today.

It's been a great pleasure. Thanks for coming.

Well, I'm certainly going to have fond memories of Farley Farm here in Sussex,

home to the English surrealists.

I might even have some vivid dreams tonight,

and wake up and paint murals all over my walls.

What one thing is for sure, this place is definitely well worth a visit.

But it's only open on certain days of the year,

so make sure you come here when it's open to the public.

Welcome back to the Pavilion here in Worthing.

We've still got a full house. It's time for Act Two.

Let's join up with our experts and see what they've spotted to take to auction later on in the show.

We love to see smiling faces on Flog It!

And Susan's brought along this one for Michael to value.

Susan, we are not alone.

I see that!

Where has this severe-looking fellow come from?

Well, someone graciously donated him to a charity shop that I work in, in Hove.

And we're all puzzled as to where he might come from and his value.

Right. Well, hopefully I can tell you where it was made, when it was made and what it's worth.

If we look at him first, what a marvellous thing to be dropped into a charity shop.

We've got something which is very obviously a Chinese carving.

And it's on a variety of softwood.

Your mind always goes, when you see these Chinese figures, "Is it one of the Buddhist immortals?"

But, looking at how he's dressed, it's very much court-dress.

I mean, you've got here this armoured sleeve

and then we've got this fine robe, which is decorated all over.

I say decorated all over, a lot of it's lost,

but it's depicting clouds on it.

Because the Chinese loved the stylised formation of clouds.

Clouds are like waves, like mushrooms,

the Emperor would have a ruyi sceptre and the head of it would be carved as a mushroom.

It's very interesting.

So, all of these forms.

Now, originally this fine fellow

would have been not as an individual sculpture as we would understand it in the West,

but a fitment off a large carved architectural building

or a walkway or gallery, or even an altar.

And you've got to think of this

rather like the decorative pantile off the top of your Victorian house.

And when you think of the Chinese court and the palaces

and the massive scale they were on, you get hundreds, if not thousands, of these carved figures.

And it can be very difficult to date them.

And that's really my problem today.

They certainly were made as early as the 16th or 17th century, right up to the 20th century.

I've got a feeling, from the amount of genuine wear on this,

that we'd be safe in saying it's 19th century.

It may even be earlier.

But in comes the question of value.

-That's it.

-I mean, I remember 15 years ago when Chinese works of art were making money,

but they weren't making a lot of money.

And there seems to have been an explosion over the last two or three years.

So whoever donated this was giving a real gift to the charity.

Let's put £200-400 on him.

Wonderful!

Let's put a fixed reserve of £180 on him.

Wonderful.

It's the sort of thing I wish we saw more of on Flog It!

cos it's really unique, in its way.

Thank you, Michael. I really appreciate your time.

It's a pleasure. Let's hope he brings you luck on the day.

-Let's rub his head a little!

-If it helps!

-If it helps.

David's up next, with Lesley's sewing kit.

Thank you for bringing these little items in here.

-Are you a sewing lady yourself?

-Yes, I am.

-Good...

This button's coming loose.

-Perhaps you could sew it up for me before you go?

-Maybe!

-Thank you.

Let's discuss this little needle case, which caught my eye

because it's decorated with views of St John's College in Cambridge.

-These are probably, as you know, transfer printed on the back of glass.

-Yes.

They're then coloured.

The needle case itself is an astonishingly good condition,

particularly when you bear in mind

how susceptible the boards are to chipping.

There's no wear there at all.

The second item we'll quickly discuss is this box,

which contains crewel silk for art needlework.

Now, crewel work is a late 17th century technique

whereby you create a raised decoration.

It might be flower heads, or possibly animals or birds.

You then cut round those and they were then applied to a linen or cotton backing.

This particular thread is actually three or four different shades,

going through from almost white to quite a dark green.

And I was interested to see that that is shade 235, so whether that means

that you could obtain 234 other shades or not, I don't know.

And finally, as far as the sewing bits and pieces are concerned,

there's this little pin holder here.

Made, I think, but I'm not absolutely certain, from stained ivory.

-Yes.

