Basingstoke Flog It!

This town has witnessed some very dramatic events over the centuries.

It was destroyed by fire, hit by the plague,

and in 1880 there was even a riot.

Well, we're going to be making a bit of commotion of our own

because today Flog It is in Basingstoke.

Basingstoke played a key role in one of the bloodiest battles

of the English Civil War.

It happened here around Basing House,

now a ruin but once a Royalist stronghold.

Oliver Cromwell's army attacked it for over two years.

The final siege of 1645

saw victory for the Roundheads and the house razed to the ground.

Today we're just a stone's throw away

in the modern heart of Basingstoke.

This massive crowd we've got here seem to be enjoying themselves,

they're about ready to take siege of today's venue,

The Anvil, so let's get the doors open, and let the drama unfold.

And taking centre stage today are our two experts,

Catherine Southon and James Lewis.

It's James who's first in the spotlight

and he's found something Flog It is very familiar with.

Angela, Marilyn, what we have in front of us

everybody at home will know is an old Flog It favourite.

It is of course Clarice Cliff.

And people say, "Oh no, not another piece of Clarice Cliff",

but this is a really interesting piece.

It has everything about Art Deco that you want to see.

It has those wonderful bright colours,

slightly wacky fan-shaped designs, angular designs,

and it just works, and I love it. What do you think to it?

-Yeah, it was a family piece and we love it as well.

-Yeah?

But we're too frightened to use it.

I have to say these things aren't really for use any more,

they are far too valuable for use. Tell me its family history.

Well, it was my mother's mum's, my grandmother's,

and Mum says she can remember using it as a child.

So who has it in whose house?

-Mum has it in her house.

-OK, so you don't own it?

-No.

-No.

-No, we're here on her behalf.

-Does she know?

-Yes.

-Yes.

-Sure?

-Yes.

-Yes.

-Fantastic.

Well, I think she obviously had very, very good taste.

-Do you know the pattern name?

-No.

It's known as secrets.

And Secrets came in various designs

and it was well known as being Clarice Cliff's favourite pattern.

The very common versions are in various tones of green and blue.

This one is known as the seven colourway Secrets

for, of course, the simple reason it has seven colours

and this was produced from 1932 onwards.

Different things you need to take into consideration when valuing it,

the first one, no cracks, that sounds fine;

no chips, but we have got a little bit

of oxidation on the blue there, that's common, you often found that.

Devalues it slightly but it's not a massive problem.

Having said all that, what do you think it's worth?

-I know Clarice Cliff is popular but we really have no idea.

-No idea.

-No?

-No.

-No.

I would put an auction estimate of £300 to £500.

-Ooh.

-Very nice.

-Yeah.

-Is that all right?

-Yes, lovely.

-Good, yes.

Having said that, we need to protect it with a reserve.

If we put £300 on it, I'm sure it will sell.

-The market is so buoyant for it.

-Brilliant.

-Ooh good.

I'm 100% confident it will sell.

-Very good.

-Yes.

-All right?

-Yes.

-Yes.

Caroline, welcome to Flog It.

You brought along this lovely Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car

and it's quite special to me

because it's something that my grandfather has.

My grandfather's got a little one,

but unfortunately his isn't in such beautiful condition,

his is really battered.

Yours is in absolute superb condition,

almost mint and certainly boxed.

Where did you get it from?

My husband had it, I believe,

from his grandparents when he was younger,

that's all I can say, really.

They bought it for a present, birthday present, Christmas present, something like that.

It's amazing to me that a young boy would never have played with this,

especially because it's got lots of little fiddly bits to touch.

I mean, these fantastic wings here, you would have pressed them in,

and then there's a little lever here that you pull forward

and then the wings would fly out.

-Yeah.

-I just find that amazing that he just wouldn't touch it.

I mean a child today would have it all out and probably

lots of bits would be broken off. Is it something that you like?

Yeah, we often got it out and had a look at it

but you know, really, we're sort of condensing collections

so we just thought that would be one that would go, really.

-Did you ever see the film?

-Yes, quite a few times.

Oh, right, so you're big Chitty Chitty Bang Bang fans.

We've got lovely Dick Van Dyke at the front here waving away,

and they're all having a little wave and great fun in the car.

I think it's a super piece,

do you have any idea of how much this would be worth at auction?

