20th Century Design
Here at the 20th century design department we are busy researching and cataloguing for our upcoming auctions. We also provide insurance, probate or inheritance tax and other types of valuations in homes and in collections throughout Scotland and the north of England.
If you have an item or group of pieces that you wish to learn more about, to have identified and valued, or expertly catalogued and presented for auction, then contact our specialist to receive free, no-obligation, professional advice.
The 20th century design auctions are held fifteen times a year at our Edinburgh, Dumfries and Carlisle auction rooms and broadcast worldwide online to an international market. The department record for a single lot is shared at £5,500. This hammer price was achieved at the Edinburgh auction room in March 2013 for a Wedgwood Fairyland lustre vase decorated with 'Imps on a Bridge' pattern by Daisy Makeig-Jones and also for a Lalique Milan vase in October 2017. Other stand out results include:
£5,400 for a Robert "Mouseman" Thompson of Kilburn adze top table in September 2009;
£5,000 for a Laurence Broderick bronze sculpture of an otter in June 2016;
£4,600 for an Owen Scrumby dining room suite in March 2013;
£3,800 for a silver porringer and spoon by Charles Robert Ashbee Guild of Handicrafts in September 2019;
£3,300 for a Gordon Russell stool at the Edinburgh auction room in October 2019;
£3,000 for a Joe Juster bowl for William De Morgan Fulham in September 2013;
£3,000 for a Lil Neilson oil painting of sheep before a cottage in October 2020;
£2,700 for a Daum glass vase at the Dumfries auction room on 8th June 2019;
£2,300 for Frank Newbould's "The Lobster Man" at the Dumfries auction room in June 2012;
£2,000 for a Cyril Wilson oil painting titled "The Dreaming Horse" at the Dumfries auction room in March 2012;
£1,900 for an Italian modernist vase by Guido Gambone at the Edinburgh auction room in February 2023;
£1,400 for a Daum glass bowl at the Edinburgh auction room on 3rd October 2019;
£850 for a Georg Jensen silver bowl at the Dumfries auction room on 8th June 2019;
£700 for a John Maltby vase in November 2019;
£700 for a Henry Howell YZ Bird gong in the form of an emu in September 2010.
You may have heard of Thomson Roddick from advertisements in publications including the Antiques Trade Gazette, The Scotsman or Scottish Field. If you are social media inclined, and don’t follow us yet, then we are on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook: you can find our social media icons in the footer of the website to start following us. Perhaps you have seen a member of our team on tv recently? We feature regularly on Bargain Hunt, Antiques Road Trip, Dickinson’s Real Deal, Cash in the Attic and the much missed Flog It, or you may have met one of our valuers presenting a talk on antiques to your local group. Tune in to our new television series, The Edinburgh Auction House, following the Scottish team as they travel around the country searching for exciting lots to sell. Starting at 9pm on 10th January 2023 on the Really channel, it's sure to be a great watch!
We like jargon, and if you do too, here are some examples and names that you may find in one of our 20th century design auction catalogues:
Robert Mouseman Thompson Charles and Ray Eames Lalique Daum Geoffrey Baxter Dr Christopher Dresser Georg Jensen G Plan Teak Grieves & Thomas Staples Ladderax Danish Scandi MCM Mid Century Modern Vintage Retro B&O Arne Jacobsen Bauhaus Heals John Pearson Hille Fritz Hansen Terrance Conran Ercol Alistair Norman Grant Dust Jewellery Sheila Fleet Asprey
Scott Ritchie is the department specialist and is always happy to conduct free no-obligation valuations, whether in person at the auction room, over email, or in the comfort of your own home. Scott can be contacted by telephone on 0131 440 2448 (Edinburgh), 01387 721 635 (Dumfries) or 01228 535288 (Carlisle) or by email edinburgh@thomsonroddick.com, dumfries@thomsonroddick.com, enquiries@trcallan.com or carlisle@thomsonroddick.com.