-And, seeing as you've brought it along with you,

we might throw these playing cards in for good measure.

-Have you any particular hopes or expectations?

-Not really, not really.

Wouldn't really put an estimate of much more than, say,

£30-£50 on the lot.

-That's fine.

-You look a bit disappointed.

Yes, I just thought, a little bit more than 50, but...

Well, we'll do our best for you.

I mean, I say this a lot to people,

in today's market you've got to be realistic.

And, because it's a low value lot, the auctioneers would probably be grateful

-if we didn't put a reserve on it.

-Oh, no, I wouldn't put a reserve.

Jolly good. OK. I'll see you at the sale, then.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you very much.

This old chap's caught Michael's eye.

-Jo.

-Yes?

Did you bring this fellow or did he swim here himself?

No, I actually brought him here.

Where did you get this specimen from?

Well, my uncle gave him to me years ago, about 50 years ago.

I was just worrying for him because I loved him so much.

And eventually he gave in and gave the turtle to me.

-So he really appealed to you?

-He did. He still does.

-He's got bags of character. He isn't everybody's cup of tea.

-No.

I think I might have been running away from him earlier today,

when I saw him, thinking, "Good grief, what's that?"

But he is of course, as we all know, a turtle.

-And this just feeds into the Victorian fascination with dead animals.

-Yes.

And we think it's a bit macabre today but really,

there was no television.

Going to zoos was a long drawn-out and expensive process.

So, a lot of people of moderate means

would put together these naturalistic museums of stuffed specimens.

-You couldn't have them live, after all.

-No, no.

So what, to us today, can seem a little bit horrible and, "Oh! Why would they do that?"

It's simply the only way that they could see these animals.

-Catching these things and taking the shells off them is now banned.

-Yes.

That means there's a great deal of regulation that goes with selling anything like this at auction.

-And the main thing is that it is prior to 1947.

-Yes.

Once you see that face, it's fairly evident it has 100 years of wear,

-colour and patination to it.

-It has.

-You don't want to release him back, do you?

-If only! If only.

-I think, at auction, we could put £100-£200 on him.

-Yes.

In that very macabre, strange, Victorian aesthetic that it has.

-I think someone will fall in love with him, too.

-Let's hope so!

-Wave him bye-bye.

-Yes. Bye-bye, dear old chap.

I won't touch him. I'm still scared.

-Still scared.

-I'm sure you're not!

-Thank you for bringing him in.

You've heard what our experts think, and they're normally right, aren't they?

They're normally spot-on, come on, let's face it.

It's not an exact science, valuing antiques.

But let's get over to the auction room

and find out what the bidders think - that's the real test.

And we're taking with us Jo's Victorian turtle,

a naturalistic exhibition piece.

Lesley's sewing kit,

including a Cambridge-themed needle case and silk box.

And Susan's imposing Chinese figure, in his robes, decorated with clouds.

This is where we're putting our valuations to the test today,

Denhams Auctioneers, just a few miles outside of Horsham.

As you can see, the house is filling up.

It's got all the ingredients of a classic sale.

Quality kit, lots of people, enthusiastic bidding.

That's what we want to see, and hopefully push the prices through the roof.

Whatever you do, don't go away, because I can guarantee one or two big surprises.

First up, a real museum piece. Will the bidders want to give him a home?

Coming up now, something for all you taxidermy enthusiasts.

It's a wonderful little turtle. It belongs to Jo.

I've got to say, condition is superb.

Taxidermy, ten years ago,

you couldn't do anything with it, nobody wanted it.

Then you get Damien Hirst cutting a cow in half,

and all of a sudden everyone's interested in Victorian taxidermy.

I just loved the turtle, myself.

There was a move towards the sort of mini museum at home, with lots of natural history.

-It's not to everybody's taste.

-No, it's not.

I hope there are two turtle fanciers here.

I kind of, I like it in a way. I'm with you, I'm with you,

but I know what Michael's saying.

I would be delighted to be proved wrong.

Let's find out what the bidders think. You've heard what Michael had to say about it,

it's now down to the bidders. Here we go.

It is a 19th-century stuffed and mounted turtle.

