Gloucester 29 Flog It!

These are the famous cloisters at Gloucester Cathedral.

Their beauty and their virtuosity

would be an astonishing achievement today,

let alone some 700 years ago.

And they are some of the finest examples of medieval craftsmanship

you will find in Europe.

And they attract thousands of visitors each year,

including a young wizard and his friends.

Well, if they're good enough for Harry Potter,

they're good enough for us.

Welcome to Flog It!

The medieval artistry and craftsmanship

on display within the cathedral is breathtaking.

From the intricate stonework

to the soaring, vaulted ceiling

with its heavenly orchestra of angels.

And the huge windows of coloured glass,

casting shadows of jewelled light.

Everything's been designed to inspire awe.

And it certainly does.

But just as awe-inspiring is this fantastic queue here today.

Hundreds of people have turned up

with, as of yet, undiscovered treasures,

crafted by unknown hands from unknown lands

for our experts to muse over.

And, of course, this lot want to ask that all-important question,

which is...

-ALL:

-What's it worth?

And if you're happy with your valuation, what are you going to do?

-ALL:

-Flog it!

Right, let's get this lot inside.

Before that, let's meet our experts, Philip Serrell.

You have just been royally stickered, you have.

And the security conscious Michael Baggot.

Bag inspection. Bag inspection.

Both are ready to do battle in their own unique way.

Don't you dare! Don't you dare!

Don't you dare!

They don't like it up 'em!

Very Dad's Army!

All right, OK!

In today's programme, Michael's in for a nice surprise.

I thought it was a garden ornament, to be honest.

A garden ornament? Whenever I been dragged down the garden centre,

I don't think I've ever seen anything like this.

If I had, I would have bust out into a run almost.

And even I get carried away.

You've made my day!

Philip spoils it at the valuation!

These magnificent columns that you can see in the nave

are part of the earliest Norman building.

Now they have outlasted the original wooden structure

and the thatched roof.

The red stains that you can see around the bases,

that's evidence of an early fire.

Now that must've been some inferno.

Talking of fireworks, here is our first valuation.

-Margaret, how are you?

-I'm very well, thank you.

What brings you to "Flog It!"?

-Oh, I love "Flog It!"

-You love "Flog It!"?

Say it louder. Hold on...

Who is your "Flog It!" favourite?

Paul Martin.

What?

Yes.

Well...and you. And you. I like you as well.

-That's all right, then.

-Yeah, of course.

What have you brought along for us?

I've brought you some measures.

They were at my father's shop

and he worked for his uncle and his cousin.

So is that the...

George Alder.

-That's my father's...

-From Stroud?

-From Stroud.

This is a seed catalogue.

Right. And who was GF Alder?

He was my father's uncle.

And they grew their own seed.

This is my father.

-That's your dad.

-Yes.

-And he worked there, did he?

-Yes.

-So he would have used these?

-Yes.

So these are seed measures.

So someone who came into the shop

and wanted half a pint of Marigold seeds,

you scoop them out and that's the seed measure.

Yes, that's right.

And what's lovely about these is the fact they're all stamped up.

And because a measure...

You can't just say, "Oh, that's a pint or a half pint."

It's got the GR or George's stamp on it.

That's right.

And this one has got ER on it, which is Edward, isn't it?

Yes.

And they're stamped with the reign of the monarch and they are actually...

It just, basically, guarantees the measure, doesn't it?

That's right. That's right.

And this one, which is also...

That's a half gallon.

-And that's such a lovely colour, isn't it?

-Yes.

This is patina.

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

it just tells you where it's been all of its life.

And it's just lovely.

It's like chewed toffee.

Why would your family have kept these?

Well, we've always had them since the shop closed down.

-When did the shop shut?

-I think it was in the 1970s.

-But these wouldn't have been worth a great deal then, would they?

-No. No.

So you just kept them?

In a way, that's been quite clever.

Why do you want to sell them now?

Just to meet that Paul Martin, isn't it? That's what you want to do!

-You just want to meet that Paul Martin.

-Yeah, I do. That's right.

Well, I wanted to sell them because they just collect dust, really.

-Well, I think they're lovely.

-Although, I use them for pens.

-That's a wastepaper basket.

-Is that a wastepaper basket?

-What do you think they are going to make, then?

-Oh, I don't think much.

What, 10 or 15 quid?

Really?

Each?

-No, the lot.

-Really?

I think you're wrong.

I think we can put a £50 reserve on them

and we'll estimate them at £60-£90.

