The Natural World Flog It: Trade Secrets

One of the things I love about Flog It!

is meeting you, members of the general public,

and learning about the thousands of fascinating objects

you bring along for us to value.

Together, over the years, we've made hundreds of trips

to auction rooms all over the country,

putting those valuations to the test.

So in this series, we're pooling all of that knowledge together

to help you get in the know.

Welcome to Trade Secrets.

On today's show, we're looking at the inspiration

that makers of the fine arts have taken from nature.

We Brits are a nation of animal lovers.

Now, that seems to apply to our antiques and collectables

as well as our actual furred and feathered friends.

In this programme, we're looking at which species you should be keeping an eye out for.

Coming up, our experts are blown away by your animal collectables.

He's absolutely gorgeous!

I remember picking up that greyhound, and I started to shake.

We show you that some of our four-legged friends can achieve

surprising results.

That's 1,350.

-£1,300!

-That's wonderful!

The table's holding me up!

And our experts share their wisdom.

Whatever you do, don't go and throw your antiques in a barrel of flour!

Animals tend to sell,

and they can command hefty sums

if the right collector is there on the auction day.

Now, at our Flog It! valuation days, we see dozens of bronzes,

ceramics, paintings and toys, all depicting animal varieties.

But certain types of species do command more money,

and certain types of antiques are of special interest.

Everybody has got a soft spot for their pet.

And if you can look at a little kitten or a dog, or a puppy, or whatever,

and go, "Awww!" it's going to add to its value.

And it's the same when it's represented in a work of art.

The species does make a huge difference to the value of a piece.

The more common the animal,

tends to be the more common the object

and therefore the lower the value.

Polar bears. I don't know what it is about polar bears.

I don't think most of the people in the country have seen a polar bear in the wild.

But a polar bear comes up for auction,

everybody's after it.

Exciting animals lead to exciting prices.

So if you think of...

a rhinoceros or something charging,

something like that,

it's going to make more money than a model of a sheep.

Over the years on Flog It!

we've seen hundreds of animals of all shapes and sizes.

And I want to share some of the most interesting with you.

Philip was delighted when he came across a collectable cow.

Is this a fine Norfolk cow?

-They're Jersey cows.

-It's a Jersey cow?

-And Black Angus.

-Black Angus?

-I've never heard of a Norfolk one.

I think this is absolutely lovely. You've got a lovely accent.

Thank you. I'm half and half.

Half and half?

-Is that half...?

-I'm half Norfolk and half American.

-Really?

-Yes.

-That's a really lovely accent.

I remember Helen. She was great fun.

She had an American Norfolk accent,

which is a strange hybrid, that.

But what was really interesting

and I think really different...

Well, she'd got the whole history of this cow from about 1860 onwards.

I remember thinking at the time, "Why would you keep all this?" But she did.

And it was fantastic, and I think it probably added to its value.

So we can see here you've got all this recorded.

-Yes.

-How did you find all this out?

Well, the gentleman who it belonged to...

-Jack Marks. Where did Jack Marks live?

-He lived in England.

-So Jack Marks was the first owner of this prize cow?

-Yes.

In 1853, so this bit of paper says,

he was awarded the cow at a farm show.

And then in 1855, this cow embarked on a bit of a trip, didn't it?

It went to America.

They must have emigrated to America.

It says here it went in a barrel of flour for protection.

Whatever you do, don't go and throw your antiques in a barrel of flour!

It's probably not the best thing to preserve them.

If you look just here,

you can see we've got papier-mache for the base.

-Clearly not English, is it?

-No.

I'm not the biggest linguist in the world,

but it's either French or German.

And these cows were made in leather.

And they're like a pull-along toy, almost.

You would have pulled it along.

And occasionally the head would move back and forwards,

-but this is really, really fragile.

-Yes.

And sometimes the tail would wag as well.

And if we have a look at a sort of...

-There's...

-I think there's one missing.

Well, I think there's two udders missing.

Absolutely right.

-And two horns missing.

-Two horns and two udders.

-Yes.

So if it's going to last the test of time,

you know, it's got to be...

really well looked-after and cherished,

and the fact that this thing DID last, albeit it was a bit rough and ready round the edges,

um...

it's going to add to its value.

The better condition, the more it's going to make.

Because of the condition,

I think we need to estimate her...

£30 to £50.

-OK.

-And put a sort of...a £30 with discretion reserve on it.

