A match-holder in the form of a lady’s leg with garter and shoe, above right catalogued as Continental, silver coloured metal, struck a £280 winning bid while a desk seal on the form of a female bust, Continental, import marks for 1892, brought £150.
Also of interest was the 51/4in (13cm) 51/2oz Russian silver beaker, right, chased with grimacing faces and an inscription, which made £150.
The best of the furniture which dominated the higher prices was also probably from abroad. Estimated at just £400-500, a 19th century looking glass, probably French, with stamped lead surround, 4ft 3in (1.3m) high, in good order ensured bidding went beyond the
conservative £400-500 estimate and it was knocked down at £3800.
English material included a decorative Victorian walnut canterbury which sold at £1250 and a George III mahogany secretaire bookcase, possibly matched, which sold at £2000.
A glimpse of stocking excites novelty market
While classic silver chugs along at prices scarcely unchanged since the ’70s boom, novelty pieces provide the market with a buoyant area. The 90-lot silver section offered at Crewkerne on September 13 by Lawrences (15% buyer’s premium) saw only nine fail to get away and no casualties among the novelty pieces from abroad.