And it wouldn't surprise me, it really wouldn't surprise me

if they made over 100.

That's OK. Thank you.

-So...

-Thank you.

I'm hoping that I might have just overtaken that Paul Martin now.

Yes. Oh, definitely. Definitely.

OK, cut!

Don't need any more at all, thank you!

So Philip's fan club is up and running

with a healthy membership of...one.

Let's see how Michael's doing.

John, Julie, you've brought a "Flog It!" favourite.

-A closed box.

-Yes.

A closed jewellery box. Now you know what's in it.

And I peeked earlier. So shall we do the big reveal?

-Let's do it.

-Yes, please.

Look at that for a brooch!

My goodness, that's going to divide opinion, isn't it?

I think it will.

Is it something that you both like or...?

We both like it. But not like it enough to not want to sell it.

-I have worn it.

-You have worn it?

I've only worn it once.

Our son got married in January and I wore it with my wedding outfit.

But it's not the sort of thing I would wear normally.

-It's a bold statement, isn't it?

-Yes, it is.

I mean, what we've got, it's these two grey Baroque pearls.

And when we say Baroque, all that means is they're an irregular shape.

And someone's looked at them, a jeweller,

and thought, what can we do with these?

Now, in the Renaissance in the 16th century,

-they often use them as the bodies of figures.

-Yes.

So this jeweller's got the inspiration

and made two little plump birds.

And then they've gone and they've covered it

with the most ornate and gaudy enamel colours.

Mm-hm.

And that says to me the 1950s.

Right.

Into the 1960s.

Where did it come from, though? Did you buy it or...?

No. My mother-in-law left it to me.

She wore it a lot, as well.

I've had it out and looked very meticulously.

-There's one mark which is 750.

-Yes.

Which is a Continental way of expressing 18-carat gold.

Right.

750 parts per 1,000.

There's also a smaller mark in a punch that's shaped rather like that.

But that punch outline is typical for Italian makers and Italian marks.

Is it? Right.

And I can well assume that that was made in Italy

in the '50s, into the early '60s.

Good news and bad news.

Probably, when your mother-in-law was wearing it,

it actually wasn't in fashion.

You know, it had gone completely out of it.

It was all elegant jewellery, you see?

Now the younger people, they like '50s and '60s.

They like all this...

I hate to say the words

"retro-vintage" ever coming out of my mouth,

-but this is the high-end of it.

-Yeah.

So, we look at it and we say,

there's an amount of gold there that's worth £100.

You've got a couple of pearls there that are probably worth £50-£100.

So the best thing we can do

is put it into auction with £200-£300 on it.

-Are you happy that we pop it in for that?

-That's fine.

Why are you parting with it now, though?

-Because you've worn it at least once.

-I've worn it once.

The main reason is we wanted to come to "Flog It!" We wanted to have...

It's our fault! We are responsible!

..a "Flog It!" experience.

Oh, well...

My wife was left a lot of jewellery and that's the one that, you know...

That's the piece that has very little sentimental attachment.

Absolutely. Yes. Yes.

Well, let's... I dare say... Oh, it's a punt.

But let's hope these two little chicks fly away at the auction.

-Excellent.

-Thanks very much.

Thank you very much, Michael.

ORGAN MUSIC

Leaving the tables for a moment,

I've ascended to take a closer look at one of the cathedral's treasures.

Towering above our valuation tables is this vast organ.

It was built in 1662 to commemorate the return of the monarchy

after the English Civil War,

during which time the organ and the choir were silenced.

I guess its size and its exuberant decoration

reflect the joy of having music reinstated into the cathedral.

It's definitely a statement piece.

Well, the organist definitely has one of the best seats in the house.

From up here,

you get a completely different perspective of the building.

Here, you have the choir with its vast vaulted ceiling

and its Great East Window full of colour from the stained glass.

And here, the nave with those gigantic Norman columns.

Well, right now, it's time to catch up with our experts

and, hopefully, Philip Serrell will be pulling out all the stops

with his next item.

Eileen, if I said to you who was probably

one of the most famous of 20th-century potters

that there was in this country,

who would you... What name would you use?

-Well, I would say Bernard Leach.

-You would say Bernard Leach?

-Yes.

-He was the man, wasn't he?

-He was.

-And that's not by Bernard Leach, is it?

-No, it isn't. That's David.

And that's his son.

-I would think this is about mid-1950s.

-Yeah.

Well, I had it as a wedding present in 1955.

