A signature written by escape artist Harry Houdini when he performed in the Huddersfield Hippodrome (pictured above) is estimated at £600-900 in Tennants’ Toys, Models and Collectables Sale on December 15.
Written in an autograph book, the inscription and signature read Safe Bind Safe Find does not apply to the undersigned Harry Handcuff Houdini, Huddersfield April 6th 1911 my 37th Birthday and are accompanied by a small daguerreotype photograph of Houdini pasted to the top of the page.
Houdini claimed April 6 as his birthday, when in fact he was born on March 24. While theories abound as to why this might be, in a letter to his brother he claims that April 6 was the day on which his mother always wrote to him.
Houdini would frequently challenge local police forces to constrain him in cuffs and shackles, hence the inscription here.
The signature was collected by Sam Crossley, the stage manager at the Hippodrome, the grandfather of the vendor of this lot.
tennants.co.uk or see this item at thesaleroom.com
This photograph includes a George II painted side table in the manner of William Kent estimated at £3000-5000 at Bonhams.
On December 14 Bonhams Knightsbridge conducts a Collections sale that includes furniture and works of art from Stanley House in Chelsea.
The 17th century home belonged to Sir William Hamilton who constructed the drawing room in 1812 in which to showcase his casts of the Elgin Marbles. More recently, in the early 2000s, the interiors were devised by Nicky Haslam.
This photograph includes a George II painted side table in the manner of William Kent estimated at £3000-5000.
Mouseman Kilburn longcase clock – estimate £2000-3000 at Elstob & Elstob.
The Fine Art & Antiques sale at Elstob & Elstob in Ripon on December 11 includes a collection of Mouseman oak furniture.
This Kilburn longcase clock has a guide of £2000-3000.
elstobandelstob.co.uk or see this item at thesaleroom.com
'Wine Tasting' by Sue Macartney-Snape signed and dated 85 – estimate £3000-5000 at Dreweatts in a timed online sale.
Artworks that adorned the walls of Green’s Restaurant and Oyster Bar in St James’s, London are going up for auction in a timed online sale held by
Dreweatts of Donnington Priory, Berkshire, running until December 15.
The restaurant, which closed in 2016 after 34 years, was the creation of Simon Parker Bowles. As soon as it opened Green’s became the haunt of well-known diners such as The Two Ronnies, Michael Winner, Sean Connery, Margaret Thatcher and royals. Artists were also regulars, with some sketching on-site as they dined and others being specially commissioned by Parker Bowles’ wife, Carolyn, to create artworks that were to be admired while people ate.
Shown here, estimated at £3000-5000, is a 3ft 6in x 5ft (10.6 x 1.52m) pencil and watercolour titled Wine Tasting by Sue Macartney-Snape (Tanzanian, b.1957), signed and dated 85.
dreweatts.com or see this item at thesaleroom.com
A late Georgian scrapbook compiled c.1790-1820 is estimated at £300-500 in Hansons’ auction.
A late Georgian scrapbook compiled c.1790- 1820, including a multitude of engravings of strange and quirky characters, is estimated at £300-500 in Hansons’ auction in Etwall on December 14.
They include Mary Bateman, ‘The Yorkshire witch’. As for Mrs Mary Davis of Great Saughall, near Chester, the scrapbook states: ‘An excrescence grew upon her head which continued 30 years and grew into two horns.’
Shown here is ‘Mother Damnable, the remarkable Shrew of Kentish Town’.
Hansons’ antiquarian books expert Jim Spencer said: “Most scrapbooks I unearth are Victorian, dating from the 1870s, featuring cute puppy dogs, sentimental ‘chocolate box’ scenes and pious greetings cards. They always sell for a lot of money but they’re not terribly exciting. Georgian scrapbooks are quite different, with grotesque or bawdy caricatures, peculiar personalities, biting political satire, criminal broadsides and ballads.”
The album belonged to Stanley Austin, a notable author on artists and the history of engraving. The vendor is a descendant of Austin.
hansonsauctioneers.co.uk or see this item at thesaleroom.com
George II silver Bacchus wine jug by Richard Gurney & Co, London 1759 – estimate £800-1200 at Lacy Scott & Knight.
The December 11 Fine Art & Antiques at Lacy Scott & Knight of Bury St Edmunds includes the collection of the late Robin Butler, specialist dealer in antique wine accessories
This George II silver Bacchus wine jug, 19oz by Richard Gurney & Co, London 1759, is estimated at £800-1200.
lskauctioncentre.co.uk or see this item at thesaleroom.com
A 19th century carved walrus ivory and baleen amulet – one of two similar Inuit carvings each estimated at £4000-6000 at Woolley & Wallis.
This 19th century carved walrus ivory and baleen amulet, 3in (8cm), fashioned as a sea otter and her pup, is for sale at the Woolley & Wallis auction of Tribal Art and Antiquities in Salisbury on December 15.
