Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood are pleased to share the success of their auction, Halsdon House: The Collection of Charlie and Shirley Watts, which achieved a total hammer price of £415,000.
Halsdon House, Devon
The late drummer of the Rolling Stones lived in Halsdon House, north Devon, with his wife Shirley, a sculptor and Arabian horse breeder, and their daughter, from the early 1980s until their deaths in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
While Watts collection of first edition books, including a signed copy of the Great Gatsby, and his substantial collections of jazz records, books and memorabilia were sold in auctions by Christie's (Literature and Jazz I and II), the collection of Halsdon House was entrusted to Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood.
Spanning furniture, paintings, ceramics, antiquities, sporting memorabilia, antiquarian books, sculpture, and two classic cars, the sale quite literally had something for everyone. Chairman, Cristian Beadman, said; 'To say that the market was extremely buoyant would be a massive understatement, with enthusiastic bidders in the room, the constant flickering of internet bids, and an almost permanent buzz of telephone interest.'
Maxwell Ashby Armfield, Morning glory, Opus 356
The auction generated a lot of interest, and thus a lot of furious bidding on various lots. Maxwell Ashby Armfield's painting, 'Morning glory, Opus 536', sold for ten times its high estimate, the hammer coming down at £6,000. Similarly, a life-size carved and painted wooden model of a horse hammered for £7,500 despite a pre-auction estimate of £1,000-1,500.
Some things performed well, as expected of a collection of this calibre; Charlie Watts' 1939 Cadillac sold for £26,000 (hammer price). A collection of eight books with Rolling Stones-themed titles, including 'Jagger Swoops Again' by John Templer, went under the hammer at £650. A beautiful, late 19th century Swiss or French gilt metal and enamelled singing bird automaton musical box, with a pre-auction estimate of £1,500-2,500 (minus fees), came to £17,000 (hammer).
The 1939 Black Cadillac Series 61
Cristian went on to say, ‘A lot of hard work went into bringing this auction about, so we are utterly delighted by the results. Twelve hours of selling brought many astonishing prices, but the pair of bog-excavated Mediaeval shoes sprinting off to almost five thousand pounds was certainly a happy highlight.’ The shoes in question had a pre-auction estimate of £80-120 (excluding fees).
The Medieval shoes
The antiquities performed well overall, with fierce bidding on mice bronzes and dog shaped treasures. As anticipated, the Nelson-related items performed well. The 1795 signed by the Admiral himself sold for £6,000 (hammer price), and the memento mori brooch related to Nelson and Lady Emma Hamilton went under the hammer at £5,500.
The memento mori brooches
Bearnes Hampton and Littlewood are honoured to have been entrusted with this collection, and extend their thanks to the family, as well as the clients who purchased at the auction, or simply came to watch.
