Antique Collecting Dec Jan 25

Welcome

At this time of year is there anything worse than the dreaded round-robin Christmas card? All the information you really want to hear (...Maureen is back in rehab, Geo rey has been asked to leave his pickleball class) is forgotten in favour of endless crowing about family achievements. And who do we have to thank for the pernicious tradition? Not the Americans (although they do love them) but the Victorians.

On page 38, author Paul Frecker considers the phenomenon of cartes de visite, a small photograph mounted on card the size of a visiting card, the exchange of which became a sensation in the mid-19th century. ink Panini card, but with your zzog on the front of it. Swapping them with friends and family became an obsession throughout society, from the lowliest worker to the monarch – Queen Victoria was a huge fan. It’s fascinating stu .

Of course, whether you prefer a round-robin card or low-e ort text, Christmas means di erent things to di erent people. Top of the list for most Brits has to be festive telly. Even in these days of streaming, there are still the must-watches to digest the turkey to.

And if you are of a certain age, you, like me, would no doubt have been one of the 28 million viewers (half the UK population at the time) who tuned in to watch e Morecambe and Wise Christmas Show in 1977. As a child you knew most of it was meant for grown-ups, but we still managed to laugh like drains when the day’s top newscasters cartwheeled to ere is Nothing Like a Dame. So the news that the Eric Morecambe collection is coming to market is a red letter day. Among the treasures on sale is the baby grand piano on which he rehearsed the legendary André Previn sketch. Eric Knowles goes behind the scenes on page 29. Elswehere in the magazine, festive drinking also takes centre stage, with an article on Bellarmine jugs – beloved of the Tudor alehouse – along with porcelain punch bowls which were in fashion at the height of the drink’s popularity in the mid 1800s. And on page 66 our resident columnist Marc Allum remembers the Christmas dinners of his youth where, most unusually, his mother eschewed turkey in favour of pike and roast boar. Enjoy the issue and have a very happy Christmas and wonderful new year.

Georgina Wroe, Editor

PS If you are taking advantage of either the gift subscription, on page 21, or the book o ers on page 36, please get your orders in as soon as possible as we cannot always guarantee delivery in time for Christmas.

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 X and Instagram @AntiqueMag

CATHERINE SOUTHON delves into the history of a very special presentation plate by Omar Ramsden, page 11

NICOLETTE TOMKINSON considers the soaring market for 20th-century ski posters, page 26

this Santa out t as worn by Edmund Gwenn as Kris Kringle in the 1947 lm Miracle on 34th Street which has an estimate of $4,000-$6,000 at Julien’s Auction’s sale on December 12-14. We love!

KEVIN FINCH reveals everything a collector needs to know about Picasso prints, page 30

PAUL FRECKER delves into the fascinating 19th-century phenomenon of ‘cartomania’, page 38

THE TEAM

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

Online Editor: Richard Ginger, richard.ginger@accartbooks.com Design: Philp Design, philpdesign.co.uk Advertising and subscriptions: Charlotte Kettell 01394 389969, charlotte.kettell @accartbooks.com

Winter Auctions

Preview of Roseberys’ forthcoming auction calendar

REGULARS

3 Editor’s Welcome: Georgina Wroe introduces the Christmas issue packed with festive fun and collecting tips

6 Antiques News: Out and about shopping this month? Make sure you make the most of all the events taking place with our guide to events and exhibitions

10 Your Letters: One subscriber is seeking details of a sale of medals, while another is after details on church commissions by Robert “Mouseman” ompson

Christmas at Handel Hendrix House in Mayfair, image courtesy of Handel Hendrix/ Christopher Ison see page 9 for details

11 Lots to Talk About: Catherine Southon lifts the lid on a presentation silver charger appearing in her saleroom made by the well-known maker, Omar Ramsden

Around the Houses: A collection of Punk and New Wave lapel badges drum up interest in North Yorkshire, while examples of thoroughbred horses’ manes go under the hammer in Hertfordshire

Subscription O er: ere’s no better time to buy a gift subscription to the UK’s only consumer magazine dedicated to antiques. Better still, you save a third on the RRP and you, or a pal, receives a free gift

Waxing Lyrical: Antique furniture expert David Harvey pro les a very tasty looking Chippendale-era pie-crust table

Saleroom Spotlight: Some 70 20th-century ski posters by some of the best-known artists of the genre are o ered for sale in Scotland

29 In the Knowles: Eric Knowles goes behind the scenes at the sale of the collection of the legendary comedian Eric Morecambe set to attract some erce bidding in January

36 Book O ers: is month’s selection from our sister publisher ACC Art Books includes some festive o erings and subscribers save more than a third on the price

our sister publisher ACC Art Books includes dreamt up, all courtesy of our resident quiz

44 Puzzle Pages: Get stuck into some of the most perplexing questions on antiques ever dreamt up, all courtesy of our resident quiz editor Peter Wade-Wright

46 Top of the Lots: ere’s a festive feel to this month’s selection, with items including a punch bowl, a diamond and sapphire bracelet and original Christmas artwork

58 Fairs Calendar: A guide to some of the best-loved events taking place around the country in December and January

59 Fair News: Start 2025 as you mean to go on by visiting the UK’s biggest and best events – we go behind thescene at four of them taking place this January

60 Auction Calendar: ere’s still time to pick up a gift for the antique collector in your life, and there is no better place than at your local saleroom

66 Marc My Words: Our columnist, the Antiques Roadshow expert Marc Allum, reveals why he is laying a special Christmas dinner table this year

FEATURES

16 Pitcher Perfect: In Germany they are known as Bartmann jugs, in the UK we call them Bellarmines, either way they are a wonderful insight into both Tudor drinking customs and 18th-century international trade (as well as being highly collectable)

30 Prints Charming: If you’ve ever dreamt of owning a Picasso, there really is a way. Prints by the Spanish maestro are eminently a ordable. Gallery manager Kevin Finch reveals his collecting guide

38 Faces Book: “Cart mania” – exchanging cartes de visite – was all the rage, not just in Victorian Britain but across the globe. Paul Frecker reports on a very unusual –and collectable – phenomenon

48 Punch Drunk: In mid 18th-century England there was only one alcoholic drink to serve your guests – punch. And central to every social gathering was the punch bowl. Antique Collecting reveals the most popular ceramic designs

52 Putting on the Glitz: e surprisingly interesting history of that Christmas staple, the sequin, is put in focus and we pro le the sale of some shimmering garments created by the Hollywood costumier Bob Mackie

FROM 9.30AM TO 1PM,

A NTIQUE news

Step into Christmas this year with a host of festive events for antiques and ne art lovers taking place around the country

PLATFORM SHOW

There’s a chance for transport fans to go behind the scenes of a central London Underground station on a new tour launching next year.

The tour will explore the wartime history of Dover Street, the former name of Green Park before it was renamed in 1933.

Visitors will hear how the station, which opened in 1906, played a pivotal role during WWII, serving as a meeting place for the London Transport Executive Board with its chairman Lord Ashfield even installing his bedroom in the station. Tours for Dover Street: Alight here for Green Park start on January 22, priced £42.

Above St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, is open to visitors over the festive period, © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2024 /Royal Collection Trust

Right Two Women Wearing Cosmetic Patches, c.1655, courtesy of Compton Verney

Below left e tour takes visitors into the depths of the Underground, image courtesy of London Transport Museum

Below right Cup with narrative scene from the Legend of White Snake, rst half of the 19th century, image courtesy of the Metropoltan Museum of Art, public domain

Chapel service

To mark the end of the centenary year of the Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House this Christmas, the tiny home will be adorned with miniature decorations, including a scaleddown tree and garland on the staircase.

e new decorations will be the nal stage in the year-long celebration marking the 100 years since the 1:12 scale replica was given to Queen Mary as a gift from the nation following WWI.

Elsewhere at royal residences, from Windsor Castle to Holyrood, visitors can delight in a number of festive displays, with St George’s Chapel open to visitors on Mondays, ursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, with daily services open to all, seven days a week. Visitors will also have the opportunity to tour the Buckingham Palace State Rooms on selected dates throughout the winter.

Spot treatment

After undergoing an18-month conservation, Two Women Wearing Cosmetic Patches (c.1655) has gone on public display at its new home, Compton Verney in Warwickshire.

The painting, possibly by Jerome Hesketh (active 1647-166 ) was saved for the nation in 2023 after a government export ban. The ban was partly due to the “highly unusual” depiction of a black woman alongside a white sitter, with both appearing to satirise the use of black patches which were glued to women’s faces – a fashion trend of the 17th century.

HISS-TORIC YEAR

January 29 ushers in the start of the Chinese

1Essex girl

e rst major exhibition devoted to the British artist and printmaker Tirzah Garwood (1908-1951), one of the Great Bard eld group of artists in Essex, has opened at a London gallery.

e exhibition, at the Dulwich Picture Gallery, is called Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious, referring to the fact Garwood was the wife of the celebrated artist Eric Ravilious (1903-1942). e exhibition of 80 of her works reveals Garwood’s “sophisticated naïve” approach that allowed her to infuse apparently innocent or straightforward subjects with deeper meanings. Like her husband, who died aged 41 when working as a war artist, Garwood was just 42 when she died from cancer. e exhibition is on until May 26.

3 Really surreal

Fans of surrealism have until the end of February to see 70 artworks by the British-Mexican artist Leonora Carrington (1917-2011) at an Essex gallery. Firstsite in Colchester is hosting the exhibition about Carrington who spent many of her early years in the east of England, having attended a convent school in Chelmsford, before she was expelled for rebellious behaviour.

Associated with the original Surrealists in Paris, Carrington is widely credited with bringing a female perspective to the movement. After the Nazi occupation of France in 1940, she ed south and was interned in a Spanish psychiatric hospital before emigrating to Mexico in 1842. In May 2024, Carrington became the most valuable British-born female artist at auction when her Les Distractions de Dagobert sold for £22m in New York.

Left Tirzah Garwood(1908-1951)

Springtime of Flight,1949, oil on canvas, private collection, images courtesy of Fleece Press

Right Mantel clock, attributed to AndréCharles Boulle, movement by Jean Jolly, c. 1715, all images © e Trustees of the Wallace Collection

Below far left Tirzah Garwood (1908-1951)

Springtime of Flight, 1950, oil on canvas, private collection, courtesy of Fleece Press

Below left Tirzah Garwood (1908-1951), Train Journey, 1929, wood engraving, private collection.

3

to see in December

Right Mantel clock, attributed to AndréCharles Boulle, movement by Claude Martinot, c.1726

Far right Pedestal clock, attributed to AndréCharles Boulle, movement by Louis Mynuël, c. 1720–1725

Below right Leonora Carrington e Night of the 8th, 1987, © Estate of Leonora Carrington / ARS, NY and DACS, London 2024. Image courtesy of e Roland Penrose Collection

Below Leonora Carrington Cactus Cow, © Estate of Leonora Carrington / ARS, NY and DACS, London 2024. Image courtesy of e Roland Penrose Collection.

2

Keeping time

Clocks by one of history’s greatest designers and cabinetmakers, André-Charles Boulle (1642–1732), have gone on show at an exhibition exploring the art and science of timekeeping.

Five exceptional timepieces by Boulle, who worked for the court of Louis XIV, can be seen at the Wallace Collection in London until March 1.

Due to his position at court, Boulle was exempted from strict guild regulations, allowing him to work with greater creative freedom.

EMBROIDERED HISTORY

Square deal

plans for the UK’s first major exhibition in almost 30 years dedicated to the creations of Cartier, exploring how the French maison became an unparalleled force in the jewellery and watch world.

Featuring more than 350 objects, the exhibition from April 12 to November 16, will chart the evolution of the global designer known as “the jeweller of kings and king of jewellers”. The exhibition will include precious jewels and showstopping objects, gemstones, iconic watches and clocks from the V&A and Cartier Collection, as well as previously unseen drawings from both institutions’ archives.

A fundraising campaign has been launched for conservation work on a 17th-century Mortlake tapestry depicting one of the earliest images of a woman gardening.

e Garden Museum in London needs £20,000 for urgent repairs to the 1630 work showing a head gardener and his wife at work among plants, beds and trellises.

e tapestry was made at the weaving workshop at Mortlake on the ames which at the time was producing some of the best tapestries in Europe.

Churches in the City of London have received a £240,000 boost courtesy of a National Lottery grant. The Square Mile Churches Project oversees 38 places of worship, most of which were commissioned after the Great Fire of London in 1666 and designed by Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723).

The money will help find new uses for church spaces and support the Church of England’s net zero carbon by 2030 pledge.

Below Inside St Mary Abchurch near Cannon Street, one

30 seconds with...

Saxon Durrant who runs Metroretro Ltd in Essex with vintage piecesand furniture made from reclaimed materials

When did you start in the business?

Officially I set up the business in1994, sharing a shop in Canonbury Lane in Islington. At the time I sold at the various art deco fairs around London while becoming increasingly interested in the industrial look which had originally emerged as an interiors style in the US in the 1980s. When I opened my own shop in the early 2000s I was mixing industrial pieces with mid-century. I was able to buy well in my local area in Essex as well as buying from dealers bringing in

Bronze podium

A hoard of 500 Bronze Age artefacts unearthed by a metal detectorist in the Scottish Borders has been saved for the nation by National Museums Scotland (NMS).

e Peebles Hoard, dating from between 1,000 and 800BC, had existed undisturbed for 3,000 years before being found in 2020.

NMS said the hoard includes many unique artefacts, some of which have “no archaeological parallel anywhere in western Europe” and could boost understanding of Bronze Age Scotland. e hoard includes two rattle pendants, the rst ever found in Scotland.

furniture directly from Denmark.

Any memorable highlights?

In 2008 I was approached by Selfridges to sell in their home accessories department spending six amazing years there. In 2018, I was contacted by the producers of Salvage Hunters to be one of the new dealers in the spin off show Salvage Hunters: The Restorers, having appeared on the original programme in 2015. This was a wonderful experience, working with some great people both in front and behind the cameras over five series.

What do antiques mean to you?

I see buying, selling and living with antiques, as almost an act of rebellion. Late-stage capitalism, relying as it does on built in obsolescence and continuous consumption doesn’t really want people messing around

with old things or any kind of ‘used’ economy.

What is selling well?

Natural pine has seen a real resurgence in popularity following a few years in the wilderness. The 1980s is also proving to be an interesting period from which to source stock. Well made stylish pieces sell well.

What antiques would you like to buy?

If money was no object, I’d buy something by Eric Ravilious (1903-1942) or the American absract sculptor Richard Serra (1938-2024). Or maybe something from the Omega Workshop, the design company founded by members of The Bloomsbury Group in 1913.

For more details on Saxon’s business visit www.metroretro.co.uk

Above Bandeau in emerald, ruby, sapphire, diamond and platinum, Cartier London, 1928, © V&A

Left e Peebles Hoard is made up of up to 500 pieces, image courtesy of NMS

Above e Mortlake tapestry needs urgent work before it can go on show, image the Garden Museum

of Wren’s churches

Band’s stand

One of London’s most popular antiques emporiums is embracing its musical roots 50 years after it rst opened.

It is half a century since Al e Gray, a musician and entrepreneur, put down his drumsticks to convert Jordan’s, a bankrupt haberdashery department story in Church Street, Marylebone, into Al es Antique Market. Now, 50 years on, his musical legacy is celebrated by his grandson Eric and great-grandson Josiah who, as Grays Blues, take to the rooftop cafe every Saturday to entertain shoppers.

On December 7 they will stage a Christmas party with music, magicians, tarot card readers and festive drinks.

MOVEMENT OF THE PEOPLE

A London museum has opened a room dedicated to rsthand experiences of the city’s history, with the rst installation highlighting migration.

e British-Caribbean artist Zak Ové has created Exodus, for the London Museum Docklands’ new Re ections Room.

e mixed media installation shows a gridlocked cityscape, where human gurines mingle with elephants and gira es. e display, on until next May, is accompanied by a wall of historic maps between 1500 and 2005.

Fairytale Christmas

e fairytale

Sleeping Beauty takes centre stage at a Buckinghamshire manor house this Christmas.

Renowned theatre designer Tom Piper MBE, who co-designed the sea of ceramic poppies at the Tower of London in 2014, is one of the artists transforming Waddesdon, near Aylesbury, into an homage to the timeless tale until January 5. His design is based on seven panels by the Belarusian artist and stage designer, Léon Bakst (1866-1924) who was commissioned in 1913 by the manor’s then owners James and Dorothy de Rothschild who asked for the fairytale’s main players to be replaced by members of the Rothschild family, their friends and sta .

Above right Léon Bakst (1866-1924) e Sleeping Beauty: e Aged King Pleads with the Good Fairy, 1913-1922, photo © National Trust, Waddesdon Manor

Above far right e fairytale manor will be inspired by a real-life tale this Christmas, photo © National Trust, Waddesdon Manor

A HANDEL ON CHRISTMAS

Crowning glory

London home where the famous oratorio was written in 1741.

Handel Hendrix House, the house museum at 25 Brook Street, Mayfair, will be opulently dressed for Christmas until December 22 with late-night openings on December 5, 12 and 19

The museum was once home to two legendary musicians: in the 18th century Handel lived there for more than 30 years; while rock legend Jimi Hendrix made his home in the top-floor flat between 1968 and 1969. Visitors can see rooms adorned in both 18th-century splendour and the 1960s’ style of Hendrix’s day.

Above left e house museum will be decked out in styles from both the 18th century and 1960s, image courtesy of Handel Hendrix House

For fashionistas looking for the ultimate addition to a festive out t, how about renting a tiara? Mayfair-based Robin Haydock Antiques recently acquired two late 19th-century tiaras, now available exclusively for rental.

As orchestras across the globe get ready to perform Handel’s Messiah this Christmas, there’s a chance to visit the antique

As part of the tiara rental, clients can also select from a curated collection of antique jewels, including diamond necklaces, brooches, earrings and bracelets.

Robin Haydock said: “For those seeking authentic, one-of-a-kind treasures without the commitment of purchase, this is the perfect solution.”

For more details email haydockantiques@outlook. com, or call 0207 491 4948.

Above e iconic venue will host a Christmas party this month

Right Mayfair-based Robin Haydock Antiques is renting out tiaras

Below Exodus by Zak Ové, image courtesy of the artist

Your Let ters

One

reader seeks information on WWI medals,

while another questions how far south Robert “Mouseman” ompson strayed

How I enjoyed Georgina’s opening lines in last month’s magazine (Editor’s Welcome, November issue) describing the interior “style” of her grandmother, which included a threebar electric re and pair of horse brasses. Recollecting my own dear grandmama’s sitting room, from which she seldom moved, I am reminded of a drayloncover chair draped by an antimacassar and an old table covered in grubby doilies. Like her, I have to question how this trend for granny chic came about. Bob Fairbrother, by email

I am a maritime historian researching the escape of 77 WWI British merchant ships from the Baltic and seeking the help of readers. In particular I am keen to discover the buyer of a collection of medals awarded to Captain John Leighton, which was sold to a specialist collector by Spink in 2011.

Captain Leighton was the master of one of the ships, the Sastchita, which left Russia with some 60 passengers following the Bolshevik revolution. But o the coast of Finland the Sastchita became stuck in ice and, abandoned by its accompanying icebreaker and with dwindling food resources, faced an uncertain future.

Captain Leighton crossed the ice on foot to plead with the Bolshevik authorities for food, coal and another icebreaker. After days of negotiations they relented and sent not one, but two ships.

Once safely in Stockholm the thankful passengers presented Leighton with a silver salver at a special dinner. He received the DSO and later the CBE, which were sold in 2011 along with a “a large le containing a vast quantity of correspondence both o cial and personal, covering the period 1914-20”, which would o er vital insights for my research.

If any reader can help in any way, I will be most grateful. I can be contacted at dpy606@gmail.com Dr David Parry MA PhD, Farnham, by email

Our star letter receives a copy of Designer British 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

Top right One of 11 Mouseman mice which can be found in a Hertfordshire church, image Dr McFarlane

Above left Will the antimacassar ever return to style? Image Shutterstock

Below Medals awarded to Captain John Leighton which were sold in 2011, image courtesy of Spink

I was recently visiting family in the small village of Ridge, near St Albans in Hertfordshire. After lunch we took a turn around the local church, St Margaret’s – a delightful place of worship with a 15th-century painting of St. Christopher crossing a river on one of the walls.

