Rod Stewart furniture 'clear out' makes star £90k

Jeff J Mitchell Sir Rod Stewart performingJeff J Mitchell
Sir Rod Stewart was keen for a local company to auction off his furniture

Sir Rod Stewart has had a "good old-fashioned clear out" and sold his unwanted furniture and ornaments for just under £90,000.

The singer, who has a mansion in Sheering, near Harlow, auctioned off a number of items at Sworders' Fine Art in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex.

A pair of Victorian leather armchairs were the most popular items, with the hammer coming down at £7,600.

A spokesman for Sworders said the sales room had been "jam-packed".

The auction had originally been expected to raise up to £40,000.

Sir Rod, 73, who was knighted in 2016, is famous for such hits as Maggie May, Sailing and Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?

Sworders Fine Art A collection of items in the saleSworders Fine Art
These Victorian leather armchairs were the most popular auction item with the pair selling for £7,600

There were just under 40 lots in the collection with estimates ranging from £60 to £3,000. All of the items listed were sold.

Among those were a pair of gilt bronze-mounted side tables, which were snapped up for £6,200, a pair of late 19th Century pier mirrors, which sold for almost double the guide price at £5,000, and a set of four gilt bronze two-branch wall lights, which went under the hammer at £2,800.

Sworders also had a limited number of signed auction catalogues the proceeds of which went to children's charity.

Sworders Fine Art A teak lounge armchairSworders Fine Art
This teak leopard print lounge chair was snapped up for £3,800
Sworders Fine Art A cold painted spelter figure of a black musicianSworders Fine Art
A cold painted spelter figure of a banjo player sold for £2,900 - way over the £700 estimate

Emma McCann, of Sworders, said that most bidders came from the UK but there had also been a lot of interest from India, Greece and Germany.

She added: "There were 37 lots from Rod and all sold at well over the estimate.

"We certainly noticed a spike in attendance - we had approximately three times the number of online registered bidders and the sales room was jam-packed."