Silke Lohman on hunting for treasure
It’s that time of year when, once Christmas is out of the way, we tend to have a couple of quiet months and try to sort through documents and make attempts at Mary Kondoing our homes. This time, keep in mind that while some of those discarded items may not be to your taste (perhaps you inherited them from a great aunt and they went straight into the garage or attic), they may be worth more than you think, or at least they might be loved by someone else.
So this year, why not take some of the items found during your clear-out to a local auction house. But, be aware that some houses only deal in high value lots, or specialise in certain areas. Some have auctions that are very specific to collectors’ interests: Asian art, for example, or furniture and jewellery. Other houses are happy to sell all sorts of low-value items, too. It’s best to call and check before you go to a valuation day or send images to one of their specialists. Have a look on their websites and see if similar items have sold recently, and if they are likely to include it.
Don’t expect one of those wonderful Antiques Roadshow moments, where the expert studies your object and immediately tells you it is a long lost Fabergé egg. However, you may still be surprised that something you’d always thought wasn’t worth much turns out to be worth a few quid.
In 2024, Bellmans’ specialists found various things at the back of a cupboard or the bottom of a drawer that their owners hadn’t paid any attention to. A rare embroidered miniature of Charles I after Anthony van Dyck’s court portrait of 1632 (of which a similar one can be found in the Met Museum in New York) sold for £8,000, while a Royal Doulton prototype model of a ‘Boy on a tortoise’ sold for £18,000.
Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers, meanwhile, has a reputation for bringing private collections to the open market. For example, this autumn the firm held a highly successful sale for the collection of David and Pam McCleave, a couple who shared a passion for art and built up close friendships with artists, and loved visiting galleries. Their taste was eclectic, ranging from works by key 20th-century painters and illustrators, such as Sir Alfred Munnings, Ruskin Spear, Terence Cuneo, and Richard Hamilton, to ‘Mac’ cartoons, photographs of the Swinging Sixties by Terry O’Neil and David Bailey, and drawings and ephemera relating to the Profumo affair. The couple’s eye for collecting drove the auction to achieve a grand total of £1,475,539 (including buyer’s premium).
At Burstow & Hewett, a mixed lot of vintage toys, marbles, a rifle, and Marklin spinners and butterflies had been estimated at £40-£70, but ended up selling for £2,800! The very rare German handmade Joseph’s Coat marbles, which were made from around 1850 until the 1920s and loved for their colours, were the reason why this lot superseded all expectations. Turns out it’s worth keeping your marbles.
Gorringe’s sold a small Minton majolica box and cover, which they catalogued as ‘possibly after a design by Christopher Dresser’, for £2,200. The oriental bombe-shaped censor, with a cover topped by a bird, dated from c1880 and was designed in the Aesthetic style.
Last year Toovey’s sold an early 16thcentury tin-glazed earthenware for 130 times its top estimate: £39,000.
So you may have a lovely surprise on auction day. But do check what percentage of the hammer price you have pay the auction house to avoid any nasty surprises.
Enjoy your treasure hunt.
Silke Lohman is a freelance art consultant at Bellman’s and Summers Place auction houses who has previously worked for Sotheby’s, New Bond Street. She is the founder of Exclamation PR.
| bellmans.co.uk | |
| Jan 13 – 14 | Antiques & Interiors (Carpets, Furniture, Jewellery, Decorative Objects) |
| burstowandhewett.co.uk | |
| Dec 12 | Fine Antique Sale (Antiques, Oriental, Furniture, Objet d’ Art) |
| Dec 12 | Fine Art & Sculpture |
| gorringes.co.uk | |
| Dec 2 | Weekly, featuring Mid Century Furniture & Vinyl |
| Dec 3 | Pictures: Old Master to Modern British |
| Dec 16 | Weekly, House & Gardens |
| Jan 13 | Weekly, featuring Textiles |
| Jan 27 | Weekly, featuring Music & Science |
| tooveys.com | |
| Dec 4 | Antiquarian & Collectors’ Books |
| Dec 5 | British & Continental Ceramics |
| Dec 5 | Glassware |
| Jan 22 | Decorative Pictures, Silver & Plate, Jewellery |
| Jan 23 | Furniture, Collectors’ Items & Works of Art, Rugs & Carpets |
| Jan 30 | Asian & Islamic Ceramics & Works of Art |
| Feb 13 | British & Continental Ceramics & Glassware |
| Feb 19 | Prints, Maps & Posters, Silver & Plate, Jewellery |
| Feb 20 | Furniture, Collectors’ Items & Works of Art, Needleworks & Textiles, Rugs & Carpets |
| sworder.co.uk | |
| Dec 3/4 | Fine Interiors |
| Dec 10 | Homes & Interiors |
| Jan 14 | Homes & Interiors |
| Jan 28 | Design |
| Feb 4 | Homes & Interiors |
| Feb 11 | Holkham Hall | The Attic Sale |
| Feb 18 | Guinevere Antiques | The Last Hurrah! |
| Feb 25 | Homes and Interiors |
| Feb 26 | Jewellery |
| henryadamsfineart.co.uk | |
| Dec 12 | An Antiques & Collectables Auction to include Wines & Spirits |
| Jan 23/24 | A Two Day Art & Antiques Auction to include Silver & Jewellery |