Plate sold for £600 could fetch £15,000

9:35am Monday 3rd March 2008

I was recently called out to a local house to look at a variety of items, among them, a very expensive-looking box, about 12 inches across, which when opened revealed a silk-like cushion.

Buyers came from all over world for auction

8:55am Tuesday 19th February 2008

AS the photograph (far right, top) shows the recent sale of the effects of the late Lady Maria Coventry drew a massive attendance. Prior to sale we had received enquiries from throughout the world with the telephone calls from interested parties coming from as far as America to Australia.

Be sure to take a trip to ‘antique’ racing site

9:17am Monday 4th February 2008

I'm sure you will all have heard me say that an antique' is considered to be at least 100 years old. Well, the photograph illustrated isn't, and neither is the Jaguar SS motor car shown in it.

Stirrup cups and jewellery – the treasures of Lady Coventry’s life

8:41am Monday 21st January 2008

Towards the end of last year, I received instructions to advise the executors of the Late Lady Maria Coventry, who had recently died.

From the saleroom what's on offer

9:38am Monday 19th November 2007

* A wonderful early 18th century Walnut cabinet has recently come into the saleroom. One of the fascinating aspects of the cabinet is what lies behind its drawers - a number of other secret drawers and compartments that can only be reached by removing the drawers in front.

The mystery lorry now has a new owner

9:25am Monday 19th November 2007

Recently I have mentioned in these pages various lots that I was about to sell in my recent antique sale. Well, my Flog It! experience it seems has paid off, fortunately, with none of my pre-sale estimates being the cause of too much embarrassment to me.

Look at the train and tell me the age of the print

9:22am Monday 19th November 2007

You will all know of my passion for "all things Worcester" and this lovely old print shows a view of the city from the north-east. Interestingly, the eagle-eyed among you will spot a train in the foreground and a view of what must be Shrub Hill station. I'm sure some of those buildings, albeit a little less grand, are still standing today. For the train buffs out there I'm sure you will be able to date the print from the age of the train, highlighted right - any ideas?

Names are not the only way to sign your work

9:20am Monday 19th November 2007

Every craftsman likes to attribute his name to a work of art or something that he has created. Robert Thompson was a cabinet maker from Kilburn and when he decided to set up in business on his own account he thought long and hard about making his work readily identifiable.

Just because it’s metal doesn’t mean it’s tough

9:14am Monday 8th October 2007

THERE are many ways to decorate a vase and the most obvious is to paint or print on to the porcelain or pottery body, which appears to be the case with the vase illustrated below. However, in this instance, it is actually made out of metal and the decoration is called cloisonné.

Imp-ossible to value sentiment

11:15am Tuesday 4th September 2007

I have just been asked to sell a Hillman Imp in my next sale.

Made in Worcester - but who painted it?

11:14am Tuesday 4th September 2007

Many of my regular readers will know my passion for the wares produced by our local Worcester Porcelain factory. The mug illustrated above is a loving cup that was made at the back end of the last century by the Grainger Company here in Worcester. Interestingly, the unusual decoration was done outside the factory. This means simply that the mug would have left the factory as a plain white piece and was either painted by an enthusiastic amateur or a factory painter but as an outside piece rather than an authentic example of the works of George Grainger. Value? Well not a fortune - this little piece will sell for between £30-50, and would perhaps be a start to a new area of collecting for some of you out there.

Is that HMV hound real or a cheap resin replica?

11:11am Tuesday 4th September 2007

I am a huge fan of Jack Russell terriers, and as I sit here in the sale room writing this article, I am being stared at by one of the favoured Parsons breed. Not a live one, I hasten to add, but a model of almost life-size proportions mimicking the quizzical look of the old HMV logo. Now, old advertising memorabilia is hugely sought after, but the key word here is old'. Resin replicas crop up all over the place and not just of advertising items. For example, the Japanese typically dressed in a kimono with a belt around the middle, the buckle of which was a small pierced carving from wood or ivory known as a netsuke (pronounced net-ski). These, having become popular, are also now reproduced in resin. How do you tell the difference? Well a sure-fire way - almost literally - is to heat a needle to a red hot temperature and then push it into the article in question. A real piece of ivory may result in a small hole while a resin copy will melt into a hot gooey globular mass. One thing before you embark on such a test is to make sure you have the owner's permission, and if it is not forthcoming, you might just know the reason why!

