Antique Collecting December January 2024

B E N TO N E N D A R T I S T S TO B U Y I R I TA M A R R I OT T J O I N S T H E T E A M G I F T I D E A S

DEC/JAN 2023-24

Post ofas Christsm Pa t

THE HOT MARKET for SKI LODGE CHIC

ANTIQUE COLLECTING

tamps Seasonalosut for to look

Why furniture designed for Swedish cabins is taking collectors by storm

VOL 58 N0.7 DEC/JAN 2023-24

8

Industry Experts

reveal what they will be collecting in 2024

Inside:

WASSAIL & HEARTY

CHARLES HANSON RAISES A SPECIAL XMAS GLASS BRICK BY BRICK HOW TO BUILD A PROFITABLE LEGO COLLECTION

DECK the HALLS

From Chatsworth to Chartwell, discover the UK’s finest country houses celebrating in style

ALSO INSIDE Focus on Tiffany lamps • Regency hunt table • Sale previews

A FRENCH TOUCH

More than 6,000 auctions across Europe Old Masters Paintings - Furniture - Jewellery - Books...

FIRST WORD

Welcome While the Greek philosophers may have contemplated life and death under an olive tree on a sundrenched mountain, it’s the bleak mid-winter which puts us in reflective mood. Christmas is the time for nostaligia, in fact, it sums up sentimentality like nothing else.

How many of us this year will set about recreating our childhood experiences, from putting clementines in youngsters’ stockings to force feeding the family Christmas pudding?

Of course, as collectors, we are arguably more prone to nostaligia than the rest of the population. But why is it we yearn for days gone by, even though we know they were almost certainly grimmer than today?

I was especially touched this month by our new columnist, Irita Marriott’s reminiscences on her Latvian childhood Christmas and how the sight and smell of festives spices can reel her back to her girlhood in the same way an antique can take us back in time. You will know Irita from a host of TV programmes including BBC1’s Antiques Road Trip, Celebrity Antiques Road Trip and good old Bargain Hunt. As a young dealer and one who didn’t grow up in the UK, I look forward to her insights in the coming months.

Of course, as you’d expect at this time of year, we haven’t spared the nostalgia in this month’s issue. Charles Hanson gets busy with a wassail cup on page 55, we remember Christmas stamps from years gone by on page 45, and Lego – surely the toy most redolent of our childhood – takes centre stage on page 42.

On page 48 we take a whistletop tour around some of the UK’s finest country houses, from Chatsworth to Chartwell, to see what festive plans they have and, on page 16, everyone’s favourite furniture expert, David Harvey, gets to grips with an unusal hunt table designed to serve drinks before and after the Boxing Day meet. If you are stuck for a new collecting idea in 2024, take a look on page 56 where eight industry experts reveal the secrets behind their collections. Finally, may I take this opportunity to wish you and yours a Happy Chistmas and a wonderful 2024.

IN THIS ISSUE

INGRID NILSON

Behind the scenes with the fair organiser, page 8

IRITA MARRIOTT

Our new columnist describes a Latvian Christmas, page 24

OLIVER MILLER

Reveals highlights from the Lucinda Riley collection, page 35

Georgina Wroe, Editor

PS Unless you order by December 8, we cannot guarantee books from the offer on page 62 will be with you by Christmas, but should arrive early in the new year.

ROBERT OPIE

KEEP IN TOUCH Write to us at Antique Collecting, Riverside House Dock Lane, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 1PE, or email magazine@accartbooks.com.

Visit the website at www.antique-collecting.co.uk and follow us on Twitter and Instagram @AntiqueMag

ONLY £38

The ephemera collector on how he got started, page 56

We love! this collection of coloured glass baubles which has an estimate of £30-£50 at Special Auction Services’ sale in Newbury on December 5.

for 10 issues

THE TEAM Editor: Georgina Wroe, georgina. wroe@accartbooks.com Online Editor: Richard Ginger, richard.ginger@accartbooks.com Design: Philp Design, james@philpdesign.co.uk Advertising and subscriptions: Charlotte Kettell 01394 389969, charlotte.kettell @accartbooks.com

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ANTIQUE COLLECTING 3

Fine Jewellery, Wristwatches & Silver Wednesday 13 December 2023 at 1pm

featuring in this auction is this rare Rolex Submariner ref. 6538 "Big Crown" stainless steel gentleman's wristwatch, case no.

307XXX, third quarter of 1957. estimate: £6,000 - £8,000

www.bishopandmillerauctions.co.uk Glandford Auction Gallery: 12 Manor Farm, Glandford, nr Holt, Norfolk, NR25 7JP norfolk.enquiries@bm-auctions.co.uk 01263 687342 Stowmarket saleroom: 19 Charles Industrial Estate, Stowmarket, Suffolk, IP14 5AH enquiries@bm-auctions.co.uk 01449 673088

THIS MONTH

REGULARS

48

Contents VOL 58 NO 7 DEC/JAN 2023-24

DEC/JAN 2023-24

THE HOT MARKET for SKI LODGE CHIC

ANTIQUE COLLECTING VOL 58 N0.7 DEC/JAN 2023-24

8

Industry Experts

reveal what they will be collecting in 2024

Inside:

WASSAIL & HEARTY

Editor’s Welcome: Georgina Wroe introduces this month’s bumper Christmas issue

6

Antiques News: What’s going on in December, as well as a look forward to some of the events taking place in January 2024

10 Your Letters: One reader sings the praises of Ely cathedral, while another subscriber questions our enduring obsession with Napoleon

65 Fairs News: Two must-visit London fairs in January and one high-end art fair in Belgium are put under the collecting microscope

12 Around the Houses: A headless statue flies past its estimate, while in the United States a picket fence from the “grassy knoll” makes a killing

66 Fairs Calendar: All the latest events from around the country

16 Waxing Lyrical: David Harvey says ‘tally-ho’ to a mahogany Regency-era hunt table sure to have been used at a Boxing Day meet

Why furniture designed for Swedish cabins is taking collectors by storm

stamps Seasonalout for to look

CHARLES HANSON RAISES A SPECIAL XMAS GLASS BRICK BY BRICK HOW TO BUILD A PROFITABLE LEGO COLLECTION

3

24 Star from the East: New columnist Irita Marriott, star of many antiques TV shows, joins the team

B E N TO N E N D A R T I S T S TO B U Y I R I TA M A R R I OT T J O I N S T H E T E A M G I F T I D E A S

Post ofas Christm Past

65

DECK the HALLS

34

From Chatsworth to Chartwell, discover the UK’s finest country houses celebrating in style

ALSO INSIDE Focus on Tiffany lamps • Regency hunt table • Sale previews

COVER

Christmas tree by stone fireplace, GAP Interiors/ Tria Giovan

FOLLOW US @AntiqueMag

54

12

26 Season to Give: Great ideas on what to give the antique collector in your life this Christmas time 33 Subscription Offer: Give the gift that keeps on giving this year – a subscription to Antique Collecting and you, or a friend, receives a free gift 34 Saleroom Spotlight: The collection of the best-selling Irish author Lucinda Riley goes under the hammer in Suffolk 52 Puzzle Pages: There’s a festive feel to this month’s quiz, courtesy of resident puzzle editor Peter Wade-Wright 54 Dear Santa: Industry experts reveal what they would most like to wake up to under the tree 55 An Auctioneer’s Lot: Charles Hanson raises a very special wassail cup to herald in the festive season 60 Top of the Lots: Cult ‘50s film posters go under the hammer, along with Gucci travel clocks owned by a circus magnate 62 Book Offers: Start 2024 as you mean to go on, increasing your knowledge with a selection of erudite titles from our sister publisher ACC Art Books

68 Auctions Calendar: Never miss another sale with our up-to-date listings from around the UK 74 Marc My Words: Another slice of life from our columnist, the Antiques Roadshow expert Marc Allum

FEATURES 18 Pining for the Fjords: Andreas Seising reveals why the temperature is rising on pine furniture designed for Swedish lodges 28 We Love Lucy: The market for work by the Benton End artist Lucy Harwood is on the up. Antique Collecting goes behind the scenes at a new exhibition 36 King Louis: Art nouveau lights made

by Louis Tiffany are back in vogue, but there’s more to his art than glass lamp shades 42 Lego Maniacs: The longed-for Christmas gift of many children, Lego sets are highly sought after today. But how do you build a collection?

45 Christmas Lickings: Stamp errors are highly collectable – none more so than Christmas stamp errors.

Antique Collecting reports 48 Deck the Halls: Collectors can learn so much from a visit to one of the UK’s country houses. But which are putting on the best festive displays?

56 Call Collect: Stuck for a collecting obsession in 2024? Eight specialists reveal what they collect, and why

TO SUBSCRIBE TODAY VISIT WWW.ANTIQUE-COLLECTING.CO.UK/SUBSCRIBE WEEKDAYS FROM 9.30AM TO 1PM, ANTIQUE COLLECTING 5

NEWS All the latest

WHAT’S ON IN DECEMBER & JANUARY

ANTIQUE

news

With festive cheer in no short supply, there are countless events to delight collectors Stocking filler This year’s Christmas display at Windsor Castle celebrates the 675th anniversary of the Order of the Garter, the UK’s oldest order of chivalry founded in Windsor in 1348.

A 160-foot-long dining table will be laid with porcelain from the Garter service while a Christmas tree topped with a Garter Star will take centre stage in the castle’s crimson drawing room. The order was founded by Edward III who was so inspired by tales of King Arthur and the chivalry of the Knights of the Round Table he set up his own group of honourable knights.

Elsewhere, at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh a decorated Nordmann fir tree will light up the throne room. On December 8, a special evening event explores the life of Mary, Queen of Scots’ birthday.

6 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above The Great

Gallery at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh at Christmas, image courtesy of the Royal Collections Trust Below The Order of the Garter is awarded to senior members of the royal family and 24 others chosen in recognition of their work, image courtesy of the Royal Collections Trust

IN THE FRAME A painting looted by the Nazis 80 years ago has been found in the family of an American GI in Chicago. The landscape by the Viennese artist Johann Franz Nepomuk Lauterer (1700-1733) was stolen from the Bavarian State Painting Collections in Munich in 1945.

Art Recovery International was contacted last year by a Chicago resident who claimed their uncle who had served in the US Army in WWII had brought the painting home.

Founder of Art Recovery International, Christopher A. Marinello, said: “On occasion, we come across cases, such as this, where allied soldiers may have taken objects home as souvenirs or as trophies of war. Being on the winning side doesn’t make it right.”

Above The landscape has returned to Germany after 80 years,

image courtesy of Art Recovery International

Left Alexander Hollweg

(1936–2020) Mr and Mrs Holroyd at Home with Rebecca, 1996 Right An 1805 boy’s tailcoat with 1810 boy’s Pantaloons, © Alasdair Peebles Below left Alexander

Hollweg in his studio, c.1971 Bottom left Alexander

Hollweg (1936–2020) Yarde, 1982

1

Alexander the Great

The artist Alexander Hollweg (1936– 2020) is celebrated in an exhibition in Somerset on view until March 9.

Journeys in Art, at The Museum of Somerset in Taunton, is the largest ever show of Hollweg’s art, featuring paintings and sculpture from all six decades of his career.

In 1973, Hollweg sold his London home to move to the Nettlecombe estate in west Somerset, home to a creative community of artists, musicians and writers.

Local depictions include the hamlet of Yarde, Willett Tower and Watchet, places Hollweg came to love.

Below right A nautical

ensemble, 1860-1930, © Alasdair Peebles Below far right A 1790

boy’s suit, ©Alasdair Peebles

3

2

Oh Boy

Boys’ dress from 1760 to 1930 is explored at an exhibition at the Fashion and Textile Museum in Bermondsey.

Oh Boy!, on until March 3, is curated by leading fashion historian Amy de la Haye and the expert collector Alasdair Peebles.

In two ‘acts’, the first part of the exhibition explores the ceremony of entry to the masculine world, when boys abandoned dresses in favour of breeches, which took place after six years of age. The second part considers the vogue for nautical wear during the years from 1860 to 1930.

to see in

December & January Right Julia Lowenthal

(active 1915-1935) Bells Down, © London Fire Brigade Museum Below right Reginald

Mills (1896-1951) Resting at a Fire, © London Fire Brigade Museum

3London’s burning

Art lovers have until the end of December to catch a series of pop-up exhibitions in London looking at the way artists captured the Blitz.

Fire in the City: Artists in the Blitz can be seen in churches throughout the Square Mile. While the Great Fire of 1666 is London’s most famous blaze, fires raged throughout 1940-1941. So savage was the bombing on the night of December 29, 1940, which destroyed 13 churches by Christopher Wren, it became known as the Second Great Fire of London.

For details on the exhibition, part of Wren 300, marking the death of the architect in 1723, go to www.wren300.org

Below Wilfred Stanley Haines (1905-1944) Red Sunday December 29, 1940, © London Fire Brigade Museum

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 7

NEWS All the latest Castle carols

Happy tail Humans’ love of canines is back on the agenda with the return of a ‘dogs’ auction to Bonhams Edinburgh.

Picture specialist, Leo Webster, said: “From 19th-century sporting subjects to portraiture, ceramics, bronzes, and even collars, we really wanted to show the breadth of dogs in art and, of course, celebrate the enduring relationship we have with our canine companions.”

Leading the first 250-lot sale on November 8 was a painting of New Forest buckhounds by the British artist John Emms (1843-1912).

Above Frederick Thomas

Daws (1878-1956) Morrell a poodle sold for £9,600, beating its low estimate of £2,000

Festive revellers can join the Christmas celebrations at Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire alongside members of the Chesterfield Philharmonic Choir.

Carols at the Castle takes place in the grounds of the historic stronghold on December 7 and 14 starting at 6.30pm.

The castle dates back to the 12th century when a wooden fortress was built on the site.

In the 17th century it underwent significant changes under the ownership of Sir Charles Cavendish who transformed it into a luxurious and fashionable retreat, adding features like the lavish “Little Castle” and terraced gardens.

evenings this year, image courtesy of English Heritage

DAILEY WORSHIP

ISLAND LIFE Annotated typescripts from James Joyce’s novel, Finnegans Wake, was one of the stars of Bonhams’ inaugural sale held on the island of Ireland called The Irish Sale: Vision & Voice.

The auction went on view at Dublin’s City Assembly House, from November 24-28 with the online sale due to finish on November 28.

Bonhams’ head of Ireland and Northern Ireland, Kieran O’ Boyle, said: “The sale celebrates those whose vision and voice shaped the cultural and artistic identity of Ireland through Irish art, culture, design, and history.”

It also featured the collection of the late Jim Fitzpatrick, former owner of The Irish News, Ireland’s largest-selling morning newspaper, which included Irish art from the 19th century to the modern day.

The collection of the legendary Americanborn antiques dealer Warner Dailey (b.

1945), dubbed the “dealer’s dealer”, goes under the hammer in Essex next year.

Born in New Jersey, Dailey started trading badges in kindergarten. Aged 14, he bought a Hepplewhite sideboard for $400 selling it soon after for $1,700.

After moving to London he started work at Christie’s, regularly filling his Mercedes estate with treasures discovered at London markets. Some 300 lots will be sold in a single-owner auction at Sworders in Stansted Mountfitchet on February 22.

Below Warner Dailey in his Mercedes estate, image courtesy of Sworders

Above Paul Henry (1877-1958), Killary Bay, Connemara, painted 1927-

1935 was part of Bonhams’ first sale on the island of Ireland

30 seconds with...

Ingrid Nilson, founder of the Antiques Dealers Fair Limited How did you start in the business?

Having been a dealer in decorative antique prints since 1989, and involved in fairs organising from 1993, I set up the Antiques Dealers Fair Limited 20 years ago to launch a fair for LAPADA at Cheltenham Racecourse, an event which ran for five years. Other fairs were started from scratch across England

8 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above Carols at Bolsover Castle takes place on two

and now the company runs two shows: a boutique-sized event in Mayfair in January and the larger Petworth Park fair in May. How has the collecting scene changed?

There are fewer outright collectors now in areas such as watercolours, ceramics and silver, with most people buying for pleasure across many disciplines, and sometimes for investment.

How is the post-covid fairs landscape?

It is not quite back to business as usual in that both exhibitors and the general public found new ways to trade and buy during the pandemic. But fairs are still important for

a number of dealers who value personal interaction with customers and visitors enjoy coming to events to see a great variety of art and antiques under one roof.

How can you attract the next generation of collectors?

This is a dilemma, but we keep trying to find new ways of marketing the fairs, be it via social media or through more traditional channels, sometimes with the help of media partners and supporting companies with a younger customer base.

The Mayfair Antiques and Fine Art Fair, runs from January 11-14.

Kilt-y pleasure Scottish dress fans have until January 14 to see a kilt worn by Sir Billy Connolly at the V&A Dundee’s tartan exhibition.

The garment was worn by the famous funny man in 2019 when he led a 3,000-strong procession through New York for the annual Tartan Day parade.

Labelled in the exhibition as, “The Big Yin’s Grand Marshal kilt”, the kilt is the latest addition to the exhibition The People’s Tartan, which opened in April and tells the story of the textile using 300 objects, ranging from pieces by the fashion legends Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen, to Jackie Stewart’s tartan racing helmet.

Below Sir Billy Connolly has lent his kilt to the Tartan exhibition in Dundee

Ice age The Queen’s House open-air ice rink returns to Greenwich this winter, with views of the famous park to the south and the glittering lights of Canary Wharf to the north.

The historic house, commissioned by Queen Anne of Denmark, was built between 1616 and 1635 and is one of Inigo Jones’ architectural masterpieces as well as being the first classical building ever constructed in the UK. The Queen’s House, now a museum, also boasts an internationally-renowned art collection.

The rink returns until January 7, with tiny tot sessions, suitable for three to six-year-olds on December 12, 13, 19 and 20.

Above The ice rink returns to the former royal palace in Greenwich

FIENDISHLY GOOD

POT ON A major expansion of the historic Leach Pottery in St Ives moved a step forward with the application for a £8.9m grant to complete the revamp’s second phase.

Plans were submitted to Cornwall Council for planning permission for the transformation of the historic site aimed at increasing studio production and bringing the story of the 100-year-old pottery to life.

Plans are also underway to expand the shop and build a new cafe, as well as increase the teaching facility.

The original site was founded in 1920 by the celebrated studio potter Bernard Leach (1887-1979) and Shoji Hamada (1894-1978).

The Leach Pottery is considered by many to be the birthplace of British studio pottery.

Below Learning at Leach Pottery © Jonny Weeks

Above A 20th-century window celebrating Dick

Whittington and his cat at the 13th-century church St Michael Paternoster Royal Church, London

A ghoulish fiend has emerged in a painting

by Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792) following conservation work.

The figure came to light after National Trust specialists revamped Reynolds’ portrayal The Death of Cardinal Beaufort (1377-1447) from Shakespeare’s Henry VI Part 2, on the 300th anniversary of the artist’s birth.

An imp is now visible lurking on the pillow behind the dying cardinal. The ghoul’s inclusion was controversial at the time the painting was created, when it was deemed acceptable to introduce the idea of a demon in literature, but not give it physical form in a painting.

Several hands later overpainted the painting which is now back on display at Petworth House in West Sussex.

Right Before conservation (above right) and after

(right) showing the ghoulish fiend © National Trust / Andrew Fetherston

Dress for success Iconic dresses by some of the UK’s leading fashion designers have gone on show in Liverpool in a new display of costume, jewellery and decorative objects made by female designers.

Creating Visions: Women Designers 19002000 is on at the Walker Art Gallery in the city and features a number of cutting-edge dresses including a mini dress (c.1967-1968)

by Mary Quant.

Quant, who died in April 2023, is credited with bringing to popularity the eradefining, above-the-knee skirts and dresses of Britain’s ‘swinging sixties’.

Below Women designers are celebrated at the Walker Art Gallery, photo Pete-Carr

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 9

LETTERS Have your say

Your Letters There’s praise for Geoffrey Munn, while Ely is recommended as a must-visit destination in the east

As a huge Geoffrey Munn fan (he is by far my favourite on the Antiques Roadshow), I was over the moon to read an extract from his recent autobiography A Touch of Gold (Munn of the Moment, November issue). What a delight it was to learn about the start of his career at Wartski’s and how that led to encounters with a range of stars from Princess Margaret to Elton John. More of the same, please. I am sure his reminisces could fill several books!

Sally Huntsman, Peterborough, by email How I agree with Marc Allum’s fear of decorators (Marc My Words, November issue) and concur with the notion it is easier to move rather than face the horror of an interior spruce up. My wife has been trying to get her hands on my ‘collecting room’ – which she cruelly refers to as a hoarder’s paradise – for years, threatening to turn it into a guest room.

What’s the point? There is no time for entertaining when there are catalogues to peruse. Thanks for an interesting read.

D. T. Taylor, by email Having just got back from a daytrip to the Cambridgeshire city of Ely, I can thoroughly recommend it as a superb destination for readers.

Not only is the 11th-century cathedral one of the most spectacular I have ever seen, it is also home to the Stained Glass Museum, which boasts some terrific pieces, including pre-Raphaelite gems by Edward Burne-Jones. And if that’s not enough, Oliver Cromwell’s house is a stone’s throw away.

If anyone gets the chance, take my advice and go!

Christopher Henson, by email

10 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Our star letter receives

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

Left Geoffrey Munn and

Joanna Lumley, taken from A Touch of Gold Above right A two-

cornered hat worn by Napoleon Bonaparte fetched a record €1.932m (£1.69m) at an auction in Paris in November, image courtesy of Osenat Below The interior of Ely

cathedral, image public domain

St lettar er

As a committed Francophile, I was delighted to see the Gallic influence of last month’s magazine inspired by Ridley Scott’s biopic, Napoleon.

But, despite my pro-France stance, I have long wondered why Napoleon Bonaparte still exercises so much public imagination, while his vanquisher at the Battle of Waterloo, the Duke of Wellington, is more of a footnote in history?

Admittedly, Bonaparte had a much larger-thanlife personality than Wellington – who went on to be considered one of the worst prime ministers of the 19th century – but how much is Napoleon hype, and how much is reality is a matter of debate.

The film’s strapline is: He came from nothing.

He conquered everything, suggests the PR machine goes on. As most historians know, rather than being born into poverty he came from Corsican nobility.

Perhaps it’s time for the film Wellington?

Dr Bruce Aldwyn, by email

The answers to the quiz on page 52.

Q1 (b) An entertainment in which a player had several different parts. Pantomimus was the name given to such a performer in Imperial Rome. Q2 (d) His name was Paris. It is said Nero was jealous of his artistic accomplishments. Q3 (a) A story told in dance. Q4 (c) Harlequin. Q5 (b) The magical ability to turn himself into someone else. Q6 (d) To escape with his lover Columbine from the elderly Pantaloon. This character was sometimes the father and hence an overly protector of his daughter from her chosen lover, and sometimes he was just a guardian and wanted her for himself. Q7 (d) Dames. Traditionally played, as they are today, by men. Q8 (c) Better known as a false proscenium they were temporary structures used to diminish the size of the proscenium or dividing wall between the auditorium and the stage. Q9 (a) Inigo Jones (1573-1652). Q10 (b) Court masques.

The anagram Bathe woodbines, can be rearranged to make the pantomime Babes in the Wood; dig indoor herds, is an anagram Red Riding Hood; the phrase bank a Shetland jacket can be made into Jack and the Beanstalk and lid cleaner is an anagram of Cinderella.

Sold for £6,000

Sold for £9,375

Sold for £30,000 Sold for £5,500

Sold for £7,750

Sold for £15,000

CONSIGN TO OUR FINE PAINTINGS & FRAMES SALES 2024

Sold for £15,000

£10 (+vat) per lot Includes all commission, illustration and insurance No other charges

Call or email for a free valuation info@parkerfineartauctions.com 01252 20 30 20 www.parkerfineartauctions.com Sold for £35,000 Sold for £13,750

Sold for £52,500

Sold for £13,750

AUCTION Sales round up

AROUND the HOUSES

Bishop & Miller, Stowmarket An 18th-century marble figure of a woman was the surprise best seller at the Suffolk auction house when it flew past its guide price of £400-£600 to sell for £37,000.

