Little and Large - Part 2 Flog It: Trade Secrets


Little and Large - Part 2

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PAUL MARTIN: Over the last 10 years on 'Flog It!',

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we've valued thousands of your items

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and we've helped to sell around £1 million worth

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of antiques and collectables.

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so it comes as no surprise that we can offer you

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the inside track on buying and selling.

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Welcome to Trade Secrets.

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Now, often on the show, we encounter items that are rather intriguing

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because of their size.

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Well, today's programme is dedicated to the antiques that are small

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but perfectly formed and the big and the beautiful.

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Coming up on Trade Secrets,

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Charlie has trouble pinning down the proportions of a vast collection.

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-There must be 300, 400 of them.

-Just over 400.

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-You've counted them all, have you?

-427.

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Philip makes a big prediction.

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These things are flavour of the month at the minute.

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They could absolutely fly through the top estimate.

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And we catch up with Janet,

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whose sale of a small item made a big impact.

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-Fantastic. £420.

-Oh, that's fabulous!

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I'm so pleased for you and it's going to a good cause.

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Oh, it is. Yeah.

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Buying and selling little and large objects has its own challenges

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and here's our experts' advice on what to take note of.

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In this business, what you don't want is ordinary.

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You either want things very big or very small.

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You really want to be looking at items that are difficult to make.

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For example, ceramics or glass.

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People still like a large painting.

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Perhaps it saves them painting the wall

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if you can hang up a large painting, even if it dominates a room.

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The very nature of 'Flog It!', where you bring your unwanted

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antiques along to our valuation days means we don't see that any large

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items because they can prove too difficult to transport.

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But when they do turn up, our experts generally know

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if they are looking at something special.

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When a large chunk of aeronautical history fell to

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earth at our valuation day at Stockport, Philip was left

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struggling for superlatives.

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I think this is just such a fabulous thing.

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What I love about it, it's just such a fantastic piece of sculpture

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and it's got this copper sheath on there that protects the leading edge

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as this goes round and round.

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They are what I call great study accessories.

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You find a lot of them that are cut off here and here.

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You have barometers or you have clocks that are inset into here.

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-Yeah.

-I think that ruins them.

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People want things that can decorate a room,

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so oversized objects, perhaps like a propeller,

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it just then becomes a statement piece and it doesn't get lost.

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So you've got a plain white wall with that on it

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and it becomes a statement.

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Can we turn it over?

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Because very often, you will find impressed into it

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either a manufacturer's stamp or what it's off.

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This is really helpful cos there's nothing here at all, is there?

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-No.

-I mean, have you done some research on it?

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I was told it was from either a Tiger Moth or a Gipsy Moth.

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I think the Gipsy Moth preceded the Tiger Moth.

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Are they '30s biplanes?

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Yeah, 1930, 1931 biplane.

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If we put £800-£1200 as an estimate,

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how do you feel about a £750 reserve on it?

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-Yeah, that's fine. Yeah.

-OK.

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So we'll have a feature reserve of £750 and an estimate of £800-£1200.

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-OK?

-Yep.

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All that aeronautica, you know,

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it isn't an area of collecting that's over 150 years old

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cos we didn't have planes that length of time ago, so it's

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relatively modern and as such I think it's going to grow and grow and grow.

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In fact, it could take off.

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AUCTIONEER: 740, 760, 780...

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760 is the bid. At £760.

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Any further interest on this at 760? The propeller.

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Away now at 760. All done.

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-Yes, he's sold it.

-Brilliant.

-Only just.

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The important thing about selling any antique is that provenance,

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it's the details, the history, it's everything that goes with it.

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In this instance, we simply didn't have that provenance.

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Large novelty items can make a stir and if they have documented history,

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prices can really soar.

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On 'Flog It!', we often find it's not the size of individual items

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that's impressive but the scale and diversity of a collection.

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And those huge collections sometimes pose interesting challenges

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for our experts as Charlie discovered in Tunbridge Wells.

