AUCTION Round up

AROUND the HOUSES

Football memorabilia, a George II partner’s desk and an exquisite tiara are among UK auctioneers’

recent sales

CHEFFINS, CAMBRIDGE Two mesh dance purses, belonging to Princess Diana’s grandmother, the Right Honourable Countess Spencer (DCVO, OBE, 1897-1972) sold for £2,320, against a pre-sale estimate of £1,000-£1,500 at the auctioneer’s recent sale.

Countess Spencer married Viscount Althorp in 1919 and was appointed Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth in 1937. She continued the role after Elizabeth became Queen Mother and remained in the post until her death.

A nécessaire, given to Countess Spencer’s daughter and Princess Diana’s aunt, Lady Anne Spencer, on her 21st birthday was included in the same lot, which went to a UK private collector.

HALLS, BATTLEFIELD ‘Maxie’ a 1930s ventriloquist’s dummy sold for more than seven times its low estimate when it achieved £1,550 at the Shropshire auctioneers.

The dummy ‘Maxie’, a number of tricks and related ephemera made

£1,550

The 95cm-tall dummy was owned by the Austrian amateur ventriloquist Harold ‘Romy’ Romberg who fled the Nazis in 1939, before joining the British forces where the duo performed at regimental functions.

Shortly after the war, Romberg returned to Germany with the Intelligence Corps where he and Maxie continued to perform.

The mesh dance purse belonged to Countess

Spencer

Detail of a 19th-century patchwork quilt which sold for

£5,200

The nécessaire was given to Lady Anne

Spencer – Princess Diana’s aunt

10 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

TENNANTS, LEYBURN A late 18th-century Queen Anne-type doll, estimated to make £600-£800, sold for £2,500 at the North Yorkshire auctioneer’s recent textiles sale.

Measuring 40cm tall, the doll had a carved wooden head, blonde wig and eyes with inlaid blue irises. She came with costume remnants and a blue grosgrain hat. At the same sale, an early 19th-century patchwork quilt, incorporated with pieces of 18th-century textiles, doubled its low estimate when it made £5,200.

Embroidered with floral sprigs and flower heads, the earlier embroidery, retained its vivid colours and fine stitching.

A late 18thcentury Queen Anne-type doll sold for £2,500