“Smalls tended to be the flavour of the month – good ceramics, silver and works of art,” said Abbotts Auction Rooms specialist Geoffrey Barfoot, although furniture brought the highest prices.
A set of six Regency mahogany dining chairs, with reeded top rails and pierced interlaced horizontal slats together with two elbow chairs of little age, was secured with a £4100 private bid.
A George III mahogany bachelor’s chest – consigned too late
to be illustrated – was spotted
by several eagle-eyed dealers. Although it was in poor condition, missing some veneer and a
couple of handles, it was a good size at 2ft 9in by 183/4in (84cm by 48cm) and fetched £2600 from a dealer in the room against telephone competition.
An unusual entry was a privately consigned late 19th century English pine and painted sleigh raised on front scrolling supports and with a leather whip holder. Although the auction house were at a loss to explain its academic appeal, it was secured by a museum at £500.
Another unusual entry, a mahogany propeller from a c.1917 Bristol F.2b biplane was purchased by a decorator for £580 who wanted to use it as a mount for a clock.
Also in the running was a cold painted bronze model of a chihuahua by Alfred E. Lewis, dated 1887, 101/2in (27cm).
Although it was not the most commercially sought-after type of dog – Jack Russells, English terriers and pug dogs tend to be amongst the most popular breeds – it was well modelled and fetched £960, while a silver model of a cat, 1941, brought £660 from a dealer on the phone.
Abbotts Auction Rooms, Woodbridge, May 1
Buyer’s premium: 10 per cent
Sledge sets puzzle with its £500 academic appeal
THIS 438-lot Suffolk auction at Abbotts may not have been as strong as their last sale in March but this was more to do with the quality of consignments this time round than a reflection of the market.
