York Flog It!

Today, "Flog It!" comes from the beautiful,

ancient city of York, once the Roman capital of England.

Now, it boasts the largest Gothic cathedral in northern Europe.

This is a city that is literally bursting at the seams, with a rich and fascinating history.

The city walls are the longest in England, at about two miles in length.

York, together with Gloucester, is the oldest surviving Dukedom in Britain.

The title, the Duke of York, was created in the 14th century by Richard II, and to this very day,

the title is handed down to the sovereign's second son.

I always wondered what Prince Andrew did!

The only hand-me-downs we're going to find here today will be those forgotten family treasures

that have been dusted down and sorted out by our experts,

Michael Baggott and Mark Stacey. Let's hope they make a big hit in the auction room.

-Hello, Sarah, Peter.

-Hello.

-Hi.

-What a nice piece of commemorative ware you've brought in.

-What's the history with you?

-It was my granny's.

I don't know where she got it from.

My mum gave it to us last year to sell before we got married to make some money. Since then,

we've got married, and haven't sold it. But we did lose his wedding ring on honeymoon.

-Good Lord! You've decided to flog it?

-We'll put the money towards getting a new ring.

-Dare I ask,

-how did you manage to lose your ring?

-Snorkelling, and saving me!

-Well, I think that's a good enough reason, isn't it?

-Yes.

If we look at the jug, it's a very nice piece, very good quality.

Nicely moulded. Of course, all the representations of royalty,

the Royal Crest, the lion, of course, for England. And what we've got

is a Silver Jubilee Coronation Jug of George V.

We've got a portrait of George V on the front,

with the dates 1910 to 1935,

looking very much there like Tsar Nicholas II,

who was his cousin, and they were almost identical,

when you see them in old photographs and old movies.

Then, on the reverse, we've got Queen Mary, his wife.

Underneath, we've got some fascinating details.

This jug was designed by...

Cyril Shingler, for Mason's,

again another good firm,

for the Silver Jubilee, as it says, May 6th.

Then it says, "This jug is number..."

-And no number.

-..and it doesn't fill it in. That intrigues me,

because what might have happened is that it hasn't been coloured.

I think the ones which were numbered were painted in vivid enamels.

So, you'd have bright greens on the laurel wreath, bright reds and golds on the actual design,

and this has been left as a blank one. We know what you think about it.

What do YOU think about it?

I don't like it. It stands around all the time gathering dust.

It doesn't go with anything that we've got in the household.

-I'll be glad to see the back of it.

-I'm getting the distinct impression you don't like it!

I definitely don't like it, no!

It's not our taste.

Had you thought about the value?

We were looking at selling it last year.

We had someone value it, and they said about £150, £170.

But we found the description of the jug on the internet

at being sold at auction for £450.

-So, we've no idea.

-Well, it's an extreme, isn't it?

The thing you've got to be careful with the internet about, is that...

-the prices you see on there aren't necessarily what they sold for.

-Yeah.

It's what somebody is asking someone to pay for it. And that's a big difference.

We can all ask what we want to ask for something.

My personal feeling is that the commemorative market isn't as buoyant as it once was.

The country itself isn't as royalist as it once was.

I'd certainly advise you, if you're putting it in for auction, to be looking at maybe...

£150 to £200, and see what happens. Would you be happy if we did that?

-Very happy, yes.

-Wonderful.

-Definitely.

-Thank you. It's one of the more interesting pieces of commemorative ware we've had.

I look forward to seeing you at the auction. Let's hope it's a ringing success.

Richard and Claire, thank you so much

for coming along with this lovely brooch.

-You're brother and sister?

-Yeah.

-Funny question, but who does the brooch belong to?

-It belongs to me.

-It's yours, not yours?

No, I got a ring instead.

You got a ring and unfortunately, the way it goes, you get a brooch,

-which doesn't go on an England shirt, does it?

-Not exactly, no.

-No.

-So they're inherited family pieces?

-Yeah, from my grandmother.

It's a lovely little brooch.

It's English. It's amethyst and seed pearls in high-carat gold,

and it was made in about 1860 to 1870.

No marks on it, but that's the period it was made in. It's a good 130 years old.

-It's quite old.

-It's wonderful quality.

It's not marked in any way, but it's at least 18-carat gold.

-It's very high carat gold.

-Yeah.

-Yep.

Apart from that, there's nothing really of value in it.

It's set with amethyst and split seed pearls, river pearls that are sawn in half.

It's a bit economical, you can use twice the amount.

But it's the workmanship of this brooch that really makes it stand out.

It's a lovely design. This little three-leaf clover, and what's better than that, is its hearts.

