The Sage changes direction Part 4

There were only 38 lots in all, sold over the three sales, but there were some lovely pieces. Here are the conditions of sale/bid forms for the sealed bid auctions.

  1. Each item is to be put up for sale subject to a reserve price.
  2. Subject to 1., the highest bid for each item shall be the purchaser thereof.
  3. Each item is believed to be described correctly, but no warranty is given and the prospective purchaser is deemed to buy with the full knowledge as to correctness; faults and condition of each item.
  4. In the event of two bids or more being of equal value for the same item, the first bid envelope returned or postmarked the earlier date stamp will be the successful bid; closing date will be ***.
  5. If any dispute arises as to the highest bid, the Auctioneer shall have absolute power and discretion to determine the dispute, and his decision shall be final.
  6. On all items over £300, the successful bid price will be scaled down to £20 above the underbid, similarly upon all items under £300 to £10 above the underbid, in both cases subject to the bid complying to 1. above.
  7. All bids must be returned on this form and the enclosed marked envelope only.
  8. Prospective purchasers may limit their overall bidding by clearly marking on the bid form their total limit, and stating their first choice onwards.
  9. The purchasers will be notified from the *next day* and the successful bid process only will be disclosed to all other parties.
  10. The purchaser shall be asked to pay the full purchase money and, if unable to collect, to bear all other costs of postage etc.

The pieces of china were photographed and those who applied to bid could view them at the shop.  Here’s the descriptions of the china (I haven’t bothered to type in all the measurements, though they’re there, but I have occasionally clarified the description)  and I’ve put the successful bid price after  –

June 1982

  1. Butterboat – £50
  2. Sparrowbeak jug “Good Cross Chapel” print – £190
  3. Mug inscribed “Trifle from Lowestoft” – £1100 (my friend bought this piece, his tendered price was £1111, so he gauged it well)
  4. Bleeding bowl – £135
  5. 4″ vase, bulbous top – £145
  6. Scallop shell dish -£135
  7. Egg cup (runny glaze) – £210
  8. Bottle shaped vase – £400
  9. Egg cup (crisp decoration) – £290
  10. Scallop shell dish, early – £440
  11. Sauceboat – £70
  12. Sauceboat, Golfers pattern, Bow – not sold (the only declared non-Lowestoft piece in the sale)
  13. Chelsea ewer shaped cream boat – £110
  14. Vase – £145
  15. Tea bowl and saucer, Hughes moulded pattern – £160

I wish to limit my overall bidding to £     and I have marked my first choice onwards.

NAME and ADDRESS……………………………………………………

November 1982

  1. Pair dishes, transfer printed – £100 (there isn’t a picture of these and I’m not sure what they were)
  2. Teapot, 4 1/2″ high – not sold (this is a lovely little pot, I don’t know if the reserve was too high)
  3. Wedding bowl inscribed “John and Ann Glasspool, Blundstone, 1772″, transfer printed after sporting painting by A.F. Desportes. 9 1/2” diameter – £1520 (a huge price for a unique piece)
  4. Chamber candlestick, relief moulded – £800
  5. Octagonal tea caddy, 3 3/8″ high – £125
  6. Pair of Lowestoft Swans – £880 
  7. Eye bath, incurving rim – £440
  8. Sauceboat – did not meet reserve
  9. Miniature teapot, 3 1/4″ high – £200

June 1983

  1. Pair of Egg Cups – £400
  2. Leaf dish with relief moulding – £370
  3. Pair of child’s plates – £375
  4. Large octagonal dish £495
  5. Polychrome rectangular tea caddy £221
  6. Pair of knife rests as exhibited Ipswich 1957 – £135 (there was a fine exhibition at Ipswich museum to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the opening of the factory.  I still get exhibition catalogues entered into the sale sometimes and, if a piece has an exhibition label on it, it has an extra appeal.)
  7. Pair of small butter boats – £185
  8. Octagonal tea caddy – £220
  9. Polychrome teapot inscribed “Mifs Rachel Ives Drake, Iany 29, ages 6 years” as exhibited Ipswich 1957 – did not meet reserve, highest bid £1451 (Iany is abbreviated from January, I don’t know what occasion was being commemorated.  The family name of the owner was Drake, I don’t know if Rachel had been an ancestor of his)
  10. Bowl – did not meet reserve
  11. Polychrome mug, inscribed ‘JLB” – £190
  12. Polychrome teapot and matching sparrowbeak jug – £430
  13. Pair of shallow dishes – £185
  14. Two handled loving cup – £105 (this seems a low price but David was of the opinion that it was Bow rather than Lowestoft)

As I said, the envelopes were opened in the presence of our church minister.  Russell put in a bid or two himself – I think that’s where our chamber stick came from.  We used to put a candle in and light it sometimes.  It’s a chamber stick (bed chamber, that is) rather than a candlestick because it has a carrying handle at the side and a bowl surrounding the candlestick part, so that any dripping wax wouldn’t fall on the person carrying it upstairs to bed.  Hard to imagine the pitch dark there must have been on a moonless winter night, when all you had to guide you upstairs was a candle.  I expect you’d have lit another few once you were in your bedroom, so that you could see to wash and undress. If you could afford the luxury, perhaps you’d have a fire, which would give light as well as warmth, though I should think that was unusual unless someone were ill.

Tea caddies were small and the opening at the top was only about an inch wide.  Tea was expensive and the lady of the house kept it, it wouldn’t have been stored in the kitchen.  Teabowls were small and the saucers were deep, one tipped the tea into the saucer to drink – apparently, this always seems peculiar to me.  By the end of the 18th century, this was becoming old fashioned and rather unsophisticated and cups with handles were being made.  Coffee cups always did have a handle, though and, when you bought a china service, the saucers would be used with either.

These auctions were a great success and it made Russell start to think about getting back into auctioneering, which he loved.  There were other concerns on our minds that summer of 1983, though, as his father became very ill and, in August, died.

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