Antique Collecting magazine August 2023

AUGUST 2023

COUNTRY HOUSE STYLE REVISITED

THE ECLECTIC CONTENTS OF AN AMAZING MANOR UP FOR SALE

3

Chinese Stamps

Every collector should know about

GILLOW TALK RE-EVALUATING THE FURNITURE MAKER’S ROLE IN THE SLAVE TRADE

Between the lines

An essential guide to London Underground maps from the iconic to the bizarre

Welcome

I am no muso (ask any of my friends); if truth be told my engagement with pop in the ‘80s didn’t extend much beyond Pepsi and Shirley. But I do well remember with startling clarity exactly where I was the rst time I heard Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. Young as I was, it was so di erent from anything I had ever heard before (...the opera, “scaramouche”, “fandango”...) I thought the dial must have moved and was broadcasting from another planet.

If that was the a ect on one girl, in one kitchen, image the seismic change it had on the music industry and real music fans. is month, Freddie Mercury’s never-before-seen handwritten lyrics for the song go on show at a month-long exhibition in London ahead of a series of six sales in September at which they will have a guide price of £800,000-£1.2m.

Written on 15 pages of inauspicious notepaper from the now defunct British Midland Airways, one side reveals Mercury originally planned to call the song Mongolian Rhapsody, before crossing out Mongolian and replacing it with Bohemian. Another page presents an alternative to the famous second verse “Mama, just killed a man” with an original “Mama, ere’s a war began, I’ve got to leave tonight.”

Revelations like this are at the heart of the landmark series of sales which, over the course of some 1,500 lots, will see collectors and fans alike get an insight into one of the 20th-century’s most creative talents and greatest performers. Have a look at the feature on page 48.

Mercury’s tastes as a collector were eclectic and that’s de nitely one word you can apply to this month’s magazine. On page 18, to coincide with a new exhibition, the furniture expert Adam Bowett considers the role Gillows of Lancaster may, or may not have had, in the slave trade. How far the involvement of the renowned furniture maker, considered one of the nest of the 18th century, extended beyond the importation of mahogany from the West Indies into much more murky enterprises has recently been questioned. I would love to know your thoughts.

In lighter mood, did you know vintage IKEA is the latest, and perhaps most unlikely, brand to set the saleroom alight? It seems those of us who furnished our starter homes with it in the ‘80s and ‘90s have developed a taste for it again. Andreas Siesing reports on page 24.

Elsewhere in the issue Charles Hanson is in praise of Moorcroft, Paul Fraser reveals why Chinese stamps should be your next collecting obsession and we go behind the scenes at a new exhibition of Moroccan art. Enjoy the issue.

Georgina Wroe, Editor

KEEP IN TOUCH

Write to us at Antique

Collecting, Riverside House Dock Lane, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 1PE, or email magazine@accartbooks.com. Visit the website at www.antique-collecting.co.uk and follow us on Twitter and Instagram @AntiqueMag

CHRIS BERRY gets the inside track on the history and collectability of London Underground maps, page 30

JANET RADY

spills the beans on the market for modern African art, page 38

Editor: Georgina Wroe, georgina. wroe@accartbooks.com

Online Editor: Richard Ginger, richard.ginger@accartbooks.com

Design: Philp Design, james@philpdesign.co.uk

Advertising and subscriptions: Charlotte Kettell 01394 389969, charlotte.kettell @accartbooks.com

ANDREAS SIESING discovers the IKEA designs selling for thousands, page 24

silver snake bangle worn by Freddie Mercury in the video for Bohemian Rhapsody

£7,000-£9,000 at Sotheby’s series of auctions

JOE SIMPSON lifts the lid on the contents sale of the home of a renowned interior designer, page 28

Charles Edward Perugini (1839-1918)

Portrait of a girl seated on a chair, bust-length in profile, in a blue dress and white blouse, oil on canvas, 43.5 x 33.5cm, Sold for £35,100

REGULARS

3 Editor’s Welcome: Georgina Wroe introduces the August magazine with a focus on African art and Chinese stamps

6 Antique News: Coronation out ts worn by Charles III and Queen Camilla have gone on display at Buckingham Palace

10 Your Letters: One subscriber calls for an industry return to imperial measurements while another has a suggestion for an antiques fair in Paris

12 Around the Houses: A round-up of the latest sales from UK auction houses, including several valuable detectorist discoveries of medieval jewellery

16 Waxing Lyrical: David Harvey presents his top tips on how to assess an antique table, with two special examples going under the microscope

28 Saleroom Spotlight: Contents from the family home of the world-renowned interior designer Anouska Hempel go under the hammer in Berkshire

36 Puzzle Pages: Pit your wits against those of our quiz editor Peter WadeWright with two pages of perplexing problems on o er

43 An Auctioneer’s Lot: Charles Hanson reports on a recent Moorcroft sale where pieces from its o shoot maker Cobridge Stoneware stole the show

52 Market Report: Gregor Kleinknecht considers what the government’s failure to revoke Artists’ Resale Right means for collectors today

Top of the Lots: Advertising posters and art deco pieces from the London collection of Seymour Stein, the record mogul who discovered Madonna, go on sale in West Sussex

Book O ers: Looking for a beach read? Keep the little grey cells ticking over by getting stuck into the latest titles from our sister publisher ACC Art Books

58 Fair News: All the latest on the fairs taking place near you this month

59 Fairs Calendar: Make the most of the summer by visiting some terri c events this month

61 Auction Calendar: Keep up to date with the sales taking place around the UK in August

66 e Last Word: Standing in for Marc Allum, dealer and Bargain Hunt expert Stephanie Connell takes up the reins

FEATURES

18 Gillow Talk: Antique furniture expert Adam Bowett considers the role Gillows of Lancaster had in the slave trade as a new exhibition opens in the Lancashire city

24 Flat-Pack to the Future: IKEA furniture is ying out of European salerooms. Andreas Siesing reveals the designs collectors should know about

30 Mind the Map: Chris Berry charts the development of London Underground maps and their collectability, including Harry Beck’s iconic design

38 Boldly Go: e striking designs of the Casablanca Art School are put in focus by African art expert Janet Rady

44 Red Letter Day: Paul Fraser unveils your next, best, collecting obsession: Qing dynasty Chinese stamps

48 e Greatest Showman: is month sees 1,500 treasures owned by Freddie Mercury go on show in London ahead of six landmark summer sales, Antique Collecting goes behind the scenes

Nice weave

For the first time in more than 40 years, visitors to one of the UK’s finest Georgian interiors can experience it as it was intended after a reweaving of one of the National Trust’s most important carpets. Robert Adam created the interior of the saloon at Saltram, near Plymouth, in around 1768, designing a huge 13.5m x 5.9m one-off carpet to echo the plasterwork ceiling above, with festoons of flowers and ribbons, bands of diamonds and fans in pinks, blues, browns and greens.

But for decades the fragility of the carpet prevented visitors from entering all but the edges of the room in part of the mansion which overlooks the River Plym.

To complete the repairs local firm Axminster Carpets spent more than 20 months rebuilding its largest loom to enable the weave, the most complex commission it has undertaken in its 268year history. The six-week restoration involved 22 thread colours and 96,130 bobbin changes.

WHAT’S GOING ON IN AUGUST

A NTIQUE news

Right Gustav Klimt (18621918) Dame mit Fächer (Lady with a Fan), 19171918, set a new European record, image courtesy of Sotheby’s

Below Gustav Klimt (18621918) e Kiss, 1907, image public domain

Below left A woman’s ‘ apper’ evening shoe, France. c.1920s

Sole performer

EUROPEAN RECORD

Gustav Klimt‘s last portrait which was still on his easel when he died in 1918 became the most expensive artwork ever auctioned in Europe when it sold at Sotheby’s for a premium-inclusive £85.3m, beating its pre-sale estimate of £65m.

The square format Dame mit Fächer (Lady with a Fan), depicts an unknown sitter (though thought to be Johanna Staude, one of Klimt’s favourite models).

The painting was created when Klimt was at his artistic prime, the same year he unexpectedly died aged 55.

Meanwhile, a TV production company is looking for personal stories of Klimt’s most famous work, The Kiss, for a new documentary. As one of the most reproduced paintings in the world the image has appeared on countless walls. Memories and photographs of the work in situ should be emailed to Sally@dna-pr.com

From the UK’s rst exhibition of Korean contemporary art, to the display of the coronation robes of Charles and Camilla, there is much for collectors to enjoy this month

Above Curator Zoe Shearman in the Saltram Saloon, credit National Trust, Steve Haywood

1New view

e UK’s rst ever public gallery exhibition of works by Yun Hyong-keun (1928-2007), one of the leading gures of Korean art, continues at a Sussex gallery. Hastings Contemporary is hosting the show which shines a light on art from the Asian country which, in the aftermath of the Korean War (1950–1953), found itself isolated from the rest of the world’s art markets and artistic movements.

e freeze led South Korean artists to create their own sets of rules derived from Korean tradition which combined with the global trend towards abstraction. Hyong-keun’s work is also informed by nature and calligraphy, and his signature palette of umber (the colour of the earth) and ultramarine (the colour of heaven) is reminiscent of traditional east Asian ink-wash paintings. e exhibition continues until October 1.

3Rural idyll

Newcastle’s Laing Art Gallery hosts a celebration of depictions of nature, tracing the radically di erent approaches to British landscape painting from the mid-Victorian era to the 1920s.

Essence of Nature: Pre-Raphaelites to British Impressionists, on until October 14, is a rare opportunity to see more than 100 oil and watercolours by leading artists from the PreRaphaelite, rural naturalist and the British Impressionist schools.

Key Pre-Raphaelite works include William Homan Hunt’s (1827-1910) e Plain of Rephaim from Zion, Jerusalem, while the leading rural naturalist painter George Clausen (1852-1944) and English realist Henry La angue (1859-1929) are also represented.

Right Sir Alfred Munnings (1878-1959) Tagg’s Island, 1919, © the estate of Sir Alfred Munnings, Dedham, 2021

Left Yun Hyong-keun (1928-2007), No Title, 1972, oil on cotton

Far left Yun Hyong-keun (1928-2007) Umber-Blue ‘77-25, 1977, oil on linen, © Yun Seong-ryeol, all images courtesy of PKM Gallery

Below left Yun Hyongkeun (1928-2007) UmberBlue, 1974, oil on cotton

3

to see in August

Right Sir Alfred Munnings (1878-1959) Nelly Gray, 1907, © the Estate of Sir Alfred Munnings, Dedham, 2021

Far right Sir Alfred Munnings (1878-1959) e Highwayman, c. 1888, © the Estate of Sir Alfred Munnings, Dedham, 2021

Below right William Holman Hunt (1827-1910) e Plain of Rephaim from Zion, Jerusalem, 1855, © the Whitworth, e University of Manchester

Bottom right omas Austen Brown (1859-1924) Ploughing, Laing Art Gallery

Below George Clausen (1852-1944), e Stone Pickers, Laing Art Gallery

2 Horse trading

An exhibition celebrating Sir Alfred Munnings’ (1878-1959) use of colour and light, rather than his depictions of horses, continues at Castle House in Dedham – the artist’s home on the Su olk-Essex border for more than 40 years.

Using more than 50 oil paintings, drawings, sketchbooks and prints from seven decades, Munnings: Colour and Light continues until October 22. e earliest work on display, e Highwayman (c.1888), is a watercolour made when the artist was aged just seven or eight. His portrait of Nelly Gray (1907) shows a woman resplendent in deep red attire, seated on a sofa the same colour as her out t. e painting, like the exhibition, celebrates Munnings’ skill as an artist of tone.

Bill goes

The director of Gainsborough House in Suffolk steps down this month. During a decade in the role Mark Bills oversaw the multimillion pound revamp of the Sudbury museum which reopened to critical acclaim last November.

Gainsborough’s House, the childhood home of Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788), houses a comprehensive collection of his work.

Trip to the Banksy

Banksy’s rst o cial and authorised exhibition in 14 years continues at the Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA) in Glasgow.

e show titled Cut & Run: 25 Years Card Labour uses stencils to chart Banksy’s career from his earliest works in the late 1980s to today’s recent works in Margate and Kyiv.

e reclusive artist said: “I’ve kept these stencils hidden away for years, mindful they could be used as evidence in a charge of

Castle view

Fundraising for a North Yorkshire arts venue got a boost when a painting donated by the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak sold for £1,600 at local auction house Elstob Auctioneers. The oil painting of Richmond Castle, by the award-winning contemporary landscape painter Alice Boggis-Rolfe, depicted the town’s iconic castle above the river Swale. It was given to the PM by Sky to mark the Sky Arts channel becoming free-to-view.

30 seconds with...

Philip “Buffy” Parker, who recently celebrated 50 years in the business, is chairman of Surrey auction house Parker Fine Art Auctions in Farnham

How did you start in the business?

I’ve spent most of my life at auctions. However I started life as a teenage actor with a five-year stint working with many leading actors of the day including John Gielgud, Charlton Heston and Alec Guinness. I even appeared in Goodbye Mr Chips in 1970, starring alongside Peter O’Toole and Petula Clark.

After that I joined Bonhams

criminal damage. But that moment seems to have passed, so now I’m exhibiting them in a gallery as works of art.”

e exhibition, on until August 18, will also feature UK rapper Stormzy’s Union Flag stab vest worn at Glastonbury in 2019 and a model showing how Banksy embedded a shredder into the frame of the Girl With Balloon at Sotheby’s London in 2018.

PHOTO FINISH

e V&A London has unveiled the UK’s largest suite of rooms dedicated to permanent photography collections. Made up of seven galleries, the Photography Centre in its northeast quarter includes a room called “Inside the Camera”, which reveals the workings of cameras, from Victorian times to the iPhone.

e Sir Elton John and David Furnish Gallery will feature work from the 1840s to the present day. Highlights include some of the earliest photographs by William Henry Fox Talbot, as well as works by Richard Avedon, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Dorothea Lange.

Knightsbridge as a porter in 1973, aged 18. Seven years later I decided to make a go of it on my own and became a dealer. Lockdown made me realise I could never retire so in 2020 I set up my own auction house, focusing solely on pictures and frames and offering low commission rates for vendors. I love the drama and unpredictability of an auction.

Have you any memorable sales?

That would have to be one of my first sales at Parker Fine Art Auctions: a sell-out, singleowner collection of paintings, drawings and prints, with 1,500 bidders taking part. It surpassed all my expectations.

Has the business changed in 50 years?

I used to drive thousands of miles every month to view auctions all over the UK.

Once a week I’d go to the bank and stock up on 10p coins which I used in phone boxes at every service station to call auction houses with my bids and ask for results. Now, buyers bid from the comfort of their homes and offices around the world.

How do you see the business changing in the next 50 years?

The model of an auction sale has remained largely unchanged for thousands of years. It will continue to thrive online with buyers no longer limited by physical proximity to a saleroom. In an increasingly digital and non-tangible world, I think demand will remain strong for unique pieces from the past for both collectors and investors.

Parker Fine Art Auctions’ next fine sale is on August 3.

Above Mark Bills is stepping down after a decade, © Gainsborough’s House/A.Purkiss

Above Rishi Sunak with the oil painting pro ts from the sale of which went to the local arts venue e Station

Above Installation view of the completed Photography Centre at the V&A London, image V&A

Left e exhibition is the artist’s rst in 14 years, image Hang Up Pictures

Party people

More than 700 people attended the National Gallery’s summer party, including the artist Sir Grayson Perry and his wife Philippa. e plush do also served as a fundraiser for NG200, the gallery’s bicentenary campaign, which hopes to raise £95m by next year to complete the initial phase of works to the Trafalgar Square building.

e theme was the gallery’s new exhibition After Impressionism: Inventing Modern Art, set during a time when artists broke free of traditional methods. Guests also including Bella Freud and Bianca Jagger.

Castle view

A Red Cross quilt made during WWI is to return to the remote New Zealand town where it was created over a century ago, following an auction in Market Harborough.

The quilt, which was made by residents of Otautau, was bought via a telephone bid from the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association at the sale at Gildings Auctioneers.

Otautau residents embroidered the quilt during WWI, which was then sent to a London military hospital for convalescing Kiwi soldiers. The squares included names, pictures and phrases, some of which are dated 1917 and 1918. It was one of hundreds of handmade Red Cross quilts sent to soldiers during the war.

Floral tribute

Queen Camilla was on hand to cut the ribbon at the opening of a London museum’s new exhibition.

Along with Alan Titchmarsh, the new monarch opened the Garden Museum’s British Flower Week.

KAFFE CULTURE

The American textile designer Kaffe Fassett (b. 1937) has teamed up with his friend and fellow exhibitor Candace Bahouth at an exhibition in Bath.

The exhibition, called Timeless Themes, New Quilts, is on at the Victoria Art Gallery until October 1 showcasing 23 of Fassett’s works featuring his trademark bold motifs.

Born in 1937, Fassett spent much of his youth in the creative community of Big Sur, California. He moved to England as a student in the 1960s and spent some time living in Bath, where he was inspired by quilts in the American Museum.

He is now one of the world’s most renowned textile designers with work

exhibited at museums worldwide, as well as being in many permanent collections, including the V&A.

Dundee make

Youngsters are encouraged to discover their inner artists this summer at V&A Dundee with a number of free family activities throughout the school holidays.

Voted ‘family venue of the year’ at the Scottish hospitality awards this year, the programme includes a drop-in and design session, as well as “shake rattle and stroll”, aimed at under- ves.

e informal lessons take inspiration from Tartan, the museum’s current exhibition and include daily design challenges from Scottish fashion designer Louise Gray.

e museum is housed in St Maryat-Lambeth, parts of which date back to the 14th century. It is also the burial place of John Tradescant (1608-1688), one of the UK’s rst great gardeners and plant hunters. Her Majesty, as the Duchess of Cornwall last visited the museum for British Flowers Week in June 2021.

ROLLER BLADES

e Repair Shop’s Jay Blades MBE is to host a new exhibition next year celebrating exceptional crafts.

Craftworks, set to take place during London Craft Week in Shoreditch town hall, will bring together craft professionals, architects, designers and artists in a threeday event.

Blades, who is a modern furniture restorer and describes himself as an “eco designer”, said: “It will be the rst of its kind and re ect my principles of great design, education, and restoration, but most importantly will ensure the future-proo ng of the craft sector.”

Below Jay Blades is to present Craftworks celebrating British craft in 2024

Above left Free workshops take place this month at V&A Dundee

Floral checkerboard quilt featured in Ka e Fassett’s book Timeless emes published by Abrams Books

Right Grayson and Philippa Perry at the summer party, image National Gallery

Above e Queen meets Antony Burger, founder of Mahal Kita Flowers, photo by Graham Lacdao

Above WWI quilt returns to New Zealand after 100 years, image Gildings

LETTERS Have your say

Your Let ters

Our star letter receives a copy of British Designer Silver by John Andrew and Derek Styles worth £75. Write to us at Antique Collecting magazine, Riverside House, Dock Lane, Melton, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 1PE or email magazine@ accartbooks.com

After reading about the Germanmade doll “Walter” in last month’s magazine (Doll Face, Antique

Collecting, June/July issue) I was determined to keep an eye out on how it got on in the saleroom.

ere were two reasons: rstly, it was one of the most chilling toys I had ever seen (who would buy it?) and secondly, we had a similar version as a child which was almost as terrifying.

So imagine my surprise when it sold for more than £52,000 (the estimate being £12,000). e good news is it has sold to a US collector so at least we can be assured Walter has left the country! e bad news is the doll of my youth is long lost.

Phil Lewis, Worcestershire by email

Am I the only reader who went to school in England in the 1950s and early ‘60s when we actually used feet and inches to measure things? Now the UK is out of the European Economic Community could we please go back to proper measurements? I have a ruler (no, not Charles III) that indicates 30.5cm equals 12 inches. After all, you do publish an antiques magazine. Can we have measurements that would make sense to the people who made the antiques in the rst place please? And pass on my comments to the auctioneers, too. I nd myself searching for a conversion guide when they show a sterling pint pot and don’t mention that they’re selling a pint pot!

Barry Anderson, Las Vegas, by email

Above right e next Foire de Chatou is from September 22 to October 1

Below Would you like to see a return to inches? Let us know email magazine@accart books.com

European fairs to visit in last month’s magazine, I would like to put forward our family favourite.

We know it as the Chatou Foire au Jambon which is held twice a year (March and September) in the a uent western suburbs of Paris (we stay in the more modest part of the capital).

It is now known just as Foire de Chatou (or “Chatou”) having lost the reference to ham (“jambon”) referring to the fair’s origins as an 13th-century market for charcuterie.

Even if you don’t buy anything – unlikely –soaking up the atmosphere of the French capital in the late summer is a treat for all the senses. Katie McDonald, by email

The answers to the quiz on page 36

Q1 (c) A late 19th-century spittoon often disguised as a footstool. Q2 (b) Bouchercon is an annual convention of creators and devotees of mystery and detective fiction first held in Santa Monica, California, in 1970. Q3 (b) It was later just called Country Life. Q4 (a) Although she may have developed other collecting interests since her inclusion in Collecting: The Passionate Pastime (Viking, 1986). Q5 (d). Q6 (c) It is the size of the front wheel of a penny-farthing. Q7 (d) It is hard and heavy like mahogany. From Cuba and Brazil mostly and used for cabinetmaking. Q8 (c) Permission was granted from the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company. Q9 (b) Pawns were often musicians or foot soldiers. Q10 (A)-(2)-(iv), (B)-(3)-(i), (C)-(1)-(ii), (D)-(4)-(iii). Muntz metal is much cheaper than brass. Wood’s metal is a solder but also gives better wheel/track traction.

Owl wrecker, could be rearranged to make crewelwork; ah! Six curses could be rearranged to make the words Sussex chair; bite kale can be rearranged to make the word Bakelite and aerate wag could be rearranged to make the words agate ware

Left e Kämmer & Reinhardt doll sold for £52,675, image courtesy of Vectis Auctioneer

is month’s mailbag includes a recommendation for a top European brocante and a plea for a return to imperial measurements

A ROUND the HOUSES

is month’s highlights include childhood sketches by the young Charles III and movie memorabilia from Paul Newman’s collection

The ring was found near Cressing Temple, Essex founded by Knights Templar in the 13th century

Noonans, London

The 15th-century “Tarrant Abbey” ring tripled its estimate to hammer for £14,000

Two Medieval sapphire rings, both discovered by metal detectorists, performed strongly at the Mayfair auctioneer’s recent sale.

e rst, known as the 15th-century “Tarrant Abbey” ring, inset with a rhomb-shaped sapphire, was unearthed in Dorset in 2019. It tripled its estimate to fetch £14,000.

