Burghley Flog It!

Today's location demands a great deal of respect,

because we're at the magnificent ancestral home of William Cecil,

the Lord Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth I.

And judging by the size of that house,

he must have been pretty good at his job!

So hopefully, some of his financial knowledge will rub off on myself and our two experts today,

because all of these people here in this magnificent queue

want to go home with as much money as possible.

'Burghley House is Flog It's beautiful venue today,

'and we've got lots of smiley people ready to find out more about their antiques.'

Well, I can't resist talking to this lady,

because she's holding a tiny little dog!

You've got the best spot, haven't you?

Aw! Hello! Ooh!

'And to value those lovely valuables we have a team of experts.'

Oh, thank you, Philip!

Is it Earl Grey? There we are.

'It's not just tea he's good at.

'Philip Serrell is also a successful auctioneer and author.'

I can remember those, the Rolf Harris Stylophone.

What a heap of junk that was, wasn't it?

'And friend of Flog It and auctioneer at a saleroom in Norfolk

'Elizabeth Talbot is also a fan of furry creatures.'

Oh, my goodness!

-It's a Hermann bear, and he's signed by the maker.

-Look at that!

'And now I think it's only right that we open the gates to explore our grand location for today.'

# I'm walking on sunshine Whoa

# I'm walking on sunshine Whoa

# And don't it feel good? #

'And coming up in the programme, I'm auditioning for a new career...'

Sign me up! Give me a recording deal!

'..Philip gets cheeky...'

-It's beautifully clean. You polish it all the time?

-Don't be sarcastic.

-Me?

'..I visit a striking landmark...'

This place, even though it's not windy today, has completely blown me away.

'..and Flog It gets the giggles.'

GIGGLING

Oh, very funny, yes! Everyone have a laugh.

Burghley House in Stamford, Lincolnshire, dates back to the 16th century, when William Cecil -

Lord Burghley, in fact - was part of the Queen's entourage.

The estate here is made up of over 9,000 acres of farm and woodland,

and it's its scenery that's attracted many film crews here in recent years,

shooting films like Elizabeth: The Golden Age and Pride and Prejudice.

So, do any of you think I can pass as a Mr Darcy today?

LAUGHTER

Forget the epics, because it's Flog It we're filming here,

and who knows what antiques and bits of history we can uncover today.

And there's no time to waste.

First up at the tables, Philip has found some gold worth talking about.

-How are you doing, Walter? All right?

-I'm OK.

-A bit of gold here, isn't there?

-Yeah, there is.

-What's the story behind these then, Walter?

-They was my father's.

-I got them at the age of nine.

-Nine?

-Nine. And I wore them for

-about two or three years, and I grew out of them.

-I should think you did!

And he was passed down them from his auntie or great-auntie.

-So these are family heirlooms.

-Yes, they are. They're very old.

-These are 22 carat gold.

-That's right.

OK, so if we just plonk that one on there,

-that's 15.5 or 6 grams.

-That's correct.

And we plonk that one on there, and it comes to 43, 44 grams.

-That's correct. It's a lot, isn't it?

-Gold is at such a price

that those two rings today are worth between £700 and £800.

-OK.

-Which is just enormous, isn't it?

-Yeah, it is.

We'll put £600 to £800 on them.

We'll put a fixed reserve of 600, but we'll ask the auctioneer

to keep in contact with you with regard to gold price on the day.

-Four years ago, they'd have probably been worth £200.

-Right.

And I think, in a way, it's presenting you, Walter, bless you,

with a bit of a moral dilemma now, because you've got something that

you might not like, you might not wear, you might not want to hand down.

That's correct.

I saw you with a little baby earlier. It might be something

you could do, set up something for your child or do whatever with,

but do you have the wrath of your family come hurling down on you

in years to come because you sold Great-Auntie's rings?

And it's a real problem, this, because people all over create these heirlooms

to pass on to the next generation, and they always assume that

the next generation's going to want them and like them and they've got a place for them.

So are you going to sell these and have the money

and do something useful with it? Will have the wrath of your family

on you when you meet up with them in the great hereafter?

-No pressure!

-I've got to run.

-What are you going to do, cash it and run?

-Yeah.

Good man, you did the right thing.

Look out later for Walter's gold.

I've taken a moment to give some advice to John about his chair.

It's lacking life, it's lacking love and somebody has stripped this of its patina.

-Can you see that?

-I cleaned it about four years ago with detergent.

