A sofa from an extensive suite of Georgian mahogany seat furniture, estimated £100,000-200,000 at Busby.
1. Georgian mahogany seat furniture
Busby is to auction an extensive suite of Georgian mahogany seat furniture, which for the last 260 years or so has graced the first-floor drawing room of Earnshill House in Somerset. Made c.1760, the suite comprises a sofa, 10 upholstered side chairs, and three window seats of graduating size.
Earnshill House was completed ‘after the Italian manner’ in 1731 for the Bristol merchant and city mayor Henry Combe with the furniture commissioned for the estate by his son, Richard Combe (1728-80).
The suite is documented in situ in ‘the Green Drawing Room’ in an inventory taken at Earnshill on September 15, 1780. Although very much in the manner of the London firm Vile and Cobb (William Vile worked extensively in Dorset, both at Came House and Longford Castle), it is thought to be made in the latest fashion by a provincial maker, probably a workshop in Bristol.
The suite will be offered for sale in Bridport, Dorset, on July 18, estimated at £100,000-200,000. A mahogany card table from Earnshill House thought to be by the same maker will also be offered.
2. Jean Cocteau plate
Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) L’Esprit Minéral plate, estimated £8000-10,000 at Roseberys.
Guided at £8000-10,000, this Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) plate made at Atelier Madeline- Jolly in Villefranchesur-Mer is part of the Design sale at Roseberys London on July 17.
L’Esprit Minéral, from an edition of 10, 1962, has been consigned from a private collection in London. Cocteau met Marie Madeline Jolly and Philippe Madeline in 1957 and began a process to transform his drawings into over 300 mesmerising ceramic works.
3. Private Eye complete run
A complete run of Private Eye is for sale at Bellmans, estimate £5000-7000. The first two issues are shown here.
A complete set of Private Eye is coming to auction on July 17, presenting almost certainly a unique opportunity to acquire every copy up to now.
The collection estimated at £5000-8000 is on offer in the Printed Books, Maps and Manuscripts sale at West Sussex saleroom Bellmans. Specialist Nicholas Worskett says: “This is - so far as we can tell - the first time that a complete run of Private Eye has ever appeared on the open market and is ever likely to.”
It runs from the first issue on Friday, October 25, 1961, to June 2024, comprising numbers 1-1625.
The consignor, Oliver Stocken, was involved with the satirical magazine in its earliest days, although not as one of the original founders or writers. He helped to sell the first few numbers when he was at Oxford University in 1961.
4. Hiroshi Suzuki vase
Aqua-Poesy III (V-7) vase (left) and a Aqua-Poesy beaker by Hiroshi Suzuki, estimated £10,000-15,000 and £2500-3000 respectively at Woolley & Wallis.
The swirling and fluted spot-hammered and chased forms created by the Anglo-Japanese silversmith Hiroshi Suzuki (b.1961) are represented in major collections and museums around the world.
These two pieces, a 47oz Aqua-Poesy III (V-7) vase and a 12oz Aqua-Poesy beaker, both hallmarked for London 2006 and the 999 standard, were acquired by a private collector from London jewellery dealership Hancocks. At the Silver sale at Woolley & Wallis in Salisbury on July 16, they carry estimates of £10,000-15,000 and £2500-3000 respectively.
