Antiques auction proves two heads are better than one

THE old adage that two heads are better than one was proved at an auction of antiques in the Cotswolds last month, when a pair of stone heads sold for £480.

The Portland stone corbels each depicted a head with helmet decorated with an animal mask, thought to represent Romulus and Remus, the twins raised by wolves who, legend has it, founded the city of Rome.

The heads were believed date from the 1890s, and were carved as part of the neoclassical decoration of a Birmingham bank.

Each head stood at 2ft tall, one-and-a-half feet deep, and more than a foot wide, and took two men to move them.

The coveted top price of the day slot at the Moore Allen & Innocent auction on Friday, May 26 was reserved for a smart 20th century oak dresser in the 18th century manner.

The dresser had a boarded three tier plate rack with seven spice drawers. The base, with four central drawers, was flanked by drawers over fielded panelled cupboard doors on style supports.

In great condition, and ready to install in any home, the £500 to £800 was exceeded, with the hammer falling at £1,100.

In fact, four of the top five lot prices were achieved by pieces of furniture – including a George III mahogany wine cooler at £780, an Edwardian mahogany shop display cabinet at £580, and a Victorian camphor wood trunk at £520 – proving there’s a market for good quality large pieces.

Sitting at the number three slot was one of the biggest surprises of the auction, in the form of three Victorian glass oil lamp shades. While glass lamp shades are easily broken, auctioneers had only expected these replacements to achieve £50 to £80, and were surprised by the £700 they made.

In other surprises, two 19th Century continental majolica pottery stands, one decorated with birds around a flowering branch, the other with scrolling foliage and flowers, exceeded their £30 to £50 to sell for £500 – despite chips and hairline fractures.

And damage did not stop another piece of pottery, Meissen’s ever-popular The Race Goer, selling for £480 – well above the expected £80 to £120.

The gentleman, in his tricorn hat, held his looking glass to his eye, but elsewhere his arm had been broken off and repaired, and his thumb and walking cane were missing.

And so close to the 50th anniversary of the release of The Beatles classic Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, a collection of around 100 vinyl LPs – including a copy of Sgt. Pepper's – sold for £160 against an estimate of £50 to £80.

Excitingly for collectors, tucked inside the sleeve was an original sheet of card printed with images which fans were invited to cut out.

Also within the collection was a copy of the band’s The White Album, so called because of its blank sleeve.

This version was the top-loader stereo version, complete with embossed Beatles logo, lyrics sheet, four portrait set of the band members, and stamped number - in the 41,000s. Millions of copies were pressed, making this a fairly early one.

The collection also included classics by Bob Dylan, Queen, Cat Stevens, Jethro Tull, Bob Dylan, and The Beach Boys.

At £160 for all those classics, the collection could be considered something of a bargain, especially as Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band has just been rereleased on vinyl to celebrate its 50th anniversary with a price tag of around £40.