"Dealers and representatives, some acting on behalf of titled families, came from all over Britain, and mingled with them in the rooms of 'Norvil', Victoria Road, were the private buyers and the bargain-hunters. Over seven hundred items went under the hammer of auctioneer, Mr D. A. Dowie of Leven at this, one of the most extensive and varied auction sales in the district in many years."
The newspaper article noted that the collection had been so extensive that it had taken months to catalogue. In fact, what was on sale at the auction in the house was only the "residue" - the most valuable pieces of furniture and objets d'art having been sent to Sotheby's in London. The Sotheby's items had also included a full library of books and a collection of jade. Such a house sale inevitably drew a large crowd and the apparently "the lawns of his former home thronged with people on Thursday. Some merely watching, while others bidded". Among the items sold on that day were oil and water paintings, bronzes, ivories, oriental rugs, silver, porcelain, glass, jewellery, mirrors and linen.
Great detail was given in the newspaper on the items sold and the prices involved. Examples ranged from a pair of 18th century French carved ivory figures sold for £250 and a Dutch marquetry bureau sold for £230, to a £50 telescope, right down to a waffler sold for half a crown. There were also big game trophies from Northern Rhodesia - the heads of a lion and lioness.
As the Leven Mail summed up "at the end of fully eight hours of bidding and buying, scarcely a thing was left that hadn't gone under the hammer for, from a shilling or two, right up to £330 the top price paid for a French Kingwood vitrine." Below are images of items similar to those described in the newspaper report. I wonder where they all ended up and how many people still recall the high-profile auction that took place in Lundin Links on that day.