Empire & Commonwealth - Part 1 Flog It: Trade Secrets

Welcome to Flog It! Trade Secrets,

the show that aims to put YOU in the know

when it comes to buying and selling antiques and collectables.

With over ten years of Flog It! behind us,

that's hundreds of shows and many thousands

of objects valued and sold.

So, if you want to know more, you've come to the right place.

On today's show, we're giving you the inside track on items that

hail from those parts of the globe that used to be coloured

pink on old maps - the British Empire.

Coming up...

We see some intriguing items from around the world...

Oh, I love this! I love this.

And the most wonderful sort of snarling snake's head.

Now, that's horrifying.

..our experts reveal what's in their own collections...

I've brought one of my favourite personal items to show you today,

and we use it still to feed our hens with.

..and offer some surprising tips...

All you have to do is just huff over it.

HE HUFFS

I step aboard that most treasured national vessel, HMS Victory.

This vessel carried 104 guns, she faced her enemy at close range

and she's left a legacy which should never be forgotten.

For nearly 400 years, right up until the latter part of the 20th century,

we were a mighty imperial force.

By 1922, the British Empire - the largest in history -

held sway over a fifth of the world's population

and covered nearly a quarter of the Earth's total landmass.

So, it stands to reason that many wonderful treasures

have made their way to our shores. And thankfully,

some of them have made their way to our valuation days.

But what should you look out for when buying imperial items?

My tip, I think, would be to go for the Indian items -

not just furniture, but silver and works of art.

Do not get tempted by the souk seller

selling you his "very rare" carpet.

Please don't, because, invariably...

99% of the time,

it would be brand new.

So don't buy anything to start with for £10,000,

or you could come unstuck.

Our first port of call on our imperial journey

is the Indian subcontinent -

the jewel in the crown of the British Empire,

and some objects I found intriguing.

Well, Dee, you've travelled the world, haven't you?

No, my grandmother.

She was born in India.

Her parents lived in India.

Her father owned a tea plantation

and she was born and brought up in Lahore.

David was delighted by Dee's collection,

but one piece in particular caught his eye.

The most amazing piece is this bangle, here,

which, although it's not marked gold, I think is gold.

And it's set with turquoise and ruby.

And the most wonderful sort of snarling snake's head.

Now, that's horrifying.

It is horrifying, isn't it?

But this was a sort of fashionable bracelet to be

worn by Victorian ladies.

-Was it worn by any member of your family?

-My grandmother.

-Oh, right. You remember that, can you?

-Yes.

David estimated the bangle would fetch £80-160.

But would the taste of a Victorian colonial lady stand

the test of time in today's market?

5, 80, 5.

-This is very good.

-They like it.

-Yes, they love it.

280 now. 280.

300. 350 is a fresh bidder.

At 600. Are there any more bids?

At 600, in the middle of the room. Last call. Going at £600.

GAVEL BANGS

-Oh!

-Wow.

Would you like a seat?

What David knew was that gold from India may not be hallmarked,

but can still command amazing prices.

-Oh!

-Wow.

And Michael found something interesting from the other

end of the Indian subcontinent.

Andy, thank you so much for bringing it in,

this absolutely marvellous and curious box.

My pleasure. Do you think it's Indian?

I think... Now, this has tested me slightly,

cos I've seen these variously described as African or Indian,

but I think, especially with the use of ebony, that they

were made and exported from Ceylon. So I was would be happy to be

corrected, but as far as I consider, it's a Ceylonese box.

Ceylon was obviously a very important destination,

and there were a lot of British colonial workers

in and around that region.

Ceylon is a former British colony that,

since 1972, has been known as Sri Lanka.

Did you know what it was made of when you saw it?

Well, I thought it was porcupine quill,

but I'm not sure if this is ebony, or whether the inlay is ivory or bone...

You're absolutely right.

Andy's quillwork box was typical of quillwork boxes that I see.

In effect, the quills are cut and set into panels,

and the interior borders, which are usually of an exotic hardwood,

are decorated with small ivory inlays, and usually you have

a central motif on the lid of an elephant, which we did in this case.

It is made for the tourist market.

If you get one ring handle, and I'll get the other, and heave!

