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AUCTION REPORT
Scarborough Fine Arts
Unit 2 Grange Industrial Estate
Albion Street
Southwick
West Sussex
BN42 4EN
Website: www.scarboroughfinearts.co.uk
Telephone: 01273 595706
Sale date: 24th January 2008
The approach to Scarborough Fine Arts is not ideal. You meander your way along the coast road between Worthing and Brighton (the A259) and, while some aspects of this route are pretty, Scarborough Fine Arts is near Shoreham-by-Sea harbour and so is not so lovely, nestled as it is amongst a large number of other industrial units. The auction house itself is squeezed between a Scaffolding Hire Company and Tile Warehouse.
Enter via the small entrance door and you will find yourself in a large, gloomy (and cold) high-roofed warehouse that is jammed with a wide range of goodies.
It is not easy to find your way around. The furniture is usually piled high and arranged in long aisles, which means you have to explore until you find the front of the showroom and gain access to where the ‘smalls’ live, along with the jewellery and silver items.
While Scarborough Fine Arts lacks atmosphere, there is still a good range of items available, and the dedicated bargain hunter will find something to cheer up his day.
I visited on a dull, wet morning. The rain rattled on the corrugated roof and the noise of the deluge reverberated around the empty space, augmented by the bangs and echoes of scaffolding pipes being moved by the neighbours: it all added to the general tone of the sale.
The first day consisted of ceramics and glassware, oriental items, books and ephemera with pictures ending proceedings. When I visited, there were around 500 lots – a full day but one that allows plenty of time for buyers to clear their lots.
The second day comprised nearly 700 lots of clocks, barometers and instruments, watches, jewellery, silver and silver plate, rugs and textiles and furniture. This sale day ends with a section called ‘general household furniture and effects’ and includes items of furniture, soft furnishings, toys, electrical goods and kitchen appliances.
The ceramics and glassware section started the day. There was a nice mix of Beswick, Doulton, Lladro and Coalport, all reaching good prices (estimates in brackets in the list below). Items in this section included:
Goebel counter display advert, wildlife collection (£30–£60) £25
Victorian porcelain thimble decorated with robin in fitted case (£40–£60) £35
Rare Royal Doulton figure, The Coming of Spring, HN1723, issued 1935–49, despite extensive cracks this reached a nice figure of (£50–£150) £120
Vallarius pottery plant trough, hand painted and modelled with applied bird, monogrammed “JMF” (£10–£30) £120
5 Lilliput Lane models (£30–£60) £46
Victorian-style blue and white footbath (£20–£30) £15
2 Per Lutken Studio glass vases for Holmegaard (£20–£30) £28
Collection of paperweights including 8 Caithness (£30–£70) £80
Portmeirion ‘Totem’ pattern 15-piece coffee service by Susan Williams Ellis, 1 saucer chipped (£30–£50) £20
This section also included several Troika vases, all of which reached around £70. One notable exception was a Troika chimney vase by Annette Walters (£300–£350) reaching a sale figure of £250 (Blame Flog It! – Ed).
A box full of Continental porcelain was also offered, including a Samson chestnut basket and an C18th figure of a lady with fan. Estimated at £40–£80, it made £400; so there was obviously something good in there. I was pleased to see that these large boxes of bits are still being offered. They are well worth a good root and there is usually a nice piece or two that catches the eye.
Quite a few items reached figures far in excess of the estimate. Another example was a carved wood pipe rack with dogs’ heads’ finials that was marked “Rogers, 51 High Street, Oxford”. An impressive 14” in width and down for just £20–£40, it made a staggering £300.
Oriental items included a Japanese okimono at £60 (£100–£200), a C13th/14th Chinese bowl with sky-blue glaze and lavender splash (around 6” across) for £200 (£275–£300) and four Satsuma buttons decorated with figures and flowers that sold for £85 (£40–£60).