-Did you?

-Yes.

You did the wrong thing.

-Did I?

-Yes.

You really can't do that to a piece of furniture because that's where the value is.

What should I do with it now?

Clean it up with soap and water?

No, no. Feed it with a beeswax.

Yeah. Give it some love and some polish.

-I'll take it away and feed it.

-But please, bring more furniture in.

If you've got some at home, we would love to see you.

Bring them along to our next valuation day

so hopefully we're coming to an area very near you soon.

Just log on to bbc.co.uk/flogit

for lots more information about the show

and a list of towns we're coming to soon.

Elizabeth's ready at the tables with Jackie and her unwanted vase.

So, Jackie, how did you acquire your lovely vase?

It was a gift about 20 years ago from my ex mother-in-law

-and I understand that her mother gave it to her and her mother worked in the Doulton factory.

-Oh, right!

I do like it but it's a relic of a former life.

It doesn't have the greatest associations with me

so I'm quite happy to give it away.

Wanting to relinquish it and move on. OK.

As a piece of Doulton, to a certain extent, it's fairly predictable.

Doulton were a very prolific factory producing some wonderful wares

and their stoneware, which they made predominantly pre-war,

late 19th and into the 20th century, but pre-war, is not uncommon

but what's interesting is they had such a vast array of sizes and shapes of objects

that the decorators then interpreted with different motifs and colours,

so you never really see two the same at any time.

What I like about this one is that it's a handsome good scale vase

but also the mouldings around the outside suit the shape.

-It really blends well.

-Yeah, that's what I like about it.

Some of Doulton stoneware can be fairly muddy in colour combination.

They used to do much more in brown and sort of a grimmer colour

and I think this choice of mottled moss green with the blue and the brown

is quite vibrant and strangely enough, quite modern-looking.

You could sit it in a modern environment

and it wouldn't look out of place so it's done full-circle almost.

If you were to say, "Is Doulton collectible?" The answer is yes.

Within the different areas, there are some things that were more collectible at one time than others.

They do yo-yo, but in general terms, stoneware does seem to be creeping back again,

having been a bit low in the last couple of years.

I think a realistic pre-auction estimate would be £60 to £80.

That's fine. I want it to go.

Would you like a reserve on it?

No, I don't know that I will.

-I think just let it go.

-That's fair enough.

Well it is a quality vase so I doubt Jackie will regret her leap of faith with no reserve.

Next up, it's Philip, who's moved from gold to silver with Yvonne's tea caddy.

You lovingly look after this, do you?

-Well, not very good.

-It's beautifully clean. You polish it all the time?

-Don't be sarcastic.

-Me?

Tell us the story behind cleaning it.

Well, I didn't do it until yesterday.

-It hadn't been done...

-Since when?

-Some years.

Some years! It's a really important member of the family!

-Yes, it just sits there and I ignore it.

-Where's it from?

I had it given to me some years ago

-by a very dear friend but I believe it's Dutch.

-Yeah.

These scenes around here are very European

and that shape is almost bombe, which is B-O-M-B-E and not B-O-M-B-A-Y.

-If you look here, we've got some Dutch silver marks just there.

-Yes.

That was assayed in London in 1892.

Right.

-And it's a little tea caddy.

-Yes.

It's beautiful.

What intrigues me is that this was given to you by a dear friend.

-Yes.

-And you sort of...

-I used to clean it.

No, Yvonne, I wasn't going to have a go at you about your cleaning!

Actually, this is a real vote for everyone at home.

This is the sole vote of confidence for everyone who doesn't polish.

Every time you polish something, it's like you wash your face, you take a layer of skin off.

When you're presented with this thing and it's...

so there in your face so do not do that.

I'd much, much rather see a piece of dirty silver.

This isn't dirty, it's just got that nice patina to it and it's got a warm feel to it.

I really like that. What's it worth do you think?

I've no idea.

I'd like it to be worth something but I've no idea.

I think it's a really pretty thing.

I think you could put a cautious estimate on it of £120 to £180.

-Oh, well! That's rather good.

-And you could reserve it at £100.

Um...and...

I think it will do well and it wouldn't surprise me if it topped that.

I was just looking there, is that a...

Is that a young girl in a fairly risque pose on the top?

-Well, I've always thought it was a boy.

-Are you sure?

-A mermaid perhaps.

-Really?

-We'll let the viewers at home decide that one.

-Yeah.

Well, viewers, who do you think that little figure is?

This is where it gets exciting because now we're going to put our valuations to the test.

We've found our first batch of items to take off to auction in Grantham.

It's not an exact science.

This is why we love auction rooms, because some things fly

above the top estimate and other things really do struggle.

Stay tuned and you should have one or two surprises

and hopefully, one of our owners is going to be very, very happy.

Golding Young sale rooms in Grantham

have the job of selling all three of our items.

You've got to pay attention in a sale room.

You've got to "C sharp" or you might "B flat" and go home with nothing.

Let's get on with playing the bass.

Jackie is letting her Royal Doulton vase go with no reserve.

Yvonne's Dutch tea caddy is topped with a mystery figure.

And auctioneer Colin Young has strong feelings on Walter's gold lot.

Everybody will be bidding to it within a fiver of its life.

But first up, it's Yvonne's tea caddy.

-I would be keeping this if I was you.

-Really?

Yeah, it's got the look! Architecturally, it's just right.

Why are you selling this?

Well, it's just sitting there.

That's what tea caddies do - they sit there...

And it needs to be cleaned and, I don't know, I've had it an awful long time.

Oh, I like my tea caddies. Yeah, I do. Yes, I do.

I know Philip does. You see, they're proper lots, aren't they?

Yes, but Yvonne's got me nervous because we were talking before

we started filming and she was saying, "I don't know if it will sell."

-120? It's going to sell.

-I would be mortified if this didn't sell.

-There are so many people out there that collect tea caddies.

-Really?

-It's a good lot, this.

-Lead tea caddies, wooden ones, china ones,

silver ones, papier-mache ones.

-Let's hope there's somebody here today.

-It's got the look.

-You've got the look today as well!

-Thank you.

19th century Dutch silver bombe

silver tea caddy, nice little caddy with nice decoration.

Good embossed decoration to it. Also import marks for 1892

and sponsor's mark TG. A pretty little lot.

Ought to be a couple of hundred pounds of anybody's money.

Let's start at 100 and get on with it. £100.

110, 120, 130, 140? 140, 150,

160, 170, 180, 190.

At 190. 200, 210, 220,

240. 260 now. 240? 260.

280 now. 280, 300.

And 20. 320, 340, 360, 380.

Yvonne, they love it!

It's their cup of tea!

420. 440 now? 420, any more bids?

440? At 420, are we done?

We're in the fourth row and we're selling at £420.

-Yes! The collectors are here. £420!

-That's brilliant.

-That's wonderful!

-Pleased for you.

-Very pleased with it.

That's a great result.

Now, Jackie's vase has stirred up strong opinion from our auctioneer.

-I think that's a bit of a gem.

-It is, absolutely.

It certainly should sell at that sort of estimate.

Classical lines, good baluster and nice Anthenian pattern to it.

Everybody wants to collect the odd piece of Doulton.

Good, solid piece, you can get some heavy flowers in that without it toppling over.

And this is the auctioneers' favourite lot, as well, no reserve?

Absolutely, we like those, we do!

Guaranteed sale and in fairness,

the clients that come with that sort of attitude,

they're usually the clients that have a good result.

So the worst this could go for, with your discretion, would be 30 to 40?

At that sort of level, you'll find I'm the most indiscreet

-auctioneer in the world and it shouldn't go as little as that.

-Good.

That's good news, but is there a surprise in store?

-It's about to go under the hammer which Colin, the auctioneer got very excited about.

-Did he?

Yes, because he said this is my auctioneers favourite - no reserve.

-Oh, I see.

-That's what we've got, no reserve

and it's easily going to do sort of £60 - £80.

Quite easily. It should be 80 - 120.

I love the look - classic balustrade shape.

Everything you want in a vase. And you've come along this morning...

-Except...

-What have you done?

-Put a reserve on.

Why did you have a change of mind right at the last minute.

-I don't know. I just thought...

-Nerves!

That's what it is, be honest.

I've not been to an auction before and I thought, maybe it will go for much less than I think it is worth.

-But when I spoke to him he said, you don't need to worry.

-No, Colin will look after you.

He would never sell it for less than £50.

He wouldn't, because he knows its true worth.

Royal Doulton stoneware baluster vase this time.

There we go, good traditional shape and size and scale.

Who's going to start me at 80? 80? 50 to go then? 50?

40? 30?

30 will go then. £30.

20 to go then, surely? It's here to be sold.

20 bid, two bid, five, 30 bid. 35 bid, 40.

45, 50, 50, 55,

60, 65, 70, 70 bid, 75.

Lots of competition, they love it.

£75 bid. At 80, last call.

I'll take 80 if it will help anyone. 75, lady's bid at 75.

80 anywhere else? 75. Last call then. Going at 75.

Great result. So, what are you going to do with the money?

I have some DIY I need to do.

-Oh dear. Lots of DIY!

-Yes.

Well, that's a practical use for the money at least.

Gold is our final object and some quality pieces at that.

Auctioneer Colin has the low-down.

Two 22 carat gold rings. They belong to Walter.

It is a really lovely story.

He's had them since he was nine- years-old. They were his father's.

And he wore them till he grew out of them and got fed up with them.

-There's a lot of gold there at today's prices.

-There's a heck of a lot of gold.

We're looking at a value of around £600 to £800.

Right. That is probably a good example of how prices fluctuate.

If that was the pricing on it for valuation day,

we're now a little bit nearer to the auction,

and going on latest prices, we put an estimate of 700 to 900.

That's incredible that it fluctuates that much.

Actually you have to monitor what's happening with those precious metal prices every day.

You more or less do.

Over the last week there's been a drop of £3 a gram

and now it's coming back again so the market price will be

exactly what it's worth to the shilling on the day.

-Yeah. And all the potential buyers will be monitoring that scrap value worth?

-Absolutely.

Viewing on sale morning, they will be there with the scales,

with their calculators, looking at the price

and everybody will be bidding to it within a fiver of its life.

So with the prospect of a bidding frenzy, has Walter made the right choice to sell the rings?

Having made that decision that you want to get rid of them, I really want you to get top dollar for them.

It is a tough decision, wasn't it?

-Because you were nine-years-old when you first wore the rings.

-Yes, I was.

They will go towards the wedding.

Are you getting married? Next summer. Congratulations.

What is the name of the bride?

-Gemma.

-Gemma. Well, good luck.

-She'll be happy.

-You need every single penny, weddings cost a lot of money.

-They do.

-They haemorrhage money, don't they?

-You came to mine.

-It was a good do. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Two 22 carat gold buckle or keeper rings both London assayed.

One is 28.1 grams and the other 15.6

so that all adds up to a good 700 to 900 of anybody's money.

Who's going to start me? Bottom estimate - 700 for them.

700? 600? Start me at 500 then, it's less than scrap.

500, thank you, sir. 500 bid.

At 500. 550. Now 550.

600? 600, 650.

650 do I see? 650 commission bid.

700 now. 750. At 750.

800. 800 bid, at 800.

850 now. 850. At 850.

That is incredible, isn't it? It is all scrap value.

No-one is buying it for the aesthetic look.

-It is sort of sad in a way.

-Yeah.

At 850. 875 if the cut's going to make the difference.

At 875 now - no, 850 - we're in the room then and we're selling at £850.

Incredible. £850 worth of scrap value metal.

-That's going to go a long way towards costs.

-Yes it is.

Enjoy the day. Biggest day of your life.

-It will be. Yeah. And Gemma's.

-Unless you've been married before!

-What?!

-I said biggest day of your life unless you've been married before.

You can't say that to Walter.

-Well, I didn't know, he might be...

-You can't say that!

-It might be second time round.

-It could been third!

-It could be.

-THEY CHUCKLE

This will be the first.

-Sorry?

-This'll be the first.

-And the last.

-Yes.

-Definitely.

So that's three positive results for our items.

Now from one lot of sales to another.

Heckington Windmill on the edge of the Lincolnshire Fens is a sight to behold.

With its magnificent eight sails and its striking black tower,

it's a landmark of early eco power.

The windmill was built by a millwright in 1830, originally with five sails

for its owner Michael Hare who tragically died when he was a young man.

It was inherited by his widow who passed it on to a new husband.

Some 60 years later a very strong storm blew off

all the sails and the mechanism, leaving the windmill derelict.

Its saviour was to be a local lad,

a Lincolnshire chap called John Pocklington.

Pocklington was a Miller himself and bought an eight sail windmill

from nearby Boston Docks for the princely sum of £72.10 shillings.

In his spare time and taking over a year, Pocklington moved the sails and the machinery to this site.

It's been in eight sail windmill ever since.

The brilliant thing about Heckington windmill is it's the only

working one of its kind in Western Europe, possibly in the world.

Windmills with eight sails are extremely rare because they're very expensive to build

and maintain compared to the ones with five sails.

Anyway, with five floors to explore, it's only right that I start at the top.

The tower of the windmill is 60ft high.

It is a 100ft if you include the full length of the sail.

Where I'm standing now is right in the cap.

This whole section actually revolves with the aid of a fan tail

which sticks out quite a few feet to catch the wind.

When it has found the right direction, then the wind

will put power into the sails, and as these sails turn, like this...

..they turn these massive great big cogs which articulate like that.

That in turn drives that thing there. That is your drive shaft.

That is the engine room, that is what you have got to harness all the power from.

Imagine getting this all up here,

it must have been a colossal task with block and tackle and cart horses really

because there were no cranes or scaffolding back then. 25 tons of it.

And by the early 1900s, milling for wheat in windmills

was virtually a redundant business.

So millers had to look for work elsewhere.

So, what did John Pocklington do when the demand for flour decreased?

Well, I can tell you, he was an entrepreneur, a very clever man.

He built a sawmill adjacent to the windmill, and that ran off the power from the wind.

He'd harnessed this driveshaft up with lots of drive belts,

which would in turn power the huge great big circular saw blades.

He was also a farmer,

so he installed a cattle feed mixer, which he used on his farm

and many other farms.

And if that wasn't enough,

out the back there he ran a coal merchant's business.

He transported coal down from Yorkshire and Nottingham

and then distributed it to all the local houses.

But more than anything, John just loved this wonderful structure,

an architectural delight which he just used to gaze at,

even from the garden, watching the wind spill through the sails.

He died in 1941, and now the county council own this wonderful windmill.

This is a Grade I listed building, but it's still in use.

Special care has been taken to restore and maintain it.

The tower is painted in black tar to keep out the moisture.

And on the sails, special permission was granted to use original style lead paint to repaint them.

Chain moving!

Geoff Wise and Jim Bailey are volunteers - in their own words, gentlemen millers -

who have learnt the process of milling the grain and turning it into flour.

As the mill is undergoing repairs, they have time to show me the ropes.

Hi, guys. Thanks for talking to me.

Firstly, I've got to ask you, Jim, we're on the stone floor,

so how does the grain get ground into flour? What's the process?

When the sails are turning, it drives this large spur wheel around.

That then connects to the drive coming down here, which turns the stones.

-Right.

-That's what grinds the wheat into flower.

I don't understand why people wanted white bread.

You make both here, don't you, wholemeal and white?

Basically, wholemeal has just had all the goodness bashed out of it for white bread, hasn't it?

It is, but as a demonstration of wealth,

if you could afford to buy an expensive flour, you did.

A rich person would have white bread, white cakes on his table as a demonstration of wealth.

-Is that what it's all about?

-Exactly.

-I never knew that.

Everything that comes out of the stone is wholemeal.

For white flour, you've got to separate the bran.

That take special machinery, a special process, therefore it's more expensive.

Of course, it's more labour intense. How many times a day do you go up these stairs?

-Maybe 20 times in a day.

-That's five flights. No wonder you're fit.

Then we have to show the visitors around as well.

With a smile on your face!

Wow, look at that.

And the fruits of the windmill's labour and its loyal millers can be experienced right here

in the tea gardens just outside the tea rooms there, because that was John Pocklington's old house.

The cakes that are produced in there are made from the flour

from his windmill, which is just a few metres away.

So, with virtually no food miles for the flour,

eco-friendly, renewable energy, and this windmill's wonderful history,

this place, even though it's not windy today,

has completely blown me away.

We have a lot more interesting things to discover here at Burghley House,

including a pair of Victorian knickers.

Very draughty.

But who's going to model them for you?

-Oh, you can, surely.

-No, no, no, we need a beautiful young lady.

Coming up,

Philip might be redundant when looking at Tony and Janet's goblets...

I'm beginning to feel a bit superfluous to this table.

I'm gearing up for my musical debut at Burghley House.

Are you ready?

And two Elizabeths talk silver.

I really wanted to come to Flog It!, you see, so I had to sacrifice something.

We're certainly blessed with wonderful weather today.

The sun is shining and there's a smile on everybody's face. Let's hope those smiles get bigger.

So, it's over to Philip, who's proposing a toast

to Tony and Janet, who've brought in some floral goblets.

-Cheers.

-Cheers!

-So, where are they from?

-We think Bohemia.

-Where's Bohemia?

