Two rare Fabergé flowers – found at a free valuation day – blossomed to sell for hundreds of thousands of pounds at auction.
They were among a host of lots that soared to success at Hansons London’s June 11 sale after being uncovered at valuation days in and around the London area.
The flowers, found by Hansons London owner Charles Hanson in a shoe box, made £421,600 in total, including buyer’s fees and VAT. The hammer price for both flowers was £340,000.
More great finds that did well included a sparkling three-stone diamond ring which sold for £3,100. It featured three brilliant cut diamonds, one being 1.5 carat and the other two being 0.75 carat each.
And one item stunned its owner when it sold for seven times its £80-£120 estimate. An Edwardian silver pin cushion, in the shape of a mouse and made by Robert Pringle & Sons of Birmingham in 1909, fetched £780 when it went under the hammer at Hansons London saleroom at the Normansfield Theatre in Teddington.
Another jewellery highlight was a fine Russian mourning locket, found at a free valuation event in Maidenhead, which sold for £1,250. The 19th century 14 carat gold locket featured a bee made out of gold and diamonds on black enamel.
Meanwhile, a set of butterscotch amber beads smashed their low estimate of £800 to sell for £1,600, underlining the demand for items like this.
Another piece of jewellery to double its £300 low estimate was lot 83, an Art Deco 18 carat white gold, sapphire and diamond dress ring which sold for £620. Lot 53, an Indian yellow metal bangle also did well achieving £700 and lot 163, an AJ Benson 18 carat gold hunter pocket watch from 1896, sold for £750.
Away from the jewellery, a Johan George 1812 full size violin including case and two silver mounted violin bows was contested to £1,150 and a fine pair of 19th century Ottoman gold damascened steel calligraphy scissors, with floral and foliate motifs, sold for £600.
Mr Hanson said: “I was delighted to see so many impressive sales achieved for our clients, many of whom had casually popped items along to our free valuation days taking place in and around London and the south.
“If you think you may have an item of value, our advice is always to bring it along for free valuation and assessment. You could be sitting on a windfall.”
Hansons London offers free valuations at its office at 77 Bridge Road, Hampton Court Village, every Wednesday from 11am-3pm and every Friday from 10am-4pm. In addition, every Saturday from 9.30am-12.30pm, free valuations are held at the firm’s saleroom, the Normansfield Theatre, Langdon Down Centre, 2A Langdon Park, Teddington, TW11 9PS.
The firm, which launched Hansons London in January as an expansion of its long-established sister saleroom in Derbyshire, also offer free valuation events in and around the area. To find out where your nearest free valuation event is, visit www.hansonslondon.co.uk or call 020 8979 7954.
