Episode 20 Antiques Road Trip

The nation's favourite antiques experts, £200 each and one big challenge.

Testing, testing.

Who can make the most money buying and selling antiques as they scour the UK?

-I don't mean to drive a hard bargain.

-The aim is to trade up and hope each antique turns a profit.

But it's not as easy as it sounds and there can only be one winner!

Punching the air!

So will it be the highway to success or the B-road to bankruptcy?

-I'm going to be like Rocky. I'm going to come from behind.

-This is the Antiques Road Trip.

Today it's the last hurrah for antiques experts James Braxton and Thomas Plant.

They're out on the open road and James' vintage 1952 MG has been reaching near...

average speeds

as they skip from town to town.

-You're leading, you're streets ahead.

-Thomas still struggling.

Why doesn't somebody help me?

James Braxton is a seasoned auctioneer and surveyor

with one eye on the antiques market and one on the whims of fashion.

This is what auctioneers will be wearing in 2011.

The auctioneer, the legend, the Bristolian, Thomas Plant

knows a great piece of jewellery when he sees one.

And he also knows what he likes!

There I was buying a piece of suffragette,

now I'm buying a bit of porn!

Our boys started this week with £200 each and, well, fate has not entirely smiled on either of them.

James has been following a simple, market-driven formula.

I'm going for a sort of Country House style the whole time.

From his original £200,

James now has a not-to-be-sniffed-at £296.15 to begin his last show.

Just sort of steady jabs, steady jabs.

Thomas, bless him, has tried his very best.

He's shown great heart, shopping with passion and intelligence.

And it hasn't worked.

I buy an antique, you buy tat, I LOSE money on it.

Thomas' £200 has been cruelly shrunken by fate,

leaving just £163.23 to take him once more unto the breach.

You've made profit on your items, maybe I should be buying a bit more wisely.

A line needs to be drawn.

-I think we need to move on.

-Yeah, I think so.

Oh, I've lost my hat.

This week's route has taken our experts

from Berwick-upon-Tweed, zigzagging across Northumberland and Yorkshire,

to their final auction in Driffield.

On today's final Northeast journey, James and Thomas are leaving Baildon.

First pin in the map is Keighley, West Yorkshire.

Thomas has managed to rescue his hat, but can he rescue his fortunes today?

-Last leg, James.

-Last leg, Thomas.

-Any plans?

-Well, I'm going to buy some meaty bits, silver I think.

-Really?

-Silver, do you think that's advisable?

-Yeah, definitely.

-With your record on silver?

-THEY LAUGH

What's a hall mark?

Anyway, let's go.

Let's find some bargains.

Sure.

Keighley has played an important historical role

in Britain's textile production and the wider Industrial Revolution.

But, the town is more famed for its favourite daughter,

actress Mollie Sugden, or Mrs Slocombe, of Are You Being Served fame.

Now, side-stepping the perfumery department and men's tailoring,

our experts arrive to get antiques shopping.

James, Thomas, are you free?!

-This looks good.

-Looks very good.

-Very smart.

Oh, I see silver and jewellery winking at you there.

-Can I take that side?

-Course you can.

-And we'll swap.

So our boys divide the territory to get busy. There are treasures to be found,

only a few shops left and just one last chance for auction victory.

I have to say, I think this is the best antique shop we've been into.

Look at it, it's just wonderful, it's full of great things.

It's a case of buying well. I've got to beat James.

That's the spirit!

And, whilst James watches his back, something's caught his eye for £125.

It looks like a tea caddy, doesn't it, but it's very well engineered,

it's very heavy, and it slightly reminds me of maybe a cheese scoop.

I think it's a cheese scoop too!

Specialised dining utensils became essential in the mid 19th century

when touching food with your naked hands was seriously frowned upon.

In print, The Habits Of Good Society, from 1859, recommends,

"Never touch anything edible with your fingers."

One can only imagine how terribly cumbersome was the Victorian picnic!

Very good weight. Pretty heavy fellow, that.

Rather nice.

And now Thomas has found something strict and military for £12.50.

Mississauga Horse Battalion, Canada.

