Bobby dazzlers under the hammer

BOBBY dazzlers from the cupboards and attics of Wiltshire residents will go under the hammer next Friday, when David Dickinson’s Real Deal rolls into the saleroom of Moore Allen & Innocent, just over the Gloucestershire border in Cirencester.

David and his team of antiques experts called in to the Olympiad leisure centre in Chippenham a fortnight ago, to value antiques and heirlooms brought along by ordinary members of the public.

In keeping with the show’s theme, dealers were invited to offer owners money for their possessions. But the owners were also given the option of taking their antiques to auction, where they might sell for much more money than the dealer had offered… or far less.

On hand to offer expert advice was Philip Allwood, Moore Allen’s auctioneer, and a number of the items he persuaded owners to bring to the rostrum will go under the hammer on Friday, November 6.

Among the best is a three-foot-tall enamel forecourt advertising sign from the 1930s for Duckham’s Adcoids, incorporating a thermometer. These signs are highly collectable, and this example is in such good condition that it is expected to achieve £300 to £400.

Also highly collectable is an Elvis guitar. Produced in 1956, the brown and cream coloured plastic toy is complete with original plectrum, peg tightener, pitch pipe, auto chord box, instruction manual  and a beginner’s guide to the guitar, including the chords and words to Clementine, Little Brown Jug, Bring Back My Bonnie, Oh Susanna and Home on the Range.

A picture of The King himself is embossed onto the fret board and a facsimile of his signature appears on the body of the guitar. The whole lot comes in its original cardboard box – fashioned in the shape of a guitar case – and is expected to achieve between £200 and £300.

Finally, a circa 1920 children’s tea set from Grimwades, featuring scenes from The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter is expected to make between £200 and £300, despite lacking its original box and one saucer.

The set contains four dainty teacups, three saucers, four side plates, a cake platter, a sugar bowl, a milk jug and a teapot. Each piece is decorated with one of six memorable scenes from the book, first published in 1902, including Peter scrabbling under the fence and our anthropomorphic friend being chased by Mr McGregor, the garden’s owner.

The full sale catalogue is available online at www.mooreallen.co.uk/furniturefinearts

A Duckham’s forecourt advertising sign	A Peter Rabbit tea set
An Elvis toy guitar from 1956
Antiques dealer Simon Schneider and Rachel Stannard, from Corsham, look over a Maori axe with tribal carvings, watched by Real Deal presenter David Dickinson and Philip Allwood from Moore Allen & Innocent.