Smiths Auction Rooms in Newent have been overwhelmed with entries for their September sale and the sale has had to be closed early to prevent the two day auction continuing on until late into the night! With over twelve hundred lots the sale will run over two days starting at 10am with the fully illustrated catalogue going online from the 22nd of September and viewing on the 27th & 28th of September 10am -5pm.

The sale includes a huge range of interesting collectables as well as stamps, postcards, furniture, ceramics, glass, silver, jewellery and paintings. A local vendor has continued to sell her extensive collection of Arts & Crafts items with Smiths and this sale includes a beautiful Ruskin Pottery large fruit bowl. The bowl is a very early example featuring his rare scissor mark and a beautiful lavender blue ‘soufflé’ glaze. It is expected to make between £300/£500. Other Arts and Crafts pieces include a selection of silver jewellery such as an eye catching ‘turquoise matrix’ pendant by the collectable designer Murrle Bennett and a silver dove brooch by the iconic Georg Jensen estimated to make £200/£300.

There is also a fantastic selection of fine diamond jewellery on offer including a fabulous three stone diamond ring with a total diamond weight just over three carats. The ring is estimated to make £6,500 to £7,500 – but it would cost at least two or three times this amount on the high street. Other jewellery includes pendants, bracelets and earrings whilst the ring tray is full to the brim with a large variety of both diamond and coloured stone rings in both antique and modern styles.

The watch section of the sale features a number of interesting and good quality entries including a classic ladies 18ct gold Rolex watch and a stylish Ebel Wave diamond set ladies stainless steel wrist watch. Both of which would make a perfect Christmas gift for those who like to think ahead. The men need not feel left out as there is a selection of vintage gentleman’s watches including a 1960’s Omega gold watch estimated at £800/£1200. A tiny Bucherer 9ct gold and diamond set vintage ring watch is a reminder of the glamour of the 1950’s and is estimated to make £150/£200.

In the collectables section the shelves are heavily laden with quirky and rare collectables such as a very inauspicious looking glass bottle with a faded label for ‘Allen’s Red Tame Cherry Syrup’ - a drink made from cherries and cherry leaves in Ohio, America in the very early 20th century. The bottle is estimated at a surprising £200/£300 and may well return home to the USA since online bidding enables buyers to easily find what they are looking for - even when it is the other side of the world.

Other collectables includes a nostalgic enamel double sided Bus Stop sign as well as a fine Chinese cloisonné and lacquer walking cane and a local pocket snuff box engraved for the ‘Plough Inn Newent 1909’ One of the most popular selection of items in the sale could well be a good quality collection of Victorian kitchenalia such as copper jelly moulds and a selection of butter, pastry and chocolate moulds. A lovely German wooden biscuit rolling pin features rows of tiny carved motifs to be pressed into the biscuit dough which could later be cut up into individual squares. There are other rollers for making imprints on butter as well as pastry wheel cutters and crimpers and a large early 19th century pewter ice cream mould in the form of a vase of flowers. All these pieces are highly collectable and are the sort of items that one sees in National Trust kitchens which give a glimpse of cookery techniques from the past. A far cry from many of the convenience foods which we eat today!

The Victorians also had a taste for interesting and novelty items such as a fun painted metal Policeman figure which opens up to reveal an inkwell to his middle estimated at £80/£100 and a pin cushion in the form of a rat!

There is no shortage of fine traditional antiques such as a good quality brass repeating carriage clock estimated at £300/£500 and an Art Nouveau brass and Vaseline glass hall lantern estimated at £150/£200. Traditional furniture is still selling at very reasonable prices with fantastic quality items such as a Victorian mahogany linen cabinet and a fine Victorian mahogany dining table with two interleaves expected to make just £200/£400. A rustic Georgian oak Welsh dresser is expected to make a very reasonable £500/£700 whilst an Edwardian Art Nouveau brass and iron double bed is estimated at just £100/£150.

The sale also includes garden items such as two Victorian Coalbrookdale style garden benches with greyhound arm supports. Estimated at £200/£300 each – these would surely set you back four figures in an architectural antiques shop. A rare Georgian painted metal bench is more restrained with a simple slatted design and estimated at £300/£500. For further information please visit www.smithsnewentauction.co.uk or telephone 01531 821776.