Furniture

AFTER nearly 50 years as a dealer, Tobias Jellinek makes no apology for having written what he describes as “a practical book” about early English chairs, stools and other seating rather than a furniture history book.

THIS diminutive table seen at Cambridge auctioneers Cheffins on the second day of their September 23-24 sale was a miniature version of the famous circular expanding dining table designed by Robert Jupe of Welbeck Street, London.

FOR an item almost destined for a landfill site, this delapidated red leather chesterfield, found in the outhouse of a Northamptonshire rectory, wouldn’t be the first thing you would expect to generate international bidding.

TREDEGAR House in Monmouthshire has welcomed back this miniature piece of George I walnut thanks to a series of grants led by the Art Fund.

LAPADA’s year-long search for their object of the year ended at Olympia on June 9 when the prize was awarded to Mayfair dealer Adrian Alan, who submitted this magnificent Grand Bureau by François Linke.

SHEFFIELD’S ELR Auctions sold this exceptional Victorian inlaid ebony table cabinet as part of their quarterly antiques and fine art sale on March 27.

Among the highlights of the sale conducted by Sworders of Stansted Mountfitchet on February 17 was this William IV patent mahogany library armchair, with carved acanthus leaf sides, turned lobed front legs and outswept back supports.

Remarkable for both their size and their original condition, this pair of Italian console tables c,1760 sold for £28,000 Semley Auctioneers of Shaftesbury in Dorset on January 24.

It took them over a week, but Bonhams have now been able to announce a new record for a piece of 19th century furniture achieved. The new high was achieved when this French ormolu, lacquer and Brazilian rosewood cabinet imitating the shape of a Japanese shodana realised a mighty £1.8m.

THIS imposing but relatively plain 5ft 6in (1.69m) wide mahogany centre pedestal desk c.1760 was a last-minute entry to Addison's of Barnards Castle fine art and antiques sale on November 15.

WHEN Jeremy and Hotspur, two of London’s best-known furniture dealerships, announced in the late summer that they were shutting up shop and selling off their remaining stock, few could have predicted the ensuing market slump. Both dealerships, who intend to continue as consultants, must have had their fingers crossed at Christie’s on November 20, when the sale took place.

Surrey fine art auctioneers Ewbank are selling architectural stonework from the Palace of Westminster that dates from before the buildings were destroyed by fire and rebuilt in the 1830s.

Fireworks were seen in Edinburgh on November 5 when this Charles Voysey secretaire leapt above its modest £3000-5000 estimate to sell for £70,000 at Lyon & Turnbull's Decorative Arts sale.

BOOKS being used in their physical form alone to disguise an entirely different function are nothing new – money boxes are a perennial favourite – but the book as Thunderbox?

Gloucestershire auctioneers Simon Chorley began their autumn season on September 18, selling this Louis XIV ebony, ivory and tortoiseshell cabinet for £65,000 (plus 15 per cent buyer's premium).

CHRISTIE’S have announced that their sale of the joint stock of the two London dealerships Hotspur and Jeremy will be at a dedicated auction at their King Street rooms on November 20.

With Bernard Cotton's scholarly new book on Scottish Vernacular Furniture coming out soon, where better to promote the event than North of the Border?

Whilst perhaps better known for selling reclaimed building materials, T.W. Gaze of Diss in Norfolk consistently attract lots of a more decorative nature in their five architectural sales each year. Their August 16 sale included this very fine quality early 18th century marble study of a boy holding aloft a bearded mask.

North Yorkshire auctioneers Tennants have cut a profitable niche selling the furniture of local craftsman Robert Thompson, but for their July sale they went one better.

HUNDREDS of Victorian gothic revival floor tiles removed as part of a £2m renovation of the church of St John Baptist, Cirencester, will be sold by Moore Allen & Innocent on Friday, July 25.