This mid-19th century carved alabaster marble figure of a kneeling girl above has been attributed to the neoclassical Italian sculptor Lorenzo Bartolini (1775-1850).
The 2ft x 18in (60 x 46cm) figure is estimated at £800-1200 in a three-day sale at Hannams in Selborne, Hampshire, on June 3-5.
La Fiducia In Dio – a near-identical nude in the same pose – was conceived by Bartolini in 1835 and resides in the collections at the Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan.
Magic lantern projectionists – the highest-paid entertainers in the Victorian period – covered a range of themes and subjects that reflected the public’s interest, from moral tales of temperance to polar exploration.
A group of six hand-painted Arctic lantern slides by London maker Edward George Wood (1811-96) will be offered with a £600-800 estimate in a Sporting and Collectors auction on May 15-16 at Exeter saleroom Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood.
Wood is listed in the 1861 census as an ‘Optician & Philosophical Instrument maker’ and was one of the largest producers and suppliers of magic lantern slides in London during the 19th century. The slide pictured here is titled Arctic, Victory in Winter Quarters, which may refer to the ship of polar explorer John Ross.
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Three handwritten letters written by children’s author and illustrator Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) are up for sale on June 3 at 1818 Auctioneers in Milnthorpe, Cumbria.
The letters were written between 1935-42 to sisters Sissy Wilson and Maggie Wilson, who lived in the neighbouring village of Hawkshead in Cumbria. They are being sold by a direct descendant. The letters, which cover the topics of cakes, gardens and the Land Army, are signed Beatrix Heelis, after the writer’s marriage in 1913, and were sent from Castle Cottage in Sawrey, the author’s marital home until her death in 1943.
They are estimated at £800-1200 each.
On May 16, Bridport saleroom Busby in Dorset will offer more than 200 lots of furniture, silver, clocks and other antiques from the estate of Elizabeth Pepys-Cockerell, wife of the late John Pepys-Cockerell who was a descendant of the famous 17th century diarist Samuel Pepys (1633-1703).
It is believed some of the pieces may have come from Sezincote House in Gloucestershire, which was acquired in 1795 by Samuel Pepys’ grandson, Colonel John Cockerell.
A 3ft 3in x 2ft 4in (99 x 70cm) high Paris-made barometer inscribed Par Foulon Rue Galande No. 14 A Paris and surmounted by carved floral cresting is estimated at £800-1000.
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