Randall Cash in the Attic

Welcome to Cash in the Attic, the show that finds the hidden treasures in your home,

which we help you to sell at auction. Well, today I'm in London,

where I'm at the actual Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, which of course is notoriously posh,

so I've decided it's time to have a bit of a look at some of the glorious shops.

The Kings Road saw the start of Swinging London in the mid 1960s, and the birth of punk in the 1970s.

At one end is Sloane Square, an area renowned for its wealthy inhabitants,

nearby Knightsbridge is home to exclusive designer stores, including Harrods and Harvey Nicks.

Unsurprisingly, this part of town is the most affluent local authority in Britain.

Well, let's hope we manage to bag plenty of top-notch collectables

that will tempt the bidders when they go under the hammer at auction.

Today on Cash in the Attic, we find a whole world of interesting items in the Kings Road.

Well, I'd say - good heavens... I've never seen anything quite like it.

Our expert, John Cameron, certainly knows his place.

John, come and look at this.

Ah, you rang, m'lady?

And, after a roller coaster ride at auction, there are high hopes of a big family reunion.

That's bang on estimate, £40. You happy with that?

Yes, I'm not taking them home.

That's all when our goodies go under the hammer.

I'm about to meet two very glamorous ladies who've called in

the Cash in the Attic team to help them raise some funds

for a very important family visit.

Art therapist Diana Randall has lived a fascinating life.

She's travelled the world extensively, going with her parents from a very early age.

The travel bug remains with her to this day.

With the help of her cousin Pat, she hopes to raise enough money

to extend the family globe-trotting tradition.

-Morning, John.

-Oh, good morning, Lorne.

So, how are we meeting today?

We're meeting Diana Randall and her cousin Pat, they've got plans for a rather special

-family visit they want us to get involved in.

-Sounds interesting. Shall we get on with it?

I thought perhaps if I meet the family,

-and you start having a look round, all right?

-Come on.

-Well, it's very posh round here.

Oh, here we go.

-Ah, good morning, ladies.

-Hi.

-What are you going through here?

-We're looking through some old photographs.

-Ah, fantastic.

Diana, it's your house, isn't it?

Well, actually it's my mother's place, and I've been living here for some time, helping to care for her.

Well, you've called in Cash in the Attic, so what do you want us for?

Well, Mum has an awful lot of stuff that she'd collected over the years and,

because I move round a lot, I really wanted to get rid of a lot of it.

So, if we do take some of this stuff to auction, what do you want to use the money for?

Well, I'd love to bring my son Sheridan, his partner

Bonnie, and the baby James,

over to see Mum,

she's never seen her great-grandchild, and it would be fantastic.

So how much money are you looking to raise then, Diana?

Well, I mean, £500 would be brilliant, and also I'd really like to perhaps

buy a little present for James from the Kings Road, Chelsea, and send that over to Australia beforehand.

So, Pat, you're obviously Diana's cousin, how do you feel about helping out with the rummage?

I don't mind, I love it.

It's been very interesting, looking through all the photographs and bits and pieces that she has.

Right, if we're going to raise the £500 you need, both towards bringing Sheridan and the family over

and a bit of a shopping trip to buy a present for baby James, then I think we'd better crack on.

-Come on, let's get started.

-OK.

Thanks to her family's love of art and travel, Diana's home is littered with intriguing items,

but in her compact and bijou flat, I'm concerned we won't find enough to take to auction. With luck,

our own globetrotter, John Cameron, will have the experience to help.

Ah, John.

-Ah, hello, ladies.

-Hello.

-Ah, now, that looks rather nice.

Well, it's rather interesting, I think it might be a bit of an outsize cream jug,

but it is an interesting jug nevertheless. Where did it come from?

Well, my mother took it from the family home, which was in Sheffield.

Well, it's actually referred to as majolica, it's a very distinctive

type of Victorian pottery, and it took its name from maiolica,

which was a tin-glazed earthenware produced in Italy and Spain in the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries.

Sadly, there's no makers name on there, and with most things these days,

there is some added value when you can put a designer's name on something.

It does have a couple of chips to the rim here,

but because of the nature of the glaze, it kind of obscures that, and you don't notice it,

but anybody looking to buy that would see that it had some damage.

-Yes, sure, I hadn't noticed it.

-So what sort of value are we talking about at auction?

I think it's a nice item and at auction these days with two collectors in the room,

-you'll probably get about £50, £70 for it.

-Really? That would be amazing!