-It's not going to be any later then, is it?

-It can't be any later.

We've narrowed that down, haven't we?

-It might be earlier.

-Yeah.

And what's lovely, you can just see there, DL, can't you?

-That's his moniker, yeah.

-David Leach.

I mean, for 1950s, I think that's quite forward-thinking.

Well, this is it.

Most of Bernard Leach's pottery is very modern-looking now.

Yeah.

When did you appreciate what it was?

Oh, at the time. I knew all about...

Because I was an art student when I was younger.

And I did know about pottery.

I mean, I wasn't very successful myself.

But I had learnt quite a little bit about...

You have a good eye.

And you can tell that from talking to you and listening to you.

-Do you like it?

-I do.

So why are you selling it?

I'm not doing anything with it.

And I don't collect erm...pottery.

Somebody might.

Somebody who likes to collect the Leaches.

They might want it.

What do you think?

I think it's a lovely thing. I'm not quite sure...

So it's sort of...

This is supposedly fixed to the wall, isn't it?

Yes, we used to have it on the wall.

-And that fits in there.

-That fits inside, yes.

One thing we haven't discussed with this

is what it's going to make, have we?

-No. Not a lot, I don't suppose.

-Any ideas?

Well, I did have a valuation some six months or so ago.

Oh, this is where I get all ears.

And they said about 100.

I think that I would estimate it at £80-£120.

I think the time's right for 20th-century design.

-I think it's a thing that's very in at the moment.

-Yeah.

And our business is really driven by fashion.

Some days, prices are there.

And then, the next day, it's down there.

Yes. That's it. It's knowing the right moment, isn't it?

And this stuff is collectable. I have to say...

-Yes?

-If I owned this...

You wouldn't bother with that, no.

I'd probably consign that to the bin.

Well, let's confirm, then, that we put it into auction.

OK.

-And we'll put a £80-£120 estimate on it.

-Right.

-And a fixed reserve of £80. How's that?

-OK.

-Is that all right?

-Yep.

-It's been really lovely talking to.

-Nice talking to you, Philip.

-And we'll meet again.

-We will indeed.

David Leach was the eldest son

of the famous artist-potter Bernard Leach,

considered the godfather of 20th-century British ceramics.

David carried on his father's legacy,

making pieces heavily influenced by Japanese ceramics,

and characterised by their clean lines and oriental simplicity.

Well, we've all been working flat out

and, as you've just seen,

our experts have found their first items to take off to the saleroom.

This is where it gets exciting. Anything can happen.

So don't go away.

And here's a quick recap

of the items that are going under the hammer.

Phillip's estimate is spot-on

for Margaret's set of early 20th century seed measures.

There are plenty of reasons to bid for this

pretty pearl and enamel brooch.

And owning an original Bernard Leach is beyond most of our means.

But Eileen's David Leach pot is an affordable alternative.

For today's sale we've travelled across the county

to Moore Allen & Innocent,

situated just outside of Cirencester.

Now, fingers crossed it's going to be packed inside

full of bidders wanting to go home with our lots.

I know we're going to be assured of a warm welcome

from the proprietor and auctioneer, Philip Allwood.

Let's catch up with our owners.

The commission here today is 15% plus vat.

And first up is Eileen's pot.

A little bit of David Leach.

Son of the grandmaster, Bernard Leach.

I mean, it's a great name in the history of studio pottery.

But there's something so contemporary-looking about this.

We talk a lot about good design and good shape and good form.

And that's what you've got to look for. And this has the lot.

Right now, we're going to learn exactly what this goes for.

It's going under the hammer right now.

Let's hand things over to Philip Allwood.

Who'll start me now at 100? 50 to get on. At £30 bid only, then.

At £30 a bid only, then. At £30 a bid there.

At five if you like now. 35.

40. Five. At 45.

50 now. 50.

Five. Have 55. 60 now.

At £55. It's on my right at 55. 60 anywhere?

At £55.

60 to me. 60.

Five then. At 65 now.

Oh, come on, we're selling this.

At £65. On the book at 65.

70 anywhere?

At £65.

At 70 anywhere?

At 65...

That wanted just a little bit more as well, ladies and gentlemen.

-I can't believe that.

-I'm not surprised.

I can't believe that.

I don't think the time is right.

-I think it is.

-You think it is?

I think it's so right. Everybody is into that.

-We're sorry that didn't sell.

-That's all right, Paul.

-I think that should go home.

-I'm quite happy to take it home.

