Leicester Flog It!

MUSIC: The Fratellis: Chelsea Dagger

We're in Leicester for today's show. Welcome to Flog It!

There's been a settlement here since the Iron Age and the Romans

and the Vikings have also left their mark.

More recently, Leicester has become famous as the home

of heart-throb crooner, Engelbert Humperdinck.

# Please release me... #

The city where 1970s pop group Showaddywaddy were formed.

# Bab-ba-ba-ba-ba... #

And the home of former member of the Monty Python team, Graham Chapman.

MONTY PYTHON THEME TUNE

And now for something completely different!

Our two experts Charlie Ross and Adam Partridge.

BLOWING RASPBERRY

Look at that!

Everybody is now seated comfortably inside the main hall.

Who will be the lucky ones chosen to go off to auction?

We're going to find out right now because it looks like Adam has just spotted something.

-Hi, Janet. How are you?

-I'm fine.

-Welcome to Flog It.

-Thank you.

I get excited about autograph albums because you never

-know what's going to appear in them.

-No, you don't.

-This one has something I am very interested in, which is cricketing autographs.

-That's correct.

-Who is J Preston?

-He is,

or was, the nephew of my father who played cricket for Leicestershire

in the 1920s and '30s.

So your father got this book for Tom Preston and managed to fill it

with lots of autographs of famous cricketers?

Yes, all in about 1924...

1924, 1925, so, we'll look through.

Surrey, 1925 - look at that - Percy Fender.

And Jack Hobbs. Two of the most famous cricketers of all time.

And that's Gloucestershire. Wally Hammond.

Another big name.

I'm sure there are others.

There's going to be a few famous Yorkshiremen there, I'm sure. Herbert Sutcliffe.

-Absolutely.

-Very good.

Can I tell you? My father bowled him out for a duck!

Did he? That's some accolade.

A career-defining moment, perhaps, because Sutcliffe was one of the best batsman ever.

Absolutely. Here's Leicestershire, and that's my father.

That's your father's autograph, is it?

That's great, isn't it?

Super album.

There's a lot of interest to cricket collectors there.

I think it will probably make between £100-£200 for a collection.

-That could be good.

-Yes.

I certainly wouldn't like to see it go for less than 90.

So are you going to put a reserve on it for me?

You don't want it going for nothing, do you?

Oh no, I can hand it on, can't I?

-Absolutely.

-I can pass it on if it goes here...

And let's hope we bowl them over with your cricket autographs.

-Absolutely.

-Thank you very much for coming.

Well, Keith, no prizes for telling me what this is.

-Beswick.

-Correct!

Tell me, how did you come by it?

The family purchased it in the 1960s and it was passed down to us,

and it has remained as it is ever since. Not broken or anything.

It helps that it's on a plinth base.

The horses that free-stand on their legs are much more susceptible to damage than anything on a base.

If we were to turn it upside down, you would see an impressed Beswick mark. I have no doubt at all.

Well, it's very faint.

Yes, but it would be there.

And of course,

it is becoming more and more popular.

If you'd brought this along ten years ago, we wouldn't have been at all interested.

The reason it's become more collectible is, the Beswick factory is no longer.

It closed about 15 years ago.

So, there won't be any more made.

It's arguable that Beswick has reached a bit of a peak.

I don't know whether it's going to carry on going up.

We might, in hindsight, think this was the right time to sell.

-Yes.

-With some things, you think, "Should I keep it? Should I not?"

-I think, something like this, if you don't particularly like it

-...

-I did like it, but...

-You don't any more?

Well, I do like it, still, but it's time to get rid of it, let somebody else enjoy it.

Yeah, yeah.

-I'm afraid of it getting broken anyway.

-Right, right.

-Have you formed an idea of what it might be worth?

-I should imagine about 120?

That's a pretty exact value, isn't it? Have you done your homework?

I've been reading up on some of it.

It certainly ought to make £100.

-Yes.

-I would expect it to make somewhere between £100 and £150.

-Right.

-We'll put that as a saleroom estimate on it.

There will be plenty of interest in it, I'm sure.

Do you want to put a reserve on it?

About 100.

Shall we use a bit of discretion if the auctioneer gets close?

Yes, OK, that's fine with me.

£100 - I think that's pretty safe.

Frankly, if it does not sell for that...

you might as well have it back. And risk breaking it again!