-No idea.

-It's gone, wherever it was.

-Is it around Czechoslovakia?

-I would think so.

-That sort of neck of the woods.

-It's that area, yes.

OK, so they're Bohemian. How old are they?

We would say late 1800s.

And what are they worth, then?

We think, or we DID think, 100, 150.

I think you may have other ideas.

Well, I'm beginning to feel a bit superfluous to this table, really!

You've got it all right so far.

I think they're interesting things, actually.

-They're pretty, aren't they?

-They're pretty.

As with most things, glassware and porcelain in particular, condition's everything.

You've got a bit of a dink to the foot here. Only minor, but they're not perfect.

-No.

-They're carved overlay.

Oh, is that how they're made?

So you have this glass here, this milky glass, it's almost applied like an icing,

and then it's scraped off, which gives you these panels, here and here,

and this faceted column here.

It's then decorated, sometimes they're hand painted,

sometimes they're printed, sometimes they're printed and then hand painted on.

It looks like there's a bit of both in this,

a certain amount of print and a certain amount of hand paint.

-Occasionally some of these would have had covers.

-Right.

-Never seen covers with these.

-We weren't aware of that.

Did you buy them, or did you...?

No, they're inherited from Tony's auntie.

Yes, they've been in a cabinet, just standing there unused.

You are part of this nation of declutterers.

-We are, yes.

-We have just downsized, you see, from a large house to a smaller house.

-And it's all got to go?

-Yes.

-The children haven't any interest in them.

-That's right.

-Right, so you've told me they're 1860-1880, you've told me they're Bavarian, or Bohemian.

-Bohemian.

You've told me everything, really.

You have told me they're worth £100-£150. I ought to disagree with you

-as a matter of principle on something, shouldn't I?

-You should.

-I think you should.

I can't!

-Good.

-I'm going to put them in at an auction estimate of £80-£120, the auctioneer's friend,

and if you have a good result, I think that you might find them doing your 150,

and then I shall feel completely inadequate and totally useless.

-I wouldn't like that.

-If they reach that or more we'll take you for a drink.

I'm going to hold you to that.

But that's all in a day's work for an expert like Philip.

Now I've picked out something that I like, Mike and Cath's novelty item.

This is an iconic musical instrument from the late 1960s.

It is a Stylophone, played by, as you can see, Rolf Harris.

Wonderful piece of kit. It actually did get used on quite a few albums.

These were really popular.

It was invented by a guy called Brian Jarvis.

It works on a point of contact, here, with this stylus.

Stylophone PLAYS NOTES

Tap it on to the metal keys, it actually closes a vibrating, oscillating circuit.

Dong dong. Simple as that.

They came in three sets - standard, bass and treble,

and David Bowie actually used one of these -

this is how good they are, you can use them in the studio -

in his recording, Space Oddity.

-Also a band called Kraftwerk...

-I remember them.

-..Had a single out,

-a hit single called Pocket Calculator, with one of these.

-Ah.

-Wow.

-So, are you ready?

This is how it works. One, two, three, four, here we go.

HE PLAYS 'SILENT NIGHT' MELODY

Ha! Just!

You could just about tell it.

Sign me up, give me a recording deal. I think they're brilliant fun.

Do you want to put in the sale then with a value of £30-£40?

Yes, I think so, please, yes.

Do you want to reserve it on £25?

-Yeah, probably, yeah.

-OK, yeah.

Protect it, because it is worth that, because you've got the complete package.

-Yeah, that's fine.

-It belongs in a design museum.

If they haven't got one, there's one for sale right now.

We'll see if there are any alternative musicians in Grantham

looking for a Stylophone later.

Elizabeth Talbut's up next, with my friend Elizabeth,

who not only brought in antique bloomers, but also some beautiful silver.

Shining in the sunshine, Elizabeth, is this lovely silver that you've brought.

Thank you. Yes, it is very pretty.

It is very, very pretty. Have you inherited it?

No, it was a present to me some time ago, but I'm living with my daughter

having come from Ireland, and I don't have room for a lot of things,

-it all gets cluttered.

-So you are downsizing, making life simpler?

Well, a little bit, but I really wanted to come to Flog It!, you see,

so I had to sacrifice something.

There you go, two things achieved in one day.

They are both pieces of silver assayed in London.

But this one here is slightly earlier. This was assayed in 1893,

and this one was assayed in 1904,

and stylistically that is absolutely spot-on.

