Compilation 39 Flog It!

Today, I'm at Llanerchaeron, a tranquil 18th-century country estate

set in the heart of rural West Wales.

Geographically, Llanerchaeron was built in an isolated spot,

miles away from the hustle and bustle of any city.

However, the man who built this was far better

known for his work in London.

The renowned Regency architect John Nash.

A great favourite with the Royals.

Welcome to Flog It!

Today's show is a little bit different from the norm.

We're going on tour across the country

and revisiting some of the valuation days we've enjoyed from this series

where you shared with us some of your most exciting stories

and we took your collectables off to auction houses far and wide.

We visited Muncaster Castle,

a fabulous 13th-century stately home in Cumbria where hundreds

of you turned up to meet our experts and have your treasures valued.

We also took a trip to the Somerset seaside where we

visited the Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare.

Here, an exceptional antique captured Catherine Southon's interest.

This is probably the best example I've ever seen.

It is a really special piece.

And we travelled to the fabulous 19th-century Bowes Museum

in County Durham where David Harper came across a rare find.

-That sent shivers down my spine.

-Yes, yeah.

It's mind-blowing as an object.

And finally, we paid a visit to the most complete Norman

cathedral in England, the striking Norwich Cathedral in Norfolk.

But before all that, I'm back at Llanerchaeron in rural West Wales which, today, is

owned by the National Trust.

Over the centuries, this house has remained virtually untouched

which makes Llanerchaeron the most complete example of early

work by the architect John Nash.

Nash is more famed for his work in the 1800s with

the remodelling of Buckingham Palace and Brighton Pavilion.

However, earlier than that, in the 1780s,

he beat a hasty retreat here to Wales after being made bankrupt.

And it was here that Nash rebuilt his career by building

several country villas for the Welsh gentry,

including Llanerchaeron which was completed in 1795.

The house is very pleasing from the front.

It's got a stucco facade with a traditional slate roof.

Nash has employed some very clever techniques of symmetry here.

If you look at the window, to the left of the main front door,

you can't actually see through the glass.

That's the dining room inside there. So, by adding that false window,

he's created symmetry.

It's now balanced.

And later in the programme, I'll be returning here to

Llanerchaeron to admire more of John Nash's superb architecture.

But before that, we start our valuations

from around the country by crossing the border into England to the

impressive Norwich Cathedral in Norfolk.

In the magnificent nave,

Thomas Plant found an item that was as impressive as the setting.

Tell me, do you have royal connections?

No, I would like to have had but apart from liking royal

blue as a colour, I don't think I have any blue blood in me.

But why have you got this quite interesting item of jewellery,

a brooch cum pendant which relates to the British Royal Family?

My mother-in-law owned it,

and it would have been bought from the shop

there that is in the town where they lived and I don't know

if she bought it herself or got her husband to buy it for her.

This cypher here, this royal cypher with the Princess Crown

and these Ls is for Princess Marie Louise who was a

granddaughter of Queen Victoria.

Her mother was the fifth child of Queen Victoria.

It's an extraordinary thing to be released onto the open market.

In our world, we do see it.

Bits of royal commemorative get given to ladies-in-waiting and then they get sold on.

Because they need a bit of money.

This is what I believe has happened here. This is Essex intaglio.

Essex intaglio is our word for a piece of reverse-painted rock crystal.

So it's been engraved in the mirror image, in the reverse,

and then painted.

So it's an immensely complicated thing to do.

To actually engrave in the reverse to make it look good on the dome.

And the way it's domed makes the actual image bigger.

It magnifies it and because it's rock crystal,

-it doesn't scratch as easily as glass.

-Oh, right.

It's encased in gold with these little cabochons of lapis lazuli.

Now, tell me, have you worn it?

I have. As a brooch, it's all right but quite heavy

-and you need the appropriate garment to have it on.

-Yeah.

-As a pendant, it's also quite heavy and it sort of swings.

-Yeah.

I'd rather have something flatter.

Reverse-painted intaglios are quite popular

-because they're complicated things to do.

-Mm. Mm.

Normally, you see pictures of foxes, game birds,

vices for men

-cos they could be cufflinks.

-Yes.

-Because this has a royal connection, it has something else.

-Good.

I think it's rather lovely.

So, therefore, instead of being worth 150, £200.

I think it's worth between 300 and £500.

-And I think we, sort of, reserve it at the £300.

-Right.

-Are you happy with that?

-Very much, yes, yes.

-It's worth every penny.

Lovely. I'm very pleased, thank you.

Next, we travelled north from Norwich Cathedral to

our valuation day at the impressive Muncaster Castle in Cumbria.

Hundreds of you turned up with your collectables

but Adam Partridge found a quiet spot away from the crowds to

prove some pictures that wouldn't have looked

out of place on the castle walls.

Margaret, many thanks for coming along to "Flog It!" today.

It's lovely to be here in the serenity of this beautiful

library and you brought things here that really

attracted my interest for a number of reasons.

I mean, firstly, I'm based in Macclesfield

-and that's known as the silk town.

-Oh, yes.

And we see lots of woven silks but these ones aren't from Macclesfield.

-These are from another very famous silk town, Coventry.

-Oh.

Made in Coventry by Thomas Stevens who invented this

process of these woven silk pictures which were called Stevengraphs...

-Yes, yes.

-..in the, sort of, 1860s or thereabouts.

He would have mechanised this process where, previously,

silks and things were all hand embroidered

and this was now the age of industry.

So, in Coventry, Stevens would have set up his machines to have

churned these out, certain amounts of threads and colours

and the intricacy of these machines is quite incredible, really.

-Very clever.

-Very clever, indeed, yeah. Where did you get yours from?

Well, I inherited them from my mother.

And my mother bought them in a country house in Yorkshire.

This would have been about 1935 or something like that.

-Gosh.

-Yeah.

-And that's the days of the country house sale...

-Yeah.

..where you could go along and places like this would be

-up for sale, wouldn't they and some...?

-Oh, yes, yes.

And you could buy really museum-quality objects.

-Plus an awful lot of bits and bobs and you know.

-That's right, yes.

-The curtains and bedding...

-Yes.

-..and all sorts of things.

So, these then became furnishings in your family home, did they?

-Yes, oh, yes, very much so, yes.

-Mm. And you have memories of them?

-Hanging there in the hall, yes...

-Yeah, lovely.

-..when I was very small.

-Well, you've got two pairs.

-You've got the hunting pair...

-Yeah.

-..which is The Meet...

-Yes.

-..followed by The Death.

These are slightly faded

so maybe these ones were in the sunlight a bit more

but, of course, they're of an age so you expect them to be slightly...

But when you move over to the horse racing ones...

-Do you see how bright and vivid the colours are...

-Yes, yes, yes.

..in comparison?

And here we have The Start and The Finish,

and the one I found the most interesting,

the one you don't see as often, I think,

and the slightly rarer one, is The Last Lap which is this one here.

The penny-farthings.

-That's your best one and I think that one's worth 50 or £80.

-Yes.

And then, that's... The pair's going to be 50 or £80 there again

-and those may be slightly less.

-Yes.

So, as a group estimate, I would say 100 to 150.

Can I ask you why you've decided to sell them?

-Do you have them on display at home?

-No.

-I haven't got that sort of house, no.

-So where do they live?

-Under the bed.

Under the bed.

Well, where else would you keep some 19th-century...

-Yes.

-..Stevengraphs?

-They're just sitting there now.

-I said I'd treat the grandchildren.

-Oh.

-How many grandchildren do you have?

-Seven.

-Seven.

Oh, well, let's hope they make at least 140 so they get £20 each.

-Yes, yes.

-That leaves nothing for you though, does it?

-THEY LAUGH

-Well, I'm delighted that you've brought them along.

It's really nice to see these sorts of things

and we'll look forward to seeing how they go at the auction.

Thank you very much.

Margaret's embroidery shares something in common with Llanerchaeron.

The preoccupation with the hunt.

As you can see here in the dining room, it's literally stuffed

full of items of taxidermy.

All shot locally by the family who lived here.

But what interests me about this room is Nash's subtle

but clever design.

This far wall is dominated by this magnificent mahogany buffet.

Now, that backs on to a false window.

The false window we saw earlier at the front of the house...

Nash created that to add perfect symmetry

and that theme has been carried on through to the inside of the house

and there's a lovely example here in the dining room with these two doors.

Now, the door I walked through leads to the entrance hall

and the staircase. Where does this door go?

Let's find out. Well, it doesn't go anywhere. Look at that.

It's a shallow cupboard.

Now, Nash added this door to create harmony

and symmetry in this room.

Nash also designed numerous plasterwork friezes,

the cornices where the ceiling meets the wall.

Beautiful, intricate, delicate detail.

Just look at this example in the dining room with the flower

and beadwork. It is exquisite.

No two rooms in the house have the same design.

That's attention to detail.

Across the border in England at our valuation

day at the 19th-century Bowes Museum

in County Durham, Elizabeth Talbot came across an item that had been

crafted with painstaking care just like Nash's interiors back in Wales.

Stuart, you brought a very smart wristwatch in here

today which is very eye-catching.

What can you tell me about your watch?

It originally belonged to my uncle who

-had a hotel on the Isle of Lewis in Scotland.

-Ah.

He was quite a well-to-do chap

so I'd imagine at the time it was quite an expensive watch.

He died, I think, in 1965 when the watch was bequeathed

-to my father and my father wore it, I think, quite rarely.

-Right.

