Antique Collecting magazine November 2020 by ACC Art Books

THE UK’S BEST COLUMNISTS

R E V I VA L J E W E L L E R Y E L E C T I O N M E M O R A B I L I A

ANTIQUE

COLLECTING

NOVEMBER 2020

Discover something new:

THE ASIAN ART ISSUE WHY NOW COULD BE THE TIME TO KICK-START YOUR COLLECTION

NOTHING TO SNIFF AT: CHINESE SNUFF BOTTLES IN THE SPOTLIGHT

ANTIQUE COLLECTING

THE INSIDERS’ SECRETS

HOW THE EXPERTS VALUE CHINESE PORCELAIN

VOL 55 N0. 6

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

NOVEMBER 2020

Stars of the East

JAPANESE SATSUMA WARE

Learn about the finest designs, makers’ marks and how to spot a fake

ALSO INSIDE 6 of the best antiques revealed • Book offers • Iconic TV props for sale

EAST ANGLIA'S SPECIALIST AUCTIONEERS Seeking consignments for all our auctions.

FIRST WORD

IN THIS ISSUE

Welcome

Cliched as it is, I love my job. Where else could you spend all day discovering the treasures human endeavour has created over millennia, while chatting to some of the world’s leading experts? It’s intoxicating. Although I’ll tell you someone who isn’t quite as intoxicated: my husband. It’s not the subject matter he objects to – he’s as likely to be glued to BBC Four as the next man – it’s the effect it has on me. Last month it was Georgian gin glasses, this month it’s Chinese snuff bottles. Like a middle-aged magpie, as soon as I see something shiny and bright I want to collect it. Luckily my attention span is on a par with a distracted fruit fly, so my obsessions never amount to much. Which is one reason I could never be a real collector – with all its learning, attention to detail and research. But, crikey, do I enjoy the monthly infatuations. Take those snuff bottles. During my editorship, several of you have bemoaned our lack of coverage of these miniature delights, which is something we put right this month on page 18, with an article by Susan Page, one of the UK’s top specialists. The other big news is this month’s magazine welcomes two new columnists to the team, both of whom will be familiar to you from the telly. Christina Trevanion (who, yes, is as brainy and delightful as she is on TV) and antique furniture supremo (and dealer of some 43 years) Lennox Cato. Both share their pearls of wisdom on pages 17 and 36 respectively. As mentioned, in acknowledgement of the Asian art sales that are traditionally held in November, this month’s issue has a distinctly Eastern flavour. It includes a guide to collecting Satsuma ware on page 26 and an article celebrating an unsung 19th-century Japanese photographer, whose work was central to the UK’s art nouveau movement, on page 44. It’s not all Asian art though, on page 52 we go behind the scenes at a recently-discovered cache of TV props, and on page 42 Paul Fraser puts election memorabilia in the spotlight. Enjoy the issue

Georgina

CHRISTINA TREVANION joins the team, page 17

YEXUE LI

the Asian art expert reveals how to value Chinese porcelain, page 22

LENNOX CATO

our new columnist considers canterburies past and present, page 36

Georgina Wroe, Editor

PS Because the next magazine is a joint one (December and January) it will be with you slightly later, so expect delivery from the first week in December. (For that reason the auction calendar on page 60 is extended to five weeks.)

KEEP IN TOUCH

Write to us at Antique Collecting, Sandy Lane, Old Martlesham, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 4SD, or email magazine@accartbooks. com. Visit the website at www.antique-collecting.co.uk and follow us on Twitter and Instagram @AntiqueMag

Antique Collecting subscription

ALASTAIR MCCREA

on a hidden cache of TV props from the iconic Gerry Anderson studio, page 50

The Team We love this Zsolnay ceramic vase c.1900, which has an estimate of £4,000-£6,000 at Rosebery’s decorative arts sale on November 3

Editor: Georgina Wroe, georgina. wroe@accartbooks.com Online Editor: Richard Ginger, richard.ginger@accartbooks.com Design: Philp Design, james@philpdesign.co.uk Advertising: Georgina Wroe, georgina.wroe @accartbooks.com Subscriptions: Sue Slee 01394 389950, sue.slee@accartbooks.com

£38 for 10 issues annually, no refund is available. ISSN: 0003-584X

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 3

Contact us for a free confidential valuation www.sworder.co.uk/valuations auctions@sworder.co.uk 01279 817778 01992 583508 0203 971 2500

Richard Eurich RA (1903-1992) ‘Hole in the Wall’ oil on board (detail) 30 x 62cm £8,000-12,000

THIS MONTH

Contents

48 Book Offers: Steal a march on this year’s Christmas gift giving with our latest titles

VOL 55 NO 6 NOV 2020

52 REGULARS

THE UK’S BEST COLUMNISTS

R E V I VA L J E W E L L E R Y E L E C T I O N M E M O R A B I L I A

ANTIQUE

COLLECTING

NOVEMBER 2020

Discover something new:

THE ASIAN ART ISSUE WHY NOW COULD BE THE TIME TO KICK-START YOUR COLLECTION

NOTHING TO SNIFF AT: CHINESE SNUFF BOTTLES IN THE SPOTLIGHT

ANTIQUE COLLECTING

HOW THE EXPERTS VALUE CHINESE PORCELAIN

VOL 55 N0. 6

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

NOVEMBER 2020

Stars of the East

Editor’s Welcome: Georgina Wroe introduces this month’s issue which 59 Profile: Behind the scenes with a has Asian art as its theme and boasts Washington political player turned two new columnists antique dealer

Antique News: Our round-up of 60 Auction Calendar: Never miss the latest news includes three another sale with our up-to-date must-see exhibitions and a revamp at saleroom listings Churchill’s Kent home

10 Your Letters: A delve into the postbag delivers news on green antiques and a love for all things Georgian

JAPANESE SATSUMA WARE

Learn about the finest designs, makers’ marks and how to spot a fake

17 Lots of Love: TV favourite Christina Trevanion joins the team with a brand new column

ALSO INSIDE 6 of the best antiques revealed • Book offers • Iconic TV props for sale

COVER

A Meiji period silvered bronze eagle c.1890, image courtesy of Malcolm Fairley

22 Market Report: Ever wondered how the experts spot an Asian treasure? Specialist Yexue Li shares her secrets

@AntiqueMag

24 Subscription Offer: Save 50 per cent on an annual subscription and receive a free book worth £65

38 12 32

52 Top of the Lots: With Asian art the focus, we preview the best lots up for sale in November

12 Around the Houses: Discover the latest sale results from the UK’s salerooms, including a brilliant-cut diamond ring and De Morgan tile

THE INSIDERS’ SECRETS

50 Saleroom Spotlight: A hidden treasure trove of props from the legendary Gerry Anderson studios is set to sell this month in Surrey

30 Waxing Lyrical: In a lifetime devoted to antique furniture, David Harvey on his top six pieces, and what makes them so special

66 Marc My Words: A sideways look at the industry with Antiques Roadshow specialist Marc Allum

FEATURES 18 Snuff Love: Susan Page praises Chinese snuff bottles, which are both beautiful and highly collectable 26 Star of the East: A collecting guide to Japanese satsuma ware looking at its history, designers and styles 32 Golden Age: Why archaeological revival jewellery, inspired by ancient Greece and Rome, is proving a hit in the salerooms 38 Token Gesture: Collecting tokens has never been more popular. On the eve of a major sale we examine what makes them so enchanting

44 East Meets West: Zoë Hendon explores the work of the unsung Japanese photographer Ogawa 36 Without Reserve: BBC Antiques Kazumasa and his influence Roadshow’s furniture expert Lennox on British art nouveau Cato shares the secrets of his five decades as a dealer 55 Young at Art: The Polish arts and crafts movement, and its links to 42 Cool and Collectable: With the British equivalent, are put in the US election looming this month, the spotlight by the National discover memorabilia expert Paul Portrait Gallery’s Dr Alison Smith Fraser’s winning campaign collectables from the US and UK

TO SUBSCRIBE PLEASE CALL OUR SUBSCRIPTION HOTLINE ON 01394 389950 ANTIQUE COLLECTING 5

NEWS All the latest

Un-fair measures

WHAT’S GOING ON IN NOVEMBER

ANTIQUE news All the latest from the world of antiques and fine art happening this November

KENT WELL A £7.1m project to restore Churchill’s study and studio at Chartwell in Kent to how it would have looked in the 1960s has been unveiled. Project curator, Katherine Carter, said: “The studio contains the single largest collection of Churchill paintings in the world. It enables us to have a deeper understanding of him as an artist and the great pride he took in showcasing his paintings within that space.” The restored rooms now include the wartime PM’s Nobel prize for literature, awarded in 1953, his wooden speech box,

6 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

a pair of hairbrushes made from wood from the deck of the WWII ship HMS Exeter and a miniature paint box. Using historic photos and the memories of the secretaries themselves, the nearby office has been restored using original typewriters, telephones, address books and inkwells. Research into his visitors’ book also revealed some previously undeciphered names. The book has now been digitised allowing today’s visitors the chance to scroll through the handwritten entries of more than 700 personalities who visited between 1924 and 1964, including Charlie Chaplin, the suffragette Christabel Pankhurst and David Lloyd George. For opening times and further information visit www.nationaltrust. org.uk/chartwell • In September a National Trust report listed 93 properties with a link to colonialism and slavery. Chartwell was included because of Churchill’s political role and opposition to selfgovernance in India.

Above More than 140 paintings by Churchill appear as they would have done in the 1960s, © National Trust/ Liam Austen Bottom left Churchill’s

miniature paint box, © National Trust/John Hammond

Below The Chartwell

office, © National Trust/ Kate York

A large number of antiques fairs across the country have cancelled this month after news that events in conference centres and exhibition halls cannot go ahead this autumn. The winter edition of Art & Antiques for Everyone, due to have taken place at Birmingham’s NEC from November 19-22 has cancelled while Adams Antiques Fairs, at London’s Royal Horticultural Halls, has pulled the plug on its monthly event. Arthur Swallow Fairs is to stage pop-up, drive-in antiques markets held at short notice, dependent on regional lockdowns and restrictions. B2B Events has changed its popular Malvern antiques and collectors fair on November 1 to a flea fair. Its two-day Detling antiques, vintage and collectors fair currently has the green light for November 7-8 with visitors advised to check the latest at www.b2bevents. info. For more details see the advert on page 63. Above Indoor events were cancelled from October 1

Far right The goddess Kali, print, Calcutta Art Studio, c.1885. © The Trustees of the British Museum Right Kali striding over

Shiva, Bengal, 1890s. © The Trustees of the British Museum

Far left Raphael

Paul Preaching at Athens, 1515-1516. © V&A. Courtesy Royal Collection Trust / Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020

Above left Raphael The Miraculous Draught of Fishes, 1515-1516. © V&A. Courtesy Royal Collection Trust / Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020

Cartoon channel

The V&A’s Raphael Court reopens this month after a nine-month revamp, welcoming visitors to view the famous Italian artist’s cartoons on the 500th anniversary of his death. The cartoons, lent to the V&A from the Royal Collection by Her Majesty The Queen, are among the greatest treasures of the Renaissance seen in the UK. Pope Leo X commissioned Raphael (1483-1520) to create a set of 10 full-scale designs for a series of tapestries for the Sistine Chapel in 1513. Seven of the preliminary cartoons – each measuring 5m x 3.5m – survive and were brought to Britain in the early 17th century by Charles I. For more details of the exhibition go to www.vam.ac.uk/raphael-cartoons

Above Raphael The Death of Ananias, 1515-1516, © V&A.

Courtesy Royal Collection Trust / Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020

3 to see in

NOVEMBER Right Chamunda dancing

on a corpse, Madhya Pradesh, Central India, 800s. © The Trustees of the British Museum

Below far left The Bhutanese artist Zimbiri (b. 1991) in her studio Below Zimbiri (b. 1991)

Boxed, from her Tiger series

Below right Zimbiri (b.

1991) Untitled, from her Tiger series

2Yogi bared

An exhibition exploring the art of Tantra – the radical, though largely misunderstood, philosophy that emerged in India in 500 AD – continues at the British Museum this month. Beyond its association with sex and yoga, little is known of Tantra in the West. The new exhibition, which includes sculpture, paintings, prints and ritual objects, will demonstrate how the discipline has since its inception challenged political, sexual and gender norms around the world. Tantra is rooted in sacred instructional texts called Tantras which espoused the idea all aspects of existence are sacred, including the body and the sensual. It believes all bodily experience is animated by Shakti – an unlimited, divine feminine power. Tantra: enlightenment to revolution continues at the British Museum until January 24 at the Joseph Hotung Great Court Gallery.

Tiger bright

New paintings from the Tiger series by Bhutanese artist, Zimbiri (b. 1991), go on show this month at the Grosvenor Gallery, as part of Asian Art in London. Zimbiri’s work incorporates the traditional Bhutanese technique of sa-tschen (earth paint) on rhay-shing (hand-woven canvas), with the minimalism and colour of 20th-century Western art. Her first 2015 exhibition, Faces, was the first ever female solo exhibition in her native Bhutan. Tiger continues at the Grosvenor Gallery, 35 Bury Street, London, SW1Y6AY, until November 20.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 7

NEWS All the latest Fur and wide

PREMIER LISTING An art deco Birmingham gallery, described as of “exquisite architectural quality and sophisticated design”, has been upgraded from a Grade II to Grade I-listed building. Located in Edgbaston, the Barber Institute of Fine Arts was founded in the 1930s as an art centre for Birmingham University. The Barber’s current exhibitions of Old Master and Impressionist paintings have caused it to be called the “mini National Gallery” of the Midlands. The building was designed by architect Robert Atkinson (18831952), working closely with the Barber’s first director and professor of art, Thomas Bodkin (1877-1961). Despite having no previous practical experience of designing museums, Atkinson’s early plans set out the basic layout of a central concert hall rising through two storeys and circled by a sequence of four galleries on the first floor.

Did you know?

Climate change and the indigenous people of the Arctic come under the spotlight at an exhibition in London this month. The Arctic Circle is While communities have lived in the home to 400,000 most northern fringes of the world for indigenous people 30,000 years, they currently face some of from 40 different to Sir John Ross on his 1818 expedition, the most dramatic changes in history. ethnic groups with marking the first encounter between The exhibition Arctic: Culture and Climate distinct languages Inughuit and Europeans. brings together the largest and most diverse and dialects. The exhibition runs at the Sainsbury circumpolar collection ever displayed in the UK. It showcases rare archaeological finds, unique tools Exhibitions Gallery at the British Museum in London until next February. and clothing adapted to the cold, including an eightpiece Igloolik winter costume made of caribou fur. Above Child’s all-in-one suit made of caribou fur. Inuit, Igloolik, Caribou bone and pieces of driftwood were traded Nunavut, Canada, 1980s. © Trustees of the British Museum

Drawing inspiration The textile and fashion specialist Gray M.C.A has teamed up with the British artist and illustrator, Gladys Perint Palmer (known as GPP), to host a series of online masterclasses. In the webinars GPP, who has worked with fashion legends including Dior, Prada and Chanel,

Quick fire questions with... JONATHAN PRATT MANAGING DIRECTOR OF THE BERKSHIREBASED AUCTIONEER DREWEATTS

How did you start in the business?

My inspiration came from the Lovejoy series in the 1980s, which I watched religiously. I was captivated by the idea of being able to know the age and value of an antique so I enrolled on the fine art and chattels valuation diploma in Southampton. After graduation in 1995, I moved to Edinburgh to work as a furniture porter at Phillips. Top The Barber’s deputy

director Robert Wenley and curatorial technician Alan Armstrong at the reopened venue, © Edward Moss Photography

Above The Barber has been upgraded to a Grade I-listed building

8 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

What has been your most exciting sale?

In 2003, when I was working for Sotheby’s in Billingshurst, I visited a large property near Guildford owned by a shipping company that was going into administration. The collection it housed included English furniture and silver, paintings by Charles Dixon and a huge oil painting of a dreadnought by William

shares the secrets of her craft. This month’s event sees the Hungarian-born artist, who was brought up in the UK and lives in Canada, replicate original couture fashion illustrations from Dior designers. September’s masterclass, which was viewed by a thousand fashion aficionados online, marked what would have been the opening of Drawing on Style, an exhibition celebrating fashion illustration from post-war 1940s to the present day, now postponed to 2021. To register interest in the Dior masterclass on November 12 at 11am go to www.graymca.com Left The artist Gladys Perint Palmer (b. 1947) at her desk Above Gladys Perint Palmer (b. 1947) a design used for a poster for Christian Dior’s exhibition in Japan

Lionel Wylie. An attic room contained a number of oil paintings by Samuel Walters not seen on the market for more than 50 years. The sale achieved more than £350,000. On that visit I also met my wife-to-be, Claire, whom I’ve been married to for 16 years.

Who is your favourite artist (we’ve heard of)?

I have always enjoyed genre paintings – realistic depictions of normal people in society – especially those by the Dutch artist Pieter Brueghel the Younger and the English satirist William Hogarth who used his art to mock 18th-century politicians and high society. I am happiest in Tate Britain rather than Tate Modern.

Your favourite artist (we haven’t heard of)?

My passion, other than art and antiques, is skiing and the mountains. I would absolutely love to own a painting by the Kitzbühel artist Alfons Walde.

What would be your dream find?

As a gemmologist I would love to find a natural blue diamond at the bottom of a jewellery box.

Dreweatts’ next country house sale is on November 4, for more details go to www.dreweatts.com

BIG PRICE A plastic crown worn by the rap star Notorious B.I.G. in his last recorded photoshoot sold for almost half a million pounds at Sotheby’s first ever auction devoted to hip hop. It was worn by the rapper in his iconic King of New York picture taken three days before his death. Having been expected to make £225,900, it sold for £461,243 at the auction in New York, which also included love letters written by a 16-year-old Tupac Shakur who was killed in a drive-by shooting in September 1996. Right Barron

Claiborne, Notorious B.I.G. as the K.O.N.Y (King of New York)

Heaven Kent An Italian kneehole desk once owned by Charles Harold Hornby (1867-1946), a founding partner of WHSmith, is one of the highlights of a selling exhibition this month described as a Kent dealership’s “best ever”. Lennox Cato Antiques is showcasing its latest collection both online and by appointment at its Edenbridge gallery. It can also be explored by a series of short videos on YouTube and Instagram live, presented by 18th and 19th-century furniture expert Lennox Cato. Sue Cato said: “With very few fairs at the moment we felt the best way to showcase our latest stock is online. In difficult times people are making their homes as beautiful as possible.”

Other highlights include an English mahogany cellarette c. 1810, a chair attributed to Ince and Mayhew and a pair of early Blue John urns. The selling exhibition runs from November 5-21, for more details, or to order an accompanying catalogue go to www.lennoxcato.com Above The desk belonged to Charles Harold Hornby (1867-1946) several of whose other pieces are in the V&A

Dress to impress HAVING A GLASTO To celebrate 50 years of the Glastonbury festival music lovers, denied of live concerts, can revisit happier times thanks to a new online database. The V&A’s new archive will provide unrivalled access to the past, present and future of the legendary event which launched in September 1970. Since June, the V&A has been calling for festival goers’ memories, along with posters, stage designs, costumes, interviews and films. The world-renowned festival was unable to celebrate its 50th anniversary this year due to the pandemic. The V&A’s searchable database is due to come online in 2021. Below A festival-goer stuck in the mud,

1990s, © Ann Cook

Bottom The crowd at the jazz world stage,

1990s, © Ann Cook

The wedding dress worn by HRH Princess Beatrice of York this summer, which was first worn by the queen in the 1960s, has gone on display at Windsor Castle . Designed by Sir Norman Hartnell (1901–1979), the original design was altered for the princess’s nuptials, to give it a more contemporary shape. The queen first wore the embroidered taffeta gown for a state dinner at the British Embassy in Rome in 1961 before donning it again for the premiere of the film Lawrence of Arabia in 1962.

Mary’s quaint The British artist, scientist and farmer Mary Newcomb (1922-2008) is to headline the exhibition programme at a Warwickshire art gallery next year. More than 50 works by the artist, whose life and art were rooted in everyday observation and the natural world, go on show at Compton Verney. Nature’s Canvas, from February 13 to June 13, will be the most extensive survey of Newcomb’s work ever shown, placing her career in the context of her contemporaries. A self-taught artist, Newcomb developed a unique visual language and poetic vision closely aligned with her writing. She was championed, exhibited and collected by art dealer Andras Kalman (the original collector of Compton Verney’s British Folk Art collection, which is the largest in the UK). Newcomb’s unique style also drew comparisons with L.S. Lowry, Alfred Wallis and other folk artists represented within

Above Mary Newcomb, The lady with a Bunch of Sweet Williams, 1988, © Crane Kalman Gallery

Compton Verney’s collection. In her diary, Newcomb cites Paul Klee, Picasso and Van Gogh as important influences on her painting. For details of the whole programme go to www.comptonverney.org.uk

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 9

LETTERS Have your say

Your Letters

April pp.53-63:Layout 1

17/3/17

14:08

Page 63

Our star letter

receives a copy of Bulgari Treasures of Rome by Vincent Meylan worth £55. Write to us at Antique Collecting, Sandy Lane, Old Martlesham, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 4SD or email magazine@ accartbooks.com

I have been meaning to write for ages Star to say thank you, and well done, for letter such a ‘spot on’ and engaging magazine. My husband took on a subscription a couple of years ago, and we have so enjoyed it. The magazine is full of interesting and informative articles, as well as being very well illustrated. You have no competition. This is the one! Please keep going in these Covid-19 times! Thank you so much. The magazine is something to look forward to every month. Stella and John Gomer, by email

From wannabe Georgians to green antiques, all the latest ANTIQUES CENTRES from the magazine’s postbag

Left Antiques are great for our carbon footprint Right Irene dreams of the Georgian life Below left Does anyone

I wonder if I could enlist the help of your subscribers? Is it at all possible that anyone can identify this? Susan Huke, by email

10 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Many thanks for dedicating the October magazine to all things Georgian. I have often thought I belonged to the wrong era. But for an accident of birth I can’t help thinking my time should have been taken up playing cards, embroidering and taking tea. Having said that not being born with a silver spoon in my mouth, a chambermaid would probably have been more fitting. Mrs Irene Spenset, Herts, by email

Be part of the conversation on Twitter and Instagram @antiquemag

Rutland The

ARMS

I was watching TV the other day when an antiques expert said the reason for an increase in interest in antiques recently was due to their green credentials and sustainability. I am emailing you today to officially confirm that in a sustainable world, buying from a pre-owned source is best! In these days of climate change anything we can do to promote green awareness is all to the good. We must learn to use what has always been there in history. Anonymous, by email

know what this boxed instrument is?

