Wessex Auction Rooms - January 2024
We have a saying a Wessex Auction Rooms that goes 'The Only Way Is Wessex' and in January we really do things our way. Rather than ease our way into 2024 with unwanted Quality Street on the reception desk and left over chocolate yule log in the staff kitchen, we take down the decs and get straight to business by having auctions in week one and week two of the new year. It is not only great to get a flying start to the calendar but now it also gives me a chance to give you lovely readers a proper auction report!
We started the year with an Antiques, Collectables and Furniture auction on 6th January, and the first lot of the year set the tone for a fabulous sale. It was a stunning piece from Clarice Cliff, one of the auction worlds 'magic names' of course, sought after by collectors the world over. Most recognised for the 'Bizarre' range produced by Clarice and her 'Bizarre Girls' which were typified by rich colour and abstract design and are considered to be one of the most important ceramists movements during the Art Deco period. The stunning item that we put under the hammer to open 2024 was a single handled jug, stylised with a tree and cottage landscape and dated around 1931, it was marked to the base 'Clarice Cliff for Newport Pottery Bizarre Fantasque' and had a beautiful tactile ribbed ground. It oozed style and elegance and bidding was fierce both in the room and online before it finally sold £2,160 including buyer’s premium.
Another of Britain’s most popular designers of interior collectables was also well represented within the auction as we were selling a private collection of Whitefriars glass that had made the trip across the Severn from a vendor in Wales. The company was around for many years before him, but it was the work of designer Geoffrey Baxter that has given Whitefriars such a strong following among collectors. Baxter joined the company as a designer in 1954 and launched his textured glass range in 1967 and it is this textured glass range that has become one of the 20th Centuries must haves. Mid-20th Century decorative arts is currently experiencing a prolonged period of popularity with new young collectors joining the market as they look for colourful, unique and most importantly original pieces to dress their houses. When you can attract the 'fresh blood' into the market with the traditional established buyers it creates an exciting demand at auction, something we experienced first hand on 6th January. There were over 20 Whitefriars pieces within the auction including the most famous of Baxter's designs, the Drunken Bricklayer. For those not familiar, this is a piece of glassware that looks like three bricks loosely built up on top of the other, loosely because the bricklayer must have been, well, drunk! The example we were selling wasn't in the most popular of colourways such as tangerine, blue or aubergine, but rather a pewter, and yet it still reached a selling price of £336 inc BP. The highest selling item of the Whitefriars collection was of a tangerine cello vase (it looks like a cello!) circa 1969 and sold for £456 plus BP, interestingly this is an item that often sells below the £250 mark around the auction world – so a fine example of a great start and great audience at Wessex in 2024.
Vintage advertising signs are always something that turn heads in the saleroom as a wonderful form of social history. Lot 153 in this auction was a ‘Rowntree's Elect Cocoa, makers to H.M the King’ enamel sign, with white lettering on a cobalt blue ground, it measured in at 61cm wide x 5cm high which made it sweet enough in proportion to display in any home. While all enamel signs have value, it is always extra special to have a well-known brand, such as Rowntree's, as the modern buyer can relate to a sign over 100 years old. The single sided sign, in good condition, sold for a £1,275 inc BP.
Week two of the new year brought our first specialist Toy auction of the year and as many of you will know from episodes of BBC Bargain Hunt, I love my toys! The auction was a fantastic example of how popular the toy market continues to be. Whilst collectors of Hornby model railway and Star Wars figures probably couldn't be more different, they are both drawn together by the exact same pull of nostalgia towards their youth. The highest selling item of the auction actually wasn't a toy but a collection of 2000AD comics featuring a near complete run from issue 1 to 850 which sold for £2,160 inc BP due to the fantastic condition.
The sale itself kicked off with our model railway section which featured a collection of OO gauge railway, predominantly Triang examples, that was brought to us by a family in Essex. The collection was very large and divided into nearly 100 lots in order to assure it achieved its full potential and contained numerous locomotives, rolling stock, trackside buildings and many accessories. The collection would have made for a wonderful lay-out if one had a spare room, or nine, in which to lay it out! Unsurprisingly the items brought a busy room of bidders to go with the online finger tappers and the collection totalled £17,160 inc BP. On this occasion, the only way was actually Essex!
Another extensive collection that we had the pleasure of dealing with came from just across our Wiltshire borders and into Somerset. It featured the British institution of Doctor Who. The vendor had amassed a collection of books, toys, figures and collectables all relating to The Doctor which sold for £5,280 inc BP. My favourite of this collection was a limited-edition Danbury Mint 'A Mighty Battle Between Good and Evil' chess set. Importantly with any chess set it was complete with all of its pieces, was made from pewter, and even included its booklet. The item sold for £408 inc BP.
It feels great to be up and running after the Christmas break and we have a packed calendar of over 40 auctions in 2024, so I am looking forward to seeing all of our buyers and sellers over the coming weeks and months.
Wessex Auction Rooms are always consigning for forthcoming auctions and welcome entries Mon-Fri 9-5 at our auction rooms just off J17 of the M4 (Chippenham) with no appointment necessary, or on an appointment basis at our central Bath office, or at your home.Contact the team on 01249 720888 or email enquiries@wessexauctionrooms.co.uk