No, not really, no.

Well, my husband, sort of we went to an antique thing years ago

and it was worth something then but, about 200,

-but then that was a long time ago.

-Right, OK.

Prices of these have come down slightly

and I would say that 200 is probably quite high,

although that does seem a bit unfair considering it is in immaculate condition.

I would say you would probably ask in the region of £100 to £150...

-Um-hum.

-..with a fixed reserve of £80.

-How does that sound to you?

-Yes. Yes, fine, that's lovely.

-But I hope it makes the top end and flies away at auction.

-Lovely. Thank you.

Keith, tell me a bit about the clock.

I actually inherited it from my grandmother on my father's side,

but it's been staying with my other grandmother in her house, which is a bungalow.

Unfortunately, she passed away last year and we've had to rent out the bungalow

so we haven't got anywhere to store it.

Well, it's a cracking clock

and it's made by James Fell, and it's Kendall.

It's a nice brass dial with a silver chapter ring, good Roman numerals,

a subsidiary dial with a second hand.

The great thing about it is it's an 8-day longcase.

You can tell instantly it's an 8-day longcase

by the two winding movements.

If it was a 30-hour clock you'd just have the one winding movement.

-So the 8 day indicates how long it would keep going...

-Yes.

..on its own without being wound.

-Yes, one wind on the seventh or eighth day.

-I was curious about what that meant.

Oh, it's lovely, it's a classic case.

-It's nice and narrow, it's not too tall.

-Yes.

It has a nice colour to the grain too,

but what I would like to take the hood off and have a look at the movement.

-OK.

-Can we do that?

-OK.

-You hold the trunk and I'll slide the hood out.

-OK.

-OK.

-I should put that on the floor.

-Right.

And I've just noticed, actually, a little bit of the cornice needs some TLC

-but we've got that bit down there, haven't we?

-Yep.

You've got the weights, pendulum, and winder, that's good.

-And that actually sits nicely on the shoulders of the trunk.

-Yeah.

So that's a good indication as well.

You can see there's no bits of new pine that's been added

to make a base for this to sit on, you can see that.

So that's totally original.

-Oh, good.

-It's so easy to tell and you can see the wear marks here.

-Oh, crikey, yeah.

-You see that?

-Yeah.

-Over the years, where that's just been dropped into place.

-Cool.

That's another good thing to look for, wear.

-There's no additional pieces of wood...

-Yeah.

..that's holding this up, so we know the clock is 100% right.

It's a shame we can't get the little flywheel to tick over and hammer the bell.

It does need somebody who specialises in longcase clocks

to actually get this movement cleaned up, get it working properly,

and that will cost around about £300.

-Right.

-That's the downside.

-Yeah.

A little bit of TLC to the case, not a lot of work,

possibly around about £50 just to put the missing piece of cornice on

and touch up the door there.

But that's what you're looking for for a bit of restoration.

Had you thought about price?

Because it does need the restoration work etc,

-I was thinking 500, maybe 600, at auction.

-Yeah.

-And then it's for the dealer to restore.

-I think you're spot on.

-If we can put it in to auction with a valuation of £500 to £700...

-Yeah.

..a reserve of 500.

-If it goes for that, there's commission, obviously, to pay.

-Yeah.

Then there's the restoration costs.

I think there's profit in it for a dealer to buy it and sell it on.

-Right, OK.

-OK, happy?

I'm fine with that, yeah. OK.

You know, Clive, of all the things I've ever seen on Flog It,

this has got to be one of the more unusual.

Tell me, where did you come by it?

-Winchester car boot sale a couple of years ago.

-Right. How much was it?

Well, I asked the gentleman behind the stall and he said 50p.

-OK.

-I had a feeling I knew it was old, very old,

obviously the person selling didn't.

The thing that I love about this is everything really.

It's the fact that it was from a car boot sale for 50p,

the fact that it's the earliest and oldest thing that I've ever seen on Flog It,

and probably my favourite thing as well,

just the feel of it.

-Do you know what it is?

-I believe it's Greek.

-Yeah.

-I believe it's over 2,000 years old.

-It is.

It could be used for oils or...

Aromatic waters, something like that.

It's the classic antique shape, isn't it?

Whenever we're talking about antiquities, that's the shape we're talking about.

Those wonderful excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum

in the 18th century

brought about this wonderful neoclassical movement in England in the 1770s, 1780s,

in which Robert Adam was doing these wonderful designs of urns, the Wedgwood urn shape,

all of them inspired from this type of thing.

This is sort of a colour-coated ware, we've got a terracotta-type base

and it was probably held by that, dipped into the glaze,

and you can see here where it's missed the glaze on the rim there.

But look at the quality of that turned foot rim

and thinking in terms of 100 BC possibly up to 200 AD,

the quality of that and it survived, you know?

Yeah, that's the amazing thing, isn't it?

We look at these Doulton plates andthings from the 1930s,

and it's stapled or it's cracked,

and here we have the earliest thing ever on Flog It and it's perfect.

So having said how much I love it,

back down to earth. What's it worth?

£50, that's all probably,

50 to 70, something like that.

And a reserve, I think, of £50.

-Yep.

-But you know when people say it's old, it's got to be valuable,

-just proves it doesn't.

-Not always, no it doesn't. No.

-That to somebody is a piece of history.

-Yes.

Well, as you can see, everybody is working flat out down there.

We're now halfway through our day, we've found some fantastic antiques,

so it's time to put those experts' valuations to the test.

While we make our way over to the auction room in Winchester,

here's a recap of what we've found so far.

The pattern on Angela's dish was Clarice Cliff's favourite,

but will it prove just as popular with our bidders?

And this Chitty Chitty Bang Bang toy car is in perfect condition,

so I'm sure it'll fetch a grown-up price.

Keith's grandfather clock is in need of some renovation

but I doubt if it'll put the buyers off.

Clive's Grecian urn is 2,000 years old.

At just 50p what a car boot bargain.

He's bound to see a good return.

Here we are in the auction room,

it's packed full of bidders, all our owners are here with their antiques.

Catherine, our expert, is here.

Unfortunately James, our other expert, cannot be with us today. He's in Derby

but we've got a phone link to him and a camera on him,

so we can hear his opinions. So fingers crossed,

-we'll get a profit today on everything.

-We're gonna do well.

The man brandishing the gavel today is Andrew Smith.

It wouldn't be Flog It without Clarice Cliff, would it?

Thankfully, our two lovely sisters, Angela and Marilyn, have brought in a wonderful example. So who owns it?

-Mum.

-Mum.

-So where's Mum, then?

-She's not able to come, she's disabled.

-Oh, she's watching at home.

-Yes.

-Hopefully, yeah.

-Mum will get all the money?

-No.

-No.

-No? Marilyn and Angela.

Ooh. It could be £300 to £500, were you surprised by the valuation?

-We were, actually, yeah.

-Yeah?

-James has done you proud.

-Yes, he has.

James knows his Clarice Cliff.

I must say, I don't understand it really,

I'm not a big fan of Clarice but I do know it fetches lots and lots of money.

-Yes.

-And I hope this pattern is one of the better ones.

-So do we.

-It's a nice shape bowl though; it's so big, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-The pointed ends are a little like a boat.

-Yes, it is.

So why are you flogging it, why's Mum flogging it?

She doesn't use it any more, she's not able to use it any more.

-The easiest thing to do is sell it as you can't divide that up?

-No.

What would you do, James?

I have to say my house does not suit Clarice Cliff

so if it was mine, I'd sell it and buy something I like.

Hopefully we'll get the top end of your estimate.

OK, we're gonna find out now then, James. It's here.

Good luck, everybody. Here we go.

Lot 381 is the Clarice Cliff Bizarre,

a lot of interest in this.

We have a commission bid and a telephone up at the back there,

so I'm going to start the bidding at £300.

At £300 and selling... is there a 20?

At £300... any more? At £300...

is there a telephone there?

No. At £300 then, all done at £300.

Last time.

-Oh.

-Blink and you'll miss it.

One opening bid of £300, James.

-But it sold.

-Yeah, I mean it's not being used at home so...

-I'm happy with that.

-Yes, yes.

Well, it was a great film and a fantastic car,

it's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

It reminds me of my childhood because I had one of these cars, it belongs to Caroline.

-Who have you brought along here?

-My daughter, Susan.

-Hi, hello Susan.

