'Chippendale' table sells for 20 times its estimate
A GEORGE III carved mahogany silver table which sold for more than £140,000 above its estimated value was the highlight of an auction of items from the estate of popular local character John Burley.
The auction, which took place at Martel Maides in Cornet Street, saw more than 90% of the 114 items on offer sell, mostly to local bidders.
Mr Burley, a renowned after-dinner speaker and a well-liked local figure, particularly in cricketing and horse-racing circles for more than four decades, died last November at the age of 78.
Martel Maides’ Guy Cooper said the auction had gone extremely well, and reserved special praise for the sale of the table, a piece attributed to renowned 18th century woodworker Thomas Chippendale.
Valued at between £7,000 and £10,000, it ended up selling for £154,000.
‘The price it achieved is fantastic, those bidding on it said that it was one of the best examples of its type they had ever seen, it had a lot of interest,’ Mr Cooper said.
‘We don’t know for certain if Chippendale made it himself but maybe a few people know something we don’t.’
Among the other notable sales were three paintings by famous British artist Edward Seago.
One of them, a work depicting an atmospheric, wintry view of London’s Trafalgar Square, sold for £15,000, while ‘Herringbone and other Mares in a Paddock’ fetched £8,000 and ‘The Bicester Hunt’ £9,000.
Another item that attracted interest was a George II mahogany tea caddy, which sold for £7,000, far exceeding its estimated value of between £2,000 and £3,000.
‘A number of the other pictures and bronzes did well, the results were good across the board,’ Mr Cooper said.
He was pleased that many of the items would be staying on-island.
‘We did have some interest from the UK and Ireland, which is testament to the quality of the collection, but most sales were made to local people,’ he said.
‘I think a lot of people wanted a little bit of John’s estate as something to remember him by.’
In addition to Mr Burley’s estate, two dazzling diamond rings boasting enormous and scarce 10-carat stones were available to bid on, with estimated values of £100,000-£120,000 and £60,000-£80,000.
However, neither sold on the day.
‘We did have some interest for them, and discussions regarding a potential sale are ongoing,’ Mr Cooper said.
