A very wet day in North Yorkshire did not deter a large number of buyers from across the north of England, the Midlands and Scotland from attending Thimbleby & Shorland’s Carriage Sale, held for the 2nd year at Richmond Equestrian Centre, near Catterick. With just short of 40 vehicles, some of which were late entries, nearly 400 lots of sundries, plus harness, vehicle parts, saddlery & tack, pictures, models and books, there were about 900 lots on offer in total. Prices quoted are hammer prices and exclude a Buyers’ Premium of 9%.
Lot 82 – Boot Aid
In the Sundries & Accoutrements section the best-selling item was a pair of decorative Hearse lamps with tall finials (3), making £480. Another pair of large carriage lamps (13) made £420. A brown leather hat box containing a silk top hat (27) sold for £175; a square brown leather hat box to take two hats (31A) made £150 and a brown metal hat box with a grey bowler hat and gloves (30) fetched £120. A black patent leather 21ins collar with brass hames (159) sold for £230; a pair of 23ins collars in show condition (66) made £180, and a 21ins leather collar with hames (103) made £130
Whips of all sorts sold well. A pretty lady’s side saddle whip with a carved ivory handle (284) sold for £175. A holly driving whip with silver fittings (233) made £110; a ferruled whip by Crawley (274) also fetched £110, and another driving whip (257) made £100. An artillery postilion whip and a crop (90) made £100 and another whip with a sword handle (92) fetched £70. A brass coach horn in a leather case (22) sold for £190; a copper horn by Army & Navy (23) made £160 and a pair of small brass/copper hunt horns (12) made £30.
Lot 267 – Miniature Saddle
Some interesting items such as three spirit flasks within a leather case (26) made £80; a paint pin-stripping tool by Beuglar (79) made £45; and an antique travelling boot aid containing boot pulls and a button hook within (82) made £70. A large oval copper foot warmer (266) sold for £80; a miniature leather saddle (267) made £25; and a hallmarked silver novelty lighter in the form of a coach horn (275) made £100. A large hame plate engraved ‘WM. Wakefield’ (276) made £40 and a very attractive folding pocket-size horse measure and measuring tape by Cooper & Jones (285) made £75. A hunting canteen to hold a sandwich box and flask (flask missing) (288) sold for £100, and a brass carriage foot bell (324) made £70.
Lot 266 – Foot Warmer
In the Pictures, Models and Books section a framed print of a Road Coach after Whitaker Reville (354) fetched £35; a small garden anvil (363) made £75; and a small tea table with folding top (371) depicting coaching scenes made £55. There was a small collection of hand-made models on offer: a varnished Governess Car (366) and a red & yellow Hay Wagon (368) both made £35, and a blue/yellow Hay Wagon with rades (367) fetched £20. Not as many books as last year but 4 boxes of magazines including (381) Carriage Driving Journals and Carriage Driving made £20 and the ever popular Terry Keegan book The Heavy Horse – Its Harness and Harness Decoration (385) sold for £20.
Generally, sets of Harness made good money; a smart single patent/brass set to fit a 14 to 15 hh (514) fetched £460; whilst another similar set to fit 14 to 15.2 hh (513) made £440. A single set of show harness (526) made by Sally Barnes of Abingdon to fit 14.2 to 15 hh fetched £380, as did an English collar set for a cob (539). A pair set by Zilco (545) made £310. A set of black/red trade harness with horseshoe buckles (552) made £230, and another needing some repair (522) sold for £100. A large breastcollar set (512) made £150 and a yellow & black set with horseshoe buckles (533) fetched the same.
Lot 419 – Bread Van
The trade for the vehicles was more challenging. The best price achieved was for a smart ‘Roys of Bournville’ Bread Van (419) built in 1896, which had been recently shown with a pair of donkeys at the Balmoral Show, and fetched £2,500. A Dennet Gig (404) to suit 14.2 to 15 hh made £1,050; a Polish 4-Wheeled Marathon vehicle (415) built in 2007 made £900, and a smart Market/Country Cart built by Cuthbert & Son, Dundee in 1900 (415) sold for £800. A continental Phaeton built around the 1890’s, to suit 14 to 16 hh (423), made £480, and a Morgan-Style Dog Cart (413), again of continental origins and in need of considerable refurbishment, made £250.
Lot 404 Dennett Gig
Lot 671 – Albion Saddle
Post the printing of the catalogue there was an influx of entries for Saddlery & Tack, which included a large quantity of saddles. A brand new Albion saddle (671) sold for £240. A Western saddle (628) fetched £70; another measuring 15ins (677) made £45, and child’s Western saddles measuring 12ins (675) and 13ins (678) both made £20. A 16ins Barnsby saddle (700) made £120; an 18ins Stubben (710) made £95 and another (708) made £85. Hunt crops fetched between £30 and £50; four lots of electric fence posts each made £12; bridles, reins and stirrups between £10 and £25.
Lot 675 – Child’s Western Saddle
Auctioneer and Thimbleby & Shorland director Chris Boreham said “I am again delighted with the response we had to this new sale in our calendar, in only its second year. We had some great support from friends both new and old, and generally I am pleased with the result. I still firmly believe that it is the right thing for us to come north to offer a sale facility to those who are too far from Reading. The market for vehicles remains difficult, with more people looking to sell than to buy, so presentation and sensible pricing are the name of the game. Again we had terrific support from Donna and her team at Richmond Equestrian Centre, and I hope that they will have us back again next year!”
Entries for the next carriage sale in Reading on 6th September 2017 are now being accepted. Please contact Lynn Martin at the office on 0118 950 8611, lynn@tsauction.co.uk or download an entry form from the website – www.tsauction.co.uk
Notes to Editors: Thimbleby & Shorland are the nationally recognised auctioneers of horse-drawn vehicles and accoutrements. Based in Reading they have 4 Carriage sales per annum at their premises in the town, as well as an annual sale near Richmond. For further information contact Chris Boreham on the above office number or chris@tsauction.co.uk