October issue Antique Collecting magazine

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 B E S T C O L U M N I S T S L AT E S T B O O K O F F E R S

ANTIQUE

COLLECTING FURNITURE MASTERCLASS

GEORGIAN SPLENDOUR 200 years after the death of George III, why the style continues to enchant

ANTIQUE COLLECTING VOL 55 N0.5 OCT 2020

Lifting the spirits Prices for 18th-century gin glasses start at £35

3

OCT 2020

Plus:

DEATH STARS:

MOURNING JEWELLERY APPRECIATING THE SATIRICAL PRINT GRANDEUR DESIGNS COUNTRY ESTATES TO INSPIRE YOUR COLLECTION

THE WRITE IMPRESSION

75 YEARS OF THE BALLPOINT PEN

WOMEN AT THE HEART OF EARLY WEDGWOOD

Celebrating the names behind iconic Jasperware

ALSO INSIDE Up-to-date listings • Sale results • What’s going under the hammer

The Decorative Antiques & Textiles

FAIR AUTUMN

ONLINE ADVANCE TICKET BOOKING ONLY

22-25 October 2020

Evolution London Battersea Park Learn more at decorativefair.com

ANTIQUES AND 20TH CENTURY DESIGN FOR INTERIOR DECORATION If you are unable to visit we have an interactive 360ยบ virtual tour of the fair and offer a shopping service for both trade and private buyers

DF_Antique Collecting AUT20 286h x 216w.indd 1

04/09/2020 01:07

FIRST WORD

IN THIS ISSUE

Welcome

I remember a numismatist once telling me that in terms of connecting with the past nothing beats a coin. For centuries it had been held in the hand, jangled in the pocket and fuelled commerce that had steered the course of history.

I sort of get it but, for me, it would have to be antique glassware. For transporting you back to bygone days there is nothing like gripping the stem of a wine glass, savouring its contents and imagining the carousing it has been witness to: the dinners, the debates, the scandals, the love affairs.

Now what bit of electrum can do that?

So imagine my joy that this month’s issue – which has ‘Georgian’ as its theme – includes an article on 18th-century gin glasses (my absolute tipple of choice). Despite what my lockdown trips to the bottle bank might reveal, my consumption is not yet on the par with the average down-on-their-luck London street urchin of the 1700s. For a start I don’t drink it neat, nor by the pint, and have never sold a child to secure another slug.

So great was the consumption of the liquor at the height of the gin craze, its drinkers left behind them an inordinate number of glasses, so much so, you can buy one today for as little as £35. Turn to page 24 to find out more.

As mentioned, to mark 200 years since the death of George III in 1820, this month’s edition is all about Georgian antiques. I am yet to meet a collector who doesn’t love a bit of Georgian – whether the rich, ornate styles of the early 18th century, or the geometric lines of the neoclassical. We take you on a whistle stop tour of the era which spanned the reign of four kings, including its furniture (page 16), ceramics (page 40), jewellery (page 36) and satirical prints (page 44). On page 48 we even give a rundown of the best Georgian country piles to visit to fuel your collecting ardour.

Enjoy the issue

Georgina

Georgina Wroe, Editor

We lov e

ERIC KNOWLES

raises a glass to Georgian gin glasses, page 24

DR MARION AMBLARD

sings the praises of the Glasgow Girls, page 28

SOPHIE GUINY

puts Wedgwood’s Jasperware in the spotlight, page 40

these 19 th-centu ry Kütahya ju gs eac which ha s an esti h of mate of £300-£5 00 Auctions at Chiswick ’ Is Indian art lamic and aucti October on on 29

JASON WOOD

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

previews the UK’s largest ever ceramics auction, page 5

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: Georgina Wroe, georgina.wroe @accartbooks.com Subscriptions: Sue Slee 01394 389957, sue.slee@accartbooks.com

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

ISSN: 0003-584X

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 3

OCTOBER HIGHLIGHTS Sporting Art, Wildlife and Dogs | Tuesday 6 20th Century Design | Tuesday 13 Modern British & 20th Century Art | Tuesday 20 Jewellery | Tuesday 28

Full auction calendar available at www.sworder.co.uk Browse our illustrated catalogues online Bid live at no additional charge through ‘SwordersLive’ Stansted Mountfitchet Essex | CM24 8GE 01279 817778 auctions@sworder.co.uk 42 St Andrew Street Hertford | SG14 1JA 01992 583508 hertford@sworder.co.uk 15 Cecil Court London | WC2N 4EZ 0203 971 2500 london@sworder.co.uk

THIS MONTH

Contents

56 Saleroom Spotlight: Jason Wood lifts the lid on one of the largest sales of pottery the UK has ever seen

VOL 55 NO 5 OCT 2020

58 Book Offer: Subscribers can save more than a third on this month’s selection which has a distinctly nostalgic flavour

36 REGULARS 3

6

16 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 B E S T C O L U M N I S T S L AT E S T B O O K O F F E R S

ANTIQUE

COLLECTING FURNITURE MASTERCLASS

GEORGIAN SPLENDOUR 200 years after the death of George III, why the style continues to enchant

OCT 2020

Plus:

DEATH STARS:

MOURNING JEWELLERY

10 Your Letters: A delve into the October postbag reveals a meeting with a famous pipe collector

66 Marc My Words: Antiques Roadshow expert Marc Allum reveals his penchant for dressing like a Georgian dandy

FEATURES

ANTIQUE COLLECTING

GRANDEUR DESIGNS COUNTRY ESTATES TO INSPIRE YOUR COLLECTION

VOL 55 N0.5 OCT 2020

THE WRITE IMPRESSION 75 YEARS OF THE BALLPOINT PEN

WOMEN AT THE HEART OF EARLY WEDGWOOD

Celebrating the names behind iconic Jasperware

ALSO INSIDE Up-to-date listings • Sale results • What’s going under the hammer

COVER

Peckover House, Wisbech, © National Trust Images/ Andreas von Einsiedel

FOLLOW US @AntiqueMag

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

62 Auction alendar: With live sales in full swing, make sure you don’t miss a date with your favourite auctioneer

12 Around the Houses: Our round up from the country’s auctioneers throws up a book signed by Florence 16 Reign Supreme: A guide to more Nightingale and an arts and crafts than a century of Georgian set of drawers furniture through four consecutive King Georges 22 Cool and Collectable: On the 75th anniversary of the ballpoint pen, 24 Deadly Gins: Take part in your Paul Fraser looks at the world’s own gin craze – Georgian gin best-selling autographs glasses are stylish and affordable

APPRECIATING THE SATIRICAL PRINT

Lifting the spirits Prices for 18th-century gin glasses start at £35

3

6

Editor’s Welcome: Georgina Wroe introduces this month’s Georgianthemed magazine

60 Fairs alendar: Catch up with the latest listings as the fairs circuit comes back to life after lockdown

12

says Eric Knowles 34 Waxing Lyrical: Antique furniture expert David Harvey highlights the 28 Here Come the Girls: Dr Marion cabinetmakers dating from the reign Amblard considers the lives and of George III works of the Glasgow Girls – a remarkable group of 19th-century 52 Top of the Lots: We preview some artists of the hottest lots going under the hammer in October, including a 36 Mourning Glory: Far from being human skullcup morbid, Georgian mourning jewellery celebrated life and love 40 Making an Impression: Wedgwood specialist Sophie Guiny reveals three women behind the pottery’s famous Jasperware

52

40

44 Cartoon Network: Delve into the decorative world of the Georgian satirical print with expert Dr Stewart Abbott 48 Grandeur Designs: Behind the scenes at some of the UK’s best Georgian country houses

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

NEWS All the latest

Folk law

WHAT’S GOING ON IN OCTOBER

ANTIQUE news From an exhibition devoted to dogs to the discovery of a 00-year-old manuscript, we bring you the latest from the world of antiques and fine art

PALACE COUP There’s a chance to see masterpieces

by Titian, Rembrandt, Vermeer, van Dyck and Canaletto close up this winter when 65 paintings from the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace go on show.

The exhibition is due to a 10-year overhaul of the palace’s State Rooms which house the paintings, which will see them relocated to The Queen’s Gallery.

Highlights include Rubens’ Self-

6 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Portrait, 1623, and Rembrandt’s The Shipbuilder and his Wife , 1633, as well as Frans Hals’ Portrait of a Man , 1630.

Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace will be accompanied by a display charting the evolution of the Picture Gallery after the acquisition of Buckingham House by George III and Queen Charlotte in 1762.

The hanging arrangements a mix of Dutch, Flemish and Italian works, continue to influence the look of the gallery to this day. More than 30 of the paintings on show next month were acquired by their son, George IV, who commissioned the architect John Nash to transform Buckingham House into the main royal palace in the 1820s. Nash’s refurbishment created the Picture Gallery to show off the king’s collection.

Masterpieces from Buckingham Palace is at The Queen’s Gallery from December 4 to January 2022.

Above Sir Anthony van Dyck, Christ Healing the Paralytic, 16181619 Bottom left The Picture

Gallery in Buckingham Palace. All images Royal Collection Trust / © Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 2020

Below Titian, Madonna and Child with Tobias and the Angel, c.1537

A Suffolk auction house has added folk art to its sales rota to accommodate a growing demand for the genre.

Stowmarket auctioneers Bishop & Miller will hold its inaugural period oak and folk sale next month.

Managing director, Oliver Miller, said: “Period oak and folk art is something I am passionate about and it seems the auction industry is equally excited about it as the market for both is extremely buoyant.”

It also fulfilled clients’ wishes to consign to a specialist sale which was more likely to return a higher price, he added.

Bishop & Miller’s next sale is Mr Bishop’s interiors on October 6, followed by Asian art on October 8, for more details, or to consign folk art or period oak, go to www. bishopandmillerauctions.co.uk Above A folk art dumb waiter styled

as a dog as an estimate of £400£600 in Bishop & Miller’s first sale

Far right Bronzino An

Allegory with Venus and Cupid, c. 1545 © The National Gallery, London

Right Lucas Cranach

the Elder Adam and Eve, 1526 © The Samuel Courtauld Trust, The Courtauld Gallery, London

Far left Kai Althoff,

Untitled, 2017, oil paint, oil crayon, ink

1

Leaching out

More than 30 ceramics by the renowned British potter Bernard Leach (1887–1979) go on show at a London gallery curated by the German artist Kai Althoff (b.1966) s In the exhibition, at London’s Whitechapel Gallery, Cologne-born Althoff selects Leach’s work from the 1920s onwards, taken from UK collections.

The display takes place in the centenary year of the Leach Pottery in St Ives, founded in 1920 and considered the birthplace of British studio pottery.

The exhibition also brings together more than 130 works spanning Althoff’s career, from childhood drawings to his new paintings.

Kai Althoff Goes with Bernard Leach runs at the gallery from October 7 to January 10.

Right Bernard Leach,

tile, c. 1928. Image kindly provided by the Crafts Study Centre, University for the Creative Arts. © Bernard Leach Estate

Left Bernard Leach Solomon amongst the lilies, vase, 1926.

Image courtesy of Leicester Museums © Bernard Leach Estate

3

to see in

OCTOBER Below left Charles

Henry Schwanfelder A Greyhound in a Landscape, 1817 © The British Sporting Art Trust Below Sir Alfred Munnings

Black Knight Finishes his Diary, 1944, © the Estate of Sir Alfred Munnings

Below right Lady

Munnings and Black Knight, c. 1945, © the Estate of Sir Alfred Munnings

2Vice squad

An exhibition devoted to the concept of ‘sin’ opens at the National Gallery in London this month bringing together works of art spanning centuries – from Bruegel and Velázquez to Andy Warhol and Tracey Emin.

The exhibition looks at complex theological ideas alongside depictions of everyday ‘sinful’ behaviour that blur the boundaries between religious and secular art.

A spokesperson said: “The theme is universal but, at the same time highly personal. The exhibition asks you to define your own meaning of the word.”

Sin runs at the Ground Floor Galleries from October 7 to January 3. Admission is free.

3Pawtrait gallery

An exhibition exploring man’s relationship with dogs continues this month at Newmarket’s National Horse Racing Museum.

The Good Companions: The Many Roles of our Canine Friends runs until November 1. The 30-plus works include William Hogarth’s self portrait with his pet and Elisabeth Frink’s sculpture of a seated terrier.

Black Knight, the Pekinese owned by the artist Sir Alfred Munnings’ wife, Violet, is also well represented. In the 1940s the dog became a celebrity in its own right.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 7

NEWS All the latest Attic find

PERRY GOES ROUND A previously unseen version of Grayson Perry’s Tomb Of The Unknown Craftsman has been unveiled at the British Museum, nine years after its sister piece went on display.

The elaborately decorated cast-iron coffinship returns to its “spiritual home” to celebrate the reopening of the museum.

The tomb, a memorial to the anonymous craftsmen of history, takes the form of a ship sailing into the afterlife, carrying replicas of objects from the collection of the British Museum.

The artwork has been placed alongside the 2,400-year-old Nereid Monument, a tomb built around 380BC for Erbinna, a ruler of Lycia, now Turkey.

Perry said the unveiling signalled the work’s return to its “spiritual home”. The Turner Prize winner said: “The British Museum is world famous and also my local go-to place for inspiration.

“The vast collection of art and artefacts has inspired many of my own artworks – from a super 8 film I made at art college in 1982, through to a 1998 Tang Dynasty bronze racing car.”

Above Grayson Perry unveils

his Tomb Of The Unknown Craftsman at the British Museum

8 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

A fragment from a 600-yearold manuscript along with a rats’ nest of 200 Elizabethan textiles have come to light during roof renovation at a Tudor manor.

Archaeologist Matt Champion made the underfloor discover while working alone through lockdown in the attic rooms of Oxburgh Hall in Norfolk.

Other discoveries include medieval ins, sealing wax, cigarette packets and an empty box of WWII Terry’s chocolates – which may have been hidden after the chocolates were eaten. The star find was the 15th-century illuminated manuscript fragment from a small psalter once was part of a Book of Hours used for private devotion.

National Trust curator, Anna Forest, said: “The use

Brave new world

of blue and gold for the minor initials, rather than the more standard blue and red, shows this would have been quite an expensive book to produce.”

The house was built by Sir Edmund Bedingfeld after he inherited the estate in 1476. The family still live in part of the building today.

Above left

15th-century manuscript © National

Trust, Mike Hodgson Above Scaffolding goes up around Oxburgh Hall as part of a £6m renovation © National Trust Images, Ian Ward

and was watched live by 150,000 with a live tour of the pre-sale exhibition with Andrew Graham-Dixon.

Chairman and renowned auctioneer Oliver Barker said: “This is a new era in our 276-year history. This season, we have started to re-write the rule book of auctions – pioneering a new livestreamed auction format and an equally innovative cross-category sale concept.”

Collectors can now place bids via live-streamed telephone banks around the world, online and in person at its London branch in New Bond Street.

Sotheby’s has unveiled a new selling platform and type of sale as it negotiates the market in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Its new cross-category evening sale saw bidders from 47 countries across six continents,

Left Cedric Morris (1889-1982) Cabbages set a new auction record of £350,000 at the sale Right Oliver Barker

orchestrat s the new ormat

Photo finish Two collections of photographs go under the hammer in Dorset next month. The archives, on sale at Lawrences in Crewkerne, belonged to John Maitland and Bryan Goodman. The first comprises 1,000 images of ‘20s and ‘30s motor racing, with the latter made up of 20,000 photographs of road transport 1895 1949.

Estimates at Estimates the sale two-day sale on datingand from 1895 and 1949. at the sale November 17-18 at £100. two-day sale on start November 17-18 start at £100.

Above A photo from the John Maitland motor racing photographic archive Left An image from Bryan Goodman social motoring photographic archive and library

PLASTIC FANTASTIC A major survey of the influential ‘80s design movement, Memphis Group, which aimed to combine pop art, Bauhaus and art deco opens next month.

Founded by Italian designer and architect Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007), Memphis brought together an international collective of young designers united in their desire to inject humour into design.

Only a few devoted, high-profile customers were allowed to buy designs, including David Bowie and Karl Lagerfeld, who furnished his Monte Carlo apartment with Sottsass’ first collection.

When the group debuted its first collection at Milan’s Salone del Mobile in 1981 it caused a sensation, breaking the rules of streamlined modernism and challenging notions of functionality and good taste.

Materials included plastic laminate and Terrazzo previously only used in kitchens.

Flats broke A pandemic-hit London museum, based in a former garage devoted to one the UK’s modernist icons, hashas launched of the UK’s modernist icons, launched a fund-raising appeal.

The Isokon flats Belsize Park tube station were built in the early 1930s as an experiment in minimalist living by the British furniture entrepreneurs Mollie and Jack Pritchard.

The flats were designed for young professionals and based on Le Corbusier’s principles of a house being “a machine for living”.

For a while the building was home to some of the top names in design and culture, including s Walter Gropius as well as a number of Soviet spies.

Left to decay by Camden Council, it was restored in 2003 and is now rented out to key workers. Today the Isokon Gallery, based in the building’s garage,

Top The gallery which is free to enter is appealing

for money

Above Marcel and Connie Breuer were also residents of the Isokon flats

HELPING HAND

explosion in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

Called We are all Beirut , the sale includes 50 lots of art, jewellery, watches and design pieces to raise funds to help rebuild the city’s art and cultural community, including the Sursock Museum.

Christie’s Middle East chairman, Michael Jeha, said: “‘Lebanese art has been at the heart of our Middle Eastern auctions since 2006 and Christie’s feels a deep sense of responsibility to be part of the global effort to help rebuild Beirut, which is a city so rich in culture.”

The auction house Christie’s is holding a charity auction this month to provide support following the destruction caused by the

Above left Christie’s is holding an online auction to help revive Beirut’s artistic heritage

Above Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007) Tahiti, 1981. Memphis Milano Collection, table lamp, courtesy Memphis Srl Below Ettore Sottsass (1917-2007) Carlton,

1981. Memphis Milano Collection, room divider, courtesy Memphis Srl

Bottom Memphis designers, 1981, courtesy

Memphis Post Design Gallery. Photo © Studio Azzurro

seeks to preserve the heritage of the original building and its innovative furniture, some of which was created by the designer Ernest Race (1913-1964).

Wall flowers The ancient Japanese marbling technique known as suminagashi, or floating ink, is celebrated in a new range of murals from the Margate-based artist Natascha Maksimovic.

Japanese marbling began in the 12th century, with the first examples produced on paper, with coloured inks floated on the surface of water.

The art of marbling spread throughout Europe in the 17th century. In 1853, the English master marbler Charles Woolnough, revealed the secrets of paper marbling in his book The Art of Marbling.

Today, both wallpaper making and paper marbling are listed as an endangered craft by the Heritage Crafts Association.

For more details on the new wallpaper go to www.natmaks.com Right The marble mural is hand printed in the

Japanese tradition of suminagashi

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 9

LETTERS Have your say

Your Letters

April pp.53-63:Layout 1

17/3/17

14:08

Page 63

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

During lockdown I created an online vintage shop and, while finding stock for my new business, came across a beautiful vintage china tea set.

I posted photographs of it on an antiques Facebook page and within a week received more than 500 comments from all over the world, mainly the US. Some came from antique experts who were also struggling to identify the maker. Some believed it could be a rare pattern from the 1800s. Would any of your subscribers be able to help?

Maria Flower, by email

This month’s letters include memories of an unexpected giftANTIQUES CENTRES from a legendary pipe collector Starr lette Above right Can anyone

identify the pattern or maker of the cup and saucer?

right Legendary pipe collector Anthony Irving gave the Jacob pipe as a gift Left A Regency rosewood and brass inlaid box opens to reveal a number of drawers and chambers, image courtesy of David Harvey

10 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Be part of the conversation on Twitter and Instagram @antiquemag

Rutland The

ARMS

Let me compliment you on the recent addition of David Harvey’s column (Waxing Lyrical) to your already outstanding magazine, which is a favourite read of mine.

I share a love of fine woods with Mr Harvey, and so greatly enjoy his discussions pertaining to the use of such in antique furniture and objects of art. His most recent article on 19thcentury writing boxes was fascinating and so well illustrated with excellent photos. In my collection of approximately 400 antique boxes, I have a few of these exquisite pieces, and the secret compartments are their crowning glory.

I have even been able to introduce some of my grandchildren to my love of antique boxes by showing them these secret compartments, which they find enticing, and try to remember how to access them on their next visit.

Keep up the great work.

Dr. Gregory Raymond C.D., B.Sc., M.D., FRCP(C) Clinical Professor, Dept. of Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging, University of Alberta

The article on Trevor Barton’s pipe sale (Saleroom Spotlight, May edition) reminded me of the time I met another remarkable pipe collector – Anthony Irving, the owner of the House of Pipes Museum in Bramber, Sussex. I met him at a bygones sale in Ely when I was 16. As my father was a keen pipe smoker, I was hovering over the pipe section. When Mr Irving noticed me I explained my father’s interest. On his way out, having snapped up most of the pipes, Mr Irving presented me with a Jacob pipe (above) to give to my father. It was unexpected and my father greatly appreciated the gesture.

There are different types of collectors and collections.

Some are put together as investments, but some are a labour of love and fascination, researched and curated wherein a large part of one’s soul is invested.

Thanks for interesting magazine as always.

Richard Close, by email

ANTIQUES

AUCTION Round up

William Tillyer (b.1938) Untitled, 1980; mixed media – wire mesh, acrylic, and cardboard

AROUND the HOUSES

From Delft tobacco jars to Star Wars figures, we round up recent sales from the UK’s salerooms FELLOWS, BIRMINGHAM A 19th-century mourning ring for a man who drowned at sea sold for £1,288 at the Midlands auctioneer.

