The toys that told the story of The Marchant Collection

Last month, Stamford Auction Rooms was proud to host the sale of the distinguished collection of dolls, dolls houses, prams and teddy bears of Sheila Marchant.

The sale drew strong interest from private collectors, on the telephone and with three bidding platforms buzzing with excitement many lots far exceeded Jessica, the team and Sheila's family's expectations - much to our delight - reaffirming SAR as a trusted destination for storied private collections!

Dolls houses ruled the day, so understandably the day's Top Lot was this stunning German Dolls House circa 1900 together with the period and later contents including furniture, dolls, and other accessories, selling for £2400. 

Lot 116: EST £80-£120. SOLD £2400

Francois Gaultier is worldly renowned for exquisite 19th century craftsmanship, so it came as no surprise to the team that this fine and rare semi-automaton doll machine example with musical clockwork mechanism sold well over estimate for £1800! 

Lot 149: EST £200-£400 SOLD £1800

Earlier in the day, it was the French examples that achieved the highest hammer prices among the dolls, including lot 102: a Francois Gaultier bisque head Bebe doll which selling for £1100; lot 152: A French Tete Jumeau bisque head doll sold for £850; and lot 135: a French Eden Bebe of Paris bisque porcelain head doll selling for £750. 

LOT 102: EST. £60-£90 SOLD £1,100

With all collecting fields being sold within our specialist auctions, we encourage you to book a free valuation with one of our experts, to see what your items potential worth is.

View all our upcoming auctions to see what we have on offer in future sales.