Antique Collecting magazine December January

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F E S T I V E F E A S T S O F Y E S T E RY E A R

I C O N I C T O YS S O U G H T A F T E R T O DAY

ANTIQUE

COLLECTING

DEC/JAN 2020 WHAT THE DICKENS! A GUIDE TO COLLECTING

A Christmas Carol

INVESTMENT SPECIAL

ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Liquid Gold

VOL 54 N0. 7

WHY YOUR DRINKS CABINET COULD BE WORTH A FORTUNE

DEC/JAN 2020

20/20 VISION WHAT THE NEW YEAR HAS IN STORE

GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER?

Antiques favourites reveal their ideal Christmas guest

ALSO INSIDE Collecting men’s fashion

• Ivory ban latest • Why brooches are back

The Decorative Antiques & Textiles

decorativefair.com +44 (0)20 7616 9327

FAIR WINTER

THREE TIMES A YEAR IN BATTERSEA PARK LONDON

21-26 January 2020

ANTIQUES AND 20th CENTURY DESIGN FOR INTERIOR DECORATION

DF_Antique Collecting 286 x 216 WIN20.indd 1

19/11/2019 00:26

FIRST WORD

IN THIS ISSUE

Welcome

My most spectacular culinary disaster of recent times took place a couple of Christmases ago. Fed up with turkey and having long ago abandoned the capon (don’t ask), I embarked on a three-bird roast which, in case you are not familiar with the genre, involves a series of birds (I don’t remember the breeds – goose and pigeon ring a bell, there could even have been an ostrich) stuffed into the insides of the next size up. Lack of both skill and a meat thermometer and several rounds of sloe gin and prosecco (my Christmas tipple) led to a general incineration for which I still feel I should apologise to the entire poultry race.

So it is with some admiration, and bewilderment, that I discover – courtesy of a new exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum – the outlandish fare of the average Baroque Christmas, which included swans, peacocks, yellow hammers and larks.

Rather like the Maltese, if it flew, they killed it. Do have a read on page 18, it is fascinating stuff.

As you might expect, it’s not our only Christmas feature. On page 34 we consider Charles Dickens’ role in inventing today’s festivities. We also present a guide to collecting A Christmas Carol and discover how his zealous overseeing of its production led to it being a financial flop.

On page 41, Andrew Smith looks at the toys that topped the ‘must-have’ lists of our youth and why some are still worth a pretty penny today.

Imaginary Christmas dinner guests are revealed on page 14, when 15 of our favourite antiques experts from the telly tell us, given the choice, which designer or artist they would most like to pull a cracker with.

And, as the year draws to a close, still more specialists give their predictions for what will surely be a most eventful 2020. From everyone at the magazine, may I wish you a very Happy Christmas and New Year and do, please, stay away from the threebird roast. Enjoy the issue.

CHRISTINA TREVANION reveals her ideal Christmas guest, page 14

MARK WALLIS

on his collection of three centuries of men’s fashion, page 24

MARK LITTLER

searches for hidden gems in the drinks cabinet, page 30

Georgina

Georgina Wroe, Editor

P.S. If you want to take advantage of our Christmas gift subscription (a third off and a free book worth £65) on page 23, you only have until December 13 to do so? The same deadline applies to our book offers on page 44.

KEEP IN TOUCH

Write to us at Antique Collecting, Sandy Lane, Old Martlesham, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 4SD, or email magazine@accartbooks. com. Visit the website at www.antique-collecting.co.uk and follow us on Twitter and Instagram @AntiqueMag

We love

This 18ct gold guilloche enamel and diamond tortoise brooch, c. 1895, on sale from T. Robert priced £3,350

HELENA WAUDBY

on why brooches are back in fashion, page 38

The Team Editor: Georgina Wroe, georgina. wroe@accartbooks.com Online Editor: Richard Ginger, richard.ginger@accartbooks.com Design: Philp Design, james@philpdesign.co.uk Advertising: Jo Lord 01394 389950, jo.lord@accartbooks.com Subscriptions: Sue Slee 01394 389957, sue.slee@accartbooks.com Antique Collecting subscription £32 for 10 issues annually, no refund is available.

ISSN: 0003-584X

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 3

Suffolk House 1_Suffolk House 1 22/11/2019 11:48 Page 1

Suffolk House Antiques High Street, Yoxford, Suffolk IP17 3EP Tel: 01728 668122 e-mail: andrew.singleton@suffolk-house-antiques.co.uk Website: www.suffolk-house-antiques.co.uk

ChriStmAS SEllinG Exhibition

Saturday 7th December – Saturday 21st December 2019

A selection of some of the pieces in the exhibition

About 80 examples of early furniture and associated works of art. An online catalogue will be published about two weeks before the exhibition. Go on www.suffolk-house-antiques.co.uk and click on Christmas Selling Exhibition 2019.

A Queen Anne walnut chest of drawers.

A mid 17th century oak mural livery cupboard.

CONTENTS

Contents VOL 54 NO 7 DEC/JAN 2020

34

BOOK OFFERS

F E S T I V E F E A S T S O F Y E S T E RY E A R

I C O N I C T O YS S O U G H T A F T E R T O DAY

ANTIQUE

COLLECTING

DEC/JAN 2020 WHAT THE DICKENS! A GUIDE TO COLLECTING

A Christmas Carol

6

REGULARS 3

Welcome: Editor Georgina Wroe introduces the bumper Christmas double issue

6

Antique News: All the latest in the run up to Christmas, including three must-see exhibitions and a selling exhibition in Suffolk

INVESTMENT SPECIAL

24 Why I Collect: Mark Wallis and Alasdair Peebles shine a light on their collection of 300 years of men’s and boys’ fashion

74 Marc My Words: Antiques Roadshow expert Marc Allum reeals why he is cautiously optimistic about 2020

27 Market Report: Chris Ewbank considers the effect of the upcoming ivory ban in 2020

FEATURES

ANTIQUE COLLECTING VOL 54 N0. 7

WHY YOUR DRINKS CABINET COULD BE WORTH A FORTUNE

DEC/JAN 2020

44 Book Offers: Save 40 per cent on a number of the latest titles from ACC Art Books

20/20 VISION WHAT THE NEW YEAR HAS IN STORE

GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER?

58 Saleroom Spotlight: A collection of sporting art is up for sale at an inaugural sale in North Yorkshire

61 Fair Play: Meet the dealers taking part in some upcoming fairs over 10 Around the Houses: Get up to date Christmas and the New Year with all the latest sales from the comfort of your armchair 66 Fairs Calendar: Plan the months ahead with our up-to-date guide 23 Subscription Offer: The perfect Christmas gift – subscribe today, 69 Auction Calendar: Get to grips save 33 per cent and you, or a with the sales on your doorstep friend, receive a free book and farther afield

28 Cool and Collectable: Paul Fraser lifts the lid on 10 of the most remarkable sales of 2019

Liquid Gold

56 Top of the Lots: A preview of treasures going under the hammer, including Ian Fleming’s love letters to his wife

14 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?15 antiques gurus reveal who they’d most like to invite for Christmas dinner 30 Liquid Gold: Mark Littler considers why your drinks cabinet could be worth a fortune

Antiques favourites reveal their ideal Christmas guest

ALSO INSIDE Collecting men’s fashion

• Ivory ban latest • Why brooches are back

46 An Auctioneer’s Lot: Charles Hanson celebrates the life of an unsung British sporting hero

COVER

Christmas at Sutton House, Hackney © National Trust Images/ Andreas von Einsiedel

FOLLOW US @AntiqueMag

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47 Your Letters: We delve into the postbag for your latest correspondence

34 By Dickens! A guide to collecting his classic yuletide novel A Christmas Carol 38 Brooch the Subject: Helena Waudby on this year’s most fashionable piece of jewellery 41 Stocking Thrillers: Which of the must-have toys of yesteryear are most sought after today?

48 20/20 Vision: What does the first year of the twenties have in store?

Insights from industry experts

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38

52 Cutting Edge: An Jo Fermon considers the undervalued work of a German avant garde décollagist

TO SUBSCRIBE PLEASE CALL OUR SUBSCRIPTION HOTLINE ON 01394 389957 ANTIQUE COLLECTING 5

NEWS All the latest A Christmas tree in the Crimson Drawing Room at Windsor Castle, images courtesy of Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2019

FAMILY TREE

WHAT’S GOING ON IN DECEMBER & JANUARY

ANTIQUE news Look ahead to 2020 with Despatch box went missing a century our essential guide to all Itago, but a letterbox designed the latest news

by Augustus Pugin in 1851

ROYAL APPOINTMENT Decorations fit for a queen have been unveiled at Windsor Castle, including a display of gifts exchanged by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert marking the 200thanniversary of the royal pair’s birth.

In addition to the traditional 20ft Nordmann fir tree in St George’s Hall, a table in the State Dining Room will be laid with silver-gilt pieces from a service commissioned by George IV and still used today. Christmas celebrations at the castle continue until January 5.

Below One of the trees in St George’s Hall,

Windsor Castle

as part of his gothic revival designs for the New Palace of Westminster has been returned to the Houses of Parliament.

The oak letter box, decorated with the crowned lion of England with a postman’s satchel around its neck, was discovered in an outbuilding in Nottinghamshire.

Did you know?

The letterbox, which was purchased at auction, will be added to the Historic Furniture and Decorative Arts collection, before going on show to the general public.

Interiors experts recommend hanging 10 decorations for every foot of tree, so a 5ft tree would have 50 ornaments, a 6ft tree would have 60 ornaments.

Above The Pugin letterbox will go on show to the public

Open day

There’s a one-off opportunity to go behind the scenes with one of the UK’s leading ceramic artists this month when she holds an open studio weekend on December 7-8.

As well as opportunities to buy work by Kate Malone, one of the judges on the BBC’s The Great British Throw Down, the potter will be on hand for one-on-one question at her Islington studio.

She said: “I’ll be happy to chat in my compact studio and glaze archive with an ‘access all areas’ approach.”

Right The potter, third from

the left, with her team

6 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Though he never sent any of them to the gallows, the six wives of Henry VIII are depicted as a new set of hanging Christmas tree decorations, along with the Tudor monarch himself.

Designed by the Historic Royal Palace and priced £12.99 per decoration, the felt set is available online at www.hrp.org.uk

Above The set is new for 2019

1Lost pots

The early pots of Grayson Perry go on show in January having been crowd sourced from collectors across the UK. The Holborne Museum in Bath will stage the first exhibition of the ceramacist’s ‘lost pots’ work from 1982 to 1994, which have been reunited for the first time from owners around the country.

Perry said: “I am really looking forward to seeing these early works again, many of which I have not seen since the ‘80s. It is as near as I will ever get to meeting myself as a young man, an angrier, priapic me with huge energy but a much smaller wardrobe.”

Grayson Perry: The Pre-Therapy Years runs from January 24 to May 25.

Left The potter Grayson

Perry

Right Naum Gabo

(1890-1977) model for Constructed Torso, 1917, all images © Nina and Graham Williams / Tate, 2019

Below right Naum Gabo

(1890-1977) Head No. 2, 1916,

Bottom right Naum Gabo (1890-1977) Monument for an Airport 1932–48 Far left Grayson Perry

Claire as a soldier, 1987, collection of Mo Tomaney, © Grayson Perry, images are courtesy of the artist and Victoria Miro

3

2

Constructive comment

The UK’s first major exhibition of one of the pioneers of constructivism, Naum Gabo (1890-1977), opens at Tate St Ives in January to mark the centenary of the artist’s Realistic Manifesto in 1920, which helped define the modernist era.

Russian-born Gabo worked closely with key artists of the avant-garde including Kazimir Malevich and Wassily Kandinsky in Russia, Sergei Diaghilev in France and El Lissitzky in Germany, as well as Ben Nicholson Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore and Herbert Read in Britain. The exhibition runs from January 25 to May 3.

to see in

Dec & Jan

Left Grayson Perry Childhood Trauma Manifesting Itself in Later Life, 1992, collection of Mark D.D. Wilson, © Grayson Perry

3

Inflated view

The UK’s first exhibition of Notgeld – low denomination bank notes issued in Germany to combat inter-war inflation – continues at The British Museum.

During the hyperinflation of 1923, the government allowed towns and even companies to issue their own emergency money in denominations of millions, billions and even trillions of marks.

The note with largest denomination in the exhibition is from Duisburg in Western Germany, which represents a whopping 50 trillion marks.

Notgeld quickly became popular, with

designs intended to appeal to collectors. Some themes commented on the war and contained a propaganda message. In one design an artist included a hidden message, criticising the dire food situation in Germany in 1917.

Above right A 75 pfennig note issued in Braunschweig in 1921 Far right 500 mark note issued in

Bielefeld

Right A 25 pfennig note (or oelde)

dated 1921

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 7

NEWS All the latest Castles keep Six paintings with castles as their theme embark on a UK tour next year, taking in Wales, the North and East Anglia.

Works include Albert Cuyp’s sunlit depiction of the crumbling Ubbergen Castle in The Netherlands and Jan van Beerstraaten’s snowy Castle of Muiden in Winter , along with Gerard David’s Adoration of the Kings.

The first stop on the tour, titled Castles: Paintings

from the National Gallery, London is the National Museum in Cardiff in January, before visiting Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens in July, and ending at Norwich Castle Museum in November.

The tour celebrates The National Gallery’s acquisition of Bellotto’s The Fortress of Königstein from the North – one of the most original and impressive examples of 18th-century landscape painting, which was saved for the nation in 2017.

Left Bernardo Bellotto, The Fortress of Königstein from the North, c. 1756-8, oil on canvas, © The National Gallery Above Gerard David, Adoration of the Kings, c. 1515, oil on oak, © The National Gallery

Top George Washington

Wilson (1823-1893), A group, St Kilda, 1870s, albumen print, courtesy of the National Library of Scotland

Above Unknown photographer, Fish wife with net, 1890s, albumen print, courtesy of the National Library of Scotland

SCOTCH CORNER Photographs from a 14,000-strong collection of images of historic Scotland have gone on show at two Edinburgh galleries.

The National Library of Scotland and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (SNPG) will display images from the McKinnon collection in two exhibitions.

Highlights from the collection, put together by Murray MacKinnon, who established a successful chain of film-processing stores in the 1980s, includes work by George Washington Wilson (18231893) which captured Orkney and St Kilda in the 1870s and early fishing communities in Aberdeen and Edinburgh. The exhibition continues until February 16.

8 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

HARE RAISING Home to one of Thomas Chippendale’s greatest commissions, Harewood House in North Yorkshire opens its doors for festive fun this month.

Dubbed Unlock the Magic, the behindthe-scenes look at the stately home includes workshops, festive-themed music, events, Christmas market weekends and cooking demonstrations. Harewood House Trust director, Jane Marriott, said: “Expect some intriguing stories and tales.”

Closed on December 25 and Boxing Day, Unlock the Magic runs until January 5, with a Christmas market on December 7-8 and 14-15.

Edwin Lascelles commissioned the finest designers of the day to build the house in 1759, including York-born architect John Carr, interior designer Robert Adam and landscape gardener Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown. It remains home to some of the most outstanding pieces of Chippendale furniture ever produced.

The new HQ is designed with a sense of fun in mind

Above One of the many Christmas trees at the house near Otley, credit Harewood House Trust Right The event promises

a tantalising glimpse of rarely-seen rooms, credit Harewood House Trust

Play house The first phase of Lego’s new state-of-the-art building, which includes Lego bricks in the walls, two gigantic yellow bricks on the roof and an entryway made of bricks, has been unveiled in Billund, Denmark.

Scheduled to open in 2021, the campus is designed to embody Lego Group’s core values of imagination, creativity, fun, learning, caring and quality.

CEO Niels B. Christiansen, said: “Our mission is to inspire children so it’s important we provide our talented colleagues with an environment that is playful and inspires creativity and innovative thinking.”

Responding to employees’ requests, workplace anthropologist Anneke Beerkens created workers’ neighbourhoods. * A Space Monorail Lego set (top right) almost tripled its low estimate of £70 to make £192 at the sale of the Mark Willis Collection at Vectis Auctions in October.

Day date

LETTERS HOME Letters from the artist Alfred Munnings (1878-1959) to his wife Violet written between 1920 and 1922, are the subject of a new book to be published in 2020.

Munnings’ career as an equestrian portraitist for wealthy, aristocratic and royal patrons took him far from his home in rural Essex and wife – a young widow and a top show rider whom he married in 1920.

In one letter, dated September 26, 1920, he writes: “The damdest [sic] day that ever was – Raining pouring & I’m home again have done nothing… Don’t care so long as I’ve got you.”

Director of the Munnings Art Museum, Jenny Hand, said: “These letters reveal much about Munnings.

These intensely personal missives home would also comment on the difficulties of painting and the loneliness of being away.”

The museum will publish the first volume of 50 letters in early 2020.

Above Commissions took the artist Munnings a long way from home

Did you know?

Ole Kirk Kristiansen founded Lego in 1932.

Its name comes from the Danish leg godt, which means play well.

Above right The sale included sets ranging from the early 1960s to 1970s Right Many of the office’s

features reflect the iconic toy brick

Treasures belonging to the actress and singer Doris Day (1922-2019) have gone on show in Ireland ahead of an 800-lot auction in Beverly Hills.

The Museum of Style Icons in Newbridge will host a range of the actress’s iconic costumes and memorabilia until February 3, before the sale on April 4-5.

Highlights will include her Golden Globe awards (estimated at $4,000-$6,000 each); a classic 1930 Ford convertible seen in the opening credits of her Best Friends television show (estimate $10,000$20,000) and a red lacquer Young Chang upright piano (estimate: $2,000-$4,000).

Booby’s prize Jewellery, clothes and other items once belonging to the legendary horse racing journalist and TV personality John McCririck are going under the hammer on December 9.

Did you know?

Above Portrait of Doris Day has an estimate of $300-$500 in the sale Above right The star’s red lacquer piano was a gift from her son

The star was born Doris Mary Anne Kappelhoff on April 3, 1922.

Right Day's silver-plated

tea set is expected to make $200-$300

The sartorially distinctive McCririck, known for his side burns, big cigars and track-side tic-tac delivery, died in July, aged 79.

McCririck was a multi award-winning journalist who worked for The Sporting Life, ITV and Channel 4, among others.

His widow Jenny, who he referred to as ‘The Booby’, commissioned the Cambridgeshire auctioneer Rowleys to carry out the sale, with some of her husband’s possessions going into the collection of Palace House, The National Heritage Centre for Horseracing and Sporting Art in Newmarket.

Above left The sale takes place in December Above The larger than life commentator died this year

County show With 100 items on offer, ranging from a Neolithic flint hand axe to an elm farmhouse refectory table, a Suffolk dealer’s Christmas selling exhibition is unveiled this month.

Yoxford-based Suffolk House Antiques’ sale, which runs from December 7-21, includes a 15th-century Dutch painting of the mourning Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene, a 15th-century oak dug-out poor box, early Delftware, The finest country furniture will be on offer in Suffolk and a 17th-century English drug jar. examples as can be seen in Haddon Hall in Owner Andrew Singleton said: “Metalware Derbyshire.” includes an 18th-century six-branch brass For more details visit www.suffolkchandelier and a rare pair of Ernest Gimson house-antiques.com or call 01728 668122. wall sconces based on 17th-century

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 9

AUCTION Round up

AROUND the HOUSES

The pendant featured in the 441-lot sale which lasted more than five hours

Say goodbye to 2019 with our last auction round up of the year

The Knyvett family was well acquainted with the Howards and Boleyns

The clock came from the 42-lot Eric Morton clock collection

FELLOWS, BIRMINGHAM A portrait miniature believed to be Charles Knyvett was the surprise hit of the Midlands’ auction house’s recent fine jewellery sale when it made just under £1,200. The piece depicted Norfolk-born Charles Knyvett (1710-1782) whose many famous forebears included Catherine Knyvett (1516-1596) wife of Thomas Howard – a great favourite of Elizabeth I – and created Earl of Suffolk when James I took the throne.

Howard discovered the Gunpowder plot against the king which led to the arrest of Guy Fawkes.

CHEFFINS, CAMBRIDGE

TENNANTS, LEYBURN A mid-18th century quarter striking table clock made by Henry Hindley of York c.1750, was the top seller of the North Yorkshire auctioneer’s sale on November 16 when it sold for £11,000. Hindley, who was born near Wigan, was a talented clockmaker who made a clock for York Minster in 1750. An almost identical clock to the sold lot is on exhibition at Fairfax House in York.

A diamond ring c. 1935, bought in the 1930s from S.J. Phillips, was the shining star of the jewellery section, when it hammered for £56,000.

10

ANTIQUE COLLECTING

The diamond ring was 3.74 carat, with E colour and VS1 clarity

The sale of the 168-lot Keith Flint Collection raised close to £350,000 to help settle the liabilities from the estate of the late frontman of The Prodigy. Three MTV Music Awards shaped as a Moonman from 1997 topped the sale when selling for £16,000.

The highest price for presentation discs was the gold disc for the Prodigy’s debut album Experience in 1992, which sold for £13,000. Among other items sold were a large welded aluminium and steel model ant, the insect used as The Prodigy’s logo, which went for £8,000.

The musician was found dead at his Essex home on March 4, aged 49

CHISWICK AUCTIONS, LONDON Six works, described as ‘some of the most important Chinese paintings ever to come to market’ sold for more than 10 times their estimate at the London auctioneers. The paintings, hitherto believed lost, were identified by Chiswick Auction’s head of Asian art, Lazarus Halstead, as original works from the Imperial collection. They sold for £250,000 against a pre-sale estimate of £20,000-£30,000.

The set of six ‘chicken’ The chicken is paintings, by court artist Jiang Tingxi (1669–1732), considered a symbol of fidelity and had been in the private punctuality in Chinese collection of the Kangxi culture and is one of Emperor. the 12 Chinese zodiacs.

Did you know?

The original Jiang Tingxi set had been missing from the Imperial Collection

Comparison with paintings in the Imperial Collection proved the lot’s veracity

The vase has enamel on a yellow ground – the colour traditionally reserved for the emperor

SWORDERS, MOUNTFITCHET The vase that featured on the cover of last month’s Antique Collecting magazine, which had been bought in a charity shop for £1, made a staggering £484,000 at the Essex auctioneer’s London sale, selling to a Chinese buyer.

The 8in-tall vase was identified as being Chinese imperial and made for the Qianlong Emperor, who reigned from 1735 to 1796. Yexue Li, head of Sworders’ Asian art department said: “The gentleman vendor bought the vase just because he liked the look of it.

“Unaware of its significance, he put it on eBay with a very low starting price but removed it having been bowled over by the interest it sparked. He was shocked and very excited when we explained its importance.”

The Qianlong famille rose vase is marked with a symbol that meant it wasn’t for export, but for one of the emperor’s palaces. Its two iron-red seal marks read ‘Qianlong chen han’ or ‘the Qianlong Emperor’s own mark’.

Tom Gerrard was a friend of the in-vogue Welsh artist, Sir Kyffin Williams

LOCKDALES, MARTLESHAM While 2019 saw a flurry of top-selling lots related to the votes for women movement, a medal for a group opposing women’s suffrage was one of the stars of the Suffolk auction house’s recent sale.

The pink and white medallion sold for £700, against an estimate of £80-£85.

By 1914, The National League for Opposing Woman Suffrage had 42,000 members.

One of its early posters, titled A Suffragette’s Home, showed a man arriving home to weeping children, a dangerously The smoking lamp and a note saying ‘Back medal was in an hour or so’. Lockdales’ Chris issued by The Elmy said: “I expect the medal was National League for Opposing Women’s bought by a collector and supporter of Suffrage the Suffragettes, to demonstrate what they were up against.”

HALLS, BATTLEFIELD A Welsh landscape by the Anglesey artist Tom Gerrard (1923-1976) was one of the top sellers at the Shrewsbury auctioneer’s modern and contemporary art sale. Titled Tyn Drwfwl and signed bottom right, it is in the style of Kyffin Williams who was a close friend of the artist.

Gerrard retained his love of Angelsey throughout his life, drawing much of his inspiration from his local surroundings and executing works in sketches, watercolour and oils.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 11

VECTIS, STOCKTON-ON-TEES

The rosewood library tub armchairs summed up the elegance of their era

The Windsor chair in charming but vernacular taste made £1,680

LAWRENCES, CREWKERNE Furniture did well at the Dorset auctioneer’s autumn sale with two chairs widely outstripping their estimates. A pair of Regency library tub chairs sold for £3,750 – six times its low estimate; while an 18th-century ash and elm West Country Windsor chair, estimated at £150-£250 made £1,680.

An 1940 oil by the little-known artist Hilda Davis, of a family listening to Lord Haw Haw, stormed past its estimate to make a record £32,000.

The previous record for Hilda Davis’ work was just £900, far less than the £32,000 achieved

ROSEBERY’S, WEST LONDON Four ‘Galleon’ tiles by arts and crafts great William de Morgan (1839-1917) sold for a combined £4,200, testifying to the enduring popularity of de Morgan’s tiles.

