Detling Bargain Hunt

So, today we've got two glamorous girls, two hairy blokes,

a couple of savvy experts and me.

That can only mean one thing... let's go bargain hunting!

Today we're in the Kent Showground in, believe or not, Kent!

Whilst we're still in the UK, today's programme has a distinctly European flavour.

I don't suppose these euros will be any good here.

Excuse me, do you take Euros?

Oink, oink.

We've got a Red Team and a Blue Team, aided by experts.

It's a bit of a race against time, this.

They each get £300 and an hour to buy three objects to take off to auction.

Now, if they make a profit when they get to auction, they get to keep it.

If they don't make a profit, they'll probably go home, empty-handed.

Look out! Whoa!

CRUNCHING AND SMASHING

Today we have two teams of relatives.

For the Reds, we have Krista and Margaret, whose husbands are cousins,

and for the Blues, we have brothers, Lech and Slav.

ALL: Hello, Tim!

How lovely! Now, Krista, where were you originally from?

-I'm from Germany.

-And why are you here?

-Well, I came to England to learn the language.

-Yes?

-And the second day I came here, I met my husband and I've been with him ever since.

Well, isn't that lovely! Now, you've got lots of hobbies?

-Yep.

-And I'm interested in your hobby which is scuba diving.

-Tell us about that.

-I used to do it. I don't do it now so much.

So whereabouts have you been diving then, actually?

In Florida and in the Red Sea and in England, various places.

You can go scuba diving in England?

-You can't see anything and it's terribly cold?

-No, you can't, this is very true.

-So, Margaret, you're retired?

-I am.

-But what did you do before you retired?

Oh, various things in my past.

I've worked in a bank, which was exceedingly interesting(!)

I've worked with my husband on the farm. We ran a small business for a while,

and latterly, the last few years I worked for the local county newspaper, the Kent Messenger.

What sort of items are you going to be looking out for today?

Well, I quite like cut glass or silver or something that catches my eye, really.

-I've nothing specific in mind.

-So you're quite a magpie!

-Ahh!

Anyway, very good luck! Now, for these rather tall boys.

Slav and Lech, they're unusual names. Where are you from originally, you chaps?

We're from Poland, second generation Polish stock.

-And Slav, what do you get up to?

-I'm a student, doing a Masters in Chinese Studies.

-Are you?

It says here you're 26 years of age and still a student?

-Gladly so, gladly so!

-What was your first degree in?

I studied finance in Nottingham

and I started working a bit in accountancy work after that

and it didn't really work out.

Eventually a friend of mine who was working in Shanghai

called me and said he was having a wonderful time there and I spent three great years.

-Did you? Three years in Shanghai?

-That's right.

Now, Lech, you're also a student. What are you studying?

I'm doing Politics and International Relations at Manchester University,

the good one, not ManMet.

-HE LAUGHS

-I see!

Now when you're not working hard at university,

what do you like to get up to?

Well, I'm into sort of current affairs, fitness training and whenever possible, chess.

Especially for the chess when I was younger,

my school won a tournament, the National Tournament, the under-11s Bishop Challoner,

and that kind of developed into a more serious hobby.

-Tell us about the championship when you had a problem?

-A problem?

Oh, about two, three months ago, there was a tournament at the Manchester City Stadium.

They'd won four matches and I got disqualified because I made a move with my left hand,

but I pushed the stop clock with my right

and that' against chess protocol, so unfortunately, I lost the match.

There was a bit of a verbal exchange and, unfortunately, the adjudicator heard

and I think I'm the only person to be expelled from a chess tournament for "intolerable behaviour".

Ahh. Now, you girls, do you think you're going to be able to teach these boys a trick or two, or not?

-Ooh, I don't know.

-think we might.

Now, the money moment, the moment you've been waiting for. Your £300 a piece, here's your £300.

You know the rules, your experts await and off you go, and very, very, very good luck.

So, both teams full of the spirit of adventure, but will they be any good at seeking out those bargains?

Trawling the stalls for the Reds is James Braxton.

Swotting up on her stuff for the Blues is Kate Bliss.

For one hour only, our experts will share their pearls of antiques wisdom

with their teams to help them find three of the best buys around.

-Probably not for us.

-Definitely not for us!

-James?

