Midlands Bargain Hunt

Ahoy there! We're anchored up

by the Gloucester Antiques Centre.

Let's hope that our teams stock up on decent bargains today!

This Victorian warehouse is one of the longest-established antiques centres in the UK

and is brimming with goodies!

So there's not a second to lose. We've established some guidelines.

Under the eye of their experts, they've got 60 minutes to spend 300 smackers and buy three items.

And if they don't, they'll have to walk the plank!

So it's the battle of the boys today. For the Reds we've got Tom and Fred. Welcome.

And Barry and Ian for the Blues.

Tom, how did you two meet up? Well, it was back in university. We both went to Warwick Uni.

We lived in opposite halls. I was playing guitar at the time.

I think I had a drum. We started jamming together.

And you gelled. Instantly.

Tell me about this business with mugs, Fred. Well...

We're huge tea drinkers. And over the last three years we've been living together

we've acquired several dozen tea mugs. We're big on collecting mugs and having a cup of tea together.

You once had a bath in the stuff?

I'm afraid that's true, Tim.

How did you come out? Crinkly? And orange. We know all about that.

I think they'll do very well. Now for the Blues, Barry and Ian.

Barry, you collect a few things. Yes, I've been collecting stamps for a few years.

I have 47 albums and I have all the Royal Mail yearbooks, since they started. That's 23.

Are you a generalist stamp collector? I'm a dinosaur, yes.

You share a passion for racing. Yes, indeed. Our current passion is for soapbox racing.

Soapbox racing? Tell me about that.

Literally a box with wheels? It started off a bit like that, but now they're very sophisticated.

We've got disc brakes, independent suspension... Yeah.

And you design and build these? We build them ourselves, yes.

Out of all the experts on Bargain Hunt, which would you like?

Well, we'd like Kate Bliss. And the reason we'd like Kate Bliss is

I'm parish clerk of Bishopstone and District Group parish council and Kate lives within the parish.

She is your expert today. Isn't that fortuitous?

We've got ?300. There you go.

You know the rules. Your experts await. Off you go! Very, very good luck in the antiques centre.

Taking a turn around the fair with our teams are two dedicated experts.

James Lewis for the Reds...

..and Kate Bliss for the Blues.

We weren't sure what this was. OK, one thing that I'd say is that brassware,

over the last 10-15 years, has plummeted in value.

People can't be bothered to polish it. It's a lazy society we have.

So this is nowhere near as fashionable as it once was. We thought it might be for coal.

It's known as a skillet. It's for dipping in hot water and fishing out the vegetables.

Out of your bowl of boiling water.

This is a really good one. It's early 19th century, 1820.

Beautifully decorated. Very unusual handle, nice order,

no splits, no cracks. Good, solid thing.

I think that will go to somebody who'll put it in their fire surround and it'll be decorative.

We've got him down to a fiver. A fiver? Wow! It's 200 years old.

It can't be bad, can it? We've got a really good chance there. It won't make that much,

but it might make 20 or 30. Go for it?

Buy it. Bargain. Let's do it. Good stuff. Right.

?5, eh? What a scoop for the Reds!

Now what are those Blues up to?

This might be up your street, guys. Quite classy. What do you think?

Oh, is it hand-painted, that one? It is. Absolutely.

If you look very carefully, it's quite hidden. It's signed W Powell.

William Powell was one of the foremost artists at Royal Worcester. His speciality was birds.

He's done this lovely little wagtail. That's quite a good and interesting piece, isn't it?

It is. The hand-painted pieces of porcelain were top of the range.

The printed and painted over the top of the print came next.

So this commands the highest price, cos it is hand painted.

So this is Royal Worcester? It is, exactly. If we turn it over, you can see this printed mark

for the Royal Worcester porcelain factory.

The star and dot indicate the date.

It's really very early 20th century.

And the artist has titled it there Wagtail, for the little bird on the front.

We like that one. We do, actually.

How much? Well, the ticket price... I've hidden it from you, but it said...

?110. Which is quite a lot. That's retail.

At auction, it would make anywhere between ?50 and ?100 on a good day. Oh, right.

I think it could be quite a good buy, but we need to get a little bit of a reduction.

You'll have to come and help me. Oh, right. OK. I'll show you where it came from.

The Blues pecked down the price of the wagtail dish to a cheap ?50.

Guys, found anything? Just this old trumpet. Nothing special.

Not exciting, is it? Not really. But is that exciting? It's a pig!

It IS a pig. There you go. Tiny. And what's it for?

The nice thing about this is it will appeal to a lot of collectors. He's a pincushion.

He appeals to pig collectors and he will appeal to sewing collectors, and he's silver,

so he'll appeal to silver collectors. My gran collected pigs.

Fantastic. Is it in good condition? Or has it got a few marks?

He's a little bit tired, but he's still a good thing.

I love him. What's this mark? The hallmark?

That's the hallmark on the side. Maker's mark on the left and the anchor for Birmingham.

It's about 1900, 1905. Early Edwardian.

And how much bacon?

A lot of bacon, I'm afraid! He's about as expensive - more - than a full, real pig.

What do pigs go for these days? About ?80-?85, I understand.

They're asking 115 for this chap.

Can you get it closer to a real pig price? A real pig price. A real pig price.

OK, so what's my limit?

90. OK. I'll do better than that. Okey-doke.

And James cut the price of the pig down to 85 rashers. It's getting worse!

Here we are, Kate. What do you think to this?

Do you know what it is? No. Any idea of the factory? No idea. What about you, Ian?

No idea! What does it say on the bottom? Well, before we look,

various things tell me exactly who made it. The shape - it has a bit of a home-made feel.

These edges are crimped.

It's really the glazes that give it away. A really nice rich dark blue,

in the centre. And a chocolatey brown outside, with these applied flowers.

That is absolutely characteristic of the Doulton factory.

Impressed on the bottom is Doulton

and Lambeth. The Doulton Lambeth factory made a lot of utilitarian wares out of stoneware like this,

but they also started making pieces that might be called art pottery.

This is where this fits in. It could be seen as a piece of art as well as a functional bowl.

How much will it make at auction? I think a little bowl like that

will make ?20-?40. So what's the price? Can't remember!

Oh! Well, why don't you go and find out. That's a good idea. And see what you can negotiate.

I'll leave it to you this time. Off we go, then. Come on, Barry.

We're off!

The Blues got the Royal Doulton bowl for just ?12.

We really like to make our experts sing for their suppers. Oh, yes.

Not only do they have to guide the teams through their shopping, but they must look for a Bonus Buy.

Bought with any leftover lolly, the Bonus Buy could be incredibly handy at the auction

as a method of boosting the team's profits. But will they decide to take the chance or pass?

There's no way I'm getting this.

I know you're obsessed with dogs, but it's kitschy.

We're running out of time. THAT is horrible. What about these?

Plates. They're not plates. They're trinket dishes.

They're all right. Where are they from? From Derby.

Like me. And they are Royal Crown Derby.

It's one of the most collectable porcelains. This is Imari pattern.

See the little number on the back? 1128. That's the pattern number.

It is the 1,128th pattern they did. They're in good condition as well.

Yeah, for a very good reason - they're not that early.

There's a date code at the bottom. That's for 1980.

So they're not old, but they do have a good collecting field. It'll sell?

There are loads of collectors of it.

In my sale room in Derby, we sell this in the bucketload.

We get loads of it and very rarely does a piece not sell. And they're not expensive.

They're ?28, but I've had a word and we've got them down to ?20.

We might as well go for it. Let's do it. Let's do it.

20 quid. We're not going to lose anything, are we? No.

I think there's ?10-?12 profit in that. It's better than nothing.

All right. It's a few beers. Let's do a deal.

?20 for the matching pair of Imari-style dishes.

Guess what the Blues have found!