More thrilling to me, however, was a pamphlet advising visitors that the oak pews and choir stalls were made and installed by craftsmen from the workshop of Robert “Mouseman” ompson, whose trademark mouse could be found in 11 places on furniture throughout the church (I managed to nd ve). While I knew work by Kilburn-based ompson can be seen in many churches near his North Yorkshire home, I didn’t realise his designs could be seen so far south. I wonder if any of your readers can tell me more?

Dr Kathryn McFarlane, Derby, by email

Answers to the quiz on page 44.

Q1 (c). Q2 (b). While the Penfold box is one of the most beloved Victorian letter boxes, the aperture of the early designs was so high up there were complaints letters were getting stuck Q3 (d). Q4 (a). Q5 (b). Q6 (d) From the Caucasian Mountain region. Sometimes written as Chichi. Q7 (a). Q8. (b), (c) and (d). It was produced for the imperial court c.1100 CE, mostly of a duck-egg to green colour. Q9 (c). Q10 (d). They are some of the names applied to the straw boater. Also the somer, can-can (in Japan) and canotier (as worn with great charm by Maurice Chevalier).

Finally, charade nerds can be rearranged to make the names of reindeers Dasher, Dancer; Vex inner carp is an anagram of Prancer, Vixen; Demotic cup makes the names of Comet, Cupid; Rumbled index is an anagram of Dunder, Blixem (the original Moore names) while Bronzed linnet can be rearranged to make the names of the reindeers Donner, Blitzen (later changed because they better rhymed better with Comet and Vixen). Old fur is, of course, an anagram of Rudolf.

LOTS to TALK ABOUT

AA remarkable silver charger presented to a motoring hero is set to race away when it appears at auction, writes TV expert and auctioneer Catherine Southon

s any auctioneer or collector knows, when a number of interests come together it can make for some interesting bidding. Such is the case when a presentation charger made by one of the greatest silversmiths of the early 20th century goes under the hammer at my new saleroom in Chislehurst.

e piece in question, dated 1922 and measuring 54cm (21¼in) in diameter, was made by She eld-born Omar Ramsden (1873-1939) – one of the best-known silversmiths and designers of his generation.

War on nightclubs

e man to whom the presentation charger was bestowed was Sir William Joynson-Hicks (1865-1932) adding another layer of interest. Joynson-Hicks served as the Home Secretary from 1924–1929 gaining a reputation as, at best, a moral crusader and, at worst, a killjoy. During his tenure he authorised police raids to seize the works of authors such as DH Lawrence and was instrumental in banning e Well of Loneliness, a lesbian novel by Radcly e Hall. Known as “Jix”, he also led a well-publicised “war on nightclub evils” believing that jazz, dancing, and unlicensed alcohol were immoral and threatened the nation’s moral fabric.

But it is for his remarkable contribution to British motoring that Joynson-Hicks is feted in this magni cent presentation piece.

Chairman of the AA

Joynson-Hicks, later known as Lord Brentford, was a pioneering gure in British motoring. From 1907 to 1922, he served as chairman of the Automobile Association and was instrumental in advocating for the rights and safety of motorists. Interestingly, one of his rst actions as chairman was to assert the legality of AA patrols to warn motorists of police speed traps.

e masterfully-wrought charger, beautifully personalised and in the arts and crafts tradition, features a planished dished centre, with a central dome embossed with the distinctive badges of the Automobile Association and the Motor Union, framed by a nely detailed laurel wreath and rope twist border. Seven vignettes relate to the history of the association and its milestones, including the rst fuel lling station in Aldermaston, which opened in 1919.

e design is so distinctive that when it was part of a haul of family silver stolen from the family home 30 years

Above right Omar Ramsden (1873-1939) silver presentation charger, London, 1922. It carries a pre-sale guide price of £8,000£12,000

ago, it was the only piece returned after being seen in a jeweller’s window.

William

She

eld born

e charger was made relatively late in Ramsden’s career at the age of 44, long after he had quit his hometown of She eld to seek out opportunities in London, accompanied by his business partner and friend, Alwyn CE Carr (1872-1940).

e duo’s successful partnership went on to last from 1898 to 1915, with the pair working from their St Dunstan’s Studio in west London, producing a range of silverware, from smaller pieces of tableware such as spoons and wine coasters, to ornamental centrepieces and larger-scale ecclesiastical silver.

e decoration of many of these objects showcased their predilection for designs of earlier epochs, such as the medieval, Tudor and gothic periods, while fully embracing the arts and crafts ethos.

At the outbreak of WWI Carr left to serve in the Artists’ Ri es and the partnership ended. Ramsden continued to work from St Dunstan’s, eventually heading a team of some 20 silversmiths at the workshop which he continued to run until his death in 1939.

Given its rich provenance and signi cance, I expect the charger to draw strong interest from collectors of arts and crafts silver, lovers of motoring memorabilia, as well as British historical artefacts.

e charger is set to go under the hammer at Catherine Southon’s sale on November 27, for more details go to www.catherinesouthon.co.uk.

‘Joynson-Hicks

also led a well-publicised “war on nightclub evils”, but it is not for his inter-war campaign to banish immorality for which he is feted in the magnificent presentation piece. Rather it is for his remarkable contribution to British motoring’

Above

JoynsonHicks, 1st Viscount Brentford, (1865-1932), image public domain

A ROUND the HOUSES

Recent sales from the UK’s auction houses include a famous Christmas jumper and a collection of race horses’ hair

Sotheby’s, London

The pair of ‘fish jars’ sold for £9.6m after a 20-minute bidding war

A pair of rare 16th-century Ming dynasty ‘ sh jars’ made for the Jiajing Emperor, soared over its £1m high estimate, to sell for £9.6m after a 20-minute bidding battle before going to a private Asian collector. Only one other complete pair of jars with covers is known, held in the Musée Guimet in Paris, with three other single jars and covers in private hands.

‘Fish jars’, made during the Jiajing Emperor’s reign (1522-1566), highlight the skills of porcelain production achieved at the kilns at Jingdezhen. e Emperor was a devout Daoist, with the sh representing freedom from restraint in Daoist thought. e ‘wucai’ (‘ ve enamel’) jars came from a German family who moved the jars to safety in WWII before the family home in Wiesbaden was destroyed.

The imprint for the artist’s death mask was taken in his coffin

Sloane Street Auctions

The jars can be seen in the German family’s living room after their villa was rebuilt in the early 1950s

value of £1,000-£2,000.

A rare bronze death mask of the Expressionist painter Egon Schiele (1890-1918) sold at the London auction house for £10,000, well above its estimated value of £1,000-£2,000.

Schiele, known for his stark depictions of the human form, died in 1918 at the age of 28 during the Spanish u pandemic. e mask was created shortly after the artist’s death by Austrian sculptor Gustinus Ambrosi (1893-1975) who describes the event in Jane Kallir’s 1990 book, Egon Schiele: “I opened the co n, removed his collar and tie (he was in a dinner jacket), and there in the sunshine under the blue sky, I made the mould for the death mask”

Vectis, o rnaby

A rare mechanical spinning top which produces a fountain when spun sold for £686 at the North Yorkshire auction house, beating its pre-sale estimate of £80-£100.

The top was made by William Britain (1828-1906) who established himself as atoymaker in north-east London in the 1840s. He originally made mechanical toys, such as this top dated to 1891, before moving on to model soldiers in the later 1890s.

His son, William Britain Junior (18601933) is credited with inventing the hollowcasting process for which the company became famous.

At the same sale a collection of assorted Punk and New Wave pin badges, including bands like the Sex Pistols, Generation X and e Jam sold for £400, beating its modest guide price of £40-£60.

The spinning top was an early mechanical toy made by William Britain

A collection of music badges from the 1980s defied all expectations

Fellows Auctioneers, Birmingham

A rare London Tank watch by Cartier broke the house record for a piece by the famous maker when it sold for £44,850 at the Midlands auction house. By the early 20th century, Cartier had established three distinct houses in Paris, London and New York, with the London branch headed by the founder’s grandson, Jean Jacques Cartier (JJC). (His other grandsons Pierre and Louis Joseph Cartier going to New York and Paris respectively.) Each location had its trademark style, with London and Paris watches the most sought after. In the ‘60s JJC produced his own take on the Tank, exclusive to Bond Street. Hallmarks date the watch to 1973, making it one of the latest London Cartier produced.

The London Tank broke the house record for a Cartier watch

Reeman Dansie, Colchester

A rare slice of wedding cake from the marriage of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip has sold at the Essex auctioneers for £2,200, beating its guide price of £500. e fruit cake was found under a bed in a suitcase, 77 years after the original 9ft (2.7m) cake was dished out to 2,000 guests. It was gifted by the thenPrincess Elizabeth to Marion Polson, the housekeeper at e Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh from 1931 to 1969. It sold to a bidder from China who purchased it over the phone.

The slice dates from Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh’s 1947 wedding

Kinghams Auctioneers, Moreton in Marsh

A small abstract painting by the American Surrealist photographer and artist Man Ray (1890-1976) sold for £17,500 at the Cotswold auction house, beating its estimate of £7,000£10,000. e painting measuring just 31 x 22cm (12 x 8¾in), and dating from c.1960, was discovered in a Worcestershire home inherited from the owner’s grandmother Jacqueline Goddard, who modelled for the artist.

Known as the ‘Muse of Muses,’ Goddard née Barsotti (1911-2003) was the artist’s favourite model in Paris during the 1920s and 1930s and worked with Picasso, Matisse, and Giacometti.

The picture of the thoroughbred racehorse Touchstone romped home in Shropshire

Halls Fine Art, Shrewsbury

An oil painting of the British thoroughbred racehorse, Touchstone, romped home to fetch £1,650 – galloping past its pre-sale estimate of £500-£800 at the Shropshire auctioneer’s recent sporting sale.

It is by John Frederick Herring Snr (1795-1865) who called the horse: “a beautiful brown... He is a very level horse, in short, a more wiry animal cannot be imagined, and in every respect looks the racehorse”. Touchstone had 19 ribs on each side (18 is more usual) and was strong in longer distance races notching up signi cant wins at the St Leger Stakes, Doncaster and Ascot Gold Cup. e original version of the painting hangs in the Danum Gallery, Doncaster.

Roseberys, London

A pair of Chinese imperial famille rose bowls depicting the eighteen luohans sold for £130,240, beating its estimate of £8,000- £12,000 at the London auctioneer’s recent sale.

Dated to the Qing dynasty, with Xianfeng marks and period, the bowls show each of the luohans (Buddhist disciples and guardians of the Buddhist law). Due to the havoc of the Taiping rebellion between 1850 and 1874, imperial orders at Jingdezhen were only carried out for the rst two years of Xianfeng’s reign (1851-1861), making imperial porcelain from the period extremely rare.

At a later sale a 15th-century Tibetan giltbronze gure of Buddha Vairochana, 24.5cm (10in) high, soared over its low estimate of £6,000 to realise £65,240. It attracted competitive bidding over the phones and online,

A 15th-century 15th-century bronze gure of Buddha Vairochana, 24.5cm ultimately selling to a collector in China.

Imperial orders during the reign of Xianfeng are rare

Tibetan gilt-bronze figure sold for £65,240

The picture had once been owned by one of Man Ray’s favourite muses

AUCTION Sales round-up

Darcy’s famous jumper was worn at Bridget Jones’s parents’ annual party

The map became the most expensive Harry Potter prop ever sold

e Propstore, Rickmansworth

e Christmas jumper worn by Mark Darcy, played by Colin Firth in the 2001 lm Bridget Jones’s Diary sold for £5,670, beating its low estimate of £4,000 at the lm memorabilia auctioneer’s sale on November 7.

Darcy wore the reindeer sweater when he was introduced to Bridget Jones (Renee Zellweger) at her parents’ annual New Year’s Day turkey curry bu et party.

At the same sale the Marauder’s Map from the Harry Potter series sold for £239,400 more than 10 times its low estimate of £20,000. e map, which rst appeared in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, was owned by David Holmes, Daniel Radcli e’s stunt double, who su ered a life-altering injury while working on the series. He discovered it while researching his forthcoming book e Boy Who Lived. Proceeds from the sale of this lot will support Holmes’ ongoing care.

Dreweatts, Maidenhead

Works owned by the Pre-Raphaelite painter and designer, Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833–1898), exceeded expectations in Berkshire, with a hanging by his friend William Morris (1834-1896) selling for £6,048 against a presale low estimate of £2,000.

In November 1879, Burne-Jones ordered a set of bed hangings in the same pattern and it is possible that this hanging may have formed part of the order. It was one of a number of lots from Gatewick House in Sussex o ered for auction. All came from the Yorke family with David Yorke (1919-1997) having married Anne Mackail (1922-1984), the great-granddaughter of Burne-Jones.

Lyon & Turnbull, Edinburgh

The Milan vase in varying colourways sold for a range of prices

ree vibrant vases by French jeweller and glassmaker René Lalique (1860-1945) sold for varying amounts at the Scottish auction house, showing how similar items can fetch di erent sums. Lalique made his most popular designs in multiple di erent colours; the blue-green stained version of this 1920 Milan vase sold for £3,024, while an emerald green version fetched £6,300, with the most desirable cobalt blue vase selling for £10,080

At the same sale a 1921 cire perdue (lost wax) jar, with a lid modelled as a frog, more than doubled its estimate selling for £70,200.

The jar with a frog top doubled its estimate to sell for £70,000

Graham Budd Auctions, Wellingborough

A collection of locks of hair cut from the manes and tails of some of the world’s most famous racehorses, including Red Rum, Shergar and Nijinsky, sold for a mid-estimate £38,000 at the Northamptonshire auctioneer’s sale at the National Horseracing Museum in Newmarket on November 13.

Numbering some 829 examples in total, the tresses came from the collection of Ray Goddard who continued his unusual hobby up to his death in 2004.

Graham Budd said: “Ray Goddard was a lorry driver and had no connections to racing but his passion was the racehorses. Any spare time he had, he would go around to racehorse stables and seek permission to come away with hair from the tail or mane.”

Goddard’s passion for collecting took him all over the globe

The Morris & Co. textile was ordered by Edward Burne-Jones in 1879

Marking the end of an era for this iconic coin, e Sovereign 2025 is the last Sovereign to be struck in rose gold. Featuring Jean Baptiste Merlen’s Royal Arms design on the reverse, it pays tribute to the coin’s rich history as we mark 200 years since the design rst appeared on e Royal Mint’s agship coin.

THE 2025 SOVEREIGN COLLECTION

In addition to Proof editions of the coin, e Sovereign 2025 is also available as a bullion edition, combining e Royal Mint’s unrivalled craftsmanship with investment potential, culminating in a high-quality product with enduring appeal. e bullion editions of the coin are also distinguishable as the reverse of these coins features Benedetto Pistrucci’s iconic St George and the dragon design.   e Sovereign 2025 Collection also includes the rst silver Sovereign from e Royal Mint in the coin’s 500-year history. e silver Sovereign is available as two editions, one of which features an exclusive shield privy mark to mark this momentous occasion.

Whether you are an investor or a collector, e Sovereign 2025 Collection is a must-have for any coin collector.

‘In addition to Proof editions of the coin, The Sovereign 2025 is also available as a bullion edition, combining The Royal Mint’s unrivalled craftsmanship with investment potential, culminating in a high-quality product with enduring appeal’

Right e Sovereign 2025 celebrates a century of rsts and lasts

Below right e Sovereign 2025, gold proof coin obverse, featuring Benedetto Pistrucci’s iconic St George and the dragon design

Below e Sovereign 2025, rose gold proof coin obverse, featuring King Charles III

COLLECTING GUIDE Bellarmine jugs

English heretics. And, as such, it occurs as early as 1643 in William Cartwright’s play e Ordinary, at a time when the long-dead cardinal must still have symbolised the Counter-Reformation persecution of Dutch protestants. Later in the century, Bellarmines were known as d’Alva bottles, after the notorious Spanish Duke of Alva –the scourge of the Low Countries.

German origins

e origin of the bottles began in Cologne in the 16th century when increasing quantities of the int-hard Rhineland stoneware made at Raeren, Sieburg and Cologne, were shipped down the Rhine mainly by Dutch merchants. As well as stoneware clay, the technology existed to produce the high temperatures needed to vitrify the clay body and vaporise the salt which was thrown into the kiln at the height of the ring and which coated every pot with a thin, hard glaze of orange-peel texture. Most pots were cut from the potter’s wheel with a cheese wire, leaving the characteristic concoidal marks on the base, and they were dipped before ring, in an iron-rich clay slip, which produced an even brown colour, brown mottle, a highly contrasting coarse of freckle often known as tiger ware.

Good and evil

Early Cologne vessels were decorated with elaborate, naturalistic bearded masks, with crisply turned, cordoned necks and bases and applied trailing oak or rose leaf patterns.

PITCHER PERFECT

While sloshing back the booze this Christmas, spare a thought for how our forebears would have revelled 500 years ago

Central to the bawdiness of the Tudor alehouse would have been a ‘Bellarmine’ – a large stoneware jug lled with alcohol. e name –known in Germany where they originated as a Bartmann, or Bartmannkrug – is thought to have derived from the Italian Jesuit Cardinal and famous tee-totaller, Roberto Bellarmino – the arch enemy of Protestants in northern Germany and the Low Countries. His is said to be the face lampooned on the jug, made worse by the fact its common use was for alcohol. However, as has been pointed out many times, the rst Bellarmine dates to 1550 when the future cardinal was a mere eight years old. e name may have endured as a propaganda exercise to increase sales and amuse

Above A Bartmann jug, 1525-1550, Cologne depicting a cruci ed Christ beneath the bearded man, photo Walter Lensink/ Vind magazine

Right Deaccessioned from the Bellarmine Museum, Norfolk, a German Bellarmine/ Bartmann jug, c. 16201675, on sale from Holt Antiques priced £675

In their book, Bartmann Jugs, the authors Sebastiaan Ostkamp and Wil Snip make the case for the bearded men representing mythical gures from history. ey write: “Wild men were the hairy inhabitants of inaccessible forests who, according to tradition, indulged in wild dancing, excessive drinking and uninhibited sexual excesses.

“ e oak and rose vines support this interpretation. e vines symbolize the dense forests that were the

habitat of these creatures. e bearded men, under whom a cruci ed Christ is placed, seems mainly intended to represent the contrast between what is good and evil.”

When, in 1544, potters from Cologne moved to boost an established industry at Frechen some six miles away, the main impetus of stoneware production relocated with them, so that Frechen soon began to dominate, developing new forms of mugs and bottles. ese early bottles were evenly brown-freckled in colour, almost spherical and equipped with a broad, strong, strap handle, often with a rat tail.

Moralising exhortation

Towards the end of the 16th century, the jug bodies grew bigger and became more pear-shaped, with a central band containing either a moralistic exhortation to make merry – but not forget about God – such as Godt Sie Allein Die Ehr’ (Alone to God in the highest be glory) or Drinck Und Est Godt Nie Vergess (Drink And Eat but Never Forget God). e motto was accompanied with a pattern of foliage, often acanthus leaves, geometric designs or portrait medallions applied sparingly around the body.

Left An early facial jug, 1275-1325, h. 31cm (12in), made in Mechelen, collection Wil Snip

Right Two pointed nose jugs, 1470-1520, with both gures portrayed playing the bagpipes, photo Walter Lensink/ Vind magazine

Below right A Bartmann jug, 1500-1520, h. 21cm (8 ¼in), made in Cologne, unknown provenance, private collection, photo Walter Lensink/ Vind magazine

‘Wild men were the hairy inhabitants of inaccessible forests who, according to tradition, indulged in wild dancing, excessive

drinking and uninhibited

sexual excesses’

Pointed-nose jugs

While the oldest representations of faces on jugs date to the Roman period, at the start of the 13th century, German potters started making stoneware jugs featuring human face masks. The most common of which, the so-called ‘pointed nose’ jugs appear around 1500 and were effectively a forerunner to the Bartmann.

Like the Bartmann, Sebastiaan Oskamp and Wil Snip consider early jugs may also have had a moralising function, influenced by contemporaneous artwork by Hieronymus Bosch (d. 1516) which abounds with depictions of Satan’s temptations.

Designs of bearded men with their hands resting on a bulging belly, appear to warn of the sin of gluttony. In some pointed-nose jugs, the bearded man is shown playing the bagpipes. In the late Middle Ages, bagpipe players were associated with fools. Illustrations of pigs playing the bagpipes were used as symbols of lust.

