WEDNESDAY's gloomy weather encouraged even more buyers to take refuge in Hamilton Osborne King's auction rooms in Blackrock, where again private buyers pushed many of the lots way above estimate.

The top selling items were: an early 19th century centre table, which sold for Pounds 3,200 (estimate Pounds 1,000-Pounds 1,500); the centre section of an Irish Regency dining, table also made Pounds 3,200, against a similar estimate; and a set of eight Georgian-style mahogany dining chairs, Pounds 1,400.