Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2011/January 2012 | Page 40

ANTIQUES

Rail signs point the way!
A collection of rare Isle of Wight
Railway signs attracted huge interest
when they went under the hammer at
Hose Rhodes Dickson bi-monthly fine
art auction at Brading.
A Southern Railway direction sign
from the old Ventnor West station was
among the items, and it eventually
sold for £1,200. The old railway line
from St. Lawrence to Ventnor West
was reckoned to be the most beautiful
stretch of track on the Island.
Two other items that sold particularly
well were two signs from the days of
the I.W. Central Railway, circa 1900,
one on red enamel, the other on blue
enamel. Again, there was demand from
telephone and internet bidders from
around the country, and after heated
bidding both signs sold for £850.
Rex Gully, auctioneer and valuer

at HRD, said: “If
anyone has anything
of railway interest
in their attic, now
seems to be the
ideal time to sell by
auction.”
The auction also
attracted bidders
looking to invest
in gold. Many are
buying sovereigns,
other gold coins and
jewellery to secure
their savings. At the
latest sale a Middle
Eastern bracelet fetched £1,450, a
cased set of 18ct gold dress studs and
cufflinks sold for £1,500 and a set of
43, 22ct gold commemorative coins
went for £3,900.

Hose Rhodes Dickson hold their
next Fine Art auction on Thursday,
December 15 at 10.30am, with
viewing on Wednesday, December 14
from 9.00am until 7.00pm. Telephone
01983 402222.

Quality is still selling well
Island Auction Rooms keep
proving that quality sells
no matter what the current
economical climate is. That
is providing you use the right
marketing and technology
available. Warren Riches,
Director, says he is very
surprised that in such a
depressed economy business
is still very busy with each
month going from strength
to strength. He says precious
metals are selling so well lately
that eveyone is digging out that
old silver teapot or gold charm
bracelet and turning into cash.
The live bidding Island Auction
Rooms provides has attracted
bidding sales from Australia to
New York, and after each sale we
spend a week carefully packing
and posting the items our
40

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foreign clients have purchased
without getting out of their
armchair! Two examples are
the ones pictured with a fine
pair of Oriental vases selling
to a collector for £3000 and a
rare Coach Watch selling to a
European Collector for £3,500.
Anyone wishing for one of
Island Auction Rooms experts to
visit please call 01983 863441.