'The Haining' auction achieves fantastic sales...

The unique auction that took place on the 19th of July attracted a lot of attention from keen bidders. The sale of the contents of one of Scotland's most beautiful historic mansions, which included rare paintings, period furniture and valuable objects d’art, raised over £100,000. 

McTear's were extremely excited to to be the auctioneers to hold the sale of the contents of the Palladian mansion; The Haining, an impressive Borders estate with its own loch. What made this auction even more exciting and unique was that it was filmed by the producers of The Antiques Roadshow who are making a new prime time series for BBC that will include exclusive behind the scenes footage covering every aspect of the auction process.

Have a look at our very own video that takes a look around the stunning home:

Highlights of the 200 lot auction included: a painting by Charles Oppenheimer, of his house in Kirkcudbright, that sold for £19,000; an eighteenth century marble console table was purchased for £9,300 – almost ten times the original estimate; and a painting of The Deposition by Renaissance artist Vincenzo Corsi which was snapped up for £3400.

With half of the proceeds going to The Haining Charitable Trust, the success of the auction will be sure to help 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. Commenting on the one off event, Brian Clements of McTear’s said: “There was an incredible turnout at the auction with fierce bidding for just about every lot. The Haining Charitable Trust, who are to receive half the proceeds from this auction, is doing some fantastic work and I am delighted that the sale has raised a significant sum to help in the creation of an important cultural centre in the Borders.” 

For a full overview of what exclusive items sold in this auction have a look at 'The Haining' results. 

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An Exciting Week to End July...

Next week at McTear's we have a lot in store to finish July on a high. On Thursday the 26th of July we have a very busy and exciting day planned.

The auctioneers will be extremely busy with three auctions taking part throughout the day.

Starting off at 12.00pm, we have our Victorian, Edwardian and Scottish Jewellery auction that will feature roughly 200 items of period jewellery. Various items of unique and beautiful jewellery will be sold with a piece to hopefully suit everyone such as the ones shown below.

This fine Edwardian pearl and diamond set pendant is estimated to sell for £1000-£2000.

This Edwardian diamond set solitaire ring is estimated to sell for £4000-£5000.

This White Metal Diamond Set Brooch set with early rose cut diamonds is estimated to sell for £100-£20.

For all the Fashionistas out there we have our Decorative Arts, Design and Fashion auction at 2.00pm. This unique auction will give you the chance to view and purchase various lots of decorative arts items, as well as a large collection of vintage clothing and designer hand bags and accessories.

This 1970s wool H.Busse cream dress suit with snake skin belt and detailing is estimated to sell for £150-£250.

This Sarh Honeyman pot with cactus porcelain pot, signed and dated, is estimated to sell for £200-£400.

This Art Nouveau silver embossed purse is estimated to sell for £60-£90.

To finish the day, we have a special event: The Wine Auction. This will feature fine wines, vintage port and sherry, cognac, armagnac and Champagne, just in time for the weekend.

Remy Martin 1936 miniature very old Cognac, estimated to sell for £1000-£2000.

Chateau Leoville Las Cases 1986 Saint Julien 2eme Cru Classé, estimated to sell for £200-£240.

Moet & Chandon Salmanazar 900cl bottle, estimated to sell for £500-£600.

If you would like more information on the upcoming auctions visit our website.

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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.

June's 3 Days of Auctions Results

As you may know the 5th to the 7th of June saw our '3 days of auctions'. Once every five weeks Mctear's holds various auctions over a three day period with over 2000 lots of Rare and Collectable Whiskey, Fine Wines, Jewellery, Watches & Coins, British, Continental & Asian Works of Art, Ceramics, Silver, Antique Furniture, Sports Memorabilia & Clocks.


The Pictures Auction was held on the morning of the 5th of June. 

JAMES STUART PARK (SCOTTISH 1862 - 1933) WHITE ROSES oil on canvas, signed 70cm x 90cm 

 This painting, White Roses by James Stuart Park, was estimated to achieve between £500 and £1000, however on the day it sold for almost double it's expected price at £1900.




Later that evening, The Scottish Contemporary Art Auction took place. 

 JOHN LOWRIE MORRISON OBE (SCOTTISH 1948 - ) RHUM EVENING oil on canvas, signed, dated 2002 on reverse 67cm x 67cm

JOHN LOWRIE MORRISON OBE (SCOTTISH 1948 - ) HOT DAY AT JOHN SEMPLE'S COVE oil on canvas, signed 55cm x 55cm 

The auction was full of vibrant pieces of art including John Lowrie Morrison's two beautiful paintings above, which sold for £1500 and £1400. 

The next morning Mctear's held the Rare & Collectable Whisky, Wine & Port Auction.

PRE-WAR BLACK & WHITE WHISKY Blended Scotch Whisky bottled between 1928 and 1932. 

This pre-war black & white whisky, bottled between 1928 & 1932 and produced at Glentauchers-Glenlivet distillery, far exceeded it's estimate of £100 - £200 when it sold for £450. 

