London Olympic Silver Medal Auctioning at McTear's

As Team GB grabs Gold in Russia, McTear’s have a rare Olympic medal on auction from the 1908 London Olympics.

McTear’s are auctioning this medal which was awarded to a member of the Scots crew of the 12 metre yacht race, Hera which took place on a unique race on the Clyde out of Hunters Quay, Dunoon.

It is extremely rare to find any Olympic winners medal coming to auction, let alone one from more than 100 years ago and as such we expect to see considerable interest from collectors and sporting fans from home and overseas.

1908 Silver Olympic Medal

The solid silver medal is estimated between £3,000 and £5,000 and is sure to be a popular bid in our auction on Tuesday 4th March, stay tuned! Read more here.

Ready to Bid and Buy at McTear's

Time to start to your Christmas shopping for your nearest and dearest, and why not start at McTear’s Auctioneers? There is much to be appreciated in next week's auctions, have a look at only a few of our favourite Lots coming up.

First up, we have this George IV silver and cut crystal six bottle cruet set in Lot 1, estimated between £250-£350. A cruet set is a collection of small containers to hold condiments such as oil, mustard, vinegar and pepper. The shape of each cruet is specific to the condiment it is designed to hold. This could be a very stunning addition to your next dinner party... Forget the fine china, let the George IV silver and cut crystal cruet set to the talking! Also, this precious set is a sparking feature for your sideboard decoration! Watch out for this on Tuesday 12th November in our Silver Auction, and see what else it has to offer here.


LOT 1

Next up in Lot 130, we have this 14 piece Irish Belleek porcelain shamrock tea service set… a grand way to serve up tea to visitors. Belleek is an Irish village in Country Fermanagh which has been producing much desired pottery for over 155 years. See what else is in our British and Continental Ceramics and Glass Auction on Tuesday 12th November here.

LOT 130

Tune in to Lot 355 for this 19th Century Hagspiel Figured Walnut Baby Grand Piano. This is a beautiful feature to warm up a room with the wonderful aesthetics it produces. Estimated between £300 and £500, this is sure to be a popular Lot for keen bidders. See more included in our Furniture , Clocks and Works of Art Auction on Tuesday 12th November here.

LOT 355 

Time for some bling, with Lot 1051 offering up this glamorous Lady’s 18ct Gold Rolex Date Just Wrist Watch, with diamond dot numerals. Do you know a very lucky lady who deserves this striking watch? The watch is estimated between £5000 and £7000… Christmas is just around the corner! See what else we have in our Watches and Coins on Wednesday 13th November auction here

LOT 1051

See our other upcoming auctions that week, our catalogues are ready for viewing;

Rare & Collectable Whisky, Wine & Port Auction on Wednesday 13th November at 10.30am

Fine Jewellery Auction Wednesday 13th November at 6 pm

The Scottish Pictures Auction Thursday 14th November at 6pm

Coming up in June...

Over the week beginning 24th of June we will have a total of 9 auctions including Fine Jewellery, Rare and Collectable Whisky, Wine and Port, Silver including Scottish Provincial and The Scottish Contemporary art auction.

Who thought the day would come that we would be auctioning a genuine antique Fijian weapon of war? This unique weapon, with a tribal name 'Totokia', designed to drive a hole into the skull of the enemy was also believed to possess there own life force or ‘mana’, making them treasured objects in life or in death. They are highly sought after so we look forward to seeing what will happen in the Furniture, Clocks and works of art auction on Tuesday at 6pm.


Lot 364

Another lot coming up during the week will be the craftsmanship of Tain silver, made in Tain, Ross-shire. This particular piece, a pair of bud vases made by William Innes of Tain circa 1835 demonstrates the quality of Innes's work, from each delicately worked wavy rim to the chased foliate designs of each vase. It will be up for bidding on our Scottish Silver auction on Tuesday 25th at 10.30am.


Lot 7

Our Scottish Pictures auction on Thursday 27th at 6pm will also feature a beautiful item up for auction. This fine example of McTaggart’s mature oeuvre was painted in 1873 and 'The Sea Bird' is definitely one not to be missed in this upcoming auction.



Lot 1737

For more information on these auctions including the expected hammer prices, have a look at the online catalogues for each auction.

British & Continental Ceramics & Glass -   Tuesday 25th June
Silver including Scottish Provincial - Tuesday 25th June 
Furniture, Clocks & Works of Art - Tuesday 25th June
Rare & Collectable Whisky, Wine & Port - Wednesday 26th June
Clocks, Watches and Coins - Wednesday 26th June
Fine Jewellery - Wednesday 26th June
Sports, Movie & Television Memorabilia - Thursday 27th June
The Scottish Pictures Auction - Thursday 27th June
The Scottish Contemporary Art Auction - Sunday 30th June  

May at McTear's

What a fantastic week for McTear's with various special auctions proving to be extremely successful causing great excitement and eager bidding amongst both those who attended but also those who never.

The auctions all contained an eclectic mix of worthy auction items including Jewellery, paintings, furniture and sculptures all of which are unique and command interest from our bidders.

Rocking on in our Furniture, Clocks and Works of Art auction was this Edwardian Gesso pine pedestal rocking horse originally retailed by Harrods of Knightsbridge. After getting an estimation of £500-£800, the horse ended up going under the hammer for a fantastic £2400 on Tuesday the 21st May.


Lot 375

For the Whisky lovers, on Wednesday the 22nd bidding commenced on lot 666 the Springbank Millennium Collection which included 6 different bottles along with the Millennium Collection miniature box set of 6 miniatures. After some keen bidding this lot managed to raise its maximum estimation of £4000.


Lot 666

In our Fine Jewellery auction we had many beautiful pieces up for grabs including some glittering diamond bracelets, rings and necklaces. In particular this outstanding diamond two stone ring which, after an estimation of £1000-£2000, exceeded its highest expected price reaching £6000.


Lot 1101

Fancy a cuppa? In our Asian Works of Art auction this unique Chinese silver teapot with bird and blossom decoration and branch finial sold for a fantastic £1500 after getting an estimation of £500-£800 last Thursday.


Lot 1428

These are only just a few of the items worth noting that went under the hammer over the course of last week. For full online catalogues and hammer prices have a look here.

For details of our upcoming June auctions that start on the 25th have a look at our website. McTear's look forward to seeing you there ready with your bidding hats on.

May in McTear's...

After April's successful auctions, including the fantastic Terry Howson Collection that raised over £200,000, we are now busy getting organised for our May '3 Days of Auction'

Starting on the 21st of May with our British & Continental Ceramics & Glass, Silver & Plate, the Auctions will run over the 3 days finishing on the 23rd with The British and Continental Pictures Auction.

Coming up in our Fine Jewellery Auction the 22nd of May at 6pm is this outstanding 2.40 carat diamond solitaire ring...



Our Fine Whisky Auction also on the 22nd at 10.30am is already shaping up nicely! So much so that we’re already on the lookout for bottles for June so make sure you get along to grab a 'tasty tipple'.



For more information on these Auctions and the other exciting ones we have coming up in May, have a look here.

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'March' through this Month's Auctions...

Last week was a busy one for McTear's with our special auctions running from the 12th right through to the 17th, proving March to be a successful one...

These special day's of auctions included British & Continental Ceramics & Glass, Silver & Plate, Asian Works of Art, Furniture, Clocks and Works of Art, Rare and Collectable Whisky, Wine and Port, Fine Jewellery, Watches and Coins, British and Continental Pictures, Sports Memorabilia and The Scottish Contemporary Art Auctions.

The auctions all included a variation of exciting items from beautiful pieces of pottery, to pretty jewellery and sporting collectables...something to suit everyone.

This fine Royal Worcester vase by Harry Davis sold for £2000 last Tuesday in our British & Continental Ceramics & Glass, Silver & Plate auction after an estimation of £500-£800. There were many other items in the auction by Harry Davis, all reaching desirable hammer prices.

Lot 122

This Macallan 1938 Single Highland Malt Whisky went under the hammer for £4000 in our Whisky auction last week. Another fantastic hammer price reached.

Lot 688

Rolex Oyster Perpetual  Submariner watch sold for a brilliant £5200 in our Jewellery auction last week.