So, we've got all these fitted boxes.

I would imagine these would be for sewing requisites,

they would be for jewellery,

they would be for anything you wanted to put in them.

There was a supply of objects, in a European taste, for them to take

when they'd finished their tour of duty, if you like, or

if they were working in the civil service, to take back to Britain.

These boxes tended to be a very popular form.

You can judge the quality of them by the number of ivory dots you

get in the border.

Basically, the more dots and the closer they are together,

the better quality of the box.

-Any idea what it might be worth?

-None at all.

-I thought £30, £40, maybe?

-Oh! I'd give you £30 all day long for it.

Oh, no. I think let's be conservative

and say £80-120.

Oh, yes.

In fairness, when I saw the box, I did put a slightly restrictive

low estimate on it, and I was hoping that it would exceed that.

The big question is, did it?

Start at £50. 50...

-That's very low, but there are a few hands...

-70.

In the case of the box, Andy didn't really want it back, he wanted

it sold, so there was no reason to kill it with a large estimate.

-220.

-This is more like it.

-230, 240.

-Fantastic.

And, as it turned out, that worked in its favour

and it made a very good price.

£250, the gentleman there, at the back. 250.

-Sold, £250.

-Wow. Fantastic, yeah.

-Well done.

-Brilliant.

A low estimate might attract more bidders

and result in a higher sale price.

What both the Ceylonese box and the Indian bangle show

is that great craftsmanship can make great prices.

A growth area in overseas antiques and collectibles is tribal

artefacts, and on Flog It!, we have seen some spectacular sales.

Aboriginal art is an expanding market,

and there's a huge amount of interest in Aboriginal art.

The best tribal art is not particularly about the object, it's

whether or not it was made for the people to use in the people's way.

Throughout the history of the Empire and the Commonwealth,

people from this country have been posted

to the four corners of the globe.

I was working for the Department of Defence in Australia

and I was posted into Darwin, and I had the opportunity to travel around

the missions and Melville Island, where some of these have come from.

Aboriginal art is fetching such good money right now.

Not only are the Australians buying it back -

it's their social history, they want to fill their museums...

We were fortunate with these cos they were just early enough

and some of them were by recognised Aboriginal artists,

so we were able to find a very strong market for them.

-I'd like to put a value of £300-500 on the whole lot.

-Absolutely fine.

If we have a lot of excitement pre the sale,

Adam can use his discretion and split them up.

Well, they came as one lot,

and I'm not one to criticise Paul in any way,

but, once we'd had a look at the valuations,

we felt that they would be better served, and the contributor

would get more money back to him, to split them into lots.

We've split them into lots.

-I think these are the strongest, so I've done these three first.

-OK.

Hopefully those will make the 300 and...

-Whatever's left will make up the difference.

-Yeah.

They were by different artists,

and I think if they're going to be worth 150, 200 plus each,

then they should be sold separately, cos someone may just want the one,

and they may not want to pay £2,000 or so for the whole lot,

just to get the one that they want.

I've been looking forward to this moment.

The Aboriginal art belonging to David. We have a packed house here.

We certainly have.

We were inundated with enquiries, not just from Australia

but from collectors of Aboriginal art from around the world, so,

of course, the more enquires equals more bidders,

equals the better price on the auction day!

Lot number 80 is the first one. 170 is on this phone here. All done now.

170. We sell at 170.

£170. That's the first item.

Goanna and Snakes Hunting by Walid Peru.

Another phone line.

At 180, all done now.

-£180.

-Lovely.

Third one to go.

At 210, are you all done on this one?

210.

The hammer's going down. 210.

180 on the phone. 180 for the killing stick.

There's the fourth lot. £180.

170 on this phone. Same buyer.

-GAVEL BANGS

-Yes! £170 for the didgeridoo.

This is fantastic.

The final one is the wooden spear in the form of a snake.

£620... Anyone in the room want a go now?

-CROWD LAUGHS

-At 620?

We're all done now, at 620. We sell this lot at 620.

Yes! Hammer's gone down. £620.

We sold all of those lots.

Clearly, these were the real deal. The provenance was impeccable.

David bought them himself in Northern Australia

in the 1950s and '60s.

