Malvern Flog It!

Can you see those hills over there in the pouring rain?

Well, they're some of the oldest in England, and their beauty

and splendour has inspired artists, poets, writers and composers for the last few centuries.

And today, for one day only, those hills are alive with the sound of "Flog It!" Welcome to Malvern.

The Malvern hills are some of the highest in England, and in fact, once you've climbed to the top

of them and look out eastwards,

the next highest you're going to see are the Urals over in Russia.

Now, looking at them, they're of outstanding natural beauty.

And I'm not alone here in my thoughts,

because they did inspire Tolkien to write about the Misty Mountains in Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

So I'm in good company.

Today, "Flog It!" is treading the boards at the Malvern Theatres complex,

and leading our troupe of experienced valuers are Adam Partridge and Kate Bateman.

Kate started as a ballerina before helping her father

in his antiques shop, and then they set up an auction house together.

Show and tell! What have you got at the back here? Ooh, pictures!

Adam Partridge has been in the business 20 years.

He loves the thrill of finding unexpected items at "Flog It!" valuation days

and hearing the fascinating stories behind them.

That's rather interesting, isn't it?

-He starts crying while he's doing that.

-Really?

Because it's actually happening as he does it.

They'll be assessing all the antiques brought in,

and we'll be flogging the best at auction later on in the show.

So, right now it is 9:30, it's time to get the doors open and see what we can find.

While this lot rummage through their bags and boxes

sorting out their treasures, we can look ahead to today's show.

One item has us all agreeing on the value but puzzling over exactly what it is.

-What do you know about it?

-Not a great deal.

-We thought he was possibly a vesta case monk.

-I wonder if it may have been an inkwell.

-Yeah.

Or perhaps it's just a novelty monk.

And with her corkscrew destined for auction, I think Christabel's on the pull.

-Will I see you in the auction room?

-Yes. You will. So you can say, like you always do, "Oh, you look nice."

Adam's dealing out our first valuation, two packs of cards.

The first is a fairly standard set dating from Georgian times, but something else has caught his eye.

The ones that intrigue me, actually, are this pile here, which are a similar-looking thing,

but on the back of these I presume someone's converted

these, or maybe they were made as a set of fortune teller's cards.

Yes. They've all got some sort of weird thing on the back.

They've all got some message on the back, haven't they? What's this one, the nine of hearts?

"A deceitful woman with whom you are very intimate - beware of her,

"for she will cause you some trouble." There we are!

Let's try another one.

I could read these all the time!

"You will have a considerable sum of money come to you soon from a person you do not expect."

-Let's hope it's Philip Serrell Auctioneers!

-That would be very good.

Let's do one for the cameraman there.

Cameraman one, "You will go on a party of pleasure with several people"!

"It will not be so agreeable as expected."

So don't celebrate too soon.

Well, I think they're great, but I fear that I won't be allowed

to go through them all, which is a great shame, because I could, quite happily! Let's do another round.

Everybody in the room!

Now, these are a very tricky thing to value, of course.

Value's all about comparison, really, with similar things that

you've sold or seen sold, and I've never come across things like this before.

That doesn't necessarily mean they're hugely valuable.

-But just interesting.

-But very interesting.

How did you come to own them?

I've just had them in the cupboard for a long, long time. My grandmother collected all sorts of things.

They were just stuck in a paper bag, and she said, "Here you are.

-"These are old."

-I haven't counted them all.

-Are they all there?

-No, they're not full sets, either.

-Not a full set.

-No.

Just flick through them, so that people can see what they look like.

A lot of collectors of playing cards...

The fact they're not a full deck obviously isn't wonderful,

-but what do you expect of something of this age?

-Quite.

And these ones, of course, before they started the Qs and

the As and the 1s and the 2s, just got the symbol things.

Yes, and the pictures aren't upside down.

-No, that's right, the pictures are one way up only.

-Yeah.

What they're worth,

-I would say maybe £40 to £80.

-Gosh!

I think we should put some reserve, don't you? Because we don't want them going for £10.

-No. No, no, no.

-What do you think? £40 with a bit of leeway? £40?

I can see them appealing quite a lot.

So thank you very much for bringing them. I've really enjoyed this.

-Good!

-Thank you!

So, will Fiona make her fortune?

Well, we'll find out later on in the programme.

Now, see what's crossing my palm.

A walnut carved with tiny faces.

How long have you had this?

10, 12 years.

-Gorgeous little walnut.

-Yes.

With 18 faces carved on it.

What's it worth? Do you know?

-I know what I paid for it.

-What did you pay for it?

I paid £4.50 on a boat in China.

-Wow! What were you doing on a boat in China?

-Having lunch.

Such intricate detail, and from one tiny little thing to another.

Not Kate but this bronze monk belonging to Jean.

He's a lovely little thing. How long have you had him?

-50 years.

