Ludgrove’s was established in February 2003 and although they had already made a name for themselves in Australia for selling Sir Donald Bradman’s 1948/49 Baggy Green cap for £145,000, this was their first UK auction foray. UK-based Fine Art Auction Group helped with the sale logistics and provided the auctioneer.
While the 355-lot sale may not have been an unqualified success in terms of sale total and lots sold – buyers were found for just a little over a third of the lots and the auction totalled £43,765 – it went sufficiently well for ex-Christie’s books and
manuscript specialist and Ludgrove’s director Michael Ludgrove to envisage an annual London auction.
“We managed to attract attention, our name is now here and our brand is here,” he said. Around a dozen core bidders in the room and on the telephone contested the best entries and there were around 30 different buyers in total.
Although all consignments were entered by Australian vendors, Mr Ludgrove hopes to source material for future London sales in the UK.
Cricket memorabilia comprised the lion’s share of entries but also included were a handful of decorative arts lots and literary works such as John Gould’s The Birds Of Australia, 1848-1869.
There were no six-figure successes and high-profile sporting casualties included Bradman’s left-hand batting glove, estimated at £10,000-14,000, and his original coaching film archive, 1934, entitled How to play cricket. Although it was one of only three known original copies, it failed to sell at £8500-9500.
The 62-lot Keith Johnson collection furnished proceedings with several top lots, including the highlight: a photographic portrait of the Oxford and Australia cricket teams on the latter’s 1948 Invincibles tour (shown here), a title coined after the Australians were unbeaten in their 50 or so games. It was entered together with around 220 press photographs for a modest £400-700.
The importance of this tour, coupled with the documentary record provided by the large numbers of press photographs, made this a collector’s must-have. “Film recording was still unsophisticated and there is not much visual imagery of this tour around,” said Mr Ludgrove. The press photographs were in mixed condition but the lot sold to a major Australian collector on the telephone who outbid fellow Australians and UK collectors for ownership at £8000.
Keith Johnson (1895-1972) was manager of the Australia cricket team from 1945-1948 and left this collection to the father of the vendor.
From the holding, a cricket bat signed with 17 Australia and 12 England team signatures from the fifth test of the 1948 Invincibles tour sold to a different Australian collector for £3600.
Also in the running was the official team portrait of the MCC in Australia 1932-33, the notorious Bodyline tour, entered together with 90 press photographs of the Australian and England players. The interest in this infamous tour that saw English bowlers adopt controversial bowling tactics ensured it exceeded expectations, selling for £2000 to the same Australian private buyer of the top lot.
Ludgrove’s plan 2004 tour after well-played London test
The market for cricket memorabilia is dominated by Australian and UK collectors who battle every summer for the best entries in London’s major June and July sporting sales. This year Melbourne-based Ludgrove’s (15% buyer’s premium) joined the major houses and held a Literary, Historical and Sporting sale on July 29 at St James DeVere Cavendish Hotel.
