Devine Cash in the Attic

Welcome to Cash In The Attic. This is the show that has a good look through your home,

finds all the antiques and collectables you no longer want and takes them to auction.

Today, we're going to meet a couple who are to become grandparents - again!

Coming up on Cash in The Attic - a charming reminder of domestic bliss from the past century.

If that's anything to go by, no wonder he went back on tour.

He's sitting there being nagged by his wife and barked at by the dog.

Have we been inspired to make do and mend?

Whatever happened to pass-me-downs?

I'm sure Jonty must have an old buggy somewhere,

one of those Silver Cross prams we can hand down.

When we get to auction, will the thrill prove too much?

I could barely write it down I was so excited!

That's £20 over our estimate.

Find out when the final hammer falls.

Today I've come to Bedfordshire to meet a divine couple

who've called in the Cash In The Attic team

to help them raise the money for their fifth grandchild.

Linda Devine is a policeman's daughter

and she has been married to a policeman since 1967.

John's now retired from the force and works as a security consultant

while Linda spends three days a week as a school registrar.

They've had plenty of opportunities for travel and collecting souvenirs

as both their children and four grandchildren live abroad.

It's 14 years since they moved into this four-bedroom home in Bedfordshire

and, apparently, the house is full of mementos.

They say if you want to know the time, ask a policeman,

but if you want to know about antiques you should ask Jonty Hearnden.

Hi, Jonty, how are you?

'Our expert's had a lifetime in the business

'so he should know what's what.

'We've heard Linda's into her collectables, so I wonder what's in store for us today?'

-Ah, good morning.

-Good morning.

-Nice to see you.

-Thank you.

-How you doing?

-Very well, thank you.

I'm a bit concerned by the absolute perfect nature of your house.

-Is there going to be enough stuff for us to rummage?

-I hope so, yes.

I do like to keep everything tidy.

-OK.

-So they might be hidden away in cupboards?

-They might well be.

-How much are you looking to raise?

-About £250-£300.

-That's not too bad then.

-I think we can manage that, hopefully.

-Do you want to get cracking?

-I shall start looking. Is that all right?

Yes, by all means.

£250-£300. What do you want to spend that money on?

It's for my daughter who lives in Tenerife,

who is going to have a baby next month.

-We want to buy some clothes and equipment for her.

-Right, OK.

-So, this is grandchild number three, is that right, for her?

-For her.

And you've got a son who lives in a far-flung country.

I have indeed, in Kazakhstan. He has two boys.

I will have five grandchildren in total.

-Do you get to see them very often?

-Yeah, we see them quite often.

We go to Tenerife three or fours times a year.

My son and children come across about the same number of times.

That's nice, isn't it?

You said you had lots of stuff hidden away.

Where's that come from? Is that inherited items?

Some of it, very small amount is, the rest of it I bought myself.

-Did you go through a collecting phase?

-I did. I had a...

Oh, right. You're nodding away there.

-I take it you did and you didn't!

-I didn't!

-Right, OK.

I love going to car-boot sales, I love going to antique fairs

and I just accumulated it over the years

but there's a time to get rid of stuff, so.

Right, so we need to raise the £250 at least,

hopefully a little bit more.

-Shall we see if Jonty's found anything in the back of your cupboards?

-Yes.

-Come on then.

It hasn't taken him long to turn up something

that should kick-start our search.

Ah, Jonty, we've been looking for you. You've found the kitchen.

Oh, yes. Look at this.

-It's a mountain full of blue and white we've got here.

-It is.

What I'm looking at here is a little mould.

Because we've got a fish at the bottom here,

this is not a jelly mould, this is probably a pate mould.

There's a set of three of them here so some of them

could easily be for jelly as well.

It's quite unusual to see a little set like that.

I also noticed that, Lorne, if you look at the top here,

we've got these three very large, substantial jugs

and tankard at the back.

Can you see there's the same pattern that appears all the way through your cabinet, practically.

It's pure coincidence. I didn't buy them for that reason.

I liked them and bought them but all at different times.

Because all of these items here are transfer printed.

-Do you understand how transfer printing works?

-Not really, no.

It literally is, rather than something being hand-painted on,

it is transfer, like you used to do as kids.

-Oh, yes.

-We used to get the transfer done in a very similar way.

It's fired in a kiln at a high temperature.

But you can see how it works. If I just put this mould down.

Have a look at this little line across there.

That's literally the two transfers being sandwiched together.

That's the reason why we've got the line down there. It does happen.

You can often see that.

It shouldn't necessarily be there but, more often than not, it does appear.

