News Room Archive

Expectations can condition the mood

Expectations can condition the mood in the approach to an auction sale. The February 13th event at Hartleys in Ilkley had been preceded by an interminable Christmas hiatus and a smaller than hoped for total of lots. In fact 707 lots were offered with a pre-sale bottom estimate total of £184,000. In the event, the realised total of £200,000 was very welcome, the buyers provided greater than the current norm of enthusiasm and the buy-in rate was only 17 ½ % by lot.

The sale was dominated by an excellent Art Deco figure and a consignment of silver which produced the best silver section for years with a total of £53,000 and only 8 lots out of 145 bought in.

The Art Deco figure was a typical chryselephantine piece by Dr Ferdinand Preiss of a girl dancer on marble stand 15 ½” high. Consigned as a single item by a Halifax vendor who had “always remembered it” at home with his parents, its condition was excellent for age and doubled its upper estimate to reach £12,800.

The silver section was bumped up in size by a consignment from a German private vendor who was effectively liquidating a long term collection aimed at serving as a pension. None of it had been on display and the first task was a thorough professional clean to make it fit for sale.

Even in the post 1910 section, prices for large table pieces cheerfully passed £20 per ounce on several occasions. A presentation epergne of 20ozs with three pierced dishes reached £540 and a wine flagon of 29ozs marked for London 1860 £720. Other prices from the German consignment included a 1939 tea tray of 84ozs £1000, and a Scottish four piece tea set of 67ozs £775. From elsewhere a George III salver by Hester Bateman of 31ozs found £900, a Victorian chalice of 1856 and a George I patten totalling 12 1/2ozs sold together for £950 and a Victorian four piece tea set of 73ozs dated 1879 found £1050. Amongst the small novelty pieces were a superb William IV gilded snuff box by Nathaniel Mills, dated 1835 which sold for £720 and an Edwardian erotic enamelled vesta case found £900.

The sale started with the ceramics sections with several notable results. A Rockingham figure of “Moll Flaggon” in very distressed condition together with another of a gentleman and his dog, between them trebled the upper estimate at £1800. A near pair of Chinese 19th century vases found £1250, and a pair of early 20th century Meissen parrots 3” high sold for £1050. A 9 ¾” Moorcroft Florianware vase in a rare shape and also rare bluebell decoration shot up to £1550 in spite of two very hearty thumbnail sized chips to the base.

Later on, amongst the coins, an Edwardian 1902 specimen twelve coin set comprising five pounds to Maundy penny but with the sovereign missing, sold well at £1350. While several late pocket watches got away well, the most notable was a 1943 18ct gold half hunter at £640.

The jewellery produced several gold prices including the second best of the day for a two stone diamond crossover ring of 4cts which found £6200. Other prices in this area included a solitaire diamond ring of 1.4cts at £1200, a diamond necklace modelled as a line of hearts 7cts in weight selling for £4,300, another simpler diamond chain bracelet £2000 and a necklace with 1.4ct solitaire diamond drop £2,300.

The afternoon started with the pictures including a lovely watercolour of Evening Light on a Cornfield by Edmund George Warren which reached £4800. Oils included a modern Beach Scene by Lionel Bulmer at £1150, the same price for a pair of Surrey Views by Abraham Hulk Junior, and a portrait of a saddled bay horse by James Clarke dated 1874 which reached £1500. Yorkshire pictures were led by a pair of oil landscapes of N. Wales by William Mellor selling for £1250.

The works of art section included a French violin by Charles Adolphe Gand, dated 1875, which sold for £2000 and a large volume “Sport in Somaliland” by Joseph Potocki dated 1900 and limited to 200 copies, one of the greatest African hunting books sold well at $1450.

The furniture section was not spectacular but expectations are now such that demand and supply (including reserves) fitted together well. Ninety per cent of this section was sold although only seven prices went into four figures. An Edwardian standing corner display cupboard of astonishingly slender proportions found £1250, an Art Deco maple chest of drawers from the same Halifax residence reached £1300, and a fine brass eagle lectern consigned by the Diocese of Bradford rose to £2100. A partly 18th century Shropshire type oak food cupboard found £1250, and another Georgian piece a fruitwood dresser base £1000. From the Victorian era were a very pretty ebonised and yew wood foldover tea table with marquetry and metal mounts selling for £1050, and a more standard walnut credenza with central porcelain panel reached £1900.

A Rosy Glow For Chistmas

One small section dominated Hartleys Christmas auction in Ilkley, West Yorkshire on December 5th and 6th. The section was devoted to a set of stained glass windows removed from a West Riding church, and so the saleroom, built at about the same time as a concert hall was converted temporarily into a church by the insertion of the coloured panels in every window. Domination also was achieved by the three highest prices of the sale with a series by the renowned manufacturer Henry Holiday after designs by James Powell dated 1887. “Faith” sold for £4,800, “Hope” rose further to £7,800 but “Charity” took the main prize at £16,000. The windows were removed from St Pauls Church, Denholme now redundant which occupies a windy spot up a long hill above a typical Yorkshire mill village a few miles outside Bradford.

The sale total fell just short of £300,000 for 1070 lots with 23% by lot bought in. There was the now usual struggle to move lower key items in every commodity but enthusiasm nevertheless for the rare and better pieces with 55 prices running into four figures.

Royal Worcester took much of the credit amongst the porcelain with a 4 ¼” circular plaque by Harry Davis selling for £3,300, a fruit painted 14” covered vase by Freeman £3,100, and a reticulated ewer £2,000. A Moorcroft Florian ware vase 7 ¾” high was the best piece of pottery at a price of £2,500, while a 12” Goldschieder figure went shortly after at £1,450.

Two “sleeper” lots in the curios section from different vendors were in each case a group of around 150 microscope slides. In each case the top estimate was no more than £200 but the first reached £1,100 and the second £1,000.

A similar effect occurred within the silver section with a normal enough Arts & Crafts mantel clock in a filthy state, duly catalogued and estimated at £120 - £180. As the printer got to work, the clock went to the cleaners and duly came back with a Liberty’s mark now showing. The eventual price was therefore justified at £2,700. Another pretty piece was a silver vesta dated 1898 with an enamelled panel of fox hounds which did not surprise at £1,250.

Buy-in rates for jewellery often tend to be above sale averages. This time however it was only a little above, a credit to all those desperate men out there terrified about Christmas. Better prices included a three stone diamond ring of 3cts at £4,000, a diamond set bracelet of £2,700, a solitaire diamond ring of 1.6cts £2,900, and a three stone diamond ring of 2.4cts £2,200.

The second day started with pictures including the second part of a deceased estate from Calderdale, previously appearing in October. The best prices occurred then, but the December outing produced watercolours by George Goodwin Kilburne at £2,500, Paul Jacob Naftel £2,100 and the same price for a Noel Henry Leaver. A view of St Palo Venice by William Callow reached £4,000, and a brooding crayon drawing of a Girl on a Swivel Chair, typical of John Bratby reached £2,600.

Yorkshire painters performed well, as usual, with an oil painting by Brian Shields “Braaq” of figures in a Snow Scene reaching £3,000, exceeded by a watercolour by the same hand, also a snow scene, which found £4,400. More traditionally, a Lakeland View by William Mellor found £1,500 and a Snow Scene of Nesfield, Nr Ilkley by Herbert Royle £3,400.

Clocks and barometers proved particularly hard to sell but two smarter pieces got away at £1,950 each. One was a mahogany longcase by Francis Kerr Monaghan with brass dial and eight day movement, the other a much younger Edwardian mahogany longcase with chimes striking on tubular bells.

In a similar way, the furniture had its moments with a set of six George III mahogany single chairs selling for £2,000 and an 18th century and later oak settle only 52” wide with boxed base at £1,600.

A French kingwood corner cupboard with Vernis Martin panel reached £1,250, an eye catching oak livery cupboard on stand of uncertain age £1,550 and a very obviously late 19th century mahogany secretaire bookcase £1,450. The best price in this area was paid for a Steinway upright grand piano in architectural rosewood case sold for £4,400 but of three more grand pianos in the sale, only one found a buyer.

Quality Still Counts

A highly successful two monthly collective sale was held by Hartleys in Ilkley, West Yorkshire on October 10th, when almost £300,000 changed hands for 840 lots with just 22% bought in.

The main reason for the success was due to a deceased estate from the Calderdale area which produced the bulk of the main picture prices as well as a few of the furniture. Indeed of 29 four figure prices in the pictures 21 came from Calderdale.

Several well known watercolourists were represented and the two best prices went to Charles Edward Wilson with “Idle Moments” a young maid playing with a kitten selling for £11,000 and “What O’ Clock” a peasant boy with a dandelion clock at £10,000.

A pair of studies by William Stephen Coleman children fishing and children gardening reached £7,400, while works by George Goodwin Kilburn included a Church Interior with a Mother (a widow?) and two young children £4,600, and another of a maid seated writing a letter £4,400. A dark atmospheric work by Albert Goodwin “Tombs of the Caliphs and the Citadel Cairo” sold for £4,000, whilst “Roman Columns San Lorenzo, Milan” by William Callow also found £4,000.

Also from this estate within the oil paintings were a typical study by John Bratby of a table top with vegetables and breakfast cereals which sold well at £8,200, a typical study of two dogs “ The Lady and the Tramp” selling for £2,500, and two industrial views by Harrogate painter Brian Shields, or “Braaq” which found £4,800 and £4,200.

There were other areas of the sale which had their moments, and at the start were the ceramics including a pair of Royal Worcester 7 ½” vases painted with pheasants by J Stinton at £950, and a Flight Barr & Barr Worcester lidded urn selling for £900. A Susie Cooper Puckware teapot with matching jug and butter dish sold well at £740.

The best prices in the silver section went to a late Victorian punch bowl dated 1900 weighing 59ozs selling for £1,300 and a stylish pair of Arts and Crafts candlesticks dated 1904 by James Dixon & Son exceeding this at £1,350.

The jewellery section was unique amongst the sale in its high content of trade goods, nearly two thirds in all which possibly accounted for the buy in rate of 48%. Before jumping to conclusions however it is worth noting that all bar one of the 8 four-figure prices were trade lots. The one exception was the best price of £4,500 for a very handsome three stone diamond ring of 3.4 carats with good colour and clarity.

Tucked away in the fine arts section were two lots which produced much of the drama in the later afternoon session. The first was an early 17th century jewel casket covered in stump work embroidery 9 ½” wide which went to six times its lower estimate at £9,000. Even more dramatic were a pair of 11” cloisonné vases unusually made not in Japan but by Elkington & Co, with decoration depicting birds and grasses. This pair ignored the pre-sale estimate of £600 - £800 to sail away at £15,000 the sales best single price.

Clocks in general are not commanding the interest usually expected but two of them this time caught the interest. A very high quality Edwardian mahogany grandmother clock 60” high in need of some repair found £2,200 while an eye catching French ormolu mantel clock surmounted by bronze figures of Cupid and Psyche shot away at £4,200.

A smaller than usual furniture section finished the sale including eight pieces selling at over £1,000, three of them once again from the Calderdale estate. These included a George II mahogany oblong silver table with dished top at £1,650, a Regency rosewood work table at £1,700, a very glitzy Victorian ebonised red boulle work and gilt metal pier cabinet £1,800, an Edwardian satinwood and marquetry inlaid cylinder top bureau £1,750, a George III mahogany chest on chest £1,650, and a George III mahogany and string inlaid bow fronted chest of four graduated long drawers £1,300. The last lot of the sale, which did not even make the catalogue was a large Victorian oak open bookcase slightly concave in shape which finished the sale well at £2,300.

Hartleys Christmas Sale

The major part of 2006 was put to bed at Hartleys Salerooms in Ilkley, West Yorkshire on December 6th and 7th with a reasonable sale total of £230,000. This represented 1100 lots with just 13 ½% by lot bought in.
The market was typical of this time of year overlaid by the usual economic constraints which have become familiar over the last year or two.

One minor theme running through the sale was a small quantity of items originally the property of children’s author Enid Blyton, consigned for sale by her daughter, a local resident. It was interesting to see how the normal prices were “skewed” more or less by this influence of provenance.

For instance in the silver section where typically tea services and other non-novelty items struggle to get up to a melt price, the extra ingredient had little effect. However a 1920’s or 30’s walnut bureau de dame reached £720, and a much loved and similar aged grandmother clock £800, both two or three times what would otherwise have been expected. In the picture section, two original book illustrations normally the Cinderella’s of the art market also performed well. “Fairies Behaving Badly”, a pair of studies by Hilda Boswell, for the 12th Holiday Book by Enid Blyton found £560, while a “Toy Town Car Race” by Grace Lodge from the 9th Holiday Book reached £620.

The sale started with the Ceramics and Glass section and unlike October’s outing, it did not have any spectacular sections or items to rely on, but continued steadily to produce sold goods at a reasonable level. The first notable lot was a cased set of six Royal Worcester coffee cups and saucers together with coffee pot jug, bowl and spoons, the porcelain decorated with pheasants by Sedgley and this went above estimate at £2,000.

Next in the reportable area was a Copeland Parian bust “The Veiled Bride” by Monti. The price of £1,000 was normal enough except that the considerable restoration would normally have reduced this to one third of the figure.

Also in this section were a William Moorcroft “Spanish” design 10” bowl at £1,050, and a charming if somewhat monochromatic Bretby cream pottery figure of a boy with flute on separate column 48 ½” overall which rose to £1,400.

Much of the metalware was this time strictly decorative, and early on the most charming was probably an early 20th century carved ivory and gilt metal bust of Cupid by A. Leonard only 9 ¾” high which found £1,600. Later a bronze figure of the Dancing Faun by Duchemin 24 ½” high reached £1,400, a typical Art Deco spelter lamp of a dancer supporting a globe found £750, and a standard racehorse bronze “Fred Archer-Iroquois” by E. Loiseau 11” wide sold for £1,000. The works of art section was led well from the front by a Continental gilt metal cased singing bird automaton 5” wide which nearly quadrupled its bottom estimate at £1,500.

Again the textiles section was dominated by a single lot. This time it was a North West Persian carpet 17ft by 12ft of typical navy blue, red and polychrome stylised pattern. In spite of its well worn almost fragile condition this lot more than quadrupled its lower estimate at £6,500.

The jewellery section invariably performs better at this time of year, there are a lot of desperate men out there, and the commissions book has to be handled with kid gloves to ensure the right messages and only the right messages get through. The accolade went deservedly to a superb and utterly impractical Edwardian diamond and platinum foliate wreath shaped pendant which sold for £3,200. A solitaire diamond pendant of 1.75 carats reached £2,000, an attractive white gold bracelet set with nine diamonds of around 1.8 carats found £1,850, an Art Deco ring with 0.9 carat central diamond reached £1,650, a pair of diamond drop earrings £1,200, and an eye catching pair of diamond and topaz drop earrings £1,000, all of them selling to private buyers. Most unusual (or is that unfashionable) was a platinum and diamond set lorgnette which also rose to £1,000.

The second day commenced with an extended section of prints, which it is fair to say meant many punters allowed themselves a later start. However, at the end of this were some old maps including “Oxfordshire” by John Speed which rose to £460.

Amongst the pictures, whilst a North Italian 18th Century School Study of Achille and the Daughter of Lycomedes reached £1,200, the main successes here went to local painters. A typical View of Shipping in a Stiff Breeze by Thomas Bush Hardy found £1,850, and also amongst the watercolours, a View of the Wharfe by William Mellor reached £2,000. There were also some seven oils by this popular Yorkshire painter, all of which found buyers other than one pair. “On the Wharfe, Bolton Woods” found £1,800, a pair of Yorkshire and North Wales Ruins reached £4,000, and a pair of Lakeland Scenes £5,400.

The most curious lot within the pictures was a set of ten 19th century Naïve paintings of British river fish, seven had been purchased with an accompanying letter at a sale in Scotland some years ago. Two years later three more were found in a sale in North Yorkshire. The vendor was happy to have £20 a piece for them so was delighted to see them knocked down on the phone to trade at £2,100.

Two eight day longcase clocks reached relatively challenging bottom estimates with one by Richard Corless, Stockport finding £2,000 and another by Thomas Collier, Chapel Le Frith £2,500. A very pretty French enamelled onyx and gilt metal mantel clock by Mougin doubled its lower estimate at £1,050.

The furniture section performed as is currently expected these days, the desirable pieces going well, the remainder just about passing muster. Age is not necessarily the operative factor on price.

For instance from the 20th century were a pair of handsome bow fronted standing corner display cabinets at £1,250, and an adzed oak dining suite by Robert “Mouseman” Thompson which produced a 6ft table at £2,000 and a set of six lattice back single chairs at £1,900.

Victorian offerings included a mahogany dining table extending to 8 ½ ft in the manner of Gillows which reached £2,900 and a much bigger wind-out table the inner leaves in much better condition than the D-ends to make up a total length of 14ft which sold for £5,200.

A somewhat utilitarian but large mahogany bookcase with sliding doors found in a solicitor’s office cellar reached £950 as did a curious circular games table with intricate reversible top revealing balls, scoreboard and label for Wilson & Co, London.

Georgian pieces included a standard shaped mahogany chiffonier with three tier back which reached £1,400, a George III mahogany 56” bow front sideboard at £1,150, a mahogany dining table with D-ends supported on quadruped bases 87” long in total which sold well at £3,600, and a North Wales oak enclosed dresser 65” wide which sold at a lower estimate of £3,000.