Woolley & Wallis Sale News

SALE NEWS Winter 2018/Spring 2019

AUCTION CALENDAR

FREE AUCTION VALUATIONS

9th

Furniture, Works of Art & Clocks

We offer a free auction valuation service on the first Friday of every month, 10am – 1pm, no appointment necessary.

For further information please call 01722 424 509 or visit our website.

22nd

The KB Collection of Pencils

Please note, there will not be a valuation day on 4th January.

23rd

Silver & Objects of Vertu

J AN UA R Y

24th Jewellery

F E BRU A R Y 19th

Fine Porcelain & Pottery

20

Tribal Art & Antiquities

th

MA RC H 6th

Old Masters, British & European Paintings

20th

Clarice Cliff, Art Deco & Design

APRI L 3rd

Furniture, Works of Art & Clocks

16 & 17

Fine Silver & Objects of Vertu

18

Fine Jewellery

th

th

th

English & European Ceramics & 30 Glass th

MAY 1st

Medals & Coins, Arms & Armour

21 & 22

st

nd

Asian Art, Chinese Paintings, Japanese Works of Art

JUNE 5th

Modern British & 20th Century Art

19th

Arts & Crafts

J U LY 3rd

Furniture, Works of Art & Clocks

16 & 17 th

th

Silver & Objects of Vertu

18th Jewellery 2 | Woolley & Wallis

*All sale prices quoted include buyer’s premium at 25%.

Front Cover.

Below.

Opposite.

Back Cover.

Yang Fei Yun (1954-) The Northern Girl Oil on canvas, September 1987 Sold for £1.9m

A Chelsea porcelain figure of a flycatcher.

Provenance: the collection of Nigel Morgan.

Estimate: £600 – 1,000.

To be sold on 19th February.

An Empire ormolu mantel clock by Claude Galle.

Provenance: the collection of Sir Jeremy Lever.

Estimate: £2,000 – 3,000.

To be sold on 9th January.

A selection of novelty pencils from The KB Collection of Pencils.

To be sold on 22nd January.

Issue 125

CONTENTS 4

Furniture, Works of Art & Clocks

6 Silver & Objects of Vertu 8 Jewellery 10 Fine Porcelain & Pottery 12 Tribal Art & Antiquities 14 Old Masters, British

& European Paintings 16 Clarice Cliff, Art Deco

& Design 18 Medals & Coins, Arms & Armour 20 Asian Art 22 Chinese Paintings

& Calligraphy 24 Japanese Works of Art 26 Sale Review 30 News & Events

chairman’s introduction

The picture on the front cover of this magazine, titled ‘The Northern Girl’, has a wonderful story behind it.

It was painted in 1987 by the then relatively unheralded Chinese artist, Yang Fei Yun (born 1954), and is one of several portraits that he made of his wife, Peng Peng. When it was exhibited at The Hefner Galleries in New York in 1989 it was viewed by Anita Roddick (1942-2007), the founder of The Body Shop, who purchased it for around $650.

We were delighted to be selling the painting on behalf of the Roddick Charitable Foundation and thrilled that Peng Peng attended the auction in person along with

other members of her family. Thanks in no small part to the extensive pre-sale marketing of the picture in China and elsewhere by Freya Yuan-Richards of our Chinese Paintings department, the picture aroused global interest and sold for a premium inclusive £1.9 million to a Chinese buyer.

Overall our two-day, three catalogue Asian Art sale was a great success and ended up with a premium inclusive total slightly in excess of £5 million, our highest grossing sale of the year by some margin. As I write we have one more auction to come this year and it looks like we shall end up with an annual turnover in the region of £20 million (hammer price) which will make it our most successful year for some time.

On behalf of the staff here may I take this opportunity of wishing all our clients a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and we much look forward to seeing you in the salerooms in 2019.

Paul Viney

Woolley & Wallis

Salisbury Salerooms Ltd. 51-61 Castle Street, Salisbury Wiltshire, SP1 3SU T: +44 (0) 1722 424 500 enquiries@woolleyandwallis.co.uk www.woolleyandwallis.co.uk

Contents | 3

FURNITURE, WORKS OF ART & CLOCKS 9th January 2019

4 | Woolley & Wallis

SPECIALIST: MARK YUAN-RICHARDS +44 (0) 1722 411 854

Opposite.

After the antique. A 19th century bronze figure of the Farnese Hercules, 72cm high.

Estimate: £5,000 – 7,000

myr@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

1. A mid-17th century Flemish Antwerp tortoiseshell and painted cabinet on stand, 106cm wide.

Estimate: £10,000 – 15,000

2. A Directoire white marble

3. A rare mid-18th century

and ormolu mounted mantel clock by Lepine, 72.4cm high.

Estimate: £15,000 – 20,000

Italian scagliola table top

by Don Pietro Belloni, 139 x 71cm.

Estimate: £20,000 – 30,000

1

Grand Tour Highlights

It is almost two years ago that we sold the first part of Sir Jeremy Lever’s collection of furniture & works of art and in our 9th January 2019 sale we are delighted to be selling over hundred and sixty more lots of furniture, fine French clocks, sculpture and works of art.

Sir Jeremy Lever, KCMG, QC has spent his working life as both a practising and an academic lawyer. He was a scholar at University College, Oxford and later became a Fellow of All Souls College. He took silk in 1972 and served as a Bencher of Gray’s Inn until he reached the age of retirement. In 1977 he established chambers in Brussels and for seven years practised as a Barrister specialising in European law. His knighthood was conferred for services in the field of law.

