With the arrival of British Summer Time and the feeling of more time in the evenings, many people have started thinking about the garden. It is the perfect opportunity to tidy up after winter, start new projects or just introduce one or two new feature objects.
The annual Garden Sale at Addisons has become one of the highlights of our auction calendar and is extremely popular with gardeners and collectors alike. Here you can pick up anything from sundials, birdbaths and garden statuary to outdoor furniture and vintage tools.
Items for this year’s event have been coming in thick and fast and the saleroom is starting to look like something from the pages of Laurie Lee’s Cider with Rosie or even a Thomas Hardy novel. Milk churns – ideal for character planting schemes – rub shoulders with wooden rakes and old fashioned scythes, and rustic terracotta pots are everywhere. Yet in another part of the room, we have objects that would not look out of place on the set of a BBC country house drama, with stone-crafted bird baths and sundials sitting nicely alongside wrought iron benches and wooden croquet sets.
One object that really caught my imagination was a vintage French fruit picker. How evocative is that of outdoor rural life and – of course – perhaps a glass of wine made from the fruits of the hard labour?! Because to me that really is what a garden is all about – somewhere to enjoy all those sights, sounds and smells of the outdoors – and sometimes the right object is all that is needed to set a whole new scene.
The 2012 Garden Sale takes place on Thursday 19 April at 5.00pm and, as with all our auctions, bids can be made in person, online or over the telephone.
People have been asking me, “So, what happened to the piano?” Well, I’m happy to report that it did find a new owner and is now living in Germany – fitting really given that the great Steinway piano manufacturing company was founded by a German immigrant to the US Henry Engelhard Steinway back in 1853. Now regarded as makers of the finest pianos in the world, they have come a long way from their humble beginnings in a Manhattan loft!
Our particular baby grand Steinway reached a very good price and finally went under the hammer for £8,000. It wasn’t the only piano in the recent Spring Catalogue Sale. We also sold a nice-looking Bechstein ebonised upright piano and several other musical instruments – all well within or above their price estimates.
In fact, the whole auction was hugely successful. Not only was it one of our largest ever sales with a staggering 654 lots but the hammer prices were particularly high, with excellent results achieved across all the sections. The jewellery did particularly well and one of the highest performing items was a two-stone diamond ring that almost doubled its starting price estimate of £1,200 and went for £2,100.
One of the things I love about the catalogue sales is that they often showcase objects that hark back to a bygone era when things were done differently and certain gentilities were upheld. Some of my favourites from the last collection were a striking set of six George V menu card holders; each one encasing a different fishing fly and housed in an exquisite gilt-tooled leather silk-lined case. There was also a late Victorian, cased silver-handled lady’s gloves and shoes accessories set that contained a shoe horn, ivory glove-stretchers and two button hooks; and a silver and ivory handled crumb scoop.
Talking of interesting collections, we are now gathering items for our annual country sports sale, which forms part of the Antiques and Interiors auction on Thursday 29 March. So if you have any old pieces of sporting memorabilia that are gathering dust or even paintings depicting country pursuits, then please consider bringing them forward for sale. We are always happy to advise on individual items and offer a free valuation service.
We have just come to the end of organising our Spring Catalogue Sale, which will be held on 3 March and with 660 lots it is one of the biggest catalogue sales we have ever staged here at Addisons.
The quarterly sale is always known for the quality and breadth of items and next month’s event is no exception, with a mouth-watering collection of fine objects – ranging from ceramics and glassware through to rugs, textiles and antique furniture.
For me, however, the real star of the show is a stunning baby grand Steinway piano, estimated to reach between £7,000 and £10,000. For anyone who knows about musical instruments, Steinways are widely regarded as the world’s finest pianos and each one takes nearly a year to create. Many people like to own them – not just for the joy of playing such a responsive instrument – but because they also represent such an excellent investment. Baby grands are particularly popular because, at just over 5ft long, they are small enough to fit into an average size room whilst still retaining the powerful, richer tones of the larger concert grand pianos.
