Soup tureen prototype takes £115,000 bid in Woking

This silver-gilt centrepiece is believed to be a prototype for a set of four soup tureens in the Royal Collection designed by John Flaxman (1756-1826) and made by John Bridge (1755-1834) for George IV.

Weighing 361oz and measuring 17½ x 18in (44 x 45cm), it is engraved with two armorials of the John Mayne family and is struck with two makers' marks: one for John Bridge, London 1823 to the shell, the other the mark of Richard Garrard, London 1847 to the pedestal.

Estimated at £20,000-30,000, it established a new house record for Woking saleroom Barbers on September 10 when it sold for £115,000 (plus 18% buyer's premium) to a London dealer after a battle between seven telephone bidders, three of whom were prepared to bid over £100,000.