Given that most antique furniture at auction tends to be good value only for the buyer these days, one can perhaps understand why it occasionally does not always receive the attention it once merited from auctioneers and valuers. As a result, occasionally a special item slips through.
Included in Denhams’ (20% buyer’s premium) sale in Horsham on October 6 was a pair of green and white painted open arm chairs (right) catalogued as 19th or 20th French and estimated at just £100-150. Guaranteeing a nice payday for both the vendor and the auctioneer, they were spotted online as something rather better and bid to £50,000. Although the auction house was keeping quiet, the buyer is thought to be trade.