- 1 week ago
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00:00This time at the auction house, Bake or Fortune, the designer classic found in a junk shop.
00:08I think for every true liveton trunk I might see, I might see five or ten which aren't right.
00:16The royal icing on the cake, the 40-year-old confection fit for a princess.
00:21Handle with care, Prince Charles and Princess Diana's wedding cake.
00:26And Charles the Undead goes under the hammer.
00:30What's the mallet for?
00:31I think it's putting the stake through the heart.
00:33See, a bit like that. A bit higher.
00:36Oh, it does.
00:3910,000 pounds!
00:4111,000! Sold!
00:44Close to the Derbyshire Dales is one of Britain's busiest auction houses.
00:48Hello, Ireland! Hello, America!
00:50Run by enthusiastic antique specialist Charles Hansen.
00:54Are they Art Nouveau?
00:55He and his army of expert valuers...
00:58That one indicates that it's a true Harry Potter first issue.
01:02...examine thousands of treasures every year.
01:05I'm touching a garment that was worn by Queen Victoria.
01:08This carving is sumptuous.
01:11From the familiar...
01:12Whereabouts do you want this bike going then?
01:14So that isn't absolutely lovely.
01:16And unusual...
01:17Look at the movement and that!
01:19...to the phenomenal...
01:21This sculpture, this is something quite special.
01:24Every object has a story to tell.
01:27A vampire slain kit.
01:29Oh, my God! Ian, it's amazing!
01:30From surprising revelations...
01:32£30,000 around my neck.
01:35Antic luggage is really, really collectible.
01:37...to jaw-dropping hammer prices.
01:39£20,000!
01:40You've got to be pleased with that.
01:43You've got to be pleased with that.
01:44There's nothing quite like an auction.
01:52Are you OK there, Richard?
01:53All OK?
01:54Good man, Chief.
01:56It's busy.
01:57Friday afternoon, we've got a lot of toys that have just come in as well.
02:01So they're all over there OK.
02:03Ever since Charles Hansen fulfilled his childhood dream
02:07of opening his own Derbyshire auction house 17 years ago...
02:11Gotta go!
02:12...he and his team of experts have valued nearly a million lots
02:16to go under the hammer.
02:17All that £500!
02:20But not every object arrives at the front door.
02:26Sometimes Charles and his team need to take to the road,
02:29covering over 100,000 miles a year,
02:31to identify or collect auction gold.
02:35What an amazing find.
02:37I spend a lot of my time, maybe half of my life,
02:40in my office, that's my car.
02:43Today, Charles has had a promising call from a seller
02:45with what he hopes could be a designer classic.
02:49I'm off to see a lady called Melissa.
02:51It's always exciting when you hear those great names,
02:54Fabergé, Cartier.
02:56This time it's Louis Vuitton.
02:58And if it is right, it's worth a lot of money.
03:01But we have to be so careful with forgeries.
03:04We recently found a gold coin on paper that was worth £200,000.
03:08The story was great, but it was a fake.
03:10You've got to be so careful,
03:12otherwise you can really land yourself in hot water
03:15and indeed cause a real problem in business.
03:20To check out if this one's the real deal,
03:23Charles has driven 150 miles to Teddington in London
03:27to cast his eye over this vintage designer travel trunk
03:30owned by administrator Melissa.
03:33I will be sad to part with it,
03:35but where we live now, we don't have the room for it.
03:38We've decided to put it to auction rather than private sale
03:42because I wouldn't be confident enough myself
03:45with all the detail and the history of the trunk, et cetera.
03:50Across the world, it's the brand that everybody wants
03:53and it's so widely counterfeited, it might not be right.
03:57Could this be the real thing?
03:59Hello, is it Melissa?
04:06It is.
04:06It's Charles Hanson.
04:07Very good to see you.
04:08Come on in.
04:10There we go.
04:11Wow.
04:14How'd you acquire it?
04:16When I was 16, 17,
04:18my father got offered a job up north.
04:21I didn't want to go,
04:22so we converted our house in Twickenham into two flats.
04:26Yeah.
04:26Had no storage at all.
04:27Yeah.
04:28He went up to a little junk shop and came back with this.
04:32Dad and I are really close.
04:34If he sees something that he thinks someone would like,
04:38he will just buy it for them.
04:40And I think he thought she can put her towels
04:42and blankets and sheets in there.
04:44So he probably didn't pay a great deal for it?
04:46£12.
04:47Back in whatever year it was?
04:4884.
04:49Wow.
04:50He definitely wasn't looking for a Louis Vuitton one.
04:53I think mainly it fitted under the stairs was the main reason.
04:58What I want to make sure, first and foremost, Melissa,
05:02is it's a real McCoy.
05:03Yeah.
05:03I think for every true Louis Vuitton trunk I might see,
05:06I might see five or ten which aren't right.
05:09Yeah.
05:09So that's why provenance is so, so important.
05:12We look at the brass work,
05:13what we call the brass furniture,
05:15it's all nicely marked,
05:17such attention to detail,
05:20nuts here with Vuitton on.
05:21You just see all the wear on the wood as well
05:23where other luggage has stood over it.
05:26You want to see genuine age.