Look what I've found here, Barry. I like the colours. Lovely and bright.

Another piece of pottery. What do you think about it, Kate? How old is it?

I like it. If we turn it over, you can see we've got the printed mark for Royal Crown Derby.

That helps us to date it. That's 1890.

We know that it dates from around there because soon afterwards "England" was added above this mark.

The influence of the decoration, this very lavish decoration, goes right back to Japanese art

and Japanese porcelain known as Imari. It's the Imari palette,

which Royal Crown Derby were very good at using.

What do we think about that? I like it. ?28, wasn't it?

I don't think that's too bad. It's a shame it's only one plate,

but there is a big collectors' market for Royal Crown Derby, particularly the earlier period.

I think it should do well, but if you can get it even lower, the better chance of a profit.

We'll go and negotiate again? I think so. Your turn. My turn?!

All right. I'll come and help.

Royal Crown Derby all round today and this dish cost the Blues ?15.

Right, lads...and lasses. Time's up. Let's tot up the bargains.

At ?5, the Reds will hope to skim off the profits with the brass skimmer.

Will the ?85 silver pig bring home the bacon at the auction?

These Imari-style dishes cost a neat ?20,

but will they bring in a prim and proper profit?

The Blues nabbed a Royal Worcester dish for ?50.

They'll hope it serves up a profit.

The Royal Doulton bowl cost a memorable ?12.

They'll hope it sticks in the minds of the auction bidders.

And they paid the princely sum of ?15 for the Royal Crown Derby plate.

Today we've come to take the waters of Malvern.

The water's good here. Philip Serrell, our host.

Good to see you. Tom and Fred and James Lewis, what about this brass skimmer?

Is it Georgian? Or Victorian? I think it's a 19th-century copy.

But that would have graced any cottage in Worcestershire

and somebody would have paid good money for it, but times have changed.

20 years ago, what would it be? 80-120.

?80-?120. How much is that worth today?

?10-?20. There you go. They only paid ?5 for it.

I think there's a profit there. Yes, but it is phenomenal how copper and brass has...

30 years ago, copper kettles made ?90 and warming pans made ?120. Now they're both ?10-?20.

Ridiculous. Not the thing to have put your money in. No.

The Victorian novelty silver piggy wig. I'm quite fond of this.

You like pigs? I like pigs. I like silver models of pigs.

I think it'll make ?40-?60. Is that all?

?85. Am I being mean? I don't know.

If it was properly stuffed, I can see that in a retailer's for ?180-?220.

It's that "if" word. It isn't stuffed and it's here and it's got to go,

so your estimate is ?40-?60. Right. They paid ?85. I just hope...

So do I, but I have my doubts.

These little chaps are bankers. Royal Crown Derby. Imari pattern.

But new ones. Not even early 20th century ones. How much?

?10-?20. ?20 paid. They may be all right. They stand a chance.

It's all going to be down to the pig here, you know that?

Rather than leave it in the trough like that, we'd better shove off and look at their Bonus Buy.

So, Fred, Tom, ?190 we gave James for a Bonus Buy. A lot of money. It's under there.

He's going to reveal it...now.

Oh! It's a walnut!

James, tell us about it! That is a snuff box.

It's made from a section of stag horn. Before you say, "Poor stag!" they do shed their antlers.

This could well be made from a little bit that was found.

A natural shed, you reckon. We hope!

A little tiny bit of snuff. Why a tiny bit of snuff?

It's called a mean pinch. Scottish snuffs were a lot smaller than English snuffs. So they say.

1800, 1810. Can I have a sniff?

It's quite nice. Like it? I do. How much did you pay?

?34. ?34.

The next question you'll ask is...?

Do you think it'll make a profit? Yes! You've got it. Well done.

I think it might make a small profit. There's not a lot in there.

It's not going to make over ?55, ?60, but it might make ?50-?55.

OK. So there's a chance there. We'll give it a think. You don't have to decide right now.

Decide after the sale of your first three items. But let's see what the auctioneer thinks.

