Gloucester 26 Flog It!

Apart from antiques, the other great passion in my life

is dogs and horses. And here, I have them in one.

This is Herman and Hades, stars of the world famous

Giffords Circus, based right here in Gloucestershire.

We'll be seeing more of them a little later on.

One thing's for sure, you never know what to expect on this programme.

Welcome to Flog It!

At the heart of this beautiful county is the ancient

city of Gloucester

first settled by the Romans over 2,000 years ago.

Its position on the River Severn, at the boundary of Wales,

ensured the city's future.

And the mix of historic buildings and narrow alleyways

in the city centre reflect its long and busy history.

But one building towers above it all,

Gloucester's glorious cathedral, our magnificent venue for today.

They say the sign of a good event is the size of its queue and

judging by this lot, I think we're going to be in for a fantastic day.

With antique expertise provided by Michael Baggott and Philip Serrell.

Philip's knowledge is boundless extending even

to the gargoyles on the cathedral.

-It's you, isn't it?

-What? The one that looks like a pig?

-No!

The little monkey!

In today's show, some of our items evoke strong emotions.

My mother gave it to me and...

..she would love me to have the money.

But not always favourable.

Mum bought you these cuff links for the prom.

Did you wear them on the night?

It's the sort of thing my mum would do to me.

"Mum, I don't want to wear them."

And I take a trip of a lifetime.

Drumroll!

Let's get everyone inside and enjoy these splendid surroundings.

The cathedral has hosted many grand occasions over the years

and we're honoured to be part of it,

contributing in our own unique way to the incredible history of this

building which we'll be looking at a little later on in the programme.

Right now, we need to find some antiques

and I've just heard that Philip Serrell has spotted a real gem.

Let's take a look.

-Rhiana, how are you?

-I'm fine, thanks.

-Gloucester girl?

-Cheltenham.

Cheltenham girl.

-This is a great building, isn't it?

-It's brilliant.

So, just explain to me what is a young lady doing with cuff links?

I bought them in a second-hand shop with my son in mind.

He's 17 and I thought it would be useful for the proms

and things like that. But when I got them home to him he rejected them.

-They got the "uh-uh", they got duffed, didn't they?

-Yes.

-Why did he not like them?

-He's in a band, he's a bit cooler than those.

He's a bit cool.

I thought everybody needs a nice pair of cuff links.

They're retailed by the Goldsmiths & Silversmiths company.

That's a pretty good badge to have on them. How much did you pay for them?

-About

-£10. When was this?

-It's this year.

A couple of months ago.

-What are they made of?

-I think they're gold.

You have bought a pair of gold cuff links

and I don't think they are gold...

-Oh.

-..I know they're gold.

-Oh!

Because they're all stamped up just here, look.

Not overly fashionable with this, almost like this, bark engine turn decoration here.

They are really, really dated.

But they're gold.

You bought some gold cuff links for £10.

I'm going to start going shopping with you, I think.

So your son doesn't like them.

Who's going to get the money, him or you ?

Oh, probably it'll go his way now. He is the money drain.

He's the money drain! I like that.

-What do you think they're going to make?

-I've no idea.

More than £10, I hope.

I think they're going to make between £50 and £100.

-That's good, isn't it?

-Brilliant.

-Absolutely, really good.

-Shall we put a £50 reserve on them?

-Yes. Anything you advise.

I think those are really wiz. Well done.

What an excellent off-the-cuff valuation from Philip!

Michael has found a stylish piece of silver but I'm not sure what it is.

Keith, what a wonderful and mysterious little object

you've brought along today.

Is this something that you've collected?

Are you a big silver collector?

I do like silver, I collect odd-looking pieces of silver

or interesting bits of silver.

Yes. Why everyone on the planet doesn't collect silver amazes me.

Such wonderful stuff.

When you bought this, did you have an idea of what it was

you were buying, or did you just think, that looks a bit peculiar,

-I might have a go on that?

-I didn't know what it was

or who made it at the time I bought it.

-So, where did you buy it? An auction?

-At an auction, yes.

Now, was it expensive?

-No.

-What's not expensive?

Well, I paid £32 for it.

Did you?

That could be pushing the boat out for such a small item,

you never know. Let's look at it.

Lovely. Lots of hallmarks. Not just one or two.

