"One of the UK's principal Fine Art Auctioneers, with General Sales,
Fine Art Sales, Collectors Sales and Sporting Sales"
6th Feb 2012 - BIG DEMAND FOR LARGE AND SMALL AT 500-LOT AUCTION...
There were high prices right across the board at Lawrences’ recent Fine Art sale. Pictures and Furniture were on offer and the auctioneers were encouraged by the very large number of commission bids, telephone bidders and collectors in the saleroom. This appetite to spend money was reflected in the low unsold percentage (16%) and dozens of high prices. An etching of Waterloo Bridge by the celebrated war artist and printmaker C. R. W. Nevinson (1889-1946) made £2980 and a small but exceptionally fresh, characterful portrait of the botanist William Curtis by John Raphael Smith dated from about 1795 and made £5370. Two small watercolours by Archibald Thorburn, featured previously on these pages, made £10,750. Amongst the oils, a rare early work by Hans Bollongier of a peasant family in an interior was bought for £11,230 and a big primitive panorama of an 18th Century hunting scene painted on 1.5” thick timber slabs was bought for £6450 [see image attached]. Selling towards the upper end of its estimate was a fine view of Muslims at prayer in a desert, bathed in the pinky yellow light of sunset. Painted by the Czech-born artist Otto Pilny, this 1905 oil came from a East Dorset collection and realised £10,750.
In the furniture section, a 15” terrestrial globe upon a mahogany tripod was bought for £5370 despite having sustained some damage in the past. A 17th Century silkwork picture of a woman seated in a garden made £1910 and a massive iron Armada chest with an elaborate lock to foil intruders made £1850. A more elegant chest of North Italian cypress wood was decorated with unusual incised images of a child amidst serpents and vines and made £2740. A 17th Century walnut side table was thought to be of Flemish origin and made £4780; five George I walnut dining chairs made £8840; a pair of George III dwarf bookcases in rosewood made £2980; and a strong interest in the rugs and carpets section was reflected in the £3220 paid for a large Donegal carpet in worn condition.
6th Feb 2012 - COLLECTORS KEEN ON CARTIER AND CANTON...
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There were strong prices throughout the day at Lawrences’ recent auction of jewellery and ceramics. In the jewellery section, gold performed with predictable strength once again: a 111gram bracelet set with precious stones and coins made £2330 and an 18ct gold flat link bracelet exceeded expectations to make £2030. A good quality 18ct gold pocket watch by Lupton of Cornhill made four times its estimate to take £1790 whilst a beautifully elegant silver and silver gilt cigarette case by Cartier (made with the initials of Albert and Elizabeth, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth) made £1100. Jewels sold well, too, with interest focusing upon diamonds: a full eternity ring made £3220; a pair of diamond cluster earrings made £2860 and an impressive solitaire ring (1.92 carat stone) was bought for £7170. Another slightly smaller solitaire ring made £5370. An appealing novelty item – a diamond bee brooch – made £6570 and two Art Deco sapphire and diamond brooches also exceeded hopes to make £6570.
Modern ceramics and applied arts attracted keen bidders for Wemyss, Wedgwood, Royal Doulton, Lalique, Clarice Cliff, Royal Worcester, Moorcroft and other factories. A Chamberlains Worcester plate from Sir James Yeo’s celebrated 1822 service exemplified Regency extravagance: the painting of the crests and mottoes cost more than the rest of the entire service and resulted in a delay that meant that Sir James died in 1820 before seeing it all completed. It made £740 [see image 1321, attached]. Amongst items of Continental porcelain, a pair of Paris Deroche urns were bought for £1100. Oriental wares yielded keen bids: a large Kraak Porselain blue and white saucer dish made £2500; a good-sized (45cm high) blue and white lidded jar of the Kangxi period made £2150; a powder blue brush pot from the same era made £2620; and a pair of Cantonese famille rose vases took £1790. The day’s total was just under £270,000 with relatively little unsold.
6th Feb 2012 - Sales Results now on-line...
The Sale Results for our January Fine Art Sale and our Fine Art Book Sale may be viewed by selecting the 'Auctions' tab above, 'Past Sales' and then by viewing the catalogue. The sales results are listed next to each item.
6th Feb 2012 - Free Valuation Mornings @ The Castle Hotel in Taunton...
Lawrences Free Valuation Mornings @ The Castle Hotel
Weekly Valuation Mornings
Fridays - 09.00a.m – 11.30a.m
Friday 10th February 2012
Valuations with Simon Jones (Ceramics & Collectors Items)
A WARM WELCOME TO LAWRENCES’ CLIENTS, OLD AND NEW
Easy parking is available in the Castle Street car park which is adjacent to the hotel
For Further Information
Please Contact Simon Jones
on
01460 73041
23rd Jan 2012 - Latest Weekly General Sales Results on-line on our homepage...
Our latest weekly General Sales results can be viewed at the bottom of our homepage.
17th Nov 2011 - POLICE AND PISTOLS TAKE AUCTION BY SURPRISE...
The first day of Lawrences' 1100-lot Collectors' sale drew a healthy crowd to the Crewkerne salerooms which, in addition to keen activity on the telephones, live internet bidding and a slew of commission bids, ensured a remarkably high take-up with just a few unsold lots.
Variety was in awesome supply within the selection of militaria, coins and medals on offer. Amongst the first few lots, £4900 was paid for a Baker rifle with flintlock action. This 9lb gun was also known as an Infantry Rifle and was used throughout the Napoleonic Wars. A blunderbuss with a spring bayonet made £2390; a Brown Bess musket took £1670; a Deane and Adams revolver with a 6" octagonal barrel made £1250; a double-barrelled pistol by London gunsmith Reddell made £3340; and a superb cased pair of flintlock pistols by Tatham and Egg dated from about 1810 and exceeded their £3000-5000 to lead the section of firearms at £9560 (see illustration).
Appealing to a broadly similar market, medals attracted some determined bidding and highlights included £2860 for a Waterloo medal awarded to William Peet of 1st Regt. Dragoon Guards; another to Edward Price of 1st Regt. Royal Dragoon Guards made £4660; a Military Cross group to 2nd Lt E. Burnett who served in the Tank Corps in the Great War made £2980; an illustrious DSO and Military Cross group to Major I. Brady of the Northumberland Fusiliers was contested to £4060; and a Queens South Africa medal with seven bars awarded to Lt P. Jones acknowledged his conspicuous gallantry and the lot included his letters and diary (£4420). Top honours in this popular selection went to a group of medals awarded to H. P. B. Ross who served under Nelson on HMS Agamemnon and who twice received The Thanks of Parliament and the Sword of Honour for his services at Trafalgar. This group, resonant with famous names from England's great naval history, exceeded its £4000-5000 estimate to take £10,390.
From a near sell-out of collectable coins, a Queen Anne gold guinea from 1713 was bought for £1610 whilst a far earlier collection of 25 assorted coins dug up at Karnak in Egypt in c.1930 included examples dating back to the reign of Emperor Theodosius (379-395AD) and the lot made £620.
One of the surprise successes was the rapturous enthusiasm shown by collectors for a vast collection of police badges and helmet plates from constabularies as varied as Bedfordshire and Barbados, Malaya and the Metropolitan, Grenada and Glasgow, Barnsley and Burma, Nottinghamshire and Nigeria. The collection was divided into 114 lots and realised over £41,000 with all the proceeds going to charity.
17th Nov 2011 - AMBER CUP GETS THE GREEN LIGHT...
