Dickinson Cash in the Attic

Welcome to the show that finds all those hidden treasures around your home and then, of course,

we help you sell them at auction. Today, I'm going to be meeting a lady for whom these spoons

from the Far East have a particular significance.

Find out what it is later on Cash In The Attic.

Coming up, a crate of late 20th-century dolls may prove too sentimental to part with.

There is still a tug on the heart strings here.

And when John casts his eyes over these 1930s coffee spoons, he certainly doesn't mince his words.

They're not made of precious metal so they won't make huge sums of money.

But when we get to auction, there's magic in the air.

That's a result, isn't it?

-Well done!

-Oh, that is really good.

Find out how valuable these antiques turn out to be when the final hammer falls.

Sold then.

Today I've come to St Ives in Cambridgeshire to meet a lady

who's called in the Cash In The Attic team

to help her raise some funds for a very special project.

This beautiful house in St Ives was bought 30 years ago

by Angie Dickinson's recently widowed mother.

Ten years later, Angie and her family moved in.

At the time, the family ran a business in the town centre...

an art shop and gallery.

Angie divorced nine years ago and her three children are now grown up,

so she lives here on her own.

Today, her best friend Sue is on hand to help her realise her dream of making it a family home again.

-Are you ready for this, John?

-I was born ready, Lorne.

Oh, that's good to hear! Come on.

John Cameron's our expert today.

His two decades of antique know-how is just what we need.

While he makes a start, I go in search of our hostess.

-Ah, good morning.

-Good morning.

Are you measuring up for a picture here under the picture light?

No, we're going to knock the wall down.

Right, and why are you going to knock the wall down?

Well, I'm intending to foster, and what I want to do is knock this wall down so that the room

can be made much bigger and much more friendly between the kitchen and the dining room.

OK, and have you a figure in mind?

I'd like to raise between £500 and £600 to start the project off.

-So you've got dragged into this as well, Sue?

-I certainly have!

-Are you handy with a hammer?

Very. Yes, we have to be.

-We do.

-OK, so we need to raise between £500 and £600 for you so the renovations can get underway.

Shall we go and see if we can find John Cameron?

Inside, there isn't much clutter, but I'm sure our expert's eye

will spot any prized possessions hidden away.

Ah, John! Whoa, this is nice.

This looks like a card table.

It is indeed. A nice elegant piece as well. Where did it come from, Angie?

It was my grandparents'.

Did they use it as a card table or just as a table?

They used it as a card table. I remember my grandfather playing bridge on it.

Gaming tables have always been popular in this country, certainly since the restoration of Charles II.

When he came back from exile in France, he brought back lots of habits,

one of which was gambling. We start card tables evolving,

certainly more in the early part of the 18th century.

The style of this piece would suggest about 1790,

very Sheraton or Adamesque in its sort of elegance

and the decorative motifs employed here.

But this piece dates a bit later than that, about 100 years later.

It's in the Sheraton revival period of about 1900.

It's a nice piece, very elegant, and nice use of hard woods here.

We've got beautiful rosewood here

and these lovely inlaid boxwood arabesques.

But I've always loved this type of card table -

the envelope-folding card table - just because of the way it opens up.

-Ah, very clever.

-You turn it round like that

and you open it up, and there we are.

You can have a game of cards, and you can see...

the real beauty of that rosewood when you open it up.

-It's much darker.

-Oh, yes.

And the baize is in nice condition.

I love these little scallop dishes for your gaming chips.

So a really nice piece of furniture.

It's in lovely condition and it's both elegant and functional,

so two great pluses there.

At auction, I would think we'd be looking at £250-£350 for it.

-Are you happy with that?

-Brilliant!

That's more or less half what we're looking for, so maybe we'll have an easy day.

-Let's hope so.

-Or maybe not! Let's see what else we can find.

But when it goes to auction, will our bidders be prepared to take a gamble?

Anybody want that for £200?

£200 is bid...

Let's hope it won't be game over for the 19th-century card table when it's shown to the room.

Back in the rummage,

Sue finds these 19th-century nutcrackers that were inherited from Angie's grandmother 30 years ago.

They add another £20-30 to the renovation fund.

Good Lord, what have you got there, Angie?

These are my collection of dolls.

-They certainly look like they have a story to tell.

-They do.

Do tell me about them. Where have they come from?

They were a very important part of my life as I was growing up.

As my father was in the forces, we often didn't know whereabouts he was going when he went off on trips,

and the only time we knew where he'd been was when he brought a doll back.

-So how long did he go away for? What sort of periods?

-We never knew how long he was going to be away.

He could be away two days, three days, or three weeks. We never knew.

-That must've been quite hard.

-It was strange, but we got used to it because that was part of our lives.

We didn't know any different from what any normal children would do nowadays.

So do you remember the first doll you had?

I think my first doll was the geisha, this one.

-And was that your favourite?

-She's still my favourite.

So how old were you when it started?

I was probably about three or four,

and it continued right the way up to my teens until he left.

So when you were married, you said, "Dad, you've got to stop bringing me dolls back!"

-It's about time we stopped this!

-So how many are in here, do you think?

-There's about 40.

-About 40 of them?

-Yeah.

-So is that your favourite one, although it was the first?

-It is my favourite.

She's so colourful and she's still actually

in quite good condition considering she must be 50 years old plus.

Apart from the geisha girl, are there any other favourites in here?

This is another favourite of mine.

My daughter's name is Rhian and it's a Welsh name,

and she used to dress up like that when they went to school on St David's Day,

-so that brings back some nice memories.

-You'd be happy to take them to auction? Depending on what I say?

Yeah, it depends, yes. There is still a tug on the heart strings here.

I think we'd be looking at about £30-£50, so how would that sound?

-I'll have to think about that.

-You can tell me at the auction, but if that's the case,

we'll have to find something else because we need to hit our target.

So we'll leave Myfanwy and Yoko here on their own and we'll go and see what else we can find.

OK. Fine.

We'll find out if Angie's willing to part with them on auction day.

John tracks down this pretty 20th-century, silver-plated

Elkington and Co cutlery set in a wooden box.

It's a wonderful collection with beautiful detail and will

certainly win over the bidders with its attractive £30-£60 price tag.

He also spots a 1930s Bar-let typewriter in its original case.

The company made around 30,000 of these in 1936,

and John reckons it'll fetch £10-£20.

There you are. I've found something. It's a collection of spoons.

There's a couple of different sets, but I particularly thought the ones

that look like they're from Siam or something...

Quite nice, not bad condition.

These are obviously some sort of Hindu Buddha on the handle there.

Gold-plated, but there'll be a base metal under there.

Did somebody collect these? How come we've got three different sets?

My dad was a great collector. Wherever he went, he wanted something to remind me of where he'd been

and he was very good at bringing things back from different parts of the world.

These are interesting because, if you look at the handles, they look like coffee beans.

They look like coffee spoons.

These look almost like cocktail ones cos they look like cherries!

They're interesting. You do see sets of coffee spoons like this

really more so in the 20th century for some reason,

certainly round the 1930s and '40s.

There must've been a huge demand for manufacturers to start producing individual sets.

These ones look like EPNS.

Yeah, they're silver-plated.

They are Yeoman plate, it is an English maker. The other ones...

well, this little set

is definitely English, and they've got Goldoid stamped on the bowl.

That's a trade name for that gold-plated finish.

What sort of value are we talking about?

They're not made of precious metal, so they won't make huge sums,

but on the plus side, you've got complete sets of six

and they retain the original boxes, so I think about £20-£30 at auction.

Every little helps.

I spot this Wedgwood jug and bowl in the corner of the hallway.

It's called Peaches and was made in around 1906.

Angie tells me that her father bought it at auction,

and it should make £20-£30 when it goes back to one.

And there's no stopping me now

as I find this 50-piece orange and blue dinner service which belonged to Angie's grandmother.

That should serve up £20-£30.

Being here is a bit like being a little girl in a sweet shop.

-CASH REGISTER RINGS

-Wow, this is great, Angie!

You've got a cash register here. Isn't that a fantastic sound?

-I love that noise.

-It's lovely, isn't it?

This was from my parents' art shop

and we used it right up until the last day when we closed.

-How long ago was that?

-It's five years ago now.

Obviously once the shop was shut, what did you decide to do then?

I retrained as a life coach. Trying to help people move forward.

It's helping them deal with the past,

accept you can't change the past, but you can change your future.

So what made you decide then to get into fostering?

I think again it's the nurturing side and wanting to help people.

I enjoy helping people. I'm involved a lot in the town in other organisations.

There's a lot of young children out there, teenagers,

that need help and support, and I don't think a lot of the time there's a lot of help out there.

Obviously you've had a lot of changes, you've decided to become a foster mum,

which is a training in itself, but you've also decided to have these major renovations happen.

-That's quite drastic.

-I think the house was OK a few years ago

when people used to eat in dining rooms.

I usually only use the dining room now on a walk through to the kitchen, so it just seemed a sensible idea

to knock the wall down, make it much more user-friendly, child-friendly, and much more sociable.

I had a look in the cash till and there's no money in there, so shall we go and see

whether John Cameron's found anything we can dust off? Come on!

John's still on the look-out, but Angie heads straight to the loft to dig out two 1950s' coffee sets.

Again, they were a present from her father from his travels in Singapore,

and they're valued at £20-£30.

Hi, John. I found a piece of Waterford in the lounge.

I think it's quite interesting. Would you have a look?

Sure. So where did all this come from?

Are these pieces that Angie's acquired herself?

No, they're not really that she's acquired herself. This piece would've been from her father.

I know that he used to go quite regularly to auctions,

so he would've picked that up there.

She has got other pieces in there that have come from grandparents

-and gifts over the years.

-They're mostly Waterford?

It looks like it to me, but I'd like you to have a look.

In terms of a good name, they don't come much better than that.

They're based in Ireland and started there around the 1780s by the Penrose brothers.

Somebody's had a real field day doing this.

You've got strawberry cuts here, you've got hobnails,

you've strawberry fields here, panels, swags.

-It's all going on in this one piece.

-It is a beautiful piece.

It really is a kind of tour de force of glass-cutting skill.

If you bought that new today, you'd be parting with at least a couple of hundred pounds

for something like that, but at auction, that's about £20-£30.

But you said there are some other pieces.

There's a decanter and glasses that came from her grandmother.

There's also a rather lovely little clock.

Why don't we have a look at them, see the condition, see if we can

make a nice lot up, and we'll put an estimate on it then.

John soon selects a few more pieces to go off to auction,

bringing the total to £50-£80.

Angie's dug out some signed,

limited-edition prints by the famous wildlife artist David Shepherd.

They used to hang in her parents' art gallery

and include various wildlife scenes

and a large print of the Flying Scotsman steam engine.

John values the collection at an impressive £200-£300.

And the artwork just keeps coming.

I've brought you to look at this picture, see what you think of it.

It's been hanging here for 15 years now.

Well, my first impression, Angie, is it's a very accomplished picture.

-We've got a painting here...

-Bet it's not as nice as this!

-No. Is that a painting or a print?

-It is indeed. It's a watercolour.

Wow, that is lovely.

So, Angie, what do you know about the subject matter?

Not a huge amount, other than I know that it's Reims Cathedral.

It is indeed Reims Cathedral, which is a very, very important cathedral in French monarchical history.

It's where the kings and queens were crowned, so it's pretty much like our Westminster Abbey.

The more you look at it, the more detail you can see.

Just emerging here from the doors is a Catholic priest, and so many

little minor conversations going on throughout the picture.

The artist... It is signed Neil Stuart Crichton.

Not a great deal known about him which often puzzles me.

I've only ever found a couple of examples of his work.

They tend to turn up in pairs.

He was flourishing around the latter part of the 19th century, but what's always puzzled me is that,

for such a skilled artist who he obviously is, not much work exists.

It leads me to think that possibly he sold a lot of works unsigned.

So, John, what do you think it might make at auction?

Well, value-wise, I'd be looking at about £200-£300, something like that.

What do you think of that, Angie?

I'd be reluctant to see it go for under £300.

If we were to have a reserve of £300, that would mean we'd have

to bring the estimate up to £300-£400, but it's worth a chance.

It's still a very attractive picture

and it's got every chance of achieving that.

OK, right. Well, you've made enough money to get the professionals in,

because the value of everything going to auction comes to £970!

-Brilliant news.

-Wonderful.

-Excellent, isn't it?

It's really good. Really pleased.

Hopefully maybe even a bit more if that flies off the wall on the day.

We have high hopes that Angie will make the £500 she needs.

We found some fantastic items that I'm sure will interest the bidders on auction day.

There's the fabulous 19th-century gaming table.

Angie remembers her grandfather playing cards on it.

John's value was £250-£350.

Let's not forget the ten David Shepherd prints,

including the Flying Scotsman, valued at £200-£300.

And the dolls that Angie collected as a little girl.