Something you wouldn't want to inherit, is it?

-No.

-Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?

Honestly, I've got one of these, the wings have bust off,

-nothing works, I chucked the box as soon as I had it.

-Yep.

I played with car, rammed it along the carpet,

all the wheels have fallen off, but I've still got it.

Yes, we've got the same.

Ours is the same, the wings they break off so easily and just...

Yeah, yeah. And it's nowhere near worth as much as what we've got on this.

-Hopefully we'll get the top end £150.

-Ah this is mint, isn't it?

-It's in mint condition.

-Yes.

-Well cherished.

Yes, it was my husband's.

-Never really played with then, did he?

-No, he never played with.

-A present from his grandparents.

-Unbelievable.

-Just left it in the box.

-Yes.

Oh, that burning desire.

I would have had to get it out of the box and play with it.

-No.

-He's a very restrained chap.

-He's over there.

-Oh, is he, right. OK, well good luck.

Good luck, Susan, as well. It's going under the hammer now.

Lot 780, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the Corgi model.

So start with £100. £100...

80 then, £80... Start with 50, £50.

Thank you, and 5, at £50.

Come on, we've got a bit of work to do here.

And 5, 70...

at £65, at £65... any more?

At 70... and 5, 80...

and 5, at £80 and we'll sell, at £80, are you done?

At £80...

Last time round at £80.

-Sold it.

-Just scraped it.

Just sold it.

-Phew.

-I think you're right, there's not that many toys there.

-No.

-They haven't got the toys. It's the start, is it?

-He's gradually going to sell?

-Maybe.

-Hopefully.

-You've got no sons?

-No.

-Just me.

-You don't want cars, do you?

-No.

Andrew's taking a break from the rostrum

so it's up to his colleague Nick Jarrett to sell the clock.

My turn to be the expert, remember that lovely 8-day longcase clock, the oak one?

It's about to go under the hammer, belongs to Keith, he's not here.

He's on holiday in Turkey but we've got Keith's mum and dad here.

-Hi, what's your name?

-Robin.

-Robin, and?

-Christine.

-Christine.

Hi. This clock's been in the family a couple of generations,

-it was your Mum's, wasn't it?

-Yes.

-Then it was yours, now it's Keith's.

I know Keith's adamant he won't take a penny under £500, will he,

so if it sells in auction he's now put the reserve at 560,

so the auctioneer can use a bit of discretion.

If it sells at 560, you'll still get £500.

Yes, yes. That'll be OK.

Lot 840, the longcase clock at the back of the room.

Now I'm starting you clear bids here at £500, 520 can I say?

At £500... 520?

520... 540, 560...

560 on the phone, 580?

At 560 on the phone, anybody else in?

At £560... anybody going on at 560?

I'll sell it for 560 if you're done.

-Oh, well.

-I was right, wasn't I?

-Yeah, dead on.

-On the spot.

-It's gone.

-At least we don't have to take it home with us.

Exactly, that's the worrying thing

-cos the more you move them, the more you damage them.

-Yes.

I did say to Keith whoever takes this on,

there's £300 to spend on the restoration project, really.

I've been looking forward to this.

I think this is a real little gem, it's so cute to look at, isn't it?

I wouldn't be selling it if I was you, Clive.

This is my favourite item in the sale today

and it's the least expensive item out of all our Flog It owners.

We've got £50 to £70 on this.

It's not a lot of money for something that's 100 years BC.

I know why you like this, James,

and I can see this sitting on your bureau at home or something like that.

It's got the look, you know what I mean.

Paul, you know me too well.

For me, this is one of the stars of the show, I love it.

You can forget Clarice Cliff, you can forget Moorcroft,

I'd love to own this.

Whoever buys this, I'm sure they're going to enjoy it,

because it's so tactile.

Fingers crossed we'll get a lot more than £70.

-Hopefully.

-It's going under the hammer now. Good luck.

Lot 440, this is an ancient unguent bottle. Start me at £50?

£50... 40 then, £40 surely...

-30 to get it going.

-Oh, come on!

-£30, thank you... and 2, 32...

35, 37... 40, 42... 45, 47...

At £45, any more? 47...

50, and 5... at £50, any more?

At £50, are you sure?

Last time, at £50 then.

James, was spot on.

You've got a great eye, you found that in a car boot.

