Torquay Flog It!

Today we've headed out to the coast in a county famous for mariners

like Sir Francis Drake and Sir Walter Raleigh, and writers like Agatha Christie.

Welcome to Flog It! from Devon.

The Barbican here at Plymouth

lies at the heart of the city's rich and colourful heritage.

Although large parts were destroyed during the war, the spectacular Barbican area survived,

preserving its medieval street layout and many fine Tudor dwellings.

The Barbican was also once home to the studio of this chap,

Robert Lenkiewicz, possibly one of the most prolific artists of the 20th century.

Later on in the show we'll be taking a look at his life and his work.

Whilst Plymouth is the location for our auction,

we've headed just up the road to Torquay for our valuation day.

The Victorians named Torquay Queen Of The Riviera

and we've taken residence at the Palace. Well, the Palace Hotel!

Our two experts are Philip Serrell and new boy David Fletcher

and they're already hard at work rummaging through the people's bags.

So, it looks like Philip has already spotted something a little puzzling.

-How are you doing?

-Fine, thanks.

-Are these yours?

-Yes, they are.

-When did you get these?

-I had them every year as a Christmas present as a child.

-As a child?

-Yes.

-How old are they, then?

-They're probably... I don't know.

-You're not going to tell me.

-I'd like to say 30 years.

-30 years old. Right.

-Yes.

-So... Right, OK, fine.

-A little bit of artistic licence there.

-Of course!

Because I think these are probably actually...1960s?

-Yeah, you could...

-Could be right!

-Could be right.

-I would never, ever discuss a lady's age.

Which was your first one?

I think the Alice In Wonderland was the first one.

-So, you had one of these...?

-Yes, every year.

-Every year.

And so the idea of this is you have to get the blue on the blue.

-Yes.

-The red on the red.

-Yes.

-The green on the green and the black on the black.

-That's right.

-It's hopeless, isn't it?

-I haven't got the patience for them now.

This is one of those... This is a forerunner of those game...

Nintendo-jobbie things, isn't it?

If we look at this one here we can see that they're English made

by Journet of London.

Always good to have a London maker, isn't it?

Helen, I know a particularly sad bit of information about you,

-because you memorised the verse on the back, didn't you?

-Some of it, yes.

-Go on, then.

Popular portable puzzles proving positively perplexing and perpetually pleasing posers...

-And that's as much as I can remember!

-How bad is that?

-You really need to get out more, you know. Honestly.

-Yeah, that's sad, I know.

I think they're lovely. They're not going to be worth a fortune.

-No.

-How many have you got? Two, four, six, eight, ten, twelve of them.

I think you could put a £20 to £40 estimate on them, but I just think they're great fun

-and they're a great memory of your childhood, aren't they?

-Yes.

-So let's hope they do really well for you.

-Lovely.

-Good stuff.

So, I love Moorcroft, so it's really good to see these.

Tell me how you came by them.

Well, I work at our local hospice, the Rowcroft Hospice in Torquay,

and it's before my time, I think about 20 years ago...

-Right.

-A gentleman kindly donated them after his wife died in the hospice

and they've been sitting on our mantelpiece in day services and somebody suggested that

-they could be valuable and maybe, as we needed income, we would sell them.

-That's lovely.

It's great to know they're going to a good cause and I think you're very wise to sell them by auction

because you know the market will be tested

-and we can guarantee we'll get you the best price.

-Yes.

I've done a little bit of research on the patterns.

I shall have to be careful really because my mum collects Moorcroft

and if I get this wrong she'll be very cross with me.

-I'm pretty certain that this is Clematis.

-Right.

And that these two are each Anemone.

-Oh, right.

-They're decorated, as we can see, on a green ground

and each one bears the printed paper label

which tells us that Moorcroft was potter to Queen Mary.

Walter Moorcroft, who took over the factory in the mid '30s,

was very proud of this Royal endorsement

and his wares bore the labour mark well into the '40s, until after the war in fact,

and I think we can safely date these after the war.

So, they're relatively late, but they're charming.

-Can I ask what would be put in this one because it's got the cork on top?

-A very good point.

This is a table lamp base, so it is possible to run a wire through the base,

up to this attachment here, so I think it will one day be used again as a table lamp base...

-Oh, that would be lovely.

-..rather than as a vase.

-Yeah.

Have you any idea what they might make?

No, no. Somebody just said they knew Moorcroft and, yes, they may be worth a few pound.

Well, Moorcroft is very collectable.

The market goes up and down.

It has been higher than it is now,

but I'm confident if we sold these in one lot

we would get in the region of £200 for this

and, say, £80 for each of these, the tarts and the oval dish.

That makes, my maths isn't very good, but round about £350.

I would have thought, if we offered them with an estimate of 350 to 450,

-subject to a reserve of £300.

-Yeah.

-Does that sound OK to you?

-That would be really good for the hospice.

-Jolly good.

-Thank you.

-We'll go ahead on that basis.

-Thank you.

-Thank you, Sue.

-Alistair, how are you doing?

-All right, thank you.

-You're a collector?

-Yes, I am.

These are a real collectors' lot. Don't tell me yet, cos I'm trying to work out what they are.

We've got little silver... When you pick them up first,

they look maybe Chinese silver, but they're not?

-English hallmarks on the bottom...

-Yes.

-..which we'll look at in a minute,

and there's a hole in the top which can suggest a whole host of things.

I've seen bougie boxes and wax jacks that have been altered look like that,

and I've also seen bigger lignum vitae barrels with a hole in the top where strings come through.

-Yes.

-Am I getting close?

-Well, yes, I think you are. I think you're well on the track.

So go on, tell me.

Well, I think I know what they are. I think they're cotton-reel boxes.

So you'd drop your cotton reel, you'd pull the cotton out, thread it through there...

And then you don't have any trouble.

-Pop that on there and then you just pull your thread out?

-Yes.

Ah, right. So are these something you've bought or...?

No, they belonged to my first wife's family.

Her grandfather, so I think they're 1870s or 1880s.

Let's just have a look at the mark.

They're certainly late 19th century.

The maker's stamp is A & J Zimmerman,

and the anchor tells us that they were assayed in Birmingham.

So why do you want to sell these?

Well, they belonged to my wife's family and I've got quite a few

mementoes of my wife, and I think I can pass those on and use the money to go and collect something else.