Julia - what a marvellous oil painting. Let's go deep into the oak forest, shall we?

You want to travel into that picture - look where the perspective takes you.

Although I've got a choice, my side.

-Because I can see, you can go right through there to that path, or that path on that angle.

-That's right.

So, how did you come across this?

It's been in my family since 1960.

My father acquired it.

Apparently he did some work for an elderly lady.

He wouldn't accept any payment, so she gave him a choice of paintings.

There was a lot of paintings, and she said, "Pick which one you like."

It wasn't framed at the time.

-And that's the one he chose.

-And that's its history?

You've seen this as a girl. You've grown up looking at this?

It's always been on my family wall, always on the lounge, for 40 years.

You had a rather large lounge!

-You must have done.

-We did then!

This is a very large furnishing picture.

Quite difficult to sell, purely because of its size.

It needs to go into big homes. So, you've got it on the wall at home?

I haven't, now.

My mother had it on the wall but,

since it's come to my house, I haven't had a wall big enough or a room large enough to display it.

It's actually been behind a large chest of drawers, just collecting dust.

I've kept meaning to sell it.

Right. The first thing that I noticed was, when I felt it...

-It's quite stretchy.

-It is.

Do you know why it's stretchy?

Because, as a canvas, it's been relined.

There's a canvas on the back, supporting the canvas on the front.

If you look at the back, you can feel the canvas is loose.

It's not because it needs re-stretching, it's because it's been re-lined.

That's a canvas on the back of the original canvas.

And look at the weave, here. That's typical 1960s-'70s canvas.

The Victorian weave is much rougher.

So this has been relined in the '60s or '70s.

-That's something I didn't know.

-And the frame

isn't contemporary to the picture because, right down here in this corner,

there's a little signature. Walter C Blucher.

And it's dated, 1888.

So it's a late Victorian painting which

is right. When you look at it it's in that

slightly impressionistic style which was very, very popular, then.

What I love about it is, it's almost late autumn.

It's got that autumnal look,

all those sort of bronzers, coppers, it's loose. It's built up,

it's got a little bit of movement.

But unfortunately, it's not got the right frame. It's been relined.

And I looked the artist up in the Art Sales Index guide.

-I tried looking on the internet and there is no reference to him, which means...

-I haven't found anything...

No. Which means he was a very good amateur painter.

He's not had any of his work put into a big exhibition like

the Royal Academy which would give his work credence, value and provenance.

If I said to you, I think we should put this into auction

with a value of £250-£300, would you be happy with that?

Erm, I was hoping for 300-500, but if that's what it's worth...

I still need to sell it because it's sitting behind a chest of drawers.

You said you were hoping for the 3-5. It's going to get the three, I'm pretty sure of that.

Three's my mid-estimate.

If it's at the higher end of my valuation, 350, £400.

-We've nearly got what you want for it.

-Lovely.

I'd like to put the money towards a holiday, so I'll part with it.

-OK. Let's flog it, shall we?

-Let's flog it.

-Christine, welcome to Flog It.

-Hello.

You've brought along a really nice thing and I saw you outside in the queue.

And you said to me, "I've got a Newlyn tea caddy."

And I said, "Quick, let me have it before Paul gets his hands on it,"

because Paul is mad about Newlyn, being a Cornish boy, the Cornish copper.

He's very keen on Newlyn. What can you tell me about it yourself?

All I know is my grandma had it on the mantelpiece.

She just kept her cottons in it and that's all I've done with mine.

You don't know where she got it from? Something in your grandma's house?

It's pretty collectible now, Newlyn copper.

What we have got is stamped on the base, there, Newlyn.

So we can date it to after 1917, because usually the previous works to that were not stamped, "Newlyn".

And there are some famous names associated with Newlyn.

The one that most people know is a fellow called John Pearson, who was one of the major designers.

It's all hand beaten copper and the lid, "tea", there, so you know what's in it.

And typical Cornish-inspired work with the fishes and the bubbles going round.

And it's all hand-beaten repousse work, it's called, raised work.

And a lot of the people that used to work on it were quite rough types,

fishermen and all that, that used to do the work on these as well so it's pretty skilful work, very nice.

Any idea what it's worth?

No, none at all.

-Have a guess.

-£50?

More, more. £100-150, I should think.

SHE GASPS

-I didn't think it'd be worth that much.

-Yes, good.

I think we'll put an estimate of £100-150.

And I think it should do 160-180. But I don't want to get your hopes up.

-No, No.

-We'll put a reserve on it, shall we?

If we can put 100, I think.

-But not much more.

-OK, then.

-Is that all right?

That's fine.

Thanks very much for bringing peace of Newlyn copper, and not seeing Paul with it!

-Thanks a lot.

-Thank you.

Well, we've got a jam-packed ballroom, full of Flog It hopefuls,

hoping they're the lucky ones to get taken off to the auction room.

Our experts have been working flat out and they have now

found their first batch of antiques to take to the sale room.

So, while we make our way over there, here's a quick recap of all

the items that are going to go under the hammer.

A slice of family history here.

Janet's autograph album full of signatures of some of cricket's most famous players.

Keith's pretty Beswick group, a mare with her foal,

has survived intact for 40 years.

Julia's beautiful woodland scene has spent the last few years behind

a chest of drawers but it deserves pride of place on someone's wall.

And finally, Christine's fine Newlyn copper tea caddy is a highly

collectible item which should send the bidders into a frenzy.

We have come to Gildings Auctioneers in at the heart of Market Harborough.

Let's see how the auction's shaping up.

And in charge of the sale is auctioneer, John Gilding.

This should have an great deal of local interest. It's an autograph book.

There are some little ditties in there, some rhymes,

and it's signed by a lot of county players from Leicestershire in the 1930s.

Belongs to Janet.

And she got it from one of her cousins, who played for Leicestershire.

Good pedigree, here.

We've got a valuation of £100-200.

-Sounds a bargain.

-It is, and it will be an absolute bargain at £100.

-It will fly the nest, this will.

-For a six!

I'm quite convinced that they will knock this for six, you're right.

One of the best things is that all the pages with the county cricketers

on, which is the whole of the league team from the 1925-26 period -

they're all on a single sheets.

That's absolutely brilliant, isn't it?

And you know why, as well, because they can be separated and sold off separately.

Or individually framed, for the collector.

-So that's very important.

-Puts the value up.

The sad thing is that quite a few of them are in pencil, one or two of the early ones.

Not everyone could afford pens in those days, could they?

I think that's a real winner.

Could we see £300?

Well, I thought you were going to say 200-300.

I think it will make in that £200-£300 mark and I will be very disappointed if it doesn't.

Fantastic. Great.

This next lot should knock you for six.

It's that lovely autograph book with all the cricketers from Leicestershire.

So, lots of local interest.

Cracking item, with a valuation of £100 to £200?

Let's hope we can double that top end.

Sporting memorabilia is big business. We've seen it on Flog It time and time again.

If this was in a proper sporting sale it might just go through the roof.

But hopefully the bidders have found it on the internet.

And, we're in Leicestershire, aren't we?

-Lots of local interest.

-We are, yes.

The auctioneer says he absolutely loved it and he's got a buyer on the phone from Spain, believe it or not.

-Has he?

-Yes.

-Goodness me!

-Good luck.

230.

Wonderful lot here, please.

The autographed album, county cricketers including Leicestershire

and indeed collected by Percy Fender who was a local lad.

On commission at 150. 160, 170, 180, 190, 200.

Goodness me.

20, 240. Still standing tall at 240.

260, 280, 300 and 20.

Still standing tall at £320.

-Bids on the telephones.

-Yes, the phones have come in.

-I can't believe this.

-At 360, I'm bid. 360, 380, 400.

At £400...

-Yes, this is more like it.

-420.

At 440, 440 I'm bid. 440, 460, 480...

This is my grandson.

500, 520,

540, 580.

580 on number two telephone.

All finished in the room.

Selling for £580!

Yes! That is a sold sound.

The hammer's gone down. £580.

Can't believe it!

Janet, what's the name of your grandson?

-Lewis.

-Lewis, well what do you think of that?

It's amazing. It's great, brilliant!

-He loves me more than ever.

-I'll bet he loves you now!

Right, this next lot is hot to trot. It's got to be because it's a Beswick horse with foal.

I've just been joined by Keith.

Classic lot, they're selling really, really well.

We see them a lot on Flog It. You love it, Charlie, it's a nice group.

It's a group, rather than a single figure.