At six o'clock that evening we had the Fine Jewellery, Watches & Coins Auction. 

FACETED JADE NECKLACE with spherical beads, 45cm long 

JADE NECKLACE with spherical beads, 70cm long 

There was a whole collection of stunning jewellery in this auction however these two jade necklaces above were two of the most surprising lots. They were estimated to sell for between £70 - £120 each but in fact on Wednesday the 6th of June they sold for a massive £1100 each.


Thursday the 7th of June was the last day of our '3 day auction'. At 10:30am Mctear's held the British & Continental Ceramics & Glass, Silver & Coins Auction. 

PAIR OF ROYAL WORCESTER URNS WITH LIDS painted with fruit in colours and gilt, shape number 2363, printed marks in black, each 21cm high 

This pair of painted urns sold for £1300, around three times their estimated price.

The final auction, Furniture & Works Art, was held that evening. 

LATE VICTORIAN BRASS MOUNTED MAHOGANY 8-DAY LONGCASE CLOCK 

This clock was made by Sorley of Glasow, the domed hood with caddy top and brass flaming urn finials, over an engraved arched brass dial having Roman numeral spandrel above cast pierced strapwork mount, the trunk with brass masked sunburst, above a hinged door and pedestal base on a plinth foot and is 223cm high, 40cm wide. This classic piece of furniture sold for £1900, which was around double it's estimated price.

These are just some examples of the results from our exciting auctions, have a look for yourself on our website for the rest. http://www.mctears.co.uk/

June's Exciting Auctions

It's nearly that time again for McTear's '3 days of auctions' which will take place from the 5th to the 7th of June.

During these 3 days we will be holding various exciting sales including The Scottish Contemporary Art auction, Rare and Collectable Whisky, Wine & Port auction and Furniture and Works of Art auction. This will give people a chance to buy an outstanding selection of paintings by Scotland's finest artists, a huge range of rare and collectable whiskies for collectors and whisky lovers alike and beautiful lots of jewellery, watches and coins. 

Alexander Millar Stan and Ollie oil on canvas estimated to sell for £7000-£10000 in The Scottish Contemporary Art Auction on Tuesday the 5th of June at 6pm.



This Pearl and Enamel dress ring estimated to sell £80 -£120 in our Fine Jewellery, Watches and Coins auction on Wednesday the 6th June at 6pm.

For more details on the auctions we have during the 3 days visit our website where you can find the online catalogues for what will be sold at each auction.

Alternatively, like us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter to keep up to date with the latest news and auction information.

Successful Whisky Auction for McTear's...

Last Wednesday's Rare and Collectable Whisky, Wine & Port auction saw a selection of the finest malts go under the hammer, exceeding all expectations with what they achieved.

McTear's secured over £124,000 in sales over the course of Wednesday with fine examples of Bowmore, Highland Park and Ardbeg contributing.

The sale featured a 31 year old Bowmore 'Dynasty Decanter' that sold for £2200 and a 25 year old Macallan Silver Jubilee Magnum that sold for £3000.

Lot 615: DYNASTY DECANTER 31 YEAR OLD BOWMORE

Lot 670: MACALLAN 25 YEARS OLD SILVER JUBILEE MAGNUM


Stephen McGinty, McTear's Whisky specialist, commented on the sale: “Our monthly Rare and Collectable sales have already established a market leading reputation however, the sale this week surpassed all our expectations and resulted in a record total for a McTear’s whisky auction".

Another Royal themed bottle of Macallan, celebrating the Royal marriage in 1981 of HRH The Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer, secured £1,800 in the auction.

Lot 719: THE MACALLAN ROYAL MARRIAGE" 1981

For more information on this sale and other auctions that we have had visit our website.

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A Record Breaking 'Scream'

This week was not only an exciting week for McTear's with our various auctions, it also saw the record breaking sale of the world famous painting: 'The Scream' at an auction house in New York.

Edvard Munch's 'The Scream', painted in 1895 sold for a record breaking $119.9million (roughly £74 million) at an Auction yesterday at Sotheby's in New York. The previous record for a piece of artwork sold at auction was for Picasso's Nude, Green, Leaves and Bust sold by Christies in 2010 for $106.5million but 'The Scream' has now exceeded this and now holds the title as most expensive piece of art sold at auction.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/jonathanjonesblog/2012/may/03/scream-price-edvard-munch

In an article on The Guardian by Jonathan Jones, he describes the painting as a 'poet in colour', portraying feelings and as the sky of blood and despair are revealed in this painting, the feelings, like in most of his work, are dark.

Born in December, 1863 Munch was a Norwegian painter and print maker. His paintings conveyed great symbolism most of which towards that of spiritual anguish which can be seen in 'The Scream'.  This symbolism portrayed in his paintings can be owed to his father who was described as being extremely religious and would amuse his children with graphic ghost stories and tales. Living a long life, Munch sadly died at the age of 80 years old, leaving behind him a legacy and paintings that today are valued by many and famous around the world.

To stay up to date with our latest news and auctions visit our Website, Like us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter.