The Natural World - Part 2 Flog It: Trade Secrets

We've got a wealth of experience from over 10 years of valuing and

selling your antiques and collectables. If there's

something you need to know, you can find it right here on Trade Secrets.

Today we are looking at how makers of the fine arts have taken

inspiration from birdlife.

We Brits are a nation of animal lovers. That seems to apply

to our antiques and collectables as well as our actual furred and

feathered friends!

And we have a flock of bird related items that you should be

looking out for. Coming up, our experts are enchanted by your

nature inspired collectables.

Be still my beating heart! That is charming.

It is just SO decorative.

Anita gives the inside track on buying and selling at auction.

Get into the bidding and battle it out with the other bidders.

And one item flies high for Thomas.

It went up and up and up and I was shocked!

We humans have always been fascinated by birds,

and I'm sure it's their ability to soar high up in the sky.

Many cultures attach symbolic meanings to certain types of birds.

The dove, for instance - the international symbol for peace.

The eagle denotes strength and majesty.

And I don't know about you,

but I always salute a magpie when I see one

to ward off bad spirits.

But when it comes to antiques and collectables,

what type of winged creature could bring you good fortune?

I like Austrian cold-painted bronzes by Bergman.

He did wonderful, wonderful parrots.

And if you get them with their original patination

and paintwork on them, they can be very collectable and very valuable.

Well, I like anything to do with owls.

We think of wisdom, don't we, with owls?

I think it's also important to look at the actual character.

The character of the owl.

Pick the animal you're particularly keen on

and collect it, no matter what.

And don't be put off by people who say, "That's a strange thing to collect".

Many of the bird-themed items we've seen on Flog It! over the years

have been shaped like our feathered friends.

But occasionally, an item of quality turns up where the motif of a bird

has been used purely for decoration.

-Mary, hello.

-Hello, Elizabeth.

I've been sitting drooling over this lovely...

what is called an object of virtue.

This lovely gem of craftsmanship.

I'd like to hear your story about it, because I think it's lovely.

Well, I bought it in the 1960s, mid-1960s,

from an antiques fair in Chichester.

And it just caught my eye.

I loved its sort of tactile shape.

It sits in the palm of my hand.

And I used to use it to put my make-up on before I went out.

-I used to go round the folk clubs, singing.

-Really?

I was part of that scene in those days.

Yes, I've always loved it.

I think you must have been the best-equipped folk singer

at the time, then, because what we have here,

which isn't obvious looking from the outside,

is a little vanity mirror.

I think that is just charming.

It was in very good condition.

It was very pleasing on the eye.

Quite an unusual object, being the mirror in its little case.

And it was a good, honest example of early Victoriana,

which doesn't come up very often.

The silver is so fine that it is impossible

for it ever to have been assayed,

so you cannot look for a mark to date it.

-I see.

-The silver is inlaid,

and then it's chased, so the bird, which I think is...

I don't know what kind of bird you thought it was.

I don't think it looks like a real bird.

I think it looks like an imaginary one.

I think it's part eagle, part hoopoe bird...

But it's then chased. The silver is then chased

to give the detail of the feathers,

just to give it that three-dimensional appeal.

-But you're thinking of selling it now?

-I think so, yes.

-Yes?

-Yes.

-It is very much a collector's piece.

And I think it would go to a specialist collector

who would, at the moment, be prepared to pay somewhere between

-£70 and £100 for it.

-Right.

It was clear she was fond of it

and it held memories and stories,

but sometimes people reach the stage where

to part with it when it's a happy piece

is as productive

as to part with it out of absolute necessity.

12 bid.

And 15 now.

65. 70. 5, surely? 75.

75 bid.

80 bid. 5.

90. 5.

100. 10 now.

110 bid. 120, surely?

110 at the back of the room. 120.

130. At 135, we may have an internet bidder. We do.

Yes!

140. Thank you, sir.

145. 190.

200.

20 anywhere else, now?

220. It's the last call.

At 200, my bid's in the room.

At £200, if we're all done and finished, selling in the room

and definitely selling at £200.

£200! Now, that's a real, true reflection of its value.

Gosh, that was a good result at £200, and I was pleased with that.

I was pleased for Mary.

And that proved it was spotted by people who were avid collectors.