Treasure it. Treasure it. It's a little joy.

If I could get around better, I would look for more pieces now

and make a collection.

Exactly.

So Eileen's pot lives to play another day,

whilst Julie and John's brooch takes the stage.

Good luck, Julie and John.

Fingers crossed we get this away at the top end.

We're talking about the '50s cocktail jewellery.

There is an immense amount of work in it. It's enamel, it's pearl.

-It's not to everybody's taste.

-No.

But this is the jewellery that younger people

are starting to be interested in and, hopefully, they'll be bidding today.

Italian '50s. It's going under the hammer right now.

At 150 bid here. 150. 160 now.

At 150.

160 now. At 160.

170. 180. 180.

190.

200. At 200.

At the back here at 200.

Out on my left. At £200 it's on my right now.

-At £200.

-That's more like it.

200...

Hammer's gone down. £200.

He was spot-on, wasn't he? Well done, Michael.

-More by luck than judgment.

-Thank you so much.

-Pleasure.

So those birds have flown the nest

and now it's the set of seed measures

belonging to Philip's number one fan, Margaret.

OK, going under the hammer right now,

my favourite lot in the whole sale.

Literally, in the whole sale,

and there's around 900 lots here, Margaret.

You've made my day.

-Philip spoilt it at the valuation!

-I know!

No, he didn't, actually. He had such a good time.

And I'm really pleased that you picked these

because I know you're a man like me who loves stuff like this.

Why don't you want to keep these?

-Well, I have kept them for a good while.

-Yeah.

But I thought somebody else might like them for a change.

-Oh, well, they're divine.

-But I shall miss them.

-I bet you will.

-Yes.

-They're so tactile.

-Yes.

When you pick them up, you actually... You hold them and you...

Someone's loved these for a long time.

You say someone else might like them, there's two people here that'd love them!

Hey, look, good luck. Good luck. Fingers crossed, everyone.

This is it.

The grain measures and the Alder of Stroud seed pamphlets there.

Good little lot this. Should be at 100.

Where are you going to be? Start me.

50 to get on, then.

At £50 bid there. Thank you. At 50.

50. At £50. At five, if you'd like now. Five. 60.

Five. 70.

Five. 80.

Five. 90.

Come on...

100. 110.

At 110.

120 now.

At 110 I have.

At £110. You're all out in front of me, then, now. At £110.

Are you all done?

Sold at top end, that's good. We happy, Margaret?

That's good. Wonderful.

And, hopefully, they've gone to a good home,

-a good collector.

-Yes.

-And they'll never be split up.

-Yes. Lovely. Thank you very much.

-And you've made our day, anyway.

-Oh, good, I'm so glad.

You've made our day at the valuation day,

but you've put another smile on our faces.

-Yes, she's a lovely, lovely lady.

-Bless you. Thank you so much.

-Bye-bye.

-Bye-bye.

If you've got anything like that, we want to see you.

Bring it along to one of our valuation days

and you could be standing here, like Margaret,

going home with a bit of money.

A great result and I even get a kiss!

Well, before we join up with our valuations back at the cathedral,

I had the opportunity to take a closer look

at some of the cathedral's stained-glass wonders.

Amongst the cathedral's many treasures

are its stained-glass windows.

There are so many here, everywhere you look, you can spot one.

In fact, there's 154 in total.

I don't know if that's some kind of record, but it is pretty impressive.

The art of stained glass reached its peak during the Middle Ages.

And Gloucester Cathedral

has one of the finest surviving examples in the world.

This is the Great East Window.

And it's extraordinary, not only because of its size,

which is monumental,

but also for the survival

of most of its original pieces of medieval stained glass.

Designed and constructed around 1350,

during the reign of Edward III,

it's survived an astonishing 600 years.

with its intense colour still blazing.

It's an incredibly bold and audacious design.

It, literally, is a wall of glass bigger than a tennis court.

And it fills that entire wall behind the high altar.

At the time of its installation,

that was the largest window anywhere in the world.

There are several tiers of figures,

starting at the bottom with the noblemen on earth,

rising to Christ and the Virgin Mary, flanked by the 12 Apostles.

And above, the angels, before rising to Christ in Majesty on the ceiling.

Well, I've decided to come up here

to get a closer look at the stained-glass windows.

And from here, you can really appreciate the techniques

of the medieval craftsmen.

Each window would have been individually handcrafted in the workshop.

They used delicate brushwork with a silver stain

that, once fired, turned yellow.