The headThe less marble figure was an 140cm high unexpected headless and best seller in armless statue, Suffolk wearing a flowing robe was part of the auctioneer’s oak interior sale.

Bishop & Miller’s director, Oliver Miller, said: “We believe it sold so well as it is just an incredibly decorative piece.”

It may have been a Grand Tour souvenir, dating from the 17th to the 19th century, when young aristocrats embarked on a cultural education in Europe, acquiring mementos as they went, including Greco-Roman and Italian paintings and sculpture.

From a fence section from the grassy knoll in Dallas, to a ceramic ‘thank you’ cat by David Hockey, there has been much to delight collectors Elstob, Ripon An oak dressing table A by the renowned dressing table Yorkshire by the renowned craftsman Robert Yorkshire crafts‘Mouseman’ man Robert Thompson (1876‘Mouseman’ 1955), expected to Thompson make £4,000-£6,000, sold for £9,200 at the Yorkshire auctioneers.

At the same sale, a dressing table mirror went for £1,900 (against a guide price of £1,000£1,500) and the set of chairs, each with Thompson’s trademark carved mouse signature, sold for £1,900, narrowly missing its estimate of £2,000-£3,000.

Elstob’s director, David Elstob, said: “The work of Robert ‘Mouseman’ Thompson has always been popular, particularly in the north of England and quality English oak furniture is widely seen as a good investment at the moment.”

Thompson (1876-1955) was part of the 1920s craft revival inspired by the arts and crafts movement led by William Morris, John Ruskin and William Carlyle. He set up his own furniture business in Kilburn, North Yorkshire that is still in business today.

Stacey’s Auctioneers, Rayleigh A ceramic cat, made as a gift by David Hockney (b.1937) to thank a couple for welcoming him in a storm, sold for £111,875, beating its estimate of £30,000-£40,000 at the Essex auctioneers.

The cat, co-created with Norman Stevens, was made for Peter Richards and his wife who extended their hospitality to Hockney and Stevens – both then students at Bradford College of Art – who they found sheltering from the rain in their eaves. At the time the pair were hitchhiking from Bradford to London in 1955.

The Over the years, Hockney ceramic cat was a gift to thank went on to send the Richards a couple for their letters, drawings and screen kindness in bad printed and handmade weather greetings cards.

Each chair was engaved with Thompson’s signature mark of a carved mouse

12 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

The Cotswold Auction Company, Cirencester A pair of Coade stone panels flew past its estimate of £6,000£10,000 to fetch £29,500 at the Gloucestershire auctioneer’s recent sale.

The Coade stone Entitled Agriculture and Navigation, panels proved to the pair – dated London 1797 – was based be a solid success on designs by John Bacon (1740-1799) and in Cirencester believed to have been moulded by Joseph Panzetta and Thomas Dubbin.

The reliefs came from the gatehouse of the Apsley Estate, Hurstbourne Priors, Andover, and were salvaged in the 1970s when the gatehouse was demolished.

RR Auctions, Boston A section of the The ‘grassy knoll’ picket lot included fence, central an issue of Texas to many JFK Monthly from assassination conspiracy theories, fetched 1990, showing “ the infamous $13,400 at a recent sale in the US. It was one stockade of 83 lots at the Massachusetts auction house fence” in a sale marking the 60th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s death on November 22, 1963. The grassy knoll overlooked Dealey Plaza in Dallas, the location of the doomed motorcade. In the aftermath of the assassination witnesses reported hearing at least one gun shot from the direction of the knoll.

Tennants, Leyburn An 18th-century dresser, owned by the Terry ‘Chocolate Orange’ family of York, enjoyed the sweet taste of success when it tripled its estimate to sell for £6,000 at the North Yorkshire auction house. The Terry family, known for its chocolate, has a long-held interest in antiques. In the 20th century, the collection was influenced by Noel G. The George II oak Terry, a well-known collector of clocks dresser has a sun now housed in Fairfax House, York, burst in the centre and his father-in-law, H.E. Leetham, and nine oakwho became chairman of Terry’s lined during WWI. drawers

Chiswick Auctions, London A fresh-to-market drawing of the elder sister of the Austrian Expressionist Egon Schiele (1890-1918), expected to make £50,000-£70,000, sold for £81,250 at the London auctioneers on November 22.

The subject, Melanie, was one of Schiele’s two older sisters, he also had a younger sister, Gerti, with whom he was so close, some accounts called the relationship incestuous. Schiele, whose work is known for its raw sexuality, was a great admirer of Gustav Klimt, through whom he was introduced to the Wiener Werkstätte, the arts and crafts workshops of the Vienna Secession. Schiele died aged 28 in the same year as Klimt (1918) from the Spanish flu epidemic.

The pencil The work came drawing is from the collection of Egon Schiele’s of the sitter’s elder sister nephew and heir, Melanie Norbert Gradisch.

The fence consists of 17 wooden pickets from the infamous ‘grassy knoll’

Roseberys, south London A 5th century BC silver dish, from the ancient Iranian Achaemenid Empire sold for £22,300, smashing its guide price of £1,500-£2,500 at the auction house’s recent sale.

The 27.8cm (11in) wide dish is decorated with a series of embossed lobes and the figure of a silver ram attached to the tondo.

At its height the Achaemenid Empire stretched from the Balkans in the west to the Indus Valley in the east. Wild mountain goats were an important aspect of ancient Persian iconography – representing agility, power and fertility.

The goat is an ancient Iranian symbol of agility, power and fertility

Hansons Auctioneers, Etwall A signed shirt worn by Sir Bobby Moore, who died in October aged 86, sold for £59,000 a the Derbyshire auction house on November 14. He wore it when he scored two goals against Portugal on July 26, 1966, sweeping England to the World Cup final against West Germany four days later.

The vendor was a Pools winner-turned-football The shirt memorabilia fan was worn in the who bought the match that saw shirt at auction in England progress 2000 for £9,200, to the 1966 World equivalent to Cup final £20,000 today.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 13

AUCTION Sales round up Propstore, Rickmansworth Barry dates to the late Jurassic period 150 million years ago

Hôtel Drouot, Paris A 5m long, 2m tall skeleton of a dinosaur dated to the late Jurassic period 150 million years ago, sold for close to €932,000 at the French auction house. It was named as ‘Barry’, after Barry James, the palaeontologist who found it in the Morrison Formation (Wyoming, USA) in the early 2000s.

Hôtel Drouot’s expert, Alexandre Giquello, said it was unusual to see a dinosaur skeleton so intact. He said: “The skull is complete at 90 per cent and the rest of the dinosaur is complete at 80 per cent.”

Henry Aldridge, Devizes Featuring beef tornados, oysters, squab and duck, a menu for first class diners on Titanic – for a meal eaten three days before the doomed vessel sank – sold for The menu £83,000 at for dinner on the Wiltshire Titanic sold for auctioneer. £83,000 Expected to make up to £50,000-£70,000, the water-stained menu is dated April 11, 1912.

The meal was served the day after the ship left Queenstown, Ireland, three days before she sank after hitting an iceberg on April 14, 1912, killing 1,500 passengers.

The menu was found in a photo album owned by Len Stephenson, a community historian in Dominion, Nova Scotia.

Toovey’s, Washington, West Sussex A 16th-century tin-glazed earthenware charger, Dated 1567 bought as a job lot, the charger is a estimated at £200rare, early exam£300, sold for ple of northern £39,000 at the European tinWest Sussex glazed earthenware auctioneer’s recent sale.

Decorated with geometric patterns, the 21cm (8¼in) diameter plate contains an inscription in Dutch roughly translating as “those who do not work do not eat…” (attributed to St Paul in the New Testament).

14 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

The famous bullwhip more than quadrupled its low guide price

The famous bullwhip used by Harrison Ford in the film Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, expected to make £100,000-£200,000, sold for £287,500 at the Hertfordshire film memorabilia specialist’s sale on November 9.

Harrison Ford learned how Ford became to use his bullwhip an expert on between takes under using the whip the supervision of in the film Glenn Randall. His franchise skills were soon so advanced that, by the time of the film’s sequel, Ford whipped a sword from a Thuggee cultist in just a single take.

At the same sale, the poker table used in a crucial scene in the James Bond film Casino Royale sold for £150,000, beating its presale guide price of £40,000-£80,000.

Complete with chips, and playing cards from the One & Only Ocean Club, it played cantre stage in the scene where Daniel Craig beat Alex Dimitrios (Simon Abkarian) to win an Aston Martin.

The poker table, chips and fake money came from the film Casino Royale

Lyon & Turnbull, Edinburgh A pencil and watercolour of lavender by Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) created in 1915 during a 10-month holiday at the Suffolk village of Walberswick, sold for £37,700 at the Scottish auction house, The study beating its guide price of £7,000-£9,000. measured 29cm x 22cm and After quitting his Glasgow architectural includes the initials practice following allegations of alcoholism, of Mackintosh’s Mackintosh took an extended vacation on wife Margaret the Suffolk coast where he started painting watercolours of flowers and landscapes.

It was signed with both the artist’s initials and ‘MMM’ those of his wife Margaret Mackintosh, denoting, like a diary entry, she was present when it was drawn. It had come from the collection of James Meldrum, the son of one of Mackintosh’s friends and fellow students at the Glasgow School of Art.

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EXPERT COMMENT David Harvey

Waxing lyrical While the traditional Boxing Day hunt may be long gone, David Harvey raises a glass to an ingenious Regency horseshoe hunt table

W

hen I first saw this table I was both amused and interested for different reasons. The more I researched its extraordinary history, the more I reflected on the life of its wealthy Regency-period owner. This type of table is often referred to as a hunt table, social table, or drinks tables. They were also used by riders either before or after a hunt, hence the different names that one can equally apply to them. A design for this type of table was produced by George Hepplewhite and published posthumously in The Cabinet-Maker’s Book of Prices in 1793 under the title of ‘Gentlemen’s Social Table’.

If not specifically for huntsmen it may, as suggested

by Hepplewhite, find an admirable use as a social table.

On a winter’s day its wheels would allow it to be wheeled in front of the fireplace.

With the central portion removed and the flaps raised, it forms a horseshoe-shaped table. After dinner, the ladies might withdraw and the gentlemen could then be seated at the table to drink, discuss politics, with the warmth from an open fire adding to their comfort.

16 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Hunt or social table?

The table’s casters were designed for mobility, even making it possible to move the table out of doors as the necessity dictated. When the local hunt assembled in front of a grand house, one of the staff would have been positioned at the wings of the table to dispense traditional stirrup cups to the huntsmen before they rode off after the hounds.

It might also have been used outdoors serving drinks to guests at garden parties or picnics on the lawns. Whichever of these uses it was put to, such tables were created for important households where they were made to be seen and used. They would of course have been serviced by staff.

Gillows design The style is well documented by Gillows – one of the finest furniture makers in England in the second half of the 18th century and throughout the 19th century, which enjoyed its zenith in the Regency period.

Above This Regency

mahogany hunt table had a myriad of uses Right With the central

flap removed the horseshoe shape is evident

The exceptional quality of materials used and careful execution endorses the attribution to a maker of Gillows’ stature. Also typical of Gillows is the myriad of purposes the table can be put to. A table of this model was supplied

by Gillows of Lancaster to the Earl of Bolton for use as a serving table in the dining room at Hackwood Park in Hampshire in 1813.

Self service With the central flank removed, a “runway” on the inner edge is revealed with a brass strut across the back. Into this a brass carriage with casters underneath would be placed, with two circular cups to contain one’s coasters and decanters. These could then be passed around the table by sliding the carriage on its wheels enabling a form of self service to the assembled drinkers.

This table also has the advantage of having a small lip on the outer and inner edges to prevent glasses sliding off and crashing to the ground causing mayhem.

The casters are signed by Lewty and stamped patent which makes me wonder if the same brass founders supplied the rest of the table’s brassware. James Windeyer Lewty is recorded as a brass founder at 120 Lichfield Street, Birmingham in the early 19th century.

Under examination Looking underneath a piece can often reveal as much about it as the top. Both the flaps underneath have dark streaks, or runs. After close analysis I decided that at some time the hinges must have become difficult to operate so a member of staff applied oil lubricant which ran down the underside of the leaves leaving a dark stain.

The excitement of bringing back to life a table of this stature is reward in itself and one of the reasons antique dealers are such a lucky bunch of people. I can well picture the table in front of an open fire in the great hall of a grand house. What better way to gather at this festive time of year.

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

Regency hunts

Top A brass strut attached to coasters allows the bottle to be passed from drinker to drinker Top right John Frederick Herring (1795-1865) Foxhunting: Clearing a Ditch, 1839, image public domain Above The casters are

signed by Lewty and stamped patent Below left The table’s underside can reveal as much as the top Below right Ralph Wood

(1748–1795) a ceramic stirrup cup, Burslem, Staffordshire, public domain

‘When the local hunt assembled in front of a grand house, one of the staff would have been positioned at the wings of the table to dispense traditional stirrup cups to the huntsmen before they rode off after the hounds’

With wealthy Georgian’s twin obsessions of showing off and entertaining (not to mention a disregard for animal welfare) it is no surprise the Boxing Day hunt was one of the highlights of the festive calendar. Regency times were also the era of lavish house parties during which gentlemen rode to the hounds.

While foxes did pose a threat to livestock, by the Regency era the main purpose of the hunt was pure sport. Hounds were bred specifically for fox hunting. It was also during the Georgian period that breeding thoroughbred horses for racing became big business. Similar horses were also required for fox hunting, with the advantage that there were many more fox hunts than race meetings at which you could show off your steeds.

As early as the 1720s, Sir Robert Walpole already kept two packs of hounds specifically for hunting foxes and hares, using them up to six days in the week. His Holkham accounts record that a William Pickford was paid £102 in June 1718 for: “Keeping ye foxhounds 34 weeks at Beck Hall”. Most gentleman kept up to 12 hunters (horses bred for the hunt) so they could hunt six days in a row, using two horses per hunt. During the Napoleonic Wars, the Duke of Wellington kept eight horses for hunting while on fighting in the Peninsula War (1807–1814).

Stirrup cups

Popular in the late 18th and 19th centuries, stirrup cups would have been presented to riders on horseback prior to leaving or arriving home from a hunt – or at any time when their feet were in their stirrups.

Specifically crafted for comfort when held in the hand, the beverage contained was usually wine or a spirit-based punch.

Early versions were essentially wine glasses without a base. As their popularity grew, more elaborate ceramic and silver stirrup cups appeared. This version has two mirror-image faces. Right way up, it shows the face of a leering devil with horns, but when inverted the Pope with a papal crown can be seen.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 17

COLLECTING GUIDES Axel Einar Hjorth (1888-1959)

Pining for the Fjords Chunky pine furniture designed for Swedish ski lodges in the 1930s is taking collectors by storm, Andreas Siesing reports

Furniture by the Swedish furniture maker Axel Einar Hjorth (1888-1959) is soaring at auctions around the world, image courtesy of Bukowskis

18 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Side table

H

ow did a small, chubby pine table from the 1930s, designed for a Swedish summer house in the Stockholm Archipelago, end up in the home of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West? When the home of the now divorced Amercan ‘A’ listers featured in a magazine, centre stage was a seemingly simple table, redolent of a ski chalet, which caused interior designers wordwide to sit up and take note.

Since then sauna chic has been all the rage, among collectors and celebrities, and in particular the designs of one largely forgotten furniture designer.

Step forward Axel Einar Hjorth (1888-1959). Unlike designers such Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) and Arne Jacobsen (1902-1971) who played a key role in the development of the mid-century style known as “Scandinavian modern” the name may not be that familiar.

Unlike the big names of Swedish mid-century furniture, Hjorth’s reputation has been eroded over time. It was not until the early 2000s that his work gained greater recognition, and has since become highly collectible for its quality of craftsmanship and exceptional beauty and simplicity.

Record prices were soon achieved on the Swedish market, with the rule of thumb being the coarser and sturdier, the better. And it’s not just in Sweden, when the Essex auction house Sworders offered a Lovö coffee table

by Hjorth in its May design sale this year, with an estimate of £800 to £1,200, it sold for £12,000.

‘While designers like Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) and Arne Jacobsen (1902-1971) played a key role in the development of the mid-century style known as “Scandinavian modern.” The reputations of others, like their contemporary Axel Einar Hjorth (1888-1959), have been eroded over time’

Above Axel Einar Hjorth

(1888-1959), a table from the Utö series one of the most sought-after Swedish pine furniture models. It hammered at SEK 430,000 (£32,800) photo Stockholms Auktionsverk, Auctionet Above right The stained

pine side table with a red limestone top, by Axel Einar Hjorth (18881959), 1929, it sold for SEK 500,000 (£38,000) last year, image courtesy of Bukowskis

One of the reasons for the table’s stellar price is its provenance. In 1929, Krister Littorin (18791939) ordered a set of pine furniture from Hjorth’s Sandhamn series for his newly-built hunting lodge on an island in the Stockholm archipelago.

The set was comprised of the side table, pair of lounge chairs, a dining table and four chairs. The Sandhamn was the first from Hjorth’s Sportstuge series and manufactured by Nordiska Kompaniet’s carpentry in Nyköping.

Littorin was an engineer and closely associated to the discredited finance magnate Ivar Kreuger whose business empire collapsed in the wake of the Wall Street Crash in 1932 and became known as the Kreuger Crash.

It was Littorin who later discovered Kreuger’s body after he committed suicide in Paris on March 12, 1932. Littorin was sentenced to prison and damages of SEK 200m.

Axel Einar Hjorth (1888-1959), chairs from the Lovö series, they sold this May for SEK 230,000 (£17,500) photo Stockholms Auktionsverk, Auctionet

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 19

COLLECTING GUIDES Ski chalet chic Right Axel Einar

Hjorth (1888-1959), a cabinet from the Lovö series. It sold for SEK 250,000 (£29,000) this May, photo Kalmar Auktionsverk, Auctionet

Snowball effect Hjorth’s design coincided with a specific point in Swedish history. At the start of the 20th century, an increasing number of affluent Swedes began to acquire sports cabins allowing them to engage in healthy outdoor activities in the wilderness.

The popularity of the lodges, which were typically located near major cities, got a boost in the 1930s, when the Swedish government introduced paid holidays under the 1938 Annual Leave Act. Vacationing took off and, anxious to make the most of the new holidaymakers, the leading Stockholm department store Nordiska Kompaniet (NK), which was also one of the most important producers of furniture at the time, began offering pine furniture tailored for use in the new cabins.

It was a smart move, wealthy homeowners had already ordered their living and dining room furniture from the company, so it made sense they would turn to the same company to furnish their new cabins.

Swedish Grace To design the new range NK turned to its chief designer Axel Einar Hjorth, who stayed in the role from 1927 to 1938. At the time Hjorth’s reputation was already high having been responsible for some exceptionally luxurious furniture which won awards at world exhibitions, including the Louis and Caesar cabinets for the World Fair in Barcelona in 1929.

As such, Hjorth was one of the spearheads of a brief Swedish design movement know as Swedish Grace – a fleeting period of pared-back, neoclassic designs, embracing Biedermeier styles, which prevailed before Sweden’s progression to modernism and functionalism.

Part of Hjorth’s success was his ability to satisfy both ends of the market alternating commissioned Swedish Grace pieces in exclusive materials with mass-produced furniture at a lower price range.

However, it is not his luxury models in exotic woods that are today fetching the highest sums. For this we have to

20 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above Originally

thought to be by Axel Einar Hjorth (18881959), when it came to light, it was later discovered to have been manufactured after his death. The stools still managed to make SEK 65,000 (£5,000) in 2022, photo Stadsauktion Sundsvall, Auctionet Below Axel Einar Hjorth (1888-1959) a bar cabinet, model Caesar, Nordiska Kompaniet 1935, estimated to make SEK 30,000-SEK 60,000 it sold for SEK 40,000 (£3,000) at Bukowskis sale on November 15

look to the chunky sports cabin furniture primarily made of pine and stained pine.

Sports range Hjorth’s new designs swiftly took on a sleeker appearance, alongside the more neoclassical-inspired

‘Today there is an increasingly discerning audience ready to pay high prices for pine furniture from designers including Hjorth’

Left Axel Einar Hjorth

(1888-1959), a table from the Utö series.

It was restored after being rescued from a fire in 1989 and sold this year for SEK 170,000, (£13,000) photo Stadsauktion Sundsvall, Auctionet Right Carl Malmsten

(1888-1972), Sörgården model, designed in 1942. These 10 chairs sold for SEK 115,000 (£8,750) earlier this year, photo Stockholms Auktionsverk, Auctionet Below right Gilbert

Caesar, incorporating a sleeker line, bolder colours, and minimal decoration. Executed in coarse pine with bevelled edges, heavy leather and large metal studs, he successfully created several ranges in the family of Sportstugemöbler (sports cabin furniture).

The 1928 line Futurum was swiftly followed by the 1929s chinoiserie-influenced Åbo. Later pieces were named after Stockholm’s archipelago islands, including Blidö, Sandhamn, Toro and Lovö.

Despite its undoubted nod to the finest Swedish craftsmanship, some ranges from the line, including the Lovö, were not successful with the country’s middle class who failed to appreciate the minimal, avant-garde designs which they also considered too expensive.

Nordiska Kompaniet tried to change this trend, lowering prices. But due to the quality of materials and time-consuming construction, making the range at a cheaper price was not feasible and some lines were discontinued or made in low numbers, with production stopping in the early 1950s.

Marklund’s stool Jonte, launched in 1969, has become something of a classic after it was rediscovered in the mid-2010s. Made of pine wood, it’s very popular today, photo Stockholms Auktionsverk, Auctionet Below Leif Wikner (b.

1938) dining group, 1970s, solid pine, it sold for £3,513 in 2022, photo Stockholms Auktionsverk, Auctionet Bottom right Roland

Wilhelmsson (19282017) bench, Bamse. This model was produced in various lengths. This one sold recently at auction for SEK 8,500 (£650), photo Kalmar Auktionsverk, Auctionet

LOOK OUT FOR

In a market that is always yearning for new (old) designers, the pine trend has sparked a long list of names that were previously overlooked on the second-hand market. One such is Roland Wilhelmsson (1928-2017) who created exceptionally robust furniture, mainly in pine in the 1960s and 1970s.

Wilhelmsson ran a small business and was one of the less-known furniture designers of the post-war period in Sweden. For some time the manufacturer AB Karl Andersson & Söner produced a few of his models. Like Hjorth, his work was characterised by its simplicity, elegance, and functionality.

Wilhelmsson studied at the University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm.

Carl Malmsten (1888-1972) should also be mentioned. His significance to 20th-century Sweden cannot be overstated. With an enormous variety of models, he held a central position in Swedish furniture design for many decades. However, it is only now that his pine models have begun to attract buyers on the second-hand market.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 21

COLLECTING GUIDES Ski chalet chic Left Axel Einar Hjorth

(1888-1959), a bureau from the Sibylla series, manufactured by Nordiska Kompaniet.

During the 1930s, it was offered with legs in any choice of colour. It hammered at 55,000 SEK (£4,200), photo Stockholms Auktionsverk, Auctionet

ROLL OUT THE BARREL

This pair of lounge chairs was manufactured by Åby Möbelfabrik in the 1930s. They feature clean, minimalist lines in the unmistakeable shape of a barrel and are made of stained pine with forged iron fittings. The Åby furniture factory was located in the Tjureda region of in Sweden’s Växjö municipality, with pine furniture a small part of their catalogue.

Flourishing market The popularity of Hjorth’s designs, and those in a similar style by his contemporaries and later, continue to excite interest. Fortunately, with some ranges being produced in numbers, there is a relatively good supply of them today.

This is despite the fact many were discarded, or even burned, by unsuspecting owners who inherited them and had no idea they were set to make a come back.

In the wake of Hjorth’s record prices, there has been an increased interest in Swedish-made pine furniture from the entire 20th century. This is especially true for models with a modern design, free of embellishments and detailed ornamentation.

When the trend first hit a few years ago, many of the pieces offered for sale lacked information on the designer or manufacturer and were often misattributed to Hjorth.

