Day Cash in the Attic

Welcome to the programme that has great fun

rummaging around your house, finding things we can take to auction

so that you can sell to raise money for a special project.

Now, imagine that you've inherited a house

from your grandparents which is chock-a-block full of stuff

and you have to decide what to keep and what to get rid of.

Well, that's the rather interesting problem

that's facing today's family on Cash In The Attic.

Coming up on Cash In The Attic.

Our host has been keeping mum about a particularly dazzling piece.

-Do think your mother knows?

-No.

-I think we'd better tell her, don't you?

-I think we'd better do, yeah.

-Can Paul's puns really help sell a painting?

-Oh, it's not too dear.

It's one deer.

Come on, let's get some new jokes.

And at the auction, a top price brings a big surprise.

£680.

-Thank goodness you decided to stick the lid on.

-Yes.

Be there when the final hammer falls.

I'm on the outskirts of Sheffield today

and on my way to meet

Clair Day, who is very anxious to buy some new windows

to replace the ones that are, quite literally, falling out of her house.

Clair, her husband Chris

and six-year-old daughter Ellora

have lived in this substantial house for three years.

It's a well-loved home, which Clair inherited from her grandfather.

Chris can't be with us today,

so it's Clair's mum, Patricia,

who's going to be helping us on our rummage.

Clair was born in Sheffield and, after a successful career

in marketing, she and Chris now run a web design company from home.

Well, there's certainly no shortage of room.

When she's not involved with the business, there's nothing

that Clair enjoys more than a bit of creative play with little Ellora.

Well, let's hope that we can play to our strengths on today's rummage.

Hi, Clair, this looks like a real hive of activity going on here.

-Who have you got with you?

-This is my daughter, Ellora.

-And this is my mum, Patricia.

-Ellora, that's a beautiful name.

Where does that come from?

It was actually from the film Willow.

The Princess in that was called Ellora and I thought it was

a pretty name and I liked the film.

So, why have you called in Cash In The Attic, Clair?

Well, we're wanting to raise some money to pay for

the maintenance of this house that we inherited from my grandparents.

Presumably, Patricia,

that means that this is the house

-that you grew up in?

-Yes, that's right.

-So who was the collector?

-My father. Yes.

He went all over the world

and came back with some things we wanted, some things we didn't.

-Always something.

-How much money do we think we're going to raise?

Ideally, we'd like to raise about £2,000.

From what Patricia's said, it sounds as if we've got lots of wonderful

things in the house that we'll be able to take to auction.

And I think Paul Hayes is the man to decide which are the best things

that might make that £2,000 for you.

So, shall we go and find him?

This really is an amazing house.

Built in the 1960s, Clair's grandfather was obviously

very keen to fill its many luxurious rooms with a host of treasures.

With years of experience in the trade, our expert Paul Hayes

is always on the ball when it comes to antiques and collectables.

-Ah, hello.

-What have we got here, then, Clair?

Well, this dish was on the centre of the dining room table.

-I just think it's quite pretty. It's very garish.

-Very ornate, isn't it?

-Yes.

And what about this one?

This was originally part of a set of, I think, five or six plates.

Well, this one is actually part of a comport set.

It's not designed to be eaten from, and I can see somebody has,

-at some point.

-Wasn't me.

But the idea was, it would go into a cabinet or a sideboard

and there would have been a set of 12.

Amongst that set of 12, there would have been four,

two or four tazzas, which is a plate with a stand

where you put your cakes and your things.

It's used for fruit.

But the basic emphasis is for a display cabinet.

Royal Worcester make top, top quality items

and they employed the best artists of the day to work on these pieces.

And they're actually amongst one of the first factories

to let the artists sign their work.

And that was unheard of at the time.

Normally, it would say, "This was made by Royal Worcester."

"This was made by Crown Derby."

But they went one stage further and let the artists sign them.

If you have a look at this wonderful landscape picture in the middle,

we've got the signature here H Davis.

That's Harry Davis, he was very famous.

He was the foreman at the Worcester factory.

He retired in the 1950s and

the one you're holding, that gentleman took over.

It's a guy called Edward Townsend.

This one's got quite a lot of bling on it.

What can you tell us about this one?

It's actually far more modern.

They've used a lot more gold, it's a very impressive-looking set.

But that is genuine 22-carat gold leaf,

so it's quite expensive to produce.

And then the painting in the middle is signed by the artist, again.

He was often done for game birds, for shooting, that sort of thing.

But you can see the backstamp, it's very modern, very flashy.

So, you're looking 1950s, if not, the 1960s for this one,

so it's a bit later.

So, presumably,

we're looking at quite a valuable couple of plates here.

What sort of price would you put on them?

Well, I think that all the money, really,

is in the Harry Davis painting.

He is a household name when it comes to Royal Worcester

and very, very collectable.

I mean, an odd plate like that, it's a little bit rubbed,

but if I said £150, maybe up to £200 for that one.

And about £100 for this one, here.

Were looking at, realistically, £250-plus for these two.

That sounds fantastic.

That's really good.

And I think you're going to have a great day today, Paul.

Let's hope so. That's a good start.

£250 really is a great start to the day.

Could we be reaching our £2,000 target in record time?

Whilst we've been admiring the work of Harry Davis,

Mum Patricia has been busy in the lounge

and has spotted this pair of impressive marble foo dogs.

Although originally created to guard Buddhist temples,

these proud symbols of Chinese tradition date back

thousands of years and come in many shapes and sizes.

These two are probably 19th century and Paul thinks

that they could make an inspiring £100-£150 at auction.

And the Oriental theme continues,

because Pat then spies this charming chap.

Paul? Paul, come and have a look at this rather handsome fellow.

Just look at the detail in all of that carving underneath his hat

and down here, on his legs.

Where would he have been made?

Most of these tend to be Japanese.

Should have a little red cartouche on the bottom. There we are.

Little red square. That's the Tokyo School in Japan.

What you've got to realise,

Japan was first trading with the West in the 19th century.

It was very much a secret country till then,

so there's a fascination for anything Japanese.

And lots of these are actually made for us Europeans, that was the idea.

They're made up in sections.

And if you have a look, you've got his feet, here,

is one piece of ivory.

Then his torso is another, and then his arm,

definitely it's a different piece. Can you see that?

Lots of that resulted from, they'd work a very large tusk,

a very large piece of ivory.

Then the bits that were left over would be made

into figurines to sell as a tourism item.

And I think this looks like a peach.

And the peach is the symbol of

longevity, of long life.

So, it might be showing, you know,

if you eat your peaches, you'll live for ever.

That's the basic idea.

So, what's the situation with selling ivory these days?

Well, ivory has to be worked before 1947, OK?

So, the ivory has to date from before that period.

-So, what age do you think that is?

-I know exactly.

This is the late Victorian period. The Meiji period in Japan.

So, you're looking 1880, 1900s. So, it's well over 100 years old.

So, we're fine with this one.

So, how much do you reckon we might get for him at auction?

-Well, if I said 300-500 as an estimate, give it a chance.

-Oh.

-How does that sound?

-Oh, yes, sounds wonderful.

-You sound very surprised.

I am.

-If we say between 300 and 500 as an auction estimate.

-Yes, wonderful.

Well, I tell you what,

I think he's got the most wonderful expression on his face.

That lovely, sort of, very happy look.

I'm going to put him down here, nice and safe.

-Let's continue our search.

-OK.

-After you.

Hopefully, we can replicate that happy look when we get to auction.

130, 140, 150, you've taken it. At 150.

Find out if he raises a smile when the hammer falls.

Well, our rummage is going so well today

that I think we'll leave Paul to carry on the good work,

whilst I take a moment to find out more about these two lovely ladies,

and this remarkable home.

Clair, you inherited this house from your grandparents.

And, as we've seen, Patricia,

it is full of everything that your father collected over the years.

-Yes.

-That must have been a heck of a responsibility.

So, what went through your mind when you took it over?

I just wondered where everything was going to go, to be honest.

Because, obviously, I had my own house,

my own life, and it was a case of merging the two houses.

So, yeah, it was a bit daunting.

It took about three months to actually move in.

And, Patricia, we've established that you grew up in this house

with all of these amazing things.

Clair wants to get rid of a lot of them because

she's afraid of the damage that the children and the dogs might do.

Were you never worried you might knock anything over?

No, no, nobody seemed to be worried about me either,

knocking anything over.

No, I just grew up with them and they were just there.

I can't remember ever damaging anything, anyway.

Well, both your father and your grandfather were in business

and in engineering and, presumably, that's been passed on to you

because your degree was in business management.

But you've worked for some of

the greatest engineering names in the world.

Land Rover, Ferrari, Maserati.

How did that come about?

My dad's company used to do the conveyor belts

and robots for the manufacturing plants.

So, they'd be in there all the time, a lot through the summer.

So, I could go in and do assignments, do my thesis and things on

a reasonably large company like that

because I'd got a, sort of, back door in there.

So, I ended up working in the motor industry.

Now, you and your husband Chris,

you've, sort of, come out of engineering and business,

in that respect.

-You now work together with your own company, don't you?

-Yes, we do.

We run a web design business together. Yeah.

But that means you're not

just life partners, you're also business partners,

-working together 24 hours a day. How does that work?

