Stanbrook Cash in the Attic

Welcome to Cash In The Attic.

We're on the trail of treasures hidden around your home

that we can help you sell at auction.

Today we're in Gloucester and, rather to my surprise, I find myself at the waterfront

and somewhere I didn't even know existed, Gloucester's historic docks.

They were built in the heart of the city over 200 years ago and would once have been packed

with ocean-going ships from around the world.

Now restored to their former glory, the docks are now home to more pleasure craft than working vessels,

but the area certainly offers an intriguing glimpse into Britain's industrial past.

Well, I may not be able to see the sea from here, but I can see

plenty of history all around me and that's a theme

we're hoping to continue today as we go in search of antiques and collectables to take to auction.

Coming up on today's Cash In The Attic, it looks as if we could be in line for a great rummage.

Genuinely, I'm very excited to find them.

I think they're great.

Could Jonty be heading for a happy ever after?

There's a tiny little slipper there. All we need is a Prince Charming, don't we?

But, Jonty, I thought you were!

-And at the auction, things are looking promising.

-Thank you.

-Wonderful!

-There you are, well done!

Will we be painting the town red with the proceeds?

Isn't it great to be wrong! Hurray!

Find out when the hammer falls.

I've come just down the road to the village of Churchdown

to meet a lady with an artistic streak.

She's called the Cash In The Attic team in to help her with a very personal ambition.

Alex Stanbrook has creativity running through her veins.

An avid artist, she takes after her Yugoslavian father, who also had an eye for an antique.

She used to put her creative talents into her job as a milliner,

crafting beautiful hats, but now she's retired.

Her good friend, Joy, is on hand today to help us raise the cash for Alex's latest endeavour.

-Hey, Jonty.

-Jennie, where have you been?

-I've been at the docks having a great time.

-The docks?

Surprising, isn't it? Gloucester docks.

They're a long way from the sea, but they're absolutely... As pretty as a picture.

-A picture? You're trying to tell me something.

-It is a clue.

The lady is quite an accomplished artist herself and her father, by her reckoning, was even better.

Was his name Picasso, Matisse, anything like that?

Maybe it was. Let's go and find out. You start looking, I'll go and meet.

This cosy house outside Gloucester has been Alex's home for more than two decades.

She's recently inherited many of her father's antiques so the house

is full to the brim, which always makes it even more tempting for us.

-A-ha! Hello, ladies.

-Hello.

-Who's who?

-How are you?

-I'm Alex.

-Hello.

-And this is Joy.

-I'm Joy.

-Hello.

-You're old friends, obviously.

-Yes.

We've been in these houses since they were built, so we've been neighbours for 23 years.

And who's this, then?

-This is my father, Mario.

-And who did the painting?

I'm doing this one.

And my dad is the reason we've actually called you in because, sadly, he died two years ago,

but he was a fabulous artist

and what I'm trying to do is raise money so that I can do an exhibition of his work.

That's a lovely idea - it really is.

So, how much money do you think we're going to need to put on that exhibition?

I'd like to raise a thousand at least, if possible, because we need to do mounts

for some of his watercolours and some of the frames need renovating.

So, we've got to raise £1,000, which means that we've got to go to work.

-We've got a big day ahead of us.

-Yes.

-Which way shall we go?

-Down this way?

-Yes, down this way.

-OK.

-OK.

Through here. And, so, we're off! And to help us raise the cash

for that exhibition, we've got a man who's turned spotting great antiques into an art form of his own.

Jonty Hearnden has spent his whole life in the antique business,

so, not surprisingly, he's already got his hands on the first find of the day.

I've found this wonderful embroidered...

Well, I thought it was a sampler, but all it is,

quite simply, is an embroidered prayer done by, here, look, a Mary Wall, 1797.

So, this is over 200 years old.

And running down the side is these lovely stylised floral swags. I think it's really done beautifully.

How accurate do you think this colour is? I see a bit of blue here and I see

-a sort of salmon pink here.

-These would have been stronger colours.

-Yes.

This might well have been a red, we look at the faded pink.

-OK, yeah.

-This might be a very strong blue.

We'll never know because these are vegetable dyes, they fade very rapidly.

-They don't hold their colour.

-The other interesting part

about this is that I believe this frame to be original, too.

We were actually told that this was probably reframed in the Victorian period.

Victorian frames would have been much more ornate, possibly gilded,

heavily carved, whereas this is very simply done.

Even having a look at the back we've got that hook there which, to my mind, looks possibly 200 years old.

-So, how much is it worth?

