Antique Collecting November 2024

Chinese Porcelain

Welcome

Good news this month for anyone who, like me, is regularly castigated for endlessly buying “stu ”. What our living companions fail to realise, is this never-ending supply of treasures represents beauty, style and, dare we say it, connoisseurship. So when the magazine Country Living recommended we all embrace “English Eccentric”, it was one-nil to the collectors.

For those who haven’t heard of the trend, it is : “Exuberant and theatrical, mixing contrasting patterns, displaying quirky collectables and inherited furniture alongside fairground prizes and patriotic memorabilia without worrying that it “doesn’t go”.’ And there I quote. (Iam choosing to ignore the bit about careful curation to avoid total confusion.) So it’s o cial. Minimalism is dead and buried, long live random.

Which is grist to the mill for us, dear reader. On page 12 we discover a set of Victorian marbles that sold for £7,000 and a copy of e Beano which fetched £26,000. Do we need them? No. Do we love them? Yes.

Of course when it comesto Asian art it’s not just case of grabbing what we like, but engaging the noggin in a way that is beyond most of us...the dynasties, thereigns, the hallmarks, the fakes... it’s a discipline that can take a lifetime to master.

With Asian Art in London launching this month (with the majority of events taking place in November) we take a deep dive into one of the best-loved elements of the genre: blue and white porcelain. While the style isubiquitous at every antiques fair in the land, the truly collectable Chinese pieces date to the Yuan dynasty and early Ming. And while these beauties are beyond the purse of all but the most well-heeled, there are some eras that are more a ordable; see page 18 for more details.

On page 26, John Rogers tackles the perplexing area of Chinese export silver which, thanks to new research, is back in the spotlight. For years collectors took the retailer’s mark (in Latin) for themaker’s mark. New knowledge of the artisans who made the pieces (and their marks) makes it an intriguing area of collecting.

So whether your obsession is Chinese porcelain, Victorian marbles or old comics, hold your head up high. You are among friends. Enjoy the issue

Georgina Wroe, Editor

KEEP IN TOUCH

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

SANDRA RODRIGUEZ DE PAULA

A day in the life of the fine art conservator, page 8

DAVID HARVEY

Our English antiques expert opens the doors on a statuesque Georgian bookcase, page 16

JOHN ROGERS

Reveals the secrets of Chinese export silver and why it is in the ascendancy, page 26 is Émile Gallé cameo vase, c. 1925 which has an estimate of £4,000- £6,000 at Auctioneer’sTennants sale on October 5

IRITA MARRIOTT

Is dumbfounded when she comes across museum-quality photos on a wall in Leighton Buzzard, page 66

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

Autumn Auctions

Preview of Roseberys’ forthcoming auction calendar

Fine & Decorative

Wednesday 2 October

Chinese, Japanese & South East Asian Art

Wednesday 6 & Thursday 7 November

Antiquities, Islamic & Indian Arts

Friday 25 October

Design

Wednesday 13 November

An Important UK Private Collection of Chinese Art

Tuesday 29 October

Old Master, British & European Pictures

Wednesday 20 November

REGULARS

3 Editor’s Welcome: Georgina Wroe introduces the October issue with Asian art among its themes

6 Antiques News: We delve into what is going on in the world of antiques and ne art, and share details of three exhibitions well worth a visit this month

10 Your Letters: Churchillian memorabilia continues to excite readers and there is news of the maker of one subscriber’s WWII Victory bell

12 Around the Houses: A rare UK cigarette card lights up a , while Virginia Woolf ’s side table sells well in London

A Chinese baluster vase, Kangxi period, 55cm high. It has an estimate of £20,000-£30,000 at Roseberys’ two-day sale of Chinese, Japanese and South East Asian Art on November 6-7

Waxing Lyrical: English antiques expert David Harvey opens the doors on a statuesque Georgian bookcase

Saleroom Spotlight: New research is putting Chinese export silver in focus like never before. John Rogers goes behind the scenes at sale of 125 pieces

Subscription O er: Save more than a third on the annual RRP and you, or a friend receives a free gift

In the Knowles: Antiques expert Eric Knowles is as pleased as punch when a lifetime collection of Sta ordshire gures hits the heights in Derbyshire

Puzzle Pages: Be put through your paces by our resident quizand crossword editor Wade-Wright

Lots to Talk About: Catherine Southon is enchanted by the designs of the mid 19th-century fashion illustrator Charles Pillate and his watercolours of opulent Second Empire fashion

44 Top of the Lots: A preview of some of the lots going under the hammer in October ranging from 13th-century limestone lions to a collection of watercolours

49 Fairs News: After the summer lull, antique fairs are back in force. We look at four of the best taking place this month

56 Book O ers: Subscribers are entitled to a discount of more than a third on a range of titles from our sister publisher, ACC Art Books. Make the most of it this month

WEEKDAYS

58 Auction Calendar: Our up-to-date listings from all the leading UK salerooms for the month of October

64 Fairs Calendar: Never miss another event with our country-wide diary of the best of the bunch

66 Lots of Love: Irita Marriott stands in for Marc Allum to round o this month’s issue

FEATURES

18 True Blue: Blue and white Chinese porcelain has been beloved by collectors for centuries. On the eve of an exhibition showcasing rare Yuan and Ming pieces, Antique Collecting considers its enduring appeal

28 Three’s a Crowd: Once the 20th-century artist Charles Mahoney was seen as talented as his famous contemporaries Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious. A new exhibition may see him emerge from the shadows. Paul Liss reports

38 French Connection: ink mid-century furniture is purely a Scandi a air? Antique Collecting previews nine French designers who should be on every collector’s radar

46 Studio Lights: From humble tableware to decorative vases worth thousands, there is something for everyone with British Studio pottery

46 Ringing the Changes: A collection of rings representing 2,000 years of history goes on show this month. From fede rings to momento mori designs, we put the best in the spotlight

WHAT’S ON IN OCTOBER

A NTIQUE news

Constable’s e Hay Wain is the focus of a new exhibition this month, while an online resource for collectors is revealed

PARR OUT

Commuters at Waterloo Station almost lost their heads when they were confronted by six women in Tudor dress this summer. The regal sight was to bring attention to the National Portrait Gallery’s exhibition Six Lives: The Stories of Henry VIII’s Queens which ended last month. The queens then made their way from the station to the gallery to reunite with their 16th-century portraits. Exhibition curator Dr Charlotte Bolland, said: “Often reduced to the rhyme ‘Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived, the exhibition wanted to restore the queens’ individuality.”

Close call

Fundraising continues to raise £7m to preserve 30 medieval houses and building part of the most continuously occupied medieval street in Europe.

First built over 600 years ago, the Vicars’ Close in Wells, Somerset, has housed generations of singers as part of the world-famous Vicars’ Choral.

Despite a £4.4m boost from e National Lottery Heritage Fund more money is needed for critical conservation works. e houses are arranged in two terraces and face each other, with distinctive octagonal ashlar chimneys set on the front eaves of the wall.

Free to view

Collectors of fine English furniture now have a terrific free resource at their fingertips after one of the UK’s leading dealers put its exhibition catalogues online.

Above More money is required to preserve the Vicars’ Close in Somerset

Right Pages from WR Harvey’s 2008 catalogue

Below left e women were dressed as the six wives of Henry VIII

Below right Ceramic cremation vessel decorated with a gladiator ght between a secutor and retiarius, Colchester, 2nd century AD, © Colchester and Ipswich Museum Service

WR Harvey, owned by Antique Collecting columnist David Harvey, has digitalised decades of research and expertise dating back to its first exhibition in 1978.

The online resource joins more 60 video masterclasses by David which are available at www.wrharvey.com, with the catalogues available at www.archives.wrharvey.com

GLADIATORS READY

The overlooked history of gladiatorial contests in Roman Britain is explored in a new touring exhibition opening next year. During almost four centuries of Roman occupation, as well as numerous cultural and civic advancements, Britons were introduced to armed combat as a public spectacle. One highlight – the Colchester Vase – shows the battle between two reallife gladiators in Colchester: Memnon, a secutor, and his retiarius opponent, Valentinus.

After opening at Dorset Museum and Art Gallery in January, Gladiators of Britain will travel to Northampton, Chester and Carlisle.

1Carry on Constable

John Constable’s (1776–1837) masterpiece e Hay Wain is the focus of a new exhibition opening at the National Portrait Gallery in London this month.

Seen as almost ‘chocolate box’ today, when e Hay Wain was painted in 1821 it was viewed as radical. At the time, not only were landscapes considered inferior to historic subjects,it was the result of several preliminary sketches, created en plein air – a revolutionary approach for the period.

e use of green (as opposed to traditional brown) to show foliage was also innovative, as was the precise – almost scienti c – depiction of cloud formations. Discover Constable and e Hay Wain can be seen from October 17 to February 2.

3 High lights

e highs and lows of intoxicants taken in some form by every culture ever known is explored in a new programme of exhibitions titled Why Do We Take Drugs? at the Sainsbury Centre, part of the University of East Anglia in Norwich.

e rst exhibition Power Plants: Intoxicants, Stimulants and Narcotics, on until next February, considers the psychoactive properties of plants as an integral part of social, ceremonial and religious life. Running alongside it Ayahuasca and Art of the Amazon explores the impact of the mind-altering, psychotropic vine – ayahuasca – within Western Amazonian social life.

Left Constable’s sketchbook, © V&A Images / Victoria and Albert Museum, London

Below left A palette owned by John Constable, © Royal Academy of Arts, London

Right Jan Siberechts (1627-1703) View of a House and its Estate in Belsize, Middlesex, 1696. Taten

Below right Unknown artist, Wellclose Square, Stepney, c.1845, © London Metropolitan Archives (City of London)

2 Capital a air

to see in October 3

Left John Constable (1776–1837) e Hay Wain, 1821, oil on canvas, © e National Gallery

Right Giovanni Canaletto (1697-1768) Old Somerset House from the River ames, c.1750. Lent from a private collection

Below far right Richard Evans Schultes (19152001) Cano Guacaya, Miritiparana, Richard Evans Schultes, courtesy of Govinda Gallery

Below right for snu or medicine, late 19th century, Makonde, Tanzania, Sainsbury Centre, UEA

Bottom right 19th century, Kongo or Yombe, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sainsbury Centre, UEA

London’s lost gardens are the subject of an exhibition opening this month at the Garden Museum in Southwark. ousands of gardens have vanished across London over the past 500 years – ranging from princely pleasure grounds to eccentric private.

Highlights includes Canaletto’s 1750 painting of Somerset House, which, at the time, boasted a public garden “suitable to a Royal Palace”.

Meanwhile A View of a House and its Estate in Belsize, Middlesex (1696) by the Antwerp painter Jan Siberechts is so old it shows Westminster Abbey in the distance.

Lost Gardens of London opens on October 23.

What a gem

A 2,492-carat diamond found in Botswana –the second largest ever discovered – is likely to sell for tens of millions of pounds, although its exact valuation may take months.

The gem is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found.

The largest gemquality diamond ever discovered was the 3,106 carat Cullinan diamond, mined in South Africa in 1905 and later given to Edward VII.The latest discovery will likely be sold and cut into smaller gems and become part of the collection of a luxury brand, in line wih Lucara’s previous two large finds.

DRAWING BOARD

A drawing school founded by King Charles, which celebrates its 25th anniversary next year, is to showcase the work of more than 30 of its students.

Work by 31 postgraduates of the Royal Drawing School, will be on show at an exhibition from December 5-20, at its Shoreditch studio.

e school was founded in 2000 by the then Prince of Wales, a devotee of drawing, and artist Catherine Goodman. In a foreword to one of its publications he wrote: “It is my rm belief that drawing is one of the most direct ways of engaging with the world and that using the most limited of means can lead to the most beautiful results.”

Southon comfort

After more than a decade working between two consignment offices and a saleroom in the South East, auctioneer Catherine Southon has opened a new headquarters in Chislehurst in Kent. The new office at Kingsley House, overlooking the town’s famous pond, will hold its first auction on October 16.

Catherine said: “The new premises will see all our operations under one roof. We can consign items, meet our experts and present live auctions all in one place.”

Below Catherine Southon has opened a new all-in-one o ce in Chislehurst

Down the tubes

Sandra Rodriguez de Paula, the new owner of the Eton-based fine art conservation business, Manley

30 seconds with...

How did the business start? It was founded in Windsor by John Manley in 1891. His skills as an art restorer and frame maker were quickly recognised by Edward VII who awarded the firm its first royal warrant. The business remained family-run and in

A new tour of Clapham South underground station, one of the eight deep-level shelters built in London during WWII, opens this month. e shelter, designed to house 8,000 people, consists of two 400-metre long tunnels housing hundreds of three-tier bunks. By the time the deep-level shelters were nished in 1942 the Blitz had ended, but ve, including Clapham South, were opened from 19441945 during the V1 and V2 rocket attacks. After the war the shelter, called the ‘Penny Hotel’ was used at a cheap lodgings for visitors to London.

left Clapham South Hidden London Tour, © London Transport Museum

Left Sections were named after an admiral or naval gure, © London Transport Museum

Windsor until 1964, when the company was moved to its present location in Eton.

Tell us about some of your clients They vary from international collectors to royal households. Some interesting recent projects include works by Sir Thomas Lawrence and Ethel Mortlock for the Household Cavalry; a wonderful painting of Queen Charlotte by Allan Ramsay; and two delightful miniature paintings by Sir Edward Landseer.

What advice have you for collectors? Timeliness is key and delaying a treatment

can not only lead to further deterioration but increase treatment costs substantially, eventually also impacting the overall value of the object.

As soon as you observe damage, take photographs and contact an expert conservator for advice. Remember to ask questions about potential future problems and the methods used to treat them. This can help not only identify further issues but also support subsequent restorations.

For more details on the company and its work go to www.manleyrestoration.com

Above The diamond was discovered by the company Lucara using X-ray technology, photo Lucara Diamond

Above

Above Phoebe Howard at the Royal Drawing School, photo by Angela Moore

Full Pack

e international courier service Pack & Send has been awarded ‘approved service provider’ status by antique dealers’ association LAPADA, in time for its prestigious annual fair later this month.

e new certi cation means the company has met the association’s stringent code of conduct for packing and shipping artworks and antiques. e global courier, which specialises in fragile, large, awkward and valuable items, has shipped artworks by some of the world’s most famous artists, including Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol and Tracey Emin.

Above Pack & Send, noted for its transport of antiques, has been recognised by LAPADA

CHURCH CALL

With Sir Christopher Wren’s (1632-1723) churches as its magni cent backdrop, a new two-week festival celebrating music and culture launches in London this month.

e City Festival of Music, Invention and Knowledge starts on October 10, with churches taking part includng St Maryle-Bow, St Lawrence Jewry, St James Garlickhythe and St Margaret Pattens.

Each was rebuilt by Wren after the Great Fire. Some events are free but need to be booked. For more details of all the events go to www.musicino ces.com

St

Livery and kicking

A limited-edition set of chinaware based on royal livery past and present has been launched by the Royal Collection Trust.

e set, in an edition of 1,000, takes its inspiration from the scarlet, black and gold uniforms worn at royal events by State Coachmen and the guards of the Household Regiments.

e livery is available for public display at the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace. e oldest livery on show, made to commemorate the end of WWI, bears a strong resemblance to the striped rim of the plates.

e new range can be purchased online from www.rct.uk/shop.com or from the Royal Collection Trust’s shops in London, Windsor and Edinburgh.

Top right New CIIIR Livery hangs in the Royal Mews,

Above right e new livery collection of ne bone china

BEETLE MANIA

A dress decorated in more than 1,000 beetle wings, worn by Ellen Terry (1847–1928) as Lady Macbeth and immortalised in a painting by John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) has gone on show at the actress’s former Kent home.

Workers’ rights

Terry played the role in Henry Irving’s production at the London Lyceum in 1888. Sargent so admired her performance and costume he convinced her to pose for him. The gown was designed by Alice Comyns Carr (1850–1927) and made in green wool and blue tinsel yarn to create an effect similar to chain mail.

The famous production ran for more than six months in the UK and US. Dressing Lady Macbeth runs until November 3 at Terry’s home, Smallhythe Place near Tenterden where she lived from 1899 until her death.

Above left Conservator Terri Dewhurst with the Beetlewing dress, credit National Trust Images, Cassie Dickson

Above John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) painted Terry in the iconic role, image public domain

e Wellcome Collection in London has launched an exhibition exploring the impact of physical work on health and the body.

Hard Graft, on until next April, features more than 150 objects, with artworks from Brazil, Bangladesh, Trinidad and Sudan, some re ecting the power of workers’ action to bring changes to their working conditions. Objects from Wellcome’s own collection include Street Life in London (1877), by John omson and Adolphe Smith, a collection of photographs that brought public attention to

the precarious labour conditions of workingclass Londoners.

Above Sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee, 1968, © Dr Ernest C. Withers, Sr. (1922-2007)

Below

Margaret Pattens church on Eastcheap hosts a concert by Guildhall School of Music and Drama on October 15

Your Let ters

Last month’s letter about a WWII bell chimes with one reader, while another subscriber praises the Hard Rock Café’s employment policy

I loved the section on Churchill collectables (Broad Churchill, August issue). I have nine pieces: a complete collection of three di erent sizes of Doulton Toby jugs, a bronze statue, a face pot, other jugs and several cigar ashtrays with Churchill wearing his Homberg, plus, of course, a £5 note. ey all live in a corner cabinet next to pieces of Irish and English glass in our dining/ sitting room at the front of the house. I also have his WWII books in a mahogany bookcase from Jarrolds Department Store in Norwich. I used to work for the US Air Force who were very good at transporting my household goods across the Atlantic. I’m still using a leather pou e to put my feet on when I watch the TV that we got in Norwich in 1972.

Barry Anderson, Las Vegas, 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

With reference to last month’s letter from Donald Your Letters, September issue) concerning the RAF Benevolent Fund Victory Bell. ese bells were designed by my great uncle, Conrad Parlanti. Conrad was the eldest child of Ercole James Parlanti, and worked in his father’s foundry in Fulham from an early age. His knowledge of casting was immense, from lost wax castings through to castings for aircraft, and he was even a consultant to NASA at one stage.

Star letter

Catherine Southon mentioning of the Hard Rock Café in last month’s magazine (Lots to Talk About, September magazine) reminded me of a story passed down from my grandmother. In the early ‘70s she was a mother of two teenagers living in Battersea and in need of a job when she saw an advert in the Evening Standard reading: ‘Older women wanted — late 30s, 40s and 50s’. While you couldn’t get away with it today, the owners of the about-to-open Hard Rock Café, which was modelled on an American diner, wanted older waitresses to make it look more authentic. While she didn’t get the job, she loved the restaurant. Alison Brown, by email

Top right e Victory bell was designed by Conrad Parlanti

Above left Churchill bust cigarette lighter of Winston S. Churchill, 1941, image courtesy of Peter Harrington

Left e rst Hard Rock Cafe opened in 1971 at 150 Old Park Lane

Below Answer to Q9 of the quiz: e National Milk Publicity Council was founded in 1920 to promote the widespread consumption of milk in the UK, stressing its health bene ts

ere are a number of versions of this bell, and varying quality casts ranging from crisp right down to truly awful! Conrad later made a mould for some larger bells of the same design and invited as many as possible of the Battle of Britain boys to come to the foundry and cast a bell. ese larger bells were auctioned o at the Hungaria restaurant in London by Flanagan and Allen to famous people attending the gala. One bell sold for £1,200.

e prototype bell was cast with an open handle, but the cost was too expensive. At least one of the open handled bells was cast, as my uncle owned one. Sadly, this has long since disappeared.

Should any of your readers ever come across one, then I would be delighted to hear about it.

More information about the thought process behind Conrad’s bells is on my website, the address of which is www.parlantibronzefoundries.co.uk, look under the page for Conrad.

Steve Parlanti, Eastbourne, East Sussex

Answers to the quiz on page 36.

Q1 (c). It claimed there was evidence that bleaching caused it to rot faster. Q2 (b). It refers to The eXtraordinary Young Zoologists club of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). There was an earlier XYZ club dealing with left-wing economics. Q3 (a). Q4 (d). Honus did not want to be associated with the ‘weed’ and strenuously complained.

Q5 (b). It just used friction to slow down flow and hence any change in liquid level. Q6 (c). Q7 (a). It was a translucent alabaster. Q8 (d). The cross patonce has the ends of the arms (heads) divided into three, and the moline into two. Q9 (c). They were joined by Susie Sugar, Peter Protein and Violet Vitamin and produced by the National Milk Publicity Council. Q10 (b). It was a wrought-iron pot hook and the use of the word dates from the mid-16th century. It was also associated with fishing and hunting at this time.

Hereto fling cider is an anagram of the artist Frederic Leighton; Ha glean hillmen can be rearranged to make the name of the watercolourist Helen Allingham; Allotment heirs jive can be rearranged to reveal the name John Everett Millais; and Legendary venom is an anagram of Evelyn De Morgan.