Oh, that's Canadian.

Canadian swagger stick,

probably from the First World War or something.

Canadian Mounties.

Swagger sticks were originally functional, rather than decorative,

used to direct military manoeuvres or give physical punishment.

Ouch! But also to keep officers

from putting their hands in their pockets whilst on parade. Naughty.

I might walk around with this,

pointing things out, hitting James.

Very good.

As you were, Plant!

Meanwhile, James has been drawn to another piece of silver,

priced again at £125.

Will someone be pushing the boat out soon?

Your cigar sleeve. Is that silver?

Very clever things because you can

just put them in your top pocket and they just protect them, don't they?

-Nice.

-Saves getting all the cigar bits in the bottom of your jacket.

Yeah. Has that got a fancy maker?

Mappin & Webb.

Well, if you're going to buy cigars for £10-15 a shot

-you want to keep them safe, don't you?

-Absolutely.

Wonderfully, James looks like he could be buying some antiques soon.

However, Thomas might be trying to hide his money away.

I've just seen something. I love this. What do you think it is?

What does it look like?

I dunno.

Bzzz, bzzz.

Er, entry-phone system?

No, come on. Don't be so silly. What is it?

Er, doorbell? Cheap alarm clock?

Bzzz, bzzz. Beehive. Busy bees.

Busy bees.

-WHISPERS:

-It's a money box.

Oh, a money box!

This beehive money box is lovely, but it's also £58!

I like the shape. You know, if you were a busy bee saving

you would get your money at the end of the season,

like if you were a bee keeper.

And now James is pulling out all the stops.

Lovely corkscrew.

See, these things were engineered...

That's been a corkscrew from about 1860, 1880.

That's done 100 years of service

and funny enough it's still got it's tip on.

That's when steel was steel.

Really nicely made.

And it's horn here.

I think that's a wild boar.

Grrr, like that, wild boar, and then it's been beautifully capped.

Very nice! If you're not a boar. Now, talking of bores, here's Thomas...

with a travelling item for his road trip.

Look at that lovely leather-coated box

and this unscrews and you either put scent in there or...something.

£29.

See, that's more my budget, really, when thinking about it.

Lansdowne Luggage, London, so that's really quite nicely done, isn't it?

Lansdowne Row,

in London's ultra-fashionable, uber-expensive Mayfair,

is home to some rather exclusive boutiques

and purveyors of luxury goods.

Lansdowne Luggage is most likely an eponymous fine leather goods shop

from this stylish street in the 1930s.

Michael, I've got a little collection of items I've found.

Can I put them on the counter and have a chat?

With a great luxury bundle already assembled,

Thomas spots another item winking at him for £58. Tick-tock!

What's that funny old stick?

-A silver watch key, clock key.

-Look at that.

That's for somebody that has everything.

Thing is, clocks are great

and people who collect clocks like to have things about them.

It would be some clock to have a solid-silver key.

I always see something at the very last minute.

So what have you got on that?

It's £50 on it, 40 to you.

Now Thomas has the mother of all antique bundles.

I've only got 160 quid.

So I want to spend 100 quid, cos you're the best shop.

-What about my little bottle there?

-That's 20, you can have that for 15.

And then...the busy bees?

That's 50, you can have that for 40.

-And then the swagger stick...

-For a fiver.

So we've got £100 there.

I think that is four quality items.

Shake on it? Hundred pounds.

Well done, Thomas, not so much a haggle as an agreement.

Are you sure you haven't spent too much?

I don't want any change left. This is all or nothing.

This is go hard or go home.

Fine words, sir! Now, James has his three favourite items

on the counter, with an eye-watering combined asking price of £298.

Now, Michael, could you do the lot at 200?

You're going to have to give me another tenner.

210.

I can do that.

Thank you very much indeed, Michael.

Hmm. Again, that was really an agreement

rather than a rock-hard haggle.

I hope our experts haven't gone soft and spendthrift on their final voyage.

They're good quality items. Hopefully... It's over to the auctioneer now.

He's got to get out there, market them, and sell them well.

Well, at least our boys seem happy with their bumper buys.