05:29Looking down here,
05:30you just see beautiful wear on this metal.
05:32You can't fake that.
05:33No.
05:34That's what we look for,
05:35to know it's old and right.
05:37On first impressions, it's,
05:39hello, I think you're original.
05:41This could be a real find.
05:44Oh, my God, look at the interior.
05:46Oh, I'm a bit lost for words, actually.
05:49What I love,
05:50you've got a registration number,
05:52that's quite important.
05:53Yeah.
05:53You've got the all-important label,
05:56that still reads quite clearly,
05:58Louis Vuitton,
05:59with the address,
06:00which was 149 New Bond Street, London.
06:02Yeah, yeah, this comes out, actually.
06:05Oh, look at that.
06:06I mean, look at that for quality.
06:09I'd love to auction it for you
06:10and give it a real worldwide
06:12ooh-la-la appeal.
06:15What's it worth?
06:17You tell me.
06:18Oh, no.
06:18Do you know, I'm always quite cautious
06:20to get a room bidding.
06:22I'd guide it between £3,000 and £5,000.
06:25With a guide,
06:27it's a really good condition, really.
06:28It's got a few little minor issues,
06:30but they're really quite easy to tidy up.
06:32How's that sound, £3,000 to £5,000?
06:35Sounds absolutely fine.
06:37The guide price is a done deal,
06:40but Charles also needs Melissa
06:41to sign off the reserve,
06:43the lowest bid she'd be happy to walk away with.
06:46A reserve will be £3,000.
06:48Right.
06:48Would you be happy with that?
06:50Look at me.
06:50I'd like it a little bit higher.
06:52How much?
06:52How much?
06:54Four.
06:54OK.
06:56It's catch-22 for any auction house.
06:59If you agree to a client's demand
07:01for a steep reserve price,
07:02then you can scare away potential bidders,
07:05and the item may not sell.
07:06Because of the history of it
07:09and the family connection with it,
07:11I genuinely wouldn't want to let it go under four.
07:15Melissa's keen to put a reserve on at £4,000,
07:19not a penny less.
07:20I'm slightly nervous now,
07:21because I've got no leeway.
07:24Tough reserve.
07:26Hopefully not a tough sale.
07:27I think £4,000 to £6,000 is punchy,
07:31but importantly,
07:32can we do some research?
07:33And I think that will really help
07:35just give a provenance to aid its value.
07:37Lovely.
07:38All right.
07:40I think it's a really good price,
07:43but I was taught very young by my father
07:46you never spend money in your head
07:48till it's in the bank.
07:50But, yeah, very nice investment.
07:52I'll see you soon.
07:56Bye.
07:57The story, brought from a sort of junk shop,
08:01is what we call a discovery,
08:03and I really hope it rings true.
08:05It might just be that sleeping giant.
08:14Nice to meet you.
08:16What brings you to Hanson's?
08:17What have you got?
08:19Every week, the auction house
08:20holds 200 valuations,
08:23where Joe Public get the lowdown on treasures
08:25they're hoping to cash in.
08:27It's a ring that my father was given
08:30by an elderly gentleman next door,
08:32and he was over 100 when he died.
08:34But we do know that he fought in the Boer War,
08:37and he was also in India for a long while.
08:39It could be Star Sapphire.
08:42One of the company's go-to specialists
08:45is Isabel,
08:45who's been an expert valuer here for 10 years.
08:49It's exciting to see what comes through the door each day
08:54and what characters and what people you meet.
08:56One day, I could be cataloguing some furniture,
08:59the next paintings, jewellery.
09:03Some of the hottest items here are also the weirdest.
09:07My name's Gerry.
09:09Gerry, I'm Isabel.
09:10Nice to meet you.
09:10I'm delighted to meet you, too.
09:11Have a seat.
09:12I am a ardent monarchist,
09:15and when this unique item came up for sale,
09:18well, I couldn't resist buying it.
09:21I brought something rather special.
09:24I'm intrigued to have a look.
09:25On this tin, it says,
09:27handled with care,
09:29Prince Charles and Princess Diana's wedding cake.
09:33OK.
09:34It's something completely unusual.
09:37Not just a little slice of cake,
09:40but we have a slab of cake.
09:42Wow.
09:42Look at that.
09:45When Lady Diana tied the knot with the then-Prince Charles,
09:49it was the wedding of the century.
09:51600,000 well-wishers packed the London streets
09:54to catch a glimpse of the fairy-tale couple
09:57and that famous dress,
09:59with another 750 million watching worldwide.
10:03We've had other items from Charles and Diana's wedding,
10:07but to have this piece of cake so well-preserved
10:10after 40-odd years is wonderful.
10:13Having sold a slice of toast from the royal couple's wedding
10:17for £230 ten years ago,
10:20Isabel is the perfect valuer for this next royal curiosity.
10:24So tell me a bit about it, where you acquired it from.
10:27I went to see Princess Diana's wedding dress
10:31last year at Kensington Palace.
10:34Researching the dress,
10:36up popped an auction for this piece of cake.
10:40You have a cake for consumption at reception.
10:44Now, you also have what's called the official wedding cakes
10:47displayed in the breakfast room in Buckingham Palace.
