A large painting of "Britannia And Her Allies" was bought in a sale but, says its owner, "it didn't look as big in the sales room." Although it now resides in the garage, it is an interesting painting because it is dated 1920 and little is known about its artist, Charles Ernest Butler, after 1918. Mark Poltimore suggests that it may have been painted as a town hall memorial to celebrate the end of the First World War. He thinks that it would be attractive to museums and institutions because "it invokes a whole age." The owner tells him, "I paid £500 ($750) for it—it's probably not worth that now because it's so big and so dirty." So he's rather surprised to discover the painting is now worth £10,000 ($15,000).

"It's a gorgeous little object, a stunning object," says Lars Tharp, as a woman explains that the vase she has brought was a wedding present to her uncle in the 1930s, and has been passed down through the family. "I remember it as a little child, it used to be on the mantelpiece and the firelight used to reflect in the iridescence on the vase and it fascinated me," she says. The vase was made by a Hungarian factory known as Zsolnay Pecs in around 1900, the middle of the Art Nouveau period, somewhat later than the English lusters created by the likes of William de Morgan. The owner is surprised when Lars values the vase at £5,000 ($7,500).

"Well, these were never made for use, so I should think it's never seen tea," says David Battie, examining a large Staffordshire teapot, which is usually kept on top of a wardrobe. But he is astonished to discover that he's wrong: the owner's grandmother often used it at street parties and said that it held 144 cups of tea! David explains that such pieces were made for display by the manufacturer, to demonstrate their skills, and were often to be found in the windows of tea shops. "The fact that it's been used is really rather wonderful," he laughs. Made in Staffordshire in the 1860s, these pieces are popular today and this one is valued at between £600 and £1,000 ($900 and $1,500).