Antique Collecting November 2021 issue

A R E C O R D C E R A M I C S C O L L E C T I O N P E M B R O K E TA B L E S U K ’ S B E S T C O L U M N I S T S

ANTIQUE

COLLECTING

NOV 2021

THE ASIAN ART ISSUE

IMPERIAL REINS

The mighty Tang horse and its unstoppable pulling power for Western collectors

DIFFICULT CHARACTERS

ANTIQUE COLLECTING

DECIPHERNG CHINESE MARKS

VOL 56 N0. 6 NOV 2021

Plus:

MING’S DYNASTY:

CHINA’S LEADING CERAMICIST APPRECIATING THE SCHOLAR’S DESK MOSCOW MULES DISCOVER FABERGÉ’S CHARMING CARVED HARDSTONE ANIMALS

100 YEARS OF ASIAN ART IN THE UK

Celebrating the pioneering collectors through the decades

ALSO INSIDE Reflections on antique mirrors • Country house sale • Latest listings

®

‘… “it’s Owl who knows something about something …”’

OWL UK 50P COIN Winnie the Pooh and Friends are the latest childhood favourites to be celebrated on coins by The Royal Mint. Continue the adventure as the wise and helpful friend Owl joins the inhabitants of Hundred Acre Wood, appearing on his own UK 50p coin.

royalmint.com C E L E B R AT E | C O L L E C T | I N V E S T |

SECURE | DISCOVER

©Disney. Based on the “Winnie the Pooh” works by A. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard.

FIRST WORD

Welcome

Why do we all love those stories where a 50p car boot sale purchase used as the dog’s drinking bowl for 40 years goes on to sell at auction for £1m?

Is it the hope it kindles that Fido’s chipped dish might also be worth enough to retire on? Or is it the schadenfreude of getting one over on the all-knowing auctioneer? Maybe it’s just wanting to see the little man (or woman) have his day in the saleroom.

In truth, having devoted this issue to Asian art in all its myriad and wondrous forms, it’s easy to see why some pieces slip through the auctioneer’s net. The reigns, the marks, the regions, the history all present a head-scratching level of information that, in comparison, makes other areas of antiques seem rather easier to comprehend.

On page 36 Gerald Davison, a veritable genius who has just compiled a 400-page book detailing 4,200 Chinese marks in both kaishu and zhuanshu script (with, in case you were wondering, both English translations and the romanisation of the Chinese pinyin) walks us through some of the must-know facts that could help determine whether a piece is worth a pittance or a mint.

On page 52, Allen Wang reveals the potency of Tang horses, which, as well as being a Western interior designer’s staple for decades, hold a fascinating history, while on page 64 the Oriental Ceramics Society’s Sarah Wong celebrates 100 years of Asian art collecting in the UK and the connoisseurs whose collections still inform today.

Aside from Asian art, we also mark the Russian sales which typically take place this month with a behind-the-scenes look at a collection of Fabergé going under the hammer. Forget the eggs, much of it is made up of the Russian maker’s charming hardstone animals, which might be just about affordable if Aunt Gertie’s old Chinese vase ever turns out to be worth anything.

Enjoy the issue.

Georgina

IN THIS ISSUE

JOE ROBINSON

gives a sneak preview of an important country house sale, page 20

MARGO OGANESIAN

reveals everything you need to know about Fabergé’s carved animals, page 46

SIOBHAN TYRRELL

the Antiques Roadshow expert’s new auctioneering role, page 63

Georgina Wroe, Editor

PS Because the December-January magazine is combined it will be with you slightly later than usual, expect delivery from the first week of the month.

PPS Finally, apologies to her legion of fans but Christina Trevanion is away this month.

SARAH WONG

celebrates 100 years of the influential Oriental Ceramics Society, page 64

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

Antique Collecting subscription

We love

this pair of Daoguang period (1813-1820) yellow -ground medallion bowls which has an estimate of £8,000-£12,000 at Roseberys’ sale on November 9

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: Charlotte Kettell 01394 389969, charlotte.kettell @accartbooks.com Subscriptions: Jo Lord 01394 389950, jo.lord@accartbooks.com

£38 for 10 issues annually, no refund is available.

ISSN: 0003-584X

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 3

NEXT AUCTION:

Works of Art, Asiatica, Antiquities Antique Arms & Armour from all over the world Orders & Military Collectibles until 1918

Nov. 22 - 25 LIVE AUCTION Lot 383 A large French pendulum clock “Perseus and Andromeda”, 1st half of the 19th century

Further information:

www.hermann-historica.com

Lot 1 Anton Raphael Mengs (1728-95), a female nude

Lot 564 A copper red glazed vase with Qianlong mark

Lots 3146 Empress Elisabeth of Austria – a silver wardrobe mirror, purveyor to the imperial-royal court, J. C. Klinkosch

Hermann Historica GmbH ❘ Bretonischer Ring 3 ❘ 85630 Grasbrunn / Munich ❘ Germany ❘ contact@hermann-historica.com

Contents VOL 56 NO 6 NOVEMBER 2021

6

THIS MONTH

REGULARS 3 Editor’s Welcome: Georgina Wroe introduces this month’s bumper Asian art issue

72 Book Offers: Start your Christmas shopping with the latest bargains from our sister publisher ACC Art Books

6 Antique News: All the latest from the world of fine art and antiques, as well as three must-see exhibitions

75 Fairs Calendar: The latest events around the UK

10 Your Letters: The best of this month’s postbag, including memories of a childhood fan club 12 Around the Houses: Our round-up of the lots making waves in the UK’s salerooms in recent weeks 20 Saleroom Spotlight: Behind the scenes at the sale of the contents of the Sitwell family’s manor house 27 Subscriptions Offer: Save 50 percent on the cover price and have the magazine delivered to your door every month

A R E C O R D C E R A M I C S C O L L E C T I O N P E M B R O K E TA B L E S U K ’ S B E S T C O L U M N I S T S

ANTIQUE

COLLECTING

NOV 2021

34 Waxing Lyrical: David Harvey reflects on the enduring appeal of antique mirrors with a whistlestop tour of periods and styles

THE ASIAN ART ISSUE

IMPERIAL REINS

The mighty Tang horse and its unstoppable pulling power for Western collectors

DIFFICULT CHARACTERS

ANTIQUE COLLECTING

DECIPHERNG CHINESE MARKS

VOL 56 N0. 6 NOV 2021

Plus:

MING’S DYNASTY: CHINA’S LEADING CERAMICIST

APPRECIATING THE SCHOLAR’S DESK MOSCOW MULES DISCOVER FABERGÉ’S CHARMING CARVED HARDSTONE ANIMALS

100 YEARS OF ASIAN ART IN THE UK

12

Celebrating the pioneering collectors through the decades

ALSO INSIDE Reflections on antique mirrors • Country house sale • Latest listings

COVER

Tang dynasty (618–907) a whinnying horse with saddle, image courtesy of Lam’s Gallery, Hong Kong

46

FOLLOW US @AntiqueMag

56

64

44 Puzzle Pages: Test your antiques knowledge with two pages of brain teasers from Peter Wade-Wright 50 Without Reserve: Antiques Roadshow’s Lennox Cato puts Pembroke tables in the spotlight 56 Saleroom Spotlight: In our second behind-the-scenes preview, we celebrate a jaw-dropping auction of studio pottery this month 63 Profile: Antique’s Roadshow’s Siobhan Tyrrell on her new role as an auctioneer and valuer 69 Top of the Lots Jewellery: Two bracelets with impeccable royal provenances go on sale in Geneva 70 Top of the Lots: 18th-century porcelain scent bottles go under the hammer, as well as a number of Asian pieces

76 Auction Calendar: Never miss another sale with our up-to-date listings from the UK’s salerooms

82 Marc My Words: Antiques Roadshow’s Marc Allum reflects on our insatiable appetite for Asian art

FEATURES 16 Looks Famille: Natalie Merchant on what makes famille verte such an attractive ceramics style 22 Ming’s Dynasty: An exclusive interview with one of China’s most celebrated contemporary ceramicists – Bai Ming 28 Freedom Fighters: Why abolitionist artefacts, including Wedgwood’s famous medallion, are making waves at auction rooms around the world 36 Making a Mark: Gerald Davison’s guide to deciphering seemingly impenetrable Chinese marks 40 Hot Desks: Collecting scholar’s desk pieces has never been more exciting, writes Lazarus Halstead 46 Animal Magic: Quirky and charming: some 20 hardstone carved animals

by Fabergé come up for sale 52 Stable Returns: Allen Wang takes up the charge for Tang horses 58 Porcelain Miles: How chinoiserie Meissen porcelain once stolen by the Nazis has made its way home to a Dutch museum 64 Eastern Eyes: Sarah Wong celebrates 100 years of the influential Oriental Ceramics Society

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NEWS All the latest WHAT’S GOING ON IN NOVEMBER

ANTIQUE

news

While the industry focus is on Asian art there is still much to delight the collector this month

Egg-citement One of the “missing” Fabergé eggs found by a scrap dealer in 2011 is to go on display at this month’s landmark V&A exhibition on the iconic Russian maker.

The third Imperial egg of 1887 appeared unrecognised at auction in New York in 1964 before disappearing for 57 years when it was bought for its gold weight value at a Midwest flea market. The buyer contacted the jewellery firm Wartski who identified its true identity. In the traditional Fabergé style, the egg contains a surprise – a lady’s watch by Vacheron Constantin. The egg was first given by Emperor Alexander III to Empress Marie Feodorovna for Easter in 1887.

The exhibition Fabergé in London: Romance to Revolution opens on November 20.

For a review of Fabergé animals turn to page 46.

Roaring success Dedicated vintage and classic car sales are to become a regular feature at a Surrey auction house after the success of its inaugural 12-lot sale.

Ewbank’s first venture into the category, which saw the top seller as a restored 1989 Porsche 911/964 Carrera 2 Coupe achieving £53,350, will be followed up with another sale on December 1.

Auctioneer and partner Andrew Ewbank, said: “We were confident our clients have a hunger for classic vehicles. Not surprising when you remember both Brooklands and McLaren are just up the road!”

Other highlights included a 1968 Daimler V8-250 which sold for £16,250, while an Opel Manta coupe went for £10,450.

Overall, the 12 lots sold for a total of £115,060.

6 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Right Jennifer Rowley-

Bowen the samurai armour, image © National Trust/ Kate Groome

Left Third Imperial Egg, 1886–7. Chief workmaster August Holmström (1828– 1903), image courtesy of V&A Below left A Lambretta

GP 150cc, in orange, sold for £3,850 at Ewbank’s first car sale Below right The

Lindisfarne Gospels was adorned with a metalwork cover or case, reportedly made by the hermit Billfrith the Anchorite

FIGHTING CHANCE Following extensive repairs, a 19th-century samurai armour has rejoined 39 others all acquired by the eclectic collector Charles Paget Wade (1883-1956).

The Edo-period armour has gone back on display at the National Trust’s Snowshill Manor in Gloucestershire after 300 hours of painstaking conservation and cleaning.

The suit dates to c. 1830 and was made in the Japanese province of Kaga, an important centre of armour production.

Created during a peaceful time when samurai warriors were required to spend half their time at the shogun’s court, it would have been made purely for ceremonial rather than military use. By the late 19th century, when the samurai class was abolished entirely, many of their redundant suits and weapons made their way westwards to become part of a number of important British collections.

The armour was acquired in the 1940s by artist and architect Wade, who transformed Snowshill Manor into a stage for his vast collections, which range from bicycles to historic costumes.

By the book The most spectacular surviving manuscript from Anglo-Saxon England, The Lindisfarne Gospels, has gone on display in Newcastle – for the first time in more than 20 years.

The oldest known translation of the gospels into English will be on public display at Newcastle’s Laing Art Gallery until December 3.

2021 marks 1,300 years since the death of the monk Eadfrith in 721, who became the Bishop of Lindisfarne in 698 and is believed to have created the gospels in the scriptorium of the island’s monastery.

The illuminated 518-page text, recounting the life and teachings of Jesus, was written in Latin, Celtic and Germanic with Mediterranean elements. It took between five and 10 years to create.

Left Parrots, c. 1890 Meissen Porcelain factory, from the Woburn Abbey Collection Right Gold alloy

headdress with elaborate feline heads, Peru, 800– 550 BC. Museo Kuntur Wasi

Far right Drinking vessel showing a human figure wearing both Western and Inca attire, 18th century. © 2021 The Trustees of the British Museum

1

Mean time in Greenwich

Works from the private collection of the Duke and Duchess of Bedford go on show this month at the Queen’s House in Greenwich, for the first time since the 1950s.

Woburn Treasures includes works by Van Dyck, Reynolds, Gainsborough, Poussin and Canaletto, all on display alongside art from the national collection of Royal Museums Greenwich.

Below left Rembrandt van

Rijn (1606-1669) The Old Rabbi, 1643, oil on panel, from the Woburn Abbey Collection

3

to see in NOVEMBER

2Andes up

More than 40 objects on loan from nine museums in Peru, and dating from up to 3,000 years ago, go on show at the British Museum in London this month, marking the 200th-anniversary of the country’s independence.

The pieces will be displayed with 80 other gems from the museum’s own collection in the exhibition Peru: a Journey in Time, opening on November 11.

From the early culture of Chavin in 1200BC, to the fall of the Incas in 1532, the exhibition charts the rise and fall of six little-known Peruvian societies.

Gold alloy ear plates with feline features, Peru, 800–550 BC. Museo Kuntur Wasi

Below left Canaletto (1697-1768) Regatta on the Grand Canal, 1740, oil on canvas, from the Woburn Abbey Collection Below Anne Seymour

Damer (1748-1828) bust of Caroline Campbell, Lady Ailesbury, © Jonathan Kagan Collection

Below right John

Downman (1750-1824).

Portrait of Anne Seymour Damer, 1793, private collection

3

Nothing like a Damer

The work of the sculptress Anne Seymour Damer (1748-1828) is celebrated in a new exhibition at Strawberry Hill House in Twickenham, the former home of her godfather – Horace Walpole.

The central object of In Focus: Celebrating Sculptress Anne Seymour Damer, on until January 3, is Damer’s marble bust of her mother, Caroline Campbell, Lady Ailesbury, probably made in the late 1780s and until recently on display in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

Once described as a “female genius” by Horace Walpole, Damer was trained in sculpture by Giuseppe Ceracchi and John Bacon and exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy from 1784 to 1818.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 7

NEWS All the latest Time lord

Relatively speaking A 54-page manuscript by German-born theoretical physicist Albert Einstein (1879-1955), which was crucial in the development of the theory of relativity, goes under the hammer in Paris this month.

Written between June 1913 and early 1914 with his lifelong friend, the Swiss engineer Michele Besso and described as “the most valuable Einstein manuscript ever offered at auction”, the manuscript is expected to make €2-€3m.

The manuscript goes on sale on November 23.

Above The manuscript is expected to make 2-3m

The 1½in silver pocket watch Oliver Cromwell had with him in 1650 during his New Model Army campaign in Ireland has been rediscovered.

The unrecognised mid-17th century fob was spotted at a sale by Cambridge dealer Martyn Downer whose lockdown research established it as the long-lost timepiece Cromwell had given to John Blackwell, his deputy treasurer-at-war, during the siege of Clonmel.

The watch was made by William

Pleasure dome

Game girl The V&A has pledged its support for women in photography by announcing a new curatorial programme. The Parasol Foundation Women in Photography Project, funded by the online gaming billionaire Ruth Monicka Parasol, will see a new curatorial post, research and public displays.

In recognition of The Parasol Trust’s support, the V&A’s gallery 97 of contemporary photography, will be named after it. Gibraltarbased Parasol is an American born entrepreneur and lawyer who founded PartyGaming in 1997.

Above The V&A’s gallery 97 is home to contemporary photography

30 seconds with...

TV archaeologist and British Museum curator Jago Cooper, who is the new director of the Sainsbury Centre at the University of East Anglia in Norwich In your travels is there a material culture you are most drawn to?

One of my favourite things about travelling around the world is spending time in local museums and immersing myself in the histories and stories of pieces on display.

One of my favourite places for this is the south Asian country of Nepal, with its spellbinding textiles and stonework connecting the rich and diverse cultural traditions from across Asia.

8 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above Oliver Cromwell’s watch has resurfaced

Clay whose business was in King Street, Westminster, where Cromwell moved to in 1647. As a Puritan, Cromwell owned few possessions and, after the restoration of the monarchy, his name was in such ill repute that most possessions were dispersed or destroyed.

Downer said: “The watch has been mentioned over the years but no one knew its whereabouts. I saw it at an auction in the north of the country and it seemed to go unnoticed. What I bought it for was low, even if it hadn’t had the Cromwell connection – these sleepers are out there.”

Ghanaian-British architect Sir David Adjaye OBE has been chosen as the designer of a new exhibition space for rarely-seen paintings and drawings by the American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960-1988).

Jean-Michel Basquiat: King Pleasure, opens on April 9, 2022 at New York’s landmark Starrett-Lehigh Building in West Chelsea.

Since his death from an overdose at 27, Basquiat has been the subject of countless exhibitions, with Untitled becoming his most expensive work to sell at auction in 2017 when it achieved $110.5m. His sisters, Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Heriveaux, who run the Jean-Michel Basquiat Estate with their stepmother, Nora Fitzpatrick, came up with the idea for a new exhibition space during lockdown.

Above Jean-Michel Basquiat 1982, © 1983 Van Der Z

What was the last exhibition you visited and how was it?

The very last exhibition I saw was Anish Kapoor Painting (at Modern Art Oxford until February 13 next year) which didn’t include many antiques but quite a lot of giant body parts that were very powerfully visceral to be around.

What do you like most about the Sainsbury Centre’s collection?

There are so many wonderful works at the Sainsbury Centre but, in a Desert Island Discs kind of way, I think it would be hard to look past Henry Moore’s bronze reclining figure. Positioned outside as a welcoming greeting to the Sainsbury Centre, it creates that foundational link between object, visitor, designed space and landscape. I think it has a dynamism that is timeless – forever changing through the seasons of the year and the shadows of every day.

How will museums look in 50 years?

A good museum is a place where people want to spend time and is welcoming. It should intrigue, inform and inspire. As such, the museum experience in 50 years will be just as diverse and varied as today. The role of digital and virtual experiences will increase but the human desire to spend time with works that encapsulate the wonderment of humanity and creative achievement will always remain.

For more details on current and upcoming exhibitions go to www.sainsburycentre.ac.uk

Above A Henry Moore sculpture at the Sainsbury Centre, Norwich

High brow

HARES RAISING

Following a boom in demand for garden sculptures in lockdown, a Hertfordshire-based company has launched a range of life-size animal models.

Nelson & Forbes in Hemel Hempstead creates bronze sculptures designed by some of the UK’s most talented contemporary artists, including Sue Maclaurin (b. 1948) and Jonathan Sanders (b.1958).

Nelson & Forbes’ 2021 collection of 213 limited-edition pieces includes three life-sized animals – an otter, hare (both by Maclaurin) and a dog. The animal sculptures are all cast by hand in a British foundry using the ancient art of lost wax casting. Founder Deborah Foster said: “The recent lockdown saw an increased demand for garden sculptures among collectors, so we were happy to respond by creating several of their most popular pieces in a life size.” For more details go to www.nelsonandforbes.co.uk or call 01442 256290.

Above 46cm tall bronze, Garden Alert Hare by Sue Maclaurin, from a limited edition of 95, priced £2,500

Store punt Silver, jewellery and watches from Searle & Co. in London’s Royal Exchange have gone under the hammer following its closure earlier in the year.

The longrunning family business established in 1893 had offered bespoke pieces from premises described as “more like a cabinet of curiosities than a shop”.

The store relocated to the Royal Exchange in 1933 creating bespoke pieces including enamel and gem-set badges for livery companies.

Its owners chose Birmingham-based Fellows Auctioneers to sell the stock over a number of sales this autumn.

A Frida Kahlo self-portrait could become the second most expensive work by a female artist ever sold when it goes on sale this month.

The painting, titled Diego y yo (Diego and I), was completed in 1949 five years before her death in 1954, and depicts the Mexican artist’s face with an image of her husband the artist Diego Rivera, on her forehead.

It has an estimate of £30m when it goes on sale in New York on November 15. According to Artnet’s price database, the highest price ever paid for a Kahlo work at public auction was $8m at Christie’s in the spring of 2016. If Diego y yo were to meet its estimate, it would be the secondpriciest work by a female artist ever sold at auction. The current record is $44.4m paid for Georgia O’Keeffe’s Jimson Weed/White Flower No.1 (1932) in 2014.

WHAT A GEM Iconic British jeweller Shaun Leane was one of 25 designers who helped raise £13,770 to support women in Afghanistan.

The collaboration, Jewellers for Afghanistan, with London auctioneers Roseberys, saw work by Solange,

Above Frida Kahlo’s 1949 painting Diego y yo (Diego and I), courtesy of Sotheby’s.

Annoushka, Theo Fennell and Pippa Small go under the hammer.

Each designer donated a piece of jewellery retailing between £270 and £1,750 with all the proceeds going to Women for Afghan Women a grassroots women’s rights organisation.

The charity is helping to evacuate and provide urgent resources, shelter and care to vulnerable women, children and families during the ongoing crisis.

Above left The British jeweller Shaun Leane was among the jewellers donating work

Quiet please English Heritage has introduced an ‘hour of contemplation’ at its monasteries when visitors will be encouraged to turn off their mobile phones and keep schtum.

Mental health campaigner, actor and broadcaster, Stephen Fry, is backing the project which includes a downloadable recording of a reading from Saint Aelred, a 12th-century abbot from Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire.

The abbey is one of 16 taking part across England, including the Carthusian monastery Mount Grace Priory in North Yorkshire once home to a solitary order of monks, and Battle Abbey in East Sussex, founded by William the Conqueror following the Battle of Hastings.

Above right Rievaulx Abbey on the North York Moors, the ruins of one of England’s most powerful Cistercian monasteries, image English Heritage

Above The historic retailers closed earlier in the year

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 9

LETTERS Have your say

Your Letters

The month’s postbag includes a trip down memory lane and the Japanese concept of kintsugi What a joyous trip down memory lane your feature on comics was (Caper Chase, October issue). I was a fully paid up member of the Dennis and Gnasher fan club and still have my badge. If you saw someone else wearing a badge you always said “Ding” (meaning “Dennis Is Never Good”) to which the reply should be “Dong” meaning “Dennis Owns Naughty Gnasher”. Happy times.

J Hubbard, Doncaster

Our star letter

receives a copy of Bulgari Treasures of Rome by Vincent Meylan worth £55.

Write to us at Antique Collecting, Sandy Lane, Old Martlesham, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 4SD or email magazine@ accartbooks.com

Above right Will the

ubiquitous flat pack signal the end of antiques?

Left The Gnasher badge was part of the fan club Below left Memories of

Dennis and Gnasher, image courtesy of Beano

Below right Kintsugi

Star letter As I helped my daughter move into a new flat last week I was struck by how little of her possessions would ever survive long enough to qualify as antique. Her small London apartment did not lend itself to furniture other than that of the pale, flatpack variety. Her access to digital information meant there were no books, and the walls were barely large enough to hang anything but a couple of prints. In 100 years’ time will our material culture be so small as to not exist?

David Reid, Putney, by email While I love the BBC’s The Repair Shop I would like to remind readers of the Japanese concept of kintsugi and ceramics introduced to be by my son-in- law.

The idea is porcelain is delicate and, as such, will be broken. Rather than worrying about breakages, kintsugi celebrates them by sealing cracks with gold or silver lacquer. The result can be even more beautiful than the original. Rather than abhor decay, we should celebrate it as a part of life. If only we could apply it in every area of life – including ageing!

GF Lucson, by email

celebrates decay

Answers to the quiz on page 44

Q1 (d) 11th-century Greek church summoning-‘bell’. Q2 (c) They prevented the officer being garrotted. Q3 (b) Bean slicer. Q4 (b) Coupled steering handlebars and (c) Diagonal strengthening. Q5 (c) Hat. Q6 (a) and (d) It appeared flat when viewed from the side and rounded from the front or back. Q7 (d) A nickname for a skilled glassworker who moved from manufacturer to manufacturer. Q8 (d) Whipsnade opened in 1931. There were earlier ‘zoo’ cards, but not, of course, of Whipsnade. Q9 (a) It turned out to be a financial elephant for the car maker. Q10 (b) Immortality which was also associated with the phoenix. The cock is associated with vigilance and Peter’s denial of Christ. The goldfinch the Crown of Thorns, and the raven with man’s salvation, when associated with Elijah.

Correction: In last month’s magazine we stated BADA was formed in 1991. In fact BADA Friends was formed in 1991 and BADA was created in 1918.

10 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Carriage clock = a corgi clacker (a) Scrimshaw = raw schism (b) Gainsborough = our aging hobs (c) Expressionism = mixes ropiness (d)

FINE JAPANESE ART TUESDAY 23RD NOVEMBER 2021

ENQUIRIES Alexandra Aguilar aa@woolleyandwallis.co.uk +44 (0)1722 424583 A rare and important Japanese lacquer cabinet depicting merchants from the Dutch East India Company, 17th century, 88cm x 100cm x 54cm Provenance: an English private collection and thence by descent, Norfolk Estimate £40,000 ­ 60,000*

51­61 Castle Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP1 3SU 2/F 17 Clifford Street, Mayfair, London W1S 3RQ (by appointment)

www.woolleyandwallis.co.uk *Visit woolleyandwallis.co.uk/buying for additional charges on final hammer price

AUCTION Sales round up

The art deco bracelet owned by Princess Margaret sold for £396,800

AROUND the HOUSES We review the latest sales, including a record-breaking printed book by a woman and an in-demand Howard & Sons sofa

A female nude in pastel sold for £2,600 against the same pre-sale guide

The half nude by Evelyn de Morgan sold for £1,250 – over double its £500 low estimate

HANSONS, LONDON Two signed, pencil and pastel sketches of a woman by Evelyn de Morgan (1855-1919), an important second generation PreRaphaelite, sold for £3,850 at the London saleroom’s recent sale.

A half-length study of a female nude in pastel made £1,250, against an estimate of £500-£800; while a female nude in pastel sold for £2,600 against the same pre-sale guide.

Having graduated from the Slade School of Art, de Morgan produced hundreds of figure studies on grey wove paper in pencil and pastel. She was particularly praised for her superb depiction of hands and arms.

DIX NOONAN WEBB, MAYFAIR An art deco pearl and diamond bracelet owned and worn by Princess Margaret on her 19th-birthday photograph by Cecil Beaton in 1949, sold for £396,800 more than 10 times its low estimate of £30,000 at the London auctioneers.

