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Sensational stamps sold 29th June
A record price was set in a packed and rather warm saleroom on Tuesday June 29th at The Cotswold Auction Company’s Chapel Walk venue. A rare two volume set ‘New Imperial’ to 1936 was entered for sale as part of a deceased estate, having being collected by the present vendor’s grandfather. This was an exceptionally good and valuable collection, uniformly in fine condition with many rare high value issues. The original estimate was £18,000-£22,000 and interest had built up over the week with many private viewings for the country’s major stamp buyers.
Auctioneer Lindsey Braune was on the rostrum as the price climbed steadily and silence fell in the saleroom. Four telephone bidders were on the line and the internet was also live, though in the end it was a bidder in the room who secured the lot for his private collection at £42,000! ‘The vendor was more than delighted’ said Lindsey ‘ and especially pleased that the collection is going to remain intact, after the love and attention expended on it by his own family.’
Just before this lot came under the hammer another speculative collection was on offer, although the condition could not have been more different. This was a stunning collection of American stamps from 1845 to World War I. The book value of this collection was high, but the stamps had been stored in a derelict house and many were disintegrating. Nevertheless American buyers were out in force and this lot raced past its £4000-£6000 estimate to sell at £24,000.!!
The specialist sale of Medals and Militaria complemented a fantastic auction on Tuesday 29th June at The Cotswold Auction Company’s Cheltenham saleroom. Following the success of the Naval General Service Medal at £4,600 in the March 2nd Auction we were lucky enough to attract two more. Lot 418 was a single clasp, 1st June 1794 given for the first and largest action against the French fleet also known as “The glorious first of June”. It sold for £1500 against an estimate of £1200-1500. Another with single clasp for St Vincent sold on the lower estimate for £900, however this medal had been brooch mounted (it was common practice for sailors’ loved ones to take the medal and wear it in a pin brooch), but from a collector’s point of view it is not as issued and therefore will be worth a fraction of the price.
Two Military Cross groups were consigned. First to go under the hammer was a Great War group to Lieutenant D. Hindson who served with the Royal Engineers. Hindson’s service took him all the way through the Great War and he was later a key figure with the St Johns Ambulance. Hindson’s recommendation for M.C. was published in the London Gazette on 6.4.1918 ‘For conspicuous gallantry and duty when in charge of parties which successfully completed three strong points in the newly captured ground on the exposed flank of the advance’, an emotive group selling within estimate for £950. Another Great War group to Major C.W.G. Bryan sold for £850, Bryan served with the Royal Army Medical Corps and not only received his Military Cross for his gallant actions but was mentioned in despatches too.
Medals to Australians have seen a recent surge in the market and Lot 313 was no exception. The Great War group to Private W. Bridges who served with the 23rd Battalion, Australian Imperial Force created a lot of attention and far exceeded the estimate selling for £450; the group was part of a collection consigned to us by The Royal Air Forces Association in Gloucester. We were entrusted to achieve the highest prices for the collection which was formed over their many years in residence at Spa Road. The association is relocating and the sale of the collection will contribute substantially to the regeneration of their club later on this year. Top prices were paid for Second World War tunics averaging out £120 each, and many of the lithographic prints which hung in their bar sold well above estimate. Overall the collection sold incredibly well, Auctioneer Henry Meadows remarked ‘It was an absolute pleasure to assist the RAFA club from start to finish, and with a diverse and interesting collection such as this it just emphasises the importance of having specialist auctions. The online bidding service which our sales offer really came into its own with £16,000 in value being purchased by internet buyers”.
The books section in this sale was fairly small but quite select! Following the theme of war a limited edition of Louis Raemaekers ‘ The Great War – a Neutral’s Enlightenment’ sold well at £150. A Dutch artist, his first wartime drawings appeared in the Amsterdam "Telegraaf", and the response of the German Imperial Government was swift. They offered a reward of 12,000 Dutch guilders for Raemaekers' body, dead or alive. Not content with this, they pressured the Dutch government into prosecuting him for endangering Holland's neutrality, and he was actually tried for this offense but acquitted by a jury. At the end of December 1915 he took his wife and family to England in the face of threatened assassination by German agents.
Other limited edition and signed books found buyers with a superb copy of Edward Fitzgerald’s ‘The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam’ illustrated by Willy Pogany selling for £260. A full red leather limited edition of A.A.Milne’s ‘Winnie the Pooh’ signed by Christopher Milne ( Christopher Robin) reached £240 whilst four novels by Laurence Durrell, two of which were first editions and all with dustjackets realized £140.
The next Books, Medals, Militaria, Stamps and Collectables sale will be on 26th October in the Cheltenham saleroom. Consignments are already being accepted so please do contact the auctioneers on 01242 256363 or email info@cotswoldauction.co.uk. For the full results of the 29th June please go to the archived catalogue on www.cotswoldauction.co.uk.
Tuesday 27th April Antiques, Rugs, Textiles and Costume
Cheltenham Auction is the ‘Real Deal’
Directors and auctioneers Lindsey Braune and Elizabeth Poole welcomed David Dickinson and his ‘Real Deal’ team to the Chapel Walk Saleroom in Cheltenham for the first of two visits this year. A selection of varied and interesting items made it to camera for the auction on 27th April ranging from a Victorian 3.07 ct diamond crescent brooch to a mid twentieth century set of small plush bodied ‘The Three Bears’ complete with miniature table, chairs and porridge bowls!
The star of the television show was the diamond brooch, which climbed to £2400 for a telephone bidder buying something rather special for his wife. As this will be broadcast to the nation in the near future perhaps it is all right to admit that the hammer price was £2,400!
The set of “The Three Bears” sold for £160, while a gold-plated Mont Blanc pen complete with original box and paperwork realised £260. This came to the ‘Real Deal’ purportedly given to the vendor by a ‘roadie’ who worked for Elton John. It is said Elton distributed these pens as gifts to his touring teams!
A 19th century French gilt-metal and porcelain clock garniture marked for Samuel Marti (French c.1890) went to another telephone bidder for £200.
The rest of the auction was punctuated with good results from all sections. A good 19th century oak dresser sold well at £850, well above estimate of £150-£250.
A late 17th century laburnum oyster veneer cabinet made £600, again above estimate and an early 19th century oak chest of drawers sold at £400. Four long case clocks found buyers , two at £420, one at £400 and the final one at £380.
In the rug section a Persian silk carpet with a delightful animal and floral design with a deep blue margin and soft colours left the saleroom having sold for £420,
Four telephones were booked and the auction book crammed with commissions for a Victorian silver dog’s head whistle. This charming piece was marked Birmingham 1859 George Unite, with a presentation inscription ‘August 12, 1860’. George Unite was born in Birmingham in 1798, and was apprenticed to Joseph Willmore at the age of 12. He registered his own mark in 1832 and continued to be based in Birmingham until his death in 1898. He was a hugely successful silversmith, earning a reputation for producing items that reflected the Victorian taste for high decoration and sumptuous design. He crafted such ‘high quality silver toys’ as dishes, serving spoons, apple corers, pepperettes, snuff boxes, vesta, card, cigar and spectacle cases, wine and brandy labels, buckles, chatelaines, letter openers, inkwells, and babies’ rattles – and in this case the silver dog’s head whistle. The whistle eventually went to one successful and determined telephone bidder for £750.
A late Georgian Staffordshire pottery dog’s head whistle sold for £280.
The specialist section of the sale featured textiles and vintage costume. This has become a hugely successful section over the years with buyers from all over the world.
A black lace parasol is going to California and a large woven Paisley shawl, which sold for £320 over the telephone, will go to New York!
A beautiful and unusual feathered cape with swansdown and peacock feathers realised £250. This was the subject of much discussion as to origin, but it was generally agreed to be 1920’s, European.
A fabulous 1920’s beaded dress made £180 while a glamorous green lamé evening gown sold for £160. A box of Victorian and later baby gowns was highly contested and reached a price of £230. A Japanese silver colour metal Niello-work cigarette case marked ‘Okubio’ with a 19th century decorated papier mâché pin box and two other items realised £300. Perhaps to go with the green lamé gown!
The next sale to be held at the Chapel Walk Saleroom is Modern Art and Design on Tuesday 8th June at 7pm. This is an evening sale. The next Textiles and Costume sale will be on Wednesday September2nd at the Chapel Walk Saleroom and entries are being accepted for this sale now. Please do contact the auctioneers on 01242 256363 for free sales valuations and advice for these and any future sales, or go to www.cotswoldauction.co.uk
12th February Pictures with Antiques and Interiors
Landscapes Lead the Day
The Cotswold Auction Company held another successful sale on Cirencester on February 12th with a specialist picture section as well as antique and other furniture.
Despite the inclement weather – or perhaps because of it – the saleroom was well attended both on view and sale day, with the pictures being very much the subject of interest. Two well known Victorian artists realised the highest prices. W.J. Mander’s oil on canvas, ‘ Near Beddgelert, North Wales’ found a good hammer price of £750, whilst John MacWhirter, oil on panel, ‘Scottish Scene’ matched it also with £750. Although late 19th century artists are not the most fashionable in these modern times these results show that good work will always find a buyer. Another Welsh landscape by James T. Watts entitled ‘Early Spring at Bettws-y-Coed’ sold for £400 and a most attractive oil on canvas by Charles Pott ‘Ferry Boat on the Trent’ realised £360.
Moving to the continent a large oil on canvas by Rodolfo Paoletti (1824-1891),Portrait of a female Saint, signed to reverse, in a superb Florentine carved giltwood foliate frame sold for £680 on the telephone. A full length portrait of a beautiful woman holding a harp, oval in shape, oil on canvas, inscribed on the reverse ‘A. Sasso and Son’ realised £580 in the room. An unusual lot was a 19th century ceramic tile entitled ‘The Darmstadt Madonna’ after a famous portrait by Hans Holbein. Impressed CFI on the base and in another Florentine frame it sold well at £400.
A late entry to the sale was a Jaeger-le-Coultre timepiece made of perspex with Chinoiserie lacquered decoration. This realised £580 for the delighted vendor, who had brought it in as an afterthought! Another unusual timepiece was circular, brass-encased with the surround in the form of a horseshoe with enamel nails and surmounted by a brass fox with an enamel dial. It was retailed by Martin & Co. Cheltenham and one wonders if it was originally made to order for a keen foxhunting squire! This reached a hammer price of £280. In the same hunting vein, five colour lithographs after Cecil Aldin showing the hunt in its stages sold for £200.
Jewellery and gold are very strong in the salerooms at present and an 18ct gold, sapphire and diamond ring was the subject of much competition, reaching £300 in the room and 9ct gold necklace weighing approx. 27grm sold at £170.
Auctioneer Lindsey Braune was delighted with the results of the sale. The next sale to be held at the Bingham Hall Saleroom is on 12th March. This will have a specialist section of toys, dolls and models with antique furniture and collectables. Please contact the auctioneers on 01285 642420 or 01242 256363 for further information and for sales and other valuations.
12th March 2010 - Toys, Dolls and Models more
2nd February 2010 - Books and Collectables more
22nd December 2009 - Antique Furniture, clocks, boxes, silver, jewellery and watches more
27th October 2009- Medals, Militaria, Collectables and Books more
16th October 2009 - Preview report on fabulous entries more
4th August 2009 - Medals, Militaria, Books & Collectables more
17th March 2009 - Record Book Sale more
12th December 2008 - Diamonds really ARE forever! Jewellery and Silver sale at Cirencester saleroom... more
December 2008 - Winter roundup of sales at our Cirencester Saleroom... more
Spring Boost to Auction Prices
Daffodils and sunshine brought an enthusiastic crowd to The Cotswold Auction Company’s Antiques and Interiors sale at the Bingham Hall in Cirencester on Friday 16th April and they were not disappointed! A good selection of antique and general furniture was on offer with the star lot being a superb Georgian oak dresser base. This marvellous example of a practical and yet good looking ‘ country’ piece of furniture created a deal of interest and was finally knocked down at £1700 to one of three telephone bidders and against the room. It had a raised back, the top with ogee moulded edge, three frieze drawers on square legs. The patina was a golden colour as so often found in early Georgian oak furniture that has been lovingly looked after over the centuries.
Another interesting piece was a teak campaign chest – these military chests are much sought after and this one realised £780 despite not being in the peak of condition. If only the chests could tell of their campaigns! It is said ‘ books furnish a room’ but perhaps it is the bookcases that furnish the room! The name Globe Wernicke instantly conjures up the image of the iconic ‘elastic bookcases,’ so-called as the sections are capable of being fitted together to form bookcases of different heights and depths according to requirements. These glass-fronted shelves are now proving to be collectable and usable antiques, as shown in this sale when one sold for £350 and another for £340 with interest on the phones! Returning to classical furniture a Regency rosewood worktable with drop flaps and a pink silk workbox realised £320.
Woodcarvings will ornament any room and a pair of 18th century carved, stained wood cherub heads together with a 19th century carved pediment of cherubs supporting a painted armorial shield sold well at £340.
Clocks featured strongly in this sale with a most unusual early 20th century wood and brass novelty train timepiece which showed a brass locomotive protruding from a tunnel-like back on rails with the front of the train mounted with a silvered clock face, selling for £480. A 19th century mahogany longcase clock by ‘J.G. Shaw, Chester’ with 8-day striking movement found a hammer price of £320 and a 19th century circular fusee movement wall clock, the painted white dial by F & C Lake, Taunton was the subject of much competition, finally selling for £680.
Among the collectables a Victorian golf-club walking cane with engraved silver collar with another cane with a silver wrythen knop made a one collector happy as he bought them for £110. £110 seemed to be the magic number during this sale as a pair of Doulton Lambeth vases, a silver helmet shaped cream jug and a good quality collection of copperware all realised this figure!
The next sale to be held at the Bingham Hall by The Cotswold Auction Company will be held on Friday 21
st May and will feature a specialist section of pictures with antiques, later furniture and collectables. Entries are being accepted now, so please contact the auctioneers for free sales valuation on 01285 642420, 01242 256363, 01452 521177 or through our website
www.cotswoldauction.co.uk.
The Cotswold Auction Company’s sale of silver, jewellery, watches with antiques and interiors at the Bingham Hall in Cirencester on Friday June 18th saw a packed saleroom from 10am-3.30pm! The 579 lots drew private collectors and dealers alike – perhaps trying to put off the evil hour of England/Algeria at 7.30pm that evening!
The star lot of the sale was a gentleman’s 18ct gold Omega Constellation wristwatch which sold spectacularly in the room for £2,000, for which auctioneer Henry Meadows had two bidders battling it out in the room. Watches are highly collectable these days and Jensen Button is almost as well-known for his collection of 74 as being F.1 world champion, but world champion status must allow him free rein! Two other watches which sold well were an 18ct. gold open-faced pocket watch with an enamel dial which realised £800 and a lady’s 18ct. gold Omega dress watch in its original box which made £720.
As ever diamonds are a big draw and a superb 1.3ct diamond in an art deco style setting raced up to £1900 in the room, while an 18ct. white gold three-stone diamond ring of 0.7ct with diamond set shoulders went to a very happy private buyer for £950 in the room, along with an 18ct gold five- stone diamond ring for their daughter, which added £260 ( hammer price) to their bill! A 14ct gold sapphire and diamond bracelet sold for £350 ,whilst an 18ct gold, ruby and diamond bangle made £220. All the jewellery sold well, much above estimate, proving yet again that people prefer to invest in ‘real valuables’ rather than the unpredictable stock market in these difficult times.
Silver is now as healthy an investment as gold and has the added bonus of usually being something that can be used on a day-to-day basis. A four-piece silver tea and coffee service, dated Sheffield 1835 and weighing approximately 45ozs, found a buyer at £420, a silver salver , again Sheffield, 1930, weighing 36 ozs sold well at £300 and a matched set of flatware comprising serving spoons, forks, spoons and a ladle went for £220.
It also appears at last that good furniture of the 18th and 19th century is enjoying a revival in the saleroom. A 19th century Dutch walnut and floral marquetry inlaid bombe bureau, a really enchanting piece, had four telephones booked and interest in the room. It eventually sold to one determined telephone bidder from the north country for £1,900. A pair of 18th century style wing armchairs, that would not have looked amiss in any of the stately homes of England, with pink velvet upholstery and tapestry panel backs, realised £480. Secretaire bookcases will look well in any style of house and a good example of an early 19th century mahogany one sold for £370.
An unusual lot were three sculptures in bronze-resin – Emily the Goose Girl and two Geese, who were rather delightfully named Belinda and Gertrude! These were original sculptures by Marion Smith and found a new home for £250.
Overall, auctioneers Lindsey Braune and Elizabeth Poole were delighted with the results of the sale and look forward to returning to the Bingham Hall on July 16th where the specialist section this time will be toys, dolls and models. Lots due to sold can be found on www.cotswoldauction.co.uk. Entries are still being accepted for this sale –please contact the Cirencester office on 01285 642420 or email: info@cotswoldauction.co.uk
Please go to our archived catalogue on the Catalogue button to see more images and a full list of prices realised.
16th July Toys, Dolls and Models with Antiques and Interiors
Serious Players bid for Toys !
Enthusiasts came from all quarters to view and buy at The Cotswold Auction Company’s specialist sale of Toys, Dolls and Models in Cirencester on Friday 16th July at the Bingham Hall. These specialist sales draw much attention from the serious afficionado to the amateur collector, or even the passerby who wonders at the fact the toys of their childhood can be worth so much money these days!
The star lot in the sale was an early 20th century Bing tinplate clockwork steamer ship which realised £560 despite being in need of plenty of work in the local shipyard! Brothers (Gebruder) Bing were one of the most prominent toy makers in Germany. Founded in Nurnberg by the brothers Ignaz and Adolf Bing in 1863, they started out making kitchen utensils, progressing to toys in the late 1800's. Production grew to the point where, in 1905, Bing boasted the largest toy factory in the world. Their model steam engine line was one of the most diverse.
A live steam vertical piston-engine with a flywheel and gasburner made a realistic £440, against a conservative estimate of £150-£200, whilst a stationary steam engine with a brick effect boiler and brass water tank in a fitted carrying case sold at £200,
Dolls have seen a slight decline in popularity in recent months, but as ever when a particularly rare one appears there is a flurry of activity. This was the case with two unusual dolls in the sale. An Armand Marseille bisque-headed Oriental baby doll was fiercely contested, with a more than determined telephone bidder winning her at £440.Another Armand Marseille doll sold to the same buyer for £260. This was a black bisque-headed doll with a closed mouth, rather less common than the open-mouthed dolls. Armand Marseille of Sonneberg & Koppelsdorf, Thuringia, Germany was one of the world’s largest and best-known bisque doll head manufacturers. Armand was born in 1856 in St. Petersburg, Russia the son of an architect, and emigrated to Germany with his family a short while after 1860. In 1884 he bought the toy factory of Mathias Lambert in Sonneberg and in 1885 acquired the porcelain factory of Lidbermann & Wegscher in Koppelsdorf . . . and his empire in the doll world began.
From 1900-1930 it is reported they produced 1,000 bisque doll heads a day. They made bisque-headed child, baby, lady & character dolls with kid bodies and most with glass eyes, but some with painted eyes, as well as bisque & composition dolls and bisque heads with cloth bodies. They interestingly did not produce the body of their dolls but purchased those from other doll manufactures.
And now to the Dinky and diecast models! The saleroom was still full when these lots came up for sale near the end of the day, as no-one wanted to miss the opportunity of a successful purchase! A quantity of Dinky models including Landrover and classic cars of the 1950’s realised £320, a Spot-On bubble car by Triang, boxed, a Corgi Morris Minor, no 226, a Mini Cooper, no 321 and a Lotus Elan, no 318, boxed sold at £240, a Dinky Volkswagen, no 181, boxed, with a Comet Airliner, a Foden tanker and fire engine among others sold at £200. A Dinky Austin Healey, Talbot Largo and Ferrari with a No. 176 Austin saloon, boxed, realised £150 and a single Dinky Foden flat truck, no 505, sold for £130. How lucky are those who kept their toys in their boxes and barely played with them! Check out those attics and toy boxes!
A most attractive watercolour by local artist Peter Hicks-Beach, signed and dated 1979, sold for £400, and a Victorian mahogany duet music stand on a turned column support realised £460.
The next sale with a specialist section of Toys, Dolls and Models will be held at the Bingham Hall in Cirencester on November 5th. Entries are being taken now, so please do contact the auctioneers on 01285 642420 , email info@cotswoldauction.co.uk and via our website www.cotswoldauction.co.uk