At Windsor Auctions, we’re always looking for new ways to make specialist sales more exciting and accessible – and this year, we’re bringing something totally different to the rostrum: Lego auctions. We actually have one live right now (ending August 3rd from 6.30pm)! To help us promote this new theme of auction, we’re thrilled to welcome Sophie – a TikTok content creator, collector, and all-round Lego enthusiast – as our first-ever brand ambassador for Lego. Sophie will be joining us throughout the year to create content, connect with collectors, and help build excitement in the Lego community – from house clearances and stockroom unboxings to auction-day walkthroughs. How It Started: TikTok, Wine & A Harry Potter Minifigures Sophie’s Lego journey began in the most unexpected way: with a glass of wine, a curious mind, and a husband who couldn’t stop buying sets. “I’d be coming home from work and finding out that he’d bought a brand new Lego set for £180. And I’d be like, I’m sorry, what?!” What started as a mild case of ‘Lego rage’ turned into shared curiosity. “Rather than me getting mad about it, I was like, right, help me understand it. And he basically managed to reel me in with the concept of Harry Potter minifigures.” A few drinks later, the pair had created Sophie’s TikTok account, designed a logo, and set the wheels in motion. Since then, she’s built a growing community of Lego fans, sharing unboxings, collection tips, and dream set hunts. Why Buy Lego at Auction? For many, Lego collecting has always meant eBay, Facebook Marketplace, or retail shops. So, what makes auctions a better alternative? “Ordinarily, I would have said there isn’t really any reason why it’d be better,” Sophie admitted. “But I’ve learned through Harry (Head-auctioneer at Windsor Auctions) that the auction system is quite different to things like eBay.” Sophie shared a real-life example that changed her mind – bidding for a Kwik-E-Mart set on eBay: “My husband and I literally sat there together, and we watched as eBay did the little countdown… and when it hit four seconds, he was outbid by a fiver, and that was it.” With Windsor Auctions, there’s a...
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This July, Windsor Auctions is proud to present a remarkable collection of original watercolours by the late Michael Noakes (1933–2018), one of Britain’s most distinguished portrait and landscape painters. Best known for his portraits of royalty, political leaders, and cultural icons, Noakes captured the likenesses – and more importantly, the character – of some of the most recognisable figures of the 20th and early 21st century. From intimate sittings with Queen Elizabeth II to sketching in the Oval Office with President Clinton, Noakes had a rare gift: his subjects not only sat still for him – they opened up. His brush revealed a quieter truth, one found in the crease of a smile or the weight of a pause. A Life in Portrait Educated at Downside and the Royal Academy Schools, Noakes built a career that brought him into the company of kings, popes, and prime ministers. He was commissioned to paint Queen Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, King Charles III, Princess Anne, Margaret Thatcher, and Pope Benedict XVI – among many others. He painted Sir Alec Guinness and Sir Roger Bannister, Dame Judi Dench and Frank Sinatra (who proudly kept Noakes’ album artwork for Portrait of Sinatra in his personal collection). His portraits hang in the National Portrait Gallery, the Royal Collection, the Vatican, and private homes across the globe. Yet for all this prestige, Noakes remained deeply human – a man as intrigued by the rhythms of daily life as by the grandeur of state. A Year with the Queen One of his most extraordinary projects was a year spent following Queen Elizabeth II throughout 1999, capturing her life not through grand oil paintings but through a vivid diary of drawings and watercolours. The project became The Daily Life of the Queen: An Artist’s Diary, a book authored by his wife, Dr. Vivien Noakes, and published with the Queen’s full support. Noakes’ access was unprecedented – and unrestricted. The resulting watercolours are a quiet triumph: private, observational, and personal. They reveal not only the public figure, but the woman behind the crown. The Collection at Auction The upcoming timed auction (16–27 July) presents over 200 of these original watercolours. This is a...
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