ANTIQUES PRESSURED VALUATION
Iwouldn’t claim to be an expert on antique hospital blood pressure monitors but I do seem to have seen a few lately. The example that I found myself examining in the back of a car in the parking area at the Forest Pines Hotel near Brigg was actually the fifth that I’ve inspected in a matter of weeks. The lady who brought it along to the antique valuation day that we staged at the hotel explained that her late husband, a medical man, had a great interest in anything and everything to do with the trade and over the years he had acquired a really big collection of antique kit and tools. The blood pressure monitor was just one of his treasures – there is apparently a garageful of the stuff back at home! Antique medical equipment and memorabilia is a somewhat specialist field of collecting (to put it mildly) but these things can attract serious interest. The tools and instruments of the Victorian surgeon or the barber-surgeon of earlier periods do sell well at auction, particularly if like military or
naval kits, they have a story attached.
Twentieth century stuff does not have the same appeal, at least yet. I had to advise the lady that we had auctioned four very similar machines earlier this year and they went for a mere £40 in a couple of cases. Even the best made just £60. Faced with the disappointing news she decided to explore the possibility of having hers converted for use as a standard lamp. Interesting idea.
It was just one of the memorable moments in a busy and enjoyable valuation day, the first event that David Duggleby Auctioneers have staged south of the Humber.
One of the most valuable things that we saw was a large collection of gold coins that would certainly be expected to make £3,000-£4,000 at auction, perhaps even more on a good day. Whilst it did include one set of eight gold sovereigns from reigns dating back to Queen Victoria and through to Queen Elizabeth, for the most part the coins were modern, so a collection brought together as an investment rather than for its numismatic interest.
Another high-value treasure brought along was a painting by Montague Dawson (1890-1973) one of the most renowned maritime artists of the 20th century, a man who did literally paint ships at one point: He served in the Royal Navy during the First World War and was among the artists recruited into the dazzle painting project, a scheme which saw thousands of ships painted with bright, geometric, shapes that made it more difficult for enemy submarines to calculate size, speed and direction of potential targets.
Dawson established himself as a professional marine artist after the war, concentrating on historical subjects, often sailing ships, and painting in a style dedicated to realism and technical accuracy. He was extremely successful with his pictures being bought by two American Presidents (Eisenhower and Johnson) and members of the Royal Family amongst other clients. His work is to be found in collections around the world including the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich and the Royal Naval Museum in Portsmouth. The painting we saw depicted a clipper in a lively sea, a typical Dawson subject. It is a quality picture by an artist whose work does very well in the auction room. Further research is being carried out before a definitive value is attached but we certainly are talking about some thousands of pounds.
During the day we saw a lot of very interesting jewellery including some really nice gold watches that would do very well at auction. We also saw some interesting cricketing memorabilia – signed bats and menus – that would certainly attract collector attention.
Meanwhile, quite a few visitors brought us drink, unfortunately just to value. The most extraordinary bottle was a 1914 French Champagne Cognac. Imagine, a 105-year-old bottle of spirits that was still sealed and unopened. Even the label was in nice condition. Antique brandy is not quite as valuable as antique Scotch but we would still be expecting the bottle to make at least a couple of hundred pounds.
Talking of Scotch, we saw quite a few of the commemorative whisky bells that have been produced to mark various Royal and other events over the past thirty or forty years. There are tons of them about and they are making so little at auction that we’re advising people to crack them open and enjoy the Scotch.
Forest Pines was a great success and given the response it has been decided to stage another event at the hotel in a few months time. Meanwhile, valuation days are staged every Monday (10am-4pm) at the firm’s office in Wednesday Market at Beverley if anyone fancies venturing over the bridge.