THE FIRST day of Sotheby’s annual sale at Gleneagles lived up to all expectations with the sporting guns section raising almost £900,000.

The top price of the night was the £78,000 paid by a private collector for a rare 12-bore action assisted side opening ejector over and under gun—an auction record for a Scottish sporting gun sold in Scotland.

Also acquired by a private collector was the lot which reached the second highest price, the £63,600 paid for a pair of Watson Bros 12-bore single trigger sidelock ejector over and under guns.

A Holland & Holland Magnum “Royal” rifle was the third top price of the night, fetching £44,000 against a pre-sale estimate of £34,000 to £38,000.

Sotheby’s sporting gun consultant, Gavin Gardiner, said, “Private collectors dominated the bidding and I was especially delighted to sell our top lot…for a world record price for a Scottish sporting gun sold in Scotland.”

The sale continues today with jewellery and Wemyss Ware pottery.

The highest prices of the three-day sale will be seen tomorrow when pictures come under the hammer.

International interest has been shown in the lots which include a work by Peploe, Still Life with Roses in a Chinese Jug, which has a pre-sale estimate of £300,000 to £500,000.

This is one of 20 works by the artist included in the sale which also features work by the other Scottish Colourists George Leslie Hunter, John Duncan Fergusson and Francis Cadell.