Hearth and Home Flog It: Trade Secrets

After more than a decade of valuation days and auction rooms,

we have a wealth of experience valuing and selling your antiques and collectables on "Flog It!".

Fascinating. It's a really interesting object.

Are we all done at 1,900?

That is fantastic, isn't it?

And our experts are raring to go with some more inside information,

so if there's something you need to know, you're more than likely to find it right here.

Welcome to Trade Secrets.

Ever since an Englishman's home has been his castle,

we've looked at ways of being comfortable and happy within our own four walls,

whether it's something to sit on, eat from or for passing the time.

The things we buy for our homes have a special resonance.

Today, it's all about objects that once delighted us in our homes, and are now highly collectable.

We've got great tips on everything from early Victorian home entertainment

to cool, retro technology.

'Coming up, I'm amazed by a fantastic result at auction.'

-Bang, the hammer's gone down. What a result!

-Amazing!

-I'm so pleased.

'Will shocks a visitor with his estimate on an old telly.'

-Really?

-Yes. Is that more than you thought it would be worth?

Much more.

'And our experts will be revealing the best collectables.'

My tip, if you're looking for more accessible things, is probably old radios.

In the days before catch-up TV and the internet,

people found other ways to while away the hours at home.

What we now consider antique or old-fashioned was once state-of-the-art gadgets.

Now, at our "Flog It!" valuation days,

we see many objects that were once designed

to provide home entertainment,

so what do our experts think we should be looking out for?

There's an interest in old techno items,

be it televisions, radios, gramophones.

Mechanical music is interesting,

music boxes and disc players and Polyphons, things like that.

Early pieces of technology can be very desirable,

particularly items such as magic lanterns

and particularly magic lanterns if they don't just have one lens.

If they've got three lenses, for example, they're very collectable, so really early entertainment.

Our idea of family recreation is very different today,

but the Victorians and Edwardians found plenty of things to amuse themselves with

and you keep us entertained by bringing them to "Flog It!".

We may not think of these simple, popular items as collectables,

but Anita knows how much they appeal to the bidders.

This is an interesting thing here.

This is what I would call a Victorian home entertainment centre.

It's a stereoscope. Every home would have something like this

and they would buy cards which showed you perhaps the Great Exhibitions

or scenes in Japan, scenes of India,

so that people were able to see foreign lands at that time.

If you can imagine the time then,

there were no televisions, there were no radios,

there was no internet,

there were no internet games,

so people had to find ways of amusing themselves and the stereoscope was one of them.

Now, on the front here we have two eyepieces.

Now, these would be used when we were viewing the cards which were specially manufactured for this

and this big lens here would be used as a magnifying glass for our photographs.

Tell me where you got it.

I bought a house. These two old people lived in it and they died.

When we saw this, I had no interest in it, but my husband kept it.

-Did he know what it was?

-He thought it was something for a doctor.

Jeanette's husband thought it was a medical device.

I wonder what sort of medical device he thought it was?

-Unfortunately, we don't have any of the slides, the cards.

-No, we didn't.

Well, if you had, he would have probably worked out that it wasn't a medical instrument

and it was a piece of home entertainment.

-Price-wise, I would estimate it in the region of, say, £20, £30.

-Mm-hm.

Victorian stereoscope with slides.

There we have it. £20? £10, please? 10 bid. 15.

20. At 25.

At 30. 5. At 40.

At 5. At 50.

-This is good.

-At 5. At 60.

At 5. At 70. At 5.

-At £75...

-Brilliant.

The bid's at the back of the room at 75.

At £75 and I'm selling now at £75...

-The hammer's gone down. That was a good result, Anita.

-Excellent.

-I'm happy for you.

-Thank you very much.

-That's OK.

A great result.

Many families had these amusements at home,

so it's worth checking out your attics to see what you can find.

The fact that it will no longer be used today

and the fact that it isn't a functional item really doesn't make any difference at all.

It's still a desirable item and still worth every penny of £75.

Another example of home entertainment we see a lot on "Flog It!" are magic lanterns.

I've had it working once. There was smoke coming out of the top of it.

We got gassed with the fumes, so we stopped using it.

These are fabulous. They're magic lantern slides.