And there's a but coming now.

I sold one of these, I think, last year.

It was slightly bigger,

but in a similar condition

and my Daisy made about £200, £250.

So, you know, the proviso is,

she could do really, really well for you.

Luckily, the cow enthusiasts were there on auction day.

100. 110.

120.

130. 140.

Oh, my word!

160, above. At 160 now. Where's 70?

At 160 in the gallery.

At £160.

I love it, I love it! It's like a game of ping-pong!

The final result was not hugely a surprise to everybody.

The estimate was fair, given the condition it was in.

But Philip, bless him, did acknowledge on the day,

quite correctly, that the rarity of it as an object generally

would have likely tempted people to pay more, and he was right.

-Helen - £160!

-Yes!

The fact that the cow came with her own ready-made passport

and the fact that our little cow had been across the water to America

and had come back again

and we were able to pass all that on

to the purchaser...

It doesn't necessarily make it that much more valuable,

But it makes it such a sweeter story, doesn't it?

Considering it was made of papier-mache,

Helen's toy cow has done incredibly well

to survive as long as it had.

And this was certainly reflected

in the sale price.

Another thing which can attract animal collectors

is big makers' names.

I like Beswick.

And I think that the animals they produce

are quite wonderful.

-Min...

-Mm-hm?

I still get a wee buzz when I see one of these Beswick animals.

Tell me, where did you get it?

Well, I got it in a small village in Wigtownshire,

where the bulls are from, that area.

And it's Auchenlarie.

-Auchenlarie?

-Auchenlarie.

My mother bought it for me as a holiday gift.

Well, Beswick are wonderful.

In the 1940s,

they started making figures,

animals, and that type of wares.

And they became very, very popular.

And the reason that they became popular

is because their modelling

was detailed,

it was very, very precise.

The factory sent their modellers to look at the best of the stock,

so they had a great eye for detail.

When buying Beswick,

buyers should be looking at condition first of all.

That's extremely important.

The second thing is, look for the rare examples.

This particular one,

the Galloway Belted bull,

was designed in 1960.

This is one of the more collectable ones.

Now, going in to auction,

I would estimate it in the region of

£600 to £800.

I saw a book price which was a lot, lot higher than that.

A book...

Min mentioned book price.

Now, this can be fairly unreliable.

A book price may be the price, the retail price,

at the end of the road.

It also might be a book that is well out of date.

And prices change from time to time.

So you've got to be very careful when you talk about book price.

Do you feel comfortable to send it to auction

with that estimate on it

and a reserve price to protect it of £600?

Yes, I think that'll be fine.

-Shall we go for it?

-Yes, I think so.

And it's a farming community down there,

so you'll have a lot of collectors as well.

And he'll go to a good home.

He'll go to a good home!

The local buyers were certainly fighting it out

to bring him home.

800.

820. 850.

880. 900.

This is good.

980. 1,000.

1,350 on the telephone. At 1,350.

-Sold! The hammer, Min, has gone down!

-That was lovely.

The bull sold so well

because the Belted Galloway

is a breed which exists in that part of the country.

We were selling it in that country,

so the people who were interested in that particular breed

would be there on the spot

and possibly in the saleroom.

There's no doubt about it -

when it comes to animal collectables,

Beswick is one of the biggest names around.

And over the years, hundreds of animals from the factory

have trotted across our tables.

Beswick usually commands high prices

and as the Galloway Belted bull proved,

the rarer the breed, the higher the price.

In 2003, the rarest of all Beswick wares,

the Spirit of Whitfield,

sold at auction in London

for £9,500.

If you're in the market for a bit of Beswick,

always check to see if the piece is the genuine article

by looking for a Beswick mark.

Some pieces also have a model number,

which you can look up in a reference book.

This will tell you more about the figure -

the year it was made, for example -

and who the designer was.

For collectors, the designer's name can make all the difference,

as Mark explains.

Look out for rare designers.

A tip from me - Colin Melbourne.

But not all the animal collectables we see on the show

were made to be admired and put on display.

Some were manufactured with a functional purpose

and one such item crossed Michael Baggott's path.

Nick, you've brought me a little bit of Somerset's wildlife today!

-Exactly!

-And it's a little pin cushion,

which is why we've got all these little perforations here.

You can imagine this little fellow -

it's either a porcupine or a hedgehog.

I haven't made up my mind.

But we'll call him a hedgehog!

