Dulwich Flog It!

Today, we're south of the river at Dulwich College. Welcome to Flog It!.

As well as the famous school, which was established in 1619,

Dulwich is known for its beautiful Victorian park.

Outside the splendid gates, you'll find Dulwich Village itself.

It's so green around here, it still feels like a village,

even though we're just a few miles from Central London.

This is what I like to see.

The sun is shining, everybody is happy, smiles everywhere.

And we've got a whopping queue today.

Everybody here at Dulwich College is eager to get inside.

Our team is headed up by Michael Baggott and Kate Bateman,

who are already starting to value items in the queue.

Michael is an antiques consultant from Birmingham, who has a passion for silver.

I'll tell you one thing, it's over 46 years old.

Kate has been surrounded by the world of antiques all her life

and works for the family auction house in Lincolnshire.

Be still my beating heart. You get a sticker.

You get two stickers, just in case I miss you.

Somebody here today is going home with a lot of money.

Stay tuned and you'll find out.

I guess, as I'm the senior member of the team, I can be the headmaster.

So let's get the doors open and get on with our lessons.

Coming up on today's show -

Kate has delusions of grandeur.

..I might have a Kate Middleton moment. Is it going to go?

-It suits you.

-I think so.

Michael gets excited.

I feel I should beat out a tune on this wonderful drum. Marvellous!

And auction fever has us all in a spin.

-I'm shaking.

-I am gobsmacked.

Kate's at her table with a cheeky monkey and its owner, Patricia.

-Patricia, welcome to Flog It!

-Thank you.

You've brought a little person, a little monkey. Who is he?

I don't know what his name is. He hasn't got one.

We've had him for 15 years. He was my late husband's mother's

that we found in the loft when she died.

-So he wasn't yours?

-No. Where she got it from, I'm not sure.

What intrigues me... I looked at his face and he looks familiar to me.

He's got a little hole in his ear.

I was looking for a button in his ear,

which would mean he was Steiff.

I think, just looking at him, I'm fairly sure he is a Steiff.

Date wise, he's pre-war, certainly. Probably about the 1920s.

He's had a bit of a hard life. He's straw filled. He's mohair.

You can see he's obviously had some quite long bits here.

He was obviously this fantastic, all-over brown colour.

-Do you know anything about the Steiff factory?

-Not a lot, no.

It's a fascinating story.

Margarete Steiff, the lady who founded it in about the 1890s,

when she was two, contracted polio and was confined to a wheelchair.

When she was a young woman, her parents bought her a sewing machine,

just to see if she could make her way as a seamstress.

She made, out of a pattern, a tiny little, sewn elephant

that she gave as a present to, I think, her sister-in-law.

She liked it and somebody else wanted one

and she started to produce them.

And it went from there. It's a fantastic factory.

Before that, toys weren't commercially produced.

The Steiff factory is really the first to make them.

-Any idea, price-wise, what you think he's worth?

-Haven't got a clue.

Well, Steiff's one of the big names.

-But he's not in good condition.

-I think he's probably £50-£80, something like that.

Although he's missing his button, but he is recognisable as a Steiff.

-Is that the kind of figure you'd go for?

-Yeah, that's fine.

I look at him and I think, "I don't really like him."

No? He's got a sweet little face!

-He's just been sitting in the cupboard.

-Oh! Reserve?

What would you think?

It should be the least that you'd be happy to sell it for.

So if you say, "I'd let him go for £20, I'd be happy with that,"

I'd say put that reserve on him

and let him find his own level at the auction.

-OK, yeah.

-Fingers crossed.

-Fine.

-Wave goodbye, monkey.

-Bye.

-Thank you for bringing him along.

Michael didn't have to wait too long

to get his hands on some silver, courtesy of Gillian.

So we're in this wonderful setting today of Dulwich College Hall.

But I believe you've been here recently.

I have. It was my daughter's wedding on Saturday here.

-And you're back for Flog It!

-I had to come back to Flog It!

Of course, you did! Of course, you did!

Look at this wonderful thing that you've brought me.

I'm always delighted to see a piece of silver on Flog It!.

Before I tell you anything about it, where did it come from?

When I cleared out Mum's flat, when she died, I found it.

I didn't know anything about it at all.

-So you'd never seen it up until that point?

-No, never.

