The wide-ranging summer sale at Ilkley saleroom Hartleys (15% buyer’s premium) on June 14 left auctioneer Andrew Hartley in an upbeat mood. He could look back on “some high prices in most areas, and in particular the furniture section showed early signs of a market waking up for items right across the board”.
The 612 lots covered almost every aspect of collecting, from a pair of silver armorial sauce tureens and covers by Wakelin & Garrard, London 1793, which went to a UK collector at a top-estimate £2000, to a 2ft 2in (66cm) wide chromium-plated steel Screw Mobile KMI, by Kenneth Martin (1905-84) which took a five-times top estimate £3000 from a northern English private buyer.
Only eight of 113 furniture lots failed to get away in a selection bringing mostly three figures overall, but with some surprise bids from UK dealers. An Edwardian satinwood two-stage display cabinet took a 10-times estimate £3600 and a Regency brass-inlaid coromandel card table with folding swivel top took £1950 against much lower printed expectations.