MULLEN'S of Laurel Park reports that the company's first auction of 1997 attracted record numbers of viewers and made a total of £125,000, with some 90 per cent of lots sold. Top price at the sale was £3,900 for a 19th century Chippendale diningroom suite, comprising six chairs, two carvers and a telescopic D end table with two loose leaves.

A pair of French Napoleon III bronze ewers sold for £3,100; a pair of 19th century French pietra dura pedestals, also French made £2,200; a George II style bureau bookcase sold for £2,000; a set of eight oak dining chairs dating from circa 1880 fetched £1,900, and a Chinese Chippendale style mahogany four poster bed with panelled canopy went for £1,700.

Other good prices included: £1,600 for a Victorian style telescopic dining table; £1,500 for a set of eight Victorian style mahogany dining chairs; the same price for a Regency style white statuary marble fireplace; the same price for a 19th century French boulle credenza; £1,250 for a white marble figure of a young girl; and £1,200 for a Georgian mahogany dumb waiter, circa 1820.