Lifetime

[AAAA]

Anyone read the Lifetime Colum by Anne Hailes today? Could be an easy way out of recession for us all!

[longball]

Havent seen it Aiden. Explain?? Need more info.
Post the article if u can.



Have u abondoned the Sellotape thread? ive been stuck to it.

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Im not sure how to post articles from the Irish news. I dont pay to read it online. Perhaps someone else could kindly do it?

Basically the article was about the hidden treasures that many of us could find lying in our homes. Im going straight home to search the house for anything valuable looking. You just never know!

Dont worry Longball I havent abondoned the sellotape thread. I await the response to your email with eagerness.

[longball]

Aiden in times like this we need one man and one man only...... Fear an Strabane. He posts from the IN if u ask her nicely prob one of the best posters on the board.

Aiden i posted a picture of ur date for the gala at the weekend on the sellotape thread, we now know why ur so concerned about the stuff.

Also always remember....

[Archie Mitchell]

Auctioneer bidding to find
LifeTime - Anne Hailes
By Anne Hailes - a.hailes@irishnews.com
18/06/09

HERE'S a challenge. Gerry McAfee wants you to look in your cupboards and dig out your drawers, find something special and let him know. As well as his property business, Gerry is an auctioneer with centres in Ballymoney and and Castlerock and he's offering his expertise to Save the Children to raise funds for their work.

"I'm asking people all over Northern Ireland to find something of value, either novelty or monetary, perhaps handed down through the generations but not really wanted any more, anything that I can auction and make money.

"I've two items already, two

T-shirts, one signed by the Coronation Street cast and a 1980 Liverpool Legends shirt and these are being framed at the moment and will end up in the grand event later in the year."

A farmer's son, he loved going round the markets where he was attracted by the man with the gavel who had the last word whether it was cattle or land or a beautiful piece of porcelain.

Collectors have plenty of McAfee sales to attend during the year but one of the most exciting takes place tomorrow night in The Auction Rooms, 51 Main Street, Ballymoney – 608 items and five hours of selling so fast-talking Gerry has to get through 130 lots per hour. A tall order but it's all under control.

"We begin at 6.30pm and people will have had a chance to see the items on display and then adjourn to a sale room where they will make their bids from the catalogue and a large screen," he said.

"The lots are very special, all from one local source, probably the biggest ceramic sale in Ireland for years, nothing unique but an amazing amount.

"More often I'd see one or two signed Royal Worcester, on Friday I have up to 100 with 15 signed pieces. Around 20 pieces of Moorcroft where there'd normally be two or three. The large vase is amongst the biggest I've seen and already there is great interest from collections in England."

On the night there will be bidders in the room as well as telephone and internet bidders. The internet has opened up new markets and far from diminishing the interest, eBay has only heightened the public involvement and TV shows have had a huge influence.

Where other business are feeling the credit crunch, auction houses are benefiting from people needing to realise cash and investors wanting to spend ready money wisely, all good news for the auctioneer. How does it work?

"A house clearance usually happens when someone has died and once the family have taken personal items, I'm invited to have a look at what's left, advise if there is anything I think I can sell or advise a charity donation," he said.

"Then I arrange to have items lifted and transported to one of the two showrooms where I will go through them, place them into lots of maybe two or three items, produce a catalogue or put them in with an auction already planned.

"Then we have the sale. You might want to put a reserve on an item and I start under that price and whip up the enthusiasm until we get at least the reserve.

"We never know. Recently in London an item estimated at £2,000 ended up selling for £72,000, unusual but that's what can happen, it all depends on people bidding against each other for something they really want."

If a large item is bought, Gerry will organise Portrush Removals to pack it up and deliver to your address.

What happens if I wave to someone across the room and find I've bought something I don't want for hundreds of pounds?

"The auctioneers will realise you're waving to someone across the room! If you get into some situation and want out of it most auctioneers will understand and won't hold you to a bid," he said.

With such an upmarket sale on Friday, I wondered if Gerry has a favourite piece.

"I like the Royal Worcester, especially the pieces signed by Harry Stinton. There were three Stintons, Harry, James and John and these signatures mean you have a special collectors item."

The majority of these porcelain pieces are figurines and vases, the first piece of famous Royal Worcester 'Painted Fruit' was created in 1880 and the range continues to be produced today.

Only in 1900 did painters sign their work along the edge of the painting and they were encouraged to develop their own individual styles so many collectors concentrate on one artists work.

To think something as exquisite as the hand painted vase featuring highland cattle and one of the highlights of tomorrow's auction is made of clay. No wonder Gerry McAfee holds it with tender loving care. Although this is billed as

The Collectors Sale, everyone is welcome. The cast list is impressive. Clarice Cliff, Belleek, Noritake, ruby and crystal, silver and glass, painting and clocks. Young people are encouraged to look at the lots, every one with a story to tell be it the mahogany cased Vienna wall clock, a variety of paintings or the miniature Liverpool Football Club mini and Pride of Merseyside Liverpool Football Club bus which probably will go for about £40 to £50 on the night. Hummel figures up to £60 and the delicate Royal Worcester vase perhaps as much as £3,000.

As I see it, a genuine auction is an adventure. No-one is going to accept your friendly greeting as a bid and if you do buy, you can be sure it's been checked over by the auction house. So why not get involved? Look for a donation to the Save the Children project. Charities are having it hard at the moment so help them and have a bit of fun at the same time.

Watch out for roadshows in Belfast, Bangor, Ballymena, Dungannon, Coleraine, Omagh and Derry.

Once Gerry has had a look at items at these venues, a huge auction will take place somewhere special in Belfast early in the autumn.

You'll be invited to come along and enjoy the event. Find out more about the Save the Children event at 028 276 67669 or www.mcafeeproperties andmortgages.com and click onto 'view our auctions'.