CALENDAR

APRIL

18th & 19th

20th & 21st

26th & 27th

MAY 17th 23rd, 24th & 25th

JUNE

7th 21st 12th–23rd

JULY

5th & 6th

11th & 12th 13th

SEPTEMBER

6th 19th 20th

Silver & Objects of Vertu

Fine Jewellery

British & Continental Ceramics & Glass

Medals & Coins, Arms & Armour

Asian Art, Chinese Paintings & Japanese Works of Art

Modern British & 20th Century Art

Fine Arts & Crafts (Including Martin Ware)

Exhibition: Robert Wallace Martin

Potter, Sculptor, Artist

Furniture, Works of Art & Clocks

Silver & Objects of Vertu

Fine Jewellery

Old Masters, British & European Paintings

British & Continental Ceramics & Glass

Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas enquiries@woolleyandwallis.co.uk www.woolleyandwallis.co.uk

Right: Stoclet Palace a UNESCO World Heritage site since 2009

Front cover:

A Wiener Werkstätte silver and malachite fruit tray designed by Josef Hoffmann

Estimate £10,000–20,000

Auction on 21st June

Back cover:

A rare Chinese gilded bronze dragon-head finial dating to the Eastern Han dynasty, (25–220AD), 14.5cm

Provenance:

The H K Burnet Collection, sold Sotheby’s 1941; the collection of Mark Dineley (1901–75), and thence by descent.

Similar dragon-head finials are exhibited in both the British Museum, London, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Estimate £20,000–30,000

Auction on 24th May

CHAIRMAN’S INTRODUCTION

Finding Rare Treasures

We are excited to be offering a number of great rarities from the Stoclet Collection, some of which are featured in the following pages. One of the highlights is the exceptional Hoffmann silver table service on the cover of this newsletter. We have ancient Chinese treasures which were exhibited in the early 1900s in the Cernuschi Museum and the Orangerie in Paris, as well as treasures exhibited at the Burlington House Exhibitions of Persian and Chinese Art in the 1930s. There is even a collection of Merovingian style jewellery dating to the 8th century.

Valuers Of The Future

I have always been a believer in training the next generation of auctioneers, and I’m pleased that our programme for trainee valuers announced last year is now well underway. I can report that as well as Archie Swann, we also have Hannah Farthing, who has been in our Paintings department for two years, but has been lured by the wider pull of antiques and art across the board. Archie is currently working with our Furniture department. The monthly exam papers have so far included questions on mazer bowls, Jupe’s patent, duty drawback marks and Billy and Charleys.

In June we will continue to sponsor the Chalke Valley History Festival and the Haughton International Seminar, ‘Looking at Private Museums and Collections’. With the Oriental Ceramic Society, we have recently had a handling session of important Chinese jades that we will be selling in November (see page 41). There are exciting events in the pipeline including a second charity auction on behalf of Horatio’s Garden, and a fabulous exhibition of Martin Brothers Pottery.

John Axford