COLLECTING GUIDE Bellarmine jugs

Left A German Bartmann jug, 15801600, h. 26cm (10in), made in Siegburg, unknown provenance, photo Walter Lensink/ Vind magazine

Below right A German Bartmann jug, 16001610, h. 23cm (9in), made in Frechen, with cobalt blue splashes, private collection, photo Walter Lensink/ Vind magazine

Below left A medallion from a Bellarmine jug, image courtesy of Holt Antiques

What was in them?

e many thousand Bellarmines imported to the UK from Germany did not, as far as we know, actually contain Rhenish wine but were used as serving or storage bottles for almost any purpose. Some bottles were used for serving drink, but more importantly for storing strong beers which continued to ferment and to generate pressure in the bottle. Bellarmines were also used to store vinegar, cider, molasses, and other common liquids. e Dutch East India Company routinely used Bellarmine jugs to transport mercury, evidence of which has been found at shipwreck sites in the North Sea and as far away as Western Australia.

MEDALLIONS AND MARKS

Bellarmine medallions present a fascinating field of study. Armorials predominate in the early period, especially the three saltires of Amsterdam, the three crowns of Cologne and the elaborate arms of Julich-ClevesBerg. Some of the most interesting medallions include the initials, or “hausmark” (merchant’s mark) of the potter, or bottle dealer, the most common being Jan Allers – with a shield or unicorn – and later, Pieter van den Ancker with his monogram, the rebus of an anchor and sometimes dates in the 1660s. Both these were shippers of Rhineland stonewares.

Life’s a witch

Other than as a container there was another, well-documented role of Bellarmines – with a more ghoulish connotation. With their frightening faces and human-like shape, Bellarmine jugs made ideal conduits to repel evil spirits.

Bottles were filled with a bizarre assortment of objects, with the contents proscribed in the Astrological Practice of Physick, published in 1671, which offered a how-to guide for preparing a ‘witch’ with contents including iron nails, lead shot and bundles of hair.

According to the folklorist Ralph Merrifield: “The supposed victim of witchcraft would put some of his urine in a bottle with pins or needles, and bury it, believing that this would inflict acute pain on the witch, who would be unable to pass water until the spell had been removed.”

Another theory is that the bulbous shape of the Bellarmine jug represented the witch’s bladder. The bottles were most often found buried under the fireplace, under the floor, and plastered inside walls.

Blue cobalt

Around 1600-1625, twisted rope handles and cobalt blue splashes appear on the jugs. But, apart from the large and elaborate bodies, the quality can be seen to deteriorate rapidly. Bodies became less globular and more elongated, handles became heavier and less elegant, while bearded masks became more schematic with leonine, ladder, wheel-ended or gure-of-eight mouths, ladder or saw tooth eyebrows and less naturalistic beards.

Coats of arms on medallions lost their lion supporters in favour of crude scrolls, and the arms themselves became poorly rendered.

By the middle of the 17th century the slender necks and bodies made the masks and medallions correspondingly small, large enough only for a crude rosette, crowned heart or other simple motif.

With the increasing use of glass wine bottles, the di culties of importing Rhineland stonewares during the Dutch Wars and a major outbreak of plague at Frechen in 1665, Bellarmine imports seem to have petered out by the end of the 17th century.

We are indebted to Sebastiaan Oskamp and Wil Snip for some of the images in this article which come from their 656-page trilingual book, Stoneware 1200-1950, Bartmann Jugs published by Polder Vondsten, priced €99.95 (excluding €29.95 shipping costs).

‘The

Above right A Bellarmine depicting the thistle of Scotland, a rare example of a British Bellarmine from John Dwight’s factory, image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain

Above far right One of two Fulham-made Bellarmines which sold for a total of £34,000 in 2022, image courtesy of Denhams Auctions

Above left A German Bartmann jug, 15701600, h. 30cm (12in), made in Weser basin, found in Alkmaar, private collection, photo Walter Lensink/ Vind magazine

Dutch East India Company routinely used Bellarmine jugs to transport mercury, evidence of which has been found at shipwreck sites in the North Sea and as far away as Western Australia’

Fulham Pottery

The Bellarmines’ demise was also hastened by various British attempts to restrict imports of stoneware into the UK. Many domestic attempts were made to produce a non-porous material that was tougher than delftware or lead-glazed earthenware. John Dwight was still a student at Oxford when he started working with scientists Robert Hooke and Robert Boyle to experiment with ceramics. He became the first Englishman to successfully produce salt-glazed stoneware, for which he obtained a patent in 1672.

In the same year he founded the Fulham Pottery in London which he owned and operated it until his death in 1703. From the 1670s he transformed a German form into something essentially British. Dwight bottles with British medallions are extremely rare. His stoneware bottles were personalised with medallions containing initials, names, dates or inn signs, in the same way as contemporary sealed wine bottles.

Samuel Pepys

The bottles supplied for use at the famous Cock Alehouse at Temple Bar (on the south side of the Strand in London and much frequented by the diarist Samuel Pepys) are the most numerous to survive. Fragmentary ‘Cock’ medallions from many slightlydiffering moulds were excavated at the Fulham Pottery in the 1970s. Almost all were inscribed ‘HC’ for Henry Crosse, owner of the tavern and an important local brewer.

While Dwight’s tenure at the pottery was shortlived, it was Henry Doulton in the 19th century who exploited the process on an industrial scale in Lambeth, especially in the profitable fields of bottle-making and drainpipes, before starting the manufacture of art pottery in 1870.

In 2022, two 17th-century tavern jugs, estimated at £400-£600 each sold for a combined total of £34,000 (£19,000 and £15,000) at the auctioneers Denhams in Horsham, Sussex. Both were 20cm (8in) tall and featured wreathed medallions with the initials MRS. The low estimate likely reflected the thought they may have been examples of the more common German-imported Bartmann jug.

COLLECTING GUIDE Bellarmine jugs

DATING BELLARMINES

Although several serious attempts have been made to classify and date Bellarmines from their bearded masks, it is clear from large groups recovered from wrecks such as the Batavia (1629) and the Vergulde Draeck (1656) that, apart from the earliest most naturalistic masks, all the various types were in use by the early 17th century.

Dated Bellarmines are somewhat unreliable indicators, since usually only the better quality or specially commissioned bottles include dates in their medallions. But they do show changes in body shape which are the most reliable guide to dating. The wide difference in quality, potting and glaze are testament to the number of Bellarmines produced in huge numbers by many potteries in Frechen over a long period. The rather high proportion of badly dented, scarred and warped vessels in the 17th century indicates that ‘seconds’ –described in 1590s as “corse” rather than “fyne” pots, were being deliberately exported, just asStaffordshire later exported many of this imperfect wares to North America.

Right A Bellarmine jug or bartmannkrug, c. 1625-1675, the elongated neck decorated with a typical bearded mask over a decorative medallion below incorporating a love heart, on sale from Holt Antiques priced £495

Left A Bartmann jug, 1500-1520, height 21cm, made in Cologne, unknown provenance, private collection, photo Walter Lensink/ Vind magazine

Collecting Bartmann jugs

There are enough genuine Bellarmine jugs to satisfy the collector, with complete vessels and many fragments turning up on London building sites and by mudlarkers. In general, the early, dated or unusual pieces are the most expensive, while plain, late, or of course damaged pieces command a more modest price. Look out for large, plain one, or two-gallonbottles which look good on a dresser.

Robin Dunkley, from Holt Antique Furniture, in Walsingham, Norfolk, whichhas a number of designs on sale, said: “We find that good 16th-century and 17th-century examples are sought after by collectors worldwide. Look for jugs with minimal or no restoration, interesting glazes and unusual, or rare medallions. Provenance, where available,can also make these ceramics highly desirable for the collector”.

Firms such as Hubert Schiffer of Raeren. Fleischmann of Nuremburg and Merkelbach of Horh-Grenzhausen made passable copies of German stoneware in the second half of the 19th century to meet the demand for “Renaissance” pottery. Many of these, though moulded from original examples, were marked, as they lack the coarseness of the genuine article. More modern reproductions have been made by the slipcasting technique, with the characteristic mould marks and light weight.

‘The bottles supplied for use at the famous Cock Alehouse at Temple Bar (on the south side of the Strand in London and much frequented by the diarist Samuel Pepys) are the most numerous to survive’

e circular nature of the table, e ectively setting the social stage, meant no-one dominated from the head of the table, making it an ideal scenario to exchange that other 18th-century essential – gossip. e central pillar, rather than traditionally joined legs, created open spaces for ladies to display their ne silk skirts and for men to sit back and cross their legs to best show o their stockinged calves.

Check the grain

e rst thing to establish is whether the table started life as it now is in the middle years of the 18th century. ere are many example of pie-crust tripod tables which started out as at-topped or plain designs which have had the scalloped edge added later to improve the appearance or value. So look closely at the top, the grain of the wood should continue undisturbed all the way to the edge proving the top was made of one thick piece of mahogany which was then carved out, exactly the e ect we see below.

Waxing lyrical

Top and bottom

In the bleak mid-winter, nothing cheers quite as much as a festively-adorned, 18th-century piecrust table, writes David Harvey

When I saw this table a couple of days ago, I was overcome with festive bonhomie.

Bursting with star quality – it simply is a gift of a piece, and presents a veritable masterclass in what to look for in an 18th-century tripod table. e pie-crust table was originally created to serve tea, a luxury which, like this table, was designed to show the wealth and taste of its owner. Just like the Chineseimported porcelain which would have been on show, the table was an essential part of the ceremony.

Above right e wood grain should continue all the way to the edge showing it came from one piece

Right Make sure the stem and tripod of the base matches the quality of the top

Next to consider is whether the stem and tripod at the base matches the quality of the top. In this case the stem is a nely baluster shaped, ring-turned column with foliate carving above a concave socle. e legs are further carved at the knees, with clasped foliage, and the feet have yet more foliage.

Above e Chippendaleperiod table is perfect in every way

Superior carving

While it’s important to make sure the table top is carved from a solid piece of wood, it is just as vital to make sure the same is true of the base. Closer inspection shows the carving, both on the column and legs, stands proud of the line of the stem and legs. is was achieved by the cabinetmaker who started with su cient depth of timber to carve the details, making them appear as if the foliage had been laid on top of the timber. Had this been a plainer table initially, the decoration would have been carved into the base rather than standing proud.

Fine undercarriage

So far, so good – it all looks right, and now we come to the question of whether the top and base started life together. For this we need to tilt the top and look at both the underside and block work. On a table of this quality it does not surprise me to see what is known as

Question of balance

There’s another check to make while the table is upside-down – on the metal spider which braces the legs to the column.

Signs here are also favourable, showing it is wonderfully undisturbed. Who would ever have dusted and polished underneath the feet?

Above e carving on the column and legs stands proud

Above right Make sure all aspects of the table are in proportion. Next to check is the table’s underside

‘The central pillar, rather than traditionally joined legs, created open spaces for ladies to display their silk brocaded skirts, and for men to elegantly cross their legs and show off their stockinged calves’

Finally, there is the test of balance and for this I always ask the question: “Does it look right?” Are the size of the top and the spread of the base compatible? Sometimes during the past two and-a-half centuries tops and bases may have become damaged and parts will have been replaced. If when one sees a tripod table and it just doesn’t look right then nothing one does is going to make it look any better.

a “birdcage” support. So called because the four-column supports between the two blocks give the appearance of an aviary. e two main parts, held together by a wedge, allow the owner to rotate the top without having to lift the table - ideal if the mince pies are on one side of the table and the chestnuts on the other.

ere are also visible marks on the underside where the four columns have indented the top when closed, as well as a mark left by the tip of the central column.

e release catch is original and appears never to have been moved. ere is also a darker ring around the edge of the top which is hundreds of years of greasy nger marks where hands have held the top to either rotate it or move the table to another spot or room.

All in all the table would make a super addition to any festive room. Happy Christmas all!

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

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ANTIQUES UNDER THE HAMMER in January

Peak records

SAL EROOM SPOTLIGHT

Ski

posters from the golden age of travel are set to soar in Scotland with 70 lots carrying estimates ranging from £300-£10,000

Whether to decorate a chalet, or simply bring to mind a well-loved holiday spot, nothing cheers the spirit quite like a ski poster. Dating from the golden age of travel, and intended to entice a new class of holiday-makers onto the piste, the early- to mid 20th-century skiing posters were often designed by notable artists – colourful and dynamic designs, some re ecting the art deco ethos of the day.

With the arrival of the PLM (Paris-Lyon-Méditerranée) railway to Chamonix and Mont-Blanc in 1901 it wasn’t long before skiing went from being a crude mode of transport to a recreational hobby and sport.

To boost visitor numbers government tourist agencies, railways and individual resorts, sent advertisements to travel agencies and embassies worldwide, to be displayed on the walls. While most were destroyed after use, some of the artworks survived and remain as eye-catching today as

Above left Roger Broders (1883-1953) La Chaine du Mont-Blanc, it has an estimate of £3,000-£5,000 at the sale on January 21

Above Alex Stocker (1926-1951) Klosters, lithograph in colours, 1950, it has an estimate of £600-£800

Right Emil Cardinaux (1877–1936) Zermatt, it has an estimate of £8,000-£12,000

they were all those years ago. In January, some 70 posters go under the hammer at the Edinburgh auction house Lyon & Turnbull, a number by some of the leading lights of poster design. e sale is curated by poster specialists Sophie Churcher and Nicolette Tomkinson and it o ers posters from the turn of the 20th century to the 1960s. As well as popular European resorts in Switzerland (Arosa, Davos, Gstaad, Pontresina, Klosters, Zermatt and Les Diablerets), France (Chamonix, Megeve and St.Gervais Les Bains) and Italy (Cortina and e Dolomites) there are other examples from Victoria, Australia’s Winter Wonderland; Finland, Norway and even the Sun Valley in America.

e record price for a ski poster at auction is £62,000 at Christie’s South Kensington in 2016 for a 1934 poster of Gstaad by the Swiss graphic artist Alex Walter Diggelmann (1902-1987). It doubled the previous record of £32,450 set in 2012 by the French illustrator Roger Broders (1883-1953) for his poster of bobsleighers speeding around a bend at Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse.

Broders remains one of the most sought-after names when it comes to ski posters and his work appears in this January’s sale. He worked for France’s PLM railway company in an era when machines and transport were much in vogue artistically.

e art deco era saw trains becoming more streamlined and fashionable, and Broders’ designs, characterised by vibrant blocks of bold colour, simple, strong lines and plain typefaces, re ect this new chic. His designs ushered in a new period of tourism poster in the style of the 30s with his at areas of colour recalling the cubists, Kandinsky, Severini, La Fresnaye and Delaunay. Broders’ travel posters, especially from 1925 to 1935, are some of the most widely collected today.

Dawndrenched Matterhorn

Another artist credited as being the “father” of the Swiss travel poster is Bern-born artist Emil Cardinaux (1877–1936). In the upcoming sale his poster of

a dawn-drenched Matterhorn, forged in bold and simple lines is sure to attract collectors’ attention. Cardinauxis also known as the designer behind the iconic 1920 Matterhorn logo for the Swiss chocolatier,Toblerone, still seen on bars today.

When it comes to locations, the popularity of certain resorts is re ected inposter prices Swiss posters remain the most valuable; France is closely behind with steady demand for vintage posters featuring Chamonix, Corcheval and Mont Blanc. Posters featuring modes of transport such as trains orplanes, and mountain scenes, also appeal to a wider collectors’ market.

Health resort

AUCTION fact file

WHAT: The Ski Sale

Where: Lyon & Turnbull 33 Broughton Place, Edinburgh and online

When: January 21

Viewing: In Edinburgh January 19, noon-4pm and January 20 and 21, 10am-4.30pm

Walther Koch (1875-1915) was a painter, engraver and poster artist. Born in Germany in 1875, he studied at the School of Applied Arts in Hamburg before moving to Davos in 1898 for health reasons - then a small town in the canton of Graubünden known as a health resort rather than for winter sports. Here Koch built a reputation as a landscape painter and poster artist. His designs for the latter featured skating, sleighing and cross-country skiing (downhill skiing was, then, pursued by very few sports enthusiasts).

‘With

IN MY OPINION...

We asked Nicolette Tomkinson, co-curator of the sale, for her sale highights

What tend to be the most popular subjects among collectors?

Generally it is those that depict the world’s most important, glamorous and well-loved ski resorts, including the Swiss locations of St. Moritz, Klosters and Davos.

Whether the posters show mountain ranges, skiers in action, or one of the glamorous resort hotels, collectors remain attracted to the works for their colourful and decorative designs.

Which artists tend to command the highest prices?

Artists including Roger Broders, Emil Cardinaux and the Italian artist Francisco Tamagno (1851-1933) lead the field with their bold, elegant interpretations of ski style.

Most of these artists were well known in the fine art world but found commercial work interesting because it allowed them to experiment with a number of styles.

They would have been supplied with text but had a lot of artistic licence with the image, which is one of the reasons we have such a huge array of different artistic styles.

What other factors should collectors be aware of when buying ski posters?

Consider the poster’s availability and its condition – due to limited print runs and the age of many posters, it is often the case that examples are either difficult to track down or are found in poor condition.

Above left Karl Machatsheck (Kama) (1906-1994) Téléférique du Mt d’Arbois, Megève c. 1936, it has an estimate of £2,000-£3,000

Above Burkhard Mangold (1873-1950) Winter in Davos, lithographic poster, 1914, it has an estimate of £8,000-£12,000

Left Walter Koch (18751915) Winterkurort Davos, it has an estimate of £5,000-£7,000

the arrival of the PLM railway to Chamonix Mont-Blanc in 1901 it wasn’t long before skiing went from being a crude mode of transport to a recreational hobby and sport’

Posters would have been printed in runs of 1,000 or 2,000, but a lot of them were destroyed once they served their purpose so the ones that have survived usually come from the artist, or their family, or from the railway company or tourist board that commissioned them, who would have kept copies.

What makes ski posters so special?

They were collectable even when they were first produced and I think they remain popular today because they capture a moment in time. They not only present a wonderfully nostalgic, pictorial history of the sport, but also a fascinating record of the changes in techniques, equipment and the resorts themselves.

On a practical level, because they are a standard size (40in by 25in) — not billboard size — they frame easily and fit into any home.

In the KNOWLES

Sunshine is the name of the game when the collection of comedy legend Eric Morecambe goes under the hammer, writes Eric Knowles

Other than comic genius, I have a lot in common with Eric Morecambe. e rst names are the same, of course, and both of us are Lancashire born (he in Morecombe, me Nelson in Pendle); we both share a love of the outdoors (I once considered a job with the Forestry Commission and Eric was a committed birdwatcher and sherman).

And we both share a love of collecting. is fact came to light in spades when Hansons was commissioned to sell the entire contents of Brache eld, Eric’s former home in Harpenden, Hertfordshire.

Like all collectors (Eric collected everything from clocks and fob watches to beer mats) he was loathe to throw anything away and the house was exactly as it was when he died of a heart attack in 1984 aged just 58. His devoted widow Joan, who died in March at the age of 97, left the house untouched, knowing perhaps her husband’s jottings would one day be of national importance.

Above right Eric’s Challen baby grand piano and matching stool has an estimate of £1,000-£2,000

Left Eric Morecambe’s spectacles with two press photographs and his Barling briar pipe, the lot has a total estimate of £2,000£4,000

Below Eric, his wife Joan and his children enjoy a Christmas at home

Below left Ernie’s letter calling on the couple to split up has an estimate of £300-£500

Treasure chest

For both historians of British comedy and the 28 million of us who tuned into e Morecambe and Wise Show’s 1977 Christmas special (still the the most watched comedy programme in British television history) the sale is a veritable treasure chest.

e letters alone are staggering and attest to the great man’s popularity. ere are telegrams from Prince Philip and letters from King Charles, Margaret atcher and comedy legends Ronnie Barker and Tommy Cooper.

But most poignant perhaps is one of the “what ifs” of Britsh comedy –a note penned around 1950 from Ernie Wise revealing how he wanted to break up the act because of pressure at home and dissatisfaction with his work. In the letter, Wise describes “losing his zip” due to his su ering a “terri c amount of animosity at home.”

Fortunately for light entertainment, Morecambe subsequently dissuaded him from breaking up the partnership.

