Two Regency glass crown scent bottles made for the coronation of King George IV, English, 1820, £650 (smaller) and £850 (larger) from Fileman Antiques.
They are on offer from Fileman Antiques, which is among many dealers bringing stock relating to the royals as the Jubilee approaches, all offered at the annual event running in East Sussex from May 13-15 in a tent on the grounds of the Petworth estate.
Commemorative coronation items are not hard to come by, but according to dealer Adam Fileman such older glass items are relatively rare, these crowns particularly so.
“You get quite a lot of commemorative 20th century pieces but even for Queen Victoria you get very little. Earlier pieces would have been one-offs or adapted versions of existing designs,” he says.
Their production was limited in the first place and the passage of time has made them scarcer still.
“The crown is cut out, which involves actually cutting the piece of glass it’s made from. It’s particularly difficult and fine work as it is quite small,” Fileman adds.
Made in 1820 and thought to be the work of Apsley Pellatt, several versions of these bottles exist. The examples in question, a large one offered for £850 and the other small version available for £650, were part of a group assembled by a single collector for more than 30 years. Despite the time spent on it, her collection comprised only about 15 pieces.
“They have their own sort of market, but they might generate a bit more interest with the platinum jubilee coming up,” Fileman adds.
Arts & Crafts Cymric silver and enamel Coronation spoon by Archibald Knox for Liberty & Co, £2650 from Morgan Strickland Decorative Arts.
Other royal-related items include a sketch of the Lifeguard escort from the current queen’s coronation by Feliks Topolski, offered for £4600 by Sarah Colegrave, and an Arts & Crafts Cymric silver and enamel coronation spoon by Archibald Knox for Liberty & Co which Morgan Strickland Decorative Arts has priced at £2650.
A more oblique item of royal interest comes from Rountree Tryon Galleries, which offers an oil on canvas, The Night of King George V Silver Jubilee, 6th May 1935 by Peter Markham Scott for £12,500. The canvas depicts a brightly lit Buckingham Palace in the background behind two serene, silhouetted ducks. It has a royal provenance to Mary, Princess Royal, who purchased it in 1935 from the Ackerman Gallery.
Prepared for Petworth
Among the exhibitors attending the fair are Christopher Clarke Antiques, Richard Price, T Robert and Hatchwell Antiques. Newcomers this year include Justin Evershed- Martin Fine Art & Design, Karen Taylor Fine Art and Rug Addiction.
The fair is organised by The Antiques Dealers Fair Ltd, and this year 2Covet, owner of the online platform and the Chelsea Antiques & Fine Art Fair, is coming on board as the event’s marketing partner.
Organiser Ingrid Nilson of ADFL said: “We are incredibly lucky to have the full support of the National Trust, the Petworth Business Association and the local art galleries and antiques shops, some of whom also take a stand within our marquee.”