-Don't hold it up.

-There he is, making his way amongst you.

What do we say for him? £100 for him?

75 for him? Come along now.

I'm at £40. Good grief.

£40, and five? 50,

and five? 60?

-At £60 then, and five.

-Struggling, isn't it?

As ghastly as he is, he's worth more than that.

Yes, he is. You were right with the valuation.

Do I see 70? At £65, he's all there. Beautiful looking specimen.

Not quite enough. At £65, I'm going to have to pass it, I'm afraid.

-He's going home.

-Oh, I'm so pleased!

-Are you?

I'm going to find a shelf for him again.

No, I love him dearly, so I'm not sad that he's going home.

This is not a sale, this is a love affair.

-And he's destined to stay with you.

-He obviously is, yes.

Thank goodness she DOES love him. Now for the sewing kit,

and Lesley's husband, Gordon, has come along for the sale.

A bit of a mixed lot coming up right now

but not for a great deal of money - £30-£50. It belonged to Lesley, and who have you brought along today?

-My husband, Gordon.

-Hi, pleased to meet you.

-I gather some of these were your grandmother's.

-Correct.

-The same items, were they? Yes.

So, been in the family a long time, which is your social history, isn't it?

Yes, that's quite true.

Let's find out if the bidders are interested,

cos that's what we're here for, to put it under the hammer and flog it. Here we go.

Victorian ivory item there, as we see it there,

we've got all sorts of goodies there.

Playing cards, etc. What do we say for it?

-It's a funny old mixed bag, isn't it?

-75 then?

I'm bid 40, and five. 50, and five.

-60? £60 there?

-That's good.

Are we selling now at £60? Do I see the five? With me at 60, then.

-All in and selling at 60, are we?

-Straight in and out, really!

There was something there somebody definitely wanted. £60.

-No, I'm very pleased with that.

-Good. Well done.

Yes, nice little lot.

Sold, over estimate. That's what we like to see on Flog It!

Now for our last item, the wooden Chinese figure.

Susan's brought along her colleague, Amanda, for the sale.

This was an Oxfam find, wasn't it?

-This is an Oxfam find.

-Tell me all about it.

It came into the shop, a normal donation, in a box of other bric-a-brac.

And we have a lady that specialises in antiques

and she brought it out, thought it might be worth something.

-And we brought it here.

-Michael, we've got £200-£400 on this.

-I swooped on it like a hawk!

-You did, you beat me to it.

-I went, "Ooh, ooh!"

-I saw you behind me, leaning in.

-Chinese figures, big business.

-Ceramics.

At the moment they've replaced Russian works of art as the most saleable class.

-Highly sought after.

-Incredibly sought after.

-This is the big one!

-This is the big one.

-It's a lovely figure.

Hopefully there are telephone bids and internet bidding.

By somebody in Hong Kong.

We're going to find out, all the waiting is over.

It's been a long time, hasn't it? It really has. OK.

It's a roller-coaster ride just about to take place.

-It's going under the hammer.

-We want to buy a couple of cows.

-Here we go.

The very handsome, carved Eastern figure of a seated deity.

There he is.

-And...

-So decorative.

-And I am bid...

£100, and 10,

120, 130, 140,

150, 160, 170, 180...

..190. 200 - with me now at £200.

Are we all done and selling now?

At £200, then, can't make any more out of this, at £200...

Just.

At £200, I'm going to sell at £200. All out at 200, are we?

-Yes!

-Fantastic. And all the money's going back to the shop.

We want to buy a couple of cows.

-Do you?

-And goats.

-Oh, wonderful.

-Yes, very excited.

-If anything else like that comes along, bring it in.

-We certainly will. It's been great. Thank you so much.

-Bang on estimate.

-Bang on. You're the best.

-He is the best!

-Can you say that again?

He's the best. He is!

Well, that's it, the auction has just finished

and, I've got to say, all of our owners are going to go home very happy.

I know it was a struggle, a few ups and downs,

but that's auctions for you, you cannot predict what's going to happen.

That's why they're so exciting. So, do join me again for many more surprises

but, for now, from Sussex, it's goodbye.