Smiths Newent Auctions have been overwhelmed with entries for their September auction and have now started booking appointments for entries for early October. The staff are of course delighted that the saleroom is doing so well but are now working hard to finish cataloguing and laying out ready for the all important lotting up and photography. The finished catalogue will be uploaded to the internet by September 13 giving customer time to do a bit of window shopping before the viewing on September 17-18. The sale itself will run over two days on September 19-20 starting at 10am. Customers are welcome to attend the sale itself although many now choose to come to the viewing and then bid live online rather than wait around at the saleroom on sale day.

There have been a large number of interesting furnishing entries coming from several country house estates. These include paintings, rugs, textiles and decorative items such as bronzes, tiles, carved wood figures and panels and light fittings. A good selection of furniture has meant that the saleroom is now tightly packed with antique dining chairs, coffers, dressers, sideboards, bookcases and chests of drawers. Many of these items now represent excellent value for money and can be snapped up for a fraction of the price that they would have made twenty years ago, when the furniture section was generally the highlight of the sale.

Nowadays the silver and jewellery sections are where much of the attention lies and with Christmas round the corner Smiths are pleased to have a beautiful selection of antique jewellery which is extremely popular with trade buyers and specialist collectors at the moment. There is also a good selection of modern pieces which often appeal more to local private buyers who are looking for something a little more ‘wearable’. Another very popular area of the sale is the collectables section which includes items such as militaria, toys, coins, fountain pens, scent bottles and so forth. These items are very sought after by internet buyers from across the country and even from around the world.

Smiths have a wide selection of unusual and interesting collectables such as a Zoetrope which has a circular rotating drum with slits cut into it. The viewer looks through the slits at a strip of animated images attached to the interior of the drum – the effect being of movement. The toy was invented in America and first patented in the United Kingdom in 1867 where it became a very popular Victorian toy. It is interesting to ponder the contrast with today’s children’s playing with video games and watching television. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why they are a highly collectable novelty today and this rather odd looking item is estimated at £150/£200.

Another rare collectable is an Italian picture made of painted pressed paper and depicts Mary and Jesus within a paper cut out floral frame. This would have been brought back as a grand tour souvenir and due to its fragile nature, many of these pictures have not survived. Dated 1879 it is estimated to make £80/£120 but could well be chased to a higher price by collectors on the day.

Smiths’ sale also includes a specialist section for watches including a good range of vintage gentlemen’s wrist watches which are currently very popular. Later digital and automatic watches are also very collectable as buyers develop different interests in the history and development of the watch as well as in the practicalities of timekeeping and of course the styling of the watch.

The sale also includes a very large selection of antiquarian books as well as paintings, furniture, silver, ceramics and glass. For further information please visit www.smithsnewentauctions.co.uk or telephone 01531 821776