Tag: Militaria

IMAGING AND AN IMPORTANT PROTEST

A plug for an important protest and some highlights from today at work.

INTRODUCTION

I have been at work today at James and Sons, and also a discussion has been taking place regarding a protest on Saturday. Thus this post is in two parts, starting with

PROTEST AGAINST THE POSSIBLE CLOSURE OF THE FERMOY UNIT

The state of Mental Health services in Norfolk is already, to put it bluntly, scandalous. Therefore, I have no hesitation in urging everyone who can to be present in King’s Lynn from 12PM this Saturday to be part of this protest.

MH Protest

Above is a jpg of the official poster for the event.

IMAGING

Here are a few highlights from today at work…

19
Lot 19
40
Lot 40
40-a
The hallmarks on lot 40
43
Lot 43 – a five image gallery. The fact that I produced a full gallery of this lot and have sahred it here should absolutely not be taken as expressing support for the compnay being commemorated!

43-a43-b43-c43-d

91
Lot 91 – this will be on the front cover of the catalogue – and I produced a nine-image gallery.
91-a
A close up of the front of the medals
91-b
A close up of the rear of the medals
91-c
The reverse of the two cruciform medals
91-d
The obverse of the two cruciform medals
91-e
The obverse of the two stars (a look at the reverse of the group will tell you why I did not do a close-up of the other side of this pair)
91-f
The obverse of the two disc medals
91-g
And the reverse – the ninth image is a close up of anothe rpart of the lot and I de3cided not to include it.

114114-a

207
Lot 207 – both sides
207-a
Lot 207 – obverse
207-b
Lot 207 – reverse.

226

245
Lot 245 – a four image gallery.

245-a245-b245-c

A Very Important Petition and Imaging for the May Auction

A signpost to a pwtition that should get very biog very quickly, some of the best images from today at work and a couple of links relating the latest blunder by the Goldsmith campaign for London Mayor.

INTRODUCTION

A two part-post, as I was always going to be sharing some images from today, and I have something else that needs to be given prominence…

PETITION: QUALIFICATIONS OF HEALTH PROFESSIONAL FOR PIP/WCA
MEDICAL TO BE OPENLY AVAILABLE

I received a comment on my recent post “Many Things” (I have the commenter’s permission to quote verbatim) that runs as follows:

i started a petition to have open transparency about the Health care professionals that do the WCA a assessment on behalf of the dwp, the reason for this is that are they qualified for the role there doing ie a physiotherapist doing a mental health assessment for bi-polar, ask directly for there qualifications and you will find a wall of hiding behind laws, so to make it easier the petition is about having this in public domain so vunerable adults do not have to go through loops to find out the information and decide whether the person that assessed them is fit for purpose, in light of channel 4 dispatches nothing has changed so this is more important now. can you sign please the link is below https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/126229

This petition struck instantly, and I followed up the link, which revealed the following:

Petition

I have signed this petition, shared on twitter & facebook, and urge everyone to sign and if you are able share it. Please use the link below:

VIEW, SIGN AND SHARE PETITION HERE

MAY IMAGING

Today at work I made a stgart on the imaging for the May auction, and here are some of the highlights for you…

Lot 1 – a vewry ornate photograph album
Lot 3 – not so ornate as lot 1 but on similar lines
Lot 4 – a pretty little item
Lot 4 in its closed state
Once on a time lot 3 was lockable, but this lock is no longer functioning
Lot 6
A close up of the lump of iron pyrites with two figures on top
Lot 7
The trademark from lot 7
Lot 8
Lot 10
The first of two close-ups of this piece
Lot 101
Lot 103
Lot 105, followed by two close-ups of the handle
Lot 107
A close-up of the axe-head segment of lot 107

THE CASE OF MR GOLDSMITH
AND THE SCRAPED BARREL

Mike Sivier at Vox Political set me on to this story, which is typical only worse of the way in which the whole of Mr Goldsmith’s campaign for London Mayor has been run:

  1. Mike’s post, which signposts…
  2. This Guardian piece.

 

A Varied Day at James and Sons

An account of today at James and Sons, featuring the construction of a press release, a bonus explanation of the origin of the phrase ‘bent as a nine-bob note’, and at the end a couple of important links.

INTRODUCTION

I have some old images to share, some new images to share, and a press release to talk about. Additionally I have a couple of important links that I will be sharing at the end of this post.

THE CREATION OF A PRESS RELEASE

There are several stages involved in creating press releases/ bulk emails. Stage 1 is working out what to cover, which in this case involved two aspects:

  1. The success of the March 30th and 31st auction, with large numbers of internet bidders, and…
  2. Advertising the April auction, complete with a link to the online catalogue listing.

Each of the foregoing for maximum effect needed to be accompanied by an appropriate image. Hence:

IMAGE SELECTION

For the March image I was looking for something that had sold for well above estimate, and would look good in an email. Thus my attention focussed on lot 720, which I recalled as being both interesting visually and spectacularly successful in the auction room. Thus I needed to view the full image gallery and select from within that…

This full image is too busy for use in an email
This image showing the coins and ingot in their natural alignment looked good
I could have used this but decided against it
The obverses on their own are not very interesting – it is the reverses that are distinctive
It was close a call for this one.
The ingot on it’s own could not be used, but there were possibilities involving it…

I decided, given the shape of image I was looking for to combine the shot of the four coins and the ingot and the close-up of the ingot into a composite image (I considered the four reverses on their own, but wanted both parts of the image to have the same colour background).

720-pr

The composite I created for the occasion.

For the image to accompany the text advertising the April auction the task was easier – I went for the front cover item for very obvious reasons.

35

Incidentally the above denomination of banknote provides the origin for the phrase “bent as a nine-bob note” – ‘bob’ was a colloquialism for a shilling, and as shown above, a ‘ten-bob’ note was kosher while a ‘nine-bob note’ would absolutely not have been.

ASSEMBLING A MAILING LIST

Coming up with the text for the press release is a straight-forward task, and assembling a mailing list is a simple matter of noting which categories of items are prominent in the upcoming auction, selecting the appropriate lists from the database and combining them into one big list. In this instance there were almost 400 names on the final list. As a security measure (and a guard against people hitting the ‘reply to all’ button) I am the designated recipient of the emails (my James and Sons email address, not my personal one) and the true recipients are bcc’d. Thus, given that our system can handle approximately 100 people being bcc’d at a time, this one involved sending the email four times.

THE FINAL PRESS RELEASE

I have a jpg of the final press release, and also a link that will enable you to view the document in its original word format.

INTERNET INTEREST SPARKS JAMES AUCTION SUCCESSpr

SOME LATE ARRIVALS

In addition to the above, some work on the database and some fetching and carrying there were also a few items that had been catalogued but had not previously been in our possession so still needed imaging…

This ‘claymore’ type sword is an absolute monster – stood vertically it reaches my shoulder!

A COUPLE OF LINKS

First up, courtesy of WEIT comes a horror story about a secular blogger being hacked to death in Bangladesh.

Finally, to end this post on an upbeat note, a story from the New Statesman by way of Prides Purge about how badly the Tory campaign for London Mayor has come off the rails (attentive followers of this blog  and my London transport themed website, www.londontu.be, will know that if I had a vote in that election I would be using it on Sian Berry’s behalf, but whoever ends up benefitting – most likely Sadiq Khan – bad news for Tories is good news for me!)

 

A TWO DAY AUCTION

An account of James and Sons auction on March 3oth and 31st, with some other stuff at the end.

INTRODUCTION

As the main part of this post, about James and Sons’ March auction (I am also sharing a few other bits at the end) develops it will become obvious why I am doing it now as one big post, and why I have posted very little these last few days.

PART 1: THE PRELIMINARIES (TUESDAY)

With the auction scheduled for Wednesday 30th (lots 1-699) and Thursday 31st (Lots 700-1051) the setup at the venue (The Prince of Wales Suite, Fakenham Racecourse) had to be accomplished on the Tuesday. This day did not require any earlier start than a regular work day would, and although a lot of heavy lifting was involved (a thousand plus lot auction, four people fit to do serious carrying) it was less draining than the other two days.

