News From The Sale Room

Whether its an auction, a charity shop, a car boot or jumble sale, I can't resist a poke about for anything that takes my interest. Needless to say, I am always hopeful I might find some long lost treasure that no one else has noticed but for me treasure comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. With a few auction houses locally, most weeks I am either viewing, bidding or collecting something or other.

This week I have had mixed fortunes in the sale rooms. I left a number of bids at one general sale, mainly on textiles and managed to have the highest bid on one box of textiles. I was quite pleased as it included an old patchwork quilt which I thought would be good for cutting up and using for some bags. When I went to collect the lot, the auction house were slightly embarrassed to admit that the lot had gone missing. Someone had obviously taken it with lots they had purchased and who knew who that had been. Very annoying to say the least!

Thankfully at a local fine art and antiques auction, I viewed and left 8 bids and managed to win 3 of them. And what an eclectic mix of items I have ended up with! The first lot was an Art Nouveau beaded handbag with a faux tortoiseshell Bakelite frame. The frame is marked made in France and the bag probably dates from around 1900-1910. It is in remarkable good condition for its age with only a small amount of bead loss for the fringe. The other item with it is also beaded and was described as an offertory pouch, presumably from a church.

The next lot I liked because it also included a vintage petit point handbag as well as a small petit point coin purse with an expanding metal top. The lot also included a petit point card case, petit point powder compact, a powder compact in a leather case and about 10 pairs of vintage gloves, mainly leather. Slightly more oddly, the lot also came with various old envelopes containing foreign stamps. Not quite sure how stamps fit in with handbags, gloves and powder compacts but that's auctions for you.

The third lot I was actually after a large box of vintage buttons. I have an absolute weakness for an old button tin. The sound the buttons make as you run your hands through them reminds me of the sea rushing over pebbles on a beach. Fabulous! I can spend hours sorting through a button tin I have just purchased finding all the ones I like and cleaning them up for use on sewing projects such as my peg bags.

As well as the hundreds of buttons in a box, the lot also came with some old jigsaw puzzles, dominoes, chess pieces, a building block set, some of which was in an old chocolate box and the most random item of all. The final item was described in the catalogue as an old electrical item. A bit of googling revealed that it is a Victorian electric shock treatment machine! Just the sort of thing you would expect to find with lots of old toys really. And that is precisely why I love auctions, until you walk through the door of the sale room, you never know what you are going to find. No two auctions are ever the same, something will always catch your eye and surprise you. Who can resist taking a look?

Auction Antics!

I spent quite a bit of yesterday at a local auction. They are held periodically in the local community centre and are a one day only event. You drop your lots off in the morning, viewing is from 12.30pm and the auction starts at 2.00pm. It is usually all over by about 5.00pm depending on the number of lots, which is usually around 300 or so. The best bit about it, is never quite knowing what you are going to find!

This time, I was selling as well as buying. I had a few handbags which hadn't sold, as well as a large box of linens I didn't need, so decided to try my luck with them in the auction. I dropped off my items at 10.00am and took a crafty sneak peek at some of the other lots whilst I was there.

I was quite surprised to find not only another box of linens but also a lot of three vintage bags. The bags were really interesting, one was a small beaded Art Deco purse in very good condition. The other two were more modern but one had a very unusual frame at the top which folded in on itself to open. I was quite excited to be going back later for the actual auction.

After waiting for just over an hour to get to the linen lot, bidding was quite fierce. I had had a bit of a rummage in the box during the viewing and one item had really caught my eye. I set my highest price in my head and hoped for the best! Luckily the bidding stopped with me, at my maximum bid of £20. Adding commission, the lot was going to cost me £22.

A short while later, the three bags went under the hammer. I had set a price of £10 in my mind, which would have been £11 with commission. The small Deco bag I probably would have sold for about £14 and the other two bags were a real risk. Unfortunately, the seller had place a reserve of £15, so the bags went unsold.

My lots came up about an hour later. The handbags and linens raised £16 in total, which wasn't brilliant but it got rid of them, so I was happy. Having settled up at the desk, I took my new box of linens home for a good sort out which is always the best bit!

Whilst three quarters of the box was of no interest to me whatsoever, there were some really good items amongst it. There was a large piece of net curtain, which is an essential tool when making felt with soap and water. I needed a larger piece so that was a real bonus. There were a few linens with wide lace edging which will be ideal for turning into lavender bags and there was a set of four table mats with very pretty embroidery which will also make good lavender bags.

The star of the show though was the embroidered jacket that I had spotted. You couldn't really miss it as the fabric is so striking. It is embroidered all over in the most gorgeous and elaborate pattern. The jacket is old, possibly homemade, and I would guess it dates from around the 1930's but I could be wrong.

The base fabric feels like a fine wool and judging by the moth damage on the collar, I think I am probably right. It is fully lined in a salmon pink satin and has two handmade buttons at the front.

Overall, the jacket is in very good condition, apart from the moth holes and some small yellow marks. Having said that, there is plenty of usable fabric remaining. Part of me thinks it is a shame to cut the jacket up, but to be honest, it is not wearable as it is due to the moth holes.

I am certainly not going to rush into making any decisions. I will probably take the jacket apart to start with and see which bits are usable. I will then decide what to make, whether it is a whole handbag or just use parts as features on different bags. It really is a case of watch this space!

Auction Anticipation

If you are a lover of vintage bags and linens, a really good place to pick them up is at local auctions. There are a few that take place around my area every month, so there is often a good chance of finding a few gems.

In the past I have been quite lucky, managing to pick up large mixed lots of linens and textiles, as well as mixed boxes of handbags. One of my best auction buys, a few years ago, was a huge box of vintage handbags. There was so many there I didn't really know how many, so just made an estimate and left a bid on that basis. My winning bid was £80 which came to £94 with fees. When I got home and sorted the bags out, there was 54 in all, so quite a bargain. Obviously, age and condition varied enormously but there was some great bags amongst them.

Having already checked one of the auction catalogues online, I know there is a lot of vintage bags for sale, together with some boxes of linens. I am quite excited to go and view the lots tomorrow morning and will hopefully leave some bids. The other auction is an auction in a day, where the lots of dropped off in the morning and sold in the afternoon. You never know what will be there until you go and look. But that is half the fun of it.

Hopefully, I will be lucky. I shall let you know!