Brass for cash

Christie's auction house, South Kensington UK

Casimir Collection of Metalware from 1500-1900,
auction January 23rd 2008

323 lots went under the hammer and only 24 lots were unsold, translating to 93 per cent sold by volume and 87 per cent of the material for a total of £285,595. Although metalware is not seen to be fashionable private buyers were wiling to shell out huge sums for what they wanted, and copper proved especially popular. The second highest price of the day went to a collection of 12 different sized copper saucepans from the second half of the 19th century. the smallest was 8in (23cm) long and the largest, which was numbered 12, stamped c.Earll Maker, Mayfair, and with the owner's initials W.d.R., measured 2ft 5 3/4 in (75.5cm)long. They were guided at £1500-2000 but a private collector took bidding to a massive £10,000.