April Sale Results

The Indicator of Style

Laidlaw auction highlights

Laidlaw Auctioneers and Valuers have an established reputation for turning up the extraordinary, and their Fine & Esoteric auction on Saturday 14th April was no exception. Included in the sale was a mysterious metal and glass wall light - with impressive provenance. Taken from Sir Winston Churchill’s Top Secret underground cabinet war room codenamed the “Paddock”. The bunker was located at Dollis Hill, and concealed beneath a corner of the Post Office Research Station in true espionage fashion. The light in question is a ‘bomb direction indicator’, and it would illuminate in order to illustrate the direction of the attacks happening above ground. Soberly, the ‘IL’ indicating a direct hit to ‘inner London’. The light was salvaged during the 1980s when the abandoned bunker, having suffered years of neglect and water ingress, was finally dismantled. The indicator sold at auction for £1,200. 

Another military lot which captured the hearts of auction bidders both online and in the room was an extensive campaign and service medal group ranging from pre-War to Korea, awarded to Pte / Cpl J Sloan of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. The medals had been discovered hidden in an old biscuit tin and were mere moments away from being disregarded as landfill. The £300-£500 auction estimate was quickly surpassed in the week leading up to the sale, as Laidlaw’s online catalogue enables live-bidding to take place before the auction has begun. Online bidders battled against each other to raise the lot to £1,300 by Friday, but it was two telephone bidders on the day which took the final price to £2,600. “The online bidders are notified each time they are outbid” says auctioneer Paul Laidlaw “it has the great effect of pushing the bidders that bit further, no-one wants to loose out - and so the cycle repeats.” Other military lots which achieved high prices on Saturday included a converted Imperial Russian 1854 rifle which sold for £1,800, and a Victorian 74th Highlanders silver plaid brooch which sold for £880. 

Prices in other sale categories also proved buoyant, with online bidders from all corners of the globe taking part. The catalogue alone was viewed an astonishing 61,000 times in the lead up to the sale. Much pre-sale interest surrounded a pair of Chinese export famille verte porcelain chargers, which sold for £1,050, and intense online bidding surrounded an extensive Victorian Ashworth dinner service, which sold for £1,600. The vintage costume on display drew many admirers, with galleries in both New York and London bidding on a collection of Zoroastrian Indian costume, totalling over £3,500. Victorian dresses were as popular as ever, with an emerald green tablier dress selling for £200, and a ‘cage’ crinoline, (which would have originally been worn underneath a dress in order to give them their iconic shape), also selling for the same sum. “We have developed an eager audience for vintage costume” says auctioneer Georgina Norman “I often get asked when we will have more dresses in the saleroom. They are so evocative, you get a real sense of time travel when you can see the physical form of someone from the past.” 

Living up to the ‘esoteric’ auction title, many of the most popular lots in the sale proved to be quirky remnants from the past, or objects with a local interest. An early 20th Century Harrods electroplate sandwich box sold for £240 to a fashion-conscious packed-luncher, an early 20th Century Scottish Land Court despatch box for transporting sensitive documents sold for £580, and a Robert “Mouseman” Thompson stool sold for £680 following frenetic bidding. “We take great pride in sourcing from private clients nationwide, curating our sales and providing a ‘great day out’ for our buyers” says Paul. “One lot we sold was a small empty carton which originally contained a Second World War Spitfire Fund pendant. We recognised that this box was probably rarer than the item itself, and sure enough it sold for £40 on its own. It could have easily been discarded in the hands of someone else. It is this level of detail, expertise and care that we believe sets us apart from all the rest, and helps us to deliver strong results to our sellers.” 

Laidlaw Auctioneers & Valuers hold monthly Collectors' and Interiors auctions, and quarterly Fine and Esoteric auctions. 

December auction results

'All a flutter with excitement '   

December auction results in the press

For those who couldn’t wait for Christmas morning, Laidlaw Auctioneers & Valuers’ most recent Saturday auction proved to be a treasure trove of delights for grown-ups. ‘Our Christmas auctions have always felt that extra bit special’ says auctioneer Paul Laidlaw, and he’s not wrong. While complementary bubbly chilled in the arctic temperatures outside, a bidding frenzy left buyers hot and flustered and prices soaring. 

‘Auctions make an excellent hunting ground for unique presents’ says Paul, ‘combined with an exciting shopping experience. There are exquisite things to be found that you might never see again.’ Certainly one of those lots on offer was an emerald green enamelled Edwardian butterfly brooch set with diamonds and rubies. ‘It brought to mind that stunning hair comb worn by Kate Winslet in Titanic’ says Paul, and was much coveted prior to the sale, selling for £2,100 after a telephone bidding battle leaving all a flutter with the excitement. 

‘We had an astonishing 55,000 views on our online auction catalogue in the lead up to the sale’ says Paul ‘with many hundreds bidding live, via the internet.’ The international bidders were unabated in their interest, with successful buyers based in all corners of the globe including Jerusalem, New Zealand, Russia and Latvia. Sellers too were up in celebration as they watched high prices being achieved on their auction entries, including a pair of Meiji Japanese bronze vases which saw intense online and phone bidding activity drive the price up to £3,400, the proceeds of which are going to charity. 

Another charity submission was a collection of autographs assembled during the 1980s by the Carlisle Scoliosis Fund-Raising Group, featured just recently in the paper, with the lots selling for a combined £2,400 and the proceeds being donated to the University of Edinburgh Medical School to support further research. 

The category of silver performed well on the day, and one bidder, perhaps with ‘visions of sugarplums’, successfully fought off competition to buy a canteen of cutlery in a fruiting vine pattern for £3,600. While other bidders chased an Arts and Crafts cream jug designed by Archibald Knox for Liberty of London, which sold for £440, proving that the market for iconic names still remains.

Competition in the category of clocks was also strong, bucking the national trend, and as if to demonstrate extreme differences in taste; the two most sought after examples were the smallest and largest on offer. The ‘little’ and ‘large’ duo sparked a bidding frenzy both on the internet and in the room, with the former selling for £1,500 and the larger for £1,550. 

The sale of course wouldn’t have been complete without an impressive military lot with a nationally important back story, something for which the auction house has become renowned. In this case it was an extensive offering pertaining to a Great War Army Service Corps staff car driver who was chauffeur to Sir Doulas Haig. Sold over three lots the items included the driver’s Service Dress tunic and caps, kit bag and extensive correspondence including personal photographs, together with two rare British Army pennants, both of which were from Haig’s own staff car. ‘It was such an incredible lot’ says auctioneer Paul ‘I remember being blown away when I first learnt of it. This is real time travel stuff. Something tangible from the past which up until now had remained hidden away.’  The combined lots sold for a total of £2,170 on the hammer.

‘We really take pride in sourcing form private clients nationwide, giving excellent service and delivering strong results’ says Paul. ‘We had over a 93% sale rate on the day and averaged high estimate across the sale. Our statistics are exceptional, and he hope they speak volumes about the quality of our service’. They certainly appear to. All that’s left now is to wait and wonder at what exciting treasures they unwrap in 2018. 

Charge of the Light Brigade medal group to be sold in September

'Into the Valley of Death, rode the six hundred...'

Read the article here

Our September 30th auction of Antiques, Esoteric Items and Militaria is already beginning to cause a stir, thanks to the inclusion of a nationally important medal group which relates to one of the most important episodes in British military history. 

Life Under the Lens

Paul recently had a photoshoot in and around our Victorian mill saleroom with Cumbrian based photographer James Norman. James has established an excellent reputation for capturing the character of his sitters with a subtle sensitivity and attention to detail. Some of these images you may already recognise from elsewhere on our website. Click on the gallery below to step through the images. Visit the photographer's website for further details. 

Life Under the Lens

Photos by James Norman Photography

Climb Back into the Past

The dramatic rock and wide open waters of the English Lake District have long been a source of inspiration for both artists and writers in search for the sublime. Indeed, when asked to conjure up an image of the English Lake District, many of us may well fall back on Wordsworth’s words, Beatrix Potter’s bunnies feasting on buttered toast, or the breathtaking scenery depicted in the work of Turner or Constable. The region has played muse to many over the generations, and has been entertaining tourists in search of their own inspiration from as early as the 18th Century. 

