Clevedon Salerooms held their latest Interiors sale at the Kenn Road Auction Centre on Thursday 29th January. With a bumper offering of over 600 lots, enthusiastic bidding throughout the sale saw auctioneers rewarded with an impressive selling rate and a raft of exceptionally strong prices.
Adding some showbiz sparkle to the packed saleroom were the teams from BBC’s Travelling Auctioneers. Celebrity auctioneers James ‘J.B.’ Broad and Clevedon Salerooms’ own Izzie Balmer certainly seemed to enjoy their day at the salerooms and indulged in some good-humoured banter on and off screen. No spoilers, you’ll have to tune-in later in the year to find out how they got on.
With prices of gold and silver at record highs there were no prizes for guessing where the day’s top performing lots were to be found achieving the sort of prices more usually found in a quarterly Fine Art sale. Chief amongst them was a 14ct yellow metal flat curb link necklace, stamped '585', 91.5cm long and weighing in at a mighty 145g approx, which sold for an impressive £8,400. A 14ct yellow metal flat curb link bracelet, weighing 35.46g approx. sold for £2,200, whilst a white and yellow metal diamond multi-stone bracelet sold for £1,400. A very elegant 9ct gold serpent / snake collar necklace, having emerald eyes, set three rubies on the head, and a line of rubies to the tip of the tail, sold for £1,300. An emerald and diamond collar necklace, stamped '750 18K' sold £1,200 and a 9ct gold snap bangle with foliate decoration, sold for £1,000.
Then it was gold coins, where the impressive results continued: two Elizabeth II gold proof limited edition five-pound coins commemorating the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt, boxed and with its certificate sold for £3,800 each. Sovereigns continued their seemingly irrepressible rise. Full sovereigns sold for £800 and half-sovereigns over £400. Then it was the turn of silver to shine. For so long the Cinderella of the auction room, silver is now reaching price levels unseen since Margaret Thatcher first came to power in the late 1970s. Leading the way, a quantity of early 20th century Continental standard cutlery, eight person setting weighing 2290g approximately which sold for £1,000. A set of four Victorian silver toasting goblets or champagne coupes sold for £800. A collection of GB silver coinage, 1920 to 1946, weighing 740g sold for £680. Then it was the usual smorgasbord which are the hallmark of the Interiors sales. Anyone with something to celebrate would have been well-served with a Waterford Crystal 'Millennium' pattern champagne bucket together with eleven matching flutes, which sold for £480. ‘Dobbin’ a 'Classic Rocking Horse of Thirsk', dapple grey rocking horse on trestle base romped home to sell for £420. A Loetz iridescent green glass and silver overlay Crete Papillon vase, sold for £380 and a Marguerite E. Bayley (British, 20th century) woodcut engraving 'The Smithy' sold for £360. Finally, we discovered the answer to what every best dressed home should not be without – a pair of 1970s G-Plan swivel armchairs which offered His and Hers James Bond style glamour sold for £340. Clevedon Salerooms’ next Interiors sale will be on Thursday 19th February and the next Fine Art sale will be on 12th March, for which entries are now invited.