Charles Hanson is an English auctioneer, valuer and TV antiques expert. He founded Hansons Auctioneers and Valuers, which is based in Etwall, Derbyshire. Most people know him from BBC daytime TV, especially Bargain Hunt. He has been one of the show’s auctioneers and experts since 2008.
If you searched for “Charles Hanson Bargain Hunt teapot”, you probably saw the viral headlines about a £390,000 attic find. That sale is real. It’s also only one part of a career that goes back more than 25 years. Below we cover the sale first, then the rest of his story.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Known for | Auctioneer and antiques expert on Bargain Hunt, Antiques Road Trip and Flog It! |
| Business | Founder of Hansons Auctioneers and Valuers (August 2005) |
| Base | Etwall, Derbyshire, with salerooms and valuation offices elsewhere in England |
| Career start | Student intern at Christie’s in 1999, in European Ceramics and Glass |
| Spouse | Rebecca Hanson |
| Headline sale | 18th-century Chinese wine ewer, £390,000 hammer price |
The Bargain Hunt ‘teapot’ story: what actually happened
The object was not a teapot. Hanson identified it as a rare Chinese wine ewer and linked it to the imperial court of Emperor Qianlong, who reigned from 1735 to 1796. It has a spout, a handle and a lidded body, so it does look like a teapot to most people. That’s why the press kept calling it one.
The price climbed in three steps, and this is the part most coverage skips:
- About £150. That was the rough value suggested before anyone looked at it properly. The ewer seems to have been treated as an ordinary household piece for years.
- £100,000–£150,000. After research into its marks, form and court connection, Hansons set a pre-sale estimate in this range.
- £390,000. International bidders pushed the hammer price to more than two and a half times the top estimate.
Prices for Chinese imperial porcelain behave like this. Once bidders accept that a piece has real Qianlong court provenance, the estimate stops mattering and two determined buyers decide the result. Hanson has called the ewer the most important object he has ever sold.
Reports link the piece to the family of Ronald Wadsworth, a Second World War serviceman who was awarded the Burma Star. That suggests it may have come back to Britain from the Far East after the war. This is a likely explanation, not a documented chain of ownership.
Confirmed vs reported
The story was syndicated across dozens of regional titles, and the details changed as it travelled. Here’s how the main claims compare with the sources.
| Claim | Status |
|---|---|
| It was a Chinese wine ewer, not a teapot | Confirmed by Hansons’ own descriptions |
| Hammer price of £390,000 | Confirmed; this figure excludes buyer’s premium |
| Linked to the Qianlong court | Hanson’s attribution, which supported the estimate |
| Found in a Derbyshire attic | Reported; other versions mention Burton or a bag of items |
| Kept in a loft for 50+ years | Reported; accounts differ |
| The sale happened when the episode aired | Misleading. The coverage followed a Bargain Hunt repeat, and the sale itself took place earlier |
That last row explains a lot of the confusion. When a repeat airs on a weekday afternoon, social media picks the story up again and new articles call it “just sold”. If you’re citing the sale, give the auction date from Hansons, not the broadcast date.
Early life and background
Hanson is closely tied to Derbyshire. He built his business there and still runs it from Etwall, near Derby, about an hour’s drive from Birmingham. He has often said his interest in antiques began early, and ceramics became his specialism. That fits his first role at Christie’s.
Sources disagree on his age. The viral stories described him as both 45 and 46. We haven’t found a primary source that confirms his date of birth, so we’re not giving a figure. Treat any “Charles Hanson age” claim in tabloid copy as approximate.
Charles Hanson’s career highlights
From Christie’s to running his own saleroom
Hanson started out in 1999 as a student intern at Christie’s, in the European Ceramics and Glass department. That background in porcelain helps explain why he was the one to spot what the ewer really was.
He then worked at regional auction houses in Cheshire and Staffordshire. This is where auctioneers learn the trade properly. You value house clearances, run general sales and learn how bidders actually behave.
