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Melplash Court house sale nets over £3m : Antiques trade gazette

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You are here: Home > News > Melplash Court house sale nets over £3m

Saturday - 05 October 2013

Melplash Court house sale nets over £3m 27 September 2010

Written by ATG Reporter

DORCHESTER auctioneers Duke’s sale of the contents of Melplash Court, near Bridport, became one of the highest grossing sales ever conducted by a provincial auctioneer thanks to the phenomenal strength of the Chinese market.

Mid-way through the third and final day of the mammoth onsite sale from September 22-24, Duke's sale total was already over £3m (plus 19.5% premium). And undoubtedly what set this sale apart from others was the large quantity of Asian works of art collected by the Canadian Timothy Lewis (1937-2004) and his wife Fran, who purchased the picturesque Dorset manor house in 1984.

Sandwiched between two days selling typical country house chattels was a separate hardback catalogue sale titled Reflections of the Orient on Thursday, September 23.

This 426-lot catalogue of jades, wood carvings, ceramics and works of art reflected the Lewis' connections throughout the Far East: Tim Lewis supplied aircraft engines and helicopters to South East Asia and made many purchases in the region.

Predictably, bidding was dominated by a handful of determined Chinese phone bidders - one of whom booked a phone line for the entire sale and spent nearly £1m and a dozen Chinese agents in the room.

Slowly, but consistently, they pushed prices well over estimate. The gruelling sale did not finish until 7pm (with 94 lots sold in the first three hours) but £2.5m was the reward.

The front cover lot, a Chinese Qianlong period hardwood carving of a lohan seated on a lion, sold for £320,000 (estimate £30,000-50,000) but there were also multiple estimate prices for jade carvings including a crouching Buddhistic lion, for which a Yuan or early Ming date has been proposed, sold over a £2000-4000 estimate for £180,000.

This was also the first time that Duke's had used live online bidding via www.thesaleroom.com and Guy Schwinge, director and auctioneer, was pleased with the

http://www.antiquestradegazette.com/news/2010/sep/27/melplash-court-house-sale-nets-over-£3m/[05/10/2013 00:44:26]

1 of 1 The Qianlong mark and period hardwood carving the sold for £320,000 as part of the Melplash Court sale. The 4in (10cm) figural group had been purc ...

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Melplash Court house sale nets over £3m : Antiques trade gazette

"fantastic" results including a pair of Yongzheng or early Qianlong period blue and white candlesticks sold for £86,000 (estimate £5000-10,000).

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Wednesday's 'warm up' sale of glass, ceramics, clocks, Russian icons, silver and other general chattels realised £350,000, while the final day's sale of Modern, Impressionist and Old Master paintings, furniture and outside effects was well

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underway at the time ATG went to press.

An oil on panel of a wedding by the Flemish Baroque painter Abel Grimmer (c.1570c.1619), acquired by the Lewis family in 1977, had made £75,000.

Although the largest sale conducted by a regional auctioneer will stay firmly with Woolley & Wallis (who posted just shy of £7.4m for their two-day sale of Asian art in May), Melplash Court could prove the highest-grossing 'on the premises' sale held by a provincial saleroom.

By Anna Brady A full report will appear in a future issue of the printed version of ATG. To subscribe, click here.

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Tiny Chinese jade treasures packed away in hallway cupboard auctioned off for a staggering £1.5 MILLION

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By DAILY MAIL REPORTER UPDATED: 10:30, 29 September 2010

18 View comments A menagerie of tiny animal ornaments kept in a cardboard box in a hall cupboard for years created a bidding frenzy when they went for auction and sold for a staggering £1.5 million.

And a small wooden carving stored in the the same box went for £380,000 as it was proved to once belong to Chinese emperor Qianlong 240 years ago.

In all the sale of more than 1,500 items from the home of antique enthusiasts Tim and Fran Lewis fetched more than £4 million.

But it was their collection of about 50 pieces of jade amassed over decades and stored in two boxes in a hallway cupboard for the last ten years that set the auction alight.

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Hidden treasure: The tiny wooded carving once owned by Chinese emperor Quianlong that was found in a dusty box and fetched £380,000

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Roaring success: This ancient tiny lion jade ornament was valued at £2,000 but sold for a staggering £216,000

Mrs Lewis recently emigrated following the death of her husband earlier this year and she instructed that a whole host of antiques be sold off.

The jade items were unearthed by their housekeeper who showed them to an auctioneer during a

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Chinese treasures packed away in a hall cupboard are sold for a staggering £2million | Mail Online

valuation visit at the property in Dorset.

They were found to date back to between 250 to 800 years and were from Imperial China.

As a result the country auctioneers were besieged by millionaire bidders from the Far East, both over the phone and in the room.

The estimates for the objects varied between £500 to £2,000 but the fierce competition for them saw the prices rocket to five and six figure sums.

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A tiny Ming dynasty carved jade horse, left, sold for 260 times its estimate of £500, fetching a staggering £132,000, while a jade mythical animal, also valued at £500, sold for £60,000

A three-inch yellow jade lion dating back to the 16th century Ming dynasty sold for £216,000 - more than 100 times its estimate of £2,000. And a three-inch horse valued at £500 made £132,000 - 264 times its estimate- and a black jade elephant from the early Ming period fetched £72,000.