I don't think he was particularly interested in jewellery as such.

He died in 1968 when he passed to me.

I've worn it probably even less than my father did.

To me, it's quite old-fashioned. It's certainly old-fashioned for today.

-Yes.

-And I prefer a more modern-looking watch.

Well, what we have failed to mention

-so far is that it's a Jaeger-LeCoultre watch.

-Yes, uh-huh.

-So the name is a quite...

-Yes, yes.

-..magical name within the world of watches.

But interestingly, you mention it's quite old-fashioned

-but it's just at the time when people are appreciating...

-Yes, yes.

-..vintage

-wristwatches...

-Yes.

-..and there's quite a collector's market...

-Yes.

-..for them.

It's in a very straightforward, very classy but stainless steel case.

The case is not gold or silver or anything.

The oyster-coloured face is quite worn which indicates that the

-original owner...

-Yes, yes.

..your uncle, will have cherished it and worn it and enjoyed it.

It was intended to be one of Jaeger-LeCoultre's probably very

classy but more day-to-day type watches of their range.

But interestingly, it has what's called a bumper movement in it.

Do you know much about the bumper movement?

I think I refer to the fact that it's the mechanism is automatic,

-just the movement of the hand.

-Yes, it is an early form of automatic movement.

I noticed the bumper movement

because it has a little mechanism inside which tends to

bounce off two little springs, which is quite quaint.

The watchstrap,

you might know this already, is later, obviously.

So, in terms of its condition, it's showing its age

and its age is probably somewhere from the, sort of...

-1950s.

-..early to mid '30s. Yeah, to 1950s.

So, it's a good period of watch-making.

It's very classic, very stylish and quite understated

and for some people, that's just the type of watch they would love to wear.

Given the fact it's got the good name, very collectable.

It has some damage which will mark it down.

-I think I can see this being in the region of about £200 to £300.

-Yes.

And if you're happy with that, we can put a reserve on of, say, 200.

-Yes, absolutely fine.

-And we'll see you at the auction.

-Yes, thank you.

That will be lovely. Well, thanks so much for coming in.

And that's it for our first lot of items as it's time to find out

if they were a hit with the bidders

when we took them to the different salerooms across the country.

Remember, at every auction there is always commission

and VAT to pay, whether you're buying or selling.

Margaret's five beautiful silk pictures by Thomas Stevens

wouldn't have looked out of place if they'd been

hung on the walls of our valuation day at Muncaster Castle.

In Norwich Cathedral, Thomas Plant was bowled over by Jill's

rock crystal brooch which had a connection to the monarchy but

did it get a right royal reception when it went under the hammer?

Stuart's inherited Jaeger wristwatch was a fantastic

vintage piece with a bumper movement

and Elizabeth Talbot was over the moon

when she saw it come through the doors of the Bowes Museum.

First, let's find out what happened

when we took Margaret's silk pictures to Thomson Roddick & Medcalf

salesroom in Carlisle where

auctioneer Steven Parkinson was on the rostrum.

Margaret, thanks for coming along today. It's good to see you again.

Have you been up to anything exciting since the valuation day?

Coming up out here is a very exciting day.

-It is, actually. I love what you're wearing. It's very colourful.

-I do too.

-It's good, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Well, look, we're going to sell these five Coventry silks.

I like these and we've seen them on the show before and they always make

pretty good money.

Let's put it to the test right now. This is it.

We've got these five Victorian woven silk Stevengraphs here.

A lot of interest here. I can start the bidding with me at 60 bid.

At £60.

At 60 bid. 60. 65. 70. 75. 80. 85.

At 100. At 100. 110. 120. At 120. 130. It's back then. 130. 140.

-140 in the room.

-Hm, great.

-At 140.

At 140. Are we all done? At 140.

At 140.

Yeah, spot-on, Adam. £140.

I'm pleased we got it right and hopefully,

you're pleased with the result.

-Well done. Thank you for bringing them in.

-Thank you.

Pleasure, thanks for coming.

A solid result to get us off the mark.

Next, we stayed in Cumbria for the sale of Stuart's Jaeger

wristwatch. But we headed over to 1818 Auctioneers in South Lakeland.

Welding the gavel was auctioneer Kevin Kendal.

We have a Jaeger stainless steel watch belonging to Stuart.

Sadly, he can't be with us today but we do have our expert Elizabeth.

It looks more like a ladies watch.

It's got a really small face on it.

Yes, but I think the period it was made that was very much the fashion

-to have the...

-Sure.

-..smaller watch faces and actually they're coming back.

Because I know young ladies, so-called, sort of, the 20

to 30-year-olds like the big dials now...

-Yeah, they're nice and functional and chunky...

-..rather than the small ones?

Yeah, so... Right, OK. Fingers crossed.

We got a buyer in the room.