Passionate collector

Valuers were also impressed by the antiques dotted around the 1930s home, including 17th to 19th-century paintings, mainly landscapes, both Dutch and English; ne furniture; clocks and porcelain. In the centre of the lounge was Eric’s Challen baby grand piano on which he rehearsed one of the duo’s most famous sketches – the one with André Previn where Eric “plays all the right notes but not necessarily in the right order”. e 700-lot sale is being sold by the couple’s children Gary, Gail and Steven. And, just like Eric’s delivery, the timing is perfect, with 2025 marking the centenary of Ernie’s birth with Eric’s birth in 1926 next year.

sale at Hansons’ Derbyshire saleroom on

e Eric Morecambe Collection is on sale at Hansons’ Derbyshire saleroom on January 10-11. For more details on the lots go to www.ericmorecambe.com

‘Like all collectors (Eric collected everything from clocks and fob watches to beer mats) he was loathe to throw anything away – the house was exactly as it was when the comedy legend died of a heart attack in 1984 aged just 58’

COLLECTING GUIDE Picasso prints

Prints Charming

A Picasso for Christmas? Perhaps beyond any collector’s dream but prints by the genius are – just about – a ordable. On the unveiling of a new exhibition, Antique Collecting o ers an abridged version of its catalogue

In 2023, Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was the most valuable artist at auction, with works selling for a combined total of $597m (£462m), which means owning an original work by the Spanish-born maestro is beyond all but a handful of collectors. But his prints, of which there are many, are a di erent matter.

And the good news for collectors is that from the turn of the 20th century, until his nal years in the early 1970s, Picasso was a proli c printmaker.

e breadth of his genre is revealed in a new exhibition at the British Museum, which now houses the largest collection of prints in the UK, numbering some 500. e display, on until next May, puts on show 100 prints from the 2,400 he produced, most re ecting the artist’s enduring themes of bulls, doves and women.

Above Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Leaping bulls, 1950, © Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024, a drawing made by Picasso when he signed the Institute of Contemporary Arts visitors’ book on a trip to Britain in in 1950

Exceptional skills

As a printmaker Picasso was exceptional. His prints, using etching, lithography and linocut techniques, were often experimental and unique, pushing the boundaries of traditional printmaking. e exhibition brings together prints from one of his most celebrated series, e Vollard Suite (the British Museum acquired all 100 etchings from the set in 2011) as well as a pristine set of the 347 Suite, created when Picasso was in his 80s, and acquired in its entirety by the museum in 2014.

e museum’s curator of modern and contemporary prints, Catherine Daunt, said: “Picasso’s prints demonstrate a deep understanding of the medium and eagerness to experiment and innovate. Printmaking became, for Picasso, the art form through which he could tell stories and follow a thought or idea. Few artists contributed more to the medium in the 20th century.”

Struggling artist

Picasso made his rst print (an etching of a picador) when in Barcelona aged 17, but it wasn’t until 1904 that the Malaga-born artist began making prints in earnest. By then he had settled in the French capital living in a rundown studio in Montmartre. At the time Paris was a new centre of printmaking, with artists embracing the medium and dealer-publishers working with existing print studios. For a struggling artist like Picasso, who admired the great printmakers of the past including Goya and Rembrandt (1606-1669), as well his immediate circle such as Édouard Manet (1832-1883) and Henri de ToulouseLautrec (1864-1901), it was an enticing possibility.

Having no formal training in the genre, and with little money to spend on materials, Picasso made use of the resources around him. He leamed etching techniques

from Rica Canals (1876-1931), a Catalan artist who he had known in Barcelona. For his famous e Frugal Meal (below) he used a plate previously used by another artist.

Blue Period

e Frugal Meal is a key work from Picasso’s Blue Period (1901-1904), when his paintings were dominated by blues

and greens, and his subjects were melancholic. Picasso had been deeply a ected by the suicide of his close friend Cares Casagemas (1880-1901) in February 1901, and his meagre lifestyle meant hewas familiar with extreme poverty and people living on the margins of society.

As his Blue Period came to an end, his paintings took on arose palette in a series of works of itinerant acrobats and clowns (known as ‘saltimbanques’), who he saw at the Cirque Medrano, one of the few forms of entertainment he could a ord.

La Suite des Saltimbanques

Four years after it was created (and after Picasso had started to gain some renown) The Frugal Meal and 14 other plates w re purchased by the dealer Ambrose Vollard (1866-1939)a towering figure in the Parisian art scene who went on to be a central figure in Picasso’s prints. Vollard published the set as La Suite des Saltimbanques (Suite of Acrobats) in1913 in a series of 250. To make them more durable he coated the printswith a thin layer ofsteel (a process known as steel-facing) which, while increasing their durability, diminished their quality leading to theloss of subtle details and textures. e Frugal Meal, depicting a starving man and woman at a near-empty dinner table, remains one of Picasso’s most famous prints. In March 2022, it set a world record

Right Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Faun Uncovering a Sleeping Woman, June 12,1936, sugar aquatint, scraper and engraving from e Vollard Suite, © Succession Picasso/ DACS, London 2024

Left Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) e Frugal Meal, 1904, © Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024

Below right Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Monkey, 1936, sugar aquatint and drypoint © Succession Picasso/ DACS, London 2024

Sugar-lift aquatint

Picasso’s early print experiments included using large etching needles and adding suet and nail varnish to achieve novel results. But one of his most successful innovations came in 1934 working with Roger Lacourière (1892-1966).

The ‘sugar-lift aquatint’ used a sugary solution to create tonal, painterly effects — such as those visible in Faune Devoilant Une Femme, 1936, (Faun Uncovering a Sleeping Woman).

for the price of a Picasso print when it fetched £6,014,500 at Christie’s in London, also making it the most expensive print ever sold at auction.

e Vollard Suite

As with all Picasso’s art, context of his life sheds some light on his prints. In 1927, when he was 45 and married to Olga and with a young son, Paolo, Picasso met Marie- érèse Walter (1909-1877), a 17 year old with whom he began an a air. In 1930, he purchased the Chateau de Boisgeloup, 60 kilometres northwest of Paris, where Marie- érèse became his muse. In 1935, Olga found out about the a air (and his mistress’s pregnancy) and left Picasso, taking Paolo with her.

Not only was his personal life in turmoil, it was matched with the rise of Nazism, while the Spanish

‘As

a printmaker Picasso was exceptional. His prints, using etching, lithography and linocut techniques, were often experimental and unique, pushing the boundaries of traditional printmaking’

COLLECTING GUIDE Picasso prints

Civil War was altering Picasso’s view of the world. It was within this context that, between 1930 and 1937, Picasso produced e Vollard Suite, some 100 etchings each echoing the line drawings of the ancient Greeks. Catherine Daunt sums up his work of this period: “All is contained within: the infatuation, the excitement, the sex, the power, the turmoil, the fallout and the art.”

e Minotaurs

Some 46 of the etchings from the suite take the sculptor’s studio as a theme, with a few including sculptural heads of Marie- érèse. Another major theme is the Minotaur. e half man, half bull re ected the artist’s dark and animalistic instincts, which rst appeared in Picasso’s work in 1898 becoming somewhat of an alter-ego. 15 of the plates depict the Minotaur, who is variously shown in bed with a young woman, participating in a Bacchic orgy, raping a centaur and caressing a sleeping woman.

Parisian printer Roger Lacourière produced e Vollard Suite in 1939 with an edition size of 325 (though others have suggested the total to be 313 or 340). But Vollard’s death in a car accident that year delayed their sale. e outbreak of WWII further put a halt to the distribution of the suite which were not put on the market until the 1950s by the dealer Henri Petiet. Recognising their commercial value, Picasso back-signed many of the prints to raise money for left-wing political causes.

Dora Maar

In 1936, Picasso met Dora Maar a Surrealist photographer who is credited with rekindling what was, by then, a dwindling artistic inspiration. It was Maar who is thought to have brought his attention to photographs of the bombed Spanish city of Guernica. She also provided him with the subject of many of his most powerful works, among them the cubist portrait Weeping Woman in which

Below right Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Figure, 1948, © Succession Picasso/ DACS, London 2024. e lithograph is a portrait of the artist Françoise Gilot (1921‒2023). It is one of a group of postwar lithographs and aquatints the British Museum acquired in 2016

Below left Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Head of a woman no. 7. Portrait of Dora Maar, 1939, drypoint, © Succession Picasso/ DACS, London 2024

Turn to lithography

After WWII, with Paris newly liberated, the internationally famous Picasso sought refuge in the studio of lithographer Fernand Mourlot (1895-1988) in an unfashionable part of the city. It was here, near Gare de l’Est, that Picasso started exploring the potential of a new medium – lithography. e technique, a favourite medium for Francisco de Goya, appealed to Picasso’s desire to align himself with the greats of Spanish artmaking. It involves drawing or painting onto a stone or plate and allowed Picasso to work rapidly

and rework the image as he went, meaning he could print progressively in ‘states’ as the composition developed. e relationship was prodigious creating some 400 lithographs, with high points including portraits of Picasso’s latest lover, who he met in 1945, Françoise Gilot.

He was a good student, Mourlot paying tribute to the artist, writing: (Picasso) “Worked without cease, inventing the most extravagant processes, surmounting the di culties with brio under the dumbfounded stare of the workmen who had never seen such technical cheek in the service of such bold invention. Picasso looked, listened, did the opposite of what he learned, and it worked.”

After Picasso moved to the south of France in the ‘40s he continued to work with Mourlot visiting his studio on trips to the capital, or sending plates back to be printed.

Until 1945, almost all of Picasso’s prints were black and white, but his later lithographs, some in colour, re ect the heat and light of the south.

Linocut mastery

Far from Mourlot’s studio, near Provence, Picasso began to explore linocut printmaking, working with the local printer Hidalgo Arnéra. Picasso initially worked with

Arnéra on posters for the annual ceramics exhibition in the town of Vallauris, home of the Madoura pottery where Picasso began to make ceramics on his own in 1947.

Invented in the 1860s, linoleum rst entered artists’ studios in the 1930s as a softer and lower-cost alternative to woodcutting. Until Picasso started innovating with the medium, it was mainly associated with commercial work and, as such, considered a minor art. Under Arnéra’s tutelage, Picasso took to the medium like a natural, working proli cally in his studio.

Many of Picasso’s linocuts were printed in monochrome, or earthy colours, and explore habitual themes of bull ghting, female nudes and mythical scenes.

Lithography usually entails cutting separate pieces of linoleum for each colour. Picasso, however, found a way around this by inventing the ‘reduction method’, involving the use of just a single piece of linoleum as seen in Still Life Under the Lamp, considered to be one of Picasso’s greatest linocuts. Picasso and Arnéra collaborated for the best part of a decade, always with the same routine: the artist creating late into the night; having his chau eur drive his work to Arnéra’s workshop rst thing the next morning; Arnéra printing the linocut; and then returning it to Picasso at 1.30pm for assessment.

‘TheMinotaur, perhaps reflecting the artist’s dark and animalistic instincts, first appeared in Picasso’s work in 1898 and became somewhat of an alter-ego to him’

Left Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) e Little Artist, 1954 © Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024. e colour crayon transfer lithograph depicts Françoise Gilot and their two children, Claude and Paloma, on a visit to Picasso after she left him in 1953

Below right Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Pike II, 1959, © Succession Picasso/ DACS, London 2024

Bottom right Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Still Life Under the Lamp, 1962, © Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024. e British Museum holds the proofs for each stage of the print

e exhibition concludes with what is considered Picasso’s biggest printmaking achievement of his nal years – e 347 Suite. In 1968, aged 86, Picasso produced 347 etchings, drypoints and aquatints in under seven months while contemplating his life, achievements and legacy.

In it he was assisted by the printmaking brothers Aldo and Pierro Crommelynck who so wanted to work with Picasso that they moved from Paris to establish an etching studio in a village close to the artist’s home.

Picasso spent day after day drawing on the etching plates prepared for him by the brothers, sometimes producing six or seven prints in a 24-hour period.

In several of the images, including the rst plate, Picasso is shown as an old man standing in the wings as a circus scene unfolds. Real-life gures also appear, including Jacqueline Roque, who he had married in 1961.

ey also reveal with some frankness, the erotic fantasies of an old man lacking the vigour of years past. In fact, when e 347 Suite went on show at the Art Institute of Chicago it was deemed so pornographic the exhibition was closed down. Picasso continued to make prints until his nal years. In 1971, he produced a suite of 156 intaglio prints – e 156 Series, which he completed within a year of his death in 1973.

Picasso Printmaker continues at the British Museum until March 30 in the museum’s Room 90. It is accompanied by a catalogue of the same name by Catherine Daunt, the British Museum’s curator of modern and contemporary prints, on which much of this article is based. Picasso: printmaker, published by the British Museum Press, £30 ISBN 9780714126999. For more details go to www.britishmuseum.org

Left Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Picasso, His Work and his Audience, March 16-22, 1968, etching, © Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024

Below right Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) La Famille, a lithograph on Arches watermarked paper, currently on sale at Peter Harrington Gallery for £20,000.

Below left Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Tree in the Storm with Flight Towards a Church, August 15, 1968, sugar aquatint and drypoint on greased plate, © Succession Picasso/DACS, London 2024

Collecting Guide

From Les Saltimbanques

to Suite 347, Kevin Finch, gallery manager at Peter Harrington, reveals everything a collector needs to know

Pablo Picasso’s printmaking legacy is one of innovation, spanning various techniques and themes that re ect his evolution as an artist. For collectors, his prints range from highlyprized etchings, to large lithographs and colourful linocuts, each bearing the mark of the artist’s dynamic style and personality. While original Picasso artwork is now relegated to only the most lofty collector’s ambitions, collecting Picasso prints allows enthusiasts to engage with the varied styles and techniques of a modern master at a more attainable price point.

For committed collectors, La Suite des Saltimbanques, e Vollard Suite, and Picasso’s linocuts o er rare glimpses into his artistic journey and can command high prices. e later 347 and 156 suites can provide more accessible entry points while still capturing the spirit of Picasso’s ingenuity.

By paying attention to factors like edition size, print state, and condition, collectors can make informed choices that honour Picasso’s print legacy and enhance their collection’s value.

e most sought-after Picasso prints

Several of Picasso’s prints stand out for their historical signi cance and visual impact, making them highly desirable for collectors. Le Repas Frugal, his most famous etching from La Suite des Saltambiques, sold for £6m at auction in 2022, setting a record for a Picasso print. e coveted Vollard Suite (1930–1937), made up of 100 etchings delves into themes of Greek mythology,

the Minotaur; Picasso’s artistic alter-ego, merging neoclassical in uences with surrealist tones.

ough initially intended as a full portfolio, many of the 300 printed sets have since been broken up, making complete sets exceptionally valuable. In 2019, a complete set sold for £3.75m.

Picasso’s linocuts are also among his most prized prints, celebrated for their vibrant colours and technical mastery. e most desired, Buste de Femme d’après Cranach le Jeune (1958), a multicoloured linocut, fetched £680,000 at auction, underscoring the high desirability for these prints. e linocut Femme au Chapeau is another notable example. Picasso’s linocuts are especially prized due to their layered reductive technique, which makes each print virtually unique and unrepeatable.

Lithographic prints

Lithographs, which Picasso began producing extensively in the 1940s with printer Fernand Mourlot, showcase his adaptability across di erent media and his preference for drawing directly onto the printing surface. ese can be sourced as black and white images or in colour, the colour prints being more desirable with an unrecorded state of Femme aux Cheveaux Verts reaching £273,000 at auction in 2014. La Famille, a lithograph on Arches watermarked paper, is an example of a more attainable print, currently on sale at Peter Harrington Gallery for £20,000.

Peter Harrington

Below Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) Homme

Pensif Chez une Jeune Femme avec la Celestine. aquatint, scraper and drypoint on wove paper.

On sale from Peter Harrington Gallery priced £7,500

‘For collectors seeking entry-level works the etchings offer a more accessible starting point. The prints from The 347 Suite, created in 1968 when Picasso was 86, are an approachable option. These 347 etchings are known for their expressive, sometimes provocative themes and are more affordable due to their larger edition sizes’

e 347 Suite, created in 1968 when Picasso was 86, are an approachable option. ese 347 etchings are known for their expressive, sometimes provocative themes and are more a ordable due to their larger edition sizes.

La Celestine, a book containing 66 of these etchings, o ers collectors a chance to own Picasso prints from the iconic series at a relatively modest price, around the £40,000 mark.

His nal series of prints, also etchings and aquatints on copper plates created between 1968-1972, is known as e 156 Suite. ese consisted of more erotic images and orgies and were considered a complex introspective work, referencing many of Picasso’s Old Master heroes, including Rembrandt, Velázquez, Goya, as well as Manet and Degas.

Editions, states and provenance

Understanding the nuances of Picasso’s prints is crucial for collectors. Edition size is, as one would expect, one of the most signi cant factors in uencing a print’s value. Picasso’s works range from unique trial proofs to editions in the hundreds. Generally, smaller editions are more desirable, as they suggest a greater degree of exclusivity.

States of prints – variations in the same print as the artist re nes the work – also play an important role. Picasso often experimented with multiple states, especially in his linocuts, where each colour layer involved new carving and printing processes. is meticulous process means early states or proofs can carry a premium. Provenance and condition are equally important. Since prints are produced on paper, they are more susceptible to damage than paintings. Collectors should look for well-preserved works, ideally with clear provenance that can trace the print’s history back to reputable galleries or auction houses.

Kevin Finch is the gallery manager at Peter Harrington Gallery which currently o ers diverse examples of Picasso’s work, including some of his highly sought-after linocuts. Visit www.peterharringtongallery.co.uk

from

Gallery priced £40,000

MICHELANGELO, LEONARDO, RAPHAELFLORENCE, C. 1504

BY SCOTT NETHERSOLE & PER

RUMBERG

ISBN 9781915815101

RRP £40.00

OFFER PRICE £26.00

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Postage to UK addresses is £7, call for overseas rates. Offer subject to change without notice. As there is no tracking with general post, we cannot commit to Christmas delivery. Subscribers are advised to send in their orders as early as possible.

Faces Book

Planning on sending a roundrobin Christmas card this year?

e tradition owes much to a very unusual Victorian craze, author Paul Frecker reports

Crazes come and crazes go; the British public is a ckle beast. One craze that seized the imagination of the mid-Victorian public was the widespread infatuation with the cartes de visite, a new format of photography that the public embraced with febrile enthusiasm at the beginning of the 1860s. Hardly a hamlet nor a village was left untouched, as photographic studios sprang up everywhere to cater for the demand.

e technology

had been printed o , cut up and pasted onto a mount

e key that unlocked these oodgates was the invention of a camera which held the glass plate negative on a mounted chassis, enabling the operator to expose di erent sections of the plate at di erent times, thus producing a negative with anything up to eight small portraits on it, rather than one single image. Once these had been printed o , cut up and pasted onto a mount of the appropriate size (generally 4 x 2.5in), with the photographer’s branding printed on the back, the sitter could order dozens of copies for his or her social circle and family. And, of course, all the recipients of this favour would reciprocate in turn with their portraits, thus further cementing the bonds of family and friendship.

Opposite page

Pages from a cartes de visites album of British and European royalty, various artists, 1860s–1870s, including Princess Alice in mourning dress (1861), images courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain

Above Two entries from an album of 50 cartes de visite portraits of British jockeys, c. 1865. e photographs are hand coloured to show the jockeys’ racing silks, published by W.H. Mason, image courtesy of YCBA, public domain

Above right General Giuseppe Garibaldi by Maull & Polyblank of London, image courtesy of the author

Above right middle A Garibaldi look-a-like photographed by an unknown photographer

Above far right Madame Rachel’s waxwork photographed by the Southwell Brothers of London, image courtesy of the author

Right e front of an album of cartes de visites, painted and lacquered papier-mâché board, showing William Collins (1788-1847) e Cherry Seller, image courtesy of YCBA, public domain

‘The sitter would order several dozen copies to disseminate among his or her social circle and extended family. And, of course, all the recipients of this favour would reciprocate in turn with their portraits, thus further cementing the bonds of family and friendship’

Those who couldn’t gain access to any popular luminaries had to resort to other stratagems. One enterprising photographer, unable to induce Garibaldi to face his lens, found a look-a-like and dressed him up in an appropriate costume. He published the portrait with a pseudoSicilian backplate, but the ruse would have been more convincing had he not misspelled the general’s forename in the caption and printed the date in English as part of the backplate. Similarly, when the beautician and con artist Madame Rachel went on trial in 1868, the public pored over newspapers’ many column inches for details. Since the accused was in jail, enterprising photographers had to make do with artists’ impressions and court-room drawings. The Southwell Brothers, however, went one better. As soon as it went on display at Madame Tussaud’s in Baker Street, they photographed the fraudster’s waxwork figure. It’s only because they registered the image for copyright, which involved a short, written description of the photograph, that we today know of their cunning ploy.

