The Auction report: September 2016

Holt’s next auction of fine modern and antique guns is set to take place in time for Christmas on Thursday 8th December in London.

The last of their quarterly main sales of the year, there will be more than 900 Lots available including shotguns, rifles, edged weapons and associated sporting ephemera.

Join the team for drinks and browse Lots in advance of the sale on Tuesday 6th and Wednesday 7th December at Princess Louise House in Hammersmith.

If you wish to attend, email [email protected] so that your name can be given to door staff. On the day you will be required to present photo ID (firearms licence, driving licence, passport) or two forms of nonphoto ID (bank card, utility bill showing name and address).

Without ID you will not be able to enter the premises. Or alternatively, save time checking-in by applying for a free Client Card. Embossed with your name and client number, clients can simply swipe the credit card-sized plastic card at the front desk when registering for a paddle to help speed up the process.

Lots of Encouragement

The ‘Green Shoots’ of Market Optimism In Evidence at Holt’s Latest Auction…

September’s Holt’s auction, though smaller in size due to a compressed consignment schedule, saw 670 Lots available, and the results on the day showed a steady market with over 70% of the Lots sold to realise a total hammer price of just under £700,000.

Post the Brexit Referendum, it is encouraging to note again that the vast majority of buyers were UK-based, accounting for almost 70% of the Lots sold; so any advantage the current exchange rates might provide was not sufficient to overcome the enthusiasm of the home market. Interestingly, approximately a quarter of the bidders registered to participate in the auction were new clients, based in the UK.

Interest was evenly divided between best guns from the UK and overseas, the pair of Woodward over and under guns, Lot 1300, topping the list at an impressive hammer price of £31,000 against an estimate of £20,000 - 30,000, closely followed by an exquisite 28-bore roundaction ejector by David Mckay Brown, Lot 1523, selling for £25,000 against an estimate of £25,000 - 30,000. The Italian gunmakers Perazzi and Beretta took the next two places in the top four, with Lot 1309, a pair of Patelli engraved SCO/C MX12 guns making £22,000 against an estimate of £22,000 - 24,000 and the catalogue front cover illustrated Galeazzi engraved Beretta SSO double rifle, Lot 1200, making a comfortable £17,000 against an estimate of £15,000 - 20,000.

Of the more unusual items in the sale, some fine examples of Asprey’s ingenious and intricate place finders sold for between £600 and £1500 and a unique gold, pearl and diamond ‘bullet’ necklace sold for £900.

Rare to appear at auction in the UK were some exemplary specimens of the finest of the knifemakers craft – two in particular by Jonny Walker Nilsson & Mattias Styrefors (Lots 357 and 358) making top estimate and above at £2100 and £3200 respectively.

A full list of the realised prices is now available from: www.holtsauctioneers.com/ Admin/A0916_realised.pdf

Upfront Idea

A smart new payment scheme offers vendors the chance to make their money sooner…

Are you thinking of consigning an item to auction, but can’t wait months for payment? Europe’s leading auctioneer of fine modern and antique guns Holt’s Auctioneers has just launched an innovative new solution. Its exclusive Advance Payment Scheme allows vendors to apply to receive 25% of the Lot value upfront, with the balance being paid after the item has sold at auction.

The Advance Payment Scheme is available on a discretionary basis, subject to demand to UK residents, on items with a value over £5000.

Holt’s Auctioneers’ Managing Director Nicholas Holt explained: “The idea is to stimulate the market. There are many vendors keen to consign items who would welcome the opportunity to receive an immediate return. Our Advance Payment Scheme will appeal to a lot of our existing clients and hopefully attract new clients as well.”

For further enquiries please contact Nicholas Bongers de Rath at [email protected].

Pearl necklace

Splashing out on some lucky lady, a unique lot took centre-stage at Holt’s during September…

Those seeking something a little different for the lady in their life found just the thing at a recent auction at Holt’s – a unique gold, pearl and diamond necklace in the form of a .223 cartridge.

Second-in-Command over at Holt’s, Chris Beaumont, commented why this one-off necklace caught his eye: “This has to be one of the most unusual items we’ve had through our auction room for a long time. It is nothing less than we would expect from one of our most imaginative gun makers – Giles Whittome, the man responsible for the extraordinary 2-bore falling block sporting rifle he built for the Royal Armouries to commemorate the Second Millennium. The evocative ‘bullet’ shape of a pearl was irresistible to the gun maker in him and this unique little bibelot eventuated!”

English gun maker Giles Whittome explained how he came by the natural pearl: “In the late 1950s I was living and working in Mtwara, a seaport in Tanganyika, eastern Africa. My house was 50-yards from the beach, and the local fishermen used to bump up their income by dragging up the odd oyster, and they used to offer me any pearls they found. There is absolutely no way that this one is cultivated, indeed they were thinking of throwing it away because of its odd shape. As a big game hunter, I wanted this because of its shape is fairly close to a bullet from a .223 and when I eventually came back to England I paired it with an empty .223 cartridge case and gave them to Geoffrey Turk, the society jeweller, and asked him to make something of it. The result is hallmarked as 18-carat and with Geoffrey’s initials. The chain is also 18-carat. The primer is a faceted diamond.

The cartridge case is also gold.” The Estimate was £800 - 1200 and the necklace sold for £900.