Tools of the Trade - Part 2 Flog It: Trade Secrets

In over ten years on Flog It!

we have valued thousands of your items

and stood by you in the saleroom as they've gone under the hammer.

During that time, we've all learnt a great deal about antiques and collectables,

and as a nation, we certainly can't get enough of them.

It's like a voyage of discovery in your stack, isn't it?!

Now I want to share some of that knowledge with you,

so sit back and enjoy

as our experts let you in on their trade secrets.

The world of antiques isn't just about the refined and beautiful objects

that adorn the walls of the upper echelons,

although we do see a great deal of those on the show.

It can also be about the kind of good, honest tools

that had their use in a more domestic setting.

These capture a piece of our social history

as well as having a real value too.

Unbelievable!

Coming up, our experts delight in all things domestic.

That looks remarkably like an ear cleaner.

He had done a couple of wee repairs on it with Sellotape.

And Elizabeth Talbot explores a personal passion

for the work of some craftsmen of yesteryear.

This town has an amazing historical industrial history.

Not all vintage tools spend their working lives in the gnarled hands of craftsmen,

grafting away in dusty workshops.

Many of the items that turn up at our valuation days hail from the domestic sphere,

generally designed for women as labour-saving devices in the home.

Now, some of these items can look a little bit Heath Robinson,

but others can have real collectors' appeal.

I love this. Do you?

-I'm not particularly bothered.

-No?

-No!

Oh, it's fantastic!

That was a really interesting object.

A chatelaine generally

was used from the late 18th century and to the early 20th century

and it was something that the lady of the house,

or the housekeeper, would have suspended from her waist.

Each one of these is a little separate tool.

It could be a baby's feeding spoon, a little separate fork...

It's too jaggy for a baby, that fork.

Oh, yes, the fork wouldn't be for a baby.

But that...

..that looks remarkably like an ear cleaner.

On the end of each chain, you have a different object.

It could be a pair of scissors, a thimble,

an aide-memoire or notepad,

a pin cushion, loads of different...

A tape measure. ..different things like that,

but all things that you can imagine

a seamstress or a housekeeper or a lady to use.

I think that was made in China, in Shanghai or possibly Hong Kong,

around 1890 to 1910.

The silver used in that chatelaine

had so many Oriental influences -

it was very thin,

the engraving was in European style

but didn't quite get it,

and you see a lot of that in the Chinese stuff that was made for export.

But this, I don't think,

started life with the scent bottle.

That's a typical piece of Scottish hardstone and silverwork,

only ever made in Scotland,

but taking all of its influence from a Roman or possibly,

-no, in fact a Greek amphora.

-Yes.

Exactly the same as little scent phial,

dug out of the excavations of Herculaneum or Pompeii.

You can imagine that sort of thing being discovered

and they've taken it back to Scotland and said, "Look what we've found!"

and a silversmith's gone, "Ooh, that would make a great scent bottle."

I think Anita may well split them up into two lots,

but I'm going to leave them together,

put an auction estimate of £100 to £150

and I think they'll do that and do that easily.

131 is the Scottish silver scent bottle

and it has, and it's a separate item,

a silver chatelaine with a lovely little butterfly detail,

so you have two lots there really, or two items in that lot.

Will you start me at 100?

100 bid.

100. 110.

120. 130.

140. 150.

-160.

-Come on!

-170. 180.

-This is good, isn't it?

-190.

All done at 190? 190...

-Yes.

-That's it.

-Quality always sells.

-We got top money for that.

-Fantastic.

As an auctioneer, my job...

..is to get the best price possible for the vendor.

If a little lot is put together,

it can be that that is more appealing to the buyer.

He thinks he's getting more for his money

so it gets him a little bit more excited about the item.

It's the psychology of selling.

It's the psychology of the auctioneer.

Chatelaines in general are one of those things

that you would never see made today.

Can you imagine a young lady in her 20s saying,

"I know what I'd like for Christmas. I'd like a thing to hang from my waist

"with a needle case, an aide-memoire and a thimble."

