Worthing Flog It!

The bracing sea air. People first came here in the 18th century on doctor's orders, believe it or not,

because they were extolling the virtues of the salt water to invigorate a bit more life into you.

And they've been coming back ever since.

But people should enjoy it even more today as Flog It is here in Worthing on the Sussex coast.

This is where it starts, a Flog It valuation day.

And today we're in this magnificent building,

the Pavilion Theatre in Worthing.

Hundreds of people have turned up, laden with bags and boxes.

Who knows what treasures we'll find?

-It's 9.30 and time to get the doors open. What are you going to do?

-ALL: Flog It!

'We have a full team of experts promenading amongst our owners at the end of the pier.

'In the lead are Michael Baggott, an antiques boffin who seems to know a thing or two about future trends.'

-Keep it. Come back to Flog It in four years' time.

-I will do that.

And then whoever's there will go, "Can't believe it."

'And David Fletcher, who cites Arthur Negus and Going For A Song

'as one of the reasons he got into the business.'

-It's not worth a fortune.

-It's not worth 10,000?

-No, it's not worth 10,000. Might be worth a tenner.

'Coming up - Michael makes a few strategic moves.'

Checkmate.

Well done. Good game.

'And David uses his intuition, but will he be proved right?'

Now, I've seen nothing quite like him before, so I'm going to be stabbing in the dark a bit.

'And I visit Christopher Lloyd's gardens at Great Dixter.'

Just breathtaking.

Well, everybody is now safely seated inside the Pavilion. There's a great atmosphere.

-You're all happy, aren't you?

-ALL: Yes!

Who'll go home with lots of money?

It could be this person here as Michael has found a gem. Let's take a closer look.

-Pat?

-Yes?

-First of all, thank you

for bringing this wonderful set in.

Um... Where did you get it from?

It was my father's.

I don't know where he got it from. He's never played with it.

-It's just been stuck in the cupboard.

-Oh, no. Really?

-Yes.

-Yes.

-Stuck away. And did he tell you where he got it from or any idea...?

-No. No.

-Oh, dear.

-I haven't a clue where it came from.

It's unusual because normally you see these sets incomplete or with a little damage or with a knock.

People will think, "That's a peculiar chess set," as we're very familiar

with the standard pattern of chess set that we get now, which was first done by Jaques,

their Staunton pattern.

You've got the turreted castle, not this turned finial.

Of course, the king looks nothing like that. He's got a little crown with a cross on top.

Now, the Staunton pattern sets, I think came out in about the 1850s.

Before that, you've got a number of different makers producing their own patterns.

-And a lot of these were influenced by Chinese and Indian sets.

-Yes.

Now, at first I thought this set was ivory.

-Yes.

-But if we look, we've got these tiny black flecks, which are little vesicles, which you get in bone.

So it's actually a turned bone set.

They've left these pieces undyed

and these are stained red.

-And that's quite common to get a white and a red set, rather than a white and a black set.

-Black.

And in terms of date,

they're around 1835 up to 1850 in date.

-Gosh.

-Where it was made is a little bit more difficult.

-Yes.

-But we know the date. We know the material.

And we know, to a chess fanatic or someone who likes playing chess sort of habitually,

-it's lovely to have different boards to play.

-Yes.

-And I think this is a delight.

-Any idea of what the value is?

-Well, my son went on the internet to have it valued as he thought it was ivory.

-And the valuation for that was about £500.

-Right. Ivory sets are incredibly sought after.

And a set of this pattern in ivory might be £800 to £1,200.

-Golly.

-An original Staunton set, £7,000, £10,000.

-£15,000, if it's in its original box.

-Oh, gosh!

Bone, I have to bring you back down to earth.

Bone are very much more abundant.

-But this set is in lovely order.

-Yes.

-And it's got its board, so let's put £150 to £250 on it.

-Yes.

Let's put a fixed reserve of 140 on it. It won't go for a penny below that.

-And with any luck two chess fanatics will just get carried away at the auction.

-Lovely.

-So we'll put it in for you. Do you play, Pat?

-I do, but not very well, because I haven't played for years.

Well, white moves first. It's your move, Pat.

You're testing me now.

You're testing me. I don't know what to do. There we go.

'Well, as you can see, Michael's a bit chess mad,

'so Pat's come to the right place.

'While the rest of us are busy looking for antiques...

'..the game continues.'

Checkmate.

Well done. Good game.

'Wow, what a bonus! Time to catch up with David, who's having a look at an Art Deco piece,

'brought along by Jason.'

-You've brought along a clock.

-Yes.

-What can you tell me about it?

-Not much. It was my nan's uncle's.

-Do you know anything about the Art Deco style?

-Very little.

The Art Deco style is characterised by bold geometric shapes.

So this rectangular shape is absolutely typical.

-I'm interested that it's in an onyx case.

-So that's what it is?

-It's onyx, yes, a sort of green marble,

which suggests a relatively early date, really.

We all know about the recession which hit America, in particular, in the late 1920s.

And from that date on,

-you tend to find less exotic marbles being used in the cases of these clocks than onyx.

-Right.

So I think this is going to date from before 1930, so that all adds up.

And it's by Mappin and Webb.

-Is that important? Is that a good name?

-Mappin and Webb is a good name.

-Yeah.

-Not the best.

Had it have been Garrard or Tiffany

-or Cartier, it would've been better. But Mappin and Webb is pretty good, really.

-Yeah.

-Tell me, why are you thinking of selling it?

-It's sitting on a corner in a dark room gathering dust.

-It has got a bit of dust on it. I noticed that.

-All authentic.

-All authentic dust. You don't use it?

-No.

-Does it work, do you know?

-It does.

-It does. OK.

Have you any idea what it might be worth?

-£40, £50?

-40 to 50, I don't think you're far out.

In fact, I think you should be a valuer, because that's exactly what I was going to say.

I reckon we should put an estimate on this of £40 to £60. It might make a bit more with a bit of luck.

But I would suggest a reserve beneath the bottom estimate of, say, £35.

-OK.

-Is that all right with you?

-That is, yes.

-OK. We'll go ahead along those lines then.

-And I'll look forward to seeing you at the sale.

-OK.

-Thank you.

-Cheers.

'It's a good-looking Art Deco clock,

'so it deserves to have a little bit more limelight.

'Someone who is not usually in the limelight is Pippa Deeley, one of our off-screen jewellery experts.'

-I notice you're not wearing any diamonds, Pippa.

-I know.

We should do something about that, shouldn't we?

'Back to Michael, who's excited by some family silver that Marilyn has brought along.'

You may not know, and a lot of our viewers may not know,

-but I'm a member of a society, and it is the Silver Spoon Club...

-Really?

-..of Great Britain.

-Good Lord.

-And look what you have brought me, Marilyn - silver spoons!

-So are these something that you've collected?

-No.

-Where have they come from?

-They were my mother-in-law's. And I think they've come down to her, I think.

-Right. Right.

Any of these initials family names?

Well, the only one that I've noticed is that one - "MH".

-Now, my father-in-law's mother's name was Hawling.

-Ah.

-So I wondered if that "H" had anything to do with that?

-Possibly.

Possibly. These are often...

This is a prime example of a marriage initial.

So you have the surname at the top.

And then you've got the husband,

being the 18th century, first, and the wife second.

-Yes.

-These are all individual sets of initials,

so these would've been the owner.

-And often they're given as a christening gift.

-Right.

-That would be your spoon for life.

-Yes.

Although when we move the date that these are,

mid-18th century, you do tend to see them more rather in sets,

rather than individual spoons.

We'd better get the pattern out of the way as patterns are very important. And these are Hanoverian.

-Are they?

-Because unlike old English, the stem turns up.

-Oh, right.

And that was meant because you sat them that way at the table.

-Yes.

-And Hanoverian pattern comes in very early in 1709, 1710.

-Good grief!

-And then it goes right through it.

It can be as late as this, which is the latest, which is 1776.

-Is it?

-They're all London made.

That make is Ebenezer Coker.

And those series of punches will date it between

1739 and 1755.

That one's by a man called Robert Sallam.

And that was made in London in 1763.

This one is probably by John Lamfert.

And is 1766.

And the last one is by Charles Hougham.

And that's London 1776.

