2000 Theatrical Costumes for Auction

The entire stock of a Theatre Wardrobe Hire Company totalling 2000 costumes manufactured to a high standard will be sold by auction on Saturday 10^th September 2011.

Sale commences 10.00 a.m
The costumes will be on view from Friday the 9^th of September from 12.45 PM to 6.15 PM & Sale Day from 9 AM.

Of Special Interest to Theatrical Companies, Show Impresarios,

Television Producers, Dancing Academies, Operatic Societies, etc.

....Retro & Fancy Dress Shops

Regent and Georgian style Marble Fireplaces

In this week’s sale we are offering three ex display Marble Fireplaces.

The fireplaces are in the Regency and Georgian styles and are estimated to sell for £350 – 450 each.

What do you keep your spare change in?

We have two Liberty & Co lots in this week’s auction. One of which is an Art Nouveau Tudric pewter cylindrical tobacco jar (lot 633). Up until recently it was being used as a spare coin jar and now in this week’s auction we expect this lot to realise £250.


Also by Liberty & Co we have a Tudric pewter eight-day timepiece (lot 601), numbered 01406, height 14cms estimated to realise £200 in this week’s auction.

The Rise of Retro Fashion

This chrome, rosewood and glass coffee table was made by Merrow Associates from a design by Richard Young.

Young’s designs reflected his passion for Scandinavian furniture, and Merrow furniture was retailed at exclusive shops such as Harrods.

Merrow Associates manufactured furniture in small quantities in the 1960’s and 1970’s and its scarcity simply enhances the price realised when pieces arrive at auction.

Although this table is approximately 40 years old its clean lines give it a very contemporary feel. It realised £520 in our 13^th August sale.

Beswick Dulux Dog

One of the iconic advertising brand mascots is the Dulux dog. Introduced in the 1960’s the Old English Sheepdog now seems synonymous with the brand, so much so that many people refer to the breed as `Dulux dogs’.


This model by Beswick shows the dog with its paw on a tin of paint. In perfect condition we would have estimated it at £300-350. Unfortunately it does have some damage so our estimate is reduced to £50-100 but it would still be a fun piece to own.

An investment you can use

With more turmoil in the world financial markets over the past week, precious metals such as gold and silver are increasingly seen as investment opportunities. And what could be better than an investment you can use time and time again.


This canteen of silver cutlery by Mappin and Webb realised £3000 in our live webcast sale on the 6^th August.

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Hidden Treasure

It’s amazing what can be left behind in properties sometimes. A plumber was instructed by solicitors to carry out some work in a Nottinghamshire property and found two robust deed boxes in the cellar.

He delivered them to the solicitors who then contacted us to say that they were full of old silver coins.

Many of the silver coins were pre 1920 with a high silver content. We divided the coins into 87 lots and they were all sold earlier this month for a total in excess of £13.000

Record online sales as new site goes live

Our last sale - the first since our new webiste went live - broke our record for online sales

For the first time over 50% of the lots sold in our webcast collectables auction were purchased by internet buyers.

By extending the same principles of customer care to online purchases as to buyers attending the sale we now have many UK and overseas bidders buying from us on a weekly basis.

This week we have buyers from Russia, Italy and Australia.

Vibrant Market

As the Spring bank holiday season gets under way, what better time for Arthur Johnson & Sons to sell a celebrated depiction of a bank holiday of yesteryear.

Campbell Archibald Mellon's 1923 canvas August Bank Holiday, Gorleston-on-Sea shows the beach in the Norfolk resort teeming with sun-seekers.

Mellon, a Nottinghamshire travelling salesman, painted a series of oils depicting holiday scenes in his adopted home town.


The vibrant oil fetched a cool £18,000 in auction, with the winning bid coming from an art dealer who has a particular interest in Mellon's work.
Also exciting bidders at the same sale, was a portrait by the highly collectable Cornish artist Harold Harvey. His 1932 oil A Study In Greens shows a striking young woman in an interior setting. Works by the prolific Harvey always attract great interest and this lot fetched £10,500.
Philip Poyser of Arthur Johnson commented: "This shows that there is a very healthy market for quality 20th Century art."