OLD “GRANDFATHER” WITHDRAWN

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 49, 20 May 1927, Page 9

OLD “GRANDFATHER” WITHDRAWN

showed no * great inclination to pay big prices yesterday for antiques. In the majority of cases, particularly in regard to furniture, the articles went for considerably below their real value. The present “tightness” of money was evident, though dealers and interested speculators were present in full force. One party of women even brought their lunch. An old grandfather clock complacently ticking in the corner of the saleroom was the cynosure of all eyes. Bidding commenced at £2O. But the clock was withdrawn at £3S 10s. As the auctioneer explained, for a clock with German fittings in another part of the room, at least £SO was demanded. SHERATON DINING-SUITE An interesting sale was a Sheraton dining-room suite of seven pieces. It was sold after fairly keen bidding for £44. Bidding commenced at £1 for a small mahogany table, which, it is said, came to New Zealand in one of the first ships. It changed hands at £2. A dressing table, another example of Victorian solidity, went for £7 10s. It was bard disposing of an old mahogany chair X £4 2s 6d. A brass copper stand, over 200 vears old, reached £2 ss. A delightful old English walnut cabinet fetched only £S, and a chest of drawers of the same wood, £6 10s. A rosewood “whatnot” went for £2 ss. BARGAINS IN OLD SILVER Someone obtained a splendid bargain when the silver was offered. A 1797 mustard pot of solid silver did not realise more than £2. A cream jug, dated two years earlier, and precisely the same weight, brought £2 7s 6d. A diminutive silver candlestick, which was made three years after the Battle of Trafalgar, was eventually disposed of for £1 15s. Competition was fairly keen for a dozen solid silver Georgian tea spoons. But only £2 15s was their price. Silverware generally did not realise the prices it should have. A pair of early Georgian tongs brought merely nine shillings. Two Georgian fishslices went for 32s 6d and 30s respectively. An old Sheffield cruet with cut-glass bottles found a new owner for the sum of £l. A brass bound military or sea-chest, a notable example of the art of our grandfathers, was sold for £l4 10s. Doulton meat dishes averaged seven shillings each. Others went for 4s. A rosewood cabinet found an owner at £l. An old copper kettle went for the price of a tin one.