Car boot sale for 50p.

That's great profit, isn't it?

I wish we could do that every single day.

Clive, thank you so much. That was a lovely little thing,

-so tactile and a beautiful shape, had so much character.

-It did.

When it comes to the world of fashion,

Basingstoke isn't necessarily the first town in this country you think of, is it, let's face it.

But actually this town was the birthplace of one of

Britain's most enduring internationally-renowned designer labels.

The story starts back in the 1850s when thanks to

the ever-expanding railway system, Basingstoke started to thrive.

And it was at that point that a young apprentice draper

moved here from Surrey, keen to set up his own business.

His name was Thomas Burberry, and he was to revolutionise the clothing industry

and tap straight into the hearts of Edwardian society.

To tell us more about this entrepreneur and great British tailor is Sue Washington,

who looks after the Burberry Collection for the Hampshire County Council Museum Service.

So tell me a little bit more about Thomas Burberry.

He must have been very ambitious because by the age of 21 he'd moved to Basingstoke,

which was a thriving market town, and had opened up his own shop by 1856.

The whole community would have been a farming area.

Absolutely, yes, a very agricultural community

and he was influenced by that.

This is a standard agricultural worker's smock and this is where Burberry got his inspiration from.

It's woven from the very close-woven twill weave,

which you can see is very dense.

It's not just the fabric that it's made of but it's also the way it's constructed

with this double fabric over the shoulders,

which would have protected from the rain.

Burberry was obviously influenced by seeing these

-and thought that he could adapt the technology.

-Yeah.

You can see where the inspiration comes from.

He was something of a dress reformer,

along with people like Dr Jaeger, in looking at using

natural fibres to allow the body to breathe.

His further invention, not just the close-knit cotton twill,

was to proof the fabric and he did it twice.

He proofed the yarn before it was woven

and he proofed the fabric again after it was finished.

He perfected the technique through the 1870s,

but he didn't patent the name gabardine until 1888.

Gabardine, with its weatherproof properties,

couldn't have come along at a better time. British life was changing.

The rolling fields of Edwardian England were turning into

a playground for the urban elite and Hampshire's well-stocked rivers

and fields of game were an ideal magnet for the country sport set.

Burberry was perfectly placed to exploit this new desire

for outdoor pursuits.

And this, Paul, is an example of an early Burberry motoring coat.

I thought so. When I saw this, I thought it's either

motorcycling or motoring and it's got the look.

It has and Burberry obviously exploited the fact

that there was so much interest in lots of other activities at that time.

He made specialist clothing for mountaineering,

skiing, golfing, you name it.

-Fishing, shooting.

-Absolutely.

But the motoring coat was a huge, huge success.

The revolution with the Burberry gabardine

was that it was very lightweight, but it was still waterproof and windproof.

When you're driving along at heady speeds of 4 mph

-on a rainy day, you need it.

-With the G-force pushing against you!

-Absolutely.

-So by this period, how successful was Burberry?

Hugely successful. Burberry expanded his empire enormously.

-Making lots of money.

-Indeed.

In 1891 he opened his famous shop in the Haymarket in London

and then he opened shops in Paris, Berlin, Buenos Aries, Montevideo, even New York.

-Global brand.

-Absolutely.

Burberry's clothes were proving their worth

in the glitzy capitals, but the real test was to come

in one of the world's most extreme climates.

Some of the world's most intrepid explorers

of the time were wearing Burberry, and this one is a reproduction

of the Shackleton outrig suit.

Really? Shackleton's Trans-Antarctic expedition?

Yes, 1914. They had also outfitted Amundsen,

-the first man to reach the South Pole in 1911.

-I never knew that.

And Scott, all of his expeditions

and it wasn't just the outfits. They also made the tents in the gabardine.

That must have been such a good PR boost for the company

to see Shackleton trudging across the ice in this.

It was, and this period was of course the heyday of the British Empire

and Burberry gabardine was going everywhere in the world.

It wasn't just good for Arctic conditions,

it was just as useful in jungles and veldt.

Burberry published a book called Gabardine In Peace and War,

and it included testimonials from everyone from Baden-Powell to Kitchener,

to the kind of intrepid empire builders who were out there

doing amazing things all over the world wearing their Burberry with pride

and writing in to tell Thomas Burberry

that his gabardine was keeping them dry and warm,

keeping them cool, in one case even protecting them from a tiger attack.

