They believed it to be contemporary to the 1807 publication of Thomas Hopes’ design book of Household Furniture and Interior Decoration. One London dealer told his runner to go up to £10,000 but secured it at £4600.
The other main feature of the sale was a 61/4in Victorian observatory telescope by Troughton and Simms once in Imperial College, London.
At £13,500, it was bought, rather oddly, by a top furniture dealer in London’s West End.
Given the parlous state of the furniture market, he might be looking for fresh quality stock and potential buyers on other planets.
Hope and a hunch
When this walnut chair arrived at Shanklin Auction Rooms (10 per cent premium) on the Isle of Wight it was catalogued as Victorian and expected to fetch £400-600. However, specialist dealers who viewed it before the September 4 sale noted its clean, classical lines its ebony strung motifs and, most significantly, the wrap-around back.
