In Living Memory Flog It: Trade Secrets

Welcome to the show that aims to help you get in the know

when it comes to buying and selling antiques and collectables.

Your daughter is sitting there just off-camera, listening in. She can hear everything we are saying.

-What are you going to do with the money?

-I might spend it all on myself.

We've got well over ten years of Flog It! behind us.

That's literally hundreds of shows

and thousands of your items sold in auction.

So if there's something you need to know, you're more than likely

to find it right here on Trade Secrets.

It's fair to assume that the most valuable collectables are old.

But it's a theory that doesn't always hold water.

The decades since World War II have seen enormous changes

in the UK and beyond.

And we've seen many objects that turn up at our valuation days

that reflect those changing times.

And the best ones of all are the ones that come with the fascinating stories.

Your stories.

So in today's show, we're taking a close look at objects that

were made within living memory.

Coming up, we uncover the secrets of making riches

from 20th-century buys.

We've got a northern artist, in a northern saleroom,

with northern collectors. You can't fail, really.

What a great investment.

James discovers a thriller of a tale about the King Of Pop.

-It was him!

-It was Michael Jackson.

And this was a photograph I got from Michael as well.

And Philip and Charlie realise a boyhood dream.

Arriving at the Aston Martin works...

in an Aston Martin, being driven by a James Bond lookalike.

-Oddjob!

-HE LAUGHS

As well as having wonderful stories,

antiques bought within living memory may often come with solid provenance.

And this can make all the difference to their desirability.

All provenance is... It's something's passport.

It tells you where it's been all its life.

Collectors, you know, want to make sure,

if they are paying a lot of money for something, that there

is proof there. Whether it is photographic or written evidence.

But you can't go from word of mouth, somebody saying,

"OHh I bought it from suchand-such a gallery."

You need a little bit more tangible evidence than that.

Because provenance can make such a potential difference to the value

of an item, it's always a good idea to keep a record of where

family possessions came from, assuming you know.

Talk to relatives, rummage around in boxes of old paperwork,

looking for invoices, bills of sale and receipts, and also photographs.

And if you find anything, keep it in a safe place.

In 2011, Will discovered just what a difference having this

kind of provenance can make.

Simon, you've brought in this really striking studio pottery bowl

for us to look at today, and I see also a letter.

Tell me, how does that pertain to the bowl?

Well, the letter is from the artist, who is Lucy Rie,

who wrote it to my late aunt

following a visit that my aunt had made to the V&A.

-And she had seen a bowl that was very similar to this...

-Yes.

..written to Lucy and asked her if it was for sale.

The letter says, "The bowl is not for sale,

-"but I can make you another one."

-Amazing.

And this is her reply, and that's the bowl that she made.

Here on the base, we can see a nice studio pottery mark for Lucy Rie.

Lucy Rie is really one of the main names in studio pottery.

And what is most noticeable about Lucy's pieces is this very

sort of flared rim, standing on this almost tiny little foot.

Bowls of hers can get up to this sort of size.

If you are talking a bowl that sort of size,

you're talking many thousands of pounds.

-I'm growing to like it more and more.

-Are you?

Well, it is quite an important piece,

actually, in the sort of whole history of British studio pottery.

I mean, she is one of the Premier League names.

And this letter here...

I mean, if I look at it, it is handwritten by Lucy Rie.

"The exhibition is not for sale.

"I could make you a similar one for you. It will never be the same.

"Should you consider it, do ring me and come and see me."

Well, that's typical of Lucy Rie.

She was well known for taking guests into her studio.

It is also dated 1982, I see.

It really just almost topped it off beautifully, really.

It shows Lucy Rie's involvement in the piece, and it is lovely,

it just gives a real insight into the person behind the object, which,

again, collectors like to get under the skin of designers and makers.

Unfortunately, what they are not looking for is damage.

And there is a rather nasty hairline crack.

The mantra is with porcelain, ceramics,

"Condition, condition, condition."

The estimate I said... 100, 150,

and I was probably being a bit mean, with hindsight.

But auctioneer Claire Rawle knew because of the letter, the pot was

destined to create fireworks in the saleroom.

She has an appeal worldwide and she is now very expensive

and very collected.

Well, let's find out what the bidders think, because this is a name to go for.

And it is going under the hammer right now.

And I have to start straight in at £200.

At 200, do I see 220 anywhere?

-At £200. 220. 250 with me.

-Got a telephone bidder.

280 on the telephone. At 280.

Do I see 300?

-At 280. 300.

-WILL:

-Excellent.

-320.

-There's two telephone bidders.