-As far as value's concerned, it's all down to quality, condition,

and down at the bottom there's a lot of moth damage, which is quite understandable

because something like this would be hung on the wall and if it's not behind glass

it's very susceptible to insect damage, and as a consequence a value for this would be, what, £50 to £70?

-Are you disappointed with that?

-No.

You know, you can see the amount of damage on there and,

I mean, it's very good of the moths to eat neatly round the bottom, isn't it?

They did! Didn't they do well?

Not slap bang in the middle.

Well, that find has buoyed everyone up and Alex is clearly aiming high.

Up in the loft, she's already found this river scene watercolour, worth £30 to £40.

I've found this thistle bud vase.

It was an anniversary present from Alex's dad to her mother,

but she's happy to take it to auction.

With any luck it'll bring us another £30 to £50.

As for Jonty, well, he seems to be on a roll.

Could you come and have a look at this little collection that I've unearthed here?

It's at collection of silver top scent bottles.

-Yes.

-All sorts of goodies here. Where is this collection from?

Is it part of a bigger collection, for instance?

Yes, it's not a lot bigger than that, but it is part of a collection.

Originally these were given to Mum from Dad

and in this one you can actually see that there is a shoe that came off my parents' wedding cake.

-Mum always kept it in there.

-Right.

But these were gifts Dad would buy Mum.

So, he was quite a romantic at heart? He was a very romantic man.

Now, look at this! This is my favourite by a long chalk.

Look at this.

Here we've got a rosewood case.

Unscrew the top

to reveal a glass travelling scent bottle, gilded decoration,

look at that, with a little glass stopper on the top.

Sadly, there's a tiny little chip just there, all right?

-But can you squint your eyes?

-Yeah.

-It goes away, all right?

-OK, yes.

Now, scent bottles like this were very fashionable in the late 19th century, early 20th century.

-After that, perfume companies started making their own perfume bottles themselves.

-Yeah.

Before that, you would go to a dispensary,

-buy your perfume and then transfer it into bottles like this.

-Oh, right.

So that's how that all worked.

Now, this collection here, would you consider selling it at all?

I think I just need to think about that one there.

How about if we do that, take the angst away,

-leave that at home...

-OK.

-And sell the rest?

-Yes.

-All right?

So, for auction purposes, really, we're looking between 100 and 150 and hopefully more, all right?

-Yes, that's lovely.

-We've a tiny little slipper there. All we need is a Prince Charming, don't we?

But, Jonty, I thought you were!

I've really enjoyed the perfume bottles and I know my mum did before me, but I'm happy to let them go

because we can use the money really for Dad's exhibition, which is what this is all about.

Never a truer word said.

Our total's totting up nicely and Jonty's found some great items so far.

But, while he gets on with the job, or not,

I've found our hat-making host with some memories of her working life.

Oh, Alex, I'm so glad I asked to see some of your hats

because I know you have a great collection.

Which is your favourite?

This one is a particular favourite of mine because this one I actually had for my daughter's wedding last year.

Well, there are some people who are designed to wear hats and you're one of them, you really are.

Do you know, I get the impression you really are a chip off the old block,

that you are your father's daughter, because he sounds such a character.

Yes, he was. He spoke nine languages, but if the mood took him

and somebody approached him, he'd say, "Sorry, me no speak English."

-I've come across ones like that.

-He was great fun.

-He was born in Yugoslavia, wasn't he?

Tell me more about your dad.

Well, as you probably know, Yugoslavia had a civil war at the time

of the Second World War and the Communists came into power.

So, Dad was actually fighting on five fronts at one point in his life

and returned home at the end of the war to find that he was not welcome.

So, the next thing he knew, to be able to survive, he had to pack a bag and come here.

So, Dad made his way eventually to England and met my mum, who was a real English rose,

and they had a wonderful partnership and friendship.

So, he must have arrived over here with nothing, as a refugee.

Where did this love of collecting and of painting, where did it all come from?

I think that comes from home.

Dad loved antiques and the older they were the better, you know?

He just thinks that you should value everything, and not just throw stuff away.

It's just as well that while we've been chatting, Joy's been hard at work,

sorting through Alex's possessions, and she's found a stash of items to take to auction.

This cigarette case, brooch

and cheroot should add another £50 to £90 to our total.

There's no doubt that Alex is going to need a lot of space for her exhibition.

She's got more than 300 of her father's paintings and carvings,

but could Joy have spotted an odd one out?

Oh, what about this, Jonty? What do you think of this?

Wow! That's a massive great big framed watercolour.

Interesting. And that's a signed watercolour.

-It's signed.

-And that's Fritz van Luppen, by the looks of it, 1915.

Is there any information on the back?

Will there be or not? I don't know.