Any idea where your mother got it from?

No. It could have belonged to my father's side of the family.

Silver's very helpful because it's usually marked.

What we need to do is flip it over.

And we've got those hallmarks there. Three little marks.

Have you looked at them under a glass?

I have. They didn't mean anything really.

-Well, it's actually Russian.

-Oh!

The first one is the assay master's initials.

He's the man that would supervise the scraping of the silver

and the testing to see that it was up to standard.

Underneath that we've got a line, then the date when it was made,

which is incredibly helpful.

And we've got 1863.

Next to that we've got an "84".

It actually means "84 zolotniki",

which is the Russian standard of silver.

So we can tell from this it's Russian.

If we move on,

the last mark we've got is a figure of St George on horseback,

which is for Moscow.

-So we know that this was made in Moscow in 1863.

-Oh, my God!

The mark underneath there is the maker's mark,

but unfortunately I can't tell you who that is today.

If we tilt it back up, that's the clue as to where it comes from.

All of this lettering is from the Cyrillic alphabet,

the Russian alphabet.

No wonder I couldn't understand it!

It's a typical drinking form.

They had a lot of beakers. This flared foot is more unusual.

Often they tend to end in just a cut foot.

Then we've got all this surface decoration,

which is fantastic detail, and it's engraved.

And it's heightened in a substance called niello,

which is basically an amalgam with a sulphur base

and, when you apply it and fire it onto the body,

you get these wonderful black lines, almost like a black enamel.

Oh, I see.

That throws up the contrast of all the decorations.

This is a presentation inscription in Russian,

which I can't translate for you.

Those are the initials, in Cyrillic, of the owner.

It would be fascinating to know how your mother really got it.

Oh, I know. As I say, my grandfather used to...

He was in the Royal Marines.

-Travelled round the world.

-Travelled round the world.

I think we may have our answer. Well, it's a lovely thing.

-Why have you decided to part with it now?

-Well, it's in a cupboard.

Nobody seems that interested in it.

-You're not a big vodka drinker, are you?

-Not that big!

You couldn't have that much on a regular basis!

-The good news is that Russian silver is very collectable.

-Right.

It's fallen back slightly from what it was three or four years ago

when Russian oligarchs were spending millions of pounds.

As a consequence I'd be remiss not to put a reserve on it

of £200 at auction.

Really?

Absolutely. And we'll put an estimate of £200-£300 on it,

-but we'll keep that reserve fixed.

-Oh, my goodness!

-OK. Thank you.

-And we can hope maybe on the day for a phone bidder

from Moscow or St Petersburg.

-Might be hoping too much, but we'll see on the day.

-You never know.

I think it will be keenly sought after whatever.

Thank you so much for bringing it in.

Let's hope all of Moscow get bidding, but in the meantime,

magpie Kate has jewellery on her table, brought in by Elizabeth.

-Liz, hello.

-Hi.

-You've brought some pretty rings.

-Where did they come from?

-My husband gave them to me.

-My late husband.

-Lucky you!

They bring back very good memories, but there does come a time

when you have to let go a bit.

Are these all or...?

No, I've got very many rings.

Did you wear them? Presumably.

Yes, I did. I wore them to many functions.

-He took me out quite a lot as well.

-Showed you a night on the town!

There's some really nice ones here.

There are three on 18-carat gold, so he's obviously bought quality. You're a lucky woman!

These front three here have all got diamonds in.

This one is a sapphire and diamond one. That's just on 9-carat gold.

Clusterings like this flowerhead-type cluster

went out of fashion a little bit over the past few years,

but because of the Royal marriage

they've had a bit of a resurgence really in fashion.

It just shows how the Royals are still setting the trends.

Ten years ago, that would be quite hard to sell,

but it's become a lot more easy to sell now.

So I would say, maybe try these three.

Individually, they don't have very large diamonds.

There are a couple of solitaires,

but the largest is about a third of a carat.

This one has an illusion setting, which means it's a small diamond,

but they've put a setting in platinum

around the outside with little cuts in it.

It sort of catches the light and tricks the eye

into thinking the diamond in the middle is bigger than it is.

It's quite cunning.

Absolutely.

I would say, probably put these three in as one lot together

and then put the sapphire as a separate lot.

For these three together, you're probably talking £120-£180.

