Christina Trevanion v Mark Stacey - Auction Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

This is Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is,

the show that pitches TV's best-loved antiques experts

against each other in an all-out battle for profit.

Let's make hay while that sun shines.

Each week, one pair of duelling dealers

will face a different daily challenge.

I've got a heavy profit here.

Putting their reputations on the line.

Who's there?

They'll give you the insider's view of the trade.

Rawr!

Along with their top tips and savvy secrets.

That could present a problem.

Showing you how to make the most money...

Ready for battle.

..from buying and selling.

Get in there!

Coming up: Mark is panicked by the saleroom...

It's all a bit pear-shaped. I don't want to look any more.

..Christina shows a flair for the artistic...

They're after an incredibly famous artist called Angelica Kauffman,

and they're all stipple engraving

and they've all got hand-coloured highlights to them as well.

..and there's straight talking in the selling.

-So what do you think of 40-60?

-I don't like it at all, really.

This is Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is.

Ladies and gentlemen,

welcome to the best seats in the house for

this clash of the titans.

A pair of the antiques world's finest dealers

go head-to-head and heel to toe in a bid for profit.

Our male lead has marched all the way from

his Brightlingsea home.

Let the battle commence.

He's profit-hungry, but don't trust him.

He's a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Baaa!

Yes, it's Mark "The Maverick" Stacey.

What's that smell? Profit!

Sharing the stage with Mark is the shiniest star

in the northern hemisphere.

Hello, have we met yet?

An auctioneer by trade, no-one takes it more seriously.

I'll get my bidding face ready.

From Shropshire, it's Christina "The Magpie" Trevanion.

I will be bidding, and bidding furiously.

The setting for today's battle is Sevenoaks

and Ibbett Mosely Auction Rooms,

where our tussling two will be bidding for victory.

Hold on to your seats. It's going to be a bumpy ride.

This could be quite an interesting battle.

They've each got £1,000 of their own money to spend,

and all the profits go to their chosen charities.

So, Mark Stacey and Christina Trevanion,

it's time to Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is.

-Good morning, Christina.

-A vision in blue!

-And a vision in tangerine and cream!

-Why, thanks!

-Sunny Sevenoaks!

-Isn't it glorious? Feel the heat.

-But I'm so excited.

-This is my natural environment.

I'm a happy girl.

But you get a buzz, you see, out of cataloguing it and then selling it.

And research.

And I get a buzz from trying to find that little nugget that maybe other people have missed.

Well, if you find the nugget and I do the research, we're a dream team.

We are, but then that really isn't the competition side, is it?

-Slightly defeats the object?

-I like the idea, though.

-And we've got £1,000 to spend.

-£1,000.

-£1,000!

-Burning a hole in our pocket.

-It really is, yeah. Let's do it!

Shall we get in there and start spending?

Yes, our brave bidders are full of beans

and up for the challenge ahead, but this path

will not be an easy one.

What's to be worried about?

Well, Mark, although there may be a wide selection of goodies here,

with the auctioneer's commissions on top, it's not always easy to

get those low prices. So does Christina have a plan up her sleeve?

My strategy for today is, basically, at auction,

you tend to get jewellery a little bit cheaper than you would

have to pay in a retail environment.

So I'm going to go for a little bit of jewellery

and there's also some really nice, good-quality pieces

that I might have to splash out quite a bit on.

Christina is displaying a cautious, strategic approach to proceedings.

Mark, well, he's already getting stuck in.

There's so much to see here and it's all rather cramped

so I'm knocking into everybody.

But I've got to look, cos I'm going to find the treasures that way.

Indeed you do, Mark!

And, across the saleroom, Christina is mirroring his behaviour,

and has spotted something she likes the look of.

We've got three mirrors here.

The one that I'm interested in is at the front.

It's a giltwood mirror, an early 19th-century piece.

I'm sort of hoping that it might be quite affordable

because we have got some damage.

We've got a piece there that's come off.

There is a little bit of damage to this corner, sadly.

So it would have been an over-mantle mirror originally,

and you can see that by the little bun feet that

are on the bottom there.

So often, you find these, and they're just carved

with leaves and flowers and they're fairly standard,

but this one, with its rope twist

has got quite a nautical theme to it.

I think it's really quite fun, and quite unusual.

Oh, sailor!

Christina is hoping the mirror will help her traverse the ocean of loss

and uncover the distant land of profits.

While Mark is considering a somewhat smaller body of water.

This is a Staffordshire pottery footbath.