Each of the De Morgan experimented widely with hand-painted techniques and glazes, using them for tiles by the arts and a range of complex fantasy designs crafts designer had featuring galleons, birds, flora and an estimate of animals. The tiles dated from 1888-1898 £500-£800 when he was working in Fulham.

A gift set of Dinky commercial vehicles, including a wagon, a petrol tanker and a market gardener’s lorry almost doubled its low estimate of £2,000 at the County Durham auction house to sell for £3,840.

It came from a 489-lot single-owner collection, which included pieces bought from the David Ireland collection which, when it went under the hammer in 2011, was described as “one of the finest private owner collections ever to come onto the market.”

A Vectis spokeperson said: “A number of Sale lots those sets were bought by a single buyer, included boxed and unboxed road who has now decided the time is right to and racing cars, part with some of his collection.” coaches and trucks

CHORLEY’S, PRINKNASH ABBEY One of the quirkier sales from the Gloucestershire auctioneer’s Cotswolds country house sale was a roll of loo paper featuring satirical cartoons of characters from Nazi Germany. The amusing item, which had an estimate of £80-£100, sold for £160.

Devised to jibe at Adolf Hitler’s regime, it is believed to have survived for at least seven The general on the decades after being produced in the lavatory paper has early 1940s. the look of Hermann Each sheet of the single-ply roll Goering is imprinted with an image of a Nazi caricature – including a depiction of Hitler performing a Nazi salute with the caption: “Now I’m brownshirt all over”.

Accompanied by the phrase “no power on earth can wipe us out”, another features a portly general bearing a striking resemblance to Hermann Goering.

The saucy loo roll was unearthed in a country house

12 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

ac ad oct.indd 1

2019-11-05

2:32:06

CHRISTMAS COLLECTING Special feature

2

Devlin issued one present each year between 1970 and 1981, designed either as Christmas puddings or Christmas gifts

Catherine Southon, a regular TV expert The goldsmith and silversmith Stuart Devlin – in my opinion one of the most ingenious and skilful designers of his time. Christmas Day would be the ideal time to ask him about the exquisite silver ‘presents’ of the Twelve Days of Christmas, which he produced in editions of 100, with each containing a gift from five gold rings or eight milking maids. He really was the Carl Fabergé of his day.

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?

We asked 15 well-known antiques specialists to reveal which designer or artist, past or present, they would most like to invite to Christmas dinner

1

Raj Bisram, TV expert and the founder of Kent-based Bentley’s Auctioneers Few people know this about me, but I started out in the army as a PTI instructor.

In Austria, I developed a talent for skiing and went on to represent the British Army in competitive downhill racing and the slalom. On leaving the army, I even became a ski instructor and, to this day, am the only qualified Asian ski instructor in Austria.

So, with my love of snow, it’s safe to say I have an infinity with the big chap in the red suit. So, the person I’d most like to invite to share my meal on December 25 is Father Christmas.

I’d get him to sit down and relax, and tell me all the places he’d visited that year, and over the many years he’s been in the

14 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

job. He’d get a full-on roast and we’d even supply food for the reindeers in the garden.

Like anyone involved in antiques, I love to hear people’s stories. And, more to the point, I’d really like to see if I could put an offer in on his sleigh.

Can you imagine what it would make at auction?

Raj would ask Santa to join him

Each set came in editions of 100

3

Adam Partridge appears on Flog It!, Bargain Hunt, and Cash In the Attic The first name on my list would be Antonio Stradivari, the greatest violinmaker the world has ever seen.

Born in Cremona, Italy, in 1644, his shapes, designs and varnish inspired future generations of violinmakers. I remember visiting Cremona as a child and seeing violins hanging on washing lines while their varnish was drying in the sun. It would be a great time to pick the brains of the great man.

The ‘Lady Blunt’ Stradivarius which sold for a record $15.9m in 2011, image courtesy of Tarisio, New York

4

Andy McConnell BBC Antiques Roadshow’s glass expert I would throw the door open to James Giles (1718–80), son of a Huguenot migrant from Nîmes and Britain’s greatest-ever gilder of porcelain and glass.

Spanning the rococo and neo-classical styles, his designs incorporated floral cartouches, exotic chinoiseries, rococo ruins, geometric lattices and, later, classical stereotypes.

5

Dr Jim Peake, ceramics specialist at Bonhams

I would invite the Liegeborn silversmith Nicholas Sprimont (17161771) who founded the first significant English porcelain enterprise at Chelsea shortly after he moved to London in 1742.

A sauceboat made by the would-be guest Nicholas Sprimont

6

Lennox Cato, fine furniture dealer and expert on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow

Giles’ rich ornamentation found favour in high society. His 1771-76 ledgers contain orders from Princess Amelia, second daughter of George II; Thomas Pitt; Lord Clive of India; the 4th Duke of Marlborough and Viscount Palmerston.

Yet, beset with financial problems, he was declared bankrupt in 1776, sued for debt in 1778 and died impoverished in 1780. I’m intrigued and beguiled by his work in equal measure. The fact he was financially inept and sued for debt, has left a paper trail for historians to follow and adds further depth to his rich oeuvre. I’m sure he drinks Bordeaux claret, so I’ll have some for him. Decanted, naturally!

His rococo designs in silver are exceptionally rare and highly naturalistic, probably having been modelled from the casts of real shells and various sea creatures.

The first Chelsea porcelain was based on these silver designs, but the factory also produced extravagant tableware. A Christmas dinner with Nicholas Sprimont would certainly guarantee an extravagant spread on the table, even if the food might be a bit bland.

It would provide the perfect opportunity to quiz him on his colleagues.

Sprimont is credited with many of the wonderful designs made by Chelsea, but there were many artists, sculptors and alchemists working behind the scenes whose identities remain unknown.

Who were they and did he really earn all the credit he is given?

career as a broadcaster, and I’d love to hear his recent train stories.

I know he has an interest in the arts, so I would like to invite Michael Portillo for perhaps we Christmas dinner. I have always admired could discuss the man, although not his dress sense. the merits of What I admire most are his great antiques and decisions, he is so pragmatic. I have always fine art as well. loved listening to him on The Moral I’m sure I would enjoy his company and Maze on Radio 4 with Michael Buerk. He hopefully, over the turkey and all the articulates his philosophical views with trimmings, he would enjoy mine, too. empathy and comes across as calm and considerate, appearing to be a true The former MP, broadcaster and train buff gentleman in every way.

Michael Portillo would be Lennox’s choice of dinner guest He has great delivery in his new-found

Above Andy’s ideal dinner guest would be James Giles Right James Giles (1718–80), gamebird decanter, sold for £15,200 in 2004, image courtesy of Charterhouse Auctions

7

Tomas Aznar, watch specialist at Chiswick Auctions If I could, I would invite Dan Spitz as my Christmas dinner guest. He is the perfect example of how, with dedication, you can achieve anything you want in your life and become a leader in your field.

The lead guitarist of Anthrax from 1983 until 1995, when he was nominated for three Grammy awards, Dan went on to became a Master Watchmaker of Complications, graduating from the Bulova School in New York. Today, he is one of the best watchmakers in the world, with numerous accreditations from different luxury brands including Bulova, Rolex and Audemars Piguet.

He was able to merge his two greatest passions, music and watchmaking, from a very young age, sitting at a watchmaker’s bench at eight years old. The stories and experiences he must have gathered from both careers would definitely spark some incredible conversations that would make any Christmas truly unique.

Dan Spitz quit the thrash band Anthrax to become a watchmaker

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 15

CHRISTMAS COLLECTING Special feature

8

Isabel Balmer, auctioneer and Antiques Road Trip

gemstones and pearls which were further decorated with leaves and scrolls of gold.

She had the confidence and drive to follow her dreams and set up her own business and I would be fascinated to hear her tell her story.

expert

I would invite the jewellery designer Sibyl Dunlop (1889-1968) who created some truly beautiful jewellery and silver throughout the 1920s and ‘30s.

Her choice of gemstones and colour combinations are exquisite and, as with many of the second-generation English arts and crafts jewellers, she favoured semi-precious gemstones and cabochon cuts.

I would love to hear her speak about her designs and creations, her inspiration and ideas, and how in her early thirties she set up and presided over her workshop in London.

While not, strictly speaking, a competitor of Liberty, her shop in Kensington Church Street had a team of craftsmen specialising in bold jewels set with clusters of multi-coloured

9

Elizabeth Talbot, from TW Gaze in Suffolk and Flog It! regular I’m partial to sharing festive cheer with Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795). As well as being an innovative designer and manufacturer of high-quality pottery, he was a philanthropist and social reformer attaching an entire village to the new factory he opened at Etruria, Stoke-onTrent in 1769 where his workmen and their families could live in decent surroundings.

He also took a keen interest in efficient

A gold and silver roundel brooch and earclips set with sapphires by Izzie’s heroine Sibyl Dunlop

factory organisation, improving the transportation of raw materials by canals and road.

He would no doubt prove to be an intelligent and inspiring guest, bringing Georgian elegance to the proceedings. As an excuse to extend the meal, I would serve multiple courses of fine Georgian fare on the best Wedgwood service. Now, is it too early to put the sprouts on?

16 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

11

Christina Trevanion owner of Trevanion & Dean

While he may not strictly be a designer, I would have to go with Arthur Lazenby Liberty (1843-1917), founder of Liberty & Co. Liberty was an energetic salesman-cum-shopkeeper with an eye for contemporary tastes and fashions. He also had a fervent passion for aesthetics and his pioneering attitude toward art, design and fashion revolutionised the British high street as we know it.

I have great admiration for the way he stuck to his principles and built his vision from the ground up, creating a haven for all things beautiful. He also rubbed shoulders with some of the most important designers of the art nouveau and arts and crafts movements and I am sure he would have some fascinating stories to tell.

Arthur Lazenby Liberty the founder of the iconic store

Josiah Wedgwood would be Elizabeth’s choice to pull a cracker with

10 A French mystery clock

by A.R Guilmet proving the mechanical genius of Richard’s ideal Christmas dinner guest

A Liberty spoon stamped Birmingham, one of the designs that helped the shop become a household name

Richard Price, a clock expert on Antiques Roadshow

The guest with whom I would like to share Christmas dinner is the Parisian horologist André Romain Guilmet. He was a prolific inventor, who took out a large number of patents to protect his inventions and improvements, including an electric motor

and a bicycle chain. From the 1860s, he created various mystery clocks as well as maritime and industrial clocks, the best known being ships’ quarter decks, lighthouses of various types and sizes, steam hammers and beam engines. We know some of his numbering system and I would love to discuss his production totals, for we will never know how many were destroyed during WWII. Guilmet had such a clever brain which designed clocks that are loved by many – not just horologists.

12

Tim Weeks expert on Bargain Hunt I need to bend the rules a little and have a duo join me at my Christmas dinner table, as there are two men equally responsible for one of my great loves.

They are Claude Waterlow Ferrier (1879-1935) and William Bryce Binnie (1886-1963) who designed the east and west stands of Arsenal Highbury stadium in the 1930s.

Three reasons: I am a diehard

13

Timothy Medhurst from Antiques Road Trip

On a Christmas afternoon, apart from family and friends of course, I would put two of my favourite artists and authors at the top of my guest list: Edward Seago (1910-1974) and Alfred Munnings (1878-1959).

I am sure the ideas of any artist whose work you admire and have an affinity with, would be reflected in the conversation, leading to some lively post-dinner debate.

It would be fascinating to discuss the beauty of nature with these two great artists whose work has given me so much pleasure over the years.

Arsenal man, collector of the club’s memorabilia from the 1930s, and a lover of the art deco period.

Highbury stadium is art deco at its finest, in my opinion. The stadium was famously rushed into completion so I would love to hear all the stories of what really went on... Was it safe?

Were they worried?

But my impossible dream has always been to see an Arsenal match from the ‘30s so I would love to get both their views of the time, assuming that they would have been at the famous east stand opening match.

The great understanding and almost romantic attachment both Seago and Munnings had to nature has always pulled me towards their work, for which I am most grateful.

Seago was born in Norwich in 1910, the son of a coal merchant. Aged seven he developed a heart complaint and, bedridden for several years, he took to painting scenes from his bedroom window to help pass the time. Self-taught, he was given guidance by Munnings, whose influence you can see on Seago’s hand.

Both artists presented on canvas exactly what I think of when I close my eyes and imagine a snow-covered landscape, which would, of course, be the perfect backdrop for a post-dinner Christmas Day walk.

Tim’s ideal guest would be Alfred Munnings, image courtesy of The Munnings Art Museum

Tim wants to invite the designers of his beloved Highbury stadium to share the turkey

14

Angus Ashworth & Roo Irving from Antiques Road Trip

Angus: As a big fan of 19th-century military history and antiques, it would have to be Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington. I can picture us by an open fire with a good bottle of claret and fine Yorkshire cheeses exchanging war stories.

However, if the duke wasn’t available, I’d happily settle for my favourite designer/ architect – Augustus Pugin. With his amazing Gothic revival designs we would be in for a very Victorian Christmas.

Roo: I would pick a fellow hopeless romantic, Queen Victoria. Many of our antiques come from Victoria’s long reign, which was a wonderful turning point for humanity, witnessing the abolition of slavery. Her undying love for Albert inspired mourning dress and jewellery, and she wore black until her dying day.

We also share one more thing in common: the date she left this earth, January 22, is the same date I arrived on it. I raise my glass to you, Victoria!

She may be amused: Roo would most like to share her sprouts with Queen Victoria

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 17

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR’ Festive food

Recreation of a Baroque feasting table, c.1650, conceived and made by Ivan Day with taxidermy by David Astley. All images, unless stated, are © Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

REPAST PLEASURES The Christmas menu of times gone by including swan pie, peacock and pineapples is celebrated at a stunning new exhibition in Cambridge

I

f your idea of pushing the boat out this Christmas is serving turkey, beef and salmon, then it might be time to reconsider your menu. A new exhibition at Cambridge University’s Fitzwilliam Museum puts the festive fare of our forefathers (and mothers) in the spotlight, making today’s over consumption seem downright frugal. A free lunchtime talk on December 18 by food historian Ivan Day – who has designed four historically accurate culinary recreations – will lift the lid on delicacies such as the Yule Dow (a loaf of bread in the form of the Christ child which was placed under the altar on Christmas Eve); and breakfast hackin, – a sweet haggis eaten until the early 18th century, which marked the first meal on Christmas morning after the Advent fast. Also under discussion will be Christmas Pie, furmety, Yule

18 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above Xxxxxxx Pieter Claesz, xxx Still xxlife xxxxx xxx x x pie, withxxpeacock xxxxxx xx xxx Gallery xxx 1627,xNational x xxxxxxxxxx x of Art, Washington DC, not in exhibition

bread, Bishop and the elaborately-decorated Twelfth Cakes consumed at Twelfth Night parties. Nearly 300 objects, some of which are on display for the first time with a number of loans from public and private collections give clues into the social and cultural mores of the UK’s more outlandish culinary history.

THE BAROQUE CHRISTMAS High status dining in this period was predominantly an opportunity for the host to display his wealth and status with the variety and rareness of the dishes as well as the tableware. The Sense of Taste, from the workshop of Jan Breughel the Younger, served as the blueprint for Ivan Day’s receation (above), assisted by the taxidermist David Astley.

TWELFTH CAKES

Bills of fare for great Baroque feasts, including Christmas, often read like inventories rather than menus. For instance, James II’s coronation banquet in Westminster Hall in 1685 was actually entitled A Catalogue of the several Meats contained in the Mess served up to their Majesties. We learn the king sat down alone to a table laden with 170 different dishes.

One ‘dish’ consisted of ‘twenty four puffins cold’ and another of ‘four fawns, two larded’.

The litany of Stuart royal excess testifies to a lively foreign trade – bottarga, caviar, parmesan, truffles and mangoes from the East. While a complex stew referred to as ‘oglio hot’, had its origins in Renaissance Spain. The French-trained English cook Robert May – author of the 1660 cookbook The Accomplisht Cook – published an olio recipe. The ingredients included rump beef, Bologna sausages, neats’ tongues, mutton, venison, pork, bacon and vegetables, boiled together in a three-gallon pot.

These were then augmented by a number of cooked birds. He wrote: Then next your largest Fowl, LandFowl, or Sea–Fowl, as first a Goose, or Turkey, two Capons, two Pheasants, four Ducks, four Widgeons, four Stock-Doves, four Partridges, eight Teals, twelve Snites, twenty four Quailes, forty eight Larks etc.

Above Flemish School, Dives and Lazarus, early 17th century Above right The cake was

elaborately decorated as seen in this replica made by Ivan Day using original 18th-century moulds

Below right Cards and

A Twelfth cake to celebrated the Feast of the Three Kings (Epiphany) on 6 January, the last day of the festive season. Lively parties were traditionally held the evening before. The evening’s entertainment ended with cutting the elegantly iced cake, often decorated with two crowns representing the king and queen.

Tradition has it that the cake included motifs (such a dried bean or pea, or a small coin, or a card flag on a stick), whoever got it in their slice was proclaimed the king or queen of the revels.

John Brand’s 1777 Observations on popular antiquities, 1777 reported: “I did not return till I had been present at drawing King and Queen, and eaten a Slice of the Twelfth Cake.” The recipe, or receipt, included flour, yeast, butter, sugar, currants, cinnamon, cloves, mace, nutmeg and candied orange or lemon peel.

denoted who took which role at the Twelth Night party, as seen in these examples made by Ivan Day’

Below Probably Ernst

Jansz. van Vianen or possibly Albert Verhaer, turbo shell cup, possibly 1628

TABLE WARE Tables would have been covered with fine damask pressed into sharply defined squares, often overlaid

‘One pie, sent on a cart drawn by two horses in 1763 from the Lake District to London, weighed 22 stone. In addition to a leg of veal and 20 rabbits, it contained 146 birds, including 49 yellow hammers’

with a precious Turkey rug. Lingering medieval rituals, such as the washing of hands before and after the meal, necessitated the continuing use of elaborate ewers and basins. Silver-gilt covered cups and stylish eating knives would have denoted status. Each diner carried his or her own elegant knife. As they gradually became more widespread during the course of the 17th century, newly fashionable forks started to appear and are often paired with a matching knife.

PIE EYED Related to the olio were large pies filled with a multiplicity of game birds and poultry. One such, sent on a cart drawn by two horses in 1763 from Lowther Hall in the Lake District ANTIQUE COLLECTING 19

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Festive food the other, which he called a ‘sperone da pasticiero’, or a ‘pastry cook’s spur’. 17th-century English examples are frequently provided with a measuring spoon at one end, or a crimper for sealing the edges of pies.

SWAN SONG

Gingerbread

In the Low Countries, the Feast of St Nicholas or Sinterklaas (Santa Claus) was celebrated on the evening of December 5. Dutch children would leave empty shoes by the chimneybreast, in the hope that their good behaviour would result in their footwear being filled with a range of wafers, comfits, fruit and sweets, including koeckjens (cookies) and taaitaai (literally ‘chewy-chewy’, a sort of moulded gingerbread).

One of the popular myths attached to St Nicholas was his habit of throwing purses filled with coins through the windows of poor family homes the origins of the widespread Christmas tradition of giving goldfoil-covered chocolate coins in gold net bags.

In the UK, gingerbread moulds, with a man carved into one side and a female into the other, are common.

Versions with a king on one side and a queen on the other may have been made to celebrate a royal coronation, as is true of a remarkable English example from c.1688, of Mary II of England.

Patriotic gilded gingerbreads in the form of the Royal Arms were also sold at regional fairs, although the most curious gingerbread moulds were those made in 17th-century England in the form of edible horn books engraved with an alphabet, so that children could learn their ABC by literally eating their letters.

to London, weighed 22 stone. In addition to a leg of veal and 20 rabbits, it contained 146 birds, including 49 yellow hammers.

Many of the ornamented pies of the 17th century had their origins in medieval feasting. For instance, a royal recipe collection from the 1390s offers instructions for creating a pie called a ‘chastelet’, a fortified pastry bastion with five embattled towers presented to the table engulfed in flaming brandy.

Baroque pastry masters had a series of tools at their disposal, including the pastry jagger. Such tools, usually made of latten, bronze or steel, were ubiquitous throughout Europe and were essential for creating striking edible ornaments. In 1570, the Italian papal cook Bartolomeo Scappi illustrated an example with a large scimitar blade at one end and a serrated wheel at

20 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above left Jan Havickszoon Steen, The Feast of St Nicholas, 1665–8, oil on canvas, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, not in exhibition Above Gingerbread

pressing to celebrate the coronation of Mary II, c. 1688, private collection Right The workshop of Jan Brueghel the Younger, The Sense of Taste, 1618, Indianapolis Museum of Art, not in the exhibtion Below right Five pastry

jiggers: (l-r) a crimper with stamped design, England, c. 1790; a jigger with finial in the form of a Dutch baker, Netherlands, c. 1630; a jigger with its finial incorporating a heart design, England, c. 1730; a jigger incorporating a measuring spoon, England, c. 1660, a jigger with scimitar blade Italy, c. 1570, private collection

The tradition of presenting a roast swan or peacock in its hackle (skin) to the table by a beautiful young woman was a feature of medieval feasting, frequently depicted in manuscript illuminations across Europe. In England, it is represented in a monumental brass of the 1360s, in the church of St Margaret of Antioch, Kings Lynn, where a highborn maiden delivers a peacock on a great charger to a royal table, possibly that of Edward III. However, in the flamboyant Baroque tables of Pieter Claesz and Jan Brueghel the Elder, the birds sit atop the pies, presumably filled with the flesh of the specific bird adorning the lid. There were also pies in the form of dolphins and boar’s heads as well as eccentric multicornered mince pies.

Feast & Fast: The Art of Food in Europe, 1500–1800 runs at The Fitzwilliam Museum, Trumpington Street, Cambridge. CB2 1RB, until April 26. Ivan Day will be holding a talk entitled The Food of Christmas Past on December 18, for more details, or to book a place call 01223 332904 or visit www.fitzwilliammuseum.cam.ac.uk

Right A wine glass used for toasting, England, c. 1765, with assorted pineapplethemed toasting biscuits pressed from 18th-century moulds, made by Ivan Day, 2019, using original moulds Bottom A hinged mould for pineapple-shaped ice cream, England, c. 1790; a salver, England, c. 1720 with pineapple-shaped ice cream, ice cream sorbetiere and spaddle, England, probably early 19th century

THE PINEAPPLE SPIKE For many decades in the 18th century, no Christmas table would have been complete without a pineapple taking centre stage, after the craze for the exotic fruit grew to epic proportions among the well-to-do of Georgian Britain.

Pineapples first seized the European popular imagination when Columbus encountered them on Guadalupe in November 1495. His shipmate, Michele da Cuneo,

Theodore Netscher, Pineapple grown in Sir Matthew Decker’s garden at Richmond, Surrey, 1720

Pineapple teapot, Staffordshire, c. 1755-66

described them as “four times larger than an artichoke with fruit like a pinecone but cut as easily as a turnip”.

It was the Dutch gardener, William Telende, who finally succeeded in growing pineapples from scratch on English soil in about 1715.

Telende was the gardener of the Dutch-born merchant and banker Sir Matthew Decker the grandfather of Richard, Viscount Fitzwilliam (founder of the Fitzwilliam Museum).

Decker was so pleased with this horticultural triumph that he commissioned Theodore Netscher in 1720 to paint its ‘portrait’ flourishing in an English landscape.

In 1721, Telende’s techniques were described in detail by the Cambridge-based botanist Richard Bradley in A Treatise of Husbandry and Gardening which he followed up with his 1732 book on how to cook the fruit, The Country Housewife and Lady’s Director, with recipes for ‘Tart of the Ananas’ and ‘Marmalade of Pineapples’.

Other English growers followed Bradley’s instructions with enthusiasm and the pineapple craze spread from one countryseat to another.

It soon became the English equivalent of the Dutch tulip mania of the previous century.

By the middle of the century, similar luxury foods were being sold in confectionery shops.

In 1764, the Bond Street confectioner Thomas Street sold a pint of pineapple ice cream for 7/6d, while the same quantity of strawberry ice was only 3/9d. He also sold pineapple ices moulded in the form of the fruit, using moulds similar to this tripartite hinged pewter mould of c.1790 (below left). Wedgwood and other Staffordshire potteries also catered for this craze by not only producing ceramic pineapple moulds, in salt-glazed stoneware and creamware to make trompe l’oeil jelly or flummery in the kitchen, but a whole range of teapots and caddies in ananas form for the tea table.

Similarly, confectioners busied themselves baking small ‘toasting biscuits’ decorated with pineapple motifs, pressed from small wooden moulds. Made to be consumed with sweet wine when toasts were made during dessert, these ‘toasting biscuits’ were small enough to fit inside the bowl of the wineglass for dipping into the alcohol.

‘Other English growers followed Bradley’s instructions with enthusiasm and the pineapple craze spread from one country seat to another soon becoming the English Dutch tulip mania’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 21

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REASONS TO COLLECT Men’s fashion

A French Lyons silk coat or Justaucorps, c. 1760, a boy’s coat, made c. 1760 in Italian or French silk brocade

When did women’s fashion seize the limelight over men’s? Are you pleased to reverse the trend?

