Skip to content

Lion tamer fetches top price in pottery auction

Browns Auction House A Staffordshire pottery figure of a colourfully-dressed lion tamer with a leopard round his neck, lions at his side and a lamb at his feetBrowns Auction House
The figure of lion tamer Isaac Van Amburgh fetched top price at the auction

A rare figure of a lion tamer fetched the top price when a huge collection of Staffordshire pottery gathered by a Borders hotelier was sold at the weekend.

The pieces, which belonged to the late Sheila Brooks who owned and managed the Ednam House Hotel in Kelso along with her husband, made £89,000 in total.

Top price was the figure of Isaac Van Amburgh which sold for £4,375 at Browns Auction House near Jedburgh on Saturday.

Bidders from across the globe - including the USA and Australia - bid for more than 400 lots comprising a total of 1,100 pieces.

Browns Auction House A ceramic figure of a man in a white naval suit with a telescope in his handsBrowns Auction House
A figure of explorer Sir John Franklin fetched nearly £3,000

The collection was gathered by Ms Brooks over four decades.

Another highlight of the sale was a figure of Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin which fetched nearly £3,000.

Browns' valuer, Angus Milner-Brown, said: "We had an exceptional amount of interest in this auction with many people travelling hundreds of miles to attend the sale in person, and hundreds more joining online.

"We hope that this sale will re-energise interest in a market that for 20 years has seen little encouragement."