Well, this window is carefully thought out. It really is.

With white glass or the tinted yellow glass for the figures,

which are the central characters,

surrounded by the dark reds and the dark blues

of the background colours.

It's quite fascinating, it really is.

The majority of the cathedral's stained glass is Victorian,

created during the Gothic Revival of the 19th century.

However, the medieval influence re-emerges in these windows

from the early 20th century.

They're by Christopher Whall,

a key figure in the Arts and Crafts movement.

In the first series is The Fall Of Man from 1899,

which shows the Garden of Eden rich and bold in colours.

Whall's exquisite painting,

combined with the medieval characteristics

of texture and unevenness in the glass,

allow the vibrant colours to glow with an internal brilliance.

They are regarded as some of the finest examples

of glass of the period in England.

And they've been described as

"perfectly medieval and perfectly modern"

which really does sum up, for me,

the whole ethos of the Arts and Crafts movement

Whall's work was hugely influential for many stained-glass artists,

including Tom Denny,

the man responsible for these spectacular windows

in the small side chapel of St Thomas.

The subject overall is praise.

And it explores the idea of praising God

through different parts of Scripture.

So, in the two outer windows, on the left and the right,

there are all sorts of elements and creatures

which come from Psalm 148.

And then, in the central window,

praise becomes something much more personal

and we see Doubting Thomas

realising that it is Christ

and kneeling to worship him.

Why did you choose blue?

I decided that unified colour would allow more freedom.

I felt that the three windows needed to have a sense of movement,

a fluidity between them,

so that they worked together as a whole.

Tom's most recent work is a series of windows

commemorating the life and the work

of Gloucester poet and composer Ivor Gurney.

He not only had the horrors of the First World War to endure,

but he suffered mental depression

and illness throughout his life.

And I've tried to express that tightrope in all of them

but, at the same time, to select a particular poem

that concentrates some aspect of his experience.

So, for example, in this group of four,

there is a sequence, in a sense.

The first, on the left, is a grey-white Somme landscape,

where horses and men slain by the mud

are emerging from a shell hole full of water.

And there's an endless column of figures moving into the distance.

And then the one to the right of that,

with figures walking through the landscape,

that's called To His Love.

"He's gone, and all our plans Are useless indeed.

"We'll walk no more on Cotswolds

"Where the sheep feed quietly And take no heed."

So there's that memory.

But then, there's also the horror of a broken body at the bottom.

I mean, what strikes me at first glance is the chromatic hue,

that vivid colour.

But once you see that and you look onto that,

-then you start to explore the narrative, don't you?

-Yes.

I think that's absolutely the essence of stained glass,

that it operates, initially, as colour and light.

So it can be, apparently, a very abstract medium.

But then, I think it's more rewarding if you can then go on

-and take a second sort of phase in your exploration.

-Exactly.

And that's the key to all good art, though, isn't it, when you think about it?

Yeah.

Yes, I think so.

That it deserves more than one look.

Exactly.

We've had a tremendous turnout today

and there's still a lot more to get through.

Our experts are working flat out to find an item worthy

of such surroundings.

Let's catch up with them for our next item.

Lucy, I think you've made not only my day

but my week and my month and my year...

-Oh, my goodness.

-..by bringing in this chap here.

Right.

Before I attempt to tell you anything about it...

Right.

..what's the provenance with it, what history do you have with it?

Basically, it's a friend of mine, who's actually 85,

gave it to me about three years ago.

I know it's from her friend, who gave it to her,

and it belonged to her dad, who was a French sea captain.

-It's a pot, obviously.

-Yes.

Do you know any more about it?

I thought it was a garden ornament, to be honest.

-It's a garden ornament? You know what?

-That's about as much as I know.

Whenever I've been down the garden centre,

I don't think I've ever seen anything like this.

Well, it's terracotta, you know?

-If I had, I'd have bust out into a run almost.

-Yes.

-It is, it's terracotta.

-Yes.

It's painted terracotta. It's a very simple thing. It's potted.

It seems to be seamed along the edge here.

-So it possibly could have been moulded...

-Right.

..and put together.

What I find most interesting, to begin with, is what's on the back.

I know, I wondered that.

And we've wondered what language it's written in.

Well, I thought it was French.

-Someone who knows Spanish thinks that they can decipher part of it.

-Right.

-Which is, "The gift to the captain."

-Right.

And I think, personally, there's a date there which says about 1876.

Really? Oh, my goodness.

It also mentions a place name.

-Chichen Abilen.

