Kilmarnock Flog It!

Today, we're in the southwest of bonnie Scotland

in a town most people associate with a football club.

Welcome to Flog It! from Kilmarnock!

We're at the Palace Theatre

and there is a massive crowd gathering,

all laden with antiques and collectables.

-Are they any Kilmarnock supporters here?

-Yes!

-Yes! That is good news.

Our experts today are James Lewis and David Fletcher

and let's hope they're big fans of what this lot have brought along.

It's now 9:30 and it's time to kick off.

And before full time, there's plenty of excitement to come.

We've got girl power at the auction.

as "Flog It!" favourite Anita Manning and her daughter Lala team up

with some great results.

With Lala on the phone at £210.

Brilliant. We're smashing our targets.

And I learn the secret techniques of a 100-year-old Scottish tradition.

-I like the way you use your thumb like that.

-To pull the thread back.

-Otherwise it gets in little knots, doesn't it?

-It does, yes.

-It does sometimes.

-It does when I darn my socks.

So let's get cracking with the first item of the day. James is kicking off.

LAUGHTER

Kate, tell me, are you a great snuff-taker?

-I certainly am not, no!

-No?

-You don't have the brown stains on your upper lip that give it away?

-I hope not.

So what are you doing with a snuff box?

Well, this snuff box was passed down to me from my parents.

My memory of it is my mother, who was a very keen floral arranger,

-making lovely miniature arrangements in it.

-Oh, really?

-Yes.

She used to go to rural competitions and things like that

and always wanted to do well.

But that's my memory of it and ever since I've had it,

-it's been sitting in a cabinet doing very little.

-Ah.

I thought, "I'll bring it along, see what you can tell me about it."

I love it. One of the main reasons why I love it

-is because it's so plain, so simple.

-Yes.

It's engine-turned in bands, very plain, simple designs.

And we've got this engine-turning on the sides all the way round

and underneath.

And what's slightly unusual is you would normally find

what we call a cartouche, a little plain area

where the owner can engrave their initials or their crest

or their family coat of arms.

-On this one, there's nowhere for that.

-There's nothing like that, no.

So if we open it up... Lovely. Silver-gilt inside.

That prevents the acid in the snuff attacking the silver and reacting,

making the silver turn green.

We've got a nice, clear set of hallmarks.

WT for the maker.

A lion passant, which is the mark for English silver.

The leopard's head with the crown, which is the mark for London.

The head of George III, which means the duty or the tax has been paid on the silver,

and the date letter there, which is the R for 1811, 1812.

-Oh, right.

-A really nice early one.

I didn't realise it was as old as that.

-200 years.

-Nearly 200-years-old.

-Yes.

-What do you think it's worth?

-Actually, I haven't a clue, really, to be quite honest.

Obviously it's silver, so would it be about £100?

Shall we swap seats?

-You're spot on.

-Really?

-Yes.

-Am I?

-Yes.

-I hadn't a clue. Is that right? Oh, well.

It's a predictably boring auctioneer's estimate of £80-£120.

-Is it? Uh-huh.

-£100 is spot on.

-Well, that sounds very good.

-Yeah? Is that all right?

-Yes. Absolutely.

-Protect it with a reserve. £80 as a reserve?

-That sounds fine.

If it doesn't make that, you can take it home

-and do flower arrangements again.

-I can't, really.

You need a bit of training for that.

-Hello, Alexandra.

-Oh, call me Sandra.

-Sandra?

-Yes.

-OK. Don't you like Alexandra?

-No, that's my Sunday name.

Your Sunday name, OK.

-As this isn't Sunday, I'll call you Sandra.

-Thank you.

Welcome. I love this. What can you tell me about it?

Well, it's a family piece.

It's been in the family for as long as I can remember

and it always intrigued me because of its odd shape.

I always thought it was the "gone-wrong" jug

because of its back - it wasn't round.

Yes, you're right. One side has been almost shaved off, hasn't it?

-Do you know where it was made?

-I think it's Royal Worcester.

Absolutely right.

-I'm sure you've looked underneath.

-Yes.

You can learn so much about Royal Worcester by doing just that.

The Royal Worcester mark is a printed mark

and it has a series of dots.

The first dot appears in 1892

and the second dot, 1893 and so on.

As we can see, this has two dots, so that makes it 1893.

-Right.

-Late Victorian, in other words.

And what's more, by looking at this, we have the shape,

we can identify the shape as well.

-That 1094 is the shape number.

-Right.

That shape number was available in various sizes.

-It was a very popular shape number. I know you don't like it.

-No.

But the Victorians did.

The decoration is hand painted

but it's hand painted over a transfer print

and it meant that the person who was painting the pattern

didn't have to be quite as talented

as they might have had to have been had they been working freehand.

OK, it's now my job to tell you what I think it might make

-and I would estimate this at between £50 and £80.

-Mm-hm.

To safeguard it, I think we should put a reserve of £50 on it.

I'm quite happy with that.

And let's hope there are more people out there who, unlike you,

-do like this...

-Gone-wrong jug.

-..gone-wrong jug more than you do.

Look what I've found - some bloomers.

Ladies' undergarments.

-They're only 20th century, those ones. They're machine made.

-Yeah.

-You actually make lace, don't you?

-I do make lace, yes.

-How did that come about?

-It was a family holiday some years ago

in Loughborough University.

They did summer schools and I had a choice between violin making or lace making.

-I chose the lace making.

-Is it a hobby or a profession?

-A hobby.

You can't make money at it, it's just...

I know the ladies in Bruges, over in Belgium,

that's the centre of excellence for lace making as far as I'm concerned

-and you can still see those sweet old ladies sitting outside their cottages.

-Oh, yes.

Tourist pieces but nevertheless.