A white jade dog measuring two inches sold for £ 60,000 as it was 500 years old, while a little yellow jade bird dating back to the 13th century fetched £32,000.

In all, the combined value of hidden treasures sold for more than £4 million at the auction at Dukes of Dorchester, with the jade items selling for £1.5 million.

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Auctioneer Guy Schwinge said: 'The house was just an Aladdin's Cave of antiques, art work and other collectable items.

'There were impressive paintings all around the property including an oil painting above the fireplace that was the work of Renaissance artist Abel Grimmer.

'There were a lot of items on display but the jade pieces were kept in two cardboard boxes in the hallway cupboard.

'I don't think they were there because the couple didn't like them, I think they had just put them in safe storage.

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Fran Lewis and late husband Tim: They came to the UK in the Eighties and started to amass their collection

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Chinese treasures packed away in a hall cupboard are sold for a staggering £2million | Mail Online

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Aladdin's Cave: The Dorset manor house Melplash Court housed an incredible collection of antiques, art work and other collectable items

'The housekeeper just showed me the box and said "what do you think of these?" I was amazed by both the quantity and quality of the items.

'Jade is very hard to value and we brought in an eminent scholar to help us with the estimates but ultimately the market decided the prices.

'The market for Chinese antiques is buoyant at the moment as newly-rich Chinese collectors are buying back their heritage and are pushing the prices up.

'But even we didn't expect some of the jade items to sell for so much.

Mrs Lewis is the daughter of Harold Scanlon Foley, a member of the highly successful Foley family who ran the Powell River Company and built 25,000 miles of railroads across America and Canada.

The Lewises emigrated to the UK in the Eighties and lived at the grade II listed, 17th century Melplash Court, near Bridport. Mr Lewis died earlier this year aged 67.

Mr Schwinge said: 'Tim and Fran Lewis moved here from Canada in the early Eighties and collected some incredible items. The sale involved about 1,500 lots in all.'

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Incredible £1m discovery of Chinese jade treasures that sat in family's display cabinet for generations

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By DAILY MAIL REPORTER UPDATED: 15:05, 4 May 2011

13 View comments A family has made an incredible discovery at the back of their display cabinet after uncovering crockery worth an estimated £1million.

The specialist who went to look at the intricately designed collection of pottery said the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end when he realised what the family had uncovered.

One cup and saucer, carved with recumbent stags and made from the purest white jade could fetch £250,000 on its own.

It is believed they were made for The 18th century Chinese emperor Qianlong and kept at the Summer Palace in Peking. They were acquired by Captain James Gunter after the palace was looted in 1860.

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£250,000: This tiny cup and saucer alone are expected to fetch a quarter of a million pounds

The markets are currently so strong that objects from the East are being aggressively bid for by the newly rich elite in the Communist regime wanting to buy back their heritage.

Guy Schwinge, from Duke's of Dorchester, was called in by the current owners of the pottery to value the items.

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Mr Schwinge said: 'When I arrived at the house and was shown into the sitting room, I was not sure what I was going to see.

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'We discussed the market for Chinese works of art over a cup of coffee and the results we had achieved at our recent Melplash Court sale which included many Chinese art works.

'The family then began to pull the most stunning pieces of jade from the back of a display cabinet in the corner of the room.

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'I was stunned by quality and number of pieces of jade that emerged from the cabinet. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

'Yellow jade is the most sought after and the collection includes a wonderful pendant - or plaque made from it.

'It is carved in the archaistic style with a dragon and the pendant is not only of exceptional quality, but it is carved from a piece of yellow jade of outstanding colour.

Among the items was a yellow jade pendant, or placque, carved in the archaistic style with a dragon, expected to fetch over £150,000.

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One of two jade vases could bring £100,000 while a watch, thought to be presented to the emperor from our own King George III, is believed to be worth £100,000.

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£150,000: Yellow jade is particularly sought after and this pendant is expected to fetch the second largest sum in the collection

The watch was made by the famed William Anthony who specialised in producing watches for the export markets, particularly China.

Among the items there are also ivory chopsticks, a jade box, jade chime, jade bowl and a jadeite belt hook.

Qianlong was known to have a high regard for European art, especially watches.

Mr Schwinge added: 'The cup and saucer are from white jade - which is the most desirable after yellow jade - and the cup measures 4.5 inches across the handles.

'It is carved with recumbent stags and has an exceptional translucent quality and a lustrous polish consistent with the finest Qianlong jades.

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£100,000: Intricately decorated, this vase is one of two that the family has put up for sale

'The stag symbolises longevity and it is said to be the only animal capable of finding the sacred 'fungus of immortality'.

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£1m of Chinese jade treasures found sitting in family's display cabinet | Mail Online

'In Chinese art the deer is often depicted with court officials and it is said that this signifies a wish for fame, recognition and a long successful career.'

The family that lives modestly near Bournemouth in Dorset is not thought to be directly descended from Cpt Gunter.

Although they were aware that the pieces were good, they had no idea what price they might command at auction.