COLLECTING GUIDE Cartes de visites

Conspicuous consumption

As canny photographers realised, consumers assembling a collection would look around for a means to house and display their acquisitions, and an array of albums, some of them lavishly decorated, was soon available to meet this demand. ese the public prominently displayed in their homes, for favoured visitors to inspect and admire. is proved an opportunity for conspicuous consumption that a truly staggering proportion of the population was eager to explore, though the cost of the experience meant that the working class could only enjoy the phenomenon via the displays of celebrity portraits in shop windows. Several contemporary commentators mention the crowds that sometimes blocked pavements and impeded tra c.

André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri

e photographer who popularised — but contrary to myth did not invent — the carte de visite was an enterprising Frenchman named André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri, to whose studio, in the Boulevard des Italians, Parisian society was soon ocking. e new format was given the imperial seal of approval towards the end of 1859, when Napoléon III sat for a series of portraits and authorised their distribution for public consumption. Soon afterwards his wife, the Empress Eugénie, and their young son, the Prince Imperial,

Right Queen Victoria and Prince Albert by John Mayall of London, image courtesy of the author

Below left A portrait of Napoleon III by the great Parisian photographer Disdéri, image courtesy of the author

Below e Prince Imperial and his mother, the Empress Eugénie by Disdéri of Paris, image courtesy of the author

Disdéri was the rst photographer to establish a studio that was at once a shrine to commerce and a temple of art. In his factory of photography, an army of workers manned a behind-the-scenes production line that churned out tens of thousands of cartes de visite, feeding an eager public’s voracious appetite for more and more images. Although at the height of his career he was reputed to be earning a phenomenal £48,000 a year (about £5m in today’s money), in January 1872 he led for bankruptcy and ultimately ended his days in penury.

Queen Victoria

On the other side of the channel, it was an early set of portraits of Queen Victoria and her family that gave the new format its cachet. Originally o ered to the public as a single unit, the ‘Royal Album’ retailed at a very expensive £4 4s, a sum roughly equivalent to a month’s wages for a manual labourer. However, the portraits were soon o ered individually, priced at a far more a ordable 1/6 each (one shilling and sixpence) and thus became available to another stratum

According to one source, they sold ‘by the 100,000s.’ e photographer who produced these portraits was John Mayall, whom the Queen thought ‘the oddest man I ever saw, but an excellent photographer [and] a tremendous enthusiast for his work.’ So popular was this rst series of royal portraits that a second series was commissioned from Mayall

Queen Victoria was herself a passionate collector , so much so that she drove her ladies-in-waiting to distraction with endless demands that they write here, there and everywhere around the world soliciting portraits for her ever-growing collection. ose she received she compiled into albums — the

Royal Collection Trust holds more than 30 of these at Windsor — organised along various themes, for example the imperial family of Russia, Spanish royalty, stars of the stage and, my personal favourite, British centenarians.

e queen’s fascination with longevity, death and funerals only increased as she got older, and her own death loomed closer.

Celebrity portraits

Broadly speaking, cartes de visite can be divided into two categories: those commissioned by paying members of the public, and portraits of celebrities that were produced at the photographer’s own instigation. Since so much money was at stake, and for only a few minutes’ work, photographers could be quite insistent when it came to soliciting a sitting with a popular celebrity.

e letters of both Charles Darwin and Charles Dickens tell us just how importunate photographers could be. Likewise, reports in e Photographic News reveal that the Shah of Persia, the Nawab of Bengal and General Garibaldi were all inundated with requests for a sitting when they visited England. Garibaldi did eventually succumb to at least one request and his compliance earned Maull & Polyblank the equivalent of £70,000 in today’s money.

It took celebrities a little while to cotton on that they were perhaps due a share of this bounty. It is generally thought that the rst to demand payment for his co-operation was the British pugilist Tom Sayers, followed soon after by the great French tragedienne Sarah Bernhardt. By the time the actress (and royal mistress) Lillie Langtry visited America in 1882 and sat for the

Right Alexandre Dumas, père, with the American actress Adah Isaacs Menken, by Alphonse Liébert of Paris, image courtesy of the author

Below left Charles Darwin by Elliott & Fry of London, image courtesy of the author

Below right Charles Dickens by Mason & Co. of London, image courtesy of the author

entire building on New York’s Union Square, was $8,000 a year.

False intimacy

that celebrities complied at all. ere is no evidence that Dickens ever pro ted nancially from the arrangements.

Dickens scholar Leon Litvack, he probably collaborated in the process to foster a deeper connection with his devoted audience.

For members of the public, having portraits of their favourite celebrities in their albums alongside portraits of their kith and kin must have created a false sense of intimacy. On the other hand, the author Alexandre Dumas, père, considered the sale of his portrait to the

‘Queen Victoria was herself a passionate collector of cartes de visite, so much so that she drove her ladies-in-waiting to distraction with endless demands that they write here, there and everywhere around the world soliciting portraits for her ever-growing collection’

In many ways, the format was the victim of its own success. A few photographers were seen to be making a great deal of money, and hoards of enterprising chancers tried to jump on the bandwagon. Since these operators rarely had the talent to match their ambition, they couldn’t attract custom to their studios simply by taking better pictures than their competitors. therefore, in order to compete in an overcrowded marketplace, they were forced to o er lower prices. is resulted in a race to the bottom, with photographers cutting their pro t margins to the bone in order to undercut one another. To do this, many of them resorted to cheaper and cheaper materials, and thus the quality of their work su ered too.

Many of these opportunists never quite gave up their original professions, resulting in some rather strange hybrids, including a tobacconist-cum-photographer in Newark, a shoemaker-cum-photographer in Uttoxeter, and a house painter-cum-photographer in West Derby. Others combined their photographic endeavours with work as a dyer, a farmer, a confectioner, a sign painter, a wallpaper hanger, a billiard room proprietor and even as a blacksmith.

e format didn’t die out altogether until the end of the century (and in some countries it survived even into the 1920s) but it never again enjoyed the same popularity that it had in the rst half of the 1860s. e cartomania ame burnt brightly but it did not last for very long.

Paul Frecker is the author of Cartomania: Photography & Celebrity in the Nineteenth Century available from bookshops and online, or go to www.paulfrecker.com

Left Lillie Langtry photographed by William and Daniel Downey of Newcastle and London, image courtesy of the author

Below right An album of 19 cartes de visite portraits of Charles Darwin, taken over three decades, sold for £126,000, image courtesy of Reeman Dansie

Below right

Cartes de visite of performers managed by P.T. Barnum, Tom umb, Admiral Dot, Commodore Nutt and Phebe J. Dunn, “the fat lady”, images courtesy of Britannic Auctions

Creating an album

While many cartes de visite can be picked up at antiques fairs or from online auction sites very cheaply, some can cost thousands. Richard Ginger looks at the factors a ecting their value and collectability

When it comes to collecting cartes de visite, general collecting rules apply, namely value is dependent on subject and condition. Other factors with a bearing on cost include cartes which feature signi cant historical events, cultural movements, or famous individuals. Also sought after are unusual formats, or limited production runs. Images of rare occupations, or obscure locations can also command higher prices.

Famous subjects

One of the biggest determiners of value is the subject. In 2022, a collection of 19 cartes de visite depicting Charles Darwin sold for £126,000 at the Essex auctioneer Reeman Dansie.

e provenance was also stellar, the album having come from the estate of descendant George Erasmus Darwin (1927-2017), Darwin’s great grandson, and had been in the family since its compilation in the 19th century. e album, expected to make £50,000£100,000, included seven cards signed by Darwin with each card inscribed by Darwin’s daughter, Henrietta Litch eld (1843-1927).

e album by London Stereoscopic Photographic Company, included the photographers Maull & Polyblank, Elliott & Fry and Oscar Rejlander. e album, in green leather with a brass clasp, was inscribed R. B. Litch eld, (Henrietta’s husband) 4 Bryanston Street, Portman Square

It also featured the plea: Please do not take these out of this book. Darwin’s interest in photography is well documented and he freely exchanged cartes de visite portraits, in what the botanist Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911) termed his “carte correspondence”, often to cement his international scienti c network.

Famous photographer

Sometimes the most famous photographers of the era made the most of the craze for cart mania. One such is the well-known and well-heeled photographer Julia Margaret Cameron (1815–1879) who, having only picked up a camera at the age of 48, persuaded her famous friends and family to pose in tableaux vivants in noble poses. Hence she captured leading artists and academics of the Victorian era, including Charles Darwin and Lord Tennyson. Asa business-savvy photographer, she also printed many of her popular photographs in carte-devisite format.

In 2017, Phillips New York sold an album of eight of her cartes de visite, dating from 1864-1868, for $12,500 with subjects including the dramatist Henry Taylor and Mary Ryan as Prospero and Miranda, as well as May Prinsep who was the wife of Tennyson’s son.

Lewis Carroll

In 2018, a carte de visite, by another very well-known photographer and author, Lewis Carroll, sold for £550 at Special Auction Services in Berkshire. In this case both the photographer and subject were of interest – the carte in question, c. 1864, showed three siblings: Alice Pleasance Liddell (1852-1934), the inspiration for Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland along with her sisters Edith and Lorina. e card was one of thousands owned by the late Beryl Vosburgh, who ran Jubilee Photographica in Camden Passage in Islington until 2002, and died in 2016. Beryl’s collection, which included several thousand cartes de visite, included a number of themes varying from children with toys to sitters in British India. She was also notorious for her own unique method of categorising her cartes, including sections for: ‘Photographers Who’ve Changed Addresses’, ‘Nice Hats’, ‘Pretty Crinolines’ and even the dismissively comic ‘Why Did ey Go To e Photographers?’

Above Julia Margaret Cameron (1815–1879) photograph of Mary Emily (“May”) Prinsep (1853-1931) as e Maid of Athens, 1866, image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain

Above right One of the albums owned by Murray Mackinnon, which sold for £693, image courtesy of Lyon & Turnbull

Right A signed portrait of Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens) sold for $2,805, image courtesy of RR Auctions

Good provenance

When six albums of cartes de visites owned by Murray Mackinnon, a renowned collector of photography documenting Scottish life from the mid-19th to early20th century, went under the hammer in June they sold for £693 at the Edinburgh auction house Lyon & Turnbull. Such was Mackinnon’s repute that in 2018, the National Library and National Galleries of Scotland acquired his collection, dubbing it: “the most important photographic acquisition for the national collections in Scotland for decades.”

e cartes were wide-reaching in subject matter: a range of family portraits, farming, industry and landscapes, providing a unique pictorial account of life in Scotland, transcending class boundaries, from the 1840s to the 1940s.

As well as featuring some named subjects, including Abraham Lincoln, albums included images of the Styring family of Hudders eld and 10 cards of people in fancy dress.

Military interest

Cartes de visite have always been popular with military families on both sides of the Atlantic as a memento of loved ones about to go to war. In 2012, a card featuring Abraham Lincoln fetched $90,000 when it sold at RR Auction in Boston taken by the Civil War photographer Alexander Gardner in 1863.

Earlier this year the same auction house sold a signed photograph of Samuel L. Clemens for $2,805. Its value derives from the fact Clemens is, in fact, the nom de plume of the author Mark Twain and signed photographs of the writer in this format are rare.

‘Beryl was renowned for her own unique method of categorising her cartes, including sections for: ‘Photographers Who’ve Changed Addresses’, ‘Nice Hats’, and even the dismissively comic ‘Why Did They Go To The Photographers?’’

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Puzzle TIME

Step away from the mince pies and exercise the little grey cells with special festive-themed puzzles from our quiz editor Peter Wade-Wright

DEC/JAN QUIZ

Q1 One of the rst British pillar boxes (in use from 1866-1879) was designed by JW Penfold. What shape was it? (a) circular, (b) rectangular, (c) hexagonal, (d) oval?

Q2 Public opinion had it that the Penfold box had a major defect. What was it? (a) the postal slot, although at an attractive and jaunty angle, was di cult to use, (b) letters sometimes became trapped inside, (c) rain could enter and ruin letters, (d) the body was cast whole and the slot ‘cut’ out, ruining the aesthetic.

Q3 What are parting shards? (a) barbed comments by auctioneers after a sale, (b) wedges of paper used to separate book pages before the ink has dried, (c) o cuts of architectural-model material, (d) pieces of red pottery used to separate pots in the kiln.

Q4 For what would you use a scorper? (a) engraving metal, (b) making vegetable shapes, (c) de-burring dog fur, (d) removing ear-wax (in Roman times).

Q5 What is a drunken parson? (a) an 18th/19thcentury clerical hat, (b) a Toby-jug design, (c) a Victorian lazy-Susan decorated with Biblical inscriptions, (d) An o -mint Biblical tract.

Q6 What is a chi chi? (a) a type of Nepalese prayerag, (b) a 1930s dance-instructing oor with outlined footprints, (c) a 1960s black-and-white chi on scarf, (d) a type of rug.

Q7 What is a lebes? (a) an ancient Greek cauldron, (b) a leaf-like motif, (c) a type of Middle-Eastern wooden love-spoon, (d) a Russian skating shoe.

Q8 What is special about Chinese Ru ware? (three answers) (a) its shape, (b) colour, (c) it was for imperial use only, (d) rarity.

Q9 What would you associate with the banker and philanthropist Albert Khan (1860-1940)? (a) books, (b) sheet music, (c) photographs, (d) bank notes.

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 December 20 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.

Anagram e rst reference to Santa’s sleigh appears in Old Santeclaus with Much Delight in 1821. But what are the names of the reindeer?

Q8 What makes Chinese Ru ware unique?

SOLUTION TO LAST MONTH’S CROSSWORD:

The letters in the highlighted squares could be rearranged to make the word clerestory. The winners, who will each receive a copy of the book are, Eliot James, Livingston, by email; Harold G. Harris, Rye and Mrs F. Fraser, Frome.

Q10 If your collection included a a basher, skimmer and katie, would you collect (a) plates, (b) comics, (c) frying pans, (d) hats?

Festive anagrams

Originally Father Christmas had eight reindeer pulling his sleigh. eir names have changed slightly since Clement Clarke Moore’s rst writing (1823) of the poem ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas and, in particular, the last two have changed.

Rearrange the following anagrams to create pairs of reindeer as they appeared originally.

Charade nerds, Vex inner carp,Demotic cup and Rumbled index.

e nal pairing (Rumbled index) was changed in 1949 and their anagram is Bronzed Linnet

A ninth reindeer was added at a later date, Old fur is the rearranged name.

Q2 Early Penfold pillar boxes were green, but what fault did they have?

Across

1 With 17-down. Furniture allowing access to high bookshelves. (7, 5)

7. James I gold coin, named after his intention to join his two kingdoms of England and Scotland. (5)

8. Kitchenalia for mixing ingredients and removing lumps in a sauce…called ‘brooms’ in Medieval Europe. (sing.) (5)

9. Ubiquitous writing implement. The first known illustration was in Gesner’s book on fossils in 1565. (6)

11. Form of singing with rapid changes of pitch. (5)

14. Prefix indicating oxygen in a compound…and a brand of beef extract and prominent tower on the Thames South bank. (3)

15. Down-in-the-dumps feelings, and The _____ British TV sitcom (1979) about a dysfunctional family starring Jimmy Edwards. (5)

18. Smart/stylish description of clothes wearer…or just irritable? (6)

20. Hidden collection of treasured things. (5)

21. West London area… and a quilted jerkin worn under chainmail in 13th/14th century. (canto anag.) (5)

22. Dark red gemstones (pl.). (7)

Down

1 L. S. ______ (1887-1976) English artist known mostly for depiction of northern industrial life…but also seascapes etc. (5)

2. Window covering, or, as _____ tracery, characteristic Gothic carving. (5)

3. Medieval meal-bin…or livestock shelter. (3)

4. Traditional Christmas warmer. (4, 3)

5. Durable, corrosion-resistant metal used for table-tops, architectural cladding etc. (4)

6. General term for various coniferous woods. (4)

10. One of a collection or list. (4)

12. West coast Scottish port…and an oval Japanese coin 16th – 19th century. (4)

13. Coloured glass threads impressed into a different coloured, and molten, glass surface. (7)

16. _____ Vanya. Chekhov play published in 1897. (5)

17. British dance/pop group formed in 1997…and footholds (pl.) (see 1-across). (5)

18. Sewn fabric join. (4)

19. Human creative activities (pl.) (4)

20. Mongrel. Conscience is a ____ that will let you past it but that you cannot keep from barking. Anon. (3)

Finally rearrange the letters in the highlighted squares to form the description of a photographic plate that has not received enough light. (12)

Note: the quote (20-Down) is from The Wordsworth Book of Humorous Quotations (1998 edited by Connie Robertson).

What is the name of the gemstones seen here?

IDEAS FOR FESTIVE GIFTING Lots in December & January

TOP of the LOTS

Looking for a last-minute gift, or bargains in the January sales? We preview some of the best presents for collectors

DECEMBER

Looking to put a smile on the face of the one you love this year? Gifts don’t come much better than this sparkling sapphire and diamond bracelet.

Beautifully reminiscent of the art deco era, the piece has an estimate of £9,000-£12,000 at Bishop & Miller’s auction at its Glandford saleroom in Norfolk on December 11.

The art lover in your acquaintance will appreciate this reclining and draped female nude by the Russian contemporary artist Alexandra Troshinskaya which is signed and dated 1996. The oil on canvas has an estimate of £300-£500 at Kinghams’ two-day sale in Moreton-inMarsh in the Cotswolds on December 12-13.

If you really want to celebrate in style this year, how about a trio of cigars once owned by James Bond actor Sir Roger Moore (19272017) taken from the humidor in his office at Pinewood Studio.

The smokes come with a letter from the actor’s PA and biographer, Gareth Owen, dated 2017, reading : “This is to confirm that this cigar box belonged to Roger Moore, back in the days when he smoked . . !”

The set has an estimate of £8,000-£10,000 at Dawsons’ entertainment and memorabilia sale at its Maidenhead saleroom on December 12.

Marking the fifth anniversary of his hit book, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, a number of original works by the British illustrator Charlie Mackesy (b. 1962) are up for sale in Bonhams’ online sale from December 2-12.

All come from the bestselling book and were consigned by Mackesy himself. This artwork, titled Home isn’t always a place is it?, is expected to make £3,000-£5,000.

Above e stylish nude will turn heads in Berkshire

Above right Home isn’t always a place is it? from the book e Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse

Above e cigars were owned by Sir Roger Moore (1927-2017)

Above is art deco bracelet would make a stylish gift

JANUARY

Celebrating the start of 2025, Parker Fine Art Auctions in Farnham has a number of jewellery pieces at its sale on January 9. One of the highlights is this Bulgari pyramid ring with an inset amethyst, which has a pre-sale guide price of £600-£800. Another sure-fire winner at the same sale – ready for next year’s Christmas celebrations – is this silver James Garrard punch bowl (London 1897) which is expected to make £3,500-£4,500.

Step into style in 2025 with this wall hanging by the British artist Peter Collingwood (1922-2008), known as the foremost British weaver of the 20th century.

Crafted from woven linen and steel, it is offered in Sworders’ design auction at its saleroom in Stansted Mountfitchet in Essex on January 28, with an estimate of £2,000-£4,000.

Dating from the 1960s, his macrogauze works, like this one, were once displayed alongside Hans Coper’s pottery in a joint exhibition. Today, several examples of Collingwood’s work can be found in the Victoria and Albert Museum and Tate.

This late Georgian or early Victorian suite of topaz and gold jewellery has an estimate of £4,000-£6,000 at the Crewkerne auction house Lawrences’ sale from January 14-16. Made up of a bracelet, with oval-shaped topaz stones, brooch pendant, cruciform pendant and a pair of drop earrings, the suite will make a style statement for years to come. At the same sale appears this charming, rare Doulton Lambeth RSPCA collecting box. Dating from the early 20th century, some were made in the form of a cat while this dog (which is 19.5cm tall) has a hangdog expression few could not be moved by. It has an estimate of £500-£700.

Left Who can resist this doggie’s expression?

Right Collingwood is a star of 20th-century British textiles

Above Start the celebrations early with this late 19th-century punch bowl

Left e ring will bring a smile in the depths of winter

Above e gold and topaz suite is up for sale in the new year

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR 18th-century punch bowls

others think it refers to the word ‘puncheon’ meaning a cask or barrel.

Above all, punch was a convivial drink created to be consumed by a large number, a fact attested to by paintings and satirical works of the day, such as Joseph Highmore’s (1692–1780) work, Mr Oldham and his Guests. As the work shows, the most important object for the assembled group was the bowl which was used for both making and serving the drink.

Early bowls

e earliest dated delftware punch bowl is recorded in 1681. Delftware, initially inspired by Dutch tinglazed ceramics from Delft, was produced in England beginning in the early 1600s and was primarily made in potteries located in London, Bristol, and Liverpool.

Early punch bowls were typically hand-painted in cobalt blue, although later examples also include

Punch drunk

At Christmas in the

18th century

there was only one drink in town – punch – and with it an array of bowls to serve it up

With the festive period rmly in our sights, glass and silver punch bowls are being dusted down around the country. Fewer examples are likely to be the porcelain dishes made in 18th-century China for export.

Georgians were mad for the highly-ornamental imports to best show o the equally new beverage du jour – punch. International trade had given British drinkers access to both rum and citrus fruits, and soon punch replaced its 17th-century precursor, posset – a wine concoction to which milk was added. e origin of punch’s name is controversial. Some say it derives from an Indian word meaning ve, referring to the ve principal ingredients used: wine, brandy, lemon, sugar and spices;

Above Joseph Highmore (1692–1780) Mr Oldham and his Guests, 1735 to 1745, image public domain

Above right Hunting punch bowl, c. 1790, Chinese, for export to the European market, hard-paste porcelain with enamel and gilt decoration, image courtesy of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, public domain

Right Punch bowl, Jingdezhen, 1764-1770, hard paste porcelain, image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain

Left e second earliest English delftware punch bowl known © e Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, public domain

and-white, famille rose, and famille verte styles—found favour in European homes. Punch drinking was not customary in China, so all large porcelain punch bowl forms were made specifically for export to the West’

manganese purple, green, and yellow. In terms of decoration, they took their cue from early Chinese export wares. Outdoor scenes are portrayed under a panelled brocade rim, with some bowls including humorous or moralistic verses, aphorisms, or patriotic messages, revealing the playful spirit of these gatherings at which the bowls took centre stage. e interior of the bowl was often as richly decorated as the exterior, with a central medallion or emblem at the base, visible only after the bowl was emptied.

Into the 18th century

As international trade, especially with China, ourished in the 18th century, porcelain punch bowls became symbols of luxury. Chinese export porcelain—

Above left An English delftware punch bowl, c. 1710-1720, possibly Bristol or Vauxhall, sold in June 2024 for £900, image courtesy of Bonhams

Above right A mid-17th century wassail cup made of lignum vitae, 20.5cm high, 20cm diameter, image courtesy of Bonhams

Below A punch bowl, Chinese, possibly for British market, 1785–1800, hardpaste porcelain, image courtesy of the

Wassailing

In Britain one of the earliest forms of concocted alcoholic drink was called wassail. References to the drink go back to the Norman period and possibly it was drunk even earlier than that. In wassailing, people would travel from home to home, offering songs, good wishes, and a drink from a communal wassail bowl in exchange for gifts or refreshments from the host. This was an early version of the practice of “caroling,” as people sang to bring good fortune to the households they visited. The wassail bowl, typically filled with a hot, spiced ale or cider, symbolised warmth and health, and sharing it was thought to spread blessings to all.

Lignum vitae

Traditionally wassailing cups were made of the wood lignum vitae, which was first brought to Europe in the early 1500s.

When the wood arrived on these shores it must have inspired the same awe as the Chinese porcelain of later years. Its dense nature, for example, meant the wood cannot float even in salt water. But the aspect that most appealed was the fact it was supposedly a cure for ill health – particularly syphilis. In Central and South America where lignum vitae originated, the wood and resin of both Guaiacum officinale Guaiacum sanctum, were used in traditional medicine – hence the name “tree of life”.

trees growing locally.

What better material, then, for a drinking waes-hael, or wassail, meaning good health. Previously maple wood had been used for such celebrations, with the drink served in shallow bowls known as mazers, but the diameter of the drinking bowl was limited to the size of the trees growing locally.

bigger, meaning it

However, the size of lignum vitae logs was much bigger, meaning it was possible to turn much larger and deeper bowls.

Moreover, wassail bowls were typically used to contain hot liquid so the wood needed to be densely-grained and durable, making lignum vitae the perfect choice.

Moreover, wassail bowls were the wood needed to be

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR 18th-century punch bowls

shining a light on late 18th-century international trade, is this ‘Hong’ design.

‘Hong’ means factory and was the name given to trading offices of various European countries based in Canton, today’s city of Guangzhou.

Between 1757 and 1842 trade was highly restricted in and out of the port. Foreign traders were confined to wharves along the Pearl River, the stop-off point for vast quantities of porcelain shipped by canal from Jingdezhen.

The bowl shows the wharf with flags of Britain, Denmark and France (the presence of a US flag would date the bowl as post 1784, the year when America started direct trade with China after the revolution). Such bowls were likely made as souvenirs for Western merchants and are highly collectable today.

or European heraldry. Mottoes, toasts, exhortations, family initials, dates, political slogans, dedications and narrative scenes all add to the value of a punch bowl. For instance: Fill this bowl Landlord and Beware the Fox (avoid adulterated booze).

English makers

As the secret of hard-paste porcelain became known in Europe, with makers like Meissen and Sèvres, the rst English porcelain factories were set up at Chelsea, Bow, Vauxhall, Plymouth, Bristol, Worc Derby, in

hard-paste porcelain, public domain

Right Punch bowl by Worcester Porcelain Factory (established 1751), e Cleveland Museum of Art, public domain

Hogarth on bowls

Popular prints, generally raucous in theme, soon found their way onto the sides of punch bowls. One such is William Hogarth’s famous A Midnight Modern Conversation. published as a print in March 1732, and depicting St John’s Co ee House in Temple Bar. e much-loved print soon started to appear on hand-painted punch bowls of the period – right at the start of the drink’s popularity.

Hogarth himself appears on one armorial punch bowl painted with a meticulous copy of his painting O, e Roast Beef of Old England, or e Gate of Calais Published as a print after Hogarth’s own painting in March 1748, the scene satirises the contrast between the then meagre French cuisine and that of the wellnourished Englishman. e artist’s self portrait (seen in red on the left) is reproduced from the original print onto the bowl, capturing the moment when Hogarth was arrested by French soldiers on suspicion of spying, clearly having taken details of the gate forti cations

‘At the height of the punch-swilling

1745-1750 period,

the

first English porcelain factories were set up at Chelsea, Bow, Vauxhall, Plymouth, Bristol, Worcester, Derby, in Staffordshire and Liverpool’

Top left Chinese export ware punch bowl, c.1750-1755, hard paste porcelain, c. 1755. Hand-painted with Hogarth’s e Gate of Calais or O, the Roast Beef of Old England, image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain

Top right William Hogarth (1697–1764) e Gate of Calais or O, the Roast Beef of Old England, 1748, oil on canvas, public domain

Above left William Hogarth (1697–1764)

A Midnight Modern Conversation, 1732, engraving, printed in reddish brown ink, image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain

Above right Punch bowl with an engraving after William Hogarth based on his A Midnight Modern Conversation, 1732, c. 1775, image courtesy of the Rijksmuseum, public domain

The monteith

Like a punch bowl, but with a scalloped edge, a monteith was used to chill wineglasses, and first brought west from China in the late 17th century. After it was filled with cold water, each glass was hung by its foot from a notch in the monteith’s rim, so that the bowl of every glass was submerged.

Well-known in silver, the form may take its name from an eccentric Scottish undergraduate at Cambridge, who was known for wearing an old-fashioned coat cut with a crenelated hem reminiscent of the notched rim of the monteith.

Below Monteith, Chinese, for British market, c. 1715–1720, image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain

PUTTING ON THE GLITZ

Nothing says Christmas like a sequin. But there’s more to the sparkling accessory than meets the eye. Antique Collecting reports

If you are hoping to shine brightly in sequins this festive period you may be unwittingly following in a fashion trend that has lasted for millennia. You may also be contributing to what some call an “eco disaster” because modern sequins are typically made from synthetic plastics which can survive in land ll for a few centuries. So if you do want to make a glittering statement you need to look to vintage designs and second-hand fashions.

is month an exhibition at the Lady Lever Gallery in Birkenhead charts the changes in beaded evening wear over the last century, from beaded dresses made in France during the 1920s, to sequinned jackets decorated in Indian workshops in the 1980s.

e history of sequins is surprisingly rich. ey were discovered in the tombs of ancient Egypt, with gold disks sewn onto clothing in the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, buried some 3,000 years ago, suggesting sequins were a mark of wealth – even in the afterlife.

Above A panel from a purple sequined evening dress by Paul Poiret, image courtesy of Kerry Taylor Auctions

Right Pillow cover, 1590–1610, with glittering spangles, the pillow includes depictions of a pomegranate, a nonnative species, that was made a popular Tudor motif as the heraldic badge of Henry VIII’s rst wife, Catherine of Aragon, image courtesy of Metropolitan Museum, public domain

Spangles and oes

In the 16th century the re ective beauty of sequins, known then as spangles, spangs, or “oes” was greatly in vogue. Resplendent in gold, silver, brass, or tin, they took their place in courtly settings, where ostentation was a symbol of wealth and status. In 1575, Robert Sharp was granted a patent to make spangles and gold oes. eir glittering e ect is described in an essay by Francis Bacon, titled Of Masques and Triumphs, who wrote: “ e colours that show best by candle-light are white... and oes, or spangs, as they are of no great cost, so they are of the most glory.”

Spangles were made in several ways with tear-shaped versions stamped from sheets of metal plate with a row of holes punched into them. Such shapes were often

incorporated into metal laces sewn along hemmed edges. Round spangles were also be stamped from metal sheets, or made from a single coil of wire which was attened, with the ends overlapping. By varying the colour and placement of the silk thread, the embroiderer – all would have been handsewn – could achieve a variety of shimmering e ects.

As well as making their way into garments, spangles appeared in a number of domestic items, including small pillows. Not only did such a cushion act as a support for the owner’s books, it acted as a way to display the owner’s dexterity with a sewing needle.

Georgian style

Sequins and spangles continued to be used as a staple of high-end and royal clothing throughout the 18th century. e fashion-conscious Georgians loved nothing more than using a tiny metal disc in a ballgown to shimmer and shine. Flickering candlelight illuminated evening wear decorated with metal thread and spangles, to its full e ect.

A full-length portrait of Queen Charlotte by omas Gainsborough, c.1781, painted by candlelight, depicts her in a magni cent gown, worn over a wide hoop and covered with gold spangles and tassels.

While court dress provided a brilliant spectacle, new forums for fashionable display for the masses emerged in the 18th century. e new pleasure gardens, co ee houses and theatres allowed the growing middle classes to show o the latest imported fabrics from the Ottoman Empire, India and China. Now even everyday dress, encouraged by the birth of a specialised fashion press, took costumes to a new level of nery.

Did you know?

The word sequin actually may be derived from the Arabic word sikka, meaning coin, referring to the gold coins sewn onto clothing in the Middle East, South Asia, and parts of Europe

Above right A pair of gloves, 1620s. e weeping eye, green parrot, and shimmering pansies indicate they were originally intended as a love token, image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain

Below left A full-length portrait of Queen Charlotte by omas Gainsborough, c.1781, depicts the queen in a magni cent gown with spangles and tassels, public domain

Below right A pair of gloves, 1620s, with pea pods and blossoms, image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain

Far right e gauntlets show small birds and aming hearts, symbols of romantic devotion, image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Sequinned gloves

Unlike today, when gloves’ role is largely functional, in the 17th century, they were often extravagantly decorated as symbols of wealth, status, and power. Made of the finest leather, silk and stitched with gold thread, many had spangles sewn onto the cuffs with the beadwork displaying the highest levels of craftsmanship.

As well as being offered as diplomatic gifts, in the 17th century gloves were love tokens derived from the closeness of their owner.

In the example below the cuff has embroidered motifs of pea pods and blossoms both associated with romantic love. William Shakespeare, the son of a glovemaker, was familiar with the language of gloves. The Clown, in The Winter’s Tale, says: “If I were not in love with Mopsa, thou shouldst take no money of me; but being enthralled as I am, it will also be the bondage of certain ribbons and gloves.”

‘As well as making their way into garments, spangles appeared in a number of domestic items, including small pillows. Not only did the cushion act as a support for the owner’s books, it acted as a way to display her dexterity with a sewing needle’

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Sequins

Tambour embroidery

Also known as “broderie de Lunéville” in French, tambour beading put sequins at the heart of French couture in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Named after a”tambour” (meaning “drum” in French), it uses a hook to create a chain stitch on the surface of the fabric. When sequins or beads are added, the hook picks up each bead or sequin and secures it with the chain stitch, creating intricate, light-catching patterns. e technique required skilled craftsmanship, with pieces taking hundreds of hours to complete, especially when using ne materials like organza or tulle.

For what it’s Worth

With the Victorian’s love of glitzy overkill, it is not surprising sequins’ popularity continued well into the 19th century.

Here spangles could be seen in embroidery, beading, lace and frills, like never before. is was an era when both day and evening wear were elaborately trimmed, and the most fashionable ensembles exhibited lace, velvet, and satin details.

French fashion houses were leading the way with one man dominating – namely Charles Frederick Worth. Lincolnshire-born Worth, who moved to Paris in 1845, was known for his use of lavish fabrics and trimmings and incorporation of elements of historic dress. Worth’s designs featured in the Great Exhibition in London in 1851, allowing him to gain a foothold in the UK and he went on to create the coronation gown for Queen Alexandra in 1902. He soon built up a clientele of European royalty and, by the 1870s, Worth’s name frequently appeared in ordinary fashion magazines, spreading his fame to women beyond courtly circles.

In 1875, Jean-Philippe Worth who began as an assistant to his father was allowed to create his own designs and, when his father died in 1895, he became the lead designer for the house. His artistic gowns continued to embellish gowns with ornate trimmings, including sequins.

e Callot Soeurs

When the House of Worth started to decline, other

COCO CHANEL

In addition to her revolutionary knitted sportswear, Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel looked to metallic lace, lavish embroidery, and sequins to enhance her evening wear in the 1920s to give the illusion of metal. Her own embroidery workshops hand-stitched sequins and other embellishments on her trademark gowns overlapping them in tight, shimmering rows to recreate the sheen and lustre of the Asian lacquered screens which she loved and collected.

By 1931, Chanel was employing up to 2,400 skilled seamstresses in 26 sewing ateliers.

Top right Evening ensemble, House of Worth, 1887, image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain

Top far right Sequinned detail from a ball gown, House of Worth, c. 1900, image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain

Right Evening mantle, House of Worth, early 1890s, made from lace and sequins, image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain

Far right A cape made by the House of Worth, c. 1896, made from silk, linen, sequins, beads, image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain

Bottom right Callot Soeurs evening dress, from 1900-1914, cotton, silk, metal, image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, public domain

Below A rare Gabrielle Chanel sequined evening dress, 1928, sold for £22,000 in 2024, image courtesy of Kerry Taylor Auctions

maisons at the heart of French couture were poised to take over, notably Maison Paul Poiret and the Callot Soeurs.

Callot Soeurs, founded by four sisters, Marie, Marthe, Regina, and Josephine, grew a name for their lavish, highly embellished gowns using a variety of materials, including antique laces, ribbons, Chinese silks, and lame. Sequins once more came to the fore. Attuned to the Orientalism of the decade, the sisters reined the silhouette into a cylindrical tunic-style wrap, with sequins aplenty. Some were punched into a ligree pinwheel, while others were hammered at. Others were even overlaid onto faceted crystal calculated to shimmer by candlelight.

Modern era

A renewed appetite for dazzling evening wear in the 1920s followed the dearth of elaborate style of the post-war period.

Uninspiring clothing had been a necessity during WWI but now anything went. is was the era when glittering, beaded gowns were rst made in large numbers. e glamour of Hollywood’s golden age helped push sequins into popular fashion in the 1920s. is was also the era of both the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, in all its glittering spendour, and when the machine age was coming to the fore. Metal sequins added weight to garments and gave them a pronounced shine.

It was also a time of dramatic change in the cut of

women’s garments. In a departure from the corseted, layered styles that were fashionable before the war, modern dresses in the 1920s were long and tubular in shape. ese simpli ed forms and at surfaces were ideal for decorating with sequins and beads.

e bugle’s call

Many dresses were the result of the production of glass ‘bugle’ beads, which were made in Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic, during the 1920s and 1930s.

Bohemia had been known for its glasswork as early as the 13th century. e region’s forests provided ample wood for fuel, and its mountains were rich in the minerals needed for glassmaking.

By the late 19th century, Bohemia had developed one of the most advanced glass industries in the world, specialising in imitation gemstones, crystal glassware, and bugle beads – tubular, elongated beads, usually made of glass, that can range in length from a few millimetres to several centimetres. e process involved heating glass rods until they were malleable, then stretching them into long tubes before cutting them into smaller segments to create beads.

e glass was then treated with various coatings or nishes—such as metallic, iridescent, or opalescent—to give the beads an even more striking appearance.

e beads’ length gave a more streamlined, polished look and linear patterns favoured by the machine-era, art deco-inspired look. Bohemian bugle beads also o ered a more a ordable alternative to precious stones and metals, making high fashion more accessible to a broader audience in the inter-war years.

Jazz Age

Flapper dresses, which were designed to showcase movement, had entire sections covered in bugle beads, with rows and layers of beads creating a shimmering fringe. e embellishment added weight to the dresses, enhancing their drape and giving them a more attering silhouette. Glass bugle beads were also popular on handbags, shoes, and headbands, creating coordinated, fully-beaded ensembles that embodied the glamour of the Jazz Age.

Having been traditionally made from metals like gold, silver, and copper, by the 1930s, a new material entered the scene: gelatin. Sequins made from gelatin or casein (an early form of plastic made from milk proteins) were much lighter and cheaper than metal. But they had a signi cant aw—they would melt if exposed to heat or

Above Evening dress, gold sequins, 1928-1929, on show at Bedazzled at the Lady Lever Gallery until January 26

Right A rare Paul Poiret purple sequined evening dress, 1928, it sold for £6,000 in 2022, image courtesy of Kerry Taylor Auctions

Below right A label from Paul Poiret, image courtesy of Kerry Taylor Auctions

‘With the Victorian’s love of glitzy overkill, it is not surprising sequins’ popularity continued well into the 19th century; spangles could be seen in embroidery, beading, lace and frills, like never before’

20TH-CENTURY DESIGNERS KNOWN FOR THEIR USE OF SEQUINS

Madeleine Vionnet (1876 -1975) After training with the Callot Soeurs, Madeleine Vionnet became known for her tunics and soft dresses in the 1910s and 1920s. Among her numerous innovations, she became famous for her bias-cut technique and her evening gowns featured sequins and beading, which created a fluid, shimmering effect that suited her elegantly draped designs.

Jean Patou (1887-1936) Patou, a French fashion designer, who founded the Jean Patou brand, was another designer who embraced sequins for his evening wear. He often designed shimmering, sequin-embellished dresses that caught the light in speakeasies and nightclubs, reflecting the lively energy of the era.

Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973) Known for her experimental and surrealist style the Italian designer Schiaparelli used sequins to add a playful, avantgarde edge to her work. Her superbly embellished and beaded garments, produced from 1934 onwards, created three-dimensional effects in glittering gold, silver, jet, sequins and beads, the results were astounding, spurring ever greater flights of fantasy.

Paul Poiret (1879–1944) As a pioneer of freeing women from corsets, Poiret created extravagant, free-flowing gowns that incorporated sequins and beads. His designs embraced a sense of luxury and drama that aligned with the art deco era, making sequins a staple in some of his evening pieces.

Edith Head (1897-1981)

Even though she is famous for the quote “Some people need sequins, others don’t” with reference to a simple, ice-blue dress she designed for Grace Kelly in 1955, the Hollywood costume designer embraced sequins in the 1940s and 1950s, using them to accentuate gowns and stage costumes.

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Sequins under the hammer

moisture. Textile collectors are familiar with deformed sequins in a garment’s underarms or even a handprint where the sequins have wilted under the warmth of a dance partner’s hands.

