Two oils by Arthur Edmund Grimshaw (1864-1913), son of John Atkinson Grimshaw, come for sale at Silverwoods in Clitheroe as part of a timed online sale closing on April 25. The first is thought to be Greenock Harbour, Port Glasgow (estimate £8000-10,000). The second, shown top, depicts the Prince’s Landing Stage on the Albert Dock in Liverpool, better known now as Pier Head (estimate £6000-8000). Both are dated 1895.
The pictures were acquired by the great-great grandfather of the vendor James Cooper Harding (1859-1924), an engineer and draughtsman who was paid in kind for providing tutoring to one of Grimshaw’s children.
Necklace by Murrle Bennett & Co, c.1900 – estimate £600-800 at Dreweatts on April 13.
This gold, turquoise and freshwater pearl pendant necklace by Murrle Bennett & Co, c.1900, has a guide of £600-800 at Dreweatts in Donnington Priory on April 13.
dreweatts.com or see this item at thesaleroom.com
Blue and white ewer modelled on an archaic bronze ‘and decorated with ‘bajixiang’, the eight Buddhist emblems – estimate £30,000-50,000 at Ma San Auction on April 21.
The April 21 sale at Ma San Auction in Bath includes a 70-lot collection of Chinese ceramics which belonged to Sir Mark Evelyn Heath (1927-2005).
He was a diplomat, the first British ambassador to the Holy See and after leaving the Vatican head of protocol in Hong Kong in the 1980s. During Heath’s time in Hong Kong, he developed a passion for Chinese ceramics, frequenting sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s and the antique shops of the Hollywood Road.
The collection, brought back to his home in Bath in 1988 when Heath retired, includes this blue and white ewer modelled on an archaic bronze ‘and decorated with ‘bajixiang’, the eight Buddhist emblems. The base has a six-character Qianlong mark and is of the period.
Estimate £30,000-50,000.
masanauction.com or see this item at thesaleroom.com
Oil and pencil drawing on card by Alfred Wallis – estimate £8000-12,000 at Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood on April 14-16.
The quarterly fine sale at Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood in Exeter rescheduled for April 14-16 includes this oil and pencil drawing on card of a three-masted schooner anchored off a lighthouse by Alfred Wallis (1855-1942).
The provenance could scarcely be better: it was acquired from the artist by Jim Ede (of Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge fame) and given as a wedding gift to his nephew. It comes by family descent with an estimate of £8000-12,000.
bhandl.co.uk or see this item at thesaleroom.com
Lalique Perruches bowl in frosted and polished clear and opalescent glass, 1931 – estimate £2000-3000 at McTear’s on April 8.
The core of a sale of British & Continental Ceramics & Glass at McTear’s in Glasgow on April 8 is a private Scottish collection of Lalique, Daum and Gallé glass.
Numbering 26 lots of Lalique and 22 lots of Daum and Gallé, it includes this 10in (25cm) Lalique Perruches bowl in frosted and polished clear and opalescent glass designed in 1931. Estimate £2000-3000.
mctears.co.uk or see this item at thesaleroom.com
The sale of the contents of the attics and cellars at Dunrobin Castle, family seat of the 25th Earl of Sutherland, takes place at Bonhams Edinburgh on April 20.
The sale of the contents of the attics and cellars at Dunrobin Castle, family seat of the 25th Earl of Sutherland, takes place at Bonhams Edinburgh on April 20.
Writing in the winter edition of Bonhams Magazine, author Mary Miers gives a flavour of the objects in the sale: “They represent a fascinating time capsule of domestic operations on a Downton Abbey scale.
“Maids’ bedrooms tucked into the eaves of the earlier ranges had been reconfigured to become porcelain stores, with rows of footbaths, floral jugs and washbasins, chamber pots and piles of crested dinner services, all jostling for space with meat domes, tiered oyster holders and untold numbers of copper vessels and glass carafes.”
This mammoth exercise in decluttering has yielded items unfamiliar even to current occupants. The opening of a locked room yielded a hitherto unknown array of cobwebbed plaster and stone busts of Victorian dignitaries and family members. White marble portrait busts of Prince Albert and George Granville, 2nd Duke of Sutherland (1786-1861) by British sculptor John Francis (1780-1861) have guides of £2000-3000 and £1500-2500 respectively.
Two busts of Harriet Sutherland-Leverson-Gower, the 2nd duchess, after Matthew Noble have guides of £800-1200 apiece.
Rolex Submariner wristwatch bought new in 1967 – estimate £10,000-12,000 in the Charterhouse April 8-9 auction.
This Rolex Submariner wristwatch was bought new by a sailor while serving on a ship at Singapore. The owner bought it for £32 10s in 1967 from the NAAFI having watched James Bond in the film Dr No wear a similar Submariner.
The owner has decided to sell after 54 years as it has become too valuable for him to wear. It is expected to bring £10,000-12,000 in the Charterhouse two-day April 8-9 auction in Sherborne.
“Our client bought the watch new for while serving as a Leading Aircrewman in the Fleet Air Arm. He recalls it cost about two weeks’ wages,” says auctioneer Richard Bromell.
