Chilcotts Auctioneers attracted international attention at its last auction in March -  resulting in some hotly contested bidding.

This was the first time two events were held so close together after the Honiton auction house revamped its sale calendar.

The first, the standalone Silver, Jewellery, Watches & Gold Coins sale on March 11 featured a well-publicised collection from the Queen’s milliner Kate Day, which attracted spirited bidding from around 20 private and trade customers in locations as diverse as London and Florida, with the winning bidder coming from Cheshire. The lot sold for £2,100, well over the estimate of £6-800.

While this collection generated the most enquiries prior to the auction, other items that did well included several consignments from the relaunched Barnstaple valuation days which restarted in February.

These included a large George V two-handled silver tray from Ireland hallmarked Dublin 1918; this had been presented to the Archdeacon of Tuam on his retirement in 1922 – also a momentous year for Ireland, being at the end of the Irish Wars of Independence. This spectacular tray, consigned by a descendent of the churchman, sold for £1750. Meanwhile a pretty emerald and diamond ring was purchased for the sum of £4,200 by a local man as a gift for his wife.

The second sale took place on March 25. It included three paintings by Duncan Grant, one of the feted Bloomsbury Group, and a close friend of Vanessa Bell and her sister, writer Virginia Woolf. Grant was a painter and designer whose works spanned textiles, pottery, theatre sets and costumes. These paintings were consigned as a result of a local probate valuation in July last year.

These paintings were consigned as a result of a local probate valuation in July last year. Almost 50 potential bidders looked at these lots, which were ultimately bought by three different buyers: a private buyer from Sussex, a grand lady from an impressive 'Downton Abbey' style house and a London dealer.

A set of portrait miniatures and silhouettes collected by Bath chocolatier Ron J Mills before his death in 2021 also did well, with plenty of enquiries and an eventual hammer price of £6,210.

Liz Chilcott said: “We were exceptionally pleased by the interest in both sales and the number of bidders both in the room and remote.

“Heading into this year under a well-publicised cloud of doom and gloom about the economy was slightly unnerving – but I’m pleased to report that the auction market continues to be buoyant."