Moore Allen reveals the key to success

COTSWOLD auctioneers Moore Allen & Innocent last week discovered the key to a successful sale.

The 18th century French cast iron lock and key, the teeth of which formed an anchor motif, achieved £290 against an estimate of £150 to £200.

The top price of the day was achieved by a large Victorian partners’ desk, which sold for £1,050 – just tipping its £1,000 estimate.

And the surprise of the day was reserved for a collection of First World War medals. Estimated at £100 to £150, collectors pushed the hammer price to £420.

The medals, which were awarded to Private A G Angell of the Wiltshire Regiment included a 1914-15 Star, a 1914-18 Medal, a 1914-19 Medal, together with a death plaque suggesting that, like so many of his comrades, Private Angell did not live to see the end of hostilities.

As temperatures soared towards thirty degrees was no real surprise that garden furniture and ornaments performed so well, although the auctioneers were delighted when a Victorian cast iron bench decorated with love heart and diamond motifs achieved £620 against an estimate of £200 to £300 – the second highest price of the day.

Elsewhere, a wheelbarrow and sack barrow with wooden spade and fork made £170 against an estimate of £50 to £80, a Victorian painted cast iron and slatted wooden bench sold for £300 – its lower estimate – and a pair of Victorian wooden benches sold for £210.

Also designed for outdoor use was a children’s tricycle in the form of a horse, complete with leather tack and horsehair tail, which sold for £70 – right in the middle of its £50 to £80 estimate.

And back indoors, 15 lots of Beswick Beatrix Potter ceramic figures, including Jeremy Fisher, Mrs Tiggy Winkle, Squirrel Nutkin and Jemima Puddleduck, achieved £2,065 in total.

An 18th century French cast iron lock and key, the teeth of which formed an anchor motif, which achieved £290

A collection of First World War medals, awarded to Private A G Angell of the Wiltshire Regiment, including a 1914-15 Star, a 1914-18 Medal, a 1914-19 Medal, and a death plaque, which sold for £420