Let's have a look. Oh, here we go.

-Does that...

-Now, that's interesting.

Well, there you go, this... This is the framers, HE Jones,

-Northgate Studios at Northgate Street, Gloucester.

-Oh, Gloucester.

Fritz van Luppen, there we go.

-And it's the same date.

-OK, 1915.

So, this is actually still in its original frame

because otherwise we wouldn't have this on the back, would we?

So, let's have a look at the front.

Now, the subject matter here, we're looking as if we've got boats in a dockyard here, we've got steamboats,

as well, but it looks like it's autumn, late autumn.

-Do you see the trees here?

-Yes, that's right.

But look at these gents here.

Now, they are not early 20th century figures.

They look as if they are from an earlier time, so that's quite interesting, isn't it?

Now, who's going to buy a picture like this?

I think this is not necessarily a big commercial picture, but it's certainly big, it will certainly

take up a lot of wall space and, as a consequence, somebody will buy it.

Well, at auction we're looking at £60 to £80.

That's good because, I mean, it's not a local scene or anything, is it?

Excellent. Well, I'll bring that down here and see what else we can find.

-There's so many pictures.

-The van Luppen watercolour adds a few more pounds to our total,

but we're still a long way off our target of £1,000.

Alex is determined to raise that cash.

She's selling these old adverts that her father bought her from a flea market.

He paid £5 each for them and today they're off to auction with a value of £40 to £60.

Jonty's on fire today.

He's spotted something else hidden amongst those paintings.

-Alex?

-Yeah?

-Jennie.

-What have you found?

-Have a look at this oil painting of Jesus.

-Oh, wow!

It is incredibly powerful, isn't it?

-Yeah, it is.

-Well, paintings like this were designed to be striking.

Just look at those eyes.

-Full of...

-It's quite extraordinary.

Anguish and agony, as well.

-Where's it from?

-I really don't know.

It's always been in the family, always been up on the wall.

In fact, I think it joined the family before I did.

-So, is there any clues to who painted him? Is it signed?

-Pictures like this

will hardly ever be signed because the most important thing was the subject matter

and not necessarily the artist, and paintings like this weren't necessarily designed to be at home.

Large pictures like this would have hung in churches and in cathedrals.

How old do you think it is, Jonty?

Well, let's have a look at the back because you can detect the age of

oil paintings like this just by looking at the back and just seeing how much age there is on the back.

The frame itself is pine, which is absolutely correct,

-and my hunch is that this picture here is probably about 200 years old.

-Wow.

-Goodness.

-So, value, it will be roughly, and I say roughly, sort of £250, £350, that sort of ballpark.

-OK.

-That's where we're looking at.

-Is that OK with you?

-Yes, that's fine. Yeah.

-All right.

-Lovely.

-OK.

-Right.

-It's wonderful. Good find.

-I shall put him down safely.

-Yes, we'll protect it and take it to the auction.

-Excellent.

I'm happy to let go to sale because it's not in the right place.

It's not being appreciated and it's a very moving picture, so it will be nice

that it finds a home where it can be really appreciated.

£250 to £350 would really help us along the road to our target

and could make all the difference to the scale of the exhibition

that Alex is planning for her father's artwork.

Even though the house is almost bursting at the seams with his paintings,

let's not forget that he wasn't the only talented artist in the family.

These are some of your paintings. I like them.

Joy, do you rate her as a painter?

Very much so. I think she's very, very talented and she doesn't really appreciate how good she is.

There speaks a true friend, I must say.

-How long have you known each other?

-23 years.

Oh, my goodness me.

So, I've watched her daughter grow up and we've shared...

-And us grow down!

-All the ups and we've shared and all the downs.

-Aww. Well, you both had busy working lives, I presume. You're retired now, are you, Joy?

-Yes.

-What did you do?

-I worked at GCHQ.

GCHQ! That's the Government's communications, isn't it? My God! All the spies!

Please don't ask me what I did because I'm not allowed to tell you!

So, if you tell me you'll have to shoot me, will you?

Somebody will shoot me!

-Right, well, we'd better not go into this!

-No!

So, these are your paintings.

They're very unusual, I must say.

Well, this is just an idea I had.

I've done a range called Ladies Who Lunch and that's just a suggestion of a lady,

all with different hats, but then I had the idea of actually bringing in outfits that might be animal prints,

and then actually bringing the animals in and that would be a reason for the costume.

Hence, you know, ostrich, it's got to be long legs!

Really long legs! And, of course, very much the outfit made of feathers.

So, you were told at school that you had no talent at all as an artist.

What did your dad say about that?

-I didn't tell Dad.

