RASE art and silverware sale tops out at £40,000

The Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE) has auctioned off more than 250 historical artefacts in London, raising hundreds of thousands of pounds for its pension fund.

The lots included silverware, furniture, clocks, paintings and prints and a large collection of books.

With more than 100 people present, the bidding war commenced at 1pm on Friday (11 July) at Dreweatts & Bloomsbury’s auction rooms.

RASE decided to sell the collection to clear a deficit in its pension scheme for past employees and raise money for its Innovation in Agriculture project, which could launch later this year.

See also: RASE plans to auction of book and silverware collection

Guy Hurst, trustee of RASE, said it would help them focus on their goal of promoting technical innovation and knowledge transfer in agriculture. “On the one hand, it is very sad to be selling this collection, but on the other it will enable us to go forward,” he said.

“There has been a lot of global interest in today, with approximately 15,000 people looking at the online auction system before live bidding began. I think a lot of people are buying the history.”
Charles Cochrane, Timothy Sammons

The decision to sell the items had attracted controversy, with more than 40 lots withdrawn from the auction the night before the sale following pressure from breed societies and descendants of the people who had made the donations.

Interesting lots from the sale included:

• The plaster model of an imported Southdown ewe, which had an estimate of £50-100, but sold on the phone for £1,400.
  
• Robert Bakewell’s chair, a George III provincial mixed woods open armchair, which went for £9,000. This was bought by dealer Spencer Swaffer from Arundale in Suffolk. “It is a remarkable chair in both scale and provenance,” said Mr Swaffer. “You also don’t get many chairs made out of willow.”
  
• An oil portrait of the then princess Elizabeth, painted in 1950 by royal portraitist Sir Oswald Birley, sold for £40,000. This was the highest-selling painting at the auction.

Charles Cochrane of Timothy Sammons, the agents who arranged the sale, said: “There has been a lot of global interest in today, with approximately 15,000 people looking at the online auction system before live bidding began. I think a lot of people are buying the history.”

David Gardner, chief executive of RASE, said: “It has gone well, it has exceeded my expectations. Once the pension fund deficit has been cleared, the money will support the society in the driving forward of the Innovation in Agriculture scheme.

“The withdrawn lots will now be progressed by trustees. Some items have received interest from both breed societies and the descendents of those who originally donated the silverware.”