Our specialists pick a selection of pieces from the forthcoming auctions: Design For Living, at 10am and Fine Interiors, at 2pm, both taking place on 30th November.
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From Design For Living, this gilt brass six light cast chandelier and pair of gilt brass twin-light wall lights (lot 46, est. £300-400 +fees & lot 47, est. £300-400 +fees) feature a golden pineapple within their design. Pineapples were a rare delicacy in Europe from the time they were first brought across from Guadeloupe by Christopher Columbus in 1493. They inevitably became associated with power, wealth and hospitality, and architects, artists and craftsmen used the pineapple’s exotic structure in gateposts, railings, weather vanes and door lintels, and in decorative arts the pineapple soon appeared in fabrics and furniture. The Dunmore Pineapple, a folly located in Stirlingshire, Scotland, has been described as ‘the most bizarre building in Scotland’. Its 14 metre high pineapple sits atop a hothouse originally built in 1761 for John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore and was added later to the structure on Murray’s return from Virginia, where he was the last Colonial Governor. Despite its size, the stone pineapple is a remarkably accurate depiction of the fruit, the architect is not known, but it is thought to be Sir William Chambers as he designed similar, finely detailed edifices at Kew Gardens. The pineapples in our auction are of a far more manageable size but they continue the whimsical tradition of the majestic Ananas comosus deployed in design and decoration.
From the same auction, lot 103 (est. £2,000-2,500 +fees) is a modern silver 3-piece condiment set, London, 1966, with a sugar caster en suite, London, 1968, featuring the distinctive bark finish of the silversmith Gerald Benney (1930-2008). Benney was arguably the most dominant British silversmith in the second half of the twentieth century. He was influenced by the clean, unfussy lines of modern Scandinavian design, and developed the ‘bark finish’ using a bent hammer, a feature with which he was to become synonymous. His larger commissions include the altar piece in Coventry Cathedral and five maces for English universities. With the season’s focus on the dining table and feasting this condiment set would make a stylish, eye catching addition.
And, lot 109 (est. £200-300 +fees), a 1950s gilt metal six light pendant chandelier, is designed in the form of tassels, with opaline white glass shades. We admire the clever idea to use the tassel form, more usually seen in furniture and soft furnishings, in order to suggest delicacy and movement not only through the length of the slender lights but also in the shades moulded to look like the ‘skirt’ of a tassel.
We have written about Paul Mount’s Three Pieces Suite (1976), (lot 133, est. £6,000-8,000 +fees), also from Design For Living, in an earlier blog article, view: ‘I like form for its own sake’ – Paul Mount’s road to abstract sculpture and this sculpture in bronze has certainly proved to be extremely enigmatic. We know it was purchased in the 1979 Spring Exhibition at the Penwith Gallery, St Ives, Cornwall, by the husband of the current vendor. With the assistance of some dedicated detective work by Jason Lilley, artist, curator and archivist for the Penwith Gallery, two images of an exhibition at the Gallery held in the era have been located. We think our bronze is possibly showing in these photographs, the distinctive outline of both pieces would certainly suggest Three Pieces Suite, but we can’t say for sure and so the work retains its mystery.
Moving to Fine Interiors, and continuing the theme of fine silver for the festive dining table. Lot 277 (est. £800-1,200), a pair of George II silver casters, by Charles Hatfield, London, date from 1735, and were probably originally from a Warwick cruet. The first Warwick Cruet comprising five silver items on a stand was made by Anthony Nelme in 1715 for the Duke of Warwick, and thereafter the design took his name. Hatfield was first apprenticed in 1711 and in 1715 was turned over to the Huguenot silversmith David Williaume, whose influence can understandably be seen in Hatfield’s designs. Silver made by Charles Hatfield is comparatively rare at auction.
From just over a century later, lot 283 (est. £2,500-3,000 +fees), a fine pair of early Victorian wine coasters by Joseph and John Angell, London, 1839, are richly decorated with scrolls and foliage, flowers and acanthus leaves. The firm of Joseph Angell & Son dates from 1811 and by mid-century Angell had become a highly important silversmith and jewellery maker. In 1831 John Angell, Joseph’s nephew, joined the business, and in 1837 Joseph’s son, Joseph Jnr, came on-board; at the time our wine coasters were created the trio were trading as Angell, Son & Angell from Panton Street, Haymarket. In the 1840s Prince Albert was actively planning the Great Exhibition of 1851 and Joseph Angell Junior made it clear that he had items suitable for the exhibition. His silver gilt tea and coffee service won a Prize Medal and was illustrated in The Industry of All Nations Illustrated Catalogue of 1851, the design was much copied and Angell’s original service was bought by the V&A Museum in 1973.
Also from Fine Interiors, lot 323 (est. £2,000-3,000 +fees), is a George IV carved rosewood library armchair the design by John Taylor. Taylor established his own upholstery business on Bedford Street, Covent Garden in around 1824, having previously been employed in the workshops of George Oakley. Approximately a year later, he published Upholsterer’s and Cabinet-Maker’s Pocket Assistant. The armchair is intriguing as Taylor’s related ‘Dress Sofa’ pattern was published in the February 1823 edition of Repository of Arts and pairs of similar sofas have sold at auction over the years. However, this November we are excited about this piece as it is the first time we have seen a library armchair in this design.
Design For Living, 10am & Fine Interiors, 2pm | Tuesday 30th November
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