Best of British Flog It: Trade Secrets

It's been well over a decade since we first opened our doors to

a Flog It! valuation day, and during that time,

we've travelled the length and the breadth of the British Isles,

valuing and selling your unwanted antiques and collectibles.

No scrapping over the antiques!

Look...at...that!

And we've all learned a great deal about the items that have

passed through our hands and now,

I want to share some of that information with you.

So stand by to hear our experts' trade secrets.

For a small country,

Britain has historically punched well above its weight

and for centuries, our history and culture has influenced nations

and people all across the globe.

So on today's show, we'll be giving you a tour

of some of our nation's finest antiques.

A slice of history makes a king's ransom.

Yes! £1,500!

I explore an important chapter in the story of the cuppa.

I've got to say, this is fabulous.

And our experts prove that British eccentricity is alive and kicking.

I think I better sell my house than sell that cupboard.

There's one that people who are not from the UK think they know about, and that is the British character.

Fair play, the stiff upper lip, a sense of irony

and of course, the love of queueing.

But what is the British character? And how is that encapsulated

in the antiques and collectibles that we Brits so love?

Well, here are our experts musing on which collectibles sum up our national character

and pull in a profit at auction.

The British love their gardening, don't they?

So anything to do with gardening, gardening antiques, benches,

planters, that sort of thing, they always sell well.

Flags, medals, commemorative.

Nostalgia.

We're good on nostalgia in this country.

We like things that remind us of where we come from

and our childhood.

And of course, anything to do with our royal family.

We've always been very inclusive, I like to think,

and very welcoming, and because of that,

I think we've got a richer society for it.

And a richer society, I think, produces richer results.

We Brits all love a good yarn

and in 2005 Charlie found an item with a fascinating story

about what was quite literally behind it.

I think of all the things I've done on Flog It! over the years,

this is my favourite.

It's got everything.

-Do you know who this is?

-No, I don't.

-Well, I didn't.

I hadn't got a clue who he was.

I thought the artist looked familiar, the style of it.

It's very well painted and it's got some really fascinating

writing on the back. What have you deemed from it?

I just got the names of the artist, who I thought it was,

which was George Morland.

George Morland.

Who was a famous alcoholic, but a very, very good painter.

I thought I could tell this was by Morland when I saw the picture.

I was rather praying it was by him.

But the great thing was, when you turned it over there was this

wonderful writing on the back which told you everything about it.

How often can you find that with a picture? It's very rare.

It starts here.

"This is the portrait of the late Mr Thomas Moore,

"who established the booking office and tavern about the year

"of 1760 called the Green Man and Still, Oxford Street, London."

-Isn't that fantastic?

-It is.

-And it goes on to say...

that George Morland stayed there,

and when it came for the time to leave, the landlord said,

"If you can't pay, paint a picture of me and the Mrs and we'll let you go."

Pub memorabilia is quite collectable nowadays,

but no way could this be called pub memorabilia.

This was, is, a work of art.

It's a painting by a great artist done through force of circumstances.

Now, this artist has made pictures, you know, 10,000, 20,000 -

a serious artist.

-But this is more of a sketch, really.

-Yes.

-It's got some damage.

-Yes.

But as much of the value is attributable to

the history of it as the painting itself.

We'll estimate it at 300 to 500, but it's the sort of thing,

given the history, that might be a bit of a flyer.

You never know.

Charlie loved it,

but would the painting's incredible back story really help it take off?

Watch this, here we go.

The attributed to George Morland study.

300 quid. 300 I'm bid. 300. 320.

350. 380. 400.

420. 450. 480. 500.

The painting got off to a flying start,

but no-one was quite prepared for what happened next.

950.

1,000 here.

1,050. At 1,050. 1,100.

-At 1,100.

-We're getting there, aren't we?

1,150 down here.

1,200. 1,300.

1,400.

1,500.

At £1,500. I sell here at £1,500...

Yes! 1,500.

-Wow!

-That's three times the top estimate.

-That's good.

They DID like it!

What an amazing painting!

It's fair to say that the British love of drink has rarely

produced such a tragic yet fascinating story.

There's no doubt that the information that came with

the picture helped hugely with the sale of it.

