The 7ft 4in (2.24m) long sofa, with dipped back, scroll ends, cable twist panels and lion’s paw feet required considerable work on its parcel-gilt, ebonised frame and its upholstery but it was was in original condition and decorative.
As such, it attracted interest from several members of the trade selling to a Sussex dealer at £4700.
From the auctioneer’s viewpoint, a more understandable bid was tendered for a pair of gilt metal and bronzed French Empire classical five-light candelabra with winged female figure stems.
Consigned from the same private source as the settee, and a good size at 2ft 3in (68cm) high, they sold on the telephone at £2100.
Elsewhere, a small six-lot private consignment of oak furniture with good patina also found favour, this time from a group of specialist oak dealers.
An early 18th century oak bureau fetched £1000, an oak side table of a similar date realised £1600 and a small six-plank oak coffer brought £820.
Overall, the 1074-lot, East Sussex outing realised £93,000.
Interior decorators raise demand for Regency paint
AT Scarborough Perry Fine Arts' (15% buyer's premium) June 24-25 sale, auctioneer Stephen Perry, who had given a distressed Regency painted settee sofa a modest pre-sale estimate of £400, admitted ruefully after seeing it go for ten times that amount: “I can value furniture in general but I find it difficult to value interior decorator’s pieces.”