16-17

& ONLINE

FEATURING AN AESTHETIC INTERIOR: THE CONTENTS OF A LONDON APARTMENT AND A COLLECTION OF FRENCH GLASS TO INCLUDE ÉMILE GALLÉ, DAUM FRÈRES AND FRANÇOIS-EMILE DÉCORCHEMONT

A ROUND the HOUSES

A cigarette card lights up the saleroom in Berkshire, while Victorian marbles are on a roll in Derbyshire

Hansons, Etwell

A set of 30 Victorian marbles, from one of the best collections in the UK, hammered at £7,000, smashing its £60-£80 guide price 90 times over, at the Derbyshire auction house’s autumn sale.

Dozen of lots from the 425-piece lifetime collection of award-winning British toy designer Patrick Rylands sailed past their estimates at what the auction house described as “one of the most incredible collectors’ auctions ever witnessed”.

e sale attracted 456 bidders from every corner of the globeincluding 29 phone bidders, with the top seller being a 1999 Paul Spooner and Matt Smith Fourteen Balls Toy Co. automaton entitled Anubis, Lord of the Mummy Wrappings. It reached £10,000 from a £600-£800 guide, setting a house record. Marbles from the collection on their own fetched an incredible £56,000. e fth and nal part of the sale is on October 2.

The automaton was the top seller when it sold for £10,000

Bonhams, Sydney

A linocut by the Australian artist Dorrit Black (1891-1951) almost doubled its low estimate when it sold for £56,500 (AU$73,800) in the artist’s home country. It was one of 19 works by artists from the famous Grosvenor School of Modern Art founded in Pimlico, London in 1925. Students from around the world ocked to the school including Australians Ethel Spowers (1890-1947) Eveline Syme (1888-1961) and Black herself. ey were taught by Claude Flight (1881-1955) whose own work expressed simple forms showing speed and movement. e school’s best-known artists were arguably Cyril Edward Power and Sybil Andrews whose work also featured in the sale.

Dorrit Black (1891-1951) The Acrobats, 19271928, sold for £56,500

The marbles rolled past their guide price of £60-£80 to score

£7,000

Chiswick Auctions

A pine side-table thought to have been owned by Bloomsbury favourite Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) made £10,080 at the London auction house, more than ve times its low estimate of £2,000. Beneath the table’s glass top featureda oral embroidery reputedly sewn by the author and based on a design by her sister, Vanessa Bell (1879-1961)

e table came with a pencil sketch of it by Trekkie Ritchie Parsons (1902-1995), the artist who became Leonard Woolf’s lover after his wife Virginia’s suicide.

The pine table was likely on show at Virginia Woolf’s home in Tavistock Square

Arthur Hughes (18321915) Trevose Head, Cornwall, signed and dated 1890

e Canterbury Auction Galleries

e painting of a Cornish beach scene by the pre-Raphaelite artist and book illustrator Arthur Hughes (1832-1915) sold for £4,100, beating its pre-sale guide price of £600-£800 at the Kent auction house’s recent sale. A contemporary of William Holman Hunt, D.G. Rossetti and Ford Madox Brown, Hughes was born in London and entered the School of Design, Somerset House, London in 1846. He spent holidays with his wife and children in Cornwall and many of his best-loved works, such as this one of Trevose Head, featured the county. His later, brightly-coloured landscapes were more loosely painted than those of his Pre-Raphaelite days.

Dore & Rees, Frome

A rare 16th-century Italian majolica charger sold for £9,500 – 15 times its estimate at auction in Somerset.

Made in Deruta, it features the bust of a classical soldier in ornate armour, 16½in (42cm) diameter.

Produced in the Umbrian towns of Deruta and Gubbio, majolica was popular among the Italian elite. is example may have been the work of Nicola Francioli who worked in the town from 1513-1565.

The rare Italian charger is 42cm (16½in) diameter and depicted the bust of a soldier

Toovey’s, Washington

A Macintyre Moorcroft Florian ware two-handled vase, c, 1900-1902, sold for £4,600 at the West Sussex auction house, beating its estimate of £500-£700. Featuring the Peacock blue and green, the vase had William Moorcroft’s hand-painted signature in green with additional factory markings. Moorcroft (1872-1945) rst worked for the commercial pottery and porcelain rm of James Macintyre & Co. in Burslem in his early twenties.

The early Moorcroft vase, in the art nouveau style, stands (20cm) 8in high

Fellows, Birmingham

A 17th-century table clock by the English maker Joseph Knibb (1640–1711) sold for £20,000, more than four times its low estimate of £4,000, at the Midlands auctioneer’s sale on September 4. Known for his advancements in horology, Knibb’s work remains highly sought after, with his clocks often regarded as masterpieces of design and engineering. He remains an outstanding clockmaker in a generation that included such illustrious names as Fromanteel and omas Tompion. is model, with its intricate movement and elegant aesthetic, comes from a golden age of English timekeeping.

Comic Book Auctions, London

The high price achieved proved the resilient market for

A copy of the rst ever issue of e Beano became the most expensive British comic ever sold after it fetched more than £26,000 at auction, beating its guide price of £18,000-£22,000.

e rst edition, issued with a free whoopee mask, was published on July 30, 1938. Only a handful of copies of the 28-page debut issue are thought to exist on the market today.

Published by DC omson & Co. Ltd and priced 2d, the rst issue featured Big Eggo on the cover, with Lord Snooty and his Pals, Morgyn the Mighty, Whoopee Hank and Tin-Can Tommy featuring inside.

It was an immediate success, selling roughly 443,000 copies. e survival of free gifts on the cover can double the price of a comic in today’s condition-obsessed market.

An edition of the first ever The Beano set a British record when it sold for £26,000

fine clocks

AUCTION Sales round-up

The Cong vase is based on earlier neolithic jade designs

Skånes Auktionsverk, Landskrona

A 20th-century porcelain vase, 30cm tall and with minor imperfections, sold for 1m SEK (£74,250) – beating its estimate of 5,000 SEK (£370) at the Swedish auctioneer’s recent sale. It was modelled in the shape of a Cong (pronounced tsong) vase –a jade tube rst made in the neolithic period more than 4,000 years ago.

In the 13th century, Song dynasty (960–1279) emperors revived the tradition of celadon-glazed vases, with the practice again revived in the Qing dynasty (1644–1912). e vase has elephant-head handles suspending xed rings and includes trigrams (ancient Chinese symbols made up of combinations of three whole or broken lines) on its sides.

Loddon Auctions, Reading

A 1912 cigarette card showing the American baseball pitcher Rube Marquard hit a home run when it sold for £12,000 at the Berkshire auction house, beating its guide price of £300-£500. While most UK tobacco companies produced cigarette cards featuring British sports gures, royalty and military heroes, others like Bristol tobacco producer W.D. & H.O. Wills issued cards featuring US sportspeople. It came from the T215 baseball series issued by Wills in 1912 using imagery from the hugely sought-after T206 baseball collection (c.1909-1911) by the American Tobacco Company, issued in both the US and UK. e most expensive card from that series, depicting Honus Wagner (1874-1955), sold for $7.25m in 2022.

A cigarette card lit up the bidding in Reading

The rare card featured an advert for Pirate cigarettes on the reverse

Tennants Auctioneers, Leyburn

An album of early 20th-century photographs of Africa beat its guide price of £200-£400 at the North Yorkshire auction house’s recent sale when it sold for £1,400. e 130 views taken by the Glaswegian photographer David Anderson captured scenes in British Central Africa (Malawi) and Dar-Es-Salam, in Tanzania. Anderson spent most of his life in Africa but died from skin cancer in the Glasgow area in the 1960s. It is believed he is depicted with ri e in one of the photographs in the album.

The album covered scenes from modern-day Malawi and Tanzania

Amersham Auction Rooms

Eight pieces, sold in two lots, each described as “mother-of-pearl collectables” and valued at £40£60, sold for a total of £80,000 after they were discovered to be 16th to 17th-century Indo-Portuguese treasures from Gujarat. As reported in last month’s Antique Collecting, the region on the northwest coast of India, was home to an a uent Portuguese population in the 1500s after Vasco da Gama’s discovery of a sea route to the Indian subcontinent in 1498. It became a hub for trading luxury goods, including mother-ofpearl, which became a favourite among the wealthy elite and popular at the royal courts of France and Henry VIII.

Eight mother-ofpearl pieces sold for a total of £80,000 in Buckinghamshire

The photographer David Anderson may have captured himself in one of the photos

EXPERT COMMENT

Waxing lyrical

A majestic Georgian bookcase and accompanying library steps showcase the ingenuity and skills of the furniture makers of the day, writes antique furniture expert David Harvey

We are forever moving pieces around in my showrooms and sometimes it can cause something of a furniture jam. is was certainly the case recently when I sent a breakfront bookcase to a new home and suddenly stacks of books could be found in every corner. e situation was resolved when a suitable replacement came on show.

At rst I was loath to re ll it with hundreds of weighty tomes that make up my reference library. But then my friend and colleague, Colin, pointed out that one can never sell a bookcase with no books in it.

Once that bookcase is sold the library will again have to be removed and found a new home. Such is the life of an antiques dealer: full of comings and goings.

Secretaire drawer

But what a replacement it was. When I rst saw this wonderful library bookcase, dating to the 1760s, I was smitten by the quality of just about everything.

Its impressive size (the overall height is a fraction over 8ft 7ins (2.6m)) determines it must have been made for an important house. Possibly the owner had just returned from the Grand Tour and was looking for somewhere to house his newly-acquired collection of books and works of art? e bookcase was evidently an expensive piece to make and not something that any cabinetmaker would have had in stock.

e well- tted, high-quality writing drawer would have been costly to make and necessitated a higher waist on the base to allow the owner to sit at it. Consequently, to maintain the correct proportions the whole bookcase had to be tall – involving greater cost for timber and materials.

Ornate handles

e drawer handles are a well-known Chippendaleperiod model, and, indeed, we see several examples of this handle in Dumfries House where Chippendale supplied much of the furniture. Larger, polished brass was commonly used in the 18th century because light was at a premium. Windows were small and lighting was by candle or whale-oil lamp. Households used a lot of mirrors and polished surface and even drawer handles to re ect light.

Above right e secretaire drawer is high enough to allow someone to sit at

it

Right Drawer handles are similar to those used by Chippendale in

‘I was smitten with the quality of just about everything. Its impressive size (the overall height of the bookcase is a fraction over 8ft 7ins (2.6m)) determines it must have been made for an important house’

Dumfries House

An impressive Chippendale-period bookcase is among David’s latest acquisitions

Sliding trays

As evident in the main picture, the central doors open on shelves that can be adjusted di erently on both sides. is would alleviate the problem of a single wide shelf sagging at the centre under the weight of heavy volumes or works of art. e shelves are further supported on slots. e cupboards underneath have sliding trays and, as a further indication of quality, include shaped mahogany upstands at the front, which would have been costlier than a straight shelf.

So there we have it – the owner was able to sit at his secretaire and catalogue all the wonderful artefacts he had acquired, no doubt impressing his peer group with his knowledge and the erudition of his range of items. But how would he have accessed these treasures?

Metamorphic library steps

No wealthy Georgian library would be complete without a means of reaching those high shelves. e ingenuity of cabinetmakers of the day is well recorded and metamorphic furniture has a very special place in the history of English furniture making.

If there was a need, you can guarantee that need would be met. So, when ordering your breakfront bookcase you would no doubt also commission someone like Meschain and Hervé to provide you with a table which metamorphosed into a set of library steps (below).

As an alternative one could commission a stool like this one on the right, which also converted to steps to reach high places.

Left ese slides include shaped mahogany upstands at the front

Right e bookcase design features in Chippendale’s e Gentleman & CabinetMaker’s Director, third edition, 1762

Below right e name Meschain and Hervé appears on several metamorphic pieces converting to library steps in the 1770s

Below left Folding library steps were an essential part of the Georgian library

Chippendale influence

The 13-pane astragal glazing of the bookcase’s upper section is taken directly from Thomas Chippendale’s The Gentleman & Cabinet-Maker’s Director, third edition, 1762. A year earlier, the Otley-born furniture maker issued a first version of 161 engraved illustrations, with this edition expanded to 200. In addition to bookcases, chairs, tables and cabinets, Chippendale added clock cases, pier glasses (mirrors), girandoles (candle holders), picture frames, stove grates, borders for paper hangings and designs for brass handles and escutcheons to adorn furniture.

Meschain and Hervé

Francois Hervé was a Frenchman living and working in London during the last quarter of the 18th century.

He appears to have been in partnership with another Frenchman, a cabinet and chair maker by the name of John Meschain who supplied a set of chairs to Shelburne House in 1769. His premises, at 32 John Street, were taken over by Hervé in 1781.

ey appeared to have worked together during the 1770s as several sets of folding library steps inscribed with their names either on wooden or brass plaques exist. Hervé worked for a number of fashionable patrons. ese included the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Bedford, Earl Spencer and the Duke of Devonshire. Indeed, he even supplied several suites of furniture for Chatsworth.

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

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Blue and white porcelain

Chinese supremacy

How did the Ming era makers hone their skills? Blue white porcelain traces its origins back to the ndynasty (1271–1368) and even earlier, when Chinese potters refined an under-the-glaze of cobalt imported from Central Asia, revolutionising elain production.

It was to be hundreds of years before the secret was discovered in the West with the short-lived Medici factory in Italy in the last quarter of the 16th century; and not until the 18th century that true hard-paste porcelain was produced.

In China, o cial blue and white wares were commissioned exclusively by the imperial palace and government and produced in the town of Jingdezhen, the only centre which made porcelain during the Yuan dynasty.

Collectable eras

Few 15th-century Ming pieces exist outside museums or the nest private collections. Generally speaking, collectable blue and white begins with the Wanli reign (1572-1620) and the 60 or so turbulent arsat the end of the Ming dynasty, before the start of Qing dynasty and the reign of the Manchus. These xdecades are generally referred to as the Transitional period when dealing with Chinese porcelain.

True Blue

An exhibition opening this month shines a light on early Ming porcelain. Antique Collecting considers the golden age of blue and white Chinese designs

To Del Boy, a Ming vase represented one of antique’s holy grails, a catch-all word signifying both eastern mystery and expense. But the long era (from 1368-1644) spawned a number of periods and styles some of which are more a ordable than some collectors, and certainly Del Boy, might realise. For collectors, the 15th century was the golden age of Chinese blue and white porcelain with the highest forms of Ming porcelain from the reigns of Yongle (1403-1424) and Xuande (1426-1435).

is month collectors will have the rare chance to view seven museum-quality blue and white pieces, including a cup, ve dishes and a guan jar at an exhibition at the London ancient Chinese and Oriental art dealer, Eskenazi. At the time in the UK only a few pieces of this Chinese porcelain found its way to England (Henry VIII’s inventory contained four pieces). It was a rare and special treasure, transforming dull wooden or pewter table ware in royal courts and the nest houses. For protection and to add to its beauty, English silversmiths were often commissioned to make mounts for it.

Above blue porcelain dish with painted and moulded decoration, Yuan dynasty, c. 1325-1352, diameter 46.7cm, on show at this month’s exhibition. Image courtesy of Eskenazi

Above right Underglaze blue porcelain cup, Ming dynasty, Yongle period (1403-1424), diameter 9.1cm, on show at this month’s exhibition. Image courtesy of Eskenazi

sometimes by sea around the Cape of Good Hope. As it was very rare and considered a special treasure, it was regarded as suitable for royal gifts’

e turmoil associated with the dynastic change meant that imperial orders were halted at Jingdezhen.

In the ve decades from 1620 between the end of the Ming and start of the Qing dynasties with no government o cials to limit their output, there was a ourishing of new forms and patterns which was to revolutionise Chinese ceramics.

With no imperial kilns, there was also no longer a distinction between imperial and commercial production and restrictions on what could, or could not be made.

New markets

As demand from the court lessened, potters had to look for a new clientele – these took the form of, rstly, the Portuguese, the rst Europeans to establish trade relations with China; then the Dutch who ousted the former in the early 17th century, and, nally, the English, who, in turn, had driven out the Dutch by the 18th century.

Underglaze blue porcelain ‘pomegranate’ dish, Ming dynasty, it bears the mark of the emperor Xuande (14261435) and was produced at the Jingdezhen kilns for the imperial court, diameter 30cm, on show at this month’s exhibition. Image courtesy of Eskenazi

Above right Underglaze blue porcelain ‘three friends of winter’ dish, Yongle period (14031424), diameter 32cm, on show at this month’s exhibition. Image courtesy of Eskenazi

Below left Ewer from Burghley House,

in Chinesedecorative arts.

The bamboo was valued for its endurance and ability to bend but not break; while the pine, another evergreen, was seen as a symbol of fortitude. The plum, as one of the earliest flowering trees, was also associated with resilience and rejuvenation.

Together, the three symbolise fortitude and determination and, by extension, the ideal qualities of a Confucian scholar-gentleman.

is gave rise to two distinctive new artistic styles – the rst began in the period of the Wanli Emperor (1572-1620) and continued unchanged into the second half of the 17th century, producing what is known in the West as kraak.

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Blue and white porcelain

Kraak ware Kraak porcelain, made to satisfy the growing demand for blue and white porcelain in Europe, was also manufactured at the famed Jingdezhen kilns.

It was started to be made (in its millions) during the reign of the Wanli, who greatly admired 15th-century blue and white works from his predecessors’ reigns.

While competing theories exist for the name, it is thought to come from the word carraca, a type of 16th and 17th-century galleon that carried so much blue and white from China to Europe.

Others believe it comes from kraken, meaning easily crackable (the Japanese word for kraak mushi hui means insect-nibbled, referring to the frequent chipping found on the rims of atware due to the brittleness of the glaze.)

Right Underglaze blue porcelain ‘grape’ dish, Ming dynasty, Yongle period (1403-1424), diameter 37.8cm, on show at this month’s exhibition. Image courtesy of Eskenazi

Below left Chongzhen period (1627–1644), kraak ware bowl decorated with owers and beast faces, porcelain with underglaze cobalt-blue design, image courtesy of Metropolitan Museum of Art, not on show in London

Bottom left A Chinese porcelain kraak blue and white ‘grasshopper’ bowl, mid 17th century, it sold for £260 at Roseberys

Bottom right Blue and white plate, porcelain, Wanli period (1572-1620), diameter 20cm, image courtesy of Metropolitan Museum of Art, not on show in London

the European market, as Western cutlery, when used for soups or stews, would be more likely to chip its high-sided Chinese counterpart.

Kraak’s main decorative feature is a radial panel decoration around a central design. Many of the motifs were connected with Taoism, the native Chinese philosophy aimed at achieving harmony between man and nature with ora and fauna most dominant.

e former consists mainly of owers representing the four seasons: the peony for spring; the lotus for summer; the chrysanthemum for autumn and the plum for winter.

Deer also play an important role as, like the peach and pomegranate, they were associated with long life.

Butter ies and cranes also symbolise long life, while ducks and geese stand for domestic bliss. Kraak porcelain, not made for imperial use, does not bear a genuine reign mark. Many pieces carry no mark at all but, those that do, may take the form of a crane

Transitional ware

Compared to kraak wares, Transitional porcelain is, on the whole, thicker, heavier and better potted. Although it varies in quality, the best attains to a very high standard. Nearly all Transitional vessels have a wide mouth often coated with a brown dressing to stop chipping. e blue pigment of the best pieces has a purplish tinge described as “violets in milk” this may have been due to the drying up of access to foreign cobalt oxide, causing potters to look to native supplies.

In terms of decoration, the period saw the development of the story told in pictures, with motifs borrowed from Chinese woodcuts illustrating Chinese dramas, myths and novels. Landscape also started to take centre stage, including bushes with pine-like foliage, acacias, maple-like trees and banana leaves. Another popular theme was the weeping willow and grass portrayed by v-shaped strokes.

e period also saw the appearance of the tulip –most often on the upper part of vases or on the rims of dishes and plates. Not native to China, the ower would have been introduced to the Chinese potters by the Dutch East India Company at a time when Holland was in the throes of Tulipmania.

European appetite

An estimated six million Chinese ceramics were imported to Europe when the Dutch took over trade with China. Indication of the demand and importance of

Above right Mid 14thcentury plate with sh, porcelain painted with cobalt blue, showing the ‘heaped and piled’ e ect, image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, not on show in London

Below left Small stemcup, second half of the 17th century, porcelain painted in underglaze blue, image courtesy of Metropolitan Museum of Art, not on

THE BLUE AND WHITE TECHNIQUE

To make the iconic porcelain, potters mixed water with ground cobalt, using a brush to apply it to the pottery body before applying a protective glaze and subsequent firing.

Cobalt oxide can withstand high-temperature firing (essential for the kaolin-based ceramics found in China). The Samarra blue (sumali qing) or Sumatra blue (suboni qing) cobalt used for Yuan (early Ming) wares was rich in iron, which yielded a glaze with darker blue spots.

This led to a phenomenon known as the ‘heaped and piled’ effect which was, essentially, an accident of the firing. If the cobalt was applied too thickly to the paste before firing it would, in the process of heating in the kiln, rise to the surface in slightly uneven blobs, forming dark though attractive areas to the design.

This effect disappeared in the early 15th century, when potters further mastered the use of this pigment.

Later imitations from the Qianlong period (1736-1795) attempted to recreate the look by laying distinct dots under the glaze to reproduce the phenomenon. Unfortunately, this often gives the design an idiosyncratic ‘join-the-dots’ effect and a clear sign of a later work.

‘If the cobalt was applied too thickly to the paste before firing it would, in the process of heating in the kiln, rise to the surface in slightly uneven blobs, forming dark though attractive areas to the design’

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Blue and white porcelain

kraak porcelain in Europe during the 17th century can be seen by its frequent use in still life and genre paintings of the Dutch Golden Age, demonstrating the wealthy status of the porcelain’s owner and adding a fashionable edge to the painting.

Given its immense popularity in Europe and the Middle Eastern market, kraak ware was widely imitated, most notably in Arita ware porcelain from Japan, and the ne ceramics of the Safavid dynasty in Persia. ese markets would continue to supply Western demand following the collapse of the Ming Dynasty in 1644. Enterprising Dutch manufacturers then began reproducing Chinese kraak designs at the nearby Delft potteries, dominating the European market until Chinese porcelain became available again in the early 1700s.

The Hatcher cargo

The Hatcher cargo was recovered from the wreck of a Chinese junk in the South China sea port of Batavia (today Jakarta) by Captain Michael Hatcher in 1983, who recovered 25,000 pieces of unbroken porcelain kraak and Transitional porcelain from the 1640s.

The famous cargo was sold in four sales at Christie’s Amsterdam in 1984 and 1985.

Two jar covers were dated by an inscription to 1643. By 1646, the Manchus were preventing the free movement of trade and shipments out of Jingdezhen so the likely date of the wreck is between 1643-1646, allowing collectors a valuable insight into Transitional ware of the 1640s. Other wares included vessels decorated in a distinctive landscape style, as well as dishes painted with scenes from printed sources.

Above left Willem Kalf (1619–1693) Still-Life with an Aquamanile, Fruit, and a Nautilus Cup, c.1660, public domain

Above Willem Kalf (1619–1693) Still Life with Fruit, Glassware, and a Wanli Bowl, 1659, public domain

Above right Dish with owers and birds Dutch, Delft, c. 1660, the tin glaze is painted with blue pigment based on Chinese kraak ware

Below left A blue and white shallow bowl, c. 1643 from the Hatcher cargo sold for $3,250 in 2015, image courtesy of Christies

Emperor Kangxi, the fourth emperor of the Qing dynasty and the longest-reigning emperor in Chinese history, ruled China from 1662 to 1722.

He reopened the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen, in the Jiangsu Province, which had been largely neglected during the decline of the preceding Ming dynasty and experienced large-scale destruction during the subsequent civil turmoil in 1674.

e kilns went on to produce hundreds of thousands of pieces of blue and white porcelain throughout the period, which can sometimes lead to Kangxi porcelain having a reputation for variable quality.

Popular designs

Favourite themes included oral and geometric motifs. ey were sometimes based on Buddhist and Taoist themes but were more often sourced from literature, theatre and illustrated books.

ese included the ever-popular Ming stories of e ree Kingdoms, e Romance of the West Chamber, the story of a young scholar clambering over a wall to meet his young lover. Representations of the tale had rst appeared on Transitional blue and white but it was perhaps even more popular during the reign of Kangxi.

In decorating Chinese Kangxi blue and white porcelain for the domestic market and export, artists often did not know how to complete the decoration of gurative scenes, and therefore usually ended them in rockwork and clouds or plantains.

In the case of imperial wares, artists usually found a more pleasing solution. Fenshui, a popular technique, used a blue pigment painted in di erent shades to create an e ect much like ink painting – often featuring birds, owers and branches presented in di erent shades of blue.

Blue and White Porcelain from the Yuan and Early Ming Dynasties is on at Eskenazi, 10 Cli ord St, London W1S 2LJ from October 28 to November 15. For more details go to www.eskenazi.co.uk

COLLECTING BLUE & WHITE

Chinese blue and white porcelain is among the most iconic and collectable forms of Chinese ceramics. Renowned for its beauty, craftsmanship, and historical signi cance, it has captivated collectors for centuries.

While the market tends to be strong for blue and white it’s important to remember it’s a huge category. Prices tend to re ect the period of production and rarity. Some pieces like Yuan or early Ming or imperial pieces can command very high prices, while more common Qianlong export tea bowls or 19th-century vases can be much more a ordable.

Transitional period (1620–1683) blue and white porcelain is increasingly popular among collectors for its distinctive style, which blends Ming and Qing in uences.

Export ware of the period is also highly

collectable, especially early examples or pieces made for speci c European patrons.

Kangxi period (1662–1722) blue and white porcelain has been undervalued in the past. With interest from mainland China increasing, it is becoming more expensive but still represents value for money, with a tea bowl and saucer of a very high quality available for less than £500 (cheaper than a European counterpart of the same period).

Kangxi vases, dishes and jars are highly collectable. Look for particular designs, such as the ree Friends of Winter (pine, bamboo, and plum) and dragons and phoenixes.

e Qianlong emperor (1736–1795) was a great patron of the arts, and porcelain production during his reign reached new heights of technical perfection with blue and white wares featuring a blend of traditional Chinese motifs with Western in uences.

Floral designs, animals, and imperial symbols are common. Look for vases, dishes and jars featuring dragons, phoenixes, and intricate landscapes.

While still highly collectable, Qianlong pieces tend to be more mass-produced than earlier Ming or Kangxi-era wares. However, pieces made for the imperial court will always be of exceptional quality and command high prices.

Indeed any Chinese blue and white porcelain with an imperial reign marks, indicating it was made for the emperor or his court, will command a large price. Pieces with authentic imperial marks from the Ming and Qing dynasties are, needless to say, particularly valuable.

Collectors need to be aware of later reproductions and forgeries, which often imitate the imperial marks to increase value.

‘An estimated six million Chinese ceramics were imported to Europe when the Dutch took over trade with China. Indication of the demand and importance of kraak porcelain in Europe during the 17th century can be seen by its frequent use in still life and genre paintings of the Dutch Golden Age’

Blue and white ceramics have a universal collecting appeal, image Shutterstock

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ANTIQUES UNDER THE HAMMER Chinese export silver

SALEROOM SPOTLIGHT

An important single-owner collection of Chinese export silver amassed over two decades goes on sale in west London this month

The 125-lot Gerard collection of Chinese export silver, on sale at Chiswick Auctions on October 9, was inspired by the birthday gift of a tea caddy some 20 years ago. From that single caddy a fugurative oak tree grew, with the collection going on to represent a cross-section of forms, patterns, retailers, and makers from the late 19th-century (Qing period) to the early 20th-century’s Republic period.

While the value of antique silver remains stable at best, Chinese silver from the 19th and 20th centuries can be said to be on an upward curve, often quite dramatically fuelled

Above A Chinese export silver bowl on stand, Canton, c. 1900 (Qing dynasty) 23.6 cm (9¼in) wide, it has an estimate of £2,000-£3,000 Mark e bowl has the artisan mark 遂昌 (Sui Chang) and the retailer’s mark WH (Wang Hing)

Left A late 19th / early 20th century Chinese export silver inkstand, Canton c. 1900, marked Qiao Yuan Sheng, retailed by Luen Wo of Shanghai, length 19cm (7½in). It has an estimate of £800-£1,200

Underneath the inkwell’s stand is marked with artisan mark Qiao Yuan Sheng 盛原巧 and with retailer’s mark LW (Luen Wo)

Chinese silversmithing in the Western manner has a history, ably matching their European counterparts. Imitating the neo-classical styles of the late 18th century, thesheer skill of the artisan silversmiths in Canton angzhou) – none of whom had likely been outside its walls – was evident. So called ‘China Trade’ , their work s near copies of pieces made in London and comparable the best English silversmiths of the day.

Erroneous attribution

But by the mid 19th century, the craft had developed into medium of its own.In 1842, China was forced to cede eaty trading areas to foreign powers and the island of Hong ong had become a crown colony also he Great Exhibition of 1851 had demonstrated wider aesthetics to the West.

ne were the neo-classical pieces, in came a transitional silver style meldingWestern forms with traditional Chinese ecorative motifs and elements.

It is only in recent decades that the markings on these ieces have been properly studied. Previously the focus had en on the Arabic numerals, often 90 or 85, that allude to the purity of the silver and the prominent retailer’s marks in Latin characters. Large Canton, Shanghai and Hong Kong distributors operated, such asWang Hing, the name that appears on numerous items made from c.1860-1930, and

Below A Chinese export silver epergne centrepiece, Shanghai, c. 1900 (Qing dynasty), height 31.1cm (12¼in) it has an estimate of £2,000-£3,000 Mark e epergne has the artisan mark 昆和 (Kun He) on its underneath and the retailer’s mark Wo Shing

Above A Chinese export silver standing cup, Canton, dated 1886 (Qing dynasty), height 24cm (9½in). Decorated with a battle scene, it would have been a trophy made for one of the many sporting clubs set up by British expats in the Far East. e inscription reads Moor 17 October 1886. It has an estimate of £2,000-£3,000 Mark e cup has the mark 泉記 (the workshop of Quan Ji) on the foot edge and the retailer’s mark WH (Wang Hing)

‘Large Canton, Shanghai and Hong Kong distributors operated, such as Wang Hing, the name that appears on numerous items made from c.1860-1930, and were once erroneously credited as manufacturers’

were once erroneously credited as manufacturers. However, it is now understood that it is the artisan’s marks stamped in Chinese characters that denote the actual silversmithing workshop responsible for producing the piece. As scholars slowly build up a picture of these workshops and their output, understanding these marks has become the focus of collecting of ‘China trade’ silver.

Booming economy

By the end of the 19th century, busy open-treaty ports like Canton and Shanghai had created a booming economy allowing Europeans and Americans to establish hubs of colonial life. Trade also gave rise to a new, affluent Chinese middle class.

AUCTION fact file

WHAT: The Gerard Collection of Chinese Export Silver Where: Chiswick Auctions, Barley Mow Centre,10 Barley Mow Passage, Chiswick, London, W4 4PH

When: October 9 Viewing: October 5, 7 and 8 from 11am-4pm and online at www. chiswickauctions. co.uk

While the colonialists aspired to the exuberant Victorian styles they had left behind, the newly wealthy Chinese elite sought to adopt Western styles and lifestyles.

From the period, the sale includes an ewer decorated with iris flowers and 10 storks, some fishing for eels (above right). It has the mark of the prominent Cantonese workshop Ye Bo, which supplied the retailer Wang Hing, operating in Canton from the 1860s, as well as the successful Shanghai retailer, Luen Wo.

A Republic period (1912-1949) bowl decorated with peacocks, peonies and flowering prunus (above left) has the mark of the Cantonese maker, Tai Chang Long.

The workshop specialised in an idiosyncratic wavy edged form that copies the English spittoon or the Portuguese cuspidor. It is unlikely they were intended as vessels for excess saliva, simply an example of how a European form took on new life in the hands of a Chinese silversmith.

Above left A Chinese export silver tea caddy, Canton, c.1890 (Qing dynasty), height 10.3cm (4in), decorated with two phoenixes and peonies, it has an estimate of £1,000-£1,500 Mark e tea caddy has the artisan mark 卓 (Zhuo), numeral 90, and retailer’s mark WH, Wang Hing

Far left A Chinese export silver spittoon or cuspidor bowl, Canton, c 1920 (Republic period), height 13.6cm (5 ½in), decorated with peonies and peacocks, prunus and moths, it has an estimate of £1,500-£2,500 Mark e bowl is marked underneath 泰昌隆 (Tai Chang Long), numeral 90, and has the retailer’s mark Wang Hing

Left A Chinese export silver ewer, Canton, c. 1900 (Qing dynasty) height 28.7 cm (11¼in), it has an estimate of £2,500-£3,500. It is decorated with iris owers and 10 storks, some shing for eels Mark e ewer is marked underneath 葉伯 (Ye Bo), numeral 90, and has the retailer’s mark WH (Wang Hing)

IN MY OPINION...

We asked Chiswick Auctions’ head of sale

John Rogers for his sale highlights

How important is the collection?

It has been meticulously assembled, primarily through purchases at auctions in Britain and America, supplemented by acquisitions from a few established dealers. As such it is s a comprehensive representation of the discipline. Even someone unfamiliar with the subject would leave a viewing with a newfound understanding of the genre.

The collection includes a broad range of pieces, including those from Canton and Shanghai, as well as rarer items from Jiujiang, Tientsin and Chengdu. The inclusion of filigree work adds another layer of aesthetic appreciation. Most of the major artisan workshops are represented, including Ye Bo, Kun He, Bao Sheng, Sui Chang and Ning Zhao.

Why is it such an exciting subject?

Chinese silver boasts one of the most remarkably consistent aesthetics in the silver discipline. Its distinctiveness is undeniable; one can recognise a piece of Chinese export silver from a hundred paces. Whether it’s a small card case, or a large cup and cover, the decoration and metalworking are a unique blend of Eastern and Western influences.

The more one delves into these artisan marks, the more one appreciates why certain workshops are celebrated for their craftsmanship. It’s astonishing to think these marks were overlooked for so many years.

How strong is the current market for Chinese silver?

Interest in Chinese silver from the ‘China trade’ period, particularly pieces from the early 19th century that mimic London silver, has softened in recent years. While there’s still interest in later Qing dynasty (1644–1912) pieces, the slight cooling of prices across most silverware after the post-pandemic boost is evident. However, as more information becomes available about which workshops produced the finest wares, there may well be room for price increases, particularly for top works by makers like Ye Bo.

Dragon-handled mugs with figural scenes also continue to be highly popular. A large, lidded example marked Qiu Ji achieved £13,750 at auction in 2023, having been purchased for less than half that price in 2002, showing there is still room for growth.

COLLECTING GUIDES Charles Mahoney

THREE’S A CROWD

While his name is in the shadows of his friends

Eric Ravilious and Edward Bawden – two of the 20th-century’s best-known artists – Charles Mahoney’s work is every bit as good, as a new exhibition showcases, Paul Liss reports

In the vibrant junior common room of the Royal College of Art in the 1920s, a group of young artists began to form friendships, some of which would last a lifetime.

Despite their di erent backgrounds and personalities, these men and women – among them Henry Moore, Enid Marx and Barnett Freedman – were part of what their tutor Paul Nash famously called “an outbreak of talent”, some of whom went on to become some of the most celebrated 20th-century British artists. ree in particular,

all born in the same year, became a trio of rm pals: Eric Ravilious (1903-1942), Edward Bawden (1903-1989) and Charles Mahoney (1903-1968).

While Mahoney did not go on to be part of the inner circle of the feted artistic community in Great Bard eld, his artistic persona is inextricably bound to it. He regularly stayed there in the 1930s and it was Mahoney to whom Bawden rst proposed they set up an artists’ hub in the Essex village.

And yet while Ravilious and Bawden are well known to collectors, with works of the former regularly selling for six- gure sums, Mahoney’s name is on few people’s radar.

So who was the artist who the former Tate director, John Rothenstein, called: “a distinguished successor to the nest of the Pre-Raphaelites”, and why does his name languish in the wake of his more famous pals?

‘Until now, Mahoney has had only two solo exhibitions – a modest memorial exhibition at the Ashmolean in 1975, and a touring exhibition at The Fine Art Society in 1999. As the general interest in the last generation of artists who were trained to draw and design in the traditional manner grows, his star will rise’

Early days

Charles Mahoney was born Cyril Mahoney in Lambeth in 1903, the son of a mechanical engineer and hat maker. He was the second child of a family of seven boys, three of whom died in infancy. Money was tight. Charles and his brothers attended the local school at Oak eld Road, Anerley, where Charles’ gift for drawing and painting was strongly encouraged by the art master, though his parents showed less enthusiasm, and urged him towards a career in banking. Mahoney’s early experience of poverty, combined with Sunday afternoons spent at a Socialist Sunday School forged a lifelong belief in Socialist principles, later allied with a growing atheism.

Blind in one eye

Two other early events cast a shadow on his life: the rst was the loss of an eye in a tussle with one of his brothers over the possession of some scissors. e second was a near fatal attack of diphtheria, which left him less robust than formerly (poor health dogged Mahoney, especially chest problems, and he died early aged 64).

After school he took up employment in the City, not as a banker, but in an advertising agency. He wrote: “Feeling a need for basic training in drawing and design, I persuaded my father to allow me to enter the Beckenham School of Art. I gained a Royal Exhibition in Drawing to the Royal College of Art in 1922. In September of that year I entered the School of Painting which was then under the active professorship of Sir William Rothenstein.”

Interestingly, in Rothenstein’s memoir Since Fifty, Men and Memories 1922-1938 the rst two names that appear on his list of top RCA students were Henry Moore and Charles Mahoney.

Opposite page Charles Mahoney (1903-1968)

Oak Cottage, Kent. All images, unless otherwise stated, copyright of the artist’s estate, courtesy of Liss Llewellyn

Left Charles Mahoney (1903-1968), View from rear window at Mahoney’s family home Anerley, c.1922

Below right Charles Mahoney (1903-1968)

e Willow Grove, Great Bard eld

Great Bardfield

The Great Bardfield School set up and populated by Mahoney’s artistic friends dates to around 1930 when Edward Bawden and Eric Ravilious discovered the sleepy village while cycling. Soon after, the pair rented the famed Georgian building, Brick House, from a retired ship-stewardess and widow, Mrs Kinnear.

In 1932, Bawden married the potter Charlotte Epton (1902-1970) and as a wedding gift, Bawden’s father purchased the house for the newlyweds. The couple shared the house with Ravilious and the artist Tirzah Garwood, whom he had married in 1930.

Of the foursome, Bawden in particular took to revamping the garden, a project for which he called on his good friend Charles Mahoney who, with his then girlfriend Evelyn Dunbar made many visits to Great Barfield. Their longest stay was in the spring of 1933 (while Eric and Tirzah Ravilious were working on hotel murals in Morecombe) when they helped in the garden and marbled the hall. On the Raviliouses’ return Tirzah wrote the garden had been transformed by their efforts. It is here Mahoney painted Willow Grove(below) a well-known picnic spot close to the village.

Soon Brick House became known for its gardens, which attracted the attention of its neighbour, the fellow artist, John Aldridge RA (1905-1983) – perhaps Great Bardfield’s most well-known artist – who became another of Bawden’s gardening companions and moved there himself in 1933.

Next came John Nash (1893-1977) in the nearby town of Wormingford who, by the 1950s, led the way in illustrating the botanicals for which the school came to be known.

COLLECTING GUIDES Charles Mahoney

Firm friends

During four years at the RCA one of Mahoney’s closest friends was Barnett Freedman (1901-1958) an outspoken and talented Jewish artist from the East End. Mahoney’s daughter Elizabeth Bulkeley writes: “On learning that my father’s name was Cyril, he at once renamed him Charles. is was a welcome alteration for my father, although it was never accepted by his parents.” eir friendship continued until Freedman’s early death in 1958, with his early marriage, in 1925, aged 24, playing a vital role in Mahoney’s own future romantic involvements. Elizabeth continued: “My father later felt that Barnett’s early marriage, and the need to provide for his wife and home had prevented him from achieving his artistic potential. My father’s conviction that the pursuit of material gain could seldom be reconciled with the highest artistic achievement became a fundamental part of his personality.” is may be one of the reasons he ended his later love a air with fellow artist, Evelyn Dunbar.

Morley mural

In 1928, Rothenstein, who was a staunch advocate for the display of art in public places, selected three of his former RCA students – Mahoney, Bawden and Ravilious – to paint the murals for the back of the stage at Morley College for Working Men and Women, a project sponsored by Sir Joseph Duveen.

While Bawden and Ravilious were given the refectory to decorate, Mahoney was given the wall at the back of the stage used for orchestral concerts and folk dances. He called his subsequent mural e Pleasures of Life and for the rst time Mahoney used the theme of the Muses. e murals were destroyed when the college was bombed in 1940, and can be judged only from black-

Above Charles Mahoney (1903-1968)

Compositional study for e Pleasures of Life at Morley College, 19281930

Below left Charles Mahoney (1903-1968) portrait of Barnett Freedman (1901-1958)

Below right Charles Mahoney (1903-1968) study for Joy and Sorrow mural at Brockley County School for Boys, 1933

Below far right Charles Mahoney (1903-1968) study for Fortune and the Boy at the Well mural at Brockley County School for Boys, 1933

and-white photographs and some of Mahoney’s, mainly monochrome, preparatory sketches. e Morley scheme was classically Italianate and sculptural, emulating a frieze in low relief, with seven large gures representing Dancing and Plastic Art, Music, Philosophy and Drama; Poetry and Prose.

Brockley mural

In 1933, Rothenstein, via a BBC programme, again urged the nation’s public authorities to encourage mural painting in public buildings, partly to provide employment for young artists struggling as a result of e Great Depression.

Two years later Mahoney, who was by then working as a tutor at the RCA, was asked to decorate the hall at Brockley County School for Boys (now Hilly Fields School). In the task he was assisted by three of his fourth-year female students – Evelyn Dunbar, Mildred Eldridge and Violet Martin. e required space was made up of ve recessed panels in the assembly hall, and a gallery wall above an arcade at the back of the hall.

Mahoney undertook to decorate two of the large lunettes himself and allocated the third to Dunbar. His chosen subjects were taken from Aesop’s Fables: namely Fortune and the Boy at the Well (which he signed Chas Mahoney 1933) and Joy and Sorrow.

e Brockley mural cycle stands out as one of the most important decorative schemes of the 20th century in Britain, and the hall was listed by the Department of National Heritage in April 1992 “Solely because of the high quality and rarity of the mural paintings.”

Doomed love a air

During the spring of 1933 while working on the murals at Brockley, Mahoney and Evelyn fell in love, and so began a correspondence remarkable for its emotional intensity. Letters from Dunbar were full of drawings, more than words, and frequent (she wrote several times a week). Sadly, none of Mahoney’s letters survives. e problem of sharing time and intimacy together (both were lodging at the time) was solved by staying with friends, often with Edward Bawden and his wife Charlotte, doyens of the group of artists gathered round the village of Great Bard eld in Essex.

But while the pair shared a mutual artistic respect and love of nature, other factors would ultimately drive them apart: Dunbar came from a family of Christian Scientists, whose religious beliefs did not sit well with those of Mahoney. Mahoney may also have been aware of the perceived detrimental e ect marriage had had on his friend Freedman’s career. Marrying Dunbar could have a ected both their careers.

Below Charles Mahoney (1903-1968) Study of Irises

Below left Charles Mahoney (1903-1968) Study for Yellow Ox-eye Daisies, mid 1950s

‘Drawings by Mahoney, which would never have been intended for exhibition or sale, can have real “wall power”, revealing his creative genius as his ideas unfolded. Seek out the subjects that he is best known for: plant studies, (especially sunflowers), back garden views, muses in nature, kitchen-sink interiors and quirky still lives’

LOVE OF NATURE

Early portraits of family and friends showed Mahoney’s ability as a draftsman, which was developed later in his paintings and mural work, for which many studies were made in sketchbooks.

In later life he concentrated mainly on his plants, using different pens, washes, charcoal, or soft pencils to capture the essence of each.

Throughout his life Mahoney had favourite themes: the artist as creator was one of the most recurrent – whether as indicated by a hand reaching into the picture, a preferred motif of his, or in the endless compositions of the artist seated sketching outdoors, attended by his muse.

Adam and Eve

Mahoney’s first depiction of Adam and Eve dates to his relationship with Dunbar in the mid-1930s, where references to ‘Charlie and Eve’ occur frequently in their correspondence. The idea of the Garden of Eden well encapsulating their love of plants and nature.

The Muses were another favourite theme. First used at Morley College, they represented the spiritual and creative values that the artist strove to express. In a large design for a mural he was planning at the end of his life, entitled The Muses the central image is of the mountains that form the Fairfield Horseshoe and dominate Ambleside’s north view; perhaps attesting to the happiness of his time there. Mahoney’s landscapes were more typically taken from the parts of southern England where he spent his holidays: the Cotswolds, Wiltshire, Suffolk and Great Bardfield.

Right Charles Mahoney (1903-1968) Bathsheba late 1940s

COLLECTING GUIDES Charles Mahoney

Love of nature

Today it may be di cult to imagine the role plants and gardens played in Mahoney and his friends’ lives, possibly answering a need in inter-war Britain for safe, enclosed and cultivated space.

Gardening nurtured a source of friendship, particularly for the circle including Mahoney, Bawden, Freedman and Percy Horton. Between them there was a constant exchange of plants and cuttings sent by Royal Mail. Plants also provided endless artistic inspiration.

Mahoney and Evelyn Dunbar travelled widely visiting gardens, writing and illustrating their in uential book Gardener’s Choice (1937). In her book Long Live Great Bard eld and Love to You All, Tirzah Garwood remembers Mahoney sketching sun owers at Brick House: “ ere was a row along the wall by the lavatory and halfway up the garden... Charlie Mahoney made drawings from the top of a ladder, one rather resented his continual presence outside the lavatory.”

Move to Kent

Love of nature may have been one of the reasons that in 1937 Mahoney bought Oak Cottage, Wrotham, in Kent, presenting him with the rst garden of his own. Another reason for the move was to provide a home for his mother, which proved especially useful later, during the war, away from the London bombing.

e cottage was cheap and in poor condition, Mahoney carried out the repairs himself despite it worsening his overall health. He chose second-hand furniture and on the walls he hung paintings by friends. He added a studio for himself halfway down the garden and used a formal garden layout to suit the simplicity of the cottage, while allowing plants to follow their natural habits within each bed. Sun owers grew beside hogweed and in a garden that would give him artistic nourishment for the rest of his life.

Why isn’t Mahoney better known?

His natural modesty and lack of vanity played a part. He wanted to spend his life painting and viewed fame and fortune as a distraction. He didn’t seek commercial success and actively distrusted dealers, so didn’t employ anyone to represent him. Added to which he was an intellectual and committed to teaching and helping other artists. Perhaps even to his own detriment. His daughter Elizabeth Bulkeley writes: “His modesty allowed him to recommend anyone but himself, and his perfectionist tendencies ensured that he felt that any work of his own could always have been better.”

Until now Mahoney has had only two solo exhibitions – a memorial exhibition at the Ashmolean in 1975, and a touring exhibition in 1999. As the general interest in the last generation of artists who were trained to draw and design in the traditional manner grows, his star will rise. The Tate archive has a huge body of work, which will go on display when it has been fully catalogued. When it does it will help write him back into British art history.

Outbreak of war

When war broke out in 1939 Mahoney and his mother were living at Oak Cottage. His relationship with Dunbar was over, although they remained friends. Between 1937 and 1940 Mahoney made sketching expeditions around Wrotham, making studies of the North Downs, the brick elds at Platt, and the Borough Green sandpits.

At Great Bard eld the Bawdens had taken in refugees from Spain and Germany, while Ravilious had become a War Artist (he would later die having been shot down over Iceland in 1943). With one eye and a weak chest, Mahoney was unable to join the Forces and in 1940, along with his fellow RCA tutor Percy Horton, he accompanied the college’s evacuation to Ambleside in the Lake District.

It was here he met Dorothy Bishop, a calligraphy tutor from the design school. ey were married in September 1941, Mahoney was aged 37 and Bishop, 39.

Many of Mahoney’s drawings of the Ambleside period relate to his depiction of a room which he and Dorothy shared. In them he concentrates on the interior of the room, on tables, chairs and domestic detail, and then moves to drawing the view from the window, and nally to the landscape beyond.

After the war

After the war Oak Cottage formed the backdrop of family life. To ensure a regular income, both Charles and Dorothy taught part-time until 1953 at the RCA, when changes introduced by the then Principal, Robin Darwin, meant that they both lost their posts.

It was a time of great stress and nancial hardship. Subsequently they taught at Bromley, Maidstone and Woolwich Schools of Art for two or three days a week. When not teaching, Charles worked throughout the day in

Below right Charles Mahoney (1903-1968) Ambleside, View from the Library Roof

his studio avoiding lunch because the light was then at its best for painting.

From 1939-1953 Dorothy was in charge of calligraphy at Royal College of Art, after the retirement of Edward Johnston. Like Mahoney, she had a love of plants, and excelled in painting in miniature on vellum the wild owers she found on walks.

eir daughter, Elizabeth Bulkeley, writes: “ ese were the plants that they liked to draw, paint and grow. ey were sculptural and bold, yet subtle, and unusual for their time. Each one was described lovingly, as if in sharing their favourite plants they were sharing their mutual happiness.”

Despite Mahoney’s declining health he continued to paint and teach – by then at the Royal Academy Schools – even managing to draw the nurses tending to his nal illness. Fortunately Dorothy’s health was much more robust, and after Charles died in 1968 at the age of 64, she was able to live at the cottage for a further 20 years.

Pleasures of Life: Charles Mahoney is on at the Fry Art Gallery, Sa ron Walden until October 27. For more information on the artist and to view works for sale visit www.lissllewellyn.com

Left Charles Mahoney (1903-1968) Room at the Queens Hotel Ambleside c.1940

Right Eric Ravilious Bathing Machines, Aldeburgh, 1938, set a record for the artist when it sold for £269,000 in 2016, image courtesy of Christie’s

Below Dorothy Mahoney (19021984) Study of cottage garden owers, Borage, dianthus, geranium, violet and wild strawberry, watercolour over pencil

Bottom Charles Mahoney (1903-1968) e Beach at Pevensey c.1958

Bottom right Charles Mahoney (1903-1968) Sheet of studies of giant Sun owers, ink and watercolour

EXPECT TOPAY

Not only was Mahoney an exactcontemporary of Bawden and Ravilious and a lifelong friend, he also shared theiraesthetic sensibility. But prices for Ravilious are typically in the range oftens of thousands to hundred of thousands of pounds ; Bawden regularly sells at auction in a price range of low thousands to tens of thousands. But works by Mahoney can be bought for a fraction of their prices, ranging from a few hundred pounds to a few thousand pounds.

It is true to say Mahoney’s time has yet to come. While a large gift of his work was given to the Tate’s archive, astonishingly good works(that have never been on the market before) are still available.

Quirky still lifes

While Ravilious and Bawden produced predominantly small-scale works on paper, in watercolour and gouache, Mahoney worked across a variety of media and sizes, including paintings produced in oil. Quality is the key. Drawings by Mahoney,none of which would have been intended for exhibition or sale, can have real “wall power” . Seek outthe subjects for which he is best known: plant studies, (especially sunflowers), back garden views, muses in nature, kitchen-sink interiors and quirky still li es.

Look out also for design-based work – children’s illustrations, stage sets, and mural schemes which are often closest to the spirit of Bawden and Ravilious.

Work that he carried out alongside Evelyn Dunbar (for Gardener’s Choice) and the murals at Brockley School can also carry a premium.

When it comes to pricing for Mahoney’s work, the auction market has yet to be tested because so little of consequence has been sold to date. e best is yet to come.

In the KNOWLES

A lifetime collection

of

Victorian pottery, sparked by the boyhood gift of two Sta ordshire sheep, drew bidders from around the world

in Derbyshire

When he was a boy John McDowell received a gift - two Sta ordshire pottery sheep. It sparked a lifelong passion and an historical voyage of discovery. By the time he passed away at the age of 88 in 2023 he’d amassed an exceptional private collection of more than 150 Victorian Sta ordshire portrait gures. It was enriched by a lifetime of knowledge and a relentless determination to nd rare examples. Friends described his house as his “personal display cabinet”. Sta ordshire gures took pride of place, artfully displayed on cabinets, shelves and tables. Antique pottery dominated every feasible space.

Museum quality

Such was the historical importance of the collection, John, a proud Northern Irishman from Belfast, bequeathed it to Ulster Museum. However, due to lack of space, the museum suggested the auction route.

Such gures appeal to collectors because they capture the history of the time. Everyone who was anyone was immortalised in pottery: political, royal and religious heavyweights along with people in the news. One c. 1850 gure, entitled Death of the Lion Queen, expected to sell for

£80-£100, went on to hammer for £440. It depicts Ellen Bright (1833–1850), a trainer mauled to death by a tiger in front of a circus audience in 1850.

When Sta ordshire gures emerged in the 18th century many reminded townsfolk of their rural past. While that theme faded over time, Victorian sideboards still showcased fun pottery as well as the occasional tiger ghter. Pets were another theme, often made in pairs to be displayed side by side, such as King Charles spaniels. But it’s the early rarities that excel at auction.

Above right A Sta ordshire portrait gure of Joseph John Gurney, with his left hand holding a book resting on a pillar, c.1847. Estimated at £250-£300, it sold for £600

Above John McDowell’s collection lled every available surface

Above left A pair of Sta ordshire portrait gures of a sailor (jack tar) with a woman and child, both standing in boats, with tar barrels, c.1855. Estimated at £250-£300, it sold for £1,000

Right A Sta ordshire portrait gure of Ellen Bright in the role of Death of e Lion Queen. She is standing with a lion at her feet and a tiger at her waist. Estimated at £80-£100, it sold for £440

Top sellers

e sale’s rare top seller depicted a distressed-looking sailor steadying himself on the prow of a boat while waving a scarf. Alongside him is a companion gure of a lady holding a child in her arms.

Both would have been made at the Dudson factory in Sta ordshire, c. 1856. Expected to sell for £250-£350, the paired hammered at £1,000.

Perhaps the surprise of the bunch was a portrait gure of the Norfolk-born social reformer and Quaker, Joseph John Gurney (1788-1847), the brother of the famous prison reformer, Elizabeth Fry, with whom he tried to abolish capital punishment. Among a long list of laudable causes, another of Gurney’s passions was to end slavery, to which end he made several visits to America and the West Indies to campaign against it.

In 1840, he published a book detailing the living and working conditions experienced by former slaves in the Caribbean following abolition. e gure doubled its high estimate to sell for a very creditable £600.

e quality of both gures was a testament to the eye of the vendor, whose talents, from composing to literature, were as broad and varied as his collections.

As well as his admiration for Sta ordshire gures, John loved cranberry glass and Irish antiques. He only collected the very best and his gures were his pride and joy. We were delighted to help nd his treasured collection new homes.

Eric Knowles is a consultant with the Etwall-based auctioneers Hansons. For more details and all sale dates visit www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk

‘When Staffordshire figures emerged in the 18th century many reminded townsfolk of their rural past. That theme faded over time but Victorian sideboards still showcased fun pottery as well as the occasional tiger fighter’

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Puzzle TIME

e nights are starting to draw in, grab a pen and pit your wits against the greatest antiques quiz master in the business – Peter Wade-Wright

OCTOBER QUIZ

Q1 e classic arts and crafts manual on book binding (1901) instructs that unbleached thread and tape should be used. What main reason was given? (a) cheaper, (b) more natural, (c) lasts longer, (d) more attractive.

Q2 Imagine you collect 1960s memorabilia and had in your collection an XYZ club badge and magazine. e interest of the club was what? (a) economics, (b) zoology, (c) art appreciation, (d) cycling.

Q3 In 19th-century Britain ‘Nelson’s buttons’ was the name of a popular and patriotic type of what? (a) boiled sweets, (b) set of badges, (c) glass marbles, (d) nautical board game with ‘counters’ in the form of sailors that players moved around?

Q4 Cigarette cards can command millions at auction. A card depicting the American baseball player Honus Wagner (1874-1955) is particularly rare because it was rapidly withdrawn by the company. Why?

(a) His name was printed incorrectly, (b) the head used was of the composer Wagner, (c) a printing error made it seem he only had one leg, (d) he was a fanatical anti-smoker.

Q5 What did antique marine liquid-in-glass barometers use to reduce the e ect of a ship’s motion on accurate readings?

(a) a hinged level measurer that remained vertical, (b) a constriction in the bore, (c) a sprung level indicator as in some thermometers, (d) a second instrument at right angles to the rst.

Q6 For what (since 1689) has the City of London rm Ede & Ravenscroft been renowned? (a) glass i.e. arti cial, eyes, (b) walking sticks, (c) ceremonial robes, (d) surgical supports.

Q7 What was fengite used for in the Middle Ages? (a) windows, (b) soup bowls, (c) door latches, (d) rope.

Q8 In heraldry, the cross is a common motif. What is

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 September14 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 3 Which Victorian artist painted this portrait of Ophelia?

Q4 Why were cigarette cards for this famous short stop withdrawn?

SOLUTION TO LAST MONTH’S CROSSWORD:

The letters in the highlighted squares could be rearranged to make the word Decameron The three winners, who will each receive a copy of the book, are Margaret Bevan, by email; Helen Sharp (Mrs), Colchester and Colin Parr, by email.

the main di erence between a cross patonce and a cross moline? (a) colour, (b) orientation i.e. ‘vertical’ v. saltire, (c) arm length, (d) arm design.

Q9 On what would you once nd the names Fanny Fat and Minnie Mineral? (a) Victorian beef-dripping jars, (b) a 1950s card game, (c) 1920s milk bottles, (d) cartoons.

Q10 For what, in the 16th and 17th centuries, would you nd a trammel being used? (a) threshing, (b) cooking, (c) corset tightening, (d) boot removal

Finally, here are four anagrams of the names of Victorian English painters: Hereto ing cider, Ha! glean hillmen; Allotment heirs jive and Legendary venom

Rearrange them, in order, to form an artist (a) Known for his biblical and classical subjects (1830-1896) (8, 8). (b) An outstanding watercolourist known for her scenes of cottages and rural life (1848-1926). (c) One of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (1829-1896) (4, 7, 7). (d) De er of society’s expectations of her gender and class. Known for feminine draped gures (18551919) (6, 2, 6)

Q3 Nelson was renowned for his sartorial style but to what did his buttons lend their name?

Across

1 Odds and ends…curious and often treasured. (4-1-4)

6 Canopy over a bed. (6)

8 Long poems originally sung. (pl.) (4)

10 Colloquial name for a chair with curved ‘bends’ for comforting motion. (6)

11 Historically a freeholder of land…a class between gentry and labourer. (6)

14 Set afire or illuminated. ‘& ____’ = a type of cryptic crossword clue. (3)

15 Large motor vehicle serving the public (your community may have had theirs given the axe…profit over service?) (3)

16 Soaked with liquid…the ruin of many an old book. (3)

17 Elongated seed vessel. Grinling Gibbons included some in his carvings. (3)

18 Lustful, drunken, woodland mythical beings often depicted in art. (pl.) (6)

20 Physical remains of holy people. (pl.) (6)

21 Beautiful (in places) Tuscan city on the Arno. (4)

22 John ____ (1932-2009). American writer and multiple Pulitzer winner (two of his ‘Rabbit’ series were winners.) (6)

24 Extremely pleased with an achievement, e.g. after that successful and reasonable bid. (4-1-4)

Down

1 Brown _____. Iconic Rockingham glazed teapot. (5)

2 Originally a slung bed used at sea, but also a 10-Across for littleones. (3)

3 The shaped piece between furniture legs e.g. below a seat rail. (5)

4 Usually small and thin publication with paper covers. (7)

5 Vigilant to opportunity…or danger. (5)

6 Periods, e.g. Victorian, Edwardian etc. (pl.) (4)

9 Divine being. (5)

12 Modern name for the 17th-century hautbois (pl.) (5)

13 Ferreter for artefacts lost or discarded in tidal banks. (7)

16 Stinging insect that some equate with Biblical symbols of evil or harm. (4)

17 _____ Levi (1919-1987). Italian-born Holocaust survivor and writer of The Periodic Table (1975). (5)

18 Apparatus for underwater breathing, (5)

19 Human mental state represented by the Greek Hypnos. (5)

23 First note of the sol-fa musical notation. (3)

Finally, rearrange the letters in the highlighted squares to form the name of the style of decoration and furniture in the time of Louis XV. (6)

French Connection

Mid-century French design is in the spotlight at the contemporary art fair PAD this month. Antique Collecting pro les nine pioneers every collector should know

Guy de Rougemont (1935-2021)

A multidisciplinary artist, de Rougemont was primarily a painter, in uenced by Pop Art and Minimalism having spent time in New York. He studied at the École des Beaux-Arts, where he developed a strong foundation in traditional artistic techniques. Over the years, he became a prominent gure in the post-war avantgarde art scene in France, gaining recognition for his innovative use of colour, form, and space.

As seen in this chair, his work is characterised by its playful and bold use of geometric shapes and vibrant colours, often exploring the relationship between art and the wider environment.

His best known work may be his Nuage (cloud) co ee table which he created in the 1970s as part of a commission for decorator Henri Samuel and based on cloud-shaped sculptures he made for the Galerie Suzy Langlois in 1969.

From the 1980s, he made furniture with Artcurial known as Transparences including the Diderot in 1986, which came with a bureau, sofa and chair (right) and the Du De and in 1989, in homage to Madame du De and, who had held a literary salon on the site of his studio on rue des Quatre-Fils.

Prices for his pieces start at around €10,000, with his iconic Cloud table selling for the record price of €200,000.

‘As seen in this chair, de Rougemont’s work is characterised by its playful and bold use of geometric shapes and vibrant colours, often exploring the relationship between art and the wider environment’

Above Guy de Rougemont (19352021), one of a pair of Diderot armchairs, 1986, marquetry in a number of exotic woods, lacquer nish, leather seats, photo © Edouard Au ray, o ered at PAD by Galerie Yves Gastou, Paris

Janette Laverrière (1909-2011)

Laverrière was a Swiss-French designer and architect known for her pioneering work in interior design and furniture. Born in Lausanne, she moved to Paris in the 1930s, where she became involved in the avant-garde design community.

Here she started to collaborate with her rst husband, Maurice Pré. Under the alias M. J. Pré, they received major awards at the annual exhibitions of the Salon des artistes décorateurs, culminating in a gold medal in 1937.

Her work is characterised by its minimalist aesthetics and functional approach, often blending artistic expression with practicality. She was a strong advocate for accessible and socially-conscious design, believing that well-designed objects and spaces could improve people’s quality of life. Her furniture designs, such as the iconic Psyché mirrors and modular storage units, showcased her talent for combining elegance with utility, often using simple lines and industrial materials.

In the 1950s, Laverrière was at her most proli c. She created the rotating cherry-wood Bibliothèque Tournante, a movable bookshelf that, rather than stand against the wall, could be reorientated to suit the needs of its users.

Right André Sornay (1902-2000) co ee table with two tabletops, in solid walnut, c 1928, o ered at PAD by Galerie Marcelpoil, Paris

Below Janette Laverrière (1909-2011) suspended wall bu et, c. 1953, stained beech, walnut, brass and gilt bronze, photo © Edouard Au ray, o ered at PAD by Galerie Yves Gastou, Paris

André Sornay (1902-2000)

André Sornay (1902-2000) was a pioneering French designer and furniture maker known for his innovative contributions to modern furniture design. Born in Lyon, he took over his family’s furniture business in the 1920s, where he began to develop a unique style that combined traditional craftsmanship with modernist aesthetics.

‘Laverrière’s furniture, such as her iconic Psyché mirrors and modular storage units, showcased her talent for combining elegance with utility, often using simple lines and industrial materials’

He belonged to a new generation of architects, artists and decorators who wanted to create new forms that were suited to modern life. e UAM (Union of Modern Artists) counted a number of avant-garde artists among its members, including Pierre Chareau, Francis Jourdain, Le Corbusier and Charlotte Perriand, all eager to break away from tradition and to democratise art.

He was also known for his pioneering use of materials and techniques, such as the patented cloutage system, which involved the use of nails to create decorative patterns and joinery details that were both functional and aesthetically appealing. is technique allowed him to produce modular and customizable pieces of furniture that were ahead of their time

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR French mid-century designers

Pierre Guariche (1926-19 5)

‘Guariche was also known for his lighting designs, including the 1951 G1 floor lamp and his Equilibrium lighting series, which featured innovative, adjustable designs that catered to the user’s needs’

Line Vautrin (1913-1997)

Known as “the poetess of metal” Vautrin was born in Paris, France, in 1913 to a family of metalworkers. Mastering the trade at an early age, she left school aged 15 to pursue metal craft full time.

After a brief spell working for the studio of Elsa Schiaparelli, she began making boxes, ashtrays, powder compacts and paperweights, often inscribed with her signature allegories, metaphors, symbols and visual puns.

In 1937, she secured a booth at the International Exhibition in Paris, and her jewellery began to receive widespread recognition. She also worked in bronze, but also played with small fragments of mirror embedded in her own formulation of cellulose acetate resin, which she registered under the trade name Talosel. Her Talosel mirror frames proved a huge hit, enticing celebrities such as the writer Françoise Sagan, lm star Ingrid Bergman and fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent.

Guariche was a pioneering French designer and architect, known for his signi cant contributions to mid-century modern furniture design.

Born in Paris, he studied at the École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, where he was in uenced by prominent designers like René Gabriel.

He was a master at combining aesthetics with practicality, often employing new materials such as metal, moulded plywood, and breglass to create pieces that were both lightweight and durable. Notable works include the Tonneau chair and the Vampire chair, which remain iconic examples of his forward-thinking approach.

He was also known forhis lighting designs, including the 1951 G1 oor lamp, with an embossed metal lampshade and two light sources to provide direct and indirect lighting, and his Equilibrium lighting series (above), which featured innovative, adjustable designs that catered to the user’s needs.

His work continues to be celebratedfor its timeless appeal and is regarded as a benchmark of 20th-century French design. In 1952, hecreated ARP (Atelier de Recherche Plastique) in association with Joseph-André Motte and Michel Mortier.

is union, though brief, from 1954 to 1957, nevertheless left an important mark onthe history of French decorative arts of the 20th century. Following ARP, Guariche became the artistic director ofthe Belgian company Meurop.

Below Line Vautrin (1913-1937) Soleil à pointes, c. 1955, white talosel mirror inlaid with champagne coloured mirrors, o ered at PAD by Unforget Decorative Arts

Right Pierre Guariche (1926-19 5) Equilibrium double branch oor lamp, c. 1951. Brass and lacquered metal, o ered at PAD by Galerie Meubles et Lumières, Paris

Christian Adam (b. 1945)

e French designer is best known for his Duck chair (or chaise Canard in French) – an iconic piece of furniture celebrated for its sculptural design that blends whimsy with modernist sensibilities.

e chair is characterised by its organic shape, reminiscent of a duck, featuring smooth, curving lines that provide both visual appeal and ergonomic comfort, making it a functional work of art.

Typically made from high-quality wood, the chair showcases Adam’s attention to craftsmanship, with sleek nishes and a careful balance between aesthetics and usability.

Maurice Calka (1921-1999)

Maurice Calka (1921-1999) was a distinguished French sculptor, designer, and architect, recognised for his innovative contributions to mid-20th-century art and design. Born in Poland and raised in France, his career was shaped by his education at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he developed a distinctive style blending modernist sensibilities with organic forms. His work often integrated functional design with artistic expression, exemplifying the post-war optimism and the desire to rede ne everyday objects.

Calka’s most famous creation is arguably the Boomerang desk (above), produced in breglass in 1969 by French studio Leleu Deshays, in a range of colours, it was a smooth, almost edge-free and evocative form.

Its uid, sculptural shape, became a symbol of the futuristic design ethos of the 1960s and 1970s.

e desk proved a hit with leading French gures including presidents, solidifying Calka’s reputation as a leading gure in avant-garde design.

A Boomerang desk sold for $480,000 at Christie’s New York in 2008.

‘Calka’s most famous creation is arguably the Boomerang desk produced in fibreglass in 1969 by French studio Leleu Deshays, in a range of colours, it was a smooth, almost edge-free and evocative form. Its fluid, sculptural shape, became a symbol of the futuristic design ethos of the 1960s and 1970s’

produced by Leleu Deshays, o ereed at PAD by Portuondo Gallery, London

Below left A 1969 advert for Calka’s Boomerang desk, o ered at PAD by Portuondo Gallery, London

Below Christian Adam (b. 1945) a pair of Duck sleeper chairs, c. 1967. Metal structure, foam, wool fabric, o ered at PAD by Galerie Meubles et Lumières, Paris

It stands out in the mid-century modern design movement due to its combination of simplicity and character, making it a sought-after piece for collectors and enthusiasts of modern furniture design.

In addition to standalone furniture pieces, Adam has also worked on complete interior design projects, where his keen sense of space and proportion comes to the fore. His work has been exhibited in various design shows and is featured in numerous private collections, underscoring his in uence in the eld of French design.

‘Adam’s Duck chair stands out in the mid-century modern design movement due to its combination of simplicity and character, making it a soughtafter piece for collectors and enthusiasts of modern furniture design’

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR French mid-century designers

Michel Boyer (1935-2011)

Boyer was a French designer and decorator born into a family of craftsmen and architects. To honour this family tradition he rst enrolled at the school of Beaux Arts in Paris, and then in 1957, at l’École Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs, where he studied in the studio of the famous decorator André Arbus.

In 1965, Boyer was assigned the reconstruction of the Rothschild Bank on rue La tte in Paris, being responsible for the interior design of the new building. His furniture typically used the materials of his time: stainless steel, aluminum, laminate formed posts, breglass and lacquer.

As well as his work for the Rothschild Bank he designed the interiors for both the French Embassy in Washington and the country’s embassy in Brasilia. For these projects, he incorporated stainless steel desks, counters, and seating to convey the power of the institutions.

PAD London takes place at Berkeley Square, Mayfair, London from October 8-13. For more details go to www.paddesignart.com or turn to page 49.

Right Max Ingrand (1908-1969) oor lamp, c. 1960, painted metal, brass, and partly frosted glass, produced by Fontana Arte, c. 1960, o ered at PAD by Portuondo Gallery, London

Below Michel Boyer (1935-2011) co ee table, lacquered wood, c. 1970, o ered at PAD by Galerie Meubles et Lumières, Paris

‘In 1954, Ingrand became the artistic director of the Italian glass company FontanaArte, founded by Gio Ponti, introducing a range of modernist lighting fixtures that combined functionality with elegant, sculptural forms’

Max Ingrand (1908-1969)

A renowned glassmaker, decorator, and interior designer, Ingrand was also widely celebrated for his pioneering work in the eld Modernism and lighting design.

Born in Bressuire, he trained at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts and the École des Arts Décoratifs in Paris, where he developed an exceptional skill for glassmaking and design.

Among his important early commissions were the glass decorations for the luxurious ocean liner, the Normandie, which launched in 1932. In 1954, Ingrand became the artistic director of the Italian glass company FontanaArte, founded by Gio Ponti, introducing a range of modernist lighting xtures that combined functionality with elegant, sculptural forms. His clean lines, innovative use of materials, and exquisite craftsmanship, soon put him in the forefront of mid-century modernism.

Ingrand was also an accomplished stained glass artist, creating windows for numerous churches and public buildings throughout France.

LOTS to TALK ABOUT EXPERT COMMENT

Catherine Southon was cook-ahoop when watercolours by the 19th-century French fashion illustrator

Charles Pilatte came to light in a Kent home, thousands of miles from where they were produced

From Marie-Antoinette to Coco Chanel, France has been forever renowned for its fashion. While designers and seamstresses played an undoubted role, what about the artists whose skilled job it was to promote and preserve these opulent designs, stitch by glorious stitch?

One such was the French illustrator Charles Pilatte (1814–1881), two albums of whose work we discovered in a local home recently.

While the V&A has a collection of engravings of his work, excitingly these are his original watercolours. In many ways they are museum pieces, with a set of Pilatte’s designs even featuring at the exhibition l’Impressionnisme et la Mode (Impressionism and Fashion) at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris in 2012.

Better still, the album is packed with pencil notes of amendments from clients – details that reel us straight back to the glamorous world of 19th-century Paris.

Fashion capital

And what a glamorous time it was. When Napoleon III (1808–1873) married Empress Eugénie (1826–1920) in

Above ree of some 60 watercolours of French fashions by Charles Pilatte (1814–1881) from Costumes et Demi Toilette (1864-1872) bound in two volumes. Together the albums have an estimate of £800-£1,200 at this month’s sale

Left Franz Xaver Winterhalter (18051865) Empress Eugénie in a dress inspired by those worn by MarieAntoinette, 1854, image public domain

1852 she immediately became the most fashionable woman in Europe, her style harking back to the opulent styles of her predecessor, Marie-Antoinette. Wealthy women scoured the fashion magazines of the day for clues on what the Spanish-born new empress, and her court, were wearing.

Talented illustrator

Enter Charles Pilatte, whose detailed and ornate illustrations depicting every glamorous stitch of an out t were eagerly sought after by the leading fashion houses. At the top of the tree was Maison Worth – founded by English-born Charles Frederick Worth, who was widely considered the “father of haute couture.”

e House of Worth was one of the most prestigious and in uential fashion houses in Paris during the era, and Pilatte’s illustrations helped bring to life his luxurious gowns and elaborate creations.

When Empress Eugénie herself appointed Worth as court designer, Pilatte’s reputation was assured, with the house going on to dress the celebrities of the day such as Sarah Bernhardt, Lillie Langtry and Nellie Melba.

As well as Worth, Pilatte likely contributed to illustrations for other fashion houses including Madame Roger, Maugas and Ghys.

What were the fashions?

When it came to fashion, overkill was the name of the game. Dresses involved reams of cumbersome fabric, in a complex arrangement of ounces, drapes and panels of cloth that combined lace, velvet, plush and trimmings, with the bust still tightly bound in a whalebone bodice.

Crinoline dresses were regarded as the epitome of fashion under the Second Empire – all of which were magni cently captured by Pilatte’s hand.

e illustrations go under the hammer at Catherine Southon Auctioneers’ new premises at Chislehurst in Kent on October 16.

‘While the V&A has a collection of P latte’s engravings, these are his original watercolours. In many ways they are museum pieces with a set appearing in an exhibition in France’

ANTIQUES UNDER THE HAMMER Lots in October

TOP of the LOTS

A

collection of new-to-market watercolours found under a bed goes on sale in London, while animation cels from the 1940 film

Pinocchio appear on the rostrum in Kent

A portrait by Wilfred Gabriel de Glehn (1870-1951), one of England’s leading Impressionists, has an estimate of £30,000-£50,000 at Duke’s Art & Design post-1880 sale on October 24 in Dorchester.

The two girls in the picture, named Anne Meriel Talbot (1900-1970) and Joan Ankaret Talbot (1901-1986) are the granddaughters of John Gilbert Talbot, a Conservative politician serving under Benjamin Disraeli.

The work may have been painted in de Glehn’s home on Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, the destruction of which during an air raid in WWII forced the artist and his wife to move permanently to Wiltshire.

Two original hand-painted colour animation cels, used in the 1940 production of Disney’s Pinocchio have an estimate of £3,000-£5,000 at Dawsons’ entertainment memorabilia sale on October 30 in Maidenhead. One shows the iconic puppet surrounded by soldiers, while the other depicts Jiminy Cricket. Both come with a certificate from Courvoisier Galleries in San Francisco.

In the 1930s gallery president, Guthrie Courvoisier, realised Disney’s original artworks could be sold as art pieces in their own right; soon after becoming the studio’s sole representative. The cels’ verso states: This is an original painting on celluloid, actually used in the Walt Disney production of Pinocchio. It is one of a select few that have been released to art collectors. The remainder have been destroyed.

An Indian gold rupee coin bearing the uncrowned portrait of Edward VII, dated 1903, has an estimate of £15,000£20,000 at Noonans’ two-day sale in Mayfair on October 1-2.

Its rarity derives from the lack of crown: tradition states uncrowned monarchs could only feature on UK coins, and not those of its dominions. But the rupee’s master die was created after the death of Edward’s mother Queen Victoria on January 22, 1901, but before his coronation on August 9 the following year, meaning it was impossible to depict him wearing any regalia.

The coin comes from part two of the Puddester Collection which is expected to fetch in the region of £750,000.

A pair of 14th-century late Romanesque Italian limestone lions has an estimate of £8,000-£12,000 at Bishop & Miller’s oak sale at its Norfolk saleroom in Glandford on October 30.

Dating to c. 1320 such creatures were typically placed at the base of columns, or as part of the entrance to churches, acting as symbolic guardians. Lions represented strength, protection, and vigilance, often embodying Christ’s power or the protection of the faith. Similar lion sculptures can be found in Modena and Parma cathedrals and on the facade of Pisa Cathedral.

A 19th-century diamond-set gold and enamel snuff box, likely made in the German city of Hanau, has an estimate of £5,000-£8,000 in Bonhams’ online sale of silver and objects of vertu ending on October 9. In the late 16th and early 17th centuries Hanau became an important centre for jewellery and metalwork due to the influx of Protestant refugees from the Netherlands.

The tradition continued into the early 20th century when it became known for antique replicas and revival pieces imitating the rococo, Baroque, and Renaissance – known as “Hanau style”.

The box’s cover has a central diamondset ‘F’ cipher on a black enamel medallion.

Above Wilfrid Gabriel de Glehn (1870-1951) e Talbot Sisters, is on sale

Left e 14th-century lions go under the hammer in Norfolk

Above e coin is unusual because it features an uncrowned British monarch

Left Animation cels from the classic Disney lm Pinocchio go on sale in Kent

A sale of British 18th and early 19th-century drawings and watercolours once belonging to Iolo Williams (1890-1962), the Welsh connoisseur, author and art critic for The Times takes place at Olympia Auctions in London this month.

Some 350 works, with estimates ranging from £150£1,500, were inherited by Williams’ grandson and were kept in storage boxes under a bed for nearly half a century. This will be their first appearance on the market for more than 60 years and, in some cases, much longer.

Diligent research

Born in 1890 in Middlesborough, the son of a Welsh MP, Williams formed the collection from the 1930s to 1950s when unidentified drawings could be picked up for a modest price from dealers and auctions. Others were given to him by his close friend Leonard Gordon Duke C.B.E. (1890-1971) – one ofthe greatest collectors of British drawings and watercolours.

Through diligent research, Williams identified many works as being by leading exponents of the golden age of British drawings and watercolours, including the Rev. William Gilpin (1724-1804) and William Payne (1755-1830).

In 1952, Williams published his monumental book, Early English Watercolours, which listed and discussed the work of more than 600 British draughtsmen.

One of the sale highlights, attributed to the Scottish painter Sir Robert Ker Porter (1777-1842), is a view of the Great Lavra belltower of the Kyiv Monastery of the Caves, even today one of the most impressive buildings of the city’s skyline. Porter was appointed historical painter at the court of Tsar Alexander I in 1805 and soon after commissioned to paint the walls of the Admiralty Hall in St Petersburg.

George Washington

A rare view of Castle Rising in Norfolk is attributed to the British-American artist George Beck (17 -18 ). Beck was born in Staffordshire but emigrated to America in 1795.

There, his best-known paintings The Potomac River Breaking through the Blue Ridge and The Great Falls of the Potomac were purchased by George Washington in 1797 to be hung in the “New Room” of his mansion, Mount Vernon, built in Fairfax County, Virginia.

Olympia Auction’s Suzanne Zack, said: “The auction is a rare opportunity for collectors, both seasoned and new, to enjoy the sort of experience Williams would have had of looking through folders of mixed, unframed drawings and watercolours in which hidden gems could be discovered.

“Almost all works are in good original condition and bear Williams’ inscriptions on the back, often recording where and when they were acquired and his thoughts on attribution.”

The sale takes place at Olympia Auctions, 25 Blythe Road, London, W14 0PD on October 2. For more auction details go to www.olympiaauctions.com

1 Attributed to George Beck (174 -1812) Castle Rising, Norfolk signed and inscribed, Castle Rising, Norfolk / by Mr Beck. It has an estimate of £800-£1,200 at this month’s sale 2 George Moutard Woodward (1760-1809) Fashionable Amusements for Young Ladies, pen and ink and watercolour (one of eight caricatures) each signed and inscribed. e set has an estimate of £1,000-£1,500 3 William Payne (c.1755-1830) e Waterfall on the Clydock, about six miles from Abergavenny, watercolour, inscribed on reverse. It has an estimate of £800-£1,200. 4 Attributed to Sir Robert Ker Porter (Scottish 1777-1842) e Great Lavra Belltower of the Kiev Monastery of the Caves, dated July 22, 1808, the rst of two sheets. epair has an estimate of £400-£600 5 Attributed to Sir Robert Ker Porter (1777-1842) e Great Lavra Belltower of the Kiev Monastery of the Caves, dated Jul 22, 1808, the second of two sheets. e pair has an estimate of £400-£600

COLLECTING GUIDE British studio pottery

Hall of Dame

Dame Lucie Rie (1902-1995) is one of the most accomplished and celebrated studio potters. Known for her extraordinarily ne, hand-thrown porcelain pots, bottles and bowls, Rie has become one of the most sought-after ceramicists of the 20th century.

Studio lights

A lifetime collection of studio pottery from leading British 20thcentury ceramicists goes under the hammer this month. Antique

Collecting lifts the lid

Whether you are starting out, or an experienced collector, studio pottery is a delightful area to immerse yourself in. Ranging from high-end decorative pieces to rustic table ware, it has a charm that is both immediately apparent and greatly sought after by collectors across the world.

Studio pottery refers to pieces made by an individual artist, either professional or amateur, who carries out all stages of creating the pottery themselves. e pieces are usually unique and made in small batches. Most have maker’s marks of either the studio or the artist’s signature. While some pieces can sell for thousands (most notably Lucie Rie), others can be bought for less than £100. is month a collection of studio pottery, including pieces by Rie, Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada, among others is o ered for sale in North Yorkshire.

Above left Lucie Rie (1902-1995) a stoneware vase, c. 1983, it has an estimate of £1,500-£2,500

Above Lucie Rie (19021995) a stoneware bottle vase, c. 1983, it has an estimate of £6,000-£9,000

Above right Lucie Rie (1902-1995) a miniature stoneware vase, c. 1983, it has an estimate of £800£1,200

Belolw right Lucie Rie (1902-1995) a stoneware bowl c. 1983, it has an estimate of £1,000-£1,500

Rie was born in Austria at the turn of the century. Having trained in pottery at the School of Art and Design in Vienna, she was beginning to build a reputation in the city as an accomplished potter during the 1930s. However, aged 36, Rie found herself in London, a Jewish émigré who ed from the Nazi’s rise to power in her homeland. Under di cult circumstances, Rie began making hand-made ceramic buttons for the couture industry. With rationing for traditional button materials and the requisitioning of button factories, Rie spotted a gap in the market and found a way of making a living.

Hans Coper

Fellow potter and émigré Hans Coper began working for her, and together they produced tableware, such as tea and co ee services. Elegant, angular and modern, their wares soon found a following and began to be stocked in fashionable outlets such as Heals. Coper was to share a studio with Rie until 1958, and they remained friends until Coper’s death in 1981.

As her commercial success in domestic wares grew, Rie was able to return to making art pottery. Using porcelain (the most di cult of materials to throw), Rie created delicate, almost gravity-defying pieces, experimenting with synthetic colours and glazes. Her

work was not initially admired in the UK, being very di erent to the heavy earthen and stoneware studio pottery being produced in the country by the likes of Bernard Leach. She was told her walls were too thin and her pot ‘feet’ were too small – the very features so admired in her work today. However, her more European, minimalist style was appreciated on the Continent and her reputation began to grow. Soon she began to be appreciated at home too and would go on to achieve great success and acclaim during her long career.

Eastern in uence

Shoji Hamada (1894-1978) was one of the most in uential studio potters of the 20th century. After studying ceramics at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Hamada discovered the work of Bernard Leach in his Tokyo exhibition. After seeking an introduction, the pair became great friends, and in 1920 Hamada returned to England with Leach and during his three-year stay in the country helped him establish his studio and in uenced the foundation of the studio pottery movement in Britain.

Following his return to Japan, he set up his own studio in the small town of Mashiko, which would later become a centre of excellence for Japanese studio pottery and the folk-art movement. Here he brought traditional Japanese forms of pottery into the modern age, while using locallysourced materials from his clays and glazes to his brushes and tools.

Right Ceramics from Mashiko pottery in Japan, image Shutterstock

Below left Shoji Hamada (1894-1978) a stoneware press-moulded bottle vase, 1972, it has an estimate of £1,000-£1,500

Below Shoji Hamada (1894-1978) a stoneware yunomi (Japanese tea cup), 1972, it has an estimate of £200-£300

Bottom Shoji Hamada (1894-1978) a stoneware press-moulded square dish, 1972, it has an estimate of £100-£150. It was purchased by the vendor in Japan in 1972

The Collectors

Brenda (1935-2024) and David (1932-2017) were both born in the Midlands and spent much of theirworking lives in Birmingham. Brendaworked as a nurse, while David studied medicine and worked as an anaesthetist.

It isn’t known when they started their interest in studio ceramics, but without doubt the Peter Dingley Gallery in nearby Stratford-upon-Avon not far from Birmingham, played a pivotal role in it.

‘It isn’t known when the owners started their interest in studio ceramics, but without doubt the Peter Dingley Gallery in nearby Stratford-uponAvon not far from their home in Birmingham, played a pivotal role in their selection of fine pieces of the potter’s art’

From its opening in 1966, Peter Dingley (1924-2019) showcased the works of outstanding contemporary potters such as Bernard Leach and Lucie Rie. Many of the examples in this collection were purchased at the gallery.

Trip to Japan

In September 1972, David visited Japan to attend a medical conference, unable to resist visiting the Hamada pottery at Mashiko, northeast of Tokyo. David met two of Hamada’s sons, Shinsaku and Atsuya, who were also distinguished potters, and he purchased items now in this collection.

In the early 1980s, Brenda and David left Birmingham and retired to Grange-over-Sands in Cumbria where they had more time to pursue theirartistic interests.

Brenda excelled in embroidery and was an active member of the Embroiderers’ Guild. David was a prolific painter, sculptor and poet (with a particular interest in Haiku). As well as creating his own work, David also assisted the Cumbrian sculptor Josephina de Vasconcellos (1904-2005) with one of her later works Escape to Light

As well as the ceramicists mentioned, their collection includes pieces by Leach’s wife, Janet (1918-1997), an American studio potter who joined the Leach Pottery in St Ives after studying pottery under Shoji Hamada in both America and Japan in 1954. She was the first foreign woman to study pottery in Japan and only the second Westerner, after Leach himself.

COLLECTING GUIDE British studio pottery

Lasting legacy

‘Leach was the pre-eminent artist- potter of the 20th century. Both as maker and teacher, he exerted an influence on the development of studio pottery which is felt

to this day’

Bernard Leach (1887-1979) was the pre-eminent artistpotter of the 20th century. Both a great maker and a great teacher, Leach exerted the utmost in uence on the development of studio pottery, which is felt to this day. Having been born in Hong Kong, Leach spent his early years in Japan and Hong Kong, before moving to London to study at the Slade School of Fine Art. Here he developed a deep fascination for Japan and moved to the country in 1909 with his young wife. Initially teaching etching, he was introduced to Japanese ceramics in 1911 and began to study pottery.

In 1919, he met fellow potter Shoji Hamada, who would accompany Leach back to England in 1920 having been asked to join the emerging Guild of Handicrafts group in the artistic colony of St Ives. Here he established a studio with the aid of Hamada and built the rst Japanese kiln in the West.

Leach thought of pottery as a combination of Eastern and Western philosophies and drew on technical and aesthetic in uences from both regions in his simple, utilitarian forms. From his studio he strove to elevate ceramics to the status of the Fine Arts and challenge homogeneous mass-produced pottery, and his in uence was disseminated across the world through his numerous studio apprentices.

Above left Bernard Leach (1887-1979) a large stoneware vase, it has an estimate of £700£1,000

Above Richard Batterham (1936-2021) two stoneware bowls and a stoneware jar and cover, the pair has an estimate of £200-£300

Below Richard Batterham (1936-2021) a stoneware twinhandled casserole, it has an estimate of £100£150

After WWII, Leach reached the height of his artistic powers. He was the most highly-regarded British potter and was accepted as an artist in Japan.

Dorset boy

Richard Batterham (1936-2021) was a master of his craft who quietly dedicated himself to producing an outstanding body of thrown stoneware pots from his Dorset studio. Batterham was rst introduced to pottery aged 13 at Bryanston School in Dorset, but it was a weeklong visit to a country pottery in Surrey during a period of leave from national service that was to set the course for his life. After leaving the military, he served a two-year apprenticeship with Bernard Leach, the pre-eminent artist-potter of the 20th century. Leach’s St Ives studio drew heavily on in uences from the Far East as well as British medieval and vernacular pottery, creating a style that ltered down to its students and followers including Batterham.

In 1959, Batterham set up his own studio in Durweston in Dorset, where throughout his long career he never employed assistants, preferring to have complete control of his craft, from mixing his own clay to ring the kiln. He was both industrious and disciplined and was resolute in producing beautiful and functional objects that were not subject to passing fashions or external in uences.

Once he had established his style and technique as a young man, it remained largely unchanged, with forms and glazes instead going through a steady development and re nement process with no radical reinvention. Marked by a quiet modernity and subtlety of form and decoration, Batterham’s style is immediately recognisable to collectors of studio pottery.

e David and Brenda Pearson Studio Pottery Collection, comprising 33 lots, goes under the hammer at Tennants Auctioneers in Leyburn on October 5.

FAIR NEWS

e capital takes centre stage this month hosting a number of prestigious events, while Chester racecourse is the location for a leading northern fair

All at Battersea

At the midpoint of London’s busy autumn design and art season, the Decorative Fair returns to a specially-built pavilion in London’s Battersea Park from October 1-6.

A favourite haunt of designers, interior decorators and private clients looking for glamorous, fun and curious pieces, the fair hosts 130 dealers offering fine and decorative period furniture, accessories, lighting, textiles and collectors’ items dating from the 1700s to the 1970s.

The autumn event also hosts Tribal Art London on the pavilion’s mezzanine, with 20 leading international dealers in the field of ethnographic art taking part.

Above right Textile dealer Katharine Pole’s stand at a previous event

Square deal

One of London’s leading art and antiques events, the LAPADA Fair, returns to Mayfair this month.

From October 2 -27,a marquee in Berkeley Square hosts the cream of the UK’s dealers, with several travelling from farther afield. This year for the first time, the fair will stage a fringe event embracing nearly boutiques, restaurants, and galleries. It will include a recital at Handel Hendrix House on 23-25 Brook Street on October 24 at 6pm. Meanwhile at the main fair, Suffolk-based Puritan Values will showcase a fireplace and matching panelled room by London makers, George Trollope and Sons.

LAPADA, the Association of Art and Antiques Dealers, is the largest society of professional art and antiques dealers in the UK.

Above e replace in situ in 2006 which will be part of Puritan Value’s o ering

Pad times

An elegant tent pitched in London’s Berkeley Square is the location for PAD – the only UK fair dedicated to 20th-century and contemporary design.

Running from October 8-13, the week-long event takes place every October during Frieze and is the sister fair to PAD Paris, launched in 1998, which takes place every April in the Jardin des Tuileries.

Founded in 2007 by fourth-generation Parisian antique dealer Patrick Perrin, PAD (standing for Pavilion and Design) events soon became a byword for the best in modern and contemporary design from the world’s leading galleries.

Gee, what a fair

The grandstand of Chester Racecourse is the historic location for the three-day Chester Decorative, Antiques and Art Fair.

From October 18-20 the grandstand’s two floors will house some of the best-known dealers from the north of England and the rest of the UK. The fair offers something for everyone – from classic and 20th-century jewellery, silver and ceramics, to fine paintings, period furniture, copper and brass, bronze art deco statuary, period rugs, fine glass, impressive mirrors and even medical and scientific instruments.

Established in 1539, Chester is the oldest racecourse in the world still in operation. A hand-painted wooden bowl – the first recorded prize given to the winner of race – was presented at a Chester fair in 1512.

Soon after Chester mayor Henry Gee (c. 1 75- 45) introduced an annual horse race – which is where the name “gee gees” comes from.

Above Pair of armchairs by Roberto Menghi (1920-2006), 1959, courtesy of the Galerie Patrick Fourtin, Paris and PAD London

Above e grandstand at Chester racecourse will stage the three-day event

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Rings through the ages

Ringing the Changes

From signing documents to reminding wearers of their mortality, rings have had a unique role throughout history, as a new exhibition showcases

Today say ‘ring’ to most people and thoughts turn to wedding bands or diamond engagement pieces. It was not always the case – this month the London jeweller SJ Phillips showcases 121 designs from the Jonest Collection highlighting rings’ broad range of uses throughout two millennia of history. e collection, amassed over 40 years, includes pieces akin to the storied heirlooms worn by Richard II, Elizabeth I, Charles I and the Medicis. It also encompasses every category of rings: bridal, posy, signet, amulet, memento mori, devotional, memorial and decorative.

As well as shedding light on many di ering facets of civilisation – from politics and religion to art, architecture and trade –these miniature marvels are also symbols of love, power, sorrow and loyalty, o ering a glimpse into the lives of their former owners like no other relics.

Early days

Wearing rings is one of humanity’s longest running cultural traditions, with a powerful physical, emotional and spiritual hold. Whatever era, culture or civilisation one common factor is the presence of nger jewellery. e evolution of ring design has gone hand in hand with technological advances. In ancient times, rings were crafted primarily from readily available materials such as bone, wood, ivory, and iron.

Early metal rings were typically hammered into shape, using simple hand tools. Gold, which is malleable and resistant to tarnish, became a popular choice among the wealthy and was often worked into rings using rudimentary techniques like casting and hammering. e ancient Egyptians, for instance, were known for using the “lost wax” casting technique, where a wax model of the ring was created, encased in clay, and then melted away to allow molten gold to ll the cavity.

Roman rings

As the Romans extended their empire, more colour and precious gemstones were used in their jewellery designs. Over time, the empire had access to pearls from the Persian Gulf, emeralds from Egypt, topaz from India and Sri Lanka, sapphires and diamonds from the East, as well as other precious gemstones which were transported

Right Roman gold ring set with a large whiteon-brown agate cameo, 1st century AD, image courtesy of SJ Phillips

Below Gold pierced Roman engagement band, 2nd-3rd century AD, image courtesy of SJ Phillips

to advertise their taste and wealth and to profess their devotion to gods or political forces.

One highlight of the Jonest Collection is the gold ring (below left) set with a large white-on-brown agate cameo, dating from the 1st century AD. It depicts a bust-length portrait of a maenad, or female follower of the Greek god of wine, Dionysus. In Roman religion, Dionysus’s counterpart was Bacchus, and his female followers were called bacchantes. e extraordinary skill of the carver is revealed by the masterful rendering of the drapery of the maenad’s dress, as well as the details of her face and hair.

Most of the cameos of that time were carved in two colour layers, had an oval shape, were not very thick, fairly small size with the carving covering the whole surface.

Love and marriage

In the Roman world, the joining of the right hands of two parties, known as dextrarum iunctio, was widely used to represent the oath of delity and loyalty taken by a married couple. e practice was steeped in traditions, superstitions, laws, festivities and social expectations, many of which we would recognise today. e giving of an engagement ring was one such example. In the early Republic iron was used which gave way to gold in the more opulent later Republic.

e Jonest Collection also includes a Roman engagement band from the 2nd-3rd century AD, featuring the inscription Anima Dvlcis Vivas Mecv as Sweet soul, live with me). e ring exempli es the Roman openwork technique known as opus interrasile which consisted of cutting with a chisel in sheet gold.

During the ceremony, the father of the bride would promise his daughter to the groom who in turn would give

Opposite page Lucas van Leyden (1494–1533)

e Betrothal, 1527, image public domain

Right Roman couple joining hands dextrarum iunctio; the bride’s belt is knotted showing she is tied to him, image public domain

Below 6th or 7th-century Byzantine wedding ring, image courtesy of SJ Phillips

Below right A 6th or 7th-century Byzantine gold, garnet and pearl owerhead cluster ring, image courtesy of SJ Phillips

Bottom right A 6th-century Byzantine ‘dome’ ring, image courtesy of SJ Phillips

Roman weddings

Prior to the adoption of gold rings, wedding bands were made of iron –sometimes with key motifs to show the wife had control of the household goods. Iron was also said to have protective and healing properties. According to Pliny, the rings were often magnetised prior to the betrothal ceremony. He wrote: “For if a circle is traced with iron…it will preserve both infant and adult from all noxious influences…Water in which iron has been plunged at a white heat, is useful, as a potion, in many diseases, dysentery more particularly.”

the fourth nger of the left hand which they believed led

Byzantine period. Rings became an integral part of the wedding ceremony and a new concept (one which we still hold to today) was born of having three rings in the nuptial proceedings – one engagement ring for the woman

One of the Jonest Collection rings shows the growing role of the church in marriage. e union was no longer just about the couple, now they were being joined in the eyes of God. e rings often showing the couple alongside a cross (or sometimes the gure of Jesus) denoted the

‘In ancient cultures, such as the Egyptians and Greeks, the heart was more associated with the seat of the mind, soul, and emotions in a broader sense, rather than specifically romantic love’

Byzantine rings were also often inspired by architecture, with makers creating buildings-in-miniature, topped by domes or pyramids and embellished with beading and occasionally gemstones, as seen in a 6th-century dome ring (bottom). A rare example of the use of gems in Byzantine jewellery can be found in a large gold, garnet and pearl owerhead cluster ring from the 6th or

By this period the Roman art of engraving intaglios

and

move from the secular to the religious. e ring below features a married couple in luxurious attire with a Latin cross and the inscription (O)monia, meaning harmony or concord.

Ireland itself.

POWER of the RUBY

Late medieval and Renaissance lapidaries were convinced of the physical properties of gems, ascribing them with magical powers. Using Roman and Greek sources, they associated rubies with love, passion, and wealth, with some believing rubies could protect against evil and foretell danger by darkening. Rubies also held religious significance in Christian symbolism, representing the blood of Christ and serving as a symbol of martyrdom and sacrifice.

More usual in the Middle Ages as a sign of romantic love is the posy, or motto ring with the inscription most commonly placed, at rst, on the outside of the ring. poésie meaning poem with the words chosen for romantic declarations being in French – for centuries the universal language of love.

Poesy rings enjoyed a resurgence in the 17th century, when engraving techniques developed so that jewellers could engrave personal messages inside the ring, considered more intimate, leaving more decorative engraving motifs for the outside, which were often enamelled. is is a feature in another ring from the collection, this time a 16th-century design which is

My Heart is Yours), with each word spaced by a pink enamelled heart (below).

Other early examples in French include the words

Gimmel rings

Gimmel rings, also called joint rings, were commonly used in 16th and 17th-century England to signify a betrothal or marriage. e name gimmel comes from the Latin word gemellus, meaning ‘twin’. ey are made up of two or three hoops or links that t together to form one complete ring. A gimmel ring featured in the marriage ceremony of Protestant reformer Martin Luther (1483–1546) and Katharina von Bora (1499–1552), a former Cistercian nun.

While they had obvious romantic implications they were also used in friendship. As the fashion for them grew among the nobility across Europe, including Italy, Germany, and England, the designs became more intricate, with added embellishments like gemstones and detailed engravings. Inscriptions could include the names of the couple as well as words from the Bible reminding them of the lasting nature of marriage.

e practice of separating and rejoining the bands during the marriage ceremony becoming a tradition.

‘While they had obvious romantic implications they were also in friendship. As the fashion for them grew among the nobility across Europe, including Italy, Germany, and England, the designs became more intricate’

Deep red rubies were imported into Europe from India, Sri Lanka, and Burma. From Afghanistan, merchants brought paler, pinkish stones known as balas, or spinel rubies, which were not as prized because of their less brilliant colouration.

With ideas taken from the European Renaissance there was a renewed interest in classical arts and the emergence of more elaborate ring designs.

Artisans began to incorporate diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds into rings, using prong settings that elevated the stones and allowed light to pass through them. Diamonds had been table-cut, the simplest of all methods of faceting a diamond, consisting of removing the

But the invention of the faceting technique, which involved cutting gemstones into shapes that would re ect light more e ectively, was another signi cant advancement that made rings more visually striking.

e majority of rings were simple with a plain hoop rising towards the apex of the bezel containing a single gemstone. Larger stones were encased in a ‘pie-dish’ bezel or in collets reinforced with claws.

Many gem-set rings in the Jonest collection date from the 15th and 16th centuries similar to those seen in portraits of monarchs including Jane Seymour (right) and Elizabeth I.

Rings through the ages

Left A 13th-century gold signet ring set with a Roman intaglio of an ant, c. 2nd to 3rd century AD, image courtesy of SJ Phillips

Below left Hans Holbein the Younger (1498–1543) Hermann von Wedigh III, 1532 1536, image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Below right Gold signet ring with the badge of Richard II dating from the late 14th early 15th century, image courtesy of SJ Phillips

First British signet rings

Possibly the earliest surviving seal matrix from England is a late 7th or early 8th-century ring, now in Norwich Castle Museum. During the Middle Ages, with the invention of sealing wax, signet rings transitioned from having a raised carving, to intaglio, which meant their design was sunken. is would leave an impression in the wax more e ectively. Almost every person of nobility wore a signet ring engraved with their family’s crest or coat of arms.

One of the biggest innovations in the Middle Ages was the introduction of heraldry as a theme. Designs became more ornate with the bezels supported by shoulders engraved in bright colours. Over time, sealing in wax gradually became less elitist and by the middle of the 13th century, freemen adopted the practice.

A highlight of this month’s exhibition is a round gold signet ring with the badge of Richard II dating from the late 14th to early 15th century. e emblem of the lodged hart (a deer with its legs folded under him) was worn by the king himself, as seen on the Wilton diptych (a late medieval religious panel painting today in the National Gallery) and given to his followers.

rock crystal, amethyst, steatite, and gold. e designs were conservative and simple, and famous examples include those found in the tomb of Huy, Viceroy of Nubia under Tutankhamun (c. 1337-1327 BC).

In 600 BC, signets with metal bezels of bronze, silver, and gold appear in Greece often engraved with natural imagery and miniatures of Greek sculpture and art. roughout the Roman period, the signet ring moved from iron to gold and silver as the wealth of the Empire increased.

Use of precious stones for sealing characterised the 12th and 13th centuries, as seen in a 13th-century gold signet ring set from the Jonest collection. It features a much earlier Roman cornelian intaglio of an ant, c. 2nd-3rd century AD (above). e ant is traditionally associated with the Roman goddess Ceres – the goddess of grain and fertility (and where the word ‘cereal’ comes from). e ring was probably intended to bring prosperity to its wearer.

e majority of signet rings dating from these periods were destroyed when the owner died. is is because they were unique and it avoided any possibility of forged documents appearing after a nobleman’s death.

‘The ring features a much earlier Roman cornelian intaglio (c. 2nd- 3rd centu y AD)

Memento mori rings

roughout history philosophers from Plato onwards have sought to remind us that our time on Earth is limited and, in life, we should prepare for death.

In the Middle Ages a preoccupation with mortality, known as momento mori – or literally ‘remember you st die’– was commonplace. As Christianity became idespread the idea was infused with the notion only a od life will lead to immortality.

e philosophy sparked a demand for jewellery and rings depictingsigns of passing time – from skulls to hourglasses reminding the wearer that time is short. It embraced the phrase Vanitas vanitatum, et omnia as (broadly translated as Everything is vanity) ecting the idea earthly life is ultimately empty.

At the same time Vanitas paintings were popular, as still life pieces thatdepicted skulls, rotting fruit, melting candles and clocks as symbols of the transience of life

Fede rings started to incorporate such images within them as a reminder that any earthly union is nite.

e theme assumed even greater importance in 17th century when as a result of war, famine and the plague, mortality rates reached very high levels. Examples similar to a 16th-century British gold and enamel ring, featuringa white death’s head and the o Momento Mori in Roman capitals (above), can be seen in a number of o cial portraits of the day.

Mourning jewellery

By the mid 17th century momento mori rings among the well-o had merged into memorial rings marking the death of an individual. It became the custom among

gold and enamel ring, featuring a white skull and the motto Momento Mori in Roman capitals, image courtesy of SJ Phillips

Below right Early 17th century British ring in gold and enamel with the words Momento Mori, image courtesy of SJ Phillips

fastened with metal clasps.