Why pay less when you can pay more? So let's move on.

On a literary mission, the Road Trip is taking us four miles southwest

to the landmark village of Haworth.

Along the way, Yorkshire's scenery gets more dramatic, more beautiful.

The kind of windswept heather and wild moors

that inspired Haworth's three favourite daughters,

Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte.

Thomas arrives at the Bronte Parsonage Museum

to meet collections manager Ann Dinsdale

and experience this fascinating yet tragic tale.

This is the dining room where the Brontes did a lot of their writing

and it's all set out with their own belongings and furniture.

Ill health plagued the family and Patrick Bronte, Haworth's vicar,

sadly outlived all his talented children.

He used to call in here at nine o'clock and tell the girls not to stay up too late,

and that's when they'd put away their sewing or whatever they'd been working on

and talk about their writing.

And the mother wasn't here, was she?

The mother had died within 18 months of their arrival in Howarth.

But I think that combination of the power of their writing

and the kind of dramatic landscape of Howarth

and the sad story of their lives is kind of...quite a potent mix.

This building was bought by the dedicated Bronte Society in 1928,

to curate the sisters' artefacts.

After moving around Northern England, the Brontes lived here from 1820

and did much of their writing in the family dining room.

We've got Anne's writing desk on the table

and we know that every evening, when their family prayers were over,

they'd actually walk round the table discussing their writing and reading aloud.

-Quite sort of secretive.

-Yeah, and we know that after Emily died,

the year after Wuthering Heights was published,

Charlotte and Anne continued this nightly ritual of walking round the table.

And then, when Anne died, Charlotte continued on her own.

Success didn't come easily to the industrious Bronte girls.

This was the 19th century after all,

no votes for women and precious few careers either.

It's true that they didn't publish under their own names, their female names.

No, they used assumed names,

they published under the names Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell

but I think the idea was more that they would disguise their gender.

They wanted to be judged as writers, not particularly women writers.

Each of them produced a novel

and they would send them to one publisher after another who rejected them.

Charlotte wrote the famous novel Jane Eyre,

and Emily the wonderfully romantic Wuthering Heights.

Lesser-known Anne wrote The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall.

All three girls began their literary careers

with a collective volume of poetry in 1846.

It sold two copies, despite some quite good reviews.

-Only two copies?

-Yeah.

-They were obviously all quite well educated, the father made sure of that.

-Yes.

He encouraged the girls to read whatever they wanted, which was quite unusual.

-That was unusual, wasn't it?

-So they were steeped in the works of Byron,

-for example, which was usually deemed to be very unsuitable.

-Absolutely.

Of course, that all fed into their novels.

The Brontes' genius writing couldn't be ignored forever.

But only Charlotte lived long enough to enjoy her success, with the immediate popularity of Jane Eyre.

Ann shows us the museum's earliest testament to this talented family.

This is actually a poetry manuscript by Charlotte Bronte,

in the guise of the Marquis of Douro,

one of her kind of characters.

You can see the tiny, tiny writing

and Charlotte's signature down here, June 28th 1830.

So she'd have been 14,

and the idea was that these tiny books

looked as much like printed books as possible.

How amazing that a 19th-century 14-year-old

had the talent and confidence to create such an item.

Recently, the Bronte Society acquired a similar, extremely rare manuscript

-at a New York auction for around £33,000.

-It's quite sweet.

There's this wonderful naivety and innocence about it,

of a young girl at 14 making these things to while away the time,

I don't know, take her mind off losing her mother.

They created a fictional world in which they had the power to bring the dead to life again.

The Brontes' novels are truly loved and venerated the world over,

and I think they may have just acquired a brand-new fan.

I came in, not knowing anything about the family,

and I've come away with a new-found passion.

-Thank you very much.

-It's been a pleasure showing you them.

Thomas has been thoroughly indulged for the last time this week

and it really is nose to the grindstone for him, from now on.

But, actually, antiques shopping will have to wait,

as this first day of the last voyage draws to an end.

I'm having the time of my life.

I am thoroughly enjoying this.

So everything to play for on this last one.

Oh, I'm really looking forward to... I've lost my hat again!

-Oh, no, not again.

-Yeah, I've lost my hat again.

Better stop and pick it up, then.

Night, night.

Excitement and a gnawing sense of trepidation greet James and Thomas' final dash of shopping together.

We don't yet know what the day holds in store but its going to be emotional.

My trusty motoring hat has been under a 16-wheeler, I'm afraid to say.

Let's hope our boys can keep a better hold on their antiques shopping today.

So far, James has spent a daring £210 on three items,

the silver cheese spoon, the silver cigar sleeve

and the bone corkscrew, with a bit of silver on the end.

He's got £86.15 left to burn.

Go-Hard Thomas has splashed out £100 on four items.

The Canadian swagger stick, the cologne case,

the beehive money box and the handsome clock key.

He's got £63.23 left to blow and he doesn't want any change.

Game on!

Good luck.

Heading west, our boys are splitting up, to get the best of the rest of the Northeast.

Endlessly curious James is heading nine miles from Haworth

to the big, ballsy city of Bradford.

Thomas has done well, so he won the last leg.

I failed miserably, so I'm going for broke.

James has a keen eye on treasures from the near and far East, so he's giving himself a little treat today.

This area was built by Bradford's wealthy wool merchants in the 1850s.

Today this handsome Victorian terrace is home to Bradford's Masjid Doha,

established in 1980.

-Ah, hello.

-Hello. James.

-Nafees.

Nafees, good to meet you. Now, I hear you have some goodies here.

We have just through here, in the mosque.

The Masjid Doha is regularly attended by 700 people from 20 different countries for Friday prayers.

Masjid is the correct Islamic name for mosque,

as mosque is a French Orientalist term from the 17th century.

It's a big space, isn't it?

It is when it's full, particularly on Fridays, the day of congregation.

I must say it's very plush, isn't it? There's quite a spring here.

There is, it was well put down. I've sat on here many hours.

Nafees is a volunteer here and passionate about his own collection of antiques.

More recently, he's focused on Islamic arts and crafts

from Arabia, Persia and beyond.

We've got an inkwell, a tray, which I think is for sweetmeats,

and a bowl, probably for fruit.

And were they made for people who were constantly on the move?

In the medieval period there was a lot of movement of populations.

I think it's a sweetmeat tray.

-Offering of hospitality...

-Yes, certainly.

And is this emblematic,

this stylised lotus?

It's loosely, I think, representing the endless knot.

The endless knot is a real universal symbol,

appearing across widespread and diverse cultures,

from Celtic to Persian lands.

However, it's thought to originate in ancient Tibetan traditions,

representing the infinite wisdom of the Buddha.

It's a bowl, and again I would imagine it was for fruit.

It's a wonderful piece, because not everybody

would have been able to afford a piece like this.

These patterns were used in the Byzantine and Sassanian tradition

so there's a lot of interaction between the cultures and the traditions and the artists.

It's not unknown for Muslims to make items for Christians

who were living within the Muslim lands, and vice versa.

Business, isn't it?

These three curious artefacts are difficult to date,

but could very well be 12th-century Islamic brassware from Khorasan,

a prosperous merchant province

straddling modern-day northeast Iran and western Afghanistan.

This is the first piece I bought.

The inkwell was a travelling inkwell.

You could imagine the ink sloshing around in there

but I think the idea was they'd put some kind of felt or material inside

and the ink would be soaked up by that,

-and it's covered in calligraphy, even the underside is.

-Very nice.

It's the harpies, the mythological beasts.

A woman's head, I think lion's body...

and the three hunting dogs, Saluki.

-Right, Salukis, yeah.

-Yes, yes.

Contrary to popular belief, there are many figurative and animal depictions

in ancient Islamic decorative arts.

And many motifs, like these harpies and Salukis,

crossed into arts from other medieval cultures.

Thank you very much indeed...Naseef.

This is the first mosque I've ever been into. And, well done, Bradford.

Excellent, nice one.

-Tea's getting cold.

-Tea's getting cold. Go on.

And now our fully refreshed James must return to the antiques fray

and get unearthing his last treasures of the week.