As more information comes to light this is being rectified.

Today’s market Today, an increasingly discerning audience demands credible sources to pay higher prices for pine furniture from designers including Hjorth.

Would-be buyers should be aware of any pieces appearing on the second-hand market without

Above right Chairs

from the Lövåsen series manufactured by Åby Möbelfabrik. Along with a table, they sold for SEK 28,000 (£2,150) last year, Stadsauktion Sundsvall, Auctionet Below Ski lodge chic is becoming all the rage, image Bukowskis

provenance, as a number of contemporary forgeries have recently come to light, which can be challenging to spot, even for the trained eye.

So far, there is no sign of a slowdown in the pine furniture trend. Prices remain steady and trend-sensitive interior designers continue to use robust Swedish pine furniture from both the 1930s and the 1970s.

The only furniture left behind are the “cosy” wooden craftsmanship pieces in an older style with turned elements and ornate details which are considered hopeless at auction. At the lower price level, teak furniture of the 1950s and 1960s has faced increased competition from the pine models of subsequent decades. On the plus side, there are whispers of an upcoming popularity of rattan wave (Hjorth also designed furniture in this material) and for now, prices are still modest.

Andreas Siesing is a specialist for the Swedish online auction site www.auctionet.com

‘So far there is no sign of a slowdown in the pine furniture trend. Prices remain steady and trend-sensitive interior designers continue to favour robust Swedish pine furniture from both the 1930s and 1970s, including designs by Axel Einar Hjorth’ 22 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

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EXPERT COMMENT Irita Marriott

STAR

from the

EAST

New columnist, antiques expert Irita Marriott, describes Christmas in her home country of Latvia and how she will be celebrating this year

U

ntil the age of six we lived on a small farm in rural Latvia surrounded by fields, forests and orchards with our nearest neighbours half a mile away. It was the time of the old Soviet Union when celebrating Christmas wasn’t something people talked about, so the festivities were carried out behind closed doors.

Despite all the hardships and not being very well off, Christmas – which we celebrated on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas day – was the most magical time of the year. We cut our own tree in the local forest and then dragged it home through the snow.

When I smell clementines or gingerbread I can close my eyes and be instantly taken back to my childhood Christmas. It was the only time of year we had a clementine, wrapped up as a present, and how we treasured it! As well as a clementine we might have a lollipop made from sugar caramelised on a spoon, or perhaps some new knitted socks or mittens or a hat.

Gingerbread decorations We made all the decorations, including paper chains and gingerbread shapes which we hung on the tree. We also decorated the tree with real candles (we didn’t know there was such a thing as Christmas tree lights) and made decorations from straw from the barns (known as puzuri) to hang from the ceiling and on the tree.

Above right A Latvian

table set for Christmas Below left Gingerbread decorations took centre stage in Irita’s Latvian home

Growing up it was all about the tree and the food. For the meal we had black peas topped with salty fried bacon.

The centre of the table was a pig’s snout surrounded by various grain-based dishes. Fish would be steamed or oven-cooked with the scales still on it (which we collected for good luck). Vegetables were all homegrown and cooked in every way you can imagine: boiled, fried and pickled. For a pudding it was always the same – layered rye bread with cream and homemade jam.

After the meal, watching television wasn’t really a thing (there was only one programme and that was in Russian) so we spent the evening singing songs or reading poems in front of the tree. Then we might pour molten lead for luck and to predict the future. Called molybdomancy, the metal was dropped in water with the shapes showing what the year ahead held in store.

We also listened to records like Silent Night. I believe part of the attraction of antiques is how they can trigger a memory just as the sound of that song will always reel me back to my childhood Christmas.

Christmas today It’s 22 years since I spent Christmas in Latvia and a lot has changed in my home country. Now it’s very much like Christmas in the UK. But I still carry on some of the traditions. Just as my mum brought out her best wares for the Christmas table, I do, too. I love laying the table with an antique Minton dinner set, gold-plated cutlery, cut glass bought from a French brocante, German porcelain tazzas and candelabrum with tall, red candles in them, all on top of a vintage Nottingham lace linen table cloth.

Making memories will always be the same and most important part of Christmas. The joy of giving, hearing laughter and seeing the excitement in my children and simply spending time together! Happy Christmas everyone!

Irita Marriott is an expert on a number of TV programmes including BBC One’s Antiques Road Trip, Celebrity Antiques Road Trip and Bargain Hunt. She recently opened her own auction house in the Derbyshire village of Melbourne, for more details go to www.iritamarriottauctioneers.co.uk

‘No matter what time of year it is, when I smell clementines or gingerbread I can close my eyes and be instantly taken back to my childhood Christmas. It was the only time of year we had a clementine, wrapped up as a present, and how we treasured it!’

24 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Treasures like yours belong on eBay List your art & antiques in our new collectables category.

For more information, scan the QR code Amy Kent Senior Category Manager, Art & Antiques UKCollectables@ebay.com

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 25

CHRISTMAS COLLECTING Best gifts

Season for Giving

Nothing beats an original Christmas gift and auction houses have some of the very best

Guarantee a glittering Christmas with this 18-carat gold, ruby and diamond ring, which has an estimate of £2,000-£2,500 at Bishop & Miller’s jewellery, wristwatches and silver auction at its Stowmarket saleroom in Suffolk on December 13.

The stylish piece, size N, is made up of 12 oval rubies and 14 diamonds, as well as being flanked by two bands of diamonds.

Stuck for a gift for the modern art lover in your life? How about this 2010 pencil, gouache and charcoal drawing by Nigel Hall (b.1943) which has an estimate of £600-£800 at Dawsons’ sale in Maidenhead on December 15.

Hall (b.1943) studied at the Royal College of Art from 1964 to 1967, and is known for his exploration of tubular constructs and how they alter the viewer’s perception of space.

Everyone loves a cartoon at Christmas, none more so than the original artwork from Charlie Mackesy’s 2019 book The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, which, in both book form and animation, has warmed the hearts of millions.

An original watercolour and ink, One Day You’ll See, has an estimate of £3,000-£5,000 at Bonhams’ online sale from December 7-18. It is one of 45 similar lots from Mackesy, also on view at the London auctioneers from December 10-12.

If you can’t face giving the history buff in your life another book this year, why not push the boat out with four medieval enamel wash bowls which have an estimate of £7,000-£10,000 at The Cotswold Auction Company’s Christmas sale in Cheltenham on December 12?

The group of four Limoges gilt, copper shallow bowls dates to 1200-1250.

Known as gemellions they would have been used for hand washing during the Middle Ages both by priests at the church altar and by wealthy households in a domestic setting at meal times – including Christmas.

26 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Dreaming of spring? The daffodils in this acrylic by the British illustrator and artist Leo Gibbons Smith (1919-2014) are a reminder brighter days are on their way. Smith’s long career included stints in design and illustration, as well as working in art editorial for the Radio Times. Find it on eBay priced £189.

Want to really impress diners at this year’s Christmas dinner? Why not serve this bottle of Bordeaux wine, which has an estimate of £250-£350 at Ewbanks’ sale in Woking on December 12.

According to wine buffs, 2023 is the ideal time to drink a 1971 Chateau Latour. If you want to stagger guests with your knowledge, don’t forget to mention its flavours of “earthy currants, tobacco leaf, spice, red cherries, and plums.”

COLLECTING GUIDES Lucy Harwood

28 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

We Love

LUCY

A few years ago you might have been able to find work by Lucy Harwood at local fetes and jumble sales, now prices are sky rocketing – and set to increase after a new exhibition

I

f you mention the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing to most art lovers the chances are they will know some of its pupils: Lucian Freud, definitely; Maggi Hambling, possibly; but Lucy Harwood, unlikely. But that could be set to change with a new exhibition at an Essex gallery this month determined to give her the credit she deserves.

Rrecently, the art world has woken up to the appeal of the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing, based at Benton End in Suffolk. Two exhibitions last year centred on one of the school’s charismatic founders Cedric Morris (1889-1982), which sparked an interest in its unsung artistic heroes, including Lucy Harwood.

While a number of Benton End artists such as John Nash, Frances Hodgkin, Maggi Hambling and Lucian

Opposite page Lucy

Harwood (1893-1972) Traction Engines Resting, oil on canvas, signed and inscribed as titled verso, sold for £9,750. Image courtesy of Sworders Right Lucy Harwood

(1893-1972) Still life with Fish, Vase and Staffordshire Spaniel, sold for £4,700, image courtesy of Reeman Dansie Below left Lucy Harwood (1893-1972) Flowers in the Garden at Benton End, image courtesy of Philip Mould and Co., London Below right Lucy

Harwood (1893-1972) Still Life, sold for £4,500, image courtesy of Reeman Dansie

‘Her childhood aspiration to become a pianist had been thwarted when an operation to remove her appendix left her partially paralysed in the right side.

Undaunted, she became proficient in using her left hand’

Flourishing style

One of the reasons Harwood succeeded at the school may have been due to Morris’s encouragement to help her overcome the paralysis of her right arm. She wrote: “When I thought it was impossible with only my left hand he (Morris) encouraged me so much by saying everything I painted was good…He overcame my fear that being deprived of my right hand, I could not paint.”

She also appreciated Lett-Haines’s skilled teaching, to such an extent on occasions she paid him a fifth part of the sell price in gratitude.

Harwood and Morris also shared a love of plants and nature, and he much admired her selection of plants in her garden at Kiln House.

In 1951, she wrote in her diary: “Cedric came round my garden and said I had really interesting blossoms I think I liked looking at them and he righted my names as to certain crocuses.

“After lunch he criticised my pictures., six canvases and eight pastels. He suggested minor things that might be done. The criticism was due to my having used a lot of neat blue. I received an interesting dissertation on the use of unrelieved colour, I liked it.”

As well as garden scenes Harwood’s still lifes included dead fish, China dogs and ceramic birds.

Exhibition co-curator, Hugh St Clair, said: “She used them to create a colourful and bold arrangement in the post-Impressionist style. She was often keen to add depth and interest to the still lifes by depicting an imagined landscape in the background, rendering the works slightly surreal.”

Throughout her life, Harwood had an abiding love of the Suffolk countryside, which was reflected in her artistic output. She also found willing sitters for her portraits among Benton End’s students, frequent visitors and neighbours. With the encouragement of both Morris and Lett-Haines, Harwood found some success exhibiting two works at the Ipswich Art Club in 1941. She was also a member of the Norfolk and Norwich Art Circle and became one of the earliest members of the Colchester Art Society, taking part in its first exhibition in 1946.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 29

COLLECTING GUIDES Lucy Harwood ambitions as an artist having enrolled at the Slade School of Fine Art in 1913 (then the only art school to accept female students).

Born into a landowning family near Ipswich, on January 1, 1893, her childhood aspiration to become a pianist had been thwarted when an operation to remove her appendix left her partially paralysed in the right side.

Undaunted, she became proficient in using her left hand to paint. Determined to succeed in her chosen field, and financed by family money, she travelled around the UK in the 1920s, going further afield to Egypt, India, and Japan armed only often with a box of watercolours and a letter of introduction to local dignitaries.

When she met Morris she was living at Ackworth House in East Bergholt – a stone’s throw from Dedham and caring for her elderly and ill father.

Early days

Freud have become huge names in the landscape of Modern British painting, others – including Harwood – have not. But that is changing. In May 2021, Essex’s Sworders auctioneers set a record for Harwood’s oil on canvas Traction Engines Resting when it sold for £9,750, trouncing its low, pre-sale guide price of £800.

Chance meeting It was a chance meeting between Harwood, then in her 40s, and Cedric Morris on East Bergholt high street that set her on a road to artistic fulfillment.

At the time, in the run up to WWII, Morris was already an established artist who, disenchanted with the London art scene, had quit the capital to move to Suffolk to pursue his love of horticulture and open an art school.

He was joined by his life partner, the painter and sculptor Arthur Lett-Haines (1894–1978). The couple, who met on Armistice Day in 1918, had already enjoyed stints in Paris and the Cornish artistic colony of Newlyn before relocating to East Anglia. When Harwood met Morris, he and Lett-Haines had just opened the East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing in Dedham, Essex.

Within a year they had 60 students, including a 17-year-old Lucian Freud. The school, soon known for its unconventional and raucous ways, was the talk of the village and was no doubt an enticing prospect for Harwood, then aged 44, whose own artistic ambitions had been quashed by disability and familial duty.

At the time Harwood was already pursuing her

30 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above Lucy Harwood

(1893-1972) Pig amongst Flowers, Firstsite Collection Below right Lucy

Harwood (18931972) Ploughed Field, Skymeadown Gallery Limited

Before long Harwood was a regular fixture at the school, even after a fire in 1939 caused it to relocate to Benton End House and Garden – a Grade II listed 16th-century house on the edge of the ancient Suffolk market town of Hadleigh.

On her father’s death in 1940, Harwood, then aged 47, was free to finally pursue her own artistic dreams. As one of the earlier students she soon found kindred spirits in a number of the other pre-war students including Kathleen Hale (1898-2000) and Joan Warburton (1920-1996). She was especially friendly with Denise Broadey (1913-2007) – who became an Anglican nun before moving to Australia – with whom she travelled to Europe.

Harwood recorded the trips, taken when Benton End closed in the winter, in a travel diary, which also hint at her developing post Impressionist style.

She wrote: “In sunny Bruges the tower sang sweetly.

I imagined painting a street in Ipswich or Colchester, I should certainly suffer from grey colic at the thought. I’m not a Cubist, I try to paint things approximately as I see them. If I see a place in tones of grey - roads sky - why

shouldn’t I paint in orange intwined (sic) with a purple leg against a scarlet wheat field?”

Benton End in its heyday Benton End quickly became a sanctuary for “artists outside the system” and offered a space for students to both live and work. Morris and Lett-Haines promoted the exchange of artistic ideas and techniques, and took a free rein approach to teaching, which was poles apart from the more formal and structured training offered by most academies at the time.

Aside from teaching, Lett-Haines looked after both the cooking (which was first rate, based on Morris’s homegrown vegetables) and admin, while Morris devoted himself to his twin loves of painting and breeding irises.

Before long, as one the school’s longest serving scholars, Harwood became a Benton End institution and a central figure in its riotous social life, overseeing a multitude of art students as well as an eclectic and illustrious array of visitors, including Vita Sackville-West and Benjamin Britten. It was Harwood who insisted on a formal afternoon tea every Sunday.

In the book Benton End Remembered the artist and former Benton End student, Glyn Morgan, wrote: “The students usually prepared tea at about 4.30 except on Sundays, when it was presided over by Lucy Harwood, an eccentric old lady totally dedicated to painting – and very good she was. She walked from her house in Layham carrying a basket of rather old buns and chunks of bread and jam and ruled the tea table with a rod of iron. Her painting technique was very much her own. She would swing a loaded brush at the canvas as if attacking it and when she worked indoors the floor around her would be spread with newspapers to catch the splashes.”

Right Allan Walton

(1892-1948) Bawdsey End, Old Felixstowe, Suffolk; oil on canvas, sold for £7,150 more than triple its low estimate of £2,000 at the same sale, image courtesy of Sworders Below left Lucy Harwood (1893-1972) Poppies and Thistles in the Garden at Benton End, courtesy of Philip Mould and Company, London Below right Joan

Warburton (1920-1996) Cats with Milk, dated 1948 oil on canvas, sold for £8,450 in May 2021, well beating its guide price of £400-£600, image courtesy of Sworders

BENTON END AT AUCTION

There is no doubt the work of a number of artists from Benton End, including Harwood, are in the ascendancy. Gabrielle Downie, auctioneer at Cheffins, said: “With the renewed interest in Morris and his works, this is also a particularly exciting time for female artists who studied under Morris, but whose work has since been largely forgotten.”

Reeman Dansies’ Daniel Wright, said: “Harwood’s work was often gifted to friends or sold cheaply, she was generally considered to be an eccentric amateur and there was little critical acclaim for her work during her lifetime. In recent years her work has seen something of a meteoric rise at auction with prices increasing consistently.”

Particulary popular are her Suffolk landscapes which attract high prices at auction, he added.

Shaun Crichton, associate partner at the Suffolk auction house Lacy Scott and Knight, said: “We have sold a number of works by Lucy Harwood over the past two to three years. She’s an artist who only really came fully to my attention when we sold the first work offered in these rooms for £2,700 against an estimate of £80-120!”

Breaking the mould

Cheffins’ director, Brett Tryner, said: “As contemporary tastes continue to bend towards colour, pattern and figurative painting. It is likely that collectors will look to buy up works by lesserknown members of the group for a potential investment. Benton End is like the Bloomsbury Group but not as well known. As Benton End itself prepares to be reopened to the public, we expect that this phenomenal group of artists could see new levels of recognition.”

And the next group of Benton End artists set to shine?

Cheffins’ Gabrielle Downie, said: “Mary Jewels, Rosemary Rutherford and Joan Warburton are beginning to receive recognition.

In addition to the female artists, look out for the works of Glyn Morgan and Allan Walton, both members of the Benton End group and a good investment.”

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 31

COLLECTING GUIDES Lucy Harwood Fellow former student Maggi Hambling, who Harwood invited into Benton End for elevenses having found her cowering in the ditch outside aged 15, recalls how “people maintained a respectful distance both from her paint-spattered car and the lethal port wine she served to visitors”.

The desire not to submerge herself fully in the school’s rather hedonistic lifestyle meant that she lived away from the premises, at Kiln House in nearby Upper Layham, where she took in Benton End’s more respectable lodgers.

She continued to cycle to Benton End every day well into later age, becoming a mainstay of Morris’s circle. She died in 1972. Three years later The Minories in Colchester staged her first solo exhibition with further shows at Sally Hunter Fine Art.

Right Lucy Harwood

(1893-1972) Landscape with Blue Mountain, kind permission of Colchester Art Society, photo Doug Atfield, courtesy of the Estate of Lucy Harwood Left Lucy Harwood

(1893-1972) Jug & Flowers, Firstsite Collection, courtesy Estate of Lucy Harwood Right Lucy Harwood

(1893-1972) Flowers in a Garden, courtesy of Laura & Joe O’Connor Below right Benton End

today

Lucy Harwood: Bold Impressions opened at the Colchester art gallery Firstsite on December 2 and runs until April 14. For more details go to www.firstsite.uk

‘She was also noted for being at her easel in all weathers, once observed in great discomfort sitting in a chicken shed to gain the exact feel of the birds. In another diary entry she recalled a bovine encounter’

BENTON END TODAY

After Morris died in 1982 Benton End remained in private hands, with few changes over the intervening years to the building or garden.

The renewal of interest in Morris was prompted by a display of Morris’ irises at the RHS Chelsea Flower show in 2015 followed by two exhibitions opened in London: Cedric Morris: Artist-Plantsman at the Garden Museum, and Cedric Morris: Beyond the Garden Wall at Philip Mould & Co. Gallery.

Inspired by all three, Rob and Bridget Pinchbeck discovered Benton End was for sale and purchased the house and garden through the Pinchbeck Charitable Trust in 2018.

The Garden Museum in London, to which ownership of the house has been transferred, appointed a new head gardener in 2023 with the expectation

32 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

being the gardens will be open to the public in 2026.

Worthy legacy

The redevelopment of Benton End hopes to see it restored to its post-war bohemian glamour and atmosphere, including a new gallery and a teaching facility for students to study the garden.

This January will see an application submitted for National Lottery funding to restore the house’s layout almost exactly to that of Cedric and Haines-Lett’s Benton End. Trustee, Matthew Hodges, said: “For a building of such historic interest and grand age, it is in remarkably good condition and, to our delight, the garden, under careful management, is revealing once again many of the same plants that Morris collected so assiduously on his travels, bringing them home to Suffolk.”

In 2023, there were more than 1,000 visitors to the house and garden including 700 who visited the property as part of Hadleigh’s Hidden Gardens event.

Donations to Benton End’s restoration and upkeep are welcomed. Anyone wanting to support the project, or visit the house and garden, should contact matthew@bentonend.co.uk

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ANTIQUES UNDER THE HAMMER The Lucinda Riley collection

A Chanel necklace pendant, part of an 18-carat white gold and diamond jewellery suite (along with a matching ring and earrings) which has an estimate of £3,000-£5,000

SALEROOM SPOTLIGHT

The collection of the international bestselling Irish writer Lucinda Riley goes under the hammer in Suffolk in December

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ollectors looking for some Christmas sparkle this month should take note of the glittering collection of the best-selling Irish author Lucinda Riley, which is up for sale on December 13 at the Suffolk auctioneer, Bishop & Miller.

Books by Riley, who lost her battle against cancer in 2021 aged 56, have been translated into 37 languages with 50 million copies sold worldwide. Her final eighth novel in The Seven Sisters series was published this year having been completed by her son, Harry.

Riley’s success on the page translated in the real world into a wonderful sense of style and taste for the very best.

Bishop & Miller director, Oliver Miller, said: “This outstanding collection from one of the world’s most successful contemporary authors showcases her sense of style, including some beautiful couture fashion items, jewellery and accessories.”

In an online interview Riley said: “I have a weakness for Chanel clothes, because they fit me perfectly. I recently bought a very special Chanel coat for £4,000. I

Irish roots

Top left A Cartier 18-

carat white gold and diamond love bangle, size 16. It is set with four diamonds and comes with its original inner and outer boxes.

It is estimated to make £3,000-£5,000 at the December sale Above Luci da Riley,

image public domain Left A pair of Chanel

ballet pumps with CC toe cap, unworn with dustbag and box, size 35.5. The shoes have an estimate of £150-£200

34 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

also collect first editions; I’ve given my eldest son Harry a first edition every birthday. For his 21st I’ve just bought him the final book in the Pooh series, Now We Are Six. My first purchase 10 years ago, was a set of orange Penguin paperbacks, 400 of them for £800. I don’t know what they are worth now, because I’ll never sell them.”

As well as clothes, jewellery and accessories by designers including Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Alexander McQueen, the sale will offer signed books, as well as fountain pens from the author’s extensive collection, including those by Mont Blanc, Cartier and Conway Stuart.

Born in Lisburn, County Down, Riley was five when her father, a director of the textile company Courtaulds, was transferred to Derby, taking the family with him. From an early age she appeared to have inherited the acting talents of her mother, Jane, who, like her great-aunt, had been professional actresses.

Six years later, she appeared on stage as one of the von Trapp children in a production of The Sound of Music (1976), staged by the city’s rotary club at the De Montfort Hall. Aged 14, she enrolled at her mother’s alma mater, the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London, to study ballet and drama alongside her academic studies.

During her time in the capital she spent her free time at the V&A and British Museum, broadening her interest in history. Aged 16, she appeared in a six-part drama series of E Nesbitt’s The Story of the Treasure Seekers, later landing the role of a runaway teenager Tracy in the hit comedy-drama Auf Wiedersehen Pet.

Start in writing Soon after embarking on a promising acting career, Riley was halted in her tracks when she was diagnosed with a debilitating virus, a complication of glandular fever. While stuck in bed recovering, she picked up a pen.

She said: “I learnt the hard way that nothing in life goes according to plan. I wrote my first novel when I was diagnosed with Epstein Barr Syndrome.

“I was in bed for four months and not well enough to do much for almost a year. I wrote because I was physically weak, but my brain was still fully functioning. In

AUCTION fact file

two months I wrote 450 pages of longhand.”

Under her maiden name Lucinda Edmonds she landed a three-book deal with Simon and Schuster and went on to write seven books as Edmonds. She changed her name in 2000 when she married Stephen Riley, a businessman who had led a management buyout of Denby Pottery.

It was the start of what was to be a glittering career based on writing talent and scrupulous research, with a love of history at its core.

When researching the seven-book series The Seven Sisters, she became very close to Bel Noronha, the greatgranddaughter of Heitor da Silva Costa (1873-1947), the architect and engineer behind the building of the famous Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Riley wrote: “Bel and I became good friends and she kindly allowed me access to Heitor’s private letters as well as his diaries, which were invaluable to my portrayal of him in the novel.”

In 2019, Riley revealed to a Norwegian newspaper that she had oesophageal cancer. She continued to work, producing five novels during the four years of her illness.

