Anderson & Garland’s recent Specialist July auctions, held just a few weeks after lockdown, fetched an incredible total of over £650,000, across nearly 1200 lots.
‘Many things conspired to make this a really memorable auction….fresh to the market items, many with a Country House provenance, brought to market after a 3-month lockdown, conspired to make the perfect conditions for our vendors’ said Managing Director Julian Thomson.
First out of the blocks on July 14th were the watches. Top selling lots included an 18ct gold Santos quartz wristwatch by Cartier, sold for £3,200, to a buyer from Surrey; and a Rolex Oyster Precision 'Air King' automatic stainless steel wristwatch , c1975, sold for £1,600 to a local buyer, after a bidding battle with the internet.
The Jewellery auction on the same day offered plenty of pleasant surprises for our vendors. A two stone diamond ring, approximately 2.4 carats, sold for £4,800; and a single stone diamond ring, the stone weighing 3.33cts, sold for £7,900. Also selling locally was an 18ct yellow gold and diamond necklace, approximately 5.40 carats, for £3,900.
In the silver section, a George III silver cow creamer, by John Schuppe, London 1765, sold for £3,200 to a London buyer; An early George II horn and white metal mounted nutmeg grater or tobacco rasp, sold to a Somerset collector for £2,500; and an Elizabeth II suite of silver cutlery, by Roberts & Belk, Sheffield 1973, in a fitted mahogany canteen, sold to a determined local bidder for £3,500.
The core of the offering of furniture and furnishings on July 15th and 16th was from four local Country Houses and, as befits all sales of this nature, there was considerable interest from across the UK and Europe, as well as bidders from Far East, The US and Middle East.
The best seller was a French Boulle Marquetry Bracket Clock from Whitchester Hall, Haltwhistle, which sold to a buyer bidding from the Far East for a whopping £13,000. Other top sellers from the same house included a 19th Century white marble bust of a lady by Pasquale Romanelli, Florence, selling way over estimate at £5,000 to a buyer from Gloucestershire; and a watercolour by Samuel Prout of The Rialto Bridge, Venice, at £4,000, sold to a US buyer.
Top attractions from the other Country houses included an impressive late 19th Century burr walnut marquetry and ormolu mounted piano, by Blüthner, from Wooperton Hall, Wooler, which sold to a Welsh buyer, for £6,200; A late 18th Century Queen Anne style leather upholstered wing back armchair from Allensford Hall, Consett, sold for £2,800 to a buyer from Cumbria; and a Mahal carpet from The Stables, Bolton, Alnwick, sold, after a telephone bidding battle, to a London buyer for £5,200.
Highlights from other private vendors included an 18th Century Nathaniel Hill pocket globe, which sold for £3,200 to a buyer from Oxfordshire; A pastel by local artist Norman Cornish of Berriman's Chip Van, Thomas Street, Spennymoor, sailed off to New York for a winning bid of £6,200; A set of six George III mahogany framed spoon back salon chairs, sold to a buyer from The Wirral for £4,500; and a Coastal Scene by Sir William MacTaggart went to a buyer in Aberdeenshire for £4,600.