If you're giving a piece of jewellery to someone, you want a heart on it,

usually if it's a Valentine's gift. Or an anniversary.

It's got all the ticks in all the right boxes.

The other thing that you can't see very well

with the naked eye is that the setting is incredibly well done.

A craftsman has created that jewel.

If we flick it over, you can see,

there's as much quality and finish on the back of it as there is on the front, which is really nice.

As to value, the gold in it isn't terribly valuable.

There isn't much gold. The stones and pearls aren't valuable themselves,

it's just for the item itself. I think today,

it would easily make between 200 and £300 at auction. There are a couple of little pearls

-missing from the side, that you pointed out to me.

-Yes.

-Easy to miss.

-I think if we set the reserve at about £160...

-Oh, right.

..that takes into account the fact that someone's got to get that done.

But it's a lovely period piece, and it should do really well at auction.

If it goes,

will you be happy to see it go?

Yeah, it's a bit of a waste really, being stuck at home, so I'd like to sell it.

And buy something a bit more up-to-date?

-I'd like something on show, that I can put on show.

-Absolutely.

-Hopefully, it'll find a good home at the auction. Thank you for bringing it in.

-No problem.

-Thank you.

C'mon, let's have a look in here.

Let's see what you've got.

-Is it yours?

-It is, yes.

There's a little note inside. It says, "Mum! Thanks for everything.

-"Sorry about the hole in the ceiling."

-He put his foot through it.

-"See you soon, love Mike."

Aw! What was he doing putting his foot through the ceiling?

-Getting things out of the loft.

-What, to bring along to "Flog It!",

-or, just clearing the loft out?

-No, no, no!

Gosh! I'm sneezing. There's so much dust. You know when we talk about dusting down your antiques?

Well...I think you brought the dust along with you, before you dusted these ones down.

-Hello, Frances.

-Hello.

You've brought this lovely sort of Art Deco figure in to show us.

What's the history?

It was given to a great aunt of my husband's.

It came into the family about 40 years ago.

-She taught Greek dancing...

-Oh!

..and I think it may have been given to her by another teacher or pupil.

-It is a wonderful dancing figure, isn't it? There's a lot of movement in it.

-Tremendous, yes.

A wonderful sort of diaphanousness about it.

-Yes.

-She's...I say Art Deco, because although the movement

looks slightly Art Nouveau, I think with this sort of band in her hair,

it's getting more towards the 1950, 1920 period.

She's in bronze,

and she's signed, M Le Verrier, which is a known maker.

Not quite as high up as some of the other makers, but nonetheless, I think the quality is very good.

-Yes, it's very delicate.

-So, when did it pass down to you?

Probably about 30 years ago, I think.

It certainly is something which will appeal to a collector.

Some people would probably change this stand,

because I think that's maybe not the right stand, anyway.

-She should be a little bit higher.

-Yes, I'm sure it's the original stand.

-Do you think so?

-Yes.

It's had a little bit of damage here.

-Yes.

-But I think it would be nice if it was raised up a little.

-Slightly elevated, yes.

-That's right, elevated slightly.

Tell me, you've had it for 30 years, why have you decided to flog it now?

-I think it's a question of wanting the cash.

-That's truthful!

We have to have some work done in the house, and so, it would probably go towards that.

In terms of value, have you thought of how much you think it's worth?

-I've never had it valued, so I don't know.

-I would say,

if we put it into auction today, we'd probably put an estimate of £300 to £400.

-Is that good?

-That's very good, yes.

-Very encouraging.

-Yes.

-I hope so. I hope we're dancing later at the sale.

-Definitely.

-If it gets a higher price,

-we can do a little pirouette! I look forward to seeing you.

-Thank you, Mark.

-Thank you.

David, you've brought a bit of a cane in today.

Do you know what happened to the rest of it?

I've no idea at all, I'm afraid.

I only remember it in my grandfather's drawer, going back 60, 50 years now.

-Right.

-I was allowed to play with that along with three brass monkeys,

which disappeared. I've no idea what happened to those.

But you held on to this. Did your grandfather use it as a walking cane?

No, I've always remembered it as it is now.

Apart from the fact that it didn't have the eyes it has now. It originally had red eyes...

-OK.

-..which got lost. My grandfather put the eyes in that are there now.

Oh, right. Well, it's a lovely little cane handle.

It's carved out of ivory. I was going to say that the eyes have been put in later.

But you know that, so that's not a shock. Probably if they were a red stone,

because this is terribly well carved, they were probably little cabochon garnets.

