The contents of a Somerset cottage, entered into the Charterhouse March 14th & 15th auction, has revealed a lifetime obsession of collecting.

“The owner, who passed away recently, has clearly never heard of the phrase Minimalism.” Commented Richard Bromell. “Having worked in auctioneering for nearly 35 years, this property is one of the fullest I have seen on my travels and although no one particular item is of high value, collectively all the lots will mount up to a substantial sum incredibly quickly. It is a fascinating cottage contents telling the history of the owners collecting obsession.”

There were thousands of pieces of pottery, porcelain, glass, pictures, furniture, silver, jewellery, books, dolls, copper, brass, items of militaria. Every surface, including the walls and kitchen work tops, housed and displayed the owner’s treasures.

In the dining room, which was dimly lit by two low wattage bulbs, there was hardly anywhere to stand let alone sit. Throughout the cottage there were numerous display cabinets, most of which had the contents double stacked in them as the owner acquired more and more items with no flat surfaces to display the items on the pieces simply piled up and up.

Charterhouse, who were instructed by the executors to clear the property, spent days wrapping, packing and removing items dating from the 18th to 20th centuries to their Sherborne salerooms. The items were then sorted, entered into the appropriate specialist sales and catalogued. In addition, many items received a good dusting as they had not seen a cloth and polish for many years.

Viewing for this massive 14th & 15th March two day auction in Sherborne is on Wednesday 13th 10am-5pm and Thursday 14th 9am-5pm, or you can look at all the lots on www.charterhouse-auction.com where live internet bidding on all the lovely lots is also available.

Charterhouse are now accepting further entries for their April specialist auctions including Asian Art, sporting items including vintage fishing tackle, pictures, books and for their sale of classic and vintage cars.

For advice, valuations and further information on a single item, collection or complete house clearance, contact Richard Bromell and the team of experts at Charterhouse, The Long Street Salerooms, Sherborne, Dorset DT9 3BS 01935 812277 or email info@charterhouse-auction.com

Captions (all items form the Somerset country cottage):

Views of the cottage contents in situ
A Victorian floral marquetry inlaid credenza £600-1,000
A late 19th century painted satinwood display cabinet £600-1,000
A table top Foley Intarsio table top clock £300-400
Two Art Deco lamps £100-200 (each)
Late 19th century Italian carved marble bust £200-400