OK, that's a very good start, but we've got some way to go,

-so never mind strawberries and cream, I think we'd better get going... Come on.

-OK.

It's fascinating, the history, and I had no idea it would be worth that much.

To me, it was just an old jug sitting on the windowsill that I put flowers in, so it was great.

Looks like you'll have to find another vase, Diana, but not right now.

We need to keep searching if we're going to reach the £500 target.

Splitting up should give us a better chance of success.

We've an international mission on our hands.

Thankfully, Diana has come to the rescue.

John, come and look at this.

Oh, you rang, m'lady?

-That's a nice thing.

-Gorgeous.

-Is it yours?

It belonged to my son... back in the probably '70s?

Well, that would fit perfectly... were you a fan of Thunderbirds?

I remember them, yes, they were pretty fun.

Jeff Tracy - retired astronaut - and his five sons,

and their English counterpart, the agent in the UK...

Lady Penelope.

There we are, brilliant, this is fab, as you can see.

It's a nice thing, it's in decent condition.

-On the bottom we can see, it's Dinky Toys.

-Yes, good old Dinky.

The one thing a collector will do in auction rooms

-is look at the paintwork to see if it's been touched up at all.

-Hmm.

That looks perfect to me, it's got all the bits and pieces there.

-Is this something you'd let us put into auction?

-Yes, it can go to auction.

Well, in this condition, I've seen them make about £40 or £50 before, so would that be acceptable?

-That'd be great.

-Well, it looks like Thunderbirds are go!

-Yes.

-Come on, let's see what the others are doing...

-Hopefully,

we'll get a fab result on auction day, but we're still a long way from our target.

Maybe this smart field compass with hinged sighting

and in a leather hide case will give us another £50 to £70.

If we want Diana's son and family to see the glamour of the city,

we need this plush pad to furnish us with many more colourful goods.

I think my next find could do just that. John, Diana...

I think I've found a light at the end of the tunnel. Come and look.

Where did you get that from then, Diana?

Well, my mother got it in the Bakewell area in the '50s I think.

Right, that makes sense, it has that '50s look about it, doesn't it?

What do you make of it, John?

Well, I'd say good heavens. I've never seen anything quite like it.

The effect of the light does remind me, very loosely I might add,

of Tiffany glass, back of the early 20th century, late Victorian period.

It's been put together in a similar way, using kind of lead cells,

they've been fixed into position, you can see the leadwork here.

Now, in terms of date, you said the '50s...

I think possibly later than that, and the reason I say that is, if you think about decoration

in the home around the '60s and '70s, you saw a lot of that kind of...

quarried stone look around, with mock fireplaces and things like that.

That was a fashion and a craze, after all,

-so it kind of echoes that style to me.

-What sort of value would you put on it?

I would suggest a guestimate of about £60 to £80, something like that.

Right, so what do you think of that valuation, Diana?

I'm not sure, because it was one of Mum's favourite items, she really loved it, so I'm really not sure.

OK, in that case, we'll just wait until the day of the auction,

and see whether it turns up, but if we can't count on that,

we need to find some other things, so shall we crack on? Follow me.

I'm very fond of the lamp, because it meant such a lot to Mum,

and so I'm not sure whether I'd want to part with it or not.

I'll have to think about it.

Diana's attachment is understandable, but if we want to scoop that £500,

we need to track down collectables with a little less sentimental value.

John thinks this stylish grained leather picture frame

that opens to reveal an opal matt gilt mount

could add another £50 to £70 to our fund,

while Diana is hoping this Victorian photograph album

will make us £60 to £70. No stranger to style herself,

Diana and I head down to the Kings Road to soak up the ambiance,

and find out more about her cosmopolitan lifestyle.

Your connection here goes back quite a way, doesn't it? You had some sort of connection in the '60s.

Well, yes, I used to work in a boutique on the Kings Road,

and that was a really colourful flower power time, there was lots and lots going on.

Kings Road was an amazing place.

Tell me a little bit about the travelling, because that's sort of in the blood, isn't it?

Well, my grandfather travelled a lot, he was a scholar and he travelled all over the place.

My mother was called Petra, because he'd travelled to that city in Jordan, and Mum certainly

followed in his footsteps - she was always an adventurer and a traveller.

She was in the Spanish Civil War at the beginning, worked on the Riviera and places like that.

-So, how do you feel with the fact that your son's the other side of the world?

-Yes, it's very painful,

it's very sad, you know?

I miss them lots, it would be lovely if they were...

living in the same city, you know?