ANTIQUES

BID ONLINE @

dominicwinter.co.uk

Classic & Contemporary Photography China, Formosa & Japan in the 1860s The Jack Webb Collection of Military Cased Images & Cartes de Visite 18 November 2020

Charles Leander Weed (1824-1903). Japanese Cabinet Officials with the US Minister to Japan, taken at Hama Goten, Edo, 22 September 1867, albumen print, 24.5 x 33.3cm, tipped on to a contemporary paper mount with ink caption to lower margin Estimate: £2,000-3,000 This important and rare photograph taken in the dying days of the Edo period, is a variant of Charles Weed's stereoview, 'The Gorogio, or Tycoon's Cabinet, with the American Minister and his Secretary', published as part of the Oriental Scenery series by Thomas Houseworth & Co., San Francisco, 1869. Left to right: Ezure Akinori (Foreign Office), General Robert Bruce Van Valkenburgh (1821-1888, US Minister Resident to Japan), Ishikawa Jukei, Inaba Masami (1815-1879, daimyō of Tateyama Domain), Katsu Kaishū (1823-1899, Minister of the Army), Matsudaira Tarō (1839-1909, Commander-in-Chief of the Army), Ōzeki Masuhiro (died 1867, daimyō of Kurobane Domain) From a group of 40 lots of photographs of China, Formosa and Japan, c.1867-69, mostly by John Thomson, Charles Leander Weed and Felice Beato. Bid live at this sale at:

New consignments always welcome. For information and advice please contact Chris Albury Mallard House, Broadway Lane, South Cerney, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 5UQ

www.the-saleroom.com

T: +44 (0) 1285 860006 E: chris@dominicwinter.co.uk

www.dominicwinter.co.uk

www.invaluable.co.uk

AUCTION Round up

AROUND the HOUSES

From first edition books to a rock star’s bed, there has been a lot to catch our eye in recent sales

The rare, early, travelling microscope made £3,400 at the recent sale

The diamond bracelet by the London jeweller Hennell sold for £11,484

Elton John’s art deco-style bed had an estimate of £300-£500

FELLOWS AUCTIONEERS, BIRMINGHAM A bed from Elton John’s London home sold for three times its high estimate at the Midlands auctioneers. The art deco-style, satinwood-veneered, double bed sparked a bidding war before rocking out at £1,500 hammer. The bed was originally sold by the internationally-acclaimed musician in a 2003 Sotheby’s auction after the musician had a clear-out of his Holland Park home. The bed, which had an estimate of £300-£500, still retained its original Sotheby’s label. At a previous sale an art deco bracelet by the high-end, early 20th-century jewellery designer Hennell doubled its estimate to sell for £11,484. The company was founded by David Hennell, a renowned London silversmith, in 1736. In the late 1920s and 1930s it really came to the fore, producing magnificent jewels, of which the bracelet was a prime example.

LYON AND TURNBULL, EDINBURGH

TENNANTS AUCTIONEERS, LEYBURN A rare Victorian concertina by the one of the era’s finest makers sold for £4,000, against an estimate of £600-£800, at the North Yorkshire auctioneer’s recent sale. The squeeze box was one of the earliest ever seen at Tennants, with its maker Charles Jeffries – who started out as a brush maker – renowned as one of the finest 19th-century concertina makers. At the same sale a complete, early, travelling microscope by Dollond of London, still in working order, sold for £3,400 – more than 10 times the bottom estimate.

A Jeffries’ concertina sold for £4,000

ANTIQUE COLLECTING

A book by the American ornithologist, naturalist, and painter John James Audubon (17851851) sold for £13,750 at the Scottish auction house’s recent book sale. The Birds of America, first published in sections between 1827 and 1838, contains 500 hand-finished colour plates of birds with a stamp from the Hearst Memorial Library. The 1861 third edition had been expected to make between The illustrations £10,000were by the £12,000. American ornithologist John James Audubon (1785- 1851)

The book contained 500 coloured depictions of American birds

WOOLLEY AND WALLIS, SALISBURY A tile bought in a Devon market for just £8 in June sold at the Wiltshire auction house for £4,750, over four times its low estimate of £1,000, on October 6. Despite being drilled twice, the quality of the 15cm (6in) square tile, The tile was designed by William De Morgan in the late bought in a postlockdown visit 19th century, shone through. Listed as a “Cornish tile”, the canny vendor recognised to a Devon market for just £8 it as by the leading arts and crafts ceramicist William De Morgan (1839-1917).

CHORLEYS, PRINKNASH ABBEY PARK

MALLAMS, OXFORD A late 17th-century alabaster relief Ford may of the Madonna have bought the watching over carving during his Christ, from the Italian travels from circle of Pierre 1839-1840 Étienne Monnot (1657-1733) more than tripled its pre-sale estimate to make £9,500. The carving may have been brought back from a Grand Tour trip by the English travel writer Richard Ford (1796-1858). An even more estimatebusting lot came in the shape of three ceramics: an Italian maiolica dish, a circular terracotta plaque and an oval painted plaque. While the trio had been expected to make £100, it hammered at £3,600.

The ceramic trio sold for well beyond its estimate

DAWSONS, MAIDENHEAD A three-piece Moorcroft tea service set a world record at the Berkshire auctioneers when it sold for £15,400. The rare, silver overlaid ‘Pomegranate’ pattern set, dated 1912 and decorated with a band of the orange-coloured fruit, leaves and berries, sparked a bidding war before going to a UK-based private collector. Dawsons’ Richard Harrison, said: “It was The tea set a real pleasure handling, researching and was one of 64 putting this auction together. lots from a private “I am so pleased that collection it achieved such great prices for our client.”

The painting may be by a British pupil and follower of Canaletto

A painting by a follower of Giovanni Antonio Canal, better known as Canaletto (1697-1768), doubled its estimate to make £80,000 at the Gloucestershire auctioneers. The oil painting entitled The Bucintoro returning to the Molo on Ascension Day, Venice may be attributable to the British painter William James (act. 1730-1780) who was one of the Venetian artist’s studio assistants on his 1754 trip to England. After the visit, James continued to work in the Canaletto style selling to wealthy clients as mementos of their Grand Tour.

GILDINGS, MARKET HARBOROUGH A south Indian cleaver-shaped knife with a horn handle sold for £8,000 against an estimate of £400£600 at the East Midlandsbased auction house. The knife, indigenous to the Coorg people of the Kingdom of Mysore, was a present from the Rajah Coorg to Colonel George Mackenzie Stuart, who commanded a column of the Madras Army at the taking of Coorg. The presentation At the same sale a drawing of a south Indian knife miserable-looking cat (titled Sour Puss) by and scabbard sold the British artist and writer Denton Welch for £8,000 (1914-1995), sold for £6,500 against a presale estimate of £200-£300. Gildings’ director, Will Gilding, said: “The popularity of these items shows a strong interest in unique and interesting pieces to enhance people’s personal space.”

Sour Puss proved the public’s increasing interest in the quirky

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 13

AUCTION Round up EWBANK’S, WOKING

HALLS, SHREWSBURY A brilliant-cut, single stone diamond ring more than doubled its estimate, selling for £13,500 at the Shropshire auction house. At the same The impressive sale a pair of 18th-century Coade stone brilliant-cut urns sold for £9,200. diamond ring The urns, which carried a pre-sale weighs 4.1 carots estimate of £7,000-£10,000, were stamped Coade Lambeth, 1794. Eleanor Coade founded the artificial stone manufacturers in 1770, with a client list including John Soane and John Nash (both leading lights of the neoclassical movement) as well as Buckingham Palace. The urns are similar to a pair seen on Coade’s home, Belmont House, in Lyme. The company changed its name to Coade & Sealy in 1799.

The urns were made by the influential maker Coade

A limited-edition The limited rainbow print by edition Lowry Damien Hirst (b. print was marked 1964) to support 54/300 in pencil the NHS sold for £750, against an estimate of £300£500 at the Surrey auction house’s contemporary art sale on October 8. Still in its original cardboard box, the 24cm x 50cm print was initially sold through Heni Edition. It is labelled edition number 811/4150 and signed verso. Earlier this year Hirst designed two prints entitled Butterfly Heart and Butterfly Rainbow. Both were digitally made of bands of photographed butterfly wings. A signed print by British artist Laurence Hirst Stephen Lowry RA (1887-1976) entitled launched the prints to support The Artist’s Father sold for £320 at the NHS charities same sale, bang on its pre-sale estimate of during the £300- £500. The print is Covid-19 crisis from an edition of 300 and is numbered 54 in pencil. Framed and glazed, it measures 30.5cm x 23.5cm.

WILKINSONS, DONCASTER A top-quality, 19th-century pedestal table, with a pietra dura top, more than doubled its low estimate when it sold for £8,600 at the South Yorkshire auction house. The black marble is inlaid with coloured marbles and stones to form a picture of two birds and an intricate branch of fruiting vine. Pietra dura is an Italian phrase, literally meaning ‘hard stone’ and refers to a technique of inlaying differently-shaped and coloured stones onto a backing. It is sometimes known by the plural pietre dure, or ‘hard stones’, and very occasionally is referred to as ‘Florentine mosaic’. The Medici Family were early patrons of pietra dura in Florence.

The first edition On the Origin of Species sold for over seven times its estimate

The intricate inlay appealed to bidders at the recent sale

MELLORS & KIRK, NOTTINGHAM A first edition of Charles Darwin’s (1809-1882) On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection sold for over seven times its estimate to fetch £38,400. The 1859 work by the renowned English biologist, geologist and naturalist, famed for his contributions to the science of evolution, sold to an American bidder. Mellors & Kirk’s director, Nigel Kirk, said: “The short initial print run of 1,250 copies with hindsight seems at odds with Darwin’s genius, factors which help explain why the book has long been such a fabled rarity.”

14 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

AUCTION | FINE ART & ANTIQUES Tuesday 24 & Wednesday 25 November

Chorleyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s | Fine Art Auctioneers & Valuers

PRINKNASH ABBEY PARK, GLOUCESTERSHIRE GL4 8EU 01452 344499 | enquiries@chorleys.com

www.chorleys.com

WWAdFREE_Ceramics_AC_128x192mm (2).qxp_Layout 3 08/10/2020 13:32 Page 1

ENGLISH AND EUROPEAN AND CERAMICS AND GLASS 24th November 2020 The sale includes a selec on of Europeandecorated Chinese porcelain.

A pair of Chinese so paste porcelain vases, 18th century, decorated in London, 17cm. Est: £600-800*

CONTACT Clare Durham +44 (0) 1722 424507 cd@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

www.woolleyandwallis.co.uk *Price includes buyer’s premium

Join us for our next Fine Art & Antique auction on

Saturday 28 th November Public Viewing by appointment: Wednesday 25 th , Thursday 26 th & Friday 27 th prior to the auction Entries accepted until 11 th November All auctions are currently held online only

www.trevanionanddean.com

16 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

EXPERT COMMENT Jukeboxes C H R I S T I N A T R E VA N I O N

Lots of Love New columnist Christina Trevanion considers how old technology is the new rock ‘n’ roll in the UK’s salerooms

marvelled at Charles Lindbergh’s first transatlantic flight, she wept at the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 and was transfixed by the moon landings in 1969, when she was 49.

TECHNICAL ADVANCES Aside from the historic landmarks were the inventions: televisions, computers, LED lightbulbs, the world wide web, the bagless vacuum cleaner (which she didn’t approve of), digital cameras, and, of course, the smartphone. Some of the the inventions granny witnessed over the course of her life are, today, increasingly popular in the saleroom. A new generation of buyers is rejecting the traditional antiques of their parents in favour of things that they remember from childhood. Purchases are driven by nostalgia and things that have an emotional link to their childhood. As a result we are finding buyers prepared to pay huge sums for pieces that brought them childhood joy and, if needed, restore them to their former glory.

PLAYSTATION Left Jukeboxes are hot property in the saleroom Below Christina’s

grandmother Mary Hope Trevanion on her wedding day

recently invested in a new mobile phone, my old trustworthy ‘brick’ having a rather awkward habit of cutting people off after two minutes. Admittedly this was rather handy at times, yet deeply frustrating at others. After a brief induction from my-eight-year-old daughter, the new allsinging, all-dancing device, has – I reluctantly admit – opened up a new world. It has also made me consider how quickly the world changes and how soon we adapt to this change. Let me take my dear granny as an example. Granny very sadly left us last year at the grand old age of 109½. Born in 1910, even the briefest whizz through her life is breathtaking: she lived through two world wars (having lost her father in WWI, her brother in WWII, and nursed her husband when he was torpedoed off Malta). She saw women gain the vote in 1920 (much to her 10-year-old delight), at the age of 17 she

It may seem extraordinary to ‘fully signed-up’ members of the antiques world, but we cannot ignore the fact that the market for 20th-century pieces is incredibly strong. A Nintendo PlayStation prototype sold earlier this year for £280,000, with bidder Palmer Luckey, the co-founder of Facebook’s virtual reality company Oculus, saying he is “On a quest to digitise and preserve the history of physical video games”. The good news is that there were 200 Nintendo PlayStation prototypes made, so check your lofts! Prior to that, a sealed, nearly mint copy of Super Mario Bros sold for £78,000. Apple iPhone prototypes regularly sell for thousands of pounds and, on one occasion, in excess of £100,000. Jukeboxes are also incredibly sought after, with a 1942 Rock-Ola 1414 President recently valued at more than £115,000. There is known to be only one left in the world: a true collector’s dream machine. It is the things we grew-up with, which we might assume have little or no value, that are shaking up today’s auction world. So now might be the time to dig them out of drawers or cupboards. Having said that, where did I put that old phone? Christina Trevanion is managing director at the Shropshire-based auctioneers Trevanion & Dean as well as a regular face on Bargain Hunt, Antiques Road Trip, Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is and Flog it!

‘It may seem extraordinary to ‘fully signed-up’ members of the antiques world, but we cannot ignore the fact that the market for 20th-century pieces is incredibly strong’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 17

COLLECTING GUIDES Chinese snuff bottles

Snuff love

Nothing connects you with the past like a Chinese snuff bottle. Miniature works of art in their own right, they are easy to handle and extremely collectable, writes specialist Susan Page

here is nothing like a snuff bottle, which is as beautiful as it is tactile. Small enough to nestle in the palm of your hand, when you hold one you are getting as close as is possible to life in China in the 18th and 19th centuries. Years of wear brings a deep polish that is exquisite to the touch. These stunning miniatures, which measure between one-and-a-half and three inches high, illustrate the technical virtuosity of Qing dynasty craftsmen, while providing a window on life and culture in late imperial China. In addition to which collecting them may inspire you to learn about their iconography and rebuses, and discover the myths and legends at the heart of Chinese culture. You will also discover more about the multitude of materials from which they were made, ranging from semi-precious stones to glass, porcelain and organic materials.

HIGH PRAISE Snuff, a mixture of finely ground tobacco leaves and aromatic herbs and spices, was introduced to China by European missionaries, envoys, and merchants in the second half of the 17th century. With its medicinal and stimulating effects, it soon caught on and the increasing use of snuff led to the making of snuff bottles – small containers with a corked stopper that

18 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Below (left to right)

An 18th-century blue and white snuff bottle with pierced foot, decorated with a scholar and attendant; an 18th-century pink glass snuff bottle, blown into the form of a peach; an underglazed red snuff bottle decorated with quail and bamboo. All images courtesy of the author, photographer Robert Hall

were easily portable and airtight to preserve freshness and flavour. Just as snuff taking in Europe was primarily a habit of the elite, so it was in China. As early as 1684, the Kangxi Emperor (r. 1661-1722), on the first of his six great tours of inspection to the south of the country, was presented with gifts, including snuff, from two Jesuit priests in Nanjing. While he rejected many of the tributes, he kept the snuff. He wasn’t alone in his newfound love and soon championed a new craze. In 1702, Wang Shizhen, a high-ranking minister of the Kangxi Emperor (who is well known to all serious collectors of snuff bottles) said: “Snuff is said to be able to improve one’s sight, especially to exorcise epidemic diseases. It is put into glass bottles, which are of varying shapes, in colours of red, purple, yellow, white, black, green and brown. The white is clear as crystal, the red like fire. The snuff bottles are manufactured by the Imperial Court. Snuff bottles are also imitated among the people but are far inferior in quality and design.”

BY ROYAL APPOINTMENT The Kangxi Emperor conferred presents of snuff and bottles on worthy recipients with gift-giving records from 1703 and 1705 widely published. The Qianlong Emperor (r. 1735-1796), whose long reign was responsible for a large number of artworks, also commissioned a wide range of snuff bottles. While snuff taking in the late 18th century centred on the capital, a wealth of evidence points to a rapid expansion of the habit across the empire within 20 years, as court officials visited the provinces taking their habit with them. References to snuff and snuff bottles, particularly in the writings of travelling Westerners, are numerous from the 1790s onwards. Lord Macartney, the UK’s first envoy to China who met the emperor in 1793, said of the Chinese: “They also take snuff, mostly Brazil, but in small quantities, not in that beastly profusion which is often practiced in England.”

Jade, nephrite & jadeite bottles

SNUFF SAID By the mid-19th century, snuff taking had become commonplace throughout China. The scholar and merchant classes replaced the court as the most important consumers. The result was a greater demand for bottles and the growth of regional workshops to meet it. This rising interest led to mass production, and the Jingdezhen kilns cranked up their firings to churn out thousands and thousands of bottles. The end of the Qing dynasty (1644-1912) saw the end of the great snuff bottle-producing era. Although an interesting coda is that the art of painting the inside of snuff bottles continued in China throughout the turbulence of the revolution and there are today many wonderful examples of that art form.

QUARTZ BOTTLES Quartz is one of the most common materials used to make snuff bottles. The quartz family is large, and embraces a great many different stones. Crystal and chalcedony are the most obvious, but these can be further divided into several different types: agate, jasper, amethyst, citrine and carnelian. Because of the quartz family’s limitless range of colours, snuff bottle artisans gave free rein to their imaginations, often with amazing results. Maximum use was made of their distinctive markings. In many cases, this natural colouring was so striking it was left to speak for itself, with no further carving required other than the forming of the bottle.

Above Three jade snuff bottles, 1780-1850 (left to right) in apple green; carved basketweave design and a deep spinach green Below Three silhouette

agate snuff bottles (1780-1850), carved using natural darker inclusions

While snuff bottles were made from a number of different materials, in the main they were produced in jade, quartz, glass and porcelain. Jade is a quintessential Chinese stone and has occupied a place of importance in the country for several thousand years. Valued above gold or precious stones, it is held not only in admiration and affection, but even in reverence by the Chinese. Jade snuff bottles were made in the palace workshops in Beijing. The best known was Suzhou, a southern town, long famous for the skill of its hardstone carvers. While nephrite and jadeite are both correctly called “jade”, they are actually two different minerals. Nephrite is usually of an opaque, creamy colour, and is most prized when it is pure white or yellow. It has been worked by the Chinese from their earliest recorded history, and it is the material from which most ancient jade artefacts were made. Jadeite is slightly harder than nephrite and tends to be translucent, with an icy, crystalline structure. It comes in a variety of colours but it is renowned for its apple-green and emerald tones. It can also be found in shades of blue and lavender which are not found in nephrite. It has been available to the Chinese since the Qianlong period when it was imported from Burma.

‘By the mid-19th century snuff taking had become commonpace throughout China. The scholar and merchant classes replaced the court as the most important customers. The result was a greater demand for bottles and the growth of regional workshops to meet it’

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 19

COLLECTING GUIDES Chinese snuff bottles CAMEO BOTTLES Some bottles were decorated in a cameo style: the top layer of colour being carved away to leave the design in relief against a ground of a different colour. Still others, known to collectors as “silhouette agates”, rely on the skill of the lapidarist to select and carve a stone in such a way that its natural inclusions suggest a design with a minimum of relief carving. Bottles of this type, when carved by a master craftsman, are among the most dramatic of all snuff bottles. Good hollowing of hardstone bottles is very important – which is especially true of quartz. In this case the mineral’s striking colours can only be appreciated when the walls are thin enough to allow natural light to shine through.

‘Collecting bottles may also inspire you to learn about their iconography and rebuses, and discover the myths and legends at the heart of Chinese culture’ glasshouse built near the Jesuits’ house. Their influence was great as they trained Chinese artisans in several glass techniques (including making aventurine glass) previously unknown to them. However it would seem that after 1760 only Chinese glassmakers remained. Although most glass bottles were blown, usually into a mould, many early designs were carved from a solid piece of glass – as they were in hardstone. This technique was often used on glass-imitating precious stones, such as aquamarine, amethyst and beryl. After the bottle was created, either by blowing or by carving, decoration could take any of several forms including enamelling or engraving – both processes learned from the Europeans. Those made of cased or overlay glass would be carved and polished.

MATERIAL GAINS More rare materials became available as the empire expanded under the leadership of the Kangxi and Qianlong emperors among them Lapis lazuli, malachite, tourmaline, turquoise, puddingstone and amber which are all lovely bottles to collect. The earliest examples, which were left plain to show the beauty of the material, are very hard to find. More common are bottles from the late 19th and early 20th century which were, by then, being made for the tourist market. These more fancy, carved designs are considered less attractive to collectors.