-Oh, did you not?

-No, he would have thrown a wobbly.

-Oh. Oh, right.

He was very protective of his girls and he wouldn't have agreed.

But, I think he... I can hear him.

His catchphrase was always, "Ai, ai, ai!"

And I can hear him saying "Ai, ai, ai" to these, but, then thinking,

they're very different to what he did, but he would like it.

And he sit and say to me one day that he wished he could paint like me,

and of course, all I'd wanted was be able to paint like him.

-Oh, that's sweet. Have you got any of his paintings around?

-Oh, I have.

I got this one out because I thought you might like to see this.

This was I believe to be the first oil painting he gave to Mum,

and, typical artist, never happy with the final result, always wanting to adjust and amend it, and many a time

we would hear as we were growing up Mum say, "Mario, put it back!"

And it was because he got the painting off the wall

and wanted either to readjust it or even, on one occasion, actually use it to do something on the back

And, of course, he got quite a long way on one occasion, but the times you'd hear, "Mario, put it back!"

-I love that. So, are you going to be involved in the exhibition, do you think, Joy, then?

-I don't know.

I'm sure I'll be involved.

-I hope so.

-Yes.

-And have you thought about a title?

-What do you think?

-I like the idea of that.

I like, "Mario, put it back!"

Alex's creative talents don't just include hat making and painting.

This Victorian cheval mirror was given to her when she was 16 and had just started dressmaking,

but she's happy to let it go with a price tag of £100 to £150.

I thought we'd pretty much searched the whole house, but every nook and cranny turns up another hidden gem.

Now, Alex, we seem to have a pair of rather grand vases here. Look at those.

-Beautiful, aren't they?

-Yeah.

What about these? Are these for sale?

-Yes.

-Yes?

-Yes, they are.

-Yeah?

So, do you know where they're from?

Again, I think it's one that Dad brought home, but I believe they're Japanese, is that right?

You're spot on. These are a lovely pair of Japanese oriental vases.

-They're very beautiful.

-Do you know what they're made of?

-I'm assuming it's bronze.

-Yes.

-From the weight and everything else.

Yes. And, now, it's all down to the detail when it comes

to Japanese bronzes particularly, and these birds really do look like they've got genuine feathers.

I think they're a pair because one bird is facing one way and the other one's facing the other way.

I'm pleased to say I think these have always been together.

And that's just so indicative of Japanese bronzes. Sometimes the detailing is quite extraordinary.

So, are you happy to part with these?

What sort of value are we looking at, Jonty?

Value-wise, we're looking at £300 to £400.

-Wonderful.

-All right?

Yes, amazing. I must admit those are probably one of the harder items to part with,

but you can't keep everything, so it's time to move on and achieve what we want to achieve

and say goodbye.

Well, that certainly would be a hefty push towards our target,

and this Shelley vase and pot could give us another £20 to £30.

We're nearing the end of the day, but it looks as if Jonty's uncovered a couple of very intriguing pieces.

Hey, look at these. I've found something that is genuinely fascinating and really old.

Now, these are carved relief panels and what I mean by that is that

these would have been carved just out of one solid piece of wood and they are genuinely old.

-I believe them to be at least 17th century and possibly older than that.

-Wow!

-Gosh.

-And they are very...

Genuinely, I'm very excited to find them.

-They're... They're great.

-Gracious.

I mean, if you look in detail here, this is the Nativity scene here and this is the Epiphany here.

This is obviously the death of Jesus, so we have the beginning and the death of Jesus as the man.

They probably have come from a church,

so they were probably part of a carved panel of some description, possibly an altar table.

-What... What are they made of?

-They're carved wood and I've had a close look at the back -

-that's either chestnut or walnut and I'm not quite sure which ones they are.

-And they're the same?

Yes, exactly the same and there's some old writing

on the back these, and there's even a date.

That's either 1598 or something like that.

Yeah. Yeah, we thought we could make it out at 15...

-1598.

-Wow!

-Quite possibly.

-Did your father reframe these?

-No.

-He bought them like this.

I'm confident about that because I found pictures, photographs, that Dad must have taken

probably when he first brought them home, little black and white photos, that show them in these frames.

I must say, I don't really like the way they have been framed. This is velvet, is it?

-Yes, ignore the frames completely.

-It's incongruous, I think.

I'd prefer to see them out of their frames.

-Yeah, I would, too.

-Oh, right.

I think these are fabulous.

At the moment we're looking at least £400 to £600, possibly £500 to £800.

-Wow!

-OK? That's the sort of price that we're looking at.

If we've got a couple of dealers there that know exactly what they're looking at,

then it could be sky's the limit.