‘As well as clothes, jewellery and accessories from renowned designers such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Alexander McQueen, the sale will offer signed books from Lucinda’s collection, as well as her fountain pens including those from Mont Blanc, Cartier and Conway Stuart’

WHAT: The Lucinda Riley collection, part of the fine jewellery, wristwatch and silver auction.

Where: Bishop & Miller, 19 Charles Industrial Estate, Stowmarket, Suffolk, IP14 5AH When: December 13 Viewing: December 7 and 12 from 9.30am-4pm and on the morning of the auction from 9am and online at www.bishopand millerauctions.co.uk

IN MY OPINION...

We asked Bishop & Miller’s director, Oliver Miller, for his sale highlights Did Lucinda Riley have connections to East Anglia?

While her younger years were spent in Leicestershire, Lucinda had a strong connection to East Anglia. As she settled down and had her own children she made Norfolk her home. In fact it was in 2013, standing outside on a starry night in Norfolk, Lucinda came up with the idea of writing a seven-book series, based on the myths and legends of the Seven Sisters. Named after the star cluster, it went on to become a runaway bestseller.

Which of the lots do you expect will attract the most interest?

This auction is all about the high-end fashion, couture and accessories by some of the top names from the fashion world. Lucinda had wonderful taste in fashion and there is everything from beautiful Chanel bouclé woollen coats (below) to Gucci trainers.

Lucinda’s taste in jewellery was also exquisite with stunning rings, bracelets and watches. We are expecting the auction to attract a host of bidders as the pieces are so stylish.

Where do you expect interest to come from?

Above left A Rolex Oyster Perpetual Daytona gentleman’s stainless steel wristwatch, model ref.

116520, c. 2000, it has an estimate of £12,000£15,000 Left An 18-carat gold

and diamond ring, size L. it has an estimate of £2,500-£3,000 Right A Chanel forest

green bouclé wool coat with bronze metallic trim and simulated amethyst buttons, size 34. It has an estimate of £700-£800 at this month’s sale

The powerhouse names in fashion and design represented in the sale will doubtless attract buyers from across the board, whether they are existing buyers or new to the world of auctions.

Lucinda had great taste when it came to jewellery, there is a particularly beautiful platinum and diamond Cartier ring which has a central 1.08ct emerald cut diamond which is flanked by nine round cut diamonds.

If you could ask Santa to bring you just one of the lots, what would it be?

I would definitely ask for the R de Cartier ballpoint pen, it is super stylish and comes with its original red leather box and red suede travel pouch. The pen market is always a very popular part of any auction and this sale is no different, with some lovely examples on offer.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 35

COLLECTING GUIDES Tiffany lamps

KING LOUIS Antique Collecting shines a light on the enduring appeal of Tiffany lamps and the other decorative arts their maker Louis Tiffany was famous for

36 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

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all it The Gilded Age effect (the HBO series set in 1880s New York), or the boom in maximalism, or just a yearning for pretty, shiny things, but there’s no doubt Tiffany lamps are back in vogue. In 2020, Christie’s in New York restarted its dedicated Tiffany sales having paused them in 2014, with most lamps outstripping their guide prices. It seems the poster child for art nouveau fashion is back and shining brighter than ever.

John Holmes, director of Duke’s Auctions in Dorcester, which has a rare Dogwood design in its sale on December 8, said: “There has been a real recent shift since covid and the focus it brought on our home and what we surround ourselves with. When we were all forced to remain at home it certainly made us think about what we needed, what brings us joy.”

But while Louis Comfort Tiffany is synonymous with lamps, like William Morris in this country, the range of decorative arts which he was known for, from stained glass windows to vases, is vast. The renowned Tiffany Studios, which he founded in 1889, was a hotbed of creativity, producing some of the most exquisite and sought-after decorative pieces of the era.

Artistic beginnings

Opposite page Pansy

Border table lamp, c.

1902–1910, probably by Clara Driscoll (1861– 1944), maker Tiffany Studios, image courtesy of Cleveland Museum of Art Right Howell Hinds

House window, c.

1900, Tiffany Glass & Decorating Company (1892–1902), image courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art Below left Joaquin Sorolla y Bastida (18631923) Louis Comfort Tiffany, oil on canvas, 1911, image New York Public Library digital collection Below right Louis C.

Tiffany (1848–1933) Snake Charmer at Tangier, Africa, 1872, image New York Public Library digital collection

Born in 1858, in New York, son of Charles Lewis Tiffany (1812–1902) founder of the fancy goods store that became the renowned jewellery and silver firm, he was heir to the Tiffany empire. But early on Louis refused to be defined by his father’s success.

Instead, aged 18, he declared he wanted to study art, working under the influence of such artists as George Inness (1825–1894), being exposed to the ideas of artists and intellectuals including Oscar Wilde who claimed there was no boundaries between art and interior decoration.

Having an income that allowed him to travel, Tiffany toured Europe, North America, and in 1870 visited North

Stained glass windows

As well as his lamps, Louis Tiffany is known for his leaded-glass windows. In them can be seen the maker’s forwardlooking abstraction and marble-like effects of the glass, the light-filled colours appearing as if created by the strokes of a painter’s brush.

Different effects were achieved by embedding tiny, confetti-like flakes of glass in the surface. The superimposition of several layers of glass on the back of the window added further depth.

Tiffany was commissioned by individuals and churches to produce stained glass and glass mosaics. When it came to the latter, Tiffany regularly risked controversy for favouring landscapes over traditional religious scenes.

In 1898, Tiffany was commissioned by the industrialist Howell Hinds to decorate his new Cleveland home with an art nouveau interior and glasswork.

One of the windows (above) was made up of thousands of richly-coloured glass pieces, arranged and layered to paint an idyllic threedimensional scene that would have warmly glowed in the afternoon sunlight.

Photographs show the placement of the window in the drawing room next to the fireplace in one of the opulent interiors Tiffany designed for the library and dining room.

Africa, where he derived inspiration for his painting Snake Charmer at Tangier, Africa. The rich palette of earth tones recalls the work of his teacher, Inness, and reveals the beginning of his lifelong interest in colour and light.

The painting was among the orientalist canvases that Tiffany displayed at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. In his travels, Tiffany also visited the

‘Tiffany lamps never go out of fashion but, like any antiques, are subject to the fickleness of fashion. Since 2020, Christie’s New York has held regular Tiffany sales, restarting them after they dwindled in 2014. In general it is his floral motifs which are the most sought after with the Wisteria being a perennial favourite’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 37

COLLECTING GUIDES Tiffany lamps Left Wisteria lamp, c.

1902–1910, designer Clara Driscoll (1861– 1944), maker Tiffany Studios. Small versions of the Wisteria lamp were called a “pony” by Tiffany and his artisans.

In 2022 a similar lamp, c. 1910, sold for $690,000 at Christie’s New York, image courtesy of Cleveland Museum of Art Right Bamboo table

lamp, c. 1902–1910, designer possibly by Clara Driscoll (1861– 1944), maker Tiffany Studios, image courtesy of Cleveland Museum of Art

glasshouses of Bohemia and Venice, providing a practical insight into skills what would serve him well when he returned to New York.

Into interiors Soon after Tiffany met the American painter, interior designer and writer Samuel Colman (1832–1920) with whom he started several artistic movements and, with the painter Lockwood de Forest, formed Louis Tiffany and Associated Artists, moving from painting to the decorative arts and interiors, although he never abandoned painting.

In this he was greatly influenced by William Morris and the arts and crafts movement in the UK. Morris was convinced that industrialisation had degraded the work process, reducing the creative craftsman to an anonymous labourer mindlessly repeating unfulfilling tasks. But few companies on either side of the Atlantic could produce affordable art for the home, while retaining high standards and individual expression. Tiffany was able to succeed largely because his personal fortune allowed him to sacrifice company profits in the interests of artistic achievement.

38 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Women were to play a central role in applying arts and crafts principles to social reform, creating many organisations to teach decorative arts. A number of educational ventures were set up across the country to arm women with creative skills. At the same time one such, the Western Reserve School of Design for Women, later the Cleveland Institute, was welcoming a new student – Clara Pierce Wolcott – a woman whose later role at the Tiffany Studios was to have a lasting effect.

Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company The 1870s were boom years for a nascent interiors company. Public buildings, theatres, museums and mansions were being built across the country. Like Morris, Associated Artists designed wallpaper, tiles, hangings and

Below left Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848–1933) armchair, c. 1891–1893, Tiffany Glass & Decorating Company (1892–1902), image New York Public Library digital collection Below right An advert for a poinsettia ceiling lamp made in Favrile Glass, image New York Public Library digital collection

FAVRILE GLASS

Tiffany soon began to collaborate with glass artists on new types of production, including the experienced British glassblower Arthur Nash, who he hired as a master glassmaker in the early 1900s. Nash developed the unique formula for Tiffany’s trademark Favrile glass, a recipe which was never shared with anyone, including Tiffany himself. Tiffany was enchanted by the new glass, writing: “After all the accomplishments of the Venetians, of Galle and others it was still possible to utilise glass in a new way that was often opaque and matt, with a surface that was like skin to the touch, silky and delicate.”

The effect was created by introducing various chemicals into the molten glass while in the furnace to produce

fabrics often in Islamic or Celtic style but increasingly in the fashionable oriental style.

In 1882, President Chester Arthur commissioned Tiffany and Associated Artists to redecorate a number of the rooms at the White House, with Tiffany’s redesign of the Red Room decorated in line with the aesthetic movement of the 19th century.

In 1878, Tiffany set up a glass-making furnace to supply tiles and panels to Associated Artists and soon the Tiffany lead-glazed coloured glass window became the company’s signature design, often used to bring colour to an uninspiring view of the city. As time went by Tiffany found himself increasing fascinated by glass and its apparent endless applications. In 1881, he registered a patent for improvements in coloured glass windows, particularly the insertion of pieces with a metallic lustre.

In the 1870s both Tiffany and the fellow American glass designer John la Farge (1835-1910) both worked on opalescent glass which transmits little light. Tiffany’s glass tiles were designed specifically for use in lighting fixtures that soon became a feature of Associated Artists’ interiors.

His intention was to create objects of beauty for every American home, from stained glass windows to desk sets.

But it was for his lamps that Tiffany went on to achieved lasting worldwide recognition.

Clara Driscoll In recent years, the role played by Clara Wolcott Driscoll (1861-1944) in Tiffany lamp production has gained more recognition and appreciation, with her legacy in the world of decorative arts now widely acknowledged.

Initially, many of the lamp designs were attributed solely to Louis Tiffany, however, scholarly research and reevaluation of historical records have brought Driscoll’s work to the forefront.

After graduating from Cleveland’s Western Reserve School of Design for Women, Driscoll, then Wolcott, multicoloured iridescence. The name Favrile was registered in 1894, deliberately named to sound French, expensive, and “handmade.”

From the outset, Tiffany used Favrile glass in mosaic panels, stained glass windows, and his artistic line of table and floor lamps. The range also extended to almond dishes, cigar jars and glasses. Interest in Tiffany’s glass was so intense it was soon copied in Austria and Bohemia, notably

by Johannes Loetz.

Right Peacock table lamp, c. 1902, designed

by Clara Driscoll (1861– 1944), maker Tiffany Studios, image courtesy of Cleveland Museum of Art Below left A selection of Favrile vases by Louis C. Tiffany, image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Below right Indian

Basket lamp, c. 1902– 1910, maker Tiffany Studios, image courtesy of Cleveland Museum of Art

PEACOCK LAMP

Another design likely to be by Clara Driscoll (1861–1944). Both she and Tiffany shared a love of peacocks with their brilliantly-coloured iridescent plumage, which appeared in almost every genre of his artistic production.

This particular lamp retains its original kerosene-burning fluid apparatus, as well as an electric bulb armature. Although incandescent lamp bulbs had become more widely available in the 1890s, most households, even those of the wealthy, were not yet wired for electricity. Tiffany originally designed his lamps with an oil-burning apparatus and an electric attachment, smartly predicting electric households would eventually become commonplace.

took up a position as designer for C. S. Ransom and Company, a Cleveland-based manufacturer of Moorishinfluenced panels for use in interiors and furniture. Ambitious from the start she soon cast her net further afield moving to New York to continue her studies at the Metropolitan Museum of Art School, which emphasised design for industry. She soon found employment at Tiffany Glass Company.

Having learned the skill and intricacies of glass selection, Wolcott was forced to resign from the firm, as was required by company law, to marry Francis S. Driscoll in 1899, a man several years her senior.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 39

COLLECTING GUIDES Tiffany lamps Left The men’s

department at Tiffany Studios, Louis Tiffany insisted on wage parity between men and women, image New York Public Library digital collection Right Dogwood lamp,

Women’s Glass Cutting Department After her husband died three years into the marriage, Clara was rehired to oversee the Women’s Glass Cutting Department (informally known as “the Tiffany girls”).

The lamps were first marketed in 1895 with their bronze bases marked with the monogram of the Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company and the model number.

After 1900, ‘Tiffany Studios New York’ was used. Further models were introduced, many taking art nouveau themes for their inspiration. Tiffany soon realised that the harshness of the new electricity upset many people and made sure his lamps formed pools of soft, flattering light.

But times were changing.

The New York Armory show of 1913 brought European modernism to New York and, by the 1930s Depression era, with functionality and sleek modernist styles in the forefront, the ornate lines of Tiffany products had fallen from favour. The swirling, multicoloured patterns, once seen as vibrant and new were associated with elderly aunts in fusty aparments. Interest in them renewed in the ‘50s and ‘60s only to fall foul of more modernism. Now art nouveau is riding high and the lamps’ popularity is shining bright.

40 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

stamped ‘Tiffany Studios New York 1651’, height 80cm, it has an estimate of £15,000-£25,000 at Duke’s sale on December 8, image courtesy of Duke’s Below left The rare Pond Lily lamp which sold for $3.37m at Christie’s New York on December 2018, image courtesy of Christie’s

TIFFANY LAMPS AT AUCTION

With maximalism back in style, Tiffany lamps are once more gracing the finest interiors.

Duke’s director, John Holmes, said: “It’s the old adage of scarcity and outstanding quality combined. Original Tiffany lamps were never mass-produced or machine made, always hand produced and only for a very limited time span around the turn of the last century.”

While previous demand for a high-quality Tiffany piece came from the States, today’s emerging buyer power is the Middle and Far East, he added.

In general it is the floral designs which are the most sought after, with Driscoll’s Wisteria being a perennial favourite.

Surprisingly, only 12 Tiffany Studios lamps have ever cracked the $1m mark, with some 30 having crossed the $500,000 mark – many of which were Wisteria examples.

But if auction figures are any indication, it is the Pond Lily – which sold for $3.37m at Christie’s New York in December 2018 (smashing its estimate of $1.8-$2.5m) – which is the most wanted. Rarity was the motivation for would-be buyers, with fewer than 14 examples known of that particular Pond Lily model in existence – five of which being in museum collections. Its rarity was no doubt due to its short production time of just 1902 to 1906.

Shape was also a factor, with the Pond Lily being in the preferred, rare, “globe” shape, which was a particularly difficult shape to master. Its artistic glass selection, patina on its bronze base, as well as strong synergy between base and shade, also adding to the high price.

But for collectors who don’t have $3m tucked away, what are the designs to look for?

John Holmes continued: “One model to look for is the Greek Urn bronze lamp base, which can fit a 16in shade. Lamps without shades can go for a few hundred pounds. With an original shade, you may add up to ten thousand to that.”

COLLECTING GUIDES Lego Republic Gunships trounced their estimate of £50-£70 to hammer at £640. In August, at the same auction house’s Lego and Action Man sale, a Star Wars Millennium Falcon, estimated to make £100-£150 sold for £1,300. So what makes the simple plastic blocks so collectable?

Lego: brick by brick In 1947, Lego became one of the first companies in Denmark to purchase an injection-moulding machine, allowing them to move from wooden toys to plastic ones. Soon after, in 1949, the company started producing interlocking plastic bricks which were popular but not as sophisticated as the modern ones we know today.

But youngsters had to wait until 1958 before bricks made of interlocking studs and tubes come into existence.

In addition to the blocks, in the early 1960s the Lego wheel was introduced. Now children’s imagination knew no bounds, the new complexity of play being reflected in the introduction of building instructions for sets. In 1968, the company introduced the Duplo line, designed for younger children and themes soon extended into Lego technic, castles, pirates and space as well as the minifigure to complement the sets.

Into the 21st century

Lego Maniacs Back in the day, nothing delighted a child more than waking up to a box of Lego under the tree.

But do the iconic plastic blocks excite the same fever among collectors today?

I

t’s a busy time for Lego. Not only are 10 sets sold every second in the run up to Christmas (the rest of the year its seven to eight sets a second) but January 28 is International Lego Day – that being the day in 1958 when the first patent was submitted in Denmark for an interlocking plastic brick.

Lego, the name is derived from the Danish words Leg Godt meaning play well, has been an iconic toy since its inception in the ‘30s in its native country and from the ‘40s elsewhere. Carpenter Kirk Christiansen began making wooden toys in 1932 but it was his launch of the ‘Automatic Binding Bricks’ that catapulted him into the history books.

Initially only five colours were produced but it was enough to spark the imaginations of children worldwide – a popularity which continues today. This affection also extends into the saleroom. This July, at Vectis Auctioneer’s TV and film-related sale, two mint condition Star Wars

42 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above A Lego 810

Town Series boxed set, estimated at £80-£120 sold for £170 at Vectis Auctioneers, image courtesy of Vectis Auctioneers Right A group of 1970s

construction sets from the Mark Willis Lego collection sold for £60 in in 2019, image courtesy of Vectis Auctioneers

In 1999, facing competition from more technical toys, Lego launched its mindstorms robotics platform, combining traditional elements with programmable motors and sensors to create programmable robots, marking the company’s entry into the educational and robotics market. In the early 2000s, the gear shifted once more when Lego forged licensing agreements with best-selling franchises like Star Wars and Harry Potter.

Soon after it started to embrace sets based on films, TV programmes and video games, leading to collaborations with Marvel and Disney.

Louise Harker from toy specialist Vectis Auctioneers, said: “There is a huge collectable market for Lego, with new sets just as popular as old, as Lego continues to retire its sets, it creates an instant demand, much quicker than most collectable toys. There is also value in loose and unboxed models which are regularly auctioned at Vectis.”

Best decade But from the bricks of our childhood to the robotics of the noughties, which are the Lego sets likely to stand the test of time?

Left The Black Seas

Barracuda Lego set included a ship’s parrot and monkey, image Lego Group Right Lego’s Town Plan

series was introduced to teach Danish children about traffic

Memorabilia expert Paul Fraser, founder of Paul Fraser Collectibles, said: “Few Lego sets from the 1980s have investment potential. It’s the limited-edition releases of the noughties such as 2007s Star Wars Millennium Falcon that get collectors and investors really worked up.”

One exception to this rule is the gift many children yearned to wake up to on Christmas morning in 1989.

He continued: “The flagship from Lego’s Pirates line in 1989 – the Black Seas Barracuda, is the exception. This was the first time Lego had ventured into pirate territory, making it an important part of the Lego story. What’s more, the ship is a real stunner, with great attention to detail including cloth sails and the captain’s monkey.”

Complete but played-with sets sell for around £200 today, with unopened examples making £800, according to Bricklink, a website that tracks the price of Lego sets.

Another to consider is the King’s Castle from 1984. It trades for around £130 used, or £1,500 unopened.

Below left Lego Star Wars Millennium Falcon set 10179, in a mint, sealed box, estimated to make £100-£150 sold for £1,300 at Vectis’ Lego and Action Man sale this August, image courtesy of Vectis Auctioneers Below right The now

retired Lego Star Wars Betrayal at Cloud City, set 75222, available to buy in 2018-2019, estimated to make £300£400 sold for £500 at Vectis, image courtesy of Vectis Auctioneers

May the brick be with you In the 1970s Star Wars became the film franchise of the century, defining the collecting habits of children, with every film having a must-have toy.

‘In 2007, Lego released the 10179 Ultimate Collector’s Millenium Falcon – a 5,197 piece Star Wars set. It was retired three years later and is long seen as one of the most valuable sets to date with unopened sets appearing on eBay priced around the £2,500 mark’

TOWN PLAN SERIES

For many of us it was Lego’s Town Plan series that set us on a lifelong love of the interlocking plastic brick and it was a toy with a very educational inspiration.

Denmark’s rapid economic growth in the 1950s allowed many Danes to afford a car. With the increasing number of vehicles on the road came a growing need to teach children how to behave in traffic.

So it was Lego, in collaboration with the Danish Council for Road Safety, launched the Town Plan series in 1955, with its stylised network of streets, small plastic cars, lorries and even miniature police officers to direct the traffic. The classic 760-piece 810-4 Town Plan was sold in the UK, Ireland and Australia from 1962-1967, known as the European Town Plan. Nostalgia means the sets are collectable to baby boomers, with Bricklink estimating new and sealed Town Plans could sell for up to £2,700 today.

When Lego licensed Star Wars in 1999, it heralded a new era for collectors and investors appealing to both traditional collectors and fans of the famous franchise.

Many of the best returns today come from the Lego Star Wars sets and minifigures.

Louise Harker said: “This was one of the first times merchandise had been so mass produced with the franchise on almost anything you could see. People started to create collections, with a new addition every birthday and Christmas, although it was impossible to own it all! Star Wars is one of the biggest and most iconic collectable genres.”

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 43

COLLECTING GUIDES Lego Lego by pieces Art World Map 11,695 pieces Eiffel Tower 10,001 pieces Titanic 9,090 pieces Colosseum 9,036 pieces Star Wars Millennium Falcon 7,541 pieces Star Wars UCS AT-AT Walker 6,785 pieces Harry Potter Hogwarts Castle 6,020 pieces Taj Mahal 5,923 pieces Real Madrid Santiago Bernabéu Stadium 5,876 pieces Ninjago City Gardens 5,686 pieces Harry Potter Diagon Alley 5,554 pieces Camp Nou FC Barcelona 5,508 pieces

Below left A Walking Sindy, dated 1970, expected to make £40-£60, sold for £820 at Vectis in 2004, image courtesy of Vectis Auctioneers Below A Palitoy Action Man Action Soldier, expected to make £60-£80 sold for £100 at Vectis last August, image courtesy of Vectis Auctioneers Below right The collection of

Dr Who memorabilia sold for £2,572 at Vectis this October, image courtesy of Vectis Auctioneers

Look out for Cloud City, a 698-piece Star Wars exclusive set with seven minifigures released in 2003. It is based on the film Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back and consists of the Cloud City platform and minifigures of Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, a Stormtrooper, Boba Fett, Han Solo, Princess Leia and Lando Calrissian.

In 2007, Lego released the 10179 Ultimate Collector’s Millennium Falcon – a 5,197-piece Star Wars set with five minifigures – a revamp of the first set which launched in 2000. It was retired three years later and is long seen as one of the most valuable sets to date, with unopened sets appearing on eBay priced around the £2,500 mark.

ULD LOOK OUT FOR 3 OTHER ICONIC TOYS COLLECTORS SHO Sindy

Every British girls’ favourite doll first appeared in 1963, four years after her American sister Barbie, and soon became the bestselling toy from British manufacturers Pedigree. The original doll came in a thoroughly modern ensemble of red, white and blue striped top with matching jeans and sneakers.

As well as the outfits, 1960s Christmas lists would have included extra accessories like nylons and scarves.

The most coveted Sindy outfits have sewn-in labels printed ‘Genuine Sindy Made in England’ or less commonly ‘Genuine Sindy’. As well as authenticity and condition, collectors in the know look for details such as the painted flat metal poppers on her outfits and the less common side parting in her hair. Sindy production moved to Hong Kong in 1965, so the rarest and therefore most valuable Sindy dolls date from 1963 – 1965. An original, boxed Sindy in great condition can make up to £500 at auction.

44 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Action Man

In 1966, Action Man was released in the UK, a replica of the 1964 American GI Joe figure, the first action figure released exclusively for boys. Action Man was a big hit and was at the top of many boys’ Christmas lists until it was discontinued in 1984 due to the emergence of the Star Wars franchise and subsequent smaller action figures.

