Warwick Castle Flog It!

The origins of this castle date back to Saxon times,

but it was William the Conqueror who commanded the first wooden castle to be built here on this site.

I wonder what he'd make of it today, because "Flog It!" comes to you from the magnificent Warwick Castle.

Will we find any Saxon or Norman antiquities here today?

I certainly hope so. But hundreds of people have turned out,

all laden with bags and boxes, so I know we'll find some treasures.

Somebody's going to go home with a great deal of money.

I don't know who it is yet, but keep watching and you'll find out.

It's time to get on with the show and get everybody inside the courtyard so they can ask...

ALL: What's it worth?

'And we have a whole team of experts here to provide the answer.

'They're led by our Glaswegian auctioneer, Anita Manning,

-'a woman of great experience...'

-Tell me where you got it.

'..who instantly knows what she's looking at.'

-It's a bit early in the day for that!

-THEY LAUGH

'But being canny as usual, she's not giving anything away.'

It looks lethal, but we'll have a closer look at it.

'And Thomas Plant, another auctioneer with extensive knowledge

'who has an eye for the unusual.'

Is it a railing, is it a battle mace? I think it might be railing.

'And then, of course, there's me. Well, I've never been one to blow my own trumpet.'

HE BLOWS HORN

'And coming up, I have a question of a rather personal nature for Anita.'

Have you ever had to share a bathroom with three or four guys?

-Only the men I was married to.

-THEY LAUGH

'I'm given all the right answers by one of our owners.'

They came via my nan's sister, who was a domestic for the sculptor.

-You're joking!

-No.

-Oh, my gosh! Such provenance!

'And I explore Hidcote Manor, probably one of the most beautiful gardens in Britain.'

When you look around and take it all in, it's absolutely stunning.

It shows the eye of a true artist. Just look at it.

Well, I think we're going to be in for a marvellous day here at Warwick Castle.

The sun is shining, there are smiles on everybody's faces, everybody's now safely seated in the courtyard

and it looks like Anita Manning is our first expert to the tables. Let's take a wee peep.

Cath, I am absolutely soppy about miniature things,

and I'm delighted to see this lovely wee doll's highchair.

-Can you tell me where you go it?

-It belonged to my mother

and she was going to sell it about ten years ago,

-so I said I would like to have it.

-Do you have a collection of dolls? Did you use it?

-No.

I don't have a collection and I don't collect dolls,

but it belonged to my mother, who had dolls, and I think she would've had it as part of the collection.

So how did you use it? What did you do with it?

I didn't really. It's just been sitting around. It was in the loft for a while

and then I brought it down and I've just moved house,

so I just feel I haven't really got room for it any more.

It's a delightful wee thing.

It's a fairly simple wee item

which I think may have been made up perhaps by a father for his daughter.

It's a wee artisany type of thing.

Now, what we have is a highchair for the dolly

and if you can help me with this, we bring this over,

and then bring it up like that

and we have a little low chair which wheels back and forward.

-And you can lift this up.

-We can lift this up and we've got a nice little piece of stencil

-or pokerwork here.

-Oh, right!

-And we can see this delightful little scene

of children playing in a woodland

and feeding chickens.

And, of course, these wee things here for the dolly to play with.

So, I mean, it's such a sweet wee thing.

-It's made of beech.

-Right.

It's probably 1930s, 1940s.

I wouldn't date it much earlier than that,

-and it certainly isn't Victorian.

-OK.

I think it's sweet, it's adorable.

It will appeal to the doll collectors,

because this will be a piece of furniture

on which to display their dolls,

-and the doll market is good just now.

-Is it?

I mean, have you an idea of what you would be looking for or what you think its value is?

I've not really any idea, but possibly £80 or something? 80 to 100?

-I think...

-Maybe more. I'd like that to be the lowest amount.

-Yeah. I think we're in that region, anyway.

-Good.

I think, probably, an estimate of 80 to 120 is the right estimate.

Let's hope that we have two doll collectors in there who will compete fiercely for it.

It is a sweet wee thing. Are you happy with that 80 to 120?

-Yeah, that's fine.

-Let's put it to auction. Let's flog it!

-OK. Thank you very much.

'Anita's started us off with the auctioneer's favourite estimate of £80 to £120.

'She's right, that little chair should appeal to the doll collectors.

'It's always good to find young people at our events.'

-You're very young. You're both into antiques, obviously.

-I'm doing it for my mum.

-HE LAUGHS

-You're on a errand, are you, for Mum?

-Yeah.

-Aww, bless her.

'Next, young Thomas with Pap, who has brought in something a bit out of the ordinary.'

That's your nickname. Why is that?

So, tell me, you brought along this Nepalese, is that right...

Nepalese Kora, I think. From the research I've done, I think that's what it is.

Tell me where you acquired it from.

I helped an old gentleman put a pond in his back garden

and I didn't want to take any money off him

and he knew I'd got a few replica swords hanging up at home, so he gave me this.

So this gentleman, a neighbour, friend?

Turned out to be a friend in the end. He was a neighbour of a friend.

-And you just helped him.

-Just helped him with his pond in his back garden.

-He presented you with this Nepalese Kora.

-Yeah.

-It's quite a vicious instrument, isn't it?

-It's still got quite an edge on it.

Still got quite an edge. It's rather handsome. It's rather a nice weapon, really.

The thing about these that one always has to look at

is are these copies? Cos, obviously, they were copied in India quite a lot

and sold as tourist items.

But something about this tells me the quality is too good to be a copy,

-especially this inlay here.

-Yeah.

The chap who gave it to you, the man who you did the pond for,

did he acquire it himself?

It was a relative who was in the Queen's Hussars,

I think the Nottinghamshire Regiment.

He was told he brought it back with him from India when he'd done a tour of duty out there.

-So this gentleman you did the pond for was elderly, so his relative...

-Yes.

-So we're talking 1900s, are we?

-I think so.

-Late Victorian, early Edwardian, early 20th century.

I think that all adds up to this.

And the fact that there's a slight crack in the steel here,

-I think this has been used.

-Yeah.

-Now, let's talk about value.

We've established that we think it's right.

I personally think it's worth £150 to £250.

It could make £200 to £300.

But what do you want to say? What do you want to do?

Well, at that price, yeah, the money would come in handy, cos I'm rebuilding a bike.

-You're rebuilding a bike?

-Yeah. So the money would go towards that.

-Brilliant.

-Shall we talk about a reserve?

-Yeah, I wouldn't like it to go for nothing.

-What do you want?

-Would a reserve of 100, 125?

It's perfectly acceptable to put a reserve on lower than the estimate. 120 I think would be great.

-All I can hope for you is that at the auction we get £200 plus for that.

-That would be nice.

-And that would be really useful for the bike rebuild.

-It would.

'Well, I'd love to have a look at that bike when it's finished.

'Seems some people are planning to celebrate long before the auction.'

-Ooh, look! Look! Hey!

-THEY LAUGH

Someone's a winner!

Oh, look at that! A bottle of bubbly!

Hey, you do it in style, don't you? You do it in style.

-I'm not joking, this is chilled, as well.

-THEY LAUGH

'Next, Anita with a mystery object.

'Does anybody know what it is?'

-Deborah, welcome to "Flog It!" Is this your wee girl?

-Yes, this is Bethany.

Now, do you know what this is, Deborah?

-No, no, we're not sure.

-You're not sure. Bethany, what do you think?

No idea. Looks like something to do with tea with the strainer.

Yeah. Well, it has something to do with liquid

and if you think along the lines of tea strainer, you're thinking along the right lines.

This is what we call a wine funnel

and it was used in much the same way as you would use a tea strainer.

What you would do is you would decant your wine into a decanter

and you would pour it through the top here

so that all the gunge and sediment at the bottom

would be kept in this reservoir at the top

and your wine would slide beautifully into your cut-glass decanter.

Now, tell me where you got it.

It was one of my late auntie's pieces

and we found it very safely locked away.

-So you've never used it.

-No.

