ANTIQUE treasures found in homes locally went under the hammer this week, together raising a total in excess of £200,000.

Oil paintings found in a house in Croxley Green and an antiques collection discovered in a flat in Garston were both sold at auction on Tuesday.

The amount raised from the sale of the paintings exceeded all estimates.

The works, by Edwardian artist Henry John Sylvester Stannard raised £188,000 on Tuesday at Phillips Auctioneers in Suffolk, far exceeding the estimate of £100,000.

As well as paintings by Henry Stannard, there were also watercolours by his daughter, Theresa.

They were found in the home of William Stannard, the artist's son, who died last year. He had worked as a gardener for Three Rivers District Council until 1986, when he took early retirement on the grounds of ill-health.

Ms Chantel Haddon, of Phillips Auctioneers, was delighted with the sale. She said: "It has been an amazing success. There has been unprecedented interest. You have to remember that some of these paintings have not been seen for 80 years."

Henry Stannard's's work can be seen in galleries throughout the country and even an art gallery in Johannesburg. He is known for his passion for the English outdoors.

The second sale, an antiques collection, comprised miniature treasures, including perfume bottles, wooden treen ware, Napoleonic memorabilia and sewing items, and were amassed by a retired teacher and was valued at more than £18,000 by Phillips.

The collection included more than 50 glass perfume bottles, decorated with silver and gold, enamelled landscapes or painted flowers and birds.

The bottles date from the 18th Century and 19th Century and some are inscribed with the names of their original owners.

One, an early 19th Century blue glass bottle decorated with gilded lovers, was sold for £437 though it measures just 8cm in height.

Another, a late 18th Century, silver-mounted, slice cut-glass scent bottle with one side inset with a toothpick holder, was valued between £200 and £300 and sold for £575.

Phillips valuer Ms Jane Anderson said: "When I opened the door, it was just extraordinary. This lady must have been an insatiable collector.

"She was obviously fascinated by small objects; every inch of the flat was covered with perfume bottles, snuff boxes, needle cases. Each object measured no more than a few centimetres high and each was a work of art in its own right."

There were more than 100 items in the collection, which included Tartan and Tunbridge ware, ivory-carved needle cases, tortoiseshell sewing shuttles and silver scissors.

October 11, 2001 20:47

Joanne Davis