Tag: the-saleroom.com

A Successful Auction

An account of James and Sons’ most recent auction.

This post is not about the IPL Super Auction which started today and finishes tomorrow, though I intend to write about that either tomorrow or Monday. It is about James and Sons auction on Wednesday, which went very well. I followed proceedings from home by way of www.easyliveauction.com, one of the two online platforms we use (see also www.the-saleroom.com).

PART 1 – CIGARETTE CARDS

A quietish start, with only a few items going over estimate. One of those items was lot 46, on which I was outbid. Another was lot 149, on which I was successful (even at above the top estimate it was still quite cheap). Lot 150 was the last of the Cigarette Card lots, and then it was time for…

PART 2 – MILITARIA

This was expected to be highly successful and it was. Lot 151, a medal group awarded to a ‘desert rat’ and accompanied by lots of relevant documentation sold for £400, helped by some good advance publicity (various people bit on a press release I had sent out, including the Eastern Daily Press who gave it a quarter of a page in their Saturday issue). Lot 160, a steering yoke from a B50 warplane fetched £2,100. Lot 161 then went for £160, four times the upper estimate. Lot 167, also with a top estimate of £40 fetched £150. Lots 192-7 inclusive, display folders full of military photographs (put together by my father) all sold for significantly above the top estimates, lot 194 being the most successful, going for £50 with a top estimate of £20. Lot 201 an 18th/19th century Indian Tulwar Golia sword which had been expected to for low three figures fetched £550. There were a number of other more modest successes along the way.

The above gallery features images for all the lots mentioned in the Militaria section save numbers 192-7 inclusive.

PART 3 – FABRIC AND OTHER

There were 120 fabric items, and then a few random lots to finish. Although none of these lots reached the heights of the militaria section there were some good sales even so.

POST AUCTION PRESS RELEASE

On Thursday I did a press release about the auction, focussing on the militaria. I will find out in due course whether it gets published by anyone. Here is the composite image of highlighted lots I created for it:

This image features lots 201 (top left, centre and right), 167 (above and below the two centrepiece items), 194 (centre left and bottom right), 266 (bottom left and centre right) and 151 & 161 (centrepiece).

James and Sons’ next auction is on March 16th, and catalogue listings can be viewed here (easyliveauction) and here (saleroom)

PHOTOGRAPHS

I finish with some my non-work photographs:

Interior design at The Gatehouse (I was there for an NAS West Norfolk meal out (the Globe, our previous location of choice for this had let us down so we switched, very successfully).

James and Sons January Catalogue Now Available Online

Announcing that the catalogue for James and Sons’ January auction is now available for viewing online and showing some of the highlights.

INTRODUCTION

The catalogue for James and Sons’ first auction of 2018, which takes place at James and Sons HQ in Fakenham on January 31st is now available for viewing online (and we expect printed copies to be ready by the end of this week). The rest of this post shows some of the highlights awaiting you, category by category.

LOTS 1-100 MILITARIA

Of course this section is dominated by lot 17, the Jutland medal group (see here for more details), but that is not the only item of interest by any means:

67
This Trench Mace will kick of thbe auction.

Jutland 7
Lot 17

26
Zulu Spear – lot 26

2
Lot 72

2-a

LOTS 101-248 POSTCARDS

101111121159170241242243244245246247248

LOTS 249-380 COINS

315315-a315-b327327-a327-b330330-a330-b333333-a333-b344344-a344-b355355-a355-b360360-a360-b368368-a368-b

LOTS 381-500 BANKNOTES

421422423424425426427428429430431432433434435436437438

LOTS 601-849 STAMPS

There are no lots in the range 501-600. I have already covered the stamps in a previous post. 

LOTS 850+ SILVER AND OTHER STUFF

A mixture to end the auction…

856
Lot 856

857
Lot 857

858
Lot 858

859
Lot 859

860
Lot 860 – a close look athe markings on these pens will tell you why there are four of them in the set.

881
The next three images (lots 881, 882 and 883) are motoring badges from yesteryear.

882883

861
Lot 861 – there are 24 slides in total in the wooden box…

861-a
…of which my employer wanted close-up shots of four…

861-b
…and a very close up shot of this one to feature in the printed catalogue.

855
We end with lot 855 (four-image gallery) – a very interesting little commemorative clock.

855-a855-b855-c

Auction Delayed

The rescheduling of an auction – a first in my time at James and Sons.

INTRODUCTION

Yesterday was the day on which James and Sons’ second August auction should have taken place. This post is about what actually happened.

TECHNOLOGY ISSUES

I arrived at Fakenham Racecourse precisely as planned, which was about the last occasion on that day that anything could be said to have gone to plan. We were slightly late getting things set up. Then my computer failed to connect to the racecourse’s internet as their set up is not secure enough for my computer’s liking. Another laptop having been located it then became apparent that we would not be able to run video, although the audio seemed fine. 

Just after lot 923 went under the hammer we finally and definitively lost our audio as well. Discussion with the folks at the-saleroom.com, which included them being given remote access to one of our computers failed to resolve the situation, and after 15 minutes attempting to resolve the situation we decided that the only option was to postpone the auction, so on Friday 8th September at 10AM we will be having an auction at our shop which will start at lot 924 and end at lot 1600. 

shop front

DAMAGE LIMITATION

Once the we had got the stuff back to the shop we got the auction officially rescheduled and I sent out a bulk email and a press release about the new auction. Here are both documents, and all the images used in their creation save for that of the record.

publicity
I know I got the date wrong on this one – I was very tired and failed to notice.

JAMES AUCTION ON SEPTEMBER 10THemailJAMES AUCTION ALERT92410011001-a1053-d1053-c10531053-a1053-b127314151415-a1415-b1415-c1415-d1600

Banknotes, Bonds and Stamps

Some glimpses into James and Sons next live auction (October 28th, The Maids head Hotel, Norwich).

INTRODUCTION

This post deals with things I have been doing at James and Sons today. Before I go into the main meat of the post, the photographica that I have previously mentioned on a couple of occasions will be going under the hammer on  November 25th. This auction on October 28th, which puts us back on shcedule after our previous auction happened six days later than planned is a small auction, but very high quality.

CHINESE BONDS

Lots 1-12 in this auction are old Chinese Government Bonds (I will be putting out an official press release tomorrow) ranging in face value from £100 to £1,000. Imaging these items took a lot of work, particularly lot 12.

1 (2) 1-a 2 2-a (2) 3 3-a 4 (2) 4-a (2) 5 (2) 5-a (2) 6 (2) 6-a (2) 7 (2) 7-a (2) 8 (2) 8-a (2) 9 (2) 9-a (2) 10 (2) 10-a (2) 11 (2) 11-a (2) 12-a

Lot 12 waqs so difficult because of the effect of overhead lighting on it (see earlier pic with coupons on display) that ultimately it had to be done in the kitchen with the light in that room switched off.
Lot 12 waqs so difficult because of the effect of overhead lighting on it (see earlier pic with coupons on display) that ultimately it had to be done in the kitchen with the light in that room switched off.

BANKNOTES

I only did a couple of banknotes today – producing smarter images of a couple that needed that treatment…

16-a 18-a 18-b

STAMPS

Although I did image some stamp lots day there will be far more about the stamps tomorrow when I have put out a press release about them. For the moment a handful of today’s images…

38-a 43 46-a 47

A full catalogue listing for this auction can be viewed at the-saleroom.com

Emails, Images and Sorts

An account of today at James and Sons, with images and links, plus a couple of bonus links at the end.

INTRODUCTION

This is a post about today at work. I also have some links to share later on.

AUCTION READY

James and Sons’ August Auction will take place at Fakenham Racecourse on the 26th (a week tomorrow). Today therefore was spent imaging lots that had not yet been done, creating and despatching a bulk email and various other bits and bobs.

IMAGING HIGHLIGHTS

There were a few interesting items in today’s imaging…

Some interesting memorabilia from the 1956 ashes (offspinner Laker 46 wickets at less than 10 each just 18 months after the pace of Tyson and Statham had done for Aus on their own pitches)
Some interesting memorabilia from the 1956 ashes (offspinner Laker 46 wickets at less than 10 each just 18 months after the pace of Tyson and Statham had done for Aus on their own pitches)

31 32 33 41 42 100 331 331a 331b 331c 331d 508 509

EMAILING

The process of creating a bulk email involves identifying recipients, selecting/ creating an image, working out a headline and body text, assembling, and once a higher authority has deemed everything acceptable sending it out. I used the cover of the catalogue as an image. There were several variations before I was done…

This was a first attempt using the scanner.
This was a first attempt using the scanner.

Subsequently I used screen dumps from the PDF document to create two possible images.
Subsequently I used screen dumps from the PDF document to create two possible images.

This one, with the front cover in the centre.
This one, with the front cover in the centre.