-I don't know.

It just does. It just does, it's brilliant.

It's absolutely fantastic.

We're raising the money so that you can

put new windows in the house.

Is there a lot of other stuff that you have to do?

It went further downhill than we thought it had

when my grandad died.

We thought my grandma was on top of it, she wasn't.

So, we have already done quite a few things.

And it needs be brought back up to a good standard.

Some of the windows are quite pressing now,

so they're the next thing to do.

Well, clearly, the house has become very important to you

as a family house

since it was built in the 1960s and you'd like it to continue

with that very special atmosphere for the family.

Which means raising lots of money when we go to auction.

So, shall we go and see what else we are likely to be able to take?

Whilst not everybody is fortunate enough to inherit

an impressive property like this, it is clear that this is a house with

lots of sentimental importance and one which requires plenty of upkeep.

I think Clair has her hands pretty full.

We're certainly keeping our hands busy with the rummage.

And I'm soon drawn to this gorgeous pair of table lamps.

Made by the Staffordshire pottery company Moorcroft,

they have that classic Art Nouveau look, which was

so fashionable a century ago and still proves so popular today.

Moorcroft is highly collectable and,

although of a relatively modern vintage,

Paul thinks this pair

should light up the saleroom at £300-£400.

And it's lovely to see Clair's daughter Ellora helping out.

I think we could have a future collector here.

She's spotted this attractive Carlton Ware dish.

Dating from the 1940s, it's part of their Rouge Royale range,

complete with spider's web, and it still has plenty of admirers.

Paul has given it an eye-catching £40-£60 pricetag.

-Paul, what do you think about this?

-Oh, right.

Now then, so where's this come from?

Well, I found it in the Isle of Wight, at my parents' cottage

in the Isle of Wight. It was just in the garage behind a wardrobe.

So, do you remember it being on the wall in the house?

No, it's never, I can't remember it ever being on a wall at all.

Well, it's quite a pleasing picture. Very popular.

It's called The First Snow On The Hill.

It's a guy called Archibald Thorburn, he was based in Scotland.

And he created quite realistic animals, so that's the idea,

he captures them. In this case, it's on top of a mountain top.

He was from Edinburgh, Scotland.

And, of course, Queen Victoria made her home in Scotland.

So, anything Scottish was very much of the day.

Of course, when this was first exhibited, it caused

such a stir, they actually produced a print version of it.

The coloured prints are, obviously, very collectable.

The black-and-white ones were more affordable.

But you do have an artist's signature at the bottom there.

That's like having Picasso's signature on there, Constable,

somebody like that.

I think, brought back to life, that could be really good.

If I said, sort of, £30-£50 as an auction estimate.

-How does that sound?

-That's fine.

-All right, it's not too dear.

It's one deer.

Come on, let's get some new jokes.

I've no doubt there are plenty more gags where that one came from, Paul.

And plenty more pieces too.

Because, whilst the value of that print doesn't quite match up

to our other items, I do think our rummage is going rather well.

So well, in fact, that Paul is soon drawn

to this early 19th century portrait of a Regency gentleman.

We don't know who the artist is or, for that matter,

the rather dashing subject, but it evokes the age of Jane Austen

and should prove a appealing to the bidders at £200-£400.

I think our own Mr Darcy is on a bit of a roll today

and looking to impress the ladies of the house.

Ah, Clair, Ellora, now then, look at that, what do you think of that?

-How old do you think it is?

-It's been here before I was born.

-Wow.

-So, how old are you?

-Six.

-So, it's at least six years old.

So, Clair, where's this come from, then?

My grandad picked it up on his travels around the world.

I don't know exactly where it came from.

He went to China and Africa and all over the place.

And he will have just liked it

and brought it back to add to his collection of bits and pieces.

Right, so, was he travelling around the world for business

or for pleasure?

No, he just liked to travel a lot.

He just used to book himself on a flight and go

-and come back with stuff.

-Really? Well, this dates maybe 1880, 1900.

It's Chinese export porcelain, it's made really for us Europeans.

It's called the famille verte,

which is the green family of enamel colours.

So, predominantly when you look at it, it looks very green.

But China had the secret of porcelain

for over 2,000 years before we even came near to inventing this.

We only actually got round to making real porcelain

about 1750 and they had it a lot, lot earlier than that.

But these are wonderfully painted, all done by hand

and they all tell a story. And I think this one at the top, here,

represents Confucius.

Now, Confucius was probably the most prominent Chinese character

from ancient China and he was a poet and a type of prophet.

And he's stood there next to the tree of enlightenment.

Of course, you've got the two bearers here,

bearing yin and yang symbols.

Can you see that?

That's part of Confucius's prophecy.