I mean, my eye gravitates towards that piece

because that looks handmade.

-Yes, that's Brussels lace.

-That's Brussels, is it?

-Any damage?

-Yes, there is some.

-Oh, is there?

-Yes.

But it's been beautifully repaired at some point.

-Oh, gosh.

-It's quite large, this one.

-It is.

-Yes. I don't know if I can...

-Look at that.

It's been beautifully patched, if I can find it.

-And that's all handmade, isn't it?

-Yes.

The netting is machine made, I'm almost certain.

These will be handmade. You can see it's been appliqued onto the net.

-You can see the netting at the back.

-How did you come by this?

I think it was a collectors' fair.

I found it in a box and the woman said, "I'm awfully sorry,

"I'll need to charge you £12 for it."

And I said, "Yes, please."

-Yes! You couldn't give her the money fast enough.

-No, no.

This is a late Victorian piece. This is very, very nice.

-Oh, there's one patch, there. You see how it's been mended?

-Oh, yes.

-Isn't that beautiful?

-That's quite skilfully done.

-I think there's a fair bit of value in that one alone.

-That's good.

-So that's good news, isn't it?

-More than my £12.

-What else have we got?

-This is a machine-made shawl,

-which put the hand-made lace-makers out of work, more or less.

-Yeah.

-You can see it's flatter.

-It's busier.

Yeah, there's a lot more in it.

It's flatter and it doesn't have the life that the home-made one does.

There's no lift from the extra thread,

just the continuous going over

-and fattening up of certain pieces.

-Yeah.

So we've got the bloomers, we've got a lovely bit of handmade work,

some machine work, there.

Any idea of the combined value?

-I've no idea because it's not something I've bought for...

-Investment.

-..investment.

It's just something I've acquired, mostly.

-Well, I think that's your key factor...

-Uh-huh. Yeah.

..that handmade shawl, really.

And that will help get the rest away. There's some fun items.

How about giving them a value of £75 to £100?

I'm surprised. That's much more than I would have thought, actually.

Well, I think there'll be textile dealers and collectors there

and it's a lot they will be interested in.

Let's put them in with a value of £75-£100,

-with 10% discretion on the 75.

-That sounds fine to me.

-There's something for everybody here.

-Good.

-Hello, Edward.

-Hello.

-What do you do for a living?

I'm retired now but still do a little bit of house clearing.

And I guess that's where you came by this?

-Yes. It was lying tucked away in a cupboard.

-Right.

-So it wasn't hanging on the wall?

-No.

Edward, this is a very attractive subject, typically late Victorian.

It has all those sentimental elements that the Victorians loved so much.

You know, a pretty, young mother with a pink bloom on her cheeks,

a little tubby baby, or toddler, I suppose, a spray of flowers, a pink frock.

I think it's only fair to say it's not a great picture...

-although it's a charming composition.

-Yes.

-Technically, there are flaws.

I think the mother is lovely,

she looks terrific.

Her hands, I must say, are not terribly well painted.

You can learn a lot from looking at the way an artist paints hands.

-There is a certain amount of damage here.

-Yes.

Bitumen has taken over and rather...

corroded the varnish and is actually starting to eat into the canvas a bit.

Is it the sort of picture you like?

It's quite attractive. It attracts you to it.

-Yeah.

-And the frame, I think it's a lovely frame.

The frame, I should mention, I think is period, contemporary with the picture itself.

-Again, a bit of damage down there.

-Yes.

It's not a connoisseur's picture, for the reasons I just explained -

the quality just isn't quite there, but I think it's a good decorative image.

-I would suggest an estimate in the region of £100 to £150.

-Yeah?

-Does that sound OK to you?

-Yeah, that sounds all right with me.

I think a covering reserve would be in order at a bit less than £100.

-Yes.

-Shall we say £80?

-That'll be fine, yeah.

-OK, and what will you spend the money on?

Well, I'll split it with my son-in-law and probably go out for a meal.

You'll have to give some proceeds to the person who helped you clear the house.

-Yes, it was my son-in-law.

-It was your son-in-law. OK.

Frank, tell me, that is a really dainty, feminine watch

for a bloke like you to have here on "Flog It!"

-How come you've got it?

-Well, I was given it from an aunt and uncle from the States

about 20, 25 years ago.

And they're no longer with us

but that's one of the things they gave me when I visited them over there.

Ah. Well, it's a lovely quality watch

and the first thing that strikes me is this wonderful enamelling.

On the wires we've got swallow-tailed birds.

They're meant to be swallows

but they're artist's impressions of swallows, I think,

resting on their telegraph wires.

And right in the centre of the swallows

we've got two old, brilliant-cut stones.

They're certainly diamonds, beautifully mounted.

If we open it up... Lovely.

-You said you brought it back from America. It's an American watch.

-Yeah.

It's by the Elgin watch company, based in Illinois.

-Elgin were the probably the leading exporters of pocket watches from America...

-OK.

..into Europe in the early part of the 20th century.

This is a lovely quality one. 14-carat gold, made in America.

The case is American, as well as the movement.

One of the good things about Elgin, there were established in 1864

and one of the things that they did, they numbered every single watch

and if we look in the back here, we've got the serial number 5714662.

That will tell us the exact date that this watch was made

and it's somewhere between 1890 and 1895,

somewhere around there.

So it's a very pretty little thing.

Now, value. Any ideas?

I've not got a clue.

-I think the right auction estimate would be £300-£400.

-Yeah?

I think and I hope it will make the top end.

We need to think about a reserve to protect it. Is 300 OK?

-Yeah, that's fine.

-Yeah? 300 reserve, 300-400 estimate -

-let's see what it does.

-That's great. Thank you.

We've been working flat out this morning,

we've found our first few items

and everybody has enjoyed themselves.

It's time to go to the auction room, so while we make our way there,

we'll leave you with a casting list of our star performers.

This 19th century silver snuff box caught James' eye

and it looks like he met his match with its owner, Kate.

-What do you think it's worth?

-Would it be about £100?

Shall we swap seats? It's spot on.

-Really?

-Yeah.

Let's hope it all goes right with Sandra's gone-wrong jug,

the oddly shaped piece of Royal Worcester,

valued at £50-£80.

I've been checking out Hazel's drawers.

Look what I've found. Some bloomers.

Or ladies' undergarments.

Her drawers full of vintage lace and other textiles, that is,

and I think she could stitch up £75-£100.

This charming piece was nearly lost in a house clearance,

but Eric spotted it and David feels it may bring in a bit of spending money for the dining out fund.

And James loves Frank's early 20th century hunter watch.

Let's hope they love it enough at the auction

to pay his £300-£400 estimate.

They all could get a flying start

at Great Western Auctions in Glasgow

because today we have Anita Manning wielding the gavel.

200.

There is around 800 lots in today's sale,

so we'd better get started.

Time's up for the gold half hunter pocket watch belonging to Frank,

who's brought his son Greg along. How old are you, Greg?

-Are you going to speak?

-We've been practising this.

-Two!

-Three.

-Three!

-That did the trick, James. He's three.

We're looking at £300-£400 for the half hunter.

-It is quality.

-Lovely quality. Great enamel work. A lovely watch.

It's something that if you pick up, you don't want to put down.

Hopefully, it's been viewed here, people have been picking it up,

going, "Ooh, ooh. I might have a go on this. It feels good."

If it feels good, we've sold it.

Lot 80, ladies and gentlemen.

That's the bonniest little fob watch that I've seen in a long time.

Will you start me at two? 200 bid.

200, 200. 210?

With Lala on the phone at £210.

220, 230.

240, 250.

260, 270.

280, 290, 300.

300. All done at 300? 300...

-Hooray. Well done.

-Just. £300, Frank.

-That was your first auction and you sold something.

-Yes.

And you've got a daughter as well. What's her name?

-Natalie.

-Natalie. That's a gorgeous name.

So are both the kiddies going to have something out of this?

-Oh, probably, yeah.

-And Mum and Dad.

-Yes, of course.

Oh, well, it was a family treasure. Thank you for coming in.

90, 100.

110.

It's the Royal Worcester jug, it belongs to Sandra

and we've got £50-£80 on this, which is not a great deal of money.

It's a top name. It's been in the family a long time.

It was my cousin's and my aunt's before that.

You've passed it around and had pleasure with it.

-Why is it time to go now, then?

-It doesn't do anything.

-You don't like it.

-I don't dislike it.

-Whether you like Royal Worcester or not, it is as good as ceramic art gets.

-Yes.

It's beautifully potted, fine quality.

-Somebody out there will love this.

-Hopefully.

There's always a buyer for something and they will be paying £80.

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

Lot 553 is the Royal Worcester, ivory ground, flat-back jug.

Can we say £100? 100? 80?

60?

30?

£30. 30 bid. 40, 50, 60.

-£60.

-Come on.

70, fresh bidder.

-80. Fresh bidder again.

-Yes.

At £80. With you, sir, at £80.

Are we all done at £80? At £80...

Yes! What did I say? 80! Bang on.

You're a better valuer than me. I said 50 to 80.

-It was a guess. I just opened my mouth.

-You're an optimist.

-That was a good result.

-That wasn't bad.

-There is commission to pay.

-What are you going to put the rest of the money towards?

-A willow tree.

-A willow tree.

Ah!

200, 210, 220.

220. Any advance on 220?

230.

This next lot should be a pinch, shouldn't it, at £80-£120?

-Kate's solid silver snuff box.

-Yes.

Why are you selling this?

Well, this snuff box has been sitting in my cabinet in the lounge for many years

and it's gathering dust, basically, so I think it's time to sell it.

Well, I know we need top money because at the valuation day, you both discussed

-that the proceeds were going towards a painting.

-That's right.

So what's this painting? Is it something you're buying in auction?

No, it's a local artist from Girvan, James Harrigan.

He does lovely paintings of the West Coast,

of Arran and Ailsa Craig, so I'm hoping to put it towards that.

147 is this. Now, it's George III, it's a silver snuff box

with engine-turned decoration and it's London, 1812.

Georgian snuff box in mint condition.

Start me at £100. 100?

50, then? 50 bid.

50, 60, 70.

80, 90.

-100.

-We're getting there.

110, 120.

120 on the floor for the Georgian snuff box.

Any advance on £120?

All done at 120? 120.

-Well, that's great news. There's commission to pay...

-Right.

-..but it's something towards that painting.

-I'm delighted.

-It's my first auction, so I'm thrilled.

-Is it?

-Yes, yes.

-Good for you. Keep coming back.

-I certainly will.

I need to sell some more things to get this painting.

£90.

1152.

It's amazing what you can find in a house clearance. This is one of those lots.

-It belongs to Edward here who did that house clearance.

-Yes.

And this was on the wall, was it, or just lying around?

-Lying in the loft.

-Good for you for picking it up.

-The builders would have come in and skipped the whole thing.

-That's what they do.

-Good picture.

-Yes.

-Good luck. This is it.

Lot 369. Now, this is a 19th-century oil, ladies and gentlemen.

Can we say £300?

£300 for the Victorian oil?

-Bit optimistic, I feel.

-200?

Will you start me at £100? 100 bid.

With you, sir, at £100, the Victorian oil, mother and child.

Any advance on £100?

Seems cheap at 100.

Any advance on 100? All done at 100?

100...

-Yes, sold it. £100, bottom estimate.

-Bottom estimate.

-That's OK for a house clearance find.

-Yes. Better than going in the skip.

Hopefully Anita can weave some magic on this next lot

because it's Hazel's textiles, some wonderful items of lace.

The valuation is £75-£100.

I don't know how heavily this has been viewed and if it's anybody's cup of tea here

and Anita hasn't said anything to me, so it's a stab in the dark.

-But it's a packed auction room, so fingers crossed.

-Yeah.

266, ladies and gentlemen,

a lot comprising various lace shawls, bonnets, etc.

It's a super collection of hand-embroidered Victorian clothes.

Can we say £200?

£100, surely, ladies and gentlemen?

£100? 50, then?

50? 50 bid. Any advance on 50? 60.

70, 80?

90. £90.

Any advance on £90?

All done at £90. £90...

It's sold. I got very nervous to start with

because it's the only textiles here. How will you spend the money?

I'm going to buy some commemorative bobbins with "I flogged it" on them.

-Thank you, Hazel. Bye-bye.

-Bye.

Well, that's the end of our first visit to today's auction.

Later on, there are plenty more antiques to go under the hammer,

so there are more surprises to come.

That last lot gave me a great idea.

I'm going to nip off to Kilmarnock and visit Newmilns.

Strangely enough, it's the oldest surviving lace-making factory in the world.

These machines have been making lace for over 100 years.

They helped established the Irvine valley in Ayrshire

as the world centre of Nottingham lace.

And little has changed from the days when thousands of local people

worked in 39 such factories up and down the valley.

This company, Morton Young and Borland, was founded

by three Scots gentlemen in the early 1900s

and it's the only one of those lace factories still in production.

These machines run from six o'clock in the morning

until 10 o'clock at night, turning out lace.

That's a long shift.

It's industry working at full tilt.

It almost takes me back to the industrial revolution,

when the whole nation is driving forwards.

And what a racket! Let's get them turned off and have a chat to the boss.

-Scott.

-How are you doing, Paul?

-Thank you for talking to me.

-So your grandmother was in the industry all her life?

-She worked as a Madras weaver

and at that time, they could flit between different factories

because there were many factories in that line of business.

Why did Nottingham lace move to Kilmarnock? What was the reason?

There's always been a tradition of hand-loom weaving in the valley,

right from the 1700s,

and then the Nottingham lace-makers had a good industry in Nottingham

in the 1850s, 1860s.

So when the power looms started, Alexander Morton brought the first loom to Darvel in 1876

and since then, the business snowballed.

So what was the demise over the years, then?

Why is there only one left?

The demise has been the introduction of polyester

and high-speed looms from Germany in the '50s and '60s.

People's attitude to furnishings changed.

They wanted a lot more easy-care fabrics for windows.

With lace, it's very hard to maintain and wash

and stretch back into shape,

whereas the polyester, you wash it and hang straight back up.

-And the future of the company?

-The future is looking quite good.

It's difficult times with the recession

but hopefully we'll be here in another 100 years' time.

It's a proud tradition.

These are thought to be members of the three founding families,

posing in the early 1900s with outfits made from the company's lace.

Today, Morton Young and Borland still export lace around the world

and keep an archive of every one of the 20,000 designs they've produced

in their 100-year history.

They employ 65 people and there's plenty of work.

The larger machines each have 15,000 bobbins feeding them

and it's a busy job, changing each one by hand.

And with these machines turning out

a slow but steady 3.5 metres of lace an hour,

Ian is kept busy looking for faults.

After 30 years in the job, no-one knows the machines better.

If you didn't notice a break

and for some reason it was going on for about five minutes,

would all the weave underneath it, that whole length, be wasted?

It would all open up and it would get steadily worse and worse

and then eventually it would...

We wouldn't waste the piece because my wife is a darner.

-Oh, right.

-She would be able to darn it

but she would not be happy about it.

-And she's over there?

-She's over there, darning, yes.

-I'll go and have a chat to her, see what goes on there.

-Thank you.

Gosh, what a contrast. It's so quiet in here.

You could hear a pin drop.

-OK, who's Janie? Which one of you is Ian's wife?

-I am.

-Pleased to meet you.

-Hi.

I've just been chatting to your husband

-and he said you rectify a lot of his faults.

-Yes, I do.

-Show me what you're doing.

-Right.

-How do you go about it?

Well, here a thread has broken, so it's left a hole there,

so I'm just pulling all that back in again.

-And you do all this by hand?

-Mm-hm. Yes.

-I bet you don't do any sewing at home?

-No.

-Not at all.

-Look at that. That's brilliant.

So the red stickers you place down once you've found a fault.

That will identify a fault, yes.

It comes off the loom and then we inspect it and find a fault.

There's a little V missing out of that - just one tiny V.

-I can see that.

-We'll just come along and put that back in.

-Great work, isn't it?

-Oh, yes.

-I like the way you use your thumb like that.

-To pull the thread back.

-Because otherwise it gets in little knots, doesn't it?

-It does sometimes.

It does when I darn my socks.

In many respects, little has changed here in 100 years.

Janie and her colleagues are doing exactly the same work

their predecessors had done since the early 1900s.

But some things are changing.

While most of the lace here is produced from designs

dictated by patterns punched into thousands of cards,

the company recently linked up one loom to a computer,

at a cost of £250,000.

Who'd have thought? An antique with a 21st century brain.

And it's not just the machines that are unique, here.

I'm going to meet Margo Graham,

who is the world's only Nottingham lace designer.

-Margo.

-Hello, Paul.

-Pleased to meet you.

That's some title, isn't it?

-The world's only Nottingham lace designer.

-Yes, uh-huh.

But my mother had it before me. She was a lace designer before me.

