Tuesday, 07 April, 2020
Harnessing the power of technology we can continue to offer our valuation services - so if you are having a clear out at home send us a picture or video of your items and we will get back to you.
- Online valuations at https://cuttlestones.co.uk/online-valuation.htm
- Email valuations to office@cuttlestones.co.uk
- Via WhatsApp message on 07949 603872
- Probate valuations by video / facetime content
- House clearances can be assessed by video where possible or access to a vacant property.
Tuesdays:
Wolverhampton saleroom, 10am-4pm
Thursdays:
Penkridge saleroom, 10am-3pm
Please call us on 01785 714905 to book
We’re getting ready for our first online only Antique and Interiors Auction today, we’ll miss the usual atmosphere in the room! Instead we have bids in the book and two computer screens. It’s not to late to register with the online platforms if you wish to take part - more details: https://buff.ly/3gr84WQ
Whens the auction results posted?
Our Antique & Interiors Auctions are back!
This Friday, 29th May, we are hosting our first entirely online Antiques and Interiors Auction - full details on how this works and the lots available are on our website at buff.ly/3gr84WQ
Thereafter we are back to our usual schedule on a Wednesday.
We're resurrecting our calendar of online auctions in the wake of Covid-19. The move follows the success of the auctioneer’s first ever online-only sale on Friday 22nd May, which saw a private coin collection auctioned off to achieve an impressive total in excess of £60k. https://bit.ly/2LT10EB
Hall of Fame: Artist of an icon
🏛️ One of Cuttlestones’ first commissions back in 2008 was to manage the Country House Sale of Garmelow Manor. It was the home of Staffordshire born and bred artist Arnold Machin, whose 1967 cameo of HRH Queen Elizabeth II which went on to be the most reproduced image in the world; on British postage stamps & coins.
👑 While many the remarkable items featured in the collection that filled the rambling country house- ranging from original art, sculpture, antique furniture and vintage farm machinery to plane engines, the highlight had to be an original plaster cast of the Queen’s head. It triggered a global bidding war, with the hammer falling at £15,700 to a UK institution.
⭐️ Over the following years, news of the cast’s success got around and we had two further, similar casts that had been gifted by the artist consigned for sale; both of which went on to achieve significant sums.
💻 Don’t forget, we’re still offering free, online valuations via Whatsapp and email if you’ve uncovered something interesting at home – simply send the photos through to valuations@cuttlestones.co.uk or WhatsApp to 07949 603872
Remember it well. We were there on the day and bought some scaffolding which is regularly used in our French home renovation...Not this year unfortunately
Online Coin Auction Friday 22nd May
We’re delighted to announce that we are planning the sale of an extensive private collection of coins.
The entire sale will be run online; from viewing to bidding with delivery by post, courier or collection at a later date.
Further details and online catalogue: https://buff.ly/2LzKjxV
Cormac Doyle
Hall of Fame: The car’s the star!
We love seeing vintage vehicles pass through the saleroom, and have seen some fascinating specimens go under the Cuttlestones’ hammer over the years.
🚘 The car that’s making it into our ‘Hall of Fame’, however, is a 1932 blue Armstrong Siddeley saloon consigned from a local estate. The Siddeley caught the attention of a number of collectors and vintage car enthusiasts, but it was a local bidder – who already owns a similar vehicle and is a member of the owners’ club – placing the winning bid of £15,000 and collecting their purchase within the hour. A match made in motoring heaven!
💻 Don’t forget, we’re still offering free, online valuations via Whatsapp and email if you’ve uncovered something interesting at home – simply send the photos through to valuations@cuttlestones.co.uk or WhatsApp to 07949 603872
Hall of Fame: William de Morgan tiles
Another lot taking its place in our ‘Hall of Fame’ series is a set of fifteen tiles by Arts & Crafts ceramicist William de Morgan.
🍁 The set of 15cm x 15cm glazed tiles feature an intricate leaf and thistle pattern known as 'BBB' (Barnard, Bishop and Barnard) - named for the Norwich-based firm that used them extensively in the production of their cast-iron fireplaces. It remains arguably de Morgan's most popular and enduring tile design.
⭐️ Unusual in presenting fifteen tiles in good condition – usually only a few tiles sell at a time – the opportunity attracted the collectors with online bidders batting the hammer price up to £1,300 when they sold to a UK bidder back in June 2019.
💻 Don’t forget, we’re still offering free, online valuations via Whatsapp and email if you’ve uncovered something interesting at home – simply send the photos through to valuations@cuttlestones.co.uk or WhatsApp to 07949 603872
Partial Opening - Contact us by telephone, email and whatsapp. Please don't visit our salerooms just yet. Please read on...
Following the Government’s update I would like to confirm that we plan to return to work at Cuttlestones, Penkridge on Monday 18th May. To comply with Government advice with regard social distancing, we will operate with a skeleton staff and client contact will remain via telephone or online for the foreseeable future to ensure the safety of our staff, their families and, of course, all our clients.
Over the coming weeks we will seek to implement safe procedures to allow us to deal with clients in person, with a view to re-scheduling our postponed Home & Antiques sale as soon as possible. We plan to resume work on site at Wolverhampton Auction Rooms on Monday 25th May.
We look forward to welcoming you back to the auction rooms as soon as it is safe to do so – in the meantime, we can still carry out remote valuations via email at valuations@cuttlestones.co.uk or WhatsApp on 07949 603872.
