It required some restoration to the frame, carved with an egg and dart border and a Greek key frieze, and surmounted by a shell cartouche flanked by scrolling garlands, but overall quality was good and the £1200-1500 estimate always looked on the low side. Bidders certainly thought so and the 5ft 11in x 3ft 4in (1.5m x 1.01m) mirror made £7800.
Good-quality early 19th century English bracket clocks have been making good money of late, and arousing interest here was a c.1800 twin-fusee mahogany cased example by James Payne of Fosters Lane, London.
Standing 16in (41cm) tall it had an arched top, white dial, two pierced brass cloud-form panels and brass ogee feet. Entered together with a Regency mahogany wall bracket, it fetched £3600.
Among the ceramics, there was interest from an American phone bidder in an eight-lot entry of Beswick but the relative weakness of the dollar and strength of British enthusiasm saw them all go to UK bidders.
Top seller was a 9 1/2in (24cm) high Gamecock, no.205, which doubled expectations at £750.
Hall mirror eclipses estimate to make £7800
DECORATIVE, functional and large – the undisputed highlight of Andrew Grant's (15% buyer's premium) 525-lot May 13 sale was a gilt-framed hall mirror catalogued as in the manner of William Kent.
