Brothers George (1850-1925) and Thomas Woodall (1849-1926) were renowned for the creation of glass in the cameo technique.
They were employed firstly by J&J Northwood and latterly Thomas Webb & Sons in Stourbridge, where they created work for numerous international exhibitions.
This plaque by George depicts Sappho playing a lyre in an archaic Greek coastal garden. Records show it originally sold for £21 in 1913 to Clement Harris, a friend of Woodall and keen cameo glass collector, and reoffered at Sotheby’s in 1926 when it was bought by George’s daughters, Alice and Connie, for £22.
It remained with Alice at Luton House, the family home in Kingswinford, until 1954 when it passed to her sister.
It comes by descent from Connie with hopes of £40,000-60,000 in the auction of Fine Glass and British Ceramics at Bonhams Knightsbridge on November 20.