What we've got is, we've got the original Danish hallmarks here.

We've got London import marks for 925, sterling silver,

and we've got the date letter for 1931.

What's more interesting is we've got the maker's mark which is

GI in a dotted oval.

-You know who that is? Do you know who that is?

-I do now.

-You do now.

Georg Jensen.

That master Danish silversmith, the name everybody looks for.

And here in the most wonderful stylised Art Deco server.

We've all heard of Danish pastries,

what do you pick your Danish pastry up with? One of these.

It's one of the rarer patterns, it's parallel pattern.

Obviously named because you've got these parallels striations

going up the back of the stem.

You've got this lovely bit of open work.

-There's no need for that.

-No.

That's not structural.

That's just design. That's frivolity and that's Jensen's eye.

Rare pattern.

Relatively rare pattern, relatively rare object.

This all these into value. Is it worth more than £32?

You bet it is.

Let's say £100 to £150.

A fixed reserve of £100.

So, thank you so much for bringing your eagle eyed purchase in.

The only thing I need to find out from you after we've stopped filming

is where that auction was.

We'll talk about that later. Thanks very much for bringing it in, Keith.

The cathedral is full of treasures

but, possibly, its greatest has to be the royal tomb.

This is the final resting place of Edward II.

An unpopular king with his people during his reign

due to his fondness and closeness to certain favourites within his court.

He finally abdicated in favour of his son

but even that wasn't enough for some of his enemies.

In 1327, he was allegedly murdered at nearby Berkeley Castle.

His body was retrieved and buried here and his son, Edward III,

commissioned this rather elaborate tomb with canopy.

You can imagine this during the Middle Ages, this would have

been full of colour and brightly gilded, and the crown would have

had jewels inset which would have caught the candlelight and sparkled.

The story of the king's brutal death turned Edward into a martyr

and his tomb a shrine, visited by thousands of pilgrims

including another king, Richard II, in 1378.

And there is his badge, the white hart,

painted at the top of these pillars to mark his royal visit.

But it was ultimately this tomb that saved the church

from destruction during the dissolution of the monasteries

as Henry VIII could hardly destroy a building

that housed his ancestor.

From medieval to modern.

Let's fast forward just under 700 years

and see what's turned up on Philip's table.

-Terry, I Leica your camera!

-Very good.

We've been practising that for hours! How did you come by this?

Unfortunately, just before Christmas a dear friend of mine died.

When his wife was clearing out, she knew I was into cameras

and various other things, so along with other cameras she gave me that.

She said Jim had looked into it...

He felt it didn't have much of a value.

-He didn't think it had much of a value?

-No.

Do you know what one of the most expensive cameras in the world is?

-A Leica?

-A Leica. Do you know what one made at auction last year?

Erm... £2,000?

You are...

..about 998,000 out.

Because a Leica camera last year sold for over £1 million.

Crikey!

-That's not it.

-I doubt it.

That is definitely not it, Terry, I can tell you that for sure.

It's about the best make you can get, isn't it, Leica?

And these things, I think, were first produced in the early

part of the century or the last century.

But they're massively collectable things.

I'm not sure if I'm qualified to give this advice

but certain mechanical items aren't subject to capital gains tax.

So, seriously, if you have an investment that's a motorcar,

or a clock, or a watch, and you sell it on...

..check with your accountant but there's no capital gains tax

which means things like this suddenly become huge areas

of collectability.

Have you any idea what this might be worth?

-No, not really, no.

-If I said, £20 or £30, that would be OK, would it?

It's more than I've got at the moment.

I think you'll end up with a good bit more than you've got at the moment

because I think it's going to make...

I think we'll put a fixed reserve on it of £100 and we'll

keep our fingers crossed that it's going to make between £100 and £200.

If this goes and does really, really, well at auction,

what will you do with the money?

Well, Beryl, Jim's wife, she didn't know it had any value

so I shall probably, once it goes to auction

and makes a bit of money, I'll share the money with her.

-Oh, that's nice, isn't it?

-It's only fair.

-Yeah, that's lovely.

-And you've got an interest in cameras?

-Yes. All sorts of cameras.

You haven't got a million pound Leica at home, have you?

I have thousands of pounds worth of valueless equipment.

I think, on that note, we'll probably finish there because I like that!