The William IV, 18ct gold old-cut diamond, split pearl and black enamel ring, which had an estimate of £600-£800, was dedicated to John Hill who drowned in 1832 while sailing across the Atlantic. It is hallmarked for London in the same year. The ring is inscribed obt 1st April – the date Hill The ring died en route from Demerara in the West Indies mourned a man to Jersey. who drowned in At the auctioneer’s first public auction since the Atlantic March a rare complete set of ‘Dirty Dozen’ in 1832 watches – commissioned by the British MoD in WWII for military personnel – sold for £28,999.

Fellows’ watch specialist Michael Jagiela, said: “It is incredibly rare to see a full set of The full Dirty Dozen watches, so we were thrilled to set of ‘Dirty auction all 12 together.”

Dozen’ watches sold for close to £30,000

12

ANTIQUE COLLECTING

ROSEBERYS, LONDON

The sale was devoted to middle-tier contemporary artists

A rare, mesh work by the British artist William Tillyer (b. 1938) with an estimate of £5,000-£8,000 made £13,750 at the London auctioneer’s contemporary and modern art sale.

Tillyer studied at the Middlesb rough College of Art in the late fifties before attending the Slade School of Fine Art from 1960-1962. In 1978 he moved to Wiltshire, where he began to experiment with painting on wire mesh.

An 1956 oil on canvas by Philip Sutton RA (b. 1928), titled Village Garden, sold within estimate at the same sale to make £1,400. Having also attended The Slade (from 1948-1953), where his contemporaries included Craigie Aitcheson and Euan Uglow, Sutton’s vivid use of colour swiftly attracted attention. He developed an international following his invitation to become a Royal Academician in 1988.

LAWRENCE’S CREWKERNE

The ushabti figure, created as a guardian in the afterlife, sold for £1,750

A Persian copper bowl, probably from the time of the Safavid dynasty (15011736), tripled expectations to make £1,060 at the Dorset auctioneer’s summer sale.

While an Egyptian wooden and painted ushabti figure (guardian in the afterlife), dating from the 2nd millennium BC, exceeded hopes to make £1,750.

Lawrences’ director, Neil Grenyer, said: “With the current fondness for less cluttered interiors, a simple piece of art from antiquity can be a fascinating focal point and will complement modern Reasonablypriced simplicity of design.” antiquities are a hit among today’s collectors

MALLAMS, OXFORD

The 13-drawer chest in the arts and crafts style sold for £3,800

A chest of drawers by the arts and crafts designer Alan Peters OBE (19332009) sold for close to double its low estimate when it made £3,800 at the auctioneer’s recent sale.

The 13-drawer piece, with a rippled, white ash body and fumed acacia fronts, sold to a UK buyer. It was stamped Alan Peters 92 and came with copies of its original drawings.

HALLS, SHREWSBURY A book on nursing signed by Florence Nightingale (18201910) more than doubled its low estimate to make £2,300 at the Shropshire auctioneer’s sale.

The famous Crimean nurse, who was born 200 years ago this year, had inscribed the 1860 book Notes on Nursing with the words: Offered to John Croft Esq. with Florence Nightingale’s sincerest joy at finding herself his fellow worker in the Nurse training business. London 1873.

John Croft (1833-1905) was a consulting surgeon The book at St Thomas’s Hospital, is inscribed to a colleague by the London. Both he and Nightingale were early famous nurse advocates of the use of antiseptic and disinfectant.

ELSTOB & ELSTOB, RIPON Portraits sold well at two summer sales held by the North Yorkshire auctioneers.

An oil on canvas attributed to the circle of Sir Francis Grant (1803-1878) Portrait of a Lady Holding an Envelope sold for £1,400 – against an estimate Sir of £300-£400, while Francis a portrait by a Grant exhibited follower of Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680) of 253 works at the Royal a Lady Wearing a White Chemise and an Academy Ochre Gown, sold for £2,900, against an estimate of £500-£1,000.

Lely was a painter of Dutch origin whose career was spent almost entirely in England, where he became the main portrait painter to the court.

Lely arrived in London in 1643 becoming the most popular portraitist in the country

DIX NOONAN WEBB, LONDON A rare 17th-century Fleet Street halfpenny, found in the Thames, set an auction record when it sold for £2,976 – more than 10 times is low estimate of £200.

Believed to be the only known token featuring the Swedish ing Gustavus Adolfus, it set a record for a token from the era.

Bought by a UK dealer, it had once belonged to the late American token collector Cole Danehower (1954-2015).

Tokens, which circulated in the capital from 1648-1672, were privately issued by traders to The token act as currency. In many cases they identify featuring the King not only the issuer (in this case a tavern of Sweden set a named after the King of Sweden) but also new record at the the street where they were based.

London auction

PETER WILSON, NANTWICH A silver and enamel egg pendant by Stuart Devlin (19312018), sold for £380 at the Cheshire auction Eggs house’s recent sale. were a The textured favourite subject egg opens to reveal for Australian-born Stuart Devlin a silver gilt interior and multi-coloured enamel floral bouquet and has hallmarks for Stuart Devlin, London, 1985.

Devlin was an Australian-born metalworker who specialised in gold and silver. As well as a coin designer, he became well known as London-based designer of collectors’ items in the 1970s and 1980s. Prices for his work have increased sharply since his death two years ago.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 13

AUCTION Round up TENNANTS, LEYBURN

THE CANTERBURY AUCTION GALLERIES A handwritten commission, The signed by George III and document dated 1760, which appointed a new was signed by governor of Quebec sold to a Canadian George III and bidder at the Kent auctioneer’s recent sale. dated 1760 The document, which sparked a bidding war across North America, instated James Murray Esq “... to be Governor of our Town of Quebec, and of all the Lines and Fortifications thereof, and of the Dependencies of the Government of Quebec...” and was signed and endorsed by His Majesty’s Command, W. Pitt.

Heavily creased, but the elegant copperplate writing still perfectly readable, the document sold for £7,500.

CHARTERHOUSE, SHERBORNE A collection of Dutch Delft tobacco jars sold for £1,300 at the Dorset auctioneer’s recent sale.

The jars were discovered in a haul of 18th and 19th-century The The ceramics found in cup and jars bear a Somerset house which saucer were by the name of the included Italian dry drug Johanne de Mol region the tobacco jars and a Johanne de Mol (1726-1782) came from (1726-1782) cup and saucer made at his OudLoosdrecht factory in about 1770 which sold for £1,400.

Auctioneer Richard Bromell said: “I didn’t expect to find such a huge collection of pottery.”

EWBANK’S, WOKING

The laughing automaton sold for £1,500 –more than seven times its low estimate

A poster for the 1964 film Carry On Cleo fetched £4,160 at the Surrey auction house thanks in part to its chequered history.

The Tom Chantrell-designed poster became part of a legal case after Fox Studios claimed the design copied that of its 1963 film, Cleopatra. As Carry On Cleo was The a spoof, Chantrell claimed his poster Carry On was a parody rather than a copy.

Cleo poster was But, the Carry On team lost the case once part of a and had copyright case to pulp all copies of this poster – this is one of two which were used as exhibits in court. An arcade game sold well at another sale.

14 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

A 1.22m 18th-century Tongan war club sold for £9,500 at the North Yorkshire auctioneer’s sale on September 4 – more than four times its low estimate of £2,000.

Known as an Two aku-tau, the wellsuffragette patinated club badges sold for was finely carved a total of with geometric £380 shapes and stylised human figures, known as glyphs.

A collection of celluloid and photo button badges made by White & Lambert Ltd of Birmingham were also popular, with a collection of 96 late Victorian and Edwardian badges depicting patriotic flags, politicians and military leaders selling for £900. Two early 20th century ‘Votes for Women’ badges sold for £380, a group of 10 late 19th and early 20th-century football and cricket badges made £600.

The late 18th-century club attracted bidders from all over the world

VECTIS, THORNABY Toys bought originally for pounds, sold for thousands at the Yorkshire auctioneer’s recent sale, pro ng the importance of ‘in living memory toys’ A 3¾in Palitoy Star Wars Droid figure sold for £4,560 against an initial estimate of £800, while a Ben Gali Belgian figure from the 1980s Thundercats cartoon television series sold for £840 against a £200 estimate.

The sale was mainly made up of a single owner group of small-scale action figures many people will remember from the 1980s to 1990s, including sci fi classics Masters of the Universe, Thundercats, Tron, Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon.

The 3¾in Palitoy Star Wars Droid figure sold for £4,560

A Ben Gali figure from Thundercats cartoon made £840

AUCTION | Tuesday 27 October Modern Art & Design, Studio Ceramics & A Private Collection of Urban Art

Edmund de Waal Six porcelain beakers

Chorley’s | Fine Art Auctioneers & Valuers

PRINKNASH ABBEY PARK, GLOUCESTERSHIRE GL4 8EU 01452 344499 | enquiries@chorleys.com

www.chorleys.com

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Georgian furniture Symbolism was important and carving was loaded with classical motifs and imagery such as garlands of flowers for the hospital ty of Flora, scallop shells for Venus goddess of love, he sacred oak of Zeus and Bacchus’ vines which were particularly appropriate for the dining room.

MOVEABLE FEASTS In the early years of the Georgian period tables and chairs were ranged around the walls only being moved into the room when required. With the mobility of furniture, and the informal nature of dining at small gateleg or drop-leaf tables, meals were taken in various rooms, including the saloon which was the main reception room off the entrance hall. In the early days of the period ‘eating’ rather than dining room was the current name.

The chimney piece remained the focal point of each room and was generally placed in the centre of the wall opposite the windows in the spaces or piers between which would be side or pier tables with mirrors over them.

END OF WALNUT

Reign Supreme Spanning 1714 to 1837, with four consecutive kings on the throne, the Georgian era is synonymous with elegance. Antique Collecting considers why furniture from the period will never go out of fashion The Georgian period was foremost the golden age of entertaining. The early years of the 18th century were marked by imperial expansion, with ships in ports all over the world, trading in exotic goods such as spices, textiles, and woods, and discovering new ornamentations for architecture and furniture design.

The country became wealthier, and an emerging upper class could afford new luxuries such as building grand country houses, for example Osterley Park, whose design and furnishings were by Robert Adam and Thomas Chippendale – the Andy Warhols of their time.

The middle classes emulated the homes of the elite country houses where hosts would have stylish and functional furnishings and objects to entertain guests for hours and days.

16 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above Attributed to Joseph Francis Nollekens (1702-1747) The Card Game, c. 1745, depicting a French-inspired interior with a carpet, a pier glass, a baize-lined card table and tea served from a tripod table Right An early George III mahogany Pembroke table with blind fret legs, based on a design

by Thomas Chippendale entitled ‘Breakfast Tables’ (1754)

Georgian furniture was marked by the decline of walnut and the predominance of exotic hardwoods with striking textural grains, such as mahogany from Cuba, South America or the West Indies; rosewood from Brazil, Honduras, and India; and satinwood from the West Indies after its price fell with the repeal of import duty in the Naval Stores Act of 1721.

Already used under the reign of Queen Anne, mahogany reached the height of its popularity about 1745, in Chippendale’s time. During the early Georgian period – the reign of George I (1714-1727) – furniture was sturdy and heavy. As time passed symmetry, light and space determined the delicate furniture that was later made. With this, mahogany gave way to satinwood and lighter woods.

Left A George II carved mahogany double top tea/card table, c. 1750, one hinged top of solid wood, the other lined with baize with the candle recesses and money wells, supported by a swing leg Right A George II walnut ‘buroe dressing table’ c. 1730, popular for much of the century as a dual purpose bedroom piece

NEW STYLES As the century went on new forms of furniture developed, such as slope-fronted bureaux and ‘kneehole’ writing desks which doubled up as dressing tables. Card tables were much used in social gatherings. standing alongside easy chairs such as high-backed wing chairs or low stuffed-back armchairs today known as Gainsborough chairs after the artist. By the 1780s sideboards had become a single piece of furniture instead of the earlier serving table and two separate pedestals. Invoices of the time show that the most costly item was generally shaped or carved commodes which would be the centre piece of a reception room.

Chair design also reflects the changes in costume, attitude and etiquette. The wide seats and angled backs of the 1740s to 1770s allowed for the wide frock coats of men and full skirts of women whereas the narrower seats and upright backs of the post 1770s were better suited for the tight-fitting clothes for men and simple Empire line for women.

TABLE STYLES Games tables began to be made from the late 17th century. Formerly gateleg tables had been used but the stretchers got in the way of the players, hence the new-style tables were developed with cabriole legs and clever pull-out mechanisms to support flaps.

Above A George II brass inlaid mahogany tripod table attributed to Abraham Roentgen c. 1735. This distinctive type of table was intended for serving tea, with recesses for tea bowls and saucers

Tripod tables are frequently seen at the centre of paintings. They were multi-purpose, including for tea and supper and are practically always shown with fl at tops so cloths could be put over them. Pembroke tables (supposedly named after the wife of the 9th or 10th Earl) with hinged fl aps supported on fl y brackets were a mid-century addition, which again had many uses from needlework to taking a light meal.

Mirrors, often found with candlearms or candle-slides beneath them, shows their importan as a source of light – despite a tax on the manufacture of beeswax candles between 1709 and 1831 they were still seen as preferable to rush lights and tallow candles.

Serving tables were and still are very utilitarian pieces for rooms used for entertainment, providing surfaces to hold silver serving platters dressed with food, porcelain ceramics, candelabra, fresh flowers or decorative objects. Often a wine cooler would sit beneath, filled with ice and beverages, and on either side of the table would sit coordinating cupboards housing plates and silverware.

Right Two George II carved padouk dining chairs, c.1740. They are unusual in having such bold cabriole back legs which would only have been seen when they were brought out from the wall for use

‘Georgian furniture was marked by the decline of walnut and the predominance of exotic hardwoods with striking textural grains, such as mahogany from Cuba, San Domingo, South America or the West Indies’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 17

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Georgian furniture Pattern books began to play an important role in spreading designs both to potential purchasers and to other workshops around the country. None such was more successful than Thomas Chippendale’s Gentleman & Cabinet-Maker’s Director (1754-1762).

The rivaly between firms increased the diversity of styles and motifs available with a lot of good earlier furniture moved into spare rooms ad servants’ quarters as it became unfashionable.

ROBERT ADAM

TRANSITION PERIOD By the 1750s the general mood of interiors was changing from the strict and sometimes ponderous manner of Palladianism to the French fashion for lighter, more feminine and more fanciful rococo. Graining and marbled decoration had more or less died out, to be replaced by elegant plasterwork and a greater variety of colour sometimes relieved by white or gilding which suited the rococo taste.

Bedrooms had become private places, generally upstairs rather than on the ground floor where guests would have received earlier in the century. Some magnificent ‘Chinese’ bedrooms were devised with imported wallpaper.

Mahogany reached the height of its popularity about 1745, the Dutch elements disappeared, and the English furniture styles borrowed from the French rococo and Louis XV style, Chinese and Gothic elements.

Above An early George III serpentine mahogany commode in French taste, c. 1770. It combines a rococo form with neoclassical swag handles

Although elements of the rococo style continued in the 1770s a new taste for a more disciplined neoclassicism quickly took hold from 1760 onwards. Its most influential exponent, who had travelled in Italy for four years was Robert Adam (1728-1792). His skills at ornamental diversity brought colour and varied surface decoration, sometimes including furniture down to the smallest fittings. His classical motifs included urns, festoons, honeysuckle, flowered ovals.

Around 1770 the English adopted the French practice of formal dining at one long table with flaps joined together of sections on central pillars so that the legs did not get in the way of diners. The fashion also came with a plethora of cellarets and wine coolers.

The time for eating also got later which required more candles and candleholders.

As rooms became more specialised so did their decoration. Libraries and dining rooms were seen as masculine and were darker, with the use of mahogany.

Right A George III

semicircular satinwood tea table with neoclassical decoration, c. 1780. This would have matched the room for which it was intended

GOLDEN AGE OF FURNITURE Often considered the golden age of furniture designing.

Hugely influential furniture makers of the Georgian period were George Hepplewhite (1760-1790), Robert Adam (1760-1792), Sheraton (1790-1806) and Thomas Chippendale (1745-1780).

Chippendale’s Georgian furniture had elements of rococo, neoclassicism and oriental influences incorporated across his designs, renowned for his craftsmanship. Chippendale furniture’s legs often featured a lion’s paw, a club or a ball and claw; the legs were either straight or the cabriole shape. Particularly popular were his rococo chinoiserie cabinets.

Hepplewhite’s designs included shield-backed chairs, camelback sofas, these were particularly favoured in the later part of the 18th century.

18 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

‘Around 1770 the English adopted the French practice of formal dining at one long table with flaps joined together of sections on central pillars so that the legs did not get in the way of diners’

Left A large early George III oval brassbound mahogany wine cooler on its original neoclassical stand, c. 1770. When not used for wine, these were sometimes used for presenting plants Below Circle of Philip

Reinagle (1749-1833) Group portrait of a lady and two gentlemen seated in an interior, c. 1780.

Note the armchairs are lined up along the wall and covered to match it in colour

WITHDRAWING ROOMS In contrast drawing rooms and parlours tended to be looked at as the female domain. Card playing, embroidery and reading were favourite pastimes and much furniture such as games and work tables and small bookcases developed for the purpose. The decoration tended to be lighter in colour with lighter weight furniture often in painted beech or satinwood.

As Adam’s sphere of activity was the very wealthy it was left to others to design for the masses.

Hepplewhite’s Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Guide (1788) included semicircular shapes for tables and ca inets were common and new forms of cellaret sideboards, sideboards, secretaire bookcases (or

ARCHITECTURAL STYLES The Palladian style was popular between the years 1714 to 1760, named after Andrea Palladio, a Renaissance architect in Italy. Palladianism was a classic British style, which drew on the work of the Venetian architect, although other Palladian influences of note were Colen Campbell, Leon Battista and Inigo Jones. Palladian designs were often proportionate and symmetrical.

Between 1750 and 1790 neoclassicism gained in popularity, very much championed by Robert Adam, the style came to the forefront in France and UK during this time. Neoclassicism favoured classic motifs and forms that were previously present in Ancient Greece and Rome. Neoclassicism designs were elegant and favoured symmetry, Robert Adam’s neoclassicism drew on Palladian designs, as seen in Osterley Park and House (below).

Later in the Georgian period, by the time of William IV, the more lavish Regency style came into fashion, influenced by the designs favoured by Prince Regent and Thomas Hope. The Regency style again drew upon Ancient Greece and Rome for its inspiration, with designs relying on pure, strong structures.

secretary’s), tambour writing tables, urn tables and circular library tables (now called ‘drum’ tables).

Now, rather than being moved into place as required, furniture was left in place with a new tradition of forming a cosy hub around the fireplace.

The other successful design book of the period was Thomas Sheraton’s Cabinet-Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book (1791-1794) which included engravings based on the Prince of Wales’ Carlton House.

When the prince was given Carlton House as his London residence he spurned the King’s architect, Sir William Chambers, in favour of the Whig’s favourite Henry Holland who was heavily influenced by the French style, which showed a greater interest in upholstery and textiles, luxurious effects and the unification of rooms by colour.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 19

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Georgian furniture Left A set of George III kingwood and rosewood quartetto tables, c. 1775 Below left A George

III anthemion-back armchair with original painted decoration on a black ground, c. 1780

Bottom right A design from Rudolph Ackermann (1764-1834) The Repository of arts, literature, commerce, manufactures, fashions and politics 1809 Below right Ackermann’s

designs reflected the move towards Regency shapes

TOWN AND COUNTRY Most well off Georgians had both a country estate and a town house in a fashionable London square. While the former had the space to boast large bookcases, presses, tables and sets of chairs, rooms in the latter were smaller and housed multi functional furniture. Ince & Mayhew’s pattern book The Universal System of Household Furniture (1759-1762) shows the earliest published folding library steps.

Other innovations included designs for nests of stacking tables and Thomas Sheraton even published the mechanism for a harlequin table with a sprung nest of drawers which popped up when released. Local furniture makers would copy the forms of London-made furniture and every self-respecting household would have at least one locally-produced longcase clock and barometer, which is why so many of them remain today.

At the same time the mass of the poorer country population maintained regional styles and traditions with dressers, corner cupboards and Windsor or rushseated chairs, none of which would have crossed the threshold of more major houses (although there is evidence that Windsor chairs were used as garden chairs).

INTO THE REGENCY The first 30 years of the 19th century was the last time interiors were identifiable as exclusively for the wealthy

20 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

classes. In every respect it was too outlandish, often too technically complicated and certainly too costly to manufacture for the masses. This hedonistic style is called Regency and, despite its allusion to the political situation from 1811-1820, in this context it actually covers the years from 1784-1830 and describes the styles favoured by George Prince of Wales during the time from his majority to his death.

The taste encompasses extreme classicism in the Greaco-Roman and Egyptian, contemporary French and Oriental inspirations. However there would never have been such a strident departure from established good taste as associated with Sheraton, Hepplewhite and Robert Adam and favoured by ‘farmer’ George III had there not been such enmity between father and son, the king and the Prince Regent.

Furniture makers published design and pattern books which today give us such precise details as to the dates when certain features first appear, then get altered and finally disappear.

Thomas Hope, George Bullock and George Smith spring to mind and their designs and others were put together in a compilation journal produced by Rudolph Ackerman which from 1809 to 1820 covered every aspect of fashionable life.

GEORGIAN WALLPAPER It was also during the Georgian era that wallpaper came to supplant wood panelling as the preferred method of covering interior walls.

During this time paper and print making methods were still a handmade process, however a divergence of creative print effects began to emerge. ‘Flocking’ was used to create textured wall coverings, often reproductions of damask fabrics woven by French Huguenot weavers who emigrated to London during this time, and a cheaper alternative called ‘mock flock’ also arose.

This was used to achieve the look of a flock paper, without the texture, by using a carefully considered print colour on the same design.