Eyes on anything in particular?

Well, I have. I'm sure that one exists somewhere.

I've got one or two English-hallmarked ring boxes...

-Yeah.

-..which I like to collect, and I'm sure I have never seen one...

There's a gold one somewhere.

Start saving, start saving!

Well, I might pay the money if I can find one. I haven't found one yet.

I'd better bring you back down to earth sharpish, hadn't I?

As far as the value of those.

I think, at auction, these...

-We can estimate them at £50 to £80. Is that all right?

-Yes.

-We'd need to put a reserve.

We can put that at £50. If you want to give the auctioneer 10% discretion, you can.

-Yes.

-Or you have it fixed at £50.

-I'll fix it at 50, thank you.

-We'll estimate them at £50 to £80 with a fixed £50 reserve, and if you have

a bit of luck, they might even creep up towards the £100 mark.

I love these valuation days, but sometimes talking to so many people

can take its toll on my voice, but just take a look at I've found here.

-So, let me get this right, Barry and Malcolm?

-Yes. That's right, yes.

-Brothers?

-Brothers, yeah.

-And this was Mum and Dad's?

-Yes, it was, yes.

-OK, it's a family heirloom.

-It is.

-Who's been looking after it, then?

Well, it's just been in Mum and Dad's house, you know? And now we've decided to...

-Sell it.

-To sell it, yeah.

-Do you know much about it at all?

-No, we don't know much about it.

-We know that, we think it's French...

-Yes, it's definitely continental.

And it's a Tantalus, but more than that we don't really know.

It's the most stunning Tantalus I've seen for a long, long time and it's exotically inlaid

with different veneers and it's just beautiful, absolutely beautiful.

-I mean, it's a cabinet-maker's dream, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-It is, yes.

The whole construction, actually, is mahogany and then the face sides have been veneered.

-Yeah. So it's made out of real good wood, then.

-It's made out of good wood.

-Yeah.

Look at the inlay for a minute, on the face side obviously you've got some ormolu here,

sort of inlaid boulle work, which tells me it is definitely French.

-OK.

-Right.

It's bordered here, cross grained with a tulip wood,

but it's amboina on all the face sides with this wonderful boulle.

Very thin sheet of metal cut and inlaid into the wood.

And what is the metal, is it brass?

It is brass, yes.

This is the beautiful thing about this, though,

when you reveal what's inside here

because this quite cleverly just lifts here,

doesn't it, to reveal the featured interior?

But this face side actually drops down.

-Yeah.

-Yes.

-So now, on view from this angle, this becomes decoration.

-How clever is that?

-Yeah.

And then the business end of the interior.

I'm sorry, I was responsible for...some of the glasses broke when I was younger.

-Oh, were you now?

-So this...

Unfortunately, there is a bottle missing, isn't there? There's a little decanter missing.

-It's down to me.

-But looking at the glass, it is all original and the stoppers are original, as well.

They're not loose. They fit beautifully and you've just missed a few shot glasses then.

Why do you want to sell it, though? It's a family heirloom.

Well, 30 years ago we were pro musicians.

Oh, were you? What did you play?

-I played guitar.

-And, Barry?

-Keyboard and vocals.

So we thought, we've been writing songs and getting started again

about three years ago and we're ready to record some numbers.

Right, so we need to raise money for the studio fees, basically.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Not only are there are collectors of Tantaluses, it's a fantastic decorator's piece.

So, let's put it into auction with a value of 250, OK? To £350.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Give it that sort of price range,

-put a fixed reserve on at £250.

-OK.

Because we're not going to let it go for anything less.

-That's a good surprise.

-Yeah, yeah.

But hopefully, look, this could fly away.

Yeah, yeah. Buy us more studio time.

-And it's more studio time.

-Yeah.

-Hello, Barry.

-Hello.

This is a real eye-catcher, isn't it?

-It is.

-I think this is great fun. How did you come by this?

It belonged to my mother-in-law.

She was the chief cook in this small hotel just outside Chagford on Dartmoor.

-Right.

-And when she retired several years ago

-the American owners gave her this...

-Right.

-As a parting gift.

Right. What was the hotel called, can you remember?

-It was the Easton Court.

-Oh, right.

OK. Interesting you should say that it was American owned because that's the key to this item, really.

It's marked underneath S Kirk & Son Co,

and beneath that, and this is important, 925/1,000,

which tells us that it's 925 parts per 1,000 pure silver.

Now, if it were English it would be hallmarked.

It would have a set of full hallmarks, they would tell us

that it was 925 parts per 1,000 without stating that.

It's the American practice to mark things 925 and that's what we have here.

As I say, it's a maker called Kirk, who were American,

they had a workshop in Baltimore,

but whose descendants were 18th-century English silversmiths.

The jug itself was made in about 1900

and I note that it's monogrammed.

Well, the people that gave it to my mother-in-law were called Cobb

and the monogram looks to be several Cs in there,

so I should imagine that it was their family monogram.

-That makes sense. And they were the people that owned the hotel, were they?

-That's right, yes.

Good. So, that cements the American connection, which is nice.

-It's decorated, isn't it, with cherries? There are bunches of grapes.

-Cherries, grapes, all sorts.

And strawberries. I love this shell motif just beneath the rim

which just gives it that extra bit of class, really.

Why have you decided to sell it?

Well, it's just sitting in the cupboard. The children don't want it.

-No.

-So, we thought, well, if it's...

-And it's just another thing to clean.

It's just another thing to clean, that's right.

And I must say, I think when this is cleaned up,

and it will clean up very easily, it will look a million dollars.

It's a very imposing item.

We need just to think about what it might make.

I think American silver, generally speaking, is worth slightly less

than English silver, we've got to be mindful of that.

I would suggest an estimate of 120 to 160, and a reserve of £100.

-That would be a fixed reserve of...

-A fixed reserve of £100, but with luck it'll make more than that.

-That's fine. That sounds fine.

-OK, Barry. Thank you very much.

-We'll do our best for you.

-Fine. Lovely.

Before we head off to auction, here's a brief reminder of the great items we're flogging today.

Popular portable puzzles proving positively perplexing

and perpetually pleasing posers, and that's as much as I can remember!

How sad is that? You really need to get out more, you know.

Yeah, that's sad, I know!

Helen's tongue-twisting abilities leave Philip puzzled.