Comprised of a double row of cultured pearls and pearl openwork geometric clasp, it dates to c. 1925. Dix Noonan Webb’s, Frances Noble, said: “Princess Margaret was photographed wearing this bracelet on numerous occasions.”

Beaton’s image of the princess was published on her birthday on August 21, 1949

BRUUN RASMUSSEN AUCTIONEERS, COPENHAGEN

The tape included Lennon’s rendition of the never-released song Radio Peace

A never-before released 33-minute recording of an interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono sold for £55,500 (DKK 481,000) at the Swedish auction house’s recent sale.

The tape, made during the couple’s winter visit to Thy in north Jutland in 1970, records an interview between the pair and four 16-year-old Danish schoolboys for the local school magazine.

One of schoolboys, Karsten Højen, now 68, said: “The meeting with John Lennon and Yoko Ono had a great impact on our personal lives because we considered them as sort of political prophets and symbols of peace.”

The tape was accompanied by several photographs from the auspicious encounter. At one point on the tape Lennon picks up a guitar and sings Give Peace a Chance and the unreleased song Radio Peace.

12

ANTIQUE COLLECTING

SOTHEBY’S PARIS

20 to 30 of Napoleon’s bicorne hats are thought to exist

One of Napoleon Bonaparte’s bicorne hats sold for £1m (€1.2m) at the French saleroom.

Believed to have been worn by the first French emperor on July 7, 1807, during a meeting with Russia’s Alexander I to sign the Treaty of Tilsit, it far exceeded its presale estimate of £425,000-£600,000.

Napoleon owned an estimated 120 bicorne hats during his emperorship, according A 10-pointed, to Sotheby’s, making it star-shaped something of a trademark. medallion encasing Each was made of silk and a lock of Napolefelt by the same hatter. on’s hair sold for £16,000

HALLS, BATTLEFIELD

CATHERINE SOUTHON, CHISLEHURST A Bond Street sign from Westminster City Council topped the Kent auctioneer’s recent sale, selling for The Bond £3,472 against an estimate of £700Street sign was £900. Elsewhere, an Oxford Circus the sale’s top seller sign fetched £2,976 against an upper estimate when it sold for of £1,000, while £3,472 one for Holborn beat its pre-sale estimate of £700-£900 by A rare 1910 attracting 22 bids enamel London before selling to a Underground map private buyer for sold for £2,728 to a £2,480. railwayana buff

EWBANK’S, WOKING A half-length oil on canvas of a seated nude sold for £2,375 against an estimate of £150-£250 in Surrey.

The work was one of 98 unseen works by the Plymouth-born artist Lionel Ellis (1903-1988) who studied at Plymouth School of Art and then Royal College of Art from 1922–1924, later exhibiting at the Royal Academy.

Senior Partner, Chris Ewbank, said: A seated nude, 71 x 57cm “Ellis’s work is found in a number of oil on canvas major public institutions. The multipleestimated at estimate prices of the top ten works £150-£250, sold that sold show how popular his art was for £2,375 across the spectrum of subject matter.”

The signed C.F. Tunnicliffe watercolour was the sale’s top seller

A colourful watercolour by the artist Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe OBE RA (1901-1979) tripled its low estimate to make £6,000 at the Shropshire auctioneer’s recent sale.

Lochinver Gulls had been exhibited at the Royal Academy’s Summer Exhibition in 1973, and was loaned by the vendor to Oriel Ynys Môn gallery in Anglesey for the Charles Frederick Tunnicliffe exhibition in 2019-2020.

There was a strong connection between C.F. Tunnicliffe and fellow Anglesey artist, Sir Kyffin Williams, who persuaded the highly modest Tunnicliffe to hold a later exhibition of his work at the Royal Academy in 1974, which was a great success.

Oriel Ynys Môn was built in Anglesey in 1991 to house a collection of Tunnicliffe’s works acquired by Anglesey Borough Council from Christie’s, 10 years earlier.

CHEFFINS, CAMBRIDGE Consigned from “an important country house in Suffolk”, a large three-seater Howard & Sons sofa sold for £16,500, double its low estimate at the East Anglian auction house’s recent sale.

As reported in this magazine, furniture by the renowned maker continues to sell for prices way beyond their estimates.

The sofa by the renowned The sale also included 150 lots from a London maker major collection consigned from the TudorHoward & Sons sold style Lanwades Hall near Newmarket. for £16,500

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 13

AUCTION Sales round up MALLAMS, CHELTENHAM The location of the first ‘poohsticks’ sold for £131,625

SUMMERS PLACE AUCTIONS, BILLINGSHURST The original wooden bridge that provided the inspiration for Winnie the Pooh author AA Milne, sold for £131,625 against an estimated price of £60,000.

Poohsticks Bridge, located in Ashdown Forest, East Sussex, was first built in 1907 and provides the Hundred Acre Wood setting for the author’s adored children’s novels, where Pooh and friends live.

In 1999, the original bridge was taken apart after it was worn down by thousands of tourists with a replacement put in its place while the original bridge was kept in Ashdown Forest Centre.

LOCKDALES, MARTLESHAM A purple, green and white flag of the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), dated 1908, sold for £851 against an estimate of £150-£160 at the Suffolk auctioneers.

The ‘Suffrage’ flag was the emblem of WSPU, the more The purple, militant of the suffrage organisations, often green and white flag of the Women’s called Suffragettes. After 60 years of peaceful Social and Political campaigns, the WSPU formed in 1903 with the motto “deeds not words” and engaged in Union campaigns of civil disobedience.

CHRISTIE’S, NEW YORK

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein set a world record for a printed work by a woman

An original 1818 three-volume copy of Mary Shelley’s (1797-1851) Frankenstein, from the first 500 print run, set a world record when it sold for a £863,000 ($1,17m) in America.

Published anonymously and titled Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus on January 1, 1818, the first edition included a preface written

by Percy Shelley and a dedication to the author’s father, William Godwin.

The record for a printed work by a woman was previously held by a first edition of Jane Austen’s Emma from 1816, which was sold by Bonhams in 2008 for £150,000.

14

ANTIQUE COLLECTING

A Maori hei-tiki pendant from New Zealand sold for £30,000 at the Gloucestershire saleroom, way above its An £600-£800 pre-sale estimate.

Anglo-Indian Made of green table sold for nephrite, an old paper £6,800, multiple label on the back times its pre-sale The estimate states that it hei-tiki’s purportedly owner played a belonged to Maori pivotal role in New Zealand’s founding chief Makoare Te Taonui who signed the Treaty of Waitangi document on February 12, 1840.

SPINK, LONDON A rare gold Elizabeth I groat, expected to fetch £10,000, sold for £480,000 setting a world record for an Elizabethan coin at the London auction house.

It was one of 52 lots from the collection of Horace Hird, a third generation steeplejack, former Lord Mayor of Bradford, avid historian and renowned coin collector.

He paid hundreds of pounds — thousands in today’s money — for some of the coins in the 1940s and 1950s but their values have soared.

The Horace Hird 52-lot collection sold for a total of £2.8m

RICHARD WINTERTON AUCTIONEERS, LICHFIELD The former US president Ronald Reagan was the top seller at £170 when two collections of Royal Doulton The Royal character and Toby jugs went Doulton Ronald under the hammer in Staffordshire, Reagan jug was the making a combined £4,000. sale’s top seller at £170 The 241-lot sale also included ceramic representations of Carry On stars Sid James and Charles Hawtrey, with each selling for £150 to make the second top result.

The sale comprised two single-owner collections of 74 and 167 character jugs

THE Forthcoming auction of

AUCTION

Jewellery, Watches and Objects of Vertu

8th December, 10am

VIEWING

to be held at our Mayfair Salerooms

on Tuesday 23 November at 1pm

5th December, 11am - 2pm 6th & 7th December, 10am - 4pm

Public Viewing

BY APPOINTMENT ONLY

Auction to include:

Wednesday 17 November 10am-4.30pm Thursday 18 November 10am-7pm Friday 19 November 10am-4.30pm Sunday 21 November 12 noon-4pm Monday 22 November 10am-4.30pm Morning of Sale 10am-12 noon

A black opal and diamond cluster ring - £2000 - £3000 (+bp) Sir Matthew Smith (British,1879-1959), ‘Seated Girl’, 65cm x 54cm - £6,000 -£8,000 (+bp) A good Chinese carved hardwood scholar’s cabinet, Qing Dynasty - £5,000 - £7,000 (+bp)

All enquiries please contact Frances Noble or Rachel Bailey 020 7016 1700 or email jewellery@dnw.co.uk

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973), ‘Visage no.79’, a partially glazed hand-painted ceramic plate - £3,000 - £4,000 (+bp)

DIX NOONAN WEBB 16 Bolton Street Mayfair London W1J 8BQ

An Art Nouveau pendant by Georges Le Turcq, circa 1900 to be included in the sale

www.dnw.co.uk

E: fineart@hallsgb.com T: 01743 450 700 W: www.hallsgb.com/fine-art

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY TIMED AUCTION -

MODERN & CONTEMPORARY ART 22nd October - 7th November

TIMED AUCTION -

ASIAN ART 5th - 20th November

A Chinese Claire de Lune glazed lotus bowl, probably Yongzheng Estimate: £3,000 - £5,000 (+bp)

Please contact us for details on viewing times or any further information for either of these auctions E: fineart@hallsgb.com

T: 01743 450 700

W: hallsgb.com/fine-art

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 15

COLLECTING GUIDES Chinese famille verte porcelain

Looks Famille The rich history of Chinese ceramics dates back thousands of years with many of the very finest pieces in the famille verte style, writes Natalie Marchant 16 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

F

or thousands of years, Asian porcelain and especially Chinese pottery has beguiled all those who see it and appreciate it for its intricacy, detail, artwork, quite extraordinary technical expertise and, perhaps most importantly, for its deference and connection to Chinese culture, history and philosophy.

Chinese pottery – as with most artforms – varies dramatically. The variations are according to dynastic style and preference, available materials, technology and skills of the age and for whom it was made. These reasons, amongst many others, are why Chinese ceramics and all types of oriental pottery are so highly prized by discerning collectors all over the world.

LONG TRADITION Pieces of Oriental pottery from 20,000 years ago have been found at the Xianrendong site in China’s Jiangxi province, but by the middle to late Neolithic period (5000-1500 BC), many of the early farming cultures such as the Yangshao and Longshan were making highly decorative earthenware vessels. These took the form of (mainly) funerary storage jars decorated with geometric designs, whorls and sawtooth patterns with sweeping, rhythmic brushwork that defied the primitive age.

The people of the Bronze Age Shang dynasty that followed made ash-glazed Chinese pottery and from the end of the spring and autumn period (approximately 771-476 BC) to the start of the Warring States period (476-221 BC), hard-bodied Chinese ceramics fired at very high temperatures were made.

Many of these vessels had traditionally impressed decorations such as pushing fabric cord into the wet clay and then firing them.

Left A pair of Chinese porcelain famille verte, wucai dated vases of meiping form, depicting a governor departing his assigned post, 30.5cm high with four character marks xin si nian zhi, with xin si corresponding to the year, 1701, all images unless stated, courtesy of Marchant Right Chinese porcelain famille verte, wucai brushpot, bitong, painted with two panels, with two elegant ladies standing beside a pair of chickens, 13.4cm high, Kangxi, (1662-1722) Below left Chinese porcelain famille verte, wucai rouleau vase painted with a scene from Cailou Ji (The Bunted Loft), in which the impoverished scholar Lü Mengzheng, is seated on the edge of a well head dressed in patchwork, 47cm high, Kangxi, (1662-1722)

North south divide

Geographically and geologically speaking, Chinese pottery can be divided into two overarching categories – northern and southern – and the differences are fascinating. China is in fact made up of two land masses, each geologically different, which came together millions of years ago in the continental drift.

The two land masses formed a junction that sits between the Yellow and Yangtze rivers (known as the Nanshan-Qinling divide) and the contrasting geology means that Chinese ceramics from the north can differ quite dramatically from Chinese pottery from the south.

The north lacks petunse, the stone needed for high quality porcelain so it became the centre for earthenware. The south has high concentrations of silica, potassium oxide and low alumina (the reverse of the north) which made it very suitable for making highquality porcelain.

In addition, northern kilns predominantly used coal whereas southern kilns used different types of wood.

It’s also worth noting that Chinese ceramics can be further categorised as guanyao, Asian porcelain made in the imperial kilns for the royal court, and minyao, commercially-made Chinese pottery referring to that made for the people.

‘Just like the culture and history of China itself, the story of Chinese ceramics, the most famous of all oriental pottery, is a richly fascinating tale that dates back millennia. Often the two are intertwined, in that the history of a nation can be learned by the pottery unearthed by archaeologists and analysed, interpreted and decoded by anthropologists’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 17

COLLECTING GUIDES Chinese famille verte porcelain Right Porcelain vase

with peach-bloom glaze (Jingdezhen ware), Qing dynasty (1644–1911), Kangxi 1662–1722, date, 1713–1722, image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, not in exhibition

TERRACOTTA ARMY

Undoubtedly the most famous example of Chinese pottery from around the third century BC is the 8,000 life-size soldiers of the Terracotta Army. With 130 chariots pulled by 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses, along with numerous non-military figures such as bureaucrats, musicians, acrobats and strongmen, the army was stationed in military formation near Emperor Qin’s tomb in order to protect the emperor in the afterlife.

These figures depicted the legions of Qin Shi Huang, China’s first emperor, and may have been the first evidence of Chinese pottery production as an artform.

TANG DYNASTY It was during the Tang dynasty (618906) that the production of Chinese ceramics became more sophisticated.

The Tang artists experimented with different kiln temperatures as well as new and fascinating dyes and stains which resulted in the three-colour sancai style, the high-fired limeglazed celadon pieces of this beautiful oriental pottery (known as ‘qingci’) and the highly translucent white Asian porcelain, especially from the Hebei and Hunan regions.

In fact, the celadon pieces proved so popular they were produced well into the succeeding dynasties and were exported to neighbouring Korea and Japan and as far away as Egypt.

In 851, famed Arab traveller Suleiman was one of the first foreigners to mention Chinese pottery when he wrote: “They have in China a very fine clay with which they make vases which are as transparent as glass; water is seen through them.”

18 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Below left Chinese porcelain famille verte, wucai baluster vase of tapered form, with a lady in a sedan chair among her attendants with a warrior and scholar, 43.8cm high.

Kangxi, (1662-1722)

PORCELAIN CITY

More specifically, the zenith of famille verte production was during a four-decade period between 1685 and 1725 with the majority of pieces, including the famed famille verte ginger jars, being made at the imperial kilns in Jingdezhen, China’s ‘porcelain city.’ Ritual and ceremonial wares in porcelain were commissioned for at least six of the imperial temples and small altars.

Porcelain was also needed for the emperor’s official and personal use, as well as his extended imperial family and officials.

Under the direction of Superintendent Lang Tingji (1705-1712), official ceramics reached great heights of technical excellence with advances in blue and white porcelain and monochrome glazes – most notably copper-red glazes, whose coloration was notoriously difficult to control and which had not been mastered since the early Ming dynasty reign of the Xuande Emperor (1426-1435).

The most distinctive of the copper-red glazes was the so-called ‘peachbloom’ glaze produced with copper pigment characterised by variegated red and green.

FAMILLE VERTE In the wonderfully rich and varied history of Chinese ceramics, famille verte porcelain is considered by many to be among its most exquisite.

Literally ‘green family’, famille verte was so named

by French art historian Albert Jacquemart whose classification of ceramics in the 1860s according to the colour of the enamel used remains in use to this day and includes famille jaune (yellow), famille rose (red) and famille noire (black).

Unusually for most types of wares, famille verte Chinese porcelain (typically known in China as wucai, or ‘five colours’) can be dated very accurately to Kangxi, the fourth Emperor of the Qing dynasty whose reign of 60 years between 1662 and 1722 makes him the longest reigning emperor in Chinese history.

IMPERIAL COURT

As was commonplace, the very finest pieces of famille verte porcelain, including a number of magnificent famille verte ginger jars, were reserved exclusively for the Imperial court.

Famille verte Chinese porcelain showed off the enamellers’ skill and included exceptionally detailed depictions of flowers, animals, figurative scenes and landscapes. In addition, many are based on ancient Chinese literary sources and they would painstakingly copy the woodcut illustrations used in books.

Perhaps the most famous literary depiction of famille verte porcelain is from The Romance of the Western Chamber written by Yuan dynasty playwright Wang Shifu (1250-1337) in the 13th-century about a young couple who fell in love without parental approval.

POLYCHROMATIC OVERGLAZE Under the emperor great advances were also made in overglaze enamels, particularly in the famille verte palette. Made with a highly refined paste resulting in an exceptionally fine grade of ceramic ware, famille verte Chinese porcelain is identifiable by its vivid green enamels and polychromatic overglaze colours, including stunning yellow, red, blue and black and, much less common but equally as beautiful, gold.

It’s largely due to the nature of the glaze that famille verte porcelain is renowned for its unique iridescence and translucence, perhaps why it was so highly prized and desirable by late-17th and early-18th century European consumers and remains so today.

As well as dishes, bowls, plates, vases and figurines, the famille verte ginger jar was among a collection of more luxurious items that included monteiths (large ornamental bowls used for cooling wine glasses) made for the export market.

All the pieces mentioned in this article can be seen at the exhibition Famille Verte from Private Collections at Marchant’s gallery at 120 Kensington Church Street, W8 4BH from October 28 to November 12.

Right Chinese porcelain

famille verte, wucai vase of rouleau form, painted with two birds perched on a branch among flowering chrysanthemum and tropical leaves, beneath butterflies, dragonflies and other insects, 47.6cm high, Kangxi, (1662-1722)

Below Illustrations from the book The Romance of the Western Chamber informed many Chinese designs

HISTORY OF CHINESE POTTERY – FROM JINGDEZHEN TO TODAY

During the reign of third Song emperor Zhenzong (968 -1022) the town of Jingdezhen in the north-eastern Jiangxi province became the centre of Chinese ceramics production and remained so for a thousand years. First produced under the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty (1280–1368), the world-famous blue and white Chinese pottery reached its zenith during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). While the style, decoration and shape changed with the ascension of each subsequent Ming emperor, the quality of Chinese ceramics produced during this time are indisputably (or arguably) superior to that of any other era before or since.

It was during the Ming dynasty that China shifted to a market economy and the Jingdezhen kilns mass-produced Chinese pottery on an industrial scale both for export and for the imperial court.

As the Ming dynasty made way for the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) in the mid-17th century, the manufacture of Chinese ceramics saw the development of five-colour porcelain known as wucai. This style of Chinese pottery which became incredibly popular in the West was created by applying overglaze pigments of reds, greens, purples, yellows and blues after they had been fired once with a blue underglaze. After the pigments were applied the vessels were fired again.

The tumultuous final years of the Qing – China’s last imperial dynasty – coincided with a downturn in the quality of Chinese ceramics as the resulting political instability took an inevitable toll on the world of arts and culture. However, over the last decades, production is being revived both as modern interpretations and in the traditional styles.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 19

ANTIQUES UNDER THE HAMMER Sitwell family seat of Weston Hall

SALEROOM SPOTLIGHT

Jewellery and effects owned by the poet and critic Dame Edith Sitwell are among pieces from the celebrated family’s seat going on sale in Berkshire this month

I

f houses could speak, Weston Hall, the grade II-listed manor house, near Towcester in Northamptonshire, would surely have some tales to tell.

The 17th-century hall, which stands in 49 acres of gardens and was the family home of journalist and renowned food critic and MasterChef judge, William Sitwell, sold last year after he and his brother couldn’t maintain its upkeep.

The Sitwells were once among the most celebrated of British society families, with their much-loved home proving to be the perfect place to host glamorous parties. In the family’s heyday in the Twenties and Thirties, Brideshead author Evelyn Waugh, English playwright Noel Coward and society photographer Cecil Beaton often stayed.

20 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above The bed from which Dame Edith worked, surrounded by six George III chairs Top right An ostrich feather-trimmed hat, one of Edith’s most iconic pieces, is being offered alongside the Beaton print, with an estimate of £500-£700 Above right A print of the original photograph of Dame Edith taken by Cecil Beaton in 1962 will be offered in the sale

This month much of its contents are up for sale, by the Berkshirebased auctioneers Dreweatts, including clothes and jewellery once owned by the writer and poet Dame Edith Sitwell (18871964), known for shocking society with her eccentric behaviour and ‘Plantagenet’ fashion sense.

Her New York Times obituary described her as : “…a woman of the past, who looked and dressed like a Tudor Monarch, or a figure out of a Medieval tapestry. An aquiline nose and heavy-lidded eyes added to her almost Plantagenet look, which she accentuated with elaborate hats, or turbans and long flowing gowns, sometimes of startling Chinese red, sometimes of intricate brocade. She was addicted to large jewelry and gold armlets, and her fingers were ringed with pebble‐size aquamarines.”

FOUR POSTER An imposing oak four-poster bed hung with George III needlework (expected to make £8,000-£12,000), from which Dame Edith would write poetry and receive guests, is also part of the two-day sale along with six George III side chairs from the same room (with a presale guide of £5,000-£8,000).

William Sitwell said: “Edith Sitwell would sit regally in bed propped up by so many pillows, her head adorned by some sort of turban and on a blue tray she would write her poetry.”

Dame Edith published work consistently from 1913 and was awarded a DBE (Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in 1954.

She never married, instead having a lifelong unrequited love for the Russian painter and set designer Pavel Tchelitchew (1898-1957), who met the Sitwells

A gold George III amethyst, enamel and hairwork mourning ring, 1760, dedicated to Mary Barnardiston, has an estimate of £400-£600

through the writer Gertrude Stein (1874-1946) in Paris in 1923. He and Edith corresponded frequently and Pavel produced a total of nine portraits of her during her lifetime. One such, simply titled Edith Sitwell Seated, is estimated to fetch £5,000-£7,000 in the sale.

IN MY OPINION...

We asked Dreweatts’ head of house sales and private collections, Joe Robinson, for his sale highlights

JEWELLERY HIGHLIGHTS A selection of eight Qing dynasty, 19th-century Chinese gilt-copper mounted semi-precious stone and jadeite brooches, converted from buckles and believed to have been brought back from China as a gift by Edith’s brother Osbert Sitwell in 1934 has an estimate of £3,000-£4,000.

A pair of silver gilt Indian bangles, worn regularly

by Edith, is estimated at £700-£1,000. A 19th-century Chinese carved fluorite dress ring featuring two mythical beasts, is estimated at £800-£1,200.

Elsewhere, a selection of mourning jewellery from earlier in the Sitwell family history at Weston Hall includes a gold George III amethyst, enamel and hairwork mourning ring dating from 1760. The ring contains a braid of hair in a surround of faceted amethysts with its white enamel shank bearing a dedication to Mary Barnardiston, a Sitwell family ancestor who inherited the hall in 1773.

A selection of 18th-century hairwork mourning jewels and hair mementos also appear in the sale with an estimate of £600-£800.

‘Dame Edith was six feet tall with an aquiline nose and heavylidded eyes which added to her almost Plantagenet look, which she accentuated with elaborate hats, or turbans… She was addicted to large jewellery and gold armlets’

How does it compare to other house sales you have conducted?

A house sale like this is very rare in today’s market.

With few pieces ever having been bought or sold, it offers multiple historic narratives, direct links to figures in British history and provenances stretching back 300 years. Another interesting aspect is, until the early 20th century, the house descended through the female line so when men married into the family they introduced parts of their family’s collections.

Do you have a jewellery highlight?

A box of Chinese semi-precious brooches, which were worn by Dame Edith on various occasions, and a pair of gilt metal Indian dancing bangles, also from her collection. Dame Edith was very well known for her statement jewellery.

AUCTION fact file WHAT: Weston Hall and the Sitwells: A Family Legacy When: November 16-17 Where: Dreweatts Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE Viewing: From November 10-15 at Dreweatts Donnington Priory and online at www.dreweatts.com

Above A purple velvet costume in the loose medieval style, late 19th /early 20th century, possibly worn by a young Edith, has an estimate of £150-£250 Left A selection of eight Qing dynasty, 19th-century Chinese semi-precious stone and jadeite brooches, has an estimate of £3,000£4,000

What about from elsewhere in the sale?

One of the most exciting lots is the work on paper

by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696–1770), one of the greatest painters of 18th-century Europe, which we discovered in the attic at Weston Hall.

The drawing was purchased by the Sitwells at the Henry Oppenheimer sale of old master drawings at Christie’s in 1936 and has remained in the family collection ever since. Also there are lots of manuscript letters, notably a folio of transcripts sent between Oscar Wilde and Robert Ross – the writer’s lover and literary executor.

What pieces caught your eye at the lower end of the market?

As a young collector myself I think the numerous lots of Chinese blue and white are particularly attractive as most were collected in the 18th century by the merchant Barnardiston family and have never been sold. Also, the small Rex Whistler drawing of the Sitwell coat of arms would be a nice momento to take home.

Where do you expect interest to come from?

We foresee an international audience as interest in the ‘bright young things’ and traditional English country house style remains very strong globally.

Right A pair of silver

gilt Indian bangles is expected to make between £700 and £1,000

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 21

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Contemporary Chinese ceramics aesthetic, giving the work a more contemporary feel.

Using traditional techniques to produce an exquisite object is, however, a slow process. To paint freehand on a large vessel, you must maintain the force, variation and connection of each line, even though each line is almost the same. It takes time and requires a gradual accumulation of skill, it’s not something you can master in a day or two.

On the other hand, some of my recent works require no skill at all. I might suddenly be moved by the velvety texture of a piece of clay which compels me to make it into a piece of art. If I had to be specific, I would say that I am an artist rooted in Asian culture living in the present.

MING’S DYNASTY

Bai Ming is one of China’s leading contemporary ceramicists with pieces on show across the globe. In an exclusive interview with Antique Collecting he describes his work and place in the tradition of Chinese pottery HOW IMPORTANT IS TRADITION IN YOUR WORK? Many museums and artists have asked me: Are you a traditional artist, a contemporary artist, or even an artist of the future? I suppose I am a bit of all three.

When you discuss tradition with someone, regardless of where they’re from, you’ll find each person’s understanding of it is in fact very simple and everyone seeks something different from tradition. For me, it’s the same.

You’ll see my ceramic works take form in two different ways. On the one hand, they can be very traditional. I might, for example, use entirely traditional language and techniques, but remove some of the more complex details to suit today’s minimalist

22 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above Bai Ming (b.1965) Entangling Blue Lines, 30.5cm, 2011 Above right Bai Ming (b.1965) Blue Lines of Released Water Series II (detail), 46cm, 2012 Right Bai Ming (b.1965) An Ode to Soft Lines, 46cm, 2012

WHAT CHANGES TOOK PLACE DURING THE ECONOMIC REFORM? It’s hard for outsiders to comprehend the impact of the reform and the opening-up that took place in the 1980s and 1990s. It was as if all of a sudden we could see the world. We were desperate to understand the world and eager to express it through our art. We also saw how ceramics could be made differently.

