Our 2022 in review

21st December 2022

Burstow & Hewett's year in review - A look back at some of our auction hammer highlights from 2022

Scroll through to see some of our hammer highlights from the first half of the year:

January Fine Art Sale. Lot 2054- Indian School, watercolour, a busy procession with elephants. This painting flew past the estimate of £300-£500 and the hammer came down at £9,000!
January Antiques Sale. Lot 1114 -A Vintage chess clock by Fattorini & Sons of Bradford. This rare clock had an estimate of £80-£120 but on the day it fetched £6,000!
January Antiques Sale. Lot 1026- Jimi Hendrix Experience on Hastings Pier original advertising poster, Sunday 22nd October 1967. Anyone remember being there? A local fan did and the poster sold for £5,000!
EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE! Lot 2003 - DOCTOR WHO - A full-size 3-section fibreglass model Dalek in our January Homes & Interiors Sale sold for £1,250
February Homes & Interiors Sale - Lot 1 Fonderia Sommer, a weathered verdigris bronze Italian Grand Tour sculpture. Sold for 10 times the estimate for £3,000!
February Fine Art sale. Lot 305- William Beechey RA, charcoal drawing, portrait of Lord Nelson sold for £2,500
March Jewellery Sale. Lot 2 - ROLEX - a stainless steel 'Coke' GMT Master II Oyster Perpetual Date automatic bracelet watch sold for £12,000
March 20th Century Design Sale. Lot 1817 - SOANE BRITAIN, a red leather Crillon lounge chair sold for £1,700!
April Homes & Interiors Sale - The World Of Fashion And Continental Feuilletons Volume XXI January to December 1884. Estimated at £50-£80 but sold for £1,300!
April Jewellery Sale - Lot 252 An extremely fine Italian Grand Tour micro-mosaic miniature plaque flew past it's estimate and made £6,000
April Antiques Sale. Lot 1001 - An antique Walker and Hall table-top lighter, silver plate dragon form with antelope horn body. This rare item was estimated at £100-£150 but sold for £1,100
May Homes & Interiors sale. Lot 2641 - An Antique Turkish Oushak rug had an estimate of only £100-£200 but fetched £6,600 under the hammer!
May Jewellery Sale. Lot 2 - ROLEX - a Vintage stainless steel Air-King Oyster Perpetual Super Precision automatic wristwatch sold for £3,000!
May Jewellery Sale. Lot 108 A Georgian novelty figural gem set beetle brooch was estimated at £500-£600 but the bidders battled it out and it eventually sold for £2,100!
May Jewellery Sale. Lot 401- A large and impressive 19th century Continental cast-silver Neo-Classical pitcher jug sold for £2,100!

448 (2) — Lot 448 : A Chinese Doucai 'dragon and phoenix' porcelain bowl in our January Homes & Interiors sale

Our first Homes & Interiors sale of the year was off to a great start with Lot 448: A Chinese Doucai 'dragon and phoenix' porcelain bowl. This bowl was rescued from a box destined for the skip by our very own Will Ellin. It was estimated to make between £100-£150 but made £16,000 when it went under the hammer! One very happy vendor!

50 (1) — Lot 50 - CHARITY LOT (SOLD ON BEHALF OF ST MICHAEL'S HOSPICE) - a Belle Epoque diamond pendant necklace in our June Jewellery Sale

This Belle Epoque diamond pendant necklace was sold on behalf on St Michaels Hospice and flew past the estimate fetching £850! We do not charge any vendors commission on any lots sold on behalf of a charity so what a amazing result for such a great cause.

2612 Photoroom (3) — August Homes & Interiors Sale. Lot 562: 3 boxes of various Vintage bus and train tickets, including Hong Kong Tramways and Eastbourne Corporation Transport Department

The biggest surprise in our August Homes & Interiors sale was Lot 562, 3 boxes of various Vintage bus and train tickets, including Hong Kong Tramways and Eastbourne Corporation Transport Department. We had given them an estimate for £40-£60 but little did we know that there are some avid collectors out there that bid for them up to £1,750! Then another lot of bus tickets (106) in our August sale made £820! Bear that in mind when you throw out your used travel tickets.

1051 (1) — August Antiques Sale. Lot 1051: Henri Weigele (1858 - 1927), carved white marble sculpture, naked woman laying in the grass.

Lot 1051 in our August Antiques sale was this beautiful carved white marble sculpture of a naked woman laying in the grass by Henri Weigele (1858 - 1927) from The Amelia Museum Tunbridge Wells, loaned by the present vendor's family in 1949 and which had recently de-accessioned. It was the a spectacular example of marble sculpture so there was no surprise when it sold for £8,500 when it went under the hammer.

June Homes & Interiors Sale- Lot 4 A large pair of Chinese cloisonne enamel dragon vases, estimated at £100-£150 but sold for £1,800!
June Fine Art Sale. Lot 2141 An Oil on canvas, still life study, unsigned, sold for £1,700
July Homes & Interiors sale. Lot 2613: A 19th century copper bateau bath sold for £3,000
July Homes & Interiors sale. Lot 121: A sealed box of Larranaga 25 coronas Cuban cigars sold for £1,200
July Jewellery Sale. Lot 106: A fine 3-stone diamond ring, principal old cut diamond, sold for £3,600!
July Antiques Sale. Lot 1015:A Chinese blue and white 'Dragon' garden barrel seat estimated at £500-£1000 but sold for £1,900.
July Antiques Sale. Lot 1022: 2 Chinese blue and white opium pipe pots sold for £1,700
July Fine Art Sale. Lot 2001: Adrian Berg RA (1929 - 2011), oil on canvas, Kew Gardens, 12th September 1984, signed. The bidders battled it out for this painting all the way up to £8,500
August Homes & Interiors Sale. Lot 2244: A Victorian mahogany break-front 4-door wardrobe sold for £1,250
August Jewellery Sale. Lot 108:A Regency long guard chain, textured belcher links with turquoise yellow metal clasp, estimated at around £500 old for £2,700
September Homes & Interior Sale. Lot 218: A carved bamboo figure of a sage was estimated at £40-£60 but sold for £3,400
August 20th Century Design Sale. Lot 1502: HANS BRATTRUD, a set of 6 Scandia bent wood dining chairs. Estimated £500-£800, sold for £1,500
August Fine Art Sale. Lot 2006: Oil on canvas after Raphael, Mary with the Infant Christ and John the Baptist. Estimated at £1,000-£1,500 and sold for £7,500

2000 (2) — August Fine Art Sale. Lot 2000: Banksy (born 1974), Flag (2006) screen print on chroma-lux paper, published by Pictures On Walls

Lot 2000 in our August Fine Art sale was this Banksy, Flag (2006) screen print on chroma-lux paper, published by Pictures On Walls, unsigned, no. 567/1000. It came with a Certificate of Authenticity from Pest Control, we knew it would be one to watch and we were delighted when it fetched £9,500 when the hammer came down.

1005 (1) — September Antiques Sale. Lot 1005: A rare 19th century Spanish travelling cabinet on stand, 18th/19th century, tortoiseshell engraved ivory and ebony drawer fronts

216 (2) — November Antiques Sale. Lot 216: An exceptional William and Mary oyster laburnum and marquetry inlaid cabinet on stand, covered in specimen wood and green stained ivory marquetry decoration on all sides.

We had some exceptional pieces of furniture travelling through our Abbey Saleroom this year including this William and Mary oyster laburnum and marquetry inlaid cabinet on stand covered in specimen wood and green stained ivory marquetry decoration on all sides and A 19th century Spanish travelling cabinet on stand which had tortoiseshell, engraved ivory and ebony drawer fronts, on a separate ebonised wood stand with barley twist supports. The travelling cabinet went straight past our expectations and made £6,000 hammer price and the William & Mary cabinet also fetched surpassed the estimate at £5,500!

126 (2) — October Homes & Interiors Sale. Lot 126: A 19th century salt glaze stoneware bottle, stamped Williams High Street Depford, with relief moulded cow

This rare 19th century salt glaze stoneware bottle, stamped Williams High Street Deptford, with relief moulded cow caught the eye of collectors out there and fetched an amazing result of £4,600. One collector stated it was an incredibly well preserved example of an extremely rare bottle.

1523 (1) — October Fine Art Sale. Lot 1523: Mukul Dey (Indian - 1895 - 1989), watercolour, Siva Parvati in cloud-land

Our phone lines for Telephone bidding were fully booked for Lot 1523 in our October Fine Art sale so we had an inkling that this watercolour by Mukul Dey (Indian - 1895 - 1989) might be special. The phone bidders would end up battling it out all the way up to £35,000. Works by Mukul Dey don't usually appear at auction, especially in the UK, and most are a quarter of the size of this particular work.

1100 (1) — November Jewellery Sale. Lot 1100: CARTIER - a natural saltwater pearl and diamond necklace.

Last but by no means least is the lot of the year! This spectacular CARTIER natural saltwater pearl and diamond necklace blew us all away when it came into the saleroom and we were delighted when it went under the hammer and sold for an amazing total of £49,600 including fees. What a year! We would like to take this moment to thank all of our vendors and buyers for making this year so special. We look forward to what new and exciting things 2023 brings to Burstow and Hewett, so watch this space!