Incredible amount of antique collectables up for sale

THE estate of Arthur Nicholls, featuring around 1200 lots of antique, vintage and collectable items, will be sold at auction in an online clearing sale held by Embling Rural. Arthur’s son, Wayne Nicholls, organised the lots over more than 12 months and gave this masthead a tour of the items for sale. There is a great mix of old farm and workshop items, vintage tools, tins, bottles, household pieces, memorabilia, collectables, unique treasures from years gone by, etcetera. Arthur and Wendy Nicholls lived in Merton and Kanumbra for a number of years, before moving to Alexandra in retirement. “Dad was always into antiques,” Wayne said. “He loved his tools and he loved doing things up, so there’s quite a bit of stuff that he did up over time. “And then Mum always had nice china and nice glasses in the house.” Wayne hopes that the items being sold are passed on to people that appreciate their value. “I would hope that this sale is probably more directed at serious collectors or antique dealers or people that want to take the few items out that they really want and then pass on the rest,” he said. “The main thing that my brother and I wanted to do and I pushed really hard for, because I’m a collector and both my kids are as well, I wanted as much as possible to go back into the hands of collectors.” Wayne showed off a keg tap holder from an early Carlton keg, a rare find, as well as vintage aeroplane models, old tools, and a wire cutter used in World War I. “There’s a big variety of stuff,” he said. “Weird stuff, unusual stuff, stuff that you’re not sure how it works but someone else will know.” He spent a decent amount of time and effort breaking the lots down as small as possible, meaning people can target specific items. Any smaller and all the lots wouldn’t have fit in the sheds and the house. As it is, there are three sheds full of lots and at least four rooms occupied by the sale in the house. This includes a room with some of Wendy’s paintings, a number of which won prizes. “She used to always try to put stuff in the art shows,” Wayne said. The auction starts at 12pm on 6 November and ends at 5pm on 9 November. For more information and to view the available lots, visit emblingrural.com.au/online-auctions/#!/auctions/e550338b-e026-4dc4-8161-beb6a71761a3?ic=48