Fans of fans are all a-flutter

FANS of fans were all a-flutter and Cotswold auctioneers were blown away as a collection of hand-held heat-busters valued at just £30 to £50 were sold for over £1,000.

Friday, June 13 might have been unlucky for some, but not for the vendor of an early 20th century silk fan with shaped ivory sticks, four Chinese carved ivory fans and two carved bodkin holders. When the hammer fell at the general and antiques sale at Moore Allen & Innocent in Cirencester, frantic bidding had reached £1,050.

Meanwhile another example – listed as an unusual late 19th century fan decorated to one side with a mountainous landscape, the reverse with a further landscape centred by the Zuger See – achieved £380 against an estimate of £50 to £80.

If champagne corks were popping after that result, they were unlikely to have been from a case of six bottles of Krug 1985, which was sold for £820. Neither, one suspects, has the cork yet been pulled from a single bottle of Petrus Pomerol from the same vintage, which achieved £500.

The biggest price of the day, though, was reserved for a Turkey rug, the main rectangular panel set with numerous devices within a step stylised border. The hammer fell at £1,150.

TV cameras will be rolling at the next Moore Allen & Innocent sale on Friday, July 4 when David Dickinson will be filming an episode of his hit ITV show Real Deal.

For more information about buying and selling at auction log on to www.mooreallen.co.uk or call 01285 646050.

A Turkey rug
A collection of fans - For clarification: the fans at the bottom of the picture were those which, together, achieved £1,050. The fan in the top right was sold individually and achieved £380.	A bottle of Petrus Pomerol