George Silcock

We peek into the busy working life of the saleroom manager at Cheffins in Cambridge

I studied Ancient History at university and afterwards had to choose between museums or auctions. When a job as a porter came up at Cheffins in 2015, I chose auctions. It’s a good way to get into the industry because you get involved in every aspect, from photography, to liaising with clients, to setting up sales and breaking them down again. You pick up knowledge by osmosis and develop a visual encyclopedia of antiques. Some of our clients are very passionate about their collections and you learn a lot from them.

I like the physical aspect of the job; I’m not one for sitting behind a desk. Cheffins holds two sales a month and we move around 1,000 lots in and out of two salerooms. Autumn and spring are our busiest times. Together with my deputy, Harry rry [Harriet Lu Lusty] and porter, John Brooks, we set the items up in a retail- style setting; we hang mirrors and paintings, display ceramics in cabinets, and make it look as much like a store as we can. You can’t rush things and I never pick up too much at once. My favourite sale is the monthly Interiors sale – it’s a complete mixture and very affordable, with lots costing from £20 up to the low hundreds of pounds. It’s a homely sale where you can buy anything from an occasional table to a dinner service to drinking glasses. Recently, I’ve started auctioning the last 100 lots in this sale, which I really enjoy. Our quarterly Fine sales are another favourite and showcase top- quality things, such as a fragile stumpwork casket that sold last autumn. I’ve got a soft spot for early English oak furniture too; I love the dark colour and the patina of age. 01223 213343; cheffins.co.uk

BELOW A stumpwork table casket, c1670, made in the time of Charles II, was consigned from a a private collection n and sold for £28,468. ABOVEBOVE AB A decorative oak panelled cocoffer carved with tulips and dating to the 17th century sold for £647.