Three 18th century Beilby wine glasses bought for $1.91 at an English “car boot” sale sold at auction this past weekend for $25,472. After picking them up at the swap meet, the anonymous seller brought them to Stride & Son in Chichester for evaluation. Auctioneer Mark Hewitt, sensing their value, immediately placed them in a locked cabinet.
Produced around 1765, the glasses were made by English artisan William Bielby, revered for his enameled glassware. These bear the arms of a Cumberland churchman named John Thomas. Fewer than 100 of these armorial glasses were made, and they rarely come on the market. Initially, Hewitt said, the seller apologized for possibly wasting the auction house’s time.
Read more at The Telegraph.
