Auction Reports

The core of the December 10 Out of Europe sale at the Cardiff rooms of Rogers Jones (22% buyer’s premium) was formed by the collection of Miss Annie Elizabeth Tookey.

Alabaster fragments from old Alexandria, a small box of gold from Australia, dried seaweed from the Gulf of Florida and Oceanic tribal artefacts.

The highlight of an extensive selection of Barbie dolls offered at Wessex Auction Rooms (19% buyer’s premium) proved to be, as predicted, an example of the very earliest produced.

A rare group of Fairylite Thunderbirds action figures sold for £2100 in Tennants’ (24% buyer’s premium) latest Toys, Models, Collectables & Sporting sale.

Although made in Nuremberg by a firm named after a Frenchman, the cowcatcher on the front of this Gauge 1 toy locomotive gives the game away as to the intended market.

A gold-mounted garnet intaglio ring depicting the handsome Greek youth Antinous was taken to a multi-estimate £24,000 at Busby’s (25/10% buyer’s premium), triggering speculation it might be one of the lost ancient Marlborough gems.

A suite of three oak panelled bedroom pieces with original invoices from the Robert Thompson workshop were the stand-out lots at a recent sale at Gildings (24% buyer’s premium) of Market Harborough.

Lanchester Road in County Durham is a route leading eventually into the village of that name, surrounded by fields but essentially unremarkable.

A Roman marble portrait bust of an Antonine prince emerged Sworders’ (25% buyer’s premium) sale in Stansted Mountfitchet.

A pair of English walnut chairs sailed above expectations to bring £17,000 at HRD Auction Rooms (20% buyer’s premium inc VAT) in Brading on the Isle of Wight.

A Books, Manuscripts and Historical Photographs sale that ran online at Bonhams Knightsbridge (28/27/21/14.5% buyer’s premium) included a fine group of Suffragette textiles. A particular rarity is the Votes for Women ‘motoring’ scarf.

The auction market can be a fickle beast, as results for the same items offered on separate occasions sometimes show.

Porcelain birth tablets with their roots in Suffolk are unique to the factory

A recent weekly sale at Gorringe’s (25% buyer’s premium) in Lewes included an English porcelain rarity: a blue and white Cannon Ball pattern beaker and cover.

The hugely versatile Christopher Dresser sold 37 different designs to the Sheffield firm of Dixon and Sons from 1879-82.

A stand-out lot of Bellmans’ (25% buyer’s premium) biannual Fine Clocks auction on December 5 was a chronometer made for the 1874 British expedition to observe the transit of Venus.

Pin cushions, including an early 19th century example made from a silk dress believed to be worn by Caroline of Brunswick (1768-1821), were a major feature of a recent auction at Warwick-based Bleasdales’ (20% buyer’s premium).

The recipient of this George III period shamshir was once described by military historian Sir John Fortescue as “the bravest man to ever wear a red coat”.

An Irish presentation ormolu-mounted and enamelled sabre came for sale at a recent auction at Bonhams Knightsbridge (28/27/21/14.5% buyer’s premium).