It's a hard life being a stag.

Yeah. I quite like that, but I think it's ?20-?40.

That's all right. ?34 they paid.

Think it was for snuff? Pins, patches, needles. Anything, really.

It doesn't really work for snuff. I think it would have sat on a desk in your baronial Scottish home.

And you could then go, "I remember when I shot that up on the hillside. A fine beastie."

Moving on to the Blues, then. Barry and Ian and Kate Bliss.

The Royal Worcester plate. I feel a strategic buy coming on.

Billy Powell, great Royal Worcester artist.

It will make ?50-?80 all day long. Their strategy has paid off. They paid 50 for it.

Profit, profit. The right sale room for the right goods.

Perfect. The Royal Doulton bowl. Over-folded edge.

In pretty good nick. Pretty good.

There's a bit of Royal Doulton that might be worth ?30-?40 five or ten years ago.

I think it's ?10-?20. ?12 paid.

There's got to be a profit. If there's any justice in life, that makes a profit.

Got to be a profit. That's a nice little prediction.

Now another wretched Crown Derby jobs. That's earlier, though.

That one would probably be 1910 or 1920.

Great condition. I mean... Another ?10 or ?20.

They paid 15. ?77 paid.

There's not a lot of losses in there. I think that'll cover it. Particularly the wagtail.

You like a wagtail. Yes, I do.

Let's look at the Bonus Buy.

Well, you gave Kate ?223, which she spent, but on what?

Before I reveal, you did leave me an enormous amount of money and I didn't spend very much,

but remember the key is to make a profit. Bear that in mind, OK?

This is what I bought for you.

That's fascinating! I can't pretend it's an antique, because it isn't,

but it's a rather nice yacht. It is, yes.

Collectors pay reasonable money. You want to know what I paid. We do.

I paid just ?10. ?10! We can't make much of a loss on that.

Even if it doesn't sell at all! I hope there's a profit, which is the important thing.

So out of ?300, we've spent less than ?100!

Isn't that marvellous? I'm glad you're amused.

It'll be very interesting to see whether your strategy proves to be the correct one, won't it?

For the viewers at home, let's find out what the auctioneer thinks.

Captain Pugwash. Fully rigged.

You're the cabin boy. Oh, hello! What do you think?

I'd put ?20-?30 on it. I could be being a bit mean. It might make 40. She paid ?10.

She's a cute lass. That's profit. You're taking the sale?

I've got to make sure it makes a profit now! Certainly do.

Tom and Fredo, how are you feeling? A bit nervous. You are a perpetual optimist, though.

Definitely. And you are a perpetual pessimist. Yeah.

I think we're in trouble. The first lot is your skimmer.

Lot number 321 - a Georgian skimmer.

There we are. Skillet or skimmer. Pays your money, takes your chance.

Who's got ?20? Hands up quickly. ?20.

10, then. 10 I'm bid.

Doubled your money. At 10. ?10.

Any more? Who's got 15? At ?10... Come on! At ?10.

?10 and I sell, then, at ?10. And...done!

Well, I never did. ?10. Never mind. That's ?5 profit.

Not to be snuffed at! The pig!

A pig pin cushion.

Who's got ?100 to start? Surely.

Who's got 80?

50 I'm bid. At 50. 60.

60 bid. At ?60.

70. ?70. At ?70. It's the lady's bid at 70.

Any more?

At ?70 and I sell, then, at 70. And done!

I don't believe it! ?70. You're minus 15 on that.

It could have been worse. Minus ?10.

I'm bid ?10 for those. At 10. 10. 15. 20.

5. 30. 5. 40.

5. Any more? At 45. 50. 50 bid.

?50 only. Is there any more? At ?50, right at the back.

And done!

Well done, James! You've saved their bacon. That is fantastic.

Plus 30 on that. You have ?20 in your pockets of profit thanks to him.

It's all thanks to him! What about the stag horn snuff box?

Are you going to risk it? ?34. Or walk home with your ?20?

