This year marks 200 years of Duke’s, founded less than a decade after Napoleon was defeated at the Battle of Waterloo.
The first auction was held in Weymouth and a poster advertising the sale highlighted some of the lots, which included, rather appropriately for a seaside town, a ship’s mainsail.

Thomas Hardy was well acquainted with Duke’s and undoubtedly observed some of the great country house sales conducted by the firm in the 19th century.
An auction at Came House in 1898 included a ‘a noble set of Tudor dining chairs’, as well as the contents of the kitchen.
When Hardy’s second wife died it was Duke’s that sold the contents of Maxgate.
Looking forward to 2023, the calendar is packed full of more specialist auctions than ever before.

Regular Interiors, two private collections and the second instalment of the hugely popular Sporting and Natural History auction, this time with the addition of two private and impressive collections – one of taxidermy and the other cockfighting memorabilia.
Duke’s offers confidential free valuations for sale and entries are being invited for many upcoming auctions.
Find more information and the auction calendar on Duke’s website, www.dukes-auctions.com