I think designed by Arthur Gredington who designed a lot of those horse groups.

And it's in good condition and it should do well.

It should do. We're looking at £100 to £150 on the valuation.

Why are you flogging this? Everybody wants these except for you?

-We'll let somebody else have the benefit.

-OK, you've just fallen out-of-favour with it.

Yes, 40 years we've had it without breaking it.

So it's still in one piece.

And now it's down to the bidders. Let's find out what they think.

Let's hope we can push that top end.

-It's going under the hammer. Good luck, Keith.

-Thank you.

Lot 35.

I have to start the bidding at £80.

-We're in at £80, Keith.

-On commission at £80 I'm bid.

At £80 I'm bid. At 85, 90?

£90 I'm bid. 90 at £90 I'm bid. 90, do I see five anywhere?

-The commission's are in at £90.

-It's a slip, no-one's bidding!

All done, finished and sold at £90.

-He sold it at £90.

-He did.

He used a bit of discretion and £100 lower in. Someone got them cheap.

-Someone got that cheap.

-They got a bargain. They have got a bargain.

It is a nice piece.

That's auctions for you. It's not an exact science.

Well, I'm here with Julia and we've got that lovely oil on canvas to flog you.

Now, if you can't remember it, here's something to jog your memory.

You've probably spotted it anyway. It's above my head look, here it is.

It is gorgeous. We're looking at 250 to £300.

I have to let you into a little secret, Julia, the auctioneer

took me aside and he said it might just struggle.

-Right, OK.

-It's on the large side. That's what we talked about.

For a furnishing picture, you need a big space.

It will dominate any normal sized lounge.

I just wish I said I'd put it in at £200 to £250, but I was a bit punchy.

But I'm an optimist. Here we go, it's going under the hammer now.

A woodland scene now. A lovely oil on canvas at the back there, please.

A wonderful perspective here.

£200 opens the bidding.

£200 I'm bid.

At £200 I'm bid, at 200, do I see 10 anywhere quickly?

At £200.

At £200 I'm bid at 200, do I see 10 anywhere quickly?

Everybody gone home?

All done.

Quite sure then? £200 all finished.

At £200.

In which case I have to withdraw that lot

pending client's instructions.

You see I'm a tree lover and a tree hugger and I value that

and I think that's about right, £250.

I'm so sorry. What are you going to do with it?

I'll probably sell it online.

-OK.

-Give that a go.

-Well there is another day in another auction room

and it did get £200 in the room, but nobody here pushed it any further.

-You know that's a good starting point, £200.

-It is, yes, thank you.

I'm so sorry. I hate these moments.

I've just been joined by Christine and we are flying the flag for Kernow, for Cornwall.

We've got a Newlyn tea caddy - a bit of repousse work in copper.

You've done the right thing by not polishing it too much.

It's in great condition.

Let's find out what the bidders are thinking right now.

Good luck. This is it.

Lot 50, a lovely little tea caddy - the Newlyn and lots of interest.

I have to start the bidding on commission at £125.

-Straight in at the estimate.

-130, 140 on commission.

-145 in the room on the telephone.

-We've got some action in the room.

150, 160, 170, 180, 190, 200.

With the lady at 200 in the centre at £200.

£200 I'm bid. Telephone is 220.

Great, they love it. They love it, Christine!

240, I'm bid, 260, 280, 280 in the room at 280.

Will be sold. All done and sold at £280.

-Yes, hammer's gone down. £280, Christine.

-Oh, thank you, Paul.

That's fantastic!

A great result, isn't it?

A great result, that was a special blend that little caddy.

Good old Cornwall!

Ask anyone what they know about King Richard III and they'll probably answer that he was

responsible for the murder of the two princes in the Tower of London,

that he was a hunchback and in one of Shakespeare's plays was depicted as one of the most evil rulers

of all time - a poisonous, bunch-backed toad. The question is - how true is that picture?

Now, what's not in question is that Richard ascended to the throne in 1483,

after the death of his brother, Edward IV.

Edward's son and heir was only 12 years old at the time of his death,

so Uncle Richard disowned the little boy and claimed the throne to himself.

What is also true is that towards the end of 1483

young Edward and his little brother Richard disappeared without a trace.

The second half of the 15th century was riven by warfare

when the noble houses of York and Lancaster

were engaged in a constant struggle for political dominance.

