£250K of antiques found in a council flat after death of elderly owner who lived like a pauper

It was  an unlikely place to find a treasure trove of exquisite antiques.

When auctioneer Martin Lawrence was called to the rundown two-bedroomed council flat following the death of the elderly man who lived there, he expected no more than a routine valuation of humdrum household items.

But it didn’t take long for him to realise that he was in for a treat.

For among the items buried under boxes of junk was a 170-year-old Native American bowl which was to sell at auction for £70,000.

A 2ft solid silver trophy presented to a captain of Nelson’s navy in 1796, found under a bed, fetched more than £10,000.

In all, the hoard was to raise £250,000 at auction.

Mr Lawrence went to the flat in Southsea, Hampshire, following the death of a man in his 80s last year.

He was faced with piles of old newspapers, cardboard boxes and old mattresses obstructing entire rooms but by the end of the clearing operation   300 antiques had been unearthed.

Mr Lawrence, of Jacobs & Hunt auctioneers in Petersfield, Hampshire, said: ‘It was meant to be a straightforward probate of the contents but it became apparent as we started that this was something quite special.

‘The items were either stuffed in boxes, left in sideboards and cupboards, lying on the floor or under the bed and in almost every nook and cranny.’

Other pieces that were sold at auction last month included a Chinese jade ornament in the shape of a fish worth £12,000.

A pair of 19th century pistols sold for £3,400 and an 18-carat white gold diamond ring went for £2,600.

The pensioner who lived in the flat is thought to have inherited the collection from his parents who were well-known antique dealers in London at the time of the Second World War.

Mr Lawrence said: ‘You could just tell the collection had been in the same place for many years. A neighbour said he was a nice man but they had no idea of what his flat was like.’

The star item, which attracted bids from collectors in Canada, New York and Australia, was the Native American bowl, carved into the shape of a seal.

It would have been used by the Haida tribe to serve rich foods at feasts in the early to mid-19th century.

Mr Lawrence said: ‘It was kept in the back of a kitchen cupboard and luckily hadn’t been used for many years.’

Valuable 'junk': An 18 carat gold white diamond ring worth £2,600 which was found in the two bedroom property in Southsea

Antique: George III Irish Mahogany Serving Table which made £6,800 when it went under the hammer after being found in a squalid flat

Source: Daily Mail

UK Auctioneers.com

Would you fork out £17million for this bowl?

 Chinese Song dynasty dish smashes record price

At a glance this plain bowl could be mistaken for something you would use to heat up your beans in the microwave without a second thought.

But the simple light blue glaze with fine crackling and indents in the rim resembling a flower tell the expert observer that this is actually a 900-year-old Chinese dish.

And after a fierce bidding war between eight desperate buyers, it sold for £17million at auction in Hong Kong, smashing the record for Chinese Song dynasty ceramics sold at auction.

Last Titanic menu fetches £76,000…

menu of the last meal served to first-class passengers on board the Titanic has sold for £76,000.

It was among hundreds of items from the ship auctioned in Wiltshire ahead of the 100th anniversary of its sinking in the Atlantic Ocean.

The menu was dated 14 April 1912, the day the liner hit an iceberg and sank, killing 1,522 people.

It featured several courses, such as eggs Argenteuil, consomme fermier and chicken a la Maryland.

'Finest restaurant'

Auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said: "It's a fascinating snapshot of life on board as a first-class passenger.

"What we have to consider is that the Titanic was regarded as the finest restaurant afloat and this does illustrate that point. There are over 40 different options for one lunch."

The menu was on the table of the first-class passenger Dr Washington Dodge, a prominent banker from San Francisco who was with his wife and son. The letter had been in Ruth Dodge's purse when she escaped on board a lifeboat.

She and her son survived the tragedy.

Other items sold at the auction included a set of keys for the storeroom where the ship's lifeboat lanterns were kept.

The keys, which were used by crewman Samuel Hemming, sold for £59,000 to an American collector.

"The keys themselves played a part in the story as they were actually used in those last desperate hours," said Mr Aldridge.

"This is because Mr Hemming received a personal order from the captain as the ship was sinking and it became apparent all was lost to ensure all of the lifeboats were provided with lamps."

