06/12/2025 General News
November saw our third and final Fine Sale of 2025. Across two days, nearly 500 lots went under the hammer in every category of item, from ceramics to jewellery, paintings to glassware, furniture to medals and militaria, books to silver.
These Fine Sales are our flagship auctions, in which the top quality and most highly sought-after items attract bidders from all around the world. We once again had a large crowd in the saleroom, supplemented by an even bigger number of online bidders, commission bids and telephone bidders.
It is always difficult to pick out highlights, but at the same time we recognise that there is keen interest in the results: what the prices were when the hammer went down. Full results are published on our website, but here are some of my favourites. All results indicated are hammer prices, exclusive of buyer’s premium.
The star lot was undoubtedly a large 19th century marble statue of Hercules seated, holding a club and draped in a lion skin robe, an impressive piece which stood over six feet including its plinth. It had a pre-sale estimate of £8,000-£12,000; the when the hammer came down, the winning bid was £20,000.
In the ceramics section, a rare early Meissen ecuelle and cover, dating from around 1735, sold for £1,300 – period pieces from the top European manufacturers are still performing very strongly in the saleroom. Our Fine Sales always feature lots of good-quality Lowestoft porcelain pieces, and this time was no different; perhaps the most interesting lot was a rare documentary polychrome teapot which sold for twice its estimate at £390, despite lacking a cover and showing signs of damage.
Oriental items remain very much sought after by buyers in Asia, and highlights this time included a Chinese Quin Dynasty porcelain plaque which sold for £1,050 (estimate £300-£400) and a Chinese portiere, also from the Quin Dynasty, which sold for £520 (estimate 3200-£300).
Lots which tell a story always attract bidders, and we had a few of those in the autumn Fine Sale. Of local interest was a vellum bound archive dating from the 18th and 19th centuries of the Ward family of Salhouse Hall which sold for £1,400 (estimate £300-£500); and an impressive medal group including an OBE and a Distinguished Service Cross awarded to Royal Navy Captain Emden during the second World War, which sold for £2,200.
Silver and watches performed equally well: an important silver and enamel presentation casket of local interest sold for £1,60 (estimate £1,000-£1,500); five lots of silver cutlery sold for a total of £13,450; and an 18ct gold hunter pocket watch sold for £3,700 (estimate £1,200-£1,800).
Star lot in the furniture section was a late 19th century Japanese Shodana side cabinet. Requiring some restoration, the pre-sale estimate was a sensible £400-£600; it eventually sold for £3,100. Other top sellers were and 18th century walnut veneered chest which sold for double its estimate at £1,650, an 18th century red chinoiserie side cabinet which sold for £1,100, and two 17th century style oak four poster beds which sold for £2,400 and £2,100 (each estimated at £1,000-£1,500).
Finally, the pictures section, which included the East Anglian Art Sale, saw a huge selection of works go under the hammer, with highlights including a still life by Gordon Bennett Oates which sold for £1,350, and a landscape by René Charles Edmond His which sold for £1,850.