Minton dealers and collectors hovered at The Canterbury Auction Galleries winter fine art and antiques sale on Tuesday, February 27 in the hope of securing a rare majolica teapot modelled as a vulture attacking a serpent, which decorated the back of the auction catalogue.

The value of the eight-inch teapot, from a Herne Bay, Kent, home. was originally estimated at £600-800, but when it emerged that the piece was one of only two known examples to have come on to the auction market in the last 15 years, the estimate was revised to £6,000-8,000.

Tony Pratt issued a saleroom notice to the effect during the sale view and on sale day, he took a flurry of bids from seven phones and others in the room before knocking it down for £17,000. The price was particularly satisfactory given that the teapot’s fragile handle had been broken and restuck.

The teapot was designed for Minton in 1874 by a Colonel Henry Hope Crealock. This example had the impressed factory mark to the base, the number 1851 and bore the Minton datemark for 1878. It was purchased by a private collector bidding on the telephone from the Far East. He beat off stiff competition from the Trade on the other six phones, including one dealer in the U.S. The proceeds of the sale have been bequeathed to eight different charities.

The first lot in the sale, the teapot’s high price set the pattern of the day with just over 600 lots raising a total of £218,000. "This was a buoyant sale and there seemed to be more confidence among Trade buyers," said Tony Pratt. "This, coupled with a good deal of bidding by private buyers resulted in a greater number of sold lots, notably in the furniture section, most of which sold. The Sunday viewing for the sale was packed and the interest carried through to sale day. We had 160 commission bids and 100 registered phone bids, many of them on multiple lots, and the saleroom was also full throughout the day."

Also of note in the ceramics section was the £3,400 paid for a pair of Meissen porcelain figures of horse tamers modelled by J.J. Kaendler, each of which showed a grey prancing horse supported by a Blackamoor figure in Turkish dress. The figures, which had been estimated at £1,500-2,000, came from a North Kent estate and were purchased by a private collector bidding from his home in Norfolk,

Clarice Cliff’s Bizarre pottery continues to attract keen bidding. From a local estate, a 31-piece tea service, enamelled in orange, mauve, blue, green and yellow with "Autumn Crocus" design sold for £880 or twice the pre-sale low estimate. A single handled lotus pattern jug of the same design which had been brought in to one of the auctioneer’s free Friday morning valuation days sold for £500. The lots were purchased by two different Clarice Cliff dealers.

English glass, once overlooked by all but specialist buyers, is now commanding substantial sums. An early 19th Century armorial goblet engraved with fruiting vines and a coat of arms thought to be that of the Duke of Stirling and the initial "M" sold for an above estimate £620, while a single late Georgian rummer engraved with a working horse, wheat and barley and a monogram, doubled its estimate to sell for £380. The goblet came from a local collector and the rummer from an Ashford estate and were purchased by the same private Surrey commission bidder.

A great deal of pre-sale interest was shown in two pairs of China Trade oil paintings by the mysterious Youqua (fl. 1840-1870) which had been sent for sale by a North Kent vendor who was thrilled to be told of their high value at one of the Friday free valuation mornings. Little is known about Youqua, but his beautifully painted lacquer-framed paintings are charming and irreplaceable depictions of 19^th century life in China.

One pair of pictures were garden scenes, one with elegant, silk-robed courtesans seated around a table playing a board game, which sold on top estimate for £6,000. The other pair, which showed Chinese room interiors, one with a family group around a table watching two quail sold above estimate for £4,200. They were purchased by the same Midlands gallery against telephone underbidders, one of whom was from the U.S.

Among a good selection of Engish pictures and from the estate of the late Lord Keys were two martime watercolours which recalled the epic St. George’s Day attack on the harbour at Zeebrugge in 1918. "The Victorious Vindictive returning from Zeebrugge" showed the battleship in full steam flanked by two frigates in choppy seas returning to Dover, a painting given by General Sir Ian Hamilton, formerly Commander in Chief of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, to Vice Admiral Roger Keys in recognition of his part in planning and executing the raid. Signed by the artist Charles Edward Dixon (1872-1934, and inscribed and dated ‘18, the mount was inscribed "Well Done Vindictive! but keep a warm place in your heart from the old River Clyde - Ian Hamilton to Roger Keys". The picture, which was framed in oak taken from the deck of HMS Vindictive, was estimated at £600-800 and sold for £1,550. It was purchased by a private collector bidding on the telephone from his home in the Isle of Wight. The second watercolour showed "Vindictive", and other ships and boats of the Dover Patrol returning from the attack, by the artist Bernard Finegan Gribble (1873-1962). It was estimated at £500-700 and sold to a London gallery for 1,700.

An enamelled matchbox holder, the front decorated with a circular medallion depicting St. George and the Dragon, the base inscribed "St. George for England - Zeebrugge 1918" and signed "Elizabeth" and dated 1925, was purchased by the same Isle of Wight collector who paid £600 - three times top estimate. It is believed the box was the gift of Queen Elizabeth, the wife of King Albert I of Belgium, to Vice Admiral Keys in gratitude for his part in the action.

Another watercolour was by George Samuel Elgood (1851-1943) a noted author of a book on Italian gardens. "The Bay Walk, Villa Piatti, Rome", a view of a circular fountain in an Italianate garden lined by classical figure columns was signed and dated 1902, and appears opposite Page 42 of Elgood’s book, published by Longman 1907. From the home of a Thanet collector, the painting sold to a London dealer for £1,200.

Furniture with a maritime heritage came in the shape of a large 18th Century Italian walnut side table which was until recently on active duty, serving as the post room table supporting the mail franking machine at The Dover Harbour Board office. The imposing 10 foot long plank top table fitted with three boldly carved frieze drawers excited a great deal of interest and four telephone bidders. It had been estimated at £750-1,000 but sold to the Sussex Trade for £4,200.

The sale also paid dividends for the local solicitor who consigned antique furniture from his office. An imposing George IV mahogany bookcase, the upper part three Gothic pattern glazed doors, the base with three figured panelled doors sold to a Kent dealer for a creditable £5,000 against an estimate of £2000-3000 and a grand mahogany George III partners’ kneehole desk with nine drawers to the front and reverse, all with original lacquered brass swan neck handles sold to £3,800 against the same estimate despite being in need of some restoration. From the same source, a William IV rosewood circular centre table on heavy turned centre column and splayed bracket feet with carved with leaf and scroll ornament sold to a Kent dealer for £700.

From a Gillingham home, a good Victorian walnut kneehole two pedestal desk which still retained the maker’s label Richardson & Sons of Hull, dated 1865, under a drawer sold for £3,900 to the local Trade. The table had a tooled leather inset to the top, while the drawer fronts and top were veneered in burr walnut.

An elegant late Victorian "Sheraton Revival" satinwood display cabinet from a Thanet estate found a good home when it was purchased by a collector living in the same town. The cabinet had a bowed centre section and the whole was inlaid with chequered and ebonised stringing. It sold for £2,900 where £1,250-1,600 had been expected.

A George II walnut armchair, described by Tony Pratt as good and honest, sold for an above top estimate £1,150, the West Kent buyer attracted by its "shepherd’s crook" arms and slender cabriole legs, while close behind was a set of six George IV mahogany dining chairs, including one armchair with scroll arms, all with plain curved crest rails from a Thanet estate, which sold to the Sussex Trade for £1,100. Despite being "younger", a set of eight William IV rosewood dining chairs with shaped and moulded backs from a Thanet family who were downsizing sold to a local private buyer for £1,550.

The sale was blessed with some quality mantle and longcase clocks, the most valuable coming from a Thanet estate. The late 18th Century eight-day mahogany longcase by Jefferys & Ham of London, had an arched silvered dial with subsidiary seconds and calendar dials and sold on top estimate for £3,000. The clock was purchased by an eager Kent collector who also took home a late 18th Century mahogany eight-day longcase by Woodwards of Walworth, with arched silvered dial, subsidiary seconds and calendar dial and strike silent dial in the arch. From a Hythe estate, it sold for £2,900.

