David Barby 1949 - 2012 Antiques expert

We have just heard the sad news of the death of David Barby.

Familiar to a legion of TV antiques fans, David Barby has been a long running presenter and expert on many antiques TV programmes including Bargain Hunt, Flog It, Antiques Road Trip and more.

It seemed appropriate to write a small obituary - so with information gleaned online and with sincere condolences to his many friends and family, please accept our best wishes and sympathy.

David Barby was one of the highlights of the daytime TV antiques programmes. 

His flamboyant manner, a sense of fun, his famous stare accompanying the question

"Is that your best price?" Followed by his dead pan silence to some unfortunate antique dealer,.

Adding this to his wealth of knowledge and wit, made him one of the Bargain Hunt stars. It will not be the same without him.

David John Barby was born on 23^rd April 1949 in Rugby Warwickshire.

Becoming interested in antiques at around 12 years old, he went into this profession on leaving school and qualified at the age of 21 as a member of the Incorporated Society of Valuers and Auctioneers.

Originally, he was an auctioneer and worked for a local company in Rugby before leaving to work for a London firm in 1974.

He returned to the Midlands in 1978 when he was head hunted by Leamington Spa based auction house Locke and England and became a manager and valuer and later a partner of the firm.

He established his own valuation business in the 1990s. Called David J Barby and Associates, the company was based in Hilmorton - a small village just outside Rugby. 

He was actively employed in this business at the time of his death.

David Barby was a patron of the arts, raising money for Leamington Art gallery as well as undertaking charity work and fund raising for the Royal Leamington Spa rehabilitation hospital.

His TV career began in 2002 when he featured on the first ever episode of Flog In this show he appeared as the auctioneer but later his skills were deployed as a valuation expert, later appearing in the same role on Bargain Hunt.

A canny valuer and hard bargainer - delivering outrageously low offers in such a charming way it must have been difficult to resist, he soon became known as The Master on Antiques Road Trip. 

Earlier in the year he appeared on this show up against fellow antiques expert Charles Hanson.

No doubt his fellow experts and people he worked with on these TV shows will miss him and we will look forward to seeing a tribute to his life and career later in the year.

However, he will also be sadly missed by the millions of people who tune into Bargain Hunt each day - a show beloved by pensioners, students and people who work from home.

To many people, David Barby felt like a friend rather than remote celebrity and we shall miss his company.

David Barby suffered a stroke on the 13^th July and died a week later in Coventry hospital. He was 63 years old.

BBC Bargain Hunt - Mark Stacey biography

http://www.markstacey.co.uk

Bargain Hunt Expert Mark Stacey is probably one of the most flamboyant characters on the BBC Bargain Hunt antiques show. 

The slow and clear vowels in his vocal delivery and strange (but unconnected) resemblance to another great bargain hunt expert David Barby have earned him the nicknames “Son of Barby” and “Wooooster.”

Mark Stacey was born in Neath, South Wales in 1964, where he grew up with his brother and two sisters. Later he moved to London where he started to work in the care profession.

However Marks interest in antiques began with his love for history where he found he had a passion for Blue and White transfer printed ceramics.

In London mark started his own successful antiques business before his expertise was noticed landing him a position in Bonhams Hove office in 1995. From here he moved to the auction houses of Sothebys specialising in ceramics and valuations for 5 years. 

(Mark has also been the Honorary Secretary of the “Friends of Blue”. The well known Ceramics collectors club).

Mark also worked for Hamptons/Dreweatt Neate Fine Art, where as well as being a successful valuer he was head of Decorative Arts, and was later made a Director.

But what of the man himself, I hear you ask?

Mark likes:

Ceramics, Lalique glass, theatre, and 50's and 60's collectables. He also has a passion for Spain where he likes to relax and read.

On his dislikes Mark has much to say!

There are so many but here are a few, BMW drivers, motorcycle riders who speed and push past you anywhere, rude people, bureaucracy, traffic lights that can always change to red when I get there, supermarket queues, my lottery numbers not coming up! . .

And on his resemblance to David Barby!

“He was a real "Father" figure to me when I filmed my first Flog It in Ipswich and no we are not related but he is an inspiration to us all.”

With over 20 years experience and his individual humour on Bargain Hunt, Flog it, Antiques Road trip and more recently Put your Money where your Mouth is Mark Stacey is a well known and high profile TV and Radio antiques expert.

For the last 15 years Mark has provided his services as an auctioneer and adviser to many charities within the UK and overseas, raising over £500,000 in the process.


Jackson's Hallmarks: English, Scottish, Irish Silver and Gold Marks from 1300 to the Present Day - Save £1.39 (20%) £5.56 from Amazon

This handy-sized guide is the most accurate and up to date on the market. and has been the bible for for scholars, dealers and collectors, selling in hundreds of thousands.

This edition contains complete cycles of silver marks for all the important Assay Offices, with variations shown for gold, platinum, Britannia Standard, import marks, etc, and has been updated to 1991 to include current assay marks.  See on Amazon UK

Anita Manning BBC bargain hunts most popular auctioneer

A recent poll carried out by this site has revealed that Anita Manning is by far the most popular antiques expert with viewers on BBC TV’s Bargain Hunt and Flog it.

This is a surprising result. The antiques experts are all generally popular and well liked so it was unexpected to see such an outright winner and by such a lengthy margin.

However, it is easy to see why! Anita Manning with her good-humoured warmth of character and a personality that literally leaps off the screen. Full of charm and wit, it seems that this irrepressible and stylish Scot has taken the TV public by storm.

So what is so special about Anita?

As a Bargain Hunt expert, she displays impeccable taste and seems to have a genuine desire to see her team win. Her good humour and obvious sense of fun make her seem like a truly nice person without being sickly or sentimental. Add this to her stylish taste, wealth of knowledge and enjoyment for the unusual and quirky object she sees the possibilities in the most bizarre or unassuming of objects.

As an auctioneer she is spell binding. Anita Manning transforms her auction room into real life theatre that makes her one of the best auctioneers to watch. She combines a persuasive and descriptive turn of phrase with extravagant gestures, sometimes standing up quickly when prices get particularly exciting, that brings a real buzz into the saleroom. Many other auctioneers can only envy this style.

What is not so usual about this result is that it seems that contrary to current BBC thinking. With the generally accepted BBC viewpoint that women over the age of 40 are not suitable for TV. Anita is another woman who has certainly bucked this trend.


Jackson's Hallmarks: English, Scottish, Irish Silver and Gold Marks from 1300 to the Present Day - Save £1.39 (20%) £5.56 from Amazon

This handy-sized guide is the most accurate and up to date on the market. and has been the bible for for scholars, dealers and collectors, selling in hundreds of thousands.

This edition contains complete cycles of silver marks for all the important Assay Offices, with variations shown for gold, platinum, Britannia Standard, import marks, etc, and has been updated to 1991 to include current assay marks.  See on Amazon UK

BBC Bargain Hunt - Charles Hanson biography

Charles Hanson has been on BBC's Bargain Hunt for 9 years, he has also been on two series of the Antiques Road Trip and appearances on Flog it!

He was born in Derby and has a younger brother and Sister John and Caroline.

His interest in antiques began quite young, firstly with general history and later with archaeology.

Charles enjoyed visiting National Trust properties in his teens and this was when his interest in antiques began to take hold.

When he was ten he went to a local jumble sale in aid of his primary school and bought a porcelain figure for 50 pence. Charles sold it at an auction where its sale price was £180!

During his school holidays and throughout his mid teens Charles became a tour guide at Kedleston Hall a neo-classical mansion near Quarndon in Derby.

Charles Hanson then went on to gain his MRICS and began his career at Christies the London auctioneers. During this period he worked in the European Ceramics and Glass Department.

He has since worked in fine art auction houses in Cheshire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire as a general valuer and gaining valuable experience in his chosen field.  He is now the Director of Hansons Auctioneers in Derby.

Charles recently got married this year to Rebecca Ludlam in Mackworth, Derbyshire.


Jackson's Hallmarks: English, Scottish, Irish Silver and Gold Marks from 1300 to the Present Day - Save £1.39 (20%) £5.56 from Amazon

This handy-sized guide is the most accurate and up to date on the market. and has been the bible for for scholars, dealers and collectors, selling in hundreds of thousands.

This edition contains complete cycles of silver marks for all the important Assay Offices, with variations shown for gold, platinum, Britannia Standard, import marks, etc, and has been updated to 1991 to include current assay marks.  See on Amazon UK