A PIECE of 17th Century Italian furniture has sold for £66,000 at auction.

The table cabinet, made of crocus wood inlaid with hard stone, was one of 1,469 lots on sale at Tennants Auctioneers, in Leyburn, North Yorkshire.

The cabinet had been valued at between £4,000 and £6,000 but following interest from trade bidders and telephone bidders in London, it far exceeded the estimate.

Two shipbuilder's precision models, pictured in The Northern Echo before last month's sale, also exceeded their estimates.

Formerly on display at the Cleveland Scientific Institute, in Middlesbrough, the steel screw steamer sold for £5,500 and the single screw motor oil tanker for £3,500.

A picture of Hartlepool harbour by North-East artist John Wilson Carmichael, which was signed and dated 1864, was bought privately for £27,000.

The auction of antiques, jewellery and fine art achieved a net sale total of £1.42m.