GLASS BOTTLES Glass has been used for snuff bottles’ manufacture ever since the introduction of snuff into China. For this we only need to refer to Wang Shizhen’s 1702 quotation testifying to glass bottles in a range of dazzling colours. In fact the Chinese fascination with glass, both at court and among the populace, continued throughout the entire snuff bottle period. Jesuit missionaries at the Qing court were vital to early glass production with the Emperor Kangxi’s

20 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

PORCELAIN BOTTLES

Below left An 18th-century glass snuff bottle with a red overlay carved with a dragon

Below A porcelain,

moulded snuff bottle painted with a dragon, the base with a Daoguang mark (18211850)

China is the birthplace of porcelain meaning ceramic arts have flourished there more vigorously than anywhere else in the world. It is therefore somewhat surprising that porcelain was not used by the court for the manufacture of snuff bottles until near the end of the 18th century. This may be because neither of the two qualities for which porcelain was valued, its translucency and its sonority, was apparent in small objects such as snuff bottles. Porcelain is composed of two basic raw materials: kaolin (known as china clay), and petuntse, a kind of feldspar which, when fired to a temperature of more than 1,280 degrees centigrade, produce a glassy and nonporous substance.

Left Three blue and white snuff bottles, 1800-1850 Below right A crystal

snuff bottle, painted inside with a cat looking up at a butterfly. Painted by Ye Zhongsan in 1897

Below far right A

Both these components were available in abundance around Jingdezhen, in Jiangxi province, and this town became the centre of porcelain production in China during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

porcelain snuff bottle, enamelled with magpies in a prunus tree, 18001880

BLUE AND WHITE As the snuff-taking habit began to expand from the court and literati circles throughout society, the relative cheapness of porcelain made it a natural material for the vast numbers of snuff bottles needed for the use of the population at large. Production of porcelain types then increased enormously to meet the demand. There are a variety of techniques available: porcelain snuff bottles can be simply moulded and enamelled; moulded with relief decoration and enamelled; carved and left unglazed; covered in glaze over the biscuit or decorated in underglaze-blue, or copper-red. Perhaps the most familiar of all Chinese porcelain is that decorated in blue and white. In the long history of world ceramics, there has been no single ware more appreciated and imitated than Chinese blue and white porcelain – it is perhaps the best-known category of all decorative arts. Enormous numbers of blue and white porcelain snuff bottles were produced in the 19th century and, although it is rare to find one with a correct reign mark, many of these bottles are delightful. The potteries at Yixing, famous for its Ming dynasty tea ware, also produced snuff bottles. The purple clay found in this area was thought to be the best for enhancing and retaining the colour, flavour and aroma of tea – and snuff.

GLASS & ENAMEL Perhaps the rarest and most valuable glass bottles are the enamel on glass and metal versions, made within the confines of the palace workshops in Beijing. Again the Jesuit priests were a great influence as testified by Father Matteo Ripa whose 1716 diary entry read: “His majesty (Emperor Kangxi) having become fascinated by our European enamel, and by the new enamel painting, tried by every possible means to introduce the latter into his imperial workshops which he had set up for this purpose within the palace.” Some of the finest examples of this group remain in the Palace Museum in Beijing and also in the National Palace Museum in Taipei.

DECIPHERING YOUR SNUFF BOTTLES There are many rebuses associated with snuff bottles. For example, a bottle painted with magpies wishes the recipient “happiness up to your eyebrows”. As the magpie is known as the bird of joy, it is especially used on pieces in association with weddings. The word for cat (mao) is a homonym for the age 70, and the word for butterfly (die) is a homonym for 80, so a cat and butterfly together form a rebus to express the wish that the recipient will have a long life. Similarly, basketweave snuff bottles wish the recipient many years of life and happiness, as well as many offspring, especially male. Some snuff bottles depict myths and legends popular in Chinese culture. One version features Zhong Kui, the demon queller, who is traditionally regarded as a vanquisher of ghosts and evil beings, and reputedly able to command 80,000 demons. His image is often painted on household gates as a guardian spirit, as well as in places of business, especially where expensive goods are traded.

London-based Chinese snuff bottle expert Susan Page is part of Asian Art in London 2020. She specialises in bottles from the 18th and 19th centuries, as well as inside-painted examples from the 20th century. Go to www.snuffbottlepages.com

Discover more

There are some excellent reference books on the subject including Lilla Perry’s Chinese Snuff Bottles: The Adventures and Studies of a Collector, first printed in 1960. Other notable books include The Collectors’ Book of Snuff Bottles by Bob C. Stevens and Snuff Bottles of China by Hugh M. Moss. The V&A (www.vam.ac.uk) has a great collection, as has the British Museum (www.britishmuseum.org). In Liverpool visit the Lady Lever Art Gallery (www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk), while Edinburgh’s National Museum of Scotland (www.nms.ac.uk) is a great resource, as is Burghley House, in Stamford, Lincolnshire (www.burghley.co.uk). The Baltimorebased International Chinese Snuff Bottle Society (www.snuffbottlesociety. org), founded in 1969, is still going strong today. ANTIQUE COLLECTING 21

EXPERT COMMENT Valuing Chinese porcelain MARKET REPORT

Bowled Over Ever wondered how the experts value Chinese porcelain? Sworders’ head of Asian art Yexue Li reveals her secrets word for ‘emperor’ or ‘royal’ and for that reason it was strictly reserved for porcelain destined for the royal household. Using technology acquired from the West, the lemon-yellow glaze was perfected earlier in the Qing period – probably in the last years of the reign of the Yongzheng emperor (1722-35). Tang Ying (1681-1756), the famous superintendent of the imperial kilns at Jingdezhen, first records pieces with a ‘Western yellow’ glaze in the Taocheng Jishi (Records of Ceramic Production) of 1735.

GLAZE

eign marks on Chinese porcelain are notoriously irregular. Many are honorific, referencing a glorious epoch in Chinese history, or an era when a style or technique first emerged. Very seldom will a piece of Chinese porcelain carry the ‘maker’s’ marks that are common on European porcelain. So valuing Chinese porcelain requires a greater degree of scholarship. A good case is a bowl that recently arrived at Sworders having being used as a flowerpot. To the base is a red six-character Jiaqing mark (17961820) but was it of the period? The bowl is clearly finely potted and at 20cm across is unusually large, also obvious is the striking decoration. Medallions containing Chinese characters are accompanied by Buddhist emblems against a rich, lemon-yellow glaze. The ground colour is key. In the Chinese language ‘yellow’ is homophonic with the

The glaze was not the only element on this bowl that demonstrates a Western influence. The European techniques of enamelling on metal had been introduced to the court of the emperor Kangxi (1661-1722) by Jesuit craftsmen and artists in the 1680s. The combination of an enriched ‘famille rose’ palette of colours and European brocadelike patterns borrowed from 18th-century textiles proved hugely popular with the Qing court. The style developed greatly during the long reign of Qianlong (1735-1796) and remained popular into the 19th century. However, unlike the frivolity of the European rococo, symbolism remained hugely important in Chinese decorative arts. The characters decorated in underglaze blue read Wan Shou Wu Jiang – the wish for great longevity. The phrase was probably first used on a series of famille verte wares made to mark the 60th-birthday of Kangxi in April 1713. Kangxi, whose 61-year reign makes him the longest-reigning emperor in Chinese

‘The eight Buddhist emblems (the parasol, a pair of golden fish, a conch shell, treasure vase, the lotus, an infinite knot, a victory banner and the wheel) were all popular motifs on porcelain and textiles of the period’

22 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

history, marked later birthdays in similar fashion. The four-character phrase has been reserved for imperial birthdays ever since.

HISTORICAL RECORD This ‘birthday’ bowl also carries a religious reference. Tibetan Buddhism was heavily patronised by the Qing court as the early emperors fought to establish their legitimacy. The eight Buddhist emblems (the parasol, a pair of golden fish, a conch shell, treasure vase, the lotus, an infinite knot, a victory banner and the wheel) were all popular motifs. There is an almost identical but smaller example of the bowl in the Palace Museum in Beijing and similarly-sized bowls bearing the phrase Wan Shou Wu Jiang have been offered at sales in Hong Kong and in London. The larger size is supported by archives from the imperial workshops, which state it was common for Qing emperors to request pieces of the same design in a range of different sizes. The ‘birthday’ bowl will be offered at Sworders’ Asian art sale on November 6 with an estimate of £12,000-£15,000. For more details go to www.sworder.co.uk Left The Chinese famille rose Wan Shou Wu Jiang bowl with the Jiaqing mark of the period is expected to make up to £15,000 this month Below At just over 20cm across, the larger size is

recorded in imperial records

Bottom The Jiaqing (1796-1820) reign mark

Sell at Auction, it’s Easy

A Chinese Kangxi vase Sold for £3,400

A diamond solitaire ring Sold for £5,500

A Rolex GMT Master II wristwatch Sold for £10,200

A bottle of 1966 Macallan Whisky Sold for £2,200

A Regency silver tureen Sold for £3,500

A Moorcroft teaset Sold for £15,400

A selection of recent auction highlights

It’s a great time to sell at auction. We have been achieving record prices in the last six months and are now accepting entries of all types of antiques, fine art, Asian art, jewellery and silver for our next series of auctions. Book a complimentary (Covid-safe) home visit with one of our specialists or bring items along to our London or Berkshire offices to receive a free valuation and consign your items. You can also book a virtual video valuation.

Please call us on 0207 431 9445 or email info@dawsonsauctions.co.uk www.dawsonsauctions.co.uk

Antique Collecting Magazine - Full Page.indd 1

09/10/2020 10:41

❄

C G HR IF I T ST❄ ID M E AS A❄

SUBSCRIBE TODAY ❄ SUBSCRIBE TODAY ❄ SUBSCRIBE TODAY ❄ SUBSCRIBE TODAY ❄ SUBSCRIBE TODAY ❄ SUBSCRIBE TODAY

❄ Subscribe Now! ANTIQUE COLLECTING MAGAZINE ❄

❄

❄❄

THE UK’S BEST COLUMNISTS

❄

R E V I VA L J E W E L L E R Y E L E C T I O N M E M O R A B I L I A

ANTIQUE

COLLECTING

NOVEMBER 2020

Discover something new:

THE ASIAN ART ISSUE

NOTHING TO SNIFF AT: CHINESE SNUFF BOTTLES IN THE SPOTLIGHT

WHY NOW COULD BE THE TIME TO KICK-START YOUR COLLECTION

ANTIQUE COLLECTING

THE INSIDERS’ SECRETS

HOW THE EXPERTS VALUE CHINESE PORCELAIN

VOL 55 N0. 6

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW

NOVEMBER 2020

Stars of the East

SAVE 33 PER CENT AND GET 10 ISSUES A YEAR FOR JUST £25* PLUS a FREE BOOK when you subscribe to Antique Collecting

❄

• • •

Give the gift that lasts all year and save 33 per cent on an annual subscription Plus receive a free copy of Chiparus Master of Art Deco worth £65, for you, or a friend Order by December 13 to guarantee Christmas delivery

❄

JAPANESE SATSUMA WARE

Learn about the finest designs, makers’ marks and how to spot a fake

ALSO INSIDE 6 of the best antiques revealed • Book offers • Iconic TV props for sale

Subscribe today and pay JUST £25 for your first 10 issues rather than £38. Plus receive a FREE copy of our fully-illustrated hardback book Chiparus Master of Art Deco worth £65.* Each copy is packed with collecting guides and specialist advice. Don’t delay, this offer ends on December 31 (order by December 13 for Christmas delivery). The offer applies to new subscribers and new gift subscriptions only.

Only £2.50 per issue! Offer applies to new UK subscribers only

Subscribe at www.antique-collecting.co.uk/subscribe and enter code: ACNOV20 or

❄ call our order hotline on

❄ 01394 389950 ❄

❄

quoting code: ACNOV20

SUBSCRIBE TODAY ❄ SUBSCRIBE TODAY ❄ SUBSCRIBE TODAY ❄ SUBSCRIBE TODAY ❄ SUBSCRIBE TODAY ❄ SUBSCRIBE TODAY 24 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Asian Art: 12 November Vintage Fashion & Textiles: 12 November James Bond 007 â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;A Time To Buyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;: 20 November Gerry Anderson Auction: 30 November Jewellery, Watches & Coins: 2 December Silver & Fine Art: 3 December Antiques, Clocks & Furniture: 4 December Fine Wines & Spirits 17 December

COLLECTING GUIDES Satsuma ware

STAR of the EAST Now is a great time to start collecting Japanese export Satsuma ware, with genuine Meiji-Period (1868-1912) pieces available for less than one hundred pounds, writes Kevin Page

will likely become very profitable investments for future years. Do not just go looking for the wellknown artists. Step back and marvel at how a human hand could have painted these artworks. Look for pieces that appeal to you personally and then assess the detail, design, colours and condition. If you accidentally end up buying a late piece of little value, at least you have something you find aesthetically pleasing.

ISLAND LIFE Satsuma ware is a type of earthenware pottery originating from the Satsuma province in southern Kyushu, Japan’s third largest island. The first kilns were established in the 16th century by Korean potters, kidnapped by the Japanese for their extraordinary skills. Prior to this, there was no real ceramic industry to speak of in the Satsuma region. There are two distinct types of Satsuma ware. The original Ko-Satsuma is characterised by a heavy dark glaze, often plain, but occasionally with an inscribed or relief pattern. This style is rarely seen outside museums and it proliferated up until about 1800. From around 1800, a new style – Kyo-satsuma – became popular. Famed for its delicate, ivory coloured ground with finely crackled transparent glaze, it was markedly different to Ko-Satsuma. These early designs focused on over-glaze decoration of simple, light, floral patterns with painted gilding. Colours often used were iron red, purple, blue, turquoise, black and yellow.

EASTERN PROMISE The first presentation of Japanese arts to the West was in 1867 and Satsuma ware was one of the star attractions. This helped to establish the aesthetic we are most familiar with today. This export style reflects the international tastes of the time. Popular designs featured mille-fleur (a thousand flowers), and complex patterns. Many pieces featured panels depicting

ecause of its long history and popularity through time, the price of Satsuma ware can range from less than one hundred pounds to many thousands of pounds. This makes it a very accessible art form to many collectors including those that are just starting out. Generally, late or post-Meiji pieces (1912 onwards) will be cheaper. When starting out and learning, it is best to familiarise yourself with the prices Satsuma ware is making at auction. In doing this, you should see a correlation between quality and price and it will help you to get your “eye in.” The best way to start collecting is to look for pieces that you are drawn to. Fine quality objects

26 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above A pair of Japanese Meiji-period miniature triple gourdshaped vases Right An extremely fine Japanese Meiji-period small Satsuma bowl signed Kaizan

What to look for:

Earthenware pottery

All Satsuma is earthenware. You can tell it from porcelain by the weight. Pottery is heavier and won’t have the eggshell glow when held up to the light and won’t resonate like porcelain does when tapped. If the decoration looks like Satsuma but it is porcelain, then it is likely Kutani. (Kutani uses a lot of red and gold, this can be also be a giveaway.)

Glazed effect

You should be able to make out a difference between the background (usually cream in colour). It will have a shine and usually a delicate, crackled effect. You will be able to see the foreground painting is applied on top of the glaze creating a softer, more matt finish. You can sometimes feel it if you gently run your fingers across the decoration.

Marks typical Japanese scenes to appeal to the West, such as pagodas, cherry blossom, birds and flowers and beautiful ladies and noblemen in traditional dress. The height of popularity for Satsuma ware was the early Meiji period, from around 1885. The market became saturated with cheaper, mass-produced work lacking the quality of the earlier pieces. By the 1890s Satsuma ware had lost favour with the critics, but remained popular with the general public. It became synonymous with Japanese ceramics and was still being produced by some factories as late as the 1980s.

SATSUMA CARE Export Satsuma ware is sometimes referred to as “Cabinet Satsuma”, and, as such, is not intended to be used for practical purposes. Highly decorative, it should be treated very much as a piece of art to be admired. Because Satsuma decoration is painted on glaze, there is no protective layer like there would be on

Above Fine painting on an exceptional pair of miniature koros signed Kinkozan Right The Shimazu Mon, the crest of the family that ruled Satsuma, along with the marks of Ryozan and Yasuda company Left An interesting Japanese Meiji-period vase signed Fuzan Ryun Below right Look for

well-depicted faces and realistic birds and flowers

‘Look for fine, detailed, miniature painting with a good range of colours. The very finest on-glaze painting will almost look like watercolour with layers of different colours blended together’

Started becoming common from around 1870, so very early pieces may actually be unmarked. If the mark is in English, particularly if it reads “Made in Japan”, it means it will be, unfortunately, a very late piece. You may often see a circle mark with a cross on the underside of a piece or sometimes incorporated as part of the design. This is the Shimazu Mon, which is the crest of the family that ruled Satsuma.

Style

Look for fine, detailed, miniature painting in a range of colours. The very finest examples will almost look like watercolour with layers of different colours blended together. Faces should be fine, and birds and flowers more realistic than stylised. Fine painting and restraint is a hallmark of some of the best artists who would resist covering the whole piece in pattern, instead using negative space to enhance their design. Earlier pieces tend to have a two-dimensional look to the landscapes. This is because they were inspired by the popular Japanese prints of the day. If you notice foreshortening in a landscape image, it may mean it is a later piece likely influenced by Western design.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 27

COLLECTING GUIDES Satsuma ware ‘Prices of Imperial ware tend to be 10-20 per cent what they were in the 1980s so there is definitely potential to make a very good investment’

porcelain. If you find your Satsuma is dirty you can dust using a soft cloth. Polish shouldn’t be necessary. If there is surface dirt, you can use a little water on a cloth to gently remove. Dealers take note! Never attach stickers to the surface as you risk lifting the decoration or glaze. To remove a sticker, take a damp cloth or sponge and hold it until it becomes wet and you can gently remove it. You may have to very gently scrape away sticky residue with your fingernail, but do take care. If you have high value satsuma or are in any doubt about how to clean or remove something we recommend you contact a restorer for professional advice.

RESTORATION As with any porcelain or pottery, restoration inevitably means a drop in value. If the piece is damaged, it can be very expensive to repair. In fact, there are not many restorers with the skill and experience to carry out such work sympathetically. If you are collecting for enjoyment, however, a bit of damage or a repair can mean you could get a great price for a wonderful piece by a revered artist. There are always exceptions to the rule, so these tips are intended solely as a general guide for reference purposes. Islington-based Kevin Page Oriental Art specialises in Meiji-period (late 19th century) art and ceramics, including fine Satsuma ware, bronzes and Okimono, multi-metal ware, Imari ware, embroideries and furniture. To discover more go to www.kevinpage.co.uk

28 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above Noble ladies and gentlemen at the water’s edge Right Japanese gosu

blue Satsuma vase Meiji period c. 1900, socalled Imperial ware

Imperial ware Another style of Satsuma ware decoration is what is known in the West as Imperial ware. It is usually late 19th century and has a distinctive thick glaze that often appears as though it has been iced with a piping bag. The designs tend to be large, bold floral or geometric in bright reds, blues, yellows, blacks and purples. They also incorporate the famous gosu blue glaze, which can be dark blue, green or even black depending on the heat of the firing. This style of decoration was hugely popular in the 1980s in Japan. In fact is was so desirable Japanese collectors would queue round the block just to view certain collections. Presently it is not in favour, which means you may be able to find some good value pieces. Prices for this Imperial ware tend to be 10-20 per cent what they were in the 1980s so there is definitely potential to make a very good investment. Note, the term, “Imperial ware” is purely a Western phrase and not used in Japan.

NEXT AUCTION:

Works of Art, Antiquities Antique Arms and Armour from all over the world Nov. 2-3, 2020 LIVE AUCTION

Lot 3336 A pair of impressive Chinese cloisonnĂŠ vases in Mei Ping form, late Qing period, circa 1830 - 1880

Further information:

Lot 3413 An Italian portrait of St Anthony of Padua, 1st half of the 15th century

Hermann Historica GmbH

www.hermann-historica.com

Lot 4349 A heavy German or Austrian broadsword, circa 1650

Bretonischer Ring 3

Lot 3425 An Italian Old Master â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Queen of Sheba and her court, 17th century

85630 Grasbrunn / Munich - Germany

contact@hermann-historica.com

EXPERT COMMENT David Harvey CAROLEAN CHAIR Somewhat earlier and executed in walnut is this Carolean armchair, which was dry and dusty having been stood in a corner for many years with everyone too afraid to sit on it. It was immediately clear to me that with a little care and attention we could bring it back to life. Particularly important was the fact that all the surface dust, soot, tar and nicotine had preserved a fine finish underneath. Careful cleaning and wax polishing had the desired effect and I so enjoyed burnishing the highlights on the barley-twist supports and stretchers. There is an almost bronze-like quality to the patination, which we see from time to time on these early, carved chairs with subtle tones of almost black mingling with the reddish-brown of the highlights. I can well imagine a gentleman sitting in the chair by a roaring open fire â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the grease from his hands rubbing on the arms while his jacket, hung on the back, rubbed against the uprights.

Waxing lyrical In a career packed with treasures, David Harvey chooses six top pieces of English furniture dating from 1650 to 1850 and reveals what makes them so special MIGHTY OAK This unusual burr oak side table dating from c. 1710 has the most spectacular burr top I have ever seen. Burr oak is the most sought after of all the varieties of oak â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a burr coming from trees where the grain has grown in a deformed manner. It is commonly found in a rounded outgrowth on the tree trunk, or branch filled with small knots from dormant buds. Pieces made of solid burr oak are extremely rare so to find a piece measuring three feet by two feet is virtually unheard of. Just imagine, if you will, the size of the outgrowth that this must have come from and then try to estimate the size of the mighty oak tree it must have been to support a growth of this size.

30 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above The Queen Anne burr oak table Right Years of dust and

grease hid a superb finish

Below left The burr table had one of the best tops David had ever seen

WALNUT ESCRITOIRE This escritoire dates from the same period as the chair and is executed in a very tightly burred walnut. When I first opened the fall, to my most immense pleasure I discovered a hinged cover above a fall, the first I had ever seen. The escritoire was of such sumptuous quality I knew it had to be hiding some further secrets. Imagine my joy when I opened the central cupboards to unveil the most extraordinary array of drawers, slide-out compartments and secret boxes, each labelled with the original paper stating their correct location. From memory, the interior contained some 40 assorted drawers, boxes and compartments. It is staggering to imagine it being installed into, say, a first floor suite of rooms in a wonderful stately home. The strength required would have been enormous as, even with all the drawers removed, the weight of the top half was quite extraordinary.