-That's what we wanted.

-350.

-Fighting this out.

-380.

-The purist knows...

-400.

Imagine what... It would be perfect.

No. 420 on the first telephone here.

At £420. At 420, you all sure?

At 420.

Yes, £420. Simon, top, top money. Put it there.

That's brilliant. The letter. The letter did it.

You know, a good price, really. Certainly bearing in mind it wasn't a massive piece,

and it was damaged. But I think whoever bought it would have been chuffed,

because it's not often you get a chance to buy a piece like that,

with that letter of provenance.

The bowl, had it been on its own without the letter,

would have sold perhaps for about 100. Because people expect...

She was quite prolific, and they expect to find items in perfect order.

So having that letter with it, I think, for a collector,

that really boosted the interest and the price.

We prefer it on "Flog It!" when art is marked or signed.

And the signature of a good artist can be valuable in its own right.

Particularly if the person in question is a household name.

LS Lowry, June 22, 1950.

How did you come by this?

We found this in a box of books about the Manchester Ship Canal.

-We found it inside one of the books.

-Where? In an auction room?

-In a junk shop?

-It was in a car-boot sale.

-How long ago?

-About three years ago.

-And how much did you pay for it?

We only paid...

It was certainly less than £5 for the whole box of books.

-This was just something inside.

-'His signature isn't that rare.'

Later in life, when he was producing limited edition prints,

he was signing things all day long, and I think he even got to

a stage where he charged you a few quid just for a signature.

So the signature isn't rare.

On the side of a limited edition print,

his signature would make it worth between £500 and £1,500.

I think you could put this into auction with a value of £80-£120.

-Oh, wow.

-That would be superb.

-That's very good.

HE LAUGHS

'Signature, it's 50. Yes, we're off.

'60, 70. Are you 80? 90.'

Perhaps even 100. Yes, 100 I'm bid there.

And 10. And 20 now. At 30.

140. 150. 160.

170. 180. Are you 90?

190, then I'm selling. For £190.

-Thank you.

-No way!

-£190.

HE LAUGHS

Not bad for a £5 purchase.

But signatures can be easily faked,

so provenance in this field will always stand you in good stead.

This is a real thriller. Sorry to start on that, I couldn't resist it.

-I was going to say, "Is it bad?" I don't know.

-It's dangerous.

HE LAUGHS

It is a great thing to have on "Flog It!"

It's a powerful image.

It's great to see it signed.

The thing that was so good about that was it was huge.

It was... You could not miss who that autograph was from.

You look at that and it's got a Michael Jackson image

on a Michael Jackson poster

with a great, big, wonderful Michael Jackson signature.

What's the story?

Well, my wife and I moved down...

After 30 years in the Army, we moved down south, to Hampshire.

We befriended a Portuguese couple who lived across the road.

They approached me one day and said,

"David, I won't see you for two weeks

"because we have some VIPs coming here

"and I've signed this secrecy document not to say who it is."

-It was him!

-It was Michael Jackson.

-No...

I didn't know at the time, but Tony had a word with him and said,

"David and Jenny, they love your music

"and they've been unable to see you."

He said, "Tony, I'm going to sign this for David and Jenny,"

and this was a photograph I got from Michael, as well.

It was taken with Tony's family.

Provenance is so important with autographs.

It's very, very easy to get conned on autographs.

So any time you've got somebody who can say,

well, this is who he was with, this is why he was there,

this is the photograph of him being there

and this is the provenance of where it came from - brilliant.

Can't get any better than that.

Now, a Michael Jackson signed poster, it's got a great image.

It's a fantastic size.

In a way, one of the things that makes it genuine is the fact

-that it's been signed and personalised to you.

-Yes.

-But that is against it in terms of value.

-Of course it is, yeah.

Because not everybody wants a Michael Jackson signature

-with "David" written on the front of it.

-Yeah.

It's something that I think is worth £300 to £500.

Fantastic, absolutely.

Let's give it a chance. I'm sure it will do well.

# I'm bad

# I'm bad

# Jump on... #

Michael Jackson was an important figure,

so his autograph is really quite important

and probably a good one to get

if you're an autograph collector

of the entertainment industry.

What can we say for it?

Michael Jackson, an iconic figure of the 20th century.

Will you start me at £200?

260, 280.

I'll take 10, 290,

300.

£300. With you, sir.

At £300.

-She's sold it.

-Good.

That's a very good price.

All done at 300. 300.

-Anita's done well.

-Yes, she has.

It's most valuable when he's most well-known,

when he's most in the media and, of course,

when he passed away, that's when he was most in the media.

