Compilation 15 Flog It!

Today, we bring you the best that Flog It has to offer -

an array of fine art and antiques,

a splendid collection of national attractions,

valuations from all around the country and some surprising results

in the auction room. Now that's got to be worth investing in.

Welcome to Flog It!

We've travelled the length and breadth of the country

in search of exceptional stories and objects to take to auction

and we weren't disappointed.

We've travelled to Birmingham Southwell, Edinburgh and Wallasey.

And we've saved some of my favourite items until now to show you.

Can you spot which one of them gets the bidders most excited at auction?

Will it be the Victorian silver aide memoire?

Beautiful condition. Beautiful quality.

Or the rather exotic mirror?

Is it something you have up on the wall to do your hair in the morning?

No. Unfortunately, no, it isn't.

Or perhaps the classic piece of pottery?

Oh, gosh.

-That's quite a lot, isn't it?

-It is for something as small as that.

For a little Beswick figure.

Stay tuned to find out.

We start today's show in the wonderful Dunster Castle,

which has stood on top of this Somerset tor since the Middle Ages.

One family has dominated its history, the Luttrells.

Their family crest is clearly visible

at the entrance to the castle.

They lived here for 600 years, but in 1976 they handed Dunster Castle

and its contents over to the National Trust.

It's hardly surprising, really, that, after six centuries here,

the Luttrell family have left behind quite a remarkable collection

of fine art and antiques, each with their own unique story

that relates to a different period in history.

And, later on in the programme,

we'll be finding out more about the collection,

but right now we need to meet some collectors of our own.

Can you imagine how delighted Adam Partridge was when he came across

this wonderful collection of Edwardian postcards

on our visit to Hopetoun House in Scotland?

Hundreds of people here at Hopetoun today, aren't there?

-There is indeed.

-Absolutely hundreds.

-And there's hundreds of postcards in this album, as well.

-Yes.

Fascinating. It looks to me a sort of Edwardian Art Nouveau design

on the cover and it's absolutely laden with postcards.

How did you come to own it? Where did you get it from?

We actually found it in my dad's loft.

I believe it was his grandmother and great-grandmother

-that collected them...

-I see.

..so the album's been in the loft for a number of years.

I'm glad you brought them along today.

Because there's a lot of interest in postcards.

I mean, these were collected 100 years ago.

The majority you see are views of places.

We've had a bit of a look through

and there's absolutely loads of Scarborough in here, aren't there?

-Yeah, there is indeed.

-So it gives you an interesting profile

-of your family history, doesn't it?

-It does indeed.

And some of them will just have a little note on the back.

-Yeah.

-"Stayed here." "See you next week." That sort of thing.

-Yeah.

"Had tea here." So the first one I've singled out,

a nice local one here on the Clyde.

-Obviously, down the Clyde and the old steamers.

-Very good.

Sort of takes you back to the day, doesn't it?

-This is a very famous man, isn't it? Duncan Napier.

-Duncan Napier.

A very famous former resident of Edinburgh, isn't he?

He is indeed, I think Napier University is named after him.

Move along to the next one that we've marked along here.

Well, all of these are Edinburgh -

kind of tourist things that you'd have picked up

on a trip to Edinburgh.

But apparently a popular card is this, Princes Street Gardens.

This bandstand I believe is still there.

-You're familiar with the place?

-Oh, aye.

Let's have another look over here.

This one, this handwritten one.

-This is an interesting one.

-Shall I take it out for a minute?

It says on it, "If you have any to spare, please send it.

"I've had a glorious time in this delightful place

"that I have only my return ticket left.

"How can I dodge the landlady?

"Excuse the card. It's all I can afford."

This is 1915, July 1915.

We're at war and it's a very basic piece of card

and this rascal, by the sound of it,

is writing to his friend James Simpson telling him

he's going to run off on his landlady, isn't he?

That's a nice personal glimpse that isn't one of these manufactured cards.

All in all, we've got 2-300 cards in there.

-I think there's over 500.

