As part of our special auctions that occur every five weeks, our Scottish Contemporary Art Auction on the 22nd June saw many attractive and desirable paintings go under the hammer, with a good few reaching and exceeding their auction estimates.

In particular, this eerie looking oil on hardboard by John Bellany showing a peculiar looking man playing an accordion sold for a fantastic £24,000. Bellany is a highly respected Scottish painter with many of successful paintings and a unique style in this field. This particular piece had never been publicly exhibited or offered at auction before appearing at McTear’s and definitely caused a lot of excitement in the auction house. It was noted that “The Accordionist” was painted not long after Bellany’s trip to Buchenwald where he encountered a very traumatic experience, which could explain the eeriness of the painting. 

Lot 1781: "The Accordionist"

Sadly, Bellanny past away last year but his paintings will maintain and prolong the memories people hold of him and his work. 

“I paint from my very soul and I want to move people to get inside their hearts” 

John Bellany 1942 - 2013 (Credit – http://www.bellany.com/) 

Lot 1716: Wildcat 

Lot 1826: Woman of The Mediterranean Sea 

Our next special auction are as follows: 

The Asian Works of Art Auction - 22nd July 2014 at 10.30am

The Clocks, Scientific & Musical Instruments Auction - 22nd July 2014 at 5.00pm 

The Furniture, Works of Art & Collectables Auction - 22nd July 2014  at 6.00pm 

The Rare and Collectable Whisky Auction - 23rd July 2014 at 10.30am

The Watches and Coins Auction - 23rd July 2014 at 5.00pm 

The Jewellery Auction - 23rd July 2014 at 6.00pm 

The British and International Pictures Auction - 24th July 2014 at 6.00pm 

The Scottish Contemporary Art Auction - 27th July 2014 at 2.00pm

March at McTear's

McTear’s have started off March well with the special auctions concluding yesterday with The Scottish Contemporary Art auction that had a vast selection of unique and eye catching pieces – perfect way to end a successful week of interesting and exciting auctions.

The auctions commenced on Tuesday with rare and collectable objects from Asia including China, Japan and India going under the hammer in The Asian Works of Art Auction. After an estimation of just £100 - £200, this stunning Chinese Cloisonne Censer sold for a whopping £2800! 

Lot 175 

Bidders would also not be struggling to tell the time on Tuesday with our auction of clocks and timepieces taking place. Interest was high in this auction and this Fine George III Ebonised Bracket Clock sold for a fantastic £8000 after an estimation of just £2000. 

Lot 296

For the whisky enthusiast among you we had our ever popular Rare and Collectable Whisky, Wine and Port Auction that saw many enticing bottles go under the hammer. In particular, this beautiful 25 year old Macallan in a crystal decanter reached £1900 in the auction.

Lot 905

One for the ladies in our Jewellery Auction is this glistening unmounted diamond (2.12 carats) that sold for £6900... There will be one lucky person receiving this! 

Lot 1105

The Scottish Contemporary Art Auction brought the auctions to an end nicely with lots of attractive lots going under the hammer. Fitting for a Sunday, this Graham McKean 'Sunday Afternoon' pastel on paper sold for £260. 

This is just a few of what went under the hammer in last weeks special auctions. To see other auctions, lots and the hammer prices, have a look at our website. 

Our next special auctions will be 8th - 10th of April. 

History of Rolex... 'Inextricably linked to the visionary spirit of Hans Wilsdorf, its founder'

With a selection of fabulous Rolex watches going under the hammer in this weeks Watches and Coins auction, we thought it would be interesting to delve into the history of these world renowned timepieces.

The history of Rolex stems back to 1905 when the ‘visionary spirit’ of Hans Wilsdorf, its founder, evolved the idea of a watch being worn on the wrist. His vision, originating in London, saw that wristwatches had the potential to have more than just a functionality purpose; they could become both ‘elegant’ and ‘reliable’.