-Right.

Now, that's not a million miles away from South American names

-of very old and ancient cities.

-OK.

And this is where this chap comes from.

He's a pre-Columbian pot.

-Really?

-So before Columbus went to America...

Pre-Columbian pot?!

..there were civilisations.

-There was the Zapotec and the Mayan civilisations...

-Right.

..which produced pots of this similar iconography.

-We've got the earrings...

-Yeah, well, I thought that, yes.

And then we've got, as a surmount on his hat,

this sort of monkey figurine.

Yes. Oh, gosh, it is a monkey.

Now, I didn't realise that was a monkey.

-So he's a monkey, we assume, god.

-Yes.

Oh, I didn't know that either.

And he's obviously a warrior

-or he's preparing to take part in one of their vicious games.

-Oh, God...

-Right. So he's got a weapon, hasn't he?

-He's got his weapon.

-He's got his weapon. He's got his small shield.

-Yes.

And it's a fascinating thing.

It would have been something that had been buried for a long time.

So how old do you think it is, then?

Potentially...

..it could be 600 to 1,000 years old.

No?!

Now a lot of...

-Not to excite you too much, a lot of this stuff does survive.

-Right. OK.

-You know, they dig it up in South America and Mexico...

-Yes. Yes.

-..quite a lot.

-Right.

And we're not able today to tell you precisely

-which culture it belongs to.

-OK.

And what the date is.

-We can say it's pre-Columbian.

-Yeah.

-But it's fascinating.

-Mm...

And, you know, we've got a pot on this table

-which is possibly as old as the building we're sitting in.

-That's...

Well, I'm gobsmacked, to be honest with you.

-It's not a garden ornament.

-No!

Don't put it in the garden. I want you to put in the auction.

I thought it had a bit of age but, you know, not quite that.

-I think that's putting it mildly, don't you?

-Yes.

Value...

It deserves a decent valuation.

-£200-£400.

-OK.

-Reserve of £200. So if you're happy...

-I'm very happy.

-..to put your garden pot...

-I am very happy.

..in the auction.

-I'm very happy that you came along today.

-That's brilliant.

-Thank you very much.

-Well, no, thank you.

-And thank him.

-Yes, brilliant.

-And let's hope he's a benevolent fellow.

-I hope so.

-We'll see you at the auction.

-Great. Brilliant. Thank you.

It's a pleasure.

Well, that's a "Flog It!" first, a bit of pre-Columbian pottery.

Now, let's see what Philip's unearthed.

Susan, how are you?

-I'm fine, thank you.

-And this is...?

-This is my daughter Juliet.

-Right.

-So who's is the painting?

-The painting is mine.

But the money is going to help Juliet

with her travelling and her university.

Juliet, do you like this?

It's interesting.

That's interesting. I'll have to remember that.

It's a nice artwork, but not my thing.

-It's not your thing?

-No.

How old do you think it is?

I'd say...100 years.

It might be a little bit earlier than that.

It's by this man called William Langley.

And I say this man called William Langley

because I've seen lots of work by William Langley,

but there's a school of thought that says William Langley never existed.

Really?

And he was actually a pseudonym for a man called Sherrin.

-Oh...

-All right?

And his work is always either beach scenes

or these sort of almost made-up Welsh mountain landscapes.

-Yes.

-OK?

And this is a painting that's sort of so out of vogue,

-it's sort of our generation but not your generation.

-No. Yeah.

And this... The heyday of this would have been in the 1970s.

It's what I call the rum baba and black forest gateau era, you know?

And this painting then could have made, in good order,

around perhaps £200-£400.

The issues with it today...

It needs a jolly good clean under the glass.

-Can you see this blooming here?

-Yeah.

All right, so that needs sorting out.

If you wanted to present this at an antique fair or in a gallery,

you'd need to sort the frame out.

And that could cost you £100.

It's on canvas.

Let me just...

The canvas is a little bit slack,

which means it might need restretching.

So we've got a work by William Langley,

an original oil painting,

-who might actually be our friend Mr Sherrin.

-Right.

It's painted at the back end of the 19th century.

It's a Welsh mountain landscape.

Erm...

What's it worth?

Have you got any idea?

-Well...

-Or have you had any comparables as to its value?

About 30 years ago,

I was told it was worth the price of a three-piece suite.

So I took that to mean £600-£700ish.

I think it's probably now the price of a second-hand three-piece suite.

-Right.

-OK?

And in auction today,

I would see this making somewhere between probably £50 and £150.