It was probably a semi-precious stone that went in. Unfortunately,

they're glued in at this date,

and this was carved in about... 1820 up to 1840.

So, after 100 years, the glue dries out, the eyes fall out and your grandfather is out there with...

the tube of glue, and a couple of very sparkly diamante-effect stones,

that might detract from it a little.

I think a collector would have those replaced, but it's lovely to have them.

It's terribly nice that it's a dog.

-Yes.

-I'm not entirely sure what dog it is.

-I think it's probably something like a bull mastiff.

-Yes.

They were a very popular hound at the turn of the 19th century.

So someone had a bull mastiff, and they had this carved up for their cane when they went walkabouts.

It's never had any tremendous value in your family, any ascribed to it?

Only aesthetic value.

-Right.

-It's very tactile.

-It's nice to run your hand over it.

-And that's why...

With a piece of ivory, you want to see colour and wear.

This has gone a lovely golden colour,

because it's been handled for 100 years, and the natural grease and oils from your fingers

penetrate it and discolour it, which I think is quite attractive.

There are lots of collectors of walking canes and walking cane ephemera.

It's a pity we don't have the stick that it was mounted on, which probably would have been bone.

The whole thing would have been white. It would have had an ivory effect, but cheaper to use bone.

Still, the head as it is is probably worth in the region of about...

£70 to £100, which isn't bad for the tip of a cane.

-It isn't, no.

-So, would you be happy to pop it into auction for that?

-I would.

-We'll pop it into the auction, and hope it does really well for you.

-Excellent.

That's our first lots in the bag.

What a varied selection it is.

From a shiny brooch that may catch someone's eye,

to a cane handle that might just go walkies

out of the sale room for a big profit.

I really love this one, Andrew.

It's a bronze dancing figure.

It belongs to Frances. It's been in her family 30 years.

She wants to sell it to put the money towards DIY for the house.

Mark Stacey, our expert, has valued it at £300 to £400.

Well, we had a look at this.

It's by a chap, or after a fellow, called Max Le Verrier, Belgian.

Not first flight, probably not second or third flight, but he's in the book,

so he's about and we know him.

-But I think that £300 to £400 is optimistic.

-Yes.

I had a word with the vendor. I've spoken to her

and we've decided between us that perhaps it would be more tempting

to get the public stamping their feet at a lower figure.

We may still get where we want to get to, in due course,

but at the moment, that's where we are, and that will be more...

-What have you dropped it down to?

-£200 - £300 instead.

Instead of £300 - £400.

-Let's hope it gets your top end.

-Precisely.

-Well, preferably, Mark's top end.

The more the better. Think of the commission.

-We're both pulling in the same direction.

-Thank you.

In any fine art sale, you're always guaranteed to see a bit of oak and country furniture.

Regional furniture or vernacular, if you like. Here is a lovely example.

It's a small side table. But it's a tripod table made with three legs.

This is particularly beautiful. It's made of oak.

It's probably from the Welsh borders, Herefordshire.

It has three legs because they were always intended to stand on a floor that was very uneven,

like an earth floor or a stone floor.

Something very peculiar happens when you have a table with three legs.

If the floor is uneven, you can rotate it,

until it sits perfectly level.

You cannot do that with a four-legged table.

Incidentally, this is braced together with a lovely T-bar stretcher. Look at this stretcher.

This is catalogued at £300 to £400.

That's well worth buying. That's a good investment.

That's enough of me snooping around. Let's get on with the sale.

I've just been joined by Sarah and Peter here.

They're selling a commemorative jug.

Hopefully, we'll get the top end, £150, £200.

We're selling this to raise money for a replacement wedding ring, aren't we? How long did it take

-before you made it up, on honeymoon?

-We made it up on the boat on the way back.

-Behave!

-So, we need top dollar for this, Mark. Will we get it?

It's quite promising. It's by a good designer.

It's not one that I've seen very often, so hopefully,

being a more limited edition, it might just attract those people who haven't got an example of it.

I hope we'll get the £150.

Good luck, I'm sure the bidders will find it.

182 is the Mason's ironstone jug by Cyril Shingler.

Starting at £100, can we get £110 in the room?

At £110, quickly, may I say, anybody else want to bid?

£110. Nobody else...?

-Please!

-..At £110, if you want it.

All finished at £100. All done...

-Didn't sell it.

-That means I've got to take it home again.

-Don't give me a clip round the ear.

-Do you like it, anyway?

-No.

-You don't like it.

-I can't stand it.

There's another sale room on another day, OK?

The bidders just weren't here. I still think you'll get that ring.

-Definitely.

-You will, you won't let him get away with it, will you?

