Book Collection of Silver and Antiques Expert Michael Baggott to Auction

The book collection of silver and antiques expert Michael Baggott is going to auction at Richard Winterton Auctioneers with a special timed sale over Christmas.

Catalogued across more than 150 lots, the library is a treasure trove of knowledge on 500 years of silver, silversmiths and hallmarks, with other rare volumes covering master goldsmiths, jewellery, coins, watches, glass, ceramics and furniture in depth. The auction runs from December 22 until January 2.

Michael Baggott, who appeared on the BBC daytime series Flog It!, died in January 2025 aged 51 of a heart attack following a stroke. He wrote a number of books on silver and antiques and enjoyed a major presence on social media sharing his knowledge of the field.

“Michael was a good a friend and a wonderfully warm man and a master of the world of silver and antiques,” said auctioneer Richard Winterton. “It was a privilege to have known him and when sought his help was always generously given to all. Michael really was a font of knowledge and his library reflects that, a treasure trove of information on silver and antiques ranging from Elizabethan times to the 20th century. These are the books which buoyed Michael’s incredible encyclopaedic prowess and I think he would be delighted that his personal copies will go on to inspire and inform other experts and passionate enthusiasts alike.”

Highlights include:

• volumes one, two and three of Silver Spoons And Hallmarks by Commander George Evelyn Paget How in collaboration with Jane Penrice How, privately printed London 1957
• all three volumes of British And Continental Gold And Silver In The Ashmolean Museum by Timothy Schroder
• specialist works dedicated to nutmeg graters, pomanders and spice boxes, miniatures, English porcelain, the designs of William de Morgan, and Lalique
• directories of gold and silversmiths plus yearbooks, journals and catalogues

Born in Birmingham, Michael Baggott’s interest in antiques began as a boy. He went on to work at Christie's and then Sotheby’s before becoming a private consultant in antique silver. His collection of antique furniture sold with Richard Winterton Auctioneers earlier in December.