Handmade - Part 1 Flog It: Trade Secrets

For well over a decade now, "Flog It!" has offered you

the chance to have your antiques and collectables valued

and sold in auction rooms all over the British Isles,

and sometimes for a great deal of money.

And during that time, we have all learned a great deal about the world

of fine art and antiques that we, as a nation, cannot get enough of.

So today, I want to share some of that knowledge with you.

So stand by to hear some more trade secrets.

For me, craftsmanship is the central part

of the appeal of any piece of fine art.

Now, until relatively recently, everything was made by hand.

And amongst those legions of individuals

creating beautiful pieces,

there have always been a number of dedicated

non-professional craftsmen and women.

'So, today, we're celebrating the wonderful work

'of those amateur artisans.'

I think this is a love token.

-Oh, do you?

-I think somebody in the 19th century

wanted to create something interesting for a loved one.

'And it's a show that promises to be an eye-opener for all of us...'

I'm going to sit back and let you educate me now.

'..as Charlie unpicks the secrets of an American patchwork quilt.'

If none repeated, it'd be called a charm quilt.

But since there's a few that repeat, it's just called a scrappy quilt.

-Good Lord, we are learning a lot here!

-There you go!

'Caroline finds that extraordinary quality can come from

'the most unexpected quarters.'

I think it was Ken's grandfather who made them in his shed.

And I discover how religious philosophy gave birth

to a design classic.

The simplest and purest of furniture you will ever find,

and it is so practical.

Now, I don't suppose for one minute that the unknown maker

of this leather blackjack, which dates to around 1690,

had any idea that today this would be worth around £1,000.

But it is, it is a hardy survivor.

This was meant to be used, abused really, filled up with ale or wine.

And there's the spout. Look, there is the handle.

Pour it away. Look, use it for a few months and chuck it.

It is irrelevant that it was made by an amateur.

But is that always the case?

If it is unsigned, go for some nice, early naive work.

I think if you're looking for something that is handmade,

you are looking for a truth and honesty of its design.

You're looking for something of its period.

But also always look for quality.

It could be a carved bit of wood, it could be a carved bit of marble.

And you are actually thinking in your head,

"You couldn't actually get that made

"or even buy the materials for what it would cost to make now by hand."

'You'll find quality in all types of handmade items -

'in professional pieces, of course, but also in amateur works.'

Well, here we are in Lincolnshire,

and what better thing to fly in than these two iconic World War II

planes, which look as if they could be just flying into one

of the dozens of airfields that were around here in the Second World War.

I don't know the models. Can you tell me a bit about them?

Well, I presume this is the... This is the Spitfire.

And then I have been told that it is the Mosquito.

I was very surprised when I was told that these were handmade,

because they are beautifully made.

They really are. And somebody spent an awful long time on them

in his shed.

I think it was Ken's grandfather who made them in his shed.

Well, they have come into the family from my grandad,

who worked in the railway yard at Doncaster.

He was quite a handy sort of chap.

Yes. And he'd make old model planes, cos he had a workshop.

And he got me... Boys, he used to make model planes for them, like.

So you think he made these?

Well, we think so, yeah.

You know, they are very, very indicative of that period.

You could almost see the guy in his shed making them, you know,

watching the planes going overhead.

It's naively made.

And this one, the detail in this.

You can see underneath the work that has gone into it.

He must've been very proud of them.

And they are working models, aren't they?

-The propellers go around.

-Well, yeah.

'I could tell they were handmade when I looked more closely at them.'

There was no uniformity in them. There were differences.

But they were very, very beautiful things, though.

There is a lot of people

that are interested in World War II memorabilia.

There are a lot of people interested in planes.

I think they could get £40 to £60.

And if we put a fixed reserve at £40

and hope that they fly.

That's right, yes.

Fingers crossed. Anyway, they are going under the hammer right now.

Let's put it to the test.

£30 bid. Two now. Making it two.

It's two. And five.

Anywhere else, now five. 35? 38? 38 bid, 40 do I see now?

38, going to bid - 40 surely?

40. Selling at 40.

£40, it's sold, the hammer has gone down.

£40 was a very, very cheap price for these airplanes. It really was.

It seems such a shame.

Somebody has spent an awful long time making these.

As always, a known maker, a known artist makes all the difference.