The most thrilling thing at that time was to learn how it was done and to break away from existing aesthetic modes.

The interesting thing about China, however, is that its extraordinary tradition and ceramic culture will always be there. No matter how novel or innovative you are, it will always call you back. At the time, I wrote

a book called The Traditional Crafts of Porcelain Making in Jingdezhen. As a university teacher, besides my own practice, I also had academic responsibilities so I undertook extensive research into the Chinese ceramic tradition – its meaning, as well as the techniques, craftsmanship and processes. Tradition, in the ‘90s, did not enjoy the attention is gets today and so it became something incredibly valuable.

This concurrent exploration of old and new was the most extraordinary thing about that period of time and I am most thankful for those decades.

WHEN DID CERAMIC MAKERS BECOME CERAMIC ARTISTS? It’s something that has been changing. Of the people making ceramics in the 80s and 90s, very few became ‘artists’, because until then ceramics were associated with craft and production, they were made simply to satisfy the market.

Since the founding of new China [in 1949], ceramics was classified as part of ‘light industry’ and had nothing

Far right Bai Ming (b.1965) Lines Roaming as they Please, 62cm, 2009 Right Bai Ming (b.1965) Between Porcelain and Stone Series III, 49cm, 2004 Below left Bai Ming (b.1965) Lingering, Diameter 29cm, 1995 Below right Bai Ming (b. 1965) Intertwined Blue and Brown Lines, 66.5cm, 2010

to do with art and culture. The shift in view today is down to the development of China’s higher education, as well as an increasing regard for art and culture in China, and the country’s economic development.

Once ceramics became works of art and not just products, their value increased and this led to a rapid development in the field. Whereas in the ‘90s it was unlikely for there to be more than one or two ceramics exhibitions nationwide, nowadays in Jingdezhen alone

‘I enjoyed visiting flea markets when I was in Europe and found myself attracted to objects with a sense of time and a human touch.

For example, in France I picked up some old books with tattered edges, smudges and stains. Although I couldn’t read them, somehow, I felt I could really understand them, they touched me’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 23

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Contemporary Chinese ceramics In 2014, however, when I had a solo exhibition at the Musée Cernuschi, that changed. The museum’s curator at the time was a specialist in ceramics with a deep understanding of Japanese and Chinese form, and the museum itself has a reputation for exhibiting Chinese artists who have gone on to become famous, such as Wu Guanzhong (b.1919) and Zao Wou-ki (1920-2013).

The curator of that exhibition selected some of my works I would not have chosen while ignoring others that I felt were important. But the experience taught me that handing your work over to a curator can reveal unexpected surprises. I saw my own work in a whole new light.

In Nice last year at the Musée des Arts Asiatiques, my works were placed inside the Japanese, Chinese, Indian and Southeast Asian galleries, alongside the original museum objects which were left in place. The aim of the curator was to demonstrate that my work is better understood against a backdrop of Asian culture in general and not just Chinese culture. I thought it was very interesting.

I suppose there are several tens, if not as many as a hundred, exhibitions of contemporary style ceramics.

“Modern ceramics” in China became widely recognised in the 1990s. This revival of Chinese ceramics is therefore closely connected to a few important artists and their constant experimentation with using clay to express, exploring different techniques, and relying on the artist’s ideas and creativity. This led to a new aesthetic mode and opened up space for expression within ceramic arts.

WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ART AND COLLECTING? It’s a question well worth discussing, but as a contemporary artist it’s also a challenging one. In the past I didn’t like discussing this topic, but after visiting museums around the world I believe collecting is one of the most fundamental ways to spread art and culture.

Only through collecting can the essence of a time period be preserved.

Every artist has their individual creativity, whether they are famous or not, but I believe if a person’s work has no impact, it is in large part due to the fact it did not enter the hands of a collector or a museum.

HOW ARE YOUR WORKS CURATED DIFFERENTLY GLOBALLY? Different countries, and even museums within one country, approach my work in different ways. Initially I wanted to be in charge of my own exhibitions. When I exhibited at the Centre Culturel de Chine in Paris in 2010, I was in charge of the display because I felt that surely an artist knows their work best.

DO YOU COLLECT YOURSELF? I don’t collect artworks seriously, but I do collect things from day-to-day life that interest me or spark memories

Above Bai Ming at work Left Bai Ming (b.1965) Perfection with Defects Series II, diameter 58cm, 2003 Right Bai Ming (b.1965)

Superimposed Relationships Series I, 20 x 15 x 9cm, 2017

24 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Left Bai Ming (b.1965) Wondrous Red Awakening Dreams, diameter 48cm, 2010 Right Bai Ming (b.1965)

Superimposed Relationships Series IV, 20 x 15 x 9cm, 2017

Below right Bai Ming

(b.1965) Between Porcelain and Stone Series V, 32.5cm, 2007

Below Bai Ming

(b.1965) Red Soul Stone Series II, 102cm, 2003-2012

– rocks, fossils, driftwood – things that are linked to eternity and the gradual passing of time.

I enjoyed visiting flea markets when I was in Europe and found myself attracted to objects with a sense of time and a human touch. For example, in France I picked up some old books with tattered edges, smudges and stains. Although I couldn’t read them, somehow, I felt I could really understand them, they touched me.

I don’t collect with any specific purpose, it just depends on where life takes me, but when I see the things I’ve collected, often simple and not particularly valuable, they give me a sense of purpose.

‘After visiting museums around the world I believe collecting is one of the most fundamental ways to spread art and culture.

Only through collecting can the essence of a time period be preserved’

IS COLLECTING CONTEMPORARY CERAMICS POPULAR IN CHINA? Yes, and there are people who specifically collect contemporary ceramics. One person I should mention in particular is a friend of mine in the US, Steve Alpert, who sadly passed away recently. He amassed the most incredible collection of contemporary ceramics from all around the world. His collection was so vast even the bathroom was used to store it.

I hope – if his family wishes of course – that one day I can find a museum or individual in China to take his collection. It is a collection that grew out of a true passion and has a significant research value, so if it can enter a museum, that value can be shared.

It is through collecting, that contemporary works of art are recognised and protected. It is something done for the present, but also for the future. I believe that how we treat tradition is a sign of how we treat the future.

Bai: The New Language of Porcelain in China is published by ACC Art Books priced £30, to order a copy go to www.accartbooks.com ANTIQUE COLLECTING 25

MACKINNON: FINE FURNITURE AND WORKS OF ART AUCTION London 10 November 2021 VIEWING 6–9 November 2021 8 King Street London SW1Y 6QT

CONTACT Peter Horwood phorwood@christies.com +44 (0) 20 7389 2359 Charlotte Young cyoung@christies.com +44 (0) 20 7389 2730

Auction | Private Sales | christies.com

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COLLECTING GUIDES Abolitionist artefacts

FREEDOM fight Artefacts from the abolitionist movement are being acquired by cultural institutions and collectors, shining a light on one of the darkest periods in history 28 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

W

hen Salisbury auctioneers Woolley & Wallis recently offered eight pieces of 19th-century pottery produced to further the cause of the anti-slavery movement in Britain, the pre-sale expectation was £1,800.

However, the day of the September 8 sale quickly saw strong demand with in-room and internet bidding pushing the total to more than 10 times the estimate, before finally reaching close to £20,000.

The selection of pottery cups, jugs and plates under the hammer, featured emotive imagery of enslaved African figures appealing for freedom, was part of a collection of commemorative ware from Robin Simpson chronicling 150 years of British history.

The price achieved reflected a long overdue and burgeoning desire among cultural institutions to ensure the story of one of the most tragic chapters in human history is fully presented to modern-day audiences, including physical artefacts and art from the era.

Woolley and Wallis ceramics specialist, Clare Durham, said: “The sudden leap in prices has been entirely driven by museums trying to redress the balance of white art in their collections.

“Recent events have rightly caused many institutions to try and improve their collections in relation to Black history, meaning that they are all chasing the same pieces as they come to market.”

DRAKE’S PROGRESS

Opposite page Am I Not a Man and a Brother?, anti-slavery medallion, white terracotta and black basalt, made at Josiah Wedgwood’s factory, Staffordshire, 1787. V&A Wedgwood Collection © V&A, London.

Above Anti-slavery medallion, jasper, made at Josiah Wedgwood’s factory, Staffordshire, 1787. V&A Wedgwood Collection, image © Fiskars Above right Storage jar, 1858, by the enslaved African American potter and poet David Drake.

Image courtesy the Metropolitan Museum of Art Left A small pearlware nursery mug, c.1825, printed in black with a chained and kneeling figure, the reverse with four lines of verse, 6.6cm. Sold for £2,100 at Woolley & Wallis in September 2021

“The sudden leap in prices has been entirely driven by museums trying to redress the balance of white art in their collections”

David Drake was an African American potter born into slavery on a South Carolina plantation in c.1800.

He lived in Edgefield (known locally as ‘Pottersville’) for most of his life, working in the town’s 12 pottery factories producing alkaline-glazed stoneware jugs between 1820 and 1870.

More than 30 pieces include rare examples of his poems, mostly in rhyming couplets, alongside his signature inscribed into the surface. During this time period it was punishable for enslaved people to be literate, especially in South Carolina.

In his lifetime, Drake was enslaved by various owners. In 1849, Lewis Miles, the owner of the Stony Bluff’ ceramics factory, bought and enslaved him.

At this factory Drake produced a large number of wares, some of which contained his poetry. He was eventually freed after the Civil War and is thought to have died during the 1870s.

Drake’s work is highly sought after by collectors and institutions today and commands high prices when it occasionally comes up at auction. One example is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is inscribed: this jar is to Mr Segler who keeps the bar in orangeburg / for Mr Edwards a Gentle man — who formly kept / Mr thos bacons horses / April 21 1858, When you fill this Jar with pork or beef / Scot will be there; to get a peace, - / Dave’ This August, a huge 25-gallon stoneware jar by Drake was sold by US auction house Crocker Farm, setting a new record for US ceramics with a hammer of $1,300,000 (£960,700).

STRONG DEMAND With the global Black Lives Matter movement highlighting the challenges faced by black people both historically and in contemporary society, similar activity around antique abolitionist artefacts and mementoes has been witnessed in other recent sales.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 29

COLLECTING GUIDES Abolitionist artefacts Ignatius Sancho

One of the earliest first-hand accounts of slavery, by the first Briton of African descent known to vote in England, was sold at Gloucestershire auctioneer Chorley’s in January 2020, fetching £3,500.

While accounts vary about his place of birth (c.1729) between Africa and on a slave ship in the Atlantic, the British abolitionist, writer and composer was later sent to England, where after many years of slavery, he was able to start his own business as a shopkeeper while also writing essays, plays and books.

In 1768, as a valet to George Brudenell, the Duke of Montagu, his portrait was painted by Thomas Gainsborough.

Sancho also became a devout supporter of the British abolitionist movement and was the first known Black Briton to vote in England and also to have an obituary published in the British press following his death in 1780.

In 1782, Frances Crewe, one of Sancho’s correspondents, arranged for 160 of his letters to be published in the form of two volumes entitled The Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, An African, recounting his experiences as a slave.

Olaudah Equiano

Enslaved in his native West Africa at the age of 11 and transported to the Caribbean, and from there to Virginia, Olaudah Equiano (c. 1745–1797) rose to prominence in the late 18th century.

After being resold to a British naval lieutenant, Equiano spent many years aboard naval ships, also learning to read and write. When he was resold to a Quaker, Robert King, he was able, by agreement, to save enough money to buy his freedom.

In the ensuing years, Equiano was able to live as a freeman in London, later marry in Cambridgeshire and, in 1780, publish his hugely successful account of his experiences, entitled The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African.

The book was reprinted in nine editions during his lifetime.

30 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Right A pearlware porter

mug, c.1885, printed in black with an African figure standing with arms outstretched in a tropical landscape surmounted by a heavenly shroud inscribed ‘Wilberforce’, 11.2cm. Sold for £2,800 at Woolley & Wallis in September 2021

Below Block mould for

anti-slavery medallion, biscuit ware, made at Josiah Wedgwood’s factory, Staffordshire, ca. 1787. V&A Wedgwood Collection. © Fiskars

Bottom left Anti-

slavery medallion, caneware, made at Josiah Wedgwood’s factory, Staffordshire, 1787. V&A Wedgwood Collection. © Fiskars

Bottom right Block mould for anti-slavery medallion, biscuit ware and wax, made at Josiah Wedgwood’s factory, Staffordshire, ca.1787.

V&A Wedgwood Collection. Image © Fiskars

Earlier this year, Gloucestershire auction house Chorley’s sold a rare two-volume first edition of The Letters of the late Ignatius Sancho, an African published in 1782. The book by the accomplished black writer, composer and supporter of the abolitionist movement, shot above its upper estimate of £400 to finally hammer at an impressive £3,500.

WEDGWOOD MEDALLION The 19th century saw Britain pass two laws that finally brought an end to slavery in the country

and across its far-reaching empire: the 1807 Slave Trade Act and The Slavery Abolition Law of 1833. It represented a victory after decades of pressure and campaigning by a number of sympathetic individuals and groups determined to end the shameful practice.

One of the most prominent figures in the abolitionist fight was the ‘father of English potters’, Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1795). In 1787, Wedgwood decided to throw his considerable status and influence behind the cause.

He set about employing his workshop and bottle ovens to produce ceramic medallions which displayed a simple and effective message taken from the seal of the Committee for the Abolition of the Slave Trade, of which he was a member. Each medallion depicted the image of a kneeling and chained black man uttering the plea: Am I Not a Man and a Brother?

MEDAL WINNER The Wedgwood medallion was to become the most famous image of a black person in 18th-century art, with the proprietor meeting the costs of its production.

In the next decade, thousands of medallions were handed out for free at abolitionist meetings, as well as being distributed in coffee shops, public assembly rooms, taverns and at reading societies.

They soon became fashionable items to be worn in a variety of ways in order to show support for the cause. The design, most likely created by Wedgwood’s chief modeller, William Hackwood, was also adapted for use within such items as shoe buckles, brooches and snuff boxes among anti-slavery advocates.

In his History of the Abolition of the Slave Trade, Vol. II, 1807, the noted campaigner and friend of Wedgwood, Thomas Clarkson, observed how ladies “…had them inlaid in gold on the lids of their snuffboxes. Of the ladies, several wore them as bracelets, and others had them fitted up in an ornamental manner as pins for their hair.”

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN Elsewhere, the image was incorporated into numerous items made from materials ranging from ceramic and glass, to fabric and metal. It even became an international symbol of protest when, in 1778, Wedgwood sent medallions to the revered American polymath, activist and founding father of the US, Benjamin Franklin, who was president of the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery.

In an accompanying letter, Wedgwood wrote: “It gives me great pleasure to be embarked on this occasion in the same great and good cause with you, and I ardently hope for the final completion of

Top A small pearlware

lustre jug, c.1830, printed in black with a seated figure in chains beside the titled Am I Not a Man and Brother? 11.5cm.

Sold for £900 at Woolley & Wallis in September 2021

Above Anti-slavery medallion, jasperware made at Wedgwood’s factory, Staffordshire, 1787. V&A Wedgwood Collection. Image © Fiskars

‘The Wedgwood Medallion was to become the most famous image of a black person in 18th-century art, with the proprietor meeting the costs of its production’

our wishes.” To which Franklin replied: “I am persuaded [the medallion] may have an Effect equal to that of the best written Pamphlet in procuring favour to those oppressed people.”

Sadly, Wedgwood did not live to see his efforts to abolish slavery come to fruition. However, both his daughter, Sarah, and son, Josiah Wedgwood II, took up his campaigning zeal. In 1825, Sarah was a founding member of Birmingham Ladies Society for the Relief of Negro Slaves, while Josiah became the city’s first MP elected on his call to abolish slavery.

Today, these medallions are sought after by collectors worldwide. Sotheby’s recently sold a jasperware medallion for £6,000 against an upper estimate of £1,200.

One of the earliest known examples of the medallion can be seen this autumn at the V&A Wedgwood Collection at the World of Wedgwood, Barlaston, Stoke-on-Trent. It is being shown alongside the collection’s archival material, including Wedgwood’s correspondence with prominent Black abolitionist and writer, Olaudah Equiano. Wedgwood collection curator, Catrin Jones, said: “Wedgwood’s protest symbol inspired a generation and still has an enduring relevance in our contemporary world.”

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 31

COLLECTING GUIDES Abolitionist artefacts should look, as far as possible, as it did on the first day of publication, when it first began to make its mark on the raging slavery debate.

Shared humanity

CALLED TO BOOK

John Ryan, a specialist at rare book dealership Peter Harrington, reveals the key role played by the printed word in the abolitionist movement It was through the medium of print that the abolitionist message could spread so widely and impact so deeply.

Whether the autobiography of a freed slave, a detailed exposition of the conditions aboard the slave ships, a fiery pamphlet, or a printing of a parliamentary speech, print presented the British public with the reality that had long been ignored. Much of this material, the relics of the movement, has been lost over the ensuing two centuries, with much of it cheaply printed to sway the public opinion of the day, not to endure in archives and great libraries.

Nonetheless, books and documents from the movement continually enter the market, often appearing out of the blue, whether from a great library hitting the auction block, or a rare find in an attic clear out.

Supply and demand

This material is eagerly competed for by a growing market of institutions and private collectors, particularly in recent years. Demand is especially strong from university and museum collections in Britain and the United States, which are consciously expanding their holdings in fields relating to black history, some developing collections from scratch. So, too, a growing number of private individuals.

However, the new collector can easily be bewildered by the range of material and the varying prices.

A novice approaching the field can be guided by a few basic principles, in particular, two words can stand them in good stead: edition and condition. Both have many caveats, but the most desirable copy of any book is always the first edition, in either a contemporary binding or the original boards/wrappers, neither needing, nor having undergone, any restoration. In short, the book

32 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above The Interesting Narrative of The Life of Olaudah Equiano, 1789, sold

by Peter Harrington, priced £12,500. The frontispiece depicts Equiano in the clothes of an English gentleman, book in hand, an image of an African utterly alien to its British readership.

Image courtesy Peter Harrington Right William

Wilberforce, A Letter on the Abolition of the Slave Trade, 1807.

A presentation copy, inscribed “From the author” – but by a secretary on behalf of Wilberforce. Sold by Peter Harrington for £5,500. Image courtesy Peter Harrington

While first editions have always been sought after by book collectors as they represent the first appearance of important texts, for abolitionist material, this often has additional significance.

As mentioned in the image inset, one of the defining books of the abolitionist struggle is The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano, the extraordinary autobiography of a former slave, who gained his freedom and joined the abolitionist cause. The first edition marks a historic milestone: it was almost certainly the first book by an African author which its audience read, demonstrating to the Briton of 1789 not just their shared humanity with the enslaved persons, but so too their intellectual equality, disproving dominant narratives about the inherent savagery of Africans.

The first edition is a prize for any collector, but so too is it extraordinarily rare. Peter Harrington last handled a copy in 2007, retailed at £12,500, a price now looking modest.

With first edition copies so difficult to acquire – requiring perhaps years of searching and certainly a five-figure budget – later editions can fill the gap, offering more affordable alternatives. The second edition of Equiano’s autobiography achieved $9,000 at Swann auctions in 2012, and even the eighth edition achieved £1,150 at Keys auctioneers in 2016.

With the edition cemented in a collector’s mind, next comes condition. Unless through absolute necessity, any incomplete copy – that is, lacking leaves or plates – must be avoided. Damaged books, crude restoration, and hardwearing but often clunky library bindings, should all be

Right A handwritten

letter from William Pitt the Younger to William Eden, on sale at Peter Harrington for £8,500

Left Thomas Clarkson, An Essay on the Impolicy of the African Slave Trade, 1788. Sold by Peter Harrington, priced £2,250. An example of a significant work, retaining its original paper board binding.

Image courtesy Peter Harrington Below right An Abstract

of the Evidence delivered before a Select Committee ... on the part of the Petitioners for the Abolition of the SlaveTrade, 1791. Sold by Peter Harrington, priced £6,500. Image courtesy Peter Harrington

resisted and it is always well worth paying the premium for the nicest copies.

Books of the period were generally first issued in paper boards or wrappers and it is this original state which is the ideal for most collectors. Such books were intended to be rebound in something more durable, however some escaped the binder, presenting the collector with a copy as it first appeared.

Where important works by leading figures, such as by the great parliamentarian William Wilberforce, or by the great street campaigner and researcher Thomas Clarkson, are found in original bindings, the price can often be multiple times that of a copy in a later binding.

With the rarest books, perfect condition is unnecessary.

Moreover, copies which have been annotated, read, and passed from hand to hand should not be spurned – they are more interesting than those in flawless condition and never read, even if often less valuable. Edition and condition should be the collector’s mantra, but there is a class of books which transcend this – the inscribed copy.

Sometimes copies were inscribed by the author, or their publisher or secretary. Either is equally a true presentation copy, but the author’s own hand is always preferred. The copy of Thomas Clarkson’s History of the Rise, Progress, and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African SlaveTrade, 1808, which he presented to William Wilberforce with an inscription calling him: an unwearied Fellow-Labour[er] and the parliamentary Leader in the great Cause of the Abolition of the Slave-Trade, made £3,500 at Forum Auctions in 2017, a price that now looks like a bargain.

William Pitt

In this handwritten letter from 1787, prime minister William Pitt the Younger – a staunch supporter of abolition – writes to William Eden, Britain’s envoy to France, requesting that he sound out the possibility of the British and French governments collaborating to end the slave trade. Had Eden’s task been successful, the slave trade would have ended two decades earlier. However, Pitt failed to end the trade during his time as prime minister and died in 1806 one year before its abolition.

Passage to the past

Finally, it is worth noting that though high demand and diminishing supply has increased prices, there is still a multitude of more minor works that can often be found for lower prices.

Abolitionist chapters, passages and influences can be found in many works from the period, which may go unnoticed by booksellers and auction houses. Collectors who play the detective can establish a valuable collection, and may discover new works, formerly overlooked, to add to the abolitionist canon.

Peter Harrington was established in 1969, and is one of the world’s leading dealers in rare books. Find out more at www.peterharrington.co.uk

Challenging and uncomfortable

Certain books bring the cruelty of the slave trade into stark focus. One of the defining images of the period is the diagram of the slave ship, with hundreds of persons packed like sardines. The diagram was presented as evidence to a Parliamentary inquiry into slavery, and afterwards published for the public. While challenging to see, it is an essential addition to any collection of scope.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 33

EXPERT COMMENT David Harvey

REGENCY STYLE Mirrors of the early 19th century included styles such as this convex gilt mirror with an eagle sitting on top of a rocky outcrop (left). The circular frame often has a border of gilt balls. There was a belief its convex shape allowed the butler waiting next door to see all the diners at once allowing him to know when to make an appearance.

GEORGE I & II During the reigns of George I and George II mirrors started to reflect both the architecture of the homes they hung in and the fashions of the day. Up to the middle of the 18th century the Palladian style, as promoted by William Kent and Lord Burlington, was very much in vogue.

This early 18th-century landscape mirror, with cross-grain mouldings, has a carved gilt border which hints at the increasingly decorative aspects of mirrors.

Waxing lyrical With the nights drawing in, there’s no better way to enhance a room than with a mirror. David Harvey charts the memorable eras and designs 34 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above A traditional Regency convex gilt mirror surmounted by a carved eagle, c.

1815 Above right An early 18th-century walnut overmantel mirror Right A pair of very

Rococo girandoles, made c. 1765

GEORGE III From the middle years of the 18th century, as we move into the reign of George III, we can start to see some of the Chinese Chippendale inspiration as apparent in the pretty pair of girandoles above. The “c” and “s” scrolls are still evident everywhere and we now have carved icicles hanging from them and candle holders in order to provide more light.

THREE-PANEL OVERMANTEL Above we see a very traditional Regency style in the shape of a three-panel overmantel mirror.

Here you can clearly see the bevelled edges to the mirror plates which would have been added at a further cost to the customer.

SCOTTISH FRETWORK When I showed the George III period mirror below at a fair, a Scottish dealer friend told me that this was typically Scottish, which made me wonder if there was a particular fretwork cutter working in Edinburgh whose speciality was cutting this very intricate open fretwork for cabinetmakers to fit onto otherwise fairly simple frames? There is also something very neo-classical about the foliage and the trailing bands of husks.

Above A Regency threepanel carved and gilt overmantel mirror, c.

1820 Above right The mirror is decorated with a hippocampus, a half fish and half horse creature Right A fine walnut

and gilt mirror in the Kentian tradition

Below left A George III carved, open fretwork mahogany oval mirror

Once in a while I come across an unusual variation and I was delighted recently to own such an example. On this mirror the usual eagle has been shunned in favour of a hippocampus – a half horse and half fish.

The first time I saw it, the difference went unnoticed. Only after walking on for a couple of paces did it register – I soon spun round realising its importance!

ROCOCO STYLE This impressive walnut and gilt mirror with its scrolling pediment, central cartouche and rich gilding hints at the Rococo which became so much a part of fashionable furniture from the middle of the 18th century.

Thomas Chippendale, and his Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker’s Director was not the only master of the style which quickly caught on.

Ince and Mayhew, with their 1762 Universal System of Household Furniture, the London cabinetmakers Vile and Cob, as well as William and John Linell, were all producing furniture at the same time.

David Harvey is the owner of Witney-based W R Harvey & Co. (Antiques) Ltd. For more details go to the website www.wrharvey.com

‘Progressing from the Queen Anne period through the reigns of George I and George II it is clear how mirrors reflected firstly the architecture of the homes they hung in and then the fashions of the periods’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 35

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Chinese ceramic marks

Making a Mark For the collector of Chinese ceramics a knowledge of marks can be the difference between a car boot sale dud and a piece worth thousands, Gerald Davison deciphers the script

36 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

A

ny study of Chinese ceramics will inevitably lead at some point to a curiosity about the written marks that can appear on the base or on the outside of many ceramic objects.

The broad term ‘ceramics’ covers everything from lowfired earthenware, higher-fired stoneware and very highfired porcelain.

China has the world’s oldest history of producing ceramics with the first earthenware pottery appearing in China around 20,000 years ago, with true porcelain being created for the first time during the Song dynasty (960-1279) some thousand years ago.

Marks first started to appear during the Tang dynasty which spanned the years 618 to 906.