-And did you inherit him?

No, I bought him when I was quite young at an antique shop on Poole quay.

What do you know about him?

Not a great deal, apart from the fact that he's a little monk,

and I've discovered today that he was a vesta case monk.

I had thought he was possibly an inkwell,

but he hasn't got any kind of a liner.

Well, we'll have a look at it.

-So, he tips up.

-He does. He opens.

A-ha. Yeah, you're right, you could have had a glass liner in there for an inkwell.

I think you're right with the vesta case, because if you turn him round,

you've got a little hatched roughened area here which would be for striking the matches.

And also, he looks like he should have something in his hands, so maybe you could put a match there

or something ready for lighting. But I can tell you a bit more about him.

-Oh, good!

-Unfortunately, he's not signed, but just looking at him,

he's made of bronze, so it's like a patinated bronze.

There is no maker's mark anywhere or foundry mark or anything, so we don't know who made him exactly,

but he's probably continental, French, most likely, and late 19th century.

Not quite sure what kind of monk he is, what order he's from, but he's

got his book and he's got his little rosary beads and things down here.

Any idea, price-wise, what you think he's worth?

Well, erm, since I've had him 50 years, I would hope about £50.

-A pound a year!

-Yes.

-That might work. OK.

Well, I think you might be a little on the low side even with that.

I think at auction you'd probably estimate him at maybe £100 to £150,

because he's quite a fun little item.

If he was signed and we could know who the maker was, he'd probably be a bit more than that.

Oh, right! I had no idea.

-Put the reserve at 80, put the estimate at 100 to 150.

-Yes.

-I think he should make it. I think he's quite a fun thing.

-No, I had no idea that he might be worth so much.

-Somebody out there is looking for a mad monk!

-Yes.

And all we need is for that somebody to be at the auction, and Jean could be onto a winner.

I'm still delving into the bags and boxes of goodies brought in by

the big crowd here and finding some real treasures.

I'm going to turn this around to the camera right now.

You've only seen the reverse side.

But look at that. It's in the form of a little bureau, roll-top desk.

It's absolutely exquisite.

-Thank you, yes.

-I've not seen a caddy like this. It's a single caddy. The word "caddy"

comes from the word "kati", which is the measure of tea sold in Malay.

-It's the Malay word...

-Oh, OK.

-..for weight of tea.

-So that's how we've got the word "caddy" from it.

-I see, yeah.

This is a Regency little piece.

It's around 1810, 1815, I would say.

And it's made of mahogany, and it's got the most wonderful flame curl just sort of sweeping its way down

the roll-top there and then all the way down the front face of this.

Architecturally, it's absolutely perfect.

The grain selection that the cabinet-maker has chosen to make this

is wonderful, absolutely wonderful. That will polish up beautifully.

It just needs a bit of TLC.

-I know, yeah.

-It's got its original escutcheon, handles and little feet.

So you've got something of extreme beauty here, and if I had to put a price on this,

I would say about £800 to £1,200, because it's so rare.

Wow. Wow, yes.

I didn't realise it was valuable at all, really.

I know quite a few tea-caddy collectors that would like to own

-this particular shape because it's just so unusual.

-Yeah. Yeah.

Find me another one.

Find me another roll-top-desk tea caddy, please, a Georgian one!

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.

It's very interesting to know.

My mum will be fascinated.

Sadly, that tea caddy's so unusual, it's not going to auction.

But Adam's next item, a jug brought in by Pauline, looks more likely to.

I'm so pleased to see a piece of Royal Worcester today.

I've been looking forward to seeing some Worcester, as we're in Malvern,

and it's the sort of thing we'd expect to find. Is it something you've had a long time?

It belongs to my parents, and it was a wedding present to them.

And that was 63 years ago.

-And so you've known it all your life, then.

-Yes, I have, yeah.

-It's always just been in the china cabinet.

-Sitting there.

-It's a pleasing shape, isn't it?

-It's beautiful, I think.

Very beautiful. And very distinctive Royal Worcester, I think, of this period, the late 19th century.

A lot of the wares were done in the Blush Ivory range, which is referring to the background colour

on this vase. And you've got this floral decoration on the blush ivory background.

-Of course, you know its purpose, do you?

-No, I didn't.

Well, they've all got a number on the bottom

there, 1229, and that's a shape number, and you

can look in your Worcester porcelain book and it'll tell you what type

of jug or what type of vase it was.

And you've got your Royal Worcester mark there, and that little O is a date letter, which dates it to 1889.

Now, the shape number, 1229, I don't have the book at my disposal,

-but I'll bet a million dollars that it says iced-water jug...

-Oh!

..because you've got this across the top there to stop the ice falling out.

So you'd have all the ice in there, and then, as you pour it,

that retains the ice and you just get the water coming out.

So I'm convinced it's for iced water.

Now, why have you brought it to sell it?

Well, I saw the programme advertised, and I've always been interested.

And I was just looking round to see what we could bring, and Mum said, "Why don't you take that?" So we did.

-Right!

-I was surprised.

I thought they probably wouldn't want to part with it, but she said, "No, it's all just in the cupboard,"

and it would come to me anyway.

-I suppose it's just stuff, isn't it?

-Yeah!

So you're a keen viewer of "Flog It!", are you?

Oh, yes, definitely.

-Excellent. Well, I'm glad to hear that.

-Yeah.

Well, now down to the value. I always find that these things don't always make as much as I expect

them to, they don't make as much as they look as though they should be,

because you imagine Royal Worcester porcelain is all very expensive.

But it tends to be the painted wares that are the most expensive ones,

and these blush wares of the late nineteenth century aren't incredibly valuable.

My estimate would be £70 to £100 for that. Not a lot of money, I know.

-It's better than just stood in the cupboard.

-Better than stood in the cupboard.

And you get a chance to be on "Flog It!"

And hopefully I'll get the money!

That's the spirit. I would say put a reserve of 70.

Fixed reserve - no less, not a penny less, not even 68.

So, does that sound all right with you?

-Yes, that's fine.

-OK. Well, we'll put it through, and fingers crossed we hit three figures with it.

Three items chosen and ready to ship off to be sold at Philip Serrell's auctioneers and valuers.

Well, it's now time to up the tempo and put those valuations to the test.

This is my favourite part of the show, auction time, because you never know what's going to happen.

Some items could fly away, or they could be stuck with our owners.

And this is a really nervous time for our owners but also

for our experts, because it's not an exact science, valuing antiques.

Just hopefully we're going to have a good day.

Here's what's going under the hammer.

Adam was really taken with Fiona's Georgian playing cards with those interesting predictions.

We're in the right part of the country for

Pauline's Royal Worcester jug, so will the local connection help get the money pouring in?

And finally, there's Jean's bronze monk.

It's really got us puzzled.

We all agree with Kate's estimate, but we're all confused about what it was used for.

Even auctioneer Philip Serrell doesn't know.

This is quite unusual, Phil. It's a bit of a curio, really.

We have been calling it a bronze vesta case, but I'm not so sure.

Kate's put a value of £100 to £150 on this.

I wouldn't argue with the value. I think it'll do 100 to 150 all day long. It might do a little bit more.

But what it is I don't know. I mean, he's clearly meant to be holding something just here.

And the other thing is, if you open him up, if you had a match

that went all the way down there, they would be very long matches.

-Yes, they would.

-The only place that you would strike it on might be just down there.

-On his robe.

-But I can't see that that's ever happened.

So I'm not convinced it's a vesta.

-I wonder whether it may have been an inkwell, but then, that would be in the way of it.

-Yeah.

Or perhaps it's just a novelty monk.

Convenient!

Well, the bidders are ready, so let's hope they do us proud today.

Well, showing their hand right now we've got a two-part pack of playing cards.

They belong to Fiona, but unfortunately, she can't be with us today.

But we've got her goddaughters. What are your names?

-Laura. And Emily.

-Great to see you.

So, have you seen these cards? Have you played with them before?

-No. No, we haven't seen them before, actually.

-You've never seen them?

Very nice. Very nice. Not quite complete, unfortunately.

They'd be worth an awful lot of money. But they're Georgian and they're wonderful.

-And I like the little notes on the back.

-I really like these.

They're one of my favourite objects, I think, I've valued on the show.

-Yeah.

-They're great. I'd like to see them do really well.

I don't know if they will, but they're fun, and we had a great time on valuation day,

playing with them, looking at all the handwritten fortunes, which were really interesting.

-Could have sat there for hours!

-Well, it's now time to find out what this lot behind me think.

Will they put their hands up? We're going to find out.

Good luck, you two.

Two part-packs of 19th-century playing cards. There you are.

£60 to start me.

Come on.

Well, I'm bid £20 for them. At 20.

-Someone's put their hand up. That's good. We're in.

-Were you waving at me?

I'll wave back.

30! Thank you! At 30.

And 40. And 5. 50 now?

Yes, 50 I'm bid. And 5. 55 on the book.

At 60 on the net bid. At 60.

At £60 only. At 60.

At 60. And 5 anywhere?

65, back of the room. At 65. 65. 70.

-70 bid. At £70 only.

-It's good!

On the Internet. At £70 only.

At 70. 70 bid. Any more at all?

-75. 75.

-It's climbing slowly.

At 70. 80. 80 bid.

£80. One more, sir?

At £80 only. At £80 on the net.

-I think we're out now. £80.

-And done on the net.

That's it, the hammer's gone down.

Are you going to report back to Fiona?

Yep, we'll ring her straightaway and hopefully get a share of it!

-Lunch! I think you'll get lunch out of it.

-Yeah!

That seemed like a tough one, but we got there eventually.

Now for Pauline's Royal Worcester jug.

That jug, which Adam put a value of £70 to £100 on, I agree with that.

I just want Pauline to get the top end, though. Can she do it?

-Well, I think the valuation's quite accurate, but you never know.

-OK.

-Maybe just.

-Maybe just.

-Maybe just. Good luck.

He's teasing us.

Lot number 598 is a Royal Worcester vase with ivory sprays.

50 I'm started. At 50. 50 bid.

At 50. 60. 60 bid. 70. 70 bid. 80.

-80 bid. 90 with me.

-Sold it.

At £90. 90. 90 bid.

They know what it's worth, don't they?

-Yeah.

-100, may I?

At £90. Any more at all?

At £90. And I sell, then, at £90.

-And done. Thank you.

-He was spot-on.

Well done, and thank you for bringing that in,

because that's been in the family a long, long time, hasn't it?

Short and sweet, but Pauline goes away another happy customer.

And rounding up this visit to the auction, that novelty monk.

Will the bidders be intrigued enough to have a go?

Jean, good luck.

I think this is a nice lot, I really do.

And I had a chat to Philip about this, and, Kate, he loved it.

-Did he?

-Absolutely loved it, yes.

-Oh!

We're not quite sure it was a vesta case.

-It's a mystery monk, isn't it, really? Let's face it.

-Well, yes.

You paid about a fiver for this a long time ago.

-A long time ago.

-Why are you selling it now?

-Well, I just came for the interest to the "Flog It!" valuation.

-He's cute.

Then everybody got interested in it!

We certainly did, didn't we? We're going to find out what this lot think now.

-Right.

-Ready?

-Yes, indeed.

This is the scary bit, this is the scary bit. But here we go. Good luck.

Lot number 357 is the novelty vesta case. Well, is it a vesta case?

I'm not sure, really, but you can't dispute it's a bronze monk. There we go.

Bid me for it, someone.

Bid me £100 to start.

Well, 50 I'm bid for the monk.

At 50. 50 bid. At 50. 50 bid. At 50.

60. 70. 70 bid. At 70.

At 70. 80. 90.

One more. 100. 110.

-That's good. He's got a book, look. He keeps referring to it.

-120. 120.

There's someone on the phone.

At £150 on the phone. At £150.

Is there any more? At £150 only.

At 150. Is there any more at all?

At £150 on the telephone. Any more?

At £150.

And done, then, at 150. And done.

That was a good investment.

Yes, yes.

-Have you got anything else like that that you bought ages ago?

-No, no.

A good result for the mystery monk, and money in Jean's pocket.

Today, for our little trip out into the local countryside, I've come to Witley Court in Worcestershire.

Now, 100 years ago, this was one of the most impressive stately homes in the country,

hosting lavish hunting parties and extravagant balls.

But then, something happened here in the 1930s that has given this place a rather different distinction.

Now Witley Court has a sombre, almost menacing air.

Just look at that!

That's haunting.

A devastating fire ripped through the east wing in 1937, and in

the space of one September's night, everything changed.

This photograph was taken the next morning.

Rescued contents can be seen heaped on the steps outside.

One witness said, "We sat on the edge of the fountain watching the Court burn.

"I remember seeing all the red drapes dropping and burning."

The building burned for most of the night. It was terrible to see.

Although a large portion of the house was untouched by the fire, this was the beginning of the end.

To learn more, I'm meeting Anna Pearsall from English Heritage,

which manage the building and keeps it open to the public.

So, how did it start?

Well, this is actually where the fire started, here in the east tower.

-So that tower acted like a flue.

-It did, yeah.

Just underneath, in the basements, that's where the bakery was, and that was where it originally started.

It spread up through the tower, aided by strong wind, as well.

Just went straight over to the east side and completely destroyed all the lavish side

of the house, unfortunately, all the ballroom, the dining room, the royal apartments, everything.

Can you imagine a fire this size? Pretty intense. It would have been seen from miles away, surely?

Oh, absolutely, yeah. There's reports from people who said that they were in the village of Great Witley, which

is a few mile away, and they said they could see the smoke for days.

So, was it all hands at the pump, really?

Was there much fire equipment here, safety equipment?

The fire engine came in, parked over the hydrant, and the staff

weren't equipped enough, they were inexperienced, didn't know what to do in the event of it.

And the other thing is that things weren't maintained,

so the hydrant wasn't actually working properly at the time.

You can see traces of the fire still, can't you, in the timbers?

-Yeah.

-There's only a little bit of wood left.

You can see where it actually revealed quite a few old features of the house.

If you look over to this side, that's where a Jacobean window was actually opened up by the fire.

Gosh! So it reveals an external wall of the house there.

There is another feature, as well, the seventeenth-century

window edge there, as well.