Lot 510. The Jaeger-LeCoultre. Let's start at a sensible £100.

£100 bid to tempt you in now. 110. 120. 130. 140. 150. 160. 170.

170 without the internet.

170 without the internet.

180 on the internet now. 180. 180. 180 now. 180. 190 on the internet.

I think we're going to sell-out here at 190.

190 will sell away, on my head be it, and the sell then,

if you're all done, at 190.

-Gone. Just.

-Just.

-Just.

-Oh, 190.

-Well.

-That was close.

-It was very close.

-That was really close.

-I think Stuart would agree that he would let it go for the extra £10...

-I think so.

-..if

-he was here but I think the auctioneer persuaded us there, don't you?

-I think so.

Good auctioneer. Yes, good auctioneer.

When he heard the news,

Stuart was pleased with the amount that his Jaeger wristwatch fetched.

Finally, we left Cumbria behind us and travelled south to

Norfolk to TW Gaze in Diss to sell Jill's rock crystal brooch.

The man we hoped would do the business was auctioneer

Robert Kinsella.

-We have a royal connection with this next lot.

-We do, actually, yes.

It's that lovely rock crystal brooch with the reverse painting.

-How did you come by this?

-It was my mother-in-law's.

-This is a hard thing to value. There's no book price for it.

-No, there are no book prices for it

for intaglio crystals but they are quite popular. With the royal connection,

-it's a beautifully made piece.

-About three to five still?

-Three to five.

Three to five, here we go. Thomas is spot-on the money, hopefully. Here we go.

It's a 15-carat gold rock crystal, royal cypher brooch there.

We're going to have to start here at £200. I'll take 20.

The brooch is in at £200, the bid. 200 bid. Is there 20 anywhere?

At 200 I'll start. 220. 240. 260. 280. 300 I have and I'm out.

-300 all right. Sold.

-Just.

-300 on the next now. £300 bid.

Any advance anywhere at 300?

Yes, hammer's gone down.

Well done, Thomas. £300.

-Fair enough. That was fun.

-That's good. That's a great result.

-Yeah.

60. 85 is left.

Well, that's it for our first auctions

but we'll be returning to the valuation days

and salerooms across the country later on in the show.

But before that, I'm heading back to West Wales.

Back in the 18th century, Llanerchaeron was a self-sufficient estate.

It was at the cutting edge of local agriculture.

It had the most modern farm buildings and with hunting

and fishing on the land, it could supply all its own needs.

Today, Llanerchaeron is exceptional in that many of the areas which

allowed it to be self-sufficient remain in their original form.

Visitors come to learn about this way of life

and to see the working areas which made it possible such as the

walled garden, cow shed threshing barn and stables to name but a few.

All of the food that was grown, reared or caught on the estate

was brought here. The service area courtyard.

It's situated behind the house

and it played a vital role in keeping the estate self-sufficient.

Like the house, this area was also designed by the architect

John Nash but it's not like other service areas you'll find

in other British country houses. This one is in the Italianate style.

And you can see it, can't you?

It fends off the elements and it seemed to work rather

well considering West Wales is a long way from Italy.

But it sheltered the staff

and the servants as they walked from preparation room to kitchen

to dairy by virtue of these rather large, overhanging eaves.

You can see it there, look. Also, I really like this.

This Herringbone-patterned floor made out of local pebbles picked up

from the beach. It's a safe, practical working area.

Not to mention a decorative delight.

And these are the rooms

where the milk was processed from the cows on the estate.

Here is the scullery.

Here is the old cheese pressroom.

With this fabulous old press which was built in situ in this room and

it's been here ever since because it's too big to go through

the door now and here is the dairy where Hilary is hard at work.

-Hello, Hilary.

-Hello.

-You're patting butter.

-Yep, I'm just...

I'm working the butter.

It's the last part of the process just getting all that moisture out

so that the butter will keep.

How often would butter be made on the estate?

They would be making it once a week, possibly twice a week.

All the butter they made would be used then in the kitchens for baking and...

-Cakes and things.

-..cakes and pastries, that sort of thing.

Talk me through the process how this would've originally been done.

Well, you start with the cream.

You have to have cream to make butter and they would have used

a cream separator like this.

Then it's churned.

-The whole thing just turns. And it's the motion...

-Sure.

-..that creates the butter.

And how long would you have to turn?

-It would take about an hour.

-Of just turning?

-Of turning.

Crikey. Once it starts to turn, it almost turns itself, really, doesn't it? It's the weight of it.

-Yes, it's the momentum really...

-Yeah.

-..that you need.

-Mind you,

-I wouldn't like to stand there and do that for an hour.

-Yes.

What happens next after you've done that?

-You've got a lump of butter, basically.

-You've got a lump of butter but you've also got a liquid.

You've got the buttermilk so you really want to take the buttermilk out.

