Auction Week at James and Sons

A look back at the James and Sons auction that took place on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, with lots of photos. Also a gallery of my usual hobby photos.

On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week James and Sons of Fakenham had their May auction. Tuesday was devoted to stamps and postal history, while Wednesday was a general auction, with lots of different types of stuff under the hammer. This post looks at some of the highlights of the two days.

I was working above the shop where the auction was taking place, so cannot comment on the sale as a whole. However lot 256 went to me, and was clearly uncontested given how low the hammer price was. These are the images that were available to the general public:

Here are my own photos of the lot post acquisition, taken at home yesterday morning:

This sale started very quietly (I was watching from home), with lot 526 going to me uncontested. This item will be at the heart of at least one major blog post and possibly more, so I present only the image gallery I produced for it to go under the hammer:

The auction picked up a bit of momentum when some old Guinness advertising posters, all in excellent condition, went under the hammer. Five of the posters fared especially well, lots 622, 641, 658, 661 and 669, which all went for above the top estimates. Here are the images of those lots:

The star lot of the auction was number 795, which massively exceeded the top estimate. Here is the gallery.

Some of the toy lots in the low 800s also fared exceptionally well with 805 and 806 almost doubling the top estimate, and lots 807, 814 and 815 also going above the top estimate.

There have been a lot of photographs in the body of this post, but I also include a gallery of my usual hobby photographs…

Two Days at James and Sons

Yesterday at James and Sons was devoted to finishing the imaging for the January auction (Jan 28th 2014, Fakenham Racecourse). It is in the nature of last items to be imaged that they are not the most interesting, but there were some good ones in there…

This is one of five images of lot 324
This is one of five images of lot 324

This is one of five images from lot 325.
This is one of five images from lot 325.

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The next four images are of lot 601
The next four images are of lot 601

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This is lot 736 - the map is in the frame at right angles to the normal orientation.
This is lot 736 – the map is in the frame at right angles to the normal orientation.

The next five images are from lot 780. a giant scrapbook full of beer mats
The next five images are from lot 780. a giant scrapbook full of beer mats

???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ???????????????????????? ????????????????????????Today however was a much more varied day. The morning was devoted to the heavy work of clearing the alleyway behind the shop (our neighbours in Fakenham who I won’t name had failed a fire inspection). Thereafter a new advertising board to replace the clapped out and out of date one was constructed (I did some of the selection and layout work, my colleague Andrew then assembled it) – I have a picture of it laid out ready for construction and one of it standing in the shop window, both of which I have tweeted out to my followers on @aspitweets…

The new advertising board, ready for assembly.
The new advertising board, ready for assembly.

The new advertising board in the shop window.
The new advertising board in the shop window.

The imaging for February only involved four lots, but some needed multiple images as you will see below…

The first four images are of Lot 1 in the February auction
The first four images are of Lot 1 in the February auction

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The next two images are from lot 103
The next two images are from lot 103

This postcard album is lot 102 in the February auction.
This postcard album is lot 102 in the February auction.

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Lot 101 for February warranted no fewer than eight images.
Lot 101 for February warranted no fewer than eight images.

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