Specialist departments

Specialist departments

Books, Maps & Prints

Specialist sales are held three times a year and include a good range of valuable printed books of all kinds, antiquarian maps, modern and antiquarian prints, photographs, manuscripts and ephemera. Recent sales have included good collections from private estates including books from Hilton Hall in Cambridgeshire, items belonging to Ernest Ingham, director of the Fanfare Press and friend of Eric Gill, and the collection of Derek Gibbons, Cambridge-based book collector and seller specialising in Children’s Books.

Ceramics & Glass

There are five specialisms within this discipline; British pottery, British porcelain, European ceramics, Oriental ceramics and Glass. Each of these is included in our quarterly Fine Art Sales. The number of lots of each varies in each sale and is dependant on the market demand and what is consigned. The search between sales is for lots which have commanded strong prices previously. In the past year Chinese porcelains, Meissen and 18th century glass have all proved popular.

Clocks & Barometers

Our quarterly Fine Art Sale always includes a good specialist selection of clocks and barometers. There is great variety in what we offer and regular features range from fine carriage clocks to traditional bracket and mantel clocks, wall clocks, both regional and London made longcase clocks, aneroid and stick barometers. Clocks need not be antique to be worthy of sale; as evidenced by the frequent appearances of Jaeger Le Coultre Atmos clocks.

Collectors' Items

This section covers a wide number of disciplines and is for works of art that don't fit into our other sections in the Fine Art quarterly sales. In the last year, Indian, Japanese and Chinese works of art have all proved strong sellers. European bronze and ormolu have also made a come back. Quality whether it be textiles, chess sets or prisoner of war work always sells well.

Decorative Arts & Design since 1860

We specialise in a wide range of furniture, metalwares, sculpture, ceramics and glass from the period 1860 to the present day. The department focuses primarily on key designers and makers from the Arts & Crafts and Art Nouveau, through to the Art Deco and Modernist styles of the early 20th century and right up to the very best of Contemporary Design. This area has seen enormous growth in recent years, and soaring values to match. Decorative Arts & Design items feature in the quarterly Fine Art Sales.

Furniture & Rugs

Cheffins furniture department pride themselves by selecting pieces for individual quality or style; from the earliest oak or walnut to later mahogany and exotic timbers from the new world, discoveries so typical of the Regency period. Victorian signed and designed pieces often with patent mechanisms following the 1851 exhibition together with continental and oriental pieces are just a snippet of the vast array of fine and decorative country house furniture we offer in the quarterly Fine Art Sales.

Jewellery, Watches, Coins and Medals

On offer is a very wide selection of jewellery from diamonds and coloured stones in the Fine Art Sale to quality modern gem-set jewellery and vintage costume pieces in the Decorative Interiors Sale. Prices vary widely due to fashion and personal taste but there is always something of interest. Current high bullion values have meant a surge in interest in plain gold jewellery. Gentleman's wristwatches are particularly popular. Our sales frequently include groups of military medals from the Crimea to modern times. Silver and gold coins are also offered in the Fine Art sales

Paintings, Drawings & Watercolours

In recent years the Paintings Department has built up an enviable reputation for selling Indian contemporary paintings by such artists as Francis Newton Souza, Maqbul Fida Husain and Jamil Naqsh, together with such English luminaries as Winifred Nicholson, Sir James Gunn, Heywood Hardy, Edward Bawden and Schiavone. Recent successes include a portrait of Lady Christiana Gere by Sir Peter Lely, from a Cambridgeshire country house, sold for £28,000. Decorative paintings are included in the monthly Decorative Interiors Sale and a large selection of more valuable pictures are included in the quarterly Fine Art Sales. The Paintings Department also has a strong link with Durham University in providing work experience for degree students throughout the year.

Silver

The silver department contributes to both the Fine Art and the Decorative Interiors Sales with a Fine Art section usually totalling around 80-100 lots. Mainly antique or highly decorative or stylish objects benefit from inclusion in the Fine sale, smaller and more modern collectable pieces fare better in the Decorative Interiors sale where they are placed in front of a more eclectic and less specialist clientele.