So as you look, it does reveal quite how old this property is.

It's sort of peeling back the layers of the fabric of the building.

It's a lot older, the house is, than people think. It was actually 1086.

-Was it really?

-Yeah, the first manor house built here, and it's just been adapted over the years.

Everybody's left their mark, every owner of the house.

Made it more grand over the years.

Well, shall we take a further wander?

Yeah, absolutely.

So, this is the ballroom - or what's left of it.

Exactly. There's a lot of charred timbers in here.

You can say this was where the fire really would have been at its hottest, really.

-Yeah.

-Unfortunately, the most lavish room of the house.

Well, I'm imagining now cut-glass chandeliers hanging everywhere, crystal...

They had eight crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling in here.

But you can imagine how lively and how vibrant it would have been back in its heyday.

They'd have had lots of parties here, wouldn't they?

Oh, absolutely. I mean, when the earl actually inherited the house and

-moved in, on his 21st birthday party they actually had a three-day event.

-Gosh, that's a bash, isn't it?

Oh, absolutely!

But all the opulence quickly vanished.

A year after the fire, the owners sold all the contents in a huge eight-day auction.

Well, I've been to a lot of auctions in my time but nothing as impressive as this one would have been

on Monday 26th September 1938,

when all the contents was put out on display here and sold on the spot.

It is quite incredible.

It's fascinating reading.

Unfortunately, there are no price guides, but this is quite interesting, lot number 76.

And you can hear it - it's right behind me, this immense fountain.

There's two here, and I'd imagine they didn't actually sell, because they're so big.

Who would want to dismantle that and take them away?

And thankfully, they've been restored by English Heritage and they're in full working order.

This one was designed by Nesfield and carved by James and William Forsyth.

It's phenomenal, isn't it?

Witley Court changed hands a few times in the subsequent 20 years, and the decline continued.

The house fell into disrepair.

Many of the fittings, including marble fireplaces,

lead work and stone ornaments, were stripped out and sold.

It was a sad time for the house that had been a model for the English country home.

During the 1950s and '60s, the whole estate was threatened with demolition several times

amid plans of turning the place into a Grand Prix circuit, a housing estate and even a caravan park.

But it survived all of that, and in 1970, the house and the grounds were designated an ancient monument.

And thank goodness, because now it's safe.

Welcome back to our valuation day at the Malvern Theatres.

As you can see, I'm still surrounded by people all waiting patiently for a valuation.

Well, I think we should catch up with our experts now and see what they're up to.

Kate Bateman's sure she's onto a winner,

even though Stuart's old books have certainly seen better days.

The first edition of this was much earlier, about fifty years earlier, and does sell for a lot more money.

But it's still a lovely thing.

And I'll be toasting this item's success.

Christabel has brought in an exquisite corkscrew from the 1800s.

Wish we had a bottle of wine here!

-I'm teetotal! I've never had a drink in my life!

-Haven't you?

-Only tea and coffee, no.

-It's no wonder you look so well, actually.

But first, it looks like Adam Partridge is getting a lesson in how to behave on television.

-Don't look at the camera.

-That's right!

Are you telling me?

No, they just told me not to.

-That's right. Look into my eyes...

-Yeah, look into your eyes.

He's spotted a painting brought in by Viv.

How did you come to get this watercolour?

It's not mine. It belongs to a work associate who bought it for £1 in a charity shop in Worcester.

-Oh, really?

-Mm. He's in Hull today, so he couldn't come.

He's only a young man, 35, who collects things that he fancies in charity shops.

-That is young, isn't it?

-Yeah, yeah.

-(I'm 35 as well!) OK.

So, he's got a good eye, clearly.

-Well, it seems to be.

-Do you like it?

-Not particularly.

-No?

-No.

-It's a bit drab, isn't it?

-It is. It is, it's very drab.

The market used to be quite strong for these watercolour landscapes.

And you've got a signature, HD Bell.

-Mm.

-But it used to be, and it's not so strong now.

But I presume he didn't pay much for it. What was it?

-£1.

-£1?

-£1!

-Well, I think we can multiply that by a bit.

-Oh.

-HD Bell was quite a prolific artist, and he seemed to do scenes of this kind of area.

There's no records of his dates or anything, but it's early 20th century,

late 19th, turn of the century, really.

And I think that ties in well with the style of the painting there. Very pleasant...

-painting, isn't it?

-Hardly overcrowded.

-No!

-Yeah.

-Is it growing on you a little bit?

-Yeah, I think it could!

Maybe it's the frame I don't like.

-Would you own it?

-No! No.

Would you have paid £1 for it?

-No!

-No?

-No, no!

-Well, I think it's going to make £50 to £80.

-Do you?

-Yes. Would that please him?

-I think it would.

The auction records show this artist seems to make between £50 and £150, so shall we do that?

-Put a £50 reserve?

-OK, yes.