Now, in the 19th century, if you were quite well-off,

you had wash jug and bowl sets in every bedroom.

This is a transfer-printed pattern,

and I suppose it dates from about 1870, something like that.

There's a little bit of staining and crazing,

but, you know, it's been around since 1870.

I've got quite a lot of crazing on me

and I haven't been around that long.

No, not quite that long.

But it seems he's not the only one to have noticed the footbath.

There may be trouble ahead with that one.

But now, Mark is on to his next target - a very small chair.

This is a chair I suppose you would use for a doll,

if you were a doll collector.

It's nicely carved to simulate bamboo.

It is, in fact, beechwood or something like that.

It's got the original sort of carpet-type upholstery on it.

It's got some very bad repairs.

Those are quite modern, I would say,

and there's quite a lot of people

who collect these miniature pieces of furniture.

And, I suppose, if you can pick that up for sort of £40-£50,

there should be quite a good profit at that.

On the other side of the auction room,

the Magpie is living up to her name,

as she is inexorably drawn to all that sparkles and shines.

This is a case set of six napkin rings.

Each of them are silver,

each of them is hallmarked here, you can see.

So often, you find that these have been split throughout the generations.

Two have gone off to one member of the family, another's gone off to someone else.

It's really quite unusual to find a whole set that is still intact, still together.

So that's going to get marked down in my catalogue.

So, with their items earmarked,

Christina and Mark take their carefully chosen positions

from which they hope to conduct their victorious campaigns.

I'll have to keep everything crossed.

With catalogues in hand and hearts in mouths,

the auctioneer takes his place...

and we're off.

Auction started - here we go!

And they don't have to wait long for their first item,

as the footbath goes under the hammer.

Both of them were sizing it up beforehand,

so who's going to get it?

Well, we can't cut it in half and have half each, can we?

Not really, Mark, no.

Lot number 11.

So, as the auctioneer kicks off the bidding,

Mark is quick to get the first bid in.

Is that worth £10?

-Oh, he's bidding.

-Ten, I'm bid, at the top end, guy here, 12 now.

-Do I hear 12 to you?

-Christina ups the price.

15.

But Mark is sticking to his guns.

-18.

-So, once again, she goes for it.

£20.

Yes.

But drops out at £20.

It's the gentleman's bid.

And Mark wins the footbath.

Mark just bought that. I ran him up by £10.

He's going to be so cross!

And, once the commission is added,

Mark pays £23.60 for the footbath.

Which also comes with a sugar bowl, in case you need sugar.

On your feet.

I'm very happy. One down, lots more to go.

Or more lots to go, to be precise.

Now, things aren't going so swimmingly for Christina,

as it is not just the footbath she's lost out on.

190.

-180 then.

-That's fine.

55, 60.

Too expensive!

On my left at £90, then.

64 lots in,

and I have nothing.

Oh, dear, it looks like Christina is showing signs of ABS -

auction bidders' syndrome.

Symptoms include...

He can see me bidding from here.

(So I might stand here instead.)

Because I have a feeling he might be out for some vengeance.

Something's happening.

She's trying to hide over there.

Hmm, waving in the middle of an auction is not the best idea, chaps.

You may go home with something you didn't want.

Hopefully, the napkin rings Christina saw earlier

will help her get back in the game.

I've got an estimate of £40-£60, so I've got to find somebody

that is going to hopefully buy them from me

that regularly has six people for dinner.

And I'm bid £90, do I hear 100 to you?

110 here, 120. With you at 120.

At 120, then.

I'm in shock.

A terrible shame, isn't it?

Awful, really.

Mark's looking a bit smug about Christina's dilemma,

but how will he get on when it's his turn to bid

on a selection of cow figures?

40 to you, 45.

50, 55, 60, 65.

Oh, he's not got it.

110, 120, 130, 140, 150.

160, then.

It's all a bit pear-shaped, I don't want to look any more.

Both our experts are struggling now, but, up next,

it's an Edwardian armchair that Christina has her eye on.

Worth £10?

She's getting ready to bid.

15 now.

15 to you, thank you.

She's off.

30. 35. 40.

-She's still bidding.

-45. 50. 55. 60.

65. 70.

65, back right?

All finished at 65, then?

(And I've got a lot!)

CROWD CHEERING

Yaay!

Oh, I can breathe now! I can breathe!

Her pink-upholstered armchair cost her £76.70 after commission,

so she takes the weight off her feet to get a closer look.

This chair is effectively wearing a badly fitting pair of trousers.

Reupholstered, beautifully upholstered,

this chair has a great, great shape to it.