I reckon that was probably worth more then than it is now.

# Just to tell you once again

# Who's bad? #

So what are the dos and don'ts of collecting autographs?

Do find an area that fascinates you

and do buy the very best that you can.

Do try to find out the provenance of the autograph,

because this is the thing which will authenticate it.

Do be aware of fakes and facsimiles.

Another 20th-century collectable worth looking out for is technology.

In our lifetimes, we've seen huge advances in this field.

And with such a glut of gadgets on the market,

collectors are always looking out for that little added extra.

Does this set-up belong to you?

No, it doesn't. It belonged to my late brother.

He was a very keen photographer.

Do you know what date he bought it?

Yes, he bought it in 1951.

OK, and do you know how much he paid for it?

He paid £125 for it.

-How do you know that?

-Unfortunately, I haven't got the receipt with me

this morning, but that's how I was aware how much it cost,

how much he paid for it and when he bought it.

He's obviously decided to pay that little bit extra for a good name,

because the Leica name is one that is well collected.

Leica are particularly collected

because they were pioneers in camera design.

It was 1913 that the first prototype came out

and the idea was to quite simply make a small, lightweight,

compact camera for taking landscape photographs.

What it was reacting against were the big Victorian plate cameras,

where you had to lug 100 things with you.

You had to put a towel over your head.

You've got this phosphorus flash.

What they wanted - small, compact, portable and good quality.

That's why they're important in the history of cameras.

-Date-wise, you say he bought it in 1951.

-Yes.

So he would have probably bought it new, I suspect?

I would think so, yes.

Because I've had a look at the serial number, which is

how you date the cameras, the Leicas, and it's dating it 1950.

-Oh, so it was new.

-It ties in nicely, doesn't it?

-Yes.

So the fact that one owner, fresh to market, you know,

that's two boxes ticked where a collector is concerned.

The more important bits here are going to be the camera itself,

the lens that's already with it, and then you've got the spare lens

and the original box, which is a nice touch. That does add value.

If I said to you, can we put it in the sale at £200 to £300,

-would you be happy with that?

-Yes, I would. That would be very nice.

Fortunately, Dorothy found the receipt and added it to the lot.

-You've got the original receipt now?

-I have.

You've brought that in today and that's always a nice touch

when you're selling things. It adds a bit of provenance to something.

-People like that.

-Yes.

I'd like to start the bidding here at 120 on the book with a bid.

At 120, is it 130?

130, 140, 150, 160,

170, 180, 190.

It's creeping up there.

200, 210. 200 on my left.

At 200, I'm going to sell it at £200.

Is there any further advance?

All done.

I'm very happy.

-Thank you very much. I'm very happy, thank you.

-Oh, good.

When it comes to cameras, like I said,

Leica really is the top name.

I mean, you're talking Premier League there

and the collectors will pay a lot of money for the right camera.

When I say right camera, I'm talking pre-war for a start,

before mass production,

say prototypes or short production runs of a certain model.

I think the Leica, is it Lexus?

A very small number made.

At auction, you're talking £500,000.

I mean, that is big money for a camera.

If you want to invest in something produced during your lifetime,

very modern items can be surprisingly valuable.

And, as Philip discovered at a valuation day in Stockport,

the right place, time and subject matter can create magic

in the saleroom.

-Tell me, what do you know about these, then?

-Um...

What's the artist's name?

-Well, it's Trevor Grimshaw.

-Trevor Grimshaw.

He was a local artist, he came from this area.

How local?

He lived in Hyde, which is probably about eight miles from here.

Until I went to that valuation day, I've got to hold my hand up.

Grimshaw was not a man that I'd heard of.

Philip phoned me from the valuation day

and he said I've got two drawings here

by a fellow called Trevor Grimshaw. Tell me all about him.

Well, Trevor Grimshaw is one of the leading artists

of the northern area.

I suppose he was a Stockport-based artist, born in 1947.

He was an extremely talented draughtsman, very accurate,

fine pencil drawings.

He was very fond of the industrial landscape,

as all the northern school were, inspired by Lowry etc,

but these ones were the best I've ever seen.

Did you buy them in a gallery?

No, we went to his house and we bought them at his house.

I have a bit of a connection with Trevor

because I had some insurance business with his families.

So you were an insurance agent to Mr Grimshaw.

What period in time was this?

Dating from the late 1970s

up to 2000and-something.

We decided one Christmas we'd buy each other something a bit different,

so we thought let's get each other a picture.

The thing that I liked about the two was that you had the one with

the train and the other one with the sort of landscape

and I think, in a way, for me, it was a little bit out of period

because the train looked very much like it was Art Deco

and nothing this chap painted in the 1980s/1990s.

I mean, these are trying to be '30s? '20s or '30s?

They are depicting northern scenes,

how they were with the chimneys

and the smoke, you know, and the canals.

Natasha, what did you pay for this one?

This one was 150

and this one was 100.

I would put an estimate on this one of

£800 to £1,200.

This one I think's a little bit less

and we could perhaps put £600 to £900 on it.

I wouldn't be surprised, you know, if these went and made

£2,000, £2,500.

Northern artists are massively, massively sought-after.

And you are going to just the right place to sell these.

You've got a northern artist in a northern saleroom,

with northern collectors.

You know, if you tick those three boxes, you can't fail, really.

Adam was also pretty confident these were going to fly.

I've sold loads of Grimshaws but those, I think,

are probably the best I've seen and the biggest I've seen.

-I'm really excited about them.

-How are we on the value?

Just right, really. Just where you want them,

enough to promote them, to entice people to bid on them.

I've got a chance kind of thing at 800, I've got a chance.

Everybody's queueing up to bid £800.

No-one's going to get them anywhere near.

They're going to be four figures each, without a doubt.

950, yeah, I'll take £1,000 in the room.

At 950, take 1,050.

1,150. 1,250.

1,300 in the room now.

1,300. I'll take 50.

1,350. 1,400. 1,450.

1,500...

2,400. 2,500.

2,600. 2,700.

2,800. 2,900.

It's a pity you didn't buy a few more.

£3,800 for the first one.

Is there 3,900?

£3,800.

Are you all done on the first one now?

£3,800.

Whoo!

Thank you very much.

£3,800. Let's see what the second one does.

What a great investment.

OK, onto 609.

It's the next Trevor Grimshaw.

Industrial landscape with canal.

You've got 600. I've got 800 to start. Take 20.

820. 840. 860.

880. 900, and 20.

940. 960. 980.

1,000. 1,050. 1,150.

1,200. 1,250 in the room.

1,300. 1,350. 1,400. 1,450.

1,500. 1,550. 1,600.

1,650...

-2,100...

-Pleased?

2,300. 2,400...

2,500. 2,600...

2,700. 2,800...

Try not to be disappointed.

That's not a bad guess, is it?

2,800. We're back on, 2,800.

It's not over. 2,900.

3,000...

At £2,900...

Are you done?

Thank you very much.

-I never expected it.

-No.

£6,700.

That's what we call a great "Flog It!" surprise.

-We paid 250.

-Is that what you paid?

-Yes.

For the two, yes.

I was surprised that they made quite that much.

I did think they might make a couple of thousand each,

based on similar ones that we've had,

but there's lots of buyers for these

and they're all private collectors and they're a passionate bunch,

and they all want to own the best possible works.

People like to be reminded of home, you know.

If you come from the north, and you buy northern art,

you might not necessarily live there

but it's an area of collectability

that just reminds you of where you come from.

He seems to get missed quite a lot by people.

We quite often see people come in having bought his at charity shops

and car-boot sales. He's one of the major ones that, I suppose,

if you're out there bargain-hunting, you might just have a chance.

Look for very fine quality draughtsmanship and for trains

and for gloominess and for northern industrial,

and his signature is often quite hard to make out. Have a punt.

There's an area that you might make a few pounds.

So here are a few things to remember

if you're interested in collectables made in living memory.

Provenance is key.

It can make the difference between pounds and pence if you're selling.

If you're into gadgets, look for those manufactured before

mass production made them commonplace.

And even if you've never heard of them,

an artist whose work perfectly captures a time and a place

could prove a fantastic investment.

We see many toy cars

and much motoring memorabilia at our valuation days.

HORN WHIRS

But love it or hate it, what is it that makes these things

so collectable and, potentially, so valuable?

"Flog It!" regulars Charlie Ross and Philip Serrell

are lovers of antiques and collectables,

but they also have another shared passion - classic cars.

I'm not talking about the toy variety.

MUSIC: Goldfinger by Shirley Bassey

So they went to Aston Martin to explore our love affair with

the British legend that every big boy dreams of being part of.

ENGINE REVS

Charlie, here we are.

Fantastic. Gosh.

Arriving at the Aston Martin works in an Aston Martin,

-being driven by a James Bond lookalike.

-Oddjob!

I am so looking forward...

What got you into Astons, Charlie?

