FAIR

They’re not going for a song but the genial host of Bargain Hunt is parting with some of his antique collection

Among the most valuable single lots is a late 16th century Rheinish carving showing Herod and Salome estimated at £5,000-£7,000 that was once in the renowned Welby Collection. “I remain in awe of the quality of the carved detail,” Tim says.

Four paintings of storks and cranes by Henry Stacy Marks (1829-1898) were painted probably for the Duke of Westminster at Eaton Hall in Chester as part of Alfred Waterhouse’s complete re-build begun in 1870, are estimated at £8,000-£12,000.

Hugh Grosvenor, First Duke of Westminster was Marks’ principal patron, commissioning the artist to produce among other pictures, 12 panels of birds for the drawing room between 1874 and 1880 producing.

It is possible these paintings were included in the Grosvenor commission for Eaton Hall because a sale of surplus contents from the Waterhouse buildings, undertaken by Chester auctioneers Swettenhams in 1960, included works by Marks, after which the Waterhouse structure was largely demolished retaining only the chapel and outbuildings.

As might be imagined, the sale includes the quirky and unique – just like their owner.

A silver and nephrite heart-shaped box containing a bean carried by the Gulf Stream from the Caribbean Islands to the Isle of Uist is estimated at £300-£500.

Assayed (tested for quality) in Birmingham in 1905, the box also contains a heart-shaped, handwritten note, which reads: “Seed of the Entador Scandens”, “Fairy Beans” and “These beans are looked upon as charms in the islands where they are found… they are supposed to bring good luck”.

The base of the box is signed “To Ralph and Marjorie from A F, Christmas, 1907”.

Says Tim: “Deposited on a romantic Scottish beach, (the seed was) so beloved by the discoverer, that he (or she) had a silver box made and engraved to record the event.”

A solid silver diamond scoop in the form of a dustpan, assayed in London in 1897 and purchased in 1987 from silversmiths Heath & Middleton, is estimated at £150-200. “To have so many loose diamonds lying around that you needed such a utensil is in itself intriguing,” Tim adds.

And from the sublime to the… well essential for the wet nurse whose charge is teething; a George III silver nipple shield by Phipps & Robinson (London 1805), which is estimated at £200-£300.