To my mind, it doesn't matter who has made them,

it is the fact that they have been lovingly and carefully handcrafted.

'Love and care is evident in the work of enthusiastic hobbyists.'

-Is it a hobby or a profession?

-No, it's a hobby.

You can't make money at it.

'And in pieces designed back

'when craft was a more mainstream activity.'

So this will fit into sort of a large Victorian house.

It will also fit into a small cottage.

If you're going to look at one area that is quite interesting, that

has got a lot of different regions to study and can fetch good money -

19th-century American quilts.

Beautiful, handmade social history, but quite valuable.

One such quilt crossed the Atlantic to the Cotswolds,

the home of Arts and Crafts.

Once there, it caught the eye of Charlie Ross.

Well, this quilt came from the United States.

-Right, as indeed you do.

-Yes, as indeed I do.

-I am from Boston.

-Right.

The quilt is from Pennsylvania.

It was made in about 1880.

It recently hung in an American quilt exhibit back in Georgia.

'I liked the quilt.'

It appealed to me.

And part of me wanted to know more about it.

The pattern is called 1,000 Pyramids.

-1,000 Pyramids.

-Right.

-It's probably got a thousand pyramids!

-Not quite.

-But there's a lot. There are only a few that repeat.

-Yeah.

So if none repeated, it would be called a charm quilt.

But since there are a few that repeat,

it's just called a scrappy quilt.

-Good Lord, we are learning a lot here!

-There you go!

'She had a passion for quilts.

'She had - although she repeated it rather sort of ashamed,'

because she didn't want her husband to know - over 50 quilts.

-We moved into an English house with no closets.

-Yeah.

So I'm thinking I need to pare back on some of my quilt collection.

-Right.

-So I brought this along with me.

It's hugely enjoyable to get somebody...

and unusual, to get somebody along to "Flog It!"

that knows considerably more about something than you do yourself.

You might say in my case that is not rare at all!

Just to cut out the pieces, to do it would take several days.

And then sewing each one of these by hand...

you're talking several weeks.

-I bought it at an estate sale.

-Yeah.

And there was a piece of paper stitched to it loosely, and it said,

"Made by Aunt Meg for my nephew."

A quilt made by me would not be worth anything at all.

A quilt particularly stitched as this was,

that has a splendid charm to it.

I can't imagine that it is worth much less than £100 to £150.

If we estimated it at that, perhaps a reserve of £80?

-That will be fine.

-Would that be satisfactory?

Was it hard to choose one to get rid of first or do you think this

-is your worst one you're selling?

-No.

I have another one that is similar to this.

-All right, so you have got a double.

-Yeah.

And so I sort of thought, well, if I was going to thin the herd,

-that I would pick one that I already had.

-That's sensible.

-You're sounding like a proper collector.

-Thank you.

Let's hope you get the top end.

-It's going under the hammer now.

-OK.

-This is it.

203, American patchwork quilt.

1,000 Pyramids pattern.

At 110, who's going on? 120.

-130. At 130 against you.

-Great.

-Oh!

At 130 then against you.

Selling then at 130...

Yes! The hammer has gone down with a boom.

'Apart from its value as an object,

'if you actually'

put down the price per hour, it's a jolly cheap thing.

Yes, a fantastic bargain

and an amazing piece of heritage for the lucky bidder.

Handmade objects do involve hours of great skill and offer

something unique, like this walking cane Mark Stacey spotted in 2010.

We've got here what I think is a piece of fruit wood.

So it's come from like a walnut tree or an apple tree

or something like that, a pear tree,

that somebody first of all has carved out and then has started...

Once he's got it down to a particular shape,

he has then started to carve all these little details out.

The quality was exceptional.

I mean, there were so many things going on in this cane.

I mean, I loved the fact also, as soon as you touched it,

you knew there was 150 years of history there,

because the warmth of the wood...

There had been so many greasy paws all over that.

It had added to that lovely warmth, the patina, it was wonderful.

I think this is a love token.

Oh, do you?

I think somebody in the 19th century wanted to create something

interesting for a loved one.

We've got these entwined hands there.

And then all the way down here,

they have done a spiral twist with this lovely decoration of hops.

When you are looking at items like this,

they are sometimes very symbolic.

You know, you find hearts, pairs of birds, snakes.

All these are symbolic of love, longevity.

And sometimes, you know, we don't know the meeting, because maybe

they're items carved and they were very specific to that person.

-I'd certainly want to put it in at £100 to £150.

-Yes? Oh, lovely.

I love this next item. And they say you can tell a man's

profession by his walking cane, and this is just absolutely gorgeous.

We know there's an awful lot of collectors out there

for walking canes and that sort of thing.

Big market, very big market.

They will like this. Yes, they will like it a lot.

The wooden cane we are on to now. This is fun.

300.

With me at £300. Against you in the room.

£300, Lydia!

At £300, commission bid.

Are we all out and clear? I sell?

Thank you. £300, excellent.

This is a one-off piece. It was exquisitely carved.

That will appeal to collectors.

Generally, though, anything from this period

with that quality of carving will be desirable.

Symbolism features often in handmade items.

The maker of this cane could have crafted it for a sweetheart,

just as sailors used to spend long periods at sea,

fashioning scrimshaw for their loved ones back on dry land.

You've brought a lovely piece of scrimshaw in here.

What is the story behind this?

I don't know a lot about it.

-It was in the house ever since I was very small.

-Uh-huh.

That's really how it got there. Who brought it? I do not know.

Scrimshaw is quite an interesting art,

because it is quite a naive form of craftsmanship.

But also it is, by definition, quite a refined

and painstaking way of decorating either whales

or walruses' teeth or possibly sometimes bone.

It is thought to have been primarily sailors who would undertake

this form of craft using knives or needles

to scratch away at the surface and to actually make the design up.

Normally, they represent the... If I just turn that over.

..ship that they were serving on.

And there it is, a nice masted galleon there with billowing sails.

I mean, sailors did a lot of different craftsmanship,

from weaving through to quite exquisite embroidery and needlework,

so to extend their ability to engraving is kind of really

not that unusual.

And they spent hours and days and weeks and months at sea.

They had to fill it in some way.

Now, if that ship were traceable

or if it were known as to where that sailed, who might have

sailed on it, that would potentially add value to the piece itself.

The more detailed, the better.

The more skilful the artist, the better.

But if something is either named or indeed dated

and to give it sort of a real root back in history,

and a degree of provenance that goes with it, is helpful.

I think, date-wise, it is going to be probably mid-19th century.

You can't get much scrimshaw for 100, 150,

so shall we say 200 to 400?

-Yes.

-Put a reserve on of £200.

-Yes.

-Make that firm?

-Yes.

Thank you for coming in today and bringing it.

-No problem, I enjoyed it.

-We'll see what we can do at the auction.

There we go, a very nice piece of scrimshaw.

And a lot of interest in it.

-At 300. 320. From Australia.

-Oh!

They are an international collectable.

It crosses all sorts of barriers, potentially,

in terms of appreciation.

At 440, net bidder has it. Any more bids from the room?

We sell then to Australia at 440.

It is just a fascinating thing that the word scrimshaw will be picked up

on a word search, and somebody as far away as Australia chased it down

and succeeded in buying it, which is wonderful.

Scrimshaw may be highly collectable, but it is also easily faked,

so do your homework to make sure yours is genuine.

And like ivory, it is controversial.

But it is perfectly legal to buy or sell if it dates before 1973.

Scrimshaw was generally created by talented amateurs

with time to spare.

As was a wonderfully unusual item that Mark spotted in 2012.

Now, you have brought this charming little object in.

Can you give me a little bit of the history of it?

It has been in the family, so I have lived with it all my life.

It was worked by a relation of my father's.

-Oh, wow. So it has come right through your family?

-Yes.

-Wonderful.

This type of woolwork picture's remarkably rare these days.

I mean, I loved it because it was so 3-D

and the colours were beautiful on it.

It almost hadn't aged at all.

You've got the name - Mary Ann Lawrence.

And the date - 1837.

-And she was aged 13...

-I know.

..when she did this.

Now, you wouldn't get many 13-year-olds today doing such

-lovely handwork, would you?

-No.

-And it must have taken hours of work, mustn't it?

-Absolutely, yes.

And patience.

'The beauty of this is the naivety.'

This is a handmade item from a lady of leisure, really,

who had time before television and radio to sit there sewing.