So, how important is this whole trip for them to come over here?

It's a dream in a way, to be able to do that, because I really want Mum to see her great-grandson,

it'd be a wonderful thing, I'd love that to happen.

Well, I could sit here all day, but we'd better get back to the flat,

where Pat and John have already got to grips with the rummage.

It's not long before Diana finds this stunning silver-plated dressing table set.

However, with a price tag of £30 to £40,

will it be our crowning glory at auction?

Diana's home has offered up some splendid array of overseas delights, and John's interest in fine art

has drawn him to the next find of the day.

Have a look at this, have you ever seen this before?

I believe it was brought back by my grandfather from Burma.

The process of lacquering items originated in China. It's been around since about the Han dynasty,

4th Century AD, something like that, and I guess the first lacquer objects

would have made their way into Europe after the adventures of Marco Polo.

It wasn't long before Europeans were prizing lacquer and this kind of unique, plasticky shine that it has.

The actual box itself, it's a pretty simple thing, but it's a nice thing.

It does have a bit of wear to some of the gilding on the top of the cover, and there's

a little bit of damage to the lid inside, but nevertheless, I think to a collector of lacquer

or to a collector of pretty boxes, this would be a fairly desirable object.

At auction, I think we'd hope for about £30 or £40 for it.

-Do you think Diana would be happy with that?

-I think she'll be delighted.

Well, we've no time to waste, let's go and see what they've found.

I thought an empty box with a bit of damage on the top, then it wouldn't be worth anything, but...

if it fetches that at auction, that'll be great.

We've covered every square inch of this flat, but if we're going to reach our £500 target,

we need to retrace our steps.

Second time around, I find this beautiful nest of tables,

each with an intricate carved frieze which John values at £40 to £50.

Then a fantastic pair of dark blue cabin trunks, with brass fittings

and leather handles, that'll soon be back on their travels again.

But if we're to get Diana's family over from Australia, we need to pull out a masterpiece.

Diana, can I talk to you about this painting for a minute?

What do you know about it?

Well, my mother bought it some time in the '80s when she was working at

either the Kensington Hypermarket, or the Chelsea Antique Market.

It's a shame it isn't signed, I can't see a signature anywhere. Have you had a look?

I couldn't see one either, no.

Looking at portraiture, very pretty ladies are very commercial,

much better than ugly old men, but I think we probably have the next best thing -

a very handsome young man, that I think would have

much crossover appeal in the auction house.

We ought to be hoping for about £150 to £250, and who knows...

a couple of determined young ladies in the room, we might see a bidding battle, so how does that sound?

I'd be very happy, yes.

-Let's hope he does well.

-Yes.

More good news... My!

-My, my, my, what a handsome fella!

-Flattery'll get you everywhere, Lorne!

You want to raise £500 at least, so that would be a contribution towards Sheridan and the family

coming over. Obviously, we don't know whether the lamp's going to appear or not at auction.

Well, the valuation of the items that are definitely going to auction comes to exactly £500.

-Wow, that's amazing!

-But if you do choose to bring the lamp, that adds another £60, so it'll be £560,

giving you a bit more room to manoeuvre, but it's your decision.

Well, the next stop will be meeting up at the auction room, where everything will be on display

ready to be sold.

We've spent a great day at Diana's lovely West London flat,

and found a wealth of goodies from all over the globe.

Among the items heading for auction are...

the simply fab Thunderbirds car

that belonged to Diana's son, Sheridan.

The 19th-century majolica jug that has some slight damage,

but could still raise £50 to £70 at auction.

The striking portrait of a young man

that Diana's mother found in an antique market in Chelsea.

And the stained-glass lamp, which could bring in as much as £80

if Diana can bring herself to part with it.

Still to come on Cash in the Attic -

when we get to auction, a few things go to plan...

£150!

..but not everything turns out as we expected.

-Oh, that's a shame.

-That is a shame.

Find out if we can bring this family closer together when the final hammer falls.

Now, it's been a couple of weeks since we had a good look around Diana and Pat's home,

and we brought the antiques and collectables we found to Chiswick auction rooms in West London.

Now remember, Diana's looking to raise around £500 towards the cost of bringing over her son,

his partner and also their new baby from Australia, and that of course will mean it's the first time

the baby has met great-grandma, so let's hope that today they make the money they need

so they also get a bit extra for a shopping trip down the Kings Road.

The doors are open and the auction room is filling up rapidly,

with experts and enthusiasts alike inspecting the items up for grabs.