That was a quality piece

which deserved good money to be invested in it.

That stunning vanity mirror was of such fantastic quality,

it was destined to make a good price,

and I'm sure it went to a very good home.

Now, there is one wise old bird that all of our experts agree

is top of the tree.

And when it's represented in collectables,

it comes in all shapes and sizes,

as Mark Stacey found out.

You've brought this lovely little owl in.

Where did you get it from?

It was my dad's. He used to collect lots of little bits and pieces

-from jumble sales.

-Oh, right.

I used to be a Scout, and we'd go along and help out the jumble sales.

My mum would sort the clothes,

and I'd probably play around more than anything!

And he'd come along under the guise of helping

and go through all the bric-a-brac and boxes.

-So he had a little sneaky peek at all the goodies?

-He did.

He'd buy them long before the doors had opened!

That's not very fair. But it happens all the time!

Fancy that!

His dad cherry-picked this item

from a jumble sale.

Wouldn't be allowed to do that today, would you?

Cheeky fellow.

Well, he obviously had an eye

for collecting little curious knick-knacks,

because here we have a little brass model of an owl,

which is rather sweet, with these little cabochon glass eyes.

Sometimes these are made in silver,

and when they're silver, they'd be a lot more money.

But there's another purpose to this,

because if we open his head up,

you will see there's a little gap in there.

And that's where you keep...

-Matches.

-Matches.

So it's a little vesta case.

Then on his back, we can see where you'd strike the matches.

The owl itself was quite nicely made.

There's a lot of cheap vesta cases made,

and a lot of cheap animal-related subjects,

but this, although it wasn't silver or gold,

it was only brass,

it was nicely cast, had nice little glass cabochon eyes,

and just had a little something about it.

In terms of the date,

I think we're looking at somewhere round about 1910, 1920.

It's one of the mass-produced ones, but they are quite collectable now,

particularly unusual shapes.

Several markets for an item like this. You'd have collectors

who want another owl-related addition to their collection

or people who collect vesta cases.

Or people who collect Victoriana.

But tell me...you haven't had it an awfully long time.

Why have you decided to bring it to Flog It! today?

Well, I really love the programme, watch it all the time.

It just happened that when I saw it in the paper, today was my day off.

I thought, "Great - come to Dorchester, get involved in Flog It!"

I went through a few bits and pieces,

got some stuff together...

There's no pressure on you,

but you have to tell us who your favourite expert is.

-Definitely you, Mark.

-Thank you very much!

Well, let's put £30 to £50 on it.

And we'll put a firm reserve of £30. We don't want to give it away.

Hopefully, it'll fly on the sale and we can all say, "To-wit to-woo!"

-Very good!

-See you at the auction.

-Thanks.

286 is a brass vesta case in the form of an owl.

Lovely little collectable thing.

Tell me where. £20 for it?

Thank you. 25.

30. 35.

40. 45.

At £40 on my left. I'll take 5.

-At £40.

-There's someone on the phone.

5 anywhere for the vesta? 45 on the phone.

50.

At 45, the phone has it. I'll take 50.

At £45.

-Yes, it's gone - £45.

-Not bad, is it?

Somebody got it on the phone.

I don't know, really,

what makes owls such a popular motif.

I'm assuming, like the rest of us,

they have this sort of...

endowed wisdom about them, don't they?

Maybe it's the big eyes and the fact that they sit there

observing everything quietly.

It's quite scary, really, isn't it?

But I like them.

What a great price

for a brass vesta case.

If it had been a plain design, it might have only made a few pounds.

It goes to prove that you can never go wrong with an owl.

At a valuation day in Belfast,

I came across a little silver owl of a similar size,

which really flew away.

This owl is absolutely adorable.

I think I love him more because his eyes are missing.

But looking inside, it's been nicely wash-gilded.

There's a gilding wash just put on there.

So that's to stop the salt or pepper from corroding.

Let's put it into auction with a value of £80 to £120.

-Right.

-And I think this could do the top end.

Even with the missing eyes.

280.

This is great. This is absolutely fabulous.

300 quid!

A definite tip from me -

if you're out bird-spotting

and find an owl antique or collectable,

be wise and snap it up.

Owls are the one bird species that seem sure to sell well.

Christina Trevanion was delighted

when she came across some very special eggs.

Monica, be still, my beating heart!

This is just fantastic.

I never thought I'd see a piece of Stuart Devlin on Flog It!

I am thrilled to bits that you brought them in today.

It's something you don't see a huge amount of.

So it was lovely, really lovely.

Very modern and contemporary

and very exciting.

So tell me a little bit about them.

-Where did you get them?

-Well, I inherited them

from a very lovely aunt who died,

and she had quite a few of these collections, limited editions.

Because they are relatively modern.

They've got hallmarks for the 1970s.

So, obviously, relatively modern in our lifetime, really.

So she obviously had great taste.

I just love them. Look at this.

The fact that you've still got the box

and the certificates with them as well...

The wonderful certificates in here. They're all limited edition.

If you have the boxes and the certificates,

it certainly adds to the value,

so it's very important to keep them with them.

This is known as the surprise egg.

You can imagine why.

As we take off the lid...

And look at that!

I would rather have that little Easter egg

than a chocolate Easter egg any day of the week.

-Would you really?

-Oh, yes!

Definitely.

You've got a nice hallmark on the top, which is London, 1971.

So this is the earlier piece here.

And tell me, do you like it?

-I like it, but my favourite is the one with the hummingbird.

-Is it?

We'll come to that one next.

Let's take this lid off.

And this, again...just beautiful.

Look at that.

Stuart Devlin was known as the man with the Midas touch,

in that he produced some of the most beautiful goldwork and silverwork

of the 20th century.

He was born in Australia,

so it's quite unusual for an Australian to come here

and develop his style in the 1960s and 1970s.

And just a fabulous, fabulous silversmith.

-So why are you selling?

-For my sons. I've got two sons.

-They can have the money.

-Good plan.

I think at auction we're going to be looking somewhere in the region

of £300 to £500 each.

I would suggest that we sell them as two separate lots.

I'd like that, please. Yes.

Stuart Devlin certainly took inspiration from nature

when creating his surprise eggs.

But he also looked to the jewelled eggs made between 1885 and 1917

by the Russian house of Faberge.

Most of the Faberge eggs

were miniatures that were popular gifts at Easter,

with each containing a surprise.

Today, the Faberge egg has become a symbol of luxury

and that's reflected in the prices they sell for.

In 2007,

a Faberge egg that was made for the Rothschild banking family

sold at auction for a world record

£8.9 million.

By comparison, a Stuart Devlin egg seems very reasonably priced.

But did the bidders agree?

Bid me for that, someone - the Stuart Devlin egg. Bid me 300.

350.

I'm bid 200. 210.

210. 210. 210.

210. 210. 210.

At 210. 220.

230. 230. 240.

Any more?

At £240.

-Is it going to do it?

-No.

-Doesn't look like it.

Oh, that's a shame!

Let's keep our fingers crossed for this one.

This is the hummingbird one.

£230 only. At 230.

-Is there any more?

-Just a little bit more.

230. 230. Is there any more? Are you sure?

At 230.

At £230. Any more?

Well, regrettably, they go the same way, I'm afraid.

What a shame!

Sadly, we didn't sell them, and I feel really, really sorry.

-I feel like we've let you down.

-I'm not worried.

I can enjoy them.

I was desperately sad that they didn't sell.

I don't really understand to this day...

I don't really understand why they didn't sell.

I really believed that, when Christina took these eggs in...

Stuart Devlin was just starting to climb.

I think she put the right money on them.

Perhaps she was a little bit before the marketplace,

but, you know, they would fly away now,

because he really, really is

a man to look out for.

Those Stuart Devlin eggs

were a classic case of right object, wrong time.

But that's why it's wise to put a reserve on your item

in order to protect it.

It would have been criminal if those eggs had sold

for £50 apiece.

So, what do you need to know if you are in the market for a bird themed

collectable?

Always examine the workmanship of a piece.

Aim for finely executed decoration,

where the workmanship shows attention to detail.

And I've said it time and time again - quality always sells.

Timing is key.

The world of antiques is one of fashions and fads,

designers coming in and out of popularity

and prices rising and falling

like the tide.

So, do your homework

and pick your time to sell carefully.

And if you've only enough money to invest in one feathered collectable,

make it an owl.

These wise old birds are so popular,

they always seem to hold their value.