-Over 500! OK.

A lot of the topographical ones, in value terms, are quite common

and they are sort of 50p to a couple of quid each.

Some of the other ones are going to be a few pounds each.

They will find their value at auction but we need to put them

at an estimate that will be relatively enticing.

I think around the £200 mark as an estimate.

What do you say, 150 to 250 estimate?

-Yeah.

-Put a reserve of 150?

-Yeah.

-If they don't make that...

-I'd rather keep them.

-No point giving them away.

And if they make £3-400, which they could do,

what would you put that towards?

My parents are 90 and 91 respectively

and it's their 65th wedding anniversary this year,

so I think the money that we acquire from selling the album

-will go to a wee celebration for them.

-Lovely.

That's a great reason then.

Thank you very much for bringing it along, Douglas.

I look forward to seeing the bidders get stuck into them at the auction.

Thank you very much.

Collecting postcards is called deltiology

and we've seen quite a few impressive collections

over the years, including one of commercial cruise liners

which made a tidy sum at auction.

Selling forever at £840.

£840!

Congratulations, that's all down to you.

Cards with messages have been manufactured and posted

since the creation of the postal services.

They became popular in the 1880s

and were often rather saucy with images of nude women on them.

British seaside postcards became fashionable in the 1930s,

and at their height, a staggering 16 million were sold a year.

Another favourite with collectors turned up at our valuation day

in Birmingham's Museum and Art Gallery.

Our eagle-eyed James Lewis was first to spot it.

Well, Harry, it's time to go back to the 18th century

and this is a lovely pocket watch.

-Family piece?

-Been in the family as long as I remember.

-Not something you'd wear?

-Never worn it.

They are becoming more fashionable. For the first time in years,

in my living memory, young guys are coming in to the sale room

to buy them to wear at their wedding but also to wear with dress suits.

They're wearing the waistcoat underneath the black tie and dinner jacket,

and there's a gold Albert chain and the pocket watch being worn,

which is lovely.

Do you know if it's been restored or gold-plated?

All I know is my father gave it to me, he said it belonged

to his father, so I've owned it for probably the best part of 30 years.

-More than that I don't know.

-The first thing to do with this

is look at the age. Whenever you have a pocket watch in front of you,

there are lots of little telltale signs that help you date it.

The first one and the most obvious is the key,

because around 1900, pocket watches changed from a key wind to top wind.

In exactly the same way as a wristwatch has a winder on the side,

the pocket watch developed the same technique.

It's got a key so therefore it's pre-1900.

The second thing, if you look at the glass on the top,

you've got a flattened section in the centre.

That flattened section together with the fact that it's a pair case

tells you it's pre-1825, around that period.

We are looking at a watch that was made between 1760 and 1825.

Let's open it up and if we open the base up there,

we see an enamel dial with Roman numerals

and there is a little clip at the bottom

and if you push that in and lift, it reveals this wonderful movement,

and then if you look on the top, you've got the maker's mark.

H Harris of London, and that's a maker that was working

in the early 19th century, so from about 1800 through to 1820.

So this pocket watch was made at the time of the Battle of Trafalgar,

Battle of Waterloo, we'd just lost America,

the Prince Regent was on the throne and it was an amazing time,

and this watch has seen all of those events. What's it made from?

We've got jeweller's marks but it's not gold.

I think it's a base metal that's been gold-plated around 1890-1900.

It's a lovely thing.

I wish it was 18 carat, it's not.

If it was 18 carat, it would be over £1,000.

The fact that it's not brings it way down.

I'd like to see an auction estimate of £2-300, something like that.

I'd like to protect it with a £200 reserve, how do you feel about that?

I think it's worth £200.

If it doesn't make that, I'd rather put it back in the safe.

It's a very dressy, good-looking watch.

-I hope it makes what it's worth, about 2-300.

-Happy to go with that.

Lovely.

A lovely timepiece there

and now for a beautiful item that time almost forgot.

Caroline Hawley is in the rather splendid Southwell Minster.

Alison, thank you so much for bringing this beautiful little

aide memoir along.

Can you tell me about it, how it came into your being?

About 30 years ago, I acquired a piece of second-hand furniture

and there was a secret drawer in there and this was in there.

Was it written in? Was there anything exciting?

No, nothing at all.

Just as it is in the drawer on its own, nothing else.

It was amazing, really.

You lucky lady. Let me tell you about it.

This is the most beautiful aide memoir or diary,

and there's lots of lovely things about it.

It's silver, silver front, and silver back to it.

Beautiful condition.

Beautiful quality, which it would be, because it's got the magic maker.

Nathaniel Mills, an excellent quality maker in Birmingham.

His main work was done between 1826 and 1856,

and he specialised in small, beautiful objets.

Things like etuilles, vinaigrettes, cases like this, lovely little items,

and we've got his initials there. This is Birmingham, 1845.

-Really?!

-We've got Queen Victoria's head,

then "N M" for Nathaniel Mills,

and we've got the lion passant to say it's British sterling silver

and it's absolutely beautiful. Leather case.

If we take the little pencil out, that unlocks it.

And it's beautifully lined in silk taffeta, watermarked.

And each of these little ivory pages is marked with the day of the week.

Value, do you have any idea of value, Alison?

I don't at the moment.

I did see one similar to it on a television programme

-a few years ago and it was valued between 6-800.

-Gosh.

That seems an awful lot.

These little books are not worth as much as the vinaigrettes

or other objects. They don't have a great use,

but it's a beautiful object,

and you can see it in a display cabinet somewhere.

I think an auction estimate, a realistic auction estimate today,

would be about £120-180. That sort of figure.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if it gets lots more

because of its condition, but that would be a realistic estimate.

But I would put a fixed reserve of 120 just to protect it.

-Are you happy with that?

-Yes, I think so.

I'm sure it will go on to live a long and happy life

in somebody else's drawer.

-Thank you very much for bringing it.

-A pleasure.

That memoir really is from another era altogether

and of course the auction house can only sell it as it predates 1947,

and the ivory is worked, meaning that specific ivory

is deemed of cultural and historical significance.

We'll be finding out in a moment which of these items makes

the most money at auction, but right here at Dunster Castle,

one of the most impressive collections

has to be these very rare leather wall hangings.

They tell the story of Antony, a Roman general,

and an Egyptian queen, Cleopatra.

A story made famous by William Shakespeare.

They were made in the Netherlands, late 1600s.

They weren't commissioned for Dunster Castle,

so they've been cut down to fit this very impressive room.

They're made of calfskin. They've been embossed, gilded and painted

so they have this wonderful three-dimensional effect.

They catch the light and I think you'll agree

they're absolutely stunning.

Right now, we need some stunning auction results.

Remember, if you are buying or selling at auction,

there is commission to pay.

It varies from sale room to sale room

and then there's VAT to pay on top of that, so please do your sums.

Work it out before you start bidding because it can add up.

Right, here's a quick recap of all the items going under the hammer.

Will Douglas' substantial collection of Edwardian postcards

get the bidders' stamp of approval?

Let's hope he can make a good contribution

to his parents' anniversary party.

The pocket watch is fashionable at the moment

so hopefully Harry's timed the sale of this attractive piece just right.

And Alison's silver Victorian aide memoir

is a striking piece which evokes romantic images of another era,

but will it resonate with today's market?

First up, expert and auctioneer Nick Davies

is on the rostrum at Fielding's Auctions.

That's it, time is up, no, it's not the end of the show,

it's Harry's watch time.

It's going under the hammer, and good luck with it.

A lovely 18th-century watch.

-It's the young guys that are wearing them now.

-Becoming fashionable again.

It's a weird watch.

You look at it and instantly think it's going to be 18 carat.

It looks it, it feels it.

But it's a plated one. Not seen one like that for a long time.

-Nevertheless, it's a nice thing.

-Unusual, got a good look.

And I think for a youngster to invest in something like that,

it's a good starting point.