Thank you for your patience and understanding at this difficult time.
Ben
Glad to see the cogs starting to turn again Ben, All the best 👍
Take care Ben. Hope it works out for you all
Have missed coming
Vintage fashion – timeless style…
On a red carpet rammed with starlets wearing dresses by the latest designers, vintage gowns still turn heads – but it’s not just Hollywood royalty that can invest in a touch of vintage glamour, as our own vintage clothing specialist Debbie Curtis explains... https://buff.ly/3fukoFu
💻 We are offering free remote valuations during lockdown – simply email photos of your items to valuations@cuttlestones.co.uk or send them via WhatsApp to 07949 603872
Cuttlestones’ Hall of Fame: A ‘Dickens’ of a collection!
Next up in our team’s ‘Hall of Fame’ is a collection of Dickens books that went under the hammer during our May 2016 Specialist Collectors’ Sale.
📚 Inherited by the vendor, the impressive collection included several first and numerous early editions, and went onto achieve a combined sum of £15,825. The top seller was Lot 215 – a 3-volume edition of 'GREAT EXPECTATIONS', published by Chapman & Hall in 1861. Bearing some first edition pointers, but having been rebound with no adverts in the back, it nevertheless achieved an impressive £5,000.
🕯️ Another lot that exceeded its ‘great expectations’ was Lot 218; a rare and very sought after first edition copy entitled 'A CHRISTMAS CAROL in prose being A Ghost Story of Christmas' on which the hammer fell at £3,000, whilst Lot 216 – a 3-volume first edition copy of 'OLIVER TWIST; OR, THE PARISH BOY'S PROGRESS BY "BOZ", in three volumes fetched £1,500. Read the full story here…
💻 Don’t forget, we’re still offering free, online valuations via WhatsApp and email if you’ve uncovered something interesting at home – simply send the photos through to valuations@cuttlestones.co.uk or WhatsApp to 07949 603872
Cuttlestones’ Hall of Fame: Cromwell vs King Charles II
Our June 2016 Fine Art Sale resurrected a centuries-old rivalry and resulted in one of our most impressive hammer prices to date.
👑Two rare coins - a 1656 GOLD BROAD OF TWENTY SHILLINGS dating from the Cromwellian period (est. £8,000 - £12,000) and a CHARLES II 1662 GOLD BROAD OF TWENTY SHILLINGS (est. £3,000 and £5,000) were consigned alongside one another in an ironic twist of fate.
⚔️Coin collectors and Civil War buffs were out in force on the day of the sale – both in the room and placing bids via telephone, commission and live internet budding. As forecast, it was to be Cromwell’s day – but, with the hammer falling at an estimate-shattering £22,000, even the experts were left surprised. The Charles II example followed suit; selling for an impressive £11,000!
💻Don’t forget, we’re still offering free, online valuations via WhatsApp and email if you’ve uncovered something interesting at home – simply send the photos through to valuations@cuttlestones.co.uk or WhatsApp to 07949 603872
Cuttlestones’ Hall of Fame: A ‘whale’ of a price!
🐳 Another lot that really stands out from our archives is this whalebone scrimshaw which, believed to date from the 19th Century, depicts an image of a whale hunt. Scrimshaws and other marine animal carvings are highly sought-after by collectors – and this was no exception.
⭐️ Originally gifted to a member of the 1978-1980 British Antarctic Survey team by a local in the Falklands its fascinating provenance added to its appeal. Despite carrying some damage, it ‘sailed away’ at am impressive £7,000 during a Specialist Collectors’ sale back in 2012…
💻 Don’t forget, we’re still offering free, online valuations via WhatsApp and email if you’ve uncovered something interesting at home – simply send the photos through to valuations@cuttlestones.co.uk or WhatsApp to 07949 603872
Cuttlestones’ Hall of Fame: This little piggy went to market…
💾 We’ve been looking back through the archives at some of our most memorable lots – and will be sharing them with you over the coming weeks. From the quirky and the rare to the downright valuable, we’ve seen some astonishing pieces pass through our saleroom doors…
🐷 First up is this very rare – and somewhat unassuming – pottery pig discovered in a dresser drawer during a house clearance. We identified it as a rare a rare Anna Pottery bourbon flask which, originating in the US and dating from the Civil War, is a highly collectable commodity. The lot eventually sold to an online American bidder for £3,800…
💻 Don’t forget, we’re still offering free, online valuations via WhatsApp and email if you’ve uncovered something interesting at home – simply send the photos through to valuations@cuttlestones.co.uk or WhatsApp to 07949 603872
Does Crime Pay?
Our book expert, Rosie Blackburn, looks at the collectors’ market for crime fiction novels… https://buff.ly/3bd8lsA
We are offering free remote valuations during lockdown – simply email photos of your items to valuations@cuttlestones.co.uk or send them via WhatsApp to 07949 603872
A quick quiz for you - what’s this collection of gold worth at auction?
Here is the answer! These rings are all 9ct apart from the glittery one, which is actually silver and the stones are sadly not diamonds! There is one 14ct ring and the chains are 9ct and yellow metal. Two rings are damaged but this little lot will make in the region of £800-900 hammer price. If the rings had been a higher standard of gold such as 18 or 22ct then you would be looking at around £1600-2000! Gold is always a pretty safe investment however prices are particularly high at the moment. Well done everyone and thank you for taking part! 🏅
Is one of the rings diamond encrusted?
400 hammer
850.00
£525
£1200
£700
£675