Auctioneer set to sell records, as well as break them

 

AUCTIONEERS Moore Allen & Innocent have broken one or two records in their time – but next week the firm will be selling them.

 

A collection of 14 vinyl LPs by The Beatles is expected to make between £150 and £200 when it goes under the hammer at the Cirencester saleroom on Friday, April 3, not least because it includes a collectable numbered copy of the legendary White Album.

 

The White Album, actually called The Beatles, but given its better-known moniker due to its blank cover, was the band’s ninth UK studio album, and their first released on their own Apple label.

 

The album claims a number of other firsts, and lasts: it was their only original double album, their last to be recorded in alternate mono and the only album not to feature the band on the front cover. The white cover had The Beatles embossed into it and a unique stamped number identifying it as one of a not-very-limited-edition of five million.

 

It is estimated that the album went on to sell a staggering 19 million copies. A later pressing of The White Album, without the stamped number on the cover, is also included in the lot. Both copies feature the original inserts – portrait photographs of each of the band members and a lyric sheet which folds out into a poster.

 

“In this auctioneer’s opinion, this is the best album by the best band ever,” said Philip Allwood. “The numbered version is highly sought after. I myself have a copy in my personal collection.”

 

Staying with icons of British popular culture (The Beatles, not Philip Allwood), Dennis the Menace is to comics what The Beatles are to popular music, and a huge collection of copies of The Beano from the late 1970s to the early 1990s is going under the hammer, along with a collection of Warlord comics from roughly the same period. The collection is expected to achieve between £50 and £80.

 

For those who like their antiques sales to feature something a bit older there are some stand-out pieces in the furniture section, including two 17th century Yorkshire oak backstools, each carrying an estimate of £100 to £150, a couple of late Victorian gothic revival oak buffets, estimated at £150 to £200 each, and a 20th century hand-crafted eight-seat oak dining table in the late 17th century manner, with an estimate of £700 to £1,000.

 

Meanwhile, spring has sprung and outdoor ornaments are starting to pop up again. There is a good collection of planters, bird baths, sundials, chimney pots, and statues, but among the more unusual items are a pair of wall cappings, one in a fleur-de-lis motif, the other as a Tudor rose, which carry an estimate of £50 to £100 for the pair.

 

The sale will be captured by a TV crew from popular BBC show Flog It!, a less restrained version of the Antiques Roadshow in which presenter Paul Martin travels Britain valuing antiques, then gives owners the opportunity to make a quick buck at auction.

 

Among the treasures going under the hammer is an early 19th century tortoise shell tea caddy valued at £500 to £800.


A few of a large collection of copies of The Beano (£50 to £80) A collection of garden ornaments
A few of a large collection of copies of The Beano (£50 to £80) A collection of garden ornaments
A late Victorian gothic revival oak buffet (£150 to £200); Two 17th century oak chairs (£100 to £150 each) in front of a 20th century oak dining table in the 17th century manner (£700 to £1,000);
A late Victorian gothic revival oak buffet (£150 to £200); Two 17th century oak chairs (£100 to £150 each) in front of a 20th century oak dining table in the 17th century manner (£700 to £1,000);
The Beatles’ White Album, numbered edition, with inserts (£150 to £200 as part of a collection of 14 albums); The Beatles’ White Album, numbered edition, with inserts (£150 to £200 as part of a collection of 14 albums);