They were given to her by her father and hold strong sentimental value.

They have a £30-£50 price tag, but we'll have to find out on the day

if she's willing to part with them.

Still to come on Cash In The Attic:

one of our sales leaves us all gobsmacked.

Oh, goodness!

Whoa!

Even our expert is surprised with the result of one of our pieces.

I really had hoped that that was going to take off.

Let's hope it's not a crash landing when the final hammer falls.

Yours, madam.

It's some time since we visited Angie at her home in Cambridgeshire, and she collected a lot of things

over the years, but we had a good look through them, together with her friend Sue,

and the items of value we've brought here to Sworders Auction House in Stansted Mountfitchet.

Now, she wants to raise £500 to do some improvements to her kitchen

and make a bit more room because she plans to start fostering children.

With such a fantastic idea in mind and £500 to make,

let's hope the bidders dig deep and help us reach that target.

This Essex auction runs every Wednesday morning and sells

an eclectic mix of antiques, including furniture, glass,

pictures and jewellery. This should bode well for Angie's items,

but have they all made it to the saleroom?

-Hello.

-Hi.

We're dying to know, because there's so many boxes of things here,

whether or not you've brought your dolls.

No, I've decided not to bring them this time.

-Why was that?

-Well, they've got a lot of sentimental value to me and they've got a lot of memories

and I've decided that I want to keep those memories.

So, Angie, any reserves on your items today?

I've put a £350 reserve on the Crichton watercolour.

That's in the middle of our £300-£400 estimate. It's a wonderful watercolour.

If it's going to sell at that money, it will.

You're not worried about taking it back home?

I'm quite happy to take it back. The space is still available.

Fair enough. Come on, then, let's get in position.

So the dolls stay at home.

Fortunately, that's not a huge loss for us,

but we also lose the blue and orange dinner service valued at £20-£30.

Angie's nephew dropped it when moving so, in total, that's £50 off our renovation fund.

If, like Angie, you have a special reason to raise some cash and are thinking of heading to auction,

remember that commission and other charges may apply, so check the details with your auction house.

As today's auctioneer gets proceedings under way...

Selling at £55.

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

It's the silver cutlery set in a wooden box, valued at £30-£60.

Lot 159, who'll start me here at £20?

£20 is bid on commission, 22, 25, 28, 30, 32 in the room now. 32, commission's lost.

35 where?

So £32 in the room, selling at £32, all finished at 32...

£32. That's OK, isn't it?

So not a bad start, and someone's got a real bargain.

Angie's happy with the result, so let's hope she's still smiling after the next item.

Crystal may not be the thing of the moment, but Waterford's a very good name, isn't it?

You're quite right, a very good name,

but fashion is a funny thing, and that's where demand is driven.

I'm sure that at least the first piece that you found, Sue, would've been worth that on its own.

-It certainly would've cost more than that. So we've got a nice collection we put together.

-We did.

And we're looking for £50-£80. Should do it.

Anyone to start at £50?

50 bid, thank you, sir. 55, madam?

55, 60, 5, 70, 5, 80...

-Keep going.

-85? good Waterford here, sir.

85, a lady's bid at 85. 90 anywhere?

Sold to the lady at £85, at 85... Brilliant!

That's all right, isn't it?

Just over our top estimate.

Fantastic, and we're on a roll.

The 1930s Bar-let typewriter quickly follows suit.

Selling on a commission at £25. Are we all done, please, at 25?

Selling £5 over John's top estimate.

So far, so good, but now it's time to take a gamble.

OK, now this is a lovely lot.

We were looking at this earlier on. It's the card table.

-How did you acquire this?

-This was my grandmother's.

-Right.

She's kept it in very good condition.

If you remember, on the day we were saying the fact that it's not faded or warped on the top...

She must've really looked after it.

She did. They used it to play regularly as well.

I love that idea - sitting down and playing bridge or parlour games.

The envelope card table, rosewood and inlaid, for £200.

Anybody want that for £200?

-£200 is bid. A lady's bid at £200.

-Yes, thank God!

At £200, 220...

..240, 260,

280, 300.

£300. A gentleman's bid in the room at £300, and we're selling.

-Are we all done and finished at £300?

-Really pleased with that.

-Good.

So we're all happy as £300

is a massive amount towards our £500 target.

There are smaller contributions from the Wedgwood jug and bucket

and the silver nutcrackers.

12.

