It was with great sadness that we learned of the death of Derek Roberts through the excellent obituary by Leigh Extence (ATG No 2646).
We were fortunate in knowing Derek for over 40 years and buying for him in auctions since the 1980s.
The rough and tumble of the antiques trade seemed to pass Derek and Valerie’s business by and his shop was always a haven of welcoming calm.
Derek wasn’t a great fan of rushing round the country checking out and bidding for clocks in auction and that was where we came in. Price was never a great factor and he relied on quality, rarity and originality to market his stock.
We had to get up to speed fairly early as some of the prices Derek would leave us – on our descriptions – were eye-watering.
Once, we viewed the old Bonhams auction house in Newcastle upon Tyne where we spotted a Dent wall clock with a £1000-1500 estimate. A call to Derek with description elicited the rather strange request “could we please wind it up”. Rather odd – it wound backwards.
“Ah”, said Derek, “I thought it would. That is a month movement. Could you go to £10,000 but don’t lose it for a bid.” It made £1800.
Another time a rare musical clock appeared from a cellar in Dublin. We took the owner to Derek where a deal totalling £75,000 was put together for the clock. I believe it cost another £45,000 to restore it.
Meanwhile, his dear wife Valerie, plied us with tea and cakes. Derek was a gentleman. Sharp practice was an anathema to him. His usual reply to something offered by us over the phone was “yes, that should be alright”. As far as I can remember it always was.
He will be greatly missed and we would like to pass our condolences on to his widow Valerie, his son and his grandson.
Jenny and Ray Norman
J&R Norman Antiques, Suffolk
Man of many talents
Leigh Extence’s obituary to Derek Roberts hit all the plaudits surely due to that remarkable man of many talents.
I have all their catalogues, including the exceptional Edward Cockey astronomical clock depicted in Leigh’s obituary.
When Derek visited my home, I surprised him that in 1975, I had option to buy his Cockey and a Fromanteel night clock.
The attractively priced Cockey proved too tall for my gallery in Roermond (NL) and the Fromanteel beyond my means.
Both clocks were repatriated; to Derek the Cockey, to the Isle of Man the Fromanteel.
Derek kindly gave me a set of large black and white photographs of Cockey’s amazing astronomical movement.
He truly was a generous man in sharing his encyclopaedic knowledge.
Keith Piggott
St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex
