Two star lots in Great Western Auctions’ Autumn Fine Art & Antiques Sale offered an illustration of the enduring fascination with toys from bygone eras.

The first, a clockwork musical automaton doll dating from the late-19^th century, was hotly contested: the hammer falling at the top estimate (£662 inc. buyer’s premium) after a rapid-fire thirty seconds of online bidding. Her clockwork mechanism playing two airs, and articulated at the head and right elbow, her somewhat uncanny performance evidently captivated many.

                    Sold: £662*

Immediately following was a wooden Noah’s Ark, accommodating thirty-four human and animal passengers, mostly going two-by-two. Though carrying no indication of its maker, the set bore a firm resemblance to the Arks produced by Frank Whittingham’s Forest Toys of Brockenhurst. Established in 1922 and active throughout the interwar period, Whittingham’s small Hampshire factory produced an extensive range of carved and hand-painted animals, with a strong emphasis on accuracy of scale and the representation of the distinct male and female characteristics of each species (especially well-evidenced in the Ark sets). The young Edward VIII (then Prince of Wales) was apparently so struck by a Whittingham’s Ark being exhibited a British Industries Fair that his mother, Queen Mary, felt compelled to order two-dozen on the spot.

Almost a century on from this juvenile royal endorsement, Whittingham’s Arks appear no less in demand. This example, well-worn from its many decades of cherished use, hammered at £1,030 (inc. buyer’s premium).

               Sold: £1,030*

Toys, whether dating from the Georgian period or more recent decades, are enthusiastically collected and are perennially in demand at auction. Be it clockwork automaton, wooden Ark, train set or Lego, our specialist Tommy Alexander is always on hand to offer a valuation.

              Tommy Alexander

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             T: 0141 954 1500