Lot 343: A George Morland mezzotint published in 1814, the

General Conditions of Sale -

1. The highest bidder shall be the purchaser except in the case of a dispute. If during the sale the Auctioneer considers that a dispute has arisen, he has absolute discretion to settle it or to re-offer the lot.
2. The Auctioneer has absolute discretion to divide any lot, to combine any two or more lots or to withdraw any lot or lots from the sale, to refuse bids, regulate bidding or cancel the sale without in any case giving a reason or without previous notice. He may bid on behalf of the Vendor for all goods that are being offered subject to a reserve or at the Auctioneer's discretion.
3. All conditions, notices, descriptions, statements and other matters in the catalogue and elsewhere concerning any lot are subject to any statements modifying or affecting the same made by the Auctioneer prior to any bid being accepted for the lot.
4. Each lot as set out in the catalogue or as divided or combined with any other lot(s) is sold by the Vendor with all faults, imperfections and errors of description.
5. The Auctioneers do not accept responsibility for the authenticity, attribution, genuineness, origin, authorship, date, age, period, condition or quality of any lot, unless they have been specifically instructed to do so by the Vendor in writing so to certify, and in such cases the Auctioneers do so as Agents of the Vendor and are not themselves responsible for such claims.
6. Inspection. Each purchaser by making a bid for a lot acknowledges that he or she has satisfied himself or herself fully before bidding by inspection or otherwise as to all the Sale Conditions, the physical condition of and description of the lot, but not restricted to whether the lot is damaged or has been repaired or restored.
7. Each lot is at the sole risk of the Purchaser from the fall of the hammer. However, legal title shall not pass to the Purchaser until the lot(s) has been paid for, the price being the hammer price plus Buyer's Premium.
8. Each Purchaser shall forthwith give upon request his or her full names and permanent address, and if called upon to do so by the Auctioneer shall pay forthwith Jim Railton such proportion of the purchase price as the auctioneer may require. If the Purchaser fails to do so, the lot may at the Auctioneer's discretion be put up again and re-sold.
9. Removal of goods. No lot or lots to be removed until the whole of the Purchaser's account is paid in full. All purchases shall be paid for and removed at the Buyer's risk and expense. The Auctioneers will provide storage for purchased items at no additional cost to the Purchaser for a period of up to three calendar days after the day of the sale. If purchased items are not collected within this period, the Auctioneers may exercise the right to charge the Purchaser for the storage of uncollected purchases at a rate of £1 per working day per lot plus VAT, with charges not exceeding the total hammer price of the purchased lot(s) or £50 exclusive of VAT.
10. In the event of any failure of the Purchaser to comply with any of the above conditions, the damages recoverable by the Auctioneers from the defaulter shall include any loss arising on any resale of the lot, together with charges and expenses in respect of both sales, and together with interest at 2% above the Base Rate upon the price of any lot which has not been paid for within 48 hours of sale, and any money deposited in part payment shall be held by the Auctioneers on account of any liability of the defaulter to them.

Note: All electrical and mechanical goods are sold on the basis of their artistic and decorative value only and should not be assumed to be operative. It is essential that any electrical system is checked and approved by a suitable qualified electrician prior to use.

Once items are paid for, we like to see the lots 'away' to their new homes as quickly as possible.

You can collect during the auction, or during the days immediately following the sale. As our saleroom space is limited, we often have to remove items to our warehouse, so that we can set up the next sale.

We spend a great number of days packing and posting parcels after each auction, and this does take time, so please be patient. Once items are paid for, they go into a dispatch queue. If you wish to add the postage and packing cost to your purchase monies, that is acceptable. However please bear in mind that it takes quite a long time to carefully bubblewrap an object, find a suitable box, secure and label up clearly, and then take to a Post Office.

We pride ourselves on packing carefully and thoroughly and charge accordingly 'at cost'. From glass to jewellery, ceramics to pictures - very rarely do items get damaged or go missing with our despatch department. However you must instruct us exactly what you wish to be done with your purchases, and how you want them to be sent.

We use a number of different carriers/couriers/removal firms/shippers for our deliveries, and we are able to supply quotations to any part of the UK or abroad.

A buyers premium of 20% of the hammer price plus VAT is charged on all lots purchased at the auction. There is no VAT payable on the hammer price amount, except in the most unusual circumstances

You can pay by cash, cheque, bankers draft, debit card or credit card. On some cards we do add a 2.5% surcharge to cover the costs of processing. We request that all items are paid for before collection.

Our main catalogue descriptions are deliberately short 'one liners'. This is what appears in the printed catalogue alongside the illustration. On the website we also have the Auctioneers Report on each individual lot. This comments on the condition of the lot, where it has come from, age, colour, provenance, extra dimensions, etc.

Sometimes prospective buyers require further information and detail about lots, and we are delighted to supply this along with extra photographs, etc.

For Estate sales we do not have such detail on the lots, but we are happy to supply as much information as we can do about individual lots. For example - "is a washing machine working?" "Are the curtains lined?" "Are there any chips on the Doulton dinner service", etc.