These battles have come to be known as the Wars of the Roses.

Richard III was the last monarch of the House of York

and controversy over his legacy has raged ever since.

For centuries, the official view of him is of a wicked, deformed tyrant

whose malicious intent towards his nephews saw him gain the throne of England by foul means.

But his reign didn't last for long.

A few years later, in August 1485, Henry Tudor marched on England

and Henry, who was distantly and illegitimately related

to the House of Lancaster through his mother,

sought to challenge Richard for the throne.

The next day, the armies met not far from Leicester.

In fact, right here at Bosworth,

where I've come to meet Wendy Moorhen, the research officer for the Richard III Society.

Hi, thanks for talking to us today.

So, where did the idea of the evil King come from? Was he evil?

Well, the victors write the history and we had the birth of what we call the Tudor myth.

Henry Tudor had a very tenuous claim to the throne,

so he took the crown through conquest.

-This is what happened.

-Where did these chronicles come from?

The first two were his own court historians and then taken up by other Tudor chronicles.

It was their writings which became the sources for William Shakespeare.

By the time we get to the 1590s

it's been around for almost 100 years.

That brings me on to my next question, really. The hunchback.

-Do you believe in that?

-No, there's no contemporary evidence whatsoever.

What we do have is an account written by a Silesian knight

who visited Richard's court and he describes Richard and he compares him to himself.

There is no hint of deformity but he ends by saying, "Richard had a great heart".

Is there any surviving artwork, any pictures of him?

Nothing contemporary.

The earliest portraits we have of Richard were painted in the second decade of the 1500s.

One of those paintings is owned by the Queen.

It was examined about 30 years ago

and it was found that one of the shoulders had been repainted,

raising the level of the shoulder.

-This became the template for other copies later on.

-Why though?

Why were people so vitriolic? Why didn't they like him?

The point is that if you were deformed, if you were ugly,

in those days, they believed it was the manifestation of an inner wickedness.

What about the murder of his nephews. Do you believe in that?

We don't know what happened to the princes.

Richard didn't have much of a motive to kill them, but Henry Tudor would have done.

If they were still alive after the Battle of Bosworth, they'd have been an embarrassment to him.

He was going to marry their sister.

If he'd then made her legitimate, the boys would then automatically be legitimate

and people would say, "Ah, why don't we have them as King?"

-What sort of King was Richard?

-I believe he was a fair and a just man.

He was an excellent administrator. He did well in the north, ruling it on behalf of his brother

and, during his time in the north, he was involved in border warfare with the Scots.

I think he was hands-on and he led from the front.

Yes, this is where the battle took place. This is Bosworth, I take it?

This is Ambien Hill.

This may have been the site of the battle. We don't know.

We actually have three possibilities.

It's one of the worst-documented battles in English history.

We believe that Richard saw Henry Tudor with quite a small entourage to the edge of the battle.

He took the decision to eliminate him.

If he kills his rival, the day will be his.

So, he gathers his household about him,

probably about 100 knights, and he charges.

And it's at this point that he's betrayed by a man called Sir William Stanley

who was one of Richard's Knights of the Body.

He attacked Richard. He was cut down, butchered, so we lost the last Plantagenet King of England.

He was the last King of England to die on the field of battle.

The triumphant army marched to Leicester

with the body of the late King stripped and ignominiously flung across a horse.

His bloodied corpse was put on public display for two days

before being buried in a nearby monastery.

But the remains were lost during the dissolution of the monasteries after the Reformation.

Richard is the only English monarch without a tomb.

The old saying goes, "To the victor the spoils",

and that applies as much to the writing of history as it does to any booty.

Richard's reputation in the years to follow was treated as contemptuously as his person.

Tudor, now proclaimed King Henry VII,

later merged the Red Rose of Lancaster and the White Rose of York into the Tudor Rose,

forming one of the most influential dynasties in England,

and the rest as they say, is history.

It's no good people telling me on Flog It! that we have too much Clarice Cliff because frankly,

if you get a piece as good as this and as unusual as this,

you can have as much Clarice Cliff as you like.

-Anyway, it's Matthew and Theresa, isn't it?

-It is.

-It belongs to you jointly?

-No, it belongs to...

-Is this going to be an argument?

-No, it belongs to Matthew's mother.