Historically, menswear has always been more colourful, and, as in nature, the male of the species generally outshone the female (think peacock versus peahen).

But about the middle of the 19th century, in an era dress historians term ‘the Great Male Renunciation’, colour was banished for sober, godly black.

Of course, that is an over-simplification (and black had always been an expensive colour as the dyes used were fugitive (impermanent)), but it is certainly true that the Victorians turned their backs on the foppishness, embroidery, lace, shiny fabrics and colour of their grandparents, tending towards plainer clothes that were well-cut and heavily tailored. Gentlemen allowed colour on the clothes of their wives, daughters and servants but eschewed colour themselves.

Which, for you, are the most exciting periods when it comes to fashion?

I love most male fashions from the past but, if I had to narrow it down, I would say it would be clothes worn in the decade 1840-1850, closely followed by the fashions (for both sexes, as the women look stunningly sexy) of the 1790s.

In broad terms can you describe changing fashions from the period you collect?

Fashions changed radically during the periods from 1650 to 1900 – beyond all recognition; from doublet, breeches and cloak to three-piece suit of jacket, waistcoat and breeches, then trousers. Headwear, footwear, neckwear, facial hair…all underwent rapid revolutions.

Why hy I collect... collect Mark Wallis’ and Alasdair Peebles’ staggering collection of menswear from 16001900 goes on show at a new exhibition in January

When did you start collecting?

As a schoolboy in the late 1960s, I was thrilled to discover I could not only spend my pocket money on old uniforms but could wear them too (writes Mark Wallis).

From a very small boy, I have been entranced by history – so discovering that I could own things from the past thrilled me. That thrill has never worn off.

The collection today concentrates on European and colonial dress, from formal daywear through to military uniforms, and from leisure wear to workwear. I have lost track of how many items I own.

24 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Top Mark Wallis Above Alasdair Peebles

Which historical figures have most influenced fashion?

In my opinion, only one king actually influenced fashions and that was Charles II who, in 1661, borrowed from Turkey the idea of a long, loose kaftan with waist sash. To this he added a knee-length waistcoat – and thus invented the three-piece suit dispensing with the tight doublet and hose of the past.

Naturally, this fashion quickly evolved and became just as tight, heavy and restrictive as the previous fashion.

Other kings have shown an interest in fashion – notably George IV, but he was a follower not a leader.

However, there’s no question that two 19th-century men greatly influenced men’s fashions in their period: ‘Beau’ Brummel and Jim Belcher.

The latter was a famous bare knuckle boxer who wore a coloured handkerchief around his neck, which was quickly imitated by ‘the sporting Fancy’ of fashionable fellows who liked boxing and betting.

I have three such neckerchiefs in my collection – all worn by a wealthy young American about 1820.

George ‘Beau’ Brummel’s legacy is far more wide-ranging and universal. It embraced the elegant combination of expert British tailoring and excellent, discrete suiting. Appropriately, there is a statue of the famous dandy near his haunts of St James’s and Savile

Row. Brummel always insisted on fine cut, good cloth and spotless linen.

Which aspects most surprise a modern audience?

When punk rock emerged in the UK all my friends hailed it as a totally new phenonomen – until I pointed out that just such a shocking eruption in fashion had occurred in the period of the French Revolution. Then, to avoid Madame Guillotine, French aristocrats copied the prevailing British mode and dressed like their grooms, in leather breeches, plain cloth coats and simple linen waistcoats, with not a hint of lace, ruffles, sequins or hair powder. This style of dress shocked the older generation on both sides of the Channel.

Women took things even further, abandoning their stiffly-boned bodices, corsets, hoops that held the skirts out, silks, satins, embroidery and wigs for simple muslin dresses, some of which were transparent.

In the Regency period some men used colour to express their political opinions – the Whigs favoured blue, cloth coats, buff-coloured wool (or sometimes buff leather) breeches and white waistcoats.

Left A man’s

blue silk, silver embroidered waistcoat, worn at the Coronation of George III

Right A detail of a

silk embroidered court coat, with clear, blue and green glass bead decoration, British c. 1790

How far have you gone, both geographically and financially, to secure a piece?

Below An engagement/

wedding stick pin, also called a ‘shirt pin’, with a painted romantic scene featuring a turtle dove Bottom A pair of

black glass and brass mourning buckles c.

1770/1780

The furthest I have travelled in pursuit of an item for my collection has been to the USA, to an auction house (now sadly defunct) where I bought a stunning early Georgian (British) brocade waistcoat for £3,500 hammer. For me, that was pretty eye-watering, but I have just bought two stunning military hats c. 1800 (one made by the London hatter Lock & Co) for quite a bit more than that. If I want a thing I generally get it. I can never forgive myself if I am the under bidder.

How do you display your collection?

Any collector of limited means has trouble displaying his or her collection – and collectors of clothing are

How did men use dress to reflect the political mores of the day?

The most outrageous fashions of these periods are, without doubt, those worn by the ‘Macaronis’ – a club of young men who had done the Grand Tour and returned from the Continent full of outlandish ideas (including the pasta macaroni). They wore make up, huge wigs, little shoes, short coats and tiny hats. Prints of the period lampooned them as being effeminate and easily beaten by fishwives and butchers’ dogs.

I have one of their coats in my collection made of crimson silk, loaded with thick passementarie tassels and lined with white ‘shag’ (imitation fur). The owner must have looked quite a sight.

How have you grown your collection?

Where are your hunting grounds?

I buy from a wide range of people and places internationally. Because I have been collecting for more than 50 years I am well-known in the trade and among collectors.

I should add that, as far as I know, I am the only person who collects both civilian and military clothes, and who solely specialises in menswear. There may be others, and I’d be glad to meet them.

‘Historically, menswear has always been more colourful than women’s, but about the middle of the 19th century – in what dress historians term ‘the Great Male Renunciation’ - colour was banished for sober, godly black’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 25

REASONS TO COLLECT Men’s fashion A miniature uniform, made for a boy whose father was in the Towcester Yeomanry Cavalry c. 1840 (right), A 19th-century silverlaced coattee made for Captain John Abraham Russell who served in India in the army of the Honourable East India Company. All pictures Sebastian Bone Photography

If you could save only one costume in a fire what would it be?

The piece I always say I would save from the proverbial fire would be my ‘illustrated shirt’, which is an amazing survivor from c. 1854-59 and very rare. A plain cotton shirt for day wear, it has colourfully-printed figures of ballet dancers, hussars, lancers and ladies in the ‘Bloomer’ attire of the decade on the shirt front. The garment would have made a loud, political and feminist statement at the time, and the owner – a Mr Conran – was clearly a bold fellow.

If you can’t afford to collect entire outfits, or haven’t got the room, is there a smaller area a collector could focus on?

Concentrate on Victorian waistcoats, which have survived in huge numbers and are decorative and delightful things, costing around £50 or so.

See part of Mark Wallis and Alasdair Peebles’ collection in the exhibition Man and Boy: Male Dress 1730-1930 at The Garden Rooms, Tennants Auctioneers, Leyburn, North Yorkshire from January 16 to February 16. The pair will also present two talks to accompany the display: From Salon to Street: Aristocratic and Revolutionary Dress in 1790s France on January 16 and Shirted & Skirted: Men’s Printed Shirts and Boys Silk Dresses in mid Victorian England on February 15. For details on both call 01969 621146 or visit tennantsgardenrooms.com

prey to all manner of pests. My 300 snuffboxes, pocket watches, shoe buckles, miniatures, canes etc are inert, but with moths breeding thrice yearly now I am always on edge.

Some of the most delicate garments lie flat, wrapped in acid-free tissue paper in acid-free boxes, but the vast majority of the sturdier garments hang up, in Tyvek bags. It is not ideal but is the best I can do.

Is there something you’d still like to get your hands on?

The ‘Holy Grail’ for me would be a pair of men’s shoes from the 17th and 18th centuries. Of all the millions of pairs produced so few exist. Where are they all? Worn out, I can only assume.

I do, however, have a pair of sturdy, bucket boots c. 1670 and several pairs of shoes and boots from the 19th century.

I am also the proud owner of a very rare ‘grail’ object – a Georgian man’s wig of which there are only a few recorded surviving examples.

26 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Right A wedding

favour for George III and Charlotte’s wedding in 1761 made from woven silk ribbon.

It would have been worn in men’s hats and on ladies’ bodices

EXPERT COMMENT Ivory market A late 18th-century ivory netsuke by Masanao of Kyoto, 6cm long. Its original estimate was £15,000-£20,000, which was later revised to £3,000-£5,000. It finally sold for £1,800

‘Despite the media hullabaloo, a lot of consignors will be shocked to discover their valued possessions are effectively blighted’

MARKET Report What effect will the upcoming ban on ivory have on both buyers and sellers in 2020? Auctioneer Chris Ewbank considers the market implications

T

his autumn, I was given the opportunity to sell an important collection of Japanese works of art.

I took the sale on but, fearing the upcoming ban might blight the results, did so only on the proviso I could re-offer it with much reduced estimates if it failed to sell.

This is exactly what happened. In the first auction, from a total of 500 lots of netsuke and okimono, 322 lots failed to hammer.

When they were reoffered a month later, with estimates generally 22 per cent lower, they all sold (bar six lots) with – for the most part – the estimates accurately reflecting their sale prices.

I have no idea whether dealers hoping to turn a profit by exporting them en masse snapped them up. My guess is that if this were the case their interest would have been restricted to a few lots, otherwise I would have expected to see prices higher across the board. It led me to conclude the majority of buyers were after a keepsake. They wanted to own a rare and important piece of Japanese ivory while acknowledging that it will have no resale value.

APPEAL LODGED When it comes to what is happening next on ivory, we have no exact date yet for enforcement, but I would expect it to happen early next year.

FACT (Friends of Antique and Cultural Treasures Ltd) filed an appeal request against the High Court decision on November 12, which may delay enforcement awhile pending a spring hearing. However, my guess is that the chances of watering down the bill are negligible.

Left unchanged, the upcoming law will allow sales of a very limited range of objects with minimal ivory content; namely pre1918 portrait miniatures; pre-1918 items of “outstandingly high artistic, cultural or historic value”; pre-1947 objects containing less than 10 per cent by volume; sales to and between museums; and pre-1975 musical instruments containing less than 20 per cent ivory.

LOOKING TO 2020 Auctioneers will have to identify elephant ivory content when assessing objects – other types of ivory and bone remain unaffected by the legislation. They must also be able to demonstrate that an item is pre-1947 and has less than 10 per cent ivory content by volume, unless it is a musical instrument.

But in that case they must be able to show that it was made before 1975 and has less than 20 per cent ivory content.

It provokes so many questions. How long will the test take? Will it be worth the time and effort involved? What are the

risks of getting it wrong? Laboratory tests to determine the age and level of ivory content can be time-consuming and expensive, so justifiable only in exceptional cases.

I suspect some auctioneers will simply decide that they can’t be bothered and do not want to take the risk of inadvertently breaking the law with all that might entail.

More than one has already decided not to accept ivory in any form from now on. I also suspect that despite the media hullabaloo, a lot of consignors will be shocked to discover their valued possessions are effectively blighted. Many will have cheered on the anti-trade campaigners during the protests, unaware that a ban could possibly have any consequences for them personally.

WIDER MARKET While the art and antiques market will always adapt, my greater concern is for the cultural fabric of our historic collections beyond ivory.

The spreading ideology attacking our industry is already targeting trade in tribal art (condemned as colonial trophies), antiquities from the Middle East, Asia, North America, South America and the Pacific, or just about anything made from animal parts no matter how ancient – including extinct species.

As the call from some MPs demonstrates, it’s not just about stopping trade in items with ivory content, it’s also about airbrushing ivory from our history. Ivory artefacts currently on display in institutions have both historic and monetary value and so are treasured.

How well will a museum care for such an artefact if it loses all monetary value and becomes a cultural embarrassment?

Moving from ‘asset’ to ‘cost centre’, it will languish in the store until pressure on space or conservation costs means it will have to give way to other pieces that remain more acceptable to the museum’s collection. What then? With all avenues variously closed off by politics, the law and social engineering, the only destination will be the skip. Is this really what we want?

Chris Ewbank is the founder of the Surrey-based auctioneers Ewbank’s Fine Art Auctioneers. Its next antiques and collectors sale is on December 18.

For more details go to www.ewbankauctions.co.uk ANTIQUE COLLECTING 27

MEMORABILIA Unusual lots of 2019 Shackleton’s Nimrod expedition in Antarctica in June 1908.

One of the original menus came to auction at Golding Young & Mawer in January, selling for £6,400.

In reality, no such meal ever took place. The crew would have made do with the same meagre rations they’d been subsisting on for months. That said; the whisky mentioned throughout was very real.

The menu came to auction as part of a collection consigned from the family of the expedition’s cook, William Charles Roberts.

The pistol sold in Paris, image courtesy of AuctionArt–Rémy Le Fur

Cool & Collectable Not all auction rooms are full of lumpy old furniture and silver candelabras, memorabilia expert Paul Fraser reveals 10 of the oddest lots to go under the hammer in 2019 VAN GOGH’S PISTOL

In 1890, Vincent Van Gogh shot himself in a field outside Auvers-sur-Oise.

The bullet did not kill him instantly. He awoke many hours later and staggered to his rooms, where he died of his wounds two days later.

But the gun was never found. For decades it remained a mystery. That is until a farmer uncovered a rusted Lefacheaux revolver in a field outside Auvers-sur-Oise in 1965.

That farmer later gifted it to the owners of the inn where Van Gogh died.

In 2016, the pistol went on display at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. In January this year, the owners decided to sell up. It made £140,000 at Auction Art in Paris.

THE NIMROD MIDWINTER MENU

Feeling hungry? How do a couple of penguin patties sound? Seal cutlets?

These were the proposed entrees of a Midwinter Celebration meal hosted by the crew of Ernest

28 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above right The menu went under the hammer in Lincolnshire, image courtesy of Golding Young & Mawer Right Only 35 writing balls have survived, image courtesy of Auction Team Breker Below The flask sold in April, image courtesy of Henry Aldridge & Sons

THE HANSEN WRITING BALL

The Hansen Writing Ball was one of the world’s first typewriters. Rather than employing the linear keyboard we’re all familiar with, here the letters are arranged in a ball shape. The vowels are on the left and the consonants on the right.

Its creator, the Reverend Rasmus Malling-Hansen, was principal of Copenhagen’s Royal Institute for the Deaf and Dumb. His inspiration came from the way his students communicated with their hands.

His 1870 patent application states: “In a given time one can say five times as many sounds as can be written.”

While the design won awards across Europe, it was overly expensive to produce. Hansen only made 180, of which around 35 have survived. One sold for £66,223 at Auction Team Breker in May.

HELEN CANDEE’S BRANDY FLASK

This silver brandy flask has a tragic history.

It belonged to Helen Churchill Candee: writer, women’s rights activist and First-Class passenger aboard the Titanic.

In the small hours of April 15, 1912, as the ship went down, Candee handed the flask and a small portrait of her mother to her friend Edward Kent with the words: “You stand a better chance of living than I”.

But as fate would have it, Candee reached New York while Kent did not. A rescuer recovered his body in the days after the sinking.

The words on the flask read “Fiel Pero Desdichado” – Spanish for “Faithful but Unfortunate”.

This remarkable lot made £76,000 at Henry Aldridge & Sons in April.

A COMPLETE SET OF POKEMON CARDS

You may recall Pokemon cards as the biggest playground craze of the late ‘90s. But it turns out these wildly popular pieces of pop ephemera were valuable all along.

In August, a complete mint collection of 103 US first edition cards sold for a remarkable £77,250 at Goldin Auctions in New Jersey.

That puts them in the same rarefied category as baseball cards. Just like baseball cards, this was something few would have predicted at the time.

Right The poetry sold for £13,500, image courtesy of Heritage Auctions

POETRY FROM BONNIE AND CLYDE

Infamous outlaws have feelings too.

In March, Heritage Auctions sold a journal of writings and photographs Below right The whale’s by Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow for £13,500. penis sold at Sworders in February, image These legendary lovers courtesy of Sworders caused carnage across the American Midwest.

Below A medieval Included are poems chessman bought for a fiver by an Edinburgh each wrote for the other. antiques dealer in 1964 They’re far from soppy sold for £735,000 sonnets. Bonnie Parker’s ends: “Some day they’ll go Bottom Two sections down together / they’ll bury them side by side / to few of the wall sold for it’ll be grief / to the law a relief / but it’s death for £27,000 this year, Bonnie and Clyde.” image courtesy of That death would come just over a year later.

Summers Place Below left The first edition cards sold for £77,250, image courtesy of Cowan Auctions

Auctions Bottom right The only private photograph of Hiroshima sold this year, image courtesy of Cowan Auctions

A LEWIS ROOK

The 12th-century Lewis chessmen are among the most amazing treasures ever discovered in the British Isles.

Local man Malcolm ‘Sprot’ MacLeod found them buried on a beach on the Isle of Skye in 1831. A travelling merchant may have hidden them for safe keeping.

Each is delicately carved from individual walrus tusks and whale bones. They’re believed to originate in Trondheim, Norway.

Five pieces were missing from the set. In July this year, a rook came to auction at Sotheby’s. The consigner’s grandfather had purchased it for £5 at an Edinburgh antiques store in the 1960s. It sold for £735,000. This means there’s still four out there.

THE BERLIN WALL

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

So what better way to commemorate it than by owning a small part of it?

In August, Summers Place Auctions offered two sections of the wall - each bearing graffiti messages by German artist Ben Wagin.

The smaller of the two sold for £5,000, while the larger made £12,000.

A WHALE’S PENIS

The title for weirdest auction lot of the year has to go to this taxidermy sperm whale’s penis, which realised £4,600 at Sworders’ annual Out of the Ordinary sale.

It stands around 5ft in height and is stuffed with horse hair.

Bizarre? Yes. But whalers made use of every inch of the animal. In fact, they used to store their tobacco in whale’s penises.

AN IMAGE OF HIROSHIMA

Finally, this is the only private photograph of the Hiroshima bombing.

The photographer is Lt. Russell E. Gackenbach, who served as navigator aboard the appropriately named Necessary Evil – the B-52 bomber that followed the Enola Gay and documented the bombing.

The crew had no idea of what to expect.

Crew members were not allowed to bring their own cameras.

But Gackenbach, sensing something big was coming, managed to sneak his on board. The result is a unique viewpoint of a defining and terrifying moment in history – the dawn of the atomic age.

It sold in the US for £15,500 in June.

Paul Fraser is the founder of Paul Fraser Collectibles, for more details visit www. paulfrasercollectibles.com ANTIQUE COLLECTING 29

COLLECTING GUIDES Whisky

LIQUID

Gold

If you are raising a dram this Burns Night – think before you drink. With a recent bottle of whisky selling for £1.5m now could be the time to delve into your drinks cabinet, writes expert Mark Littler 2019 has been a tumultuous year for the whisky industry. After the record-breaking sale of a handpainted bottle of 1926 Macallan in October 2018 for £1.2m, the consensus was unanimous: we had reached ‘peak whisky.’ And yet, despite seeing an expected drop in prices over the first half of 2019, the third quarter peaked with a record-breaking bang when another bottle of 1926 60-year-old Macallan smashed the previous record by more than £300,000 to sell for £1.5m at Sotheby’s.

THE RISE AND RISE OF MACALLAN It is difficult to talk about the whisky market without talking about Macallan. They are undoubtedly the kings of the single malt whisky market. Even when the market

30 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above With Christmas looming and Burns Night on January 25, be careful you don’t accidentally serve your guests some very expensive whisky

seems to be flattening, a bottle appears from their impeccable history of releases to catapult them back to the top of the rankings.

Following the record-breaking sale of the £1.2m bottle in October 2018, bottles of Macallan 18-year-old and 25-year-old (two of their most popular collectors’ bottles) showed an expected slowing of around 4-6 per cent as collectors started to rein in their purchasing – despite a flood of bottles hitting the market as people tried to ride the boom and sell their own collections.

Then, in autumn of 2019, prices at whisky auctions started to creep back up with prices spiking unexpectedly. Finally, the inexorable Macallan emerged with another bottle of 60-year-old whisky from 1926. It sold at Sotheby’s in October 2019 for a record-breaking £1.5m.

‘If you have a single malt whisky in your cupboard that isn’t opened then it is worth getting a valuation, especially if you’ve had it since the 90s or earlier’

Left A Peter Blake design 1926 Macallan sold for £751,703 at Bonham’s Hong Kong, May 2018 Below Described as the

“holy grail” of Scotch, the Michael Dillondesigned, one-of-a-kind single malt (shown in four aspects). It was the first bottle of whisky to exceed a sale of £1m in 2018

Below right A wooden

display case containing 46 bottles from the Macallan fine and rare miniature collection, ranging from 1937 to 1991, sold for £338,800 in October

WHAT WAS GOING ON? There are a few factors at play which all affect the rare whisky market: There are four different bottle designs for Macallan 1926, amounting to just 40 bottles in total.

The whisky market is international with demand (and therefore value) impacted by political and economic factors, including Brexit and the weak price of sterling.

Let us discuss the implications of the bottle designs first. Collectors like sets, and the Macallan 1926 series is the ultimate goal for three reasons: the age of the whisky, the limited number produced and the four different bottle designs.

There are only 40 bottles from the famous 60-year old cask 263, and it was bottled in four different bottle designs: a classic Macallan style bottle and labels by three designers: Peter Blake, Valerio Adami and Michael Dillon – each of which were supposed to be limited to an edition of 12. However Michael Dillon took so long to complete his hand-painted design that he only managed to produce one bottle; the bottle that sold for £1.2m in 2018.

• •

Macallan 1926, 60-year-old: The most expensive bottles and where they were sold

1 2 3 4

Classic Fine and Rare bottle: £1.45m Sotheby’s London, October 2019 Michael Dillon hand-painted design: £1.2m Christie’s London, October 2018 Valerio Adami design: £848,800 Bonham’s Edinburgh, October 2018 A Peter Blake design: £751,703 Bonham’s Hong Kong, May 2018

This one-of-a-kind exclusivity was what was assumed to have driven the record-breaking price. (In March 2019, a Macallan 1926 with the Peter Blake designed label sold for just £625,000.) That’s a lot for a bottle of whisky, but more than £100,000 less than the auction price a Peter Blake design achieved in May 2018. In hindsight, it is likely that ‘our’ collector already owned the Peter Blake-designed bottle that went on sale in March 2019, as the same design had been sold for a record price in May 2018 at an auction in Hong Kong.

UNICORN BOTTLE The record-breaking price achieved on the classic bottle in October was no doubt the result of two collectors going head to head. With such a limited number of each bottle available (and that is assuming none have been drunk) and their rare appearance at auction, competition would have been fierce.

In addition, this was Sotheby’s first whisky sale, and the first ever sale from a single collector. This will have added to the ‘auction fever’ of the sale and likely contributed toward the heady prices achieved in it.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 31

COLLECTING GUIDES Whisky Left Bottle number 1 of Bowmore’s “Crashing Waves”, the oldest whisky to be released after 54 long years maturation, sold for £363,000 Right The 1926 60-year-

old Macallan smashed the previous record by more than £300,000 to sell for £1.5m. Image courtesy of Sotheby’s Below In the auction

room when the hammer came down at £1.2m

TOP 5 DISTILLERIES OF 2019 Rank

Distillery

1

Macallan

2

Ardbeg

3

Bowmore

4

Highland Park

5

Bruichladdich

The top five distilleries weighted equally for market value and market volume as per Rare Whisky 101 Half Year Review 2019.

This means the next time the classic style bottle comes to auction there will only be one high roller bidding, and the price will be significantly less. With regard to the broader market, this was a single unicorn bottle and, therefore unlikely to affect the general whisky market.

WHISKY AND BREXIT The second factor that has likely impacted prices in 2019 is Brexit. The impact of the latest postponement is still being felt in terms of the strength of other currencies against the pound.

Simply put, international collectors get more for their money when the pound is weak and can,

therefore, bid higher in sterling than they might have been able to before the pound weakened.

This may have had an impact on the price that the bidders on the Macallan 1926 were willing to go to.

And, in turn, may have impacted the prices seen at UK whisky auctions in the later half of 2019.

The other side of the Brexit coin, that would have coincided with the autumn peak, is panic buying.

It wasn’t just in the UK where people were stockpiling certain things in case of a no-deal. Whisky accounts for 21 per cent of all UK food and drink exports, with a lot of it ending up in Europe.

In the case of a no-deal Brexit it was possible that there may have been a ‘whisky drought’ in mainland Europe, as bottles became stuck at country borders with large tariffs placed on alcohol moving from the UK to the EU. This may have caused both drinkers and collectors to rush to get their dream bottles while the threat of a no-deal Brexit was still real.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR THE FUTURE OF WHISKY? While the pound is weak we are likely to see strong prices in UK-based whisky auctions as collectors strive to get the most whisky for their money. It could also mean that the rise we are currently seeing may be unstable; we may start to see a dip again when the pound begins to recover.

What about blended whisky?

Unfortunately, blended whisky does not have the same cult following or demand from collectors as single malt. A very few cult bottles from the 1950s and earlier do have some interest, but these are usually special cases, such as White Horse which uses the very sought after Laphroaig in its blends.

32 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Collecting single malt whisky: tips for beginners

• Whisky should be kept in a cool, dark place. This • • • •

protects the liquid and helps prevent sun damage to the packaging.

Whisky should be stored with the bottle standing up (the opposite of wine). Lying a bottle of whisky down could damage the cork and lead to more evaporation.

Consider adding a seal to your capsule top. Whisky wasn’t designed to be a collector’s item, so the seals were not designed for long-term storage. A seal like Parafilm will help prevent leakage and evaporation of the alcohol.

Look out for limited-edition releases from more obscure distilleries for entry-level bottles.

Consider visiting a distillery to buy bottles as they are released. For new releases don’t buy the first to appear at auction as they usually go for the highest prices.

THE DISTILLERIES TO WATCH IN 2020 The top single malt distilleries have shown little change in 2019, with bottles from Macallan, Bowmore and Ardbeg continuing to dominate in terms of market value and market volume.

That isn’t to say that there cannot be change within the whisky community. Royal Lochnagar was the whisky used in the House Baratheon release of the Game of Thrones series and the distillery also released a 30-year-old limited bottling run at the end of 2018 that has proven very commercial. As a result, Royal Lochnagar saw an increase in its market share by more than 400 per cent through the first half of 2019. While that impressive leap doesn’t get it into the top 30 distilleries of 2019, it does show that good marketing can go a long way, even in today’s established market. It also reminds collectors of the benefits to be had from keeping your eye out for potentially popular releases.

WHAT SHOULD YOU BE LOOKING FOR IN YOUR WHISKY CUPBOARD? If you have a single malt whisky in your cupboard that isn’t opened, then it is worth getting a valuation, especially if you’ve had it since the ‘90s or earlier. It doesn’t have to be 60 years old, or a bottle of Macallan or Bowmore – younger bottles, and bottles from more obscure distilleries can still be commercial to the right whisky collector.

Mark Littler is an independent antiques consultant and whisky broker specialising in the sale of collections and estates. If you have a single bottle or cask you are considering selling email mark@marklittler.com

6

FACTORS THAT IMPACT WHISKY BOTTLE VALUE:

1 Its age

This refers to the number of years the whisky spent maturing in the cask, not how long it has been in the bottle. The age is indicated on the label and can vary from three to more than 60 years old. Ages between 10 years and 30 years are the most common and older whiskies are generally more commercial.

2 Bottling period

The year or period when the whisky was bottled can impact the value. As bottles from a specific year are consumed, the Damaged labels can remaining bottles become affect the price rarer, so even a ‘standard’ malt can become sought after if it was bottled long enough ago. Bottlings from the 90s and earlier can be very commercial.

3 Distillation year

The distillation year refers to the specific year in which the whisky was distilled. Not all whiskies will state the distillation years but series with distillation years are often sought after by collectors as they lend themselves to collecting sets or specific dates.

4 The level of the whisky in the bottle neck

The level of the whisky in the bottle neck has a large impact on the value. As alcohol is more volatile than water it is the alcohol that will evaporate first, which damages the flavour. Some bottles have different neck styles but for a standard bottle the level should be well into the neck, ideally sitting in the top half of the bottle.

5 Label and packaging

The label on a bottle of whisky is important to a collector. If it is damaged in any way it will have a negative impact on the value. Having the original box also has a huge impact on the value, as a bottle without its original box could be worth up to 30 per cent less.

6 Single Cask Bottlings and limited runs

Single cask bottlings are generally more sought after, as by default they are unique and limited edition. Look out for numbers on your bottle like XXX/250, which would indicate a single cask edition. If it has been bottled at cask strength, then it becomes even more sought after. Larger editions, such as XXX/3000 would generally indicate a larger multi-cask release, or that the whisky has been diluted to a set percentage. These runs can also be commercial, especially if it comes from one of the more commercial distilleries.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 33

COLLECTING GUIDES A Christmas Carol

By Dickens!

On the eve of the 150thanniversary of Charles Dickens’ death and an exhibition on how the author ‘invented’ Christmas, Antique Collecting presents a guide to his most famous book and how to collect it

M

ore than 175 years after the publication of Charles Dickens’ (1812-1870) most iconic book A Christmas Carol its snowy shadow still looms large today – from TV ads to cards. An exhibition at the Charles Dickens Museum in London, in collaboration with the antiquarian booksellers Maggs Bros. Ltd, considers the author’s lasting legacy when it comes to our interpretation of the festive period. Beautiful Books: Dickens and the Business of Christmas shows how the exploits of Ebenezer Scrooge, et al, was the first in a series of five books by the author that shaped Christmas in ways we still recognise today.

34 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above A trial edition of A Christmas Carol published in 1843 by Chapman & Hall, all images unless otherwise stated, courtesy of the Charles Dickens Museum Right The world’s first printed Christmas Card, designed by Henry Cole, courtesy of The Brick Row Book Shop, San Diego, California

While Christmas has been celebrated in Britain since the earliest times (see our feature on page 14), it was Dickens who arguably placed the largest bauble on the tree. But he was not alone.

Charles Dickens Museum director, Cindy Sughrue, said: “Dickens and Christmas will forever be linked and his influence on the season remains as strong as ever. In the 19th century, Dickens became king of the commercial Christmas. Changes in the country created the perfect conditions for him to publish A Christmas Carol – a thing of beauty, both in content and presentation.”

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS In 1843, while a 31-year-old Dickens was penning A Christmas Carol in 1843, a time-pressed Henry Cole was busy coming up with the Christmas card.

Cole was a civil servant and inventor who worked for

Left The frontispiece of the first edition of The Chimes published by Bradbury and Evans, 1844 Below The five

Christmas Books, including the salmoncoloured A Christmas Carol in the middle

Bottom Various editions of A Christmas Carol

the government’s Record Office. He was also in part responsible for the introduction of the Penny Post in 1840, which might have explained his interest in cards.

THE CHRISTMAS BOOKS After A Christmas Carol, Dickens wrote four more short novels in the 1840s, which further cemented his name with the festive period. Known collectively as the Christmas Books they included: The Chimes (1844), The Cricket on the Hearth (1845) which, in its day, was almost as popular as A Christmas Carol, The Battle of Life (1846) and The Haunted Man (1848).

Each is a compact tale, cloth bound and blocked in blind and gold with gilt edges, coloured end papers and vignette title pages. John Leech, illustrator of A Christmas Carol was commissioned to work on all of the subsequent Christmas Books alongside Daniel Maclise, Richard Doyle, Edward Lanseer, Frank Stone and John Tenniel.

As he had done with A Christmas Carol, Dickens was heavily involved in the physical creation of the books. He spent two days at the printers, reading proofs and superintending the production of The Chimes in 1844.

CARD TIMES Cole (who went on to be the first director of the V&A) decided to abandon long letters over the festive period, preferring instead a short card with the message: ‘A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you’. The exhibition includes John Horsley’s (1817-1903) first hand-coloured lithographed card, featuring a family celebrating Christmas. Of the 1,000 originally printed, 21 survived and one has been lent to the museum by a book dealer in San Francisco. The message – that this is a season for giving – is driven home by side panels showing a beggar receiving alms from a tray and a poor mother protecting her baby wrapped in a shawl.

The cards were sold for one shilling – a high price at the time. Despite its originality, the card was not a success and the next card designed for Christmas would not appear for another five years. However, eventually the idea took off: in 1877, 4.5 million Christmas cards were posted, aided in no small part by the introduction of the Penny Post.

INDUSTRIALISED BRITAIN Along with Dickens, there were other, less prosaic, forces at work promoting the idea of Christmas. In Germany several printers were developing colour lithography and by 1830 steel embossing dies were used. Once they became cheap enough they were adapted for the used in the manufacture of scraps and mottoes, used on Christmas cakes and biscuits.

In newly-industrialised Britain, the technological advances which revolutionised the work of bookbinders, printers, typesetters and illustrators, also prepared the perfect conditions for Dickens to introduce A Christmas Carol to the world. As production, distribution and consumption grew, so did middle class spending power.

Christmas encouraged eating, drinking and present-giving and became an important time of year for the transformed publishing industry, which supplied a wealth of beautifully-designed books just waiting to become ideal Christmas presents.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL Despite its subsequent success, the book had an inauspicious start. Sales of Dickens’ previous book, Martin Chuzzlewit, published by Chapman & Hall, had so disappointed that the company proposed A Christmas Carol be issued in a cheaper collection of

‘In newly-industrialised Britain, the technological advances which revolutionised the work of bookbinders, printers, typesetters and illustrators, also prepared the perfect conditions for Dickens to introduce A Christmas Carol to the world’

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 35

COLLECTING GUIDE A Christmas Carol

Dickens’ works or serialised in a magazine. But Dickens had other ideas.

Dickens was adamant that A Christmas Carol be published as a high-quality, stand-alone book. After discussion between the parties they came to an unusual decision.

Dickens would fund the publication of A Christmas Carol and receive the profits. Chapman & Hall would be paid for the printing costs and receive a fixed commission on the number of copies sold.

DEMANDING AUTHOR Since Dickens was paying for the publishing of the book, he insisted on overseeing every step. The exhibition includes letters from Dickens to publishers and illustrators revealing his eagle-eyed scrutiny of the design, illustration and production of his books.

Written in six weeks in the winter of 1843 (to ensure its publication before Christmas), the author demanded a brown-salmon, fine-ribbed cloth binding, blocked in blind and gold on the front, gold on the spine and with various colour illustrations by John Leech (1817-1864).

Leech had been interested in working with Dickens from as early on as Pickwick Papers in 1837. Their friendship began in 1842 when the author invited him for dinner in 1842 and, the following year, he

Above John Leech (1817-1864) A Christmas Carol, 1843, small pencil sketch of Marley’s Ghost, alongside a plate from the first edition of the book Right John Leech (18171864) A Christmas Carol, 1843, sketch of the last of the spirits, The Pointing Finger, alongside a plate from the first edition of the book Below John Leech

(1817-1864) A Christmas Carol, 1843, a sketch of the second of the three spirits or Scrooge’s third visitor, alongside a plate from the first edition of the book

commissioned four coloured plates and four woodcuts for A Christmas Carol.

The preliminary illustrations were done in November as Dickens was finishing the manuscript and are the first visual representations of Marley, The Last of the Ghosts, The Ghost of Christmas Present, Fezziwig and, of course, Scrooge.

FINANCIAL FLOP Dickens was eager to use his favourite green in the book, it was also agreed to put a sprig of holly on the title page.

However, the green colour turned drab, and eventually Dickens opted for blue. All of the 6,0000 editions released on December 19 have red and blue title pages, and are dated 1843.

However, the presentation was so lavish, including Leech’s hand-coloured illustrations, despite being the sell-out hit of the 1843 holiday season, huge production costs left Dickens with just £230, rather than the £1,000 he had been expecting.

BLEAK OUTLOOK It also went on to spark Dickens’ growing unease with the holiday he was accused of creating. By the 1860s, Christmas had expanded so rapidly that he started to complain the market was flooded with material. He began to distance himself from the festival of gift books and stocking fillers, and passages in his own stories, such as Great Expectations (1860) and The Mystery of Edwin Drood, (1870) grew noticeably darker in tone and subject.

However, Christmas continued to grow. Cindy Sughrue said: “While A Christmas Carol celebrates the importance of family, loved ones and generosity of spirit, it was part of a massive commercial Christmas explosion – a dichotomy which would come to irritate Dickens later in his life.”

Beautiful Books: Dickens and the Business of Christmas in association with Maggs Bros. Ltd, runs at the Charles Dickens Museum, 48 Doughty Street, London WC1N 2LX until April 19.

For more details go to www.dickensmuseum.com or call 020 7405 2127.

36 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Q& & &A Brian Lake from Jarndyce Antiquarian Booksellers in London presents his guide to collecting A Christmas Carol

Q A

What are the main things to be aware of when buying a first edition of A Christmas Carol?

The epitome for a Dickens collector is a first edition, first issue (‘STAVE I’ on page one), internally clean copy in the original salmon-pink cloth, in fine, bright condition.

There is still an argument about whether or not the ‘true first’ should have pale yellow endpapers or chalky green; the first copies had green, but Dickens didn’t like it; green endpapers were designed to go with greenprinted half title and green and red title page, all of which Dickens rejected in favour of blue half title, blue and red title. There are so-called ‘trial Issue’ copies with green which are difficult to find in nice condition.

For a really nice copy with yellow or green endpapers be prepared to pay £15,000£20,000, while copies, in less good bindings, or rebound, sell for £6,000-£10,000. There were 14 editions in the original format with the hand-coloured John Leech plates. For the collector with a smaller budget, look for the best copy you can find of one of these early editions which sell for £750-£2,000.

acumen, the colour plates added greatly to the publishing costs. Despite a retail price of 5/- (five shillings, 25p) he failed to make money.

Q A

What is the order of collectability of all Dickens’ books?

Most Dickens’ first editions were published in tens of thousands of copies. As they are not rare, with many titles, collectors can be choosey. Other Victorian authors were not published in such numbers.

The most expensive is a first edition of Great Expectations of which 1,000 were printed, with many copies going to libraries.

Fine copies in cloth are rare. We recently paid £170,00 for such a copy at auction. Many of the ‘standard’ titles, issued in parts and then rebound, are relatively common including Little Dorrit and Martin Chuzzlewit which can be bought for £200-£400 in decent half calf. The price of the original issued in parts, in very good condition, soars into the thousands. The rarest books issued in parts are Sketches by Boz and Oliver Twist.

Q A

What advice would you have to a new collector of Dickens?

Look at what is available: internet sites (www.vialibri.net) will give you an idea of prices, but they often vary wildly according to the seller. Visit shops that specialise in Dickens, talk to the owners, find one whose advice you trust and who doesn’t give you the ‘investment for the future’ sales pitch. Be prepared to make some mistakes, buy the best you can afford, upgrade when you can and get enough information so that you trust your own judgement.

Above A first edition of The Battle of Life, the fouth of Dickens’ Christmas Books Below left A rush light holder owned by Charles

Dickens, c.1830s is part of the exhibition at the Charles Dickens Museum

Below A glass gas light lamp owned by Charles

Dickens, c.1860s, also on display until April 19

Q A

How easy is it to collect the Christmas Books?

A Christmas Carol was the first of DIckens’ five Christmas Books. The others are relatively easy to find in a poor to good state, for which you would expect to pay £20-£100. However, fine copies are less common, so be prepared to pay £500£,1,000 and, for rare, earlier issues, even more. (The commonest is a fourth issue of The Battle of Life.)

Some collectors prefer a uniformlybound set of Christmas Books, which would set you back £4,000-£5,000, although mixed editions are a lot cheaper. The best bet may be to look for very good, to fine, condition copies in cloth, rather than rebound.

Q A

How large a role did Dickens take in A Christmas Carol’s publication?

Dickens had two aims with A Christmas Carol: to relate a morality tale and make money! However, despite his business

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 37

COLLECTING GUIDES Brooches former president and first lady, Barack and Michelle Obama; the second a funeral brooch and the third a special gift from Canada—Britain’s commonwealth country and ally.

Brooches at auction

BROOCH the SUBJECT

I

From the cat walk to the red carpet and now the auction room – brooches are hot and there’s never been a better time to buy says jewellery specialist Helena Waudby

t wasn’t so long ago that brooches were the poor relation within the jewellery department – unloved, unwanted and often sold just for the price of their component parts. The downturn in favour was due to fashion; towards the end of the 20th century, fabrics became increasingly lighter and brooches, which require a heavier fabric to withstand their weight, became rather impractical. Coupled with the trend for minimalism and the casual daytime attire popular in the ‘90s, the brooch was seen as an old fashioned and rather unnecessary accessory.

Now brooches are back in the limelight. President of the supreme court, Lady Hale, made headlines for her now infamous spider brooch in September when she declared the suspension of parliament unlawful, and Queen Elizabeth – one of the world’s most stylish women – is rarely seen without a brooch. She even caused a stir during President Trump’s state visit in 2018 with her choice of brooches – one was a gift from

38 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above Popular from the red carpet to the catwalk, brooches are big at auction

Brooches are achieving some fantastic hammer prices at auction, flying past their somewhat humble estimates.

If you’re considering buying one, don’t let the fleeting nature of fashion deter you. While the rise of the brooch may be due to current fashion trends, as an accessory they are incredibly practical, adaptable and timelessly beautiful. Think of them as a miniature sculpture worn on fabric, which does not have to compromise its beauty to fit around the neck, ears and fingers.

As with any area of collecting, brooches of certain ages, styles and makers prove more popular among bidders then others. If you’re looking to make an investment, or simply looking for inspiration before heading to the sale room yourself, here’s a few things to consider.

Georgian gems Georgian jewellery in any form always catches the bidder’s eye for its rarity, but also for its craftsmanship. In an era before mechanisation, Georgian jewellery was largely handcrafted and, given that the key trends of Georgian era jewels were delicate floral motifs, lacy aesthetics and symmetry, the skill of the jewellers of the time cannot be overstressed.

Right A Victorian mourning brooch pendant containing a twisted lock of hair Below left Belle epoque

emerald and diamond brooch, sold for £2,600

‘Brooches are achieving fantastic hammer prices at auction, flying past their somewhat humble estimates. If you’re considering buying one, don’t let the fleeting nature of fashion deter you. While the rise of the brooch may be due to current fashion trends, as an accessory they are incredibly practical, adaptable and timelessly beautiful.’

The Georgians loved to add stylistic flair to every aspect of their lives, including death. Mourning jewellery of the Georgian period encapsulates the delicate aesthetics with sentimental meaning, and their poignancy is not lost among bidders. Mourning miniatures – navette-shaped brooches which depict delicately painted scenes of urns, graves and weeping mourners – became popular in the 18th century.

Another popular component of mourning brooches was hair, twisted into scrolling patterns and often intertwined with gold wire accents, which was used as a way to keep a part of a loved one with the mourner.

Mourning brooches are often surrounded by a border of seed pearls, representing the tears of the mourner.

Love tokens On the other side of the coin, love token jewellery was tremendously popular among the sentimental Georgians. The trend for portrait miniatures was utilised heavily in this type of jewellery also, with so-called ‘lover’s-eye’ pieces. As the name suggests, these were exchanged between lovers and depicted the eye of the wearer’s partner gazing out behind a crystal glaze. Pendants and brooches featuring this motif are among the most sought-after among collectors of Georgian jewellery.

While many Georgian jewels used relatively inexpensive materials such as hair and seed pearls, the more elaborate pieces featured expensive gems.

So delicately balanced were these pieces, that very few survive intact today, making them valuable at auction.

Victorian and Edwardian brooches Victorian and Edwardian brooches are often found in abundance in any vintage jewellery collection. Pieces from this period come in a wide variety of styles and, of course, some are more popular at auction than others. Some of the most popular themes are those of celestial motifs. Starbursts and crescent moons usually set with seed pearls, or precious stones such as ruby, sapphire or diamond have the charm of antique pieces while still looking very contemporary.

One of the biggest trends of the Victorian era was Etruscan revival jewellery, which

INSECT JEWELLERY Above Diamond crescent brooch, sold for £1,300 Above right Brooches are

back in vogue

Below An opal and

diamond Etruscan revival brooch pendant

by Carlo Giuliano

Below left A Victorian

Etruscan revival turquoise and diamond enamel brooch pendant

Above Lady Hale wearing her famous spider brooch

The fashion for insect jewellery began in the 1860s, when delicate naturalistic butterflies, bees and dragonflies, as well as the less appealing stag beetles, spiders, flies and wasps, were made of gold or set with multi-coloured gemstones.

Insects were mounted as brooches and worn on the bodice, sleeves and shoulders, in the hair and on veils and bonnets.

Their popularity, which grew in the last two decade of the 1800s, has seen a recent return to favour courtesy of fans including Lady Hale. drew inspiration from the craze for archaeology in the early 19th century and the unearthing of Italian tombs packed with gold and treasures. Inspired by the intricate goldwork of the Etruscan civilisation, revival jewellery is decorated with twisted wirework and delicate beading, and many incorporated boldcoloured, semi-precious stones such as lapis-lazuli, turquoise and malachite.

Brooches and jewellery with themes of travel and discovery remained prominent throughout the Victorian era, with cameo brooches depicting Roman mythological figures and micro-mosaic brooches depicting the architecture and ruins of the continent.

The distinctive style of brooches from this period remain appealing to buyers today if they’re in good condition, but pieces with a good name attributed

BROOCHES ON THE RED CARPET Many celebrities have been seen sporting brooches at award shows, namely Rachel Weisz and Amy Adams who made statements at this year’s Oscars with vintage pieces by Tiffany and Cartier.

There’s even a growing number of male celebrities turning to brooches to add personality to the standard tuxedo such as Billy Porter and, perhaps taking his cue from fellow brooch aficionado Porter, Chadwick Boseman was also seen on the red carpet with three brooches on his lapel.

The star of the film Black Panther donned a selection of 18ct yellow gold and diamond Schlumberger clips from Tiffany & Co. Designers such as Gucci and Alexander McQueen are also using brooches more and more, sparking high street and online retailers Zara and ASOS to follow suit.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 39

COLLECTING GUIDES Brooches

Brooches adaptability

to them will perform even better. Two of the biggest names who capitalised on the trend for Etruscan and archaeological jewellery were the Italian families of Castellani and Giuliano. Pieces by these makers fetch double or triple the price of an unmarked piece.

Above Vintage brooches are back in vogue

Belle Époque

Below Hans Hansen

Towards the end of the 19th century, fashion encompassed all things delicate, floral and lavish.

This term encompasses a wide range of sub-genres and styles which are among some of the most popular pieces at auction today. One of the most noted movements was art nouveau, with its focus on the feminine form and nature. Graceful, female aesthetics have a timeless appeal to collectors and casual buyers at auction.

Many art nouveau brooches incorporated delicate materials such as coloured glass and plique-á-jour enamel, which consequently means that not many pieces survive in good condition today, and those that do attract higher prices at auction. As with revival period jewellery, pieces attributed to a noted maker will get the top prices. Look out for pieces by René Lalique, Archibald Knox and Georgie Gaskin and her husband Arthur Gaskin.

Art deco and 20th century Anything art deco is a smash hit with bidders. The clean, geometric designs of the 1920s and 1930s still manage to look contemporary, despite some pieces being nearly 100 years old. They are also incredibly easy to adapt into modern, wearable pieces of jewellery. Brooches and double clips were very in vogue in this period, serving as mini modernist sculptures for early 20th-century fashionistas, incorporating the highest-quality metals such as platinum and chromium with clean-cut diamond, emerald and sapphires.

A combination of these factors makes art deco brooches some of the most sought after at auction. As with any piece of jewellery, names can have a huge impact on value. Some of the more popular designers of the era include Cartier, Boucheron and Van Cleef & Arpels.

40 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

In the Victorian era, many brooches were made with additional pendant fittings so they could be added to a chain and worn as a necklace. Even those without pendant fittings can have them added by a jeweller relatively inexpensively. It is not uncommon to have vendors buy a brooch for exactly that purpose.

So called ‘double-clip’ brooches, which were invented by Cartier in the 1920s, are one of the most sought-after styles of brooch, because of their adaptability. These comprise two symmetrical dress clips which can be worn together as a brooch or separated in to two complementary parts and worn as earrings, pendants, bracelets or even hair accessories. Discerning buyers of jewellery are looking at brooches for their potential and how they might be transformed into pieces that suit their individual tastes.

Right An art deco double clip diamond brooch

yellow gold crescent brooch

Below right A turquoise

arts and crafts brooch from Murrle Bennett & Co., sold for £320

Around the mid to late 20th century, styles from Scandinavia had a massive impact on the jewellery industry. At the forefront of the wave of Scandinavian designers was Georg Jensen, who opened up shop in 1904. While Jensen rose to prominence for his arts and crafts-inspired pieces in the early 1900s, the Jensen workshop went through several stylistic shifts through the 20th century, collaborating with various designers such as Henning Koppel, Nanna Ditzel and Arno Malinowski.

Jensen’s pieces utilise sleek lines and abstract forms that are characteristic of post-war, 20th-century style, and his brooches are highly collectable among both dedicated collectors and casual buyers. For those looking to sample Scandi style at a slightly more affordable price point, other popular designers of the era include Hans Hansen and Andreas Mikkelsen.

Helena Waudby is the jewellery specialist at the Shropshire-based auctioneers Trevanion and Dean, which holds its next auction on December 14. For more details go to www.trevanionanddean.com

COLLECTING GUIDES Must-have toys

Stocking Thrillers Toy specialist Andrew Smith reveals the top 10 toys of yesteryear still delighting collectors today

less commonly ‘Genuine Sindy’. As well as authenticity and condition, collectors in the know look for details such as the painted flat metal poppers on her outfits and the less common side parting in her hair. Sindy production moved to Hong Kong in 1965, so the rarest and therefore most valuable Sindy dolls date from 1963 – 1965. An original, boxed Sindy doll in great condition can make up to £500 at auction.