That's fantastic, it really is. £400 to £600!

Oh, we'd better tell Joy about it. Joy, are you still rummaging out there? Come in.

We've had a great find here. Jonty's come across these old panels and he reckons they're worth £400 to £600!

Isn't that great!

That's fantastic. Well, also, that means I can tell you

to stop rummaging because he's made such a great find.

We can call a halt to the day's activities. Have you enjoyed it?

-Yeah, fabulous.

-Oh, yes, it's been fantastic, yeah.

All right, so you are looking for £1,000 so you can put on your exhibition of your dad's artwork.

Well, we hope that if everything goes to plan at the auction and

Jonty's got his sums right, then you will actually make £1,430!

-Oh, great!

-OK!

-That's fab!

-That's lovely, yeah.

-Fab!

-Thank you.

You could really put on quite some exhibition for that.

I hope so, yeah. Do it justice.

Well, it's been a creative day and we've got lots to show for our hard work.

Among the pieces we'll be taking to auction

are the selection of perfume bottles that Jonty valued at £100 to £150.

This painting of Jesus is over 200 years old and it has a value to match, £250 to £350.

And, of course, our star find of the day, the woodcarvings.

With a value of £400 to £600, they alone could get us halfway to our target.

Let's hope they fly when it comes to auction day.

Still to come on Cash In The Attic - Alex's face is a picture as the auction heats up.

But could there be artistic differences on the day?

Come on, a bit more than that! We want a bit more.

Be there when the hammer falls.

So, today's the day! Alex has had a couple of weeks

to sort everything out and bring it here to the Cotswold Auction Company in Gloucestershire.

Now, remember, we're trying to raise £1,000,

so she can put on an exhibition of her father's artwork, a tribute to the dad she thought the world of.

So, let's hope the bidders here are feeling generous when her items go under the hammer.

Alex's precious pieces are in good company at this Cotswolds auction house.

The place is stacked to the rafters with quality antiques

and potential bidders are getting stuck into the pre-auction viewing.

I wonder if Jonty's pinning his hopes on anything special today?

-Oh, you're hiding down here.

-Hi, there.

-I've just found you.

-Oh, and you've got the carving!

-That's right.

I like that, but I'm worried it's a bit specialised.

It is rather and it's something I'm a little bit concerned about.

One wonders whether the right buyers are here today.

I know, and that's a heck of a lot of our target, I seem to remember.

-I know, I know!

-Let's just hope the bidders are here

and we'd better see if Alex and Joy are here, too. Let's go and find out.

There's a really good cross-section of antiques here

and I have a hunch it's going to be an exciting morning for Alex.

She's already here with her friend Joy, taking one last look at those delicate little perfume bottles.

Let's hope the ladies are feeling confident.

-Hey, ladies.

-Hi, Jennie.

-Hi, how are you?

-Hello.

-Hi, Jonty.

-So, this is it! How are you feeling?

-Brilliant, yeah, really excited.

-Yeah?

-It's really good.

When you see your possessions all here ready to go, I always think it must be different.

They look nice. I'm pleased with the items we've got in.

-They do look really nice.

-So, the big burning question is have you put any reserves on any of the items?

Yes, I have, on two of them.

The carvings, the wood carvings, and the bronze vases.

And, Joy, you're here to give support and encouragement all the way, are you?

Oh, yes, most definitely.

-Yes. We're going to do it today.

-Oh, that's what we like to hear! Excellent.

Well, let's go and find a good spot so we can do it because it's going to start, well, fairly soon.

-OK.

-That's fine.

-Right.

It's understandable that Alex is being cautious about her items because they're family heirlooms,

so she's put a £300 reserve on the bronze vases and £400 on the wooden carvings.

They're already attracting some interest, so let's hope the sparks fly when the bidding begins.

We found our spot just in time for our first lot, which is the Victorian full-length cheval mirror.

I think it was from your neighbour, wasn't it?

-That's right.

-£100 for it, is that what we want?

We're looking for £100, a good £100.

Very saleable, mirrors like this. They're called cheval mirrors because English officers

wanted to see themselves on top of a horse,

so mirrors like that swivel and that's the reason why they're called cheval mirrors.

-And they could laugh if they fell off.

-Yes.

-That's different.

-I'm full of useless information.

-£100 is what we're looking for.

-Yes.

-Let's see how we go.

-£100? Start me off.

£100? 80, then? Put it in.

80 bid. Five. 90.

At 90 on my right. Five. At 95. 100.

-It's got to 100.

-At 100. Who's going on? 110.

At 120. 130. 140. 150.

