Bexhill-on-Sea Flog It!

Today we're on the south coast in Bexhill-on-Sea in East Sussex,

apparently renowned for its health-giving air since Victorian times,

and I can certainly vouch for that.

And the views from up here are stunning, and I hope

we can find some antiques to take your breath away as well. Welcome to Flog It.

This is the De La Warr Pavilion and not only is it the most famous building in Bexhill-on-Sea,

I'm pleased say it's our valuation venue.

It was opened in 1935 and it's a Grade I listed building.

It's also a modernist icon and a real gem.

But talking about gems today, it's all about this lot down here.

Amongst all of those bags and boxes,

there are some unwanted gems we're taking off to auction.

I'm sure there is one question on everyone's lips, which is...

What's it worth?!

Today's lead experts are already digging and delving, looking for their star items.

-They're the familiar faces of Michael Baggott...

-Hello, hello, bag inspector!

..and David Fletcher.

-It's worth quite a lot of money I think.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

-Thank you very much.

-I've been stickered!

We see so many treasures on a valuation day and they range in age through the centuries.

But can you guess which of the following is 18th-century and the oldest item on today's programme?

Is it this gold sovereign?

Or is it this Christopher Dresser Linthorpe jug?

Or maybe this Chinese porcelain tankard?

Well, all will be revealed later on in the programme,

but it's Michael who's forecasting great things with our opening valuation.

Anne and John, thank you for coming in.

This morning it was overcast and rainy. Now the sun's crept through.

I could have done with one of these, couldn't I?

Now, where on earth did you get something

as peculiar as a weather forecaster from?

Well, it was my father's.

It was given to him by Sir Percy Hunting of the Hunting aeroplane.

And he said to him, "Oh, Les,"

cos he was head gardener, my mother was housekeeper,

"put it in your potting shed."

-In the potting shed?

-Yeah.

When my father died, my mother said, "Oh, you have that, John," so it was given to John.

-And do you like it?

-He loves it.

-It fascinates me, absolutely.

It fascinates ME. I've never seen one before!

It's something we've kept, sometimes it's been stored, other times I've had it on the desk,

used it very often.

-So you need a barometer reading?

-Yes.

-So have you got a barometer at home?

-Two at home.

-You've got two?

-To get the minutes.

-So you've got the accurate reading for it.

There are probably barometer collectors that will go, "Oh, it's another one of those,"

but I've never seen one of these before.

The very good thing

and the thing I noticed when I first saw it this morning,

was the name Negretti and Zambra,

and they really are the best makers of barometer.

They are the Rolls-Royce name.

If you didn't know what it was

by looking at it, you've got all the paperwork.

-Very fortunately.

-There we go.

You basically get your barometer reading

and then you get where the wind is coming from.

Set it on the wind strength and the minutes and just read it off.

And then as you go down, there we go, settled fine weather.

-That will do for today.

-Absolutely.

Stormy, much rain. I do hope not for this evening.

The last couple of days we've had rain and that forecast it absolutely accurately.

-So you use this?

-From time to time. We have a weather vane at home, so I know the direction of the wind.

You do need other utensils and scientific instruments to use it,

but when you do put it into action...

It is very accurate.

-It does what it was supposed to do when it was made 90 years ago.

-Yeah.

I mean, it was not cheap. I think we've got on here 45 shillings.

That was a heck of a lot of money. It was over £2, when £2 was more than a week's wages.

I mean, it is a valuable instrument.

So I think we would be sensible at saying £300 to £500 as an estimate,

a fixed reserve of £300, and then you'll have to look up

the weather in the newspaper or online like everybody else!

-I know!

-Yes.

Thank you very much.

I think it's one of the most interesting things I've seen on Flog It! for a very long time.

-Thank you.

-Thank you both for bringing it in.

-Thank you very much.

And a cracking start to our valuation day.

But I've been keeping my eyes peeled too. Take a look at this wonderful jug I've spotted.

Thank you for bringing this in, because this is a Dr Christopher Dresser, and it sings good design.

Not a lot of people have heard of Christopher Dresser.

How did you come by this?

It belonged to my husband, my late husband, who I married in 1971.