10:50I bought it, I paid £2,200, say, including the buyer's premium.
10:56With the cake came some documents.
10:59The order of procession.
11:01We have the order of service.
11:04But inside is a pull-out table plan.
11:08Oh, yes.
11:10For the wedding breakfast.
11:11Well, the actual wedding breakfast.
11:12Wow.
11:14The 120 guests for the lavish meal
11:17included a royal roster of kings and queens,
11:20princes and princesses.
11:21It reads like a list of who's who.
11:24I mean, the cake's over 40 years old,
11:27and would you dare to have a bite?
11:28Oh, absolutely.
11:29You would.
11:30After what, I've paid for this.
11:33Having the other items alongside the cake,
11:35the pamphlets, the wedding breakfast table layout,
11:39will hopefully add value to the piece of cake on the day.
11:42If we were to go in at maybe sort of £2,000 to £3,000,
11:47how would you feel about that?
11:49I think you would have to go in higher.
11:53So, obviously, people can have a look online
11:55and see what you paid for it only last year,
11:58so we do have to factor that in as well.
12:01Yes, of course.
12:02But I think it's a great piece.
12:03We've never sold one just like this at Hansen's,
12:06and with the internet interest,
12:09we can hopefully market it globally.
12:11OK, great.
12:13So, the next step going forward
12:14is verifying where it came from,
12:17and also some history about
12:18what cakes would have been there on the wedding day,
12:21and if we can identify this one.
12:25Good morning.
12:35Morning.
12:36We bought these for auction
12:38to see if you could value them for us, please.
12:40Oh, wow.
12:41The Royal Order of Buffalo.
12:44Were these family items?
12:46Yes, they belonged to your dad, didn't they?
12:48Yeah, they did.
12:49Securing new lots to sell
12:51is the bread and butter for any auction house.
12:54Royal Crown Derby.
12:55Good condition.
12:57Every week, over 1,000 Curios are put up for sale,
13:01but each auction needs a star of the show,
13:04and nothing draws the spotlight better
13:06than a designer label.
13:09Hey, Jules.
13:10Look at this.
13:11Wow.
13:11This is amazing.
13:12Look at the detail here.
13:13You've got these little screws with the name on.
13:15Every bracket is marked on the corners,
13:19marked on there as well.
13:21It's so original.
13:24Owning an expert eye for 20th century designers,
13:28Jules has been part of the business for eight years.
13:32It's probably the only job I've ever had
13:35where I go home with a different story every day.
13:38You can look at an item and you think you've seen it,
13:42and then it's the more research,
13:43the more details come out,
13:45or the more you understand about the journey of that item
13:49and how it's become desirable or iconic
13:53or what has made it so special.
13:57Charles wanted to set the trunk's reserve price at £3,000,
14:00but, against his better judgement,
14:03he's agreed to sell a Melissa's request
14:05for a much higher reserve of £4,000,
14:08so he needs Jules to help encourage bids
14:11to come in thick and fast.
14:14If we can just give a bit more provenance...
14:17Yeah.
14:17..it will aid value.
14:19On the inside, got the old label,
14:22but really importantly, that number there, 207881.
14:26Yeah.
14:27Knowing Louis Vuitton HQ
14:29keeps detailed sales logs,
14:32Jules sent them the trunk's serial number
14:34to verify its authenticity.
14:37They can confirm it is a genuine Louis Vuitton travel trunk,
14:41which is great,
14:42and using the reference number,
14:43they've been able to age it for us,
14:45and they've put it between 1909 and 1914.
14:50It was obviously a time when travel was starting to take off.
14:54It just gives more understanding of who might have had it
14:57and the journeys it might have gone on.
15:01Armed with the proof it's a valuable original,
15:04Jules is calling in a contact to dig deeper
15:06and give the sale price a further boost.
15:08Carl Mornakeji is one of the UK's top vintage furniture sellers,
15:14specialising in designer and antique luggage.
15:18So here it is, Carl.
15:19Oh, wow.
15:20Oh, it's lovely.
15:21It's a real iconic, real eye-catcher.
15:24It's typically Louis Vuitton.
15:26Yeah.
15:26And that can be identified primarily through the canvas that's used.
15:31Frenchman Louis Vuitton founded his fashion house in Paris in 1854,
15:36and its ooh-la-la luggage
15:38became the essential accessory for the stylish traveller.
15:41It's iconic woven jacquard fabric gave it a distinctive luxury look,
15:49while the innovative shape of the trunks proved groundbreaking.
15:53Before the 1850s, most trunks were domed or round or humpbacked.
15:59They were covered in leather.
16:01The leather was never waterproof, so they needed the water to run off.
16:05OK, yeah.
16:06But with a wax canvas, the water would never penetrate the trunks.
16:10A wax flat means if they're on a train or ocean-going ship,
16:14then they could be stacked really, really easily.
16:17So how did Louis Vuitton really kind of rise to fame
16:19and it becoming such an iconic brand?
16:21He was commissioned by the Empress Eugenie,
16:23who was Napoleon III's wife,
16:25to be her chief packer and trunkmaker.
16:28This basically gave him access to the aristocracy.
16:33She was very keen to be seen wearing the best clothes,
16:36wearing the finest jewellery
16:37and travelling using the world's finest trunks.