Highlights of the collection include the Directoire white marble and ormolu mantel clock by Lepine featured below. A wonderful Regency ormolu tazza in the manner of Thomas Hope, some very good bronzes including one of the Farnese Hercules after the antique statue which can now be found in the Museo Nazionale in Naples and a Grand Tour Italian specimen marble and micromosaic table top which once belonged to the actor Dirk Bogarde.

Also from the Grand Tour but a century earlier is this wonderful mid-18th century scagliola

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table top by Don Pietro Belloni. Decorated with a central pastoral scene it is signed and dated 1754 and has very strong resemblances to table tops commissioned by Joseph Leeson (later 1st Earl of Milltown) for his country residence Russborough, Co. Wicklow, Ireland and for the pair of tables commissioned by Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh for Uppark, West Sussex. Don

Pietro Belloni was a monk at the monastery of Vallombrosa near Florence and the pupil of the Abbot Don Enrico Hugford who is credited with reviving the art of scagliola. We sold a fine pair of scagliola panels by Hugford in our January sale in 2012 for £32,000 so it is with great excitement that we will be offering this rare table top in our sale next month.

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F urniture , W orks

of

A rt & C locks | 5

SILVER & OBJECTS OF VERTU INCLUDING THE KB COLLECTION OF PENCILS 22nd January 2019 (Pencils) 23rd January 2019 (Silver and Objects of Vertu)

6 | Woolley & Wallis

SPECIALISTS: RUPERT SLINGSBY +44 (0) 1722 424 501 rs@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

LUCY CHALMERS +44 (0) 1722 424 594 lc@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

Opposite.

2. A pair of Victorian novelty

4. By Christopher Lawrence,

A selection from The KB Collection of Pencils.

Estimates between £100 and £2,000.

silver Punch and Judy fruit serving spoons, by Edgar Finley & Hugh Taylor, London 1891.

Estimate £300 – 400

a modern parcel–gilt silver centre–piece, London 1973.

Estimate £1,000 – 1,500

1. A set of four George II 3. By Graham Watling, a pair

silver candlesticks, by William Gould, London 1742.

Estimate £2,000 – 3,000

Silver and The KB Collection

of modern silver candlesticks, London 1979, 6cm high.

Estimate £200 – 300

5. Patrick Mavros, a Zimbabwean silver model of a dung beetle at work, length 18cm.

Estimate £400 – 600

1

Following the success of the October Fine Silver auction, a feature of the 22nd January Silver and Objects of Vertu sale is Post War silver. A particular highlight is a silvergilt centrepiece by Christopher Lawrence (pictured). Born in 1936, Lawrence had decided at 13 he wished to be a silversmith, and worked with many of the leading 20th century silversmiths throughout his career, including R E Stone and Gerald Benney, before working independently in the late 1960s. He went on to be awarded 28 prizes in the Goldsmiths’ Craft Council competitions and three Jacques Cartier Memorial Awards. Also included in the Post War section are items by the renowned Zimbabwean silversmith Patrick Mavros, whose work continues to attract a strong following.

The sale will also comprise antique silver, Scottish and Irish silver, flatware, foreign silver and items of vertu.

The KB Collection of Pencils was formed over a number of years and is one of the most comprehensive collections of its type to come onto the open market. The sale is made up of 462 lots and shows the progression of pencils from the 1820s until the 1950s. The core of the collection is made up with novelty examples and, in particular, ones made by S. Mordan and Co. The majority are made in silver, but there are also gold, base metal, ivory, wood and enamel examples. Estimates range from £100-2,000.

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S ilver & O bject s

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V ertu

including

T he KB C ollection

of

P encils | 7

JEWELLERY 24th January 2019

8 | Woolley & Wallis

SPECIALISTS: MARIELLE WHITING FGA +44 (0) 1722 424 595 mw@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

JONATHAN EDWARDS FGAA (CONSULTANT) +44 (0) 1722 424 504 je@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

Opposite.

2. A Victorian moonstone and

5. An early 20th century

9. A 19th century turquoise

A pair of Art Deco emerald and diamond double clips, converting to be worn as a brooch.

Estimate: £4,000 – 6,000

diamond brooch, 3cm wide.

Estimate: £600 – 800

peridot and diamond brooch, 6cm long.

Estimate: £1,000 – 1,500

and diamond snake brooch, 4.2cm wide.

Estimate: £400 – 600

6. A Belle Époque onyx,

10. An Art Deco diamond-set stick pin by Lacloche.

Estimate: £400 – 600

1. A late 19th century diamond swallow brooch, 6.2cm high.

Estimate: £1,000 – 1,500

3. An early 19th century diamond-set Maltese cross pendant, 6.3cm long.

Estimate: £2,000 – 3,000

enamel, diamond and pearl tassel brooch, 10.5cm high.

Estimate: £2,000 – 3,000

4. An Art Deco diamond brooch, 4.7cm wide.

Estimate: £1,500 – 2,000

11. A late George III 7. A pair of diamond cluster earrings, 2cm diameter.

Estimate: £2,000 – 3,000

diamond-set foliate and crescent brooch, 4.7cm high.

Estimate: £1,000 – 1,500

8. A sapphire and diamond

12. A late George III

brooch by Fabergé.

Estimate: £1,500 – 2,000

diamond-set foliate and crescent brooch, 5cm high.

Estimate: £2,000 – 3,000

1

13. A diamond and ruby

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2

bracelet, 17.7cm long.

Estimate: £6,500 – 8,000

4 8

7

6 5

10 9

11 12

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J ewellery | 9

FINE PORCELAIN & POTTERY 19th February 2019

10 | Woolley & Wallis

SPECIALIST: CLARE DURHAM +44 (0) 1722 424 507

Opposite.

A number of English enamel plaques from the Watney Collection.

Estimates from £300.

cd@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

Portraiture in the Age of Printing From Westminster to the West End, printed portraits on 18th century English enamels tell us a lot about the movers and shakers of the 1700s. The transfer-printing process, which was developed throughout the second half of the 18th century, was unique to England and resulted in a range of wares that remain highly collectable today. Prints were usually adapted from existing engravings and sized down to suit the item in question – often tea wares where porcelain factories such as Worcester and Longton Hall were concerned – or plaques and snuff boxes when printing on enamel.

The five plaques shown opposite all feature in our Fine Porcelain and Pottery sale and come from the Watney collection. Dr Bernard Watney approached his collecting with a keen academic eye and took great interest in the stories of the subjects as well as the manufacturers. Plaques such as these are relatively rare to the market and we hope they will attract a good deal of interest among collectors.

Two of the plaques depict British royalty, and the Georgian kings were certainly regular features on printed porcelain and enamel at this time. The top right plaque depicts George II in Classical style, and was engraved

by Françios Ravenet, as was the bottom left plaque depicting his youngest son, Prince William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland (1721-65), best known for his role in putting down the Jacobite uprising at the battle of Culloden in 1746.

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1 & 2. Contemporary prints depicting Henry Pelham and Henry Boyle as Chancellors of the Exchequer.

3. A Battersea enamel plaque, printed and coloured with a portrait of Maria Gunning, the Countess of Coventry.

Sold for £2,100.

2

role in The Conscious Lovers from 1777.

Towards the end of his life he began to show signs of forgetfulness on stage, and he died in the York asylum in 1785, recorded as a lunatic.

The central plaque, while not a portrait of a known subject, is a good example of the 18th century connoisseur’s knowledge of symbolism and Classical literature. The attributes of a snake, an armillary sphere, books and manuscripts suggest that the lady depicted is emblematic of Intelligence, an attribute that any collector in this field would be pleased to demonstrate.

We have been fortunate to sell other plaques of this type in recent years, and this rare printed and coloured Battersea plaque of the

Countess of Coventry was a notable highlight.

Arguably better known as Maria Gunning, the Countess was encouraged to take to the stage by her mother, to overcome the family’s relative poverty. Along with her sister, Elizabeth, Maria Gunning achieved fame as a notable society beauty and her likeness was much produced. She married the 6th Earl of Coventry in 1752. A vain woman, against her husband’s advice she became a regular wearer of heavy lead-based make-up to achieve the fashionable white skin with rouged cheeks that she had admired on her honeymoon in Europe. The lead in the make-up caused severe blood poisoning and led to her premature death at the age of 27. This plaque, a copy of Jean-Etienne Liotard’s 1749 painting, sold for £1,700 plus premium.

3

The top left plaque has been the subject of some discussion regarding the figure it portrays. By his dress, clearly a Chancellor of the Exchequer, an article by Dr Watney in the Transactions of the English Ceramic Circle suggests that given the date of manufacture it probably depicts Henry Pelham, and it does bear similarities to an engraving by John Hinton (fig. 2). However, historically it has often been recorded as a likeness of Sir Robert Walpole, and more recent suggestion has been made that the features are close to that of a portrait of Henry Boyle, the 1st Earl of Shannon (fig. 1).

The plaque on the bottom right is of a figure who led a rather less illustrious life. Samuel Reddish (1735-85) was an actor from Frome who played opposite David Garrick in Macbeth in 1767. He is depicted here in his

F ine P orcelain & P ottery | 11

TRIBAL ART & ANTIQUITIES 20th February 2019

12 | Woolley & Wallis

SPECIALIST: WILL HOBBS +44 (0) 1722 339 752

Opposite.

A Wogeo mask Papua New Guinea 41cm high.

Provenance: The Bob Wise Collection.

Estimate: £400 – 600

wh@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

The Bob Wise Collection

Central to The Wise Collection of Oceanic Art are pieces that Robert Wise acquired first-hand from the legendary tribal art collector and adventurer, Senta Taft. A remarkable explorer and self-promoter, Senta pioneered the collection of all kinds of artefacts from this vast geographic region, most notably from Papua New Guinea. As a young woman she was Amenities Officer for foreign participants to the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, a pin-up in the tabloids and a face frequently seen in a range of Australian newspapers and magazines. She even became a trade envoy for promoting Australian goods in Singapore, Malaya, the Philippines, Thailand and Hong Kong. She opened her own gallery, Galleries Primitif in Woollahra in 1959, at a time when there was scant knowledge about the cultures and places that were the sources of her acquisitions.

were undertaken. In the north and central regions anthropomorphic carving weren’t really produced, focusing more on traditional clothing including the use of shell beads, strung on panels of ramie (a flowering nettle-like plant). In the south the wood carving is prevalent, with humans and animals

1. A Yami magamaog Taiwan 53cm high.

Estimate: £2,000 – 3,000 2. A Mengen shield Jacquinot Bay, New Britain, Papua New Guinea 154.5cm long.