These diverse marks were applied using the everyday Chinese script in a form of characters known as kaishu and could refer to the purpose of an object, the name of its owner or giver, as well as many very auspicious elements or commendations.

Often the mark would even refer to a location where the object was to be used or kept. Prior to the Tang dynasty the only marks used confirmed the size of objects – sometimes made for measuring quantities of materials such as grain. In rare examples, the mark might also include the date, particularly if the object was being dedicated to a significant event.

REIGN MARKS Marking ceramics became even more common during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912) dynasties effectively spanning the 14th to early 20th century.

The most widely known of these were the imperial marks for the reign periods of the various emperors.

Each emperor would take a title (not a personal name) by which his reign would be known and these marks were originally intended to identify items made for the imperial household.

Imperial reign marks can appear in either four or six-character form, with ‘period made’ added to the dynasty title and the title of the reign, in the case of the latter. The first two characters refer to the dynasty. Da Ming, ‘Great Ming’ means the piece is from the Ming dynasty (13681644) and Da Qing, ‘Great Qing’ means the piece is

Opposite page Dish decorated in wucai colours and (left) its four-character mark zai chuan zhi le or Discovering joy in the river by fish, early 18th century, diameter 20.2cm,

all images unless stated courtesy of Sotheby’s Right Stem cup with copper red fish and (below) its horizontal sixcharacter underglaze blue kaishu mark and period of Yongzheng (17231735) Below left Brush pot decorated with famillerose enamels and (right) its four-character mark yu yan shu wu or Library for washing inkstones, height 12.4cm

from the Qing dynasty (1644-1911).

The second two characters refer to the reign title and the third set of two characters read nian zhi, or ‘years or period made’.

IMPERIAL NEEDS Clearly, the requirements and demands of the imperial household were enormous and very large quantities of ‘official’ items were produced under royal patronage and supervision in the porcelain producing city of Jingdezhen. Located in Jiangxi province, the city took its name from the Jingde period (1004-1007) in the reign of the emperor Zhenzong of the Song dynasty.

Records show large orders were placed most years for different members of the imperial court, including various family members, officials and concubines and these were frequently identified by a mark relating to their location.

The founder of the Ming Dynasty, the Hongwu Emperor, had 24 sons. By the end of the dynasty almost three centuries later, the imperial clan had grown to exceed 80,000 members illustrating just how substantial their needs became.

During the Qing dynasty (1644-1912), possession of official objects bearing the imperial reign mark by private individuals was prohibited, other than as an imperial gift and records of such gifts were maintained for inspection purposes.

‘If everything else indicates imperial quality, a useful although not infallible check, is that on an authentic imperial item the reign mark was applied so carefully that it usually aligned perfectly with the centre line of the decoration on the body of the object’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 37

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Chinese ceramic marks Left Tripod censor decorated with famillerose enamels against a yellow ground and (below) its horizontal six-character zhuanshu mark and period of Qianlong (1736-1795), height 38.8cm Below right Pair of blue

and white covered baluster vases marked with an artemisia leaf.

Kangxi period (16621722), height 53cm

as there was, in any case, little respect for a defeated dynasty, the Ming emperors having been defeated by the Manchu from the north who then went on to form the Qing dynasty.

18TH-CENTURY ZHUANSHU Later, in the 18th century, there was an artistic revival which entailed the use of a more archaic type of script for marks known as zhuanshu and these square or oblong shapes are often referred to as ‘seal marks’.

All of these marks in both types of script owe their origins to both the pictograms and ideograms which made up China’s earliest form of written language

BUYER BEWARE This really brings us to the most significant problem with reign marks and that is they are notoriously unreliable – hence the much greater value for an item that clearly displays the correct mark for the period in which it was made. Reign marks should, therefore, be treated at first with circumspection, until all of the other qualities of a piece have been carefully considered.

It should also be remembered many of the patterns and styles for specific designs continued unchanged, in some cases for several centuries, with a succession of genuine reign marks being used. This is why the correct ‘mark and period’ piece is so sought after.

In market value terms, the genuine ‘mark and period’ item will always command a much higher value than an identical object with no mark at all. In the same way the object without a mark will attract a higher value than a similar item with an apocryphal or incorrect mark for the period.

There is some evidence that private kilns in Jingdezhen and elsewhere also used the official reign mark on commercial ‘popular ware’ so the existence of a correct reign mark for the period made still does not confirm that a particular piece is ‘imperial’ or of an official type made for the court.

If everything else indicates imperial quality, a useful although not infallible check, is that on an authentic imperial item the reign mark was applied so carefully that it usually aligned perfectly with the centre line of the decoration on the body of the object.

IMPERIAL DECREE During the reign of the Kangxi emperor (1662-1722) an edict was issued in 1667 forbidding the use of his reign mark on porcelain in case it became broken and then discarded.

Although this edict was not always adhered to, it did result in the frequent use of just the empty double circles or a number of symbols of good fortune such as the artemisia leaf (right) being used in place of the imperial reign mark.

As a frequent alternative, the marks of earlier Ming emperors were sometimes used

38 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

‘HALL’ MARKS Despite their importance, imperial reign marks represent a very small group of marks and there are many more and larger interesting groups of marks.

One of the largest of these groups falls under the heading of tang or ‘hall’ marks. These are not to be confused with the hallmark system used for English silver, and are often found in four or six character form. They frequently allude to an ancestral hall in which case they may be linked to a family or clan name or the collection of a scholar.

When place marks include the name of an individual, the translation and identification become still more complicated as it was usual for educated Chinese to have more than one name.

Apart from ‘given’ names, used by the immediate family, an ‘alias’ or ‘adopted’ name was common. These pseudonyms would often include a further name or names that were used to reflect the user’s personal interests, philosophy or professional standing.

Such ‘artistic’ names are often found together with the characters ‘hall’ already mentioned, ‘studio’ and ‘house’, along with ‘pavilion’ (xuan), ‘retreat’ (ju), ‘library’ (shuwu) or other similar terms referring to a special place within the home that was probably used for artistic work, contemplation or ritual activity.

These names were usually chosen by their owner but some were bestowed as a reward on high-ranking scholar/officials by the reigning emperor.

FORBIDDEN CITY When these marks contain the family and given name or the ‘alias’, ‘adopted’ or ‘studio’ name in full, the meaning is generally clear but identification becomes problematic when only part of one of these names is used. Studio names could also be perpetuated by more than one generation, or by the individual potters (which we will come to very soon).

Apart from specific locations, place marks frequently relate to the ultimate destination or ownership of an item and although some may even be a studio name for a particular potter, artist, shop or porcelain factory, they quite often refer to a section of a palace or official department.

Examples of this can be found in the marks Made for the hall of joyful longevity and Made for the palace of eternal spring which are both located within the imperial Forbidden City (Gugong), Beijing. It can be safely assumed that the porcelain carrying these marks was specifically commissioned for eventual use in these precise locations.

LOST IN TRANSLATION

Above Pair of bowls decorated with famillerose enamels over a yellow ground and (below) its fourcharacter mark yong qing chang chun or Eternal blessings and youthfulness, diameter 12.7cm, Guangxu period (1875-1908) Left Wucai decorated garlic mouth vase and (below) its horizonal six-character, underglaze blue, kaishu mark and period of Wanli (1573-1619), height 46.2cm

However, as with reign marks, some of the classical place marks were repeated in later periods so they are no less fallible as a guide to age.

Some descriptions found in place marks have a clear Confucian flavour such as Made for the Hall where Benevolence is Cherished. Others make the most of a pun or rebus, exploiting the monosyllabic nature of the written language and the large number of homophones it contains appealed greatly to the Chinese sense of humour and love of the enigmatic message.

For example the mark chen ding xuan zhi, which literally translation can mean ‘made for the pavilion where the dust settles’. But in Buddhism, the word chen (dust) represents ‘the world’ and ding (immovable) conveys the idea of mental abstraction, so the mark can be interpreted as made for the pavilion of abstraction from mundane affairs’.

One of the great challenges of Chinese ceramics, having been produced over such a long period of time, is determining their authenticity as items were so often reproduced complete with apocryphal reign marks.

So, although the mark alone cannot help with accurate dating, it is nevertheless one of the important clues in determining the origin and purpose of an item. In turn, this can then have a positive effect on its market value.

Gerald Davison is the author of the 2021 reference book Marks on Chinese Ceramics, which includes 4,200 marks in both kaishu and zhuanshu script with both English translations and the romanisation of the Chinese pinyin together with historical notes – the only publication in any language to fully explore this field. It is available at www.chinesemarks.com, priced £65 plus postage.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 39

COLLECTING GUIDE The scholar’s table EXILED CONTEMPLATION During times of political strife or changes in power, certain officials were forced to retire from court life and seek refuge in the countryside where they were able to pursue artistic pursuits often influenced by nature.

The romantic ideal of the artistic scholar lived on to the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1644 and 16441911 respectively) a period when fewer court officials were exiled. In emulation of their predecessors, the literati class built studios surrounded by gardens in the cities and suburbs of the major court centres.

These studios were filled with painting and calligraphy tools, furniture, musical instruments, implements for preparing and consuming tea and wine, and antiques.

Many surviving examples of these works of art from the Ming and Qing dynasties were carried out in precious materials, such as lacquer, cloisonné, giltbronze, and the precious woods zitan and huanghuali.

Hot desks

The scholar’s desk has been celebrated in China for 2,000 years. Asian Art specialist Lazarus Halstead reveals why it remains a collector’s favourite

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tems that would once have graced the desk of the Chinese literati artist or scholar continue to exert a hold on collectors of Asian art.

And for good reason. Such pieces are well suited to collecting. Created to sit on a desk they are on a scale which makes them easy to store, handle and enjoy. Their practical and artistic function means they also appeal to artists and creative people. But scholar’s objects always balance between two competing attributes: their practical function and their aesthetic value. In the very best scholarly objects these two considerations are often being beautifully and ingeniously aligned.

SCHOLAR IN HISTORY The history of the scholar in China dates back to the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties. The Tang dynasty created a system of local schools where scholars could pursue their studies.

Those desiring to enter the upper levels of the bureaucracy then competed in the jinshi exams, which tested a candidate’s knowledge of the Confucian classics, as well as history, proficiency in compiling official documents, and inscriptions and music.

This nonhereditary elite would eventually become known in the West as “mandarins,” refering to the dialect of Chinese they employed.

40 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above Detail from a painting attributed to Xu Yi (1599 -1669) showing a scholar’s desk with a a painting, waterpot and spoon, inkstone, brush rest, candlestick, brush pot and handled cup.

It sold for £1,250 in 2018, all images, unless otherwise stated, courtesy of Chiswick Auctions

Scholar’s rock

Chinese rocks of unusual shape were first collected in the Song dynasty (960-1279). There are two types of rocks: the scholar’s rock, enjoyed indoors, and the garden rock, outdoors.

Both were judged on four criteria, their thinness (shou), openness (tou), perforations (lou), and wrinkling (zhou).

Many rocks when struck with metal will emit a bright, bell-like tone and the best examples can be viewed from several different angles.

Especially prized are stones sculpted naturally by processes of erosion. Such rocks are generally displayed on end, mounted on a wooden stand, which should be carved without too much detail.

Rock-and-tree-paintings

THE BRUSH POT The scholar’s desk immediately brings to mind those things needed to create artwork or other scholarly endeavours. This would include brush pots, brush rests, ink stones, waterpots and paperweights.

The brush pot was intended for the upright storage of brushes and related small items when they are not in use. It is found most commonly in porcelain or wood and may be plain or ornately decorated and carved.

Among collectors of scholarly objects pots of a restrained, pared back aesthetic are particularly well regarded. Huanghuali wood is a material of choice and the finest examples often include ghost-like figures which emerge naturally from knotting of grains within the wood. Bamboo brush pots are also highly sought after where the outer surface of the brush pot may be elaborately carved with a continuous scene such as of figures in a rocky landscape.

‘Among collectors of scholarly objects those of a restrained, pared back aesthetic are particularly well regarded.

Huanghuali wood is a material of choice and the finest examples often include ghostlike figures which emerge naturally from knotting of grains within the wood’

Above A portrait of the Qianlong Emperor (17111799) in his study, image Wikicommons media Above right A scholar’s rock, to be offered at Chiswick Auction’s sale this month with an estimate of £200-£300 Left A 17th-century huanghuali wood brush pot is one of the lots on offer this month at Chiswick Auction’s with an estimate of £1,000£2,000

Rocks were also admired for their resemblance to mountains or caves, particularly the magical peaks and subterranean paradises (grotto-heavens) believed to be inhabited by immortal beings. Some rocks were appreciated for their resemblance to animals, birds, human figures, or mythical creatures.

Rock-and-tree paintings soon developed linking fantastically-shaped rocks with the symbolic meanings of certain plants – such as a pine tree (meaning longevity), bamboo (representing purity), peonies and hollyhocks (signifying wealth and high rank).

Taihu rocks, associated with the area around Lake Tai, near Suzhou, are especially valued for their large irregular shapes. A variety of dark-coloured resonant rock is called lingbi, prized for its favourable combination of form and texture.

Below left A portrait of the Qianlong Emperor (1711- 1799) in his study, image Wikicommons media Right Scholar’s rock, Qing dynasty (1644–1911), 19th century, limestone with a wooden stand, image courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of New York

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 41

COLLECTING GUIDE The scholar’s table Left A Qing dynasty (1644–1911) moulded

gourd cricket cage, to be offered at the same sale with an estimate of £1,000-£2,000 Right A dreamstone

plaque from a twoscreen panel

Below right Detail of a Qing dynasty (1644– 1911) Dai dreamstone

plaque, which sold for £1,250 in September Below A handscroll by a

follower of Ma Shuying has an estimate £800£1,200 in this month’s sale

DRAW OF NATURE Nature was a constant source of inspiration for the Chinese artist, and desk items are intended to remind and inspire the scholar not only by recreating or simulating nature but often by bringing it physically into the human world. Nature may be brought under control (through domestication of animals, or through growing bonsai trees), or it may provide a source of inspiration (through highlighting the natural qualities of objects).

One example is the cricket cage – a receptacle which allows nature in its live form to be brought into the study for personal enjoyment. Examples made from moulded gourds represent a parallel engagement with nature where a gourd is pressed into a mould as it grows on the vine to form the shape of a useful receptacle with moulded decoration, and is then mounted with a cover.

42 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Dreamstone panels These panels are sheets of marble selected for their coloured veining that could be polished to draw out the outline of mountains or animal shapes.

In this case representational art derives from the natural patterns of nature.

Such panels are incorporated into furniture elements including chairs, tables and table screens.

PAINTINGS AND THE SCHOLAR’S DESK Scholars or ladies seated at a desk are a popular subject of Chinese painting, providing practising artists, calligraphers or aspiring scholars practical clues to the physical arrangement of objects.

But such paintings are also a category of scholarly objects in their own right. While we find depictions of hanging scrolls being strung up on sticks and enjoyed in the open air, albums and handscrolls also benefitted from the support of the solid flat surface of a desk, especially handscrolls which are unrolled by degrees and viewed gradually, section by section.

Lazarus Halstead is the head of Asian art at Chiswick Auctions which holds its two-day sale of fine Chinese paintings and Asian art on November 18-19. For more details on the upcoming sale go to www.chiswickauctions.com

Chinese, Japanese & South East Asian Art Fine Art Auctioneers & Valuers

Tuesday 9 & Wednesday 10 November

A pair of fine Chinese porcelain yellow-ground famille rose ‘medallion’ bowls, circa 1831-1850 £8,000-£12,000* A large Chinese porcelain blue & white moonflask, Qianlong period £15,000-£25,000*

A Chinese cloisonné enamel revolving vase, 19th century £10,000-£15,000*

Katsushika Hokusai, Japanese 1760-1849, Nihonbashi in Edo, c.1830-32 £4,000-£6,000*

Scan the QR code to view the auction catalogue www.roseberys.co.uk Email asian@roseberys.co.uk for more information 70/76 Knights Hill, London SE27 0JD | +44 (0) 20 8761 2522 *Plus Buyer’s Premium +VAT (30% inclusive of VAT)

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE

Puzzle TIME

With the days getting shorter, snuggle down with two pages of quizzes from our puzzling supremo, Peter Wade-Wright

Send your answers to: Crossword, Antique Collecting magazine, Sandy Lane, Woodbridge, Suffolk, IP12 4SD, UK. Photocopies are also acceptable, or email your answer to: magazine@ accartbooks.com. The first three opened by November 19 will win a copy of Jackson’s Hallmarks, Pocket Edition: English, Scottish, Irish Silver & Gold Marks From 1300 to the Present Day, worth £6.95 & Co. issued cigarette card series specifically about a particular zoo. Was it (a) Bristol, (b) Chester, (c) Marwell, or (d) Whipsnade?

NOVEMBER QUIZ Q1 A semanterion is (a) a French 18th-century chapbook, (b) a Canadian 19th-century horse bridle, (c) a First World War, Belgian uniform epaulette, (d) an 11th-century Greek church summoning-‘bell’?

Q2 The first police uniforms in the early 19th century had high stock collars. What was the main reason? (a) they were Sir Robert Peel’s favoured suit style, (b) they were warmer and kept out the rain, (c) they prevented the officer being garrotted, (d) they had a small flap in which a paper map of the ‘beat’ was conveniently kept.

Q3 The ‘Batkins model’ was one of the first patented (a) shoe stretcher, (b) bean slicer, (c) hat stand, (d) police lantern?

Q4 The tandem bicycle developed by Dan Albone of Bedfordshire in 1886 had what modifications (more than one)? (a) stabilisers, (b) coupled steering handlebars, (c) diagonal strengthening, (d) hydraulic brakes.

Q10 The peacock is a symbol

of what in Christianity?

Anagram Who painted this

1750 portrait Mr and Mrs Andrews? (His name is an anagram of ‘our aging hobs’)

Q7 What was a ‘travelling flint’? (a) a hard, imperfect fault in fired porcelain, (b) a hardglass picnic tumbler, (c) a catapult projectile, (d) a nickname for a skilled glassworker who moved from manufacturer to manufacturer?

Q8 In 1932 and 1934 respectively, the two firms, B. Morris & Sons Ltd. and Major Drapkin

44 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Q10 Historically and secularly, the peacock was thought to be unlucky, but became a later symbol of decadence In Christianity, however, it was a symbol of (a) vigilance, (b) immortality, (c) the Crown of Thorns, (d) man’s salvation?

Here are four anagrams: Mixes ropiness, A corgi clacker, Our aging hobs, Raw schism.

They can be rearranged to form: (a) A timepiece taken on travels (two words). (b) New England folk art on bone or ivory. (c) English painter’s surname (1727-1788) (d) Term applied to art that used distortion and exaggeration of shape or colour (eg by Van Gogh).

For the solutions turn to page 10 1

Q5 In George V’s time a ‘Juliet’ became a popular (a) custard tart baking tray, (b) lovesong, (c) hat, (d) small dog breed?

Q6 What is special about a German 18th-century chestnut flask? (a) it was decorated to look like a chestnut, (b) the stopper was of dark wood, (c) it had a very narrow neck, (d) it had an eccentric shape.

Q9 The inventive Josef Ganz designed many light-car prototypes in the early years of the 20th century. In 1938, a two-seater 350cc model was conceived but was only put into production in 1946. How many such cars were made? (a) 36, (b) 46, (c) 56, (d) 66

SOLUTION TO LAST MONTH’S CROSSWORD:

The letters in the highlighted squares made the word Chinoiserie.

The winners who will each receive a copy of the book are: Dougie Mann, Lancs., C.V. Hewell, by email and R. Singh, Luton.

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E T C H T A Z Z A L H H E G 6 O A D M I R A L A 7 J N P R U N T 8 9 O E L S A E 13 14 12 10 11 H E L L Y U A N O 15 16 I R A L T O 17 18 C A M E O B N 19 N U D I P T Y C H R E E G N 20 21 E A S E L G O S S

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The Higashiyama district of the Japanese city from 19 down

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DOWN CLUE

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ACROSS CLUE

Work by the art nouveau genius mentioned in 9 across

Across

2 Insert ornamentation. (5) 3 _______ Within upon Everything. A how-to book first published in 1856. (7) 4 Alcoholic beverage that gave rise (like so many others) to drinking vessels of a collectable nature. (3) 5 Geographical region known as The Roof of the World that has produced, amongst other things, rugs, religious objects and scrolls. (5) 6 Style of furniture-foot. Timeless, of course, but associated with the early 18th century in particular. (3) 8 Monetary unit of many currencies representing 1/100 of some other unit. (4) 11 Another style of furniture-foot (popular in the same era, roughly, as 6-down) often slightly flattened…just like the food item it represents. (3) 13 Jeweller’s name for the green and glassy mineral olivine. (7) 14 A Turk (sing.) originally from central Asia, and then an empire noted for its early carpets (16th and 17th centuries) with geometric patterns. Also, an upholstered seat for several people. (7) 15 Somewhere to rest a limb on furniture (or what you’ve done to yourself with one of the knick-knacks in 21-across). (3) 17 Modern name for Sultanabad in north-west Persia (now Iran) where, in 1882, Ziegler & Co. set up a carpet workshop. (4) 18 Rolled tobacco leaves meant to be smoked. Many decorative objects were designed in which to catch the ash. (sing.) (5) 19 Japanese city noted, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, for carvers of the finest netsuke. (5) 21 Pen name used by Charles Dickens. (3) 22 French disposable pen etc. manufacturer (but someone, somewhere is almost certainly collecting them), and the initials of a UK group of ferrous-metal enthusiasts. (3 or 1.1.1.)

Down

Finally: rearrange the letters in the highlighted squares to form the name of one of the earliest (1833) optical devices to exploit what is called ‘persistence of vision’ and produce apparently moving images.

1 A ny wildly fanciful animal usually made up of two distinct species.

Often used as decoration. (7) 7 Camera manufacturer that made the 35mm very popular from the mid-1920s. (5) 9 René _______ (1860-1945). Incredibly influential art nouveau jeweller and glass designer. (7) 10 Furniture found in 22-across. And as ‘(12-across) - ___’, could be found in more public rooms. (3) 11 ___ Nicholson (1894-1982). Distinguished British pioneer of abstract art. (3) 12 With 10-Across ‘___- (10-Across)’ a long seat with an inclined end. (3) 13 A single chubby child found depicted in classic art. (5) 15 Shakespeare’s forest in As You Like It and the subject of the American artist Albert Pinkham Ryder’s work (believed to have been painted somewhere between 1888 and 1897). (5) 16 Mother-of-pearl. Often used to great effect as in 2-down. (5) 19 Assembled equipment, or a small 17th-century violin carried in the pockets of dancing masters. (3) 20 An edge or encircling band. (3) 21 Fashion accessory for holding essential knick-knacks (lipstick, tissues, revolver…) (3) 22 Late-night destination for privacy and relaxation. (7) 23 Very close relation of the giraffe not mentioned (hence not depicted) in Thomas Bewick’s (1753-1828) A General History of Quadrupeds. (5) 24 André-Gustave _______ French automobile manufacturer (1878-1935) for whom promotional tinplate model cars (very collectable) were made by the French firm C. I. J. (7) 1 S emi-opaque, green-coloured glaze used on many ancient Chinese stoneware objects. (7)

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 45

COLLECTING GUIDES Fabergé animals creatures and collected some of the finest examples to appear on the market.

This month, as part of Christie’s autumn Russian art sales and coinciding with Fabergé: Romance to Revolution opening at the V&A on November 20, 20 animals, ranging from a gold-footed duckling to a playful cat, will go under the hammer in London with low estimates starting at £10,000.

As well as the hardstone animals, the broader Woolf collection comprises four main groups in total: functional works of art; Japonisme-inspired pieces and Russianstyled pieces.

FABERGÉ ANIMALS

Animal MAGIC

Alongside this month’s landmark Fabergé exhibition at the V&A, a significant single owner collection by the Russian maker goes under the hammer, including a number of charming miniature animals

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his month sees a collection of 86 pieces of Fabergé offered for sale, the scope of which is described as second only to that included in the Royal Collection Trust. It was amassed by the pharmacist Henry Woolf, a successful businessman and owner of the London-based pharmaceutical company Underwoods the Chemists who died in 2019 and began collecting Fabergé in the early ‘70s.

According to Christel Ludewig McCanless from the Fabergé Research website, Woolf's collection was: “Created of utter instinct coupled with an intuitive capacity to recognise perfection.”

Woolf had a particular interest in Fabergé’s carved

46 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above A number of tiny hardstone animals by Fabergé goes under the hammer in London this month Right A jewelled

and gold-mounted chalcedony model of a duckling by Fabergé, St Petersburg, c. 1900, with rose-cut diamondset eyes and gold feet; in the original fitted case, 4cm high, has an estimate of £20,000-£30,000

The House of Fabergé reinvigorated the Russian market in many ways, aside from its famous eggs. One such was its small carvings created to flaunt the rich varieties of Russian stones to great effect. Entire menageries of stone animals were created with Japanese netsuke carvings in mind but amber eyes were more often superseded by tiny diamonds or rubies in the Fabergé iterations.

As his business grew, Carl Fabergé carefully tailored his works to his growing British clientele after the establishment of the first shop outside Russia in London in 1903. Inside, the store manager Henry Bainbridge invited European monarchs, Indian maharajas, English aristocrats and American heiresses to acquire the ultimate status symbols — exquisite ornaments, objects and jewels shipped straight from the Fabergé workshops in St Petersburg and marked with a London stamp. Soon, after a royal intervention, one of the favourite ranges become Fabergé’s animals.

The upturn was sparked in part after Fabergé made a model of Edward VII's fox terrier, Caesar, in 1907. After its success the monarch went on to commission an entire diminutive carved menagerie of all the animals on his country estate at Sandringham in Norfolk. The result was the largest group of Fabergé's hardstone creature carvings in existence, including turkeys, pigeons and sheep — even the king's pet bear.

QUEEN ALEXANDRA

SKILFUL PROCESS

His wife Queen Alexandra soon became a devotee. Such was her insatiable appetite for Fabergé’s animal figures that she would regularly be given them on birthdays and special occasions, as well as purchasing them directly from the London shop. Her birthday table was described

by Viscount Knutsford as containing numerous animals, which were augmented by further examples as she received her birthday gifts in 1909.

Franz Birbaum, one of the firm's head work masters, attested to their popularity in his 1919 memoirs where he wrote: "Many highly placed people collected these figures, and others knew that additions to the collections were favourably received."

An inventory of the possessions of Empress Maria Feodorovna and Emperor Alexander III compiled by the director of the Anichkov Palace after 1917 lists more than one hundred Fabergé stone animals.

Fabergé began his production of animals around 1900 initially relying on outside sources for most of his hardstone carvings, including the stone-carvers of Ekaterinburg and Karl Woerffel’s lapidaries.