Up in the potteries in Stoke-on-Trent,

years ago when they used to make the blue and white,

they got paid piecework, so they got paid per piece they made.

Items like this where the transfers weren't quite right, they used to call Friday pieces

because everybody was desperate to get away on the Friday.

-That's probably a Friday piece.

-But still a very attractive Friday piece.

My hunch is, this particular design is not very old.

I would suggest it is post the Second World War.

If Jonty's suggesting we sell all that type of blue and white in one lot...

What we need to do, Lorne, what I've done is

plucked out these three up here, because they're fabulous,

our moulds and this piece.

I quite like this item here.

Put those together and we've got a complete set.

And we're looking, sort of really, at between £50-£100.

Lovely. That sounds good to me.

OK, if we say £50, that's the £50 of the £250 done.

-That would be brilliant.

-We just need a few more of those.

Thank you.

Most of it is marked Victorian Ironstone

and the classic blue and white design is still incredibly popular

so I'm sure our selection will have its admirers at auction.

In the conservatory, John's investigating a plant stand.

Linda bought it a few years ago for about £8.

Quite a bargain as it turns out

because Jonty values it at £10-£20 for auction.

We carry on searching for collectables

and pretty soon I discover a set of framed cartoon prints

which might be worthy of Jonty's expert appraisal.

There you are. Look what I found up in the bedroom

in one of the cupboards.

I didn't know whether this might help us at all?

We've got four prints there, have we?

-Have they been up in the cupboard a long time?

-They have indeed.

-A long, long time.

-They're quite old too.

Where were these from?

The two in the black frames I bought at an antiques fair

but the other two I had framed by a friend of mine quite a long time ago.

I think your friend did a good job of framing these.

These caricatures sum up their time.

This is early 19th century, Georgian England.

Particularly, I love this one with the cartoon characters here.

It looks like we've got the same cartoon character in all four.

Doctor Syntax, absolutely.

Doctor Syntax was a fictitious character

and he was a white wigged clergyman.

Here we can see him in the horse and cart.

He's in all four of these.

What was the whole raison d'etre of this character?

At this time they were lampooning politicians.

He was visualised by Thomas Rowlandson,

who was one of England's famous caricaturists

of the early 19th century. We've got his name down here in this corner.

A lot of hours would have gone into every single one of these.

These are reproductions.

If that's anything to go by, no wonder he went back on tour.

He's sitting there being nagged by his wife and barked at by the dog!

I think these have faded quite a lot.

Wherever they've been, they've been in the light.

The Georgian colours here,

this house, for example, the rectory he's about to move into,

I think would have been a stronger pink.

The problem that we've got

is that we've got quite a lot of fading, as we've discussed.

So, I can only put £20-£40 on them.

-OK.

-You seem quite disappointed with that.

I would be very disappointed to let them go for that, for the £20, I think.

What we can do is put a reserve on them.

We can discuss that with the auctioneer.

As long as we put the reserve on them so they're protected

and you understand if they don't make that figure they'll come back home.

Hopefully that'll keep everybody happy. The worst thing is to let them go for less than you want.

I think £20 for the four would be not good.

OK, let's find what else we can find, shall we? Come on then.

Our estimate for these prints remains a modest £20-£40

but Linda thinks we need a reserve of £50.

Thinking of more items to sell, she remembers this 35-piece tea set

which lives in a charming display cabinet.

The set is by Royal Albert, once part of Royal Doulton,

and is in the Old Country Roses pattern, which is incredibly popular.

All being well, it should make us £40 to £60 at auction.

A cup of tea would be welcome right now

but first, I have questions to put to our divine hosts.

So how did the two of you meet?

Well we met at a cricket match which my father was playing in.

He was a policeman and it was at Hendon.

John was a cadet at the college at the time

and they were short of a player so he volunteered to join the team.

That's when I first met him. So that's how it all started.

So there was a strong police connection?

-You really met that way, really.

-Absolutely, yeah. Yeah.

1962 was when I was in the Police Cadets.

Then in 1967 we got married.

Tell me a little bit about sport because you're quite a sporting family, aren't you?

Yes. I mean, I love my football. I'm very much into the Arsenal,

whereas John is more into the golf and the cricket.

So between us we have a very big sporting, you know, delight, really.

What is it about the football you enjoy so much?

Erm, you sort of have a team that you support from childhood.

My father was an Arsenal fanatic and I suppose it was bred in me

and I look at them as sort of part of the family.

You haven't gone down the football route, have you?

Well, my father played cricket all his life and cricket was our love.

My mother really loved cricket and of course, we began to love it as well.

I played cricket for the Metropolitan Police.

