(cont)

Divulging a few trade secrets, Phillip says the auction house deliberately limits the number of items in each sale to just a couple of hundred lots, to maintain the interest of those attending each sale and to ensure the inclusion of interesting and varied lots each time.

During our visit, we would be auctioning a range of antique furniture from the Georgian and Victorian periods, several lots of fine art including the DeBreanski paintings, and a host of silverwear and ceramics.

Phillip began by training me in the art of running a successful sale room, beginning with the presentation of the sale room itself.

“It’s really important to show each item at its best.” Says Phillip. “We put a tremendous amount of effort into ensuring the room looks good and that where possible, lots are presented in roomsets.”

Whilst the business, located on Boston’s Haven Business Park doesn’t enjoy the prettiest location in Lincolnshire, it’s hugely practical with several large units providing masses of storage and plenty of car parking for the hundred or so visitors to each sale.

Next was familiarity with each lot, and this was an area where a crash course simply wouldn’t be able to compete with Phillip’s extensive CV, so necessarily, my training was limited to just those lots which I would be personally auctioning towards the end of the sale – a series of limited edition Great Yarmouth pottery pieces in various designs spanning ten lots.

Phillip’s expertise is more diverse, to say the least, and encompasses the whole field of fine art and antiques. The Cheshire born auctioneer began working in the industry in 1976 and moved to London in 1979 to work at Sothebys in London, where he worked for ten years before beginning his own business which he ran until he sold it in 1992 to move abroad in order to organise sales for a Greek businessman in Athens then for Freemans Auction House in the US, one of the oldest houses having been owned by the same family for over two centuries.
Returning to the UK and moving to Sleaford in 2007, Phillip began working for Eleys in early 2007 and has transformed the company from a modest auction house into one of the county’s fastest growing and most well-respected auction houses for specialist fine art and antiques.