-Where's Lech gone?

Could the Blues have earmarked a potential item already?

Where's Lech?

May we see one of the bookmarks, please, sir?

I've got my glass here. Thank you. Do you know what this is?

-Mini...

-For very small pieces of cake?

Well, it's actually a little bookmark that sits on the page.

On the back of here, we've got silver hallmarks.

-Sorry?

-It's 1876.

-1876?

So it's a nice Victorian one, OK, and the marks are still really clear on there.

-Do you think the handle was original?

-I would have thought so.

-See, I think that's really sweet.

You've got Victorian silver, with a lovely little sort of spiral-turned handle there.

-That's very nice, quite luxurious.

-Elegant.

It's quite a good thing to buy as a present for somebody.

It's a little, affordable piece of Victorian silver, if you like.

What can you do for us on that, sir?

I've got 45. I'll need 35 on that.

What do you think about that, guys?

-Is it all right if we have a...

-Yes, you have another look.

-It's kind of funky.

-Let's have the scenario side. You're reading a book, you flick out your ear,

your trusty page-splitter and put it in.

That's a nice item that you've come to, yes.

If you think about it, 1876, that's way over 100 years old.

-Yep.

-I'm sold.

-26?

-28.

-28? That seems a fair price.

-Happy?

-Very.

-I'd be very happy with that.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you very much.

That was quick work, chaps.

OK, if you want to get a picture, we'll look for a picture.

With their first item in the bag and 50 minutes of looking time left, it could be a cruise for the Blues.

That hasn't got any signature on it at all.

If you look at her features, finely painted. Not your sort of thing?

I like it, but, it'd be better if she was nude!

How are those Reds getting on?

-Is this Chinese or something?

-It is Chinese.

What I was looking at is the amount of detail because these are founded,

you know, they're cast and then they have to be finished.

This is obviously the tattoos here and he's playing sort of football...

Football, yes.

But that's definitely got some age.

It's the figure itself I rather like.

-It's got some movement, hasn't it?

-Yes.

-It has movement, yes.

I think somebody has brought it back from their travels.

But would it go in England, do you think? Would it go here?

-Would we be able to sell it?

-Yeah. I think it's quite a bizarre thing.

-There's a lot of people collect oriental art.

-What do you think?

-It's an attractive piece.

-Yeah.

Shall we go for this one?

-Let's see what he can do.

-See what we can get.

After some brief negotiations, they settled on £45.

Huh! Will the Blues stay ahead of the game or are the Reds about to lead the way?

-Inspiration, James.

-Don't worry.

-You wanted to buy a nude picture?

-We did indeed!

-Absolutely!

-And I've found you one!

-Fantastic!

-This way!

-Let's check it out!

-Too much?

-Far too much, really.

-It's brand new.

-No use at all.

This is plastic.

-It's bizarre. You'll find one stall that reflects what you really want to buy...

-That you like, yes...

..And you'll buy two items from it.

What's caught Kate's eye is a picture by Italian-born artist, Franco Matania.

-Wow!

-OK.

-Wow!

-What do you think of her?

-Does she tick the box?

-She is what we're looking for.

-Exactly!

She is actually really nicely delineated.

-He's got the anatomy beautifully.

-Yes.

He's got her collarbones really well.

He's got the breasts nicely,

-even a hint of her ribs underneath.

-Very accentuated.

-Yeah, it is, isn't it?

-It is.

It's just striking when you look at it!

Her face is also, um... Obviously, she's pretty, but she's masculine as well.

It's an interesting face.

-I like that. When I woke up today, I thought, "I hope I find one of those."

-Indeed.

What was the price for that? Did you enquire?

-Right, well, the price tag is... Have a little look. £140.

-OK.

Now, I think at auction...

-I could see her making £100, certainly.

-Yes.

But the lower price we can get that's reasonable, the more chance we've got of making a profit,

so why don't we have a word with our stallholder?

-Excuse me, madam, what's your best price on this?

-£100.

-100?

-What do you think, guys?

-100 sounds fair.

-Do you think?

-For what we are intending to purchase, that sounds good.

-Hmm.

Could you do 80 for us at a push, madam? No? No.

95? For cash?!

100? Well, 100 is fair enough. That's what the lady says.

What do you think? Are you happy with that?

