Pulling out the stops
As the gavel fell at Reeman Dansie Auctioneers in Colchester on 26th November 2014, a round of applause filled the room. An ‘unusual Victorian corkscrew’, estimated to fetch around £400–£600, had sold for an eye-watering £40,000 to an anonymous buyer. It was – and remains – the most expensive corkscrew sold at auction, ever.
‘It was a rare ratchet mechanism Charles Osborne-patented corkscrew made using iron and wood that was in the foundation of the Old London Bridge for 656 years,’ enthuses Reading-based collector and