There have been a number of Action Man re-releases with 30th, 40th, and 50th anniversary releases.

The 40th being the closest in design to the original, and provoking nostalgia and therefore demand. The 30th-anniversary sets, from 1993 to 2006 were directed more at a fantasy, all-action hero market, with a large selection of outfits, accessories and features. Action Man and GI Joe remain a firm favourite of boys and men alike, while they have spawned a number of replica figures, non are more iconic and distinctive than the originals.

Dr Who

While the headlines might be taken up by estimate-busting American film franchise toys, spare a thought for the homegrown stars which will always stand the test of time.

When an assorted box of Doctor Who collectables, including soap, yo-yos and pencil sharpeners appeared at Vectis Auctioneers in October it was given a modest estimate of £40-£60, but went on to sell for £2,572.

In the same sale a number of Doctor Who-themed copies of the Radio Times, estimated at £30-£50 sold for a staggering £4,655.

The reason for the lots’ success may be due to the fact they pre-date the series’ popularity.

Louise Harker of Vectis said: “Earlyissue Dr Who items are very sought after items. Dating from the 1960s, when memorabilia wasn’t marketed as much as the later issues, they are more scarce and desirable.”

COLLECTING GUIDE Christmas error stamps

Christmas lickings The history of festive stamps is an amusing romp through the politics and art styles of the last six decades – add to that the category of ‘errors’ and you have a collector’s Christmas cracker

H

ave you ever considered, when you post a Christmas card, of the time, effort and often squabbling, behind that special stamp – each one of which has been personally okayed by the monarch of the day?

Right The first Christmas

stamp was designed by Tasveer Shemza Below Christmas stamps have been a UK festive staple since 1966

THE HISTORY OF CHRISTMAS STAMPS

As the popularity of Christmas stamps grew around the world, since the late 1950s the Post Office came under increasing pressure to introduce them to the UK. Its reluctance was due to the perceived difficullty of combining the dominant feature of the queen’s head with an image commemorating the birth of Christ.

Over the years the Post Office had created a list of artists which they invited to submit designs on a regular basis. If additional names were required the Post Office sought advice from the Council of Industrial Design (CoID).

But in 1964 the newly-appointed Postmaster General, Anthony Wedgwood Benn, threw open the opportunity to design a stamp to the public, inv ting anyone with an idea to submit it.

He went a step further in 1966 suggesting the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings as a theme for a Christmas stamp, along with the controversial idea it should be designed by primary school children.

A resulting nationwide competition saw eight professional designers judge 5,000 entries, with a picture of King Wenceslas by six-year-old Stafford school girl Tasveer Shemza taking first prize. Her picture went on to feature on the 3d stamp.

The festive designs were a hit with the lettersending public who soon demanded a Christmasthemed stamp ever year.

Benn’s democratising of the process paved the way for more female designers who played an increasing role in stamp design.

‘In 1969, after criticism that the nursery scenes depicted on the 1968 stamp were ungodly, designs were back to a religious theme.

Although with the proviso – after the 1967 stamp of The Adoration of the Magi, by the Seville School – that “foreign paintings” should be avoided’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 45

COLLECTING GUIDE Christmas error stamps For the stamp collector, of course, there is another mouth-watering perspective when it comes to Christmas stamps – the error. Because nothing is more exciting than a special stamp that’s gone wrong.

What is a stamp error?

Christmas 1968: 4d

From design and engraving, to colouring, printing and perforation; stamp errors can occur at every stage of production. Errors are unintentional mistakes, or production failures, that make the stamp different from the rest. Errors can be said to come in two types, either a production error or a design error by the artist.

The more obvious the error or more visible the printing mistake, the more collectors are willing to pay.

Likewise, the rarer an error stamp is, the more it is worth.

Every part of the printing and production process is strictly controlled by the postal authorities in order to spot and address any issues before stamps go on public sale.

Nevertheless, oversights happen. But because of these stringent quality controls, the number of stamp errors which are issued is extremely limited.

Often the way a rarity is created in philately is through an attempt by a country’s Post Office to destroy all the examples of a stamp which has been printed, and a few examples slip through the net. And because Christmas means more, so do Christmas mistakes.

A set of nursery-themed Christmas stamps was the third offering in 1968. They were designed by Rosalind Dease, who undertook thorough and methodical research of dolls and toys during the process, even using her own daughter, Fenella Jane, as the model for the girl on the old-fashioned rocking-horse on the 4d stamp.

But despite her stringent efforts there were production errors seen in the base of the rocking horse, which appears orange instead of red. The reigns, saddle and children’s faces are also affected by the mistake. The error stamp recently sold for £450.

Interestingly, while the stamps are popular today, they were criticised at the time for their unreligious theme, causing the Postmaster General to order that designs “go religious in 1969”.

Christmas 1967: 3d After Tasveer Shemza’s winning King Wenceslas stamp in 1966, the second incarnation of Christmas stamps in 1967, at the request of the Postmaster General, returned to an overtly religious theme.

The choice was the much more sober 17th-century depiction of The Adoration of the Shepherds by an artist from the School of Seville.

Despite receiving the plaudits of many, the stamps were not immune to errors in the production process. In addition to more obvious print and design flaws, stamps can be prone to gum errors. Stamps may be gummed on both sides, on the wrong side, or with the wrong gum. In the early years of stamp production, gum was manually applied between the printing and perforating process.

In the case of this set, the stamps were printed on the gummed side meaning the image is less distinct and prone to smudging. Stamp collectors love a technical error, which is why the eight-set block is priced £4,000 from Paul Fraser Collectibles.

Christmas 1969: 5d

Top right The base of the rocking horse on the error stamp is orange Above right Green is

missing from the traffic lights in the margin Left The eight-block of

1967 stamps are printed on the gummed side

In 1969, after criticism that the nursery scenes were too ungodly, stamps were back to a religious theme. This was on the proviso however, unlike the 1967 stamp of The Adoration of the Magi, by a Spanish artist, that “foreign paintings” should be avoided.

It was rather ironic then that the designer chosen was Fritz Wegner, an Austrian Jew who fled the Nazis to Britain in 1938 after his schoolboy cartoon of Hitler got him into trouble. The Stamp Advisory Council decided that “Fritz Wegner’s designs captured the religious element of the occasion much more than any of the others.”

The error here lies in the omission of the green on the traffic light block of eight. Just 120 examples of this stamp in mint condition are recorded. The sought-after marginal block, and perfect sheet to illuminate the omission, is priced £2,500 on offer from Paul Fraser Collectibles.

‘In 1967, the second incarnation of Christmas stamps, at the request of the Postmaster General, returned to an overtly religious theme a year after the inaugural stamps were designed by primary school children’ 46 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Left Missing colour

is one of the most spectacular stamp errors Below right The Post

Office should have replaced the 13p stamps but some got through the net

Christmas 1971: 7½p Arguably the most spectacular of all stamp errors occurs when one of the intended ink colours fails to print.

Such was the case in the Christmas Ride of the Magi stamp, designed by Clarke/Clement Hughes in 1971 where the lilac of the king’s robe on the right-hand stamp, has failed to print.

This can be the result of a complete failure of the ink to be applied to the paper, or as a result of a foreign body getting between the paper and ink roller. Such errors are among the most striking making them highly desirable and collectable. There’s also missing colour on the leftmost horse’s saddle and the leftmost king’s footwear.

The stamp sold for £900.

Below left The gold on the flawed stamp is much thinner Bottom right In this set

the lower block of four is completely imperforate

Christmas 1988: 13p stamp

Production was in full swing for the 13p second class stamp in the run-up to Christmas when the government decided on a Scrooge-like price hike to 14p. Keen on the extra revenue, the Post Office immediately changed tack to make sure only the 14p was available. But they overlooked the fact they were already being inserted into the yearbook of 1988 commemorative issues.

Pierron records only 10 mint examples in existence. Despite being one of the most well known and sought-after modern GB stamp errors, the current price remains modest compared to its peers. In 1989, the auction house Warwick and Warwick sold a mint 13p stamp for more than £3,000. Several have surfaced subsequently and it is now catalogued at £12,000 in mint condition.

a good Christmas stamp error. The Christmas stamp issues of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign are probably the most popular of all British stamp errors. With such a diverse range of interesting errors to hunt for, they have always attracted a large philatelic following.” The set is on offer from Paul Fraser Collectibles, priced £2,500.

Christmas 1972: 3p By 1972 the issue of Christmas stamps had become a tradition. On this Christmas depiction of angels, designed

by Sally Stiff, gold detailing to the face and wings has been omitted. It’s such a rare oversight that Pierron, the recognised authority on modern GB stamp errors, records only 30 mint examples.

It’s a difficult error to spot – which is why so many copies from the original may have been lost or destroyed.

But it can be confirmed under magnification by comparing the braiding on the sleeves, and at the bottom of the garment with that on the normal stamp – the gold printing is noticeably thinner on the error. The stamp is on sale from Paul Fraser Collectibles priced £1,250.

Christmas 1978: 9p stamp Stamps which lack one or more rows of perforations (or other means of separation) are known as imperforate. The most spectacular are stamps that are fully imperforate, which occurs when a sheet of stamps fails to go through the perforating machine properly.

The perforations here are clearly missing from the bottom two pairs of this sheet of Christmas Carol Singers, designed by Faith Jaques. Paul Fraser said: “You can’t beat ANTIQUE COLLECTING 47

DAYS OUT this Christmas

DECK the HALLS

From Edwardian hospitality to Tudor splendour, the finest UK county houses make a great collector’s day out this Christmas Above Nostell Priory,

West Yorkshire © National Trust Images, Freya Raby Below left Castle Ward, County Down © National Trust Images, Annapurna Mellor

Castle Ward, County Down Celebrate an Irish Georgian Christmas at Castle Ward in County Down on December 8-10, seeing rooms as they would have appeared in the late 18th century.

Atmospheric lighting will accentuate the period plasterwork and panelling, while the halls will be wreathed in traditional garlands above a dining table decorated with festive foods and rich wines fashionable in the 18th century.

Outside, the stable yard will be dressed in Georgian style with Christmas lights – while actors in period dress will regale stories of Castle Ward in the 18th century.

Castle Ward was built in the late Georgian period, in 1762-1760, during the reign of George III. The entrance façade to the west, and the interiors immediately behind it, are solidly Palladian while the front garden faces Strangford Lough.

The rooms to the east all feature gothic pointed doors and plaster vaulting behind battlements, pinnacles and ogival windows.

The house is located at Strangford, Downpatrick, County Down, BT30 7BA. Go to www.nationaltrust.org.uk/ visit/northern-ireland/castle-ward/history-of-castle-ward for more details.

‘This year at Ickworth an opulent Georgian Christmas takes centre stage, specifically the period 1727-1760, when masquerade balls and lavish get-togethers were all the rage’ 48 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Polesden Lacey, Surrey Discover how the Edwardians celebrated the festive season at the home of one of the era’s best-known society hostesses at Polesden Lacey in Surrey.

The Grade II-listed building was the weekend retreat of Margaret Greville (1863-1942), a wealthy brewer’s daughter whose house parties included kings, queens and prime ministers. She was also a shrewd collector, with pieces ranging from British Masters to fine French furniture. This year, until January 7, the house will host a fairytale Christmas, including an outdoor carousel dating to 1884. The house is located at Great Bookham, near Dorking, Surrey. For more details go to www.nationaltrust.org. uk/visit/surrey/polesden-lacey

Right Chatsworth’s

Painted Hall, photo credit DPC Photography Below left Polesden Lacey, Surrey © National Trust Images, Megan Taylor Below Chatsworth’s Library, photo credit DPC Photography

Chatsworth House, Derbyshire Advent is the theme of this year’s display at Chatsworth, with 24 rooms filled with the sights, sounds and scents of the season. Fine art, from the Devonshire collections will take centre stage, including paintings by Luca Giordano (1634-1705), Salvator Rosa (1615-1673) and Paolo Veronese (1528-1588).

Chatsworth, home to the Devonshire family, set on the banks of the river Derwent, is known for the quality of its art from ancient Roman and Egyptian sculpture, and masterpieces by Rembrandt to work by outstanding modern artists, including Lucian Freud and David Nash.

The house has featured on numerous films from Pride and Prejudice to Peaky Blinders. A recent three-part BBC documentary followed the duke and duchess and the colourful characters of their 700 staff.

The house can be found at Chatsworth, Bakewell, Derbyshire, DE45 1PP, for more details go to www.chatsworth.org

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 49

DAYS OUT this Christmas

Chartwell, Kent

Hever Castle and Gardens, Kent Celebrate Christmas like a Tudor this year with a visit to the girlhood home of Anne Boleyn.

Until January 1, festive visitors to Hever Castle will be met with traditionally decorated rooms, log fires and twinkling Christmas trees. Its panelled rooms house fine furniture, tapestries, antiques and what is regarded by some as one of the best collections of Tudor portraits after the National Portrait Gallery.

As well as links to Henry VIII’s second wife, his fourth spouse, Anne of Cleves, owned Hever Castle until her death in 1557. During her occupancy she made a number of alterations to the castle and spent a good part of her time here.

The oldest parts of the castle are the medieval gatehouse and the outer bailey which date back to the 14th century. Timber-framed Tudor additions were built in the 15th and 16th centuries by the Boleyn family and can still be seen.

The castle is home to two prayer books, both on view, which belonged to Anne Boleyn and bear her inscriptions and signature.

Hever Castle is located at Hever, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 7NG. For more details go to www.hevercastle.co.uk

50 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above Hever Castle,

photo credit Hever Castle and Gardens Above right Chartwell,

Kent ©National Trust Images, Megan Taylor Below left The Inner Hall at Hever Castle, the Italian walnut panelling and columns were designed in 1905 by the sculptor William Silver Frith as part of William Waldorf Astor’s restoration, photo credit Hever Castle and Gardens Right Chartwell, Kent

©National Trust Images, Megan Taylor

70 years after Winston Churchill won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1953, Christmas celebrations at his former Kent home of Chartwell have a very literary theme.

A Storybook Christmas, on until December 23 explores the favourite childhood books of one of Churchill’s beloved daughters, Mary Soames, who recalled: “At the end of busily, and happily, occupied days came an evening ritual - reading aloud. This was a treasured highlight.”

The sitting room features books tied with ribbon under a tall Christmas tree surrounded by Mary’s dolls.

Continuing the theme in the kitchen, visitors will see giant willow toadstools and a collection of ‘eat me’ and ‘drink me’ bottles.

The Churchill family lived at Chartwell from 1924. As well as a beloved family home, it was a treasured retreat for a very public man. The wartime prime minister died at the property a few months after his 90th birthday in 1965. It also houses hundreds of Sir Winston’s possessions from honours to childhood mementoes.

The house is located at Mapleton Road, Westerham, Kent, TN16 1PS. For more details go to www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/kent/chartwell

Nostell, West Yorkshire Join in the festivities this Christmas as the house, near Wakefield, celebrates fairytales including Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast in honour of its recently-restored Georgian doll’s house.

The exquisite miniature dwelling – one of only 12 surviving 18th-century dolls’ houses – will be decked out with tiny Christmas trimmings.

A masterpiece of 18th-century architecture, Nostell was built by the Winn family between 1725–1785, to showcase the latest architectural designs as well as the family’s wealth and social status.

Today it boasts a world-class collection of Thomas Chippendale furniture, as well as Robert Adam interiors and a rare John Harrison clock. A new assembly of five of Nostell’s most treasured paintings includes a masterpiece

by Angelica Kauffman (1741-1807). Expect visits from Father Christmas from 11am to 3pm in December.

For more details go to www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/ yorkshire/nostell

Right The Fury of

Athamas by John Flaxman (1755-1826) in the main hall of Ickworth Estate © National Trust Images Below left Nostell doll’s house decorated for Christmas © National Trust Images, Annapurna Mellor Below Masks will feature at Ickworth’s celebration of Christmas © National Trust Images, Paul Harris

Ickworth Estate, Suffolk Buil amid more than 1,800 acres of parkland, Ickworth Estate is the perfect place to celebrate the festive season.

This year revisits the years 1727-1760 – the peak of opulent Georgian Christmases – when masquerade balls and lavish get-togethers were all the rage among the well-to-do.

The house was built in the 18th century as a palace to house the treasures amassed by the 4th Earl of Bristol, known as ‘Earl Bishop’, who inherited the estate in 1779. He was the grandson of the 1st Earl of Bristol, a notorious figure at George II’s court.

Of his treasures, the sculpture, The Fury of Athamas by John Flaxman, commissioned by the Earl Bishop, is a focal point of the main hall.

Staged Splendour, Celebrating a Georgian Christmas takes place daily from December 2 to January 2 (closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day).

The house is located at The Rotunda, Horringer, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP29 5QE. For more details go to www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/suffolk/ ickworth-estate ANTIQUE COLLECTING 51

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Puzzle TIME This month’s quiz has a distinctly festive feel with pantomimes taking centre stage thanks to quiz editor Peter Wade-Wright

Send your answers to Crossword, Antique Collecting magazine, Riverside House, Dock Lane, Melton Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 1PE. Photocopies are also acceptable, or email your answers to magazine@ accartbooks.com. The first three opened by January 10 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

DEC/JAN QUIZ Q1 Originally from the Latin pantomimus, what did the word pantomime first mean? (a) tight trousered, (b) actors taking many parts, (c) the comic use of strings of sausages (d) the inclusion of clowns.

Q2 There were two popular Roman pantomime actors with the same name (also the name of a major European city). What famously happened to one of them in AD 67? (a) booed off the stage, (b) elevated to general in the Roman Army, (c) married off by Nero to a family member, (d) executed.

Q3 What, through a misunderstanding of ancient history, did the first French pantomimes consist of? A story told (a) in dance, (b) by an orator, (c) with the help of a dachshund i.e. ‘sausage-dog’, (d) slapstick.

(a) prosthetics to make the player appear pregnant, (b) written speeches, (c) stage furniture, (d) courtesan costumes.

Cinderella is one of the mostperformed pantomimes, image Shutterstock

Q9 Which famous architect introduced scenic decoration into England? (a) Inigo Jones, (b) William Orchard, (c) Nicholas Hawksmoor, (d) Christopher Wren.

The genie of the lamp from another wellloved show, image Shutterstock

Q10 For what (not pantomimes) were they designed? (a) personal family fun, (b) court masques, (c) aristocratic garden parties, (d) religious mystery plays.

Finally, although 19th-century pantomimes became a hotchpotch of music-hall acts, they started to be structured around fairy stories. The following four anagrams can all be rearranged to make the titles of popular versions: Bathe woodbines, dig indoor herd, bank a Shetland jacket and lid cleaner. What are they?

This 19th-century lithograph shows how popular the genre was, image public domain

Q4 Which character in the Commedia Dell’Arte is mostly associated with the early art of the pantomime? (a) Dottore, (b) Capitano, (c) Harlequin, (d) an unnamed genie.

Q5 When this character (Q4) appeared in English pantomime what special powers did he possess? (a) fluency in several languages, (b) magical transformation, (c) invisibility, (d) the preparation of love potions.

Q6 He sought escape from whom and why? (a) Dottore and his quack medicine, (b) Capitano and his reckless use of the sword, (c) Harlequin and his boring soliloquies, (d) none of the above.

Q7 The actors in a pantomime’s knockabout/ slapstick parts became known as what? (a) ‘sausage meat’, (b) invalids, (c) extras, (d) dames.

52 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Q8 What, in theatrical terms, are false pros?

1

SOLUTION TO LAST MONTH’S CROSSWORD:

The letters when rearranged form the word mahogany.

The winners, who will each receive a copy of the book, are: June Radford, St Albans, by email; Lucie Worthington, Caistor and J. H. de Vries, Southampton, by email.

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DOWN CLUE

A work by which Swiss-born German artist?

7 8 9

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13

What must happen to these fibres?

DOWN CLUE

22 23

Across

1 Acquirer of something (you may be one yourself). (9) 7 ____ paper. Book page used as part of the strain-absorbing binding. (3) 8 Wool combs, or stiff paper objects sent, presented, played with, etc. (pl.) (5) 9 Strict American sect and makers of basic but elegant furniture. (5) 12 Art medium of powdered pigment and binding agent. (6) 15 Small pointed tool, and as _____ point, an arrowhead used extensively during the Middle Ages. (6) 18 ____-down, to lower a price. (5) 21 A solid, or highly viscous substance, such as frankincense and myrrh. (5) 22 Attractive carp and Eastern art symbol of perseverance. (3) 23 Action or goods from a general removal or emptying. (9) Frankincense is an aromatic version of which substance?

Image Shutterstock

21

ACROSS CLUE

Down

1 Northern Caribbean island country. Posters from there (by Alfredo Rostgaard, René Mederos etc.) are highly prized. (4) 2 ____ Strauss. German-born 1850s company founder in America and now a worldwide clothing brand name. (4) 3 Design from the use of acid on a metal surface. (4) 4 Henry Williamson’s 1927 novel animal-hero name. (Under threat… the animal, not the book which has never been out of print.) (5) 5 Put back to its original state. (5) 6 Perfect. ‘_____ landscape’ Annibale Carracci (1560-1609) invention of a grand and formalised arrangement. (5) 10 Joan ____ (1893-1983). Spanish artist particularly associated with Surrealism. (4) 11 Trough. The Kitchen ____ School were a group of post-WWII British realist painters.(4) 12 Kitchen utensil…and Arcadian god of shepherds and hunters. (3) 13 Yards put in a twist. (4) 14 Genre of poetry, large in scale and heroic events. (4) 15 William _____ (1757-1827) English poet and Romantic artist. (5) 16 One of the orders of classical architecture. (5) 17 Set of stamps etc., available at a particular time. (5) 18 Tree knot or hard wooden ball. (accepted spelling). (4) 19 Yet another piece of indispensable kitchen ‘kit’. (4) 20 Paul ____ (1879-1940). Swiss-born German artist known for his exploration and writing on colour. (4) Finally, rearrange the letters in the highlighted squares to form the name of a London museum _____ and _____ (8, 6)

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 53

CHRISTMAS GUIDE most-wanted presents 3 Amy Kent manager of art and antiques e I would really like to receive this miniature Coalport double scent bottle (c.

1870) which is handmade in vibrant enamels in period floral design. I love the small ball feet the bottle is sitting on and the two gold ball stoppers. It really is charming and so colourful, it would serve as a lovely conversation piece when I have friends over. I love it so much I have put it on my Xmas list for my husband to buy. The item is being sold by Simon Willcocks Antiques, www.ebay.co.uk/str/simonwillcockantiques

4 Henny Smith irector of Parker Fine Art Auctioneers

Dear Santa…

Five industry experts reveal which antiques they would most like Father Christmas to bring them this year 1 Iain Brunt founder of www.antiques.co.uk I just adore the depiction of bronze animals. The French sculptor and animalier Pierre-Jules Mêne (1810-1879) was considered one of the pioneers of the art, and if Santa was feeling generous I would love to unwrap one on Christmas Day. If his budget is stretched, more affordable are 19th-century copies. This bronze of a rhinoceros is English and dates to the start of the 20th century. Some 5cm (2½ in) tall he would make an ideal companion to watch over me all year round.

2 Irita Marriott owner of Irita Marriott Auctioneers In my line of work there is a lot of travelling and a lot of need to use a laptop but finding the right bag is always a dilemma. I have had this vintage Louis Vuitton laptop bag on my Christmas list for a few years and I am hoping this year will be the one that someone takes the hint. As well as looking stylish with comfy handles it has loads of room for my laptop as well as everyday necessities.

54 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

1 Iain wants this charming bronze rhinoceros under the tree this year 2 A pre-owned Louis Vuitton laptop bag is on Irita’s wishlist 3 Amy is dreaming of ta charming Coalport double scent bottle 4 Will Santa bring Hetty this George Clausen (1852-1944) oil titled A Wood Nymph? (it appears in Parker Fine Art’s sale on December 7) 5 A hatpin by the renowned jeweller Charles Horner is what Nicky would most like to unwrap this December

I’d love to unwrap this oil painting of A Wood Nymph by the British artist George Clausen (1852-1944) on Christmas morning. Clausen was known for his depictions of idyllic rural scenes and this is one of very few nudes he ever painted. It is in original condition with its original frame and has been in a private collection since being exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1910. The varnish has degraded slightly over time but a light clean and re-varnish will make it even more beautiful.

