Smaller october 2014 copy

FRONT COVER OF MAG_Layout 1 08/10/2014 12:32 Page 1

NTIQUE A

OCTOBER 2014

COLLECTING THE ART EDITION

IN THIS ISSUE: ARTISTS FROM THE ‘FORGOTTEN’ EAST LONDON SCHOOL DISCOVER ONE OF BRITAIN’S FINEST IMPRESSIONISTS THE RENAISSANCE IN POST-WAR SILVER FOCUS ON PETWORTH

COLLECTING GUIDES: THE ISLAMIC ART OF SOUTHEAST ASIA WILLIAM WYLLIE FOR LESS THAN £1,000 REVEALING THE ARTISTS OF TOMORROW

Delomosne 1_Advert 08/10/2014 12:20 Page 1

DELOMOSNE FINE ANTIQUES

A rare ‘wash enamel’ ale glass, the bowl decorated with two pairs of barley ears, on a double series air twist stem. Height: 19.1cm. English c.1760-70.

COURT CLOSE, NORTH WRAXALL, CHIPPENHAM, WILTSHIRE SN14 7AD TEL: BATH (01225) 891505 WWW.DELOMOSNE.CO.UK For opening hours please telephone or visit our website

new contents copy 5_Layout 1 16/09/2014 12:59 Page 1

ANTIQUE COLLECTING Vol 49 No.5

The Journal of the Antique Collectors’ Club

October 2014

CONTENTS The Art Issue

Regulars

9

12

34

3 Editorial: John Andrews considers our changing attitude to antiques 4 News and Views: A round up of the latest news from the world of antiques and collecting, as well as what’s on this October 7 Your letters: This month, a 23lb pike and a teapot’s provenance 9 Market Report: John Andrews rounds up the successes from this year’s summer sales, including a £2m chess set 10 Around the Houses: Recent highlights from the UK’s auction rooms 19 Profile: Behind the scenes with the Swan Gallery’s Simon Lamb 26 Focus on Petworth: Flog It star Paul Martin reveals why this West Sussex market town tops his ‘must-visit’ list 29 Subscription offer: Buy a gift subscription in time for Christmas and receive a free book worth £45 41 Pre-publication offers: Save more than 30% on two books by leading authors on the history of British silver 46 Cool and Collectable: Expert Paul Fraser on what to look for in the rocketing market for space memorabilia

38

Features

48 Fair News: A look at the best UK fairs taking place this October

12 The Sea King: Richard Kay discovers work by the celebrated maritime artist William Wyllie for less than £1,000

53 Auction Calendar: A round up of the sales going on at the country’s leading auction houses this month

20 East Trenders: Art expert David Buckman considers the work of the until recently unknown East London Group

56 Battie by Nature: David Battie uncovers the curious world of the 19th century Japanners and their work Publisher: Diana Steel Managing Editor: John Andrews Editor: Georgina Wroe Designers: Sandra Pond and Stephen Farrow Advertising: Paul Cawthorn 01394 389956 E: paul.cawthorn@antique-acc.com Subscriptions: Jill Cousens +44 (0)1394 389957 E: jill.cousens@antique-acc.com Published by Antique Collectors’ Club Ltd, Sandy Lane, Old Martlesham, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 4SD, England. +44 (0)1394 389950 F: +44 (0)1394 389999 E: magazine@antique-acc.com W: www.antique-collecting.co.uk.

Antique Collecting: subscription £32 for 10 issues or £21 for 6 issues. ISSN: 0003-584X

30 Future Perfect: Gallery owner and author Kurt Beers reveals ten artists set to become the Picassos of the future 34 The Right Impression: Kenneth McConkey praises one of this country’s least-known Impressionists – William Stott of Oldham 38 Silver Service: John Andrew on the leading lights behind the renaissance in post-war British silver 42 Eastern Promise: Michael Backman reflects on the overlooked but highly collectable Islamic Art of Southeast Asia 1

October Ads Pages:Layout 1

2

16/9/14

12:25

Page 2

Editorial copy 5_Editorial copy 2.qxp 16/09/2014 10:48 Page 3

ANTIQUE COLLECTING FOR COLLECTORS • BY COLLECTORS • ABOUT COLLECTING

Front cover: The View West, by Edward Noott, oil on canvas, 25 x 30ins.

Part of a solo exhibition at John Noott Galleries Ltd., until October 5.