Much better than buying one of these modern rubbishy things from a jeweller's window.

-Exactly, yes. Good luck.

-Here we go.

We're going to find out exactly what the bidders think. This is it.

The gold-plated pair case pocket watch, H Harris of London.

We can open slightly below estimate on 180, 190,

and I look for 200 in the room. 190 with me.

200 anywhere else in the room?

At 190, are we all done, 200 right in the distance,

I've got you at £200.

210 anywhere else? £200.

We're in, aren't we?

Anywhere else? At £200, I can sell and will do so,

-at £200 all done.

-Just got it away.

Just!

-That was a close shave, wasn't it?

-That was a close shave

but, yeah, it's gone.

I think that weird case would have put people off.

-I think that's what it was.

-Spot on, James, well done.

-Cheers.

Not bad considering it was only gold-plated.

Next, we're at Mellors and Kirk auction rooms

to sell the aide memoir.

Alison, thank you for bringing this in, because we like

to hold things like this. That one must have been well hidden.

It wasn't, I just opened the drawer and there it was on its own.

So this really is a bonus whatever we get today.

Have you still got the piece of furniture?

-No.

-I think it's going to well exceed the estimate.

So do I. Good luck, both of you.

Here we go.

And the £100 for this lot I have,

and 10, 120, 130, 130,

140, 150, 150 I am bid,

160 for it. 160 down here.

-170 in two places.

-180!

180, 190, 200.

190 in front this time. 200 is bid.

220, at £200, I sell at 200.

£200, yes! We said it would exceed it, didn't we?

£200, Alison. That's pretty good, isn't it?

How much did that piece of furniture cost?

-I think about £10!

-There you go, brilliant.

-Well done.

-Brilliant. Spend it wisely.

-Will do!

Alison did well,

especially considering she found the memoir in a drawer.

Will Douglas be able to put on a nice bash

for his parents' 65th wedding anniversary?

Expert and auctioneer Anita Manning is putting his postcard collection

under the hammer at her Great Western auction rooms.

Well, they say every picture tells a story

and I'm sure there's quite a few in this Art Nouveau album belonging to Douglas.

We always have a lot of surprises with postcard albums.

It's a really hard thing to value. It really is.

They are always generally quite mixed.

As with many albums, there are a lot of the usual suspects.

Lots of Scarborough, if I remember rightly. But there are enough...

These are views of social history

and some of these places have changed so much.

People buy into that window of the past

and that's what this is all about. Let's put it to the test.

Here we go.

Lot 255 is the Art Nouveau album of postcards.

Can we see £300, 200?

Starting at £100. 100 bid.

Any advance on £100? Any advance on 100?

110, 120, 130, 140, 150,

160, 170, 180, 190,

200, 210, 220, 230.

-Getting there.

-235. 235.

I'm surprised.

240 on the books. 250 I'm out.

And we're in the corner at £250. Any advance?

We might have made a touch more.

£250, the hammer has gone down, that's a sold sound. Happy?

I'm happy as well. Thank you for bringing them in.

It's a good result, really.

Top of the estimate, can't ask for more than that.

I'm sure Douglas' great-grandmother would be more than happy

to know her postcard collection went on to fund

such an important family occasion.

What a lovely idea.

I'm sure those postcards have gone

to an equally enthusiastic collector.

Now, obviously on Flog It we see hundreds of people

who love to collect art and antiques,

but there are those who make it their life's work.

One of these was a Victorian businessman called

William Hesketh Lever, and during his lifetime,

he amassed a collection of over 20,000 works of art, all of which

can be enjoyed by everyone thanks to his public minded principles.

Welcome to the Lady Lever Art Gallery

here on the Wirral in Merseyside.

This gallery contains one of the finest collections

of art in the world.

It's all down to one man, William Hesketh Lever,

so I've come here today to find out how the son of a grocer

became one of the most renowned collectors of art this country has ever seen.

When William Hesketh Lever joined the family grocery firm,

he decided to focus on one product, household soap.

