Philpott Cash in the Attic

Welcome to the show that finds your hidden treasures and helps you sell them at auction.

If you're a collector like me, and you love the auction scene,

it's very easy to fill your house up pretty quickly with lots of stuff.

What happens when it's time to downsize?

What do you keep and what do you sell?

That's the dilemma we're facing today on Cash In The Attic.

Coming up on Cash In The Attic...

Our rummage today is full of Eastern promise.

What else can we find from the four corners of the world in your house?

We want to see the biggest show of bids on auction day.

In your case now, we want to make sure hands are raised.

So, will the auction take off or make a crash-landing?

HE GASPS

We're straight in at £250.

Find out later in the show.

And sold!

I've come to Romsey in Hampshire to meet a lovely gentleman

who's called in the Cash In The Attic team to help raise some funds

so he can treat a very special younger member of his family.

This five-bedroomed house is simply stunning

and it's home to Tony Philpott, who's lived here for six years.

He shared it with his wife, Yvonne,

who sadly passed away in 2007 and what makes it so special

is they designed and built it together many years ago.

Tony has three grown up children and five grandchildren,

all of whom he's very close to and he wants to raise some cash

to show them just how much they mean to him.

John and I can't believe our eyes.

Oh, my goodness. Wow!

-I'm impressed already.

-Look at that.

Something tells me we're not going to have

too much trouble finding rooms or nice items today.

-It's huge.

-You could get lost in here.

-The billiard saloon.

-Hi, Tony. This is lovely.

Don't put him off his shot, Lorne.

Do you play very often here?

No, not as often as I would like to.

Fancy having a house this big that you can house something like this, it's fantastic this place.

-Yes.

-Obviously, we're here now and I've brought John with me.

How much is it you want to raise?

At least £1,500 if possible.

Right, OK, so there you go John £1,500, please.

We've spotted a couple of nice items on the way in,

so that's certainly achievable.

-Do you want to have a look round?

-Is that my cue?

Yes that is your cue. Goodbye!

-That's it.

-Now, obviously, you want to raise the money

for something in particular, what is it?

Yes, it's really because I have a family, children and the idea is

I can't give them furniture, but I can give them money.

And also, perhaps to have a nice day out in Folly Farm,

which is in West Wales, which my grandson really adores going.

He will go there as much as he possibly can.

That's really the base of it.

-Right, how old is your grandson?

-He's coming up for six in January.

-Oh, that's a great age.

-He's lovely.

Tony, what do you think your wife would think

of what you're doing today?

I don't think she would mind at all.

We were very close and communicative and I think she would understand.

-Well, anything you don't want to go, let us know.

-Yes.

It looks like a treasure trove to me.

-Shall we go and see whether John's found anything yet?

-Yes, sure.

-Come on, then.

This house is impressive,

but Tony feels it's time to downsize and move on.

His decor has a strong Eastern influence

and I'm amazed by the abundance of antiques and collectibles

placed thoughtfully in each room.

It looks like John's managed to navigate his way around the house.

With over 20 years in the antiques and collectibles business,

his experienced eye has already clocked something

very grand in the hallway.

John, it hasn't taken you very long to find something, then.

No, I spotted this as I walked through the door.

I was hoping, Tony, this might be something

-we could consider for auction.

-We certainly can.

-Are you happy to get rid of this?

-I think so, yes.

And why are you happy for it to go now?

When we acquired it, it wasn't working

and we had an expert in to repair it for us.

At the time he did say you shouldn't move them very much,

too often, so therefore it would be better going

to a house where it's going to be put in one place and it stays there.

It's an interesting clock, it's very distinctive.

It is in the style known as chinoiserie, which is basically

a European interpretation of Chinese styles

which were very popular from the beginning of the 18th Century.

It was imitating oriental lacquerware but this has been painted and gilded.

It is often betrayed when you look at the figures

that they don't quite have that Oriental look about them.

The actual clock and components I would put to the first half

of the 18th Century which would be in keeping with that particular style.

On close inspection, there are one or two things that I think

set alarm bells ringing in terms of condition or its originality.

It has some nice features.

The subsidiary seconds dial, I like, and this calendar aperture.

But, looking overall at how that face fits the glass,

we want it to be nice and snug but we've got some

alarming gaps around there suggesting that, possibly,

movement and case are not contemporary.

The other thing I find slightly alarming is the arch.

It's in two pieces and the scene there's being hidden

by these gilt spandrels here.

Much easier to cut that in one piece

so one would wonder why you would cut it into two parts.

