AS the photograph (far right, top) shows the recent sale of the effects of the late Lady Maria Coventry drew a massive attendance. Prior to sale we had received enquiries from throughout the world with the telephone calls from interested parties coming from as far as America to Australia.

The interest generated was huge and it was simply the best attended sale I have ever conducted at the Malvern saleroom, with representatives of National Institutions competing for lots against private collectors, dealers, and those just wanting a momento.

In some instances I could never have predicted some of the prices realised, and it was quirky items that also produced some of the more surprising results.

What I thought to be just a lot of silver mounted fox brushes were in fact "otter rudders" (or tails), and sold for £420. A triptych mirror surmounted in shagreen (the skin of a shark), that was found hidden away amongst various clothing in an airing cupboard of the house, made £2,000.

A large quantity of household linen and damask silk tablecloths, most of which were still parcelled up in original waxed paper and string, sold in several lots and raised some £1,500.

Just a handful of brass buttons of the local Croome Hunt fetched £230; a quite ordinary cranberry glass vase but with a fragment of a paper label attached given "With Best Wishes from Queen Mary" made £400 - which proved the price of provenance; and the family teddy bear as ever a popular country house classic, sold for £680.

I'VE always said that toys evoke childhood memories and ideally should be "mint and boxed" for today's collectors market.

Well, the three toys illustrated would waken memories from many years ago and their original owner would now be over 100 years old.

They are tin plate toys from around 1900-1910, and the model of the two Chinamen carrying the box is stamped Lehmann. Ernst Paul Lehmann was a German who manufactured tin containers at the back end of the 19th century.

He was interested in mechanical toys and these shown are testament to the work of him and others such as Bing and Marklin. On being wound-up, the two Chinamen carry their parcel with a humorous shuffling gait; the Big Wheel I think resembles the London Eye and its compartments self level as the wheel revolves; whilst the ship steams along by means of clockwork wheels below the hull.

These three toys which would have been moderately expensive in their day are more likely worth hundreds of pounds today.

The gentleman who brought these into the saleroom wasn't sure if they were worth selling. I'm in no doubt that they will generate a number of enquiries from collectors and nostalgic individuals alike, and sure to result in a pleasant surprise when they appear in our March fine art sale.