It was found less than 200m from the Church of St Mary the Virgin built on the site of Tarrant Abbey, an important and powerful Cistercian nunnery, founded in the 13th century.

At the same sale a 14th-century ring, set with a cabochon sapphire between chevron-decorated shoulders, found by a detectorist in Essex in the same year, also tripled its estimate selling for £9,500.

Kinghams Auctioneers, Moreton in Marsh

Gore’s work shows the sun-drenched landscapes of Provence

A brightly-coloured oil painting, discovered while emptying a Cotswold farmhouse, quadrupled its low estimate of £3,000 when it sold for £12,100 at the Gloucestershire auction house’s recent sale.

Titled Majorca, Orange Trees in C’an Det it is by Frederick Gore (1913-2009), who trained at the Slade under Henry Tonks. In the run up to WWII Gore spent a year painting in Greece before settling for a while in France where he was dubbed the “English fauve”.

At the same sale a Liberty & Co silver and plique-à-jour enamelled bowl from the Cymric range exceeded its £1,800-£2,200 estimate to bring £6,380.

The arts and crafts enamelled dish defied pre-sale expectations

The throne-like chair appears to have had a ceremonial function

The 17th-century nutcracker was styled as a bearded man

Bishop & Miller, Stowmarket

A James I joined oak double panel-back open armchair sold for £7,200 at the Su olk auction house’s recent oak sale.

Probably Welsh, it has three carved initials, ‘I H STP’ and the date 1624. Its throne-like appearance and unfamiliar iconography suggests the chair may have had a ceremonial function, possibly in a church, as the initials ‘STP’ are known to stand for ‘Sacrae eologiae Professor’ or Doctor of Sacred eology.

Presently only two similar examples are known, one is in the Burrell Collection, Glasgow, while the other sold at Sotheby’s in 1986 having come from the collection of Cold Overton Hall, Leicestershire.

At the same sale a late 17th-century boxwood nutcracker, northern European and dated 1687, sold for £7,200 beating its low estimate of £5,000.

Olympia Auctions, London

The work by Henri Gaudier-Brzeska

was the sale’s top seller

A painting by the French artist and sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska (18911915) titled e Madonna of “ e Miracle” with Self-Portrait fetched £40,000 at the auction house’s recent sale, beating its low estimate of £15,000 before selling to the British trade. It sparked a global bidding war with one under bidder being a French institution.

Rosebery’s, London

A late 18th-century, gold-mounted patch box in the shape of a pendant sold for seven times its low estimate of £1,000 at the London auction house’s recent sale, fetching £7,500. Styled as the face of a lady wearing a black masquerade mask with rose-cut diamond set eyes, the box is 5cm long.

Such boxes housed fabric beauty marks used to emphasise the whiteness of the wearer’s skin, also hiding pox scars and other blemishes such as moles which were regarded with superstition.

Tennants, Leyburn

A large Murano glass centrepiece with two dolphins riding a wave, expected to make £200-£300, sold for £3,500 at the North Yorkshire auction house. ought to be by the American-born artist Danilo Zanella (b. 1954) the striking piece is 47cm wide, 28.5cm deep and 40cm high.

a pendant

Sothebys, New York

A photograph of Paul Newman and Robert Redford on the set of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid outstripped its pre-sale expectations of $600-$800 when it sold for $16,510 at the auction house’s US sale A life and legacy - the Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman collection

At the same sale a pair of prop handcu s from the lm Cool Hand Luke, expected to make $3,000-$5,000 sold for $44,000.

e lm, in which Newman plays a loveable prisoner at odds with the warden, established him as the anti-hero of American cinema in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

A sign for the Telegraph O ce in the lm e Sting also de ed its estimate when it sold for $10,160 against hopes of $500-$700.

e Cotswold Auction Company, Cirencester

A copy of the “Alfred” jewel sold for more than four times its low estimate when it fetched £1,250 at the Gloucestershire auctioneer’s recent sale. e original treasure, inscribed with the words Aelfred mec heht gewyrcan’ – which translates as Alfred ordered me made – was discovered in Somerset in 1693.

At the same sale a carved-oak newel post top in the shape of a Merry Monk holding a pint and a bible tripled its low pre-sale estimate of £2,000 to fetch £6,000.

Mouseman pieces continued to defy pre-sale expectations at the recent sale

Dating back to the ninth century, during the reign of Alfred the Great (871–899) the jewel is now among the most popular exhibits at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

e dragon-like head at the base of the jewel may have served as the handle on an “aestel” or pointer, used by the reader to follow the text of manuscripts.

At the same sale a 19th-century micro-mosaic brooch depicting two doves on a fruiting vine – believed to be from the Vatican Workshops – sold for £420, above its estimate of £200-£300.

(1891-1915)

The photo came from the set of the legendary 1969 film

The patch box was designed to be worn as

The pendant opens to reveal a box for storing patches

The Murano glass centrepiece depicted two clear glass dolphins riding waves

Newman played Luke Jackson a prisoner who refused to submit to the system

The sign came from the multiple Oscar-winning film The Sting

An ornate replica of the famous “Alfred” jewel captured bidders’ imaginations

The brooch doubled its pre-sale guide price in the Cotswolds

AUCTION Sales round up

Canterbury Auction Galleries

A set of velvet, silk and ermine robes worn by Lord and Lady Swinfen to the 1937 coronation of George VI sold at its low estimate when it fetched £1,000 at the Kent auction house’s recent sale. e robes, which were sold with an erminetrimmed coronet with mounts by George Kenning & Son, London 1936, represented a rare and fascinating insight of royal and aristocratic history.

Bonhams, London

A letter from the mathematician and physicist Isaac Newton (1643-1727) to the naval administrator and diarist Samuel Pepys (16331703) sold for £190,900 at the auction house’s recent sale, more than three times its low estimate of £60,000.

e letter, written in 1685, concerns the appointment of a maths master for the Royal Mathematical School. Both men shared an interest in the school which taught arithmetic and navigation. Pepys, who was anxious to modernise the navy, was keen on promoting maritime technology and innovation. Correspondence between the two men is rare and sought after.

Chiswick Auctions, London

A pair of Cartier aquamarine and diamond art deco earrings with a poignant wartime story sold for more than four times its low estimate of £3,000 when it sold for £12,500.

e pair was consigned by the granddaughter of Mary Booker who fell in love with Richard Hillary, a Spit re pilot 20 years her junior in 1941, while he was recovering from Battle of Britain injuries.

A year later he was killed when his plane crashed during night- ying training. 30 years later Booker married

Michael Burn who authored a book on the tragic a air.

III’s

Hansons, Bishton Hall

Ten childhood drawings by Charles III sold for more than £60,000 at the Sta ordshire saleroom’s recent sale with the top seller, by far, being two sketches of ‘mummy’ and ‘papa’ which trounced their presale guide price of £5,000-£10,000 to sell for £46,000. e portraits, which show his mother Elizabeth II in purple tiara and red earrings, carrying a handbag, and Prince Philip in a dinner suit with bow tie, were produced in 1953-1955 when Charles was six. An illustration of a delivery van in a Harrod’s-style livery, called “Happybright Mr Charles’s Shop” sold for £2,000.

Richard Winterton, Lich eld

The delivery van was called “Happybright, Mr Charles’s

A collection of 150 items of ladies’ foundation wear, dating from Victorian times to the 21st century, sold for a total of £4,600 at the Sta ordshire auction house’s recent sale. e collection, which had been expected to sell for £400-£600, included more than a dozen boxes of garments ranging from corsets from 1855 to modern bridal wear.

It was amassed by Jim French, a former executive of Coopers who rescued the garments when the company closed in 2004 and held it in storage for 18 years.

The collection bust its low pre-sale estimate of £400 to sell for £4,600

The robes were worn to the coronation of George VI

The letter is a rare example of correspondence between Newton and Pepys

Cartier famously championed the “humble” aquamarine in the mid to late 1930s

The portraits of ‘mummy’ and ‘papa’ sold for a total of £46,000

Charles

childhood drawing of his mother shows her in the finest regal attire

Shop”

Waxing lyrical

David

When I look at a table to decide whether to acquire it there are many di erent thoughts that go through my head.

First impressions are paramount and, if favourable, lead to a number of questions.

When I rst saw this table (above), it just looked so “right.” While that conclusion was instinctive it answered a lot of what I look for. Are the top and base the right size for each other and do they look comfortable together? If the top is too large for the base, the risk is anyone leaning on it would cause it to tip over.

Equally, another question it must answer is whether the tilt-top mechanism will cause the top to hit the legs when used. But, on the other hand, if the base is too large for the top then it would look incongruous and wouldn’t serve its intended purpose. e quality of the top and base should match – you will seldom nd a imsy thin top on a stout base, or vice versa.

But with this table’s gloriously gured top and business-like tripod base, it admirably suits its purpose and I can well imagine four friends in the mid-18th century drinking tea at it and catching up on the news.

Underneath the table

When turned upside down, I look at the table’s patina and, in this case, you can see the joint where the tripod’s three legs join the column. It is almost black from residues of soot, smoke and dust and will never have seen a duster over the centuries of its use. e metal brace is held in place with wonderful hand- cut clout nails.

Above e mid 18thcentury tripod tea table fu lls all of David’s requirements

Top right e table’s hand-cut nails are a sign of age

Above right e table’s column protrudes slightly due to the shrinkage of the block

Right e table has all the signs of use over the centuries

A word on shrinkage: true circular tables are seldom completely round in shape as the shrinkage across the grain of the top will have turned it fractionally oval. In the case of this table it is one inch longer than it is wide.

Fingerprint legacy

In the middle years of the 18th century, when this piece was made, it would have stood tipped up against a wall or in a corner and been carried into the centre of the room or near to the replace when needed for the serving of tea or other drinks.

Being picked up and moved several times a day has left a clear mark all around the top. So another thing I look for on the underside is where the owners’ ngers have rubbed, showing how the piece has been handled. In this case there is a clear ring all the way round the underside (right) where owners have moved it.

Harvey gets to grips with two very special 18th-century tea tables where the presence of their previous owners is evident – to the expert eye

Demi-lune tea table

If we go a little later into the 18th century we nd an increasing number of fold-over-top tables for serving tea such as this George III demi-lune tea table (above).

Once again, rst impressions count for a great deal. If I don’t like a piece on rst viewing, it rarely improves the more I examine it. Although this table was a little dry and dusty when I rst saw it, it ticked all the boxes.

It has an opulent look and plenty of details to commend it. e mahogany is rich and from a highlygured timber, and it is packed with boxwood stringing most visible around the edges of the tops, on the frieze panels and on the legs. e square tapered legs terminate in spade feet and, once again, the balance is so good.

David Harvey is the owner of Witney-based W R Harvey & Co. (Antiques) Ltd. For more details go to the website www. wrharvey.com

Left e George III table has all the hallmarks of quality

Right e table open shows the select veneers

Below left Boxwood inlay occurs throughout the piece

Below right Previous use has left a barely perceptible arc of wear

Added value

The table has all the important touches that add up to make it a fine, and expensive, piece.

The maker has used three consecutive cuts of veneer for the top and inside the top to produce a brilliant pattern.

Just as the inlays would have cost the maker more, that extra expense is carried throughout the table – including both back legs which swing round to support the top when opened.

It therefore boasts two joints and hinges, whereas a lesser example might have just one single gate action. When the table is open (above) you can really see the wow factor.

As with the previous tea table, I always look for the tell-tale signs of the presence of its former owners. In this case to be found on the top’s outside which shows evidence of people moving the gate legs with the top open.

This is evident today by a slight bruising on the top (below) which has produced an arc matching the swing of the hinged legs.

In this example it is just perceptible in certain lights, but always worth looking out for when considering a fold-over tea table.

‘In the middle years of the 18th century, when this piece was made, it would have stood tipped up against a wall or in a corner but been carried into the centre of the room or near to the fireplace when needed for the serving of tea or other drinks’

global trade

Left e Lady’s Workbox in the Judges’ Lodgings Museum, Lancaster, was made in 1808 and features 72 “rare and curious woods”, image courtesy of the Judges’ Lodgings Museum

Below Value of mahogany imported into England 1720-1770. e government used the gure of £8 per ton to calculate the value of imports regardless of actual market value. Hence £1,000 is equal to 125 tons. Source: e National Archives, courtesy the author

Gillow Talk

Left

dense,

Gillows’ furniture has long enjoyed a reputation among collectors and dealers alike for the quality of its mahogany. is once abundant resource is now endangered and trade is heavily restricted by CITES agreements, but when Robert Gillow (1704–1772) rst began to make furniture in the late 1720s, mahogany was recently introduced into England.

All three species of true mahogany are widely distributed in the Caribbean and Central and South America, but in the 18th century the majority of the supply came from the Caribbean islands and from the territory now known as Belize, on the coast of Central America.

Although familiar to European settlers since the 16th century, and widely used in the Caribbean for construction of all kinds, mahogany was little known in England until the government passed the 1721 Naval Stores Act.

is Act removed the import duty on timber from all British colonies in the Americas, and shippers in the West India trade soon began to carry mahogany in addition to their usual cargoes of sugar, rum and other West Indian produce. Since Lancaster was, after London, Bristol and Liverpool, the fourth largest English port involved in the Atlantic trades, mahogany naturally began to appear on the Lancaster quayside.

Below Details of various ships, their cargo and destination in 1754, Source: e National Archives, CO 142/16

TYPICAL CARGOES OF VESSELS CLEARING KINGSTON, JAMAICA, FOR ENGLAND, 1754

Ship Size (tons) Destination Cargo

Sally 150 Bristol 150 hogsheads sugar, 40 puncheons rum, 20 bags cotton, 10 tons fustic, 3,000 feet mahogany

Swinton 190 Hull 250 hogsheads sugar, 50 puncheons rum, 40 tons logwood and fustic, 200 pieces mahogany

Argo 100 London 150 hogsheads sugar, 50 puncheons rum, 6 tons logwood, 10,000 feet mahogany

Boyne 180 Liverpool 94 hogsheads sugar, 30 bags cotton, 3 tons fustic, 18 tons lignum vitae, 132 pieces mahogany

Ruby 60 Lancaster 68 hogsheads sugar, 3 tons Nicaragua wood, 3 tons fustic, 7 puncheons rum, 25 bags cotton, 52 mahogany plank

A new exhibition shines a light on the 18th-century furniture maker Gillows’ global trade, as well as its controversial links to the slave trade. Furniture expert Adam Bowett takes up the reins

A chair of

hard mahogany, made in 1757 for e Revd. James Pedder of Garstang, image courtesy of Christie’s Images

Trade in mahogany

As well as being an early adopter of mahogany, Robert Gillow quickly became involved in trading in it. He had part shares in several West India ships and used them to carry mahogany on his own account and to sell to other furniture makers.

He sourced the wood chie y in Jamaica, which until the 1760s accounted for more than 90 per cent of the mahogany imported into England, and his factor (or local agent) there was Charles Inman, a member of a prominent Lancaster trading family.

It was essential for Gillows to work with people they could trust and on whose judgment they could rely, because much depended on the quality of the wood they sent. Gillows always demanded ‘the Soundest and best moho[gany] you can get…’. e factor had to be up to date with market prices in London, Liverpool and Lancaster.

He also needed to know the di erence between ‘freight measure’ and ‘sale measure’, and which types of mahogany were suitable for which purposes.

Right One of Gillows’ rst trade cards, image courtesy of Judges’ Lodges Museum

Below left Plan of a dining table made in 1798 for Lord Eglinton. Note the great width (30in) of the matching boards needed for the top. Westminster Archive Centre

Below Press made for John France of Rawcli e Hall, 1766. Note the ‘birching’ veneers used for the upper doors.

Christopher Preston Antiques

Bottom right Workers at Waring and Gillows in 1919, image courtesy of Judges’ Lodges Museum

Who was Gillows of Lancaster?

The Lancaster firm Gillows was renowned for making some of the finest mahogany furniture in England in the early 18th century. Contemporaries of Chippendale, Gillows was responsible for creating stylish designs that furnished the drawing rooms of the middle classes, gentry and ‘half the aristocracy in England’ of the period.

It was founded by Robert Gillow (17041772), a Roman Catholic born in the Fylde area of Lancashire. In 1721, he was apprenticed in Lancaster, becoming a freeman in 1728. Soon after he established a business as a joiner, house builder, and overseas merchant. While the designs the company made were plain, even old fashioned, it soon gained a reputation for practical furniture made by the finest craftsmen.

Spying the advantages to be had by selling to the growing middle class of the capital, Gillow sent his eldest son Richard (1733-1811) to be apprenticed to a London architect.

London expansion

Best wood

Narrow logs of dense wood were good for chairmaking, whereas ‘table wood’ required very big logs up to a yard wide. Irregularly shaped logs were expensive to ship but might repay the cost if they were well gured. Cuts of ‘birchin’ or curl mahogany, taken from the roots and branching parts of the tree, were highly sought after. After Inman’s death in 1767 Gillows switched their business to another Kingston-based Lancastrian, John Swarbrick, and in time extended their connections to other Caribbean islands. In St Kitts their agent was Robert Gillow’s nephew, omas Worswick.

Under Richard’s supervision an Oxford Street shop was established in 1769-1770. New workshops were built in both Lancaster and London. From the mid-1750s, Richard, back in Lancaster, was able to create new pieces based on designs sent to him by his cousin, James, a journeyman in London.

While embracing the metropolitan clientele, Gillows also supplied furniture to a variety of northern country houses including the Marquess (later Duke) of Westminster at Eaton Hall and the Egertons at Tatton Park.

The firm remained in family ownership until 1814 when it was taken over by Redmane, Whiteside and Fergusson. It continued to trade under the Gillows name, before it merged with Warings of Liverpool in 1903.

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Gillows’ global trade

some degree, and in the 1750s Robert Gillow took shares in at least three slaving trips.

ese proved disastrous, and thereafter Gillows con ned themselves to less risky cargos. is was not a moral stance but a business decision, but since slavery underpinned the whole Atlantic economy we cannot disassociate Gillows’ furniture from the nefarious trade which made it possible. Whether this should in uence our appreciation of Gillows’ ne mahogany furniture is a matter which now generates strong opinions.

Gillows’ demand for mahogany soon outgrew the capacity of Lancaster’s relatively small vessels to supply it, so increasingly they bought mahogany (as well as oak, deal and other woods) at Liverpool, where the trade was controlled by a handful of big timber merchants. Once again, it was important to establish good relations with these men because much depended on them, and Gillows dealt chie y with just three – William Rathbone, Joshua Beetham and John Sharples.

Arduous work

e mahogany trade followed a consistent pattern dictated by the Caribbean weather and the cycle of the sugar crop. e rst sugar was ready for shipping in April or May, and it was desirable for ships to be away from the islands before the hurricane season began in August, so June and July were the peak times for loading.

Prior to that, mahogany had to be cut and hauled to the coast. is hard and sometimes dangerous work was done by slaves and controlled by white overseers.

In the early days mahogany cutting was a routine part of land clearance for crops, but after the wood nearest the coast was cut out, parties of loggers were sent further inland and into the mountains, adding considerably to the cost.

Windsor chair

Gillows also used their factors to market their furniture in the West Indies. In November 1747, Robert Gillow wrote to Inman: ‘Should Esteem it a particular favour if you can engage any orders in my Wooden way’.

All kinds of domestic furniture were sent out, with clock cases and Windsor chairs being a particular favourite, but this was never a large part of the business, because furniture was bulky and expensive to ship.

It was more pro table to send out other English goods, and so Gillows became general West India merchants, and it is likely that this side of the business was sometimes more pro table than furniture making.

North America was another potential export market which largely failed to live up to its promise, especially after the outbreak of the Revolutionary War in 1776. Only one export of furniture from Lancaster to North America is known after this date.

Gillows and the slave trade

Since Lancaster was England’s fourth largest slave-trading port it was inevitable that Gillows would be involved to

e wood was generally shipped as log or plank (a plank was a log cut lengthwise into two or more parts), cut transversely into lengths of 10 or 12ft to facilitate stowage. Usually the logs were squared to save space. Boards (planks less than 2in thick) tended to be avoided because they were more easily damaged in transit.

Before loading each piece of wood was measured and marked for its owner, and the details recorded on the invoice so that the shipment could be checked, log by log and plank by plank, on despatch and on arrival. ree invoice copies were made to guard against loss.

Below Mahogany cutting in Honduras in the 19th century. Lithograph from Chaloner and Fleming, e Mahogany Tree, 1850

A Windsor chair, of the kind exported by Gillows to the Caribbean. ey were often painted green. Judges’ Lodgings Museum, Lancaster. (Stuart pl. 68)

Seven Years War

e voyage home took from eight to 10 weeks, so most mahogany arrived in England in the autumn. Shipping costs were generally stable throughout the 18th century except in time of war, when freight and insurance rose steeply. e volume of trade also fell sharply at such times, and mahogany prices rose in proportion.

At times Gillows were fearful their business might not survive, and one can sometimes see the e ect of shortages in the furniture. On the chest (above), made at the height of the Seven Years War (1756-1763) the drawer fronts are pieced together from more than one board, with the usually discarded yellow sapwood included.

In the longer term, ever increasing demand coupled with ever higher extraction costs caused prices to rise almost continuously, from about £8 per ton in the 1720s to £16 by the 1750s and £24 by the 1760s. e introduction of Honduras mahogany in the 1760s eased the pressure somewhat, but much of this was of indi erent quality, and good Jamaica mahogany continued to fetch a premium.

Shift to Honduras

Despite wartime slumps the demand for mahogany in Britain rose inexorably in the long term, and at the same time the supply of trees in Jamaica gradually dwindled. No thought was given to replanting, since it was far more pro table to plant sugar cane or cotton, and so once an area was logged out the cutters moved on until by the 1760s it was becoming di cult to nd good trees. Consequently, the trade began to look to foreign sources of supply (below).