That said, it's still an attractive thing.

I think it will appeal to a private buyer, rather than the trade.

At auction, I think in today's market,

I would pitch an estimate of £600-£800 for it.

I think I'd give it house room on its aesthetic appeal

so we should be home and dry with that.

But when the clock arrives at auction does it make John's estimates?

At £700, have we got £700 in the room anywhere. At 600.

We want the prices to go higher, not lower.

Have we got 600? 500, have we got 500 on the phone?

We've got 500 on the phone, thank you.

We've got a lot to do today. As we're in such a big place,

I suggest we all take on a section of the house

to ensure we get the most out of our day's rummage.

John gets to work in the front room

and spots this set of four daily prints

mounted in gilt frames by Leicestershire artist, Sean Aherne.

They were bought in an antique shop in Southampton about seven years ago

and John puts a £30 to £40 value on them.

Many of the items in the house belonged to Yvonne

who had a passion for antiques so it is important that Tony is absolutely

certain that he's ready to say goodbye

to some of the fabulous pieces she collected over the years.

John, what about these?

Let's have a look, Tony.

I'm already starting to get the picture that you have a love

-of all things Oriental.

-Yes.

-Am I right?

It was my wife's influence, mostly. She really loved Oriental things.

First of all, what can you tell me about them, where are they from?

They came from my wife's parents, well, her father.

He used to travel a lot on the old liners,

Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, as one of the top chefs.

So, naturally, he would call into various oriental places

and this is part of the collection he brought back.

The pottery we are looking at is known as Satsuma.

It's made in Japan. It falls into two categories.

The types that are very, very fine and seldom seen outside of Japan

and pieces of lesser quality that were made purely for export,

such as these pieces.

Often, the quality is where you can tell the difference.

If we take these as an example,

they would have been potted by hand, heavily potted earthenware.

It's distinctive by certain features on the piece.

Most noticeably this crackle glaze.

Yes. So, it's not a fault, the crackle?

No, it's actually a desired effect

that was developed by the Chinese during the Song dynasty.

You first get the crackle glaze perfect,

then you have to apply the high relief.

These would have been produced in moulds and applied.

What do you think the value of these are?

At auction, I would put them in at about £40 to £60.

That should get the bidding started.

I think you get a lot for your money, don't you?

Yes, definitely.

Well, not bad, certainly something we can take, but it's nowhere near

the target we need to hit so, come on,

-let's see what else we can find in this beautiful house of yours.

-OK.

Tony accepts the value,

so we all move on and continue with the search.

John's doing a great job, but it's not long before I find

these three Japanese porcelain Satsuma figures.

They're ornately coloured and should catch the bidder's eye

with a price tag of £60 to £100.

Tony and Yvonne were not only husband and wife,

they were the best of friends too and they were

brought even closer together by her brave battle with cancer.

Tell me how you met your wife.

Strange story, we both had a friend.

My wife used to see me walking past or riding past where she used

to wait for her bus home, usually with her mother.

And then the friend...

through my wife's asking,

asked if he could make arrangements for us to meet.

So he actually decided we should meet up at the picture house.

Really, it went on from there and we've never looked back.

How long were you together?

Last year would have been our 50th wedding anniversary.

Tell me what happened with regard to her illness because, unfortunately,

-she didn't see her 50th wedding anniversary?

-No, she didn't.

She had trouble with swallowing.

And um, she went to the doctor who in turn sent her to the hospital

and straightaway they diagnosed and told us what her problem was.

The informed us that my wife would be lucky if

she had six months to live because she was classed as terminal.

She actually lived for 18 months.

Tell me about the things that you've done together?

Obviously, you done a lot of travelling.

We did a lot of travelling, quite a bit of America we've covered.

We travelled up the Amazon, 1,000 miles.

She hoped to see a lot more parrots, but we only saw two parrots

in 1,000 miles which kind of upset her a bit.

What was it about her that caught your eye?

She was fun to be with.

She got on well with people.

She made a marvellous job of bringing our children up.

What more can I say, really.

She was just very good all-round.

She was brilliant.

I miss her terribly.

Tony's decision to downsize could not have been an easy one,

but, as beautiful as this house is, it is rather large for one person.

He soon decides the two red Victorian gilt emblazoned

parlour chairs on the landing could also go,

adding another £60 to £80 to the family fund.

This next find might just cause the saleroom to erupt

in a bidding frenzy.

What do you think of these, John?

Oh, two canvases. Who are they by?

Rossi and that one is Rossi as well.

Do you know anything about the artist, Tony?

I did try looking on the internet once.

There were so many Rossis on there that I gave up the ghost

and I thought I'm not going to find anything

out about the one in particular so...

I suspect it's like the name Smith in this country,

so you won't find a great deal out.

We know what the subject matter is, it's Mount Vesuvius,

probably one of the most famous volcanoes in the world.

With these particular ones here, they look to me to be early 20th Century.

How did you acquire them, Tony?

My wife's father.

Because he was on the liners in the chef business,

he called into Italy and that's where he bought them from.

Do you remember them at his house?

Oh, yes, I remember them being at his house,

but I don't think I've ever seen them hung on the wall.

Looking at them as pictures, I mean, they are quite decorative.

I love the colours of them. Certainly, the same view at night.

The erupting lava there really stands out, doesn't it,

-against the blue sky.

-Yes.

They are a little bit naive in places,

certainly where the boats are concerned.

Technically, the perspective is a little bit out.

I think the main focus is the volcano.

Sadly, this one's suffered a bit of damage, Tony.

Did this happen since it has been in your custody?

Yes, it happened between transit between houses when we were moving.

It would cost a little bit to have it repaired,

they just need to glue a bit of canvas to the back

and a bit of over painting to cover up the tear.

Value wise, for them, today at auction,

I would be looking at £80 to £120, something like that.

-That's fine.

-Are you happy with that?

-Yes.

OK, that's another welcome contribution to our target, but we're not there yet.

We've got something from the Orient and from Italy, let's see what else we can find

-from the four corners of the world in your house.

-OK.

We've raised £870 so far and these two spectacular Chinese dogs

are another good example of Yvonne's taste for impressive antiques.

They're called foo dogs in China

and are the ancient sacred dogs of Asia who guard Buddhist temples.

Their first appearance was in Chinese art

which dates them back to around 208 BC to 221 AD

and the animal is a symbol of energy and value.

Often displayed as a male and female pair,

these two dogs are valued at around £400 to £600.

Tony...

These two chairs, could we consider them for auction?

Definitely, yes. They came from an antique shop in Portsmouth.

Were they your spot, Tony, or something that caught Yvonne's eye?

Yvonne's, as always.

What's remarkable about the chairs is the condition of them

considering they are late Victorian, probably date to about the 1880s.

They are close to 130 years old.

They would have had a lot of physical abuse over the years.

Here they are in all their glory, still standing.

The chairs themselves are what is known as Japanned,

an imitation of true oriental lacquer

which was very popular in Europe throughout the 17th and 18th Century.

Basically, they're trying to achieve that depth

of blackness that you get in lacquer.

We can see it is at such a depth it can be carved out to inlay

these delicate pieces of mother of pearl.

-They're quite nice, aren't they?

-They are nice, yes.

The great thing about them is, I've had a check, they are fairly sturdy

given they're well over 130 years old. It's a shame they're not a pair.

They look like a pair, but when you have a look

-you can see there are different.

-That's right.

And I think that would increase their value.

Any idea what they might be worth?

No idea. I will leave it up to the expert.

-Value wise, I think we're looking at £40 to £60 for them.

-That's fine.

Excellent, we're getting there.

-Starting to build up the Oriental items as well.

-Slowly but sure.

Come on, let's see what else we can find.

The oriental theme continues

as Tony also suggests adding the Eastern style trinket cabinet

with ornate inlay into the lots going to auction.

It's a beautiful item

and could raise as much as £150 in the saleroom.

This house is absolutely amazing and even more impressive

knowing it was designed and built by Tony and his wife.

You've got so many lovely individual features in this house, haven't you?

-Yes.

-Now,

why have you got a drum kit at the top of the stairs?

Mainly, it's my grandson who has a bash on it.

-Which grandson is this?

-Sammy.

Right, the six year-old?

-Yes.

-Can he play well?

He doesn't play well but he likes to have a bash.

It was originally bought for me and now I find if I play it,

I have arthritis in my wrist and it does upset the arthritis,

so I have to curb that.

Tell me how my children you and Yvonne had and how many grandchildren you have now.

We have three children, two girls and a boy.

We have five grandchildren, three boys and two girls.

-You're from quite a large family, yourself?

-Yes, I'm one of 11.

What was your childhood like?

Old-fashioned one. Apart from that we had a very good family life.

We enjoyed living together.

-Never any problems.

-I understand there's a railway connection?

Yes, we were all railway people.

We lived in a railway cottage.

My father has been on the railway since the year dot.

We lived right alongside the railway line.