1908 saw the creation of the name and the brand as we know it today, Rolex. ‘Genius in five letters’ is how they described it. Having a name that was easily recognisable and transferable into different cultures and languages but what also looked attractive on the watch.

1910 saw Rolex’s first achievement. Their attention to detail and exceptionally precise timepiece granted them the Swiss Certificate of Chronometric Precision by the Official Watch Rating Centre. Then 1914 saw another achievement for Rolex when they were awarded a class “A” precision certificate and from then on Rolex were indistinguishable with perfectionism.


An example of an Oyster wrist watch in our Watches and Coins auction.

In 1926 and 1927 Rolex formed the waterproof watch and to justify this functionality they ventured on a ‘cross channel challenge’ and after a 10 hour swim the watch was still in pristine condition resulting in their claim shifting to proof.

Continuing with their innovation, 1953 saw the ‘pioneering watches being developed’ which included watches intended for professional services. Watches included ‘The Explorer’ for human adventure, ‘The Submariner’ for deep sea diving, ‘The GMT- Master’ for airline pilots, ‘The Oyster Perpetual Milgauss’ for the scientific community and many more in the years to come. In 1976, to celebrate 50 years of the Oyster, the Rolex Awards for Enterprise were launched to honour individuals who have the bravery and ambition to commence major challenges.

In 1985 Rolex went on to become the watch making brand to pioneer the use of 904L in their steel watches. The 21st century conceived the 4130 movement exclusively by Rolex which contains just 290 components, far less that a standard chronograph therefore enhancing the stylish, timeless and simplistic watches.


Another example of their precision in this 18 carat gold ladies wrist watch.

The most recent thing to happen, in ties with Rolex’s long history of sporting, Rolex entered into partnership with Formula 1 Racing as their Official Timekeeper and Official Timepiece.

Their history, timeless attention to detail and chronograph precision has meant that Rolex today remains the watch that people desire to have.

Information sourced from the Rolex website. Read more here Rolex History.

Our Watches and Coins auction tonight at 5pm features the above watches and plenty more 'timeless' pieces that may catch your eye. 

Get ready to bid once again...

5 weeks have nearly past and once again McTear's are busy getting ready for next week's dedicated auctions.

Kicking off our 3 days will be the Asian Works of Art auction with ceramics, metalwork and furniture dedicated to rare and collectable objects from Asia including China, Japan and India. An example of one of these fine pieces is this beautiful Japanese Sumo Tegata from the 1981 sumo league, featuring hand prints and signatures of Kurohimeyama, Takamiyama and Chiyonofuji.


Lot 125 Estimate: £1500- £1600

McTear's will then give you the chance to bid on some fantastic items in our clocks, musical and scientific instruments auction including long case clocks, telescopes, violins and more. This unique and eye-catching Junghans Spelter mantel clock is just an example of what's to come in this auction.


Lot 349 Estimate: £120-£180

As with every block of dedicated auctions, we will be hosting our Rare & Collectable Whisky, Wine and Port auction with roughly 500 lots going under the hammer. It's hard to single out specific lots in this auction as there is such a variety, however this one caught our eye. Highland Park1958 Singal Island Malt Whisky (700ml and 44% volume) with decanter and commemorative book in wooden box is set to go under the hammer for an estimate of £800-£1000.


Lot 700 Estimate: £800-£100

Whether you want to treat yourself or someone else we have the auction for you. McTear's Fine Jewellery auction will give you the chance to bid on approximately 300 lots beautiful jewellery. For example this stunning ring would be a fantastic gift with Christmas coming up. The unusual Pearl and Diamond dress ring set with a row of graduated diamonds, flanked by two spherical pearls (size P)is estimated to go for £400-£600.


Lot 1227 Estimate: £400-£600

This is just a small selection of what we have coming up next week in our auctions. Starting on Tuesday the 8th and finishing on the 13th of October with The Scottish Contemporary Art auction, it's a week of auctions not to be missed.

