Warmth and Character: Country Living Sale Results


May 2026

Our recent Country Living Sale was one of those auctions that simply felt right. There is something about a collection rooted in rural life and traditional interiors that brings a particular warmth to a saleroom, and this one had it in abundance. The objects were characterful, the bidding was lively and there was a real sense throughout that each piece was finding exactly the place it deserved. Carved Victorian oak, Prattware folk pottery, sporting silverware, animal subjects in bronze and on canvas, and many more characterful lots besides drew in collectors, decorators and enthusiasts in equal measure. 

Read on to find out which lots stood out and what they achieved.

Comfort and Character
Seating delivered some of the sale's most pleasing results, with buyers responding to quality and character in equal measure. A David Grundy medium Knoll style drop-arm settee in patterned fabric, complete with eight scatter and bolster cushions, led the section at £1,400. A Timothy Oulton for Halo two seater brown leather chesterfield, all button back and turned feet, sold for £850. A Victorian carved oak box settle, its high panelled back relief carved with armoured figural scenes and raised on dolphin shaped supports, found a buyer at £550. Three very different pieces, three very different stories and all finding exactly the right home.

Pieces With a Story
The objects that carry a personal history often generate the most interest in a room, and that proved true here. An early 20th century silver hunting horn, engraved to the South Oxfordshire Hounds for the 1905-6 season and marked Whippy London, sold for £400. An 1848 Mexborough Prattware Wesleyan Chapel money box, inscribed to Emma Sutton of Bampton, sold for £360. A mid 19th century Staffordshire figure of a Greenwich Hospital pensioner, that wonderfully characterful seated sailor with his peg leg, goblet and tricorn hat, sold for £190, and three large 20th century Spanish stoneware confit pots and covers rounded off the section at £160.

From Canvas to Bronze
Animal themed pieces proved their enduring appeal across several different media. An oil on canvas by ES England depicting Two Dogs and a Hedgehog led the section at £460, full of personality and exactly the kind of country subject that collectors return to time and again. An Art Deco ashtray with three cold painted bronze dogs, an Irish Setter, a Scottish Terrier and a Springer Spaniel, set upon an oval green onyx tray, sold for £400. A Mouseman tooled oak fruit bowl carved with the mouse signature of Robert Thompson's Kilburn workshop sold for £340. Few makers retain quite the same devoted following and results like this are a reminder of why.

Built to Last
Period oak and quality floor coverings provided some of the sale's most solid results. A 17th century oak dresser base, with moulded front, four drawers and turned and block supports, led the section at £1,200. An Indian Agra hand knotted rug with pale beige field and wide terracotta border sold for £600. An 18th century Georgian oak dresser and rack sold for £460, as did a traditional oak circular pedestal dining table. 

A Sale to Remember

The Country Living Sale delivered what the best auctions do: it brought the right objects to the right people, and sent each piece off with a new chapter ahead of it. If you have similar pieces at home, whether period furniture, ceramics, decorative objects, rugs or country house effects, we would love to help you find them the right home.
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