How will her collection of children's puzzles fare at auction?

We're selling on behalf of a local hospice, but how will the saleroom react to Sue's Moorcroft collection?

And I love this lot, a pair of silver cotton-reel boxes.

Philip is confident he can pull in the bidders

with an estimate of £50 to £80,

and Alistair is hoping to use the money to buy his dream ring box.

-It's a cabinet-maker's dream, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-It is, yes.

Barry and Malcolm, brothers and re-formed band musicians,

are taking this beautiful mahogany Tantalus to auction,

but will it be a hit or a miss?

And Barry hopes his American silver fruit jug

is going to make top dollar when it goes under the hammer.

OK, so now it's time to put our first batch of items to the test.

We've left Torquay and moved along the coastline

to Eldreds Auction Rooms in the heart of Plymouth,

so let's go inside.

And on the rostrum today, the man with all the local knowledge, is auctioneer Anthony Eldred.

First up, Helen's children's puzzles.

Well, Helen's been decluttering and this next item is certainly a lot

that will keep you amused for hours on end. Well, it did you, didn't it?

-Oh, yeah. I loved them.

-We've got 12 puzzles and they're great fun, aren't they?

-Yeah.

-I saw Philip playing with them at the valuation day.

-Without success.

It takes a long time to get the hang of each one of those.

-Yeah, yeah. But I haven't seen these around for a long, long time.

-I think they're great fun.

-Yeah.

-Great fun.

-They've been sitting in my loft for so many years now so I might as well.

The condition's very good. We've got £20 to £40 on them,

so hopefully someone's going to buy them. Good luck.

Next is lot 350, which is 12 puzzles. There they are.

-Fingers crossed, Helen.

-Hours of fun with those,

and I'm bid a tenner for them.

At £10. 12 if you want them. At £10.

Against you all at 10. 12. 15.

18. 20. At £20.

22. 25. 28.

In front here at £28 now.

Quite sure at 28?

Spot-on, Philip, mid-estimate.

-Yes.

-£28. They've gone.

-It's a manual computer game, isn't it, really?

-Somebody's bought hours of fun with those, haven't they?

-Yes.

-Hours of fun.

-A good investment.

£70. Anyone in the room at 300?

Quite sure, then.

I think this is a super thing.

I love this silver fruit jug.

It's American. We've got a valuation of £120 to £160 put on by David.

It's embossed with little shells.

-It's... It's got the look, hasn't it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah. It really has.

-Why are you selling this?

-Well, we thought whatever we get

we'll probably put into Premium Bonds and see what happens from there.

I think you stand a good chance of winning on the Premium Bonds,

-better than on the Lottery, that's for sure.

-Certainly better than the bank at the moment.

-Yeah. This should do well, shouldn't it?

-I hope so.

It's quality. And it's unusual.

It's got a shell motif, we're by the sea,

hopefully there's a little bit of a maritime connection which might help it get away.

We're going to find out right now.

Next is lot 445, which is a 19th-century American silver jug.

There it is, a lot of bids for it.

I'm bid at £190 for it.

Against you all at 190. 200. And 10.

220. 230. 240. 250. 260.

£260. Finished then at 260? 270.

-Oh, brilliant. They love it!

-280.

290. 300.

At £300. At £300 I'll sell it.

Yes! £300!

-What a great result.

-I'm very pleased.

-That's quality for you.

-I'm delighted.

-That was rare, wasn't it?

-It was rare. A nice thing to bring out to show off to your friends.

Yeah. Well, there is commission to pay here, but that's a lot of money and that's a lot of Premium Bonds.

-It is.

-Yeah. I hope you win!

Well, got as good a chance as anybody else.

You do, exactly. Yeah, you've got to be in it to win it.

Next up are these lovely cotton-reel boxes.

Alistair, cracking lot. My favourite lot of the day, I think, these two little silver cotton-reel holders.

-Really?

-They may be tiny but, for me, they are a big lot and at £50 to £80.

I think I'd pay £50 to £80 for one, so buy one, get one free.

Had a chat to the auctioneer earlier.

You don't know this, Alistair.

We both kind of waxed lyrical over them, thinking, "Aren't they lovely?"

And we thought they'd probably only be worth sort of 50 quid if they didn't

have the hole in the top that you poke the cotton through, but they're so special, they're so different.

-I think they are.

-We were sort of thinking, "Well, surely they've got to do £200."

I mean, that's what I'd like to see, but I don't know.

-Maybe I'm bigging this up, but I would be prepared to pay £200 for them.

-Are they scarce or rare?

They're going to really appeal to sewing collectors,

so if you've got two sewing collectors...

They're more for that market, really, rather than the silver collector.

Let's hope they get well over £150, shall we? Here we go.

It's a little pair of Victorian embossed cotton-reel holders.

I'm bid £70 for them. Against you all in the room at 70.

At £70, against you all. And five and 80,

five and 90, five, 100 and five. At £105, ten if you want them.

At £105 at the back there.

All done at 105?

Yes, £105!

Not quite what I was hoping for.

-I was hoping for a bit more, but that's a good price.

-Yes.

110, 15...

Well, Barry and Malcolm, now the moment of truth.

The Tantalus is just about to go under the hammer.

We're hopefully buying some recording studio time.

-Hopefully, yes.

-Now, do you need a drummer? Because I know one.

We do, yes. It's funny you should say that, we do.

Well, I'm a bit rusty, but I'll give it a go.

Good luck, guys, anyway and hopefully you can get in that recording studio

and we might have a big hit on our hands.

We certainly might get one right now. Here we go.

Next lot is lot 75, which is

the Victorian walnut and brass bounded liqueur Tantalus

and £210 starts that. At 210. 220.

230. 240. And five. 250.

-At 250 now in the room.

-Come on.

Quite sure then, at £250?

I'll sell it at 250.

It's gone. Tantalisingly close.

-Yeah, tantalising.

-But we got rid of it.

-Yeah, well, that... That'll buy some time, wouldn't it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah, yeah.

-It will.

-Yeah.

-Knock out three or four songs.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Well, send me a copy, won't you?

-We will, definitely.

-Good luck.

Next up, we've got some real quality.

It's Moorcroft just about to go under the hammer and all the money is going to charity.

-So, Sue, tell us which charity.

-I'm very proud today. I'm here for Rowcroft Hospice in Torquay.