-Never used it. OK.

This is a very collectable item.

Number one, because of its purpose.

People who are interested in good wines and so on will use this

and would like to own such an item.

It is also of considerable age.

The hallmark has told me that it is 1803,

so it's George III.

If you look here, you can see the little lion mark telling us that it's silver.

Another point which is important

is that it was made in Newcastle.

And people love to collect provincial silver.

So we've got a lovely, lovely thing here.

Another thing that I should mention in talking about this item

is the condition of it, which is good.

Very often, in funnels of this age,

we have this bottom part broken off.

So this is absolutely complete

and it's absolutely lovely.

Now, value on it. What would you think? Can you make a guess?

Er, about £50 to £75.

-I was thinking the same, yeah.

-Right, OK.

Well, if we put it to auction, I would hope for perhaps four times that.

-Really?

-Yeah. So I would like to put an estimate of £200 to £300 on it.

-Gosh!

-It's a terrific item.

-Would you be happy to put it to auction at that price?

-Yes.

Yeah. You're still thinking it's a pretty useless object, aren't you?

THEY LAUGH

Well, it's a highly collectable wee thing and I think it's lovely.

So, estimate, £200 to £300.

We'll perhaps put a reserve price of 180 on it

and take it to auction and I'm sure it will do very, very well.

-Thank you so much for bringing it along.

-Thank you.

'Now, that's what I call a very fluid valuation.'

Well, we are now halfway through our day and people still keep pouring in

all laden with antiques and collectables.

But right now, it's time to put our first valuations to the test.

We've found some real gems, so let's find out what the bidders think.

We're making our way to the auction room and we'll leave you with a quick rundown

to jog your memory of all the items that are going under the hammer.

'I rather think Anita fell for the doll's highchair.

'It'll do well if the doll collectors are there at the auction.

'The Nepalese Kora sword is quality, looks authentic and the provenance sounds right,

'so I imagine it will shortly be in the hands of a new owner.

'And with its George III hallmark, I think Deborah and Beth's beautiful silver wine funnel

'will definitely be the one to watch.'

You've seen the items our experts have picked out at the valuation day.

I think there could be one or two surprises. This is where we're putting the valuations to the test,

Bigwood Auctioneers and Valuers in Stratford-upon-Avon.

So let's go inside and catch up with our owners, because I know they're feeling really nervous.

'The auction room's looking busy, which is always a good sign,

'and we have two auctioneers selling our lots today, Steven Kay and Christopher Ironmonger.

'And we're kicking off with Christopher, who'll be selling the doll's highchair belonging to Cath.'

The country's full of people that collect dolls

and they should want this next item, cos it's a doll's highchair.

And hopefully they're here to buy it, because we've got £80 to £120 on this.

-This was your mum's.

-Yes.

-So did she have a doll sitting on it?

-No, she had a collection of dolls.

-Did she?

-Yes.

-So I think it was part of that.

-It's a stunning little example.

It's a nice wee thing. It folds over and it's a little sort of chair, a low chair.

-So we've got two functions there, and it's very, very sweet.

-It's metamorphic furniture!

-So we should get twice as much money!

-THEY LAUGH

341 is the Victorian doll's metamorphic highchair.

There it is. Lovely little chair it is indeed.

Who's going to start me? £80 for it?

Come on, where's all the hands?

60 I'm bid. 60. 70. 80.

80. 90 is it? £80 over here by the stairs.

I'll sell it. 90 if you want to carry on.

90. 100. 110.

100 by the stairs here. You're out over there.

At £100. 110 possibly might do it.

At £100. Are we all finished at 100?

-Hammer's gone down.

-Yes.

-Well done.

-That's good.

-Good valuation, Anita. You happy with that?

-Yes.

There is commission to pay, it's 15 percent plus VAT here.

It does vary from saleroom to saleroom, so do check the details in the catalogue, it's printed there.

-Well done.

-Thank you very much.

-That's a meal out. Treat yourself.

'Anita was spot on mid-estimate, Good show.

'Thomas is up next, and this next lot was a sharp choice.'