The journey so far is now consigned to Road Trip history.

With the taste of final auction in the air,

an expectant wind blows our experts ten miles due east from Bradford

to the great Northern city of Leeds.

Today, Leeds is home to the Henry Moore Institute,

named after Leeds Art School's most celebrated graduate.

Fortunate enough to return from the First World War,

Henry Moore came to the city on an ex-serviceman's grant in 1919,

before great success and fame came his way.

You've got how many items?

-Three.

-I've got four. I'm going to buy one more item.

I may as well spend it all.

This is a momentous occasion.

-Last leg.

-You never know what we might find.

It's the final showdown for our boys, today.

They've got money to burn, antiques to buy and precious little time left.

So let's keep silly shenanigans to an absolute minimum, please.

I feel like a cyber man.

Oh, dear, sadly this shop looks like it's full of far too much fun and distraction.

Owner, John, also rents out his stock as props for the film industry.

In fact, wasn't that candelabra in Gosford Park?

It's a piece of art deco glass with these opalescent bits in there.

It's quite nice, it's quite lush, isn't it?

Most important thing is it's in good condition.

Opalescent glass was developed in England in the mid 19th century,

but became more popular as an art deco style in the 1930s.

These bowls are slow cooled to create the milky effect and colouring

in thicker areas of the glass.

-90 quid, and we all know how much money I've got - £62 and something pence!

No, Thomas. Silly Billy, you've got £63.23.

Now, keep a careful eye on your money, like James does.

Oh, I like that, a nice bit of Indian silver, beautifully embossed

and then the interior is of a different skin so it's double walled, so a sign of quality.

Smells like silver.

What's that smell like, then?

James is once again drawn to Indian, crafted metal goods, as he has been all week.

He clearly loves their decoration but is also

shrewd about desirable objects for wealthy buyers in emerging economies.

Clever boy, James, clever boy.

It's 1860, 1880, I'd say, but lovely quality.

I'd better get looking.

This is a bit of 1960s, 70s Italian glass, from Murano, in Venice.

Well spotted, Thomas, how did you know?

There's a sticker!

There's a sticker which says it's Murano.

Oh, yeah, you can read, well done!

This has been made by hand, blown, by a man in Murano.

It's just lovely, it's gorgeous.

If you buy that in Murano it's £300.

Murano glass has a fascinating and long, long history.

In 1291, the Venetian government moved all glass-making furnaces from Venice, to the nearby island

of Murano, due to their fire hazard in a city made of wood.

In the 1930s, artist Ercole Barovier took over Murano glass and in 1996

the Baroviers were recognised as being the oldest glass-making family in the world.

I'm going to ask about those two items and see what the price is.

And then I'm going to carry on looking.

And whilst Thomas plays the long game...

Boxwood chess set. Staunton, Rolls Royce of chess pieces.

Howard Staunton was the famous reigning World Chess Champion of 1849, lending his name

to games manufacturers John Jaques of London, for a new, universally recognized playing set.

John, how about this, and the bowl, for...

-Don't look at me like that, you worry me when you look at me like that.

-How about the two, 25?

-No.

-Definitely not.

-£35 the pair.

Which means you're getting that for nothing and that thrown in with the bowl.

Hmm... Hmm.

James, where are you going? That's a bit queer.

Could you do 30?

Yes, I'll do 30 on the pair.

Go on, I'm not going to drag it out.

Much obliged to you, James.

What would make a profit?

Would it be this?

Or would it be that?

Why did I buy four items in the first shop?

Thomas, last chance for purchases, three minutes.

Thank you James, no pressure.

There's your warning, Thomas.

Final auction is beckoning, so make up your mind fast!

What's the best on that? I mean really looking for a really good deal.

-70 quid.

-OK.

-And on that one?

-35 quid.

You wouldn't do that one for 30?

Yeah, I'll do that one for 30.

Would you do that for 60?

Yeah, OK, 90 quid the pair, yeah.

Oh, dear Thomas, you went mad in Keighley, now you've

found two bits that you love and you've really not got enough money.