And he brought it with him, so I think it may have been his mother's.

-Have you enjoyed looking at this in the house?

-I love it.

It begs the question really, have you just come here for a valuation,

or are you thinking of selling it?

I'm thinking of selling it, because I don't know anyone who likes it in my family.

I don't want it to go to the wrong place when I go.

OK. What's the general opinion here, do we like this shape?

Quirky looking. I find it quite sexy and sensual.

It's very different and it's so typical of that aesthetic movement.

-It makes you want to feel it.

-Exactly!

-Yes, it is very tactile.

He designed many things

like wallpaper, glass, ceramics, furniture.

-Just to make the home beautiful.

-Yes, and it does.

Yeah. Let's just look underneath here,

because there you can see the give-away signs.

It does say Linthorpe Pottery

and you can see underneath the signature,

Dr Christopher Dresser.

And you see that little H there?

-Just there. That is an H and a T.

-Oh, is that Henry Tooth?

-That is Henry Tooth.

-I've never seen the H.

The T's muddled in with the H.

So you know Henry Tooth was manager at Linthorpe between 1879 and 1882.

So you can actually date it to those three years.

What I like about this, when you turn this around, it's...

It looks quite odd, but Christopher Dresser

was inspired by Japanese pottery, Japanese artefacts,

but also by pre-Columbian things and you can see that there.

It's beautiful.

-It is the colourway, it's earthy.

-It goes with everything.

-Those colours are coming back in fashion.

-They're my colours.

It's not too pretty-pretty, is it? It's just right.

Who wants to own this, then?

-Would you like this?

-If it's worth a lot!

That does beg the question, what is it worth?

I think this could be worth around about -

on a very good day with two people really wanting this -

you might clinch £400 to £500.

But you need a starting point in auction. You can't just start at £400.

Come and buy me.

It's a risk.

If you'd like to put this at £250, with a fixed reserve of £250,

it will fly out of the room.

I'd sooner put it at £300 fixed reserve.

-OK, that's OK.

-Would that spoil its chances?

No, I think the auctioneer will start around 280

and hopefully take a bid in the room to get it to £300.

-Let's call the valuation, then, £300 to £400.

-Fine.

And hopefully, I know it's going to do that every day of the week, but you never know,

we love surprises in auction rooms and it just might do the £500 mark.

-Which I know you'd be really pleased.

-Fingers crossed.

We'd all be pleased with that, so that's one valuation for Michael and one for me.

Which leaves one expert to go.

David Fletcher.

-Hello, Gina.

-Hello.

-It's a sovereign, as I'm sure you know.

-Yes.

-How did you come by it?

-I just bought it for myself,

probably about 35 years ago, I think.

When at the time they were quite fashionable to wear

on a chain round your neck.

-So you bought it as a piece of jewellery?

-Yes.

When you bought it 35 years ago, did you buy it with your own money?

Yes, I did, yeah, and I probably saved up,

because even then it was probably quite a bit.

It would have been.

I'm not going to ask how old you were 35 years ago,

but to go out and buy a piece of gold jewellery

for a young lady like you were then,

it's quite a significant thing to do, really.

Anyway, let's have a look at it under my glass.

The first thing we should say is it bears the head of Queen Victoria.

Which is not surprising, because it was actually minted in 1893,

right towards the end of her reign.

Now, gold sovereigns originally were pound coins.

And it was worth a pound, it was as simple as that.

In those days, a nation's wealth

was valued by the amount of gold it had in stock

and it's currency was based on that total value.

Those considerations no longer apply,

and quite clearly, a sovereign today is worth far more than a pound.

For two reasons - firstly, it has a melt value

and then it has an additional value as a coin.

This particular year is not especially rare.

So its value as a coin

is worth no more than perhaps £10 over and above its melt value.

And a sovereign is eight grammes of 22-carat gold.

So I'd be inclined to think of it in terms of having a value of £200

in terms of its melt and you can add an extra tenner for it as a coin.

So we're are looking at something around about £210 on that basis.

That's fine.

No sentimental associations?

No.