OK. Now, we've got a couple of lots because they've been split up.

Originally, David, you valued the lamp base and two bowls.

-Yes, exactly.

-Yes.

-Three items.

Three items. So, the auctioneer has put the first lot as the lamp base with a lower end at £150,

-and also the two bowls at a lower end with a reserve at 150.

-Yeah.

-So it still makes up the same value, but he thinks they'll sell better separately.

-Yeah.

-OK.

-I'll take his advice.

-Yeah.

-So, we're going to find out.

-We are.

Next, lot 203, which is a Moorcroft bottle-shaped table lamp base.

There it is, decorated fuchsias, and £130 for it. At 130.

40, if you want it. At £130, then.

Against you all in the room.

Are we finished then at 130? 140.

-Five.

-Oh, good.

-At 145. 150.

Five. 160 now, behind.

-That was a sticky start!

-It was.

At 160, then. Sell at 160.

£160. The first one away. Now the two bowls.

The next lot is lot 204, which is the Moorcroft circular Tazza,

this time decorated with clematis.

Two pieces in this lot and £150 bid for it. Five if you want it.

-That's good.

-£150 against you all in the room.

At 150. Five anywhere? And 155. 160.

Five. At 165 there, seated.

Are you all finished at 165?

-Yes, that's £325 to charity!

-Yeah.

-Brilliant.

-All going to our hospice.

-Happy with that!

-Thank you very much.

-That was a good donation, wasn't it?.

Your maths is better than mine, I couldn't work it out that quickly.

Lovely, all money for the hospice. Thank you very much.

Coming up, someone gets overexcited.

-Where's Margaret gone?

-I can't believe it!

Come back here, Margaret.

-Back here. Come back here.

-I can't believe it.

Gosh, what an exciting moment. That's what auctions are all about.

I was going to throw it in the bin!

Come back here, Margaret.

The Barbican here in Plymouth is home to numerous bars, restaurants,

cafes and warehouses, but it was also home once to the studio

of one of Britain's most prolific, but unrecognised,

painting talents of the 20th century, Robert Lenkiewicz.

Just 100 yards from the harbour you can find, tucked up on the corner of a warehouse wall,

a 3,000 square foot mural Lenkiewicz painted in the early 1970s.

As you can see, it's all clad in wooden batons now, holding it together

and it's been seriously eroded and weathered by the elements over the years,

and all that crumbling paint, well, that really is a sad reflection of its former multicoloured glory.

Finished in 1973, the mural took an Elizabethan theme.

Notorious for his self-portraits, Lenkiewicz also included himself in the painting.

Complete with begging bowl, the picture reflects the fact

that his efforts for this stunning piece of art went unpaid.

Lenkiewicz's love for painting began at an early age.

Born in London in 1941 from refugee stock,

his parents ran a Jewish hotel

whose residents included survivors of the concentration camps.

He attended St Martin's College of Art.

From there he moved on to the Royal Academy, but found the conformity

too inhibiting and he was expelled for non-attendance.

He had a studio in Hampstead, but moved to Plymouth in 1969.

As one of Britain's most eccentric artists, during his lifetime

his work was never really accepted by the art establishment.

In fact, not one of Lenkiewicz's paintings hangs in a national or regional gallery.

However, here at the Plymouth Museum and Art Gallery,

his work has been given a temporary exhibition

and it's the first since his death in 2002.

And to find out more about the man,

I caught up with Francis Mallett from the Lenkiewicz Foundation.

Why was Robert dismissed by the art world?

Well, it's something I've thought about for quite a long time

and I've come to the conclusion there are probably two main reasons.

The first is, if you think about his work,

it really has very little connection with the rest of what was going on

in the art world in this country at that time.

From the '60s onwards, if you think about the British art scene

you have abstraction, you have pop art, photography, conceptual art,

-installation art and video art, and Robert was a painter that painted in a much more traditional manner.

-Yeah.

His influences were very different.

Was he upset by that at the time?

No, I think the other thing about Robert is he really couldn't care less about that

and that was one of the great things about him.

He really was an anti-establishment figure.

He was very much a thinking painter.

His subjects were often sociological observations

of other people, and then later on, more personal observations about his own relationships.

Tell me a little bit more about the subject matter.

Yes, well, the first project was vagrancy, but then Robert went

on to areas such as mental handicap, death, addictive behaviour.

This was a study into human behaviour at its most basic level.

And the other side of his work, which covered more personal relationships,

he used himself as a guinea pig,

looked at his own responses to the relationships that he was in

to draw conclusions about human behaviour and psychology.

Robert Lenkiewicz was drawn to the underprivileged and was fascinated with vagrants and street alcoholics.

A compassionate man, in the early 1970s he would provide shelter for up to 170 tramps a night.

Lenkiewicz's treatment of one in particular was to prove highly controversial.

Well, this tramp was called Diogenes, nicknamed Diogenes by Robert.

He came across him living in a barrel

and Robert became very fond of him and nicknamed him Diogenes

after the Greek philosopher Diogenes who lived in a barrel.

-Long before Damien Hirst embalmed a shark in resin, Robert embalmed Diogenes, didn't he?

-That's right.

What was the meaning behind that?

Well, it was a long-standing agreement

apparently between Robert and Diogenes

that when Diogenes died that that's exactly what Robert would do.

-So it was a little pact.

-It was, but it was also around the time

that Robert was featuring death predominately in his projects.

After Diogenes died, Robert explained his views on death.

One is always strangely compelled by the total presence of the body

running parallel with the complete absence of the person.

I don't know if you've witnessed death, but if you see that,

and I have many times, you'll see there's an interesting association

and cross reference with witnessing birth.

A very strange, haunting atmosphere

and I want to become more familiar with that.

It's entirely personal.

Could it become part of the exhibition in the future?

Well, certainly in the context of perhaps one of Robert's themes,

either Death or Death And The Maiden,

or the project that he did called the Diogenes Con Show.

I don't see any reason why it couldn't be exhibited.

Robert Lenkiewicz was certainly an unusual character, unconventional.

He never really endeared himself to the press,

understandable when you learn that in 1981

he actually faked his own death to coincide with his Death project.

Why did Robert fake his own death and what exactly did he do?

Well, I think Robert really, partly was frustrated.

He had an exhibition on that wasn't gaining as much attention as he thought it should.