The combined November/December issue of the magazine will contain details of our Christmas book offers, including exclusive subscriber discounts of up to 70% on some titles. Readers wishing to receive this information earlier should email jill.cousens@antique-acc.com with their membership details. Stock is limited and orders will be processed as received.

© Antique Collectors’ Club 2014 No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without prior written permission from the publishers. The publishers do not accept any responsibility for, or necessarily agree with, any views expressed, statements or claims made in any articles, news items or advertisements published in

Antique Collecting.

The late Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, collected first editions and manuscripts of social and technical importance – ‘books that made things happen’ - with the help of the dealer Percy Muir of Elkin Mathews. It was an appealing idea in which he invested time and money, but recently it came indirectly under fire from Germaine Greer. In an interview with Howard Jacobson in one of his TV programmes on four Australian intellectuals in England, Jacobson was admiring Greer’s book, The Female Eunuch. He said it was an impressive and original stimulus to feminist thinking, a landmark initiating new attitudes and thus, though he did not mention it, qualifying as a book that would have met Fleming’s criterion of making things happen.

No, replied Germaine Greer positively, books do not make things happen. Things happen and they lead to a book or books being produced. This modest disclaimer of hers asserts that opinion or attitudes are already in motion before a book defining change and expressing it in acceptable terms becomes an icon. When Robert Hughes, Clive James, Barry Humphries and Germaine Greer arrived here, the country was ripe for rebellion against the layered class system and entrenched interests that prevailed. The long-historical perspective we tended to take meant nothing to them, even though there was still a residual British cultural presence in Australia. Their influence and blunt, colourful language in addition to our home-grown post-1945 iconoclasm was such that the prevailing critical reticence was torpedoed.

Perhaps the current freethinking attitude to design, decoration and interior arrangements owes something to the Aussie attitude as well. Unless, as Germaine Greer suggested, we were heading for big changes anyway and the media just confirmed the transformation rather than instigating it. In antiques, as in so many things, the reaction to artefacts and furnishings has become immediate, objective, without the previous back-reference to social standing and tradition that requires time and study to develop. Décor no longer bends the knee in almost religious obeisance to

traditional ideas of taste and class acceptance. It is eclectic, blending tradition and modernism as desired.

Fleming’s collection led to his becoming owner-publisher of a scholarly quarterly magazine, Book Collector. This gave the popular author cachet as an intellectual, if not as a businessman – the magazine lost money and was used as a tax palliative. His collection included a first edition of Darwin’s book, Origin of Species, which on publication was a cause of intense mental upheaval, making it tempting to assign to the category of ‘books that made things happen’. Viewed from our long perspective, however, it fits into a comprehensible progression. Its content would eventually have come to publication by another route. The knowledge of parallel research led Darwin, after a long hesitance, to publish his findings.

Similar developments apply to onceprevalent attitudes to antique collecting.

To use John Fiske of the New England Antiques Journal’s excellent description in a recent article bewailing the incredible rise of designer handbag prices, particularly Hermes Birkins, as against the fall of oak furniture, why should we have thought that antiques would always be the leading totems-of-wealth and bestowers-of-status? And that they would inevitably increase in value? Changes in society and lifestyle have had effects unforeseen by collectors, especially in furnishing with antiques. It was some time ago that we first aired this subject and it did not need a Darwin to arrest our attention; the facts spoke for themselves. Happily, we can continue to collect without remorse or recrimination. Fleming’s books and manuscripts, milestones on the road to where we are now, would still attract acquisition for reasons Germaine Greer has qualified for us. (The Darwin volume would cost nearly £100,000 now.) As Andrew Singleton pointed out last month, in the last decade antiques have suffered price readjustments in many different sectors and modest signs of recovery are welcome. The stimulus comes, however, not from previous concepts of interior décor, totems and status. We are not going back to where we were; the pattern of collecting and furnishing is responding to forms of natural selection as well.

John Andrews 3

October News & Views pp.04-07:Layout 1

16/9/14

11:54

Page 4

NEWS & VIEWS Opportunity Knox Two lifetime collections go under the hammer at Bonhams’ Decorative Arts sale this month.

The first is a collection of up to fifty Art Deco bookends amassed over a period of forty years, while the second is made An enamel biscuit barrel and lid, by Archibald Knox, c. 1900, 11.5cm up of pieces from the high, estimate £600 to £800.

British Arts and Crafts movement, including many Liberty pieces designed by Archibald Knox.

