The Unusual Flog It: Trade Secrets

The great thing for me about Flog It!

is there is no limit to what I can learn,

and I hope to what you can pick up, too.

Amongst the thousands of antiques and collectibles

we have valued over the last 11 years,

there's always something

that pops up that is completely new to me or to our experts.

Riiight!

This is the strangest item I've ever had to value.

Thank you, thank you for bringing these in.

So, today, we are going to be taking a closer look at the rare

and different things,

or sometimes the just plain baffling things.

This programme is dedicated to all the weird

and wonderful things you no longer want in your homes.

We'll be giving you the inside track on what is worth buying

and what is worth selling - although sometimes,

quite frankly, we are stumped.

Really, the unusual now

is what everybody wants.

People want things that no-one else has.

Our experts share their thoughts about some of the wackier

collectibles we have seen on Flog It!.

I would have thought that someone who collects majolica

has got to have a...shall we say a screw slightly loose?

And Thomas Plant leaves his comfort zone to show us

some secrets behind collectible glass.

It's all wobbly wiggly.

It is a sort of real amateur's first go.

So, here are some tips from our experts about why you should

think outside the box.

The market for quirky things is probably better now

-than it's ever been.

-It can be anything.

If you don't know what it is, it's likely that they don't know

what it is.

And you can then spend that time researching it, and that's the fun.

Think creatively about the object,

don't take it just at face value.

And think of its potential in another context.

There is no doubt these are conversational pieces,

so... I've got a few things, you know, dried out seahorses,

stuffed tortoise... I've got a warthog's head.

Buy it if you can.

So, here are some of our very best finds

and what you can learn from them.

In Edinburgh, in 2006, I was presented with something that,

at first glance, looked like a kid's toy.

Can you guess what it is? It has got form, it has got sculptural form.

Take a closer look.

You can just make out. It's an elephant, isn't it, Bill?

-Yes.

-That's exactly what it is. Are you a modernist?

-No, I'm a bit old-fashioned.

-You are a traditionalist.

-Yes.

-You like your proper antiques.

-Yes, I do.

-Do you know what this is?

-Yes, it was a promotion

by Liam Williamson of Faith, early '70s.

'73, yeah. This was designed by the British artist Eduardo Paolozzi.

In fact, he is a sir, Eduardo Paolozzi.

It's for the Nairn flooring company.

-That's right.

-Cushioned floor and plastic flooring.

And I'm a floorer, as well.

And the reps would keep their paperwork in there.

And it's made of the same material that was used in the flooring.

But when you look at it, for me,

that really does sum up that

sort of cubic block work

of the '60s, you know, the late '60s.

It's sort of the brutal architecture of the South Bank.

You can see a signature there.

Just at the bottom there.

This is number 244

out of a limited range of 3,000,

which is striped into the base. I think it is fantastic, I really do.

The fact that it's limited edition will add to the value of it.

-Right.

-Have you any idea of what this is worth?

I said to my wife, "If it's a couple of hundred pounds,

"well, it's always something."

It's been sitting in the attic for 31 years.

-31 years!

-Yes.

-Gosh.

It is not going to be everybody's cup of tea.

-What does the wife think?

-She doesn't like it at all.

She never has.

I think it is quite rare. I don't know how many have survived.

I know the Victoria and Albert Museum have one.

That's right.

-Um... So, it's in good company, isn't it?

-Oh, it is.

I think it's great. I really do think...

It's one of the quirkiest things I've seen on Flog It!.

It's definitely good, contemporary, 20th-century modern.

Let's hope - big money spent on this little elephant, Bill.

We'll just have to wait and see.

And big money was spent.

That elephant stomped through its estimate on the auction day.

We are starting the bidding at £240.

-Oh, good!

-Straight in.

260. 280. 300.

And the bids kept coming,

showing how hard it is to place a value on an unusual object.

850. 900. 950.

Oh, are we going to get the 1,000?

Bidding on the other side?

950 beside me on the telephone.

All done at 950. At 950...

So, Bill, God, you must be so happy, surely.

Yes, that will be for the new washing machine.

Well, it just goes to show how it is the rare

and the quirky that often attract a premium.

So, go for the limited edition pieces, which have rarity

built in, or even things that you can't quite identify.

Well, I remember at Clacton, I think it was,

one of the valuation days,

where I spotted in a lady's bag in the queue

this sort of bright flash of colour.

And I immediately thought to myself, you know,

"This looks like the sort of colour you would find on a piece

"of majolica."

I must say, this is probably one of my favourite bits today.

I love this! The wacky world of Victorian majolica.

-Yes.

-Now, you knew what it was when you brought it in.

Tell me, how have you come by it?

Is this something you collect or have bought?

Um, no, it was my grandmother's, and then my mother had it.

Do you know what it is? What it should be used for?

It's a spoon warmer.

You're right. That's exactly what it is.

It is one of those sort of things that, if you saw it

and you didn't know, you'd think, "What is it?

"Is it an ashtray? Is it a funny vase?

"Is it just ornamental?"

But the nice thing is it has a function,

so it's this kind of great Victorian aesthetic of being

completely out there and wacky, but still having a function.

Now, I knew it was majolica as soon as I saw it across the room.

You've got these wonderful, bold colours.

This nice turquoise, the green, the blue... Real deep, rich colours.

Typical of the majolica pallet.

They tend to be by a chap called George Jones.

George Jones was one of three big majolica producers.

You had Minton's, Wedgwood and George Jones.

-Minton and Wedgwood, I'm sure you've heard of.

-Yes.

George Jones - interesting, this -

probably why you haven't heard of him

is because all he did was make majolica.

So, when the fashion for this waned, at the end of the 19th century, when

we turned into the 20th century, he had nothing to fall back on.

This was all he made.

As soon as people stopped buying it, he went out of business.

Victorian majolica is well known for, you know,

being pretty wacky stuff.

I mean, some of the exhibition pieces, for example -

huge, great pieces with grotesque masks and mermaids

and dolphins and, you know,

so it is always quite exciting when you see the colours,

cos you never quite know what you're going to get.

Have you come up with a figure in your mind today?

Well, it's only because I took it to the Antiques Road Show,

and they said about £200, but that was over ten years ago.

Well, you've stolen my thunder now. What am I going to say?

Because that's exactly where I was going to come into,

at 200 to 300.

Yeah, I love that sort of slightly wacky, quirky, colourful,

bright, bold, unusual majolica.

It just makes me smile.

But was Will's estimate the right one?

A lot of interest in this lot, ladies and gentlemen.

I have two commissions and I start the bidding with me at £300.

Straight in at the top end.

To be honest, it's just the sort of thing that would catch my eye

at an auction, and I think I'd find it pretty hard to keep my hand down.

At £660, on the Internet.

At 660, are you...?

Yeah, more!

Internet bidders bidding against each other.

At £700. On the Internet now at £700.

And I think the final selling price was £700,

so, at the time, that did surprise me.

I thought that was a good price.

Are you all done at £700?

Yes! The hammer has gone down.

£700!

I would have thought that someone who collects majolica has got

to have a...shall we say a screw slightly loose?

They have certainly got to be a slightly quirky personality

to have something like that on display in their house.

You know, I'd love to know where it ended up.

A screw loose maybe, but majolica is highly collectible.

Remember those names - Minton, Wedgwood, George Jones.

They are where the money is.

It's the rarer pieces that command good prices.

Really, the unusual now is what everybody wants.

People want things that no-one else has.

-Liz, you have made my day today!

-Oh, good!

Thank you, thank you for bringing these in.

I think in Winchester, I think it was 2007,

something so unusual came in.

These wonderful sulphur crystals had been grown

with these Solomonic columns and VR

for the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria.

I've never seen anything like them before or since, to be honest.

Where on earth did you get these from?

They were given to a great-great-uncle of my husband's...

-Right.

-..who was a bespoke tailor.

And a gentleman had a suit made and he wanted another pair

of trousers, but didn't have any money to pay for them.

So he gave him these instead.

-So they cost the price of a pair of bespoke trousers.

-Yes.

The fact that they were a payment for a pair of trousers

might seem odd today, but in times gone by, often debts were settled

with objects, usually objects of high-value, usually a pocket watch

or a piece of silver. So, you know, sulphur crystals is odd.

But that is probably why they were accepted in the first place.

The poor chap didn't know what they were worth and just thought

he'd have a punt.

-We've got the VR, and they appear to be grown sulphur crystals.

-Yes.

And I have been asking my colleagues how on earth this is done.

And we either think it's a plaster base that has been

carved with the initials and the Solomonic columns at the front...

-Right.

-..that's been dipped and dipped and dipped,

or even a piece of string

that's been corded into shape and then dipped and dipped and dipped.

And they have been left to grow.

-Oh, right.

-But over a very long period of time.

And I am sure that these were made for her Golden Jubilee.

-Yes.

-Being yellow as they are. Over 100 years old. Fantastically rare.

When you value items like this,

you really are taking a stab in the dark.

And this is where the whole world of antiques takes off,

because everyone that looks at them will have a different value.

So, again, you put them in at a figure that is sensible.

They are rare, you will never see them again.

So, they have got to be worth £200. Are they worth 2,000?

You put them to an auction and you wait and see what happens.

I think we should put these into auction

at £200 to £300.

I think, if they don't make £200, you should have them back,

-because they are that unusual...

-Really?

-..and that quirky.

-Uh-huh.

One-offs. That's what antiques is about, finding these one-off things.

These things, they are so quirky,

I don't really know what they are worth.

It is just a shot in the dark. You either love them or hate them.

This is unusual, Victorian sulphur crystals.

At £300, are you sure?

At £300 then.

-320. 340. 360.

-Oh!

At £340.

£340 for the last time.

-Oh, Liz, wonderful!

-Great! Wonderful!

Its uniqueness, its rarity...

So very much the more unusual, the better.

A pair like this, probably the same ones,

sold at auction in 2009 for over £1,600.

Now, that is a bit more than the price of a pair of trousers.

If something is truly unusual,

then an auction room may be the best place to sell it.

There is nothing like putting something under the hammer

to find out what it is worth.

Do you know, there have been so many unusual, weird,

slightly odd objects that have come on Flog It!.

Jeanette, when I came down to Portsmouth,

I was hoping to find something nautical,

something of naval interest.

And I'm not sure about this.

They can be strange, one-off pieces

or sometimes pieces that you feel,

because they are commercially made, you should have seen them before.

Let's take the lid off and have a look.

What can you tell me about that?

Many years ago, I did gardening for a very old gentleman.

And just before he died, he gave me that.

He had several things on, like, a little dresser thing

and he said to pick any one I'd like.

And I thought that -

although I didn't really know what it was -

-I thought it was quite fascinating.

-It is.

It is really, really interesting.

And the more you look at it, the more interesting it becomes.

And you look at the box and you think, it's rubbish.

It's a really cheap box and it is worth maybe £20 or £30.

Then you look at it again and again and again...

And I always think good things get better each time you see them.

And there we have this watch glass in the top.

So, if you hold it, it has this convex top.

I've never really noticed that before.

Just a little detail.

Much, much, much better than having just a flat glass.

And then offset to the centre

is this pivoting compass.

But it is not a compass in the true sense.

See, it has evening, morning,

night and noon.