-Very, very happy.

-I think... I think we could get lucky with this one.

I think it is a bit of a gamble

-but with luck, the right person might be there on the day.

-Fantastic.

-Excellent.

-Are you happy?

-Let's do it.

-Let's do it.

-OK, let's do the deal. ..Thank you very much.

Well, that took long enough. Their searching seems to have paid off,

but with 15 minutes to go, they're going to have to get a spurt on!

At the end of the day, whatever money is left over

is given to their experts to go and find something that we call a "bonus buy".

The expert then frantically ferrets round the fair, trying to find

something that will make a profit for the team later at auction.

If they go with it, then it can add to their accumulation,

otherwise, it's just a question of diminishing returns.

There's always something that catches my eye, and today I've spotted something very unusual.

Have a look at this. Look what I've found!

Is that not the most extraordinary picture?

What is it?

Well, it's a watercolour.

It's an original watercolour

painted by this man, LR Cooke, in November 1860.

But what's it a picture of?

Well, it's an internal organ for certain.

Slight hint - men don't have them.

Got it? It's an ovary, but actually the detail as to whether this is a correct and accurate drawing

of what does go on inside an ovary, I wouldn't have the faintest idea.

What I like about it, though, is the fact that it's been beautifully painted

and all these surfaces that have got these little pink lines are, of course, blood vessels.

I have a funny feeling that, inside an ovary,

actually, the woman doesn't produce

perfectly formed rather hard-boiled-looking eggs.

All I can say to you is that this is a genuine watercolour,

it dates from that period and I think it's very rare,

and if this picture was to be sold on, almost certainly

the collector at the end of the day

would be from the medical profession.

The other thing about it that's lovely is the price.

The thing could be yours, on a stall down the road, for £120.

Is that a lot of money? Not really!

Back inside, both our teams are starting to feel the pressure,

especially the Reds, who still have two items to buy.

Ten minutes left and we've only bought one item.

-Come on, we haven't got time.

-We'll still lose money on it.

-OK.

I think we should walk very smartly up this row.

If you see something like that, don't even bother to pick it up.

With the minutes ticking, the Reds make a bee-line for a shiny stall.

You see you get something like that and this cake basket is plated.

It's got a nice shape to it, hasn't it?

Sort of slightly lobed, isn't it? Melon-y shaped.

And what lifts it slightly is this crest,

so it was made for somebody semi-important.

It's a nicely made bit of plate,

but plate isn't doing terribly well at the moment.

-No. No.

-I quite like those.

-Yes, they are nice.

-What about that?

-What have you found? We might be able to buy our two items on this stall.

The three bits of French silver you can have for 100.

So they're French silver, so they haven't got English hallmarks.

And they are very pretty. Very, very decorative.

I like the way that's got the stopper as well.

It's still there, and that's probably for eau de toilette, maybe.

You mean toilet water?

Toilet water, toilet water, straight from the bowl!

-Bog!

-Now, I'll put in that.

-But that's nice. It all fits tightly.

-Yeah, that's lovely.

And have a look for condition. Don't look because your eyes can deceive you -

feel it, feel it, OK?

And does it fight tightly?

-Yes, it does.

-So...

-That's quite a nice item.

-Isn't it?

-I like that one, yes.

-And let's see that one.

-That one.

-Very nice.

-They're lovely.

-So it just needs a stopper in there.

Come on, guys, you're going to have to hurry up!

That does look...

No, boys, put it down!

Could you do that for 40?

No, sorry, it's less than I paid for it.

-OK.

-You can have it for 50, but that's the best.

-What do you think?

-Could you do 95 on that and 45 on that?

I'm sorry, I can't do that.

-OK, that's the best, so what do you think?

-I think they're good.

-£100 for this?

-Yes.

-£50 for this?

-OK, yeah.

-Done.

-You don't want a horrible plated kettle for 20, do you?

-No, thank you.

Our James must be psychic! Just like he predicted, the girls bought two items from one stall.

With just five minutes remaining, I think the Blues might need a hand.

Luck money, bless your heart! See, that's the way to do it. Done!

-Thank you very much indeed.

-You're more than welcome.

I don't know much about it but it's got Tim's backing. We're going to have to get in there!

You say you don't know much about it, right?