Wind the handle and it gives the most wonderful patterns.

Magic lantern shows became popular in the 19th century

when people found the idea of seeing images projected on a screen spooky and fascinating

and the Victorians soon seized on them to amuse and entertain family and friends at home.

I can imagine hours of endless fun

looking at these slides through a magic lantern.

And it seems Anita is really drawn to these early projectors too.

Now, your magic lantern has seen better days.

Has it ever!

This has very, very little value. It wasn't the best of quality.

I've seen some beautiful ones which are brassbound with beautiful oak trimmings and so on.

What was of interest there were the packets of slides.

Now, we have about 12, 15 boxes of slides

from Victorian times up until the '30s and some classics.

I mean, we have the Disney ones here as well, so this will make it interesting.

Now, these three here

are of particular interest and these are older ones as well.

And if we can pick one up,

the slide would be put in...

..and what you've got is a crazy, bearded Scotsman,

brandishing weapons...

And if you pull the slide back, there he is,

shooting someone with a pistol.

'These little moving slides were very, very interesting'

and they, in actual fact, were the precursor of movies and television.

Robert, I would like to put a value

of £100 to £150.

Yes.

Would you be happy to sell them at that?

Yes, I would hope they would do better.

I would hope they would do better as well. I tend to estimate conservatively.

The magic lantern with a collection of boxed and other slides.

80. 5. 90.

100. 110. 20.

40. 60. 180.

200. I'll take 20 quickly. I'm selling at 200...

-What will you put £200 towards?

-I'm sure my grandson will benefit.

I'd estimated much lower than that,

but it just showed the desirability of these slides

and quite probably the prize in the slides were the moving ones.

The need for domestic entertainment has led to all sorts of technological advances down the ages

and to some iconic looks.

There were some pretty funky designs going on

in the '30s and '40s, into the '50s and '60s,

which are probably more relevant today than they were then.

They were rejected then as being too racy, whereas nowadays we love that retro look.

There's a huge market in collectors' items,

20th century collectors' items,

things that I have been brought up with as a child -

televisions, radios, record players.

'You're not wrong, Charlie.

'And I got a lesson in just how desirable these things are

'back in 2006.'

-When we open this up, there's a big surprise in here.

-There is.

-Ta-da!

It's an early radio.

It belonged to my partner's grandfather and it's been in their house since he was a small child.

It's a crystal radio and I think it's absolutely superb.

We've got another little surprise in here because that's a little drawer and there's a set of headphones.

These, I bet, are in working order because they look pretty good to me.

We've never actually tried to have it working, but...

I wouldn't like to either. You've got to attach the headphones to these two terminals.

This is the tuner and it says here,

"Type approved by the Postmaster General for the BBC."

-Isn't it lovely? The crystal would go in here.

-Yes.

Value? Crikey...

With the headphones, we'll put a value of £50 to £90.

-OK.

-Are you happy with that?

Yes, I'm happy with that, Paul.

Interest starts me here already at 95. 100. And 10, you're in, sir.

At 110. Both my bidders are out. At 110. And 20. 30.

140. 50. 160.

170. 180. 190.

-200. 220...

-They absolutely love it, don't they?

I can't believe it!

In front at £220...

-Bang, the hammer's gone down. What a result!

-Amazing!

-I'm so pleased.

-I would never have thought...

-No, I wouldn't.

It did even better than I had hoped.

I love this early technology,

so search your sheds and attics and see what your grandparents may have bought

that could make you some money at auction.

And even what you and your parents bought shouldn't be ignored.

Will couldn't wait to get his hands on this fabulous retro item.

When I saw it, I thought perhaps you'd come on your motorbike and had left your Day-Glo helmet in the bag,

or perhaps a part-time astronaut.

-This is a great piece of post-war design. How did you come by it?

-It's my sister's.

She and her husband got married in 1968, so I assume they bought it shortly after that.

-I think it probably dates from more towards the early '70s.

-Yeah.

Right up my street, lovely thing.

Classic '70s design, bright colours, bold,

and I thought, "We don't see enough of that on "Flog It!" "

We've got the name of the maker on it, JVC, a Japanese firm

who in the sort of '70s, early '70s,

they were taking their design influence from the space race,

which is where this TV gets its nickname, shall we say?