Clock dealers were also active, the same Kent dealer purchasing an 18th Century walnut eight-day longcase by William Corbett of London, and another by Grefuss of Truro. The former, from a Dover estate, had an arched brass dial with subsidiary seconds dial and date aperture. Generally in need of restoration with the plinth of the case reduced in height and somewhat wormed and damaged, the clock sold for £2,300 against an estimate of £1,000-1,500. The latter, from a property on the Isle of Sheppey, had an arched brass dial, subsidiary seconds and date dials and mahogany case. It sold for an above estimate £1,850.

However, the clock that created the most interest was an 18^th century oak cased eight-day longcase with brass dial by Thomas Shilling of Selling, near Canterbury. The clock’s West Sussex owner had consigned the clock to the sale because of its local connections and the chance that it would achieve a higher price there. He was right. Shilling is recorded working in Selling before 1767 and its sale created a bidding battle between two prospective buyers: one whose family was related directly to the maker, the other whose family could trace their roots back to the village over 400 years. The latter emerged the victor, paying £2,200, a price that was more than double expectation.

Another local clock was by Jesse Dobell who is recorded working in Canterbury from 1841-1874. In a mahogany case with shaped bracket carved with leafage and intended for the wall of a shelf, the clock had a white painted dial and an eight-day movement wall. It came from a local home and sold to a Kent collector for an above estimate £1,200.

From another Canterbury vendor was a George III mahogany table clock by J. C. Lowrie of Stoke Newington, the arched silvered dial with calendar and strike/silent dials contained in an arched top case with brass folding handle and moulded cornice and fretted scale pattern arched side panels. It sold to a Kent collector for £2,500. John Clavering Lowrie was apprenticed in 1790 and recorded working at Botolph’s Alley, London, from 1804-1814.

Among collectors’ items, a Dutch specialist buyer seized one prize: an early 19th Century Halley’s three-inch pocket globe inscribed "A Correct Globe for New Discoveries" contained in its original shagreen covered case, the interior of which was printed with a celestial globe. From a North Kent estate, the globe was estimated at £400-600, reflecting its cracked and broken condition, but that did not deter the telephone buyer who purchased it for £1,350.

Similarly determined was the London collector unable to resist the charms of a late 19th/early 20th Century cold painted bronze cigar box, the lid of which was decorated three mice unravelling the paper label of a cigar. The box was estimated at £200-300 but sold for £980. A Surrey dealer with a love of animals showed the same determination when he paid £920 for a late Victorian silver topped tortoise pattern table bell, hallmarked Gy. & Co, Chester 1896 which like the cigar box was brought to a Friday valuation morning and also estimated at £200-300.

Embroidered samplers continue to be a saleroom favourite, the most valuable on this occasion being one of two North American examples in the sale probably worked by the same schoolgirl. Embroidered script read "Mary Ann Sykes, finished this work July 18 1846" and the sampler showed two seated figures beneath trees, with sheep, cows and deer to foreground, and birds, flowers and single eight line verse. It sold for £1,100 against an estimate of £300-400, while the earlier of the two read "Ann Sykes, finished this work April 8 1845". It sold for £460. They came from a Sandwich home and were purchased by the specialist Trade.

Interestingly, a sampler sent to the sale all the way from Australia was also sought after. Worked by "Ann Collins, aged 14 years, August 26th AD 1832", with a 10 line verse titled "On Seeing A Young Lady Weep at Reading Paradise Lost", and cottage, birds, baskets of flowers and stylised leaf and zig-zag borders, on a fine linen ground, it was purchased by a local collector for £900.

Happiest among all the vendors, however, was the family who had moved into their new Dover home, which they had purchased part furnished. Venturing into the loft, they found a vintage crocodile leather dressing case with gilt brass locks and peach moiré silk lined interior complete with canvas outer cover. Consigned to the sale with a £200-300 estimate, it sold to a local collector for £520.

Entries are now being accepted for The Canterbury Auction Galleries major Spring auction of fine art and antiques on Tuesday April 17 and for the monthly auctions at the Kirby’s Lane saleroom which are held on the first Saturday of the month.

For further information, please contact the saleroom on 01227 763337.