The great green carpet resembled a turnip field

7:34am Monday 20th August 2007

I happened to wander down to the county cricket ground at New Road the other day.

Design mirrors

10:19am Tuesday 7th August 2007

Mention the name Chippendale and most people think of either a famous 18th century London cabinet manufacturer, or a modern group of chaps who disrobe for ladies' pleasure.

The news value in old postcards

10:18am Tuesday 7th August 2007

THE other Friday I was driving back from filming on the south coast and, having phoned my saleroom during the day, had heard that the rain was coming down in stair rods.

Designer labels will find a higher price

10:17am Tuesday 7th August 2007

Always buy the best you can afford is an old maxim that pays dividends when the time comes to sell.

Victorian chair made of paper

10:25am Monday 23rd July 2007

The chair below comes from the middle of the Victorian era and is typical of many pieces made at that time. Albert, the Queen's beloved husband, had just died and Victoria had gone into mourning - and the country with her. Black was the new white as designers styled furniture, porcelain and jewellery in this austere manner. Incidentally, this chair is not made of wood but was constructed of papier mache. The decoration is painted on and embellished with mother of pearl inlay. This type of furniture was made just up the road in Birmingham by firms such as Clay & Jennens & Betteridge. They also produced small caddies and boxes with their name stamped into the base.

Tea set separated by two centuries

10:21am Monday 23rd July 2007

A dish and the tea cup and saucer are products of our own Worcester factory. The dish, one of a pair, was produced in the 18th century and is decorated with scale blue; so called because the colour blue is laid on almost in the appearance of fish scales. The pair of dishes recently sold in my Fine Art sale for £750. The cup and saucer is also one of a pair but, interestingly, was produced in the 20th century just proving the long lasting desirability of the design. This pair sold for a perhaps more affordable £30.

I remember David Dickinson when he was unknown

9:13am Tuesday 10th July 2007

*AS I write this I am just about to jump in my car to drive to the south coast to film the 500th programme of Bargain Hunt.

Some walking sticks have a secret use

9:12am Tuesday 10th July 2007

Walking sticks have always been collectable and the more unusual the example the more sought-after it is likely to be for a collector.

My curling stone will end up as a doorstop

8:54am Tuesday 10th July 2007

Not that long ago I was lucky enough to play golf at Turnberry on the Ayrshire coast. The only Tiger I resembled was Winnie the Pooh's mate, Tigger, who is not noted for his golf.

A bidding war for Moorcroft produces gasps from the floor

11:18am Tuesday 26th June 2007

THE market for good examples of early Moorcroft is as buoyant as ever as the crowds at Philip Serrell's May fine art auction were able to witness.

PHILIP’S TIPS: Don’t turn up your central heating

11:15am Tuesday 26th June 2007

Central heating might be excellent at keeping off a winter chill but too much of a good thing can be counter-productive - and not only to the pocket.

Mystery device used to cut out leather strips

11:14am Tuesday 26th June 2007

YOU may recall the photograph that appeared in my last column of the hand tool that was found left behind in the local Fownes glove factory, and sent in by a reader.

High prices for masonic treasures

11:11am Tuesday 26th June 2007

Freemasonry is thought by many to be a highly secretive society. It is a movement that today is becoming a lot more open and its arts and artefacts are collected by many. When Flog It! came to Worcester recently, the Masonic pocket watch (right) was bought in for valuation and sold for £800. In my July sale, the 18th century Mason's apron (above) could well make more than £300.

Black Bess sign came from Elts at the back of the Shambles

8:27am Tuesday 19th June 2007

YOU will know that I am interested in local memorabilia and I am delighted to have been asked to put an enamel sign in my forthcoming July Fine Art sale. Black Bess Boot Polishes, it proudly proclaims, with a horse in the middle held by a man in period dress.

What was this device used for in the factory?

8:23am Tuesday 19th June 2007

THANK you for all your letters and e-mails with regards to your local mementoes. There has certainly been an interesting array of examples ranging, as one would expect, from our local porcelain heritage, old postcards of local scenes, books and newspaper cuttings on prominent people and events in the area, to the more bizarre - notably the item pictured right.

Think twice before you throw anything away

10:44am Monday 21st May 2007

Whenever I film a Flog It! programme or someone brings a really lovely item into my saleroom and tells me that they bought it from the local charity shop or church bazaar for a few pence, one does feel for the charity shop when the item then goes on to sell for hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds.