Lovejoy shop sign, £780 at Mander Auctions.
The Suffolk antiques dealer character, made famous by the BBC TV show starring actor Ian McShane in the 1980s-90s, was created by writer John Grant who wrote 24 Lovejoy novels under the pen name Jonathan Gash.
The items were consigned to Mander’s February 11 sale by a local gentleman who had collected Lovejoy items for many years. However, more recently he has switched his attentions to BBC comedy series Detectorists, written and staring Mackenzie Crook, and decided to sell his Lovejoy items.
Included among the 16 lots was a copy of the famous Lovejoy shop sign. The painted wooden oval sign, estimated at £200- 300, was a copy of the original and not used in filming. But it was painted by Sudbury signwriter Wayne Tandswell who had painted the version used in the show. This copy sold at £780 (plus 24% buyer’s premium and VAT).
A collection of Lovejoy television notes by the writer Roger Marshall and various ephemera, including cuttings and copies of Antiques Trade Gazette sold at £190 Mander Auctions.
Another lot, described as a collection of Lovejoy television notes by the writer Roger Marshall and various ephemera, also featured cuttings and old copies of Antiques Trade Gazette and sold at £190.
A copy of Arts and Entertainment Monthly, signed by Ian McShane, and a 1991 Radio Times with the return of Lovejoy on the cover, £150 at Mander Auctions
A copy of Arts and Entertainment Monthly, signed by Ian McShane, and a 1991 Radio Times with the return of Lovejoy on the cover, took £150.
James Mander said: “Lovejoy was filmed and set around here and many of our customers love the show. But we even had one buyer from the US. The results were a pleasant surprise.”