Provenance: The Bob Wise Collection.

Estimate: £800 – 1,200

3. A Middle Sepik suspension hook Papua New Guinea 65cm high.

Provenance: The Bob Wise Collection.

Estimate: £500 – 1,000

4. A Paiwan shield Taiwan 56cm high.

Estimate: £400 – 600

being the main subjects, and items produced include boxes, spoons, trays, wine cups and sheathed knives. The primordial deity, illustrated, known as Magamaog, is from Yami, a small island south east of the mainland, and depicts the god who taught them agriculture and how to make boats.

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Little was known of Formosan Aborigines of Taiwan until the end of the 19th century, mainly due to the fear caused by their headhunting traditions. In 1895, Japan colonised Formosa and abolished this tradition and the studies of the differing indigenous groups

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T ribal A rt & A ntiquities | 13

OLD MASTERS, BRITISH & EUROPEAN PAINTINGS 6th March 2019

14 | Woolley & Wallis

SPECIALISTS: VICTOR FAUVELLE +44 (0) 1722 446 961 vf@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

JO BUTLER +44 (0) 1722 446 962 jb@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

1

Opposite.

Joseph Van Aken (Flemish 1709-1749) A lady and her maid at a vegetable seller’s cottage, a thief attempting to steal her watch Oil on canvas, in a carved wood frame 63 x 76cm Estimate: £7,000 – 10,000

1. Joseph Mallord William Turner R.A. (1775-1851) View of Box Hill, Surrey Watercolour over pencil 12.5 x 20.5cm Estimate: £5,000 – 7,000

2. Hendrik Willem

3. Francis Grant (1803-1878)

Schweickardt (German 1746-1797) Winter scene with skaters on a lake Signed Oil on panel 32 x 43cm Estimate: £3,000 – 5,000

Portrait of a lady, thought to be Louisa Maria Dundas (née Boothby) (c.1806-1895) of Winchester, Hampshire, full length, standing with her spaniel Oil on canvas 254 x 164cm Estimate: £6,000 – 8,000

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Landscapes, always a favourite of artists in the Old Masters tradition, are well represented in our sale on 6th March. The sketch by Turner (top left) relates closely to the larger view of Box Hill in the Victoria and Albert Museum, but is from a slightly more distant perspective. Turner visited Box Hill around 1796 and another view, from a similar angle to this one, is now in the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.

Topographically it is very alike, but lacking the foreground details of trees and shrubbery that are seen in the Canada work, which indicates that this may have been an initial study. An example of the work of Hendrick William Schweickardt (1746-97) is shown bottom left – an oil on panel in the manner of the Dutch Romantic School, depicting skaters on a frozen lake.

From the same collection is the Flemish group portrait of a lady and her maid at a vegetable seller’s cottage by Joseph Van Aken (active 1709-49), a detail of which is shown opposite.

Although Flemish by birth, Van Aken spent most of his career in London and by the 1730s was specialising as a costume painter for other leading artists including Allan Ramsay and Thomas Hudson. His popularity and the extent of his output was such that it led Horace Walpole to comment, “As in England almost everybody’s picture is painted, so almost every painter’s work is painted by Van Aken”.

Among the portraiture in the sale, this full length portrait by Sir Francis Grant PRA (1803-78) stands out. The Scottish artist had

a turbulent beginning and by the age of 26 had squandered his father’s inheritance of £10,000 on fox hunting and his own art collection.

It was incongruous, if not scandalous, for a member of the landed gentry to become a professional portrait painter, but nonetheless that was the path that Grant pursued, using his connections to give him access to a number of wealthy and fashionable patrons. The lady in the portrait to the right is thought to be Louisa Mary Boothby (c.1806-95) of Winchester, Hampshire. In 1833 she married the Reverend Hon. Charles Dundas (1806-83), son of the 2nd Viscount Melville of Melville, and their sons Henry and Charles went on to become the 5th and 6th Viscounts Melville respectively.

O ld M asters , B ritish & E uropean P aintings | 15

CLARICE CLIFF, ART DECO & DESIGN 20th March 2019

16 | Woolley & Wallis

SPECIALIST: MICHAEL JEFFERY +44 (0) 1722 424 505 mj@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

Opposite.

A selection of Carlton Ware from the collection of Michael Burningham.

Estimates from £150

1. A rare Moncrieff’s Monart Ware glass surface-decorated vase, pattern AVD31, 24cm high.

From the Morgan collection of Monart glass.

Estimate: £1,000 – 1,500

2. A Moncrieff’s Monart Ware

4. ‘Red Trees and House’

glass table lamp and shade, 32cm high.

From the Morgan collection of Monart glass.

Estimate: £1,000 – 1,500

a Clarice Cliff Bizarre wall charger, 46cm high.

Estimate: £3,000 – 5,000

5. ‘Blue W’ a Clarice Cliff

3. ‘Fairy Castle’ a Crown

Bizarre Isis vase, 24.5cm high.

Estimate: £2,000 – 3,000

Devon vase, 23.5cm high.

From the Michael Burningham Collection.

Estimate: £150 – 200

1

Design in the Interwar Years

Included in the auction are two contrasting private collections, one of Monart art glass, the other a large collection of British lustre ceramics

by Carlton Ware and Crown Devon. These collections will highlight 1930s British design, exhibited next to ceramics, glass, furniture, sculpture and metal ware of the period.

The Morgan collection of Moncrieff’s Monart Ware glass comprises twenty lots made at the Moncrieff Glassworks from 1921. The name Monart was an amalgamation of the surnames of John Moncrieff (the owner of a glassworks) and Salvador Ysart. Ysart was a talented glass maker who had worked at Schneider Glassworks in Paris before coming to Scotland, firstly to make laboratory functional glass, but later making decorative art glass. The production of Monart glass continued until 1939 when War forced an end to production.

This collection, although small, includes examples of Ysart’s distinctive glass decoration from surface marvering to the inclusion of decorative canes in the molten glass, and also includes two examples of Monart glass table lamps, which, with a bulb hidden inside, glow like a jewel when illuminated.

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In contrast Michael Burningham collected Carlton Ware and Crown Devon with a passion to record as many examples of shape and pattern as possible. The collection was displayed in every room in his house in Bournemouth, with specialist cabinets of coffee cups and saucers

in the breakfast room and larger showpiece vases and chargers in the lounge. Carlton Ware produced a wide range of enamelled and gilded lustre designs, often abstract or inspired by the Orient and fashionable across mainland Europe since the 1925 Paris Exhibition.

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C larice C liff , A rt D eco & D esign | 17

MEDALS & COINS, ARMS & ARMOUR 1st May 2019

18 | Woolley & Wallis

SPECIALIST: NED COWELL +44 (0) 1722 341 469

Opposite.

A cased pair of officer’s percussion pistols by Westley Richards.

Estimate: £6,000 – 8,000

nc@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

1. A fine ivory-hilted Mughal dagger.

Sold for £28,600.

Understated excellence

The pair of handsome pistols illustrated here are the product of a maker with a stellar reputation among firearms enthusiasts. The name of the Birmingham firm of Westley Richards may not resonate in the ear of the general public, as do those of such prominent London makers as Holland & Holland and Purdey; but to those who are familiar with the subject of guns and gunmakers, it commands at least as much respect as either.

Birmingham in 1812 was a hotbed of industry and innovation, and might be said to have been the ‘engine room’ of the British gun trade; it was there and then that the talented William Westley Richards founded his company. Through the years that followed, a succession of highly accomplished individuals directed the course of the firm, providing a diverse range of sporting and military firearms to a clientele that included the legendary game shot Colonel Peter Hawker, King Edward VII, the ‘Greatest Showman’ P.T. Barnum, and the novelist and adventurer Ernest Hemmingway.

From the military point of view the 19th century was a period of rapid development

in firearms, when the symbiotic relationship between technological progress and tactical evolution was at full pitch. Advances in every aspect of the science of shooting resulted in a welter of novel designs, and everywhere one looks the name Westley Richards is prominent.

Some of the innovations that they patented, such as the drawn brass cartridge case, remain with us to this day and have been fundamental to the development of the modern firearm.

They also produced the famous ‘Monkey Tail’ carbines and rifles - arguably the neatest of all the capping breechloaders - and contributed a vital improvement to the bolt head of the Lee Enfield service rifle.

fortunes of the other big names of the industry in a variety of ways; but Westley Richards – possibly uniquely – survives to this day with the integrity of its business model, and of its workmanship, intact.

The company almost ceased production of sporting arms during the First World War in order to devote its energy to supplying the needs of the armed forces. The 20th century saw momentous changes that marred the

The forgoing encomium is lent weight by consideration of these pistols. They were completed in 1846 and employ the thencurrent percussion system of ignition, which Westley Richards had a significant hand in bringing to its final state of refinement during the first half of the century. They are of superb quality and survive in excellent condition.

With their large bore ‘damascus’ barrels, the restrained engraving on their locks, and their superlative fit and function, they represent many of the characteristics that are (or should be) a source of pride when the British consider their native gun making industry. Austere without appearing dull, luxurious without being vulgar, elegant and yet the embodiment of rugged functionality. This fine cased pair will be offered in our arms and armour auction on the 1st May 2019, when bidders will have the opportunity to acquire a splendid example of the gunmaker’s arts, by a company with a peerless heritage.

21st November 2018. The impending outright ban on the sale of ivory (widely rumoured to include marine ivory as well as that taken from elephants), caused us some doubt as to the prospects for selling such a lot, but the legislation has currently stalled, and domestic

pessimism for the future of the trade did not appear to play a part on this occasion.

It is worth taking a moment to admire this wonderful item, and to ponder the possible fate of similar rarities once the ban has been imposed.

Sporting guns and rifles were, of course, central to the business of any of the fine English gunmakers; and here too the company excelled. It is to them, for example, that we owe the Anson and Deeley box lock – the nonpareil of break open actions.

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A swan song for ivory?

This fine ivory hilted Mughal dagger - the hilt carved as a beautifully realised horse’s head with gold highlighted tack and intricate floral details – exceeded the most optimistic expectations to sell for £28,600 (including buyer’s premium) in our auction on the

M edals & C oins , A rms & A rmour | 19

ASIAN ART 21st & 22nd May 2019

20 | Woolley & Wallis

SPECIALISTS: JOHN AXFORD +44 (0) 1722 424 506 jea@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

JEREMY MORGAN +44 (0) 7812 601 098 jm@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

Opposite.

A fine and rare Chinese Imperial wucai ‘Ode to the Red Cliff’ wine cup, six character Kangxi mark and of the period (1662-1722).

Sold for £200,000 November 2018

1. A fine Chinese white jade carving of long ma, 18th century.

Sold for £50,000 May 2018

2. A Chinese bronze figure of Buddha Shakyamuni, Xuande (1426-35).

Sold for £125,000 November 2018

Closing date for our spring sale, 1st March

The Asian Art Department Continues to Grow

Woolley and Wallis now have dedicated departments for Japanese Works of Art, and Chinese Paintings and Calligraphy. In 2018, our sales totalled over £8.5 million, securing our position as a market leader in Asian art.

We are proud that we sponsor lectures for the Oriental Ceramic Society, which regularly meets at the Society of Antiquaries at Burlington House in Piccadilly. We market our sales in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan and participate in Asia Week in Paris in December and in New York in the New Year.

We are particularly pleased to welcome Amber Lees and Sarah Lopez-Ferreiro to the department, both of whom recently graduated from Durham University reading Chinese and spent a year living in Beijing and Hangzhou respectively; both are fluent Chinese speakers.

Amber with a Chinese underglaze copper-red bottle vase. Despite being cracked, this rare vase fetched £13,750 in our November sale.

Sarah and a Tibetan gilt-bronze sculpture of a bodhisattva, sold for £33,750 in November 2018.

Highlights from 2018

Our May sale of Fine Chinese Works of Art opened with the private collection of the British scientist, mountaineer and explorer Professor John Norman Collie (1859-1942).

The collection included several of the sale’s top lots, such as this 18th century white jade carving of the mythical long ma, which sold for £50,000.

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Our more recent November sale also did not disappoint, with our catalogue’s front cover, a massive Chinese bronze figure of Buddha Shakyamuni from the Xuande period (1426-35), last purchased in 1957 for £30, exceeding expectations and selling for £125,000. The limelight ended up being stolen, however, by a much less grandiose object. The star lot was this rare Kangxi (1662-1722) Imperial wucai wine cup inscribed with a poem by Su Shi (1037-1101) from the ‘Ode to the Red Cliff’ and painted with a scene of the poet himself, amongst others, in a boat above a tall cliff-face (opposite). Albeit it just over 5cm tall, this little cup, with its graceful form, delicate painting and near perfect condition, caught the eyes of many and went for a final price of £200,000.

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The Asian Art department is now gladly accepting consignments for our next specialist sale in May 2019.

A sian A rt | 21

CHINESE PAINTINGS & CALLIGRAPHY 21st May 2019

22 | Woolley & Wallis

SPECIALIST: FREYA YUAN-RICHARDS +44 (0) 1722 424 589 fyr@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

Opposite.

Chen Yan Ning (1945-) The Sandalwood Fan IV 101 x 75cm.

Sold for £287,500.

1. Guo Mo Ruo (1892-1978) Calligraphy in Running Script 63.5 x 34.5cm.

Sold for £25,000.

2. Xu Bei Hong

3. Gao Shi Kui

4. Specialist

(1895-1953) Bamboo 80 x 32.5cm.

Sold for £62,500.

(20th century) Peonies 88 x 48.5cm.

Sold for £12,500.

Freya Yuan-Richards with The Northern Girl.

Chinese Paintings Benefit Charity

While selling any private collection is always a privilege for us, this exquisite collection of Chinese contemporary oil paintings, sold on behalf of the Roddick Charitable Foundation, featured in the first sale that Woolley and Wallis have dedicated solely to Chinese paintings and calligraphy. Buyers once again showed their desire for fresh to the market pieces, and with standing room only in the saleroom, fully booked telephone bids from around the world, and with our staff bidding in four different languages, the auction produced a sale total of £2.8 million with a 93% sold rate.

The footfall for the viewings in our Mayfair office and our Salisbury saleroom was a good indication of the great turnout on the day. The press coverage for the sale was international, and the star lot, Yang Fei Yun’s The Northern Girl (cover page), made a final total of over £1.9 million, and was dubbed ‘The Chinese Mona Lisa’.

The seven other portrait paintings by Chen Yan Ning at the beginning of the sale had also been consigned by the Roddick Charitable Foundation.

Chen forged a very successful career as an artist, partly due to the encouragement of Dame Anita Roddick herself, who was a keen collector of his work. He painted Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh and one of his portraits of the Queen featured on a 2002 Golden Jubilee stamp issued by the Royal Mail. In 1990 his Sandalwood Fan IV (opposite) was exhibited at the Alexon Portrait exhibition at the Mall Galleries, where it was a firm favourite. Nearly 30 years later this famous painting was bought by a Shanghai collector for £287,500.

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Not only are Chinese contemporary paintings booming, but paintings and calligraphy in the more traditional style continue to be very strong, with the 2018 sales reaffirming our position as the leading regional saleroom. One of the highlights was a bamboo scroll painting with its history documented in the calligraphy; it came from an English private collection and was sold to a Chinese collector for £62,500. Also from a private collection, a Chinese calligraphy piece by Guo Mo Ruo was a gift to the vendor’s father in appreciation for his help and support during the Chinese Civil War; it sold for £25,000.

C hinese P aintings & C alligraphy | 23

JAPANESE WORKS OF ART 21st & 22nd May 2019

24 | Woolley & Wallis

SPECIALIST: ALEXANDRA AGUILAR +44 (0) 1722 424 583 aa@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

It’s been a busy year for Japanese Art at Woolley & Wallis.

Opposite.

A Japanese Myochin School iron articulated snake signed Muneyoshi, sold for £33,750 on 14th November 2018.

1 & 2. Two rare Japanese cloisonné enamel trays

by Namikawa Yasuyuki (1845-1927), respectively sold for £16,250 and £22,500 on 14th November 2018.

3. A Japanese Kakiemon

4. Head of Department

figure of a beauty, lot 981 sold on 23rd May 2018 for £33,750.

Alexandra Aguilar with Mr Koji Tsuruoka, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan in the United Kingdom at the Japanese Embassy in May

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The saleroom has seen its first two dedicated Japanese Works of Art sales in May and November, offering a selection of about 500 lots and taking a total of over £560,000.

The market for Japanese Works of Art is picking up again after decades of stagnancy, as shown by the success of these two sales.

2018 marked the 150th anniversary of the Meiji Restoration, when Imperial rule was reinstated after the Shogunate and the country reopened its doors to the rest of the world.

Many cultural events occurred to celebrate this very special anniversary, which was perfect timing for Woolley & Wallis to offer these dedicated sales.

2

The Japanese Art Department promoted its sales in the UK and abroad, notably by attending Asian Art week in Hong Kong, and the first convention on Augustus the Strong’s oriental ceramics in Dresden. The Department also went to Paris in December to attend ‘Japonismes 2018: les âmes en resonance’, a series of events marking the 160th anniversary of Franco-Japanese relations.

From Kakiemon to cloisonné: new trends in Japanese Art 3

The two Japanese Works of Art sales reflected current trends in the global Japanese collecting world. Porcelains produced in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and in particular Kakiemon wares, are very much in demand both by Western and Japanese collectors. The figure of a beauty or bijin, lot 981 in the 23rd May sale, was a charming example of these early wares collected by Western royalty and sold for £33,750.

Metalworks and articulated models of animals, jizai okimono, are still firm favourites and the sales included models of lobsters, crabs and snakes. The one illustrated opposite, from the Myochin School of metalworks and signed Muneyoshi, sold on 14th November for £33,750. Its proportions were particularly impressive at 124cm and it constituted hundreds of metal plates; a true feat of ingenuity.

enamels. Offered as two separate lots on the 14th of November, they sold for a total of £38,750.

The market for Japanese Works of Art is going through an exciting renaissance, and Woolley & Wallis is proud to be part of it. We are looking forward to continuing our involvement during our next dedicated Japanese sale in the Spring.

The Japanese Works of Art Department is now accepting consignments for the 21st-22nd May 2019 sale. Closing date: 1st March 2019.

4

Pieces produced during the Meiji Period (1868-1912) such as these rare cloisonné enamel trays by Namikawa Yasuyuki (above) were other highlights of these sales. Discovered amongst the Weber Family collection of Asian art, these unassumingly small trays depicted landscapes, a rare subject in Japanese cloisonné

J apanese W orks

of

A rt | 25

SALES REVIEW

SEPTEMBER Old Masters, British & European Paintings

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1. Lucia Casalini Torelli (Italian 1677-1762) Self Portrait Oil on canvas Sold for £75,000 2. Attributed to Salvator Rosa (Italian 1615-1673) Apollo and Daphne with the River God Peneus, Daphne’s father With collector’s seal and monogram Pen and brown ink and charcoal on laid paper 28 x 28cm.

Sold for £13,125

Tribal Art & Antiquities 1. A Maori hei-tiki pendant, New Zealand, 19th century, nephrite with red sealing wax.

Sold for £25,000 2. A Roman marble relief fragment 1st - 2nd century AD 40cm x 28cm.

Provenance: Private collection Sold for £4,750

26 | Woolley & Wallis

*All sale prices quoted include buyer’s premium at 25%

SALES REVIEW

OCTOBER

Furniture, Works of Art & Clocks

Design

A large and impressive giltwood overmantel mirror, early 19th century, 239.5cm high.

Sold for £17,500

Ghostly Wood A Wedgwood Fairyland Lustre charger designed

by Daisy Makeig-Jones.

Sold for £17,500

English & European Ceramics & Glass A Naples (Giustiniani) creamware part service, 19th century.

Sold for £26,250

*All sale prices quoted include buyer’s premium at 25%

S ales R eview | 27

SALES REVIEW

OCTOBER Fine Silver & Objects of Vertu Fred Rich A modern silver and enamel vase, London 1994.

Sold for £13,750.

Jewellery by Design: The Collection of Dr Anne Shannon Omar Ramsden A gold bracelet set with conical chrysoprase cabochons between gothic lettering spelling the name ‘Anne’.

Sold for £27,500.

NOVEMBER Fine Jewellery

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1. A late Victorian diamond rivière necklace.

Sold for £87,500.

2. An early 20th century Egyptian Revival gold tiara, with graduated circularcut peridots and centred with an oval-shaped ruby, 36cm circumference, case.

Sold for £20,000.

28 | Woolley & Wallis

*All sale prices quoted include buyer’s premium at 25%

SALES REVIEW

NOVEMBER Medals & Coins, Arms & Armour United States of America, silver half dime, 1795.

Sold for £15,000.

Asian Art The series of sales spread across two days following Asian Art in London totalled over £5m and saw a number of significant prices achieved for all three departments. See pages 20-25 for more details.

DECEMBER Modern British & 20th Century Art

Sir Claude Francis Barry (1883-1970), St Aubin’s Fort, Jersey, Signed, Oil on board, Sold for £30,000.

Edmund Blampied (1886-1966), Kicking Horse, Bronze, Signed and dated 1924.

Sold for £8,750.

*All sale prices quoted include buyer’s premium at 25%

S ales R eview | 29

STAFF NEWS

Charlotte Glyde Awarded the Anderson Medal by the FGA We are very pleased to report that Charlotte Glyde, a member of our Jewellery department, has done so well in her Gemmology Foundation Examinations that she has been awarded the Gem-A’s Anderson Medal. She submitted the best papers for 2018, surpassing all of the other 643 candidates from across the world to win the award. Charlotte was presented with her award by John Benjamin on the 5th November in a special ceremony that took place at The Royal Institution of Great Britain.

New Channel Islands Representative We are pleased to welcome Victoria Brazier-Creagh as our representative in the Channel Islands. Victoria was trained in Jewellery with Boodles and Asprey in the 1970s and worked for Plante and Johnson of Bury Street (a company with three Royal warrants) as PA to Mr Johnson. In the 1980s Victoria had an antiques shop in Guernsey, and in the 1990s managed the Decorative Antique Department at Asprey in New York, before transferring to Guernsey to run Mappin and Webb in St Peter Port.

We are very proud of her and wish her the very best in the next stage of her studies.

Ned Cowell Appointed Trustee Our Militaria specialist, Ned Cowell, has been appointed as a Trustee of The Rifles Wardrobe and Museum in Salisbury. The charitable trust has a 99 year lease on The Wardrobe building and grounds in Salisbury Cathedral Close, and its principal object is to provide and maintain the public Rifles Berkshire and Wiltshire Museum to educate the public in the history of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Royal Regiment (Berkshire and Wiltshire) and other regiments it has merged with since the 1990s. The museum houses an extensive range of artefacts relating to the regiments and is a key tourist attraction in the Close. Ned has a lifelong interest in military history, as well as many years’ experience as a specialist valuer in arms, armour and medals, and is looking forward to tackling this new role.

30 | Woolley & Wallis

The White Glove Sale A unique 295 lot private collection of 19th & 20th century jewellery was, in auction terms, a White Glove Sale, with 100% of the Dr. Anne Shannon Collection of Jewellery sold. Ahead of the sale, Woolley and Wallis hosted eminent jewellery specialist John Benjamin in a talk exploring the collection. Mr Benjamin was also in attendance throughout the sale with the Shannon family. The rare collection was amassed over the course of fifty years by jewellery enthusiast and retired doctor, Anne Shannon.

*All sale prices quoted include buyer’s premium at 25%

For most of the day the saleroom was standing room only and numerous telephone and online bidders brought international interest from across Europe and United States. Buyers, keen to add the unique pieces to their collections, filled the room along with acquaintances of the Shannon family, showing clearly that interest in the Arts and Crafts jewellery market is still very strong, especially for makers such as Georg Jensen, Omar Ramsden, Melillo and Giuliano.

SPECIALISTS Chairman

Deputy Chairman

Managing Director

Paul Viney ASFAV

John Axford MRICS ASFAV

Clive Stewart-Lockhart FRICS FRSA

T: +44 (0) 1722 424 502

T: +44 (0) 1722 424 506

T: +44 (0) 1722 424 598

pslv@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

jea@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

csl@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

20th Century Design

Asian Art

Chinese Paintings

Michael Jeffery

Jeremy Morgan

Freya Yuan-Richards

T: +44 (0) 1722 424 505

T: +44 (0) 7812 601 098

T: +44 (0) 1722 424 589

mj@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

jm@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

fyr@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

Insurance & Probate Valuations

Asian Art

Insurance & Probate Valuations

English & European Ceramics & Glass

Furniture, Works of Art & Clocks

Furniture, Works of Art & Clocks

Clare Durham

Mark Yuan-Richards

James Gale

T: +44 (0) 1722 424 507

T: +44 (0) 1722 411 854

T: +44 (0) 1722 339 161

cd@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

myr@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

jg@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

Japanese Works of Art

Jewellery

Jewellery (consultant)

Alexandra Aguilar

Marielle Whiting FGA

Jonathan Edwards FGAA

T: +44 (0) 1722 424 583

T: +44 (0) 1722 424 595

T: +44 (0) 1722 424 504

aa@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

mw@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

je@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

Medals & Coins, Arms & Armour

Paintings

Paintings

Ned Cowell

Victor Fauvelle

Jo Butler

T: +44 (0) 1722 341 469

T: +44 (0) 1722 446 961

T: +44 (0) 1722 446 962

nc@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

vf@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

jb@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

Silver

Silver

Tribal Art & Antiquities

Rupert Slingsby

Lucy Chalmers

T: +44 (0) 1722 424 501

T: +44 (0) 1722 424 594

Will Hobbs

rs@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

lc@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

T: +44 (0) 1722 339 752

wh@woolleyandwallis.co.uk

Specialist Departments | 31

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