And it has this little indicator arm in the same way as you

-would have an indicator arm on a sundial.

-Right.

And look at all these little places around the outside.

Fascinating.

It was all about emotion. It was about imagination.

It was about being taken back to another era

and imagining people going through the rain forest,

or, "Dr Livingstone, I presume," or Nelson on board the HMS Victory -

Any one of them could have had a little Butterfield dial like that.

That is a really interesting object. 70 to 100,

but it might come up with something totally different on the sale day.

Such an oddity needed more research to realise its true value.

That is part of the job of the auctioneer.

I don't know exactly what it is, you might have to help me

out in pronouncing it,

but I believe it is called an equinoctial dial.

Yes, an equinoctial dial.

It's...basically, it's a compass, and around the edge,

you've got the names of all the major cities in the world.

And having got the compass,

you could tell exactly what the time is in each of those.

So, it is great for somebody that wants to do a lot of travelling.

Exactly, exactly. And a pocket one, too.

360, the gentleman's bid then.

At 360. 370. Thank you. 370.

£370.

Selling at 370.

Yes! 370.

-That is brilliant.

-It is.

-That is almost double your estimate.

-Wonderful.

-I am ever so pleased for you.

-Delighted.

Actually, that did really well. And I have seen those since.

And I've seen those Butterfield dials since,

and I've seen them at antique fairs

with much less money on them than that.

So it was a great result.

You heard the man, get out there and sniff out something unusual

that might also be of value.

Speaking of which...

This is the strangest item I have ever had to value on Flog It!.

Can you tell me a little about it?

I can... I am slightly undecided what it is.

Well, we believe it is a two-headed kitten,

and it belonged to my husband's grandfather's father.

So it was his great grandfather. But they used to sew two heads together.

But when he took it...the skin and all the stuffing out,

he said, no, it was just the one head.

One head. Rather interesting.

It has this sort of slightly freak-show element that the

Victorians absolutely loved.

You know, they were permanently going around circuses and fairs

seeing the tallest man, the shortest man, the fattest man and whatever.

So, suddenly, to get a two-headed cat

is almost the sort of stuff of Greek mythology, isn't it?

I have no comparable whatsoever.

So, £50 to £200, who knows,

but I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't go up over £200.

That is the beauty of these peculiar items,

you never know what someone might be willing to pay.

Come now to the Victorian preserved double-headed kitten. 900.

-900.

-This is good.

950.

We are going to do 1,000.

1,000. At £1,000, are we all done?

I'm going to sell it at £1,000.

Last time. Are we all done?

-At £1,000.

-Here it goes!

Yes! That is Flog It! for you!

Well, they say two heads are better than one,

and when it comes to Victorian taxidermy,

that couldn't be more true.

Here on Flog It!,

we've met enough examples of taxidermy to re-create

Noah's Ark - everything from ducks to cows' hooves

to bison horns.

Look at the size of these buffalo horns!

The art of preserving animals can be traced back as far

as the ancient Egyptians.

But the golden age of taxidermy was during the Victorian era.

The stuffed and mounted trophies of the great hunters

and collectors of that period

form the basis of the Natural History Museum in London.

Taxidermy became popular among the upper classes, who displayed

their impressive collections to show off their thirst for knowledge

and interest in the Empire.

You know, I have to show you these elephant feet.

Now, I have seen these used before as plant pots,

stick and umbrella stands, or even a litter bin in a gentleman's library.

These antique elephant feet from the Victorian era

are on display at Tatton Park.

And I know some people find taxidermy quite macabre

and unsettling,

but I quite like it, and it's making a comeback.

The work of the great 19th century taxidermists like Peter Spicer

and Rowland Ward is highly prized by collectors,

and their birds of prey are especially sought after.

I am told a rare golden eagle by Peter Spicer

might command a price of up to £20,000.

Spicer often signed his pieces on a pebble in the tableau,

so make sure you look closely.

But beware of fakes.

Unscrupulous dealers may replace trade labels falsely,

attributing the work to renowned taxidermists.

If in doubt, get a second opinion.

Taxidermy can be prone to damage and decay, especially the older pieces.

Look out for signs of infestation.

Drooping tail feathers suggest the presence of museum beetle or

missing fur may indicate skin mite.

And pieces that haven't been carefully displayed

are likely to have faded.

So with taxidermy back in fashion,

it pays to keep your eyes peeled when rummaging in junk shops.

But remember, condition is key.

Strictly speaking,

butterfly collections aren't classified as taxidermy.

But if you are embarking on a career in collecting,

it could be a great start.

And we have seen some great antique collections over the years

on Flog It!.

These came from Singapore.

-Did he personally collect them?

-Yes, he did.

-So, running around the jungle with a net?

-Yes, yes, indeed.

-My word!

-Yes.

-Let's just have a quick look.

Nine trays altogether.

I've never counted them accurately,

but I suspect there are about 300 or so there.

Unusual lot.

£380 then.

In the balcony, they go forever.

Wow, yeah!

That wasn't a bad price for such a pretty

and unusual collection.

So, here is what we have learned so far.

It is always wise to hunt out oddities.

Limited editions really can attract a premium.

And unusual one-off pieces celebrating big historical events

are always extremely popular.

Of course, some items may not be to your taste.

But respected names

and celebrated manufacturers can mean big bucks in the sale room.

So, here are some of our experts' tips

on seeking out the quirky.

Look out for pigs, owls and elephants.

They are always very popular and can make a lot of money.

Don't be put off by odd things.

If you look at something and say, "I don't know what it is,"

that shouldn't put you off buying it.

Sooner or later, given the right advertising,

you will find the person that knows what it is

and therefore wants to buy it.

I suppose you've just got to have a good eye for what is quirky

and what is unusual and go around the fairs and make sure you

are not just buying things that have been churned out by the million.

If you are a collector, you go looking for the rare

and the unusual to add to your collection.

Now, our Flog It! experts all love collecting.

And away from the valuation tables, you will find them

searching auction rooms and antiques fairs

looking for that much sought after piece.

Thomas Plant is a connoisseur of glass.

He is the man you go and see

when you are looking for tips on what to look out for.

So, what can he tell us

about some of the most unusual pieces of glass in Britain?

I am a Bristol boy. I was born here.

My father is a farmer just outside,

and I can remember crossing this bridge again and again

throughout the whole of my childhood.

And the whole of Bristol has this huge heritage of making

wonderful things.

We made beautiful porcelain. We made fantastic Bristol Blue Glass.

So, that is where my love has come from.

I first got really interested in glass

when I was a very young boy. At Christmas time,

one of my parents' friends gave me a book on antique glass.

I can remember flicking through it and thinking,

"This is quite a nice subject." Then, when I was at university,

we had these seminars on glass from Sweden,

and Scandinavian glass against the Italian glass, and all the colours.

And it just looked so different than anything else I'd ever seen.

So, literally, I was hooked.

So, today, I am very excited because I get a chance

to have a go at doing something I have never done before.

It is one of those things you have on a list, "What do you want to do?"

Doing glassmaking, glass blowing, is something I really want to try.

I left Bristol over ten years ago, but I am going to meet

Jim Adlington, the owner of Bristol Blue Glass factory,

to see if I have got any of the city's glassmaking genes left in me.

-I love glass.

-Yeah.

-Really love glass.

I collect it, value it, etc.

But I have never made it. This is such an old process.

Well, the process we're doing here is at least 2,000 years old.

-That is just amazing, isn't it?

-Yeah.

So, you are going to show me how to do it?

I'm going to show you how to do it, yeah, or how we do it here.

-Is it complicated?

-Um...

It can be, but we'll keep it as simple as we possibly can today.

We're just going to do something really, really basic,

a simple beaker, and we'll take it from there.

Brilliant, all right.

-Right, what we have got here is a blowing iron, OK?

-Yep.

This is a hollow tube invented by the Romans 2,000 years ago.

They actually had pipe technology.

Now, we need to warm this end up here,

so I will go over to the glory hole.

If you follow me over there,

I can sort of explain what is going on as we go along.

-How hot is that?

-This is 1,100 degrees Centigrade.

Wow. In there is glass?

-In that there is glass.

-Molten glass.

There's a pot and I can gather the glass

on the end of the iron by turning, OK?

-Wow.

-And I have got myself a gob of glass on the end here.

-A gob?

A gob. Gather.

And as you see, I am still turning.

We have some wet newspaper here.

-That is technical, wet newspaper.

-Wet newspaper.

And I can just run that in my hand.

And we're just putting some air in the end.

You'll see the air come through.

And now I can blow it.

I can use the glory hole now just to keep this warm,

because if it gets too cold, it will just shatter and fall off the iron.

I can feel that getting softer and softer.

What do you mean, you can feel the actual glass getting softer?

Yeah, you can feel it moving.

And now I am just using a little bit of gravity as I am turning.

And I can chuck it round like that.

-Lengthen the bubble by spinning it.

-Such an amazing skill.

This process, for 2,000 years, has almost been the same.

You can see the colour, sort of like almost a citrine

or amber colour to it.

-Yeah.

-Is that the heat?

-That is the heat.

Now I've got that, I can just go in with my tools here

and just open that up.

That's wonderful.

I've just handed that over to Connor because that cannot stay out.

If we leave that out,

-on the side, it would crack as it cools down.

-So, what happens now?

We have to soak it at 420 degrees Centigrade

in a kiln, in what would be called a kiln, but we call them lehrs.

-In the glass world?

-In the glass world, yeah.

The glass you do here, what inspired you to do this?

Back in the 1980s when we started this,

there was a thing called the Studio Glass Art Movement.

-I don't know if you've heard of it.

-Yeah, yeah.

And it was the first time people were actually making

glass in a small studio as opposed to a big, large factory.

And I was there working with them sort of as an assistant and saying,

"Can we make a wineglass?"

Cos I was fascinated by making actually practical, tabletop glass.

-Yeah. The Bristol Blue is so distinctive.

-Yeah.

It's got... You hold it up to light

and you have got that pure blue with that tinge of violet...

-Yeah.

-..coming through it. And that is the way you look at it.

Cobalt, as a colouring for glass, has been around for centuries.

But Blue Glass became enormously popular during the 1700s,

at the same time as blue and white china became fashionable.

In its heyday, Bristol Blue was sold all around the world.

The most famous manufacturer, Lazarus and Isaac Jacobs

even held a Royal Warrant,

making glass for the crowned heads of Europe.

Today, Isaac Jacobs is the name to look out for in antique

Bristol Blue Glass.

A decanter stand like this one is likely to set you back

around £1,200.

This splendid decanter set,

embellished with fine Sheffield silver plate,

is worth around £27,000.

If you can't quite stretch to that, it is well worth investigating

these modern limited edition pieces,

which might go up to £300.

-Well, let's have a go.

-Okey-dokey then.

-Do I need some glasses?

Yes, and if you could sit down on that bench there,

I'll be with you.

I'm ready with the tabloid.

I can't believe that the red tops are going to protect my hand

from burning.

-OK, now just don't fight me.

-I won't fight you.

Nice and gently, nice and gently. That's very good. That's excellent.

OK, now put the paper down.

Now take that forward, keep going, and bend down to the iron.

Don't, you know... That's it. And blow.

That's good, that's good. Keep blowing.

Big breath, big breath.

Big breath. That's it, stop!

Excellent.

Oh, no! I've done it. Oh, no.

Right, bring it out now. Oops! Did it fall off centre again?

-God, it is so much skill, so much skill.

-Perfect.

Right, OK, if we go sit down...

Yeah, OK.

-This is quite a tricky bit.

-It is all wobbly wiggly.

This is just sort of a real amateur's first go.

You can tell.

OK, that is an incredibly good first effort.

OK, let's put the tools down, that's done.

-That's done?

-OK, hold it up, face it down.

That's it. Carry it over to the knocking off tray.

Look at that!

Stop any sharp edges. And I will put it away in the lehr.

-And there she is.

-Brilliant.

I just love the whole idea of actually hand blowing something,

the craft involved, the skill, utter skill.

-And it is all about feel, isn't it?

-Yeah, it's feel.

-Feel and knowing what the glass is going to do.

-Yeah.

It is a marvellous skill.

-Thank you very much.

-It has been a real pleasure, thank you.

Well, that was just brilliant.

It was awe-inspiring, to be honest with you. I love making things.

I haven't done it for years,

so to really make something was just fantastic.

So the next time when somebody brings in

a bit of hand blown glass to Flog It!, whatever period

it will be, I have a new-found respect for that object.

Lots of you have a keen eye for a bargain or you're a canny investor.

Well, come closer, here is a tip from someone who knows.

What I would advise people to be collecting today,

and it is very dangerous to give people advice, really,

as I'm sure you will appreciate, but what I am thinking

really about here is something I think might have potential

to grow in value. But that is not what it is all about, really, is it?

I think what it is about is trying to find something that you like

and you can buy as cheaply as you possibly can.

And I think English engravings from the late 19th century through

to the 1930s are underrated and cheap.

And I have with me an example of an etching by a man called

Kenneth Steele, who was a poster designer, amongst other things.

And as a poster designer, he's very well known.

This is original in the sense that he cut or at least he etched

the block from which this print was taken.

And it is signed by the artist, signed in pencil.

And I think these would fit into a minimalist interior.

They would fit into an aesthetic movement interior.

I mean, people like Whistler loved Japanese,

was very influenced by Japanese etchings and woodcuts,

and this is part of that genre, really.

And equally they would fit into,

you know, a Morris & Co type interior.

I think they have infinite flexibility.

This particular print, which depicts Stirling Castle,

probably could be bought for £70 or £80.

I'm not going to say that it is going to necessary be worth

twice that or three times that in five years' time

or ten years' time, but I think they are good fun.

I love their understatement, their coolness

and I like the fact they're cheap.

We are exploring the appeal of the unusual on today's show.

I mean, they have got to be worth £100,

£200 just for the novelty value, haven't they?

They have got to be worth that all day long, surely.

And still to come, when the experts get it wrong.

It is when it starts to spiral

out of control and it gets higher

and higher and higher and you think,

"Oh, no, what have I done?"

We asked Christina Travanian to share her most secret desires.

How long have I got?

Can I go on for hours? I probably could.

And I come face to face with some unusual characters

among the dreaming spires.

All of the regulars on Flog It's team of experts are experienced in

their field, either as auctioneers, dealers or collectors.

And for the best part, you can arrive at one of our valuation days

with anything you want and one of them

will be able to tell you everything you need to know about it.

But we are only human, and every now and then,

you will arrive with something that catches us out.

I love French prisoner-of-war work,

and this is a beautiful model that you have brought along to us today.

I saw this wonderful hull which was in lovely condition,

lovely details to it, nice figurehead, nice case.

Where did you get hold of it?

It has been in the family for quite some time.

It belonged to my mother's family.

Her father, apparently, was a mariner,

and whether he actually had it purchased and made, I don't know.

During the Napoleonic War, from 1799-1815, prisoners,

French prisoners, were kept in Britain in terrible conditions.

And they tried to make whatever they could from items that they

had around, perhaps bone, mutton bone,

wood, whatever they could find,

sometimes human hair,

to make items that they could then sell on.

The detail is incredible.

If you look very closely at the hull, you can see all

the individual planks and where they have been pinned together.

It's amazing!

The real problem that I saw was with the rigging.

The rigging was in such a bad state.

The rigging does deteriorate and, obviously,

as these pieces are moved from one display cabinet to the next,

they are going to get damaged.

I looked at that model and I thought about that and that's why I thought,

"Right, I'm going to put a low estimate on it,"

because I was very concerned about getting that re-rigged.

And I know that potential buyers would look at that

and think about how much it would cost to re-rig it properly.

I'll put it in at £600 to £800,

protect it with a 600 reserve, and let's hope that it makes money.

Yeah.

Well, we are always going on about the importance of condition,

but did that matter in this case?

Starting here, £500.

-And 50. 600. 650.

-Good.

-700.

750 with me. £800 now.

It was interesting, because as the price creeps up,

it's OK all the time it's around your sort of high estimate.

And as it sort of goes beyond the high estimate,

it is still sort of OK.

800. 850. 900.

900.

950. 1,000.

But in this case, it just kept going up.

And 50. 1,100.

It's when it starts

to spiral out of control and it gets higher and higher and higher

and you think, "Oh, no, what have I done?"

2,000!

-2.2.

-2.2.

2.4. 2.5.

-2.6.

-2,600!

-2.7.

And then it changes from,

"Oh, that's wonderful," to, "Oh, no, that's really embarrassing."

I'm lost for words. I don't know.

4,500, anyone?

Selling at £4,400...

£4,400!

I mean, perhaps if I had put a high estimate on,

if I'd have put £4,000 or £3,000, nobody would have looked at it.

It is just one of those things,

and that's one of the reasons why we all love the auction business,

because it is so unpredictable.

A low estimate doesn't necessarily mean a low sale price.

Catherine was a long way out,

but it pays never to underestimate the determination

of a collector.

The best way of coming to terms with the fact that you got things

wrong is to hold your hand up and say, "I got it wrong."

-It's my mum's.

-Right.

-It was given to her after my grandmother died.

And it was my great-grandmother's before that.

I don't have a particular liking for dolls.

I'm interested in dolls inasmuch as they are an important

collectors' category.

But they are not the sort of thing I would want to buy myself.

She's a bisque doll, as I am sure you know,

which means she is a china doll.

I think she must have been made in Germany.

Although, if we quickly turn her over,

there is nothing to substantiate that.

I thought it was German, I think,

because most dolls one sees are German.

And it was...it was an assumption.

And, as we all know, if you assume something,

it makes an ass out of you and me.

And I should not have made that assumption.

When she was made, she wasn't made

by the very best doll manufacturer.

Her quality is not the best I've seen.

The moulding of the arms, in particular, I thought was weak.

I mean, a good modeller would have just finished that off,

just taken the seam out.

So, that put me off a little bit.

On some dolls of this period,

you'd have found the eyes would have closed.

So when you'd have sat her up... But these are fixed.

-OK.

-And to be, again, hypercritical, she has got a closed mouth.

You'd expect to see a nice, slightly open mouth with some

sort of pearly white teeth smiling at you,

and there was none of that.

It never hurts to get a second opinion.

You either love them or you hate them.

I know there's lots of doll collectors out there,

and I'm sure they will love to get their hands

on this little figure.

It is a nice doll. It certainly has got a bit of age to it.

What I do like is the neck, which swivels,

which you don't first of all see underneath the pearl necklace.

But you can see the quality down to the little leather shoes.

Pearls nice, as well.

Little things that just, yeah, you don't normally see on a doll.

It is clearly a quality item, but what was David's final appraisal?

Having sounded as if I am being a bit dismissive,

there are collectors in this field, as you might imagine.

I think that she is going to make somewhere in the region

-of £60 to £100.

-OK.

A lot of interest in this lot.

I've got two bids on the books and I am going to start at £200.

At £200, I'm bid.

220. 240. 260. 280.

You know, one does undervalue things occasionally,

and I might have undervalued it by £50 or £60.

Perhaps £100.

620. 640.

-This is bonkers!

-660.

-What were you saying, David, 50 to 100?

-I'm sorry!

1,400. 1,450.

-1,450! 'OK, you get the point.'

-£1,600.

On the phone. Go on! Don't you just love auctions?

I told you someone was going home with a lot of money, didn't I?

People who buy dolls, they specialise in dolls.

You know, they know more about dolls than anyone else in the world.

I didn't expect it to make the money that it did. I hold my hands up.

So there you have it, always do your research, get the auction

house to work for you and put the word out to maximise the return.

I think the thing about valuations is,

I mean, you can't always get it right.

And I have never, ever had a problem with getting it wrong, because I do,

with a lot of regularity.

-Vicki, how are you doing?

-I'm fine, thank you.

-Do you like these?

-Yeah, I think they are really nice.

-Yeah?

-Yes.

-Which county do they come from, do you think?

-Staffordshire, I think.

Absolutely right. Very good size. It is a learning curve for all of us

cos you can't be an expert in everything that you see.

30, 40 years ago these would have been really, really popular.

-Yeah.

-And so popular that they were reproduced.

-Right.

So these were... Perhaps originally started to be made

-in the 18th century.

-Yes.

-They were made in the 19th century

-and were reproduced in the 20th century.

-Right.

I suppose the appeal originally goes back to the 17th century,

because they were King Charles spaniels.

If we put them into auction and they made between £15 and £30..?

-That'd be fine, yeah.

-You would be happy?

-Yeah.

Yeah, I would think you would.

-Yeah.

-Cos they'll make between £150 and £300.

Oh, right! Fantastic.

I felt that they were better than the ordinary.

What I didn't know, and what I got wrong, was how much better

they were than the ordinary.

This is the best pair of Staffordshire dogs I have ever seen.

Yes, our auctioneer, Adam Partridge, had a rather different view.

He noticed something Phil failed to spot.

I've never seen any with green bases before.

I've seen them with blue, but not with green. They're going to fly.

HE LAUGHS

There we are, lot 262.

And commission bids start me at £600.

You don't have a comparable and I hadn't seen dogs like that.

I'd seen lesser quality dogs and they might have made,

I don't know, 80 to 120, 100 to £150.

-1,500.

-I might faint in a minute.

I can't believe it, I'm going to pass out!

1,450 on this phone. 1,500.

1,550 here. At 1,550. Anyone else?

But, you know, I was out on the value there

by a factor of ten, really.

At 1,550...

Bang! Bang! That's the sold sound.

1,550 quid!

If you get it wrong, the only thing you can really do is go,

"I got it wrong."

And I don't have a problem with that.

Because I don't know anybody who doesn't get it wrong, really.

So even when the most experienced expert misses

the smallest detail, in this case the green base,

they can be way off the mark.

Valuations are not a science, they are a bit of an art.

So it's hard for us to get them right 100% of the time.

OK, that is enough with the excuses.

Maybe our experts are just getting a little too big for their boots.

Aaaah! It's not that heavy, but they are heavy.

The one I remember most is the...

I think my favourite lot still to this day that

I've come across on Flog It!,

which was the giant pair of boots at Wells Cathedral.

I would not like to meet the guy who's wearing these in a dark alley

at night. Have you got the BFG at home or something?

Anything like the giant boots, which is quirky, unusual...

You know, you get dealers who are after the unusual.

I mean, what size are these?

