Flog It Experts

Newlyn Copper

episode details: Flog It! - Series 5 - Leicester

This is hand-beaten copper by the company Newlyn. It was estimated at 150 £. Knowing how these items are created, the level of detail in this craftsmanship is amazing. With a hammer and a mallet in lead underneath the copper these lovely copper items are created.

Popular designs in this copper include various sorts of fish, landscapes from the UK (including Newlyn itself), fruit and flowers. One of the main appealing things of these items is how the design is matched with the figures on the copper: fish swirl around the outer surface of a vase with seaweed and bubbles giving a sense of movement.

Find Newlyn Copper on Ebay

Royal Worcester - Freda Doughty

episode details: Flog It! - Series 5 - Cambridge

This item is a little sculpture by Royal Worcester, designed by Freda Doughty. This particular little figurine was appraised at somewhere between 70£ and 100£.

The Royal Worcester company has produced porcelain from 1751. It received its Royal warrant in 1789 and has kept this qualification since. Unfurtunately in 2008 the company was on the brink of disaster when it had to go into administration. The company was saved by a buy-out from rival Portmeirion Pottery in 2009.

Freda Doughty was 50% of a succesful pair of designing sisters - with Dorothy Doughty being the other half. The girls were born in Italy as the daughters of Charles Doughty, an English poet famous for being the author of ‘Arabia Deserta’ which was the inspiration for ‘Lawrence of Arabia’.

In the early 1920’s Royal Worcester was on the brink of destruction when they decided to invest in a product range from porcelain figurines and animals. Freda Doughty was one of the main designers who blew new life in the company with her, even back then, rather dated figurines that amazingly sold pretty well. In particular it were Freda’s porcelain figurines of children that really appealed to the crowd and are still selling well today in auctions.

Find Royal Worcester - Freda Doughty on Ebay

Moorcroft Pottery and Vases

episode details: Flog It! - Series 5 - Cambridge

On todays episode I couldn’t help noticing a little vase from the English manufacturer Moorcroft. This company was founded in 1897 in Burslem, Stoke-On-Trent (England) and is still active today as an independent pottery manufacturer. The company has especially found fame through their vivid and colorful designs on hand-crafted or hand-detailed vases and pottery.

I couldn’t find any image of the vase in question (a lovely blue vase with trees) which according to the expert was a perfect match between colors, design and the shape of the vase. I will certainly use BBC’s iplayer to see if I can catch a screen capture from the vase and the auction.

The vase in the image above is slightly similar to the one auctioned in Flog It, but the shape of the vase is very different. The vase in the image was sold at a Christies auction in 2008 for £ 2000.

Today Moorcroft tries to keep its new pottery exclusive by offering limited editions which are loved by collectors. However we, as almost always, prefer the more authentic vases designed by William Moorcroft himself.

Update: I have made a screen capture from the vase in this particular Flog It episode. You can see the image below. The expert told the viewers that the particular pattern on this vase was called “Moonlit Blue”. It was estimated at £ 700 but the auctioneer, who was more experienced in Moorcroft pottery, said it was a lot more valuable. This also proved to be so as it sold at £ 1500.

Find Moorcroft Pottery on Ebay