Hobbs Parker - Antiques Review

Antiques Review

When the E. H. Shepard pen and ink sketch, "There's Toad Hall, Said the Rat" from the novel "The Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame was first consigned to us for sale, some weeks before our June Antique and Fine Art Sale, by a private vendor in North London, we were immensely proud to have been selected ahead of not only local, but more importantly London competition. As such, our expectations for this auction rose considerably; expectations which were certainly not, I am pleased to say, dashed, when the very hectic day drew to a close and a private buyer and collector of pen and ink sketches by various artists, bought this enchanting sketch to add to her collection for ś6000.

Though this sketch, with excellent provenance, presented to the vendor's father by Shepard himself whilst working for the publisher, was the star of the show, it would be unfair to say that this was the only item of interest. Far from it in fact. Our firm base of online musical instrument dealers and collectors supported the sale once again through their initial email interest and subsequent telephone bids on the Victorian cello, labelled "Thomas Kennedy, London 1860", which though in a well used condition exceeded its estimate of ś400 - ś500 when sold to a telephone bidder for ś790. In a similar way the cast bronze after Hugo Rheinhold (1852 - 1900) - "You made a mistake God", based on "The Origin of The Species", 32 cm high, consigned to us for sale by a charity, attracted a high level of pre-sale online interest followed by commission bids, telephone bids and bids in the room on the sale day, finally selling for over double

As with our last sale, all things Oriental still remained in vogue; a pair of Japanese Meiji period panels, with bone, ivory and shell relief figures of fighting cocks on tree branches, 90 cm x 50 cm, entered by a local collector, sold for ś420 to a bidder in the room. In keeping with this theme, Oriental porcelain also performed well; a pair of decorative Cantonese vases, adorned with birds, butterflies and flowers, 30 cm high, gaining another above estimate hammer price of ś360 with interest from both commission bids and bidders in the room; and a pair of 19th Century Famille Vert vases, with slender necks, decorated with figures and interiors, 29 cm high, in perfect condition, sold to a bidder in the room, against a telephone bidder and a commission bid, for a mid estimate price of ś420. Troika pottery too was once again popular with an upright rectangular vase, with multicoloured decoration by Sue Lowe, signed "Troika, Cornwall" to base, circa 1976 - 77, 17.5 cm high, selling at ś130, again above the reserve.

The furniture section, as with last month, continued to once again achieve pleasing prices. A George III mahogany swivel-top fold-over card table on square moulded and chamfered legs, exceeded it's estimate, selling for ś720; followed closely by a 19th Century mahogany and brass mounted wine cooler, on splay feet, which sold to a local telephone bidder for ś600. Antique pine was also successful, as is the current norm, with a Baker's table with heavy block top and fitted six drawers almost doubling it's estimate after considerable bidding in the room and from bids left on the Auctioneers Book fetching ś560.

As is quite often the case with our Antique and Fine Art Sales, the jewellery section was very popular with good prices being realised, especially for mixed lots of good quality pieces achieving between ś350 and ś550, as well as dress rings including a very attractive 22ct gold dress ring set four diamonds and four baguette cut diamonds selling for ś250. Furthermore, pearls, which remain very fashionable sold well; in particular, a cultured string by Mikimoto, which had been in the vendor's family for some years, having been passed to her from her Late mother, with a decorative pearl inset flower form clasp, sold for ś380 after a bidding battle between two telephone buyers. Amongst the paintings an oil on canvas, depicting a tranquil scene of two narrow boats approaching a lock on a canal by P. Kilner, reminiscent of English holidays sold for the mid estimate hammer price of ś510.

All these prices so far described are of course very good but, at the same time are expected. The books and coins section however, held something of a surprise on sale day. The black and white photograph of Winston Churchill, seated and bearing his signature, together with a small quantity of other photographs, mainly taken during the war years relating to him as Prime Minister, in addition to a pass and Volume One "The Second World War" by Winston S. Churchill, signed, inscribed and dated 1948, attracted a lot of online interest as a Lot of this quality would. A faxed bid in excess of ś2000 received from America, was then out bid by a dealer from Brighton, who, won the Lot for