I'm only a size seven, or eight when I'm lucky,

-and I'm feeling bigger than I am. What size are these?

-42.

-Size 42.

From memory, I think we put them in at sort of £100 to £200,

which, I think, sounds, you know, on reflection,

maybe a little bit cheeky. I was coming in low.

I mean, they've got to be worth £100,

£200, just for the novelty value, haven't they?

-Yeah.

-They have got to be worth that all day long, surely.

Here we go,

a pair of size 42 black leather Balmoral boots.

Wonderful items. And I start away at £75. At 75.

Do I see 80 anywhere?

The bidding actually started at £75 on the book,

went up to about 200, I think, on commission.

440. 460. 480. 500.

Then someone in the room came in at 500.

They took it up to about £900, £1,000.

1,100. 1,150.

Took it up to say 2,000, I think,

and then a fresh bidder altogether came into the fray.

-What?

-2,900.

Now, even this beggars belief.

3,000.

And took it up to 3,500.

3,600 it is then.

Are you sure? 36.

It's exhilarating as a valuer.

Because you are involved in some way in getting

this great result for the contributors.

I think it's actually the only Flog It! lot

that I've got a round of applause,

though I'm not quite sure what I did to deserve that.

It was more for the item and Liz and Conrad.

I might sound like I'm repeating myself now,

but it is important, always do your research!

Be careful of selling specialist items without

a specialist valuation.

Get the auction house to work for you

and put the word out to maximise the return.

It is in your interest, if you are buying -

don't get caught out by a low estimate.

It doesn't follow that it will result in a low hammer price.

Remember, the devil is in the detail.

Subtle differences can have a huge impact on how much an item

sells for.

If you could have any beautiful antique you liked, what would it be?

I put that to our expert, Christina Travanian.

Sotheby's sold the most amazing pink diamond in 2010,

which sold for 29 million.

And I think that would have to be number one.

Purely because to find a natural diamond that is coloured pink

is incredibly rare.

Most diamonds have been heat treated or treated in some

sort of way to induce that pink colour,

but to find such an intense, beautiful pink naturally,

as it is being cut, is incredibly rare.

# Diamonds are forever. #

So, that would be number one. How long have I got?

Can I go on for hours? I probably could.

No, I think then probably some sort of James Bond car -

an Aston Martin or something like that would be quite nice.

Number three... No, really, I could be here for hours.

Thanks, Christina. I think we'll leave it there.

The quirky and the unusual are all around us,

you may have to look hard to spot them.

But when I travelled to Oxford, I came face to face with some

quirky stone creations.

Oxford's long and distinguished past has resulted in such

a stunning city, with a myriad of architectural styles.

And you can find examples from almost every period

throughout history, dating right back to the Saxons.

But as you wander around, everywhere you look, you are being watched.

Dragons, demons and a whole array of other mystical creatures

and quirky characters stare out from the buildings.

For 1,000 years, gargoyles

and grotesques have stood guard over Oxford.

And you can't help but admire them.

One of the finest collections of grotesques adorns

the walls of the University's world-famous Bodleian Library.

But being so high up, these fantastic creations

are constantly under attack from the weather and pollution.

And in 2007, while doing restoration work on the roof,

the University discovered a row of grotesques

had crumbled away beyond recognition.

They wanted to replace them,

but they had no historical records to work from,

so a competition was launched among local schools,

asking pupils to come up with new ideas.

There were 500 entries, from which nine were selected

to be immortalised in stone.

The sensitive task of translating the original drawings

into the finished stone carvings was given to local sculptors

Fiona and Alec Peever,

who began by making clay models.

And I have come to their studio to find out more.

-This is fabulous, Fiona.

-Oh, thank you.

What sort of challenges did the children's designs give you?

Uh...

Transferring the two-dimensional drawings into something that

will work three dimensionally,

and also very high up, at an angle on the building.

Have you got some examples?

Can I have a look at what this originally looked like?

-Yes. Well, here are the original children's drawings.

-OK.

This is the one for Narnia.

This is good. I was just about to ask you, what does the N stand for?

-Aslan the lion and it's Narnia.

-OK.

Once you get the depth and the relief

and you get those dark patches,

that does look really good, doesn't it? It creates...

That's what gives it impact when it is on the building.

But, also, when you are carving, you have to make sure that you

don't have any areas where the water will settle

-and crack the stone.

-Yes, because the frost would crack it.

-Yeah.

What are these lines dissecting it for?

-Is that to get measurements from?

-Uh, yes, that is where we measured

off the clay model to carve it in the stone.

The interesting thing about using clay is that it's a process,

that you build the model up.

You add on to it.

And, of course, you can always take it away, as well.

But when it comes to stone, you are just taking it away,

you are just removing the stone, so you can't get it wrong.

Do you get involved in the stone work, or are you just doing

-the modelling?

-I carve them as well, yeah.

-You do both.

The new designs for the Bodleian aren't strictly speaking gargoyles.

Gargoyles have a spout to gargle water from the gutters

clear of the walls.

These are in fact grotesques, which are purely decorative,

but with a character of horror or humour.

I think that is beautiful.

So, what else was there? Show me some of these.

This is lovely. This is three men in a boat.

HE LAUGHS

I think it is a really great Oxford story.

-And you've got some photographs, haven't you?

-I have, yes.

-These are the clay models.

-Isn't that fabulous?

Here is the...

-Oh, I see what you have done to it.

-..the final clay model.

That's very clever. Look at the dog's leg,

it's just about to jump out.

-We have also got Gimli.

-From Lord Of The Rings?

That's right, yes.

-Which is that one.

-Uh-huh.

-Tweedledum and Tweedledee.

And there they are.

There they are, yeah.

And then we have also got Thomas Bodley.

