Penzance

A combination of artist, sitter, date and quality ensured a compelling Newlyn school portrait caught the eye at David Lay’s latest auction in Penzance.

This late 18th century portrait bust of a gentleman by a sculptor from the circle of Joseph Nollekens (1737-1823) is traditionally thought to depict the prominent British Whig statesman Charles James Fox (1749-1806).

Teapots made in delftware were never particularly functional nor popular in either England or the Netherlands.

Works also sold in Penzance but not for six figures help to understand this market

A couple of dog portraits by leading Victorian canine painter John Emms (1844-1912) brought a flurry of bids at separate auctions held just a day apart.

A rare opportunity to gauge the market for a major Newlyn School painting came at David Lay’s latest auction in Penzance when a lively and clamorous scene by Stanhope Forbes (1857-1947) was offered with a £120,000-180,000 estimate.

Christopher Dresser created a number of daring geometric designs for silver and silver-plated toast racks in the late 1870s and early 1880s, both for Hukin & Heath and for James Dixon & Son.

An artist’s painting of his wife turned heads at a recent David Lay (18% buyer’s premium) auction in Penzance, selling over 10 times above estimate.

Including seafaring, tin, copper, studio potteries and fishing, a Penzance sale covered just about everything from the region bar pasties.

A small flurry of recent good prices for Australian artist Herbert Ivan Babbage (1875-1916) continued at David Lay (18% buyer’s premium) in Penzance, Cornwall.

A group of some 40 letters and greetings cards sent in 1990-97 by Diana, Princess of Wales, to her good friend Roger Bramble sold for almost £70,000.

Experiments with porcelain at the Swansea factory began in 1814 with the arrival of William Billingsley and Samuel Walker from the Nantgarw China Works.

Quartet of West Country works featured in the same sale as our £105,000 cover star

The highest auction price for 12 years for Beryl Cook (1926-2008) was posted at David Lay’s recent fine art sale.

A nude study by Dame Laura Knight (1877-1970) found plenty of admirers when it appeared at the latest fine art sale held by Penzance saleroom David Lay (18% buyer’s premium).

Works by two Modern British female artists whose stars have been rising commercially over recent years topped the bill at the latest fine art sale held at David Lay (18% buyer’s premium).

Extensively interleaved with scholarly notes and running to over 700pp, a Japanese and English Dictionary compiled by JC Hepburn was a notable rarity in a Cornish summer sale.

Consignments from vendors with a close connection to famous artists are always a welcome boon for any auction.

Topaz in its natural state is a golden brown to yellow, a characteristic which means it is sometimes confused with the less valuable gemstone citrine.

David Lay’s (18% buyer's premium) second stand-alone Asian art sale held in Penzance was topped at £65,500 (estimate £3000-5000) by this shodana made in Meiji period Japan, c.1890.