The hedgehog is, from a design point of view,

the most aesthetically pleasing way

to make a pin cushion.

Because once you put all the pins in,

it looks completely like a hedgehog.

And these little novelties were very popular

from the late Victorian period,

all the way through after the First World War into the '20s.

We've got a full set of hallmarks.

And the maker is L&S, which is a good company -

Levi & Salaman.

Makers normally make a difference to value.

When it comes to novelty pin cushions,

you do have makers - you have Levi & Salaman, Crisford & Norris,

Boots Pure Drug Company. You have lots of manufacturers.

But no-one is prized more than the other.

It's purely about the animal and the condition that it's in.

It is Birmingham, and it's 1904.

So it's a little Edwardian hedgehog.

Which is quite nice.

These little pin cushions were made in forms of frogs,

kangaroos, lions, camels...

I mean, every animal you can think of, I've seen as a pin cushion.

But the little hedgehog

is probably one of the more common ones that you see.

The most expensive one I've seen

is a monkey.

And the little monkey's sitting up

and all his arms and legs and tail are separate pieces.

And that was about £3,500, £4,000.

Were they mass-produced?

Good question. They are actually mass-produced.

If you see around its nether regions and up over its top,

you've got a little seam.

So both parts of that would be pressed in a machine,

one after the other after the other.

And you basically have two that you'd solder together

and then you'd solder on the little feet separately.

And that was the job done,

so very easy to manufacture.

Even with a little dent to the side, which is easy to take out,

£100 to £150.

-Phew!

-Fixed reserve of £100.

It sounds big money. I have seen them,

not of this form but other forms, make £2,000 or £3,000.

-So it gives you an idea.

-Yes.

So I think we're safe at that.

If you're happy to pop it in at the auction...

I'm happy with that, yes.

Commission bid of £170.

180. 190.

200. And 10.

You can't stop pin cushion collectors, you know!

280, sir?

290.

Gentleman's bid, on the back wall, and selling

at £280.

-Yes! £280. It's the hedgehog they fell in love with.

-It was.

What are you going to do with that?

Believe it or not, a fox ate our chicken the other night,

so I'm going to replace them.

He was buying a small model of an animal to buy some live chickens.

I thought that was lovely.

After from the fact that the fox had killed the chickens the night before. That was very sad.

But it had a happy ending because of a hedgehog.

A great price for a tiny hedgehog.

Pin cushions are popular with collectors,

because they take up minimum room

and the less rare examples are often easier on the pocket

than some other animal collectables...

like a well-moulded bronze.

Is this something you've had in the family a long time?

Yes, it's been around for a long time.

Can't remember when I first saw him, to be honest.

-Known him ever since a child?

-Yes.

I remember picking up that greyhound

and I started to shake.

And it wasn't out of excitement

of seeing a nice Pierre Jules Mene bronze.

It was purely because

I was SO terrified.

It was my first on-screen appearance ever on telly.

-Do you know anything about the history of the dog?

-No.

-I've heard that name once or twice.

-OK.

-That's as much as I know.

-OK.

I just thought, "Concentrate, and pretend they're naked",

and that's what I did.

And that's why I'm doing this when you look at the footage.

I'm turning it in such an awkward way!

So amateurish. And I'm thinking...

And then I saw my face!

I remember the terror.

So that is why it's so memorable for me.

Well, he's cast in bronze.

And he's by one of the French 19th-century animalier bronzers,

called Pierre Jules Mene.

And he was one of the leading and most prolific

of the animalier sculptors of the 19th century.

The group of animaliers

were basically the group of French sculptors in bronze

who specialised in animals.

Dogs, horses - working-type sculptures,

sporting sculptures - are always very sought-after.

And this is obviously a working dog, he's a fit dog.

He looks the part.

He could be a champion greyhound or something like that.

Patination is so important.

The colour, the overall colour of the bronze.

Make sure it hasn't been polished.

The back of that greyhound, that had been polished quite heavily.

This bronze is in particularly good condition.

However, it does appear

that somebody's been giving him a bit of a rub on his back.

-Have you tried to polish him at any stage?

-No, I haven't.

-I clean him with a paintbrush.

-That's the right thing to do.

Any ideas of the value?

-Not a clue.

-If I said it would make

more than £20, would you be surprised?

-I would expect him to be worth more than that.

-Good.

Well, he will. He'll do jolly well.

