Auction alert: The Private Collection of Malcolm Evans of Neath & Navenby: Clocks & Antiques

The sale of the Private Collection of Malcolm Evans of Neath & Navenby: Clocks & Antiques takes place on Saturday 27^th Aug 2022 from 10am.

Malcolm grew up in a miner’s cottage in Skewen, South Wales and studied for his A Levels by candlelight as his childhood home had no electricity. This deprivation lead to a contrary spirit of generosity as an adult and he loved his British Horological Society pals and sharing his knowledge and skills. His education at Neath Grammar School gave him a passion for science and subsequent medical training at Bristol University lead him to a career in surgery. This lead him to fixing precious things in his spare time and he was a keen horologist for the last 45 years of his life. He amassed a wonderful collection of clocks, watches, tools and antiques and a huge collection of books associated with his passion.

Although the sale contains a huge number of clocks, watches, spare parts and other horology items (of which – we confess – we know very little) there are many other interesting lots.

There’s a copy of the original Marvel comic where Spiderman made his début (shown above). It’s signed by the late Stan Lee and its estimate is an astronomical £30-35… THOUSAND. The original 1962 price was 12 cents – that’s a great return on investment in anyone’s book!

Stamford Auction Rooms’ buyer’s premium stands at 24% inc. VAT. You can bid via their website or via EasyLiveAuction. The latter charge a flat fee of £3.00 or 3% of the final hammer price.

Lot 143: A plywood wine carrier with strap handle to the top
Estimate: £20 – £30

Lot 190: Two Victorian glass domes, one circular the other oval
No base for circular example
Estimate: £40 – £60

Lot 196: A pair of antique boot trees together with pair of leather gentleman’s boots
Estimate: £50 – £80

Lot 205: Local Interest: A Victorian sampler by Ann Foster Stamford School
Aged 11 years, with a verse from the bible “Remember your Creator in the days of your youth”.
Estimate: £70 – £100

Lot 268: Amazing Fantasy No.15 published by Marvel Comics in August 1962
Featuring the first appearance of Spider-Man, signed by Stan Lee to the front cover
Estimate: £30,000 – £35,000

Lot 296: A group of Danish Cylinda Line designed pieces by Arne Jacobson
To include coffee pot, hot water pot, milk jug and sugar bowl together with a studio pottery lamp base, Royal Copenhagen bowl and Poole pottery bowl
Estimate: £30 – £50

Lot 300: A selection of mid-century Holmguard (sic) glassware
To include beakers, hors d’oeuvre dishes, and glasses
Estimate: £40 – £60

Lot 321: A vintage electric child’s organ
Possibly made by Magnus together with a push penny board
Estimate: £20 – £30

Lot 363: A vintage Dapol Doctor Who Dalek action figure play set in the original box
Estimate: £60 – £90

Lot 438: A 20^th Century Maclamp
Adjustable anglepoise desk lamp designed by Terence Conran for Habitat
Estimate: £30 – £50

Lot 458: Two wicker picnic baskets
One by Fortnum & Mason, together with a Victorian brass kettle and warming pan
Estimate: £30 – £50

Flipped out!

We bought this fabulous vintage flip clock this week. It’s a classic design and this particular make and model produced by Grayson is very sought after. The build quality is really excellent.

We noticed it for sale on a live auction website and it was relatively local. However, we’d missed the viewing day, so had to quickly decide whether or not to bid. It’s a dangerous business, bidding online if you haven’t viewed the item in person – or not had the chance to request a condition report.

We decided to risk a bid anyway as it looked pretty good in the photograph. We won the auction and were actually relieved that there was plenty of competition from bidders in the room as they would have had the opportunity to check it. When we collected the clock the following day, initial first impressions were positive – we thought we’d got away with it! But alas no – on turning it over, the power supply area was in a real mess – including some corrosion from leaked batteries.

It could have been worse though. It’s still a very nice item – the overall cosmetic condition isn’t bad at all – and the flip mechanism all still works. However, it will need some attention to get it up & running. A new battery housing is required or, as the instructions state, it could be wired up to the mains.

So – whilst the clock is certainly no lost cause, there’s a cautionary tale involved too – a reminder of a lesson that we learned long ago. And… if you fancy a little DIY project, just let us know and we’ll sell it as it is.

Forthcoming Attractions: Late January 2017

We mentioned in yesterday’s post that, due to unforeseen circumstances, we’d not listed as many items as usual on our H is for Home website recently. It takes much more time to put things online than straight into our bricks & mortar shop space – and time has been in short supply of late.

However, the fightback has started! Here’s a selection of vintage goodies that we’ve photographed and listed today.

We really do like to spread pieces between physical and internet worlds – and with a bit more time available now hopefully, there should be much more to follow in the coming days and weeks!

Get the George Nelson style

Original vintage George Nelson clocks are beautiful, but quite hard to come by and very expensive! But you can get a similar look with one of these George Nelson style wall clocks from Vita interiors.

We’ve just received this great looking starburst clock from them and are happy to sing its praises. We go for quite an eclectic look in our house, mixing objects from various different eras. This mid century modern style clock sits comfortably with antiques, vintage and contemporary pieces equally well – and is therefore very good at linking these various eras to give a balanced feel to a room.

There’s a lot of space incorporated into the clock’s form which gives it a light and airy feel – and it casts lovely shadows too. The mix of materials works really well and we like the detailing in terms of walnut finials and hand shape.

It would sit comfortably in almost any room of the house. It has a nice, quiet tick so the bedroom’s definitely an option. It would look fab on the wall of a lounge, office or kitchen too. We’ve already identified plenty of potential sites for it to live in our house!

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Tag: clock

Auction alert: The Private Collection of Malcolm Evans of Neath & Navenby: Clocks & Antiques

Flipped out!

Forthcoming Attractions: Late January 2017

Get the George Nelson style