Bidders thirst for Art Deco cocktail shaker

Art Deco proved its enduring popularity with the sale of two of the coolest lots in The Cotswold Auction Company’s recent sale of Toys, Antiques and Interiors.

A 1930s silver-plated Art Deco cocktail shaker – designed by Keith Murray and branded Mappin and Webb – sold for a hammer of £380.

However, the undoubted star of the sale was a French Art Deco walnut veneered chest of drawers, which hammered down at £2,200.

Toys were also popular, with a large group of Britains toy soldiers selling for £1,550. Elsewhere, a Victorian papier-mache bulldog automaton – complete with nodding head and original growling mechanism – sold for over its estimate of £300 to £500, going under the hammer at £850. It is thought to have been made between 1890 and 1910 by the French automaton company Roullet and Decamps.

Auctioneer Lindsey Braune said: “Art Deco is always popular at auction. The chest of drawers was a fabulously chic example of home furnishings from the period. Vintage cocktail shakers are also in fashion at the moment and this Art Deco example was particularly stylish.”