In 1908, his firm opened its own stone-cutting department, taking the production of animals to a new level. Fabergé employed both sculptors, who modelled animals in wax, and carvers, who implemented the design in stone.

The Sandringham commission gives an insight into the challenging process involved in creating every Fabergé hardstone animal, the techniques reflecting Fabergé’s interest in Japanese netsuke carving.

Each animal was observed first-hand to create a wax model that was then executed in Russia by Fabergé’s sculptor-stone carvers. Special attention was given to the selection of hardstones, depending on the animal's natural characteristics. Aventurine, for example, with its subtle pink colour, was often chosen for pigs, while agate, with its colourful layers, was usually selected for birds. An orange-coloured agate could be selected to mimic a ginger-haired pig, such as a Tamworth.

The production process was described by Birbaum in his 1919 memoir: "It is impossible to list all the animals that were used as themes for these figures, but it should be said that the pose was always as compact as possible, as dictated by the technique of the material."

Central to the Sandringham commission was the Fabergé sculptor Boris Frödman-Cluzel (b. 1878), who joined the firm between 1903 and 1906 and was praised in the St Petersburg newspapers for his skill. In 1907 it

COUNTESS DE TORBY Alongside the well-heeled of London society, two other names appear in Bainbridge’s ledgers with frequency: Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich (1861-1929) and his wife Sophie of Merenberg, Countess de Torby (18681927) who formed a collection specifically of Fabergé’s elephants.

The Grand Duke was the grandson of Tsar Nicholas I and had been born in the Peterhof Palace in St. Petersburg. He was stripped of his titles, however, and banished from Russia after eloping to Sanremo, Italy, with his bride. Despite being the granddaughter of the poet Alexander Pushkin, she was deemed unworthy of the Grand Duke.

The exiled couple eventually settled in London, renting Kenwood House on Hampstead Heath. They were close friends of the king and queen, regularly visiting them at Sandringham.

As well as elephants, her collection included an agate dachshund and an obsidian crow.

Above left A jewelled gold-mounted composite hardstone model of a blue tit by Fabergé, St Petersburg, apparently unmarked, 5cm long has an estimate of £50,000£70,000 in this month’s sale Above A model of a duckling by Fabergé, workmaster Henrik Wigström, St Petersburg, 1899-1904, with finely chased gold feet, marked under feet with workmaster's initials, 6.5cm, has an estimate of £25,000£35,000 Above right A jewelled citrine model of a schnauzer by Fabergé, St Petersburg, c. 1900, with rose-cut diamondset eyes, apparently unmarked, 4cm long, has an estimate of £10,000-£15,000 Below right A jewelled

agate model of a rabbit by Fabergé, St Petersburg, c. 1900, with rose-cut diamondset eyes, apparently unmarked, 4.5cm long, has an estimate of £15,000-£25,000

‘An inventory of the possessions of Empress Maria Feodorovna and Emperor Alexander III compiled by the director of the Anichkov Palace after 1917 lists more than one hundred animals’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 47

COLLECTING GUIDES Fabergé animals reported: "His figures of dogs and bulls, as well as people… are equally alive."

COMIC CHARACTERISTICS Departures from naturalistic-looking animal carvings were not uncommon. The choice of stone colour – red elephants, blue rabbits and green dogs – was intended to add a humorous touch.

Once selected, the semiprecious hardstones were skilfully carved into animals with distinctively individual, sometimes comical characteristics. When the carving of each animal was completed, the animals were returned to the workshop of Fabergé’s head workmaster where the creatures were polished and mounted with intricate finishing touches. Every model was highly polished, the eyes usually set with rose diamonds, sapphires or rubies to give them liveliness, and the legs and claws were often enhanced with gold. The pieces works were then retailed though Fabergé’s exclusive outlets in St Petersburg and London.

IDENTIFYING FABERGÉ Perhaps the hardest area of Fabergé’s production to authenticate is carved hardstone models of animals and figures. Fabergé worked with a number of talented lapidaries, such as the Imperial Peterhof Lapidary works and factories in Idar-Oberstein in Germany, sourcing hardstones for vases, boxes and whimsical models of animals.

As a result it can be very difficult to differentiate works by Fabergé from the lapidaries’ own productions. Fabergé would often repolish the figures they sold and was completely responsible for mounting them, so key elements to study can be the finish of the polish and the mounts around eyes or other jewelled elements of works in hardstone.

Below A gem-set and

gold-mounted agate model of an owl by Fabergé, workmaster Henrik Wigström, St Petersburg, 1908-1917, with workmaster's initials, 4.3cm. has an estimate of £20,000-£30,000 at this month’s sale

Below left A jewelled

aventurine quartz model of a warthog by Fabergé, St Petersburg, c. 1900, with rose-cut diamond-set eyes, apparently unmarked, 6.5cm, estimated at £15,000-£25,000 Right A jewelled gold and

platinum mosaic brooch by Fabergé, St Petersburg, c.

1913, by Alma Pihl (18881976) has an estimate of £70,000-£90,000 at this month’s sale

Below right A jewelled silver

and gold egg-pendant by Fabergé, workmaster Anna Ringe, St Petersburg, c. 1890, marked on loop with workmaster's initials 1.8cm high, has an estimate of £3,000-£5,000

Q&A Margo Oganesian, Christie’s Russian works of art specialist, gives her sale impressions

Q A

How important is the Henry Woolf Collection?

It is an extraordinary private collection of Fabergé marking a very important sale for the Russian art market and a rare opportunity for collectors (existing and new) to acquire some of the best Fabergé pieces ever made. Collections of this importance, quality and variety are a rare occurrence in the art world. It is a diverse collection of objet d’art with estimates starting from £1,000 to £200,000 so we look forward to welcoming new clients and bidding from around the world.

Q A

What effect will the V&A exhibition have?

The Fabergé market remains strong. The V&A exhibition will undoubtedly help to further raise awareness of the Fabergé name in both the UK and around the world. There are pieces of the Harry Woolf collection on loan to the V&A for its exhibition reflecting the outstanding quality of Mr Woolf’s collection.

Q

What would you recommend for a new collector to look at in the sale?

Estimates start from £1,000 which we hope will attract new clients.

The beautiful miniature egg-pendants by Fabergé have always been very popular pieces.

They were produced in large quantities but are now sought after and an eternally fashionable piece to own and make an appealing object as a first acquisition. The jewelled silver and gold eggpendant is estimated at £3,000-£5,000.

A

Fabergé in a nutshell

Above Fabergé's premises at 173 New Bond Street in 1911, image courtesy of the Fersman Mineralogical Museum, Moscow and Wartski, London

48 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

The House of Fabergé was founded by Carl Fabergé’s father, Gustav, who established the family business in St Petersburg in 1842. Carl received his jewellery training in France, Germany and Italy before taking control of the business in the early 1870s.

The firm’s appointment as Jeweller to the Imperial Russian Court in 1885, provoked a move to larger premises at 24 Bolshaya Morskaya Street. The move was completed in 1900, at which time more than 700 craftsmen were employed by the firm.

The turn of century was celebrated with L’Exposition Internationale Universelle in Paris, where Fabergé exhibited his famous Imperial Easter eggs, flower studies and jewellery. The exhibition enhanced Fabergé’s reputation and renown across Europe. In 1903, it opened a branch in London, showcasing its most ingenious objects to an international clientele. The London shop was the only official location outside of Russia and followed the opening of the Moscow and Odessa branches.

QA

What is the highlight piece for you?

I am drawn to the famous Fabergé mosaic brooch, designed by Alma Pihl (1888-1976) and executed by her uncle Albert Holmström. Alma was largely selftaught. Her mother Fanny Holmström was the

daughter of Fabergé's workmaster, August Holmström, and her father Oscar Pihl was head of Fabergé’s jewellery workshop in Moscow.

Purportedly, Alma was inspired to produce this motif when she watched her mother-in-law do needlework by the fireside.

This delicate brooch was created by hand carving minute diamonds, rubies, emeralds among other stones and fitting them into the square holes of the platinum mesh, which was also cut by hand. The same technique was used for the Imperial Mosaic Egg presented

by Emperor Nicholas II to his wife Alexandra Feodorovna in 1914, which is now part of the Royal Collection. .

Q A

Which are the most sought after animals?

Fabergé carved animals are extremely amusing and whimsical works. Each one has its own distinct characteristics which were brilliantly captured by Fabergé’s carvers and are very sought after by collectors all around the world.

Some types of animals, like elephants or pigs, would have been produced in larger numbers due to their popularity at the time.

Others, like birds or monkeys, were much rarer and therefore rare to come to market.

Composite stone animals are particularly rare, as they were made of different types of stones carved separately and later assembled together (the blue tit on the previous page with an estmate of £50,000-£70,000, for example, is a rare piece).

When it comes to collectability, the type of animals, its size, type of stone, and, of course, provenance play an important role.

Q A

What is so special about the animals, what makes them so coveted?

The animals by Fabergé are the ultimate collectables – they have no practical function and were created simply for display in the home and the amusement and delight of their lucky owners.

The joy of arranging and rearranging them in groups is never ending. Singularly or collectively they are realistic, whimsical and many are very humorous. As they were almost always unsigned, it is very rare to have a large selection of top quality animals with such a strong provenance come onto the market.

Q A

Aside from Edward VII and his wife who were the greatest collectors?

The animals were highly collectable during his lifetime, especially among English nobility and included the socialites Emilie Yznaga del Valle and her sister the Duchess of Manchester, as well as the British poet Edward James and Lady Juliet Duff.

The most important patrons of the House of Fabergé have always been the Romanovs. Empresses Maria Feodorovna, the mother of Nicholas II, and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna, were great collectors of Fabergé pieces

Q A

What do we know about the carvers of the animals?

Unfortunately there is little known about the carvers. They never signed their works, unlike the silversmiths and jewellers employed by Fabergé.

We know that to begin with, Fabergé relied on outside expertise and sources for most of his hardstone carvings, including the stone-carvers of Ekaterinburg and Karl Woerffel’s lapidaries. In 1908, his firm opened its own stone-cutting department, and took the production of animals to a new level.

Fabergé employed both sculptors, who modelled animals in wax, and carvers, who implemented the design in stone.

Q A

What problems does being unsigned pose to the collector or valuer?

Animals by Fabergé were extremely popular during the firm’s existence, and even inspired other jewellers, such as Sumin and Denisov-Uralsky, to produce similar works.

It is not surprising that after the House of Fabergé closed in 1918, the models continued to be much copied throughout 20th century.

The fact that they are largely unsigned created a challenge for collectors and specialists alike. As specialists we rely on our years of experience and expertise to recognise and value the hardstone animals.

Impeccable provenance of a piece and the original wooden case are both hugely beneficial. We are able to recognise if the work is genuine by the sheer brilliance and skill of the carving, setting of the stones and level of detail which all Fabergé’s animals have.

Q A

Do you have a personal favourite of the collection of the Fabergé animals?

I love the model of a playful cat in agate as well as the rhinoceros in kalgan jasper. The cat is a wonderfully realistic piece of the animal in action

A jewelled kalgan jasper model of a rhinoceros by Fabergé, St Petersburg, c. 1900, in the original fitted Fabergé wooden case, 6cm long, has an estimate of £20,000£30,000 in the sale

suggesting that there is also a mouse it has just caught.

The rhinoceros is a very surrealist and abstract piece. Both belonged to Edward James, a British poet and patron of the surrealist art movement.

Another favourite of mine is the aventurine quartz model of a pig carved in a humorous style. Fabergé’s customers loved models of well-fed pigs, as they were supposed to bring good fortune.

Q A

Are there any yet-to-be discovered animals?

Unlike the Imperial Easter eggs, of which only around 50 were produced, hardstone animals were created in large numbers.

We still get an occasional surprise when someone brings us a large model of a certain animal, unlike anything we saw before, but there is not a known list of ‘missing’ animals within the industry.

As the popularity of carved animal models took off, Fabergé also started producing hardstone figures of Russian types, be it a coachman or a milkmaid.

Some of these figures are still unaccounted for and I am hoping that one day someone might bring us one of these models discovered from their attic!

A selection of Fabergé masterpieces from the collection of Harry Woolf including 20 carved animals, takes place at Christie’s on November 29, for more details go to www.christies.com

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 49

EXPERT COMMENT Lennox Cato However, Thomas Sheraton in his Cabinet Dictionary, 1803, describes a Pembroke table as “a type of breakfast table, from the name of the lady who first gave orders for one of them, and who probably gave the first idea of such a table to the workmen.”

The lady in question being the Countess of Pembroke.

TIME-HONOURED DESIGN

LENNOX CATO

Without RESERVE Pembroke tables have been the mainstay of the antiques dealer for decades and remain as elegant and useful as they did in the 18th century, writes Antiques Roadshow specialist Lennox Cato

T

he table is thought to have been named after Lt-Gen. Henry Herbert, 6th Earl of Montgomery and 9th Earl of Pembroke (1693-1750) who, after taking part on the Grand Tour in the early 18th century, became inspired by all things antique.

He was friends with the Palladian architect William Kent and designed several buildings in the neo-classical taste, including his own home, Pembroke House in Whitehall. His talents extended so far he even became known as the ‘architect’ among his close friends and allies, which included Horace Walpole, Britain’s first prime minister.

Herbert was also an early vegetarian who attempted to live on a diet of just beetroot and watercress – an eating regime which almost killed him.

50 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above Satinwood Pembroke table with a crossbanded top, c.

1780, image courtesy of Lennox Cato Right Pembroke table

from Paxton House, Berwickshire by Thomas Chippendale.

The table has a serpentine crossbanded top above a drawer on cabriole legs with carved palmettes on the knees and scroll feet with leather castors

Generally, the tables are designed in rectangular form with one or two drawers and flaps on either side. The flaps are on concealed hinges, usually three on each side and once raised, brackets are pulled out which support the flaps. You may find in some old reference books or journals these supports were known as ‘elbows’. We now refer to them as bracket supports.

The Pembroke table is raised on small castors so the table may be moved around more easily.

Thomas Chippendale was perhaps the first cabinet maker to produce this new style of table as we know it today, made of solid mahogany with carved details, designs of which can be seen in The Gentleman and The Cabinet Maker’s Director, first published 1754.

As we know, Chippendale was always ahead of the curve and, as time went on, he started using exotic woods in the manufacture of everyday furniture including the Pembroke table. These included woods such as ‘pidgeon wood’, Gaudalupe, ‘Nutmeg’ and ‘Allegozant’ (Ref; C. Gilbert, The Life and Work of Thomas Chippendale, London 1978. Vol 1, pp.159.183. and 280).

VARYING STYLES As the period progressed the Pembroke table evolved into many different shapes and sizes. Still keeping to the basic format of a small table with flaps, the designs became increasingly flamboyant with shaped ends to the flaps, sometimes known as butterfly ends and curved ends making the table oval in shape.

Metamorphic examples

The ‘Harlequin’ Pembroke table designed

by Thomas Sheraton, was a metamorphic table with an ingenious construction including an adjustable reading slope and banks of drawers all concealed into the design. It can be seen on plate 56 of The CabinetMaker and Upholsterer’s Drawing-Book (1792) which explains at some length the workings of the multipurpose table. reeded. Gillows of Lancaster produced some very fine examples in this design.

The Pembroke table continued its popularity through the Victorian period into the Edwardian era including the Sheraton Revival. Some of the finer quality pieces were manufactured by Maple and Co., James Shoolbred & Co., and Edwards and Roberts.

Exuberant inlays could be found in examples from the finest workshops such as Ince and Mayhew, Henry Kettle and Henry Hill of Marlborough. George Hepplewhite and Thomas Sheraton showed their designs in their own published directories.

Various veneers such as sycamore, satinwood and padouk were often used with fine marquetry and parquetry work.

VARIETY OF USES Due to their versatility this design of table could be used as a tea table, card table and writing table. You will also find Pembroke tables with gaming sections as gaming was so popular in the 18th century. The table would have a removable section which hid an area for backgammon or chess.

I have owned Pembroke tables with fitted drawers for tea, having compartments for green or black tea with solid silver cannisters.

18th-century examples were elegantly supported on square tapering legs as well as the French cabriole leg as seen in the image from Paxton House, designed

by Thomas Chippendale. As the design entered the 19th century, the legs began to become turned or

Above An early George III mahogany Pembroke table with blind fret legs, based on a design

by Thomas Chippendale entitled Breakfast Tables (1754)

Lennox Cato is a specialist on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow and owns Lennox Cato Antiques, for more details go to www.lennoxcato.com

Above right A metamorphic Pembroke table of satinwood, burr wood and boxwood inlay, ascribed to Mayhew and Ince, image courtesy of Windsor House Antiques Right Hepplewhite

period marquetry Pembroke table attributed to Ince and Mayhew, c. 1785. Now in a private collection, image courtesy of Lennox Cato

‘It may be a small item of furniture, but the Pembroke table certainly packs a punch in both its visual and practical terms. It was such a popular table it was mentioned in Jane Austen’s unfinished 1803-1804 novel The Watsons, with ‘Miss Watson seated at the best Pembroke table, with the best tea-things before her.’

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 51

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Tang horses

Stable Returns Valued for their strength and endurance, horses symbolised power and status in ancient China and were even believed to transport souls to the next world, writes Allen Wang

‘Horses were associated with dragons – animals capable of carrying humans to the land of the immortals’

52 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

REGIONS OF PRODUCTION Tang horses were made in multiple workshops across China with each location having its own style, and bearing the invisible marks of the potter’s geographic differences via the clay used. An appreciation of the colour and rigidity of the clay, as well as the shape and forms, adds a depth of appreciation.

Opposite page Tang dynasty (618–907) from the Luo Yang region, image courtesy of Lam’s Gallery, Hong Kong Above Tang dynasty (618–907) prancing horse from the Tang capital Chang’an, image courtesy of Lam’s Gallery, Hong Kong

T

ang horses are among the most famous works of Chinese art. For the collector, they have endless appeal, their stylised arched necks, pricked ears and strong bodies exude confidence, distinction and charm. These ancient Chinese pottery steeds are found in every kind of décor: minimalist, country, French, even deconstructivist. Their appeal is universal.

The equine depictions are often in frantic positions: whinnying with their heads raises and nostrils flared, or twisting around to get at something on their backs.

A culture and and appreciation of horses in China dates back to the Shang dynasty (1600-1100BC) when real horses were buried with the emperors, and horsedrawn chariots were a sign of high social status, as well as being the premier weapon of war.

In about 210BC, the Qin dynasty decreed that the Chinese custom of burying favorite steeds (or wives) alive in the tombs with their aristocratic masters was no longer necessary. Rather, a symbolic sacrifice would suffice.

Below left Han Gan (c.

706-783) Night-Shining White, c. 750, a portrait of a charger of Emperor Xuanzong (r. 712–56), image courtesy of Metropolitan Museum of Art Below right Tang dynasty (618–907) sancai (three colour) horse, image courtesy of Lam’s Gallery, Hong Kong

Chang’an Horses from the Tang capital were strong and steady in proportion, with all three types of clays widely adopted.

Feng Xiang Mounts from west of Shaanxi province are finely sculpted, mostly in prancing position with a small head, strong head or turning head, beautiful contours and movement, made in a mixture of red and grey pottery.

Luo Yang One of China’s oldest cities where the majority of sancai (three-colour) glaze horses were produced as well as unglazed horses with more movement, in a streamline and lively manner.

Shan Xi A plateau province in the north of China that produced deeply carved horses, with strong lines and meticulous details on a powerful body, some with a removable blanket.

Gan Su The province in northwest China was responsible for round-bottomed animals, mostly in standing position with no movement, the overall figure is strong and weighty compared to other regions.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 53

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Tang horses Left Sui dynasty (581– 618) horse from Luo Yang, image courtesy of Lam’s Gallery, Hong Kong Right A gold medal

struck by Eucratides, a Greco-Bactrian king of the second century BC

a gold medal struck

by Eucratides, a Greco-Bactrian king of the second century BC (right).

TANG DYNASTY But it was the “golden age” of the Tang dynasty (618-907) – one of China’s most cosmopolitan periods – that the horse ascended to its iconic status.

This was the time when ideas and art flowed into China on the Silk Road along with commercial goods reflecting influences from Persia, India, Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East.

At the beginning of the Tang dynasty the government owned some 5,000 horses. Private breeding developed in northern China, especially in eastern Gansu, Shenxi and Shaanxi, when the government decreed that all militiamen, most of whom belonged to great noble families, should have their own mounts.

Before long, public stud farms were established, soon becoming so successful that by the middle of the seventh century the government owned 700,000 horses, and equine cultural reverence was assured.

EARLIEST HORSES In the first century BC, two Chinese armies travelled to the western kingdom Ferghana in search of “heavenly horses”. They discovered the finest mounts then known, which were apparently infected with parasites that caused them to “sweat blood” from their pores.

These sought-after Bactrian horses were sent in great numbers as tribute to the emperor and immediately caught the imagination of both the ruler and his court. The animals became associated with dragons, animals capable of carrying humans to the land of the immortals.

Once acquired, horses were well looked after on state-controlled grasslands and stables where they were kept in cool sheds in summer and warm ones in winter.

Their manes were kept trimmed, their hooves cared for, and in battle, they wore blinkers and ear protectors to minimise the effects on their nerves of the noise and action of the battlefield.

BACTRIAN HORSES Horses soon became especially prized by rulers of the Han dynasty for their military value, at a time when cavalry warfare was used to fend off frequent attacks of nomadic invaders.

Chinese statuary and paintings indicate the streads had proportionally short legs, well-developed barrelthick necks and well-shaped heads. This equine type occurs also, as might be expected, in ancient Bactria, lying, as it did, almost next door to Ferghana.

In ancient evidence, such a horse can be seen on

54 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

POLO GAMES The love of horses also spurred the adoption of the Iranian sport of polo among the Tang elite, meaning horses became among the most desirable and important creatures of the day. Poets and painters, sculptors and potters all paid homage to them. Lavish displays of pottery horses and other artefacts began to adorn the insides of tombs where brightly-coloured tomb figurines were made from low-fired earthenware and intended exclusively for burial. “The potters made an incredible range of models, including entertainers, domestic workers, mothers with children, aristocratic ladies, soldiers, farm animals, ritual objects, cosmetic boxes and utilitarian vessels,” Lark E. Mason wrote in Asian Art (Antique Collectors’ Club, 2003).

Alongside the horses, Central Asian and Türkic nomads were depicted as horse grooms among the other mingqi (tomb figures) in Tang-era tombs.

HORSE POWER Advances in technology in the Tang dynasty, including the use of moulds, allowed production on an unprecedented scale.

This, in turn, made mingqi accessible to those outside the highest social ranks for the very first time, and Tang horses lost their status. While they exerted fascination among some Western collectors (see Degas’ portrayal of the painter Pierre-Joseph Redoute

Below left Edgar Degas (1834–1917), 1866, The Collector of Prints, oil on canvas, image courtesy of Metropolitan Museum of Art Below Tang dynasty (618–907) a lively horse from the Luo Yang region, image courtesy of Lam’s Gallery, Hong Kong. (Provenance: Bukowski’s, 1936, lot 80, Richard Hultmark’s collection; Sigge Bjorck’s Auction House, 1926, lot 8)

in front of a cabinet holding a Tang horse) it wasn’t until much later that Chinese dealers were alerted to the West’s growing fascination with them. In 1989, an auction record was set when a Japanese dealer paid a world-record £¾m at Sotheby’s for a glazed specimen that had been stashed away by the British Rail pension fund.

However, with prices falling back in recent years, would-be vendors may be advised to hold their horses, but for others now could be the time to buy.

Allen Wang is an art collector and founder of SACA (Society for Ancient Chinese Art). Lam’s Gallery can be found at 3C, Yally Industrial Building, 6 Yip Fat Street, Wong Chuk Hang, Hong Kong.

Collecting Tang horses

• • •

Gallery owner Midco Lam’s advice on Chinese equines Do not rush to purchase, instead take time to learn and study to help make the best decision.

Visit museums, submerge yourself in relevant texts and, most importantly, seek professional advice from experienced and reputable dealers.

Enjoy the piece and its history, appreciate the rewards of connoisseurship, have fun during the collection process, rather than focusing on monetary gain or loss.

Midco Lam is the daughter of Mama Lam who established Lam’s Gallery in Hong Kong in 1988 specialising in early Chinese pottery from the Han to Tang dynasty.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 55

ANTIQUES UNDER THE HAMMER Studio art pottery

SALEROOM SPOTLIGHT

Described as the “single most important collection of studio ceramics ever to come to market”, pottery owned by the American collector Dr John Driscoll is on sale this month

Alongside those pieces are exceptional examples of ceramic art by the masters of British studio ceramics including Bernard Leach, Hamada Shoji, Lucie Rie, James Tower, Elizabeth Fritsch, Gordon Baldwin, Ewen Henderson and Edmund de Waal, as well as exceptional examples of African, Japanese and Danish ceramics.

THE COLLECTOR

L

ike many collectors, the New York art dealer Dr John Driscoll, who died last year aged 70, sought out pieces with an exceptional provenance and which told a story.

Of the 180 pieces on sale this month from his unparalleled collection, two spring to mind. One was a bowl and saucer which the Vienna-born potter Lucie Rie (1902-1995), hid in clothes to smuggle it out of pre-war Austria in a suitcase (below); the other is in lighter vein.

It is a vase by Rie’s colleague and fellow refugee Hans Coper (1920-1981), which he swapped with his local school in Frome for a goat named Jennea.

Above A selection of pieces by Lucie Rie is up for sale this month Left Lucie Rie (19021995), early and rare bowl and saucer, c.

1936, cup 4.3cm high, 14cm in diameter, has an estimate of £4,000£6,000 Above right The collector Dr John Driscoll at home, photo credit Emily Driscoll Right Ladi Kwali (1925-

1984) Airplane Water pot, 1962, 31.6cm high, 34.5cm in diameter, has an estimate of £6,000£9,000

Far right Ladi Kwali (1925-1984) in her studio in Gwari, Nigeria

56 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

In the ‘70s, Dr Driscoll was introduced to ceramics while working under Bill Hull, director of the Penn State Museum of Art. Hull’s 1976 exhibition Twenty-Four British Potters ignited Driscoll’s four-decade passion and drive to build a comprehensive survey of studio ceramics from the 20th century.

