During excavations at Pompeii in 1830, archaeologists unearthed a bronze figure of a dancing satyr in the atrium of a home now known as the House of Faun. The sculpture, named the Dancing Faun, swiftly became a favourite subject for reproduction in the gardens and interiors of aspiring aesthetes.
This large 2ft 8in (82cm) high bronze copy above dates to the late 19th or early 20th century. It has been handed down through a local family for several generations and is guided at £400-600 in a sale on October 17 at Plymouth Auction Rooms in Cattedown.
Designed by Archibald Knox for Liberty & Co’s Cymric line, a silver and enamel coronation spoon will go under the hammer at Dawson’s October 27 sale in Maidenhead, Berkshire.
Stamped for Birmingham 1901, the 5in (12cm) piece is guided at £600-800.
Photographs of the so-called Cottingley Fairies, the hoax that famously duped Arthur Conan Doyle, will go under the hammer at Dominic Winter in Cirencester on October 4.
They were taken in the village of Cottingley in West Yorkshire in July 1917 by Elsie Wright and her cousin Frances Griffiths, using drawings secured in the ground with hat pins. The pair finally announced they had been faked in the 1980s.
Conan Doyle published five of the photographs in 1920, changing the names of the girls to protect their anonymity. Two 8 x 6in (20 x 15cm) sepia gelatin silver prints, with original mount and printed captions, will be offered, each guided at £700-1000. Pictured above is Alice and the Fairies, the first in the series of five.
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Edinburgh auction house Lyon & Turnbull is gearing up to sell more than 550 lots of art and design from a single collection.
Amassed over several decades and kept for the last 15 years at Kirkton House in Montrose, Scotland, the group will be offered on October 10 in Edinburgh.
The sale focuses on the art and design of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including examples of Gothic Revival, Aestheticism and Arts & Crafts, alongside a collection of British art. Many of the works were purchased in London from The Fine Art Society, The Royal Exchange Gallery and Arts & Crafts dealer Paul Reeves.
More than 30 pieces of Pilkington’s Lancastrian lustre pottery will feature, including a 10in (25cm) high Swan vase designed by Walter Crane (1845-1915) and decorated by William Mycock (1872-1950) in 1906.
Estimate £1500-2000.
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