Today the Lake District is perhaps best known for its outdoor pursuits, namely walking and climbing, and a heady 17.32 million visitors greet the fells every year. The local towns bustle with amateur adventurers in brightly coloured climbing gear, and the gift shops are filled with black and white postcard views from the past. While many of us consider those iconic images to be a climbing goal, few will have considered - how on earth were they actually taken? Laidlaw Auctioneers and Valuers in Carlisle have the answer, selling a collection of original photographs and postcards by internationally renowned Lakeland photographers the Abraham Brothers in their forthcoming Fine Antiques and Esoteric auction, to be held on Saturday April 8th. 

‘Rock climbing is so integral to the life of the Lake District today, that many people might be surprised to hear that it is a relatively recent sport’ says auctioneer Paul Laidlaw. Indeed, the concept of man versus mountain as a ‘sport’ was only established during the late 1880s. As keen enthusiasts and professional photographers based in Keswick, George and Ashley Abraham were perfectly poised to create a photographic record of these early exploits. Climbing with pioneer Owen Glynne Jones, they would capture images which would be used to illustrate Jones’ very successful book Rock Climbing in the English Lake District, published in 1897, and come to define these early years of climbing for posterity.

While today we understand the need for specialist equipment and safety precautions, it is hard to imagine charting these routes wearing the tweed suits and hobnail boots of our ancestors. Furthermore, it is even harder to imagine being the photographer, when you consider the heavy equipment of the day. ‘For every photograph taken from sky scraping peaks, imagine the glass plate camera that required hoisting up there’ says Paul. The photographers were extremely limited in the number of shots they could take, as the large glass plates required, were both heavy and inertly fragile. Only a few could be carried on each expedition, so each photograph would have been carefully selected, not like today’s compact digital camera and unlimited choice. ‘Imagine the fear getting the negatives back down the mountains in one piece.’ adds Paul. 

The collection of gelatine silver print photographs to be sold at auction cast light on the Abrahams’ journey in their search for the sublime. The medium, with its immaculate detail and mirrored tones lends itself impressively to the awe inspiring landscape views we have come to expect of the brothers, while several other personal observations included in the auction enable us to travel back in time and see life though the photographer’s lens. These include views from the Keswick studio with forgotten figures amid their daily routine, motor cars on newly hewn roads, Christmas Eve hoar frost in 1904, squat stone buildings erected from tumbled rock faces, and the first crossing of Sky Head Pass by motorbike. With each new image ensnaring the imagination, it is no surprise that the brothers are credited as contributing enormously to the romanticism of the region. 

Paul, who has experience auctioneering the works of the Abraham brothers; having previously handled a collection of original glass plate negatives, holds their work in high esteem. ‘By combining adventuring spirit with the photographer’s eye, the Abrahams have left us with a remarkable record of pioneering history in the Lake District that we can all enjoy’ says Paul. ‘The task was dangerous, but it resulted in some of photography’s most memorable images’. Certainly for Jones, the risk was too real, for in 1899 at the age of 32 he was killed when climbing in Switzerland. The Abraham brothers lived out their days in the Lake District, and their famous studio is now immortalised as the popular George Fisher mountaineering and outdoor equipment shop in Keswick, something the bothers would no doubt approve of. 

Start Spreading the News...

The winter edition of Northumberland's ReadMe magazine features a great article on our auctioneer Georgina's career so far, including her time spent with Christie's, New York. 

Read the full article here.

Find out more about .ReadMe magazine
Image credits JWNPhotography

Lights, Camera, Action!

Crushed ice, champagne, bobbed hair and high hemlines, this is the jazz age, the ‘roaring’ twenties, and the Golden Era of Hollywood. While many of us can only dream of the decadence in a city they dubbed ‘tinsel town’, there was one man who lived his life to the beat of its economic boom, Academy Award winning cinematographer Milton Krasner (1904-1988); whose enviable career in the motion picture industry spanned more than five decades.

Krasner’s own rare and unique personal archive of photographs and ephemera accumulated during this period is to be sold by Laidlaw Auctioneers and Valuers in their forthcoming auction of Antiques, Esoteric Items and Fine Furnishings, to be held on March 25th, offering us an intimate glimpse behind the curtain on the ‘movie business’ of that time. Krasner worked with all the leading names in cinema, and if he was inclined to name-drop, Marilyn Monroe, Cary Grant, Jean Simmons, Fritz Lang, Lou Costello, Joan Fontaine, Lauren Bacall and John Wayne would be but a few.