View Master

P

aw Patrol video games, L.O.L dolls and a Harry Potter coding kit are all tipped to be the toys parents will be fighting to snap up for pride of place under the tree on Christmas morning 2019. But predicting what toys will hold long-term appeal to become collectors’ items of the future is not as easy.

Sindy dolls Sindy first appeared in 1963 and soon became the bestselling toy from British manufacturers Pedigree.

The original doll came in a thoroughly modern ensemble of red, white and blue striped top with matching jeans and sneakers. 70 per cent of Sindy sales were made up of her accessories in the form of ‘the kind of clothes every grown-up girl longs for.’

With Audrey Hepburn and Jackie Kennedy-inspired outfits for every occasion from ‘Sleepy Time’ to ‘Dream Date’ to ‘Shopping in the Rain’ to ‘Pony Club’, this was undoubtedly the case. As well as the eight outfits, 1960s Christmas lists would have included extra accessories like nylons and scarves so Sindy could be immaculately turned out whatever the weather.

The most coveted Sindy outfits have sewn-in labels printed ‘Genuine Sindy Made in England’ or

‘As well as eight Sindy outfits, 1960s Christmas lists would have included accessories like nylons and scarves so she could be well turned out whatever the weather’

Everyone of a certain age will remember the View Master hand-held slide viewer. First produced in 1939 by Sawyers, an American slide projector and scenic slide company, the View Master soon became its standout, bestselling product. It became a musthave on Christmas lists from 1962 onwards when the original Bakelite model was replaced by the iconic bright red plastic version, which many people remember fondly and seek out at auction to this day.

The popularity of the View Master in the 1960s was also due in part to the explosion in kids’ TV and film at the time. As well as asking Santa for a View Master, children requested Disney, Batman, Doctor

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 41

COLLECTING GUIDES Must-have toys International Games Inc was formed to market the simple but addictive game all over the world. In 1992, UNO was sold to Mattel.

Aficionados of the game (or those prone to getting twos sets mixed up) will know that there are many different editions of the original game in addition to sets themed around Harry Potter, Frozen, Star Wars and Superman to name a view. These days, Braille and colour-blind versions are available.

Many people will pick up a new UNO set this Christmas for around £5. However, if you’d like to hold a little bit of history in your hand next time you play, if you’re lucky enough to spot one of Merle Robbins’ original green sets at auction, you could be the ultimate UNO winner by getting it for as little as just £8.

Who and Flintstones reels to name a few. Parents keen to give the toy an educational slant could give their children reels depicting everything from the Blackpool Illuminations to the Vatican City.

The fact that the View Master is still produced in the saturated market of today’s high-tech world is testament to its enduring appeal. A modern version should give you change from £10 but a vintage View Master will sell at auction for around £40.

Space Hopper If there’s one thing guaranteed to put a smile on the face of young and old, it’s a bright orange Space Hopper. Parents buying them today will be struck by the fact that these bright orange air-filled balls with a jolly kangaroo face and handles haven’t changed at all since the days of their own Space Hopper races in the garden. Indeed, the Space Hopper first bounced onto the scene in 1968 to become an instant hit with the young and young at heart.

Although versions of the Space Hopper exist all over the world, the iconic orange British Space Hopper was first conceived when directors at toy manufacturers Mettoy happened to see some children having fun bobbing up and down on a floating buoy in a Norwegian quay.

The Space Hopper box has changed over time to fit in with passing fashions and these days an adultsized version is available for those who wish to revisit those more uncomplicated times spent bouncing around on an orange ball. However, for the ultimate Space Hopper experience what could beat a vintage Space Hopper? And at around £10 at auction, you can pick it up for less than an adult-sized new version would cost!

UNO Christmas just isn’t Christmas without a family card game and when it comes to one that will both delight children and engage older competitors it doesn’t get better than UNO, which first became a popular stocking filler in 1972.

UNO is a version of the ‘crazy eights’ family of card games and was first created by Cincinnati barber Merle Robbins who had 5,000 copies made to sell from his shop. After he sold the rights to a group of friends for $50,000 plus royalties of 10 cents per game,

42 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

‘Space hoppers were first conceived when Mettoy’s directors saw children playing on a buoy in a Norwegian quay’

Merlin Electronic Wizard If the kids who have the Nintendo Switch on this year’s Christmas list found themselves transported back in time, the Merlin Electronic Wizard would be the number one item on their wishlist, as it was for budding gamers and technology fans back in the ‘70s.

Parker Brothers launched the game to an enthusiastic audience in 1978 after it was created by NASA employee Bob Doyle and his wife and brother-inlaw. Such was the hype around the device, it featured on the Christmas issue of Newsweek and went on to sell over five million copies in its first run, going on to enjoy success well into the 1980s.

The instantly recognisable red, rectangular device was the original handheld games console.

Lucky owners of the original version could enjoy six games – Tic, Tac, Toe, Music Machine, Echo, Blackjack 13, Magic Squares and Mindbender. Such was the popularity of Merlin, it was released for a new audience in 2004. Those who spot an opportunity at auction to relive their youth with Merlin can expect to do so for around £50.

The Six Million Dollar Man The American TV series, starring Lee Majors and based on the novel Cyborg by Martin Caidin, was one of the most iconic TV shows of the 1970s. So it made sense that the line of merchandise that followed suit would be in hot demand, particularly the action figure of the Six Million Dollar Man himself, which was on many a Christmas list in 1975.

Three versions of Steve Austin, AKA the Six Million Dollar Man, were produced by the American toy manufacturer, Kenner toys, who also famously produced the original Star Wars figures. The success of the Steve Austin figures led to the production of other characters including Big Foot, Oscar Goldman, Maskatron and the Bionic Woman.

Demand for the Six Million Dollar Man action figure also led to a wide range of playsets and accessories based around the theme. These days, a Six Million Dollar Man action figure who still looks ready to take on Maskatron can realise up to £200 at auction.

Optimus Prime The six Transformers films spanning from 2007-2018 have their roots in the TV animation of the 1980s, which was avidly watched by a whole generation of children. Thanks to the success of the film franchise, Transformers toys including action figures of Optimus Prime will be on many a modern Christmas list this year. However, collectors who associate the superhero robot with the TV show of their childhood would love to find an original 1980s Optimus Prime under the tree this Christmas. Today, an original Optimus Prime figure could reach £400 at auction.

The Care Bears Originally created for the greetings cards that became ubiquitous throughout the 1980s by artist Elena Kucharik, the Care Bears found their true calling as plush teddy bears who eventually inspired a TV series and three feature films.

There were 10 original Care Bears to collect, each with its own colour and ‘belly badge’ designed to show its character: Bedtime Bear, Birthday Bear, Cheer Bear, Friend Bear, Funshine Bear, Good Luck Bear, Grumpy Bear, Love-a-Lot Bear, Tenderheart Bear and Wish Bear. This, combined with later bears and ‘cousins’ including pigs, horses and cats meant Care Bears dominated Christmas lists in the mid ‘80s.

The Care Bears had five relaunches from 1991 to 2019, but for true fans, nothing beats the nostalgic appeal of the original 10. An original Care Bear in good condition can make £40 at auction.

Game Boy The first generation Game Boy caused a frenzy when it launched in Japan in April 1989 and in the USA in the summer of 1989, where it sold 1m units in a matter of weeks. When it reaached the UK a year later, it became one of the most sought-after Christmas toys in history.

The grey handheld console with its green dot matrix screen and trademark accents of magenta, black and blue are now an instantly recognisable as the symbol of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. The fact game cartridges included Tetris and Super Mario Land only fuelled demand for this must-have item.

Retro gaming is increasingly popular with those who want to relive the gaming experience of their youth, and a sealed original Game Boy could be expected to sell for £400 at auction.

BUZZ LIGHTYEAR Parents who spent Christmas 1995 trying to track down a Furby or a Tamagotchi were in for yet more stress in 1996 when the success of Toy Story meant that people were going to infinity and beyond in order to track down a Buzz Lightyear with parents offering up four times its retail value.

Buzz remains a perennial Christmas present favourite, especially in years such as this, which saw the release of a new Toy Story film. However, in the collecting world original is always best and a 1996 Buzz Lightyear figure will fetch around £40 at auction.

Andrew Smith is the in-house toy specialist at Gildings, a family-run auction house in Market Harborough.

He combines a specialism in die-cast toys from the pre and post-war eras with an expert knowledge of popular emerging markets including vinyl records, early digital and computing and 1970s/80s toys and memorabilia. Andrew holds monthly ‘Memorabilia Monday’ valuations.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 43

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

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Edited by Iconic Images, Introduction

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CHIPARUS

Master of Art Deco Alberto Shayo

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THE ESSENTIAL MARILYN MONROE

Milton H. Greene: 50 Sessions Joshua Greene ISBN 9781788840361 RRP: £35 Special offer price £22.75

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ADORNING FASHION

The History of Costume Jewellery to Modern Times Deanna Farneti Cera ISBN 9781788840477 RRP: £60 Special offer price £39.00

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Lavishly illustrated, this book is a must-buy for jewellery enthusiasts and fashion historians.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 45

EXPERT COMMENT Sporting hero commemorative medal gold-plated ‘to create a full set’.

The collection also includes two relay batons, one used by Jack in the 4x4 100 metres in 1928 and one in the British Empire Games.

OLYMPIC GLORY

Above Jack London was one of Britain’s Olympic winners Left Charles Hanson with Christine Downham as she unveiled the memorabilia at Hansons Below left Two relay batons, one from the 1928 Olympics

Jack, also known as John Edward London, was born in 1905 in British Guiana, now Guyana. He moved to London as a baby, had a spell back in British Guiana, then returned to London.

He joined the Polytechnic Harriers and was trained by renowned coach Sam Mussabini, who also coached Harold Abrahams whose 100m Olympic success in 1924 was celebrated in the film Chariots of Fire.

Jack was a whisker away from repeating that success in the 1928 Olympics. After equalling the Olympic 100m record of 10.6 seconds in the semifinal, he won silver in the final behind Canadian Percy Williams. Jack went on to be a leading British high jumper but his athletic career was curtailed by a leg injury in 1930.

MULTI-TALENTED

An Auctioneer’s Lot Charles Hanson celebrates one of the UK’s unsung sporting heroes whose collection recently ran away at auction

2019 has been an incredible year of auction successes – some of which sparked worldwide media coverage.

For example, we sold two hugely rare Harry Potter first editions, one for £28,500 and another for a whopping £46,000. Both stories went viral.

But, ultimately, what keeps me hooked on this job, year-in, year-out, is the thrill of the unknown. One such collection arrived in our Derbyshire headquarters, awash with historical pedigree and importance – so much so it featured on BBC’s Antiques Roadshow.

Its Lancashire owner, Christine Downham, was the great niece of the late Jack London, the first black athlete to win Olympic medals for Britain. In the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam he scooped bronze in the 4x4 100 metres relay and silver in the 100 metres.

His uncle John Downham, Christine’s dad, was so proud of Jack he arranged to have an Olympic

As well as being a brilliant athlete, he was an academic, pianist and actor. When his sporting career ended, his life took a celebrity twist when he became an entertainer and played piano for the stars. He was in the original cast of Noël Coward’s musical Cavalcade at the Theatre Royal in 1931 and appeared alongside Will Hay in the 1938 comedy Old Bones of the River.

There was nothing Jack couldn’t do.

Sadly, he was only 61 when he died in 1966 from a subarachnoid haemorrhage. At that time, he was working as a porter in London’s St Pancras Hospital. A somewhat humble end to an illustrious life.

But it’s not just me who appreciates Jack’s fortitude and pioneering spirit. When his memorabilia, including medals, a trophy, photos and newspaper cuttings went under the hammer in November they made £8,000 – more than double the sum we were expecting. Having been stored in Christine’s cupboard for years, his collection and achievements are now being treasured anew.

Finally, may I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and Happy New Year. I wonder what surprises 2020 has in store for us? If you think you might own next year’s big lot let me know, email me at charleshanson@hansonsauctioners.co.uk Hansons’ two-day Christmas country house fine art and library auction takes at its Bishton Hall saleroom, Wolseley Bridge, Staffordshire, on December 12-13.

‘Jack was a whisker away from repeating Abrahams’ success in the 1928 Olympics.

After equalling the Olympic 100m record of 10.6 seconds in the semi-final, he won silver in the final behind Canadian Percy Williams’ 46 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

LETTERS Have your say

Your Letters Following our request for your more unusual collections, we reveal the latest

Here is my random selection of Bakelite objects, which you might find amusing or bizarre.

The bulldog has a face only a mother could love, the art deco 1930s dish contains its original soap, and the 1930s figurine of a lady of colour may not be considered PC today, but I think it’s beautiful.

Hope you enjoy my fun contribution to the competition. Just love the magazine.

Sheila Kenny, by email

Our star letter

receives a copy of 20th Century British Glass by Charles R. Hajdamach, worth £49.50. Write to us at Antique Collecting, Sandy Lane, Old Martlesham, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 4SD or email magazine@ accartbooks.com

Staer r lett

Above One of Sheila’s collection

Above Bakelite was popular in the ‘30s

Did you know?

Bakelite was an early plastic developed in 1907

by Belgian physicist Leo Baekeland.

It dominated the market for more than 40 years from 1910 to end of the WWII. The versatile Bakelite was used initially in the electrics industry for radios and telephone casings and electrical insulators, as it was electrically nonconductive and heatresistant.

Right Sheila’s

unusual collection

Can anyone advise on any antiques fairs, or even auctions, which welcome our canine friends? My husband and I love a day’s antique-ing but can’t bear to leave the pooch in the car.

Helen Norris, by email

Left Dogs enjoy a day out Right The ‘car boot’ vase

which sold for £61,000, image courtesy of Woolley & Wallis

Be part of the conversation on Twitter and Instagram @antiquemag

Above Sigmund Freud blamed collecting on loss of bowel control

I was somewhat relieved to read Dr Mueller’s article (Antique Collecting November issue), on the psychology of collecting. Over the years I have been an avid collection of many things – from cranberry glass to, when a young man, beer cans.

Prior to Dr Mueller’s contribution to the debate I had thought (feared) my motivation was purely Freudian. Freud, you might remember, believed collecting stems from unresolved toilet training conflict. He blamed it on the trauma of the loss of bowel control as a child, with the idea the collector is trying to regain bowel control and their “possessions” which were long flushed down the toilet. So much nicer to think we are actually motivated by the need to meet like-minded chums.

F O’Connor, by email

Am I alone in my frustration at the number of charity shop ‘finds’ that go on to make a king’s ransom? Every week seems to bring another. Why are they always Chinese, and what becomes of the poor charity shop, who I am sure are not given a stash of the loot. The only thing my wife ever returns with from her weekly haul is junk.

G Bell, by email ANTIQUE COLLECTING 47

EXPERT COLLECTOR Looking ahead 2020 Expect to see a return to colour in 2020

1 SIMON BEATTIE, BOOKSELLER More than a decade ago, the great American bookseller William Reese said: “In the age of the internet one has to have the best, the cheapest, or the only copy.”

This is as true now as it was then, as both collectors and the trade strive to find interesting, diverse material. New businesses are appearing and the traditional book market is cheerfully expanding to make room for maps and manuscripts, posters and prints, even tarot or tart cards.

2 JANE JURAN, ORGANISER OF THE DECORATIVE ANTIQUES & TEXTILES FAIR, BATTERSEA We’ve seen a marked trend for traditional English and continental antique furniture, driven by demand from decorators and interior designers working in country homes.

The classic English house ‘layered’ look is very evidently back in fashion, encompassing fine furniture; generous, upholstered seating such as Howard sofas and chairs; decorated furniture (lacquered, painted or in chinoiserie style) and traditional accessories such as Delftware vases and patterned china – although white and cream ware ceramics (French and English) remain exceedingly popular. Look for a return to tallboys, sofa tables in walnut and large centre tables in exotic woods such as amboyna.

3 ASHLEY JONES, TREVANION & DEAN AUCTIONS

20/20 Vision

We asked 20 antiques and fine art experts what they thought the first year of the Roaring Twenties will bring…

48 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

2020 will kickstart the 21st-century’s version of the roaring 1920s. Tastes in antiques will change, fashions will evolve and new movements in the art world will breakout with Millennials leading the way. Young people no longer feel obliged to be custodians of the inherited artefacts curated by generations before them. The passion is to be more risqué, challenge established ideologies, break boundaries and, ultimately, be more daring in their taste for antiques. The desire to own unusual, one-off and privately-commissioned pieces will ultimately bring a resurgence in traditional antiques.

4 BEATRICE CAMPI, CHISWICK AUCTIONS Looking at the calendar, one can only suggest that it’s going to be a busy one for art lovers and collectors.

The year opens with two ongoing blockbuster exhibitions: Inspired by the East at the British Museum (until January 26) and Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh at the Saatchi Gallery (until May 3). It goes without saying that Orientalist trends and Egyptomania aren’t over yet

and it wouldn’t surprise me to see a great market revival for these specific art categories. Chiswick Auctions will welcome 2020 with two extravagant cross-departmental sales: From the Curious to the Extraordinary on January 21 and a Byronic sale in February.

Studio ceramics will continue to be a flourishing market, with sculptural vessels such as those by Ewen Henderson, Claudi Casanovas and Ursula Morley-Price complementing the trend for organic natural design.

5 ISABEL BALMER, WESSEX AUCTION ROOMS

As recent sales have reported strong results in all corners of the British Isles, this is the age of the regional auction room.

Determined buyers across the globe continue to find allure and romance in the notion of buying from collections discovered in country houses, in the UK’s market towns and countryside, which due to the internet, have never been more accessible.

As we have just marked the 75th-anniversary of the D-Day landings, we have seen greatly increased interest and very strong prices in militaria and artefacts from WWII, which, I believe, will continue into 2020 and beyond.

9 JOE TRINDER, HALLS AUCTIONEERS

2020 marks the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote in America. Suffrage ephemera, jewellery and medals are extremely popular and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if we see record prices at auction for American and British Suffrage items next year.

Minimalism still appears to be the current trend.

Best examples of their type, excellent quality and wellmade will command strong prices. With the ‘less is more’ mantra, people are looking for a few beautiful items, rather than many cheaper pieces and this is seen across all periods from traditional antiques to modernist.

6 BILL FORREST, HEAD OF ASIAN ARTS, ROSEBERY’S AUCTIONS Sadly for many readers I am not about to predict a resurgence in the interest for ‘brown’ furniture in 2020!

Instead, I think that 2020 will be a good year for modern and contemporary southeast Asian art.

Many London galleries which specialise in traditional Asian art are now branching out into contemporary paintings and sculpture. Furthermore, objects and paintings by 20th-century Korean, Indonesian, Chinese and Japanese artists are appearing at auction with increasing frequency and, judging by the level of global interest and prices achieved, it is clear there is a growing appetite for these, less traditional, fields.

‘The classic English country house ‘layered’ look is back in fashion, encompassing fine furniture; generous, upholstered seating such as Howard sofas and chairs, and decorated furniture (lacquered, painted or in the chinoserie style) ‘

7 ROBIN BUTLER, SPECIALIST IN WINE ANTIQUES Like any other year, antiques that are genuine, well priced and useful tend to sell best, but rarity and excellent design help enormously. Fine antiques pop up all over the place, so one has to keep one’s eyes wide open and an ear to the market.

Combine good wine with fine antiques and one cannot help but being well rewarded! Cheers!

8 CATRIN HAMPTON, CHORLEY’S DIRECTOR I believe that the increased awareness to save our planet’s resources will lead not only to a resurgence in the popularity of antique (‘brown’) furniture, but to a wider appreciation of the hand-created, well-made and unique.

Right Orientalism is back

thanks to exhibitions such as Tutankhamun at the Saatchi Gallery until May 3, image courtesy of IMG

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 49

EXPERT COLLECTOR Looking ahead 2020 Left The blockbuster Troy at the British Museum may spark new collecting trends, image © The Trustees of the British Museum

12 ROO IRVING, TV EXPERT AND DEALER As an unapologetic tree-hugger, I’ve been thrilled with the recent focus on antiques as the ‘green’ choice.

I look forward to a resurgence of craftsmanship, and a renewed love of age, over midcentury trends.

I’m sensing an appreciation of ‘real’ antiques from the younger generation and hope they realise the importance of preserving our history for future generations. Second-hand? No. Pre-loved? Yes.

13 JASON PRICE FROM THE MUSICAL INSTRUMENT AUCTIONEERS TARISIO’S

10 DAVID ELSTOB FROM ELSTOB & ELSTOB We are undoubtedly seeing an everincreasing growth in internet sales, a trend that started a few years ago but continues apace. With this comes a burgeoning demand for more detailed online information in the form of high-quality images, videos and comprehensive condition reports, and auction houses will need to keep abreast of technological advancements to showcase individual lots to their full potential.

I also think as the marketplace becomes more global there will be a steady move towards specialist sales as regional salerooms access wider audiences and operate on a more level playing field with the larger, city-based players.

11 WILL GILDING, GILDINGS AUCTIONEERS I would hope to see a more mainstream movement towards buying second-hand art and antiques across the board in 2020.

However, that aside, I’m going to stay with a ‘warming’ theme. We’ve lived in a grey–heavy interior world for a long time now and the 2010s will probably go down in history as the ‘50 shades of grey’ decade.

But it’s surely time to allow more colour and warmth into the homes.

My tip is pastels. Not necessarily employed in artwork, but anything that introduces warming colours to our interiors, whether statement ceramics, glassware or textiles. Anything that injects colour will have an upturn, as buyers seek that certain something.

Look out for interesting glazes employed by contemporary ceramic artists such as Mary Rich or Peter Beard, Emmanuel Cooper, Rupert Spira, or the ever-vibrant Kate Malone.

50 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

The international market for fine musical instruments remains buoyant, as fine instruments is one of the few markets where collectors benefit doubly: antique instruments appreciate steadily in value and the deserving musicians who play them build careers and delight audiences.

As we head into 2020, we expect to see a rise in those looking for ways to make sound investments while simultaneously fulfilling their philanthropic goals. We predict that traditional markets in Europe and America will remain strong and we will see an increase in developing-market interest from collectors and investors in China and elsewhere.

14 ANDREW EWBANK FROM THE AUCTIONEERS EWBANK’S I predict that next year will continue to see growth in the market for vintage movie posters. We have already seen significant yearon-year growth in the area and I feel that this will continue into 2020 and beyond.

Vintage movie posters are no longer seen as throw-away marketing materials, but as artworks of cultural significance in their own right. The number of collectors is growing and prices for rare posters in good condition are on the up and up.

15 NAOMI POLLARD, HEAD OF HOME AND INTERIORS AT TREND BIBLE At the beginning of a new decade, we see homemakers adopt a more flexible mindset as they start to decorate their homes.

An optimistic feel and a new approach to wholesomeness underpins colour direction for 2020.

The home becomes a space to mirror this positive consumer mood. Gone is the saturation of grey, in favour of calm yet engaging colours such as lavender and mossy olive.

16 MEMORABILIA EXPERT PAUL FRASER

19 SIMON MARTIN, DIRECTOR, PALLANT HOUSE GALLERY

In 2019, prices grew for memorabilia from Generation X icons such as Steve Jobs, Kurt Cobain and Michael Jordan. There’s a sense Gen Xers are coming into the market in increasing numbers, seeking pieces from figures that inspired them.

Of the three, Cobain offers the most investment potential in my opinion – his memorabilia is the rarest, the least collected up to now, and the most buoyant (I’m thinking of the £260,000 sale of Cobain’s MTV Unplugged cardigan in particular). The ringleaders of the 1990s are bringing a fascinating diversity to auction catalogues. It’s heartening to see and I expect the trend to develop further in 2020.

Book illustration is something that deserves more attention in 2020. In the spring, the gallery will be holding an exhibition marking the 300th-anniversary of the English naturalist Gilbert White, whose book The Natural History of Selborne has never gone out of print. It will bring together original editions of the book and wood engravings and etchings by artists ranging from Thomas Bewick to Eric Ravilious, Gertrude Hermes and John Piper in the 20th century.

What is so charming about these illustrations is, with the exception of the tortoise and hoopoe bird, they depict things we might see in our gardens today.

But it’s also a reminder of how much the nature on our doorsteps is under threat from environmental change.

17 TANYA KNIGHT, FROM INTERIOR DESIGN PARTNERSHIP BOWDEN KNIGHT

20 DAVID PATTERSON, A DEALER FROM COUNTY AMARGH

We have three ‘go-to’ pieces for 2020, all of which add real character and depth to a room, whether traditional or modern. Look out for antique trunks or chests which sit harmoniously alongside other pieces providing a practical and functional role. A leather club chair, which can add real depth to a room, is a timeless classic and one of the most coveted pieces of furniture in today’s interiors.With it’s perfect proportions, stunning patina and authenticity it gives an instant sense of character and history to any room it inhabits. Also on the up is the bentwood coatstand, which takes inspiration from Michael Thornet’s original design. With it’s distinctive curving profile, it is both a useful and decorative piece.

Brown furniture has been a sleepy market for some time now. Good quality Georgian period pieces are very buyable at present, as are longcase clocks. Both are due a major comeback.

While design-led mid-century furniture and furnishings are enjoying greater popularity, there’s no reason why 19th, 18th and 17th-century pieces should be any less appreciated.

Am I optimistic? Yes! Antiques are not fi nite, in fact, as time marches on everyday items are becoming antique. And in a world where we are more aware of our carbon footprint, people are waking up to just how environmentally-friendly antiques are.

My customer demographic is varied but, more and more, I’m seeing younger buyers (close to my own age of 25) searching for unique pieces for their home.

18 OLIVER MILLER, BISHOP & MILLER It is 80 years since Sir Winston Churchill made his famous “Blood, toil, tears and sweat” speech to the House of Commons and I believe 2020 we will see a number of his used cigars, autographs and personal items come under the hammer.

Vinyl is another one to watch. Not just the big names but the more obscure bands and genres. We are also seeing huge interest in enamel advertising signs and posters at our specialist auctions. Also antiques will increasingly be seen as the green option.

Right Kurt Cobain, whose cardigan made £260,000 in 2019, will lead the way for memorabilia

‘A leather club chair, which can add real depth to a room, is a timeless classic and one of the most coveted items of furniture in today’s interiors.

With its perfect proportions, stunning patina and authenticity, it transforms a room’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 51

COLLECTING GUIDES Abstract art His use of reduction and destruction to create beauty places him firmly within the modern post-war avant-garde and bears witness to the hope and needs of a country which was coming to terms with the wounds left by its past.

Hidden beauty Imagine the weathered look of a wall of advertising posters, where old fliers have been torn away to glue on new ones. The wall presents different layers of dead campaigns, revealing a crumbly and distant reality, a last trace, the abstract aesthetic of absence. Koehler singlehandedly developed the ‘décollage’ technique, which he then subjected to a multitude of experiments resulting in a panoply of radical new techniques displayed in much of his work.

He also worked extensively with sand and glue in his so-called Sandbilder, which vary from flat, scratched, sandy surfaces to heavily-worked space fields dotted with mini-craters.

This incomparable body of work was at the centre of German 1950s avant-garde, matching the endeavours of Otto Piene, Heinz Mack, Emil Schumacher and Wolf Vostell. In the UK, the Boyle family – a group of collaborative artists based in London – was working along similar principles exploring the idea that art should not exclude anything as a potential subject.

‘Gruppe 53’

Cutting EDGE

On the eve of a new exhibition, An Jo Fermon puts the work of the German décollagist Reinhold Koehler in the spotlight and reveals why collectors should get stuck in

I

n the few years between WWII and his sudden death aged 51, Reinhold Koehler (German b.19191970) developed an immense body of artistic work, dedicated to his principle of décollage.

In little more than two decades, Koehler experimented with paper, sand, glue, glass and ceramics, challenging the accepted principle of beauty by using the processes of reduction and destruction and creating some of the finest examples of the genre ever produced.

52 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above PlakatDécollage 1957/3, 1957, mixed media on card Right Objet Décollagé

1968 no.4, 1968, broken china on canvas media on card

Both Koehler and his art belong to the North RhineWestphalia lands of Germany, where ‘Gruppe 53’ came to prominence in its capital of Düsseldorf in 1953.

Together with ‘Quadriga’, founded in Hessen’s capital, Frankfurt, and ‘ZEN 49’ founded in Bavaria’s capital, Munich, it made up the post-war German 1950s avantgarde known as ‘Informel’.

The Düsseldorf ‘Gruppe 53’ profiled itself as the leader of the avant-garde, with painters such as Peter Brüning, Karl Fred Dahmen, Albert Fürst, Herbert Götzinger, Gerhard Hoehme, Hann Trier, Otto Piene and Heinz Mack.

In 1958, the latter two founded the ZERO group which shed all previously accepted notions of art in an attempt to come to terms with the trauma of the WWII. The ZERO group flourished in Germany, Belgium, Holland and Italy.

ORIGINS OF DÉCOLLAGE Reinhold Koehler is widely considered one of the pioneers of ‘décollage’. The term was known to the Surrealists but is traditionally used in reference to the nouveau réalisme movement founded by the French art critic and art philosopher Pierre Restany, in Paris in 1960.

While Raymond Hains and Jacques Mahé de la Villeglé first used the technique in 1949, in a large lacerated poster called Ach Alma Manetro, it was not until 1957 that the technique became prominent within the Paris movement.

In 1963, in the German city of Wuppertal, Wolf Vostell exhibited screenings of temporal sequences of television images, called 9 Nein 9 Dé-coll/agen.

Above Sandbild 1958 II, 1958, sand, glue and pigments on canvas Left Sandbild, 19581960, mixed media on canvas Below Décollage 1958, 1958, mixed media on card

Gerhardt Richter In 1961, Joseph Beuys was appointed professor at the Düsseldorf Academy from where his influence resonated throughout Europe and into America.

During the same year, Gerhardt Richter crossed over from Eastern Germany to be able to paint freely; he enrolled at the Düsseldorf Academy, where he practiced the Tachist style of the ‘Informel’, then a form of Pop Art, before turning to his trade-mark style of blurry press-photographs.

covered with black ink. In 1949, he applied the same technique in a series of female nudes and landscapes.

In 1953, Koehler moved to the city of Siegen where he would work until his death. During 1955-58, Koehler produced work in which he scratched and scraped the imagery into monotypes covered with oil paint, printing inks and gouache. These works are known as Décollage-Vorstufe, which translates as ‘Décollage - Preliminary Stage’ and visibly feature all the hallmarks of originality.

During this period, Koehler also made his first sand paintings. In the early stages, these appeared as relatively flat, sand-coloured surfaces incised with Koehler’s freehand scratching. But, over time, they developed into coloured, built-up works decked with hollow points, reminiscent of craters of the moon. In fact, from a distance these convey a level of spaceexpansion through the effects of optical illusion.

During the late 1960s, the sand paintings were reduced to traces of sand on raw canvas.

‘Dada reacted to the insane horrors of WWI, by promoting the idea of anti-art. From the ashes of the conflict emerged not only a new world order, but also a new aesthetic’

Koehler’s early years Deployed by the German army as a foot soldier, Koehler experienced the traumas of war first-hand at the frontlines in Belgium, northern France and Russia.

He was injured and hospitalised in Denmark, where he was taken prisoner of war by the Allied Forces. Having been released by the British, Koehler married and decided that a career as an artist was his calling.

In 1945, he settled in a studio in Altenseelbach near the city of Siegen, where he worked as an autodidact. He spent the summer of 1948 on the Island of Sylt, where he first used the technique of ‘décollage’. In a series of depictions of sea gulls, Koehler shaped the birds by manually tearing away parts of the top layer of a card support he had first ANTIQUE COLLECTING 53

COLLECTING GUIDES Abstract art Left Décollage, 1958, 1958, mixed media on card

Collecting Koehler

Right Reinhold Koehler in his studio

While Koehler’s unique contribution to art history was recognised during his lifetime, his work is barely known outside Germany, with few sales at auction recorded outside the country since his death.

But things are starting to change. While other post-war era German artists, such as Otto Piene, can fetch hundreds of thousands of pounds, in his first show in London at Whitford Fine Art last October, his work could be bought for £5,000 to £25,000.

In collecting terms, he is fits all the criteria: his work is avant-garde, executed before 1970, Koehler was successful during his lifetime and was collected by all German museums and it was his untimely death that caused his prominence to falter. Furthermore, there are décollagistes of the 1950s or 1960s whose work is more affordable, with the main two – the French artists Jacques Mahé de la Villeglé and Raymond Hains selling for considerably more.

Below left Décollage Gravé 1962 V/1, 1962, ink on card manipulated by hand Below PlakatDécollage, 1959, mixed media on canvas

Newspapers and glue In 1957, Koehler created his first Plakat-Décollages, made by gluing layers of newspaper, magazine adverts and posters, on card from which areas were carefully torn away, revealing to a greater or lesser extent the imagery underneath.

From 1958, Koehler introduced areas cut, or scratched away by knife in works that became known as Décollages Gravés. In 1959, Koehler added yet another variant of ‘décollage’ with Décollage PositivNegativ in which he carefully tore away a layer of paper by hand to then fold it over and glue it as to permanently show its underbelly.

In 1960, Koehler experimented with fire making a series of paper supports blackened with the imprint of heated metal, usually forks but also other kitchen paraphernalia, known as Décollages Brûlés.

Creative peak Above left Décollage

Pur et Brûlé, 1961, ink on paper scorched with heated forks Above THORAX, Décollage PositivNegativ 1960/ XII, 1960, mixed media on card, manipulated by freehand

In 1963, Koehler reached another creative height with the production of his unique glass collages known as Contre-Collages. Layers of paper (sourced from newspapers, advertisements, magazines and printing matter) were glued onto a piece of glass, which Koehler then smashed with a hammer. Subsequently he covered the broken glass with black or coloured ink which could seep into the cracks, leaving the paper underneath with a linear image created by chance.

These works are unique in their time.

Far left Contre-Collage,

1963-1965, paper, glass, biro, glue and ink laid down on canvas

Left Thorax Fragment, Contre-Collage, 1963, paper, glass, glue and ink laid down on canvas

54 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

London-based gallery Whitford Fine Art will be taking its exhibition Reinhold Koehler: New Realities in Collage and Décollage 1948-1970 to the Brussels art fair, Brafa from January 26 to February 2.

Visit them on stand 60a or, for more details go to www.whitfordfineart.com. Read our preview of the event on page 61.

AC-WFA adv Nov 2019_WFA Advert 12/11/2019 14:52 Page 1

WHITFORD F I N E A RT

6 Duke Street St. James’s London SW1Y 6BN +44 (0)20 7930 9332 info@whitfordfineart.com www.whitfordfineart.com Reinhold Koehler (1919-1970), Plakat-Décollage , 1957

26 Jan – 2 Feb 2020 Stand 60A

Reinhold KoehleR new Realities décollage and Matter 1948-1970 @whitfordfineart

ANTIQUES UNDER THE HAMMER Upcoming lots

TOP of the LOTS

Still stuck for a Christmas gift? Our guide to the latest sales may be just what you need

A rare skeleton clock by renowned Suffolk maker John Pace is one of the highlights of Lacy Scott & Knight’s fine art and antiques auction on December 14, with an estimate of £12,000£16,000.

London-born Pace honed his skills in Bury St Edmunds before exhibiting two clocks and a barometer at the Great Exhibition in 1851 where he was referred to as “Pace, J. Bury St Edmunds, - Inventor, Designer & Manufacturer”.

This particular clock found its way into the collection of Joseph Maumus Meraux (1922-1992), a major landowner in Louisiana, whose collection of ‘rare and unusual’ clocks was sold at Sotheby’s on June 28, 1993.

Above The clock goes under the hammer in Pace’s home town

Right Gimson

was dubbed one of the world’s best architectdesigners

A 1913 walnut wardrobe by the architect-designer Ernest Gimson (18641919) has an estimate of £10,000-£20,000 at Mallams’ design and modern art sale on December 5-6.

Decorated with ebony and holly stringing edges it is one of a number of three-piece wardrobes designed by Gimson, which show how he experimented with different layouts of cupboards and drawers.

The sale also includes a range of arts and crafts pieces from the collection of Arthur Mitchell, a member of the brewing family Mitchell and Butler, who commissioned a number of well-known arts and crafts artists to furnish his regency villa in 1920.

A 17th-century gilt bronze figure of Tara, possibly from Tibet, has an estimate of £700-£1,000 at Tennants’ sale of the Dexter collection of Ottoman, Islamic and Indian interiors and Asian art on January 18.

Collected from countries ranging from Turkey to Japan, the 300-lot collection was put together by A.T. Dexter, a secondgeneration antiques dealer who fell in love with Eastern art forms and culture.

The sale also includes 19th-century Syrian furniture, mainly from Damascus, alongside Chinese pieces, Indian paintings and Chinese, Tibetan and Nepalese bronzes and religious sculptures.

With low estimates starting at £100, bargains are promised.

Left The Dexter collection is a treasure

chest of Eastern delights

56 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Four cases of the Queen Mother’s favourite tipple – Graham’s Port 1977 – bought ahead of a royal visit to Margate but never drunk go under the hammer at Chiswick Auctions.

Ahead of the 1983 trip, the drink’s manager at the town’s Winter Gardens Theatre was asked to order the spirit – much of which was undrunk and left in the venue’s cellar untouched for more than 30 years.

The cases each have an estimate of £700-£850 at the sale on December 5, with one lot comprising four bottles expected to fetch £100-£150.

Above The Queen Mother failed to sup the four cases

A set of three ‘soldier’ bears, given by wives and girlfriends as good luck charms to their sweethearts fighting in WWI, has an estimate of £1,000 when it goes on sale at Halls on January 18.

Originally sold for a shilling, the 3in mascots – made in patriotic red, white and blue – were produced in their thousands by J K Farnell & Co, then dubbed the ‘British Steiff ’.

They were so popular both in combat and on the home front that Farnell continued their production. After WWI two brothers – David and Guy Campbell – amassed an army of 398 bears as gifts, from which the current lot is derived.

Right WWI and

WWII soldiers took the mascots into battle

A collection of letters exchanged between James Bond creator Ian Fleming and his wife, Ann, goes on sale at Sotheby’s next month.

More than 160 letters, amounting to 500 pages, are littered with pet names the couple had for each other, including “Darling Darling Baby ”, “Dear Monkey ” and “Darling Pig ”.

The correspondence chronicles two decades of their lives, from the intensity of their early secret love affair to the embittered final years of their marriage.

Fleming met Ann Charteris (later Viscountess Rothermere) in 1934, sparking an instant attraction between the beautiful heiress and rakish writer. The couple started an affair, but when Ann’s first husband Shane, third Baron O’Neill, was killed in WWII it was another lover, the press baron Esmond Harmsworth, 2nd Viscount Rothermere, who offered marriage and a home to her two children. Despite the new domestic arrangement the love affair continued.

As well as endearments, the letters are lively descriptions of travels around the world, gossip of rich and famous friends, their shared passion for the natural world, the writing of the James Bond novels and their phenomenal success, which dominated his final years.

Sotheby’s books and manuscripts specialist, Dr Gabriel Heaton, said: “These letters remain largely unpublished and must surely be an unmatchable record of the life of the author as his fortunes changed. As well as recording a relationship with an extraordinary erotic charge, this correspondence charts the meteoric rise of Bond and paints a vivid picture of high society living in the post-war world.”

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Spy craft

The letters were written during the war when Fleming was working in intelligence and continue to cover his post-war forays into journalism and the creation of one of the world’s most enduring fictional characters.

The collection, which has an estimate of £200,000-£300,000, will appeal to 007 aficionados as much as literature lovers with many of the letters monogrammed with the address “Goldeneye, Oracabessa, Jamaica BW1.” The letters are part of Sotheby’s online sale of English literature, history, rock and pop, from December 3-10.

1 Ann Fleming, Jamaica, 1950, by Cecil Beaton © The Cecil Beaton Studio Archive at Sotheby’s 2 Ian

Fleming, 1962, by Cecil Beaton © The Cecil Beaton Studio Archive at Sotheby’s 3 The letter is signed “I love you only in the world” 4 Ian Fleming, Jamaica, 1950, by Cecil Beaton © The Cecil Beaton Studio Archive at Sotheby’s 5 One of Fleming’s letters with the London address of Cheyne Walk

‘The collection, which has an estimate of £200,000£300,000, will appeal to 007 aficionados as much as literature lovers with many of the letters monogrammed with the address “Goldeneye, Oracabessa, Jamaica BW1”’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 57

ANTIQUES UNDER THE HAMMER Sporting art

Sporting art offers a myriad of options for collectors - both in the scope of its subjects, and the number of good works available at a range of different price points.

GOLDEN AGE

SALEROOM SPOTLIGHT An inaugural sale of sporting art takes place in North Yorkshire this January proving the popularity of the genre

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porting Art is a relatively modern term for a genre of art that dates back centuries, encompassing horse racing, dogs and birds, as well as the country pursuits of hunting, fishing and shooting. As a nation of animal lovers, it has long been a popular field, with the Leyburn-based auctioneers Tennant’s holding its inaugural sale on January 11.

Above Donald Wood (1889-1953) A rest between chukkas.

Signed, oil on canvas, estimated at £400-£600 at next month’s sale

Left Sally Arnup FRBS, ARCA (1930-2015) Arab Horse ‘Aslan’, 1985. Signed and numbered IV/X, bronze, estimated at £10,000£15,000

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While depictions of wildlife and hunting have been popular for centuries, it was in the 18th and 19th centuries, when wealthy landowners wanted to fill their homes with pictures of hunting pursuits, that it really came into vogue.

The second half of the 18th century was its golden age, with the likes of George Stubbs producing exceptional equine paintings. The Georgian-era artist Benjamin Marshall was recorded as saying: “I discovered many a man who would pay me fifty guineas for a painting of a horse, who thinks ten guineas too much for a painting of his wife”.

SALE HIGHLIGHTS One of the top lots is A gentleman riding out with his Spaniel by Francis Sartorius (1734-1804), which was once in the collection of Baron Gretton of Stapleford Park near Melton Mowbray. Sartorius was part of the celebrated Sartorius family, which produced four generations of equine artists. Francis was a prolific and popular painter, producing portraits of famous racehorses and much-loved steeds for noble patrons such as the Duke of Grafton and the Duke of Cumberland, in addition to hunting and racing scenes.

Henry Alken was another prolific sporting artist working in the first half of the 19th century. Widely published in print, his lively and often comic scenes satirising the English gentleman encapsulated sporting art of the era. Four watercolour and pencil sketches are on offer in the sale, depicting gentlemen hunting – their steeds with legs splayed in the unnatural manner popular at the time.

COLIN BURNS Sporting art continued to thrive in the 20th century with Colin W. Burns (b.1944) widely regarded as one of the UK’s best contemporary artists. After a childhood spent in rural Norfolk, he first came to prominence in 1977 when his work was exhibited at the Tryon Gallery in London, one of the top sporting galleries in the country.

Burns is famed for his naturalistic landscapes of East Anglia and the Scottish Highlands and the birdlife that inhabits them, and a sweeping depiction of grouse

flying over moorland is included in the sale.

Polo is a rather rarer subject matter in sporting art, but an example by British artist Donald Wood, A rest between chukkas, will be included in the sale.

Impressionistic and filled with glowing light reminiscent of the works of Alfred Munnings, it would make a charming addition to a horse-loving household at a modest estimate of £400-£600.

IN MY OPINION...

We asked Guy Cooper from Tennants’ picture department for his sale highlights

THE BRONZES OF SALLY ARNUP The sale also sees the first installment of work from the estate of Sally Arnup, (1930-2015), one of the finest animal sculptors of her generation. Five years after her death, Arnup’s work is becoming increasingly soughtafter on the open market.

Most of her work remains in private hands, with a few pieces in public collections including the York Art Gallery and the Royal Collection. Prices at auction are steadily rising, with a particularly strong audience in the north of England where her work is best known, and her most frequent subjects of cows, dogs and sheep are most appreciated. Suited to both modern and traditional interiors, 20th-century bronze sculpture is seeing a resurgence at auction. Animal subjects are selling strongly – and Arnup is a name to watch.

Far left Colin W. Burns

(b.1944) Grouse in flight over moorland.

Signed, oil on canvas, estimated at £700£1,000 at next month’s sale

Above Maud Earl (18641943) Scottish Terriers.

Signed, oil on canvas, estimated at £2,500£3,500 Left Sally Arnup FRBS, ARCA (1930-2015) Miniature Long Haired Dachshund, 1977.

Signed and numbered IX/X, bronze on a marble base, estimated at £600£800 Right Sally Arnup FRBS,

ARCA (1930-2015) Seated Bloodhound.

Signed and numbered V/X, bronze, estimated at £2,500-£4,000

Below left The Munnings Art Museum in Dedham

Discover More...

Where to see sporting art:

Established in 1977, the British Sporting Art Trust has acquired a diverse collection of fine and decorative sporting art. Visit it at Palace House, Palace Street, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 8EP, or go to the website www.palacehousenewmarket.co.uk. Also visit the Kennel Club Art Gallery, Clarges Street, London, W1J 8AB.

AUCTION fact file WHAT: Sporting art WHERE: Tennants Auctioneers, The Auction Centre, Harmby Road, Leyburn, North Yorkshire DL8 5SG WHEN: January 11 VIEWING: Thursday January 9, 10am-4pm, Friday January 10, 10am-5pm and morning of sale from 7.30am

Why did you feel the need to launch the new sale? Are more collectors interested in sporting art?

Sporting art has always had a large stable of vendors and collectors (if you’ll pardon the pun). Therefore it was logical to remove the category from other picture sales and present them en bloc to create the best vehicle for offering this genre of painting.

Is there a highlight work?

There are several highlights. We are honoured to be offering a number of animal bronzes from the estate of Sally Arnup (1930-2015) who was one of the finest sculptors of her generation.

Her half life-size representation of the Arab Horse, ‘Aslan’ (far left) is surely one of the most striking works of sporting art to come to auction in recent years.

Do you have a personal favourite?

Sally Arnup’s Seated Bloodhound. It is astounding that the artist has managed to convey such a sense of personality though the medium of bronze. I think I could also make some room for a Henry Alken drawing or two if I’m allowed…

From where do you expect interest to come?

Tennants has a fantastic record for selling sporting art and we have buyers across the country and internationally who see us as a destination for buying works of a sporting nature. Thankfully, despite some people’s best efforts, country sports such as hunting, shooting and fishing are as popular as they ever were, more so even, and people with a passion for country sports, nature and ornithology have a natural affinity with artistic representations thereof.

‘Five years after her death, Arnup’s work is becoming increasingly sought-after on the open market. Most of her work remains in private hands, with a few pieces in public collections such as the York Art Gallery and the Royal Collection’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 59

What a year 2019 has been for Bishop & Miller Auctioneers. We have seen a number of hugely successful specialist auctions as part of our busy calendar and have achieved a number of record prices for items at many of our auctions. Here is some of our highlights we want to share with you. If this inspires you to sell at auction, contact the team today to find out how you can have your items valued by one of our valuers.

Enamel advertising sign, "All dogs love Spratt's Bonio (reg'd) the tasty bone shaped biscuit!" with depiction of a spaniel and a St Bernard Sold for £3,300 (incl. buyers premium)

An early Special Air Service Regiment sand coloured beret, made from a coarse woollen material, with a black leather trim and black ribbon running through it.

Sold for £21,500

John Arnesby Brown (1866-1955) The Beach, signed oil on canvas, 50cm x 40cm.

Sold for £10,400 (incl. buyers premium)

(incl. buyers premium)

Chinese celadon glazed bowl, six character mark in blue for Qianlong, decorated with flowers and branches with trailing leaf design to the exterior.

Sold for £22,700 (incl. buyers premium)

Collin-Mezin full size violin, circa 1936, label to the interior, made in France, one piece case back, together with two bows and case Sold for: £3,500 (incl. buyers premium)

Fine George I black japanned and gilt heightened bureau bookcase, the base with two short and two long drawers on bracket feet.

Sold for £6,900 (incl. buyers premium)

www.bishopandmillerauctions.co.uk 19 Charles Industrial Estate, Stowmarket, Suffolk, IP14 5AH 01449 673088 enquiries@bm-auctions.co.uk

MEET the DEALERS Textile specialists Charlotte Casadejus and Streett Marburg who regularly trade together at the Decorative Fair

How and why did you start dealing?

FAIR PLAY

A preview of the best fine art and antique fairs taking place in January

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Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair, Battersea The whimsy of the cartoonist John Tenniel (1820-1914), known for his illustration of Alice in Wonderland, is celebrated at the first Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair of 2020.

The foyer display of the six-day event, at a purpose-made pavilion in Battersea Park, will play homage to the artist and illustrator, born 200 years ago, with a selection of Alice-inspired pieces from exhibitors’ stock.

The event, from January 21-26, will see 150 specialist antiques, design and

art dealers from across the UK and Europe set the mood for 2020.

The show includes every discipline of antiques, fine and decorative art and 20thcentury design, dating from the 1700s to the 1970s, at a wide range of price points.

Over its 35 years, the fair has built a powerful reputation among a range of clientele from interior designers to top-tier antiques dealers both from the UK and abroad. Despite its high-end credentials, the event retains its relaxed atmosphere and unique charm summed up in the fact it is the only London fair which allows canine visitors. Read organiser Jane Juran’s predictions for the year ahead on page 48.

Above left The fair is known for its quirky oneoff pieces Above A selection of kitchenware including Flemish cream ware on sale at last year’s fair Right A life-size carved wooden poodle, 1920s or 1930s, on sale from Jill Palmer, priced £1,450

Did you know?

This month’s John Tenniel-inspired foyer display precedes a major exhibition celebrating the London-born artist’s bicentenary at the V&A in June.

I was living in the South of France (writes Charlotte) and saw someone cleaning their car with an antique monogrammed sheet. I thought there had to be a better way to use such beautiful treasures.

I started recycling antique French textiles which led to conservation projects as well as buying decorative antiques.

Streett started in the 1970s selling oak, having been befriended by some older dealers who showed him the ropes. He later switched to fine 18th-century furniture and struck up a fruitful relationship with Mallet in London and Kentshire Galleries in New York City, among others.

