The co-owners of Whitchurch’s auction house Trevanion and Dean are celebrating hitting a record £250,000 in one day’s sales.

The house, in Station Road, held its latest auction on Saturday with everything from Renaissance to contemporary art within the 950 lots on offer.

Christina Trevanion, who also works on hit BBC shows Antiques Road Trip, as well as its celebrity counterpart, and Bargain Hunt, is delighted with their success.

“It was such a huge leap of faith for us, we could have lost everything,” she said.

“It is unbelievable to think that just three short years ago (business partner) Aaron (Dean) and I were busy sanding floors, painting walls, and praying to whoever was listening up there that people would turn up to our first auction.

Aaron agreed and insists the pair’s open approach is the reason why they have done so well, so quickly.

He added: “We are young, enthusiastic, open-minded and approachable.

“We embrace technology and all the benefits it brings to our business and we listen to our customers, ultimately, it is them that have made us the great success we are.”

Top selling lot of the day was a fine French Louis XVI style bedroom suite in the manner of Henry Dasson, bought for £550 in 1963.

The suite was hotly contested by some of the biggest names in the international furniture business before finally selling to one of seven telephone bidders for £16,500.

This was swiftly followed by a beautiful oil on canvas by Venetian artist Natale Schiavoni which sold for £10,500.

“The painting was just stunning in its composition and execution,” added Aaron. “It is rare to find such a group of ladies, each as intricately detailed as the next.

“As an observer, you felt as if you were looking into a room where this group of ladies, possibly members of the same family, were all having a chat, it was almost as if they were going to step out of the painting.”

Another unusual sale was the £6,600 achieved for a carved marble statue attributed to Joseph Edgar Boehm of Orpheus’ wife Eurydice.

Christina loved the top-selling lot in the jewellery section, with a metal detectors’ find in Nantwich in 2008; a black enamelled Momento Mori ring dated 1727.

“My knees buckled as soon as I saw this piece,” she said.

“It came in during one of our weekly free valuation days at the Whitchurch sale room, and I wandered around mesmerised by it and feeling like Gollum from Lord of the Rings for the rest of the day.

“It is such an exceptionally rare find. It is just phenomenal to think that it was buried in the ground for hundreds of years before finally seeing the light again.”