Hitherto wood from Spanish and French colonies had not been easily accessible because of their strict prohibitions on inter-colonial trade, but after the Seven Years’ War, Britain’s naval and commercial dominance was such that the prohibitions were unenforceable.

Gillows and other furniture makers saw the rst fruits of this in the Honduras trade, which began as a result of concessions extracted from the Spanish in 1763. Henceforth British loggers were permitted to operate within speci ed limits in Belize, the wood being marketed as Honduras mahogany or Baywood.

Above right Detail from the chest, the inner drawer front is made from two pieces of mahogany and sapwood, image the author

Above Double chest, one of a pair made for Walter Strickland of Sizergh Castle, 1758. Rachel Winter

‘Since slavery underpinned the whole Atlantic economy we cannot disassociate Gillows’ furniture from the nefarious trade which made it possible. Whether this should influence our appreciation of Gillows’ fine mahogany furniture is a matter which now generates increasingly strong opinions’

Left Map of the European controlled territories in the Caribbean, 1763. From Times Atlas of World History (1984)

Lower quality

Much was of it was indi erent in quality, but it served well for cheaper furniture and for secondary purposes – backs, bottoms, drawer sides and interior ttings.

Better quality wood came principally from Hispaniola, and particularly from St Domingue, the French colony in the western half of the island now known as Haiti.

It was marketed variously as Spanish, St Domingo or Hispaniola mahogany, and was imported via the Free Ports established on Jamaica in 1766.

Gillows were using this mahogany as early as 1768 and it soon replaced Jamaica mahogany as their wood of choice for high quality furniture. By the late 18th century the British market was dominated by two principal types of mahogany, Spanish (aka Hispaniola or St Domingo) and Honduras (Baywood).

St Domingo

It is a fallacy to suppose that mahogany of the quality found on the best 18th-century furniture was no longer available in the 19th. In fact, there was more high-quality

mahogany on the market than ever before, thanks to the exploitation of new sources of supply.

From the 1820sCuban wood began to be widely available, while in Hispaniola the loggers soon moved from Haiti into the eastern, Spanish-controlled half of the island (now the Dominican Republic) where the trade centred on the capital, Santo Domingo city.

In the mid-19th century these two islands dominated the highquality mahogany market, but by the beginning of the 20th century Hispaniola was e ectively logged out, leaving Cuba as the primary source. is is why Cuban wood has such a high reputation today.

Rise and fall

In Central America, British loggers soon pushed beyond the limits agreed in 1763 and by the early 19th century were moving south into Guatemala and north into Mexico. By 1860, Mexico had eclipsed Belize and was the dominant supplier of Central American mahogany. As in the islands, so on the mainland logging continued without regard for ecological consequences. e volumes of wood extracted were huge; in 1862, at the peak of the trade, more than 62,000 tons of mahogany were imported into Great Britain from the Caribbean and Central America combined.

Inevitably, these supplies also began to fail and in the 20th century the focus of the trade moved to Brazil and other parts of South America. On some Caribbean islands relict stocks of mahogany survive, but these are generally dwar sh survivors of a once magni cent race.

Adam Bowett is the chairman of the Chippendale Society. He has published widely on English furniture of the 17th and 18th centuries and works as a consultant to museums, archives and other heritage bodies. Gillows of Lancaster – A Global Story is a new permanent exhibition at Judges’ Lodges Museum, Church Street, Lancaster, LA1 1YS.

‘The supply of mahogany trees in Jamaica gradually dwindled. No thought was given to replanting, since it was far more profitable to plant sugar cane or cotton, and so once an area was logged out the cutters moved on until by the 1760s it was becoming difficult to find good trees’

Above St Domingo logs stacked in a US timber yard, early 20th century. From Payson, Mahogany (1935)

Below right Mahogany trees in Barbados. Photo Willie Harper

WAS GILLOWS INVOLVED IN THE SLAVE TRADE?

The new exhibition at Judges’ Lodgings Museum in Lancaster – which boasts the largest collection of Gillows furniture on public display anywhere in the world – sheds light on the extent of the company’s global empire, including its controversial links to the slave trade.

By focusing on every aspect of Gillows’ furniture production, from its British founders to the enslaved Africans at the heart of the supply chain, Gillows of Lancaster – A Global Story promises to fully explore all aspects of the company’s local, regional, national and international trade.

Museum manager, Lynda Jackson, said: “We are being upfront about the slavery links and mahogany trade which is probably a change from the historical approach but it’s not a political stance, we are just presenting the facts as they are currently understood.”

MERCHANT CLASS

Undoubtedly the Gillows’ success coincided with Lancaster’s growth which boomed during the time of the transatlantic slave trade. A fact that was not missed by commentators of the day.

In 1857, Charles Dickens wrote in The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices: “Lancaster is a pleasant place… possessing staid old houses richly

fitted with Honduras mahogany, which has grown so dark with time that it seems to have got something of a retrospective mirror-like quality into itself, and to show the visitor, in the depth of its grain, through all its polish the hue of the wretched slaves who groaned long ago under the Lancaster merchants.” Lancaster’s merchants developed extensive commercial networks in the West Indies and Americas, including young men from the city’s families who worked as agents and factors across the West Indies.

Gillows benefited from this wealth creation, making fine furniture and designing interiors for landowners and middle-class businessmen in and around Lancaster.

John Bond, who inherited several plantations and several hundred slaves from his uncle Thomas Bond, spent much of his fortune on Gillows’ furniture for his Dalton Square House and other properties.

But the extent to which Gillows was directly invested in the trade is more difficult to ascertain.

A pamphlet accompanying the Judges’ Lodges Museum exhibition admits: “In 1756, Gillows had an eight per cent investment in a slave ship called the Gambia. On its first voyage 150 African people were advertised for sale in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1757, an estimated 128 Africans were sold in Jamaica. After the Gambia ran aground near Bristol Gillows did not continue to invest in slave ships.”

Exhibition vistors will no doubt draw their own conclusions on the subject. Let us know what you think, email magazine@accartbooks.com

Above e Lancaster museum is hosting the exhibition on Gillows’ global trade, image courtesy of Judges’ Lodges Museum

Below e 1765 signature of R Gillow, Lancaster, image courtesy of Judges’ Lodges Museum

But it hasn’t always been that way. Just a few years ago, IKEA was an outcast of the auction industry and an unthinkable brand at major auction house events. e prevailing opinion was that the quality was poor and the design language o ered pale imitations of existing market models, and the interest from the public was virtually nonexistent. Cunning dealers removed labels that revealed the origin of the furniture or lamps, and many sold items were auctioned o without information about the designer or model name. But times change. Today, the brand is a viable one in the Scandinavian auction industry, with record prices being set time after time.

Growing trend

e change can be traced back 10 to 15 years. More and more IKEA models, primarily armchairs, were sold at increasingly higher prices at Swedish auction houses.

Initially, it mainly concerned models from the 1950s and 1960s, but soon it also included products from the following two decades. Hand in hand with the rising prices, auction houses began cataloguing with greater accuracy. is led to a snowball e ect that has since grown bigger and bigger.

In the autumn of 2021, Bengt Ruda’s Cavelli armchair sold for 185,000 SEK (£13,500), at Stadsauktion Sundsvall in Sweden. It set a world record for an IKEA furniture piece and made headlines around the world.

e following year, the American auction house Wright included the IKEA Åke armchair in its Scandinavian design sale where it almost doubled its low estimate to sell for $3,640 (£2,900).

FLAT PACK to the FUTURE

Furniture and lamps by IKEA, previously considered hardly worth the cardboard they were packed in, are now being sold at record prices at auctions in both Europe and the US. In short, the Swedish maker is hotter than ever.

Once looked down on by collectors, choice pieces of vintage IKEA have increased in value a hundredfold. On the 80th anniversary of the Swedish maker, Andreas Siesing reveals everything you need to know

Above e Vilbert by lighting designer Verner Panton. and originally sold for £60. It sold for £2,241, image courtesy of Crafoord Auktioner/Auctionet

REchair

Right e IKEA Åke armchair featured in Wrights’ Scandinavian design sale in 2022

Left Bengt Ruda’s Cavelli armchair set an auction record for IKEA when it sold for £13,500

International design roster

e renaissance of older IKEA furniture has led to increased interest in its early designers. Alongside Swedish names like Gillis Lundgren (1929-2016) and Tord Björklund (1939-2018) mention should be made of the Czech-born designer omas Jelinek (1935-2009) and the Danes, Erik Wørts (1916-1970) and Niels Gammelgaard (b. 1944) . e latter had a signi cant in uence on IKEA’s collection during the 1980s and 1990s when he became known for his steel tube furniture.

But one of the furniture designers who currently receives the most attention is Karin Mobring (1927-2005) who was hired by IKEA in 1964 and worked there until her retirement almost three decades later. With a solid education from Carl Malmsten’s Workshop School, she demonstrated a deeper understanding of contemporary designs which kept her relevant despite changing trends.

Did you know?

IKEA opened its first UK store in Warrington in 1987 and now employs 12,000 workers at 21 retailers across the UK.

Collecting tools

The boom in interest in IKEA among collectors around the world stems from a genuine interest in IKEA’s role in modern Scandinavian design history.

The fact has not escaped the current management of IKEA, who soon digitised the company’s catalogues from its earliest days. Making design information accessible to the general public and collectors has added fuel to interest in the older models.

Above An Amiral chair by Karin Mobring. One of a pair that sold last year for 9,000 SEK (£660), image courtesy of Stadsauktion Sundsvall/ Auctionet

Top right IKEA now has all its catalogues online, © Inter IKEA System B.V.

Above right In the late 1960s IKEA presented several safari chairs. Karin Mobring contributed with her Lauri chair. is one sold for £160 last year, image courtesy of Stadsauktion Sundsvall/Auctionet

Left A pair of Karin Mobring Diana easy chairs sold last year for 17,000 SEK (£1,300), image courtesy of Hälsinglands Auktionsverk/Auctionet

Initially designing restrained and functional furniture, in the 1970s, Mobring embraced the trend for colourful furniture. In the middle of the ‘80s she joined forces with omas Jelinek to produce the exclusive Stockholm range for IKEA. e company later adapted to the prevailing “upwardly mobile” spirit of the day, introducing a range of modern furniture with a bourgeois touch.

‘One of the furniture designers who currently receives the most attention is Karin Mobring (1927-2005) who was hired by IKEA in 1964 and worked there until her retirement almost three decades later’

COLLECTING GUIDES Vintage IKEA

THE BILLY BOOKCASE

Designed by Gillis Lundgren in 1972, and named after a colleague who wanted a “proper” bookcase, the highly sought-after design originally cost £40 and can now be found retailing for more than £6,000 online. It launched in the IKEA catalogue in 1979 and has since sold some 140 million units. So popular are they around the world Bloomberg started a Billy Bookcase Index.

Italian style

Another Finnish name to look out for is that of Risto Halme’s whose 1970 comfortable leather seating group Lombardia regularly appears. In addition to the Scandinavian designers a number of Italians came up with models in the ‘70s and ‘80s. In fact, it is the international contributions which are among the most spectacular pieces which are performing best on the secondary market.

Tongiani Stefanos’ bulbous sofa Naples and Walter Papst’s red stacking breglass chairs from 1970 called Munken ( e Monk) regulary sell online for around £300 each. Such pieces compete ercely with eye-catching pieces by home-grown Swedish designers. One such being omas Frännige’s 165cm-long reclining chair Drake (Dragon), 1971, in orange plastic and steel.

e model is extremely rare today. According to the designer, who was also responsible for manufacturing the plastic shell, a few specimens were made in yellow plastic, but never released to the market.

Above The IKEA Billy bookcase, © Inter IKEA System B.V.

Above right Four stackable Munken ( e Monk) chairs, image courtesy of Auktionshuset Kolonn/ Auctionet. e set sold for a reasonable £293

Right Risto Halme’s Lombardia sofa was available in red, yellow and brown, image courtesy of Gomér Lin/ Auctionet, it sold for £234

Below Tongiani Stefanos’ Naples sofa manufactured by IKEA, image courtesy of Växjö Auktionskammare. It sold for £622

Unsigned gems

However, among the thousands of pieces of furniture sold by IKEA over the years, a signi cant number were marketed without information about their designer. is is true throughout its history, but particularly noticeable during the company’s early years.

In today’s auction world, where provenance is vital and the hunt for conversation pieces intense, the fact some models are unattributed is unfortunate. Nevertheless, several of IKEA’s more anonymous models have performed well in the secondary market in recent years.

e rare Drake (Dragon) has only been sold a couple times on auction. e estimated price for this piece is SEK 10,000, image courtesy of Stockholms Auktionsverk

Recently even identifying pieces as “IKEA” is enough to spark interest, with the rarest models listed in catalogues with no information about their creators. Another challenge for collectors is that the earlier pieces are usually upholstered and almost exclusively lack markings.

Collecting IKEA

However, as interest in IKEA’s older range grows, the chances of the most elusive pieces being consigned to auction also increases. Speculating on what prices they will fetch is only guesswork.

e good news is that, while the older collection of the Swedish furniture retailer has been reassessed in recent years, it hasn’t led to any saturation in the market. On the contrary, demand is increasing.

Ironically, one of the biggest handicaps to the growing market is lack of supply, with many design gems from the Swedish interiors giant having been discarded by owners who had no idea prices are rocketing.

Make sure you know exactly what you are throwing out on your next trip to the skip.

Andreas Siesing is a consultant with the online site www.auctionet.com, where auction houses from all over Europe sell furniture, art, collectables and design items, including IKEA.

IKEA Museum

Opened in 2016, the IKEA Museum will no doubt help ensure the brand is written into the narrative of Sweden’s mid-century design history.

This summer, to celebrate IKEA’s 80th anniversary the museum, in Älmhult, Småland in southern Sweden, is opening two new exhibitions, IKEA Through the Ages and Hej Ingvar! both set to spark more interest in the brand.

Added to which the museum hosts exhibitions about the past, present and future of design and innovation. Its archive collection, including photos, drawings, films and letters relating to the development of IKEA, is another valuable resource for would-be collectors. Discover more at www.ikeamuseum.com

Right Ingvar Kamprad outside the rst IKEA store, © Inter IKEA System B.V.

Below right Kungens Kurva, the rst IKEA store in Stockholm, © Inter IKEA System B.V.

Below left e museum is a valuable resource for future collectors, © Inter IKEA System B.V.

History of IKEA

With a name derived from the initials of its founder Ingvar Kamprad; Elmtaryd, the farm on which he grew up, and Agunnaryd, a nearby village, the Swedish juggernaut is now one of the biggest global brands. When Kampard died in 2018, aged 91, he was the the eighth richest person in the world with control of a $58.7bn fortune.

Kamprad founded the company in 1943 when he was just 17, but didn’t hit gold until 1956, when the company pioneered flat-pack furniture.

He got the idea as he watched an employee taking the legs off a table to fit it into a customer’s car and realised that saving space meant saving money. Born on March 30, 1926, in southern Sweden, Kamprad started off selling matches to neighbours at the age of five and soon diversified into Christmas decorations and ball-point pens.

He later latched on to the potential of selling furniture by mail order to make the most of the post-war demand. The first IKEA showroom opened in 1953 with the tagline “Your dream home at a dream price.”

‘Many design gems from the Swedish interior giant have been discarded by owners who had no idea the prices are rocketing. Make sure you know exactly what you are throwing out on your next trip to the skip’

SALEROOM SPOTLIGHT

styles,

There’s a chance to inject your collection, or interior, with some ‘A-list’ cachet when the contents of the family home of the actress turned award-winning interior designer Anouska Hempel is o ered for sale.

Berkshire-based auctioneer Dreweatts has been appointed to sell pieces from Hempel’s grade II-listed home, Shaw House, just east of Bradford-on-Avon and close to the historic city of Bath.

e nine-bedroom, 18th-century house, which recently sold for £3.5m, showcased Hempel’s unique style, combining theatrical air, contemporary style and historic nuance.

New Zealandborn Hempel hit the big screen when she

Above e sitting room at Shaw House the former family home of Anouska Hempel, image courtesy of Inigo

Above right A marble portrait head of Polideuce, possibly Roman, c. 170-177, estimated to fetch £3,000-£5,000

Left A 1922 portrait of a woman holding a riding crop by the Glasgow Boy artist Harrington Mann (1864-1937), it has an estimate of £6,000£8,000

appeared as a Bond girl in the 1969 lm On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. She went on to appear in a host of Hammer horror lms as well as Gerry Anderson’s TV series UFO and Space: 1999

Blakes hotel

After her acting career slowed, in 1974 Hempel bought a down-at-heel town house in South Kensington which she opened four years later as the boutique hotel Blakes, which soon became a celebrity hang out for the stars.

e 81-year-old told Vanity Fair: “I’d have the Gettys upstairs, Bob Dylan downstairs. I was the barman and the housekeeper.” e hotel, with its melding of Eastern and Western styles, was a hit with both guests and the design community – e ectively launching her career as an interior designer. Blake’s was followed by e Hempel in London’s Bayswater

In 2002, Hempel, by then Lady Weinberg after marrying the nancier Sir Mark Weinberg, was ranked by Architectural Digest as one of the top 100 interior designers and architects in the world.

Sale highlights

Among the artworks on o er is a 1922 portrait of a woman holding a riding crop by the Glasgow Boy artist Harrington Mann (1864-1937) which has an estimate of £6,000-£8,000. Mann studied at Glasgow School of Art and the Slade, before going to Paris’ Academie Julian where he had Gustave Boulanger and Jules-Joseph Lefebvre as tutors. In 1900, he moved to London nding success as a porrait painter for society clients including members of the royal family.

e sale also boasts a 17th-century English School oil titled Portrait of a Young Girl with a Lamb, which has an estimate of £3,000-£5,000 and an etching with drypoint and aquatint titled Can-Can by the French artist Louis Icart (1888-1950), who was celebrated for his etchings, sketches and paintings. He also produced prints from etchings which are highly sought after. e popularity of his work reached its height in the art deco period and Icart’s work became emblemic of the epoch.

Embracing a wealth of design

treasures owned by a world-renowned interior designer and former Bond girl go under the hammer

Above A walnut and Italian marbletopped centre table is estimated at £1,000-£1,500

Right Louis Icart (18881950) Can-Can, etching with drypoint and aquatint, it has an estimate of £5,000-£7,000

Dramatic colours

Other highlights from this include a carved marble portrait head of Polideuce, possibly Roman, circa 170177, expected to fetch £3,000-£5,000. A walnut and Italian marble-topped centre table is estimated at £1,000-£1,500.

Hempel described her former country residence Shaw House as “a happy place”, something re ected in its informal yet stylish interiors.

A spokesperson for Dreweatts said: “ roughout the house Hempel showcases her familiar and unique design techniques that have brought her world-wide acclaim.

“ ese include architectural e ects such as a play on perspective, dramatic colours emulating various periods and styles, as well as textural fabrics, alongside e ective groupings of furniture, set within clever lighting designs that capture the rich colour palette she uses to infuse comfort and style into this manor house.”

IN MY OPINION...

Above

AUCTION fact file

WHAT: Anouska

Hempel: Designer At Large

Where: Online by Dreweatts

When: August 15

Viewing: August 11-15 at Dreweatts, Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE

We asked Dreweatts’ head of house sales and collections Joe Robinson for his sale highlights

How would you describe Hempel’s unique style?

Hempel is a doyenne of English interior design, with an iconic aesthetic characterised by bold pattern, fascinating objects and an innate sensibility for atmosphere within an interior. Pieces on sale are a record of her impeccable eye and offers buyers an opportunity to capture works that are “AH approved.”

Have you got a highlight piece?

It would have to be Harrington Mann’s beautifully enigmatic portrait of a lady with a riding crop (opposite) which is expected to make £6,000-£8,000. It represents the style and subtlety of a romanticised Edwardian country lifestyle.

Where are you expecting interest to come from?

Shaw House

e current house was built in 1711 by wool merchant omas Smith, replacing a 13th-century manor house and may have formed part of Castle Combe. Smith makes reference to it as a hub of Wiltshire life in a diary he kept from 1715, covering the time until his death in 1723.

From 1759, the home belonged to the Neale family until the early 19th century, when the house was let as a private school.

The sale will attract global interest particularly from the US which has a particular affinity for Hempel’s aesthetic which offers a dramatic vision of country house living while also providing atmosphere.

Is there anything for the collector after a piece of Hempel magic?

There are a number of pieces which will help the newbie collector capture the essence of Hempel magic. I would direct them to lot 9, a pair of kilim upholstered armchairs which reflect Hempel’s interest in Moroccan design.

For those with a more traditional outlook, the sale includes three Regency ebonised and parcel gilt hall chairs, which have an estimate of £500-£800; as well as a pair of Grand Tour carved marble portrait medallions which has an estimate of £800-£1,200.

Above left A pair of contemporary kilim upholstered chairs are estimated to fetch £700£1,000

Left e grade II-listed house is in Wiltshire

But for the real essence of the vendor’s personal style look out for lot 37 – a pair of screens manufactured by Anouska Hempel, expected to make £2,000-£3,000.

What about pieces for the more seasoned collector?

For collectors with a penchant for the academic, look out for the Roman carved marble portrait head of Polideuce (opposite). Alternatively take note of a pair of portraits by the Royal Academy trained British portrait artist George Spencer Watson (1869-1934) which carries an estimate of £8,000-£12,000, a great addition to any collector’s home.

‘After her acting career slowed, in 1974 Hempel bought a down-at-heel house in South Kensington which she opened four years later as the boutique hotel Blakes, which soon became a celebrity hang out for the stars’

An English School 17th-century oil painting titled Portrait of a Young Girl with a Lamb has an estimate of £3,000-£5,000

MIND the MAP

Designed to be discarded after use, pocket maps of the London Underground are today commanding ve- gure sums. Collector and dealer Chris Berry gives the inside track

The Tube map, as we know it today, remains one of the most iconic designs of all time. But it didn’t always look that way. For collectors of early London Underground maps the designs represent key moments in the story of modern London, its rapid growth, major events and fashions of the time. ey also shine a light on the notable designers who, in turn, attempted to tame the ever-expanding Underground network onto paper.

