Wine cooler makes a cool £900

JUST in time for those summer barbecues, a handsome antique wine cooler in the 18th century Irish taste achieved one of the the top prices of the day at Moore Allen & Innocent's antiques auction in Cirencester on Friday (May 13).

Gracing the auction catalogue, the mahogany oval wine cooler had a brass liner and two goat's head carved handles over a brass banded main body.

While an original 18th century example might have fetched £7,000 to £8,000, the auctioneers were still delighted when this piece – a mish-mash of 19th and early 20th century parts –achieved £900.

The biggest seller was an early Victorian dining table – also in mahogany – which made £1,400, while country oak pieces did well: a 19th century plank oak table making £440, a late George III lowboy achieving £380 and a 19th century panelled chest of drawers selling at £290.

Silver and gold continued to perform well, reflecting high market prices. Among the highlights was a late Victorian silver mounted claret jug, manufactured in Sheffield in 1892, which sold for £320.

Definitely not barbecue material was a Wedgwood part dinner service in the Ascot design of white with gilt borders. The service included a pair of lidded tureens, gravy boat, dessert dishes, oval platter, dinner plates and tea plates, and sold for £460.

But well suited to the garden were a pair of stone lions with shields, which were snapped up for £260.

In an eclectic sale of over 1,070 lots, a set of hunting prints after James Pollard called Tom Moody – the Whipper In sold for £300, a huge (356cm by 261cm) Indian woollen rug in the Persian style made £360 and a Victorian pine coffin-makers tool chest, complete with wooden handled tools, achieved £320.

The next sale at Moore Allen & Innocent is the Selected Antiques Sale on Friday, May 27. For details log on to www.mooreallen.co.uk

A pair of stone lions standing with shields (£100 to £150)
A wine cooler in the 18th century Irish taste	A Victorian pine coffin-makers tool chest, complete with wooden handled tools