-Right. Any idea of what they're worth?

-None at all.

-It's not huge figures, which is why I think more people should be collecting them!

-Yes.

Because they're, you know, they're eminently collectable. And they're perfect as a start for somebody.

-On the market, they're between £30 and £50 each.

-Oh, right.

So if we put them into auction between £120 and £200, they'll find their level somewhere in between.

And put a fixed reserve of £120 on them.

-If you're happy for us to put them in, we'll do that?

-I think so, yes.

Hopefully there'll be lots of spoon collectors there.

-I'll certainly let them know.

-Thank you. That was fascinating.

We are now halfway through our day. I've escaped the mayhem to get a bit of fresh air

before we go to the auction room. Here's what we're taking with us.

Pat's chess set could give a lot of pleasure,

so it's a good move to get it into the saleroom.

Art Deco has a keen following, so Jason's mantel clock should attract a buyer.

We just need a few fellow members of The Silver Spoon Club at the auction room

and Marilyn's family silver is on its way.

There's our first batch of items and this is where we're putting them under the hammer.

This is where it gets exciting - Denham's Auctioneers in Warnham.

You've heard what our experts have had to say.

But ultimately, it's down to the bidders.

So let's get inside. And fingers crossed, we've got some big surprises.

What do you say for that? 110. 120.

Now 120 then. Are we done and selling? At £120.

You could say it's game on, which brings us nicely to this lovely chess set belonging to Pat.

-It's all made of bone. Beautiful. We've got a valuation of £150 to £250.

-It's worth that.

I think chess sets are a really good investment.

-If you love a game like that...

-You've got to have a good set.

A good board and a set new is maybe £150, £200?

-Buy an antique one.

-Exactly. Even if it doesn't have a board, you can pick up a pretty good board.

But always invest in a quality chess set.

And even the basic wooden ones, as long as they're weighted with lead - wonderful feel to them.

Let's hope the bidders want to buy this chess set because it's going under the hammer right now.

The red and white carved chess set,

complete with games compendium box. There it is.

What do we say for this one? £100 for it, do we say? 75 then? I'm bid 50.

-And five.

-It's very low.

70. And five. 80. And five.

-90.

-Come on, more. More.

£90 then. Are we all done? Selling at £90 then.

You're done with it at 90. At £90 then... Can't sell that at 90.

He didn't sell it and he was just telling everybody

-that it didn't reach the reserve.

-Yes.

-Never mind.

-But it's worth that. And I think you should go back home.

-Get it out and start playing again.

-Even just display it, as it looks wonderful.

-Yes.

Thank goodness we put a fixed reserve on that.

'It's always worth protecting something good with a reserve.

'Now for some Art Deco.'

Our next item belongs to Jason, who unfortunately can't be with us.

But you'll remember that he brought in that little Art Deco clock made by Mappin and Webb.

David, our expert, has put £40 to £60 on this. Hopefully, it's going to fly away.

Art Deco's very fashionable today.

Mappin and Webb, as you say, a good maker. It would've been better still had it been Asprey's or Garrard's.

Well, then it would be £100 to £200.

Let's see what the bidders think. Time is up for the Art Deco clock.

Nice little clock, this one.

The Art Deco clock in the marble case. What do we say for this one?

I'm bid 20. And two. 24.

26. 28. 30.

And five.

40. And five.

-We're there.

-Yes.

We're now at £45 then. Are we done and selling now at £45?

45, are you...?

-Yes! Well done. Within estimate, £45.

-Yep.

-That's good.

-I think you should get on the phone and let him know.

-OK. I'll do it now.

'I think Jason will be pleased with that.

'Now for those lovely Georgian spoons belonging to Marilyn's son.'

I must say, cracking lot. It's a nice little collection.

-Had you started to collect?

-No. They belonged to my mother-in-law.

And when she died in her nineties,

well, my son just literally went to the table and said, "Well, I'll have those."

-He picked up the silver spoons with some other stuff. It was as arbitrary as that.

-And your son's here today.

-And your granddaughter. What's her name?

-Evie.

-Evie.

Look, waving at us now. Aw!

So let's find out what the bidders think. Good luck.

Four antique, silver bottom-marked spoons

or English pattern spoons, there.