-It's known as the Sputnik.

-Is it?

Yeah. After the Russian satellites that were blasted into orbit.

TVs nowadays want to get thinner and thinner and thinner,

but someone at JVC thought it would be a great idea to have a TV in a ball.

Great, out-of-the-box thinking.

-You see these two chains popping out of the top?

-Yeah.

They would have been a chain loop

because the alternative for this is you could have it on the stand as you have here,

which is again a multi-swivel stand, or you could hang it from a ceiling.

As a piece of sculpture, it works beautifully.

Whether it works as a telly, I'm not entirely sure, hanging in the corner of the room there by a chain.

But who cares? It looked beautiful.

And I see you've still got it wired up, so it does still work.

-Yes, I tried it the other week.

-You get all the channels?

-All five terrestrial channels.

-That's better than my modern telly at home!

I would suggest a sensible estimate of £200 to £300.

-Really?

-Yes.

-Is that more than you thought it would be worth?

-Much more.

If we say 200 to 300,

put a reserve on it at £200, bit of discretion?

-My sister said she didn't worry about the reserve.

-No reserve. Excellent. £200 to £300, no reserve.

Hopefully, we'll do very well for you on the day.

Having no reserve is a great way to tempt the bidders, but do take advice from the auctioneer.

You must be prepared for your item to sell for a low price.

I can open the bidding at 100 here. On the book at £100.

-Gone.

-£100 on the book. 120?

120. 140?

120 at the back. I'm out at 120.

At £120, are you done?

Are you sure?

The hammer's gone down at £120.

-Not bad.

-No retro collectors here today.

-It got the lower end.

-It's worth 200 quid.

I put the estimate for the TV at £200 to £300 because I believed that's what it was worth

and I still believe that's what it was worth.

I agree. The market for retro items is particularly strong just now,

so someone bagged a bargain there.

And you could too if you keep an eye on auction websites

and place a commission bid if you can't get there in person.

If you're looking out for techno bargains,

we're seeing a new interest in old computers

from the time when I was a child in the late '70s, early 1980s.

Those old computers, people are buying them. If you've got them boxed, new and in good condition,

then perhaps those are a good thing to hang on to.

I suspect that if you're looking at today's gadgets,

something like a mobile phone,

a rare, valuable mobile phone

could well become even more valuable in the future

because this technology is changing daily.

Apple were perhaps the forerunners in the design of smartphones and sort of being user-friendly,

then they might be something to collect.

We're all on number 5s now, aren't we?

I wonder if a few people have got the old number 3 at home?

It might become a design classic of the future.

So, from the cutting-edge designs for the future,

there are still some very collectable items for the home with the classic appeal of the past

and one of our experts is a little obsessed.

Philip Serrell is not really a man to show his feelings.

He's a rugby-loving, cigar-smoking, sports car-driving man's man,

but even he gets a tear in his eye when he comes across a piece of Royal Worcester porcelain

at a "Flog It!" valuation day.

-Do you know where I'm from?

-Worcester.

-Why is that relevant?

-Because it's a Worcester teapot.

What really does it for me about antiques is the social history,

so for Worcester porcelain,

it's important for me because I'm a Worcester boy,

I was educated in Worcester, I used to go to the Worcester Porcelain Museum as a 13, 14, 15-year-old.

Not much I can tell you about that.

-You're the expert.

-What? Don't you come round here using that language!

As I got into it, I began to appreciate the effect

that the porcelain factory had on the city of Worcester in social terms, people who worked there,

and the whole thing that it brought to the city and the county,

and that's what does it for me now.

In my eyes, I might be slightly biased, I think Worcester is the best English factory there was.

Phil's auction house is in the heart of the Worcestershire countryside in a converted chapel

and his business is a family affair with his wife Briony and his daughter both working with him.

Clem's my daughter. She's with me today in the saleroom.

She first came into these hallowed portals... She's 29 now. I was an incredibly young father(!)

But she first came in here probably 28½ years ago.

I've been coming to salerooms since I was probably knee-high to a grasshopper.

