The Summer sale in full bloom

17th June 2026

This time of year, Ilkley is abuzz with activity as thousands of visitors pour into our sunlit streets for the world-renowned Lexus Tennis Tournament, the fantastic Food & Drink festival and wonderfully the view days of our June Antiques & Interiors auction. This summer auction was filled with all the usual wonders, but also boasted a very timely garden and architectural section ready for those green fingered amongst us.

The ceramic and glass section kicked us off and sold with great enthusiasm, right across the varied styles and ages of items on offer. My favourite glass amid the section came from the Roman pieces, beautiful in design, archaic in their production and amazing to think that they had survived over a thousand years, collectively they made £1,000. Of the ceramics, the lots that stood out the most were three very interesting London delft drug jars in three consecutive lots that made between £1200 and £1250 each; great prices, but well deserved for three highly collectable items.

Our stunning silver section came next and triumphantly, every single one of the 70 lots offered on the day sold; even more, over half made above their top estimate! Some of the highlights included a three-piece Victorian tea service by Charles Stuart Harris that made £1600, a George VI silver tray that made £1650, and an art deco inspired four-piece tea service that made £1700. But the best of the bunch was seen with an Edward VII oak canteen filled with a stunning table service that fetched £5400 and a decadent pair of Victorian candelabra raised on clawed feet and festooned by hanging chains that reached a height of £6200.

Our jewellery section started with a remarkable pocket watch collection, brimming with beautiful pair cased examples and stunningly decorated movements hidden like treasures inside simple silver surrounds. The best of this section was seen with an astrological pair cased watch from 1810, whose face was brilliantly etched with the sun, moon and stars, that made £1350. Of the Jewellery lots, hosting everything from sparkling modern rings right through to high quality golden Victorian brooches, we saw the best prices with £3800 for a very classy sapphire and diamond cocktail brooch and £4200 for a stunning emerald and diamond cluster ring.

Before we delved into the paintings section we landed within the wonderful Works of Art, dotted with everything from Arts & Crafts design to ancient ecclesiastic carved icons. Within our June 17th offering we had a large African collection, including Benin bronzes and classic carved masks, the best of which came from a pairing of Mende helmet masks from Sierra Leone that trotted up to a very respectable £1050. The most interesting two lots within the section, and possibly even the whole sale, were lot 333 an extremely rare Jacob’s biscuit tin decorated with an Alice in Wonderland motif, only 100 of these were ever made (and of course most of these would have been lost or destroyed since its late Victorian production) and on the day it reached an incredible £2900. The other amazing result was lot 354, a small pocket set of Chinese seals that reached a whopping £2600. This lot was entered into the auction by the Gambian Schools Trust, being a charity, we do not charge them any commission and have been told that this wonderful result will be enough to build half a library!

Next came the painting section, with all mediums covered and a plethora of styles. Starting within the oils £1800 was seen for a stunning classical stable scene with horses and setters by John Alfred Wheeler, and a wonderful Scottish Bertram Priestman painting with cascading hills meeting bothies at their base to reflect across the loch below went above estimate to make £1550. Within the print section, dominated with contemporary photographic art, we saw the best prices from two consecutive Fortunino Matania seaside railway posters with one of Morecambe and Heysham making £1550 and one of Blackpool that adorned our catalogue cover that made £2700. Within the watercolour and pastel section, the best lots, with no surprises, was a poignant pastel of a first World War soldier by Hilda Rix Nicholas that made £1850, and a breathtaking view down the Wye Valley that was layered in complexity of perspective that made £2600. Lastly we had the Yorkshire artists, where three names stood out more than the rest, James Smethan with two sketches of plays including “Romeo & Juliet” that made £1150 and £2600 respectively, a classic Wharfedale snow scene of Nesfield by Herbert Royle that reached £1850, and two oils by Northern powerhouse Peter Brook that both made £3600; amazing considering the huge differential in tone and style between the two.

With the sun now shining, after what felt like weeks of rain, the Garden section felt very well timed and amazingly sold with 95% success. Most items sold within our expectations, but two really stood out, with £950 for a Regency strap work bench with very intriguing rear supports and a slightly surprising £1250 for a “possibly antique” sandstone carving of an Egyptian boy.

As the summer afternoon set in with its warm breeze, we entered the final straight of the auction with the clocks and furniture. The best clock was a very interesting station timepiece from the London, Midland and Scotland railway that chimed in at £1650, after this amid the traditional lots a very smart Georgian serpentine chest of drawers gained £1050, and within the retro lots a very cool tulip dining suite by Eero Saarinen rocketed past the estimate with the phonelines booked up to make £2800. But, the best of the furniture section came quite surprisingly from a Regency mahogany linen press, a type and style of furniture that has been seemingly out of vogue for the last decade, yet it made over thirteen times the top estimate at £4800. The feature that stands out the most and might explain its popularity, is its very handy size. In all the time we have been dealing with furniture of this type, we have never seen one in such a lovely proportion, being smaller than most and perfect to fit in any property you might choose.

The fine sale is always the crescendo of the previous quarter, so although a long busy day, a successful sale such as this always leaves us with a huge feeling of achievement. Brilliantly, the sale’s accumulative total landed us right within our overall sale estimate, showing our valuers to be worth their salt; which is good as we have already started work on our September sale!