They have a Georgian influence,

an 18th-century influence of decoration, with a repousse melon fluting,

the writhing fluting to the bodies, and then the lovely hatching and cross banding,

then they're stamped with wonderful little roundels, almost fleur-de-lis.

So a lot of charm and character in each piece.

-That's good.

-Yes, I think so.

So you don't take your morning tea or afternoon tea with milk and sugar from these?

No. You're dead right.

I just look at them.

Precious metals at the moment are selling very well. People are looking for silver

in a way that they haven't for the past few years.

They aren't extraordinary in terms of pieces of silver but they're small and pretty

with lots of craftsmanship in a small space. That helps.

Although there's not a huge amount of weight, if you look at an estimate of £50-£80.

A nice wide estimate like that.

Could you not make it 60?

Any advance on 60?

No, you are all right. £60.

-I would like to say that, thank you.

-We will put £60 to £80, £60 reserve.

Would you like that firm or discretionary?

-Can the auctioneer have a bit of discretion on that?

-A teeny bit of discretion.

I'll make a note - teeny bit of discretion. £60 to £80, £60 discretionary.

We'll do that for you. Done and dusted. We'll see what we can do.

You'll have another day out at the auction now.

Well, come back soon then.

And now it's time to say a fond farewell to Burghley House,

and see how our items do when they go off to auction in Grantham.

I've got my favourites and you've probably got yours.

Right now, I'm going to catch up with our owners

because they're feeling nervous.

We'll leave you with a run-down of the items going under the hammer.

We have Tony and Janet's pretty perfect goblets.

Mike and Cath's Stylophone

will make an unusual addition in the auction catalogue.

And Elizabeth's stylish silverware.

First, it's the Bohemian goblets which have sparked discussion between auctioneer Colin and myself.

-Colin, I laughed when I first saw these.

-Don't you like them?

I didn't to start with

but the more you look at them they actually do grow on you.

I don't know if I'd give them house space but I appreciate

that it's hand-painted and classic Victoriana.

It's the white that puts me off. There's something about it.

Tony and Janet want to sell them. We've got a classic £80 to £120, which is good value.

It is, absolutely.

Very good estimate on it.

Would you take those home? Would you put your lemon sorbet in those?

I don't think I would. They are certainly not my taste.

Not from a collecting point of view but from an auctioneer's point of view, they are fabulous.

-It's a good lot.

-Absolutely.

-The condition is cracking, very good.

It is, and that's all important on these pieces.

There are not many buyers for them but there are sufficient

that there will be enough competition for them to make their market price.

They are genuine little bits of good works of art in their own right.

-And you've sold these before?

-Plenty of them.

Let's hope Colin is right, as they are going under the hammer right now.

-It's time to say goodbye.

-It is.

-They've been in a cupboard.

-They have.

Were they in the cupboard because they were a little bit too loud looking, and white?

They don't suit the house. We've downsized and there just wasn't a home for them any more.

I've got to admit when I first saw them, I laughed.

-They are not your taste.

-They are not, but when you look at the work involved

and you see they are all hand-painted...

Yes, they are quite old.

And it's typical high Victoriana.

-It is.

-I think they're just a good old-fashioned lot, aren't they?

They are an acquired taste. Good luck.

It's a bit of a roller-coaster ride but I think we are pretty safe.

-Yes.

-Fingers crossed.

-This is more the roundabout than the roller-coaster.

-They'll sell.

-I prefer roundabouts!

-Here we go.

Lot number two are showing there 105, a pair of late 19th-century

Bohemian glass goblets this time,

encased in white and slice cut, hand painted decoration as well.

A fabulous pair of goblets.

Who is going to start me at bottom estimate, £80?

80.

50?

30 bid. 35. 40. 45.

50. 60. 70. 80.

90. 100. 110.

120. 130. 140.

130 at the back of the room. 130 bid.

140. 150. 160 now.

160 bid.

170. Multiple bidders.

180. 190 we are up to now. 190 bid.

Any more now in the room? At 190.

Net bidders have it then.

At 190. Are we finished?

We are selling on the market at £190.

Great result.

That's good, isn't it?

-Lots of competition there.

-Yes.

-Obviously going to a collector.

-From memory, wasn't there a little nibble?

-Yes. On the bottom, on the base.

I'm really pleased with that.

Good, thank you.

Are you going to reinvest in antiques?

No. We are on the other side now.

We've decided what we will do with them. We are going to Italy in September.

