The second day of the marathon three-day sale began with furniture and the best money was taken by a Victorian mahogany circular library table.
With a revolving top and reeded pedestal above a trefoil base, the table sold to an East Anglian dealer at £1900.
Other notables were a late Georgian mahogany display bookcase raised with an arrangement of eight short and long drawers, which, despite being covered in a thick layer of dust, took £1000 from the Kent trade, and a French giltwood threefold screen with fabric inset panels made £600.
Among the ceramics, a pair of French powder-blue ground porcelain vases with Art Nouveau floral ormolu mounts led the way. The pair had been restored and converted to table lamps, but still took £1050.
And a London dealer secured a Wedgwood majolica teapot with a handle and spout moulded as an exotic lizard for £480.
The final day included an selection of toys and collectables. An animal charity benefited from the £690 sale of a collection of Britains and other lead farm animals, carts and countryside-related items. Also worth noting was the £420 taken for a Merrythought Cheeky Bear.
John Bellman, Billingshurst
January 29-31
Buyer’s premium: 15 per cent
Table’s star turn lifts spirits
The doom and gloom experienced in many provincial rooms prior to Christmas was nowhere to be seen in these Sussex rooms, who, despite the snowy conditions, took a respectable hammer total just shy of £170,000.