But it's just not been upholstered particularly well.

At the moment, it's a bit of an ugly duckling,

but one day, quite soon, it will be the most beautiful swan.

So, Christina finally draws even with Mark.

But it may not be for long,

as he has his eye on a small watercolour of a rural scene.

Is this worth £10?

Ten I'm bid at the back there, thank you. 15.

Oh, look!

Are we all finished at the maiden bid of £10, then?

At the top end of the room?

-Yes!

-He wins the picture and then snaps up a second,

also for the starting price.

Total: £23.60 for both of them.

So, what's he got for his money?

This is a charming little sepia watercolour of a rural scene.

There's a little villager coming round the corner

with his oxen pulling the wagon.

And it is signed down here and dated,

but there's also another lot next to it,

of a similar sort of...

But this is a coaching scene.

Now, I rather like these.

They're terribly out of fashion, of course,

as a lot of the antiques market now

is based on big, bold and decorative.

A bit like me, really.

And these subtle, little drawings are overlooked.

Don't you think that's charming?

Yes, he's big, bold and decorative, all right,

and has a 3-1 lead.

So Christina is playing catch-up again as she goes for a tea set.

It's most beautifully decorated,

so let's hope I can get it for under £1,000.

118.

Here we go.

Davenport paint-and-gilt-decorated tea set. Here we are.

Showing the front, 118.

20 to start?

20 I have. 22 now.

At 20, looking for two. 22.

25 now?

25. 28. 30.

32.

35 anywhere else?

38 now, 38.

40 now?

At £40. Anywhere else?

At £40, all done?

It'll be fine, it'll be fine, it'll be fine.

Yes, it seems that bidding battle has our Magpie all flustered.

And, with commission, she spends a total of £47.20.

So will this Davenport crockery be worth the stress?

It's a really, really pretty, typically Victorian, coffee service.

But the thing for me is, A - the decoration's pretty.

But it's also got 12 settings.

We've got, unfortunately, only 11 cups,

but we've got 12 saucers, 12 plates,

a little bread-and-butter plate here,

and the slot bowl, which is really very, very pretty.

It's got a typical Davenport mark on the bottom there,

which was used about 1870, 1880.

And I just think it is absolutely exquisite.

I love the pattern on it, I love everything about it.

Mark's probably going to be terribly rude about it, but I love it.

Christina's crockery brings us to the end of act one,

meaning it's time to see how our battling bidders

are braving the elements in today's tussle.

And, with a budget of £1,000, Mark has bought three items

and spent £47.20, leaving him with just over £952 to play with.

Christina has two lots, but has spent much more - £123.90.

That leaves a little over £876 to spend.

Now, our experts' cash may not be spent,

but it appears their nerves are.

How tough is this?

Do you need a hug?

You bought a pink tea set?

-Oh, it's lovely, did you not see it?

-No.

-And it was cheap. Estimate of 50-70, £40 bought.

-Well, yeah.

-How are you getting on?

-Well, it's tough.

Most lots I'm bidding on, I just can't touch.

No, exactly, and some I haven't even had a chance to bid on.

Those have just gone...

-But you've got a few lots, so...

-Not really very many!

-I like that.

-Be positive.

-OK, will do.

-Honestly, be positive.

-You'll get there.

-Thank you, darling.

Right, go on, go on.

Oh, dear! In spite of Mark's efforts to cheer her up,

Christina is looking distinctly browbeaten by this auction.

Could these be yet more symptoms of ABS?

Such as...

Mark Stacey says think positive.

I didn't even get the chance to uncross my arms.

Look!

-MUSIC BOX CHIMES

-Aw!

Uh-oh, looks like it's contagious.

It's quite soothing, that music, isn't it?

Pull yourselves together, there's a competition to be won!

Next up, Mark is after a Royal Doulton pen stand.

£20 somewhere?

20 I have. Two now. At £20, looking for two.

All done, then, at £20? All done?

A confident move from Mark there, costing £23.60 with fees.

And the next item to get him bidding is a romantic rainy day painting.

80, I'm looking for 90.

90. 100.

Going 110?

110 at the back of the room, everybody else is out.

With £110, all done at 110?

I bought it.

I bought it.

Hmm, looks like he's regretting it already.

The romantic scene sets Mark back a heart-wrenching £129.80.

But, up close, will he fall in love with it?

I love the subject - the two lovers just leaving a table,

the rain has started, the umbrella is up.

It's signed and dated in the corner here.

It's got very much a sort of Jack Vettriano look about it.