16:41So she was one of our first influencers.
16:43She certainly was one of the biggest influencers at the time.
16:46So what do you think the current market is for a piece like this?
16:49Vintage and antique luggages are really, really collectible,
16:53and the fact that Louis Vuitton
16:54makes it probably one of the most collectible names in luggage.
16:57I would probably value it at maybe £2,500 to £3,000 in the current condition.
17:05Yeah.
17:05Charles could be in trouble here.
17:08He's agreed a £4,000 reserve price,
17:10and Carl's valuation doesn't come anywhere close.
17:14Does Carl, the big LB expert, feel it's got a market at that level?
17:18He was suggesting around £2,500,
17:20but I think we could go...
17:22Sometimes what the vendor wants is what we're trying to deliver.
17:26So I might be sweating on the auction day now,
17:29because will it make £4,000?
17:31I'm not so sure.
17:33Honestly, I'm like that.
17:34I really would love to see it make £4,000 plus,
17:38but I'm 50-50.
17:39Expert in the unusual,
17:48Isabel is also trying to whet people's appetites
17:50for a rather large slice of cake from Charles and Diana's wedding.
17:55Hey up, lads.
17:56Hey.
17:56You OK?
17:57How about yourself?
17:58Very well.
17:59What's in Izzy's tin?
18:00A piece of cake.
18:01Just like your job.
18:03What do you reckon?
18:04Piece of cake from Charles and Diana's wedding.
18:07Have you checked the sale by date?
18:08I know.
18:09Over 40 years and it's not gone mouldy, Dom.
18:12How cool is that?
18:14Transportation team, Dom and Andy are hardly cake connoisseurs,
18:18so Isabel still needs someone to vouch
18:20that her iced fancy is no royal replica.
18:27So, Dave, here we are.
18:28Here's the cake.
18:30Oh, magic.
18:32That's kept well, hasn't it?
18:3340 years old.
18:34Step forward, Royal Navy chef David Avery,
18:37who was hand-picked to bake the official wedding cake
18:40for the then Prince Charles and Lady Di.
18:43It was a recipe my mother had.
18:45It's not written down.
18:47No, all up there.
18:48It's all up there.
18:50Alongside David's centrepiece,
18:5223 other cakes were also baked for the wedding breakfast,
18:55which were later sliced up for the royal staff as a thank you.
18:58Isabel wants to identify which one Gerry's slice came from.
19:05So you've got some photographs here of cakes that were presented.
19:10Presented at the palace, yeah.
19:11And they all have the crests on the front of them.
19:14Yeah.
19:14That would have come from the bottom tier of the cake
19:16because it's the official crest.
19:18David's confirmation that this piece of iced artwork
19:22is the regulation Royal Coat of Arms
19:25is just what Isabel needed.
19:27He really rates the cake
19:29and rates its condition,
19:32the colour still on the icing.
19:34There's a lot of collectors for raw memorabilia,
19:37particularly in America,
19:38where they grow wild for the royal family.
19:42So with the sale being online,
19:44we can market it to our international buyers
19:46and hopefully really capture that American audience.
19:53Thank you, sir.
19:54And that's your registration number for today.
19:56And good luck.
19:56Thank you very much.
20:02Not gently.
20:06In the sale room,
20:07300 lots are about to go up for auction,
20:10with Melissa's vintage designer trunk
20:12the main attraction.
20:15So we're all set.
20:16Exciting day.
20:17We've got a bit of LV.
20:18Louis...
20:19Is it Louis...
20:20You pronounce it Vuitton?
20:21Vuitton, isn't it?
20:22Is that right, Joy?
20:24Say again?
20:24Vuitton.
20:25Is it really?
20:26God, that's...
20:27That's going to give me a bit of a worry now.
20:28Vuitton.
20:29Vuitton.
20:30Vuitton.
20:31Vuitton.
20:33Reception team Joy and Anne may well smile,
20:36but they all know how important it is
20:39to wow potential bidders.
20:41This is kept very well.
20:43It seems to be in very good condition.
20:46Yeah, I could make use of this.
20:47Yeah, you could use it, couldn't you?
20:48Yeah, put it in my bedroom.
20:49You don't need to put some of that stuff
20:50on your bedroom floor in.
20:53It's a very nice trunk.
20:55It all depends on how much it's going for at the time.
20:58Sometimes you can get a bit carried away.
21:00I think it's called auction fever.
21:01Charles is under pressure to get the bidding up
21:06to Melissa's £4,000 minimum,
21:09a price he worries is over the odds.
21:12It's a funny old game,
21:13because if we don't hit £4,000,
21:14we've got a happy seller,
21:16because we've told our seller we can achieve this.
21:19I'm nervous, but I'm ready to go.
21:21The hopeful buyers here are mainly Derbyshire locals,
21:24but the trunk has also excited interest
21:27from much farther afield.
21:29That's encouraging news.
21:31As it may mean a specialist buyer
21:33with bigger pockets.
21:35Ladies, on the Vuitton trunk,
21:38any phone bids?
21:39Yes, we've got two.
21:41We've got a French one.
21:42Have we?
21:43And an Italian.
21:44It could be Paris versus Rome.