It was keeping them safe as well.

But it would be in the blood-soaked trenches of the First World War

that Burberry would come up with his most famous design, the trench coat.

Burberry received instructions from the War Office to create

a new raincoat for officers

and they came up with a variation of their existing raincoat, the Tielocken.

The differences for war use were the addition of epaulets and D rings,

which of course were used to attach kit.

But again it was the waterproof qualities and the lightweightness

and the fact that you could wear it over kit and wear kit over it

-that made it so popular with everybody.

-And you could roll it up.

And it didn't really matter

where the theatre of war was, it was suitable.

The Burberrys were very much for officers' use only. The Edwardian era

was class conscious and the officers were taken from the upper ranks.

But even by the time of the Second World War when this coat

was created, it was still officers only

and there is a label saying that.

Post war, it became a symbol of everything that's British.

This is the style of coat that we see on film stars and what-have-you afterwards,

well removed from the field of battle but very, very stylish.

-It's lovely.

-It's beautiful.

-It's just so iconic.

The trench coat reflects all of Thomas Burberry's

original objectives of practicality and toughness.

His clothing captured the British way of life in the Edwardian age,

but it's the timeless and broad appeal of the design

that's kept it at the forefront of fashion ever since.

It's time to head back to the valuation day

to see if our experts can find any classic pieces amongst our crowd at the Anvil.

Johanna, what a lovely little box.

Is this something you've had in the family for years?

Yes. It was my mother's,

it was my grandmother's, but it may even go back further down the line.

-That accent, that isn't a Hampshire accent, is it?

-No.

-Whereabouts are you from originally?

-No, I'm Dutch. I'm from Holland.

OK, and on your father's side or mother's side, or both?

Both, but from my father's side, they date back to Russia.

Oh, really?

Was it a style in Russia or...?

Well, the interesting thing is that

it's not Russian, it's probably not Dutch.

The most likely source for this is English.

-So it's...

-So it's back home again.

You've brought it back home.

And this sort of tea caddy was popular from the second quarter

of the 19th century, right the way through until around 1850, 1860.

So this little chap started containing tea almost 200 years ago.

It's lined, if we open it up.

Funny lining, though.

This little lining paper is a little zinc lining

and it's started to degrade over the years.

So you wouldn't want to be scraping that up with your tea leaves today.

It's veneered over the whole surface in mother of pearl.

The most important thing is that we check it for condition

because with these mother of pearl and tortoiseshell tea caddies,

the important thing is to make sure there aren't too many pieces missing.

You've got traces of old glue marks there

where pieces have been off and on.

So what do you think that little box will make at auction?

I haven't got a clue.

No? Well, without the damage, it would obviously be a lot more.

-Yes.

-I would think probably 250 to £350 in perfect condition.

With the damage, 100 to £150, something like that.

Now, would you like to put a reserve on it?

You mentioned £200 to 250?

-Oh, 200.

-Oh, that's when... Yes.

-If it was perfect, 2 to 250.

People remember the highest figures you tell them.

They forget all the information that goes with it

-and just remember the figures.

-All right, £100.

£100 - we'll do that.

And I'll see you at the auction.

-Yes, definitely.

-OK, well done.

Thank you, James.

Greta, Donald, thank you very much for coming today.

Welcome, and thank you for bringing along

this rather sweet and very small autograph book.

Have you got any interesting autographs in there?

Yes, I've got Laurel and Hardy.

Oh, wonderful, let's take a look then inside

and there we are, we can see there's a wonderful picture of them there.

Looks like a little sticker

of a rather plump Oliver Hardy and a very skinny Stan Laurel.

-Yes.

-Then they've put there their signatures, Stan Laurel in ink

and Oliver Hardy, which looks like to be in a little ballpoint pen.

And they've signed underneath "Hello Greta," which is you.

-Isn't that sweet?

-Yes.

Now let's just turn the page here

and this...

is what really interests me because there's more information on here.

"Thanks for a nice hair trim, John. Oliver Hardy."

And then at the top, you've got, "Me, too. Stan Laurel."

Tell me a little bit about this. Where did you get this from?