-Estimate 50 to 80?

-Yeah.

-And then we'll see you both at the auction.

-You will.

-I've enjoyed this very much.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

Well, there you go, a 100-year-old watercolour packed and ready for auction.

Now I'm going back another 100 years with this early-1800s corkscrew belonging to Christabel.

-Do you know much about this? Have you ever used it?

-No.

Wish we had a bottle of wine here!

-I'm teetotal! I've never had a drink in my life!

-Haven't you?

-Only tea and coffee.

-Can you see?

-Look, there's an applied armorial there. Can you see that?

-Yes, I can.

And that says "Thomason". So we've got the maker's name.

And this is a royal warrant which was issued to him, so he was a maker for royalty.

And he was granted the patent in 1802 to make this particular type of corkscrew, and it was quite

unique in its day, and it was the forerunner to many corkscrews after.

And I can show you why, because when you draw the handle out,

-you can see it's got a male and a female thread which moves in the opposite direction.

-Yeah! Yeah.

The male and the female thread.

You'd wind that down into the cork,

and then you'd pull.

Now, the handle is made of mahogany.

It's a very simple turning.

-You can see that.

-Yes, yes. Yeah.

I have seen these handles with, let's say, some flattened-reel turning.

More elaborate.

-Slightly more elaborate.

-Yeah, yeah.

-And I've seen them in ivory. OK?

-Yeah.

-So this is a basic handle on this particular model.

-Now, this I would date at around about 1815 to 1820.

-Mm-hm.

Now, this is quite interesting.

Look at this. How good's your eyesight?

Not very!

If you can see, it just says there in Latin, "ne plus ultra".

-Yes, which means...?

-It means

"no more beyond", OK?

So he was quite confident,

Thomason, that when he designed this, it was going to be the best, you could not...

-..get better.

-So "no more beyond".

-That was his motto.

-Yes, yes.

And I guess when you got to the bottom of the bottle, no more beyond!

Nobody worried, anyway!

-Yeah.

-But isn't that lovely?

-Yeah.

-Value-wise, I know one sold recently, exactly the same model, for £65.

-Yeah.

So let's put an auction estimate on of £60 to £90 with a reserve at 60.

-That's fine.

-Happy with that?

-Yeah, very happy.

-Will I see you in the auction room?

-Yes, you will, yeah. Yeah.

We'll put something glamorous on, so you can say, like you always do, "Oh, you look nice".

Oh, she's stealing my lines!

Anyway, if we want glamour at the auction, we need Kate Bateman to find some more interesting items,

and Charles's clock looks like it's in with a chance.

You've brought in this fantastic clock with a bit of local history.

What can you tell me about it?

Well, I've known it all my life.

-I inherited it from my dad.

-Mm-hm.

And where he got it from, I don't know.

He must have bought it in a sale somewhere.

And, er...

the plate says, "The Queen's Own Worcestershire Hussars,

"won by the second-best recruit, J Aston, in 1893".

-And do you know anything about him?

-And the local shop sold it.

Yeah, Birley & Co here, Worcester, and obviously "Paris make", which relates to the movement, so it'll be

-a French movement inside, the best kind, French and Swiss.

-Yeah.

So it's basically a slated-marble clock, late Victorian, obviously, from the date.

Do you know any more about this person?

I believe he went to the Boer War and he went to somewhere else.

I can't remember. I've got it wrote down.

But I've got him up to being a sergeant.

I mean, it's a nice thing. I want to know what the best-dressed recruit got, the smartest recruit got.

Did he survive the war, do you know?

-I don't know.

-Ah-hah. OK.

So, why are you thinking of selling it?

-Well, it's stuck in a back room at the moment...

-Just sits there.

-..doing nothing.

-OK.

-It keeps good time.

As long as he's level both ways...

-OK.

-..it's a perfect little clock.

Well, in terms of condition, it's got a few little nips and chips on the top.

And they're not the most popular things. They're quite dark and heavy, not everybody's style.

But it's still quite saleable at auction, and obviously, you've got

this nice local history to it, a bit of militaria interest, too.

So in terms of auction price, I think you'd expect it to make between £100 and £150 at auction.

But you could set a reserve of perhaps £80 just to protect it,

so that if it doesn't make that, it doesn't sell.

-Is that the sort of price you'd be happy at?

-Yes.

OK. So let's give it a go.

We'll send it to the sale and hope somebody's as charmed by its local interest as you were.

-Thanks for bringing it in.

-Thank you.

What a pretty face! The clock, I mean.

Now, take a look at what I've found, a table made out of paper.

Papier mache was very, very popular.

All sorts of things were made. Even chairs were made of papier mache.

This little table dates from around about 1850, 1860.

Right, yeah. Somebody said it was Victorian Gothic.

Yes, it is. That's about the right period, the 1860s.

-Yeah, Gothic revival.