So do I! Very funny!

We're now halfway through our day, everybody has been working

flat out and we've found some real gems to take off to the saleroom.

This is where it gets exciting because anything could happen.

You could say it is the...

..cut and thrust of the saleroom.

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

Unlike Rhiana's son, I think the bidders will see

the value in the gold cuff links.

Next, a must-have for any self-respecting Danish pastry lover.

The Georg Jensen silver pastry server.

And I think the camera buffs are bound to focus

on Keith's Leica in the saleroom.

We've travelled across the county today for our auction

just outside of Cirencester.

We're always assured of a warm welcome from the proprietor

and auctioneer, Philip Allwood.

With the auction already started, it's time for me

to catch up with our first owner.

And it's Michael's find for those with a sweet tooth.

-Keith, good luck.

-Thank you.

-It's a great name, Georg Jensen.

I'm sure this is going to be found on the internet all over Europe

so there's a lot of collectors out there.

Good luck with it because I know with the proceeds of this silver sale,

Keith here is going out to buy more silver.

-He'd better not bid against me!

-We'd like to see that.

Anyway, your bid is going under the hammer right now. This is it.

Parallel patterned pastry server there. There we go.

Who'll start me? Should be a couple of hundred, really.

Let's start with 100. Good stylish piece. 100.

50 to get on. £50 bid there. £50, 5 now. 5.

-60, 5...

-That's a teaser start. A teaser.

75, at 80 now. At £75 for the Georg Jensen. 75, 80 now.

80. 5.

90, if you like, madam. 90. 5. 100.

100, and 10 if you like. 100 here.

At £100 on my right now. £100.

110 anywhere now? At 100, 110.

I love it when people shout out when the auctioneer doesn't see them.

At 140, 150 if you like.

At £140. It's yours at 140.

Yes! Hammer's gone down on £140.

I've never seen one of those before and I've seen a lot of Georg Jensen.

-I've never seen a pastry slicer.

-They're rare things.

Never thought he'd make one of those in his life.

-I didn't know what it was.

-Haven't you heard of Danish pastries?

I know but that's a bit cliched, isn't it? I just thought, what?

-That's where it all started.

-It all started!

Now to find who the lucky owner is.

I've purchased a Georg Jensen pastry spoon, I believe,

which I was not going to bid on.

But it's a magic name and I think it's always going to be collectable.

Although I don't bake very much,

I used to when my children were little,

but I think this will make me get up and go

and try and make some bits for my husband

which he will absolutely adore.

Going under the hammer right now,

we have those 1960s cuff links with our owner, Rhiana.

-Hi.

-Good to see you.

-I brought Sam with me.

-This is your son, Sam.

Hiya, Sam, pleased to meet you.

Mum bought you these cuff links for the prom. Didn't like them.

Did you wear them on the night, though?

Not on the night.

Oh, I love it!

That's the sort of thing my mum would have done. I would've gone,

"Mum, I don't want to wear them."

-But you only paid a tenner for them.

-A bargain.

You've got a good eye, Mum, haven't you?

They're going under the hammer at now. Let's put them to the test.

Gold cuff links there.

There we go. Who'll start me?

Should be 100, really. Start me 50.

50.

I can start you at 35. At £35, going to be cheap on the book here.

At £35, 40, 5.

50. At £50, I have.

At £50. At £50 right in front of me.

You're out of the net. 5 there, 5.

60. At £60 in the room now. At £60.

5 anywhere now? At £60 in the room.

You all sure? At 60.

-Well, I think you did well...

-Yeah.

-..on your investment.

I think you did really, really well.

I'm so pleased you didn't wear them. Do you know?!

-I wouldn't have worn them.

-Wouldn't you?

-No!

'Oh, well. Boys will be boys!'

Well, so far, so good. Going under the hammer right now,

going in that frame is that Leica camera belonging to Terry.

Let's hope we get top dollar for this camera, Phil.

Well, you know, there is a name and the name is Leica.

-It's the best name.

-Yeah. I'm hopeful this will do very well.

-OK.

Fingers crossed, everyone. Here we go, it's going under the hammer.

The Leica camera there. Where are you going to be?

It should be 100 to start me, 100.

£100 for the Leica.

Anybody like-a a Leica!?

