AUCTION Round up
AROUND the HOUSES This month’s round up includes the war medals of Group Captain Peter Townsend and the wedding ring of doomed poet and author Sylvia Plath
CHEFFINS, CAMBRIDGE
TENNANTS, LEYBURN A colourful patchwork suit worn by the largerthan-life comedian Roy ‘Chubby’ Brown, with a pre-sale estimate of £400-£600, sold for £400 at the North Yorkshire auctioneer’s July 30 sale. Middlesbroughborn Brown, was known for his bawdy and often offensive comedy and his clown-like stage costume consisting of a bright patchwork suit and slippers topped with a leather flying cap and goggles. At a previous sale, an oil on canvas by the Croatian artist Nikola Mašic (1852-1902), with an estimate of £1,200-£1,800, sparked a bidding war before finally selling for £9,500. Characteristic of Mašic’s work, Goat Herders at Rest Before a Rustic Cottage depicted a scene of idyllic rural life. Mašic studied painting in Vienna, Munich and Paris, and was a professor of drawing in Zagreb from 1884 until his death.
The patchwork suit was as colourful as the comedian’s repartee
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ANTIQUE COLLECTING
The mahogany sideboard table sold for £12,000
A mahogany sideboard table, in the manner of Thomas Hope (1769–1831), from c. 1810, fetched £12,000 at the East Anglian auctioneer’s recent sale, against an estimate of £7,000-£10,000. Supported by four lion monopodia with an elaborate brass gallery, the table was, at one time, part of the furnishings of Balls Park in Hertfordshire. Dutch-born Hope was influential as a designer and collector whose work helped define the Regency style. His extensive Grand Tour travels in Europe, Turkey and Egypt inspired his interest in antiquities as a source of designs for Regency interiors, furniture and metalwork.
The giant chess set was created to celebrate the Millenium
The rural idyll was typical of the Croatian artist’s work
EWBANK’S, WOKING A single edition giant chess set by the English studio potter John Maltby (1936-2020) sold for £9,0000 at the Surrey auction house’s recent sale, against an estimate of £4,000-£4,500. Created for the Millennium celebrations at the New Ashgate Gallery in Farnham, each figure has a distinctive, heart-shaped face and bears a shield. They are also individually impressed with a JM seal to the base. At 61 x 61cm, the board itself is of considerable size and set with ceramic tiles. Maltby, who died in December at the age of 85, was greatly inspired by the renowned potter Bernard Leach, working as an apprentice to Leach’s son, David. In 1964, he set up his own studio in Crediton, Devon, establishing a global reputation. His work can be found in the collections of the Victoria & Albert Museum, among others.