I mean, I have got a sovereign that my parents bought me for my 21st,

which is in a ring, which even though I never wear it,

I would never sell that,

but this has got no sentimental value or anything so...

You're happy to see it go?

Yes. Definitely.

-All right, good luck and I'll see you at the sale.

-Thank you.

I predict that's going to do well.

Now it's Michael who's getting fired up with his next item.

Helen.

What a lovely mug!

-I like it, yes.

-What do you know about it?

-I don't know anything!

-Nothing at all?!

Well, not really.

I don't even know whether it's Chinese or English.

I've often wondered.

Let's start off, where did you get it?

It was left to me by an elderly lady.

We looked after her as she got older.

So there was no indication of what it was?

No! No!

Go on, have a guess.

How old do you think it might be?

I don't know.

I would think 19th century, mid-19th century?

-So 1850?

-Something like that.

That's a fairly reasonable guess.

-But we can push it back a little bit further than that.

-Really?

It's basically from the period of the Emperor Qianlong.

Oh, it is Chinese?

It's Chinese and it's export ware

and it would've been made anywhere between 1750 up to about 1770.

Really?

It would've been made in an area that was specifically designated

for pottery kilns at Jingdezhen.

I'll never remember that!

It's a lot to grasp! But if we turn him around.

It isn't a giveaway that it's a Chinese object to have a dragon there

because it's a motif you see on European ceramics as well,

but in this case it does confirm it.

I see, yes.

There is a measure of confusion between these and English examples,

but the English examples very rarely have these very thin,

finely modelled handles.

Oh!

Not quite like this.

If we turn it upside down, this base, very rough,

no marks on it, no glaze.

Again, that's typically Chinese.

But really, the main thing is,

the superior quality of the blue and white painting.

This is what the factories at Worcester and Caughley and Lowestoft,

all the English factories, were trying to imitate.

Yes.

And they couldn't get it quite right.

Sadly, these now, even though the Chinese market is going through

a superb restoration in terms of prices and demand,

the one thing they don't want at the moment is those wares

that were made for export.

Oh, no.

The good thing is it's in almost perfect condition, which is great.

Considering it's so old.

250 years to have survived without really a chip or a crack is fantastic.

I think we'll be safe in saying £60 to £100 for it.

Oh, fancy!

-And put a fixed reserve of £60.

-Yes.

Happy for us to put it to auction?

I think so, yes. I'd like more obviously, but then...

Wouldn't we all!

What a beautiful tankard!

So we've got our items for the saleroom,

but before we sell them, here's a quick reminder of what they are.

Michael thought the conditions were right to value

this brass weather forecaster.

I spotted a fabulous Linthorpe ewer by Dr Christopher Dresser.

David had the Midas touch

discovering this Victorian gold sovereign.

And finally, Michael loved this 18th-century Chinese tankard.

So we've travelled a few miles up the coast to another seaside town -

Eastbourne.

And this is where we're putting all our lots under the hammer today.

Eastbourne Auction Rooms. I've just spotted our two experts there.

I love the socks, David! You've got to see those! Look at that!

Look at that, so relaxed before the sale.

But someone who can't afford to take it easy is today's auctioneer,

Paul Akillios.

So at the packed saleroom, let's get this show on the road.

Going under the hammer right now possibly the oldest thing in the sale for us today.

Early 18th-century, it's the Chinese export market

and it belongs to Helen, who's just joined me with your grandson,

your mascot for today,

and you've got a fabulous name, tell us what it is.

-Taliesin.

-Taliesin.

-Or Tali for short.

-Your mates call you Tali. It's an unusual name.

-Yes, it's Welsh.

-I was just about to say, where were its origins?

I've not heard that name before. Have you met any other Taliesins?

-There was one in our school, but he moved as I came in.

-Gosh.

What a popular boy you must be! Have you heard that name before?

Never.

-Never. No, no.

-You learn something new every day.

Yeah! What do you think of Grandma's mug?

It's quite nice. I like the colour scheme.

I do as well. A bit of blue and white.

It's flavour of the month. Everybody wants Chinese now.

It's great value for money.

It's perfect and if you want to buy something Chinese,

forget made for China, you can't afford it.

This is the stuff, buy the export now.

£60 for a mug that's 250 years old.

-You can't go wrong, can you?

-Not really.

I hope it goes for a lot more.

I have seen Chinese people viewing it.

I so hope you're wrong for once! But I think you're right.

Let's see what the bidders think.

It's going under the hammer right now.

We have the 18th-century Chinese export porcelain tankard

with the Dragon handle and under-glaze,

blue painted landscape decoration.

Who's in at £60? Who's in at 60? Bid me 60.

60 I've taken.

Five on commission. 70 I'm out. At £70.

Gentleman seated at 70. I'll take five elsewhere. At £70, then.

Any further bids? At 70 and you see it sell on that bid of £70 only.

It's gone, Tali. £70. Is this your first auction?

Erm, I've been here before.

Oh, right. OK.

Hey, I think you've got a career in this business

somewhere along the line in the future.

Stick at it, because it's great to get in at an early age.

Yeah.

Flog It! presenter in the making!

But while I've still got the job, I'd better hope our next lot makes its money

because it's my turn to be the expert.

We're talking about that wonderful Linthorpe ewer

designed by Dr Christopher Dresser.

As I said to you at the valuation day,

this is in cracking condition, it's very, very good,

and it's great entry-level, for his work.

So, will we get that three to four?

We're going to find out right now.

..Green glaze onto a brown branding.

Facsimile signature to the base.

And who'll put me in at 200 to start with? 200 to start it?

We've got 200. 200 is bid. At £200 only.

At £200 I'm showing a phone bid. 220, 240, 260. At 260.

I'll take 70, if it helps. At 260. 270. 280, is it?

Gosh, I'm worried.

280. 290. 300, is it?

We've done it.

300 bid on the phone. 310 I'll take. At £300, telephone has it.

At £300 only. Anybody else coming in?

At £300 only, and I'll sell it to the telephone then at 300.

We did it, we just did it.

That's a relief! I didn't think it was going to go.

-It was close.

-Yes.

-No internet interest.

-No.

-That surprised me.

-And me as well.

But it's gone. Happy?

-Yes.

-Good.

Phew, I get to keep my job.

Going under the hammer now, we've got a gold Victorian sovereign.

Unfortunately we don't have its owner, Gina, she can't make it,

but we do have our expert David and we're looking at £200-£300.

We forget, Paul, that these sovereigns used to be in everyday use

as currency. They've become precious items now.

Let's find out what it's worth, shall we? Here we go.

The Victorian 1893 gold sovereign in a nine-carat gold mount.

There it is. Who'll start me at 200 for that lot?

200 bid on the net. Do you want ten? 210 bid. At 210.

220 I've taken.

230. 220 it is then. At 220.

230's bid on the net now. At 230.

240's bid on the net. At 240. 250, is it?.

At £240. The internet has it at 240.

Are we all done on that bid? For £240, then?

-Selling.

-Yes, we've sold!

He's put the hammer down. Bang! £240.

Above top end of the estimate. She'll be pleased with that.

It just goes to show, gold is still creeping up.

When's it going to stop?

If only we had a crystal ball.

However is it the right climate to sell a weather forecaster?

I hope the money comes pouring in for this next lot.

It's the best name, it's the best example and it's got everything.

It's in its fitted case and it's with the original instructions,

-so if you're going to buy one...

-It doesn't get better than that.

Are you excited? Oh, come on! Are you nervous?

Yes!

-Is this your first auction?

-Yeah.

Hopefully we'll get the top end and you'll be going out

for a slap-up meal tonight, finish off the day in style.

Here we go, it's going under the hammer. This is it. Good luck.

We move to the Negretti and Zambra patent weather forecaster.

Has the benefit of the original instructions, and bid me on that lot.

We've had a bit of interest and we start this at £210. At 210.

I'll take 20s from you. At £210 only. Is there 20 anywhere?

At £210. Do I see 20 anywhere else?

Anyone else coming in. All done on that bid of 210?

Not sold.

At least we protected that with the reserve.

Yeah.

That's the good thing about the reserve.

I might've got carried away with the quality and the fact that I love it.