-Yeah.

It's lovely.

Here's Kate with some rather tired-looking but intriguing books,

four volumes of architectural reference, The Antiquities of Athens, belonging to Stuart.

-Let's have a quick look and see what we've got inside, get a flavour of the thing.

-Yeah.

They're in not brilliant condition, I have to say. I'm going to moan about condition.

-Well, they were in this condition when they were given to me.

-OK.

And they were given to me in the early '80s, when I was training to become an architect.

-Did you use it in your planning of buildings?

-Yeah, I did.

I used them as part of a thesis.

Well, they're beautiful things.

I mean, each one has basically got these copper-plate engravings, and

it tells you the information about the engravers on it.

As you say, there's four volumes, and in the first volume, which I've had a look at, there's breakdowns of

the individual parts of the buildings.

Everyone wants the columns, the Ionic and Doric and Corinthian.

What's sad about these, in a way, and makes them hard to value, is, as books, they're probably in this

condition less valuable than as breakers, so as prints, effectively, which is people would break it up,

frame it up. These would look fantastic either left on their own or hand-coloured.

-In an architect's office, for example, six on the wall would look brilliant.

-Yeah.

But it does seem such a shame to break up a book, and hopefully somebody will keep them

as a whole if they buy them, maybe get them re-bound and in a better condition and then use them.

The version is 1825, which it tells us at the beginning,

-by Stuart and Revett, who were the drawers and the architects.

-Yes.

And the first edition of this was much earlier, about fifty years earlier,

and does sell for a lot more money, because it was the first edition.

-But it's still a lovely thing. Price-wise, you don't have any idea?

-No idea at all on price, no.

No. well, just judging roughly from the number of prints in it,

you've got four volumes, even in this kind of condition, with foxing,

I would have thought 150 to 250 is a fairly conservative estimate.

-Is that the kind of figure you'd be happy with?

-It is, absolutely.

-Would you want a reserve?

-Definitely have a reserve, yes.

So perhaps a £100 reserve and the estimate at 150 to 250,

and that'll give it a good chance of selling at the saleroom.

OK! Well, we'll give it a go.

-Thanks for bringing it in.

-OK, thank you.

-Thank you.

Four more items chosen and on their way to the auction room.

We're taking Viv's watercolour. She says it's growing on her, so let's hope the bidders like it, too.

Christabel's corkscrew is a class item so should command a decent price.

Charles's clock was second prize, and I'm hoping it will get first place at auction.

And finally, we have Stuart's books.

I have a suspicion these will really, really take off at auction.

Am I right?

Well, you'll have to wait and see.

We're selling our items at Philip Serrell's auction house in Malvern.

Whatever you do, when you're browsing around an auction room, always buy a catalogue.

They only cost a couple of pounds, and they're well worth it, because there's so much information in here.

You might miss so many things. Now, you could walk pass this section of glass and think, "So what?

I don't really want that,"

and move on. But look the lot number up, read what it says

in the description, because this, in fact, is late-18th-century, early-19th-century glass.

It's all hand-blown, and you can see by these pontil marks underneath.

Hold it up to the light and you can see there's a really good lead content.

And look at all this lovely reed work.

All hand-made.

And so are these little glasses. And it's a lot that's grouped together and it's catalogued at £25 to £50.

I expect that to do quite a bit of money, not £20 to £50.

And how did they do?

At £100. Any more?

Well, what did I tell you? Those glasses went for double the top end.

So, no time to waste, because our next item is just about to go under the hammer.

It's the 20th-century watercolour which Viv's selling.

Viv, it's great to see you. I'm quite excited about this next lot, because it's a watercolour.

I love the rocky outcrop. It's a nice signed piece.

-And you like this, as well.

-Yeah, I thought it was quite pleasant.

And the artist is listed and he generally makes that sort of money, sometimes a bit more.

-So I think we should be all right.

-It's a nice thing to have, isn't it?

I mean, so many people have just photographs and prints on their walls, but you can actually go to an

auction room and buy some fine art.

Anyway, let's find out what the bidders think, shall we?

It's going under the hammer right now.

Lot number 176, watercolour with figures on paths with hills beyond, and I'm bid £20 for that lot. At 20.

20 bid. At 20. 20 bid.

And 5. And 30. 30 bid.

-30...

-35. And 40. 40 bid. And 5.

At 45. One more now.

At 45 anywhere? At 45.

Any more at all?

At £45 only. 45. 50, may I?

-At £45.

-Come on.

-It's still got to try.

-That's right.

-Anywhere at all?

Help me out, someone. At £45. One more?

Well, I'm sorry, I can't do that.

Oh, dear!

-I thought it would have sold.

-What are you going to do?

Well, I'll have to give it back to the charity shop.

No, no, no, no!

I think put it into the auction. Leave it with Philip.

He might find the underbidder and hopefully will let it go at £45.