Marvels in Miniature: e Jonest Collection of Rings can be seen at the jewellers SJ Phillips, 26 Bruton Street (2nd oor), London, W1J 6QL from October 7-11 for more details go to www.sjphillips.com

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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

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, Oct 8

Bonhams

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

www.bonhams.com

Fine and Rare Wines (Online) ends Oct 1

Old Master Paintings (Online) ends Oct 2

20th/21st Century Art Evening Sale, Oct 10

Impressionist and Modern Art, Oct 11

Post-War and Contemporary Art, Oct 11

Modern and Contemporary African Art, Oct 16

The Rory Gallagher Collection, Oct 17

Design and Contemporary Ceramics (Online), Oct 14-23

Orientalist Art, Oct 23

Bonhams

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

www.bonhams.com

London Luzury: Handbags and Fashion (Online) ends Oct 8

Silver and Objects of Vertu (Online), ends Oct 9

The Marine Sale, Oct 16

Vernacular Furniture, Folk and Naïve Art, and Textiles (Online), Oct 4-22

Knightsbridge Jewels (Online) Oct 21-29

Chiswick Auctions

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

www.chiswickauctions.co.uk

Designer Handbags and Fashion, Oct 2

The Gerard Collection of Chinese Export Silver, Oct 9

Prints and Multiples, Oct 17

Islamic and Indian Art, Oct 23

Chiswick Auctions

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

www.chiswickauctions.co.uk

Photographica, Oct 22

Interiors, Homes and Antiques (Timed Online), Oct 11-27

Christie’s

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

Contemporary Edition (Online), ends Oct 1

Modern British and Irish Art Evening, Oct 16

Modern British and Irish Art Day, Oct 17

Fine and Rare Wines and Spirits (Online) Oct 10-22

Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds including Rugs and Carpets, Oct 24

Elmwood’s 101 Talbot Road

London, W11 2AT, 0207 096 8933

www.elmwoods.co.uk

Important Jewels, Oct 2

Fine Jewellery, Oct 9, 23

Jewellery, Oct 16

Forum Auctions

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

Books and Works on Paper (Online), Oct 10. 24

Editions 1500-2024, Oct 24

Hansons

6 Parkley’s Parade, Upper Ham Road, Richmond, TW10 5LF 0207 018 9300 www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk

Silver, Jewellery, Watches, Fine Art and Antiques Auction: Including Music Memorabilia, Musical Instruments and Vintage Vinyl, Oct 31

Lyon & Turnbull

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

www.lyonandturnbull.com

London Jewellery, Oct 23

Travel and Vintage Posters, Oct 30

Lalique, Oct 31

Modern Made, Modern, Post-War

and Contemporary Art, Design, Craft and Studio Ceramics, Oct 31-Nov 1

Noonans

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

The Puddester Collection (pt 2), Oct 1-2

The Mount Damavand Collection of Banknotes, Oct 3

British Trade Tokens, Tickets and Passes, Oct 8

Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria, Oct 9

Coins and Historical Medals, Oct 16

The Silich Collection of Historical and Art Medals, Oct 16

British and Irish Banknotes, Oct 17

Ancient Coins and Antiquities, Oct 22

Phillips

30 Berkeley Square, London, W1J 6EX, 020 7318 4010 www.phillips.com

Modern and Contemporary Art Evening Sale, Oct 10

Modern and Contemporary Art Day Sale, Oct 11

Damien Hirst (Online) Oct 17

Olympia Auctions

25 Blythe Road, London W14 0PD, 020 7806 5541 www.olympiaauctions.com

Paintings, Works on Paper and Sculpture, Oct 2

From the Studio: Work from Artists’ Estates, Oct 2

British Watercolours, Oct 2

20th-Century Design and Audio, Oct 16

Modern and Contemporary African and Middle Eastern Art, Oct 30

Roseberys

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

www.roseberys.co.uk

Fine and Decoratives, Oct 2

Traditional Home (Live Online), Oct 16

Modern Home (Live Online), Oct 16

Antiquities, Islamic and Indian Arts, Oct 25

Sloane Street Auctions 158-164 Fulham Road, SW10 9PR, 020 3915 8340 www.sloanestreetauctions.com

Asian and Islamic Art: To include Works From the Islamic, Indian and Asian Regions, Oct 23

Sotheby’s

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

Contemporary Evening Auction, Oct 9

Contemporary Day Auction, Oct 10

Modern and Contemporary Middle East (Online) Oct 8-22

Arts of the Islamic World and India, Oct 23

Finest and Rarest Whisky (Online) Oct 18-Nov 1

Timeline Auctions

23-24 Berkeley Square London W1J 6HE, 020 7129 1494 www.timelineauctions.co.uk

None listed in October

SOUTH EAST AND EAST

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

Bishop and Miller

19 Charles Industrial Estate, Stowmarket, Suffolk, IP14 5AH, 01449 673088 bishopandmillerauctions.co.uk

Sound and Vision, Oct 2

Bishop and Miller

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

bishopandmillerauctions.co.uk

Antique Textiles and Fashion, Oct 30-31

The Oak Interior, Oct 30-31

Bellmans

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

www.bellmans.co.uk

Wines and Spirits, Oct 7

Antiques and Interiors, Oct 14-15

Old Master, British and European Paintings, Oct 16

Fine Jewellery, Oct 17

Burstow & Hewett

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

www.burstowandhewett.co.uk

Homes and Interiors. General Collectables, Ceramics, Sculpture, and Pictures and Prints, Oct 2, 30

Homes and Interiors. Jewellery and Silver, Furniture, Rugs, Garden Ornaments, Oct 3, 31

Fine Antique Sale, Oct 17

Fine Art and Sculpture, Oct 17

Luxury Watches, Fine Jewellery and Silver, Oct 25

Catherine Southon

Auctioneers Kingsley House, 5 High Street, Chislehurst, BR7 5AB Kent, 020 8396 6970

www.catherinesouthon.co.uk

Antiques and Jewellery, Oct 16

Clifford Cross Auctions

Auction Halls, The Chase, Wisbech, PE13 1RF 01945 584200

www.cliffordcrossauctions.co.uk

General Auction, Oct 4, 10, 17, 24, 31

Clarke and Simpson, Campsea Ashe, Nr. Wickham Market, Suffolk, IP13 0PS 01728 746323 www.clarkeandsimpson.co.uk

Weekly Sale, Oct 7, 14, 21, 28 Veteran Tractors and Bygones, Oct 5

Henry Adams Auctions

Baffins Hall, Baffins Lane, Chichester, PO19 1UA 01243 532223

www.henryadamsfineart.co.uk

A Selected Fine Art and Antiques Auction to include Silver and Jewellery, Oct 17

The Canterbury Auction Galleries 40 Station Road West, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 8AN, 01227 763337 canterburyauctiongalleries.com

Two Day Fine Art and Antique Auction, Oct 4-5

Catherine Southon Auctioneers

Farleigh Court Golf Club, Old Farleigh Road, Selsdon, Surrey, CR6 9PE, 0208 468 1010

www.catherinesouthon.co.uk

e e ee e h eh r t t

Cheffins

Clifton House, Clifton Road, Cambridge, CB1 7EA 01223 213343,

www.cheffins.co.uk

The Interiors Sale, Oct 3

The Art and Design Sale, Oct 24

Ewbank’s

London Rd, Send, Woking, Surrey, 01483 223 101

www.ewbankauctions.co.uk

Cars, Motorbikes, Parts and Automobilia, Oct 2

The Peter Judge Comic Collection, Oct 3

Vintage Posters, Oct 4

Retro Video Games and Consoles, Oct 15

Pre-Loved Vintage and Antique (Timed) Oct 11-18

Tabletop Gaming: Warhammer D&D and More, Oct 23

Interiors and Modern Design, Oct 24

Contemporary Art and Editions, Oct 24

Vintage Fashion, Oct 25

Vintage Posters and Memorabilia - Halloween Special, Oct 31

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, Oct 12

Gorringes

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

www.gorringes.co.uk

Weekly House and Gardens, Oct 7

Interiors and Decorative Arts, Oct 8

Weekly Featuring Militaria and Medals, Oct 14

Silver, Jewellery and Watches, Oct 15

Weekly Featuring Textiles, Oct 21

Weekly Featuring Books, Oct 28

Hansons The Pantiles Arcade, 49 The Lower Pantiles, Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN2 5TE, 01892 573540

www.hansonauctioneers.co.uk

None listed in October.

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

www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk

Fine Jewellery, Wine and Spirits, Oct 11

John Nicholson’s Longfield, Midhurst Road, Fernhurst,

Haslemere, Surrey, GU27 3HA, 01428 653727

www.johnnicholsons.com

Saturday Antique and General Auction, Oct 5

Lacy Scott & Knight 10 Risbygate St, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 3AA, 01284 748 623 www.lskauctioncentre.co.uk

Home and Interiors, Oct 18

Toys and Models, Oct 24

Lockdales Auctioneers

52 Barrack Square, Martlesham Heath, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP5 3RF 01473 627110

www.lockdales.com

Paper Collectables, Oct 1-2

The Fine Sale, Oct 8-9

Mander Auctioneers

The Auction Centre

Assington Road

Newton, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 0QX, 01787 211847

www.manderauctions.co.uk

Antiques and Interiors, Oct 12

Parker Fine Art Auctions

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

www.parkerfineartauctions.com

Fine Paintings and Frames, Oct 3

Reeman Dansie

8 Wyncolls Road, Severalls

Business Park, Colchester, Essex, CO4 9HU, 01206 754754

www.reemandansie.com

Homes and Interiors, Oct 15-16

Toys from the Collection of the Late Barry Butcher, Part 6, Oct 16

Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers

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

www.sworder.co.uk

Modern and Contemporary Art

To include the David and Pam McCleave Collection, Oct 1-2

Homes and Interiors (Online) Oct 8, 29

Coins (including Historical Medals Banknotes and Tokens) (Online) Oct 4-13

Design, Oct 22

Books and Maps (Online), Oct 18-27

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

Die-cast Model Vehicles and

Accessories, Die-cast Model Figures and Accessories, Model Trains and Railways, Tinplate and Mechanical Toys and Models, Dolls, Dolls’ Houses and Accessories, Teddy Bears and Other Soft Toys, Miscellaneous Toys and Games, Oct 2 (10am start)

Silver and Plate, Jewellery,Oct 2 (1pm start)

Furiture, Oct 3 and 31 (10am start)

Arts and Crafts Furniture, Arts and Crafts Metalwork and Applied Art, Collectors’ Items, Works of Art and Light Fittings, Rugs and Carpets, Oct 3 (1pm start)

Coins, Banknotes and Medallions, Oct 9

Wristwatches and Pocket Watches, Clocks and Barometers, Cameras and Scientific Instruments, Oct 17

Prints, Maps and Posters, Decorative Posters, Silver and Plate, Jewellery, Oct 30

Tribal Art, Antiquities, Natural History, Collectors’ Items, Works of Art and Light Fittings, Needleworks, Textiles and Clothing, Rugs and Carpets, Oct 31

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

Blyth Barn Furniture Auction, Oct 1, 8, 15, 22, 29 Antiques and Interiors, Oct 4, 11, 18, 25

Special Antiques, Oct 10

Sound and Vision, Oct 15

W&H Peacock Auctioneers

Eastcotts Park, Wallis Way Bedford, Bedfordshire MK42 0PE, 01234 266 366 www.peacockauction.co.uk

Wine and Spirits, Oct 11

W&H Peacock Auctioneers 24 Newnham Street, Bedford Bedfordshire, MK40 3JR 01234 269082

www.peacockauction.co.uk

None listed in October

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

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.adampartridge.co.uk

Fine Art, Antiques & Collectors’ Items with Jewellery, Silver and Watches, Oct 28

Auctioneum Broadlands Fruit Farm, Box Road, Bathford, Bath BA1 7LR, 01225251303 www.auctioneum.co.uk

Contemporary Art, Oct 30 Auctioneum East Bristol, Unit 1, Hanham Business Park, Memorial Road, Bristol, BS15 3JE, 0117 967 1000 www.auctioneum.co.uk

None listed in October

Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood

St. Edmund’s Court, Okehampton Street, Exeter EX4 1DU, O1392 41310

www.bhandl.co.uk

The Autumn Auction, Oct 15-16 Antiquarian Book Auction, Oct 29

British Bespoke Auctions

The Old Boys School, Gretton Rd, Winchcombe, Cheltenham, GL54 5EE 01242 603005

www.bespokeauctions.co.uk

Automobilia, Militaria, Silver, Antiques and Collectables, Oct 31

Chilcotts The Dolphin Saleroom, High Street, Honiton, Devon, EX14 1HT, 01404 47783 www.chilcottsauctions.co.uk

Ceramics, Pictures and Works of Art; Good Antiques and 20th Century Design, Oct 12

Chorley’s

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

Fine Art and Antiques to include Early Oak, Walnut and Pewter, Oct 22-23

Dawsons

Unit 8 Cordwallis Business Park, Clivemont Rd, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 4BU, 01628 944100

www.dawsonsauctions.co.uk

Fine Jewellery,Watches and Jewellery, Oct 24

Fine Wine, Whisky, Rare Spirits

and Cigars, Oct 30

Entertainment Memorabilia, Oct 30

Fine Art, Antiques and Oriental Art, Oct 31

Dominic Winter Mallard House, Broadway Lane, South Cerney, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 5UQ, 01285 860006

www.dominicwinter.co.uk

Printed Books and Maps, Travel and Exploration including India and Central Asia, Oct 9

British and European Paintings, Old Master Prints and Drawings, 20th Century Pictures and Prints, Oct 16

Historic Textiles and Antiques, 20th Century Ceramics and Studio Pottery, Oct 17

Dreweatts Donnington Priory Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 2JE 01635 553 553

www.dreweatts.com

Art Live, Oct 3

Old Master, British and European Art, Oct 9

Interiors, Oct 10

Books and Works on Paper (Online), Oct 10, 24

Jewellery, Watches and Luxury Accessories, Oct 17

Fine Wine, Champagne, Vintage Port and Spirits, Oct 22

Modern and Contemporary Art, Oct 23

Duke’s Brewery Square, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 1GA, 0105 265080 www.dukes-auctions.com

Sporting and Natural History, Oct 10

The Autumn Auction, Oct 9 Art an Design post 1880, Oct 10

Gardiner Houlgate

9 Leafield Way, Corsham, Wiltshire, SN13 9SW, 01225 812912

www.gardinerhoulgate.co.uk

The Watch Auction - The Fred Crampton Collection - Part II, Oct 21

The Watch Auction, Wristwatches, Oct 22

The Watch Auction, Pocket Watches, Oct 23

Fine Clocks and Related Items, Oct 24

Hansons Auctioneers

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

www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk

Fine Art, Antiques and Interiors: to include Toys, Oct 23

Harper Field Auctioneers

The Stroud Auction Saleroom Ebley Road, Stonehouse, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL10 2LN 01453 873800

www.harperfield.co.uk

October Auction, To include Toys, Musical Instruments, Pictures and Paintings, Books, Ephemera, Stamps, Vinyl Records, Cameras, Scientific Instruments and Weights and Scales, Oct 9-10

Kinghams 10-12 Cotswold

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

www.kinghamsauctioneers.com

Fine & Decorative Arts, Oct 3-4

Cotswold Interiors, Oct 17-18

Lawrences Auctioneers Ltd

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

www.lawrences.co.uk

None listed in October

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

www.davidlay.co.uk

Antiques and Interiors, Oct 3-4

Lay’s Auctions

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

www.davidlay.co.uk

Jewellery and Luxury Fashion, Oct 10

Mallams Oxford

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

www.mallams.co.uk

Art and Music, Oct 23

Mallams Cheltenham

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

www.mallams.co.uk

Country House Sale, Oct 2

Mallams Abingdon

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

www.mallams.co.uk

None listed in October

Moore Allen & Innocent

Burford Road Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 5RH, 01285 646050

www.mooreallen.co.uk

Vintage And Antique Furniture Auction, Oct 16-17

Vintage And Antique Furniture Auction (Timed), Oct 18-27

Nesbits Auctioneers & Appraisers 7 Clarendon Road, Southsea, PO5 2ED, 023 9229 5568

www.nesbitsauctions.co.uk

General Auction, Oct 9

Netherhampton Salesrooms

Salisbury Auction Centre, Salisbury Road, Netherhampton, Salisbury, SP2 8RH. 01722 342044

Sporting Goods, ends Oct 2

General Household Furniture and Effects, Oct 4-9, 25-30

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

www.serrell.com

Interiors, Oct 17

Special Auction Services

Plenty Close, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 5RL 01635 580 595

www.specialauctionservices.

Popular Toys and Trains Auction, Oct 1

Photographica and Cameras Auction, Oct 8

Watch and Clock Auction, Oct 15

Coin, Medallion and Bank Note Auction, Oct 22

Military and Collectables Auction, Oct 29

The Cotswold Auction Company

Bankside Saleroom, Love Lane, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 1YG, 01285 642420

www.cotswoldauction.co.uk

Pictures, Antiques and Interiors, Oct 15-16

The Cotswold Auction Company

Chapel Walk Saleroom, Cheltenham, Gloucesterhire, GL50 3DS, 01242 256363

www.cotswoldauction.co.uk

Modern Art and Design, Vintage Fashion and Textiles, Oct 29

The Pedestal

The Dairy, Stonor Park, Henley-onThames, Oxfordshire RG9 6HF, 01491 522733

www.thepedestal.com

None listed in October

Wessex Auction Rooms

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

Antiques, Collectables and Furniture, Oct 12, 26

Two-Day Vinyl Records and Memorailia, Oct, date tbc Toys, Oct 31 to Nov 1

Woolley & Wallis

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

Furniture, Works of Art and Clocks, Oct 2-3

Design, Oct 17

Silver and Objects of Vertu, Oct 22-23

Fine Jewellery, Oct 30-31

EAST MIDLANDS: Inc.

Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Sheffield

Bamfords

The Derby Auction House, 46 Nottingham Road, Spondon, Derby DE21 7NL 01332 210 000

www.bamfords-auctions.co.uk

Antiques, Interiors, Estates and Collectables, Oct 2, 16

Bamfords

The Bakewell Auction House, Peak Shopping Village Chatsworth Road, Rowsley, Derbyshire, DE4 2JE, 01629 730 920

www.bamfords-auctions.co.uk

The Bakewell Country Home Interiors and Collectors’ Auction Including Furniture, Ceramics, Textiles, Jewellery, Contemporary Design etc, Oct 23

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

www.gildings.co.uk

Antiques and Collectors, Oct 1

Live Steam and Model Railway, including the Gordon Redpath Collection, Oct 8

Golding Young & Mawer

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

www.goldingyoung.com

Bourne Toy, Transport and Automobilia Sale, Oct 9

Bourne Collective Sale, Oct 23-24

Golding Young & Mawer

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

www.goldingyoung.com

Grantham Collective Sale, Oct 16-17

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, Oct 2-3, Oct 30-31

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

www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk

Autumn Auction of Specialist Diecast, Model Railway and Collectable Toys, Oct 17

The Captain Maitland Collection: The Surrender of Napoleon Bonaparte 15 July 1815, Oct 31

Irita Marriott Auctioneers and Valuers Ltd, William’s Yard Derby Road, Melbourne, Derbyshire, DE73 8JR 01332414848

iritamarriottauctioneers.co.uk

Antiques, Oct 17

John Taylors Auction Rooms

The Wool Mart, Kidgate, Louth, Lincolnshire LN11 9EZ 01507 611107

www.johntaylors.com

Antiques, Oct 8

WEST MIDLANDS: Inc.

