Derby-based TV auctioneer Charles Hanson is heading to the county this week <Nov 22> in search of the county’s undiscovered attic finds.
It is the first of four visits to Oxfordshire in a road trip taking in Banbury, Bicester and Woodstock.
He said: “I always say every house has one great valuable squirreled away and nothing gives me more pleasure than unearthing them.”
The star of Secrets of the Auction House, as well as other TV shows, will be on hand to value hidden treasures at the town hall in Chipping Norton on November 22. View event details
The session, from 10am to 1pm, in conjunction with Oxfordshire Age UK, is one of four valuations coming up in the county.
On November 25, he will be at Holloways Auctioneers in Banbury, now under the Hansons’ umbrella, from 11am-1pm. View event details
Later in the same day he will be in Bicester, at the Dandy Gallery Retro Vintage Ltd in Blue Diamond Garden Centre, from 2pm-4pm. View event details
And, on December 6, he will be putting undiscovered treasures in the spotlight at the Town Hall in Woodstock from 10am-1pm. View event details
Charles Hanson said: “A visit to the well-heeled county of Oxfordshire and the Cotswolds never disappoints. The Cotswolds, with its medieval past based in the wool trade, is rich in rural English heritage and country-house traditions.”
Oxfordshire also has a high density of antique shops and fairs, even boasting its own trade association – the Cotswolds Art and Antique Dealers’ Association.
Charles continued: “Being a region rich in historic stone buildings, I might find reclaimed Cotswold limestone pieces, mullioned windows, beams, or doors.
“But we’re not just looking for traditional antiques. With the price of gold being the highest it has been since the 1970s, and the price of silver soaring, now is the time to dig out anything from jewellery and watches to silver teapots and even cutlery.”
At one walk-in valuation in Birmingham a blue and white Chinese pot, known to the family simply as “Aunt Beryl’s vase”, went on to sell for £800,000.
Recently at Hansons Auctioneers’ Derby saleroom, a cracked vase turned out to be a Ming dynasty treasure which sold for £130,000.
Hansons Auctioneers UK salerooms include venues in Cornwall, Kent and Norfolk.