And I think it will appeal to someone, it's quite impressionistic.

When you think how much I spent on it, £110 plus the bits and pieces,

you can't even buy a framed print for that.

Mark now has a 5-2 lead over Christina,

but the Magpie has her eye on that shiny mirror she spotted earlier.

The next lot - wish me luck!

So, with a look of...trepidation? on her face, Christina goes for it.

And I have 100 to start on commission. See 110 anywhere?

110. 120.

130. 140. 150.

At £150, all done?

£150!

At least she's bought something.

Christina's third purchase takes £177 including costs.

And, with the auction now drawing to a close,

she quickly goes after three framed prints.

The next lot is these pictures,

which, hopefully, I'll get a look in.

288, Thomas Baker after Angelica Kauffman,

£10 anywhere for the prints?

£10 I have. 12 now.

At 10, looking for 12. All done, then, at £10?

That's cheap.

Happy days! £10 for three beautiful pictures?

That's made my day.

Yes, without a bid against her,

the three prints set her back just £11.80 in total.

So, what did she get for her money?

They're after an incredibly famous artist called Angelica Kauffman,

who was a female artist in the 18th century.

And they're all stipple-point engraved, or stipple engraving,

and they've all got hand-coloured highlights to them as well.

They're wonderful classical scenes.

No idea who's going to want them, but I think they're lovely.

Yes, Christine showing us that, sometimes,

bidding blind can reap the rewards.

Meanwhile, the sale is almost over,

but Mark has one more potential purchase up his sleeve.

My last lot is coming up.

In fact, it's the last lot of the sale.

It's that rather nice 19th-century small chair.

I'm hoping to get it for £40-£50,

but who knows?

293, last lot of the sale, is the little doll's side chair.

Start me at £20 anywhere. 20 I have, 22 now.

At 20, looking for two. At £20.

Two anywhere else? 22.

25. £28 now? 28.

30. 32?

30 at the back of the room.

Two anywhere else?

At £30, all done?

I got it! £30!

Now, one of the other dealers was bidding for it,

but I got it below what I thought.

And I know it's only a miniature item,

but I hope my profit is not going to miniature at all.

Mark wins the final lot,

paying £35.40 for the doll's chair in total,

and that's it.

Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen,

that's the end of today's sale.

Or is it?

I don't feel like I've spent either enough money or bought enough lots.

So I'm going to go and have a chat with the auctioneer

and see if there's any lots still up for grabs, maybe do some after sales.

Yes, Christina, the Magpie, now flutters over to the auctioneers,

knowing that unsold items can still be negotiated over.

And she has her eye on something shiny.

So we've not had that one, which is lot 113,

which is a little garnet set brooch or pendant, isn't it?

That's quite nice. Has that got a hallmark on it?

-It's not hallmarked.

-And it's nine carat, OK.

-What could that be, what's your best?

-If I said to you £50...?

-No.

-I won't go lower than 35.

-30, I'd be very happy.

-OK.

-Would you be able to do it for 30?

-32?

-I will split the difference with you at 32.

-OK, OK!

Well done, thank you very much.

So, it may not have sold under the hammer, but, with auction costs

included, Christina pays £37.76 for the brooch.

And that shiny purchase brings us to the end of this buying half.

So, before we move onto the next act,

let's see how our experts spent today.

Our two auction heroes set off on the saga

with £1,000 of their own money.

Mark "The Maverick" Stacey bought six items, costing him £236.

Christina Trevanion acquired five lots at a total cost of £350.46.

So, with our tremendous buying struggle over,

our brave bidders take a moment to throw a critical eye

over each other's lots.

That was a tough auction.

It sort of slightly felt like this was a bloodbath.

LAUGHTER

Oh, stop it, Christina, that's another rib gone!

But I do worry a little about the tea set.

But look how pretty! Look, so pretty!

Oh, I've never seen a prettier tea service by Davenport.

SHE LAUGHS

-But, actually, those were a bargain, Christina, for £10.

-Really?

As for these, Mark, for goodness sakes, mine are just prints.

-Yours are originals. Beautiful little pen sketches.

-I couldn't believe those.

-I love your over mantle.

-Original back, lovely thing.

No, it's really nice.

But my favourite, favourite piece that you bought today...

Is?

Oh, I know, it really has got that Vettriano look about it.

It certainly has. I just think it's so romantic.

-I'm very jealous about that. I think it's fabulous.

-You are too kind.

And I think we bought really quite well between us.

Like always, Christina -

buying, they say, is the easy bit.