Decorative arts specialist Mark Oliver said: “This second collection numbers a thousand pieces which were recently removed from storage and we have been instructed to sell over a year. I am looking forward to seeing how well both collections do. The estimates – in some cases as low as £300 – are very tempting, so hopefully a large percentage will find new homes.”

The sale on October 1 will also showcase a range of metal wares, ceramics, glass, sculpture and furniture from 1860 to the present day.

It will also feature pottery from William De Morgan, Doulton, William Moorcroft and Pilkington, as well as sculpture by artists including Chiparus, Priess and Lorenzl.

Bonhams’ next Decorative Arts sale is on November 19.

Making their Swanson A striking pair of late 17th century, or early 18th century, corbels are among the latest arrivals at David Swanson’s antique shop in Petworth, West Sussex. Measuring 73cm x 25cm the oak carvings of two bearded men are in the Grotesque.

Thought to have originated in north Germany, the corbels came from a private seller and are priced £2,950 for the pair.

David told Antique Collecting: “They are designed to be looked up at and are a most unusual looking pair, the carving is superb and would be an asset to any oak collector.” For our feature Petworth turn to page 26.

One of a pair of North German grotesque corbels.

4

Hammer toed At the time of going to press the fortunes of Tim Wonnacott, as he takes to the stage of Strictly Come Dancing remain in the balance but, before donning his sequins, he called on the support of Antique Collecting’s readers.

The Bargain Hunt presenter, who was a director at Sotherby’s until 2003, joins Masterchef presenter Gregg Wallace, Judy Murray (mother of Andy) and singer Simon Webbe, among others, as they contest the Bargain Hunt’s Tim Wonnacott takes to the Strictly stage this autumn. coveted glitter ball trophy.

Tim took time out from rehearsals to say: “When I was asked to do Strictly I thought it would be a wonderful opportunity to learn how to dance as I have never had lessons before and it is such a departure from my normal sphere of art and antiques.”

Calling on subscribers’ support, he added: “The odds however are heavily stacked against me as some of the contestants are a third of my age, so please vote for me, as it looks like I am going to need all the help I can get!”

Under the microscope The private collection of microscopes and related material belonging to Professor David Bellamy OBE go under the hammer later this month at Tennants, in North Yorkshire, The 81-year-old scientist’s equipment includes rarities such as a George Adams ‘New Universal’ microscope, as A George Adams ‘New Universal’ well as a Victorian microscope, estimated at £5,000 to 7,000. mahogany glass-fronted cabinet, complete with professional botanical slides.

Tennants’ scientifics and collectables specialist, Kegan Harrison, said: “Although the items are of significant scientific importance in their own right, the provenance surrounding such a collection may have a further positive impact when they come to auction.”

Tennants’ Scientific and Natural History sale takes place on October 29, with other highlights including a rare tri-unial magic lantern, as well as globes, cameras and cased butterflies.

October News & Views pp.04-07:Layout 1

16/9/14

11:54

Page 5

NEWS & VIEWS Take a bow A violin attributed to Antonio Stradivari which once belonged to Alfonso Marconi, brother of the famous inventor Guglielmo Marconi, goes under the hammer at Sotheby’s this month. Specialist musical instrument auctioneers Ingles and Hayday will bring the violin to auction on October 28, with an estimate of between £140,000 to £180,000.

Alfonso Marconi was born in 1865 and was nine years older than Guglielmo. He assisted his brother in his early experiments, famously firing the shot which confirmed the successful The Stradivari violin has transmission of a radio signal over a hill an estimate of near their home in 1895. The violin £140,000 to £180,000. was first recorded by the London dealer Hart and Son in 1874, who sold it to Charles McMillan noting it had been in the possession of the Duke of Marlborough.

Mystery of the locked suitcase Hidden treasure from the home of the world’s most celebrated thriller writer, Agatha Christie, goes under the hammer at Bonhams’ Jewellery sale this month.

In 2006 a die-hard fan paid £100 for an old trunk at the contents sale of the author’s Devon estate.

Four years later the trunk owner opened the box to discover jewellery estimated at £10,000, including a purse of gold coins, a diamond brooch and a three-stone diamond ring.