Flock papers were an English speciality, wall coverings that imitated the expensive Spitalfield silks of the day, however they were expensive to produce and a bold statement of luxury and social status.

Albermarle Street c.1760, Wilton c.1760, Cranford c.1765 and Soho Square c.1775 are examples of this mid 18th-century style.

REGENCY STRIPE Striped papers became more popular in the Regency era as the use of trough printing became more widespread. Maddox Street c.1810 is a classic Regency stripe, while Lauderdale c.1820 is a variation of a striped theme, resulting from stencilling rather than block printing.

Throughout the Georgian period Chinese wallpaper designs were in great demand – at least for those who could afford them. Chinese papers had been imported in bulk by the East India Company since the mid 17th century and in Britain were confusingly known as ‘India’ or ‘Japan’ as well as ‘China’ hangings.

They were hand-painted and as a result very expensive. The decorative subjects usually fell into three categories: landscapes, birds or flowers, the designs of which were often derived from porcelain patterns of the period.

Right Chinese wallpaper and silken drapes in a room at Nostell Priory, West Yorkshire © National Trust Images/Dennis Gilbert

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 21

MEMORABILIA Autographs Desirable signers include icons such as Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Marilyn Monroe and the legendary Elvis Presley.

3 Content Signed photos are generally valued more highly than simple autographs. And signed photos featuring the person in their most famous guise are more desirable still. (For example, Charlie Chaplin dressed as the tramp rather than in his civvies). Signed letters, if the content is important or illuminating, can sell for huge sums. For example, a handwritten Albert Einstein letter on the theory of relativity auctioned for $100,000 in 2018. His signed photos sell for around £5,000.

4 The signature itself Is it large, clear and crisp, with no smudging or signs of fading? Great. Muhammed Ali’s might be the most complex signature of all time. Each year, it seemed to decline in clarity, beginning in the mid-’90s, when the effects of Parkinson’s disease began to take hold.

Because Ali signed many of his photos with a date, it’s possible to piece together what Ali’s autograph looked like over time.

5 Condition

Cool & Collectable

On the 75th-anniversary of the ballpoint pen, memorabilia expert Paul Fraser reveals his insider’s guide to collecting autographs

I apply these rules every time I consider adding a signature or autographed document to my personal collection. They all affect an item’s value.

1 Rarity

2 Desirability Is the signer an icon? Only a select few names through history remain famous in the decades and centuries after their death. These autographs are the ones that have the most suitors today, pushing prices higher - especially if their signature is rare.

22 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

6 Date Timing is crucial when it comes to the value of an autograph. Winston Churchill signatures from his most famous days – WWII from 1939-1945 – are his most valuable. The first and last known autographs are also much in demand, the latter especially so when the person in question met with an unexpected end. One of the last autographs John F Kennedy gave – on the morning of his assassination – sold for $39,000 in 2010. Museum-grade JFK handwritten signed letters are worth around £10,000.

7 Authenticity Last on my list, but the most important when collecting autographs. Is the autograph genuine? If not, not one of the above points matter.

THE 7 GOLDEN RULES

Most seasoned autograph collectors prize scarce signatures above the others. That’s why James Dean or Neil Armstrong signatures are so keenly fought over. There are six known Shakespeare signatures in the world - all in institutions. If ever one should appear for auction, it would sell for millions.

The better the condition of the document, the more attractive it is – both to other collectors and as a display piece. Look for no creases, as well as sharp corners and edges. Not always easy to find.

Above According to the PFC Autograph Index a signed photo from Muhammad Ali has gone up in value 11 per cent from 2018 to 2020 Right The signature of Martin Luther King is up 18 per cent in the last two years, according to the PFC Autograph Index

Most valuable living signatures (signed photos unless otherwise stated) Elizabeth II: £4,500 Prince William (signature): £3,500 Paul McCartney: £2,950 JK Rowling (signed book): £2,750 Prince Harry (signature): £1,750

Did you know?

The most valuable autograph ever sold was George’s Washington’s signed copy of the US Constitution. It auctioned for $9.8 million in 2012.

Above right The power of the pen: autographs remain a good investment Left According to the PFC Autograph Index a signed photo from Prince William has increased in value 27 per cent from 2018 to 2020 Below left A newspaper signed by JFK on the day of his assassination sold for $39,000, image courtesy of Heritage Auctions

Most valuable “deceased” autographs Steve Jobs (signed magazine): £40,000 Stephen Hawking (signed book): £30,000 James Dean: £18,000 Bruce Lee (signed album page): £12,000 Horatio Nelson (handwritten letter): £12,000

3

QUICK TIPS FOR SPOTTING A FAKE AUTOGRAPH

Turn it upside down

The best way to compare a signature to a known genuine example is to turn it upside. This way, your mind isn’t reading it and can look objectively for tell-tale signs and slight differences between the two.

Also, the more signatures there are on a piece, the more mistakes there are to spot. Put a football shirt with 11 fake signatures against a football shirt with 11 real ones, and it is easy to spot the fake.

Often, the fakes will have been written by one person.

They will be the same height, evenly spaced and sometimes the same way up.

Beware the Autopen machine

Autographs can be duplicated with an Autopen machine: a contraption which uses a mechanical arm to drag a pen along a template.

Look for evidence of robotics at work. When you write your own name, you sign it in one continuous movement.

Also, the pen is moving before you start writing, as you move it towards the page. The Autopen, on the other hand, comes down with a dot and ends abruptly with another dot.

If the signature appears unnaturally “shaky”, this can be due to vibrations in the machine.

In the wake of President Kennedy’s death in 1963, Jackie Kennedy relied on Autopen machines to sign her responses to the thousands of condolence letters she received.

The Queen has been using the Autopen machine since the late ‘50s. While you see several Christmas cards from the Queen for sale, be wary if it’s from the ‘60s onwards, particularly if it’s undedicated.

Was the implement invented?

Ballpoint didn’t hit the mass market until the early 1950s.

And if an autograph dated pre-1960s is signed in a felt tip pen, then it is fake. Felt pens didn’t exist before then.

Best performing autographs between 2018 and 2020 Best performing autographs between 2000 and 2020

Steve Jobs (signed magazine): Up 24 per cent per annum to £40,000 Barack Obama: Up 19 per cent per annum to £350 Kurt Cobain: Up 19 per cent per annum to £3,000 George Harrison: Up 17 per cent per annum to £4,250 Neil Armstrong: Up 16 per cent per annum to £10,000

Kurt Cobain: Up 50 per cent to £3,000 Prince William (signature): Up 27 per cent to £3,500 Queen (rock band): Up 25 per cent to £5,000 JK Rowling (signed book): Up 22 per cent to £2,750 Martin Luther King: Up 18 per cent to £6,500 Paul Fraser is the founder of Paul Fraser Collectibles and the PFC40 Autograph Index which tracks the values of 40 of the world’s most sought-after autographs, for more details on both go to www.paulfrasercollectibles.com ANTIQUE COLLECTING 23

COLLECTING GUIDES Georgian gin glasses

Deadly Gins

The Georgian gin craze left a number of glasses in its wake – great for collecting and drinking out of today, writes Eric Knowles

W

hile elite Georgian ladies were sipping tea and the landed gentry supping from the finest glassware, the urban masses – both men and women – were swilling gin like there was no tomorrow (which, due to its toxicity, in many unfortunate cases there wasn’t). No other Georgian drinking glasses have anything approaching the same level of social history as the gin glass. And while the impact of ‘mothers’ ruin’ on British society was devastating, its unexpected consequence was that it left a number of glasses which are collectable today and, with prices around the £50 mark, they make a stylish talking point at today’s tables.

THE GIN CRAZE The spirit’s popularity in the Georgian period stemmed – albeit indirectly – from the historical enmity between Britain and France, with the latter having been a

24 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

‘As production of the home-grown spirit escalated at the behest of the government, so the price of the commodity crashed and London in particular was soon plunged into what was to become known as the ‘gin craze’ Above William Hogarth (1697-1764) A Rake’s Progress, 3: The Orgy, 1734, Sir John Soane’s Museum. Can be seen at London Hogarth: London Voices, London Lives at Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery until December 31

significant source of the brandy, which – throughout the course of the 17th century – had been the alcoholic solace of choice for English folk of pretty much any social standing. As the Grand Siècle entered its second half, however, the British government sought to deprive their Gallic foe of this particular revenue stream, preferring to extract money from the good people of these sceptred isles for their own ends. A number of legislative acts were drawn up, all of which had the intention of restricting the import of brandy while at the

same time encouraging the production of English gin.

MADAME JENEVER The spirit was already popular among the more august circles of English society as a result of the growing Dutch influence within our Royal family at the time, and the desire to affect similar preferences in order to appear in touch with the very latest foibles of such illustrious folk. Gin had long been established as almost the national drink in The Netherlands, albeit under its original name of ‘Jenever’. This provenance gave rise to the fact that it was often referred to as Holland Gin or just ‘Hollands’, as can be evidenced from the many engraved glasses or gilded decanter labels which exist from the period.

As production of the home-grown spirit escalated at the behest of the government, so the price of the commodity crashed and London in particular was soon plunged into what was to become known as the ‘gin craze’.

The lower classes in particular became fervent and fevered consumers, with the pernicious liquor making much of the capital’s working population incapable of pretty much anything of consequence.

It rendered men impotent and ladies sterile, forcing the government to implement an abrupt about-turn in an effort to minimise the inebriating effects of their Francophobic machinations.

DRUNKEN LEGACY Retailers were required to obtain licences, distillers were similarly regulated, and the product itself had

Right William Hogarth

(1697-1764) Gin Lane, 1752, etching and engraving

TRAGIC TOLL The cost paid by some to obtain their dose of gin was remarkably high. The case of Judith Dufour is just as remarkable as it is tragic. She gave her baby to a workhouse so that it was given new clothes. Judith then reclaimed and murdered the child, selling the new clothes to buy a quart of gin. She was hanged on March 8, 1734.

Her court statement read: On Sunday night we took the child into the fields, and stripp’d it, and ty’d a linen handkerchief hard about its neck to keep it from crying, and then laid it in a Ditch.

And after that, we went together and sold the coat and stay for a shilling, and the petticoat and stockings for a groat. We parted the money, and join’d for a quartern of gin.

Above left An engraved balustroid gin or cordial glass, c. 1760, image courtesy of Scottish Antiques Above An 18th-century balustroid gin glass, c.

1740, ball collar knop over inverted baluster knop, image courtesy of Scottish Antiques Below left Giles

Grinagain Gin, twopenny & tobacco, 1802, Lewis Walpole Library

Did you know?

ever more punitive taxes applied. However, rather predictably, the trade simply went underground to circumvent such penalties, which resulted in the illicit mashes becoming stronger, yet more debilitating and increasingly addictive and dangerous.

Eventually, after five decades of unparalleled drunkenness, further legislation brought in more reasonably-priced licences, encouraging the growth of legitimate taxable outlets. As luck would have it, the livers of the nation were further spared by a succession of poor harvests, that pushed up the price of grain and, hence, the gin itself. It became too expensive to allow the previously unfettered and reckless consumption to continue.

Below Six 18th and 19th-century gin and port glases,

image courtesy of Scottish Antiques

Before gin, drinking beer was predominantly a male affair, served in alehouses. But gin lacked social prohibitions anyone could drink it. Women in particular made the most of the relaxation of the norms, hence the name ‘mother’s ruin’.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 25

COLLECTING GUIDES Georgian gin glasses Left A petal-moulded Georgian gin glass, c.

1800, image courtesy of s s s Right A balustroid cordial

or gin glass, c. 1740, image courtesy of s s s

Below A rare Georgian

rib-moulded gin glass, c.

1770, image courtesy of s s s

However, the British taste for gin had by now been firmly etched into the public consciousness, and it remained an extraordinarily popular liquor, requiring the manufacture of a great many glasses to satisfy its legions of consumers who were unable to break the habit and still willing to commit a decent proportion of their disposable income on obtaining it, regardless of its cost.

GEORGIAN GLASSWARE Antique Georgian table glasses of the 18th and early 19th centuries can be said to constitute the archetypal great leap forward for English

Belolw left After

Thomas Rowlandson, Rum Characters in a Shrubbery, November 1, 1808. A copy of a watercolour

by Rowlandson

glassmaking. Although the technology had existed to produce good quality lead crystal from the latter part of the 17th century, it was not until the first of the Hanoverian kings had ascended to the throne that production issues that characterised (and blighted) earlier products were successfully addressed, and that a true English style began to develop.

The social climate in Georgian period Britain also began its inexorable move away from the near-feudal structure that pre-dated the Industrial Revolution, and the novelty of significant disposable income was to furnish the nouveau riche who thrived in these dilettante times with the wherewithal to accumulate trappings befitting their status. The opulent dining experience

Right George

Cruikshank (17921878) The Gin Juggernath’, from Vol. 1. of My Sketch Book, 1834

‘The British taste for gin had by now been firmly etched into the public consciousness, and it remained an extraordinarily popular liquor’

26 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Left The Battle of A-Gin-Court, satirical print, 1925 Right A double series

opaque twist stem with a multi-ply corkscrew within a pair of six-ply spiral bands, c.1765.

Below Six 18th and

19th-century port and gin glasses, image courtesy of scottish ntiques

became a statement of personal wealth which few hosts could resist the opportunity to embrace, and thus the demand for fine tableware grew as swiftly as did the facility to produce goods of an appropriate quality.

Ranges of tableware were produced to service requirements that had simply not existed previously – glass table salts and cruets, sweetmeat glasses, sucriers, creamers, punch bowl sets and glass candlesticks.

Georgian banqueting tables were also furnished with their own distinct range of new ‘essentials’. With the cost of wine glasses being comparatively, extremely high and the fashion for numerous courses, each to be consumed with a selected wine, wine rinsers were brought to the table such that a glass may be rinsed after each course. Glass bottles were also customised with a glass disc, much like a wax seal, and you will find many variations of seals and family crests applied to antique bottles. Sealed bottles are widely collected in their own right.

Glass design Georgian drinking glasses’ principal groups begin around 1700 with the ‘heavy balusters’, followed by ‘balustroids’ or ‘light balusters’ from the 1720s.

Named after a supporting feature seen in architecture and furniture, balusters are classified according to the shape and number of knops from which the stems are formed.

A knop is basically a decorative shape in the stem and can range from a simple swelling to a complicated group of rings in different sizes. The names are purely descriptive – ball, cushion, acorn, mushroom and so on, and sometimes these can be the right way up (true) or upside down (inverted).

Knops can be hollow, teared (containing a single tear shaped bubble) or beaded (with tiny beads of air trapped inside the knop). Among the rarest and most sought after knops are egg or cylinder shapes.

During the baluster period, bowls were mostly plain, slightly curving funnel shapes.

COLLECTING GIN GLASSES Georgian gin glasses are readily available in spite of their considerable age, and exist in such numbers simply because the spirit was so inordinately popular in the 18th century and the gin glasses themselves do not have thin stems or long stems.

As a consequence of this obsessive and excessive consumption there were a large number of glasses in circulation from which the ruinous distillate could be taken. Prices range from £35 to £200 depending on condition and engraving.

The gin glasses themselves tended to be conical and fairly simply presented and made from flint glass rather than lead-free crystal. As with anything that had an appeal across the broader social spectrum, though, there were glasses intended for use by both the more discerning gentlemen and those of lesser status, so there are both lavishly decorated and utterly plain examples to be found – with all the conceivable intermediate incarnations catered for at the same time.

We are left, therefore, with varied glassware which has a broad and rather non-specific remit with regard to appearance, but which remains eminently collectable, nonetheless, given its place in British social history.

Eric Knowles is the chairman of the online antique glassware specialist www.scottishantiques.com.

Subscribers can save 20 per cent on any purchase by going to the website and adding ACMAGAZINE at the checkout.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 27

COLLECTING GUIDES The Glasgow Girls

B

etween 1880 and 1920 a group of women artists who trained in Glasgow were at the forefront of the Scottish art scene and central to the development of the art nouveau movement in Western Europe. These women had in common their training at the Glasgow School of Art and together they met at the Glasgow Society of Lady Artists, the first residential club in Scotland, created in 1882 by and for women. Now popularly known as the Glasgow Girls, this group of artists was composed of designers and painters who greatly contributed to the specificity of the Glasgow Style.

The term Glasgow Girls, chosen by art historians to refer to the Glasgow women artists and designers who flourished between 1880 and 1920 is derived from the Glasgow Boys who were a group of internationally-renowned male painters. These artists transformed Scottish painting in the 1880s, rejecting romantic landscapes and the sentimental genre scenes of the Royal Scottish Academicians and adopting a matter-of-fact approach to subject matter taken from contemporary daily life. The paintings of the Glasgow Girls show that they were deeply influenced by the work of their male counterparts whose paintings they were able to see in Glasgow or in their studios.

Margaret Macdonald and her sister Frances were the leading figures of the Glasgow Girls. Working as designers with their husbands Charles Rennie Mackintosh and James Herbert MacNair, they became know as ‘The Four’. Among he designers, Jessie Marion King, Annie French, Jessie Newbery and Anne Macbeth were also trained artists who produced a wide variety of works, such as book illustrations, embroidery, ceramic decoration, metal work, wood engravings and jewellery. Only a few of the Glasgow Girls worked primarily as painters, whereas some designers occasionally painted, for instance, Jessie M. King who painted landscapes and townscapes in her later career.

Here Come the GIRLS A new exhibition celebrating the work of the unsung ‘Glasgow Girls’ continues this month. Scottish art specialist Dr Marion Amblard shines a light on their paintings 28 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above Flora Macdonald Reid (1861-1938) Fieldworkers, 1883.

Image courtesy the Fleming Collection Right Bessie MacNicol

(1869–1904) E.A. Hornel, 1896, oil on canvas

FLORA MACDONALD REID (1861-1938)

SUITABLE SUBJECTS Among those who became painters, several specialised in the genre of flower painting. Thus, Katherine Cameron (1874-1965), a very versatile artist producing book illustrations, etchings and paintings, was above all famous for her delicate depictions of flowers painted in watercolours. Apple Blossom and Bees is typical of Cameron’s work who particularly delighted in the minute depictions of bees. Cameron trained at Glasgow School of Art, under the visionary director, Fra Newbery, she later studied in Paris.

A skilled watercolourist, she excelled at close up studies of plant life. Her fascination with bees ‘in their hairiness, blended colour and heavy flight’ drew one critic to compare her to Japanese artists. Her work, which included book illustration and etching, received fresh recognition in the 1988 Glasgow Girls exhibition at the Glasgow School of Art. The fact that many women painters specialised in flower painting reflects the pressure on them to confine themselves to what were considered feminine subject matters. Women were generally not encouraged to take up art unless they themselves were related to an artist, as was the case for Katherine Cameron who was the sister of the landscape painter David Young Cameron.

Above Norah Neilson Gray (1882-1931) The Scottish Women’s Hospital: In the Cloister of the Abbaye at Royaumont.

Dr Frances Ivens inspecting a French patient, 1920, oil

Born in London to Scottish parents, the family moved to Edinburgh where Reid studied at Edinburgh School of Art. She also received tuition from her brother, John Robertson Reid, (18511926) and attended classes at the Trustees’ Academy. Her early aptitude for painting meant that she began exhibiting at the Royal Scottish Academy as young as aged 16.

In 1881, she moved back to London to live at Haverstock Hill in Hampstead. The neighbourhood was popular with artists including John Pettie (1839-1893) who trained the renowned Glasgow Boy James Guthrie (1859-1930).

Living in this exciting artistic milieu, along with her extensive travels in France, Belgium and Norway, Macdonald Reid was strongly influenced by the contemporary trend for rural naturalism.

Potato harvesting, as depicted by Bastien-Lepage in 1878, was a favourite theme of the Scottish naturalist painters. Macdonald Reid was just 23 when she painted Fieldworkers (far left) in 1883.

Set in northern France or Belgium, and exhibited in London in 1884, it echoes Bastien-Lepage’s own depiction of rural life in Damvillers.

Right Bessie MacNicol (1869–1904) The Goose Girl, 1898

‘Several Girls were related to the Glasgow Boys: the flower painter Constance Walton (18661960) was the sister of Edward Arthur Walton (1860-1922), and Stansmore Dean (1886-1944) married Robert Macaulay Stevenson (1854-1952). As for Bessie MacNicol, she knew Edward Atkinson Hornel whom she first met in Kirkudbright in 1896’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 29

COLLECTING GUIDES The Glasgow Girls Besides, until the end of the 19th century, the access women had to artistic training was still limited.

LIFE STUDIES In Britain they had been largely excluded from fine instruction from privately hired drawing masters. It was only from 1871, with the opening of the Slade School in London that women could enrol as fine art students on equal terms with men. In Glasgow the were admitted to the Glasgow School of Art which was created in the 1840s to primarily train designers. They studied side by side with men attending the same courses except the life class. Francis Newbery, who assumed the direction of the Glasgow School of Art from 1885-1917, played a key role in the development of the Glasgow Style and in

Move to Cockburnspath

The Glasgow Boys James Guthrie (1859-1930), E. A. Walton (1860-1922) and Joseph Crawhall (1861-1913) ‘discovered’ Cockburnspath in May 1883.

Guthrie started to depict field labourers before encouraging a number of his artist friends to join him.

Having visited France in 1882, he seemed to be emulating Jules Bastien-Lepage’s success in capturing the rural life of Damvillers. Soon the village was overtaken by artists.

Initially the trio took rooms in a cottage but later that year when the others left for the winter, moved into a house at Dunglass, while renting a red-roofed barn in the village as a studio.

Guthrie lived in Cockburnspath for the next two years with his widowed mother and with Maggie Hamilton (1867– 1952) acting as housekeeper. The experience of Hamilton, who was a talented embroiderer and painter of flowers and still lifes, neatly sums up the situation women artists found themselves in.

