Sworders

A look at unusual lots that stood out in recent auctions

A single-owner collection of 37 pieces of Louis Vuitton luggage formed part of Sworders’ (25% buyer’s premium) Design sale.

More than a dozen letters and cards from Diana, Princess of Wales, to her family’s former housekeeper were sold at a recent auction at Sworders (25% buyer’s premium).

Agnete Hoy (1914-2000) brought her own distinctive style to the ailing Doulton Lambeth factory, reviving the traditional decorative methods of earlier artists to make contemporary stonewares from 1952 until the studio closed in 1957.

Highlights from the estate of Max Clendinning and Ralph Adron sold at Sworders

Born in Constantinople, the daughter of a French nobleman of Hungarian descent, painter Sophie-Ernestine de Tott (1758-1848) spent more than two decades in London as an amateur painter and musician.

Roger Vadim’s cult classic film 'Barbarella' starring Jane Fonda was released in 1968.

Scale models such as these Grand Tour-era plaster of Paris models of classical temples were used as prototypes by architects and inspiration for their own designs

Roseberys and Dreweatts both posted two six-figure prices during the spring round of UK regional Asian art sales.

On April 25, in conjunction with The Worshipful Company of Art Scholars, Sworders hosted an all-day event at its Stansted Mountfitchet auction room, welcoming 30 students from Birchwood, a state secondary school in nearby Bishop’s Stortford.

Among the highlights of Sworders’ (25% buyer’s premium) Fine Interiors sale was a collection of antiquities formed by the late Sir Clinton Charles Donald Cory (1937-2022), 5th Baronet of Coryton.

Withers and Dailey selections follow hot on the heels of Turpin lots with plenty of fine art highlights

Although the late antiques dealer Maurice ‘Dick’ Turpin (1928-2005) may have been better known for his expertise in furniture and works of art, he also had an eye for a painting.

Heading Sworders’ (25% buyer’s premium) January 16 Design sale in Stansted Mountfitchet was a recently rediscovered version of one of the best-known Guild of Handicraft designs.