Curry Cash in the Attic

This is the show that sifts through your antiques,

finds the best of them and then sells them at auction.

We're going to meet sisters who've been going through a sad process,

but have decided it's time to look to the future.

'Coming up on Cash In The Attic,

'I think this lady is being way too modest about the size of her ring.'

The stones, I think, are a bit too big.

Darling, you and I need to have a chat.

There's no such thing as too big a precious stone.

'And our expert Jonty has always had a knack

'for finding other people's best-loved antiques.'

Oh. You've found that.

Found that!

-Yes. I'd put it on the tip, myself.

-Oh, really?

'And when it gets to auction,

'does the moth-eaten bird resemble anyone we know?'

You'd look the same if you'd been stuffed and stuck in a cupboard.

'It's all fun and game birds when the final hammer falls.'

I'm here in Leighton Buzzard to meet a family

who are hoping today will be a bit of a memorial.

'Dog-lover Karen Curry lives in this spacious converted cottage in Leighton Buzzard

'with her husband Keith. Karen teaches part-time at a local college

'and her sister Leslie also works in education.

'The girls have one brother, Colin, who lives in Germany.

'Their beloved dad Alan had a terrific career in civil engineering

'which took him all over the world.

'On his travels, he picked out lots of interesting pieces

'for their mum, Doreen, who was a keen collector.

'Sadly, their dad died in 2000

'and more recently, their mum also passed away.

'The siblings think the time has come to see if their inherited items

'can be auctioned off to help with another family project.

'Our antiques expert is Jonty Hearnden.

'I'm sure his years of experience will stand us in great stead.'

-Oh, hello.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-Hiya. How are you doing?

-I think I heard some real ones earlier on.

-Yes.

-We've got three of them.

-Really?

-Really.

-Yes.

So, Karen, it's your house. Leslie, do you live nearby?

I live the other side of London, near Canterbury.

But I come up quite a few times to see Karen

and we take the dogs for a walk.

So, how much money do we need today?

About £600. There's three of us.

My sister, Leslie, Colin, my brother, and myself.

It would be nice to have a nice round figure each.

-You want an even number.

-Yes.

-Is it OK if I get started?

-Please do.

-Go for it.

-So, what's made you decide to do this now?

My mum died just under two years ago

and there's a lot of her stuff we found from the house

and we just thought, well, there's three of us in the family,

it would be nice to get some money out of it,

share it amongst ourselves.

What do you want to spend your money on?

I've just bought a very old, tumbly-down house.

So £200 would help anywhere in the house, so that would be great.

What do you want to spend it on?

Similar to Leslie. We've been here a bit longer,

but there's still lots of things we need to do.

We're just getting to the end and we need some carpet for our landing.

-I know it's a bit boring.

-That's riveting, isn't it(?)

So we need to raise £600, so you get £200 each to spend.

-Well, let's hope so.

-Come on, let's go.

'Karen's pretty home is dotted with unusual and quirky decor.

'Not to mention the heirlooms she's inherited from her mum and dad.

'So I'm sure we're in for plenty of variety in our rummage today.

'It looks like Jonty's already found something that takes his fancy.'

Ah, Jonty.

We know we've got some Troika somewhere for you to value,

-but it looks like you've found the Lladro first.

-Yes. Are they yours?

They were Mum and Dad's.

They used to travel around Europe and Mum liked the Lladro.

They brought something back every time they went away.

-And do you like them?

-They're sweet, but they're not my sort of style.

We keep them up there so the dogs don't get up at them

and take them around the garden.

If they do have any breaks or chips, that completely devalues them.

-So you've done the right thing.

-They're safe and sound up here.

They're all made of porcelain, glazed porcelain,

and I suppose if I pick up this young maiden here,

if you look at the colour, the design,

the concept of this figurine, it sums up Lladro.

More often than not, there are young figures and they're elongated.

And also the glazing.

If you look at this grey-blue glaze often used

and if you look on the underside, here is the stamp, that blue Lladro back stamp.

And in terms of their value?

I would put around the £50 mark for the three.

All right. OK.

Slightly bigger figures fetch a little bit more money

and there are rare figures, as well.

We went to Tenerife recently and we saw some huge big ones

and you get quite garish colours.

They've moved on. When your parents were buying,

this was the style, this was the fashion of the time.