I mean, really! It's a classic example of its time.

-# Working 9 to 5 #

-You say that, but fashion is a funny thing!

Who'd have predicted knitting becoming so popular again?

Maybe Anita's next tool can cash in on that trend.

Jim, my granny used to knit Aran jumpers.

When I was a wee girl,

she used to have me standing with the wool like that

while she wound it for hours and hours and hours!

This is what she should've had.

This wool winder would've been used, I think, in a domestic situation.

Women often weaved at home

and this would've been something to speed up the process.

-Tell me about it.

-Well, the daughter, she brought this home

-and it was all in pieces.

-Oh, right!

And she threw it in the bin, you know,

and I thought, "It's a shame to see something like that thrown out"

and, erm, I rescued it.

A rescued wool winder.

It's Victorian, just the turn of the century.

It's made of stained beech.

It was a tool from the past

and I thought it would be interesting for us to look at it.

And when we see it out,

I felt that it had sculptural qualities.

It was a little bit of sculpture and it amused me!

Can I see a bit of your restoration work here?!

It's a bit creative, these little brass stumps,

but you have done well!

He'd done a couple of wee repairs on it

with Sellotape and little tacks!

It just amused me! It amused me.

And we had great fun taking it out to its full length.

And it was great to be able to see how these things work.

All right? And this fits...

..this little wood knob here fits on and...

-The wool would then go around there, wouldn't it?

-Yes. Uh-huh.

And then spin in that fashion.

An item like this would not be a museum piece,

but what it does, it's of social interest.

We're able to look at that

and it gives us an insight into the lives of our forebears.

It is a piece of social history.

It has a value and there will be people who collect that type of thing.

When it's bought, it will eventually become restored and go to the collectors.

You've really done as well as you possibly can.

It's time to hand it on to the professionals.

It's not going to make an enormous amount of money.

I think probably between £30 and £50.

-That's fine.

-Would you be happy to sell it at that?

-Yes.

Well, let's go to the auction, let's flog it

-and hope that it does well.

-Good!

The wool winder, showing underneath the balcony...

Interesting piece, the Victorian stained beech wool winder.

£10 to start off. £10 I'm bid.

-£10 bid.

-Come on.

-20 bid.

At £20 for the wool winder. At £20. Selling, then.

30. 40.

-Yes!

-At £40. Selling, then, at £40. We'll finish at £40.

Here to sell at £40 for the lot.

Brilliant! Fantastic!

-It was your restoration that did it!

-I said it was good!

Not exactly a fortune,

but not at all bad for something rescued from the bin!

We see a great deal of clocks and watches on Flog It!

-A rather charming clock here.

-It's a lovely clock.

This is a lovely example.

One particularly stands out in my memory.

Rare, oversized stainless steel navigator's watch.

At £2,800.

2-9. At 2-9. Come on, round it up. £3,000.

Last and final call at £3,000 online. Sold.

£3,000!

-APPLAUSE

-Gosh!

Of course, we think of timepieces as domestic items,

but like this German World War II watch,

they're also essential work tools with a long history.

It was all the way back in Ancient Egypt

that they started dividing the day up into two familiar lots of 12 hours

and using sundials.

Over the centuries, the various instruments for measuring time

stayed pretty inaccurate.

It was only in the 16th century that someone came up with the idea of a minute hand.

This was followed with the invention of the pendulum,

which helped with accuracy on land.

But in an era of exploration and trade by sea,

no clock could withstand the rocking motion of a ship.

And not being able to accurately tell the time at sea

affected sailors' ability to work out their position,

which caused countless maritime disasters.

In 1714, the British Longitude Board

offered a reward of £20,000 for the solution.

John Harrison came up with this timepiece,

a tool which revolutionised long-distance sea travel.

Early marine chronometers are rare,

but for any of you interested in starting a watch or clock collection,

it's a good idea to try and focus your attention.

One of the best ways is to pick a particular clockmaker.

When you find a timepiece you like, look at the state of the dial.

An important thing with pocketwatches is that the dial is clean and undamaged.

