A call to Bexhill to value a set of 3 silver tea caddies could have been a 4 hour wasted round trip from Chichester for Stride’s auctioneer Mark Hewitt.  Instead, he returned with a cache of historical mementoes of the Robertson-Macdonald family, descendants of William Robertson who was principal of Edinburgh University from 1762 to 1791 and was the author of History of Scotland in 1759.

An iron bound oak chest originally used for storing the family silver by William James Robertson of the 42nd Royal Highlands was the storage box for this miscellany which included the Victorian naval medals of Lt/Capt/Commander D Robertson RN, namely the China medal 1842, the New Zealand medal 1845 and a Royal Lifeboat Institution medal.  Plenty of commission bids around £2000-£3000 were received but with interest coming in from New Zealand for this unique medal, two pre-sale bids of £10,000 each were closer to the final hammer price of £12,800 paid by a Channel Islands collector.  Later a single Army of India medal with Ava clasp to General James Robertson made £1750.

Among the more unusual contents of the treasure chest was a lock of Bonnie Prince Charlie’s hair which sold for £800 and a pair of Georgian portrait miniatures of Col David Robertson and his wife which were unsigned.  Initially they were attributed possibly to Arthur Devis, but specialist buyers put forward the artist as Mrs Anne Mee.  Complete with samples of the sitter’s hair inset into the back of the frames, the miniatures went to a London specialist at £2500 (estimate £800-£1200).

As for the set of silver tea caddies, which were made in London in 1766 by T F, weighing 33ozs, they were housed in a featherbanded walnut box of an earlier Queen Anne design and sold above their £3000 reserve for £4,600.

An antique oak longcase clock was at first glimpse worth £500-£800.  A closer look revealed that the movement was quarter striking by Ino Clough, Manchester. The extra quality of this 8 day clock brought a bidder down from Lancashire specially to try to buy it.  He went home happy having paid above the £2000 reserve to acquire it at £3700.

Furniture buyers have been selective for the past couple of years, and while some regular antiques have become very affordable and inexpensive, the odd lot continues to make a notable price.  In this auction a 19th century mahogany military secretaire chest, brass bound soared past its £700-£1000 estimate to sell for £2600.  From the same house came a Regency oil painting of a soldier beside his horse; signed and dated R B Davis 1829, the canvas was badly torn and the picture was not hung up, but stored in the linen cupboard.  Despite its condition problems, Strides hoped for £800-£1200 and it sold for £3800, underbid by an American.  Downstairs in the hall was an oil painting hanging up of three children playing under trees near the sea, painted by William Hoggatt in 1910.  Strides were expecting this to make £1000 or £2000, but had not allowed for the strong demand of Isle of Man collectors to buy paintings by their island’s best artists.  Telephone bidding from the island and elsewhere pushed it up to £13000, probably an auction record for the artist.