MacLeod Cash in the Attic

Welcome to Cash in the Attic, the show that finds

all those hidden treasures around your home

and then we sell them at auction.

I've come to Surrey, to meet a lovely lady,

whose house is packed full of collectibles,

like this wonderful, wonderful perfume bottle.

Find out what it's worth later on.

Coming up on today's Cash in the Attic, our expert gets an offer he can't refuse.

Jonty, do you want to be my...Clyde?

And I'll be your Bonnie.

And find out what to listen for when checking your china.

Now, is this in good condition?

And the way to tell that, is to give it a bit of a tap.

So, this is what we do.

It's got a great ring to it.

And on auction day, our family do a U-turn.

I've never seen anyone so happy not to sell something!

See what we make when the hammer falls.

I'm in Camberley, and I've come to meet a very generous lady,

who's called in the Cash in the Attic team

to help raise some funds for a very special day.

The wedding bells of Surrey will soon ring for young Carly,

a bride-to-be, who's the centre of everyone's attention today.

Little did she know, when she flew in from America, for a year's stay with her Aunt Linda,

that she'd meet the man of her dreams.

As for Linda, a fan of sailing and embroidery,

she wants to do all she can to help her niece on her big day.

So does Carly's mother-in-law-to-be, Yvonne.

I'm joined by expert Jonty Hearnden.

Let's hope Linda's smart townhouse contains enough

valuable collectibles to make the wedding a spectacular one.

-Ah, good morning!

-Hello!

-Now, you must be Linda, the lady of the house.

-That's right, I am.

-So, are you Carly, the niece?

-I am, yes.

-OK.

This is my mother-in-law-to-be, Yvonne.

Yvonne, what's the family connection?

It's quite complicated. My son is marrying Carly,

who's Linda's niece, and my other daughter is married to Linda's youngest son.

-It's your wedding that's coming up, is it?

-Yes.

-So, Linda, is that why you've called in Cash In The Attic?

-Yes, it is.

And it will help me get rid of a lot of stuff that I've collected

over the years and I thought it would help with Carly's wedding.

What do you think of the idea?

Oh, it's very generous. She's helping me loads with the wedding.

Now, I'm going to ask your aunt this.

How much money are you looking to raise, towards this?

I think we could raise about £1,000.

-Well, I hope so, anyway.

-Really?

-Yep.

-Will that be OK?

-Crikey! Yeah, well, of course it'll be OK. £1,000?!

-Not complaining!

-No, absolutely not!

Now, I know Jonty's already here.

He's having a look round. Shall we see if he's found anything to sell?

We certainly shall.

'Well, what a generous aunt Carly has, but if we're to help fund

'the wedding of her dreams, then we need to get to work.

-Ah, Jonty, there you are.

-Ah!

Have you found something we can sell, already?

Have a look. Isn't it beautiful?

A lovely box, but it's not an ordinary box,

because inside, it's got these two fabulous drawers.

Have a look at that. Isn't that beautiful?

So, what do you use this for, Linda?

I don't actually use it for anything.

It's just here as an ornament?

-It is.

-Right, OK.

-We bought an old house,

-and that was one of the things left in it.

-Really?

-It was left in the house?

-Mm-hm.

Now, these drawers here are absolutely beautifully made.

Take a closer look at this, because here we have

fabulous hand-made dovetails, and we have divides in the middle.

But the timber...is camphor wood.

Have a smell of that.

Now, they often line big chests with this camphor wood,

because it's very, very good for keeping moths away.

Instead of having mothballs, line your storage trunks with camphor wood,

and that's what they did. It has that lovely smell to it. Very distinctive.

But I'm sure this wasn't a storage chest.

I have a hunch it may have been a humidor.

On the front here, we have these lovely brass drop handles,

which are designed to fold completely flat, so you can put these two doors across.

It's really very, very beautiful.

So what era or what age would you say this box is?

Well, date-wise, we're looking at probably

July 1885, something like that.

It's got something on the top, hasn't it?!

-Is there a presentation plaque?

-Yes.

On the top there. And I would imagine it's from a gent to a gent.

That's another reason I think,

this is a lovely humidor, to store your big, fat cigars.

The timber on the outside is burr walnut,

so all of the outside and the front of the drawer is veneer work.

What sort of value are you going to put on that?

I think we're looking at less than £100,

so the estimate in the catalogue should read

between £50 and £70.

