A rare silver Indian Chief’s medal and a pair of 17th century candlesticks were the highest selling lots in Mitchells’ Antiques & Fine Art Sale.
The sale, last week, also included big surprises with several lots exceeding expectations.
The top selling lot was a very rare silver North American Indian Chief’s Medal dated 1814 by T Wyon Junior, also known as the George III Indian Peace Medal, with a bust of George III on the reverse which sold for £3,900.
A pair of William and Mary candlesticks by the Huguenot silversmith Daniel Garnier, circa 1695, sold for £3,500.
The biggest surprise lot in the sale was a 1583 Breeches Bible, with a receipt showing its purchase from Whitehaven antiquarian bookseller Michael J Moon in 1976 for £125.
The Bible had been expected to sell for between £300 to £400 so salegoers were rightly astonished when it reached a final hammer price of £3,400.
An antique Chinese chicken bone jade lotus form brush washer with an estimate of £120-£180 sold for £1,200.
Another surprise quickly followed in the form of two Chinese cigarette cases decorated with dragons with an estimate of £100-£150, both marked Zea Sung who worked in Shanghai from 1910-1950, which made £2,200 for the pair.
Another early unexpected outcome was a Lalique moulded glass vase decorated in relief with leaves measuring 23.5cm in height.
The vase had been given an estimate of £80-£120 but ending up selling for £2,800.
A watercolour of Coniston Water by William Heaton Cooper (1903-1995) did extremely well selling for £1,700 and an oil on canvas painting of ‘Stonethwaite Beck’ by The Lake Artist Society member Vivienne Pooley (b.1944) impressed with a hammer price of £1,600.
A Gillows of Lancaster breakfront desk inlaid with burr wood estimated at £400-£600 also did very well making £1,300. An Edwardian mahogany longcase clock by The Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Company Regent Street London with both Westminster and Whittington chimes also exceeded its £800-£1,200 estimate selling for £1,600. A Georgian brass reflecting telescope by Cole of Fleet Street London with tripod stand estimated at £400-£600 made £1,400.
A bronze sculpture by Duncan MacGregor, Flying Sails (42/150), with a height of 61cms made £880 and a bronze sculpture of an octopus by Chris Borela Scarlett (54/250), sold for £480.
A small collection of vintage illuminated advertising signs made by the Brilliant Sign Company Ltd. London were also popular, the most valuable sign advertising Murphy Radios making £450.
Entries are invited now for Mitchells Vintage & Antique Toy Sale on August 8.
Anyone who has old model trains, cars, dolls, teddy bears or other vintage toys to sell, contact David Lomas on 01900 827800 to find out what they might be worth at auction. Entries close on July 12.
Mitchells now offer free pop-up valuation events at venues around the county.
The next one will be at Victoria Hall in Grange-over-Sands on Saturday July 6 from 10am to 2pm hosted by South Lakes valuer David Brookes, head of antiques & fine art, James Moore, toys and collectables specialist David Lomas and auctioneer & valuer Claire Machin.
