Tennants Summer Sale of fine art and antiques, the fascinating range of which included a stuffed Hyena, a Victorian Concert Harp, a collection of Walking Sticks and a 1973 Datsun Sports Car realised a hammer total of £1.3 million.

The first day of the sale saw some exceptionally high prices for the world-famous Royal Worcester Porcelain with a 1950’s Tea Service (lot 50) painted by John Freeman with a mouthwatering assortment of apples, peaches, grapes and other fruits selling for £11,000 (estimate £2,000 -£3,000) and a pair of Fruit Painted Pot Pourri Vases and Covers (lot 56) selling for £5,800 (estimate £1,200 - £1,800).

How do so many early 18th Century wine glasses, often very delicate in design, survive?  Two that did were bought by serious glass collectors - a single Baluster Wine Glass (lot 24), circa 1730 sold for £2,100 (estimate £200-£300) and a Heavy Baluster Wine Goblet (lot 26), circa 1710 sold for £2,600 (estimate £300-£500).

The Thornton Collection of Parian (Part II) totalled £57,000, with a Minton figure circa 1873 entitled ‘Flower of the Field’ selling for £1,100 (estimate £400-£600) and  a Belleek figure circa 1870 entitled ‘ Erin Unveiling Her First Pot’ selling for £1,000 (estimate £400-£600).  Also a Rare Staffordshire Parian Bust of Captain Matthew Webb (lot 260) circa 1875 sold for £950 (estimate £800-£1,200). He was the first man to swim the English Channel from Dover to Calais on 24th-25th August 1875 in twenty-one hours and forty-five minutes, covering a total distance of fifty miles. Also, in the British Ceramics section and making an impactive ‘interior decoration’ statement was an extensive Spode Blue and White ‘Caramanian’ Pattern Dinner Service, circa 1820 (lot 280) sold for £6,000 (estimate £1,500-£2,000).

Tennants sales always include interesting Oriental Ceramics and Works of Art which are currently enjoying a boom in price in the face of China’s rapid economic growth.  This sale was no exception - a Japanese Carved Ivory Large Figure of a Smiling Countryman with Rabbits (lot 341) from the Meiji period (1868-1912) sold for £10,500 (estimate £5,000-£7,000), a Chinese Export Armorial Dish (lot 333) from the early Qianlong period (1736-1795) sold for £1,600 (estimate £500-800) and a Silver Mounted and Japanese Shibayama Decorated Large Sectional Tusk Handled Vase (lot 340), circa 1900 sold for £2,800 (estimate £1,800-2,500).

On day two, in the Sporting and Natural History section (which as a separate section totalled £150,000), as well as the antlers and head mounts, the furniture made from antlers sold particularly well and the sale attracted bidders from around the world including Korea, Taiwan, China, Holland and Germany.  Two Fallow and Red Deer Antler Armchairs (lot 850) sold for £4,600 (estimate £1,400-£1,800) and a German Antler Mounted Wall Mirror, circa 1880 (lot 845), sold to a London restaurant owner for £900 (estimate £300-£500).  Of the Big Game Trophies, the highest price was for a White Rhino head (lot 923), part of the Barry Bartle Collection, which sold for £24,000 (estimate £4,000-£6,000).  This is believed to be a world record price for a taxidermy rhino head.  Also a Black Rhino head (lot 966) sold for £18,000 (£3,000-£5,000).  Both rhinos pre-dated 1947, so were not subject to current legislation.  A fine Male Lion head (lot 939) sold for £5,500 (estimate £700-£1,000) and a Moose head sold on behalf of a German client (lot 840) sold for £5,500 (estimate £1,000 - £1,500).

In the Pictures section, an exceptional price was paid for a painting by the Swiss artist, Johann Rudolf Weiss (born 1846) of a Palace Guard examining a Pistol in an elaborately decorated Middle Eastern interior (lot 1246), which sold for £42,000.

In the Clocks section an impressive Dutch Burr Walnut Inlaid Ship’s Automaton Longcase Clock signed Jan Hermelink (lot 1448), circa 1760 sold for £8,000 (estimate £6,000-£8,000) to a British buyer despite intense phone competition from several Dutch clock dealers.

The Furniture Section was a near sell-out totalling over £330,000 giving credence to a general strengthening of confidence in this sector of the antiques market. An 18th Century Chinese Export Lacquer Dressing Table (lot 1640) sold for £9,000, an 18th Century Dutch Walnut and Later Inlaid Bureau (lot 1513) sold for £4,200 and a George IV Mahogany Extending Dining Table (lot 1619) sold for £7,200.

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Lot 50

Sold for £11,000

Lot 341

Sold for £10,500

Lot 923

Sold for £24,000

Lot 1246

Sold for £42,000