Our last auction was held on 22nd, 23rd & 24th March 2024
Knights Auctioneers last auction of Cricket, Football & Sporting Memorabilia was held on Friday 22nd, Saturday 23rd & Sunday 24th March 2024. The sale included over 1450 lots and we have included some highlights below.
To view the results from the auction click here
Lot 263 Westerwald stoneware cricket stein, moulded in relief with eight cameo panels of a batsman, fielder and wicket-keeper, six larger and two smaller, all believed to be modelled on W.G. Grace, in different poses, coloured in cobalt blue on a grey background. 12" high. German circa 1890. A large and impressive example of this German pottery. Very good condition. One of four lots featuring Westerwald pottery Hammer £680
Lot 209 Australian tour of England 1902. Essex County Cricket Club letterhead beautifully signed by fourteen members of the Australian touring team to England in 1902. Signatures include Darling (Captain), Noble, Armstrong, Trumper, Hill, Jones, Kelly, Saunders, Gregory etc. A rare collection of signatures from this early tour Hammer £2600
Lot 253 George John Bonnor. New South Wales & Australia 1881-1891. An excellent sepia cabinet card photograph of Bonnor, half length wearing blazer with flower to label. Inscrided to the lower border 'G.J. Bonnor, autograph on back', Signed and dedicated to verso in black ink 'With my kindest regards to Harry Hislop, June 29th 1884 and signed G.J. Bonnor'. The cabinet card by Stilliard & Co, Oxford. An early and very rare signature of an Australian colossus Hammer £1400
Lot 1216 First Test Match in England. England v. Australia 1880. Early and rare original single sided scorecard for the match played at Kennington Oval, 6th- 8th September 1880. The scorecard with the players listed for the start of play and incomplete scores for England's first innings in pencil. Printed by John Sharp of Ludgate Hill. A rare scorecard from the first Test match in England Hammer unsold
Lot 758 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 1898. 35th edition. Original hardback. A rare early hardback edition in lovely condition Hammer £4000
Lot 266 'Cricket at Windsor Castle meat dish'. A very large shaped oval Goodwin & Harris 'Metropolitan Scenery' meat dish printed in blue and embellished with a scene of Windsor Castle and the Thames to foreground featuring a cricket match to the foreground with trees and foliage to sides. The dish measures 19.75" wide by 15". Circa 1830/40's. A rare and impressive dish in lovely original condition Hammer £2600
Lot 248 Ernest Jones. South Australia, Western Australia & Australia 1892-1908. Excellent sepia cabinet card vignette photograph of Jones depicted full length in bowling pose, wearing his Australian Test cap. Nicely signed in black ink to the photograph 'Sincerely Yours Ernest Jones'. Cabinet card by E. Hawkins & Co, Brighton Hammer £800
Lot 325 Alfred Percy Freeman. Kent & England 1914-1936. Nine carat gold open faced pocket watch with Freeman's initials 'A.P.F.' to back of case. Swiss made. Hallmarks to inside case cover for Birmingham 1924 and makers mark 'A.L.D.' for A.L. Dennison of Birmingham. Lovely condition Hammer £1250
Lot 228 '20th Australian Team to Great Britain 1948'. Original official mono photograph of the Australian team, standing and seated in rows, wearing tour blazers. Printed title to top border and players' names to lower border. Very nicely signed to the mount by all nineteen members of the touring party. Signatures include Bradman (Captain), Lindwall, Saggers, Harvey, Hamence, Hassett, I. Johnson, Barnes etc. Photograph by Sport & General Press Agency, London. Overall 20"x15.5". A nice image and excellent signatures. Hammer £1800
Lot 208 Hastings Cricket Week 1905. Gentlemen of the South v Players of the South, Hastings, 7th to 9th September 1905. Large autograph page very nicely signed in ink by twenty one of the players who featured in the match which was drawn. Signatures include Tom Hayward, Ernest Haynes, Ernest Killick, Joe Vine, Len Braund, Relf, Lees, Lord Dalmeny, Marshall, Raphael, Crawford, Jessop, Goldie, W.G. Grace, Robson, Knox etc. Additional signatures include Henry Phillips (Sussex 1868-1891). A good and rare collection of early cricket signatures Hammer £400
Lot 267 'The Boss'. A Royal Doulton 'Black Boy' bone china Burke beaker, entitled 'The Boss' printed with a boy in red shirt and a floppy hat, wearing an umpires's coat and holding a bat, 'The All Black Team' crest to verso. Green floral decoration to top rim. 4" tall. Circa 1907. A rarer shaped 'Black Boy' item Hammer £500
Lot 478 Edward Wentworth Dillon. Kent 1900-1923. Vanity Fair. Original Vanity Fair colour chromolithograph of Dillon wearing striped blue blazer and holding a bat to side entitled ‘The Champion County’ and dated September 13th 1913 Men of the Day 2339 by artist OWL. Good original condition with full margin. Good/very good condition. Rare Hammer £750
Lot 608 Australia tour to England 1930. Rare sepia photograph of the Orient Line R.M.S. 'Oronsay', the ship that took the touring team back to Australia, leaving Southampton on the 27th September and arriving in Melbourne on the 3rd November 1930. Very nicely signed in ink to the photograph by seventeen members of the touring party including Woodfull (Captain), Richardson, a'Beckett, Fairfax, Bradman, Oldfield, Kippax, Ponsford, Jackson, McCabe, Grimmett and Hornibrook. The photograph measures 11"x7". Good/very good condition. Hammer £280
Lot 640 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 1906. 43rd edition. Original hardback. Very good/excellent condition with bright gilt titles to front board and spine paper Hammer £1200
Lot 1176 Richard Henry Colley. Oxford University, Oxfordshire and Shropshire 1853 to 1866. Small early original ticket and scorecard for 'A Grand Cricket Match, at The Christ Church Cricket Ground between Eleven of England and Fifteen of Oxfordshire, played on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday May 23, 24 and 25 1953’. Titles and details of the match printed to one side of the ticket/scorecard with red wax seal to lower border and printed to the other side the scorecard of the match with printed titles and players names. This original ticket and scorecard belonged to Richard Colley. Along with the ticket and scorecard is a leather bound edition of 'Lillywhite's Cricket Scores and Biographies’, Volume IV which also belonged to Colley and he has signed the front end paper and there is some handwritten annotation to the odd page within the book where he features. A very rare early ticket and scorecard and with the book, good association. Hammer £280
Lot 206 Thomas Robert 'Tom' McKibbin. New South Wales & Australia 1894-1899. Rare early signature in black ink of McKibbin signed 'Tom R. McKibbin Aust XI 1896' to a trimmed bookplate printed image of McKibbin depicted head and shoulders in formal attire. Very good condition. Hammer £500
Lot 804 Yorkshire C.C.C. annual 1893. 1st year of issue. 100pp. Edited by J.B. Wostinholm. J. Robertshaw, Sheffield, printer. Original maroon boards with tooled decoration, titles in gilt to front board with white rose emblem to centre, gilt to page edges. The rare and elusive first edition Hammer £1500
Lot 350 John Arlott. B.B.C. and Test Match Special' commentator 1946 to 1980. Pewter cigar box, apparently presented to John Arlott by the B.C.C. following his final broadcast at Lord's in 1980. The cigar box with inscription to lid 'J.A. 1946-1980' with cricket stumps and cricket ball to sides, the two sides with 'ball by ball' to opposite sides. Very good condition. A unique item Hammer £700
Lot 446 Charles Phillip Mead. Hampshire & England 1905-1936. Gunn & Moore 'Autograph' cricket bat used by Mead in the cricket season of 1934 to make centuries against the Australians at Southampton and Yorkshire at Bournemouth. The bat has the handwritten ink inscription to the face which states 'With this bat I scored 139 v Australians [and] 123 v Yorkshire and signed and dated Phil Mead 1934' , to the lower part of the bat is written 'C.P. Mead. Born March 9th 1887. Hampshire C.C.C’ Hammer £450
![Lot 514
All India tour to England 1936. Original sepia press photograph depicting ten of the Indian team walking on to the field for the opening match of the 1936 tour v A.P. [Tich] Freeman's XI at the Bat and Ball Ground, Maidstone, 29th April 1936](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6170539f9de5005591e466e3/1d571cf6-a3ee-477e-a301-75c917615323/84_0514.jpg)
Lot 514 All India tour to England 1936. Original sepia press photograph depicting ten of the Indian team walking on to the field for the opening match of the 1936 tour v A.P. [Tich] Freeman's XI at the Bat and Ball Ground, Maidstone, 29th April 1936. The photograph is nicely signed in ink to the photograph by all the players featured. Signatures include Palia, Nissar, Nayudu, Vizianagram, Ramaswami, Amarnath, Mushtaq Ali, Merchant etc. The photograph by Sport & General, London, measures 10”x8.25" Hammer £260
Lot 1174 Sussex v. Kent 1850. Early small original single sided printed scorecard with scores showing the 'State of the Game 1 1/2 o'Clock' on the second day's play in the match played at C.H. Gausden's (Royal Brunswick) Ground, Hove, 17th- 19th June 1850. The scorecard depicts Sussex's complete first innings of 182, E. Bushby top scorer with 49, and Kent's score standing at 110/5. Kent went on to reach 207, Fuller Pilch making 41, T.M. Adams 39, and Nicholas Felix 31, with John Wisden taking five wickets for Sussex. Printed for G. Mant by Phillips & Co. Very good condition Hammer £320
Lot 935 Victor Trumper. New South Wales & Australia 1894-1913. Mono real photograph postcard of Trumper, full length, in batting attire with bat held to side. Nicely signed in black ink by Trumper. Photo by Thiele. Ralph Dunn & Co. Postally dated 1905. Good condition Hammer £950
Lot 793 'Arthur Wellard 1902-1980. (Somerset, England and Gaieties)'. Harold Pinter. Privately published booklet by the author 1981. 11 pages, frontispiece team portrait of the Gaities C.C. including Wellard, original stiffened card wrappers, 8vo. This copy of this scarce booklet is accompanied by a two page handwritten letter, on '52 Campden Hill Square, London' headed paper, dated April 27th 1985 from Harold Pinter to Mrs Wellard 'I remember Arthur with the deepest affection. He was a wonderful man. I do hope you are keeping well'. Signed 'Warm Regards Harold Pinter'. Also a letter from Mrs Wellard to Bill (W.H.R.) Andrews (Somerset 1930-1947) sending a copy of Pinter booklet. A rare booklet with accompanying letter from Pinter and Wellard's widow Hammer £750
Lot 818 'W. Duthoit's Yorkshire Cricketers' Guide for 1878. Published by W. Duthoit of Leeds. Only year of publication. Original pink wrappers. Photoplate of Ephraim Lockwood opposite title page. Splitting and small loss to spine, some wear to wrappers, internally in good/ very good condition Hammer Unsold