It's all about collections at Moore Allen

GOOD things come in threes, or perhaps fours.  Wartime ship instruments, German drinking vessels, and a set of gramophones are among the small collections that will be going under the hammer at auctioneers Moore Allen & Innocent later this month.

Looking very jolly - presumably because he's full of Bavarian brew - is an early 20th century jug fashioned as an 18th century Black Forest boozer in blue stoneware. Across his belly is emblazoned - in old German - a phrase about his love of drinking too much: "lieben trinken allzuviel".

Together with a large beer jug featuring Teutonic knights, our drinker is expected to achieve £50 to £80. Meanwhile a second lot from the same blue stoneware collection, featuring a small beer stein with knights decoration and a small jug, carries an estimate of £30 to £50.

From the decks of a wartime battleship come a pair of sextants, which are used to plot a ship's position on a nautical chart. One is a Husan by Hughes & Son Ltd, the other a bubble sextant Mark 9 A. Each carries an estimate of £50 to £80.

Also from this small collection is a binnacle compass by Kelvin, Bottomley & Baird of Glasgow. The brass compass has been painted battleship grey, but could be returned to its original lustre. It carries an estimate of £50 to £80.

The best of a small collection of gramophones is a 1920s Apollo in a mahogany and stained beech freestanding cabinet, with an estimate of £100 to £150. For people who like their gramophones with a horn, there's an HMV model with a brass horn and oak base, circa 1900, with an estimate of £80 to £120. There are also a couple of portable models, one by Edison Bell, another by Embassy, with estimates of £50 to £80.

A late Victorian compactum wardrobe - a chest of drawers between two pillarbox hanging cupboards - might not technically be a collection, but it will break down into its separate parts for easy transportation from the auction.

Standing at 6ft tall, and designed in the high Victorian gothic revival taste in flame mahogany veneer, this smart and practical piece of handcrafted furniture carries an estimate of just £300 to £500 - far less than a modern flat pack of equal size might cost. 

"This is an example of where auctions can be great value for money for ordinary householders," said auctioneer Philip Allwood.

The lots will be sold at Moore Allen & Innocent's Antique and General Sale on Friday, May 14, from 9.30am.

A small collection of gramophones	German drinking vessels
A 1920s Apollo gramophone	Wartime ship instruments
A late Victorian compactum wardrobe