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Spring At Last

If Spring has been a long time coming, it arrived with a flourish at Hartleys March 17th Spring Fine Arts Sale in Ilkley, West Yorkshire.  A total of 786 lots in various categories produced over £224,000 with only 18% by lot bought in.  The number of telephone lines, commission bids and even sold catalogues was well above average.  One measurable statistic was the presale total of lower estimates, which allowing for bought in lots producing nil, it is always satisfying to reach on sale day.  This time this total was exceeded by 32%.

 

The best price of the sale was chosen for the catalogue cover, an attractive impressionistic oil painting by Harold Gilman “Washing Day”.  The very safe pre-sale estimate of £1,500-£2,500 was swiftly exceeded by a final telephone bid of £9,000.  Pictures performed better than usual and other oils included a pair of small river views 11” x 7 ½” by William Mellor selling at £3,600, while another singleton of his “Rydal Water” 24” x 42” found £2,700.  A typical study of a grey pony in a stable with three terriers by Edward Armfield tripled its lower estimate to make £2,600, a modern agricultural View of Moreton in the Marsh by Edward Hersey £1,250, and a pair of rural scenes with thatched cottages by Robert John Hammond £1,300.

 

The best of the watercolours were a typical pair of Lakeland Scenes by Edward Horace Thompson which found £1,600, and another pair, this time Street Scenes by Noel Harry Leaver selling for £1,350.

 

Earlier in the day, the sale kicked off with ceramics and glass, with most items selling within estimate three exceptions were a large Raku vase by Roberts 19 ¼” high selling for £1,100, a Bohemian cranberry glass bowl with enamelled panels £630 and a pair of cranberry lustre vases painted with enamelled portraits of ladies selling for £880.

 

The silver section did its best to reflect the improved price of the metal.  However the highest figure in this area was actually a silver mounted cut glass set comprising a lidded jug and two matching beakers by Charles Edwards 1884 which deserved its final price of £1,550, while an Askos wine jug by Nathan & Hayes, 1907, weighing 24ozs found £1,200.  A later piece stamped Sheffield 1933 comprised a four piece tea service, crisply shaped with ivory handles and exceeded expectations at £1,100 or £19 per ounce.  There were some rare and attractive miniature pieces including a delightful pair of menu holders featuring “Nipper” the H.M.V. dog which realised £520.

 

It is of course gold which raises the eyebrows with for instance current prices for coinage.  The best priced sovereign was an Elizabeth II 1979 example in capsule which found £210, and two 1987 three coin UK proof sets each sold for £540.  There was clearly also this factor within the price of an excellent George II pair cased watch by Sam Atkins, London, c.1746, which sold for £1,100.

 

Jewellery was the one area of the sale where the number of unsold lots was higher, in this case around 33%, mainly due to optimistic trade entries.  Even so, one or two prices took the breath away.  Notably a single stone diamond ring of 2.02cts, by dint of stubborn bidding by private buyers, doubled its lower estimate at £6,000.  A pair of two stone diamond drop earrings found £2,700, and a pair of very classy pearl and diamond ear studs again doubled their lower estimate selling at £1,700.

 

After the lunch break and the picture section there followed a brief outing of works of art and textiles,  The star of this area was a highly fashionable trunk by Louis Vuitton, much travelled but with its interior complete and at most overall in indifferent condition.  This appeared amongst a small and otherwise entirely lack lustre local deceased house clearance, and exceeded all expectations by selling at £3,500.  Also in this section was an excellent Beck binocular microscope in very well fitted carrying case which sold at £2,100 and a pair of 20th century Victorian rugs of traditional design, selling at £1,050.

 

Then followed the annual turnout of weapons, with a full spectrum ranging from lumpen wall pieces to finely worked antique pistols with one woken “sleeper”.  A pair of flintlock duelling pistols c.1785 by Gill & Knubley, London, found £2,500, another slightly later provincial pair reached £1,500, and a very clean Remington 1858 Patton .44 revolver £1,350.  The main surprise was a modest looking flintlock pistol of around 1750 by I. William, with screw off cannon barrel, 9 ¼” long overall.  It had no hammer, no pan cover spring or main spring, but against a pre-sale estimate of £200-£250, still managed to reach £3,400.

 

Finally, it was the turn of the clocks and furniture and even here amongst the currently familiar muted and modest bidding, surprises were to be had.

 

An example amongst the clocks was the contrast of two lots.  A typical relatively ornate and massive ebonised quarter chiming bracket clock produced no ripples as it sold for £1,450.  Shortly afterwards, a somewhat flat looking but otherwise standard Tudric pewter mantel clock with enamelled panel, designed by Ronald Knox, doubled its lower estimate to sell at £2,400.

 

Another was a George III mahogany tripod wine table, c.1760, purchased at the Harrogate Northern Antiques Fair in 1954.  Whilst the full retail price at the time was a modest £45, the auction on this occasion produced a price of £3,800.

 

An Arts and Crafts style wall mirror with Celtic motifs embossed to its copper frame produced £1,350, and the last lot of the day, a slender, some would say “flimsy” seven piece salon suite also inlaid in the Arts and Crafts style went to four times estimate at £1,600.

 

 

 

The Spring Toy Sale

It was an enthusiastic crowd of collectors and trade buyers which gathered at Hartleys in Ilkley, West Yorkshire on Saturday February 27th when 603 lots of toys, dolls and collectors items were on offer.  The resulting total of over £59,000 with just 15% by lot bought in was an accurate reflection of the day’s work.

 

The highlight of the sale was reserved for the last lot and comprised a 4” gauge Fowler single cylinder agricultural traction engine.  It was 71” long, weighed 11cwts and was in spanking condition, having been constructed by the owner through the early 1990s, and only actually run on six or eight occasions.  The owner having made the decision to move on “his baby”, instructed the auctioneers to fix a modest estimate of £7,000 to £9,000, which was always going to be bettered and in the event the final price was £13,500.

