Auction

Season 3

In the latest series we cover the huge range of treasures which go under the hammer in London, Paris and New York. From the fabulous diamond given to actress Elizabeth Taylor by Richard Burton to a camera taken to the moon, paintings by old masters, sculptures by Rodin and Giacometti and the Million Pound Bank Note. It’s all been through the auction houses of the world.

Episode 1
At Conway Hall, every three months, Richard Reason sells 120 pianos of all shapes and sizes and he’s looking for £20,000 for his star lot. Meanwhile, a view of Venice by eighteenth century artist Francesco Guardi could fetch over £20 million.

Episode 2
Enthusiasts have gathered for a Revival weekend featuring vintage and veteran cars where a special Jaguar E-Type could fetch over £1 million. Meanwhile, the University of Sydney is in London to auction a work by Picasso. The proceeds of the sale will aid medical research.

Episode 3
A suitcase owned by one of the Titanic crew is up for auction along with a set of newspapers from the time – and a poignant story. Elsewhere, the work of Ron Mueck comes under the hammer…including a larger-than-life baby!

Episode 4
A camera that went to the moon is being auctioned in New York along with memorabilia from the Space Race of the 1960s. There’s even a Russian cosmonaut’s suit that may fetch $250,000. In London, author Jeffrey Archer is having a clear out of his art collection.

Episode 5
A self-portrait by Andy Warhol is estimated to fetch £5 million as part of an auction which includes two bears carved by Jeff Koons – for £3.5 million. A painting by Poynter is also sold that caused a stir when it was first released.

Episode 6
In an auction of science memorabilia a rare Enigma machine comes under the hammer as well as a single biscuit – a survivor from Ernest Shackleton’s expedition to the Antarctic in 1907.

Episode 7
In London a painting of Derby Day by William Powell Frith is up for sale that could make its owner half a million pounds. Because he didn’t realise what he had, it’s been hanging in an un-locked American beach house for fifty years!

Episode 8
To help process funds from Washington after the Second World War, the Bank of England printed some million pound notes, and one of them is up for sale. Elsewhere under the hammer is a sculpture of Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt sitting on a bench – just like the one in Bond Street.

Episode 9
The jewels, haute-couture fashions and art of Elizabeth Taylor are coming to auction, including the Krupp diamond she was given by Richard Burton, the tiara from husband Mike Todd, and the Prince of Wales brooch once owned by the Duchess of Windsor.

Episode 10
In Paris, the paintings and sculptures of collector Darthea Speyer are up for sale. In New York, celebrity watches come under the hammer, including one which was a gift from director Howard Hughes.

Season 2

How much would you pay for one of Margaret Thatcher's handbags? In the second series of Auction, the "portable filing cabinet" that terrorised ministers comes up for sale, along with a huge range of art treasures from a snuff box made from the timbers of HMS Victory to a chaise longue ‘ski chair’ which may fetch over £2 million.

Episode 1
Europe’s royal palaces offer up their treasures and a painting of The Last Supper which miraculously survived the London Blitz also goes on sale, along with a snuff box made from the timbers of HMS victory.

Episode 2
A unique collection goes under the hammer in Paris that includes a chaise longue ‘ski chair’ which may fetch over £2 million. In London, a Warhol portrait of Debbie Harry and an intriguing sketch of the Queen go on sale.

Episode 3
An Edinburgh auction house tries to sell a Mackintosh table that's been stuck in a garden for 20 years, and in New York, Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema's Antony and Cleopatra goes on sale with an upper estimate of $6 million.

Episode 4
The world comes to Wiltshire – for a teapot. But this is no ordinary teapot. It’s from the Qianlong dynasty, made from a single block of Jade and is expected to fetch over £300,000. In London, Victorian and British Impressionist paintings are on offer.

Episode 5
The world’s biggest (and most expensive) jewellery box comes under the hammer, which could fetch half a million pounds. And, in London, the Chicago gangster Al Capone’s revolver is up for sale.

Episode 6
Would you pay over a million pounds for a chandelier? The royal lighting is part of a sale in London of exceptional pieces from the great houses of Europe. Elsewhere, we see the sketch by Michelangelo for a painting that never was.

Episode 7
One of Britain’s most important private art collections is up for sale, assembled by the solicitor Wilfrid Evill. And, in Salisbury, clocks made for Liberty in the ‘Arts and Crafts’ style are attracting intense interest.

Episode 8
Monet once bought a row of Poplar trees that he wanted to paint to prevent them being cut down. Was it a wise move? His painting is up for sale in New York. In London, a stunning sculpture carved from a single block of marble may fetch £400,000.

Episode 9
A charity sale is selling off everything from the chief timekeeper’s watch used when Roger Bannister beat the four-minute mile in 1954…to Mrs Thatcher’s handbag. Will it fetch the estimated £100,000? Elsewhere, works painted using a squeegee from a German artist.

Episode 10
Was George Stubbs the greatest painter of horses of all time? Auctioneers in London are asking £20 million for a portrait of his. In Geneva, the most important emerald and diamond tiara to come to the market for thirty years has an estimate of $10 million.


Season 1

The first season of Auction brings you bidding frenzies for treasures from around the world, including the 1941 Jean Prouve bicycle; the yellow Rolls Royce driven by Robert Redford in The Great Gatsby; and a unique collection of Churchill memorabilia.

Episode 1
Will the stars turn out for a sale of Polish artist Tamara de Lempicka’s work in New York? Elsewhere, a J M W Turner masterpiece goes under the hammer and the 1930’s sports car which every eligible bachelor had to have is sold at Blenheim Palace.

Episode 2
A limestone carved head by tragic sculptor Amadeo Modigliani is up for sale in Paris, estimated at six million Euros. In London, a rare violin is estimated at half a million and Earl Spencer clears out his stately home in the attic sale of the century.

Episode 3
Princess Diana’s black dress – discovered in a bin bag – goes to a good home, and a grand silver wine cistern leads a sale of exquisite ‘treasures’ in London. And, in Paris, the forgotten collection of an art dealer is sent to auction.

Episode 4
An Irish nobleman sells some of the family silver to keep his castle wind and watertight, and, in Paris, a bicycle made in 1941 by a hero of the French resistance fetches a record price.

Episode 5
The cars are the stars in a sale of classics at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. In London, twentieth century British art goes under the hammer featuring a painting by Winston Churchill and a little-known work by Lowry.

Episode 6
Would you pay over £30,000 for a handbag? Some women will – especially if it involves following in the footsteps of the actress Grace Kelly. And, in Connecticut, all eyes are on the yellow Rolls Royce which Robert Redford drove in The Great Gatsby.

Episode 7
Winston Churchill - one of the greatest figures of the twentieth century - is remembered in a sale of memorabilia, including the youngest-known portrait and a cigar which he gave to an admirer. And Russian art comes to London in an auction of exquisite jewel boxes.

Episode 8
Brian Hollins started collecting Hornby trains before the Second World War and now his collection of some of the rarest model locomotives in the world is up for sale. In New York, some of the oddest twentieth century furniture you will ever have seen is sold.