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I have never seen so many hatpins.

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There must be 300, 400 of them.

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-Just over 400.

-You've counted them all, have you?

-427.

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I think it's an extraordinary mix of hatpins. There are some good ones.

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-Yeah.

-There are some dreadful ones. There are some medium ones.

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But all of them have got an interest.

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If you've got a collection of anything,

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go through every single item and what do you look for? Quality.

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I've pulled a couple out here by Charles Horner who

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-we could describe as the doyen of hatpin makers.

-Right.

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If you look very carefully,

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-signed CH into the silver.

-Yes.

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The Charles Horner ones have 'CH' on them so you know he made them.

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So you can easily spot the ones

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that are of a different quality to the others.

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Now, these would have an individual value, I would hope 30, 40, £50.

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Right.

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-We've got some other ones of his which aren't gem-set.

-Yes.

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We then, looking around here, have got a rare eclectic mix

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but I think there are one or two that one could say

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are quite collectable for collectors

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-because they're interestingly different.

-Yes.

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Do you wheedle out the good ones and sell them individually,

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thereby you think maximising the price of the good ones,

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but risking underselling the less good ones?

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Or do you put them in as one collection?

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-I think the Charles Horners need to go in pairs.

-Right.

-All in pairs.

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My view is between £500 and £800 is about where we're we to be going.

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Right.

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-I will speak to the auctioneer.

-Yes.

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And between us, we will sort out the best way to sell these.

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-I don't think they should be sold as one lot.

-No.

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I'm quite adamant about that.

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Charlie and the auctioneer carved up the collection into ten lots

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and they bumped up the estimate to between £800 and £1,000.

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We need about £110 for each of them.

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AUCTIONEER: 110 is bid. 120. Any bids at 130? No. At 120.

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Yes. Hammer's gone down. That's a great start. 120.

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It's a good start because they weren't the best.

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No, they weren't. The best is yet to come.

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Two silver hatpins by Charles Horner.

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110 there on the telephone. Any further bids, then, at £110?

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HE BANGS HAMMER

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Yes. Hammer has gone down. Second lot now. £230.

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The hatpins had pricked the interest of plenty of punters and

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eight exciting lots later, Claire had amassed a nice little nest egg.

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Yes! £950. What are you going to put it towards?

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Oh, hadn't thought about it because I didn't know if they'd sell.

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Charles Horner produced exquisite work in silver

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and in particular in enamels as well.

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If you get a combination of Charles Horner's work in silver and enamel,

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then you've really got the tote double, frankly.

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With large collections, it's really important to find the quality items

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and remember, if it has an initial, stamp or a signature,

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it's likely to be more valuable.

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A collection of a very different kind held some intriguingly large

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surprises for Elizabeth.

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-Is this some of your inheritance, Beryl?

-Yes.

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They belonged to my aunt and she emigrated and went to Canada

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and she left those behind.

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There were so many.

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It was a impressive collection of unadulterated silks.

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Unusually, not just one or two large ones

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but several large ones within that collection, and that,

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for someone who sees cigarette cards and silks quite regularly,

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was an impressive element

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which just added that certain something to the whole.

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They were issued by the cigarette manufacturer Godfrey Phillips

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and most of them will have been produced between 1910 and 1915.

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We think as modern 21st century beings that to collect something

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in cereal packets or teaboxes or something is a new element.

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We've found something that's quite intriguing.

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It's been going on for generations

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and the early commercial minds of the cigarette manufacturers were quite

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quick to latch on to the fact that that was a very useful tool to

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encourage people to buy their cigarettes

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over and above a competitor's.

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The larger ones will have been issued with large packets of cigarettes.

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Must have been very large packets of cigarettes.

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These are more standard size for cigarette cards

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and they are on silk.

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They are transfer printed

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but what I'm fascinated with in your case is that A, you have so many

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together, particularly the larger ones because they are the rarer.