-Yeah, very true.

-It's the selling that's the problem.

-Well, yeah. Well, very best of luck.

-And to you.

And so the dust of the final gavel is whisked away

by the winds of inevitable change,

and the buying season turns to selling.

Down in his Brightlingsea digs, Mark is evaluating his valuables.

I am quite pleased with what I bought,

particularly the charming pair of watercolours.

I really do like these.

They're so sweet.

I love the carriages,

the one with the peasants with the cattle coming round,

the other one with a slightly grander coach and horses.

The ink stand is quite interesting,

because this is from the Art Deco period.

And when I first saw it, I thought this was sharkskin or shagreen,

but it's not, it's porcelain decorated to look like it.

I love my little miniature chair.

I had to wait virtually to the end of the sale to see

whether I could secure it or not, and I'm jolly pleased I did.

The footbath, I'm afraid, is not my favourite buy,

but I might be able to get a profit or at least wash my face.

And this charming picture called me all through the auction.

It was in my direct eyeline from where I was standing.

I hadn't viewed it, I didn't know anything about it,

and I ended up buying it blind.

But I'm so pleased I did, because there's a lovely gallery label

on the back, saying the artist -

and it's an old gallery from Hove in Sussex, my old stomping ground -

and I do hope it doesn't rain on my parade.

Talking of parades, Christina, how are you getting on?

Well, Christina is in Shropshire, coming to terms with her purchases.

I always say to clients, when you're looking at things,

looking for things, always try and buy things

in perfect condition if you can.

And I think it's fair to say that I haven't, indeed,

heeded my own advice, sadly.

Because, look - I bought a chair, which, it's fair to say,

has been beautifully upholstered by an enthusiastic amateur.

It's looking a little bit tired,

and hasn't been given the best of treatments.

I'll need to do a bit of work to that.

My tea service has got some damage throughout,

but, nonetheless, it's a beautiful thing and very displayable.

My mirror, over there, appears to have lost a foot

between the auction house and here.

And also some of the gilding has come away.

So, again, I need to do a bit of work to that

in order to find a buyer for it.

I have to say, I'm very pleased with these pictures, though.

I only paid just shy of £12.

And, to be perfectly honest with you, I think they're gorgeous.

They're early 19th-century, hand-coloured prints

depicting these wonderful diaphanously-clad maidens here

after Angelica Kauffman.

I'm hoping to find somebody who will love them just as much as I do.

But, overall,

I think it's fair to say

I've got some serious work to do.

Indeed. Both Mark and Christina must now conduct the research,

make the calls and cover the ground

that will lead them on to profit and victory.

And, lest we forget, a deal is not a deal

until sealed with a handshake.

Christina is concerned about her sellables,

so she must feel heartened when she gets her first whiff

of a possible profit.

I'm here in Market Drayton in Shropshire

to visit a chap called Steve who has his own brewery and pub company.

Now, he comes into my auction house to buy items to refurbish his pubs.

So I'm hoping that these might be of interest.

-Looking busy, as always.

-Christina, how are you?

-Very well, how are you?

-Of course, busy.

Oh, my goodness! Right, let me put these up on here.

Have a little look at those.

Well, they're interesting.

I bought these pictures at an auction, you'll be happy to know,

and they are engravings of pictures

by an artist called Angelica Kauffman.

She's an 18th-century artist, and she's one of the first two

female members of the Royal Academy in 1768.

So they've got quite a good provenance to them.

And they've been actually done as etchings,

copies of her pictures into etchings, and then hand-coloured.

So they're not, obviously, oil paintings.

They are effectively reproduction prints,

but they are 19th-century examples.

-So they're quite nice, old examples.

-They are lovely.

Something that's authentic is quite nice.

I was hoping to get about £150 for them.

But what would you consider being a fair price?

-I could do 150 if that's what you need.

-Would you?

£150 for the three?

-Well, that's 50 quid each for me, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-And they'll be seen by a lot of people.

-Brilliant!

Well, I cannot wait to see them in place. Thank you very, very much.

That is a colossal opening profit of £138.20 for the trio of pictures.

What a profit! I'm thrilled!

I found the auction really, really quite difficult,

but never underestimate the Magpie.

Back in the race!

Yes, with Christina striding ahead in this race for profit,

Mark had better not stall at the start.

He's brought his romantic painting to rainy North London.

It cost him just under £130,

but will private art collector Bronwen shower him with a profit?

It was painted, and it's signed down here, 1961.