These days, we're quite familiar with the world's flora and fauna.

David Attenborough has played his part in feeding our fascination.

But where did it start? David Fletcher can give us a clue.

I have something here which tells us quite a lot

about the Victorians.

It tells us about

their love of natural things...

..in the sense that it's a parrot, of course.

And it also tells us,

I think this is very insightful, really,

about their love of manufacturing objects

which look like something,

but are, in fact, something completely different.

And here we have,

believe it or not, a pen-wiper.

But who would have thought that anyone would have chosen to make

a pen-wiper in the form of a parrot?

It's made of spelter,

which is a type of zinc.

It is hand-painted.

It's probably Austrian,

and it is typically Victorian.

Had it have been bronze,

it would have been worth quite a lot of money.

As a piece of spelter, it's worth £50 or £60.

Anita Manning has been a familiar face on Flog It for many

years and she remains one of your firm favourites. When she's

not giving you invaluable advice on valuation days, she is busy

running her own saleroom in Glasgow. So, who better to give you

the lowdown on buying and selling at auction?

5 again. 5 bid. 10.

All done at £10?

Welcome to my auction.

Today's the viewing day and the bidders have come along

to look at the items which will be on sale tomorrow.

I'm always a wee bit surprised

at the Flog It! valuation days

by the number of people who just have never been to an auction.

Auctions are thrilling.

They are exciting.

They are a piece of theatre, with the bidders as part of the cast.

What I'm going to do is to take you through the auction process

to take away the mystique,

so that that will encourage you to come along,

see all these wonderful objects

and to have great fun.

So, what do you do if you want to sell at auction?

Well, there are various different ways.

Most auctions have valuation days.

There will be experts there

to look at your items, to give you estimates of value

or you can send an image.

The most important thing is, make that first contact.

The cataloguers go round and write descriptions

and estimated selling prices of all of the items.

Every item is photographed, and this is a long and laborious process.

And we don't just take one photograph.

There has to be many photographs at different angles taken,

because these photographs will be looked at

by people who cannot attend the sale,

but want to view the sale online.

In a sale like this, with nearly 1,000 lots,

the cataloguing is done over three days

by perhaps eight people.

So it's a lotta, lotta work!

If you're viewing online,

from home,

and you see something that you fancy

but you want a wee bit more information,

you can phone up the auctioneer

and ask for additional photographs

or condition reports.

But best thing is to come along to the sale

and to look at the goods in the flesh.

Buy a catalogue, look at the description

and the estimated selling price.

If you see something you like,

pick it up.

Handle it. Look to see if it's in good condition

or if there are any small defects or flaws.

Don't be afraid to rummage.

There might be something there which will give you a big surprise.

If you have any questions, if you have any enquiries,

ask your auctioneer

or the auction staff.

They'll be delighted to help you.

I adore coming to auctions. I've been doing it since I was very young.

It's an inherited passion,

which I got through my parents.

I love the paintings,

so today I'm here looking at the paintings.

I'm in here to look at china.

Some nice tea ware, dinner ware,

coffee sets and maybe any nice collectables.

I love the seagulls,

the set of seagulls.

So that's what I'm interested in at the moment.

You've come along to the viewing,

you've found something you've fallen in love with -

what do you do next?

Well, the auction house will ask you

to fill out a registration form with all your details.

Fill that out and take it along to the office.

Hand it in there.

And the pretty girl in the office will give you a registration number.

It's my first time at the auction,

so this is my first bidding number.

If you can't come along to the auction,

there are other ways of bidding.

You can leave a commission bid,

and that enables the auctioneer to bid on your behalf

to the sum that you have left.

I've got multiple bids on the book.

Little bit of interest with me. What can I start the bidding at?

I've two commissions. £100 with me.

If you'd like to be a wee bit closer to the auction, you can make a telephone bid.

We ought to get straight into this,

because we've got all the telephones and all the net...

But you can also bid online.

700. 700. 750. 750. 800 now.

Isn't technology wonderful?

100 with me. 110.

120. 130. 140.

It's time for the auction. The moment of truth.

I always advise new buyers to have a fixed price in their head

and not to go beyond it,

unless, of course, you can't live without it.

But remember to factor in the commission.

If you're buying something for £100,

and the commission is 15%,

that's £115, and there's VAT on top of 20% - another £3.