Our back garden was only a matter of feet away from the railway track.

So, sometimes the train would stop outside

and you're looking at the people sat in the carriage.

When did you get into construction?

That started off very simple. I used to do odd jobs for the neighbours,

wallpapering and painting, perhaps a small alteration of some sort.

I eventually became my own plumber, my own carpenter

and you name it, I did it.

So when you moved to this house you'd already undertaken one build.

-Yes.

-So were you much more confident this time around?

Yes, we were, yes.

Well, what you've built here is absolutely fantastic.

It's a wonderful, wonderful home.

And it's so big, so I think we need to find John before he gets lost.

-Yeah.

-Come on!

There are magnificent pieces of furniture in every room

and I take a liking to this one in particular,

a Victorian mahogany chaise longue, covered in cream brocade.

It was purchased by Yvonne 25 years ago,

after spotting it in the paper and it was love at first sight.

John thinks it'll fetch £80 to £120.

So, hopefully, John... Ah, there he is!

Poking around, doing his job. What have you got for us now, John?

Well, I've got a rather nice music cabinet, a Victorian one.

So called, not because they play a tune,

but because they're used for storing sheet music.

Is this something that you would consider selling, or do you want to take this with you?

No, it doesn't really fit into my requirements.

It's probably a bit too bulky.

All right, then. What else can you tell us about it, John?

What I love about music cabinets is they tell us about the past.

When you think back to before the advent of television and radio,

pianos were the mainstay of entertainment in the home.

Most people had one.

Most people could play the piano and from that a whole host of furniture evolved,

hence the music cabinet.

This one combines that with a display cabinet.

The top deeper shelf there for perhaps music books

or some china, as you've got.

The lower shelves, quite narrow, for storing the sheet music.

Has it still got the original shelves,

because a lot of these get converted over the years, don't they?

If we open it up, Lorne,

we can see it still does retain those original shelves.

It hasn't been converted to a speaker cabinet.

It's in quite nice condition.

What I love about it are the whole host of decorative techniques

employed in its construction.

The main framework has been ebonised and some very delicate carving here,

some bellflower and star lines and leaves,

which have been very delicately gilded.

If we look at the panel and the top,

we've got some very nice delicate inlays there -

yew wood, walnut, rosewood, boxwood.

All in all, quite an elegant piece.

So what sort of value would we put on this today?

Music cabinets like this you can get from between £50 and £100

but I think this is a nice example,

I'm going to say between 100 and 200.

And how does that sit with you, Tony, 100 to 200?

Fair enough, I'm quite happy with that.

-Music to your ears?

-Yes.

-Oh dear, please.

I think you're better off doing what you did before,

poking and prodding around. Come on, Tony, let's leave him to it.

I'm hoping that wonderful craftsmanship

will make its top estimate of £200 on sale day.

I'm really impressed with the items so far

and I can't imagine finding anything else to top today's finds.

But hang on. How can I forget one particular piece?

Lorne and John.

Have you got something for us, Tony?

-Well, I hope so.

-Oh, I saw that when we first arrived.

Let's have a look. Let's get in there.

So tell me the story of how you acquired this then.

We went to an antique auction and my wife had a look at it and she said,

"I do like that," and then the next minute the bidding was started

and her hand was going up and eventually she gave the highest bid.

And may I ask what the bid was that she eventually purchased it for?

Can you remember?

-£1,700.

-That must have been a bit of a shock, wasn't it?

-A bit of a shock, yes.

-John, £1,700.

What's your view on this?

Well, it's a modern reproduction of an original.

I don't recall ever seeing one even half this size

so that's the first thing.

It is an impressive lump of bronze.

And it was no mean feat casting this,

because it employs a technique known as the lost wax casting.

Which basically involves, you have the original,

they then take sectional castings of the limbs

and they paint a thin layer of wax into the intaglio part of the mould.

Now, when they pour molten bronze into that, the wax melts.

It drops out the bottom but leaves that void. The copy of the bronze.

Once it's cooled and the moulds are broken apart

and the core broken down and shaken out,

you have these hollow components which are then parred together.

If we look down here at the wrist of one of the acrobats, can you see the seam?

-Yes.

-Which gets hidden because these are artificially patinated to make them look a lot older.

Right, so what valuation would you put on it today?

I'd be a little conservative with the estimate.

I know what you paid and I think it is worth that.

I mean, the weight of this, it must weigh that in scrap metal.

You know, in its bronze content.

But I'd be tempted to put an estimate of about £400 - £600.

