07 FRENCH WALNUT, ELM AND ROSEWOOD COMMODE, EARLY 18 CENTURY SOLD: £43,250

House contents sales are rare these days, a fact that lured droves of bidders to Bonhams’ 2013 auction of artefacts from Trelissick in Truro. Every item sold, fetching £3.3m in total. Among the wonderful ceramics, glass and silver was this classy commode, made during the Régence period (1715– 23) and bought from Harrods in 1914 for £325.