I'm bid 70. And five. 80. And five.

90. And five.

100. And ten.

There we go. A silver spoon will never let you down, Paul.

120. We're now at 120 then.

Are we done and selling now?

At £120. All done and selling at 120, are we?

-Spot on, Michael.

-Thank you, Paul.

If you want to start collecting something like that,

start with early silver spoons. You can't go wrong. Thanks for bringing them in.

'I'm a bit surprised they didn't go a little higher. But what a great start for a collection!'

Are we done and selling? At £50 then...

Now, while I'm here in Sussex, I'm off to visit a place I've wanted to see for many years.

This is Great Dixter, an idyllic house in a heavenly setting in the Sussex Weald.

It is a place of pilgrimage for many people because it was the home of the late Christopher Lloyd,

one of the most remarkable of British gardeners.

Christopher was known for being witty and opinionated.

And his rise to fame came from the gardening books and the magazine and newspaper articles that he wrote.

And he spent much of his life here, putting his ideas into practice.

And many of them, you could say, were revolutionary.

Sadly, Christopher died in 2006.

But thankfully, not before setting up a charitable trust,

so the garden here at Great Dixter could flourish.

Christopher grew up here with his parents and four brothers and a sister.

His father Nathaniel had employed the architect, Edwin Lutyens,

to restore and enlarge the house in the then popular Arts and Crafts manner.

At the same time, Lutyens set out the framework for the garden,

incorporating many old farm buildings, in a formal style radiating out from the house.

And this gave Christopher's father the opportunity to indulge his enthusiasm for topiary.

And over the decades they've grown into marvellous, majestic, magnificent shapes.

And this gave Christopher the framework for his later flower planting.

I was very lucky to be presented with a ready-made skeleton for the garden.

It was lovely to be able to put flesh on the bones.

It was also fortunate

that I didn't have to make the bones myself

because I'm no good at that at all.

But it was Christopher's mother Daisy, not his father,

who was the real gardener in the family.

It was she who first planted out the borders.

She had a particular love of wild flowers.

And it's wonderful to see the meadows that she planted are still thriving here at Great Dixter today.

But I'm not sure she'd recognise some planting that Christopher brought to the garden.

It's only when you look around, you can see his approach is so bold and unconventional.

Who'd have thought that all of these bright colours would mix together in harmony at such wonderful heights?

So who better to talk to than Fergus Garrett, who worked with Christopher as head gardener for many years?

Christopher described Fergus as brilliant and creative.

You must've learnt a lot from him?

Oh, absolutely. And you know what I've learnt? It's to be free.

And not to be dictated to. There are various rules you have to obey in a garden.

There are rules of ecology. And if you put a dry, shade-loving plant in a wet, moist area,

then it's not going to survive. So there's no point in you even thinking about the combination.

Other than that, it's an expression of your taste.

Christopher thought, "Well, I'm going to go ahead and do whatever pleases me.

"And at least I'm pleasing one person and that's myself."

-Did you ever fall out with him over ideas?

-All the time.

I mean, I never ever forgot that it was his garden.

But if I thought that something wasn't going to work, I'd say.

I think he wanted me to say to him. And in the same way, if I thought that I was wrong on something

and he was right, I'd admit it and he'd do the same. And it worked really well.

But a lot of thought has gone into there. I couldn't go and do that and throw a load of plants there.

Yes. It's very complex, actually,

because you want things to look natural in their setting. But there are many seasons in there as well.

And you've got the framework of all these shrubs in here

and layers and layers of plants. So you may have one plant come up.

Then another one takes over. Climbers go over the top of the shrubs. So you have something for every season.

And that's the excitement of a garden.

I love the little colours, the big colours, and also the big, broad leaves that go with it.

It's just absolutely brilliant.

Our planting style is to mimic what happens in nature, in a way.

We want plants to look very comfortable in their setting, as if they've just landed here.

If you took Christopher Lloyd to one side and said,

-"What's most important in a plant?" He'd say, "Shape, more than colour."

-Really?

-Yes, absolutely.

What a beautiful and romantic place this is.

I've thoroughly enjoyed my time filming here today.