I think he'll probably make

somewhere between £300 and £500 at auction.

Oh, my goodness, I didn't think it'd be that much!

He's lovely. He's a really super, super thing.

Was James proved right at his first ever Flog It! auction?

800.

850.

900.

950.

1,000.

£1,050.

I didn't expect that!

1,050.

That greyhound - £1,000.

Phew! Great result.

How about that?

The table's holding me up!

The quality and the crispness of that bronze,

coupled with the great sculptor's name,

definitely helped the greyhound race away at auction.

So what other things have we learned

about buying and collecting animal-themed items?

Look out for rarer Beswick models.

If the manufacturing run was short,

the species will be in danger of extinction.

Rarer animals are worth significantly more.

Check your pottery animals for chips and cracks.

Condition is key

when it comes to buying and selling Beswick.

With older and more fragile items,

like the papier-mache toy cow,

buyers will be more forgiving of condition.

But the age-old rule applies -

the more intact the piece, the higher the price.

And don't forget, if you know the provenance of your collectable,

make sure the auction house includes it in their catalogue

when you come to sell it.

It may just increase the allure for the bidders.

And remember also, keep an eye open for unusual animals -

monkeys, lions and camels always fetch high prices.

Now, there's one furry friend we haven't yet mentioned,

but one who tugs on everyone's heartstring.

# If you go down in the woods today

# You're sure of a big surprise... #

Everyone loves a teddy.

I love these little chaps.

And when it comes to bear manufacturers,

there's one name that stands head and shoulders above the rest,

and that's the German company, Steiff.

Their teddies are so highly sought-after

that even the most battered bear can command huge prices

if its credentials are right,

as Catherine Southon discovered.

Because of these lovely black boot eyes,

which are just so adorable,

-it's pre First World War.

-Right.

Later on, you tend to get the glass eyes.

Now, in perfect condition,

we'd really be looking at about four figures.

In perfect condition.

-But...and it's a big but...

-Yes.

..we can see here all the...all his sort of insides coming out.

There's holes, there's moth holes.

-Value-wise, it's going to drop right down, I'm afraid.

-Yes.

-And it is going to be between £100 and £200.

-Right.

But when it came to the auction, we were sure of a big surprise.

At £2,000.

2,100.

I don't believe it!

2,200. At £2,200.

The other phone's out. At 2,200 now.

3, may I say?

Here we go.

At £2,200, he's a fine bear.

At 2,200.

Hammer's gone down! Yes!

Well done! £2,200.

Thank you!

I think the reason that the bear

sold for so much money

was that he just had an amazing character.

He just had such a lovely face.

And that's why people are really drawn towards Steiff bears.

Sylvia really had the stuffing knocked out of her

with that result. What a surprise!

You see, we all love teddy bears.

And Steiff is definitely the maker to look out for.

Today the teddy bear is undoubtedly Steiff's most iconic product,

though the company also produces other types of stuffed toys.

But where did it all begin?

The company was founded by Margarete Steiff,

who was born in 1847.

A bout of childhood polio left Margarete needing a wheelchair

and something to keep her busy.

So she trained as a seamstress

and went into business producing ready-to-wear clothing.

In 1879, Margarete made her first stuffed toy -

a felt elephant.

The Steiff company went from strength to strength,

adding a whole range of other stuffed animals to their repertoire.

Steiff stuffed toys were of exceptional quality.

Indeed, the company's motto was

"Only the best is good enough for our children".

Margarete's nephew Richard

designed the world's first toy bear, with jointed arms and legs.

The bear took the world by storm

and sold in record numbers,

especially in America.

In 1906, the bear became known as the teddy bear,

after the US President Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt.

And the teddy has been a firm favourite ever since.

What should you look out for

if you're in the market to give a Steiff teddy a good home?

Catherine Southon has some words of advice.

It is important to consider condition

when you're looking at teddy bears.

However, there are certain things that can be restored.

For example, a bear can be restuffed,

and you can restitch its paws.

And things to look out for are, check that the eyes are still there

and also, of course, that the limbs aren't missing.

It's also worth looking out for unusually large bears,

which tend to sell for a premium.

And rare colours, like blue or orange,

are chased hard by collectors.

Steiff toys are known for the legendary metal buttons

in their left ear.

And beware of fakes -

imitation buttons are sometimes added to imply Steiff.

So always check the provenance of the bear

with your auction house or dealer.