I've got to go and think about this.

Thomas, where are you going now?

One minute please.

This is very peculiar.

-Right.

-Go on.

This is really cheeky.

-Yes.

-And I could understand if you're going to say no immediately.

-The thing is I like them both so much...

-Yes.

-..but I haven't got the £90.

-Right.

I've got £62 and 14 pence.

No, Thomas! You've got £63 and 23 pence.

Although I'm not sure the extra £1 and 9 pence would help much here.

-And that's it, that's me done, end of, that's me cleared out.

-£62 and 14... Where's 14 pence come from?

Well, it's just all I've got left.

The problem is I want them both, but I can't have them both unless I buy them as one lot.

-So it's got to be £62.14.

-That's it.

Give me £62.14 then.

Really? You're a star.

Congratulations, Thomas. You're getting me confused.

But for the record you've actually paid £62.14 for both items.

Time's up! Leave the building.

It certainly is. It's time to go and, for the last time this week, reveal your hand.

What I've really enjoyed is seeing this part of the world.

-I must say North Yorkshire...

-The car was a little bit dodgy then.

-Yeah, it wasn't on top form.

So in this picturesque setting, our boys have picked, er, a park bench

for today's Show And Tell.

I'm sitting here rather uncomfortably because I've put one

my items... This is part of a lot and I've been trying to hide it.

A swagger stick to go with this and the swagger stick is from an overseas Canadian...

Oh, I see, yeah, yeah.

And I thought, that and that would go quite well together.

Lansdowne Luggage of London, good bottle within a leather case.

-Oh, that's rather nice, isn't it? Tell me how much?

-20 quid.

Yeah, I'm sure somebody will buy it.

Don't be so rude!

Laughter, James? Hardly encouraging, is it?

-You're going to have a jolly good laugh with this.

-Go on, go on.

-There we are.

-OK, this is a cigar holder, it's Sheffield, Mappin and Webb, 1912.

So we're getting some gentlemanly items here, aren't we?

What did you pay for that? Let me guess, £85.

Lower, I did pay lower.

65?

No, in the middle, 75.

-Well, shall I show you something that might make you feel a bit better?

-OK, fire away.

-A stupid impulse buy.

-What is that Thomas, a key?

Well, it's a silver clock key, Sheffield, 1929.

It's a rather interesting fun item.

That's rather nice. How much did you pay for that?

-40.

-40?

That's why. Yeah!

James! Calm yourself down and show Thomas your cheese scoop.

It's my most expensive lot.

-OK, and it's a...

-Well, I sort of picked it up and I thought tea caddy, but then I

felt the weight of it and thought

-it's slightly over engineered for a tea caddy, isn't it?

-Yeah.

No, no, no, we definitely decided this was a cheese scoop!

-So how much did you pay?

-£86.

-You've really been spending some money, haven't you?

-I have.

-Right, I like this.

Now this is a honey pot, but a money box.

You are busy saving like busy bumble bees and then at the end of your savings you reap the rewards.

-How much?

-£40.

-OK.

That's a very nice tusk that, isn't it? What did you pay for that, £100?

-£49.

-No? That's a really nice thing.

So this is my fourth item, art deco opalescent bowl.

That's very nice, how much did you pay for that?

£31.20.

I think you've used some quite good buying tactics along your way, haven't you?

-Well, it's only fair.

-You're a bit of a smoothie.

Here it is, my last item.

Another Indian bowl. Is it lined in silver? Yes, it is.

Rather good fun.

OK how much did you pay for that?

-£25.

-Home and dry.

-OK, last item. Now, this looks really splendid.

Yes, and again I've used my knowledge on the decorative arts

-to buy a piece of Murano glass.

-That is very splendid.

It does look very Venetian

and I've got an inkling how much you paid for that. £31.20.

-Absolutely.

-My final throw of the die,

it's not worthy of the same company as your bowl.

-Staunton boxwood chess set.

-I paid £5 for that item.

I think that's got a good chance of making £10-£12.

Good luck with your items. I think you've bought really well.

Didn't he? Didn't he do well?

I think, James, as I knew he would do, would get over confident.

