Big crowd at auction of homestead contents

Press, 25 November 1982, Page 3

Big crowd at auction of homestead contents

The contents . of. one of Canterbury’s fine old country homes went under the hammer at the Christchurch Wool Exchange yesterday. The collection of the late Mrs M: A. W. Jamieson, of Kaituna homestead, was offered in 466 lots in two marathon sessions. About 250 people gathered at the start of the auction, conducted by Pyne, Gould, Guinness, Ltd, and many more came and went during the day. • • •'. Mrs Jamieson’s collection included furniture, porcelain" and ceramics, sterling silverware, silver plate, crystal and. glassware, china, Persian carpets, books, paintings, and a collection of dolls from all over the world. The chief auctioneer was Mr-., Alister Hopkinson, a former All Black. Bidding was steady, and more than 300 lots were sold during the five-hour daytime session. A lot; of work and planning had gone into the big auction, which ran smoothly and to time. Each lot was carried from the viewing area into the auditorium as it came up on the catalogue. In the furniture section, $3lOO was paid for a Victorian walnut Loo table, inlaid, with figures and a carved cathedral base. Lot 290; a mahogany, drinks cabinet .table,: .with. accessories, brought: $l6OO.- < ‘ ' A large Victorian wardrobe in Queensland maple, X.

with centre mirror and fitted interior sold for $ll5O, as did a twentieth-century Continental inlaid card table. A 75cm-high Chinese terracotta vase, in gold tones with a small crack on the rim brought $425, and - an 1881 Doulton Burslem toilet set, complete with jug, basin, chamber, soap dish, and toothbrush holder sold for $4lO. In what an antique dealer later described as quite a bargain, someone got a 21piece Grosvenor china tea service, six-place setting, with dainty floral pattern, for $6O. Books, silver, and paintings made up the bulk of items offered in the evening session of the auction. New Zealand scenery chromolithographed original watercolour drawings by John Gully with a descriptive let-: terpress by Dr Julius Von Haast sold for $3OO. . , "A large Persian carpet fetched $2500, while, two others sold for $llOO and $9OO. A silver-plated coffee and tea service in beautiful condition was sold for $1255, while a larger Victorian tea and coffee service made of Sheffield sterling silver and dated 1872 was passed in at $7500. This Was the only item of the sale to be passed in. , A Stoddart water-colour, “White linum and wild Irishman” fetched $2400 and a larger water-colour by C. N. Worsley, “Sheep washing,” fetched $7OOO. yf>