I don't know so much about it. All I know is that that is an icon.

-Is that not an icon? Off a belter of a car!

-You bet it is!

Now, before the war, if you could have possibly owned an American car,

you would have hit the golden load, right? You were an "it" person.

They were enormous, those Cadillacs, Pontiacs...

-Absolutely!

-From a great period.

It says "speed", but it also says "elegance", which we don't often have together these days, do we?

-We don't. Go and have a drill.

-Awesome!

What a great buy, even if I do say so myself!

I think, for 20 quid, that's a jolly good buy,

-and I reckon we ought to reimburse Tim and say that's our third item. What do you think?

-100%.

This is... If you've got masculine issues, having this on your car

will certainly help attract the ladies, put it that way.

HE SPEAKS POLISH

HE SPEAKS GERMAN

Which for those of us who clearly don't speak Polish or German,

means "time's up". Let's recap on what the Reds bought.

The Reds kicked off to a steady start.

After 15 minutes they bought the Burmese bronze figure for £45.

With a large chunk of their time gone, the silver fruit basket

took a small bite out of their budget at £50.

And with pressure mounting, they went for a double whammy

and bought the French silver bottles from the same stall. They cost £100.

-Now, did you have a good time shopping?

-We certainly did.

-Wonderful!

-Very interesting.

-Now, Krista, which is your favourite piece?

-The silver bowl.

The silver bowl. What about you, Mags?

I think possibly the dressing table set.

-Dressing table set. Which piece will bring the biggest profit?

-Yeah, the silver bowl.

-The silver bowl.

-Your predictions. So anyway, you spent a magnificent £195, that's great.

I'd like £105 of leftover lolly going straight to James Braxton for the bonus buy.

Now, Jimmy, how is it?

Yeah, very good, very good. It was a close-run thing.

We bought our last two items with about two minutes to spare.

With care and consideration?

Care and consideration, and luck that we found a stall!

Have you got any idea what you'll spend your 105 on?

Yes. I think it will be something silvery.

There's a hint, girls. Off you go, James, and good luck.

Let's remind ourselves what the Blues bought.

The Victorian bookmark appealed to those studious boys,

and what a quick buy it was!

They agreed on £28.

The boys knew exactly what they were looking for

and after a furious 30 minutes of hunting, they found her.

The painting set them back £100.

With five minutes to go, and a helping hand from yours truly,

they got the chrome car mascot for a steal, at £20.

-Did you have a good time?

-Fantastic.

-Fantastic.

-You're right up there, aren't you?

-Tops.

-Which is your favourite piece?

Undoubtedly the mascot.

OUR mascot!

-And which piece is going to bring the biggest profit?

-The mascot.

-Do you agree with that, Lech?

-100%.

Isn't it lovely having two brothers welded from the hip?!

Right, you spent £148, which is vaguely miserable.

And we'll have £152 of leftover lolly. There you go, Kate.

-Thank you.

-Did you have a good time with these boys?

We were under pressure, weren't we? It wasn't really a sedate gambol round the fair.

-But you succeeded, didn't you?

-I think we got it in the bag in the end.

Yes. What are you going to do with all that cash?

I'm going to buy something arty. I think these are arty fellows.

You trained as an accountant but I think he has a strong arty streak.

Very good luck with that, Kate. Splendid.

Now if you, like our teams today, have a sense of adventure,

then you had better leg it with me because I'm going on safari.

HE SNARLS

I'm at the Powell Cotton Museum at Birchington in Kent.

Inside the museum here is an incredibly important collection.

Now, at first glance, you might not think this collection was particularly important

but it's the DNA link that has proved vital in conservation work over the past couple of decades.

Between 1887 and 1939,

Major Powell Cotton went on no less than 28 expeditions.

He spent in total 26 years in Africa gathering data.

One of his trips lasted more than four years.

Big-game hunting, of course, was incredibly popular during the Victorian era,

but what got Major Powell Cotton going was not the sport of hunting, but the science.

Now this folded brown parcel is actually an animal skin.

It was once around a species called the Lesser Kudu

and it is one of 6,000 skins that are in the museum here at Quex.

How do we know so much about this particular skin?

Well, attached is a cloth label.

It tells us that this is the Lesser Kudu. It was shot in Tanganyika.