An exceptional cup, over 300 years old and of the utmost delicacy, proved to be the star lot on the first day of Lawrences' huge 2800-lot autumn Fine Art sale this week.
The cup, 21cm high with a 13cm diameter bowl, was carved from warm golden amber and decorated with panels of floral scrolls, alternating with male and female portraits above swags of fruit. The stem was carved as a figure of a kneeling man and the foot and the rim were mounted with silvergilt.
Such cups are very scarce and most were made in Konigsberg in the mid-late 17th Century. Similar examples were traced to the Waddesdon Bequest in the British Museum and an example in the Grunes Gewolbe, Dresden, has been ascribed to the maker Jacob Heise (who flourished in Konigsberg from 1654-1663).
"This cup had been in the possession of the Bailward family at Horsington Manor, near Templecombe, Somerset, since the 19th Century and, despite the bowl and stem being separated from the foot, collectors were very eager to bid," said Lawrences' director Anthony Kilroy, who had carefully researched the item. The estimate of £15000-20000 acknowledged the damage as well as the rarity.
"Over a dozen telephone lines were reserved for it," commented Anthony after the sale. "After a lengthy tussle on the telephones between British and Continental dealers and collectors alike, the cup was bought by a British dealer for £210,000*."
*Hammer price. Buyer's premium is 19.5%
17th Nov 2011 - Auctioneers Top and Tail 2011 With Bumper Sales...
Lawrences in Crewkerne have reported another outstanding month of auctions. “We are delighted to have achieved some remarkable results in the last month,” says the firm’s Managing Director, Helen Carless. “Buyers have spent over £2.1 million with us in the last four weeks alone and we began the year with a similarly strong results for our sales in January. All our auctions in 2011 have indicated a surprisingly strong demand in the marketplace.”
Mrs Carless ascribes the firm’s successes to a combination of the valuers’ astute assessment of buyers’ tastes in a changing market, the ability to source and sell items of strong commercial appeal and a dedicated team of specialists and support staff. “Our specialists offer over 300 years of combined expertise,” says Mrs Carless. “It has enabled us to sell with great success items as diverse as a 17th Century amber goblet (£250,000), a silver model of a falcon (£20,500) and a superb concertina by C. Jeffries (£4060).”
However, that £2.1million has not just come from the firm’s high-profile catalogued auctions. “In addition, our hugely popular weekly general sales have generated over £190,000 this last month. To have offered well over 3000 lots in just those general auctions in just four weeks reflects the volume of goods coming into Lawrences day in and day out. We shall sell well in excess of 50,000 lots this year. Prices start at as little as £25 so we can appeal to all levels of the market and that has proved to be a vital part of our triumphs every year.” The auctioneers are inviting entries for all their forthcoming auctions and can be contacted on 01460 73041.
Image attached: Victorian silver model of a Gyr Falcon by Messrs Reily and Storer, 1846, 46cm high, bought for £20,500 in October 2011
17th Nov 2011 - CONCERTINA HITS A HIGH NOTE...
The bi-annual Collectors Sale at Lawrences Auctioneers of Crewkerne attracted huge interest last week with strong bidding from the UK and overseas. Amongst the highlights was an early Jeffries concertina, probably the premier maker of fine concertinas in the 19th Century. The concertina’s appeal squeezed bids from collectors as high as £4060 (see image). Notable amongst a good selection of other more conventional musical instruments was a Buthod Luthier French Violin at £2740 and a Hawkes & Son Violin at £710.
Other highlights included an early game counter for keeping stock of a day’s shoot (£2090); a traditional `grocer’s shop` advertising stand for Carrs Biscuits for a neatly nostalgic storage solution (£1190); a collection of OO-gauge model trains from a local collector that chugged up to £7760; a fine quality tiger skin (£2620) alongside the beautifully coloured shell of a huge Loggerhead Turtle (£2270) and some early walrus tusks (£1490); a collection of early Britains figures of military figures that marched up to £3220; a meticulously finished scratch-built model locomotive (£2620); a collection of hunt buttons for the well-dressed sportsman (£740); a cricket bat signed by the legendary Sir Don Bradman (£710); a collection of early magic lantern slides (£690); a set of silver menu holders in the form of dogs (£830); a bronze of a bloodhound by Paul Troubetzkoy (1866-1938) at £2150; and a 19th Century dolls’ house at £780 that would have caught the eye of anyone who also liked the small pine Noah’s Ark with a good complement of figures and animals (£470).
Lawrences are now excepting entries for their Spring Collectors Sale.
17th Nov 2011 - COLLECTION OF MATCHBOX CARS TO BE SOLD
A lovely collection of Matchbox model cars are to be sold by Lawrences of Crewkerne. Entered for sale by a client in Chard, it includes over 60 boxed Cars, Military Vehicles, and other items, most of which date to the 1950's and 1960's. The items have been very well looked after and boxes and models are generally in very good condition.
Lawrences Auctioneer Simon Jones said, "This is a super collection which has been put together by a gentleman over many years. Toys such as Model cars, Trains, and Dolls continue to be extremally popular in auction, and always attract alot of interest from Collectors"
The Matchbox Cars will be sold in Lawrences Spring Collectors Sale, for further details please contact Simon Jones on 01460 73041
31st Oct 2011 - Silver Soars in Sensational Sale...
Lawrences in Crewkerne offered nearly 1500 lots of silver and vertu over two days last week and some enthusiastic bidding yielded over £900,000 towards the week's total of over £1.6 million.
Highlights were many: one unexpected price was for a rare`cannon-handled` serving spoon by Anthony Nelme which dated from 1686. The unusual design pushed bids to a remarkable £13,800 (estimate £2500-3000). A rare Charles I stump top spoon, c.1625-1630, took £9800; a suite of six spoons by Jeremy Johnson and Daniel Cary dated from 1630-1652 and made a mid-estimate £7100; a Guild of Handicrafts green glass inkwell with silver mounts made £2300; and a fine quality Chinese tea set from c.1900 more than doubled expectations to take £6200.
Two very different bird-related lots ruffled the feathers of excited collectors. A Victorian novelty inkstand in the form of a long-eared owl flew up to £4700. This was dwarfed by a mighty 18" high cast model of a Gyr falcon upon a bronze base by Messrs Reily and Storer that dated from 1846. The silver alone in this lot weighed 99oz and it soared above its £8000-12000 estimate to make £20,500 (see image). Ounce for ounce, though, top honours went to an exquisite Victorian nutmeg grater in the form of a strawberry. It was just 1.5" long and weighed 0.6oz but was gobbled up at £7170: that's just under £12,000 per ounce.
This tiny item set the tone for the following day when the auctioneers offered a collection of novelty silver that included many similarly small items of superb quality and design. Gordon Bramah made his first purchase in 1983 and amassed 800 lots of rare and intriguing silver: amidst a mass of four-figure prices in the auction, top lots included a William III counter box with 36 engraved counters (£4400); a Charles II `penner` for holding quills, c.1670-1680 (£4300); a French pocket dial from c.1730-1750 (£3500); a rare box-shaped nutmeg grater (£7800); a pocket `game` counter for recording kills on a day's shoot (£5600); a George III Irish snuff boxby Joseph Gibson of Cork (£3700); and another from 1805 commemorating Nelson's death at Trafalgar (£5600). All fitted easily in the palm of a hand but one of the smallest items of all was a tiny stamp case, its cover little bigger than the sixpenny lilac stamp that adorned it. It was under 1.5" long and weighed barely half an ounce but was bought for just a few pounds under £900.
