An auction of Giles’ memorabilia proved testament to the enduring charm of the iconic Suffolk artist’s work when 33 lots were sold for more £15,000 today.
Dozens of cartoons and other collectibles by Giles went under the hammer at Lockdales in Barrack Square, Martlesham this morning.
Bidders in the packed auction rooms paid out a total of £15,250 for a raft of items from cartoons to a jigsaw puzzle, which sold for £20.
Five of Giles’ original drawings were on offer with the most sought after lot being the 1986 RNLI Christmas card cover which went for £3,000.
Giles, who died in 1995 at the age of 78, lived and worked in Tuddenham St Martin, near Ipswich.
He left school, aged 14 and began work as an animator.
Giles was one of the chief contributors to The Fox Hunt, the first animated British colour cartoon with sound.
In October 1937, he went to work for Reynolds News.
In 1943 Giles joined the Express newspaper group, working on the Daily Express and contributing a cartoon each week to the Sunday Express.
Giles became best known for his Express ‘family’, especially the vast, dominant figure of Grandma who was the clan’s matriarch.
James Sadler, the Lockdales auction manager, was amazed at the interest shown by bidders.
He said: “It was quite unbelievable. This was the strongest ever Giles’ section that we have put under the hammer. The RNLI Christmas card cover went for a staggering £3,000 which was the highest of all the lots by quite some way.
Virtually everything went for more than we thought it would.
“There is still a great passion for the incredible character and artist that was Giles. Even now, many years after his death, people can relate to him.”
Meanwhile among the other lots auctioned off today was a signed oil painting of a falcon done by notorious East End gangster Reggie Kray when he was in Wayland prison, near Thetford.
The picture went to an Ipswich buyer for £1,000 after keen bidding between the purchaser and another interested party from London.
Kray died in Norwich in October, 2000, after losing a battle with cancer. He had been freed from jail on August 26 because of his deteriorating health
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