image: John Nicholson's from Liveauctioneers.com Lot 1447 Feb 23rd
The Antiques Trade Gazette have put together two lists of the Top Ten Best Performing Items on their online platform thesaleroom.com for the January to March period. The Maori nose flute illustrated above topped both lists when it sold for £140,000 pounds against an estimate of £50-100. Sold on February 23rd by John Nicholson's in Surrey, it was the "Top Selling Lot" for this period and also the "Top Highest Price Over Estimate Object Sold". In the article the ATG mentions how hard it can be to value 'esoteric' items outside their normal market and the phenomenon of the sleeper. John Nicholson said in a statement that "Although it was not clear initially what we had [it was catalogued as a pipe], we were well aware of its significance before the sale. We already had a substantial commission bid on the books, so it wasn't really a sleeper in the classic sense". (Antiques Trade Gazette No. 2289 29 April 2017 pg 24).
Meanwhile a sleeper in Ireland at Auction House Adam's of Christ wearing a crown of thorns estimated at £500-800 sold for £102,830. The spokesman James O'Halloran had a the most apt and lovely quote with regard to sleepers saying "We've not had many sleepers here but when you do you have a sense of joy tinged with embarrassment". Anyone who has worked in an auction house will know this feeling!
Meanwhile a sleeper in Ireland at Auction House Adam's of Christ wearing a crown of thorns estimated at £500-800 sold for £102,830. The spokesman James O'Halloran had a the most apt and lovely quote with regard to sleepers saying "We've not had many sleepers here but when you do you have a sense of joy tinged with embarrassment". Anyone who has worked in an auction house will know this feeling!
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