Well, we definitely are at the cutting edge of saleroom

because just going under the hammer we've got that lovely Nepalese sword.

-150 to 250?

-Yeah. I think it's got a very good chance of making a little bit more.

These aged weapons have really taken off.

We'll find out if we are at the cutting edge because it's going under the hammer now.

The late 19th, early 20th century Nepalese sword.

I've got 160 here. 170? 160 on the book.

At 160. 160. I'm going to sell it.

At 160. With me on the book at 160. Is it 170 in the room now?

At 160. Your last chance to bid.

160, the bid's here.

-160.

-Sold for 160.

It wasn't the hammer going down, it was the sword going across. Happy?

-Yes.

-That'll do nicely.

-It'll pay for a rewiring job on the bike.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

-Repairing it in the front room?

I have to have them in the garage now. Used to be in the bedroom.

'I think Thomas would've liked a little more for that, but it did sell within estimate.

'Now we have something a bit special for the silver collectors.

'That Georgian silver wine funnel. And a change of auctioneer.'

Deborah, why are you flogging this?

Well, Bethany's hoping to go to university in October.

-Congratulations. Where are you going?

-Loughborough.

And students haemorrhage money! I know what you're going to say.

-They do, don't they?

-Yes.

-So it's going towards the fees.

-Yes.

-Have you got your accommodation sorted out yet?

-I have.

-You're feeling positive.

-En suite.

That's a really good move, cos you do not want to be sharing a bathroom

-with four guys, do you?

-No.

-No?

-No.

-Have you ever had to share a bathroom with three or four guys?

-Only the men I was married to.

THEY LAUGH

The wine funnel. George III.

Unusual assay office, Newcastle.

Doesn't turn up that often.

£100 to start me? 100 I've got. 110. 120. 130. 140.

150. 160. 170. 180. 190. 200. And 10.

220. 230. 240.

-This is good.

-230 with you, sir. 240. 250.

260. 270. 260 I have here. Anyone else?

270. 280? 290. 300? And 10?

320? 330?

340. 350.

340 I've got. Anyone else? 350 over there.

360. 370. 380.

390. 400.

And 10. 420.

430.

440. 450.

460. 470.

460 I have. Anyone else?

-£460!

-Yes!

-Hammer's gone down!

-What a good result, eh, Beth?

-Yeah.

-I'll be having my en suite.

-That will set you off on your journey to uni.

-It will.

'That was a good result, which is what you'd expect with such a fabulous item.

'What a brilliant end to our first trip to the saleroom today.

'Time now for a change of pace.'

'What can be more beautiful than a garden on a summer's day?

'And this one's right in the heart of England.'

Hidcote Manor in Gloucestershire is a charming, delightful house.

It's so quintessentially English. But its real merits lie beyond these gates.

Because, without doubt, it has one of the most outstanding gardens in England.

It was created in the early part of the 20th century

and it's the first ever gardens to be taken on for its horticultural merits

by the National Trust, back in 1948.

'The garden, which is Arts and Crafts in style, was the lifelong work of Lawrence Johnston.

'His mother, the formidable Gertrude Winthrop,

'a wealthy twice-widowed American, bought Hidcote in 1907.

'It came with a hamlet of cottages, but no garden to speak of,

'just a collection of rose beds and a huge cedar of Lebanon.'

So, what is an Arts and Crafts style garden? Good question!

It's the Edwardians turning their backs on what they considered to be Victoria conformity,

let's say rows and rows of regimented, gaudy bedding plants,

which was all the rage at the time.

Lawrence Johnston described Hidcote as "a wild garden within a formal setting."

It was a romantic vision, an artistic vision, and he certainly got that right,

with the use of old-fashioned flowers and traditional garden crafts, such as topiary.

That, with a combination of natural materials, like the stone I'm walking on,

and wood left in the round for all the arbours,

created a cottage-like atmosphere,

one the harked back to the pre-industrial world.

'Lawrence was a man of 36 when they arrived here.

'He'd already been off to fight in the Boer War

'and had become a naturalised British citizen, in love with his adopted English heritage.

