The saleroom looks to be strong again for the coming Vintage & Collectables sale on Monday 12th October 2009. We have a varied selection of furniture including a Gothic Revival oak corner pew. It is an interesting piece and would make the ideal accompaniment to a kitchen dining table in a period environment.

Also in our saleroom this week with have several unusual items including vintage tin advertising signs in particular a 1950s “Brook Bond Tea is good tea” example. Though slightly damaged to the top right corner, it is definitely of the period, set with black bold type writing on an orange background. For all you tin sign lovers out there we have a rare Bovril sign titled “Alas! My poor brother”, underneath which, “Makes Contented Cooks” is written in bold type. Depicted is a long horn bull alongside a bottle of Bovril. This will be coming up in our Fine Art sale on Wednesday 18th November 2009.

For those of you more interested in the weird and wonderful we have a cased selection of surgical tools including those used by midwives. It is in excellent condition with some painful looking tools, the perfect gift for this Halloween. 

Also coming up in the sale is a personal favourite of mine; an array of Wedgwood Limited Edition Clarice Cliff china comprising of plates, coffee cups, tea sets and so much more. These lots are the ideal gift for those Art Deco lovers out there, which want period style china for their collection.

-By Matthew Looker

Since I began at Boningtons in December 2008, the year has been tremendously exciting and rewarding. From starting out with the Fine Jewels & Objects de Vertu Sale in December 2008, working at Boningtons has been tremendously interesting, challenging and enlightening. Now with almost a whole year gone by I feel I am beginning to fully understand the workings of an auction house. I would like to say meeting and conversing with all the clients on the front counter has been particularly enjoyable and so many thanks to all of them.

So far I have witnessed thousands of items go under the gavel and with the recent success of another fortnightly Vintage & Collectable Sale on the 14th September, seeing items like a William IV rosewood tea table fetching £320 and an A.J.W Benson brass mantel clock fetching £280, I’m sure there will be many more sales like this one to come. We at Boningtons are now preparing for the November specialist sales including the Fine Art & Antiques Sale and the Toy Sale.

With these sales rapidly approaching, we are now receiving more calls from clients wanting to consign a range of items to the Toy Sale from the very popular 0-gauge Hornby trains and track, dolls houses and tin plate toys to the weird & wonderful including a late-20th century “Dart Ball”… yes… “Dart Ball” a dartboard with snooker ball shaped targets. The Fine Art Sale is also looking promising with a large range of original oils and watercolours, a mahogany chaise lounge with cream upholstery and a full-length mahogany swing mirror with beautiful rope twist supports.

Our next Vintage & Collectables Sale will be on Monday 28th September 2009 and I hope to see you all there.

We had a call about 4 weeks ago to visit a client in Upton Lane, East Ham, where a lady had been left the contents of an old toy and haberdashery shop.

The call was passed on to our auctioneer Guy Wisbey who after speaking to the lady was quietly confident of an interesting visit.

However upon entering the premises it became quickly apparent to our auctioneer that time had stood still since the 1960s. After fighting through the rubble where the ceiling had caved in he discovered early 20th century haberdashery cabinets amongst spiders and rat droppings.

To his amazement were boxes of original tinplate toys, lead soldiers and Japanese robots which had never seen the light of day.

With some quick thinking a plan was devised with the client to remove the complete contents a week later a 7.5 ton lorry with Boningtons staff  suitably dressed and prepared for a hard days work amongst the toys and debris. The task was to salvage as much as possible providing it was collectable and saleable.

The furniture was put into our fortnightly vintage sale and was keenly contested in a busy room, the remainder is being held back for our specialist toy sale in November.

We are pleased to announce all that was involved came out unscathed and flea less

As all things being equal we are now preparing for our 3rd august sale which will include a consignment of interesting militaria.

WOW! What an extraordinary sale we have just had!

Buyers were particularly selective on what they bid but interest on unusual and quirky items was strong, particularly on a Regency Coco De Mer.   Bids in the room went to £2,000 but it was eventually sold on the telephone for £3,000 to the London trade – against an estimate of £800-£1200.

Bidding was again strong for a pair of 18th century Prattware figurines modelled as rams beside a shepherd and shepherdess.  There were some condition issues but rarity pushed the price up and the hammer eventually fell at £1,400 against a cautious estimate of £300-£500.

Selling furniture is a problem that auctioneers have come across over the past couple of years or so.   Ten years ago a Welsh George III dresser would have made between £3,000-£5,000 but prices have dipped so much that, having placed an estimate of £1,000-£2,000 on a good original example, we still struggled to sell the piece.

However, good prices were achieved on other pieces of furniture.  For example, a Wellington chest sold way above the estimate for £1,200.

Jewellery can be tricky in the present market as diamond prices have fallen and, with De Beers cutting back on operations - but with good named pieces still selling - the market remains buoyant.

All in all, after months of putting the catalogue together, it’s back to the grindstone as we are now preparing for our next fortnightly Vintage Sale on Monday, 29th June.

Buying at auction can be an exciting adrenaline fuelled bargain hunters dream. The thrill of will I – won’t I be successful and then seeing some items fetching thousands, amounts to an enjoyable experience that can be enjoyed by all.

To attend one of our sales it is advisable to first come to the viewing day to get yourself fully acquainted with the items you wish to buy. Check measurements / satisfy yourself to authenticity etc etc. Advice & help is always on hand – just ask!!!

On sale day arrive early and get a paddle number from reception, first timers will be asked to register. Then find yourself a place in the room where the auctioneer can clearly see you. When your lot arrives raise your hand paddle eyebrow whichever you prefer as long as the auctioneer sees you to allow us to know you are bidding. If successful announce your paddle number or raise your card. Then at the end of the auction you can pay at reception and collect your items. Simple!! We do offer a delivery service and it is advisable to get a quote on viewing day so that you can factor this into the cost.

Don’t forget the 15/20% + VAT commission to be added onto the hammer price.

Click here for our Terms and Conditions for buyers.

Selling at auction is a really easy process and Boningtons are available to assist in all ways possible.

Stage One - Bring items into the saleroom for assessment or photographs of furniture if too big to bring. Alternatively, a home visit can be arranged.

Stage Two – Satisfy yourself with the values placed on your items and set a reserve price with the valuer if required, so that the items do not sell for under a certain amount.

Stage Three – We will market advertise and shout about your pieces so that the world knows that they are for sale and we can achieve the best prices possible on your behalf.

Stage Four – Receive a cheque in the post for items sold. We do not charge for the items that have not sold.

In short we offer

• Free Collection Service
• Free Valuations
• Home visits can be arranged
• No Sale No Fee
• All items are listed on the internet
• Best prices are achieved on your behalf

Click here for our terms and conditions for sellers.