There's black-and-white photos of my mum and I at farm sales

when my dad did livestock auctions before the antique stuff took off,

then from there, he's moved on to selling painted fruit to selling paintings.

I'd like to think I've been there every step of the way. Five years ago, I came into the business fully,

so now I'm here all the time.

Phil is hopeful that Clem will grow to love Royal Worcester as much as he does.

He's got a regular sale coming up featuring the local porcelain

and there are over 100 lots ready to be viewed.

This is all of the Worcester in next week's sale. There are interesting things here.

-Here's a bit of a quiz now, see how much you've learned.

-OK.

Who are the best Worcester porcelain artists and what do they paint?

-OK, Harry Davis - sheep.

-Which is that little vase down there.

-Yeah.

-Which will make £1,000-plus.

I'd say.

-Charley Baldwyn - plates.

-These plates here which are worth, hopefully, about £1,000 each.

Then these powder-blue vases are Charley Baldwyn and they're 3,000 to 5,000.

-The plates are a bit more interesting.

-Beautifully painted.

-And cattle - Stinton.

-The Stinton family.

These aren't the Stintons. These are later copies of Stintons.

Those are Stinton. He did Highland cattle, massively sought after.

Sometimes when Worcester comes into the saleroom, I look at it and think,

"Some people give £3,000, £5,000 for this sort of thing. Why?"

I can appreciate it and when you look at what they've painted on these items,

a lot of the time, if it's a vase or a pot, it's curved.

To paint some of these things on a curve and on a piece of ceramic is quite hard,

but in terms of whether I'd actually want to own it, it's slightly different.

-Then we have all this painted fruit. It's massively valuable because...

-Travellers.

Travellers' caravans are full of really good painted fruit Worcester and this is painted fruit Worcester.

-Hit me with some painted fruit artists.

-Freeman and Ayrton were the two best for painted fruit.

Yeah, though one of the earlier ones you rarely see was Richard Sebright.

-Yeah.

-He was absolutely stunning.

Worcester items like part dinner services decorated with half a peach and a bit of leaf and half an apple,

they remind me of going round to your aunt's house for dinner

and they've got the roast potatoes in one, carrots in the other.

It does still have its market, but it's not my taste.

I don't know anybody my age who would collect it, really.

If you're giving someone a tip who's buying painted fruit, what would it be?

Out of these two, which would you tell them to buy?

-From the front, I like that one, but when you turn them over, you'll go for that one.

-Why?

-It's got a pink backstamp.

-What does that mean?

It's more valuable than the black backstamp. Always go pink.

There you are. Go pink. This is interesting because this is a Locke and Co Worcester vase.

-But it's got a peacock on it. What do we know about peacocks' feathers?

-Unlucky.

-Why?

-Devil's eye.

You'd never have a peacock's feather in the house.

So, a Worcester vase with a pheasant on it is worth a lot more than one with a peacock on it because...?

-It's unlucky.

-You got it.

Today, Philip and Clem have got a decision to make about some very personal family items.

Part of this job is I clear houses for people when members of the family have died.

My mother has recently died, so I'm now doing my own job for me.

You approach it from a completely different angle.

She collected Worcester porcelain for 30 or 40 years

and now I must decide whether I keep this stuff or sell it.

Most of the figures that my mother's got are by Freda Doughty

and Freda Doughty did little figures of countries of the world, days of the week, months of the year.

They are very much collectors' pieces

and in a way, I much prefer the earlier Worcester porcelain dating from the 18th century.

The thing is, we've got nothing like this at home, have we?

No, it's just the sort of thing that gathers dust.

-Do you like these things?

-Not particularly. Do you?

No. In fact, not at all.

Are any of these worth anything?

You've got the auctioneer's friend with this lot over here which is 80 to 120, but some of these here,

-the countries of the world should make anywhere between £150 and £300 a go.

-OK.

I can remember my mother being so excited that she bought that one. 20 years ago, that cost 150, 200 quid.

-I don't think I'd be giving £200 for that.

-It's worth a lot more now.

So, what would you spend the money on?

Other than shoes and handbags, maybe a nice painting, a seascape.

That's November and you were born in November, so we'll put that one by. I'd like to keep that one.

And that's Tuesday's child and you were born on a Tuesday,

-so those two are your sort of birth date.

-Yeah.

I'd like to hang on to those two.

The rest of them, what will we do? Keep, sell, yes, no?

-I'm going to say "sell".

-Really?

-Yeah. Obviously, it's down to you, but not really my kind of thing.

-OK.

-"Sell" it is then.

-Yeah.

OK, good enough.

For anyone who inherits something, there's a huge emotional tie as to whether you should sell or keep.

And I really do believe that if you don't like something, sell it.

Don't keep it just because it was your father's or your grandfather's or whatever.

It's no secret that I love antique wood.

You bring all sorts of wooden items, known as treen, to our tables.

From spoons and boxes to tools and kitchen gadgets.

It's a piece of what we call treen.

A nice piece of treen.

Made from the tree.

-It can be quite hard to date.

-I'd have thought, yes.

Treen is a term used to describe all small, wooden, functional household or agricultural items.

It's a great field for collectors, especially if you limit it to one type of object, like snuff boxes.

You can see the top of it slides off here and this is where all the snuff would have been stored.

Before cheap metal and plastic came into use, wood was the most easily accessible and cheapest

raw material available for making everyday objects.

Close-grained hardwoods like box, beech and sycamore were popular for making treen.

And the best objects are the ones that have developed a deep colour and a patination through the years

of handling and use.

That's what collectors look for.

Now and again we see a really special treen item.

It might be made of an unusual wood or have lots of intricate decoration.

That's when it gets really exciting. Even something that looks a bit rough and ready can charm bidders.

At £700 we sell.

-700 quid!

-Very nice, too.

Here's another little gem that caused a real stir with its beautiful turning and carving.

If we open it up, very carefully,

-we can see that it is actually a little nutmeg grater.

-That's right. Yeah.

740. Are we done?

At £740.

740!

Thank you! Thank you, darling.

I may be biased, but treen is a great choice for new collectors.

There's plenty of variety and you can spend as much or as little as you like. Happy hunting!

In these days of equality, the whole family helps to make a house a home,

but in previous centuries, it was very much the woman's realm

and their domestic accomplishments are very much celebrated today.

This sampler isn't particularly early

and it isn't particularly special.

It's 1890, which is quite late as samplers go,

but to me, it absolutely epitomises the vagaries of the auction trade.

This came up for auction 25 years ago in a saleroom close to me.

Because it says here "South Cave Girls' School", that was the school I went to,

so I desperately wanted to buy this.

It was worth probably £30, £40 at the time,

but I got a bit of auction fever and I went up and up and up.

I dropped out at about 200. Two other people continued the fight

and the hammer went down for £300 which was ridiculous.

I was miffed I hadn't bought it, but I got over it.

20 years later, I went to another saleroom in a nearby village.

I saw the sampler that I should have had for sale and I thought, "This time, I'm going to get it."

I left a bid, I can't remember what bid I left, but the next day I went in to see if I'd got it.

Yes, I'd got it for £30 this time and I love it and it's staying with me.

Don't ever get auction fever.

Something might not be worth what it gets at auction.

It could be that just two people desperately want the item.

Wait. 20 years later, who knows, you might get it for a song.

It's easy to let your emotions run away with you in the excitement of the saleroom,

but should we be more sensible and restrained? What do our experts think?

Buy with your head or buy with your heart.

It all depends on what you're buying for.

If you're buying to make a profit on something, buy with your head.

If you are buying something because you want to put it in your home, buy with your heart.

As an auctioneer, I love to see somebody

who's carried away because their heart tells them

they want something and they can't live without it,

but bring your head along to the auction as well.

I'm a passionate sort of fellow, so I would say, "Buy with your heart."

If you really like it, get it bought. If it's a bit more than your budget, who cares?

There's nothing worse than getting home and thinking, "I wish I'd bought that item."

'Whether you buy on a whim or have carefully researched an item,

'it's clear that some objects

'designed for home entertainment

'are classic collectables today

'and you can reach high prices

'at the right auction.'

-Bang, hammer's gone down.

-Wow!

-What a result!

So if you've got something you want to sell, you know where to come.

I hope you can put some of our tips to good use. Please join us again soon for more Trade Secrets.