Furniture attracts attention
TWO imposing 19th-century armoires and a splendid 20thcentury Mexican sterling silver six-piece tea service were on offer at the Westgate Walding decorative and fine arts sale in Sandown this week, as was an early 20thcentury revolving breakfast dish.
The Dutch oak armoire (R13,000) and the French cherrywood armoire (R11,000) were among some of the impressive pieces in the furniture section. The former has a shaped gable cornice with a raised centre carving above two shaped panelled doors, and the latter has a rectangular outset cornice with canted corners.
An outstanding piece in the collectables section was the 20thcentury Mexican 5,800gm sterling silver six-piece tea service with fluted ovoid bodies on circular bases consisting of a tray, hot water pot, teapot, creamer, sugar bowl and slop bowl. It sold for R31,000, one of the highest prices fetched at the auction.
More unusual was the early 20th-century silverplated revolving breakfast dish with fluted legs supporting an ovoid body with revolving cover, the type of dish well suited to the Englishman who, as social historian GM Trevelyan says, “was very much addicted to the pleasures of the table”. Victorian and Edwardian breakfasts were a feast of many dishes. The dish sold for R600.
In the art section, attention was fixed on a work by British artist Ken Howard, whose Grand Canal, Venice, a signed oil on canvas, fetched R72,000, the highest bid received at the auction.
A Country Life, an oil on canvas by Philippine artist Diosdado Loranzo, comes with an interesting provenance. According to a presentation plaque, it was “Presented to Mr Stewart Jamieson, vice-president of Theo H Davies & Co Far East, by staff and employees upon the occasion of his retirement, Mariba Philippines, January 2 1958”, (R7,000).
In the five-figure range were Adriaan Boshoff’s signed oil on board, Three Children in a Garden (R28,000), and Errol Boyley’s Forest, a signed oil on board (R33,000).
Other works of note were Christopher Tugwell’s Gum Trees in Landscape, a signed oil on board (unsold); Gabriel de Jongh’s Mountain Pass, a signed oil on canvas (R15,000); Frans Claerhout’s Seated Figure, a signed mixed media (R2,200); Isabel le Roux’s Wash Day, Cape Town, an oil on board signed and dated 1996 (unsold); Margaret Gradwell’s Still Life of Flowers and Fruit, an oil on canvas signed and dated 2005 (R9,500); and a Norman Catherine airbrush work, untitled, signed and dated 1973 (R3,000).
There was also a good selection of furniture. Yew wood furniture infrequently appears on South African auctions, but three handsome pieces were on offer.
There was an early 20th-century bureau with three bombeshaped doors (R4,500), a middle 20th-century bureau bookcase with two glazed doors (R12,000) and a 19th-century-style bureau bookcase, with an arched top above two glazed doors enclosing a shelved interior (unsold).
Incidentally, according
to Collins Concise Encyclopedia, the English longbow — which was used to good effect in the Hundred Years War against France — was made of yew wood.
Other pieces that drew attention included a late 19th-century oak buffet with a rectangular outset cornice above two panelled cupboards and open compartment (unsold); a 19th-century carved walnut buffet, a raised pediment above the outset cornice (R4,500); a Victorian mahogany extension dining table (R7,000); an early 20th-century rosewood kussenkast (R5,500); a pair of late 19th-century gilded armchairs (unsold) and 19th-century oak open armchair (unsold).
A 19th-century oak metalbound chest with a plaque “WG Roy Esq” sold for R8,000.
There was much to choose from in the collectables section. The items in this section included a set of late Victorian silver rat-tail cutlery consisting of 60 pieces by Walker and Hall, Sheffield, 1900 (R13,500).
Also on offer was a middle 20th-century silver salver with a presentation inscription, “To Capt TRJ Bishop of the Suffolk Heavy Regiment RA and Suffolk Fortress RE Territorial Army 1939”. The piece sold for R2,500.