One letter auctioned off for £29,000 to a UK collector was written by the second in command of the Titanic, Chief Officer Henry Wilde.

Mr Wilde was deputy to Captain EJ Smith and died in the disaster.

In the letter to his family, written on Titanic letter-headed stationery, he praises the Titanic, describing her as a "wonderful ship the latest thing in shipbuilding".

A second letter, which sold for £39,000, was written by James Arthur Paignton, the captain's steward.

The auction took place at Henry Aldridge and Sons auction house in Devizes on Saturday afternoon.

Source: BBC NEWS

UK AUCTIONEERS

Menu from Titanic’s Last Lunch to be Sold on her 100th Anniversary…

Henry Aldridge and Son, the worlds leading auctioneers of Titanic memorabilia are holding an auction of Titanic collectables to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the completion of the Royal Mail Steamer Titanic on March 31st 2012. The sale will be 100 years to the day after Titanic was finished at Harland and Wolff. RMS Titanic left Belfast on April 2nd 1912, the start of a journey, which ended in tragedy in the cold North Atlantic on April 14th 1912 with the loss of over 1500 lives.

The star of the auction is one of the rarest items of Titanic memorabilia to be sold in recent years. Any menu from the Titanic is highly prized but collectors will be offered the opportunity of a lifetime, when a First Class Menu from the last lunch ever held on-board the Titanic goes under the auctioneers hammer on March 31st. The menu carries the all-important date of April 14th and gives the reader a fascinating insight into the culinary life of Titanic’s elite passengers.

The cream of Edwardian society was aboard and it gives us a snapshot into what they ate on the last lunch served on the ship. Served over several courses the passengers had the choice of Egg A Argenteuil, Consommé Fermier, Chicken a ‘la Maryland or Galantine of Chicken to name but a few of the 40 options on offer. The menu was the property of First Class Passenger Dr Washington Dodge who was a prominent banker from San Francisco, he boarded the Titanic with his wife Ruth and son Washington Junior, the family occupied cabin A-34 and held ticket number 33636 which cost £81 17s 2d.

Shortly after arriving in New York aboard the rescue ship Carpathia Dr Dodge was interviewed and gave his account of the last hours of the ship.

"We had retired to our stateroom, and the noise of the collision was not at all alarming. We had just fallen asleep. My wife awakened me and said that something had happened to the ship. We went on deck and everything seemed quiet and orderly. he orchestra was playing a lively tune. They started to lower the lifeboats after a lapse of some minutes. There was little excitement as the lifeboats were being launched; many of the first-cabin passengers expressed their preference of staying on the ship. The passengers were constantly being assured that there was no danger, but that as a matter of extra precaution the women and children should be placed in the lifeboats. Everything was still quiet and orderly when I placed Mrs. Dodge and the boy in the fourth or fifth boat. I believe there were 20 boats lowered away altogether. I did what I could to help in keeping order, as after the sixth or seventh boat was launched the excitement began. Some of the passengers fought with such desperation to get into the lifeboats that the officers shot them, and their bodies fell into the ocean. It was 10:30 when the collision occurred, and 1:55 o'clock when the ship went down, Major Archibald Butt stood with John Jacob Astor as the water rolled over the Titanic. I saw Colonel Astor, Major Butt and Captain Smith standing together about 11:30 o'clock. There was absolutely no excitement among them. Captain Smith said there was no danger. The starboard side of the Titanic struck the big berg and the ice was piled up on the deck. None of us had the slightest realization that the ship had received its death wound. Mrs. [Isidor] Straus showed most admirable heroism. She refused in a very determined manner to leave her husband, although she was twice entreated to get into the boats. Straus declined with great for to get in the boat while any women were left. I wish you would say for me that Colonel Astor, Major Butt, Captain Smith and every man in the cabins acted the part of a hero in that awful night. As the excitement began I saw an officer of the Titanic shoot down two steerage passengers who were endeavoring to rush the lifeboats. I have learned since that twelve of the steerage passengers were shot altogether, one officer shooting down six. The first-cabin men and women behaved with great heroism."