 

The sale started at the other end of the spectrum with dolls and teddy bears including the usual selection of bisque head and other items mainly from the early part of the 20th century.  An Armand Marseille “353” oriental baby reached £620, a Fleischmann & Bloedel 32” bisque head doll reached £460, an Alt Beck and Gottschalck shoulder head 22” doll found £440 and a French S.F.B.J. 28” bisque head sold for £420.  The best price in this section was the £1,100 paid for an excellent example of a Kammer and Rheinhardt “Mein Leibling” 20” doll.

 

Older teddy bears sold better in numbers this time than six months ago, and as expected, the rare items went well irrespective of condition.  A Merrythought Pumpkin Head in chocolate brown and gold 10” high reached £640, a 19” Jester bear, straw filled and of unknown make found £400, and a Steiff cinnamon covered bear 11” high in poor condition sold for £420.

 

A good turnout of metal figures comprised mainly civilian examples, including several lots of Britains Scouts.  One lot including a trek cart and eight other scout figures sold for £200, a Britains single figure “Village Idiot” reached £120, and an unknown maker set of three Bumblies, as inspired by Michael Bentine £130.

 

Within a small section of celebrity and sporting autographs was one lot devoted to Bill Haley and His Comets.  The story went that a young lady selected the least attractive of the Comets, the Saxophonist, to write to, in the hopes of a reply and ended up having to rebuff his advances.  The resulting correspondence and autographed photos sold for £140.

 

The tinplate toys were a reduced offering compared with last October, but included two notable items, a Lehmann horseless carriage and driver selling at £300 and a Schuco Syncromatic 5700 Packard Convertible at £380.

 

The die cast sections included the only downbeat part of the sale when a set of thirty five lots of American 1920’s and 1930’s Tootsie Toys, fifty four items in total, only found two buyers.  Otherwise the normal attention was paid to the mainly British factory items dating from the mid 1930’s to the late 1980’s.

 

Job lots of older playworn items went well as usual, the best prices being £300 for forty various Corgi saloon cars and commercials, and £250 for ten early Dinky cars.  Within the boxed items were a Spot-On A.E.C. Shell/BP tanker at £230, a collection of thirty four Matchbox Superfast Models £320, a Corgi 497 Man From Uncle Oldsmobile £260, and a Dinky 941 14 ton Mobilgas Tanker £360.  The most unusual in this area was a Dinky Spitfire lapel badge produced in 1942 to raise funds for wartime aeroplane production.  This example had metal fatigue which rendered it too big for its box but still reached £140.

 

The railway O and OO gauge lots, 130 in all, were in the main quantity rather than quality but included a OO gauge Wrenn 0-6-2 tank locomotive with a Dapol 2P which found £240, and an O gauge Hornby No.2 clockwork 4-4-4 tank locomotive £250.

 

The final lots in the sale were larger scale items and railway related pieces.  A 3 ½” gauge coal fired 0-4-0 tank locomotive sold at the second attempt at £600, a 19th century 3 ¼” gauge brass constructed “Dribbler” locomotive reached £460, and a British Railways Poster by Frank Sherwin “The Yorkshire Coast, Robin Hoods Bay” sold above estimate at £850.

 

 

December Sale Report

   The market was just the same as usual at Hartleys December 2nd and 3rd antiques and fine arts sale.  A willing crowd of trade and private buyers sought out what they wanted with enthusiasm but the low end and plentiful part of each commodity tended to be overlooked, as supply exceeded demand.

A buy-in rate of 23% by lot was reasonable in the circumstances and a total of £250,000 was achieved for the 940 lots. The sale started with ceramics and glass, an eclectic mix with no large collections of any particular factory.  Very early on the phones were busy with a Vienna circular porcelain plaque depicting King Stefan of Hungary declaring the Constitution to his people.  This renowned and well painted event sold for £1950.  Several typical items of Royal Dux were topped by an unusual figural mirror stand rising to £720 and a much damaged and poorly repaired Lenci 9 ½” earthenware female figure at £1050. The English ceramic items were headed by a rare piece of Clarice Cliff.  This was a “Lido Lady” ashtray, 6 ¼” high, in generally good condition which produced the best price of the sale at £5,100.  Other prices included a Royal Worcester comport painted by Lockyer dated 1929, selling for £820, a rare Wedgwood creamware jug dated 1790 £760 and a small Staffordshire salt glaze stoneware coffee cup of somewhat earlier date £500. 

There were two high profile lots of glass.  A Lalique “Aigrettes” pattern 9 ¾” vase sold for a predictable £2400 and a Vistosi cuboid bird with internal decoration 8” high found £3,200. Also in the first session were the metalware and works of art, and the most coveted lot in this area was a 12” terrestrial globe by John and William Carey.  The date of 1812 was not particularly early for this type of item and condition was typical in overall wear but the price in consequence was still good at £2,400.   Another rare piece was a Regency horn covered sarcophagus shaped sewing box which sold for £1,450.

The next session was devoted to silver, gold and jewellery, and was very much a session of two halves.  The silver steadily and unremarkably sold out with the help of the rising bullion price and left very little without a home.  Perhaps the two most interesting lots were a mantel clock by William Comyns dated 1909 which sold for £950 while a rare telescopic toasting fork dated 1801 with shagreen handle sold to a collector at £725.

Gold was even better behaved than silver, with sovereigns selling for anything between £135 and £150 each.  A rare Victorian East India Company gold one Mohur piece dated 1841 reached £875. Then 170 lots of jewellery came up for sale and in spite of the “Christmas Factor” the reception can only be described as lukewarm.  The prices of sold items were satisfactory but nearly 40% failed to find a buyer.  Successes included a striking aquamarine and diamond pendant necklace at £1,050, a pair of ruby and diamond ear clips £1,400, a solitaire diamond ring of ¾ carat £875, and a diamond set pair of clips with forty eight various stones totalling around 3.8cts £2,000. Interspersed were the odd gold item including a 9ct gold cigarette case of 198gms at £1,350, and an 18ct double Albert of 82gms at £960. 