Lot 1008

These are just a selection of our successful lots that sold in our special auctions last week. For more hammer prices visit our website.

To keep up to date with what McTear's are up to, visit our website, 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.

Great Start to 2013...

The second week of January proved to be an exciting and successful one for McTear's. Some keen bidders came with Christmas money in hand to snap up some auction pieces.

The three days commencing the 8th of January held 6 individual auctions with a further special auction on Sunday the 13th, all with some unique items going under the hammer.

 Over the three days we had the following auctions: Fine Pictures, Fine Jewellery, Watches and Coins, Rare & Collectable Whisky, Wine & Port, Furniture, Clocks & Works of Art, Asian Works of Art and British & Continental Ceramics & Glass, Silver & Plate.

The Scottish Contemporary Art auction that took place on the Sunday saw Lot 1571 sail past its estimates. After being estimated to sell for £6000-£7000, it ended up going under the hammer for a fantastic £11000.

Lot 1571. ALEXANDER GOUDIE (1933 - 2004) SALUTE oil on canvas 151cm x 151cm.

In The Fine Jewellery, Watches and Coins auction, after being estimated to sell for £200-£300, this Gentleman's art deco Rolex wrist watch reached a brilliant £2200 when it went under the hammer.

Lot 1032 GENTLEMAN'S ART DECO ROLEX WRIST WATCH

These are just a couple of highlights from the auctions. For a full overview of what sold and how much each piece went under the hammer for, have a look at our website.

Our next '3 days of Auctions' will begin on the 5th of February.


For more information, visit our website and don't forget to Like us on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter.

'Three Days of Auctions'

It's nearly that time again for our 'Three Days of Auctions' event which will take place from Tuesday the 1st through to Thursday the 3rd of May.

Once every five weeks McTear's hold various auctions over a three day period with over 2000 lots of Rare & Collectable Whisky, Fine Wines, Jewellery, Watches & Coins, British, Continental & Asian Works of Art, Ceramics & Collectables and Silver, also Scottish, Contemporary & Fine Pictures, Antique Furniture, Clocks, Sports Memorabilia & Militaria.

Here's a sneak preview of some of the items that will be auctioned:

The Fine Pictures Auction will take place on Tuesday 1st of May at 10.30am.

Fine Pictures 01/05/2012: Lot 26 Estimate: £30000 - £50000

The Scottish Contemporary Art Auction will take place on Tuesday 1st of May at 6.00pm.

The Scottish Contemporary Art Auction: Lot 470 Estimate: £400-£600

Fine Jewellery, Watches and Coins Auction will take place on Wednesday the 2nd of May at 6.00pm.

Fine Jewellery, Watches and Coins: Lot 1008 Estimate: £9500-£10500

We will also have a Rare & Collectable Whisky, Wine & Port auction on Wednesday the 2nd of May at 10.30am. On Thursday the 3rd of May there will be a Decorative Arts & Design, Asian Works of Art and British & Continental Ceramics & Glass at 12pm and a Silver, Collectables, Decorative Pictures & Furniture at 6pm.  

For more information please visit our Website, Like us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter.
 

McTear's attracts International Silver ...

Silver continues to attract much attention at auction. However, due to its relatively soft and pliable characteristics, fine jewelry created from pure silver can be easily damaged. As a result, it is commonly alloyed with other metals, usually copper, to produce a stronger precious metal. 

At our Silver, Ceramics & Glass, Asian works of Art auction earlier this week we sold various silver pieces from around the world. Two fine examples from this sale are lots 1511 and 1527:

Lot 1527 Indian Silver Bowl

Lot 1511 Indian Silver Inlaid Spittoon 

Also featured in the auction were pieces from the UK and America. American hallmarks differ from British hallmarks considerably. We can compare lot 1450, a silver cigarette box which bears the Birmingham hallmark of an anchor which sold for £120, with lot 1462, a pair of American Sterling silver candelabra which sold for £400:

Lot 1450 Silver Cigarette Box 

Lot 1462 Sterling Silver Candelabra

Again, we hope you enjoyed the Auctions in February and we look forward to seeing you in our upcoming auctions in March.