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Antiques Trade Gazette 19


Four views of the


remarkable George II doll in court dress sold for £48,000 at Bonhams.


Above: M&K motorcycle and sidecar, £3900 at W&W.


ON YOUR BIKE These two German tinplate two-wheelers, both dating from the fi rst years of the 20th century, generated huge interest at Wallis & Wallis of Lewes on October 17. Pictured below is an unattributed bicycle toy


made as two cyclists, one pushing the other. Measuring 11in (28cm) long, the rear cyclist wears a blue and white striped racing kit while his partner dons dark brown clothing. It was in playworn condition but sold to an American buyer on the telephone bidding against a collector from Australia and another telephone bidder from the USA. It made £3800. Bidding for the next item followed much


the same pattern, with it selling to the same buyer at a slightly higher £3900. The 8in (20cm) motorcycle and sidecar, below, with male rider and female passenger was made by Muller & Kadeder (M.&K.) Nuremberg c.1908. They appear for sale painted in a number of colours. The motorcycle to this example was in light grey with red-lined detail, while the sidecar was in red with blue and cream highlights. It had a soldered repair to the front forks and was missing the windshield that has seen these toys climb to over $10,000 in the USA, but was in more than reasonable condition for its age.


AGELESS MARIANNA Meet Marianna, a superb George II doll in court dress who proved the star of the Bonhams Knightsbridge toy sale on November 15-16. Like most dolls of this period, she is


primarily fashioned from carved wood covered with gesso, the head with inserted black enamel eyes and nailed- on shoulder-length fair hair. Her shapely torso, tapering sharply at the waist, and limbs are similarly fi nely carved, the lower arms with delicately carved fi ngers and the legs painted in white and peg-jointed at the hips and knees. Remarkably her many layers of


clothing are thought to be original to a doll c.1750. These include a crimson, blue and cream striped silk sack-back dress, a pink linen pannier with two quilted and ornately embroidered free-hanging secret pockets, long white cotton socks with two pink garters and pink silk pointed shoes with silk ribbon ties and leather soles. A hand-written paper label to the wooden box reads: A doll given to Grandmama Marianna Davis in Paris, when she was 3 years old, after she had recovered from a dangerous illness. Condition is as important to a ‘toy’


Above: German tinplate bicycle toy, £3800 at W&W.


such as this as it is to a Dinky. Over more than two and a half centuries, Marianna had sustained only a slight crack to the paintwork on her nose and minor damage to fi ve of her fi ngers. For that reason she sold at £48,000 (estimate £20,000-30,000).


SPORTING DOUBLE Meccano’s range of pre-War tinplate vehicles are always sought after and this example, a 1930s two-seater clockwork tinplate sports car – a non- construction model fi nished in blue and red with original white rubber tyres – sold for £410 at Thomson Roddick & Medcalf in Edinburgh on December 15. One headlight was missing. Another example of this popular toy fi nished in


cream with red wheel arches appeared at Wallis & Wallis of Lewes on October 17. Its box had only minor wear and the vehicle was sold with an associated Meccano No.1 series driver. It fetched £480.


Toy Auction The Toy Specialists


Baylies’ Hall, Tower Street, Dudley, West Midlands DY1 1NB Tel: +44 (0)1384 250220


www.astonauctioneers.co.uk View and bid live online


Saturday 28th


January at 10am Viewing:


Friday 27th Janaury 10am-7pm


and sale day from 8am Fantastic Moko Lesney Matchbox collection this month


Monthly Auctions


Toys, Model Railway Items, Dolls, Teddy Bears, Toy Soldiers and Automobilia


Consigning now for:


Saturday 25th February Saturday 24th March


Above: Meccano clockwork sports car, £410 at Thomson Roddick.


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