Was it a PR stunt, then?

Well, partly, but as with everything with Lenkiewicz

it also had a much more serious purpose

and he was beginning his interest in the project on death

and the thinking behind it was he could never know what it was like to be dead,

-but he could know what it was like to be thought to be dead.

-Right, OK.

So, his brother, John, placed a very small low-key obituary

in a London newspaper

which got picked up on very quickly in the south-west

and suddenly it was all over the local press.

All of Plymouth was mourning and,

from a lack of recognition for this artist,

suddenly he was the greatest painter in the south-west.

Unfortunately, I think the stories got picked up on by

the national tabloid press and Lenkiewicz became more known for those exploits

than for the serious and skilful painter that he was.

Controversial as he was, the art of Robert Lenkiewicz continues to attract divided opinion.

Sadly, when he died in 2002 from a serious heart condition,

150 paintings had to be sold off to help cover massive debts.

The Lenkiewicz Foundation's aim is to open a permanent collection

of Robert's remaining work in the near future

and if he was alive today he'd probably shudder at the term The People's Painter,

but in effect that's exactly what he's become,

proving that art can be genuinely concerned with social and domestic issues,

and to that end, he remains one of the serious contemporary painters of modern history.

Now back to the Palace Hotel in Torquay for more valuations

and Philip has spotted a rather nice necklace.

-Lynn, are you local?

-No, I'm a... I'm from Essex.

-You're an Essex girl?

-No, I wasn't born there, I was born in Lancashire.

-Oh, right.

-You've got around a bit, haven't you?

-Yeah.

-I married someone from the south.

-Yeah.

-And when did you come to Torquay?

-I bought a holiday home ten years ago.

-Yeah.

-And I've been visiting ever since and I heard the other day that the Flog It was on...

-Yeah.

And I decided to travel down yesterday so I could come today.

Good girl. So, you're not a Devonian, you're an interloper!

Yes, I am afraid.

-Where's this from?

-This was given to me on my 18th birthday by my mother.

-Not long ago.

-Not long ago, no.

-Yeah.

-Doesn't seem it.

And I wore it a lot, when I was given it, to dances.

I asked my mother whether it was emeralds because emerald was my birthstone.

-That would be nice, wouldn't it?

-But she said she couldn't afford that.

-Yeah.

-So, we thought it was peridot.

-Peridot.

-Yes, peridot.

-Yeah.

And that's what I've always assumed they were, yes.

Well, I think this was made round about 1890, 1900

-and I think it's lovely.

-Yeah, it is pretty.

I cheated a little bit because before I looked at it

I got one of my colleagues, who's a jewellery expert,

to look at the stones and she tells me that they're not peridots,

but they're in fact glass.

That's a bit disappointing, isn't it?

-Well, a little bit, yes.

-But...

-I enjoyed wearing it though, so...

There's two things about looking at that automatically that I would question.

-The first thing is have you noticed that little, little circle loop just on the bottom there?

-Yeah.

-Well, that would have had a dropper on the bottom.

-Yeah.

-So, it's incomplete from there.

-Yeah.

-And the other thing that really amazes me is that you said you used to wear this often.

-Yes, I did.

Well, does it not... Do you not think that's just for a very, very small neck?

-I was very slim and I had a tiny neck.

-Because, I mean, that is just... It's almost...

-It was like for a... I know, it was for a young girl, you see.

-Well, I'm not sure it was for a young girl.

-What I think has happened is that this chain has been reduced in length.

-Yes, probably.

-So, we come to the disappointing bit now.

-Yeah.

-Because as a...

-As peridot and gold, it probably would have been £300 to £500.

-Yes.

I think now you're probably going to be looking at £100 to £150.

It might go and make a little bit more because it's so decorative, but are you happy to sell it?

Yes, I am, yes. She gave me quite a few things.

-Really?

-And some of them I wear.

-Oh, that's good.

-But I've never worn this now for about 30 years.

-So, we're going to get it flogged, are we?

-Yes.

What are you going to spend the money on? The trip back to Essex!

-Coming back and forward to Devon!

-Well, you've got to come back now to the auction, haven't you?

-Yes, I have, yes.

-Right, fingers crossed it'll do well.

-Thank you very much.

-Jennifer.

-Yes.

My friends will laugh when they see this because I'm the most unmusical person in the world, I'm afraid,

but I do know that it's a euphonium and we know, too, don't we,

-that it was made by Boosey & Co?

-Yes.

Who are well-known makers of musical instruments.

-Yes.

-And indeed publishers of sheet music.

-Yes.

This must have been manufactured before Boosey became Boosey & Hawkes.

-Yeah, we've traced the serial number back to 1920.

-1920. OK, that's good.

-It has, as it tells us here, compensating pistons.

-Right.

Which is just an extra sophistication

which makes it just that little bit more interesting.

But I must say, I think its value really lies in the fact that it's a bit of fun.

I mean, there will be people who will be interested in buying this as a musical instrument.

-It has a sort of sculptural quality, doesn't it?

-Yes, it does, yeah.

-It's quite pretty.

-Have you ever played it yourself?

-No.

-No.

I'm not sure I'd have enough puff.

If Charlie Ross were here, sadly he isn't today, he would undoubtedly play it or at least try to play it.

-Try to!

-And he would scare everyone off. He would very quickly clear the room.

-But it would be rather fun to hear someone play it.

-Yes.

-I'm not going to do it and obviously you're not.

-No.

-How did you come by it?

-Well, my husband's younger sister used to be in a brass band.

She plays the trombone, but they needed a euphonium player

and I'm not quite sure how compatible they are,

-but she used to play it in the brass band.

-And why...

Why do you want to be rid of it?

Well, it's just taking up space that we haven't got at the moment,

nobody uses it, so it needs to go to a good home.

-Now, in my view, this is going to make between 60 and £100.

-Right.

I think it will be sold, actually, to someone who will use it,

perhaps someone who has a son or a daughter who wants to learn to play the euphonium.

There is a possibility that someone will buy it, you know,

-as a bit of a joke really to show off to their friends.

-Yes.

I'm tempted to think in terms of turning it upside down and putting flowers in it,

-but that's probably stretching one's imagination just a little bit too far.

-Yes.

-So, if we went ahead at 60 to £100 with a reserve of £50?

-Yeah, that would be fine.

