1818 Auctioneers

It may have been rusty, damaged and lying in a garage in a state of disrepair but a pre-war clockwork toy train set still sold for a hammer price of £6500 at a Cumbrian auction house.

With estimates from £300-£15,000, here are five previews from upcoming sales this week.

An auction house which sold a 1937 handwritten letter by Beatrix Potter is offering another fascinating collection related to the children’s author just over two months later.

It will come as no surprise that signed Beatles albums are some of the top sellers in the entertainment memorabilia collecting field. But have you heard of the Courtyard Music Group?

The beautiful Beatrix Potter children’s books are highly collectable in themselves but the author’s world provides a far wider and very popular collecting scene.

This large Burmantofts faience plaque sold for £7000 at 1818 Auctions of Milnthorpe, Cumbria. The vendor, who bought it at a car boot sale for £20, was in the room to watch bidding surge way beyond a £400-600 estimate.

As with many areas of collectable ceramics, the marketplace for Sylvac animals has been rather muted in recent times. But, if prices have flat-lined for most pieces then there are still collectors waiting in the wings should something truly rare present itself.

We can be too quick to write the obituary of the passionate old-school collector. Thankfully, they are still with us.

KENDAL Auction Rooms, who have operated in Cumbria since 1818, are to rebrand as Eighteen Eighteen Auctioneers.