I can start... 85. At £85 a bid. At 85.

90, now. At £85, 90. 5. At 95. 100, now.

-100.

-Well, it's gone, it's sold.

Come on, let's now get the top end.

110, I already have. 120 now. 130.

At 130 in the room now. 140. 150.

At 150, 160 now. 150.

-Come on, come on, come on.

-At £150, it's in the room.

You're out of the net. 160.

170. 180, if you'd like.

At 180. 180. 190, if you like, sir.

At 190 back in the room. At 190.

At £190. It's yours on 190.

Yes, we did it! Got the top end.

Well done, Phil.

It was a long journey, that one. Thank you for bringing it in.

Well, it is my pleasure, believe you me. I've had a great time.

'Well, that was certainly snapped up.'

Well, that's the end of our first visit to the saleroom today.

We're coming back here later on in the show with some more

unfinished business to do.

But you know that phrase, it's every kid's dream

to run away and join the circus.

I'm not a kid any more but let's face it,

everybody is a child at heart.

I've just been told the circus is in town, so here's my chance.

It's a little-known fact that the modern circus

was invented in 18th century England.

Philip Astley, a retired soldier, toured the country

with his merry band of acrobats, rope dancers and jugglers,

and his own amazing feats of horsemanship.

Most of us are familiar with the huge, international blockbuster circuses

but one small British troop is doggedly holding on

to the simple joy of Astley's Circus.

Pitching up on village greens throughout the summer

is Giffords Circus.

Based in Gloucester, the company tour the Cotswolds

for three months each summer pitching up in fields

and on village greens with their vintage caravans

and, of course, the big top.

They're just days away from their first performance

here in the grounds of Sudeley Castle.

Everybody's busy setting up, getting ready

and even the band are tuning up.

At the heart of it all is owner, Nell Gifford, and her horses.

Following in the footsteps of her esteemed predecessor,

Philip Astley, Nell's speciality is horsemanship.

'Nell, you have created every kid's dream. You've got your own circus.'

How would you describe Giffords to somebody that hasn't seen the show?

Giffords Circus is like a miniature village green circus

and something that you might have seen as a child.

It's very nostalgic and something of a children's book,

like the village green, the white tent, little wagons

and people living on the road with their animals and their families.

I've seen the show a few years on the trot now

and it makes a want to run away and join the circus.

How did you get inspired? You grew up in Gloucestershire

and it's not renowned for circuses around here. Let's face it.

It definitely isn't but I had the chance to work on a circus in America

when I was 18, and I fell in love with the tent and the sawdust

in the way it was very multicultural and everyone was speaking

different languages, cooking different foods from around the world.

Is it fair to say that circuses go in and out of favour in this country?

I know they're big in Europe, but here they are sort of in and out,

especially working with animals.

I love the animals, I love working with them.

The animals are part of the family, they're our pets.

They have great diet, dentist, vets, chiropractors.

All the dogs are rescue dogs

and I'd like to think that they could go on to be re-homed in family homes

so anyone's so welcome to come and see them and meet them.

Well, I know it just gets better and better each year

and you change the themes. What's this year's theme?

This year's theme, it's called The Thunders

and it's inspired by the Greek myths

so it's all kinds of swords and sandals and togas everywhere and a Trojan horse

and lots of Greek dancing. It's great fun.

We're just trying to, every year, explore new shows and new things.

I'd love to think that in 100 years' time,

there's a whole new generation of children coming in

and enjoying Giffords Circus and it's part of the English culture.

I'm sure it's going to be and it's definitely a date in my diary each year

-so, Nell, thank you very much.

-Thank you, thank you very much.

'With less than 48 hours to go till the curtain goes up on their first show,

'the atmosphere during rehearsal is tense.'

They're rehearsing for the grand finale and timing is crucial

because that's the entire troupe together for the first time in the ring.

This happens at the end of every night's performance

and the kids in the audience get to join in as well so this is quite special.

'I couldn't come to the circus and not meet the clown

'and, like everything here, Giffords' resident funnyman is unique, like his name.'

I've got to ask you, why are you called Tweedy?

Well, it comes partly from my real name, which is Mr Digweed.

-PAUL LAUGHS

-So it was going to be Weedy,

but there was already a Weedy the Clown

so someone suggested I put a T at the front

and cos of the Scottish connection,

that seemed to work so Tweedy it has been for 20 years now.