-No.

Good for you.

In charge of the jewellery section today in the sale room is Andrew's daughter, Daisy.

I've just been joined by brother and sister here, Richard and Claire.

We're flogging Grandma's brooch.

We're pinning our hopes on £200 to £300. It's a lovely brooch. Happy with the valuation?

-I am, yeah.

-Let's hope we get the top end, shall we? It's quality. It's got the look.

It's beautiful, and it can be used as a pendant, which is so much more commercial.

Brooches are a little bit old-fashioned.

That might carry through maybe to the mid-estimate, or a little bit more.

-Nevertheless, it's got style.

-It has.

-It's got a lot of style.

We're looking for a very stylish bidder right now. Good luck.

Lot 724. An amethyst and pearl

brooch/pendant. This is in the form of a shamrock.

A lovely thing.

I've got to start the bidding at £160.

Can I hear £170 in the room?

£170, ladies and gentlemen... £170 anywhere?

Finished at £160, then...

£160. Just did it.

-Scraped in on the reserve.

-There were a couple of seed pearls missing.

That might have put a few private buyers off, and the fact it's a brooch.

But I think we still did OK. OK.

It's time to sell that gorgeous Art Deco dancing figure.

Frances can't be with us. But her son-in-law can.

-It's Mark, isn't it?

-It is, yes.

-Who's this?

-This is Arthur.

Where's Grandma, then?

Oh, where is she?

-She's in Normandy, in France, on holiday.

-I bet Granny's going to spend the money on you!

I've got to ask him what he's going to spend the money on.

We had a chat to the auctioneer. He says it should do mid-estimate.

-That's good.

-Hopefully, we'll flog it.

What do you think, Mark? Bottom end, or top end? Decision time.

-I think it'll do all right. It's quite nice.

-This is it. Good luck.

300 is the number.

I'm starting at £130. Do we hear £140?

Anybody else at £140, may I say?

Any other bids? At £140, come along.

All finished at £130... All done.

-He didn't sell it.

-Oh, dear. Oh, dear!

-He didn't sell it...

-No toys.

-That should easily have gone.

-No toys, Arthur.

-What was it going to be, Arthur?

-What was Granny gonna get?

-A racing car.

-A racing car, he said.

-Ah, never mind.

-It was such a good-looking figure.

-Beautiful.

-It epitomises that period.

-It should have at least made £200, if not more.

-I'll have to buy him a racing car now, you realise that!

Something to get to grips with - a walking cane handle.

I think it's a bull mastiff.

As far as I know, it's a bull mastiff.

-I'll stick my head out and say it is.

-All you dog lovers out there are probably criticising us!

I'm a dog lover, but I think that one is a bull mastiff.

It belongs to David. Hi, David. Your daughter's here. What's her name?

-Julia.

-What are you going to put the money towards for Julia?

-Julia's going to Italy with the Guides, for an international jamboree.

-Right. Oh, great fun.

-She's convinced me she needs more spending money.

-Will we get top spending money?

What are we hoping for? £100?

£70 to £100. You have to be barking mad not to buy it for £70. It's wonderful.

All you've got to do is find a period cane, put the two together, and there's a profit there.

Hopefully, they'll see that,

and chase it up to the £100 mark.

Lot 355, an ivory cane handle. A bull mastiff's head.

-I'm starting at £70...

-We're straight in at the bottom end.

..85, 90, 95, 100. And 10. £120 is it now?

Anybody else at £120?

You finish at £110...

Yes! £110.

Dog lovers. Dog lovers will turn out all the time.

-It was beautiful.

-Yes, superb.

The quality was there.

-The dog lovers were out in force.

-Congratulations, David. I hope your daughter

-has a great time with the Guides.

-Thank you.

Right now, it's time to take a break from the auction.

I'm going to catch up with one of today's experts, Michael Baggott. He's a silver specialist,

and not only that, he collects silver. He loves it.

He's told me of a unique collection that's just nearby. It sounds intriguing. Let's have a look.

Michael, we're here at York Minster.

-What has it got to do with silver?

-You wouldn't know from the outside,

-but it houses one of the finest collections of York Silver in the country.

-Really?

Yeah. That was put together by put together by William Lee, who was an antiques dealer in York.

What sort of period is this we're talking about?

1944, Lee reads a piece in the Times, that a York teapot is coming up for sale in London, during the Blitz.

Gets to London at about 6 o'clock, and then walks around Blitz London,

-for three hours, till the sale starts.

-A brave man.

-Dodging the doodlebugs.

-Yeah.

And, when the teapot comes up, it's one of the first lots in the sale.