21:47Yes.
21:48Oh, it's exciting.
21:51Anne will be bidding on behalf
21:53of a British luxury luggage dealer,
21:55currently on business in Italy.
21:58Hello, it's Anne from Hanson's Auctioneers.
22:00I'll be going through to the sale room,
22:03ready to bid for you, sir.
22:04When you've got a phone bidder,
22:05it can be quite exciting,
22:07because it's being involved and part of the auction.
22:11While Joy is on the phone to another dealer,
22:13calling in from France.
22:15Mr Hanson's going to be auctioning the trunk himself.
22:19Are you in Paris, sir?
22:21Yes.
22:21Is it looking lovely there today?
22:24You want to do your best for the person
22:26who's on the other end of the phone,
22:29and you end up with quite a vested interest in it.
22:33Clarke's Cal and Aid will be across the internet bids.
22:38Whoever's currently winning the bids,
22:40I've got to make sure I put that across on my platform
22:44so that the buyers at home can see who is winning the race.
22:49While seller Melissa will also be glued to the action online
22:53from her holiday hotel.
22:57Where do we start this wonderful work of art?
23:00By an iconic French designer
23:02who goes back to the mid-19th century.
23:05It's labelled, it's marked.
23:07We've done the research through Louis Vuitton,
23:10and here it is to be sold today to the world.
23:13We're live across Europe with phone lines as well.
23:16Hello, France. Hello, Italy.
23:19£2,000 is my opening bid.
23:22£2,002.
23:24£2,003.
23:27It's really up to me to create the atmosphere,
23:30create the interest, to walk it to the reserve.
23:33I'm asking £3,600, £3,700, £3,800.
23:38End of the day, we are fixed by a reserve.
23:41If I don't hit £4,000, we don't earn our commission.
23:44I don't like saying, not sold.
23:48Do you want it, madam?
23:50One more might do it.
24:01I'm bid £3,600.
24:05I'll take in the room now £3,700.
24:08Charles Hansen is auctioning seller Melissa's
24:11vintage Louis Vuitton trunk.
24:13Do I see £3,700?
24:16And he's struggling to hit the steep reserve price of £4,000.
24:21I'm asking £3,600, £3,700, £3,800.
24:26Four.
24:27The bidder's very sharp, actually.
24:28He's upping the price himself above what the auctioneer is saying.
24:33So he's obviously very keen to burn off the other bidder, I think.
24:36I've got £4,000 in Europe.
24:41£4,000!
24:44Huge relief.
24:45Vendor's happy, hit her target.
24:48Now it's really how far these two phone bidders are really going to battle it out.
24:53£4,002.
24:55£4,300.
24:56I'm asking £4,004 now.
24:58£4,400.
25:00£4,500, sir?
25:01£4,500, £4,500, ooh-la-la.
25:05When you know you've got two phone bidders, you can very much really reach out to them emotionally, psychologically.
25:12Come on, phone bidder, one more.
25:14£6,002.
25:15£6,002.
25:16Yes.
25:17£6,003.
25:18£6,004.
25:20£6,004, sir?
25:21Yes.
25:22Just kept going, like a tennis match.
25:25£6,009.
25:26£6,009, sir.
25:27There was no hesitation whatsoever from my bidder.
25:31I just went back with the next bid and immediately they replied.
25:36£6,009, be lucky.
25:38£7,000, sir.
25:40Yes.
25:40Lucky £7,000.
25:43£7,001.
25:45£7,002, madam.
25:47£7,003.
25:48£7,003, sir.
25:50£7,004.
25:51£7,004, sir?
25:53No.
25:53You're sure, sir?
25:54You've come a long way.
25:55The other phone line is out and we sell this magnificent bidder trunk at £7,300.
26:04It's your trunk.
26:05So, congratulations.
26:07Well done.
26:09£7,000.
26:10Give him an applause.
26:10£7,300.
26:13Congratulations.
26:14So, congratulations, sir.
26:15Well done.
26:16That's brilliant.
26:18Bye.
26:19I really thought £4,000 was honestly maybe not achievable, but it kept on going.
26:26£7,000.
26:28£2,000 is amazing.
26:29I'm over the moon.
26:31Good work.
26:32Thank you, ladies.
26:33I'm going to give the vendor a call.
26:35Hello?
26:36Is that Melissa?
26:37Charles Hansen.
26:38It was a great price.
26:39Were you pleased?
26:39Oh, over the moon.
26:41Great.
26:42Really over the moon.
26:43It's amazing.
26:44I was watching it and I was trying to video the laptop screen with my husband.
26:48Yeah.
26:48My hand was shaking because it was like, oh, my God.
26:51Yeah.
26:51It's an auctioneer.
26:53Thank you, Melissa.
26:54When we can find an exciting object, it really makes for a wonderful moment.
26:59All right, Charles.
27:00Thank you for the help, anyway.
27:01Bye, Moses.
27:01It was an absolute pleasure.
27:02Talk to you soon.
27:03Bye.
27:03It makes me feel quite emotional, quite proud.
27:07So I can puff my chest out and say, Melissa, we did it.
27:19Lovely spoon.
27:2117th century, silver.
27:23I can see this making £4,600.