Now it's an emotive topic, but fox hunting has been

part of British life for centuries, and whatever you may think of it,

over the years it has generated its fair share of collectables.

You've brought along a real political hot potato today.

-That's right.

-Is that why you want to get rid of them?

No. That isn't the main reason, although I'm not keen on fox hunting.

Are these yours or did you inherit them?

I inherited them from my mum.

-And did your mum buy them new?

-Yeah. Yeah, she did.

-Was she a hunting fan?

-No, I think she was just a Beswick fan.

If Beswick produced one horse, they must have produced hundreds.

And the thing that makes one horse different from another,

is the different colourways.

So you can have a variation on a theme.

I'm sure they didn't do one, but if they did a pink horse,

I'm sure that'd be worth a fortune.

-I can immediately see a few problems.

-Yeah.

This little girl on a pony has clearly lost her head,

and it's been glued back on at some time.

And our foxy friend here has been too close to the hounds cos

he's lost his tail.

And that's been glued back on at one point in time.

-And also his leg as well.

-That's right.

So we've got bits of damage.

I think we can put an auction estimate on of £500-£800.

-Right, OK.

-And we'll reserve them at probably £400/£450.

-450 with some discretion on it.

-Right.

There are ardent Beswick collectors out there, and if they haven't got

something that they need to complete their collection and it comes

up at auction, they just stand there and they bid and they bid.

And then they bid again.

Isn't that great?

Move onto lot 398, is 11 Beswick hunting figures.

A lot of interest in this lot.

Bids allow us to start right away at £600.

That's good. We'll take that.

620. 640. 660.

680. 700. 750. 800.

800 there. 850. 900.

950. 975.

1,050.

1,100. 1,150.

1,200. 1,250.

1,300. 1,350.

1,400. 1,450.

At £1,400.

1,450 willing?

£1,400 - we're selling if you're all through...

-We'll take that - £1,400.

-Brilliant.

You've got to be so pleased with that.

Yeah, I am. That's brilliant.

That is the definition of a runaway success.

But would an auction room be swept away in the same way today?

In this business, any price that goes like that,

will sure as hell go like that.

What you want is a nice steady increase in prices.

You don't want things going like that.

The Beswick market, perhaps, when we filmed this piece,

it was through the roof.

I don't think that little hunting group would make as much

today as it did then.

Our valuation day at London Zoo in 2012,

saw all manner of interesting lots come trotting our way,

including a foxy piece of British silver for Will.

Tell me, do you know what it is?

When they used to go out hunting for foxes,

they used to stop and have their drinks.

Yeah, you're dead right. They call them stirrup cups.

People who hunted,

certainly those in the red blazers on the horses,

would often have accessories - flasks, sandwich boxes,

even their boots, everything would be made to a very high standard.

-Look at that - it's great, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-Nice piece of design.

So the two ears and the nose form a tripod base.

Cheers! And down it goes. Down the sherry and off they go.

I've had a look at it - while these were

made from sort of 1770 onwards, this is a more modern example.

This is from the 1970s.

200-300 is a spot-on estimate for this.

-What do you think, Chloe?

-Yeah.

-It's a lot of money, isn't it?

-Yeah.

The stirrup cup with the fox's head.

Looks like a commission bidder.

250. 260. 270.

280. 290.

300. 320. 340.

360.

-360 there.

-Show me the fox!

-360. Anybody else?

360...

I'm happy with that.

That's a very good result, isn't it?

So neither its hunting connections

nor its age held our little fox back.

It's an antique of the future.

It may have been made in the '70s, but the quality was still there.

In 2012, the unflappable Thomas stumbled across what many of us

would consider a national treasure.

Let's show the people...

This is a big flag, isn't it?

-It is.

-What's the story behind this?

Well, it belonged to my father.

When he died, we found it all in his belongings.

-And your father, was he in the Scouts? Was he in the military?

-No.

He helped in the fire brigade in the war, in the Second World War.

I think that this may have come from his granny that

-lived in the local village.

-People sometimes call it the Union Jack,

-but the right name is the Union Flag, isn't it?

-That's right, yes.

-And we are holding it the right way, aren't we?

-We are, yeah.

Because of the thick white band at the top, where you've got your toggle.

He's a little bit moth-eaten here,

but I think somebody can forgive that.

I think it's probably almost like a coronation flag,

for maybe a village, village church or even a scout group.

And, of course, we've recently seen a lot of these around the country.

The Union Flag has now become part of our psyche again.

I thoroughly believe with Cool Britannia, with the Olympics,

all the celebrations with the Golden and Diamond Jubilees,

that Britain has regained the flag.

So, why did you bring it along?

Well, it's been tucked in a box in that attic,

and I thought it wasn't very good being up there,

so I thought the world needs to see it, don't they?

Well, they do need to see it. Have you got any idea of value?

-No idea whatsoever.

-And do you mind about the value,

or do you just want it to go to a good home?

I'd like it to be displayed somehow - I don't know how,

rather than in the attic.

I think I'd put around £50-£80 on it.

Not a huge mount of money,

but I think we'd reserve it round about 30.

-How does that grab you?

-Can we not reserve it at 40?

Well, we can do it at 40.

Listen to you! £40, we'll do that at 40.

The only reason, I was just going on try

and give it the best chance possible.

But that's fine - we'll do it at £40.

-It's got a good chance cos it is quite a big flag.

-Yeah, it is.

And the colours are so strong.

So Thomas needed a room full of patriotic bidders,

or the flag would be left fluttering at half-mast.

There you are - the Union Jack.

Fine flag, that one.

150 or 60 or 70? I've got it - 80 I'm bid now.

90. Are you going to be the £100, sir?

£100 we're bid for it. Thank you very much.

That's good.

120.

Oh, my lord.

130 I'm bid now.

Madam, keep going? No?

OK then. I sell at £130.

£130 - sold.

-Good result.

-That's brilliant.

-Amazing.

Yes, we did put the great back in Britain!

What a triumph and an example of how collectors will snap up items

that are emblematic of Britain.

I was surprised - it raced away at £130.

And Isobel pushed me on reserve as well.

No, she didn't want 30, she wanted a £40 reserve - it didn't matter.

There's a fine tradition of cabinet making in this country,

so we're always pleased

when a piece of quality British furniture comes our way.

Ian and Joanna, I've got to tell you, I think it's absolutely lovely.

This has got everything going for it, in my eyes.

It's a lovely piece of 18th century, oak, rustic, country furniture.

The cabinet's made of oak, oak's indigenous to our shores,

so that's why it sells well,

cos it's going to sit beautifully in someone's little cottage.

Now this is dentil moulding along here.

It's got a lovely colour here -

we can see these lovely medullary rays here of the oak.

Brass escutcheon there.

Open it up and let's see what we can find in here.

Look at those lovely old shelves. Really quite primitive.

And if you think about it, someone's taken some trouble to do that.

Because you're not going to see these shelves,

so the easiest thing to do is make them straight-fronted.

But someone's just take the trouble to give them that shape.

I think it's lovely. I really do think it's lovely.

The most important thing about any piece of furniture is the colour.

And the colour is patina.

It looks like a bit of chewed toffee,

it's the lines on its hands, it's the wrinkles on its face.

All patination is, is 100 years of muck and grime that's been polished.

And this has just been a functional cupboard.

And you rub your hands over it, and the grease off your hands

goes into the timber and gives it that lovely glow.

It's just absolutely glorious.

There are a few faults with it.

If we just...

have a look just here.

Can you see there? We're missing a bit of the moulding.

And if we look along just here, this moulding is also replaced.

I think, in auction, you could put an estimate on it of £300-£500.

And I'm sure it'll sell.

I mean, there are oak collectors who would really want to own this.

Owner Joanna couldn't make it to the auction,

but her husband Ian joined me and Philip,

who was still smitten by the wonderful patination.

You were saying you're selling it cos you can't get it in the house.

I'd rather sell my house than that cupboard.

-It's just lovely.

-Here we go.

Wonderful colour to that.

I have several bids on this -

I have got started at £380.

380 is with me.

400, sir. I'm out. 420.

450. 480. 500.

520. £520.

At 520 and selling at 520.

-Brilliant.

-Yeah, very good.

-It's was good, wasn't it?

-Yeah. Yes, so you were right.

Well, it's my business.

The oak cabinet really did conjure up images of the British

country cottage.

And its great selling price is proof of the pulling power of patination.

You can't replicate 200 years of patina.

You can't make it tomorrow.

It's something that's occurred over the whole of its lifetime.

It's its passport, and you can't forge that.

I hope our trip through the best of British has evoked

a little of the national character for you.

If you'd like to continue on our voyage of discovery

through the world of antiques, here are some pointers on how to

appeal to some of British of individuals - the avid collector.

Items of quality that are only 30 or 40 years old,

can still make money at auction.

Always be aware that markets fluctuate,

so be prepared for prices to go down as well as up.

This is especially true of items made from precious metal,

because their value is affected

by the ever-changing price of gold and silver.

A portrait's profitability or obviously

dependant on the artist who painted it,

but the sitter can also push the price up.

So if you come across a work you like,

do your research on both painter and subject.

And remember that antique furniture should wear its age with pride.

Patina is of primary importance to collectors,

so don't ever be tempted to sand or varnish a piece of history away.

Sports and sporting memorabilia will always have a special

place in the British heart.

Adam, for one, is a fan.

This is one of my pieces here - it's

a signed boxing glove from one of my favourites from childhood,

Nigel Benn, known as the Dark Destroyer.

We come across a lot of these things in charity auctions,

sporting auctions, things like that.

Quite a lot of them are signed.

They're relatively limited in value -

I think I paid about £50 for this.

I don't suppose it's worth a great deal more.

But if you're going to be collecting sports memorabilia,

make sure you pick those major names of their period,

and Nigel Benn was the fighter of his decade.

So that's why it's a good thing to own.

I've got a few others- Frank Bruno, Naseem Hamed, etc cetera.

I've got about eight or ten.

I also go boxing myself,

and I train down at a gym in Stoke-On-Trent,

with all the big boys, who generally give me a good beating.

What better way to get over a stressful day than to have a

scrap at the end of the day?

Great, for me.

It is truly inspiring to see the work of

so many great British designers and craftsmen on the show today.

I was on the trail of another great British innovator

when I visited Moseley Old Hall in Staffordshire in 2010.

The hall itself is famous as the hiding place of Charles II

after the Battle Of Worcester in 1651.

In the 20th century, it was bought by a man called William Wiggin.

The Wiggin family later sold the property

to the National Trust for just £1.

However, Moseley Old Hall isn't the only legacy William has left us.

His family were the first to introduce

and make stainless steel items in the world.

I'm here with Nigel Wiggin, the grandson of William,

and I've got to say, your grandfather was quite a chap.

Yes, he did his contribution.

But he was basically an industrialist,

developing stainless steel tableware.

William's father and his eldest son, both called James,

started J&J Wiggin, a blacksmith business in 1853.

They made mostly belt buckles

and stirrups for the horse-drawn community,

but after the First World War,

William decided to diversify and move the company forward.

He'd heard about Staybrite Steel.

It was a complete new material that didn't rust.

He bought some Staybrite from Sheffield,

and we started making bathroom fittings.

It got us a very good hold in the marketplace.

The real start of tableware...

-Teapots, I guess!

-Teapots.

Everyone wants a cup of tea, don't they?

Yes. And the person who realised that was my grandmother.

1928 was their silver wedding - this is William and Nelly,

and they were given a lot of silverware.

And my grandmother suggested to my grandfather that he

might like to give her a hand with the cleaning.

And the response to that was, "No."

And as a result of that, my grandmother came up with

the amazing idea,

"Why don't you make some silverware out of Staybrite?"

And that started the world's stainless steel tableware industry.

Nobody else had thought of it.

The toast rack was the very first item that we did make.

And you've got that here, haven't you?

-We've got it here.

-Which one is it?

It's this one here,

which is, as far as we are aware,

the world's very first item of stainless steel tableware.

She said, "You must make a teapot."

And it's this one here.

That is 1930.

The aspect about that was that we couldn't make a teapot.