I'll tell you what, when I left school, my first day of work,

my boss said I've got to go to Newport Pagnell

and pick up something. "Come with me." I went downstairs.

What car did he have? An Aston Martin DB4.

Heaven, heaven, heaven.

We picked up his other car,

so I had to drive the DB4 back home!

For me, it all started in 1960-something,

-we went to see Goldfinger and I just fell in love...

-Honor Blackman.

I fell in love with her, as well, but that's another story, Charlie.

Who have we got to see?

-Kingsley.

-Kingsley's the man.

# Goldfinger...

# He's the man

# The man with the... #

-Kingsley.

-Good morning.

-Charlie Ross.

-Good to meet you.

-Philip, how are you?

-Very well, thank you.

Clearly, there's no new Astons here, these are all...

In this particular area, everything here is what we class as heritage.

-This is a second-hand department, is it?

-No, no, no!

Some of these are better than new!

This is where non-current cars are serviced, repaired, rebuilt,

whatever. Whatever's needed.

Kingsley, can you tell us about the history of Aston Martin?

The company was originally formed as Bamford and Martin

back on the 13 January 1913.

But, of course, the big significant point for Aston Martin really was

when David Brown bought the company in 1948.

If you look at a '60s Aston, it's got DB, which is David Brown

-and that's... He's left us with that legacy, hasn't he?

-Absolutely.

That's carried on through the company, all the way through the years.

For me, Astons have always been an iconic shape,

with one exception.

In the '70s, they became, for a short while, very angular,

-didn't they?

-Oh, yes, the Lagonda.

-You've got one...

It looks like it should have been out of Thunderbirds or something.

I think you have to go back to understand why we did that.

This is when Concorde went into service

and you think about how Concorde looked.

The company really needed to make a new, bold statement,

it needed to go out to the world.

So in 1976 at the Earls Court Motor Show,

the car was shown for the first time.

Over 600 of these have been built since then.

I suppose I became aware of Astons, in a way, with James Bond

so that's where the living memory thing is.

-Bond and Aston sit side-by-side, don't they?

-They do.

And always will do. Silver Birch with black trim, absolutely.

No, it's very much a sign of a DB5, that is.

-Now, Charlie, if one of these came into "Flog It!"...

-Yes.

What would you tell them it was worth?

-You sell these, don't you?

-I do sell these

and I've sold one or two, and we got

1 million for a DB5

in Pebble Beach California,

£600,000-£700,000.

-That's right.

-You know, unbelievable, the way they've gone up

in the last few years.

# Live and let die

# Live and let die... #

These characterful cars command astronomical prices,

but there is an area of collecting more accessible automobilia,

and even Aston Martin is in on the act.

The thing is, Charlie, if you can't afford the real thing,

-this is the area of collecting to get into.

-Yeah.

This tells me a lovely story, you know.

When I was a kid, in about 1960-something,

my dad bought me a Scalextric set and I loved it and I loved it

and I loved it, but I always wanted one of these.

About five years ago, I found one of these in a box.

It cost me 300 quid.

-£300?

-300 quid.

-It's extraordinary.

The thing is, a tip for everybody at home, if you can get one of these, get it in a box.

So what's your toy, Charlie?

Oh, my favourite...

Really?

How about that?

-Now look at that.

-That's got everything, hasn't it?

This has got the whole lot. It's got a wonderful ejector seat.

We've got machine guns at the front which come in and out like that.

We have got that wonderful, iconic device

that used to shoot outside and shred your tyres

when someone was trying to move alongside you.

We've got the gun shield in case anybody's shooting at you.

But the thing is, if you put that into auction,

-you'd estimate it between £50 and £150.

-Yes.

But if you've got a collection of these and this is the only one

-you haven't got, it's worth £1,000, isn't it?

-Absolutely.

There's so much stuff here.

There's car badges, there's a gold stick pin with a diamond in it.

-There's something for everybody's pocket.

-That's the key thing.

You don't have to have Aston Martin.

There's car badges of every car that's ever been made

and the less number that were made,

the rarer the lot and probably the more valuable.

-Absolutely, Charlie.

-Dig around in your boot fairs.

Look for these things.

# He loves gold! #

-The chrome's going a bit here.

-Yeah, I wonder if we could take that for restoration?

We're probably in the right place, actually.

-I would think we could take this back to Kingsley.

-Yeah, absolutely!

Collectables don't always have to be old to be valuable.

Our own fond memories can be the springboard to buying

and selling successes.

THEY LAUGH

That's it for today's show.

Go on, go out there, have some fun, buy some antiques and join us

again soon for more Trade Secrets.