CPDF3

And the one I eventually used, featuring just front and back cover.
And the one I eventually used, featuring just front and back cover.

The complete document can be viewed below:

Auction Alert

View a complete catalogue

LINKS

Just a couple of links:

A Very Varied Day’s Work

Accounts of some elements of yesterday at work, some important petitions, a couple of autism related links and some cracking pictures.

INTRODUCTION

Apart from a substantial links section, this post focuses on yesterday at work. I hope that you will enjoy it and that some of you will be encouraged to share.

CATALOGUE OUT

The catalogue for James and Sons’ auction on Wednesday is now out in print form. It can also be viewed online at the-saleroom.com…

Our feature image!
Our feature image!

The auction will taking place at the Maids Head Hotel in Norwich, and those who cannot be there but see something of interest can bid online via the-saleroom or Delcampe or leave bids with us either by emailing admin@jamesandsonsnorfolk.com or phoning 01328 855003.

RESOLVING A QUERY

One of the tasks I was given yesterday was answering a query about one of our lots in the next sale. The  request was for some extra images, and here is how I resolved it…

This is the image that is available online.
This is the image that is available online.

317J5 317J4 317J3 317J2

And close-ups of each
And close-ups of each

The selection I chose to serve as highlights.
The selection I chose to serve as highlights.

LINKS

My selection of links divides into two subsections, a selection of important petitions and a couple of autism related pieces.

PETITIONS

The first petition I have for you comes via change.org and is aimed at putting pressure on Pakistan to overturn Asia Bibi’s death sentence.

My next petition grew out of a Freedom of Information request submitted by Mike Sivier of Vox Political regarding deaths following the stopping of benefits. I have two links relating to this:

1)The petition itself

2)An accompanying blog post by Maggie Zolobajluk

My next petition is one that has already achieved its original goal but is being used as a jumping off point for tackling similar behaviour by an authority in Kent:

1)The original petition

2)An article on kentonline.

Last and in the chief place among the petitions is Joanne Fowler’s petition motivated by the needless suffering inflicted on her father in his last years

AUTISM RELATED STUFF

My first piece in this section comes from Dr Lisa Sulsenti, who runs an autism related facebook group of which I am a member and takes the form of an open letter to someone who responded badly to an autistic child in a restaurant.

Secondly, here is Autism Mom’s latest offering.

AUGUST IMAGING

I conclude this post with pictures of some of the items I imaged for our August auction (26th, Fakenham Racecourse)…

Lot 5, a very fancy boxed Meerschaum
Lot 5, a very fancy boxed Meerschaum

5a

This metal strong box is lot 337
This metal strong box is lot 337

This wooden cabinet type box is lot 339
This wooden cabinet type box is lot 339

339a 339b

This British made tobacco shredder is lot 340
This British made tobacco shredder is lot 340

340a 340b

This clock is lot 343
This clock is lot 343

A close up of the face.
A close up of the face.

The mechanism
The mechanism

Antiques Road Trip Comes to Fakenham

The BBC Program Antiques Road Trip will be at James and Sons’ auction at Fakenham Racecourse on April 29th. The program pits two experts in a head to head contest to turn a starting kitty of £200 each into as much money as possible. A total of twelve lots will be going under the hammer, and one of the things I did in the course of yesterday’s work was to image them…

This is lot 603A, the first Antiques Road Trip lot, which will go under the hammer at 2PM.
This is lot 603A, the first Antiques Road Trip lot, which will go under the hammer at 2PM.

And yes, you can open up the bonnet to check out the engine.
And yes, you can open up the bonnet to check out the engine.

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The last of the Antiques Road Trip lots, number 700A (three images)
The last of the Antiques Road Trip lots, number 700A (three images)

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Lot 687A, a stuffed pheasant.
Lot 687A, a stuffed pheasant.

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Lot 685A - two images
Lot 685A – two images

A close up of the decoration on lot 682A
A close up of the decoration on lot 682A

Lot 682A - letter opener with enamelled penny black handle
Lot 682A – letter opener with enamelled penny black handle

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Lot 675A, two images
Lot 675A, two images

Lot 669.
Lot 669.

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This toy car, lot 660A also warranted three images
This toy car, lot 660A also warranted three images

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The next three images are of lot 630A
The next three images are of lot 630A

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Lot 625A - three images
Lot 625A – three images

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Lot 619
Lot 619

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Lot 612A (four images to do it justice)
Lot 612A (four images to do it justice)

A close up of the bottom
A close up of the bottom

A close up of the top.
A close up of the top.

If you are anywhere near Fakenham on April 29th do not miss this auction. A full catalogue can be viewed online. The lots shown above will start going under the hammer at 2PM.

Thursday and Friday

On Thursday, the printed catalogues for James and Sons next auction got to the shop. Here is a cover shot…

Catalogue Cover 001

A full catalogue can be viewed online by following this link.

As well as producing images to resolve queries, I imaged a couple of lots that had not previously been done.This gave me some good pictures to choose from…

This is the first image for lot 452, which needed 18 images in total.
This is the first image for lot 452, which needed 18 images in total.

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The relevant detail from the front cover
The relevant detail from the front cover

This is one of the ten maps mentioned on the front cover.
This is one of the ten maps mentioned on the front cover.

Lot 497 was a box full of stamps and postal history items. I have included only the small high quality bits in this blog.
Lot 497 was a box full of stamps and postal history items. I have included only the small high quality bits in this blog.

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This vast collection of buttons was hard to do anything approaching justice to, so it was no surprise to get a query about it them. This was the main image I produced in response.
This vast collection of buttons was hard to do anything approaching justice to, so it was no surprise to get a query about it them. This was the main image I produced in response.

I then produced a close up shot of some of the finest items in the collection.
I then produced a close up shot of some of the finest items in the collection.

The label on this toy was just one thing that was requested in addition to the original image.
The label on this toy was just one thing that was requested in addition to the original image.

One of the two new images I produced to show the toy in its full glory.
One of the two new images I produced to show the toy in its full glory.

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The bus journey home that day was not a good one (n.b. Norfolk Green usually provide an excellent service – stories like this are very much the exception) since the engine of the bus were on overheated and shut down. Since were on Queen Elizabeth Way, in between Knight’s Hill and the hospital, the driver tried to keep it going to reach the hospital where we could pick up other buses into town. Sadly, he was not able to achieve this, and we had to wait within sight of the hospital for a replacement bus to pick us up, while the driver of the original then had to wait for a maintenance vehicle to arrive and tow his bus to the depot (I presume). Opposite Gaywood Tesco, someone having failed to spot that the destination board on the front of the bus said “PRIVATE HIRE” by way of indicating that it was not picking up tried to get on and had to be told twice that this bus was not picking up. Meanwhile, to put in perspective how unimpressive it was for someone who was not apparently incapacitated in any way to want to get a bus in to town from there, one passenger (’twas I) had decided that as it was bright and sunny outside he was going to walk the rest of the way to the town centre.

After attending to matters at Nelson Street, I got some close up pics of decorated windows at King’s Lynn Minster…

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Friday featured both some imaging to resolve queries relating to the April auction and starting to image for the May auction. It also featured in a big way one of other regular duties, that of porter. I have some good images to share, including a map from just outside Fakenham Library…

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However, I did get away early owing to the fact that none of the people who had keys could stay on beyond 3 o’clock. The bus home did this time survive the journey. Queen Elizabeth Way was slow again, but this time that was caused by nose to tail traffic, and the bus was stationary long enough for me to snag two excellent shots of the ruins of Bawsey Abbey…

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A Difficult Day at Work

I spent today imaging items for a Timed Bid auction which will go live on Monday (check out http://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/search-filter/auction-catalogues?AuctionType=3 at that time). I managed to get everything I needed to do done in spite of the fact that my work computer was functioning at about the same level as the West Indies batting had been when I listened to commentary from the cricket world cup before setting off for work!

The items covered a variety of categories. This set of Royal Doulton plates was the very first lot I imaged today…

??????????While these could appeal either to pottery enthusiasts or lovers of railwayana, they were beaten for breadth of appeal by lot 2085, which has stamps, postal history, medals and art (at least) covered…

?????????? ?????????? ?????????? ?????????? ??????????This French medallion (lot 1502) came out well…

??????????I finish this eclectic selection of images with some stamp album lots where I decided rather than photographing whole pages to focus on smaller quantities of stamps…

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Catalogue for February Auction now Live

After some hard work on the imaging front a full catalogue for the James and Sons auction on February 25th at Fakenham Racecourse is now ready for viewing on www.the-saleroom.com and a printed version will be available by Tuesday morning.

There was certainly a full range of items to be imaged today. The pick of the pre-lunch lost were these…

71

338 338a ?????????? ?????????? ?????????? ?????????? ?????????? 754 ?????????? ??????????

Post lunch, the number of lots left was thankfully small, nut there was still some very interesting stuff to do…

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