This particular model was hand-built in 1937 and has been in the careful ownership of a local couple for over 50 years. It clearly had pride-of-place in the household and a family member shared with me her memories of how it was always played at social gatherings – her aunt would choose hymns and classical pieces, whereas her uncle preferred to strike up Scott Joplin and wartime music hall numbers.
She spoke of the piano like a member of the family and I think this is what makes musical instruments so special. They almost take on human qualities and develop personalities of their own. It’s nice to think that this piano will soon find a new owner and hopefully start on the next chapter of its life. So, if anyone can give one very special piano a home, then please step forward!
As this year draws to a close, I thought it would be interesting to look back at some of the highlights of 2011. What sold well, how were people making their bids and what were the show-stoppers?
Thankfully, it has been a good year for us at Addisons and, despite the general economic downturn, antique sales have been particularly buoyant. This could partly be due to the fact that many people are choosing to invest in antiques at a time when other more traditional investments are not so strong. We all know that gold and silver are rising rapidly in value but other areas such as English oak and fine art are also doing very well.
The Internet has undoubtedly changed the way we buy items, which can now be searched for and bought easily from all over the world. We have seen a 32 per cent rise in the number of lots sold online over the past 12 months and we expect this figure to keep increasing. It is the norm now at our sales to have bids coming in from the floor, telephone and, increasingly, the computer.
So what were the star items of 2011? There is always a lot of interest in jewellery and in the March catalogue sale a fabulous diamond dress ring went under the hammer for £2,500. Another diamond ring, this time by Cartier, sold at the top of its price estimate range for £3,100 in the June catalogue sale and in September a vintage Rolex gentleman’s wristwatch went way above its guide price of £250-350 selling for £1,100.
We also had some great results with the paintings. An oil on canvas by Frederick Goodall sold for £3,200 in March; and September’s catalogue sale saw a 16 th/17th century Italian oil painting of the Holy family go for £2,100 and a work by the industrial painter Tom McGuinness reach £3,200. It was in this sale that we probably had the most amazing result of the year, when an unframed oil on board by a follower of Frederik Marinus Kruseman sold for an eye-watering £13,500.
Follower of Kruseman - Sold for £13,500
Quality furniture is still an area of rising value and I am always pleased to see my own personal favourite – Robert ‘Mouseman’ Thompson – bring in good results. Two such examples were a set of four oak dining chairs in the June catalogue sale, which went under the hammer for £2,000 and in December’s sale a rare oak bookcase sold for £4,800.
There were many other lots that I could mention but unfortunately there’s not really room for them here. However, I do want to say how much we appreciate the support and enthusiasm of our customers and I would like to wish you all a happy and successful 2012.
I don’t know about everyone else but sometimes I struggle to find really imaginative gifts at Christmas – something a bit different that I know the recipient will really appreciate and enjoy.
In my experience, the best presents that I have either received or given have involved a new experience of some sort or another – maybe a spin round a racing track or a cookery master class – but these tend to be pretty expensive and maybe not the sort of outlay that you are after.
It is for this reason that we have just launched the Addisons’ gift vouchers. Available in any denomination from £10, the vouchers can be redeemed as part or full payment against items in our sales. The idea is that people can make a whole day out of it from the initial viewing of the collection to the auction itself with the thrill of securing the chosen ‘gift’.
And here the choices are endless. In every sale there is something for all tastes whether it is an original painting, an antiquarian book, or a piece of jewellery. It’s perfect really because the person you are buying for gets to choose exactly what they like but in a fun and exciting way. So if they are already into antiques and collectibles or have never even been to an auction before and want to try something a bit different, it could be exactly what you are looking for. Let’s face it, it’s got to be better than socks!
The vouchers can be bought direct from the saleroom or ordered by telephone on 01833 690545 or via email: info@addisons-auctioneers.co.uk
For those of you who are familiar with this particular artist’s work, the title of this blog will be an immediate clue to his identity and I suspect that for anyone living in the North East of England, the penny will drop even quicker.
Around these parts, Mackenzie Thorpe – who became famous for his square sheep and stark, brooding images of the industrial north – is the story of a ‘local boy made good’. Very good in fact because his paintings, prints and sculptures appear in galleries all over the world and his original works sell out instantly. Many of his images have also been made into fine art prints and best-selling cards, including those commissioned for Elton John’s AIDS Foundation.
