TV antique expert's collection sold at auction

The private collection of an antiques expert has sold for more than £802,000 at auction.

Drew Pritchard, star of television series Salvage Hunters, sold around 620 items which he had amassed over 30 years.

A two-day auction took place at Dreweatts auctioneers in Berkshire.

Mr Pritchard, who has recently moved to Bath, said: “2023 marked my 30th year in the antiques trade and this collection is a vignette of that work."

Mr Pritchard said he looks for valuable pieces that may not be in their perfect state, but have the potential to be brought back to life.

Items up for auction at Dreweatts included period furniture and vintage signs.

A rare Steamboat Willie fairground ride boat, dating from about 1930, sold for almost £7,000.

Steamboat Willie was the first film starring Mickey Mouse in his earliest form in 1928, before becoming the face of Disney.

A large engineer’s chest for the Bluebird car series, owned by Sir Malcolm Campbell, who first broke the land speed record in 1924, sold for more than £17,000.

Rare bookcases, sculptures, toys and paintings were also among the lots on offer.

Mr Pritchard said: "Anyone who deals in antiques knows it’s all consuming.

"This collection is part of that 30 years of obsessively collecting and dealing.”

Head of furniture at Dreweatts Ben Brown said: "We enjoyed the highly eclectic nature of the sale immensely throughout the process and were very pleased with a good number of strong results for a wide variety of items".