-What makes a good clown?

-Oh, dear, just a sec.

I've seen this act and I was so impressed, I went home to try it.

It's not too bad, it's just a question of balance.

-Oh, dear, no, no.

-That is very clever.

-That's quite painful.

The thing with clowning is one of the things with physical comedy

is once you've kind of found your clown character,

you then just find situations to put that character in.

A man in trouble is a very good thing,

to get your character into trouble

and then try and get him out of trouble.

But you're brilliant at it. Can you teach me that?

I can, I'll try and come down if I can.

-I'm not sure how to get down from this position.

-No, OK.

It's all right, I'll just fall. It'll be fine. Aaaaargh!

-And that is your comedy fall.

-There we go, bounce on the bum.

It's all about falling correctly as well, isn't it?

Yeah, so you don't hurt yourself.

I don't think I'll be doing that sort of fall though.

-No, you don't have to.

-You'll be catching me.

Right, Tweedy, here we go.

-OK, I'm about there. Let go, see what happens.

-Twist this one round.

-Yeah, got it.

-Twist it like that.

-Done.

You put the foot over here now.

OK, now what do I do? I'm actually stuck.

If you can, you can twist this one round.

-OK.

-Mustn't laugh, really.

-No.

-OK?

-Yeah.

Oof! OK.

I tell you what, now I've got it.

I make it up as I go along. And he's off!

-Oooh-oooh!

-PAUL LAUGHS

-You were nearly off.

-Here we go.

Gosh! My kids would love me doing this around the front lawn.

-Oh, they'd fall about with laughter. Right, Tweedy!

-I'll see you later.

-OK.

-He's off!

-Will I make a good clown?

-Yeah, I think so.

How do you...

How do you get down?

-Oh, now, there is a big problem.

-OK.

-You can do it.

-DRUMROLL

-One...

-Drumroll!

-Geronimo! Oh, yeah!

-Thank you so much!

-That was brilliant, that was brilliant.

-You're welcome.

That was brilliant.

Oh, I've used some muscles I haven't used for years!

I'm sure it doesn't need saying, but don't try that at home.

And now, it's on with the show.

With its traditional big top and trailers, well cared for animals

and the friendly staff, this is the perfect village green circus.

APPLAUSE

Welcome back to Gloucester Cathedral,

our magnificent host location for today.

Fingers crossed we can find some more gems

to take off to auction and we might have one or two big surprises.

Let's catch up with our experts

for our next item to go off to auction.

Yvonne, I was surprised you weren't sporting this in the queue.

-It's such a lovely necklace.

-Thank you.

-Thank you for bringing it along.

Is it something you wear regularly

or you've gone to a jewellers and bought?

No, my mother gave it to me.

I don't think she ever wore it and I only wore it once

because it's very special and that was for a dinner dance,

but no, I'm afraid it is in a drawer and this is why I brought it today.

-It so often the way, isn't it?

-Yes.

When your mother gave it to you,

did she tell you what it was or where it came from?

It came from her side of the family.

I think she might have been given it by her godmother,

but she wanted me to have it because she thought it had a lot of value,

but she wanted me to find out what value it had.

-Well, it's not marked, is it?

-No.

So there's nothing to say this it is gold, is there?

I hope it is gold and the views, I think you would tell me,

is it Italian or Greek?

Some influences there. First of all, let's deal with the gold issue.

It is that bright, buttery, soft yellow

-that tells me it's a very high carat gold.

-Really?

And lovely workmanship.

We've got these little straps here, which are all woven threads

so not only is it a gold strap,

but the amount of work that went into doing that was phenomenal.

But all of the gold is subservient to these wonderful oval panels

-and we've had these on Flog It! before.

-Did you?

-Do you know what they're called, this particular technique?

-No.

-It's called micro-mosaic.

-Oh!

It's from the Roman so Greek wasn't far out

-and it certainly was a technique practised in Italy.

-Right, right.

These are typical of the wares that you will find

if you were a tourist going over in the middle of the 19th century.

It will have been made in about 1850.

We've got a bit of damage.

-Yes.

-The clasp is a little bit of mosaic

-and that's lost half of the inlay on there.

-Yeah.

-So we've got to consider that.

