The Countess of Portland was the original owner of this 18th century diamond and shagreen etui above. Once part of a larger chatelaine, the etui opens to reveal a pistol-grip folding knife, an ivory aide memoire, scissors, a pencil, and two personal grooming products.
It was passed down from Jane Bentinck (1672-1751), Countess of Portland, and given to her husband’s great-grand-daughter, Elizabeth Monck. The item was on Monck’s wedding inventory in 1769. Its most recent owner was the late London dealer David Lavender, who acquired it in 2006.
The piece was also exhibited in 1953 at the Belfast Museum and Art Gallery as part of the Bentinck Beresford Collection to assist with its coronation celebrations that year. It is estimated at £5000-7000 in Fellows’ inaugural Fine Jewellery auction, a newly branded sale category focused on higher-quality lots, taking place in Birmingham on March 21.
fellows.co.uk or see this item on thesaleroom.com
During the late 18th and early 19th century an influx of British painters embarked on the long journey to India to seek patronage from the emerging British settlements.
Around 30 painters and over 20 miniaturists joined the pilgrimage, some, such as Johan Zoffany staying for less than a decade, and others, like Thomas Hickey (1741-1824), staying for a lifetime
This 4ft 5in x 5ft 6in (1.36 x 1.67m) oil on canvas by Hickey above depicts a young boy with his ayah (nursemaid). The work fits into the series of lengthways portraits of natives Hickey produced from the outset of his arrival in India in 1780, perhaps the best known being his Portrait of an Indian Lady, now hanging in the National Gallery of Ireland. This painting is estimated at £6000-8000 in a sale of pictures, jewellery and silver at Halls in Shrewsbury on March 20.
hallsgb.com/fine-art or see this item on thesaleroom.com
Chiswick Auctions will offer a private collection of photographic works by Francis Bruguière (1879-1945), a man the saleroom describes as “one of the most fearless and dedicated practitioners to ever pick up a camera”.
The collection contains unseen and unpublished photographic prints and negatives spanning the photographer’s career and will be offered in a single-owner auction of photographica on March 19 in west London.
Shown above is Experiment from The Way, which dates from c.1923-25 and depicts the actor and dancer, Sebastian Droste. The work is a multiple exposure, vintage silver gelatin print complete with the original large format negative image, gelatin on nitrocellulose sheet film. Estimate £4000-6000.
chiswickauctions.co.uk or see this item on thesaleroom.com
