Rare Mouseman furniture and 15,000 antique Beswick figurines from Selby man's private collection up for auction

The private collection - one of the largest in the country - was donated almost complete by the family of the man following his death and will now go up for auction at a virtual sale organised by Summersgills of Easingwold.

Another lot this week includes around a dozen pieces of Yorkshire-made Mouseman furniture, among them a pair of library chairs.

And a large number of dolls and teddy bears collected by a recently deceased woman from York will also be up for offers.

There has been interest in the Beswicks - many of which depict species of bird - from buyers from as far afield as the US, China and Russia.

"The Beswick lot is really interesting - this chap was in his 70s when he died and he'd been collecting them since he was a teenager. Every room in his cottage was filled with them; he was even sleeping next to the bird figurines and there was very little else in the house. It took two van loads to take them all away," said auctioneer Tim Summersgill.

"There is a figurine of the Earl of Warwick on horseback that is very rare, and so many birds - barnacle goose, eagles, woodpeckers.

"The Mouseman sales are always popular, These pieces came from a few different sources, and the smoking chairs are probably the highlight.

"We've had interest from numerous buyers, all of whom will bid online. Ninety per cent are UK-based, but we've had interest from Germany, Austria and all over the world."