The second day featured just one session offering pictures and furniture with interest polarised more so than anywhere else in sale regarding rarity versus low price and frequency. A watercolour View of the Grand Canal, Venice by Edward Alfred Goodall in spite of restored damaged reached £2,500, a pair of rural scenes by Henry J Kinnaird reached £1,200, and amongst the oil paintings, a View of Harden Beck by Fred Stead rose to £2,450 and “Springtime Nesfield Dene” by Herbert Royle reached £1,400. The clocks included one of the most delightful pieces in the sale, a French Art Deco onyx mantel clock surmounted by an ivory nude figure by Ferdinand Priess which deserved its triple top estimate price of £3,600.  Also featuring well was an 8 day longcase clock by William Winstanley, Wigan, with arched brass dial, moonphase and handsome mahogany case which sold for £2,100.

The main furniture section started with a selection of items by Robert Thompson, the “Mouseman” of Kilburn.  Some pieces were commissioned in 1948 by the Whiteley family of Pool in Wharfedale with whom Thompson was very friendly.  They included a 63” dresser base at £3,600, six panelled back chairs £1,800, and a 78” refectory style table £2,800.  From elsewhere later pieces included a 78” wide dresser with delft rack £1,200, and a small open bookcase £1,150. The largest piece of furniture and the second highest price in the sale was a Victorian mahogany breakfront bookcase with two much later added matching side wings giving a total width of nearly 14ft wide by 9ft high.  This item sold through the same rooms in 1999 at £7,600.  This time the selling price was £4,500. Other drawing room furniture items included an early Georgian walnut chest on stand £3,500, a late Victorian marquetry inlaid mahogany two tier etagere £1,000, a set of six George III mahogany side chairs with square backs £4,000, a George III mahogany trellised jardinière £1,900, and a typical Victorian burr walnut and ebonised credenza £1,550. 

Oak and other country items included two dressers, an enclosed version c.1800, 71” wide selling for £2,700, and a late 19th century open type 60” wide £1,250.  A late 17th century oak court cupboard with relatively plain and satisfying features and proportions found £2,500, and a matched set of six yew Windsor armchairs all of them displaying later work, some of it to make them more of a match, rose well past their estimate to find £2,200.

 

 

 

 

Brisk And Successful

The hoped for spin-off from the recession of small investors looking for somewhere for their cash is now evident, judging by Hartleys Toys & Collectors Sale in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, on Saturday 10th October. A full saleroom and an even fuller commissions book saw over £79,000 realised from 800 lots with less than 8% by lot bought in.

The total was not achieved by a few large single figures, but more by a steady accumulation of competitive bidding. The sale which was despatched crisply in four and a half hours single handed by auctioneer Andrew Hartley, commenced as usual with the dolls, a much more modest outing than usual with no really high prices. Indeed the best was Lot 2, a 15” Kestner “192” in original box which found £360.

The teddy bears and soft toys which followed was in direct contrast. First away was a large and very worn early Steiff pull-along bear which sold for £520, while from the same factory were a standing “Bully” bulldog with no ears, one eye and no bark which still reached £420 and a half empty early bear, badly worn but actually reasonably complete which quadrupled its lower estimate to sell at £850.

Also in this section were an early long pile Farnell teddy, 21” high, c.1930, which found £800 and the most unusual, a somewhat slim green pile Continental bear, c.1916, accompanied by a letter to Santa Claus from young Denis asking for just such an item for Christmas, which was bought by the local toy museum for £960.

Within the miscellanea (or oddities) section, the oddest were two freak show taxidermy items each in its original battered glass display case. The first was “The Smallest Dog in the World”, just a few inches long which reached £420 and the second was a kitten with eight legs, really a pair of Siamese twins “Born in Halifax in 1800” which rose to £440. Also in this section were an American cast iron money bank shaped like a Gothic building, selling for £320, and a collection of sixteen 1920’s Spears boxed table games, some of them exceedingly non-P.C. which rose to £440.

The metal construction toys included two very striking pieces, a Marklin sports car 15 ½” long at £400, and a Wells blue town car 13” long going one bid further at £420.

One major vendor of the sale was a retired toy shop owner from West Leeds, who inevitably had kept many of his favourite pieces for himself. Now with a house move looming, a hundred lots were entered in this sale with the strongest areas being metal figures and tin plate. His figures included three English horsedrawn models, a “Minic” United Dairies Van, a Coal Cart and a Gypsy Caravan, which together found £540. Three Britains Knights of Agincourt, boxed, in good condition found £320, as did eight boxed Timpo Quentin Durward figures, and also six Budgie and Morestone Noddy and Big Ears boxed figures. Much the best of his selection were seven Philip Segal boxed figures on a theme of pantomines and nursery rhymes which was competed to £1550.

The same vendor’s tin plate collection had depth as well as length, with a particularly extensive selection of fifty seven partly boxed Minic clockwork vehicles without a single repeat. The best of these was an open top “Learners Car” with four occupants which together with a similar Vauxhall tourer reached £320. His earlier models also went well including a Wells Police car with large roof mounted horn, at £380, a French hansom cab, c.1910, £460, and slightly older, a Lehmann’s Autobus which reached the front cover of the catalogue and sold for £850.

From another private owner came the best item of this section and the highest price in the sale. It was also at 1870 one of the oldest, a rare French passenger floor train by Emile Favre which was in excellent working order considering its age and deserved its final bid of £2500.

A small section devoted to rarer and generally earlier cigarette cards was in the main pedestrian although an F & J Smith set of fifty Derby Winners dated 1913 reached £270. The end of the section however caught fire with a series of J Baines of Bradford Shield Shaped Collectors Cards from c.1890-1910. Nine Military and Empire inspired cards found £230, twenty nine Football Club cards £620, thirty more reached £700 and thirty Rugby Club cards also £700.

The die cast sections in the main displayed length rather than strength, but from the lady owner of the floor train came two unboxed playworn lots comprising a 157 Jaguar XK120 and ten others selling at £380 and sixteen Dinky Commercial vehicles £400. Also from her was a composite lot of two vehicles, a 28f Palethorpes Delivery Van (1934/39) and a 22e Farm Tractor which realised £640.

Boxed diecast items included eleven Matchbox 1/75 Series Models at £300, a Corgi Gift Set No 40 Avengers complete and in excellent condition £380, and two French Dinky Commercial Models £300.

The end of the sale was devoted to model railways and scale models. Within the OO gauge lots were a Hornby Dublo three rail Mallard and tender which sold for £250, a Wrenn Ltd Edition Mallard in L.N.E.R. blue £300, and seventeen Hornby boxed trucks £400. The O gauge had a reasonable selection of locomotives and rolling stock including a Marklin clockwork 4-4-0 tender locomotive which reached £360, four Hornby items including a Seccotine wagon and an L.N.E.R. snow plough rose to £360, and a Marklin clockwork G.N.R. Atlantic tender locomotive, repainted, sold for £290.

The larger items at the end of the sale included an L.N.E.R. wall clock with repainted dial £400, and a Gauge 1 coal fired live steam 4-4-0 Briton Atlantic locomotive and tender, fully finished but unpainted and unsteamed, found £700. Nearly the last lot was one of a series of working model ships built in the 1930’s by a Bradford enthusiast. It was a model of the Destroyer H.M.S. Panther 72” long and was unusually powered by a single cylinder steam engine with flash steam boiler, not a system for the faint hearted. In only fair condition and relatively low in detail, this item sold well at £320.

 

 

 

A Successful Sale

September 9th & 10th saw the busiest sale for some time for Hartleys in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, with a grand total of £316,000 from 956 lots with only 18 ¾% by lot bought in. Indeed if it had not been for a somewhat truculent jewellery section that figure would have been nearer 14%.

Much of the fireworks occurred within the picture section which took seven of the top ten prices and in itself mirrored the difference between a good sale now and one a few years ago. Then it was the steady sale of most lots that came up for offer, now there is the double standard of high quality fresh goods hitting the jackpot while over exposed trade lots mostly at the lower end are left politely alone. Indeed, one vendor’s wife who was contacted to report on unsold lots, confessed that her husband who had been present had reported a “lack lustre” sale. Clearly as far as the auctioneer was concerned, he was standing in a different room.

Top of the tree in this area was a superb watercolour, pen and ink highlighted in gold, entitled “King Olaf” by Kay Rasmus Nielsen, dated 1913, in mint condition which sold to an American buyer for £36,000. This had been entered by a private seller from Halifax together with a few other desirable pieces. Her family had acquired a large Cheshire property after it was decommissioned by the army at the end of the war, and this item thought for long enough to be a print was acquired with the rest of the house contents. Early on, amongst the oils was a “Venetian Beauty” by Luigi da Rios which rose via two Italian phone bidders to £10,500. William Lee Hankey painted a study of the Harbour at St Tropez which reached £6,400, and another Italian painter Filippo Baratti was responsible for an interior study entitled “The Alchemist” dated 1873 which found £5,200, also to an Italian buyer.

The local private buying market paid £3,200 and £3,400 for two typical exterior studies by Ilkley painter Herbert Royle, and a large exterior of Brittany by Bertram Priestman “The Knoll by the River”, dated 1909, sold to a lady living not two miles from the saleroom at £5,200.

The sale started on Wednesday with ceramics, including sixty eight lots of Moorcroft pottery mostly from a single owner. Best amongst these were a 24” vase by Emma Bossons, selling for £1,000 and a 13” double handled vase tube lined with carp which reached £1,200.

Elsewhere, the best of the Royal Worcester, according to the buyers, was an unusual 4 ½” roundel by R. Rushton, “Bluebells View” which rose to £1,550.

One aspect amongst the works of art and silver was the odd Russian item that cropped up here and there, invariably with a large number of Russian and Eastern European buyers in hot pursuit. Most notable was a pair of Russian silver tea holders, dated for Moscow 1896-1908, weighing 17 ½ozs, which sold for £3,700. They were entered by a lady vendor who with her late husband had dealt in small antiques in the North of England for many years. Those items which were too nice to sell on were retained but are now starting to appear and several were included in parts of this sale. Also from here was a Russian cigarette case, maker M.E. Pechin, inscribed inside for St Petersburg Cricket & Lawn Tennis Club, dated 1896, in its case, which realised £1,500.

From the same collection came a spectacular Japanese ivory and Shibayana tusk lidded vase with silver mounts, 11” high, which sold for £1,550, and a bone scale model of a sailing ship, of uncertain origin which nevertheless rose to £2,700.

The biggest impact from this collection was perhaps the series of seventeen antique pocket watches, the first tranch of which had already appeared in a previous sale, which produced considerable interest and final bids well above top estimate. Most notable were an 18ct gold minute repeater chronograph pocket watch which found £1100, a painted metal pair cased verge watch by C. Pinchbeck, £1,350, a silver gilt enamel and shagreen pair cased verge watch by C. Haley at £2,100, and a gold pair cased verge watch by A. Joly, London selling for £2,200.

A small weapons section on the first day provided a quantity of interest for the specialist, from air rifles to powder flasks, the rarer pistols producing the bigger prices. Most notable were a flintlock blunderbuss pistol by W. Henshaw, London of c.1770, selling for £1,100, and a rare .38 bore Adams five shot revolver, c.1860, which found £1,200.

Other odd lots entered as single items with modest estimates also caused a stir of approval as they came up, either because of rarity or sheer quality. For instance a George II ivory comb dated 1751 and a Georgian bone alphabet board, together estimated at £80-£120, finally sold at £500. A particularly curios and large cut paper diorama, in pencil and watercolour depicting the French Admiral’s Surrender to Nelson, sold well at £2,000, and a 4 ½” Chinese soapstone figure entered with what was regarded as an optimistic estimate of £300-£350, sailed easily up to £1,250.

The jewellery at the end of the first day was perhaps too far away from Christmas to produce a positive focus, and supply probably as a result outstripped demand. Two or three high estimated items failed to sell, but half a dozen four figure prices were nevertheless achieved. A sapphire and diamond three stone ring reached £2,000, a ruby and diamond three stone ring £1,850, a classic pair of diamond stud earrings of 1.5cts reached £2,000, an aquamarine ruby and diamond dress ring reached £1,900, a solitaire diamond ring of 1.6cts found £1,500 and another solitaire of 0.75cts reached £1,000 after the sale. As they say, a girl cannot have too many rings.

Finally on the second day, after the pictures, were the architectural and garden items, the clocks and the furniture. Amongst the clocks, it was the off beat pieces which caused the greatest stir. From the vendor with the pocket watches were two interesting items. A Japanese small chamber clock with revolving dial which found £1,900, a standard repeater carriage clock sold well at £775, and a longcase clock by John Onion, Stockport £1,000. From elsewhere were an Arts & Crafts Tudric clock with pewter case for Liberty & Co which rose to £2,000, and a 19th century French gilt metal and porcelain mantel clock £1,400.

The garden and architectural section is rapidly becoming a successful feature at these rooms once or twice a year. The seller with the large Moorcroft collection also produced fifteen lots in this area, including two excellent 19th century cast iron figures of stags, 38” or so long, which sold for £1,400 and £1,350. Also from this source was a huge pair of French cast iron urns 51” high which found £1,100. From a clearance of a house and garden near Preston came a rare Doulton Lambeth terracotta figure of a recumbent lion in two halves and with some poor restoration, 60” long, dated 1905, which sold after much interest at £2,100.

Finally there was the furniture section, no longer the leading part of the sale, but nevertheless still producing eight four-figure prices. The most obvious was a splendid 17th century oak dresser base, 70” wide, which sold for £2,500. Another expected figure was the £1,150 left for a fairly early adzed oak smoker’s chair by Robert Thompson of Kilburn. A wing armchair of classical shape in mahogany, an excellent example of early George III furnishing, reached £2,300, and a carved mahogany window seat catalogued as c.1900 but believed subsequently to be an earlier piece and possibly Gillow, went well over estimate at £1,350.

 

A Blaze in June

A very successful auction sale in the face of stringent marketing conditions was held at Hartleys in Ilkley, West Yorkshire on June 17th & 18th when 1190 lots realised £330,000 with just 19 ½ % by lot bought in and fifty eight four figure prices.

The strategy of cutting main sales to just four in the year allowed a greater focus of items within each commodity and a better use of overheads. The result which offered a wide cross section of items from jewellery to garden items produced a sale so crammed that stock (the garden pieces) was literally tumbling out of the back door.

Buyers included a greater than average percentage of private bidders who are clearly looking to invest spare cash in anything rather than low interest bank accounts and the like, and the usual difference between the average and the rare in terms of a sale at all, let alone higher prices was most apparent, particularly within furniture and pictures.

An excellent offering of ceramics and jewellery as well as some interesting paintings helped to emphasise this effect.

The first day started with ceramics and contained as good a selection of Moorcroft pottery as had been seen in this area for some years. Best price was a joint first for a Florian ware 7 ¾” vase in Harebell design and a Flambe 5 ½” bowl and cover, tube lined with fish amongst reeds, each of which quadrupled the top estimate at £2,500. A 13” vase in Spanish design reached £1,750, another Flambe bowl with leaves and fruit found £1,300, as did an 8 ½” Wisteria design vase dated 1913. An 8” Flambe vase with leaves and fruit sold for £1,050 and a 9” vase with waving corn design reached £950.

Royal Worcester was also well represented including a 14” vase and cover decorated with Highland Cattle by John Stinton with damaged lid which sold on the telephone at £2000. The same buyer also secured an 8” ewer painted with cattle by James Stinton, at £1,900.

Amongst the few Continental ceramic lots were a 13” pair of brightly painted Meissen parrots with slight restoration which found £2,300 and an 18” Goldscheider female dancer selling at £1,050.

The glassware included a large pair of cranberry vases with Mary Gregory enamel which sold in March for £680, but then did not fit the purchaser’s mantel piece. In they went again, and this time sold for £950.

The viewing was dominated in both rooms by two very large bookcases each full of a different book collection. In the lower room was the Behr family library of German literature moved for safety from Kiel to Burnley before World War II. Not everyone was after runs of books in German but condition was very much an advantage. The total of around £4,500 included a best single price of £620 for twelve volumes by Naumann dated 1905.

The two most eye catching items within the works of art were a cold painted bronze lamp by J Gadek modelled as a setter by a tree, the lampshade cameo cut as a mountain scene which reached £1,300, and an intriguing pair of Russian champlevé enamelled travelling egg cups folding together to form an egg which sold for £600.

The afternoon started with 120 lots of silver, much of it behaving predictably, bearing in mind the current melt price. One lot however which totally ignored such mundane calculations was a curious tray made for the Guild of Handicrafts by Ashbee or Hart with loop handle and six circular impressions in the base (perhaps for tumblers). The item which weighed 10 ¼ ozs and was hallmarked for 1901 realised a satisfying £1,900.

The main meat of this session was the jewellery with 185 lots produced fifteen prices over £1,000. Two large single stone diamond rings dominated one end of the jewellery display and had the same effect on the price results. One of 3.66cts with good colour and clarity rose to £9,300, while the other of 5 carats, of similar colour but with an obvious inclusion, rose to £12,500. A solitaire diamond ring of 1.45cts of somewhat better overall quality found £3,000. A three stone diamond ring of 1.2cts reached £1,350 while a diamond half hoop eternity ring set with baguette stones between two borders of brilliant cut diamonds sold for £1,800.

Other types of jewellery attracted attention including a pair of diamond drop earrings of 2.5cts at £2,600, a diamond pendant in fancy setting reaching £1,350, a diamond bracelet set with nine stones totalling 1.88cts £1,200, and a sapphire and diamond three stone ring including 1.5cts of diamonds rising to £2,900. A classic double row necklace of graduated pearls with a diamond clasp of 1.3cts sold for £1,700 and a most unusual gold bangle containing a heart shaped moonstone within a rose cut diamond surround quadruped its estimate at £1,000.

Cigarette cases in precious metals in spite of the decline of that particular hobby reflected the bullion content in each case. An 18ct gold case of 187gms found £2,000, a 14ct case of 170gms £1,450, another of 182gms £1,500, and an unusual platinum case of 182gms with sapphire clasp £2,850.

The third session, on the second day started with pictures, with the top price going to a typical Industrial Town Scene by Brian Shields (“Braaq”) which produced £4,200. Hard on its heels was a most captivating watercolour study by William Heaton Cooper “Window at Winterseeds” depicting his wife looking through a window at a Winter Lakeland landscape. A full bidding book and a bank of telephones produced a final price of £3,600.

Other watercolours included “First Snowfall” by G G Kilburn selling for £1,000 “Market Day at Malines” by William Callow £1,400, “Playmates” Thatched Cottages and Children by Henry John Sylvester Stannard £1,050, a River Ravine in Summer attributed to John Callow £1,300, and a large study “Breezy Day off Dunstanbro’ Castle” by John Callow £2,400. Oil paintings included a Circle of Sir Thomas Lawrence portrait of a gentleman at £1,250, and “Summertime” with girl figures beside a river meadow by Henry John Yeend King £3,000.

Yorkshire works included a pair of small watercolours “On the Wharfe and On the Llugwy” by William Mellor £2,500, while an oil by this artist of Bolton Priory by the Wharfe reached £3,400.

Clocks and barometers are probably having a harder time than furniture at present due perhaps to the more mercurial demand of this commodity. As a result the only major sales in this area were for unusual items. An early 20th century grandmother clock with traditional eight day movement reached £1,300, and an American novelty “blinking eye” mantel clock with cast iron case in the form of a negro banjo player £1,050.

The garden and architectural section was very well received with everything from stone balls to letter boxes and virtually every lot found a buyer. The highest prices were £1,100 for a cast iron two tier fountain, £1,850 for a Coalbrookdale “Indian” design bench, and £3,400 for an extensive set of German oak library bookcases.

The furniture section had enough realism within the pre sale estimates to keep most of it moving and a buy-in rate below the sale average. Still there were a number of circular breakfast tables, chests of drawers, and the like, formally the mainstay of such an event, left standing on the day.

The earliest pieces which sold well featured a mysterious 18th century Colonial hardwood elbow chair destined by its owner for the skip, which found £1,050, an oak Westmorland style dining table with single drop leaf at £1,250, a George III mahogany secretaire chest selling for £2,000 and a handsome gilt wood pier glass which found £2,100.

Victorian items included a mahogany kneehole desk at £1,450, and an extensive and well made six piece marquetry inlaid rosewood bedroom suite at £2,100.

The 20th century furniture performed as well as anything with a striking carved mahogany three piece lounge suite which found £1,300, and a large mahogany bookcase 16ft wide by 7ft high which reached £1,400.

A run of adzed oak furniture by Robert “Mouseman” Thompson of Kilburn produced predictable interest which included a 6ft refectory table at £1,700, a 4’6” dressing table £2,200, a tallboy £2,600, a bedside cabinet £1,200 and a 4ft double wardrobe £4,000, the best furniture price on the day.

 

 

 

Don't Blame The Buyers

There is never a shortage of buyers in August, except perhaps in the jewellery sections, where buyers’ desperation does really come to a head until later in the year. Sellers frequently worry that there will not be anyone there to buy their goods at this time of the year. On the contrary the usual scene is of a full saleroom impatient for enough stock to buy and so often punters leave empty handed.

It was the typical scene at Hartleys Summer event in Ilkley, West Yorkshire, on August 13th. Demand was strong but supply was on the weak side. Intense activity, including the inevitable phone lines, was focused around a smaller number of lots with the bullion price bolstering the silver and gold, and a couple of occasional specialist sections also helping to polarise demand.

The resulting total of £161,000 for 793 lots with just 18% by lot bought in was actually a good result for what was on offer. For instance, the ceramic section which started the sale, was dominated by just one lot, a Wedgwood Fairyland lustre vase and cover 11” high. The ageing vendor had succeeded in propelling it from the top of a corner cupboard resulting in a substantial 2” chip being removed from the rim of the lid. In spite of considerable restoration the price realised was a satisfying £2,100.

The silver sections were a completely different country with nearly everything selling, much of it both pre and post 1910 at a little above the current melt price of £6.50 per troy ounce. For instance a tea tray of 70ozs dated 1940 reached £540, and a 1925 four piece tea service of 57ozs £440.

Flatware however was still struggling to come anywhere near, and a somewhat tired composite flatware service dated 1863-73 reached £700 or only £4.11 per ounce. The more interesting end of the commodity selling irrespective of its weight told a different tale and for instance an 1878 card case found £90 (or £40 per ounce) and a George III wine funnel dated 1794 reached £200 or £48 per ounce.

Gold sovereigns were predictable with older circulated examples reaching £90 or more, while a 1989 proof example in capsule and presentation case was competed up to £470.

There were several bargains to be had in the jewellery with nothing over £1,000 getting away, and it was left to the watch section to provide this, in the shape of a standard gent’s Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust chronometer in 18ct gold and steel case which reached £1,100.

The honours in a brisker than normal picture section was almost entirely taken by the Yorkshire section. Before this two floral Mediterranean Scenes in watercolour by Edith Helena Adie reached £660 each and a Study of a Stable Interior after Morland by Charles Edward Wilson found £750.

Yorkshireman Geoff Birks produced several works including a pencil sketch “Industrial Canal Scene” at £1,500, and a watercolour “Nowt to do” at £1,550. Another late 20th century painter consistently producing good prices is Brian Shields (Braaq), this time with an oil painted Industrial Town Scene 15” x 22” which reached £5,400.

The other lot selected to grace the catalogue cover was a pair of French patinated bronze and gilt candelabra each with four branches 23” high, with some restoration, and these sold for £1,700.

The first specialist section was devoted to weapons and militaria, with a useful total of nearly £20,000. This included a Winchester 1866 model .44 calibre carbine in excellent condition selling for £2,300, a Colt .36 calibre police revolver £840, a flintlock volunteer dragoon pistol £925, a pair of Belgian percussion pistols in later case £1,350, and a double barrelled flintlock coaching pistol in less than good condition £1,150. The section also contained the oldest item in the sale, a very rusty Viking sword blade described as in “fragile badly corroded condition”, which still sold for £2,300, and the auctioneer’s favourites, a flintlock coaching blunderbuss with spring bayonet selling for £2,500, and another from the same vendor finding £1,550.

The second specialist section comprised garden and architectural items, the second outing of its type in the year, perhaps on the basis that in the spring (and summer) a young man’s fancy turns to gardening.

Whilst much of this section was a clearance of oddities of old stone and the like, nearly all of which sold readily, the star item was a much weathered marble figure of a female minus one arm which the somewhat diminutive vendor insisted on loading with difficulty into the auctioneer’s car. At the last minute the missing arm was produced (unweathered) from the kitchen drawer, and together they produced a six times upper estimate price of £5,800.

The clock section once again had its hot spot, this time with two lots. The first was a Tycos barograph by Short and Mason, dated 1926, which sold on one of several phone lines booked to reach £1,550.

The other was a longcase clock by Thomas Cantor, Manchester with eight day movement and painted dial which found £1,250.

This just left the furniture to be dealt with, and a run of old country items was mopped up by a North Yorkshire dealer who purchased two matching yew wood Windsor chairs at £520 each, an oak side table at £800, a wall cupboard for a straight piece of wall rather than a corner £540, a small oak gateleg table £580, and a much sought after 18th century cricket table £1,350.

Other note worthy furniture items were all from the Victorian era. They included a very smart burr walnut side cabinet boasting a variety of inlays which rose to £1,250, and from the same vendor, an Edwardian mahogany and inlaid display cabinet with concave glass side panels £1,300.

From elsewhere came a Victorian rosewood centre table with ornate frieze and base £1,050, a mahogany dining table with exaggerated cabriole legs with facility to extend to 10 feet £2,900, a mahogany bureau-bookcase £1,050, a partners’ desk made by Coopers of Ilkley £1,350, and a mahogany and leaded light bookcase over 9ft wide and probably made from a larger original item £1,250.

Reflecting The Market

The June sale at Hartleys Salerooms in Ilkley, West Yorks on June 18th produced 800 lots, many seeming to sell in a minor key, but on the basis of buy-in rates produced a most successful result with only 17 ½ % (or 140 lots) unsold. With fewer than normal high profile items included within the sale, the eventual total did not quite reach the £200,000 mark with just thirty one items producing four figure prices.

The day started with ceramics and glass, a section with somewhat less depth than normal but nevertheless with its moments. An early lot was a John Ridgway “Imperial Stone China” dinner service of forty five pieces which in spite of robust use in the last 170 years reached £580. A parian ware bust of local industrialist Sir Titus Salt 22 ½” high including plinth found £520, and a pair of Meissen figures Gardener and Companion sold for £750. A series of eighteen 19th century frog mugs in a varying degree of repair from a collector in Lancashire sold well, the best prices being £300 each for two mugs, one with the Sunderland Bridge, the other with the “Iron Bridge” of 1796. From the same collection was a Ralph Wood type pearlware toby jug c.1780 9 ¾” high, without a lid and with considerable restoration which nevertheless realised £660. A pair of 4” wide Royal Worcester miniature cups and saucers painted with Kingfishers by E Barker rose to £660, and a Shelley Vogue fifteen piece coffee service found £600.

The glass section sported one major item, a Lalique vase in “Cerises” pattern opalescent glass which sold above estimate at £1400.

Silver, in spite of the rise of raw metal prices, still batted away in traditional mode, with only small unusual pieces rising above melt price. A rectangular tray dated 1943 of 41ozs reached £480 (or £11.70 per ounce), a George III teapot dated 1792 by G Smith and T Hayter of 16 1/4ozs, found £420 (or £25.7 per ounce), and a Victorian 12” hunting horn of 1899 reached £140 (or £93.3 per ounce). In contrast, two large flatware services complete with cabinet made canteens, selling at £1,200 and £1,250 could only make £6 per ounce plus the furniture value.

In contrast, but really getting no further up the scale, the gold shot away to match the current value of the raw metal, raising a total of £16,500. Sovereigns were fetching £90 - £100 each, in contrast with £60 only a matter of months ago. Krugerands and other forms of 1ozs fine gold were reaching £400 each, and at the top of the range, an Australian “Platinum Koala” set of five coins weighing 1.9ozs sold for £2,900.

The watches included a standard 18ct gold half hunter which reflected the same effect by selling at £500.

Jewellery was the usual tussle with items selling selectively to very idiosyncratic demand. Of seven four figure prices, the most notable were a diamond and sapphire pendant at £2,000, a very traditional diamond set flower brooch with large central opal at £1,800, and a most unusual late 20th century triple ring set including a central ring with single diamond of 1.75cts, which sold at £2,300.

The afternoon started with the pictures which have always sold selectively irrespective of the state of the economy. The catalogue front cover picture showed the top price of the sale, a typical semi-abstract watercolour Study of “Village and Church France” by John Piper which produced the best price of the sale at £5,800.

Within the oil paintings, a study of River Scene with Cattle Watering by David Payne found £1,350.

The Yorkshire artists generally performed well in general, with Brian Shields (Braaq) producing a pencil Street Scene at £1750, and an oil Industrial Townscape with boating pond in the foreground reached £5,600.

More traditionally, Yorkshire oils included a small Harvesting Scene at Nesfield, Ilkley by Herbert Royle at £2,100, a View of the Lledr Valley by William Henry Mander £2,800, and a small pair of Yorkshire Woodland River Views by William Mellor 18” x 12”, selling for £5,000.

A small series of paintings by recently deceased Dales painter Sheila Bownas including portraits and still lifes was led by a “Garden in Summer with Greenhouse”, 1950, 47” x 35”, which sold well at £1850. The remainder of this studio sale will follow on July 2nd.

A brief interlude of works of art and curios including a fine pewter baluster jug and three others selling at £1,100, and a beautiful English (probably South Staffordshire) enamel toilet box decorated with figures which found £950.

The furniture and clocks section produced almost palpable manifestations of trade bidders desperate to buy but unable to bid because of fears of the ruthless current market. A reasonable clock section produced no longcases over £1,000 but, because of rarity, a Continental singing bird box in tortoiseshell case reached £2,200 and another standard comb and drum musical box, with bells sold at £1,100. The best clock was a mantel timepiece by J Berry, Aberdeen, with repeater movement which reached £1,250.

The best furniture prices were scattered throughout the age range. The youngest was a mid 20th century adzed oak bedroom suite by the “King Post” man, no doubt originally apprenticed to the “Mouseman” which found £1,600. Another bedroom suite this time typical in Edwardian inlaid mahogany, found £1,200. Victorian pieces included a Steinway walnut cased upright piano at £1,800, a rosewood circular centre table at £1,000 and an eye catching Boulle and ebonised pier cabinet at £1,300.

The Georgian oak produced the most enthusiasm with an oak enclosed dresser with four drawers flanked by two cupboards 61 ½” wide reaching £2,000, a similar but more prosaic item reaching £1,700, and a fine coloured oak panelled press cupboard 66 ½” wide which passed its upper estimate to sell for £2,300.

 

The Spring Collective

The Spring Collective Sale was held at Hartleys in Ilkley on April 23rd and comprised 920 lots. Opinion based on pre-sale activities was optimistic with higher than normal requests for information and well attended viewing. The actual result was tempered by a discriminating public eager to buy in certain areas, and happy to leave it alone where goods were over estimated or lacking in demand and saleability. The resulting total of just over £210,000 was good enough, with 22% by lot bought in, but certain commodities showed up their vulnerability in the current market. Jewellery was worst affected, too many trade items at too high reserves and too far away from Christmas. Pictures were better on average, and furniture went well probably because of reduced expectations brought about by two years of relatively short commons. Silver was positively quirky with much of the mainstream selling around £10 to £20 per ounce, comparing well enough with the current melt price of £7, but some items still slipped through at less than melt price.

The silver section was unusual for the large quantity of small novelty items, with for instance an Edwardian enamel vesta case selling at £720, a George III mother of pearl panelled snuff box at £680 and a Victorian stag’s hoof mounted inkwell at £620. However in the larger items, consistency was quite absent with a Victorian four piece tea set finding £580 or £9.50 per ounce, a George III lidded jug of 1773 £800 or £28 per ounce, and a 1785 sugar basket by Hester Bateman £660 or £82 per ounce.

The sale started with ceramics and by far the most interesting item here was a rare 8” Clarice Cliff Bizarre conical bowl with cruciform lid in Autumn design which went to five times upper estimate at £2,200. Also in this section were a Chinese export porcelain basket 15” wide selling for £1,000, a pair of Royal Worcester plates painted with castles by J Stinton at £750 and a Royal Worcester Arab Stallion by Doris Lindner at £950.

The watches and jewellery were purchased selectively to produce eleven 4 figure prices, the best being a solitaire diamond ring of 1.4 carats which sold after the sale at £2,500. A diamond tennis bracelet with 33 stones adding up to 4 carats reached £2,000 as did a heart cut diamond pendant of 0.7 carats in brilliant cut diamond surround.

Paintings were in the main a good stand by with many of the best prices occurring in this area. A run of three oils by Brian Shields (or Braaq) took first prize with an industrial landscape 13” x 9 ½” reaching £7,000 and two others, similar but only 7 ½” x 10” finding £2,800 and £2,400 respectively. Two Irish works brought out the telephone bidding with a watercolour of a thatched cottage with chickens by Frank McKelvey finding £1,550 and a crayon portrait of a girl by William Connor £980. Also in the watercolours was a Scottish Coastal Scene by David West which achieved £2,100 and in the oils, a portrait of a young woman by Charles Sillem Lidderdale £4,000, a View of a Mountain Stream by James Faed £1,200, and a “Peep of the Washburn Valley” by William Mellor deserving its late price of £5,200.

Architectural and garden items were traditionally saved for Spring when a young man’s fancy should turn to the garden. Most of this section this year went predictably but one lot earned its keep, a pair of 30” 19th century Continental marble urns which sold for £3,800. This was fortunate as they had cost £400 to “dig” up and move from a garden in North Leeds.

Standard clocks are not selling well at present and it was a singing bird automaton in this section which took the best price. It was unusually in a silver case, with original carrying case, probably by Griesbaum, and reached £2,400.

Furniture performed well with only 7% having to be bought in, and no buyer (dealer or otherwise) ended up with more than a fair share of the whole.

Four figure prices included a Victorian spelter figural lamp 84 ½” high selling for £1,450, a very pretty French kingwood specimen cabinet £1,400 and a standard Georgian mahogany and brass bound cellarette £1,200. Davenports have had a poor press recently, but two sold well here, a walnut piano top version with rising top at £2,200 and another with built up fixed top £1,100. A Louis XV style Kingwood bureau plat trebled its lower estimate at £1,500, a Victorian walnut D-shaped credenza reached £1,100, and a walnut chest on chest of uncertain age £2,200.

A Victorian mahogany dining table extending with leaves to 12ft 10ins, sold for £1,850 and, the most modern higher priced furniture item, a 1930’s adzed oak chest of four long drawers by Robert “Mouseman” Thompson nearly doubled its upper estimate at £3,200.