A glance at the saleroom prices achieved by these little figures, often chipped and scarred by a lifetime of prop work, and you realise why they will never be returned to the window sill.
Half a dozen lots from a private collection – there is always a private collection even of the most unlikely items – received seriously high prices at Law Fine Art on May 21-22, taking the auctioneer by surprise.
The pair of bearded men with feather headresses, right, each 41/4in (11.5cm) high, attracted the highest bidding and sold at £850 against expectations of £180-220.
Elsewhere a window rest in the sphinx-like form of Benjamin Disraeli, c.1870, presumably lampooning the Prime Minister’s involvement in the building of the Suez Canal, attracted a double-estimate £400, and a pair of Continental faience examples in the likeness of Florence Nightingale, took £300.
Window rests seen in a new light
A zeal for collecting in an age of double glazing has created a strong market for pottery window rests, which have been freed from the domestic drudgery of keeping sash windows open and elevated to the mantelpiece as decorative works of art in their own rights.