So, you come back to where we started which is

-working the butter.

-OK, and that's nearly ready, isn't it?

That's very nearly ready, yes.

Like Llanerchaeron, many country houses in Britain would have

had their own dairy but what other facilities were needed here

to make the estate self-sufficient?

To find out, I'm meeting Paddy Tranter, house steward.

Because this place is so isolated, there's no close market town,

did it become self-sufficient through necessity?

If they wanted it, they had to provide it themselves.

They could get some things brought in but as a rule,

-they had to farm it, produce it and store it here...

-Yeah.

-..at Llanerchaeron.

-Yeah.

And it became successful?

It was very successful. Other estates were even buying produce

from Llanerchaeron as there was always more than what they needed here on site.

This was the bakehouse. They baked bread in here

but they'd also be smoking meat hanging from the hooks up in the ceiling.

Would they have made a lot of bread?

They would have done, not only for the family

but also the servants so there would have been

a hive of activity out here to keep everybody fed.

-And what sort of meats would hang up there?

-Beef, lamb, pork.

-But they'd also have access to a lot of game and fish on site as well.

-Right.

-So, anything they could get really.

-Yeah.

-And there's a lot of hooks up there.

-A lot of mouths to feed.

THEY LAUGH

What takes place in there?

This is the brewhouse

so in here they'd brew a small beer that was

safe to drink for all the servants

and was better than the water

but low enough in strength that they could carry on working

and then a better quality beer for the family themselves.

It's all very neat, isn't it? Everything has its place.

John Nash's service courtyard also boasts a cheese store

for maturing cheeses,

a salting room where fresh meat was preserved with salt

and brine in lead lined tanks

and a dry laundry were damp clothes were pressed and dried.

Llanerchaeron operated as a self-sufficient

estate from the late 1700s until the early 1900s.

During this period,

there would have been an average of 11 servants in the house

and a similar number of workers keeping the home farm running.

There was also the kitchen garden which probably

had around ten workers to tend it and grew all the fruit

and vegetables that were consumed on the estate.

This included some exotic examples such as pineapples

and melons which were cultivated in the warmed glasshouse,

the remains of which can still be seen today.

Nash's Italianate servants' courtyard leads

straight in to the main house. In fact, to this room, the scullery.

And it would've been a hive of activity with servants

coming and going.

Food was brought in from the outside into here.

It would've been processed or prepared.

Food to be stored would've been kept in there.

In the pantry.

Food to be cooked that day would've been taken through to the

kitchen which is through here.

Nash designed the kitchen to be a ventilated, well-lit area and

the majority of the cooking would have taken place in here

and it looks like I'm in luck today because something's being made.

-Hello, Rachel.

-Hello.

-What are you doing?

I'm making Welsh cakes today.

-They're more like biscuits, aren't they?

-Yeah.

They're a traditional Welsh recipe. They're made like a scone mixture.

Dried fruit is added to it and then it's baked on a bake stone

-on an open fire.

-On the old range still?

-On the range, yeah.

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

-And it's...

-Oh, yeah, that's hot.

-..it's typically eaten by the family and the servants because

it's a quick treat that you can make and it can be baked on any fire.

-Oh, would you like to try one?

-Yes, can I?

-I make them fresh.

This is a great way to end my tour of the servants' quarters.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

Mm. Yummy. Thank you.

Now we continue our journey around the country as we cross

the border from Wales to England to visit our valuation

day on the Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare in Somerset

where Catherine Southon found an item,

the like of which may have been used by Llanerchaeron's housekeeper.

Well, Sue, we have an amazing contradiction here

because we have this world of gadgets and machines

and noise and then we have this wonderful piece here

which has so many gadgets and is a late 19th-century chatelaine.

Where does it come from?

It was inherited from my grandmother

and I think the nurse who is named in the thimble was actually...

might have been her nurse.

-Right, OK.

-But I'm not sure about that.

OK. A chatelaine was worn by the housekeeper. The lady of the house.

Traditionally, late 19th-century Victorian England,

She would have clipped this onto her belt, onto her dress and she would

have had this around the house and this had her tools on.

The things that she needed to get through the day.

Of the chatelaines that I have seen over the years,

this is probably the best example I've ever seen.

It is a really special piece.

So often, you see one or two or three pieces

but this has got a really large selection of accoutrements.

And also, because it's made by an important silversmith,

Levi & Salaman. Now, they were known for making small tools.

First of all, we've got this aide-memoire

so that's where the lady of the house would've

written down her little notes with the pencil there.

Perhaps what she needed to get for that day, what washing she needed to do.

Then, we've got the purse there for her pennies

-and the scissors there which are really beautiful.

-They are, yes.

Really stunning.

And as you mentioned earlier, here we have the thimble holder.

Not sure that is the original thimble.

Nevertheless, even as a thimble, it's a good one.