'In the seven years he and his mother lived here, before the start of the First World War,

'most of the garden was close to the house.

'It took many years for it to grow to its current size,

'spreading slowly out into the surrounding countryside.'

This is his starting point. The garden is divided up into rooms which extend out from the house.

This is key to the Arts and Crafts idea.

Many gardens are divided up with walls, but here,

they're divided with beautiful box and yew wood hedges.

This area is now known as the White Garden,

and when you look around and take it all in, it's absolutely stunning.

It's subtle, it's clever, and I wasn't surprised to find out that Lawrence was a keen painter.

It shows the eye of a true artist. Just look at it.

And another great thing about having different themed rooms within the garden is

there's many inviting doorways for you to walk through.

There are 28 garden rooms here at Hidcote. The closer they are to the house, the more formal they are

and then gradually, the further away they get, they start giving way to nature and wilderness.

It's a highly creative, personal statement

and the great thing is, it's all on a wonderfully human scale.

Walking around the garden, Lawrence constantly surprises. Some rooms are bursting full of plants.

Others are left quite sparse.

And it's these contrasts that make it so incredibly exciting.

Gardens like this just don't happen overnight.

Lawrence worked on the design for well over 23 years

and he created this room, the one I'm in now,

upon his return from fighting in the First World War.

Now, nobody knows for sure why there are 22 English yew pillars here.

Maybe it's no coincidence that there were 22 fellow officers in his regiment.

And in total contrast, you've got the Rose Walk.

Now, this is absolutely stunning.

In fact, it's breathtaking, especially on a gorgeous day like this.

Looking at these wonderful deep beds, you can see splashes of colour everywhere.

That's the eye of an artist. It's like his palette board.

But it's also the eye of a very keen plantsman.

Many of the examples you see here Lawrence gathered on his planting-hunting trips

to far-flung places such as South Africa, China and Turkey.

'It was for this, and his contribution to horticulture,

'that in 1947, he was given the highest accolade of the Royal Horticultural Society,

'a gold Veitch Memorial Medal.

'Not only had he introduced many new plants,

'but he'd created one of the most influential gardens of his time.'

Well, here we have it. This rock bank is a reconstruction

of what Lawrence would've come across on one of his plant-hunting expeditions,

and I absolutely love this part of the garden, because here it blends in effortlessly

with the Gloucestershire countryside.

A classic end to an Arts and Crafts garden.

'Back at Warwick Castle, our team of experts are still at full tilt.

'Keep watching, because later in the show, we have a priceless moment,

'one that I thought I would never see.'

-Unbelievable! Unbelievable!

-Thomas is lost for words.

'But right now, Anita is delighted with a platter belonging to Sue and daughter Jane.'

Welcome to "Flog It!" and I'm delighted that you've brought in

this wonderful strawberry dish. Tell me, where did you get it?

It's my husband's auntie's, so it's Jane's great auntie,

and I think she was given it. She's had it 30, 40 years

and it's been on a coffee table just inside, just stuck there,

and she's had soap in it.

SHE LAUGHS She always thought there was something missing.

Did you like it when you inherited it? Have you enjoyed having it?

Yeah, it has been nice, but we're so scared of it getting broken with grandkids.

And what does your lovely daughter think about it?

-It's not of my taste.

-THEY LAUGH

Interestingly enough, this type of ware has gone out of fashion a wee bit.

It is a Victorian piece. But younger people are not as interested in it

as older folk are.

It's Majolica, which is a tin-glazed earthenware.

And we love it because of the sort of luscious singing glaze.

It's almost translucent. It's lovely.

And we can see the strawberries here.

It would've been used to pile your strawberries on

on a beautiful day like today and you have your little cream jug beside it.

We've had this all this time and I never realised it was strawberries.

-We learn something every day.

-Which is really brilliant.

Now, if we look at the back of it, Sue, we can date it.

And we have on here, this is what we call a registration lozenge.

I've checked it out and the date of it is 1873.

So it's a substantial age.

