The Rural Home And Its Decorative Objects


June 2026

There is something quietly particular about the rural home. Accumulated over generations rather than assembled at once, it tends to hold objects that have simply always been there: a longcase clock in the hallway that nobody quite remembers arriving, a dresser in the kitchen laden with mismatched but characterful ceramics, a sampler above the fireplace that was old when the house was young. These are not showrooms or curated interiors. They are lived-in spaces, and it is precisely that quality which makes them so interesting from a collector's point of view.

Join us on this journey as we take you from room to room and look at the kinds of decorative objects that furnish the traditional country home. Whether you have inherited a house full of contents, are considering downsizing, or simply have pieces that have long outlived their usefulness, it is worth understanding what you may have around you and what these sell for at auction.

From the Mantelpiece

The mantelpiece has always been the natural home of the things we want to look at most. In a country house, that tends to mean figurines with a story behind them, pieces collected with quiet enthusiasm, or the occasional small treasure whose quality was recognised long before its value was. 
Equestrian subjects feature with pleasing regularity here. A Royal Worcester limited edition group depicting showjumper Stroller and rider Marion Coakes, modelled by Doris Lindner, sold for £200, while a Beswick limited edition Thelwell figure of The Champions, grouped with six further Thelwell ponies and a Gray's example, sold for £120. A late 18th century enamel snuff box, its cover decorated with a horse racing scene and inscribed 'Racing', sold for £130. 

Placed & Admired

Not everything in a country home sits in a cabinet or hangs on a wall. Some of the most characterful pieces are simply placed where they have always been, on a side table, beside a hearth, on a windowsill, quietly appreciated without ever being formally assessed.
Three cold painted bronze terriers, two Airedales and one Kerry Blue, the latter stamped 'Austria' to the underside, sold for £85. A pair of 19th century copper coal scuttles, circular in form and raised on stepped feet with hinged covers, sold for £85. A Georgian harewood tea caddy of square form, inlaid with paterae and complete with its original key, sold for £130. Modest sums perhaps, but each a reminder that the everyday objects of a well-furnished home carry a history worth recognising.

Collected & Cherished 

Every country home seems to harbour at least one collection that began without any intention of becoming one. A pot lid acquired here, a sampler noticed there, and slowly, almost without realising it, something worth preserving takes shape. 
A group of ten Victorian Prattware pot lids, among them 'Lend a Bite', 'The Village Wedding', 'Strasburg' and 'The Late Prince Consort', sold for £65. A 19th century sampler by Mary Allanson, dated 1834 and worked with the alphabet above an apple tree, flowering baskets, animals and a vine border, sold for £120. Fifty centimetres square and over a hundred and ninety years old, it is the kind of object that carries a name, a date and a life quietly stitched into every row.

Pantry to Table 

The ceramics of a country kitchen tell their own story. Handed down, added to and used without much ceremony, they tend to combine the decorative with the deeply practical in a way that few other objects manage.
A pair of Dutch Delft pieces, an 18th century fluted plate decorated in blue and white with figures in a landscape and a vase painted with oriental flowers, sold for £95. A collection of Spode Italian blue and white tea and dinner wares, including a soup tureen and cover, a coffee pot and various further pieces, sold for £90. Familiar patterns on well-used pieces, and still finding appreciative new homes.

Bring It to Market

From the mantelpiece to the kitchen dresser, these are objects that have been lived with, loved and passed on, and they continue to find willing buyers who understand exactly what they are.

If you have similar objects at home, our forthcoming Country Living Sale would be a natural home for them. We are inviting entries of fine oak and pine furniture, folk and primitive art, tapestries and samplers, decorative garden pieces, Prattware, slipware, rustic ceramics, copper and brass, and architectural and salvage pieces.

Entries close at Duggleby Stephenson on Friday 26 June and at David Duggleby on Thursday 13 August.
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