The Old Summer Palace, known in China as The Gardens of Perfect Brightness, or Yuan Ming Yuan, was a complex of palaces and gardens in Peking - now Beijing.

It is located five miles northwest of the walls of the Imperial City and it is where the Emperors of the Qing Dynasty - including Qianlong - lived and handled government affairs.

It was raided by an Anglo-French force in 1860. The jade will be sold by Duke's on May 19.

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In a former egg-sorting shed at Dorchester cattle market, telephone bidders pushed the price up. The Italian ministry of art and culture led the charge, attempting to get back paintings that probably vanished from Florence during Napoleon's occupation of Italy.

But the Italian ministry was pipped by an anonymous European bidder, and the fear last night was that after having been lost for two centuries the delicate paintings may once again disappear.

The paintings, peppered with woodworm holes, resurfaced after languishing for the last few years on a wall at Oxford librarian Jean Preston's two up, two down house. She had found them in a box of odds and ends in America in the 1960s.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/apr/20/artnews.topstories3[05/10/2013 00:17:24]

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She did not realise what they were, but thought them "quite nice" and mentioned them to her father, who was a collector. He paid a modest £200 and she inherited them when he died.

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Miss Preston, an expert on medieval texts, carried on living an unassuming life, travelling everywhere by bus or on foot, buying her clothes from a catalogue and eating frozen meals, not realising she had a fortune hanging behind the door of her spare bedroom.

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It was only after her death last year that the panels came to light, to the shock of Miss Preston's family and the art world.

The main panel, which is still at San Marco in Florence, shows the Madonna and child. Eight smaller paintings of saints believed to have originally been positioned in two rows of four on either side of the central image were dispersed. Six of the eight are known to be in collections and galleries around the world: the missing two turned out to be Miss Preston's.

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Yesterday they were to be found in the corner of Duke's saleroom in Dorset's county town among more standard provincial auction fare: Victorian seascapes, paintings of kittens and pheasants, bits and pieces of dubious origin.

The bidding for Lot 150 started at £450,000. It quickly hit the £1m mark and kept climbing.

There was a hitch when contact was lost with one telephone bidder, who was on a train in Kent. But applause broke out as the hammer went down at £1.7m.

Miss Preston's nephew, Martin Preston, who is selling the panels, said he planned to celebrate with a beer at his local pub and a week of skydiving. After tax and the lawyers' fees have been paid and the sum has been split between a large family, he insists he personally has not made a fortune.

As to what his aunt would have made of the sale, Mr Preston said: "I don't think it would have meant anything to her. She was not interested in money but in the artistic worth of things. I just hope they will be seen by the public. I think that is what Jean would have wanted."

It may be a forlorn hope. Simon Wingett, an art agent who bid in vain for a private collector, said: "It's been an extraordinary day. A pair like this may never come up for sale again in our lifetime. And we may never see them again. That's the reality."

Within an hour the saleroom was clear of the dealers, the agents, the gawping children and the two nuns who had provided just about the only non-secular element to the sale.

And then the paintings were whisked out of public sight. The two saintly figures - one has now been identified as the Dominican missionary St Vincent Ferrer - spent last night in a bank vault.

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They may reappear again soon. But they may be lost for another two centuries, or more.

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Art Market News: a Rossetti on the back stairs Colin Gleadell casts his eye over the highlights to come in this autumn's art sales.

The recently discovered portrait of Alexa Wilding by Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

Picture: Duke's Auctioneers, Dorchester/Jonathan Gooding

BY COLIN GLEA D E LL SEPTEMBER 17 , 2 0 1 3 0 9 : 0 0

Is there ever a dull moment in the life of Guy Schwinge, the director of Duke’s Auctioneers in Dorchester, who appears to be on a perpetual merrygo-round of discovery in the gardens and attics of western England?

One thinks of the pair of Fra Angelico panels he found in a retired librarian’s house in 2007, and sold for £1.7 million, or the Roman sarcophagus found buried beneath plants and weeds in a garden last year that sold for £96,000.

The latest gem to spark a gleam in his eye is a chalk drawing by the preRaphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti, found on the back stairs of a country house. The owners were descendants of one of Rossetti’s patrons, but had no idea who the drawing was by or of.

The latest gem to spark a

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/art/6885/art-market-news-a-rossetti-on-the-back-stairs.html[05/10/2013 00:40:23]

Art Market News: a Rossetti on the back stairs - Telegraph

gleam in his eye is a chalk drawing by the preRaphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti, found on the back stairs of a country house

Schwinge, however, has established that the drawing is a portrait of one Rossetti’s favourite models, Alexa Wilding.

Comparable works have sold for between £50,000 and £100,000, though this one, apparently unfinished, is estimated at £25,000 to £40,000 when it goes under the hammer on September 26.

***************** Late September has become a focus for art and artists’ book events, with fairs at the Whitechapel Gallery in London, Berlin and New York. The one item that stands out, among the many sent my way, is a book of doodles made by the co-director of the Serpentine Gallery in London, Hans-Ulrich Obrist. Obrist was once rated as the most powerful figure in the international art world because of his ubiquitous presence at art conferences the world over, and his ability, as a curator, to further an artist or a group of artists’ recognition.