-You'd be happy with that, would you?

-Yes, yeah.

OK, well, we'll do our best for you, and perhaps when it gets to the sale room,

-there'll be someone there who can play it for us.

-That's it, yeah, to see if it works.

Margaret, how are you doing?

-I'm very well, thank you.

-Very well.

That is not a local accent, is it?

-I'm from Glasgow.

-Glasgow.

-Originally from Glasgow.

-I moved down here when I got married.

-You got married.

Got married to Alec in 1962. How long ago was that?

-Oh, don't go there, don't go there.

-I can't remember.

And what... And what did he do?

-First of all, we moved down here, he was in the building trade.

-Yeah.

Then he, many years after the building trade, he self-taught himself to dive.

-Really?

-Three of them went out...

-They were professional divers?

-Professional diving.

-And what was that for, for shellfish?

Shellfish, scallops, crayfish, big lobsters and they made a really good living.

-What about sunken treasure? Did he ever find any sunken treasure?

-Oh, they found loads of stuff.

So this, presumably, is from one of his expeditions?

It was. He was diving and...

It's unbelievable, a glint of the sun through the water

-and a corner, just a corner of that, was on the seabed.

-Right.

And he scooped it away and there it was and he brought it up,

and 30-odd years I've had it now, we've had it.

Where did he find it, then? Was he diving off the coast here?

Off the coast of Torbay, way out.

So, we've got here a brass plaque.

-Yes.

-OK, and it's got 355. I'm not sure what...

-I don't know.

-Not sure what that's all about.

-No.

-Palmers.

-Palmers shipbuilding.

-Shipbuilding & Iron Company Limited.

-Newcastle upon Tyne.

-1877.

-Yes.

-So...

And presumably this is your research?

-Yes. I wrote to Palmers.

-Yeah, who don't exist.

Well, I didn't know that. And then, months after, I got this letter

saying they'd passed the Palmers letter to Vickers shipbuilding.

-Yeah.

-And the chief Admiral, whatever he's called, sent me this letter.

I think he's the chief architect, my love! He's not an admiral!

-Oh, whatever.

-You've promoted him well!

And then they sent me this print of the ships they use to build.

-So, if we just look at this here.

-Yes.

-He says, "I am interested to hear of your husband's find and would like to know more about it."

-Yeah.

-"Was there any indication as to the vessel from which the plate could have come?"

-No.

"Palmers started building ships in 1852 and had built some 350 by 1877."

-Having looked at that, we've got 1877 here.

-Yeah.

-I wonder if that 355 is, perhaps that's the 355th ship they built.

-It might be. I've no idea.

I think at auction with this information allied to it,

and I think it would be good to give that with it.

-Yeah, you can.

-I think we can put a cautious estimate of, sort of, 80 to £120 on it.

-Right.

-We'll put a reserve on it of £60.

-Right.

-I have sold a name plaque from a ship for the thick end of £1,000.

-Yeah.

So, it wouldn't surprise me if this really did take off,

-but I think the fact that it's sort of lower down the level...

-Yes, yes, that's fine.

-It might be of interest to somebody.

-Yeah. Why do you want to sell it?

-I don't want it.

-You don't want it?

-I don't want it, no.

What will you do with £100 if it makes it?

-I don't know. Spend it. Spend it!

-On that note...

-Spend it!

-Let's put it in the auction and spend it, shall we?

-Yes, spend it!

-Well done, you.

-What the heck.

-Hello, Heather.

-Hello, David.

-I love this.

We have two for the price of one.

If you like pocket watches, there's a pocket watch.

If you like wristwatches, there's a wristwatch.

Tell me a bit about it.

Well, I inherited it from my mother, who in turn

-got it from her great-aunt Julia who always wore quality jewellery.

-Right.

So it came as the two pieces, but my mother used to wear that piece

just on a gold bow as a brooch that she used to wear most times that she went shopping.

-So she used it every day?

-Yeah.

I think what's happened here is that,

conscious of the fact that pocket watches

were going out of fashion,

somebody has made this bracelet mount to match the pocket watch.

Pocket watches became unfashionable at the end of the 19th century.

-The pocket watch is in an 18-carat gold case, which is French.

-Yes.

The movement is Swiss and the dial is enamel.

The bracelet itself is English, marked 18-carat, and the two have

been, as I say, married together to the extent that the detail here...

the winder and the loop...

have actually been copied on the mount, which I think is fascinating.

So the whole thing is symmetrical.

-Why do you want to sell it?

-Well, in this day and age, you can't really wear it.

It's not suitable or practical, so I'd rather see it go to someone

that could enjoy it and have the lifestyle...

And you can buy yourself a nice, practical watch.

-Well, I'd like to buy a nice piece of jewellery that I could wear every day.

-Something that's wearable.

Wearable, quality and small.

I quite agree. That's a lovely thought.

I consider these together, and of course they should

be sold as one lot, to have a value in the region of £200 to £300.

-Right.

-I would suggest a reserve of just under £200.

-That would be fine.

-Say 180.

-That would be fine.

Here on the South Devon coast, just along the shoreline from Torquay,

is the Babbacombe Cliff Railway which was built in 1926.

The need for this funicular railway grew out of Torquay's booming tourist industry

as visitors flocked to enjoy the town's beaches and holiday attractions.

This railway starts at the top of the cliff here and goes all the way down the bottom to Oddicombe Beach,

and Oddicombe is one of the most popular beaches in Torquay.

There are only 27 cliff railways in the United Kingdom.

The one here at Babbacombe is one of only two in Devon.

The other is at Linton, on the north coast.

Now the Babbacombe Cliff Railway has recently broken new ground because it's the first cliff railway

to be fully modernised in the last decade, making way for others to follow in its wake.

I'm here to meet a chap who's a massive fan of funicular railways and he's responsible

for modernising this one and his name's David Cooper.

Hi, pleased to meet you, and thanks for talking to me today.

How did you get involved with the Babbacombe Railway?

I got a phone call in 2003 to say there'd been an incident down here

and they needed a chartered engineer to inspect it,

and then I've been involved ever since.

This particular cliff railway is called a funicular railway.

They're not all called that, and what does it mean?

-Well "funicular" in two terms is actually a Latin word and it means "of rope".

-Right.

And so even an ordinary traditional lift is a funicular.

Many people think it's because they're inclined, but that's not the case.