My top tip is to make sure you pick a bear

that you know you will love forever.

Apart from bears, one area of collectables close to our hearts

here on Flog It! is all things equestrian.

The horse features time and time again on our tables

on items from children's toys to works of art.

For me, though, the true majesty of the horse

can only really be depicted when it's life-sized.

In 2011, I visited Heather Jansch,

who captures the grace and the energy of the equine

in life-sized driftwood sculptures.

-Hi, hello.

-Hello, Paul.

-Pleased to meet you. What a fabulous place you've got.

-Thank you.

How did the idea for driftwood sculptures come about?

-Entirely accident.

-Was it?

Absolutely, yes. My son was then about ten years old

and I'd gone out...

without lighting the wood-burner.

When I came back, he'd actually lit the wood-burner

by chopping up a piece of ivy that had been lying around in my workshop.

It was one of those pieces that had grown around a pole,

so it was all twisted.

The section that was left behind was about that long.

The perfect size to fit into a copper wire sculpture I was working on.

And that was a eureka moment, absolutely. I went cold

and thought, "Where can I get more?"

And I just knew that it was driftwood. So I was in the car,

-burning rubber the next day!

-Beachcombing!

-Yes.

It's like a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle.

And you never quite know what you're going to end up with.

I just take a decision about what sort of size it's going to be

and what sort of thing it's going to be doing.

And then, really, I draw with steel.

-So I work with my assistant, who does the welding.

-Right.

With fairly thin pieces of wire. I say, "Let's have a bit here, a bit there",

so it grows quite quickly.

-Do you want an apprentice?

-Yes!

I'd love to come down here for a week and work on one of these.

You can have a go in the workshop if you want.

-There's a big horse we're halfway through doing.

-Gosh! Can I?!

Yes. We can go and play together in the workshop.

Lovely studio.

Well, I don't know about lovely.

Oh, no, it is - and what light as well.

I guess the mirror comes in handy so you can see sculpture all around.

-It's essential.

-It's essential, isn't it?

-Because we can't always get

far enough away to look at it if the weather's inclement.

When it's like this,

I can just walk out of the door and get a long view on it.

How can I help? What can I do?

Section here's missing.

Yes, I'm just about to try and find a way into the neck

and through into the head.

-About this long, that's got a bit of a twist in it.

-That one's quite nice.

-Is that any good?

-It is quite interesting.

Not really, I don't know.

Not quite.

-No, that's no good.

-So, similar.

-OK.

-What about that - have you tried that one?

-No. Let's have a look.

-It all looks the same, doesn't it? I bet you pick the same thing up about ten times!

-Actually, I don't.

I've got quite a good memory like that.

Let's have a look.

-Oh, is that the ear?

-Look at that.

Hey, look at that!

That is fabulous, isn't it?

It will need a bit of shaping.

If you could pass me up a piece of wire...

-And can you tie it round here?

-Yeah.

-Tie it quite tight. Twist it round.

-Yeah.

Quite therapeutic, isn't it?

It can be really therapeutic, or it can drive you mad.

Yeah.

And I guess, once the final sections are in place,

and all the screws are in place, you take the wire that's visible off?

Yes, all of the wire comes off.

We do what we call tacking,

so once I'm fairly sure that a piece is in the right position,

I get my assistant

to drill a hole and put a screw in.

When I'm certain of it,

the screw comes out and it's recessed,

-and then the final thing is to fill it with wood.

-Plugs?

No, just wood filler,

but mixed with a stain, so it's the right colour.

-There's a lot of process that goes on, isn't there?

-Loads.

It's not like, let's just put it together with a bit of driftwood, is it?

Do you stand back and go... after, say, three hours' work,

"No, it's not right. I'm going to take it off again"?

-Oh, yes. I've been known to completely deconstruct one before now.

-Really?

Heather's sculptures are absolutely incredible.

She's a genius. Her work encompasses artistic creativity

with technical prowess, passion,

patience and love of horses.

Look at what she's created.

And when you see them outside, they belong outdoors in the landscape.

They don't look out of place.

You can view them through all the seasons

and they'll look wonderful.

And if you turn your back on them for too long,

they might just gallop away.

Objects inspired by the animal kingdom

offer us so much that's really different, fun or just

beautifully designed. So if you're thinking of buying or selling

take a leaf from our experts books

and look to the natural world for your inspiration.

You really can't go wrong.

Join me again soon for more trade secrets.