Harborough auction house smashes its highest-ever daily sales record by over £60,000

A Market Harborough auction house is celebrating smashing its highest-ever daily sales record by over £60,000.

The bi-annual flagship auction at Gildings Auctioneers generated a stunning hammer price of just over £390,000 on a showstopping day.

And that blew away the previous record of about £330,000 as the company scorched to their best-ever result in their proud 41-year history.

“We are delighted with the results of this record-breaking sale,” said elated Gildings director Will Gilding

The prestigious Fine & Decorative Arts and Antiques virtual auction went ahead on Tuesday April 27.

The high-profile sale attracted over 1,000 online and telephone bidders vying for a wide variety of fine collectables and antiques - including silver, ceramics, sculpture, glass and paintings.

Flying highest on the stellar day was superstar sale ‘View from Selworthy’, an oil painting by British artist Sir Alfred J Munnings.

Renowned for his traditional style in his depictions of rural scenes, the work sold for £105,000 – demolishing the estimate of £6,000-£8,000.

And the sale of two Chinese porcelain bowls made £18,000 – an incredible 120 times over the sale estimate of £100-£150.

Another Chinese buyer snapped up three Chinese bottle vases for £8,000 – shattering the pre-auction estimate of £80-£120.

“Despite the fact that this was an online-only auction in line with Government restrictions, the sheer volume of bids we received on almost every lot meant the atmosphere was electric on the day,” said Will.

“The Chinese porcelain bowls are a great example of this, with a determined contingent of bidders from China willing to bid sky high to secure them.”

Furniture also performed strongly on the day.

A large, striking George III mahogany serving table from around 1810 generated £24,000 after being estimated to make £2,500-£3,000.

“In recent times, the market for antique furniture has been in decline, so this result was wonderful to see,” said Will.

The sale also achieved fantastic results for other art works.

They ranged from paintings by top Leicestershire artists such as Rigby Graham, Bryan Organ, Elizabeth Organ and Albert H Findley to internationally-acclaimed British op art artist Bridget Riley.

Her ‘Early Light (Schubert 33)’ colour screenprint went under the hammer for £11,000.

The Leicestershire paintings up for grabs were originally acquired from The Gadsby Gallery in Leicester between the 1950s and 1980s.

Elizabeth Organ’s ‘Sunflowers’ pocketed £1,000 after having been left in a wardrobe for a number of years - and two Rigby Graham paintings achieved £850 each.

Another standout result was John Piper’s pen, ink and chalk on paper drawing The High Fall (Ffrwd Fawr).

It went for £14,000, was also acquired from The Gadsby Gallery and included the original exhibition catalogue.

Northamptonshire art was represented by Peter Newcombe, whose oil painting 'The Threshers' sold for £1,000.

As well as Daniel van der Putten, whose oil paintings 'Nobottle in the Winter' and 'Whiston in the Spring' sold for £750 and £850 respectively.

“As this sale proves, now is the perfect time for anyone with artworks or antiques they have been thinking of selling to do so.

“Currently the market is exceptionally strong across the board, with buyers keen to bid for lower value art and antiques as well as the big ticket lots,” stressed Will.

“Also, we are now able to welcome those interested in selling with us back to Gildings for valuations on a Covid-secure appointment system, as well as prospective buyers for timed viewings pre-sale.”