How important are fairs to your marketing mix?

Antiques fairs are incredibly important to our business. We are particularly fond of and loyal to the Decorative Fair, where we met 10 years ago and started dealing together. We meet a very different type of client on our Battersea stand from the ones we see in our Lillie Road shop in Fulham, or online. Exhibiting also gives us an opportunity to express our signature style creatively. Each stand is a challenge and we tend to build our design around one or two key pieces

What fairs do you attend as a buyer?

We mainly buy at trade fairs in the South of France which are a perfect match to our broad and quite eclectic style. It’s also my home territory, having lived there for a long time. We find a good mix of decorative French antiques, as well as Italian and Spanish pieces there.

Above right A pink resin and brass flamingo sculpture attributed to Antonio Pava, Italian, c. 1970, on sale from 3Details, priced £950 (left), a large brass and copper flamingo by Sergio Bustamante, 1970s, on sale from Brownrigg, price £2,900

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 61

Far left An Azilal rug, Morocco, mid-20th century on sale from Emily’s House, London at this year’s event priced £800 Left A Bidjar kilim, Kurdistan, Persia, c.

1890, on sale from Carpet Restoration Studio priced £2,000 Below William Morris (1834-1896) ‘Bird’, woollen doublecloth, on sale from Anthony Hazledine

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The London Antique Rug and Textile Art Fair (Larta) London The cream of the UK’s rug and textile collectors join dealers from France and Turkey in Battersea this January for the country’s only specialist event in the field.

Larta takes place on the mezzanine of the Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair at

MEET the DEALER Andy Lloyd is one of the exhibitors at this year’s event

How and why did you start dealing?

I went travelling in Thailand when I was 20 and met a Dutch carpet dealer who encouraged me to get started when I got home. Under the Enterprise Allowance Scheme I got a stall at an antiques market in Bath where I now have a shop called Haliden. That was 33 years ago. I have been dealing in carpets and textiles ever since.

How has the market changed in that time?

In those days, most markets and fairs sold interesting old rugs. Prices were so low it

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Bottom An antique gabbeh rug, c. 1900, made by the Qashqai tribe in south Persia, on sale from Andy Lloyd

its purpose-made pavilion in Battersea Park from January 21-26.

18 dealers will exhibit colourful carpets, folk rugs, tribal weavings and textiles from around the world.

This year welcomes several new participants including Villa Rosemaine, one of France’s most important dealers in museum-quality antique textiles and Istanbul’s Bertram Frauenknecht which specialises in early eastern tribal rugs.

New UK dealers include the London-based Moroccan carpet specialist Emily’s House and the Oriental Rug Gallery from Haslemere in Surrey. Among the returnees are the Persian rug specialist Ornamentum Ltd, the tribal weaving expert Hakiemie Rugs Ltd and Peta Smyth Antique Textiles, which deals in European textiles of the 16th to 19th centuries.

Fair highlights include a woollen doublecloth by William Morris (1834-1896) (right), dated 1878, in a striking bird design. was easy to start buying and selling interesting pieces. This would not be possible today as there just aren’t as many pieces around. A good, level-entry piece these days costs far more than it used to.

How important are fairs to your marketing mix?

Fairs have become more important for me for both buying and selling. I have been exhibiting at the Antique Rug & Textile Show in San Francisco for 11 years, and nearly as long at Larta in London.

Since I started there has been a steady decline in shops, while the internet has grown.

My customers are spread around the world so I have a presence on Facebook and more recently on Instagram and, of course, the shop has its own website. In 10 years’ time I think most dealers will have moved in this direction with only a few having a physical shop.

What are you most looking forward to in 2020?

The International Conference on Oriental Carpets (ICOC) at which I will be exhibiting in Amsterdam next August 5-11.

,,

5 MINUTES with Lynn Lindsay from Wimpole Antiques is a regular exhibitor at the Mayfair fair as well as overseas events

Do UK tastes vary in relation to other countries?

Above Life-size bronze wolves by the sculptor Clare Trenchard were sold by Flying Colours Gallery at last year’s fair

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Mayfair Antiques and Fine Art Fair, London

The eighth Mayfair Antiques and Fine Art Fair kicks off the London collecting season on January 9 at the plush Marriott Hotel in Grosvenor Square.

The four-day event features 40 exhibitors with specialisms varying from antiquity to the 21st century.

Dealers include the art deco specialist Jeroen Markies, traditional antiques seller S&S Timms and the gallery Cambridge Fine Art. Dorset-based Paul Mayhew Fine Art will be showing a small painting by the 19th-century Dutch landscape artist Andreas Schelfhout (1787-1870) whose work is held in the National Gallery in London and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

Silver specialists include Stephen Kalms Antiques from the London Silver Vaults and Mary Cooke Antiques who will be showing a rare 1770 George III silver ‘drum’ tea caddy, made in London by William & Aaron Lestourgeon. Drum-shaped caddies were only produced for a short period during the early 1770s, before the advent of the oval designs.

A pair of Harry and Lou Epstein armchairs on sale from Jeroen Markies Art Deco

There used to be greater differences – for example, the Japanese loved large cameos, Germans loved sentimental jewellery, while the Americans loved statement pieces.

These days the differences are more blurred. However, emerging countries seem to be more comfortable with brand names such as Cartier, Tiffany, Bulgari, Van Cleef and Boucheron.

What influences jewellery styles?

Fashion and style has a big part to play.

For example, if a film star is seen wearing an interesting piece she will be copied by many women. Series like Downton Abbey have had an enormous impact on, say, the popularity of tiaras.

There is also a growing trend among young people to buy antique engagement rings as they seem to prefer an individual piece of jewellery rather than a massmanufactured one.

What predictions have you got for jewellery in 2020?

Unusual brooches will continue to make the headlines. Alongside Lady Hales’ much talked-about insect brooches, think of The Queen and Madeleine Albright, who have always worn brooches. I certainly hope even more will be sold in 2020 as I am taking some super examples to the fair.

How important are fairs to your marketing mix compared with, say, bricks and mortar and online?

Above A Kralik cameo vase on sale from M&D Moir at the January event

Fairs are vital to our business as customers like to spend time browsing and making comparisons. As well as the glamour of an event, fairs are a vital source of reaching new customers. The coming year will see more people enjoying the interesting and rare pieces which they can buy with confidence at a good fair from an accredited dealer.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 63

EVENTS Round Up vintage market of 20 dealers proved a popular addition to the 60 stands inside the striking Sir Norman Fosterdesigned glasshouse.

This year’s highlights include a late 17th-century cwpwrdd deuddarn (Charles II cabinet on astand) and a 19th-century primitive stick chair.

Look out for: Gwili Pottery Above The fair specialises in Welsh vernacular furniture

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Antiques Fair and Vintage Market, Carmarthenshire Fans of Welsh antiques should head to the National Botanic Garden of Wales in January for Derwen Fairs’ flagship event.

Amid the spectacular backdrop of the Carmarthenshire building, the event on January 25-26 showcases the country’s finest antiques.

Expect to find an extensive array of Welsh oak furniture, country pine, books, jewellery, Welsh pottery and textiles, militaria, art pottery, fine French clocks, and Welsh art.

Last year’s introduction of an open-air

Hand-thrown and hand-painted, highly collectable Gwili pottery is produced close to the botanic gardens in the Carmarthenshire village of Pontarsais.

Ceramicist Pru Green, who has worked with earthenware and coloured slips for 50 years, started the pottery in the 1980s.

With a rich diversity of both colour and range, from large table lamps to cawl bowls, Pru’s inspiration comes from flora and fauna.

Above Visitors to the 2019 event © Fabrice Debatty

Quick fire questions

fetches huge amounts of money, as do certain pieces of Llanelli and Swansea pottery.

The Welsh art and ceramics specialist Richard Bebb will be one of the dealers

What is selling well?

What is the appeal of Welsh antiques?

They hark back to a time when every town had its own carpenter, blacksmith and cottage woollen industry producing its own distinctive style. Welsh tapestry blankets are a great example, their diversity of pattern and colour being indicative of a particular area.

Welsh pottery is also world renowned for its quality and rarity. Nantgarw porcelain

I have a passion for Ewenny Pottery from the 1900s. It is very rustic and the natural colours of the glazes appeal to me. I particularly like the influence that the London designer Horace Elliot, who visited the pottery in 1883 at the height of the arts and crafts movement, had on the Ewenny designs.

Elliot introduced bold designs and styles and I have a few of his pieces in my collection.

Certain rare pieces of Ewenny, such as its pigs and cats, have shown steady price increases over the last few years can command good prices.

Which fairs do you attend?

Above A Scandinavian crib and spinning wheel are typical of the pieces on offer

64 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

I love visiting Abergavenny antiques market on a Wednesday and the twice-yearly Builth Wells at the Royal Welsh Showground. I also enjoy the slightly larger fairs, such as Malvern Flea and Shelton Mallet Flea.

I relish findng a piece of Ewenny pottery in Somerset, or a Welsh tapestry blanket in Hereford. While it’s great to think these Welsh gems have found their way into England, it’s even nicer to know they are being repatriated back to Wales.

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Brafa Art Fair, Brussels

13 UK galleries will join the 133 exhibitors heading to Brussels in January for the 65th edition of the fine art fair Brafa.

London-based Boulakia, Cortesi Gallery, Finch & Co and Brun Fine Art will join ArtAncient, David Aaron, Callisto Fine Arts and Whitford Fine Art to make their way across the Channel.

While French galleries still make up the largest group at the event, from January 26 to February 2, the number of galleries from the UK and Switzerland (currently numbering seven dealers) is also growing steadily.

The fair also boasts a rigorous admissions process, overseen by a panel of 100 experts, ensuring collectors can expect the finest pieces.

From its initial gathering of Belgian art dealers, Brafa has become an international event, even more so in the last 12 years after it relocated from the Centre for Fine Arts to the vast industrial warehouses of the Tour & Taxis site.

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International Antiques and Collectors Fair, Ardingly

If you are determined to make 2020 your best collecting year ever, head to the Ardingly International Antiques and Collectors Fair – one of the top vintage and antiques fairs in the country.

Held at the South of England Showground on January 14 and 15, its South Coast location has made it a magnet for European dealers.

Expect a range of treasures from hundreds of stalls offering everything from traditional antiques to quirky, oneoff statement pieces. If the weather is bad the fair has a combination of inside and outdoor stands.

On Wednesday January 15, visitors travelling by rail can take advantage of a courtesy coach from Hayward’s Heath train station to the venue running from 7.10am till 4.10pm. Returning coaches depart from the South of England Showground at twenty to the hour, starting at 7.40am until the last pick up at 4.40pm.

Off the wall

Five segments of the Berlin Wall will be auctioned at Brafa this January with the proceeds going to five beneficiaries.

The pieces, which each has a €15,000 reserve, were taken from the 68km Hinterlandmauer, (inner wall) added in the ‘70s.

The 3.6 ton segments, which were dismantled by the armed forces of the former German Democratic Republic during the fall of the wall in 1989, feature graffiti on both sides by anonymous street artists from a number of different periods.

Below Brun Fine Art was one of the dealers at Brafa 2019 © Benjamin Brolet

Above right The event attracts 100 of stallholders and thousands of visitors Right Collectables of all type are on show

MEET the DEALER Chichester dealer and Chinese art specialist Rob Shaw is a regular stallholder at Ardingly

What are some great discoveries you have made?

The highlight was about 10 years ago: a Chinese Ming bowl (Jiajing mark and period) which I bought at a shop and made £135,000. More recently I bought a Chinese 18th-century porcelain fish bowl which made £25,000 after I found it at an antiques market.

How did you come across them?

These days when such bargains come along, they tend to be unusual or unmarked pieces on the margins of a mainstream collecting field.

Their esoteric nature makes internet searches less useful in helping the vendor make an accurate appraisal.

This, however, is just one part of the business. Like many dealers, most of the time I work on modest profits, a

few ‘money-backs’ and the odd loss with these occasional successes providing the necessary boost to keep on track.

Is there something you wish trade buyers would ask?

If they can take a photograph of an item on my stand. Such images are often sent around the world in order to get the go-ahead for purchase. It can be irritating when an individual hangs on to an object waiting for a response, particularly when others are waiting to look at the same item.

The best dealers know their business and aren’t afraid to make a mistake – I see this as part of the trade. There’s a collective pot and we should all toss a few quid in from time to time.

What is the best show you have visited recently?

Mercanteinfiera, the antiques and art fair in Parma, Italy. Not what it once was, but still a great show.

One object you couldn’t do without?

A little magnifying glass with a built-in torch, which I keep in the small pocket of my jeans.

It cost about £1 but I’m lost without it.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 65

FAIRS Calendar Because this list is compiled in advance, alterations or cancellations to the fairs listed can occur and it is not possible to notify readers of the changes.

We strongly advise anyone wishing to attend a fair especially if they have to travel any distance, to telephone the organiser to confirm the details given.

LONDON: Inc. Greater London Adams Antiques Fairs 0207 254 4054 www.adamsantiquesfairs.com Adams Antiques Fair, Lindley Hall, 80 Vincent Square, Westminster, SW1P 2PE, 19 Jan Etc Fairs 01707 872 140 www.etcfairs.com Bloomsbury Book Fair, Royal National Hotel, 38-51 Bedford Way, WC1H ODG, 8 Dec Bloomsbury Ephemera, Book & Postcard Fair, Royal National Hotel, 38-51 Bedford Way, WC1H ODG, 22 Dec Harvey (Management Services) Ltd 020 7616 9327 www.decorativefair.com The Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair, Battersea Evolution, Battersea Park, SW11 4NJ, 21-26 Jan IACF 01636 702326 www.iacf.co.uk Antiques and Collectors’ Fair, Alexandra Palace, Alexandra Palace Way, N22 7AY, 1 Dec. LARTA 07976 826218 www.larta.net The Mezzanine, Decorative Antiques and Textiles Fair, Battersea Park, SW11 4NJ 21-26 Jan. London Art Fair 0844 848 0136 www.londonartfair.co.uk London Art Fair (Modern British and Contemporary Art), Business Design Centre, 52 Upper Street, N1 0QH, 22-26 Jan. Sunbury Antiques 01932 230946 www.sunburyantiques.com Sunbury Antiques Market, Kempton Park Race Course, Staines Road East, Sunbury-onThames, Middlesex TW16 5AQ, 10 Dec, 14, 28 Jan

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The Antiques Dealers Fair Ltd. 01797 252030 www.mayfairfair.com The Mayfair Antiques and Fine Art Fair, The London Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square, Duke Street, W1K 6JP, 9-12 Jan. The Ephemera Society 01923 829079 www.ephemera-society.org.uk Ephemera Fair, Holiday Inn, Bloomsbury, Coram Street, WC1N 1HT, 1 Dec. SOUTH EAST AND EAST ANGLIA: including Beds, Cambs, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex.

B2B Events, 01636 676531 www.b2bevents.info Detling Antiques, Vintage and Collectors’ Fair, Kent County Showground, Detling, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 3JF, 11-12 Jan Dovehouse Fine Antiques Fair www.dovehousefine antiquesfairs.com 07952689717 Antiques Fair, Dorking Halls, Reigate Road, Dorking, Surrey, 26 Jan IACF 01636 702326 www.iacf.co.uk Antiques and Collectors Fair, Ardingly, Nr. Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH17 6TL, 14-15 Jan SOUTH WEST: including Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Wiltshire.

Cooper Antiques Fairs 01278 784912 www.cooperevents.com The Cotswolds Decorative Antiques and Art Fair, Westonbirt School, Tetbury, Gloucestershire, GL8 8QG, 3-5 Jan

IACF 01636 702326 www.iacf.co.uk Shepton Mallet Antiques and Collectors’ Fair, Royal Bath & West Showground, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA4 6QN, 17-18 Jan Penman Fairs 01825 744074 www.penman-fairs.co.uk Antiques Fair, Heath Road, Petersfield, Hampshire, GU31 4EA 31 Jan-2 Feb

EAST MIDLANDS including Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland.

Arthur Swallow Fairs, 01298 27493 www.asfairs.com Lincolnshire Antiques and Home Show, Lincolnshire Showground, Lincoln, LN2 2NA, 4 Dec. Vintage Flea Market, Lincolnshire Showground, Lincoln, LN2 2NA, 19 Jan IACF 01636 702326 www.iacf.co.uk Newark International Antiques and Collectors’ Fair, Newark and Nottinghamshire Showground, Newark, Nottinghamshire, NG24 2NY, 30-31 Jan WEST MIDLANDS

including Birmingham, Coventry, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire

NORTH Cooper Antiques Fairs 01278 784912 www.cooperevents.com The Pavilions of Harrogate Antiques and Fine Art Fair, Great Yorkshire Showground, Harrogate, N. Yorks., HG2 8NZ, 24-26 Jan Galloway Antiques Fairs 01423 522122 www.gallowayfairs.co.uk Antiques and Fine Art Fair, The Majestic Hotel, Harrogate, N. Yorkshire, HG1 2HU, 3-5 Jan Antiques Fair, Tatton Park, Knutsford, Cheshire, WA16 6QN, 10-12 Jan SCOTLAND Scotfairs www.scotfairs.co.uk 01764 654555 Antique, Vintage and Collectors Fair, Albert Halls, Albert Place, Dumbarton Road, Stirling, FK8 2QL, 7 Dec Antique, Vintage and Collectors Fair, Bellahouston Leisure Centre, 31 Bellahouston Drive, Glasgow G54 1HH, 8 Dec WALES Derwen Fairs 01267 220260 or 07790 293367 www.derwenantiques.co.uk Antiques Fair, National Botanic Garden of Wales Llanarthne, Carmarthenshire, SA32 8HG, 25-26 Jan, INTERNATIONAL

B2B Events, 07774 147197 or 07771 725302 www.b2bevents.info Malvern Flea and Collectors’ Fair, Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcs., WR13 6NW, 8 Dec, 19 Jan

Foire des Antiquaries de Belgique www.brafa.be 68th Brussels Art Fair, Tour & Taxis, Brussels, Belgium, 26 Jan- 2 Feb

Coin and Medal Fairs Ltd. 01694 731781 www.coinfairs.co.uk The Midland Coin Fair, National Motorcycle Museum, Bickenhill, Birmingham, B92 0EJ, 8 Dec, 12 Jan

The Annual Winter Antiques Show +1 718 2927392 (ticket info.) www.winterantiquesshow.com Park Avenue Armory, 68th Street and Park Avenue, New York City, USA, 24 Jan-2 Feb

Malvern Antiques & Collectors Fair Doubletree

by Hilton Harrogate

Majestic Hotel & Spa Sunday 3rd Nov The Severn Hall, Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcs, WR13 6NW.

Antiques, Art Deco, collectables & much more

Antiques & Fine Art Fair - with no outside pitches

Early Entrance: 8.30am - £4 • Entrance: 10am-4pm - £3

Harrogate, 1 Detling Antiques, or f North Fair Yorkshire HG1 2HU 2 Vintage & Collectors

3rd - 5th January

The Kent County Showground, Detling, Maidstone, Kent. ME14 3JF.

only: - 5pm Early daily.Entry: 4.30pm finish Sat 9th - Sun 10th10.30amCash Saturday 8.30am - £6Sunday Saturday Entry: 10am-4.30pm - £5 Admission £5.00 November Sunday: 10.30am - 3.30pm - £4

Tatton Park

Edinburgh Antiques, Vintage & Collectors Fair

Antiques & Fine Art Fair Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston, EH28 8NB.

Sat1 23rd - Sun 24th Knutsford, or November Cheshire WA16 6QN 2f Cash only: Sat: Early 8.15am - £6 Sat: Entry 10am-4.30pm - £5 Sun: 10am-4pm - £4

10th - 12th Malvern Flea & Collectors FairJanuary R.H.C. £5 vehicle car parking charge.

10.30am - 5pmWR13 daily. 6NW. 4.30pm finish Sunday Three Counties Showground, Worcestershire,

Admission £3.00 Cash only

entrance: Sunday 8th December Admit TWO for the price of ONE with this advert 7.30am-3.30pm - £5 GallowayFairs www.gallowayfairs.co.uk

@GallowayFairs Tel/Fax: 01423 522122Tel: Helping Mobile: 07966 528725 to raise www.b2bevents.info money for Email: susan@gallowayfairs.co.uk

01636 676531

THE MAYFAIR

ANTIQUES & FINE ART FAIR THE LONDON MARRIOTT HOTEL GROSVENOR SQUARE, LONDON W1K 6JP

Come and buy the very finest art and antiques at this annual event of distinction

The Severn Hall, Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcs, WR13 6NW.

Antiques, Art Deco, collectables & much more

- with no outside pitches

Early Entrance: 8.30am - £4 • Entrance: 10am-4pm - £3

Vintage & Collectors Fair

January 31st February 2nd

The Kent County Showground, Detling, Maidstone, Kent. ME14 3JF.

Sat 9th - Sun 10th November

Cash only: Saturday Early Entry: 8.30am - £6 Saturday Entry: 10am-4.30pm - £5 Sunday: 10.30am - 3.30pm - £4

10.30am-5pm

Festival Hall, Heath Rd, Edinburgh Antiques, Vintage GU31 & Collectors Fair Hampshire 4EA Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston, EH28 8NB.

38 Traditional Quality Vetted Stands Cash only:

Sat 23rd - Sun 24th November Complimentary E-Tickets via

www.penman-fairs.co.uk

Sat: Early 8.15am - £6 Sat: Entry 10am-4.30pm - £5 Sun: 10am-4pm - £4

R.H.C. £5 vehicle car parking charge.

Malvern Flea & Collectors Fair

Three Counties Showground, Worcestershire, WR13 6NW.

Sunday 8th December

Cash only entrance: 7.30am-3.30pm - £5

- 20 676531 March Tel: 18 01636 www.b2bevents.info Chelsea Old Town Hall, Kings Rd, SW3 5EE th

th

Wed 3-8, Thur 10.30-6, Fri 10.30-4.30

Cooper Antiques Fairs Present

The Cotswolds Decorative, Antiques & Art Fair Westonbirt School, Tetbury, Glos GL8 8QG

3rd - 5th January 2020

9 - 12 JANUARY 2020 Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Petersfield Sunday 3rd Nov Antiques Fair Detling Antiques,

Malvern Antiques & Collectors Fair

12.00 - 21.00 11.00 - 18.00 11.00 - 18.00 11.00 - 17.00

The Pavilions of Harrogate Decorative, Antiques & Art Fair The Yorkshire Showground, Harrogate HG2 8NZ

24th - 26th January 2020

The Chester Decorative, Antiques & Art Fair Chester Racecourse CH1 2LY

FOR A COMPLIMENTARY INVITATION FOR THREE PLEASE EMAIL AC@ADFL.CO.UK T H E

www.adfl.co.uk 01797 252030

ANTIQUES DEALERS FAIR

LIMITED

7th - 9th February 2020 Admission £5.00

www.cooperevents.com | 01278 784912 ANTIQUE COLLECTING 67

Kick-Start 2020 at these

Malvern Flea & Collectors Fair

Antiques&CollectorsFairs

Three Counties Showground, Worcestershire, WR13 6NW.

THREE DAY ANTIQUES FAIR

2019: Sunday 8th December 2020: Sunday 19th January Sunday 9th February Easter Monday 13th April Holiday Monday 25th May Sunday 21st June Holiday Monday 31st August Sunday 20th September Sunday 11th October Sunday 13th December

FRI, SAT

& SUN

Fri 13 to Sun 15 Dec Fri 6 to Sun 8 March

Friday 11am - 12 noon £10 (Early ticket allows entry on Sat & Sun) Friday 12 noon - 5pm £5 Saturday 9am - 5pm £5 l Sunday 10am - 4pm £5

Staffordshire County Showground STAFFORDSHIRE ST18 0BD

THE LARGEST FAIR IN THE SOUTH

Tue 14 & Wed 15 Jan Tue 3 & Wed 4 March

Cash only entrance: 7.30am - 3.30pm - £5 TUES &

Malvern Antiques & Collectors Fair The Severn Hall, Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcs, WR13 6NW.

2020: Sunday 1st March 2020: Sunday 9th August 2020: Sunday 1st November

With no outside pitches

Tuesday 9am - 5pm £20 (Tuesday ticket allows entry on Wednesday) Wednesday 8am - 4pm £5 l 12 miles from Gatwick l 40 mins from Brighton

South of England Showground WEST SUSSEX RH17 6TL

THE LARGEST FAIR IN THE WEST

Fri 17 & Sat 18 Jan Fri 28 & Sat 29 Feb

With outside pitches With no outside pitches

Antiques, Art Deco, collectables & much more Cash only: Early: 8.30am - £4

WEDS

Entrance: 10am - 4pm - £3

FRI & SA T FAIR Friday 9am - 1pm £10, 1pm - 5pm £5 (Early Friday

ticket allows admission on Saturday) l Saturday 9am - 5pm £5

Royal Bath & West Showground SOMERSET BA4 6QN

Detling Antiques, Vintage & Collectors Fair

EUROPE’S MOST SUCCESSFUL FAIR

Thur 30 & Fri 31 Jan Thur 2 & Fri 3 April

Kent County Showground, Detling, ME14 3JF.