'Lladro originated in Valencia

'and has only been making porcelain since the 1950s.

'Over the years, their distinctive style has developed a real following

'and there's every reason to think these more modern figurines will do well at auction.

'Meanwhile, Leslie has spotted this bone china coffee set

'by a well-known porcelain designer, Susie Cooper.

'The design is Glen Mist and it dates from the early '70s.

'An anniversary present to Leslie's mum and dad,

'Jonty sets his estimate at £40-£60.

'We're picking up the pace in our hunt today

'and Karen's quirky tastes are very much in evidence.

'Trust Jonty to pick out this rather unusual curio.'

Oh. You've found that.

THEY LAUGH

-Found that.

-Yes.

-So, tell me the story.

How long has this been in your house?

It hasn't been in the house long. We try and keep it in the garage.

Because my husband and I bought it,

well, I think my husband bought it, about 20-25 years ago.

And I think we were just setting up home

and we went into this junk shop in Luton.

Keith probably saw it and thought, "Ooo, we'll have that!"

-So we have one taxidermied pheasant.

-Yes.

-OK.

So does it come out of the house, go back in the house?

Um,...there are certain things in the house I don't like and my husband likes

and we have this arrangement whereby

I'll try and manoeuvre things out into the garage without him noticing.

So we have this constant battle where I'm trying to get rid of things

and he's thinking, "What have you done with my...?"

-It's in the garage.

-Yes.

The heyday for taxidermy was the 19th century, the Victorian era,

and through into the Edwardian era.

They were regarded as trophies.

You'd go to some people's houses and they would be everywhere.

Today, it's different. But there still is a market

for these sort of things in the right place, in the right setting.

There are also laws as to what you can trade with and what you can't.

But a pheasant like this, of this sort of age,

it's not a problem to put it into the auction.

But our moth-eaten pheasant, which is not that pleasant,

I have to say, what, £30-£50.

-More than I would've thought. I'd put it on the tip!

-Really?

'When it comes to auctions, it takes all sorts to make a sale.

'Will Karen and Keith's unpleasant pheasant take off at auction?'

£80. £50. £20. Any bid?

'Looks like we're all stuffed. We'll have to wait and see.'

'We're having a great time on our rummage in Leighton Buzzard.

'My first find of the day proves to be a mixed selection of brassware

'that belonged to mum Doreen. Most of these items are modern pieces,

'so Jonty gives the whole collection a cautious estimate of £20-£40.

'So many of the items today were collected by Leslie and Karen's mum.

'And I'm keen to find out more about her.'

What would your mum would make of what we're doing today?

She'd love it! She wouldn't want to be on the television. No way.

I think she'd like it in retrospect and interested

to find out what all these little knick-knacks

that she had around the house were worth.

-What sort of things did your mum buy?

-She liked pretty things.

And she did like...

Some of them cost quite a lot of money.

She loved, like, the Lladros. She started collecting those

and when they got more expensive, she went down to the Naos.

Mum used to go around charity shops

and picking up little knick-knacks and things.

I don't think she'd be worried about money.

As long as she had what she needed to buy one, she was happy.

In fact, she loved buying things for other people

rather than buying them for herself.

So she'd always, wherever she went to see something, she'd take something.

Whether it would be a chicken or... Not a real chicken!

THEY LAUGH

But something, just like a gift.

And she knitted mobile phone covers.

-Oh, yes.

-So she moved with the times, then.

I gave her a mobile phone for Christmas

and she knitted it a little cover,

put it in a drawer and never turned it on.

I don't know if Jonty can knit, but he can certainly value antiques.

-Shall we see if he's found anything else to sell?

-Yes.

-Let's do it.

'True to form, while we've been busy chatting, Jonty's made another promising find.

'This pair of beside cabinets used to belong to Karen's grandmother.

'They're oak and date from the 1920s. Jonty reckons

'they could get snapped up at a very reasonable £50-£75.

'Leslie's uncovered another group of Spanish porcelain figurines.

'Part of the Lladro company, 'these distinctive Nao pieces

'were bought by mum Doreen and dad Alan

'on their travels abroad in the 1970 and 1980s.

'The estimate for the group is £50-£80.

'And it looks like Leslie's eye for ceramics has done her proud

'with a piece of Cornish pottery

'she bought for her mum in the early '80s.'