Barely recognised in her own right, she was known as the younger sister of Glasgow Boy James Whitelaw Hamilton, and wife of the prominent Glasgow architect Alexander Nisbet Paterson (who was the younger brother of Glasgow Boy James Paterson). While she kept house, Guthrie and the other Glasgow Boys were free to immerse themselves as artists, Bastien-Lepage style, in rural life.

Below left Edward

Arthur Walton (18601922) Cove

Below Bessie MacNicol

(1869–1904) A Girl Of The Sixties, 1899, oil on canvas

Bottom Edward Hornel (1864-1933) Geisha Girls. Courtesy The Fleming Collection

broadening the access of the women art education.

Indeed it was under the headmastership of Newbery that women were granted access to nude models. Before that life classes at the Glasgow School of Art had been separate and different: women could only draw from cast and from the draped figure, nude study being considered as morally degrading. As a result, many women painters turned to the painting of flowers and still life. Some, however, decided to study in France where they could have the same artistic training as men – among others, Bessie MacNicol (1869–1904) studied at the Académie Colarossi in Paris and on her return to Scotland produced paintings equalling the finest work of the Glasgow Boys.

RELATIVE VALUES Several Girls were related to the Glasgow Boys: the flower painter Constance Walton (1866-1960) was the sister of Edward Arthur Walton (1860-1922), and Stansmore Dean (1886-1944) married Robert Macaulay Stevenson (1854-1952). As for Bessie MacNicol, she knew Edward Atkinson Hornel (1864-1933) whom she first met in Kirkudbright in 1896.

MacNicol was for a time influenced by Hornel as seen in her famous portrait of the artist in his studio with a Japanese kakemono in the background.

In this picture, the influence of Hornel is seen in her use of light and bright colours, which contrast with the dark colours of her self-portrait.

Painted around 1896, it shows the influence of Velasquez, whose works she admired while studying in Paris. In fact, MacNicol’s paintings have so much in common with the works of the Glasgow Boys that Ailsa Tanner has declared that “she should be considered a fringe member of the group”. In 1908,

Everyday life

Every aspect of the daily routine of life in Cockburnspath became the subject of scrutiny, from the fieldworkers and herders to the children tending the kailyards (vegetable plots), going to school or feeding the ducks.

The colony at Cockburnspath lasted two years until the winter of 1885 when Guthrie finally left the village.

30 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above Bessie MacNicol (1869– 1904) self ortrait, 1894, oil on canvas

Left Constance Walton (1866-1960) Day Dreams, c. 1890, watercolour. The Fleming Collection © Courtesy the Estate of the Artist Right Jules BastienLepage (1848–1884) Les Foins (Haymaker), 1877, oil on canvas Below James Guthrie

(1859-1930) The Bridge, Crowland.

Courtesy The Fleming Collection

Jules Bastien-Lepage

James Lewis Caw (1864–1950) wrote of MacNicol that she was “probably the most accomplished lady-artist that Scotland has yet produced”, and at the time of her death, in childbirth at the age of 34, she had become a renowned painter in Scotland and Europe.

She mainly painted portraits of women and children as well as ‘fancy portraits’, which were stylistically reminiscent of the Glasgow Boys’ paintings.

Nevertheless The Green Hat, a painting she sent to the Munich Secession Exhibition in 1896, anticipates the works of the Scottish Colourist John Duncan Fergusson.

NORAH NEILSON GRAY (1882-1931) Norah Neilson Gray had a direct painterly approach, common to all the painters of the Glasgow School, but her style and technique were highly individual.

Her most powerful and original works are her wartime pictures inspired by her experience as a voluntary nurse in France during WWI. For her painting The Belgian Refugee she was a awarded a medal when it was exhibited in Paris in 1921. She was the only woman painter to achieve the same international recognition as Bessie MacNicol, exhibiting at Munich, Vienna, Ghent, Dresden, Saint Petersburg and the United States.

Although the contribution of the Glasgow Girls to the development of art in western Europe cannot be compared to that of the women designers from Glasgow, the talent of these women painters was

The Glasgow Boys and Girls were greatly influenced by Jules Bastien epage (1848-1884).

Hailed as the inventor of naturalist painting, Bastien-Lepage was born in 1848 in the village of Damvillers. He studied in Paris at the École des Beaux-arts before retreat to Damvillers to document the everyday lives of his family and fellow villagers.

His fame was assured in 1878 with his painting Les Foins (Haymaker). In a female labourer sits on the ground with her arms and legs outstretched against a sweeping landscape. e stark pose is suggestive of both supplication and indifference. acknowledged internationally in their lifetime.

As was the case of many artists of their generation, the work of the Glasgow Girls fell out of fashion before WWII. It was only from 1976 with the exhibition West of Scotland Women Artists held in Helensburgh that the work of the Glasgow Girls began to be rediscovered and reappraised by art historians.

Since then, the Glasgow Girls have received much scholarly attention several major exhibitions devoted to them. But it was in 1990 with the groundbreaking exhibition catalogue Glasgow Girls – Women in Art and Design 1880-1920, a collection of articles edited by Jules Burkhauser, that the achievements of the whole group were fully reassessed. This went hand in hand with their growing popularity among collectors.

Dr Marion Amblard is a senior lecturer in British cultural studies at Grenoble Alpes University. She is a member of the French Society for Scottish Studies and a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. Her research work focuses on Scottish painting from the 18th century onwards.

The Glasgow Boys & Girls continues at The Granary Gallery, Berwick Visual Arts, in Berwick until November 15. The exhibition brings together 40 paintings and watercolours from 1880-1895. For more details go to www.berwickvisualarts.co.uk ANTIQUE COLLECTING 31

COLLECTING GUIDES The Glasgow Girls

Q& & &A

With Carly Shearer paintings specialist at Glasgow-based auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull

Q A

How did the fact they were women limit their opportunities?

There were very good educational opportunities available for women at Glasgow School of Art at the turn of the century. In particular the school’s director from 1885-1917, Fra Newbery, is widely credited with being particularly encouraging of female students.

However, many talented women wouldn’t even have made it that far, due to lack of earlier opportunities to learn and develop as well as restrictive family expectations, which generally disparaged art and design, as well as any further education opportunities for talented women.

Even those who did make it to art school, found post-training opportunities limited.

Some did go on to teach and to make and sell their designs, but it was not easy and many gave up following marriage or the birth of their children. Some of these difficulties were in fact lawfully enforced: married women were not legally allowed to teach full-time until 1945.

Even those who did manage to become successful and celebrated professionals in their lifetime, do not seem to have remained in the history books in the same way that their male peers have.

Below Frances Macdonald MacNair (1874-1921)

Girl with Blue Butterflies, sold for £121,250 in 2012, image courtesy of Lyon & Turnbull

Q A

How far did their work reflect the ideals of the Glasgow Boys?

For the women who were predominantly painters, figures such as Bessie MacNicol, Norah Neilson Gray and Flora McDonald Reid, we can see a clear correlation between their style and approach and that of the Glasgow Boys, the male generation of painters just slightly ahead of them.

However, many of the women within the Glasgow School, focussed their creative energy on decorative and applied arts producing a different creative output from the painting we associate with the Glasgow Boys.

Developments in these areas were slightly different, though we can still see an affinity with male artists and designers of the same time – a good example being the Glasgow Four – Charles Rennie Mackintosh, his wife, Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh and her sister, Frances MacDonald MacNair and her husband, Herbert MacNair, who were known to work collaboratively.

Q A

How can you account for the explosion of talent in Glasgow at that time?

At the turn of the century Glasgow was the second city of the empire, and as such was exploding with wealth – stimulating an appetite for art and design, and generating a body of people to buy art and design as well as supporting artists and their creations.

The forward-looking teaching at Glasgow School of Art was also a major player in the development of such a wealth of talent at that time.

Q A

Which of the Glasgow Girls command the highest price at auction?

The highest prices that we are aware of is the world-record price for a Margaret MacDonald Mackintosh at £1.7 million in 2008, followed by £121,250 for a watercolour by Frances MacDonald MacNair in 2012, here at Lyon & Turnbull.

Q A

How has the market for them changed in the last 30 years?

The market for work by the ‘Glasgow Girls has definitely been rising over the last few decades, as we can see with the top

32 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above Norah Neilson Gray (1882-1931) Exotic, signed oil on canvas, sold for £28,750 in 2018, image courtesy of Lyon & Turnbull

prices ever being achieved in 2008 and 2012.

However, work by many of these artists is still surprisingly affordable. Greater focus on women’s artistic contributions through history, and the resulting books, articles and exhibitions has helped raise awareness and this has had some trickle-down effect to and increasing market for their work, which I hope and expect will continue.

Q A

Are there any under-the-radar Glasgow artists whose work is still affordable?

Works by nearly all of these artists and designers remain remarkably affordable. For anyone interested in evolving their Glasgow School collection, or developing their collection of work by women artists, my best recommendation would be to start reading up on these women and viewing their work where available.

They have been under-valued for decades, and although interest is rising, there are still surprising bargains to be had for work which was central to the evolution and success of this internationally-regarded movement.

QA

Do you have a personal favourite?

My personal favourite artist from this group is Norah Neilson Gray. She worked in a variety of styles, but ultimately established a very successful portrait studio on Bath Street in Glasgow.

In her lifetime, she achieved international recognition and, though she does have a small cohort of dedicated fans and collectors, she is not as widely known now as many of her male peers.

We sold Exotic – a striking portrait by her – in 2018 for £28,750 (including fees), this particular painting was a ‘masterpiece’ work, kept by the artist and displayed in her studio to demonstrate her skill to potential patrons.

No wonder she was such a success!

Lyon & Turnbull is currently consigning for its next sale of Scottish Paintings and Sculpture on December 3. For more details go to www.lyonandturnbull.com

THE CONTENTS OF BEAL HOUSE, THIRSK, NORTH YORKSHIRE AUCTION 14-15 OCT 2020 AT 10AM IN EDINBURGH For the fully illustrated catalogue, viewing opportunities, and free online bidding, please see www.lyonandturnbull.com or call us on 0131 557 8844

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www.lyonandturnbull.com

EXPERT COMMENT David Harvey the transition from G-Plan and Ercol through the Habitat years and on to IKEA. Thomas Chippendale (1718-1779) and his contemporaries were working in the highly sought-after rococo style when George III acceded to the throne, with all the ‘c’-shaped scrolls, ‘s’-shaped scrolls, icicles, rockeries and foliage which we see on the desk (below left).

The same ornate style can also be seen in the heavilycarved, canted corners and accentuated serpentine shape in the pair of girandoles (below).

NEOCLASSICAL REVIVAL

Waxing lyrical

I

David Harvey takes us on a whistle stop tour of George III furniture, from Chippendale’s rococo grandeur to Sheraton’s pared-back designs

t seems remarkable that any monarch should be on the throne for 60 years, but that is what George III achieved with breaks for periods of his illness. From 1760 to 1820 he was king of Great Britain and Ireland during which time fashion and design changed vastly. Indeed, one could compare it to the period from the 1950s to the present day with Above Dated to the 1770s, Mrs Rudd’s satinwood dressing table shows all the hallmarks of neoclassical style Top right The central oval on the top is made up of oak leaves and acorns which are surrounded by bandings of trailing bell flowers and crossbandings Right The girandoles

show the same ornate shape and carving

Left The earlier period’s rococo style saw ‘c’-shaped scrolls and ‘s’-shaped scrolls, icicles, rockeries and foliage

34 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

As fashions changed, Robert Adam (1728-1792) and his brother James (1732–1794) brought the neoclassical revival to the fore in the last quarter of the 18th century, sparking a change in both the design and manufacture of furniture.

Interiors had to reflect clients’ wishes and we see designs at the country houses of Harewood House and Osterley Park and House showing how far things had changed. One example is Mrs Rudd’s dressing table (left) made at great expense for her house in Harley Street, which set her back £4,000 – a fortune in the 1770s. Mrs Rudd was one of the most notorious courtesans of the 18th century, she was also responsible for passing off forged promissory notes which led to the hanging of the Perrau twins, one of whom was her lover on whom she placed the blame for her crime.

This Georgian scandal rocked the very pillars of the establishment with members of the public queuing round the block to get into the Old Bailey to see the proceedings. It knocked the American War of Independence off the front pages of the newspapers and journals. Apparently, the Rudd rial was as avidly followed and widely reported in George III’s reign as the O.J. Simpson rial some two centuries later.

Mrs Rudd’s neoclassical dressing table is a beautifully

inlaid and highly fashionable piece. The central oval on top is made up of oak leaves and acorns which are surrounded by bandings of trailing bell flowers and crossbandings (left).

Right The Sheraton

GEORGE HEPPLEWHITE

Below left In the later serpentine chest, carving has yielded to simple crossbanding to accentuate its line

Two years after Hepplewhite’s (1727-1786) death, his widow, Alice, published a book of his designs. The Cabinetmaker and Upholsterers Guide gave the author’s name to a whole period of designs from the last two decades of the 18th century. Hepplewhite’s style lightened the feel of pieces. The serpentine chest (below) is very different from the much darker desk to its left.

While they both have canted corners, in the later example the carving has yielded to simple crossbanding to accentuate its line. The same treatment is continued around the feet, drawers and top as one would expect on a fine quality example.

period bonheur du jour or ‘daytime delight’ was invented as a lady’s writing table

Below right The library

chair’s scrolling arms, sabred legs, decoration and gilding is typical of the Regency period

but the fame of Lydia Languish in Richard Brinsley Sheridan’s play, The Rivals, first performed in London in 1775, would also have been a landmark.

Thomas Sheraton’s (1751-1806) designs from the late 18th and early 19th centuries brought a further lightening of interiors with an emphasis on pieces designed for women. Indeed, the bonheur du jour or ‘daytime delight’ was invented as a lady’s writing table (above) in France but quickly became anglicised and would have been in fashion in Lydia Languish’s day.

Made from golden satinwood with ebony stringing, it highlights the fineness of the square tapered legs.

They were usually made in two pieces for ease of movement around a room – hence the brass casters.

The main drawer is fitted with a leather-lined easel for resting a book on or for writing at. As well as ink wells and a quill tray, there are further compartments secreted away behind the oval inlaid door to the upper part. This particular example was made by Gillows of Lancaster in about 1780 to 1785.

REGENCY PERIOD THOMAS SHERATON Towards the end of the 18th century society was changing rapidly. There was a growth in the wealth of the nation and greater access to information via newspapers, circulating libraries and the introduction of the novel which did so much to introduce young ladies to the pleasure of reading. The novelist Henry Fielding is often credited with the earliest examples,

‘Towards the end of the 18th century society was changing rapidly. There was a growth in wealth of the nation and greater access to information via newspapers, circulating libraries and the introduction of the novel which did so much to introduce young ladies to the pleasure of reading’

As we move to the early 19th century, illness-ridden George III appointed his son as Prince Regent until 1820. His influence on the arts, architecture, design and fashion lasted until his own demise in 1830. So the Regency period is often taken to be 1800 to 1830.

One has only to see The Royal Pavilion in Brighton or the furnishings at Carlton House to appreciate how important his influence and his collecting was. This library chair with its scrolling arms, sabred legs, decoration and gilding is very definitely Regency in style and light years away from the middle years of the 18th century.

W R Harvey & Co. Ltd., is located at 86 Corn St, Witney, Oxfordshire, www.wrharvey.com ANTIQUE COLLECTING 35

COLLECTING GUIDES Georgian mourning jewellery

36 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

MOURNING GLORY

Rather than being morbid, Georgian mourning jewellery celebrated life and love and is a great introduction to pieces from the era

U

nlike the Stuart period which preceded it, the Georgian era exuded a feeling of lightheartedness and freedom. Conventions were no longer so restrictive, enabling the Georgians openly to express their individuality. Much of the leisure time of the upper classes was dedicated to social activities; the pursuit of pleasure and a passion for fashion were two of their most absorbing interests.

Georgians embraced the country house life: outdoor amusements during the day and an elegant salon life at night. This new way of living brought about a need for the distinction between day and evening jewellery.

For daytime dress Georgian women accessorised their favoured fabrics of broadcloth, doeskin, taffeta, lace, cotton and muslin with compatible materials such as garnets, coral, agate, turquoise, steel and Wedgwood.

Opposite page A column of gold and black enamel mourning rings displaying ivory skulls set under crystals, mid18th century Right Much fashion was

based on French styles which were elaborate in the extreme as this plate from 1818 shows

Below left Exceptionally

fine polychrome mourning brooch with garlands and love birds

Below Polychrome

18th-century mourning pendant of shipwreck

‘The custom of leaving a provision in one’s will for the making and distribution of mourning rings for esteemed friends and family took hold in the latter part of the seventeenth century.

Samuel Pepys left 123 rings on his death in 1703.

Robert Walpole, Earl of Orford, died in 1745 and left 72 rings at a cost of £1 each’

Georgian fads & fashions Fashion throughout the Georgian period was a fickle affair: in 1774 small drop earrings were de rigueur before completely falling out of fashion three months later.

Asymmetrical designs were popular until the mid1700s when fashions dictated a return to symmetry.

For a great deal of the era engraved coloured golds were highly desirable, except for a capricious 20 years between 1740 and 1760 when they were shunned – one can only wonder why.

Fads waxed and waned all over Europe, but rarely at the same time. Around 1790 cannetille (exquisite gold wirework) came into style in England where it was fashionable until the 1830s. Cut-steel was English in origin but, long after it ceased being popular at home, it was still being made and appreciated in late 19th and 20th-century France.

START OF THE CONSUMER AGE Shopping for jewellery was an integral part of Georgian life. Nobility had pieces brought to their homes for inspection or had viewings in the private upstairs rooms of jewellery and goldsmith shops. These were located on the well-travelled high streets and were decorated with carved and gilded appointments, glass cabinets, large glass windows. For the less wealthy there were any number of fairs and markets where inexpensive items could be found and these could also be had at circulating libraries which women could visit, without fear of immodest behaviour, and make purchases from a small stock of jewellery and trinkets.

Throughout his life the Prince of Wales (George IV) loved jewels and his appetite appears to have been fed from an early age. At two he appeared at a royal ball with his brother Prince Frederick, ‘with new point lace tuckers and cuffs, diamonds round their tuckers and diamond belts and the Prince of Wales had diamond buttons down his petticoat’. As he got older, his passion only increased, and he made extravagant purchases both for himself and others. One of his favourite suppliers was Rundell, Bridge and Rundell, the Court Jewellers, from whom the Prince Regent bought enormous quantities of jewellery.

Diamonds, pearls and gemstones flooded into England smuggled by emigrés fleeing the French Revolution and Mr. Rundell was able to buy them cheaply. Bigger and better suites of jewellery were ordered by the nobility, whose craving for fine jewellery was fuelled by the endless whirl of social events hosted by the Prince. In 1820 Rundell made the circlet for his coronation – a magnificent crown of pearls and brilliant diamonds designed as crosses alternating with sprays of patriotic motifs (the rose, the shamrock and the thistle) symbolising the United Kingdom.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 37

COLLECTING GUIDES Georgian mourning jewellery

MOURNING RITUALS Traditions in mourning followed a prescribed pattern. On the death of a family member or loved one, Georgians were expected to go into full mourning and to wear only black. After a suitable period of time, the bereaved would enter half-mourning when sombre colours such as lavender and grey were introduced.

Finally, after the appropriate passage of time, normal social life, with all its colours, was resumed.

The mourning of royal personages increased demand for memorial jewellery and the symbols of royal bereavement, the snake, the cross, the torch and the crown, were worn around the necks and wrists and fingers of loyal subjects everywhere.

LIFE AND DEATH To Georgians, death was a way of life and was, unsurprisingly, represented in their jewellery. Without the miracles of modern medicine, life expectancy was about half of what it is today. When we examine the memorial jewellery of the 18th century, we are often shocked to see inscriptions that indicate how many died young – perhaps of the plague, perhaps of the common cold. Many women and children died in childbirth.

Mourning jewellery was a way for the bereaved to hold on to the memory of the loved one who had passed away too soon. In realising the comfort and consolation this must have brought, the customs of Georgian England do not appear morbid or ghoulish, but touching and loving: an appropriate way to honour the dead.

The custom of wearing jewels to commemorate a death began hundreds of years earlier but experienced a great revival in the 18th century, possibly as a result of the publication in 1742 of a very popular book called Night Thoughts on Life, Death and Immortality by Edward Young. Shortly thereafter, enormous amounts of memorial jewellery began being worn in England and this trend spread to the rest of Europe and America.

STUART CRYSTAL JEWELLERY The execution of King Charles I in 1649 spawned a jewellery industry which produced carved rock crystal stones that were mounted over ciphers made of gold wire, displayed upon a background of hair

38 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Right Stuart crystal

rings, slide, pendant and earrings, early 18th century

Below left Selection of crosshatched enamel mourning jewels c.1810-1815 Below Mourning pendant

depicting the death of two loved ones – the dog is the symbol of fidelity

work, and set in simple gold rings to show support for the monarchy. Some of these are embellished with crowns of gold wire as well. Called Stuart crystals, many of them pre-date the 1700s, but it was from these roots that the popularity of the 18th-century memorial ring began to grow. Stuart crystals were also made as clasps, cufflinks, earrings, slides and pendants, some with a background of black silk fabric or rose or blue foils added to the hair work. Many of these pieces date from the 17th century.

Stuart rings had crystals that were cut flat on top and faceted on the sides, set in bezels that were round, oval, square or diamond shaped. The shanks are usually plain uninscribed gold hoops or have traces of black or white enamel around the bezel.

MOURNING RINGS By the 1740s the Stuart crystal ring had evolved into the quintessential Georgian mourning ring: a smaller crystal or gemstone-set bezel with a reeded back and the name and dates of the deceased engraved on an enamel and gold scrolled shank. Often, instead of ciphers, these contained skulls or skeletons made of ivory or paper. The more important of these have diamonds set in the ring’s shoulders and some have engraved and enamelled skeletons stretching around the exterior of the band with the birth and death dates of the deceased on the underside.

Memorial rings were sad and beautiful tokens used to commemorate the death of a family member or loved one. They outnumbered all other types of mourning jewels and were given by all who could afford them. The custom of leaving a provision in one’s will for making mourning rings for friends and family took hold in the latter part of the 17th century.

Samuel Pepys left 123 rings on his death in 1703.

Robert Walpole, Earl of Orford, died in 1745 and left 72 rings at a cost of £1 each.

The most often seen examples are the simple gold enamelled bands bearing the name of the deceased and his/her date of birth and departure and sometimes a loving and spiritual inscription on the inside such as Gone before but not lost or Sacred to Memory. While most of these rings are decorated in black enamel, white enamel was used to signify a child or an unmarried person.

FASHION FOR MOURNING By the late 18th century, mourning miniatures had become fashionable. These were gentle scenes of sorrow with classically draped ladies swooning against burial urns, worked in hair and mounted on ivory.

Navette, oval or octagon-shaped rings (and also clasps, pendants and brooches), some of considerable size, were executed in monochromatic sepia tones and are moving testaments to the grief of the bereaved.

The name of the deceased and the date of death are usually inscribed on the back of the bezel, which is often surrounded by pearls for tears. While some of these designs were stock and could be chosen from hair workers’ catalogues, some were custom-made and relate to a particular tragedy, such as the one that shows a memorial urn in the foreground and a sinking ship on the ocean behind it – signifying death by drowning.

SNAKE RINGS From 1810 to 1815 there was a brief trend for mourning jewellery decorated with black enamel snakes with crosshatched golden ‘skins’. Signifying eternity, these could be frequently found coiling around the bezels and shanks of rings and the borders of hair locket brooches.

Some mourning jewels are much grander affairs: large blue enamel marquise rings edged with diamonds and featuring diamond urns. These commemorated the more prestigious deaths of those who were, no doubt, just as sincerely missed.

Especially rare and moving are the memorial pieces that contain touching scenes carved out of ivory against a transparent blue or red enamel background and set under glass with surrounds of diamonds which, like the more usually seen pearls, signified the tears of the mourner.

MEMENTO MORI Not all jewellery that used death symbolism was memorial in nature. In the 17th and 18th centuries there was a fashion for Memento Mori or ‘vanitas’ pieces, which meant, literally, ‘remember you must die’. These pieces were made as humbling reminders of mortality and often used the imagery of skulls, coffins, skeletons and death’s heads along with philosophical mottoes such as ‘Live to die’ to warn the wearer that death awaits us all and that vanity must come to naught.

Right Mourning pendant

exhibiting Memento Mori philosophy: The time is unknown but death is certain, 1797

Below An example of

a mourning ‘eye’ ring c.1820

Bottom Eye brooch set

in gold with diamond ‘tear’ c.1800

show the eye peeking through a veil of clouds, perhaps to infer that the loved one might be watching from on high the goings-on of this mortal world.

BUYER BEWARE Over time it has become increasingly difficult to find untouched mourning jewellery because the hair behind the glassed-in bezel of a brooch, pendant or ring has often been removed and an agate, paste or gemstone has been reset in its place. This has made a mourning ring or brooch saleable to those who would otherwise disdain it, but it has reduced the supply of untouched Georgian memorial pieces.

Some pieces are so rare, such as eye miniatures and tear jewellery, that to see any at all should put one on alert. Unprincipled individuals are taking Georgian lace brooches and rings (the kind that have central compartments containing braided hair or foiled paste), popping out the bezels and replacing the contents with newly-painted ‘Georgian’ eyes or old ones cut from 18th-century miniatures on ivory.

Remember, this was a brief fad and more of these ‘lover’s eyes’ have made their appearance in the last 20 years than might have in the entire Georgian period!

Taken from Georgian Jewellery by Ginny Redington Dawes and Olivia Collings, published

by ACC Art Books priced £45. Subscribers can save 20 per cent on the RPP by ordering at www.accartbooks.com

TEAR JEWELLERY By the early 19th century ‘lover’s eye’ jewels had a new name, ‘tear jewellery’, and a new purpose, as sentimental keepsakes of a dearly departed’s most soulful feature. Prior to this there had been a brief fashion for lovers to exchange a painted miniature on ivory of the giver’s eye in the form of a brooch, ring or locket, often with a compartment at its back containing a lock of hair. This could then be worn with impunity under the impression that no one would recognise the giver. The later mourning versions saw a tear glistening at the corner of the eye to intimate sorrow and many ANTIQUE COLLECTING 39

COLLECTING GUIDES Wedgwood

Below Wedgwood

Jasperware portrait medallion depicting Josiah Wedgwood.

Photo credit: Author’s collection Left Wedgwood Jasperware teapot with Domestic Employment designs

by Lady Templetown Below Peltro William

Tomkins (1759–1840) Book of Etchings from Papers cut by The Right Honourable Lady Templeton, 1790

Making an

IMPRESSION

F

Wedgwood’s neoclassical Jasperware was snapped up by the new Georgian middle classes. Sophie Guiny pays tribute to the role women played in the iconic designs

rom the second half of the 18th century, Britain was gripped by neoclassical fever due, in part, to the discoveries at excavations at Herculaneum and Pompeii. While the architect and designer Robert Adam reflected his love of ancient Greece and Rome in country houses across the country Josiah Wedgwood was doing the same in his new Jasperware.

In May 1759, 29-year old Josiah Wedgwood (17351795) founded his own pottery works. Born into a family of potters in Burslem, Staffordshire, young Josiah was struck by smallpox and the resulting damage to his leg (which would eventually be amputated) left him unable to operate a potter’s wheel.

40 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Similarly entranced by the fashions of the day, he worked to refine his stoneware into something that might match the artefacts of the ancients. He turned his attention to design and experimentation with new clays and glazes, improving on known techniques and creating new styles and ceramics bodies, including the now iconic Jasperware, which Wedgwood perfected around 1775. The smooth, hard stoneware, fashioned in a neoclassical style, rivalled Chinese porcelain in its allure and was snapped up by Georgian consumers, ensuring Wedgwood became a household name.

As patrons, artists and factory workers, women played a critical role in Wedgwood’s success.

‘As with the naming of Queen’s ware, Josiah Wedgwood aggressively courted royal and aristocratic female patrons, as they had the ability to influence the taste of other women, both in the aristocracy and in England’s burgeoning middle class’

Etruria workers

FEMALE ASPECT We find an early testament of Josiah Wedgwood’s appreciation for the importance of the female eye in his work in a 1768 letter to his business partner, Thomas Bentley: “I speak from experience in Female taste, without which I should have made but a poor figure amongst my Potts, not one of which of any consequence is finished without the approval of my Sally.” Sally was his wife, Sarah Wedgwood, who played an important part throughout his career.

Josiah Wedgwood’s sense of innovation extended to marketing his wares in what was a crowded market. As the quality of his creamware (a type of ceramic made of pure white clay with a clear lead glaze) had garnered him royal orders, he petitioned Queen Charlotte for the right to use her name in selling his products. Starting in 1763, Wedgwood’s creamware was sold as Queen’s ware, and the Queen’s patronage became very visible on all advertising materials. Josiah Wedgwood also used the words “Queen’s Shape” to denote dishes made in the same shape as those sold to the Queen. It was a shrewd way to make a connection between his customers and royalty.

Above The bowl and jug c.1790 has Lady Templetown’s design, the teabowl and saucer depicts The Young Seamstress after a design by Emma Crewe

The employment of female workers at Wedgwood did not stop after the production of the Frog service, and I am extremely grateful to Lucy Lead, archivist at the Wedgwood Museum in Barlaston, for sharing with me the Wedgwood commonplace book, which contains the list of all the workers at the Etruria factory in 1790 and 1793. We find the names of many women in the book, and I counted a total of 22 in 1790.

Most women were employed as painters and gilders, and they actually made up the majority of these departments. They worked in the lesser paid “useful ware” department, rather than in the more prestigious “ornamental ware” department, where jasperware was produced. As was the case for the Frog Service, women were paid less than men.

RUSSIAN CONNECTION The Frog Service, commissioned by Empress Catherine II of Russia in 1773, is a good case study of the role of women in Wedgwood’s business. First, as with the naming of Queen’s ware, Josiah Wedgwood aggressively courted royal and aristocratic female patrons, as they had the ability to influence the taste of other women, both in the aristocracy and in England’s burgeoning middle class. In a letter to his partner, Thomas Bentley, Wedgwood muses, “Suppose you present the Duchess of Devonshire with a Set and beg leave to call them Devonshire Flowerpots.” This was never to be. But having Catherine the Great as a repeat customer (she had already ordered a service in 1768) was a marketing coup for which Wedgwood was prepared to incur financial losses.

Above A receipt from Josiah Wedgwood, potter, for purchases made by Lady Winterton, dated 30 June 1770 Left Wedgwood Jasperware portrait medallion of Catherine II, Empress of Russia.

Photo credit Brooklyn Museum Right Wedgwood Queen’s ware dessert plate, part of the Frog Service, cream-coloured earthenware, depicting the view Mr Hopkins’ Gardens, Painshill, Surrey

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 41

COLLECTING GUIDES Neoclassical Wedgwood Left Round covered dish decorated with a view of Longford castle, Wiltshire, from the Frog Service by Wedgwood Below Wedgwood

jasperware covered sugar bowl with The Reading Lesson, a design attributed to Emma Crewe. Author’s collection

FROG SERVICE The Frog Service comprised 952 pieces, and was to be decorated with a different view of England on each piece, an extremely ambitious task. The only repeating designs would be the border and the frog emblem, as the service was destined for a palace known as “Frog Marsh.” To realise the service, Wedgwood had to hire numerous skilled painters, which included a number of women: factory records show that at least half a dozen women were employed to paint the Frog Service, working on both the borders and the centre landscapes.

The highest paid woman, a Mrs Wilcox, was paid eighteen shillings a week, which is just over half of what the highest-paid man earned (thirty-one shillings).

Wedgwood catered to a variety of tastes, and was always trying to introduce new styles. Many pieces were decorated with classical designs, inspired by antiquity, and modelled by such noted artists as John Flaxman Junior and George Stubbs. It is worth noting, however, that in the 1787 company catalogue, Wedgwood gives a place of pride to designs made by three women artists: Elizabeth, Lady Templetown; Lady Diana Beauclerk, and Miss Emma Crewe. All three were gifted amateur artists, and their designs were used exclusively to decorate the very fashionable jasperware

LADY TEMPLETOWN (1747-1823) Lady Templetown, often misspelled as “Templeton”, perhaps based on Josiah Wedgwood’s own frequent misspelling in his letters, was inspired by sentimentalist literature (such as Laurence Sterne’s novels) and traditional domestic activities. Born Elizabeth Boughton in 1747, she came from an aristocratic, if not particularly wealthy, family and married Clotworthy Upton in 1769. In 1776, in recognition for his services to the royal family, Upton was made Baron Templetown of Templetown, County Atrim in Ireland, and Elizabeth became the first Lady Templetown. Left a widow with three children in 1785, she managed her family’s Irish estates until her son’s coming of age, and retired to Rome where she died in 1823.

A talented amateur artist, her drawings caught the eye of Josiah Wedgwood who commissioned several designs from her starting in 1783. In a letter to Lady Templetown dated June 27, 1783, Josiah Wedgwood expresses: “A wish to be indulged in copying a few more such [figure] groups” in addition to what she had already lent him. She provided drawings or cut-outs in

42 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Indian paper of her designs, and William Hackwood, a sculptor employed by Wedgwood, modelled the actual reliefs to be applied on the Jasperware. The etching (page 40), now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, is based on one of Lady Templetown’s series of cut-outs on the theme of Domestic Employment. The Jasperware version of this design (which is the mirror image of the cut-out) is on the teapot (also page 40).

EMMA CREWE Emma Crewe’s designs were quite similar in inspiration to Lady Templetown’s, but much less is known about her life. She was born in 1741 and was the sister of John Crewe, a Member of Parliament and a staunch supporter of Whig party leader Charles James Fox. It is likely that these personal acquaintances played a role in Emma’s designs being used by Wedgwood, as Josiah Wedgwood was also a committed Whig. We know little about her life, other than the fact that she never married, and her name appeared in a 1798 pamphlet satirising women artists. Her date of death remains unknown.

eorge III married Queen Charlotte. Her marriage was unhappy, Lord Bolingbroke being a compulsive gambler and womanizer. She fell in love with Topham Beauclerk, and left her husband. Their divorce, which was finalized in 1768, was a major society scandal, which made the headlines of the London gazettes. Immediately after her divorce was finalised, she married her lover, becoming Diana Beauclerk. Although she had lost her place at court on account of the scandal, the Beauclerks were part of the literary and artistic society of the time, counting among their inner circle such luminaries as Horace Walpole and Joshua Reynolds.

Topham Beauclerk died in 1780, and Lady Diana’s second marriage had not been any happier than her first. She died in 1808, having spent the last years of her life mostly blind and in much reduced circumstance. According to Beatrice Erskine’s 1903 Lady Diana Beauclerk Her Life and Work, the first contact between Lady Diana Beauclerk and Josiah Wedgwood occurred in 1780 through their mutual friend Charles James Fox.

Left Wedgwood jasperware wine cooler with Bacchanalian Boys designs after Lady Diana Beauclerk, c. 1783 Right After

Joshua Reynolds, Portrait of Lady Diana Beauclerk, engraving, 1837

AHEAD OF HIS TIME LADY DI (1734-1808) Lady Diana Beauclerk’s designs were of a different style, although they too feature boys and cherubs at play. She was born Lady Diana Spencer in 1724 in one of Britain’s most prominent families: she was the great-granddaughter of the first Duke of Marlborough and grew up at Blenheim Palace. Like her century namesake, the young Lady Diana Spencer was nicknamed “Lady Di.” In 1757, she married Frederick St John, Viscount Bolingbroke, who was also a member of the high aristocracy. In 1761, she came to the royal court when she was appointed lady of the bedchamber when King

Above Plaque by Lady

Diana Beauclerk (17341808) for Wedgwood, image courtesy of Brooklyn Museum Right William Hackwood

(died 1836). Medallion, Terracotta on basalt.

The inscription reads Am I not a man and a brother? courtesy of Brooklyn Museum

Below Jasperware has

never gone out of fashion

It is likely that Josiah Wedgwood chose to hire women artists and to publicise their work because he thought that it would appeal to the market, showing a softer side than scenes inspired by the Iliad, or portrait medallions of Roman emperors. Wedgwood has reproduced Domestic Employment and Bacchanalian Boys countless times since the 18th century, showing the long-lasting appeal of the more feminine designs.

However, Josiah Wedgwood was ahead of his time on many social and political issues, from his commitment to the anti-slavery movement to his position in favour of the independence of the American colonies. As an original member of the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade he produced medallions that were distributed free of charge to supporters of the cause, who in turn sold them to raise money for the society.

He was also involved in the latest scientific research of his time through his membership of the Lunar Society. So it is not inappropriate to think that hiring women artists may have gone beyond commercial considerations and reflected Josiah Wedgwood’s progressive positions.

Sophie Guiny is a Wedgwood collector and researcher. She is the newsletter editor for the Wedgwood Society of Washington, D.C. A version of this article was initially published on the All Things Georgian blog ANTIQUE COLLECTING 43

COLLECTING GUIDES 18th-century prints

Cartoon Network

Georgian England was the great age of cartooning. Satirical prints from the era are affordable, amusing and highly decorative writes Dr Stewart Abbott Spectators at a print shop in St Paul’s churchyard, 1774. An extravagantly dressed woman points a fan at a mezzotint droll in a print-shop window while a small dog looks up at her.

Hand-coloured mezzotint

COLLECTING PRINTS There is more to 18th century prints than those produced by Hogarth. Most of Hogarth’s print works came from his paintings and continued to be reprinted over a long period of time. Here we are dealing with a selection of prints created as mezzotints and engravings aimed at the popular market at reasonable cost.

The late antiquarian Christopher Lennox-Boyd, who had one of the largest collections of British mezzotints in the world, did a great deal to keep them accessible. I have collected them since the early 1970s and enjoyed their humour and insight into the 18th century. The prints have decorative quality and do not need to be explained to be appreciated.

Prints look good in most spaces and can fit into period decorative schemes, as well as add a focus in a contemporary setting. They are generally small in size (limited by the size of paper available to the printers) and look good in groups.

Each collector approaches prints in an individual manner, some go for eye appeal, some for historical associations and others for cultural or personal interests. The older the prints are, the rarer they are.

This is due to many factors: the prints were produced as ephemera and for immediate consumption; the paper was not always of a quality that would last, as they were fashion items. Those surviving today have mainly come from collections and later reprints on better paper. There are a number of specialist print dealers who regularly exhibit at antique fairs. With the decline of interest in prints of this period, now is a great time to start a collection.

FASHION FOR ‘DROLLS’

B

etween 1770 and 1830 more than 20,000 satirical prints were published in London.

The subject matter of these prints fell broadly into two categories: political subjects (including the ruling elite, elections and wars with France) and modern culture and fashion. The variety of the prints was immense. Small black-andwhite images could be purchased for a few pence, while hand-coloured images printed on textured paper were sold for two shillings each or more and collected as a series. Of course, many prints had a broader circulation beyond the people who initially bought them. Prints were swapped and shared among friends and relations, while print-shop windows attracted huge crowds when new editions went on sale.

44 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Right Mirth and Friendship, c.1770, hand-coloured mezzotint. A group of six drinkers, one wearing a cocked hat over a thick white wig

Mezzotint was the medium by which British prints swept continental markets in the late 1760s and 1770s, becoming the most fashionable of all print formats at that time.

These prints were a significant part of our export trade, and a means by which British art and (to some extent) culture became known abroad. The mezzotint ‘droll’ records an area of British popular 18th-century culture. The term has changed its meaning over the years and these prints reflect the term “as a dry or wry sense of humour frequently bordering on satire”. These were visual ephemera, often produced on poor quality paper for instant visual consumption, the fact that many have survived is amazing.

Subjects ranged from scientific endeavour to ridiculing the outrageous fashions of the younger generation. How little times have changed.

Left What is this My Son

Tom? Published in 1774

by Sayer & Bennett.

Mezzotint print with some etching and hand colouring

FATAL CURIOSITY

Fatal Curiosity shows a parental concern of 1784.

The expression ‘beware of fast women and slow horses’ may be more recent than Right Fatal Curiosity Published in 1784, by R this print but expresses its Sayer & J Bennett, No. message. A young man is 53 Fleet Street. Size 34.5 stepping into an animal x 25.5cm trap, set out for poaches Below Fatal Curiosity, and vermin and long since mezzotint with some banned. He tries to get etching closer to a beautiful young woman who wishes to beguile him, sitting on the bank of a river in the left foreground and looking away from him but expecting attention, playing hard to get while the man’s companion stands behind him, wringing his hands in anxiety.

SWEET ECHO

WHAT IS THIS MY SON TOM?

From the late 18th century until the onset of WWII, fashion illustrations were one of the key means of circulating and identifying new styles of dress. What is this My Son Tom? is a fashion plate as well as a droll. It is satire on fashion: on the right a country farmer has come to town to see his son. He stands back amazed to be greeted by his son dressed as a Macaroni with huge wig topped by a small tricorn hat and carrying a tasselled cane and sword.

In Georgian times urban male fashions was as extravagant as female dress, in contrast to fashion of the countryside.

London fashion has always been different to country fashion and country living was often referred to as rural retirement, a life apart from fashionable reality and embracing nature. The inscription reads: Our wise Forefathers would express Ev’n Sensibility in Dress The modern Race delight to Shew What Folly in Excess can do.

The honest Farmer come to town Can scarce believe his Son his own If thus the Taste continues Here, What will it be another Year?

Sweet Echo is a mezzotint with some etching and hand-applied colour. Every copy I have seen is coloured differently, indeed I have two very differently coloured copies of this print.

Below What is this My Son Tom?, 1774 It shows a young woman with hair dressed high mezzotint, uncoloured wearing a large hat, sitting in a garden holding up a sheet of music; with a waterfall on the right flowing Below right Sweet Echo.

Printed in London, for into a stream running past her. Her large hat is comic R. Sayer and J. Bennett, and showing exaggerated fashion of the day.

Map and Printsellers The print is inscribed below the image with the (sic), No. 53, Fleet Street title and lines of verse from the 17th-century poet in 1781 John Milton’s 1634 work Comus. The inscription reads Sweet Echo, Sweetest Nymph That liv’st unseen Within thy Airy Cell. Interestingly there is a 19th-century print by Arthur Rackham of the same subject testifying to the endurance of the theme.

Below Sweet Echo,

1781, published by: Sayer & Bennett, mezzotint with some etching

‘Prints look good in most spaces and can fit into period decorative schemes, as well as add a focus in a contemporary setting. They are generally small in size (limited by the size of paper available to the printers) and look good in groups’ ANTIQUE COLLECTING 45

COLLECTING GUIDES 18th-century prints The art of the mezzotint

CONVIVIAL DRINKING

The British satirist John Collier (1708-1786), using the pseudonym Tim Bobbin, “developed his trade as a painter … producing inn signs, painted panels, and grotesque caricatures which were widely distributed, reaching the American colonies via a Liverpool merchant. He promoted and distributed his own work, travelling all over northern England collecting orders and commissions for books and pictures.”

In 1773 he published Human Passions Delineated, an upmarket edition of his caricatures which acted as a catalogue for his work. He described himself as the “Lancashire Hogarth”, while the Victorian antiquary W. E. Axon considered his pictures “execrable … gross and cruel”. The Dictionary of National Biography found them “grotesque” and “absolutely devoid of artistic merit.”