So, what should we be looking out for today?

Beware of buying things that are too recent, cos,

since it's become popular, of course, you got Australia now -

I've not been, but people tell me - you can acquire

Aboriginal pieces, but they're more designated for the tourist market.

As soon as you start getting something that's for the tourist market,

whether it's early or late, then it loses credibility.

'I'm somebody who always loves to see a bit of tribal art.'

James, welcome. I have to say, I don't think it's just the name we have in common,

looking at what you brought along today.

'The great thing about James is, as soon as he saw me he said,

"I've got something for you", and he knew that I'd love it.

Why the interest in tribal art?

It started 25 years ago when I picked up a mask in a skip.

-In a skip?!

-Yeah.

-Where was that?

-Locally.

-Just outside a house?

-Yep.

Tell me how you've come to have them.

-This one, I picked up at auction for £15.

-15?!

It's a classic piece of north-west African,

so from Nigeria, Ivory Coast...

The headdress and the collars on one of the figures,

in particular, is typical of the Benin people.

They were the countries that would go

and find Africans from other tribes and sell them to the West as slaves.

-Would these be children?

-I think these are kids.

These are young boys who are being captured by the Benin.

Here we've got the ropes. This chap here has got a machete.

Two machetes here. And look, holding this child up who's still...

-Sucking his thumb.

-Sucking his thumb. So, all symbolisms of childhood.

Arms tied behind the back here, arms tied behind the back here.

I think we've got an interesting panel here.

Today, the British involvement with slavery is

viewed as an unsavoury part of our history.

But in the time of the British Empire,

many fortunes at home were built on the slave trade.

For port cities, such as Bristol and Liverpool,

it was a major economic mainstay.

Wilberforce, back in the early 19th century, abolished slavery

in the UK, so it, rightly so, wasn't something we were very proud of.

I think we need to be

fairly open-minded when it comes to age with this.

Slavery was abolished throughout the British Empire in 1833,

and a panel like this, made decades later,

is likely to have been a tourist piece.

But isn't slavery a rather gruesome subject for a souvenir?

It's something that is, um...

..a part of our past that we should be ashamed of,

but should be discussed, and I think

if these things are buried and not talked about, then it's unhealthy.

James sold the panel, along with a tribal ladle, in one lot.

Tribal panel, very nice one. 150. 160.

Great.

170.

170. Are you finished now? 170?

All done at 170 on the telephone. 170.

Yes! Hammer's gone down.

It was a quiet hammer going down, wasn't it?

Top estimate wasn't a bad result,

and both Jameses were satisfied.

But the tribal panel didn't raise the roof, possibly because of

the gruesome subject matter, as well as the fact it was a tourist piece.

It can be a different story, though,

when you come across an artefact that's the genuine article.

-Oh, Bernie. Can I call you Bernie?

-You certainly can.

-I love this.

-I love this! It comes from a long, long way away. Tonga.

-Really?

-Yes.

Tonga is a group of islands in the southern Pacific Ocean,

which became known as The Friendly Islands,

after the cordial welcome the locals gave Captain Cook in 1773.

200 years later, in 1970, Tonga joined the British Commonwealth.

Tell me how you came across this.

We had an elderly uncle who came along one day and said

he'd like us to have it cos he was afraid it was going to disappear.

He just gave it to us over 40 years ago.

It's a hunting and a killing weapon,

-and a weapon of self-defence.

-Really?

What do you think this is worth?

A couple of hundred?

-It's more likely to do somewhere in the region of £1,000.

-Really?!

-Yes!

When it came to auction, Bernice was on holiday,

but I desperately wanted her to share in the excitement of the sale.

Have a gin and tonic, sit down, put your feet up

and enjoy this roller coaster ride.

2,700. 2,800.

I'm tingling. Can you hear this?

BERNICE: Yeah, I can. I'm shaking!

3,600. 3,700. 3,800.

3,900. 4,000. 4,200.

-4,500. 4,800.

-Can you hear this?

-'No, I can't hear it now.'

-£5,000 in the room.

SHE GASPS AND YELPS

'Incredible.'

5,800. 6,000, sir?

At £5,800 on the telephone.

-Can you hear that?

-£5,800.

