Top of the Lots: A lifetime

TOP of the LOTS

This month’s preview includes books signed by Florence Nightingale and a hat owned by Sir Alf Ramsey which was given to his decorator

An art deco pearl and diamond bracelet worn by Princess Margaret for her 19th birthday photograph taken by Cecil Beaton in 1949, has an estimate of £30,000-£40,000 at Dix Noonan Webb’s sale on September 14.

In his diary Beaton recalled the princess: “Had been up till 5.30 the night before (she likes the peace and anonymity of the 400 nightclub) and towards the end of the two-hour sitting, started to wilt and became very tired.” She was also late for the start of the shoot having returned from a cricket match at Lords. He wrote: “But she is such a quick dresser that a few moments after her return she appeared changed into the new evening dress Hartnell had supplied her that morning.”

Above Princess Margaret wore the bracelet for her 19th birthday shoot

Above right Princess Margaret, © Bettmann Collection via Getty Images

A Regency woolwork picture of a recumbent lion has an estimate of £500-£800 at Woolly and Wallis’s sale on September 22.

The picture is from the Sir Michael Codron collection of lionalia, including animals made from ceramic, woolwork, brass and treen. Codron (b. 1930) is one of the leading producers of post-war British theatre and currently runs the West End’s Aldwych Theatre.

Above The woolwork is from a renowned collection of lionalia

A pair of 18ct gold and diamond floral earrings by popular 20th- century jeweller Cropp & Farr has an estimate of £350-450 at Wilson 55’s sale on September 16.

Founded in 1917, the London based jewellers created brooches, earrings, rings, necklaces, cufflinks and bracelets, each bearing the firms’ maker’s mark ‘C&F’, sometimes within a rectangular surround and frequently accompanied with hallmarks. Six books signed by Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) have an estimate of £3,000£5,000 at Sworders’ timed online sale from September 17 to 26.

The famous nurse gave the books, on geology, history and botany, to WJP Burton the principal of Lea Board School in Holloway, Derbyshire, which was sited in the Nightingale’s former family home.

In an 1893 copy of Macmillan’s Geology Nightingale congratulates Mr Burton on the good he is doing. The collection was consigned for sale at the Essex auctioneers by Burton’s grandchildren.

Above The books were signed in pencil by the famous nurse

An international football cap awarded to Sir Alf Ramsey after a 2-2 draw against Yugoslavia in 1950 has an estimate of £2,000-£3,000 at Lacy Scott & Knight’s sale on September 10. Lady Ramsey gave the hat to the current vendor while he was working as a painter and decorator at her home in Ipswich. A letter from Lady Ramsey confirming the gift is part of the lot.

Memorabilia from the golden age of cycling amassed by Cycle Weekly journalist David Taylor (1937-2020) goes under the hammer in Kent this month.

From descriptions of the earliest bicycles, to the autographs of post-war cycling champions, the collection, on sale at Catherine Southon Auctioneers, is a tour de force of sporting history. It also boasts cycling-related postcards, sketches, ceramics and a vintage display case.

Cycling champions

As well as two annotated programmes for the 1924 Paris Olympics, the collection includes two menu cards from a dinner to honour the members of the British cycling team at the 1948 London Olympics.

The menus are signed by most of the members of both track and road team with autographs including those of silver medallists, including the three times British track champion, Alan Bannister.

Further cycling programmes date from the Olympic and Empire games, including Paris 1924, Amsterdam 1928, Los Angeles 1932 and Berlin 1936.

Early days

The collection also charts the remarkable early history of the bicycle and the men and women who championed it. One of the earliest pieces is an 1896 programme for the second six-day ladies bicycle race at the Royal Aquarium, London.

Among the trade catalogues are two 1839 newspaper cuttings describing the ‘pedestrian accelerator’ popularised in England in 1818-1819, and the once popular, though almost forgotten, ‘Aellopodes’ invented by Thomas Revis in the early 1840s. Kirkpatrick Macmillan (1812-1878) the Scottish blacksmith credited as the inventor of the bicycle is represented in the collection by an order of service at a 1946 memorial. 1

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The sale, along with a large collection of railway signs, takes place at Catherine Sounton Auctioneer’s saleroom in Farleigh on September 15 with viewing two days prior, www.catherinesouthon.co.uk 8

1 A vintage Raleigh wooden display cabinet, 66cm long and 36cm wide, has an estimate of £80-£120 2 A race number signed by cyclists Graeme Obree (b.1965) and Spencer Robert Wingrave (b.1969), pasted on to a scorecard for the 1994 British Cycling Federation National Madison Championship, has an estimate of £50-£80 3 Programmes from a number of cycling events, have an estimate of £50-£80 4 A vintage Hind Cycles enamel sign, 76cm long and 46cm wide, has an estimate of £70-£90 5 A collection of rare late 19th and early 20th-century cycling trade catalogues, advertisements, newspaper cuttings and brochures, has an estimate of £80-£120 6 A collection of rare and interesting 20th-century cycling ephemera relating primarily to the Olympic Games, has an estimate of £150-£200 7 The card is signed by most of the members of the track and road team, including silver medallists Alan Bannister, Ernie Clements, Gordon Thomas and Ian Scott 8 A collection of 19th and 20th-century track cycling programmes, has an estimate of £80-£120 6

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