So for every £100,

you will be paying £118.

Set yourself a limit. Because we all do it -

you say, "Right, I'll bid £50", and you're still bidding at £70.

So stick to your limit.

Because you can get carried away.

It's very exciting when your lot is coming up.

My advice is to get near the auctioneer, watch what's going on,

have your bidding card at the ready.

When your lot is there, get into the bidding

and battle it out with the other bidders.

And, hopefully, you'll win.

Start me at £50.

50 bid.

50 with you, sir.

It's a good social thing to do.

You get to come, meet your friends, come with your family.

It's a good day out.

I'm excited and looking forward to it.

And I think it'll be good fun.

I suppose the one tip is if you're going to buy, then buy quality,

because it's only going to increase in value.

60.

70. 80.

90.

100.

It's a thrilling experience,

and, hopefully, you'll have won your lot.

Enjoy the item that you've bought

and, even more importantly, I hope you've enjoyed the auction.

190.

Our expert Thomas Plant also knows all about the fun of the

auction. And just how unpredictable it can be!

Miranda and Ruby turned up with this tin biscuit barrel.

I thought, "This is rather nice."

Our late mother owned it.

-Your late mother. So you girls are sisters?

-Yes.

I never would have guessed(!)

-This...you're talking about your biscuit barrel.

-Yes.

Well, if I take the lid off,

it sort of helps us here.

Look - "McVitie & Price, biscuit manufacturers.

"To HM the King and the Prince of Wales."

There we are. "Edinburgh and London."

So, nicely printed there.

Obviously, it is a biscuit tin.

-Yes.

-But what I liked about it

was the object itself.

A biscuit tin can just be a plain, simple, rectangular or square tin.

But people then decided,

"No, we don't want to do that. We want to make interesting objects",

and that's what important about this - the design

and the lithography,

which is the feathers, the painting,

the printing on it.

It was big.

Big biscuit tin. You could get a lot of biscuits in there.

It was a fabulous design.

And also, it was for a company which we still recognise today.

When was she married?

1952.

1952.

So I think it could have been her mother's.

-It might have been.

-I think it's Deco, yes.

1920s, I would have thought.

Maybe a little earlier.

You've got so many collectors.

You've got the people who collect birds,

you've got the people who collect McVitie's biscuit items,

you've got biscuit tin people,

and you've got the printing people.

This early form of printing onto metal,

which is really quite difficult and quite rare.

So, you know, there are four sets of people collecting,

and then you've got the fifth - the one with the money - the decorative market.

Because it's just SO decorative.

So I think it was a win/win situation.

And poor old TP didn't think about that, did he?

He just put £50 to £80 on it, £40 reserve.

"Sisters, I think you'll be lucky if you get £50,"

I thought to myself!

How wrong was I?!

So...what happened at auction?

Very unusual little item, this is.

I can start at £80. At £80.

180, we've gone. 180.

I thought,

"What's going on here? 180?!"

And then it just started... 190, 200, 210...

It started going up.

290. 300. 320.

340.

360.

I didn't expect that much.

400. 420.

420? 420.

440. 460.

-Is this our lot?!

-Yeah!

620.

And then in the audience, you see somebody like this, with their card.

I mean, you LOVE those people as an auctioneer,

because they're just holding it up.

There's none of this... It's "I want this!"

And it went up and up and up

and I was shocked.

And then I looked at them,

and one of them had a grin so wide, it sort of

took over her face!

It was just so much fun.

900. 950.

950. 1,000.

£1,000!

1,050 it is. By the stairs, 1,050.

Are we all done and finished?

The hammer's gone down at £1,050!

Well done, you two!

What's going through your minds right now?

I don't know!

It's just shock, really.

The biscuit tin flew at auction because it was rare

and appealed to a wide range of collectors.

That's when you hold your hands up.

But you saw the joy on their faces. And you think,

"Well, you know, that's why it's not an exact science."

That's why I'm not in a lab!

It just goes to show, with all the research and advice in the

world, when you are buying or selling antiques, you cannot

always be sure what will happen on the day. And that's the

excitement of the auction. Remember, your furred or feathered

collectables could earn you a few pounds and prove to be your

best friend. Join me again soon for more Trade Secrets.