A World Record Breaking Beswick Horse Figure Sold at Auction!

This rare Beswick shire horse is (to our knowledge) a new world record for a Beswick figure sold at auction!

We were very pleased to have a special Beswick lot pass through our Silverdale saleroom recently as part of our November Fine Art Sale, which ended up selling for a staggering £11,300!

The horse is a variant of the model 818 Beswick Shire horse mare, which was sold in a variety of colourways that are usually worth around £20-£30 today. The 818 Shire was originally designed by Arthur Gredington in 1940, and was produced until 1999. The particular colourway of this horse is understood to be rare because the finish was apparently not easy to produce, meaning they took longer to paint. This meant they were more expensive and so not many figures sold originally.

We’d love to give you an exact number that were produced, but unfortunately we just can’t be absolutely sure – we’ve heard that potentially there are only three examples, but there’s no way to be certain that there aren’t more out there. All we know is that it’s certainly rather rare!

The prized horse ultimately found a new home with a UK-based collector. It was contested by a number of UK and overseas collectors, and took about 5 minutes to sell.

The previous record for the most expensive Beswick piece sold at auction is believed to have been £9,500 at Bonhams, for one of four casts of the Spirit of Whitfield: that particular piece had been modelled in 1987 by Graham Tongue, depicting a pit pony, called Kruger, that retired from the Chatterly Whitfield colliery in 1931.

Our own previous best price for a Beswick 818 Shire was a Strawberry Roan colourway, which sold for £6,600 back in June 2017.

To check out some other Beswick Shire horse figures from previous sales which have also fetched a good price at auction, why not give our blog “Is My Beswick Shire Horse Valuable?” a read?

How to Buy or Sell Beswick Horses at Auction

Potteries Auctions canidentify and provide valuations on a wide range of Beswick figures. Please get in touch with usto discuss how we can help you or request a call back if you are looking for an expert evaluation and are seeking to sell your porcelain pottery.

Did you know we can collect your pottery from anywhere in the UK? We also offer solutions for shipping too. We can pack and safely post your goods, perfect for transporting pieces that have been bought via our online auctions.

We’d love to hear from you if you’ve got a piece you’re looking at selling at auction, so please get in touch!