-We've got that booked.

-We'll have a couple of gondola rides.

You can have just one... No, we can't say one Cornetto, can we?

I almost said that.

One ice-cream.

You can have a 99!

I wondered what you were going to say there, Paul.

That great result for the goblets will buy Tony and Janet a lot of ice creams on holiday.

Next up, my Stylophone find.

Right, it's my turn to be the expert.

Unfortunately I couldn't get Rolf Harris or David Bowie to come along, but I have got Mike and Cath.

Guess what I'm talking about? You've got it, that Stylophone, dee, dee, dee.

Which we got a tune out of, didn't we?

-Silent night, wasn't it?

-I was quite impressed with that.

-So was I.

It was nearly right, wasn't it?

I could tell what it was.

Mind you, I had an excuse lined up.

The batteries were going! But they were all right.

This is a bit of fun, hopefully we will get around £20 to £25.

-Fingers crossed.

-Yep.

I'm feeling a bit nervous, but...

-We enjoyed the day, didn't we?

-It was fun.

135 is an original Rolf Harris Stylophone.

Comes with its original box and complete with booklet,

just in case you don't know how to use it.

I wonder what the bidders are thinking down there?

What's this doing here?

30. 20.

You know you can all remember it.

20. £10 to go.

£10 bid. 10. 12. At 10 bid. 12.

12. Anybody else going to join the sweet music? 12 bid. 15 bid.

No, one was enough for him.

12 bid. 15 bid.

Oh, dear. We got 15, there's someone in the room now.

18 bid. 20 bid. 22 now.

At £20 bid. At 22.

25. 25.

At 25. This is no money for this.

At 25. Any more bidders?

Is it dead yet? No, at 25...

Wrong Rolf Harris show. Going at £25. Thank you very much.

We said 25.

-It just reached its reserve.

-It reached its reserve.

-That's good.

Oh, well. It could have done a bit better, but there you go.

Never mind. At least it went.

It's better than the skip.

Yes, you're right, £25 is better than throwing it in a skip.

And finally we have Elizabeth and her daughter, Vanessa, who have come along for the sale of the silver.

We could be selling your inheritance really.

What do you think about this? Mum, what are you selling?

Yes, but it's going to immortalise us.

Isn't it? I hadn't thought about that.

-That's why I'm selling the silver.

-Let's hope we get the top end of the estimate.

-I'd hope so.

-I would hope so for that, yes.

-I think you were a little doubtful.

I'd said I wanted a reserve.

-I was teasing you, I was teasing you!

-Oh, go on!

That's all right then.

It's a good time to sell silver, the market is really high.

It's ripe for it. Yes.

-My little spree.

-A spending spree afterwards?

A teeny weeny one, anyway.

The Victorian silver cream jug and two handled sugar bowl to go with it.

A good little pairing this, very nice decoration, moulded and etched.

Who's going to start me at £50?

50? 30. £30 anyone?

30. 20 to go. Here to be sold. 20 bid.

22, 25, 30 on the net. 35.

It's gone down low, hasn't it?

40 bid, 45.

50 now. 50 bid. 55. 60.

60 if you like. 60 there, five anywhere else now?

At £60. More bids over by the jewellery cabinet. 60, I'm asking.

65, anyone? Coming in again on the net. 65.

-70 now.

-Goodness.

-70, 75 now.

75, surely? At 70 it's back in the room.

At £70 bid. Anybody else going to join in?

-75 on the net. 80 over there. No?

-Fantastic!

75. 78 if it's going to help you out.

78 bid? Nope.

At 75 the net bidder has it, last call at £75.

-Yes!

-Fantastic.

-Well done.

Good valuation. Spot on.

I couldn't hear a word.

What did it sell for?

-£75. The battery has gone on the hearing-aid.

-Yes!

Oh, very funny, yes. Everyone have a laugh.

-That's brilliant. So exciting, wasn't it?

-It was.

That's brilliant that they sold. You were doubtful about that.

-I wasn't doubtful, I was teasing you.

-You weren't, I don't believe a word of it!

-She's a character, isn't she?

-She is a character.

Well, that's it. It's all over for our owners.

As you can see, the auction is still going on,

but don't you just love days like that when everything goes well?

I've thoroughly enjoyed myself here today.

All our owners have gone home happy, all credit to our experts.

If you've got any antiques you want to sell, we want to see you.

But for now, from Grantham, it's bye-bye.

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