THE KING, QUEEN AND COURT VIEWING A BALLOON LET OFF IN THE GARDEN OF WINDSOR CASTLE

Sometimes 18th-century prints show significant events, as does the engraving (right) by James Basire (1730-1802) of King George III and Queen Charlotte recording a balloon being let off in the gardens of Windsor Castle on November 5, 1783. It was one of the first hot air balloon experiments in England and the print was published in London in 1784.

As well as being decorative, the rare, surviving print is a typical of the Age of Enlightenment, celebrating as it does the development of science and knowledge. Basire was one of a family of engravers, he also trained William Blake, the poet and artist.

Dr Stewart Abbott, from the dealership S & J Abbott Ceramics Plus, has collected satirical prints since the late 1960s and is a regular on the fairs circuit.

For more details go to www.sandjabbottceramicsplus.co.uk.

46 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above John Collier (1708-1786) Convivial Drinking, etching with hand colouring Below The King, Queen and Court Viewing a Balloon Let Off in the Garden of Windsor Castle, engraving with hand colouring but without the detail of the drolls

Mezzotints, which first developed in Amsterdam in the second quarter of the 17th century, found an appreciative audience in Georgian London. Following the 1660 Restoration, many Dutch mezzotint engravers arrived in the capital to share their knowledge.

By 1700, England boasted several talented mezzotint engravers, including William Sherwin; the printmaker and publisher Isaac Beckett; the theatrical designer Robert Robinson and the miniature painter Bernard Lens II. In the mid to late 18th century, the technique dubbed la manière anglais experienced a golden age.

While the earliest mezzotints reproduced the works of past masters, living painters soon seized upon the form to promote their own work.

Since a mezzotint can be made more rapidly and less expensively than a line engraving (although with fewer impressions), it soon became the favourite way of quickly disseminating timely images. In the second half of the 18th century, leading British portrait painters worked closely with mezzotint engravers to create reproductions of their work, which were frequently shown alongside their painted prototypes in London’s annual art exhibitions.

Mezzotints circulated widely, sold in a variety of sizes (including ‘royal’, 24 x 19in, ‘large’, 18 x 24in, ‘posture’, 14 x 10in, and ‘small’, 6 x 4in) intended to fit standard-sized frames, and were offered in a range of prices calculated to suit every budget.

By the mid-1770s, as framers and gilders (rather than publishers) came to dominate the trade in prints, the mezzotint began to lose favour to another tonal intaglio printmaking technique – stipple engraving, which was first developed in France in the 1760s.

Faced with this competition, mezzotint printmakers and publishers changed tack. Some pursued methods of colour printing while others extended their range of subjects and issued luxurious series of mezzotints directed toward elite collectors.

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Visiting Georgian houses

Grandeur Designs

The Georgian period ushered in an era of elegance and enduring styles, nowhere more evident than in the country’s great estates

W

hen the death of Queen Anne in 1714 left the English throne without a surviving heir, the country’s allpowerful, property-owning elite looked to the German House of Hanover to provide a sovereign.

The installation of the German-speaking George I on the throne (the last British monarch born outside the country) marked the start of the Georgian era that was to last more than a century. It was to be a tumultuous period that saw Britain establish itself as a

48 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above The Dining

Room with 18th dining table and chairs and a two-tier chimneypiece at Peckover House, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire ©National Trust Images/Andreas von Einsiedel

global power house, generating new-found wealth for the establishment and burgeoning middle classes while casting the lower orders into the fiery furnaces of the Industrial Revolution.

Against the backdrop of these turbulent times, which witnessed the Jacobite rebellion, the loss of the North American colonies and the barbarism of slavery, the great estates of the country provided a newlyrefined counterbalance. They sought to exemplify an elegance and grace inspired by the classical arts and architecture witnessed by the nobility on The Grand Tour of Europe’s cultural hot spots. Lavish interiors created by the likes of the Thomases Chippendale and Sheraton, Robert Adam and George Hepplewhite were only matched by their landscaped settings formed

by England’s greatest gardener, Lance t ‘Capability’ Brown.

This year marks the bicentenary of the death of perhaps the most well-known of the Hanoverian monarchs, King George III, in 1820. It’s the perfect time to explore the multi-faceted and enduring styles of the Georgian era by visiting some of epoch’s most outstanding stately homes.

“In turbulent times country houses provided a newly-refined counterbalance’”

Nostell Priory

Nostell Priory near Wakefield in West Yorkshire is one of the undisputed treasure houses of northern England. Dating from 1733, it was built by textile magnates the Winn family on the site of a former medieval monastery. The inspiration for the Palladian-style architecture was the Grand Tour undertaken by the 4th baronet, Sir Rowland Winn, who began construction in the 1730s.

A huge project, the main house was built by the architect James Paine and an additional wing and many of the state rooms were the work of Robert Adam, including the distinctive double staircase at the front of the property.

Following the death of Sir Rowland in 1765, his successor (another Sir Rowland) continued the works, employing the era’s leading craftsm n such as cabinetmaker Thomas Chippendale and the stuccoist Joseph Rose. The interiors exemplify some of the best work of Robert Adam, while the decorative painting reveals the hand of the Italian painter and printmaker Antonio Zucchi.

Today, visitors to Nostell can enjoy one of the world’s best surviving collections of Thomas Chippendale furniture, ranging from a Cloaths Press very neatly Japan’d and Gold, to Lady Winn’s writing table and an impressive family medal case. Another unusual highlight of any tour is the rare surviving 18th-century doll’s house that captures the grand mansion in minute detail Nostell Priory, Doncaster Road, Nostell, near Wakefield, West Yorkshire, WF4 1QE www.nationaltrust.org.uk/nostell

Above One of eight Regency mahogany and gilt armchairs in the Gothic style at Basildon Park, Berkshire ©National Trust Images/ James Dobson Above right One of a pair

of painted side tables with marble tops in The Hall at Basildon Park. In the manner of William Kent, 1730. ©National Trust Images/John Hammond

Left Interior detail of Nostell Priory, Yorkshire ©National Trust Images/ Paul Barker

Basildon Park

Built to the Palladian designs of the prolific English architect John Carr, Basildon Park’s owner Sir Frances Sykes, who had made his fortune with the East India Company, desired a suitable property to befit his political ambitions. The Berkshire house was constructed in Bath stone from 1776 to 1783 and comprises a three-storey central block between two wings of two-storey pavilions. However, even at the time of its construction, the architectural style was considered outmoded.

The interiors of the house are celebrated for their neoclassical ‘Adamesque’ style, particularly the stunning cantilevered stairway in the richly-decorated hall and the arched first floor gallery.

The house has an impressive collection of English and European paintings ranging from the 17th to 20th century. Highlights include a still life of a garden scene by the 18th-century French artist Anne Vallayer-Coster and a series of Apostles by the Italian painter Pompeo Batoni. Similarly, much of the property’s furniture collection dates from the same period, including a striking damask and giltwood settee, a mahogany and carrara marble commode attributed to Johann Heinrich Stobwasser (1740-1829) and a neoclassical console table in a variety of woods. The oldest item at Basildon is a 13th-century Yingqing ceramic funerary vase which has been pierced and mounted as a lamp.

Basildon Park, Lower Basildon, Reading, Berkshire, RG8 9NR www.nationaltrust.org.uk/basildon-park

‘Today visitors to Nostell can enjoy one of the world’s best surviving examples of furniture

by Thomas Chippendale’

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 49

THE EXPERT COLLECTOR Visiting Georgian houses Left An 18th-century kidney table (table a rognon) in the Drawing Room at Berrington Hall ©National Trust Images/ Nadia Mackenzie Below The Tapestry

Room at Osterley Park, Middlesex ©National Trust Images/Bill Batten

Berington Hall

Purchased by the London banker and former Lord Mayor of London Thomas Harley in 1775, Berington estate and hall near Leominster in Herefordshire is celebrated for its beautiful landscaped grounds created by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown. The property itself is in the French-influenced neoclassical style and is a rare surviving example of Brown’s son-inlaw architect, Henry Holland s Harley commissioned Brown to commence work on the park prior to the construction of the house. The project was to be one of Brown’s last big projects, and open vistas of grassy parkland sweep across to distant views of the Black Mountains across the border in Wales and the rolling Herefordshire countryside. The naturalistic design also incorporated features such as a huge 14-acre man-made lake with a four-acre island in the centre, now a wildlife haven.

The exterior of the property, built in red sandstone, is regarded as a little austere with its west frontage featuring a huge portico of four, unfluted columns. Inside, the design gives way to a more sophisticated feel with a magnificent staircase hall flooded with light from the ornate glass dome in the ceiling. Elsewhere, other notable design features include the fine ceiling in the drawing room, elegant chimney pieces and detailed plasterwork.

Most of the collection of objects and art currently at Berington is not indigenous to the property, largely due to the 7th Lord Rodney’s inveterate gambling. However, the property houses he Elmar Digby Collection comprising fine French furniture, clocks, objet’s d’art and snuff boxes. There is also a considerable ceramic collection, including a c 1700 blue and white Chinese plate and carved oriental stand.

Berington Hall, near Leominster, Herefordshire, HR6 0DW www.nationaltrust.org.uk/berrington-hall

50 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Osterley Park

Originally built in the 1570s for Sir Thomas Gresham, Osterley Park in Middlesex was acquired by Sir Francis Child, the founder of Child’s Bank, in 1713. In the last years of his life, his grandsons, Francis and Robert turned to the highly fashionable architect, Robert Adam, to oversee the remodelling of the property from 1761 onwards. Horace Walpole, impressed by the works, declared it ‘the palace of palaces’.

Adam’s individual designs for each room are evident in such highly-detailed spaces as he Eating Room where the ornate interior includes naturalistic stucco wall designs and gilt mahogany sideboards.

Osterley’s collection of artworks reveals the family’s passion for collecting, with examples from around the world such as Chinese porcelain punch bowls, the 17th-century painting of Saint Agatha by Carlo Dolci, a 17th-century Japanese lacquer cabinet and early 18th-century Chinese lacquer chest.

Osterley Park and House, Jersey Road, Isleworth, Middlesex, TW7 4RB www.nationaltrust.org.uk/osterley-park-and-house

GRAND TOUR

Simon McCormack, curator at Nostell Priory’s takes us on a tour of the west Yorkshire property’s many attractions.

At Nostell you can see elements of all of the styles and designs of the Georgian period from rococo and chinoiserie to neoclassicism as well as romantic interiors of the early 19th century. These range from Palladian-inspired fireplaces, flamboyant rococo ceilings

by James Paine, some of the most significant Chinese inspired interiors in Britain by Chippendale.

Left Detail of the mantelpiece and ceramics, including an 18th-century Japanese Arita porcelain carp, in the Mirror Room at Saltram, Devon ©National Trust Images/ John Hammond Right The Georgian

House in Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, Scotland. Image courtesy The National Trust for Scotland

Below right The interior

Saltram

A hidden treasure in the National Trust’s portfolio of historic properties, Saltram, near Plymouth in Devon, is regarded as one the country’s most well-preserved Georgian mansions. From 1768 to 1772, Robert Adam undertook the construction of a new saloon and library, ollowed by the three-year conversion of the library to a dining room.

Thomas Chippendale furnished many rooms and the manufacturer Matthew Boulton made the house’s lue John candelabra.

Today, the house’s collection ranges from a carved giltwood suite attributed to Chippendale, to an original carpet designed by Adam, and a 3 000-strong library of the Earls of Morley. Other treasures include the plasterwork ceilings by Joseph Rose, chimneypieces by Thomas Carter the Younger, Chinese wallpaper, paintings by Sir Joshua Reynolds and examples of Italian and French gilded furniture.

Saltram, Plympton, Plymouth, Devon, PL7 1UH www.nationaltrust.org.uk/saltram

The National Trust is gradually reopening its properties so always check on its website www.nationaltrust.org.uk before planning a visit

One of the great treasures is the Nostell dolls’ house – a truly grand 18th-century mansion in miniature. Newly displayed and interpreted, this miniature marvel showcases most of the key design elements and styles of the Georgian period: chinoiserie, classically-inspired design, baroque and rococo.

What’s also special is all the interior fabric is original, unlike so many real-sized interiors which have changed over time. A new guidebook published to coincide with the conservation and redisplay of the dolls’ house, explores many of the key design elements of grand 18th-century houses.

of Edinburgh’s The Georgian House features contemporary room settings. Image courtesy The National Trust for Scotland

Bottom right The Great

Hall at Syon House.

Image Simon HadleighSparks Below Wine-cooler

in the Dining Room at Saltram, Devon ©National Trust Images/ John Hammond

3 More to See The Georgian House, 7 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh

Set among the grandeur of Edinburgh’s New Town development, this Robert Adam-designed house was a luxurious statement constructed for its owner John Lamont (the 18th Chief of the Clan Lamont) in 1796. Magnificently restored, it houses a collection of paintings, period furnishings, silver and glassware. www.nts.org.uk/visit/places/georgian-house

Sir John Soane’s Museum, London WC2

The former home of one of the most celebrated architects of the Regency era, Sir John Soane’s Museum is both a beautiful example of classical architecture and a Wunderkammer of incredible artefacts. A lifelong collector, Soane amassed objects as varied as Roman sculpture and an ncient Egyptian sarcophagus, alongside architectural scale models, and masterpieces by the likes of Hogarth, Canaletto and Turner. www.soane.org

Syon House, Brentford, Middlesex

A stone’s throw from central London, Syon House is one of the capital’s last great houses and home to the same family for the last 400 years, now under the ownership of Ralph Percy, the 12th Duke of Northumberland.

With classical interiors by Robert Adam showcasing Italian antiquities, the house sits in open parkland designed by Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown. www.syonpark.co.uk

‘Estate owners sought to exemplify an elegance and grace inspired by The Grand Tour of Europe’s cultural hotspots” ANTIQUE COLLECTING 51

ANTIQUES UNDER THE HAMMER In October

TOP of the LOTS

With Halloween on the horizon there are some spooky lots up for sale this month A late 19th, early 20th-century Tibetan kapala (human skullcup) with silver mounts has an estimate of £2,000-£3,000 at Chiswick Auctions’ Curious to the Extraordinary sale on October 26.

The skull, which is sliced through the top of the head, was used as a ritual bowl in both Hindu Tantra and Buddhist Vajrayana. In Tibet, a kapala was ornately carved and elaborately mounted with precious metals and jewels.

A collection of 20th-century Timor animal skull masks, traditionally used at weddings and funerals, has an estimate of £300-£500 at the same London sale.

Above The Tibetan skullcup is mounted with silver

Above The

polychrome Iznik dish dates to Ottoman Turkey, c. 1590

A 16th-century Iznik dish acquired in the 1980s has an estimate of £2,000-£4,000 at Roseberys’ Islamic and Indian Art sale on October 23.

Iznik pottery, named after the town in western Anatolia where it was made, decorated ceramic that w produced from the last quarter of the 15th century until the end of the 17th century.

Above The carved mammal heads were ceremonial in use

An Ancient Egyptian sarcophagus mask dating from the late Dynastic Period 2,500 years ago has an estimate of £400£600 at Lawrences’ three-day antiquities sale starting on October 20.

Painted in ochre over gesso, with yellow for the skin tones, the funeral mask has black for the eyes and brow, and white for the sclerae.

Neil Grenyer, from the Dorset-based auctioneer, said: “It is an arresting moment when one is confronted by a face from over 2,500 years ago.”

Left The wooden mask came from

an Ancient Egyptian coffin

52 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Above The prices for John Ward’s

black-and-white pots have soared

A black-and-white bowl by John Ward (b.1939), bought two decades ago for £595, has a guide of £8,000-£12,000 at Sworders’ sale on October 13.

Since its purchase from a Hampshire gallery in 2001, the price of British studio pottery has rocketed. Ward’s prices, in particular for his signature black-and-white, coiled stoneware vessels with matt glazes, have spiked in the last decade with the current record standing at £18,000.

There’s a chance to own clothes once worn by the iconic ‘60s French New Wave actress Jeanne Moreau when 300 lots of her belongings go on sale at the Paris auction house Artcurial this month.

The online sale is made up of clothes and jewellery from the actress’s wardrobe – worn in both films and at awards evenings – as well as 400 photographs of the artist, some unpublished, by Helmut Newton, Peter Lindbergh, Cecil Beaton and Henri Cartier-Bresson.

With the low estimate for a two-piece tunic and trousers set at just over £70, it is a perfect opportunity to snap up some authentic French chic.

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Actress and muse

A byword for femme fatale and Gallic style, Jeanne Moreau – who was friends with Coco Chanel and was dressed by the leading fashion houses – is forever associated with European art films of the 1960s.

Although established early on in her career as a stage actress, Moreau only achieved screen stardom with her 20th film, Louis Malle’s first solo feature, Lift to the Scaffold (1958). Her status was consolidated in Malle’s The Lovers , later that year, and reached a peak as Moreau, queen of the French New Wave, took the role of Catherine, in François Truffaut’s romantic drama Jules et Jim (1961).

Despite her credentials as the embodiment of French post-war cinema, Moreau was half British with her mother being an Oldham-born, high-kicking Tiller Girl who met Moreau’s restaurateur father when she was working in the Folies Bergère. Moreau was born in Paris on January 23, 1928.

She followed in her mother’s footsteps trying ballet before realising the stage was her real vocation. It was during a costume fitting for that the actress first met Pierre Cardin, later forming a close bond with Coco Chanel during her fitting sessions at 31 Rue Cambon, for costumes for Malle’s 1958 film Les Amants .

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5

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The Jeanne Moreau Collection is an online only sale, running from October 16-22, from the Paris auction house Artcurial. To register and bid go to www.articurial.com

1 Helmut Newton (1920-2004) Jeanne Moreau, c. 1980, one of

two annotated prints, the pair has an estimate of €1,000-€1,500 © Artcurial 2 Chanel, c. 1950-1960. A pastel print organza dress, has an estimate of €1,000-€2,000 3 Anonymous, Jeanne Moreau with a pearl necklace and sheep, has an estimate of €100-€150 © Artcurial 4 Pierre Cardin, tunic embroidered with pearls depicting a plant motif, has an estimate of €80-€120 5 Pierre Cardin, copper-coloured glitter two-piece of tunic and trousers, has an estimate of €250-€450 6 Pierre Cardin, evening dress with blue and orange sequins, has n estimate of €400€600 7 A yellow gold and platinum ring with stylised openwork decor of clovers, set with diamonds and a pearl, c. 1900, has an estimate of €200-€300 8 A 14ct yellow gold ring with a a mabé pearl, encircled in diamonds, has an estimate of €200-€300 9 Goyard, leather and canvas box hat engraved with initials J.M, has an estimate of €200-€400 10 Roger Vivier a pair of anise silk slippers embroidered with pearls, from the 1968 film Great Catherine, has an estimate of €500-€800 11 Louis Vuitton, steamer bag in monogram canvas and natural leather engraved with initials J.M, has an estimate of €400-€600

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ANTIQUE COLLECTING 53

ANTIQUES UNDER THE HAMMER Lots in October

Right Lalique

favoured art nouveau themes of animals, insects and flowers

Above Mayhew & Ince were rivals

of Thomas Chippendale

Below The torchères have an

estimate of £1,000-£1,500

A George III mahogany and marquetry bonheur du jour in the manner of Mayhew & Ince has an estimate of £1,500-£2,500 at Woolley and Wallis’ furniture and works of art sale on October 21.

Mayhew & Ince was a partnership of furniture designers, upholsterers and cabinetmakers, founded by William Ince (1737– 1804) and John Mayhew (1736–1811). In 1762, the company published The Universal System of Household Furniture – a folio of drawings and descriptions produced in direct competition to their biggest trade competitor, Thomas Chippendale.

A pair of George III creampainted and parcel gilt torchères has an estimate of £1,000£1,500 at the same sale this month in Salisbury.

Fashionable in Georgian homes, a torchère is a tall, ornamental, flat-topped stand, traditionally used as a stand for a candlestick.

A silver vase by the Austrian architect and designer Josef Hoffmann (18701956) one of the founders of Wiener Werkstätte in 1903, has an estimate of £7,000-£10,000 at Tennants’ 20th-century design sale on October 17.

The lattice-shaped piece which stands 25cm (10in) high was made in 1905 and is one of only 296 ever made.

54 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Left The

silver vase is labelled Model S661

A signed vase by the French glass designer René Lalique (18601945) has an estimate of £3,000-£4,000 at Ewbank’s Decorative Arts sale on October 8.

(10½in) on the base. is etched Best known today for his works in glass, Lalique first won recognition for his jewellery and was described by Émile Gallé as the inventor of modern jewellery. Lalique’s naturalistic designs helped define the art nouveau movement.

The oil on board is signed and dated ‘98

Harbour, a painting by the Welsh artist Paul Martinez-Frias (b. 1929) has an estimate of £80-£120 at Halls’ modern and contemporary art sale timed online sale from October 9-23.

Born in Hertfordshire to a Spanish father and English mother, Martinez-Frias moved to Wales in 1975 to devote himself to painting having previously studied yacht design. Boats and harbours feature highly in his work which has been represented by a number of UK galleries.

Forthcoming auctions at The Cheshire Saleroom, Macclesfield

8th 9th

October 2020

27th

November 2020

Works by Lucie Rie from the Leonard and Alison Shurz Collection

STUDIO CERAMICS THE LEONARD & ALISON SHURZ COLLECTION

An exceptional collection of British, North American, European and Asian studio ceramics

STUDIO CERAMICS & MODERN DESIGN Inviting entries until 30th October 2020 Appointments nationwide Jason Wood – 07763 475442 jason@adampartridge.co.uk

Mid level stock, rather than top end ultra valuable Rolex sports models.

Omega Seamasters and pre-1980s Omegas in general.

IWC and Jaeger LeCoultres, all styles. Always looking for Reversos. American market filled and 14k pieces possibly, at the right price.

Breitling Top Times, Daytoras and 806 Navitimers.

Pre-1960s Rolex models, with a focus in pre-war tanks, tonneaus etc. Gold or silver/ steel.

Also World War I Rolex 13 lignes etc. Princes. Early Oysters, up to 1970-ish.

Longines and Zeniths, pre-1970. Even basic steel models in nice condition.

All the quirky stuff like Harwoods, Autorists, Wig Wag, Rolls,Omega Marines etc, and World War I hunter, Borgel and semi-hunter wristwatches.

Early, pre-war ladies' watches also wanted by Rolex, Jaeger LeCoultre etc.

Prefer 1920s/30s deco styles, but early doughnuts also considered.

Looking for reliable new suppliers who can feed nice stock on a long term, regular basis. Cash payment and happy to buy collections or single items.

Also old watch boxes, pre 1960s wanted. Both ladies and gents. Retailer or brand signed.

PM Antiques & Collectables are a modern and innovative antiques retailer based in Surrey.

Specialising in a wide array of collector’s items, including contemporary art, entertainment and memorabilia, vintage toys, decorative ceramics, watches and automobilia.

PMAntiques2015

We Buy & Sell pm-antiques.co.uk Contact us: phil@pm-antiques.co.uk 01932 640113

PM_Antiques

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 55

ANTIQUES UNDER THE HAMMER Studio ceramics

Right Dick Lehman (b.

1952); a wood-fired stoneware tsubo, late 1990s, height 30.5cm.

Purchased in 2014. It is estimated at £150-£200 at this month’s sale

SALEROOM SPOTLIGHT

I

The largest sale of studio ceramics ever auctioned in the UK takes place this month, with more than 1,500 pots from around the world on sale

t is a global sale representing the international flavour of the collection, which was brought together by a couple whose lifelong passion for ceramics took them from Hawaii to Stockholm.

The sale of the Leonard and Alison Shurz collection of studio ceramics, made up of works by British, North American, European and Asian makers, is so large it is scheduled to take place over two days, with lots sold by international time zones.

Above Clayton Amemiya, a wood-fired stoneware platter with a fish scale pattern, dated 2000, diameter 60.5cm.

Purchased in Hawaii in 2015. It is estimated at £120-£180 at this month’s online sale Above left A selection of

the 1,500 pots on sale this month

Right Mike Dodd (born 1943), a stoneware vase, granite glaze with nuka, impressed MJD mark, height 51cm. Purchased from Goldmark Gallery, Uppingham, 2015.

Estimated at £600-£800 Left The living room of the Shurzs’ home was bursting with pots

56 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Starting at 5pm on Thursday October 8, Adam Partridge Auctioneers’ sale of more than 400 ceramics

by US artists is timed to appeal to American collectors.

The sale continues on October 9 with 60 lots of contemporary Japanese and Korean ceramics, 75 lots

by European and Middle Eastern artists, and concluding with over 470 lots by British and Irish artists.

COLLECTING COUPLE Born in New York, Leonard Shurz came to London in 1964 where he met Manchester-born Alison. They were married in 1972 and moved to the Hertfordshire village of Digswell, near Welwyn Garden City.

Lifelong lovers of ceramics, early on the couple started acquiring work by some of British studio ceramics greatest names including Lucie Rie (19021995), Hans Coper (1920-1981), Bernard Leach (1887-1979) and Gillian Lowndes (1936-2010), as well as Scandinavian artists such as Berndt Friberg (18991981)and Alf Jarnestad (1923-2008).

But as their family grew and space lessened their collecting habit was put on hold, with ceramics by Coper and most of the Ries sold in the 1980s.

But collecting restarted after the children left home and there was more space and time to collect. Every room of the couple’s home was stacked high with exceptional ceramics from leading makers from around the world.

HIGHLIGHTS The collection includes more than 50 works by the Hawaiian woodfire potter Clayton Amemiya, who was introduced to pottery while working at the US Consulate in Okinawa, Japan in 1972. Some 30 works by the Indiana-based potter Dick Lehman (b.

1952), who studied firing techniques in Japan, are also on sale. Among the Asian contemporary ceramicists, highlights include groups of

AUCTION fact file

works by the Korean artist Lee Kang-hyo (b. 1961) who is considered one of the finest potters working in Korea today.

SCANDI STYLE Five works by Berndt Friberg head the European and Middle Eastern section. Friberg worked for the Gustavsberg factory in 1934-1981 and is one of the most renowned representatives of 20th-century Swedish ceramic design.

The Shurzs also loved to meet the makers, on occasions driving for hours through the American north west to seek out new talent. As a result the collection contains many up-and-coming names which may be unfamiliar to collectors but will be the ones to watch for the future.

WHAT: The Leonard and Alison Shurz collection of studio ceramics Where: Online only at www.adampartridge. co.uk or www.thesaleroom.com.

Adam Partridge Auctioneers & Valuers, The Cheshire Saleroom, Withyfold Drive, Macclesfield, SK10 2BD When: Thursday October 8 from 5pm, Friday October 9 from 10am Viewing: By appointment

IN MY OPINION...

We asked Adam Partridge Auctioneer’s ceramics specialist Jason Wood for his sale highlights How important is the collection?

Extremely. The collection grew gradually at first, with an initial focus on Native American pottery, but exponentially over the last 10-15 years with annual visits to America, especially to NCECA (National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts) conferences and US galleries. The couple’s interest in American wood-fired pottery meant they amassed probably the largest collection of such works outside the US. The collection is, quite literally, an A-Z of the current American studio ceramics scene. The vast majority, however, are works by living UK artists and it reads like a roll-call of the current British scene.

How long have you known of the collection?

Leonard and Alison had bought from some of our past auctions, but I had no idea of the size and range of the collection until I visited the house in Digswell in January 2020. Even before entering, the collection announced itself in the form of an Alan Wallwork tile fashioned as a door knob, but nothing quite prepared me for the sheer quantity (and quality) that lay inside.

Leonard sadly passed away in October 2019 and with Alison now in a care home the Shurz family instructed us to auction the entire collection without reserve.

How is it being received?

Above left Ken Matsuzaki (b. 1950), a stoneware yohen teoke water container with signed box, height 27cm. Purchased from Goldmark Gallery, Uppingham, 2018. It is estimated at £350£550 at this month’s sale Left Shabanali Ghorbani (b. 1976), a stoneware sculpture, painted signature, height 31.5cm.

Purchased in New York, 2016. Estimated at £120-£180

‘Lifelong lovers of ceramics, early on the couple started acquiring work by some of British studio ceramics greatest names including Lucie Rie, Hans Coper, Bernard Leach and Gillian Lowndes’

Anticipation has been growing throughout the year.

The original sale date was July but post-lockdown rescheduling pushed it back to October. Given the number of works by American artists there has been great interest from US galleries and collectors.

Inevitably, the five pieces by Lucie Rie will attract the highest prices.

Have you got a personal favourite piece?

Singling out one piece from more than a thousand lots is almost impossible but high on my wants list would be the large mustard-yellow bottle by Berndt Friberg and the bottle with the fish motif by Jim Malone.

With estimates starting at £50 is this a good opportunity to start a collection?

With such a broad range of works to suit all tastes and pockets it is a great opportunity to start or add to a collection. The Shurzs collected an interesting blend of works by potters with established reputations and those by relatively new makers, so let’s just hope that they all withstand the test of time and that collectors of studio ceramics continue to support the sector in these unprecedented times.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 57

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE

BOOK OFFERS

There’s a nostalgic flavour to this month’s book offers – available to buy at old-fashioned prices

UP TO

35% DISCOUNT

THE ROYAL SCRAPBOOK THE WARTIME SCRAPBOOK Robert Opie

ISBN 9780954795443 RRP: £14.95 Special offer price £9.72

This edition of the Wartime Scrapbook revives memories of this evocative time in Britain’s history.

THE VICTORIAN SCRAPBOOK Robert Opie

ISBN 9780954795498 RRP: £14.95 Special offer price £9.72

The definitive collection of printed ephemera of the Victorian age.

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Over 100 years of royal events come together in this colourful and evocative Royal Scrapbook, which celebrates the coronations, weddings and jubilees over five reigns.

THE EDWARDIAN SCRAPBOOK ROBERT OPIE

ISBN 9780954795481 RRP: £14.95 Special offer price £9.72

Like the other vibrant titles in the series, The Edwardian Scrapbook offers a glimpse at what used to be drawing upon Robert Opie’s unrivalled collection of ephemera and packaging.

All orders plus £4 p&p in the UK, overseas rates available on request.

To order a copy call 01394 389977 or email georgina.street@accartbooks.com 58 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

THE 1920S SCRAPBOOK Robert Opie

ISBN 9780954795467 RRP: £14.95 Special offer price £9.72

THE 1910S SCRAPBOOK Robert Opie

ISBN 9780954795474 RRP: £14.95 Special offer price £9.72

Over 1,000 colourful images tell the tale of ordinary people - their courage and humour, their patriotism and fortitude in the face of Zeppelin air raids, rationing and the decimation of a generation.

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THE 1950S SCRAPBOOK Robert Opie

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The 1950s Scrapbook conjures up the life and times of the Coronation of Elizabeth II to the abundance of toys and television programmes, illustrating an extraordinary period of British history, from rationing to rock ‘n’ roll, from Archie Andrews to the Mini Minor.

THE 1960S SCRAPBOOK Robert Opie

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The 1960s Scrapbook presents a visual record of a turbulent decade, with over 1000 images in colour.

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ISBN 9780954795405 RRP: £14.95 Special offer price £9.72

The 1970s Scrapbook sways through this energetic era on platform shoes to the beat of glam rock and disco mania.

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 59

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

Thames, Middlesex TW16 5AQ, 6 Oct

Adams Antiques Fairs 020 7254 4054 www.adamsantiquesfairs.com Adams Antiques Fair, Lindley Hall, The Royal Horticultural Hall, 80 Vincent Square, SW1P 2PE, 11 Oct.

SOUTH WEST: including Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Wiltshire.

Harvey (Management Services) Ltd 020 7616 9327 www.decorativefair.com The Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair, Battersea Evolution, Battersea Park, SW11 4NJ, 22-25 Oct.

IACF 01636 702326, www.iacf.co.uk Newbury Antiques and Colllectors Fair, Newbury Showground, Priors Court Road, Hermitage, Newbury, Berkshire, RG18 9QZ, 10-11 Oct

Sunbury Antiques 01932 230946 www.sunburyantiques.com Sunbury Antiques Market, Kempton Park Race Course, Staines Road East, Sunbury-onThames, Middlesex TW16 5AQ, 13, 27 Oct.

The Giant Shepton Flea 01278 784912 www.sheptonflea.com The Giant Shepton Flea, Royal Bath & West, Showground, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA4 6QN, 11 Oct

SOUTH EAST AND EAST ANGLIA: including Beds, Cambs, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Norfolk, Suffolk, Surrey, Sussex.

Continuity Fairs 01584 873 634 www.continuityfairs.co.uk Epsom Racecourse Antiques And Collectables Fair, Epsom Racecourse, Epsom Downs Epsom, Surrey KT18 5LQ United Kingdom, 20 Oct IACF 01636 702326 www.iacf.co.uk Festival of Antiques, The East of England Showground, Peterborough, PE2 6HE, 2-3 Oct Love Fairs 01293 690777 www.lovefairs.com Brighton Antiques, Collectables and Vintage Fair, Brighton Racecourse, Freshfield Road, Brighton, East Sussex, BN2 9XZ, 11 Oct. Sunbury Antiques 01932 230946 www.sunburyantiques.com Antiques Market, Sandown Park Racecourse, Portsmouth Road, Esher, KT20 9AJ, 6 Oct Sunbury Antiques Market, Kempton Park Race Course, Staines Road East, Sunbury-on-

60 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

EAST MIDLANDS including Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland.

Arthur Swallow Fairs 01298 27493, www.asfairs.com The Lincolnshire Home and Antiques Show, Lincolnshire Showground, Lincoln LN2 2NA, 7 Oct The Vintage Flea, Lincolnshire Showground, Lincoln LN2 2NA, 18 Oct IACF 01636 702326, www.iacf.co.uk International Newark Antiques and Collectors’ Fair, Newark & Nottinghamshire Showground, Newark, Nottinghamshire, NG24 2NY, 8-9 Oct Runway Monday at Newark Antiques and Collectors Fair, Runway Newark, Newark, Nottinghamshire, NG24 2NY, 26 Oct WEST MIDLANDS

including Birmingham, Coventry, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire

B2B Events 07774 147197 or 07771 725302 www.b2bevents.info Malvern Flea and Collectors’ Fair, Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcs., WR13 6NW, 11 Oct The Two Cs Antiques Fair 01886 833551 www.twocsantiquesfairs.co.uk The Worcestershire Antiques Fair Bank House Hotel, Bransford Worcester, WR6 5JD, 24-25 Oct NORTH

including Cheshire, Co Durham, Cumbria, Humberside, Lancashire, Manchester, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Yorkshire.

Cooper Events 01278 784912 www.cooperevents.com

The Pavilions of Harrogate Decorative, Antiques & Art Fair, The Pavilions of Harrogate, Railway Road, Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG2 8NZ, 30 Oct to 1 Nov Continuity Fairs 01584 873 634 www.continuityfairs.co.uk The International Yorkshire Antique Home and Vintage Fair, The Great Yorkshire Showground, Yorkshire Event Centre Harrogate, HG2 8QZ 10-12 Oct Galloway Antiques Fairs 01423 522122 www.gallowayfairs.co.uk Stonyhurst College, Clitheroe, Lancashire, BB7 9PZ, 23-24 Oct tbc V & A Fairs 01244 659887 www.vandafairs.com Park Royal Hotel Antiques and Collectors Fair, Park Royal Hotel, Stretton, Warrington, Cheshire WA4 4NS, 11 Oct

Malvern Flea & Collectors Fair

Three Counties Showground, Worcestershire, WR13 6NW.

Sunday 20th September Sunday 11th October

Entrance: 7.30am - 3.30pm - £5

Malvern Antiques & Collectors Fair

The Severn Hall, Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcs, WR13 6NW.

Sunday 1st Nov - NO OUTSIDE PITCHES

Antiques, Art Deco, collectables & much more

Early Entrance: 8.30am - £4 • Entrance: 10am-4pm - £3

Detling Antiques, Vintage & Collectors Fair

The Kent County Showground, Detling, Maidstone, Kent. ME14 3JF.

7th - 8th November

Sat: Early Entry: 8.30am - £6 Sat: Entry: 10am-4.30pm - £5 Sun: 10.30am - 3.30pm - £4

Please check www.b2bevents.info in case fairs have changed or been cancelled

Tel: 01636 676531 www.b2bevents.info

Fine Wines & Spirits: 2 October Antique & Collectors’: 7 October Decorative Arts: 8 October Contemporary Art: 8 October Toys & Models: 28 October Entertainment & Memorabilia: 29 October Vintage Posters: 30 October antiques trade gazette

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PLEASE PROVIDE PROOFING FEEDBACK ASAP Contact: Muireann Grealy on 020 3725 5623 muireanngrealy@antiquestradegazette.com

MARTIN BROTHERS & MOORCROFT MASTERS OF FLORA & FAUNA: A SINGLE OWNER COLLECTION

SATURDAY 26TH SEPTEMBER AT 12PM Viewing: Thursday 24th September 10am-5pm, Friday 25th September 10am-7pm, and morning of sale from 10am

Kingham and Orme Ltd, Davies House, Davies Road, Evesham WR11 1YZ 01386 244224 enquiries@kinghamandorme.com www.kinghamandorme.com Kingham Orme 1-2h 2459 HE.indd 1

10/09/2020 12:20:28

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 61

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 Post-War and Contemporary Art, Oct 7 Modern and Contemporary African Art, Oct 8 Design, Oct 14 Impressionist and Modern Art, Oct 15 Pop and Culture, Oct 16 Islamic and Indian Art, Oct 20 Orientalist Art, Oct 21 19th Century British and Impressionist Art, Oct 22 The Golden Age of Motoring Sale ‘1886-1939’, Veteran, Vintage and Post-Vintage Motor Cars, Oct 30 Bonhams, Knightsbridge, SW7 020 7393 3900 www.bonhams.com Designer Handbags and Fashion, Oct 13 Knightsbridge Jewels, Oct 14 Homes and Interiors, Oct 28 Chiswick Auctions, 1 Colville Rd, Chiswick, W3 8BL 020 8992 4442 www.chiswickauctions.co.uk Modern & Contemporary Middle Eastern & North African Art, Oct 23 Islamic & Indian Art, Oct 23 From the Curious to the Extraordinary, Oct 26 Urban & Contemporary Art, Oct 26 Jewellery, Oct 27 Silver & Objects of Vertu, Oct 26 Interiors, Homes & Antiques, Oct 28 Wines & Spirits, Oct 29 Photographica, Oct 29 Christie’s, King St., London, SW1 020 7839 9060 www.christies.com Calligraphy: Art In Writing (online) Oct 9-30 The Collector (online) Oct 27Nov 17 Art of the Islamic and Indian Worlds Including Oriental Rugs and Carpets, Oct 28 Modern & Contemporary Middle Eastern Art, Oct 28

62 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Dix Noonan Webb, 16 Bolton St, Piccadilly, W1J 8BQ 020 7016 1700 www.dnw.co.uk Indian Coins and Historical Medals, Oct 14 Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria, Oct 15 British, Irish and World Banknotes, Oct 28 Elmwood’s Auctioneers 101 Talbot Road, London, W11 2AT 0207 096 8933 www.elmwoods.co.uk Jewellery, Oct 7 Forum Auctions 220 Queenstown Road, London SW8 4LP 020 7871 2640 www.forumauctions.co.uk Maps and Atlases (online), Oct 8 Books and Works on Paper (online), Oct 22 Editions and Works on Paper, Oct 28 Hansons Auctioneers The Normansfield Theatre, 2A Langdon Park, Teddington TW11 9PS, 0207 018 9300 www.hansonsauctioneers.com Antiques, Collectors & Specialist Auction, Oct 31 Lyon & Turnbull 22 Connaught Street, London, W2 2AF 0207 930 9115 www.lyonandturnbull.com Select Jewellery & Watches, Oct 22 Modern & Post-War Art, Design & Studio Ceramics, Oct 23 Phillips, 30 Berkeley Square, London, W1J 6EX, 020 7318 4010 www.phillips.com 20th Century & Contemporary Art, Oct 7 Jewels & More (online), Oct 7 20th Century & Contemporary Art Day Sale, Oct 8 Design, Oct 29 Roseberys, Knights Hill, SE27 020 8761 2522

www.roseberys.co.uk Modern & Contemporary Art, Prints and Multiples, Oct 6 Traditional & Modern Home, Oct 17 Islamic & Indian Art, Oct 23 Sotheby’s, New Bond St., W1 020 7293 5000 www.sothebys.com From Japan With Love (online), Oct 6-13 Fine Jewels (online), Oct 8-13 Impressionist and Modern Art (online), Oct 6-14 Photographs (online), Oct 8-14 20th Century Art Middle East, Oct 20 New Époque: Adrian Alan – Selected Works (online), Oct 14-21 Modern & Contemporary African Art, Oct 28 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 Fine Antiques, Silver & Jewellery, Oct 14 Antiques, Collectables & Interiors, Oct 15 Bishop and Miller, 19 Charles Industrial Estate, Stowmarket, Suffolk, IP14 5AH 01449 673088 www.bishopandmillerauctions. co.uk Mr Bishop’s Interiors, Oct 6, Asian Art Auction, Oct 8 The Collector: Fine & Early European & English Furniture, Works of Art & Paintings, Oct 15 Mr Bishops Collectables, Oct 20 Bellmans Newpound, Wisborough Green, West Sussex, RH14 0AZ 01403 700858 www.bellmans.co.uk Interiors including, Asian Works of

Art (live online) Oct 20-22 The Friday Sale (live online) Oct 23 Burtson & Hewett The Auction Gallery, Lower Lake, Battle, East Sussex,TN33 0AT 01424 772 374 www.burstowandhewett.co.uk Antiques, Oct 14 Fine Art, Oct 15 Clarke and Simpson Campsea Ashe, Nr. Wickham Market, Suffolk, IP13 0PS 01728 746323 www.clarkeandsimpson.co.uk The Monday Sale, Oct 5, 12, 19, 26 Antique and Fine Art, Oct 7 Ewbank’s, London Rd, Send, Woking, Surrey 01483 223 101 www.ewbankauctions.co.uk Fine Wine & Spirits, Oct 2 Antique & Collectors’ inc. Jewellery & Silver, Oct 7 Decorative Arts, Oct 8 Toys and Models, Oct 28 Entertainment, Memorabilia & Movie Props, Oct 29 Vintage Posters, Oct 30 John Nicolson’s Longfield, Midhurst Road Fernhurst, Haslemere Surrey, GU27 3HA 01428 653727 www.johnnicholsons.com None listed at the time of going to press Lacy Scott & Knight, 10 Risbygate St, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 3AA, 01284 748 623 www.lskauctioncentre.co.uk Home and Interiors, Oct 17 Coins, Banknotes & Tokens, Oct 20 Affordable Jewellery & Watches, Oct 20 Reeman Dansie No. 8 Wyncolls Road Severalls Business Park, Colchester, CO4 9HU 01206 754754 www.reemandansie.com Homes and Interiors (online) Oct 13, 27

Rowley Fine Art Auctioneers & Valuers, 8 Downham Road Ely, Cambridgeshire CB6 1AH, 01353 653020 www.rowleyfineart.com Antiques, Interiors and Collectables, Oct 17 Summers Place Auctions The Walled Garden, Stane Street Billingshurst, West Sussex RH14 9AB 01403 331331 www.summersplaceauctions.com None listed at the time of going to press Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers, Cambridge Road, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, CM24 8GE 01279 817778 www.sworder.co.uk Sporting Art, Wildlife and Dogs (live online) Oct 6 Homes and Interiors (timed), Oct 9-18 20th Century Design (live online), Oct 13 Modern British and 20th Century Art (live online), Oct 20 Books and Maps (timed), Oct 23-Nov 1 Jewellery (live online), Oct 27 Fine Wines and Spirits (timed online), Oct 30-Nov 9 T.W. Gaze, Diss Auction Rooms, Roydon Road, Diss, Norfolk, IP22 4LN, Norfolk 01379 650306. www.twgaze.com The Jewellery Auction, Oct 1, SOUTH WEST: Inc. Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Wiltshire British Bespoke Auctions The Old Boys School, Gretton Rd, Winchcombe, Cheltenham, GL54 5EE 01242 603005 www.bespokeauctions.co.uk None listed for October

Claydon, Buckingham MK18 2EZ. 01296 714434 www.claydonauctioneers.com Sporting & Country Pursuits, Oct 2

TA18 8AB, 01460 703041 www.lawrences.co.uk Jewellery, 19th/20th Century Design & Ceramics, Oct 22

David Lay Auctions Penzance Auction House Alverton, Penzance, Cornwall 01736 361414 www.davidlay.co.uk Household Sale, Oct 6, 20 Books & Collector’s, Oct 15 Asian Art, Oct 29

Mallams Oxford, Bocardo House, St Michael’s St, Oxford.