And all I can say is, if you're unsure about planting up with mixed colours,

lots of hot colours together, come here, because it will certainly change your opinion.

It's just breathtaking. And it's clear talking to Fergus that he shares Christopher's vision,

so the gardens are going to be in safe hands.

I think it's only fitting that we leave the last word to Christopher Lloyd himself,

a man full of inspiration and talent.

Every generation has to make its mark in its own way.

I think that copying the past is a cop-out.

I don't fear in the least about what will happen

to the garden design or its contents when I'm dead

because it's somebody else's turn.

Welcome back to our valuation day at the Pavilion Theatre in Worthing.

We've still got pretty much a full house.

It's time for Act Two, so let's catch up with our experts to see what they're up to.

The heat and the tension is really rising here.

Can I borrow this for a second? Phew!

I'm off.

'Our next owner, Liv, has brought something in that's got David rather foxed.'

Now you're going to have to explain what this is to me. I'm mystified.

This is a nutcracker.

A nutcracker, right.

And it's a nutcracker for special nuts,

which are for macadamia nuts...

-Oh, right.

-..which have a very, very hard shell, they say.

-Right.

-I'll show you how to do it.

So I swing the handle like that.

And you put the nut in there.

And now... LOUD CRACK

-Like that.

-Gosh.

-And hopefully the nut is cracked by now.

-It works, I'm sure.

-I'm sure it does, yes.

Well, talk about using a sledgehammer to crack a nut!

-This is the very embodiment of that sentiment, isn't it?

-Absolutely.

It's described as being "anvil craft".

And it's manufactured, I see,

by a factory operating out of Gladstone Street in T'mba,

which I wouldn't have known, but that's in Queensland.

-Are you aware of any Australian connection?

-Yes, there is actually.

-Right.

-I got this one from my now ex-husband.

-Right.

-He got it from his first ex-wife.

Right.

And she and her family are in Australia.

Well, that seems to be it, doesn't it? I mean, we seem to have cracked it. No pun intended.

So your husband got the house and the car. And you got the nutcracker?

Um... No, it wasn't actually like that.

Good. I'm pleased to hear it.

I don't think there's very much you can say about it,

except that someone has quite consciously attempted to make a decorative item

out of something which is really just useful.

William Morris would be spinning in his grave at the sight of this,

because William Morris believed that form should follow function,

and didn't approve of unnecessary ornamentation.

And this really is more or less entirely unnecessary.

I mean, you could put the nut in there and hit it hard with a hammer

-and it would do exactly the same.

-Absolutely.

-There's something a bit laddish about it, isn't there?

-Yes.

You could imagine the chaps sitting round in a bar in Australia somewhere,

drinking their lager and cracking their nuts on this.

Have you ever used it in anger?

No, I've never tried it, actually, because my feeling is that if you put a walnut or a hazelnut,

-you've got nuts and nut shells everywhere.

-It would just turn it to pulp, wouldn't it?

-Absolutely.

-And perish the thought, but if you got your thumb stuck in there, it doesn't bear thinking about.

-No.

Now, do I really need to ask you why you've decided to divest yourself of this nutcracker?

-No, it's the same old story, that I'm downsizing, moving to a smaller flat.

-Right.

-And this is just another piece of...

-Clutter?

-Clutter, yes, which you have to carry with you.

I was just thinking, if you had a list of 20 things you'd want to get rid of in the downsizing process,

-this would probably be top of the list.

-Absolutely.

-I don't mean to be rude about it.

-But it has its limitations, doesn't it?

-Absolutely.

-Well, certainly in a visual sense.

As a piece of engineering, it's fantastic. But let's hope somebody likes it.

I don't know if there are collectors of nutcrackers out there. But if there are, if they're serious,

they'd certainly want to own this. Let's hope that person is out there.

I think what we've got to do, seriously, is go easy on the estimate.

Because I would hate to put an estimate of £100 to £150 on this and not sell it.

-And if we did, we wouldn't sell it.

-No.

-So if you're philosophical about it,

and would agree to an estimate of say, £20 to £30,

and crucially, agree to offer it up without reserve,

-then we've got a deal.

-That's fine, yes. That sounds good.

