LONDON.- The sale, which was their 20th since the auction house was established in 2012, comprised almost 470 lots of furniture, textiles, paintings, ceramics, silver, jewellery, toys and militaria, however it was the 200 plus lots of jewellery that dominated much of the sale, closely followed by the silver, which included a fine pair of Paul Storr silver entrée dishes and covers which sold for £3,068, against an estimate of £800 - £1,200 [lot 126]. These fought off competition and were eventually sold privately in the room.

As Auctioneer Catherine Southon noted after the sale: ”It was both quantity and quality of the jewellery in this auction which resulted in standing room only during much of the sale.”

The star lot was undoubtedly lot 344 - an 8.5ct. diamond set ring, which had been estimated at £15,000 - £20,000. The ring had been found locally in the borough of Bromley - a local client had had it in her family for generations and just kept it in the bank with nobody wearing it - she was delighted at the final price. After some brisk bidding from the room and internet, it came down to a battle between 3 telephone bidders and was eventually bought by a private bidder for £27,140, which was a record price for a single item for the saleroom.

A close runner up was a good quality Art Deco 2.5ct. Diamond set ring. What it lacked in size, it made up for in quality and after some fierce bidding among 5 telephone bidders, it was sold for £12,390 [Lot 392]

Barbara Dixon, Head of the Jewellery Department, commented: “Having set the tone for the rest of the section; the jewellery went from strength to strength. Bidding was competitive between the room, the internet and telephone bidders with the majority of lots selling above estimate and resulting in a 95% sold rate.”

Other notable items throughout the sale included a 19th century Chinese carved pale celadon jade figure of Guanyin with child in her arms seated upon a kirin which sold for £3,068 [lot 199]. The jade belonged to a private family who didn’t really take any notice of it in a display cabinet - they were completely shocked when initially said it was interesting and amazed at the price it fetched - they live in Purley.

Elsewhere, the Textiles attracted significant interest with a Victorian sampler selling for £1,888 [lot 21] and a flamboyant 1920s silk brocade ladies Chinese style 'dragon' opera coat realising £496 [lot 26]. Among the Ceramics and glass was a William Moorcroft 'Moonlit Blue' landscape pattern small jardiniere which sold for £767 [lot 84].

A delightful oil on board titled ‘Beachside’ by Morgan Rendle (British 1889-1952) sold for £732 [lot 33].