It's very similar in style, actually,

to an artist called Jack Vettriano. Have you heard of him?

I actually have.

He painted The Singing Butler. That's his most famous painting.

What is also quite interesting, from a sort of provenance point of view,

on the back, you can see there's a label

from a gallery in Hove in Sussex.

Shall we see what it looks like up on the wall?

Actually, it looks quite nice there.

It actually looks lovely there.

Now you've actually seen it in the flesh, what are your feelings?

I do like it very much.

What about 290?

How about 240?

Put the kettle on.

I think I would be really happy...

-At 250?

-At 275.

I was going to say 250!

-260.

-260.

-OK, then.

-You've got it.

-OK, my lovely.

I'm never buying a painting again!

I need somewhere to lie down.

There's the couch.

Mark makes a big splash of £130.20 profit

from his priciest auction purchase, and he's as pleased as punch.

Well, I don't know about you, but I'm rather singing in the rain.

And the profits keep pouring in when Mark sells his Doulton pen stand

to auctioneer Robin in Essex.

I can feel your hand coming over, Robin, at 45.

I think we'll probably be able to do something at 45.

Netting himself £21.40 profit, and nudging into the lead.

Meanwhile, Christina has made a major decision,

and is heading to Combermere Abbey.

She's decided not to reupholster her pink armchair,

but hopes owner Sarah will still give her a profit

on the £77 purchase price.

-Hello, hello, hello!

-Hi, there!

-I found you!

I know, I'm so sorry.

-I was having a little play.

-That looks fab!

Isn't it fantastic? Yes.

-So, Sarah.

-Yes.

Forgive me, but you have the most stunning house,

-packed full of antiques.

-Yes.

You can't possibly want a chair.

I do.

-Really?

-Because I am restoring this north wing

and it's going to be run as a B&B,

and I have no furniture for that side of the house.

I understand, obviously, that there will be an upholstery cost to you

as well, which does cost quite a lot of money.

So I will try and be very, very nice.

-I'm so glad!

-In all honesty, I was hoping to get a couple of hundred quid for it.

A little over my budget, actually,

because if I've got to upholster it and the fabric,

then it's not going to be quite so attractive.

Could you come down to closer to 100?

I would love to,

-but that really doesn't leave me a huge amount of profit.

-Oh.

-What about...

-It's going to go in a wonderful place.

CHRISTINA LAUGHS

Oh, yes, it will go in a beautiful place.

Don't try that with me!

What about 150?

Yes, that's meeting in the middle.

-Split the difference, meet in the middle.

-That's acceptable.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-Happy with that?

-Happy with that.

-Brilliant. And I'm very happy.

-Shall we shake on it?

Yes, let's! Absolutely!

Christina makes £73.30 profit on the chair,

and washes her hands of another sale.

In Essex, Mark is hoping antiques dealer Kim will be impressed

with the footbath and sugar bowl that cost him just under £24.

-Now, this is a surprise to you, I know.

-It is a big surprise, Mark.

It's Victorian. It's got a mark on the back.

-It's called...

-Lotus.

..Lotus CM, which I think stands for Charles Meigh, M-E-I-G-H.

-Don't know them.

-Well, it fits.

Look, it is worn, let's be honest. It's got a bit of wear.

-It is, but it's big.

-It's big and bold.

And I love the colour.

I would use it, especially coming up to a function or a party,

I'd put loads of ice in it and some lovely big bottles of champagne.

Oh, do you know, that sounds wonderful. When am I coming round?

Any time you like.

I was hoping for somewhere in the region of sort of £40-£60,

but I'll throw in this absolutely charming Ming-period sugar bowl.

Well, this makes all the difference, doesn't it?

It is the icing on the cake!

Joking apart, it is what it is and it's OK, isn't it?

It's OK, but I don't think it should come into the negotiation, really.

Well, depending on how much you would pay,

-I thought I might give you it as a little freebie.

-OK.

-It's nice of you - a present.

-So what do you think of 40-60?

I don't like it at all, really.

Hit me with another price, Mark.

I'm going to be fair with you.

I paid about £23.50 for it in the auction.

So can I make a working profit on that with you, do you think?

Are we talking 30?

Well, if we must, but I was rather hoping

that there'd be something other than a zero after the three.

-31?

-35.

33.

-35.

-Oh, go on, then.

-Go on.

-Go on, then.

-And you get that as well.

-Oh, I'd forgotten this.

-You'd forgotten it.

I had. 35 is fine, then.

Do you know, there we are.

You see, I've put my foot in it again, haven't I?