He told Glenn Adamson, author of the book Things of Beauty Growing: British Studio Pottery: “My first purchases from the Twenty-Four British Potters show were outstanding works, yet economically modest…

After I bought those initial pots, I was just viscerally, intellectually, and aesthetically energised, and focused on the quest to see more and acquire more…”

Driscoll’s interest in studio ceramics went beyond the aesthetic as he built relationships with some of the century’s greats including Lucie Rie, Elizabeth Fritsch and Ewen Henderson. Every year, Driscoll visited the UK to meet the potters he admired and collected – seeking out pots from different points in each artist’s career, with the aim to tell each artist’s story within his collection. In doing so, Driscoll combined an academic approach to collecting with a passion to experience the pieces in his home.

THE POTTERS Lucie Rie came to England in the late 1930s as a refugee. By the time she arrived in London, at the age of 36 in 1938, she was already a talented potter having studied ceramics at the prestigious Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Art and Design) in Vienna (Rie won a gold medal at the Brussels International Exhibition of 1935 as well as other European accolades). By 1946 she

IN MY OPINION...

We asked Marijke VarrallJones, the founder of Maak Ceramics, for her sale highlights What makes the sale so important?

had set up Albion Mews Pottery from a rented flat in London where she met German-born Hans Coper, then a penniless refuge looking for work. They went on to create some of the 20th-century’s greatest ceramics.

Thousands of miles away in Nigeria in 1951, Ladi Kwali, whose work also features in the sale, became the first female student of Abuja pottery school set up by Michael Cardew, a former student of Bernard Leach.

By the time she joined the school, Kwali was already a talented, professional potter working in the style of northern Gwari tradition having learned to make hand-built pots when she was a child. She went on to become famous for her experimental and innovative works merging the Gwari style she was proficient at with the modern techniques, creating glazed dishes, bowls and beakers.

Maak Contemporary Ceramics will offer more pieces from Dr Driscoll’s collections in a series of sales in 2022 and 2023.

‘The sale includes a monumental vase by Lucie Rie’s colleague and fellow refugee Hans Coper which he swapped with his local school in Frome for a goat named Jennea’

AUCTION fact file WHAT: The Art of Fire: Selections from the Collection of Dr John P Driscoll, in conjunction with Maak Ceramics When: November 10 Where: Phillips, 30 Berkeley Square, London, W1J 6EX Viewing: November 3-10 at Phillips

As a historic painting dealer, John Driscoll fully appreciated the importance of capturing the history and provenance of an object. While this approach wasn’t always fully valued at the time by other collectors who bought mainly for aesthetic reasons, over time, as the movement has matured, this aspect has become much more important.

In many cases, these are the pots we see in books having been selected for seminal exhibitions, the pots given as gifts between artists and the pots that had special meaning to the artists and which remained in their personal collections.

Do you have a favourite piece?

The piece that stands out for me is the bowl and saucer by Lucie Rie (far left). It is a very early example made when she was still in Vienna in around 1936. The simplicity of the form is pure European modernism.

Having smuggled it out of Nazi Austria, it remained in her collection for the rest of her life. John Driscoll bought it in 1997 at Bonhams’ sale of her Estate.

How is the current market for studio ceramics?

Above left Hans Coper (1920-1981).

Monumental ovoid pot, c. 1968, has an estimate of £80,000-£120,000 Above Hans Coper (1920-1981).

Monumental ‘Writhlington School’ pot, 1972, 77cm high.

Impressed with the artist’s seal and inscribed 1X1972 HC To Writhlington School.

Thank you for Jennea the Goat. The pot has an estimate of £80,000£120,000

The market has been on a steady incline for the last 10 years or so but has seen the most significant growth in the last three to five years. This reflects the growing recognition that ceramics represent a creative expression equal to a painting or sculpture but, in terms of pricing, are significantly more accessible. Pots, even by the true masters of studio ceramics, can still be acquired for just a few hundred pounds so it isn’t an unrealistic ambition to start building a collection of significance. Increasingly in times of uncertainty people are drawn to the unique quality of the hand-made as representing something that connects.

Above Lucie Rie (1902-1995), footed bowl, c. 1976, 11.6cm high, 22.5cm in diameter, has an estimate of £50,000-£70,000

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 57

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Returned Meissen porcelain

Right A rare Meissen armorial tea and coffee service, made for the noble Morosini family of Venice, acquired by the Rijksmuseum for $1.4m (against an estimate of $120,000-$180,000)

Porcelain W MILES

Chinoiserie-style Meissen porcelain once seized by the Nazis has been restored to a Dutch museum after an extraordinary tale of smuggling, bankruptcy and salt mines.

Antique Collecting reports

Left A portrait of the Oppenheimer family from the mid-1930s, with Margarethe and Franz Oppenheimer in the front row, all images unless otherwise stated courtesy of Sotheby’s

58 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

ith much of it created to satisfy the “maladie de porcelaine” of the Polish king Augustus the Strong, the makers of the delicate Meissen porcelain, which recently sold at auction for $15m, could have had no idea of the extraordinary journey their work would undertake.

After traversing the globe in everything from US military trucks to suitcases, some 50 pieces from the “greatest pre-war collections of Meissen porcelain to appear at auction in more than 60 years” have returned to Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum, the place where they had been on display until 1952.

Lucian Simmons, the worldwide head of Sotheby’s restitution department, said: “One of the most astonishing aspects of the odyssey the artefacts have undergone is that they have remained intact. Porcelain is a tough substance, but it is incredible that these intricate pieces remain in such a perfect condition. They were, after all, repeatedly packed up and unpacked, placed in a monastery and a mine, then transported along Alpine roads in army trucks. They have been on a huge and extraordinary road trip.”

CONNOISSEUR COLLECTORS The 117 pieces sold at Sotheby’s New York this autumn represented just a quarter of the entire collection assembled by the Hamburg lawyer Franz Oppenheimer and his Viennese wife, Margarethe, in the early decades of the 20th century.

The Oppenheimers, who made their money in Silesian coalmining, were connoisseur collectors, determined to build a magnificent Meissen collection by acquiring important pieces as they were deaccessioned from the royal collections in Dresden.

Much of their collection, the majority of which reflected their penchant for chinoiserie, originated from the collection of Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, and founder of the Meissen porcelain factory.

The couple lived in a grand apartment block on Regentenstrasse in Berlin, immediately next to the Tiergarten – the heart of Berlin’s collecting community in the early 20th century.

In 1927, like many serious Berlin connoisseurs, they commissioned a private catalogue of their collection to be written by Professor Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld, curator of the nearby Berliner Schlossmuseum. At the time the professor catalogued 240 sets and individual pieces of porcelain, much of which made up the recent sale.

Right Nicolas de Largillière (1656-1746) Augustus the Strong, Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, 1715 Below left A rare pair of Meissen hexagonal cases and covers, c. 1735-1740, likely to be the only pair of Meissen vases of this type recorded in literature, sold for $378,000 (against an estimate of $80,000$120,000) Below right Elevation of room four of the Japanese Palace in Dresden, c.

1735, designated for Meissen pieces

RISE OF THE NAZIS On the rise of the Nazis, Franz Oppenheimer was persecuted because of his Jewish origins. As a consequence, in around December 1936, he and Margarethe fled from Berlin to the comparative safety of Vienna, having paid punitive emigration taxes to the

‘As Allied bombing placed the Führer’s art holdings in peril, the Meissen that had been acquired from Mannheimer’s estate was moved for safe keeping first to Vyšší Brod Monastery in Bohemia and later to the salt mines in Bad Aussee’

Augustus the Strong and his Japanese palace

Many of the Meissen pieces collected by the Oppenheimers were commissioned to decorate the interiors of Augustus II (1670–1733), Elector of Saxony and King of Poland’s colossal ‘porcelain palace’ on the banks of the river Elbe in Dresden-Neustadt.

Just as the king was known as Augustus the Strong, so his palace took the name ‘Japanese’ and was the fulfilment of the king’s obsession with discovering the recipe for true porcelain first developed in China in the sixth century.

Such was his desire to understand its secrets, he imprisoned a young alchemist, Johann Friedrich Böttger, who perfected the recipe in 1709. Augustus the Strong went on to found the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory— the first porcelain manufactory in Europe.

By 1719 he had amassed more than 20,000 pieces of Chinese and Japanese porcelain, growing to 29,000 pieces on his death in 1733. Meissen porcelain destined for his court bore his monogram: ‘AR’ or ‘Augustus Rex’ (used prior to Meissen’s famous crossed sword mark adopted in 1722).

When Saxony became a republic in 1918, parts of the king’s Meissen collection went to the Dresden Porcelain Collection (Porzellansammlung) where it can still be seen today, other pieces remained with the royal family, while others were auctioned at sales from which the Oppenheimers grew their collecion.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 59

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Returned Meissen porcelain

Above The yellowground baluster vases and covers in the display of the Mannheimer Collection (middle shelf) Left An extremely rare Meissen blue-tinted beaker vase, c. 17271730, sold for $806,500 (against an estimate of $50,000-$70,000)

Nazi government. They rented an apartment close to the Belvedere in Vienna’s third district and were able to take some possessions, including part of their Meissen collection, with them.

The couple’s exile in Vienna did not last long, when German troops entered Austria on March 12, 1938 and Hitler proclaimed the Anschluss of Austria into Germany, the Oppenheimers fled to Budapest with hand luggage only.

From Hungary they travelled via Sweden and Colombia to New York, where they arrived in December 1941. By then, their wealth was diminished, owing to another tranche of emigration taxes that was the cost of being able to leave Austria. The couple, by then in their 60s, spent the rest of their greatly reduced lives in a modest apartment on East 86th Street in Manhattan.

SMUGGLED OUT Exactly what happened to their porcelain during this time is unclear. But it is possible that the Oppenheimers arranged to have it smuggled from Berlin to the Netherlands with a considerable portion of it ending up in the care of another collector, Fritz Mannheimer, a German who had established the Amsterdam branch of the Berlin-based Mendelssohn Bank in 1920, and was an active Nazi opponent.

Like the Oppenheimers, he commissioned a scholar, Otto von Falke, late director of the Berlin Kunstgewerbemuseum, to catalogue his collection.

After Kristallnacht in November 1938, the bank was closed down by the Nazis, and Mannheimer was driven to bankruptcy, suffering a fatal heart attack in August 1939.

60 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above right A pair of Meissen yellow-ground baluster vases and covers, c. 1735, the unusual leaf-form cartouches can be seen on Chinese Kangxi vases, examples of which were in Augustus the Strong’s collection, now in the Porzellansammlung, Dresden. The pair sold for $685,000 (against an estimate of $150,000-$250,000) Below left A celadon

ground vase, c. 1735, likely one of five large Meissen porcelain bottle vases listed as delivered to the Japanese Palace in December 1737, sold for $625,000 (against an estimate of $50,000$70,000)

The liquidation of his remaining assets including his art collection was seized on as an opportunity by a member of Hitler’s SS based in Holland who acquired the 3,000-piece collection, including the Oppenheimers’ porcelain, in 1941.

It was intended for the Nazi leader’s so-called Führermuseum, a vanity project to turn the Austrian city of Linz into a cultural capital of Nazi Germany, which was never realised.

A key sentence in the wartime Mannheimer sales contract between the Dutch legal expert Korthals Altes and the German Reich, was that the sale was ‘not entirely voluntary’. This proved to be the key legal phrase allowing post-war recuperation.

Below right A rare pair of Meissen

underglaze blue-ground beaker vases marked Augustus Rex, c.

1725, sold for $1.23m against an estimate of $80,000-$120,000

Below left A rare pair of Meissen underglaze blue-ground beaker vases marked Augustus Rex achieved $867,000 against an estimate of $70,000-$100,000 Right Both pairs of vases

on display in Mannheimer’s collection, 1940

HIGHLIGHT CLOCK

ALLIED BOMBING As Allied bombing placed the Führer’s art holdings in peril, the Meissen acquired from Mannheimer’s estate was moved for safe keeping first to Vyšší Brod Monastery in south Bohemia and later to the salt mines in Bad Aussee. Towards the end of the war, a group of US and UK art experts and museum curators was tasked with recovering Hitler’s stolen art before it could be destroyed by the Germans. Their story hit the big screen in the 2014 film The Monuments Men, starring George Clooney and Matt Damon. Among the treasures they uncovered was the Oppenheimer’s collection of 117 pieces of 17th and 18th-century Meissen porcelain.

Using US military trucks, officers transferred the collection to the central collecting point in Munich in 1946, from where it was sent back to the Netherlands.

The collection was held in three museums in the Netherlands including the Rijksmuseum for 70 years.

RETURNED TO OWNERS

Top left The Vyšší Brod

Monastery now in the Czech republic

Above left George Clooney on the set of The Monuments Men Above right The clock case was the sale’s top seller going for close to $1.6m Below A Meissen

armorial waste bowl, c.

1735, one of only five or six pieces of Meissen porcelain painted in this distinctive style that appear to be recorded sold for $600,800 (against an estimate of $40,000-$60,000)

At least five clock case models were produced at Meissen in the late 1720s and early 1730s. Among the most ambitious and successful of the factory’s early pieces, the clocks were likely intended for Augustus the Strong’s Japanese Palace. According to the 1733 Specification von Porcilan – a listing of the Meissen porcelain ordered for the palace – a total of 14 clocks were ordered, with five of this model appearing to have survived into the 20th century.

Of the five, two are in museum collections: in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg and the Hetjens-Museum in Düsseldorf.

So it was no surprise this 44cm high clock case topped the Rijksmuseum’s shopping list for which they paid $1.2m (£923,000) or close to $1.6m, including premium.

Modelled by George Fritzsche and decorated with chinoiserie vignettes, it includes a group of figures attributed to Johann Gottlieb Kirchner, fashioned as Minerva with Arachne. It is inscribed ‘Meissen’ over its crossed swords mark and dated 1727. The movement, signed Barrey à Paris, dates to c.1700 while the bronze mount is a mid-18th-century addition.

Prior to its acquisition by the Oppenheimers, the clock case had a 19th-century provenance to two notable English collections. It was owned by politician and art collector Ralph Bernal (1783-1854) and was included in the 32-day auction of his collection held by Christie’s in 1855 when it was acquired by Sir Anthony de Rothschild (1810-1876) in April 1855 for £120. It was subsequently sold by his daughters at Christie’s in 1923 when it made £294.

In 2015, the Oppenheimer’s heirs submitted a claim to the Ministry for Education, Culture and Science for more than a hundred objects in the Dutch National Collection, 92 of which were managed by the Rijksmuseum. The Restitutions Committee advised the minister to return the objects to the heirs, which formed the basis of the recent sale at which the Rijksmuseum was the biggest buyer claiming more than half the lots that will now return to its display cabinets.

Rijksmuseum director, Taco Dibbits, said: “It is important to be able to contribute in this way to the restoration of justice to the relatives of the Oppenheimers. This major collection of Meissen porcelain will now be able to be displayed in perpetuity, enabling us to devote attention in the museum to the personal story of this family and the fortunes of their collection during and after WWII.” For more details of the acquisition go to www.rijksmuseum.nl ANTIQUE COLLECTING 61

Established 1957

Introduces ‘Choice Collection’

A selection of Antiques outside our main collections all for under £1000.

Attractive Oval Victorian Occasional Table. Pair of Early 20th Century Losol Ware Miniature Vases. 19th Century Pair of Ashbourne Marble Obelisks.

(9732). Height - 66 cm (26"). £195.00* (164). Height - 13.5 cm (5 1/4"). £110.00* (112). Height - 23 cm (9"). £480.00*

Charming Pair of Late 19th Century Children's Clogs.

(9908). Length - 12.5 cm (5"). £125.00*

Mid 20th Century Continental Porcelain Figure of a Child.

(9739). Height -23.5 cm (9 1/4")

Early 19th Century Brass Chamberstick.

(1157). Height - 12 cm (4 3/4"). £120.00*

Late 18th Century Chinese Blue and White Achete.

(074). Width - 26.5 cm (10 1/2"). £120.00*

George III mahogany corner cupboard.

(8383). Height - 121.92 cm (48"). £290.00*

19th Century Oriental Ivory, Lace and Silkwork Fan. Bronzed metal lamp. Modern.

(9225). Width - 37.5 cm (14 3/4"). £480.00* (5144). Height - 40.5 cm(16”) £90.00*

Attractive Pair of Late George III Period Decanters. Regency Period Bow Fronted Dressing Mirror.

(9808). Height -22 cm (8 3/4"). £60.00* (9736). Height -63 cm (24 3/4"). £265.00*

£60.00*

*Delivery not included. Subject to Terms and Conditions

www.windsorhouseantiques.co.uk Instagram: windsor_house_antiques Twitter: @HseWindsor sales@windsorhouseantiques.co.uk

+44 (0) 1832 274 595 Barnwell Manor, Barnwell, Near Oundle, Peterborough, Northamptonshire. PE8 5PJ

VIEWING STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT ONLY

BEHIND THE SCENES Siobhan Tyrrell

EXPERT

Right Clarence Sinclair Bull (1896-1979) photograph of Greta Garbo, 1931, which Siobhan sold for a big profit

SIOBHAN TYRRELL

Below left Destruction of the Amazon should encourage more young buyers

PROFILE We put Antiques Roadshow’s Siobhan Tyrrell, the new head of valuations at the Berkshire-based auctioneers Dawsons, in the spotlight

What was the first antique you acquired?

My great grandfather was a soldier in WWI whose job it was to drive trains back and forth on the Western Front, essentially delivering fresh recruits and taking back the wounded and dying. When I was a little girl, he left me a pretty dinner and tea service dating from around 1900. I wish I had been a bit older as I would have loved to ask him about the war. The dinner service isn’t worth much but my family used it, as I do now.

When did you start in the business?

My parents dragged me around antique shops when I was a kid, so I’ve always been surrounded by antiques.

After doing a history degree I had no idea what I wanted to do. A friend spotted the auctioneering and valuation course held at Southampton at the time and, from 1992, I was immersed in everything art and antiques related.

The piece you would still like to find?

There isn’t one particular thing. As a complete history nerd I’m fascinated by a great story and, if it’s related to women’s history or women’s medical or military history, so much the better. I love coming across anything Suffragette-related, or anything to do with social history.

Best buy, and biggest mistake?

My best buy was a black and white studio photograph of the film star Greta Garbo by the portrait photographer Clarence Sinclair Bull (1896-1979) who worked for movie studios during the golden age of Hollywood. I sold it for 10 times what it cost. My biggest mistake has to be

not buying Banksy limited-edition prints when they were selling in the low thousands in the early 2000s and are now selling for 10 times as much.

What do you like and dislike most about today’s antiques business?

I love the work I do. My day is always different and, even having been in the busines for more than 25 years, there isn’t a week that goes by where I don’t say to myself, “Well, I’ve learnt something new there.” On the minus side we need more younger buyers and we need to hammer home the green aspect of antiques. I went to the Amazon five years ago and our guide told us if you buy modern furniture made from exotic woods you’re almost certainly contributing to the deforestation of rain forests.

Do you attend fairs? If so, which?

I’m loath to reveal this as it has been responsible for some fantastic bargains but it’s the Giant Flea Market at the Bath & West Showground.

What is your favourite reference book?

There are quite a few but Harold Newman’s Illustrated Dictionary of Jewelry, 1987, is a classic reference as is Alan Hodgkinson’s Gem Testing Techniques, 2015, for any unusual gemstones I have to identify. Regarding my interest in military and nursing medals, the Medal Yearbook is an essential identification and price guide.

Your favourite non-antiques activity?

I love travelling and really missed it during the pandemic, so during that time I took up jewellery making to tap into my long-forgotten and neglected creative side. It also gave me an insight into how the jewellery I’m asked to value is made and the methods used.

Dawsons’ next sale is on November 4, for more details go to www.dawsonsauctioneers.com

‘ My biggest mistake has to be not buying Banksy limited-edition prints when they were selling in the low thousands in the early 2000s and are now selling for 10 times as much’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 63

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR: A century of the Oriental Ceramic Society

64 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Eastern eyes This year sees the centenary of the Oriental Ceramic Society which helped put the UK at the centre of East Asian art collecting. Sarah Wong reports on the men and women connoisseurs whose collections still inform sales today

A

century ago the Oriental Ceramic Society (OCS) comprised of just a small coterie of like-minded collectors and curators, gathering after dinner to discuss ‘specimens’. Today, it is an international, highly-respected organisation with a wide-ranging programme of lectures, handling sessions, trips, regular publications and exhibitions.

A new exhibition this month celebrates the collectors who were the driving force behind the OCS, showcasing ceramics, which make up a large proportion, as well as bronze, jade, lacquer, glass, painting and sculpture from China, Korea, Japan and the Middle East.

GEORGE EUMORFOPOULOS (1863-1939) Eumorfopoulos was the first president of the OCS from its establishment in 1921 until his death in 1939, as such he was described as not just the “life and soul but also the guiding hand” of the society. Though a successful businessman from a Greek Liverpool family, his true passion lay in art and collecting.

Opposite page Greenglazed stoneware meiping with large peonies, northern Song dynasty, about 1000-1100, Guantai, Handan, Hebei province, 39.8cm, from the George Eumorfopoulos collection, 1936, © The Trustees of the British Museum Above The tycoon George Eumorfopoulos’ (18631939) true passion was ceramics

In the early 20th century, as a result of railway construction work in China, pre-Ming ceramics were arriving in Europe, much of which had never been seen in the West before. Eumorfopoulos became a pioneer in collecting Han, Tang and Song pieces.

To accommodate them Eumorfopoulos constructed a purpose-built museum onto his home on 7 Chelsea Embankment. His generosity in sharing his collection was well-known and many weekends were spent by Eumorfopoulos and his wife Julia (née Scaramanga), welcoming students of Chinese ceramics, as well as wellknown collectors and academics. Many of the early OCS monthly meetings and handling sessions took place in his home.

SONG COLLECTION A Northern Song stoneware meiping vessel from the non-imperial Cizhou kilns, carved with large scrolling peonies and collected by Eumorfopoulos (left) is one of the stars of this month’s exhibition. Notable for its unusual bright-green glaze, Cizhou wares were largely unknown in the West at the time Eumorfopoulos was collecting and he was able to build a comprehensive group, much of which is now in the British Museum today – including this vessel.

Another strong area of his collection was Song dynasty Ding wares from Henan province – these highfired ceramics with their creamy tones were perhaps attractive to early OCS collectors because they closely resembled porcelain.

One of his examples (below), now in the V&A, is included in the exhibition. In 1934, as a result of the Depression, Eumorfopoulos was unable to donate his collection as he had intended, instead selling a great part of it to the British Museum and the V&A at preferential rates. His collection formed the foundation of their outstanding collections of early East Asian ceramics.

Left Interior of 7 Chelsea Embankment, home of George Eumorfopoulos, 1934 Right Porcellaneous stoneware jar with incised lotus decoration, Northern Song dynasty, 11th-early 12th century, Ding kilns, Quyang, Hebei province, © V&A, London

‘Eumorfopoulos constructed a purpose-built museum onto his home on 7 Chelsea Embankment to house his vast collection. His generosity in sharing his collection was well-known and many weekends were spent by Eumorfopoulos and his wife Julia (née Scaramanga), welcoming students of Chinese ceramics’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 65

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR: A century of the Oriental Ceramic Society

OSCAR RAPHAEL (1874-1941) Oscar Raphael, a collector and amateur dealer, was an OCS founder member who was also briefly the society’s vice-president (1937-1940) and its president (1941).

He was said to have collected from a young age and, by the time of his death, had formed a collection of more than a thousand bronzes, ceramics, sculpture and jades. His measured style of collecting was very different in style from Eumorfopoulos’ comprehensive approach.

Part of Raphael’s collection would have been kept at his flat, 5A Mount Street, where his neighbour was another early OCS member, Henry Oppenheim (d. 1946). Raphael was a cousin by marriage to yet another OCS member and legendary collector, Sir Percival David (1892-1964).

This month’s exhibition includes two of Raphael’s objects. The first is a Song dynasty (960-1279) stoneware brown-black-glazed ‘leaf’ bowl, now in the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum (below). The second is a Kashan stonepaste bowl from Iran dating to 1187 with a remarkable narrative scene, probably a poetry recital gathering (above right).

It depicts an important, perhaps royal, seated person surrounded by courtiers, while the poet or

narrator on the other side of the tree is the focus of their attention.

This important bowl was bequeathed by Oscar Raphael to the British Museum, together with 60 other objects from the Middle East.

Raphael’s interest also extended to the collection of blue and white porcelain at the Topkapi Sarayi in Istanbul. On a visit to the city in 1924, Raphael acquired a facetted Yuan dynasty (1279-1368) vase decorated with dense panels of underglaze blue decoration (below). Raphael’s remarkable collection was later divided between the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and the British Museum.

Top left Interior of 7

Chelsea Embankment, 1934, with a cabinet of Ding ware on the left, including what appears to be the Northern Song jar on the second shelf from the top

Top right Stone-paste bowl, attributed to the potter Abu Zayd Mina’i ware dated beginning of Muharram 583/March 1187 CE, Kashan, Iran, © The Trustees of the British Museum Above Oscar Raphael (1874-1941), © Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge Left Brown-black-glazed stoneware tea bowl with leaf decoration, Song dynasty, 960-1279, Jizhou kilns, Jiangxi province, © Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge Right Underglaze blue

porcelain vase Yuan dynasty, 14th century, Jingdezhen kilns, Jiangxi province, © Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge

66 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Collectors, Curators, Connoisseurs, A Century of the Oriental Ceramic Society 1921-2021, including more than 100 objects from UK museums and from private members’ collections, runs at the Brunei Gallery SOAS, University of London until December 11. For more details and tickets go to www.soas. ac.uk/gallery. A catalogue is available to order from www.orientalceramicsociety.org.uk

Women collectors

While all the founder members of the OCS tended to be men of a certain class and standing, it appointed its first female president in 1978 with Mary Tregear, who was keeper of East Asian ceramics at the Ashmolean Museum.

The early volumes of the Society’s journal, Transactions, refer to some early female collectors including the Misses Alexander; Dame Alice Godman and her “magnificent collection of Near Eastern pottery” (1927-1928) and Mrs Carl Holmes (1928-1930).

More women joined the society after it expanded its remit in 1933 to include those interested in ‘Oriental ceramics’. Some were wives of founder members such as Mrs S. D. Winkworth and Julia Eumorfopoulos.

Other women joined with their husbands, but were, in fact, the driving force behind the collecting.

Above right Underglaze blue porcelain moon flask, bianhu Qing dynasty, Yongzheng period (1722-1735) Jingdezhen kilns, Jiangxi province. By permission of the warden and the scholars of Winchester College Left The Hon. Mrs Nellie Ionides (1883-1962) with her dog Clicquot, c. 1945 Below Porcelain stem

cup with anhua, moulded and reserved decoration on an underglaze copper-red ground, Ming dynasty, Yongle period (14031424) Jingdezhen kilns, Jiangxi province, © The Trustees of the British Museum

Another piece from her collection is the Qing dynasty, Yongzheng period (1722-1735) underglaze blue porcelain moon flask, bianhu, lent to the current exhibition by Winchester College .

