LAWRENCE'S 750-lot sale of silver and vertu was highly successful, with some outstanding lots - including a car boot sale find bought for 20p and sold for more than £2,300.

Organisers said there were many strong prices to show the strength and breadth of the field.

Among them were a substantial pair of communion flagons in early 18th Century style, but made as presentation pieces in 1933.

Standing at 47cm high and weighing a mighty 210oz, these made £6,500 (lot 991).

A generously-proportioned Queen Anne tankard by John Langwith of York, 1709, more than doubled hopes of £2,000 to make £4,500 (lot 723) but, for those who prefer their drinks in smaller measures, a Channel Islands mug by Pierre Amiraux, c1775-1800, roared above a high estimate of £1,000 to make £6,250 (lot 693).

With similar success, a George IV mustard pot with three greyhounds at its base and a hare finial was chased above its £700 estimate to a remarkable £5,000 (lot 691).

A William IV salver by William Kerr Reid, 1831, was sold with its original oak travelling case and took £6,500 (lot 739), while bids for a rare early 18th Century Dutch `Lighthouse` sugar caster by Eustachius R de Jongh of Utrecht, 1706, shone out and took the price up to £7,500 (lot 742).

Somerset County Gazette: 742
Lot 742

Snuff boxes are not often bigger than a modern cigarette packet and sometimes only the size of a matchbox, so a 15.7cm wide example with a fine presentation inscription from 1849 appealed to a sufficient number of collectors to exceed hopes of £2,000 before making £4,000 (lot 1249).

The day's top price was paid for a very distinctive and desirably scarce late Elizabeth I steeple cup and cover, generously awarded as a racing prize in 1928.

The tall and elaborate salt container, destined only for the grandest dining table when it was made in 1602, took bids up to £37,500 (lot 1016).

However, one of the best surprises (for its lucky finder) was for a rare spoon with an acorn knop, judged to be c1300 in date.

It was described candidly as being `in a crushed and contorted state with much denting in the bowl` which might explain why it had ended up in a tray of mixed modern cutlery at a car boot fair.

Lawrences' lucky London vendor spotted it for just 20p and his hunch was rewarded with a final price of £2,375 (lot 648).

The day's total exceeded £375,000.

Somerset County Gazette: 648
Lot 648 - the 20p car boot sale find