SALE OF ANTIQUES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 27391, 17 May 1950, Page 10

SALE OF ANTIQUES

High Prices For Collectors' Pieces DEMAND MAINTAINED A feature of the sale of antiques and works of art conducted by Alex. Harris, Ltd., yesterday, was the keen demand for genuine antiques, of which there was a good representation amongst the several hundred lots offered. Articles not in the highest category sold readily enough, but prices of the boom times are not being maintained.

One of the.,gems of the sale was an old English oak suite; made in the mid-seventeenth century, which was sold for £9O. A splendid reproduction of a Georgian dining table, in mahogany, found a buyer at £55, and occasional tables in walnut and mahogany brought from £ls to-£3O. A French Ormolu clock, of strikingly picturesque design, produced spirited bidding, the hammer falling at £SO.

A delightful pair of Venetian vases changed hands at £27 after strong competition amongst the connoisseurs, and one with exquisite French decorations went at £7 10s. A pair of rare girondeles found a buyer at £2O. Another beautiful piece of work of the highest artistry, a decorated fruit basket of a type not often seen in a local saleroom, was sold for £ll 10s. A set of Georgian serving spoons, another outstanding offering, realised the satisfactory price of £l3. The sale, though it followed others of a similiar kind in recent months, attracted a very large crowd, with a large proportion of genuine buyers.