He gives the latitude and longitude of exactly the spot that it died.

It's got a little sign that says that it's a male,

it was shot by Mrs Powell Cotton

and it's number 92.

As a double security measure,

inside here we've got a brass label which has got an ID number on it.

So, if the cloth label fell off, you'd always be able to refer to that

and that brass label has been made out of a cartridge case,

the cartridge case perhaps from the bullet that was used to fell this beast.

Believe it or not, I've come to Angola.

Eat your heart out, David Attenborough!

In Angola, you might expect to see one of these fellows.

This is a giant sable, recognisable because it's on the Angolan currency

and on their stamps but, after the civil war, it was thought that the Giant Sable had become extinct.

Actually, they found an example and wanted to start a breeding programme, and to do that,

they needed to research the DNA from some unadulterated examples,

including this fellow behind me, which Powell Cotton had shot in 1921.

As a result of the tests, the breeding programme went ahead and all is doing well.

The big question is today, will all be well for our teams at the auction,

or are they facing extinction?

So, we've moseyed south for half an hour from Detling to Canterbury,

to Canterbury Auction Galleries with our auctioneer today, Michael Roberts.

-How are you?

-Very well, thank you.

The Red Team, Margaret and Krista, their first item is this Burmese footie fellow here.

-Yeah.

-So what do you make of him?

Well, it's a nicely cast figure.

It's not football, it's actually a Buddhist game called chinlone.

-Chinlone?

-They play with a rattan ball,

and they keep the ball in the air and you're awarded on your skill and being able to keep the game going.

-It is a nicely cast bronze, isn't it?

-Yeah, yeah.

-Well, well done for doing the research on that.

So what's this Burmese ritual dancer worth, then?

-We're going to try him at £70 to £100.

-70 to 100?

-Yeah.

-They only paid £45.

-That's all right, then.

Now that is a really good estimate, Mike.

Next is this fruit bowl in plate, not quite as exciting an object, I suspect?

Not really. It's an old item, but it's old-fashioned now in terms of people don't really use them much.

-No.

-Nice to have the silver button in the middle, but it's a redundant item on most people's tea table.

A shame because it's in good condition and very decorative.

-So what do you think it's worth, Mike?

-£40 to £60.

-OK. Well, they only paid £50.

-Fine, just the job, yeah.

-What about these dressing table bottles?

-Well, the little one,

which is the lead item, the French one there, has a guarantee mark on the side

to say it is French. It's superb engraving cutting on the side,

but it probably would have come out of a dressing case.

It lacks its stopper and again, similar to the basket, it's a redundant-type item.

With the other couple, we've estimated them at £60 to £80.

-60 to 80 for the lot?

-Yeah.

-Well, they paid £100.

-Right...

So maybe the profit they're going to make on this Burmese bloke is going to evaporate in the scent bottle!

Anyway, one way or the other, they could well need their bonus buy, so let's go and have a look at it.

Well, you girls, you spent £195.

You left James £105 of leftover lolly for the bonus buy.

What's the bonus buy, James?

-Here you are.

-Aah!

A lovely, luxury good. An Asprey's box, white onyx, nice malachite little thumb-piece there...

-How much did you pay for it?

-£80.

-Will we make money on it?

-Will it make us a profit?

-I don't know.

-What would you put in it?

-Originally it was for cigarettes.

-Very small cigarettes?

Yeah, they were quite small cigarettes,

but it's a lovely, beautifully made item and it's...

-And Asprey's are quite well-known, aren't they?

-They are.

-I've seen stuff of theirs.

-I'm sure they'd love your comments!

They're very well-known! Everybody will buy this!

On that happy note, why don't we find out from the auctioneer what he thinks.

-Well, that's cute, isn't it? Very clean.

-It is.

-It's a lovely gent's accessory. It's by a fabulous maker, Asprey, or retailer, rather.

-Yeah, good.

It's a good, clean box, you don't have to be a smoker to use it, you can put your studs, cufflinks in it.

-Anyway, James Braxton rates it. What's your estimate?

-£50 to £70.

-Really? He paid 80!

-Oh, dear.

-He might have just overdone it, but you never know.

-No, no.

-It's a perfectly nice thing.

-Sure.

-Anyway, that's it for the Reds.