This is interesting. Troika is very much like Marmite.

You either love it or you hate it.

-Can I have a look?

-Yes.

-This is very typical Troika work,

which has this sort of rough, textured feel to it.

Because these sorts of vases

or these pots would have been made in a mould.

Sometimes they applied decoration.

Possibly this little bit of decoration is applied.

But you see that rough texture? Very typical Troika.

So we should have marks on the underside. It says Troika.

And have you ever noticed that it's got the actual decorator's mark?

-Yes.

-Flicked onto the bottom.

I think it's quite interesting. It was all made in the West Country.

I think you can really see that in these pieces,

in the colour and the texture.

I hadn't really thought about that, actually.

-So, can we sell this now?

-Oh, definitely.

-Hang on. There's a proviso.

-Oh, yes.

-Because...Mum thought it was probably worth around £90.

-Really?

-She saw it on the television, so it must be true.

-It must be true.

-It must be true.

-It must not be true, as well, sadly.

I would estimate this to go into the auction sale for £40-£60.

-That would be my estimate for it.

-I realised the price had gone down.

-I'd love it if it made £90 at the auction.

-So would I!

Also, your mum would be, like, "Yes!"

'I really hope we can all do Doreen proud when we get to the sale room.

'But we're already halfway through our rummage

'and our total stands at just £280.

'So we still need to make up quite a bit of ground

'if we're going to reach that £600 target.

'But Jonty has already got his eye on another unusual item

'that could help the cause.'

-Hi, Jonty.

-Hi.

-What have you got?

Well, I've got a well-travelled picture.

-Yeah.

-Where is this from?

My dad did a lot of travelling in India, Sri Lanka,

and he made a lot of friends and they kept giving him gifts.

So I think it's a gift from a friend he made in India.

So it would have been a picture that would have come back from India

-and framed thereafter.

-I think so, yes.

-Because it's like fabric, isn't it?

-Absolutely.

It's a picture on some form of fabric.

Because traditionally, Indian pictures were on silk.

And we in Britain have some of the finest examples in museums.

And if you've ever seen them, they are so exquisite.

So this is a picture,

a modern-day picture based on the themes of those Moguls.

-Oh, right.

-So it's not an antique that we're looking at here,

but it is an original picture.

-Including the frame around the outside.

-Yeah. Yeah.

All of that will be hand-done with gold paint, as well.

There's a lot going on. We've got an Indian deity in a garden scene.

And if you look more closely at the detail,

we've got all these classic Indian referencing.

The peacock in the garden and the sacred cow.

I love the tree in the background. It actually looks as if it's growing out of her head.

It's a bit Carmen Miranda-ish.

We'll put it in the auction,

but being contemporary, we can't get a vast price.

But it is a hand-painted picture

and so it would be £30-£50 at auction.

Yeah, yeah. No, go for it.

-Happy to let it go?

-Yeah.

-Great. Excellent.

'This converted cottage is certainly full of surprises.

'I'm itching to find out more about Karen's lovely house

'and its lively residents.'

How long have you lived here?

We moved in about '99. So about ten years now.

It looks like this was probably one of the original cottages.

I think it was called Kitts Cottage, and part of the house is just that.

So it's about 200 years old.

But then the rest has been added on bit by bit

by people before we moved in.

So tell me a little bit about the dogs.

Have you always had boxers?

Well, we had a boxer when we were little. Juno.

When we were about three or four.

When Keith and I came here,

we said it's the right place, we've got to get a dog.

It must be a great environment to have the dogs.

Normally, I take them in the car to the woods and they just run wild.

You and Leslie obviously get on very well.

As sisters, you have your moments, don't you? But she's always there.

When Mum died, she said a really interesting thing.

She said, "It's going to be very hard

"when going through all the stuff with Mum passing away. Let's not fall out over it."

I think so many times families can, because your emotions are running quite high.

-That sounds like really good advice to me.

-So, it was really nice.

But now she's actually moved to Kent and she's got her own property,

we start talking about home improvements and stuff.

It's all getting a bit mature.

I'm very in mind that Leslie wants some money to help with the cottage.

And we've this scintillating carpet that we need to get for the hall.

So, shall we see whether Jonty or Leslie has found something else?

-Yeah, let's got for it.

