The sale of the Jim Lennon Collection of Silver, Asian and European Works of Art at Bonhams Edinburgh made more than £500,000, exceeding all expectations.
In a marathon auction lasting more than nine hours all 458 lots were hammered down for a total of £554,530.
Jim Lennon built up his collection over 40 years in Northern Ireland.
Writing in the sale catalogue he said: ‘I like to think that everything I bought showed skilled individual workmanship, whether in wood, stone, silver, ceramics or any other medium.’
A rare Irish Neolithic Bog Oak Dugout Canoe.
Highlights included:
- A Scottish silver Warwick vase by Mark Aitchison, Edinburgh 1877. The Warwick Vase was excavated from Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli in 1771, and dates to the second century AD. It was acquired by the 2nd Earl of Warwick, who built a specially commissioned conservatory in the grounds of Warwick Castle to house it. It now forms part of the Burrell Collection in Glasgow. Sold for £27,125 (estimate: £3,000-4,000).
- A massive Chinese celadon vase, Tianqiuping from the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912). Sold for £14,000 (estimate: £1,000-1,500).
- A Favrile cameo glass vase by Louis Comfort Tiffany, circa 1890. Sold for £14,000 (estimate: £600-900)
- A Minton aesthetic style porcelain part dessert service, with date code for 1876. Decorated with birds and fans. Sold for £9,563 (estimate: £300-500).
- A rare Irish Neolithic Bog Oak Dugout Canoe. Sold for £9,563 (estimate £2,000-3,000).
Gordon McFarlan, Bonhams’ head of sale, said: ‘This is a wonderful result for the truly remarkable collection of fascinating objects that Jim Lennon built up over the past 40 years.
‘The length of the sale, in itself, is testament to the enormous interest it generated among collectors as was the very high total which exceeded all expectations.’
For a full list of forthcoming auctions, plus details of Bonhams specialist departments, visit bonhams.com.
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