Asian Works of Art - Tuesday 8th October 10.30am

Clocks, Musical & Scientific Instruments - Tuesday 8th October 6pm

Furniture, Works of Art & Collectables - Tuesday 8th October 7pm

Rare & Collectable Whisky, Wine & Port - Wednesday 9th October 10.30am

Watches & Coins - Wednesday 9th October 5pm

Fine Jewellery - Wednesday 9th October 6pm

The British & International Pictures Auction - Thursday 10th October 6pm

The Scottish Contemporary Art Auction (Sunday) - Sunday 13th October 2pm

Going Once...Going Twice...Gone!

With a little gap till our June auctions, we thought it would be interesting to have a look at the most expensive items sold at auction over the years.

Recently at McTear’s we were fortunate to be auctioning some of the fantastic work by Peter Howson which raised over £200,000. However, other items around the world have managed to reach much higher prices at auction.

It’s amazing what some people will pay for things at auction and these following items are just some of the best examples.

First of all the most expensive painting which was Pablo Picasso's Nude, Green Leaves and Bust that sold for $106.5million (£66million) in 2010 at Christie's auction house.


Source: Picasso's Nude, Green Leaves and Bust to be shown at Tate Modern

Next is the most expensive piece of clothing. Marlyn Monroe's famous 'Happy Birthday' serenade to President John F. Kennedy is one that has gone down in history and her flesh-coloured, curve-hugging, jewel-encrusted dress so tight and sheer that she was sewn into it, sold for a massive $1,267,500 in 1999.


Marilyn Monroe's "Happy Birthday Mr. President" Dress

The most expensive musical instrument sold in 2007 was this Guarneri del Gesù violin that sold for $3.9millon.


Guarneri del Gesù violin

We found this one very peculiar: The most expensive lock of hair. The company behind the Internet auction of such macabre memorabilia has made a small fortune selling the tresses of celebrities.To date, the most valuable one sold was that of Elvis Presley selling for $115,000 in 2002.


Tresses from Elvis Presley

Now for probably the coolest car we have ever seen, the 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa. Being the most expensive car sold at auction, this beauty reached a whopping $12.2million in 2009.


1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa

If diamonds really are a girl's best friend, then this Wittelsbach diamond would be the best friend they could have. Selling for $23.4million in 2008 this diamond is the most expensive one sold to date.


Wittelsbach diamond

Adapted from The Times Top 10 most expensive items sold at auction.

McTear's next special auctions will begin on the 25th of June with British & Continental Ceramics & Glass.

April Highlights...

Next week we have our April special auctions running from the Tuesday through to the Sunday. 

As with any monthly special auctions, we will be having our Rare & Collectable Whisky, Wine & Port auction on Wednesday at 10.30am that will feature a selection of whiskies, cognac and port from all major distilleries and beyond...

Our intern David did a fantastic job in front of the camera! Have a watch as he talks us through what we have to look forward to in next weeks auction...

For more information on this auction and our other exciting ones happening next week have a look here.  

To keep up to date with what McTears are up to, like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter or visit our Website. 

Busy Week for McTears

McTear's have been busy getting ready for next week's auctions running from Tuesday 12th March right through to Sunday 17th March.

Starting the auctions will be McTear's British & Continental Ceramics & Glass, Silver & Plate auction on Tuesday 12th March at 10.30am that will feature ceramics and glass from Britain, Europe and beyond, as well as silver and plate from around the world.

Featuring in this auction will be this stunning pottery piece from Harry Davis along with many other items not to be missed.

Lot 121: FINE ROYAL WORCESTER JAR AND COVER BY HARRY DAVIS

Also on Tuesday 12th March will be McTear's Asian Works of Art at 6pm and Furniture, Clocks and Works of Art at 7pm. These auctions will give you the chance to bid on ceramics, ivory, bronze, jade, lacquer, wood, silver and cloisonne from China, Japan, Korea, Persia & the Middle East and furniture, clocks and works of art from the 18th-20th centuries.

