12/09/2025 General News
Whilst our specialist sales attract a mix of collectors, traders and dealers, our monthly Antiques, Pictures and Collectables Sale is much more balanced toward the individual buyer, often purchasing items for their own home, writes Tim Blyth.
For some time now, we have run these sales across a Friday and/or the weekend, and this month we are holding it on a Saturday, to enable as many people as possible to come and have a day out at the saleroom and enjoy the experience.
The prices at our monthly sales are generally more accessible than our Fine Sales, for instance, with real value to be had, especially when you compare what is on offer with what is available on the High Street. The opportunity to own unique pictures, ceramics and glassware, furniture and decorative items, all of which have a history, is a big attraction.
Our monthly sales always start with a pictures section. Often these feature artists with an East Anglian connection – and this month is no different.
British artist George Sear (1937-2018) was well known for his watercolours, often depicting subjects and landscapes in East Anglia. He worked in a number of London advertising agencies before becoming a full-time painter. The book he wrote with Antony King-Deacon, George Sear’s Norfolk, was described in one newspaper as ‘a delightful fusion of words and pictures’. We have 11 works by Sear on tomorrow’s sale, most of them featuring Norfolk scenes.
Another artist with East Anglian connections who features in the sale is Richard Dack (born 1944), who was grew up in Lowestoft, before travelling the world painting. He loves to paint the estuaries and coastline of North Norfolk, and the five pictures we have in the sale by him all feature coastal and maritime themes.
Ceramics and glassware always play a big part in our monthly sales, and it’s a chance to buy some big names, often at surprisingly affordable prices. This month, for example, you will find pieces by Dresden, Delft, Royal Worcester, Wedgwood, Royal Albert, Staffordshire, Royal Doulton, Clarice Cliff and, of course, Lowestoft. The glassware section even includes three delightful Lalique pieces.
Oriental ceramics are still very much in vogue, and whilst the rarer pieces now sell for serious money, it is still possible to buy lovely Cloisonné pieces and antique vases and jars for hundreds rather than thousands of pounds.
The furniture market has had something of a renaissance in recent years, to a large part driven by buyers who recognise that true sustainability is about re-using and recycling quality pieces rather than always buying new furniture, with all of the environmental impact that its manufacture entails.
Our monthly sales feature furniture from a wide range of eras, from the Georgian period (particularly popular because its modest dimensions suits modern homes), the Victorian era, the Arts and Crafts and Art Deco periods, and the post-war era of design-led yet functional furniture, often with a Scandinavian influence.
The monthly Antiques, Pictures and Collectables sales are a really good introduction into the auction world. This is not some stuffy, rarefied atmosphere; it is welcoming (there is even an on-site café serving everything from full English breakfast to delicious homemade cakes), and accessible – and you may well find a unique piece for your home.
Keys monthly Antiques, Pictures and Collectables Sale takes place tomorrow, Saturday 13th September, at their Aylsham salerooms and live online; for more details, visit www.keysauctions.co.uk.