Going to chance it? Go for it.

All right. Going with the snuff box.

Here it comes. 327.

A stag horn snuff box. I'm bid ?35 on the book. Bid at 35.

At ?35 only. At 35. One more?

At 35. 40. 5. 50.

5. 55. Is there any more? You like your snuff, sir?

At ?55 only. There's the bid.

At ?55, seated. Any more?

At ?55. I may sell at 55. And...done!

?55.

Plus ?41. That is brilliant, isn't it? ?41.

Just don't tell the Blues. OK. Not a word to the Blues.

Lips are sealed? Lips are sealed.

Barry and Ian, how are you feeling? Nervous. Are you nervous?

Folk who go downhill on machines very, very fast can't be nervous about this!

First up is the Worcester plate.

Royal Worcester. Painted by Billy Powell. A dish by Billy Powell.

Who's got...? Where shall we start? Have you got ?50?

At ?50 only. 55.

And 60. And 5. 70. Come on!

At ?70. By Billy Powell. Any more?

At ?70 with me and I sell, then, at ?70. Done!

Well done. ?70. Plus 20. No problem with that.

A Royal Doulton bowl. This is a sweet little lot. ?20?

?20? Who's got 10, surely? ?10, quickly?

Come along, ladies. A tenner.

You're not a lady, but you'll do. At ?10. 10 bid.

At ?10. ?10 - there's the bid. I'll sell at ?10. And done!

Bad luck, Barry. Minus 2.

A Royal Crown Derby plate. Who's got ?20 to start?

20 I'm bid. At 20.

?20 only. At 20. There's the bid. At ?20. Come on!

Is there any more? And 5. 25.

30 bid. One more?

One more! Go on.

One more. ?30.

Try 5.

At ?30, seated. Just there. At ?30 and I sell. And...done!

You doubled your money. Plus 15.

You're ?33 up. Well done, boys. You spent ?77 and you've made ?33 profit.

That's pretty good. What about this old yacht? We've got to go with Kate. Yes.

Spent ?10 on that. We can't let Kate down. The decision is made? Go with it.

The auctioneer's estimate on it is ?20-?30.

So he sees you tripling your money.

Anyway, here comes the Bonus Buy.

A little pond yacht. Got two bids for the same money.

Look at the look on Bliss' face! Two bids for the same money.

I start at ?40. Yes! 40 bid.

At ?40 only. It's going to be short and sweet. At ?40 only.

A swift launching at ?40. Any more?

At ?40 on the board. Two commission bids, same money. I start at 40 and...done!

?40. That is brilliant. Plus 30. Well done.

?63 up.

Plus 63. Can you believe that? Plus 63.

That's nearly half a soapbox. It was worth coming!

Well done. Now do me a favour... Four tyres!

Don't tell the Reds. No. We will reveal all in a minute.

Isn't it lovely that both teams have made profits? Unbelievable!

Congratulations all round. Do you know how the Reds got on? No.

Blues? No way. You have no idea about the scale of these winnings.

We do have to have a runner-up. Each team did phenomenally well,

but the runners-up are the Reds.

Oh! Oh!

Bad luck, boys. You managed ?41 of profits.

I thought that might be enough. It's pretty brilliant. The dishes were surprising. Did well.

And you went with the old Scottish stag horn jobby.

Another 21 smackers for that. Overall, plus ?41. Are you pleased? Yes! We're happy.

You're students. We can go to the pub. ?41 is worthwhile having, isn't it? Yeah.

You've been great boys. Anyway, see you soon.

Now, you guys. Very good. ?63 up.

?20 out of Kate's Royal Worcester plate. That did very nicely.

And ?30 out of Kate's yacht.

Pretty good going, Kate. Want to join our soapbox team?

They're cruising along. Plus ?63 is jolly, jolly good.

Thank you. I've got the ?3 here. There you go. ?63.

We have had the greatest fun today. Great contestants, great profits.

Join us soon! Yes? Yes!

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