You inherited it from the right person, didn't you?

-Is this work in progress?

-Yes, well, it is

but it was Nottingham lace designed from the '40s and '50s, years ago.

-So that's on an old punch card?

-This is where we punch the cards from.

Now it has to be put onto the modern computer before it goes onto disk

and woven on the loom.

I see, right. I've got what you're doing.

You're updating and moving it on.

This is the design that we scanned in to do the wallpapers,

to develop the wallpapers from.

I just noticed that. That's a sample of it over there.

That's really clever, isn't it?

And I'm working on some lace knickers, as well.

-Oh, are you? Is that top secret?

-Yes.

Very exquisite lace knickers at £500 a pair.

-Oh, really?

-Yes.

-Gosh!

-So I've never done that before. That's something new.

-Thank you for talking to me.

-You're welcome.

-It's been a pleasure.

Thank you.

As the looms continue producing lace 16 hours a day,

I'm sure the original workers of this factory would be pleased

to see that the machines they tended 100 years ago

still have a lot of 21st-century relevance.

Back at the Palace Theatre, people are still flooding in

with their collectables and antiques.

Next in line is Janet.

-Hello, Janet.

-Hi.

She's brought in a trio of delights for David to have a look at.

What have you brought here for us today?

Well, that's two Edwardian brooches and a necklace.

-Do you not wear these?

-No, I haven't worn them for a long time.

Right. It's a shame that people don't wear jewellery like this.

I think you wouldn't even have gone out to the shops without putting your jewellery on in 1900.

Of course, today we don't think about doing that.

We go out to dinner and we leave our jewellery behind.

Erm... Three charming pieces.

Stylistically, each one is quite different.

I think the piece I prefer is this brooch here,

which is in the, or at least refers to, the Art Nouveau style,

you know, that style which is characterised by whiplash forms

and extended tendril forms.

So this is, broadly speaking, in the Art Nouveau style.

The star brooch is set with pearls,

which ascend from the tips of the star up to the centre.

And this is hallmarked, nine-carat gold.

And I think most interesting of all is the chain,

which is fastened by a nine-carat gold clip

-but which tests as 18-carat gold.

-Yes.

It's hollow gold, so it's actually quite light, as you know.

And it seems that this started out life as a belcher.

-Do you know what a belcher is?

-No.

A belcher is a long, decorative chain

that would have been worn perhaps looped twice round a lady's neck,

you know, just to give some impact.

It would have been a most impressive piece of jewellery to be wearing.

This is a belcher that's been cut down.

It's been converted to a small necklace.

Now, as far as values are concerned, the Art Nouveau piece

with the moonstone and ivory terminals

-I think is worth between £30 and £50.

-Mm-hm.

The star brooch another £30-£50

and I would place an estimate of £70-£100

on the necklace stroke reduced belcher.

And I think they should be offered as one lot

-at an estimate of £130 to £200..

-OK.

-..with a reserve of £130.

And with luck and a following wind, they might make a bit more.

-How does that seem to you?

-Yeah, that sounds OK, yeah.

-Jolly good. We'll go for that, then. OK?

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Elizabeth, I have to say, this brings back so many memories,

you know, going back 23, 24 years to when I was a student.

I was training to be a vet at that time

but I went to a house sale in a place called Bingham where I was having my vet work experience

and on the mantelpiece of this house sale

were a pair of vases just like this - Morris Ware -

and I fell in love with them.

So is this something that you've loved over the years?

-Yes, it was my mother's.

-Was it?

And she gave it to us because we liked it

-but I've got so many ornaments.

-Have you really?

-Yes.

Too many.

Isn't that a great shape? It's sort of a gourd shape, isn't it?

I love it.

I guess if you turn it over you've got the mark there.

Morris Ware, S Hancock and Sons, Stoke-on-Trent

-and Hancock and Sons became S Hancock and Sons in 1881.

-Mm-hm.

But this type of ware, Morris Ware,

was designed by a chap called George Cartlidge

and he was working there from about 1910

up until the mid 1920s.

Is it something that you use? Do you keep flowers in it?

-You can't because, well, there's a slight crack.

-A slight crack?

-Oh, yes.

-I don't put water in it. For dried flowers it's all right.

Dried flowers!

-You're trying to sell it now, aren't you?

-I am.

-You've ruined it.

-You can put beautiful dried flowers in there.

We've got a crack that comes all the way down the side there.

-It's always had that, as far as I know.

-Yeah.

Oh. In perfect condition, it would be very, very saleable.

-Do you have any ideas on value?

-Not really, because of the crack.

I thought, well, obviously it might affect it.

It will affect it. It will significantly affect it.

-I think in perfect condition, it's £300-£500.

-Mm-hm.

-With the crack, around 100.

-Yeah.

-100 to 120, something like that.

-Yeah.

-Shall we put a reserve of 80?

-I wouldn't like it to go for less than that.

-Is that all right?

-Yes, no less than that.

-Fantastic.

David, it's very easy to talk about being privileged to see things

but it is the best collection of Mauchline Ware I've ever seen.

Did your family have a connection with the Mauchline factory?

Yes, my father worked there for the first part of his working life.

And the collection was formed by him?

-No, it was inherited from his uncle.

-OK.

-It came to him when he died.

So in fact, Father inherited it and then I inherited it from my father.

Just quickly to explain, and we could spend a long time doing this,

but broadly speaking we have tartan ware, which I think speaks for itself,

and boxes decorated in some other manner,

-some with transfer prints.

-Yes.

The Mauchline factory was established

in the early 19th century

and in the early days, they hand painted the tartan decoration

onto the boxes.

At a later date, a method was invented whereby the tartan pattern

was transfer printed onto a piece of paper

and the paper itself was glued to the wood,

which in every instance, I think, is sycamore.

In 1933, I think I'm right in saying, production ceased.

-Well, it didn't cease completely.

-No?

-But it dropped because of the fire there.

-There was a fire?

-There was a fire.

-Was there?

I know that my father got in

-and got his tools out before...

-Did he?

-Yeah.

-Before the fire got too much of a hold.

-Right.

But I was only three at the time, so I can't tell you too much about that.

So it's partly folklore, as far as you're concerned

but as I say, the history of the firm runs in your blood,

by the sounds of it.

What we've done, David,

is just think in terms of how we would lot this up.

I'll quickly go through that with you.

So I would suggest that these three tulip vases went in one lot.

This group here formed another lot.

Another group of smaller items over here.

Four boxes.

Two tartan ware boxes here.

A group of five boxes here

and we'd finish with this pair of spill vases here,

keeping back to offer on its own this early box here.

Having discussed how we would catalogue them,

I think the maximum estimate would be £1,500,

the bottom estimate and reserve I think should be £1,000.

-Are you happy for us to go ahead?

-Yes, certainly.

-You're a star

and I'm sure it will do very well.

Alison and Eileen, tell me who is the owner of this lovely little bag?

Well, we both own it. We're sisters and this was our grandmother's.

Was it? Oh, so is it the sort of thing you had in your dressing up box as little girls?

-Probably was. We're not sure it was.

-Played ball gowns and things.

Yes. I think that would be about it.

We were allowed to look at it but not touch.

Oh, really? So it's got lots of childhood memories.

-Yes, it has.

-Yes, it has.

It's a lovely little bag. I mean, it is so classic of the Art Nouveau period.

You know, it has these wonderful sinuous lines and stylised flower heads and foliage.

Art Nouveau basically was a movement totally inspired by nature.

Although it isn't a true cartouche, that was left plain

so that you could engrave your owner's initials onto it, and if we open it up,

there we have little divisions, one for probably a little ivory notelet

for when you were at your ball, you'd have a little ivory notelet and a pencil

so you could make sure you knew who your next dance was with,

a little aide-memoire, and then little sections in the centre for sovereigns and maybe for stamps,

and a little thing at the end for a bit of paper money if you were feeling flush at the time.

And the idea of the ring at the top would be that that would be put through the lady's finger

and when she was dancing she'd be able dance with the purse held high.

No pockets, of course, in the dresses,

and she wouldn't have to worry about where she'd left her purse while she was dancing.

The three very clear marks, the lion passant, which means it's English sterling silver,

and then we've got the Chester hallmark, there, with the three wheatsheafs

and the K for about 1910. 1910, 1911.

Forget Louis Vuitton, a top London store, and paying a couple of hundred pounds for one of those,

why not buy that?

-Yes.

-And you know none of the other ladies at the ball are going to have one of these.

-And the little things inside?

-Let's have a look. Isn't that lovely?

A little souvenir from the exhibition of 1901.

This, of course, was the great time of exhibitions.

The first one, the first grand one, London 1851,

and they were every sort of five or ten years all through that period.

It's gilt brass with a blue enamel front.

-It's not going to be worth an awful lot.

-No.

-No.

-But I think it's quite fun to keep it in the purse, don't you?

-Yes.

-It is.

-I bet that's been in there for almost a hundred years.

-Probably has.

-Why sell it?

-Well, it's been just hidden away. We keep it in a cabinet...

-Yeah.

..so it would be nice for somebody to appreciate, maybe a collector or somebody who could enjoy it.

OK. I think...

if we put an estimate of £60 to £100 on it, that's a fair and realistic estimate.

-I hope it will go towards the upper end of that.

-Right.

So I think we should put a reserve on it of 60, protect it at that,

we'll take it to the auction, do our best and see what happens, eh?

-OK.

-Well, see you there.

-Thank you very much.

-Yes. Look forward to it.

That's the business done here at the Palace Theatre in Kilmarnock.

We'll be back at auction later but, for now, I'm heading down to London.

I'm on the trail of a man who took the very same journey that I've just done,

from Scotland down here to London, but he was only 16-years-old and he had the good fortune

of being in the right place at the right time.

And his name was Alexander Fleming.

Many things that we rely on from day to day were the result of a complete but harmonious accident.

Velcro, nylon, Teflon. Safety glass, even,

but can you begin to imagine a world without sugar substitutes?

What about something that could change the fate of mankind?

How about medicine?

Penicillin, a wonder drug, yes.

The identification of the fungus penicillium chrysogenum

was one such blissful accident that changed the face of medicine forever

and it sparked off an antibiotic revolution, saving millions and millions of lives in the process.

The humble laboratory now, the Fleming Museum at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington

is where Scotsman Alexander Fleming made his monumental discovery.

Born to a farming family in Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire in 1881,

the young Fleming, equipped with his natural desire to learn, arrived in the big city of London.

After a dismal job as a shipping clerk he set about a career in medicine.

In 1901, at the age of 21, he began at St Mary's hospital as a medical student

and then worked there when he was qualified, staying for 49 years.

Although he had wanted to become a surgeon,

places were limited, so he began a career as a bacteriologist.

It was 1928 and, as always, Fleming's desk was awash

with numerous test tubes, bits of equipment and old petri dishes.

I'm starting to build a picture of what it must have been like

when things we take for granted, like sanitation and the NHS, did not exist,

and, to gain a better understanding of what penicillin has meant for mankind and medicine,

my journey across London continues. I'm off to speak to GP, Gillian Jenkins.

-I think we've painted a picture here with the right setting.

-I think it's wonderful.

Tell me about the early part of the 1900s.

The early part of the 1900s, for most people, still involved

very little knowledge about nutrition, about sanitation.

People, on the whole, lived rather sort of messy lives.

Your average person didn't get the sort of medical treatment we'd expect.

They hadn't got the money or access to doctors,

so people lived with a lot of squalor that we wouldn't accept now.

And the average life span was really only about 50.

-Really? So young.

-So young.

In general, what were most people dying of?

On the whole, it was infections that carried a lot of people off.

There was no real good treatment for them.

Let's talk about some of the methods used for treating patients. I know some of them are quite horrific.

Yes. Before modern medicine as we know it, medical care was fairly basic and, yes, fairly...

-Crude.

-..crude.

-To say the least.

We've got here, all sort of lotions and potions and cure-alls which I dread to think what's in them,

but things like arsenic were used.

-You sort of have the very...

-Leeches.

Leeches, blood-letting, and then basic surgery, if you couldn't sort of suck the blood out of it,

-or paint it over with some toxic lotion, you'd hack it off.

-Yeah.

Often without anaesthetic, or much anaesthetic.

People didn't understand fully about infection and preventing it.

How did Fleming go about his work?

Fleming seemed to live in the typical type of scientist's lab

but maybe with even less order than, say, some of the other guys he was working with at the same time.

He would have simple methods, he would have simple equipment,

he'd have a microscope, he'd have petri dishes,

he lived in this rather messy environment with things everywhere

and dust and dirt, and it was the serendipitous way that he made the discovery about penicillin.

How did that come about, then?

-Well, Fleming tended to have his lab in a bit of a mess...

-Yeah.

..and he didn't clear up after himself and it benefited him in the simple way that he went away,

having left petri dishes of this agar,

trying to culture different bacteria which he was looking at - how bacteria grow.

When he came back he discovered that the blue-green common mould that we see,

-that grows on bread...

-Bread, cheese and things.

It landed, because of his open window, some had grown on the agar gel, but not only had it grown there,

the staphylococcus had been killed off by it.

So he realised, where perhaps other people hadn't made the link,

that the mould was producing something that killed bacteria.

-And it's from there on he worked.

-Incredible.

How does it actually work?

We know that penicillin works on the cell wall.

The process involves something called beta-lactam and it breaks down the cell wall of the bacteria

-so that when it tries to reproduce, or even before then, the cell lyses, it bursts...

-OK.

So it causes the cells to just rupture instead of being able to multiply and continue the infection.

-Talk about some of the illnesses it can cure.

-An awful lot of infections, chest infections...

-Throat.

-Throat, skin, urinary tract infections, kidney infections.

In particular, certain groups you've got, particularly soldiers in wars where the other,

the old way of them being treated was so ineffective that most of them either died or needed amputation.

-It offered them health when they didn't have any option.

-Yeah, a new lifeline, basically.

-Yes.

It took another 12 years for penicillin to emerge as the miracle drug.

Although Fleming's observations did not go unnoticed, nothing substantial came of his findings

until a team in Oxford took up the research, enabling them to identify a way of purifying the substance.

By 1939, and the onset of World War II, penicillin was being produced and effectively administered

and lives were being saved.

In 1944 Fleming was knighted, his contribution to the world of medicine was acknowledged.

In 1945 he was awarded, along with two other scientists, the Nobel Prize for medicine.

From London I'm heading back up north

to the Great Western Auction Rooms in Glasgow. where we'll be selling all of our items.

Here's a rundown of what we're taking.

Janet's Edwardian jewellery doesn't really see the light of day

as she doesn't wear them.

David thinks it's time to put them to work

and earn her £130-£200.

This gourd-shaped Morris Ware vase has a hidden secret.

-Do you keep flowers in it?

-You can't because, well, a slight crack.

-A slight crack.

-But owner Elizabeth still thinks it has a use.

-For dried flowers it's all right.

-Dried flowers!

-You're trying to sell it again.

-Yes, I am.

25 items of quintessentially Scottish Mauchline Ware.

I'll need my calculator ready

because David is dividing it up into eight lots.

Two tartanware boxes here...

And Eileen and Alison's family silver in the shape of a lady's purse,

complete with souvenir charms from Glasgow's 1901 exhibition.

But does Anita have different ideas about the Mauchline Ware?

Now, we've gone with David's division.

We have divided them into eight lots.

-And what we have here are two of the best lots.

-I think so.

These wonderful tulip vases don't come up all that often.

I was about to say that. I've not seen any like this before.

What sort of value have you put on the tulip vases?

-We've put £400-£600.

-That's the bulk, really, of the estimate.

What have you put on the little box?

The little box, again I've estimated conservatively.

£250-£350. I'm hoping that it will go at least mid-estimate

and on a good day, it might do the top estimate.

-I think you're right, there.

-It is a beautiful little piece.

And the Mauchline buyers like to collect the different tartans

-and there are thousands of them.

-Yeah, there must be.

Is there a tartan in your clan?

-We're of Irish descent, Paul.

-Oh, dear!

But there might be somewhere.

Maybe that's a wee bit of research that I can do personally.

The Mauchline Ware will go under the hammer a little later.

Next up, a silver purse and two book charms

-belonging to two very charming sisters, Eileen and Alison. I got that right, didn't I?

-You did.

Did you see this little purse and the book charms as you were growing up as little girls in Mum's house?

-Yes, we did.

-Yes?

-I don't quite know when we saw it but we definitely saw them over the years.

Lots of memories. Lots of memories here, James.

Yeah, a sweet little thing, and there is lots of silver in the sale.

-Yes, our dealers are going to be here.

-They are.

Fingers crossed, somebody is going to pick up on this, it'll find a collector and we'll get the top end.

-OK?

-Fingers crossed.

-Here we go.

And a lovely little Art Nouveau embossed silver purse.

