Going Out with A Bang

29th November 2023

The early morning hard frost of November 29th and the fruition of our Winter Fine Sale set the day off with an eerie quiet, but unlike fine sales in the past, this frosty quiet did not come with nervous butterflies as I climbed the rostrum to begin the sale. With a whopping 952 lots spanning ceramics, silver, jewellery, art and furniture there really was something for everyone and the view days had been some of the busiest I can remember. But with the sale day ahead of us, only time would tell if this confidence would translate into success.

The first strikes of the gavel came from the ceramics and glass section that covered 147 lots of classical porcelain to 20th century ceramics, and a huge single owner collection of 18th century drinking glasses. The best of the glass came with lot 123, a mid 18th century cordial glass strikingly etched with a man hanging from gallows and the word “JUSTICE” that made our estimate at £1000. But the best of the ceramics were seen with the two beautiful 19th century Vienna plaques, lot 16 by Franz Dorfl that made £1,250 and lot 18 painted in polychrome enamels by Wagner with "Fata Morgana" that made £2,500. The highest price amid the 20th century items was lot 56, a vividly colourful Wedgwood fairyland lustre vase, “Elves on a Bridge”, from the 1930s that made £2,300.

The ceramics were followed by a 180 lot section of bijouterie and silver items, ready and waiting for the Christmas market. The section sold wonderfully with a very low unsold rate and items hitting their mark time and time again. The best prices within the bijouterie came with lot 152, a gold Dunhill Rollagas lighter at £1,250 and a 9ct gold cigarette case from 1922 that made £1,650. The best price in the silver was found with a lovely art deco tray that snuck past its estimate to make £1,150.

The silver was followed by a 40 lot coin section that amazingly sold with a 100% success rate and a long list of high prices. A gold Kingdom of Lesotha 1 Maloti made £1,250, a gold Jamaican $250 proof coin made £1,600, and a gold Crown for the Queen and Prince Philip's Golden Wedding made £1,600. But the best four prices of the section were seen in the gold coin sets with £2,650 each for two consecutive four coin Isle of man proof sets, £3,000 for a “Bridges Pattern Collection” four coin set and £10,500 for a George VI specimen four coin set from 1937.

The coins fell into the start of the watch section, filled as ever with antique pocket watches and flash modern wrist watches. Of the more traditional offerings a smart 18ct gold cased half hunter pocket watch made £1,100 and the oldest watch on offer, a George III Scottish silver gilt pair cased pocket watch from London 1787 made £1,900. Of the modern watches a lady’s Rolex Oyster Perpetual Date watch made £1,350, and a smart Gentleman’s Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Control Automatic watch made £1,700. Two more Jaeger-LeCoultre watches topped the scale with lots 401 and 421, both sporting the “Reverso” patent design and encrusted with jewels. The first bordered with diamonds and leather straps made £2,100, and the latter all in gold with diamonds and emeralds front and back made £3,400.

The watches naturally progressed into a huge jewellery section of almost 190 lots, which at times during the view had a rugby scrum of eager ladies wanting to earmark stocking fillers and try on their dream piece. Within the section there were 15 lots that made into the thousands, with the following interesting pieces, with a Georg Jensen silver necklace making £1,000, a pair of plain 18ct gold Cartier ear clips at £1,100, some Chinese jade beads that made £1,550, an articulating 18ct gold bracelet that made £2,100, a 2ct solitaire diamond ring at £3,500 and a pair of 1.25ct diamond ear studs at £3,600.

The hundred lots within the works of art and portrait miniatures section was brimming with eccentric pieces and sold with an excellent 95% success rate. The two most interesting prices came with lot 652 a Canton enamel bowl, painted in bright colours with flowers on its outside and dragons weaving through clouds at its centre that made £1,000 and an incredibly accurate portrait miniature, lot 709, of J Clements Esq and painted by the godfather of portrait miniatures Henry Bone, that snuck just above the estimate to make £1,550.

Each fine sale is beautifully displayed with artwork on the walls, with the Winter Fine Sale being no different with the modern artistic prints through to ancient paintings darkened with generations of time on the wall. The best of the prints came with the “Northern Art” offerings as two consecutive pictures signed by David Hockney (a landscape and a view of Salts Mill) made £1,350 each, and a Lowry Print classically melancholic in style made £1,650. Within the watercolours the best results came from Hercules Brabazon Brabazon of St Mark’s Square that made £1,350 and an intriguing group of small pencil and wash drawings originally sold at Sothebys in the height of the market that made £1,700. The section finished with our Yorkshire oils seeing some of our favourite artists make the high notes, as a stylish through doorway view of Leeds by Stuart Walton made £1,350, a snow scene by Brian “Braaq” Shields made £4,600 and the best of our snow scenes by the same artist (and displayed on our catalogue front cover) made £8,500.

 The last of the sale was seen with the clocks and furniture lots, populated not only by antiques, but with a healthy slice of 20th century design. The best results came from a Ralph Clayton longcase clock that made £1,100, a very cool Johannes Andersen set of retro dining chairs that made £1,800, a huge chandelier made £1,500, a mid 18th century walnut chest on stand reached £1,650 and a Mouseman wardrobe finished at £2,200.

 The sale was a roaring success across all sections, with the combined estimate of the sale being reached leaving us with a true crescendo and the highest sale result of 2023. It is so often the case that one single surprise item can bolster a sale result, but this was not the case on November 29th as our team of experts proved their knowledge and hit the mark exactly. We are already collecting avidly for our 2024 sales, with our Spring Fine Sale in March and our Toy Sale in April, so if you want a valuation do not hesitate to get in touch with our team. But in the meantime, I would like to wish all our clients a very merry Christmas and a happy and hopefully relaxing New Year.