Rare 18th century cello sells for £50k at auction in Yorkshire after drawing huge interest

A rare cello has sold for £50,000 at auction in North Yorkshire having drawn bidders from all across the country.

The 18th century instrument, with a two-piece back, is believed to be English and is accompanied by full paperwork from a stringed instrument specialist.

It sold at Tennants Auctioneers’ Scientific & Musical Instruments Sale, held near Leyburn on Wednesday, along with a raft of musical pieces including modern guitars and amps.

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From the same vendor as the cello was a cello bow, stam ped with the well-regarded Parisian makers' mark of C Thomasin, which sold for £8,000.

Kegan Harrison, Scientific & Musical Instruments Specialist at Tennants Auction Centre in Leyburn with a Cello, sold with a letter describing it as 'An old late 18th cello attributed to Vincenzo Panormo'. Photographed by Tony Johnson for The Yorkshire Post.Kegan Harrison, Scientific & Musical Instruments Specialist at Tennants Auction Centre in Leyburn with a Cello, sold with a letter describing it as 'An old late 18th cello attributed to Vincenzo Panormo'. Photographed by Tony Johnson for The Yorkshire Post.
Kegan Harrison, Scientific & Musical Instruments Specialist at Tennants Auction Centre in Leyburn with a Cello, sold with a letter describing it as 'An old late 18th cello attributed to Vincenzo Panormo'. Photographed by Tony Johnson for The Yorkshire Post.

And then a private collection of guitars, which saw "buoyant" prices throughout, according to auctioneers. One, a Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Relic LPR8, sold for £4,800, while an LPR0 took £2,800.

Vintage amps were also popular, Tennants said, with a Fender Super Amp selling for £1,900 and a Fender Vibrolux Reverb for £1,800.

And perhaps most impressive of all, for collectors, was a 19th century Discbin music box, which sold for £5,500.

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Auctioneers said items such as this one, a coin-operated Polyphon at an "impressive" 22-Inches, are rarely offered at auction. This particular model, they added, with a twin glockenspiel accompaniment, has a "superb" tonal quality when played.