Roaring success for Mallams’ first sale of 2024

It was a fantastic start to the new year at Mallams with a successful Country House Sale, taking place at the Cheltenham saleroom on the 10^th of January and generating over £100,000 in sales, thus achieving more than double the pre-sale lower estimate.

The top performer of the sale was lot 98, a large carved stone lion’s head, from the estate of a deceased collector and reputedly “verified by the British Museum as a Renaissance example from a wine jar or sarcophagus.” Estimated at £400-£600, the Italian piece was subject to a lot of interest in the run-up to the sale. On the day, with all telephone lines full, the lot sold for £4,800 to an overseas telephone bidder.

Various militaria lots featured in the sale, including lot 280, a collection of WWII German military badges, estimated at £60 to £80, consistent with the tremendous amount of interest in the lot in the run-up to the sale, sold for a hammer price of £3,600 to an online UK bidder.

Various mirrors decorated the Cheltenham saleroom, including lot 8, a 135cm high x 56cm wide parcel-gilt mirror in the manner of John Belchier (1699-1753), this also performed well, with an estimate of £400 to £600, and with all telephone lines full, eventually selling for £2,400 to a UK telephone bidder.

Along with a series of other decorative items was lot 14, an 18^th Century Coromandel lacquered cabinet on stand in the Chinese taste, estimated at £800 to £1,200, sold for £2,000 to a UK telephone bidder.

Lot 138, two oil panels depicting town scenes by Dutch artist Johannes Franciscus Spohler (1853-1894), with provenance of The Parker Gallery, London, also received an astounding amount of attention in the lead-up to the sale. Estimated at £600 to £800 and with all telephone lines full, the lot finally sold to a UK telephone bidder for £2,000.

Mallams cataloguer Kitty Jones comments: “We had some really interesting lots that I enjoyed cataloguing for this sale, particularly lot 138 as a result of the process of discovering the authorship of the paintings and later seeing the attention the lot received.”

The Cheltenham office is now accepting entries for the 21^st of February Country House Sale (closing date 2^nd February). If you have items that you are considering selling at auction, please email cheltenham@mallams.co.uk or call 01242 235 712.

All prices above are subject to a 30% buyer’s premium (VAT inclusive).