Right. OK.

So it's not going to be the longest trip you are going to go on

-but it might contribute to something else.

-Yes.

-Are you happy to put that into auction?

-I am happy, yes.

Let's keep our fingers crossed

and hope that we find a couple of people there

-who really fall in love with it.

-That would be wonderful.

Isn't that lovely?

Look at this!

And it still works! Good luck with that.

Finally, it's Michael, and a gleaming Art Nouveau bowl.

Joy, thank you for bringing in

this very intriguing and beautifully polished bowl.

What can you tell me about it?

It belongs to my mother-in-law, who's had it, I think,

-since probably about the 1960s.

-Oh?

She used to use it when she was entertaining

and used it to serve bread and so on.

Oh, lovely.

And she hasn't used it for many years

so she's now decided she'd like to sell it.

When she had it, well, as far as you know,

was it all polished like this?

-Had she...?

-She polished it before she handed it over to us.

So I'm not sure she was meant to do that.

Ah-ha... Right.

No, well, we'll get back to that later.

Because that raises an interesting point.

We've obviously got an Art Nouveau pewter bowl.

And if we flip it over, there's one name we want to see...

-..which is Liberty.

-Right.

And there we go. "English pewter made by Liberty and Company."

It would be nice if it said Tudric,

which is the range name for pewter made for Liberty and Co.

But this may predate that,

-because we've got a very early Liberty pattern number.

-Right.

0-5-3-5.

-And they will relate to a specific designer.

-Right.

But the name you look for and hope for is Archibald Knox,

that gifted Isle of Man designer.

-And this is a Knox piece.

-Yes.

And when you look at it, you can see his use of entrelac motifs,

these Celtic knots,

and of nature absolutely entwining with one another.

Very intricate and pierced. Lovely thing.

Now, this is exactly how it would have looked at Liberty's

when it was sold in about 1900, 1905.

It's that old? Right.

But, pewter... I mean, basically, it was made to simulate silver.

It was that planished, polished pewter.

Over time, pewter discolours.

And it goes a very dark grey.

Right.

There are two schools of thought about what you do.

The purists would never have you touch it.

They want it in utterly original condition.

So, from Liberty's, untouched until today.

And they are very dark pewter bodies.

The other school of thought is, well, Knox didn't design them like that,

he meant that they should be polished and shiny.

So what your mother-in-law has done

is very much in keeping with Knox's original thoughts and designs,

it just affects the value ever so slightly with collectors.

I think we would be sensible if we said...

£120 up to about £180.

A fixed reserve of 120.

And we'll hope that all the people that like polished Knox

are there on the sale date and it goes above that.

-But do you think she'd be happy with that?

-I hope so, yes.

Marvellous. We'll do that.

And I hope, on the day, we get, you know,

maybe up to that £200 mark for her.

-But thank you very much for bringing it in.

-Thank you.

-Pleasure.

Well, sadly, it's time to leave Gloucester Cathedral

and its centuries of history,

as we head back to the saleroom.

I've got my favourites. You've probably got yours.

But, right now, it's down to the bidders.

Here's a quick recap of what's going under the hammer...

Well, I've never seen

a pre-Colombian monkey warrior terracotta pot before.

It should create a buzz in the saleroom.

There's a pretty picture in there somewhere, it just needs some TLC.

But, at that price, it's a good investment.

To shine or not to shine? The eternal debate.

Will the bidders decide in the saleroom?

First up, it's Joy's Art Nouveau pewter bowl.

Going under the hammer right now, a bit of Archibald Knox.

Yes, it's that wonderful early Liberty's bowl belonging to Joy.

-Well, in fact, it's mother-in-law's, isn't it?

-It is.

And you're selling this on her behalf.

A great name. Everyone loves his designs.

Probably Liberty's best-known designer.

-Synonymous with Liberty's, really.

-Yeah, absolutely.

Fingers crossed, anyway. Let's hope we get the top end.

It's going under the hammer now. Good luck. This is it.

The Archibald Knox for Liberty dish here.

Start me at 100. That'd be cheap, wouldn't it?

£100 I'm bid there. Thank you. At 100.

At £100 on my right now. At 100.

110 on my left. At 120

At 120 here on my right now. 120 here.

At 120. Lady's bid at 130.

140. 150.

160. 170.

180. At 180.

The lady's bid at 180. 190 there back in. At 190.

200.

At 200. The lady's bid at 200. 220 now.

At £200.

