was a sell-out at an auction over the weekend.

The centrepiece, a rare 1740s Queen Anne Bermuda cedar highboy, fetched what it was expected to, Somers Realty auctioneer Ms Robin Sheppard said.

The piece was expected to fetch between $30,000 and $50,000, although Somers Realty declined to give the exact amount, or how much the auction made overall.

There was standing room only at the auction which attracted some 200 people, Miss Sheppard said.

Auctioneers had called it a "once in a lifetime opportunity'' to buy early Bermudian and English antiques.

Almost the entire contents of "Ardsheal'', an old Bermuda home atop Paget's Rural Hill, were auctioned off.

The extensive 400-item collection featured numerous other pieces of old Bermuda cedar and mahogany furniture, including three gate leg tables, a gilt mantle mirror, Queen Anne cedar chests, a mahogany table which seats 14 and a nine-foot Chickering grand piano.