“One of the stewards of the Titanic, with whom Mrs. and Mrs. Dodge had crossed the Atlantic before on the Olympic, knew them well. He recognized Dodge as the thirteenth boat was being filled. The steerage passengers were being shot down and some of the steerage passengers were stabbing right and left in an endeavor to reach the boat. The thirteenth boat was filled on one side with children, fully 20 or 30 of them, and a few women. All in the boat were panic-stricken and screaming.

The steward had been ordered to take charge of the thirteenth, and, seizing Dodge, pushed him into the boat, exclaiming that he needed his help in caring for his helpless charges. Dodge said that when the boats were drawing away from the ship they could hear the orchestra playing "Lead, Kindly Light," and rockets were going up from the Titanic in the wonderfully clear night. "We could see from the distance that two boats were being made ready to be lowered. The panic was in the steerage, and it was that portion of the ship that the shooting was made necessary.

"I will never forget," Mrs. Dodge said, "the awful scene of the great steamer as we drew away. From the upper rails heroic husbands and fathers were waving and throwing kisses to their womenfolk in the receding lifeboats."

The steward that Dr Dodge referred to in his interview was Frederick Dent Ray, the menu carries a hand written inscription on its reverse With compliments & best wishes from Frederic Dent Ray, 56 Palmer Park, Reading, Berks". The menu itself is said to have survived the sinking in Mrs Dodge’s purse and has remained with the Dodge family since.

This remarkable relic from one of the most infamous nights of the 20th century carries a pre sale estimate of £60000-£100000.

Contact Alan or Andrew Aldridge on 0044 1380 729199 or andrew@henry-aldridge.co.uk for further details

Slice of Queen’s wedding cake, discovered in a filing cabinet, sells for £1,100

A piece of the Queen’s wedding cake, discovered last year in a filing cabinet at a hospice, has sold for £1,100.

Antique dealer Gordon Watson, a regular on the Channel 4 show Four Rooms, bought the slice of royal memorabilia to commemorate the Jubilee.

It was one of the items being sold on the programme by hospice fundraiser Dean Hutchings.

Important piece: Antiques dealer Gordon Watson bought the slice of royal wedding cake, and says he loves it. 'It's our Queen - we are about to celebrate her Jubilee - marrying her prince,' he said

Mr Watson said: ‘I can’t quite believe it but I love that piece of cake. I really do. I think it’s an amazing piece of history. It’s our Queen - we are about to celebrate her Jubilee – marrying her prince. I think it’s such an important piece.'

Wrapped in cellophane, in a box inscribed with the words: 'Buckingham Palace 20th November 1947,' the cake was given to CH Spackman, one of the couple’s guards of honour, at their Westminster Abbey wedding.

It came with a greeting card, which read: 'With the best wishes of Their Royal Highnesses The Princess Elizabeth and The Duke of Edinburgh.'

After Mr Spackman died, it was given to the Princess Alice Hospice, in Esher, Surrey, in the 1990s by a supporter in the hope that it could be auctioned to raise funds.

However it lay in the drawer of a filing cabinet until charity worker Anna Fiddimore found it when she was sorting out the archives for the hospice’s 25th anniversary.

Extravagant: The official cake for the wedding of Princess Elizabeth to Duke of Edinburgh was a lavish affair, nine-foot high and boasting four tiers

She said: ‘I used to work in Harrods and dealt with some members of the royal family there, so I have a fascination with all things in the past. It was a quite extraordinary find, especially since it was just sitting among some old archives.

'It was old and a strange colour. It’s not much to look at and I certainly didn’t consider having a bite to see what it tasted like.’

Made by McVitie and Price – who made a chocolate biscuit cake for Prince William’s wedding to the Duchess of Cambridge – Queen Elizabeth’s cake weighed 500 pounds.

Ceremony: The Duke of Edinburgh, pictured leaving Westminster Abbey after the ceremony, cut the cake with his sword

Dubbed the 10,000 mile wedding cake, because the ingredients were donated by the Australian Girl Guides and the rum and brandy came from South Africa, the cake featured four tiers and was nine-foot tall.

Prince Philip cut the cake using his sword and it was then served to 2,000 guests at their reception at Buckingham Palace. One layer was kept until the christening of Prince Charles and another was sent back to Australia by way of thanks.

But it was not the only nuptial loaf served in the palace’s Blue Drawing Room. Ten other wedding cakes were given to the royal couple, some of which were donated to hospitals.

