We are now offering a valuation service on all viewing days. Please do bring along any items to be valued and one of our expert specialists will be available to advise you. Please note however that this will NOT be available on sale days. If you would like to call the office to arrange this or a house visit, please call 01428 653727.
Nowadays people dress in all sorts of peculiar clothing, but it’s less than 100 years since simple everyday etiquette determined that ladies and gentlemen would not dream of leaving the house without a hat and cane.
While the hat persisted well into the 1960s, the cane or walking stick started to fall out of use in the early 1930s, but as Cane Mania, the International Society of Cane Collectors and the recent annual seminar in Kensington attest to, this is a rich field of collecting, and you will find any number of exotic, entrancing and elegant examples at auction.
The tradition of carrying a cane dates back to the 1550s and, along with the wide variety that developed came a whole field of etiquette about the way to carry a cane and what it could be used for. Obvious uses include its role as a defensive weapon and a support while walking or climbing steep slopes, although as early as the 16th century it was deemed unseemly for a gentleman to lean on his cane.
They have also provided an outlet for master carvers to pursue their art, as well as inventive souls to develop hidden contents or gadgets, such as swords, compasses and even mini hipflasks.
We may have no practical use for canes any more, but as an art form they are as fascinating as ever.
BUYING SECTION – PAYMENTS
Following the introduction of new regulations in June 2017, we are required to conduct identification checks where customers wish to pay in cash for purchases of 10,000 Euros or more. For ease of understanding and to allow for currency fluctuation, we will value the amount to be equivalent to £7000 (GBP). The regulations state that when we accept payments at this value or over it is compulsory for us to ask for documents proving the buyer’s identity. Acceptable documents are either a ‘Photo Driving Licence’ or ‘Passport’. When producing these documents they must be originals, not copies.
Note: these regulations apply to CASH transactions only!
Cheques are accepted only by prior arrangement, and purchases paid with cheque will only be released on clearance through our bank.
You may pay with cash below £7000 (€10,000), cheque (only accepted upon prior arrangement), credit and debit cards, wire transfer or banker’s draft. Please note that as from January 13, 2018, we no longer charge a handling fee of 2% on credit card transactions. Debit cards incur no extra charge. Credit or debit card payments must be made in person unless prior arrangements have been agreed upon. For further details contact the office. You must pay for your purchase immediately after the sale. All funds must be cleared before goods are released. We request that all purchases are collected immediately after the sale. If you require us to store the items for you, this can be arranged for a fee with a member of staff.
What a fantastic turnout we had last Saturday. The saleroom was so busy that we had to write on more paddles so that everyone who wanted to, could bid! The big draw was the collection of pots and garden furniture we had taken from a house clearance in Wimbledon. The timing was spot on to meet the demands of those who wanted to spruce up their gardens. Added to which, the weather was being kind and most items found a new home. Please keep spreading the word about us and we can continue to offer up more of these quality items. Our next sale will be a general sale on August 26th (bank holiday weekend). Put it in your diary!
The recent auction of a famous photo of Albert Einstein (the one where he is sticking out his tongue from 1951) reminds me of the apocryphal tale of his lecture tour of the US on Relativity. Throughout the tour the great scientific genius employed the same chauffeur, who would sit at the back of the lecture hall each night waiting for his employer to finish before driving him back to his hotel.
After a while, the chauffeur told Einstein that he had heard the lecture so many times he believed he would be able to deliver it himself. Einstein decided to let him take up the challenge, knowing that their next stop was a place where he was not well known and so it was possible no one would guess that they had swapped roles.
Sure enough, on the night, the chauffeur took to the stage and completed the lecture without anyone being the wiser. Meanwhile Einstein took a quiet nap at the back of the lecture hall posing as the chauffeur.
However, just as the real chauffeur was leaving the stage, a research student asked him a very complex question to which he did not know the answer. Thinking quickly, he said: “The answer to that question is so simple that I am going to let my chauffeur answer it for me.” Now that’s genius.