It's in remarkable condition for that age.

We have a wee hairline crack here, which makes a wee bit of difference value-wise,

but I'm not considering that terribly important.

Now, the make of it. We see no maker's name on the back.

It's quite possible that it could be Mintons or Wedgewood

or George Jones, one of these.

I'm thinking that it's probably Jones,

because I would be expecting a Wedgewood or a Mintons to be slightly heavier.

I see, yeah. OK.

-Why are you selling it?

-She's getting married in August

and my other daughter's had a big extension,

so we could do with the cash.

-Children always cost you money!

-As they get older.

It never stops, but it's always a pleasure.

-It'd buy us a bottle of champagne, wouldn't it?

-Yeah.

Well, I hope that it buys maybe a magnum of champagne.

-And her auntie would appreciate that.

-I think that's a lovely idea.

We'll put it in with an estimate of £100 to £200.

We'll put a firm reserve of £100 on it

and hopefully it will fly away and will buy you a good few bottles of champagne for the wedding.

You never know. We'll toast you. THEY LAUGH

'What a lovely thing to spend the money on, a family celebration.

'Thomas's attention has just been grabbed by a quirky little fellow

'belonging to sisters Miranda and Ruby.'

-Girls, tell me, who actually owns this item?

-My mother owned it.

-Your late mother. So you girls are sisters?

-Yes.

-Never would've guessed.

-Of course. And what brings you here?

-We've come along to see if we can see how much this is valued at, please.

-You're talking about your biscuit barrel.

-Yes.

Well, if I take the lid off, it helps us here. Look.

McVitie and Price Biscuit Manufacturers

to HM the King and the Prince of Wales. There we are.

Edinburgh and London. Nicely printed there.

-Obviously, it is a biscuit tin.

-Yes.

But what I liked about it was the object itself.

A biscuit tin could just be a plain, simple rectangular or square tin.

But people then decided, "No, we don't want to do that, we want to make interesting objects,"

and that's what's important about this, the design and the lithography,

which is the feathers, the painting,

the printing on it and the moulding.

-It's quite a difficult thing to have done.

-Yes.

And it would've been quite expensive as a biscuit barrel.

-Yes.

-Cos it's more difficult to make and there's certainly more integral parts.

-There's a base and then you've got the sections and the lid.

-Yes.

Do you think your mother had it in the twenties?

-She may have done.

-When was she married?

1952.

1952. So I think it could've been her mother's.

-It might have been.

-I think it's Deco.

Or if it wasn't that, it was the people she worked for.

She worked for different people, you know, when she was younger, so...

-What was she doing? Was she in service?

-Service, yeah.

I think it might have been that, because this would've been quite an expensive item

-and it's a bit of a frivolity to spend money on a biscuit barrel.

-Yes.

So it would've been probably something which maybe the household were getting rid of

-and she acquired it that way.

-Yes.

-But it's from that period,

pre-war, 1920s I would've thought, maybe a little earlier.

And it's also got so many facets to why it's interesting.

You've got the interest because of the design, the printing, the lithography,

the way it's made, and advertising, as well.

So, the important question. What do you girls think it's worth?

Well, we haven't got a clue, actually.

-Not even a Scooby?

-No.

-Nothing?

-No.

-We've never had it valued.

Well, I would've thought you're going to get between £50 and £80 for it at auction.

How does that grab you?

-Yeah. That's fine.

-Is that all right?

-Yes.

-Can we put a reserve on it?

-Yes.

-Around about £40. I think that gives the auctioneer a bit of leeway.

-Yes.

And then he might be able to start it and move on from there.

-But it's quite nice.

-Yes. Yeah, that's good. Thank you.

'Biscuit barrels are not my area, so who knows, maybe it could fly away.

'We're having a brilliant day here at Warwick Castle and it's just about to get better.'

Helen, you've absolutely made my day. I'm in love with these.

Big cats. Aren't they wonderful?

OK, tell me the story. How did you come by them?

I inherited them about ten years ago from my grandparents

and they came to them via my nan's sister,

who was a domestic for the sculptor.