This unique Amber coloured glass and stone set scent bottle is estimated to reach £100-£150 in Asian Works of Art:

Lot 310A: CHINESE AMBER COLOURED GLASS AND STONE SET SCENT BOTTLE 

McTear's Furniture, Clocks and Works of Art auction will have a range of items going under the hammer including this Victorian carved mahogany buttonback chaise longe estimated to sell for £150-£200. 

Lot 571:VICTORIAN CARVED MAHOGANY BUTTONBACK CHAISE LONGE

On Wednesday 13th March McTear's will have 500 lots of whisky, wine and port in our Rare & Collectable Whisky, Wine & Port auction at 10.30am.

How do you fancy splashing out for The Macallan Royal Marriage 1981 Single Highland Malt Scotch Whisky estimated to fetch £800-£1000. 

Lot 672: THE MACALLAN ROYAL MARRIAGE 1981 Single Highand Malt Scotch Whisky

 On the same day we also have Fine Jewellery, Watches and Coins at 5pm where you will have the opportunity to bid on various watches, beautiful jewellery and coins.

This lovely Diamond Line Bracelet totalling 4.38 carats, in eighteen carat white gold is estimated to go under the hammer for £3500-£4500.

Lot 1397: DIAMOND LINE BRACELET

Thursday 14th March there will be The British and Continental Pictures Auction at 6pm. It will feature a range of attracting pictures including this piece from Jack Merriott.

Lot 1419: JACK MERRIOTT (BRITISH 1901 - 1968) THE BRIG O' DOON oil on canvas,

McTear's will also have two other special auctions on Sunday 17th March. Sports Memorabilia will feature medals, jerseys and ephemera relating to football, along with other sporting collectables relating to golf, fishing and cricket at 1pm.  The Scottish Contemporary Art auction takes place at 2pm and will include a huge selection of contemporary paintings by predominantly Scottish artists.

For more information and online catalogues of these auctions visit our website.

Also, to keep up to date with what's happening at McTear's, Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter.

Pottery by Harris Davis

With our successful February auctions not long past, it's time to look at what we have coming up in March.

In particular we have the British & Continental Ceramics & Glass, Silver & Plate auction on the 12th of March that we are fortunate enough to be auctioning various pieces of pottery by Harry Davis. 

This stunning Royal Worcester jar painted by Harry Davis (one of several Worcester pieces already in) has come in for the Ceramics auction on 12 March. It is estimated to sell for over £2000.

Harry Davis, who was born in 1910, was an English potter who was educated in both Switzerland and England. He furthered his education at the Bournemouth School of Art where unfortunately the pottery class was full. This never stopped Harry though. He worked away for hours in the pottery room outwith school hours where he created numerous pots that grabbed the attention of many, especially the headmaster. He was then sent to work as a decorator at Broadstone Potters near Poole where he showed interest in all aspects of the art. Here he enhanced and improved his skills needed at a potters wheel.

After his early experiences he went on to work for Bernard and David Leach at the Leach Pottery in St Ives, Cornwall where he later met his wife. After this he went on to become head of the Art School at Achimota College in Ghana where he looked into the feasibility of manufacturing tiles, bricks and pots.

After travelling for a while with his wife, May, he returned to England in 1946 and they started up "Crowan Pottery", near Praze in Cornwall, producing domestic ware. Crowan pots became well-known for their fine appearance and strength and even though the couple managed the flourishing pottery for 16 years, they still wanted more. They chose to emigrate to New Zealand in 1962 where they founded the “Crewenna Pottery”.

However, they soon got restless here resulting in Harry jetting off to Peru in 1972 where they spent eight years of their life building a pottery at Izcuchaca. In 1979 May returned to New Zealand and Harry, in poor health, shortly after. Sadly he passed away at "Crewenna" in 1986.

