A pair of Elizabethan candlesticks brought one of the biggest surprises in the Mitchells antiques and fine art sale in Cockermouth last week when they made £8,000, more than 32 times their estimate.

The carved oak candlesticks, dating from around 1580, were expected to fetch £250 to £300.

Being sold on behalf of the estate of a late collector from the Furness area, the candlesticks were sold to another private collector.

Other high-value items included a Jacobite japenned steel tobacco box featuring a portrait of Bonny Prince Charlie, which sold for £4,600, and a rare Georgian painted bone child's alphabet tablet, which fetched £1,400.

An 18th century snuffbox carved in the shape of a tortoise and featuring a tortoiseshell interior made £2,600, while a snuffbox carved into the shape of a toad sold for £600.

Two 17th century embroidered stumpwork pictures of King Charles II with courtiers in exile and Queen Catherine with attendants fetched £3,400.

Fine artworks by modern artists also featured in the sale.

A signed oil on canvas painting The Bustle by Welsh-born artist Shani Rhys James made £7,900.

Oil on board painting Four Fishermen by Prunella Clough sold for £5,000 and an oil on card painting titled Chalice by John Wells reached £2,900.

All the hammer prices can be viewed on the Mitchells website.

Mitchells' next antiques and fine art sale will be on May 1 and 2.