But I do think it's worth that,

so maybe if it goes into a sale with other barometers,

somebody will see the immediate appeal.

It's a quality scientific instrument.

Have another go at it some other time.

Maybe on another day there'd be a brighter outlook,

but John and Anne get to treasure it for a bit longer.

That concludes our first visit to the auctions today.

It was a bit touch and go, but we are coming back later on.

But first I'm off up the road to the home of one of our greatest storytellers,

where all you need to read his tales is a bit of imagination.

He penned one of the nation's most popular poems

and his stories have entertained children ever since 1894,

and today he remains the youngest person ever to be awarded

the Nobel Prize for Literature.

And this was his home.

This delightful, charming, 17th-century cottage,

called Batemans, lays claim to being the place where Rudyard Kipling

wrote many of his most famous works

and today I've got the opportunity to look around

to see what inspired him to write such magical pieces.

Kipling's popularity was huge,

considered to be one of the first in the modern cult of celebrity.

His audience was enormous.

Best known for his poems and tales set in India,

he created unforgettable characters such as Mowgli the man cub

and Baloo the bear, which bring back such wonderful childhood memories

for me and possibly for millions of other people.

The Jungle Book and the Just So Stories were undoubtedly

his best-known and best selling works.

But he was a prolific writer.

He penned in excess of 1,000 poems and around 42 books,

many of which contain short stories which he was regarded as the master of.

Much of his writing was influenced by his travels.

He journeyed around the globe visiting Malaya, Burma, China,

Hong Kong, America, Europe and Africa.

He loved visiting new and exotic countries

and coupled with him being born and raised in India until he was six,

all of these foreign visits and experiences undoubtedly nourished his rich imagination.

There are a few countries around the world that Kipling hadn't visited

but as his celebrity grew,

and especially after the tragic death of his eldest child,

he craved a sanctuary.

He shied away from public life and harked after a place where

he could be private and inspired and allowed to write,

and this charming, delightful house became that place.

The family moved here in 1902 and Rudyard Kipling

described Batemans as

a real house in which to settle down for keeps

and he wrote, "We loved it ever since our first sight of it".

The rooms, described by him as untouched and unfaked,

remain much as he left them,

and the cabinets are still chock-a-block with knick-knacks from his travels

including the most important room in the house.

The room's laid out exactly how he left it,

giving us a fascinating insight into how he worked

and we know he worked mainly in the mornings, a solitary writer,

and when he wasn't sitting at this desk writing,

he'd be pacing up and down the room, humming to himself,

or he might be laying on this oak day-bed in a trance-like state!

Presumably searching for inspiration.

And we also know he was a messy writer.

The room had to be cleaned two or three times a day.

Just take a look at this Algerian wastepaper basket.

It would be full to the brim, in fact, overflowing,

with screwed up drafts that didn't make it

and just literally thrown into that litter bin.

Two walls are lined with an extraordinary

and eclectic collection of books.

There are history books, novels, Bibles, maps, beekeeping,

rat-catching, agriculture and a number of magic books.

Used as tools and certainly not treated as sacred objects,

he'd rip out pages and write in the margins,

all to help his creative process

and to squirrel away ideas for another time.

His earlier hits, classics like the Jungle Book, the Just So Stories and Kim,

were written before he moved here to Batemans,

but he did write some classics right here at this very desk

for 30-odd years.

Things like Puck of Pook's Hill and If.

This whole place is one big time capsule.

It really is, it's as if he were still here

and I can imagine him pacing up and down this room,

searching for inspiration.

"The children looked and gasped.

"The small thing, he was no taller than Dan's shoulder,

"stepped quietly into the Ring.

"He pointed to the bare, fern-covered slope of Pook's Hill

"that runs up from the far side of the mill-stream to a dark wood.

"Beyond that wood, the ground rises and rises for 500 feet,

"till at last you climb out at the bare top of Beacon Hill, to look over

"the Pevensey Levels and the Channel and half the naked South Downs."

It's difficult to overstate Kipling's popularity and fame,

the Paul McCartney of his day.

If he were alive, his celebrity would dwarf the likes of JK Rowling.

But for someone so famous, there's surprisingly little film of him surviving

and this footage of him addressing the Canadian Authors Association in the 1930s

is the only known recording to include his voice.

For it is with us as it is with timber -

every knot and shake in a board reveals some disease or injury

that overtook the log while it was growing.

Many of Kipling's works are still in print.

If you've got a spare £50,000 and you'd like to spend it,

maybe you should buy his anthology.

These were published posthumously but remarkably,

he signed the pages before he died.

Only 525 sets were published, each containing 35 volumes,

and the leather-bound edition, like these ones,

are known as the Sussex edition.

In 1936, at the age of 70, Rudyard Kipling sadly passed away.

He was a global name.

He amassed ten times more money than Charles Dickens.

He rubbed shoulders with the great and the good,

and he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature

but more importantly, he'd left a legacy of tales and stories

and poems which are just as popular today as they were 100 years ago.

Our valuation story isn't over just yet, as we return

to the Deco splendour of the De La Warr Pavilion, just up the road in Bexhill-on-Sea,

and the opener for our second innings is David Fletcher.

-Hello, June.

-Hello.

Are you a cricketer yourself?

No. I support cricket, though.

Which county do you support?

Kent and Sussex.

I suppose living here, you have to support both.

Yes, I've lived in both counties.

Both counties. Right. OK.

I love cricket. I played a bit. Not terribly successfully.

I've scored two half centuries in my life.

At my last innings in the summer, I was bowled by my nephew for one.

I think it's time to hang my pads up.

Enough of me. Let's talk about some great cricketers.

Tell me how you came by this bat.

My husband did a paper round in his youth in a village,

and the lady's husband had died

and she knew he played cricket all his life so she gave it to him.

Fantastic. What a wonderful present.

Yes.

I mean, this is a galaxy of stars here.

It's been signed by what are simply some of the greatest names in cricket

as I'm sure you know.

On the face, we have the autographs of the Australian 1938 side.

Captained by Don Bradman.

In that season, he scored 13 centuries and scored 1,000 runs.

Beneath him, Stan McCabe, and beneath him, Bill O'Reilly,

-who, as I'm sure you know, was a bowler.

-Yes.

On the reverse side, we have even more autographs.

Gloucestershire captained by Wally Hammond.

And here we have Yorkshire captained by Herbert Sutcliffe.

So...

-You're a cricket fan.

-Yes.

And this is a wonderful cricket bat. You'll probably not see a better one.

Why are you thinking of selling it?

-Well, my children don't want it.

-Right.

And I thought, well, it will just lie around

so somebody who appreciates cricket

and would like to have it might as well have it.

How old are your children?

-50, 48, 47...

-So they're grown up!

OK!

Cricketing memorabilia generally is collected, as you might imagine, very avidly.

I think this is going to make between £300 and £500.

I would like to suggest a reserve, really, just to be on the safe side

of, say, 270.

-Shall we make that fixed?

-Yeah.

Jolly good. OK. And I'll see you at the sale.

-Right.

-Howzat?

-Very good!

I think we have used all the cricketing puns

so next at the wicket, it's Michael.

Nigel, thank you for bringing along this lovely little candelabrum,

as I was told many years ago at an auction house I worked for

that the singular of candelabra is candelabrum,

as I went through my Latin tables.

Just the one?

Just the one. I'm afraid that's all we were given.

That you were given? So how did you come by this?

Well, I actually work for the Salvation Army and I'm the driver,

I go round to people's houses and either collect furniture or

deliver furniture to people who have been homeless

and that sort of thing.

-Marvellous. And this was a donation?

-Yes.

So rather than put it straight in the shop,

what prompted you to bring it to Flog It! today?

To me it looked quite nice, and I thought it might be of some value,

and if we could make more money for the homeless by selling it,

it's worthwhile.

Let's have a look. Although it is very dirty, it is silver.

We've got the full sets of hallmarks there for London 1912.

And we've got the maker's mark of a very good company,

Edward Barnard and Sons Ltd.

The most important thing as well

is that we've got the corresponding part marks on the detachable branches

so you could have that as a single candlestick

or if you're feeling fancy, you could pop that in

and it's an Italian restaurant night in.

Originally, I'm sure they would have been a pair.

Not necessarily with the detachable branches, that's a nice feature.

Both of the arms sweep out

and I don't think originally they did.

I think at some stage in their life someone's thought it might look

a bit better if one went one way and one went the other,

so there has been a bit of manipulation, but it's still

a late Edwardian, early George V silver usable piece of plate

that's in relatively good order

apart from a little bit of cleaning up.

Any idea of what it might be worth?

Erm... Not really.

Maybe £100 or £150. I'm not really sure, to be honest.

I think you're almost spot-on.

-I'd cast it a bit wider and say £100-£200.

-Right.

And I'd put the reserve under that of 90 fixed.

But its real value would've been as a pair and had you got a pair of these,

you might be in the region of 300-500, 400-600.

Right.

-But it's better than it going in the charity shop for £10.

-Yeah.

It's all to its worth to go in the sale.

I'm really glad I brought it in, because that's certainly

a lot more than we'd get in the shop for it.

That makes two of us, glad you brought it in. Thanks very much.

Are you going to do some research on that?

They're one of the great London retailers, an early version of Liberty.

-Hello, John.

-All right.

What a lovely thing. Absolutely stunning.

How did you come by it?

-My wife bought it at a jumble sale about six months ago.

-Right.

And she paid 50p.

-50 pence!

-She liked the design and she brought it home.

We looked through what we'd bought during that day

and I looked at the back and saw the Liberty

and I thought, "God, this looks different."

Do you go to many jumble sales?

We have been to quite a few jumble sales in our time!

Have you made many finds like this?

Never. This was a golden one, this one!

-This was a once-in-a-lifetime.

-This was a retirement jumble!

OK!

What's the difference between a jumble sale and a car-boot sale?

-A jumble sale is rock-bottom prices, really.

-OK.

-It's the ones that I can afford to go to and buy stuff!

-OK.

Let's talk about it for a moment, John.

It's a butter dish with a glass lining.

Let's turn it over. The mark tells us so much about it.

As you rightly say, it was made for Liberty & Co.

Liberty & Co were at the forefront of modern design

as it was in the late 19th, early 20th century.

They pioneered the Art Nouveau style in Britain.

So much so that the Art Nouveau style in France

was called the "style of Liberty".

They really were an incredibly important firm.

It's made of pewter

and Liberty & Co gave the brand name Tudric to their pewter-wares.

The art nouveau style is characterised by whiplash designs,

you know, it's characterised by these tendril forms.

I think this is probably a stylised honesty. Do you like it?

I like the design. Yeah, I do. I do like the design, yeah.

Now, you paid 50p for it, so if I told you it was worth £10,

you'd be delighted.

Not £10, I wouldn't, but I'd be happy.

If it's only worth £10, I'd take it, no bother.

You'd be happy, but not delighted. If I said £50.

Better.

Well, I tell you what, I reckon it will make between £200 and £300.

-I can't believe it!

-I really do.

-I think it's fantastic.

-How much?

Between £200 and £300.

Dear, oh, dear.

My maths is terrible, but that's a 400 times profit.

What's that, a 40,000% profit?

That'll do me. That'll do me lovely!

That'll do you. Don't forget half of that's your wife's.

Whatever. Yeah!

Anyway, that's what we'll do. We'll take it off to the auction.

We'll estimate it at £200-£300 and we'll put a £200 reserve on it.

Brilliant.

And will your wife come to the auction?

I won't be able to keep her away. She'll certainly want to be there.

She'll be there, I look forward to seeing her

and you'll have to remind her that she owes you 50p.

I don't think she'll need much reminding!

And then she can have the rest!

Our experts have now made their final choice for items to go off

to auction for the very last time,

so it is time for us to say farewell to this magnificent host location,

the De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill-on-Sea.

See you in the auction room.

David was bowled over with this autographed cricket bat.

Michael waxed lyrical with his George V silver candelabrum.

Finally, David served up something we'd all like to find for 50p.

A Liberty Tudric butter dish.

So we've travelled back to Eastbourne where auctioneer

Paul Akillios is still on the rostrum

and it's time to put our valuations to the test.

And we start with June. Something for all you cricketing fans.

Going under the hammer right now, an autographed cricket bat

with a value of £300-£500 belonging to June.

I love the story involved in this.

Your husband did a paper round and he was given this cos he was a great cricket fan.

You've had it all these years.

There's not a lot of other sporting memorabilia here, so fingers crossed.

-Fingers crossed.

-I think this has universal enough appeal.

-OK.

Is it touch and go, or is there a boundary?

We'll find out what the bidders think

because it's down to them, and here we go.

Now we move to the autographed cricket bat.

And due to conflicting bids, we'll start this at £270.

270, 280, 290. 300 I'm bid. At £300.

310 bid. 320. At £320.

Commission bidder has it at 320. You're out in front.

At 320, 340, 350, 360, is it?

350. No, 340. 340. 340 holds the bid.

I'll take 50. 340 it is. At 340. On commission at 340.

You're out in front now at 340. All done?

£340.

It knocked someone for six!

I'm not very good at puns, I'm afraid, but I had to get one in.

I don't know, you've not done badly. Next it's Nigel's candelabrum.

-So all the money will be going back to the Salvation Army?

-Yeah.

Great call.

-It's a worthy cause, isn't it?

-It's a worthy, worthy cause.

Will we get a good price for this? It has dipped slightly.

It's a little quiet today, but I still think a silver candelabrum,

just for your table, at £90 to £100, eminently buyable.

-I think it's got to fly off.

-Yes. And everybody likes to entertain,

and that really is the centrepiece,

so let's see if we can light up the saleroom.

Here we go. Let's find out what the bidders think.

Silver two-branch candelabrum.

Who'll start me at £100 on this lot?

I want to see 100. 100 is bid on the net.

On the net at 100. 110. 120. Is it on the net?

130 is in the room. At 120 only.

The internet has it at 120. Quite a stylish one.

130, new place. 140 anywhere?

At 130 only. The bid's at 130. Room bidder has it then.

All done at 130.

Big smile from Nigel. I saw the big grin. £130.

The hammer has gone down. Well done.

Thank you so much for bringing that in. Great cause as well.

How long have you been working for the charity?

-Only six months.

-Well done, you.

Let's hope you carry on that way.

And now it's our final lot, and time to meet a lady with the eye for a bargain.

John's wife, Ruth.

Pleased to meet you, Ruth.

I guess was this your butter dish?

I bought it.

-So who'll get all the money, then?

-I give her the money!

Did you give him permission to take it along to sell it?

Yes, I did.

-How much did you pay for it?

-50p.

50p?!

And we are hoping for £200-£300? 50p!

I can't believe that! No, I can't, actually!

50 pence! You see, it is all out there.

You just have to get up early in the morning,

get to those jumble sales or car-boot sales and get there first!

-Did you knock them down?

-No!

That would be being cheeky!

I would think it would be a bit rude!

You bought really well, and you've looked after it, all credit to you.

Let's see what the bidders of Eastbourne think.

It's going under the hammer right now.

We have the Liberty & Co Art Nouveau Tudric rectangular dish

with the Knox-style declaration.

And again due to conflicting bids, 240 and 250 is bid. 250.

I'll take 260. At £250 only.

260's bid on the internet.

270 on commission. 280's on the net. 280 is an internet bidder.

At 280, internet has it. At 280.

Is there 90?

290 on the phone. 300. 320 on the phone, if you like.

Nice to see 300.

At 320. 340.

Is it on the internet? 360, is it? At 340 on the internet.

360 on the phone if you like. At 340. 340.

350, yes or no? 340 it is, then.

It's on the internet. Trying to get you one more on the phone.

340 it is. 340.

£340!

Excellent! Can't be bad!

Big smiles all round!

I'm pleased you witnessed that!

Oh, well done, John. Thank you for bringing that in.

Well, that's it. It's all over for our owners.

The auction is still going on, but it has been a bit of a mixed day.

If you've got any antiques you want to sell, we would love to see you.

It could be you the next time standing in an auction room just like this.

But for now from Eastbourne, from all of us, it's goodbye.

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