160. 170. At 170 bid. Seated at 170.

-180.

-Ooh!

-190. 200.

-200!

-At 200 on my right.

-That's amazing!

210 anywhere? At 200.

The bid's at 200 on my right. Bid me quick or I'm selling.

At 200 it's going.

Wow!

That's...

-Fantastic!

-Yeah, well, it was way over.

Your top estimate was 150.

-Isn't that great?

-Fantastic.

-Yeah.

Isn't it great to be wrong? Hurray!

Well, how very gracious of you. Let's hope that great result

is a pointer to how the rest of the day will go.

Next up is that collection of advertising posters from the 1950s

that Alex's father bought for just £5 each.

At £12.

No, we'll move on. Not sold.

Disappointing.

-Nobody wanted them.

-No.

-Well, never mind.

-You are still the proud owner of three adverts, sadly.

That's a shame, but maybe post-war memorabilia just isn't what people here are interested in today.

Fingers crossed there's an appetite for more historical pieces because next up is that embroidered

prayer dating back to the 1700s with an estimate of £50 to £70.

I hope the moth damage doesn't put the bidders off.

Shall we say 50 for this one? £50? 30, then? Start me off someone.

-30 bid.

-30.

Five. 40. Five.

50. At 50 in the room now. At 55.

-55. 60.

-Still carrying on.

At 65. Seated now at 65.

At 65. 70 anywhere? Last chance, be quick or I'm selling at 65.

Very good.

Yeah, fantastic.

I could see you praying for that one!

We're back on track.

It's never easy to predict how religious artefacts will fare,

so hopefully that's a good sign for some of Alex's other items.

Alex, you brought some fabulous items to this auction sale

and I particularly love this pair of bronze vases.

-Now, you have put this fixed reserve on it, haven't you?

-I have, yes.

-Yeah.

And for the exact reason you've said, they're beautiful,

so I feel that there has to be a lower limit,

otherwise they come home with me where they'll still be loved, even if they are put away in a box.

-OK.

-Oh, they're going to go, they're going to go.

-You reckon they're going to go?

-They're going to go.

-Put a price on it then, Joy.

-That's what I like, that's what I like.

-Yes.

-Fighting spirit.

300 for these. 300 to start me off?

200 to put them in. 200 to start. At 200. Who's going on, then?

At 220. 240. At 260.

280. 300.

At 300.

I'm out in the room now at 300.

At 300. Who's going on? At 300.

The bid's seated in the middle. 300.

Are we all done? 20 anywhere?

I'm selling.

-Yes!

-They've gone.

-Yes!

-I told you.

-Yes!

-You did.

And thanks to you, putting that fixed reserve on it. The auctioneer couldn't sell it for a penny less.

There was one bidder in the room, you did it, girl!

-You did it! You did it!

-Excellent.

Joy's been oozing with confidence from the start and convinced

we'd reach the estimates, and she's right.

Alex now has a further £300, a brilliant boost towards her target.

-Next up is the eye-catching Shelley vase and ceramic pot with a lid.

-30 for these?

£30? 20?

Start me off. £10, then? £10 bid.

12. 15. 18. 20. At 20.

Right, I'll do you at 22. 25. 28.

-30. Two.

-Really good! Listen to it!

-35. 38.

-They like your stuff!

In at 38. 40 anywhere? At 38. The bid's near me at 38.

-And selling.

-Yes, yes!

-What a result!

-What a result!

Wonderful.

So, that's another £38 to put towards the art exhibition.

We're flying through these lots this morning and, as we near the end

of the first part of the sale, there are two truly unique pieces about to go under the hammer.

I'm genuinely intrigued to see how your wood panels go because none of us,

not even Jonty, really knows what they're worth.

Yeah, I think they're worth a good £400 and you've put

this fixed reserve on, so let's hope that your magic rubs off.

I think you're going to be very lucky to get this price here, but...

No, no, no! Come on!

Team leader, all right, let's see.

-£400.

-Start me off at 300, then?

Start me off at 300 somewhere.

300, put them in. 300 to start me off somewhere.

-300 bid.

-Yes, 300!

320. 350. 380. 400.

At 400 in the room now.

At 400. At 400 I'm out. At 400.

Who's going on? 20 anywhere? At 400.

The gentleman's bid seated at 400.

At £400 are you all done? Last chance. 20 anywhere? At 400.

-Whoo!

-There you are! See!

-Well done.

-See! See!

-They're gone!

-You pessimists!

-She's right.

-I told you.

-You are right, you are.

I told you.

Now, that's a superb result and proves that

Alex was quite right to put a £400 reserve on those carvings.