-Yeah.

But it's sought-after stuff and it's rare stuff and you've got here,

I think what's lovely, is you've got the combination of the ruins,

which are the larger roundels, then you get the butterfly

-and then you get the flower.

-Yes.

So as the stones get smaller,

the subject matter becomes more ephemeral and it's lovely.

-Value - it is damaged.

-Yes.

-And damage does affect value.

-Any ideas what it might be worth?

-No idea at all.

-So if we were to say...

-..£500-£600, £600-£700, that would be agreeable with you?

-Yes. Yes, it would.

-Right, we'll put it in for £1,000-£1,500.

-Really?

Really, honestly.

We'll put a fixed reserve of £1,000 on it

-and hopefully it will go on from that.

-Ohhh!

It's a stunning bit of jewellery.

It is one of the nicest bits of jewellery I've seen on Flog It! for a very long time.

-Thank you.

-So you've made my day.

-Oh, lovely!

Why have you decided to sell it now though?

Well, my mother died in 2005 and, erm...

She would love me to have the money.

Well, hopefully she'll be watching over us.

Yes, I'm sure she is.

At the auction and let's hope it storms onto a magnificent price.

Yvonne, thank you so much for bringing it in.

Thank you, thank you very much.

What a stunning piece!

Next, we have Philip,

who is ready to bang on about a Flog It! favourite.

-How are you, all right?

-Yes, thank you.

-What's that then?

-A Troika drum, I believe it's called.

-And is it worth anything?

-I hope so.

-How do you know that?

Why do you think that's worth anything?

I watch the television programmes.

Ohhhh, you watch the television?

-I do.

-So what else do you know about it then?

I know my mum bought it in Cornwall

when she was on holiday in the late '70s.

-And it's a Troika drum dish, isn't it?

-Yes.

And when did this factory set up, do you think?

Hold on. (1963.)

-When was this factory set up?

-1963.

Good girl! When did it finish?

(1983.)

-1983.

-When did your mum buy it?

-('73.)

-The late '70s!

Right, and how much do you think it cost her?

-I wouldn't like to say.

-It wouldn't have been a great deal.

This was the original, really, sort of tourist present.

You went on holiday, you went to the Troika pottery

and you took this home as a memento

and it's become massively collectable.

I have a theory that one of the reasons why it's become collectable and valuable

-is because of Flog It!

-Yes.

Everybody sees it and you've got this sort of self-perpetuating snowball

that gets bigger and bigger and bigger and I think we've created a market.

-Yes.

-So if you turn it over...

-It tells us everything, doesn't it?

-It does.

-What does that say?

-Troika.

-What does that say?

-Cornwall.

-And what does that say?

The initials of the person that made it?

-Oh, no, that's cheating! And who was that?

-I don't know.

(Honor Curtis.) And who was that?

-Honor Curtis.

-Oh, you're good, aren't you?

How much do you think that's worth?

-I haven't said anything, have I?

-No!

How much are you wanting it to be worth?

-About £100.

-Right.

Let me just tell you that I think if you brought that into a saleroom,

-Troika has dipped a little bit in value.

-Yes.

If you came to my saleroom,

I'd properly say to you to put £80-£100 as an estimate on it

and a fixed reserve of £60-£70 on it.

That would be my advice.

-But I think you want a bit more than that, don't you?

-I do, really.

-You do, really.

Right, so if the reserve on this is going to be £100,

we've got to estimate it at £100-£150

and that still stands a chance.

-I think the important is I want you to go away being happy.

-Yes.

So let's leave it at £100 fixed reserve.

So when did they start making this?

-1963.

-Get in there!

I'm not sure that Anne really needed much help from Philip there.

Now, I would like to share with you something that caught my eye in the cathedral.

Such were the queues of pilgrims to see Edward II's tomb

that the monks painted these scenes to entertain them while they were waiting.

It tells the story of Reynard the Fox, the cautionary tale of the day.

The fox is depicted as a thief and a poacher and here he is,

look, but he gets his just deserts in the end.

There he is with a goose in his mouth

and, look, there's a boar there standing on his hind legs

and a hare actually tying the fox to a stake.

They caught the fox and there is a cockerel looking on

and in the next scene, they're dragging the fox along.

