Lots of surprise results this week

SOME sellers were left ‘speechless’ and even in tears following the sale of their items at Plymouth Auction Rooms this week. Auctioneer Paul Keen said: “This was one of my most buoyant auctions for over two years, bidding was frenetic at times and there were countless great results.”

The sale also recorded one of the most international online bidders including those from the US, China, Italy, and France. Of interest were the antique contents of a Plymouth property which yielded a fascinating array of bronzes. These were hotly contested and raised almost £5,000 selling as far as Beijing.

Amongst the ‘surprising’ results was a tall Asian pottery vase, of simple outline and decorated in rich red glazed. Its low estimate was ignored by collectors and a bid battle ensued with countless online and phone bidders pushing the prices from a few hundred and on into the thousands. However, it was a bidder at the saleroom that took the lot with an impressive bid of £3,200.

The family that owned the set of WWII medals and logbook connected with the Squadron Royal Australian Air Force were emotional when not only finding out that they sold for £500 but that they will be heading back to Australia with the winning bid from an Australian collector.

Just a week before the sale a Plymouth gent dropped in a dagger which on first impressions looked German but after a close up, we discovered it was in fact a rare Second World War Chinese National Air Force officer’s dagger.

The interest was immense, and the £500 valuation was eclipsed with frantic international bidding to a whopping £3,900, selling to a UK buyer.

The sale hosted three collections of Swarovski glass with the top prices for a stunning bird group at £2,250. Many of the lots were sold to bidders from the US.

The full results can be found online. The auctioneers are busy preparing for a brace of Autumn sales; find out more at plymouthauctions.co.uk.

> Tall Asian pottery vase, sold at £3,200