If it is chipped or heavily cracked, this will affect its value.

Always try to check the movement and look out for rare and unusual examples.

Even if they're not by one of the leading makers,

they could clock up a lot of cash.

We've got, if we do that, a standard marble mantel clock,

until we move down to this dial here

and we've got a full calendar dial with a moon phase.

I haven't seen another clock like this.

Mantel clocks traditionally are very hard sellers.

I think this has got enough things going for it

-for us to put it into auction at three to 500...

-OK.

..and hope that the clock and watch specialists are there

and are as enthralled by this calendar dial as I am.

Three to 500 pounds. Can we push that higher?

500. 600.

-700. 800.

-What?!

900. 1,000.

£1,150.

Unbelievable! Yes!

-£1,150!

-Unbelievable. Fantastic.

-That's just amazing!

Anita Manning is a successful auctioneer

and a longstanding Flog It! favourite.

She's tried her hand at many things in life and she's been good at most of them,

but nobody can be an expert in everything.

Isn't this piece of Poole Pottery a lot of fun?

I love this. One of the things I like about Poole

is that they responded to their times.

I just love this to bits. It's from the late '60s, early '70s,

and it reminds you of flower power, psychedelia, pop, fashion,

all the wonderful things that were happening at that time.

But one of the things that I love about Poole Pottery

is that I actually made a piece at one point.

I visited the Poole Museum in Dorset

and went on to visit the pottery, the studio pottery along the road.

I was shown round by Alan White, who was the Master Potter,

and I looked at the pottery being made and being decorated

and he asked, "Do you want a turn? Would you like to make a pot?"

Well, looking at these other people, it looked easy.

I thought, "Easy-peasy, I can do it!"

He put an apron on me, he sat me at the wheel,

he gave me a big lump of clay, which I slapped on the wheel.

I started the wheel turning. I thought, "This is easy."

I grasped my hands onto the clay

and as the wheel turned,

the clay became like a creature with a life of its own

and wobbled and wibbled all over the place!

At that point, Alan White,

a bear of a man, he was standing behind me,

he put his big, solid arms round me, clasped my hands,

and together, we made a little pot.

Not perfect, but still a little piece of Poole Pottery!

Here in Britain we have a long history of making beautiful hand-made objects

with tremendous skill.

Some of my absolute favourites are the copper pieces that were fashioned by the Newlyn fishermen

back in the late 19th century.

But less well-known is that there was a similar enterprise set up

around the same time at the other end of the country,

and its story resonates with Elizabeth Talbot,

just as Newlyn Copper does with me.

We are standing in the churchyard of Crosthwaite Church,

right on the edge of the town of Keswick in the Lake District.

I used to come here when I was in my teenage years for family holidays,

which are full of happy memories.

But in those days, we used to enjoy the scenery,

go for walks and all the touristy things one would expect.

It's only subsequently throughout my career that I have discovered

that this town has an amazing historical industrial history

from which emanated a very important artistic school.

Keswick School of Industrial Art was established in 1884 by the local vicar,

Canon Hardwicke Rawnsley, and his wife Edith.

It was set up to educate and train local working men

in the art of metalwork and design.

Esme, you are an expert in the Arts & Craft period

and the movement here.

-We have something rather exciting to look at.

-Yes, we do, certainly.

It's stunning, isn't it? This is an altar panel.

It was a special commission for the church.

It's quite an early piece. It's from the early 1890s.

So, would a piece of this quality presumably be by somebody who was helping to establish the school?

In terms of the design, it's actually by Edith Rawnsley.

She was working together with some of the craftsmen of the school.

It's stamped with the initials "JB", which stands for John Birkett,

a local Keswick jeweller

who they employed to teach the pupils how to craft metalworks.

So, how did this school establish itself?

The idea of the school was that it would provide a form of employment

and also something to do in the long winter evenings.

Local joiners, shepherds,

they could be employed in the local pencil factory,

so there was a whole range of people coming to the school in the evening to study these crafts.

The school specialised in producing wares in copper,

brass, pewter, silver and later stainless steel.