The slice found at Esther Hospice is not the only piece that has survived into the 21st century. Widow Beryl Hume, from West Didsbury, Manchester, also owns a chunk that belonged to her late husband Sam, who was also a guard-of-honour. But she does not plan to sell it.

‘It's been tucked away in the cupboard all these years and not many people are allowed even to touch it,’ she said.

Source: Daily Mail

UK Auctioneers

Explorer who sketched Captain Scott’s doomed expedition emerge after 100 years..

The evocative ‘lost’ paintings produced by a polar explorer who later perished alongside Captain Scott on his doomed expedition to the South Pole have emerged 100 years on.

Dr Edward Wilson sketched the unforgiving landscapes of Antarctica while the party spent months waiting at base camp before they could set off for the Pole.

The artist was unable to use his watercolour paints outdoors as they would have frozen in the bone-chilling temperatures of -70F.

Desolate: A sunset from Hut Point on April 2nd 1911 by Dr Edward Wilson, from a series of paintings that have only recently reemerged after 100 years

Instead he made pencilled notes about what colours to use on the drawings and then painted them in the comparative warmth of their base hut at Cape Evans.

The paintings produced from April to June 1911 show a snow-covered wilderness shrouded in darkness that only a handful of men had visited before.

One, painted from a hilltop, shows a desolate snowy scene with two tiny figures from the expedition team walking along the sea ice.

Other paintings are of two explorers exercising ponies they took with them and a handful of men heaving sledges across the ice.

Snow on snow: Dr Edward Wilson's sketch of Mount Erebus, one of many landscapes he painted that had only been visited by a handful of men before

Recording memories: Dr Wilson at work on one of his paintings at the explorers' camp in the Antarctic winter

There is a painting of Henry ‘Birdie’ Bowers checking a thermometer under moonlight. He also went on to die on the ill-fated Terra Nova mission.

Another illustration shows a cluster of Emperor Penguins at an ice barrier at Cape Crozier that Dr Wilson spent six weeks travelling to in order to gather rare eggs.

The 17 paintings were recovered from the base hut and published in Scott’s Last Expedition Diaries in 1913, the last time they were assembled together.

Dr Wilson painted explorers on the slopes of Mount Erebus, including Henry 'Birdie' Bower reading the thermometer on the ramp

Observing the conditions: Dr Wilson painted many different geological features of the Antarctic landscape, including a cave in the ice barrier at Cape Crozie and a melted ice at Hut point, sketched from Observation Hill

Walkies: Dr Edward Wilson sketches men on the expedition exercising two of the ponies they had taken with them to the Antarctic

Only one or two were printed in later editions of the book.

Nine of the original paintings were donated by Dr Wilson’s family to a museum in Cumbria, but they have only recently gone on display for the first time.

The 17 images have now been printed in their entirety in a new edition of Scott’s diaries.

Dr Peter Lloyd Jones, chairman of the Captain Scott Society, said: ‘Wilson was a tremendous graphic artist and was considered to be the perfect person to send on the mission.

‘As an illustrator to the expedition and is one of the best artists to have ever gone to Antarctica.

‘He produced some very evocative images under very difficult circumstances. They are pensive and thoughtful images, not incredibly exciting but very reflective.’

Hard work: Six of the explorers pull sledges across the harsh landscape in one of Dr Wilson's paintings

Recorded for posterity: Captain Scott and three explorers make their way across the desolate landscape in a photo showing conditions similar to those painted by Dr Edward Wilson

Endless ice: Dr Wilson's sketch of the Great Ice Barrier, looking east from Cape Crozier

Dr Lloyd Jones added that the pictures have not been distributed widely and until now have been seen by very few people.

While the photographs taken on the expedition have become increasingly accessible, the sketches have not, he said.

After seeing out the austral winter of 1911, Captain Scott’s ‘Polar Party’ of 16 men set off in the November to be the first people to reach the South Pole.

The supporting party of 11 men returned as planned at various stages during the 800 mile trek, leaving Captain Scott, Dr Wilson, Captain Lawrence Oates, Petty Office Edger Evans and Lt Bowers.

Desolate: Dr Wilson looks out west from Cape Evans on to a snow-covered wilderness. Although the conditions were harsh, it was considerably warmer than the conditions the explorers would experience when they began their expedition to the South Pole

Colour breaks through the white landscapes: Iridescent clouds looking north from Cape Evans where the explorers waited for months

Ray of light: The sun lights up the summit of Mount Erebus as the rest of the landscape remains in darkness

Brooding skies: An April sunset from Hut Point, painted by Dr Wilson not long after the explorers arrived at base camp in Antarctica

The men made it to the South Pole on January 17, 1912 only to find Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen had beaten them to it a month before.

On their return journey, the five men endured dreadful conditions and suffered from a lack of food and frostbite.

PO Evans died on February 17 and a flagging Captain Oates famously died on March 16 after walking out of the tent into a blizzard to give the remaining three a chance of survival.

Captain Scott, Dr Wilson and Lt Bowers died in the tent on or about March 29. Their bodies were found eight months later by a rescue party.

Meanwhile as the prints have been reprinted, the centenary of Scott's journey is also being marked by a Polar Sale at Bonhams, which will see items from the voyage and other commemorative pieces go under the hammer.

Scott's final letter, written to Sir Edgar Speyer includes the line  'We have seen the Pole and we shall die like gentlemen'. It was found eight months later by a search party and forms part of the sale to be held on March 30.

A collection of Dunn Bennett bone china from the ward room of the Terra Nova expedition ship will also go on sale, as well as a watch inscribed to Peter Scott in memory of his late father Captain Scott.

Up for auction: The final letter written by Captain Scott before his death, which is to go on sale at Bonhams on March 30

Remembering another time: A silver open face pocket fob watch, inscribed to Peter Scott in memory of his father Captain Scott, which is set to go to auction

From the expedition: A collection of Dunn Bennett bone china from the ward room of the Terra Nova expedition ship, to be part of the Bonhams' Polar Sale at the end of March

Memorial: An embossed and engraved bronzed copper commemorative plaque, headed 'Antarctic Expedition', which forms part of the Polar Sale

An electroplated cruet set from the Terra Nova ship ward room, used by Captain Scott at his last birthday celebration

A menu for a Midwinter Day celebration meal eaten by Captain Scott and his men on June 22, 1911

A letter written by Captain Scott shortly before his death in the Antarctic

A portrait photograph of Captain Robert Falcon Scott (c.1900) with an estimated sale value of £3,000-£5,000

Source: Daily Mail

UK Auctioneers

 

Charles II ‘wanted poster’ sold for £33,000 to resident of Boscobel, UK

The 'wanted poster' sold to a resident of the town where the future Charles II took refuge in a tree

Britain's royal family is at a high point of its historical popularity. It is of course Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee year, and her two grandsons Prince William and Harry (not to mention Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton) are rarely out of the papers with generally very favourable coverage.

But things were not always this way, and an item has just sold reminding us of a historical low - a point at which if things had taken a slightly different turn today's situation would look very different.

A Shropshire auctioneer offered a wanted poster - a proclamation, no less - for the capture of a man who would be king.

In January 30, 1649, Charles I of England was executed by order of Parliament. His son Charles set about trying to raise an army, but in 1651 was defeated at the battle of Worcester and at one point had to hide in an oak tree in Boscobel, Shropshire.

It was from this time that the document offered was issued: a Parliamentary proclamation offering a reward of £1,000 for the capture of "the discovery and apprehending of Charles Stuart and other traitors, his adherents and abettors".

Charles II (Stuart) wanted poster/proclamation

The sum of £1,000 would be worth roughly £75,000 today - a tempting sum for many if they had happened to spot the prince in his arboreal bungalow.

As it was, he survived and a decade later was crowned Charles II - though he dated the start of his reign to the time of his father's death.

The auctioneer had offered the document with a listed price of just £750-1,000, but furious bidding forced it all the way to final staggering price of £33,000. The new owner is believed to be from Boscobel, which probably isn't a coincidence.

Collectors on the look-out for Royal historical documents should take a lot at our collectibles for sale pages. One which certainly marks a turning point in history is Henry VIII's personal divorce plea.

Source:Paul Fraser Collectables

UK Auctioneers