Wednesday 30 December 2015

We are open for viewing on Saturday 2nd January between 10am and 1pm 
and Tuesday 5th January between 2pm and 6pm

With 490 lots there is plenty to browse.




Lot 1 and Lot 2 to be sold on Wednesday 6th January at 10am



For Dr Who fans we have a fabulous collection of memorabilia


and much much more ...............................................

This General Sale is on Wednesday 6th January from 10am and is the first of 2016
and will be held live on the internet via the-saleroom.com
as well as in our saleroom in East Boldon

With our Best Wishes for the New Year.



For our latest Sale Highlights please click on this link:

Wednesday 25 November 2015


Antique and Interiors Sale on 9th December 2015
starting at 10am. 



Viewing Saturday 5th December 10am-1pm, Tuesday 8th December 2pm-6pm and morning of Sale from 9am.


Boldon Auction Galleries
are delighted to present for Auction a diverse collection of prints, paintings and photographs previously included in the Bede Gallery, Jarrow collection.

A well-kept secret in Jarrow, the Bede Gallery ran for over 28 years, closing its doors in 1996 for the final time.  A former Air Raid shelter, the Bede Gallery ran by the enigmatic Vince Rea was a hive of artistic activity including exhibitions and art work from the likes of Picasso, Hundertwasser, Henri Matisse, Sir Sidney Nolan, Hockney, Degas and Don McKinley to name but a few.

Vince Rea built up relationships with artists over a long period of time and they in turn trusted him for his understanding of their art and where possible his willingness to accommodate their needs.

“Bede Shows were sometime audacious.  Occasionally they took your breath away”, David Whetstone writing in the Journal, November 1996.

Vince commented before The Last Art show in 1996 “There have never been two artists alike in nearly 30 years but I have enjoyed working with them all.  They were all one-offs”.

Vince and Willa Rea not only mounted exhibitions of Contemporary Art at The Bede Gallery, they also devoted a lot of painstaking research into projects based on Jarrow’s history; collecting photographs and printed ephemera culminating in the publication of ‘Jarrow 1860-1960 From Old Photographs’ by Vince Rea.

A Maquette of ‘The Spirit of Jarrow ’, 2001, by Graham Ibbeson (1951- ) along with a working sketch is one of the many lots to be sold.  The finished piece is a bronze sculpture erected in Jarrow’s town centre to commemorate the 1936 March.  200 local men marched the 300 miles to London in March 1936 to highlight to Parliament and people in the South their plight.  At this time unemployment was at 70%, the ship yards and engineering works were closing and they were living in “a filthy, dirty, falling down, consumptive area”.

Despite considerable public sympathy the crusade made little impact even with the support of a fiery local Jarrow MP, Ellen Wilkinson who led the crusade for work.  We are selling a portrait of Ellen Wilkinson which was included in “Jarrow Impressions of a Town” at the Bede Gallery, as was the unfired model of ‘The Spirit of Jarrow’.

Graham Ibbeson has worked as a professional sculptor since 1978 and carried out many public commissions in this time.  As well as ‘The Spirit of Jarrow’, Laurel and Hardy (Ulveston, Cumbria, 2004) and Eric Morecambe (Lancashire, 1999).

On a macabre note but nonetheless an important item of local history to come under the hammer is a life size model of the last man to be hanged and gibbeted in England.

Miner William Jobling, 30, was executed over 180 years ago and his body was tarred and encased in a metal cage, which was displayed on a gibbet at Jarrow Slake in South Tyneside for six weeks.  William Jobling was convicted at Durham Assizes of killing 71-year-old local magistrate Nicholas Fairles at the height of the 1832 miners’ strike in the Durham and Northumberland coalfields.
William Jobling was with Ralph Armstrong, who a dying Fairles identified as his killer. Ralph Armstrong escaped and was never found.

Vince Rea staged an exhibition on the Jobling case in 1972, which featured a reconstruction of the miner’s gibbeted body.
After the execution, Jobling was taken from the scaffold, his clothes were removed and his body covered in pitch. He was then riveted into an iron cage, made of flat iron bars two and a half inches wide. In a wagon, drawn by two horses, his body was taken to Jarrow Slake escorted by a troop of Hussars and two companies of infantry. The gibbet was erected near the spot where the murder was committed.

William Jobling’s body then mysteriously disappeared, one theory being that fellow pitmen took it down, held a burial service, and lowered the remains into a nearby disused pit shaft. “William Jobling was the victim of tragic circumstances at a time when efforts were being made to stamp out the unions,” said Vince.

Friday 20 November 2015


It is almost 
"the most wonderful time of the year" !

Why not come along to our 
General Sale - 25th November & find a unique 
Christmas gift?







We are delighted to announce that from December 2015 Boldon Auction Galleries will be holding all their future sales live on the internet broadcast over the-saleroom.com alongside the traditional room-based Sales.  

We believe this will provide a broader online audience hugely benefiting our clients by opening Boldon Auction Galleries doors to an ever expanding global market of Purchasers and Sellers with diverse interests and tastes. 

In addition to this we are excited to tell you that we have restructured our Sale calendar and from January 2016 will be holding monthly Antique and Interiors Sales as well as continuing our General Sales.  

This will enable our traditional Fine Art and Antique Sellers to reach an even wider audience and provide a faster, efficient and more responsive service for our clients after consigning.

We are certain that this re-structuring will benefit every single client whether buyer or seller at Boldon Auction Galleries.

We look forward to the New Year with anticipation and the journey we will be taking with you.

With best wishes,



Boldon Auction Galleries

Monday 16 November 2015














We are delighted to have been asked to conduct a Sporting Auction 
to be held on Saturday 28th November at the Beresford Arms

 Proceeds will go the BASC North Young Shots and a donation will be
 made to the Northumbria Air Ambulance.


If you would like to bid for any of the lots please contact:

Giles Hodges - 0191 5372630 - info@boldonauctions.co.uk
Phil Fairless – phil.fairless@yahoo.co.uk
Sam Burns, BASC North, Shawwell Business Centre, Corbridge 
- 01434 632297

Wednesday 21 October 2015

EXTRA FREE Valuation Sessions
added to the Calendar


Saturday 14th November
and
Saturday 28th November

10am- 1pm




6 items or less please -
 if you have more items we can make you a convenient appointment

Friday 9 October 2015

Next FREE Valuation Sessions







Friday 
16th October
30th October
13th November 
10am - 12 noon and 2pm - 4pm

Saturday 
17th October
10am - 1pm 





6 items or less please - if you have more items we can make you a convenient appointment


October ..... season of mists and mellow fruitfulness .....


A busy month is upon us at Boldon Auction Galleries ........

We have two General Sales on Wednesday 14th and 28th October and are once again accepting entries for the Winter Antiques and Interiors Sale on Wednesday 9th December

If you have anything you would like valued simply for your curiosity or with a view to selling; please do consider Boldon Auction Galleries.  The valuations are free and with over 30 years experience we would love to be of service.

You can call us on 0191 537 2630, email info@boldonauctions.co.uk or pop in to the Saleroom.

We look forward to meeting you.




Monday 14 September 2015





Charity Valuation Day
at Kirkharle Courtyard, 
Newcastle Upon Tyne

on Saturday 19th September between 11am - 3pm


Bring along your forgotten treasures










FREE Open Valuations


Friday 2nd October
Friday 16th October
Friday 30th October

10am-12 noon and 2pm-4pm


Saturday 5 September 2015

Some of the lots to be offered for Auction on 16th September in the Fine Art and Antique Auction are pieces of Davidson Glass.

The firm was founded in 1867 in the Teams area of Gateshead on the south side of the River Tyne near to Newcastle upon Tyne in the North East of England and not too far from East Boldon where we are based at Boldon Auction Galleries.  
The firm was founded by George Davidson a local character who also spent his time being a butcher, councillor, singer and Lord Mayor of Gateshead (1886-1888)!

The river Tyne was the perfect spot for heavy industry such as shipbuilding and glass production due to the availability of coal for fuel and transport links from the river.  Indeed several glass firms were sited along the Tyne during this period.

Thomas Davidson took over from his father in 1888 and became manager of the firm.  He was closely involved in both design and manufacture and oversaw the modernisation of the business installing new furnaces powered by gas, oil and eventually electricity.

Cloud glass was one of Thomas Davidson's innovations, introduced in 1923 and in continual manufacture until the outbreak of the Second World War.  

Cloud glass was created by adding trails of molten darker glass to lighter glass already set in a mould then bringing the plunger down to create an object.  The surface was then acid etched to produce a matt surface giving a clouded appearance.

Cloud glass was produced in a variety of colours. 
  • Purple cloud glass - 1923
  • Amber cloud glass - 1929
  • Red coloured cloud glass - 1929
  • Orange cloud glass - 1931
  • Green cloud glass - 1934
  • Orange cloud glass - 1934
After Thomas Davidson's death the firm underwent a series of upheavals and difficulties with poor management, restrictions on the production of decorative glass as a consequence of the War and so on and the firm eventually closed in 1987.

Friday 28 August 2015


Next FREE Valuation Sessions


Friday 4th September 
10am - 12 noon and 2pm - 4pm





Friday 2nd October
10am - 12 noon and 2pm - 4pm 


6 items or less please - if you have more items we can make you a convenient appointment

The cataloguing is almost finished for the Fine Art and Antique Sale on 16th September. 

These beautiful pieces of jewellery have been consigned for sale.  

More details to follow.........





Some of the lots to be sold in our
General Sale on Wednesday
2nd September from 10am

Viewing:-
Saturday 29th August 10am-1pm
Tuesday 1st September 2pm-6pm
and morning of Sale from 9am












View our catalogue on-line on our website now.

Thursday 6 August 2015




We are open as usual throughout the Summer Holidays 
with General Sales on 19th August and 2nd September 
and our Fine Art and Antique Sale on 16th September
so whether you are interested in buying or selling 
Boldon Auction Galleries is open for you.

Monday 20 July 2015




Open for Viewing Tuesday 21st July 2pm - 6pm 
and morning of Sale from 9am.

The General sale starts promptly at 10am 
on Wednesday 22nd July.

Over 450 lots to choose from!


Lot 1 - Mini to be sold General Sale 22 July 2015 at 10am

Wednesday 15 July 2015


This Classic 1972 Mini, along with spares will be sold in our next Auction on Wednesday 22nd July at 10am.

Mileage of 5,756 and 11 months MOT.  Estimated at £5,000-£8,000.  

Come and see her on Saturday 18th July 10am-1pm, Tuesday 21st July 2pm-6pm and morning of Sale from 9am.

For all enquiries please call the Saleroom 0191 537 2630.




Take a look at our latest Auction Newsletter by clicking on this link:

Auction Alert Newsletter 22nd July 2015