His pottery are all unique and beautiful pieces that are sure to be snapped up quickly when they go under the hammer.

It's set to be a good auction so we hope to see you there.

Visit our Website, Like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter to keep up to date with whats happening.

Merry McTears Christmas

Amongst our 3 special auctions yesterday, distinctive and quirky antiques went under the hammer. In particular, The Gentleman’s Library auction had items to be highlighted.

 
With Christmas just over a week away, it was a perfect opportunity to get those last minute presents for ‘the man who has everything’. From silver snuff boxes to gold cigarette cases to Edwardian walking canes, this unique auction of 300 lavish items hopefully had the answer to that problem.

Before the auction, McTear’s Managing Director, Brian Clements, said: “Picking the perfect Christmas gift can be one of the most challenging tasks during the festive season so we thought we would hunt out some really unusual luxury items to give auction goers some much need inspiration”.

Whether you had a frugal festive budget to stick to or more money to splurge, the Gentleman’s Library auction had something to suit both. For example, this silver snuff box and stamp case went under the hammer for £50 whereas this rare Cubatabaco 1492 original humidor –complete with 50 Cornoas Gordas cigars - valued at between £12,000 and £16,000 went for £15,00.



Lot 600H: CUBATABACO 1492 ORIGINAL HUMIDOR



Lot 293: SILVER SNUFF BOX AND A STAMP CASE

We had two further exciting auctions yesterday: Victorian & Edwardian Jewellery and Watches and The Christmas Wine, Port & Whisky both with some special items going under the hammer.

For those who made it to the auctions yesterday we hope you enjoyed them as much as we did and managed to claim that winning bid in time for Christmas.

Visit our website, Like us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter to keep up to date with what McTear's are doing.






 

Shine Like a Diamond...

Earlier this week, a dazzling diamond fetched a record breaking £13.5m at Christie's semi-annual jewellery sale in Geneva. 

This flawless diamond from India’s mythical Golconda mines, that once belonged to Archduke Joseph August of Austria (1872-1962),  was snapped up by an anonymous buyer at an auction on Tuesday night.

With the value of the diamond increasing, the unique, rare, colourless stone – weighing 76 carats – obtained over double the price that was paid for it roughly two decades ago, sold by an American jeweler Black, Starr & Frost. It surfaced at auction in 1961 and again at Christie's in November 1993, netting £4m at the time and has subsequently been sold on again for over 3 times the price paid in 1993.

François Curiel, director of the international jewellery department at Christie’s described the sale as being ‘flabbergasting’ and although the market is experiencing a slight decline, the diamond managed to fetch ‘a world record price per carat for a colourless diamond’.

In a sale that overall reached a ‘glittering’ £50m, the alluring diamond was the ‘VIP’ out of the 290 lots that were sold.

Dating back to the 4th century B.C, India was one of the first countries to mine the gem, with their diamonds being cherished for their size and beauty, especially the stones from Golconda. "Diamonds of Golconda" stones are rare and famous with the exact source of the so-called "lost mines of Golconda" being unknown.

Here is another fabulous diamond. The Darya-i-Nur was a rare blue-diamond (186 carats), which was owned by the last Great Mughal Emperor of Persia, Aurangzeb, until it was stolen from his heirs during the 'sack of Delhi' in 1739. 

Darya-i-Nur "Sea of Light"

For information on McTear's dedicated sales that are occurring at the end of this month have a look on our website.

Alternativley, to keep up to date with what McTear's are up to, Like us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter.

From France to Glasgow...

Once considered the poor man’s Cognac, brandy from the Armagnac region of France is enjoying something of a rebirth in the modern market.

First distilled a full two hundred years before the development of the double-distillation process famous for producing its better-known Northern nephew, the spirit has never suffered from the over-commercialisation process so common in the second half of the twentieth Century. As such, the vast majority of Armagnac today is still lovingly produced by artisan growers in small batches. And in these days of mass-production and global distribution, “small batch” production is becoming synonymous with quality.