I can pinpoint the moment it all started for me. In my

Left Pocket Underground maps are an intriguing and compulsive collecting area, all images, unless otherwise stated, courtesy of Iconic Antiques

Right e 1924 British Empire Exhibition by Kennedy S. North, the London Underground map is at the bottom

early 20s my mother showed me a stunning map of the 1924 British Empire Exhibition designed by Kennedy S. North which had a superb (and unnecessarily ornate) map of the network along the bottom.

At that point, I had no idea London Underground even existed in 1924, let alone a map so at odds with the one I knew so well. Many of my interests converged in that moment - London, history, graphic design, cartography -

and it triggered a 20-year passion which grew into a career.

As a dealer I have met the full spectrum of collectors, from those that want a couple of maps for their kitchen wall to the pathological ‘completist’ who will not rest until they have every issue ever printed.

But in my experience, the former can sometimes become the latter so this article comes with a health warning: collecting London Underground maps is extremely addictive.

e development of the London Underground map can be neatly broken down into periods, which is helpful in de ning a collector’s focus (and budget). One could say it has a ‘linear’ history (sorry).

1863-1908: a map for each railway

In 1846, at the height of ‘railwaymania’, a ban was placed on any more railway projects cutting across central London in a bid to protect the city from being carved into pieces by railways and their bridges. e only solution therefore was to go underground.

e Metropolitan Railway, the world’s rst underground railway, opened in 1863 with the District Railway starting soon after in 1867. ese were “cut-and-cover” railways, where a huge trench was dug, the railway built inside it and then covered back over, reinstating the road.

is was unimaginably disruptive and expensive, so for decades the Metropolitan and District line remained the only underground railways in London. But innovation in deep-level tunnelling at the end of the 19th century enabled a burst of new deep-level ‘tube’ lines and, by 1908, there were eight underground railways.

Absurdly, each railway operated separately, with each issuing its own map. Notably, maps from the period included one for the District Railway (issued in the early 1870s in both large and pocket formats) and the Central London Railway (pocket maps from 1900). e earliest Metropolitan maps are among the rarest and most valuable. But, using a limited colour palette, these maps lack the appeal of later versions.

Right e rst ‘uni ed’ map of the London Underground dated 1908

Below right 1902 Central London railway map (what would later become the Central line)

Below left e “cut and cover” Metropolitan line under construction, image Public Domain

1908-1919: the rst combined London Underground maps

Common sense prevailed in 1908 when the various underground railway companies agreed to present themselves as one system under a single “UndergrounD” brand. A new map was drawn up for the whole system, each company being assigned a distinctive colour. For many collectors the rst uni ed map of the Underground is the start of their collection and indeed it is a logical

Right e rst Underground ‘roundel’ logo on maps from 1913

Far right e ‘Johnston ring’ was rst used on the 1919 issue

Early maps also show us how the ‘UndergrounD’ logo with the capital “U” and “D”, developed into the instantly recognisable icon we have today.

The 1913 issue pocket map (left) was the first to feature a red disc behind the wordmark. By the 1919 version (right) it had developed further, the circle is now a ring with the first useof the Johnston typeface still in use today.

‘Innovation in deep-level tunnelling at the end of the 19th century enabled a burst of new deep-level ‘tube’ lines and, by 1908, there were eight underground railways. Absurdly, each line operated separately, with each issuing its own map’

London Underground maps

In 1920, he was asked to design the Underground pocket map and used his distinctive decorative style and calligraphy to produce a highly ornate map that stood in stark contrast to the utilitarian maps that went before. Also, unlike previous maps, Gill did away with all topographic background detail, including the River ames (the only map to do so).

Gill produced three designs between 1920-1924, the 1923/4 issue being the largest and most attractive of the series. ese card maps are the rarest and most collectable of all the Macdonald Gill maps and ultimately it would be this small card format that would endure for decades to come.

accommodate the latest developments on the network. ough largely similar to each other, they varied in terms of detail, scale and colour schemes.

Most maps of this period were fold-out paper format, but in 1909-1910 a tiny card map was also issued. Despite being almost impossible to read, this gate-fold map is among the rarest and most sought-after maps of them all and is considered the true precursor to the modern day Tube map.

e forced austerities of WWI are re ected in the poor quality paper stock and limited ink palettes from 1914, and no Underground maps were published in the last two years of the war.

1920-1924: Macdonald Gill’s maps

Macdonald Gill, brother of the sculptor, typeface designer, and printmaker Eric Gill, was a highly-celebrated commercial artist in his own right. He had already

Above e tiny card map issued in 1909 and measuring just 15 x 11cm is highly sought after today

Right Fred Stingemore’s 1929 Underground map

Below right Fred Stingemore’s maps boasted colourful and distinctive covers

Below Macdonald Gill 1921 London Underground map, card issue

1925-1932: Fred Stingemore’s card maps

e experimentation with small bi-fold card maps in 1909 and again in 1920 didn’t sway the preference for larger paper maps showing as much of the Underground network as possible. In 1925 that changed.

Fred Stingemore, a draughtsman in the London Underground drawing o ce, produced the rst of a series of small pocket maps on sturdy linen-based card.

While staying fairly true to geography, Stingemore’s design removed all background detail (keeping the River ames) and only featured the central area.

Stingemore pocket maps were issued between 19251932, a total of 12 maps each with a di erent colour cover making them irresistibly collectable.

Being on linen-card, they were robust and many remain in remarkably good condition.

However, it was the colleague sitting next to Fred in the drawing o ce who was eventually to come up with the ultimate map design.

1933-1938: Harry Beck’s diagram

It was in 1931 when Harry Beck, a temporary draughtsman at London Underground, drew up the radical diagram concept in his spare time to present to the management at London Underground. In abandoning the constraints of geography, in favour of geometric principles commonly used in signalling and circuit drawings, Beck solved the question that his colleagues (and their predecessors) in the London Underground Drawing O ce grappled with for decades; how do you present the whole London Underground network, without compromising clarity, in a map that ts in your pocket?

It seems remarkable in hindsight but the London Underground executives at rst rejected Beck’s proposal, considering it too radical. It was Fred Stingemore (in an act of self-sacri ce as the current map designer) who encouraged Beck to submit the design again in 1932 and this time it was approved.

Iconic design

e rst Beck map was issued in January 1933 and, uncertain of the public’s reaction, carried a note on the cover saying “A new design for an old map. We should welcome your comments”.

Beck’s vision is one of the most important moments in design history. It transformed transit mapping across the world and is globally recognised as a visual symbol of London. It’s hardly a surprise therefore that rst editions of Beck’s pocket map command in excess of £2,000 despite 750,000 being printed in the rst run.

A 1932 printer’s proof with hand-annotation recently went on sale for £50,000 and sold within a day.

Some collectors choose to focus exclusively on Beck’s maps and there are plenty to collect as he was informally responsible for the map design from 1933-1960.

1933 alone saw six issues of Beck’s map released, some of which torment collectors by being impossibly rare. Fortunately, London Transport bigwigs applied control in subsequent years, with issues being restricted to two a year (helpfully named No.1 and No.2). e Beck maps up to 1938 look very similar with a rich blue border

Right A 1909 “Map of the Tubes” by Harrods

Below right A 1925 issue with a Peter Robinson overprint

Below left e rst issue of Harry Beck’s London Underground map issued in January 1933

Bottom right e reverse of Beck’s map invited comments, in case the design failed users

Uno cial maps and ‘overprints’

Those collectors wanting to put both their sanity and bank balance in jeopardy might consider looking at unofficial maps and maps with post-production overprints.

Unofficial maps were most commonly produced before 1908. Marketeers saw the opportunity to draw up their own map of the Underground before the companies themselves had agreed to a unified map in 1908.

The Evening News produced a large colourful “Tube map of London” in 1907. Similar designs by G.W. Bacon were used on postcards and even matchboxes.

Department stores such as Harrods and D.H. Evans each had a map drawn up and included in their own guides to London. There are countless others.

Overprint maps are official maps that have had some additional information added after production. Often it was to highlight the location of a department store or exhibition.

It was also common for a travel agency or transport operator to add their own logo to a cover which would then be issued from their own kiosks.

1938-1941: Beck’s reign is challenged

Until 1960 Beck’s reign as chief map designer went largely unchallenged. However, in 1938, he was surprised to nd the latest pocket map redesigned without his knowledge.

LATER UNDERGROUND MAPS

When Beck was “let go” in 1960, the London Transport publicity office was free to apply its own ideas to the map. The first to do so was the man who sacked Beck, the publicity manager Harold Hutchison whose 1960-1963 design is widely considered to be a poor effort, with many of Beck’s geometric rules ignored resulting in an angular design that is rather jarring to the eye.

Step forward Paul Garbutt, the new publicity officer and his extremely well-considered map which applied the best of Beck’s principles while realigning the map to something closer to reality. Garbutt’s design remains the basis of today’s map.

Hutchison’s awkward map of 1960

Above right A 1939 example of Hans Schleger’s experimental re-design of Beck’s diagram

Below right Beck’s striking 1941 design with interlinking rings and 60 degree diagonals

Below left Paul Garbutt came to the rescue in 1964

A highly-regarded poster artist and illustrator named Hans Schleger (who signed his work ‘Zero’) was given the task to experiment with Beck’s diagram, mostly to the detriment of the design.

Despite immediately placating Beck with assurances that it was a one-o , the publicity o ce ran Schelger’s design over seven issues between 1938-1941.

1941-1960: Beck is Back

Once back in the chair Beck obsessed over “his” Underground map, constantly tweaking it with his own ideas and those imposed on him from above.

Many consider the 1941 No.2 issue as his most radical design. Perhaps designed as a response to the ugly Hans Schelger a air, it includes interchange stations shown as interlocking rings and lines at 60 degree angles. It was

‘Beck’s vision is one of the most important moments in design history. It transformed transit mapping across the world and is globally recognised as a visual symbol of London. It’s hardly a surprise therefore that first editions of Beck’s pocket map command in excess of £2,000 despite 750,000 being printed in the first run’

His design settled down and evolved slowly through the 1940s and, by 1949, Beck had designed what he later re ected on as his best iteration. rough the 1950s Beck’s map would become increasingly ‘rectilinear’ (dominantly verticals and horizontals), with a degree of distortion that made London Transport Executives uncomfortable.

Beck resisted pressure to align his design closer to reality on the ground and this ultimately contributed to him being cast adrift by London transport in 1960.

Beck’s wartime maps are rare and can command a premium. From 1945, they become more a ordable.

Underground maps from the 1960s are extremely popular among young and new collectors as they are relatively inexpensive with mint condition examples fairly

Right A 1933 rst edition Harry Beck station map (double crown size). It recently sold for £32,000. Another example is on sale at www. bryarsandbryars.com

Below right A 1933 enamel map of the London Underground (quad royal size). Currently on sale at Iconic Antiques, priced £9,500

Left Beck’s last design from the late 1950s had become highly rectilinear

Below A 1928 Underground map by E.G. Perman, is the author’s favourite

Collecting Underground maps

Like most endeavours in life, the pleasure lies in the journey rather than the destination, as each map tells a story in the moment of the London Underground.

By some distance, my favourite London Underground map is Edgar Perman’s lovely illustrative map of 1928 (below). Unlike the “Stingemore” card map issued at stations at the time, this one-o map was intended for overseas tourists and was distributed through travel agencies. It is also the only London Underground pocket map ever designed in portrait orientation.

I would encourage collectors to take their time and view each map as a source of knowledge. Values are rising sharply. If you collect as an investment remember: condition is everything, so use your nancial resources wisely.

ese maps look great framed on a wall where you can enjoy them everyday. It also lets you share your passion with any friend or family member willing to listen.

Chris Berry is partner at Iconic Antiques which specialises in early 20th-century posters, maps and signs, particularly those of the London Underground. For more go to www.iconic-antiques.com

STATION MAPS: UNDERGROUND MAPS ON STEROIDS

Unlike the pocket maps described here, much larger station maps have been displayed in entrances, ticket halls and platforms since the early 1900s. They are seriously cool collectables and make superb wall features in a home or workplace.

Typically, station maps came in three sizes: the largest (and still in use today) is the “quad royal” (127 x 101cm), there were also two smaller formats printed: the ‘double royal” (a portrait orientation measuring 101 x 63cm) and the “double crown” (76 x 61cm).

Unlike the pocket maps, station maps were printed in relatively small numbers (between 1,000-5,000 at a time). To add to their rarity, most were pasted to walls or destroyed by station staff when a new map was received. Therefore these maps sit in a different price category.

While a good quad royal map from the 1970s can be purchased for low hundreds, a first edition 1933 Harry Beck poster recently sold for £32,000 on Channel 4’s The Greatest Auction. Increasingly these station maps are being seen as great investments, with values rising rapidly.

Even rarer (and definitely heavier) are enamel station maps which were produced on rolled iron and displayed outside stations up until the 1930s. At Iconic Antiques we are delighted to have the only example for sale in the world. The example above, from 1933, is the last geographic station map before Beck’s diagram was introduced.

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Puzzle TIME

AUGUST QUIZ

Q1 What is a salivarium? (a) any desirable collection of objects over which to drool, (b) a Victorian bib, (c) a spittoon, (d) a decorated annel rst sold in the 1930s to wipe grime from a child’s face.

Q2 If you had a signed copy of a book from the Bouchercon, what genre would it represent? (a) food, (b) mystery, (c) travel, (d) nature.

Q3 In which year was the rst issue of Country Life Illustrated? (a) 1882, (b) 1897, (c) 1902, (d) 1907.

Q4 e writer and broadcaster Janet Street-Porter was (and possibly still is) an avid collector of what? (a) advertising fans, (b) infantry toy soldiers, (c) British police equipment, (d) sewing machines.

Q5 In the early years of the 20th century, Bassett Lowke and Company were respected makers of (a) optical toys, (b) dolls, (c) magnet-based shing games, (d) model trains.

Q6 You discover for sale a circular object 58in (147cm) in diameter. What is it likely to be? (a) a cope table, (b) an orrery, (c) a transport wheel, (d) the disc of an electrical Wimshurst machine?

Q7 Sabicu is the name of what? (a) a musical instrument from southern Asia, (b) a short-lived publication specialising in Kipling’s works, (c) a food grater from the 1950s, (d) a type of wood.

Q8 From 1878 until 1964 the rm of Shorter & Son made pottery, but in 1940 obtained permission to make jugs and gurines of what? (a) prominent members of the House of Lords, (b) war-time military leaders, (c) Gilbert and Sullivan characters, (d) lm stars contracted to certain British companies.

Q9 What, from the 18th and 19th centuries, were usually red/green, rather than red/white or green/ white? (a) Italian mass-produced song-sheets, (b) Indian chess set pieces, (c) traditional Indonesian castanets, (d) A French hat showing the political a liation of its wearer.

Q10 Here are four metal alloys that one may

Send your answers to Crossword, Antique Collecting magazine, Riverside House, Dock Lane, Melton Woodbridge, Su olk, IP12 1PE. Photocopies are also acceptable, or email your answers to magazine@ accartbooks.com. e rst three opened by August 15 will win a copy of Jackson’s Hallmarks, Pocket Edition: English, Scottish, Irish Silver & Gold Marks From 1300 to the Present Day, worth £6.95

SOLUTION TO LAST MONTH’S CROSSWORD:

The letters in the highlighted squares could be arranged to make the word herringbone. The three winners who will each receive a copy of the book are: K. CapeBrown, by email; Ros Mason, Staffordshire; Hayley Porter, West Kensington, by email.

encounter at antique fairs in various guises. (a) dowmetal, (b) Misch metal, (c) Muntz metal, (d) wood’s metal. Match them with the following metal contents and their possible uses.

(1) copper and zinc, (2) mostly magnesium, (3) mostly cerium, (4) bismuth, lead, tin, cadmium.

Are they used to make (i) cigarette lighter ints, (ii) musical instruments, (iii) model railways, (iv) large-sized but low-weight objects.

Finally, here are four anagrams owl wrecker, ah! Six curses, bite kale and aerate wag. Rearrange them to form, in order: Embroidery using a ne, two-ply yarn; a rush seat with an ash frame popularised by William Morris (two words); an early plastic (invented in 1909 and used for all sorts of domestic objects) and a type of pottery with partial blending of di erent coloured clays (two words). For the answers turn to page 10.

Anagram 3 What is this camera made from?

Q4 What does the broadcaster Janet StreetPorter collect?

e temperature is rising, as is the di culty of Peter Wade-Wright’s quiz pages

Q10 An advertisement for dowmetal from 1940

1 DOWN CLUE

Across

1 Gertrude _____ (1843-1932). British horticulturist, writer, artist and garden designer. (6)

4 Container. See 24 across. (3)

6 Projecting edge of a roof. (sing.) (4)

8 Appetisers…or, types (pl.) of French padded settees with highly decorated frames. (7)

9 Crazy person (slang)…certainly not applicable to someone with an antique or collecting passion. (3)

10 Artist’s poser? (6)

13 Small tuft or bundle…or ‘Will-o’-the -____’ aka ‘Friar’s lanthorn’. (4)

15 Projecting anatomical part that often gets knocked off a statue. (4)

16 German manufacturer of arms since the 19th century. (6)

1 ACROSS CLUE

20 ACROSS CLUE

19 Metal casting process using a mould cavity. (3)

20 German art and design school (1919-1933). (7)

22 ____ pipes, e.g. clarinet, and a type of furniture decoration. (4)

23 Fuel, once ubiquitous for lighting, cooking, hair tongs and (purportedly) radios. (There is a national museum devoted to it in Leicester.) (3)

24 Coiled/curved decoration, and as ____- (4-across) also known as a (1-across) – (4-across) a Compton Pottery planter. (6)

Down

1 _____ Pollock (1912-1956). American abstract expressionist painter. (7)

2 Spanish glass-making family in Scotland. Their paperweights are most collectable. (5)

3 ___ - Metford. Rifle adopted by the British Army in 1888. (3)

4 Writing/drawing implements (pl.) (7)

5 Of little value…or, make by knotting. (3)

7 The Golden ____. Apuleius’s eccentric tale. (3)

11 Flat canopies (pl.) over bedsteads. (7)

12 Fermented and distilled molasses. (3)

14 Mechanical, sometimes hinged, hand-held sun-shield popular from the 1770s onwards. (7)

17 Escorting officer or servant…and Poe house that fell. (5)

18 ‘Honest ____’ nickname of the 16th American President. (3)

19 Animal. Symbolic loyal friend to humans in art…but not in the Bible. (3)

21 Commercial displays or notices (abbr. pl.) (3)

Finally, rearrange the letters in the highlighted squares to form the name of the sumptuous French palace for which much art and artefacts were commissioned. (10)

e gardens at Hestercombe were designed by this famous horticulturist

e HQ of the German design school

A trademark painting by the American artist _____ Pollock

COLLECTING GUIDES e Casablanca Art School and African art

Boldly Go

When French colonial powers established the Casablanca Art School (École Des Beaux-Arts de Casablanca) in the early 1920s, students were assigned by ethnicity, gender and social class. Tutors, all of whom were required to hold French nationality, were steeped in the traditional École des Beaux-Arts model, promoting easel painting using life models or statues. Arts and crafts from the region were ignored, in favour of a classical curriculum and Orientalism.

But change was in the air and in 1956, following the country’s growing nationalist movement, Morocco gained independence from France. e country-wide feeling

of liberation was mirrored at the Casablanca Art School (CAS) which underwent its own artistic revolution.

By 1962 the Moroccan modernist Farid Belkahia (1934-2014) had been appointed as the school’s director, calling on compatriots Mohamed Melehi (1936-2020) and Mohammed Chabâa (1935-2013) to join him.

Each man was in his thirties and had spent a lifetime of frustration at the hands of the artistic establishment. Melehi in particular, who left Morocco aged 19 to study in Spain, was keen to adopt new methods of making art. One of his rst actions in his new role was to remove the Greco-Roman busts from the school’s studios replacing them with crafts made by Berber women.

e trio called on a group of like-minded artists to proclaim a new art for Morocco grown from Afro-Berber heritage. Belkahia also broadened access to the CAS to include women students.

New movement

In dismantling Western styles and methods tutors and students visited areas known for their local traditions, with trips to study archaeology, calligraphy, pottery, religious paintings, and techniques from leatherwork to weaving and even the art of local tattoos.

Work by artists from the Casablanca Art School, who shrugged o their colonial shadow in the 1950s and ‘60s to establish an avant garde movement, has gone on show. Antique Collecting reports

Above Mohamed Melehi (1936-2020) Untitled, 1983, Cellulose paint on wood, 150 x 200 cm, © Mohamed Melehi Estate

Belkahia also established Morocco’s rst modern art course under the tutelage of Toni Maraini, with Bert Flint teaching visual anthropology. Flint shone a light on rural north Africa’s rugs and jewellery, giving them new life as teaching tools.

Mohamed Melehi said: “Bert Flint [inspired] students with their own ignored cultural roots; to lead them to believe that there is a strong and local – not foreign –artistic expression in Moroccan culture.”

Rippling bands

At the same time Melehi himself was embracing his own unique style. By the late 1970s he had abandoned acrylic in favour of car paint, saying: “I wanted to use materials that weren’t removed from the working classes.”

Sprayed lacquer on wood panels, his motifs are geometrical and hard-edged including stripes, chevrons, and rippling bands all arranged with a Cubist in uence.

In 1984, the New York Times wrote: “Melehi’s main source of inspiration... virtually unknown in the United States, are distinctly African in character and very beautiful. Melehi is a witty and highly intelligent man, totally absorbed in Moroccan culture, which has been a ected by all the major Mediterranean civilizations, including Carthage, Crete and Egypt.”

Lef t Farid Belkahia, Mohammed Chabâa and Mohamed Melehi surrounded by the students and their guest Augusto Bonalumi at the Casablanca Art School, 1966. Photo M. Melehi, ©M. Melehi archives/ estate

Right Farid Belkahia (1934–2014) Cuba Si, 1961, ©Fondation Farid Belkahia

Below left Toni Maraini teaching African art history at the Casablanca Art School, 1964-1965. Photo M. Melehi, ©M. Melehi archives/estate.