-Come on then.

'It's nice to think that our auction proceeds

'will be used to help with those niggling practical expenses.

'And I've a feeling every little will help.

'What will Jonty make of Leslie's latest find?'

-That's a collection of candlesticks. What have we got, five in all?

-Yeah.

-Who's are these?

-I presume they're from my grandmothers.

I don't think my family, my mum and dad, would have bought these.

I've certainly seen them on display. But I don't know where they came from.

We've got a large pair. Let's have a closer look.

Obviously to have real value they need to be silver.

But not necessarily. It doesn't matter too much,

because if you have an elegant pair of candlesticks...

Let's have a look at these, for instance. These look great.

So, you can tell that they are electroplated.

Can you see here? It's not the hallmarks we are looking for.

This is copper. This is the very thin layer of silver over copper.

-It literally has worn away.

-Somebody's used them, then?

-Yes.

-Or polished them?

-Yes, that's what happens.

If you vigorously polish, you can see that is probably what happened.

That will be my granny.

So, this pair of candlesticks, they are Georgian in style.

-I like Georgian.

-Yes, you can see that by the urn at the top there.

That's a classical reference.

Can you see that looks almost like a garden urn, as well?

That was popularised in the 18th century.

If you look at the base, the fluted base at the bottom.

-I think that is pretty.

-Yes, it's got a real elegance to it.

-I'm starting to like this now.

-Good. They really are very elegant.

If you compare them with this one here, can you see the difference?

Somehow, for my money, this is aesthetically pleasing.

It's a bit blousy, isn't it? This one's really pretty and elegant.

If we were to sell all of this collection here, we're looking at £50-£80 at auction.

Great. Super.

'That's a timely boost to the family fund.

'And, not to be outdone, Karen picks out this little pair of vases

'that Leslie bought for their mum.

'This fine Irish china, made by Belleek and still made today,

'is highly desirable.

'These examples date from the 1960s and Jonty gives them

'a confident estimate of £30-£50.

'Our expert also thinks these brass and enamel pots

'could help swell the coffers a little more.

'More of Doreen's modern collectables,

'but an estimate of £20-£30 should help them along at auction.

'The day is wearing on.

'And, although we have made some fascinating finds,

'I'm starting to worry we might not reach that elusive £600 target.

'Maybe Karen's latest find will get Jonty's mind back on the job.'

Hey, what are you doing?

I've got some jewellery here that I wouldn't mind you having a look at.

-I'd be quite interested.

-Let's have a look. What shall we look at first?

-What is in here, for instance? That looks interesting.

-OK?

-Gosh.

A bracelet. Well, more than a bracelet. Where is this from?

Well, I don't really know. I know Mum wore it a lot.

I think it was probably a present from my dad.

She had it from about the '70s, I think.

So these are chunks of mother of pearl. It looks like silver.

-But it is certainly not British.

-No.

I think it's probably something that Dad brought back from his travels.

It could be Indian, but I don't think so.

-But he did South America as well as America.

-OK. That gives it away.

-It says "Alpaca" on the back, here.

-I've never looked at that, actually.

It says "Mexico" as well. That's where it came from.

-This would be Mexican silver.

-All right, OK.

-Which is great.

It's interesting, the style, it really has that '70s feel to it.

It's probably gone out of fashion and back into fashion.

So we can definitely put this on to the market. I'll pop that back in the box. What about the rings?

-What's in here? Aha, look at that.

-It's got seven sapphires.

My dad, when he was in Sri Lanka, he bought the stones,

-picked them out and made it up into an eternity ring for Mum.

-OK.

I don't know, it's one of those things that reminded me of them two.

It's one that my dad had made for her and that she wore.

-So it's got some memories. But I don't wear it.

-So we can sell this ring now?

-Yes.

OK, that's really good. What else have we got here? All sorts of gems and goodies in here.

Ah-ha. This looks like a bit of costume jewellery this time.

We've got a stylised necklace and bracelet.

And a pair of matching earrings. Now, this looks so white that it's probably not silver.

No, I never thought it was, actually. It's too clean.

If it was silver it would have tarnished.

Yes, that's a good way of working out whether something is silver.

If it is silver, it has value. If it's a white metal, not a lot.

But, as it's a complete set, we've got the bracelet, the necklace

and the matching earrings, too.

We've got a nice collection of jewellery here.

It's so good, we must tell the girls as well.

-It's a nice tidy sum we've got here.

-Ooh, lovely.

-Ah, there you are.

-As if by magic!

-Did I hear the word jewellery?

My favourite thing. Apart from Shih Tzu puppies, obviously.

But we won't go into that. So, what sort of value are we talking about here?

-Value at auction, £200-£250.

-Not bad.

-Fabulous.

-That's nice.

Ladies, neither of you want to keep any of these pieces?

It's not stuff we would wear, I don't think. Is it?

The stones, I think, are a bit too big.

Darling, you and I need to have a chat.

There's no such thing as too big a precious stone.

-You wanted £600, didn't you?

-£200 each.

I'm pleased to tell you that the value of everything going to auction comes to...

-£610.

-LAUGHTER

-Pretty good going, isn't it?

-The extra tenner, I'll let you siblings fight that out yourselves.

And we'll have a couple of glasses of wine to celebrate.

One nice bottle of wine you can share between you.

-Cheers to my brother.

-Yes.

'Well we got there in the end.

'And I'm really keen to see how well all the sisters heirlooms do,

'including that Troika cubed vase, which Leslie bought for her mum in the early '80s.

'It's a striking piece and should tempt the bidders

'with its estimate of £40-£60.

'Then there's those three Lladro pieces, which Karen and Leslie's parents bought in the 1970s.

'They're collectable and should raise £50-£80. And that collection of jewellery.

'Most of it was bought by their dad, Alan, when he was working abroad.

'As it's foreign gold and silver and does not bear British hallmarks,

'it can't be sold in this country as gold or silver.

'But we're hoping for £250 on sale day.

'Still to come on Cash In The Attic, Leslie makes a confession about the Belleek vases.'

-It's more than I paid for them.

-Is it?

-It's more.

-That's OK then.

I'm cheap.

'And the auctioneer tries his hardest with the Lladro figurines.'

You can't mean no! You know you don't really mean that.

'Stay with us until the final hammer falls.'

Now, we had a lovely time at Karen's beautiful Bedfordshire cottage.

Together with her sister Leslie,

we found plenty of items they've both been left by their mother.

Now, those we brought here to Sworders Auction House in Stansted Mountfitchet,

where we're just hoping that all the bidders here today,

and, believe me, there's a lot of them, are feeling very generous.

'Now, the sisters are hoping to raise around £600 to split between them and their brother, Colin.

'Everything arrived here with plenty of time to attract interest.

'But, as we catch up with them, Jonty is itching to solve a small mystery.'

Now, I've been looking through the catalogue. No sapphire ring. What's the story?

-Karen.

-You're wearing it!

-And why not, I say.

Yeah, it had a lot of sentimental value. I thought, no, I'd like to keep it.

Right, what's that done for our target, then?

-It's all change.

-A couple of lots short. I've noticed in the catalogue they have merged

all of our metalware and kept it at roughly the same estimate.

The long and short of it is, Lorne, we're up against it.

-So, if we don't make the money, what's going to happen?

-Well, the thing is,

because I've kept the ring, I decided to forego my part of the proceeds.

-Oh, OK.

-And give the rest of the money to Leslie and Colin.

-Oh, right, OK.

-It means I don't lose out.

And I may just use a little bit of money just towards a charity. Because my Auntie Irene died recently.

She was looked well after at this hospital and Walton, in Liverpool.

I'd like to give it to their neurosurgeon fund.

Right, let's see if the bidders are going to be generous enough

to help us reach it without some of our lots.

-Come on, let's go this way.

-OK.

-Cheers.

The sisters have also decided not to sell the bedside cabinets.

With so many pieces missing or merged,

our fingers won't just be crossed, they'll be plaited.

First of the heirlooms to come up is the collection of costume jewellery,

minus, of course, the Sri Lankan gold sapphire Ring.

Of course, because the ring is now being worn,

the estimate, I guess, has come down from the £200-£250

that Jonty put onto it, to £100-£150 in the auction catalogue.

-Do you agree with that, Jonty?

-Yes, thereabouts with that figure.

Hopefully that is quite a conservative estimate.

I'm feeling hopeful that we should be over the 150 mark, really.

-40 I'm bid. At £40.

-Come on, we want more than £40.