The watch – a dial variant - comes with original Rolex green leather covered box and the guarantee, dated November 2, 1967.
Uncoloured mezzotint titled 'An accurate Representation of the Meteor which was seen on Augt. 18th 1783' – estimate £300-400 at Dominic Winter on April 7-8.
The April 7-8 sale of books and manuscripts at Dominic Winter in South Cerney includes, estimated at £300-400, this rare uncoloured mezzotint titled An accurate Representation of the Meteor which was seen on Augt. 18th 1783.
The great meteor of 1783 was visible for a thousand miles over north-western Europe. Witnesses reported that the meteor lit up the whole sky, with a letter in the Evening Chronicle recounting that its ‘lustre almost equalled the sun’.
This particular 8 x 11in (22 x 28cm) view – one of only a handful known – was recorded at Winthorpe near Newark upon Trent, by Henry Robinson, a schoolmaster, and published by him on October 14, 1783.
dominicwinter.co.uk or see this item at thesaleroom.com
This rosewood, ebony and brass marquetry mirror (with detail also shown), c.1815, was supplied by George Bullock to Robert Ferguson (d.1840) for Raith House, Kirkcaldy. The MP for Fife and his new wife, the former Countess of Elgin, employed Bullock to transform their villa in the most fashionable antique taste. This mirror hung over a matching console cabinet with a marble top as part of a ‘pier’ set.
Sold twice before in London (most recently as part of the Christopher Hodsoll collection at Sotheby’s in 2002), at the Furniture, Works of Art & Clocks sale at Woolley & Wallis in Salisbury on April 20-21 it is now expected to bring £10,000-15,000.
woolleyandwallis.co.uk or see this item at thesaleroom.com
Oil titled verso 'Gwen John Courting' by Patricia Douthwaite – estimate £3000-5000 at Lyon & Turnbull on April 7.
The April 7 Contemporary & Post War art sale at Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh includes a number of works by Patricia Douthwaite (1939-2002), one of the true originals of Scottish art.
She is admired today as among the heirs to the Colourists (she was mentored by John Duncan Fergusson who suggested she did not attend art school) – and as a maverick who once broke into a house and stole back a painting from a buyer she did not consider worthy of owning her work. This 5ft x 4ft (1.52 x 1.22m) oil titled verso Gwen John Courting is guided at £3000-5000.
lyonandturnbull.com or see this item at thesaleroom.com
Metal-framed tile panel, c.1900, made for the Maypole Dairy Co – estimate £400-600 Canterbury Auction Galleries on April 12-13.
In her will the dealer Annie Marchant (1951-2020) – affectionately known as Breadboard Annie – left more than 300 items of kitchenalia together with a substantial financial sum to ensure its safekeeping to a British museum. The Jacobean Kiplin Hall in North Yorkshire was the successful applicant.
However, other items from her vast collection and stock (she was a regular at the weekly Covent Garden market and the summer Olympia fair) comes for sale at Canterbury Auction Galleries on April 12-13.
This metal-framed tile panel, c.1900, made for the Maypole Dairy Co, 2ft 9in x 3ft 2in, has a guide of £400-600.
thecanterburyauctiongalleries.com or see this item at thesaleroom.com
Pâte-sur-pâte vase by Wood & Sons with the facsimile signature of Frederick Rhead – estimate £80-120 at Bushey Auctions on April 1.
This 11in (27cm) pâte-sur-pâte vase by Wood & Sons with the facsimile signature of Frederick Rhead has a guide of £80-120 at Bushey Auctions in Hertfordshire on April 1.
busheyauctions.com or see this item at thesaleroom.com
Early 18th century repeating pair cased pocket watch with regulator aperture by Daniel Quare – estimate £3000-5000 at Cheffins on April 15.
The Jewellery, Silver & Watches sale at Cheffins on April 15 includes this early 18th century repeating pair cased pocket watch with regulator aperture by Daniel Quare (c.1648-1724).
Numbered 255 and dated to c.1700, this appears to be one of Quare’s early repeaters (chiming the hours like a clock), with only four earlier numbers recorded in the series. Three have sold for five-figure sums at auction with a fourth – number 108 – on display in the Time Museum, Rockford, Illinois, until its closure in 1999.
Estimate £3000-5000.
cheffins.co.uk or see this item at thesaleroom.com
Brer Fox an’ Brer Rabbit published by the Newbie Games Co of Annan, Dumfriesshire, c.1913 – estimate £200-300 at Thomson Roddick on April 15.
Brer Fox an’ Brer Rabbit published by the Newbie Games Co of Annan, Dumfriesshire, c.1913, is based on the 1904 US ‘Landlords Game’ – a precursor to Monopoly.
It was priced at a shilling and available from a Miss Clarke of Newbie, Annan. This example has a box with a topical pictorial label depicting Mr Fox as Liberal politician Lloyd George. At Thomson Roddick in Carlisle on April 15 the estimate is £200-300.
thomsonroddick.com or see this item at thesaleroom.com