GEORGE III MAHOGANY BUREAU BOOKCASE

‘Imagine my joy when I opened the central cupboards to unveil the most extraordinary array of further drawers, slide-out compartments and secret boxes, each labelled with the original paper stating their correct location’ QUEEN ANNE KNEEHOLE DESK Returning to the 18th century, I was recently given the opportunity to acquire one of the finest walnut kneehole desks I have seen in many years. It dates from the Queen Anne period and has a terrific colour and grain. The feather banding is of a fine, thin type that must have been difficult to work with, and can be seen on every part – including the canted corners. What further attracted me to it is the central cupboard which slides forward to present a flushfronted piece. It also shows the inlaid starburst to better effect. Most of all, it is the exceptional way the desk has been finished – really lacking nothing. Always remember that when a piece was first made, the cabinetmaker started with a blank canvas. While the customer could stipulate style, size and use, the maker chose the quality of the timber and craftsmanship. In this case there was no compromise on quality – hence the additional feather banding to the sides, feet and cupboard, no doubt to the appreciation of its owner.

My heart sang when I saw this George III bookcase, embodying, as it does so many elements I look for in a piece. It was of outstanding quality of construction, materials, timber and detail. The list is endless: the dentil cornice above the pendant teardrop frieze, the superbly-figured mahogany veneers, the crossbanding (even to the gothic arch glazed doors) and the double cross banding to the fall panels. Then there’s the crossbanding around the drawers which is repeated on the panelled doors to the base, with the incut corners, and applied roundels all raised on elegant bracket feet. Whoever this was made for, around 1775, must have been overjoyed to own a true masterpiece.

Above left The burr walnut escritoire had a hinged cover at the top Above The fall front opened to reveal some 40 secret compartments Above right

Crossbanding around the drawers is repeated on the base of the panelled doors Right The impressive

desk has flame-figured veneers

Below left The desk had no compromise in quality Below The kneehole

desk flush fronted

19TH-CENTURY PARTNERS DESK My last piece is a partners desk of the most amazing quality made towards the middle part of the 19th century. The quality and depth of the applied carvings hint at its supreme high class. The proportions are just perfect, when you open and shut the drawers, even after nearly two centuries of use, there is a slight whistle of escaping air as they fit so perfectly. Again, expensive flame-figured veneers have been used and it retains all the original turned wooden knobs on all the drawers. It has been hard to whittle down the competitors as my ‘six of the best’ for this article. It does leave the door open for the option of a sequel. Not only have I enjoyed sharing these pieces with you, I have had the great thrill of having lived with them – albeit for only a short time in the history of their wonderful lives. W R Harvey & Co. Ltd., is located at 86 Corn St, Witney, Oxfordshire, www.wrharvey.com ANTIQUE COLLECTING 31

COLLECTING GUIDES Archaeological revival jewellery

A bracelet by Castellani, c. 1870, has an estimate of £20,000-£30,000 at Tennants Auctioneers’ Fine Jewellery, Watches and Silver sale on November 14

Golden Age Archaeological revival jewellery, which took Europe by storm in the mid-19th century, is making a comeback in the UK’s salerooms

esigners have always found inspiration and aspiration in the treasures of the past and the 19th century saw the birth of archaeological revival jewellery, which remains a firm favourite at auction today. First emerging in Italy c.1815, it sought to recreate the styles and goldsmithing techniques from the past and simultaneously created a new fashion trend. Taking inspiration from the Etruscans, Romans, Greeks and the Byzantine Empire, finely wrought gold jewellery in simple geometric designs were embellished with textured surface patterns, fine micro-mosaics, gemstones, cameos, scarabs and enamels.

Below The Giuliano

hat pin is to be sold at Tennants’ fine jewellery, watches and silver sale on November 14, image courtesy of Tennants Auctioneers

Napoleon’s campaigns at the turn of the century and the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 had focused the world’s attention on the area, treasures were being unearthed in abundance and the art of a ‘lost’ civilisation brought to light. Improved communications, especially by rail and sea, enabled the new, wealthy middle classes to travel more widely as tourists to foreign destinations of ever greater distance from their home, and to return laden with decorative souvenirs. The archaeological discoveries at Pompeii and Herculaneum in the 18th century had already become a rich source of inspiration in the decorative arts, and yielded a wide variety of forms and motifs from the classical world. It was not until the early 19th century, however, in the wake of Napoleonic classicism, that these discoveries were also applied to jewellery. From the 1830s, excavations in Italy began to reveal a treasure trove of Etruscan jewels, while further afield in Melos, Rhodes, Knossos and southern Russia,

DIGGING IT The passion for exploration and archaeological excavation, which had begun in the previous century, continued and gained strength. In Egypt, where

32 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above A turquoise, enamel and cultured pearl hat pin by C. Giuliano in its original box has an estimate of £400-£600 at this month’s sale, image courtesy of Tennants Auctioneers

Left Brooch with Greek cross, firm of Castellani, 1860, Rome, image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Right Benedetto Pistrucci (Italian, 1783– 1855, active England) Nymph and Swan, c. 1830-1840, mount by the firm of Castellani Below right

Archaeological revival necklace, Castellani, 1880, Rome, image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

finds of ancient Greek jewellery contributed to the considerable interest already aroused in the designs and techniques of the ancient world.

FIRM OF CASTELLANI

Cameo role

The fashion for works of art that evoked antiquity ensured the popularity of cameos. Carved from hardstones such as onyx, sardonyx, and agate, cameos depicting subjects from ancient Greece or Rome or portraits executed in silhouette were often mounted in gold as jewellery. The most proficient cameo carvers, such as Benedetto Pistrucci and Luigi Saulini, produced works of remarkable technical skill. Their cameos were set in specially designed mounts by jewellers such as the Castellanis, resulting in some of the finest decorative works of art of the 19th century.

Below Bracelet, firm of

Castellani, 1860, Rome, image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

This was also the age of the Grand Tour, tourists who had visited Italy’s great ancient sights were eager to take home treasures to remind them of their visits. Thus, when Fortunato Pio Castellani began to produce jewellery inspired by the ancients, his wares found a ready-made and engaged market. Castellani trained as a goldsmith in his father’s workshop in Rome, before setting up on his own in 1815 at the Palazzo Raggi on the Via del Corso. Initially, Castellani produced wares in the English and French styles that were predominant at the time. In the 1820s he began making archaeological revival jewellery, having been set on his path by Michelangelo Caetani, Duke of Sermoneta, a Dante scholar, historian, woodworker and artist who was familiar with jewellery making techniques and had acquired a large collection of antique artefacts, including jewellery. He was also a favoured member of Roman high society. He acted as an advisor and is thought to have occasionally designed pieces for Castellani. Castellani was given the opportunity to restore and catalogue this collection which fuelled his growing

‘Through their experimentations to recreate forgotten techniques, the Castellanis contributed enormously to the history of jewellery making and Italian craftsmanship’

expertise in the subject. Castellani was particularly inspired by the quantities of Etruscan jewellery being discovered at the time. Beautiful, intricate and rich with surface pattern and texture, it found favour amongst the elite of Rome.

TECHNICAL MASTERY Unlike late-19th-century jewellers, the ancient goldsmiths employed a range of complex techniques to add fine gold detailing to the surface of their wares, such as filigree wire and granulation. Granulation was a technique which saw tiny drops of gold added to the gold body of the jewellery to create pattern

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 33

COLLECTING GUIDES Archaeological revival jewellery Left A bracelet by Castellani, c. 1870 has an estimate of £20,000£30,000 at Tennants’ fine jewellery, watches and silver sale on November 14, image courtesy of Tennants Auctioneers Below A bracelet by

Castellani, c. 1870, image courtesy of Tennants Auctioneers

convex bosses within borders of gold corded wire. Occasionally the design was embellished with small figures of putti and birds. Examples decorated with snakes’ and rams’ heads, although much rarer, are also known.

SPREADING ACROSS EUROPE The enthusiasm for antiquarian jewels soon spread across the European continent. Jewellers such as Eugene Fontenay in Paris and John Brogden in London, for example, eagerly embraced the style with great success, but Rome, with its unrivalled resources in terms of source material, remained the main centre of production. Northern Europe proved to be more inspired by the new fascination in the arts of the Renaissance, mannerism and of the gothic Middle Ages; interest in the latter style, which was seen as part of the cultural heritage of the region, grew out of the Romantic movement, and was fuelled by the novels of Mary Shelley and the architecture of Pugin. In London, jewellers drew inspiration from the exhibition of Tudor and Stuart portraits held in 1866

‘The archaeological discoveries at Pompeii and Herculaneum in the 18th century had already become a rich source of inspiration in the decorative arts, and yielded a wide variety of forms and motifs from the classical world’ and texture; it was perfected by the Etruscans in the 9th – 4th centuries BC, but the art had been lost over the centuries. The Castellani family tried for decades to recreate the technique, but despite some success, never quite mastered it. They did, however, discover a way to chemically recreate the rich, burnished tones of antique gold, which lent their wares a warm luminosity. Through their experimentations to recreate forgotten techniques, the Castellanis contributed enormously to the history of jewellery making and Italian craftsmanship.

ACCURATE REPRESENTATION Historical accuracy figured strongly in many of their most substantial creations, which followed precisely an original piece, (Fortunato Pio had amassed for himself a formidable personal collection of ancient jewellery). Other Castellani creations relied instead on a sophisticated reinterpretation of the ‘look’ and feel of the antique; while still employing the same classical techniques and decorative elements, such as roman mosaic and cameos, so that the jewels were now invested with a confidence and vibrancy that was entirely unique and very much Castellani’s own. Millefiori jewels were popular with Castellani customers and were produced in different sizes ranging from 2.5 to 5cm in diameter. They are composed of small, individually stamped florets of different sizes, soldered to form delicate, basket-like

34 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Carlo Giuliano

Another leading proponent of the movement was Carlo Giuliano (1831-1895) a Naples born goldsmith who initially came to London in 1860 with his family and worked in collaboration with Alessandro Castellani. His style was perfectly suited to the taste of midVictorian Britain, and he quickly enjoyed considerable success which spread abroad. Religious symbolism and heraldry, naiads, mermen and mermaids, and grotesque masks were combined with decorative motifs such as trefoils, cartouches, leafage, canopied niches and other architectural motifs.

Art jewellery

at the newly-opened South Kensington Museum. The exhibition helped to popularise the movement and provided valuable source material through the detailed depictions of jewellery in the paintings, and the jewel designs from the time, notably by Hans Holbein.

FAMILY CONCERN In the 1850s Castellani was joined in the business by his two sons, Alessandro and Augusto, who gradually took over the firm. They traded in antiquities, too, and often sponsored archaeological excavations; indeed, Castellani was often asked to advise on recently rediscovered pieces of antique jewellery and major museum collections. When the collection of the Marchese Giampietro Campana was dispersed in 18591860, Castellani began his own small collection and opened a museum that became a destination on the Roman tourist map. Alessandro Castellani excelled in marketing the firm’s jewellery, both home and abroad. However, c. 1860 he was exiled for his political views and settled first in Paris, where he opened a shop. A London branch soon followed, and their fame was further promoted through exhibiting at international expositions. Many imitators of their fine jewellery began to pop up across Europe. The firm’s success peaked in the 1870s, and closed in 1930 when Alfredo, the last in the line of Castellani jewellers, died.

Top The bracelet sold for £46,000 in 2016, image courtesy of Tennants Auctioneers Above left A detail from the bracelet depicts lions, image courtesy of Tennants Auctioneers Above right Carlo Giuliano (active UK c. 1831–1895), necklace with Satyr’s-head pendant, c. 1870, image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art Above Revival jewellery is on trend, image courtesy of Tennants Auctioneers Right Carlo Giuliano’s

maker’s mark

Like Castellani before him, Giuliano valued art and design above precious stones. But he is best remembered for his well-executed use of painted enamels, particularly his striking employment of black and white enamels. He set up a premises in Piccadilly, London, where he evolved a saleable eclectic style that was attractive and understood by Londoners. During Giuliano’s early years, he retailed all his wares through independent retailers, such as Hunt and Roskell, C.F. Hancock and Robert Phillips (who some believe bankrolled Giuliano having discovered him in Naples). Many of Giuliano’s pieces are double-marked, stamped with his own monogram and with the retailer’s name. After his death in 1895, his thriving business was carried on by his sons Carlo and Arthur Giuliano until the beginning of WWI. From this point pieces made by the workshop were marked ‘C&A Giuliano’. Arthur inherited his father’s creativity. The family business came to an end in 1914 following Arthur’s death.

Below right Carlo

Giuliano (active UK, c. 1831–1895), gothic cross c. 1880, image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The gold Castellani bracelet, c. 1870, and C. Giuliano hat pin, featuring turquoise, enamel and cultured pearl, have respective estimates of £20,000-£30,000 and £400-£600 at Tennants Auctioneers’ fine jewellery, watches and silver sale on November 14. For more details go to www.tennants.co.uk

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 35

EXPERT COMMENT Canterburies LENNOX CATO

Without RESERVE Antiques Roadshow’s furniture expert and Kent-based dealer Lennox Cato shares his four decades in the business in a new column, starting with a canterbury tale Left As good as it gets: a satinwood canterbury, c. 1780, with double knobs on a slim drawer and central carrying handle Below This George III

example, c. 1820, is the more basic of the two with short turned legs and bulkier than earlier models

FOLLOW THE RULES Four decades on I now know the answer. Antiques follow the rules. Firstly, they must be practical. So look for models with long, square tapering legs. Why? Because you can get a vacuum cleaner under them. Canterburies with short dumpy turned legs and thick frames just won’t do. On a similar theme look for examples with a central carrying handle, making them portable enough to be transferred from room to room. Other essential rules to follow: never buy a canterbury with broken or damaged legs, or one that has been reduced in height. Also look for elegance and well-proportioned pieces. For example twin knobs on a single drawer gives a more balanced and elegant look. Some rarer models even have sought-after double drawers. Equally attractive are longer tapered legs which are more stylish and suggest an earlier design. Seek out models made in finer wood. Satinwood was used on the most desirable models, then mahogany, moving on to walnut in the Victorian period, when designs became more cumbersome in look. What is more difficult to discern, and the real skill of a dealer which takes years to amass and isn’t available at a click of a mouse is knowledge of the market. What’s selling and what’s not. The good news is, over recent years canterburies have come down in price, so now is a great time to buy these elegant and practical pieces. Lennox Cato has been an expert on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow since 2004. He also deals in fine English furniture from his Kent store Lennox Cato Antiques, for more details go to www.lennoxcato.com

aving been an antiques dealer for 43 years I have often been asked why I have never written a book, so consider this as my monthly version. Over the coming months I hope to take this opportunity to share with you my experiences and even expertise. How times have changed. At the start of my career there was no internet. To learn anything you just had to get on with it, mainly by getting out on the road. When I started out I was told to keep my mouth shut, ears open, listen to what people say and buy the best I could. Following my father’s ‘look and listen’ advice, I’d watch the dealers in The Lanes in Brighton sparring and telling long stories which, I might not have believed, still provided more insight into the industry than any website ever could. Take canterburies. When I started in the business they were a staple loved by dealers and collectors alike. Originally intended to hold sheets of music, in the 1970s and ‘80s people used them to house vinyl records or as magazine racks. As a young enterprising dealer I well remember window shopping with my girlfriend (now wife), Sue, trying to work out why one dealer favoured one style, while another preferred a different version.

36 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

‘When I started in the business canterburies were the staple of the trade, loved by dealers and collectors alike. Originally intended to hold sheets of music, in the ‘70s and ‘80s most people used them to house their vinyl records (another antique these days) or as magazine racks’

Fashion Illustration: A Virtual Masterclass With Gladys Perint Palmer 12 November, 2020 To Register to Attend & Further Information: www.graymca.com

5 MARGARET’S BUILDINGS BATH BA1 2LP gallery@graymca.com Gladys Perint Palmer (1947 - ) John Galliano Evening Gown, Ink & colour on Paper, signed 40.5 x 30 cms

Kevin Page Oriental Art

Hardback 240 Pages 260 × 220 mm 250+ colour images ISBN: 9781848224537 Publication: December 1 2020 £40

YOUNG POLAND THE POLISH ARTS AND CRAFTS MOVEMENT, 1890-1918

Edited by Julia Griffin and Andrzej Szczerski Young Poland: The Polish Arts and Crafts Movement, 1890 – 1918 is the first book in any language to explore the Young Poland (Młoda Polska) period in the context of the international Arts and Crafts movements. Order at www.lundhumphries.com Published in association with

WILLIAM MORRIS GALLERY

Over 50 years dealing in Chinese and Japanese fine art and antiques kevinpage.co.uk ANTIQUE COLLECTING 37

COLLECTING GUIDES Tokens

TOKEN GESTURE

17th-century merchants and traders produced their own tokens for trading in their local area. Today this unique currency is highly sought after by collectors

he combined political, economic and social challenges the UK currently faces – created by the perfect storm of a global pandemic and Brexit – have echoes of another tumultuous period in the country’s history that created a niche collecting area for numismatics.

BIG CHANGE In the turbulent years surrounding the English Civil War, which saw England embark on a series of battles between Parliamentarians and Royalists resulting in the execution of Charles I, the country’s official coinage was chaotic. Earlier in the century, the king, embroiled in political machinations as he sought to protect the royal prerogative, appeared disinterested in the provision of small denomination coinage. Instead, he awarded contracts to his favoured attendants at court to mint farthings from base metals. Courtiers such as

38 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Below An octagonal

penny token from John Michell of Little Somer’s Key near Billingsgate. Sold for a hammer of £2,200 at Dix Noonan Webb in August 2020

Below right A halfpenny

token from Robert Saul of the Red Lion public house in Lavenham, Suffolk, dated 1669. Sold by Lockdales Auctioneers for £359 in March, 2018

Lord Lennox, Lord Richmond and Lord Harrington exploited the situation by producing low denomination coins that were generally of poor quality and lightweight. The reaction from the public was perhaps inevitable as the coins were disparaged and proved highly popular. With the death of Charles I in 1649, the victorious Oliver Cromwell declared a Commonwealth without a monarch at its head. This fundamental societal rupture also meant that the centuries-old royal prerogative to issue money of any kind was ended. No longer would anyone issuing coins face the severe consequences for breaking the law, including the death penalty. This newfound freedom, alongside the shortage of coinage due to the years of civil war and sub-standard small change still issued in the name of the new Commonwealth, soon led many local authorities, private businesses and merchants to start issuing their own tokens as a means of undertaking a wide variety of transactions. However,

Left A Thomas Lucas token halfpenny for the Prince of Wales public house in Horsham, issued in 1667. Image courtesy of Lockdales Below This collection

of 17th-century trade tokens sold for a hammer of £1,300 at Dix Noonan Webb in August 2020

this system of trade tokens was not without precedent in the country. Indeed, since medieval times many tradesmen such as ale house keepers and vintners had issued cast lead and pewter tokens to their customers. The earliest 17th-century incarnations of this unofficial currency were farthings, which generally varied in diameter from 14mm to 22mm. Within this size range, examples at the larger end were often struck by municipalities, while the smaller tokens were issued by merchants. Half pennies began to appear around 1656, while pennies were in use from 1663, mostly in Wales and the North of England.

SHOP LOCAL The tokens were parochial in nature, designed to be redeemed in the shops or premises of the authorities within a local district. It is estimated that in London alone some 4,000 variations were created, making the capital responsible for a large portion of the overall

‘While many were struck from materials such as copper or brass, others were created from the less expensive lead, pewter and even in some cases leather’

THE ROSE COLLECTION Almost 500 lots of British tokens from the collection of John Rose, spanning 300 years and all corners of the UK, will be offered in a live online auction from the London auctioneer Dix Noonan Webb (DNW) on November 17. DNW’s associate director, Peter Preston-Morley, said: “For many years John Rose was a familiar figure in the British token collecting fraternity, having first developed an interest in coins as a boy.” In 1969, while going through a tray of coins at a shop in south Croydon, he came across a number of tokens, including a 1649 farthing issued at the Ship Inn. Mr Preston-Morley continued: “It sparked his interest because the pub, on the north corner of Lincoln’s Inn, had been John’s local when he first started work as a laboratory technician at the Royal College of Surgeons.” While broad in scope, the Rose collection is understandably London-centric. The 17th-century series, boasts a farthing from Richard Winsper from Lincoln’s Inn Gate, with an estimate of £200-£300. The collection also includes tokens in a range of shapes from hearts to squares. Peter Preston-Morley explained: “Most people who used tokens in the 17th century were illiterate and looked at the shape of the token to identify it, as well as the sign.” Other notable pieces include a rare 17th-century token of Newgate prison, dating from 1669, estimated at £300-£500 and, from Clerkenwell, an 18th-century token depicting a man with wooden leg. The token is inscribed Mr Joseph Askins - the celebrated ventriloquist 1796. It carries a pre-sale estimate of £300-£400.

The Collection of British Tokens formed by John Rose takes place on November 17, for more details go to www.dnw.co.uk

ANTIQUE COLLECTING

COLLECTING GUIDES Tokens

20,000 different types struck nationwide (excluding Scotland which, as a separate entity, had a government issuing a robust supply of small coinage). While many were struck from materials such as copper or brass, others were created from the less expensive lead, pewter and even in leather. The majority of these tokens are round, although other shapes such as square, diamonds, hearts and octagonal were also made. The actual appearance and designs on the faces of the tokens seems to have been no matter of small pride to the issuers, with many employing the services of professional moneyers, including the likes of David Ramage who was principal engraver at the Mint at the Tower of London. The work of these moneyers, which involved tools such as cut steel dies and fly presses, allowed the production of ‘coin like’ tokens for their business clients.

IMAGE CONSCIOUS In an age when much of the population was illiterate, the tokens predominantly carried some form of selfexplanatory pictorial device clearly related to the issuer and their trade or business. These images in the centre obverse field range from tobacco pipes

Above A Beverley J Green pawnbroker’s halfpenny from 1797, sold for a hammer of £1,900 at Dix Noonan Webb (DNW) in August 2020 Below An 18th-century

token depicting a man with wooden leg/ Estimated at £300-£400 in DNW’s sale of the John Rose collection on November 17

and rolls of cloth, to a bible for booksellers, the head of a Turk to represent coffee houses or a sugar loaf for greengrocers. Some of these images were puns on names, such as ‘Bull’, ‘Finch’ or ‘Lambe’, while most inns and taverns were represented by the signs that hung outside their establishment. Elsewhere, the arms of the various medieval guilds and, in the capital, the London Livery Companies, are all devices regularly seen on tokens. A huge proportion of tokens were issued by taverns, inns and the burgeoning number of coffee houses in London, following their introduction to the capital in 1652. In particular, examples issued by merchants in London, along with a copy of Samuel Pepys’ celebrated diaries, can be veritable tokens for time travel. Many of the people the celebrated writer met and the places he frequented and subsequently recorded would also have issued trade tokens. Examples include copper farthing tokens from John Kent at the Three Tuns Tavern in Gracechurch Street, London; or the Bell Tavern in King Street, Westminster. Of the former, Pepys wrote in his diary on May 9, 1667: “…and so home, and in our street, at the Three Tuns’ Tavern door, I find a great hubbub; and what was it but two brothers have fallen out, and one killed the other.”

SPELL CHECK The types of lettering that usually appears is in the form of a basic inscription that starts at one point and continues in a clockwise direction around the token’s face. On the outer obverse this can be the name of the issuer and the address of their trade, while the centre field of the reverse side may display the token’s face value or denomination. Alternatively, the initials of the forename and surname of the issuer is frequently found. If the issuer was married, then these letters will also include the first initial of the wife’s name. Due to the widespread levels of illiteracy, many of the place names carried on the tokens can vary

ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Left 17th-century halfpenny heartshaped token issued by Samuel Dover in Ipswich, Suffolk, sold at Lockdales for a total of £287 in January 2019 Below l7th-century

token farthing issued by Thomas Lacey of the Cross Keys public house in Norwich, 1667. Image courtesy of Lockdales

considerably in their spelling. Indeed, these were usually recorded phonetically as there was no definitive spelling of many words in the 17th century. This can mean that tokens from a variety of issuers within the same town will have the name spelled differently, such as ‘Peterborough’ in Northamptonshire, of which numerous variations have been discovered. Elsewhere, other tokens display rhymes and humour, demonstrating that they were by no means a standardised form of currency. Today there is an increasing interest in trade tokens in general, but especially those from the 17th century. Part of this appeal is that they are such a tangible and evocative link to the past lives of individuals that can be held in your hand. With this interest, auction houses with a focus on numismatics are reporting that recent sales have yielded some strong results, where prices can range from hundreds of pounds to thousands for extremely rare tokens. For example, Suffolk-based Lockdales Auctioneers sold a token from a pub in the Suffolk village of Lavenham for £359. The token had markings for ‘Robert Saul’, the year date of 1669, along with ‘His Half Penny’ and an image of a lion (most likely the former Red Lion public house in the Market Place). At Dix Noonan Webb in London, a 17th-century Fleet Street halfpenny featuring the Swedish King Gustavus Adolfus, retrieved from the Thames, sold for £2,976 – more than 10 times its estimate of £200. However, in parallel with such sums and with a little additional research, the tokens can bring back to life the long-lost issuers and their families, along with the businesses and bustling streets in which they plied their trade. Perhaps, therein lies the true value to today’s collectors.

STARTING TO COLLECT TOKENS Chris Elmy is a cataloguer at Lockdales Auctioneers in Ipswich, Suffolk While the more common 17th-century tokens in “just identifiable” condition can cost as little as £10, they rise in price into the hundreds, or even thousands of pounds, for the highest grade or really rare examples. As with all coins and numismatic items, condition is paramount. But occasionally a token is so rare a collector will pay a huge price – even if it is low grade. Currently demand is strong with specialist collectors battling over local tokens in salerooms up and down the country. The quantity of tokens issued in certain towns, and commissioned by the various merchants and landlords varied greatly, which can inform price. For example, while a standard 1670 Ipswich farthing issued by the local council may be quite common, a halfpenny ussued by the town apothecary Samuel Dover is altogether rarer. One way to improve the quality and range of your tokens is to sell part of your existing collection and invest in a higher-grade example. For those who want to collect the tokens of their town, city or county I recommend the Michael Dickinson standard reference catalogue, Seventeenth Century Tokens of the British Isles and their Values, and the Galata Token Book as rough guides to price and rarity. London tokens in good condition are rare as they saw greater use and circulation than smaller towns. Tokens have been found between the floorboards of old timber buildings, while mudlarks delight in finding them by The Thames. They often turn up in fields by metal-detecting, but can be worn and ‘pitted’ by soil. 17th-century tokens provide a wonderful connection to people and commerce from the past with which we still share a history. In this way families can trace tokens issued by their ancestors and there were tokens issued by public houses in the 17th century which are still open to this day. The tokens won’t buy you a pint, but they’re worth much more to collectors.

Lockdales Auctioneers next sale of coins, medals and militaria is on November 14-15, for more details go to www.lockdales.com

‘Tokens from a variety of issuers within the same town will have the name spelled differently, such as ‘Peterborough’ in Northamptonshire, of which numerous variations have been discovered’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 4

MEMORABILIA Elections Now here I’m seemingly at odds with the rest of the collecting world. I think these Florida voting machines from the 2000 election are valuable pieces of election history. Yet despite their rarity at auction they can be yours for just £200. Or for those on a budget, an unused Florida voting card from the election will set you back just £5. And what of the tiny pieces of paper themselves? In the run up to Christmas 2000, eBay was swamped with framed pieces of chad, selling for around £25. What became of them all?

‘DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN’ NEWSPAPERS

Cool & Collectable

It’s election season in the US. Memorabilia expert Paul Fraser reveals some winning election collectables – from both sides of the pond

THE INFAMOUS HANGING CHADS

Just 537 votes difference won the election for George W. Bush in 2000. Central to the extraordinary outcome was Florida’s use of punch voting machines and the infamous hanging chads – tiny pieces of paper that had not properly detached after being punched.

Above US election badges are an inexpensive way of starting a collection, image Shutterstock Above right False news: the Chicago Daily Tribune’s 1948 election headline Left A punching voting machine can be yours for £200 Right A Kennedy badge from the 1960 election will set you back £30, image Shutterstock

42 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

The day after the 1948 US election, Chicago Daily Tribune readers were greeted with the headline ‘Dewey defeats Truman’. Unfortunately for the newspaper editor, and for Dewey, it was the other way round. Truman took great glee in the mistake, posing for photographs with copies of the newspaper. They achieve up to £3,000 today.

CAMPAIGN BADGES AND POSTERS

Badges are a great way to enter the political memorabilia market without spending significant sums. You can find John F Kennedy badges from the 1960 election for around £30, while Democrat badges declaring “Reagan is only an actor”, a reference to his earlier career as a Hollywood heartthrob, are available for £5-10. Abraham Lincoln badges are among the most valuable. Those supporting Lincoln’s 1860 run for office achieve £750 at auction, such is their scarcity and the high demand for Lincoln history. And then there are the true rarities. One of only two known “Winfield Scott for President” campaign badges auctioned for $25,000 in 2015. Scott – a

Whig – lost the 1852 election to Democrat Franklin Pierce. Auctioneer Heritage Auctions explained at the time: “For dazzling display appeal, rarity, and importance in the evolution of political campaign items, this Scott piece must rank among the most desirable such items in the hobby.” Original campaign posters tend to be more valuable than badges – especially those in good condition. That’s testament to their greater “wall power” and also their scarcity. Most haven’t survived the intervening years. Yet in many cases you can find vintage examples for less than £100. Notable exceptions are John F Kennedy. Expect to pay up to £4,000 for one in good condition. What’s more appealing to collectors than a poster? How about a flag? A Lincoln campaign flag for the 1860 US presidential election sold for $20,000 at Heritage Auctions recently.

LOOKING FOR SOMETHING DIFFERENT?

A pair of chairs from Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign tour bus sold recently. Offered as a single lot, they realised $28,500. The chairs were accompanied by a letter of provenance from Glenn Childress, who drove the bus. It reads: “Obama’s world essentially revolved around these two chairs. [They] were situated in the middle of the bus, side-by-side, along the righthand wall. Barack Obama always sat in the chair that was closer to the back…The second chair…was usually filled by a top advisor, campaign surrogate, Senator Joe Biden, or Michelle Obama on the few occasions when she travelled on the bus with us.” Or how about…

FRAGMENTS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN’S WALLPAPER?

In the early hours of November 7, 1860, Abraham Lincoln lies awake. Staring at the wall. Abe has just learnt he’s been elected the next president of the United States. These fragments of wallpaper are from Lincoln’s bedroom at his small home in Springfield, Illinois. The room where he laid his head after learning he’d won. This wallpaper stayed up until the late 1890s, when Lincoln’s grandniece Mary Edwards Brown, (18661958) redecorated the house. She kept these fragments as a memento. You can own them today for £2,950 at Paul Fraser Collectibles. Above “Winfield Scott for President” campaign badges auctioned for $25,000 in 2015, image courtesy of Heritage Auctions Right Not all Margaret Thatcher-signed letters are valuable, image Wikicommons Media Below left Choose wisely, a Barack Obama model won’t sell for big bucks, image Shutterstock Below right A Trump poster will cost £10, image Shutterstock

BRITISH ELECTIONS

British election memorabilia lacks the large collecting base of its American cousin. Landmark elections can stir interest, if not big prices, such as memorabilia connected with Labour’s landslide 1997 victory, with bone china mugs celebrating the win available for £20. I often receive calls from expectant clients, hoping to sell their Margaret Thatcher thank you letter. Thatcher received thousands of letters of congratulation following her three General Election victories. While she occasionally replied to thank the sender, most letters were in facsimile handwriting with a facsimile signature, which are of little financial value. Genuine examples achieve around £200. Remember Ed Miliband’s infamous ‘EdStone’? The 8 foot limestone monolith on which Labour unveiled its six pledges five days before the 2015 election? It was an object of ridicule for people of all political persuasions (Boris Johnson, then mayor of London, called it “some weird commie slab”). Can you own it? Rumour has it Labour destroyed the slab after the election loss.

THE 2020 US ELECTION

‘Original campaign posters tend to be more valuable than badges – especially those in good condition. That’s testament to their greater “wall power” and also their scarcity. Most haven’t survived the intervening years’

And what of the 2020 US campaign? Any memorabilia that could be worth investing in for the future? Unlikely. In these days of mass production, few pieces will have the scarcity required to gain in value in the years to come. But don’t let that stop you collecting “Trump 2020 Keep America Great!” posters (£10) or “I’m Ridin’ with Biden” badges (£3). They’ll help you look back on an extraordinary era for US politics. Paul Fraser is the founder of Paul Fraser Collectibles, for more details go to www. paulfrasercollectibles.com ANTIQUE COLLECTING 43

COLLECTING GUIDES Ogawa Kazumasa

EAST meets WEST

An unsung Japanese photographer whose pioneering work influenced the European art nouveau movement is celebrated in an exhibition, Zoë Hendon reports

hough the name of Ogawa Kazumasa, who was born into a Meiji-period samurai family in 1860, is little known outside Japan, his work had a vital influence on some of the key designers of the early art nouveau movement. Ogawa was still a boy when Britain first experienced a craze for all things Japanese in the 1870s and ‘80s after the island opened up to trade with the West. 20 years later his work exerted a considerable influence on designers of the day. As soon as they encountered it, Europeans regarded Japanese art and design as exciting and exotic. The style was taken up by the aesthetic movement with the new middle classes filling their homes with Japanese fans, peacock feathers and sunflowers. Other Japanese blooms, such as hydrangeas and irises, were yet to be discovered. By 1870 “Every mantelpiece in every enlightened household bore at least one Japanese fan, parasols

44 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above right T. Enami (1859-1929), nn s , glass lantern slide. Image courtesy of Dulwich Picture Above Kazumasa Ogawa (1860-1929), Chrysanthemum from Some Japanese Flowers, c. 1894, chromocollotype. Image courtesy of Dulwich Picture Gallery

were used as summer fire screens, popular magazines and ball programmes were printed in asymmetrical semi-Japanese style and asymmetry of form and ornament spread to porcelain, silver and furniture.” When Arthur Lasenby Liberty opened his shop on Regent Street in 1875 the shop did much to foster interest in Japanese art, importing Japanese porcelain, silks and lacquer ware, with arts and crafts pioneers William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones and Dante Gabriel Rossetti among the shop’s regular customers.

EYES EAST Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, Ogawa Kazumasa, born into the Matsudaira clan, was experiencing Japanese culture rather closer at hand. Born in 1860, seven years after the American c mmodore Matthew Perry led his four ships into the harbour at Tokyo Bay, Ogawa lived through some of his country’s most turbulent years. He well remembered his young sister bearing arms during the civil war in 1868-1869, which brought an end to the 250-year Tokugawa shogunate. After studying photography from the age of 15, Ogawa moved to Tokyo aged 20 to further his knowledge and develop his English skills, which he believed necessary to deepen his technical expertise. He decided to travel to the United States to learn first hand the advance photographic techniques of the time. Having little money, Ogawa worked his passage on the USS Swatara and six months later landed in Washington. For the next two years, in Boston and Philadelphia, Ogawa studied printing techniques, including the complicated collotype process with which he’d make his name on returning to Japan. On his return to the country in 1884 he opened a photographic studio in Tokyo. In 1888 he established a dry plate manufacturing company and, in the following year, Japan’s first collotype business, the “K. Ogawa

printing factory” where he was assisted by his pupil, then assistant, T. Enami (1859-1929). Ogawa also worked as an editor for Shashin Shinpo, the only photography journal in the country and was a founding member of the Japan Photographic Society.

OVERSEAS MARKET As well as documenting Japanese life in the mid 1890s, Ogawa pioneered a technique for producing handcoloured flower collotypes which featured in his 1893 book Lilies of Japan, followed a year later by Some Japanese Flowers. The collotype process was a form of early photography in which the image is printed using inks rather than as the result of exposure of chemicals to light. The technique effectively colouring photographs was created 30 years before colour film was invented. By developing up to 16 different colour plates per image from expertly hand-coloured prints, he made Japan the world’s leading producer of coloured photographs. His bold, multicoloured works through an exclusive printing process could not be matched anywhere else in the world. Although at the time there were at least 15 known photographic processes being used, there was still no way to accurately reproduce colour. Ogawa was among the first to champion handcolouring, which is the process of manually adding colour to a black-and-white photograph. His works incorporated up to 25 different colours, at a time when most colourists could only achieve a maximum of six in a single image.

Above T. Enami (18591929), Chrysanthemums in a Vase , 1898-1929, glass lantern slide. Image courtesy of Dulwich Picture Gallery Right Kazumasa Ogawa

(1860-1929), Lily from Lilies of Japan , c. 1893, collotype. Image ourtesy of Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture, Middlesex University, www.moda. mdx.ac.uk

Below left Kazumasa

Ogawa (1860-1929), Lily, monotone collotype from Lilies of Japan (1893). Image courtesy of the Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture, Middlesex University, www.moda. mdx.ac.uk

Below right Kazumasa

Ogawa (1860-1929), Morning Glory , c. 1894, chromo-collotype. Image courtesy of Dulwich Picture Gallery

BOLD IMAGERY His revolutionary process captured the natural world more accurately than it had ever been depicted before, and today, thanks to the fact that these works were bound as books, their colours still sing as bold as ever – making the 120-year-old images appear as though they were made yesterday. The ability to print collotypes by the hundreds or even thousands was why Ogawa favoured the technique, since he wanted to print high-quality images at high volume. However, it appears Ogawa produced relatively small numbers of these flower albums at any one time as they were aimed at the Western rather than Japanese market which favoured albums of Japanese scenery and customs. In 1897 Ogawa’s revolutionary botanic photographs appeared overseas, some in Japan, Described and Illustrated by the Japanese edited by the renowned Anglo-Irish expatriate Japanese culture scholar Francis Brinkley and published in Boston, the city where Ogawa had studied portrait photography and processing. But while the photographic world marvelled at the precision of his work, for European designers it was its subject matter that made them sit up and take note.

FLOWER POWER Flowers continue to loom large in art nouveau, from the voluptuous floral headpieces that crowned Alphonse Mucha’s female figures to the stained glass roses favoured by architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh. At the end of the 19th century, a number of new

‘Ogawa’s Chrysanthemums of Japan (1893), Lilies of Japan (1893) and Some Japanese Flowers (1894) were almost certainly some of the Silver Studio’s key sources in the development of new designs’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 45

COLLECTING GUIDES Ogawa Kazumasa plant forms were introduced into Britain from Japan, including some new species of irises and hydrangeas previously unseen in Europe. It is easy to forget that these garden plants which are now so familiar would have once seemed novel to British consumers. Knowledge of Japanese flora was disseminated in the West through the importation of the plants themselves, through their representation within decorative art objects such as ceramics, and through botanical drawings, seed catalogues and photographs, including those by Ogawa.

SILVER STUDIO The 1890s were some of the boom years of the Silver Studio, an influential commercial design practice based in west London, which had been founded by Arthur Silver in 1880. The studio designers required a good knowledge of fashionable trends, including a familiarity with exotic Japanese plant forms. It is clear they incorporated some of these floral forms into their designs, both in their rather naturalistic designs of the early 1890s as well as the more stylised aesthetic movement or early art nouveau representations of nature that we now think of as typical of the period. The studio enjoyed commercial success for a long period, with more than 20,000 designs for items such as furnishing fabrics, wallpapers, tablecloths, rugs and carpets produced by it between 1880 and 1963. Silver was fortunate to open his studio at a time when an expanding and increasingly acquisitive middle class meant there was a growing market for domestic furnishings. Arthur Silver came from a Reading family of upholsterers. His upbringing probably gave him an understanding of the interior decorating trade, and of the need to satisfy the changing tastes of customers.

46 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above Design for a textile or wallpaper, Silver Studio, 1890s. Image courtesy of the Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture, Middlesex University, www.moda.mdx.ac.uk Below left Kazumasa Ogawa (1860-1929), Iris, monochrome collotype from Some Japanese Flowers. Image courtesy of the Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture, Middlesex University, www.moda.mdx.ac.uk

Like his contemporary, Christopher Dresser, Silver fully understood the need for high quality in design intended for mass production of wallpapers and textiles.

REFERENCE MATERIAL British designers, manufacturers and retailers soon realised that there was a vast demand for Japanese goods, which could not be wholly supplied by Japanese production methods. In addition, ‘authentic’ Japanese style was somewhat at odds with British tastes. By the mid-1880s Liberty was commissioning designs for wallpapers and textiles from British designers, which referenced Japanese sources while modifying them to Western tastes. Liberty’s range of ‘Art Fabrics’ included a design called Mooltan attributed to Christopher Dresser. Liberty also commissioned designs for wallpapers and textiles from the Silver Studio. Arthur Silver and the designers he employed almost certainly never visited Japan themselves, but they were avid collectors of Japanese source material. In an article in The Studio in 1894, the Silver Studio was described as being full of visual reference material similar to that collected by artists: “Photographs after Botticelli and other old masters, panels of lustrous enamels and gesso-work, scraps of fine fabrics, and books of Japanese drawings...” Using these sources, the studio’s designers incorporated Japanese ideas into their designs for wallpapers and textiles, while adapting them to appeal to British consumers. The Silver Studio’s daybooks show that by 1891 the studio was selling around 300 designs per year with more than 40 customers, including companies such as Liberty & Co, Sanderson, Jeffrey and Co. In the 1890s, the Silver Studio acquired three volumes of Ogawa’s books: Chrysanthemums of Japan (1893), Lilies of Japan (1893) and Some Japanese Flowers (1894), which were almost certainly some of the Silver Studio’s key sources in the development of new designs. While botanical drawings need only reproduce a factual representation of a plant, designers’ floral motifs must be both recognisable and work as a repeating pattern. The Silver Studio’s use of exotic plants from Japan took unfamiliar flowers and depicted them in conventional Western ways. For example they adapted the chrysanthemum

Left Kazumasa Ogawa (1860-1929), Lily from Lilies of Japan , c. 1893, collotype. Image ourtesy of Museum of Domestic Design and Architecture, Middlesex University, www.moda. mdx.ac.uk Right Charles Leander

Weed (1824-1903) Japanese cabinet officials with the US Minister to Japan, September 22, 1867, one of the 90 prints in this month’s sale

which, being both the seal of the imperial family and the country’s national flower is highly symbolic, and made it a British design staple. In a similar vein, a climbing hydrangea, unknown in Europe before the late 19th century, became familiar in fashionable middle class homes. Few who enjoyed the designs realised the debt they owed to the unheard-of Japanese photographer Kazumasa Ogawa. Zoë Hendon, is an associate professor and head of collections at the Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture (MoDA). Unearthed: Photography’s Roots, featuring the work of Ogawa Kazumasa as well as other pioneering photographers including William Henry Fox Talbot and Robert Mapplethorpe is on at the Dulwich Picture Gallery from November 21 to May 9. For more details go to www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk

Below left Grasset, Eugène (18411917) La Plante et ses applications ornementales. Sous la direction de M. Eugène Grasset (1896) Below Grasset, Eugène

(1841-1917) La Plante et ses applications ornementales. Sous la direction de M. Eugène Grasset (1896)

Below right Grasset,

Eugène (18411917) La Plante et ses applications ornementales. Sous la direction de M. Eugène Grasset (1896)

VIEWS of JAPAN A collection of ‘forgotten’ photographs of 19th-century Japan by the celebrated Scottish photographer John Thomson (1837-1921) goes under the hammer this month, writes Chris Albury. At the same time Ogawa was experimenting with collotypes, Western photographers were documenting Japanese life. New research has demonstrated Thomson, most known for his views of China, was also responsible for several prints of Japan previously attributed to the Italian photographer Felice Beato (1832-1909), who was perhaps the best known Western photographer working in Japan in the 1860s. The same research suggests the body of work by another photographer, the American Charles Leander Weed (1824-1903), is greater than previously thought.