Over the past 22 years, he has kept the pages of his notebooks in which he draws and scribbles obsessively during meetings and conversations not just as an aide memoire, but also as a creative impulse. The loose bits of information bound together with wavering lines and undulating scribbles remind me a little of the eccentric Swedish painter/poet Oyvind Fahlstrom.

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Saatchi's online sale

In any case, the book, entitled Think Like Clouds, promises to be an intriguing insight into the workings of his mind. It, and the original drawings, will be shown and for sale through publisher Badlands, at the New York Art Book Fair held at the Museum of Modern Art’s PS1 gallery from Friday. Prices range from $750 to $2,000. ***************** While most auction rooms are gearing up their online activity, one of the original online-only auction houses has been testing the water for live sales – and found it surprisingly warm and pleasant. Saffron Art is a specialised platform for selling Indian modern and contemporary art.

Market News: British pop art at Sotheby’s and Christie’s

Formed in 2000, it has been as important to market watchers as the regular live auctions at Sotheby’s or Christie’s. Last week, however, it changed tack and offered a collection of works by the progressive artist Francis Newton Souza, belonging to a member of his family, in a live auction in Mumbai.

Every lot was sold as the sale total reached $1.3 million (£800,000), nearly three times the estimate. + SAVE TO NOTEBOOK

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Lady Marian Rootes: Artwork owned by the 'most beautiful woman in the world' to go under the hammer | Mail Online

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Artwork owned by the 'most beautiful woman in the world' to go under the hammer following her death

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Lady Marian Rootes married into the Rootes Motors family Collection expected to fetch six figure sum at auction on September 27 Still life painting by Sir Matthew Smith expected to fetch more than £30,000 Lady Rootes' father-in-law Billy supplied cars to rich and famous including Churchill

By AMY OLIVER PUBLISHED: 17:35, 12 September 2012 | UPDATED: 18:18, 12 September 2012

7 View comments Artworks owned by a woman once described as one of the most beautiful in the world are set to go under the hammer following her death.

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Among Lady Marian Rootes' collection is a magnificent 18th century Rococo mirror and a George III Serpentine commode that might have been made by Chippendale himself.

A still life painting by Sir Matthew Smith, sometimes called the ‘English Fauvist’ because of his link with Matisse, is expected to fetch more than £30,000.

The collection, which numbers several hundred items, is expected to fetch a six figure sum at the auction at Duke’s saleroom in Dorchester, Dorset on September 27.

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Avid collector: Lady Marion Rootes, seen here age 65 on holiday, housed a collection of remarkable artworks that are now set to make a six figure sum when they go under the hammer later this month

Lady Rootes, who was in her 90s when she died, married into the family that founded car

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2202142/Lady-Marian-Rootes-Artwork-owned-beautiful-woman-world-hammer.html[05/10/2013 00:37:52]

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Lady Marian Rootes: Artwork owned by the 'most beautiful woman in the world' to go under the hammer | Mail Online

giant Rootes Motors, which supplied cars to Royalty.

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Two generations of the magnificently wealthy family collected art to decorate their enormous properties in England and Scotland.

Rootes Motors was founded by William 'Billy' Rootes after WWI. Mr Rootes' son Geoffrey married Marian, who was a widow.

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Lady Rootes father-in-law provided cars to the rich and famous and made sure his chauffeur and car was available to the Duke of Windsor upon his abdication.

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It was the same vehicle, a Humber known as Old Faithful, that Field Marshall Montgomery used throughout the war.

He also ensured that Sir Winston Churchill always had a succession of much loved Humbers when there was a post-war shortage of motor cars.

In 1946 he bought the Glenalmond Estate in Scotland, a magnificent 16,000-acre sporting estate with grouse moors, stalking, pheasant shooting, duck flighting lochs and game fishing.

Great beauty: Lady Rootes was regarded as one of the most beautiful women of her generation

At its heart stood a large house which he bought complete with contents, including silver and linen.

Lord Rootes and his wife had it beautifully re-decorated by John Fowler and for 35 years it was the setting for many happy house-parties and excellent sporting holidays.

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Rather special: A still life painting by Sir Matthew Smith, sometimes called the 'English Fauvist' because of his link with Matisse, is expected to fetch more than £30,000

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2202142/Lady-Marian-Rootes-Artwork-owned-beautiful-woman-world-hammer.html[05/10/2013 00:37:52]

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Lady Marian Rootes: Artwork owned by the 'most beautiful woman in the world' to go under the hammer | Mail Online

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Exquisite: A mahogany early George III chinoiserie wall mirror could fetch more than £50,000 at the auction in Dorchester, Dorset

The guest list was illustrious, with Harold Macmillan among the distinguished guns listed in the Game Book.

Lord Rootes was honoured with an hereditary peerage in 1959 in recognition of his role in promoting Britain’s interests abroad as Chairman of the Dollar Exports Council.

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He took the title of Baron Rootes of Ramsbury, having bought Ramsbury Manor in Wiltshire a year earlier. The house was considered one of the most beautiful in the country.

