Random reminder

Press, 14 May 1982, Page 22

Random reminder

AUCTION SALE

Although the objects offered at an auction of valuable antiques are beyond her financial resources, she likes to attend for the pleasure of looking at these treasures. So when she was in Sydney she took the opportunity of indulging in her favourite pastime. She admired particularly a pair of plates. They had an unusual opaque white finish and were decorated with a delightful design in blue, yellow and green. The colours blended beautifully and the plates attracted quite a crowd of admirers. Some bidders apparently came especially for the plates, for other articles, although valuable, aroused little interest. Then the assistant held the plates aloft while the auctioneer recounted the description that was in the catalogue. It was Delftware, he said, and .the plates were made in the 1700 s. They could be used as wall plaques but all plates of this type were very fragile, and most offered for sale were chipped. These were unique because they were not chipped, and with the unusual design, they were, as far as he could ascertain,

the only two of their kind in the world. She wondered how high the bidding would go. Pretty high, she supposed, but even she was surprised when it reached $4OO. There was silence after that. The auctioneer waited for further bids, but as no more were forthcoming he brought down his hammer with quite a bang. At the same moment a dreadful thing happened. One of the plates slipped from the assistant’s hand, crashed on to the corner of a nearby table and broke into dozens of pieces. No-one knew what made it slip, for the assistant must surely have been used to the sudden noise. Everyone was shocked, everyone, that is, except the auctioneer. He ca'lmly took the remaining plate from the stricken assistant, held it up for all to see, and announced: “Ladies and gentlemen, you are now looking at the only plate of its kind in the whole world. Formerly there were two but as this one is now unique it is now worth twice the value.” And twice the value was what he received.