31st Oct 2011 - Diamonds Still in Sparkling Form...
An 800-lot selection of jewellery and ceramics, offered recently at Lawrences in Crewkerne, produced a wealth of strong bidding and high prices. With diamonds and gold continuing to perform well, top honours went to a pair of diamond stud earrings, the stones weighing approximately 4.03 carats in total: they made £9560. A diamond two stone crossover ring doubled expectations to make £6690 and a 1.2 carat solitaire ring with a baguette-cut diamond upon each shoulder made £4660. A two row graduated necklace was composed of cultured and natural pearls and made over three times its estimate at £4420, whilst a carved shell cameo bracelet made £3340 and a superb keyless Swiss minute repeating pocket watch made a mid-estimate £4300.
Top lot in a well-received selection of Decorative Arts was a `Ceylan` vase by Lalique decorated with parakeets in distinctive opalescent and frosted glass (£4300). A Liberty Arts and Crafts mantel clock in a domed pewter case and with an enamelled copper dial made £1050 and a Doulton Lambeth `tyg` (a large three-handled cylindrical mug), decorated by Edgar Wilson and Mary Aitken was bought for £1050.
Amongst the other ceramics, a pair of Meissen tea bowls and saucers were bought for £2270 and a first period Worcester guglet and basin in the Willow Bridge Fisherman pattern made £810. Oriental works of art continue to sell keenly when rarity and flawless condition come together in a beautifully made piece: a 13-inch piece of carved bamboo depicting Shou Lao made £1790; a Qianlong blue and white charger made £2980; a Kangxi famille verte bowl decorated with a cavalry skirmish fought its way to £4060; a barrel seat painted with fruiting pomegranate and exotic birds made £4300; and a large famille rose vase of onion shape painted in a glorious turquoise green, possibly Jiaqing (1760-1820), made £2980 (see image).
A set of four Chinese hardwood panels with intricate carving were framed together within a hardwood frame. It was the frame that proved to be the greater attraction as it was made of the rare zitan wood. Zitan is extremely scarce because it is unusually slow growing. It is a pale purple colour in its natural state and so was reserved for imperial items only in the Qing dynasty. It is also very dense (it sinks in water) and its hardness means that it can be finely carved. The panels in their 26 by 38-inch zitan frame made just under £11,000 to end the day on a high note.
31st Oct 2011 - Clock Makes Striking Price...
The final day of Lawrences’ enormous, 2800-lot Autumn Fine Art sale in Crewkerne saw a further plethora of high prices. The sale began with pictures and prints: highlights included £3940 for two Elisabeth Frink prints of owls; £5370 for two rare lots of Edward Wadsworth prints, no examples of which had appeared at auction for over 20 years; £5000 for a small watercolour of Assouan on the Nile by Edward Lear; £20,000 for two watercolours by John Piper from his rare, earlier period in the 1930’s and 1940’s; £35,250 for two oils by Edouard Cortes of French landscape scenes from a Bristol vendor; and £26,200 for the impressively decorative 17th Century still life that adorned the front cover, by an artist in the style of Abraham Brueghel (1631-1690). A fine view of Newlyn by the little-known Robert Borlase Smart set a new high for the artist’s work when it was contested to £7400. There was under 15% unsold.
In the subsequent selection of clocks, an ebonised and brass mounted bracket clock by Samuel Mortlock of Clapham made £7520 (see illustration); a chronometer by McGregor and Co of Glasgow, Liverpool and London made £6090; and a fine stick barometer by R. Adie of Liverpool made £5610. Other highlights from the furniture section included an Indian teak table box (£2620); a painted plaster bust of Machiavelli (£3100); a collection of moths and butterflies contained in 20 drawers of a mahogany cabinet (£2740); a George III oak dresser (£3580); a mahogany breakfront sideboard from the same era (£7880); a George I burr walnut chest of drawers (£7400); and a large Chinese-pattern carpet, possibly woven in Persia (£4660). The day’s total exceeded £450,000.
16th Aug 2011 - Stars of BBCs Dragons Den at Lawrences...
Lawrences's saleroom in Crewkerne was filled to capacity on August 5th when the auctioneers moved their usual Wednesday sale to a Friday in order to accommodate the BBC's "Antiques Road Trip". Theo Paphitis and Deborah Meaden, stars of BBC's Dragons' Den, were in town to be filmed at the auction in which their ten lots were to be sold for the benefit of Children in Need.
"Theo and Deborah had spent a few days scouring antique shops and fairs in the West Country and had bought items as varied as a George V Officer's sword, a painted ostrich egg of South African interest, an Art Deco glass bowl, a painted cast iron horse's head from a fairground ride, a beautifully illustrated book of "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and an ivory book rest," said Lawrences's Managing Director, Helen Carless. Viewers will be able to see the success of their local adventures in the autumn when the search for the items and their eventual sale is televised. Some made a small profit and some made a small loss but Helen felt obliged to remain tight-lipped about which Dragon had had the greater success. "Theo and Deborah really got involved in the atmosphere of the sale and were thrilled to see how their lots performed under the hammer," she said. "They were just as excited about the outcome of the sale of an ostrich egg or a sword as they would be about the successes of one of their business ventures on `Dragons' Den`. It was a pleasure to welcome them to Crewkerne."
16th Aug 2011 - Bidders Warm To Artic Rarity In Summer Auction....
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Lawrences' bi-annual book sales in Crewkerne are a well-established feature in bibliophiles' calendars and the firm's summer offering attracted numerous enquiries from all around the world. "The variety that we offer is part of the appeal and we had items in this sale from as far afield as Syria and Northern Canada," says Lawrences' specialist, Rose Sanguinetti.
There were predictably `British` favourites such as Lewis Carroll's `The Hunting of the Snark`: a rare first edition with a dedication to the author's friend Beatrice Muller was bought for £1910. H. Avray Tipping's nine volume selection of `English Homes` published between 1921 and 1937 went just over its top estimate to make £1490. Ninety six volumes of the `New Naturalist` series were just 20-25 years old but exceeded their estimate of £2500-3000 to make £6690.
A large (153 x 82cm) manuscript map of Glapthorne in Northamptonshire was drawn by John Hawsted in 1614 and it would have been commissioned by the Brudenell family. It was bought for £5730. Some correspondence from The Duke of Wellington in 1827 made £860 whilst a rare signed photograph of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor at a fete in Paris in November 1937 made £290. John and Emanuel Bowen's `Britannia Depicta` dated from 1751 and contained 273 road maps; it made £1850.
Scarcer volumes of international or historical appeal caught the eyes of collectors, such as John Leyden's `On the Languages and Literature of the Indo-Chinese Nations` from 1807. It came from the esteemed Sotheby library at Ecton Hall, Northants and made £1970. Two late 19th Century photograph albums comprising 84 images of Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Jerusalem and elsewhere by Felix Bonfils drew bids from foreign collectors to make £1310. These gave a hint of warmer climes but, ironically, it was a book printed within the Arctic Circle in 1853 that drew the hottest bids on a warm July day. No fewer than eight collectors booked telephone lines to bid for the slim 24-page pamphlet detailing events aboard Admiral Collinson's HMS Enterprise during its search for Sir John Franklin's tragic lost 1850 expedition to find the elusive North West Passage (see illustration). Printed on board the Enterprise by the ship's coxswain Henry Hester on thin sheets of green Chinese paper, the booklet was tucked inside another book printed in 1889. "It is not only a very rare book but it was in exceptional condition," said Rose. "It might not have been touched for 120 years." After some spirited bidding and some determined perseverance above £10,000, the lot was bought for £17,920 to yield the day's highest price.