Sporting Art & Ephemera

Our Sporting Sales attracting a vast array of paintings and prints, hunting attire; coats, boots, whips and horns, saddle flasks, canteens and old leather cased pieces, bronzes, stock brooches, stirrup cups, presentation pieces, books, cockfighting memorabilia, taxidermy, and hunting trophies, in fact a good deal of what can be found in the attics, barns and tack rooms of many country houses.

Vintage and Modern Fly-Fishing Equipment

Many attics and garages contain items of unwanted Fishing kit and amongst them there is treasure to be found. Rods, reels and other equipment branded 'Hardy Bros' of Alnwick ' or 'Farlow's of London can sell for significant sums and our sporting sales are the venue where fishermen and collectors can meet together either in the room or on the internet and bid for items to enlarge their collections

Sporting Guns & Taxidermy

Specialist Martin Millard is personally registered as a firearms dealer and a member of the Gun Trade Association. We host a bi-annual Sporting Sale containing a dedicated section of sporting guns, rifles and related firearms, comprising English and Continental sidelock, boxlock and over and under shotguns, double rifles, bolt action rifles, and pistols. A variety of accessories including gun cases, cartridge magazines, cartridge boards and taxidermy are also included in these sales.

Wine

Our Wine Department holds a prestigious annual sale of fine wines with buyers and sellers coming from near and far and a virtual sell-out year after year. Lot values range from £50 upwards thus ensuring that all tastes and budgets are catered for. We offer a range of French, German, Italian, Spanish and New World wines as well as Port, Madiera and Spirits.

We also have a consultant specialist for Stamps & Militaria

Specialists profiles

Jonathan Law FRICS – Director
Jonathan has been with Cheffins for over 20 years. A well known charity auctioneer and lecturer, he specialises in English 18th and early 19th Century Furniture and has a keen interest in Italian 16th Century Painting.

Email: jonathan.law@cheffins.co.uk
Tel: 01223 271938

Charles Ashton MRICS – Director. Books, Maps & Prints, Clocks & Barometers, Wine
Charles joined Cheffins fresh from College in 1988, and has therefore a long and thorough experience of the auction world. He is Head of the Books, Prints & Maps, Clocks & Barometers and Wine Departments. As a RICS qualified valuer and auctioneer, he also undertakes regular professional valuations for all purposes. Charles's auction highlight was selling a pair of 18th century marble statues by Sir Henry Cheere for over half a million pounds, a house record.

Email: charles.ashton@cheffins.co.uk
Tel: 01223 271948

Richard Haywood ASFAV – Associate. Silver, Coins & Medals, Jewellery, Fishing Tackle
Richard is the Head of the Silver, Coins & Medals and Jewellery Departments and co-runs the bi-annual Sporting Sales. He entered the auction business in 1976 after a stint in the Inland Revenue. Based in East Anglia for much of his career, he has worked as a specialist with January’s, Ekins, Dilley & Handley and Phillips Son & Neale. He joined Cheffins as a senior specialist in 1994.

Email: richard.haywood@cheffins.co.uk
Tel: 01223 271992

George Archdale BSc, ASFAV – Associate. Ceramics, Oriental Works of Art
It was not as a consequence of his degree in Geology that George did the Sotheby’s Training Scheme but it is true that the latter enabled him to work in Bonhams’ Ceramics and Works of Art Department. After a period as an antiques dealer and exporter, he became antiques advisor to a firm of insurance loss adjusters and worked for Miller’s Guide. He joined the Antiques Roadshow team in 1981 and has broadcast since then. He was Sotheby's representative in Stamford for 10 years prior to joining Cheffins in 2000. He is Head of the Ceramics and Oriental Works of Art Departments.

Email: george.archdale@cheffins.co.uk
Tel: 01223 271993

Sarah Flynn – Paintings, Drawings and Watercolours
Sarah is the Head of the Paintings Department. She worked at Christie’s London in the Old Master Paintings Department for many years, where she was involved in a series of highly important Old Master sales including ‘Lord Cholmondeley’s Lady with a Squirrel and a Starling’, and Canaletto’s ‘View of the Old Horseguards and St James’s Park’. Sarah is an authority on the work of Glyn Philpot, RA (1884-1937) and Stanley Lewis, ARCA, MBE (1905-2009).