There's birds flying everywhere and here they are, look,

there's a fox and some sort of ram hoisting, hanging, in fact, the fox

and there he is, look, with a noose around his neck.

And at the bottom, the rest of the animals are having a feast

and a toast, having the last laugh on the fox.

I'd imagine these have survived the Civil War.

These weren't whitewashed over

because they're not religious images,

they're just great images of regional folk art.

A remarkable survivor right here in the depths of the cathedral

and right now, it's time to join up with our experts and an item -

a survivor from another age.

Melanie, thank you for brightening up our day

with this exquisite set that you've brought in.

Is this a family thing, something that's been handed down?

Erm, no, it's something I bought in a charity shop perhaps six months ago.

-What?! How much, may I ask, did the set cost?

-It was £25.

Well, that's quite a serious amount of money in a charity shop, isn't it?

Yes, and it was marked as silver and I just thought it was beautiful.

Did you think it was a good buy or...?

-I thought it was probably a good buy, yes.

-Right, right.

So did they say what it was or have you looked up...?

I've looked up the maker's mark and I think it's...

Is it Gerrard's or Garrard's?

Garrard's, now there's a name to conjure with. Let's have a look.

Yes, we've got G & Co Ltd in a little inverted diamond punch,

which is Garrard's, and of course they were the Royal jewellers

and that's next to the standard mark for sterling silver

so they were right in the charity shop, solid silver.

The leopard's head, which is for London,

and we've got a capital S in a very plain punch, which is for 1953.

-But the Garrard mark is overstriking another silversmith's.

-Right.

So these, whilst they are exquisite quality

-and were made for Garrard's, they weren't made BY Garrard's.

-Oh, that's interesting.

And it throws up one interesting point,

which is what is a maker's mark on a piece of silver?

And often it's the retailer or it's the person it was supplied to.

Very rarely is it actually the person who made it.

It's a big system,

but this would certainly be part of a much larger set when it was made.

We've got the hairbrush, the clothes brush -

-these both would have been in pairs.

-Right.

And we've got the mirror

and we probably would have gone on to things like hair tidies

and little boxes for pins and needles and even little trays,

all with this wonderful decoration.

-The mirror is the most important thing.

-Right.

Nobody likes using somebody's else's brushes.

No, I quite understand that, yeah.

And actually what often happens is these sets will go abroad

-and this will actually be converted into a mirror as well.

-Oh, right, yes.

Cos you can see how easily you could remove the bristles

-and put a mirror into it.

-A small mirror, yes.

So beware - if you're buying a mirror with that profile,

it started life as a brush.

Was £25 a wise investment? Six months ago!

I mean sensibly and cautiously,

-we'd say £80-£120.

-That's brilliant.

Which is the auctioneer's chestnut,

but I would be very disappointed if we didn't see...

..a few pounds above the top estimate of that

-so that was a very shrewd and canny buy.

-Fantastic!

Well, it's a wonderful set and thank you so much for bringing it in.

-Thank you, it's been fascinating. I've had a lovely day.

-Pleasure!

Well, that's it. Sadly, it's time to say goodbye to Gloucester Cathedral,

our magnificent host location for the day.

I've thoroughly enjoyed it here

and I know hundreds of people also feel the same.

But right now, we have some unfinished business in the auction room

and here's a quick recap of all the items that are going under the hammer.

Who can not fail to be impressed

by Yvonne's exquisite micro-mosaic necklace?

Troika is always popular so the drum will sell

and I think Philip's valuation is bang on.

And the dressing table set is so unusual,

it should catch the bidders' eye in the sale.

Back to the auction house for more surprises!

We're starting smartly with the dressing table set.

Good luck, Melanie.

Now is the moment we're going to put that valuation to the test.

This is one of those classic charity shop finds,

which we love to hear about.

Just remind us again, how much did you spend on this?

-I paid £25 for it, yes.

-And you got it home and did a bit of research.

Yes, I looked it up on the internet and I looked up the hallmark,

-yes, and it was Garrard, is it?

-It was.

It's a beautiful set and if you went to Garrard's to buy it now,

even these three pieces would be £1,000

so it's good value for somebody.

It's fantastic value when you think about it.

Right, it's going under the hammer now. This is it.

The dressing table set there with the enamel decoration.

There we go, a lovely piece. Start at £100.