I found out later that the buyer was planning to return them

to their native Germany.

So far Alex's religious items have done really well, so let's hope it continues.

I feel quite flustered, really.

Halfway! It... Has been exciting or exciting?

Very exciting. Wonderful.

No, excuse me, that was very, very exciting!

Yes, Jonty.

-My optimism has paid off, you see. I told you.

-Aw, that's great.

Well, OK, at the halfway point, you're looking for £1,000,

so you can put on that exhibition of your father's artwork?

-Yes.

-Well, I'm sure you've realised that you've done better than that.

At this point you are, in fact, £3.00 over your target!

-Oh, well done!

-Wonderful.

-£1,003.

-Excellent.

-That's great.

-That's good.

OK, well, I really think we've earned a bit of a breather.

-I think we have, yes.

-A cup of tea?

-Oh, yeah.

-Well, while you guys are having a break, I'm going to have a look round the sale room.

OK. Let's go. Gosh, that was such a good first half!

Things really couldn't be going much better and we're only halfway through.

Let's hope there'll be plenty more high bids rolling in.

If you're thinking of heading to an auction, do remember that commission

and other charges may apply so make sure you check with the sale room first.

Now, Jonty's slipped away from the madding crowd in search of something special.

I wonder what's caught his eye today.

Here you are! Having a quiet moment, are you?

-Well, this is just an amazing lot that's in this auction sale.

-Is it?

It looks like a humble set of fruit knives and forks, but the handle is quite extraordinary.

-These are all handmade bronze handles.

-This is bronze?

-Yes, have a look at that.

-Is it really?

Well, it's fairly heavy.

I mean, not hugely.

So, the heads are stainless steel, which you would expect,

but the bronze bases are from Japan and they're handles of tiny daggers known as kazuki.

Owned by samurai warriors.

But this wouldn't actually have been a dagger, would it?

-That's the original handle of all of these tiny little daggers...

-That's incredible.

That these samurai warriors would have... Would have literally carried around their person.

Now, ordinarily, a set like this is going to be worth

£30 to £60, but because we have these amazing handles from the kazuki,

this whole set's going to be worth a huge amount of money.

Instead of £30 to £60, in the catalogue this is £800 to £1,500.

That's astonishing!

-Are they dishwasher proof?

-Jennie, you shouldn't ask those sorts of questions.

I know. We'd better get them back in the auction room

and we'd better get back in and find our ladies.

-OK.

-And when the collection of silver cutlery went up for auction,

it made an impressive £500.

We hurry back into position just in time to see the first of Alex's

paintings, the London riverside watercolour, go under the hammer.

£10 bid only. At ten.

Who's going on? 12 is it? 12.

15. At 15. On the right at 15.

At £15. Are we all done at 15?

Any more interest? At 15, then, it's going.

Oh, my word, a rare disappointment.

-Well, there's always one.

-Yes.

Oh, dear, it's gone for half of Jonty's lower estimate.

Let's hope it's just a blip, as we've got other paintings still to come

and we don't want the bidders to give them the same short shrift.

So, when the silver plated thistle vase comes up,

it's a relief to see that we're back on form.

£55, that's £5 over the top estimate.

Let's hope this next painting of Alex's finds a new home.

Right, this next lot is the framed picture that we found in the spare room.

Well, it wasn't really a spare room, it was like a spare picture gallery.

-Yes, am I right?

-Very much so.

-Am I right? Yes?

-Yes.

-But this is the Belgian picture, OK?

I've put £60 to £80 on it.

-Yes.

-And here it comes.

£50 for this? Start me off, someone.

£50? Start me off someone. £30 then to put it in.

30? Here at 30.

Who's going on at £30? At 35.

40. 45.

-At 45 in the deep now. At 45.

-Come on, a bit more than that.

-At 45.

-We want a bit more.

-The gentleman's bid, 50. 55. 60.

-65.

-That's great.

We're there, we're there.

75. 80.

85. At 85.

The gentleman's bid seated at 85. 90 anywhere? At 85, then, I'm selling.

-Thank you, 439.

-80.

-Yes!

-He's got it.

£85 is a flamboyant showing for the van Luppen watercolour.

The winning bidders seemed very pleased with their new acquisition.

We spotted it this morning. We were both looking for a painting.

We got it for £85 and I think it's a bargain.

We're whizzing through the auction and although Alex has already hit

her target, there's still a lot to play for.

She's going to use every penny to set up a very special exhibition

to celebrate her father's life and love of art.

You never know what's going to happen on auction day,

so we're all wondering what the bidders will make of our next items.

Now, we've got a proper little dealer's lot, this.