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But you also have a lot of them which are in very good condition.

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Beryl was unknowingly very astute because she had kept them flat

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and she'd kept them wrapped nicely in paper,

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not in anything plastic that would sweat.

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She kept them out of the light

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and she'd obviously just not moved them for years.

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I was going to make a quilt with them or something like that

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but Mum said to me, "If you're going to make a mess of them, leave them."

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So I left them.

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I think you've got a very canny mother there

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because that's very good advice.

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By the time we get to the 21st century,

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this is just how collectors like to see them.

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People wouldn't necessarily just collect silks.

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Some might collect one element, some might collect another.

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So what you want to try and do

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is keep all that competitive element within one lot and hope that

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different people are bidding against each other to achieve it.

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I'd recommend you keep them together as a collection

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-and sell them as a collection.

-As a collection.

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-Yes, because one will sell the other.

-Absolutely.

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Overall, I would say a fair guide price before auction

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would be between £40 and £60.

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-Really?

-Would you like reserve on...

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-I think I'll let them find their mark.

-Find their mark. Yep. OK.

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I'm sure they'll find a very happy home.

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Having been so well loved over the years or at least respected

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and looked after, it would have in a shame

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if nobody else had got as excited as I had about them.

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-50 here. The standing bid of 50. 55. 60.

-£50.

-60.

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Here at 60. The taller of all of you at £60 goes then.

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Oh, great valuation. £60. Spot on. That was good, wasn't it?

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So remember, rarity can add value

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and in some cases what makes an item rare is its size.

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And nothing can quite hold a candle to Philip's find in Southampton.

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Sally, even an expert as bad as me

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can tell you that these are candlesticks.

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Candlesticks are sort of a bit... Yawn, passe, you know?

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And you think of the typical brass and copper candlesticks of the 18th

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century and the 19th century and you really don't want to go there.

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-Where have you got them from?

-They're my mum's.

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She bought them in the local church where she lives about 20 years ago.

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-What did she pay for them?

-£1 each.

-£1 each.

-Yeah.

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Careful lady, your mum.

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Let's just have a look at the bottom. Do you know what that tells us?

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-Nothing.

-Absolutely spot-on there, Sally.

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You'll get a job on this programme.

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The automatic thing to look for on a piece like this is the Newling stamp

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or perhaps Keswick

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or some other maker's stamp impressed onto the bottom.

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There's nothing on these.

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You want things that lift themselves up above the norm.

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So if every other candlestick that you see is that big and you suddenly

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find one that big, it's different, it's going to be more desirable.

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Go buy it.

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-In terms of date, they're obviously copper.

-Yep.

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They're almost like arts and crafts.

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I would date them around 1890, 1910, that sort of period.

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I think they're absolutely great.

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-They are a huge pair of sticks.

-They are. Yeah.

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The great thing about the candlesticks is simply this.

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When we sold them, they were the flavour of the month.

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That style, that look, that square base, the way they were decorated,

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that's just what everyone wanted.

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I think that they will make easily £200-£400 for the pair.

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These things are flavour of the month now.

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They could absolutely fly through the top estimate.

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There's no doubt the fact they were a little bit oversized,

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that helped their value as well. Oversized, overpriced, over here.

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AUCTIONEER: 500. Spoken bid at 500.

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520. £520. 550.

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That's it. 550. 580.

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Don't shake your head like that. Puts everybody off.

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-He's teasing the punters. Drawing that money out.

-Selling at 580.

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-That's a great result.

-That's fantastic.

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That's more than we expected.

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The next time you go to church, you ought to put a couple of pounds

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in the collection box.

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The sheer size of those candlesticks made them stand out

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and they certainly lit up the sale room.

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Always keep in mind that the unusual sells and here are some more

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tips on transforming big stuff into big bucks.

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When you're selling a large collection,

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consider whether dividing into several lots or leaving

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it as a single collection is the most profitable option.