27:28The search for those hidden treasures never stops.
27:31Only two years ago, a man came in with a carrier bag with a yellow ground teapot.
27:38He said, Charles, is it worth anything?
27:40This is from research.
27:41One of only three known in the world.
27:44And it made £400,000.
27:47On the trail of a possible lead, Charles is at the company's Staffordshire sale room, Bishden Hall,
27:53to meet a long-standing business contact, local antiques dealer Ian.
27:57Well, I've got a shop which I run with my son, and we've only just opened, sort of, six months ago.
28:03But I've been in the business for 35-plus years.
28:06Hi, Charles.
28:06Just take a look at this.
28:09What is it with these crosses on there, crucifixes?
28:12What is it?
28:13Crosses come back, that secret lock.
28:15Suspense.
28:16Oh, my God.
28:17A couple walked in the shop one Saturday morning with this religious-looking box, opened it up.
28:23It was just blown away, sort of, thought, wow.
28:26The quality is fantastic.
28:28Lift-out tray.
28:29You've got the pistols, the holy water.
28:32So what have we got?
28:32On the top deck here, we've got the pistols with the barrels.
28:35What are these for here?
28:36These are amazing.
28:37These are little, sort of, like, fitted wings.
28:39And then you've got adjustable candlesticks that go on the side.
28:43It's a Bible down there as well.
28:45Look at that, Ian.
28:45You see, that is really old.
28:47Oh, my God, Ian, it's amazing.
28:50Do you know what I'm thinking it might be?
28:52It's, I suppose, what you might call a vampire slain kit.
28:56Goodness gracious me.
28:58The spooky spectre of the blood-sucking vampire has haunted European folktales for hundreds of years.
29:05But the craze peaked in Victorian Britain when Bram Stoker's Dracula first saw the light of day in 1897.
29:16What's the mallet for?
29:17I think it's putting the stake through the heart.
29:19See, a bit like that?
29:20A bit higher.
29:22Oh, I don't.
29:23I mean, this looks like it's been used, this blinking stake.
29:25Look at the wear on that stake here.
29:28Never mind the stake hammer.
29:30It's the auction hammer price that really matters.
29:33Somebody brought it through the door.
29:34I paid two grand for it and happy to get sort of three, three and a half grand for it.
29:40So you've bought it for £2,000.
29:43Yes.
29:43That's a lot of money, isn't it?
29:44That's a lot of money.
29:45It's a rare thing.
29:47It's just a great, quirky item.
29:49And we thought, have we got the client base, you know, to sort of sell it in the shop?
29:53You know, do we give it to sort of Charles Hanson because, you know, he can sell stuff worldwide, market it properly,
29:58and obviously achieve the highest price for us.
30:00Ian wants £3,000 for his spooky set, £1,000 more than he paid for it.
30:06So Charles will need to unearth its history to try and make the value really fly.
30:13Provenance, any history to it?
30:15Well, he's got some initials stamped on it.
30:17I think if we do some research and research who this person was, WMH, and we can determine who he was, this has legs.
30:25You see some of these went in antique fairs and you think, yeah, they're just fun.
30:29But this, to me, is far more engaging by the fact it's all monogrammed.
30:34God, what a fine.
30:35It's fantastic.
30:35It's amazing.
30:38You just cannot believe what can come in at a given day in my sail room.
30:44If we can say, this belongs to this van, we can trace it back to the original owner, do the research,
30:51then present it well with a real history and happening, it could run and run.
30:56It really could.
30:57Would you like it at 110 now?
31:04Fair warning, it's going.
31:07The auction house hosts over 100 sales a year.
31:10Sold.
31:11And today's top lot is the historic slab of royal wedding cake, which is causing quite the sensation.
31:18I was not expecting to see the cake so well preserved, like the icing.
31:23It's larger than I thought it was going to be,
31:25because I thought it was going to be a piece cut and put in a little box.
31:30It's the morning of the auction this morning.
31:31It's going to be an eventful day.
31:33Gerry is in the house.
31:35We need to work out where his reserve is,
31:39so we can actually have a sale to meet his approval.
31:43Charles is right to be worried.
31:47Seller Gerry has his eye on an ambitious minimum price.
31:50It has to be 3,000.
31:52It has to meet that reserve.
31:54And there's no auctioneer's leeway in that.
31:58I know you paid for it, what, a year ago?
32:021,800 plus the slap, the buyer's premium.
32:052,200.
32:062,200 pounds.
32:08If I get 2,008 and I look at you, do I sell it or not?
32:13No.
32:13If we don't sell, my company and my colleagues,
32:17we earn no money from all that time we've expended
32:20in marketing, cataloguing, research and everything else.
32:24So, really, it's now or never.
32:27Going, going, going to buyer number 3098.
32:30Right, wedding cake up next, Barry, let's see how it goes.
32:34Clarke's aid and Barry are across the online bids,
32:39while Joy's on the phone bidding on behalf of a US buyer.
32:43You said you're on a train still.
32:46Not a lot of tunnels, are there?
32:48Nice to actually bid for somebody else when it's not your money,
32:52to be honest.
32:52This is a Charles and Dana wedding cake of epic proportions
33:00from July 81.
33:03I'm bid 2,000 pounds.
33:05I'm bid 2,000 pounds straight in.
33:08I'm asking 2,1, sir.
33:102,002 I'm bid.
33:12I'm asking 2,3, sir.
33:132,004, bid 2,5.
33:16Asking 2,6, bid 2,7.
33:18Asking 2,8 at 2,008.
33:21Joy gave me a nod at 2,8.
33:23I thought we're in.
33:242,8.
33:25I'm asking 3,000.
33:26Do we see 3,000?
33:29Panic sets in.
33:30I'm asking 3,000.
33:32I'm asking 3,000.
33:45Asking 2,6, bid 2,7.
33:47Asking 2,8.
33:48Charles Hansen is auctioning off a genuine slice of royal wedding memorabilia.
33:54But he's struggling to reach seller Jerry's tough minimum selling price of 3,000 pounds.
34:00Ordinarily, we are there with discretion.
34:04No discretion.
34:05It's fixed.
34:06It's solid.
34:07I cannot fall one bid below.
34:09I'm asking 3,000.
34:14I'm asking 3,000.
34:15You're not.
34:16No.
34:17I'm asking 3,000 now.
34:20Are you sure?
34:22I'm asking 3,000.
34:24One for the roads.
34:26Fair warning.
34:27I looked at Jerry and he was shaking his head.
34:32Jerry had a very fixed reserve.
34:33He said, Charles, nothing less.
34:36Not a pound less.
34:37Unable to reach 3,000 pounds, Charles has to call it quits.
34:42It's not solved.
34:44And failure leaves a bitter taste.
34:47So close.
34:49So close?
34:49So close.
34:50I'm disappointed for it.
34:51I really hope that that lady was going to bid 3,000.
34:57I am disappointed.
34:58He's missed the boat, in my opinion.
35:00But my goodness me, we were so near.
35:02And that's the frustration.
35:04While the post room get busy dispatching the lots that did sell at today's auction,
35:15valuers Carl and Barry are already browsing through what's coming up next for sale.
35:20What is it, Carl?
35:22It looks like a cantina cutlery.
35:25Ah, you're wrong there.
35:26It's actually...
35:28..a vampire box.
35:30A vampire slaying kit.
35:32Back in the 80s, I used to come back with a load of love bites, but...
35:36I mean, my boys used to say, it's vampires.
35:39But, yeah, great item.
35:41Should do well.
35:43Seller Ian paid 2,000 pounds for the kit,
35:46and, keen to increase its value,
35:48Charles has been getting his teeth into its history.
35:53The initials WMH are engraved on it,
35:56and Charles has discovered that these belong to Lord William Malcolm Hayley,
36:00born in 1872.
36:02He rose to become the governor of the Punjab in British India during the 1920s.
36:09It's just amazing that this highly intelligent man,
36:12who was at the height of society,
36:14believes in vampires.
36:16Vampires.
36:18Vampires.
36:19It's like saying, I believe in fairies.
36:22Fascinating.
36:22Now that he's unearthed the owner of the creepy kit,
36:27Charles wants to flesh out its history.
36:30Hey, Deborah.
36:31How are you?
36:32I'm great, thank you.
36:33Great to see you.
36:33How's life?
36:34Gorgeous day for sunshine.
36:36Should we go into the darker side?
36:38He's invited cultural anthropologist Deborah Hyde
36:41to shed daylight on why a member of the British aristocracy
36:45would own this ghoulish gadget.
36:48We've uncovered that the monogram WMH belongs to a Lord Hayley,
36:52who was a peer, very important society man.
36:56He was, you know, a serious man, educated, sophisticated.
36:59I'm thinking, why was he wanting this sort of nonsense,
37:02which you would have thought he would have thought that way?
37:04I think what we're looking at here is a fictional artefact.
37:09It's a beautiful object to entertain people with after dinner.
37:12Why do you have candles?
37:13I think this is a dramatic element
37:15because if you're going to do something dark and dangerous,
37:18it's far better to do it by candlelight.
37:21Would you have thought that many of his fellow society hangers-on
37:25would have had similar vampire kits?
37:27There aren't a huge number of them.
37:29They do turn up from time to time.
37:30Most of the kits come from the mid-20th century,
37:32after Hammer Horror films,
37:35when horror as entertainment really took off.
37:38Thank you so much, Deborah.
37:39It gives me an idea now more about its historical context,
37:43and I can't wait to take it to auction.
37:46I'm now thinking that Lord Hayley may have been smoking his Havana cigars
37:50in a mist of smoke.
37:52The smell of red wine has out came from under the table
37:56this amazing vampire kit.
37:59Midnight was approaching,
38:00and it was time for the vampire stories.
38:07Mystery solved.
38:08Bloodsuckers beware.
38:10The tools of the vampire hunter are about to see the light of day.
38:16So we've got the wooden stake and the mallet.
38:19This is an actual gun.
38:22And you used to have to shoot them with a silver bullet.
38:26Hopefully we don't have any vampires around, aren't we?
38:29Holding a reserve of £3,000,
38:32it's tantalising devotees of the supernatural from across the world.
38:37Sometimes in our industry,
38:39you get those objects which just fly in the press.
38:41And this vampire slaying kit really has risen to the occasion.
38:46We've had press all over the world,
38:49in the Far East,
38:50in North America,
38:52in Canada.
38:53So here's hoping for a bit of international stardom.
38:57Clarks, Barry and Cal are seeing a promising build-up of interest online.
39:02The vampire slayer kit has created a massive buzz.
39:06There's already been a few bids left on the book.
39:09But how well it does,
39:10well, let's find out.
39:12Seller Ian can't attend the auction in person,
39:15but Valuer Victoria is going to keep him posted by phone.
39:20Hi, Ian.
39:22We're really just hoping that it goes well for the vendor,
39:25to be honest with you.
39:26He's really excited.
39:28I'm looking forward to it.
39:29Good morning to you,
39:31and hello to our friends online.
39:33If I can start this important vampire slaying kit
39:36with bids of 3,000, 3,2,
39:393,5, 3,8,
39:414,000, 4,2,
39:445,5 in Canada.
39:46There's a real rush.
39:47You can feel in the room.
39:49There's an atmosphere.
39:50There's a hunger.
39:50There's a belief that this really might move.
39:535,8,
39:546,000,
39:566,2,
39:57Yeah, it's gone ballistic.
39:586,5,
39:596,8,
40:00I'm bid 7,000,
40:037,004,
40:047,005,
40:06and a bid of 8,000 pounds.
40:08We have bids coming in from the United States,
40:11from Australia,
40:12Canada,
40:12and the UK.
40:148,500 pounds we're bid.
40:16We're live in London.
40:17I'm asking 9,000 pounds.
40:20Come back in Canada.
40:229,000 pounds,
40:23we've got you.
40:24It's bang,
40:25bang,
40:25bang,
40:25bang,
40:26bang,
40:26bang.
40:26As quickly as you can type them in,
40:28the next bid's through.
40:29Don't miss it for one bid.
40:3110,000 pounds.
40:33Wow.
40:33We've got 10,000 pounds.
40:35It's a huge frenzy of interest,
40:37and there's still phone bids coming in.
40:39Come on,
40:40work at auctioneer.
40:41I'm asking 10,500 now.
40:44We are bid 10,500.
40:46Yeah.
40:46For the first time.
40:48First.
40:49Second time.
40:50No.
40:51Third time.
40:52Congratulations to our buyer.
40:5511,000.
40:55Ooh.
40:5611,000 pounds we're bid.
40:59Thank you,
41:00Canada.
41:01Sometimes,
41:02right at the last second,
41:03somebody else comes in,
41:04oh my goodness,
41:05right,
41:05let's go again.
41:0612,000 pounds we're bid.
41:0912,000.
41:0912,000.
41:10I'm asking 12,500 now.
41:12It's at 6 cents,
41:13you can just feel psychologically
41:15that the buyer's got more in them
41:17to go on more.
41:19You pause.
41:20Let the room think about it.
41:23First.
41:24Second.
41:26Bid 12,500.
41:28We're live in Canada.
41:31Do I see 13,000 pounds?
41:34It's getting creepy.
41:3613,000 pounds we're bid.
41:3813.
41:38I'm asking 13,500 pounds.
41:42Going.
41:44Going.
41:45At 13,000 pounds.
41:49Knock it.
41:50Sold.
41:51Congratulations.
41:52Yeah.
41:52There we are.
41:5313,000 pounds.
41:56Congratulations.
41:57He was just really thrilled, actually.
41:59Fantastic.
42:00I know.
42:00Amazing result.
42:01It's always really great when they far exceed expectation.
42:06I didn't think it would reach that amount at all.
42:10I thought maybe five or six if we were lucky.
42:14I can't believe it.
42:1513,000 pounds.
42:1713,000 for a vampire box set.
42:20Incredible.
42:20I think what sold, there was a whole worldwide exposure with our marketing and research we did.
42:27Two buys battled it out.
42:29Amazing result.
42:31That looks good.
42:32It's not long before the vampire kit is winging its way to Hampshire, leaving one very happy
42:39seller.
42:41Ian, well done.
42:42Thank you very much.
42:43Pleasure.
42:43Great.
42:44Thanks a lot.
42:45Yeah, I'm really pleased.
42:46I think people react when something's in auction.
42:47It just gets people more excited.
42:49Also flying out the door is Melissa's Louis Vuitton trunk.
42:54The winning bid came from luxury luggage dealer Alessio, who's now back from Italy.
43:01Ciao.
43:02Alessio, ciao.
43:04Fantastico, grazie.
43:05Thank you very much.
43:06There we are.
43:06Now, can I say voila, what's that in Italian?
43:10Eccoci.
43:11Eccoci.
43:12Eccoci.
43:13I hope you like it.
43:14It's a wonderful trunk.
43:15It's a very round model.
43:16And once it's restored, it's going to look fantastic.
43:19All original, all original condition.
43:21A hundred years old.
43:23What about it?
43:24I'm feeling excited, relieved because it's a good item.
43:28And I think it will come up very, very well once it's restored.
43:31I know what's restorable and what's not restorable.
43:34There's nothing there that would worry me too much.
43:49I'm bidding $7,000.
Recommended
43:54
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