It transported me back to a Jane Austen novel.

In an ideal world, I think, if we want to show that

it's from a private source,

we would want to put an estimate of something like 300 to 500.

-Would you be happy with that?

-Yes.

So we put a fixed reserve of 300?

Hopefully, that will bring in all those buyers.

'Jane was so confident about the colourful woolwork

'that she upped the estimate.

'But would the bidders agree?'

Going under the hammer right now, my favourite item of the whole

valuation day - the strawberry woolwork diorama.

There it is - pretty and unusual thing.

And I'm bid £410 for it.

Against you all at 410.

All done then at 520?

Finished at 520?

-It's gone at £520.

-Mid-estimate.

Well, that's OK, that's OK.

-Hopefully, a museum has bought it.

-Yeah, you never know.

Yes, that'd be nice.

-It would be, wouldn't it?

-Yes.

This would have gone to a specialist dealer or collector

in that type of folk art.

An associate, of course, of the sort of naive paintings.

It would look lovely in a room

full of Georgian-period oak furniture.

'I agree, and I'd be happy to have it in my home.

'Some handmade items can be rough and ready,

'but this needn't detract from their appeal.

'Hours of work, pride and passion have gone into their making,

'so they represent great value.

'In some cases, you can pick up an antique piece for less than new.

'Handmade textiles are a popular collectable, not surprising,

'as they are often the result of great skill.

'But be sure to keep them in the best conditions, away from moths

'and potentially damaging sunlight.'

Scrimshaw is highly sought-after,

but if it is suspiciously cheap, it is probably fake.

Good authentic pieces command great prices.

In 2012, this cane, dating back two centuries,

sold at auction for a whopping £46,000.

The owner had stored it on top of a cupboard for 60 years.

'So what else is worth considering?'

I think one of the most important things is to keep your eyes open

for antiques of the future.

Now, if you know a local maker producing quality items

that you think will stand the test of time, then why not invest?

At the end of the day, if it doesn't go up in value, at least you

have bought something that you love

and it's going to put a smile on your face.

It's going to make you feel good, and that is what it is all about.

Thomas Plant is a man who loves to look at all the beautiful

antiques you bring to our valuation days,

but he is also a collector of some rather unusual handmade objects.

These are pilgrim shells.

They're carved mother-of-pearl with scenes from the Bible.

They are carved in the Holy Land - Palestine or Israel.

As you go on a pilgrimage, you want to bring something back.

And these are souvenirs.

But you can buy these souvenirs now or you could have bought them

in the 19th century, bought them in the 18th century.

The reason why I like them and why I want to collect them is...

not that I'm over-religious, not that I'm religious at all.

But I find that anything with religion associated to it

is going to have a deeper sense of thought put into it.

The applied design, the workmanship,

the craftsmanship is going to have that extra bit of love.

We have scenes of the Madonna, Jesus and Joseph,

scenes of St Andrew with his cross and the Last Supper.

The man or woman who has carved these has used many tools.

He has probably used a sharp blade or a small chisel to carve out

the faces of the Last Supper.

Down below, he has used a file to do this beautiful pierced design

and then a smaller tool to do the frieze around the rim.

Now, the substance they are carved out of, mother-of-pearl,

gives it that certain extra something,

because it makes them shimmer.

Earlier examples... are painted as well.

And you can get MASSIVE ones with different scenes

from all scenes of the Bible.

They are sometimes cased in leather.

But they're like 500 quid.

Each one of these is reasonable at £50 to £80 each.

Everything starts with the patronage of the Church

or of a religion.

And I feel that the people who have carved these have devoted time,

effort and quality into them.

And I really enjoy them.

The American Museum in Bath houses one of the best collections

of original Shaker furniture in the world.

The Shakers were a religious community in 18th-century America.

Their faith was based on order, simplicity, sharing and no clutter!

This philosophy is poured into the furniture

that became symbolic of the movement.

Shaker designs sprang from a religious philosophy

that rejected the values of the world at large,

a world that was deliberately set apart from everyday American life

during the late 18th and early 19th century.

And this is what I am talking about - the simplest

and purest of furniture you will ever find, and it is so practical.

Every time I look at Shaker furniture, it always makes me smile.

Life is so simple when you declutter.

And the Shaker belief was all about sharing things.