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It's well worth keeping an eye out for outsized items that can be

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repurposed as an ornament - a wall decoration, for instance.

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Bigger items do tend to be harder to shift

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but if you've got something that's unusual because of its size,

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then you're likely to have more success at auction.

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And remember, always look for a maker's name

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because nine times out of ten,

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it is the one thing that will help you make big bucks.

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At the other end of the spectrum, tiny items can command big prices

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and one every that crops up from time to time at our valuation tables

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is miniature portraits.

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They never fail to catch the eye of our experts.

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I'm delighted to see these miniatures.

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-They're quite special, aren't they?

-They're really special.

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It's so exciting when wonderful things like this

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come in to the programme.

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Miniatures have been around for generations.

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We go back many, many centuries to illuminated manuscripts

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to see very early examples of portrait miniatures.

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But the real trend started in the 17th century and onwards

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and boomed in the 19th century.

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The earliest miniature portraits were painted on vellum.

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That's stretched calfskin.

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Copper and enamel were used later but by the 19th century,

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a material was in vogue that although now controversial

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still has a market, albeit a limited one.

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We're talking, of course, about ivory.

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The reason for them wanting to use ivory I think is

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because it is the finest and smoothest material which enables you

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to get the very best detail with your paints.

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The invention of photography in the 19th century led to

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a decline in miniature painting but it is by no means a dead art.

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I visited miniaturist painter Elizabeth Meek at her home

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and studio on the Isle of Wight to find out how a modern day artist

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practises their trade.

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This was the first miniature I ever did.

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She was sitting right at the back of this cafe place selling old

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tablecloths and I just thought she had the most wonderful little old

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-apple face.

-Oh, she has, hasn't she? So round but it's just so happy.

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A really happy face and I just thought she was absolutely stunning.

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You capture the very essence of the moment.

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That is the most important thing for me. I don't want a photograph.

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I want to capture the personality and character.

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So let's start the process off.

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Where does it all start with a miniature?

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I start by going in my studio which is my sacrosanct place which I don't

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really like people going in, and I put my classical music on which gets

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me nicely calm and relaxed and sit down at my easel

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and take my ivorine and a very small brush.

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I use tiny, tiny brushes. Four noughts.

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And I lay out my paints and have my magnifying glass.

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I've only just started using a magnifying glass all the time.

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With old age, the eyesight is going a bit.

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-Can I have a look at the studio?

-Yes, of course.

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-OK, so come this way.

-Very light space.

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I've pinched the dining room but that's the best room for me.

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HE LAUGHS

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-Well, it's got good natural light.

-It has.

-What's on the easel?

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What are we looking at here?

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That's one of my favourites and it's won me awards.

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-These are definitely antiques of the future.

-Oh, definitely.

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And we have massive collectors.

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But of course there are the antique miniatures

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which go like hotcakes as I was told by somebody at Bonhams

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and they sell out at their auctions

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and one recently went for 1 million.

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-And who was that of?

-It was of George Washington.

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-So the sitter is very important as well.

-I think it is, yes. Possibly.

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Have you had any famous clients lately?

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I've done work for the Prince of Wales, Princess Michael of Kent.

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Were you nervous when you were painting Prince Charles?

0:18:200:18:23

I was excessively nervous. Yes.

0:18:230:18:25

But he was very, very nice. He was very reassuring and he understood.

0:18:250:18:28

The sitter is crucial to the value of a miniature.

0:18:310:18:34

In general, portraits of women are most popular, although paintings

0:18:340:18:38

of men in military uniform are also sought after.

0:18:380:18:42

Don't forget that detail is very important.

0:18:420:18:46

By and large, the more detailed the painting,

0:18:460:18:49

the more valuable it will be.

0:18:490:18:51

The material that the miniature is painted on will help you date it.

0:18:510:18:55

If it's ivory, it will almost certainly be from the 19th or

0:18:550:18:58

early 20th centuries.

0:18:580:19:00

Portraits on copper or enamel will generally be earlier.

0:19:000:19:03

No matter what their provenance, miniature portraits look

0:19:030:19:06

great in a collection and they have the added benefit of giving a tiny

0:19:060:19:11

but fascinating insight into the history of their time.

0:19:110:19:16

One of the reasons for the popularity of miniatures might

0:19:200:19:23

be that they are fun to collect and easy to store. Not so larger pieces.

0:19:230:19:28

We can't tell you often enough that if you want to collect big objects,

0:19:280:19:32

you need to think ahead about where to put them.

0:19:320:19:36

Storage isn't just a problem for collectors like us,

0:19:360:19:39

as I found out at a very interesting location.

0:19:390:19:43

Here on this disused airfield just outside Swindon in Wiltshire,

0:19:430:19:46

the Science Museum houses all its oversized objects

0:19:460:19:50

in six huge great big aircraft hangars just like this one.

0:19:500:19:54

And the collection ranges from sock darning machines

0:19:540:19:57

to the first ever hovercraft,

0:19:570:19:59

from nuclear missiles to the Blue Peter lifeboat.

0:19:590:20:02

-Peter Turvey.

-Hello.

-Pleasure to meet you.

0:20:120:20:14

-You're the head curator here.

-Yes, that's it.

0:20:140:20:16

You're the exact person to tell me,

0:20:160:20:18

how many items does this place house?

0:20:180:20:20

Yes, we've got about 18,000 museum objects.

0:20:200:20:22

And do you have a particular favourite here?

0:20:220:20:25

It's difficult because I've got so many things to look at.

0:20:250:20:28

I've got lots of different favourites depending on what day it is.

0:20:280:20:31

But I think my favourite at the moment

0:20:310:20:33

is our 1903 Gardner-Serpollet steam car.

0:20:330:20:35

-Maybe we'll have a look at that bit later.

-Yes.

0:20:350:20:37

What I'd like to see, though, is something, let's say, quite iconic.

0:20:370:20:40

Something that may be the oldest item here

0:20:400:20:43

or the largest or the heaviest. What have you got to show me?

0:20:430:20:46

Have a look at our Fleet Street printing press.

0:20:460:20:48

It's the heaviest object we've got at 140 tonnes.

0:20:480:20:50

-Whoa! OK. Is it this way?

-It's just down here.

-After you.

0:20:500:20:54

DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS

0:20:570:20:59

-It's as big as a house, isn't it?

-Yes.

0:21:050:21:07

-And actually, we've only got a third of it here.

-It was bigger! Wow. Gosh.

0:21:070:21:12

-Obviously, you had to assemble it here. It came in bits.

-Yes.

0:21:120:21:15

It came in pieces from Northcliffe House in Fleet Street

0:21:150:21:18

and the team of skilled engineers

0:21:180:21:19

put about nine weeks putting it together here.

0:21:190:21:21

You could say that is a Fleet Street heavyweight.

0:21:210:21:24

Oh, it really is.

0:21:240:21:25

-I can see you've got the Sno-Cat here next on old bus.

-Yes.

0:21:310:21:35

-Everything is organised according to size and weight.

-Yeah.

0:21:350:21:37

Tell me about the Sno-Cat.

0:21:370:21:39

Well, this is really one of our star objects. It's got an amazing history.

0:21:390:21:43

It was one of four cent to Antarctica in 1957 for a British expedition

0:21:430:21:48

that was the first motorised crossing of Antarctica.

0:21:480:21:51

They set off in late 1957 and got to the other side in early 1958.

0:21:540:22:00

It was a very important scientific expedition.

0:22:000:22:03

Some of the research they did is very relevant today

0:22:030:22:05

because one of the things they did was measure the thickness

0:22:050:22:08

of the Antarctic ice sheet.

0:22:080:22:09

We can see how global warming has affected the ice sheet since then.

0:22:090:22:12

Incredible.