-You're joking!

-No.

-Oh, my gosh! Such provenance!

-Direct from the artist.

-And they've been in your family a long time.

-Every since then, yes.

Frank Lutiger.

Unbelievable. A Swiss artist, but he did live in the Midlands.

I think so, yeah. So I believe.

-Incredible, isn't it? He was born in around 1870, somewhere around there.

-Yeah, something like that.

-Yeah.

-Oh, wow!

-What do you do for a living?

-I'm a full-time artist.

-It doesn't get much better than this.

-So you can really appreciate these.

-Yes, I can definitely appreciate the skill.

-You know what's coming next, don't you? What my next question is?

-Go on, then.

-Do you really want to sell them?

-I do and I don't.

I don't really have room for them.

I've got quite a small house and a family, so I don't really have room for them

and I guess it's time for them to go to somebody who would really appreciate them.

OK. Well, look, I've done a bit of research on Frank Lutiger.

He was very prolific in the 1920s.

He did specialise in big cats. He loved lions and cheetahs and tigers. Absolutely adored them.

Interestingly enough, this one was modelled in 1925.

You've got this large cat picking at a bone.

But look at its muscle tone. And look at those variegated hues in the bronze.

-That's what you want. You want the rub.

-Yeah.

And this one, modelled in 1926. So they're a year apart,

which is quite nice, because it means it's easier to put a value on them

-and to split them up into two separate lots, if that's what you want.

-Yeah.

Now, what sort of figure have you in mind for these two?

Erm, I don't know. I would hope that they would fetch about £500 each.

Do you know, you're spot on. You are absolutely spot on.

I was going to hedge my bets and say £400 to £600,

but I'd be quite happy to put these into auction with a value of £500 to £700 each,

with a reserve at £500,

because they have such a wonderful impressionistic look.

Considering he flourished in the 1920s, that's the Art Deco period,

-you'd think it to be more Deco-looking.

-Yes.

But this is so impressionistic. It's very loose and I really like that because it's timeless.

And I think we'll find a bigger market for these.

I hope so. Hopefully, they'll be worth more, but I'd be happy with that.

I thought you were going to give me a tough time and say, "They are worth £800 each, let's start there."

No, you know the business better than I do.

-I've never sold anything at auction.

-It's a funny old game.

You've got to get people interested, not put them off at the first hurdle. I'd be happy with that.

-I can't wait for this moment, and I bet you can't, either.

-No, I can't.

-HE LAUGHS

-See you at the auction room!

-Thank you.

'They are just stunning. I hope you agree.

'Who wouldn't like to own those beautifully sculpted cats?

'Before our lots go under the hammer, let's take another look at them.

'The Victorian tin-glazed earthenware plate, dated 1873,

'perfect for strawberries and cream in the garden on a summer's day.'

'And you could add some homemade shortbread if you'd like,

'if you'd also brought the bird-shaped biscuit barrel, which is brimming with personality.

'And finally, my choice, the two bronze big cats, dating from the 1920s.

'They're sleek and wonderfully modelled.

'Steven Kay is putting our first item under the hammer.

'It's the strawberry dish owned by Sue, who's brought Malcolm, her husband, along for moral support.'

Sue and Malcolm, good luck. It's that lovely Majolica strawberry plate.

It's a good, solid, traditional antique.

The hairline crack won't put too many collectors off, because it's tin-glazed

and I've seen these things sell with great big gouges and chips out of them. So good luck. Here we go.

The Majolica strawberry serving platter.

I have some bids here on the book and I can start at £130. 140?

I'm on the book at 130 and I'll take 140.

I'm going to sell at 130. Anyone else?

-Good price, good price.

-Yeah.

-Happy?

-Oh, yes, more than happy.

-What are you putting the money towards?

-A wedding.

-A wedding?

-In three weeks.

-Whose wedding?

-Jane, my daughter.

-Your daughter.

-So we'll drink to you, Anita.

-Thank you!

'Celebrations all round, then. Before the sale,

'I asked auctioneer Christopher Ironmonger his thoughts on Helen's sculpted bronze cats.'