-Jolly good. We'll go ahead on that basis. I look forward to seeing you at the sale.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

'For once I can understand why Liv is trying to move this one on.'

-It's hot in here, though, isn't it?

-Yes.

-It really is. Temperatures are rising.

'Next, Michael has found a couple of figures belonging to Karl, which are somewhat more delicate.'

Karl, thank you for bringing in these very attractive figures.

Are you a diehard porcelain collector? Where did these come from?

-I bought them off somebody in the local newspaper.

-Really?

-Yes.

They were advertised as French, possibly Samson figures.

Right. Did they give you any idea of date?

1880, but um... Possibly. I'll probably be proven wrong.

Let's have a look at this chap.

The first thing we've got

is we've got this very bright gilt band.

And you get gilding on 18th-century figures sometimes.

But it isn't this bright metallic finish.

-OK.

-So this is more typical of early 20th-century figurines.

If we turn it over...

Blast!

-We don't have a factory mark.

-No mark!

It's not uncommon for a lot of the minor German, and sometimes even Italian factories,

not to have a mark on the base of the figurines.

-And the only thing is, it does tend to hold the value back slightly.

-Right.

What you want to see when you turn these over are the crossed swords of Meissen.

Or even a mark for Sitzendorf, one of the larger more famous factories.

We've got a visible seam mark there.

Now, if it was a very good factory, they'd have tidied that up.

It's obviously been in a mould. It just needs a bit of hand finishing.

But they haven't gone to that care.

I think from their costume,

you can tell that these are modelled on 18th-century figures.

They're after that vogue in 1740, 1750, for these little figures.

But when these were made,

and I think 1900, maybe even 1910 is a better date than 1880,

these figures were all the rage.

They have got some good points. The modelling of this dog

is not bad at all.

All of this has been hand-painted, all the lines to imitate its fur.

It's got good points and bad points.

-So now we get to the thorny question - how much did they cost you?

-£100 I paid.

That's very fair. I mean, there's no shame in paying £100 for a lovely pair of figurines like this.

I think at auction we'd be a little bit more cautious.

But bearing in mind you really want to get most of that money back,

let's put them in at 80 to 120. Let's put a fixed reserve of £80.

And hopefully two people will be charmed by them,

and look at the work involved in them, and just think, "I'll go one more" on the day.

-So why have you decided to part with them now?

-I thought I'd bring them along here and have a day out.

Well, hopefully, the day out at the auction will be a profitable one.

-Hopefully.

-Fingers crossed.

-I'll be happy either way.

-Splendid. Thank you so much for bringing them in.

'Good show. It's always good to hear that someone has come along to enjoy the day.

'Glenn has brought in a couple of dolls which could not be more different from each other.'

Now what can you tell me about these dolls you've brought along with you today?

-Well, the small one, I was given when I was five.

-Five. Right.

So I've had him quite a long time.

And the other one was my daughters'

-and they've had it probably for about 40 years.

-Do you like them?

-This one? Yes.

-Right.

-But the other one - no.

-No. OK.

Let's start by talking about him.

Now, he's dressed, of course, in stars and stripes,

which can only suggest, really, that he's Uncle Sam, I think.

Why don't you like him?

It's his face!

His... His... No, he still frightens me now.

It's strange that they should've chosen a rather sinister face

for such a sort of totemic figure, really, as Uncle Sam.

He wasn't made in America, of course.

That may account for it in part, perhaps.

If I turn him over and we look on the back of his head,

he is indeed marked "Germany".

Right.

He's bisque-headed,

which means his head is made of unglazed china.

I don't think he looks too bad.

He's got a grin on his face.

-He looks dishevelled but that's probably because he's been around for a long time.

-Possibly.

I must be honest, I've never seen a doll like this before.

-I would suggest he dates from the turn of the century.

-I think so.

So, in fact, he's 110 years old.

-As I say, I've seen nothing quite like him before, so I'll be stabbing in the dark.

-Oh, dear.

-I would've thought that he's got to be worth £60 or £70. It's a hunch, really.

-Yeah.

On the other hand, if you do find two buyers who want him, he could make a lot more than that.

So as I say, I am speculating a bit.

But let's go for £60, shall we,

-as a reserve?