There's various different types. Over at Padstow there's a rack and pinion one,

the one you've already mentioned at Linton is a water-balance one,

no electricity involved in that one at all, and some are drum-drive,

so just like a crane and the ropes go round the drum.

Well, let's get down to the nitty-gritty.

Can you explain to the layman, like me, exactly how this one works?

Yes. This is an electrical traction one, so we've got a motor downstairs

so we need to go down into the depths below the station and I'll show you how it all works.

-Brilliant! Follow you.

-Thank you.

Although the principal design hasn't changed since the 1920s

the motor has been replaced to make it safer and more energy-efficient.

I'm quite surprised, because it's a small engine. Is this it?

This is it.

Most of the stuff goes on outside on the track in terms of signalling.

So talk me through how the separate components work.

OK. This is the motor and it takes signals from the track,

from the position switches and the encoder on the end of the motor here

and that controls the speed of the lift.

It accelerates it to make its speed and then it decelerates it into the station.

This here is the brake and the brake holds the lift when it's in a station.

The motor drives it to a stop and the brake holds it, just like a parking brake, or handbrake on your car.

Yeah.

Down here we have the gearbox and what that does is that takes this high-speed shaft which is rotating

at 1,100 revs per minute and gears it down.

It literally is just a gearbox and that in turn turns the traction tube over there.

I can see that... Which drives that wheel as well.

Indeed, through a double-wrap arrangement, then go up to the diverters and then out to the track.

-Yeah.

-To the end of the cars.

Very simple. Very, very simple.

I was expecting so much more!

Well, if you think about it as well, with an ordinary passenger lift,

the whole of the weight is taken by the gearbox and the motor

whereas here, cos we're on an angle,

a lot of the weight is taken downwards into the ground

so, therefore, it's not as big as you might have been expecting.

But it wasn't just the motor that was modernised.

From 2005, David and his team also replaced the carriages and the track.

So you actually oversaw all the restoration project.

-How long did it take?

-It took us two years, over two seasons.

We took it out for the first season, then put it back in

and then completed the works during the closed season.

I see, so you kept it open all the time over the two years?

During the summer, during the season when Torbay required it to be open.

And what was the reception like? Was it a really nice opening party?

Yeah. On...

It was the 1st of April 2006, we all met here

and we replicated the opening from the 1st of April 1926,

so it was 80 years and in fact one of the ladies who rode on the lift car on that first date was here!

Oh, brilliant! How lovely! Well, I can't wait to have another go.

-Shall we get inside?

-Yep, let's go and have a play.

So how many people can fit in the carriage?

This is a forty-person carriage.

-Actually, it's quite a smooth ride, really, isn't it? How fast does it go?

-Two and a half metres a second.

And what sort of angle are we going down at?

The incline is actually 22 degrees on this one.

It looks steeper when you look in reverse, actually!

-A trick of the eye!

-Yeah.

What a fantastic view!

-This has got to be a great way of coming down the cliff!

-Absolutely!

There's obviously another operative, in here, yeah?

Yes, we have two down here, we have a person operating the doors and a person taking your money!

-Oh, right! We pay at this end?

-You do!

Lovely sea air!

Gorgeous, gorgeous beach!

I can see why it's important to keep this open.

It's an absolutely stunning beach and it does get quite full.

They sometimes see 100,000 people a year down here, but in its heyday -

obviously the British holiday seasons back in the '50s and '60s -

-it was regularly seeing a quarter of a million people down here.

-Yeah.

When you're up at the top, you know the flags are sort of blowing in a breeze up there and you think,

-ooh, it's going to be quite gusty down here, but it's not at all, is it?

-No, far from it.

Because it's so enclosed with all this sandstone, it has its own little microclimate down there.

Do you have to alert people on the beach because... When do they know it's the last car?

What actually happens down here is we have a bell.

-I saw that. A ship's bell?

-It's an old ship's bell from a ship called Talca.

Well, it's now quarter to five.

-In that case, you may as well ring the bell.

-Shall we?

-Absolutely!

-Let's alert them.

This is like last orders, isn't it?

-Give it a good old go.

-Give it a good old go.

BELL RINGS

No time to build a sandcastle!

Here's a quick reminder of what's heading off to auction.

Lynn is hoping she'll be lucky and find a golden price for her necklace.

My friends will laugh when they see this because I'm the most unmusical person in the world.

David makes an admission, but can Jennifer's euphonium blow the buyers away in the saleroom?

And finally, will the bidders fall for Heather's gold pocket watch,

which David thinks is a real bargain?

Will it be anchors aweigh for Margaret's brass plaque?

But before it goes under the hammer I found a few minutes

to sit down with Anthony, who's done a bit more research for us.

There's a lovely story we've uncovered here, Anthony.

It belongs to Margaret, this brass plaque.

Now, her husband, whilst diving off Torquay, found this on the seabed

and we've got a value of £80 to £120 put on this.

-80 to 120? Yes.

-A bit of a come and buy me.

It doesn't sound a lot, does it, for a piece of maritime history?

I think the added interest to this, not only do we know which vessel it came from,

but the company itself has a lot of history and it was sold in 1933,

sold on and then closed down, subsequently.

And the closing of this company was credited as part of the reason for the Jarrow March

because so many people were made redundant at the time.

Surely, we've got to do a lot more than 80 to 120.

Has there been much interest?

We've had a bit of interest in it, certainly. And I...

My initial reaction when I saw it was probably 200 to 300,

something like that, but I think it will do even better than that.

-Oh, thanks, Anthony. Well, this is certainly the one to watch later on in the show.

-Indeed.

That item could do really well, but before we see it auctioned off,

let's see how we get on with the gold pocket watch.

Heather, this is a super item. I know it was your mum's.

It's the watch mounted into the bracelet, and she wore it a lot.

We've got £200 to £300 on this, put on by David, our expert.

It's rare and it's unusual.

-Yes.

-I can understand why you want to sell it.

It's not that practical, is it?

It's not practical but it's gorgeous.

Your mother used to wear this as a brooch.

Yes, most days she'd wear it on a suit...

-Oh, bless.

-..and she loved it.

You could wear it either way, showing the clock or showing the back with the scrolling.

She had real style, then, didn't she? Oh, I could just imagine it.

-It is a good piece.

-Yeah, absolutely. I love it.

