auction action

Silhouette and portrait, £30-50.

As well as the painting by Arthur Rackham that I wrote about last Friday, there are a few juicy things to see at Willingham Auctions this coming Saturday. I kind of wished I owned my own vintage/antiques shop so I could buy up some of the stuff to sell, especially the pharmaceutical ware. I always have an eye out for interesting storage and that enormous bank of drawers, whilst pretty much useless, is magnificent - I wonder if it will sell for more than its estimate? I've certainly seen things a bit like this selling for a couple of grand in some antiques shops. We'll see.

The husband has been on the hunt for an antique wooden swivel chair for some time now without success, and as happenstance would have it, one turns up at the auction so we might just buy it if it looks any good. The last attractive one we saw was in a flea market in Paris where it was selling for about €750! Decent-looking ones are pretty hard to come by unless you want some upholstered leather monster with padded arms, and they are always, always too expensive. There was one in an apartment that we rented in Annecy in France a couple of years ago. We should have stolen it - it was perfect.

And what about that sweet little policeman below? I want! But probably not for that money :-)


Wooden swivel chair, £60-90.


Large bank of index drawers, £400-600.


Wooden policeman with articulating legs, £30-50.


Vintage chemists bottles and glassware, £100-150.


Vintage glass shop bottles, £50-100.


A Victorian mahogany chemist's stand with vintage bottles, test tubes and vials of compounds, £80-140.