Adding just £24 to our kitty between them.

With half our lot sold, we've made an impressive £466,

which means our £500 target is nearly in the bag.

There's plenty more to sell, though, so we could be in for a showstopper.

But it's the two coffee sets from Singapore coming up next.

They're valued at £20-£30.

Ten years ago, sets like this individually made £50-£80.

We've got two sets here for £20-£30.

-Let's hope they haven't gone down in demand any more.

-£20 for the two.

Lot 208, we're selling the Japanese eggshell there for £20.

Two coffee sets for £20. For 10? £10 for the two. Any interest at £10?

Oh, no! I'm so sorry.

I'm going to sell it at £10. Sold at 10...

Wow! £10. What were we saying? "Let's hope they haven't dropped in demand any more."

We nearly didn't get a bid at all for that. £10 for two Japanese coffee sets.

Quite cheap. How do you feel?

A bit disappointed, but it's better to have the money in the pocket.

John's on the ball with his predictions today.

It's not the result we were hoping for but, as Angie said, it's all money in the pot.

It's the same result again for the three boxes of coffee spoons.

Going to sell at £10. No more interest, then £10.

Definitely a bargain for someone.

Onwards and upwards, as the next item is shown to the room.

It's the set of ten prints by artist David Shepherd.

They're valued at £200-£300.

Now, I remember five or six years ago,

David Shepherd prints would've made about £100 each,

and we've got ten here for £200-£300 which reflects

-a slight shift in demand.

-What did you used to sell these for?

Anything up to £500, £600 for them framed.

-This way they should sell well.

-Yeah.

£100 for them, the signed David Shepherd prints. I've £100 bid.

110, 120, 130, 140,

150, 160.

160 on account, 160, at 160...

170 where now? At 160.

170 anywhere? At 160.

170 anywhere?

Selling on account at 160.

All done at 160.

-£160.

-I'm a little bit disappointed at that.

I really had hoped that that was going to take off. How do you feel?

That's £16 each. That seems like nothing to me.

It's disappointing, but it's better money in the pocket again.

We may be disappointed, but Angie's got a great attitude

to the sale, and let's face it, £160 all goes towards our total.

Now it's our star item, the original watercolour of Reims Cathedral,

and we're hoping this is what the serious buyers

have been holding out for.

Although this particular subject matter isn't hugely popular,

you don't see big panoramic views like this with so much detail.

I think it's a wonderful picture,

I think the best I've ever seen of those European scenes.

At £300-£400, I still think that would be cheap.

You've got a reserve?

Yes, I have got a reserve on it of £350.

Tempt you all with a teasing bid to start off at £200.

We're away at £200. I'll take 20 now.

I've £200, here with me at £200.

220, 240, 260, 280, 300, 320...

Keep going, keep going!

-340, 360, 380, 400...

-Oh, goodness!

-440...

-Whoa!

-With me here at £440. At 440, do I see 60 anywhere else now?

The room's out, so, on a commission, selling at £440. 440...

£440!

That's a result, isn't it?

-Well done.

-Oh, that is really good.

Maybe they're coming back into fashion. Who cares? £440!

-Now what am I going to put on my wall?

-Who cares?

For £440, you'll find something!

-Absolutely. Brilliant!

-That's such a relief.

It's a fantastic outcome, selling for £40 over John's upper estimate.

All that remains is to work out just how much Angie's made.

Well, you wanted £500.

You know we're really close to that cos we banked £466 this morning.

Do you think we've made much more this afternoon?

I hope we've made our target and more besides.

We've actually banked £1,086.

That's really good! Thank you so much. That's brilliant news.

Back home, Angie's clearing out the rooms in preparation for the

big renovation, and her friend Sue is here again to help out.

The kitchen and the dining room are being knocked through to make one big room.

It's quite surreal now. It's actually happening and it's brilliant.

It's taken me so long to get to this stage and I'm really looking forward

to seeing what it's like in there now, now that the wall's coming down.

It's a big job, but once the builders get to work,

it doesn't take long before the changes start to take shape.

Wow! Look at that!

What a difference.

I can't believe how quick you've done that, guys. It's brilliant!

Oh, I can start planning now!

'It's the best thing that I could've done.'

The room was used as a walk-through, from one room to the other,

so this is going to make such a difference to the whole house, the whole feel of the house as well.

-It's going to be much more sociable, isn't it?

-I think so, yes.