Bargain Hunters head for Moore Allen

CELEBRITY antiques expert Tim Wonnacott and his Bargain Hunt crew will be at the Moore Allen & Innocent salerooms in Cirencester next week, filming not one but four episodes of the popular TV series.

Eight teams and the Bargain Hunt experts have been shopping for antiques, which they hope will make a profit when they go to auction next Friday, August 14 from 9.30am.

Among the best of the lots is a set of three Edwardian theatre chairs in the Sheraton revival taste. Made of mahogany inlaid with satinwood and ebony, the green velvet chairs date from around 1900 to 1910. Auctioneer Philip Allwood has put £100 to £150 on them, but how much did the contestants pay, and how much are the bidders prepared to fork out? Time and TV will tell.

A pair of bronze vases by the renowned foundry of Ferdinand Barbedienne have also caught they auctioneer’s eye. Dating from around 1880 to 1900, and decorated with typically French grapes and vines, Philip estimates the pair at £100 to £150.

Will a bidder fall in love with a box of small silver buttons featuring studies of Romeo and Juliet? Dating from around 1900 they were imported by P Vaughton and Sons of Birmingham and carry an estimate of £80 to £120.

Cast in chrome, meanwhile, is an 18cm bulldog, designed for the hood of an American Mack truck, circa 1932. At £30 to £50, is this mascot enough of a bargain to make the Bargain Hunters a profit?

A mahogany Monoplane cake stand, from around 1910 to 1920, has taken Philip’s eye. “They’re not as popular as they once were,” he laments, “but this is a particularly good one. Someone has thought hard about the design; it folds away into nothing.” With an auctioneer’s estimate of £50 to £80, will the contestants be cutting a celebratory cake?

Of course, not every lot in the auction has been bought by a Bargain Hunter. Worthy of note is a large collection of records which the owner no doubt consider to cover both kinds of music – country and western.

The collection includes the eponymous 1958 album by Ricky Nelson, and Hold that Tiger by teen heartthrob Fabian, who as well as scoring 11 hit singles in the American Billboard Hot 100 also starred in 30 Hollywood movies. Duane Eddy, Roger Miller, Johnny Horton and Tex Ritter are amongst the other artists represented in this significant vinyl collection, which carries an estimate of £80 to £120.

A set of three Edwardian theatre chairs A pair of bronze vases by Ferdinand Barbedienne A bulldog, mascot, designed for the hood of an American Mack truck
	A mahogany Monoplane cake stand
	A box of small silver buttons featuring studies of Romeo and Juliet
A large collection of Country & Western records