Birmingham, Coventry, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire

Bigwood Fine Art Auctioneers

The Old School, Tiddington, Stratford-Upon-Avon,

Warwickshire, CV37 7AW

01789 269415

www.bigwoodauctioneers.com

Household and Collectables to include Silver, Jewellery, Porcelain and Furniture, Oct 11

Cuttlestones Ltd

Pinfold Lane, Penkridge Staffordshire ST19 5AP, 01785 714905

www.cuttlestones.co.uk

Antiques and Home, Oct 3, 17

Stamps, Ephemera and Collectables, Oct 16

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

Antiques, Fine Art and Collectables, Oct 1

Pawnbrokers, Jewellery and Watches, Oct 3, 16

Jewellery, Day 1, Oct 8, 22

Jewellery, Day 2, Oct 9, 23

Designer Handbags and Accessories, Oct 15

Jewellery and Costume Jewellery Day 1, Oct 16

Jewellery and Costume Jewellery Day 2, Oct 17

Bags of Costume Jewellery, Oct 18

Monies, Medals and Militaria, Oct 31

Fieldings Mill Race Lane, Stourbridge, DY8 1JN 01384 444140 www.fieldingsauctioneers.co.uk

Decades of Design including Clarice Cliff, Oct 17-18

Everyday Antiques (Timed Online), Oct 23-30

Toys, Model Railway and Comics, Oct 31

Halls Bowmen Way, Battlefield, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY4 3DR, 01743 450700

www.hallsgb.com/fine-art.com

Fine Art, Antiques and Jewellery Auction, Oct 9

Modern and Contemporary Art and Design Auction, Oct 23

Hansons Auctioneers

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

www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk

The Travel and Exploration Library Auction: including Maps, Atlases, Globes, Travel and Topography Books, Oct 8

Silver, Jewellery and Watch Auction, Oct 29

Potteries Auctions

Unit 4A, Aspect Court, Silverdale Enterprise Park, Newcastle, Staffordshire, ST5 6SS 01782 638100

www.potteriesauctions.com

None listed in October

Potteries Auctions

The Cobridge Saleroom, 271 Waterloo Road, Cobridge, Stokeon-Trent, Staffordshire, ST6 3HR 01782 212489

www.potteriesauctions.com

The Etruria Collection: Wade Pottery, Royal Doulton, Moorcroft (Online) Oct 9-20

Trevanion

The Joyce Building, Station Rd, Whitchurch, Shropshire, SY13 1RD, 01928 800 202 www.trevanion.com

Fine Art and Antiques, Oct 16

Warwick & Warwick

Chalon House,Scar Bank, Millers Road, Warwick CV34 5DB. 01926 499031

www.warwickandwarwick.com

Stamps, Oct 2 Coins, Oct 16

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

1818 Auctioneers Junction

36 Auction Centre Crooklands, Milnthorpe, Cumbria, LA7 7FP, 015395 66201

www.1818auctioneers.co.uk

Antique, Vintage and Later Furniture and Furnishings (Timed) Oct 3-20

Paintings Artworks and Imagery inc Affordable Art Auction, Oct 3-20

Antiques, Vintage and Collectables including Objet d’Art Auction, Oct 10-27

Vintage Toys, Models and Railwayana Auction, Oct 10-27

Country Pursuits Auction, Oct 10-27

Adam Partridge Auctioneers

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

www.adampartridge.co.uk

The Christopher Baron Book Collection, Oct 10

Asian Art, Decorative Arts, Books and Musical Instruments, Oct 30 to Nov 1

AUCTION Calendar

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

Adam Partridge Auctioneers

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

www.adampartridge.co.uk

Rock & Pop with Antiques and Collectors’ Items, Oct 2-3

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

Silver, Jewellery and Watches, Oct 2

The Collectors’ Auction, Oct 3 Homes and Interiors Auction, Oct 22

The Militaria Auction, Oct 24

Modern Pictures Auction, Oct 30

Capes Dunn

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

www.capesdunn.com

Northern Artists, Oct 1

Interiors, Vintage and Modern Furniture, Oct 14, 28

European and Oriental Ceramics and Glass, Oct 15

Antiquarian and Collectable Books, Maps, Prints and

Affordable Art, Oct 29

Hawleys Auctioneers, Albion House, Westgate, North Cave, Brough, Beverley, East Yorkshire, HU15 2NJ 01482 868193

www.hawleys.info

None listed in October

David Duggleby Auctioneers

The Gallery Saleroom, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, YO11 1XN, 01723 507 111 www.davidduggleby.com

Furniture, Rugs and Interiors, Oct 9

Jewellery and Watches, Oct 10

The Silver Sale, Oct 10

Affordable Art, Oct 10, 31

Antiques and Decorative Objects, Oct 10

Affordable Antiques and Collectors, Oct 11

Musical Instruments, Oct 18

Kane Cunningham: Northern Expression, Oct 19

Cameras, Maritime and Scientific Instruments, Oct 25

Fossils, Entomology and Taxidermy, Oct 25

Furniture, Rugs and Interiors, Oct 30

Jewellery and Watches, Oct 31

Duggleby Stephenson

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

Fine Jewellers’ Retirement Collection, Oct 2

Jewellery and Watches, Oct 3

The Silver Sale, Oct 3

Antiques and Decorative Objects, Oct 3

Affordable Antiques and Collectors, Oct 3

Fine and Affordable Art, Oct 4

Furniture, Rugs and Interiors, Oct 4

Elstob Ripon Business Park, Charter Road, Ripon, North Yorkshire HG4 1AJ, 01677

333003

www.elstob.co.uk

Fine Art and Antiques, Oct 9

Omega Auctions Ltd

Sankey Valley Industrial Estate, Newton-Le-Willows, Merseyside WA12 8DN, 01925 873040

www.omegaauctions.co.uk

The Beatles Collection, Oct 8

Richard Winterton

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

www.richardwinterton.co.uk

Two-Day Antiques and Home Sale, Oct 7-8, Oct 14-15, Oct 21-22, Oct 28-29

Richard Winterton

Tamworth Auction Rooms, 34 -35 Church Street, Tamworth, B79 7BX, 01827 217746

www.richardwinterton.co.uk

Toys, Trains and Militaria, Oct 23

Ryedale Auctioneers

Cooks Yard, New Rd, Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, YO62 6DZ, 01751 431 544

www.ryedaleauctioneers.com Antiques, Interiors and Collectables, Oct 3-5 Collectables and Militaria, Oct 17-19

Sheffield Auction Gallery

Windsor Road, Heeley, Sheffield, S8 8UB, 0114 281 6161

www.sheffieldauctiongallery.com

Specialist Collectable Toys, Oct 3

Specialist Collectable Coins, Oct 17

Specialist Collectable Stamps, Oct 17

Specialist Collectable Toys, Oct 31

Shelby’s Auctioneers Ltd

Unit 1B Westfield House, Leeds LS13 3HA, 0113 250 2626 www.shelbysauctioneers.net

Antiques and General Sale, (Online) Oct 8, 22

Tennants Auctioneers

The Auction Centre, Harmby Road, Leyburn, North Yorkshire, DL8 5SG, 01969 623780

20th-Century Design, Oct 5

Modern and Contemporary Art, Oct 5

The Gold Collection – A Single Owner Sale of Royal Mint Gold Coins, Oct 9

Antiques and Interiors, to include Beswick and Border Fine Arts and a Section of Silver, Oct 11

The Giles Sim Collection, pt 1, Oct 18

Antiques and Interiors, Oct 25

Stamps, Postcards and Postal History, Oct 30

Thompson Roddick Callan

The Auction Centre, Marconi Road, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA2 7NA 01228 535 288

www.thomsonroddick.com

Carlisle: Home Furnishings and

Interiors Auction to include Jewellery, Silver, Paintings, Porcelain, Collectables, Furniture Etc. Oct 7

Antiquarian Collectable Books and Related Items, Oct 10

Vectis Auctions Ltd

Fleck Way, Thornaby, Stockton on Tees, TS17 9JZ, 01642 750616

www.vectis.co.uk

Dolls and Bear Auction, Oct 1 Specialist Diecast and Model Auction, Oct 8

Retro Action Man/ Lego Toy Auction, Oct 10

Modern Diecast, Oct 15

Vinyl, Music and Associated Items, Oct 16

Barcelona Collection - Pt 1, Oct 17

Toy Soldiers, Military, Civilian Miniatures, Oct 22

Meccano and Model Train Auction, Oct 23

Model Trains, Oct 24

Star Wars Extravaganza, Oct 29

Matchbox, Single Owner Collection, Oct 30

Wilkinson’s Auctioneers

The Old Salesroom, 28 Netherhall Road, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN1 2PW, 01302 814 884

wilkinsons-auctioneers.co.uk

None listed in October

Wilson55

Victoria Gallery, Market St, Nantwich, Cheshire CW5 5DG 01270 623 878

www.wilson55.com

Fine and Classic, Oct 10

Coins and Banknotes, Oct 26

SCOTLAND

Bonhams 22 Queen St, Edinburgh, EH2 1JX, 0131 225 2266

www.bonhams.com

Whisky (Online) ends Oct 3

Scottish Art, Oct 9

Lyon & Turnbull

33 Broughton Place, Edinburgh, EH1 3RR, 0131 557 8844

www.lyonandturnbull.com

The Art Edit (Live Online), Oct 2

Design Since 1860 Featuring an Aesthetic Interior: The Contents of a London Apartment, Oct 16-17

Travel and Vintage Posters (Live Online)

Oct 30

McTears Auctioneers

31 Meiklewood Road, Glasgow, G51 4GB, 0141 810 2880

www.mctears.co.uk

Antiques and Interiors, Oct 3, 17, 31

Coins and Banknotes, Oct 16

Jewellery, Oct 16

Watches, Oct 16

Thomson Roddick Callan

The Auction Centre, Irongray Road Industrial Estate, Dumfries, DG2 0JE, 01387 721 635

www.thompsonroddick.com

Homes, Furnishings and Interiors, Oct 1

Thomson Roddick Callan

The Auction Centre, 118 Carnethie Street, Edinburgh, EH24 9AL 0131 440 2448 www.thompsonroddick.com

-Home Furnishings and Interiors, Oct 10, 24

Thomson Roddick Callan

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

www.thompsonroddick.com

Interior Sale of Household Furnishings to include Antiques and Modern Furniture. A Large Selection of Ceramics, Glass and Decorative Ware, Assorted Pocket and Wrist Watches, Jewellery, Oct 3

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 t, Oct 2

Jones & Llewelyn

Unit B, Beechwood Trading Estate, Carmarthenshire, SA19 7HR, 01558 823 430

www.jonesandllewelyn.com

General Sale, Oct 5, 19

Rogers Jones & Co

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

www.rogersjones.co.uk

Jewellery and Fine Art, Oct 1, 22

Furniture and Interiors, Oct 15

Rogers Jones & Co

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

www.rogersjones.co.uk

Fine Art and Interiors, Oct 11

IRELAND

Adam’s

26, Stephens Green, Dublin 2, D02 X665, Ireland

00 353 1 6760261 www.adams.ie

Country House Collection at Townley Hall, Oct 15

Mid-Century Modern, Oct 22

Important Irish Art, Sept 25

DeVeres 35 Kildare Street

Dublin, D02 X088. Ireland www.deveres.ie

00 353 (0)-1676 8300

Irish Art, Oct 15

Sheppards

The Square, Durrow, Co. Laois, R32 FN88, Ireland

00 353 (0)57 874 0000 www.sheppards.ie

Gentleman’s Library, Oct 29

Whyte’s

38 Molesworth St. Dublin D02 KF80

Ireland

00 353- (0)1-676 2888 www.whytes.ie

None listed in October.

1 The Square, Church Street, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 5BD 01732 865 988 or 07836233473 cato@lennoxcato.com www.lennoxcato.com

Wednesday 23rd October 2024, 7pm Viewing 3-7pm

Omega Seamasters and pre-1980s Omegas in general.

IWC and Jaeger LeCoultres, all styles. Looking for Reversos. American market filled and 14k pieces possibly, at the right price.

Breitling Top Times, Datoras and 806 Navitimers.

Pre-1960s Rolex models, with a focus in pre-war tanks, tonneaus etc. Gold or silver/steel. Also World War I Rolex 13 lignes etc. Princes.

Longines, Tudors and Zeniths, pre-1970. Even basic steel models in nice condition. All the quirky oddities like Harwoods, Autorists, Wig Wag, Rolls etc, and World War I hunter and semi-hunter wristwatches.

Hotel Victoria, Lowestoft, NR33 0BZ

Early, pre-war ladies’ watches also wanted by Rolex, Jaeger LeCoultre etc. Prefer 1920s/30s deco styles, but early doughnuts also considered.

Guestauctioneer:ElizabethTalbotof TW Gaze

Yorkshire based, but often in London and can easily collect nationwide.

website: www.lowestoftchina.co.uk

email: lowestoftchina@gmail.com telephone: 01986 892736 / 07885 773795

vintagejewellery@yahoo.co.uk or tel 07958 333442

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

The Decorative Fair

www.decorativefair.com 020 7616 9327

Evolution London

Battersea Park

London SW14 8UX, Oct 1-6

Etc Fairs 01707 872140 www.bloomsburybookfair.com

Bloomsbury Book Fair, Turner Suite at Holiday Inn, Coram Street, London, WC1N 1HT, Oct 13

LAPADA Fair 020 7823 3511 lapadalondon.com

LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair Berkeley Square, London W1J 6BR, Oct 22-27

PAD LONDON

+33 1 53 30 85 20 www.padesignart.com

Design & Art Fair

Berkeley Square, London W1J 6EN Oct 8-13

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

A Blackdog Event Ltd www.ablackdogevent.com

The Runway Flea, Debach Airfield, IP13 6QS, Oct 6

Arun Fairs 07563 589725 Rustington Antiques & Collectables Fair, The Woodland Centre, Woodlands Avenue, Rustington, West Sussex, BN16 3HB, Oct 6

Dedham Antiques Fair

Dedham Assembly Rooms, Dedham, High Street, Suffolk, CO7 6HJ, Oct 6

Graham Turner Antiques Fairs

01379 897266

Long Melford Village, Memorial Hall, Chemists Lane, Long Melford, CO10 9LQ, Oct 2

Langley Park Antiques Fair

01379 586134

Langley Park School

Loddon, Norfolk NR14 6BJ, Oct 25-27

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, Oct 13

Cameo Fairs

07790 126967

www.cameofairs.co.uk

Corfe Castle Antiques Fair

Village Hall, East Street, Corfe Castle, Dorset, BH20 5EE, Oct 6

Lyndhurst Antiques Fair, Community Centre, Central Park, High Street, Lyndhurst , SO43 7NY, Oct 19

Drayton Antique & Collectors Fair

07488 549026

Drayton Village Hall

Lockway, Drayton, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4LG, Oct 6

Sga Fairs

07759 380299

Browsers Antique & Collectors Fair.

Pangbourne Village Hall

Pangbourne, Berkshire, RG8 7AN, Oct 26

EAST MIDLANDS

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

Arthur Swallow Fairs

01298 274493 asfairs.com

Antiques & Home Show Lincolnshire Showground,

Lincoln,LN2 2NA, Oct 8

Vintage Flea Market, EXO Centre, Lincolnshire Showground, Lincoln, LN2 2NA, Oct 20

IACF

01636 702326

www.iacf.co.uk

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

Runway Monday at Newark Antiques and Collectors Fair, Oct 28

WEST MIDLANDS

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

B2B Fairs

07774 147197/ www.b2bevents.info

Malvern Flea & Collectors Fair

Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcestershire WR13 6NW, Oct 13

Coin and Medal Fair Ltd 01694 731781

www.coinfairs.co.uk

Midland Coin Fair

National Motorcycle Museum, Bickenhill, Birmingham, B92 0EJ, Oct 13

Continuity Fairs

01584 873 634 www.continuityfairs.co.uk

The Bingley Hall

Antique Home & Vintage Fair Stafford Showground Ltd Weston Rd, Stafford ST18 0BD, Oct 19-20

Elephant Promotions 07947 271947

Antiques collectors Market Staffordshire, Penkridge market, Gas house, Pinfold lane, Staffordshire, ST19 5AP, Oct 3

NORTH

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

Arthur Swallow Fairs 01298 274493 asfairs.com

Antiques & Salvage Market Clay House Farm, Flittogate Ln, Tabley, Knutsford ,WA16 0HJ, Oct 12

Cooper Events 01278784912

www.cooperevents.com

The Chester Decorative, Antiques & Art Fair The County Grandstand, Chester Racecourse, Chester, Cheshire, CH1 2LY, Oct 18-20

Freckleton Antique, Vintage & Collectors Fair 07935 966 574

Freckleton Memorial Village Hall, 17 School Lane, Freckleton, Lancashire, PR4 1PJ, Oct 12

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, Oct 17

Nantwich Town Square Antiques Market, Oct 19

WALES

Continuity Fairs

01584 873 634

www.continuityfairs.co.uk Antiques and Collectors Fair, Mona Showground (off the A55), Holyhead, Anglesey, North Wales LL65 4RW, Oct 12-13

RJG Events

0798 9955541

Beaumaris Antique and Collectors Fair, Beaumaris Leisure Centre Rating Row, Beaumaris Isle of Anglesey LL58 8AL, Oct 20

SCOTLAND

JAC Fairs

07960 198409

Ayr Antique, Vintage & Collectors Fair, Citadel Leisure Centre South Harbour Street

Ayr, Ayrshire KA7 1JB, Oct 26

IRELAND

Antiques Fairs Ireland

Dun Laoghaire Antiques & Collectors Fair 00353 85 862 9007

Royal Marine Hotel

Marine Road

Dun Laoghaire Ireland, Oct 6

Omega Seamasters and pre-1980s Omegas in general.

IWC and Jaeger LeCoultres, all styles. Looking for Reversos. American market filled and 14k pieces possibly, at the right price.

Breitling Top Times, Datoras and 806 Navitimers.

Pre-1960s Rolex models, with a focus in pre-war tanks, tonneaus etc. Gold or silver/steel. Also World War I Rolex 13 lignes etc. Princes.

Longines, Tudors and Zeniths, pre-1970. Even basic steel models in nice condition.

All the quirky oddities like Harwoods, Autorists, Wig Wag, Rolls etc, and World War I hunter and semi-hunter wristwatches.

Early, pre-war ladies’ watches also wanted by Rolex, Jaeger LeCoultre etc. Prefer 1920s/30s deco styles, but early doughnuts also considered.

Yorkshire based, but often in London and can easily collect nationwide.

333442

Labelled/ stamped branded furniture from Georgian to Victorian, eg Thomas Butler, Morgan & Sanders, J Alderman, Ross of Dublin (pictured), Gregory Kane, Wilkinson of Ludgate Hill, Robert James of Bristol, James Winter, W Priest, Samuel Pratt and many others. Tables all types, chairs, bookcases, , Davenport. mirrors etc. Campaign shower.

Georgian chamber horse exercise chair (pictured)

Unusual Georgian to William IV architectural features eg doors, door frames, over door pediments. 18th century staircase spindles and handrail needed. Anything Georgian or Regency with lots of character considered.

Rectangular Georgian fanlight.

Four identical reclaimed Georgian wooden sash windows with boxes, approx 60 high x 37 wide.

Marble fire surrounds from 1750 to 1850ish. White or coloured. Bullseyes, William IV styles etc. Brass Regency reeded fire insert and Victorian griffin grate (pictured)

Human skull, stuffed crocodile/ alligator. Grand tour souvenirs.

LOTS of LOVE

Irita Marriott was abbergasted to nd photographs more usually seen in the world’s most famous museums on the walls of a house in Leighton Buzzard

people in a documentary-montagestyle. His atmospheric townscapes and characters are dark and powerful. In one a at-cappedman seems to look upata n advert for Mary Quant ; while another shows an unsmiling boy holdinga duck in a barren rocky landscape. Both are haunting and strangely futuristic.

Konttinen spent the seventies living and working in Byker, a district in theeast of Newcastle and anarea she fell in love with. Here she photographed and interviewed residents of its mostly deprived terraced houses One of her images depicts agirl in a sparkling dress bouncing on a Spacehopper in a back street.

It’s always nice when a good deed is repaid and I was delighted recently to play a small part in a drama that unfolded over almost 50 years, starting in the northeast of Britain and ending in our saleroom in south Derbyshire.

In 1975, up-and-coming British photographerGraham Smith, then aged just 28, and Finnish-born Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, a year his junior, were using their photography skills to capture life in the north of Britain. She had previously been apprenticed as a fashion photographer in Helsinki, before studying photography in London in the 1960s. She went on to co-found the Amber collective, which moved to the North East in 1969.

Both she and Middlesborough-born Smith were intent on chronicling both the poverty and spirit of the area.At the time, money was tight, with Konttinen even taking a part-time job as a go-go dancer to help ends meet. Luckily help was at hand in theshape ofNorthern Arts, a local group set up to support students. Central to their grant giving was the association’s Alan Knowles, charged with keeping the local arts scene a oat. When Alan left for a job in London and move south, to thank him for his help Smith and Konttinen gave him signed photos of their work.

Byker, Ne wcastle

e images, 11 by Smithand seven by Konttinen, are stunning. Smith’s photographs depictworking class

Above left Graham Smith (b.1947) Corner Clothes Shop with Mary Quant Advert, silver gelatin print, 28 x 28cm, signed. Expected to £300£500, it hammered at £12,000

Above Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen (Finnish, b.1948) Girl on a Spacehopper, Byker, silver gelatin print, 36 x 23.5cm, signed and dated 1970. Expected to make £80-£120, it hammered at £4,600

Right Graham Smith (b.1947) Boy holding a Mallard, silver gelatin print, 9 x 20cm, signed. Expected to make £30-£50, it hammered at £2,400

Alan was pleased to receive their photographic gifts but, busy in his new role, paid little attention to what became of either of the edgling artists.S o i t was unbeknown to him whenboth photographers went on to carve out stellar careers: with Smith’s work appearing in New York’s Museum of Modern Art and London’s V&A and Konttinen’s in the Museum of FineArts, Houston and London’s Tate.

Unknown masterpieces

It was all a long way from Alan’s orbit as he continued his career promoting the arts, film and regional theatres and rais a family. A few of the framed photographs made it onto the walls of his house in Leighton Buzzard.

Which is exactly where I found them 50 years later at a routine house valuation. I have always loved black and white photos and when Isaw them they gave me chills.

At the time Alan, by then a great-grandfather of 82, and his wife, were in need of help themselves, this time to pay for Alan’s care home.

e Knowles were as shocked att he photos’ potential value as I was to see them hanging on their hall wall. And they were delighted when Smith’s 11 shots went on to sell for £23,230, while Konttinen’s made £7,320. It was a heartwarming experience to be part ofa story that saw a good deed repaid.

Irita Marriott is an expert on a number of programmes he also runs herown auction house in Derbyshire,for more details go to www.iritamarriottauctioneers.co.uk. r u .

‘When Alan left for a job with the British Film Institute in London and move south, to thank him for his help Smith and Konttinen gave him signed photos of their work’