It's such a difficult metal to work with,

and my grandmother came up with an idea,

which is based on this shape here.

And the answer is, you bend it round like that and there's your spout.

It needs a disc in the bottom, needs a handle on, but that is how...

A single piece of metal.

A single piece of metal and that is how...

Do you know what they say which is totally right?

Behind every good man, there's a good woman.

-She was obviously the brains.

-She was on the ball.

The company grew from strength to strength

until the Second World War started,

when the factory was turned over to ammunition production.

But then, when the war was over, in the 1950s,

the Old Hall brand took off again.

1955, we took on board a student from the Royal College Of Art,

called Robert Welsh.

Now he was studying to be a silversmith.

But his thesis, in fact, was for designing stainless steel.

And he contacted us for some help.

When he got his degree, we asked him

if he'd like to be our consultant designer.

-And he started designing for you.

-And he started designing...

Is this his work?

This is so recognisable as different to the Wiggin designs.

It's so obvious!

This is '64.

I've got to say, this is fabulous.

Well, it is the most collectable item of all.

I think, when we closed down in 1984, we' made about 1,500 of these,

-so there aren't many around.

-That's a collectable then?

That is, undoubtedly, collectable.

Old Hall was the wedding present of the '60s.

I think that's an accolade - the wedding present of the '60s.

It meant every couple had one.

You can't go wrong there. What was the demise? What happened?

Cheap imported stainless steel tableware.

Nothing like Old Hall in terms of quality,

but about a third of the price.

We started having to shrink and shrink,

so we had to close the works in 1984.

Which is a sad day for you.

The worst day of my life, Paul, there's no doubt.

You still out buying this stuff?

It's popping up at car boots, it's popping up at charity shops.

If that popped up at a collectors fair, what would you pay for that?

They pop up so infrequently - £250.

Nigel, thank you so much for sharing your life story with me

and a great family you belong to as well.

Pleasure, Paul.

British craftsmanship's world-renowned,

and it finds its way to the four corners of the globe,

as Will Axon discovered when he met up with Martina at a valuation

day in Portsmouth back in 2012.

Martina, I can tell from your accent that you're not from these

parts originally, are you?

You're right, Will, I'm originally from Germany,

but have lived in the UK since 1984.

What are you going to do with the money?

Are you going to visit the family?

No. We've actually just bought a 1988 Chevrolet Camaro.

It does need some work doing...

-A bit of TLC.

-A lot of TLC.

-So the money's going towards that?

It's going to help.

And this, of course, is English - we can tell by the hallmarks.

We've got Sheffield, 1910.

Where's this come from?

-I actually inherited this from my godparents.

-OK.

Who lived in Duisburg in Germany

and were avid collectors of anything British.

English silver is far superior to the continental.

It was always something that I admired.

I see inside some old paint splashes. Where have they come from?

I'm guilty there - it's actually been used to store brushes.

-Paint brushes?

-Paint brushes.

I'm a bit embarrassed to say I did use it as a paint cleaning holder.

Listen, I think, at auction,

you should be looking at around the £200 mark.

So Martina sped off to auction,

hopeful that selling the British-made family silver

would put a little extra va-va-voom into her car restoration project.

Lot 460 is a two-handed silver loving cup.

Sheffield.

Start me at 150.

160. 170.

180. 190. 200.

190 in the middle here.

Is there 200?

At £190 we are selling.

At £190, and if you're all done...

Very last time...

Just £190 - it's gone.

After the auction, motor-mad Martina threw out her restoration plans

and bought a new car instead!

And this one even has a name.

The first time we saw the Dragon Wagon was on eBay,

so we made a ridiculous offer and the lady called us half an hour

later to say, "If you come with the cash, you could have it."

It is a head-turner.

It catches your eye

and it's quite amazing how many comments you actually get

when you park it up on the drive.

It does boost your ego, obviously, as well.

But the main thing is, we have met so many nice people, such a

variety of people, who are interested in the same things that we are.

It's not just a car.

It's always a pleasure to learn that

Flog It! has helped somebody indulge their passion.

Well, that's it for today's show, but do remember

if you have any antiques you want to sell, you know where to find us.

Join me again soon for more trade secrets.