Bellmans

Collections relating to leading British film director Lewis Gilbert (1920-2018) and his wife of 53 years Hylda (d.2005) provided very different lots for Billingshurst auction house Bellmans (22% buyer’s premium).

Enicar watches do not have the instant brand recognition of a Rolex or Omega but they do share many of the same parts.

In demand at home and abroad during his lifetime, the eminent miniaturist John Smart was an international draw at a trio of sales.

An opportunity to buy a portrait of one of Charles II’s mistresses emerged at a recent Bellmans’ (22% buyer’s premium) sale in West Sussex.

Estimated at £400-600, a Meissen chinoiserie decorated porcelain snuff box took £12,000 at Bellmans (22% buyer’s premium) in West Sussex.

Bellmans is selling the script and production archive of film director, producer and screenwriter Lewis Gilbert (1920-2018) on November 17-18.

A menu celebrating a landmark in British aviation – the first flight from London to Brighton, accomplished in 1911 – sold for £750 at Bellmans.

The sale of July 15 proved to be its most successful since lockdown for auction house Bellmans (22% buyer’s premium).

Combining technical mastery with recurring motifs derived from nature, Pierre Sterlé’s (1905-1978) style is instantly recognisable.

The studio potter John Maltby (1936-2020) created this chess set shown right for the Millennium celebrations at the New Ashgate Gallery in Farnham.

The second day of Bellmans’ (22% buyer’s premium) sale on August 3-5 included a Chinese hardwood table that catapulted way above its £1000-1500 estimate.

A couple of Modern British works on paper drew keen attention at a recent West Sussex auction.

Pre-1950s Mary Fedden works are stylistically different to her later still-lifes and coastal subjects

Works by Grigorescu are seldom seen in British auctions but one emerged in West Sussex

A tobacco pipe which opened the series and an opium one which ended it – interspersed by a cigar stub – met keen demand at Bellmans (22% buyer’s premium).

Sold for £3000 as part of a four-day sale held by Bellmans (22% buyer’s premium) of Wisborough Green was what was billed as a gold mounted rectangular book binding, probably European and 19th century but in the 18th century taste.