Bringing on Summer

12th June 2024

On a day uncharacteristically cold for June, the saleroom opened with the typical bustle of a Fine Sale morning, with last minute viewing, the constant ringing of phones with late bids and the rumble of feet with staff busily preparing for the task ahead.

As if to turn away from the typical trend, the highest price within the ceramics section was not a piece of Chinese for the first time in a couple of sales or more, as lot 55, a hilariously fun red earthenware pitcher in the shape of a fish by Pablo Picasso, made a fantastic £5,400; over ten times our hoped lower estimate. Other honourable mentions within this section include a Bing and Grondahl Copenhagen porcelain dinner and coffee service that made £1,050 and a beautifully painted Meissen cabinet plate that also made £1,050 – proving there is still hope in the traditional decorative ceramics market.

Soon we found ourselves within the silver section that sold brilliantly, leaving us with only three unsold lots from a 60 lot section. Within the silver we saw a Norwegian table service by Nils Hansen make £900 and a four-piece tea and coffee service by Viners from 1929 make £950. Continuing with the theme of bullion, the coin section which had offerings of both gold and silver sold with 100% success rate.  Sovereigns seemed to have hit new heights with all selling comfortably over £400 (they were around £250 before the pandemic) and a 22ct gold Australian commemorative coin made £440. But the best of the group were three silver James II coins that made a collective £500.

The jewellery section followed with plenty of good results and some very enthusiastic bidding from private ladies within the crowd, excited to get a new piece of decoration. The best of the results for the section came with a stunning owl brooch encrusted with rubies, sapphires and diamonds Fattorini that made £1,600, a large ruby and diamond cluster ring that sold comfortably over estimate at £2,600 and a Rolex Oyster Perpetual explorer wristwatch that made £4,200.

The works of art section was as eclectic as ever and sold well across its range of offerings.  Lot 285 a boxed set of Jaques Staunton chess pieces, still selling well since “The Queen’s Gambit” hit television screens in 2020, made £900, and one of my favourite lots within the auction, lot 289 a sculpture by Alfred Jacquemart depicting an extremely characterful hound pondering the tortoise at its feet met its estimate at £1,000. But the best price within the section came from a very rare and interesting album of photographs by Raja Lala Deen Dayal, depicting Victorian India, selling well at £2,800. As India rise as a global power of industry, the market for historic pieces from their nation and her colonially influenced past continue to do well.

Works of art soon melted into the painting section, with prints and watercolours leading the charge, followed by the oils and Yorkshire artists that finished the section with a bit of oomph. My favourite painting in the sale, Carlton A Smith’s “Feeding the Jackdaw” depiction a young lady delicately lit in a beam of sunlight, made a healthy £1,350, local artist Herbert Royle continued to do us proud with £1,350 for an atmospheric oil of Pateley Bridge and £1,650 for a wonderfully moody view across the Mersey towards Liverpool. But the highest price of the section came from a beautifully summery pair of oils by George Sheridan Knowles, depicting figures at play amid colourful meadows, that made £2,700.

Next, we had our specialist Garden & Architectural section that adorns the summer sale each year, making the most of clients busy in their gardens now that the sun is out and the days are long. The section had a wild selection of lots including French rocking benches, estate gates, carved stone figures, a healthy dollop of stone troughs and even a large wooden punt. The section had a strong selling rate and the best prices came with a pair of lead planters that made £640 and a pair of staddle stones that reached £1,050.

We finished the day with the clocks and furniture, seeing a quirky round-faced longcase clock by J. Sharp of Cornerhouse London Bridge make £750, a retro teak Danish sideboard by Gunni Omann for Axel Christensen make £1,000 and a retro Ercol teak dining suite make another £1,000. But to prove that traditional “brown furniture” can still beat the fashionable mid-century lot, a wonderful and large Georgian oak and mahogany banded housekeeper’s cupboard finished the day with a brilliant £1,300.

Another quarter of the calendar was rounded off with a wonderfully sunny summer’s evening, quite indifferent to how the day began, and although we can breathe a sigh of relief to see it complete, tomorrow brings the excitement of the next sale on the horizon. In September we will have another antiques & interiors auction, bolstered with a specialist book section as well as an offering of arms & militaria, but further beyond this we are already working on our October Toy Sale and our November Wine & Whisky Sale. If you have anything you wish to have valued for auction, please do not hesitate to contact our team of valuers.