Italian dish from Lowood House sells for £1m at auction

A rare 16th Century dish from a country house in the Scottish Borders has sold for more than £1m at auction.

The maiolica work - attributed to Nicola da Urbino - was part of a sale of the contents of Lowood House near Melrose.

It had been expected to fetch between £80,000 and £120,000 but ended up being sold for £1,040,000.

Gavin Strang, managing director with auctioneers Lyon and Turnbull, said it was a "privilege" to handle the sale.

He said it was "unprecedented" for an item from such an early period of maiolica production to come to market.

"As the auctioneer, it was a real joy to bring the hammer down at over £1m on this incredibly rare dish - a new world record price I believe," he said.

"The whole story of its discovery tucked away in a drawer, through the meticulous research carried out by our specialists, and then fierce international bidding on auction day has been exciting from beginning to end."

The small dish, depicting the biblical story of Delilah cutting Samson's hair, was one of the highlights of the Lowood House auction.

Bidding started at £65,000 but quickly rose as online buyers vied to secure the piece, which measures about 27cm (11in) in diameter.

The Lowood House sale featured the "eclectic collection" amassed by two families - the Crum Ewings and the Hamiltons.

The Crum Ewing's fortunes were established by James Ewing, who was Lord Provost and MP for Glasgow in the early 19th Century.

He bought Strathleven House in West Dunbartonshire and decorated his home with paintings and artworks - many gathered in a European tour in 1844.

He mentions buying the maiolica dish in his diary of that 13-month trip.

After his death Strathleven House passed through the family to relations Constance Crum Ewing and her husband, Ian Hamilton, who later moved to Lowood in 1947.

They added new elements to the art collection which also formed part of the sale.