At a time when soap was cut to order from a single block,

he decided to market pre-wrapped bars under a brand name

and began manufacturing soap himself in 1886.

The popularity of his branded soap

meant he was soon employing thousands

and the success of the company made Lever very rich.

One of the reasons Lever's soap sold so well was

because he understood the importance of marketing,

which was a relatively new concept in late Victorian Britain.

He would look for images that were appealing, thought-provoking

and familiar to promote his products,

and he found these images in contemporary British paintings of the day.

He would go to art exhibitions and galleries in London

to buy pictures which would appeal to the housewives who were his core customers.

Now, this is one of his first purchases,

and it's titled The Wedding Morning.

It shows a young bride preparing for her wedding day

and you can see she's just adjusting her veil,

surrounded by well-wishers and curious onlookers.

Lever then had the image reproduced as an advertisement,

substituting the clock on the mantelpiece

and the cup and saucer on the table for bars of Sunlight Soap.

It was so successful he repeated this formula with other contemporary

paintings, always adding that all-important brand name.

Lever started collecting art purely for business reasons

but it did give him the taste for collecting,

so as he grew richer, he started buying for pleasure.

As a newly rich Victorian businessman,

he was no art connoisseur, so he stuck to safe ground,

only buying works of other contemporary artists he admired.

Luckily enough for Lever, he had an incredibly good eye.

He collected paintings by some of the most successful artists

of his time, including Dante Gabriel Rossetti,

and thanks to Lever,

the gallery's collection of Pre-Raphaelite paintings is world-famous.

Lever now had the confidence and the means

to move beyond the realms of Victorian art,

to explore the history and the breadth

of British artistic achievement.

Now take this wonderful Georgian portrait by Romney, for example.

Lever recognised its beauty instantly

and you can see why, can't you? When Romney painted this

back in 1784, he was London's most fashionable portrait painter.

His assured draughtsmanship shows a relaxed, elegant mood

which you can see.

There's an understanding between artist and sitter.

Now, Lever paid £12,000 for this back then,

which equates to around about £1.2 million in today's money,

but it was this purchase that shot Lever

into the top league of art buyers.

Lever transformed from a casual buyer into a serious collector.

As his business grew, so did his wealth.

He had enough money to buy some collections outright.

When one of the best collections of Wedgwood came to the market,

Lever had none, so he bought the lot. It cost him £17,000.

That's about £1.7 million.

Today it's regarded as the best collection of Wedgwood Jasperware in the world.

Soon, Lever's artistic daring knew no bounds

as the purchase of this incredible statue demonstrates.

I absolutely love this, it takes my breath away.

It's late 19th century and it's by the French sculptor Ferrary.

It depicts the ancient story of Salammbo, who sacrifices herself

to the gods in the form of a serpent, which you can see entwined

around her, in order to save her own people from an enemy army.

But this is no virtuous piece.

The sculptor has made this both sensual and erotic.

Just look at the expression, it is clearly one of absolute ecstasy.

This is a work of passion.

Clearly not a purchase for the faint-hearted.

But if there's one piece that shows just how far Lever's taste had come

from paintings of girls in frocks, then I guess it's this one.

Not just because of its size, which I have to say is absolutely immense,

but because of the classical subject matter.

The Daphnephoria is by Lord Frederick Leighton,

and it depicts an ancient Greek festival that celebrated art and beauty.

Leighton's drawing of the picture expresses his belief that art

is of central importance to society.

Leighton wanted to educate the ordinary working class man

by exposing him to great fine art like this.

That's possibly why Lever bought the painting.

He wasn't daunted by the subject matter. He agreed with it.

Lever wanted to share his collections with the public.

He felt he needed a purpose-built gallery to display

the many imposing works he now owned.

The construction of the Lady Lever Art Gallery,

named after his late wife, duly commenced and was formally

opened in 1922 by Princess Beatrice, Queen Victoria's daughter.

Lever built this gallery to give everyone the chance to see

the incredible collection he put together during his lifetime.

He believed art should be an inspiration to everyone.

And how right he was.

Well, there is no doubt we are visiting some magnificent places

on today's show and seeing some wonderful works of art.

Right now, we're heading back up north to our valuation day at Wallasey

where Anita Manning has spotted something of interest.

She really does deserve a medal, that woman.

David, welcome to Flog it,

and thank you for bringing this little medal along.

On the face of it, it's nine carat gold,

it's just a little rowing medal,

but I know that you have done research on it

and it's something a little more special than that.

I bought the medal because it was going to be scrapped.

It had a name on the medal and I thought it would be a shame

if it was scrapped without finding out something about the person

who won the medal.

At the time, I just knew "L H Barradell."

I went to the Maritime Museum and the people in the Maritime Museum

took me into the library and found out L H Barradell

was on the naval cadet ship, HMS Conway.

So this is the ship here. And where did this ship live?

-It was based on the Mersey.

-So it's a Mersey ship?

While it was there, they used to have this rowing competition

and this year, he rowed and he won the gold medal,

which is a solid gold medal,

and I don't think they give a solid gold medal away for rowing nowadays.

Especially to a 17-year-old.

It's been really exciting, the research has been good.

I always feel that it's a very interesting aspect of our industry,

"antiques," in inverted commas,

because we're looking at items,

they can be very fine items which are made by master craftsmen,

or they can be items which describe part of our social history.

And to be able to look back,

to do research on things, where we're learning about the past,

that is a very satisfying thing.

It was for me.

And this is exactly what you've done, so congratulations!

-Thank you very much.

-And this will certainly help

-to sell it.

-Yes.

-And we're going to put it into a sale room.

-In Liverpool.

In Liverpool, with all this research, and I think that's quite important,

that we're going to put the research in there for the buyers,

and hopefully it'll be bought by a collector who is

interested in the maritime history of Liverpool.

Now, price, we'll put it into auction

and hopefully it'll be bought by a collector interested in this,

but I would like to make the estimate in the main fairly low and wide.

And to put an estimate of £1-200 on it.

-Would you be happy at that?

-Very happy with that.

It's been a fascinating story, both the story of this young man

and the story of your research, so it's been an absolute delight.

I'll be at the auction with you and let's hope it takes a flyer.

Thank you very much.

Let's hope David's research entices the bidders at auction.

Now over to Michael Baggott in Southwell Minster

who has found an item with hidden depths.

-Jackie.

-Michael.

Fabulous hair, I must say that to start with.

That almost puts this in the shade.

But what a marvellous thing.

-Have you been to Japan, is that where it's come from?

-Never.

I would love to go to Japan. I'm unsure if it's Japanese or Chinese.

-So we're thinking either Japanese or Chinese?

-Yes.

It's French.

-Is it really?

-It's French.

-Wow!

What basically happened, is in about 1862,

we start to have exhibitions in this country and in France

-of Japanese objects.

-OK.

So what happened is they got all these wonderful,

very monochrome glazed bowls and very austere looking pieces

and they wrapped them up in all these brightly coloured wonderful prints,

and when they came over to be unpacked, heathens that we are,

we took less notice of the pottery and the objects

and the art world went mad for the prints.

So that started a craze, the aesthetic movement,

which loved anything Japanese, anything oriental.

There wasn't a great distinguish between Chinese and Japanese.

That's why you sometimes get on these European objects

a confusion of the styles.

They're magpies, they're picking from everything they see,

from prints, from vases, from objects,

and they're combining them,

so we've got this, obviously not a bamboo frame, but carved to look

like bamboo, because that's the oriental material that they use,

or we believe they use.

And we've got these two figures which are bijin, or beautiful women,

and you've got these auspicious cranes flying above them,

which is usually the Empress, the crane.

This is of course a mirror. You open it that way.

Now this panel survived in much better condition,

because that's the one that's closed,

although it's had a big whack there.

-Right.

-And someone's put a bit of angle line on that.

-Yes.