Now, the Blues, Lech and Slav. Their first item is this little bookmark,

which was picked by Kate.

I don't know if you've been able to decipher these tiny little hallmarks.

Indeed, Victorian marks, Birmingham 1876.

Oh, brilliant, brilliant!

But overall, it's kind of an insignificant thing, really.

Yeah, but, you know, size isn't everything, is it?

-I know people do collect these bookmarks.

-Yeah, yeah.

-And actually, if you're a reader, they are quite handy little things to have in your bedside book.

-Yeah.

So what do we think it might be worth?

Well, I'm thinking between £15 and £20.

-OK, fine. £28 Kate paid.

-OK, fine.

I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't get between 30 and 40, frankly.

Yeah, I hope so, yeah.

So what about this... I suppose it is a woman, is it?

Well, it's by a well-known artist, a family of artists, Matania.

I suppose it's nicely done, perhaps to cater for all tastes, maybe.

Yes. So what's your estimate on it?

£80 to £120.

-80 to 120?

-Yep.

Fine, well, Kate fancied it, she paid £100. Good.

Next is the car mascot. Now I've got a particular interest in this car mascot,

because I happened to be about when Lech and Slav were doing the necessary.

I have no idea which motor car it came off. Have you been able to find out anything about it?

-Apparently it's from a 1954 Chrysler Type one.

-Oh, great!

But yeah, it's very decorative sort of Art Deco styling...

-Menacing, don't you think?

-I suppose it could be.

-So what is it worth?

-Well, it is pitted.

-Pitted?

The chrome has bubbled and it's a bit damaged and... Period wear, I'd say!

-Yes, but collectors are looking for something in good condition!

-It's pitted!

So as it is, I think we're looking at sort of £30 to £50, really.

-I'd be delighted if we get £30 to £50. We only paid £20 for it.

-OK.

So if old doo-dah up there, if that does well, and I quite fancy that bookmark,

this team might not need their bonus buy, but just to be safe, perhaps we ought to go and have a look at it.

So, boys, you spent £148, which means you gave Kate £152 to spend on her bonus buy. What did she spend it on?

Now, I know that you like the female form in art,

so, what I've got you is a rather lovely sculpture, I think.

She is, of course, a lovely ballet dancer and she's done in resin.

This is by a chap called Josep Bofill, his name's down here.

He's Spanish. He was born in 1942, so this is a contemporary piece, I would say probably '60s.

I spent £110, which is quite a lot for a bonus buy.

-I'm going to hand it over because my arm is falling off!

-Shall we take it off you?

-It's a very elegant pose.

-What do you think, Tim?

-Don't ask me! My lips are sealed!

-It's elegant.

-We'll have a think about it, I think.

-Yeah, definitely!

You don't have to decide right now, just think it through, all right?

You'll decide after the sale of your first three items,

but right now, for the viewers at home, let's find out what the auctioneer thinks.

-Right, then, Michael, Josep Bofill, whoever he is.

-Right. It's pretty horrible, isn't it?

Well, I suppose Josep Bofill thought it was rather good!

Anyway, he thought it was a nice thing to make in resin with a lump of concrete.

What does "resin" mean - plastic?

Pretty much, yeah. The chemical composition obviously varies but, fundamentally, that's what it is.

The big question for us is, is this concrete and plastic jobbie going to sell?

-Well, we've estimated it pretty lowly at sort of £20 to £30...

-Yes.

But it comes down to whether or not anyone fancies it.

-Kate paid £110 for this object!

-Ouch.

OK? With any luck, the team won't select it when it comes to the bonus buy moment.

-Are you our auctioneer today?

-I am, yes.

-Great, we're in great hands.

If your house is already full with furniture and you want to continue collecting,

then why not think about one or two miniatures, like this delightful little lot that I've just found.

Here we've got five classic chairs.

This fellow is a 16th/17th century style oak wainscot armchair,

called wainscot because these types of chairs

were placed against the wainscot panelling in an ancient Tudor house.

This one is vaguely late Hepplewhite, with the pierced splat.

This one is a burgermeister's chair, Dutch East India Company,

always with the circular seat and always with six or eight legs.

This fellow, he looks like a Windsor captain's armchair, from around High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire.

And this little fellow, well he's an Austrian, Bentwood, probably made by Mr Thonet.

We've got no less than five distinct styles of pieces of furniture,

all made out of solid silver, hallmarked in Birmingham in 1910.

Except there's an additional delightful feature,

because this one is inscribed Shakespeare,

this one is inscribed Tennyson,

this chap Bulwer-Lytton,

this chap Dickens

and this chap Thackeray. So how's that?

Well, my theory is that the Birmingham maker of these chairs

has selected the actual chairs

that these literary giants did their compositions and created their masterworks

and has reduced them into miniature, in silver, as a collectable.

How fascinating is that!

Not only are they exquisite examples of their type in silver,

they also have a historical and literary resonance. Marvellous!

The other resonance they have is a cash call,

because the estimate is £125 to £160 for all five of these

and I have a funny feeling that they're worth nearly £100 each.

So get your wallets out!

So, Margaret and Krista, here we are on the edge of the auction.

-How exciting is this?

-Ooh it is!

-It is!

-Wonderful!

-And have you seen such a crowd of people, it's jammed!

-That's amazing!

-Well, they've all come here to buy your items. How are you feeling, Krista, all right?

-Fine. Excited!

-What about you, Mags?

-Uncontrollably excited!

-Are you?

-Yes.

-Control yourself slightly!

-What about you, James? Are you feeling uncontrollable?

-Well, always nervous.

A lot of responsibility on this one, but heartened - like the good old days, a full room!

First up is the Burmese figure.

The Burmese bronze of a man playing chinlone.

Who will start me at £50?

£50 I'm bid, thank you. And 5. It's 55 now, 55, 60, 5...

-Oh, yes!

-70, 5...

-Go on!

No? 70. At 70 and selling.

-£70.

-Still...

-Well done!

-Profit's £25!

-That's £25. Plus £25.

Now, the cake basket.

Showing for you there, lot 26, I have commission interest.

I'm going to start at £30, looking for 32. Who's 32 now?

32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46 here, 48.

-With you at 48. Who's £50?

-Go on!

-Go on, come on, come on!

No? 48 and selling.

£48. Look up, here come the dressing table pieces.

Lot 27 is the French-cut glass and triple scent bottles.

Lot 27, I have commission interest again.

We'll start at £50, looking for 55. Who's 55, now?

55 where? 55, 60 here, and 5?

With you at 65. Who's 70 now?

-Go on.

-Yes!

-5, 80...

-Come on!

5? Nope? At 80 behind, who's £85?

-80 and selling.

-Oh, no!

£80. You're minus 20 on that, which means overall you're plus £3.

-We can go out!

-You've got £3 on this, right?

What are you going to do about the Asprey's box?

I think we probably need to bank it, James.

OK, fine, we're not going with the bonus buy, but we're going to sell it anyway.

Lot 31 is the white onyx square cigarette box,

retailed by Asprey, showing for you there.

Who'll start me at £30? Useful little box, this, £30 I'm bid.

Who's 32? 32 for someone? £32 where?

32, 34, 36, 38, 40, and 2?

44, 46, 48, 50, 5, 60, 5,

70, 5, 80...5, 90? No?

-85. Who's £90, any more?

-Oh!

-At 85 and selling.

-James!

-£85.

-Did you make a profit?

-Yeah. £5!

That is plus £5...

which, sadly... is not your £5 profit!

Aww, what a pity, but never mind, we're still...

Never mind. Well done. Great taste, James, as usual.

-Now, you have an overall profit of £3. Don't tell the Blue Team and we'll catch up later, OK?

-OK.

Next up is the group of five miniature silver armchairs,

which are really sweet, estimate £125 to £160, and here they come.

233 are the five silver miniature armchairs.

Commission interest. I'm going to start at 140. I'm looking for 150.

Silver chairs, 150? 150, 160, 170.

180 on commission, 190, 200, 210.

£200 with me. Who's 210?

-Any more? 200 and selling.

-£200!

That's not so bad, is it? £200.

I hope the owner will be very happy.

-Lech and Slav, do you know how the Reds got on?

-No, they didn't give anything away on the way past.

-Very good poker-faces!

-How are you feeling yourselves?

-I'm feeling absolutely great.

-Do you feel confident?

-I think we've got some interesting stuff.

