The Royal Agricultural Society of England’s collection of historical artefacts and Royal Show trophies was knocked down during its London auction on Friday for more than £400,000.
The final value of the RASE’s silverware, library of animal husbandry, horticultural and machinery literature, medals and historic artwork eclipsed the estimated pre-sale combined value of between £200,000 and £300,000.
But the sale at Dreweatts & Bloomsbury went ahead without 38 silver trophies and a small selection of paintings which the RASE had been forced to withdraw from its listings prior to the auction.
The sudden move from the society followed considerable pressure from breed societies and the descendants of those who had originally awarded the silverware to the RASE for presentation at the Royal Show.
Prior to the sale, RASE chief executive David Gardner confirmed the society had withdrawn some of the items.
“We had been asked by breed societies and some private individuals to do so,” he said.
“We felt that it was the right thing to do,” adding that the withdrawn lots will now be “progressed by trustees”.
One of the trophies removed from the sale, little more than 24 hours prior to the auction start, was the Highland Cattle Perpetual Challenge Cup.
The silver twin-handled cup and cover, designed and created by the Pairpoint Brothers in London 1917, had been presented to the RASE for competition at the Royal Show by the Highland Cattle Society.
Speaking from the breed’s headquarters in Stirling, secretary Hazel Baxter confirmed the organisation had been “able to secure” ownership of the award.
“We are delighted to have it back,” she added.
The final ‘sold for’ value of the items that did go under the hammer achieved a combined total of more than £496,000 including a buyers’ premium set at 24%.
It is believed the funds will be used by the RASE to clear a deficit in its pension scheme for past employees and raise money for an Innovation in Agriculture project, due to launch later this year.
Charles Cochrane of Timothy Sammons, the agents who arranged the sale, said the sale gathered considerable “global interest”, with approximately 15,000 people looking at the online auction system before live bidding began.
“I think a lot of people are buying the history,” he said.
Ultimately a 1950 oil of HRH Princess Elizabeth painted by Sir Oswald Birley achieved the greatest sale price, being knocked down for £40,000 carrying a final sale price of £49,600.
The painting had been anticipated to reach a guide price of £5,000 to £7,000.
Widely anticipated to be the highest ticket item ahead of the sale, the Sir Walter Gibley collection of 18th and 19th century pamphlets on agricultural, economic and social matters, which carried a guide price of between £15,000 and £20,000, achieved the second-top sale price of £47,120, after going under the hammer for £38,000.
Several other items considerably exceeded pre-sale estimates, including a first edition copy of Richard Eburne’s A Plaine Path-vvay to Plantations, printed in 1624, which was guided to sell for £1,500, but achieved £24,000.
An oil on canvas of the Royal Show in 1951, which depicted the Festival of Britain Year, as painted by Terence Cuneo, topped its guide of £6,000 to sell for £21,000.
A further three lots exceeded individual hammer prices of more than £10,000.