These tended to be made in France in about 1870-1880.

Right? As old as that.

Is it something you have up on the wall to do your hair

-in the morning?

-Unfortunately, no, it isn't.

-They have in the past made relatively good money.

-Good.

-But in much better condition than this.

-Yes, of course.

-Any idea what it might be worth?

-No idea at all.

-I think, conservatively, let's say £80-120.

-Oh, right.

I thought it would be worth more than that to be truthful but...

-In pristine order, they have made £300, £400, £500.

-Right, OK.

But I would rather be pessimistic and we have a lovely surprise

than over optimistic and we stand there and it doesn't go.

-That's fine.

-I'll tell you what we'll do.

-We'll put £100-200.

-Okey-dokey.

And we'll put £100 reserve on it and that opens it up so it's there to go.

Yes, it does. Yes, OK.

But it's a lovely and unusual thing

-and thank you very much for bringing it in.

-Thank you, Michael. Thank you.

Who would have thought the mirror was French?

Double points if you suspected.

The next item is quintessentially British and it's our very own

English gent, Mark Stacey, who spotted it back in Southall.

Sue, we've had a drastic turnout and you have brought in

a really exciting and quite rare piece of Beswick pottery.

-Did you know that?

-No.

-Well, I'm not a Beswick aficionado, as they say.

But I do know this example was made in two forms.

The more common form is a black Duchess holding a pie

and the rare form is holding a bunch of flowers.

-Where did it come from?

-It came through my mother,

who inherited it from one of her relatives.

So, the original person who bought it might have bought it new

-in the sort of 1950s.

-I would think so.

Which is when it was made.

When the first one of these came on the market about, I suppose,

15 years ago or something,

it was such a rarity that it made quite a lot of money but of course,

like a lot of these collectible ceramics,

once one is discovered, other people say, "I've got one. I've got one."

So they become a little more common but they're still quite rare.

I mean, they're quite simply made, really.

They are all hand-painted

and underneath you have got a little mark here.

Beatrix Potter, Duchess.

And then F. Warne & Co Ltd. And then Beswick, England.

Interestingly, for those people who are fanatics about Beswick,

-all this is in gold. Can you see?

-Yes.

-Gold colour writing.

The later ones are in brown.

And they were later taken over by Royal Albert.

You see some figures made by the Royal Albert factory.

But this is a nice early mark which dates it to the 1950s, '60s.

Which, again, is a nice confirmation of the period of it.

Everything seems in good condition.

It might surprise you to know that if my memory serves me right,

and I've got it right on this occasion,

-I think this little figure is worth around £500-700.

-Oh, gosh!

-It's quite a lot, isn't it?

-It is, for something as small as that.

A little Beswick figure. They used to make a lot more than that.

They used to make over 1,000 but the market has dropped a little bit.

But I'm sure that there's collectors out there

that would like that and would pay quite a bit of money for it.

-You look as if you're quite pleased to hear that.

-I am. I'm very pleased.

-Thank you very much.

-So you're going to be happy to flog it?

-Yes.

I think we should talk about a reserve

because I don't think we should put it in without a reserve.

I would say, if you are happy with this,

put a reserve of £400 on it to protect it.

If we can't get that, I think it's worth hanging on to.

But if we can get £400 or more,

I think we are in the ballpark of the collectors' market.

-OK.

-Are you happy to do that?

-Very happy to do that. Thank you.

If it does very well, of course, I'll expect a bouquet of flowers from you.

-Thank you very much for bringing it in, Sue.

-Thank you. Thank you.

This piano is one of the most recent additions

to the collection here at Dunster Castle.

It once belonged to Vivian Ellis,

a famous musical comedy composer who started his career

as a classical pianist and became well known in London's West End.

For much of his life he lived locally in Minehead

and he left his beloved piano to the National Trust.

He's probably best known for the song Spread A Little Happiness,

which he wrote in 1929.

Hopefully we can spread a little happiness right now

as we head over to the auction room for the very last time today.