-Tell me about how it got here?

It got here because my mum saw one of your shows in South Africa...

-Really?

-Yes.

-So she sent you over here with it?

-We were here already.

Just sent the item, yes.

It was on the top shelf above the TV

and somebody was talking about Clarice Cliff and it had been sold for £500.

My parents were like, "Wow!" Nobody liked it in the family.

I can understand that. Some would say it's an acquired taste. Do you know anything about Clarice Cliff?

No, nothing at all.

Born in 1899, which makes her Victorian, really, by birth,

but anything less Victorian you couldn't possibly imagine, really.

She formed a trend. She worked for Wilkinson's at the Newport factory when she was a teenager.

Then her designs became bolder and bolder and her colours got bolder and bolder.

She just became a legend, really.

Now, this sort of style that she produced

has become hugely commercial.

This has a particular name this pattern -

which is called the tulip pattern.

It's got tulips and all sorts of other things.

The vibrant orange is a typical Clarice Cliff colour.

So what is it used for?

It's an ornamental vase to go on the table and to put flowers in.

You'd have to put some sort of base in to put the flowers in.

But it's certainly not a shopping basket.

It didn't happen coming over here, but it has got a little bit of damage.

-Have you spotted that?

-Yes.

-It is important.

Anybody collecting something like this

will have to temper their views because of the damage.

You can't stand it, but she saw something make £500.

Does she think this might be worth £500?

Yeah, I think it was somewhere between 700 and 400, she was hoping.

I think £400 to £600 would be a sensible saleroom estimate, without the damage.

The damage isn't vast, but I think I'm going to be a little bit safe, if I may,

saleroom estimate £300 to £500. Yeah?

-Yes.

-She'll be happy with that? She'll probably be over the moon.

-You'll be over the moon! You can't stand it!

-I'd love to get rid of it!

Well, we'll do that for you.

We'll ask the auctioneers to put a reserve on it of 300.

And thank you very much for bringing it along.

What happens to the money - you send it off to Mum, do you?

-Yes.

-Plus a small handling charge, no doubt?!

-Absolutely!

-Hi, Peter.

-Hello, Adam.

-Welcome to Flog It!

-Thank you.

-You've brought along some police related items?

-Yes.

-What can you tell me about it?

It's come from my family side - my grandfather's.

So your grandfather was a Berkshire special constable?

-Yes.

-Right. And that's how they've come...?

-That's where they came from.

-So these were passed to you?

And what have you been doing with them all these years?

-Had you had them on display?

-No, my father's had them.

And when he died, I was sorting his things out and they turned up then.

OK. So you've got a truncheon, a painted truncheon.

You've got the special constable armband here.

And you've got the old Metropolitan Constabulary whistle

by Hudson and Co, which where the major manufacturers of whistles.

It's an interesting collection and the first thing I thought was, "What a shame there are no handcuffs!"

-I can't remember any handcuffs, no.

-That's a shame.

-It's not a lot of value. I reckon it will make about 40 quid, the lot. Is that all right?

-That's fine.

It's better than leaving it in the cupboard rotting away.

-OK, so shall we put an estimate of 30 to 50?

-Yes, that's fine.

And then hopefully we'll make a bit more of it.

-Would you like a reserve on it?

-No.

-No? Let it go?

-Let it go.

-That's the name of the game!

-No, just let it go.

-OK, so we're definitely going to sell it. Let's hope it makes 30 - 50 or more.

-There's an element of risk in that, but they're never going to make a fortune.

-No.

So let's hope we do really well at the auction and I look forward to seeing you there.

-Thank you very much.

-Cheers.

I've never seen one of these, Jenny.

And I'm not absolutely certain whether anybody has.

I'll tell you why in a minute. But you tell me about it first.

Well, an old lady gave it to me about seven years ago.

And I've kept it since.

-But I'm not that keen!

-You don't like it?

-No, not really.

-No, I'm not mad keen on it myself.

-She died last year, so I'd like to sell it and buy something to remember her by.

-Right.

-Did she tell you it might be valuable?

-She did.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-What did she say to you?

She just basically said to insure it for about £1,000.

-£1,000?

-Yeah.

-So you did?

-I did... No, I didn't!

-What?!

-Cos I couldn't afford to.

-You couldn't afford to insure it?

-No.

-Thank goodness you didn't drop it!