I gave him rather sort of baggy eyes.

-Why did you do that?

-Because I imagined him...

He'd sit up reading books all night for his library.

They are beautiful. They are absolutely beautiful.

What do you do with these now that you have finished with them?

-Just leave them at home?

-Put them away.

You can't do that!

No, because they are made in just ordinary clay,

-not with the intention of firing.

-Right.

We just made them so we could measure off for the stone.

To find out more about the actual carving of these wonderful

grotesques, I've cornered the other half of this talented partnership,

Alec Peever, working on something of his own.

What are you working on?

This is a head in Portland stone.

I am just taking off a little bit at a time,

without taking any measurements, just discovering whatever

is inside it, as Michelangelo is famous for saying.

When you choose the block of stone, do you look at it from all

angles, see if there are any fault lines running through it?

-Yes. The thing you always have to do is to tap it.

-Right.

And if it has a ring like that, it's fine.

If it has a dead noise, like that,

-there is a flaw in it.

-OK.

So you don't touch it.

And the chisels you use are the same on the grotesques as you do on this?

Very much. These tools have not changed in 5,000 years.

They're exactly the same tools the ancient Egyptians used,

the Greeks and so on throughout the centuries,

so it is an absolutely basic process.

Can I watch for a little while? Go on, chisel away.

-Start on the mouth, cos that's quite scary.

-Quite.

-Do you know what kind of mouth you are giving him at this stage?

-No.

I might ask you to model for me in a minute.

Must be a good feeling knowing you are following in the footsteps

of some great craftsmen that lived around Oxford.

It's not what I went into it for, but once you...

once you've made something and you see it go up there,

you think, "Well, gosh, that's going to be there for hundreds

"of years." My little boy, who is nine,

his grandchildren will be able to say,

"Great-great-grandfather made that."

It is tremendous to see such continuity between the past

and the present. And for hundreds of years to come,

those brand-new grotesques will sit neatly

alongside their ancient cousins on the Bodleian Library for all

to marvel at.

And that is a testament to the skills of Alec and Fiona

and the people whose footsteps they followed in.

Over the years on Flog It!,

we've had some truly exceptional sales.

4,500.

£600.

I'll put it to 3,400.

ALL: Yes!

Like you, I often want to know more about the object

and how we can change the owner's life and their family.

So, we caught up with some past successful Flog It! owners.

Now, it is over ten years

since Sid Capper visited our Flog It! valuation day in Truro.

He came with his ten-year-old daughter, Charlie,

and they brought along one of the family heirlooms.

Wow, that is lovely.

Absolutely super quality.

Enamel on silver, obviously a smoking set.

Gosh, look at the quality of that enamel.

It was my wife, really.

I suggested that Flog It! was in town,

and we should go along with an item,

and realised that this was something we kept in the cabinet but very

rarely got out to show people, so we thought this might be an item

that might be of interest.

First known to be in the family about 1944.

It appears on a house inventory that my grandfather

kept for insurance purposes.

That is what we've got here.

-And the item is here.

-Oh, yes.

"Silver enamelled cigarette case and matchbox - £2.15."

When London was being bombed during World War II,

many people sold everything they had to leave the city,

and Sid's family was shrewd enough to buy many items from those

house clearances at rock bottom prices.

So, Sid was left with a large collection.

-Do you know about the hallmarks?

-I know a little bit about hallmarks.

I realise that, when looking at this, it was probably made in Chester.

Yeah, absolutely.

You've got the three wheat sheaves in the centre for Chester.

-The date, the R.

-Yeah, I thought that was 1900.

Yeah, it's Chester, 1900. So that is good and clear.

The smoking set clearly depicts the thrill of the chase,

and Sid himself is no stranger to the adventurous life.

I really enjoy doing physical things.

I enjoy doing practical things. I like to go skiing.

We've just come back from a ski trip.

I'm sitting here nursing two broken ribs at the moment.

While Sid was off on one of his adventures, it was left to his wife,

Sarah, and daughter, Charlie,

to handle the excitement of the auction.

720. 750. 780.

And what an adrenaline rush it was,

with the smoking set selling for twice its estimated value.

£820.

Your boat has come in.

And this adventurous family had a very clear idea of how

they would spend their money.

This was a picture that hung in my office,

and my wife once came to my office

and discovered this hanging on the wall and wanted to know why

there was no picture of her and my daughter on there.

And I tried to explain to her that this picture just reminded me

of why I was doing what I was doing at the time.

And made the stress a little less.

You will need more than £850 to buy a boat like this,

but life on the ocean waves can be pretty dull without a sail.

Going to auction, we knew that the money

we were hoping to make from it would go towards a sail.

And in fact, the money that we did make from the auction

was more than we needed.

Both my wife and I enjoy being on the boat because, as we are at sea,

there is a great opportunity of seeing wildlife out there,

whether it's gannets or cormorants or, on very special occasions,

dolphins that like to swim actually alongside the boat,

which we've had on a number of occasions.

So, what top tips has this adventurer got for us?

If you want to sell something on Flog It!,

it's having something that is fairly unique

and probably of some value.

And the only way to really work out

whether that's something that would be of interest to the Flog It! team

is a little bit of research beforehand.

Another of my top tips would be to make sure that the money you

get from any items you sell,

you use on something that will be longer lasting than perhaps a holiday

or whatever.

And buying a sail for the boat, which is...

I bought ten years ago now,

means that it will last certainly for another ten years

and we will get a great deal of enjoyment out of that as a family.

If today's programme tells us anything,

it is that odd often equals rare.

And if something is rare, it could be worth a small fortune.

So why don't you have a look around your sitting room

at that unidentified antique object

and bring it into one of our valuation days.

You never know, we might be able to tell you what it is.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd