Machin Queen’s head cast achieves record at Cuttlestones Fine Art Sale…

	Auctioneer Ben Gamble with the Machin cast, which sold for £18,000
	The serpentine fronted chest which sold for £8,000

The cameo of the Queen’s head on British and Commonwealth postage stamps may be the most reproduced, and arguably most famous, image in the world – but last Friday one lucky bidder got their hands on a very rare version of this famous profile. Taking pride of place at Staffordshire auction house Cuttlestones’ November 27th Fine Art and antiques sale, a large cast created in 1967 by the late Arnold Machin, the artist behind the iconic image, achieved the princely sum of £18,000.

The packed saleroom - buoyed by the BBC television cameras filming ‘Celebrity Cash In The Attic’ - was amazed when the cast topped the record set by a previous cast of the same type which, when auctioned by Cuttlestones in 2008, sold for just over £15,000 to a London Institute.

Quality and quantity...
However, it was the overall strength of the sale - in both item quality and quantity - that saw the saleroom compete with the live internet bidders to achieve solid prices in every section. This was demonstrated early on in the sale within the silver section where a pair of Austrian 5 branch silver candelabra, with beautiful 'Bird of Paradise' finials, were won by a bidder in France for £1,250; only to be eclipsed by a continental 4 piece tea & coffee service on a tray which went away at £1,400.

But it didn’t all go by way of the internet; the saleroom won out in the bidding for many items including a Large Meissen 19th Century figure group. In four separate sections that join together to make a complete group, the central winged figure with torch presiding over a couple and a seated lady with printed and impressed marks, made an impressive £1,700 despite carrying a touch of damage.

Keen interest
Jewellery always attracts keen interest from many quarters, and with gold prices reaching an all time high prices, both buyers and sellers are keen to cash in which was clearly shown by the section topping £27,000. Highlights included a diamond cluster ring going for £1,100, a 1 carat diamond ring in an American setting fetching £900, and 7 assorted gold chains going for £1,500.

Again, Cuttlestones saw a definite rise in prices for quality furniture. A local estate provided a handsome Georgian mahogany serpentine-fronted chest of three drawers with the top draw fitted out for writing. Five telephone lines were booked and the estimate of £800 – 1,200 was left way behind as it took an amazing £8,000. A mahogany bachelors' chest from the same source estimated at £400 - £600 saw a final hammer price of £2,300. This strong bidding carried over into most lots within the furniture and clocks sections, demonstrated well by a London Bow Fronted stick barometer which realised a double estimate £2,800 and a musical long case clock going at £2,200.

A growing reputation for memorabilia
Cuttlestones is also developing a name for acquiring important items and achieving excellent prices in the field of Sporting memorabilia and effects. After the remarkable sale of the Charlie Wilson Medal collection in the May sale, for over £16,500, the hammer fell on another piece of British footballing history - a leather bound book presented to J. Eddleston Esq, vice chairman of Blackburn Rovers, following the team’s FA Cup Final victory on 21st April 1928 - for £1,100, leaving its estimate of £300 - £500 in the shade. Another star lot included a feather golf ball circa 1830 which, together with a Bobby Jones flip book, sold for a healthy £1,800.

Not far behind sporting memorabilia Cuttlestones is building its expertise in Militaria, an area that seems to be constantly heading upwards. This is no better illustrated than in the case of a pair of medals in the form of a Queen's South African and King's South African medal, where an estimate of £100 -£200 was more than doubled with a telephone bidder in Ireland taking them away at £420.

The success of this sale marks a continuation in the rising profile of this progressive firm of Staffordshire auctioneers, as head auctioneer & MD, Ben Gamble, explains:

“The November Fine Art sale produced a fantastic result with well over 90% of lots sold – our efforts to promote the business are really paying off, not least our investment in technology. The web is becoming increasingly important and our newly re-vamped website makes it easy for bidders to download catalogues, browse photos of all lots and even register to receive regular updates and catalogues by email.

“And the proof of the importance of the web is, as they say, in the pudding – we’ve noticed a massive rise in the number of long-distance bidders, both UK and International, using a combination of online bidding, commission and telephone bids. By offering flexible methods of bidding, we’re opening our auctions to the widest possible audience.”

The next antique and Fine Art sale for the Staffordshire auction house is set to take place on Friday, 5th March 2010 and Cuttlestones is already accepting consignments. To arrange a valuation or discuss consigning items to auction, call Ben Gamble on 01785 714905.