90 albumen prints of Japan and Formosa by Thomson and Weed go under the hammer at Dominic Winter’s auction on November 18, with an estimate of £50,000.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 47

SUBSCRIBER Exclusive

BOOK OFFERS

Treat someone you love this Christmas to a gift they can treasure forever

UP TO

35% DISCOUNT

DESPERATELY YOUNG

Artists Who Died in Their Twenties By Angela S. Jones and Vern G. Swanson

KAISER KARL

ISBN 9781788840842 RRP: £35.00 Special offer price £22.75

The Life of Karl Lagerfeld By Raphaelle Bacque

The first book to celebrate great artists who died before their time with unique insights into the lives, work and deaths of history’s most tragic artists.

An intimate and well-documented biography of Karl Lagerfeld, ex-creative director of Chanel and international fashion icon.

SHAUN LEANE

ISBN 9781788840705 RRP: £18.00 Special offer price £11.70

By Shaun Leane

ISBN 9781788840736 RRP: £55.00 Special offer price £35.75

A comprehensive visual record of the life’s work of this celebrated jewellery designer, known for his work with Alexander McQueen.

ROLEX

History, Icons and Record-Breaking Models By Mara Cappelletti and Osvaldo Patrizzi ISBN 9781851497836 RRP: £29.99 Special offer price £19.50

The history, icons, and the record-breaking models of the Geneva-based Rolex watch company, one of the world’s most recognised brands.

LOUIS XIII COGNAC The Thesaurus By Farid Chenoune

ISBN 9781851499014 RRP: £150.00 Special offer price £97.50

Journey through the history of Louis XIII, a luxury cognac from the House of Rémy Martin.

All orders plus £4 p&p in the UK, overseas rates available on request. To order a copy call 01394 389977 or email georgina.street@accartbooks.com 48 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

OLIVER’S BRITAIN By Oliver Hellowell

ISBN 9781788840897 RRP: £17.99 Special offer price £11.70

Britain at its most breath-taking: ancient castles, flower-filled forests and more. The follow-up to the bestselling Oliver’s Birds, as featured on BBC’s The One Show.

MR PERCY

Portrait Modeller in Coloured Wax: The Miniatures and Tableaux of Samuel Percy By Ruth Ord-Hume ISBN 9781788840378 RRP: £45.00 Special offer price £29.25

The first major reference book on Samuel Percy, modeller of miniature portraits and tableaux in coloured wax.

ROLLS-ROYCE MOTOR CARS Making a Legend By Harvey Briggs and Simon Van Booy ISBN 9781788841009 RRP: £50.00 Special offer price £32.50

A stunning collection of cars from the earliest models to the modern day. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is a luxurious book, beautifully designed and impeccably produced.

DAVID AUSTIN’S ENGLISH ROSES By David Austin

ISBN 9781788840194 RRP: £25.00 Special offer price £16.25

David Austin’s best rose varieties, including their latest additions with valuable information on all aspects of rose cultivation.

FRANCIS BACON OR THE MEASURE OF EXCESS By Yves Peyré

ISBN 9781788840996 RRP: £45.00 Special offer price £29.25

A thoroughly illustrated monograph of Francis Bacon by a personal friend of the artist.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 49

ANTIQUES UNDER THE HAMMER Thunderbirds Are Go

Right Three of

Zelda’s cubes used in the production of Terrahawks, each 20cm x 20cm, the trio has an estimate of £800-£1,200

SALEROOM SPOTLIGHT

A hidden archive of models, props, scenery and scripts linked to the Anderson franchise that has come to light after more than 30 years goes under the hammer in Surrey this month

ICONIC TELLY

f you’re nostalgic for the TV shows of your youth, the name Gerry Anderson is likely to feature strongly in your memory. Whether you were a child of the 1960s – when you might have been glued to Stingray, Thunderbirds or Captain Scarlet – or the ‘70s (when Space: 1999 and Joe 90 were TV gold) you will be no stranger to the world of Supermarionation – the word used by Anderson to describe the puppetry technique used extensively in his television shows. Top The MEV used

in the production of Terrahawks can be seen in shots on the lunar surface when it faces the Space Cyclops. It measures 57cm long x 24cm high and has an estimate of £1,500£2,500 at this month’s sale

Above Gerry Anderson’s personal script, marked ‘GA’, for Terrahawks Episode 2 GOLD Left Captain Ochre puppet head used on Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, has an estimate of £5,000£8,000

50 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Now a huge archive of items from the Anderson franchise, thought to have been lost, has come to light after more than 30 years. It was removed from Bray Studios after Anderson’s production company wrapped up its final series of Terrahawks in the mid 1980s. The archive became the property of Julian Bell, a driver and handyman at the studios who was given it by one of the senior directors acting under Anderson’s authority because they had no storage facilities for it. Production puppets, models of aircraft and other machinery, sets, Gerry Anderson’s personally annotated scripts and even storyboards for a series of Thunderbirds that was never filmed are included in the consignment, which will go under the hammer in a dedicated auction expected to raise up to £150,000 on November 30 at Ewbank’s Auctions in Woking.

Much of the collection is linked to the 1980s Terrahawks series, but Captain Scarlet, Thunderbirds and other hit programmes from the Anderson stable are also represented. There have been rumours among the fanbase for years that the Terrahawks production pieces survived, but no one really knew what had happened to them. Bell, who died in 2019, hinted that he had a lot of it a few years ago, but the trail went cold. Setting the discovery in context is important to understanding its impact. The way that Gerry Anderson and his teams made the programmes means that a great deal of the props, models and sets from series like Thunderbirds, Stingray and Fireball XL5 never survived. Super fan David Sisson, who spent 35 years building replica models and restoring original studio props from the shows, said: “There’ll be a lot of interest. For fans it’s always been the saddest aspect of the Anderson programmes that Gerry never kept anything. Terrahawks has a growing appreciation from the younger generation of Anderson fans. When I do my public displays, a lot of these people recognise Terrahawks even when they don’t recognise Thunderbirds.” He continued: “Because Anderson worked with puppets and did the voices later, he didn’t need a sound stage, so he rented warehouses, but the ceaseless weekly production of new puppets, models, and sets

meant that this available space filled up rapidly and disposing of items that could not be reused, or repurposed, became a constant problem. “Gerry was always ready to move on to the next project and so needed the sets cleared, so he used to give everything away or have it thrown out.”

HIGHLIGHTS It is ironic that, despite the huge demand for puppets, models and other memorabilia from the Anderson programmes today, the man himself never seemed to care about them. David Sisson said: “The one thing he did keep for many years was a Parker puppet from the original Thunderbirds series.” The fact that Julian Bell preserved so much of the original production material for so long without trying to sell it means that there has been little chance so far to test the market for Terrahawks, he added. David continued: “It’s like travelling back in time. I expect the hero craft to be the big sellers. The Battlehawk is the prize piece, along with Hawkwing and Treehawk, but this is really completely untested ground. What makes this auction so special is that there will never be another chance to see everything together in one place. Once it’s sold it will be spread around the world and never be together again. You really can’t overstate how special this is going to be.”

AUCTION fact file WHAT: Gerry Anderson & Christopher Burr’s Terrahawks – the Bray Studios Production sale Where: Live online from Ewbank’s, located at Burnt Common Auction Rooms, London Road, Send, Woking, Surrey When: November 30, at 11am Viewing: By appointment and online at www. ewbankauctions.co.uk Left The officer Cathy Costello puppet used in the pilot episode of Space Police, approx. 90cm tall, estimated at £1,500-£2,500 Below The Battlehawk

model used in the production of Terrahawks, approximately 1m in length, estimated at £4,000-£6,000

Below right

Thunderbirds Are Go (1966), a 30 x 40in British Quad film poster, created by Gerry Anderson, United Artists, estimated at £300-£500

IN MY OPINION...

We asked Ewbank’s memorabilia specialist Alastair McCrea for his sale highlights How important is the collection?

Simply put, this is one of the largest and most important consignments ever made of studio production used models, figures and scripts from Gerry Anderson programmes ever uncovered. Added to which we have clear provenance back to when it was all cleared post production from Bray Studios in the mid 1980s. It is mainly Terrahawks items, which are really popular with today’s collectors. What makes this especially interesting is that the fanbase has talked for years about where all of this went to and whether it was rescued or destroyed. It’s been privately held for over 30 years and now Ewbank’s can solve the mystery. Considering so much Anderson production material ended up in skips to make way for the next project, this is close to being a miraculous survival.

Do you have a personal highlight?

Aside from Terrahawks, the collection includes other rare material, most notably an electronic puppet head from the original 1960s Captain Scarlet programmes. Although a rather minor character, the model of Captain Ochre, is incredibly rare and has the estimate of £5,000-£8,000. Intriguingly, there are also rarely-seen puppets and props from a series Anderson created called Space Police. It dated to the mid-1980s and only one episode was ever made which was never screened on TV. This will be the first opportunity for fans to see these very rare pieces.

Where is interest likely to come?

We expect to attract bidders from all over the world via live online bidding on our website. The archive has been the talk of legend among fans for decades because no one really knew what happened to it and whether anything was rescued. This month’s auction finally solves the mystery.

‘There have been rumours among the fanbase for years that the Terrahawks production pieces survived, but no one really knew what had happened to them. Bell, who died in 2019, hinted that he had a lot of it a few years ago, but the trail went cold’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 51

ANTIQUES UNDER THE HAMMER Lots in November

TOP of the LOTS

Left Hergé’s design was

deemed too expensive to be reproduced in 1963

Below The artwork was

used for subsequent covers of Le Lotus Bleu, including this 1942 edition

With Asian art at the fore this month we shine the spotlight on some Eastern highlights A large, 18th-century court painting of two ladies playing Go, has an estimate of £60,000-£80,000 at Bonhams New Bond Street’s fine Chinese sale on November 5. The painting, which measures 99cm x 155cm, depicts the women playing the two-player board game which was invented in China more than 2,500 years ago. A pair of yellow-ground, aubergine and green-glazed ‘dragon’ dishes, with the Kangxi six-character marks of the period (16621722) has an estimate of £5,000-£8,000 at Bonhams Knightsbridge Asian art sale on November 2. Above The bowls have the Kangxi six-character marks Below The painting depicts the Yongzheng/Qianlong period

Original artwork by Georges Rémi, known as Hergé, designed for the cover of the 1936 book Le Lotus Bleu, which had been in a drawer for over 80 years, is expected to sell for £2.7m. At the time it was created the design was deemed too costly to reproduce in four colours and was rejected by the publisher Casterman. Hergé gave it to the young son of publisher Louis Casterman who tucked it away in a drawer. This drawing goes under the hammer at Artcurial in Paris on November 21.

Left The coral

figure dates to the early 20th century Right The trio

of maidens is carved from lapis lazuli

use

A pair of Chinese bronze and inlaid ‘tiger’ weights, Western Han dynasty (206 BC-8AD) has an estimate of £8,000-£12,000 at Roseberys’ Chinese, Japanese and South East Asian art sale on November 11. Han weights of this type may have been used to hold down the corners of woven mats used for seating or for the board game Liubo. They were usually made in the shape of animals, often coiled to form a circle, or in the shape of human figures, and even mountains. According to Han mythology, the tiger symbolised the western cardinal point, with the green dragon to the east, vermillion bird to the south and black tortoise to the north. Below The ‘tiger’ weights

date to 206BC-8AD

52 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Two carved Chinese hardstone figures each has an estimate of £600-£800 at Mathew Barton’s European and Asian works of art sale at Olympia Auctions on November 18. The early 20th-century coral figure, on a wooden stand, depicts a maiden wearing a long-sleeved robe and billowing scarf carrying a censer on a tray. The trio of lapis lazuli maidens, also early 20th century, shows three maidens wearing long-sleeved robes. Hardstone carving is one of the oldest art forms in China dating to the fifth millennium BC. Over the last three centuries the art form flourished with carvings in jade, agate, malachite, turquoise, quartz, amber, coral and lapis lazuli.

A heart-shaped Chinese box and cover discovered in a lockdown clear-out has an estimate of £2,000-£4,000 at Charterhouse’s two-day online Asian art sale on November 5-6. The auction house’s Richard Bromell said: “The owner moved home several years ago and during lockdown finally unpacked the last few remaining boxes. For me, the Chinese red box stood out like a sore thumb.” The demand for well-carved Chinese red lacquer is high not only in China, but also among collectors from Europe and America, he added. Above right The box was found in a lockdown clear-out

The ewers were also once in the collection of the Pierpont Morgan Collection

A pair of 17.5cm high Kangxi (1662-1722) period Chinese blue and white ewers, once owned by one of America’s ‘robber barons’, has an estimate of £1,500-£2,000 at Sworders’ live online sale on November 6. The vendor is the great grandson of Jay Gould (1836-1892), a US railroad magnate and financial speculator, whose unscrupulous business practices made him one of the wealthiest men in the US in the late 19th century. An Imperial silk brocade ‘dragon’ has an estimate of £10,000-£15,000 at Lyon & Turnbull’s fine Asian works of art auction in London on November 5. Woven using the lampas technique, the framed piece is decorated with the imperial motifs of five-clawed gold dragons confronting a flaming pearl above crashing waves and mountains. Viewing is by appointment at 22 Connaught St, London.

An early 18th-century Chinese water dropper has an estimate of £200-£300 at Dawson’s Asian art sale on November 5. The porcelain piece depicts the Daoist immortal Liu Hai, seen astride his lucky three-legged toad. The dropper would have been used to prepare ink on an inkstone prior to practising calligraphy. In many ancient Chinese legends, the toad is seen as a magician and the master of escapes and spells. He is also known as the keeper of the world’s most powerful secrets including immortality. Above The water dropper has an estimate of £200-£300

Four Chinese glass snuff bottles, dating from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, have an estimate of £1,000-£2,000 on the second day of Woolley and Wallis’ two-day Asian art sale on November 11. The bottles were collected by the vendor on military tours of duty in the country between 1968 and 1985. For our guide to collecting snuff bottles, turn to page 18. The glass snuff bottles retained their original stoppers

Below The brocade measures 83cm x 46cm

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 53

ANTIQUES UNDER THE HAMMER Lots in November

Above The necklace

is in the style of archaeological revival jewellery Below Cocktail rings are

back in vogue

The earliest camera ever made, dated to the 1830s and discovered in a job lot of photographic devices, is expected to make £50,000£70,000 at Flints’ sale on November 19. It is the first time a ‘mousetrap’ camera has ever come up for auction and is one of only seven others known to exist (all in museum collections). Simply constructed from wood with a simple fixed-focus lens, mousetraps, which were used by William Henry Fox Talbot from around 1836, created paper negatives. Talbot developed the process to allow the creation of lasting images. But his innovation was soon eclipsed by the French Daguerreotype process, announced in 1839. Consequently, mousetrap cameras are exceptionally rare. Above The sale is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to acquire a mousetrap

A Victorian gold Etruscanstyle fringed necklace has an estimate of £1,500-£2,000 at Catherine Southon’s jewellery sale at Farleigh Golf Club on November 4. The necklace was part of a larger collection from a private estate which included a 1960s French 12.9 carat Sri Lankan sapphire and diamond cocktail ring with an estimate of £6,000-£8,000. For our feature on archaeological revival jewellery turn to page 32. Right The

art deco dressing table is the French style

Fossil remains of pectens formed on a slab of limestone from the Miocene period (12 million years ago) have an estimate of £800£1,200 at Summers Place Auctions’ natural history sale on November 24. The shells, which measure 52cm x 52cm come from southern France, with the surrounding bedrock carved out to make an attractive sculpture. Pectens are scallops that have their roots from the Carboniferous period over 350m years ago but still exist in the present day. Above The fossilised remains come from southern France

A vase by John Ward (b. 1938) has an estimate of £3,000-£4,000 at Maak’s online modern ceramics sale on November 19. The piece, titled Shouldered Vessel, is one of 250 pots on sale, including a museum quality vessel by Magdalene Odundo (b. 1950). Odundo’s work, Angled Mixed Coloured Piece, 1988, is typical of her work and was inspired by the Kenyan-born artist’s travels across South America and Africa. It was last shown at the retrospective, Clay Forms, at Blackwell Arts and Crafts Centre in 2001.

A French-style, art deco burr walnut dressing table by Herbert Richter (1874-1955) for Bath Cabinet Makers has an estimate of £500-£700 at The Pedestal’s design for living sale on November 10. Bath Cabinet Makers, which won five gold medals at the Paris World Exhibition of 1900, was one of a handful of English workshops producing a wide range of furniture in the style of art nouveau, art deco, arts and crafts and modern. Although he continued to design for Bath Cabinet Makers, Herbert Richter pursued a career in painting from 1906, initially studying at the London School of Art under Sir Frank Brangwyn, RA. The sale takes place at The Dairy, Stonor Park, Henley-on-Thames in Oxfordshire.

54 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

The vase is by the British potter John Ward

Magdalene Odundo’s work regularly appears in museums

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Polish arts and crafts Prussia and Austria and, in 1772, an alliance between those three nations’ monarchs – Catherine the Great, Frederick the Great and Joseph II – led to the first three-way partition of Poland. A second partition of 1793 ceded more territory to Russia and Prussia, culminating in the third annexation of 1795 when the Polish king Stanisław II August Poniatowski was forced to abdicate and the entire country was divided between Prussia, Russia and Austria. Poland thus ceased to exist as a state for the next 123 years.

CULTURE WARS

YOUNG at ART

Links between the Polish arts and crafts movement and its British equivalent are examined in a new book. The National Portrait Gallery’s Dr Alison Smith considers their pan-European roots

t the turn of the 20th century, a dynamic arts movement started to grow in the former lands of the Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth. Called Młoda Polska, or Young Poland, it sought to fuse fine and decorative arts and proclaim freedom of expression and the reassertion of national identity. It was both inward and outward looking, taking inspiration from nature and indigenous folk traditions, while expressing its ideals in a distinct modernist language that brought it close to other European design reform movements – in particular, British arts and crafts. In the geopolitical context of the time, however, the term “Młoda Polska” would have appeared something of an oxymoron in that Poland as a political entity did not exist, having disappeared from the map of Europe in 1795. This date marks the demise of the kingdom established at the end of the 16th century when Poland and Lithuania united to form the Rzeczpospolita Obojga Narodów (Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth), becoming a major power in Europe. By the 18th century, the commonwealth had become so weakened by internal divisions that it was vulnerable to the influence of its rivals Russia,

Above Jan Matejko, Polonia, 1864, oil on canvas. Unless stated all images courtesy of the National Museum of Kraków Right Zofia Kogut scarf, 1921, silk with batik decoration, 117cm x 122cm

There followed a long period of struggle to regain independence. Two abortive military uprisings in 1830– 31 and 1863–4 were followed by severe reprisals that included execution, imprisonment, deportation, exile and the confiscation of property. The harshest of these punishments were enforced by the Russian and Prussian governments after 1863, furthermore came a ban on the use of the Polish language and strict censorship. With the failure of military action, culture became an alternative vehicle for communicating political aspiration both inside the partitioned nation and beyond, including Britain. In 1833 Alfred Tennyson published his rousing sonnets on Poland, subtitled Written on hearing of the outbreak of the Polish insurrection, and On the result of the late Russian invasion of Poland: How long, O God, shall men be ridden down, And trampled under by the last and least Of men? The heart of Poland hath not ceased To quiver, though her sacred blood doth drown The fields; and out of every smouldering town Cries to Thee, lest brute Power be increased, Till that o’ergrown Barbarian in the East Transgress his ample bound to some new crown:-Cries to Thee, “Lord, how long shall these things be? How long this icyhearted Muscovite Oppress the region?” Us, O Just and Good, Forgive, who smiled when she was torn in three; Us, who stand now, when we should aid the right-A matter to be wept with tears of blood! Some 15 years later the young members of the PreRaphaelite Brotherhood named the freedom fighter Tadeusz Kościuszko (1746–1817) among the “List of Immortals” that helped launch their revolutionary movement.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 55

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Polish arts and crafts Left Stanisław Wyspiański Polonia (1893–4) unrealised stained glass design for Lviv Cathedral, chalk on paper, Image courtesy of the National Museum in Kraków Right Stanisław

Witkiewicz, set of drawings of Kraków and the village of Zakopane, including Highlanders’ huts and everyday objects,produced for the English Illustrated Magazine, 1888 and 1889

Below right Stanisław

Witkiewicz (far left) and the makers of the House Under the Firs architectural model, 1899. Image courtesy Tatra Museum

NATIONAL IDENTITY A major pioneer in the visual arts was the academic painter Jan Matejko (1838–1893) whose vast canvases depicting epic scenes from Polish history did much to fuel the idea of a once glorious nation brought low, as shown in Polonia, Matejko’s dramatic threnody concerning the January uprising of 1863. In the picture Russian officers oversee the shackling of a female personification of Poland; the blonde woman to her side represents Lithuania. The painting remained unfinished because, fearing for his life and seeking to avoid persecution, the artist arranged for it to be hidden from view. But it lived on in the imaginings of others. 30 years later, Matejko’s former student and arguably Young Poland’s foremost artist, Stanisław Wyspiański (1869–1907), reprised the motif in emotive Symbolist terms – representing Polonia, the spirit of the non-existent country, as a dying queen – the theme of trauma and martyrdom passing like a baton from one generation to another. It is no coincidence that both Matejko and Wyspiański were based in Kraków situated in the

56 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

more liberal region of Galicia which, as the century progressed, experienced a greater degree of political and economic autonomy under its Hapsburg (i.e. Austrian) rulers. By the 1890s Kraków had emerged as a vibrant cultural centre, while in the nearby mountainous Podhale area, many of the former insurrectionists became interested in indigenous crafts to preserve local heritage from foreign influence and as a source for contemporary national revival.

‘Young Poland was both inward and outward looking, taking inspiration from nature and indigenous folk traditions, but expressing its ideals in a distinct modernist language that brought it close to other European design reform movements, and, in particular, the British arts and crafts’

PAST FORWARD This arts and crafts revival centred on the remote village of Zakopane in the Tatra mountains and it was here artists such as Stanisław Witkiewicz (1851– 1915) and Karol Kłosowski (1882–1971) championed the Zakopane style in architecture and interior decoration based on the adaptation of traditional skills of the indigenous Highlander population, such as building, carving and weaving. One has only to compare some of the everyday objects from this period – peasant costumes, carved wooden spoons and cheese moulds, for instance – with the artists’ very personal reinterpretations of traditional motifs to appreciate just how reverential and creative they were in their endeavour to recreate the past in a distinct, modern idiom. The Zakopane Style was both organic and allembracing, as seen in Witkiewicz’s House Under the Firs and Kłosowski’s Silent Villa, both conceived as Gesamtkunstwerk projects (“total works of art”) but made to feel homely and familiar, as anyone who has visited the houses themselves will have experienced. This approach gave rise to the term ‘swojski’ meaning home-like, alluding not just to a cosy domestic environment but to an ideal of nationhood that continues to underpin a particular folksy image of Polish culture today. While the Zakopane style developed before Witkiewicz became aware of John Ruskin and William Morris, he later said that his work had unknowingly fulfilled the theories of the British reformers. In 1899, Witkiewicz got in touch with Ruskin, sending him photographs of Zakopane style projects; Ruskin replied appreciatively and regretted that his advanced age prevented him from visiting Zakopane himself.

Above Willa Koliba, designed by Stanisław Witkiewicz, 1892–3, with west extension wing designed by Tadeusz Prauss, 1901. Image courtesy Tatra Museum. Photo credit: David Modzierz Above right Stanisław Wyspiański Chochoły 1897–189 National Museum in Warsaw Below right A cartoon

for Acanthus and Vine tapestry by William Morris (1879), Birds and Acanthus a design for a St Mary’s Basilica by Jan Matejko (1889) and Vines a design for a Franciscan church by Wyspiański (1895) Image courtesy the V&A and National Museum of Kraków

as was the Planty Park, established in the early 19th century in place of the old medieval city walls. In Wyspiański’s mysterious nocturne Chochoły, also known as Straw Men Dancing in the Planty (1897–1899), the shapes of straw-wrapped shrubs protected against the winter frost in the park assume an anthropomorphic dimension, appearing like Giacometti-type figures expectantly waiting for something, each isolated in its own world. The power and poetry of the image has given rise to many interpretations, both personal and political, evoking the morale of a nation ‘hibernating’ during Poland’s political non-existence. Wyspiański is widely regarded as the most original artist associated with the movement, a figure only just beginning to be appreciated outside of Central Europe. A polymath, like Witkiewicz, his art encapsulates the spirit of youth, vitality and sheer energy that propelled Young Poland. Wyspiański and the British arts and crafts pioneer William Morris (1834–1896) were kindred spirits, sharing similar antiquarian and ecological interests, working freely across the fine and decorative arts, and being politically motivated. Wyspiański made a vital contribution to raising the standard of Polish decorative arts, not least as a founding member of the Polish Applied Arts Society (1901) – a counterpart of the British Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society. Both artists were passionate about flowers. Wyspiański adapted his sketches of native plants for wall paintings, hangings and various other decorative objects. These patterns will put Morris enthusiasts in

CAPITAL IDEAS Kraków, the historic seat of the Polish monarchs and the nation’s original capital, symbolised for many Poles its former power and cultural heritage. Wawel Castle and cathedral were often depicted by artists, ANTIQUE COLLECTING 57

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Polish arts and crafts ‘While the Zakopane style developed before Witkiewicz became aware of John Ruskin and William Morris, he later said that his work had unknowingly fulfilled the theories of the British reformers’ mind of the designer’s own textile and wallpaper designs, although Wyspiański’s style is more electric and nervy – cosmic rather than homely, as the decorative schemes for the Franciscan church (1894– 1897) and Medical Society (1904–1905) in Kraków show. The furniture he designed also ranged beyond the familiar and comfortable; in fact, it takes the idea of swojski into another realm, according to the writer Tadeusz Zeleński, Wyspianski’s un-upholstered wooden furniture seemed more suited ‘for spirits or people from other planets than for human beings’. In other words, he took the arts and crafts idea of simplicity to an extreme. The theatrical and otherworldly aspects of Wyspiański’s art also characterise the work of many of his peers; it can be seen in the paintings and decorative arts of Józef Mehoffer (1869–1946), for example, or in the fairy-tale imaginings of Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska (1891–1945).

MODERN FOLK Despite its preoccupation with historicism and folk culture, Young Poland was essentially modern in that the artists were motivated as much by aesthetic considerations as they were by social and political concerns. This can be seen in their penchant for bold geometric shapes and vividly coloured patterns, in the abstraction of natural forms that brought their creations into line with some of the most advanced contemporary movements in Europe.

Above Bronisława Rychter-Janowska Avenue of Birches (1910), wall hanging. Image courtesy of the National Museum of Kraków Below Stanisław

Wyspiaski Maternity, 1905, pastel on paper Image courtesy of the National Museum of Kraków

This was evident in the work of the first and second generation of Young Poland artists such as Witkiewicz, Wyspiański and Mehoffer, as well as their disciples from the Kraków Workshops (Warsztaty Krakowskie) association (1913–1926). In this sense Young Poland was both a national and a universal phenomenon. It fuelled the struggle for freedom that led to Poland regaining independence in 1918 at the end of WWI but endured beyond that, creating a meaningful legacy even in the darkest moments of the 20th century. Alison Smith, PhD, is chief curator at the National Portrait Gallery, London. In 2009 she co-curated Symbolism in Poland and Britain at Tate Britain, London.

DISCOVER MORE Published by Lund Humphries in association with William Morris Gallery and the National Museum in Kraków, Young Poland: The Polish Arts and Crafts Movement, 1890-1918 is the first book on the subject in any language. It charts the rich history of the Polish arts and crafts movement and the artists, designers and craftspeople at the heart of it. The wide-ranging and fully-illustrated compilation is written by art historians Julia Griffin and Andrzej Szczerski, with contributions from Dr Alison Smith and other leading international scholars.

58 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

BEHIND THE SCENES Daphna Peled

EXPERT

PROFILE

DAPHNA PELED runs the Washington DC-based antique shop Pillar & Post specialising in English furniture and interiors

Right Inside Washington antiques shop Pillar & Post, image Robert Radifera Below left The shop

reflects Daphna’s love of English antiques, image Robert Radifera

How is the industry changing and are you optimistic for its future? It has been such an unusual time during the pandemic. I think people are being forced to spend more time at home, but also finding comfort in their homes. So there will be a focus on design, comfort, and happiness.

Is new technology good for the trade? I am a believer in technology, so I would say new technology is always good. In fact, I had to cancel my trip to England in September because of Covid-19, but am interacting virtually with some of my favourite dealers to put together a shipment. They are sending me pictures, we are doing videos and virtual tours, none of which would have been possible (or even the norm) in the past. Also Instagram and other forms of social media have allowed clients from all parts of the country to find my shop, and of course I am happy to ship.

Tell us some trade secrets. What questions should buyers ask? Tell us a little bit about your business Pillar & Post was established in 2017 after I decided to leave a career in politics (as the lobbyist for a cable company) and open the shop with my mother. It was inspired by my love of England and home décor/ antiques. My parents lived in England for 15 years and when I visited them, I fell in love with England and the English aesthetic. We import English antiques, art, and accessories, as well as English home décor brands that aren’t sold in the United States.

What areas are selling well? Chests of drawers seem to be regularly popular, and antique accessories are always in high demand. I can’t seem to get enough antique gongs or copper jugs! There are a lot of terrific shops in DC but they tend to focus on French and Swedish antiques, and not so much English. For a long time, brown furniture was considered dated, but that trend has turned in our favour as it is particularly popular in Georgetown.

Which are the ones to watch? Pieces that are truly unusual and harder to find. Those pieces add such a special touch. Like an oversized copper tea kettle that I sold that had once served as a shop sign, or an antique painted Swedish marriage chest. Those items stand out in a home – and have a story to tell!

Buyers should ask what the dealer knows about the piece’s history. I only buy from reputable dealers in England, who are credentialed and respected in their field. If you are going to invest in an antique, you want to know that you are getting what you pay for! Dealers will always tell you if a piece has been damaged or altered, or if there is some doubt with respect to its origin. Also always take measurements. Just because a piece is beautiful, it also has to fit properly in the space.

What are your favourite hunting grounds? The amazing thing about England is there are so many wonderful antique shops, literally in every town throughout the countryside (not to mention, of course, also the well-known ones in London). There are still so many spots for me to explore. And all the dealers are so lovely as well, the English are a joy to do business with. Pillar & Post is located at 1647 Wisconsin Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20007. Discover more at www.pillarandpost.com

‘I had to cancel my trip to England in September because of Covid-19, but am interacting virtually with some of my favourite dealers to put together a shipment’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 59

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 Bonhams, New Bond St., W1 020 7447 7447 www.bonhams.com Fine Netsuke from a French Private Collection, Nov 4 Fine Chinese Art, Nov 5 Fine Japanese Art, Nov 5 The Greek Sale, Nov 18 Modern and British Art, Nov 18 Modern and Contemporary Middle Eastern Art, Nov 24 Fine Decorative Arts 1200-1900, Nov 25 The Russian Sale, Nov 25 Fine and Rare Wines, Nov 26 Antiquities, Dec 1 Old Master Paintings, Dec 2 Fine European Ceramics, Dec 3 The Bond Street Sale, Dec 5 Bonhams, Knightsbridge, SW7 020 7393 3900 www.bonhams.com Asian Art, Nov 2 British and European Art, Nov 10 Medals, Bonds, Banknotes and Coins, Nov 11 The Marine Sale, Nov 11 Watches and Wristwatches, Nov 17 Knightsbridge Jewels, Nov 18 Collections, Nov 24 Fine Books, Atlases, Manuscripts and Historical Photographs, Dec 2 Instruments of Science and Technology, Dec 2 Antique Arms and Modern Sporting Guns, Dec 2 Decorative Arts and Contermporary Ceramics, Dec 8 Jewellery, Dec 9 Fine Watches and Wristwatches, Dec 9 Chiswick Auctions, 1 Colville Rd, Chiswick, W3 8BL 020 8992 4442 www.chiswickauctions.co.uk Designer Handbags & Fashion, Nov 9 Watches, Nov 23 Books & Works on Paper, Nov 25 Autographs and Memorabilia, Nov 26 Erotica, Nov 26

60 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Christie’s, King St., London, SW1 020 7839 9060 www.christies.com Chinese Jade Carvings from a Distinguished European Collection, Nov 3 Important Chinese Art, Nov 3 Handbags and Accessories, Nov 3-17 Modern & Contemporary Middle Eastern Art, Nov 4-24 Topographical Pictures, including China Trade Paintings (online) ends, Nov 5 The Collector - Live, Nov 12 The Collector (online) ends Nov 17 Art of the Islamic and Indian Orientalist Art, Nov 18 Finest and Rarest Wines and Spirits, Nov 19 Russian Art, Nov 23 Old Masters, Dec 3 Valuable Books and Manuscripts, Dec 9 Dix Noonan Webb, 16 Bolton St, Piccadilly, W1J 8BQ 020 7016 1700 www.dnw.co.uk Coins and Historical Medals, Nov 3 Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria, Nov 12, Dec 10 The Collection of British Tokens formed by John Rose, Nov 17 Jewellery, Watches, Antiquites and Objects of Vertu, Nov 24 Coins, Tokens and Historical Medals, Dec 2 Elmwood’s Auctioneers 101 Talbot Road, London, W11 2AT 0207 096 8933 www.elmwoods.co.uk Jewellery, Nov 4 Fine Jewellery, Nov 18 Forum Auctions 220 Queenstown Road, London SW8 4LP, 020 7871 2640 www.forumauctions.co.uk Books and Works on Paper (online), Nov 5, Nov 25 Selected Books from Rugby School Library, Nov 18 Editions and Works on Paper, Nov 19 Hansons Auctioneers The Normansfield Theatre, 2A Langdon Park, Teddington

TW11 9PS, 0207 018 9300 www.hansonsauctioneers.com None listed at the time of going to press Lyon & Turnbull 22 Connaught Street, London, W2 2AF 0207 930 9115 www.lyonandturnbull.com Fine Asian Works of Art, Nov 5 Olympia Auction 25 Blythe Road, London, W14 OPD. 020 7806 5541 www.olympiaauctions.com European & Asian Works of Art, Nov 18 Antique Arms, Armour and Militaria, Dec 2 Morton and Eden Nash House, St. George Street, London, W1S 2FQ 020 7493 5344 www.mortonandeden.com Coins and Historical Medals, Nov 4-5 Medals, Orders and Decorations, Nov 18-19 Phillips, 30 Berkeley Square, London, W1J 6EX, 020 7318 4010, www.phillips.com Design, Nov 4 Watches (online), Nov 5 Roseberys, Knights Hill, SE27 020 8761 2522 www.roseberys.co.uk Design: Decorative Arts 1860 to Present Day, Nov 3 Modern and Contemporary British Art, Nov 4 Chinese, Japanese and South East Asian Art to include the van Daalen Collection of Chinese Art, Nov 11 Artsy: Urban and Contemporary, Nov 17 to Dec 1 Old Master, 18th, 19th-Century Pictures, Nov 24 Fine and Decorative, Nov 25 Jewellery and Watches, Dec 2 Impressionist, Modern, Post-War and Contemporary Art, Dec 3 Sotheby’s, New Bond St., W1 020 7293 5000 www.sothebys.com Fine Japanese Art, Nov 3 Important Chinese Art, Nov 4

The Weekly Edit: Fine Jewels (online), Nov 4-9, Nov 29 to Dec 3 44 Fitzwilliam Square: Works from the Estate of the Late Patrick Kelly, Nov 10 20th-Century Art: A Different Perspective (online), Nov 5-11 Contemporary Curated (online), Nov 10-17 Scottish Art (online), Nov 10-17 Russian Works of Art, Fabergé and Icons, Nov 24 Russian Pictures, Nov 24 Distilled, Finest and Rarest Spirits (online), Nov 20 to Dec 1 Old Master Prints including Property from the Collection of the Late Walter L. Strauss (online), Nov 27 to Dec 3 European and British Art (online), Dec 2-9 SOUTH EAST AND EAST ANGLIA: Inc. Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex Beeston Auctions, Unit 12, Paynes Business Park, Dereham Road, Beeston, Norfolk, PE32 2NQ, 01328 598080 www.beestonauctions.co.uk Vintage Toys, Nov 11 Antiques, Collectables & Interiors, Nov 12 Bishop and Miller, 19 Charles Industrial Estate, Stowmarket, Suffolk, IP14 5AH 01449 673088 www.bishopandmiller auctions.co.uk Mr Bishop’s Interiors, Nov 3, Dec 1 Coins, Cigarette Cards, Stamps & Post Cards Auction, Nov 5 Military, Medals & Weapons, Nov 6 Mr Bishops Rural, Domestic and Industrial Bygones, Nov 17 Silver and Fine Art, Non 26 Period Oak and Folk Art, Nov 27 Music and Memorabilia, Dec 3 Jewellery and Watches, Dec 4 Ceramics, Dec 8 20th-Century Collectable Ceramics, Dec 8 Gentleman’s Library Auction, Dec 10

Bellmans Newpound, Wisborough Green, West Sussex, RH14 0AZ 01403 700858 www.bellmans.co.uk Interiors including, Fine Paintings, Clocks & Silver (live online) Nov 24-26 The Friday Sale (live online), Nov 27

Burr’s Terrahawks - The Bray Studios Production, Nov 30 Jewellery, Watches and Coins, Dec 3 Silver and Fine Art, Dec 4 Antiques, Clocks and Antique Furniture, Dec 5

Burstow & Hewett The Auction Gallery, Lower Lake, Battle, East Sussex,TN33 0AT 01424 772 374 www.burstowandhewett.co.uk Antiques, Nov 11 Fine Art, Nov 12

Excalibur Auctions Limited Unit 16 Abbots Business Park Primrose Hill Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, WD4 8FR 020 3633 0913 wwwexcaliburauctions.com Advertising & Travel and Railwayana Auction, Nov 7 Vintage Toys and Model Railways Auction, Nov 21

Cheffins Clifton House, Clifton Road, Cambridge, CB1 7EA 01223 213343 www.cheffins.co.uk ‘Carats and Clarets’ The Jewellery, Silver, Watches & Wine Sale, Nov 6 The Interiors Sale, Nov 12, Dec 10 The Fine Sale, Nov 26

John Nicolson’s Longfield, Midhurst Road Fernhurst, Haslemere Surrey, GU27 3HA 01428 653727 www.johnnicholsons.com Fine Paintings, Nov 4, Dec 2 Oriental and Islamic, Nov 11

Clarke and Simpson Campsea Ashe, Nr. Wickham Market, Suffolk, IP13 0PS 01728 746323 www.clarkeandsimpson.co.uk The Monday Sale, Nov 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, Dec 7 Art Deco, Design and Retro, Nov 11 Antique and Fine Art, Dec 9

Lacy Scott & Knight, 10 Risbygate St, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 3AA, 01284 748 623 www.lskauctioncentre.co.uk Home and Interiors, Nov 7 Toys and Models, Nov 19 Homes and Interiors, Dec 5

Durrants Auctions The Old School House, Peddars Lane, Beccles, Suffolk, NR34 9UE 01502 713490 www.durrantsauctions.com General Antiques with Furniture featuring Norfolk and Suffolk Items, Nov 6 Silver and Jewellery, Nov 13, Dec 11 Clocks and Watches, Nov 20 Wines, Spirits and Breweriana, Nov 27 General Antiques with Furniture, Dec 4 Ewbank’s, London Rd, Send, Woking, Surrey 01483 223 101 www.ewbankauctions.co.uk Antique & Collectors’ incl. Silver, Nov 11 Asian Art, Nov 12 Vintage Fashion, Textiles & Sewing, Nov 11 James Bond 007 - ‘A Time To Buy’, Nov 20 Gerry Anderson & Christopher

Reeman Dansie No. 8 Wyncolls Road Severalls Business Park, Colchester, CO4 9HU 01206 754754 www.reemandansie.com Homes and Interiors (online) Nov 10 Picures and Collectables (timed online), Nov 1-15 Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers, Cambridge Road, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, CM24 8GE 01279 817778 www.sworder.co.uk Books and Maps (timed), Oct 23-Nov 1 Modern British and 20th-century Art Pt. II, Nov 1 Asian Art (live online), Nov 6 The Captain Tom Foundation (timed), ends Nov 8 Fine Wine and Spirits (timed), ends Nov 8 Homes and Interiors, incl. Toys (live online), Nov 11 Fine Jewellery, Watches and Luxury Handbags (live online),

Nov 17 Homes and Interiors, incl. Militaria (live online), Nov 25 Jewellery, Gifts and Wine (live online), Dec 1 The London Sale (live online), Dec 2 Two-day Sale - Fine Interiors (including Silver) (live online), Dec 8-9 T.W. Gaze, Diss Auction Rooms, Roydon Road, Diss, Norfolk, IP22 4LN, Norfolk 01379 650306. www.twgaze.com Architectural Salvage and Statuary, Nov 4 Vintage Fashion (online), Nov 5 Antiques (online), Nov 6, 13, 20, 27 Militaria (online), Nov 11 Clocks and Watches (online), Nov 12 Gallery (online), Nov 18 Beswick (online), Nov 25

Gloucestershire, GL7 5UQ 01285 860006 www.dominicwinter.co.uk Printed Books, Maps & Documents, Scottish Topography from the David Wilson Library, Nov 11 Military & Aviation History, Medals & Militaria, Collections of Barnes Wallis & Winston Churchill, Nov 12 Vintage Photography & Cameras, China, Formosa & Japan, The Jack Webb Collection of Military Images, Nov 18

British Bespoke Auctions The Old Boys School, Gretton Rd, Winchcombe, Cheltenham, GL54 5EE 01242 603005 www.bespokeauctions.co.uk Antiques, Nov 4

Dreweatts Donnington Priory Newbury Berkshire RG14 2JE 01635 553 553 www.dreweatts.com The Spirit of the English Country House: Property from James McWhirter, James Graham-Stewart and Alexander Di Carcaci, Nov 4 Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art (Part 1) (live online), Nov 11 Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art (Part 2) and Japanese, Islamic, and Indian Ceramics and Works of Art, Nov 12 Old Master, British and European Art, Nov 24 Fine Jewellery, Watches and Silver, Nov 25 Fine and Rare Wine and Spirits, Nov 26 Fine Furniture, Sculpture, Clocks, Carpets, Ceramics and Works of Art, Dec 9

Chorley’s, Prinknash Abbey Park, Gloucestershire, GL4 8EU 01452 344499 www.chorleys.com Fine Art & Antiques, Silver & Jewellery, Books, Nov 24

Duke’s, Brewery Square, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 1GA, 01305 265080 www.dukes-auctions.com Asian Art, Nov 9 Avenue Auction, Nov 17

David Lay Auctions Penzance Auction House Alverton, Penzance, Cornwall 01736 361414 www.davidlay.co.uk Antiques and Selected Items, Nov 19-20

East Bristol Auctions, Unit 1, Hanham Business Park, Memorial Road, Hanham, BS15 3JE 0117 967 1000 www.eastbristol.co.uk Monthly, Nov 5-6 Jewellery, Nov 12 Fine Art and Antiques, Nov 13 Military, History and Transportation, Nov 20

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

Dawsons Kings Grove Estate, Maidenhead, Berkshire | SL6 4DP 01628 944100 www.dawsonsauctions.co.uk Asian Art, Nov 5 Dominic Winter Auctioneers, Mallard House, Broadway Lane, South Cerney, Cirencester,

Gardiner Houlgate, 9 Leafield Way, Corsham, Wiltshire, SN13 9SW 01225 812912 www.gardinerhoulgate.co.uk Jewellery, Nov 25 Antiques, Silver and Works of Art, Nov 26 ANTIQUE COLLECTING 61