The jewels are mentioned in Agatha Christie’s autobiography as pieces earmarked for Agatha and her sister Madge from their mother’s estate. Christie writes: “My mother’s valuable Jewellery making up part of Agatha jewellery consisted of ‘my diamond buckle’, ‘my diamond Christie’s inheritance. crescent’ and ‘my diamond engagement ring’...Madge was to have the diamond crescent, I was to have the diamond buckle...” The 19th century diamond brooch will appear at the Knightsbridge sale on October 8 with an estimate of £6,000 to £8,000, the three-stone ring has an estimate of between £3,000 and £5,000.

Full Nelson A rare letter written and signed by Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson to Francis Drake, the British Minister in Genoa, has come to light in Derbyshire. Dated 16th August 1795, it reads: “I should like to know from you, the exact plans which

The letter, written and signed by Nelson, came to light in Derbyshire.

the army is to follow, at present I am completely in the dark.”

Charles Hanson, from Hansons Auctioneers who discovered the letter, said: “It shows even our greatest maritime war hero was often at a loss as to the movements the army were to follow.” In 2013 Hansons sold another of Nelson’s letters for a record £56,000, the current letter has an estimate of between £8,000 and £10,000.

Written by Nelson, then 37 years of age, in Vado Bay, Italy, Nelson expresses his disappointment that Drake will not see Admiral Hotham until the latter’s return from Leghorn. The letter, written in his right hand, reflects his frustration with an establishment that did not understand his ambition. Signed “Ever your most faithful Horatio Nelson,” it was written two years before Nelson lost his right arm in battle at Tenerife.

WHAT’S ON Edenbridge Galleries The Edenbridge Galleries are staging two exhibitions this month, the first of which, from Dianne Brick of Amherst Antiques, is a selling exhibition of Tunbridge Ware.

Flights of Fancy, from October 4 to 11, will feature 120 pieces from the collection of the late Dr Annie Peach. The centrepiece of the exhibition will be a satinwood bookstand

by Edmund Nye, produced around the time of the Great Exhibition of 1851. It features marquetry panels of birds and sunflowers, thought to be the designs of Thomas Barton.

Less than a fortnight later, the Kent gallery will host the third 200 Years of British Porcelain – a selling exhibition from porcelain specialists Jupiter Antiques.

In collaboration with Mark and Sandra Diamond, who are specialists in desk-related items, including inkwells, pen trays The dressing table box by Thomas Barton c. 1870. and inkstands, and Tony Horsley – a regular exhibitor at UK fairs, the exhibition promises an array of Worcester, Chelsea, Derby as well as candle snuffers, reflecting the fact Tony Horsley is one of the world’s leading experts in candle snuffers. For more details visit www.edenbridgegalleries.com.

5

October News & Views pp.04-07:Layout 1

16/9/14

11:54

Page 6

NEWS & VIEWS Courtauld Gallery The Courtauld Gallery this month stages the UK’s first major exhibition devoted to the radical Austrian artist Egon Schiele for more than twenty years Running from October 23 to January 18, the gallery will focus on Schiele’s nudes, described as some of the most unflinching depictions of the human figure created in modern times.

Seated female nude, by Egon Schiele to Schiele (1890-1918) who appear at the Courtauld this month. is widely considered to be one of the major figures in 20th century art, was a central figure of Viennese art in the turbulent years around the First World War, rising to prominence alongside his avant-garde contemporaries, Gustav Klimt and Oskar Kokoschka.

He overturned old traditions of art school life drawing classes with his raw and unidealised approach to the nude. Rather than just depict conventional artists’ models in familiar poses, he took as his subjects an unusual variety of people including himself, his sister, male friends, his lovers and wife, female prostitutes, pregnant women and babies observed in a medical clinic, and a number of young female models. The last part of the exhibition

looks at works from Schiele’s final years before his untimely death in 1918 from Spanish influenza, aged just 28.

FitzGerald Fine Arts Making its debut at Asian Art in London this month, FitzGerald Fine Arts presents work from a group of contemporary Chinese artists in ink and porcelain.

Held at the Weiss Gallery, Jermyn Street, the exhibition called The Scholar and the Sentinel, unites artists who share a knowledge of scholarly traditions.

The ceramic pieces include work by Jingdezhen-based artists, the porcelain city of China and home to the famed Ming kilns. Gallery Director Benjamin Walker said: “Many of our Gan Daofu, The Woods contemporary Jingdezhen pieces are (After Fan Kuan), 2013. direct ‘descendants’ of the fabled Ming blue and white.” Gan Daofu, for example, is a master of blue and white porcelain using diffused glaze-stain techniques applied with cloth and brush, he added.