Today, their pieces are highly prized

and Elizabeth has been a keen collector for over 20 years.

This is Rawnsley's own Bible, I believe.

Yes, it is.

By touching this, I feel very close to the man. This is stunning.

-And all Keswick work on the front, too.

-Yes.

They started off with really simple products,

-so, for instance, if we look at the copper dish...

-Yes.

..the decoration is all about the surface pattern.

I have brought something from my own collection.

-How wonderful.

-I wondered if you could help me identify, erm,

-who that might be.

-Ohh!

Oh, that's really interesting.

So rather than having the usual "KSIA" mark in the circle, which is their normal mark,

we just have the word "Keswick".

It's interesting that there's the name WH Mawson,

-so we know that that was one of the craft workers at the school.

-He was, was he?

-Yes.

And so that's quite...

In some pieces, they would have their name on it,

for instance, on the altar panels we saw there was that "JB" for John Birkett,

so sometimes they did mark it with their own names.

So that's really interesting that that's on there.

The first thing to look out for if you want to search out Keswick is the mark.

Look very carefully within the patterns because it's hidden in the detail,

but look out for "KSIA" and then you'll know what it is.

Secondly, remember that not all pieces are marked,

so get your eye in for the designs and motifs that they specialised in.

The other tip is more for the care of your Keswick - don't polish it!

That's a very handy thing because collectors prefer pieces in their natural patina

than looking bright and shiny.

So the pieces that they were producing

with the intent of selling to tourists or collectors, they would've stamped -

that's why the markings and stamps are predominantly used presumably -

but if they were local chaps

doing a bit of homework for their project

-and it wasn't intended to be sold, it wouldn't necessarily be marked.

-It wouldn't necessarily.

It had to meet the standards of the school.

Edith Rawnsley was quite strict about which ones got stamped.

It was about enjoying the process, as well,

it wasn't just the commercial gain, and that's important to remember.

It was giving them something to do in these long winter evenings

and so often they would be producing it for their sweetheart or their mother or their friend,

and so they became part of the decorations

of the local cottages and farmhouses.

The amazing thing about being at the church here at Crosthwaite

is that it encapsulates the whole story.

We have the connection with the founders,

we have the exhibits and the artefacts

which were established in the church and commissioned for the church,

and, of course, within the churchyard we have the graves

of some of the most important people who took part in that story.

It's fitting that Canon Rawnsley and his wife are buried in this churchyard,

alongside so many of the local people

that they managed to help.

You may know Philip Serrell, a regular Flog It! expert and an auctioneer,

but believe it or not, he once had the notion

he was cut out for a completely different career.

Cast your mind back many, many years ago,

in fact, decades ago, 1970-something.

I was wet behind the ears, just about 21 or 22,

and I qualified as a teacher, the worst in the world.

I walked out after eight weeks, had to get a job

and I started working for a firm of local auctioneers,

Bentley, Hobbs and Mytton, established in 1791,

and I got a job in Bromyard Market.

I had two roles -

one was to clean out the sheep and cattle pens after the animals had been in there,

but the most important job was, they gave me a bell

and I had to ring the bell before the market started at ten-to-ten

to let everybody know...

..that the market was going to start at ten o'clock. And that was my job! Very important role!

I used to hate every minute of it.

You look back on it now and they were fond days, but at the time it wasn't.

And then about ten years ago, someone came into the saleroom and said,

"I've got this bell,

"Bentley, Hobbs and Mytton, Bromyard Market"

and this was the bell that I used to clang all those years ago!

I bought it off them, and it's just like...

It's a huge bit of me, really.

We've seen a whole range of tools on today's show,

but in the world of domestic utensils,

there's one item in particular that's extremely collectable.

People love collecting pin cushions.

I think it's because people made pin cushions

in allsorts of shapes and sizes.

Once a domestic necessity,

nowadays pin cushions are collected for their decorative qualities.

Animals are among the most popular shapes

and we've seen a variety on Flog It!, many selling for three figures.

..At £280.

Yes!

-Not bad at all!

-I can't believe it!

