George Formby kimono worn in comedy film South American George in 1941 – estimate £6000-8000 at Hansons of Etwall, Derbyshire.
A George Formby (1904-61) kimono worn in comedy film South American George in 1941 is for sale at Hansons of Etwall, Derbyshire.
The black and gold kimono, featuring floral decoration, has been owned for the last 20 years by 80-year-old Leicester man Derrick Pearce, a film extra and entertainer who performs Formby songs in local care homes.
He inherited it from his father, a fellow Formby enthusiast aptly named George, who bought it at the Beryldene Auction in St Anne’s, near Blackpool, in 1961. In this three-day sale numerous Formby items were sold following the star’s death at the age of 56 that year (Beryldene was the last home of Formby and wife Beryl).
The kimono – pictured here being worn by Pearce – will be offered in a music and film memorabilia sale on March 28 with an estimate of £6000-8000.
hansonsauctioneers.co.uk or view this item at thesaleroom.com
The biologist and biochemist Norman Heatley (1911-2004) remains something of an unsung hero in the story of antibiotics. He was a key member of the team of Oxford University scientists who developed penicillin – and the inventor of a technique for efficiently purifying penicillin in bulk – although he was side-lined when the patents were registered and the awards given.
In 1940, Heatley discovered that the bedpans he had acquired from the Radcliffe hospital were an effective place to grow the cultures of mould. He commissioned a pottery company to make 1000 square bedpans to manufacture the large amount of penicillin needed to conduct effective human trials.
A handful of these modest white-glazed vessels were saved for posterity. One sold at Christie’s in 2004, while another was recently valued on the BBC Antiques Roadshow at £15,000-20,000.
The example that comes for sale at Willingham Auctions in Cambridge on March 26 was given to the vendor by Heatley more than 30 years ago. It was inscribed and signed by the biochemist at the time.
Estimate £5000-10,000.
willinghamauctions.com or view this item at thesaleroom.com
This Great Eastern Railway marquetry inlaid coach maker’s tool chest was the prize in a raffle to benefit the widow of one R Sendall of Derby.
Tickets costing sixpence each were sold for the draw at the King’s Coffee Rooms, Shaftesbury Street, on July 29, 1904. The winner of the chest was EW Edwards, an employee of the GER.
The box and its numerous hand tools comes with a folder containing the winning drawer ticket and numerous GER documents relating to Edwards.
It has an estimate of £1500-2000 at Bishop & Miller in Stowmarket on March 31.
bishopandmillerauctions.co.uk or view this item at thesaleroom.com
Half-length portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds of Luke Gardiner, 1st Viscount Mountjoy – estimate £5000-8000 at Swan Fine Art in Twickenham.
This half-length portrait by Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-92) depicts Luke Gardiner, 1st Viscount Mountjoy (1745-98), the scion of a family that became extremely wealthy during the urban development of the north side of Dublin.
He sat for Reynolds in February and March 1773 with the artist painting two versions of this portrait. In a letter dated July 1773, he told Gardiner: “I shall send away your picture (the best of the two) immediately; the other I know is to remain here. I have forgot what place it is to be sent.”
One version was sold by Christie’s in 2010, with this one (reduced in size and re-lined) expected to bring £5000-8000 at Swan Fine Art in Twickenham on March 27.
Gardiner commissioned from Reynolds the celebrated portrait of his wife and her two sisters, The Montgomery Sisters, one of the artist’s largest and most elaborate portraits in the ‘Grand Style’. It was bequeathed to the National Gallery in 1837 and is now in Tate Britain.
theswan.co.uk/auctions or view this item at thesaleroom.com
St James’s Auctions is selling items from the estate of the medallist and silversmith Stuart Devlin including this portrait of Princess Diana estimated at £600-900.
London numismatist St James’s Auctions is selling items from the estate of the medallist and silversmith Stuart Devlin (1931-2018) on March 30.
The consignment of coins and casts offered in 48 lots includes items relating to a 1991 commission from the Australian Mint to design the portrait reverses for five coins marking the 40th anniversary of the accession of Elizabeth II. It was to be called Masterpieces in Silver – The Royal Ladies and featured the Queen Mother, Princess Margaret, Princess Anne, Diana, Princess of Wales and the Duchess of York.
All were worked from photographs that Devlin took himself at short notice just prior to a state banquet for President Mubarak of Egypt at Buckingham Palace on July 23, 1991.
This portrait of Diana wearing a diamond and pearl tiara, together with a letter confirming the sitting, is guided at £600-900.
Girl with a Flower by Daniel O’Neill – estimate €20,000-30,000 at Adam’s of Dublin.
Female portraiture is a common theme in Daniel O’Neill’s (1920-74) work. These figures with similar attributes, large brown eyes, sallow skin, and dark hair, are thought to have been based on his first wife Eileen.
This oil on board, Girl with a Flower, shows his subject in profile against a darkening evening sky. Purchased from the Victor Waddington Galleries, Dublin, by the mother of the current owner in the 1950s, it comes to Adam’s Important Irish Art sale in Dublin on March 30 with an estimate of €20,000-30,000.
adams.ie or view this item at thesaleroom.com
Romanesque-style carved granite mortar, made in Italy in the 18th century or earlier – estimate £1500-2500 at Summers Place Auctions in Billingshurst.
This Romanesque-style carved granite mortar, made in Italy in the 18th century or earlier measured 2ft 1in (62cm) high. At the garden statuary sale at Summers Place Auctions in Billingshurst on March 29 it is estimated at £1500-2500.
summersplaceauctions.com or view this item at thesaleroom.com
Gold and enamel pocket watch and chatelaine decorated in the Renaissance revival style dated c.1900 – estimate £1800-2400 at Chiswick Auctions.
The watches sale at Chiswick Auctions on March 24 includes this gold and enamel pocket watch and chatelaine decorated in the Renaissance revival style. Dated c.1900, it is guided at £1800-2400.
chiswickauctions.co.uk or view this item at thesaleroom.com
Le Opere, Campiña Romana (1871) by Spanish artist Ramón Tusquets y Maignon – estimate £120,000-180,000 at Bonhams.
Spanish artist Ramón Tusquets y Maignon (1838-1904) painted Le Opere, Campiña Romana in Rome in 1871 and it was shown the same year to great acclaim at the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes, Madrid. It was owned by two Spanish collectors before it was acquired in Brazil at the turn of the 20th century by businessman and art lover Domingos Demarchi, the great-grandfather of the current owners.
It leads Bonhams’ 19th Century and British Impressionist Art sale in London on March 30 estimated at £120,000-180,000.
Bonhams head of department Charles O’Brien said: “Entirely fresh to the market, Le Opere can lay claim to be the artist’s masterpiece and I am anticipating a great deal of interest from private collectors and public institutions alike.”
bonhams.com or view this item at thesaleroom.com
This George III harewood and marquetry card table in the manner of Mayhew & Ince includes a frieze centred with a female blackamoor bust and the inlaid arms of William Masterman of Leyton. At the Woolley & Wallis Furniture, Works of Art and Clocks sale in Salisbury on March 30 it is guided at £4000-6000.
Masterman (1759-1845) was a banker of Quaker origins who married Lydia (1756-1819), daughter of Daniel Mildred, a merchant of London. He purchased Leyton House from the Bertie family in 1788 which subsequently became Barclay Park. The banking firm of Masterman, Peters, Mildred and Masterman was based in Lombard Street, London, between 1779-1865.
A Pembroke table from the same suite was sold by Christie’s New York in 2005.
woolleyandwallis.co.uk or view this item at thesaleroom.com
Grand Tour architectural model of the Temple of Hera at Paestum – estimate £6000-8000 at Dreweatts in Newbury.
This Grand Tour architectural model of the Temple of Hera at Paestum has an estimate of £6000-8,000 at Dreweatts in Newbury on March 30-31.
Vincenzo Brenna (1745-c.1814) made cork models of the Paestum temples for the collector Charles Townley, while similar cork models at the Sir John Soane Museum are variously attributed to Domenico Padiglione (1756-1832) and Augusto Rosa (1738-1784).
However, this example is a fine modern copy that comes for sale as part of the Simon Neal collection of Grand Tour works of art.
dreweatts.com or view this item at thesaleroom.com
Australian aboriginal wooden Churinga shield – estimate £100-200 at Thomson Roddick in Carlisle.
The Carlisle Collector’s sale at Thomson Roddick on March 29 includes this Australian aboriginal wooden Churinga shield with incised zig-zag carving. Estimate £100-200.
thomsonroddick.com or view this item at thesaleroom.com
Victorian scrap album containing a series of more than 30 Chinese watercolours on rice paper – estimate £200-300 at Michael J Bowman in Newton Abbot.
The sale at Michael J Bowman in Newton Abbot on March 26 includes, estimated at £200-300, a late Victorian scrap album containing a series of more than 30 Chinese watercolours on rice paper.
michaeljbowman.co.uk or view this item at thesaleroom.com
The Bazaar of the Coppersmiths, Cairo by David Roberts – estimate £60,000-80,000 at Sotheby’s.
The Orientalist sale at Sotheby’s on March 29 includes The Bazaar of the Coppersmiths, Cairo by David Roberts (1796-1864). Inscribed and dated on the reverse Street in Grand Cairo Painted for George Knott Esq 1842, this is one of the earliest of a small group of important Cairo street views that Roberts painted in the 1840s.
A lithograph showing an almost identical viewpoint, but with a different arrangement of figures, formed part of the artist’s great 248-plate publishing project The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt & Nubia.
The picture has a full exhibition and auction provenance (it was first sold at Christie’s in 1845 after Knott, a prosperous wholesale grocer, died) and was purchased by the present owner in 1976. The estimate is £60,000-80,000.
The area known to Westerners as the Bazaar of the Coppersmiths was the Sharia al-Nahhasin (Arabic for coppersmiths), part of Sharia Mu’izz id-Din Allah, the Qasaba or the great ceremonial high street of Fatimid Cairo. The building most prominent on the left is part of the façade of the 13th century Madrasa of Baybars that was destroyed in 1874.