Across the room, I spy a handsome young face that might set pulses

racing today... Oh, and John Cameron is standing nearby too!

-Morning, John.

-Ah, good morning, Lorne.

-Fresh as the day it was painted, just like your good self.

Thank you for saying so, he certainly is as handsome as I remember him.

Even in this light,

he looks quite striking, doesn't he?

We've got the other extreme - Lady Penelope's car!

-And her faithful chauffeur, Parker - it should do OK.

-Of course,

one thing we don't know if it's here or not is that lamp. Have you spotted it?

It'd be pretty hard to miss. I hadn't seen anything like it and I haven't seen it here today,

-so I don't think they've brought that.

-I know that they're here, I spotted them in the foyer,

-so shall we find out whether it's here or not?

-Come on...

-Diana has brought an assortment

of collectables with her today from the family's worldwide travels,

but I wonder whether the bidders will be interested in our global market goods.

I find Diana and Pat checking out the market too.

Ah, good morning, ladies.

-Good morning, ladies.

-How are you?

-Fine.

-Apprehensive, nervous.

Oh, really? Why's that?

Well, I want to obviously raise the money to bring the family over.

-I also felt a bit sentimental about seeing the items.

-Now, there is something we did want to know -

whether you've brought that lamp or not?

Well, I sort of thought, because Mum really loved the lamp,

-I'd keep that.

-Fortunately, that doesn't make too much difference, as the valuation of everything

excluding that came to £500, which is the money that you want, isn't it?

Well, the auction is going to start fairly shortly, so I think the best idea is to...

find a lovely armchair somewhere that we can go and wait for the auction to start... Come on.

Remember that if you're interested in buying or selling at auction,

you will be required to pay commission, VAT and possibly other charges.

Your local auction house can provide you with more information.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen!

Welcome to Chiswick auctions.

-We will start...

-The bidders are poised and ready, so we get into position

-as our first item goes on sale.

-The modern British school

-portrait of a man.

-They've put £150 to £200 on that, John,

are you confident of that?

We're hoping that people will just find it attractive because it's a nice picture.

OK, let's see what it makes.

What am I bid for that? I'm bid £110 straight off, £110...

£110 straight off!

..£110, at 110, 120... At £120 now, at 120, 120...

Any more? 130 in the room...

At £130, 130, it's selling then for £130. At 130 then...

-I think that's quite good.

-What was the estimate again?

We had £150 to £200, we were relying on his natural good looks, but didn't seem to charm the whole room today.

Well, we may not have quite reached our estimate, but that's still

a superb £130 closer to our target.

If we want to reunite Diana and her family though, we're going to need a lot more cash.

Maybe our next item will pack in the bidders?

-Lot 140a is a pair of dark blue cabin trunks.

-Now, they were rather blocking up the hallway

at one point during the rummage. So, we want £50 to £70 for that?

As a student, I used to cart my clothes around in one,

so let's hope we see students here today.

30 for those, 20 for those...

-20, 20 I'm bid, and 25...

-£20, we need more than that.

..30, 35, 40...

£40 to the gentleman there, at £40, at £40...

I'm going to sell them then for £40 for the cabin trunks, at £40...

That's a bang-on estimate, £40.

-Brilliant.

-Are you happy with that?

-Oh, yes, I'm not taking them home!

Another £40, that's brilliant, and Diana seems relieved

that they've been shipped off to a new home too.

But will our glorious silver-plated dressing table set

sail through the auction room at £30 to £40?

-Passing it then for £10...

-HE BANGS GAVEL

-Oh, that's a shame.

-That is a shame.

Oh, dear! Unfortunately, it's our first unsold item of the day,

and it's heading home with Diana.

The bidders are closely studying their catalogues, and I'm hoping that's a good sign.

Our next lot is that lovely majolica jug,

-and I know you were amazed at the valuation.

-Yes,

it didn't realise it was worth anything like that much.

We'll have to see what happens.

Is it worth £30? 35, £35... At 35, £40.

At £40, five I want, at £40, with me at £40, and five anybody?

-For £40? At £40 then...

-That looks like it's unsold,

I think there was only one person bidding, and he dropped out at £35.

Another no sale, that's really not good.

But can the Indian nest of tables,

valued at £40 to £50, break our run of bad luck?

I can sell them for £36... 36 then.

£36, so that's £4 under what we wanted... You happy with that?

-Yeah.

-I think Diana is getting a bit disheartened,

but a sale is a sale after all, and tops up our fund by £36.

