Clarks of Liskeard kicked off 2018 with a record sale for New Years Day, achieving their highest averages per lot sold.
The modern Moorcroft pottery got the ball rolling with all bar two pieces selling, one piece making £600 at the hammer! These were followed was the blue & white transferware plates of which every lot sold including a Staffordshire US steamer plate at £100 & a dozen dinner plates at £250. The mixed ceramics also did extremely well with every lot bar two selling, again mostly above guide price including a Royal Crown Derby Royal Antoinette service which made £1900, a delft wall sconce at £390 & a bellarine jug making £160.
The unusual collection of Victorian toilets fared very well granted condition. The undamaged lots exceeded expectations with a polychrome toilet making £220 & a Georgian commode securing £200. A porcelain fountain by Johnson Brothers saw the internet beat determined room interest at £440. Even the toilet seats did well with one making £110 & a Doulton toilet chain made £120!
Every single stamp lot entry sold for healthy prices despite all being rather modern even one coin cover made £200 at the hammer as interest flooded in. Many of the reclamation items also sold with £200 for a pair of iron firedogs being achieved & £150 for a iron fireback. The £130 online bids for a pair of Stanley 98 & 99 planes surprised a few as the sale was swamped with bids from all over the world. Auctioneer Paul Clark explained “I normally achieve 140 bids per hour for live bidding internet sales but could barely get above 110 due to sheer volume of interest in the sale & the odd prolonged bidding war”.
The sale scaled new heights when two tiny tribal art carved marine tooth figures, shown above, arrived on the scene. Pre-sale interest in these was strong but many folk played their cards late as bidding opened at just £50. Room interest took them into the low hundreds before the internet took them over £1000. As the internet battled it out a loan phone bidder waited quietly in the wings before driving the price up from £5000 to a whopping £8600 before being edged out by the determined internet interest. Auctioneer Paul Clark says “These two carved amulets were the first thing I was drawn to when I saw the entered lots. I thought they’d make high hundreds or very low four figures with the right type of marketing but only dreamed they could do this well – I am so pleased for the vendor”.
Military items also saw masses of interest. A Ketland flintlock saw interest at £1700 while a WW2 Japanese samurai sword made £860. An Enfield musket won internet bids of £560 & a 15thC. polearm made £480. It was the bayonets though that saw greatest interest. Being small & easy to display, pound for pound there are becoming a red hot collectors item & £340 for a German sawback backed this up with £230 for a similar Swiss one. The swords did remarkable money with an officer’s sword making £480 & another similar French sword securing £400.
The sale thumped home interest across the board with decorative items doing very well. A German ting tang clock secured £440 & a French gilt bronze clock a massive £880, both bucking the current trends. A French bronze figure by Rousseau was won with room interest beating the online interest at £1500.
It didn’t stop there though. With Christmas just a week or so ago there were plenty of folk buying themselves gifts. A diamond solitaire of just 1.6ct made a superb £3900, double its estimate & a diamond line necklace also got home a £4200. A 2ct solitaire of modest clarity made £2400 whilst a stunning kunzite ring surrounded by the whitest diamonds was won at £2000. A silver chocolate pot made £1350 & a small pair of silver Chinese candlesticks were won with bids of £440 by a USA bidder.
Entries are invited now for our next specialist sale to be held on February 19th.