Asian Art in London, from October 30 to November 8, sees a number of events taking place around the capital. For more details visit www.asianartinlondon.com.

The Court Ladies of the Chiyoda Palace, a series of paintings by Chikanobu Yoshu.

The Japanese Gallery A London gallery this month lifts the lid on one of Japan’s most secretive cultures.

The Court Ladies of the Chiyoda Palace, a series of paintings

by Chikanobu Yoshu (1838-1912), reveals life in the women’s quarters of the shogun’s palace before the Meiji restoration.

The series of triptychs focuses on the women’s day-to-day activities ranging from writing poetry to combat training – in the last resort women were required to defend the palace.

Built in 1618 as part of Edo Castle, the Õoku, or ‘great interior’, housed the women of the Tokugawa clan, from the Shogun’s mother to his wife and concubines. Strict rules 6

prevented residents from fraternising with outsiders or leaving the grounds of Edo Castle without permission. This system lasted for nearly 200 years. Within the Õoku, an elaborate hierarchy governed day-to-day life; at the very top were the joro otoshiyori, or senior elders, who supervised the shogun’s attendants and served as court liaisons; beneath them were a web of concubines, priests, maids, cooks, and other women who hailed from politically connected families.

To prevent accusations of illegitimacy, no male adults were permitted into the Õoku without escort from the Shogun.

The exhibition continues at the Japanese Gallery, Kensington Church Street until the end of the month.

October News & Views pp.04-07:Layout 1

16/9/14

11:55

Page 7

YOUR LETTERS I have more than 300 issues of Antique Collecting, dating back to August 1967 which I am in the position to sell as a complete set, or in part – should a One of Mr McCreery’s collection dated from fellow subscriber’s October 1967. collection be missing one or several editions.

The collection includes complete bound sets for the majority of years from 1967 (with some exceptions). Unbound issues are also available.

Some of the hard cover bindings show some signs of damp ‘blooming’ but the issues are generally in good, or very good, condition. The unbound issues are of similar quality and condition to the bound ones. Alas, the years 1983/84/85 are not to hand. I have valued the collection at £475 – a little over £1.50 an issue, but all offers will be considered.

Jon McCreery, Templecombe, Somerset.

The 23lb pike thought to be the work of John Cooper & Sons.

I read with fascination last month’s article Mounting Interest by Errol Fuller. I have long been a devotee of the art of taxidermy and am pleased to hear of its renaissance. I had thought the stuffed pike (above), which was passed on to me by my father, was the work of John Cooper & Sons (suggested by the bowed glass front, gold and black lettering, details of the catch and the solid wooden case). After reading the article I am not so sure. Could my fish be the work of W. F. Homer of London or even Malloch of Perth? Any information from a subscriber or expert would be most welcome. The inscription reads: ‘Caught on Lough Mask August 21st 1928 wgt 23lbs T.M.’ Dan Wroe, Felixstowe.

I very much enjoyed the exploration of fairground art in last month’s issue (Fairground Attraction, September issue). While not being a collector, it brought back many happy childhood memories of riding ‘the whip’ and various gallopers at the funfair. I also recently visited the Savage exhibition at the Lynn Museum, which I can thoroughly recommend to subscribers.

F. Stephenson, Norwich.

You may have already discovered the origin of the mystery teapot mentioned

by David Battie in his August column. If not, I will tell you what I think.

I am familiar with the Hungarian way of writing names so, as soon as anything is hinted at as being Hungarian, I read the name ‘backwards’.

Normally you find the family name first and then the given name. This creates a small problem when I am, for instance, researching hallmarks. You could have ‘DB’ as well as ‘BD’ or sometimes both. Therefore I read the script on the teapot as Fischer Vilmos, Kolozsvár. Even if Fischer is not strictly a Hungarian name, it is still used within the once larger Hungarian empire. Vilmos, on the other hand, is a typical Hungarian name, perhaps of Jewish origin. (I even think the chauffeur employed by the Swedish architect Raoul Wallenberg, as he helped thousands of Jews in Nazioccupied Budapest, was called Vilmos.)

Kolozsvár is the same city that was called Klausenburg in German, and is now Cluj, situated in today´s Romania. The teapot may perhaps refer to a grammatical variant, which I do not know…Kolozsvárt? meaning perhaps ‘in or at Kolozsvár’?