Below right Mohamed Melehi (1936-2020) Composition, 1970. Acrylic paint on cardboard, 120 x 100cm. Courtesy of the artist, MACAAL and Fondation Alliances

Bottom right Mohamed Hamidi (b.1941) Composition, 1971. Private Collection

Farid Belkahia

Belkahia was born into a wealthy and artistic Marrakech family and early on became influenced by his father’s international circle of artistic friends, such as the Polish painter Olek Teslar (1900-1952) and his French wife the artist Jeannine Guillou (19091946) who had settled in southern Morocco.

Rejecting the Orientalist styles of his tutors, he set off for Europe spending three years in Prague from 1959 to 1962, where he produced a set of expressionist works inspired by the Algerian War of Independence. In the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs crisis, Belkahia expressed his support for Castro with his painting Cuba Si 1961.

‘At the same time Melehi himself was embracing his own unique style. By the late 1970s he had abandoned acrylic in favour of car paint, saying: “I wanted to use materials that weren’t removed from the working classes” ’

African art

Art School, 1964-1965.

Photo M. Melehi, ©M.

Composition

Acrylic paint on 120 x 100cm. Hamidi (b.1941)

COLLECTING GUIDES e Casablanca Art School and African art

Melehi explained his style saying: “ e wave meant music and movement. It is communication in space, it represents continuity, the sky, a women’s sensuality, water, and pulsating rhythm. Yet it is calm.”

At the same time Belkahia became renowned for painting with dyes on animal skins. Chabâa, in his role as professor of graphic design, repurposed Arabic calligraphy for use in signage and posters.

Plastic Presence

But a decade later, the CAS was increasingly despondent with the faculty’s lack of progress which continued to be dogged by traditional events such as the state-organised Salon du Printemps (Spring Fair exhibition), a colonial relic that categorised Moroccan artists as “naïve”. More than 10 years after independence, nothing had been

Political prisoners

It wasn’t long before the CAS artists were being dubbed artistes contestataires (protest artists) by the national press. To spread their artistic message Melehi and Chabâa co-designed the journal Souffles, described as a “thoughtprovoking blend of poetry, literature and cultural critique” that aspired to decolonise and democratise Moroccan arts and culture.

The journal soon became popular among the Moroccan left-wing, courting the displeasure of the authorities.

A 1969 issue championed Palestinian resistance and issue 19 featured Malcolm X on the cover. By 1972, the quarterly magazine was banned, however, and its founder the poet Abdelatiff Laâbi was imprisoned for eight years for cultural activism.

Chabâa had established Studio 400 in Casablanca in 1968 (renamed Studio Shine in 1974) where he undertook a number of political and artistic projects. Meanwhile Melehi opened the publishers Shoof, as well as a graphic studio designing posters and logos in solidarity with Angolan and Palestinian resistance movements.

Melehi died of Covid-19 in Paris in 2020.

Above left of Plastic Presence in Jemaa el-Fna square, Marrakech, May 1969. Photo M. Melehi, ©M. Melehi archives/estate

Above right Mohammed Chabâa (1935-2013) Untitled, 1965, acrylic on canvas, Mohammed Chabâa estate. Photo Fouad Mazouz

Below Mohamed Melehi (1936-2020) Composition, 1968. Private Collection

organised by, or for, Moroccan artists. With few galleries to show their work, they took to the streets organising the exhibitions Présence Plastique. CAS artists installed paintings and murals in public squares, held rst in Marrakech’s main square, the Jemaa el-Fna, and then in Casablanca’s 16 November Square.

Toni Maraini said: “People from all walks of life –urban, rural, and every social class – gathered in a unique state of mind. We hung our works here for 10 days… To show works outside of the closed doors of galleries and salons, where this audience had never been.”

By this time, artists Mohamed Ataallah, Mustapha Ha d and Mohamed Hamidi joined the CAS as tutors.

Everyday design

e school also joined forces with architects to regenerate neglected spaces and districts. With the studio Faraoui & de Mazières, the CAS designed interiors at Casablanca’s National Bank for Economic Development, the National Tourist O ce, factories, hospitals, universities, vacation centres and newly-built hotels from 1967–1982.

Belkahia quit as the school’s director in the mid-1970s, by which time his achievements had also included signi cantly increasing the number of female students, most notably Malika Agueznay (b. 1938), who attended the school from 1966-1970, becoming the rst woman modernist abstract artist in Morocco.

e Casablanca Art School: Platforms and Patterns for a Postcolonial Avant-Garde is on at Tate St Ives until January 14, featuring 22 abstract paintings, murals, craft, graphics and examples of interior design and typography. For more details go to www.tate.org.uk/st-ives

LONDON EXHIBITION

Above

Running alongside the exhibition in St Ives, the auction house Christie’s has unveiled London’s largest exhibition of Arab art to date.

In two sections, more than 150 works including paintings, sculpture, drawings and works on paper from 1939 to 2023 will be on show at the auction house’s headquarters until August 23.

The first section is a selling and loan exhibition including works by the pioneering Emirati artist Hassan Sharif (1951–2016), made up of paintings, works on paper, sculpture and textiles from the 1980s to 2015, a year before he died.

Sharif is widely regarded as a central figure in contemporary art in the region and even known as the father of conceptual art in the Gulf. His work will be shown alongside a number of leading contemporary artists from the area.

The second section, Kawkaba: Highlights from the Barjeel Art Foundation is a loan exhibition of 100 works from the Barjeel Art Foundation which was created in 2010 by Sultan Soud Al Qassemi. Kawkaba means “constellation” in Arabic.

Right

Exhibition curator for Christie’s, Dr Ridha Moumni, said: “The exhibition celebrates highprofile artists such as Hassan Sharif and shines a light on the creativity, diversity, and rich histories of North African and West Asian cultures.”

Kawkaba: Highlights from the Barjeel Art Foundation and Emirati Art Reimagined: Hassan Sharif and the Contemporary Voices can both be seen at Christie’s, 8 King Street, St James’s. For details go to www.christies.com

Above View of Asilah Cultural Festival, mural by Mohammed Chabâa, 1978, Asilah. Photo M. Melehi, ©M. Melehi archives/estate

right Mohamed Melehi (1936-2020) Untitled, 1975, cellulose paint on wood, 100 × 120cm

Left Abdelkrim Ghattas (b. 1945) Composition, 1977. Private Collection

Hassan Sharif (1951-2016) Four Rectangles, signed in Arabic and dated ‘1985’ (lower left) tempera on canvas, 113 x 74cm

‘‘In 1964, Melehi insisted the Greco-Roman busts be removed from the studios to be replaced by crafts made by Berber women. Belkahia became renowned for painting with dyes on animal skins. Chabâa, in his role as professor of graphic design, repurposed Arabic calligraphy for use in signage and posters’

COLLECTING GUIDES e Casablanca Art School and African art

Q&A

We asked Janet Rady, Olympia Auctions’ head of African and Middle Eastern art, for her collecting insights

QWhat has been the legacy of the Casablanca School of Art? How important is it today?

AIt is not possible to speak of the legacy of the Casablanca Art School, without considering the impact that avant-garde movements of the global south as a whole (for example the Contemporary Art Group in Cairo, the Baghdad Group for Modern Art or the Khartoum School and the dar al-funun al-saudiah) have had on the world today. These schools created a didactic ecosystem which instilled an appreciation for native, as opposed to imported art, and a confidence in postcolonial freedom of expression. The CAS continues to produce students who have represented their country at international biennales, such as Mohammed Kacimi (1942–2003) and Fouad Bellamine (b. 1950) whose work was shown at the São Paulo Biennial in 1987.

QHow is the current/ recent market for works by artists from theCSA?

AAs is the case with many markets, collectors’ interest in artists grows with education and awareness, usually through exhibitions and publications. While the artists of the CAS have been well known within Morocco, where

auctions have been successfully held for the last 15 years, various initiatives have helped raise these artists’ profiles internationally with exhibitions in London (Mosaic Rooms), the UAE (Art Dubai and Alserkal Avenue) and the current CAS show at Tate St Ives. Such events have led to a rapid rise in market prices for artists such as Mohamed Melehi, whose value according to LiveArt, has increased 100 per cent in the last five years and whose worldwide ranking has gone from 23,667 in 2008 to 717 in 2023, with the UK being the second most popular market place for his work after Morocco.

QWho are the most sought-after artists?

in both markets and offers opportunities to collectors to discover new artists with whom they may not have been familiar. Our sales are accompanied by a catalogue, with artists’ biographies.

QWhat advice do you have in terms of starting a collection?

A

It is not surprising that the three main artists / teachers at the CAS now command the highest prices at auction, namely Mohamed Melehi, Mohammed Chabâa and Farid Belkahia. All three have works in major institutions such as Tate, MoMA, Centre Pompidou and Contemporary Art and the Museum of African Contemporary Art Al Maaden (MACAAL) in Marrakech. Another artist selling well at auction is the previously mentioned painter Mohammed Kacimi.

Q Which lesser-known CAS artists should collectors look out for?

A The female CAS artists Malika Agueznay (b. 1938) and Chaïba Tallal (1929-2004) would be my suggestion to focus on. Others such as Fouad Bellamine or perhaps Ahmed Cherkaoui (1934-1967) are also worth keeping an eye out for.

QWhy should UK collectors be excited by the Middle Eastern and African art market?

AHaving worked in the Middle Eastern and African art market for the last 16 years, what has struck me is the growing interest in this region in the UK. While it used to be the case that artworks from these regions performed best either in their own native markets or in Dubai, which acts as a hub for the region, we are now seeing excellent results in the London market. Olympia Auctions is the only auction house to include both Modern and Contemporary African and Middle Eastern art in the same sale, which we believe helps build strength

ADo your research – read, go to exhibitions, art fairs and auctions. Take time to go to Tate St Ives to see their exhibition or A World in Common: Contemporary African Photography at Tate Modern (also until January 14, 2024). Attend the 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair at Somerset House (October 2-15). For Moroccan art browse the websites of museums such as Mohamed VI Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art and MACAAL for their artistic insights.

Olympia Auctions’ next Modern and Contemporary African and Middle Eastern Art sale is on October 25, for details go to www.olympiaauctions.com

‘Prices for Mohamed Melehi, according to LiveArt, have increased 100 per cent in the last five years with his worldwide ranking going from 23,667 in 2008 to 717 in 2023, with the UK being the second most popular market place for his work after Morocco’

Below Farid Belkahia (1934-2014) 14 original lithographs by the artist, 1980. Estimated at €4,000-€6,000 it sold for €5,120 at Bonhams’ Le Paris du Monde Arabe, credit Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr

Left Mohamed Melehi (19362020) Untitled, silkscreen on paper, 2008. Estimated at €2,000-€3,000, it sold for €2,560, credit Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr

Right Mohamed Melehi (19362020) Untitled II, silkscreen on paper, 2008. Estimated at €2,000-€3,000, it sold for €3,200, credit Bonhams Cornette de Saint Cyr

An Auctioneer’s Lot

When working at Cobridge, Andrew developed a caricatured range of birds and animals in high- red stoneware in homage to the Martin Brothers and, during the next six years built up a range of characters all with their own names and stories.

Today his work is fast attracting clout among the collecting community who appreciate the whimsical beauty of the Martin Brothers but lack the four gures - or more - required to buy one of their pieces.

Famous crab

In 2018, the Martin brothers hit the headlines when a 50cm-wide grinning anthropomorphic crab, made in 1880, was banned from export by the UK government on grounds of its ‘outstanding aesthetic importance.’ Labelled a national treasure, it was bought by e Box in Plymouth for £200,000.

At our recent sale a Cobridge Stoneware crab, estimated to make £80-£120, hammered at £400 while Hull’s “Albert the Pelican”, which had a pre-sale guide of £150-£200 sold for £380.

The amboyant colours, shapes and styles of Moorcroft Pottery have always fascinated me but a recent single-owner collection took my breath away when some rather unusual designs muscled their way in.

Among 263 more traditional, tubelined designs for sale, ranging in date from the 1920s to the modern era, were several eccentric-looking examples from Cobridge Stoneware. Cobridge was an o shoot of Moorcroft started in 1998 by its owner Hugh Edwards who was keen to create high- red stoneware in an oxidised ring with an identi able design.

It was a technique William Howson Taylor had perfected a century earlier for Ruskin Pottery. But when he died, the potter took its secret to the grave.

However Edwards’ stoneware experiment was shortlived and, in 2005, despite attracting a loyal clientele, he decided it was at odds with the more traditional Moorcroft brand and the project ended. Its short life might explain why Cobridge Stoneware is so sought after today. e company had created what was to become a heady mix for collectors, combining quality and rarity. Love them or hate them, you can’t ignore Cobridge wares, and bidders appear to love them.

Popular grotesques

Many of Cobridge’s designs were the work of some of Moorcroft’s ceramic designers such as Philip Gibson, Kerry Goodwin, Nicola Slaney and Angela Davenport who went on to produce many outstanding designs.

Another was Andrew Hull a graduate of Loughborough College of Art and Design who, during his second year completed a project on the Martin Brothers and went on to develop a taste for caricatured birds and animals.

Any collector worth his or her salt will recognise the work of the famous four siblings who set up a pottery in Southall in south London in 1873 and became known for their whimsical “Wally birds”, the work of Robert Wallace Martin (1843-1923), many of which sell for thousands.

Above left e Cobridge Stoneware crab, expected to sell for £80£120, sold for £400 at the recent Moorcroft sale

Above e design echoes a version made by the Martin brothers in 1880, which sold for £200,000, image courtesy of e Box

Below right Andrew Hull’s Albert the Pelican for Cobridge Stoneware sold for £320 beating its guide price of £150-£250

I think you will agree the pieces perfectly sum up the eccentric sprit of the Martin brothers’ grinning, widemouthed oddities. Like the brothers, whose work captured well-known gures of the day, the Burslem Pottery’s range also includes a politician as well as members of a courtroom.

Other top sellers

Elsewhere in the sale on July 4 William Moorcroft’s undoubted brilliance was celebrated, especially his early pottery.

For example, a c. 1925 Eventide tray sold for £500 and bidders particularly liked a large boxed Moorcroft vase, Times Gone by, depicting a Dickensian scene. It achieved a hammer price of £2,250. It seems Moorcraft in all its many iterations is as popular as ever.

Hansons Auctioneer’s next sale is its August jewellery, silver, watches, ne art, antiques and collectors auction at its Hertfordshire saleroom.

Charles Hanson is amused by a number of grotesques, modelled on more famous versions, which dazzled at a recent Moorcroft sale

‘Andrew Hull’s work is fast attracting clout among the collecting community who appreciate the whimsical beauty of the Martin brothers but lack the four figures - or more - required to buy one of their pieces’

RED LETTER DAY

Above China 1897 60th birthday of the Dowager Empress “Mollendorf” special printing which were given to high level government and foreign o cials. Only 900 sets known to exist. On sale from Paul Fraser priced £7,500

Below right China 1897 12ca orange-yellow ‘60th Birthday of the Dowager Empress’, from the unissued second printing, SG32, on sale from Paul Fraser priced £8,000

Great lick

ose factors run parallel to the fact China is very wealthy. e Hurun Report, widely recognised as the foremost authority in tracking the rapid changes in China’s entrepreneurial community, reported 64 per cent of Chinese millionaires have invested in stamps.

And with a reported 654,000 millionaires in China, there is clearly a lot of money owing into the Chinese stamp market, inevitably forcing prices upwards.

Editor of Gibbons Stamp Monthly, Hugh Je eries, told the Express newspaper: “What happens when economies open up and there’s an expanding middle class is that people start buying their stamps back.”

As a result a lot of stamps from China, the Middle East and India are all leaving Europe and going back to the countries sparking a price rise.

Keith Heddle, the director of sales and marketing at Stanley Gibbons, told the publication that China stamps are continually breaking records, with the beautiful pre-revolutionary specimens particularly popular as opposed to themore utilitarian communist ones.

Market correction

e impact of Chinese collectors on stamp markets has been an event of historical importance. It caused a massive boom insales and values.

Once the preserve of British and American investors, the emergence of China as the world’s second biggest economy has seen stamp collecting become big business in the East.

Banned by Chairman Mao, as being “of bourgeois thought” since his death in 1976, the Chinese population did not take long to pick up their beloved hobby – but with a heightened fervour.

In 2000, the Chinese government put in place schemes to encourage schools to start stamp collecting clubs. ose children are now adults with disposable incomes.

Unlike most of the Western world, inChina stamp collecting is cool. Building a valuable collection is something to be admired and acclaimed, with the country now boasting some 18m philatelists. e 2019 the Fédération Internationale de Philatélie (FIP) stamp xhibition inWuhan saw a record high number of visitors, totalling more than 400,000.

Stamps are even a popular gift in China, particularly modern commemorative stamps. All these factors mean the Chinese stamp market has a depth like no other.

Huge amounts of money rushed into a once specialist niche. And then a reckoningcame. A major market correction in 2016-2018 was followed by a period of low growth in prices. e future w ill likely hold another peak for themarket. Stanley Gibbons’ head of investment Keith Heddle said: “You 10 year cycles, and you do get rises, thena few years of flattening, and then prices rise rapidly again.”

e recent trend is of astonishing growth. Philatelic specialist, Mike Hall, attests the buzz is returning to the market for Chinese stamps. He said: “ ere is clearly a rising interest in Europe for Chinese stamps, probably

Chinese stamps could just be your next collecting obsession.

Paul Fraser reports on the global phenomenon and why it’s not too late to get stuck in

partly fuelled by speculation based on past price rises in the market.

“However, there are also more Chinese buyers participating at European auctions seeking to repatriate their philatelic heritage.”

Sales in Europe in 2022 saw prices outperforming 2020 catalogue values by hundreds of per cent. Fundamentally, all these dynamics cause the Chinese stamp market to have a depth of support like no other.

Focus on Qing dynasty

e country’s philatelic enthusiasm had focused on the post-1949 revolution People’s Republic of China. But a new wave of Chinese national pride is interested in the pre-Mao country too.

Hanfu culture sees youngsters parading - sel e-taking phones in hand - in traditional clothes that were only recently considered beyond-the-pale and backward.

ere’s no reason why that deeper interest in China’s history won’t lter into the stamp market.

Allthe ingredients are in place: a market that rocketed and then slumped. I think a period of low growth is coming to an end. Added to which purists will nd a lot to love too because they share the four criteria for a great stamp, namely rarity, beauty, innovation and anomaly. Here are my top three.

Left China 1883 5ca chrome-yellow ‘Candarins’. date stamp in black with the year date ‘85’. On sale from Paul Fraser priced £15,000

Below China 1897 Dowager Empress (2nd printing), set of 9 to 30c. e Dowager Empress stamps celebrated her 60th birthday and were the rst commemorative stamps ever issued. On sale from Paul Fraser priced £35,000

Below right China 1897 “Imperial Customs Post” Tokyo printing SG106, on sale from Paul Fraser for £4,000

Record-breaking stamp

Last November saw a record price for a Chinese stamp when a 1968 stamp nicknamed “Big Patch of Red” sold at the Beijing auction house China Guardian for $2m.

It is now the third most valuable stamp in the world after the British Guiana 1c Magenta ($9.5m) and the Swedish Treskilling Yellow ($2.9m).

Officially known as “The Whole Country is Red”, as recently as 2018 the Stanley Gibbons China catalogue valued the stamp at £140,000.

It features an army of Chinese citizens holding Mao’s Little Red Book the ultimate symbol of Communism.

While it represented a defining moment in Cultural Revolution, its value lies an error. The stamp was withdrawn because the island of Taiwan on the right of the country was left in white, not red, causing a huge outcry.

Consequently, there are only nine known examples in existence. The record set a benchmark for future sales, creating a market confidence that bodes well for other rarities from China.

1.Early gem

Geese were used on the most valuable early Chinese stamps, with dragons and carp populating cheaper issues. Almost every early Chinese stamp was printed outside the country. is was created in Japan, on paper with a yin-yang watermark. And the English language on this 1897 issue reveals their international focus. e modern Qing postal service was founded by an Irishman and rst served only the “treaty ports” that were open to international trade.

e symbolic meaning of the goose in Chinese poetry makes it apt.

ey were thought to mate for life so a singleton carried meanings of loss, loneliness, or separation. Perfect for a letter to a distant lover. is is a ne, mint example, and looks wonderful. You will be lucky to nd such a good example anywhere on the market. It boasts a 20-year increase of 400 per cent to today’s price.

‘In 2000, the Chinese government put in place schemes to encourage schools to start stamp collecting clubs. Those children are now adults with disposable incomes. Unlike most of the Western world, stamp collecting is cool in China’

COLLECTING GUIDE Qing dynasty stamps

2 Anomaly stamp

e quality of this block of four stamps (below) stands out even at rst glance. at’s why the value is up 250 per cent in the 20 years since 2003. Less obvious is the error in the top-right stamp, which has a comma substituted for the full stop after “cents”. e bottom left stamp has an inverted “s”. Four stamps, two rare anomalies.

e stamps were issued during a period of turmoil in China during the late Qing period. While Japanese-printed stamps were awaited, the government unwrapped 600,000 British-made revenue stamps intended for customs use and quickly overprinted surcharges.

e following year, the Guangxu Emperor embarked on a bigger modernising process, e Hundred Days’ Reform. It was suppressed - bloodily - by conservatives led by his aunt, the Empress Dowager Cixi. Around a dozen years later the Qing Dynasty fell forever. To anyone with an interest in Chinese history or postal history these stamps are lled with meaning.

Right Green is the traditional colour for Chinese postboxes

Below left China 1897 2c on 3c deep red ‘Red Revenue’, on sale from Paul Fraser for £7,000

Below China 1912 Commemorating the Revolution, on sale from Paul Fraser for £2,350

3 1912 commemorative set

In 2003 you might have snagged the set below for £300. e 2023 price is more than 800 per cent higher.

In 1911, China had been an empire for more than 2,000 years and the Qing dynasty had held sway for nearly three centuries. On the rst day of the following year, a formerly exiled, Christian doctor called Sun Yat-sen was declared the rst president of the Republic of China.

e new Father of the Nation immediately celebrated in a wonderful set of commemoratives, the rst issued by the young Republic. Sadly, governing China wasn’t to prove as simple as putting out stamps and Sun was to spend much of the rest of his life at war, in revolt or back in exile. He died before China could be fully reuni ed.

MILESTONES IN THE CHINESE POSTAL SERVICE

Ancient postal system: China has a rich history of postal systems dating back over two thousand years. During the Qin dynasty (221-206 CE), a courier service called “yuanchao” was established to transmit official documents across the empire. This laid the foundation for later postal systems. Tang dynasty: The Tang dynasty (618-907) saw the establishment of an extensive courier system called the 驿站 (yìzhàn). This system comprised a network of relay stations strategically placed along major roads to facilitate the efficient delivery of messages and goods.

Qing dynasty: In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), an organised postal system called the 官信 (guānxìn) was established. It focused primarily on official communication and the transportation of government documents, employing postal routes and messengers.

Modern postal system: The modern postal system in China began to take shape in the late 19th century. In 1896, the Qing government established the 邮传部 (yóuchuán bù), which marked the official beginning of the modern postal service. The service expanded over time, and in 1914, China joined the Universal Postal Union (UPU), an international organization for postal cooperation.

Founding of the People’s Republic of China: In 1949, the People’s Republic of China was established. The new government took over the postal service and formed the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (now known as China Post Group Corporation) to oversee postal operations.

Landmark exhibition

Using 300 objects from around the world, the British Museum’s current exhibition shines a light on the material culture of multiple sections of Chinese society. e list is as long as the century itself including representatives from the court, military, artists and writers, farmers and citydwellers, as well as global communities of merchants, scientists and diplomats, reformers and revolutionaries.

China’s “long” century stretched from the accession in 1796 of the fth emperor of the Qing dynasty, Jiaqing, to the abdication in 1912 of the tenth, Puyi, making way for a revolutionary republic.

Between 1796 and 1912 Qing China endured cataclysmic civil and foreign wars (including Britain’s notorious Opium Wars), culminating with the revolution that ended 2,000 years of dynastic rule. Tens of millions perished in the con icts and the chaos they generated.

Cross culture

Despite this tragic backdrop, the events and people of 19th-century China launched the country on a farreaching, multi-faceted quest for modernity.

Survivors of this century’s dislocations, from many social classes and economic groups, demonstrated

Below

extraordinary resourcefulness, both driving and embracing cultural and technological change in painting and politics, war andcraft, literature and fashion.

Objects on show range from the everyday, in the shape of a farmer’s water-proof straw cape to the highest echelons including the robe worn by the Empress Dowager Cixi, the de-facto ruler of China from 1861 to 1908 inwhose name so many stamps were issued.

e gown – featuring a swooping phoenix amid lush chrysanthemums and wide sleeve bands – is a gorgeous combination of Manchu, Chinese and Japanese motifs, in purple, gold and turquoise.

China’s Hidden Century is on at the Sainsbury Exhibitions Gallery at the British Museum until October 8.

‘Objects on show range from the everyday, in the shape of a farmer’s waterproof straw cape, to the highest echelons including the robe worn by the Empress Dowager Cixi in whose name so many stamps were issued’

Dowager Cixi’s robe, c. 1880–1908. © e Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Luxury fan, Guangzhou, 1800–1840. © e Teresa Coleman Collection.

Nothing boosts the collecting market like an exhibition. e British Museum’s landmark showcase on 19th-century China is sure to do the same

e Greatest Showman

is month sees the start of an exhibition of 1,500 possessions owned by Freddie Mercury ahead of six summer sales. Antique Collecting goes behind the scenes

When Freddie Mercury said: “I like to be surrounded by splendid things. I want to lead the Victorian life surrounded by exquisite clutter” for collectors it acted as both as comfort and spur. ere’s a chance to view the singer’s “exquisite clutter” this month at Sotheby’s when the contents of his London home go on show in a number of galleries, each devoted to a di erent aspect of Mercury’s varied life and personas.

As soon as the exhibition ends collectors have the chance to own some of the singer’s most personal possessions at three live sales beginning on September 6 –which would have been Mercury’s 77th birthday. A further three online sales run from August 4 until mid September.

To say Mercury was an eclectic collector is somewhat of an understatement. His collection spans artworks by Marc Chagall and Georges Braque (he had a Picasso in the kitchen and a Matisse in the dining room) to a Daum lamp

with a tassled shade made by Mercury himself.

e exhibition and sale will be a pilgrimage for dedicated rock fans – on show will be never-beforeseen handwritten lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody expected to make more than £1m – but both will prove a unique insight into one of the most quixotic and talented performers of the 20th century.

Champion collector

While the rock annals will record Mercury as the lead vocalist and principal songwriter of Queen, one of the most successful acts of all time, they may make less reference to his keen eye as a collector and saleroom habitué. He said: “I love going to auctions and buying antiques. e one thing I would really miss if I actually left Britain would be Sotheby’s.”

e auction house repaid the compliment, praising Mercury’s studied, if eclectic, eye, be tting of one of

Below e Daum lamp with a lampshade made by Mercury himself, it has an estimate of £2,000–£3,000

Freddie Mercury with Queen at Wembley Stadium in 1986, photograph by © Denis O’Regan

Barker, said: “His sensational life has left us with a rich array of artistic moments that still move and astound us, a legacy that, like his music, will live on forever.”

Such was the scope of Mercury’s collection it required specialists from 30 di erent collecting categories to catalogue it.

Backstage pass

According to the auction house’s head of sale, David Macdonald, the exhibition and sale will o er “the ultimate backstage pass into Mercury’s world.”

He said: “ e collection is a manifestation of one extraordinary man’s creativity, taste and unerring eye for beauty, presenting so much more than just an exquisite selection of the very best examples by artists across centuries and countries.”

Auction house specialists have spent months cataloguing the pieces from Mercury’s Garden Lodge home which the singer had left to his former ancée Mary Austin who kept it exactly as it was when the singer died in 1991 aged 45, just 24 hours after issuing a statement saying he was su ering from Aids.

Talking about the sale, Mary Austin said: “It was important to me to do this in a way that I felt Freddie would have loved, and there was nothing he loved more than an auction. Freddie was an intelligent collector who showed us there is beauty in everything.

“I hope this will be an opportunity to share all the many facets of Freddie, both public and private, and for the world to understand more about, and celebrate, his unique and beautiful spirit.”

Above left A pair of Mercury’s Adidas high top sneakers, has an estimate of £3,000-£5,000

Top right James Jacques Tissot (1836-1902) Type of Beauty (1880) has an estimate of £400,000–£600,000. Hung in the drawing room, the painting, the last Mercury ever bought, depicts Tissot’s muse and mistress Kathleen Newton

Above right A tiny Ti any & Co. silver moustache comb, late 20th centur y, has an estimate of £400–£600

Right Freddie Mercury’s favourite waistcoat, worn in his nal video ese Are e Days Of Our Lives in 1991. e silk panels are hand painted with Freddie’s cats, Delilah, Goliath, Oscar, Lily, Romeo and Miko. It has an estimate of £5,000-£7,000

Man behind the collection

Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara on the East African island of Zanzibar in 1946, where his father worked for the British colonial o ce. His Indian-Parsi parents ed the Zanzibar revolution in 1964, arriving with their children in London as British citizens.

Mercury’s early training as an artist (he studied Graphic Art and Design at Ealing Art School) no doubt informed his lifelong love and appreciation of art, and of the graphic arts in particular. He also studied fashion and, in his early days, made a living selling vintage clothes and textiles from a market stall, marking the birth of a love for costumes and sumptuous fabrics, all of which would feature large in his stage persona and in his home. Another great passion was Japan.

‘Mercury was also a passionate collector of glass with an art nouveau glass vase-lamp (c. 1905), by Daum - one of the finest producers of art deco glass - and with a bespoke tasselled shade made by Mercury himself taking pride of place in his sitting room’

COLLECTING GUIDES Freddie Mercury collection

In homage to his passion for the country Mercury regularly wore kimonos on stage, especially during the 1970s, and on numerous trips to the country acquired an extensive collection of silks and textiles, of traditional and contemporary Japanese dress.

Flamboyant style

An embroidered furisode [long-sleeved kimono], Showa period, 20th century, in white gured silk weave, decorated in gold brocade with origami cranes and tassels among a profusion of owers and foliage has an estimate £5,000–£8,000 this summer.

But one of the highlights of the online sale, from August 4 to September 11, will be an 1857 Japanese woodblock by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858), called Sudden Shower over the Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake which has an estimate of £30,000–£50,000. In the months prior to acquiring the work, Mary Austin had attended a Sotheby’s auction in the hope of purchasing a di erent impression of the same print, but after being outbid, Mercury then made it his mission to nd another on his next trip to Japan.

Above Freddie Mercury in Japan. Polaroid. e singer rst visited the country in 1975 sparking a lifelong love of its people, history and culture

Far left Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858) Sudden Shower over the Shin-Ohashi Bridge and Atake it has an estimate of £30,000–£50,000 at next month’s online sale

Left Romain de Tirto known as Erté (1882-1990) costume design for ChangTi, it has an estimate of £3,000-£4,000. Mercury had 11 watercolours by Erté, including one given to him by his friend, Elton John

In love with Japan

It was the spring of 1975, during the rst of many visits while on tour, Mercury started a passionate attachment to the country. ousands of fans turned up to greet Queen at the airport, and the band played in eight cities. He said: “I loved it there: the lifestyle, the people, the art. Wonderful!”

His love of the country and its culture is re ected in his collection of Japanese art and objects housed in a special Japanese room in Garden Lodge. e collection ranges from Edo to Shōwa period porcelain, to lacquered boxes and japanned chairs with pagoda-like backs.

An antique tsuitate partition decorated with carp stood in front of the replace (the singer also had a koi pond in the garden). e centrepiece was a baby grand piano made by John Broadwood & Sons in 1900, decorated with chinoiserie scenes and bought by Mercury in New York then shipped to London.

Other highlights include a rare, 17th-century porcelain Kakiemon bowl decorated with Ho-o birds, and a set of four lacquered wood and glass candle stands, which would be lit for guests.

Above right One of 15 pages of Freddie Mercury’s autographed working lyrics for Bohemian Rhapsody (c. 1974). ey have an estimate of £800,000-£1.2m Queen Music Ltd / Sony Music Publishing UK Ltd

Right A second page of 15 pages of Freddie Mercury’s working lyrics for Bohemian Rhapsody (c. 1974). ey have an estimate of £800,000£1.2m Queen Music Ltd / Sony Music Publishing UK Ltd

Far right Autograph manuscript working lyrics to Killer Queen. It has an estimate of £50,000–£70,000 © Queen Music Ltd - Sony Music Publishing UK Ltd

Mercury’s collection of 18th and 19th-century woodblock prints – some of which were acquired in Sotheby’s 1977 sale of important Japanese prints from the collection of the French ne jeweller Henri Vever – will be highly sought after by collectors.

Killer lyrics

As magical as Mercury’s collection is, leading the sale will be one of the most important pieces of rock history - a 15-page folio of handwritten draft lyrics for Bohemian Rhapsody. Written in Mercury’s hand it is expected to make £800,000-£1.2m at next month’s sale. Written on inauspicious notepaper from the now defunct British Midland Airways, one side reveals Mercury originally plan to call the song Mongolian

Rhapsody, before crossing out Mongolian and replacing it with the word “Bohemian”.

Another page presents an alternative to the famous second verse “Mama, just killed a man” with an original “Mama, ere’s a war began, I’ve got to leave tonight.”

A third page is completely covered in a burst of words and phrases: “Galileo,” “Fandango,” “Scaramouche” and “ underbolts and lightning” are all there, but so are others never used such as “Matador” and “Belladona.”

Global hit record

e song went on to sell more than six million copies worldwide, making it the third biggest-selling song of all time. By December 2018, when the Freddie Mercury biopic named after the track boosted the band’s pro le yet again, the song was recognised as the world’s most-streamed track from the 20th century, surpassing an incredible 1.6 billion streams globally.

e Bohemian Rhapsody lyrics are one piece in a remarkable treasure trove of drafts for Queen’s immortal hits: working lyrics to Somebody to Love, from 1976, are estimated at £150,000–£200,000; while seven leaves of lyrics to Don’t Stop Me Now are expected to make £120,000–£180,000. Considered by some as an autobiographical song for Mercury, it was rst recorded on Queen’s seventh album Jazz in 1978 but achieved so much popularity it was released as a single the following year.

Four pages of draft lyrics with extensive revisions for Queen’s hit, Love of My Life have an estimate of £40,000–£60,00; while the band’s rst big US hit, Killer Queen written on 13 pages of Electra Records stationery, has an estimate of £50,000–£70,000. Nine pages of lyrics for Queen’s greatest anthem We Are e Champions are expected to make £200,000–£300,000.

Sotheby’s manuscripts specialist, Dr Gabriel Heaton, said: “ e pages bear witness to the hours he put into perfecting his craft, as he experimented with language, and shaped the lyrics and harmonies for these songs, which, for many of us, have simply always been there in our lives.”

Below right A view of the magnolia tree in the grounds of Garden Lodge

Below left 11 contact sheets from Mick Rock’s photoshoot for Queen II, the band’s second studio album, released in 1974. e Marlene Dietrich-inspired cover photograph was frequently re-purposed by Queen, and became the basis for the Bohemian Rhapsody music video the following year (1975). Hand-drawn markings and circling on the contact sheet denotes the preferred shots. e set has an estimate of £5,000-£7,000

Garden Lodge

While Mercury captivated audiences across the globe it was to Garden Lodge in Kensington that the singer retreated. He brought the Georgianstyle brick villa in 1980 and set about fashioning his own private world, assembling a collection and creating a home that was at once grand and intimate, full of theatre and richly furnished with beautiful works of art.

Sotheby’s David Macdonald said: “Like a Russian doll, Garden Lodge has revealed its layers of treasures over recent months, with the rich tapestry of objects we have discovered there taking us all on a glorious adventure through his imagination. We are opening the door to the very special place that was Freddie Mercury’s home.”

e exhibition Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own opens at Sotheby’s, 34-35 New Bond Street, on August 4 running until September 5. On September 6, a live evening auction is followed a day later by On Stage another live auction on September 7; with the nal live auction, on September 8, being At Home, made up of pieces from Mercury’s Garden Lodge collection. ere are also three online sales: In Love with Japan, running from August 4 to September 11; Crazy Little ings Pt One, from August 4 to September 12; and Crazy Little ings Pt Two, running from August 4 to September 13. For more details go to www.sothebys.com

‘Leading the sale is one of the most important pieces of rock history - a 15-page folio of handwritten draft lyrics for Bohemian Rhapsody, in Mercury’s hand it is expected to make £800,000-£1.2m at next month’s sale’

MARK ET REPOR T

must be a national of the UK or of a country in the European Economic Area.

When it was rst envisaged, it was thought the fee would be paid jointly by the seller and the auctioneer, or dealer. But in reality the obligation has fallen to the buyer.

e fee is calculated on a sliding scale, based on the resale price of each individual artwork (excluding VAT and, in the case of auction houses, buyer’s premium). It applies above a threshold of the Sterling equivalent of €1,000 and is capped at the Sterling equivalent of €12,500.

It is collected by the selling auction house or art dealer, which is then responsible for calculating and accounting for the correct fee either to the Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS) or to the Artists’ Collecting Society (ACS), depending on which organisation represents the relevant artist in the UK.

Why are ARR so controversial?

ARR was intended to allow artists to bene t from the appreciating value of their work. However, in its current form, it mostly bene ts artists who are already successful and whose works command high prices.

Parts of the art trade argue that ARR constitutes an additional tax on transactions, increases the red tape for what are often small art businesses and puts the UK art market at a competitive disadvantage to the United States and Asia, where ARR is typically not levied. Art dealers also take issue with the fact that ARR is calculated on the entire resale price of an artwork, not just on the pro t (if any) made by the dealer.

Artists’ Resale Right (ARR) – which determines royalties are paid to artists (or their estates) when their works are resold in the secondary market – has been controversial since the rule was introduced in 2006.

Derived from an EU directive, a signi cant section of the UK art trade supported Brexit hoping it would lead to its abolition. But in June it became clear this would not be the case and ARR is here to stay, at least for the foreseeable future.

What are ARR?

ARR is a fee paid to creators of original works of art during their lifetime, and to their estates for a period of 70 years after their death, every time their work is resold on the secondary art by an art market professional, such as an auction house, gallery or art dealer.

It concerns all art covered by copyright protection, such as graphic works, paintings, sculptures, collages, photography, ceramics and street art. To qualify artists

‘ARR is a fee paid to creators of original works of art during their lifetime, and to their estates for a period of 70 years after their death, every time when their works are resold in the secondary art by an art market professional, such as an auction house, gallery or art dealer’

What impact has Brexit had on ARR?

ARR could, in principle, have been swept up in the Retained EU Laws Bill, at the end of 2023. But the government’s amendment to the bill in June, made no mention of its revocation. is was hardly surprising since the UK had already committed (in the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement of 2021) to retain a resale rights scheme. So the government’s hands were therefore tied and, while it could have reformed the ARR regulations, it would not have been able to abolish it altogether

Here to stay

It is fair to say that the current ARR system could be improved, both from the artist community’s perspective, and the art trade. But, given how controversial ARR has been since its introduction, nobody in government will have the appetite at this time to re-open the debate and reform the system.

e status quo represents success for the lobbying power of the artists’ collecting societies, artists and the creative sector. Some 17 years after the introduction of ARR, the UK art market remains the second largest in the world by value of transactions, so it is reasonably safe to assume that both the art trade and collectors have learned to live with ARR, and will have to continue to do so – like it or not.

Gregor Kleinknecht is a partner at Keystone Law in London. For more details go to www.keystonelaw.com

Above ARR is an ever present factor in the saleroom when it comes to modern and contemporary art, image courtesy of Sotheby’s, @ haydonperrior-med

Any hopes the government would scrap the controversial Artists’ Resale Right (ARR) were recently dashed. Fine art legal expert Gregor Kleinknecht reports on what it means for collectors

Free valuations Monday-Friday: 9:30am-5pm

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Surrey and Hampshire's Premier Antique and Specialist Auctioneers

Pre-loved, Vintage and Antiques inc. Silver: 2 August

Vintage Posters (Timed): 4 August

Pokémon. Premier Trading Card Collection: 5 August

Retro Video Games & Consoles: 11August

Toys & Models: 23 August

Entertainment & Memorabilia: 24-25 August

Pre-loved, Vintage & Antiques inc. Silver: 30 August

Tel: 01483 223101

antiques@ewbankauctions.co.uk www.ewbankauctions.co.uk

Burnt Common Auction Rooms, London Road, Send, GU23 7LN

ANTIQUES UNDER THE HAMMER Lots in August

TOP of the LOTS

A 1930 abstract vase from the Bizarre range by Clarice Cliff (1899-1972) decorated in blue inthe Latona Dahlia design has an estimate of £300-£500 at Mallams’ modern living salein Cheltenham on August 18. The Staffordshire born and bred designer made her name with the brightly-coloured range of Art Deco pottery she designed in the 1920s and ‘30s.

A handwritten letter from Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) dating to the early 1920s, has an estimate of £6,000-£10,000 at Bishop & Miller’s sale at its Glandford Auction Gallery on August 30.

It was addressed to Robert Hignell, private secretary of the British Viceroy Lord Reading, requesting a meeting – possibly to discuss the 1919 Amritsar Massacre, after which Gandhi, who became leader of the Indian National Congress in 1921, called for the dismissal of all the government officials involved.

A small silver box with a singing bird movement has an estimate of £400-£600 at the Dorset auctioneers Charterhouse’s silver, jewellery and watches sale on August 3.

The box, on offer at the auction house’s Sherborne saleroom, dates to the end of the 19th century. It would have been an exotic item during a time when one of the few options to listen to music was to hear it live.

An Indian government printer’s design for five rupees dating from 1871 has an estimate of £12,000-£16,000 at the Mayfair auctioneer Noonans’ world banknotes sale on August 31.

With variations in colour, size and positioning of the design, it is described as a “unique survivor” of a printer’s design.

It comes from the archives of Portals, which produced watermarked paper for the Bank of England for almost 300 years, before its mill ceased production in 2022. In 1860, Portals won the contract to produce the paper for the Indian rupee and, in 1880, the commission for the first postal orders.

Above e design came from the archive of Portals which was responsible for high-security watermarked banknote paper

Four travelling salesman’s suitcases have an estimate of £70-£100 at North Yorkshire auction house Tennants’ costume, accessories and textiles sale on August 19.

Dating from the 1950s, each contains a variety of ties and other male accessories made by the Progress Tailoring Company in Chicago, whose advertising flyer appears on the inside of the case.

Above right e salesman suitcases, each measures 33cm by 26cm

Right e contents came from the Progress Tailoring Company in Chicago

Below e charming singing box is o ered for sale in Dorset

While many auction houses ease up in August, we preview some of the gems on o er this month

Left e bold range dates from the 1930s

Right e handwritten letter by the leader of Indian independence is up for sale this month

The West Sussex auction house Bellmans this month presents the second sale of the London collection of Seymour Stein, the record mogul who discovered Madonna.

Dozens of pieces from the first sale in June, especially a number of enamel advertising signs, sold for well beyond their estimate at the Wisborough auction house.

Brooklyn-born Stein, who died earlier this year aged 80, was credited with the success of bands including the Ramones and Talking Heads, he even flew to the UK to sign Depeche Mode after taking an $8,000 Concorde flight to meet them in a Basildon club.

Dedicated collector

Bellmans’ works of art specialist, Pippa Green, said: “Stein was passionate about the art deco period and his collection included advertising material bought at decorative arts sales from the major London auction houses in the 1990s and even into the early 2000s. It’s rare to see such a collection today.”

When Stein sold part of his collection in the early 2000s he said: “I thought many times of opening a gallery to sell off most of what I purchased, for in truth I had bought enough to fill several homes.

“I was always too busy chasing bands to do anything about it… Looking over the paintings, furniture, porcelain and objects in preparation for the sale, it brought back wonderful memories in very much the same way that hearing a favourite song from the past does.”

Green continued: “This month’s sale will include a rare collection of aviation and tourism posters. My absolute favourite is the poster for the New York World’s Fair from 1939. It’s an amazing design, but now knowing what was about to happen with WWII looming, it gives it a much deeper meaning.”

Signing Madonna

Stein, known as one of the finest “record men”, started his career in 1966 when he co-founded Sire Records aged just 22. But his reputation really took off when he signed the Ramones in 1975, the first of a string of New York punk bands who joined the label, followed soon after by Talking Heads, the Dead Boys, and Richard Hell and the Voidoids.

He later turned his attention to the UK, signing the best British underground bands for the US, including the Smiths and Echo and the Bunnymen. He famously signed Madonna in 1982 from his hospital bed having listened to her demo tape on the ward while he was recovering from surgery.

Stein wed Linda Adler in 1971, divorcing seven years later when he came out as gay, during their marriage the pair became a wellknown sight on the underground music scene scouting the next generation of bands.

As well as being a passionate music lover, Stein used his considerable wealth to build up a creditable collection of art and antiques. In 1983, he helped found the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, into which he was inducted in 2005.

The second part of the sale of the Seymour Stein collection takes place on August 1-3. For more details go to www.bellmans.co.uk

1A Compton Pottery stoneware Cobra cherub sundial, has an estimate of £500-£800

2 A pink art deco glass, chrome-plated spherical table lamp has an estimate of £100£150 3 An advertising poster for the lm Police Call, 1933, a single sheet lm poster, 67cm wide and 104cm high, it has an estimate of £100-£200 4 John Atherton (19001952) small size travel poster advertising New York’s World Fair held at the Flushing Meadows Corona Park from April 30, 1939 to October 31, 1940, featuring a globe with a classical image of Libertas the Roman goddess of liberty. It has an estimate of £150£250 5 William Spencer Bagdatopoulos (1888-1965) design of a poster for Cunard, c. 1910, it has an estimate of £200-£400 6 Two Minton Art Pottery Studio plaques from the Seven Ages of Man series by Henry Stacey Marks (1829-1898), c. 1873, the pair has an estimate of £1,500-£2,500. e seven tiles were based on scenes from Shakespeare’s As You Like It

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FAIR NEWS

Holidaying in the UK? Why not take in some of the UK’s nest antiques fairs

All change

After more than 13 years running the Detling Antiques Fair in Kent, Helen and Alan Yourston from B2B Events have handed over the reins to Donny and Angela Mann of Love Fairs.

Next month’s event on September 9-10 will go ahead as usual, but with a new husband-and-wife team at the helm.

After the closure of its Edinburgh fair last year, B2B’s focus will be firmly on its regular events at Malvern, the next of which being the Malvern Flea on August Bank Holiday (August 28).

Helen Yourston said: “Since a health scare in 2022 both Alan and I are taking a step back. Detling has always been one of my favourite fairs and we know Angela and Donny are the best people to take the fair forward.”

Established in 2015, Love Fairs runs events at Lingfield Racecourse, Brighton Racecourse, The Pantiles in Royal Tunbridge Wells and the Antique Village at the Kent County Show. Its next event is at The Pantiles on August 5-6.

Summer sights

A historic view of Tewkesbury Abbey is up for grabs at The Cotswolds Decorative, Antiques and Art Fair at Westonbirt School, near Tetbury, Gloucestershire, from August 11-13.

The painting is one of a series on sale, all with a Cotswolds connection, from local dealer Derek Newman of Newman Fine Art.

Featuring art and antiques specialists from across the UK, the popular summer fair offers everything from traditional pieces to the latest in decorative chic.

Keep in mind

Hartlebury Castle in Worcestershire is the location of a new antiques fair.

Organised by Paul and Vicky Rowson, the event joins a roster which includes fairs at Bantock House Museum and Himley Hall.

The castle, near Kidderminster, sits on ground granted to the Bishop of Worcester by King Burghred in the late ninth century. Since that time it has been a centre of ecclesiastical and administrative power, with its resident bishops involved in some of the major events of British history. The fair, which launched in March, is set to be a monthly event.

Back to Blackdog

Grade I-listed Woolverston Hall in Suffolk, considered one of the finest examples of Palladian architecture in the country, is the backdrop for a brocante this month.

Blackdog Events is staging the event, on August 27, in the grounds of the hall, which was built in 1776 and set in 80 acres of parkland on the banks of the River Orwell.

Blackdog Events was founded in 2018 after the success of a monthly brocante in the Suffolk town of Halesworth. It now holds six fairs a year attracting up to 100 dealers offering antiques, vintage and architectural pieces. Dogs on a lead are welcomed at its fairs.

Above Love Fairs’ next event is at e Pantiles, image Love Fairs

Above e river lawns of Woolverston Hall are the location of this month’s fair

Above Ernest Albert Chadwick RI (1876-1955) Tewkesbury Abbey, watercolour on sale from Newman Fine Art, priced £950 Above e historic castle is the backdrop to

FAIRS Calendar

Because this list is compiled in advance, alterations or cancellations to the fairs listed can occur and it is not possible to notify readers of the changes. We strongly advise anyone wishing to attend a fair especially if they have to travel any distance, to telephone the organiser to confirm the details given.

LONDON:

Inc. Greater London

Go East Vintage

07733 221455

Flea at Fellowship Square

Outside Walthamstow Town Hall, Fellowship Square, Walthamstow, London, E17 4JF, Aug 6

Sunbury Antiques

01932 230946

www.sunburyantiques.com

Kempton Antiques Market, Kempton Park Race Course, Staines Road East, Sunbury-onThames, Middlesex TW16 5AQ, Aug 8, 29

SOUTH EAST & EAST ANGLIA: including Beds, Cambs, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex.

Arun Fairs

07563 589725

Rustington Antiques & Collectables Fair, The Woodland Centre, Woodlands Avenue, Rustington, West Sussex, BN16 3HB, Aug 6

Blackdog Events

01986 948546

www.ablackdogevent.com

The Walled Garden Brocante, Raynhan Estate, East Raynham, Norfolk, NR 21 7EF, Aug 6

The Grand Brocante at Woolverstone Hall, Woolverstone, Suffolk, IP9 1AZ, Aug 27

Continiuity Fairs

01584 873634

www.continuityfairs.co.uk

Epsom Racecourse Antiques Fair, Epsom Racecourse,, Surrey KT18

5LQ, Aug 1

Lomax Antiques Fair

07779 619875

www.lomaxfairs.co.uk

Southwold Summer Antiques Fair, Felix School, Southwold, Suffolk IP18 6SD, Aug 25-27

Love Fairs

01293 690777

www.lovefairs.com

The Pantiles Antiques & Vintage Fair, The Pantiles, Royal Tunbridge Wells. Kent. TN2 5TN, Aug 5-6

Brighton Antiques, Collectables and Vintage Fair, Brighton Racecourse, Freshfield Road, Brighton, East Sussex, BN2 9XZ, Aug 27

SOUTH WEST including Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Wiltshire.

AFC Fairs, 07887 753956

www.antiquefairscornwall.co.uk

Lostwithiel Antique & Collectors Fair, Lostwithiel Community Centre, Pleyber Christ Way, Lostwithiel, Cornwall, PL22 0HE, Aug 13

Pensilva Antiques Fair, Millennium House, Princess Road, Liskeard, Cornwall, PL14 5NF, Aug 27

Arun Fairs 07563 589725

Emsworth Antiques and Collectors Fair, Emsworth Community Centre, North Street, Emsworth, Hampshire, PO10 7DD, Aug 13

Cooper Events 01278 784912

www.cooperevents.com

The Cotswolds Decorative, Antiques & Art Fair, Westonbirt School, Tetbury, Gloucestershire

GL8 8QG A, Aug 11-13

Hidden Treasures 07394704272

Marlow Antique and Vintage Fair, Liston Hall, Chapel Street, Marlow, Buckinghamshire, SL7 1DD, Aug 5

Grandmas Attic Antique Fairs

www.grandmasatticfairs.co.uk

Allendale Centre, Hanham, Wimborne, BH21 1AS, Aug 27 Places Leisure, Fleming park, Passfield Av, Eastleigh, SO50 9NL, Aug 28

EAST MIDLANDS including Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland.

Arthur Swallow Fairs 01298 274493

www.asfairs.com

Antiques and Home Show, Lincolnshire Showground, Lincoln, LN2 2NA, Aug 8

IACF 01636 702326

www.iacf.co.uk

Newark International Antiques & Collectors Fair, Newark & Nottinghamshire Showground, Newark, Nottinghamshire, NG24 2NY, Aug 10-11

Red Fox Fairs 0790 359 5023

Collingham Antiques and Vintage Fair, Collingham Memorial Hall, 67 High Street, Collingham, Newark, NG23 7LB, Aug 6

Lowdham Antiques and Collectables Fair, Lowdham Village Hall, Main Street, Main Street, Lowdham, NG14 7BD, Aug 13

Stags Head Events 07583 410862

www.stagsheadevents.co.uk

Indoor & Outdoor Antiques & Vintage Fair, Brockington Campus, Enderby, Leicestershire, LE19 4AQ, Aug 20 Lamport Hall, Lamport, Northamptonshire, NN6 9EZ, Aug 27-28

Bank Holiday Antiques & Vintage Fair, Hood Park Leisure Centre Ashby-de-la-Zouch LE65 1LS, Aug 28

WEST MIDLANDS including Birmingham, Coventry, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire

Elephant Promotions

07947 271947

www.3elephantantiques.com

Antiques Collectors Market, Penkridge Market, Gas House, Pinfold Lane, Staffordshire, ST19 5AP, Aug 3

Fentham Hall Antiques & Collectors Fair, Fentham Hall, , Solihull, West Midlands, B92 0AH, Aug 5

NORTH including Cheshire, Cumbria, Lancashire, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Yorkshire.

Jaguar Fairs 01332 830444

www.jaguarfairs.com

The Great Wetherby Racecourse Antiques Fair, Wetherby Racecourse, West Yorkshire, England, LS22 5EJ, Aug 5

V&A Fairs 01244 659887

www.vandafairs.com

Nantwich Town Square Antiques Market, Nantwich Square, Nantwich Town Centre, Cheshire, CW5 5DH, Aug 12

Nantwich Civic Hall Antique and Collectors Fair, Civic Hall Nantwich Beam Street, Nantwich, Cheshire England, CW5 5DG, Aug 28

SCOTLAND

Aberdeen Antiques and Collectors Market

07738 902273

Norwood Antiques and Vintage Fair, Norwood Hall Hotel Balmoral suite, Garthdee Road Aberdeenshire

AB15 9FX, Aug 27

SPECIALIST GLASS

Glasgow, Antique, Vintage & Collectors Fair 07960 198409

B2B Events 01 636 676 531 www.B2Bevents.info

Malvern Flea & Collectors Fair, Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcestershire, WR13 6NW, Aug 28

London and Midland Coin Fair, 01694 731781, www.coinfairs.co.uk

Midland Coin Fair, The National Motorcycle Museum, Coventry Road, Bickenhill, Solihull B92 0EJ, Aug 13

Bellahouston Leisure Centre, 31 Bellahouston Drive, Glasgow, G52 1HH, Aug 20

IRELAND

Antiques Fairs Ireland, Vintage Ireland, www. vintageireland.eu

South Dublin Antiques, Vintage & More Fair, Royal Marine Hotel, Marine Road, Dun Laoghaire, Aug 6

Meath Antiques, Vintage & Collectables Fair, Killeen Castle Golf Resort & Lodges, Dunsany, Meath, Aug 13

AUCTION Calendar

Because this list is compiled in advance, alterations or cancellations to the auctions listed can occur and it is not possible to notify readers of the changes. We strongly advise anyone wishing to attend an auction especially if they have to travel any distance, to telephone the organiser to confirm the details given.

LONDON: Inc. Greater London

Adam Partridge

The London Saleroom, The Auction Room, Station Parade, Ickenham Road, West Ruislip HA4 7DL, 01895 621991

www.adampartridge.co.uk

None listed for August

Bonhams 101 New Bond St, London, W1S 1SR, 020 7447 7447

www.bonhams.com

Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art (Online) ends, Aug 7

Bonhams

Montpelier St, Knightsbridge, London, SW7 1HH, 020 7393 3900

www.bonhams.com

Knightsbridge Jewels (Online), Aug 11-22

Chiswick Auctions

Barley Mow Centre

Chiswick, London, W4 4PH 020 8992 4442

www.chiswickauctions.co.uk

Design and Modern

Contemporary, Aug 30

Chiswick Auctions

1Roslin Square, Roslin Road, London, W3 8DH

www.chiswickauctions.co.uk

Interiors, Homes & Antiques, Aug 8, Books & Works on Paper, Aug 24, Design & Modern Contemporary, Aug 30

Christie’s

8 King St, St. James’s, SW1Y 6QT, 020 7839 9060 www.christies.com

None listed in August

Elmwood’s

101 Talbot Road London, W11 2AT, 0207 096 8933 www.elmwoods.co.uk

Fine Jewellery, Aug 2, 16, 30 Jewellery, Aug 9, 23

Forum Auctions

220 Queenstown Road, London SW8 4LP, 020 7871 2640 www.forumauctions.co.uk

Books and Works on Paper (Online), Aug 10, 24

Hansons Auctioneers

The Normansfield Theatre, 2A Langdon Park, Teddington TW11 9PS, 0207 018 9300 www.hansonsauctioneers.com

Fine Art & Collectables, Aug 26

Lyon & Turnbull Mall Galleries, The Mall, St. James’s, London SW1Y 5AS, 0207 930 9115

www.lyonandturnbull.com

None listed in August, see Edinburgh listing

Noonans Mayfair

16 Bolton St, Mayfair, W1J 8BQ, 020 7016 1700 www.noonans.co.uk

Banknotes, Aug 30-31

Phillips

30 Berkeley Square, London, W1J 6EX, 020 7318 4010

www.phillips.com

None listed for August

Olympia Auctions

25 Blythe Road, London W14 0PD, 020 7806 5541

www.olympiaauctions.com

None listed for August

Roseberys

Knights Hill, Norwood, London, SE27 0JD, 020 8761 2522

www.roseberys.co.uk

Traditional Home (Live Online), Aug 16

Sotheby’s

New Bond St., London

W1A 2AA, 020 7293 5000

www.sothebys.com

Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own: In Love with Japan, Aug 4 to Sept 11

Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own: Crazy Little Things 1, Aug 4 to Sept 12

Freddie Mercury: A World of His Own: Crazy Little Things 2, Aug 4 to Sept 12

Timeline Auctions

23-24 Berkeley Square London W1J 6HE

www.timelineauctions.co.uk

020 7129 1494

None listed in August

SOUTH EAST AND EAST

ANGLIA: Inc. Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex

Bishop and Miller

19 Charles Industrial Estate, Stowmarket, Suffolk, IP14 5AH, 01449 673088 bishopandmillerauctions.co.uk

Asian Art, Aug 23

Bishop and Miller

Unit 12 Manor Farm, Glandford, Holt, Norfolk, NR25 7JP bishopandmillerauctions.co.uk

The Collector: A Carefully Curated Auction of Fine Art and Antiques, Aug 30

Bellmans

Newpound, Wisborough Green, West Sussex, RH14 0AZ, 01403 700858

www.bellmans.co.uk

Antiques and Interiors, Aug 1-3 Wines and Spirits, Aug 14

Burstow & Hewett

The Auction Gallery, Lower Lake, Battle, East Sussex,TN33 0AT, 01424 772 374 www.burstowandhewett.co.uk

Home and Interiors, General Collectables, Ceramics, Sculpture, Jewellery and Silver, Aug 9

Home and Interiors, Furniture, Rugs, Garden Ornaments and Pictures, Aug 10

Antique Sale, Antiques, Oriental, Furniture, Objet d’Art, etc Aug 31

Fine Art and Sculpture Aug 31

The Canterbury Auction

Galleries 40 Station Road West, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 8AN, 01227 763337

canterburyauctiongalleries.com

None listed in August

Catherine Southon Auctioneers

Farleigh Court Golf Club, Old Farleigh Road, Selsdon, Surrey, CR6 9PE, 0208 468 1010 www.catherinesouthon.co.uk

None listed in August.

Cheffins Clifton House, Clifton Road, Cambridge, CB1 7EA 01223 213343,

www.cheffins.co.uk

The Interiors Sale, Aug 3

The Jewellery, Silver and Watches Sale, Aug 17

Ewbank’s London Rd, Send, Woking, Surrey, 01483 223 101

www.ewbankauctions.co.uk

Pre-loved, Vintage & Antiques inc. Silver, Aug 2, 30

Vintage Posters (Timed), Aug 4

Pokémon. Premier Trading Card Collection, Aug 5

Classic and Modern Cars at The British Motor Show, Aug 20

Toys and Models, Aug 23

Entertainment and Memorabilia, Aug 24

Entertainment and Memorabilia

Premier, Aug 25

Excalibur Auctions Limited Unit 16, Abbots Business Park, Primrose Hill, Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, WD4 8FR, 020 3633 0913

www.excaliburauctions.com

Marvel, DC and Independent Comic Books, Aug 5

Gorringes 15 North Street, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 2PE, 01273 472503

www.gorringes.co.uk

Weekly Sale, Aug 7, 14, 21

Hansons The Pantiles Arcade, 49 The Lower Pantiles, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN2 5TE 01892 573540

www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk

Fine Art, Antiques & Collectors, Aug 31

Horners the Auctioneers

Old Norwich Road, Acle, Norwich, NR13 3BY 01493 750225

www.horners.co.uk

Antiques & Collectibles, Aug 10

John Nicholson’s Longfield, Midhurst Road, Fernhurst, Haslemere, Surrey, GU27 3HA, 01428 653727

www.johnnicholsons.com

Books Auction, Aug 1

Islamic and Oriental Auction, Aug 9

Fine Antique Auction, Aug 10 Fine Painting Auction, Aug 16

AUCTION Calendar

Because this list is compiled in advance, alterations or cancellations to the auctions listed can occur and it is not possible to notify readers of the changes. We strongly advise anyone wishing to attend an auction especially if they have to travel any distance, to telephone the organiser to confirm the details given.

Lacy Scott & Knight 10 Risbygate

St, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 3AA, 01284 748 623

www.lskauctioncentre.co.uk

Homes and Interiors, Aug 19

Toys and Models, Aug 25

Lockdales Auctioneers

52 Barrack Square, Martlesham

Heath, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP5 3RF 01473 627110

www.lockdales.com

The Banknote Sale, Aug 23-24

Paper Collectables (Stamps, Cards, Books and Ephemera), Aug 30

Mander Auctioneers

The Auction Centre

Assington Road

Newton, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 0QX, 01787 211847

www.manderauctions.co.uk

Fine Art Interiors, Aug 19

Parker Fine Art Auctions

Hawthorn House, East Street, Farnham, Surrey, GU9 7SX, 01252 203020

www.parkerfineartauctions.com

Fine Art & Frames, Aug 3

Reeman Dansie

8 Wyncolls Road, Severalls

Business Park, Colchester, Essex, CO4 9HU, 01206 754754

www.reemandansie.com

None listed in August

Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers

Cambridge Road, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, CM24 8GE, 01279 817778

www.sworder.co.uk

Homes and Interiors (Online), Aug 1, 22

Paint. Print. Sculpt (Timed Online), Aug 4-13, Jewellery, Aug 30

Toovey’s Antique & Fine Art Auctioneers

Spring Gardens, Washington, West Sussex, RH20 3BS, 01903 891955

www.tooveys.com

British and Continental Ceramics, Aug 3

Glassware, Aug 3

Decorative Pictures, Aug 9

Silver and Plate, Aug 9

Jewellery, Aug 9

ANTIQUE COLLECTING

T.W. Gaze

Diss Auction Rooms, Roydon Road, Diss, Norfolk, IP22 4LN, 01379 650306. www.twgaze.com

Antiques and Interiors, Aug 4, 11, 18, 25

Blyth Barn Furniture Auction, Aug 1, 8, 15, 22, 29

SOUTH WEST: Inc. Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Wiltshire

Adam Partridge The Devon Saleroom, The Antique Village Station Road, Hele, Exeter

EX5 4PW. 01392 719826

www.adampartridge.co.uk

Fine Art, Antiques & Collectors’ Items, Aug 21

Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood St. Edmund’s Court, Okehampton Street, Exeter

EX4 1DU, O1392 41310

www.bhandl.co.uk

Silver and Jewellery Sale Aug 1-2

British Bespoke Auctions

The Old Boys School, Gretton Rd, Winchcombe, Cheltenham, GL54 5EE 01242 603005

www.bespokeauctions.co.uk

Antiques and Collectables (Timed), Aug 25 to Sep 3

David Lay Auctions

Penzance Auction House, Alverton, Penzance, Cornwall 01736 361414, TR18 4RE

www.davidlay.co.uk

Jewellery and Luxury Fashion, Aug 10

Oak and Country, Aug 17

Cornish Art and Fine Art, Aug 24-25

Dawsons Unit 8, Cordwallis Business Park, Clivemont Rd, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 4BU, 01628 944100

www.dawsonsauctions.co.uk

Luxury Handbags and Fashion, Aug 23

The August Jewellery, Watches and Silver Auction, Aug 24

The August Fine Art and Antiques Auction, Aug 31

Dominic Winter Mallard House, Broadway Lane, South Cerney, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 5UQ, 01285 860006 www.dominicwinter.co.uk

Printed Books, Maps and Documents, Aug 16

Dore & Rees Auction Salerooms, Vicarage Street, Frome, Somerset BA11 1PU, 01373 462 257 Select Interiors, Aug 23

Dreweatts Donnington Priory Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE 01635 553 553

www.dreweatts.com

Monthly Sale of Wine, Champagne, Port and Spirits (Live Online), Aug 1 Interiors (Live Online), Aug 16 Art Online (Live Online), Aug 18

Duke’s Brewery Square, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 1GA, 01305 265080

www.dukes-auctions.com

None listed for August

East Bristol Auctions

Unit 1, Hanham Business Park, Memorial Road, Hanham, BS15 3JE, 0117 967 1000 www.eastbristol.co.uk

Contemporary Art, Aug 17

Fine Art and Antiques, Aug 25

Greenslade Taylor Hunt

The Octagon Salerooms, 113a East Reach, Taunton, Somerset TA1 3HL 01823 332525, www.gth.net

Antique Sale, Aug 3

Greenslade Taylor Hunt

Sedgemoor Auction Centre, Sedgemoor, Somerset, J24, TA6 6DF, 01823 332525

www.gth.net

General Sale, Aug 17

Hansons Auctioneers

49 Parsons Street, Banbury, Oxford, OX16 5NB, 01295 817777

www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk

Fine Art, Antiques & Collectors, Aug 5

Harper Field Auctioneers

The Stroud Auction Saleroom Ebley Road, Stonehouse, Stroud,

Gloucestershire, GL10 2LN 01453 873800

www.harperfield.co.uk

August Auction, to include Guns and Weapons, Medals and Militaria, Ceramics, Glass, Taxidermy and Sporting, Aug 9-10

Mallams Cheltenham

26 Grosvenor St, Cheltenham. Gloucestershire, GL52 2SG 01242 235 712

www.mallams.co.uk

Modern Living, Aug 16

Moore Allen & Innocent Burford Road Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 5RH, 01285 646050

www.mooreallen.co.uk

Vintage and Antique Furniture and Home Interiors (Live Online), Aug 9-10

Philip Serrell Barnards Green Rd, Malvern, Worcestershire. WR14 3LW, 01684 892314

www.serrell.com

Interiors, Aug 10, 31

Special Auction Services

Plenty Close, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 5RL 01635 580 595

wwwspecialauctionservices. Antiques and Collectables, Aug 1

Two-Day: Military and Collectables, Aug 8-9

Photographica and Cameras, Aug 15

Popular Diecast Toys and Trains, Aug 22

Cotswold Auction Company

Bankside Saleroom, Love Lane, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 1YG, 01285 642420

www.cotswoldauction.co.uk

None listed in August

Cotswold Auction Company Chapel Walk saleroom, Chapel Walk Cheltenham, Gloucesterhire, GL50 3DS, 01242 256363

www.cotswoldauction.co.uk

Modern Art and Design, Vintage Fashion and Textiles, Aug 8

The Pedestal

The Dairy, Stonor Park, Henley-onThames, Oxfordshire RG9 6HF, 01491 522733

www.thepedestal.com

Summer Timed Auction date to be confirmed

Wessex Auction Rooms

Westbrook Far, Draycot Cerne Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN15 5LH, 01249 720888

www.wessexauctionrooms.co.uk

Antiques, Collectables and Furniture, Aug 5, 19

Vinyl Records and Music Memorabilia, Aug 17-18

Woolley & Wallis 51-61 Castle Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP1 3SU, 01722 424500

www.woolleyandwallis.co.uk

None listed in August

Wotton Auction Rooms

Tabernacle Rd, Wotton-underEdge, Gloucestershire, GL12 7EB, 01453 708260

www.wottonauctionrooms.co.uk

Antiques and General sale

Jul 31- 2 Aug

EAST MIDLANDS: Inc.

Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Sheffield

Bamfords The Derby Auction House, Chequers Road, Derby, DE21 6EN, 01332 210 000

www.bamfords-auctions.co.uk

Antiques, Interiors, Estates and Collectables Auction, Aug 2, 16

The Gallery Sale, Modern and Traditional Paintings, Sculpture, and Limited Prints, Aug 10

The Toy, Juvenalia, Advertising and Collectors Auction including Comic Books and Sporting Memorabilia, Aug 29

Bamfords The Bakewell Auction House Peak Shopping Village Chatsworth Road, Rowsley, DE4 2JE, 01629 730 920

www.bamfords-auctions.co.uk

The Bakewell Country Home Interiors and Collectors Auction Including Furniture, Ceramics, Textiles, Jewellery, Aug 9

Batemans Ryhall Rd, Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 1XF, 01780 766 466

www.batemans.com

Fine Art, Antiques and Collectables, Aug 5

Gildings Auctioneers

The Mill, Great Bowden Road, Market Harborough, LE16 7DE 01858 410414, www.gildings.co.uk

Antiques and Collectors, Aug 1, 15

Golding Young & Mawer

The Bourne Auction Rooms, Spalding Road, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9LE 01778 422686

www.goldingyoung.com

Bourne Collective Sale, Aug 9-10

Golding Young & Mawer

The Grantham Auction Rooms, Old Wharf Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire NG31 7AA, 01476 565118

www.goldingyoung.com

Grantham Collective Sale, Aug 2-3

Golding Young & Mawer

The Lincoln Auction Rooms, Thos Mawer House, Station Road North Hykeham, Lincoln LN6 3QY, 01522 524984

www.goldingyoung.com

Lincoln Fine Art, Aug 23

Lincoln Collective Sale, Aug 30-31

Hansons Heage Lane, Etwall, Derbyshire, DE65 6LS 01283 733988

www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk

Brian Jackson Collection of Militaria, Aug 15

Football in Focus & Sporting Memorabilia, Aug 16

Antique & Collectors, Aug 17

Stamp & Philatelic, Aug 24

Specialist Toys, Models, Live Steam & Video Game, Aug 30

John Taylors Auction Rooms

The Wool Mart, Kidgate Louth, Lincolnshire LN11 9EZ 01507 611107

www.johntaylors.com

Antiques and Collectables Aug 1

WEST MIDLANDS: Inc.

Birmingham, Coventry, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire

Cuttlestones Ltd Wolverhampton

Auction Rooms, No 1 Clarence Street, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, WV1 4JL, 01902 421985

www.cuttlestones.co.uk

None listed in August

Cuttlestones Ltd Pinfold Lane, Penkridge Staffordshire ST19 5AP, 01785 714905

www.cuttlestones.co.uk

Antiques and Interiors, Aug 10, 24

Excalibur Auctions Unit 16, Abbots Business Park, Primrose Hill, Kings Langley, WD4 8FR , 020 3633 0913

www.excaliburauctions.com

Marvel, DC & Independent Comic Books, Aug 5

Fellows Augusta House, 19 Augusta Street, Hockley, Birmingham, B18 6JA, 0121 212 2131

www.fellows.co.uk

Jewellery Day One, Aug 1

Jewellery Day Two, Aug 2

The Designer Collection, Aug 3

Pawnbrokers, Jewellery and Watches, Aug 10, 24

Pawnbrokers, Jewellery and Watches, Aug 10

Watches and Watch Accessories, Aug 10

Antiques, Fine Art and Collectables, Aug 16

Fine Jewellery, Aug 17

Jewellery and Costume Jewellery

Day One, Aug 22

Jewellery and Costume Jewellery Day Two, Aug 23

Bags of Costume Jewellery, Aug 24

Fieldings Mill Race Lane, Stourbridge, DY8 1JN 01384 444140

www.fieldingsauctioneers.co.uk

Antiques and Interiors, Aug 17-18

Everyday Antiques (Timed Online)

Aug 28 to Sept 4

Halls Bowmen Way, Battlefield, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY4 3DR 01743 450700

www.hallsgb.com/fine-art.com

Militaria, Naval and Maritime (Timed), ends Aug 8

Hansons Auctioneers Bishton Hall, Wolseley Bridge, Stafford, ST18 0XN, 0208 9797954 www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk

Antiques & Collectors, Aug 4 Bargain Hunt Auction, Aug 16 Whisky & Spirits, Aug 23

Potteries Auctions Unit 4A, Aspect Court, Silverdale Enterprise Park, Newcastle under Lyme, Staffordshire, ST5 6SS, 01782 638100

www.potteriesauctions.com

None listed in August

Potteries Auctions The Cobridge Saleroom, 271 Waterloo Rd, Cobridge, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST6 3HR, 01782 212489

None listed in August

Trevanion The Joyce Building, Station Rd, Whitchurch, Shropshire, SY13 1RD, 01928 800 202

www.trevanion.com

Fine Art and Antiques, Aug 2

NORTH: Inc. Cheshire, Co. Durham, Cumbria, Humberside, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, Sheffield, Yorkshire

Adam Partridge Withyfold Drive, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK10 2BD 01625 431 788

www.adampartridge.co.uk

Jewellery, Silver, Coins, Watches & Boutique, Aug 16-18

Adam Partridge The Liverpool Saleroom, 18 Jordan Street, Liverpool, L1 OBP 01625 431 788

www.adampartridge.co.uk

Photographic, Optical and Scientific Equipment with Antiques & Collectors’ Items, Aug 2-3

Anderson and Garland Crispin Court, Newbiggin Lane, Westerhope, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE5 1BF, 0191 432 1911

www.andersonandgarland.com

Homes and Interiors, Aug 1, 15

Capes Dunn The Auction Galleries, 40 Station Road, Heaton Mersey, SK4 3QT. 0161 273 1911

www.capesdunn.com

Interiors, Vintage and Modern Furniture, Aug 7, 21

Summer Auction, Aug 8

David Duggleby Auctioneers

The Gallery Saleroom, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, YO11 1XN, 01723 507 111

www.davidduggleby.com

Militaria, Weapons and Sporting Guns, Aug 11

Jewellery and Watches, Aug 24

Decorative Antiques and Collectors, Aug 25

Collectors and Clearance, Aug 25

Affordable Art, Aug 26

The Furnishings Sale - Furniture, Interiors and Clocks, Aug 26

Gerrards Auction Rooms

St Georges Road, St Annes Lancashire, FY82AE, 01253 725476

www.gerrardsauctionrooms.com

Fine Art, Antiques, Jewellery, Gold & Silver, Porcelain and Quality Collectables, Aug 3-4, Aug 31-Sep 1

AUCTION Calendar

Because this list is compiled in advance, alterations or cancellations to the auctions listed can occur and it is not possible to notify readers of the changes. We strongly advise anyone wishing to attend an auction especially if they have to travel any distance, to telephone the organiser to confirm the details given.

Omega Auctions Ltd

Sankey Valley Industrial Estate, Newton-Le-Willows, Merseyside WA12 8DN, 01925 873040

www.omegaauctions.co.uk

Classical Records, Soul, Reggae, Jazz and Blues - Vinyl Records, Aug 15

Ryedale Auctioneers

Cooks Yard, New Road

Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, YO62 6DZ

01751 431 544

www.ryedaleauctioneers.com

Monthly Antiques, Interiors and Collectables, Aug 3-5

Sheffield Auction Gallery

Windsor Road, Heeley, Sheffield, S8 8UB, 0114 281 6161

www.sheffieldauctiongallery.com

Specialist Collectable Penknives

Auction, Aug 3

Silver, Jewellery and Watches

Auction, Aug 3

Antiques and Collectables

Auction, Aug 4, 18

Specialist Collectable Toys & Comics Auction, Aug 17

Silver, Jewellery and Watches

Auction, Aug 17, 31

Vinyl Records & Music Ephemera

Auction, Aug 31

Shelby’s Auctioneers Ltd

Unit 1B Westfield House, Leeds LS13 3HA, 0113 250 2626

www.shelbysauctioneers.net

Antiques and General Sale, (Online) Aug 8, 22

Tennants Auctioneers

The Auction Centre, Harmby Road, Leyburn, North Yorkshire

DL8 5SG, 01969 623780

www.tennants.co.uk

Antiques and Interiors, to include Beswick and Border Fine Arts

Aug 5

Coins and Banknotes, Aug 9

Antiques and Interiors, Aug 19

Costume, Accessories and Textiles, Aug 19

Stamps, Postcards and Postal History, Aug 31

Thomson Roddick

The Auction Centre, Marconi

ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Road, Burgh Road Industrial Estate, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA2 7NA, 01228 535 288

www.thomsonroddick.com

Home Furnishings, Interiors and Antiques, Aug 7

Antiquarian and Collectable Books, Aug 17

Vectis Auctions Ltd

Fleck Way, Thornaby, Stockton on Tees, TS17 9JZ, 01642 750616

www.vectis.co.uk

Dolls and Teddy Bears (Online), Aug 1

General Toy Sale, Aug 3, 20 Specialist and Diecast(Online), Aug 8, 10

Action Man and Lego Sale, Aug 24

TV and Film Related, Aug 29 Model Train Sale, Aug 31

Wilson55

Victoria Gallery, Market St, Nantwich, Cheshire CW5 5DG 01270 623 878

www.wilson55.com

Firearms, Shotguns, Airguns, Arms and Militaria, Aug 9

SCOTLAND

Bonhams 22 Queen St, Edinburgh, EH2 1JX 0131 225 2266

www.bonhams.com

None listed in August

Lyon & Turnbull 33 Broughton Place, Edinburgh. EH1 3RR, 0131 557 8844

www.lyonandturnbull.com

Contemporary and Post-War Art, Aug 9

Prints and Multiples, Aug 9 Scottish Works of Art and Whisky, Aug 16

McTears Auctioneers

31 Meiklewood Road, Glasgow, G51 4GB, 0141 810 2880

www.mctears.co.uk

Jewellery, Aug 10

Contemporary Pictures, Aug 17

Thomson Roddick

The Auction Centre, 118 Carnethie Street, Edinburgh,

EH24 9AL, 0131 440 2448

www.thompsonroddick.com

The Edinburgh Collector’s Auction of Toys, Whisky, Postcards, Stamps, Coins, Medals and Militaria, Aug 3

WALES

Anthemion Auctions, 15 Norwich Road, Cardiff, CF23 9AB., 029 2047 2444

www.anthemionauction.com

General Sale of Ceramics, Glass, Paintings, Furniture, Clocks, Works of Art, Books, Sporting Memorabilia, Aug 2

Fine Art Sale of Fine and Antique Auction to include Jewellery, Silver, Ceramics, Glass, Paintings, Furniture, Clocks, Works of Art, Aug 23

Jones & Llewelyn

Unit B, Beechwood Trading Estate, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire,

SA19 7HR, 01558 823 430

www.jonesandllewelyn.com

General Sale, Aug 12, 26

Rogers Jones & Co

17 Llandough Trading Estate, Penarth, Cardiff, CF11 8RR, 02920 708125

www.rogersjones.co.uk

Jewellery and Collectables, Aug 11

IRELAND

Adam’s 26, Stephens Green, Dublin 2, D02 X665, Ireland 00 353 1 6760261

www.adams.ie

None listed in August

Fonsie Mealy’s Chatsworth Auction Rooms, Chatsworth St., Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny, Ireland, 00 353 56 4441229

www.fonsiemealy.ie

Fine Art and Antiques, Aug 1-3

FORTHCOMING AUCTIONS

LENNOX CATO

ANTIQUES & WORKS OF ART EST: 1978

Labelled/ stamped branded furniture from Georgian to Victorian, eg Thomas Butler, Morgan & Sanders, J Alderman, Ross of Dublin (pictured), Gregory Kane, Wilkinson of Ludgate Hill, Robert James of Bristol, James Winter, W Priest, Samuel Pratt and many others. Tables all types, chairs, bookcases, , Davenport. mirrors etc. Campaign shower.

1 The Square, Church Street, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 5BD

01732 865 988 or 07836233473 cato@lennoxcato.com

•WANTED• VINTAGE WRISTWATCHES

WRISTWATCHES

Omega Seamasters and pre-1980s Omegas in general.

IWC and Jaeger LeCoultres, all styles. Looking for Reversos. American market filled and 14k pieces possibly, at the right price.

Omega Seamasters and pre-1980s Omegas in general. IWC and Jaeger LeCoultres, all styles. Looking for Reversos. American market filled and 14k pieces possibly, at the right price.

Breitling Top Times, Datoras and 806 Navitimers.

Pre-1960s Rolex models, with a focus in pre-war tanks, tonneaus etc. Gold or silver/steel. Also World War I Rolex 13 lignes etc. Princes.

Breitling Top Times, Datoras and 806 Navitimers. Pre-1960s Rolex models, with a focus in pre-war tanks, tonneaus etc. Gold or silver/steel. Also World War I Rolex 13 lignes etc. Princes.

Longines, Tudors and Zeniths, pre-1970. Even basic steel models in nice condition. All the quirky oddities like Harwoods, Autorists, Wig Wag, Rolls etc, and World War I hunter and semi-hunter wristwatches.

Longines, Tudors and Zeniths, pre-1970. Even basic steel models in nice condition. All the quirky oddities like Harwoods, Autorists, Wig Wag, Rolls etc, and World War I hunter and semi-hunter wristwatches.

Early, pre-war ladies’ watches also wanted by Rolex, Jaeger LeCoultre etc. Prefer 1920s/30s deco styles, but early doughnuts also considered.

Early, pre-war ladies’ watches also wanted by Rolex, Jaeger LeCoultre etc. Prefer 1920s/30s deco styles, but early doughnuts also considered.

Yorkshire based, but often in London and can easily collect nationwide.

Yorkshire based, but often in London and can easily collect nationwide.

Signed and unusual furniture. Georgian, Regency, William IV. Sofa / Pembroke / side tables, library furniture / bookcases. Also Victorian campaign chests, armchairs etc. Ross of Dublin, Morgan & Sanders, Williams & Gibton, James Winter, Hill & Millard and many others.

Georgian chamber horse exercise chair (pictured)

Unusual Georgian to William IV architectural features eg doors, door frames, over door pediments. 18th century staircase spindles and handrail needed. Anything Georgian or Regency with lots of character considered.

J Alderman. Daws and George Minter reclining chairs. Shoolbred/ Hamptons / Cornelius Smith Victorian armchairs.

Marble fire surrounds. Georgian / Regency/ William IV. Bullseyes etc. Exceptional Georgian / Regency fire grates

Rectangular Georgian fanlight.

Sash windows x 4 identical. Georgian reclaimed. Approx 58” high x 36” wide. Wide reclaimed floorboards. Approx 100 m2. Early decorative oil / gas / electric light fittings. Ceiling, wall or table.

Four identical reclaimed Georgian wooden sash windows with boxes, approx 60 high x 37 wide.

Early gasoliers. Colza lamps. Gimble lamp.

Roland Ward, Van Ingen taxidermy. Human skull. Hippopotamus skull. Stuffed crocodile / alligator.

Marble fire surrounds from 1750 to 1850ish. White or coloured. Bullseyes, William IV styles etc. Brass Regency reeded fire insert and Victorian griffin grate (pictured)

Quirky architectural features. Regency columns, corbels, marble and stone pieces, over door pediments, folding/rolling multi part Georgian room dividing doors.

Human skull, stuffed crocodile/ alligator. Grand tour souvenirs.

Victorian canopy shower bath. Decorated toilets etc Unitas, Simplicitas, Deluge etc. Decorated basins x 3.

PM Antiques & Collectables are a modern and innovative antiques retailer based in Surrey. Specialising in a wide array of collector’s items, including contemporary art, entertainment and memorabilia, vintage toys, decorative ceramics, watches and automobilia.

Connell’s Corner

Dealer and Bargain Hun expert

Stephanie Connell sings the praises of a duo of talented but unsung British illustrators

I recently discovered a collection produced by two of arguably the most important British illustrative artists of the mid-20th century – namely Reginald Mount and Eileen Evans.

Double act

Reginald Mount OBE (1906-1979) was a British artist and graphic designer recruited during WWII by the Ministry for Information where he was responsible for a number of propaganda and public safety posters – some of his most well-known works included a Diphtheria immunisation campaign, Anti V-D., Russian information, and Liberation for France.

It was at the Ministry of Information that Mount rst began working with Eileen Evans (1921-2006) who would become his long-term collaborator.

Evans had studied at the Reimann School of Art in London before joining the ministry as Mount’s assistant. She designed propaganda posters which included the successful Lend A Hand series for the Ministry of Agriculture.

After the war in the 1950s the pair struck out together starting the freelance agency called the Mount/ Evans Studio. Notable successes included the Keep Britain Tidy illustrations as well as posters for the Department of Health and British Army. Evans was often responsible for the typography and layouts.

e pair continued to work together throughout the 1950s and 1960s producing work both independently and collaboratively.

My route into the world of antiques is probably one familiar to many of you.

It began with a childhood collection, extending to visits to antiques shops, fairs and, today, a constant pursuit of art and objects. I have worked in almost all areas of the antiques trade; an auctioneer and valuer; a private consultant; a dealer – yet childhood is where my journey began.

One Sunday morning, aged around eight, a packet of stamps from around the world arrived courtesy of the Sunday Times. In examining my new treasures I noticed many were as artistic as they were useful, as well as being informative about their country of origin.

I went on to collect stamps for several years – and it led me to a wider interest in all things antique. But it was the designs that most fascinated me, leading to a love of illustration art.

Overlooked art

Illustrative artists produce advertising and public information campaigns which brilliantly sum up an era and its style. Commercial artists work appears in communal spaces, marketed at the public and, being mass produced, it is viewed by a broad audience. e purpose of the work is to quickly draw the viewers’ attention, with eye catching graphics and slogans.

Until relatively recently, the importance of this type of art has been overlooked. So, while you may recognise the design, but may not know who created it.

Added to which, in many cases the agencies which commissioned work failed to acknowledge the designer.

Top Reginald Mount (1906-1979) an original illustration painting for Shell Oil, c. 1950s, image courtesy of www. stephanieconnell.com

Above Attributed to Reginald Mount (19061979) and Eileen Evans (1921-2006) an original illustration of a lion and unicorn, c. 1950s, image courtesy of www. stephanieconnell.com

Ealing Studios

Reginald Mount also designed several iconic posters for Ealing Studios – including the instantly recognisable artwork for e Ladykillers and the super stylish Train of Events

eir work rarely appears on the open market – the illustration Mount produced for the cinema poster for the iconic 1955 lm e Ladykillers sold at auction in 2019 for £12,000 hammer.

Several pieces from their achieve are included in the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Imperial War Museum.

e collection I came across includes pieces produced by both Mount and Evans for British Railways, Shell Oil and Punch magazine among others – the range highlighting the diversity of the projects they worked on. Among the original designs, which range in price from £45 to £700, is a volume by the great illustrator Ronald Searle dedicated to Evans.

For more details go to www.stephanieconnell.com. Marc Allum is away.

‘After the war in the 1950s the pair struck out together starting the freelance agency called the Mount/ Evans Studio. Notable successes included the KeepBritainTidy illustrations as well as posters for the Department of Health and British Army’