It is one of two similar Inuit carvings in the sale each estimated at £4000-6000.
woolleyandwallis.co.uk or see this item at thesaleroom.com
View of Berwick-upon-Tweed by Leonard Russell Squirrel, probably a trial print – estimate £150-250 at McTear’s timed online sale.
A timed online sale of pictures and prints at McTear’s in Glasgow includes this colour poster-sized image of Berwick-upon-Tweed by Leonard Russell Squirrel (1893-1979).
This poster is usually found with a large title and the British Railways logo suggesting this is a trial print probably commissioned by LNER before nationalisation in 1948.
When bidding closes on December 15 a price of £150-250 is expected.
mctears.co.uk or see this item at thesaleroom.com
CRW Nevinson drawing which appears to be a preparatory study for the 1915 oil 'A Flooded Trench on the Yser' and a later etching – estimate £40,000-60,000 at Forum Auctions.
An auction at Forum in London titled The Best of British on December 14 includes a number of works by Christopher Richard Wynne Nevinson (1889-1946) from a UK private collection.
This First World War pen and ink drawing appears to be a preparatory study for the 1915 oil A Flooded Trench on the Yser and for the later etching of 1916.
There are a number of slight differences between the present work and the two later versions, most obviously the absence of the Hokusai-esque rain that cuts through the composition of both later works.
The work depicts the aftermath of the decision taken by the Belgian Government to open the dykes to the North Sea in late October 1914 in the hope of slowing the rapid progression of the German advance. The torrent of water flooded a 20-mile stretch of land north of Ypres from Nieuport to Dixmude.
Nevinson was in the area in November 1914 while working with the Friends’ Ambulance Unit.
Estimate £40,000-60,000.
forumauctions.co.uk or see this item at thesaleroom.com
Anglo-Indian sandalwood and ivory miniature bureau cabinet c.1780-90 – estimate £5000-8000 at Sworders.
This Anglo-Indian sandalwood and ivory miniature bureau cabinet c.1780-90, offered for sale at Sworders’ Fine Interiors sale on December 14-15, is typical of the export goods created in Vizagapatam.
Standing 2ft (61cm) high, it is decorated all-over with penwork scenes of English country houses, landscapes and birds set within deep foliate borders. Similar examples (this one possibly lacks its original pediment) are pictured in Amin Jaffer’s Furniture from British India and Ceylon (2001).
The estimate in Stansted Mountfitchet is £5000-8000.
sworder.co.uk or see this item at thesaleroom.com
Pair of Victorian drop earrings offered without estimate at Horners.
A private collection of diamond jewellery is to be sold by Horners in Acle, Norfolk, on December 11. It includes this pair of Victorian drop earrings, each set with old cut stones in gold, offered without estimate.
horners.co.uk or see this item at thesaleroom.com
Porcelain bust of a girl in a patterned dress by David Burnham Smith – estimate £200-250 at Bolton Auction Rooms.
On December 13, Bolton Auctions Rooms is expecting bids of £200-250 for this porcelain bust of a girl in a patterned dress by David Burnham Smith (1937-2019).
boltonauction.co.uk or see this item at thesaleroom.com
Tomkison cabinet piano in a brass inlaid rosewood case – estimate £1000-1500 at Piano Auctions.
Piano Auctions in Bedford is selling instruments from the Stanhope Musical Instrument Collection on December 14.
As the collection, begun by the late George Veness in 1987 grew, a workshop was established to restore and maintain the instruments. Most of the instruments were housed in the family home at Winchelsea Beach including this Tomkison cabinet piano in a brass inlaid rosewood case.
Numbered 97 and dating from c.1815 the fascia reads Thomas Tomkison, Dean Street, Soho, Maker To His Royal Highness the Price Regent.
The instrument, which has been sympathetically restored and is in good playing condition, is estimated at £1000-1500.
pianoauctions.co.uk or see this item at thesaleroom.com
Jaeger LeCoultre gilt metal and lucite mantle clock – estimate £500-800 at Bushey Auctions.
This Jaeger LeCoultre gilt metal and lucite mantle clock in the form of a flattened celestial globe has a guide of £500-800 at Bushey Auctions in Hertfordshire on December 9.
busheyauctions.com or see this item at thesaleroom.com
Victorian patent ‘clock’ gun – estimate £500-700 at Durrants.
A sale of militaria and firearms at Durrants in Beccles on December 10 includes this Victorian patent ‘clock’ gun made at J Hall’s Station Road Works of Wigton, Cumberland.
The weight-driven mechanism can be set to fire 12 pin-fire blanks on the hour. Its stated purpose was to act as an automated scarecrow with hourly blasts to frighten the birds.
Estimate £500-700.
durrantsauctions.com or see this item at thesaleroom.com
One of a set of three early 19th century watercolour folios by Heneage Finch, 4th Earl of Aylesford – estimate £5000-10,000 at Andrew Smith & Son.
A set of three early 19th century watercolour folios by Heneage Finch, 4th Earl of Aylesford (1751-1821), depicting fine and detailed landscape views including Packington Hall, Warwickshire, the surrounding areas and of Tenby is on offer at Andrew Smith & Son.
