“Just buy things because you really like it”

Catherine Southon is the Managing Director of Catherine Southon Auctioneers & Valuers and a regular antiques expert on shows like Bargain Hunt and Antiques Road Trip. She is hosting a valuation event at Nucleus Arts in Chatham on 16 January, where she is hoping to see Scientific Instruments and Maritime Works of Art from the Chatham Dockyards. We spoke with her about working for Sotheby's, what items she doesn't sell, her advice for being on Bargain Hunt, and lots more.

What is your official occupation?
I am the managing director of Catherine Southern Auctioneers and Valuers.
(George, Steven’s dog, starts barking)
George! Sorry about the dog.
We don't mind a dog.
Sorry, the dog's going for a haircut today, so he's all excited.

Do you have any other additional roles, paid or unpaid? 
Well, I film for the BBC. Bargain Hunt. I work for Scottish Television and do the Antiques Road Trip as a presenter, and Celebrity Antiques Road Trip. I don't think I do anything else. I'm a mum. 

It should be regulated because, since the covid time, many people have just started up their own auction business.

Is there a process for becoming an auctioneer? Do you need to get an auctioneer's licence?
Not really a licence as such. I think personally it should be. Unlike a lot of other practices, it's not really governed too much. There's no rules or regulations. It should be regulated because, since the covid time, many people have just started up their own auction business. Some people seem to be able to sell whatever they want with no real expertise or anything.

Is there anything you wouldn't sell from an antiques point of view?
Personally, I'm not selling any real animal products like fur coats and things like that. I'm always a bit wary of things. I could easily sell things like that. We have to be careful with ivory. You'd get heavily fined if you sold ivory. We can sell things with ivory as long as it's less than 10%. People don't realise that a lot of the time when they come to see us. They say, but it's old. There's a new rule which means you can't sell ivory at all unless it's less than 10% of the volume of the item. I know you can make a lot of money with modern things like Pokémon cards. I'm not interested in modern effects like games and things like that.

My partner's got a Beanie Baby that we get sent headlines about, saying it's worth loads. 
Definitely not for me. Definitely not Beanie Babies or stamps. Stamps are such a niche market. One that I have no interest in understanding, and I've never been able to understand. I move them on to somebody else.

We sold a timepiece for $10 million.

What is the most exciting piece you have auctioned?
Good question. Not me selling sadly, but in a previous role in New York, we sold a timepiece for $10 million. But since then, actually, the item is worth, I think, probably treble that. I wasn't selling because you have to have a certain type of licence in America to sell. I was just on the phone. Selling, strangely, it was a sundial that I sold for £145,000. Me being on the rostrum, that was quite... I was pregnant then, and I thought about the stress. I sold some beautiful jewellery here, selling a diamond necklace for £47,000. Really exciting.

How old does something have to be to be considered an antique?
A hundred years.

Does that hundred years keep moving forward? Next year, 1926 will be antique?
Things that were in the 1920s are absolutely antiques now. For me, whenever I say antiques, I always think of things that are in the Victorian era and beyond.

What was your favourite find on Bargain Hunt?
It's always the ones when people have no idea what they are. I'll tell you what it was. It was this black shiny object, which was not an antique, which was about 1940s. I gave it to my team, and they went, 'What is that?'  And I said, 'What do you think it is?' And because it's got like a winding handle around it, they said, 'It looks like a fishing reel.' I said, 'It's not a fishing reel.' I took the top off, and I said, 'It's a calculator. It's an early calculator. It's a Curta calculator, and it's made in Lichtenstein, and trust me, just buy it.' I walked away from the stall, and I was mouthing to them, 'Just buy it.' It was £80 or something like that. I think it made about £350.
I've had my fair share. I've bought a lot of things and think they can do well, because I've sold similar well previously, and then you go to the auctions, and on the day, they don't perform, and it's hard on Bargain Hunt.

What would you say is the biggest mistake people make on Bargain Hunt?
Thinking it's easy. If I had a pound for every single person that's come along thinking it’s easy. Then you go out, and you start doing it, and the time has gone. My most memorable one was two years ago when we actually ran out of time. People think you probably get a bit extra. You really don't. They went back and bought us an item, and they said, 'Sorry, time's up,' just as we're doing the deed. We had to leave with just two items. It was a rush.

What is Kent good for antique-wise?
We do see a lot of jewellery coming out from Kent. Painting, we see some good pictures.  We don't really see a lot of nice country furniture, which is something that I would like to see more. Studio ceramics, I'm not seeing a lot of, but I want to see more, definitely.