Everything in life is either positive or negative,

yin and yang, it lives together in harmony.

Any idea how much this might be worth?

-Over £100.

-Do you know what, you're not far out there.

I was going to say around the £200 mark.

-How does that sound?

-That sounds fantastic.

-You haven't got another one? You haven't got a pair of these?

-No.

All right, well, let's leave that there, for safekeeping,

and keep looking.

You know, Confucius says, it's time for tea. Come on, off we go.

Another terrific amount towards our £2,000 target.

I'm sure it won't be long before Clair is enjoying the view

through her brand-new windows.

Mum Patricia's busy viewing this varied collection of pieces

by Royal Crown Derby.

And they come with a long history, dating back to the mid-18th century,

when their porcelain rivalled that of the famous Dresden factories.

Royal Crown Derby is still highly sought after by collectors,

so Paul has valued these at an impressive £300-£500.

Clair, it's been lovely to have Ellora with us today and she's

very kindly allowed us to come into her bedroom to chat for a minute.

Because, last year, you had another young girl in the family, didn't you?

Tell me who she was and how she came to be here.

This was Katya, who was from Belarus,

and she came over as part of

Chernobyl Children Life Line,

who bring a group of children over for respite each year for a month.

Add Katya was allocated with us.

Chernobyl, of course, was the very famous explosion

of the nuclear power station.

How did that affect this little girl and her family in Belarus?

Belarus is just north of the Ukraine, which is where Chernobyl is.

It's quite northerly within the Ukraine

and the fallout went straight over Belarus first.

So, that was where people were affected.

So, how did she and Ellora bond?

They just became really good friends.

They're both only children

and I think that helped, it was a real novelty for both of them

to have a, sort of, "sister" staying in the next room to them.

So, yeah, they're just really close.

They write each other little notes

and post them to each other.

We get these little letters that say "I love Ellora" in English,

cos she can write that.

So, has Ellora started to learn a little bit of Russian?

Yeah, yeah, a bit.

She is, obviously, she can't read it, so I have to read to her

if she writes in Russian,

but when she was chatting for a month with Katya,

she still talks to people and she'll say niet instead of no sometimes.

So, yeah, she's picking a bit up.

So, does part of the money that we're going to raise have anything

to do with Katya's visit?

Yeah, that was the other thing that we were hoping.

We have to make a donation to the charity.

Which is all the more reason why we must make sure that we make

that £2,000, at least, at auction.

And I don't think Ellora would like us

to take any of the things in this room, do you?

-No, probably not.

-Nope. So, should we look at the rest of the house?

Yeah, I think so.

Well, it's good to know that some of the proceeds from our auction

are going to be going to such a worthy cause, and I'm sure

it's not going to be long before Katya and Ellora are reunited.

-Ah, now then, Clair, are you all right?

-Yes.

Where's this come from, then?

It was in my grandparents' apartment in Hawaii.

They bought an apartment in Hawaii and furnished it with local,

or bought locally furniture and ornaments.

-OK. Did you get to go out to Hawaii, then?

-Oh, yeah.

-Did you get to visit there?

-Oh, yes, it was great. It was really nice.

That's fantastic.

So, was he buying things around the antique shops or the bazaars

while he was out there?

-To the antique shops.

-Right, OK.

And just, you know, buy whatever he liked.

It's a French ormolu clock.

The original design was designed, actually, to go on a bracket.

Do you ever remember seeing it on its own frame,

its own sort of stand?

-No. No, it's always been on a sideboard.

-Right.

Well, the decoration is made exactly the same

as it would have been in the 18th century.

This is made from kingswood,

which was very popular in France at that time.

All the Louis Kings had their desks made from kingswood.

It's a very purplish, very distinctive grain.

And the way it's been done is beautiful.

It's been quatre veneered, basically.

It looks like a herringbone,

if you have a look at the way that the composing grains go.

Then it's been inlaid with different satinwoods

and fruitwoods on the top.

It gives a very, very elaborate design.

Then it's been decorated with ormolu mounts, which originally

would have been gilded bronze, and looks very, very attractive.

This is a brass example.

And there are a couple of clues here that tells us

this is a 20th-century clock, it's not an 18th-century clock.

Just the way the brass is actually mounted onto the wood

using these screws, here.

That would never happen in the 18th century.

That just doesn't exist at that time.

But it's a great selling item, it looks very impressive.

Anybody that's got a large room like yourself,

or a restaurant, or a hotel, it looks great, doesn't it?

And that would sell, I mean, if I said between 300 and 500.

-I mean, how does that sound?

-That's a window.

-All right, let's keep looking.

-Yep.

Another stunning estimate for us.

