The Collectors' Sale - Review

From steam engines to telescopes, cameras to boats, swords to rifles, medals to canons and bombs to corkscrews - Abingdon’s biannual ‘Collectors’ Sale’ had an extensive range of items for auction on Monday 3^rd December.

A particularly significant sale was lot 768, a French corkscrew with a brass and steel mount, wooden handle and thumb screw twist grip. After much interest, the bidding eventually narrowed down to two determined buyers and the item finally sold for £8,000 to a telephone bidder. The corkscrew is stamped with 'Breveté S.G.D.G.' and ‘MD’. ‘Breveté S.G.D.G’ is a French patent and stands for ‘Breveté Sans Garantie du Gouvernement’, meaning ‘Patented without State Guarantee.’ ‘MD’ refers to the maker’s mark of the item, Michel Durafour, a French manufacturer from St-Etienne who worked from 1890 – 1902. This unusual object originated as a rifle cartridge loader and during its lifetime was effectively repurposed into a corkscrew, a rare find indeed.

Other sales of note were lots 40, a 19th Century rock crystal set Scottish dirk with badge for the 71st Regiment of Foot Highlands Light Infantry, which sold for a total of £1,100; lot 82 which sold for £1,600 and comprised of a group of medals awarded to Lieutenant Colonel G.K. Walker and two World War One medals, and lot 244, a well-made cast iron and gun metal grasshopper type model bean engine, which sold for a final hammer price of £1,000. Further sales included lot 259, an almost complete 3 ½ inch gauge L.N.E.R. 2-6-2 steam locomotive and tender 'GREEN ARROW', which fetched £1,200. Lastly, lot 399, a collection of comics to include Super Detectives Library, All in Pictures, Diamond Western and Cowboy Comics sold for £1,400, after much interest online and in the saleroom.

We look forward to our next Collectors’ sale on the 20^th May 2019. For all other sales please check our ‘Auction Calendar’ in the ‘Auctions’ tab above.

*Please note, all prices are HAMMER prices and do not include Buyers’ Premium and VAT.