The saleroom in Itchen Stoke, Alresford, says this is the first time all three folios (one shown here) have been reunited since they were divided between the family, then by descent.
The estimate on December 15 is £5000-10,000.
A figured wood and satinwood lined spinet gifted by Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples – estimate £2000-3000 at The Cotswold Auction Company.
The Cotswold Auction Company is offering a figured wood and satinwood lined spinet gifted by Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples (1782-1839).
The piece was given to the current owner’s descendant George Hepburn and has passed through various generations including George’s niece Margaret Hepburn, wife to Sir David Deas, KCB, Inspector of Hospitals and Fleets in the Royal Navy.
Family legend has it that George was one of Murat’s loves in Trieste.
Caroline was Napoleon’s sister and married Joachim Murat, a general on Napoleon’s staff. Napoleon made the Murats King and Queen of Naples in 1808, but they eventually betrayed Napoleon and Joachim was executed. Caroline surrendered to the English after the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 and was kept under the dominance of the Austrians for many years, first residing at Hainburg then Frohrsdorf Castle, styling herself as the Countess of Lipona (anagram of Napoli) before settling in Trieste in 1824.
She went back to Frohrsdorf for a visit in 1828 from where she wrote the letter in June, gifting the spinet to George Hepburn, who was residing in Trieste (the original letter accompanies the piano). Various old black and white family photographs show the piano spinet in other family homes and a restoration bill from 1959.
Measuring 2ft 3in x 15½in (68 x 39.5cm), the spinet is estimated at £2000-3000 in the Cheltenham Christmas Auction on December 14.
cotswoldauction.co.uk or see this item at thesaleroom.com
A timed online auction at Eddisons in Scunthorpe features 'The New Toy' signed for Scottish artist Robert Gemmell Hutchison offered without reserve.
A timed online auction at Eddisons in Scunthorpe ending on December 15 features a hoard of art and antiques along with modern items from a Scottish farmhouse.
The sale takes place on the orders of liquidators of a failed company that had claimed it could produce green fuel from cow dung. The firm had intended to host potential investors at Harcase Hall in the Scottish Borders village of Swinton.
All lots are offered without reserve. This 2ft 6in x 22in (75 x 54.5cm) oil on canvas titled The New Toy is signed for Scottish artist Robert Gemmell Hutchison (1855-1936).
auctions.eddisons.com or see this item at thesaleroom.com
Pair of Grand Depot table lamps – estimate £25,000-35,000 at Kinghams.
This pair of Art Deco lamps combine René Lalique frosted glass shades and silvered metal bases reminiscent of a skyscraper by fellow Frenchman and renowned ironworker Edgar Brandt.
Measuring 21in (53cm) high, the Grand Depot table lamps were designed in 1928 and created just prior to The Great Depression for the Le Grand Dépôt à Paris, a luxury goods store on Rue Drouot. The pair were purchased back in the 1970s by the current vendor ‘for a nominal amount’ and come for sale at Kinghams in Moreton-in-Marsh on December 9.
Estimate £25,000-35,000.
kinghamsauctioneers.com or see this item at thesaleroom.com
Cased brooch with the crest of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers – estimate £200-300 at 1818 Auctioneers in a timed online sale.
This cased 9ct gold, platinum, diamond and enamel brooch with the crest of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers has a guide of £200-300 as part of the jewellery sale at 1818 Auctioneers in Milnthorpe, Cumbria. The timed online sale closes on December 12.
1818auctioneers.co.uk or see this item at thesaleroom.com
Early 20th century painted zinc crescent moon sign – estimate £100-150 at Bamfords.
This early 20th century painted zinc crescent moon sign, possibly for a shop or pub, is expected to bring £100-150 at Bamfords in Derby on December 9.
bamfords-auctions.co.uk or see this item at thesaleroom.com
Bottle of Hungarian Tokaji wine dated to c.1650-90 from the royal Saxon cellar of Augustus the Strong – estimate £6000-8000 at Fieldings.
Fieldings in Stourbridge is selling a remarkable bottle of Hungarian Tokaji wine on December 10.
It dates to c.1650-90, and is from the royal Saxon cellar of Augustus the Strong of Meissen porcelain fame. His cellars in the Dresden Royal Palace were filled with his extensive collection of the finest wines of the time.
It is thought that his Tokaji cellar was his favourite, filled with the most revered sweet wine of the time. The bottle bears a seal showing crossed swords and the letters HOF for hofkellerei.
Consigned from a private client in the north of England, it had sat on a shelf for the last 50 years. Estimate £6000-8000.
fieldingsauctioneers.co.uk or see this item at thesaleroom.com
The December 11 sale at Clare Auctions in Suffolk includes this jewelled gold and enamel open faced pocket watch by Jean-Antoine Lepine (1720-1814). It is thought to be have been commissioned by the French royal household between 1750-60 as a gift from Louis XV.
In addition to a fleur de lys it is enamelled with a female portrait that may be Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, better known as Madame de Pompadour.
Estimate £2200-2500.