Never mind a day, I'll bet we could spend an entire week

rummaging through so many remarkable antiques and collectables.

Clair has spotted this Sheffield silver dish, which dates from 1930.

Paul thinks it could shimmer in the sale room at £50-£80.

Not a bad amount, but can we finish with a flourish?

-Look at this. It's a fantastic house, you have here.

-Thank you.

I wanted to show you this, see what you thought of that.

-Wow, look at this lot, is it all silver?

-Look at that!

-Really? Let's have a look at this thing.

-Oh, oh.

To The Manor Born, Paul, you were born to be Jeeves,

serving afternoon tea, wasn't he?

-Shall I be mother?

-Yes.

What a cracker, that's a beautiful service, isn't it?

Look at that wonderfully crisp hallmark on the bottom there, Paul.

What does that tell us?

That tells me that's quite a modern design,

I can tell straightaway.

In order to sell it here in the UK as silver,

it has to come up to a certain standard.

It has to test its purity.

What happens, the makers send it to an assay office

and, in this case, it's been sent to Birmingham, cos that's the anchor

that represents the Birmingham Assay Office.

And then they place this lion on there that tells us

it comes up to standard. So, it can be sold as silver.

And the V, there, that stands for about 1970, 1971.

So, it's quite a recent set. But what a cracker.

You've got a teapot, you've got a sugar basin.

You've got a cream jug, and then you've got your coffee pot as well,

which has been added to it.

So, it's a four-piece set. What a fantastic item, isn't it?

The tray doesn't seem to match the service itself,

so I think the auctioneer might actually split these up.

But it does look impressive as a whole lot.

But, I think, as a four-piece silver tea service,

you're looking at £400, possibly up to £500.

And then, we have the tray as well, which is such a rare item,

I think you could have the same amount of money again

just for the tray.

So, if I said between £800 and £1,200, I mean, how does that sound?

OK. That's brilliant.

-I'm guessing from your expression, you had no idea?

-No. Not at all.

-Do you think your mother knows?

-No, I wouldn't think so.

-So, I think we'd better tell her, don't you?

-I think we'd better do.

Patricia, do you want to come and join us a moment?

And Ellora. Come and join us.

Patricia, we've been looking at

this amazing silver tea and coffee service.

Paul, how much do you think it's going to make at auction?

Well, I think it's a fantastic set.

I mean, if I said between £800

-and £1,200, how does that sound?

-Wow, gosh.

But it gets even better,

because if we add that to everything else that Paul has

looked at today and just take the lowest estimates on everything he's

given in this amazing house, then,

I know what you want to raise is £2,000,

but I think you might be able to afford a couple of windows,

because we should make at least £2,870.

-Wow.

-Do you know what

-£2,870 looks like, Ellora?

-No.

Well, you're going to find out on auction day.

I had a feeling that today would be pretty special

as soon as we walked into this veritable Aladdin's cave.

Clair's grandfather was quite the collector

and she's now lucky enough to take some of those prized pieces

to auction for a very good cause.

We're hoping that that lovely pair of Royal Worcester plates,

one by the legendary porcelain artist Harry Davis, will serve as

well at auction, with a low, but still impressive estimate of £250.

At £300-£500, I'm sure this jolly Japanese fellow made from ivory

in the 1880s won't have too much trouble charming the bidders.

And with another pricetag of £300-£500,

there should be quite a show of hands for

this very striking 20th-century French ormolu mantel clock.

Still to come on Cash In The Attic.

A healthy sale is good news for Mum Patricia.

-Nothing distressing about that total.

-No.

-I won't have to take it home.

-No.

No, there we go, that's surprising, actually. Well done.

And we're left gasping, as the bidders really test our mettle.

-That was, sort of, hold your breath moment, wasn't it?

-At 800.

No, not 800, not 800.

That is wonderful, well done.

Be there when the final hammer falls.

Didn't we have a great day at Clair's house?

And we really did find some fantastic items, all of which

we've brought here to Derby to sell at Bamfords Auctioneers.

Now, she wants to raise a whopping great £2,000, so we're looking

for a really buzzy auction room when her items go under the hammer today.

Well, there are certainly plenty of bidders here,

exploring a plethora of antiques

and collectables in the hope of finding that something special.

Talking of special somethings, our expert Paul Hayes already

has his eye on one of our many impressive lots.

You know, I'm always very nervous of vases like this, when I see

a little lid like that balanced on the top, because it might fall off.

-But that one's not going anywhere, is it?

-Definitely not.

I like what they've done, actually, they've made this vase unique,

because that doesn't match the actual item.

So, it's a one-off, this one, today.

But the vase is rather nice and should do very well today.

Yes, these vases are very nice. It's double gourd.