I then played cricket for Stanwell, Middlesex, and took up golf.

So Linda goes off to the Arsenal to watch the football and I go off to play golf.

And then obviously you went on to have the two children.

When did you realise they had a bit of a travelling bug?

Well, we've always encouraged it, really.

When they were children we actually bought a place in Tenerife

and my daughter in particular really loved it and always said she was

going to live there one day and we said, "No, you won't,"

but she eventually did

and she left when she was 18 and she's still there.

My son has always loved travelling, he always did,

and his love of languages, he went abroad to work and that was it.

How many languages are spoken in this family?

I would say Andrew speaks, he certainly speaks French, German

and Dutch, although Russian would be his best.

My daughter speaks Spanish, of course.

The two boys speak Spanish because they went to Spanish schools.

Andrew's children speak English, Kazakh and Russian.

Jonty just speaks one language, which is posh. Shall we see whether he's got anything else to sell?

OK. Thank you.

Posh or not, you can't beat Jonty's eye for quality silverware.

And in his search upstairs,

he's found a great-looking haul of treasure.

-Linda, are you there?

-Yes.

-Look what I've found.

Oh, right. OK, yes.

Now there is time to make tea. I've got the teapot.

-It's a box, but they're not silver, they're silver-plated.

-OK, right.

-So everything in here is plated?

-It is.

-Not genuine silver?

-Not genuine silver.

-Are you sure about that?

-I think I'm more or less 100%, yes.

-OK.

-Well, it makes a difference in price, really.

-Of course it does.

We've got all sorts of things, a pair of candelabra, but this is a nice teapot.

-Where's it from?

-There's a sugar bowl as well. That came from my grandmother.

-This one here?

Again, used to sit on the sideboard, but the rest of it I bought myself.

-Are you willing to sell all of the collection?

-Yes.

I don't use it any more. It's too much to clean.

Do you understand the concept of silver plate?

-Do you know how it's put together?

-Is it put on copper?

Yes, that's right.

It's electroplated so it's actually just a very fine layer,

usually on copper, of silver.

That's what happens when you clean or rub too vigorously.

Literally, the silver layer will wear off.

Let me just get this out and look at this.

-Can you see how the copper is coming through?

-Yes.

-That's why I knew it had copper under it all.

-Right.

So that's a very good way of telling whether something is plated.

-Ultimately, one is looking for hallmarks.

-OK.

Not so long ago, I would have put very little value on a whole box like this.

There wasn't any real market for it. It all just seems to be coming back.

-Oh, good.

-There's a bit of revival on all of this, now.

One might be pleasantly surprised just how much we're going to get for all of this.

-I would put £80 to £120 on this little collection.

-Really?

And who knows where it's going to go?

We won't have to wait long to find out.

The candelabra, serving trays, condiments and teapots

go together as a job lot.

I wonder if the bidders will dig deep for the silver plate.

£80, anywhere? £80.

It's probably going to come down low before it gets going.

Looks like this could be exciting.

Our treasure hunt in Bedfordshire rolls on

as Jonty continues his sweep of the bedrooms,

he finds some more 19th-century framed prints.

They're by the artist Leslie Matthew Ward

who was known by his signature, Spy.

And he was famous for sending up the gentry of the time.

The smaller picture is by George Studdy, creator of Bonzo the cartoon dog.

Linda paid about £8 for each print,

but Jonty values the five together at £20 to £30.

'I'm downstairs and I soon come across

'this generous pocket watch, an heirloom which Linda inherited from her uncle.

'The hallmark reveals it was made in Chester in 1899,

'and it's worth a further £20 to £30.'

-Linda?

-Yes.

-Tell me about this kettle on a stand, here.

It was my grandmother's. I remember it as a child.

It was always on her sideboard. I was never allowed to touch it.

It was passed to my father, obviously,

when my grandmother died, and he gave it to me.

-Was your grandmother German, by any chance?

-No.

-Any relations from Germany at all?

-Not as far as I'm aware, no.

-the reason I ask the question is because this kettle is German.

-Is it?

On the underside, apart from it being black,

because it's been used, there's a little mark here that says GBN.

Geruda Bing Nuremberg. Geruda Bing were known for making toys.

-Right.

-But they did make kettles on stands like this.

-I've no idea.

I've never heard of any German connection.

-It's interesting, how it's made its way here.

-That's right.

If you look at the style, it's really quite simple, isn't it?

You've got a simple handle, there, and also the top here, again, is very stylised.

That's because it's more influenced by the Art Nouveau style

which is very flowing, rather than fussy.

Because this was made about 100 years ago.

