His first patented corkscrew, registered two years previously in 1840 is seen more frequently but is a rare beast nonetheless. A nice example, consigned from a local source, turned up at the Scarborough saleroom of David Duggleby (12.5% buyer's premium) on February 10. It sold to a Wiltshire buyer at £1000 (estimate £600-800).
Pictures were the strongest suit of this sale, and will be covered in a future issue, but it is worth noting a George III yew wood Windsor chair with a low back and a crinoline stretcher.
According to Bernard Cotton's The English Regional Chair, it is of a type associated with Retford c.1800-1820 although it will remain in Yorkshire. It sold to a private buyer from Scarborough at £1100.
A more standard form, but diminutive in size, was a 19th century child's yew and elm Windsor, just 2ft 2in (66cm) high, which sold at £620.
Ceramics provided the sale with its sleeper. Missed by the auctioneers, who were instructed to sell quickly, was a 15in (38cm) Charles Vyse, Chelsea period figure of a boy with a parrot and a cat around 15in (38cm) high. It sold at £1100 but still looked reasonable.