Gosh. Bang! The hammer's gone down.

That was incredible.

You just got a round of applause in the sale room, at £5,800.

'Just incredible.'

Gosh, what a result. That was fabulous.

We were all surprised at the sale price of Bernice's Tongan club.

It just goes to prove that the auction room is the right place

to sell tribal artefacts, cos buyers from all over the world can

pick up on it and have the chance to bid,

which does push the price up.

I certainly hope that club finds its way back home.

What other handy tips have we learnt about buying

and selling antiques that hail from foreign climes?

Avoid pieces that look like they were made for the tourist market,

unless they have some obvious age and quality.

Look closely at the craftsmanship.

It should be relatively easy to tell.

Items made from Indian gold won't have been assayed in this country,

so are unlikely to have been marked.

If you are not sure if something is authentically gold,

don't spend a fortune on it.

Provenance is key.

Try and find out as much as you can about an object before parting

with your cash. If you're sure it's a genuine thing, then go for it.

Most importantly, if you are buying for yourself,

all that matters is you love it.

Many things that are familiar with us

today originated from the British Empire's four corners, and

that's certainly true of precious stones, as Thomas Plant explains.

Some of the best diamonds we see in the antiques world are antique

and they're from India. They look too good to be true.

They're so white, they're so pure, and you think,

"Oh, is this really a diamond?"

You're there, you could be at a car-boot sale,

you could be at a flea market.

"Is it going to be a piece of glass? It looks amazing."

So, what does one do if you haven't got your eyeglass,

you haven't got a laboratory next to you?

A diamond will not take condensation.

A piece of glass will, other gemstones will.

All you have to do is just huff over it...

HE HUFFS

..and nothing will change. On other stones, it will remain...

for a second.

But that's my top tip.

The Indian subcontinent, Australia, Africa, the West Indies -

the British Empire spanned the globe.

It was our nation's mastery of the oceans that enabled us

to dominate the world.

Perhaps the greatest symbol of British sea power

was Admiral Lord Nelson, whose most famous ship rests

this day in Portsmouth, home of the Royal Navy.

HMS Victory, a national icon, famous for her leading role in the

greatest British naval victory of all time, the Battle Of Trafalgar.

CANNONS BOOM

Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson's flagship and his deathbed,

a complex machine of war and a thing of beauty.

This vessel carried 104 guns.

She faced her enemy at close range.

She's left a legacy which should never be forgotten.

Her story started in 1759.

Plans and designs were organised by one of the greatest surveyors of the Navy at the time.

It took 250 skilled shipwrights to build the hull

of this magnificent vessel and they felled 5,000 oak trees to do it.

This is the original decking.

Once a hull was built, it was left to season in dry dock for three years,

far longer than you would normally expect wood to dry out

but they left the wind to blow through it,

taking out all the moisture content, which closed the grain up even tighter,

making it impervious to rot and wear and damage.

That's possibly the reason why this vessel has lasted such a long time.

After all, she is the oldest commissioned naval warship in the world.

After being launched in May 1765,

it was actually 13 years later until HMS Victory was called to fight.

Once she started, she didn't hold back and took part in more

than ten battles, under several different admirals.

But her biggest fight took place in 1805

against the increasing threat that was Napoleon Bonaparte.

HMS Victory would now set sail on its greatest voyage ever,

under the command of Vice-Admiral Lord Nelson,

who was now recognised for his unconventional tactics.

When he set sail on the Victory, he had already lost an arm

and the sight in one eye in battle.

It seemed he and the vessel were fearless in their ambition

to protect Britain,

but could their combined might defeat Napoleon Bonaparte?

Britain's flagship HMS Victory spanned 227 feet.

She housed 820 crew, could reach a speed of ten knots

and displaced a weight of 3,500 tonnes.

The French and the Spanish had twice as many flagships.

Napoleon was arrogantly confident.

He thought the combined might of the Spanish and the French warships

would be too much for Nelson and his fleet.

But his military experience was on land, not at sea.

Nelson, however, understood the ocean.

He assembled his officers here in his cabin, around this very table.

There is history in the making here.

But Nelson's plan was simple and effective.

He would sail up behind the enemy, split his fleet into two columns

and surround the rear of the enemy lines, isolating it.

His clever thinking was orchestrated to a devastating effect.

17 French ships with captured and a knockout blow was

delivered to the flagship, Bucentaure. The battle was won.

CANNONS BOOM

While HMS Victory survived,

Nelson was shot right here on this very deck

and that brass plaque marks the spot where he was shot by a French marksman.

He lived long enough to know the battle was won,

but later died below deck and his body was preserved

in a barrel of brandy for the long and arduous journey back home.

The Victory returned to Portsmouth, where she now rests.

Standing here, it brings to life the accounts of how Nelson

protected our country and that is definitely worth investing in.

Between the 17th and 19th centuries, as the Empire opened the world up to

trade, all manner of exotic items made their way to Britain.

People's interest in the produce of the Empire

was reflected in the items manufactured at the time.

One style of ceramics that captured that interest was majolica.

Deborah, you've brought in this very nice majolica oyster dish.

It is majolica pottery.

It's majolica, it's from Stoke-on-Trent, from the Potteries.

-The wacky world of Victorian majolica.

-Yes.

The lovely thing about majolica

is the fun designs the factory brought in.

It's wonderfully moulded, it's very naturalistic.

It looks like a pineapple.

You've got these nice, deep, moulded leaves, nice, strong colours.

The inspiration for British majolica came from several places.

The Italian pottery, the work of 16th century French potter

Bernard Palissy, and other early British potters.

The result was a highly decorative, colourful ceramic,

which was very popular in mid-Victorian Britain.

Huge majolica fountains with life-sized human and animal figures

formed centrepieces at major Victorian trade shows.

I love British majolica,

and this jug by Minton

typifies everything about majolica.

In Britain, the big three Staffordshire potteries that

dominated the market were Minton, Wedgwood and George Jones & Sons.

There were also a number of smaller potters who were producing majolica,

but it's best to look out for those big names.

If you are wanting to form a collection of majolica now,

go for the good pieces. Go for pieces which are unusual.

For example, find a pineapple jug

but maybe with a bug or a bird sitting on the handle,

something that makes it a little bit more unusual.

It is prone to chipping and cracking and,

because a lot of the items were everyday domestic objects,

collectors are willing to be a little bit more lenient.

Particularly popular with collectors are the eccentric and exotic teapots

which were made by Minton and George Jones.

They come in a range of shapes and can fetch huge prices today.

I think the monkey might attract quite a few people.

This is it!

£2,000.

£2,400 over there.

Are we finished?

GAVEL BANGS

What do you think about that? Bang, there it goes!

-APPLAUSE

-Yeah, well done!

So keep your eyes peeled for this kind of thing.

The rarest of Winton teapots is the vulture and serpent design.

One of these sold in 2005 for nearly £40,000.

Right, next victim!

Adam Partridge is a man of many talents - a musician and a sportsman

and he certainly knows a thing or two about antiques.

His own collection includes a rather surprising piece.

I've brought one of my favourite personal items along to show

you today and it is this little 19th century or earlier

Jamaican grain scoop.

I just think this is a charming object, very simple.

Not expensive but a good couple of hundred years old.

Great age and patination on it. You just can't fake things like that.

I'm a big fan of all things Caribbean. I used to work

on Caribbean cruise liners,

back in 1998, auctioneering - selling artworks.

It's where I met my dear wife. It's where I fell in love with her

and with the islands as a whole.

It's stamped up by a maker in Montego Bay in Jamaica

and it says Jamaica BWI, British West Indies.

It's just a lovely tactile object and we've got all these notches

around the side. I don't know what they signify.

In fact, when you own something yourself in this job,

you're quite negligent on doing your own research. I've never even

looked up the maker or anything.

It's an item that was made to be used. You can see it's been used.

That's what's given it all its character and charm.

I don't believe an item like this should sit on a shelf.

So we try and use this whenever we can. We keep hens

and we use it still as a grain scoop to feed our hens with.

Even everyday items like Adam's grain scoop

will be of some interest in years to come.

So, if you have an interesting item from a far-flung land,

bring it along to one of our valuation days.

You never know, you could be sitting on a small fortune.

Do join me again soon for more trade secrets.