OK, that's not too bad, I suppose. It helps towards our £1,000, but it's £1,000 we need to make

if the bride's going to get her wonderful day,

-which we must ensure she does, so shall we carry on?

-OK.

Come on, then. Let's go this way.

'After such a build-up, I was rather hoping the humidor might be worth more than £50,

'but it cost Linda nothing and it's a healthy first contribution to our wedding fund.

'Yvonne has also found a wash stand that Linda is happy to send to auction.

'The mahogany stand has had some bad restoration,

'but the jug, basin and soap dish are made by Thomas Goode and Co,

'a very popular London firm. So Jonty hopes it will make £70-£100.

'With a little attention, someone could turn this into an impressive piece, but when we get to auction,

'will the bidders see its potential?

'or will it just be washed up?'

-20 I'll take.

-Come on!

-20 bid. 25? 30.

'Find out later when the hammer falls.'

As we continue our search in Linda's house,

Carly decides to tackle the garage, and her efforts are rewarded when

she finds this rather elegant Edwardian mirror.

Jonty thinks it could fetch upwards of £30 at auction.

-A-ha!

-A-ha!

-Oh, Jonty, you've found one of my favourite pieces.

I think that's so pretty.

Isn't it lovely? It's really very, very beautiful. It's so delicate.

-Mm.

-Are you prepared to part with this, though?

-Yes, I will.

-Oh, right.

-It's very pretty, but I've had it for a long time and I'm quite happy to sell it.

So, where did it come from? Before we go any further.

I bought it in an antique shop at Hampton Court about ten years ago. I just thought it was so pretty.

Well, taking a closer look at it, we have what looks almost like

a stylised urn in the middle of a cushion.

And around on the top of the cushion we have these sprigs of flowers,

and we even have gilded tassels on the four corners.

But I'm sure as you're well aware, it's a lovely perfume container, perfume bottle.

It really is very, very pretty.

Now, the markings on the underside, we have these two blue crossed swords,

which of course means that it's possibly Meissen.

But I don't think it is. Many other factories, in the region particularly, copied

those Meissen two crossed swords, so it's correct to call this Dresden and not Meissen.

It's mid-20th century.

But it is very good quality.

And the more you look, the more detail there is.

-Mm.

-So we have these four sprigs of flowers or bunches of flowers, even these stylised gilded tassels.

And look at the decoration even on the cushion. It is very beautiful,

but if you look on the underside, have you ever noticed you've got this hairline crack here?

Yes, and when I bought it, she showed me that and I said

I didn't care because I just thought it was so pretty.

Well, that's a good sign of a good dealer.

But there's also a bit of restoration work here.

-This has actually been hand-painted in here to cover up another piece of damage.

-Oh, right.

And if you look very closely on the top of the stopper, there's a little tiny restoration there, as well.

Right, so what sort of price would we be talking about here, Jonty, if it was perfect?

I suppose about £100.

-And that fact that it's got the damage?

-£40 to £60 at auction.

-Mm, OK.

-Well, given the fact that we're only talking about £40 to £60,

is that something that you're happy to sell, still, or would you rather keep it, for that money?

I'll have a little think about that.

OK, well, that puts us under a bit of pressure if we're not sure,

so we need to find some other beautiful things - which won't be that hard in this house! Come on.

Jonty gets to work searching the study and, in an old writing desk, discovers a silver pocket watch.

It used to belong to Linda's grandfather, but he thinks it could fetch at least £100 at auction.

Right, well, Jonty's running up and down the stairs trying to find more things to sell, so I thought I'd

take a bit of a break with you ladies to discover this family tree again.

So, start me at the beginning. How did you two meet, Yvonne and Linda?

Well, Yvonne and I met through our son and daughter about ten years ago,

and they have subsequently married.

And we've become friends, because Yvonne and her husband like to sail, and Andrew and I

do a lot of sailing as well on our boat, so we became sailing friends.

And Carly is my niece, and she has met Kevin, who is...

..Yvonne's daughter's twin.

Have you got to grips yet with all of this yet, Carly?

Yeah, it's simple enough.

My cousin's going to be my brother-in-law,

and my future niece or nephew will also be my second cousin.

So, what made you decide to go down the Cash In The Attic route?

Linda called, but it was my suggestion, because Linda's got so much stuff, such lovely,

lovely stuff, and she wanted to make some money to help with the wedding.

And to us, that was an ideal way of doing it.