At 45. I will sell at 45.

50? Five, 60. Five, 70. Five, 80. Five, 90.

Five, 100. 110, 120. £120.

More!

I will sell at £120.

Thank you, Peter. What number?

-Are you happy with that?

-A little bit.

Well, when they stopped, I was thinking, "No!"

At 40, yes.

'Considering most of that lot was costume jewellery, not a bad price.'

'Next up is the cube vase. It's by the Cornish pottery company Troika,

'with an abstract design by Jane Fitzgerald.

'Leslie bought this for her mum in the early '80s.'

We put quite a nice estimate on it. I understand you've got a reserve on it, is that correct?

-Yes, £50.

-And what are you going to do with it if it doesn't sell?

Keep it for a little while and then put it on again for another sale.

-Do you think £50 is reasonable, Jonty?

-It's absolutely acceptable.

-We should still get it away at £50 reserve.

-OK, excellent.

20 I'm bid, which is cheap. At 22, five, eight, 30.

Two, five, eight, 40.

Two, 45, 48, 50, five.

-Here we are.

-At 55. 60 anywhere? £55.

-Bargain.

-£55.

-Bargain.

-Well, it's not.

Because they're not going to be paying £55, don't forget.

They're going to be paying a lot more than that. And then they've got to sell it on.

-£55 in the pot, literally.

-We haven't got a pot now.

-No, never mind.

£55 without the pot.

'A very good result for the vase.

'And it's added a healthy amount to the kitty.

'More pottery follows, a pair of Belleek vases,

'which Leslie bought for her mum many years ago.'

Where did you buy them?

In a gift shop in Belfast when I was living there.

Which makes sense, because Belleek is an Irish pottery.

-Do you like them?

-I think they're quite elegant.

But I don't really have knick-knacks and things in my house.

-OK, what do you want for these, Jonty?

-Lower end estimate is £30.

-So, £30-£50 is the ballpark.

-OK. All right.

It's good that we've got a pair, people do like to buy things in pairs. Let's see how we do.

30, 20. Which is cheap, surely? 10 is all I'm bid.

At £10. Belleek.

12, 15, 18, 20, two, five, eight. By the counter, the bid.

Someone under there.

At £28. I will sell them at 28. 30, anybody?

Sold at 28.

768.

-£28.

-That's more than I paid for them.

-Is it? There we go.

-That's OK then.

-I'm cheap.

'That's a canny investment,

'as Leslie bought the pair for under a tenner.

'It's the turn of the Lladro figurines, which their parents bought in the 1970s.'

This little piggy literally went to market - or auction - because now we've got the Lladro figure

of the girl holding the pig, along with two other Lladro figures.

Now, what made you decide to sell these?

Well, they're not really my cup of tea.

They're quite dainty, quite fragile

and they don't really fit in with the rest of our house.

They wouldn't fit with your decor, would they, Karen?

Well, let's hope they fit with someone's decor.

What do you want for them, Jonty?

£50-£80 is what we are looking for.

-They cost a lot more in the shops.

-Gosh, yeah.

£50 for the Lladro.

20? Three Lladro figures. 10 is all I'm bid for the three.

12, 15, 18, 20.

22. Surely? Three figures.

25, 28. 30, 32.

You can't mean no, really. You know you don't really mean that.

At 32, 35. You do mean it?

Oh, dear. Oh! 35. 38.

You girls, no staying power. At 38. If I may say so.

At 38. £40.

40.

-He's doing a good job though.

-42, madam.

No. Selling then at 40.

It's going to be sold for £40.

-£40.

-It is a shame, isn't it?

It takes a long time to collect those things and they're just gone.

But it is a sign of the times.

As you say, you don't have knick-knacks around,

lots of people are going for a much cleaner-cut look.

With statement pieces rather than putting together collections

of porcelain and it just reflects the fashion, I'm afraid.

But at least they've gone while they're still in good condition

rather than getting broken over the years

and about to come up is another lot of figurines.

There are five of them made by Nao, which is part of the Lladro company.

-I'm guessing these have also come from your mum.

-Yes.

Did your mum end up buying them or were they always gifts?

I think they partly bought them when they went away on holiday,

or people would buy them as gifts so it's a combination.

What do you want for these, Jonty?

-£50-£80 for the whole collection.

-OK. All right.

Five figures, £50. 20.

Surely. 20 I'm bid.

20 for two.

Bit hot!

28. 30. Two. Five. Eight.

-40. Two.

-It's going up at least.

It is contagious, isn't it?

Stand away from her!

LAUGHTER

At 45. 45. Well done.

You see, it runs in the family. At 45. 48 now.

It is always the one more that does it. At £45.

Thank you. 45.

770.

'It's deemed to be not quite as collectable as Lladro.

'But not too disappointing a result really.

'Now it's time for the two lots that the auction house has put together as one.

'It contains brassware and brass and enamel pots.

'Some of this is from their father's time in India and some belonged to their grandmother

'but most of it was collected by their mum.'

So there's a whole mismatch of goodies in here

so let's see what happens.

The auctioneers have still kept to the same kind of estimate,

which is £20-£30 as well.

£40. 20.

10 is all I'm bid.

At £10. Oh, no!

Or I will sail to the maiden bid. 12. 15.

18, 20. Selling.

So much stuff.

-At £20.

-A bargain again.

-Somebody's going to have two polish it.

-Yes!

-£20.

A big mixed selection but not much money for it, I'm afraid.

We've got a bit of a break until the rest of our lots come up,

and we were aiming originally for £600

before we chopped and changed a few lots.

The good news is, so far we've banked £308,

so that's quite good.

We're halfway there. It's not bad, is it.

No. It does add up, doesn't it.

-It does.

-That might be a toilet for Leslie's bathroom!

LAUGHTER

Talking of which, shall we take a loo break!

'If you'd like to have a go at selling at auction yourself,

'do bear in mind that fees such as commission will be added to your bill.

'This varies from one sale-room to another so it's always worth enquiring in advance.

'The last time I saw Jonty, he said he was going to check out a throne

'and I thought that was his polite way of saying

'he was going to powder his nose.'

Jonty. Thank you very much. This looks very comfortable, I must say.

Take a seat, my darling.

-Don't mind if I do.

-In fact, I'll take a seat.

Are they nice and comfy?

I wouldn't want to slob out in front of the TV in them

but if you wanted to hold court, they're quite good.

-I have a pair like this in front of my TV.

-Do you?

And my wife brings me my slippers and pipe!

What do you think about a pair of chairs like this?

-I actually think they're ghastly.

-Do you?

-Yeah.

They're not everybody's cup of tea,

but in the right place, in the right setting,

can you imagine just how dramatic they would be?

Because that's what they were originally made for.

Victorian. High Victorian.

So these are chairs really to impress.

-Apart from...

-The upholstery.

-Yeah.

I was going to mention the upholstery

because if you are thinking of either buying or selling chairs,

that the upholstery itself is in very poor condition,

then don't necessarily worry about that.

The value of the chairs are in the frame, not necessarily the upholstery

because you can change the upholstery.

What you must consider is the quality of the innards of your upholstery,

the quality of your springing,

because to get these seats redone is quite an expense.

Right. So what sort of valuation are we talking about?

At auction, a pair of chairs like this,

and incidentally these have just come in,

they're not part of our auction sale today,

value between £1,000 and £1,500.

It'll be interesting to see what these make, won't it. Come on!

'I'll certainly be checking the stuffing of any chairs

'I like the look of in future.

'We meet up with the sisters again in time to see the coffee set come up.

'It's made by Wedgwood but the designer is just as famous,

'if not more so - it's Susie Cooper.'

I should explain that Wedgwood bought the Susie Cooper name

and is one of the sets that were made under licence if you like,

so true collectors are looking for the early Susie Cooper wares,

that very Art Deco hand-painted design,

but nevertheless, it's still very popular, isn't it?

Absolutely.

People love the combination of Wedgwood and Susie Cooper - a great name -

and therefore it still creates a market

for our collection here, so yes, £40-£60 hopefully for this lot.

-20 I'm bid.

-We want a bit more than that.

28.

30. Two. Five.

38 in the room. 40 anywhere?

Susie Cooper.

At £38 only. 40.

-42. 45.

-That's better.

-One more.

You know you don't mean no to me.

48?

Selling then at £45.

£45. It's the middle estimate, a bit on the low side,

-but again, it reflects taste at the moment.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

'What's great for Karen and Leslie is they have such a variety of items

'so we're not relying on china alone to make our money.