Paintings and Prints, Nov 26 Decorative Arts & 20th Century Design; Modern Art, Nov 26 The Guitar Sale, Dec 9 Entertainment Memorabilia, Guitar Amps & Effects, Dec 10 Musical Instruments, Dec 11 HRD Auction Rooms Ltd The Auction Rooms, Quay Lane Brading, Isle of Wight PO36 0AT, 01983 402222 www.hdrauctionrooms.co.uk Antique & Modern, Nov 18 Lawrences Auctioneers Ltd. Crewkerne, Somerset, TA18 8AB, 01460 703041 www.lawrences.co.uk The John Maitland Motor Racing Photographic Archive and Library, Automobilia and Historic Cycling, Nov 17 The Bryan Goodman Social Motoring Photographic Archive and Library, Nov 18 Mallams Oxford, Bocardo House, St Michael’s St, Oxford. 01865 241358 www.mallams.co.uk Jewellery and Watches, Nov 18 Silver and Objets de Vertu, Nov 19 Design, Dec 3 Modern and Post-War Art, Dec 4 Mallams Cheltenham, 26 Grosvenor St, Cheltenham. Gloucestershire, 01242 235 712 www.mallams.co.uk Chinese Art, Nov 4 Japanese, Islamic and Asian Art, Nov 5 Mallams Abingdon, Dunmore Court, Wootten Road, Abingdon, OX13 6BH 01235 462840 www.mallams.co.uk The Home Sale, Nov 9 The Collectors’ Sale, Dec 7 Philip Serrell, Barnards Green Rd, Malvern, Worcs. WR14 3LW, 01684 892314 www.serrell.com Antique and Fine Art, Nov 5 Interiors, Nov 19

62 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Stroud Auctions, Bath Rd Trading Estate, Bath Rd, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 3QF 01453 873 800 www.stroudauctions.co.uk Guns, weapons, medals, militaria, sporting, taxidermy, toys, classic cars, motorbikes & transport, Nov 4-5 The Pedestal, The Dairy, Stonor Park, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire RG9 6HF, United Kingdom. 01491 522733 www.thepedestal.com Design for Living, Nov 10 Woolley & Wallis, 51-61 Castle Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP1 3SU, 01722 424500 www.woolleyandwallis.co.uk Fine Chinese Paintings & Works of Art, Nov 10 Japanese Works of Art, Nov 10 Asian Art II, Nov 11 Fine Jewellery, Nov 17 English & European Ceramics & Glass, Nov 24 Silver & Objects of Vertu - Day 1 & Day 2, Nov 25, Nov 26 Modern British & 20th-Century Art, Dec 9 EAST MIDLANDS: Inc. Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Sheffield Batemans, Ryhall Rd, Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 1XF 01780 766 466 www.batemans.com Jewellery & Watches, Silver & Gold, Nov 20 Fine Art, Antiques & Specialist Collectors, Dec 5 Gildings Auctioneers, The Mill, Great Bowden Road, Market Harborough, LE16 7DE 01858 410414, www.gildings.co.uk Antiques and Collectors, Nov 3 Aero Model Engines and Kits, Nov 10 Toys, Memorabilia, and Scale Model Railway, Nov 10 Golding Young & Mawer The Bourne Auction Rooms,

Spalding Road, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9LE 01778 422686 www.goldingyoung.com Bourne Collective Sale, Nov 4-5, Dec 2-3 Golding Young & Mawer The Grantham Auction Rooms, Old Wharf Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire NG31 7AA 01476 565118 www.goldingyoung.com Grantham Collective Sale, Nov 11-12, Dec 9-10 Golding Young & Mawer The Lincoln Auction Rooms, Thos Mawer House, Station Road, North Hykeham, Lincoln LN6 3QY 01522 524984 www.goldingyoung.com Lincoln Collective, Nov 18-19 WEST MIDLANDS: Inc. Birmingham, Coventry, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Bigwood Auctioneers, Stratford-Upon-Avon Warwickshire, CV37 7AW 01789 269415 www.bigwoodauctioneers.com Furnishings, Interiors and Collectables, Nov 13, Dec 11 Christmas Sale of Antiques and Collectables, Nov 27 Christmas Sale of Wines and Spirits, Dec 3 Cuttlestones Ltd, Wolverhampton Auction Rooms, No 1 Clarence Street, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, WV1 4JL, 01902 421985 www.cuttlestones.co.uk Specialist Collectors’, Nov 27 Cuttlestones Ltd, Pinfold Lane Penkridge Staffordshire ST19 5AP, 01785 714905 www.cuttlestones.co.uk Antiques and Interiors, Nov 4, 18, Winter Antiques, Dec 3 Fellows, Augusta House, 19 Augusta Street, Hockley, Birmingham, B18 6JA 0121 212 2131

www.fellows.co.uk Pawnbrokers Jewellery and Watches, Nov 5, 19, Dec 3 Fine Jewellery, Nov 12, Dec 3 Fine Jewellery (online), Nov 19 The Designer Collection, Nov 23 Antiques, Silver and Collectables, Nov 30 Watches, Dec 7 Watches & Watch Accessories (online), Dec 8 Fieldings, Mill Race Lane, Stourbridge, DY8 1JN 01384 444140 www.fieldingsauctioneers.co.uk The November Sale including Mantiques, Nov 12-13 The December Sale including Jewellery and Silver, Dec 10-11 Halls, Bowmen Way, Battlefield, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY4 3DR 01743 450700 www.hallsgb.com/fine-art Antiques and Interiors, Nov 4 The Christmas Auction, Dec 9 Hansons, Bishton Hall, Wolseley Bridge, Stafford, ST18 0XN, 0208 9797954 www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk The Georgian Auction 1714-1830; History of the Sparrow Family, Nov 3 Iconic 20th-Century Design, Nov 6 Antiques & Collectors, Nov 21 The Best of Britain - Antiques from Country Homes, Dec 1 Kingham & Orme, 01386 244224 www.kinghamandorme.com Davies House, Davies Road, Evesham, Worcestershire WR11 1YZ. Interiors and Collectables, Nov 20 Fine and Decorative Arts, Dec 4-5 Mellors & Kirk, The Auction House, Gregory Street, Nottingham NG7 2NL, 0115 979 0000 www.mellorsandkirk.com Fine Art Antiques & Collectors, Nov 18-19 Potteries Auctions, Unit 4A, Aspect Court, Silverdale Enterprise Park, Newcastle,

AUCTION: WEDNESDAY 18th NOVEMBER 2020

Forthcoming auction

Jewellery, Watches and Objects of Vertu Tuesday 24th November at 1pm to be held in our Mayfair Salerooms

We are delighted to offer readers of Antique Collecting magazine a FREE copy of the auction catalogue

Please email jewellery@dnw.co.uk

A CHINESE CANTON ENAMEL SNUFF BOX, QIANLONG, MID 18TH CENTURY, Estimate £500-800

Dix Noonan Webb

London Specialist Auctioneers

16 Bolton Street Mayfair London W1J 8BQ

www.dnw.co.uk

Malvern Flea & Collectors Fair Three Counties Showground, Worcestershire, WR13 6NW. Sunday 1st Nov Sunday 13th Dec

Entrance: 7.30am - 3.30pm - £5

Malvern Antiques & Collectors Fair The 1st November Fair has been changed to a

Flea & Collectors Fair (see above for details)

Detling Antiques, Vintage & Collectors Fair

The Kent County Showground, Detling, Maidstone, Kent. ME14 3JF.

7th - 8th November

Sat: Early Entry: 8.30am - £6 Sat: Entry: 10am-4.30pm - £5 Sun: 10.30am - 3.30pm - £4 PLEASE CHECK that this event will go ahead as a two day fair

Please check www.b2bevents.info in case fairs have changed or been cancelled

Tel: 01636 676531 • www.b2bevents.info ANTIQUE COLLECTING 63

Staffordshire, ST5 6SS, 01782 638100 www.potteriesauctions.com Rare 20th-Century British Pottery, Collectors’ Items, Jewellery, Household Items, Antique & Quality Furniture, Nov 14 20th Century British Pottery, Collectors Items, Household items, Antique & Quality Furniture, Dec 12 Trevanion & Dean The Joyce Building, Station Rd, Whitchurch, Shropshire, SY13 1RD, 01928 800 202 www.trevanionanddean.com Fine Art and Antiques, Nov 28 NORTH: Inc. Cheshire, Co. Durham, Cumbria, Humberside, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Sheffield, Yorkshire Adam Partridge Withyfold Drive, Macclesfield, Cheshire, 01625 431 788 www.adampartridge.co.uk Furniture & Interiors with Asian Art, Stamps, Postcards & Ephemera, Nov 5 Studio Ceramics & Modern Design, Nov 27 Silver, Jewellery, Watches & Boutique, Dec 4 Adam Partridge The Liverpool Saleroom, 18 Jordan Street, Liverpool, L1 OBP 01625 431 788 www.adampartridge.co.uk Antiques & Collectors’ Items with Maritime Antiques, Nov 4 Antiques & Collectors’ Items with Toys, Wines & Spirits, Dec 2 Anderson and Garland Crispin Court, Newbiggin Lane, Westerhope, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE5 1BF0191 432 1911 www.andersonandgarland.com Town and County, Nov 4, 18, The Music Auction, Nov 5 The Stamps & Coins Auction, Nov 19 The Pictures Auction, Nov 20 Fine Watches, Dec 1 Fine Silver and Jewellery, Dec 1

64 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Wine and Whisky, Dec 1 Winter Country House and Fine Interiors, Dec 2-3 Capes Dunn The Auction Galleries, 40 Station Road, Heaton Mersey, SK4 3QT, 0161 273 1911 www.capesdunn.com Interiors, Vintage & Modern Effects, Nov 2, 18, 30, European Ceramics & Glass; Oriental Ceramics & Works of Art, Nov 3 Colllectors with Toys, Nov 17 Jewellery, Silver, Watches & Gold Coins Toys, Dec 1 David Duggleby Auctioneers Vine Street Salerooms Scarborough, North Yorkshire YO11 1XN, 01723 507 111 www.daviddugleby.com The Autumn Art Sale, Nov 6 The Country House Sale, Nov 6 Coins, Banknotes and Stamps, Nov 19 Decorative Antiques and Collectors, Nov 20, 27 Affordable Art, Nov 21 The Furnishings Sale, Nov 21 Jewellery, Watches and Silver, Nov 26, Dec 10 Furniture, Clocks and Interiors, Nov 27 Militaria, Antique and Sporting Weapons, Dec 4 Elstob & Elstob, Ripon Business Park, Charter Road, Ripon, North Yorkshire HG4 1AJ 01677 333003 www.elstobandelstob.co.uk Jewellery, Nov 28 Hansons, Heage Lane, Etwall, Derbyshire, DE65 6LS 01283 733988 www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk Antiques and Collectors, Nov 12-18, Dec 10-15 Medals, Militaria and Firearms, Nov 20 Antiques and Collectors - Great Interiors, Nov 21 The Toy Auction, including ‘80s and ‘90s Gaming, Nov 21 The One-Day Derbyshire Fine Art Auction, Nov 24

Peter Wilson Fine Art Victoria Gallery, Market St, Nantwich, Cheshire. 01270 623 878 www.peterwilson.co.uk 20th-Century Art and Design, Nov 12 Arms and Militaria, Dec 3 Fine Jewellery and Watches, Dec 10

Wilkinson’s Auctioneers, The Old Salesroom, 28 Netherhall Road, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN1 2PW, 01302 814 884 www.wilkinsons-auctioneers.co.uk Period Oak, Country Furniture and Effects, Nov 29

Sheffield Auction Gallery, Windsor Road, Heeley, Sheffield, S8 8UB. 0114 281 6161 www.sheffieldauctiongallery.com Specialist Collectable Toys, Nov 12 Antiques and Collectables, Nov 13, 27

Bonhams, Queen St, Edinburgh. 0131 225 2266 www.bonhams.com Whisky, Dec 9

Tennants Auctioneers, Leyburn, North Yorkshire, 01969 623780 www.tennants.co.uk Antiques and Interiors, Nov 6, Nov 21, Dec 5 Fine Jewellery, Watches & Silver, Nov 14 Autumn Fine Sale, Nov 14 Traditional Pictures, Nov 14 Coins and Banknotes, Nov 18 Books, Maps & Ephemera, Nov 18 The Fan Collection, Nov 20 The Pattern Sale, Nov 20 Costume & Textiles, Nov 21 Beswick & Border Fine Arts, Dec 5 Toys, Models, Sporting & Fishing, Dec 9 Thomson Roddick and Medcalf, Coleridge House, Shaddongate, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA2 5TU 01228 5289939 www.thomsonroddick.com Home Furnishings and Interiors, Nov 17 Vintage LPs, Vinyl and Music, Nov 23 Collectors, Dec 9 Vectis Auctions Ltd, Fleck Way, Thornaby, Stockton on Tees, TS17 9JZ www.vectis.co.uk 01642 750616 Dolls and Teddy Bear, Nov 10 General Toys, Nov 11 Specialist, Nov 18-19 Model Trains, Nov 20 Military, Civilian Figures, and Accessories, Nov 24 Matchbox, Nov 26

SCOTLAND

Great Western Auctions 1291 Dumbarton Road Whiteinch, Glasgow G14 9UY, 0141 954 1500 greatwesternauctions.com Furniture and Interiors, Nov 11, Dec 9 Two-Day Antiques and Collectables, Nov 13-14 Three-Day Winter Fine Art and Antiques, Nov 15, 27, 28 Lyon & Turnbull, Broughton Pl., Edinburgh. 0131 557 8844 www.lyonandturnbull.com Decorative Arts: Design since 1860, Nov 2-3 Fine Asian Works of Art, Nov 5 Five Centuries: Furniture, Paintings & Works of Art, Nov 18 Asian Works of Art (live online), Nov 18 Jewellery, Watches & Silver, Dec 2 Whisky & Spirits, Dec 2 Scottish Paintings & Sculpture, Dec 3 WALES Anthemion Auctions, 15 Norwich Road, Cardiff, Wales, CF23 9AB 029 2047 2444 www.anthemionauction.com General Sale, Nov 5 Furniture, Works of art, Books, Sporting memorabilia, Nov 18 Peter Francis, Towyside Salerooms, Old Station Rd, Carmarthen, SA31 1JN, 01267 233456 www.peterfrancis.co.uk Autumn Fine Sale, Nov 11 Antiques & Collectors, Nov 25

•WANTED•

for epic East Yorkshire Georgian townhouse restoration.

Signed and unusual furniture. Georgian, Regency, William IV. Sofa / Pembroke / side tables, library furniture / bookcases. Also Victorian campaign chests, armchairs etc. Ross of Dublin, Morgan & Sanders, Williams & Gibton, James Winter, Hill & Millard and many others. J Alderman. Daws and George Minter reclining chairs. Shoolbred/ Hamptons / Cornelius Smith Victorian armchairs. Marble fire surrounds. Georgian / Regency/ William IV. Bullseyes etc. Exceptional Georgian / Regency fire grates Sash windows x 4 identical. Georgian reclaimed. Approx 58” high x 36” wide. Wide reclaimed floorboards. Approx 100 m2. Early decorative oil / gas / electric light fittings. Ceiling, wall or table. Early gasoliers. Colza lamps. Gimble lamp. Roland Ward, Van Ingen taxidermy. Human skull. Hippopotamus skull. Stuffed crocodile / alligator. Quirky architectural features. Regency columns, corbels, marble and stone pieces, over door pediments, folding/rolling multi part Georgian room dividing doors. Victorian canopy shower bath. Decorated toilets etc Unitas, Simplicitas, Deluge etc. Decorated basins x 3.

vintagejewellery@yahoo.co.uk or tel 07958 333442

•WANTED•

VINTAGE WRISTWATCHES Omega Seamasters and pre-1980s Omegas in general. IWC and aeger eCoultres, all styles. oo ing or Reversos. American mar et ﬁlled and 14k pieces possibly, at the right price. Breitling Top Times, Datoras and 806 Navitimers. Pre-1960s Rolex models, with a focus in pre-war tanks, tonneaus etc. Gold or silver/steel. Also World War I Rolex 13 lignes etc. Princes.

Longines, Tudors and Zeniths, pre-1970. Even basic steel models in nice condition. All the quirky oddities like Harwoods, Autorists, Wig Wag, Rolls etc, and World War I hunter and semi-hunter wristwatches. Early, pre-war ladies’ watches also wanted by Rolex, Jaeger LeCoultre etc. Prefer 1920s/30s deco styles, but early doughnuts also considered.

PM Antiques & Collectables are a modern and innovative antiques retailer based in Surrey. Specialising in a wide array of collector’s items, including contemporary art, entertainment and memorabilia, vintage toys, decorative ceramics, watches and automobilia.

We Buy & Sell pm-antiques.co.uk Contact us: phil@pm-antiques.co.uk 01932 640113

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

vintagejewellery@yahoo.co.uk or tel 07958 333442

PMAntiques2015

PM_Antiques

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 65

LAST WORD Marc Allum

Marc My Words This month Marc Allum is happy to liberate lives stuck in limbo, passing their legacy on to the next generation

to our possessions that we are prepared to pay huge amounts of money, year after year, to store objects of no intrinsic worth what-so-ever. But I get no joy from doing these kinds of valuations because it’s often quite heartbreaking to see family photos and personal possessions sold off or consigned to the bin to cover the unpaid rent. Of course, the contents rarely offset the bills and despite knowing that people are always given ample opportunity to sort out the situation, it never-the-less, always feels sad.

HELD IN LIMBO

was recently reminded of how much time I’ve spent rummaging through shipping containers in cavernous storage facilities. Rather like the final scenes in Raiders of the Lost Ark, these often vast repositories evoke a sense of countless familial microcosms, dormant and cold, sometimes abandoned and sad. The job, a referral from another client, consisted of cataloguing the ‘life’ – and that’s the best way to describe it – of the most incredible man. His library and eclectic possessions were gathered from the far reaches of the globe during the early 20th century. Contextually they represented a fast-changing world when the British Empire, although still mighty, was being radically assailed by burgeoning, upcoming, potentially powerful nations fed-up with the shackles of imperialism. His role as a diplomat in China and Persia was the stuff worthy of novels, and

the overawing impression of the man, through his legacy of artefacts, was one of those days that will always stick in my memory. So despite being cold, having no toilet facilities and no way of making a cup of coffee (I’ve never been efficient enough to take a flask), it felt heart-warmingly good to help realise the legacy of this venerable gentleman by at last liberating his memory from years of storage.

UNPAID BILLS Of course, not all storage jobs have such good prospects and there have been many occasions when I have been called to dissipate the life-long accumulations of families and individuals that have fallen foul of paying the monthly bills. I’ve always maintained that owning storage facilities must be one of the most lucrative businesses in the world, because – as humans – we are so emotionally tied

‘His possessions represented a fast-changing world when the British Empire, although still mighty, was being radically assailed by burgeoning, upcoming, potentially powerful nations fed-up with the shackles of imperialism’ 66 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

The occasional family feud means that storage facilities are sometimes the neutral ground on which to meet. Valuing heirlooms held in limbo until a reasonable resolution can be reached, has seen me visit shipping containers with such frequency I’ve got to know the staff on first name terms. Likewise, the owners of removal and shipping companies that relocate families around the world have also used me for insurance valuations when the odd removal accident has occurred. Not the prettiest sight when a ‘crate’ has fallen from the third layer of the stack after an awkward fork-lift truck manoeuvre. Impartiality is naturally of great importance and then it’s sometimes a case of the loss adjusters arguing it out. And, by the way, marine insurance is very different. However, my advice, if you are thinking about putting your possessions into storage; then carefully assess the economies of doing it. The bills can soon mount! Marc Allum is a specialist on Antiques Roadshow as well as an author and lecturer, for more details go to www.marcallum.com Above left Marc calls on his inner Indiana Jones to get to the heart of the matter Below A cavernous journey awaits, image

Shutterstock

WILKINSON,S AUCTIONEERS THE OLD SALEROOMS, 28 NETHERHALL ROAD, DONCASTER, DN1 2PW, ENGLAND Tel: +44 (0) 1302 814884 Fax: +44 (0) 1302 814883 Email: sid@wilkinsons-auctioneers.co.uk Website: www.wilkinsons-auctineers.co.uk

Period Oak, Country Furniture and Effects

Sale Date: Sunday 29th November 2020 commencing at 11am. Closed Door Sale - Commission, Online and Telephone Bidding Only. Viewing: By Appointment Only, week commencing 16th November and week commencing 23rd November

Fully printed catalogues available for Â£8.50. Debit & Credit Cards Accepted.

1965 Rolex GMT-Master Pepsi Estimate: £15,000 William George & Co

George IV silver candlesticks Estimate: £350–520 Adam’s

Coffee table, Herman Miller Estimate: £760–1,150 Wright

Marble bust Late 19th/early 20th century Estimate: £11,500–15,500 Christie’s

Sear c 2000 h over a uct hous es fr ion om over the w all orld Andy Warhol, Mick Jagger Estimate: £30,000–50,000 Sotheby’s

Pumpkin, Yayoi Kusama (b.1929) Hammer price: £550 Forum Auctions

Hermès bag Kelly Starting price: £7,500 Stockholms Auktionsverk

Your search for art, design, antiques and collectables starts here

May Day V, Andreas Gursky Estimate: £450,000–650,000 Phillips

Mahogany dresser Estimate: £500–660 Uppsala Auktionskammare

Swivel chair by Hans J. Wegner Estimate: £2,460–3,300 Bruun Rasmussen

Style of Serge Mouille, ca. 1950s Estimate: £300–460 Rago Arts

Edwardian Art Noveau frame Estimate: £200–300 Tennants

Emerald cut diamond ring Fixed price: £27,400 Once Upon A Diamond

Without title, Alexander Calder Estimate: £430–600 Artcurial

Edwardian arm chair, ca. 1910 Fixed price: £3,850 Wick Antiques

Find the true value of your treasures - only £13. Visit barnebys.co.uk/valuation