Gazette 54

TWGAZE GAZETTE

AUGUST 2016 ISSUE 54

The Modern Design School pages 4 & 5

Valuation Day Wymondham Central Hall Saturday 20 August, 10am-2pm Please bring your treasures along for valuation and discussion with our nationally respected valuers.

Cost: 1 Item £2, 3 Items £5

In Aid of Wymondham Rotary Charities Coffee, teas and refreshments Tombola Parking Available in Central Hall Car Park Items may be left for sale We look forward to welcoming you all To learn more about our Rotary Club visit www.rotary-ribi.org/clubs/ homepage.php?ClubID=511

Pink Fizz Reception and Private Auction View in aid of Allergy Uk Wednesday 7 September from 7pm Event to include Auction of Promises for many fantastic items Tickets £5 available from Diss Auction Rooms 01379 650 306 ...Brewery tour for 2 of Adnams…pedal tractor and trailer…4 tickets for an Arsenal FC premier league match…Weekend at Hoveton Hall Luxury B&B…Distillery tour…Tea at House of Commons…Dinner for 2 with overnight say at the Ingham Swan…more being added all the time...

Charity Parachute Jump

by Matthew Brand Correspondent on the ground!

Sunday 10 July was a stop start sort of morning.

After gearing themselves up to go, and watching two plane loads go up and come down, the weather then closed in and the TW Gaze parachute crew were put on indefinite hold.

Two hours passed as the various support teams chatted amongst themselves.

“Cloud watch” became an actual thing, and we tried to second guess if the jump would happen or we would all be sent home!

But by about 12noon we got the news that conditions were now favourable

again, and all systems were go.

As the plane took off and spiralled up into the clouds, it was still a little overcast.

Over 40 pairs of eyes scanned the skies seeking the first glimpse and we collectively listened for the change in engine sound that would herald

Louis Smith

Dan Woods

the start of the jump.

With binoculars and cameras trained at the sky it wasn’t long before the first chute was spotted, and then 60 seconds or so guessing who was who as those relatives and

Evie Rob Kinsella Kinsella

friends on the ground were keen to share in the descent; albeit from a more sensible viewpoint!

And then it was over.

We counted them out and we counted them back. Five TW Gaze staff, all heroes.

Scott Parke

Lisa West

So far the team have raised over £2500 for Allergy UK, Thank you to everyone who has contributed

By Senior Valuer, James Bassam j.bassam@twgaze.co.uk For over twenty years now the interest in ‘Modern Design’, the term given to interiors and collectables of the post war years, has enjoyed a rise in popularity: steady at first, but quickly gaining speed as we entered the second decade of the 21st Century. But, will it continue?

As the organiser of the Modern Design sale held at the Diss Auction Rooms of TW Gaze since it began around 16 years ago I have watched the sale grow and

develop. What started for many as the Kitsch element of the period, with words like “Vintage” and “Retro” irritatingly used to the optimum, is now rather refined. Buyers look for quality, style and investment.

Along with this growth of interest has come a growth and wealth of knowledge. A huge amount of literature is now available on all topics covered by the Midcentury Modern banner and new research is coming to light all the time. A recent example of this being Czech glass of the ‘Sklo Union’. Documents from factories once unknown

to many of us have revealed names of designers, their histories and influences, providing knowledge and understanding which has yielded a renewed market place to rival that of the long established British, Italian or Scandinavian glass makers.

With each new book release comes a peak in collectability.

This gives the feeling, especially to young, fresh collectors, that the old has become new. They are taking pleasure from something which is not new itself (which has been subject to intervening generations dismissing the style of their parents), but they are enjoying going back to an earlier era or mixing eras up. I have seen this more and more in the last few years; the faces that sit before the rostrum on sale day reflect changing trends and it is great to see the mix of ages passionate about the sale.

@TWGaze20thCMod

This eclectic range of buyers have different agendas; from knowledgeable collectors of single fields picking up pieces to enhance their own collections, those looking to furnish their home (who very often will take home more than they bargained for) and specialist dealers with specific clients in mind. As the organiser this means I then get the opportunity to learn from the knowledgeable, advise and suggest to the ‘furnisher’ and assist the dealer in making the desired purchase.

themselves to realise they will last. Some of the key furniture pieces selling today from designers such as Le Corbusier, Mies Van Der Rohe, Marcel Breuer and Charles & Ray Eames were originally produced in the 1920’s, 30’s and 40’s, then rereleased in the 1960’s and 70’s and then again today. This I am sure will continue as every new generation discovers them once more.

Driven by personal ferver I have purposefully steered the sale to a more artisan feel and in recent years featured some wonderful private collections of 20th Century art and sculpture and also several of studio ceramics, a complex field experiencing a resurgence at the moment.

However, the sale will continue to include something for all pockets, as what better way to encourage those young, fresh collectors than affordable lots. After all, it is they who are the future of the Midcentury Modern look.

So how do I see the future of the sale?

As I have said, buyers are refining their tastes and requirements, spending their money much more wisely on those pieces that they not only love, but will hopefully justify the initial investment. The old saying “Quality always sells” still very true.You only have to look at the designs

next sale Saturday 12 November, 2016

Elizabeth Talbot MRICS talks us through a lot appearing on the Saturday Select starting grid likeelizabethtalbot

When the instruction came through that a client “had a Bugatti he wanted me to assess”, the messagetaker presumed it to be a car. Whilst I thought this highly unlikely, I duly returned the call to glean further information and book my valuation visit.

@talktalbot

Carlo Bugatti (1856 1940) was an Italian furniture designer active in the Art Nouveau era. His eclectic, striking designs are unlike any others and are immediately recognisable; he was renowned as “the first in Italy to realise rather than dream modern furniture.”

For most people, the During the second half name Bugatti conjures of the 19th Century up images of Gatsbyartists and designers type roadsters of the were seeking a new 1930s which were kind of design, one designed and built by that was groundEttore Bugatti, breakingly modern and brother of Rembrandt new, whilst being Bugatti, the famous faithfully grounded in sculptor. However, sound design these two immensely principles. The talented brothers Industrial Revolution were the sons of was essentially Carlo Bugatti, a design complete, but the genius working at the factories’ output was end of the nineteenth little more than a and beginning of the reworking of previous twentieth centuries, styles and trends. one of Italy’s most important and Pioneering designers innovative designers. looked to preWhilst Carlo Bugatti industrial and nonworked in ceramics, Western cultures for jewellery, silver and a ‘new’, pure visual textiles, he is best vocabulary, one known for his untainted by the brash, furniture design; so, I formulaic, was very excited to characterless nature find I had been invited of machine to value a piece of his manufacture. Of cabinet furniture. course, these artists

Not a Bugatti Car but a Carlo Bugatti! were still looking to the past, but to a foreign, exotic past, and they were trying to use other cultures as inspiration, not for imitation. The most influential cultures at

Gothic style, as well as by his father, also an architect and sculptor; some of Bugatti’s works could almost be scale models of fantastical buildings. In an industrial era, his

some important pieces having realised sixfigure hammer prices in the last few years.

the time were the Gothic era, Japan, and the Islamic World. Like many designers of his time, Carlo Bugatti turned to these three influences in his own work; but he combined them and transformed them in a totally unique way and avoided the rather overtly Oriental tendencies of some of his peers.

furniture was made out of parchment, bone, mother-of-pearl, pewter, copper and other refined materials.

It was standing in the hallway of a modern domestic dwelling, apologetically tucked in a corner under the sloping underbelly of the staircase, looking slightly incongruous. It was smaller than I had imagined, standing just 148cm tall, with a brittle fragility I wasn’t expecting; Bugatti’s furniture usually has a strong presence and evokes self-assured robustness. Made of wood, with quarterveneered fascia and ebonised balustrading, applied with variously pierced, stamped and worked copper, inlaid in white metal and finished with castellated bone, it had

His furniture is certainly inspired by North African and Islamic designs as well as his interest in animals and nature. He was also influenced by the French architect Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc, a major proponent of the

Bugatti enjoyed much acclaim during his lifetime, although by the time he died he was no longer in style and his sons were ultimately more famous than he.

However, in the 21st Century his work has enjoyed renewed recognition; whilst not to everyone’s taste, its sculptural forms and undeniable originality make his style seem “funky” today, and it is bought eagerly when offered at auction, with

So, what then of the item I inspected?

lost some detail and ornament over the years; but in unrestored condition, its honesty and genuineness shone through.

It has subsequently been consigned for auction at TW Gaze and will feature in the Saturday Select Sale on 3 September. My research determined that such a petite piece, made c. 1897, is a mobile angoliera pensile (mobile hanging corner cupboard), not originally intended to stand on the floor.

Moreover, it had been standing upside down for at least half a Century! Reflecting its size and condition the pre-auction estimate of £2,000 – 3,000 will not turn the world upside down, but what an opportunity to invest in an iconic piece of international design.

The Saturday Select Sale, 3 September 10am

Sporting Guns & Outdoor Pursuits Friday 2 September Saleroom 3

Collection & Deliveries

A collection of firearms, shotguns and air weapons to suit every interest including a Browning B1 and a Classic Double 101. Other items will include equestrian apparatus, fishing tackle and outdoor clothing.

For those using any TWGaze valuation service or participating in any auction, don’t forget our haulage and collection service. This is provided

by Paul Womack, and has been for nearly 20 years.Together with his assistant he has integrity, care and courtesy of the highest order whether tackling one lot or a whole house clearance.

The Collection Service including travel time, loading and unloading is available at £50 per hour plus VAT for the vehicle and two men. Should you wish to avail yourself of this service please contact Lawrence Baynes, 01379 650306, for more details.

Paul Womack supports us further by being the principal haulier we endorse for delivery of purchases on a Friday.

This service is provided privately by Paul, who can be contacted on 07761 220433.

GAZETTE Issue 54 august’16

TW Gaze Diss Auction Rooms, Diss, Norfolk IP22 4LN www.twgaze.co.uk

For entries please contact Louis Smith or Calvin Johnson 01379 650306, now accepting items by appointment.