40 years of collecting
200 items cleared at auction
FORTY years of collecting quality antique furniture and collectables by Toowoomba man Ken Bullen and his family was cleared at auction on Sunday.
All 200 lots from antique lamps to vases to paintings to a quality 12-seater polished hoop pine dining table went under the hammer at Clifford Park Racecourse.
Auctioneers James Croft and Rod Caton kept the bidding going briskly as they worked through the auction items which took about two hours.
“There was good bidding competition for most items,” Mr Croft of Ray White Rural Pittsworth said.
“Some items went for good prices while some stuff went in favour of the buyer so it evened out.
“We had buyers from all parts of southern Queensland, Brisbane and northern New South Wales.
“And we got it all done before the storms hit.”
Vendor Ken Bullen, deputy chair of the Toowoomba Turf Club, has moved his family to the Sunshine Coast where they have bought a horse and cattle stud.
Over the past month he has sold the family home in Middle Ridge as well as a range of stock at that site and the antique furniture and collectables at Clifford Park on Sunday.
The family home had previously been the Southern Cross clubhouse which was transported across Toowoomba in four sections on the back of semi-trailers in 1999.
One of the items which peaked interest among bidders at Clifford Park was the antique Victorian 12-seat hoop pine dining table and chairs.
Mr Croft said that item had gone in favour of the buyer.
“The table and chairs went for $1750 which was probably a bit under what it could have gone for,” he said.
“However, overall the vendor (Ken Bullen) was happy with how the auction went.”
Other items which attracted keen bidding was a grandfather oak clock, antique lounges and polished wood wardrobes and dressers.