He creeps into the room, hangs around in the back,

buys it for the record price of any Queen Anne teapot up to that point, and that's what starts him off.

-Is that piece here?

-It is. We can go and see it now.

Let's go and have a look.

We're surrounded by lovely pieces of silver, Michael.

-I bet you can't wait to get your hands on them.

-Absolutely!

We've seen York Silver on the show before.

We know it was a thriving centre for silversmiths, because there was an assay office here.

We know the impression mark, a shield with five little lions on it.

Five little lions in a cross, which is the City Arms of York.

Yeah. There was a good industry for silversmiths here at one time.

When did it all start?

The first recorded incidence we've got of a town mark been used, the touch of the town, is 1410 to 1411.

We don't have anything that survives from that early date.

-That's a long time ago.

-Unless anybody digs something up, we're not going to find it.

But, we have got the earliest recorded impression.

-So, this is the oldest piece of York Silver in the country.

-In the world.

Fantastic.

It's this very modest little spoon here.

It's got the very early town mark, which isn't that cross with the five lions.

-This is half a fleur-de-lis, and half a leopard's head.

-London mark.

It was the London mark.

So, they adopted half of that.

That's just struck in the bowl.

Of course, we don't have a date letter system. It's before the date letter system came in.

When did the date letter start to come in?

Probably 1559.

-That has an A.

-That would have been an A, but we've not found any of those still existent.

That's purely for York anyway. That wouldn't be for London or Edinburgh.

No, that's just for York. The earliest one we know of,

is 1560 to '61 which is a capital B, which is also in the Lee collection.

-He certainly knew how to...

-That's not bad going, just one year later.

-He knew what to buy.

There's no doubt about that.

What would you expect to pay for a spoon like that?

That's priceless, is it?

You'd probably never come across another one. If you did...

-You could name your price.

-You could indeed.

-We have another spoon there.

Absolutely, 120 years later, 130 years later, York comes into its own.

We get arguably the most important provincial silversmith in the country working in York,

who of course is, John Plummer(??).

We don't have something here. But, we've got something by one of his contemporaries,

Thomas Mangey. It's what we call a disc-end spoon, technically.

But, they're also called death's head spoons, or memento mori.

-Look at what's engraved...

-A skull.

..and a motto that I'm covering up. What does that say?

"Live to die."

"Live to die and die to live."

-They're very cheery things.

-It is, isn't it?

Sort of like a 17th century biker.

It's a bit hard, a bit full on, puritanical.

-If you see a spoon like that...

-Buy it.

..you're 99 % certain that it's York, without even looking at the marks.

-It's a good way of identifying a bit of York Silver.

-It is, absolutely. IF you ever see one.

Do you come across them regularly?

-I've come across one.

-One, in your life.

-Yes, in 30 odd years.

-They're rare.

-This is number two.

Here's the little teapot we were talking about earlier.

This is the start of the Lee collection. This is what set him off.

The question is, would you brave the Blitz to go and buy it?

Probably not. No, I wouldn't.

It's a bit of a plain Jane. Queen Anne silver is very plain anyway.

-It's supposed to be decorated with armorials.

-There's no engraving.

This hasn't been engraved. A London one might be.

You might have small applied card work by the handles.

It looks very contemporary.

That's simply the style of the silver at the time. Very plain. Queen Anne.

Not a lot of it about now.

No. What should we be looking for in York Silver?

You won't find any of the earlier pieces. If you do, people will know exactly what they've got,

and they'll be many thousands of pounds.

What you stand a chance of finding is stuff from the later period of the assay office.

-Let's look at that then.

-This bowl.

-That's lovely.

It's rather splendid.

It's got a very early example of the town mark, which is the leopard in the cross.

We've got the IHIP stamp for Hampston and Prince.

So, if you see IH and IP on a piece of silver...

-You know it's York Silver.

-..that's the way to tell.

Not many pieces do bear a town mark.

It's only the larger pieces of hollowware.

-You've got to do your homework if you're trying to identify York Silver.

-Absolutely.

What are the key points to look for?

In about 1776, they started to introduce stub marking in London,

which is all the marks struck at once in a single punch.

Throughout the history of the York office, right up until it closes, every mark is individually stamped.

Whilst they'll try to line them up in a straight line, they don't always.

So, if the hallmarks are bit higgledy-piggledy...

-You know you're onto a good thing!

-..you can start to get excited, you can't be definite.

What happened to the industry? What was its demise? When did it close down?

It doesn't shut, it doesn't close.

It just peters out.

By about 1858, 59, you've got the last maker, Robert Haslegrave.

