Holloways

A couple of pieces of Staffordshire pottery set the Banbury rooms of Holloway’s buzzing back when online bidding took off.

BANBURY saleroom Holloway's, who stopped holding fortnightly general sales last September in order to focus on the fine art and specialist events, are starting a programme of regular sales of European ceramics and glass, the first of which will be held on March 29.

Politically correct it is not, but the ‘Negro Cricketer’ pattern, produced for just one year in 1907, certainly ranks among the rarest and most desirable of Royal Doulton series wares.

BRINGING out the bidders in Banbury, this Indian Mughal carved ivory khandjar handle sold for £24,000 at Holloways' latest sale.

BY the time sale day came around, Holloways of Banbury knew they had something special on their hands.

A DISTRICT court judge has dismissed a claim made against Holloway’s auctioneers regarding the condition report on an early wine bottle.

Setting a new house record for Holloways of Banbury, this enigmatic alabaster urn shot to £170,000 (plus 15% buyer’s premium) on October 18.

IT was a matter of success breeding success for Oxfordshire auctioneers Holloway’s in March. Late last year they sold an 18th century ivory bust, possibly of Handel, for £29,000, and when the owner of a tiny medieval ivory panel read of it in ATG No 1671, January 8, he decided to offer it in the Banbury rooms.

A more academic ivory carving than anything at Kidson-Trigg’s sale was this unsigned but fine quality 6 3/4in (17.5cm) portrait bust, right, offered at the Banbury rooms of Holloways (15% buyer’s premium) on November 30.

WHEN valuing a piece of furniture in the clutter of a client’s poorly lit home, quality can be difficult to gauge. Like most auction house specialists, James Lees, at Banbury-based Holloways (15% buyer’s premium) admits there have been times he has subsequently doubted his initial appraisals.

THIS Oxfordshire outing at Holloways on 27 January not only boasted a bountiful supply of silver-mounted coconuts but included a great deal of other decorative entries and quality furniture consigned by the same local private vendor. Among these pieces was the sale highlight – a pair of Victorian ‘golden oak’ inverted breakfront library bookcases, well carved with lion’s masks and cartouche-moulded cornices.

HOLLOWAYS of Banbury are set to re-open their doors after a £100,000 refurbishment. The project, which started in January and was due for completion as the Antiques Trade Gazette went to press, focused on improving facilities for both viewings and the sales themselves.

Fresh quality stock may be thin on the ground at present, but the early 19th century mahogany sideboard and the mid-18th century oak dresser, pictured, which provided the single highlights of their respective sales, were proof that hope should not yet be abandoned.

THEY came, they saw, they appeared interested – but on sale day at Holloways, Banbury, the buyers, particularly the trade, were in the cautious sort of mood auctioneers across Britain have been experiencing in the quiet post-Olympia days.

UK: London and Cotswold dealers secured the lion’s share of the top lots at Holloways’ antique sale in Banbury on April 25.