Well, my father was a lady and gents' hairdresser and Laurel and Hardy

came to Dun Laoghaire and they stayed in the Royal Marine Hotel.

My father came home and said they were coming the next day,

so I said to him, "Oh, please, Daddy, get their autograph."

-Oh, that's fantastic.

-So he took it along.

He cut their hair in the hotel.

That must have been such a privilege to cut their hair.

It was, absolutely. My father was very, very proud. Very proud.

He said they were a wonderful couple.

-I bet they were great fun as well.

-Yes.

-Telling lots of jokes.

You must really treasure this.

Well, I did, I still do but the time has come now for...

-My husband and I are retired.

-Right.

And we love enjoying ourselves, so...

And what about you, Donald, are you a big fan of Oliver Hardy?

Oh, yes, I've got some of his VHSs left at home.

They were fantastic, weren't they? They were legends, even now.

-You put them on and they still make you tickle.

-Absolutely.

It's hard to put a value on these because it's not just one set

-of autographs, it's two.

-That's right.

I would suggest probably putting it in with an estimate of 400 to £600,

and perhaps putting a reserve on of about 350.

But I would hope that because there's so much interesting

information here and it's just got a wonderful story,

I would hope that it makes more towards the top estimate.

The signatures are nice and clear. It's not "O Hardy" or "S Laurel",

it's "Stan Laurel".

-Yes.

-Good signatures, nice and clear, and I think they should

fetch really good money. They're fantastic.

Thank you very much indeed.

When I first saw these, I thought they were

just a standard string of beads, but they're actually a lot more

interesting than that, aren't they?

Well, so I believe. I've been told that they may be Japanese.

-They are, and do you know what they were used for?

-No idea.

OK. Well, in fact, each one of these would never have been anywhere

near the others because they're known as ojime.

They're normally made from bronze and they're part of a Japanese dress,

because, of course, in a kimono you don't have pockets.

So you have what's called an inro, which is a box,

and that box is suspended by a cord.

And that cord is then brought under the belt and then to stop the cord

falling from the belt is a netsuke, which is often carved out of ivory or hardwood.

That stops the inro falling but under the inro

is one of these little ojime, which are little beads to support the inro.

These are all individually cast out of bronze,

some are dark patinated, some have got little silver flowers on them.

This one's wonderful. Little gourd shape here and that one

appears to be a leaf with a crab crawling all over it.

So they're all wonderful little individual works of art.

There we've got a little frog on that one. Super, aren't they?

They're lovely, I love looking at them but I suppose it's time

to start clearing some junk out.

Junk? Throw it my way because I think these are great.

Were they all used as a necklace when you were a child?

We used to string them together for something to do.

And then in later years, my husband wore it to a fancy dress party.

-What did he go as?

-A hippy, of course.

A hippy, how brilliant.

I think they're great and I think they'll do very well

at the saleroom.

I've counted them up. There are about 60 here,

and at the fairs, these range from

3 or £4 each up to 50 or £60 for a slightly more unusual one.

So I'm going to put an estimate of

£150 to £250 on them, reserve of £150.

But if anything has the potential to fly at the auction, it's these.

-I think they might do really, really well.

-Thank you very much.

Well, it's auction time again and here are our remaining lots.

Johanna was astonished to hear her tea caddy

was English and I hope she's in for another surprise too today.

Bernadette is parting with the autographs of those stars

of the silver screen, Laurel and Hardy. Will they achieve a legendary price?

They've been in a dressing-up box for years

and James has high hopes for Janet's Japanese beads.

Just a quick reminder that James can't be here with us today

but we're getting his reaction from Derby.

I hope we get James' top end of the estimate, £150.

Johanna, it's a gorgeous little thing.

We're talking about the tea caddy.

Probably you can remember James waxing lyrical over this at the valuation day.

He fell in love with it. A nice Victorian piece,

early Victorian, wonderful inlay, the condition's good as well.

So, James, fingers crossed!

It's been a long day here and we need some good results.

This is a great example. It's seen better days, though,

and those bits of veneer that are missing are expensive to repair.

So, 100 to 150. Let's hope it makes towards the £200.

If it does, then that's a great result.

It's going under the hammer right now, good luck to both of you.

Lot 810. This is a Victorian mother of pearl veneered single tea caddy.

