A house record hammer price of £2.9 million was amassed at Tennants’ three day Autumn Catalogue sale of 1,862 lots at their Yorkshire Dales saleroom at Leyburn 18-20 November 2010.
A selling rate of 90% was achieved- confirmation that private and trade money prefers to be invested in aesthetically pleasing and tangible art and antiques rather than slumbering in a bank account. The insatiable demand for all things Chinese made an extraordinary and significant contribution to the sale total.
It was amongst the Oriental ceramics that the first of the sale’s really high prices was achieved. A private North Yorkshire vendor couldn’t believe her luck with her (heavily restored) pair of Porcelain Bottle Vases (lot 255). Thought to date to circa 1900 they took a telephone bid from China at £72,000 against an estimate of just £400-600. Ten minutes later a very pretty Chinese Porcelain Pink Ground Bottle Vase (lot 281) bearing the Daoguang seal mark (an Emperor who reigned 1821-1850) made £30,000 against the £600-800 estimate.
A local private house yielded a pair of Chinese blue and white porcelain Gu Shaped Vases (lot 295) of the Kangxi period (1662-1722) which were in perfect condition and again appealed to Chinese taste taking £17,000 against a £3,000-5,000 estimate.
In the jewellery section it was clear that diamond jewellery is currently at a great premium. A Diamond Solitaire Ring of good clarity and size (lot 524) sold for £13,500 while a pretty Three Stone Diamond Ring of good colour, cut and clarity as well as having a high quality setting (lot 526) was chased to £7,200. A Fine Line Bracelet with a diamond setting (lot 542) made £5,600.
Jewellery with an historical style always sells well if of high quality. An Holbeinesque Pendant, Pair of Brooches and one Earing (lot 465) set with sapphires, diamonds and pearls and enriched in enamel colours sold for £4,500 despite damages and losses.
Lot 707
In the watches section an early 18
th Century Gold Pair Cased Verge Clockwatch, signed Jos Windmills, London 1701 (lot 707) that looked as if it had come straight from the pocket of a well to do 18
th Century gentleman (in other words in beautiful original condition) sold for £22,000. The watch comes from the much favoured Golden Age of British clock and watch making. It had the most exquisite pierced case, gold champlevé dial, and was in working order.
Lot 900
Lot 976
In the pictures section: An hilarious cartoon in pencil, pen and ink and watercolours by the inimitable William Heath Robinson (lot 804) entitled ‘The New Crater Crane, Erected by the Vesuvius Golf Club for the Recovery of Lost Balls’ was a blow out at £4,400.
A bid of £26,000 secured a charming Farmstead scene with goats, donkey, doves and poultry by animal specialist painter Edgar Hunt (lot 900) entitled ‘Friends’ signed and dated 1926.
A painting by Sydney Ivon Hitchens (originally donated by the artist to a Red Cross Fundraising sale in 1942) appeared in the sale as part of a private Yorkshire estate. This oil on canvas, signed and dated 1931 was entitled ‘Farm Landscape’ and included a pink pig in the bottom right hand corner (lot 976). This sold for a squeak less than the lower estimate for £28,000.
Tennants equalled the auction price record for a work by one time Harrogate chef, Brian Shields, known as ‘Braaq’ (1951-1997). The work titled ‘Terry!! That Betty Gibson’s Messing with your Ball’ (lot 974), was signed and dated 1976 and sold for £12,000.
Lot 1031
Lot 1106
There was great excitement concerning the sale of a 17th century Gujurat Mother-of-Pearl Dish with later Continental silver mounts (lot 1031). This exotic piece was indistinctly marked, but with its fantastic decorative appeal was pursued on the telephone by a London dealer to £17,000.
£42,000 was bid for a magnificent Victorian Nef (a wheeled Galleon of a type popular on dining tables in the late Renaissance period in Europe). This colossal piece weighed 180oz and was made by Neresheimer & Co of Hanau, and via the import agent Berthold Muller was hallmarked in Chester in 1900 (Lot 1106).
The Taxidermy, Game Trophies and Natural History section of the sale was dominated by an influx of Rhinoceros horns, the majority on original wooden wall shields. The stringent laws governing the sale of old Rhinoceros horns were strictly adhered to by the auctioneers as set by CITES (The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) law, and in addition a permission letter demanded by DEFRA.
A large African White Rhinoceros Horn set of circa 1920 (lot 1306) sold for £155,000 alone, giving a total for the horns sold at the sale of £801,500.
Lot 1399
In the clocks section, a magnificent late 17th century walnut Longcase Clock by Joseph Knibb of London, circa 1690 (lot 1399) caused a telephone bidding war. The piece was fresh from an old Yorkshire estate and apart for a re-built plinth was in almost untouched condition and boasted an excellent provenance to an exhibition at Temple Newsam House, Leeds ‘Exhibition of English Clocks’ 1949, no.21. The clock had also once belonged to Harold Wildsmith Baxter, one of the great post-war collectors of early Early English clocks. Married to the fact this piece was by one of Britains greatest clock makers, Joseph Knibb it was pursued to £85,000. From the same source and in an equally fine richly figured walnut case was an 18th Century Stick Barometer signed Jno Halifax, Barnsley, circa 1730 (lot1404). This maker is known for the distinctive ‘minature long case clock’ shape of his barometers and for the fine quality and finish of the metalwork. Against stiff competition from the room it was successfully purchased by the Yorkshire trade on the telephone for £40,000.
Lot 1633
Lot 1652
In the furniture section an attractive George III Serpentine Chest of good proportions and with a fitted top drawer (lot 1652) realised £12,000. There was only 8% of this section unsold showing there is a strong demand for quality and particularly for attractive soft furnishings and pretty French furniture.
Furniture with a ‘little extra’ character is also in demand- for example a Continental Renaissance Style Gilt and Malachite Veneered Centre Table (lot 1631) sold for £6,600, a French Bureau Plat (lot 1610) sold for £5,400 and a Louis XV style desk (lot 1651) at £10,000. Classic English seating furniture continues to sell well- the Regency Bergere Chair (lot 1565) reached £2,700 and an Early Georgian Wing Back Chair (lot 1566) went for £3,300. A big increase in the value of Chinese Furniture was exemplified by which a Chinese Carved Hardwood Display Cabinet of circa 1900 (lot 1633) sold against an estimate of £700-1000 for £7,500 (to a Chinese dealer on the telephone).
Lot 1656
Lot 1673
In the Decorative Arts section a very rare and possibly unique William Moorcroft ‘Big Poppy’ Mantel clock’ (lot 1656) took a spectacular £5,800 against an estimate of £400-600. A private collection of Pilkington’s Royal Lancastrian Lustre Pottery was a sell out- the two top lots being a Vase decorated by Richard Joyce, painted with three big cats (lot 1673) at £3,200 and another Vase decorated by William S Mycock with rampant lions (lot 1679) which roared away at £2,600
If you have any further enquiries regarding this sale or our future sales, please contact Adam Schoon or Gussie Wood on telephone 01969 623 780