PART TWO: DAY 1 (WEDNESDAY)

I had to be at the venue by 8AM, which meant leaving my flat at 6:30AM to be sure of catching the 6:50 bus, to make sure that the IT setup was working and to assist with the viewing the precedes the sale. A couple of technical  hitches at the start aside the day went smoothly. There were some great successes, although the flag that we had hoped would raise serious money did not attract a bid high enough to warrant selling it. The books tanked, as anyone with any experience of books at auction would have expected. Lot 466 fell to me, and lot 494, five volumes on Buildings of Scotland, found its way to East Rudham. Here are some pictures from day 1 at the venue…

This was still in the sky when I left my flat on the Wednesday morning!
Not one of ours – one the racecourse’s own pictures)
The view from the rostrum
The rostrum before the auction started.
This shell has been interestingly decorated, although it would still have looked better when it was on a turtle’s back.
The flag
A building frontage in Bridge Street, Fakenham that I had not previously noticed.

After the sale had concluded it was time to get the unsold lots from day 1 back to the shop (and they had to go on the top floor of the shop, including four plastic tubs full of back issues of Private Eye magazine). Then finally, work was done for the day.

PART THREE: DAY 2 (THURSDAY)

Fortunately I was able to set off an hour later than on the first day as although I would still have to do some preliminary IT stuff there were unlikely to be many viewers present (and indeed there weren’t). The internet was still very lively however, and a number of the early commemorative and proof coins on this second day sold exceptionally well. The stamps and postal history did not shine especially brightly. Lot 920, an Isambard Kingdom Brunel £2 set, went to me. The last lot went under the hammer just before 12:00, after which it was time for the clear-up. Once we had the first van load back at the shop we stopped for lunch, before doing the unloading, heading back to the racecourse for the last bits and getting them back. At this point there was a break from heavy lifting, during which I obtained a full printed list of those who had signed up to bid via http://www.the-saleroom.com, which ran to a James and Sons record 277 (paddle numbers 400-676 inclusive). There was a little bit more lifting to do before the end of my day, as it was necessary to get some stuff ready for loading for a collectors fair on the morrow. I have some pictures from day 2 as well…

One of theirs again!
This tapestry is also theirs.
Caravans parked where on race days there would be bookies.
Golfers in action, srrounded by the racecourse (hence no golf on racedays – a mishit shot might do more than frighten the horses!)
Che Simnor auditioning for the role of security guard!
An item on display in the shop.
The Fakenham Sign

A FINAL THOUGHT ON THE AUCTION

I have not previously been involved in running a two-day auction, and it was an incredibly tiring three days. However, the auction was very successful.

LOTS 466 AND 920

These were the two lots I bid on, and I got both. Both lots attracted my attention because of my special interest (in the best autism circles we do not use the word obsession) in railways (and indeed public transport generally – check out my website www.londontu.be).

LOT 466

This was a rail atlas of Britain, dating from around 1980 (Blake Hall station was open so it is pre-1982, but that whole section of the Central line – Epping– Ongar – was already being considered for closure), and it is very detailed, showing goods and passenger lines. Here are pictures, starting with the images that were available at auction and finishing with some later shots…

466
This was the image that people saw during the auction – the front cover
466-a
The three images starting with this one were also available to internet viewers.

466-b466-c

DSCN4229
A picture showing the Ongar page – and note where the Chelmsford oage continues to…
DSCN4231
The page from which this picture comes…
DSCN4232
A new post in ‘stations’ on my website will be coming soon.
Witham
A joint pic of the images from pps 32 and 33 showing that the downright dishonourable “costs a Priti penny” Patel has nothing approaching a justification for claiming more in expenses than any other MP in the house – her constituency is hardly far-flung!

LOT 920

This was the Brunel £2 set, and I have the image that was available to auction followers, some images taken of it on display at the venue and some further images taken of it at home…

920 auction img
This image was one of the few at this auction not done me, hence the rookie mistake of showing an ‘obverse’ (just a portrait of a ridiculously over-privileged old woman), when the ‘reverse’ is the key face.
DSCN4217
On display at the auction
DSCN4228
One of the reverses (still at the auction)
DSCN4248
A picture taken at my workstation back at the shop
DSCN4252
The outside of the folder
DSCN4253
The two obverses.
DSCN4254
This one, showing both reverses and the accompanying info is an example of what the auction image should have looked like.
DSCN4255
A close up of the ‘reverse’ showing Brunel in his top hat
DSCN4256
a close-up of the other ‘reverse’, a pattern based on Paddington station

DSCN4257DSCN4258DSCN4259DSCN4260DSCN4261DSCN4262DSCN4263

DSCN4264
What the folder looks like closed.

HAIRPIN POINT – UNINTENTIONAL COMEDY FROM THE GOP

I have called this ‘Hairpin Point’ because it represents a switch in direction on this post away from anything connected with my work to other matters. To set the scene, here is a screen-dump from my email inbox:

LOLGOP

The Gun Obsessed Plonkers (GOP for short) have made a spectacular blunder here:

  1. As my email address surely indicates (it ends .co.uk after all) I am not American.
  2. Even I was American the odds against me ever even voting for a Republican, let alone being a registered member would be of the order of zillions to one against.

How someone came to perpetrate a bloomer on this scale I do not know, but it did provide a laugh.

A FEW LINKS TO FINISH

First up from the Daily Mirror comes this story about how putting a kiss at the end of a letter was enough for the DWP to question the professionalism of an MP.

And at the very end, a link to a piece by Mike Sivier of Vox Political about what Labour is doing to attempt to save British Steel, and a follow-up link to a petition on the same subject that has already garnered more than the 100,000 signatures needed for a debate in Parliament:

  1. Mike Sivier’s piece.
  2. The petition (please sign and share to amp up the pressure on Scameron)

 

IMAGING UNDER WAY FOR APRIL AUCTION

INTRODUCTION

A few of the images that feature in today’s post were done on Tuesday, most today. All are of items that will be going under the hammer on April 27th. We aim to have our catalogues ready about one month before the sale, which with a two-day sale coming up on the 30th and 31st effectively means that I have tomorrow and next week at my disposal for imaging.

A WIDE RANGE OF IMAGES

I will start with the images from Tuesday that I considered worth sharing…

206
Heptagonal coins are of course commonplace in this country – heptagonal medals less so.
206-a
Close ups of each face of lot 206

206-b232234236

Today’s images cover a wide range of interests, and I will deal with the best of them by category…

MILITARIA

These items are in 250s to low 300s, so will go under the hammer near the end of the second hour of the auction…

The first four images are of lot 241
The next four images are lot 251
This lot is not of course militaria, but it was in amongst a box of militaria and was the only book of the day.
Given that we (James and Sons) are Norfolk based this picture had to be selected)
The cricket pic got in by way of ‘photographers privelege’!
This picture is by John Constable – ’nuff said
And completing the gallery for lot 259 this quirky oval picture
Lot 292 – a four image gallery.
Lot 300 – a spitfire badge
Lot 312 (four images)
Lot 313

Next up in today’s whistle stop tour are some bulk postcard lots…

This vast collection fo postcards came by post from Belgium!
The bulk of lot 634
The best of lot 634

To finish, some interesting miscellaneous items…

Some interesting pewter (I think it is pewter anyway)
Lot 703 – a collection of old tins
The glass front on this on is still clear enough that you can see trhe camera lens reflected in it!

James and Sons March Catalogue Now in Print

A mention of the fact that our catalogue is now available in print and some of today’s best images.

INTRODUCTION

Two days ago I put up a post about James and Sons March auction, mentioning that the catalogue was at the printers. That post gives full details of the format of the post. This one, featuring some of the images I produced today is to say that the print catalogue is now available and that it will be online for the weekend.

THE CATALOGUE

Here are pictures of the outside covers of the catalogue…

Covers
Front and back cover together
DSCN4707
Front cover
DSCN4708
Back Cover

SOME OF TODAY’S IMAGES

The bulk of today was spent imaging militaria from one of regular vendors. Then it was time for some scouting.

This image shows that this gun has been deactivated – it is a pure museum piece (lot 163)

 

March Catalogue With The Printers

An account of yesterday at work and the current state of play as regards James and Sons March Auction.

INTRODUCTION

A brief post about two interlinked things – yesterday at work and the plans for James and Sons March Auction, which is at Fakenham Racecourse.

A TWO DAY SALE

Due the quantity of items we have received, we have over a thousand lots in this sale, so we will be conducting it over two days. The format for this auction will be:

Tuesday 29th March: Set up and viewing
Wednesday 30th March: Day 1 – lots 1-600 go under the hammer (the cut-off is after half-way as we can leave the stuff at the venue overnight).
Thursday 31st March: Lots 601-1050 and clear-up

The catalogue has been sent to the printers and will therefore be available shortly, and an online version should be ready for viewing by the end of the week.

IMAGING

Although the vast amount of stuff in this auction and lack of staff to image it has left us a little behind where we would like to be in that regard there are only about 200 lots in this sale for which we thus far have no image. I conclude this post with some of the best of yesterday’s images…

272272-a532535595598598-a598-b

600
The war that led to the creation of this silk map was one that I am proud to say that I virulently opposed, but the map itself is splendid.

600-a600-b600-c604604-a604-b909

921
This was the lest lot O imaged yesterday.

921-a

494

For those interested in historic buildings, these five volumes which form lot 494 represent effectively a “Complete Guide to Scotland’s Historic Buildings”.

Imaging For a Catalogue Cover

The pick of my recent images for James and Sons.

INTRODUCTION

This post is about today at work. There was a lot of imaging to do for the cover of our March catalogue (auction takes place at Fakenham Racecourse on the 30th and 31st March), also a van to be loaded up with stuff for tomorrow’s auction, and I also got a few other lots imaged.

THE COVER IMAGES

The images for the cover of this catalogue spanned a great range of items, some of which I had already imaged but most of which needed doing today. The early lots to feature are 83, 110, 124 and 135, one a framed photograph and the other three military items…

83
Lot 83
110
Lot 110

110-a

124
Both sides of lot 124

124-a124-b

124-c
The naming on the rim of lot 124
136
Lot 136

136-a

Next we come to a selection of…

SMALL COINS

These coins, the first of which is lot 209 and the last 269, we done using the scanner at high resolution – and for safety I did both faces of each coin and assembled composite images.

209
Lot 209

209-a209-b

217
Lot 217

217-a217-b

220
Lot 220

220-a220-b

225
Lot 225

225-a225-b

227
Lot 227

227-a227-b

231
Lot 231

231-a231-b

241
Lot 241

241-a241-b

242
Lot 242

242-a242-b

243
Lot 243

243-a243-b

246
246

246-a246-b

238
Lot 238

238-a238-b

269
Lot 269

269-a269-b

We next have three items of ephemera, nos 301, 311 and 359:

301301-a

311
311 – five images in total

311-a311-b311-c311-d

359
359

We then come to four images of…

SPEEDWAY MEMORABILIA

420cover
Lot 420
421cover
Lot 421
Ex422(2)
An extract from Lot 422
Ex422
A second image of the extract from 422
Ex423
A single badge from lot 423

The last of the new images needed for the front cover were of…

A TOY, SOME PROOF COINS AND A JAPANESE MEDAL

The toy is lot 562, and I was particularly pleased by this choice for reasons that will be instantly obvious to anyone familiar with this blog! The Japanese medal is lot 686, part of small run of militaria in among the proof coins, of which lots 665 and 728 were also to feature on the cover.

562
I was particularly pleased that this toy (lot 562) was chosen to feature in our catalogue!

562-a

665
The full gallery for lot 665 starts here (six images total)

665-a665-d665-c665-b665-e

686
Lot 686

686-a686-c686-b

728
Lot 728

728-a728-c728-b

A HANDFUL OF GENERAL IMAGES TO END

The non-cover images I did today were less special, but a few are worth sharing:

390
An MCC tobacco pouch? Yes – at one time smokers versus non-smokers was a regular fixture.
437
Lot 442(two images)

437-a

484
Lot 484
442
Lot 485 (two images)

442-a

569
Lot 570

AUCTION AT THE MAIDS HEAD HOTEL

An account of Wednesday’s auction at the Maids Head Hotel, Norwich, with a few other bits and bobs, including another mention of the Positive Autism Awareness Conference.

INTRODUCTION

Although mainly concerned with the James and Sons auction that took place the day before yesterday, this post will also mention a few other things at the end.

THE AUCTION

This section divides into several subsections, starting with…

GETTING THERE

Given the early hour at which it was necessary for me to be at the venue and the fact that I was not returning straight to King’s Lynn but was instead going to my parents because we were going to a bridge evening at the Jolly Sailors I decided to aim to be on the 5:55AM X1 bus to Norwich, with the more circuitous X8/X29 route, the first of which departs at 6:10AM as back up.

I achieved my intended aim of being on the 5:55AM bus and this bus not only departed on time, it benefited from a clear run along the A47 to arrive at Norwich bus station precisely when it was supposed to. I then walked down to the Maids Head, picking up a few photos along the way as I was in plenty of time…

This map ios located near the Surrey Street entrance to Norwich Bus Station
This light show adorns the Castle Mall shopping centre
The Maids Head has a very old name sign worked into the building itself

THE SETUP

All the stuff for the auction had to unloaded from the van and set up in the room we were using (the Erpingham room) at The Maids Head, and a few things had to be moved around for the room to properly organised for our purposes. That and a few technical hitches notwithstanding (mere trifles such as initially having no internet connection!) all was ready by 9AM when the first viewers started to arrive.

THE AUCTION ITSELF

The auction started quietly, with only a few people present at the venue and no one bidding online on the early lots, but the internet bidding started at just after lot 100, and was very lively at certain points – lot 204 with an estimate of £50-60 went for £260, lots 283 and 286 both went for substantially above estimate, and a sequence of sets of penny reds with Great Western Railway perfins saw some spirited bidding involving a room and an internet bidder, with half a dozen lots estimated at 10-15 actually getting three figures a piece.

These are some of the penny reds which caused such excitement.

Lots 597 and 737 both sold very cheap to yours truly (even with buyers premium there was change from £15 for the two lots put together). Here they are…

Lot 737 – a nice piece of railwayana
Lot 597 – an added personal factor – Stroud happens to be my birthplace.

In connection with these pieces of railwayana, a quick reminder of my London transport themed website, www.londontu.be.

THE CLEAR UP

The last lot went under the hammer not very long after 2PM, after which everything that had not gone to people in the room had to be loaded back on to the van. Then my colleague Andrew and I travelled back to Fakenham in the van. My initial plan had been to get the 17:38 bus on from Fakenham to East Rudham, but because we were ahead of schedule, but not sufficiently so for there to be a likelihood of me catching the 15:38, and because the weather showed its teeth when we just east of Fakenham, Andrew very kindly gave me a lift to East Rudham. I worked out that I had handled some of these lots seven separate times (carrying them to my imaging area, carrying them to the storage area, carrying them down to the shop for viewing, carrying them the shop to the van, carrying them from the van to auction venue, carrying them from the auction venue to the van and finally carrying them from the van back to the shop).

POST AUCTION

My early arrival at East Rudham proved useful – my parents had unearthed some silver spoons which needed to photographed with a view to selling them. I have two picture galleries in this connection, both created from the same set of originals – the first using Microsoft’s own image editing software, and the second, which I unveil for the first time, using my own image editing software, which was designed specifically for use with Nikon Coolpix cameras…

This is the set of images created using Microsoft software…

This was the result when I edited the same photos using my own software.

The bridge went well after a poor start – I emerged plus 13 on the evening (65p at Jolly Sailors stakes).

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY/ CALENDAR

Monday 1st February: James and Sons feature on Antiques Road Trip – episode on air on BBC1 at 4:30PM (should be available on i-player by 6PM) – I am the guy in the red jacket sat next to the auctioneer.

Wednesday 24th February: James and Sons auction at Fakenham Racecourse, starts at 10AM. This auction features a wide variety of lots, beginning with bonds, passing through banknotes, coins, stuff from HMS Britannia, Ephemera and Militaria before finishing with Stamps.

Friday 15th April: Positive Autism Awareness Conference, the Dukes Head Hotel, King’s Lynn – for more information check out the following links:

Yesterday’s blog post dedicated to this event

West Norfolk NAS’s facebook page

The Facebook event listing

West Norfolk NAS’s website

 

CALLING ALL LONDONERS

I have shared some of London mayoral candidate Sian Berry’s transport related ideas on www.londontu.be:

London City Airport

Fair Fares

This is the official Fair Fares piece

Having provided these excellent suggestions Sian has turned her attention to London’s sky high rents, with this proposal for a London Renter’s Union

If you are eligible to vote in this election I urge you to vote for Sian Berry.

 

Auctions, Auctions, Auctions

Mainly concerned with today at work, this post also mentiuons the test match just concluded in South Africa’s favour and a piece by Why Evolution is True about a white giraffe.

INTRODUCTION

I will be mentioning stuff opther than auctions, but it is the auctions that form the basis of this post.

A TRIFECTA

Today’s work at James and Sons featured three different auctions, hence the title both of the post and of this section thereof.

TOMORROW’S AUCTION
(MAIDS HEAD HOTEL, NORWICH)

This played a comparatively minor role, everything having been done save for actually holding the auction. However, it was necessary to get the stuff loaded on to the van ready for being transported to Norwich tomorrow morning and I had to remember to disconnect the mouse from my work computer.

FEBRUARY 24TH (FAKENHAM RACECOURSE)

There were still a few items to be imaged for this auction, and one lot that needed special treatment so that it could feature on the front cover. Thus two photo galleries for this section…

These are some of the highlights from the unimaged lots.

The second photo gallery in this subsection deals exclusively with lot 450, which I was reimaging specifically for use on the front cover…

The photograph was fairly straightforward – although you will note that I edited it a number of different ways. The set of medals was more difficult because I had to prevent external light from intervening and they are attached to a display case that is about an inch thick.

MARCH 30TH (FAKENHAM – POSSIBLY TWO DAY SALE CONTINUING ON MARCH 31ST)

Towards the end of the day I made a start on imaging items that will go under the hammer on March 30th. Thus, here is another picture gallery…

This watch is lot 1
1 of the four images I did of lot 463
Lot 480
The cover of lot 480
Lot 460
Lot 460 closed
Lot 461
Lot 461 closed
The King’s Lynn page of lot 463
This map fis one of the images for lot 470
The front cover of lot 463
These pages happened to be where the describer had inserted the lot tab, and since they were also of significance to the imager here they are.
The title page of 470 – btw Wath-on-Dearne is a nice little town, although it gave the world William Hague.
Inserts in lot 470.

While this gallery brings today at work to a close I have one last James and Sons item to share…

JAMES AND SONS ON ANTIQUES ROAD TRIP

Regular followers of this blog may recall that James and Sons feature in an episode of Antiques Road Trip. I can now inform you that this particular episode will be shown on February 1st at 4:30PM (meaning that it will be available for watching on i-player by 6PM that day for those like me who refuse to pay for the ‘privelege’ of watching live TV)

ODDS AND ENDS

In a post I put up yesterday I expressed the opinion that England were headed for defeat in the final test match of their series against South Africa. This became reality reamrakably quickly – by the time I left for work at 8:30 this morning our time England had plunged from three down to six down, with Kagiso Rabada picking up his 10th wicket of the match just before I left (Bairstow, morally out twice – saved first time round one the TV replay umpire picked up a no-ball and then done in precisely the same way by the very next delivery). A discreet check while eating my sandwiches confirmed that end had come swiflty thereafter, with Rabada taking a further three wickets to give him 13 in thge match and, of course, the player of the match award. For full details on events please visit the official cricinfo report.

Also from the continent of Africa but otherwise utterly unrelated to the above, the good folks at Why Evolution is True have come up with this offering about a rare white giraffe which is now fifteen months old.