Mark makes £11.40 on the pottery, which is good,

but then our hero really does put his foot in it.

The sales were going wonderfully well. In fact, swimmingly well,

until, of course, catastrophe struck and I broke my ankle.

With Mark temporarily laid up, let's take a look at the figures so far.

Mark Stacey has sold three items and made a profit of £163.

Christina Trevanion has only sold two,

but she's out in front in profit terms - £211.50.

And the Magpie is hot on the trail of her next deal, too,

taking the gilt mirror that cost her £177

to the Shropshire village of Stanton upon Hine Heath.

I'm here to see a friend of mine, Marcus Moore,

who not only is an antiques dealer, but he's also a restorer.

Now, my mirror, unfortunately, does need quite a lot of work doing to it

and he's the only man that I know

who could potentially restore it to its former glory.

Let's hope he wants to buy it.

-Well, Marcus?

-Well, it looks very interesting.

Very interesting, indeed.

But have you got all the bits?

-Well, hang on a minute.

-That's the question.

I've got that bit.

-I've got that bit.

-Is that anything to do with it?

I've got...

Oh, no, look! That bit.

-Right.

-And that bit.

-Is that it?

-Yes.

-OK.

I know that you're the man to buy it

-because you'd do such a brilliant job of restoring it.

-Right.

What do you think would be a fair price, do you think, to pay for it?

Ordinary ones have got to be in the 80 to 120 region, haven't they?

But this is not an ordinary one.

So I'd suggest it was worth a couple of hundred pounds.

A couple of hundred pounds, OK.

That sort of figure, but, you know...

And even then, on top of that,

we're going to probably spend a couple of hundred pounds on it.

-Really?

-Yeah.

-OK. But, then, after that, it will be stunning.

It's going to be stunning.

Maybe 250?

-Yes.

-Yeah? You're a gentleman.

Thank you very, very much.

Despite the restoration required,

Christina still bags a £73 profit on the mirror.

Down in Essex, Mark is not letting something as trivial

as a broken ankle get in the way of his profit quest.

Well, as you can see, disaster struck, so I'm now being

pushed around by my partner Xander to get me

around in the wheelchair.

And I've come to see Jonathan,

who I used to work with at an auction house,

who loves watercolours and I think his house is covered in them,

so I'm hoping to get a good profit

out of this lovely pair of watercolours.

Fingers crossed, let's go and find out how we do.

Johnny, thank you so much for inviting us to your charming home.

-It's just as I pictured it - lots of watercolours.

-There are, yes, lots.

-Hundreds, in fact.

-Hundreds.

-Well, I think I've found you another two.

-Just what I need!

-I hope so.

-I sent you photographs.

-You did.

I think you're going to like them better in the flesh.

I love this one with the coach and horses coming round.

It's very nicely done.

It's indistinctly signed, isn't it, I don't recognise that.

I know that artist. You see that a lot, don't you, Signed Indistinctly?

Yes. Yes, he's very famous.

Do you think they're mid-19th century?

-They must be, mustn't they?

-I thought maybe 1840, maybe 1860.

Yes, I think 1840s.

A little bit of damage there, top right.

Oh, I didn't notice that.

That's just knocked it down by quite a portion.

There are aspects of this which are very nicely done,

but the back wheel looks a little bit ropey.

-I can see the price plummeting.

-The price has plummeted instantly.

I was hoping to get a rather modest sum for them

of between 100 and 150 for the pair.

-That's not going to happen, is it?

-Good Lord!

-Well...

-Now you've seen them, you must be honest, Johnny.

-Oh, no, they're charming.

-Why don't we start at, say, 90?

You can start where you like.

But, you know what they say,

it's not where you start, it's where you finish.

-Right, so I think probably £30 each.

-£60?

-Yes.

-Oh, Johnny!

What's your very, very best price?

I should think 65, at an absolute push.

I've always said about you, Johnny, there's a heart of gold

lying somewhere in the deep interior of your anatomy.

-Are you happy at 65?

-I'm happy at 65.

-Let's do 65.

-65.

-Thanks very much indeed.

-Splendid.

Mark paints himself a profit of £41.40 for the watercolours.

And, as he wheels off in search of more profit,

Christina gets the ball back in her court

as she sells her garnet brooch to Shrewsbury-based jeweller Nigel.

-£80 it is.

-£80.

I'm a happy girl.

Earning a glittering profit of £42.24.

With just one item left to sell,

Christina hotfoots it north to Northwick in Cheshire.

And she has a date at the Davenport Tearooms

that she definitely doesn't want to be late for.

