17/07/2010 Chiswick Curates
A significant consignment of lots collected from the Jersey estate of the well known West End art dealer John Appleby helped to create a mixture of lots covering a broad spectrum.
Notably:
Lot 23, a Louis Vuitton valise, for storing wine – four phone bids and a huge amount of pre-auction interest saw an admittedly low (£80 - £120) estimate rocket to £1,100.
Lot 57, a Franz Bergman cold painted bronze figure of an elegant shoplifter, with a removable ‘fur’ coat, showing underneath her concealing a variety of stolen goods including a string of sausages. This highly entertaining bronze soared way overestimate (£700 - £1,000) for £1,500
Oriental lots had a particularly strong following with two showing particularly strong interest
Lot 88, a Shibayama inlaid silver koro, this item is highly decorative, with four ivory inlaid panels inset into silver body. The koro is missing one of originally two peacock finials, but is otherwise in good condition. So often these items have extensive damage by way of losses to the inlay. Massive pre-sale interest saw an estimate of £1,000 - £2,000 eclipsed to a price of £4,200.
Lot 99, a Qianlong enamelled hexagonal incense burner. This lot had considerable damage, with several areas of loss including a hole in the bottom where someone had tried to convert it to electricity. Chinese enamel of this sort is rarely seen on the market so estimating it accurately was not easy. A cautious £700 - £1,000 saw bidding from all quarters and a final hammer price of £2,200.
Cameras
Two consignments of cameras, including over 50 lots from both Appleby and a private collector included a collection of twin lens Rolleiflex and a wide selection of photographs and related equipment which saw prices achieve levels from the heyday of film camera collecting. Interest here materialised with bidding strongly on the internet and several lots going to internet buyers.
Lot 104, Two vintage Rollieflex cameras – Estimate £300 - £500, sold £1,750
Lot 106, Two vintage Rollieflex cameras – Estimate £300 - £500, sold £1,000
Lot 133, A 19th Century French mahogany and brass camera by Lerebous and Secretan, together with a mahogany full plate camera. Estimate £550 - £650, sold for £2,100
Lot 138, An early 35mm cine camera in brass bound mahogany case. Estimate £850 - £950, sold £1,300
Furniture
A relatively small furniture section, with a few interesting lots – in the continuing trend here, of aiming for better, higher quality lots rather than low value bulk.
Lot 602, an early Bugatti square-topped stool, of Moorish inspiration, inlaid all over with other woods and brass pewter and ivory. Estimate £400 - £600. The conservative estimate was based on the poor condition of the stool together with the likely consideration that it was missing several elements including possibly some of its height, in a completely lacking frieze around the top. Price: £1,300
Lot 626, a giltwood console table, of debatable age (probably early 19th century), but with considerable restoration to the highly decorative rococo base. Estimate £1,000 - £2,000 Price: £3,100
Lot 630, a late 17th/early 18th Century japanned cabinet, with two doors enclosing a fitted interior with eighteen graduated lacquered drawers, on a later stand with cabriole legs. Estimate: £1,000 - £1,500. Price: £1,700
Lot 226, a Scottish school Arts and Crafts white metal and tortoishell mantilla hair ornament, mounted with cabouchon ‘moonstones’, abalone shields, and amber, together with a similar circular brooch in the style of Sybil Dunlop. Estimate: £180 - £250, sold for £3,200. This lot was clearly underestimated, but was, despite considerable interest prior to the sale not expected to sell for anything like the final price on the hammer!