Richmond is now London’s bargain borough. TV expert Charles Hanson tells Miranda Jessop about his new auctions at the beautiful Normansfield Theatre
At Hansons London today, it’s like an impromptu scene from Flog It! Auctioneer Charles Hanson is in full swing, valuing a china pot, a pair of oriental vases and a 1960s table in quick succession, all before taking his coat off. With his trademark quips and irresistible charm, customers hang on his every word, as he takes them through a detailed historical explanation for each piece before delivering the all-important valuation.
As well as running the successful Hansons Auctioneers in his native Derbyshire for the past 12 years, Charles is known for his regular TV appearances, not only on Flog It!, but on Bargain Hunt and Antiques Road Trip too.
And here’s the good news: Charles has now brought his antiques empire to the patch, with monthly auctions at Normansfield Theatre in Teddington. To judge from all the excited activity at the valuation and consignment office in Hampton Court Village today, there is clearly a demand for it.
For Charles, the curiosity for history and fascination with antiques dates back 30 years to the day in his childhood that his parents decided to buy him a metal detector. He was just nine years old.
“One of the first things I found was a silver shilling dated 1634 which I dug out of the ground. I thought to myself: ‘Hello silver shilling, long time no see! If you could speak, what would you tell me? Who last held you? Where were you going? How has this landscape changed?’”
Realising that he had found his calling in life, Charles studied history at the University of Southampton before getting a job at Christie’s.
“I started at the bottom, making cups of tea, but I didn’t last very long,” he laughs. “I realised quite quickly that it was who you knew that counted – and, being a man from out of town, I knew nobody!”
Anxious to get his career moving, he left London and went back to more familiar terrain, gaining experience at auction houses in Cheshire, Shropshire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire. And it was a stint at one of these houses which was to thrust him unexpectedly into the limelight in 2002. A new TV series wanted to film an auction and his boss asked Charles if he would act as the auctioneer and sell a few items on camera.
It was a prescient choice. Hard as it is to imagine now, Charles had been a shy boy at school, even suffering from a stammer. Once he took to the rostrum, however, all that changed. So impressed were the producers with his style that they invited him to become a regular expert on the show. The programme was called Bargain Hunt; and, of course, it has been running ever since.
“I was 24 back then and now I’m 40,” reflects Charles. “They call me the Ken Barlow of Bargain Hunt!”
In 2005, meanwhile, Charles took the decision to set up his own auction house in Derbyshire, initially making calls to potential clients from his bedroom. From these humble beginnings, Hansons quickly grew into a thriving business. Today it has over 20 specialist departments and a modern showroom in Etwall, Derbyshire, as well as valuation centres in Staffordshire, Leicestershire, Birmingham, Stoke-on-Trent, Shropshire and Warwick.
Now London too falls within the increasingly influential Hansons sphere: the Hampton Court office opened in December, while the first of the monthly fine art and antiques auctions at Normansfield Theatre took place in February.
“It is such a beautiful theatre,” says Charles. “I always say that I like to sell with drama and romance and this really is the perfect platform. I thrive on entertaining from the rostrum and feeling the atmosphere of the auction room. It can be really quite tense sometimes. It’s all about cajoling people, tempting them, teasing them to go one bid higher; and with an online audience of worldwide buyers it’s even more exciting now.”
Clearly a man who adores his job, Charles enthrals me with entertaining tales of surprising and unexpected finds – from a piece of toast left by Prince Charles on the morning of his wedding in 1981, which sold recently for £700, to a pair of Queen Victoria’s bloomers (£6,000) and a letter written by Admiral Lord Nelson, which raised £58,000. Apparently he once found a ring in an old safe hidden behind a picture that made £98,000. And with the pound signs evidently visible in my eyes, he saves the best story until last.
“I went to a house to look at a vase which was sitting in the window while the lady’s grandchildren played very close by. She told me that her husband had nearly sold it at a car boot sale, but changed his mind at the last minute. It sold at auction for £650,000!”
Although a move south is possible in the future, home for now remains Derbyshire, where Charles lives with his wife, Rebecca and their two young children. Proudly he declares his intention of making the 4pm train, so that he can tuck his children into bed. He also refers unprompted to a difficult time back in 2012 when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and the couple also lost their first baby.
“It was really tough,” he admits, “but I came out the other side more rounded and grounded and more understanding of human nature.”
Just one more reason why he is so pleased to be able to hold his London auctions at Normansfield Theatre, owned and managed by the Down’s Syndrome Association.
“Having been poorly myself, I love supporting charities.”
A customer is waiting. But although I would never dream of parting with it, I can’t leave without first showing Charles one of my own treasured possessions. His face lights up when he sees the antique children’s picture book given as a Christmas present to my grandmother’s aunt in 1899, affectionately inscribed ‘with fond love to dear little Amy from Auntie Annie’ .
In truth, Charles does not think that it’s particularly valuable. But he carefully studies each page, marvelling at the illustrations.
“This is exactly what it’s all about,” he enthuses. “My absolute passion is having the opportunity to hold precious objects such as this which, regardless of value, always tell a story that is unique.”
Hansons London, Hampton Court Village is open for free valuations every Wednesday and Friday, with Charles Hanson in attendance on the first Wednesday of each month. No appointment necessary. For details of celebrity valuation days, along with monthly auction dates at Teddington’s Normansfield Theatre, visit: hansonslondon.co.uk. To arrange a home visit call (020) 8979 7954
Next auction dates at Normansfield Theatre: Saturday March 24, Saturday April 28 and Saturday May 12. Viewing is from 9.15am to 12 noon, with the auction itself commencing at midday
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