Nowadays aged Armagnac is actually considered by many connoisseurs to be a better, more rounded, more consistent product than Cognac. And with the secret of its quality hidden in plain sight, you get a lot more for your money. Not bad for a tipple once derided as “simple peasants’ drink”.

McTear’s is currently accepting submissions of brandy, wine, fortifieds and cigars for their Christmas auction on 13th December.

To keep up to date with what McTear's are up to, visit our Website, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Pink Roses by Peploe

This beautiful oil on canvas by Samual John Peploe, Pink Roses, is coming up for sale on 25th October in McTear’s auction of ‘Scottish Still Lifes’.

Estimate: £200,000 - £300,000

Born in 1871, Peploe was a Scottish Post-Impressionist painter, famous for his still life pieces. He was also well known for being part of the group of four painters who were known as the 'Scottish Colourists'.  Studying in both Scotland and Paris, Peploe experimented with the bold use of colour inspired by the bright sunset and influenced by specific French Painters.

It was in 1910, when Peploe moved to Paris, that he started to pay more attention to still life and landscape painting with an amalgamation of fluid brushwork, thick impasto and dark backgrounds with strong lighting. Peploe continued painting when he returned to Scotland, going on regular painting trips with friends to various parts of Scotland.

Peploe sadly died in Edinburgh in 1935 but his paintings, with strong use of colour, tight composition and meticulous execution, are ones not to be missed.

One of Peploe's other paintings, Still Life with Coffee Pot, sold on 26 May 2011 at Christie's in London for £937,250, currently holds the record for one of the most expensive Scottish painting sold at auction.

Make sure that you check out our website for more information on this up coming auction and other ones at McTear's.

Celtic Legend's Rare Medal Put up For Auction

It was a successful week for McTear's with our '3 Days of Auctions' including the Furniture, Clocks and Works of Art & Collectables auction that saw a rare medal given to Celtic legend James ‘Sunny Jim’ Young go under the hammer. 

         Celtic F.C. Interest a gold medal awarded to James 'Sunny Jim' Young in season 1910-11

The medal which is dated 1910-11 was awarded to the legend, Jimmy Young, for playing in a Scottish League team against his English counterparts.The former Celtic captain played 443 times for the Glasgow side and despite only winning one cap for Scotland against Ireland in 1906, he played for the Scottish League side on six occasions including the game against England in 1911 in which he received the medal that is now being sold. Originally from Kilmarnock, Jimmy Young joined Celtic in 1903 on a free transfer from Bristol Rovers. Before he retired in 1917 due to injury, Young enjoyed fourteen trophy laden years with the club. Devastatingly, he sadly died in 1922 at the age of just 40 following a tragic motorcycle accident.

The medal was expected to fetch between £800 and £120

Commenting on the sale, McTear’s Managing Director Brian Clements said: “This is a chance to get your hands on a piece of footballing history. It’s rare that memorabilia belonging to true greats appear for auction and when you look at Jimmy Young’s achievements he has to fall under that category. This medal will appeal not only to Celtic supporters but collectors of all sports memorabilia.”

More information on this and other auctions at McTear's can be found on our website.

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Secret Kray Orders to Go Under The Hammer

20 page document of rare criminal letters

Rare letters from two of the world’s most notorious criminals will form the macabre centrepiece of a Glasgow auction later this month.

The letters from the late East End London gangster, Reg Kray, and American cult leader and convicted murderer, Charles Manson, are expected to sell for hundreds of pounds when they go under the hammer at McTear’s Auctioneers on 16th August. 

Both items have been put up for sale by the internationally renowned ‘murderabilia’ collector and true crime author, Steven F. Scouller, with the letter from Reg Kray giving a fascinating insight into the mind of one of the infamous Kray twins.