01865 241358 www.mallams.co.uk Art and Music, Oct 23

Dominic Winter Auctioneers, Mallard House, Broadway Lane, South Cerney, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 5UQ 01285 860006 www.dominicwinter.co.uk Printed Books, Maps & Documents, Travel & Exploration, Science & Medicine, Oct 7 Antiques & Textiles, A Private Collection of Vintage Automobilia & Motoring History, Oct 8 British & European Paintings & Watercolours, Old Master Prints & Drawings, Oct 9 Duke’s, Brewery Square, Dorchester, Dorset, DT1 1GA 01305 265080 www.dukes-auctions.com The Avenue Auction, Oct 6, 27 The Auctumn Auction, Oct 8 Art & Design Post 1880, Oct 9 East Bristol Auctions, Unit 1, Hanham Business Park, Memorial Road, Hanham, BS15 3JE 0117 967 1000 www.eastbristol.co.uk Monthly, Oct 1-2 Toy Collectors, Oct 17 Gardiner Houlgate, 9 Leafield Way, Corsham, Wiltshire, SN13 9SW 01225 812912 www.gardinerhoulgate.co.uk Specialist Watches, Oct 21 Fine Clocks, Oct 22 Miscellaneous Clocks & Horology, Oct 23

Chorley’s, Prinknash Abbey Park, Gloucestershire, GL4 8EU 01452 344499 www.chorleys.com Modern Art & Design, Studio Ceramics, Oct 27

HRD Auction Rooms Ltd The Auction Rooms, Quay Lane Brading, Isle of Wight PO36 0AT 01983 402222 www.hdrauctionrooms.co.uk Antique & Modern, Oct 14

Claydon Auctioneers, The Claydon Saleroom, Calvert Road, Middle

Lawrences Auctioneers Ltd. Crewkerne, Somerset,

Mallams Cheltenham, 26 Grosvenor St, Cheltenham.

Gloucestershire, 01242 235 712 www.mallams.co.uk None listed Mallams Abingdon, Dunmore Court, Wootten Road, Abingdon, OX13 6BH 01235 462840 www.mallams.co.uk The House and Garden Sale, Oct 12 Philip Serrell, Barnards Green Rd, Malvern, Worcs.

WR14 3LW, 01684 892314 www.serrell.com Antique and Fine Art, Oct 8 Interiors, Oct 22 Stroud Auctions, Bath Rd Trading Estate, Bath Rd, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 3QF 01453 873 800 www.stroudauctions.co.uk Ceramics, Glass, Ephemera, Stamps, Musical Instruments, Vinyl Records, Pictures and Paintings, Oct 6-7 Woolley & Wallis, 51-61 Castle Street, Salisbury, Wiltshire, SP1 3SU, 01722 424500 www.woolleyandwallis.co.uk Arts and Crafts and Design, Oct 6 Furniture Works of Art and Clocks, Oct 21 EAST MIDLANDS: Inc. Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Sheffield Batemans, Ryhall Rd, Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 1XF 01780 766 466 www.batemans.com Fine Art, Antiques and Specialist Collectors, Oct 3 Gildings Auctioneers, The Mill, Great Bowden Road, Market Harborough, LE16 7DE 01858 410414, www.gildings.co.uk

Antiques and Collectors, Oct 6, 20 Golding Young & Mawer The Bourne Auction Rooms, Spalding Road, Bourne, Lincolnshire PE10 9LE 01778 422686 www.goldingyoung.com Bourne Collective Sale, Oct 7-8 Golding Young & Mawer The Grantham Auction Rooms, Old Wharf Road, Grantham, Lincolnshire NG31 7AA01476 565118 www.goldingyoung.com Grantham Collective Sale, Oct 14-15 Fine Ceramics & Asian Art, Oct 28 Golding Young & Mawer The Lincoln Auction RoomsThos Mawer HouseStation RoadNorth Hykeham, Lincoln LN6 3QY 01522 524984 www.goldingyoung.com Lincoln Collective, Oct 21-22 Lincoln Fine Art, Oct 28 WEST MIDLANDS: Inc. Birmingham, Coventry, Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Bigwood Auctioneers, Stratford-Upon-Avon Warwickshire, CV37 7AW 01789 269415 www.bigwoodauctioneers.com Antiques and Collectables including Traditional Sports and Pastimes, Oct 2 Furnishings, Interiors and Collectables, Oct 9, 16 Antiques and Collectables, Oct 30 Cuttlestones Ltd, Wolverhampton Auction Rooms, No 1 Clarence Street, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, WV1 4JL, 01902 421985 www.cuttlestones.co.uk Antiques and Interiors, Oct 28 Fellows, Augusta House, 19 Augusta Street, Hockley, Birmingham, B18 6JA 0121 212 2131 www.fellows.co.uk Jewellery, Oct 1 Pawnbrokers Jewellery and Watches, Oct 8, 22 The Luxury Watch Sale, Oct 12 Jewellery, Oct 15 Jewellery (timed online), Oct 22 Gemstones (timed), Oct 23 ANTIQUE COLLECTING 63

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.

Fieldings, Mill Race Lane, Stourbridge, DY8 1JN 01384 444140 www.fieldingsauctioneers.co.uk The October Sale, incl Decades of Design, Oct 15-16 Halls, Bowmen Way, Battlefield, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, SY4 3DR 01743 450700 www.hallsgb.com/fine-art Antiques and Interiors, Oct 7 Modern and Contemporary Art (timed online), Oct 9-25 Hansons, Bishton Hall, Wolseley Bridge, Stafford, ST18 0XN, 0208 9797954 www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk Two-Day Antiques, Decorative Art & Design Auction, Oct 8-9 The Library Auction, Oct 13 The Staffordshire Cellar, Natural History, Taxidermy & Tribal Auction, Oct 14 The Staffordshire Fine Art Picture Auction, Oct 17 Kingham & Orme 01386 244224 www.kinghamandorme.com Davies House, Davies Road, Evesham, Worcestershire WR11 1YZ. Fine and Decorative Arts, Oct 8-10 Potteries Auctions, Unit 4A, Aspect Court, Silverdale Enterprise Park, Newcastle, Staffordshire, ST5 6SS, 01782 638100 www.potteriesauctions.com 20th Century British Pottery, Collectors’ Items, Household Items, Antique & Quality Furniture, Oct 9-10 Trevanion & Dean The Joyce Building, Station Rd, Whitchurch, Shropshire, SY13 1RD, 01928 800 202 www.trevanionanddean.com Fine Art and Antiques, Oct 24 NORTH: Inc. Cheshire, Co. Durham, Cumbria, Humberside, Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Sheffield, Yorkshire

64 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

Adam Partridge Withyfold Drive, Macclesfield, Cheshire 01625 431 788 www.adampartridge.co.uk Studio Ceramics: The Leonard and Alison Shurz Collection (online), Oct 8-9 Northern & Contemporary Art, Decorative Arts & Design (online), Oct 23 Adam Partridge The Liverpool Saleroom, 18 Jordan Street, Liverpool, L1 OBP 01625 431 788 www.adampartridge.co.uk Collectors’ Items with Rock & Pop Memorabilia (online) Oct 7 Anderson and Garland Crispin Court, Newbiggin Lane, Westerhope, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE5 1BF 0191 432 1911 www.andersonandgarland.com Autumn Fine Antiques & Interiors Auction, Oct 1 Town and County, Oct 7, 21 The Collectors Auction, Oct 22 Toys and Comics, Oct 22 Capes Dunn The Auction Galleries, 40 Station Road, Heaton Mersey, SK4 3QT 0161 273 1911 www.capesdunn.com Interiors, Vintage & Modern Effects, Oct 5, 19 Northern Artists, Oct 6 Antiquarian and Collectable Books, Maps, Prints & Art, Oct 20 David Duggleby Auctioneers Vine Street Salerooms Scarborough, North Yorkshire YO11 1XN, 01723 507 111 www.daviddugleby.com Jewellery, Watches & Silver, Oct 1, 22 Decorative Antiques & Collectors, Oct 2, 23, 30 Affordable Art, Oct 3, 24 The Furnishings Sale, Oct 3, 24 Toys, Model Railways, Railwayana & Transport Memorabilia, Oct 9

Elstob & Elstob, Ripon Business Park, Charter Road, Ripon, North Yorkshire HG4 1AJ 01677 333003 www.elstobandelstob.co.uk Fine Art and Antiques, Oct 31

Thomson Roddick and Medcalf, Coleridge House, Shaddongate, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA2 5TU 01228 5289939 www.thomsonroddick.com Antiques, Oct 14 Paintings,, Oct 28

Hansons, Heage Lane, Etwall, Derbyshire DE65 6LS 01283 733988 www.hansonsauctioneers.co.uk Antiques and Collectors, Oct 15-20 Historica: Coins, Banknotes & Antiquities Auction, Oct 26-27 Fine Art Auction, including: Exceptional Antiques from a Derby Property and Asian Art, Oct 29-30

Vectis Auctions Ltd, Fleck Way, Thornaby, Stockton on Tees, TS17 9JZ www.vectis.co.uk 01642 750616 TV and Film Related, Oct 13 Matchbox Sale, Oct 15 General Toys, Oct 16 Specialist Diecast, Oct 20-21 Model Trains, Oct 23 Specialist Books, Oct 27

Peter Wilson Fine Art Victoria Gallery, Market St, Nantwich, Cheshire.

01270 623 878 www.peterwilson.co.uk Northern Art, Oct 1 Books, Maps & Stamps, Oct 8 Fine & Classic Interiors, Oct 15 Design & Luxury, Oct 22 Toys & Models, Oct 29 Sheffield Auction Gallery, Windsor Road, Heeley, Sheffield, S8 8UB. 0114 281 6161 www.sheffieldauctiongallery.com Specialist Collectable Toys, Oct 1 Antiques and Collectables, Oct 2, 16 Vinyl Records & Music Ephemera, Oct 15 Silver, Jewellery & Watches, Oct 29 Antique & Fine Art, Oct 30 Tennants Auctioneers, Leyburn, North Yorkshire 01969 623780 www.tennants.co.uk Stamps, Postcards & Postal History, Oct 7 Antiques & Interiors, Oct 9, 23 20th Century Design, Oct 17 Modern Art, Oct 17 The Fan Collection, Oct 22 Natural History & Taxidermy, Oct 28

SCOTLAND Bonhams, Queen St, Edinburgh.

0131 225 2266 www.bonhams.com Whisky, Oct 7 The Scottish Sale, Oct 14 Lyon & Turnbull, Broughton Pl., Edinburgh.

0131 557 8844 www.lyonandturnbull.com The Contents of Beal House, Yorkshire, Oct 14-15 Decorative Arts: Design since 1860, Oct 28 WALES Anthemion Auctions, 15 Norwich Road, Cardiff, Wales, CF23 9AB 029 2047 2444 www.anthemionauction.com General Ceramics, Glass, Paintings, Furniture, Works of art, Books, Sporting memorabilia, Oct 7 Peter Francis Towyside Salerooms, Old Station Rd, Carmarthen, SA31 1JN 01267 233456 www.peterfrancis.co.uk Antiques, Furnishings and Collectors, Oct 14

ANTIQUES CENTRES

LENNOX CATO EDENBRIDGE EDENBRIDGE ANTIQUES & WORKS OF ART

THE THE

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EST: 1978

Cheltenham Antiques Why not not pay pay aa visit visit to Why to the the finest finestquality quality

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antiquecentre centre in in the the South East England…

Complement home antique South Eastofofyour England… with a fine crystal glass or you won’t won’t be you be disappointed! disappointed! brass chandelier. Over 300 old chandeliers for sale, many unique. All fully restored and rewired.

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Cheltenham Antique Market, 1 The Square, Church Street, Edenbridge, Kent, TN8 5BD 1 The Square,Edenbridge, Church Street,Kent Edenbridge, Kent, 54 Suffolk Road 5BD GL50 2AQ TN8 5BD TN8 T: 01732 864163 Tel: 01242 529812 T: 01732 864163 info@edenbridgegalleries.com 01732E:E:865 988 cato@lennoxcato.com www.antiquecrystalchandeliers.co.uk info@edenbridgegalleries.com www.edenbridgegalleries.com www.edenbridgegalleries.com

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Complement your home Complement your home with a fine crystal glass or with a fine crystal glass or brass chandelier. Over 300 brass chandelier. Over 300 old chandeliers for sale, old chandeliers for sale, many unique. All fully many unique. All fully restored and rewired. restored and rewired.

Cheltenham Antique Market, Cheltenham Antique 54 Suffolk Road GL50 2AQ Market, 54 Suffolk Tel: 01242 529812Road GL50 2AQ Tel: 01242 529812

www.antiquecrystalchandeliers.co.uk www.antiquecrystalchandeliers.co.uk

Gloucester Antiques Centre 1/4_Layout 1 13/11/2019 12:30 Page 1

THE NEW GLOUCESTER ANTIQUES CENTRE We have found a new home In the heart of the city of Gloucester in a beautiful 16th century building in historic Westgate Street COME VISIT AND SEE OUR WONDERFUL ARRAY OF ANTIQUES AND COLLECTABLES We have silver, jewellery, oriental collectibles, ceramics, art, glass, toys, postcards, railwayana, stamps, coins and much more.

Enjoy browsing on two floors of the original Mercers Guild hall, (expanding soon into two floors of the adjacent Maverdine Chambers) We are open 7 days a week Monday-Saturday 10-5, and Sunday 11-5.

THE NEW GLOUCESTER ANTIQUES CENTRE LTD, 26 WESTGATE STREET, GLOUCESTER, GL1 2NG

TEL 01452 529716

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK

THE THENEW NEWGLOUCESTER GLOUCESTER ANTIQUES CENTRE ANTIQUES CENTRE We have found a new home We have found a new home In the heart of the city of Gloucester In the heart of the city of Gloucester in a beautiful 16th century building in a beautiful 16th century building in historic Westgate Street in historic Westgate Street

COME VISIT AND SEE OUR WONDERFUL COME AND SEE WONDERFUL ARRAY OFVISIT ANTIQUES ANDOUR COLLECTABLES ARRAY OF ANTIQUES AND COLLECTABLES We have silver, jewellery, oriental collectibles, We have oriental collectibles, ceramics, art,silver, glass,jewellery, toys, postcards, railwayana, ceramics, art, glass, toys, postcards, stamps, coins and much more. railwayana, stamps, coins and much more.

58 Davies Mayfair, Enjoy browsing Street, on two floors of the Enjoy browsing on two floors of the original Mercers Guild hall, (Opposite Bond Street Tube) original Guild (expanding soon into Mercers two floors of thehall, adjacent (expanding soon intoChambers) two floors London W1K 5LPof the adjacent Maverdine Maverdine Chambers) We are open 7 days a week We- are open days a week Monday-Saturday 10-5, 7and Sunday Monday Friday 10am -11-5.

6pm Monday-Saturday 10-5, and Sunday 11-5.

Saturday 11am - 5pm

THE NEW GLOUCESTER ANTIQUES CENTRE LTD, THE NEW GLOUCESTER ANTIQUES GL1 26 WESTGATE STREET, GLOUCESTER, 2NG LTD, 020 7629 7034 CENTRE 26 WESTGATE STREET, GLOUCESTER, GL1 2NG

TEL 01452 529716 graysantiques.com TEL 529716 FOLLOW US01452 ON FACEBOOK

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK ANTIQUE COLLECTING 65 65 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

62 62

LAST WORD Marc Allum

Marc My Words Antiques Roadshow specialist Marc Allum likes more than eating sweetmeats while dressed as a Georgian dandy

I

make no apologies for my predilection to dress up as a Georgian gentleman. In fact, any excuse for fancy dress will find me donning my frock coat, breeches and wig, either in the guise of a late 18th-century dandy, or as a Lestat-type vampire (Interview with the Vampire) at a Halloween party.

My default look is nearly always ‘classic’ Georgian (c. 1780). It’s a rich period in history that readily affords you the opportunity to explore a myriad of revolutionary developments in technology, literature, architecture and design.

So, in this, the bi-centenary anniversary year of the death of George III, what is it about the Georgians that so many of us find beguiling, attractive and intriguing?

GEORGIAN DANDY I think, for a start, it’s a little too easy to look at the Georgians through rosetinted glasses. On the face of it, my rather

romantic notion of dressing up as a wealthy Georgian gentleman cherry picks the apparently best things about the period, conveniently rolling them up into the playful assumption that life was all about fashion, debauchery, duelling and standing on the deck of a naval frigate ordering the gunners to open fire on French ships.

I know what you are going to say.

I’ve obviously watched too many films like Master and Commander and Les Liaisons dangereuses It’s very convenient to do away with all of the nasty bits, such being born into a poverty-stricken family, living in an insanitary slum, losing most of your many children to disease and starvation, or being press-ganged into the navy, flogged and then drowning in a storm off the West Indies while empire building for the king.

Today, it’s easy to be distracted from the reality of the period; you just go to your local auction and curate your house with wonderful pieces of Georgian furniture, portraits, flintlock pistols, Wedgwood and sparkling Irish glassware, This way you conveniently live the dream in your 18th-century home with all of the modern conveniences that we expect in this day and age.

GILDED ALMONDS So what does that slightly flippant analysis make me? Well, firstly, it makes me interested. If it wasn’t for the fact I’ve always been ‘interested’ I would never have developed the propensity for learning more,

‘Some of the most memorable evenings in my life have been hosting 18th-century Hogarthian feasts where the guests had to dress up (or were refused entry). Everything on the table was of the period – sweetmeats, ‘roast beef of old England’, gilded almonds and pomegranate jellies ’ 66 ANTIQUE COLLECTING

s s . It is fun and an integral part of working in a business where I regard that appreciation as absolutely paramount.

Some of the most memorable evenings in my life have been s 18th-century Hogarthian feasts where the guests had to dress up (or were refused entry).

Everything on the table was of the period, with the sweetmeats, ‘roast beef of old England’, gilded almonds pomegranate jellies all copied from old recipe books. They were the perfect addition to the magical candlelit atmosphere conjured up by using your home, and the objects you have collected, to create an experience.

So the next time you want your Tesco’s claret to taste a little bit better, try drinking it from an 18th-century glass. The Georgians left us a tremendous legacy and it’s fine to cherry pick the good bits.

Marc Allum is an expert on BBC Antiques Roadshow as well as an author and speaker. For more details go to www.marcallum.com Above left A Georgian dining room at Wordsworth House, Cumbria, home of the Wordsworth family in the 1770s ©National Trust Images/Nadia Mackenzie Below Marc is a slave to Georgian fashion. Laceing

a dandy, 1819, Lewis Walpole Library

NEXT AUCTION:

From castles and palaces selected art and works of art from antiquity to the 20th century Sept. 25, 2020 LIVE AUCTION

Lot 81 A monumental Flemish altar painting with a monogram, 17th century, in a solid frame of carved, gilt wood. Size of the painting 241 x 161 cm, size of the frame 273 x 200 cm.

Further information:

www.hermann-historica.com

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

1965 Rolex GMT-Master Pepsi Estimate: £15,000 William George & Co

George IV silver candlesticks Estimate: £350–520 Adam’s

Coffee table, Herman Miller Estimate: £760–1,150 Wright

Marble bust Late 19th/early 20th century Estimate: £11,500–15,500 Christie’s

Sear c 2000 h over a uct hous es fr ion om over the w all orld Andy Warhol, Mick Jagger Estimate: £30,000–50,000 Sotheby’s

Pumpkin, Yayoi Kusama (b.1929) Hammer price: £550 Forum Auctions

Hermès bag Kelly Starting price: £7,500 Stockholms Auktionsverk

Your search for art, design, antiques and collectables starts here

May Day V, Andreas Gursky Estimate: £450,000–650,000 Phillips

Mahogany dresser Estimate: £500–660 Uppsala Auktionskammare

Swivel chair by Hans J. Wegner Estimate: £2,460–3,300 Bruun Rasmussen

Style of Serge Mouille, ca. 1950s Estimate: £300–460 Rago Arts

Edwardian Art Noveau frame Estimate: £200–300 Tennants

Emerald cut diamond ring Fixed price: £27,400 Once Upon A Diamond

Without title, Alexander Calder Estimate: £430–600 Artcurial

Edwardian arm chair, ca. 1910 Fixed price: £3,850 Wick Antiques

Find the true value of your treasures - only £13. Visit barnebys.co.uk/valuation