Tag: Specialist Sales

Toovey’s New Sign Unveiled!

New Sign from A24Visitors to Toovey’s for the forthcoming August Sale Week, those delivering items for forthcoming specialist sales or coming to our auction house for free pre-sale valuations will get to see our new sign. The sign was created and installed by leading local firm Tara Signs.

As you can see it shows our membership with SOFAA, the Society of Fine Art Auctioneers and Valuers and our membership to the exclusive Association Of Accredited Auctioneers (AAA).  The new sign is clearly visible in between Washington and Ashington on the A24 in both directions.

Members of the Postcard Traders Association

2013 has seen TOOVEY’S become members of the Postcard Traders Association.

The Postcard Traders Association (PTA) was formed in 1975 by a group of pioneering dealers who felt that the rapidly expanding hobby required a more professional approach, with regard to its organisation, regulation and direction. Today the PTA represents the foremost dealers from around the globe, auctioneers, fair organizers, publishers and accessory distributors among its members. All have been vetted to ensure that the high standards and objectives set upon its foundation are maintained to help in protecting collectors against unfair or dubious trading practices. It is, in effect, a guarantee or badge of fair trading, known by collectors and other dealers and has agreed a code of ethics which all members are required to adhere to.

Brighton Corporation Tramways Postcard
Lot 3045

Toovey’s are one of only a few auctioneers that have been accepted by the PTA and received membership to the association. It is largely attributable to Nicholas Toovey’s personal interest in postcards and is recognition for his continuing promotion of the Sales of Paper Collectables and the field of collecting postcards.

Toovey’s next auction of Paper Collectables is on 16th April 2013, the catalogue is now online and can be viewed by clicking here. The auction includes 90 Lots of postcards, including numerous vintage postcards of Sussex, the rest of the UK, China, Hong Kong and elsewhere, artist postcards by Louis Wain and Mabel Lucie Attwell, Military and Sport postcards. Also included in the specialist auction is a rare postcard of a Brighton Corporation Tramways tram showing various advertisements and the destination as ‘Seven Dials’, offered as a single item (Lot 3045) this rare postcard carries an estimate of £30-50.

Entries are currently invited for the next specialist postcard auction to be held as part of the August Sale of Paper Collectables, please call our offices for deadlines and further information.

Jewellery Collection to be Sold at Toovey’s

A diamond and pink beryl brooch
Lot 675

TOOVEY’S April auction this month includes an impressive collection of jewellery consigned for sale by a single local private vendor.

Lots 660-705 inclusive are all the property of a local lady collector and commences with a pair of brilliant cut diamond single stone earrings (Lot 660), each stone being approx 3cts. The pair or earrings carry a pre-sale estimate of £12,000-18,000. The collection continues with a £7,000-10,000 platinum and diamond single stone ring (Lot 661), the brilliant cut diamond measuring approx 2.80cts. Other highlights include a gold, emerald and diamond ring (Lot 665) estimated at £8,000-12,000 and two diamond bracelets (Lots 667 and 668) estimated at £4,000-6,000 and £3,000-5,000 respectively.

Lot 670 is another fine piece sure to attract attention, being a single row necklace of ninety graduated natural saltwater pearls on a diamond set clasp containing approx 2.50cts of diamonds, the principal diamond being approx 1.65ct of the total weight. The necklace is offered with The Gem and Pearl Laboratory pearl report (No. 07496, dated 6th April 2013) which states that the largest ‘pearl’ is 8.3-8.4mm in width, the smallest ‘pearl’ 2.6mm in width and the gross weight being approximately 20.25g. The necklace carries a pre-sale estimate of £5,000-8,000.  Another star of the collection is a diamond and pink beryl pendant brooch (Lot 675), circa 1900, with the large cushion shaped pink beryl in a surround of sixteen pinched collet set circular old cut diamonds with a similar set single stone suspension offered with an estimate of £10,000-15,000.

The collection is offered for sale on the afternoon of Wednesday 17th April, for viewing times and to view the entire collection please click here. We’re sure you’ll agree the sparkly array is enough to dispel any gloom caused from the occasional April shower!

Click on a thumbnail image for the full view and again for further magnification.

Pre-Columbian Pottery and Other Antiquities at Toovey’s

Group of Pre-Columbian Pottery to be offered in Toovey's March Auction

Toovey’s March auction includes 45 Lots of Pre-Columbian Pottery and Other Antiquities, all consigned by local private collectors. Pre-Columbian is a term that refers to an era preceding Christopher Columbus’s Voyages of 1492, but is often used to denote a period prior to European influence.

Among the group is a Pre-Columbian carved stone head that is probably from the Olmec civilisation, the first major civilisation in Mexico that possibly dates back three millenia.  Perhaps more surprising than the age is the pre-sale estimate of £80-120. Unfortunately, while early antiquities are collected, they often command lower prices than many modern collectables.

At £300-500 a Mexican Totonac light red pottery figure is among the more valuable items, although not one of the oldest, dating from 400-900AD. Modelled as a female head and torso wearing a feathered headdress, the figure has some repairs, but being over 1000 years old perhaps this can be forgiven! The figure stands 14cm high excluding the modern oak base.

The Antiquities will be offered in the afternoon of Thursday 21st March.  In addition to the collection of Pre-Columbian Pottery and Other Antiquities, the March four-day sale offers 1647 other Lots, including specialist sales of Toys, Paintings, Silver, Jewellery, Clocks and Furniture, to view the entire online catalogue please click here.

Toovey’s Expand to China with AAA

Toovey’s will be represented by the British Ambassador to China at the official launch of an exciting new professional group, comprising twenty-one of the leading regional auction houses in the United Kingdom, at the British Embassy in Beijing this April.

These auction houses, which have a combined annual turnover in excess of £200 million, have united to become a dominant UK force in the lucrative Chinese market. In an unprecedented move, they have launched AAA (The Association of Accredited Auctioneers) and forged commercial links with Asia’s only online live bidding portal, www.epailive.com, which now promotes their sales directly to more than 100,000 registered collectors of fine art and antiques in China and posts their catalogues translated into Chinese online.

“The number of Chinese nationals attending our sales in person has grown and grown over recent years but there is a huge audience of potential buyers in the East, who lack the experience and knowledge necessary for direct trade with the West and are unable to make the journey here,” comments auction house director Rupert Toovey. “The objective of the Association of Accredited Auctioneers is to increase confidence and understanding of the UK auction business through a programme of targeted marketing, quality assurance and educational presentations to key growth markets in China. As a firm we are delighted to be among the founder members of AAA.”

Toovey’s Oriental Department holds six specialist auctions of Chinese, Japanese and other Far Eastern ceramics and works of art a year and holds regular valuation days. Department head Tom Rowsell and his consultant, BBC Antiques Roadshow expert Lars Tharp, have over the last fifteen years built one of the pre-eminent specialist auction departments in the UK. “The influence of the Chinese on the UK auction market cannot be underestimated,” says Tom Rowsell. “Our web presence through www.tooveys.com has complimented the depth of our expertise by providing our clients with accelerated marketing and an international shop window for the sale of their objects. Rare Chinese pieces still command the highest prices but there is now a tremendous demand for British antiques in China, particularly furniture, silver, jewellery, clocks and watches, and we hope that the AAA project will encourage more and more mainland Chinese to buy items in all the specialist sections in our auctions.