A pair of Secessionist 'Gitterwerk' silver flower baskets by the leading Wiener Werkstätte designer Josef Hoffmann estimated at £10,000-15,000 at Bellmans on November 22.
1. Wiener Werkstätte silver baskets
A pair of Secessionist 'gitterwerk' silver flower baskets by Wiener Werkstätte designer Josef Hoffmann are offered at Bellmans’ Works of Art auction on November 22. Estimated at £10,000-15,000, they had been given to the vendor by a friend whose father had, by repute, brought them back to the UK as gifts after the war. The baskets were also featured on an episode of the BBC's Antiques Roadshow at Caversham Park in 2016.
Hoffmann was an Austrian-Moravian architect and designer and a founding member of the Wiener Werkstätte (Viennese Workshops) in 1903. Hoffmann, known for his glass, furniture and metalwork designs developed gitterwerk, the lattice metal style. This ‘metal grid’ design became a renowned feature of Hoffmann’s work.
These baskets are stamped Wiener Werkstätte with the maker's mark for Joseph Hoffman and the Austrian 900 standard silver mark.
View these silver baskets via thesaleroom.com.
2. William Simmonds sculpture
The Black Mare by William Simmonds, estimated £60,000-80,000 at Chorley’s.
William Simmonds (1876-1968) trained as an architect for four years before undertaking fine art training at the Royal College of Art in 1893 and then the Royal Academy schools for five years.
He gained a following in the 1920s for his wood and ivory carvings of both wild and domestic animals.
The Black Mare, 19in x 2ft 6in x 16in (48 x 76 x 41cm), depicts a stylised horse turning to nip a fly on its hind leg. It was created in Simmonds’ Gloucestershire studio and dates from 1925 and will be offered alongside a selection of other items from his studio, such as Simmonds’ tool chest, a set of wallpaper designs and an oil sketch, in Chorley’s Modern Art & Design sale on November 21.
The work’s previous owners include private collector George Eumorfopoulos, who later founded the Oriental Ceramic Society, and Elizabeth, the Countess Northesk. It passed to a private collector who has consigned the work to Chorley’s, where the estimate is £60,000-80,000.
View The Black Mare via thesaleroom.com.
3. French Chantilly lace flounce
An early 20th century, possibly French Chantilly lace flounce woven with jump jockeys on horseback, estimate £300-500 at Tennants.
Tennants of Leyburn will offer two family collections of costume and textiles from Scottish country houses on November 17.
Fifty of the lots in the Costume, Accessories and Textiles Sale come from Cullaloe House in Fife. It is thought that much of the lace and fashion items dating from the late 19th and early 20th century belonged to the vendor’s great-grandmother Sybil Blundell-Hollinshead-Blundell, née Dudley Ward (c.1878-1950), with later pieces probably belonging to her daughter, Violet Blundell-Hollinshead-Blundell (1906-59).
The collection includes a selection of linen dating to the turn of the 20th century, much of which was likely to have been made by the family’s linen mill in nearby Dunfermline. James Mathewson & Son was one of 11 linen manufacturers in the town and earned a Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria. The factory closed in 1934 following the Wall Street Crash and the collapse of the lucrative American market.
Shown above is an early 20th century, possibly French Chantilly lace flounce woven with jump jockeys on horseback estimated at £300-500.
View this French Chantilly lace flounce via thesaleroom.com.
4. Italian sculpture
Large limited edition artist proof (1/8) sculpture by Italian artist Lorenzo Quinn (b.1966) titled Draw Your Own Time, estimate £8000-12,000 at Rogers Jones.
Rogers Jones’ Selections auction on November 21 includes a large limited edition artist proof (1/8) sculpture by Italian artist Lorenzo Quinn (b.1966) titled Draw Your Own Time.
The 7ft 5in high x 2ft 2in wide x 3ft 8in deep (2.25m x 65cm x 1.12m) mobile sculpture is constructed from stainless steel, aluminium and sand.
Estimate £8000-12,000.
View this Lorenzo Quinn sculpture via thesaleroom.com.
5. Silver vinaigrettes
The group of three vinaigrettes at Kinghams.
Three vinaigrettes are on offer at Cotswold auction house Kinghams in the Silver & Objects of Vertu sale on November 24.
During the second quarter of the 19th century, with the advent of the railways and increased mobility, especially for those who could afford to do so, the practice of returning home with a souvenir of the place you had visited became very popular. And one such souvenir for the well-heeled was a vinaigrette made from sterling silver.
The three examples are thought to have been almost previously unrecorded and, such is their rarity, much effort was required to identify the specific locations depicted.
Kinghams associate director and head of department, Matthew Lafite, said he had never seen the scenes here “in 20 years of dealing with silver” and handling thousands of vinaigrettes.
The first example depicts a scene of Folkestone Harbour, Kent. The scene is probably after the illustrated engraving from Marshall’s Select Views in Great Britain, 1825. Another has a top engraved with a scene of Norwich quayside, with boats on the river Wensum and Whitefriars bridge in the background.
The final example is engraved with a scene of the Salon on the promenade at Scarborough, with flag flying and the headland with Scarborough Castle beyond.
They are estimated at £800-1200 each.
View the Folkestone Harbour scene via thesaleroom.com.