When the Rootes' bought Ramsbury is came with many great paintings and the collection was added to by the family.

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2202142/Lady-Marian-Rootes-Artwork-owned-beautiful-woman-world-hammer.html[05/10/2013 00:37:52]

Lady Marian Rootes: Artwork owned by the 'most beautiful woman in the world' to go under the hammer | Mail Online

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...And furniture too: A George III serpentine commode in the manner of Chippendale is expected to fetch more than £5,000

I recreated a decade of Versace: Costume designer behind Donatella TV movie on staging fashion house's collections - without any help from the brand Tragedy as Come Dine With Me's 'best ever' contestant 'kills herself' after battle with alcoholism Dawn Barry was on show in 2009 Married Robin Thicke reveals he KNEW Miley was going to strip and gyrate with him for controversial VMAs performance - and was totally fine with it Andy Warhol's $60m Silver Car Crash silkscreen coming up for auction... and it's only been seen once in public in 26 years For sale in in New York

Grand: A Regency rosewood drum table, left, expected to fetch in excess of £15,000, is also in Lady Rootes' collection as is an 18th century Chinese mirror painting, right, expected to fetch in the region of £10,000

It is now owned by Harry Hyams, a reclusive millionaire, and in 2008 was burlged by the notorious Jonson gang - and was the biggest crime of its type in British history.

Both the family’s homes were later sold and Lady Rootes moved to another property in Wiltshire along with her favourite art and furniture.

Guy Schwinge, from the Dukes saleroom, said: 'Lady Rootes had an unerring eye for quality and had a collection full of glamorous objects whuich expressed her unique style.

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2202142/Lady-Marian-Rootes-Artwork-owned-beautiful-woman-world-hammer.html[05/10/2013 00:37:52]

Lady Marian Rootes: Artwork owned by the 'most beautiful woman in the world' to go under the hammer | Mail Online

at Presidents Cup He did not look amused by his little rodent friend

Daddy Rootes: Lady Rootes' father-in-law Billy, was founder of Rootes Motors who supplied cars to the rich and famous

'The spectacular 18th century Rococo mirror from her drawing room is a masterpiece of English furniture.

'And her George III serpentine commode from Ramsbury Manor could be by Chippendale himelf.

'Lady Rootes was considered by many to be the most beautiful woman of her generation and objects from her home experss her glamour and give an insight into her gilded life.

'The Rootes' were one of the industrial dynasties of the 20th century and their rise was meteoric.

They went from zero to peerage in a very short space of time.

'Billy Rootes was the Henry Ford of the UK.'

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BBC News - Florence Nightingale vase sells for £625,000 in Dorset

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Florence Nightingale vase sells for £625,000 in Dorset

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Vase sells for 'amazing' price

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A cracked Chinese vase, thought to have been owned by Florence Nightingale's family and later used as an umbrella stand, has sold for £625,000.

The rare 18th Century vase was found in the spare room of an elderly couple's house in Purbeck, Dorset, during a visit by an auction house valuer.

Valuers expected the vase to fetch up to £500,000, despite being damaged when it was used as an umbrella stand.

It was sold at auction to an anonymous phone bidder, at Duke's in Dorchester.

The vase was spotted by valuer Matthew Denney when he visited the couple's home.

The auction house said the vase had a 15cm (6 inches) hairline crack in its body, some abrasions on its inside, and that it had also been splashed with paint.

The couple are thought to have relegated it to a spare room because they did not know its value.

'Best of period' Although it has been in their family for more than half a century, experts believe it could have once belonged to the family of Florence Nightingale.

Experts have established a link with the couple's family and Nightingale's family, who lived at Embley Park in Hampshire.

Miss Nightingale gained worldwide renown for her work as a nurse during the Crimean War. The vase is believed to have been made for the Chinese emperor Qianlong, around 1740, and the base bears his imperial reign mark.

Guy Schwinge, of the auction house, said that unusually, the upper body has an impressed mark in Chinese script, which has been translated as "precious thing".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/8509897.stm[05/10/2013 00:38:53]

05 Jul 02 | England

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BBC News - Florence Nightingale vase sells for £625,000 in Dorset

He said: "We are very pleased. It is amazing when these things turn up."

The successful bidder will pay a total of £750,000 for the vase, when a buyer's premium and VAT are added on to the hammer price.

Comparable vases are housed in museums around the world, including the British Museum in London and the Palace Museum in Beijing.

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Pair of Qing Dynasty vases set for auction Sale of ornaments, given to British church minister for saving a drowning boy, expected to generate interest in Hong Kong and mainland Peter Simpson in London

Sunday, 21 July, 2013, 5:01am

The Bible says no good deed goes unpunished.

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But the proverb has proved far from true for Victorian British church minister, the Reverend Samuel Edward Valpy Filleul and his descendants.

Rev Filleul was given two Chinese vases as a reward for saving the life of a drowning boy more than 120 years ago.

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The keen fly fisherman was casting for trout on the River Lune in Lancashire, northwest England, during the late 1800s when he heard cries for help from the boy thrashing about midstream. Rev Filleul dived in and risked his own life to pluck the boy to safety.

The vases tower over Isabella Schwinge, eight, and her brother Oliver, six. Photo: TengaiMedia

A bond was instantly formed between them and the well-off Rev Filleul paid for the boy's education, an investment that paid off handsomely then - and now.

The boy grew up to become a successful trader, who headed to Asia in the early 20th century and made his fortune in China. Never forgetting the man who saved and made him, he shipped home the impressive porcelain vases to show his gratitude.

The 1.5-metre-high pieces, intricately decorated with Chinese myths, are thought to come from the reign of Daoguang, the Qing dynasty emperor who ruled China from 1820 to 1850. They took pride of place in Rev Filleul's house at Poole Harbour when he moved south to become the rector of Dorset, where he and his ornaments remained until his death in 1931, aged 76.

His waterside house was bequeathed to his relatives and was requisitioned by the British Army during the second world war - and narrowly escaped wayward German bombs aimed at a nearby cordite factory.

The vases survived and continued to be passed down, but relations were unaware of the heirlooms' value until an expert stumbled across the antiques recently at a different house of a family member near Dorchester.

They are now tipped to fetch upwards of ÂŁ100,000 (HK$1.79 million) at auction in November, a sale that is expected to attract huge interest from their place of origin, China.

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"We were quite surprised to come across the vases. They are very impressive in size and in great condition," Guy Schwinge, from Duke's Auctioneers, told the Sunday Morning Post.

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He added: "The family knew they were old Chinese vases but were unaware of their worth. It is a miracle the vases survived after the reverend's house was requisitioned by the army.

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"Not only did they survive a house full of squaddies, they also came through local bombings by the Luftwaffe unscathed."

Colourful enamels with panels of warriors in mountainous landscapes, elegant interiors, butterflies, birds and flowers decorate the pieces.

The shoulders are moulded with playful kylins and serpents highlighted in gilt and green enamel, signature designs that belie their heritage and era.

Emperor Daoguang's reign was marked by external disaster and internal rebellion - the first opium war and the start of the Tai Ping rebellion - which nearly brought down the dynasty.

Historian Jonathan Spence said the emperor was a "well-meaning but ineffective man" who promoted officials who "presented a purist view even if they had nothing to say about domestic and foreign problems surrounding the dynasty".

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"Chinese vases on this scale rarely appear on the market and we anticipate global interest at our next specialist auction," said Schwinge, whose auction house shot to fame in 2010 after it sold a collection of Chinese jade ornaments for £4 million.

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Little is known about the drowning boy after he made it big in China. The vases will be auctioned on November 7.

"We expect huge interest from buyers in Hong Kong and China," Schwinge said.

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Couple's shock as they discover garden trough used for planting flowers is 2,000-year-old Roman coffin worth £100,000 | Mail Online

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Couple's shock as they discover garden trough used for planting flowers is 2,000year-old Roman coffin worth £100,000

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The Northumberland couple inherited 'planter' when they bought house Used it for flowers for 30 years before seeing similar trough on sale Experts identified it as a rare ornate Roman sarcophagus It would have been commissioned for the funeral of a wealthy Roman Is expected to fetch a six figure sum when it goes on sale next month

By BECKY EVANS PUBLISHED: 13:53, 29 January 2013 | UPDATED: 14:52, 29 January 2013

9 View comments Like MailOnline

A garden trough used as a flower planter for 30 years has been identified as rare 2,000-year-old marble coffin worth over £100,000.

The unsuspecting couple from Northumberland inherited the 6ft 9in long sarcophagus from the previous owners of their house, who left it behind in 1982.

The retired pair only realised its worth when they learned of a similar ornament on sale at an auction house.

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The owners believed their 'planter' - that had been used to grow flowers for 30 years - was not valuable, until they spotted a similar ornament on sale at auction and discovered it was worth more than £100,000

Experts were invited to inspect it and discovered the one-tonne trough was a rare ornate Roman sarcophagus - a coffin carved from stone that usually sits above ground - dating back to the First and Second Century AD.

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Auctioneers said the couple were 'shocked' when they learned how valuable it is.

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Couple's shock as they discover garden trough used for planting flowers is 2,000-year-old Roman coffin worth £100,000 | Mail Online

Made from Carrara marble, the sarcophagus would have been commissioned for the funeral of a wealthy woman and placed in a private mausoleum in Rome.

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The sarcophagus is worth more than the couple, who asked not to be identified, paid for the home it was found in.

The previous owners did not even mention the sarcophagus on the house deeds and clearly did not know its value.

It is almost identical to another Roman sarcophagus that is in the Galleria Lapidaria in the Vatican.

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The 2,000-year-old sarcophagushas is made from marble and has been verified by auctioneers and a respected archeologist

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Couple's shock as they discover garden trough used for planting flowers is 2,000-year-old Roman coffin worth ÂŁ100,000 | Mail Online

The carved marble side features cherubs that represent charm, beauty and creativity in Greek mythology

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The sarcophagus, which is expected to fetch a six-figure sum at auction, would have been commissioned for the funeral of a wealthy Roman

The front is carved with a central panel of the Three Graces, which represent charm, beauty, and creativity in Greek mythology.

