4th JUNE 2009

 

Auction of Antiques, Collectables and General Effects on Thursday 4th June 2009 at 11am

Viewing Wednesday 3rd June 1-7pm and sale day from 9.30am

Thanks a lot for attending our April sale. Whilst the furniture was thin on the ground, we did manage to raise £750 for a very stylish Aesthetic movement walnut games table and we got away, at £200, the baby grand that nobody wanted in March! There were of course bargains galore, in fact I reckon I could furnish a 2 bedroom house for under £400 and that would include a TV and white goods. For an extra tenner I can throw in a lawnmower! The stars of the show were undoubtedly the cigarette cards at £1000, the military badges at nearly £2000 and the carved chess set at nearly £3000. All in all, a good day.

Our June sale, on the 4th, has really taken off. A call to a very old home in Chiswick has revealed an Aladdin’s cave of early stuff, particularly toys such as a pair of clockwork leather monkeys, games like child’s golf with clubs stamped Harrods, farm animals, games including Bagatelle, cricket, a toy roundabout, and, probably never opened, Puzzle Train numbers 1 and 2 published by The Great Western Railway Co., priced at 2/6d each. We are unpacking hundreds of boxes at the moment and everywhere I look there seems to be something interesting. I’ve just tripped over a dinosaur bone!! By me on my desk, I have an ostrich egg carved with Australian animals and mounted on a naturalistically moulded silver plated stand. There seem to be boxes of plate and silver, including silver fish eaters. In the jewellery there is a charming pearl and citrine necklace, gold watches – one by Longines – and rings.

Furniture this sale is definitely worth the trip. Whilst the majority is still to arrive, the Chiswick house has revealed a Regency double-sided bookcase flanked by Corinthian columns. It’s desk height. We have lots of ebonised carved furniture, English and Burmese, and a mosaic marble table on a metal column base, a William IV rosewood Canterbury, a Georgian mahogany kneehole desk, Georgian games tables, one block fronted, a great pair of tall narrow display cabinets, a Victorian carved triple-medallion sofa, a metal-mounted strong box c.1700, a carved ebonised settle, a Georgian bureau, early chests, good mirrors, a good two-pillar mahogany dining table, a baby grand piano by Alfonse Cordier, Bazeilles, two 19th century linen presses, a pair of Eastern carved hardwood thrones, and a huge triple wardrobe. As I write a call has come in to clear a penthouse of furniture in Finchley: its the best quality reproduction and includes a lounge suite that cost £14,000! From an Ealing flat there is a stylish desk and a good dining suite by Gordon Russell with original label. This same property also revealed a Swan sofa by Arne Jacobsen and a Fritz Hansen chair and stool, along with the best games compendium I have ever seen. It’s to die for, in a walnut box with brass strapwork by G Betjemann & Son and it’s all there! (Estimate £1500).

Paintingsin that property include O Bohmer, Gilroy (of Guiness fame), P de Claisade and Lucien Ruolle. Other pictures include circle of Tobias Stranover (1684-after 1734), an oil on canvas of two ruffs, a duck and a duckling, (sold Sothebys lot 72, 25.5.88), a charming print by Tadashi Nakayama, another by Leonor Fini, watercolours by H.A. Frances, John Lawrence, Charles Howard and Jan Korthals and a mid 18th century oil of water birds. Pictures will be an interesting section. I can see lots of porcelain, pottery and glass including good Doulton and a group of Lladro figures. Collectables includes the largest collections of cigarette cards I’ve seen in 4 large plastic storage boxes, loose and in albums, a large collection of football programmes, postcards and the usual stamps, coins, books and collectables like taxidermy are revealing themselves, and if you need a cooker, fridge or washing machine we can help you.