He's bought the cigar sleeve for £75, the cheese scoop for another

£86, and that's a lot of money wrapped up in two bits of silver.

I thought the swagger stick and the little box, bit of a filler.

Am I going to beat him?

I've got a very good chance.

Is Thomas any threat to the master?

Actually, yes.

I think Thomas could be pretty dangerous at this last sale.

It's been a tumultuous voyage

for our two excited experts,

from Keighley, to Haworth and

switching east through the northern lights of Bradford and Leeds.

Auction day is here and it's the final showdown for James and Thomas

in Driffield, East Yorkshire.

I'm hearing good things.

Wherever I go, they say Driffield auction room is good news.

Good. Well, I'm hoping, I'm hoping.

The auction rooms at Dee, Atkinson and Harrison have

been selling property, livestock, fine art and antiques since 1885.

Auctioneer Pippa Whiteley has a word or two to say about our experts' chances.

I think Thomas's items are a little bit risky,

with the exception of the Murano glass bowl.

I think that will do well.

So let's hope he makes lots of money on that one.

I think James has bought better things,

a bit more saleable, but you never know what'll happen on the day.

James started this leg of the road trip with £296.15

and spent an impressive £240 on five auction lots.

Thomas nearly delivered on his bold promise to spend every penny.

He took his £163.23, bought five lots for £162.40,

leaving a missing 83p.

Personally, I'd check the back of the sofa!

Our experts have suffered two near fatal auctions in a row this week.

-Last and final.

-A risky day.

-Shall we go?

-Yes.

Go-hard Thomas has pulled out all the stops for one last shot at success.

So let's sit up straight, eyes front and no talking at the back.

The auction is about to begin.

The first whiff of auction drama

comes from James's silver cheese scoop.

I'm starting the bidding at £65.

Is there 70 anywhere?

£70 anywhere?

70. 75, 80, 85, 90? No?

90 anywhere else?

No? Are we all done? £85.

That did well, but not quite well enough.

Next up we have the first item

from Thomas's amazing, last-minute Leeds deal.

The Murano glass has its chance to shine now.

-This is it.

-Good luck.

-Thank you.

Don't drop it!

A fair bit of interest in viewing in this one

and I have to start the bidding here on my sheet at £85.

Is there 90 in the room anywhere?

£90 anywhere in the room?

No? It's too rich for you.

We're all done, then. Commission bids get that one for £85.

Fantastic! If ever a beleaguered antiques expert needed a result

like that, it was Thomas Plant today.

Well done, sir!

Now, another shrewd investment from James -

an Indian silver bowl with decorative appeal.

Where do you want to be on this one, £50? 30 anywhere?

Let's start at 20. 22 anywhere now?

25, 28?

No, we all done?

Sorry, James.

£3 profit minus the commission is...

not a whole lot!

-How do you feel?

-Yeah, fine.

No coins to save today, but Thomas's money box will face the bidders next.

I have to start the bidding here

at £45. Is there 50 anywhere?

50 I'm bid, £50.

55 with me, £60 I'm bid.

-65 anywhere else?

-£60.

-All done, all finished.

Another good result and things are looking fairly rosy

for Thomas right now.

For me, this is exciting, this is profits.

This is what you've been feeling like.

James really needs some strategic play

and his Staunton chess set pieces are

looking for a worthy grand master.

30 anywhere?

How does 20 sound, then? Any interest at £20?

I'm going to have to go down to a tenner.

£10 I'm bid, £10.

12, 15, 18? 18 I have.

Really good!

All done? All finished at 18.

Checkmate and a slightly healthier profit for James.

That's amazing!

Next on parade are the Canadian swagger stick

and handsome cologne bottle, selling together.

Two nice items here - £50?

30 anywhere?

20 anywhere?

22, 25, 28, 30, 35, 40.

All done? All finished, £40.

He's still doing it.

Watch your back, James!

What's going on, James?

If my two bits of silver crash and burn, you could take me.

The suave cigar sleeve cost James £75

and is now looking for the right pocket.

I'm going to start the bidding at £60. Is there 65 anywhere?

