The third season was almost an unprecedented run for Jacques Vermeire. Thirty items were found at flea markets and specialty stores, and in the last episode alone one item was auctioned at a small loss. Undoubtedly a great performance. Axel Daeseleire had to sell at a loss four times. That is also good, but the difference in the final total is big: Axel made a profit of 4,878 euros, and Jacques left even 9,400 euros. The benefit of a good cause. The cheapest purchase was only ten euros, the most expensive 550 euros. But strangely, that item also generated the second largest profit. We choose the most amazing products.

Jacques was crazy about this Egyptian piece, even if it was only part of a larger recovery. It may have shown a man and a woman seated on a larger bas-relief. This is a sculpting method in which the view is worked out very shallowly, so that it only appears realistic in the front view. These are works that were done at one time to decorate architecture. The only known object on this piece was a human arm. The face and other features were missing. So it was almost an abstract thing, with the arm as the only figurative element. The auction house linked this item to the New Kingdom and it was one hundred percent authentic. Before the auction, the piece was carefully placed on a pedestal to increase its value.

A polychromed terracotta statue from China, probably from 100 to 200 AD. He comes from the Wei dynasty, one of the lesser known dynasties in terms of terracotta production. Apart from these types of statues, they also made terracotta horses. Bought it for 500 euros after a lot of haggling, as the seller wanted almost double that. The auction house suspected that profits would be limited because the circulation of these types of paintings was large. “You come across them in larger series, just like you find some almost finished ensembles in Ming terracotta,” he said. He became one of the few losers this season.

Axel immediately smiled when he saw the Ikea Jacques chair. This chair was an early Ikea model from the late seventies. It’s cheap, but there’s an audience for something like that, the auction house said. The chair was designed by a certain Gammelgaard who worked for Ikea for decades. “I wouldn’t give more than twenty euros for it,” said Axel. But there were many bidders for the chair, which greatly increased the price.

In the same shop where Axel bought a valuable painting by Jean-Jacques Gaillard, Jacques found a handwritten letter from the Ostend artist James Ensor. To make it even more valuable, he included a photo of Ensor in his studio playing the organ. With the work of ‘Christ’s entry’ behind him. A piece of Ostend history.

The biggest loss

According to the seller, this was a fifteenth century head, probably from a church. Axel and host Hannelore Simons from VTM Nieuws found a lot of poetry in her. They were sold by the beauty. In fact it was once an architectural fragment that was incorporated into a building. It was very weather, which made dating difficult. The auction house believed it to be fifteenth to seventeenth century, possibly French.

Kitsch art?

In episode 9, Jacques Vermeire thought he had discovered a lithograph of the Disney character Tigger in a pop art constellation. His guest Dominique Persoone was immediately inspired by him. But it turned out that it was just a print, making the value very low. Axel Daeseleire even named the printing paper. Bought for 60 euros, and according to the auction house is definitely not worth more. But at the auction someone offered 320 euros for it. Axel didn’t understand it. More so, because exactly the opposite happened in the same episode. Axel received a valuable painting by the artist Edgar Scaufflaire for 350 euros. Liège artist who produced works of cubist expression. Someone who is not so well known in our area. “They even hang something like that in museums,” he said. And then… the auction hammer fell at just 280 euros. The precious thing was one of the few things that was lost.

The biggest thing?

Purchase amount: 200 euros

Sold for 650 Euros

Profit: 450 euros

A mega-sized tin soldier The Nutcracker. Axel wanted to offer something at the auction that was “du jamais vu”. However, there was some fear. Because who would buy something like that? In addition, minor repairs were required. Everything was held together with adhesive tape. The auction house was also careful, because this seemed like a good hobbyist. With a fearful heart, 200 euros were spent. But the grotesque image was popular.