We've got the smoking memorabilia and also the little trinket box

so there's five items in the whole lot.

So, for the whole collection we're looking for at least £50.

Quite a lot in this one. What shall we say?

50 for these? £50? £50? 30, then.

Start me off. £30? 30 bid.

Five. 40. Five.

50. At 50. The bid's seated at 50. Who's going on at £50?

That's my lowest bid,

-not the...

-At £50. Are we all done? At £50 I'm selling.

-It still hit target.

-We got there.

-We did, yes.

-We're doing so well, I'm disappointed

that it's not going beyond the bottom end of the estimate!

That's a very respectable outcome.

We might have been hoping for more, but it sold for bang on its estimate.

Well, there's another biggie now, your painting of Jesus.

It's lovely, but I don't know whether we're going to get a buyer.

250 we want, don't we?

This is the one that you thought was part of a bigger oil originally, didn't you?

I have... I... I suspect that the way it was painted I'm convinced

that the canvas would have been cut out at some point and remounted.

300 for this one? 300?

200 to start. Start me off at 200 somewhere.

-I can't go lower than that. 200 anywhere?

-No bids?

-Anyone to start me off at 200?

-There's no bids at all.

No? No interest.

200 bid at the back. Thank you. 210.

220. 230. 240. At 240. Right at the deep at 240. At 240.

-It's going to sell.

-250 anywhere?

At 240. I'm going to sell if you're all done.

£240.

Yeah.

That was just the lot... She was just about to bang the hammer down

to say no bid, but at the back of the room there was finally a bid.

Saved by a lone bidder at the 11th hour,

so Alex isn't too concerned that it came in £10 under estimate.

It's been a packed day and the final lot is about to come up.

It's a collection that has a lot of sentimental value for Alex.

Let's hope they set the bidders' hearts racing, just as they did for Jonty.

Now, I wonder how we're going to do with all those lovely scent bottles

we found you with this morning, which seems an age ago now! You were saying farewell.

Yes, yes, I was because I love the unusualness of the one that's actually in the rosewood cylinder.

I think it's a beautiful object.

It should be worth at least £100.

We've got 100 to 150, so...

Yeah, I'm confident that this is going to go through the roof.

And start me at 100. £100 put them in for all the scent bottles. £100?

-Come on.

-80, then.

80 bid. Five here.

90. Five. 100. 110.

-120. 130. 140. 150. 160.

-Yes!

170. Commission bid with me at 170.

180. 190. At 190.

-With me again at 190. 200 anywhere? Round it up, someone. 200.

-200!

210 here. At 210.

-Commission bid then with me. At 210 I'm selling.

-Yeah!

There you are, well done!

Isn't that great? Isn't that wonderful?

-210!

-Well done.

That's more than double!

-That's amazing, but they were lovely.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Thank you, Jonty.

-There were.

Well, it was all my pleasure.

A magnificent result. £210 is over twice the lowest estimate

and proof that Alex has inherited her father's eye

for quality and detail.

What a great way to end the day.

There's just time to count up how much Alex has made.

OK, you were looking for £1,000 at the start of the day

-so you can put on the exhibition for your father.

-Yeah.

I think you know that you have made £1,000 because we'd made that at half time.

-All right, well, your grand total is £1,658!

-Oh, fantastic!

Wow! Well done!

-Wonderful.

-Isn't that amazing?

-Fantastic.

-Fabulous.

-So, what kind of exhibition will you put on now for your father?

-I think a really good one!

I hope it will be and do his work justice and bring it to the public's eye, really, how good he was.

-Fantastic.

-Yeah.

-Well, well done.

-What a day we've had!

-Fantastic.

-Brilliant.

-What was the figure again?

-£1,658!

Brilliant. It's fantastic.

It's a few weeks since the auction and with that impressive £1,658,

Alex is moving closer towards realising her ambition.

Absolutely fantastic result, made much more than we expected to,

so it's now time for me to get to grips with Dad's exhibition of all his art and, of course,

getting everything framed and mounted and ready for that exhibition, and that's what we need to do today.

She heads off to Cheltenham,

Where picture framer Paul Bott has a few ideas for a set of her dad's caricatures.

So, what I'm thinking is we have three separate apertures,

then around each one we almost outline it with the inner black mount.

-Lovely.

-OK.

-OK.

And it's not long before he has a finished product that I'm sure Alex's dad would have been proud of.

Oh, wow! Oh, they look lovely.

I can't wait to see, you know, Dad's pictures when Paul's finished them all and I think Dad

would be absolutely thrilled and, who knows, maybe we'll show our pictures together as we always planned.

That would be wonderful.

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