5 Nicky Houston Dawson’s head of jewellery, watches and silver I would love to wake up to this silver and enamel hatpin by the Yorkshire jeweller Charles Horner (1837–1896). It is in remarkable condition despite being hallmarked 1911.

Charles Horner is known for his art nouveau designs and, although he died in 1896, the company continued in Halifax through until the late 20th century. Hatpins were popular in the late 19th century as fashion dictated the use of larger hats. They were produced in such a wide variety of designs that they make an exciting and affordable area of collecting which exemplifies the prominent fashions of the time. I think it would be a charming accessory to any outfit.

‘I have had this vintage Louis Vuitton laptop bag on my Christmas list for a few years and I am hoping this year will be the one that someone takes the hint’

EXPERT COMMENT Charles Hanson A folktale from Somerset describes the ‘Apple Tree Man’, the spirit of the orchard’s oldest tree and in whom the fertility of the orchard is thought to reside.

But there are many traditions centred around wassailing at Christmas and New Year.

Lignum vitae

An Auctioneer’s Lot Charles Hanson raises a large 17th-century wassail cup to toast the festive season

T

his time of year is awash with traditions rooted in ancient British folklore and a recent discovery reminds me of one of the finest.

During one of my travels to a north Devon farmhouse, I uncovered this amazing 17th-century wassail cup, which would have been used to make merry a staggering 400, or so, years ago.

The word ‘wassail’ is a corruption of Anglo-Saxon phrase waes hael, a toast meaning, ‘be hale’ or ‘good health’.

Wassailing’s dictionary definition is ‘to drink plentiful amounts of alcohol while going from house to house at singing carols’. Hence the phrase ‘here we go a-wassailing’.

In those days the wassail cup would have held a hot, mulled punch of the same name. The earliest versions were warmed mead into which roasted crab apples were dropped and burst to create a drink called ‘lambswool’ drunk on Lammas day, a Christian holy day known in Shakespeare’s time.

Above Charles Hanson

with the c. 1660 wassail cup, photo Mark Laban/ Hansons Below right Large

bowls were owned by well-to-do households, who filled them with a type of spiced ale called lambs wool, image public domain

It was the aristocracy and landed gentry along with institutions like the guilds that would have possessed the grand vessels. Some antique examples were made from turned wood, pottery or tin, often with many handles for shared drinking, some with decorated lids.

This example is made out of a highly durable wood called lignum vitae. The trees are indigenous to the Caribbean and parts of South America and have been exported to Europe since the 16th century.

The tree derives its name from its medicinal properties. In Latin lignam vitae means ‘wood of life’, with the wood’s resin having been used to treat a variety of medical conditions from coughs to arthritis.

Festive table In the 17th century specially-crafted wassail bowls, elevated on a stemmed foot, graced many a festive table in December or January. They were a significant status symbol. The one I uncovered has a raised lip above a ring-turned body. It’s unusual to come across such a large example, making it a rare survivor.

Its wear and tear shows it has clearly enjoyed plenty of wassailing and it’s incredible to think this simple object has such a rich historical tale to tell. It’s a reminder that our festive traditions are borne out of our ancestors’ wish to celebrate the bounty of nature in the bleak mid winter.

The wassail cup was due to go under the hammer at Hansons’ Christmas fine art auction on November 30, with a guide price of £2,000-£3,000. To find out how much it made go to our website www.antique-collecting.com

Cider drinker Later, the drink evolved to become a mulled cider made with sugar, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg, topped with slices of toast, as sops, and drunk from a large communal bowl. The discovery of the wassail cup in Devon is significant as the county is in the heart of the country’s cider-producing counties. Wassailing here refers to a traditional Pagan ritual that involves singing and drinking to the health of trees on Twelfth Night (January 5).

The purpose of the tradition was to awaken the cidermaking apple trees and scare away evil spirits to ensure a good harvest the following autumn. Wassail ceremonies vary from village to village but they generally all have the same core elements.

A wassail king and queen lead a procession ahead of a band which played or sung from one orchard to the next.

The wassail queen would then be lifted into the boughs of the tree where she placed toast soaked in wassail from a clayen cup as a gift to the tree spirits.

‘The wassail cup would have held a hot, mulled punch of the same name. The earliest versions were warmed mead into which roasted crab apples were dropped and burst to create a drink called ‘lambswool’ drunk on Lammas day’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 55

WHAT THE EXPERTS COLLECT Ideas for 2024 ‘Collecting Scandinavian glass can be done on a budget. Vessels that are clear and lack internal decoration can be bought for under the £50 mark and still showcase the wonders of Scandinavian form’

Collect Call

Looking for a new collecting obsession in 2024?

Eight UK antiques experts reveal what they collect, and why ALEX FROGGATT Glass specialist at Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers collects Scandanavian glass Scandinavian glass is my passion and area of collecting, particularly by the notable mid-20th century firms such as Kosta and Orrefors. It appealed to me from the moment I entered the auction world at the age of 15, simply because, it just looks great. On top of that, I was amazed by how accessible it was, even with a modest budget.

Despite being proud to be raised in Stourbridge – the home of British glass production at the end of the 19th century – I am amazed by the output of Scandinavian glass makers in the post-war period. Firms such as Orrefors continually pushed new developments in its Graal and Kraka techniques.

As with many crafts, local resources dictate the industries that form around them. Numerous factories operated in the small, wooded area of Småland,

56 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Below right A group of

five Scandinavian glass vases, mid-20th century, including a Kosta glass vase, designed by Vicke Lindstrand, an Orrefors vase, designed

by Nils Landberg and an engraved Orrefors vase, designed by Sven Palmqvist. The lot sold for £180 this year, image courtesy of Sworders

romantically referred to as the “Kingdom of Crystal”.

Local timber provided ample fuel for the glassworks that sprung up from the mid-18th century. Even today Kosta Glassworks still operates in the area producing some of the best quality modern factory art glass on the market.

As mentioned, collecting Scandinavian glass can be done on a budget. Vessels that are clear and lack internal decoration can be bought for under the £50 mark and still showcase the wonders of Scandinavian form.

On the other end of the spectrum, adding either stylistic engraving or complex internal decoration increases desirability and thus consequently value rises significantly. Designers to look out for include Vicke Lindstrand, Ingeborg Lundin and Sven Palmqvist. All of which have produced designs that are sprinkled over numerous texts on 20th-century design, such as the Äpplet vase and Ravenna bowls.

ROBERT PARKINSON Coins and stamps specialist at eBay on his coin collection

WILL RICHARDS Deputy chairman of the Berkshire auctioneer Dreweatts loves post-war British art

Above Unknown artist,

Being an auctioneer puts me in the privileged position of being surrounded by so many wonderful objects you would be hard pushed not to collect along the way.

With the growth of online bidding platforms it’s now possible for everyone to collect whatever interests them at an affordable price. I use key word searches to let me know when favourite artists are coming up, which is how I bought a drawing by the Spanish artist Celso Lagar (18911966) – one of Picasso’s contemporaries – for just £80.

My main area of interest is inter-war and post-war British artists. This was a time of innovation and also when the horrors of war lead to a revival of the pastoral tradition. As well as the well-known artists, including Eric Ravilious, John Nash and Ben Nicholson, there are plenty of wonderful and more affordable artists who are very collectable – they don’t even need to be by a named artist.

My favourite painting is the first one I ever bought from a market and it cost less than £300. It is dated 1949 and while I haven’t been able to decipher the signature, it’s a wonderful, abstracted landscape typical of that era.

Printmaking was another area of innovation in postwar British art. I have bought a number of prints by wellknown artists such as Julian Trevelyan and Elizabeth Frink at auction for under £1,500. Always check condition and focus on well-known subject themes and signed, limited editions with small edition runs. Collecting on any level is such fun and a wonderful journey of education.

Below A silver shilling struck in 1658 bearing the portrait of Oliver Cromwell, is part of Robert’s coin collection

Summer landscape, signed and dated 1949, oil on board, takes pride of place in Will’s collection

I have been working with premium British coins for almost a decade, starting at Spink, moving on to Heritage Auctions in the US, then Sovereign Rarities and now eBay. I collect primarily British coins but can stretch to ancient and foreign coins, or anything that has strong eye appeal, rarity and great preservation.

To my mind coins represent some of the most beautiful and diagnostic physical links to times long past and places long since changed, like fallen empires and distant lands. When holding an antique coin you imagine all of the hands that have held it, spent it, saved it or lost it.

My favourite coin is probably a silver shilling struck in 1658 bearing the portrait of Oliver Cromwell.

I also like my Roman double-denarius featuring Carausius – a military commander of Britain who declared himself Emperor in 286 AD. What can I say?

It seems I have a thing for usurpers.

‘I collect coins ancient and foreign, anything that has strong eye appeal, rarity and great preservation. I feel that coins represent some of the most beautiful and diagnostic physical links to times long since past and places long since changed’

‘My favourite painting is the first one I ever bought from a market and it cost less than £300. It is dated 1949 and while I have been unable to decipher the signature, it’s a wonderful, abstracted summer landscape typical of that era’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 57

WHAT THE EXPERTS COLLECT Ideas for 2024 ROBERT OPIE Consumer historian and author collects consumer ephemera On September 8, 1963, I was enjoying some Mackintosh’s Munchies when an idea came to me. Was anyone saving our throwaway history? It was a seminal moment in my life. From that time, I was compelled to keep what most people discarded.

Cereal boxes, sweet wrappers, soft drinks bottles and more, all needed to be kept. Here was a story that was changing year by year. But who cared? Who appreciated it all? I did. Someone had to save what would become our consumer heritage. The new fad at that time was ‘real fruit’ yoghurt. Within a few years I had gathered together a thousand pots – each one cleaned, dated and with the lid carefully replaced – including the novelty Choc Top yoghurt of 1967.

Then, one day in 1970, I went to Kensington Gardens where the Round Pond was being drained for the first time since the 1930s.

Out of the mud flats I pulled out six old milk bottles. Another lightbulb moment. The quest now extended to finding the history of all those brands.

To my amazement, it was possible to find Kiwi boot polish tins, Robin starch packs, Birds custard, Colmans mustard, Weetabix, Oxo, Bisto and the rest. It was just a matter of searching, but it was exhilarating.

Today with more than 500,000 items in this archive, the threads of our society can be woven together to see the fabric of life. All this wonderful material has enabled 22 books and a two-hour documentary In Search of our Throwaway History.

Robert’s latest book The Graphic Design Sourcebook: 200 Years of Commercial Art from the Robert Opie Collection, is published by Unicorn priced £30.

‘The new fad at the time was for ‘real fruit’ yoghurt. Within a few years I had gathered a thousand pots – each one cleaned and dated and with the lid carefully replaced’ 58 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Below left A Dig for Plenty poster by an unknown artist, image courtesy of Robert Opie Below Part of Simeon’s collection of snuff, patch and pill boxes

SIMEON BEEVER The specialist in antique arms, armour and militaria at Olympia Auctions collects snuff and pill boxes I collect subject-based, 18th-century and later snuff, patch and pill boxes. The collection started when I came across a single-owner collection of enamel boxes at auction a couple of years ago. I left bids on many of the lots, but was only successful with one – a c.

1785 depiction of a Montgolfière hot air balloon.

The boxes show the events, personalities and activities which were important to the people of the time which, as a social historian by training and a previous collector of Edwardian postcards, appealed to me.

Since winning that first box, I have expanded the collection to include royalty, politics, sport and military subjects. In terms of medium, it has also grown beyond enamel to include boxes in wood and metal, though the enamel boxes remain my favourites.

Date-wise, it now runs from the late 18th century, right up to an example from Charles and Diana’s royal wedding in 1981. The boxes usually hammer for between £50 and £500, depending on condition, subject and rarity.

As always, a good provenance also adds value. I would love to have an anti-slavery box within the collection, but these are well outside of the price range I can afford.

‘Since winning my first box, I have expanded the collection to include royalty, politics, sport and military subjects. In terms of medium, it has also grown beyond enamel to include boxes in wood and metal

Right Elena with a pair of

shoes from her collection Left Evidence of a

hallmarking error on a waiter by Thomas Farren, London 1729-1739, from John’s collection

JOHN ROGERS Associate director and head of silver and objects of vertu at Chiswick Auctions Unsurprisingly, I love silver, with many themes running through my collection ranging from Persian silver of the Qajar and Pahlavi dynasties, to 19th-century flatware patterns. But a central theme is the diversity of marks which reveal so much about silver’s origin, including its location, date, purity and maker. For accuracy it is unrivalled by any other field of antiques. I also enjoy its aberrations, which is why hallmark errors is another fascinating field I enjoy collecting.

Below left Unknown mid-19th century Italian artist, the Bay of Naples, gouache, part of Iain’s collection

ELENA JACKSON Vintage fashion specialist, Ewbank’s Auctioneers, Surrey, loves shoes As my Christian name suggests, I am of Italian descent, and as such, take great pride in embracing everything associated with Italian style, particularly shoes. My great grandfather was an artisan shoemaker and my mother was a Miss Wales in the mid-1950s. She epitomised the curvy hourglass figure and always knew how to dress, paying special attention to her shoes. She told me “Shoes play a very important role; they change the way you walk, how you feel and how others perceive you.”

So I am a sucker for a well-made shoe and have been collecting my entire life. You might not be able to see my footwear when I am on the rostrum but, rest assured, there’s always something very interesting afoot. My enthusiasm is very evident, from my tangerine Terry de Havilland platforms (below) to my original, 1970s Elton John-esque Stars and Stripes glam-rock kinky boots.

IAIN BRUNT Founder of the website www.antiques.co.uk collects Italian gouaches Many years ago, when it was still a thriving antiques market, I had an indoor stand at Portobello market. My neighbour specialised in 19th-century Italian gouaches which were snapped up so quickly by Italian dealers I decided to start collecting them as well.

Italian gouaches are soft, opaque and translucent and, for me, have more depth than a watercolour. You can feel the vibrancy and the atmosphere created by the artists.

While some signed pieces by known artists can fetch six-figures, others start as low as £500 for a nice view.

For me, they represent an important part of history, such as this beautiful, Italian 19th-century gouache of the port and bay of the charming fishing town of Naples.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 59

rder,

TOP of the LOTS

Upcoming lots include posters for some of the greatest sci-fi films of the 20th century and a letter written in bark on Pitcairn Island from a Bounty mutineer

Above The rare Loetz vase

is a missing piece from the glassmaker’s archive

A rare art nouveau vase by the 19th-century Bohemian glassmaker Loetz has an estimate of £200-£400 at Irita Marriott Auctioneer’s sale on January 11 at its Derbyshire saleroom. Similar to glass of Louis Comfort Tiffany, Loetz was able to produce coloured designs with a high level of metallic iridescence. This vase, with trailed decoration and serial numbers on its base, has been confirmed by the Loetz company as a missing piece from its archive.

A 4,000 year-old model of a boat used in Ancient Egypt as a funerary object to help transport the dead to the afterlife has an estimate of £15,000-£20,000 at Timeline auction’s online sale on December 5-9.

Dated to the Middle Kingdom, the boat measuring 41.5cm (16in) across, is made up of seven oarsmen, each with a short black wig and bodies painted in reddish-brown. Models of various boat types could be provided for the same burial, with the tomb of Tutankhamun containing 40.

Right The Ancient Egyptian model boat would have been buried with its owner

A painting of footballing cats by Louis Wain (1860-1939) has an estimate of £6,000-£8,000 at Bonhams single-owner online sale called ‘the beautiful game’ from December 4-13.

Bonhams’ Christopher Dawson said: “It is a significant collection of original works on football, including artists from Charles Cundall, best known for his large panoramic canvases, to cartoonists such as Ronald Searle, Larry and even Louis Wain.”

Above The painting came from an important single-owner collection

60 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

A cameo glass vase by George Woodall (1850–1925) for Thomas Webb and Sons has an estimate of £10,000£15,000 at Bonhams Knightsbridge’s two-day sale of fine glass and British ceramics on December 13-14.

Entitled Juno, after the wife and sister of Jupiter, the theme reflects Woodall’s interest in classical and mythological women. Woodall is considered the best of the glass cameo cutters who worked for the 19th-century Stourbridge manufactory.

Above right Woodall was renowned for his skill as a cameo maker

A note from one of the HMS Bounty mutineers, found in a secret drawer, has an estimate of £5,000-£10,000 at Duke’s auctioneer’s sale in Dorset on December 8.

The note, thought to date to 1837, 48 years after the famous mutiny, was written on bark cloth on the Pitcairn Islands by one of the crew’s descendants. A likely contemporaneous note, states it was ‘manufactured on Pitcairn Island by the descendants of John Adams the mutineer, from the bark of a tree’.

Guy Schwinge, art adviser, said: “My client was restoring an old bureau when he discovered this Pitcairn memento inside it. There are only two other examples known about and one is in the British Museum that has a similar attached note and is dated 1837.”

Right The bark cloth

note from the Pitcairn Islands

Two ‘his and her’ Gucci travel clocks from the collection of Hannalore Smart, wife of the circus entrepreneur Billy Smart Jnr., have an estimate of £100-£150 at Ewbanks’ sale on December 13 in Woking.

Renowned playboy Billy Smart Jr., the youngest of Billy Smart’s 10 children, married Hannalore in 1973 five weeks after meeting her on a flight where she was working as a PanAm airhostess. The couple stayed together until Smart’s death in 2005. The clocks on sale, bought from Harrods in 1993, come in their original kid leather pouches and box.

Below The clocks belonged to the wife of the circus entrepreneur Billy Smart Jnr.

2 Film posters for some of the most iconic sci-fi and schlock horror films ever produced go under the hammer in December. The online sale from UK auctioneeer’s Propstore sees 700 original film posters up for sale expected to make a total of $1.5m.

There are few images in the realm of campy, 1950s sci-fi that are more recognisable than that by the American illustrator Reynold Brown (1917-1991) for the 1958 film Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. With a plot of ‘50s pseudo-science and made on a shoestring budget, the cult classic grew into mainstream pop culture, making its posters highly collectable.

1

Banned style

One of the rarest designs in the sale is a banned German poster for the Creature from the Black Lagoon (Der Schrecken vom Amazonas). It is one of a handful of posters by the German graphic illustrator, Bruno Rehak (1910-1977) to have survived after being banned by the country’s censorship board for being too “rape-like” and salacious. Rehak went on to produce a less disturbing image for the film which became one of the greatest monster films of all time.

An earlier poster aimed at the French market for the 1933 film King Kong by the French poster designer Roland Coudon (1897–1954) is one of the most unique artworks in the sale. Unlike most posters that depict Kong on the side of the Empire State Building, Coudon captures the dramatic scene when the audience views the ape for the first time.

3

4

Hildebrandt brothers

A rare poster for Star Wars, with its own unusual back story, also appears in the sale, in the shape of a British Quad by American twin brothers.

In 1977, after the original US promotional poster was considered “too dark”, 20th Century Fox approached Greg and Tim Hildebrandt (b. 1939) to come up with a ‘lighter’ poster for the UK release of George Lucas’ famous film.

The brothers worked to a tight deadline, coming up with the design in 36 hours. Their version, referred to as ‘style B’, shows Luke Skywalker with a lightsabre above his head and Princess Leia below.

But Fox and Lucas soon decided they wanted more realistic depictions of the lead characters and turned to the celebrated film poster artist Tom Chantrell for a third version. The film opened in the UK on December 27, 1977, with the Hildebrandts’ poster used to promote it only until late January 1978 – hence making it extremely rare.

6 5

For more information, or to view the sale go to www.propstoreauction.com 1 A 1957 British Quad (30 x 40in) for the film Night of the Demon which starred Dana Andrews as Dr John Holden who travels to the UK to investigate a satanic cult, has an estimate of $15,000-$30,000 2 The 1954 German A1 (24 x 34in) “Banned Style” poster for Creature from the Black Lagoon (Der Schrecken vom Amazonas) has an estimate of $20,000$40,000 3 A 1936 French Grande (46 x 63in) for the French release of King Kong has an estimate of $20,000-$40,000 4 The 1958 One Sheet (27 X 40in) poster for Attack of the 50 Foot Woman has an estimate of $15,000-$30,000 5 1956 One-Sheet (27 x 41.5in) poster for Godzilla has an estimate of $5,000-$10,000 6 The French Grande (44.5 x 61in ) poster for the film The Invisible Ray (Dans le Rayon Invisible), starring Boris Karloff has an estimate of $7,500-$15,000 7 A 1977 British Quad (30 x 40in) for Star Wars, by the Hildebrandt brothers has an estimate of $6,000-$12,000

7

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 61

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

BOOK OFFERS Stuck for a Christmas present for the antique collector in your life? Order by December 8 to guarantee delivery before the big day, and save more than a third on the RRP

UP TO

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BY LOUISA MAY ALCOTT, ILLUSTRATIONS BY CLARA M. BURD ISBN 9780789214478 RRP £24.99 OFFER PRICE £16.24

A new edition of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, with illustrations by Clara M. Burd — an irresistible author-artist pairing sure to delight all lovers of the classic novel. This is the first contemporary edition of Little Women to feature the complete illustrations of Clara Miller Burd, originally executed in 1926.

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER AND HUCKLEBERRY FINN

BY MARK TWAIN, ILLUSTRATIONS

BY NORMAN ROCKWELL ISBN 9780789213679 RRP £40 OFFER PRICE £26

A great American novelist, illustrated by a great American artist. In 1936, the Heritage Press commissioned Norman Rockwell to illustrate these two Mark Twain classics.

For each book, Rockwell created eight fullcolour paintings and numerous pen-and-ink drawings, the product of extensive on-theground research in Twain’s hometown of Hannibal, Missouri. For years, the Rockwell editions of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn have been unavailable in stores.

Now, we are proud to reissue them as a handsome new clothbound set.

WINTER HOMES - COZY LIVING IN STYLE

BY JEANETTE WALL ISBN 9781864708660 RRP £30.00 OFFER PRICE £19.50

Winter Homes is a beautiful compilation of residences from around the world, with a focus on interiors and building designs especially for cold climates and maximizing warmth and cosiness in wintery conditions. Best enjoyed with a hot drink or curled up in front of a warm fireplace.

62 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

E

BRITISH FURNITURE – 1820 TO 1920: THE LUXURY MARKET

BY CHRISTOPHER PAYNE

ISBN 9781788841740 RRP £125 OFFER PRICE £81.25

TREASURE ISLAND & KIDNAPPED

BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON, ILLUSTRATIONS BY N.C. WYETH ISBN 9780789214089 RRP £35.99 OFFER PRICE £23.39

Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic adventure stories, with N.C. Wyeth’s iconic illustrations — now available in a collectable two-volume set.

With a bold mastery of light and colour, Wyeth brilliantly conveyed action, character, and setting, lending an extra excitement to Robert Louis Stevenson’s tales of pirates and buried treasure, and intrigue in the Scottish Highlands.

ORDER NOW! Email uksales@accartbooks.com, or call 01394 389950.

Postage to UK addresses is £7, call for overseas rates.

British Furniture 1820 to 1920 is the first book on the subject for several decades and the only book ever published to span the century from 1820 through to 1920. Written by celebrated furniture historian Christopher Payne and including over 1,000 superb photographs, this is a landmark publication and the first book to comprehensively assess British furniture design from the early origins of the so-called Victorian era through the myriad of influences in vogue up to the 1920s.

THE ART DECO STYLE - GREAT DESIGNERS & COLLECTORS

BY ALASTAIR DUNCAN

ISBN 9781788842259 RRP £75.00 OFFER PRICE £48.75 This grand opus assembles the people and the pieces at the heart of the Art Deco movement at each stage of its enduring appeal.