-We have a bit of a problem going on here, haven't we?

-We do.

-You can tell me what the problem is.

Well it's obviously the bracket or hinge has come off, here.

So we have the damage but if you turn it round on the other side,

you can see few more dents and another support missing, there.

Bit of a problem because when it comes to metal, it's quite difficult to repair.

A Bing kettle like this in good condition is possibly £100,

but not in this condition.

-It's more like £20 to £40.

-Is it? Right, OK.

-Sorry to disappoint you.

-No, no. that's fine.

-Are you happy?

-I've got to, I don't need it, so yes.

-That's fine.

-So if we're not allowed to use this, I can't have a cup of tea, can I?

Not really. There's one downstairs. You can have one downstairs.

-Shall we go downstairs, then? I'll put that back on the stand, there.

-OK.

-Right.

-There's no time for tea. We've got more work to do.

-OK.

I wonder how that kettle got to be in Linda's family.

It's a shame it wasn't in better condition but it makes a useful contribution to the fund.

We may be searching for items to sell but there's always time

to consider heirlooms which must stay within the family.

-So this is all related to your dad, is it?

-It is, yes.

He was in Bomber Command during the war, Second World War.

Obviously, his medals.

When he was in the police force he was in traffic

and he actually met Prince Philip, as you can see.

Log book and information about the squadron that he was with.

Very proud of him.

-Your interest in WWII, has that come directly from your dad?

-To a degree. I love history.

I love the Russian revolution, I like the First World War

and the Second World War but because he was in the Second World War

and heavily involved in it, I suppose it did.

Tell me a little bit about what he did in the war?

He was in Wellingtons. He flew Wellington bombers.

He was an aircraft gunner and also a navigator. He did the whole war.

He signed up in 1939 at 19 years of age and came out in 1946.

But he never spoke about it, ever. A lot of people didn't.

It wasn't until really he was more or less at the end of his life

that I actually found out exactly what he did.

-But he had that picture painted which I've got upstairs.

-I've seen that.

Which was the actual plane that he flew.

-I take it none of this is going up for sale?

-Definitely not.

This is going to stay in the family.

We'll keep all of this out of Jonty's hands so they don't get sold.

-Shall we see whether he's found anything that can sell?

-OK.

'It was a privilege to hear Linda share her father's story.

'It's hard to imagine what he must have gone through during the war.'

Back to our treasure hunt and Jonty takes a look at the 1930s walnut display cabinet

now it's been cleared of the Royal Albert tea set.

They're not as popular as they were but it's still a neat example

and could fetch £20 to £40.

Hurry up, Jonty.

We need you to give us your thoughts about another cabinet.

There you are, John. What are you looking at?

-I'm looking at a cabinet we bought in Ampthill.

-When did you buy it?

-Probably about ten years or more.

-OK. And why did you buy it?

I think mainly to store video tapes, which are a bit obsolete now.

I don't think it was made for that purpose.

I wouldn't think so! When you bought it, did you know how old it was?

-Not at all.

-You bought it just because you liked it?

We liked it and it suited a purpose at the time.

-How much did you pay for it?

-£30 to £40. It wouldn't have been more.

-OK.

If you look at the style, it has a Victorian feel.

Pieces of furniture like this would've been made initially as bedside tables.

You've got the door down below.

-Is it just the one door we have here?

-Just the one.

-Oh, it opens up.

Concertinas somewhat. OK. And then we've got the octagonal top, also.

Originally bedside tables would've had some pot stored down beside.

-Yes. Just in case you got caught short.

-Short in the night.

So this piece of furniture here is a 20th-century interpretation

of a 19th-century bedside table.

And I suppose the big giveaway, possibly,

and I haven't obviously done this, is to open up the door here

and see this piece of timber here?

Again, this is not how a 19th-century piece of furniture would have been constructed.

And the timber itself is probably a timber that's stained to look like

-a tropical hardwood and it probably is a cheaper timber as well.

-Yes.

Hopefully we'll get your money back. It'll be there or thereabouts.

-£30 to £50 at auction. Are you happy about that?

-Happy to do that, yes.

You're going to have to find another space to house those video tapes.

-The loft?

-Great.

-HE LAUGHS

I'd have thrown them in the bin to be honest

but the cabinet could still have its uses.

Jonty's estimate means more good news for John and Linda's expectant daughter in Tenerife.

We're making good progress but we're not ready to call it a day just yet.

John's a big cricket fan and this tankard commemorated 100 years of the Ashes in 1982.

The Churchill character jug is by Royal Doulton, made in 1991,

and modelled by Stanley James Taylor.