2nd Aug 2011 - Collectors Chase Chess Set and Canaletto....
The final day of Lawrences' Fine Art auction attracted a room full of bidders and collectors for the 500 lots on offer and there were dozens of strong prices to dispel any fears about a weak market in these straitened times.
A collection of charming etchings and drawings by the celebrated artist Eileen Soper made £6800 and a good impression of C. R. W. Nevinson's 1918 etching of "Ebb Tide, Rye" made £1790.
A very rare scrap of a drawing by the acclaimed architect Sir Charles Barry, showing his plans for the extensions at Chatsworth House in the late 1820's, made £1120 and two drawings by Norman Cornish attracted keen interest from the North East of England to make £4300 whilst a beautifully atmospheric watercolour view of Paris by Edward Seago was bid to £4540.
Highlights in the oil paintings included an extremely elegant portrait from the studio of Sir Peter Lely, possibly depicting the Duchess of Portsmouth or the Countess of Nottingham. This was secured for £43000 whilst the front cover illustration of a fine view on the Grand Canal in Venice by a follower of Canaletto was bought for £78,800 against an estimate of £30,000-50,000. Four 16th- and 17th Century portraits from Conishead Priory totalled £23,780 whilst a more informal 1880's portrait of a winsome young lady in a coral dress by Gustave Jean Jacquet was bought for £8360 after keen interest from private collectors. A superb trompe l'oeil depiction of delftware on a shelf by Clifford John Harrison made £3580.
Amongst the furniture and works of art, two lots of pewter made a total of £8000 and a superb quality Indian ivory chess set, retrieved from a humble battered shoebox in a cupboard, made a remarkable £17,200 (see illustration). An elegantly proportioned George III mahogany serving table made £4780, a giltwood looking glass with pierced foliate scrolls adorned with putti made £2620, a Regency rosewood side cabinet made £3940 and a room-size Donegal carpet with some badly worn patches and signs of having been cut nonetheless made £8960. The day's total was a little over £430,000.
2nd Aug 2011 - Jewellery & Ceramics Auction Got Off To A Flying Start...
Lawrences' recent auction of jewellery and ceramics in Crewkerne got off to a flying start with keen bidding that ensured that there were just 16 unsold lots amongst the first 120 on offer. Prices for gold and diamonds remain buoyant in these testing economic times and similar strengths were maintained throughout the sale. Cartier was in conspicuous demand: a pair of gold stirrup cufflinks made £1790; a small brooch modelled as a dog with sapphire eyes was snapped up for £1850; a gem set gold brooch in the form of a golfer found a `hole in one` at £1070; and an elegant ruby and diamond dress clip more than doubled expectations to make £3220.
Diamonds all sparkled appealingly and a cluster ring made £3220; a pair of 2-carat stud earrings made £3340; and a Victorian brooch pendant made £1790. A single row natural pearl necklace made £5010 and an exquisitely stylish Art Deco diamond ring was set with an emerald-cut sapphire of glorious colour: it made £5250.
In the Ceramics section, a Macintyre Moorcroft Florian vase from 1900-1902 was bought for £950. The exceptional vigour of the Oriental market was reflected in the £12180 paid for a pair of famille rose dishes of the Qianlong period (1736-1796) in a rare 10-inch square shape (see image). A Chinese vase moulded in low relief and painted with the Eight Horses of Mu Wang took £7400; a blue and white vase with a flared neck and a waisted baluster body made £3460; and a rare blue and white `kendi` (spouted vessel for holy water) of the Wanli period (c.1563-1620) made £5010. A grey jade box and cover modelled as a peach amongst foliage made £3820 and a suite of twelve famille rose custard cups took £1190.
Glass was also a clear winner on the day: a Lalique glass car mascot in the form of a cockerel head made £1130; four Jacobite glasses were bought for £1910 and another lot of three glasses; containing a 17th Century goblet with a funnel bowl upon a bold baluster stem, was bought for £4780.
2nd Aug 2011 - Remarkable Prices for Silver Items of Quality and Rarity...
Over 620 lots of silver and vertu went under the hammer at Lawrences in Crewkerne last week and the buoyancy of the market ensured keen competition for many lots with some remarkable prices for items of quality and, in particular, rarity.
The sale began with 175 lots of spoons, flatware and cutlery that totalled £138,000. Interest was focused upon good early spoons (a particular speciality for the firm's director of silver, Alex Butcher): £3700 was paid for a spoon made by John Edes of Exeter in 1580-1600, £2860 for a London spoon from 1577 and £3100 for a spoon made by William Cawdell of London in 1588. A hoof-end spoon from 1625-1630 was made by Robert Jigges and its rare design lifted its price to £1610. Spoons by Edward Sweet of Exeter (£3700), Francis Glanville of Launceston (£3940) and a Winchester/Southampton spoon of c.1675 made £4060. Top price was the £15500 paid for a very rare James I silvergilt decorated spoon by John Quick of Barnstaple from about 1610-1620.
Highlights elsewhere included £3340 for an unusual Queen Anne tea bowl by William Fleming (1707), the bowl of a Commonwealth period wine goblet dated from 1656 and made £3220 despite lacking its stem and foot, a beaker of the same period made £5970, a small circular cup from 1654 made £5500, a good quality Chinese rose bowl by Luen Wo of Shanghai made £3580, a Charles II porringer from 1682 made £3460 and a rare Elizabeth I silver mounted tigerware jug by John Jones of Exeter (1575) made £5970. A very rare German spice box and cover in the form of a bud upon a stem and a leafy base was made in Augsburg in c.1680 and was bought for £3340. A delightful little silver figure of a penguin dressed for a fishing, wearing a hat and bag and holding a fishing rod had green glass eyes and made £830.
A fine quality portrait miniature of August, Viscount Keppel was based upon a design by Sir Joshua Reynolds and made £2740 whilst a rare George IV silver pocket perpetual calendar and gaming counter made £1790. Maintaining the theme for novelty pocket instruments, a Butterfield dial (similar to a miniature sundial and measuring just 6cm across) dated from c.1700 and made £1970. The day's total exceeded £300,000
23rd May 2011 - Trains Steam Ahead at Crewkerne...
Lawrences two day collectors sale attracted strong bidding, in particular in a very strong railway section.
First up was a collection of scratch built engines and early trains, which had been put together by Ronald Cole in Cornwall. The collection raised over £12,000, highlights included two large scratch built 3 1/2inch gauge models, Princess Marina (£2200) and Mabel (£1100), and an early Bing locomotive (£500).
Also entered in the sale was a collection of trains formed by a gentleman in the Yeovil area, which raised nearly £8000. Models included Wrenn, Hornby, Bachmann, and many others which included a Wrenn Winston Churchill (£290), Wrenn Yeovil (£660) and Wrenn Lamport & Holt (£280).
Finally a collection from Gloucestershire produced a number of surprises including a collection of railway kits (£1000), a collection of Hornby 00 (£450), Exley model coaches (£410), and some Lawrence & Goddard coaches (£830).
Lawrences are now accepting items for their Autumn collectors sale, for further enquiries please contact Simon Jones on 01460 73041.
The image shows the locomotive "Princess Marina".