-OK.

An estimate, say, of 60 to 100?

-Mm-hm.

-And um... We'll hope for the best.

OK. That deals with our American friend.

And we'll turn now to a rather more conventional doll.

-And tell me about her.

-It's just "Dolly". That's all she was ever called by my children.

No-one in the family has ever played with her by the looks of things?

-Oh, do you not think so?

-I think she looks in pretty good nick.

-I'm afraid she's been played with and played with.

-She's done well. She's lost one or two of her fingertips.

Her body will be made of papier mache, but her face has survived. We'll look at the back of her head.

And it tells us that the doll was made in the Armand Marseille factory,

which is actually in Koppelsdorf in Germany.

I think a German manufacturer like this

would've chosen the name Armand Marseille

to give it just a suggestion of sophistication.

French dolls are more saleable now, and they were more expensive when they were new, than German dolls.

So this dignifies it a bit. It might have deceived people into thinking that it was French but it's German.

And we know that because it's marked "Germany". Now why are you sending her off to the saleroom?

-I've only got boys in the family and the girls are grown up.

-OK.

If a granddaughter comes along, you have to buy another one because this one will have gone by then.

And I think she's going to make more money because she's more commercial as a doll, really.

She's pretty. She's got a lovely smile on her face.

She makes you feel better. Poor Uncle Sam makes you feel a bit worse, perhaps.

So let's go for an estimate of 100 to 150.

And I would suggest a reserve just below the bottom estimate of £90.

-That's fine.

-OK?

-Yes.

'Well, we'll just have to wait and see how they do.

'Let's remind ourselves of what our experts picked to take off to the auction.

'How could anyone forget Liv's nutcracker?

'But then they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

'Whereas Karl's hand-painted French figures

'will have much wider appeal.

'And finally, David speculated a bit about one of Glenn's dolls.

'So it'll be interesting to see exactly what Uncle Sam makes.'

130. 140.

We have 140. Are we done? Selling then...

'Now for something of a first on Flog It.'

Going under the hammer right now, we've got a doorstop. Well, of a kind, anyway, haven't we, Liv?

An Australian nutcracker doorstop.

I've not seen anything like that before. I also had a play with it.

You've got to, haven't you, David? It works.

-I think it's over-engineered.

-I think it is.

-Maybe.

-The design didn't take off, did it?

-No.

-If it did, I've not seen another one.

-I thought it was quite dangerous as well.

-Right. OK. I think it's about time we put it under the hammer, don't you?

-Absolutely.

-There's no reserve.

-It's got to go. You don't want to take it home?

-No.

-Let's flog it. Here we go.

The Australian nutcracker.

There it is.

It's a talking point. What do we say for it?

£20 for it do we say? Come along now. A real curio.

-Fingers crossed.

-10 to get us going? Five anywhere?

-I'm bid five. Six.

-We got some bidding.

Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten.

12. 14, are you going? Yours at 12.

Do I see 14? At £12. 14.

16. 18.

-They're going nuts over it.

-What a cracker!

20. And two.

24. 26. 28. 30.

And two?

Straight down the middle at 30, I'm going to sell. All out at 30, are we?

£30. Top end of the estimate. Well done. I'm very impressed with that.

Probably never ever see another one like it. Well done, Liv.

-Thank you for bringing it in. It's not a lot of money, but it's a great talking point.

-Yeah.

'And I'm very glad it sold as well as it did.

'Next, something continental to tempt the bidders.'

Well, moving along swiftly now.

We've got a classic 80 to 120 valuation on two French figurines just about to go under the hammer.

They belong to Karl. Valued by Michael. Will we get the top end?

The quality's there, but I don't know.

Bizarrely, when they were made, everybody wanted these figures.

That's why they were made as there weren't enough of the antique ones to meet demand.

Well, let's put it to the test here.

The pair of 19th-century continental porcelain figures.

There they are. What do you think? £100 for them?

75 then. Was that 50? I'm bid 50. And five.

-Someone's interested.

-60. And five. 70. And five.

80. And five.

Here we go.

90. And five. 100. And ten.

120. With me now at 120 then.

-That's OK.

-They're coming back into fashion.

-That's good.