65, 70, 75, 80.

85? No? 85 anywhere else? All done.

Close, but no...

Well, you get the idea!

Now the second item from Thomas's last-minute Leeds deal,

the opalescent bowl.

£60?

40 anywhere? Let's go to 20, then.

Any interest at £20? 20 I'm bid.

22 anywhere now?

I have one bid at £20.

Are we all done? All finished... 22!

-25.

-Go on.

-All done?

All finished.

Not so good there.

Thomas's profit motor is possibly running out of juice.

James needs to pull out all the stops with his last item.

The silver horn corkscrew needs a strong tweak.

Let's start at 20 on this one.

Nice. £20 I'm bid.

£20, 22 anywhere now?

-Come on.

-£22 anywhere?

-I sold one for 150 quid.

-Are we all done? £20.

Oh, that's a shame.

James's final item gets corked, and no surprise

he's a bit cheesed off!

Bad luck, James.

That's not very fair, is it?

AUCTIONEER CONTINUES IN BACKGROUND

So time is of the essence.

If Thomas can double his money on the silver clock key,

he could actually beat James this week.

Here goes.

Where do you want to start on this one, £60?

-40 anywhere?

-Go on.

-20?

-I told you.

-£20? Any interest at £20?

Is the silver not worth £20? Let's start at 15, then.

15 I'm bid, £15, 18 anywhere else?

-Can't believe it. Are we all done?

-Go on.

All finished at £15.

Oh dear, oh dear.

Thomas was doing so well and then it all fell apart again.

However, someone got a lovely piece of silver for a great price.

A bit of a yo-yo for Thomas Plant,

-backwards and forwards.

-Yeah.

-And for poor old James it's been...

It's been a gradual descent after...

After those heady heights.

James started this leg with a clear lead and £296.15 to his name.

But, after paying commission, he's made another bruising loss of £52.18.

James has a final total of £243.97.

Thomas started down, with just £163.23,

and made a small profit of £22.95,

giving him a final total,

including the missing 83p, of £186.18.

Sadly, Thomas actually managed to finish with less money than he started with.

And that's just not enough to knock James off this week's top spot.

Let's see where our chaps lie in the leader board.

Still comfortably in the top spot is the mighty James Lewis.

There ain't no touching him!

In second place, Kate Bliss, followed closely behind in third position by Charles Hanson.

In fourth place is Mark Stacey and

in fifth position is Jonathan Pratt.

Charlie Ross is sixth

and, out of this week's road trippers, James Braxton

is in seventh place whilst

Thomas Plant brings up the rear - somebody's got to - in eighth position.

-So James, that's it.

-That's it.

The final nail in the coffin.

Yes, I think the suit was very apt, in fact.

I think it was another funeral.

-Well, disappointment reigned supreme yet again...

-I know.

..on our fifth and final auction.

Anyway it's been a good trip. Shall we have one last motor?

Oh, please.

Well, what a week's it's been!

SONG: "Je Ne Regrette Rien"

Since leaving Berwick-upon-Tweed, James and Thomas have bravely fought

their way across the North East of England...

Oh, I've lost my hat!

From town to town, shop to shop,

and auction to auction.

Neither expert has made massive profits, to say the very least,

and they've found many new and exciting headwear options.

Does it sort of frame my round face?

Thomas has fallen in love with some delicate jewellery...

-If you don't buy it, you'll regret it.

-You're right.

James has lost his heart to some big hunks of metal.

That's a lovely bit of copper.

There's a lot of copper there.

That's a mighty fellow, isn't it?

The weight of a small dog.

And they've both expressed a new-found admiration for each other.

I need to walk with giants.

I'll give you that - handsome!

Come on. Off we go!

The final hurrah.

No...

The police might let us go. No, of course not.

Couple of WPCs!

Next time on the Antiques Road Trip, it's a whole new week

and a brand new pair of experts - David Barby and Philip Serrell.

David struggles to get up...

I'm on my knees already!

Philip struggles for sympathy...

I'm actually really hurt!

And they both struggle with each other's company.

Could you get that scarf out of my face? Thank you.

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