Contemporary fashion

e next leap in sequins manufacture came in the 1960s, with the invention of plastic sequins. Lightweight, inexpensive, and resilient, plastic sequins could be produced in a wide variety of colours and shapes, leading to their widespread use. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) was commonly used, but environmental concerns in recent years have spurred the fashion industry to explore alternatives including biosequins, made from renewable cellulose derived from plants.

Other changes occurred in the 1980s, due to rising costs. Exhibition curator and head of the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Pauline Rushon, said: “Couturiers started to outsource their beading and sequin work to India, where labour costs were much lower. ere, skilled male embroiderers known as karigars (the Urdu word for an artisan) produced the work for the couture houses but at much-reduced costs.”

e karigar workshops still exist today in cities like Mumbai, supplying both couture houses and middlemarket wholesale fashion retailers.

Today, from the high street to high-end designers like Balmain, Gucci, and Tom Ford all use sequins in their designs and, despite their lack of eco credentials, the sparkling discs remain synonymous with glamour, celebration and Christmas.

e exhibition Bedazzled, featuring a selection of evening wear and celebrating beaded garments from the 1920s to the present day, is on show at the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Lower Road, Port Sunlight, Bebington, Wirral, CH62 5EQ until January 26. For more details go to www.visitliverpool.com

A black lurex jewelled rhinestone ensemble designed by Bob Mackie and worn by Cher during her performance of Since I Fell For You, has an estimate of $3,000$5,000

right A silk velvet devore peignoir style jacket worn by performing My Blue Heaven, with Art Carney, that aired on May 18, 1975, it has an estimate of $3,000$5,000

Sultan of SEQUINS

is month 70 sparkling lots by the iconic Hollywood designer Bob Mackie go under the hammer

Anumber of creations by Bob Mackie (b. 1939), the legendary American fashion and costume designer, known as the “Sultan of Sequins” go under the hammer this month in the US.

Mackie rose to fame in the 1960s and ‘70s, designing iconic, over-the-top costumes for Hollywood stars, in particular the singer Cher, with whom he shared one of the most celebrated designer-muse symbiotic relationships of 20th-century costumery. His dresses included beaded and rhinestone gowns, including the groundbreaking “naked dress” that the singer wore to the famous Met Gala in 1974.

So important were his designs that, in 2019, the Metropolitan Museum of Art featured an exhibition of numerous Mackie out ts from the 1970s and ‘80s.

Early talent

Bob Mackie was born in Monterey Park, California, on March 24, 1939, displaying a talent for sketching and fashion illustration from a young age. He studied at several institutions, including the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles (now part of the California Institute of the Arts), working brie y as a sketch artist for Paramount Studios.

His big break, however, came in the mid-1960s when he began working as an assistant to costume designer Edith Head, one of Hollywood’s most celebrated costume designers. Mackie soon started to carve a name for himself designing his own amboyant out ts for television variety shows and launching a long and celebrated career in Hollywood.

Stage presence

Mackie’s early work with iconic gures like Judy Garland, showcased his ability to create show-stopping ensembles that perfectly complemented the performer’s personality and stage presence.

roughout the 1970s and ‘80s, Mackie’s career soared. He became the go-to designer for Hollywood’s glittering elite, creating breathtaking gowns for stars like Diana Ross, Liza Minnelli, and Tina Turner. His designs were both a mainstay on the red carpet and graced the covers of countless magazines.

Mackie went on to receive three Academy Award nominations for his costume work in lms such as Lady Sings the Blues (1972), starring Diana Ross, and Funny Lady (1975), starring Barbra Streisand.

His costumes have become collectors’ items and continue to be referenced in modern pop culture, from red-carpet looks to drag culture and concert costumes.

Celebrities such as Jennifer Lopez, Beyoncé and Lady Gaga continue to be enthralled by his out ts with their signature looks a testimony to Mackie’s iconic, bold style.

70 of Mackie’s most lavish creations will go under the hammer in a sale called Unmistakably Mackie from December 10-13 at the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills and online at Julien’s Auctions, www.juliensauctions.com

Left A two-piece fullybeaded burgundy matte ensemble designed by Bob Mackie for Cher. It has an estimate of $3,000-$5,000

Right Miley Cyrus wearing a Bob Mackie dress at the 66th Grammy Awards on February 4, 2024. Image licence Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

Below right beaded evening dress by Bob Mackie has an estimate of $6,000$8,000 at this month’s sale

‘The

glamour of Hollywood’s golden age helped push sequins into popular fashion in the 1920s. This was an era of both the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb and when the machine age was coming to the fore. Metal sequins added weight to garments and gave them a pronounced shine’

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

Adams Antiques Fairs

020 7254 4054

www.adamsantiquesfairs.com

Adams Antiques Fair, The Royal Holticultural Halls, Elverton Street, SW1P 2QW, Jan 26

Etc Fairs

01707 872140

www.bloomsburybookfair.com

Bloomsbury Book Fair, Turner Suite at Holiday Inn, Coram Street, London, WC1N 1HT, Dec 8

Sunbury Antiques 01932 230946

www.sunburyantiques.com

Kempton Antiques Market, Kempton Park Race Course, Staines Road East, Sunbury-OnThames, Middlesex, TW16 5AQ, Jan 9, 30

The Decorative Fair 020 7616 9327

www.decorativefair.com

Evolution London, Battersea Park London SW11 4NJ, Jan 21-26

SOUTH EAST & EAST ANGLIA:

including Beds, Cambs, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex.

CL Fairs

07501 782821

Norfolks Collectors Fair At The Parish Hall Parish Hall Church Street, Cromer Norfolk, NR27 9HH, Dec 14

Grandmas Attic www.grandmasatticfairs.co.uk

Antique and Collectors Fair, Woking Leisure Centre, Kingfield Road, Woking, GU22 9BA, Dec 8

The Westgate Leisure Centre, Via Ravenna, Chichester, PO19 1RJ, Dec 15

The Grange Centre, Bepton Road, Midhurst, GU29 9HD, Jan 12

iacf 01636 702326

www.iacf.co.uk

Ardingley International Antiques & Collectors Fair

South of England Show Ground, Ardingley, Nr Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH17 6TL, Jan 21-22

Love Fairs 01293 690 777

www.lovefairs.com

Antiques & Vintage Fair, Detling Showground, Kent Event Centre, Detling, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 3JF, Jan 18-19

Marcel Fairs

07887 648255

www.marcelfairs.co.uk

Marcel’s Antique and Vintage Fair, The Weatherley Centre, Biggleswade, Eagle farm road, Bedfordshire, SG18 8JH Dec15, Jan 19

St Ives Antiques Fair

07803 820347

www.stivesantiquesfair.co.uk

Burgess Hall in Westwood Road, St Ives, PE27 6WU, Dec 29-30

SOUTH WEST

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

Arun Fairs

07563 589725

Emsworth Antiques and Collectors Fair, Emsworth Community Centre, North Street, Emsworth, Hampshire, PO10 7DD, Dec 8

Cameo Fairs

07790 126967

www.cameofairs.co.uk

Lyndhurst Antiques Fair, Community Centre, Central Park, High Street, Lyndhurst , SO43 7NY, Dec 15

Grandmas Attic

www.grandmasatticfairs.co.uk

Antique and Collectors Fair, Places Leisure, Fleming Park, Passfield Av, Eastleigh,

SO50 9NL, Jan 1

Allendale Centre, Hanham Road, Wimborne, BH21 1AS, Jan 26

Sga Fairs

07759 380299

Browsers Antique & Collectors Fair, Hartley Wintney Victoria Halls Hartley Wintney

Hampshire RG27 8RQ, Dec 8, Jan 12, Jan 26

Pangbourne Village Hall Pangbourne, Berkshire, RG8 7AN, Dec 14

EAST MIDLANDS

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

Arthur Swallow Fairs

01298 274493 asfairs.com

Vintage Flea Market EXO Centre, Lincolnshire Showground, Lincoln, LN2 2NA, Dec 29, Jan 19

Halycon Fairs

0780 3543467

Buxton Antiques and Collectors Fair, The Pavilion Gardens, St John Road, Buxton, Derbyshire

SK17 6BE, Jan 25-26

Stags Head Events

07583 410862

www.stagsheadevents.co.uk

Ashby-de-la-Zouch Hood Park Antique, Collectors & Vintage Fair, Hood Park Leisure Centre Ashby-de-la-Zouch LE65 1HU, Jan 1

WEST MIDLANDS

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

B2B Fairs

07774 147197 www.b2bevents.info

Malvern Flea and Collectors Fair, Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcestershire WR13 6NW, Jan 12

Coin and Medal Fair Ltd 01694 731781

www.coinfairs.co.uk

Midland Coin Fair

National Motorcycle Museum, Bickenhill, B92 0EJ, Dec 8, Jan 12

M & B Cramp 07973 274493

Ludlow Castle Square Antique Flea And Collectors Fair Castle square, Ludlow, Shropshire SY8 1AX, Dec 15

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

Freckleton Antique, Vintage & Collectors Fair 07935 966 574

Freckleton Memorial Village Hall, 17 School Lane, Freckleton, PR4 1PJ, Dec 7, Dec 26

Jaguar Fairs 01332 830444 www.jaguarfairs.com

The Great Wetherby Racecourse Antiques Fair. Wetherby Racecourse, Wetherby, LS22 5EJ, Jan 25-26

V&A Fairs 01244 659887 www.vandafairs.com

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

Jan 1

WALES

RJG Events

0798 9955541

Beaumaris Antique and Collectors Fair, Beaumaris Leisure Centre

Rating Row, Beaumaris, Isle of Anglesey, LL58 8AL, Dec 15, Jan 19

SCOTLAND

JAC Fairs

07960 198409

Ayr Antique, Vintage & Collectors Fair, Citadel Leisure Centre, South Harbour Street, Ayr, KA7 1JB, Jan 25

Glasgow Antique, Vintage & Collectors Fair, Bellahouston Leisure Centre, Glasgow, G52 1HH, Dec 8, Jan 19

IRELAND

Antiques Fairs Ireland

00353 85 862 9007

Carlow Antiques & Vintage Fair

Woodford Dolmen Hotel, Kilkenny Rd. Carlow, R93 N207, Jan 19

Trim Castle Hotel Antiques Fair, Trim Castle Hotel, Trim, Co. Meath. Jan 26

FAIR NEWS

Got some Christmas money burning a hole? ere’s no better place to spend it than at four of the country’s best fairs kicking o 2025

Decorative design

The winter edition of The Decorative Fair takes place in Battersea Park from January 21-26, the first of three events in 2025, the year marking the 40th anniversary of the popular show. It was 1985 when the fair’s founder, antiques dealer Patricia Harvey, saw a need for a friendly event where interior design buyers could find everything they needed under one roof. Five decades later it remains the go-to event for specialists and collectors after that certain piece, with the winter edition featuring 130 dealers. This event’s popular foyer display centres around the architect’s study, featuring an eclectic mix of desks, lights and decorative maps.

A wooden box with an original 1719 decorative leather covering, on sale from Foster & Gane, priced £2,400

By design

London Art Fair returns for its 37th edition to the Business Design Centre in Islington from January 22-26 boasting a new roster of international galleries.

The prints and editions section launched last year makes a welcome return, hoping to inspire first-time collectors by offering works by both emerging artists and household names at an affordable price. Some 120 galleries from around the world will take part in the event, including 22 international galleries from the Czech Republic to Japan.

Closer to home, David Messum Fine Art is showcasing paintings sourced directly from the studio estate of Jean-Marie Toulgouat, the great-grandson of Claude Monet, while, Cross Lane Projects will mark the 100th anniversary of the Surrealist Movement.

Northern air

Held at the city’s prestigious racecourse, and extending over two floors of the County Grandstand, the Chester Decorative, Antiques and Art Fair opens its doors from January 17-19.

The fair offers something for everyone, from dedicated collectors to interiors specialists. Treasures for sale include everything from 20th-century jewellery, to period furniture, and art deco statuary to medical and scientifi c instruments.

Doors open 11am on Friday and Saturday (closing at 5pm) while Sunday visitors can browse from 11am-4:30pm. Admission is £7.50 on the door or £5 beforehand.

e event attracts the nest dealers from the north of the country and beyond

Rug addicts

The 13th London Antique Rug and Textile Art Fair (LARTA) returns to the mezzanine of the Decorative Fair at the event’s specially-built marquee in Battersea Park.

Running over the same dates, from January 21-26, this year’s event will welcome new exhibitors, including the Marylebone-based gallery, Zadah, alongside Thames Carpets, run by father and daughter duo Bahram and Sophie Javadi-Babreh, who will be offering a 19th-century Kazak Karachopf rug with a price tag of £18,000.

Another new exhibitor, London-based Junnaa & Thomi Wroblewski Ltd, will be showcasing a selection of 19th-century French portrait tapestries, as well as an Armenian 18th to19thcentury embroidery produced for the Ottoman Empire.

A visitor to last year’s event, image © Mark Cocksedge

An 18th-century English needlework picture, initialled ‘MR’ and dated ‘1773’, on sale from Essex-based Textile Antiques

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

Antiques and Fine Art, Dec 10

Apollo Art Auctions

63-63 Margaret Street, London, W1W 8SW 07424 994167

www.apolloauctions.com

Fine Islamic, Indian and Chinese Art, Dec 14

Fine Ancient Art and Antiquites, Dec 15

Bonhams

101 New Bond St, London W1S 1SR, 020 7447 7447

www.bonhams.com

The Classics London: Antiquities, Clocks, European Ceramics (Online), ends Dec 9

Printed, Painted and Sculpted (II) Japanese Art (Online), ends Dec 9

Fine and Rare Wines (Online), ends Dec 9

Prints and Multiples, Dec 10

The Bond Street Sale: Important Collectors’ Motor Cars and Automobilia, Dec 12 Fine Watches, Dec 12

Bonhams

Montpelier St, Knightsbridge, London, SW7 1HH, 020 7393 3900

www.bonhams.com

Knightsbridge Jewels, Dec 11

Travel and Exploration (Online), ends Dec 11

The Classics London: Glass and British Ceramics (Online), ends Dec 11

Jewels (Online), ends Dec 11

Original Works by Charlie Mackesy – The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse (Online), ends Dec 12

Chiswick Auctions

Barley Mow Centre, Chiswick, London, W4 4PH 020 8992 4442

www.chiswickauctions.co.uk

Design, Modern and Contemporary, Dec 11

Fine Oriental Rugs and Carpets, Jan 15

Old Masters and 19th-Century Art, Jan 21

Chiswick Auctions

1Roslin Square, Roslin Road, London, W3 8DH 020 8992 4442

www.chiswickauctions.co.uk

Modern Collector at Christmas (Online), ends Dec 7

Photographica, Jan 22 Interiors, Homes and Antiques (Timed Online), Jan 14-26

Christie’s

8 King St, St. James’s, SW1Y 6QT, 020 7839 9060 www.christies.com

The Sam Josefowitz Collection: Graphic Masterpieces by Rembrandt van Rijn - Part II, Dec 5

Works of Art from the Mougins Museum of Classical Art (Online) ends Dec 10

Valuable Books and Manuscripts, II, Dec 11

Science Fiction and Fantasy (Online), ends Dec 12

Forum Auctions

220 Queenstown Road, London, SW8 4LP, 020 7871 2640 www.forumauctions.co.uk

Modern Literature (Online), Dec 5

Books and Works on Paper (Online), Dec 19

Lyon & Turnbull

Mall Galleries, The Mall, St. James’s, London SW1Y 5AS, 0207 930 9115 www.lyonandturnbull.com

Islamic and Indian Art (Online) (Viewing in London), Dec 11

Noonans

16 Bolton St, Mayfair, London W1J 8BQ, 020 7016 1700 www.noonans.co.uk

Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria, Dec 5, Jan 15

Coins and Historical Medals, Dec 10

Olympia Auctions

25 Blythe Road, London

W14 0PD, 020 7806 5541 www.olympiaauctions.com

Fine Antique Arms, Armour and Militaria, Dec 4

Fine Paintings, Works on Paper and Sculpture, Dec 11

Roseberys

Knights Hill, Norwood, London, SE27 0JD, 020 8761 2522

www.roseberys.co.uk

Jewellery and Watches, Dec 5

Fine and Decorative, Dec 6

Traditional and Modern (online) Jan 15

Islamic & Asian Art (online) Jan 30

Sotheby’s

New Bond St., London W1A 2AA, 020 7293 5000

www.sothebys.com

Old Master and 19th Century Paintings, Dec 4-5

Old Master Prints (Online), ends Dec 6

Bibliotheca Brookeriana: A Renaissance Library Part V, Dec 10 Books, Manuscripts and Music from Medieval to Modern (Online) ends Dec 12

SOUTH EAST AND EAST

ANGLIA: Inc. Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex

Bishop and Miller

Unit 12 Manor Farm, Glandford, Holt, Norfolk, NR25 7JP 01263 687342

bishopandmillerauctions.co.uk

Fine Jewellery and Wristwatches, Dec 11

Bellmans

Newpound, Wisborough Green, West Sussex, RH14 0AZ, 01403 700858

www.bellmans.co.uk

Fine Clocks, Dec 5

Antiques and Interiors, Jan 13-14

Burstow & Hewett

The Auction Gallery, Lower Lake, Battle, East Sussex,TN33 0AT, 01424 772 374

www.burstowandhewett.co.uk

Fine Antique Sale, Dec 12

Fine Art and Sculpture, Dec 12

Luxury Watches, Fine Jewellery and Silver, Dec 13

Cheffins Clifton House, Clifton Road, Cambridge, CB1 7EA 01223 213343, www.cheffins.co.uk

The Fine Sale, Dec 4-5

Ewbank’s

London Rd, Send, Woking, Surrey, 01483 223 101 www.ewbankauctions.co.uk

Silver and Fine Art, Dec 5

Antiques, Books, Stamps, Clocks and Antique Furniture, Dec 6

Classic and Modern Cars, Dec 10

Retro Video Games and Consoles, Dec 12

Comic Books, Dec 13

Fine Wines and Spirits, Dec 18

Trading Cards, Dec 19

James Bond, Dec 20

Comic and Graphic Novels, Jan 3

Tabletop Gaming: Warhammer, D&D and More, Jan 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, Dec 7

Collectors’ Cavern Auction

- Including Entertainment Memorabilia and Posters, Jan 11

Diecast and Vintage Toys and Model Railway Collectors Sale, Jan 25

Gorringes

15 North Street, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 2PE, 01273 472503

www.gorringes.co.uk

Lux, Dec 9

Jewellery, Silver and Watches, Dec 10

Textiles, Jan 13

Militaria and Medals, Jan 20

Music and Science, Jan 27

Hanson Ross

Unit 1, The Power House, Lumen Road, Royston, Hertfordshire, SG8 7AG, 01763 430 042

www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk

The Secret Christmas Auction, Dec 6

John Nicholson’s

Longfield, Midhurst Road, Fernhurst, Haslemere, Surrey, GU27 3HA, 01428 653727

www.johnnicholsons.com

Paintings Dec 10

Oriental sale Dec 17

Antiques Dec 18

Lacy Scott & Knight

10 Risbygate St, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 3AA, 01284 748 623

www.lskauctioncentre.co.uk

Twentieth Century Art and Design, Dec 6

Medals, Militaria and Country Pursuits, Dec 6

Wine, Port and Spirits, Dec 6

Fine Art and Antiques, Dec 7

Toys and Models, Dec 13

Homes and Interiors, Jan 11

Parker Fine Art Auctions

Hawthorn House, East Street, Farnham, Surrey, GU9 7SX, 01252 203020

www.parkerfineartauctions.com Fine Paintings & Frames, Dec 5, 9

Reeman Dansie

8 Wyncolls Road, Severalls Business Park, Colchester, Essex, CO4 9HU, 01206 754754 www.reemandansie.com Specialist Collectors, Dec 3-5

Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers

Cambridge Road, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, CM24 8GE, 01279 817778

www.sworder.co.uk

Homes and Interiors, Dec 10

Timeline Auctions

The Court House, 363 Main Road, Harwich Essex, CO12 4DN, 01277 815121 www.timelineauctions.co.uk

None listed

Toovey’s Antique & Fine Art Auctioneers Spring Gardens, Washington, West Sussex, RH20 3BS, 01903 891955

www.tooveys.com

Antiquarian and Collectors’ Books, Dec 4

British and Continental Ceramics, Glassware, Dec 5

Die-cast Model Vehicles and Accessories, Model Trains, Tinplate and Mechanical Toys and Models, Dolls, Dolls’ Houses and Accessories, Teddy Bears and Other Soft Toys, Miscellaneous Toys and Games, Dec 11

