Dreweatts

Christmas has little, if any, effect on collectors of vintage and antique toys, but that doesn’t stop auctioneers mounting festive season specials.

While the market shows increasingly discerning tastes, quality definitely counts at auction.

The two sewing boxes modelled as houses shown below were made for different markets but both had strong appeal to UK collectors.

On the market for the first time in at least 60 years, and in some cases for more than a century, a small collection of 17th and 18th century silver accounted for a fraction of the lots but 20% of the total at the two-day winter sale at Canterbury Auction Galleries (24% buyer’s premium).

An unusual dish from the workshop of Namikawa Yasuyuki (1845-1927) sold for £18,000 at Woolley & Wallis on November 14. But this was not the only example of top-tier Meiji cloisonné for sale last month.

Among the most coveted of all the standard Chinese export porcelain designs is the so-called ‘Rockefeller’ pattern or Palace ware.

Including, as it did, pieces from Alnwick Castle, an ‘attic sale’ based on the Duke of Northumberland’s home was guaranteed to generate more interest than many similarly titled auctions.

A recent online sale that ran to just 35 lots and closed on October 25 offered a single-owner collection of works by the Victorian explorer and writer, Sir Richard Burton.

Dr Anne Shannon would no doubt have admired these three pieces of turn of the century jewellery sold at UK regional salerooms in recent weeks.

This amethyst and cultured pearl ring and brooch is by Stuart Devlin (1931-2018) – the Australian-born designer and craftsman the Duke of Edinburgh described as “probably the most original and creative goldsmith and silversmith of his time, and one of the greats of all time”.

An auctioneer from Dreweatts made the final of this year’s NAVA Propertymark Novice Auctioneer of the Year competition.

In its short nine-sale history, Kingham & Orme (22% buyer’s premium) has experienced considerable success selling fans, 55 of which were included in the October 5-6 mammoth sale attracting bids from round the world. Many were of museum quality.

Two leading regional auction houses – Lyon & Turnbull and Dreweatts – are trying new format sales this autumn in the hope of increasing demand for traditional European art and antiques. Both are creating room sets for viewing works.

What still feels to many like the opening month of a new season got off to an excellent start with some serious, if occasionally unexpected, five-figure bids at four major provincial salerooms.

The first stand-alone British and European sculpture sale to be held by Dreweatts (24% buyer’s premium) was a solid-enough affair to justify department head Cristian Beadman’s belief that there is an exploitable gap in the market.