Contents of 17th century manor house in Derbyshire fetch four times the estimated price at auction

More than 1,000 bidders from the UK, Europe and America were attracted by the contents of a £1million manor house in Burnaston which was built in the 17th century.

Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons which conducted the auction, said: “We expected an overall sales figure of around £10,000 for The Old Hall contents but achieved four times that. The final total surpassed £40,000.

“The huge success of this auction is down to The Old Hall’s Derbyshire provenance. Americans and Canadians in particular love to own a piece of old England."

Antiques from the 17th century were among more than 200 lots in the online auction in which no reserve prices were set and everything started at £5.

The lots with Oriental pedigree proved to be the most desirable. The top-selling item was a framed oil on board of a Chinese harbour scene plus a framed and glazed map of Southern India which reached £3,600.

In a similar vein, a framed oil on canvas of an Oriental harbour scene was contested to £1,900 and another Oriental painting reached £1,050.

The desirability of Oriental items came to the fore again with a brown glazed jardiniere decorated with a Chinese dragon, two Chinese teapots with metal mounts and a Chinese jar and cover which realised a total of £800.

A Chinese bronze Shang Dynasty temple figure, reached £750,

The sale of contents included everything from sought-after antiques and artwork to a kitchen table, ride-on lawnmower, one-armed bandit, cutlery, Elvis Presley records, garden tools and ceramics.

Mr Hanson added: “The fact that the sale was done in situ with technical support from our Etwall saleroom also made it special. Selling items at a property was how auctions were done in Victorian times. The auctioneer would stand on a chair and guide people from room to room to view and bid on objects. Modern technology has enabled us to produce a modern version of this and make it accessible to an audience online."