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SALEROOM NEWS JULY 2018 GOLDEN WONDER Country house furniture shines in July A wonderful variety of furniture, works of art and pictures from eminent British country houses will go under the hammer on 24th & 25th July. Pieces originally in the collection of singer and songwriter Roger Whittaker at Cubberley House in Herefordshire include “The Whitaker Table”; this marquetry inlaid maple and thuya wood table (Lot 728) was designed by the singer’s namesake, Henry Whitaker, an influential designer of the mid-19th Century. While at Cubberley, the table stood beside the piano where some of Whittaker’s songs were created and probably formed part of the suite of furniture made by Henry Whitaker for the Conservative and Unionist Club in London. Another table from this suite was acquired by the Victoria & Albert Museum in 1960. The example offered by Chorley’s is estimated at £20,000-30,000.
Lot 726
Other pieces from Cubberley include a painting from the workshop of Paolo Panini (Lot 379) depicting figures among classical ruins, estimated at £6,000-8,000. An interesting French singing bird automaton (Lot 1004) heads the Works of Art section and should fly away with an estimate of £2,000-3,000.
Lot 728 Lot 1004
Lot 379
An impressive suite of gilded French style furniture (Lot 726) carries an estimate of £8,000£10,000 and is complemented by other Continental furniture including a magnificent 19th Century ormolu mounted kingwood cabinet (£6,000-8,000) and a Vernis Martin three-panel screen (£2,000-2,500).
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AUCTION PREVIEW: Tuesday 24 & Wednesday 25 July
Among the fine array of clocks from Foscombe are a George III bracket clock by John Ellicott (Lot 1030), in a burr walnut case which asks £10,000-15,000 and a good quarter-striking carriage clock by Charles Frodsham £6,000-8,000. Both beautiful and useful, a French cartel clock and barometer in matching cases (Lot 1028), were purchased in 1980 from The H J Joel Collection at Sotheby’s, estimate £6,000-8,000 .
Lot 1028 Lot 978
The July auction features some important clocks and works of art which for many years graced the rooms of Foscombe House near Gloucester. These include one of the finest lots in the sale, a pair of 19th Century ormolu and bronze three-branch three-light candelabra (Lot 978) which were purchased at the sale of the contents of Mentmore Towers, Buckinghamshire in April 1977. The antiques at Mentmore were world-renowned; efforts to save the collection for the nation were thwarted by the Government of the time and the contents were sold in a nine-day auction on the premises. Shortly after the sale, the Government set up The National Heritage Memorial fund to prevent such collections being broken up in future. The Mentmore candelabra are now offered with an estimate of £12,000-15,000.
Lot 1030
Highlights from other properties include a large Indo-Portuguese mother-of-pearl and tortoiseshell tray, later mounted as a table (Lot 704). The mother of pearl element would have been created in Gujarat and this type of work was much prized from the 16th to the 18th Century. Spotted on a contents valuation near Tewkesbury it is now offered at £3,000-5,000 and may well find its way back to India where demand for this type of work has been rekindled.
Lot 704
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AUCTION PREVIEW: Tuesday 24 & Wednesday 25 July A beautiful mid-17th Century stumpwork framed mirror (Lot 998) from a collection in Worcestershire is expected to realise between £8,000 and £12,000. The mirror was formerly in the Richmond Collection of Early English Needlework and the border depicts figures and animals representing the Continents.
As the hot weather looks set to continue this summer, a selection of fans should help collectors to stay cool. Estimates range from £60 to £1,000, meaning there is something for every pocket. The highlight is an 18th Century example with decorative pierced sticks carved as cherubs and the leaf painted with figures; it is contained in an elaborate case for display, estimate £800-1,000 (Lot 1054).
Lot 1054
Lot 998
With additional contents from The Old Manor House, Tetbury and Tivoli Lodge, Cheltenham the sale also includes ceramics, silver, jewellery and rugs.
A strong picture section includes a wonderfully naïve depiction of a Red Ayrshire cow (Lot 430). This huge beast was exhibited in Perth in 1829 where it weighed in at a mighty 113 stone! Painted by James Howe, it should achieve expectations of £2,000-3,000.
Viewing: Sunday 22 July 10am-4pm Monday 23 July 9am-5pm Sale mornings 8.30am-10am Auction: Tuesday 24 July, 10am. Lots 1-617 Wednesday 25 July, 10am. Lots 620-1113 All figures provided are estimates only.
Lot 430
A buyer’s premium will be added to the hammer price of every lot, and other fees may apply. Please contact us before bidding if you require further details.
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Walking Tall: figure sculpture steals the limelight in May sale The highest selling artwork in Chorley’s Modern & Contemporary Art & Design sale on 15th May was a striking bronze Maquette V: Walking Woman by Lynn Chadwick, one of the leading British Sculptors of the post-war generation. With her signature ‘triangle’ head and dramatic trained dress spiralling out behind her, this tiny but commanding piece was archetypal Chadwick. Famed for the monumental bronze figures which dominate the landscaped grounds of his former home Lypiatt Park, near Stroud, the maquette offered a rare opportunity for bidders to own a Chadwick that would fit on the mantelpiece of even the most modest home. Temptingly estimated at £10,000-15,000, a battle ensued on the telephones amongst the UK art trade but the bronze was finally knocked down to a private British collector for a hammer price of £22,000. Maquette V: Walking Woman was cast in 1986 by Pangolin editions at their foundry in Chalford, just down the road from Chorley’s auction rooms, and was purchased from an exhibition at Beaux Arts in Bath a few months later. The vendor had kept the original receipt of purchase from Beaux Arts, which added to the appeal.
Lynn Chadwick
Lucie Rie
Three colourful vessels by renowned Modernist potter Dame Lucie Rie (1902-1995) also attracted a great deal of attention. Two bowls with a yellow glaze and bronzed manganese drip rim, both impressed with the artist’s seal, sold for £20,000 each. A porcelain bottle vase with a flared rim and bands of manganese and blue glaze with scraffito detailing sold for £15,000, bang on estimate. Other highlights among the studio ceramics included two pieces by John Ward. His white stoneware vessel decorated with green radiating concentric circles sold for £4,500 and a striking stoneware tailed bowl in matt black and white glaze fetched £4,200. The second part of the May auction offered a good selection of fine jewellery and silver ware; notable results were for a rare George III provincial silver Argyle made in 1791 by John Hampston & John Prince in York which exceeded its estimate of £400-600 to sell for £3,200 and a Victorian silver monteith which realised £4,600. An eye-catching pink tourmaline and diamond spray brooch caught the eye of several bidders, selling for a sparkling £2,600.
Our Modern & Contemporary sales have proved to be a great success, with high quality lots attracting new buyers to the saleroom. We are already accepting consignments for our next specialist auction in October - do get in touch with me if you have anything you wish to enter. Frances Robinson
Thanks to everyone who attended our selling exhibition
90@90 Allan Laycock was thrilled with the success of the exhibition, which marked the occasion of his 90th birthday, and has generously donated £1600 from the proceeds of paintings sold to both The Pied Piper Appeal (Chorley’s charity for this year) and The Artist’s Benevolent Fund. He tells us he is looking forward to his next exhibition….100@100 !
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Tourmaline brooch