When she bought this flask in 1937 it was thought to date from the 15th century but, by the time it was acquired by its next owners, the Duberlys, in 1951, it was recognised as an 18th-century version of a Yongle prototype.

Sedgwick was a collector of considerable acumen and taste. Combined with her scholarship, this allowed her to build a collection of rare quality, some of which was sold at auction, while much was also bequeathed to a number of galleries and museums.

Hon. Mrs Nellie Ionides (1883-1962)

Another notable female collector was Nellie Ionides, the daughter of Sir Marcus Samuel, the former Lord Mayor of London who founded the company that was to become Royal Dutch Shell.

Her second husband, Basil Ionides, was a noted art deco designer and architect and the couple shared a passion for the arts, becoming celebrated collectors and connoisseurs.

Her interests included Regency furniture, Meissen and Chinese porcelain, while he collected Chinese export porcelain. They were members of the OCS from 19451949. A pair of Qing dynasty, Qianlong period (1736-1795) enamelled copper vases formerly within her collection (below) will also be on display this month.

Alice Sedgwick (1883-1967)

One such was Alice Mariquita Sedgwick (née Street, 18831967) who was the granddaughter of George Edmund Street (1824-1881) one of Victorian England’s principal architects.

She was a dedicated collector of East Asian art who started collecting in the 1920s, independently of her husband, Walter. She seems to have been the first woman to serve on the OCS council in 1935-1936, and completed her final term in 1960, when she was already 77.

Sedgwick had an outstanding collection of Ming ceramics, including a Yongle period (1403-1424) porcelain stem cup with anhua, moulded and reserved decoration on an underglaze copper-red ground that belonged to her and is now in the British Museum (above).

Right Pair of painted

enamel copper vases and covers, Qing dynasty, Qianlong marks and of the period (17361795)

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 67

68 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Top of the jewellery lots Jewellery once worn by two controversial royal women goes under the hammer this month, including bracelets belonging to the French queen Marie Antoinette

Above right The Duchess of Windsor photographed by Cecil Beaton in 1939, wearing the diamond and ruby Left The diamond

bracelets were sent to Brussels by the imprisoned queen for safekeeping

Below The art deco

T

wo diamond bracelets that Marie Antoinette (1755-1793) entrusted to a friend before her execution could make £3m at a sale in Geneva this month.

The stunning jewels, which contain 112 diamonds, were among her few surviving possessions sent from France before she and her husband, King Louis XIV, were captured during the French Revolution.

On 11 January 1791, two years before she was guillotined, the Brussels ambassador Count MercyArgenteau received a letter from the queen, then a prisoner in the Tuileries, telling him her jewellery was being sent to him in a wooden chest for safekeeping.

After the royal couple were executed in 1793 the jewellery ended up with their eldest daughter, MarieTherese, who was exiled to Britain.

When she died in 1851 her jewellery was divided among her three nieces and nephews, the Count and Countess of Chambord and the Duchess of Parma.

The French queen could not resist jewellery – especially diamonds. In the spring of 1776, she bought

Cartier bracelet was a gift on the duchess’s first wedding anniversary

the two diamond bracelets on sale this month for 250,000 livres, a huge sum at the time.

DUCHESS OF WINDSOR Meanwhile, at the same Christie’s sale, an art deco diamond and ruby bracelet, given to the Duchess of Windsor by her husband, the Duke of Windsor, on their first wedding anniversary, has an estimate of £740,000 to £1.6m.

The rubies and diamonds set in the bracelet originally featured on a necklace, but Cartier made them into a bracelet in 1937.

The duke famously abdicated the British throne to marry the twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson.

To mark love, passion, good fortune, courage and prosperity, he chose rubies to take the centre stage of this unique jewel.

The couple were married in France at the Château de Candé in June 1937. For years the Windsor’s were a fixture of international society and are still remembered for their chic lifestyle, the duchess’s style and her impressive jewellery.

The bracelet is appearing at auction for the first time since the landmark 1987 sale of jewels belonging to the Duchess of Windsor, which sold for £31m – six times its pre-sale estimate.

The sale takes place at the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues in Geneva on November 9, for more details go to www.christies.com

‘The French queen could not resist jewellery – especially diamonds. In the spring of 1776, she bought the two diamond bracelets on sale for 250,000 livres, a huge sum at the time’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 69

ANTIQUES UNDER THE HAMMER Lots in November

TOP of the LOTS

Unsurprisingly, Asian art features strongly in this month’s sales along with art deco jewellery and scent bottles An art nouveau enamel and pearl pendant c. 1900 by the French jeweller Georges Le Turcq, (1859- ) has an estimate of £800-£1,200 at Dix Noonan Webb’s sale on November 23.

It was only after Le Turcq’s 1885 successful partnership with Julien Duval dissolved in 1894 that he began to experiment in the art nouveau style for which he is known.

A late 13th or early 14th-century gold, ruby and emerald ring discovered by a metal detectorist on his second visit to a ploughed field in Norfolk has an estimate of £2,000-£3,000.

A Chinese vase, depicting four archaic phoenix (fenghuang) among lotus flowers and fronds, has an estimate of £1,500£2,500 at Dawsons’ Asian art sale on November 4.

The 40.5cm tall piece, with a ruyi head and false gadroon bands, bears a six-character Guangxu mark. To learn more about Chinese marks turn to page 36.

Above The vase has the six-character mark of the Guangxu period (1875-1908)

Above left The ring was buried under 3cm of soil Above right The pendant is in the classic art nouveau style

A woodblock triptych by the ukiyo-e printmaker Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) dated c. 1849-1852 has an estimate of £20,000-£30,000 at Woolley & Wallis’s Japanese art sale on November 23.

The piece, from a private English collection, depicts the ghosts of the Taira clan attacking Minamoto Yoshitsune (1159-1189), the military commander of the Minamoto clan after a brutal defeat.

Legend says that today, the cries of the restless Taira ghosts can still be heard coming from the water at the site of the legendary battle.

Below The woodblock print is by the Edo-period master Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Above It is the first time the O’Keeffe painting has appeared at auction

A picture of a flowering ginger plant by the American artist Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) is expected to fetch $4-$6m at Phillips New York on November 17.

It is the first time the 1939 work Crab’s Claw Ginger, Hawaii has appeared on the market, having been owned by the Dole Pineapple Company for 40 years, before being bought

by Thurston Twigg-Smith in 1987, a fifth-generation Hawaiian philanthropist. Of the approximately 20 paintings O’Keeffe created during her time in Hawaii, 14 are in museum collections.

70 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

A single owner collection of 18th-century perfume bottles from Charles Gouyn’s St James’s factory goes under the hammer in Kent this month.

Many of the pieces in the auction held at Catherine Southon’s saleroom in Chislehurst were made at the small porcelain factory owned by Gouyn (born into a family of Huguenot jewellers in Dieppe before moving to London), who was the former business partner of the founder of the Chelsea Porcelain factory, Nicholas Sprimont.

In 1748 Gouyn left the partnership after a dispute, possibly over money, to set up shop at 3 Bennet Street, just off St James’s Street. He also appears to have taken several Chelsea figural models with him as he set out to compete with Sprimont.

The type was broadly known as a ‘girl-in-a swing’ manufactory, so-called after a figure in the V&A which has given its name to a whole class of similar porcelain figures. He sold through the shop in Crown-and-Sceptre Yard on the opposite side of St. James’s Street which, until Gouyn’s departure, had dealt only in Chelsea-made wares.

1

2

3

Ornamental scent bottles

There was clearly considerable rivalry between the former business partners. On April 9, 1750, Sprimont placed an advert in The Daily Advertiser stating: As Proprietor of The Chelsea Porcelaine (sic) finds that a great many of the Nobility and others think, the former Place in St James’s Street, call’d the ChelseaChina-Warehouse, belongs still to him; this is to say that I am not concern’d in any Shape whatsoever, in the Goods expos’d to sale in that shop.

Gouyn’s speciality became ornamental and figural scent bottles, he is also recorded as operating a jewellery business in Bennet Street from 17361783, which may account for his high-quality gold and enamelled mounts.

Sale highlights

One of the sale highlights is a 9cm tall porcelain gold-mounted snuff box cum scent bottle and stopper, c. 1749-1760, which has an estimate of £2,000-£3,000. It is modelled as harlequin holding a cup of wine standing next to a barrel. His masked head forms the stopper, while the rest of the piece is decorated with sprays of flowers and cherries.

‘Gouyn’s speciality was ornamental and figural scent bottles. He is also recorded as operating a retail jewellery business in Bennet Street from 1736-1783, which may account for his highquality gold and enamelled mounts’ 4

5

Catherine Southon’s sale is on November 17 with viewing two days prior, for more information go to www.catherinesouthon.co.uk 1 A chained red squirrel is one of the highlights 2 The 9cm ‘Harlequin’ St. James’s (Charles Gouyn)

snuff box cum scent bottle has an estimate of £2,000-£3,000 3 11 St James’s (Charles Gouyn) scent bottles go under the hammer on November 17 4 A porcelain gold-mounted scent bottle and stopper in the shape of a lady playing a hurdy gurdy has an estimate of £1,000-£2,000 5 A seated red squirrel scent bottle with a gold collar and chain has an estimate of £600-£800

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 71

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72 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

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ANTIQUE COLLECTING 73

Decorative Arts & Contemporary Art: 28 October Asian Art: 11 November Vintage Fashion, Textiles & Sewing: 11 November Toys & Models: 17 November Entertainment & Memorabilia: 18 November

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 020 7254 4054 www.adamsantiquesfairs.com Adams Antiques Fair, The Royal Horticultural Halls, Elverton Street, SW1P 2QW, 7 Nov Clarion Events Ltd 0207 3848147 www.olympia-antiques.com Winter Art and Antiques Fair, National Hall Olympia, Hammersmith Rd, W14 8UX, 2-7 Nov Coin and Medal Fairs Ltd. 01694 731781. www.coinfairs.co.uk London Coin Fair, Holiday Inn Bloomsbury, Coram Street, WC1N 1HT, 6 Nov Etc Fairs 01707 872 140 www.bloomsburybookfair.com Bloomsbury Book Fair, Booker & Turner Suite at Holiday Inn, Coram Street, London, WC1N 1HT, 14 Nov Sunbury Antiques 01932 230946 www.sunburyantiques.com Sunbury Antiques Market, Kempton Park Race Course, Staines Road East, Sunbury-on-Thames, Middlesex TW16 5AQ, 30 Nov SOUTH EAST AND EAST ANGLIA: including Beds, Cambs, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex.

B2B Events, 01636 676531 www.b2bevents.info Detling International Antiques, Vintage and Collectors’ Fair, Kent County Showground, Detling, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 3JF, 30-31 Nov

Dovehouse Fine Antiques Fair www.dovehousefine antiquesfairs.com. 07952689717 Dorking Halls, Reigate Road, Dorking, Surrey, 21 Nov IACF, 01636 702326. www.iacf.co.uk. South of England Showground, Ardingly, Nr Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH17 6TL, 2-3 Nov Love Fairs 01293 690777 www.lovefairs.com Lingfield Antiques, Collectables and Vintage Market, Lingfield Park Racecourse, Racecourse Road, Lingfield, Surrey, RH7 6PQ, 21 Nov Marcel Fairs 07887648255 www.marcelfairs.co.uk Antique and Collectors Fair, Sarratt Village Hall, The Green, Rickmansworth, Herts WD3 6AS, 14 Nov Antique and Vintage Fair – Eagle Farm Road, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, SG18 8JH, 21 Nov Sunbury Antiques 01932 230946 www.sunburyantiques.com Antiques Market, Sandown Park Racecourse, Portsmouth Road, Esher, KT20 9AJ, 21 Nov SOUTH WEST: including Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Wiltshire.

AFC Fairs 07887 753956 www.antiquefairscornwall.co.uk Pensilva Antiques Fair, Millennium House, Princess Road, Liskeard, Cornwall, PL14 5NF, 28 Nov

Black Dog Events 01986 948546 www.ablackdogevent.com Winter Fair, Glemham Hall, Little Glemham, Suffolk, IP13 0BT 13-14 Nov

Continuity Fairs 01584 873634 www.continuityfairs.co.uk West point Exeter, Clyst St Mary, Exeter, EX5 1DJ, 20-21 Nov

Continuity Fairs 01584 873634 www.continuityfairs.co.uk Epsom Racecourse Antiques and Collectibles Fair, Epsom Racecourse, Epsom Downs, Epsom, Surrey, KT18 5LQ, 16 Nov

IACF 01636 702326 www.iacf.co.uk Shepton Mallet Antiques and Collectors’ Fair, Royal Bath & West Showground, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA4 6QN, 12-14 Nov

EAST MIDLANDS including Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland.

B2B Events 07774 147197 or 07771 725302www.b2bevents.info Malvern Antiques and Collectors’ Fair, The Severn Hall, Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcs., WR13 6NW, 7 Nov

Guildhall Antiques Fairs 07583 410862 www.guildhallantiquefairs.co.uk Brockington Campus, Enderby, Leicester, LE19 4AQ, 14 Nov

Coin and Medal Fairs Ltd. 01694 731781 www.coinfairs.co.uk The Midland Coin Fair, National Motorcycle Museum, Bickenhill, Birmingham, B92 0EJ, 14 Nov

IACF, 01636 702326. www.iacf.co.uk Runway Monday at Newark Antiques and Collectors’ Fair, Runway Newark, Newark, Nottinghamshire, NG24 2NY, 22 Nov

Mad Events 0207 7480774 www.antiquesforeveryone.co.uk Art and Antiques for Everyone, Hall 12, The National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham, B40 1NT, 25-28 Nov SCOTLAND

WEST MIDLANDS

including Birmingham, Coventry, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire

Galloway Antiques Fairs 01423 522122 www.gallowayfairs.co.uk Antiques and Fine Art Fair, Scone Palace, Perth, 5-7 Nov

Detling Antiques, Vintage & Collectors Market

The Kent County Showground, Detling, Maidstone, Kent. ME14 3JF.

30th - 31st October Sat: Early Entry: 8.30am - £6 Sat: Entry: 10am-4.30pm - £5 Sun: 10.30am - 3.30pm - £4

Malvern Antiques & Collectors Market

The Severn Hall, Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcs, WR13 6NW

Sunday 7th November Antiques, Art Deco, collectables & much more

Early entry: Entrance:

8.30am - £4 10am - 4:00pm - £3

NO OUTSIDE PITCHES

Please check www.b2bevents.info in case these dates have changed or been cancelled

Tel: 01636 676531 • www.b2bevents.info ANTIQUE COLLECTING 75

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 Parry Collection of Chinese Art, Nov 2 Fine Chinese Art, Nov 2 Fine Japanese Art, Nov 4 The Golden Age of Motoring Sale 1886-1939, Veteran, Vintage and Post-Vintage Motor Cars & Automobilia, Nov 5 Islamic and Indian Art, including Modern and Contemporary South Asian Art (Online), Nov 2-10 Pop x Cuture, Nov 11 Fine Decorative Arts, 1200-1900, Nov 17 Impressionist & Modern Art, Nov 23 Modern British and Irish Art, Nov 24 Bonhams Knightsbridge, SW7 020 7393 3900 www.bonhams.com Asian Art, Nov 1 British Country Life, Nov 9 British and European Art, including works from L’École de Paris, The Jewish Artists, Nov 10 Watches and Wristwatches, Nov 16 Knightsbridge Jewels, Nov 18 Modern British and Irish Art, Nov 23 Antique Arms and Armour, Nov 24 Sporting Guns, Nov 25 Chiswick Auctions 1 Colville Rd, Chiswick, W3 8BL, 020 8992 4442 www.chiswickauctions.co.uk A Middle Eastern Journey, Nov 3 Urban & Contemporary Art, Nov 3 Fine Books & Works on Paper, Nov 9 Watches, Nov 9 Autographs & Memorabilia, Nov 9 19th & 20th Century Fine Photographs, Nov 12 Asian Art, Nov 18 19th & 20th Century Paintings and Works on Paper, Nov 23 Interiors, Homes & Antiques, Nov 24 Christie’s King St., London, SW1 020 7839 9060 www.christies.com Middle Eastern 20th and 21st

76 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Century Art, Ends Nov 3 The Collector (Online), Nov 2-16 Handbags (Online) The London Edit, Nov 9-23 Jewels (Online) The London Edit Nov 12-26 Russian Art, Nov 29 Old Master Paintings and Sculpture, Nov 17-Dec 8 British and European Art, Nov 25-Dec 16 Dix Noonan Webb 16 Bolton St, Piccadilly, W1J 8BQ 020 7016 1700. www.dnw.co.uk Coins and Historical Medals, Nov 2-3 Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria, Nov 10 Jewellery, Watches and Objects of Vertu, Nov 23 Banks, Irish and World Banknotes, Nov 25 Forum Auctions 220 Queenstown Road, London SW8 4LP, 020 7871 2640 www.forumauctions.co.uk Modern Literature (Online) Nov 4 Books and Works on Paper (Online), Nov 18 Fine Books, Manuscripts and Works on Paper, Nov 25 Hansons Auctioneers The Normansfield Theatre, 2A Langdon Park, Teddington TW11 9PS, 0207 018 9300 www.hansonsauctioneers.com None listed for November Lyon & Turnbull 22 Connaught Street, London, W2 2AF, 0207 930 9115 www.lyonandturnbull.com Fine Asian & Islamic Works of Art (Live Online), Nov 5 Olympia Auction 25 Blythe Road, London, W14 OPD, 020 7806 5541 www.olympiaauctions.com British and Continental Pictures, Prints and Sculpture, Nov 5 Morton & Eden Nash House St. George Street, London W1S 2FQ , 020 7493 5344 www.mortonandeden.com Coins and Medals, Nov 25-26

Phillips 30 Berkeley Square, London, W1J 6EX,, 020 7318 4010 www.phillips.com Design, Nov 9 Photographs, Nov 23 Roseberys Knights Hill, SE27 020 8761 2522 www.roseberys.co.uk Modern and Contemporary Prints and Multiples, Nov 2 Chinese, Japanese & South East Asian Art, Nov 9-10 Old Master and 19th-Century Pictures, Nov 17 Fine and Decorative, Nov 18 Jewellery and Watches, Nov 30 Sotheby’s New Bond St., W1 020 7293 5000 www.sothebys.com The Samurai: Japanese Arms and Armour (Online), ends Nov 2 Important Chinese Art, Nov 3 Japanese Art of the Meiji Period, 1868-1912 (Online), ends Nov 3 Two Americans in Paris – The Sam and Myrna Myers Colletction of Asian Art, Nov 4 Pursuit of an Ideal: Fine Japanese Works of Art (Online), ends Nov 5 RM Sothebys London, Nov 6 20th Century Art: A Different Perspective (Online), Nov 3-9 Contemporary Curated (Online) Nov 4-10 Photographs (Online), Nov 10-16 Modern British & Irish Art, Nov 23 Irish Art (Online), Nov 17-23 Fine Jewels (Online), Nov 11-24 Scottish Art (Online), Nov 18-24 Modern British Art (Online), Nov 18-24 The Distillers: One of One (Online), Nov 3-Dec 3 SOUTH EAST AND EAST ANGLIA: Inc. Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex Beeston Auctions Unit 12, Paynes Business Park, Dereham Road, Beeston, Norfolk, PE32 2NQ, 01328 598080 www.beestonauctions.co.uk The Toy Sale, Nov 10 Antiques and Collectables, Nov 11

Bishop and Miller 19 Charles Industrial Estate, Stowmarket, Suffolk, IP14 5AH, 01449 673088 www.bishopandmiller auctions.co.uk Fine Furniture, Works of Art, Nov 4 100 Objects, Nov 18 Bellmans Newpound, Wisborough Green, West Sussex, RH14 0AZ 01403 700858 www.bellmans.co.uk Modern British and 20th Century Art, Nov 16 Interiors including Asian Ceramics, Silver, Jewellery and Clocks, Nov 17-18 The Friday 500, Nov 19 Burstow & Hewett The Auction Gallery, Lower Lake, Battle, East Sussex,TN33 0AT, 01424 772 374 www.burstowandhewett.co.uk Antiques (including Watches, Jewellery & Silver), Nov 3 Fine Art, Nov 4 Collectables, Nov 17 Furniture, Nov 18 The Canterbury Auction Galleries 40 Station Road West, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 8AN, 01227 763337 canterburyauctiongalleries.com Fine Art and Antiques, Nov 27-28 Catherine Southon Auctioneers Farleigh Court Golf Club, Old Farleigh Road, Selsdon Surrey CR6 9PE, 0208 468 1010 www.catherinesouthon.co.uk Art and Antiques (including BBC Bargain Hunt), Nov 17 Cheffins Clifton House, Clifton Road, Cambridge, CB1 7EA 01223 213343, www.cheffins.co.uk Interiors, Nov 11 The Fine Sale, Nov 24-25 Durrants Auctions The Old School House, Peddars Lane, Beccles, Suffolk, NR34 9UE, 01502 713490 www.durrantsauctions.com General Antiques, Nov 5 Silver and Jewellery, Nov 12 Wines and Spirits, Nov 19 Collectables, Nov 26

Ewbank’s London Rd, Send, Woking, Surrey, 01483 223 101 www.ewbankauctions.co.uk Country House Sale: The Contents of Fulling Mill Fishing Estate, Winchester, Nov 5 Antique and Collectors’ including Silver, Nov 10 Asian Art, Nov 11 Vintage Fashion and Textiles, Nov 11 Toys and Models, Nov 17 Entertainment, Memorabilia and Movie Props, Nov 18 The John Farmer Movie Poster Collection, Nov 19 Vintage Posters (Timed), Nov 28 Excalibur Auctions Limited Unit 16 Abbots Business Park Primrose Hill Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, WD4 8FR 020 3633 0913 wwwexcaliburauctions.com Sci-Fi / Fantasy Collectables and Memorabilia, Music and Movie Memorabilia, Nov 6 Toys and Model Railways Collectors Sale, Nov 20 John Nicholson’s Longfield, Midhurst Road, Fernhurst, Haslemere, Surrey, GU27 3HA, 01428 653727 www.johnnicholsons.com General Auction, Nov 6 Islamic and Oriental, Nov 17 Fine Art, Nov 18 Fine Paintings, Nov 24 Lacy Scott & Knight 10 Risbygate St, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 3AA, 01284 748 623 www.lskauctioncentre.co.uk Home and Interiors, Nov 6 Coins, Banknotes and Tokens, Nov 9 Affordable Jewellery and Watches, Nov 9 Mander Auctioneers The Auction Centre, Assington Road, Newton, Sudbury,Suffolk CO10 0QX, 01787 211847 www.manderauctions.co.uk Fine Art and Interiors, Nov 6 Summers Place, The Walled Garden, Stane Street, Billingshurst West Sussex, RH14 9AB, 01403 331331 www.summersplaceauctions.com Evolution, Nov 23 Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers Cambridge Road, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, CM24 8GE

01279 817778 www.sworder.co.uk Asian Art (Live Online), Nov 5 Coins and Medals (Timed), Nov 5-14 Modern and Contemporary Art (Timed), Nov 5-21 Fine Wine and Spirits (Timed) ends Nov 7 Homes and Interiors, Incl. Toys (Live Online), Nov 9 Homes and Interiors (Live Online), Nov 23 Fine Jewellery and Watches (Live Online), Nov 30 Toovey’s Antique & Fine Art Auctioneers Spring Gardens Washington West Sussex RH20 3BS, 01903 891955 www.tooveys.com Silver and Plate with Jewellery, Nov 3 Prints, Maps and Posters with Decorative Pictures, Nov 10 Asian and Islamic Ceramics and Works of Art, Nov 11 T.W. Gaze Diss Auction Rooms, Roydon Road, Diss, Norfolk, IP22 4LN, Norfolk 01379 650306. www.twgaze.com Blyth Barn Furniture Auction, Nov 2, 9, 16, 23,30 Antiques and Interiors, Nov 5, 12, 19, 26 SOUTH WEST: Inc. Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Wiltshire Auction Antiques The Antique Village, The Old Whiteways Cider Factory, Hele, Devon, EX5 4PW O1392 719 826 www.auctionantiques.co.uk Antiques, General, Alcohol, Furniture and Collectables, Nov 25 Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood St. Edmund’s Court, Okehampton Street, Exeter EX4 1DU O1392 41310 www.bhandl.co.uk Sporting and Collectors, Nov 16 Antiques and Interiors, Nov 30 British Bespoke Auctions The Old Boys School, Gretton Rd, Winchcombe, Cheltenham, GL54 5EE 01242 603005 www.bespokeauctions.co.uk Christmas Timed Sale Silver, Jewellery & Collectables (Online), Nov 10-22

Chippenham Auction Rooms Unit H, The Old Laundry. Ivy Road, Chippenham, Wiltshire. SN15 1SB 01249 444544 chippenhamauctionrooms.co.uk Toys, Vinyl, Pop Memorabilia, Posters, Postcards, Coins, Stamps and Other Collectables, Nov 11 Chorley’s Prinknash Abbey Park, Gloucestershire, GL4 8EU 01452 344499 www.chorleys.com Fine Art & Antiques, Jewellery & Silver, Nov 23 David Lay Auctions Penzance Auction House , Alverton, Penzance, Cornwall 01736 361414 www.davidlay.co.uk The Asian Sale, Nov 11 Dawsons Kings Grove Estate, Maidenhead, Berkshire | SL6 4DP 01628 944100 www.dawsonsauctions.co.uk Asian Art, Nov 4 Dominic Winter Mallard House, Broadway Lane, South Cerney, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 5UQ 01285 860006 www.dominicwinter.co.uk Printed Books, Maps & Documents, Nov 10 Military & Aviation History, Medals & Militaria, Nov 17 19th & 20th Century Photography, Cameras & Accessories, Nov 18 Dore & Rees Auction Salerooms, Vicarage Street, Frome, Somerset BA11 1PU, 01373 462 257 wwwdoreandrees.com Lee Young @ Dore & Rees: Fine Asian Art, Nov 8-9 Interiors including Furniture, Pictures, Silver, Jewellery, Rugs, Asian Art, Nov 17 Dreweatts Donnington Priory Newbury, Berkshire RG14 2JE 01635 553 553 www.dreweatts.com Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art (Pt 1) (Live Online), Nov 10 Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art (Pt 1) and Chinese, Indian and Islamic Ceramics and Works of Art (Live Online), Nov 11 Weston Hall and the Sitwells: A Family Legacy Pt 1, (Live Online) Nov 16 Weston Hall and the Sitwells: A Family Legacy Pt 2, (Live Online) Nov 17 Fine Jewellery, Silver, Watches and

Objects of Vertu (Live Online), Nov 24 Fine and Rare Wine and Spirits (Live Online), Nov 25 Duke’s Brewery Square, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 1GA 01305 265080 www.dukes-auctions.com Militaria in association with the Tank Museum, Nov 6 Asian Art, Nov 25 East Bristol Auctions Unit 1, Hanham Business Park, Memorial Road, Hanham, BS15 3JE 0117 967 1000 www.eastbristol.co.uk Antiques and Collectables (Three-Day Sale), Nov 3-5 Fine Art, Antiques and Wine, Nov 12 Entertainment Memorabilia and Vinyl, Nov 19 Gardiner Houlgate 9 Leafield Way, Corsham, Wiltshire, SN13 9SW 01225 812912 www.gardinerhoulgate.co.uk Jewellery, Nov 24 Antiques, Silver and Works of Art, Nov 25 Paintings, Nov 25 Decorative Arts and 20th-Century Design; Modern Art, Nov 25 Hansons Auctioneers 49 Parsons Street, Banbury, Oxford, OX16 5NB, 01295 817777 www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk Antiques and Collectors, Nov 6 Kinghams 10-12 Cotswold Business Village, London Road, Moreton-inMarsh, Gloucester, GL56 0JQ, 01608 695695 www.kinghamsauctioneers.com Cotswold Interiors and Collectables, Nov 25 Lawrences Auctioneers Ltd. Crewkerne, Somerset, TA18 8AB, 01460 703041 www.lawrences.co.uk General Sale, Nov 10, 24 Automobilia, Aeronautical and Motoring Literature, Nov 16 Militaria, Coins and Medals, Nov 18 Collectors, Sporting and Textiles, Nov 19 Mallams Oxford Bocardo House, St Michael’s St, Oxford. 01865 241358 www.mallams.co.uk Jewellery, Watches and Silver, Nov 17-18 Mallams Cheltenham, 26 Grosvenor St, Cheltenham. Gloucestershire, 01242 235 712 www.mallams.co.uk ANTIQUE COLLECTING 77

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.

