Posts by Harry Ball

The world of auctioneering is fascinating, or at least we think so, and we hope our 10,000 monthly listeners agree. There are not just gems to be unearthed in terms of items to be bought or sold at auction, but there are also gems of people in the auction industry who deserve to have their stories told and that’s why we started the Gavel and the Gabble podcast. It’s not just about promoting our own auction houses here at Windsor Auctions and our sister auction house Lyme Bay Auctions but we want to shed a light on the industry as a whole and all the subsidiary industries.   We hope to give the public a look behind the curtain at what goes on in the world of auctioneers, as well as highlighting the best of the industry and anyone who has got something interesting to say is welcome to come on. Although, that’s not the only reason we started the podcast, my co-host Simon and I also wanted to have a laugh. We run our auction house slightly unusually with both of us up on the rostrum and in between or during lots we crack some jokes and have a little chit chat, both under the delusional assumption that we’re the funniest people in the room. So, we wanted to share our subpar comedy and passion for the industry with whoever might listen and in doing so the podcast has evolved into much more than we could have expected. For starters, we’ve learned a lot speaking to some hugely interesting and truly knowledgeable industry experts from Paul Laidlaw to Richard Worrall, Isabel Murtough, Michael Baggott and countless others. Prior to starting the Gavel and the Gabble, neither Simon nor I knew many people in the industry, but we’ve come to find that it’s a place where everybody readily supports everybody and people are constantly keen to help. The podcast has also unintentionally but happily made us into industry activists, advocating for more women in the industry, as well as tackling important issues such as changing government laws around fire regulations and the Ivory act. One of the main catalysts we’re hoping that comes from the podcast is attracting more...

The Government has published a consultation on new draft fire regulations for upholstered furniture so we arranged for our in house blogger Cameron Temple to interview and get the viewpoint of Delyth Fetherston-Dilke and Sharon O’Connor.  They were also interviewed on the Gavel and The Gabble podcast it is well worth a listen and available wherever you get your podcasts.   The government want to introduce new regulations that will turn the upholstery industry on its head and we have until October 24 to change this, so we need your help.   Unsurprisingly, big businesses and mass manufacturers will likely breeze past the change in regulations, with the exception of some time-consuming admin, whereas small businesses, who take care over their craft and deliver high quality products, will seriously feel the effects.   To put it as simply as possible, current regulations dictate that a piece of furniture has to pass an open flame test.   This means that the manufacturer has to put a Bunsen burner against it and see how long before it sets fire.   Under the new regulations an upholsterer has to pass the same test, but on each layer of fabric and filling that they use.   For example, let’s say an upholsterer uses one layer of wool, one of cotton, foam, horsehair or any other fabric, then every single layer has to pass the open flame test, which is extremely stringent.   This is where flame retardant chemicals come in.   For an upholsterer to adhere to the governments strict regulations they have to use a lot of flame-retardant chemicals, which are highly toxic.   The chemicals are can cause cancer, infertility and neuro-toxicity in children, which can lead to behavioural problems and reduced IQ.   To make matters worse, a different department of the government has openly acknowledged the toxicity of these chemicals and as such said that all waste furniture, anything at the end of its life when a consumer doesn’t want it anymore, has to be incinerated.   They say that we can’t risk these chemicals going into landfill and then seeping into river systems where they can become harmful to humans and wildlife.   But, from an environmental perspective,...

There are few people more passionate and enthusiastic about the world of valuing and auctioneering than Richard Worrall. It is people like him who keep the industry going.  Richard is the president of NAVA (National Association of Valuers and Auctioneers), which is just one of the organisations under the umbrella of Propertymark, who also oversee the NAEA (National Association of Estate Agents) and ALA (Association of Rental Letting Agents). NAVA is a professional self-regulating body for valuers and auctioneers across all different types of auctions. Typically, when one thinks of an auction, they would picture antiques and unusual pieces that might appear to have little use outside of being collectors’ items. But, as Richard explains on the Gavel and Gabble podcast, in fact, auctions are far more involved in your everyday life than you might know. Did you have any fish for dinner this week? Chances are it has been auctioned and traded through one of the UK’s fish auctions. Or did you fancy steak instead? It’s likely that steak went through a livestock auction. Auctions date back to around 500 BC, although the first auctions were not particularly forward thinking, as they were predominantly used to find or auction off wives. The Romans then got involved, which is where the word auction comes from, deriving from the Latin word augeo meaning I increase. Nowadays, the world of auctions is diverse and varied from agricultural auctions, lifestyle, cars, distressed goods, fine instruments, fine art and the list goes on. And ultimately, auctions now represent the greatest recycling business in the world. If you were to go to somewhere like IKEA and buy a chair, not only will it be a far-cry from the quality of the kind of Victorian chair that might be found at auction, but when it inevitably goes wrong or breaks, it will end up at the tip. Whereas at auction houses, like our one here at Windsor Auctions, we can offer beautiful pieces of furniture with wonderful craftsmanship that have been passed down generations and won’t go to waste. Richard first found himself hooked on auctions around six or seven years old when he was taken along by his grandfather and his zeal for the...

THE GAVEL AND THE GAVEL EPISODE 54   Unearthing gems to sell at auction, might seem like a game of chance, but there are certain locations you can look in to increase your luck.   According to Matt Ball of the Antiques Trade Gazette, after surveying 100 great finds over the past five years, 75% of these items are found in people’s homes and to narrow it down further than that, 50% are found in four locations.   The first of these are attics or lofts.   Stashed in a loft for almost 50 years, one lucky seller found a very important piece of entertainment memorabilia, which was the first ever demo tape of David Bowie’s ‘Starman’, and it sold for £41,000.   Found in a French home’s attic, a tunic, which was still in very good condition, made for the Chanel 1922 Spring collection was sold in Paris last year for a staggering €100,000, equivalent to £86,000.   Next up is boxes and tins.   A sapphire and diamond ring was discovered in a box with a load of costume jewellery, and it could be quite difficult for the average person to determine the difference between something bog-standard and something special, and so you need an experts eye, but in this case it was certainly special as it sold for £15,000.   One of the more unusual places an item of value was found was a bread bin and the item in question was the first ever demo tape of David Bowie singing lead vocals, unearthed by the drummer of the band, and it sold for £39,600.   The third spot Is Garages and out-buildings.   A Louis Vuitton trunk was found in a garage and it was earmarked to be thrown out until it was noticed by us here at Windsor Auctions and after getting it cleaned up, it sold for £8000.   Another peculiar find was a children’s push car, it was hardly recognisable and looked like an old rust bucket, but it was a rare model and so sold for £8500.   It’s important to remember that just because something might not hold worth for you, it could be the final piece of another person’s...

It has been a very busy few months for the team here at Windsor Auctions when we are not auctioneering, appraising or clearing houses, we are delighted to be supporting various charities and  local organisations. The beginning of June saw us head up in to Windsor Great Park to supply compere’s for the hugely impressive Royal Windsor Flower Show and what an impressive job the team behind the show did. It was a joy to be part of an Auctioneer Harry, backed up by Will had great fun all day and quite a substantial amount of cake as well !! It was lovely to see so many of our customers and thank you so much for coming over to say hi. We would really suggest putting next years event, https://rwrhs.com/flower-show/ in your diary we know that the keen bakers and plant growers on our team will be entering the competitions will be there on the 8th June 2024. We have also been lucky enough to be invited to auctioneer at a number of charity auctions this month and in this difficult times have been overwhelmed by the generosity of those bidding. We sent Harry to Royal Ascot Golf Course at the invitation of Michael Hawkins and Ascot BNI to auction after their busy golf day and a great crowd to raise money for the charity Parenting Special Children Next we sent him to a lovely evening at Windsor Guild Hall to raise money for humanitarian aid charity Embrace Me Foundation who were set up to send aid to Ukraine again a lovely crowd raised thousands in order to send yet more essential ambulances. The highlight of Harry’s evening was auctioning a Brian May of Queen signed guitar and the generosity of the room. We understand from the organisers that they are putting together another even bigger event in September/October this year, watch this space and we will let you know all about it. Next we are sending Harry off to Windsor & Eton Bowling Club which is always a superb evening and a lot of laughs so we will report back. If you are looking for an auctioneer for a charity event we are always happy to help if...