-Top end of the estimate.

-Yes!

-£165! Small is beautiful!

-Yes!

Janet, I've been rummaging around in that old cardboard box you brought along.

I've sifted a few things through

and I've come up with, I think, three really nice objects here.

We've discarded the rest

because I think they'd been cleaned with a Brillo Pad or something!

But I love these. What can you tell me about them?

They were found...

When my father died, they were found in the garden shed.

-Dad was quite a collector and quite a hoarder.

-Yes.

Mum was debating whether to throw them away or not

and I rescued them.

-Literally throw them away?

-Yes.

-I think that's extraordinary.

-You know, presumably, what they're made of?

-Silver.

-They are indeed silver.

We'll start with a pin cushion.

The reason I picked out this pin cushion is the style, the model.

It's a pig.

Pin cushions, they're small, invariably good quality, quite often silver-framed.

Silver are the luxury ones,

I don't think I've ever seen a pin cushion of gold,

but that would be the ultimate really.

They're very, very collectable

because there's something you can put in a glass cabinet and show off.

It's even got, I think, its original cushion in there.

-I think it is.

-It's a bit hard and crinkly, but I don't think that matters.

Now, the great thing about silver is, we can date it.

-Have you tried dating it?

-No.

-Do you know where it was made?

-I think it was made in Birmingham.

-How do you know that?

-There's an anchor on it.

That's right, the Assay Office is Birmingham.

There is an anchor here.

There is no monarch's head on here.

They took the monarch's head off, not literally, in 1891,

so we know it's post that date.

Looking at that is -

just about through my glasses - I think 1904.

The pin cushion was just post-Victorian

and I think, had it been a few years earlier and been Victorian,

it would've been even more collectable.

-It tempers the value a little bit. We can't call it Victorian. It's Edwardian.

-Right.

But it's a nice object.

We'll have a look at the smaller of the two vinaigrettes next, shall we?

Lovely engraved decoration,

the pierced grill in gilt metal

-and it's still got the little sponge inside!

-Yes.

Isn't that wonderful?

-What I'm hoping, if we take that out, we'll find a hallmark in here.

-Right.

You may well have done your own homework,

-because what I was hoping to find is a maker's name, and there is.

-Mm.

-You probably know, do you?

-I think it's Nathaniel Mills.

-Nathaniel Mills.

The seller of these items knew exactly what she'd got,

not only in the pin cushion but the vinaigrettes.

She was able to tell me

that the vinaigrette was made by Nathaniel Mills.

Most people wouldn't know what a vinaigrette was, let alone who made it!

So she had done her homework,

which was a little bit disconcerting if you're the expert!

Finally, open up, and I rather hope we're going to find the same thing.

Similar quality.

Open up again,

-and still the sponge!

-Yes.

The vinaigrettes I wouldn't clean,

the pig could probably do with a little bit of a clean,

but not with a Brillo Pad! HE LAUGHS

I am 100 percent convinced that these will sell well.

-Right.

-Are you happy to trust me on this one?

-I am. You're the expert.

-We'll go without a reserve. Two to 300.

Charlie was pretty confident, but when it came to the auction,

Janet decided to play it safe

and put a reserve of £175 on her little pieces of silver.

So, did that put the bidders off?

Three items in that lot in total. I have 100 to start. 100.

Any interest at 110? 110 is bid. 120.

130. 140. 150. 160.

170. 180. 190.

-200.

-It went through that reserve, no trouble at all.

-240. 260.

280. 300. And 20.

340. 360.

-380.

-Blasting through!

-I say!

£400 at the back, then, at £400.

Any advance, then, on £400?

-Double the bottom end! £400.

-Very good.

-That is a sold sound!

-I told you you didn't need a reserve.

-True!

What a fantastic result.

And to think that Janet's mum was going to throw them away.

It just goes to show, you never know what treasures are lurking

in your attic or garden shed.

If you've got anything at home you would like to sell,

we would love to see you at one of our valuation days.

But until then, get out there and get buying and good luck.

Join us again soon for more trade secrets.