Still plenty of spring in the Antique trade

25th February 2026

The Spring Antiques & Interiors auction always feels filled with hope, as the atmosphere warms with the blossoming flowers and golden rays of sunshine radiate through the tall Victorian windows of our upper saleroom. The public views saw flocks of people, all showing real intent on hunting for their next treasure, amid a sale more eclectic than most.

No section within the sale represented the true meaning of the word eclectic better than the biyearly offering of arms & militaria. Almost every continent was represented and ages spanned from the truly antique to 20^th century battlefield relics.  Of the European items, we saw a lovely quality French revolver rifle make £1000, a family of Victorian Boer War yeomanry medals make £1600, a thorough collection of Third Reich memorabilia with a 25 engagements assault badge making £1100, a 50 assaults badge £1750, two Luftwaffe badges (one boxed) make £2700 and a bulkhead clock from a Kriegsmarine ship make £1300. From Asia we saw two highly decorative Ceylonese kastane swords make £1150 and £1250 respectively, and a fantastic £2200 for a mean looking 19^th century Indian Tegha sword.  Finally from the tribal lots we gained £1000 for a South Sea Island bow, £2300 for a Zulu rhino horn knobkerrie, a remarkable £6600 for an Aboriginal parrying shield (which brilliantly is on its way back to Australia!) and a completely miraculous £11,500 for a wonderfully simple Tongan Kali head rest; the latter two landed with us from a simple question in the car park, with an open car boot of “are these worth selling?”.

With the stock exchange in turmoil, bullion continues to be a safe space for investment, driving the market in silver still higher.  Of the 108 lots of silver nearly 100% saw new homes and twenty made over £1000. This included a George V pierced fruit bowl at £2000, a highly decorative Victorian Armada ewer that fetched £2100, an Edward VII rat tail pattern table service at £2200, a lovely quality four-piece silver tea service that reached £2800 and a very smart Kings pattern table service that reached an impressive £3800.

Another safe space for investment, some with bullion content and all with their typical exemption from capital gains tax, are watches. The section was filled with the branded usual suspects and roared away with great success.  Seeing £1200 reached for a very pretty ladies 18ct gold Victorian pocket watch, £1600 for a very wearable ladies Rolex Oyster Perpetual wristwatch (in stainless steel), £1650 for an 18ct gold pocket watch from 1866, £3200 for a striking limited edition Omega wristwatch in rose gold, and £4400 for an 18ct gold pocket watch due to its extremely high-quality carrousel movement.

Jewellery followed the watches as it typically does, with some interesting prices in and amongst including, as ever, the odd surprise. There were another twenty items that made four figure sums, including £1800 each for an art deco diamond brooch and a pair of diamond drop earrings, £2200 was gained for a very smart sapphire and diamond necklace, £2700 for a high quality 18ct gold and diamond “double swag” necklace, £3400 for a stylish 18ct gold tank bracelet and  £4200 for a beautifully made tricolour and floral engraved bracelet.

Our works of art section started with a small but very popular offering of stamps, this included a small album of Falkland Island and New Zealand stamps that reached a wonderful £1000 and a truly remarkable Victorian and later British album (including 27 penny blacks) that made an astonishing £11,000. A very striking Birger Kaipiainen earthenware dish made £1850, and an amazing little Georgian figural tobacco tamper made £2900, showing there to still be strength amid quality and rare treen. Carrying on with art, the best two prices from the paintings within the sale came from the same artist, and Yorkshire lad Peter Brook, with £1500 for a brilliantly dower house painting with lurking neighbour in one corner and a brilliant £4200 for an amusing farm scene with two sheep dogs stealing the limelight.

We finished the day with our clocks and furniture section, with its wonderful mixture of retro teak and traditional “brown” furniture. The pick of the bunch came with an elegant Egyptian inspired bracket clock by Brockbanks that made £1050, a large teak Ladderax unit that also made £1050, a nicely patinated 17^th century dresser base that made £1100 and a brilliantly pretty Dutch colonial chest adorned in decorative brass mounts made a wonderful £2400. Amazingly, the furniture section was only left with three unsold lots, showing there to be plenty of life still left in the traditional “brown furniture” market.

The sale was a great success leaving our collective lower estimate in the dust and the overall sale total a gnat’s whisker from our top estimate. With global markets in turmoil, there still appears to be confidence in the antique market, with investment not only in bullion but brilliant prices seen with some our wild and wonderful lots.

Work has already begun on our June Fine Sale, so if you have an item ready for the market then our valuing team is waiting to help.