It's right in front of me now, then. Lady's bid at 200.

Yes! Nice, round figure. £200.

-That's brilliant.

-Thrilled, yes.

Very happy.

-He never lets us down.

-No, he doesn't.

We caught up with the new owner before she left with her happy purchase.

It's a very nice piece of Art Nouveau pewter.

And what I particularly liked about it was the simplicity of it

and, of course, its age.

And I just thought, "I've got to have it."

I think it was a fair price.

There was a bit of a battle going on for it.

But I'm not one to give in when I really like something, so I didn't.

With me right now I have Susan and Juliet and our expert Philip.

And we have something for all you fine art lovers.

It's an oil and it's by William Langley,

who specialises in landscapes.

And I think this should go.

Philip's slightly nervous. I think he's a bit nervous on this one.

Look, you've pitched it right, Philip.

I don't see how it can't sell and sell quite well, actually.

No.

Famous last words!

OK. Right, it's tough being an expert, you know?

Let's put it to the test. Here we go...

And lot number 470, then.

The William Langley, the river landscape. Start me 50.

£50 to get on.

£30, then.

At £30 I'm bid there. £30. Five, anyone now? 35?

Five. 40. Five.

50. Five. 60.

Had £60. Five, if you like, sir. At £60. Five?

70. At £70.

Five, if you like now. At £70. Five on the net.

At 75 now. At 75.

80 now. At £75. You're out in the room now. It's 75 here.

All sure? You're out in the room, then. Are you all done at 75?

-It's not going to get a three-piece suite, is it?

-No.

-No.

But it sold. £75. Spot on, Philip.

Someone got a bargain.

But it'll cost a bit to bring it fully back to life.

Now, for Lucy's pre-Columbian figure.

Before the sale, I asked Philip, the auctioneer,

what he thought about it.

It's very hard to be absolutely certain about these things

when they come into a sale.

There were a lot of these pieces produced through the 18th, 19th

and well into the 20th and even the 21st-century,

so I was very glad to have a true verification given for this piece

by, you know, relevant specialists.

I would expect it to be fairly keenly contested,

but only to a level.

Well, that only adds to the intrigue of this item.

Here it is now...

OK, the moment I have been waiting for

since that valuation day in that wonderful cathedral.

I mean, that was an old building.

But, I think, what we're selling right now

has to be, I think you'll agree,

the oldest thing on the show so far,

which Michael spotted.

-Thank you for bringing it in.

-It's an absolute pleasure.

-On the day, we said it might be 15th century or earlier.

-Yes.

Well, we've done subsequent research and it's a lot earlier.

It's the first pre-Columbian civilisation.

So this is quite exciting. You can learn so much on this show.

What do you think of this, Lucy? Now you want to keep it?

Well, it makes you feel a bit strange about it

because it is so old. You know, I'm fascinated.

I think it's...

It's the most perplexing

and intriguing object we've ever had on "Flog It!".

Certainly I've ever seen.

-That's brilliant. I'm thrilled. I'm so excited.

-Fingers...

I hope someone really wants it.

Anyway, look, it's out there right now.

-This is your lot going under the hammer.

-Fingers crossed...

Don't go away, don't make a cup of tea. Watch this. Here we go.

The warrior with the sword and shield there. Northern Peru.

Nice and early, between 100 and 800 AD.

And I have to start you here on the book at £200. At 200 I'm bit here.

At 200. 220 now if you like. At £200. Good early piece.

At 200. At 220. 240.

260. 280.

300. 320.

-They want it.

-340.

360. At 360.

At 380 now. 360 here.

At £360.

He's going to sell at 360.

You all sure at 360?

Hammer's gone down. Good valuation, Michael.

Well, it's at the top end of our estimate.

And I think the only thing is

you do see these pots make a lot more money when all the glazes are intact.

Because the glazes on these, when they're just excavated,

are like chocolate and they're shining.

So it's had 130 years of wear.

It might have been out in the garden for some of that.

Well, it's an absolutely fascinating piece of history.

That is a little document of social history from Peru.

Has it made you think, oh, actually,

I should really gen up on this a bit more and read about it?

Well, yeah, because you don't know anything about these things, do you?

Until you meet up with Michael.

Well, it started me off on a whole round of reading and research.

And you just look at them, and it's so fascinating.

And if you've got something like that, we want to flog it.

It's been a terrific day

and we've seen some weird and wonderful items

and met some delightful people.

And I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have.

From all of us here in Gloucester until the next time, it's goodbye.