The Art Deco Style is richly illustrated with the work of legendary designers and decorators Eileen Gray, Paul Iribe, Antoine Bourdelle, Armand-Albert Rateau and Jean Dunand, among others. Curated by art consultant and author Alastair Duncan, this detailed historical account is the goldstandard visual guide to the decorative arts.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 63

The Canterbury Auction Galleries FINE ART AUCTIONEERS SINCE 1911

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We love auctions.

Join us at our 2024 weekend online sales

Cal to bol us FREE ok a At ho VALUA T m Cante e or here ION rbury at ou 40 St ation saleroom r s.

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Entries deadline 21st December

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31/10/2023 16:30

OUT AND ABOUT in December and January

FAIR NEWS

Two stylish London fairs kickstart the collecting year of 2024, plus details of a prestigious event taking place in Belgium Capital thinking

Described as a “beacon of brightness in midwinter” the Decorative Fair returns to its purpose-built pavilion in London’s Battersea Park from January 23-28.

One of the chicest events in the capital’s fairs calendar, the six-day event regularly attracts the cream of the interior design community, as well as celebrities looking to bag a statement piece from one of the 130 dealers taking part.

Top trends, say organisers, include antique blue and white china and delftware, hall chairs, mahogany side tables, art nouveau glass, classical garden statuary, farmhouse refectory tables, modernist studio ceramics, dressers and small decorative mirrors. Dogs are welcome at the event.

Above Belgravia dealer Christopher Butterworth’s stand at a recent fair

Brussels sprouts

Two London galleries will be making their way across the Channel in January to take part in the 2024 edition of BRAFA, one of Europe’s most prestigious art fairs, which has Surrealism as its theme.

The event, from January 28 to February 4, brings together 132 Belgian and international exhibitors, including Whitworth Fine Art and Osborne Samuel Gallery from the UK. BRAFA, short for Brussels Antiques & Fine Arts Fair, is organised every year by the Foire des Antiquaires de Belgique (Belgian Antiques Fair) with the first fair held in 1955.

Since 2004 it has taken place at the Tour & Taxis industrial site in the Noordwijk district of Brussels alongside the Willebroek canal, an example of Belgian industrial architectural heritage.

January sale

Collectors wanting to start 2024 in style should make their way to the capital in January for the Mayfair Antiques and Fine Art Fair.

The London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square is the fashionable backdrop for the event, from January 11-14, which sees 40 of the UK’s best dealers come together, as well as a sprinkling from farther afield.

Joining the fair for the first time is Edelstein Prüflabor – mother and daughter gemmologists from Nordhorn in Germany, who specialise in antique jewellery from the 1800s as well as a number of modern items.

Another fair newcomer is the Shepherd’s Bush modern art dealer Nick Skipp Fine Art, which specialises in mixing contemporary and ancient artefacts. BBC Antiques Roadshow’s clock expert Richard Price will also be on hand with a selection of sought-after and collectable timepieces.

For furniture collectors Jeroen Markies Art Deco will be showcasing a satinwood desk by the inter-war designer Betty Joel, who was responsible for decorating a number of fashionable London locations. The same dealer is also offering a 10-seater dining suite by Waring & Gillows, with eight chairs and two carvers in solid satinwood with Karelian birch arm ends.

Above Betty Joel (1894-1985) art deco curved satinwood desk, c. 1930, on offer

from Jeroen Markies Art Deco, priced £6,800

Season’s readings

The winter edition of London Art Week continues this month, bringing together the cream of antique and fine art dealers in Mayfair and St James’s with a series of talks and exhibitions.

One such is the rare book specialist Peter Harrington whose festive offering includes a number of first editions of Christmas classics by Charles Dickens, Agatha Christie and J.K. Rowling, as well as royal greeting cards, Victorian chromolithographic books and original artwork. For more details go to www. peterharrington.co.uk/christmas-exhibition Below Clement Clarke Moore (1779-1863) The Night Before Christmas,

Philadelphia, first edition, on offer from Peter Harrington

Above Lynn Chadwick (1914-2003) Maquette for Winged Figures II II, 1956, on

show from the London dealer Osborne Samuel Gallery

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 65

FAIRS Calendar Because this list is compiled in advance, alterations or cancellations to the fairs listed can occur and it is not possible to notify readers of the changes.

We strongly advise anyone wishing to attend a fair especially if they have to travel any distance, to telephone the organiser to confirm the details given.

LONDON: Inc. Greater London Adams Antiques Fairs 020 7254 4054 www.adamsantiquesfairs.com Adams Antiques Fair, The Royal Horticultural Halls, Elverton Street, SW1P 2QW, Dec 10, Jan 28 Etc Fairs 01707 872 140 www.bloomsburybookfair.com Bloomsbury Book Fair, Turner Suite at Holiday Inn, Coram Street, London, WC1N 1HT, Bloomsbury Book Fair, Dec 10, Jan 21 Sunbury Antiques 01932 230946 www.sunburyantiques.com Kempton Antiques Market, Kempton Park Race Course, Staines Road East, Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex TW16 5AQ, Dec 12, Jan 9, 30 The Antiques Dealers Fair Ltd 01797 252030 The Mayfair Antiques & Fine Art Fair, The London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square, Duke Street, London W1K 6JP Jan 11-14 The Decorative Fair 020 7616 9327 www.decorativefair.com Evolution London Battersea Park London SW11 4NJ, Jan 23-28 SOUTH EAST & EAST ANGLIA: including Beds, Cambs, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex.

Grandmas Attic Antique and Collectors Fairs www.grandmasatticfairs.co.uk Antique and Collectors Fair Woking Leisure Centre, Kingfield Road, Woking, GU22 9BA Dec 10, Jan 21 The Westgate Leisure Centre, Via Ravenna, Chichester, PO19 1RJ, Jan 7 IACF 01636 702326 www.iacf.co.uk

66 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Ardingly International Antiques & Collectors Fair, South of England Showground, Ardingly, Nr Haywards Heath, West Sussex, Jan 16-17 Love Fairs 01293 690777 www.lovefairs.com Brighton Antiques, Collectables and Vintage Fair, Brighton Racecourse, Freshfield Road, Brighton, East Sussex, BN2 9XZ, Dec 10 Marcel Fairs 07887648255 www.marcelfairs.co.uk Antique and Collectors Fair, Sarratt Village Hall, The Green, Rickmansworth, Herts WD3 6AS, Dec 10 Antique and Vintage Fair – Eagle Farm Road, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, SG18 8JH, Dec 17 St Ives Antiques Fair 07803 820347 www.stivesantiquesfair.co.uk Burgess Hall in Westwood Road, St. Ives, PE27 6WU, Dec 30- 31 SOUTH WEST including Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Wiltshire.

Antique Fairs Cornwall 07887 753 956 www.antiquefairscornwall.co.uk Lostwithiel Antiques & Collectors Fair Community Centre, Plyber Christ Way, Lostwithiel, Cornwall, PL22 0HA, Dec 10 Arun Fairs 07563 589725 Emsworth Antiques and Collectors Fair, Emsworth Community Centre., North Street, Emsworth, Hampshire, PO10 7DD, Dec 10 Grandmas Attic Antique and Collectors Fairs 07960 502508, www.grandmasatticfairs.co.uk Allendale Centre, Hanham Road, Wimborne, BH21 1AS, Jan 28

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

Arthur Swallow Fairs 01298 274493 asfairs.com Antiques & Home Show Lincolnshire Showground, Lincoln,LN2 2NA, Jan 29 Vintage Flea Market, EXO Centre, Lincolnshire Showground, Lincoln, LN2 2NA, Jan 14 IACF 01636 702326 www.iacf.co.uk Newark and Nottinghamshire Showground, Newark, Nottinghamshire, NG24 2NY, Newark International Antique and Collectors Fair, Dec 7-8 Newark International Antiques Stags Head Events 07583 410862 www.stagsheadevents.co.uk Bank Holiday Antiques, Vintage & Collector Fair, Hood Park Leisure Centre, Ashby-de-la-Zouch LE65 1HU, Jan 1 Antiques & Collectors Fair Coalville Leisure Centre Leics, LE67 3FE, Jan 27 WEST MIDLANDS including Birmingham, Coventry, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire B2B Events 07774 147197 07771 725302 www.b2bevents.info Malvern Flea & Collectors Fair Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcestershire WR13 6NW, Jan 21 Continiuity Fairs 01584 873634 www.continuityfairs.co.uk Stafford Showground Ltd Weston Rd, Stafford ST18 0BD, Dec 16-17 Ludlow Castle Square Antique Flea And Collectors Fair 07973 655903 Castle square, Ludlow, Shropshire, SY8 1AX, Dec 17

Coin and Medal Fair Ltd 01694 731781 www.coinfairs.co.uk Midland Coin Fair National Motorcycle Museum, Bickenhill, Birmingham, B92 0EJ, Dec 10, Jan 14 WALES Derwen Antique Fairs 07790 293367 Llandeilo Antiques Vintage Fair, Crescent Road Llandeilo Carmarthenshire SA19 6HN, Dec 7 NORTH including Cheshire, Cumbria, Lancashire, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Yorkshire.

Jaguar Fairs 01332 830444 www.jaguarfairs.com The Great Wetherby Racecource Antiques Fair, Wetherby Racecourse, Wetherby, West Yorkshire, LS22 5EJ, Jan 20-21 V&A Fairs 01244 659887 www.vandafairs.com Nantwich Civic Hall Antique and Collectors Fair, Civic Hall Nantwich Beam Street, Nantwich, Cheshire England, CW5 5DG, Jan 1 SCOTLAND Glasgow, Antique, Vintage & Collectors Fair 07960 198409 Bellahouston Leisure Centre, 31 Bellahouston Drive, Glasgow, G52 1HH, Dec 8 Kelso Antique Fleamarket Fair 07760 660556 BUAS Showground, Springwood Park, Kelso, TD5 8LS, Jan 6-7 IRELAND Vintage Ireland +353 85 862 9007 Antiques and Vintage Fair, Woodford Dolmen Hotel, Carlow, Jan 21 Antiques and Vintage Fair,

Trim Castle Hotel, Meath, Jan 28

THE MAYFAIR

ANTIQUES & FINE ART FAIR THE LONDON MARRIOTT HOTEL GROSVENOR SQUARE, LONDON W1K 6JP

LENNOX CATO ANTIQUES & WORKS OF ART EST: 1978

~W for epic

11-14 JANUARY 2024 Start the year in style Come and buy the very finest art and antiques at this annual event of distinction

Signed and un library Ross of Du

Thursday 11.00 - 20.00 Friday 11.00 - 18.00 Saturday 11.00 - 18.00 Sunday 11.00 - 17.00

J Alderman.

Ma

Sash w

Ear

supported by

Rol

To request a complimentary invitation for three please email AC@adfl.co.uk THE

www.mayfairfair.com 01797 252030

ANTIQUES DEALERS FAIR

LIMITED

1 The Square, Church Street, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 5BD 01732 865 988 or 07836233473 cato@lennoxcato.com

www.lennoxcato.com

Quirky archite pe Victorian

vintag vintage

•WANTED• •WANTED• Malvern Flea & Collectors Fair VINTAGE VINTAGE WRISTWATCHES WRISTWATCHES

Three Counties Showground, Worcestershire, WR13 6NW.

Sunday 21st January Sunday 11th February Sunday 3rd March Easter Monday 1st April Holiday Monday 27th May

Omega Seamasters and pre-1980s Omegas in general.

Omega Seamasters and pre-1980s Omegas in general.

Sunday 23rd June Sunday 21st July Holiday Monday 26th August Sunday 15th September Sunday 13th October

IWC IWC and and Jaeger Jaeger LeCoultres, LeCoultres,all allstyles. styles.Looking Lookingfor forReversos.

Reversos.American Americanmarket marketfilled filled and and 14k 14kpieces piecespossibly, possibly,at atthe theright rightprice. price.

Breitling Breitling Top TopTimes, Times,Datoras Datorasand and806 806Navitimers.

Navitimers.

Pre-1960s Pre-1960s Rolex Rolex models, models,with withaafocus focusin inpre-war pre-wartanks, tanks,tonneaus tonneausetc. etc.

Gold Gold or or silver/steel. silver/steel.Also AlsoWorld WorldWar WarIIRolex Rolex13 13lignes lignesetc. etc.Princes.

Princes.

Entrance: 7.30am - 3.30pm - £5

Malvern Antiques & Collectors Fair

The Severn Hall, Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcs, WR13 6NW

Longines, Tudors and Zeniths, pre-1970. Even basic steel models in nice condition.

Sunday 3rd November

NO

Antiques, Art Deco, Longines, Tudors and Zeniths, pre-1970. Even basic steel models in nice condition.

E War I All the quirky oddities like Harwoods, Autorists, Wig Wag, RollsOU etc, TS andID World collectables hunter and semi-hunter All the quirky oddities like Harwoods, Autorists, wristwatches.

Wig Wag, Rolls etc, ES War I CHWorld PITand

Early entry: 8.30am- £5 / Entrance:

& much more

and semi-hunter Early, pre-war ladies’hunter watches also wanted bywristwatches.

Rolex, Jaeger LeCoultre etc. Prefer 1920s/30s deco styles, earlyby doughnuts also considered.

10am - Early, 3:30pm - £4watches pre-war ladies’ alsobut wanted Rolex, Jaeger LeCoultre etc. Prefer 1920s/30s deco styles, but early doughnuts also considered.

PM Antiques are a mode antiques ret Specialising of collector’ contempora and memor decorative c and automo

ADVE

Yorkshire based, but often in London and can easily collect nationwide.

Yorkshire based, but often in London and can easily collect nationwide.

Please check www.b2bevents.info in casevintagejewellery@yahoo.co.uk these dates have changed or been cancelledor tel 07958 333442

Tel: 01636 676531 • www.b2bevents.info

vintagejewellery@yahoo.co.uk or tel 07958 333442

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 67

Char

PMAntiqu

AUCTION Calendar Because this list is compiled in advance, alterations or cancellations to the auctions listed can occur and it is not possible to notify readers of the changes.

We strongly advise anyone wishing to attend an auction especially if they have to travel any distance, to telephone the organiser to confirm the details given.

LONDON: Inc. Greater London Adam Partridge The London Saleroom, The Auction Room , Station Parade, Ickenham Road, West Ruislip HA4 7DL, 01895 621991 www.adampartridge.co.uk Antiques and Fine Art, Dec 19 Bonhams 101 New Bond St, London W1S 1SR, 020 7447 7447 www.bonhams.com Old Master Paintings, Dec 6 500 Years of European Ceramics, Dec 6 London Jewels, Dec 7 The Age of Speed -The Grosvenor School and the Avant-garde, Dec 12 Prints and Multiples, Dec 12 The Bond Street Sale: Important Collectors’ Motor Cars, Dec 15

Christie’s 8 King St, St. James’s, SW1Y 6QT, 020 7839 9060 www.christies.com The Sam Josefowitz Collection: Graphic Masterpieces by Rembrandt van Rijn, Dec 7 Ancient to Modern Art from the Mougins Museum of Classical Art, Part I, Dec 7 Old Masters Pt 1, Dec 7 Old Masters Pt 2, Sculptures, Drawings and Watercolours, Dec 8 Fine and Rare Wines Online: London Edition, ends, Dec 12 Valuable Books and Manuscripts, Dec 13 British and European Art, Dec 14 Collection Sale: Books and Manuscripts, ends, Dec 15 Elmwood’s 101 Talbot Road London, W11 2AT, 0207 096 8933 www.elmwoods.co.uk December Jewels, Dec 5

Bonhams Montpelier St, Knightsbridge, London, SW7 1HH, 020 7393 3900 www.bonhams.com Luxury Gift Online Sale ends, Dec 8 Fine Glass and British Ceramics, Dec 13-14 Knightsbridge Jewels, Dec 13

Forum Auctions 220 Queenstown Road, London SW8 4LP, 020 7871 2640 www.forumauctions.co.uk Modern Literature (Online), Dec 7 Books and Works on Paper (Online), Dec 14 The British Sale, Dec 14 Books and Works on Paper (Online) Jan 11

Chiswick Auctions Barley Mow Centre Chiswick, London, W4 4PH 020 8992 4442 www.chiswickauctions.co.uk Modern and Irish Art, Dec 12 Design and Modern Contemporary, Jan 10 Old Masters and 19th-Century Art, Jan 17 The Hermes and Designer Tableware Edit, Jan 21 Erotica, Jan 24 Fine and Oriental Rugs, Jan 24 Photographica, Jan 29

Hansons Auctioneers The Normansfield Theatre, 2A Langdon Park, Teddington TW11 9PS, 0207 018 9300 www.hansonsauctioneers.com Fine Art & Collectables, Dec 9 Jewellery, Silver, Watches, Fine Art & Interiors, Jan 27

Chiswick Auctions 1Roslin Square, Roslin Road, London, W3 8DH www.chiswickauctions.co.uk Interiors, Homes and Antiques, Jan 23

Noonans 16 Bolton St, Mayfair, W1J 8BQ, 020 7016 1700 www.noonans.co.uk Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria, Dec 6, Jan 17

68 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Lyon & Turnbull Mall Galleries, The Mall, St. James’s, London SW1Y 5AS, 0207 930 9115 www.lyonandturnbull.com The Ski Sale (Online) Jan 11

British Trade Tokens, Tickets and Passes, Jan 24 Phillips 30 Berkeley Square, London, W1J 6EX, 020 7318 4010 www.phillips.com New Now, Dec 5 Evening & Day Editions, Jan 17 Olympia Auctions 25 Blythe Road, London W14 0PD, 020 7806 5541 www.olympiaauctions.com Antique Arms, Armour and Militaria, Dec 6 Fine Paintings and Works on Paper, Dec 13 Roseberys Knights Hill, Norwood, London, SE27 0JD, 020 8761 2522 www.roseberys.co.uk Fine and Decorative, Dec 7 Traditional Home (Live Online), Dec 13 Asian & Islamic Arts: Live Online Only Auction, Jan 30 Sotheby’s New Bond St., London W1A 2AA, 020 7293 5000 www.sothebys.com Old Master Paintings Day Auction, ends Dec 7 European and British Paintings, Dec 7 Old Master Prints, ends Dec 8 Books and Manuscripts From Medieval to Modern (Online), Dec 5-12 19th and 20th-Centiry Sculpture (Online), Dec 8-13 Japanese Woodblock Prints(Online), Dec 12-19 Royal & Noble, Jan 5 Timeline Auctions 23-24 Berkeley Square London W1J 6HE www.timelineauctions.co.uk 020 7129 1494 Ancient Art, Antiquities, Natural History & Coins, Dec 5-9 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 Militaria and Medals, Dec 6 Fine Jewellery, & Wristwatches, Dec 13 Bishop and Miller Unit 12 Manor Farm, Glandford, Holt, Norfolk, NR25 7JP 01263 687342 bishopandmillerauctions.co.uk Jewellery, Watches & Silver, Dec 13 Bellmans Newpound, Wisborough Green, West Sussex, RH14 0AZ, 01403 700858 www.bellmans.co.uk Printed Books and Manuscripts, Dec 7 English and European Ceramics and Glass, Dec 7 Antiques and Interiors, Jan 15-17 Burstow & Hewett The Auction Gallery, Lower Lake, Battle, East Sussex,TN33 0AT, 01424 772 374 www.burstowandhewett.co.uk Antique Sale, Dec 14 Fine Art and Sculpture, Dec 14 Luxury Watches, Fine Jewellery and Silver, Dec 15 The Canterbury Auction Galleries 40 Station Road West, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 8AN, 01227 763337 canterburyauctiongalleries.com None listed Catherine Southon Auctioneers Farleigh Court Golf Club, Old Farleigh Road, Selsdon, Surrey, CR6 9PE, 0208 468 1010 www.catherinesouthon.co.uk None listed Cheffins Clifton House, Clifton Road, Cambridge, CB1 7EA 01223 213343, www.cheffins.co.uk The Fine Sale Including Asian Art, Dec 7 The Wine Sale, Dec 8 The Interiors Sale, Jan 11

Ewbank’s London Rd, Send, Woking, Surrey, 01483 223 101 www.ewbankauctions.co.uk Silver and Fine Art, Dec 7 Cars and Motorbikes, Dec 8 Antiques, Asian Art, Books, Clocks and Furniture, Dec 8 Fine Wines and Spirits (Online), ends Dec 12 Toys and Models, Dec 13 Christmas Gifts Incl. Jewellery, Dec 13 Entertainment and Memorabilia Premier Auction (Live), Dec 14 Entertainment and Memorabilia Auction (Timed), ends Dec 15 Retro Video Games and Consoles -The Nintendo Collection, Dec 21 Trading Cards, Jan 4 Vintage Posters, Jan 5 Pre-Loved, Vintage and Antiques, Jan 21 Excalibur Auctions Limited Unit 16 Abbots Business Park Primrose Hill Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, WD4 8FR 020 3633 0913 www.excaliburauctions.com Marvel, DC and Independent Comic Books, Dec 9 Toys and Model Railways, Jan 27 Gorringes 15 North Street, Lewes, East Sussex, BN7 2PE, 01273 472503 www.gorringes.co.uk Weekly Sale Including Lux, Dec 11 Winter Fine Sale, Dec 12 Weekly Sale including Books, Dec 18 Weekly Sale, Jan 8, 15, 22 John Nicholson’s Longfield, Midhurst Road, Fernhurst, Haslemere, Surrey, GU27 3HA, 01428 653727 www.johnnicholsons.com Antiques, Dec 9 Lacy Scott & Knight 10 Risbygate St, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 3AA, 01284 748 623 www.lskauctioncentre.co.uk 20th-Century Art and Design, Dec 8 Medals, Militaria and Country Pursuits, Dec 8 Wine, Port and Spirits, Dec 8 Fine Art and Antiques, Dec 9 Toys and Models, Dec 15 Home & Interiors, Jan 6, 24 Lockdales Auctioneers 52 Barrack Square, Martlesham Heath, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP5 3RF 01473 627110 www.lockdales.com Paper Collectables, Dec 5

Mander Auctioneers The Auction Centre Assington Road Newton, Sudbury, Suffolk CO10 0QX, 01787 211847 www.manderauctions.co.uk Interiors, Jan 21 Parker Fine Art Auctions Hawthorn House, East Street, Farnham, Surrey, GU9 7SX, 01252 203020 www.parkerfineartauctions.com Fine Art, Dec 7 Reeman Dansie 8 Wyncolls Road, Severalls Business Park, Colchester, Essex, CO4 9HU, 01206 754754 www.reemandansie.com Homes & Interiors Sale, Jan 3-4 Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers Cambridge Road, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, CM24 8GE, 01279 817778 www.sworder.co.uk Homes and Interiors With Wines and Spirits (Online), Dec 5 Fine Interiors, Dec 12-13 Homes and Interiors (online), Jan 9 Design, Jan 16 Homes and Interiors (online), Jan 30 Jewellery (online), Jan 31 Toovey’s Antique & Fine Art Auctioneers Spring Gardens, Washington, West Sussex, RH20 3BS, 01903 891955 www.tooveys.com Glass, Dec 6 (am) Wristwatches and Pocketwatches, Clocks and Barometers, Cameras and Scientific Instruments, Dec 7 (am) Die-cast Model Vehicles 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 Dec 12 (am) Antiquarian and Collectors’ Books, Dec 12 (pm) Prints, Maps and Posters, Decorative Pictures, Silver and Plate, Jewellery, Jan 24 Furniture, Entertainment Collectors’ Items, Works of Art and Light Fittings, Needleworks, Textiles and Clothing, Rugs and Carpets, Jan 25

T.W. Gaze Diss Auction Rooms, Roydon Road, Diss, Norfolk,IP22 4LN, 01379 650306. www.twgaze.com Christmas Gifts, Dec 7 Antiques and Interiors, Dec 8, 15, 29, Jan 5, 12, 19, 26 Blyth Barn Furniture Auction, Dec 12, 19, Jan 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 Toys, Dec 14 W&H Peacock Auctioneers Eastcotts Park, Wallis Way Bedford, Bedfordshire MK42 0PE, 01234 266 366 www.peacockauction.co.uk Sporting Guns & Antique Arms, Dec 7 Wines and Spirits, Dec 8 The Newnham Street Sale (Timed Online), Dec 9 SOUTH WEST: Inc. Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Wiltshire Adam Partridge The Devon Saleroom, The Antique Village Station Road Hele, Exeter EX5 4PW 01392 719826 www.adampartridge.co.uk Fine Art, Antiques and Collectors’ Items, Dec 4 Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood St. Edmund’s Court, Okehampton Street, Exeter EX4 1DU, O1392 41310 www.bhandl.co.uk Antiquarian Book Sale, Dec 5 British Bespoke Auctions The Old Boys School, Gretton Rd, Winchcombe, Cheltenham, GL54 5EE 01242 603005 www.bespokeauctions.co.uk Fine Jewellery, SIlver and Watches, Dec 19 Antiques and Collectables, Jan 25 Chorley’s Prinknash Abbey Park, Near Cranham, Gloucestershire, GL4 8EU, 01452 344499 www.chorleys.com Modern Art and Design, Nov 21 The Christmas Sale: Jewellery, Watches, Silver and Gifts (Timed Online) ends Dec 10 David Lay Auctions Lay’s Auctioneers, Church Row, Lanner Redruth, Cornwall, 01736 361414, TR16 6ET

www.davidlay.co.uk Jewellery and Luxury Fashion, Dec 7 Princess Diana, the Jacques Azagury personal collection, Dec 7 Dawsons Unit 8 Cordwallis Business Park, Clivemont Rd, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 4BU, 01628 944100 www.dawsonsauctions.co.uk Jewellery, Watches & Silver, Dec 14, Jan 18 Fine Art & Antiques, Dec 15, Jan 25 Luxury Handbags and Fashion, Dec 15 Dominic Winter Mallard House, Broadway Lane, South Cerney, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 5UQ, 01285 860006 www.dominicwinter.co.uk Printed Books, Maps, Playing Cards & Games, English Literature, Private Press and Illustrated Books, Dec 13-14 The Library of the Late Christopher Foyle of Beeleigh Abbey (Part II), Jan 31 Dreweatts Donnington Priory Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 2JE 01635 553 553 www.dreweatts.com Art Online, Dec 8 The Transport Sale, Dec 13 Duke’s Brewery Square, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 1GA, 0105 265080 www.dukes-auctions.com Fine Jewellery, Watches and Luxury Goods, Dec 7 200 Years, Dec 8 East Bristol Auctions Unit 1, Hanham Business Park, Memorial Road, Hanham, BS15 3JE, 0117 967 1000 www.eastbristol.co.uk Antique and 20th Century Silver Auction, Dec 7 Hansons Auctioneers 49 Parsons Street, Banbury, Oxford, OX16 5NB, 01295 817777 www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk December Silver, Jewellery, Watches, Fine Art and Antiques Auction, Dec 2 ANTIQUE COLLECTING 69

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.