0:22:120:22:14

They must be a big headache for conservation

0:22:140:22:16

because obviously you've got to look at these things

0:22:160:22:19

once they're in here and make sure they're not rusting any further

0:22:190:22:21

-or bits are falling off.

-Yes.

0:22:210:22:23

We've got a specialist team of conservators who look

0:22:230:22:25

after our objects, so if you go over to our conservation laboratory,

0:22:250:22:30

you can meet Dennis, one of our conservators.

0:22:300:22:32

-Hi, Dennis. Hello.

-Hi.

0:22:410:22:43

I've been walking around the hangars with Peter.

0:22:430:22:46

He's been showing me around

0:22:460:22:47

and I just want to find out more about conservation.

0:22:470:22:50

Where do you start? What do you pick on?

0:22:500:22:52

Well, we're usually getting objects

0:22:520:22:54

ready for display down at the Science Museum in London.

0:22:540:22:58

So we don't do any repairs.

0:22:580:23:00

-Conservation is not about making it work.

-It's not restoration.

0:23:000:23:03

-Yes, that's right.

-This is a computer, isn't it?

0:23:030:23:05

Actually, this is ERNIE 1.

0:23:050:23:07

-Oh, he picked the Premium Bond numbers.

-Yeah, that's right.

0:23:070:23:10

Back in the 1950s.

0:23:100:23:12

The acronym ERNIE stands for

0:23:130:23:15

Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment.

0:23:150:23:18

From 1957 to 1972, ERNIE 1 produced thousands upon

0:23:180:23:23

thousands of winning numbers for the Premium Bonds.

0:23:230:23:26

Today, ERNIE 4 does the job

0:23:260:23:27

and ERNIE 1 has been saved as a museum piece.

0:23:270:23:31

So what basically are you doing?

0:23:320:23:34

I see you're using traditional methods and techniques.

0:23:340:23:36

It's like you're restoring a little bit of fine art on a canvas.

0:23:360:23:39

Absolutely. Art conservators use saliva to clean objects

0:23:390:23:45

and we found that saliva, the enzymes in saliva,

0:23:450:23:48

are one of the most effective ways of cleaning it.

0:23:480:23:51

Not all your saliva, though?

0:23:510:23:53

-Yes. Yeah.

-Really?

0:23:530:23:54

HE LAUGHS

0:23:540:23:55

I have to think about lemons a lot.

0:23:550:23:58

The Science Museum here at Wroughton is such a fascinating place

0:24:010:24:05

but it's only open to the general public on certain days of the year,

0:24:050:24:09

so do keep an eye open because there's plenty to see here

0:24:090:24:12

and they are preserving your heritage.

0:24:120:24:15

All of our experts can spy a real treasure

0:24:190:24:21

when it comes through the doors on the valuation day.

0:24:210:24:24

But Michael Baggott is exceptionally eagle-eyed, especially

0:24:240:24:27

when he's looking through his loop at hallmarks.

0:24:270:24:30

And it was Michael's keen eye that spotted a real little gem

0:24:300:24:34

when one 'Flog It!' fan brought along something special

0:24:340:24:37

to our valuation day in Barnsley.

0:24:370:24:40

My name is Janet Clarke. I attend Hillsborough Tabernacle Church.

0:24:400:24:45

We are a community church and we have what we call a bric-a-brac stall

0:24:450:24:49

and that was how we received the silver camel pincushion.

0:24:490:24:53

What a generous gift.

0:24:530:24:54

I wonder if they knew how generous they were being.

0:24:540:24:56

Well, I don't think so.

0:24:560:24:58

There was all sorts of bits of jewellery and broken toys

0:24:580:25:00

-and that sort of thing.

-This was just at the bottom?

0:25:000:25:02

-And that was just amongst them.

-They could be forgiven

0:25:020:25:05

because it's only a little silver pincushion.

0:25:050:25:07

-And these things...

-And it was black.

0:25:070:25:09

..shouldn't be worth a great deal of money.

