The former Bargain Hunt presenter Tim Wonnacott will lead the Snowdog auction in aid of The Martlets hospice tomorrow. Here he tells Snowdog correspondent Flora Thompson about his career spanning more than 40 years.

MICHAEL Heseltine bidding £27,500 for a giant, brightly decorated model of a cow.

It is a memory celebrity auctioneer Tim Wonnacott says will always stick out in his mind as one of the oddest moments of his 40-year career in the industry.  The senior Conservative politician was donating the funds to charity when he made the unique purchase from the cow parade - one of the first Wild in Art street art displays for good causes some 14 years ago.  Tim was a chairman at Sotheby’s at the time – one of the world’s oldest auction houses – and was charged with selling off the sculptures for as much money as possible.  “I absolutely loved it. It was an unusual and very zany way of raising money for charity. It is almost impossible to predict how much they will sell for with street art. It ticks different boxes for different people,” he said.

“Heseltine bid £27,500 for a cow with flowers and a bell around its neck that was decorated by no particular artist.”  He carried on leading street art auctions and for the Gromit Unleashed sale in 2013 he raised £2.4 million for Bristol Children’s Hospital.  “There are very few auctions that make that amount. People were bidding from around the world - in China the art was particularly popular. They were going frantic and paying extraordinary prices. If you're an auctioneer that is a very exciting experience.”

Time has moved on and the sculptures may have evolved but the sentiment remains the same. He will be leading the Snowdog auction on Tuesday in the hope of raising hundreds of thousands of pounds for The Martlets hospice after the 10 week public art trail.  He told The Argus it could be one of the most unpredictable sales yet as unusual items are so hard to predict.  Although there is no reserve for the Snowdogs, The Martlets believes successful bids will be in excess of £4,000 given their fame as a popular children’s character and the publicity which has surrounded the event.  Prices could be significantly higher for some of the designs - particularly those models with links to celebrities like best-selling crime author Peter James and DJ Fatboy Slim.  Tim also has high hopes for Bow Wow, the dog painted as a tribute to music legend David Bowie.  The 65-year-old, who lives in Horsham, said: “His own collection of art recently sold at Sotheby’s for £37 million, just items he bought for himself over the years. That says something for his taste. I would like to think he is going to be there looking down on our efforts.”

“The auction is going to be really quite exciting and I'm very pleased to be involved. Snowdogs have been amazingly popular and it is a marvellous project. I hope this will translate into lots of frenetic bidding and high bidding on the night.

“If you are looking for globular designs plastered in paint, there is a Snowdog for you. If you are looking for a creation which is slightly more elegant and refined, you’ll find something too.

“Given the response the city had to the trail, I think the offers will be considerable.”

He is particularly fascinated with the emerging world of live online bidding.

“The beauty of this is if you can't come to the auction in person then you can also bid online as if you were in the room.

"You will see me hammering out the lots and if you get carried away then you can bid too.

"The world of live online bidding is growing and is really interesting. It is an area that I will be looking into in more detail in the future.”

He also plans to continue on working on ideas for auction shows for television.

Of course, before street art he was renowned as a fine arts expert and worked for Sotheby’s for 25 years in Billingshurst and Olympia in London. He also used to present Bargain Hunt.

“You can come to an auction in a number of ways; you have links to the owner of the collection, or they visit your auction house. You build up quite a relationship with them.  "You spend years helping them build their collection and sometimes you later sell it on for them.  "You know them, you know what they want, it’s an interesting experience. You build up a friendship with them – they want to buy and you want to sell.”

He said it is often the unusual that sticks in the mind about a sale.

“With paintings you know which one is going to be worth thousands of pounds. But sometimes items sell for much larger amounts of money and it just comes completely out of the long grass.

“Sometimes unusual things happen in the sale room. Someone might pass out in the middle of the auction. Or I remember once an entire wall of valuable paintings fell down in the middle of an auction in India.”

He has even sold a valuable collection of golf clubs – popular because they were handed to caddies by champions of the match – for £1 million.  His interest in selling and his talent in the field started early when he was a young boy helping his father in livestock sales. His father and his grandfather were auctioneers and he learnt tricks of the trade and a way of building a rapport with his crowd as he gained experience.  “I remember running to the office with the paper which said the price on for each sale. It wouldn’t happen these days but it was exciting. I could remember running between the ring and the office.  “I decided not to continue with livestock and focussed instead on fine art. There isn’t any school you go to in order to learn these tricks. You are taken under the wing of a senior expert in that area at the auction house and hopefully learn from them.

“There is an element of persuasion, you make eye contact with the sellers, you ask them ‘will you or won’t you, if they are deciding to place another bid and then move on to someone else if they cannot decide. But I might come back to them and hold eye contact. You don’t want to be too pushy as you want to get the best price but also make it a fun and enjoyable experience for everyone.”

Aside from the auction world, Tim has also tried his hand at ballroom dancing when he appeared on Strictly Come Dancing with dance partner Natalie Lowe in 2014.  “Being on Strictly was certainly a life changer for me. Never having danced before I was unsure what to expect but was very lucky to dance with Natalie Lowe who was an excellent teacher and a delightful person.  "It was extremely hard work but with the added benefit of losing weight as the training is so intense. We lasted until week four when my Paso Doble didn't impress the judges but I loved the whole experience and would recommend dancing as a first rate way to get fit and have fun.”

WILL YOU BID AT SNOWDOG AUCTION?

IF a one-of-a-kind giant 3D piece of art is at the top of your list of collector's items, then the Snowdog auction is the right one for you.

The Martlets believes successful bids will be in excess of £4,000, but there is no reserve. Prices could be significantly higher for some of the designs - particularly those with links to celebrities. Each dog was sponsored by businesses and organisations for around £5,000 during the trail so the charity could cover production, decoration and delivery costs, which gives an idea of how valuable they are.

You can bid in several ways - either buy a £20 ticket in advance to attend on the night, place a bid in advance or make an offer live online.

There has already been huge interest in the auction so anyone keen to attend, who is 18 or over, is asked to reserve tickets as soon as possible

A video stream will allow you to watch and bid in the live auction as if you were in the room, thanks to Brighton-based software company Bidlogix.

An account has to be registered to bid online and a telephone verification process needs to be completed so your account is approved. You can then place a commission bid by December 6, stating the amount you're willing to pay. This bid cannot be treated as a back-up bid in case your first choice of Snowdog is not picked. If you emerge the highest bidder, the Snowdog is yours.

Registration takes place from 6.15pm at the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange. The event begins at 7pm and could last up to three hours.

If you are the highest bidder on the night, The Martlets hospice will call you that evening to take payment and arrange either collection or delivery of the Snowdog or on the morning of December 7 if you cannot be reached. Delivery is at an additional charge and is organised through Apex Logistical Solutions. If you chose to collect your Snowdog you must do this by Thursday, December 8.

The Argus is the official media partner for the Wild in Art and Martlets project.

To reserve tickets or for any queries email hello@snowdogsbythesea.co.uk.