You can imagine then how excited we were to have seven original paintings come forward for auction. Three are of the classic Mackenzie Thorpe-style sheep and the others are of a chunky bull against a particularly glowering sky; a self-portrait of a small boy holding a bird; a moon-faced baby in an enormous red pram; and flat-capped figures in a northern shipyard.
It is of particular interest that four of the works are from a vendor who bought them direct from the artist, which is how we are privy to a rather amusing story concerning one of the paintings from early in his career. Evidently one day, after a particularly unsuccessful meeting with the bank manager, Mackenzie came home and vented his frustrations by painting a sheep in a landscape, which he called ‘Self with Pride’. It is somewhat ironic that this nice little oil on board now carries a guide price of £3,500 – £4,000, proving just how bankable an artist he now is!
If you are interested in having a closer look at the paintings, or even in bidding for one yourself, then they are featured in our Winter Catalogue Sale, which takes place on Saturday 3 December at 11.00am. As with all our sales, if you can’t be there in person then bids can be made on-line or via the telephone.
Antiques & Interiors – Thursday 28th July
Amazing prices were achieved across the board at last week’s sale. The auction benefitted from an abundance of collectors items thanks mainly to a Bishop Auckland house clearance.
Railwayana is extremely buoyant at the moment with buyers willing to pay above the odds for fresh to the market pieces. An oak LNER wall clock with a 8″ dial created with much pre-sale interest and on the day three telephone bidders battled it out against a live bidder, one lucky telephone bidder eventually triumphed at £780. |image2|
Also amongst the railwayana were various signs. The top seller was a Bishop Auckland cast iron example which, despite damage, sold to a live bidder at £420. Two Shildon cast iron signs with D-ends quickly followed at £580. A 19th century album of scale drawings of steam engine parts was hotly contested by telephone bidders but they could not out-gun a live bidder at £500.
A collection of over forty Webley & Scott .177 and .22 air pistols surprised many with boxed examples making upwards of £300. One of the more unusual items was a Spitfire wheel, which reputedley came from a WWII aircraft flown by one of the RAF’s leading aces, Alan Deere. It was sold to a bidder in the room at £170. Continuing the theme, £360 was paid for a Military Issue pilot’s cockpit watch.
The shock of the day came in the form of a violin, cased with a bow. The quality and the fact it was stamped appealed greatly to several buyers who contested it to £1,400. It was knocked down to a telephone bidder.|image3|
Gold and silver continue to flourish. A 9 carat gold charm bracelet sold to the trade at £500 quickly followed by a 9 carat curb-link necklace at £200. £560 was paid by the trade for a Victorian two-piece tea service bearing marks for London 1853. The same buyer accounted for a George V silver rose bowl, Sheffield 1929, at £280. That bidder was eventually beaten at £340 for a Victorian silver coffee pot.
A collector in the room fought off an internet bidder to secure an 18th century 30 hour clock movement by Ralph Weston of Wolsingham at £350.
The sale ended with a section of Mouseman and other Yorkshire carvers. The top price for the section coming from an early Mouseman fruit bowl. Taken from a clearance in Witton Le Wear, the bowl dated to around 1930 and measured 9″. It sold to a collector on the telephone at £500 despite interest in the room and from the internet.|image4|
The next Antiques & Interiors sale is to be held on Thursday 11th August.
David Elstob 3rd August 2011
We hold the second of our quarterly catalogue sales on Saturday, 4th June. The star of the show is undoubtedly lot 1. The piece in question is a wonderful Wedgwood Fairyland Lustre bowl by Daisy Makeig-Jones. It is often said that Daisy must have had fairies living at the bottom of her garden and, after weeks of marvelling at the fantastical design, I find it hard to disagree!
In 1909 the eccentric Daisy talked herself into a job with Wedgwood as an apprentice painter and then, a couple of years later, convinced management that she could design, too.
The Fairyland Lustre design was released in 1915 after a couple of years of producing lustre patterns of fish, fruit and chinoiserie. Many saw her bold and fanciful designs as an escape from the horrors from which the war had brought. Daisy’s rise was quite unusual, not only because she was a woman, but also because she rose from within the company’s ranks, an exception to the well-known designers that Wedgwood normally brought in from outside.
Across the Atlantic the Fairyland range was immensely popular during the 1920’s enabling Wedgwood to penetrate the American market. Unfortunately the economic downturn of the 1930’s saw the Art Nouveau fairies fade from fashion and it was no surprise when the line was discontinued. Daisey left Wedgwood in 1931 and died in 1945 but, like many talented artists, she left behind a creative legacy that has long outlived her.
There has been abundant pre-sale interest from both sides of the Atlantic and we expect it to be hotly contested!
The sale also benefits from a strong picture section boasting works by or after Eduardo Paolozzi, Beryl Cook, James MacBeth, Henry Moore, and Antoine Blanchard.
With all this fantastic weather we have been having of late, many people have been turning their thoughts to the garden – sprucing it up for the season ahead or even giving it a bit of a makeover. For me, the garden is like another room of the house and, given the right nurturing, it is somewhere to admire, relax with friends, read a book or enjoy other recreational activities.
So what has this to do with auctions or antiques? Well, next month Addisons is hosting its annual garden sale. It is always a hugely popular event and an excellent place to turn up anything from sundials, stone troughs and other garden ornaments to vintage tools and machinery. We have already had lots of entries and I love the eclectic mix of items that all evoke those sounds and smells of summer. Even an old hand pushed lawnmower makes me think of freshly cut grass and tea on the lawn!
It’s also a good chance to have a clear-out of the shed or garage. An old chimney pot or watering can may just be cluttering up space but for someone it will be the ideal planting container. Old tools are also very collectible so if you have anything that is just gathering dust, then why not consider bringing it along. As with all our sales, we are more than happy to offer advice or give free valuations. For those interested, the deadline for entries is Thursday 5th May, with the sale taking place on Thursday 12th May at 5.30pm.
An old watering can makes a striking garden ornament (Photo by Simon Howden)
That will actually be a very busy day because the garden sale follows the regular Antiques and Interiors sale starting earlier that morning. So, if the weather is anything like, then I for one will be unwinding at the end of it all with a glass of something in the garden!
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It’s funny the way things often come in batches. In my last blog posting I was talking about the fact that we had a large collection of oriental ceramics and works of art included in our quarterly Fine Art, Antiques and Jewellery sale and how good this was because of the current interest in the Chinese market.
Well, just a few days later we had instruction to sell the entire contents of an estate in Northumberland and what was interesting was that the family had spent time in China and Japan from the end of the 19th century until the 1930’s. Consequently – as a result of their travels – there are a lot of oriental pieces amongst their possessions that we are delighted to be able to offer up for sale in our Antiques and Interiors Sale on 24th March.
When I was cataloguing the items, I was struck by the sheer variety of the pieces and how exotic and vibrant they looked when assembled en masse in the showroom. Amongst the collection are ceramic dishes and vases; lacquered trays and boxes; table screens; hand mirrors and brushes; napkin rings; and – my favourite – a pair of wonderful Chinese 19th century stone table seals, each intricately carved with a Buddhist lion and cub.
Lot 407: A pair of Chinese 19th century stone table seals
Another item that particularly caught my eye was a beautiful 19th century Chinese black lacquer gaming box, containing around 150 mother-of-pearl gaming counters of various shapes, including fish. The box itself is presented in red and gold with scrolling foliage; and inside that lie five further boxes similarly decorated and each one carefully monogrammed. It was like unwrapping a luxurious pass the parcel! Have a look at lot 372 on our online catalogue if you want to see what I mean.
Lot 372: A 19th century Chinese black lacquer gaming box.
It also makes me wonder as to the stories that must lie behind the original collection of these treasured possessions (in some cases more than a century ago) – it’s a shame that we may never know?
Want to know more about Addisons?
You can find out more about us, meet the team and get all the latest information about up-coming sales by visiting our ‘new look website’ – Just click here
Don’t miss our regular e-zine
If you’d like to receive news and information about Addisons directly to your in-box just click here