Unfortunately, I don’t speak Hungarian and porcelain is not my speciality. But if you ‘google’ that name or city you will find similar things. So, Mr Battie’s belief that Fischer was Hungarian is obviously correct, while the word taken to be Vilnius is more likely, I believe, Vilmos. Anyway, congratulations on a very nice and interesting piece!

Jan Mattsson, Umeå, Sweden.

Our star letter will receive a copy of Antique Boxes Inside and Out by Genevieve Cummins (worth £45). Write to us at Antique Collecting, Sandy Lane, Old Martlesham, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 4SD or email editorial@antique-acc.com.

7

October Ads Pages:Layout 1

16/9/14

12:53

Page 8

Entries now invited for the November:

ROYALTY, ANTIQUES & FINE ART SALE to include Royalty items, Porcelain, Glass, Silver, Jewellery, Watches, Collectables, Pictures, Clocks and Furnishings For further details please contact James Grinter or Marc Winter: 01206 754754

Antique Chinese blue and white crackle glazed bowl Sold in a recent auction for just over £108,000 including buyer’s premium

Antique Chinese orange and gilt ginger jar and cover Sold in a recent auction for just over £39,600 including buyer’s premium

Rare pair of late nineteenth century Morris & Co. two tile panels, designed by Edward Burne-Jones Sold in a recent auction for just over £17,360 including buyer’s premium

All our specialist Sales have on-line bidding via the-saleroom.com We are pleased to give free pre-sale valuations and house visits

THE COLCHESTER AUCTION HOUSE WITH AN INTERNATIONAL REPUTATION 8 Wyncolls Road, Severalls Business Park, Colchester, Essex CO4 9HU Tel : 01206 754754 Fax : 01206 754750 Email : auction@reemandansie.com Web : www.reemandansie.com

MARKET REPORT_Layout 1 15/09/2014 14:33 Page 9

Market Report John Andrews rounds up this year’s summer sales including a chess set, said to have belonged to a Russian tsar, which went for close to £2 million KEEPING UP WITH THE summer sales of fine English furniture is not the activity it used to be, for reasons with which we are all familiar nowadays. Frequent dedicated sales of ‘important’ English furniture are events of yesteryear and this summer followed the current mode, with the occasional celestial performance soaring above the worthy plodders. At Christie’s much of the furniture comes into the mixed ‘Interiors’ sales at South Kensington, rather than the frequent King Street sales we used to attend. In July there were no less than four Interiors events.

Apart from an empty brass-bound naval rum barrel selling for £5,000 on July 29, the sales did not yield many surprises, although an elaborate set of twelve

Victorian Chippendale chairs went for £10,625. A large oak farm table came to town for sale at £4,000. A plate bucket realised £2,750, whereas a William IV writing table in the same sale was less than £2,000. On the other hand, a moulded front 17th century dresser base went for £9,375 at the ‘Masters and Makers Interiors’ sale on July 8, which was a heartening performance countering recent declines in dressers.

Christie’s would doubtless be quick to point out that their ‘Exceptional Sale’ of July 10 saw a set of eight period Chippendale chairs, of which one was a later replacement, fetch £182,500 whilst jaws dropped at the £1,986,000 paid for an Elkington silver

A marble topped commode by William Kent dating from around 1740. With an estimate of £800,0001.2 million it sold for £1,516,100.

The Elkington table, Birmingham, 1866, with an estimate of £400-600,000 it sold at Christie’s ‘Exceptional Sale’ for an exceptional £1,986,000.

and silver gilt electroplated and enamelmounted ebony and ivory chess table and chess set. Of the things sold at this ‘exceptional’ sale, this was one of the most, with a Tsar of Russia rumoured to have once been its owner.

Not to be left behind, Sotheby’s managed, at the sale of the Duke of Northumberland’s selected pieces on July 9, to sell the mahogany serpentine Stanwick commode designed by William Kent for £1,516,100. In contrast, a mahogany breakfront bookcase, possibly also by William Kent, once an alcove fitment and thus with rebuilt sides, was a modest purchase at £170,500. The furniture was dwarfed by a marble statue of Aphrodite from Rome of the early first century in this sale. Despite being a copy of a Greek original of 430 B.C. it fetched £9,378,500.

At Bonhams, steady sales of antique furniture continued at Oxford, but in London on June 4 two pairs of Regency carved mahogany bergeres, in the manner of George Smith, were £110,500 the pair both times and a four-pillar dining table went for £35,000. For evidence of summer, all these were swallows indeed.

9