It's by a good maker, Charles Horner.

And you have got Nurse Cowman on it.

-The pincushion.

-It's slightly beaten up.

The little bottle of scent.

A penknife with a gorgeous Art Nouveau design on it.

The pencil.

And the tape measure.

Everything is there.

It really is beautifully designed

To have everything there all at once.

I mean, we have mobile phones now, don't we?

-Well, yes, this is it.

-It's not quite the same thing, is it?

-It's not the same aura somehow.

-So this has come down from your grandmother.

-Yes.

I think, probably, it belonged to the nurse of the family

and when she departed left whatever. Grandmother acquired it.

-So you think she may have had these?

-I think so, yes.

-I mean, some of the pieces may have been added later.

-Yes.

All of these with a very similar design, I think, were all

part of the original chatelaine but there may be other items

and that, of course, was the beauty of the chatelaine.

You could add additional items but it's just wonderful to see

all of this and equally important to see solid silver.

A lot of them are individually hallmarked

and that really does add to the price. And you're happy to sell it now?

Yes, I think it would be a good idea for it to go to someone who could really appreciate it.

Normally, you'll probably only get, sort of, £80 to £100 for them

but I think this is the exception to the rule and I would go a lot higher on this one.

-I would probably say in the region of £350 to £500.

-Oh, wow.

How does that sound?

The last time I had it valued, it was valued at £80. So that is higher.

Right. I think it's a bit better than £80.

-Are you happy with that?

-Yes, yes, that would be wonderful.

-Shall we say £300 reserve?

-Yes.

-And let's hope that it goes to a good home.

-Yes.

-That's the most important.

-Another housekeeper.

-That's what we like. A good traditional housekeeper.

-Yes, yes, yes.

-Well, thank you very much. You've really made my day.

-Thank you for your time.

-Thank you.

Next, we travelled east to revisit our valuation day at the glorious

Norwich Cathedral where the crowds were still queueing

for valuations and something shiny had caught Kate Bateman's eye.

Gwen, what can you tell me about your item today?

Well, it was inherited a long time ago

and it's moved with us from house to house.

We've recently moved again.

Downsizing.

Just, really, we don't need it and so that's...

Well, there's not much call for cigarette cases nowadays.

-No, that's the trouble.

-It's a bit out of fashion.

But on the plus side, when I first saw it, I thought,

-"Oh, it's silver gilt." As in it's silver covered in gold.

-Right.

-Then, I opened it up and I got a pleasant surprise.

-Right.

Which was, it is solid gold.

-So, here we go. 375. Nine-carat gold.

-Mm-hm.

And it's got your Birmingham hallmark on it there.

-Which I think is 1927.

-Right.

And it's very cool and what's great about it is there's no initials.

-Right.

-Because that's a real downer.

-Yes.

-Anything that's monogrammed and it doesn't happen to

-be your initials, really breaks on the selling.

-Yes.

It's quite nice. It's got a machined, you can see the, sort of, very geometric, machined,

-circle pattern on the front...

-Yes.

-..which when you, kind of, change the light, it's a nice texture.

-Yes.

-You're not tempted to keep hold of it?

-No.

You've heard that gold's pretty high right now?

-I've absolutely no idea what...

-It's a good time to sell gold.

I mean, it's been going up. We've weighed it and it's 94g.

-Do you have any idea what you think it's worth?

-Absolutely none.

-Nothing.

OK, well, from that weight,

-it's going to be £700, £800 with gold at the moment.

-Oh, goodness.

-You look surprised.

-Yes.

-Pleasantly surprised. What did you think it was?

-Maybe a couple hundred pounds or...?

-Yes.

-Oh, wow.

-So, that's worth selling, do you think?

-Very good.

-Very good.

-So, what I would do, because gold fluctuates a little...

Yes.

-It's not likely to go plummeting down before the sale.

-No, no.

-But I would certainly put a reserve of 600. You don't want to give it away, it's ridiculous.

-No.

-So, put a 700 to 800 estimate.

-Yes.

-Reserve of 600.

-Yes.

-And put it into the sale.

-See what happens.

-OK, well, we'll try it.

-Thank you. Very good.

Finally, we travelled northwards to revisit our valuation

day at the 19th-century Bowes Museum in County Durham where a

mystery item crossed David Harper's path.

Oh, you know what, Enid, I just love it. Talk to me about this object.

We bought a property in 1972 and it was a joiner's shop

and this was in the timber shed on the floor with a lot of other

things and I was sorting things out and I picked this up

and thought, "I'll wash it and keep it."

-So you've had it, what, for 40 years?

-45 years.

-OK, yeah.

-Yes, yes.

Now, you must have quizzed about what it is, where it's from,

-what it's made from...

-Well, yes.

-..what on earth this lettering means.

-You've had 40 years of research.

-Yes.