2020: Sat 11th - Sun 12th January Sat 18th - Sun 19th April Sat 18th - Sun 19th July Sat 12th - Sun 13th September Sat 7th - Sun 8th November

THURS

Cash only: Saturday: Early: 8.30am - £6 • Saturday: 10am-4.30pm - £5 • Sunday: 10am-3.30pm - £4

Edinburgh Antiques, Vintage & Collectors Fair

Sunday 2 February Sunday 3 May

8.30am - 9.30am £12 l 9.30am - 4.30pm £6

Alexandra Palace Way NORTH LONDON N22 7AY

ONE DAY MONDAY ANTIQUES FAIR

of £1 th OF Fe e 20 F e br 20 nt ua Ja ry ry nu to fa ar an irs y y or

2020: Sat 15th - Sun 16th February Sat 9th - Sun 10th May Sat 5th - Sun 6th September Sat 21st - Sun 22nd November

of n tio nal c u gi od ri rt pr is o dve n h o t a

Monday 24 February Monday 16 March

AT NEW ARK

8am-10am £10 l 10am onwards £5 (Adjacent to the Newark Air Museum and The Newark & Nottinghamshire Showground)

Drove Lane, Newark NOTTINGHAMSHIRE NG24 2NY

Tel: 01636 676531 www.b2bevents.info

01636 702326 www.iacf.co.uk enquiries@iacf.co.uk l

Organisers of International Antiques & Collectors Fairs

68 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Newark & Nottinghamshire Showground NOTTINGHAMSHIRE NG24 2NY

LONDON’S LARGEST SUNDAY FAIR SUNDA Y FAIR

Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston, EH28 8NB.

Cash only: Saturday: Early: 8.30am - £6 Saturday: 10am-4.30pm - £5 Sunday: 10am-3.30pm - £4

& FRI

Thurs 9am - 6pm £20 (Thursday ticket allows entry on Friday) Fri 8am - 4pm £5

AUCTION Calendar Because this list is compiled in advance, alterations or cancellations to the auctions listed can occur and it is not possible to notify readers of the changes.

We strongly advise anyone wishing to attend an auction especially if they have to travel any distance, to telephone the organiser to confirm the details given.

LONDON: Inc. Greater London Bonhams, New Bond St., W1 020 7447 7447 www.bonhams.com The Bond Street Sale, Dec 7 Fine Wristwatches, Dec 11 Fine Clocks, Dec 11 Prints and Multiples, Dec 11-12 Modern and Contemporary Art, Dec 17 Bonhams, Knightsbridge, SW7 020 7393 3900 www.bonhams.com Knightsbridge Jewels, Dec 11 Entertainment Memorabilia, Dec 17 Prints and Multiples, Dec 18 Chiswick Auctions, 1 Colville Rd, Chiswick, W3 8BL 020 8992 4442 www.chiswickauctions.co.uk Affordable Luxury, Dec 10 European Works of Art and Clocks, Dec 12 Christie’s, King St., SW1 020 7839 9060 www.christies.com Old Master Prints, Dec 10 Masterpieces of European Literature, Dec 11 Valuable Books and Manuscripts, Dec 11 Victorian Pre-Raphaelite and British Impressionist Art, Dec 12 19th Century European and Orientalist Art, Dec 12 In The Field: An Important Private Collection of Sporting Art, Dec 12 Hansons, The Langdon Down Centre, Normansfield, 2A Langdon Park, Teddington,TW11 9PS 0208 9797954 www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk Fine Art and Antiques, Dec 9 Roseberys, Knights Hill, SE27 020 8761 2522 www.roseberys.co.uk None listed at time of going to press.

Sotheby’s, New Bond St., W1 020 7293 5000 www.sothebys.com English Literature, History, Children’s Books and Illustrations, Dec 3-10 19th Century European Paintings, Dec 11 19th and 20th Century Sculpture, Dec 11 The Art of Travel, Dec 2-12 Victorian, Pre-Raphaelite and British Impressionist Art, Dec 12 SOUTH EAST AND EAST ANGLIA: Inc. Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex Bellmans, Newpound, Wisborough Green, Billingshurst, West Sussex, RH14 0AZ 01403 700 858 www.bellmans.co.uk A View From Windsor Park, Dec 6 The Saturday Sale, Jan 18 Interiors, including Silver, European Ceramics and Glass, Jan 21-23 Bishop and Miller, 19 Charles Industrial Estate, Stowmarket, Suffolk, IP14 5AH 01449 673088 www. bishopandmillerauctions.co.uk The Ed Sheeran Auction, Dec 7 Mr Bishop’s December Auction, Dec 10 Cheffins, Clifton House, 1&2 Clifton Road, Cambridge, CB1 7EA 01223 213 213343 www.cheffins.co.uk Clarets and Carets, Dec 12 Ewbank’s, London Rd, Send, Woking, Surrey 01483 223 101 www. ewbankauctions.co.uk Antique and Collectors’, Dec 18 Fine Wines and Spirits, Dec 19 Toys and Models, Jan 8 Entertainment and Memorabilia, Jan 9 Movie Props, Jan 9 Vintage Posters, Jan 10 Antique and Collectors’ inc. Silver, Jan 22

Decorative Arts, Jan 30 Contemporary Art and Modern British Paintings, Jan 30 Keys, Aylsham, Norwich, Norfolk, NR11 6AJ www.keysauctions.co.uk Antiques and Interiors, Dec 17 Twentieth Century Design and Modern Art, Dec 18 Lacy Scott & Knight, 10 Risbygate St, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 3AA, 01284 748 623 www.lskauctioncentre.co.uk Home and Interiors, Dec 7 Medals and Militaria with Country Pursuits, Dec 13 Wine, Port and Spirits, Dec 13 Fine Art and Antiques, Dec 14 Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex 01279 817778, www.sworder.co.uk Fine Interiors, Dec 3-4 Fine Wine and Port, Dec 5 Homes and Interiors, Dec 10, Jan 7, 21 The London Sale, Dec 11 The John Barnett Collection of Scales, Jan 8 20th Century Design, Jan 28 T.W. Gaze, Diss, Norfolk 01379 650306. www.twgaze.com Christmas Gifts, Dec 6 Antiques and Interiors, Dec 6, 13, 20, Jan 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 Toys, Dec 13 Vintage Fashion and Furnishings, Jan 11 Wines and Spirits, Jan 16 Bygone Signs, Jan 17 Books, Jan 23 Silver, Jan 24 Musical Instruments, Jan 31 SOUTH WEST: Inc. Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Wiltshire Amersham Auction Rooms, Station Rd, Amersham-on-theHill, Bucks.

01494 729292 www.amersham auctionrooms.co.uk

General, Dec 5, 12, 19, Jan 9, 16, 23, 30 Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood, Okehampton St, Exeter, Devon 01392 413100 www.bearnes.co.uk 20th Century and Contemporary, Dec 3 Antiques and Interiors, Dec 10 Charterhouse Auctioneers The Long Street Salesroom Sherborne, Dorset 01935 812277 www.charterhouse-auction.co.uk General, Dec 13, Jan 9-10 Chorley’s, Prinknash Abbey Park, Gloucestershire, GL4 8EU 01452 344499 www.chorleys.com Fine Art and Antiques, Jan 28-29 David Lay Auctions Penzance Auction House Alverton, Penzance, Cornwall 01736 361414 www.davidlay.co.uk Antiques, Dec 5-6 Household, Dec 10, 17 Dickins, The Claydon Saleroom, Calvert Road, Middle Claydon, Buckingham, MK18 2EZ. 01296 714434 www.dickinsauctioneers.com Antique and Collectables, Dec 30-31 Dominic Winter Auctioneers, Mallard House, Broadway Lane, South Cerney, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 5UQ 01285 860006 www.dominicwinter.co.uk Printed Books, Maps and Documents, Dec 11, Jan 29 Modern Literature and First Editions, Children’s, Private Press and Illustrated Books, Dec 12 Duke’s, Dorchester, Dorset 01305 265080 www.dukes-auctions.com General, Dec 3 A Taste of Luxury, Dec 5 ANTIQUE COLLECTING 69

AUCTION Calendar Because this list is compiled in advance, alterations or cancellations to the auctions listed can occur and it is not possible to notify readers of the changes.

We strongly advise anyone wishing to attend an auction especially if they have to travel any distance, to telephone the organiser to confirm the details given.

Lawrences Auctioneers Ltd. Crewkerne, Somerset, TA18 8AB 01460 703041 www.lawrences. co.uk General, Dec 4, 11, 18 Silver and Vertu, Jan 14 Jewellery, 19th and 20th Century Design and Ceramics, Jan 16 Pictures, Furniture, Clocks and Rugs, Jan 17 Mallams Oxford, Bocardo House, St Michael’s St, Oxford.

01865 241358 www.mallams.co.uk Design, Dec 5-6 Modern British and Post War Art, Dec 6 The Oxford Library Sale, inc. Fine Clocks, Jan 29 Mallams Cheltenham, 26 Grosvenor St, Cheltenham.

Gloucestershire.

01242 235 712 www.mallams.co.uk None listed at time of going to press

70 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Mallams Abingdon, Dunmore Court, Wootten Road, Abingdon, OX13 6BH, 01235 462840 www. mallams.co.uk The Collectors and Interiors Sale, Dec 9 The Home Sale, Jan 13 Phillip Serrell, Barnards Green Rd, Malvern, Worcs. WR14 3LW 01684 892314, www.serrell.com General, Dec 5 Fine Art and Antiques, Jan 16 Plymouth Auction Rooms, Faraday Mill Trade Park, Cattledown, Plymouth, Devon, PL4 OSE, 01752 254740 www.plymouthauctions.co.uk Antiques and Collectables, Dec 11 Stroud Auctions, Bath Rd Trading Estate, Bath Rd, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 3QF 01453 873 800 www.stroudauctions.co.uk Antiques and Collectables, Dec 4-6

Woolley & Wallis, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP1 3SU 01722 424500 www.woolleyandwallis.co.uk Modern British and 20th Century Art, Dec 11 Furniture, Works of Art and Clocks, Jan 8 Silver and Objects of Vertu, Jan 21-22 Jewellery, Jan 23

Centuries of Conflict Militaria, Dec 12 The Bakewell Auction House, DE4 2JE Antique Furniture, Interiors and Collectors, Dec 4, 18

EAST MIDLANDS: Inc. Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Sheffield

Batemans, Ryhall Rd, Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 1XF 01780 766 466 www.batemans.com Fine and Specialist Collectors, Dec 7 The Vintage Home, Jan 11

Bamfords, The Derby Auction House, Chequers Road, Off Pentagon Island, Derby, DE21 6EN 01332 210000 www.bamfordsauctions.co.uk Silver, Jewellery, Toys and Collectables, Dec 10 Antiques, Interiors, Ceramics and Glass, Dec 11

Gildings Auctioneers, The Mill, Great Bowden Road, Market Harborough, LE16 7DE 01858 410414 www.gildings.co.uk 20th Century Decorative Art and Design, Dec 2 Christmas Art and Antiques, Dec 3 Antiques and Collectors, Dec 17, Jan 7

The Stamford Auction Rooms The Sale Room, Unit 3, Station Road Ind. Estate, Little Bytham, Lincolnshire, NG33 4RA 01780 411485 www.stamfordauctionrooms.com Antiques, Collectables, Homes and Gardens, Dec 28, Jan 25 WEST MIDLANDS: Inc. Birmingham, Coventry, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Bigwood Auctioneers, Stratford-Upon-Avon Warwickshire, CV37 7AW 01789 269415 www.bigwoodauctioneers.com Christmas Wine Sale, Dec 5 Furnishings, Interiors and Collectables, Dec 13 Brightwells, Leominster, Herefordshire. 01568 611122 www.brightwells.com Wine, Port, Champagne and Whisky, Dec 4 Antique and Vintage Interiors, Jan 15 Cuttlestones Ltd, Penkridge Auction Rooms, Pinfold Lane, Penkridge, Staffordshire, ST19 5AP 01785 714905 www.cuttlestones.co.uk Antique and Interiors, Dec 4, 18 Cuttlestones Ltd, Wolverhampton Auction Rooms, No 1 Clarence Street, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, WV1 4JL 01902 421985 www.cuttlestones.co.uk Specialist Collectors, Dec 6 Halls, Bowmen Way, Battlefield, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY4 3DR 01743 450700, www.hallsgb.com Christmas Sale, Dec 11 Antiques and Interiors, Jan 8 Hansons, Bishton Hall, Wolseley Bridge, Stafford, ST18 0XN 0208 9797954 www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk Country House Collectors and Attic Auction, Dec 7 Country House and Fine Art, Dec 11-13 Locke & England, 12 Guy Street, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, CV32 4RT 01926 889100 www.leauction.co.uk General, Dec 5, 12, 19

Potteries Auctions, Unit 4A, Aspect Court, Silverdale Enterprise Park, Newcastle, Staffordshire, ST5 6SS 01782 638100 www.potteriesauctions.com 20th Century British Pottery, Collector’s Items, Household Items, Antique and Quality Furniture, Dec 14 Richard Winterton Auctioneers, The Litchfield Auction Centre, Wood End Lane Lichfield, Staffordshire, WS13 8NF 01543 251081 www.richardwinterton.co.uk Fine and Decorative Arts, Dec 11 Trevanion & Dean The Joyce Building, Station Rd, Whitchurch, Shropshire, SY13 1RD 01928 800 202 www.trevanionanddean.com Fine Art and Antiques, Dec 14 NORTH: Inc. Cheshire, Co. Durham, Cumbria, Humberside, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Sheffield, Yorkshire Anderson and Garland Crispin Court, Newbiggin Lane, Westerhope, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE5 1BF 0191 430 3000 www.andersonandgarland.com Fine Watches, Fine Jewellery and Silver, Wine and Whisky, Dec 3 Christmas Fine Art and Antiques, Dec 4-5 Town and County, Dec 11 The Modern Auction, Jan 23 Capes Dunn Charles St., Manchester 0161 273 1911 www.capesdunn.com Interiors, Vintage and Modern Effects, Dec 9 Collectors and Musical Instruments, Dec 10 Toys, Dec 16 Christmas Special, Dec 17 Elstob & Elstob, Bedale Hall, North End, Bedale, North Yorkshire DL8 1AA 01677 333003 www.elstobandelstob.co.uk Silver, Jewellery, Watches and Objects of Vertu, Dec 5

Search1000s of lots coming up for auction all over the UK Leave absentee bids for FREE or bid live online

www.ukauctioneers.com info@ukauctioneers.com 01244 345933

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 71

AUCTION Calendar Because this list is compiled in advance, alterations or cancellations to the auctions listed can occur and it is not possible to notify readers of the changes.

We strongly advise anyone wishing to attend an auction especially if they have to travel any distance, to telephone the organiser to confirm the details given.

Hansons, Heage Lane, Etwall, Derbyshire DE65 6LS 01283 733988 www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk Jewellery, Watches and Silver, Dec 5 Antiques and Collectors, Dec 17-19 Paul Beighton 16-18 Woodhouse Green, Thurcroft, Rotherham, South Yorkshire, S66 9AQ 01709 700005 www.pbauctioneers.co.uk Antiques and Collectables, Dec 2, 16 Peter Wilson Fine Art Victoria Gallery Market St, Nantwich, Cheshire.

01270 623 878 www.peterwilson.co.uk Coins, Tokens and Banknotes, Dec 5 Interiors, Dec 5, 19 Monthly Interiors, Jan 9 Northern Art, Jan 16

72 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

20th Century Art and Design, Jan 23 Arms, Militaria, Medals and Firearms, Jan 30 Sheffield Auction Gallery, Windsor Road, Heeley, Sheffield, S8 8UB. 0114 281 6161 www.sheffieldauctiongallery.com Silver, Jewellery and Watches, Dec 5 Antiques and Fine Art, Dec 6 Engineered Live Steam Models and Railwayana Auction, Dec 13 Model Railway Auction, Jan 3 Antiques and Collectables, Jan 10, 24 The Household Auction, Jan 11 20th Century and Later Ceramics and Glass, Jan 23 Tennants Auctioneers, Leyburn, North Yorkshire 01969 623780 www.tennants.co.uk Books, Maps and Ephemera, Dec 4 Coins and Banknotes, Dec 4 Antiques and Interiors, Dec 7, 14,

Jan 24 Jewellery, Watches and Silver, Dec 7, Jan 11 Militaria and Ethnographica, Dec 13 Fine Wine and Whisky, Dec 14 Antiques and Interiors including Beswick and Border Fine Arts, Jan 4 Sporting Art, Jan 11 Country House Sale, Jan 11 The Dexter Collection of Ottoman, Islamic and Indian Interiors, Jan 18 Scientific and Musical Instruments, Cameras and Tools, Jan 22 Taxidermy and Natural History, Jan 31 SCOTLAND Bonhams, Queen St, Edinburgh.

0131 225 2266 www.bonhams.com Whisky, Dec 10 Lyon & Turnbull, Broughton Pl., Edinburgh.

0131 557 8844 www.lyonandturnbull.com

Jewellery, Watches and Silver, Dec 4 Whisky and Spirits, Dec 4 Scottish Paintings and Sculpture, Dec 5 Contemporary and Post-War Art, Dec 15 Five Centuries: Furniture, Paintings and Works of Art, Jan 29 WALES Anthemion Auctions, 15 Norwich Road, Cardiff, Wales, CF23 9AB 029 2047 2444 www.anthemionauction.com General, Dec 11, Jan 29 Peter Francis Towyside Salerooms, Old Station Rd, Carmarthen, SA31 1JN 01267 233456 www.peterfrancis.co.uk Antiques and Collectables, Dec 4, 18

Gloucester Antiques Centre 1/4_Layout 1 13/11/2019 12:30 Page 1 ANTIQUES CENTRES CENTRES ANTIQUES

THE

EDENBRIDGE GALLERIES

The New GloucesTer ANTiques ceNTre we have found a new home in the heart of the city of Gloucester in a beautiful 16th century building in historic westgate street

come visiT ANd see our woNderful ArrAy of ANTiques ANd collecTAbles We have silver, jewellery, oriental collectibles, ceramics, art, glass, toys, postcards, railwayana, stamps, coins and much more.

Why not pay a visit to the finest quality antique centre in the South East of England… you won’t be disappointed!

Cheltenham Antiques

enjoy browsing on two floors of the original mercers Guild hall, (expanding soon into two floors of the adjacent Complement your home maverdine chambers) with a fine crystal glass or we are open 7brass days a weekOver 300 chandelier. old chandeliers sale, monday-saturday 10-5, sundayfor11-4. many unique. All fully restored and rewired.

1 The Square, Church Street, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 5BD T: 01732 864163 E: info@edenbridgegalleries.com www.edenbridgegalleries.com

The New GloucesTer ANTiques ceNTre lTd, Cheltenham Antique Market, 54 Suffolk Road GL50 2AQ Gl1 2NG 26 wesTGATe sTreeT, GloucesTer,

Tel 01452 529716 www.antiquecrystalchandeliers.co.uk Tel: 01242 529812

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THE NEW GLOUCESTER ANTIQUES CENTRE

JO LORD on 01394 389950 or email:

jo.lord@accartbooks.com

COME VISIT AND SEE OUR WONDERFUL ARRAY OF ANTIQUES AND COLLECTABLES We have silver, jewellery, oriental collectibles, ceramics, art, glass, toys, postcards, railwayana, The stamps, coins and much more.

Rutland

ARMS

TO ADVERTISE PLEASE CALL

We have found a new home In the heart of the city of Gloucester in a beautiful 16th century building in historic Westgate Street

ANTIQUES FAIR & VINTAGE MARKET Enjoy browsing two floors of the AT THE on NATIONAL original Mercers Guild BOTANIC GARDEN OFhall, WALES (expanding soon into two floors of the adjacent LLANARTHNE, SA32 8HN Centre Maverdine Chambers) The Square Bakewell25th Derbyshire DE45 1BT JANUARY & 26th We are floors openpresenting 7 days Quality a week Over 45 dealers on 2 10:00 Antique Oak & - 16.30 Monday-Saturday 10-5, andArts Sunday 11-5.

Mahogany Furniture, Clocks, Silver, OSP, and Crafts, Porcelain,

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Half price to Bronze both Sculpture, the Garden and Fair Pottery, Fine Artentry Paintings, Jewellery, Bijouterie, Glass, Art Nouveau,FREE Art Deco, Vintage Luggage and Clothing, PARKING Oriental Items, Treen, Exquisite Lighting, Books and other THE NEW GLOUCESTER ANTIQUES CENTRE LTD, DERWEN FAIRS: 01267 220260 Incorporating Gallery Café Collectables.

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ANTIQUE COLLECTING 73

62

63

LAST WORD Marc Allum

Marc My Words

A

With the rocky road of Brexit still looming large, Marc Allum is pessimistically optimistic for 2020

nother year down and a memorable one at that – although not necessarily for the best reasons! I am one of those people the headlines are referring to when they talk about the national division and family and friends falling out. I make no bones about it, I’m an ardent European and I see no point in what this country has been put through over the last three years.

I’m also furious about the effect it has had on my business. So, as this piece goes to press (before the general election), we don’t yet know if the turmoil that has recently defined the UK has taken a different course, or if we are in another political stalemate.

I like to take refuge in the certainty of the art and antiques world. Certainty you cry! While ‘certainty’ may not be the right word, it is the industry’s complete lack of

certainty that makes it so predictable. So why am I so worried about the future?

Shouldn’t I just prepare to adapt, whatever the outcome?

FRENCH CUSTOMS I recently met a colleague who gleefully related the story of a client who had paid £200 for an object which he suspected might have been of some importance.

Having taken it to my associate to identify, it went on to make £180,000 at auction.

This is the kind of story we love to hear. It’s what keeps us all fresh and alert.

Will leaving the EU stop this happening?

I know it won’t, but I have a unshakeable notion that it will. In my mind I visualise a French customs officer holding up his hand and asking for my carnet, after which, I am forced to unload my vehicle of all of my Braderie de Lille purchases and

‘Our business is subject to ever-changing outside influences and, however hard we campaign to preserve the integrity of what we do, there always seems to be a piece of legalisation, an economic downtown, a change in fashion, or a weather event that makes it more difficult to navigate.’

74 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

made to camp out for two days until I’ve either had most of it confiscated or paid a huge amount of duty.

In due course we shall see if this scenario pans out. But what is certain is that our business is subject to everchanging outside influences and however hard we campaign to preserve the integrity of what we do, there always seems to be a piece of legalisation, an economic downtown, a change in fashion, or a weather event that makes it more difficult to navigate.

For me, this end of year is proving doubly challenging as my wife (and fellow Antiques Roadshow specialist Lisa Lloyd) has opened an antiques shop at one of the most politically and economically difficult times that you could possibly choose.

But if we only looked backwards, turning our backs on any chances that presented themselves, the antiques business – which has the reputation as a ‘can do’ sector – would stagnate.

While I am categorically a pessimist, I dispute the idea that I am a prophet of doom. My propensity to predict the worst simply means that when good things happen they are doubly significant. So, in the run up to Christmas my thoughts are filled with festive window displays and customers eating mince pies – a jolly scene, auguring a happy year ahead in 2020.

And on that note may I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a very positive Happy New Year.

Marc Allum is a specialist on BBC Antiques Roadshow and the author of several books on collecting. Lisa Lloyd’s new shop Hand of Glory has just opened in Chippenham, Wiltshire.

Above The Brexit debate shows no sign of abating Below New venture: Lisa’s shop

Specialists in the sale of single owner collections and estates

A 1964 Porsche 356C part of a private collection

SOLD: £48,000

INDEPENDENT ANTIQUES ADVISOR & VALUER • Antiques • Silver • Classic Cars • Watches • Jewellery • Wine & Whisky www.marklittler.com

01260 218 718

valuation@marklittler.com

1965 Rolex GMT-Master Pepsi Estimate: £15,000 William George & Co

George IV silver candlesticks Estimate: £350–520 Adam’s

Coffee table, Herman Miller Estimate: £760–1,150 Wright

Marble bust Late 19th/early 20th century Estimate: £11,500–15,500 Christie’s

Sear c 2000 h over a uct hous es fr ion om over the w all orld Andy Warhol, Mick Jagger Estimate: £30,000–50,000 Sotheby’s

Pumpkin, Yayoi Kusama (b.1929) Hammer price: £550 Forum Auctions

Hermès bag Kelly Starting price: £7,500 Stockholms Auktionsverk

Your search for art, design, antiques and collectables starts here

May Day V, Andreas Gursky Estimate: £450,000–650,000 Phillips

Mahogany dresser Estimate: £500–660 Uppsala Auktionskammare

Swivel chair by Hans J. Wegner Estimate: £2,460–3,300 Bruun Rasmussen

Style of Serge Mouille, ca. 1950s Estimate: £300–460 Rago Arts

Edwardian Art Noveau frame Estimate: £200–300 Tennants

Emerald cut diamond ring Fixed price: £27,400 Once Upon A Diamond

Without title, Alexander Calder Estimate: £430–600 Artcurial

Edwardian arm chair, ca. 1910 Fixed price: £3,850 Wick Antiques

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