My eyes lit up at the valuation day when Helen arrived carrying these two big bronze cats.

"Oh, my gosh. Yes, please. Hopefully you want to sell them and I'd love to value them."

Her family knew the artist when he lived in England for a few years

and we've put £500 to £700 on each one and separated the lots.

I like them. I think they're very typical of his work

-and you could say shining examples, really.

-Exactly.

I think, to the right collector, for someone who wants to make an investment, they're an ideal lot.

Hopefully, they'll stay together. I'm hoping the same person buys them. But you never know.

-It would be a nice thought. Things often do go like that, but we'll see.

-I can see these in a gallery.

Yes. I think that the attraction of the subject is half of it

-and the quality of his workmanship.

-Has there been much interest?

-A fair bit of interest. We've got other bronzes in the sale, so we'll see.

-It's in good company.

-It'll be interesting to see which does the most.

-I suspect that one.

It is down to the appearance that people go for, as well as the art in it.

-Right now, it's down to you. It's time to go on the rostrum and put them under the hammer.

-Indeed.

-Have you seen your big cats in the room?

-I have. I had a little twang.

-Did you have a flutter?

-Yeah, I did.

-This is it. I'm scared now.

They're split into two lots and we're looking at around £500 to £700. Let's go.

The cast and patinated bronze and model cat.

And he's a very handsome chap there, resting on his haunches.

And I'm bid 400 on the book here. At 400.

Is it 50 now?

At £400. 420 is it? 420. 440?

440. 460. 480. 500.

500. 500? 500.

520? At £500 and it will be sold, make no mistake.

At £500, are we done?

-Yes.

-Ooh!

-First one's gone. That was my favourite.

-Yeah, you liked that one, didn't you?

-Yeah.

-That's on the wooden base.

This is the other cast and patinated bronze, another seated cat.

This one's dated 1925. Signed again.

And I've got a 500 bid. At 500. 50, is it?

At £500. It's going to sell at £500. 20 anywhere?

Just give you the last chance. At £500.

Gone again. £1,000.

Wow. Thank you!

-We did it, didn't we?

-Yeah. Big, deep breath.

-Thank you for bringing them in. They're beautiful.

-Pleasure. Thanks.

'Well, Helen will miss her cats, but I'm sure the money will come in handy.

'Now, from the sublime to what some people might call the ridiculous.

'The biscuit barrel belonging to sisters Miranda and Ruby.'

-I know why you've got to sell. You can't divide it up, can you?

-No.

Unless you share it part of the year. What a thing, Thomas!

-It's great.

-It's full of nostalgia and quirkiness!

-It's so British and so much fun.

-Let's find out what the bidders think.

It's under the hammer now. Let's hope we fall off our perch.

The McVitie and Price biscuit tin,

fashioned as a bird with a detachable head lid.

Very unusual little item. I can start at £80. £80. Pardon?

180 we've got. 180.

180? 200. 220.

230. 240. 240 and I'm clear. 250 there.

260. 270. 280. 290.

290. 300. 320.

340. 360?

I didn't expect that much.

400. 420? 420?

420. 440. 460.

480? 480. 500.

520? 520. 540.

-560.

-Is this our lot?

-Yeah.

620. 640. 660.

680. 680. 700?

700. 720. 740.

-You didn't have a load of sovereigns inside there, did you?

-No!

800. 850. 900.

900. 950.

950. 1,000. 1,000.

£1,000!

1,050 it is. By the stairs at 1,050. Are we all done and finished?

Hammer's gone down. £1,050!

-Well done, you two!

-APPLAUSE

Hey! There's money is biscuit barrels, isn't there? Thomas.

-I'm shivering. You guys must be shivering.

-Yes.

Wow! What's going through your minds right now?

I don't know. It's just shock, really.

-Unbelievable. Unbelievable.

-Thomas is lost for words.

In fact, we all are. I hope you've enjoyed the show as much as we have.

It's been wonderful. Look forward to many more surprises to come, so keep watching "Flog It!"

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