Grouped together with more jugs of various designs,

the whole collection could make £20 to £30.

We're almost out of time but not before Linda shows us one last souvenir.

Oh, wow!

Where on earth did you get these?

We bought those in St Petersburg in 1990, 1991,

when my son was at university, from a very old gentleman,

a very old man in one of the main streets.

I don't know what they are, but we just liked the look of them and paid very little money for them.

It's quite an odd time for you to be there, though. Not many tourists around.

There weren't any at all.

People were selling everything,

from toilet rolls to tinned soups.

Everything to get roubles.

And there was a guy there that just had those in front of him.

-I asked if we could have a look, and we did.

-Yes.

And we just paid 20 roubles, maybe.

How much is that in pounds?

About £4, I think.

But to him, that was probably a lot of money.

I suppose we're looking at a set of six commemorative coins,

But they're not necessarily metal.

If you pick one of those up, have a feel of that.

They're cold, yes.

But they are not heavy enough to be a metal.

So, I believe these to be more of a resin, rather than a metal.

Right, OK.

But they're very nicely carved...

-Well, these would be made from a mould.

-Mm.

There would be one person creating the art imagery.

And then the rest would be from a mould.

-OK.

-If you look closely, here,

we have Lenin on the top, here,

overseeing these other characters.

Starting, probably, from the Russian revolution to the modern spaceman.

-So, this is a celebration of Communism.

-Yes.

-How's your Russian?

-Not good.

-Because on the reverse, there's all this Russian writing.

I think they're worth putting in the auction sale,

and I think the value would be around the £30 mark.

So £30-£50.

-OK.

-Shall we tell the others?

-Please, yes.

-Lorne, John. Are you there?

-Yes, we are, actually, yeah.

-A-ha!

Do you remember these?

I do remember them, but...

Have a look at these, Lorne. Did you but these together?

Yes, I'm sure we must have done,

because we were in St Petersburg together.

I have no recollection except buying from an old man in the street.

Let's hope your good karma comes back to you at the auction.

-May well do.

-What did you value them at, Jonty?

I think they're worth around the £30,

so I would say £30-£50 at auction.

Right. Yes, that's fine.

That's fine.

Now, you wanted £250, didn't you,

towards some stuff for the new grandchild, over in Tenerife?

We did.

I know you're a bit disappointed with the valuation of the etchings.

I'll leave these to one side for the moment.

The value of everything going to auction comes to £340.

But, if you get the £50 you want for those pictures,

-that'll take it to £390.

-Lovely. That's great.

That'd be good, wouldn't it?

You might be able to buy a whole buggy for that.

A motorised one!

THEY LAUGH

Gosh! Isn't the stuff expensive nowadays?

Especially in Tenerife.

-Whatever happened to pass-me-downs?

-I don't know.

I'm sure Jonty must have an old buggy somewhere,

one of those Silver Cross prams we can hand down.

-Absolutely, yeah. I remember those.

-A sedan chair..

-OK. Are you looking forward to the auction?

-I am, yes.

-OK.

-See you there.

-Next time we see you, we'll be there.

-OK. Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

Little by little, we made our target,

with just a bit to spare.

It'll be interesting to see how we get on at auction.

These prints of the fictitious 19th-century vicar

Dr Syntax might have raised a laugh.

Let's hope they can meet Linda's £50 reserve.

Will we find a buyer for those blue and white jugs and jelly moulds?

They could decorate our fund with another £50-£100.

And the assorted silver plate could also prove popular,

and make between £80 and £120.

Still to come on Cash In The Attic.

How will we cope when the bidding hots up?

-Then suddenly...

-..the price goes up.

If it was me, I'd be sitting with steam coming out of my ears.

And when we do make a sale, will we all share Jonty's enthusiasm?

It's walking. It's walking.

It's stumbling, rather than walking, at £30.

Here comes the final hammer.

It's been a while since we met Linda and John

at their beautiful Bedfordshire cottage.

They're looking to raise money to help their daughter

prepare for the birth of their daughter's child,

their new grandchild.

We found plenty of items we've brought here

to Sworders Auction House in Stansted Mountfitchet.

All we need to do today, of course,

is hope that the bidders are willing to dig deep into their pockets.

Sworders holds a general sale every week here at Stansted Mountfitchet,

and the Devines' heirlooms should fit in perfectly

with the various items on sale today.

But as they check out the competition,

I hope our couple don't get sidetracked.

Good morning!

Hi, guys. How are you?

When I last saw you,

it was before you were going to make your trip with the family.

And you were expecting another grandchild. What's the latest?

We've got a lovely little grandson called Leo.