It's Chester 1910 and it has two little book charms,

one depicting scenes from the Glasgow exhibition of 1901.

Lovely wee thing there.

I'm holding bids, ladies and gentlemen,

I'm holding bids and I can start the bidding...

-Eileen this is good.

-..at £30.

It's with me at 30. 40, 50...

-I've got excited then.

-60, 70. 80, I'm out.

It's on the floor at £80.

It's on the floor at 80.

Any advance on 80? 80, 90, 100, 110, 120.

£120. It's with you, sir, at 120.

Any advance on 120? All done at 120? 120.

-That's a good result.

-How exciting.

-Top end.

-Happy, very happy.

-Very happy. Very happy.

Next, it's Janet's beautiful collection of jewellery.

Why did you decide to sell them?

Well, I haven't worn them for a while

and I kind of forgot about them, so I thought, well, sell them.

The good thing about this lot is that there's something for everyone.

If your taste is traditional, there's the star brooch.

If your taste is avant-garde, there's the Art Nouveau brooch.

If you'd like some gold as an investment, there's that part belcher.

So it'll appeal to a lot of people.

But I think right now Janet wants the £200 top end.

-That's what you'd prefer, isn't it?

-Yes.

We're going to take the money.

Lot 60, a Victorian sea pearl brooch,

a lovely wee nine-carat gold brooch

and a nine-carat gold belcher linked neck chain.

Start me at £100 for the three.

£100? £80, then?

£80? 80 bid. At 90, 100,

110, 120.

130, 140.

£140. 150, fresh bidder.

160, 170.

180, 190,

-200.

-You've got your 200.

At £200. 210. £210.

All done at 210? All done at 210?

£210! What are you going to put the money towards?

-Help to pay the bills.

-Well, it's a fact of life. We've all got them.

That's good Scottish pragmatism, that is - to pay the bills.

Next up, the Morris Ware vase. It belongs to Elizabeth

and it was your mother's - it's been in the family a long time.

-You've brought another family member along. Who's this?

-Siobhan.

Your grand-daughter. It's lovely to meet you.

We've got £100-£120 on this vase. It looks like it's worth more.

-It's cracked.

-Oh, is it? Right, OK.

-That's why.

It would be worth so much more. It's a great design, isn't it?

-Yeah, it's beautiful.

-Didn't you know it was cracked?

-I didn't.

538 is the Hancock and Sons, Morris Ware, gourd-shaped vase.

It's designed by George Cartlidge.

A wonderful piece of Morris Ware.

£50?

50 bid. With you, sir, at 50.

60, 70, 80,

90, 100, 110.

-120, 130, 140.

-Keep going, keep going.

-More! More money.

-£160.

160. Any advance on 160? All done at 160. 160...

Well done. That was good.

-What will you put the money towards?

-The kitchen.

-A new kitchen?

-No, just updating what's in the kitchen.

-Right, OK,

-like tiling and doorknobs.

-And fridges and freezers.

Who's going to do all that work?

-Your grandpa, won't he?

-Grandpops. Is he good at that?

-Sometimes.

-If you prod him with a stick he will be.

110, 120, 130, 140...

150, 160.

Well, we've all been waiting for this one.

It's the 25 pieces of Mauchline Ware,

lots of local interest, belonging to David, here.

We've split them into eight lots.

First up, there's four pieces in this first section.

The little violin and the egg timer. Here we go.

50, 60, 70 with me.

-100.

-Yes, yes, good.

110 on the phone. 110...

-Yes, £110.

-Good start.

-That's a very good start.

We're on top straight away.

Six pieces of tartan ware,

to include three silk winders,

two Stewart tartan and a Macpherson example.

170, 180...

-Great.

-180.

-Brilliant. We're smashing our targets.

At 180. 260, 280.

290. 290. All done at 290? 290...

This is such good news and now here's the third lot,

another mixed bag again.

It's with me at 100.

Any advance on...? 110. 120.

-It's a great collection, David.

-It looks like it.

All done at 210? All done at 210? At 210...

-We're well above our target now.

-We are.

-Fourth lot to come now.

-My maths is terrible, I can't work it out.

We're way above our target.

Four Mauchline snuff boxes. 100 on the phone.

It seems the whole room wants to invest in David's collection,

which is so good.

205 with me, Lala.

With Lala on the phone at £210.

Any advance on 210? All done at 210? 210...

Brilliant. £210.

Next lot is the two snuff boxes.

..and they both have their original lining,

again, the very finest of boxes.

120 with me. 150. I'm out.

It's on the phone at 150.

All done at 150? 150?

Phone bid. £150.

And now my favourite piece.

..is the fine Smiths of Mauchline hand-painted snuff box.

220, 230.

240, 250.

This is good.

360. I'm out.

Any advance on 360? All done at 360?

360...

Getting hot. Next lot, the three tulip vases.

Estimated at £400-£600.

900 with me.

Wow.

950, 1,000.

1,050. 1,100 with me.

All done at 1,100? 1,100...

£1,100 for the three tulip vases.

And this is the last lot, a pair of tartan vases, Stewart tartan.

300, 320.

-350, 400.

-Everyone's getting carried away.

-Yes, they are. £500?

-500.

-500?!

520, I'm out.

Any advance on 520?

Yes, that's it. It's all over. That's the last lot gone

-and we're just short, 50 quid short, of £3,000.

-£3,000.

-How do you feel about that, David?

-I'm speechless.

-It's incredible, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-That was your collection.

Quality always sells. Unbelievable.

We doubled the top end of the estimate and it was worth splitting the lots up.

It will be news in Glasgow next week.

I think it will be news all over Scotland and the world!

Thank you for bringing that in.

Quality always sells. It's the perfect end to a wonderful day here in bonnie Scotland.

Until the next time, it's cheerio.