Before we do, here's a recap of all the items going under the hammer.

David's research certainly adds value to that 100-year-old

rowing medal and proves that antiques deserve time

as well as money invested in them.

Let's hope Jackie's mirror attracts as much attention as her hair.

Michael has given it a sensible estimate so I'm hopeful.

And Beswick pottery is a good staple of the auction room,

and this is a rare breed of Duchess cat.

The market has dropped off recently but the buyers are still out there.

First, expert and auctioneer Adam Partridge is on the rostrum

to sell that rowing medal.

Going under the hammer now, something for budding oarsmen.

It's a rowing medal, a 20th-century one, belonging to David.

There's a great story behind that which we heard

at the valuation day and now we are going to put that to the test.

You've done a marvellous job on the research

and we've got the research available for the potential buyers

so that makes it that bit more interesting.

With provenance, and as we keep saying,

provenance is key in this industry.

It puts the value up. Let's find out what it does right now.

£100. I'll take 10. At £100. Any advance on this?

At £100, the bid. Any more?

At £100. 10 in the room. 110 down here.

At 110. Any more at 110?

We're selling this now at £110 with the folder of research. At 110.

We're down here. Are you all done at £110? At 110.

20. 120. 130. 130.

140. 150.

It's great how it climbs, isn't it?

At 150, mid estimate, and away now. At £150.

-Yes, £150!

-That's good.

Great auctioneering as well but thanks to that bidder there...

-I'll shake her hand later.

-It just quickly went four bids up, £150.

-David, put it there.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-That was wonderful.

Time to find out how the mirror does under the hammer.

Going under the hammer right now we have a European mirror

in the Japanese style belonging to Jackie.

It's only £100 and Michael said if it doesn't sell,

-he's going to dye his hair that colour.

-Wow!

I don't think I did, Paul. You're making it up.

-I didn't.

-Perhaps Paul will.

-The beard then.

-The beard.

-That's almost that colour now.

Anyway, let's find out what the bidders think, shall we?

Here we go. Good luck.

£100, I am bid for this mirror. 100. 110 for it?

100, only, bid.

110, I'll take. 110. 120. 130.

-It's a very unusual thing this, Jackie.

-It's very nice, isn't it?

-Too late now, it's not yours.

-That's great.

£140. I shall sell.

-All done at 140?

-£140. Boof!

-You didn't like it, did you, anyway?

-I didn't really, no. I didn't.

-Nor did I.

-Didn't you?

-No.

It wasn't my taste either, was it?

-Three people in the room that hate it and it still sold.

-That's fantastic.

If you've got something like that, we will gladly sell it for you.

Bring it along to one of our valuation days.

Details you can pick up on our BBC website.

Log on to bbc.co.uk/flogit.

Check the links. All the information will be there.

If you don't have a computer,

check the details in your local press because we will come

to a town near you soon so dust them down and bring them in.

Now, how will our Beswick pottery do?

Our next item belonging to Sue is that Duchess figure,

Beatrix Potter figure.

I have to say in the 13 years of Flog It,

I think we've sold four or five of these. Throughout our history.

And they have all made good money.

So they are about but they are the ones to collect, aren't they?

Duchess with the flowers. We are putting it to the test right now.

It's going under the hammer. This is it.

£400 for this lot, I am bid. At 400.

420 for it? 420.

450. 480. 500.

550. 600. 600, I am bid.

650 for you. At £600 against you online.

At £600, commission bid. And selling, fair warning, at £600.

I sell... 50. In the nick of time, £650 online.

-Online.

-That was good.

The internet is coming in. It's a bit slow.

-£650. That's good.

-Not bad.

That's not bad, is it? Mid-estimate, a little above. Yes.

-Happy?

-Very.

-Good.

I'm pleased with that because you didn't have a clue, did you?

That makes it even more fun for you, doesn't it?

And you've still got other things, anyway.

You've still got other figures.

What a great collection of items we've had on today's show.

Join us again soon when we'll be delving into the past

to bring you more exciting Flog It finds.