-How wonderful!

-And he's gorgeous.

-How lovely!

So you managed to see him, as well?

We saw him, had a cuddle, and then left for the airport.

How lovely!

So, are we too late to make this money for him?

No, no. We'd love to buy something special for him, so yes.

-All right. Shall we go and make some money?

-Come on, guys.

We couldn't have wished for a better start to our auction.

And that's before anything has even gone on sale.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Linda and John's pieces do well for little Leo,

especially as the auctioneer has advised our couple

to merge a number of their lots together,

in an effort to maximise interest and potential takings.

First to go under the hammer is the silver pocket watch,

dated 1899 and hallmarked in Chester.

Where was this from?

It came from my aunt. It was her husband's, and she gave it to me.

It's a family thing, really.

What do you want for this, Jonty?

£20-£30. There's a bit of damage there, as well.

So don't get too excited.

-But £20-£30 should be fine to get it away.

-Let's see.

£20 to start me. I'm bid £20. Any interest at £22?

Opening bid of £20, then, for the pocket watch. Any further interest?

£22 there. £25.

£25, £28.

£28, £30.

£32. £32, sir.

£32, £35, £38.

No. £35. Still in the centre at £35.

(Yes).

Any further interest?

I'll sell for £35.

I always think it must be so frustrating

for the buyer who thinks they're going to get it for 20 quid.

-Then suddenly...

-...the price goes up.

THEY LAUGH

If it was me, I'd be sitting there with steam coming out of my ears.

But the good thing is that means it's more money for you.

He's got steam coming out his ears, but we're all smiling.

And so we should be.

£5 over our top estimate is an encouraging start.

Let's see if our next lot, the Royal Albert china tea set,

can also draw in the bidders.

The service is the company's most popular design,

and was a classic item on wedding lists in years gone by.

It's also in great condition.

It's the Royal Albert Country Roses, which I think

has probably got to be the most manufactured design known to mankind

in this country.

-But it is very desirable.

-It is.

When I've seen it all out in the auction room,

on the table it's displayed on,

there is so much of this set.

I put £40-£60 on it.

I think that's quite conservative.

I wouldn't be surprised if it makes a lot more,

as there's so much of it.

So, who's going to buy it, Jonty? Is there someone in the auction room,

or will it be a phone bid, or what?

I don't think necessarily it will find a home in the UK.

It could be in any corner of the globe.

On the Continent, in America,

but not necessarily the buyers in the UK.

-Right.

-Not necessarily so.

£50, anywhere?

That's got to be worth £50, surely.

Yes!

-£55, £60. £65.

-Come on!

£60.

Any bids at £65?

I'll sell for £60.

Any further interest? £60.

£60. Bang on the top estimate.

Good.

That's a very satisfying boost

to the fund for little Leo and the family.

Now it's time for our first merged lot of the day.

The auctioneer has decided it's best to put together

that collection of silver plate

with a battered German spirit kettle.

Interestingly enough, when we came to your house,

we found various bits and pieces.

We lotted them up and put them into the auction house, as expected.

They seem to have taken matters into their own hands.

They've combined some of these things.

So the next lot are a huge quantity of electroplated items.

Yes, because in that is our lovely spirit kettle that we looked at.

Remember the Bing piece?

But because it's so badly damaged,

I would imagine that they'd probably put it, as Lorne suggested,

in with our other items as well.

I think what we have to bear in mind

is an auction house always knows its own local market

and the type of dealers, and what they'll be looking for.

They probably assume that whoever wants one of it will want the rest.

The new estimate for this is £100 to £160.

So that's what we're aiming to net.

A mixed lot, there. £80, anywhere? £80? £50.

It's probably going to come down low, before it gets going.

£40 to start me, anywhere? Anyone tempted?

It might not get picked at all.

..£40? £30, to start me?

No? I'm afraid we'll have to pass on that.

-LINDA: That's a shame.

-Right. Now, that IS a disappointment.

It is a disappointment.

She took it right down, to start at £40.

Obviously, you can't start below that. It gets ridiculous.

But unfortunately, there didn't seem to be any interest at all.

-Oh, dear.

-That's life.

I don't know whether you want to leave it here,

to go into another auction?

Probably let it go into another auction.

-Can we do that?

-Of course you can. We'll sort all that out.

Oh, dear. Clearly no-one was on the lookout

for a bulk buy of EPNS and brass.

I can't help wondering how our other merged lots will do later on.

Next up is another large lot.

At least these are going on sale as we intended.

Jonty's given this group of blue and white jugs and jelly moulds

a confident £50 to £100 estimate.

This is quite interesting, because there was loads of stuff here.

The classic stuff that, in the '80s,

-everybody wanted to display on a dresser.

-Yes.

Did you purposefully put together this collection?

I did. Most of it, anyway.

Some of it came from my family.

But the rest of it I bought myself.

-Don't you miss it?

-Not at all.

-Really?

-Not at all.

I'd like to get rid of everything, really.

Now, Jonty, what do we want for this?

It's interesting you say you're now keen to get rid of it.

It seems to be the fashion at the moment to sell these sorts of items,

so it's going to be interesting to see what happens in the room.

I put £50-£100.

But let's just wait and see, eh?

Because this auction house is based in mid-north Essex,

where there's lots of country cottages,

-there might be somebody.

-Yes.

It's better than taking it to a London auction house.

You've more chance, I think.

But, having said that, we'll just have to see.

It's straight in at £40, with me.

£42 in the room?

£40, with commission, for all the china there. Any further interest?

I'll sell to the opening bid, then, with commission, at £40.

Any bids in the room? £40.

Right. This is someone who left a commission bid.

It's £40. She's sold the whole collection for that. Is that OK?

Well, yes. I got rid of it, so that's the main thing.

It would have been nice to make a little more than £40,

but with the reaction in the room,

we should perhaps be grateful for that commission bid,

especially as we're already halfway through our auction today.

You wanted to make at least £250. Hopefully a little bit more.

We've sold half of our lots so far, and we've banked £135.

Oh, well, that's not so bad.

Don't forget you have a couple of no-sales there,

so at some point those things will sell.

And you've still got some very nice lots to sell this afternoon.

Yes. We've got a few good items to look forward to. All right?

-Time for a little bit of a break?

-Yes, thank you.

-Follow me!

-OK.

Let's hope the break signals a change in our fortunes.

If you'd like to try buying or selling some of your items this way,

it's worth bearing in mind that auction houses charge various fees.

including commission and VAT.

Your local saleroom will advise you on those extra costs.

We have experienced a couple of no-sales,

but it's a common occurrence at auction.

Even the most imposing items can suffer.

Jonty's intrigued by a pair of impressive Chinese pitchers

that didn't find a buyer at a previous sale.

This is what I call a very substantial pair, Jonty.

They're amazing, aren't they?

Incredible. I suppose they have to be a good three and a half feet

in height?

They're typically Chinese, absolutely covered with detail.

Presumably, everything on here means something.

You're absolutely right. Full of symbolism.

We have our stylised applied dragon, and our Dogs of Fo,

and lions on the side. Very typically Chinese.

In fact, the style of this vase, they're actually from Canton.

Quite near Hong Kong, in fact.

But for centuries, Canton exported vase of this particular style.

So, what sort of age have these got?

They look like they're mid-19th century,

but the closer I've looked and studied these,

they don't have very much age to them at all.

I believe these vases have been produced in relatively recent times.

In the last 30 years, in fact.

It's difficult for us here in the West

to spot a genuine Chinese antique

from something literally made yesterday.

Absolutely. And the way to tell is to have a look at the detail.

Let's take these two panels on the front, here.

Take a closer look. And if you were to compare those

to a vase from the 19th century,

the quality of the painting itself

would be so much better

on a 19th-century vase.

So, do they have a value?

They have a vast value. £4,000 to £5,000.

Oh, that's a lot of money, isn't it?

I think we need to go into importing and exporting.

Sadly for us,

there's nothing approaching the monetary value of those vases

amongst our remaining lots.

But there's still plenty to look forward to,

including those Dr Syntax prints,

with their evocative scenes of Georgian England.

They've been grouped together with Victorian spy pictures,

for £40-£70.

But first, another collection of merged items.

The auction house recommended

putting the Royal Doulton Winston Churchill character jug

together with the Russian medallions.

Knowing the local market as well as they do,

they recommended a revised estimate of £20-£30.

The only similarity is the fact that they're probably ceramic...

-All right.

-..rather than resin.

That's the only connection.

Therefore, what the auction room are telling us

is that they don't covet those medallions you bought in Russia.

So they really don't have very much value at all.

They're of social interest, but not of financial interest.

£40, for all that lot, anywhere?

£40? £30?

Doulton character jug included. £30?

Oh, come on!

£20, I'm bid. £22, there.

£25. £28. £30.

Seated on my right at £28. £30, there.

£32? £30, there. Was that £32 in the centre somewhere?

Amazing.

£38, dead centre. £38. Any bids at £40?

So, for £38, any more bids? £38.

-£38.

-£38, so what's your view on that?

Erm, well, I know what I paid for the jugs, so...

Which was?

I paid £40 for that, a long time ago.

Oh, dear.

Well, often when you put things in,

you're not hoping to get your money back, you want it cleared.

-Happy with that?

-Yes.

At £8 above estimate,

I guess we'll have to accept

the wisdom of the auctioneers on this one.

I'm fascinated to see how John and Linda's mixed set of prints

will do in front of our Essex bidders.

Remember those Dr Syntax prints we all looked at?

Rather bizarre character that he was.

They have been combined also with the Spy prints.

It all makes sense that they've all been put together.

£40-£70 is what we're looking for.

Hopefully.

£40, anywhere?

£40? £30?

The Spy prints, there. £30.

£32? The lady right at the back there.

£30, the opening bid. £32?

I'll sell for £30, then, the opening bid. Any further interest?

£30.

-Oh.

-£30. Considering the age of those Dr Syntax,

that's quite amazing.

But I think it really indicates fashionable trends at the moment.

And unfortunately, until that sort of appears in vogue...

Yes, I think that's the case.

And I suppose it's better than having to take them home.

That's the spirit, John.

And it's also another £30 towards the fund for little Leo.

Let's hope the 1930s walnut display cabinet

will swell the coffers even further.

Surely worth £20-£40 of anybody's money.

Going back 10 to 15 years, people were fighting over these,

big time.

I'm not sure that's the case now, but where was this one from?

I bought it, quite a while ago, from a fair.

I can't remember what I paid for it,

but at the time, I bought it to display my china,

which I'm now getting rid of, so it has to go.

Obviously no problems selling this.

Jonty, how do we stand on price with these case now?

There's always a market for everything.

The value for your display cabinet now is £20-£40.

So it should walk out at that sort of figure.

If we sell a walnut display cabinet for £20-£30

that can physically walk out the room,

I think we might have undersold it!

-SHE LAUGHS

-That's for sure.

£40, anywhere? £40?

Please!

-£30, I'm bid.

-Ooh, £30.

- Opening bid of £30. - Come on, come on!

-I'll sell for your bid of £30.

-It's walking.

It's walking. It's walking. Can you see it walking?

Stumbling, rather than walking, at £30!

-That's good.

-Oh, dear!

I hope it doesn't say anything on the way out!

Another £30 for the good cause.

So, for our final lot of the day.

Or, to be exact, our last two lots that are merged into one.

It's the reproduction oak cupboard and the 1920s plant stand.

The auctioneers' new estimate for them is £40-£60.

I'm not sure what's going on with the auction,

cos a lot of your lots have been combined.

Our next one has, "A reproduction oak pot cupboard,

"together with a 1920s plant stand."

I'm not sure the buyer of one is necessarily going to want the other.

So what is the reasoning behind this?

They're both pieces of furniture.

Again, it's probably the plant stand that has so little value,

that they've put the two together.

Because the cabinet we looked at at the top of the stairs,

certainly does have some use.

A lot of function there.

Plant stands, just not so fashionable at the moment.

So the auctioneers decided again to put the two together.

-£40, I'm bid.

-Ooh, hello!

£40. £42. £45.

Goodness.

£50. £55.

£60, there?

Quite good.

The latest bid, still with you at £60.

£65?

£60, then.

£60.

I could barely write it down, I was so excited.

That's £20 over our estimate. Good grief!

And they combined the lots.

I think that's fantastic.

I feel quite flushed after that, do you?

Yes, very much. That's great.

And another strong result.

It seems the auction house

has perfectly judged their local bidders.

Thanks to all those combined lots, today's sale has flown by.

And it's time to reveal the grand total.

In fact, we have now banked £293.

-Are you serious?

-Absolutely!

-I didn't realise it was that much.

-That's great!

-That's good.

-That's really good.

You still have some items you can either take home

or leave in for next time.

-Well done, guys.

-Thank you very much.

With those proceeds burning a hole in her pocket,

Linda wastes no time looking out for some baby essentials

for her new grandson.

The money I wanted to raise was for my new grandson,

who was born in Tenerife.

Fortunately we were there, so we were able to see him.

He was just born, and warm and cuddly.

Everything was great. The money that I've raised at yesterday's auction

will be for him.

I'd like to buy something that will be good for him for the future,

such as the rocker with the hi tech music.

I do like the pushchair as well, so hopefully, I'll come back, we'll purchase that

and then we'll be off to Tenerife. I've had a lot of the items that I got rid of a long time

and they're no use to me,

but the money will be very useful for my daughter and Leo.

So, it was a good choice. I'm really pleased I went for it.