This circular oil painting of the Madonna and Child, by the 19th century Italian artist Gaspare Diomede Carlo Della Bruna (1839-1915), is distinguished by its impressive contemporary Florentine gilded gesso and carved frame.
Measuring 4ft 9in x 3ft 10in (1.45 x 1.18m), the lot is estimated at £2000-3000 in David Duggleby’s sale in Scarborough on December 8.
davidduggleby.com or see this item on thesaleroom.com
Cuttlestones’ Specialist Collectors’ Sale on December 15 includes a collection of first-edition novels by HG Wells (1866-1946).
Among the rarest and most expensive of the 19-lot group is this copy of The War in the Air in a rare original dust jacket. The military science-fiction novel was published in 1908.
Also containing newspaper cuttings from 1917, it is estimated at £2000-4000. Other highlights from the group include a first edition, first printing of Kipps The Story of a Simple Soul (1905) in its original dust jacket, and first copies of Tono-Bungay (1909), Ann Veronica (1909), Mr Britling Sees It Through (1916) and Men Like Gods (1923).
London book dealer Maggs Bros is selling a group of more than 50 items relating to the slave trade. Slavery, Rebellion and Abolition is the first catalogue produced by Maggs dedicated to the subject in a decade.
Among the items for sale is this c.1830 oval plaque by Wedgwood, depicting the famous image of a crouching slave with the motto Am I not a man and a brother.
Wedgwood first produced this jasperware medallion in 1787-88, and had an immediate impact with those pushing the abolitionist cause. The company was still making them until parliament passed the Abolition of Slavery Act in 1833. It is priced at £5000.
A hitherto unseen work by Reginald John ‘Rex’ Whistler (1905-44), which is believed to be one of the last oils he painted, features in Chiswick Auctions’ sale in London on December 12.
The 12 x 16in (30 x 40cm) oil on board depicts Binderton House, the private residence of Sir Anthony Eden who was the British foreign secretary at the time it was painted, later becoming prime minister.
Whistler was a frequent guest of distinguished society and often painted the grand homes of his hosts. A friend of Eden, Whistler was a regular guest at Binderton, and is known to have painted the house in early July 1944 – just before he departed for Normandy with the Tank Battalion of the Welsh Guards. He was killed on his first day of active service on July 18.
It has come from a property in Earls Court, west London, and is estimated at £2500-3000.
chiswickauctions.co.uk or see this item on thesaleroom.com
