Antique Japanese fountain pen a top seller
An antique Japanese fountain pen, known as a pre-Dunhill Namiki lake and hillside takamaki-e featuring lacquered scenes of landscapes and sailing vessels, was one of the top sellers at a recent Staffordshire sale.
Estimated at £6,000 to £7,000, the rare pen with an 18ct nib, finally sold at the top of its estimate after a bidding battle between two phone buyers.
Elsewhere, the clocks and watches section of the sale was one of the most contested, led by a gentleman’s Omega Speedmaster professional wristwatch, which sold for £9,000. However, the watch was kept off the spot for top-selling lot by a seven-piece Anglo-Chinese rosewood suite of chairs and settee, which with five telephone bids booked and interest in the room and on the internet eventually hammered at £10,000.
Other top lots in sale included:
- An early 20th-century bar brooch with an estimated total diamond weight of 5.00ct, despite strong interest from a phone bidder, was eventually sold in the room at £4900.
- An 18ct gold English open face pocket watch dated London 1899 took £3700
- A mid-19th-century Chinese silver snuff box of rectangular form by Khecheong of Canton, finely decorated with figures on horseback, figures in a garden and fishing scenes, climbed over its estimate of £200-300 before selling at £1150
- A 20th-century German silver gilt singing bird automaton music box made a hammer price of £2100.