Well, let's find out what the bidders think. Here we go.

It's a ladies' 18-carat-gold, cased, half-hunter keyless pocket watch.

I'm bid £200 for it exactly.

-Straight in.

-210, 220, 230, 240, 250, 260, 270.

At £270. 280, 290.

At 290, still in the room.

300. And 10. Against you seated.

320, 330, 340, 350, 360, 370, 380, 390, £400, and 10.

At £410 now.

Bidding's standing at £410.

Last chance, then. All done at 410?

That's a good sound.

-A solid whack of the old gavel.

-I didn't expect to get that much.

I thought I'd get maybe a couple of hundred and I'd buy some Premium Bonds. It's something I've never had.

Well, treat yourself. Treat yourself, pamper yourself to a nice

-little long-weekend break.

-That'd be lovely.

We're just about to sell Lynn's necklace and she's had it in a drawer for an awful long time

-and you were given this when you were 18 years old.

-That's right.

-Gosh.

-A long... No, not long...

Not that long ago, was it? No, no, not really. I know we're looking for £100 plus, aren't we?

It would be nice if it broke through that barrier. It just depends what people think it is, doesn't it?

Yes, yeah. Why do you want to sell it now?

-I know it's been tucked away in a drawer.

-Yes.

-Well, it won't really fit. It won't fit me any more. It's a very small chain.

-OK.

-And it's really for a Victorian maiden, probably...

-Yeah.

-Who had a slender neck.

-It's late 1800s, isn't it?

-Yes.

But it is lovely. I like this.

We need a lady with a slender neck in the saleroom.

Let's hope there's plenty out there.

-It sounds like a giraffe.

-It does actually, doesn't it?

Here we go, let's find out what it's worth.

Next is lot 506.

It's a green paste set necklace in its box and I'm bid £110 for it.

-Straight in. It's gone.

-120.

-130. 140. 150.

-And there's more.

-150. 160. 170.

-I can't believe it.

-180.

-It's still going.

-180 now.

At £180. I'll take five if you like?

All done at £180.

-180!

-Top job.

There was, wasn't it?

How about that? That's very good.

-Yeah. I wasn't quite expecting that, really.

-No, nor was I, actually.

What a great result and I know that's covered all of Lynn's travel costs today,

-because you've come down from Essex to see us.

-Yes.

Well, have a safe trip back as well, won't you?

And it's been worth every moment seeing my favourite men.

Ah!

£70.

In the room at 300.

And now something for all you brass-band enthusiasts.

We've got a euphonium, belonging to Jennifer here, with a value of 60 to £100 put on by our expert, David.

Now, it's made by Boosey before they joined with Hawkes, isn't it?

-Yes, it is.

-I like the sound of brass bands.

I think they are great. There's not too many down south, unfortunately.

-No, not that I'm aware of.

-Which is a shame, isn't it, really?

-Yes.

-But it's a good thing, though. Good thing.

-I liked it, yes.

The condition is there as well, so hopefully...

Hopefully there's some brass bands in Plymouth and they might just want a euphonium.

We're going to find out right now.

Next is lot 152 which is a plated euphonium.

There it is. And £40 starts that.

At £40. At 40. Two anywhere? At 42. Five. Eight. 50.

-Two. In front there.

-That's good.

£52. I'll take five now. 55. 58.

At £58 in front.

All out before. At £58 I'll sell it.

-£58.

-Good.

-And the money is going to your son?

Son, yeah. He's just turned 17

and he wants this, that and the other for his guitars, so...

-It costs a fortune!

-I wish him luck, I wish him luck.

-Is he playing in a band?

-Not yet.

Him and his brother are trying to get one together, so they're working on it.

That's the fun of it, isn't it?

You can't really play a euphonium in a rock band, can you?

No, it doesn't quite fit.

You know, I think you're brass ship's plaque is going to cause

-a right old stir, Margaret, I really do.

-Good.

80 to 120, Philip's put on this.

A bit of a come and buy me. But I had a chat to the auctioneer

and we thought two to three, possibly more, even.

I said on the valuation day, I've sold something like this before that's made £1,000.

-But, yeah, it's a difficult thing to put a price on.

-Yes.

-But, look, let's hope...

-Well, we all live in hope.

-..it just flies away. That's what auctions are all about.

-Absolutely.

-That's what auctions are all about.

-Well, it establishes the value.

Yeah, and if two people really want it they'll pay over the market value for it.

Well, let's hope it goes and I can go and spend, spend, spend!

Next lot is lot 113.

It's the brass nameplate for Palmers Shipbuilding & Iron Company.

There it is up on the wall.

Several bids for it. I'm bid £180 to start it.

At £180 against the room. 190. 200.

-And 10. 220. 230 now.

-That's good.

240. 250. 260. 270. 280. 290.

-300. And 20. 340.

-Now we're flying.

360. 380. 400. At £400.

Any more in the room at 400?

And 20. 440. 460. 480.

500. And 20. 540. 560. 580. 600.

I was going to throw that out.

And 20. 640. 660. 680. 700?

-750, if you like?

-750?

-780.

-This way.

-At 780.

800 now. And 20. 850.

-850!

-880.

-Wait a minute, get a seat!

900. And 50.

At £950.

I'm... I'm flabbergasted.

-£1,100.

-1,100?

-1,100, yes.

-Oh, I feel sick.

1,200.

At £1,200 then, last chance.

Are you all done then at 1,200?

-£1,200.

-Yes!

-Where's Margaret gone?

-I can't believe it.

Come back here, Margaret!

-Back here. Come back here.

-I can't believe it.

Gosh, what an exciting moment.

-That's what auctions are all about.

-I was going to throw it in the bin!

Come back here, Margaret! £1,200.

-Good job I didn't throw it in the bin.

-It was, wasn't it?

Mmm. Philip, thank you.

Don't thank me, I sort of got it wrong, didn't I?

-You did. You got it wrong.

-It was a come and buy me.

-There's commission to pay, don't forget.

-But I'll still come out with a few bob.

What a lovely moment and what a fantastic end to our day here in Plymouth.

-I hope you've enjoyed the show.

-My friend said...

My friends have said I wouldn't dream of kissing these men but I will...

I hope you've enjoyed today's show.

-Kiss them.

-Please join us again soon for many more surprises on Flog It!

Thank you. Goodbye!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd