and not likely to see one like this again!
On Sat. Nov 13 I had the privilege of working a very special auction. I was helping Bob Severn sell for long time collectors Drs. Jack and Ann Dale, and it was truly an amazing auction!
I conduct large auctions on a regular basis…often as many as 600 or 700 hundred lots…but nothing like this! I have never seen so much quality merchandise come out of one home. Probably 1000 lots. They had a large outdoor tent, plus selling in the beautiful old Victorian home, plus selling outside and also some items from an adjoining property! These items had been purchased over a 30 or 40 year period, and it was the kind of auction you rarely have a chance to see, and probably won’t see again.
There is a generation, and they are now usually in their late 70’s or early 80’s, and for most of us, it is our parents or grandparents generation, that become avid antique collectors. They filled their homes with antiques, and it was a passion for so many of them. Now many of those collectors have passed on, or must downsize, so the collections come onto the market.
Generally the “under-40” generation does not have the same passion for collecting. Usually they buy antiques as decorator items, and therefore acquire a single type of item, but do not build collections of items. It was there parents and grandparents who “hoarded” antiques and it was a very different approach to buying.
That is why the auction on Saturday was so unique. It is just so rare to find such quantity and quality in one household. I think those type of collectors are now few and far between, and not likely will we see them again.
It was a nine hour auction, and about half of the time we were selling in two rings, so that is some indication of the size of the collection.
It was fun and it was interesting to be part of it, and I was lucky enough to be able to purchase some postcards and collectables from my hometown of Beeton, but I also realize auctions like that may not happen again.
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