You couldn't have clutter or else you would never find anything.

Because they had to share their tools, their utensils,

their blankets, absolutely anything.

And when you look at the furniture, you'll never see

a piece of Shaker furniture that has been identified by its maker.

You see, they didn't want to know, they didn't want single ownership

of that either.

Mixture of woods were used,

all highly coloured and polished as well.

This is a cherry wood top.

They loved fruit woods

but also hardwoods - ashes and maples - and lots of softwoods.

You will find softwoods always in the pine carcass.

They're sort of a lightweight, cheap wood.

It is a bit like a soapbox, really, but no-one looks at the inside.

But just looking at the simple banks of drawers...

there is absolutely no ornamentation.

There is no need for decoration.

It sort of takes the eye off of what the whole thing was supposed

to be about in the first place.

This is very humble.

But when you take a closer look at this chest of drawers,

you think, "Hang on, look at the overhang on the top."

I've never seen an English or European

chest of drawers like this, with such generous overhangs.

You see, now this, also doubles up as a counter, as a tabletop.

Very functional, very practical.

And somebody has been using this as a worktop,

because can you see all these drawn knife marks?

There is an indication of an awful lot of work going on here,

which is great, because that is what it was meant to be used for.

And also, it has got a drop-leaf section here,

so you can fold that flap down and move the thing

back against the wall, get it out of the way, declutter again.

Cleanliness was next to godliness here.

# I love Mother... #

The Shakers strove to lead pure and simple lives,

and their furniture reflects this.

The simple and elegant designs were way ahead of their time,

and almost by accident, they became art objects.

# ..May have his throne

# And the miser, his gold

# The monarch, his palace

# And the princes

# I covet none of this

# For I the gospel call. #

Take a closer look at the picture rail,

because you've got these... hand-turned pegs which have been

driven into this wood, which has been painted with a blue ground.

But the great thing about this is,

you don't just hang your clothes on it or your tools,

but when you've finished using a piece of furniture

and space is of a premium,

you can pick your piece of furniture up

and you can hang it out of the way.

You see, they were always in the pursuit of perfection,

improving things, moving along.

A simple thing like this stove.

OK, it is a very basic wood burner.

Here is the hub of the burner.

But also it has got an extension on the top.

As this heats up all day long, so does that.

So that is going to give off twice as much heat again.

You see, it's genius, isn't it?

And I love this as well - the old rocker.

And this is so typical of a ladder-back chair.

It looks like an English one - ladder-back here with the rush seat.

But what sets it apart is the fact that it is an American one and

it has got these lovely mushrooms terminating at the top of each leg

where it joins the arm.

I love that. And that is so comfortable,

you just want to hang on to that and caress it.

But this I have to show you, because Shaker furniture hasn't just

influenced furniture designers, but all designers of the 20th century.

If I hold that up, that does look like a bit of Philippe Starck,

doesn't it? Let's face it.

But it is just the simpleness, it's just...

You don't need a lot of weight there -

it's just a functional little sidetable or candle stand.

Beautifully symmetrical. And again, so pleasing on the eye.

# For I the gospel call

# And a kind, loving mother

# Which is better than them all

# The king may have his throne

# And the miser, his gold

# The monarch, his palace

# And the princes... #

I would love to live my life in a space like this,

because I know I would be on top of everything and, you know,

I'd have more time to read and more time to think

and I'd be a happier person.

That is what Shaker furniture does for you.

# Which is better than them all. #

'Regular viewers will know that I'm susceptible to the charms

'of handmade antiques.'

I didn't want to put this down.

You know when you feel something and it touches your soul...?

You can caress wood, you can love wood, it tells a story.

'Plenty of collectors share my passion

'and even the work of unknown amateurs

'can make a respectable showing at auction.'

HE WHISPERS

Thank you. £300, excellent.

'In the absence of a famous name,

'handmade objects created by the keen enthusiasts

'must display exceptional levels of craftsmanship

'to be of significant value.'

We sell then to Australia at 440...

'But if you're antique hunting for pleasure rather than profit,

'you'll find an abundance of amateur work

'destined to put a smile on your face.'

Well, that's it for today's show.

I hope we have given you some useful pointers and some food for thought.

So if you're hungry for more, join us next time on Trade Secrets.