And maybe the same sort of thing, so 100-150, for the sapphire one.

-Would you want a reserve on that?

-Yes, please, I would.

OK. Your reserve needs to be a bit below your low estimate usually.

So maybe put a reserve of £100 on the three, a firm reserve of £100,

-and maybe an £80 reserve on the sapphire.

-Right.

Would you be happy with that?

-I'd like £100 on the bigger one, if you don't mind.

-OK.

-They're your items.

-My husband paid quite a lot of money for it.

-I know it's going back a bit, but he did pay quite a lot.

-They're your items.

We can estimate them,

but if you don't want to let it go below a certain point,

that's the entire point of a reserve.

-So 100 firm on this one and 100 on the three.

-That's lovely.

And estimates a bit higher.

-Brilliant. Thanks for bringing them in.

-That's lovely. That's OK.

I might just have a Kate Middleton moment. Will it go?

-Oh, it suits you.

-So glad I did my nails! I think so.

-And it's the right size.

-My husband will be sweating. There we go.

I'm not allowed to bid in the auction,

but I'm sure lots of people like me will.

Fingers crossed.

We are now halfway through our day

and we've found our first three items to take to auction.

This is where the talking stops and the action begins.

Here's a reminder from our experts of the items we've found so far.

How can you resist that face?

I think he's really sweet and collectors will love him at auction.

I'm hoping he's going to make 50-80, but his condition's not great.

I think somebody will fall in love with him like I have.

Say goodbye, monkey.

Everyone knows I love silver,

so it was great to see this Russian beaker.

I'm going to have some real fun looking up the maker's mark.

Cluster rings like this have been out of fashion,

but I think they will come back in,

so I'm hoping these do really well at auction.

Next to the Thames, we've headed to Greenwich to sell our items.

As you can see, the building is bright red on the outside.

It's bright red inside and it's filling up.

It's a vast space, full of bidders,

hopefully putting their hands up and buying our lots.

The auction is about to start,

but yesterday I caught up with the auctioneer,

the man with the local knowledge, Robert Dodd.

He was generally very enthusiastic about everything,

but he was a little cautious about one of our lots.

This is what he had to say.

Four diamond rings belonging to Elizabeth,

given to her by her late husband.

These came in as two lots.

This was the first lot.

A separate lot by itself. Fixed reserve, £100.

These three came in as one other lot.

You've decided to split these three into separate lots.

That's right.

You can forget about the price of precious metals.

Selling jewellery as an auctioneer,

I look for someone who likes the ring.

-OK. The style.

-It's the style.

You've got three rings here.

If I'd have put them in as one lot,

-all day long it would make £100.

-OK.

-But...

-That was their combined reserve.

But you've got two different size of rings for a start.

You've also got two clusters, which are nice,

and I think they'll do quite well.

This I like.

It was originally bought in Australia in about 1960 something.

I found out from the vendor.

It's got diamonds and sapphire hearts on it.

It had to go on its own.

-We're confident with £100, £150 on that.

-A reserve of £100 is fine.

And I think that you're probably looking

at somewhere between maybe £120 and £150 for these.

OK.

I hope!

Let's hope Robert's tactics of splitting the rings up works out.

He's tweaked the estimates to give them the best chance of selling.

Patricia's Steiff monkey's about to go under the hammer.

This little monkey's come out of the loft

and now it's in the auction room.

-It belongs to Tricia. Hopefully, not for much longer.

-Hopefully!

Why do you want to sell this?

It wasn't mine. It was just in the loft.

It's been sitting in the cupboard, so...

-You found it in your loft?

-Yeah.

-It was my late husband's mother's.

-Oh, right.

-I was thinking maybe the previous owners left it there.

-No.

Good luck, Kate. Good luck, Patricia. This is it.

Two-tone brown. Lovely little chap.

It's got to start with a bid with me of £22

on this Steiff monkey.

Looking for 25. I've got 22 on it.

Looking for 25. 26. Eight, I'm out.

£28. Looking for 30. I've got 28.

Oh, phone bid!

Looking for 32. 32. I'll take 34.

I'll take 34 on the phone. 36 in the room. 38, I need.

38, I want. 38. £40 there. Looking for 42.

42 I need. On the phone at 42.

44 in the room. 46, I'll take.

-Room against phone, isn't it?

-48.

50, I want.

£50. I'll take 52. Four, I need.

£54, I want. 54.

Six, I want. 56 in the room.

58, I need. 58.

£60, in the room. I'll take 62.

62, I want. 62. 64 in the room.

Not monkeying about, is he?!

66. No? Are we all done? Last time.

On the monkey at £64, on the Steiff.

-£64!

-That was good.

-That was good, wasn't it?

You were worried to start with.

I was. He was damaged and didn't have his Steiff button.

But he had the look. The come-and-love-me look.

Much better than expected. Someone loved that monkey.

Gillian's silver goblet is ready to go.

Gillian, good luck.

OK? First auction. So many of our owners, it's their first auction.

But first auction with a lovely Russian beaker. You can't beat that!

What is it, Moscow, 1863 or something like that?

We couldn't find the maker on the day, but I have looked it up.

There are two makers using those initials.

One is Ivan Alexeyev, but he's too late.

And the other one, we don't know his name, so we're not much further on!

Did you find out the writing on the top?

-No, I don't think we translated it.

-We do know it's £200-£300

It could go for more. This is it. It's going under the hammer now.

Absolutely stunning piece of Russian silver

and the bid's with me at £140. Looking for 150 on this.

I've got 140 on it. 150.

160 with me.

Looking for 170. I've got 160. I'm looking for 170.

-Are we all done?

-It's worth that.

At £160!

The hammer's gone down on 160. We had a fixed reserve at £200.

-So we didn't sell it.

-Oh!

Thank goodness there was a reserve.

-Disappointing for your first auction.

-Yes.

But it's a rare Russian beaker

and if you bought it in Bond Street, you might be paying £500.

Thank goodness we put that reserve on it.

Has it been a good experience?

-Have you enjoyed yourself?

-I thoroughly enjoyed it.

-Yes!

-It is a good day out on Flog It!

-I loved it.

If you'd like to take part in the show,

come to one of our valuation days.

You can pick up details on our BBC website.

Log on to bbc.co.uk/flog it...

Follow the links. All the information is there.

And, hopefully, we're coming to a town very near you soon.

Well, the goblet didn't sell.

But will Elizabeth's diamond ring stand a better chance?

Diamonds are a girl's best friend

and we have four coming up right now.

They belong to Elizabeth. Originally in two lots.

One really nice one

you valued separately, which is kept separate.

The other three, the auctioneer has decided to split up.

Yesterday, he said he thinks the others are quality as well.

They're all nice, yeah.

And we could fly through that estimate. Fingers crossed.

The jewellery buyers are here today, so hopefully they'll go.

It's going under the hammer right now. Good luck.

First, a vintage, 18-carat, white gold, lady's solitaire-style ring

with a diamond stone.

Absolutely stunning little lot.

The bid's with me straight away at £38 only on this ring.

Looking for 40. I've got 38 on it.

Looking for 40. 40 I've got. Looking for 42.

Are we all done? 42, it's at. Looking for 45.

I've got 42. Are we all done? Last time.

At £42!

42. The first one's gone.

Vintage, 18-carat gold, lady's solitaire-style ring

with a diamond stone.

Bid is with me on that at £30.

Looking for 32 on that one. I've got 30 on it.

Two, four, five, eight. 40, I'm out. Looking for 42.

42 there. Looking for 45. I've got 42 here.

Are we all done? Last time. At £42!

Two down, two more to go.

Mid-20th-century, 18-carat gold, diamond ring

with a sapphire, heart-shaped stone and platinum shank.

Size "K". Absolutely sweet little ring this.

And the bid's with me at only £38 on it.

40. Two. Five. Eight. 50. I'm out. Looking for 52?

I've got £50. Are we all done?

52 there. 55.

58. £60, I want.

£60, I've got. 62.

Looking for 65. Are we all done? Last time.

-It's a good result.

-At £62!

Three down. One more to go.

Good, stunning, vintage,

lady's, diamond cluster ring with a beautiful sapphire stone.

I like this one. The Kate Middleton ring.

OK, the bid is with me at £85 only on this ring. Looking for 90.

Five with me.

Looking for 100 on this ring. I've got 95.

100, I'm out. Looking for 105. I've got 100.

Looking for 105. Are we all done? Last time.

At £100!

-£100. Well done, Elizabeth.

