Boot sale find is a star lot at auction

CHARITY shop bargains including a policeman’s truncheon, a watercolour painting and a pie dish have fetched hundreds of pounds at a Wokingham auction.

The items all went under the hammer at a sale held by Martin & Pole on October 18 at their Milton Road auction room.

A watercolour painting of a girl with a basket walking through a flowering garden, by artist Tom Lloyd, was found by the vendor in a charity shop in Princes Risborough, but sold for a whopping £350 during the sale.

Another charity shop find was a majolica pie dish, in the style of George Jones in Stoke on Trent. With high relief decoration of rabbits, quails and chicks, originals of these pottery dishes can fetch thousands of pounds. Sadly, the dish was found to be a copy, but it still fetched £60 at auction, proving it to be a very good find for the vendor.

A Victorian police truncheon, found at a car boot sale, was another item including in the sale. Painted with Queen Victoria’s monogram and the shield of Shropshire Constabulary, the truncheon fetched £75 for the vendor, which was considerably more than it bought for.

Other highlights in the auction were a Danish teak rocking armchair by France & Son which sold to an online buyer for £600; a signed print by the renowned British 20th Century artist

John Piper fetching £700; and a Simon & Halbig bisque-head Asian child doll for £600.

Also sold in the auction was a tinplate table globe made by Huntley, Boorne and Stevens, which fetched £120. This manufacturer is better known for making the tins for Huntley & Palmer Biscuits, but was known to make other products.

Auctioneer Matthew Coles said: “The September valuation days resulted in three separate clients bringing in finds from charity shops and car boot sales – and they proved to be very profitable for the owners.”

Martin & Pole’s next Valuation Days will be held on Monday (30), Tuesday (31) and Wednesday (1) next week, between 10am and 4pm. The next auction is on Wednesday, November 22.