Chinese Art, Nov 24 Japanese, Islamic and Asian Art, Nov 25 Mallams Abingdon Dunmore Court, Wootten Road, Abingdon, OX13 6BH 01235 462840 www.mallams.co.uk The Home Sale, Nov 15 Moore Allen & Innocent Burford Road Cirencester Gloucestershire GL7 5RH 01285 646050 www.mooreallen.co.uk Two Day Sale of Vintage and Antique Furniture to include Home Interiors, Paintings, Prints, Silver, Jewellery, China, Glass, Rugs and Outdoor Sections, Nov 10-11 Vintage and Antique Furniture with Home Interiors (Timed), Nov 17

Collection of Micheàl & Elizabeth Feller, Nov 9-10 Fine Jewellery, Nov 17-18 Asian Art, Chinese Paintings & Japanese Works of Art, Nov 23-24 EAST MIDLANDS: Inc. Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Sheffield

Antiques and Collectors, Nov 25-30 The Jewellery Auction, Nov 30 Mellors & Kirk The Auction House, Gregory Street, Nottingham NG7 2NL 0115 979 0000 www.mellorsandkirk.com Four-day Fine Art and Collectors, Nov 16-19 Gold Coins, Nov 17

Batemans Ryhall Rd, Stamford, WEST MIDLANDS: Inc. Lincolnshire, PE9 1XF 01780 766 466 www.batemans.com Birmingham, Coventry, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Fine Art, Antiques & Specialist Staffordshire, Warwickshire Collectors, Nov 6 Jewellery and Watches, Silver and Gold, Coins and Banknotes, Nov 19 Bigwood Auctioneers StratfordUpon-Avon, Warwickshire, Gildings Auctioneers The Mill, Great CV37 7AW 01789 269415 Bowden Road, Market Harborough, www.bigwoodauctioneers.com Philip Serrell Barnards Green Rd, Home Furnishings and Collectables, LE16 7DE 01858 410414, Malvern, Worcs. WR14 3LW, Nov 5, 12 www.gildings.co.uk 01684 892314 www.serrell.com Aero Model Engines and Kits, Nov 9 Select Interiors and Antiques, Interiors, Nov 4 Nov 25 Fine Art and Antiques, Nov 25 Golding Young & Mawer The Cuttlestones Ltd Wolverhampton Bourne Auction Rooms, Spalding Stroud Auctions Bath Rd, Trading Auction Rooms, No 1 Clarence Road, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 Est, Bath Rd, Stroud, Gloucestershire, 9LE 01778 422686 Street, Wolverhampton, West GL5 3QF 01453 873 800 Midlands, WV1 4JL, 01902 421985 www.goldingyoung.com www.stroudauctions.co.uk www.cuttlestones.co.uk Bourne Collective, Nov 3-4 Guns and Weapons, Medals and Specialist Collectors, Nov 19 Bourne Toy, Transport & Militaria, Taxidermy, Sporting, Classic Automobilia Sale, Nov 25 Cuttlestones Ltd Pinfold Lane Cars and Motorcycles, Ceramics and Penkridge Staffordshire Glass, Nov 3-4 ST19 5AP, 01785 714905 Golding Young & Mawer The Grantham Auction Rooms, Old www.cuttlestones.co.uk The Pedestal The Dairy, Stonor Park, Wharf Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire A Special Auction of Attic contents Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire from Chillington Hall, Brewood, NG31 7AA 01476 565118 RG9 6HF, United Kingdom.

Nov 3 www.goldingyoung.com 01491 522733 Antiques and Collectables, Grantham Collective, Nov 10-11 www.thepedestal.com Nov 10, 24 Asian Art, Nov 24 Design for Living, Nov 30 Fellows Augusta House, 19 Augusta Golding Young & MawerThe Special Auction Services Street, Hockley, Birmingham, Lincoln Auction Rooms, Thos Plenty Close, Newbury, Berkshire, B18 6JA 0121 212 2131 Mawer House, Station Road North RG14 5RL 01635 580 595 www.fellows.co.uk Hykeham, Lincoln LN6 3QY wwwspecialauctionservices.com Pawnbrokers Jewellery and 01522 524984 Antiques and Collectables, Nov 2 Watches, Nov 4, 18 www.goldingyoung.com Music and Entertainment, Nov 16 Watches and Watch Accessories Lincoln Collective, Nov 17-18 Jewellery, Silver, Watches and Coins, Lincoln Fine Art, Nov 24 (Timed Onints, Nov 15 Nov 17 Fine Jewellery, Nov 25 Dolls and Teddy Bears, Nov 22-24 Antiques, Silver and Collectables, Hansons Heage Lane, Etwall, Mechanical Music, Nov 30 Nov 29 Derbyshire, DE65 6LS 01283 733988 Woolley & Wallis, 51-61 Castle Fieldings Mill Race Lane, www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire, Stourbridge, DY8 1JN 01384 444140 The Music and Film Memorabilia SP1 3SU, 01722 424500 www.fieldingsauctioneers.co.uk Auction, Nov 2 www.woolleyandwallis.co.uk The October Sale, including The Derbyshire Dales Auction Upper Slaughter Manor, The Mantiques, Nov 11-12 Antiques, Nov 13

78 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Halls Bowmen Way, Battlefield, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY4 3DR 01743 450700 www.hallsgb.com/fine-art Antiques and Interiors, Nov 3 Asian Art (Timed Online), Nov 5-20 The Enid and Bruce Moulder Collection of Children’s Antique Tea Wares, principally c. 1810-1870, Nov 5-23 Modern and Contemporary Art (Timed Online), ends Nov 7 Hansons Auctioneers Bishton Hall, Wolseley Bridge, Stafford, ST18 0XN, 0208 9797954 www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk The Single-Owner Painting Auction, Nov 5 The Sporting and Gentleman’s Auction, Nov 9 The Georgian Auction, Nov 10 The Hogwarts & Antiquarian Book Auction, Nov 11 The Single-Owner Staffordshire Pottery Auction, Nov 12 The Country House Toy Nostalgia Auction, Nov 13 The Cricket Memorabilia Auction, Nov 23 Potteries Auctions Unit 4A, Aspect Court, Silverdale Enterprise Park, Newcastle, Staffordshire, ST5 6SS, 01782 638100 www.potteriesauctions.com Two Day Auction of 20th Century British Pottery, Collectors Items, Household Items, Antique and Quality Furniture, Nov 12-13 Trevanion The Joyce Building, Station Rd, Whitchurch, Shropshire, SY13 1RD, 01928 800 202 www.trevanion.com Fine Art and Antiques, Nov 24 NORTH: Inc. Cheshire, Co. Durham, Cumbria, Humberside, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Sheffield, Yorkshire Adam Partridge Withyfold Drive, Macclesfield, Cheshire, 01625 431 788 www.adampartridge.co.uk Two Day Auction of Boutique, Silver,

Jewellery & Watches with Furniture & Interiors, Nov 18-19 Adam Partridge The Liverpool Saleroom, 18 Jordan Street, Liverpool, L1 OBP 01625 431 788 www.adampartridge.co.uk Asian Art with Antiques and Collectors’ Items, Nov 3 Anderson and Garland Crispin Court, Newbiggin Lane, Westerhope, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE5 1BF, 0191 432 1911 www.andersonandgarland.com Homes and Interiors, Nov 2, 16 The Comic Auction, Nov 10-11 The Pictures Auction, Nov 18 Fine Watches Auction, Nov 30 Fine Silver and Jewellery Auction, Nov 30 Fine Art and Interiors, Nov 30-Dec 2 Capes Dunn The Auction Galleries, 40 Station Road, Heaton Mersey, SK4 3QT 0161 432 1911 www.capesdunn.com Interiors, Vintage & Modern Furniture, Nov 1, 15, 29 Collectors, Nov 2 European Ceramics & Glass, Oriental Works of Art, Nov 16 Jewellery, Silver, Watches and Gold Coins, Nov 30 David Duggleby Auctioneers The Gallery Saleroom, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, YO11 1XN, 01723 507 111 www.davidduggleby.com Jewellery, Watches, Silver and Coins, Nov 11 Decorative Antiques and Collectors, Nov 12 Collectors and Clearance, Nov 12 Affordable Art, Nov 13 The Furnishings Sale, Nov 13 Musical and Scientific Instruments, Cameras and Maritime, Nov 19 The Winter Art Sale, Nov 26 Duggleby Stephenson of York The Saleroom, Murton, York YO19 5GF, 01904 393 300 www.dugglebystephenson.com Jewellery Watches and Silver, Nov 4 Furniture, Clocks and Interiors, Nov 5 Collectors and Clearance, Nov 17 Elstob & Elstob Ripon Business Park, Charter Road, Ripon, North Yorkshire HG4 1AJ, 01677 333003 www.elstobandelstob.co.uk

Jewellery, Watches & Silver, Nov 20

Lomax Kit Car, Militaria, Vintage Toys, Model Railways, Cameras, Coins and Banknotes, followed by Maxwells of Wilmslow The Auction Vintage Vinyl, Music Memorabilia Rooms, Levens Road, Hazel Grove, and Musical Instruments, Nov 17 Stockport, Cheshire, SK7 5DL, 0161 439 5182 Vectis Auctions Ltd Fleck Way, www.maxwells-auctioneers.com Thornaby, Stockton on Tees, Monthly Antiques and Collective, TS17 9JZ www.vectis.co.uk Nov 16-17 01642 750616 Military, Civilian Figures, Equipment Mitchells Antiques and Fine Art and Accessories, Nov 2 47 Station Road, Cockermouth, Specialist Diecast, Nov 9, 23 Cumbria, CA13 9PZ General Toys, Nov 17 01900 827 800 Model Trains, Nov 19 www.mitchellsantiques.co.uk Tinplate, Nov 24 General Sale, Nov 4, 18 TV and Film-Related Sale, Nov 30 Home and Garden, Nov 11, 25 Wilkinson’s Auctioneers Sheffield Auction Gallery The Old Salesroom, 28 Netherhall Windsor Road, Heeley, Sheffield, S8 Road, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, 8UB, 0114 281 6161 DN1 2PW, 01302 814 884 www.sheffieldauctiongallery.com wilkinsons-auctioneers.co.uk Silver, Jewellery and Watches, Period Oak, Nov 27-28 Nov 11, 25 Specialist Collectable Toys, Nov 11 Wilson55 Victoria Gallery, Market St, Antiques and Collectables, Nantwich, Cheshire. 01270 623 878 Nov 12, 26 www.wilson55.com Coins, Stamps and Militaria, Nov 25 Designer, Luxury & Fashion, Nov 4 Firearms, Shotguns, Airguns, Arms Omega Auctions Ltd Sankey Valley and Militaria, Nov 25 Industrial Estate, Newton-LeWillows, Merseyside WA12 8DN, SCOTLAND 01925 873040 www.omegaauctions Music Memorabilia (Day 1) Rare and Bonhams Queen St, Edinburgh.

Collectable Vinyl Records (Day 2), 0131 225 2266 www.bonhams.com Nov 23-24 None listed for November Guitars, Instruments and Audio Equipment, Nov 30 Lyon & Turnbull Music Memorabilia and Vinyl Broughton Place, Edinburgh.

Showcase Auction, Nov 30 0131 557 8844 www.lyonandturnbull.com Tennants Auctioneers Leyburn, Five Centuries: Furniture, Paintings & North Yorkshire, 01969 623780 Works of Art, Nov 17 www.tennants.co.uk African & Oceanic Art, Antiquities Antiques and Interiors, Nov 5, 20 and Natural History, Nov 24 Coins and Banknotes, Nov 10 Autumn Fine Sale (Two Day), McTears Auctioneers Nov 12-13 31 Meiklewood Road, Glasgow, G51 The Fabulous Designer Fashion Sale, 4GB, 0141 810 2880 Nov 12 www.mctears.co.uk British, European and Sporting The British and International Pictures, Nov 13 Pictures Auction, Nov 3 Fine Jewellery, Watches and Silver, The Clocks, Scientific & Musical Nov 13 Instruments, Nov 4 Costume, Accessories and Textiles, The Works of Art, Medals, Militaria Nov 20 and Furniture Auction, Books, Maps and Manuscripts, Nov 4 Nov 20 The Jewellery Auction, Nov 5, 28 The Sporting Medals and Trophies Thomson Roddick The Auction Auction, Nov 5 Centre, Marconi Road, Burgh Road The Antiques and Interiors Auction, Industrial Estate, Carlisle, CA2 7NA, Nov 12, Nov 26 01228 535 288 The Coins & Banknotes Auction, www.thompsonroddick.com Nov 25 Collector’s Auction to Include The Watches Auction, Nov 28

Thomson Roddick The Auction Centre, 118 Carnethie Street, Rosewell, Edinburgh, EH24 9AL, 0131 440 2448 www.thompsonroddick.com The Edinburgh Collector’s Auction of Toys, Whisky, Postcards, Stamps, Coins, Medals and Militaria, Nov 11 Thomson Roddick The Auction Centre, Irongray Road, Dumfries, DG2 0JE 01387 721635 www.thompsonroddick.com Antiques & Works of Art, Nov 16 WALES Anthemion Auctions, 15 Norwich Road, Cardiff, CF23 9AB. 029 2047 2444 www.anthemionauction.com General Sale, Nov 3 Fine Art, Antique and Collectors’, Nov 17 Jones & Llewelyn Unit B, Beechwood Trading Estate, Llandeilo, Carmarthenshire, SA19 7HR 01558 823 430 www.jonesandllewelyn.com General Antiques, Nov 13, 27 Rogers Jones & Co 17 Llandough Trading Estate, Penarth, Cardiff, CF11 8RR 02920 708125 www.rogersjones.co.uk The Welsh Sale, Nov 6 Selections and Collections, Nov 6 Jewellery and Collectables, Nov 19 Charity Art Auction for City Hospice, Nov 25 Rogers Jones & Co Colwyn Bay Saleroom, 33 Abergele Road, Colwyn Bay, Conwy, LL29 7RU 01492 532176 www.rogersjones.co.uk None listed for November IRELAND Adam’s 26 St Stephens Green Dublin, D02 X66, 00 353-1-6760261 www.adams.ie Asian Art, Nov 19 Whyte’s 38 Molesworth St. Dublin, D02 KF80, 00 353-1-676 2888, www.whytes.ie None listed for November ANTIQUE COLLECTING 79

A Georg Jensen sterling silver candelabra and goblet

AUCTION: Wednesday 17th November VIEWING: Monday 15th and Tuesday 16th November

Tel: 020 8468 1010

Email: info@catherinesouthon.co.uk THE COLLECTABLES AUCTION HOUSE As a family business we care for your items as much as you do

From James Bond to Ricky Martin's signed, stage worn trousers to a signed Simon and Garfunkel display to Iron Maiden crew memorabilia

to a lifesize Star Wars Death Trooper our next auction is sure to have something for everyone!

Movie and Music Memorabilia 6th November hello@excaliburauctions.com

T: 020 3633 0913

www.excaliburauctions.com

16 Abbots Business Park, Primrose Hill, Kings Langley WD4 8FR

80 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

ANTIQUES CENTRES

LENNOX CATO ANTIQUES & WORKS OF ART EST: 1978

•WANTED• ~ WANTED ~

for epic East Yorkshire Georgian townhouse restoration.

For East Yorkshire town house renovation.

Labelled/ stamped branded furniture from Georgian to Victorian, eg Thomas Butler, Morgan & Sanders, J Alderman, Ross of Dublin (pictured), Gregory Kane, Wilkinson of Ludgate Hill, Robert James of Bristol, James Winter, W Priest, Samuel Pratt and many others. Tables all types, chairs, bookcases, , Davenport. mirrors etc. Campaign shower.

Georgian chamber horseIVexercise chair (pictured) Signed and unusual furniture. Georgian, Regency, William . Sofa / Pembroke / side tables, library furniture / bookcases. Also Victorian campaign chests, armchairs etc.

Ross of Dublin, Morgan & Sanders, Williams & Gibton, James Winter, Hill & Millard Unusual to William IV architectural features andGeorgian many others. eg doors, door frames, over door pediments. 18th century

J Alderman. Daws and George Minterspindles recliningand chairs.

Shoolbred/ Hamptons staircase handrail needed.

Anything/ Cornelius Georgian Smith Victorian with armchairs. or Regency lots of character considered.

Marble fire surrounds. Georgian / Regency/ William IV. Bullseyes etc.

Exceptional Georgian / Regency fire grates

Rectangular Georgian fanlight.

Sash windows x 4 identical. Georgian reclaimed. Approx 58” high x 36” wide.

Four identical reclaimed Georgian wooden sash windows Wide reclaimed floorboards.

Approx 100 m2. with boxes, 60 highwall x 37orwide.

Early decorative oil / gas / electric light fiapprox ttings. Ceiling, table.

Early gasoliers. Colza lamps. Gimble lamp.

1 The Square, Church Street, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 5BD 01732 865 988 cato@lennoxcato.com

www.lennoxcato.com

Roland Ward, VanMarble Ingen fire taxidermy.

Human skull. surrounds fromskull.

1750Hippopotamus to 1850ish. White or coloured.

Stuffed crocodile / alligator.

Bullseyes, William IV styles etc. Brass Regency reeded fire

insert and Victorian griffin grate (pictured)

Quirky architectural features. Regency columns, corbels, marble and stone pieces, over door pediments, folding/rolling multi part Georgian room dividing doors.

Human skull, stuffed crocodile/ alligator.

Victorian canopy shower bath. Decorated toilets etc Unitas, Simplicitas, Deluge etc.

Grand tour souvenirs.

Decorated basins x 3.

vintagejewellery@yahoo.co.uk ororteltel07958 vintagejewellery@yahoo.co.uk 07958333442 333442

•WANTED• •WANTED•

VINTAGE VINTAGE WRISTWATCHES WRISTWATCHES Omega Seamasters and pre-1980s Omegas in general.

Omega Seamasters and pre-1980s Omegas in general.

IWC and Jaeger LeCoultres, all styles. Looking for Reversos. American market filled IWC and Jaeger LeCoultres, all styles. Looking for Reversos. American market filled and 14k pieces possibly, at the right price. and 14k pieces possibly, at the right price.

Rutland The

Longines, Tudors Tudors and and Zeniths, Zeniths,pre-1970. pre-1970.Even Evenbasic basicsteel steelmodels modelsininnice nicecondition. condition.

Longines, All the the quirky quirky oddities oddities like like Harwoods, Harwoods,Autorists, Autorists,Wig WigWag, Wag,Rolls Rollsetc, etc,and andWorld WorldWar WarI I All hunterand andsemi-hunter semi-hunterwristwatches. wristwatches. hunter Early, pre-war pre-war ladies’ ladies’ watches watchesalso alsowanted wantedby byRolex, Rolex,Jaeger JaegerLeCoultre LeCoultreetc. etc.Prefer Prefer Early, 1920s/30s deco decostyles, styles,but butearly earlydoughnuts doughnutsalso alsoconsidered. considered.

1920s/30s

Yorkshire based, based, but but often oftenin inLondon Londonand andcan caneasily easilycollect collectnationwide. nationwide.

Yorkshire

vintagejewellery@yahoo.co.ukor ortel tel07958 07958333442 333442 vintagejewellery@yahoo.co.uk

ARMS

Breitling Breitling Top TopTimes, Times,Datoras Datorasand and806 806Navitimers.

Navitimers.

Pre-1960s Rolex models, with a focus in pre-war Pre-1960s Rolex models, with a focus in pre-wartanks, tanks,tonneaus tonneausetc. etc.

Gold Gold or or silver/steel. silver/steel.Also AlsoWorld WorldWar WarIIRolex Rolex13 13lignes lignesetc. etc.Princes.

Princes.

PM Antiques & Collectables We Buy & Sell are a modern and innovative pm-antiques.co.uk antiques retailer based in Surrey.

Specialising in a wide array Contact us: of collector’s items, including phil@pm-antiques.co.uk contemporary art, entertainment 01932 640113 DE45 1BT The Square Bakewell Derbyshire and memorabilia, vintage toys, Over 45 dealers on 2 floors presenting Quality Antique Oak & decorative watches Mahoganyceramics, Furniture, Clocks, Silver, OSP, Arts and Crafts, Porcelain, andPottery, automobilia.

Fine Art Paintings, Bronze Sculpture, Jewellery, Bijouterie,

ANTIQUES

Centre

ADVERTISE TODAY PLEASE CALL CHARLOTTE KETTELL Glass, Art Nouveau, Deco, Vintage Luggage and Clothing, ONArt 01394 389969 Oriental Items, Treen, Exquisite Lighting, Books and other email: Gallery Café Collectables.or Incorporating PMAntiques2015 PM_Antiques VISIT NOW FOR A WONDERFUL SHOPPING EXPERIENCE Charlotte.Kettell@accartbooks.com

Opening hours: Mon-Sat 10-5, Sundays 11-4.

Tel: 01629 810468 www.therutlandarmsantiquescentre.co.uk ANTIQUE COLLECTING 65

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 81

LAST WORD Marc Allum My admiration is for those people who can divine these items. I’ve worked with such experts. Of course, we know of many objects which have turned up as sleepers raising the roof of a provincial auction house and selling for £350,000 on a £200£300 estimate.

So what drives these artefacts to make such high amounts? Well, Chinese culture is very much bound up with notions of competition and achievement in business and education. Could it be this drive which, in turn, stimulates the Asian art market pushing some items to achieve headier prices than they actually deserve?

JAPANESE VALUE

Marc My Words

I

Collectors enter the quixotic Asian art realm at their peril, writes Antiques Roadshow expert Marc Allum

t’s that time of the year again and the Asian art sales are in full swing as auction houses and dealers vie for the finest pieces of predominantly Chinese and Japanese works of art. The friendly rivalry is fierce and reputations can be won and lost on the fall of a hammer.

Yet it’s such a mercurial market founded on the back of the new-found wealth of the Asian Tigers (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan) with highly-competitive collectors and fragile markets.

I generally watch from a safe distance and get involved in the odd deal when my general valuation work takes me into such opportunities but, quite frankly, I find some of it is just a little bit scary.

CRYSTAL BALL However, I’ve had my fair share of interesting experiences and handling the odd £2.5m vase can be a rather intoxicating occurrence, particularly when you understand the history and nuances behind it. If only I’d had a crystal ball that actually worked (I do own a crystal ball)

82 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

as I climbed the auctioneering ladder in my younger days.

Even now I can remember the good items that were very affordable 25 years ago and have since risen exponentially in price to the value of a small house.

And while it’s easy to say “it’s no use crying over spilt milk”, I have first-hand experiences of people who have done exactly that. One friend and dealer in particular was ecstatic some 25 years ago when she sold a blue and white Chinese vase at auction for £36,000. Some years later she called me – literally crying – when she found out it had re-sold in Hong Kong for £1m!

C’est la vie.

But who am I to determine such matters?

I’m also both saddened and confounded by items of higher-quality craftsmanship, such as Japanese works of art, which have suffered from the lost decades and stagnation of the country’s past economic overextension.

Despite this, prices for good Japanese pieces do seem to be gaining some ground.

I hope this season’s Asian art sales will see an increase in value of such works, alongside the usual staggering results that the UK trade seems so good at producing. I shall be watching with interest.

Marc Allum is an author, lecturer and specialist on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow. For more details go to www.marcallum.co.uk

Above Treasures await: a Qing bianhu, or moon flask, has an estimate of £10,000-£15,000 at Sworders’ Asian art sale on November 5 Right Good return:

a Chinese Doucai ribbed vase, estimated at £100 sold for £200,000, image courtesy of Diamond Mills, Felixstowe

‘Of course we know of many pieces of Asian art that have turned up as sleepers and raised the roof of a provincial auction house, selling for £350,000 on a £200-£300 estimate’

Wilkinson's 1_Wilkinson's 1 06/03/2020 11:43 Page 1

Period Oak Country Furniture and Effects 27th and 28th November 2021 starting at 11am.

Viewing days Thursday 25th and Friday 26th 10-4pm, the sale day from 9-11am, or by private appointment.

Wilkinsons Auctioneers Ltd The Old Saleroom, 28 Netherhall Road, Doncaster, South Yorkshire, DN1 2PW 01302 814884 www.wilkinsons-auctioneers.co.uk

O LY MP IA LONDON

2 – 7 NOVEMBER 2021 PRIVATE PREVIEW 1 NOVEMBER

SAVE THE DATE Over 70 specialist dealers will present an outstanding array of pieces from the modern and eclectic, to the traditional and classic, offering extraordinary choice for creating stylish interiors and inspiring collections.

Every piece for sale is vetted by experts to ensure you can buy with confidence.