0:25:090:25:12

-You've made my day bringing this little fellow in.

-Oh, good.

0:25:120:25:15

The animals that you get in pincushions,

0:25:150:25:17

-they started to be produced about 1895,

-1900. Yeah.

0:25:170:25:22

And Boots, would you believe it, produced them. Some are very common.

0:25:220:25:28

You see chicks, you see pigs in different poses, you see elephants.

0:25:280:25:33

The rarest I think is the lizard, the spider, the lion

0:25:330:25:36

and they're very sought after.

0:25:360:25:38

But not far behind them is the camel.

0:25:380:25:41

You get a standing camel and a seated camel and of the two,

0:25:410:25:45

the seated camel is rarer.

0:25:450:25:47

When I found it, it was black and it looked like it was worthless but I

0:25:470:25:53

saw the hallmarks, I took it home and cleaned it and it came up sparkling.

0:25:530:25:58

L&S Levi and Salaman of Birmingham.

0:25:580:26:01

They produced a multitude of these small pincushions

0:26:010:26:03

and other small work.

0:26:030:26:05

We got the Birmingham town mark and the date letter for 1903.

0:26:050:26:09

My husband and I thought that it was probably worth about £70-£80.

0:26:100:26:14

We didn't want to tell anybody what we were doing and that we were

0:26:140:26:17

going to 'Flog It!' in case we fell flat on our faces and it didn't sell.

0:26:170:26:21

I think we should put that into auction

0:26:210:26:25

for no less than £250-£350.

0:26:250:26:29

We should have a fixed reserve of 250. If you're happy, we'll do that.

0:26:290:26:34

-I certainly am happy.

-Splendid.

0:26:340:26:36

The commission's forced me to start this lot off at £420.

0:26:380:26:43

-Ohh!

-420.

0:26:430:26:45

-Bang, straight in.

-430 I'm looking for elsewhere.

0:26:450:26:48

-430.

-Can't believe it.

0:26:480:26:50

Bid now or lose him.

0:26:500:26:52

£420 was mentioned and the hammer went down.

0:26:540:26:58

Goodness me. That was exciting.

0:26:580:27:00

-Not bad at all.

-I can't believe it!

-Above top end of the estimate.

0:27:000:27:03

-Fantastic.

-£420. Oh, that's fabulous! Thank you.

0:27:030:27:06

I'm so pleased for you and it's going to a good cause as well.

0:27:060:27:08

It is, yeah. I couldn't believe when

0:27:080:27:11

you said 250 to 350 that 420...

0:27:110:27:13

That's fabulous. I'm thrilled to bits.

0:27:130:27:16

Why it's so special is that we were busy raising funds to have an

0:27:170:27:22

extension to house a lift that would be for the disabled.

0:27:220:27:26

We have achieved it and we have got the lift that we were hoping to get.

0:27:260:27:31

We did actually know who it had come from.

0:27:330:27:36

We did offer him some money out of it but Bill, the man who had given us

0:27:360:27:41

the box of bric-a-brac, said, "No. I had no idea it was there.

0:27:410:27:46

"It could have just gone into the dustbin."

0:27:460:27:48

I definitely advise anybody to go along to 'Flog It!'.

0:27:490:27:52

It's such an interesting day.

0:27:520:27:54

Then when the programme eventually comes out, you can see and think,

0:27:540:27:57

"Yes, I was there."

0:27:570:27:58

Valuable lots come in big and small packages

0:28:010:28:05

but no matter what their shape or size, one thing is for sure.

0:28:050:28:09

Sometimes it can be the smallest of details

0:28:090:28:12

that make all the difference.

0:28:120:28:14

If in doubt, dig it out and bring it along to one of our valuation days.

0:28:140:28:19

Well, good luck if you're trying your hand at buying and selling.

0:28:190:28:22

I hope those tips come in useful.

0:28:220:28:25

And please, join me again soon for more Trade Secrets.

0:28:250:28:28

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