Included in this auction are a number of signed photographs dedicated to Krasner from those he worked with, in particular an early studio portrait photograph of a dashing Walt Disney, signed in blue ink ’To Milt - my adopted step-son - with very best wishes, Dis’, which carries a pre-sale estimate of £300-500, and an official studio photograph taken on the set of Monkey Business (1952) featuring Marilyn Monroe and Cary Grant roller skating, alongside a copy of International Photographer magazine from August 1952 when it made the front cover. However, perhaps the most evocative of the Krasner lots, is the cinematographers own original programme for the 23rd Annual Academy Awards, held at the Pantages Theatre in March 1951. The brochure brings to life the Golden Age of Hollywood, and Krasner would have found himself in good company at the ‘Oscars’, surrounded by the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Spencer Tracy and the Master of Ceremonies; Fred Astaire. 

‘Krasner’s photographs are the closest you will get to a Hollywood time machine’ says auctioneer Paul Laidlaw. ‘They offer a seductive and somewhat intimate behind the scenes glimpse into the Golden Age of cinema. I defy anyone to not get chills when looking at life through such a lens.’

Another lot featured in Laidlaw’s March sale with a Hollywood connection, includes personal effects of Sir Cosmo Edmund Duff-Gordon, perhaps best remembered for the circumstances in which he escaped the sinking of RMS Titanic. Sir Cosmo was saved from the stricken vessel, alongside his notable fashion designer wife Lucille and her assistant, by boarding a life-raft in violation of the ‘women and children first’ policy. Following the disaster Sir Cosmo was accused of not only acting selfishly, but of also bribing the crew of his raft in order to prevent a rescue attempt for survivors in the water; a controversial claim, which Sir Cosmo vehemently denied. His character was featured in the 1997 film adaptation of the sinking, which starred Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. The lot includes a manuscript menu with satirical sketches of Sir Cosmo to the border, and a pair of his binoculars, auction estimate £100-200.

Rampsbeck Furnishings Sale

Slumbering on the shores of Ullswater in eighteen acres of parkland, is a grand Georgian house which is on the cusp of a new lease of life. Formally known as the Rampsbeck Hotel, the building has been recently bought by the team behind Cornwall’s trendy Watergate Bay hotel and is undergoing a £3.5m regeneration and expansion programme. Set to welcome visitors in the summer of 2017, the property will be the first to open in a new collection of destination hotels, all under the ‘Another Place’ brand, with each venue individually tailored to suit their unique environment.  Another Place: The Lake, as the Rampsbeck will now be known, will share the same philosophy as the Watergate Bay, and enjoy year-round activity with a focus on location based pursuits, stunning accommodation and good food and drink. 

In order to make the transition, the Rampsbeck closed its doors in the summer of 2015 allowing re-development to begin. The exclusive Rampseck hotel had been lavishly furnished with both period and contemporary furniture and lighting, not to mention yards of the finest drapery, cushions and throws. No expense was spared in its decoration. These traditional furnishings are now looking for a new home, being rendered surplus during the hotel’s transformation to contemporary chic. Their sale has been placed in the hands of Laidlaw Auctioneers & Valuers and will take place at their Carlisle auction rooms. ‘These furnishings are just the sort of thing our audience is looking for; both period and contemporary furniture, lighting and luxurious soft furnishings of the highest quality.’ says auctioneer Paul Laidlaw. The sale ranges from numerous extremely fine Flemish and other chandeliers, though to sumptuous curtains originally costing many thousands of pounds each and in superb condition’.

The hotel contents will be sold on site at the Laidlaw saleroom in the heart of Carlisle on Saturday January 28th, with live internet bidding available for those unable to attend on the day. The hotel itself is set to re-open this summer. The concept is one of a ski-resort, where guests are active during the day and immersed in a cosy environment at night. ‘It is original for the UK and fundamentally authentic’ says owner Will Ashworth. Guests to the new hotel will be able to enjoy open water swimming, sailing, paddle boarding, cycling and skiing. While the Swim Club will offer a 20 metre indoor pool and treatment rooms. Funding for the second and third hotels in the Another Place chain is already in place, and this includes the redevelopment of the Royal William Yard, a Grade-I listed former naval victualling building in Plymouth where work is already underway.

View the fully-illustrated online catalogue. 

Visit the website of Another Place, The Lakes