Should be £100 to get on, shouldn't it?

Nice guilloche enamel there, £100? £50 to start me then.

-At £50, a bid there. £55. £60, £65...

-They should be all over this.

£75, £80. At £80 on my left here, £85 now.

At £80, it's on my left here at £80. £85 anywhere now then?

At £80, you all sure at £80?

-It's gone.

-Oh, it's sold!

-But you made a profit, a big one, didn't you?

-I made a profit, yes.

-I was hoping for a little bit more.

-So was I.

I think there might have been a group of like-minded bidders,

but, you know, that's how these things go at auction, isn't it?

The new owner has got to be delighted with that.

Philip's choice next.

Going under the hammer right now, we've got something from Cornwall.

Yes, a bit of Troika, you guessed it, and decorated by Honor Curtis.

It belongs to Anne. Unfortunately, Anne cannot make the auction,

but we do have our expert Philip Serrell. It's that little drum dish.

I've seen a lot of Troika on the show and in my life,

but I've not seen many of these come on the market.

This should do the top end.

The Troika bowl there and who will start me?

-Good looking piece.

-Come on.

£100. £50 to get on.

At £50, £55 if you like now.

At £50, at £55, £60, £65, £70 now?

At £70, £75. At £75, £80 now?

-At £75, £80 anywhere?

-It's struggling. Come on!

At £75 here, £80 if you like now?

At £75, are you all sure?

At £75, are you all done?

That is quite rare.

We have not seen a drum dish on the show before by Honor Curtis

so I don't know if that tells me

everyone's completely gone off Troika all of a sudden.

I know Anne has, that's why she's selling it, she prefers Moorcroft.

But there's a lot of people in Cornwall

that would like to own that drum dish.

I'm surprised, really.

What a shame! But there is always another day in the saleroom.

And now for the item I have been waiting for.

Well, I've just been joined by Yvonne

and going under the hammer right now,

we've got that wonderful Italian micro-mosaic necklace which I think is beautiful.

You shouldn't be selling this!

Well, yes, my mother gave it to me

and she was always wanting to know the value of it

and when I heard from Michael of the value,

my mother died in 2005

and she would be over the moon if I can get the money for it.

-It is nice, isn't it?

-It's micro-mosaic.

-Yeah, quality.

It's what everybody wants.

If you're fashionable in London and you're a jeweller,

you want to buy this. It's rare.

It's a rare thing and it's survived in near-pristine condition, so yeah.

Well, I'm excited. I hope you're excited

because right now, it's going under the hammer. Watch this.

310 is the Italian yellow metal and micro-mosaic necklace there.

A lovely lot. Where are you going to be for that? Who will start me?

Start me for that.

-They've gone quiet. This is the one they're here for.

-It's gone quiet.

Start me at £1,000.

It would sound cheap at £1,000, I would have thought.

Well, I can start you on the book here at £620.

-It sounds very cheap at £620.

-There's someone waving over there.

£680. £700. £720.

£750. £780. £800.

£850. £900.

£950. £1,000.

At £1,000 in the room now, £1,000.

At £1,000... £1,050. £1,100.

-There's a chap waving like mad over there.

-He hasn't stopped waving.

-No.

£1,300. £1,350. £1,400.

-Oh, this is great.

-£1,450.

-£1,500.

-On the internet?

-£1,550. £1,600.

-No, in the room.

At £1,600, £1,650 now?

At £1,600 in the room. £1,650. £1,700.

The Italians are bidding online.

He's got one bid on the computer.

-It's in the room at £1,700.

-One bid in the room, fighting it out.

At £1,700, it's in the room now.

At £1,700, you're out on the net at £1,700...

-Fantastic!

-Thank you.

-£1,700.

-Well done, you!

-Thank you very much!

Brilliant! Well, it did over the top estimate. Thank goodness for that!

-It did. Well done, Michael.

-Thank you, Michael.

-It's a pleasure.

I hope you enjoy the money, I really do,

and thank you for making our show so colourful and so beautiful.

-Thank you!

-Because you really have.

-It was brilliant.

-Thank you very much, Michael.

Sadly, we've run out of time here in Cirencester.

We've had a wonderful time.

Join us again for many more surprises in the next auction room,

but until then, it's goodbye from all of us. Well done, you two.