The only thing known by him is a button, currently.

Basically, it peters out, and that's the end of the York assay office.

What we all want to know is, where can we buy it from, if we want to start collecting York Silver?

Go to specialist dealers first off. Have a look. See what they've got.

It's going to be a bit pricey, but you'll get used to it.

-What I like to do...

-Exactly, always buy the best you can afford, as well.

Or, do what I do, and be really cheap.

Go around antique fairs, trawl through boxes of teaspoons, and if you find a York one,

you'll probably pay £5 for it. And, it's worth £30.

As far as larger items go, the sky is the limit.

-Recently, I saw a coffee pot that was £22,000.

-That's a lot of money.

-Michael, thank you.

-Pleasure.

-Hello, Gordon.

-Hello, Mark.

-It's lovely to see

a piece of local pottery here from the Brameld factory,

Yorkshire pottery. You're a Yorkshire man.

I am truly Yorkshire.

A true Yorkshire man. Why were you attracted to the Brameld factory?

My mother was called Brameld.

It turns out that I'm related to the proprietors of the Rockingham factory.

Bramelds were the proprietors of the Rockingham factory.

-So, you're the sort of great, great, great something.

-That's me!

Well, we look at this particular piece, a very nice, dessert dish, I suppose, from a dessert service.

In the early part of the century, this sort of leaf decoration was very popular.

This one is very crisply moulded, with this little basket weave in the middle.

What I particularly like, is this back,

which is so well done, so well made.

-The feel of it is very good.

-A lovely piece.

Have you got a large collection?

I've got a large collection of Rockingham pieces.

I've another piece like this, but mainly I've got the Brameld Blue.

-Blue and white.

-Yeah.

Give us a little resume of the factory, from what you found out about it.

The factory was situated on the Earl of Fitzwilliam Estate,

and it was part of the Leeds factory.

The Leeds factory decided to wind down the production at Swinton

in South Yorkshire, where this was made.

The Bramelds took over the Rockingham factory. In fact, they changed the name to Rockingham

when Earl Fitzwilliam put money into the factory.

Of course they produce some wonderful rococo wares.

They started making porcelain in...

-That's right.

-..1826.

It closed in 1842.

It was a relatively short-lived factory.

As you say, from 1826 to 1842.

A very collectible factory now, particularly here in Yorkshire.

It's a fascinating story. Really nice to see this piece here.

I guess you're selling it because you've already got a double.

-I have, yes.

-If we were putting this into a local sale, which it is,

in Ilkley, we'd put an estimate of maybe £100 to £150 on it.

-Oh, that's good.

-Would that be all right with you?

-Yes, yes.

We'll put the reserve at about £100, with discretion from the auctioneer.

-Yeah.

-Let's hope on the day, we'll get a good result and some good collectors in to buy it.

-And a bit of publicity for the Rockingham factory.

-Absolutely.

All publicity is good publicity.

Beverley and Owen, hi there.

We've seen a lot of miniatures on the show before, but not miniatures painted on buttons.

What's the story behind these?

We volunteer for a local cancer support charity,

in a village called, Dunnington, just outside York.

These have been handed into the shop.

We're looking to sell them to get the best price we can for them.

You two act as experts for the charity shop?

-Well...

-You sift through everything.

-We sift through things.

-Experts may be a very loose term.

We're good at sifting.

-Do some research on it, and then flog on their behalf.

-Yeah.

Have you done much research on these little buttons?

We've done a little bit of work.

I've taken them to a few big auction houses to have a look through them.

-Which ones have you been to?

-I've been to Sotheby's, Christie's and Bonham's in the UK.

I'm lucky enough to travel, so it's been to Christie's in New York too.

These little buttons have flown all the way across the Atlantic to New York.

They have. They've also been to the Victoria and Albert.

-What were you doing out there?

-I work for an IT consultancy,

so we deal with a lot of the big banks in London and New York. So, I travel quite often.

What did they say?

They all liked them. They hadn't seen them before.

They said they were quite nicely painted.

They're beautifully painted actually. I think they're painted by a professional artist,

maybe a theatrical or a scenic artist.

They've got that look.

There's a slight chocolate box, dolls house look to them.

I think these are one-offs.

Obviously, painted on the back of a penny, and the pennies are all dated around about 1870, 1860.

At the latest, 1890.

I think, the paintings are later than the date of the penny.

I reckon these are 1910, 1920. Does that correlate with what anyone else has said?

Yes, I took them to the Victoria and Albert, for them to have a look.

They've been around. And, based on the wear on the pennies,

they suggested probably the turn of the century, around 1900, 1910.

That's exactly what I think. It's gonna be very hard to sell these.

-There are people that collect buttons.

-There are.

-Yes.

Any ideas?

It really is speculative.

Personally, I think they're great.

They're little works of art.

I'd like to see them maybe mounted, architecturally, three above three, and framed.

-But, then you wouldn't realise they were buttons.

-That would be a shame.

You want to hold them, to actually caress them and feel them.

-Turn them round.

-I don't know how you'd display these, or mount them, or what you'd do with them.

I think they'll go to a textiles dealer.

Yeah.

And, I think the price...

£150 to £180.

-Somewhere around there.

-Yeah, yeah.

-That's good.

-We just didn't know.

I think...

if they had stayed here, and gone into a jumble sale, I'd have been lucky to see £2 for them.

Anything we get above that is great.

Yeah. Could we put an evaluation, an auctioneer's estimate of £120 to £160.

-Just to...

-In a reserve.

-Yeah.

-..to get people attracted into them, yeah. That'd be great.

-Do we need a reserve on these?

-I don't think so.

-These have to sell.

We don't need a reserve, just anything we can get is a bonus.

So, they can go with no reserve quite happily.

-Thanks very much. Let's do it. Let's hope we get around that sort of figure.

-That'd be excellent.

-If two people want them, then we're going to.

-Great.

Frances, thank you for bringing in this wonderful, stylish sugar and cream set. Where did you get it from?

-I'm afraid I bought it on an antique stall in York market.

-Did you?

-Yes.

-Was that a long time ago?

Yes, about 20 or 30 years ago.

Was the set very expensive back then?

Can you remember what you gave for it?

About £4.50, something like that.

It wouldn't be any more, because I didn't have a lot of money then.

How reckless of you to spend so much money(!)

I think, Art Nouveau collectors everywhere are crying and sobbing silently, when you say £4.50.

It's such a stylish set, that it lifts it up from the ordinary.

It should be WMF, Wurtemburger Metallwaren Fabrikat.

-It's not.

-I have been over it with a fine-tooth comb, and there is not a WMF mark anywhere to be seen.

What there are on the base, is very simply stamped, EPNS, and one over zero.

Those are English marks, American marks.

You also find them on the Continent.

You do find them on WMF.

I find it extraordinary that they wouldn't have marked it. It's good enough. That's the thing.

It's only silver plate, but the interiors of both pieces are gilded.

I like that about them.

It does clean up nicely.

-You've polished it beautifully for today.

-I don't polish it very often. But, it does come up nicely.

-It's lovely. No plate's worn.

-It hasn't rubbed.

You've got this very European idea of Art Nouveau, which mingles with Vienna Secessionist Movement.

This is very angular. An English piece, you might expect florid curls and what have you.

What lifts it above the ordinary are these fantastic handles.

The handles are absolutely wonderful.

You've got an almost Charles Rennie Mackintosh device there.

You see that on some of his designs, some of his chairs.

That very elongated and Celtic knot.

-That's lovely. It's originally a sugar and cream set.

-Yes, yes.

You wouldn't have had a teapot, because it doesn't fit on the tray.

You'd have it when you had strawberries or something like that,

and a little sifter spoon to go over them. It's great.

It's a great shame it doesn't have a WMF mark on it,

because that would make it worth a fair bit of money.

-You're still going to see a good return on your £4.50.

-Good.

-I think we can pop that into auction for between £40 and £60.

-Lovely.

Put a £40 fixed reserve.

Hopefully if two people who buy WMF regularly see that

and get carried away, we might touch £100.

-On a good day.

-It depends on the day.

It does indeed. But, you're happy to pop them into the auction.

Yes, it's not my favourite piece, I'm sorry, but I just don't like this.

The best feature, Frances!

-That's why you've had enough of it?

-Yes, I've had enough of them.

-We'll pop them in the sale, and hope they do really well.

-Good.

Will there be a bidder green with envy for Gordon's dish,

or have the samplers and the buttons got it all sewn up for today's bidders?

This one is a real curio, quite a novelty item.

Edwardian pennies,

and they're all hand painted in oils of little miniature portraits.

They belong to Owen and Beverley.

The money is going back to the charity shop were they were found.

I've done a valuation of £120 to £160.

Yeah. I've done two things.

OK.

I've first of all brought the estimate down again, as I do. Auctioneers tend to do this.

I know. It's a come and buy me.

Also, it's charity. We're not charging commission on this.

-That's good.

-We want to get the best we can,

-gross as well as net.

-They're unusual, aren't they?

-They're very unusual.

Some gifted amateur enthusiast, whatever word you'd like to say,

has set about those pennies and taken a hacksaw,

done all sorts of things to them, painted out these lovely little...

paintings of children. Very beautifully done.

-Very much on an amateur basis.

-Yes.

-It's impossible to value.

Which is fine.

But there are six. If you divide six into 60, it's only £10 each!

It's got to be worth more than that. I know we'll sell them.

-Could sell them reasonably well.

-Brilliant, that's what we want to hear.

Something for all you Art Nouveau lovers, it's a sugar and cream set.

Unfortunately, Frances, the owner can't be with us right now.

So, it's over to Michael the expert.

We're looking at £40 to £50?

-Yes, we'll have to root for her.

-We will, won't we?

Unfortunately the plate hasn't being going at all today, so, we'll have to buck the trend to get these away.

They've got the loveliest handles I've ever seen.

-Buy them for the handles, put the handles on something else.

-Exactly!

-We'll find out what the silver dealers think. It's only plate, but who knows.

-Absolutely.

-This is it.

Lot 506, a sugar and cream set

in the Art Nouveau style.

I've got to start the bidding at £40. 45 anywhere?

45 and 50 and 55,

60 and 65, 70, 75. £80 anywhere?

£80 anywhere else, ladies and gentlemen? Going for £75.

-Lovely handles.

-That's what we wanted.

-The best handles I've ever seen!

-What a great result.

-Brilliant.

Yes, I wish Frances could have seen that.

Serving up for you now, a lovely dessert dish, owned by Gordon,

who is literally selling the family treasures, aren't you?

Your great-great-great-grandfather worked in Rockingham factory, where this was made.

-That's right.

-You collect Rockingham, but now you've decided to flog your collection.

Oh, only some of it.

Just some of it.

-You bought this one on eBay?

-I did.

-You didn't inherit any of the collection.

-Unfortunately not.

-That's a shame.

-I've had to buy them over the years.

How much did Gordon pay for it?

-Let's find out.

-£95.

-£95 on eBay.

Right, we've our work cut out.

Hopefully we get the £100, hopefully we get £150. This is it. Good luck.

The Rockingham porcelain dessert dish. A Brameld mark.

I'm starting at 55. Do we hear 60?

60, 65, 70, 75,

80, 85, 90, 95,

100. 100 anywhere?

Anyone else? Quickly, at 100. 95 on my sheets.

You all done at 95? And, I'm going.

All done, and finished.

-He's done well.

-He did, for 95, the same price.

-You got the money back!

-That's what it was worth.

-Exactly.

-Exactly.

What are you gonna do with 95 quid?

Less of course commission so you've lost a tad.

And the cost of me stopping here of a night.

The world cruise I've planned!

I've just been joined by Owen and Beverley.

We've got those pennies.

There's six of them. I love them.

I put a valuation of around £120. We came to that decision, didn't we?

The auctioneer said they might struggle at that price.

-Yeah.

-So, he's reduced the price, my estimate right down to £60 to £90.

-Right, OK.

-But, if we get his top end and my lower end...

-We're there or thereabouts.

-And he's wavered the commission.

-Excellent.

-All the money is going back to the charity.

-Brilliant.

-That's great.

All we can say is, fingers crossed.

Let's hope we come up heads with these ones. This is it.

374, is this very curious set of six coat buttons,

made of brass mounted around copper pennies.

I have to start the bidding at 120, do we hear 130 in the room?

Anybody else at 130, quick.

130, 140, 150,

160, 170, 180, 190,

200 and 20.

240, 260, 280, 300 and 20.

340, 360, 380, 400 and 20.

-440, 460, 480, 500.

-I can't believe it.

520, 540, 560, 580, 600, and 20.

-Oh, Fantastic, I'm shaking.

-It's really good.

700, is it anywhere? You're finished at £680.

And, it's going this time. All done!

-£680! I'm so pleased.

-Brilliant, it's absolutely fantastic.

I'm boiling hot! I'm actually tingling.

-That's great.

-That's brilliant.

-That makes a big difference to the charity.

-Of course.

They're going straight to York Against Cancer,

-and all for their work, so, that's great.

-Pennies from Heaven!

That's the auction over with for our owners.

The highlight for me had to be Owen and Penny's set of buttons.

The penny really dropped for me at the valuation day.

It was such an interesting story, I just had to take them on.

But it was impossible to value.

They eventually sold for a staggering £680.

And all the money is going to charity.

That's it from Hartley's Auction Room in Ilkley, see you next time.

For more information about Flog It! including how the programme was made,

visit the website at bbc.co.uk/lifestyle

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd 2006

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