-Thank you very much.

-Well done, Kate.

-That was good. It was the right decision.

-Good result.

-That makes a grand total of £246.

-Wow!

-I'm very happy with that.

-You are, aren't you?

-I am, yes.

-Oh, wonderful!

And I'm very glad to have been here. It's been a wonderful experience.

-It's been a pleasure meeting you.

-Thank you.

Splitting the rings up separately paid off.

Now I want to take you on a journey around one of London's most famous landmarks.

St Paul's Cathedral -

there's no denying that is a beautiful building,

especially when you view it from the Millennium Bridge.

You get an uninterrupted view.

The only one left between those two modern pieces of architecture.

This is my favourite building in London. I can't wait to explore it.

To do that, we need to get to the heart of the building.

I know today we can barely scratch the surface of its history,

but let's make a start somewhere.

There's been a place of worship devoted to St Paul

on this site, north of the River Thames, ever since the year 604.

This is, in fact, the fourth cathedral to be built on the site.

It's just celebrated its 300-year anniversary.

As part of the festivities and essential maintenance,

it's had a thorough clean inside and outside.

So come with me. Let's take a closer look inside.

This panel of stonework

is an example that's been left to show you

how dirty the building has got over the last 300 years.

It's not surprising with the pollution in London.

It would have been particularly bad

during the Industrial Revolution and shortly afterwards

with the smog and soot in the air,

penetrating the very fabric of the stone.

And this is what it looks like years later.

The stone has now been cleaned up

at a cost of around £40 million, but it's been given a new lease of life.

The building is starting to breathe again,

so we can appreciate the original vision

of the cathedral's architect, Sir Christopher Wren.

# Gloria, gloria! #

Wren was a clever man, an achiever.

His early projects as an architect included

the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford

and the Royal Greenwich Observatory.

Both feature a domed design - a trademark element, some might say.

# Gloria, gloria... #

He was commissioned to design a new St Paul's Cathedral in 1668,

two years after the Great Fire of London had destroyed its predecessor.

The process of getting the designs approved took a long time.

This magnificent scale model, which is constructed of oak,

is an incredible six metres in length.

It shows us what Wren had in mind

for the architectural outline of the cathedral

when it was still in its planning stages.

An earlier design was rejected

for featuring a Greek cross as the footprint of the cathedral.

This is another representation of one of his designs.

It really is truly incredible!

He commissioned two joiners to make this. It took them a year.

It cost £650.

Now that is a staggering amount of money back then.

Equivalent of a very smart London townhouse.

And quite fittingly, this model is known as the "Great Model".

I'm admiring the level of craftsmanship

that has gone into this.

Take a closer look.

In there, you can just see the incredible amount of work.

I'm surprised it only took a year for two men.

These guys have created a work of art

that historians and architects are still marvelling at centuries later.

This model's design was turned down by the dean and chapter.

So it wasn't until 1675 that a new warrant design was given the Royal seal of approval.

If it took seven years to get the plans approved,

how long do you think it took to build it?

This building project took 35 years from start to finish.

Although the cathedral was open to the public halfway through, in 1697,

there were tweaks and changes made to the design

until its completion in 1710.

Wren by then was an old man,

but was still heavily involved.

He was even winched up to the higher floors,

so he could inspect the latter stages of construction.

I've been wanting to show you this.

Up here in the Whispering Gallery,

you can appreciate the complexity and skill

of Wren's design for the dome.

When you look up there, towards the windows,

or should I say the heavens?

You just gravitate upwards and look up there in amazement

and wonder how these craftsmen managed to construct

such a huge architectural feature.

The inner height of the dome is 225 feet.

There are three tiers to this construction.

The inner one, which we're looking at now.

Then there's a middle one, a supporting brick skin,

and the outer layer,

which is a construction of wood covered in lead.

That's what's visible from the London skyline.

Add all that together

and it's an incredible 64,000 tonnes in weight.

There's a more quirky feature to this mezzanine balcony.

It's called the Whispering Gallery.

Because if you sit here and whisper something facing the wall,

your voice will travel all around there.

Somebody over the other side there,

which is a distance of 100 feet, will be able to hear it.

And I know it works,

because as a young lad I came here on a school trip and tried it out.

Once the fabric of the building had been agreed,

the pressure was on to make the interior as impressive.

Hidden from public view is this mind-boggling geometric staircase,

used by the dean of the cathedral.

In the heart of the building is the choir,

which features an impressive organ with over 7,000 pipes,

as well as exquisite decorations

by respected woodcarver to the Royals, Grinling Gibbons.

There have been many modifications to the cathedral

over the last 300 years since it was finished.

That's mainly due to national events,

like the funeral of Lord Nelson

and the marriage of Prince Charles to Lady Diana.

Other leading monarchs have wished to leave their mark on this incredible building.

So what we see today here, looking in the nave,

isn't exactly how Wren's work would have been when he finished it.

A century later,

when Queen Victoria came to visit,

she was said to be not too impressed with the interior decor.

It was rather dreary.

As a result of that visit, this is what you see today -

wonderful, brightly-coloured mosaics in the inner dome

and along the surfaces of the nave,

drawing your eye right down there into that perspective.

Mosaics depicting prophets and saints and gilding everywhere.

Not just on the images, but on all the architectural details.

Highlighting it, picking it out,

making it dazzle, making it sparkle.

Above all else,

St Paul's Cathedral remains a place of worship

with prayers every hour, several services a day.

It's become a refuge for many people, not just from this country,

but from all over the world.

Sir Christopher Wren paid tribute to the significance of this site

by building this incredible cathedral

and, in turn, the people who come to visit the cathedral can enjoy

his achievements in architecture

and marvel at that ever-familiar dome on the London skyline.

Dulwich College is our learned host for today's programme

and there are plenty of items for our valuers to choose from.

Michael has drummed up a treat from James.

I feel I should beat out a tune on this wonderful drum.

A marvellous thing. Can you tell me where it came from?

Well, it came from the home of one of my wife's aunts.

When she died, we helped to clear the house.

You know what it is, don't you?

I've no idea. To us, we've called it a biscuit barrel.

But it's not really very airtight.

It isn't very airtight, but you're spot on.

It is, strictly speaking,

a novelty biscuit tin.

Simply because it's modelled, very cleverly, as a drum.

It actually doesn't take a lot of work

to turn a standard cylindrical form into a novelty

when you just add this very naive, surface engraving of the tensioners.

You've got this engine-turned...

Actually, a honeycomb, engine-turned ground

to simulate the fabric and, of course,

a little bit of cast cleverness

to have the two strikes as the thumb piece.

If we turn it over, we always have marks. Oh, that's nice.

What we've got are...

-Because it's not solid silver, it's electroplate.

-Right.

We've got the electroplate marks for GR Collis.

These other marks are simply fake punches.

So, to the untrained eye, if you were being a nosy visitor,

and you turned it upside down,

you might think it was hallmarked and solid silver.

We've got the retailer's address there, Regent Street, London,

but there are manufacturers in Birmingham as well.

So this was probably made in Birmingham for their London shop.

Any idea of date?

-No idea at all.

-I think we can go back to late Victorian.

Really?

This is certainly going to be anywhere from 1890 up to 1910.

It would be the sort of thing that at the end of the Boer War,

if you saw our troops marching back...

With a military theme, 1900, I think this for a recently returned military gentleman

would be the de rigueur biscuit tin.

Right.

Now the thorny question of value. We know it's not solid silver, sadly.

Any idea what a drum-form biscuit tin is worth?

No idea. 60?

60. I think I'm with you there.

I think £60-£100

is a reasonable figure.

I would put a fixed reserve of £50 on it.

-Right.

-And that protects it.

But it is an unusual thing

and the one thing we learn about auctions today

is it's the unusual things that tend to sell well.

Right.

-What about a reserve at 60?

-We could do that.

I don't see £10 either way breaking anybody's heart.

Let's give it a go and we'll let the market decide what it's worth.

-Thank you very much for bringing it in.

-You're welcome.

-Thank you.

It's my turn to value now.

I found Ken and Pat with their lovely watercolour.

This looks interesting. Can you tell me anything about it?

How long have you had it?

I've had it for about ten years. It belonged to my father.

He loved collecting 1930s, 1940s paintings.

I thought it was painted by a man.

I knew he was something to do with the art school.

That's about all I knew about it.

The reason you can't find much about him if you tried looking

is because HE is a SHE.

It's Pegaret Anthony!

It had me going for a minute.

You think Anthony is the Christian name and it's just in reverse order,

like you sometimes see a man's name printed.

But, no, definitely a lady.

Taught at the Central College of Arts and Crafts in London,

where she was a pupil.

She ended up staying and teaching there for 40 years.

She fell in love with the history of costume.

And I think that's coming out here

in this lovely, faded, watercolour, pencil sketch.

Look at all the faces hard at work, concentrating.

They've all got, more or less, the same shaped nose.

Probably gossiping away!

She died in the year 2000,

but funnily enough there are two of her pictures

in the Imperial War Museum.

And upon her death in 2000,

I know that they went and spent a lot of money on more of her work.

Oh, right.

Value wise,

I did a search online of something that sold recently,

about the same size, again with wonderful use of costume,

that whole sort of 1930s period, and that sold for £150 in auction.

So that's a good price guide for this.

I'd be happy with that.

It's not a lot of money for such a nice image.

No, it's not. I do like it very much actually.

I know you won't let it go for anything less

and I don't blame you really.

-So put a fixed reserve on at £150?

-Yeah.

-All right.

-Thank you very much.

For our final item, Kate's got a flash of red at her table,

brought in by Paul.

-You've brought in a nice vase. What do you know about it?

-It's flambe ware.

Yeah.

-Royal Doulton.

-Yup.

-And by Charles Noke.

-Right, OK.

So are you a collector of Doulton?

-I have collected Doulton, yes.

-OK.

Where did you get this one from - antiques fair, market?

No, I got it from a charity shop.

-Charity shop!

-Yes!

-Tell me how much you paid for it.

-I paid £6 for it.

-Recently?!

-Recently, yes.

-You've got a good eye.

So it just caught your eye and you went for it?

-Yes, I did, yeah.

-Wow!

You, presumably, know as much as I do about it. It is Charles Noke.

If we look on the bottom,

we can see he signs his items "Noke"

and, usefully, it says the word "flambe" on the bottom.

It's exactly that - flambe ware.

Charles Noke was a real pioneer.

He joined and he was actually head designer in 1899 at Doulton

and brought these fantastic flambe wares, copying the oriental.

The "sang de boeuf", which is sort of bull's blood,

this very deep red colour.

Basically, he threw everything at this one.

I mean, it's a really interesting piece.

He's got, not just the red, but all these different colours.

There's mossy browny-green here.

There's some yellow, sort of mustard colour.

I'm not sure it entirely works.

Do you like it?

Yeah, I think it's beautiful.

-You think it's great?

-Really great, yeah.

It's unusual though.

It only cost you £6. What do you think it's worth?

Do you have any idea?

I've got a fair idea of what it's worth.

Price wise, I think at auction you're probably between £80 and £120. Maybe £100.

Is that the kind of figure you were thinking of?

Yeah. I'd be well pleased to get that.

-That's quite a return on your money for £6.

-It is, yeah.

A few words about condition.

Obviously, that does affect the price.

There is a tiny little chip that I've noticed on the top, on the rim,

and also a little chip here,

just there on the body,

but nothing that's going to really deter a bidder.

-Would you want a reserve on it?

-Oh, I would, yeah.

-Yeah?

-What do you suggest?

-70 reserve?

Just below your low estimate.

-Oh, that's a bit low. I thought...

-80?

-80.

OK. You can have a reserve firm at 80

and that's the same as your low estimate.

Reserve at 80.

80-120 guide price.

Brilliant. Thank you for bringing it in.

Right, three more items ready to sell, but why were they chosen?

This deserves a place in the sale.

It deserves to sell for the top end of my estimate.

Absolutely love it.

Let's hope this biscuit barrel

drums up some bidding at the auction.

This is a really nice piece of Doulton flambe ware

and it's by Charles Noke, one of the best designers.

I'm hoping it will do well. Maybe top end of the estimate?

Up the road to Greenwich to sell our final items

and Paul's flambe vase is ready to go.

It's a great name in ceramics, Royal Doulton.

A flambe vase belonging to Paul here.

Not for much longer, at £80-£120, Kate.

-I hope so.

-It's got to fly away.

Why are you selling this? You're looking very, very nervous.

-I am, yeah.

-Are you changing your mind?

-No.

You got it from a charity shop.