I thought of you because I love this tearoom and the wonderful

-Alice In Wonderland theme that you've got going on.

-Thank you.

Tell me, why did you choose that theme?

Well, Cheshire is the birthplace of Lewis Carroll.

It's only two and a half miles, so it says it all.

-It seems perfect.

-Absolutely.

-Very, very appropriate.

-What about your murals? Who did those?

-I did those.

-Did you?

-Yes.

Well done, you. Gosh, you're very talented.

And I see they're taking tea,

which brings me to my tea service. It's a Davenport tea service.

-Oh, we like Davenport.

-And you're a Davenport!

You are Belinda Davenport. I mean, it's amazing.

-So, are you related to the Davenport family as in the china?

-No.

Right, but you like it because of your name.

Well, we like it because all of the Davenport ones

tend to do really good quality stuff, anyway.

Now, they used that mark between 1870 and 1886,

so it's a good Victorian piece.

And I love the fact that obviously it's got this wonderful

pink and gilt decoration. Do you like it?

-I do like it.

-Do you?

-It's very, very pretty.

-Do you love it?

I love it, actually, yeah.

Got to be worth a couple of hundred pounds, hasn't it?

What do you think?

-150, then.

-It's a deal.

I'm very happy that it's going to a Davenport.

Christina falls down the hole

and emerges with £102.80 profit for the tea set and she's all done.

Back in Essex, Mark is down to his final sale.

It's the miniature chair that cost him just over £35 at auction,

and he's brought it to show collector Michael.

Well, I know you're an expert in collectables,

-but you like miniature furniture.

-I do.

-Victorian, I think?

-It is.

But underneath, I'm afraid, it's had a bit of an amateur repair.

I think somebody has just decided, because it was loose,

they've put those awful brackets in. Fortunately, they're underneath.

It really needs to be stripped and glued again, Mark, and put together.

-I don't want to be unkind because you're a good friend.

-Thank you.

-£50.

-Oh, Michael!

Can't we get closer to 80?

I'll go to 60, but no more.

-Oh, Michael!

-60 is enough.

Well, the chair is a miniature and my profit is a miniature,

-but I'm happy with it. Michael, thanks so much.

-A good deal.

Mark makes £24.60 on the chair.

It's a small profit, but a profit is a profit and I've found the perfect

home for that miniature chair, don't you agree?

And what's best of all is I've sold up.

It was a tough auction, but I've made profits on everything.

And so, with both our experts all sold up,

it's nearly time to discover who is today's winner.

Will Mark's maverick mentality

come out on top against Christina's sensational selling skills?

All will soon be revealed.

Our two towering experts set off on the saga

with £1,000 of their own money.

Mark "The Maverick" Stacey bought six items and spent £236.

Christina Trevanion picked up five lots at a total cost of £350.46.

But who made the most profit?

All the money our experts have made in their challenge will go to their chosen charities,

so let's find out who is our Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is champion.

That auction...

Don't let me relive it! It was bad enough the first time!

Oh, it was frightening, wasn't it?

But you did get some nice things in the end, didn't you?

I loved my tea service, very pretty, very pinky, beautiful tea service.

-Very girlie, that.

-Very girlie. Did you like it?

Not particularly, no.

-It's not my cup of tea.

-Ah-ha!

I did like the painting I bought.

-Oh, that was fantastic!

-Yeah, I'm so glad I bought that,

because I found a nice lady in London who loved it.

-It was just so romantic.

-It WAS so romantic. Just like us, really.

-Shall we find out?

-Yes, let's do it. Are we ready?

Are you ready? One, two, three...

-Oh!

-Oh, my goodness!

Gosh, you did very well. How did you do that, Christina?

In all honesty, I have absolutely no idea!

-Well done, you.

-Thank you, and well done, you, darling.

I think you've done very well, especially under these circumstances, Hopalong.

I'll have to start researching again. I clearly know nothing.

Actually, I knew that at the beginning!

And so, Christina is the winner,

thanks mostly to her profits on the tea set and the trio of prints.

Sevenoaks was a buying location

where I didn't think that I would triumph. It was the auction.

I found it incredibly difficult, but, lo and behold,

it was that pink tea service that Mark was incredibly rude about

that helped win the day.

The auction was tough for both of us.

I thought I did rather well with the paintings

and some of the other things. Christina really struggled,

but she still won. How did that happen?

Well, Mark will have another shot at the crown tomorrow

when our duo go head-to-head at an antiques fair in Lincolnshire.