It doesn't match its base.

It moves around a bit too much, but I think it's very attractive.

Oriental things do tend to do quite well, and we've got the ivory figure.

-Which is absolutely wonderful.

-Super quality.

Yes, we really going to need to keep an eye on that today,

because we really do want it to go well.

-Let's go and see Clair and her mum, because they've just arrived.

-OK.

As the saleroom fills up, Clair and Mum Patricia have a bit of news.

Clair has decided that she wasn't really quite ready to part

with that beautiful French ormolu mantel clock.

Not to worry, though, because we still have plenty

of other terrific items with us today.

Good morning, Clair and Patricia.

I see you're having a good look at the little ivory man.

-We've got some bids on him already from Hong Kong.

-Oh, fantastic.

-Wonderful.

-But actually, the auctioneers have worked very hard

because there's lots of interest in the silverware as well, isn't there?

There's a well-known dealer from London interested in that one.

So, yes. I think it's all going well today.

So, Pat, what are you hoping to get out of today?

Well, I'd like to see this little chap go.

Well, this is your last opportunity to say goodbye to him

because I think he's going home.

Shall we go and take our places? Because it's going to start.

So, as the sale gets under way, it seems that the room is

so busy, the auctioneer has had to turn his microphone

up to full volume.

So, for once, there's someone in the room who's louder than me.

At £8 only, ten, do I see?

I'm sure we can manage, though,

as our first item is about to go under the hammer.

So, the Carlton Ware two-handled dish,

did you actually use this in the house?

No, no, it was stuffed into a corner and we didn't even see it.

-That's why it's at auction.

-A very interesting £40-£60 pricetag, Paul?

That's right it's very Art Deco, this pattern's well-known.

The spiderweb pattern and the Rouge Royale range, actually, was

one of the top ranges that Carlton Ware did.

It's got everything going for it.

£32, an absentee bid, I can start it at.

32!

38 and 40, and two, and five. Against you at £42. 45, now.

At 42, absentee bid against you. Are you coming back, one more?

At 42, it's against you.

-Right.

-All right, wasn't it?

-Over our lowest estimate.

-Yes.

-Yes.

-And not bad for something that was in the corner.

-Exactly.

That's a heartening start to the auction and it gets us

on our way to our £2,000 target.

OK, I think it's fair to say that this next item

is slightly distressed.

-Remember this print?

-I think you could say that.

I think you're being really generous.

It needs a makeover, a bit like myself.

But it is by Archibald Thorburn.

It is a very good subject,

but does need a little bit of work to tidy it up.

It has been signed by the artist, which is good, in 1899.

So, fingers crossed. £30-£50 we're looking for.

And I can start the bidding at 22, 25, now. 22, 25, do I see?

25 seated, sir. 28 with me and 30. 32 and 35 takes it.

At 35 seated, 38 now. At 35, 38, do I see?

£35. On the aisle at 35.

-Nothing distressing about that total.

-No.

-No.

I won't have to take it home.

No, there we go, that's surprising, actually. Well done.

A good but modest result, and £5 over Paul's lowest estimate.

But I can feel the bidders' interest stirring as we approach

our more valuable items, like this 1930 Art Deco

Sheffield silver dish, which belonged to Clair's grandfather.

I rather like the shape of this silver dish that's coming up now.

It's got a very elegant, sort of, very tactile feeling to it.

And did you ever put little bonbons or things in it?

No, no.

I think the most I've ever found is people chucking drawing pins

and things into it.

£40 is bid, and 42 now.

-40 to start with!

-Oh.

42 here. 45, 48, sir. 48 and 50. 50 and five.

At £50 with me, and five, anywhere?

At £50, do I see 55? Absentee bid.

-On the button there, Paul.

-Very good.

-Fantastic, isn't it?

Another £50 in the kitty.

Now, I wonder if that pair of foo dogs from the Far East

will fetch Paul's estimate.

Or just simply roll over.

They're Victorian and highly decorative

and seem to have attracted interest from distant shores.

Now, I think this is where we're going to have to keep our eye

on the internet, as well as on the room,

because we've got that pair of Chinese dogs coming up now

and we know that there's interest from Hong Kong.

-Hm.

-Yes.

-Which is going to be pretty exciting.

-Yes, very.

-Where did you keep these dogs?

-They were on the fireplace.

Either side of the fireplace on the floor,

where nobody could kick them over or knock them over and break them.

I don't know about knocking them over,

they'd probably break their toe if they banged into them.

I'll start on the absentee at £80. And five, do I see?

At 80, 85 waving, 90 and five.

Great.

95 nodding. 100, 110. 110, 120, 130 for you.

At 120, with me.