In August 2005 he founded Hansons Auctioneers and Valuers in Etwall. Since then the firm has grown well beyond one Derbyshire saleroom. It has had a presence in London, Bishton Hall in Staffordshire, Banbury, Kent and Cornwall, and it runs a network of free valuation days. Some of these locations are valuation offices rather than full salerooms, so check the current list on the Hansons website before you travel with an item.
Television work
- Bargain Hunt (BBC, since 2008): his longest-running TV role, as an expert and auctioneer, where his enthusiasm on the rostrum became his trademark.
- Antiques Road Trip and Celebrity Antiques Road Trip: touring the country buying stock against a rival expert.
- Flog It!: valuing items brought in by the public at roadshows.
TV has helped the business too. Being a familiar face brings in consignments, and that is how high-value pieces tend to reach a regional auction house rather than going straight to London.
Charity auctions
During the 2020 lockdown, Hanson held an auction from his garden shed to raise money for the NHS. It raised about £36,000. The shed later became a regular setting for his online sales.
Personal and family life
Charles Hanson is married to Rebecca Hanson. Hansons’ own news releases describe her as a medical professional and a St John Ambulance volunteer. She organised a charity auction in Derby to pay for public-access defibrillators, and the firm supported St John Ambulance through the sale.
That’s as far as the confirmed record goes. Hanson keeps his family life fairly private. We haven’t found reliable public details about any children or wider family, so we’re not guessing. If you see specifics elsewhere, check whether they trace back to an interview or a Hansons release.
He isn’t alone in being a familiar TV face whose private life is mostly kept out of view. See our profile of James Patrick Kielty for a similar approach.
Latest projects: what is Charles Hanson doing now?
Hanson is still running Hansons. The firm holds regular specialist and general sales, including ceramics, Asian art, militaria, jewellery and collectables, as well as valuation days around the country.
On TV, keep in mind that Bargain Hunt repeats run a lot. When he’s on screen, it may be an archive episode and not a new one. Check the BBC iPlayer listings for transmission details and the Hansons website for upcoming sales. Both are better sources than social posts or recycled news.
Recycled stories are a pattern we see often with daytime TV names. Our piece on Declan Donnelly sad news shows how old stories come back as “new”. For more on checking a presenter’s age and career facts, see our Susan Attenborough age profile.
Why the Charles Hanson teapot story matters
Most people searching this are really asking two things: who is he, and could there be something like that in my loft? The second answer is maybe, but rarely. Finds like the ewer are uncommon. They come to light because someone has an item valued instead of guessing. If you have Chinese ceramics with reign marks, have a specialist look at them before you sell them as house clearance. The gap between £150 and £390,000 came from expertise, not luck.
FAQs
What is Charles Hanson famous for?
Charles Hanson is an auctioneer and TV antiques expert. He has been on BBC’s Bargain Hunt since 2008 and has also appeared on Antiques Road Trip and Flog It!. He founded Hansons Auctioneers in 2005. He’s widely known for selling an 18th-century Chinese wine ewer, often mislabelled a ‘teapot’, for £390,000.
How much did the Bargain Hunt teapot sell for, and was it really a teapot?
It reached a hammer price of £390,000, against an estimate of £100,000–£150,000. It wasn’t a teapot. Hanson identified it as a rare Chinese wine ewer linked to the court of Emperor Qianlong in the 18th century.
Where is Charles Hanson from?
He’s closely tied to Derbyshire, where he founded Hansons Auctioneers in Etwall, near Derby, in August 2005. He worked at Christie’s and at auction houses in Cheshire and Staffordshire before setting up his own firm.
Is Charles Hanson married?
Yes. He is married to Rebecca Hanson, a medical professional and St John Ambulance volunteer. She organised a charity auction in Derby to fund defibrillators. Few other family details are public.
How old is Charles Hanson?
News reports have given his age as both 45 and 46, and we haven’t found a primary source that confirms his date of birth. Treat published ages as approximate.
What is Charles Hanson doing now?
He still runs Hansons Auctioneers, which holds regular sales and valuation days. He continues to appear on BBC antiques programmes, though many Bargain Hunt broadcasts are repeats. Check the Hansons website and BBC listings for current details.