Wristwatches and Pocket

Watches, Clocks and Barometers, Cameras and Scientific Instruments, Dec 18

T.W. Gaze

Diss Auction Rooms, Roydon Road, Diss, Norfolk, IP22 4LN, 01379 650306. www.twgaze.com

Christmas Gifts, Dec 5

Antiques and Interiors, Dec 6, 13, Jan 3, 17, 31

Blyth Barn Furniture Auction, Dec 10, 17

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 Rd, Hele, Exeter, Devon, EX5 4PW. 01392 719826

www.adampartridge.co.uk

Fine Art, Antiques & Collectors’ Items with Toys, Wines & Spirits, Dec 9

Fine Art, Antiques & Collectors’ Items, Jan 27

Auctioneum

Broadlands Fruit Farm, Box Road, Bathford, Bath BA1 7LR, 01225251303

www.auctioneum.co.uk

Christmas 20th-Century and Contemporary Art Sale (Timed) Dec 16-30

Mid Century and Interiors Design Sale, Dec 30

Auctioneum East Bristol, Unit 1, Hanham Business Park, Memorial Road, Bristol, BS15 3JE, 0117 967 1000 www.auctioneum.co.uk

British Comedy, Television and Film, Dec 6

Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood St. Edmund’s Court, Okehampton Street, Exeter EX4 1DU, O1392 41310

www.bhandl.co.uk

Silver, Jewellery and Luxury Goods, Dec 10-11

British Bespoke Auctions

The Old Boys School, Gretton Rd, Winchcombe, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL54 5EE

01242 603005

www.bespokeauctions.co.uk

Antiques Jewellery and Collectables, Dec 17

Chorley’s Prinknash Abbey Park, Near Cranham, Gloucestershire, GL4 8EU, 01452 344499 www.chorleys.com

A Private Collection of Studio Ceramics (Timed Online), ends Dec 8

Dawsons Unit 8 Cordwallis

Business Park, Clivemont Rd, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 4BU, 01628 944100

www.dawsonsauctions.co.uk

Entertainment and Memorabilia, including Vintage Posters, Dec 12

Dominic Winter Mallard House, Broadway Lane, South Cerney, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 5UQ, 01285 860006 www.dominicwinter.co.uk

Printed Books, Maps and Documents, A Collection of Original Woodblocks by Thomas and John Bewick, Dec 12

Children’s and Illustrated Books, Modern First Editions, Original Illustrations and Early Playing Cards, Dec 13

Military and Aviation History, Printed Books, Maps and Documents, Jan 29

Dreweatts Donnington Priory Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 2JE 01635 553 553 www.dreweatts.com

Fine Wine, Champagne, Vintage Port and Spirits (Online), Dec 10, Jan 28

Art Live, Dec 12

Interiors Day 1, Jan 8

Interiors Day 2, Jan 9

Jewellery, Silver and Watches, Jan 16

Duke’s Brewery Square, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 1GA, 0105 265080

www.dukes-auctions.com

Fine Jewellery, Watches, Accessories, Wines and Spirits, Dec 11

Hansons Auctioneers

49 Parsons Street, Banbury, Oxford, OX16 5NB, 01295 817777

www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk

Whisky and Wine, Dec 13

Harper Field Auctioneers

The Stroud Auction Saleroom Ebley Road, Stonehouse, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL10 2LN

01453 873800

www.harperfield.co.uk

December Auction, to include Jewellery, Silver, Watches, Clocks, Coins, Bijouterie, Fine Wines and Spirits Dec 4-5

January Auction, to include Toys, Comic Books, Vinyl Records, Musical instruments, Asian & Tribal Art, Pictures and Paintings, Books,

Ephemera and Stamps, Jan 15-16

Kinghams 10-12 Cotswold

Business Village, London Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucester, GL56 0JQ, 01608 695695

www.kinghamsauctioneers.com

Fine and Decorative Arts, Dec 5-6

Lawrences Auctioneers Ltd

The Linen Yard, South St, Crewkerne, Somerset, TA18 8AB, 01460 703041

www.lawrences.co.uk

Silver and Vertu, Jan 14

Pictures, Jan 14

Jewellery and Watches, Jan 15

Furniture, Clocks and Rugs, Jan 16

Collectors’ Items, Jan 16

19th-20th Century Design, Jan 16

Ceramics and Oriental Works of Art, Jan 16

Lay’s Auctioneers Alverton Road, Penzance, Cornwall. TR18 4RE. 01736 361414

www.davidlay.co.uk

Antiques and Interiors, including the Private Collection of Graham and Mollie Dark, Dec 5-6

Lay’s Auctions Lay’s Auctioneers, Church Row, Lanner, Redruth, Cornwall, TR16 6ET, 01736 361414

www.davidlay.co.uk

The Ray Barry Studio Sale and Christmas Art (Timed), Dec 20 to Jan 1

Coins, Railways & Collectables Sale (Timed), Jan 10-26

Silver (Timed), Jan 17 to Feb 2

Mallams Oxford Bocardo House, St Michael’s St, Oxford, OX1 2EB, 01865 241358

www.mallams.co.uk

Modern Art and Design, Dec 4-5

The Oxford Library Sale, Jan 22-23

Mallams Cheltenham

26 Grosvenor St, Cheltenham. Gloucestershire, GL52 2SG 01242 235 712

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.

www.mallams.co.uk

Country House Sale, Jan 15

Mallams Abingdon

Dunmore Court, Wootten Road, Abingdon, OX13 6BH, 01235 462840

www.mallams.co.uk

House and Home Sale, Jan 13

Moore Allen & Innocent

Burford Road Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 5RH, 01285 646050 www.mooreallen.co.uk

Vintage And Antique Furniture Auction, Dec 11-12

Vintage And Antique Furniture Auction (Timed), Dec 13-22

Philip Serrell Barnards Green Rd, Malvern, Worcestershire. WR14 3LW, 01684 892314 www.serrell.com

Interiors, Dec 19

Fine Art and Antiques, Jan 16

Special Auction Services

Plenty Close, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 5RL 01635 580 595 www.specialauctionservices.

Pre-Loved Christmas Antiques and Collectables, Dec 5

Trains Galore, Dec 10-11 Photographica & Cameras, Jan 7

The Cotswold Auction Company Chapel Walk Saleroom, Cheltenham, Gloucesterhire, GL50 3DS, 01242 256363 www.cotswoldauction.co.uk

Special Christmas Sale - Silver, Jewellery, Watches and Antiques, Dec 10

Wessex Auction Rooms

Westbrook Far, Draycot Cerne, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN15 5LH, 01249 720888 www.wessexauctionrooms.co.uk

Toys, Dec 5-6

Antiques, Collectables and Furniture, Dec 7

Vinyl Records and Music Memorabilia, Dec 13

Woolley & Wallis

51-61 Castle Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP1 3SU, 01722 424500 www.woolleyandwallis.co.uk

British Art Pottery, Dec 3-4

Modern British and 20th Century

Art, Dec 5

Furniture Works of Art & Clocks, Jan 15-16

Fine Jewellery, Jan 29-30

EAST MIDLANDS: Inc.

Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Sheffield

Gildings Auctioneers The Mill, Great Bowden Road, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 7DE. 01858 410414

www.gildings.co.uk

Antiques and Collectors, Dec 17, Jan 7

Golding Young & Mawer

The Bourne Auction Rooms, Spalding Rd, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9LE. 01778 422686

www.goldingyoung.com

Bourne Collective Sale, Dec 11-12

Golding Young & Mawer

The Grantham Auction Rooms, Old Wharf Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire NG31 7AA, 01476 565118

www.goldingyoung.com

Grantham Collective Sale, Including Asian Art, Dec 4

Grantham Collective Sale Part 2, Dec 5

Golding Young & Mawer

The Lincoln Auction Rooms, Thos Mawer House, Station Road North Hykeham, Lincoln LN6 3QY, 01522 524984

www.goldingyoung.com

Lincoln Collective Sale, Dec 18-19

Hansons Heage Lane, Etwall, Derbyshire, DE65 6LS 01283 733988

www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk

Coins, Banknotes and Historica, Dec 4

Christmas Auction of Toys, Diecast and Model Railways, Dec 10

Music, Memorabilia and Film, Dec 11

Iconic Design: 1860 to the Present Day, Dec 12

Stamp and Camera, Dec 12

Irita Marriott Auctioneers and Valuers Ltd, William’s Yard Derby Road, Melbourne, Derbyshire, DE73 8JR

01332414848

iritamarriottauctioneers.co.uk

Two Day Antiques and Collectors Auction, Jan 8-9

WEST MIDLANDS: Inc. Birmingham, Coventry, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire

Fellows Augusta House, 19 Augusta Street, Hockley, Birmingham, B18 6JA , 0121 212 2131 www.fellows.co.uk

Pawnbrokers, Jewellery and Watches, Dec 4

Antiques, Fine Art and Collectables, Dec 9

Designer Handbags and Accessories, Dec 10

Monies, Medals and Militaria, Dec 11

Watches, Dec 12

Gemstones, Dec 13

Jewellery Day One, Dec 17

Jewellery Day Two, Dec 18

Pawnbrokers, Jewellery and Watches, Jan 21

Halls

Bowmen Way, Battlefield, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY4 3DR, 01743 450700 www.hallsgb.com/fine-art.com

The Christmas Auction, Dec 4

Halls: The Edit (Timed), Dec 20 to Jan 14

Fine Art and Antiques Auction, Jan 29

Hansons Auctioneers

Bishton Hall, Wolseley Bridge, Stafford, ST18 0XN, 0208 9797954

www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk

Country House Fine Art Including Silver, Jewellery and Watches, Dec 4

Library Auction Including Books, Manuscripts and Autograph Letters, Dec 5

Richard Winterton

Lichfield Auction Centre, Wood End Lane, Fradley Park, Lichfield, Staffordshire, WS13 8NF, 01543 251081

www.richardwinterton.co.uk

Two-Day Antiques and Home Sale, Dec 9-10

Antique and Home, Dec 16

Trevanion The Joyce Building, Station Rd, Whitchurch, Shropshire, SY13 1RD, 01948 800 202

www.trevanion.com

John Mills Collection Jan 8

NORTH: Inc. Cheshire, Co. Durham, Cumbria, Humberside, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, Sheffield, Yorkshire

Adam Partridge Auctioneers

Withyfold Drive, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK10 2BD 01625 431 788

www.adampartridge.co.uk

Antiques and Collectables, Jan 23-24

Adam Partridge Auctioneers

The Liverpool Saleroom, 18 Jordan Street, Liverpool, L1 OBP, 01625 431 788

www.adampartridge.co.uk

Toys with Antiques and Collectors’ Items, Dec 4-5

Antiques and Interiors, Jan 16-17

Anderson and Garland Crispin Court, Newbiggin Lane, Westerhope, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE5 1BF, 0191 430 3000

www.andersonandgarland.com

Sports and Sporting, Dec 10

The Collectors’ Auction, Dec 10

Pictures, Dec 11

The Miners Auction, Dec 12

Stamps and Coins, Dec 12

Textiles, Dec 12

Homes and Interiors, Jan 14

Silver, Jewellery and Watches, Jan 15

Modern Art and Design, Jan 29

Capes Dunn The Auction Galleries, 40 Station Road, Heaton, Mersey, Cheshire, SK4 3QT. 0161 273 1911

www.capesdunn.com

Interiors, Vintage and Modern Furniture, Dec 9

Christmas Sale, Dec 10

David Duggleby Auctioneers

The Gallery Saleroom, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, YO11 1XN, 01723 507 111

www.davidduggleby.com

Coins and Banknotes, Dec 11

The Stamp Sale, Dec 11

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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.

Furniture, Rugs and Interiors, Dec 11, Jan 15

Jewellery and Watches, Dec 12, Jan 16

Affordable Art, Dec 12, Jan 16

Antiques and Decorative Objects, Dec 13, Jan 17

Affordable Antiques and Collectors, Dec 13, Jan 17

Militaria, Medals, Weapons & Sporting Guns, Jan 30

Duggleby Stephenson

The Saleroom, York Auction Centre, Murton, York, YO19 5GF,01904 393 300 www.dugglebystephenson.com

Maps, Antiquarian Books and Ephemera, Dec 4

Jewellery and Watches, Dec 5, Jan 9

The Country House Sale, Dec 6

Antiques and Decorative Objects, Jan 9

Affordable Antiques and Collectors, Jan 9

Fine and Affordable Art, Jan 10

Furniture, Rugs and Interiors, Jan 10

Elstob Ripon Business Park, Charter Road, Ripon, North Yorkshire HG4 1AJ, 01677 333003. www.elstob.co.uk Fine Art and Antiques, Dec 11

Ryedale Auctioneers

Cooks Yard, New Rd, Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, YO62 6DZ, 01751 431 544 www.ryedaleauctioneers.com

Antiques, Interiors and Collectables, Dec 5-6 Country House Sale including Mouseman and Yorkshire Oak, Dec 13

Sheffield Auction Gallery

Windsor Road, Heeley, Sheffield, S8 8UB, 0114 281 6161 www.sheffieldauctiongallery.com

Silver Jewellery and Watches, Dec 12

Medals and Militaria, Dec 12

Antique Fine Art and Collectables Auctions, Dec 13

The Rails of Hattons Archive Sale, Auction No. 4, Jan 3

Specialist Toys, Jan 16

Tennants Auctioneers

The Auction Centre, Harmby

Road, Leyburn, North Yorkshire, DL8 5SG, 01969 623780

Fine Wine and Whisky, Dec 4

Toys and Models, Sporting and Fishing, Dec 6

Militaria and Ethnographica, Dec 11

Antiques and Interiors, to include a Section of Watches and Silver, Dec 13

Thompson Roddick Callan

The Auction Centre, Marconi Road, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA2 7NA 01228 535 288 www.thomsonroddick.com

Carlisle Collector’s Music and Vinyl Records to include Militaria, Vintage Toys, Model Railways, Gold Coins and World Currency, Scientific Instruments, and Music Memorabilia, Dec 10

Wilson55 Victoria Gallery, Market St, Nantwich, Cheshire CW5 5DG 01270 623 878 www.wilson55.com

Modern Art and Design, Dec 4

Northern Art, Dec 5

SCOTLAND

Bonhams 22 Queen St, Edinburgh, EH2 1JX, 0131 225 2266 www.bonhams.com

Whisky (Online) ends Dec 5

Winter Home and Interiors (Online) Dec 9-17

Lyon & Turnbull 33 Broughton Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3RR, 0131 557 8844 www.lyonandturnbull.com

Jewellery, Dec 4

Watches, Dec 4

Scottish Paintings and Sculpture, Dec 5

Islamic and Indian Art, Dec 11

The Ski Sale, Jan 21

Contemporary Art, Jan 22

McTears Auctioneers

31 Meiklewood Road, Glasgow, G51 4GB, 0141 810 2880 www.mctears.co.uk

Whisky, Dec 4, Jan 29

The Scottish Contemporary Art Auction, Dec 5

Toys, Models and Pop Culture, Dec 11

British and International Pictures, Dec 11

Clocks, Musical and Scientific Instruments, Dec 12

Grand Interiors, Furniture and Works of Art, Dec 12

Sporting Medals and Trophies, Dec 12

Antiques and Interiors, Jan 9, 23

Coins and Banknotes, Jan 22

Jewellery, Jan 22

Watches, Jan 22

The Scottish Contemporary Art Auction, Jan 30

Thomson Roddick Callan

The Auction Centre, 118 Carnethie Street, Edinburgh, EH24 9AL 0131 440 2448

www.thompsonroddick.com

Home Furnishings and Interiors, Jan 9, 23

Thomson Roddick Callan

The Auction Centre, 22 Smith Street, Ayr, KA7 1TF, 01292 267681

www.thompsonroddick.com

Ayr - Interior Sale of Household Furnishings, Dec 12

WALES

Anthemion Auctions, 15 Norwich Road, Cardiff, CF23 9AB, 029 2047 2444 www.anthemionauction.com

Monthly General sale, Ceramics, Glass, Paintings, Furniture, Clocks, Works of Art, Books, Sporting Memorabilia, Dec 11, Jan 29

Jones & Llewelyn Unit B, Beechwood Trading Estate, Carmarthenshire, SA19 7HR,

www.jonesandllewelyn.com

General Sale, Dec 14

Rogers Jones & Co

Colwyn Bay Saleroom, 33 Abergele Road, Colwyn Bay, Conwy, North Wales, LL29 7RU, 01492 532176

www.rogersjones.co.uk

Jewellery, Collectables and Fine Art, Dec 10

Furniture and Interiors, Dec 17

Rogers Jones & Co

17 Llandough Trading Estate, Penarth, Cardiff, CF11 8RR, 02920 708125

www.rogersjones.co.uk

Luxurious Gifts: Jewellery, Watches, Wine, Dec 6

Out of Europe: Asian, Native and World Fine Arts, Dec 10

IRELAND

Adam’s 26, Stephens Green, Dublin 2, D02 X665, Ireland, 00 353 1 6760261

www.adams.ie

Jewellery and Watches, Dec 3

Important Irish Art, Dec 4

Fine Watches, Dec 5

The Jewellery Box, Dec 16

Fonsie Mealy Auctioneers

The Old Cinema, Chatsworth Street, Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny, R95 XV05

00 353 (0)56 4441229 www.fonsiemealy.ie

Christmas Rare Book & Collectors’ Sale, Dec 11-12

Marc My Words

Antiques Roadshow expert Marc Allum looks back on meals of Christmas past including pike and boar

For centuries, food has formed the basis of our Christmas celebrations. When I was a boy, the seasonal round of school-related events took their usual course, including the Christmas school dinner, with large at slices of turkey and ‘plum’ pudding with custard. If you didn’t like custard you’d need an exemption letter from your parents that allowed you to sit on the ‘no custard table’. Yes, this really is true.

Carols at the local church, aptly named St Nicholas, were always a bit of an ordeal with stern teachers patrolling the pews making sure we were singing loudly enough. I was more interested in the architecture of the 14th-century church although I had no idea who Good King Wenceslas was, let alone the fact that Saint Stephen was the rst Christian martyr in 36AD. (I did though applaud the idea of the down-trodden getting a day o with extra rations from their rarely generous masters.)

For me, mangers, angels and donkeys were a much simpler key to the narrative. But whatever the story, my abiding memory is feeling sick after eating far too many sausage rolls, crisps and jellies at the junior school Christmas parties.

Pike and

boar

My parents were young and keen to experiment at Christmas. My mother was rather innovative on the food front, preferring to hark back to historic culinary delicacies such as pike and boar. I loved this, but my Gran didn’t. She would turn up her nose at anything except turkey, and my mother seemed to delight in making her grimace. I think her cavalier approach rubbed o on me. So, when I’m being accused of having a ‘bah humbug’ attitude, what I’m really objecting to is the same festivities every year. Like my mother, I like to shake things up a bit.

Above Not for the Allum household – a Christmas table groaning with food

Below right Marc’s mum preferred the more unusual festive o ering of pike

Of course it is the Saxe-Coburg version of Christmas we celebrate and I love decorating the tree (thanks Prince Albert). Gift giving is also ne. But when it comes to feasting, I prefer to set a table that doesn’t look like the conspicuously consumptive Christmas Lidl advert. e thought of overeating at any time of year makes me feel nauseous, quite possibly a memory of those overindulgent junior school parties. Key for me is using all those epicurean-related things I love and collect.

Crisp 19th-century damask, Georgian cut glass that shimmers in the candlelight, tazzas with candied fruits, antique cutlery and complete 19th-century dinner services that would otherwise never see the light of day. If this all sounds a little bit over the top, it really isn’t. Antiques are good value and dressing your Christmas table in style is eminently a ordable. For me, Christmas should be a visual feast as well as a culinary one. What better, then, than a special bottle of Madeira served from a Regency decanter. Wishing you all a merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Marc Allum is an author, lecturer and specialist on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow. For more details go to www.marcallum.co.uk

‘My mother was rather innovative on the food front, preferring to hark back to historic culinary delicacies such as pike and boar. I loved this, but my Gran didn’t. She would turn up her nose at anything except turkey, and my mother seemed to delight in making her grimace. I think her cavalier approach rubbed off on me’

Alfies, a sprawling cluster of Victorian and Art Deco buildings in Marylebone, is London’s biggest and most established antique and vintage market. Over the last 48 years, its 80 specialist dealers have built up a vast clientele of regular collectors and customers from around the world.