-So it's been on my dressing table, wrapped up in bubble...

-Yeah?

-..since then.

And Flog It! came along, and you thought, "Here's my opportunity!"

That's right, yes.

I have sold countless thousands of Doulton figures, character jugs, over the years.

I have never ever seen this model.

Ever.

So I have to say, I sneakily went outside

to see what HN number - it should have an HN number -

and the HN number, I think, is 522.

But - here comes the crunch - there are two variations of this figure.

One with the grey dress, which is well-documented

and still worth quite a lot of money.

-And one with a lilac dress.

-OK.

And d'you know what it says in the Doulton Bible?

-None known to exist!

-There you go!

-Now, how good is your eyesight?

-Not very good in this light!

Is that grey or is that lilac?

-You're going to say lilac, aren't you?!

-Of course I am!

Well, I think there's a hint of lilac. It's not what I'd call grey.

Before we look at the bottom of it, I'm slightly concerned looking at the top here.

Now I think this is a firing mark.

When it was glazed, something has happened here and the glazing has run a bit.

Now, it might detract from it a bit, but it's not damaged.

As long as it's the way it came from the factory, that's fine.

And sure enough, when we turn it up here,

"Upon her cheeks she wept."

And the more valuable Doulton figures are hand inscribed.

This is handwritten round the bottom here.

And modelled by a chap called Noke.

And it's designed by a guy called Perugini.

Now, he designed both of them,

and the two figures are to all intents and purposes identical.

-But the more I look at that, the more I see lilac.

-So am I!

And the more I'm liking it!

Value? Well, you were told to insure it for £1,000.

Now, I actually happen to think

-that she has undervalued this for insurance purposes.

-OK.

And I think this figure is worth between £1,000 and £2,000 to sell.

OK!

Good news, isn't it?

I don't think we should be selling this for less than £1,000.

-If it doesn't make £1,000, my advice is, don't sell it.

-OK.

-But this is a rare lot and shouldn't be undersold.

-Lovely.

-I'm getting very excited.

-So am I!

-I can't wait until sale day!

This Clarice Cliff tulip pattern vase has travelled

all the way from the southern hemisphere for a Flog It! valuation.

Let's hope the collectors are here!

'Ello, 'ello, 'ello! What's all this, then?

It's Peter's collection of police memorabilia

which no doubt will be of interest to officers of the law everywhere.

And finally, is it grey or is it lilac? That's the question!

Charlie and Jenny are hoping her Doulton figure

is the rarer lilac version, and so am I.

The girl in the lilac dress - remember this?

Charlie was so excited at the valuation day.

We're getting closer to finding out, is it really worth that £2,000 mark? Well, will it?

Well, it could well do, Paul.

But the thing is, we've traced it to being as catalogued.

It is in one of the reference works.

-Made between 1916 and 1927.

-Right.

Not a popular one because of the tears and the sadness.

Early breaking of the mould and bingo! None about!

-So you've got a rare piece here.

-So what's it worth?

Well, how long is a piece of string, Paul?!

But you will find, I think,

that it should make that 2,000 and who knows,

if my magic wand is working magic, it might make more!

Well there you are - you heard it - this is getting exciting.

-In about five minutes' time we could sell this for £2,000. Plus, John, yes?

-Well, here we go!

You're going to go and weave your magic! So watch this!

Well it wouldn't be Flog It! without Clarice Cliff!

and I've just been joined by Matthew and Teresa. Great to see you.

This has made the show because your mum watches Flog It! in South Africa!

It's big out there - it's very big out there.

So she's going to be watching this in a few months' time.

Let's do her proud - we need £300 to £500. The value put on by Charlie.

-Will we get that top end?

-We should do.

A little bit of damage, that's the only thing.

You didn't damage it bringing it back from South Africa, did you?

No, that wasn't us!

So I take it you don't like Clarice Cliff either? Cos it's your inheritance, isn't it?

-I mean, Mum could be passing it on.

-It's not very attractive!

At least you said that!

I'm not a big Clarice Cliff fan but there's lots of people out there that love this.

And hopefully, there'll be people in the room that are going to fall in love with it and buy it!

-Good luck, Charlie.

-Fingers crossed.

Lot 95 - the Clarice Cliff.

£160 I start.

170. 180. 190. 200?

And 20?