Good for you. It cost you next to nothing.

Let's see if we can get you a fabulous profit. Here we go.

It's the early 20th-century, Royal Doulton,

classic design, waist-neck spill vase,

in a flambe ware design with artist mark.

Paul looks so worried.

Looking for 80 on the flambe ware. I've got 75.

-It's your first auction, isn't it?

-It is.

Yes, I can tell. It's the nerves.

Where's 80. I've got 70... £80. I am out.

-Right, it's sold.

-It's sold, yeah.

I've got £80 seated. Looking for 85. Are we all done?

Last time. 85.

Look, I'll take 88 if I have to.

I've got 85. Looking for 88.

Are we all done? Last time standing.

Are you sure? At £85!

-Sold.

-It's gone.

-Yeah.

-That's a good profit for you as well.

-It is!

-Yeah!

Now he's smiling, look. Yeah!

From flambe to my find.

Let's watch the Pegaret Anthony painting go under the hammer.

-Pat and Ken, it's good to catch up with you. Are you OK?

-Very well.

We're about to sell this wonderful Pegaret Anthony work of art.

And it is quality, isn't it?. Let's find out what the bidders think.

Ladies working in a clothes factory.

Dated 1943. Signed by the artist.

It's a lovely, lovely lot this.

And the bid's with me at £130.

Looking for 140. It's worth all of this. 145.

£150, I'm out.

-Looking for 160.

-It's selling.

I've got 150 on this. Are we all done on this watercolour?

Last time. I'll sell it at £150.

It's gone. It went on the reserve.

Yeah, yeah.

I'd like to have seen the top end and so would you have done.

Yes, I would have because I did like it that painting.

We tried our hardest.

I am a bit disappointed with that, but it was still within estimate.

Just how will James' drum biscuit tin fare?

The auctioneer's certainly banging them out today,

which brings us nicely to our next lot.

I'm standing next to James and next up is that silver-plate drum,

the biscuit tin.

-Why are you selling this?

-It's not really used.

It's just been wrapped up in a black cloth, keeping it out of daylight.

-Have you given up the biscuits as well?

-Oh, not a chance!

You've got to have a few custard creams with your cup of tea!

You can't give up the biscuits, Paul.

I speak as a man who has tried on many occasions.

It's a mid-19th-century silver-plate biscuit tin in the form of...

Biscuit tin, ice bucket, in the form of a drum

with the engine-turned relief marks.

GR Collis & Co, 130 Regent Street, London.

Absolutely stunning lot this.

It's got to start with a bid with me of £60.

-£60.

-Oh, just in!

Looking for 65 on this drum.

Where's 65? £70. 75. 80.

Five. 90 here. 95.

100. And 10.

And 20. And 30.

140. 150.

160 here.

170. 180.

-They love it, don't they?

-That is good.

200 here. Looking for 210.

210, I need. On the phone at 210.

Phone bids. Excellent.

230, I want. 230 on the phone. 240 here.

Looking for 250.

-260 here. Looking for 270.

-Gosh!

270. 280 here. Looking for 290. 300.

They think it's silver, do they, Michael?

The market for electroplate has obviously recovered.

Looking for 350. 360 here...

It's flying away. 370.

380.

400 here in the room.

Looking for 410. 410, I need. 420 here.

Looking for 430.

I wonder if it's going into some sort of military collection.

-We're in Greenwich, aren't we?

-450 on the telephone.

-450 - what have we missed?

-470.

480 in the room.

Looking for 490.

500 here in the room.

I'm shaking. I'm shivering.

-It's beyond any...

-Comprehension!

-I am gobsmacked.

540 in the room. Looking for 550.

540!

560...

Bless, Michael, he's normally so rhetorical

and he's so reticent right now.

-The words aren't flowing, are they?

-I'm stunned.

600 here in the room. Looking for 610.

£610!

Are we all done? Last time.

At £600 on the drum!

Bang!

£600.

-That is...

-Crumbs!

-..absolutely amazing.

We're just going to see biscuit tins on Flog It! from now on.

We'll see every biscuit tin in the country.

Are you happy with that, James?

That's amazing.

What wonderful result

and a perfect end to a wonderful day here in Greenwich.

I hope you've enjoyed the show. I told you there was a surprise.

Join us again soon for many more. But for now, it's cheerio!

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