We started really well and then hit a difficult patch, but we still have five more items left to sell.

You never know what can happen in the auction room, so no need for us to panic just yet.

145a...is a Dinky die-cast model

of Lady Penelope's Rolls Royce - a bit of nostalgia for you...

This is a lady after my own heart, it's Lady Penelope driving

that fantastic pink car. Well, she's not driving, is she?

Parker is, that's even better.

Start me for £20 for it, for the Dinky toy, for £20, 20...

22, 24, 26, 28, £28 for the Dinky toy, at £28...

-At £28...

-Ooh, we want more than that!

-Nobody want this?

£28, 28 then...

I can't believe that, it hasn't sold!

The auctioneer's used his discretion, and chosen not to sell.

For once, Thunderbirds aren't go.

We desperately need the rest of our lots to sell if we want to make enough to fund that family reunion.

Lot 30a is a Chinese...

export lacquered and gilt box, lot 30a.

-Here we go.

-At 24, 26 I need, £24 then... At 24...

-Not sold.

-No, I don't think he sold it again.

-Why not?

Now I'm getting worried. We've had four no sales,

and a couple of our lots have come in under estimate.

There's a family reunion at stake here. Time for some serious selling

and, if we want to get back on track, let's hope the bidders like the look of our next item.

55a is a grained leather cabinet portrait frame...

What am I bid for that, start me for £30? £30 for the frame,

£30, 30, 32, 34...

£34 for it, at 34, 36, 38, 40,

42, 44, 46, 48, £48 to my left...

-Come on!

-..At 48. Going then for £48...

At last, a sale! And £48 takes us that much closer to our target.

Next up, will the small field compass in its leather case

bring us near the big money, at £50 to £70?

Going then for £60... All done, 60.

-£60, bang in the middle there, are you happy with that?

-Yes.

Good, good, good.

We're nearly at the end of the day's sale. With just one lot left,

I'm hoping we've saved the best till last.

Lot 40a is a good Victorian album.

This is a nice album, including some interesting photographs of Burma.

OK, let's see what happens then.

-Bit of interest in the lot already, I'm bid already £40 for it...

-Oooh!

..£40 and five I can take...

At £40. 45, 50, 55...

In the room against commission now, at 55, 60, 65,

-70, 75, 80, 85...

-That's fantastic!

-..90, £90 to the lady seated at £90, 95 behind you, 100...

-Oh, wow!

..Is that...110, 120, 120 seated at 120... Anybody else?

At £120, 120 with the lady...

130 on the telephone, 140...

..150, £150 now on the telephone at £150...

At £150.

It's going then for £150. 150 it is...

£150!

I'm so pleased you're pleased!

An astonishing £90 over John's estimate, and about time too.

But will it be enough to cover our losses from earlier on?

Right, that's the end of the auction. As far as we're concerned. How did you find it, Diana?

Well, it was very exciting,

-nerve-wracking.

-You wanted £500, didn't you, as a contribution towards your son coming over?

Well, I'm delighted to say that you actually made £464.

That's not bad. That's really good.

Fantastic, yeah.

Right, well, enjoy your shopping trip,

-and enjoy your grandson, won't you, when he comes over?

-I will, yes.

Today, it's back to the Kings Road for a spot of retail therapy with Diana,

following our snatched victory at auction.

Along with her cousin, Pat, Diana's keen to find a treat for her grandson, James.

-She's planning to fly him over from Australia with his parents later this year.

-And...

he can have a baa-baa spoon. Aw!

-There's plenty to choose from.

-He can have the Union Jack flag.

Not in Australia though.

I'm really, really excited and happy to be here today,

and thinking about James, looking for a little present for him, and the main thing is,

I'm looking forward to when he comes over with the family, and see his great-grandmother, I can't wait.

It's going to be so exciting to see him over here. Oh, look...

Oh, my God! Isn't it sweet?

At this rate, baby James could end up with the whole shop.

I just want to buy everything! I'm going to have these, please. Hi.

They've got such gorgeous things in here now.

Thank you very much.

It's so exciting, I can't wait for it all to happen.

Well, that was a great result for Diana and Pat. not only did they get to do a bit of shopping

on the Kings Road, but now they're just waiting for Diana's son,

his partner and the new baby to arrive from Australia.

Now, if you think you'd like to raise some money by selling antiques and collectables at auction,

why not apply to come on Cash in the Attic? You'll find more details

at our website, which is...

See you soon!

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