Derby’s Charles Hanson and his Etwall saleroom take centre stage this week in a new TV series promising to blow the lid on what really goes on behind the scenes of an auction house.
While the 47-year-old is no stranger to the small screen, appearing regularly on Bargain Hunt, Antiques Road Trip and Flog It! this is the first time he will front his own show. Secret Life of the Auction House which starts on Quest on July 31 at 9pm gives the inside story on Charles’ auction houses in Derbyshire, Bishton Hall in Staffordshire, Oxfordshire and London.
With exclusive, behind‑the‑scenes access, Charles and his 75‑strong team research provenance and spot fakes as well as appear on the rostrum to sell everything from rare Harry Potter first editions to Victorian vampire‑slaying kits. Other treasures unearthed at the Derbyshire saleroom in the series include a 1966 World Cup flag and Queen Victoria’s bloomers.
Charles also reveals some of the more outrageous aspects of his job, including how he discovered an Anglo-Saxon skeleton in a client’s wardrobe. He said: “He had dug it up in his Lincolnshire garden and decided to hang it up in his wardrobe. It was fascinating.”
In the series Charles and his team venture around the country from Scotland to the Isle of Wight and then London in search of rare antiques.
Unlike traditional auction programmes, Charles says his new show captures the true essence and a behind the scenes reality of what it takes to run a successful auction house. Charles’ passion for antiques started aged 13 when his parents bought him a metal detector which he used to scour the fields around the family farm.
He said: “I remember so well digging up a silver shilling which was dated 1630. I still have that coin which really kick-started my love of antiques. “I’ve always said if objects can come alive, what could they tell us? I think that it the great heartbeat of history.”
Secret Life of the Auction House airs on July 31 at 10pm on Quest.