-120 with the bidder on his books.

-120.

£120. Any advance? One more?

-Nice surprise, there?

-Yeah.

That's excellent.

Well, those foo dogs move on to guard a new owner.

But not before raising us another £120.

Paul and I were taking a look at the gourd vase which is coming up now

and I see that someone very sensibly

decided to stick the lid on it,

even though it's not the matching lid.

Whose idea was that?

I think it might have been the architect who designed the house.

If you remember, he was a friend of my grandparents'.

He was a dab hand at sticking things together. So, I think it was him.

Did it ever have a few dodgy moments, Pat,

when you were afraid somebody was going to knock it over?

Oh, yes, it's quite wobbly. So, yes, there were one or two moments.

Dogs and children. That sort of thing.

One absentee bid. I can start it at the lower end of the estimate at £200.

300?

300, no. Phone, two? 300. 400.

500, 600, 650, 680.

700. 690, if you like? Last chance, are you sure?

At 680, on the phone. All sure.

£680!

Thank goodness you decided to stick the lid on.

And not let the dog near it.

I think the shape is so unusual,

but the top definitely is something not quite right there.

So, well done. Amazing, that is amazing, isn't it?

That vase featured the great Chinese philosopher Confucius,

who once said, "He who will not economise will have to agonise."

Hopefully, there'll be no agonising for Clair and Patricia

when it comes to those new windows.

Now, my Mr Darcy's coming up now.

That lovely portrait that was

on the left-hand side as you went into your hallway.

I think he's actually very handsome. What do you reckon, Paul?

Yeah, he's very well-painted, actually.

It's just a shame we don't know who the guy is.

What I like about it, actually, is that people can create their own heritage.

If you've bought a big house, want a regal look,

you could say, that's my great-great-grandad.

Yeah, well, I'd love to have him as one of my ancestors.

Grandpa Hayes. Darcy Hayes, that's what we can call him.

So, I can start it at £140. 150 now.

Right.

150, 150, 160, 170, 180, 190, 210.

Shake of the head. At £200. 210, new place. 220 with me and 230 has it.

230 in the back. At 230, far wall.

At £230, 240 anywhere?

230.

-My Mr Darcy's gone.

-He's gone.

-£230, never mind.

Anyhow, but that's a great price,

because you had £200 to £400, didn't you?

-Exactly.

-And we don't know who the artist is.

-No, or the subject.

I'll bet that handsome chap will bring a lot of pleasure

to one lucky bidder.

I wonder if he's managed to bring us

a bit of luck, as we reach the halfway point of the auction.

-£2,000 is our final target.

-Yes.

And we've still got some great items to come.

-I'm very happy to tell you that so far, we've made £1,157.

-Oh, I say.

Gosh.

So, we're over the halfway point and we've still got that amazing

tea service to come and a couple of other interesting items.

The bidders are still keen to buy,

so fingers crossed for the rest of our lots.

Now, if like Clair, you're keen to raise money by selling

at auction, do bear in mind that there are charges to be paid -

including commission, which varies depending on the saleroom -

so it's always worth checking in advance.

12, 15, anywhere?

Up next, those two glorious Royal Worcester plates.

One by the esteemed artist Harry Davis,

which dates from the early 20th century.

The other, a 22-carat gold leaf example from the 1960s.

This is where it really comes, it's very unusual

because these are Royal Worcester plates which sell in their own

rights, but really, it's the artist who's worked on them,

is where the collectability is, all right?

So, I've put these in at £250 for two plates. That's a posh lunch.

Right. Let's see how we get on.

Two absentee bids and I can start the bidding at £220.

240, now. 220.

240, do I see? And selling, 240. 260. At 260, absentee bid.

270, if it helps you. Are we sure?

At £260, anybody else?

Well, I think we should get several posh lunches out of that, Paul.

And it's a whopping £260 towards our target.

Could our next lot prove as popular?

It's that jolly 19th-century Japanese ivory figure

bought by Clair's grandfather.

And who always puts a smile on my face.

But since we first met him, we've had some interesting news.

-Can you remember that there was a little hole, something missing?

-Yes.

Well, James the auctioneer thinks that it could have been a basket.

He thought my estimate of £300 to £500 was slightly optimistic

because the basket is missing.

And he'd rather see it going between 200 to 300.

I mean, how do you feel about that?

Yeah, we knew something was missing

so, it's fine.

James has had a lot interest from the Far East

and they're the experts.

They knew immediately it wasn't quite right.

£120. Absentee bid starts it. 130, let it go in the room first.

130 bid. 150, you've taken it. At 150, 170.

170. At £170, 180 now.

180, the lady's bid now. 180, 200, nodding. 210, 210.

220. 220, yes.

230. In the room.

At 220, 230, do I see? At 220.

It's yours.

-He's going to stay in Derbyshire.

-He is, isn't he?

There was a lot of interest there.

I quite like that, because the phones were beaten

by somebody who actually came to view it and have a look.

And maybe it wouldn't look as obvious up front,

by looking online.

Well, he doesn't look too bothered.

And another £220 means we really are making some serious money now.

And just when you thought

it couldn't get any better, Clair turns up even more.

Just as you come into the auction room today,

on the left-hand side, there's a display cabinet

with all your beautiful things in it, including a little bit more

Royal Crown Derby than I thought we were going to see.

Yeah, I found another one hiding away in a completely different place.

So, I thought it may as well join its friends and come down to auction.

Rather than leave it all on its own.

I think it was the duck.

-One of these days, you're going to have a proper clearout, aren't you?

-Yes.

I have an absentee bid, starting at 250. 260, now.

At 250, 260, 270, 280.

280, 290, 300. Do you want three? At 290 with me and 300, do I see?

300, new place, 310, 320. With me at 310, 320 now.

At 310. And selling.

That's excellent, dead on.

An excellent result and just over Paul's lower estimate.

I wonder if those gorgeous modern Art Nouveau style Moorcroft

table lamps, usually a sure-fire hit with the bidders,

will light our way towards our £2,000 target.

-You rather like Moorcroft, don't you?

-I do.

Because you've got a rather beautiful vase by Moorcroft,

-haven't you?

-Patched up.

-Restored.

-Restored.

-But that has not come to the auction today.

-No.

-But the two Moorcroft lamps have.

-Yes.

-Do you not use them in the house at all?

-No.

Maybe if they matched perfectly, I could put them somewhere

where they could be on display, but with the big shades

and everything, there's just nowhere to put them.

And I've got one, two, three, four, five, six, seven bids.

-Oh.

-Oh.

So, I can start the bidding at...

£270. 280 now.

280? In the room or phones. 280 on the phone. 290.

300, 310, 320. On the phone.

At £320. 330 now. At 320, any advance?

At 320. Lots of bidding, but all very close.

-Nice result.

-That's bang on.

That's four amazing sales on the trot.

Moorcroft is always popular at auction and that pair certainly

did very well for us, coming in at just over Paul's lowest estimate.

We've had some terrific results today.

It's not quite over yet,

because we still have that silver tea set made in Birmingham in 1971.

I think this is going to be hang-on-to-your-hats time

because we've got that amazing set of silver.

Not just the tea set, but also that incredibly heavy tray.

I mean, that in itself weighed a tonne, didn't it?

And we've put it all together as one lot

and there's been a lot of interest in it.

You never actually used this, did you?

-No, never. It just sat there on the sideboard.

-So, not sad to see it go?

No, not at all. I can see my sideboard now.

I'll start it at £800. 850, do I see? 850.

850. I'll come back to you.

850, 900 on the phones.

900, 950.

950, 1,000. 1,000. 1,100, 1,200.

1,200 bid. 1,250, 1,300. 1,350. 1,400, 1,450.

-Crikey.

-Oh.

1,450, 1,500. 1,550.

Somebody else over there, now.

1,550, 1,600. 1,650. At £1,600, and 50, where? At 1,600.

Yes, come on, come on.

£1,600.

-That is fantastic.

-I'm not taking it home.

-Dear me.

-That was sort of, hold your breath moment, wasn't it?

-At 800.

No, not 800, not 800.

That is wonderful, well done.

We couldn't have wished for a better finale to today's auction,

which started well and just seemed to get better and better.

But just how much has Clair's remarkable haul of heirlooms

managed to make?

Bearing in mind that you did not bring the clock,

you have made in total £3,867.

-That's brilliant.

-Great.

-Fantastic.

-You see, and Grandad had all that stuff in the house.

-You're right.

-I wonder if he paid that amount for it. Probably not.

-Shouldn't think so.

-No.

-What a result!

It's now a few weeks after that action-packed auction

and there's been a bit of a change of plan for Clair.

Whilst she's still hoping to get those windows replaced,

Clair has decided that the money from the auction should go towards

helping more disadvantaged children from Belarus

visit families in the UK.

In particular, reuniting daughter Ellora with her pen pal Katya.

Clair has invited Mick Ring from Chernobyl Children Life Line

to discuss her plans.

We work it on £500 per child, per visit.

So, we desperately need money, desperately.

We are looking forward to having Katya over again immensely.

We all are. I mean, she's just an absolute joy.

Ellora's got a calendar,

she's counting down the days till Katya comes back.

You know, it's just thoroughly enjoyable

and it's horrible when they go back.