Now at £120 then. Are we all done at 120?

-You got your money back.

-Yeah.

-Well done. Well done.

Well, we got it right.

These things are worth the price that they're worth.

-But I think for the work that goes into them...

-They're cheap.

-So buy them whilst they're £120 now

-before they hit 300 again.

-And then put them back on the market in ten years' time.

-Don't hold me to that.

There is very little that is certain in the antiques world.

Before the sale started, I caught up with auctioneer Simon Langton.

Glenn's dolls, she's selling them because she wants to downsize.

We've got the German bisque head one, which has got a value of £100-£150.

And little Uncle Sam there, also bisque head. He's got a value of £60 to £100. He's also got a broken leg.

And she was given Uncle Sam when she was only five,

so she might regret selling that little fella.

She's had it a long time.

-He doesn't take up much room for someone's who's downsizing.

-No.

But if he's got to go, he's got to go.

-I would definitely keep that.

-It's quite a rare doll.

-They came out about 1915, just before the First World War.

-Have many survived?

-This is the question.

This is the question because £60 to £100 could quite easily turn into 300 to 400, couldn't it?

-It could do.

-If he's the only one!

-If he's the only one in the world, then yes, the sky's the limit.

Unfortunately, the market has gone down a little bit in dolls the last two or three years.

But we have got the right people for dolls and we've got the internet, so we shall see.

-Fingers crossed.

-Let's hope so.

-He does look a bit frightening, doesn't he?

Hopefully, we'll have smiles on our faces at the end of the day.

We've got two wonderful dolls going under the hammer. They belong to Glenn, but she hasn't turned up yet.

But she might walk in any moment. We're just about to sell the first lot, the German bisque head doll,

which you put a valuation of 100 to 150, David. And the second one is that wonderful 20th-century one,

Uncle Sam, again with the bisque head. We've had a chat to the auctioneer. You know what he said.

The first one, you were right, bang-on.

-But Uncle Sam is a bit different.

-Why does he look so miserable, do you think?

-I don't know.

Maybe the person that was moulding his face had a bad day!

-But he's so miserable, he makes you laugh, doesn't he? He's not frightening.

-No.

-Here we go.

Armand Marseille porcelain-headed doll. There it is.

Nice doll, this one.

What do we say? Bids here start us at 70. And five.

80. And five. 90. And five.

100. With me at £100. Looking for the ten.

And ten. 120. 130, madam?

Well done.

With me at 120. All done and selling now at £120 if you're done with it?

Mid-estimate for the first one. And now the second.

Glenn might walk in at the moment it makes a lot of money.

-I find the other dolls quite spooky. I don't like them at all. But I could live with Uncle Sam.

-Yeah.

Let's find out if this lot could. Here we go.

Uncle Sam doll.

There we have him.

What do we say for him?

£100 for him, do we say? 75 then?

50? I'm going to start at 30. And five. 40. And five.

50. And five. 60. And five.

Lady's bid at £65. 70.

And five. 80. And five.

90. And five. 100.

-Right. Top end of the estimate.

-130. 140. 150.

160. 170.

180. 190.

-200.

-Do you know, I think Uncle Sam's beginning to smile.

240. 260.

280. 300.

And 20. 340.

360.

380.

400.

And 20.

440.

460. 480.

500.

-Undercooked this one, David, a bit.

-I have got dolls wrong before, Paul.

Well, I wouldn't know what to value them at.

540. 560?

560?

At £540 in the room now. At 5-4-0.

I'm going to sell at 5-4-0... 560.

That's auctions. 580.

600?

At £580. Are we all done? Are you sure about this? At 5-8-0.

Going to sell at 5-8-0 now...

Where is Glenn when you need her?

Hopefully she'll come running in right now for the golden moment!

-£580. Who could've predicted that?

-Well, Paul, these things are rare.

They're scarce. You put an estimate on them. You hope for the best.

-And sometimes you're lucky enough to get the best.

-We know what they're worth now.

If you've got anything like that at home, we'd love to see it. Bring it to one of our valuation days.

And you can pick up details on our website - log on to bbc.co.uk/flogit

Follow the links and all the information will be there.

We'd love to see you. Join us again next time for more surprises.

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