I think that's cheap enough to get people interested

-and hopefully we'd hit that four-figure mark.

-How do you feel about that, Tony?

Fine, somewhere to start.

Yeah, well I'm pleased to say,

obviously you wanted to raise £1,500, didn't you?

Do you feel with the valuations that John's given us today that you've reached that amount?

I hope for somewhere near it.

-Well actually, the total comes to £1,990.

-Oh, that's good.

With a bit of luck, if we get somebody like your wife

-who had to have this piece.

-Who can't keep her hand down.

In your case now, if we're selling it,

you want to make sure the hands are raised.

-And the next time we see you will be at the auction.

-Yes.

I've had a wonderful day here in this marvellous house built by Tony and his wife.

It's filled with so many memories of Yvonne and it's reassuring to know that the money raised at auction

will make their children and grandchildren very happy.

Some of the items going off to the sale room are -

The early 19th century long case clock

that once belonged to one of Tony's brothers.

It's going off to auction with a value of £600 - £800.

The cream brocade chaise longue

that Tony's wife had fallen in love with 25 years ago.

John gave it an £80 - £120 price tag.

And there's the 1870 ebonised Victorian music cabinet that will

hopefully sing to the tune of £100 - £200 when it goes under the hammer.

Still to come on Cash In The Attic - one of our items takes off.

Going up, going up.

But, will the sale come crashing down...

Well, someone got themselves a real bargain.

-Disappointing, wasn't it?

-Yep, very.

-..or surprise us all?

-Very good.

-That's fantastic.

-Well done, Tony.

-£290.

-Yes.

Find out when the final hammer falls.

And sold.

Now, we had a wonderful day with Tony at his house in Southampton

and together with his late wife he collected lots of lovely antiques,

some of which we've brought here to Tewkesbury Auction Rooms in Gloucestershire.

Now, remember, he's looking to raise around £1,500

so he can treat his family to a wonderful day out in Wales.

So let's just hope when the items go under the hammer today

that the bidders are interested in the lot.

Today's sale takes place right in the centre of Tewkesbury town,

a few minutes' walk from the Abbey.

The sale takes place every six weeks

and they sell a range of high end antiques and collectibles.

From furniture to porcelain,

as well as jewellery and other fine art pieces.

I spot John admiring our 8ft bronze centrepiece of two acrobats,

and I wonder if he's having any second thoughts

on his rather conservative estimate.

-Morning, John.

-Morning, Lorne.

-Now, this is the real piece de resistance,

-right at the entrance here.

-You certainly can't miss it.

No, it's fantastic, isn't it? What estimate did we have on this?

Well, we've got £400 - £600 on it which doesn't seem a lot

for a huge piece of bronze like this.

We did have that lovely music cabinet, now there's a true antique.

Very nice piece - super quality and we're looking for £100 - £200 for that.

-Should do well, it's nice.

-And what about the two huge dogs?

-I haven't seen them.

-I haven't seen them either.

Come on, let's go and find him.

Well, we're certainly not short of magnificent items today

and the bidders are beginning to flock to the sale room bright and early,

which is always a good sign.

It's taken Tony almost two years to finally come to the decision

to sell Yvonne's antiques

and I think that he's had second thoughts about letting go of two of her pieces.

Good morning, Tony.

-Good morning, Lorne, John.

-How are you?

-How are you?

-Fine, thank you.

-This is lovely, isn't it.

-It is.

Now, Tony, I've been having a look around

and I haven't seen your bronze dogs of foo. Are they here today?

Well, my youngest daughter, I went to have dinner with her last weekend

and she did state the fact that she would have liked to have had them.

She didn't realise they were going in.

So I couldn't disappoint her so I told her she could have them.

That's fair enough, isn't it? I'd far rather you made the decision now

than think, "Oh, I should have held on to that."

Right, as you can see, it's quite packed.

Shall we go and get in position, ready for the auction to start?

-OK.

-Come on then.

So, the bronze Chinese foo dogs remain in the family and that does

take a whopping £400 - £600 off our total.

Well, I'm hoping that won't ruin our chances today.

The room is now full with potential buyers

and as today's auctioneer gets the proceedings under way...

Good luck, ladies and gentlemen.

..we take our place ready for the first lot.

It's the pair of Rossi oils

in black gilt frames depicting a scene of Mount Vesuvius.

Valued at £80 - £120,

we're hoping for an explosion of bids in the sale room.

Who'll start the bidding at 60? Have we got 60? Who'll start me off?

let's go in at 40. They've got to be worth 40. I've got 40.

42 I've got, 45, sir, 48, sir.

That's 48.

50, 5, 60, 5,

70, 5, 80.

-Yes.

-With you at £75, sir. Thank you, have I got 80 anywhere?

That's £75 on my left, I'm selling it at £75.

Going once, twice, and sold to you.

£75. Now what do you think of that price, are you happy with that?

-That's fair, yes.

-Yeah.

Yes, that was more of a rumble than an explosion,

but selling at £75 is a good start to the day.

We've got the Oriental cabinet with mother of pearl inlay coming up next

and at £100 - £150 it's a real bargain.

It is modern, it's 20th century but it's fantastic quality and the detail, well, it's exceptional.

There have been a lot of people looking at it

so if the interest transfers into bids we should be laughing.

A fantastic item, ladies and gentlemen.

I'm going to start the bidding at £250 on that.

-Straight in at £250.

-Very good.

Do I see 270? 270 I've got, 290 anywhere?

Have I got 290, 290 I've got, 290.

Have I got 300, have I got 300?

I've got £290 and I'm selling at £290.

Selling at £290, have I got any offers above 290?

Otherwise I'm selling at 290.

-Here and now, going once, going twice, at £290.

-Wow, very good.

-That's fantastic.

-Well done, Tony.

-£290.

-Very good, yes.

Well, it was superb quality.

-It was a nice thing, wasn't it?

-It was well looked after. My wife looked after everything.

Such a beautiful item and its immaculate condition

caught the bidder's eye. We're on a roll,

but will our next lot,

the set of four coloured prints

of a boy and girl with boats, by Sean Aherne,

make their top estimate of £40?

They're a very nice little lot. Who will start me off at £30?

Got to be cheap at £30. Have I got 30 anywhere? At £30.

-20 someone start me off at 20.

-Come on.

Got to be worth 20. 20 at the back, thank you very much, madam, 20.

Have I got 22 anywhere, 22?

I've got 22 at the back. 25, madam, 25.

28's in the door, 28, 30.

Got 30. 32, 35?

With you at £32.

Have I got £35 anywhere?

I've got 32. I'm selling at £32. Have I got £35 anywhere?

I'm going to sell at £32.

Going once, going twice, at £32.

Thank you very much, and the number, sir.

Not quite the amount we'd hoped for but the auctioneer really pushed

for the best possible price and finally secured

its lowest estimate, making £32.

We have very high hopes for our next lot.

It's that wonderful early 19th century long case clock

with oriental figures that Tony's brother kindly gave to him.

Well, time will tell as they say, and it's nearly that time now,

because that beautiful clock of yours is going to go up for sale.

It looks magnificent here, I think.

It does and I know we put £600 - £800 on it as an estimate,

which doesn't seem enough

and I'll be surprised if nobody wants to give it house room.

If it doesn't better my estimate, I'll eat my catalogue. How about that?

Can we start, ladies and gentlemen, at £700.

Have I got £700 in the room?

Have I got 700 somewhere, I've got 600. At 600. Have we got 600?

500? Have we got 500 on the phone?

-Oh, you're joking.

-500? We've got 500 on the phone. Thank you.

£500 on the phone.

Have we got 550 in the room, 550 in the room?

550 we got 550 in the room.

Do we have 600 on the phone? Thank you, 600 on the phone.

-On the bottom estimate.

-Do we have 650?

Thank you, 650 in the room. 700?

Thank you, have we got 750 in the room? 750 in the room.

Have we got 800 on the phone?

-Thank you, 800 on the phone. 850 in the room, sir.

-800 on the phone.

-Going up.

-800. And I'm going to sell at £800 on the phone,

going once, going twice, at 800 on the phone.

-Thank you.

-£800.

-That's fine.

-Yeah.

That's fine, yes. At least it will go to a good home, hopefully.

Quite unusual because of its colour, they've made quite a few in red, green and black.

There's not many blue ones around and I think the colour sold it.

We had a telephone bid and someone in the room. Bob's your uncle, we got the price.

The buyers are a generous bunch today

and Yvonne's fabulous taste in antiques has paid off

as we have an eclectic selection of quality items to lure in the bidders.

So, will our good luck continue?

It's the pair of 19th century Satsuma vases,

depicting warriors with elephants.

John valued them at £40 - £60.

Nice pair of vases, ladies and gentlemen.

Who wants to start at £60? Have we got £60 for these vases? £60.

Have we got £60? 50, they've got to be worth 50.

50, 40 then,

start me off at 40, they must be worth 40.

We have got 30 anywhere? 30? We've got 30.

£30, OK we've got a bidder.

-That's something, that's a start.

-35, thank you, 35.

38 at the back? 38? We've got 35 here at the front

and I'm selling at 35, going once, going twice, at £35.

The auctioneer struggled to get the right price for them,

selling well under John's lowest value.

Now, next up is our star item. It's the magnificent 8ft bronze statue

depicting two young boy acrobats.

John gave it a moderate value of £400 - £600.

But I think we're all hoping it'll make a lot more.

Well, what can I say about this next lot? You can't miss it.

You couldn't miss it in your hall and you can't miss it here.

Standing at 8 ft tall, that's taller than David here.

Absolutely superb, ladies and gentlemen.

Who will start the bidding at 1,500? Do I have £1,500?

These cost over 5,000 new.

Someone start me off at 12 then. 1,000, have we got 1,000?

-He's going backwards.

-Have you got a 1,000 anywhere? 800?

We've got 800? We've got 800.

-£800, that's great.

-The phone bidder starting the bidding at £800.

We've got 800 on the phone, do we have 900 anywhere else in the room?

We've got 800 on the phone.

Is there any bidders at 900? I'm going to sell it. Have you got 900?

850? I've got 850 in the room.

850 in the room, thank you.

900 on the phone, 950? 950.

Have we got 1,000 on the phone?

1,000. 1,100?

-1,100 in the room.

-Wow, we're there.

Going up, going up.

1,200 on the phone. 1,300 in the room.

-It's creeping up.

-Yes, very good.

1,400 on the phone.

14, thank you. Have we got 1,500?

1,400 on the phone, do I have 1,500 in the room?

I'm selling it at 1,400 on the phone.

-Going once, going twice, to a great home, and sold.

-Oh, well. Very good.

-Fantastic.

-1,400, I'm so pleased.

-Yes.

-That's fantastic, isn't it?

-Very pleased.

I know you paid a lot for it but it's out of your hair.

-Yes.

-And to bank £1,400...

You know you said you were planning to go to Wales.

Can I suggest maybe you can look further afield?

-Yes, why not?

-Yes.

I felt sure it probably would go,

but I was very surprised at the price it went for.

I was very pleased with the price it went for.

That's incredible at £1,000 over John's lowest estimate,

we're bowled over with that sale.

It's been an exhilarating day with Tony's star items -

the long case clock and the bronze statue - stealing the show.

I have a feeling we've done really well but let's save the surprise until the end of the day.

With some time to spare we prepare ourselves for this afternoon's sale.

Now, if, like Tony, you've got a special reason to raise some cash

and are thinking of heading to auction, please remember

that commission and other charges may apply. Check the details with your local auction house.

Now, John said he had something silky to show me.

So I'm rather intrigued to find out just what it is.

-Wow, that's lovely.

-Do you think this would suit me in my garden pagoda, Lorne?

Well, who am I to say, but I must admit,

I think it's a beautiful piece of vintage clothing.

Well, it's made of silk, it's Chinese

and it dates from the early part of the 19th century.

And I'm saying that, because have a look at that decoration,

peony flowers, fruiting blossoms, very typical of the sort of decoration you see

on Canton and Famille Rose porcelain.

Amazing colours - clearly never worn I suppose.

I just caught a flash of this underside here as well.

-Look at that.

-The detail. Amazing, isn't it.

That's so beautiful.

That's been completely worked by hand in silk. Remarkable, isn't it?

There's all little flower pots and...

Wonderful. What's the estimate?

Well, the auctioneers have got it in at £30 - £40,

but I've seen a growth in demand for oriental items of late

and good quality period textiles like this are doing quite well. So I think it'll do a bit better.

-So what do you think it's going to go for?

-I think it ought to make between £100 and £200.

-Really?

-Mm.

OK. All right.

I hope you're right.

It's the start of the second half of the sale

and the kimono makes an early appearance.

We've got 320 on the phone. Can I open it up now...

And John was right to predict more for it.

..Sold for 320.

As it topples its £30 - £40 estimate, making a jaw-dropping £320.

I'm hoping that the sale of the kimono is an indicator of what's to come this afternoon

as next up are the pair of Victorian ebony boudoir chairs

with mother of pearl inlay and cane seats.

Now I valued them at £40 - £60, but when you see them there,

not a pair, but in good nick, attractive. It doesn't sound a lot.

-In a dealer's shop, I'd expect you to pay about £80 - £100 each for those.

-Yes.

But, we're at auction, I've said 40 - 60, I'd like to think they'll do better than that.

We're starting at 45, 45 I've got.

We've got £45. Have I got 48 in the room anywhere, 48? I've got 45.

Have I got 48? 48 in the room there, 48, thank you.

£48, have I got 50 anywhere?

Selling at £48, going once, going twice, at £48.

That's not too bad,

but the Victorian ebonised chairs with red velvet seats

-failed to wow the bidders...

-Going once, twice, thank you, madam.

Making a disappointing £38.

Sadly, furniture has taken a bit of a hit in the auction rooms.

Unless it's very rare and of exceptional quality,

we're just not seeing the figures achieved.

That explains the poor performance for the two lots of furniture

but what's the general feeling about porcelain?

We're about to find out as our three ornately coloured

Japanese figurines, valued at £60 - £100, go before the room.

I've got 50, 50 at the back. Have I got 55, anywhere? 55?

-Come on.

-60.

-Yes.

70? 5, 80,

5, 90.

-We're at 90. We're over our estimate.

-100.

-Yes.

-110? 110, 120, 30?

120 with you, madam, I've got 120 over here,

selling at 120, going once, going twice, at £120.

That's a really good result, are you pleased?

-Very pleased, yes.

-Good.

-That was a surprise, that one.

I bought the three ma figures,

which is actually what I wanted most of all today.

They were absolutely beautiful. I love them.

And I love oriental work, especially ma ware, good stuff.

So I was very pleased.

We really can't complain as we've already hit our target,

but Tony wants to make as much money as possible

for the antiques that meant so much to Yvonne.

And this next lot is another exquisite piece.

I love this music cabinet and it's in virtually untouched condition,

on the shelves and everything, John?

Although you wouldn't use it today for music, it's fantastic

to store and display anything.

Who'll start me off at £100? Have I got 100 on this cabinet?

Have we got 100 anywhere? 80 then.

Have we got 80? 60, then, let's get it going at 60, 50?

-50 I've got. Have I got 55 anywhere?

-I should hope we get 50, crikey.

55 anywhere? I'm selling it at £50, do I have 55 in the room?

Selling at £50 a commissioned bid at £50, going once, twice, at £50.

Thank you very much.

-Someone got themselves a real bargain.

-That was my disappointing.

Very. Should have been worth twice that.

You see regularly, music cabinets that are half as nice as that,

making that sort of money,

but something as decorative and condition wise as that, you'd expect that at least to make 150.

Oh dear. We really expected it to make more than that.

It's such a shame.

We're coming to the end of our lots and I hope this Victorian

mahogany cream brocade chaise longue that Yvonne fell in love with

will make more of an impression.

Tony has also revealed a little secret. He actually upholstered it.

At £80, the lowest estimate, you get a lot of chair for your money.

So hopefully it'll do a bit better and I'll tell the buyer that if they want it recovered, here's your man.

Going to start the bidding at 65, £65.

I've got £65. 65, have I got 70 in the room anywhere,

have I got 70?

70, 5, 80, 5, 90, with you at 90,

-90, have I got 95 anywhere, 95?

-That's still not good.

-Yes. Yes.

90 with you, madam.

Have I got 95 anywhere? Selling to you, madam,

going once, going twice, to you at £90. Thank you, madam.

That's £10 over John's lowest estimate

and although we would have liked more for the chaise longue,

especially now we know how much work went into it,

we're all extremely happy with how today's auction has panned out.

Now, obviously, you know that we've beaten your target of £1,500,

because we'd managed to do that at the halfway stage.

Overall though, I'm very pleased to report you've made almost double that amount - £2,978.

That's very good. I'm very pleased with that.

So, that's a lot of money. What are you going to spend it on?

Well, the money will be given to my children.

And we're going to have a day out at Folly Farm.

Well, we hope the weather stays very nice for you

-and you'll have a fantastic time.

-Thank you very much.

For Tony, spending time with his family is extremely important

so they're all enjoying a day at a local adventure park.

And seeing six year-old grandson, Sammy, so excited,

makes Tony very happy.

There's so much for the family to see and do, from go-karting

to playing around with a full-scale proper mechanical digger.

And little Sammy cannot resist spending time

with a few fluffy friends.

But he looks rather worried when he sees the slithering millipede.

Although granddaughters, Sarah and Cara,

seem to be taking it all in their stride.

When I was holding the millipede I felt nervous,

because of all of them legs but I gradually got used to it.

I'm pleased with the way it went.

And I'm pleased we all came together and this was really nice,

to have them with me.

Yeah!

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