'The five silver-plated candlesticks are next to go before the bidders.

'They all belonged to the sisters' grandmother.

'Jonty particularly likes the tall Georgian-style ones.'

I think they're great - very saleable and commercial.

We've got quite a bit of wear on a few of the sticks.

If they had been in really good condition, they would've walked out of the door

but still, very commercial £50-£80. They really should sell.

£30. 20. Ten, I'm bid.

12, 15, 18. 20.

Two, five, eight.

Your turn, sir. 30, 32.

Five, eight. 40.

Two, five. Close to me then at 45.

More, more, more!

Is that a bid? Selling at £45...

Oh, no.

What a disappointment. Someone's got a bargain there, sadly.

Seeing as we'd never seen them before in our life...

I'm attached to them now!

Now you've been reunited with them!

I think it's all my fault.

I pumped them up so grandly. And all we've got is £45.

-Sorry about that.

-It's better than a poke in the eye.

'It is but it's the fifth one today to come in under estimate.

'Not what we were hoping for at all.

'And we have just two lots left so everything now rests on these

'doing well for us if we're going to reach our £600 target.

'First up, it's the stuffed game bird that Leslie and her husband bought.'

He's rather sad looking.

You'd probably look the same if you'd been stuffed and stuck in a cupboard.

-He's a bit moth-eaten.

-Slightly.

I put £30-£50 on him.

I'm not quite sure what people in this room think of it.

Although we are in the country. It's country, sport, land.

So you never know.

I was expecting it just to go to the dump so even if we get a fiver,

I'll be happy.

80. 50. 20. Any bid?

Ten I'm bid. He says meanly.

It always starts at ten.

12. 15. 18.

20. I'm selling the pheasant for £20 only.

Been better off eating it rather than stuffing it.

Selling then at £20.

-It's gone.

-A little less than we wanted.

That was more than you thought!

More than you'd get at the dump.

LAUGHTER

'They may have been popular in Victorian in times

'but they don't seem so popular here today

'and it brings us to our final lot of the day,

'the fabric picture, which Karen and Leslie's father

'brought back from India for Doreen in the 1970s.'

It's very nice actually.

You do see them but they're usually quite a bit smaller than this.

This is quite a nice statement piece.

The more I look at it, it's quite pleasant, quite contemporary.

I think it would fit in nicely...

-Easy to live with.

-Indeed.

So what estimate on this, Jonty?

It's been reframed here in the UK but some time ago,

so some people might consider that to need to be done again

but it still looks very pleasant in its frame.

£30-£50 is the price I've put on it. Let's see what the room decides.

Amy's displaying it, lot 100, £50.

Yes, she is.

30. 20. Oh, no!

We're going backwards. £10.

Ten I'm bid. At ten. 12.

15. 18.

Come on!

At £18. 20 anywhere?

20.

At £18 only. 20? At 18.

Oh, dear. £18!

How disappointing.

-That is a real disappointment I think, don't you?

-Yeah.

I would've bid for it.

We're already down a few lots

so we did need every penny that we had available.

We did chop and change the lots around quite a lot

and you wanted £600 originally.

I don't think you've done too bad because the value and the total

you'll be taking home today comes to...

..£436.

Well.. That's the ring, isn't it?

If you take in account the ring, so...

But we've still got 200 quid each.

I think there may be a little bit of sibling rivalry going on now!

A few weeks ago Karen and Leslie said they wanted to raise money

to split between them and their brother, Colin.

Karen has foregone all her share of the money but Leslie will use hers

to help with renovation costs on her new house.

Karen's come to visit her today to see how the plans are developing.

It's quite a lot of work to do so any little bit of money that we've made

is going to help to go a long way to getting all the things down.

Leslie will probably get me out in the garden.

We were discussing the garden earlier.

The garden goes out quite a long way and quite a bit needs flattening

so I think we're going to be busy.

The whole family can come down. That'd be lovely.

Can't wait(!)

LAUGHTER

The fact about raising cash doesn't relate to me any more!

I've really enjoyed the experience, though. It's been great.

We spent quite a bit of time together and that's been fun

and we've sort of sent some of mum's things away to good homes, I think.

-Yeah.

-So we managed to do that and it's like a tribute to her.