-Yes!

-Let's do that, OK? We'll leave it up to Philip to sort out.

-Good idea.

-Thanks so much.

-Thanks for coming.

-But at least the money will go back to charity.

-Yeah! Yeah, yeah.

Good. The bidding fell just £5 short of Viv's £50 reserve.

Let's hope for better luck with Charles's clock.

-Who is this? You've just popped in!

-I have, I have!

This is my wife, Jeanette.

Jeanette, pleased to meet you.

Why are you selling the clock?

It's never looked right in our house.

-Hasn't it?

-No.

-Well, it's a nice thing.

-It goes.

It does go, doesn't it?

And I just hope it goes at the top end of the value, as well.

-I think it's about right, Kate.

-I hope so.

-I mean, it's local interest, and there's a lovely story behind it, so it should go well, yeah.

-Good luck!

Good luck! Time's ticking away.

This is it, in fact.

Lot number 255 is the slate mantle clock.

There we are. I'm bid 55. 60. 65.

At 65. At 65. And 70. And 5. At 75.

At £75 only. At 75.

Any more? At £75. Any more?

No. Well, I'm sorry, I can't do that.

One bid away there.

Yeah. Oh, that was a shame. I wonder who was bidding.

Keep an eye out for them!

Never mind. Never mind.

Another lot unsold.

We're all very nervous that things are not going to plan.

Let's hope Christabel can break the jinx with that rather beautiful corkscrew.

Well, I hope this next lot goes with a...

-Hey, you know what Oscar Wilde said, don't you?

-No.

"Drinking is a mug's game. The bigger the mug, the better."

-Hey, look, I've got good hopes for this.

-Yes, OK.

-There's a few other corkscrews in the sale today. You saw those.

-Yeah.

-And they're not as good.

-No. Good.

So I'm feeling really positive.

I just hope it does a little bit more than £110, but it's going to go. Here we are.

228 is the corkscrew.

£70 bid. At 70. 70 bid.

£70 only for the corkscrew. At 70.

At £70 bid. At 80. 80 bid.

At £80 only. Nine on the telephone?

90 I'm bid on the telephone.

-Oh, we have a phone line. That's great news.

-At £90 on the telephone.

At 90. Is there any more?

At £90 only. Is there any more at all?

-At £90.

-He's selling.

-Great.

-At 90, and done.

-Good!

-Top end of the estimate. It did go with a pop, didn't it?

-Yeah.

-Well, at last the bids are pouring in, and so is the cash.

Next up, Stuart's books on Greek architecture.

Will the bidders have designs on them?

At the last minute, Stuart's upped the reserve to £200,

close to the top end of Kate's estimate. Will they sell?

Why have you decided to sell, again?

Well, I used the books for architectural reference when I was training to become an architect

in the early '80s, and they've just been collecting dust.

-They've been in the library ever since, and...

-Very nice lot.

And as Philip said, it's a proper antique dealer's lot, as well.

It's the kind of thing you want in a nice old antiques shop full of curios and things.

Good doorstop. Wobbly tray...!

Yeah!

Hey, let's find out what the bidders think, shall we?

And good luck, Stuart. Here we are.

If you're going to have a book, this is the one to have, The Antiquities of Athens.

Hopefully, we've got a phone bid, look. I can see someone with a phone.

-Someone start me at £200. 200 I am bid.

-200!

200 straight in. Straight in at 200.

220. 230. 240.

250. 260.

270.

280. 290.

-They like them!

-300.

-There's someone in the room,

as well, which is nice, because you know that they've seen them.

330 in the room. 340. 350. 350. 360.

370.

-This is fantastic.

-380.

390.

-400.

-Brilliant!

-This is very good.

-Double.

-Best not use them as a doorstop, then.

-No!

-450, is it?

-420 on the telephone.

-He's selling now.

There's bids on the net. At 450.

480. 480. At £480 on the telephone.

Any more?

500 bid. 520. 550. 580.

-Goodness!

-This is good!

-Worth waiting.

620. 650 on the net. 650. 680?

680. 700 on the net.

700!

720?

At £700. Bid's on the net.

At £700. Is there any more?

I sell, then, at £700 and done.

-Yes!

-Hammer has gone down.

Stuart, that is fabulous, isn't it?

It really is.

Half a dozen people really wanted them, that's all I can say.

Another spot-on valuation, of course(!) I knew they'd make that!

It was just for dramatic effect!

And that's a dramatic end to today's show.

Once again, the people of Malvern have done us proud and put a smile on everyone's face.

If you'd like to take part in the show, this is where it all starts, a "Flog It!" valuation day.

You've got to come to one of these. There's two ways of doing it.

You can check the details in your local press, or

you can log on to:

Click F for "Flog It"

and follow the links and you'll find the dates and the venues

for our next valuation days, and hopefully they're near you.

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