You got everyone involved in this.

-It's for your wedding. And it's your stuff.

-Yes.

What a lovely idea. I think it's fantastic.

Shall we go and see if Jonty's found anything else back from storage?

Yes. Let's do that.

Who said wedding planning was stressful? These girls seem to be taking it all in their stride.

Out in the conservatory, Carly spots something that she thinks

may be another possibility for the saleroom.

Oh! It's a pretty little basket.

So, your aunt's out of earshot - is this to your taste?

I like a lot of Limoges pieces. This one isn't my favourite.

Well, we're looking at a fruit basket here, but it's more like a stylised flower.

-Right.

-And here we have the handle. This is very stylised.

In fact, this is rococo in style, the gilded handle here.

So therefore we've got lots of decoration going on here, lots of influences.

And it's probably early 20th century, just by looking at the flowers.

Now, these are transfer-printed rather than hand-painted, because

Limoges, more often than not, was actually very good quality.

Now, Limoges is really similar to our Staffordshire.

It's not a factory, it's a region, it's an area.

You will see the mark of Limoges on the underside of many French ceramics.

But, having said that, it's also regarded as being very good quality, as well.

The quality was always of a good standard.

-So to purchase this once up on a time in real money would have been quite expensive.

-This piece?

-Yes.

-Oh!

-An object like this.

Now, is this in good condition?

And the way to tell that is to give it a bit of a tap. So this is what we do.

It's got a great ring to it.

-Mm-hm.

-It that had a thud, it would mean that there would be some form of restoration on it.

So if you want to check that something is in perfect condition, give it a ring.

OK? Perfect. All right?

-At auction, we're looking at between £30 and £40.

-OK.

So is this something we can definitely put into the auction sale?

-Um, yeah.

-Excellent. I'll look after this one. Come on.

Upstairs, in a bedroom, Yvonne finds a pair of brass railway lamps.

They're inscribed with the initials of the Great Western Railway,

and Jonty hopes

an enthusiast will be happy to pay £20 to £40 for the pair.

Hey, Jonty, do you want to be my Clyde? And I'll be your Bonnie.

Come here, Bonnie. Oh, wow! I say!

-Look at those.

-Handsome, aren't they?

-Aren't they?

-Well, where are these from, for goodness sake?

-My husband bought them in a gun shop in Lewes.

-But I assume these don't work any more.

No, no, not at all, because they're

not decommissioned muskets, but they do something with them, which means that these can't be moved.

So, let's have a look at the big one first.

And here we have mid-19th-century Enfield rifles.

So, this rifle here was first used by the Army in 1853 all the way to 1867,

and this particular rifle was used extensively during the Crimean War.

-Oh!

-So this is the kind of rifle that would be used no the battlefields then...

-Good Lord!

-..whereas the smaller one, because that says Tower - if I can do a swapsie there

with you - this is the shortened version of the same rifle.

Here, the date 1858.

-And the shortened version was used by the Navy.

-Oh, really?

So they're not rare rifles, they're common, but I think they're very handsome.

And a lot of people, if they are particularly rare, will pay a lot of money for good rifles and pistols.

Certainly we could put these into the auction sale,

because we're looking between £300 and £400 at auction.

-Brilliant.

-Right, let's go and hunt some more antiques.

OK!

What a terrific find and a substantial addition to our target.

Fortunately, both rifles have been made safe, but

we would suggest seeking specialist advice whenever

buying or selling items of this nature at auction.

As we continue searching every corner of Linda's home, I find another haul of Limoges china.

The set comprises of 12 plates, three bowls and a comport.

Jonty thinks it could fetch upwards of £140 at auction.

Yvonne discovered a rather unusual collection of miniature rabbits.

They are in fact Japanese Netsuke, which are highly collectible.

They used to belong to Linda's grandfather, and Jonty thinks they could fetch £30 to £50 at auction.

Guys, put everything down. I have something amazing to show you.

-Goodness. What have you got there?

-Isn't this amazing?

It's quite extraordinary. It's so delicate, it's so detailed.

Essentially, what it is, is a porcelain urn on a stand, surrounded by these three amazing cherubs.

-Where's it from?

-It's beautiful, isn't it?

-I bought that in...Chipping Norton, I think it was.

-It's just extraordinary.

Just take a closer look at it.

Here, you have these swags of flowers,

you have these two very detailed masks, and then you go down the urn,

to look at the pillar of the urn, and here, we have a marble base. Of course, it's not marble -

it's painted that way.

And if you look at the detail on the cherubs, particularly their faces, it's just amazing.

It's extraordinary. So, what were you told about it when you bought it?

I did it a bit of research on it and I discovered it's by a factory called Karl Ens.

It IS German and it IS about 100 years old.

It is probably Edwardian.

Really, the quality tells you that.

-There's a bit of restoration on the top here.

-Yes, I did know that.

It's just on one of the rings coming from the eagle's mouth.

-Can you remember how much you paid for it?

-I paid nearly £300 for it.

Now people just want porcelain in perfect condition.

So I am a little bit cagey about saying, definitely, you will get your money back.

So if the estimate was more like £250 to £350, would that be OK?

-That's fine.

-Let's hope we can get your money back AND make a profit.

-That's fine.

That's a great result, but we have run out of time for rummaging.

-Before I tell you how much everything comes to, I just want to get in... Yvonne?

-I'm coming.

Come through.

You wanted £1,000, didn't you, to help out Carly here for her wedding?

Excluding the lovely little perfume pot,

the total comes to 1,020.

-Oh.

-That's very good.

But if you do decide to part with that in the end,

it should be £1,060, because we put the low end £40 on that.

We've had a busy day here in Camberley,

and we've unearthed a real assortment of items to take to auction.

There's a beautiful burr walnut humidor,

and I'd say a snip at £50 to £70.

The ornate Edwardian washstand.

It hasn't withheld the test of time completely unscathed,

but could still be a great restoration project at £70 to £100.

And who could forget Linda's two Enfield muskets?

With a price tag of £300, they could certainly help the wedding celebrations.

Still to come on Cash In The Attic - our expert practises his Francais.

That's only bon, not tres bon.

But will Jonty jinx us with an early celebration?

-Cigars all round!

-Very good.

Find out what happens when the hammer falls.

It has been a while since we met Linda, Yvonne and bride-to-be Carly,

and of course they were planning the big day.

Now, the plans took over, and the auction had to be postponed,

so Carly's got married, and we are here to raise £1,000 for something else.

We're at John Nicholson Auctioneers in Surrey,

hoping the bidders feel like giving us the icing on the wedding cake.

A crisp winter morning in Surrey is the perfect place to set ourselves up for some good luck today.

We've entered Linda's antiques and collectables into one of the largest auction sales in the county.

Carly and her new husband have gone to the United States since we saw them last,

but Linda and Yvonne are on hand to share the fun.

-Hello, there!

-Hello.

-It seems like a while since we saw you, and the wedding has happened?

-Yes.

-It's been and gone. Great day?

-Yes, wonderful.

-Did you enjoy it?

-Yes.

-Lovely.

So, what are you going to spend the money on, that we raise today?

They've delayed their honeymoon, so this will go towards the honeymoon when they do take it.

They hope to raise £1,000 today, and they have had second thoughts about a few items.

Linda's chosen to swap the Limoges china set with another humidor.

This one's made of oak

and the auction house has valued it at £40 to £60.

Hopefully, we will see some interest.

The bidding is underway and it looks like our first item

is going to be the Edwardian washstand.

Let's hope someone is prepared to pay between

£70 and £100 to take this home.

50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 bid.

Ten, I'll take.

-That's good.

-At 110? At 110.

That is the bid at 110. 20 anybody?

Had it's time. Your bid, sir, at 110.

-That's good.

-Yeah.

-Yes. We didn't have to worry about any reserves, did we?

-No.

£110. Excellent.

We not only met the reserve but went £10 over the highest estimate.

An excellent start to the day.

Now the next lot is the Edwardian mirror, £30 - £40.

Yes. Priced to sell. Should be fun.

20 I'll take. It's a big one, isn't it?

20 bid, 5 now, 25. 30?

-At £30, at 30.

-There, it is selling.

-Yeah.

35, lady's bid. Selling.

Make no mistake, £35...

-£35. You see!

-I don't have to take it back!

You don't have to take it home. It's going to somebody else's home now.

Bang in the middle of our estimate, Linda's just pleased

to have that item off her hands.

It is quickly followed by the Limoges fruit bowl.

-£10, there it is.

-Oh, hello, he's managed to rustle up a ten pound bid.

-£10, 184.

-£10!

That's only bon, not tres bon.

Exactement, Monsieur Jonty. Shall we move on?

Our next lot is the rabbit Netsukes. They may be small

but they are highly sought after.

I'm £20 bid. 5,

30, 5, 40...

-Come on, here we go, that's what we want.

-Listen to that.

£55, the lady's bid there.

Against the commission, it's your bid, Sally, lovely little Netsuke.

At £55.

-Wow!

-Yes!

-There you go.

At £5 over our highest estimate,

it's a shame we don't have more rabbits.

Still, it's good news, and next up is Grandad's silver pocket watch.

A handsome timepiece for £100 to £200. We hope!

At £80...

Sorry, not sold.

Oh, such a shame we couldn't get that watch off the ground.

But if there are any train-spotters in the crowd,

perhaps we will have better luck with our next item,

a pair of brass lamps for £20 -£40.

5 I'll take.

At 25, front row. Your bid at 25.

30 I'm looking for.

At £25, the lady's bid.

Against the rest of you, Sally. £25.

-25.

-£25.

-That's OK.

We're all pleased with that. With half our lots sold

we've made just £235 towards that £1,000 honeymoon fund.

But there's plenty more to sell.

If you'd like to raise money by selling your antiques and collectibles at auction,

do take note that salerooms usually charge a commission fee.

Fees vary, so it's best to ask about these in advance.

The next lot is the Dresden perfume bottle.

What made you decide to put it into auction?

I don't know. We just thought that I would. What the hell?

Let's give it a go.

Right, OK, let's see what it makes.

20 bid, and 5.

30, and 5.

40, the lady's bid, with 5.

50, 5...

-Two people like it. That's good.

-Ohh.

On my right. 65.

70.

-And 5, 80. 80, and 5.

-Wow!

90. 5.

Your bid, sir. The gentleman's bid, selling at £95.

Are you glad you brought it, Linda?

-Wow.

-I'm rather glad you decided to bring it to auction. I don't know about you!

-I'm very glad. Yes.

We banked £35 over Jonty's highest estimate,

a fantastic outcome for Linda.

And the oak humidor finds a new home as well.

£40.

Selling bang on estimate.

Perhaps the second walnut humidor will fare just as well.

15, 20, 5, 30.

5, 40.

5, 50, 5, 60.

£60, 65, 70, 5, 80...

-That's good.

-..5, 90. 5.

The lady's bid.

Selling at £95...

-Wow!

-Goodness.

-That's excellent.

-Cigars all round!

We certainly seem to be doing very well now. Let's hope it lasts,

because next up is one of our most significant pieces of the day.

It's the Karl Ens centrepiece.

Linda has put a £250 reserve on it, I think she secretly wants to take it home.

Wonderful quality, 100 bid.

10 I'll take.

At £100. 10 I'm looking for.

At £100. 10 anywhere?

-At £100.

-It's coming home with you...

I'm quite happy.

Look at the smile on your face.

Anybody?

£100.

Well, sadly, that's not sold.

-Not sadly here, is it?

-No!

I've never seen anyone so happy not to sell something.

At least Linda's taking back home one of her favourite pieces.

I'm interested to see what'll happen with the last lot of the day.

Now, you've got a big, fat reserve on this, haven't you?

Yes, I have. Because my husband really doesn't want me to sell them.

-Ah!

-Let me get it straight, then.

You don't want the centrepiece to sell and he don't want the muskets to sell.

It's a miracle we've sold anything!

Indian-patterned field muskets.

200 bid. 250,

300, 350. 400.

Wow! They're not going home.

400. 50 I'm looking for.

At £400, 50 now?

At £400. I'll take 25 if it'll help.

There's the bid. Selling at £400.

Well done, sir.

You're not taking them home!

Yes. That's good.

Not quite the outcome Linda's husband was hoping for

but a wonderful amount to add to our happy couple's honeymoon.

And perhaps we have raised enough for them to sit in the lap of luxury as well.

Obviously, we wanted to raise £1,000 overall.

Thanks, really, to the muskets, I have to say,

we have actually banked £865.

-Brilliant. That's very good.

-Pleased with that?

-Yes, very pleased.

It's been a few weeks since the auction.

Carly and Kevin are back in England. Today, Carly is shopping with her auntie and new mother-in-law,

to find the perfect wardrobe for their long-awaited exotic honeymoon.

I feel very blessed with my family, and everyone's so close, I really enjoy it.

Being far away from home, it often doesn't feel far away.

Aw...