Best of of the two days was a quintessential West Country piece – a Newlyn copper mirror, 181/2in high by 151/4in, the bevelled glass within a broad copper band decorated with irises and with an impressed mark. Estimated at £600-800 it sold at £2100.
A Clarice Cliff Melon pattern vase, 81/2in (21.5cm) high doubled expectations at £1100 but it was mainly maritime pieces which appealed to the Cornish crowd. A late 19th century mariner’s woolwork picture of a warship within a flag surround and a photograph of, presumably, the tar’s sweetheart, 15in by 21in (38 x 53cm) made £1050, followed by two shipbuilder’s half-models of boats built by Harvey’s at Hayle.
The 6ft (1.83m) model of the China trade schooner SS Tongshan, launched in 1890, sold at £700 and the 5ft 51/2in (1.66m) model of the SS Lyonesse, used on the service to the Isles of Scilly until 1917, sold at £600.
David Lay, Penzance,
July 16-17
Buyer’s premium: 10 per cent
Newlyn and the sea top Cornish sale
DAVID Lay’s trawls through Cornwall to mount regular sales like this 2000-lot marathon on 16-17 July usually throw up something special but here it was a case of piling ’em high and selling ’em reasonable.