It is not known how it found its way to the rural house near Hadrian's Wall, but a copper plaque on the back of the sarcophagus states 'Bought from Rome in 1902.'

Guy Schwinge, of Dukes auction house in Dorchester, Dorset, flew to Newcastle as soon as he saw the pictures of the sarcophagus the couple had emailed.

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He found the rare ornament filled with plants and soil and left on the grass.

He said: 'It is quite exceptional for a something of this importance to turn up unrecognised in a garden.

'They told me that they acquired it when they bought the house and just thought it was an ornamental plant trough.

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Each end of the ornament features a griffin but the back is bare as it was intended to stand against a wall

'The people who sold the house didn't make a big fuss about it and it wasn't mentioned in the deeds

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2270082/Couples-shock-discover-garden-trough-used-planting-flowers-2-000-year-old-Roman-coffin-worth-100-000.html[05/10/2013 00:29:04]

Couple's shock as they discover garden trough used for planting flowers is 2,000-year-old Roman coffin worth £100,000 | Mail Online

so they couldn't have know what it was.

'The property is very close to Hadrian's Wall and the sarcophagus dates back to Emperor Hadrian but that is purely a coincidence.

'It has always been in the same spot and the vendors have found it ideal for putting bedding plants in over the last 30 years.

'I think they were a little shocked when I confirmed what it was and how much it might sell for.

'After I left they took great care in emptying the soil out of it and a crane was brought in to place it on a lorry and drive down to us.'

Mr Schwinge said although it is impossible to know for sure how the ornament made its way to England, a possible theory is that it was one of seven sarcophagi bought by US railroad magnate Henry Walters from the Palazzo Accoranboni gallery in Rome for $1million.

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Mystery surrounds how the sarcophagus made its way to England but a copper plaque on the back reads: 'Brought from Rome in 1902'

Mr Schwinge said: 'It is interesting to speculate whether the sarcophagus we are selling could relate to Henry Walters' purchase.'

Laurence Keen OBE, an archaeologist and art expert, who examined the sarcophagus, said: 'It was obviously intended for a high status individual.

'The combination of the strigilated panels and the figural decoration indicates that it was intended for a wealthy individual.

'The simply hewn back probably suggests that it came from a private mausoleum, where the tomb was placed against a wall.'

The sarcophagus will be sold at auction in Dorchester on February 14.

The last breath, coins on the eyes and torch light: Funeral traditions of Romans The Romans placed a lot of importance on funeral ceremonies as they believed without being properly laid to rest, the soul's of the deceased continued to roam.

Wealthy Romans were given elaborate and ritualised funerals where homage was paid to their ancestors.

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Relatives would try to catch the last breath of the dying with their mouth - as that is where they believed the soul escaped the body from.

The corpse was bathed and perfumed and coins would be placed under the tongue or over the eyes of the dead to ensure safe passage to the underworld.

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Details from an Ancient Roman sarcophagus

Funerals were held by torch light and at the front of the procession was a picture of the deceased.

Cremation was most common and the ashes of the dead were kept in the family mausoleum but burial became increasingly popular.

Sarcophagi became more common in the Second to Fourth Centuries and were carved with scenes from mythology, religious beliefs of hunting.

A funeral pile was constructed in the shape of an alter and the nearest relative of the dead was tasked with setting it on fire.

Poor Romans would bury the corpses if they could afford to or throw the body in a creek or river.

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Junk dealer's $100,000 gold cup found under bed - CNN.com

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June 5, 2008 -- Updated 0118 GMT (0918 HKT)

Junk dealer's $100,000 gold cup found under bed

STORY HIGHLIGHTS Gold cup stashed under bed for years is $100,000 ancient Persian artifact Small urn went under the hammer at auction in southern England Thursday Artifact acquired by junk dealer, grandfather of current owner, in the 1930s or 1940s Experts say it is believed to date from the third or fourth century B.C. Next Article in World »

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DORCHESTER, England (CNN) -- Englishman John Webber thought nothing of the small, shiny cup, passed down from his junk dealer grandfather and stashed under a bed for years, until appraisers said it was an ancient Persian artifact.

The 5½-inch gold cup, which experts have dated to the third or fourth century B.C., fetched $100,000 at an auction in Dorchester, southern England, Thursday.

The identity of the winning bidder wasn't immediately known.

The relic features the double faced ancient Roman god Janus, the god of gates and doors who always looked to both the future and past and is often associated with beginnings and endings. The cup has two faces with braided hair and entwined snake ornaments at the forehead.

The ancient Persian gold cup, thought to date from the third or fourth century B.C., fetched $100,000 at auction.

Webber's grandfather, William Sparks, was a rag and bone man, the British term for a junk dealer, Duke's said, who established the iron merchants Sparks and Son in Taunton, Somerset, in

southwestern England, in the 1930s.

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Sparks acquired the cup along with two other pieces, also up for auction, in the 1930s or 1940s, the spokeswoman said.

Watch CNN report on the auction » Before he died, Sparks gave the items to Webber, who didn't realize their value, the spokeswoman said.

"Because he mainly dealt in brass and bronze, I thought that was what it was made from," Webber told the Bournemouth News and Picture Service. "I put it in a box and forgot about it. Then last year I moved house and took it out to have a look, and I realized it wasn't bronze or brass.

Don't Miss Web site Duke's Auctions

"I sent it to the British Museum, and the experts there hadn't seen anything like it before and recommended I had it tested at a laboratory.

So I paid quite a bit of money for it to be examined by a lab the museum recommended. And they found the gold dated from the third of

fourth century B.C." Webber, who is in his 70s, said he remembers the cup from when he was a small boy. "It's been quite exciting finding out what it was," he told the agency.

Webber brought the items to Duke's at the start of the year for potential sale, because he wanted to "realize some money," the auction house spokeswoman said.

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A spokeswoman for Duke's Auction House, which is selling the cup, said the cup is believed to be from the Archaemenid empire in ancient Persia.

The other two items are a second century B.C. round gold mount with a figure, probably of ancient Greek hero Ajax, who besieged Troy, and a decorated gold spoon with an image of a Roman emperor.

"He had a good eye for quality over the years," said the spokeswoman, who asked not to be named, "and anything interesting he'd put aside."

Scientists analyzed trace elements of a gold sample taken from the cup

http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/06/05/auction.cup/[05/10/2013 00:39:36]

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Native American totem pole used as a coat stand for 30 years is worth more than £100,000 | Mail Online

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Native American totem pole used as a coat stand for 30 years is worth more than £100,000

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The sculpture was bought by British tourist from indigenous tribe in 1920s The heirloom was passed down through the family to his granddaughter Item was found strewn with scarves and coats in a backroom of her house It has been identified as a rare cedar tree trunk pole from early 20th Century

By ALEX GORE PUBLISHED: 12:50, 8 February 2013 | UPDATED: 13:03, 8 February 2013

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A Native American totem pole that has been used as a coat stand in a backroom in Britain for the past 30 years could be worth more than £100,000.

'I missed my little angel!': Kim Kardashian shares SECOND picture of baby girl North West after mother and daughter are reunited after star's trip to Paris

The 6ft 7ins sculpture was bought by wealthy entrepreneur, John Allen Hughes, nearly a century ago from an indigenous tribe in the United States.

The item was passed down through the family to his granddaughter, who was unaware of its value until an auctioneer stumbled across it, strewn with scarves and coats, in a backroom of her house.

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The auctioneer had been at the home in Dorset for a routine valuation of other household items when the sculpture caught their eye.

Ahoy! Robbie Williams transforms himself into a sharp-suited navy officer for new video in Los Angeles He's loving anchors instead

The family heirloom was later identified as a rare Native American totem pole from the early 20th Century.

Although it is estimated to sell for up to £10,000, another model from the Haida natives fetched more than £100,000 at an auction in New York in 2008.

This particular artefact will be sold at Dukes auctions in Dorchester, Dorset, on Thursday next week.

Mr Hughes is thought to have bought the pole from the Haida people as a memento of his trip to the U.S. and Canada in the 1920s, when he visited a number of tribes.

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Heirloom: John Holmes, from Dukes auctioneers, cleans the totem pole, which was being used as a coat stand but could fetch more than £100,000

The carved cedar trunk, which Mr Hughes had shipped back to Britain, features images of a whale, a bear and a beaver underneath an eagle, which is what tribesmen believe they are descended from.

Native Americans engraved totem poles to depict a series of events or to portray lineage through family, which is what experts believe these particular animals represent.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2275572/Native-American-totem-pole-used-coat-stand-30-years-worth-100-000.html[05/10/2013 00:33:22]

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Native American totem pole used as a coat stand for 30 years is worth more than £100,000 | Mail Online

John Holmes, manager at Dukes, said: 'John Allen Hughes was a very wealthy man and in the 1920s he did a tour around North America.

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'It seems like he bought the totem pole and shipped it back to the UK as a memento of the trip.

'The photograph pictures him with one of the tribes on his trip and would have been taken in central Northern America.

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Explorer: John Allen Hughes pictured with Native Americans on his trip to the United States in the 1920s

'The totem pole would have come from an area like the Pacific North West, Washington, and British Columbia.

'They have been thought to have a religious context but they are actually more of a representation of the status of the tribe, used to show lineage, or to tell a story.

'This totem pole is most likely to represent family lineage and features a whale, bear, and beaver below the eagle.

'The Haida spiritually believed that they were descendents of the eagle which is why it is at the top.

'Smaller totem poles were also sometimes used as a support for buildings and would create a small doorway, which forced people to bow as they entered the room.

'It was passed down to his granddaughter who had kept it in a back room of her farm house and used it to put her coat on.

'It's a rare item to come up at auction because there aren't many in private ownership and we are far away from the native area.'

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2275572/Native-American-totem-pole-used-coat-stand-30-years-worth-100-000.html[05/10/2013 00:33:22]

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Native American totem pole used as a coat stand for 30 years is worth more than £100,000 | Mail Online

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Origins: Auctioneers believe the totem pole would have come from the north west of North America

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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2275572/Native-American-totem-pole-used-coat-stand-30-years-worth-100-000.html[05/10/2013 00:33:22]

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