Collectors’ items came next and included:
Pollocks toy theatre and related accessories (a.f.) (£25–£50) £55
Brass ship’s bell on a stand, “Shoreham 1961” (£30–£40) £40
3 framed groups of taxidermy butterflies (£20–£40) £30
3 boxed Slazenger 51 golf balls (£10–£20) £10
Colin Cowdray-autographed cricket bat, dated 1979 (£25–£50) £40
6 old riding crops, walking cane, cosh and truncheon (£25–£50) £70
Edwardian leather doctor’s/pharmacist’s case containing medicine bottles (£150–£200) £140
Edwardian model of a 3-mast ship, ‘Mizpah out of Shoreham’, in glazed mahogany case (£100–£200) £180
2 early-design telephones (a.f.) £35 (£10–£30)
Victorian leather-finished mahogany travelling stationery box (a.f.) £85 (£20–£50)
Ensign Midget camera (£15–£25) £14
The second day of the sale started with clocks, barometers, instruments and watches and included:
C19th flame-mahogany barometer, the 10” silvered dial inscribed “J. Fagioli” (£150–£250) £210
Gustav Becker brass anniversary clock under glass dome (£40–£50) £70
14ct gold-plated art deco Bulova wristwatch (£40–£80) £35
Imported silver-cased lady’s fob watch with enamel dial with silver-cased compass (£25–£30) £30
There was an interesting selection of jewellery, and fine and valuable items took their place alongside charming costume pieces. Some prices went well over their estimates. Some examples of this included:
Chinese carved apple jade pendant on gilt chain with jade beads (£100–£200) £370
18ct white-gold diamond eternity ring (£100–£150) £260
Carved ivory crucifix pendant, Norwegian enamelled sterling brooch, military badge, costume jewellery, silver envelope stamp case etc. (£30–£60) £200
Platinum Peridot solitaire ring (£100–£150) £230
9ct gold crucifix pendant and chain, 15ct gold bar brooch, diamond mounted 9ct gold ‘M’ pendant and 2 Scottish brooches (£40–£60) £260
15ct gold cufflinks, pair of 9ct gold cufflinks and 4 other pairs (£30–£50) £200
9ct gold and Garnet cabochon bar brooch, and other garnet and ruby jewellery (£80–£150) £490
And finally the best of the batch: a jewellery box containing coral, cameo and other costume jewellery £400 (£20–£50). Evidently, something in the box was rather less costume than had been thought by the auctioneers!
There were plenty of other items that were well within estimate, but, as I have said, some of them were very wide of the mark… nice for the seller though!
Other items offered that were a bit nearer the estimated mark included:
Garnet cluster brooch (£30–£40) £50
4 Victorian gold-mounted claw brooches (these actually were claws and quite revolting in my opinion!) (£40–£50) £40
18ct gold diamond-cluster ring (£25–£50) £25
Selection of coral and antique jewellery (£20–£40) £40
ABOUT SCARBOROUGH FINE ARTS
Easy to find?
No! It’s dreadful to find and even worse if you are not a local. It is on the main coast road from Shoreham-by-Sea to Brighton (A259) notoriously busy and not the prettiest of areas.
Parking?
Poor. There is a pay car park and some limited road parking but you are likely to have your car wheels removed if you dare to accidentally park on someone else’s pitch, so be careful. It’s better for collecting and clearing though.
Refreshments
Not good. If you want a ‘cuppa’ on site, you need to go upstairs to the office and pay 50p. For this you are issued (I joke not) with a polystyrene cup ‘auction-goers for the use of’ and you then help yourself to a tea bag or coffee and serve yourself from a large vacuum flask. Twix, KitKats etc. are also for sale. You will need to either go back to Shoreham town centre or head off towards Hove to find something more substantial.
Catalogues
£2.50 and you can register for the catalogues to be sent. I rarely bother, preferring to download the catalogues when they are listed online. Access is still via either Worthing Auction Galleries’ or Scarborough Fine Arts’ website. You are not advised via email when the sales are (and the sales are not regular); so you have to be a bit on the ball.
Speed of sale
100 lots an hour.
We say?
Reliable. I will get used to the new premises, which are dark and uncomfortable and the parking is not good, but, at the end of the day, it’s the lots that are the important things. It would appear that you could rely on Scarborough for a good range of both smalls and quality furniture too. Well worth a visit.