-Help me.

Nobody has ever come up with anything that meant anything.

I just thought it was a bronze Roman thing. That's all I thought.

-Roman?

-That's what I thought.

-Did you think it was Roman?

-Yes, I did.

-Like 2,000 years old?

-Yes, I did.

-Oh, did you? OK.

-I'm completely wrong, probably.

-OK. OK. Gosh, well, I can see, sort of, where you're going...

-Yes.

-..because it has that ancient shape.

-Yes, yes.

From a distance, without the lettering,

you might think it's Chinese Archaic, 1,000 years old.

-But it's British.

-Yes.

-It's probably English.

-And it's date is 400 or 500 years old.

-Is it?

It's an ancient thing and it's in the right environment - a museum.

-Yes.

-We know what it is as an object.

-Yes.

-It's a mortar.

-Yes.

-Yeah. So it's missing its pestle.

-Yes.

-But it's one big mortar and it's very, very heavy.

-Yes.

And it's cast out of bronze so who would own a mortar of that size?

-No idea.

-Because it's so big, I'm positive it's a commercial thing.

-Oh.

-It was not made for a house.

-No.

-It was made for a business.

-Yes.

-So, physicians.

-Yes.

-Yeah. An apothecary.

-Right.

-It's made for mixing powders.

And if you look at the way the handle's cast,

-it's quite roughly cast.

-Oh, yes, it's quite primitive, really.

-Yeah.

-Yes.

-I don't think it was ever thought of as being a fine thing.

-No, no.

The lettering really has me absolutely flummoxed.

-I think it has everybody. That's not just you.

-Yeah. You got TT.

IT.

-ET which might be AND in Latin.

-Yes, yes.

-So it might be TTIT and RO, yeah.

RO, yes.

For me, it's amazing to think that this was more than

likely around during the English Civil War.

-Really? Yes.

-Just touch that.

-This is one of the reasons why I'm in this business.

-Yes.

Because from the age of dot,

-I was always fascinated by handling objects.

-The feel of it, yes.

Yeah, you're feeling the past.

-It's the closest you're ever going to get...

-Yes.

-..to time travel.

You're looking at something right now that pretty much hasn't

-changed apart from the missing of that handle.

-Yeah.

-That hasn't altered in its form for 400 or 500 years.

-No, right.

-Now, that still sends shivers down my spine.

-Yes, yes.

It's mind-blowing as an object.

But what is it worth?

-What opinions have you had in the past?

-I'm in your hands.

I've never taken it to a valuation anywhere.

It's just sat in my lounge with some big grasses in.

THEY LAUGH

-I think, in auction, put £200 to £300 on.

-Right.

-As an estimate.

-OK.

-Would you go with that?

-Yes, I would. Yes.

-Well, I think that's really, really exciting.

-Yes, we'll have a try.

Because it's not often in this business,

-even this antiques business, you handle something...

-As nice.

-..so old.

-Yes, that's right.

-Just have the last touch.

-Before it goes.

-Remember that.

-Yes. Yes.

-I'll see you at the auction.

-OK, yes.

A fabulous piece oozing with history but we didn't want to

give it away so David put a £200 reserve on Enid's mortar.

Well, that's it for our last lot of items today.

We'll find out what happened to them

when they went under the hammer shortly.

But first, I want to show you my favourite Nash's room here at Llanerchaeron.

And it's in there and it's an architectural tour de force.

This is the dressing room.

And it belonged to the lady of the house whose bedroom was just through there.

It's a very small room but I want to show you something.

Look at the door. As I'm closing this, can you see that?

Look at the curve. That's not warped.

It's designed and made like that.

There's a great deal of skill by a craftsman that's

gone into making that. That is so difficult to do.

And look how perfectly it shuts.

That's Nash's design.

He's done that to complement the curved walls on the east

and the west faces of this room.

The room almost feels oval and here, look, either side

of this lovely Georgian window, you can

see these niches here. Pieces of furniture had to be made.

Here we have a mahogany washstand fitting

beautifully into the niche but I love this chest of drawers.

Not the normal configuration.

Again, curved.

It had to be designed and made for this room.

I love Nash's work and I love this room.

Let's hope the bidders were equally enamoured with our last

lot of items as it's time to see how they performed

when we travelled to auction rooms across the country.

Gwen's nine-carat gold cigarette case was hallmarked Birmingham

and decorated with a machined circle pattern

and it certainly impressed Kate Bateman

when it crossed her table at Norwich Cathedral.

Enid lugged her bronze mortar along to our valuation

day at the Bowes Museum in County Durham

and discovered that it had been around as long ago as the Civil War.

But first, under the hammer, was Sue's inherited housekeeper's chatelaine which she

brought along to our valuation day at Weston-super-Mare.

To sell it, we headed along the coast from the Grand Pier

to Clevedon Salerooms in Somerset.