We have two commission bids here. I'll start the bidding at 130.

is there 140 in the room?

£130... 140, 150...

160, commission bids out...

160 in the room, is there 170?

At £160 and we are selling, at £160 if you're all done.

For the last time, then.

-Sold.

-Absolutely excellent, we got £160.

What are you going to put that towards?

With Christmas around the corner, well, more or less.

-Half a year away.

-I think we spend that way.

How would you say "good result" in Dutch?

Sounds pretty similar - goede resultaat.

Oh, it does actually, doesn't it?

Remember the Laurel and Hardy autographs? It's time to put them under the hammer.

We are joined by Catherine, Donald, and Bernadette.

What a fabulous story we've just heard at the valuation day.

Yes, absolutely. One of my favourites.

Your father was a hairdresser?

-Yes, ladies and gents.

-Cut their hair.

-Yes.

Got their autograph.

-Beautiful story.

-He said they joked all the time.

I bet they did. I would have been tempted

to keep one set of autographs myself and sell the other,

-but you didn't want to split the book up.

-No.

-I'm pleased we've protected them with a reserve.

-Absolutely.

Lots of memories and they're going under the hammer.

Good luck, both of you.

-Thank you.

-Here we go.

Lot 825. This is a miniature autograph book

signed by Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, so start me at £400. £400?

-350 then... £350.

-Come on.

Try 300, £300, thank you...

and 20, 320... 350, at £320...

make it 350, at £320.

-Come on, one more.

-We're one bid away.

We are close at £320 but I'm afraid I can't sell at that figure.

One bid away, we were one bid away.

-We were so close.

-We've got a reserve of £350.

I'm so disappointed.

It's an absolutely cracking lot, a really super lot.

-Not to worry.

-Not to worry.

They're beautiful.

We've got Janet's Japanese beads

just about to go under the hammer. That's a tongue twister, isn't it?

Janet's Japanese beads.

Are you into textiles?

-No, I'm not.

-I was going to say you look very colourful

and sort of as if you were.

So how did you come across these beads,

cos they're all from a dress?

Well, they're the little...

like the washer, under a netsuke.

-Yes.

-And they were in a dressing-up box.

Were they? Where did you find that?

At my grandmother's house.

Well, James, you've put 150 to £250 on these. You obviously understand

what you're looking at because I wouldn't know how to value these.

Were you surprised at James' valuation?

I had no idea what they'd be worth. I didn't even know what they were.

No, it's so hard to put a price on something like this,

it's quite an academic thing.

How do you do it, James, how do you know about stuff like this?

This is a really difficult subject.

Loads of beads and a couple of them are signed.

Those signatures could make all of the difference.

Unfortunately, I can't read Japanese but there are plenty of people out there that can,

so they might do really well.

OK, I hope you're right. I hope we get the top end.

We're gonna find out. It's packed here, so good luck, both of you.

They're going under the hammer.

Lot 180. This is the Japanese beads. A lot of interest in these.

We have four commission bids and a telephone.

-I shall start the bidding at £450.

-Oh!

Is there 470 in the room? At £450...

is there a... 470, commission bids out...

470 in the room... 500, 520...

550, 570...

-600.

-It's incredible.

And 20...

650, 670...

700, and 20.

James, it's exceeded your top estimate.

-He said they might fly.

-He did, didn't he?

At £720... Is there 750?

-At £720... Any more?

-720 quid!

At £720, then, for the very last time.

Bang, that is a big sold sound.

£720, Janet.

-Wonderful.

-What are you going to do with all that money?

It'll pay for the piece of jewellery I've already commissioned.

-You've designed a piece of jewellery?

-Yes.

-And you're going to get it made.

-Yes.

Oh, good for you. Good for you.

-Thank you so much.

-If you've got anything like that lying around

at home, do what Janet's done.

Bring it along to one of our valuation days

and hopefully James might be there to value it.

What a lovely moment.

It's a wonderful end to a wonderful day

here in Itchen Stoke just outside Winchester.

Our owners have gone home happy, James has been spot on

with his valuations and so has Catherine. So all credit to our experts,

to the auctioneer, and what a great day we've had.

-See you next time on Flog It.

-Thank you.

For more information about Flog It, including how the programme was made, visit the website at bbc.co.uk.

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