11th May 2011 - Doll From A Raffle Soars To £7880 : The Majesty Of `Victoria` ...
A rare Jumeau doll created huge interest at Lawrences Auctioneers of Crewkerne.
It had been won by a lady at a raffle some 60 years ago and had remained in the family until now. Known to the family as 'Victoria', the doll was made in around 1880 by the famous Jumeau factory and had been treasured so carefully that it was in almost untouched condition.
After a huge number of presale enquiries, the doll attracted a large number of telephone bidders and the bidding quickly passed the pre sale estimate, finally reaching a remarkable £6600 (£7880 with buyer's premium).
Lawrences Auctioneer Simon Jones said, "This truly was a wonderful doll. Jumeau dolls appear rarely in auction and when you do they attract a huge amount of interest from collectors. `Victoria` has given our vendors a terrific result and not many raffle prizes give pleasure for 60 years and then a huge reward like this."
5th May 2011 - Lawrences Jewellery Sales go from strength to strength...
Lawrences' jewellery sales in Crewkerne have gone from strength to strength in recent years and their recent offering saw sustained demand for those two perennial favourites: gold and diamonds. Amongst the 500 lots on offer, 168 of the first 175 lots found buyers with a gold bracelet, hung with seven sovereigns, showing the strength for gold by making £1730. A good selection of pocket- and wristwatches found private collectors keen to bid. An 18ct gold watch by Arnold Charles Frodsahm took £1240, an 18ct gold Constellation chronometer by Omega made £1730 and a handsome Rolex Oyster Perpetual Datejust made £2500.
A huge selection of rings caught the eyes of the ladies as their husbands browsed the watches: amidst a host of four-figure prices, £2980 was paid for a diamond five-stone ring with 2.2 carats of stones, a three-stone ring of similar weight had even finer stones and yielded £3100, a Victorian diamond snake ring with diamonds and rubies made £4420 and a sparkling Edwardian solitaire with 2.25 carats of diamonds took £6210 (see illustration). Towards the end of the sale, a Victorian diamond brooch pendant was bought for £4540 and the total for the selection was the department's second highest total ever after its triumphant sale in January.
In the Ceramics and Oriental Works of Art section that followed, a rare Moorcroft vase made for Liberty and Co in the Hazeldene design made £4540, eight Indian ivory erotic plaques with cavorting figures in athletic poses appealed to many bidders and made £4180, a pair of Meissen vases was bought for £3340 and a Japanese carved ivory figure of a farmer made £3100. Top honours in this part of the sale went to a matchbox-sized agate pendant from the Chinese Suzhou school. Intricately carved with a scholar, a tree and a waterfall amongst a four line script, it made just under £5500 against hopes of £1000-1500 and brought the day's total to over £280,000.
5th May 2011 - Silver Vinaigrettes & Snuff Boxes Yield Exceptional Prices....
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A superb private collection of silver vinaigrettes and snuff boxes yielded exceptional prices at Lawrences' auction of silver and objects of vertu this month. The collection, from a gentleman on the South Coast, comprised small items of superb quality and these two factors proved to be a winning combination.
"Demand for silver is at a record high at present and the bidders' determination reflected this" observed Lawrences' specialist Alex Butcher. "Beautifully made vinaigrettes seemed to be most in demand and the work of the early Victorian silversmith Nathaniel Mills commanded the greatest attention." One of Mills' desirable `castletop` designs with Bristol Cathedral made £7170; another of University Church, Oxford made £7880; and a Bath Abbey design took £7170 all against expectations of under £2000. The collection totalled over £107,000.
By contrast, an exceptionally scarce Jersey wine cup of c.1600 made £13,140 and a large prize-winning centrepiece by Christopher Nigel Lawrence, made as recently as 1970, established a new high for his work at auction by making just over £25,000. A large tankard by Sampson Bennett of Falmouth, made in 1735, combined quality with grandeur and made £8600. One of the smallest items in the sale, a Victorian vinaigrette in the form of a skull, just under 1.5 inches long, made £9320. The day's total exceeded £400,000 and there was very little unsold.
5th May 2011 - Recent Sale of Pictures & Furniture...
At Lawrences' recent sale of pictures and furniture on the final day of the Crewkerne firm's £1million spring auction, there was keen bidding on a collection of etchings of dogs by Herbert Dicksee (ten realised £4970) and a similarly good collection of etchings by Charles Tunnicliffe (fourteen made just under £7900) whilst a folio of thirteen prints of rural crafts by Harry Becker took £4060. Three fine watercolours of peregrine falcons by George Edward Lodge made £9900 and an interesting folio of works from the 1770's by The Hon. Charles Gore, comprising views as varied as Cornwall and Gibraltar, made £6450 with the proceeds going to The National Maritime Museum.
Foreign subjects were in keen demand: a watercolour of the Temple of Elephanta near Bombay ascribed to William Simpson made £3820 and two fine oils of Australian subjects by James Alfred Turner exceeded expectations of £10,000 to make £13,140. On a more tradtional note, two portraits of the 1st Earl of Ely and his Countess, ascribed to Thomas Murray and dating from c.1730, were appearing on the market for the first time having passed by descent in the sitters' family and the pair realised just under £6000. A restful hayfield scene by Algernon Newton reflected the summery mood of the day and made £4780 and a group of horse portraits from the family of a West Country equine vet were bought for £6680.
In the works of art section, a good mahogany thermometer by Berge of London soared to £3220; an ormolu strut clock in the manner of Thomas Cole doubled expectations to make £8600; and a delightful pair of carved marble squirrels just 8 inches high, formerly in the collection of The Marquess of Lansdowne at Bowood and thence by descent, made £13,140 (see image). Other highlights included a 17th Century oak mural cabinet, probably from Cothelstone Manor on the Quantocks, that made £7880 and £3580 for a George IV rosewood centre table. A small collection of Tunbridgeware items, made from rosewood and ash and meticulously inlaid with parquetry designs and topographical subjects, was in exemplary and unfaded condition. These thirteen lots were keenly contested to a total just shy of £7500 and helped the day's total towards £380,000.
4th Feb 2011 - Our January Auction Exceeded 1.85 Million...
The final day of Lawrences' January Fine Art sale witnessed plenty of strong prices and yielded the best total for a week of auctions in Crewkerne.
The day began with 300 lots of pictures and prints with strong prices paid for a collection of satirical prints by Gillray and others (£2500) and £2860 paid for a fine 1918 etching of "Ebb Tide, Rye" by C. R. W. Nevinson. Four Neapolitan gouaches showing Naples and Pompei had been looted from the palace of the former King of Naples in c.1870-1885 and were bought for £7400, despite severe mould stains. Staying in the Mediterranean, a small sketchbook of Maltese and Italian views made £9080. A postcard-sized ink sketch of Winnie the Pooh and Piglet by Milne's illustrator Ernest H. Shepard was bought for £8840 against hopes of £4000-6000. It had attracted coverage in the national newspapers, radio and the BBC's "One Show". A fine early 17th portrait of Francis Bacon in the style of Michiel van Mierevelt made just under £11,000 and a colourful view of a Maltese felucca (ceremonial barge) off Genoa by J. T. Serres made £16,130. This last item was previously unknown to scholars, having come by descent in the family who commissioned it in 1802. A 1930's oil of horses at Concarneau by New Zealander Sydney Lough Thompson had been spotted lying unnoticed amongst assorted pictures in the firm's general saleroom and, following some research by Lawrences' specialist Richard Kay, was bought by a New Zealand collector for £4300.
In the furniture and works of art section, a fine pair of bronzes by Canadian A. Suzor-Cote depicting two old pioneers in rocking chairs made £10,750; a walnut and floral marquetry long case clock by John Hammers made £5250; six simple rustic wooden platters, 25cm. in diameter, made £2980; and a rare Anglo-Dutch painted dummy board depicting a young child with a hobby horse made £23,300.
The highlights, however, were for good walnut pieces from the early 18th Century: a George I cupboard made £9800; a fine bureau bookcase from the same era was bought for £17,920; a card table by Phillips of Hitchin in warm rich colour made £28,680; and a pair of Italian commodes with superb walnut marquetry made £16,730. Top price of the day was for a George IV centre table in amboyna wood and calamander. Careful research at the V&A in London proved it to be nearly identical to a table at Strafield Saye, the Hampshire home of the Duke of Wellington, and the exquisite woods and superb quality contributed to the price of £90,800 (see image). The total for the day was £608,640 bringing the total for the week to just over £1.85 million, a record for the Crewkerne firm.
28th Jan 2011 - Best Ever Results for a Jewellery Sale...
Buyers on the fourth day of Lawrences' Fine Art week in Crewkerne witnessed some determined bidding for jewellery and ceramics and helped the Somerset firm to report their best ever results for a jewellery sale.
A remarkable cache of fine jewels that had lain forgotten in a bank until its re-emergence last autumn combined all the vital elements of a good news story: the West Country vendors were unaware of the value of the hoard; the quality was exceptional and the estimates encouraged bidders that the lots were too good to miss. The collection constituted the last 29 lots of the 300 lot auction of jewellery on January 20th and the least expensive item, an exquisite Victorian seed pearl brooch, exceeded its estimate of £80-100 to make £350 and set the tone for the collection as a whole. An Art Deco emerald and diamond bracelet raced beyond is £1500-2000 guide to make £6210; a tourmaline and diamond brooch from the same era made £4300; and Victorian pieces fared well with a diamond, enamel and gold bracelet (£5730) and an emerald and diamond brooch (£5370) selling well.
The highlights, however, were saved for the end. A "Belle Epoque" emerald and diamond ring took £17,320 against hopes of £3000-5000; a pair of Georgian ruby and diamond girandole drop earrings made £35,850 and the complementary brooch neatly matched that price, too. A Victorian ruby and diamond necklace from top Mayfair jewellers S. J. Phillips, offered in its original case, went beyond its £15000-20000 estimate to make £54,970 and an exemplary emerald and diamond necklace composed of fifteen rectangular emeralds surrounded by scores of circular-cut diamonds, offered with matching earrings, had also come from S. J. Phillips. The jewellers were determined to buy this lot back and bid determinedly by telephone in order to secure it for £119,500 against hopes of £20,000-30,000 (image 1608) . The collection realised £339,230 with trade dominating the buyers after outpacing some adamant private bidders.
Elsewhere in the section, a pair of diamond, enamel and gold cufflinks by Cartier made £5970; a pair by Louis Wiese on a hunting theme was bought for £5370; an Art Deco ruby and diamond ring made £5250; and 2.7 carats of diamonds in a three stone ring ensured interest up to £5970. The whole jewellery section totalled £513,000, a record for the firm for a jewellery sale.
Eastern bidders dominated the ceramics section. A collection of Persian ceramics, assembled by Mr Bonar Sykes whilst Head of Chancery at the British Embassy in Tehran in the early 1960's and offered as 16 lots totalled £21,170 with an earthenware jug in the form of a bull making £3100. Jade pieces saw some keen bidding and a model of a seated rat, just 4cm high, made £9560 whilst a delicately pierced bowl with cover and stand was bought for £5370. A pair of Cantonese famille rose vases, 60cm high, made £4540 and two blue and white Kangxi items made £5130 against hopes of just £2000
24th Jan 2011 - Terrific Successes in Lawrences 550-Lot Sale of Books...
Terrific successes in Lawrences' 550-lot sale of books, maps and manuscripts on January 17th started the new year on a firm footing for the Crewkerne auctioneers.
Amongst the many highlights was the £4300 paid for a much-loved first edition of Margery Williams' small classic "The Velveteen Rabbit", published in 1922 with illustrations by William Nicholson. The informal friendliness of such a book was offset by serious and determined bidding for topography both near and far: William Coxe's "Historical Tour in Monmouthshire" of 1801 was bid to £1020 and John Milford's "Observations Made During a Tour Through the Pyrenees" was the author's own copy from 1818. It was accompanied by two hand-written sightseeing accounts by the writer and this helped it to make £1970. Sir Edward Augustus Inglefield's "Chart Showing the North West Passage" was an uncoloured rolled lithographic map, 57 by 102 cm, that appealed to one buyer at £2330. From a warmer climate, an exceptional volume of Francois Solvyn's "Manners, Customs and Dresses of the Hindoos", published in Calcutta in 1799 and containing 250 hand-coloured etchings, was consigned for sale by a descendant of Sir Robert Chambers, a Chief Justice of Bengal from 1791-1799, and was eagerly contested beyond its estimate to take £33,400 after interest from three continents.
Two first editions by very different authors sold well. Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" of 1843 is very common in later editions but the rare first issue made £4300. Ian Fleming's "Live and Let Die" of 1954 is almost worthless in paperback if it is a late edition but the scarce first issue made £3820. Each of these was in line with expectations. A copy of Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own", 1929, was signed by the author and made £3340.
Books from the library of Anthony Pitt-Rivers, from a collection formed by his ancestor Lt. General Augustus Lane Fox Pitt-Rivers (1827-900) and later descendants, focused upon archaeology and anthropology but included numerous books on arts, architecture, children's literature, topography, tribal art, law, philosophy and many other fields. Sold as 108 separate lots, highlights included Inigo Jones's "The Designs" of 1727 (£3460), the rare set of Captain Cook's three voyages published in 1773-1785 (£9560), William Stukeley's "Itinerarium Curiosum" of 1776 (£1910) and Capt John Rutherford's translation of "The Principal Orations of Cicero" (£2390). The whole library realised just over £42,500, 50% above expectations.
However, the highlight of the day was the last lot, an exceptionally unusual manuscript map of North East America and Newfoundland, drawn by English "plattmaker" (cartographer) John Thornton in 1699. It had been acquired by Harold Fortington, a British businessman with American and Canadian connections in the 1930s, and was sold by the executors of his daughter's estate. Its appeal was a combination of rarity, quality, good condition and the desirability of the subject matter as so little of the coast of Newfoundland was charted at that time. The folded vellum sheet had been found in the attic of the daughter's house in Aberdeenshire and was bought for £203,150 against an estimate of £50,000-80,000 (see illustration).
24th Jan 2011 - Jewellery Hoard From Bank Makes Over £330,000....
A remarkable cache of fine jewels that had lain forgotten in a bank until its re-emergence last autumn combined all the vital elements of a good news story: the West Country vendors were unaware of the value of the hoard; the quality was exceptional and the estimates encouraged bidders that the lots were too good to miss. The collection constituted the last 29 lots of the 300 lot auction of jewellery at Lawrences of Crewkerne on January 20th and the least expensive item, an exquisite Victorian seed pearl brooch, exceeded its estimate of £80-100 to make £350 and set the tone for the collection as a whole. An Art Deco emerald and diamond bracelet raced beyond is £1500-2000 guide to make £6210; a tourmaline and diamond brooch from the same era made £4300; and Victorian pieces fared well with a diamond, enamel and gold bracelet (£5730) and an emerald and diamond brooch (£5370) selling well.
The highlights, however, were saved for the end. A "Belle Epoque" emerald and diamond ring took £17,320 against hopes of £3000-5000; a pair of Georgian ruby and diamond girandole drop earrings made £35,850 and the complementary brooch neatly matched that price, too. A Victorian ruby and diamond necklace from top Mayfair jewellers S. J. Phillips, offered in its original case, went beyond its £15000-20000 estimate to make £54,970 (image 1607) and an exemplary emerald and diamond necklace composed of fifteen rectangular emeralds surrounded by scores of circular-cut diamonds, offered with matching earrings, had also come from S. J. Phillips. The jewellers were determined to buy this lot back and bid determinedly by telephone in order to secure it for £119,500 against hopes of £20,000-30,000 (image 1608) . The collection realised £339,230 with trade dominating the buyers after outpacing some adamant private bidders.
Elsewhere in the section, a pair of diamond, enamel and gold cufflinks by Cartier made £5970; a pair by Louis Wiese on a hunting theme was bought for £5370; an Art Deco ruby and diamond ring made £5250; and 2.7 carats of diamonds in a three stone ring ensured interest up to £5970. The whole jewellery section totalled £513,000, a record for the firm for a jewellery sale.
31st Jan 2012 - HOT INTEREST EXPECTED FOR RARE POLAR BOOK...
An exceptional book, beautifully bound in its original maroon morocco gilt covers and detailing an heroic episode in Arctic exploration, is a star lot in Lawrences’ forthcoming auction in Crewkerne in early 2012.
“Samuel Gurney Cresswell’s eight prints and a chart, bound into the book of The Voyage of HMS Investigator, show with bone-chilling realism the valiant attempts of Captain Robert M’Clure to find the North West Passage across Northern Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean,” explains Lawrences’ specialist, Rose Sanguinetti. “Cresswell’s sketches were published in 1854 and record the events of 1851-1853 when the vessel became icebound during its voyage. M’Clure realised that the expedition was possibly doomed to tragic failure when men aboard began to sicken from poor diets. Cresswell was put in charge of transporting the invalids across the ice to the safety of Henry Kellett’s ship that lay a full 160 miles away. Remarkably, he managed this without any loss of life and had only the services of an Inuit (Eskimo) interpreter to help him find his way across the treacherous floes and crevasses.”
The book has come from a the descendants of William Miles (1801-1887) of Dixfield House, Exeter. Miles was a local magistrate and eminent horseman who published authoritative equine reference works in the 1850’s. “No-one in the family knows quite why there was such an interest in Arctic exploration,” comments Rose. “But Miles selected his book with care for it is now rare enough to make £10,000-15,000 at auction.”
Lawrences had great success in July 2011 with a slim pamphlet concerning the search for Sir John Franklin’s lost expedition in the Arctic, also published in the mid-1850’s. This rare item was bought for £17,900 so Rose has a few keen collectors in mind for this similar volume.
23rd Jan 2012 - LEATHER GILDERS TO THE ROYALS - COLLECTION TO GO UNDER THE HAMMER...
An incredible collection of leather gilding and book binding tools and equipment are to be sold by Lawrences Auctioneers of Somerset.
The collection was formed by the firm J C Player & Co, which was established in the 19thc and had it's main head office in Soho, London.
The firm serviced all the top leather goods suppliers in the country, with their main clients in London. Clients included the English Royal Family and European Aristocracy, Shah of Persia and Middle Eastern Heads of State, Indian Maharajas, African Heads of State, and Prime Ministers and Presidents.
There was also commissions for the leading firms such as Harrods, Aspreys, Dunhill, Smytheson, Swaine & Adeney, Harvey Nicholls, Fortnum & Mason, Claridges, and many more.
The London Office was closed in 1970, and Horace Player moved to Somerset and continued to work into the late 1900's. The collection includes many hundreds of tools, rollers, presses, gold foil, sample books and many other items.
Lawrences Auctioneer Simon Jones said, "This is an incredible collection, probably one of the best collections to be sold in recent years. We are expecting a huge ammount of interest from collectors and enthusiasts"
The collection will be sold in Lawrences Book Sale, on Feb 2nd. For further information please contact Simon Jones on 01460 73041.
13th Jan 2012 - Something Fancy From Nancy...
A fine example of the work of the celebrated Daum crystal studio in Nancy (France) will be in Lawrences’ sale in Crewkerne next month. “The factory was founded by Jean Daum in 1878 and it flourished throughout the Art Nouveau era, producing skilful and complex works with the pate de verre (glass paste) technique” explains Lawrences’ specialist Simon Jones. “After winning a `Grand Prix` medal at the Universal Exhibition of 1900, Daum’s glass became even more experimental and the designers used carving, enamelling and engraving to embellish their work. The Daum studio became rivals to the illustrious Emile Galle and became leaders in the field of decorative glass after Galle’s death in 1904.”
The example in Crewkerne is Daum’s “Groseille” (gooseberry) pattern and it stands 21 inches (53 cms) high. Purchased by the Somerset owner at an antiques fair in France many years ago, it is now expected to realise £5000-8000.
13th Jan 2012 - Bee Brooch Should Buzz at Auction...
Some fine pieces of jewellery are set to sparkle in Lawrences’ jewellery auction in January. There is a sapphire and diamond bracelet, formed with six oval-shaped sapphires each set with four diamonds and separated by baguette-cut diamonds. This is expected to make £8000-9000 whilst a diamond and cultured pearl bracelet from the same Midlands owner has a diamond-set clasp and is guided at £2000-2500. “Novelty pieces are always appealing to jewellery collectors and so we expect buyers to buzz round a diamond brooch in the form of a bee [see image],” says specialist Miranda Bingham. “It is set with cushion-shaped and rose-cut diamonds and has ruby eyes. It makes an eye-catching attraction at 5cm wide and is expected to make £5000-7000. A diamond solitaire ring from a local client is set with a brilliant-cut stone weighing 1.7 carats and we hope that that will make £7000-8000. For the less extravagant collector, a gem set ring is set with eight stones whose initials letters spell out the name `Victoria`. Obviously, it is the perfect gift for anyone of that name and it comes in its original box at £300-400.”
13th Jan 2012 - Bird Pictures Could Fly at Auction...
Two exquisite little watercolours give a welcome hint of spring in Lawrences' forthcoming Fine Art auction. They are by Archibald Thorburn (1860-1935), the fifth son of Robert Thorburn who was Queen Victoria's portrait miniaturist. Archibald developed a love of natural history and, under the tutelage of the artist Joseph Wolf, he illustrated `Coloured Figures of the Birds of the British Isles` in 1887.
"He executed some 268 watercolours for this mighty work and thereafter his reputation was secure," explains Richard Kay at Lawrences. "He later illustrated numerous sporting and natural history books, including his own. In his final years, living in comfort in a grand house in Surrey, Thorburn scorned the convenience of electric light in his studio and preferred to work by daylight or by candlelight. He claimed that candlelight obliged him to observe animals more closely and so work more precisely. Detail and absolute accuracy were always his greatest concern and these two watercolours, showing a wheatear and a nuthatch, are executed with meticulous care and are depicted actual size. They were drawn when the artist was in his late sixties and he never showed any sign of losing his skills, even in his seventies. As prices for Thorburn's very best and largest works now exceed £250,000, these two little gems are tempting additions to any collection at £3500-5000 each."
13th Jan 2012 - ARTISTS RESALE RIGHT (DROIT DE SUITE): AMENDMENT FROM JANUARY 1st 2012...
Pictures and original prints by European artists are subject to a resale royalty if the hammer price exceeds 1000 Euros. This has now been extended to include living artists and all European artists who have died since 1942.
The buyers of such lots agree to pay Lawrences this royalty and we shall forward it to the artists' collecting agents. The rate is 4% of the hammer price between 1000 Euros and 50,000 Euros and the rate then varies up to 500,000 Euros. The Euro rate of exchange will be based upon the European Central Bank rate on the day of sale as all invoices are issued in Pounds Sterling. Please speak to Richard Kay (01460 73041 or richard.kay@lawrences.co.uk) if you have any questions.
A list of the artists in this auction to whom this applies is detailed below:-
1473 Keith
1475 Austin (2000 Euros)
1476 Lord
1478 Wilson
1479 Robinson
1480 Knight
1481 Nevinson
1482 Nash
1483 Thornton (3000 Euros)
1484 Rothenstein
1485 -1491 Bawden. 1489 must make 3000 Euros to comply.
1492 Scarfe
1494 Noyer
1495 Vasarely
1518 Widgery 2000 Euros
1519 Thompson
1520 Stannard
1522 Stannard
1523 Stannard
1524 Stannard
1542 Hansen 2000 Euros
1545 Birch
1546 Birch 2000 Euros
1548 Mavrogordato
1549 Nash
1550 O’Connor
1551 O’Connor
1552 Morton
1555 Whiting
1556 Olive
1557 Southall
1558 Ardizzone 5000 Euros
1559, 1560 Fry
1561 Jeffreys
1562 Wakeford 3000 Euros
1563 Wakeford 3000 Euros
1564 Wakeford
1565 Wakeford
1566 Reynolds
1567 E B Smith
1568 Gorg 2000 Euros
1569 Bruce
1571 Knight 3000 Euros
1632 date of death unknown
1639 Gribble
1650 date of death unknown
1652 Darwin
1654 Atkinson
1659 Armfield
1660 Armfield
1662 Somerville 2000 Euros
1665 Gutahazy 2000 Euros
1666 Williams
1667 King
1668 Moroney
1669 Armfield
1670, 1671 Peterson
1672 Cuming
1673 Jack
1674 O’Connor
1675 Ovenden
1676 Lamb
13th Jan 2012 - Plenty of Pictures to Peruse
As usual, there will be plenty of variety in Lawrences’ auction of pictures on January 20th and the 210 lots on offer will include prints by artists as varied as Rembrandt, Edward Bawden and Victor Vasarely; watercolours of subjects in Scotland, Rome, China and Israel; and oil paintings by artists of Italian, Polish, Dutch, Czech, French, Irish, Hungarian and American origins. The largest picture is 194cm (76 inches) wide, the smallest just 10cm (4 inches) wide and they span nearly six centuries. A fine 1905 work by Otto Pilny (1866-1936) depicts Muslims at prayer in the desert. Despite visiting Egypt only twice in his 70 years, Pilny’s art was produced in Switzerland and comprised numerous skilful variations of Arab themes, painted in a distinctive palette of pinks and yellows. This example is expected to make £5000-10000. On a very different theme, a beautifully fresh watercolour of a Scottish croft with children working is by the collectable Victorian artist Myles Birket Foster (1825-1899). Found by the owner in a box of cheap prints in a Scottish auction room, this evocative and well-composed picture is guided at £7000-10000 [see image].
13th Jan 2012 - WHAT THE DICKENS? BUMPER AUCTION OFFERS SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE...
Nearly 2500 lots are coming under the hammer at Lawrences in Crewkerne in their first Fine Art catalogue of 2012 and the Somerset auctioneers hope that there will be sufficient variety and quality to attract a crowd of collectors. A pair of William & Mary candlesticks from 1690 are just 16cm high but are guided at £9000-12000; a fine Art Deco sapphire and diamond brooch is expected to make £2000-3000; a large Daum glass vase in the Groseille (gooseberry) pattern is estimated at £5000-8000; a pair of Oriental cloisonné enamel candlesticks in the form of cranes could fly away at £3000-4000 whilst a mottled jade celadon boulder with intricate carving could make £2500-3000.
Elsewhere, a fine watercolour by Myles Birket Foster could top £10,000; a set of five George I walnut chairs should make £3000-4000 and a Yomud Asmalyk hanging for a Turkmen wedding is estimated at £500-800. Alex Butcher, the firm’s silver specialist, selects a humble but early apostle spoon as his highlight [see image]. “It dates from 1513 during the reign of Henry VIII and will be of interest to collectors as a very early example of English hallmarked silver – the date letter system to identify the year of manufacture was only introduced in 1478 and marked pieces from the early 16th Century are scarce at auction,” he explains. For the more modest collector, a handsome bronze bust of Charles Dickens is expected to make just £150 – and 2012 is the bicentenary of his birth in 1812 [see image]. The sale runs from January 17th-20th and nearly 500 lots of books, maps and manuscripts will follow on February 2nd. See the whole sale online at www.lawrences.co.uk
13th Jan 2012 - Jewellery Set to Sparkle at Auction...
Jewels look set to sparkle again at Lawrences’ auction in Crewkerne next week. Estimates start at just £100 and there are hundreds of lots on offer, including appealing mixed lots of costume jewellery; wrist watches by Breitling, Omega, Rolex and others; pocket watches in gold and silver; scores of rings set with diamonds, emeralds and sapphires; bracelets, brooches and necklaces; and tiepins, cufflinks and dress studs.
Highlights include some fine pieces of Art Deco jewellery: a diamond double clip brooch, set with diamonds in platinum, is guided at £800-1000; a sapphire and diamond brooch should make £1500; and a Viennese circular brooch set with diamonds and a large sapphire is estimated at £2000-3000 [see image 1180]. The Art Nouveau style is well represented by an enamel and gem set swallow brooch (£5000-6000), an enamel winged scarab brooch (£300-400) and a pair of enamel and silver earrings by Liberty & Co at just £60-80.
Animals abound: there is a diamond brooch in the form of a monkey (£200-300), an enamel and gold horse and jockey brooch by Lacloche (£1500-2000); another gold and enamel brooch of a bird at a nest (£250-300), an emerald and diamond brooch in the form of a glistening frog(£800-900) [see image 1071], an insect brooch with moonstones for its body (£40-60), a gold pendant depicting a horse’s head (£200-250), a gold and gem set bracelet in the form of a snake (£1000-1200) and an enamel and gold brooch with a pheasant (£200-300).
A fine group of rings includes an Edwardian solitaire diamond ring, with a 1.92 carat stone (£6000-7000); a 4.62 carat Sri Lankan sapphire and diamond cluster ring (£6000-8000); and an emerald and diamond three stone ring (£3500-4000).
Finally, a silver and silver gilt cigarette case by Cartier set with the coronet for Elizabeth and Albert (later George VI and Queen Elizabeth) is tempting at £300-400 whilst a parcel gilt brooch by celebrated contemporary sculptor Philip Jackson is entitled “The Don” and carries a similar estimate to bring the sale right up to date. See it all online at www.lawrences.co.uk and viewing for the auction begins on Friday January 13th.
