Fans do well as bidders feel the heat

ANTIQUES collectors clamoured for fans as temperatures soared in the Cotswolds.

While most bidders were content to wave their catalogues or bidding cards under their chins, there was plenty of interest in a box of hand fans.

The lot included a feather fan and a carved ivory with Chinese decoration depicting hand-painted cartouche to the centre depicting a courting couple.

Auctioneers at Moore Allen & Innocent in Cirencester had been expecting bids of £80 to £120.

But as the mercury edged towards 30 degrees on Friday, June 29 the hammer fell at £500 – the third highest lot price of the day.

Elsewhere, a collection of vintage enamel signs taken from the now-closed Plough Inn at Wanborough, performed well.

Best of the bunch was a 1920s sign for The Picture Paper, which featured a king and a peasant reading the half-pence newspaper under the slogan 'for everybody', which exceeded its £100 to £150 estimate to settle at £420.

A circa 1920 BP Motor Spirit sign, measuring a whopping 1.8m wide and featuring the BP logo set inside the union flag, sold for £130, and a 1.6m wide 1920s enamel sign for Halls Distemper 'The Oil-Bound Water Paint' by Sissons Brothers & Co Ltd Hull sold for £180 – slightly above its lower estimate.

A vintage advertisement for Wills's Star cigarettes, humorously sold with a framed and glazed sign inscribed "Owing to the great risk of fire smoking is strictly prohibited in any part of this factory" achieved £55, while a sign for W D & H O Woodbine cigarettes made £100.

One poignant lot was a folder of sketches and watercolours made by a soldier and artist during the First Word War, which sold for £100.

The drawings by lance sergeant Edmund Messervy were sold on behalf of the South Cotswolds branch of the RSPCA, to whom the pictures were donated.

The lot included paintings by Edmund's wife Kathleen, who was also an artist.

War records show that Edmund, who was born in Jersey and lived in Hornchurch in Essex, joined the Artists' Rifles, which was at the time part of the London Regiment.

The Artists' Rifles were formed in the 19th century of professional painters, musicians, actors, architects and others involved in creative endeavours. At the outbreak of the First World War the regiment still attracted artisans.

Edmund was killed during the three month long Battle of Passchendaele on October 30, 1917 at the age of 32.

His name is inscribed on the Tyne Cot Memorial at Ieper in Belgium, dedicated to the 35,000 casualties whose bodies were never found.

Edmund picked up his rifle for King and Country but obviously found it impossible to put down his pens, pencils and sketchbook.

Sketches, presumably made in France, included scenes and portraits of Breton fishermen and tradesmen, including a chef.

The lot also included sketches and paintings by Kathleen, whose Art Nouveau work featured at The Royal Drawing School's Exhibition of Paintings in 1927.

The top prices of the day were a 19th Century elm two seat wing back tavern settle – also from the Plough Inn – which achieved £880, and a pair of oak rectangular refectory tables, which achieved £580.

The next sales at Moore Allen & Innocent are the selected antique, pictures, books and wine auction on Friday, July 20 and the antique and general sale on Friday, August 10. For more information visit mooreallen.co.uk