Commissions are out. 240. 260?

-Come on!

-260 in the room.

OK, 270?

£270. I'll take 80. 280 I'm bid.

£280 and I have to sell.

All done? Finished at £280.

-Yes! That was close!

-You haven't got to take it back!

Don't look so disappointed - it's gone!

We would have liked the £500, though, wouldn't we?

-A little bit of damage.

-They'll be very happy with that.

Damage held it back.

The collectors, the purists, really like condition.

That's what it's all about. Nevertheless, Mum gets £280.

-That's fantastic.

-Fantastic.

-She'll be happy.

-She will.

'Ello, 'ello, 'ello! What's up next? I've just been joined by Peter.

And we've got the whistle and the policeman's truncheon.

-Yes, and the armband.

-£30 to £50. Why are you flogging these?

Well, I've no need for them. I've got nobody to leave them to.

So somebody else might enjoy them.

OK. Well, they are collectible.

There's a lot of ex-policeman out there who collect memorabilia from the police forces.

Will we get that top end?

Well, we should, hopefully. But don't plan any cruises on the strength of it!

I don't think it will make much more than 50 quid, really, unless we are really very lucky.

-I do like them.

-How long have you had them?

-Oh...

I'm 68, so...

68 years, say!

Well, it's a farewell because they're just about to go under the hammer.

-This is it.

-Another lovely lot here. 110.

The Berkshire Special Constabulary.

-And bidding starts with me on commission at £30.

-We're in.

-We're in.

-£30 I'm bid. There is no reserve.

£30 I'm bid. 30, at £30. 35?

40! 5. 50?

-This is good.

-50 in the room? Commission's off. 50 there.

£50 I'm bid. 50. £50, all done.

Finished and sold then at... Five. 55. At 55, new bidding. 60?

-Yes! Late legs!

-At £60.

-Selling at £60.

-Yes! The hammer's gone down.

£60. Peter, are you happy?

-Very happy!

-60 quid! What are you going to put that towards?

-I'm going to treat myself to a good meal and a good bottle of wine.

-I don't blame you! Great result.

-Thank you very much.

-Only one thing left to say, really. Job done. Evening all!

This is the moment I've been looking forward to.

It's now up to the bidders.

It's the Royal Doulton little girl with the lilac dress. And it belongs to Jenny!

It's lilac, isn't it? It is lilac!

It's very rare, but how rare?

£1,000 to £2,000?

Well, it's tricky, isn't it? The thing is the colour of the dress.

If it's just a grey dress, it's a more common one.

Stick with my valuation - 1 to 2, madam.

OK. Whatever happens, it's all good news, isn't it? It really is!

-Gosh!

-Well, it isn't good news yet, is it?!

-Now, this is it. This is it.

140 coming now.

The Doulton figure.

And here we go, then. Bidding starts with me.

On commission at 1,500 pounds.

-Right, straight in.

-Good start.

-Great start.

At £1,500, I'm looking in the sale room. At £1,500.

I'm bid 1,600 on the telephone. 1,700?

1,800. 1,900.

£2,000 I'm bid. The commissions are all out.

The telephone is in at 2,000.

At £2,000 I'm bid.

At 2,000. Are you all done? A rare opportunity here, please.

At £2,000. Have you all finished?

There's no bids in the room left. At 2,000, it's on the telephone.

Sold.

-Yes!

-That will do nicely!

Great valuation. £2,000 - top end of Charlie's estimate.

Jenny, wow, wow, wow!

-What are you going to put that money towards?

-Three things.

OK. One? Firstly.

-One, I want to buy something for my garden in memory of the lady who gave it to me.

-Yes.

-Two, treat a few people on her behalf.

-OK.

-And number three, take my family, my daughter and son-in-law... to Cornwall!

-Oh, it's so exciting!

Down to Cornwall? That's good.

Yes, they moved to Cornwall and I'm taking the family to see them.

Fantastic. And you'll be able to go first class now.

It's all over and everybody's gone home smiling. Especially Jenny!

Her grin was this big when the Royal Doulton figurine of the girl in a lilac dress

reached the top end of its estimate - a staggering £2,000.

Charlie Ross was spot on! He didn't get carried away considering it was so rare.

These experts are good, aren't they?

Well, that's it from Market Harborough. So until the next time, it's cheerio!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media - 2007

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