Email: sarah.flynn@cheffins.co.uk
Tel: 01223 271937

Luke Macdonald FRICS – Furniture & Rugs, Sporting Art
In December 2006 Luke joined Cheffins as Head of the Furniture & Rugs Department, a Sporting Art valuer and auctioneer, having previously run salerooms in the West Country for Lawrence’s and Greenslade Taylor Hunt. Luke is Cheffins’ West Country representative and regularly spends time in Somerset and Dorset advising estates and bringing goods to sale in Cambridge.

Email: luke.macdonald@cheffins.co.uk
Tel: 01223 271982

Martin Millard BA Hons – Decorative Arts & Design, Guns & Taxidermy
Regularly seen on the charity auction circuit, Martin, who is never happier at work than when he is on the rostrum, joined Cheffins straight from university in 2004 where he had obtained a BA Hons in Fine Art Valuation. Within his first year, Martin had added a new department to the Fine Art Sales, concentrating on his main interest of Decorative Arts & Design from 1860 to the present day. Driven by his favourite pastime, Martin also became a registered firearms dealer in 2006 and co-runs the bi-annual sporting sales, specialising in guns and taxidermy.

Email: martin.millard@cheffins.co.uk
Tel: 01223 271983

Christopher Halls - Saleroom Manager and General Valuer
Christopher’s specialist interests lie in English Furniture, 20th Century Design, Tribal Rugs, Modern British Paintings, and he has a keen interest in Classic Cars. Christopher is also a talented photographer and is responsible for the design and production of Cheffins’ catalogues.

Email: christopher.halls@cheffins.co.uk
Tel: 01223 271929

Angela Marshall BA (Hons) - The Decorative Interiors Sale Manager
Angela studied Spatial Design at Suffolk University College, specialising in Interior Design and Theatre Set Design. She joined Bonhams in Ipswich in 2003 as Auction Administrator and Cashier and was involved in the set up of all outside sales and events. In 2005 she took on the additional role as the East Anglian Regional Photographer. She joined Cheffins in 2010.

Email: angela.marshall@cheffins.co.uk
Tel: 01223 271912

Lisa Freeman-Bassett BA (Hons) - Press
Lisa is the Head of Press at Cheffins. After finishing her degree in English & History of Art she moved from Oxford to London to work at Sotheby's in the Advertising & Marketing Department. Eventually moving back to her home town of Cambridge, she has worked at Cheffins for 16 years.

Email: lisa.freeman-bassett@cheffins.co.uk
Tel: 01223 271932

Sophie Smith - Client Liaison
Sophie is a consultant for Cheffins, based in the Private Clients Department. Previously she worked for Bernard Quaritch Antiquarian Booksellers in London for 12 years, and has a keen interest in architecture, 20th Century Design and Modern British paintings. Sophie is also Editor of the Fine Art Department’s catalogues.

Email: sophie.smith@cheffins.co.uk
Tel: 01284 811380

Julie Connell - Client Liaison
Julie is a consultant for Cheffins, based in the Private Clients Department. She has over 25 years experience in organising profitable and efficiently run equestrian and non-equestrian events at local, national and international levels and has received a number of awards. She has also been a piano and flute teacher for over 40 years. Formerly a consultant for Rowley Fine Art, Julie joined the Cheffins team in 2010.

Email: j.connell118@btinternet.com
Tel: 01858 525336

Eleanor Curzon - Accounts & Auction Administration
After two years working in the customer service industry Eleanor joined Cheffins in September 2007 to manage the Fine Art Accounts Department. She is responsible for taking payment, invoicing, co-ordinating collections and deliveries and auction administration.

Email: eleanor.curzon@cheffins.co.uk
Tel: 01223 271911

Frances Peers - Front of House & Auction Administration
Frances has worked for Cheffins for 10 years; initially helping with viewing before moving to Front of House. Previously she worked for Keils of Broadway, furniture dealers, and Halcyon Days of London, where she was responsible for cataloguing and buying antique English Enamels and Objets d'Art. She is a decorative artist and paints murals and ceramic tiles to order.

Email: reception@cheffins.co.uk
Tel: 01223 213343

Serena Birditt - Front of House & Auction Administration
Serena joined Cheffins 3 years ago. Previously she worked in the Wine Trade in London for 10 years with John Harvey & Sons, Sotheby's Wine Department and Christopher & Company.

Email: reception@cheffins.co.uk
Tel: 01223 213343