But is it going to make a big profit?

-We want our Del-Boy moment.

-Del-Boy moment!

-We're going to get it!

-I like that! This is full of confidence.

Anyway, first lot up is the bookmark.

Victorian silver knife-patterned bookmark.

I have commission interest. Start at £18. Looking for 20?

20 I'm bid, behind you. 22, 24, 26, 28, 30 here and 2. 34, sir?

-36, 38, 40?

-Keep going!

Yes, 42?

-Yes!

-44? Behind. 46, 48, 50, 55.

60? No? 55 behind. Who's £60? Any more?

At £55 and selling.

£55! That's brilliant, isn't it?

That's £27 up before you start.

Well done, Kate. Now, here comes the nude.

..Of the lady there...

You can reserve judgment. Lot 48, I have commission interest.

Going to start at £40. Who's 42 now?

£42 where? 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 5, 60, 5, 70?

With you at £70. Who's five now? 75, 80.

5, 90, 5. 100? No?

-95 here. Who's £100? Any more?

-Come on!

-£95 and selling.

-Oh, bad luck. £95, just shy by a fiver which is nothing!

You're still plus 22. Here we go with the car mascot.

Mascot from the 1954 Chrysler Type one.

Lot 49, who's £20?

£20, where? The car mascot? 20 I'm bid, thank you. 22 now?

Any more at 22? 22, 24, 26, yes?

28, 30, 2, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, no?

40 at the back. Who's £42? Any more? 40 and selling.

-£40, double your money.

-Thanks to Tim.

-Plus £20 on that! Well, no!

All that research made all the difference! Overall you are plus £42.

That is a very good position to be in.

Now, what are you going to do about the resin sculpture?

We're only on the show once, aren't we? £42 is nothing to be sniffed at.

-I think we should play it safe.

-Do you want to play it safe?

-I think we'll play it safe.

-Are you going to play it safe?

-Watch from a distance!

-Quite sure?

-You do what you think is right.

Lot 53, who'll start me at £20?

£20 where? 20 I'm bid, thank you.

22 where? Who's 22 now?

22, 24, 26, 28, 30, and 2?

34, 36, 38, 40, 42?

40 here, £42, anyone?

42, 44, 46, 48,

50, and 5, no?

50 at the back. Who's £55? Any more? We're going to sell at £50.

£50, he sold it for £50 very quickly there. That is minus £60.

Do you know something? I think you made the right decision!

Yeah, you could say that!

Minus £60. Well, bad luck, Kate!

It's a very strange thing, though, isn't it?

What would go well in one sale room or in another.

It was a gamble, and you made the right decision! Well done, guys!

It was a very interesting punt, though, but overall you are plus £42, so don't say a word to the Reds.

-We will reveal all in a moment.

-Right.

-Fantastic!

Well, what a happy tribe of people we've got today

-because we've got two teams of winners. Have you had a good time, Reds?

-Yeah, wonderful!

-..Blues?

-RAPPING:

-Strolling around Looking for a bargain

-Can't find nothing But second-hand jargon

-It is...

-Plain to see

-We're the epitome of buying frenzy

-So they'll be no limit to our profits gain

-Cos bid, or no bid

-BOTH: We're here to get paid!

Which, for a change, you are going to be paid today!

Have you been talking to one another? Any chats about these results?

-Absolutely no!

-Well, I'm glad to hear that!

The team with marginally less profits today are, of course,

-the Reds, but congratulations, girls, you managed to score £3.

-Wow!

-£3 of profit. I make that a pound each, don't you, James?

-Yup!

Brilliant! Very nice profit, though, on the Asprey's box. Well done, James Braxton.

But the victors today are the Blues, which is phenomenal, isn't it,

-to make these profits?

-Incredible!

-Absolutely!

-£27 on your bookmark, Kate?

-Thank you, Kate.

-Lovely...

-Thank you.

-£20 on our car mascot. That was good, wasn't it?

-Nice.

And you didn't go with the bonus buy,

therefore you managed to ring-fence your profits of £42.

-Here you go, boys, £42 coming your way.

-Thanks, Tim.

-And you had a great time?

-Fantastic!

-And you can do the rap, too!

-Anyway, join us soon for some more bargain hunting, yes?

-Yes!

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