The 20 page document is a diary of ideas and orders for ‘Kray Firm’ gang members to carry out and is written in code to deter detection by authorities.  In the letter Kray states: “Go to work for the fee.  I’m so proud of all you’ve achieved,” and is signed off at the bottom with “Take care, God bless, affection, yours Reg.”

Kray also makes numerous references to ‘Karl’ who was an associate on the outside.  Karl was muscle for hire who would do the twins’ bidding and the letter cryptically says: “31^st July at your place Karl will tell him to cook up. Talk later of him.”

In the Charles Manson letter, the infamous cult leader rambles almost incoherently about his relationship with ‘Manson Family’ members. 

In the bizarre document, Manson states: “It can be used as the people in the so-called Family used me; by giving me their problems…all I did was give them the answers … You see them singing my music and dancing my motions.  That’s how I’ve survived all my life by staying on top of my end.”

Commenting on the sale, Steven F. Scouller, said: “Murderabilia is the name given to items that were once owned or created by notorious criminals.  I believe that letters by such people as Charles Manson and Reg Kray should be preserved so future generations can study them in a bid to help understand the terrible decisions these criminals made.”

Brian Clements, Managing Director at McTear’s, added: “These are very unusual items that give an insight into the minds of two of the world’s most notorious criminals.  It is rare to find detailed letters like these coming to auction and I expect there will be considerable interest in the sale.” 

The auction will take place on Thursday 16^th August at 6pm at McTear’s Auctioneers, Meiklewood Gate, Glasgow.

The Haining

McTear’s is thrilled to be managing the auction of the contents of the amazing Borders country house under order of the Executers of the late Andrew James Nimmo-Smith. With half of the proceeds going to The Haining Charitable Trust, this will help to fulfil the wish to open a history room in the Haining and also future use of it as a creative arts hub and a catering kitchen.

Susan Edington of The Haining Charitable Trust comments:

“The contents of the Haining were all purchased by our benefactor Andrew Nimmo-Smith. Although there are some very fine examples of artwork and antiques in the property, such as a number of watercolour paintings by Selikirk’s own ‘son’ Tom Scott, nothing in the auction was originally part of the property. All family portraits, from both Mr Nimmo-Smith’s father’s family and his mother’s family the Pringle-Pattisons are being retained at The Haining, along with items from the pageant and hunt etc and family war diaries that we hope to publish but of course keep the originals at the house. The heritage of the families will remain in the house and form the focus of the History Room. We wish for the Haining to form part of the local community, to provide fun, education and employment and not only be a regular part of the community’s lives, but also to be a come-to venue for people from further afield who will hopefully visit and use the premises thus allowing it to be retained for the purpose Mr Nimmo-Smith envisaged, that is for the Haining to be used to provide culture and recreation to the people of Selkirkshire and the wider public. It cannot be stated strongly enough that for The Haining to succeed we will require funding on an international level and we have raised in excess of £700,000 since the inception of the Trust towards these ends including an international grant of £354,000. We are on the shortlist to house the Tait Modern Artist’s rooms in 2015 and we are already working with a local group to have the Haining as the hub for an Arts Festival in September next year. We are used for arts projects at the moment and have already worked with Chance for Change, Knowepark Primary School, The Royal Scottish Academy, Borders Youth Theatre, and CABN bringing arts to The Haining.”

This auction is made even more exciting as it will be filmed by the producers of The Antiques Roadshow who are making a new prime time series for BBC, with John Foster, BBC Antiques Expert, commenting on the Haining as 'a fascinating Scottish Country House with important connections to Scottish Border history'.

From beautiful paintings to unique pieces of furniture there will be something for everyone in this special auction. If you are interested in being part of this auction, viewing will commence with a drinks reception on Saturday 14th July from 3pm till 6pm with the auction taking place on Thursday the 19th of July.

The online catalogue is also available to view on our website to allow you to see what will be going on sale.

To keep up to-date with what is going on Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter or visit or Website.