Auctioneer Marc Burridge was still on the rostrum.

Sue, fingers crossed and good luck.

This is the first time ever we're selling

a collection of household gadgets on a chain on Flog It!

HE LAUGHS

-Had to say that cos it's true, isn't it?

-Well, it is.

It's the housekeeper's chatelaine and there's everything on there.

You got your pencil, your aide-memoire, your tape measure, everything.

-Jack of all trades. Mum's there to fix everything.

-Absolutely.

She is, isn't she? Right, ready to say goodbye?

-Cos I think it's going to go.

-Yes.

-This is it.

And the chatelaine, now, lot 445.

260, I have. 270. 280. 290.

£300 on the board.

-That's all right, we've sold it anyway.

-Yeah.

310.

I can sell it £300. Is there any advance? Yes or no?

Selling on 300, then.

And the hammer's going down. It's gone. Right on it.

-It was worth that all day long, yeah.

-Yes, yeah.

I hope it all stays together as well.

Oh, yeah. Definitely. It'd be nice if it got used as well.

Yes, it would.

I'm sure that housekeeper's chatelaine will bring its new

owner a lot of pleasure. A fabulous piece.

Next, we travelled north to return to 1818 Auctioneers in Cumbria

to see if Enid's historic bronze mortar was a hit with the bidders.

Wielding the hammer was auctioneer David Brooks.

Coming up now, one of my favourite items in the entire sale.

It's possibly the oldest as well.

It dates from the 17th century and it's a wonderful, generous-size

-bronze mortar and it belongs to Enid.

-Yes.

What a lovely find.

-Very nice find.

-It's a nice feeling, isn't it?

When you hold a bit of bronze like that, you know, the weight,

you know, made in a good bell foundry. It's a nice thing.

-Yeah, and you can feel the age as well, can't you?

-Oh, yes.

-Yes, yeah.

-If only an object could speak.

-Yes.

-Yes.

-It could tell us. It could tell us lots of tales, couldn't it?

-That's right.

Well, right now, we're going to find out exactly what it's worth as it goes under the hammer.

Lot 60, which is the bronze mortar. Where shall we start the bidding?

300?

-200?

-Come on.

Starting at £100, then, please.

£100 for the brass mortar.

Absolutely no interest anywhere.

-Nothing on the internet.

-Oh, come on.

No interest at all.

-Aw.

-Looking on the bright side, it wasn't a chest of drawers, was it?

-No.

-I mean, you know, you can

put it in the footwell of the car quite easily.

-Yes, I'll take it home, yes.

-Oh, look, I think it belongs with the house.

-You've still got the house.

-Yes, I have, yes.

-So, kind of, you know...

-Yes.

-..let it embrace the house...

-Yes.

-..and display it somewhere in the kitchen on a windowsill.

-Yes.

-Good thinking.

-Yeah.

Right, time for our final stop of the day as we headed back to TW Gaze

in Diss in Norfolk to see how Gwen's nine-carat gold cigarette case fared.

Robert Kinsella was the man on the rostrum.

Are you happy, Gwen? Have you been looking forward to this?

-You're looking very nervous.

-I am nervous.

-It is.

Being put on the spot is not easy, especially for our experts.

-Tell me about it. No pressure.

-OK, look. You've put

-700 to £800 on this with a reserve at 600.

-Yeah.

-This nine-carat gold cigarette case.

-Yes.

-You've upped that reserve to £700.

-Yes.

It doesn't change the estimate. We're still looking for 700 to 800, so, hopefully, we'll get that.

-We can't sell at 600.

-It'll all depend on the gold price at the day.

-OK, look, good luck with this, Gwen.

It's going under the hammer right now.

There it is.

Bids are starting me here at 550.

-I'll take 600 anywhere.

-550. Come on, come on.

-550 to begin with.

Is there 600 now?

650 bid there. It's online at 650 the bid.

-650. It's online.

-Yeah.

-One more bid.

-£700 on the phone.

-Done it.

-Oh, yes. Yes, yes.

-750.

Hey, girl, you did well.

No sweat, go on.

780 bid.

-800.

-Oh, 800. 800.

-820.

-820.

-820 still on the phone then at 820 bid.

Any advance and we'll sell away at 820.

-820.

-Brilliant.

-You didn't do your hammer bit.

-No. It's "crack!"

That's the sold sound.

-Hey, congratulations, well done.

-Thank you.

-That's a lot of money.

Well, that's it for today's show.

And I've thoroughly enjoyed being here at Llanerchaeron.

Soaking up the architecture of John Nash

and seeing how the place functioned as a self-sufficient estate.

We've seen some great treasures from around the country. Your treasures.

And we've had some fabulous results in the auction room

and I was particularly pleased for Gwen.

Well, until the next time, it's goodbye.