UP TO £5000
Qajar pen case
This Qajar lacquer papier mâché ‘qalamdan’ pen case will be offered in an Islamic and Indian art sale on July 11 at Chiswick Auctions in west London.
Originating from Iran and dated to the 19th century, the case is inscribed with poetic quatrains in the Persian Nasta’liq script. It is estimated at £800-1200.
Officer’s sword
George V 18th Hussars Mameluke-hilted officer’s sword, estimated at £1200-1500 at Thomas Del Mar at 25 Blythe Road in Kensington.
This George V 18th Hussars Mameluke-hilted officer’s sword will feature in a sale of antique arms, armour and militaria held by specialist Thomas Del Mar at 25 Blythe Road in Kensington on June 27.
It carries an estimate of £1200-1500.
Ivory plaque
Relief-carved ivory plaque dating to the late 17th century, estimated at £2000-3000 at Woolley & Wallis in Salisbury.
A sale of furniture, works of art and clocks at Woolley & Wallis in Salisbury on July 4 will incorporate this ornately relief-carved ivory plaque dating to the late 17th century.
Depicting the Holy Family with St John the Baptist in the manner of Balthasar Permoser, the great sculptor of the German Baroque era, it is estimated at £2000-3000.
FROM £5001- £50,000
Egyptian amulet
Egyptian amethyst amulet in the form of a cat, estimated at £6000-8000 at Chiswick Auctions.
An entry into Chiswick Auctions antiquities and tribal art sale in east London on June 27 is this Egyptian amethyst amulet in the form of a cat.
The diminutive, 1in (2.5cm) high piece dates to the Late Dynastic Period, c.715-332 BC, and has provenance dating back to 1978.
It is estimated at £6000-8000.
High Sheriff's gloves
Gloves said to have been carried by Thomas Carr when appointed High Sheriff of Northumberland in 1778, estimated at £4000-6000 at Kerry Taylor Auctions.
These gloves are said to have been carried by Thomas Carr on the occasion of being appointed High Sheriff of the county of Northumberland in 1778.
Made in England c.1630-40, the embroidered pair will be included in Kerry Taylor Auctions’ Passion for Fashion sale in Bermondsey, south-east London, on June 18.
The pair is estimated at £4000-6000.
Rothamsted Library
The first and only edition of Matthew Stevenson’s 1661 ‘The Twelve Moneths’, estimated at £6000-8000 at Forum Auctions.
More than 3200 books and manuscripts from the Rothamsted Library in Hertfordshire, one of the oldest specialist agricultural collections in the UK, will be dispersed in a dedicated sale at Forum Auctions in Mayfair on July 10.
The collection of early printed agriculture books, published between 1471 and 1840, was acquired in the early years of the 20th century by the director of Rothamsted, Sir John Russell, and has not been added to since his retirement in 1943.
This first and only edition of Matthew Stevenson’s 1661 The Twelve Moneths, with full-page engravings for each month of the year, is estimated at £6000-8000.
Linke's nef
Austro-Hungarian silver and enamel three-masted nef by Rudolf Linke, estimated at £4000-6000 at Matthew Barton’s sale at 25 Blythe Road.
This 2ft 1in (65cm) high Austro-Hungarian silver and enamel three-masted nef was made by Rudolf Linke, a maker of fantasy objects in enamel and rock crystal in Vienna between 1885-1903.
Painted with classical scenes from mythology and connected to the base with a silver triton support, the table ornament is being offered for sale at Matthew Barton’s June 6-7 sale of Asian and European works of art at 25 Blythe Road, in Kensington. It carries an estimate of £4000-6000.
Silk embroideries
Ura Tube suzani from Tajikistan, priced at £23,520 by the Afridi Gallery.
On June 7, the Afridi Gallery in Royal Hospital Road, south-west London, will open its doors for Gardens of Delight, a selling exhibition of suzanis. The colourful handwoven silk embroideries, originating from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, were originally dowry weavings made by a bride’s family to present to the groom on her wedding day. The show will run until July 5 and features eight examples from the 19th century including this 5ft 10in x 6ft 11in (1.79 x 2.12m) Ura Tube suzani from Tajikistan, which is priced at £23,520.
FROM £50,001 - £500,000
Mabea maternity sculpture
Maternity sculpture of a mother and child by the Mabea tribe in Cameroon, estimated at £40,000-60,000 at Summers Place Auctions.
A category devoted to tribal art is going under the hammer at Summers Place Auctions of Billingshurst in West Sussex on June 12-13.
Highlights include this 7ft 5in (2.26m) high maternity sculpture of a mother and child made by the Mabea tribe in Cameroon.
It was originally owned by R Caillois (1913-78), writer, sociologist and member of the ‘Académie Française’ who befriended Salvador Dalí, Paul Eluard and Max Ernst. Caillois’ family sold the sculpture to Baroness Josephine Sloet tot Everlo, who owned it until the end of 2014.
The sculpture features inlaid glass eyes and metal teeth, and the mother wears a leather hair dress fixed with indigenous nails. The statue has a brown patina typical for the region and dates from the start of the 20th century, when it was supposedly made for a colonial exhibition in France.
It is estimated at £40,000-60,000.
15th century book of hours
Book of hours made c.1490 by the artist brothers Gherardo and Monte di Giovanni for Isabella d’Est, estimated at £200,000-300,000 at Dreweatts’ London.
This opulently illuminated book of hours manuscript was made in c.1490 by the artist brothers Gherardo and Monte di Giovanni for Isabella d’Este (1474-1539), the renowned patron of the Italian Renaissance, who employed Mantegna, Raphael, Titian and Leonardo da Vinci among others.
Its point of origin and date suggest it was a wedding gift from Lorenzo de’Medici, who is recorded as sending other gifts and was the principal patron of the artists here.
It was most probably kept in her private apartments in Mantua, and thus would have passed to the voracious art collector, ecclesiastic and politician, Cardinal Richelieu. It re-emerged in the early 20th century in the collection of Louis Cartier (1875–1942), a key member of the jewellery empire of the same name.
It carries an estimate of £200,000-300,000 at Dreweatts’ London saleroom, Bloomsbury Auctions, where it will be offered in a sale of Western and Oriental manuscripts and miniatures on July 10 at 67 Pall Mall in St James’s.
OVER £500,000
Louis XIV courtly sculptures
Two sculptures originating from the court of the ‘Sun King’, King Louis XIV of France, star in Christie’s Exceptional Sale 2018 held in King’s Street, St James’s, on July 5.
The first piece is a reduction of the original sculpture depicting Louis XIV on horseback, made c.1690-99 by the king’s royal sculptor, François Girardon (1628-1715). It is believed to be the lost sculpture from the artist’s own collection and depicted in a famous engraving of the Galerie de Girardon. It is the only example in private hands and is priced in the region of £7m-10m.
The other work shows the Greek mythological hero Hercules overcoming the river god Acheloüs who has transformed into a bull. It is priced around £5m. Dated c.1640-50, it was made by Florentine sculptor Ferdinando Tacca (1619-86) and given as a gift from Louis XIV to his son, the Grand Dauphin, in 1681. The only other known cast of Hercules and Acheloüs is in the Wallace Collection in London.