Harper Field Auctioneers The Stroud Auction Saleroom Ebley Road, Stonehouse, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL10 2LN 01453 873800 www.harperfield.co.uk December Auction Including Jewellery, Silver, Watches, Clocks, Coins, Bijouterie, Fine Wines and Spirits, Dec 6-7 January Auction Includes Toys, Vinyl Records, Musical Instruments, Asian and Tribal Art, Pictures and Paintings, Books, Ephemera and Stamps, Jan 10-12

Moore Allen & Innocent Burford Road Cirencester, Gloucestershire GL7 5RH, 01285 646050 www.mooreallen.co.uk Vintage and Antique Furniture and Home Interiors, Dec 6-7 Timed Vintage And Antique Furniture Auction (Timed), Dec 8-13

Kinghams 10-12 Cotswold Business Village, London Road, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucester, GL56 0JQ, 01608 695695 www.kinghamsauctioneers.com Fine and Decorative Arts, Dec 7-8

Richard Edmonds Auctions Ltd. (formerly Chippenham Auction Rooms) Unit 1, Showell Business Park Showell. Chippenham Wiltshire. SN15 2NU, 01249 444544 Early Advertising inc. Enamel Signs, Shop Display, Showcards, Fairground, Petroliana, Arcade Games, Vending Machines etc., Jan 27

Lawrences Auctioneers Ltd The Linen Yard, South St, Crewkerne, Somerset, TA18 8AB, 01460 703041 www.lawrences.co.uk Pictures, Jan 15 Silver and Vertu, Jan 16 19th/20th-Century Design, Ceramic and Oriental Works of Art, Jan 17 Collectors and Sporting, Jan 17 Jewellery and Watches, Jan 18 Furniture, CLocks and Rugs, Jan 19

Philip Serrell Barnards Green Rd, Malvern, Worcestershire.

WR14 3LW, 01684 892314 www.serrell.com Interiors, Dec 14

Mallams Oxford Bocardo House, St Michael’s St, Oxford, OX1 2EB 01865 241358 www.mallams.co.uk Modern Art and Design, Dec 6-7 Affordable Art (Timed), Dec 20 to Jan 7

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

Pre-Loved Christmas Antiques and Collectables, Dec 5 Dolls and Teddy Bears, Dec 6-7 Trains Galore: Pt One (O Gauge, Larger Gauges and Railwayana, Dec 12-13 Photographica and Cameras Auction, Dec 19 Diecast and Toys for the Collector, Jan 16 Single Owner Auction, Jan 23 Jewellery, Pens and Silver, Jan 25 Music and Entertainment, Jan 30

Mallams Cheltenham 26 Grosvenor St, Cheltenham.

Gloucestershire, GL52 2SG 01242 235 712 www.mallams.co.uk Country House Sale, Jan 10

The Cotswold Auction Company Bankside Saleroom, Love Lane, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 1YG, 01285 642420 www.cotswoldauction.co.uk Antiques and Interiors, Jan 23-24

Mallams Abingdon Dunmore Court, Wootten Road, Abingdon, OX13 6BH, 01235 462840 www.mallams.co.uk The Mallams Collectors Sale, Dec 11 The Interiors Sale, Jan 29

The Cotswold Auction Company Chapel Walk Saleroom, Chapel Walk Cheltenham, Gloucesterhire, GL50 3DS, 01242 256363 www.cotswoldauction.co.uk The Christmas Sale: Silver, Jewellery, Asian and Antiques, Dec 12

70 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Wessex Auction Rooms Westbrook Far, Draycot Cerne, Chippenham, Wiltshire, SN15 5LH, 01249 720888 www.wessexauctionrooms.co.uk Coins, Dec 7 Jewellery, Silver, Watches and Pocket Watches, Dec 8 Antiques, Collectables and Furniture, Dec 9 Vinyl records and Music Memorabila, Dec 14-15 Woolley & Wallis 51-61 Castle Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP1 3SU, 01722 424500 www.woolleyandwallis.co.uk Modern British and 20th-Century Art, Dec 13 Furniture, Works of Art and Clocks, Jan 17-18 Fine Jewellery, Jan 24-25 Silver and Objects of Vertu, Jan 30-31 Wotton Auction Rooms Tabernacle Rd, Wotton-underEdge, Gloucestershire, GL12 7EB, 01453 708260 www.wottonauctionrooms.co.uk None listed EAST MIDLANDS: Inc. Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Sheffield Bamfords The Derby Auction House, Chequers Road, Derby, Derbyshire, DE21 6EN, 01332 210 000 www.bamfords-auctions.co.uk Antiques, Interiors, Estates and Collectables Auction, Dec 6, 20 Medals, Militaria and Firearms, Dec 11 The Stuart Wood Auction of D-Day Veterans Photographs to Be Sold In Aid Of The Royal British Legion and The National Arboretum, Dec 11 Three-Day Fine Art and Antique Auction, Jan 10-12 The Collector’s Grand Tour: Curated Objects, Interior Design, Curiosities and Works from the Library, Jan 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, Dec 13 The Gallery Sale - Modern and Traditional Paintings, Sculpture, and Limited Prints, Jan 11 Batemans Ryhall Rd, Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 1XF, 01780 766 466 www.batemans.com Vintage Champagne, Wine and Spirits, Dec 2 Gildings Auctioneers The Mill, Great Bowden Road, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 7DE, 01858 410414 www.gildings.co.uk Antiques & Collectors, Dec 12 Die-Cast, Models, Toys and Trains, Dec 13 Golding Young & Mawer The Bourne Auction Rooms, Spalding Road, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9LE, 01778 422686 www.goldingyoung.com Bourne Collective Sale, Dec 20-21 Golding Young & Mawer The Grantham Auction Rooms, Old Wharf Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire NG31 7AA, 01476 565118 www.goldingyoung.com Grantham Collective Sale, Including Asian Art, Dec 13-14 Golding Young & Mawer The Lincoln Auction Rooms, Thos Mawer House, Station Road North Hykeham, Lincoln LN6 3QY, 01522 524984 www.goldingyoung.com Lincoln Collective Sale, Dec 6-7 Hansons Heage Lane, Etwall, Derbyshire, DE65 6LS 01283 733988 www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk December Decorative Arts Auction, Dec 12 December Stam s and Postal History Auction, Dec 12 December Music Memorabilia and Film Auction, Dec 13

Irita Marriott Auctioneers, William’s Yard, Derby Road Melbourne, Derbyshire DE73 8JR, 01332 414848 iritamarriottauctioneers.co.uk Antique and Collectors, Jan 11 WEST MIDLANDS: Inc. Birmingham, Coventry, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire Cuttlestones Ltd Pinfold Lane, Penkridge Staffordshire ST19 5AP, 01785 714905 www.cuttlestones.co.uk Winter Antiques, Dec 7 Antiques and Interiors, Dec 21 Fellows Augusta House, 19 Augusta Street, Hockley, Birmingham, B18 6JA , 0121 212 2131 www.fellows.co.uk Jewellery Day One, Dec 5 Jewellery Day Two, Dec 6 Pawnbrokers, Jewellery and Watches, Dec 7 Watches and Watch Accessories, Dec 7 The Gemstone Sale, Dev 8 Jewellery and Costume Jewellery Day One, Dec 12 Jewellery and Costume Jewellery Day Two, Dec 13 Bags of Costume Jewellery, Dec 14 Fieldings Mill Race Lane, Stourbridge, DY8 1JN 01384 444140 www.fieldingsauctioneers.co.uk The Christmas Auction, Jewellery, Watches, Silver and Coins, Dec 7-8 Halls Bowmen Way, Battlefield, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY4 3DR 01743 450700 www.hallsgb.com/fine-art.com Fine Art, Antiques and Jewellery, Dec 6 Silver, Jewellery and Watches, Jan 17 Hansons Auctioneers Bishton Hall, Wolseley Bridge, Stafford, ST18 0XN, 0208 9797954 www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk December Library Auction, Dec 5 December Dolls, Teddy Bears: Costume and Textiles Auction, Dec 6 Trevanion The Joyce Building, Station Rd, Whitchurch, Shropshire, SY13 1RD, 01928 800 202 www.trevanion.com Fine Art & Antiques, Jan 10

NORTH: Inc. Cheshire, Co. Durham, Cumbria, Humberside, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Northumberland, Tyne & Wear, Sheffield, Yorkshire Adam Partridge Withyfold Drive, Macclesfield, Cheshire, SK10 2BD 01625 431 788 www.adampartridge.co.uk Boutique, Silver, Jewellery and Watches, Toys, Wines and Spirits, Dec 6-8 Studio Ceramics, Art Pottery & Paintings from the Michael Evans/ Dayabandhu Collection, Day One, Jan 5 Adam Partridge The Liverpool Saleroom, 18 Jordan Street, Liverpool, L1 OBP, 01625 431 788 www.adampartridge.co.uk Toys and Wines and Spirits with Antiques & Collectors’ Items, Dec 6-7 Anderson and Garland Crispin Court, Newbiggin Lane, Westerhope, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE5 1BF, 0191 432 1911 www.andersonandgarland.com Homes and Interiors, Dec 12, Jan 9, 23 The Modern Pictures Auction, Jan 11 The Comics Auction, Jan 16-17 The Modern Art and Design Auction, Jan 31 Capes Dunn The Auction Galleries, 40 Station Road, Heaton Mersey, Cheshire, SK4 3QT. 0161 273 1911 www.capesdunn.com Interiors, Vintage and Modern Furniture, Dec 11 The Christmas Auction, Dec 12 Hawleys Auctioneers, Albion House, Westgate, North Cave, Brough, Beverley, East Yorkshire, HU15 2NJ, 01482 868193 www.hawleys.info None listed David Duggleby Auctioneers The Gallery Saleroom, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, YO11 1XN, 01723 507 111 www.davidduggleby.com The Winter Art Sale, Dec 8 Whisky, W ne and Writing Instruments, Dec 13 Jewellery and Watches, Dec 14 Coins and Banknotes, Dec 14 The Stamp Sale, Dec 14 Decorative Antiques and Collectors, Dec 15 Collectors and Clearance, Dec 15

Affordable Art, Dec 16 The Furnishings Sale - Furniture, Interiors and Clocks, Dec 16 Duggleby Stephenson The Saleroom, York Auction Centre, Murton, York, YO19 5GF, 01904 393 300 www.dugglebystephenson.com Jewellery and Watches, Jan 4 The Silver Sale, Jan 4 Antiques and Collectors, Jan 4 Collectors and Clearance, Jan 4 Fine and Affordable Art, Jan 5 Furniture, Rugs and Interiors, Jan 5 Elstob Ripon Business Park, Charter Road, Ripon, North Yorkshire HG4 1AJ, 01677 333003 www.elstob.co.uk Fine Art and Antiques, Dec 6 Omega Auctions Ltd Sankey Valley Industrial Estate, Newton-Le-Willows, Merseyside WA12 8DN, 01925 873040 www.omegaauctions.co.uk TV, Film, Sporting Memorabilia and Collectables, Dec 5 Ryedale Auctioneers Cooks Yard, New Rd, Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, YO62 6DZ, 01751 431 544 www.ryedaleauctioneers.com Country House Sale, Dec 8 Sheffield Auction Gallery Windsor Road, Heeley, Sheffield, S8 8UB, 0114 281 6161 www.sheffieldauctiongallery.com Specialist Collectable Toys, Dec 7 Fine Silver, Jewellery and Watches, Dec 7 Antique and Fine Art, Dec 7 Specialist Collectable Coins (Online), Dec 12 Shelby’s Auctioneers Ltd Unit 1B Westfield House, Leeds LS13 3HA, 0113 250 2626 www.shelbysauctioneers.net Antiques and General Sale, (Online) Dec 12 Tennants Auctioneers The Auction Centre, Harmby Road, Leyburn, North Yorkshire DL8 5SG, 01969 623780 www.tennants.co.uk Militaria and Ethnographica, Dec 6 Toys and Models, Sporting and Fishing, Dec 8 Books, Maps and Manuscripts, Dec 13 Antiques and Interiors, Dec 15, Jan 5, 26

Natural History and Taxidermy, Dec 15 Stamps, Postcards and Postal History, Jan 10 Jewellery, Watches and Silver, Jan 13 Country House Sale, Jan 13 Scientific and Musical Instruments, Cameras and Tools, Jan 31 Thomson Roddick The Auction Centre, Marconi Road, Burgh Road Industrial Estate, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA2 7NA, 01228 535 288 www.thomsonroddick.com Pre-Christmas Auction to Include Selected Whisky, Wine and Spirits, Vinyl Records, Collectors Items, Jewellery and Silver, Dec 14 Antiquarian and Collectable Books, Jan 18 Vectis Auctions Ltd Fleck Way, Thornaby, Stockton on Tees, TS17 9JZ, 01642 750616 www.vectis.co.uk Dolls and Teddy Bear Sale, Dec 4 Specialist Diecast Sale and General Toy Sale, Dec 7 Retro Toys, Action Man & Lego Sale, Dec 11 General Toy Sale, Dec 12 TV & Film Related Sale, Dec 13 Model Train Sale, Dec 14 Warren and Wignall The Mill, Earnshaw Bridge, Leyland, Lancashire, PR26 8PH 01772 369884 www.warrenandwignall.co.uk General, Antiques and Interiors, Dec 6, Jan 13 Mid 20th Century, Jewellery and Watches, Dec 13 Wilkinson’s Auctioneers The Old Salesroom, 28 Netherhall Road, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN1 2PW, 01302 814 884 wilkinsons-auctioneers.co.uk None listed Wilson55 Victoria Gallery, Market St, Nantwich, Cheshire CW5 5DG, 01270 623 878. www.wilson55.com Northern Art, Dec 7 Modern and Contemporary Art, Dec 7 Fine and Classic, Jan 11 SCOTLAND Bonhams 22 Queen St, Edinburgh, EH2 1JX 0131 225 2266 www.bonhams.com Fine Whisky and Spirits, ends Dec 5 Homes and Interiors, Dec 12 ANTIQUE COLLECTING 71

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.

Lyon & Turnbull 33 Broughton Place, Edinburgh. EH1 3RR, 0131 557 8844 www.lyonandturnbull.com The Cairncross Collection/ Jewellery and Watches (Live and Online), Dec 5-6 Watches (Live and Online), Dec 6 Scottish Paintings and Sculpture (Live and Online), Dec 7 Contemporary and Post-War Art (Live and Online), Jan 10 Prints and Multiples (Live and Online), Jan 10 McTears Auctioneers 31 Meiklewood Road, Glasgow, G51 4GB, 0141 810 2880 www.mctears.co.uk Coins and Banknotes, Dec 10 Jewellery, Dec 13 Watches, Dec 13 The Scottish Contemporary Art Auction, Dec 14 Whisky, Dec 15 Antiques & Interiors, Jan 11

72 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Toys, Models and Pop Culture, Jan 17 British and International Pictures, Jan 17 Clocks and Instruments, Jan 18 Fine Furniture and Works of Art, Jan 18 Sporting Medals and Trophies, Jan 18 Antiques and Interiors, Jan 25

Stamps, Coins, Whisky, Wine and Spirits, Medals and Militaria etc., Dec 7 Home Furnishings and Interiors, Jan 4 WALES

Thomson Roddick The Auction Centre, Irongray Road Industrial Estate, Dumfries, DG2 0JE, 01387 721 635 www.thompsonroddick.com Antiques and Works of Art, Dec 12

Anthemion Auctions, 15 Norwich Road, Cardiff, CF23 9AB, 029 2047 2444 www.anthemionauction.com General Sale of Ceramics, Glass, Paintings, Furniture, Clocks, Works of Art, Books, Sporting Memorabilia, Dec 13

Thomson Roddick The Auction Centre, 118 Carnethie Street, Edinburgh, EH24 9AL 0131 440 2448 www.thompsonroddick.com The Edinburgh Collector’s Auction of Toys, Postcards,

Jones & Llewelyn Unit B, Beechwood Trading, Estate, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, SA19 7HR, 01558 823 430 www.jonesandllewelyn.com General Sale, Dec 16

Rogers Jones & Co 17 Llandough Trading Estate, Penarth, Cardiff, CF11 8RR, 02920 708125 www.rogersjones.co.uk Pre-Christmas Auction: Jewellery and Watches, Dec 8 Rogers Jones & Co Colwyn Bay Saleroom, 33 Abergele Road, Colwyn Bay, Conwy, North Wales, LL29 7RU, 01492 532176 www.rogersjones.co.uk None listed IRELAND Adam’s 26, Stephens Green,

Dublin 2, D02 X665, Ireland 00 353 1 6760261 www.adams.ie

Fine Jewellery and Watches, Dec 5 Important Irish Art, Dec 6 Fine Vintage Wine, Dec 7 The Jewellery Box, Dec 17 Fine Asian Art, Dec 18

Antiques l. com ookings

Whaley Bridge, High Peak, Derbyshire

Tel: 07767 617507 or 01663 733209 www.antique-clock.co.uk

~ WANTED ~

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For East Yorkshire town house renovation.

QUALITY ANTIQUES & OBJETS D’ART 26 Market St, Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire, HX7 6AA

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.

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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)

6NW.

in case dates een cancelled

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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.

01422 843189

office@terrierantiques.co.uk

www.terrierantiques.co.uk

Human skull, stuffed crocodile/ alligator.

Grand tour souvenirs.

vintagejewellery@yahoo.co.uk or tel 07958 333442

The Chimes Antique Clock Centre

For a superb selection of over 100 Genuine Antique longcase, wall, and bracket clocks Open 7 days by appointment

ADVERTISE TODAY PLEASE CALL Whaley Bridge, High Peak, Derbyshire

Tel: 07767 617507 or 01663 733209 www.antique-clock.co.uk

CHARLOTTE KETTELL ON 01394 389969

or email: Charlotte.Kettell@accartbooks.com ANTIQUE COLLECTING 73

LAST WORD Marc Allum

I am puzzled how difficult it is to convince people who don’t inhabit our world, that buying an antique – something pre-owned and old – makes an affordable and thoughtful gift for friends and loved ones.

Who wouldn’t want to walk into a cosy, treasure-filled antiques shop, or antiques centre at this time of year and buy something that can be admired and cherished, and even handed down to the next generation? (Rather than something mass-produced with no story attached to it.)

Buy antiques

Marc My Words Antiques Roadshow expert Marc Allum flies the flag for an antiques-filled Christmas

A

s ever, the run up to Christmas is a stressful time of year. A few weeks ago, I was ticking along nicely, with a diary that was ergonomically spaced with a series of manageable lectures, events and jobs. Then, wham! A job arrived so large that it left my carefully laid plans for a well-paced Christmas build-up in tatters.

This has led to some rather sitcom-ish moments in the Lloyd-Allum household (my partner is fellow Antiques Roadshow specialist, Lisa Lloyd) as I struggle to manage the festive ‘to-do’ list of who, why, what and where. It isn’t helped that I am juggling this alongside recriminations from last year’s Christmas present selections, which have raised their heads around the kitchen table. Such as: Lisa: “Don’t buy me any Ming ceramics this year.”

Me: “I thought you liked them...?”

Lisa: “Well, yes. But I would have preferred a piece of jewellery.”

Me: “Well, can you not buy me three jumpers this year?”

Above The French

government took steps to curb Black Friday excess this year, image Shutterstock Below right Be inventive

with your gift choices this year. How about this pair of George V period silver sugar sifters on sale at Special Auction Services’ auction on December 5, with an estimate of £50-£70?

I was interested to read that this year the French government ran an advertising campaign steering consumers away from buying new clothes on Black Friday for the sake of both the planet and the buyer’s finances.

Can you imagine if our government ran an advert saying: “A Georgian bureau is for life. Buy an antique for Christmas”..?

How nice it would be for the antiques industry to receive a shot in the arm like that. A reminder to all that new isn’t necessarily better, and antiques are both sustainable and beautiful.

But, we all battle on in the face of inflation, high fuel prices, drops in demand and mortgage increases and continue to be a resilient, adaptable and important part of the British economy and one that I’m proud to work in.

I would therefore like to wish you all the best for the festive season and to wish you a prosperous New Year. I also hope you manage to find your nearest and dearest a suitable, sustainable and much appreciated gift this Christmas – hopefully an antique.

Marc Allum is an author, lecturer and specialist on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow.

Gifts with heart Little does she know that I’ve already purchased something in that vein. I can’t possibly return it and now I’m even fretting about that. The problem is – and I’m sure many people who work in the antiques world are the same – we are both very difficult to buy for.

I don’t want anything modern or ‘wasteful’. I prefer things that have value and by that I don’t mean monetary.

I find it almost impossible to walk down a high street and find anything worthwhile – except in a book shop or the local pawnbrokers.

74 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

‘I don’t want anything modern or ‘wasteful’. I prefer things that have value and by that I don’t mean monetary. I find it almost impossible to walk down a high street and find anything worthwhile – except in a book shop or the local pawnbrokers’

A Rare Cartier Kashmir Sapphire & Diamond Brooch

Circa 1930s, set with a GCS certified 7.00ct approx Kashmir sapphire, with a total estimated diamond weight of 16.00ct, signed ‘Cartier London’ to the reverse. Consigned from a private client.

Sold for £340,000 + fees Now accepting entries for our 2024 auctions.

Antique Collecting DEC 2023.indd 1

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16/11/2023 12:08

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