Coming up in September

 

Our forthcoming September specialist auctions include a fabulous selection of artworks, furniture and antiques – with over 60 lots coming from a distinguished single local estate, and a collection of rare vinyl, promotionals and acetates consigned from a former TV and radio producer.   

 

Many of the choice pieces in our 12th September Fine Art & Antiques auction have been consigned from a local deceased estate, being descendants of Robert Heath (of Robert Heath & Sons, founders of the Biddulph Valley Colliery and Iron Works) who resided at Biddulph Grange between 1871-1922, and direct descendants of the Earls of Denbigh of Newnham Paddox.  The majority of the works appear not to have previously come to market. 

  

One lot from this estate which has caused particular excitement, is a large pair of maritime scenes by renowned Swiss-Italian artist Carlo Bossoli (1815-1884) which carry an estimate of £40,000-60,000 and are included in the 12th September Fine Art & Antiques auction.  The pair were painted in 1856, at the end of Crimean War, while Bossoli was in London and his Crimean Exhibition at Pall Mall was proving extremely successful.  We believe them to be depictions of the Naval Review held on 23rd April 1856 on the return of the fleet from the Crimea along the south coast from Portsmouth, at which the Royal Family attended aboard the Royal yacht 'Victoria & Albert' to see a grand flotilla of ships of the admiralty including warships, paddle-steamers, pivot ships and smaller vessels, all bedecked with flags and streamers. Thousands of people attended including international visitors and nobility.

Carlo Bossoli, who spent much of his childhood in Odessa, first came to prominence thanks to his sweeping vistas and historical sketches of the Crimea, which gained him the patronage of Prince Michael Vorontsov, Viceroy of the Caucasus. Vorontsov's subsequent commissions enabled the artist to travel throughout Europe, where he gained further acclaim and Royal patronage including that of Queen Victoria, Prince Eugene of Savoy, and Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III. Bossoli lived and worked in Italy for several years, and his scenes depicting the Risorgimento became some of his best known works.  Bossoli was buried in his birth town, Lugano, and a street in Turin, where he settled in later life, is named after him.  Works by Bossoli are held in museum and gallery collections worldwide, including a large selection at the Milan Museo del Risorgimento and the Turin National Museum.

 

 

Elsewhere in the auction, we have an interesting silver mounted wild boar’s tusk cigar-cutter marked Fabergé and workmaster Julius Rappaport. The tusk is further adorned with a silver plaque inscription in Cyrillic for Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov (Кн. Ф. Ф. Юсу́пов) in remembrance of a successful days hunt in 1912.  Prince Felix Yusupov is most famous for his role in the assassination of nefarious influencer Rasputin, which took place in the Yusupov’s Moika Palace in December 1916.  The aristocratic and immensely wealthy Yusupuv family had a long-standing relationship with the Fabergé firm and commissioned several pieces from workmaster Julius Rappaport in particular; who was best known for his naturalistic animal figures. After the revolution, much of the Yusupov family’s treasures were nationalised and sold by the state or housed in museums. The cigar-cutter carries a guide price of £12,000-18,000.

 

 



Our 11th September Music & Film Memorabilia auction includes the collection of Jonathan Ruffle,
 a British writer, director and producer, who has made TV and radio programmes for the BBC, ITV, and Channel 4. During his time as a producer of BBC Radio 1 shows from the mid-1980s-90s he collected the majority of the lots on offer here. These include rare vinyl, acetates, Factory Records promotional items, and an ex-BBC EMT (Elektro-Mess-Technik) 948 broadcast turntable.  Some of the rarer items include a complete U2 Achtung Baby ‘toolkit’ promotional set which was limited to 200 editions, and a pre-release UK white label 12” of U2’s With or Without You – which is thought to have been a world exclusive 1st air play on BBC Radio 1.  Amongst the Factory Records pieces is a bronzed resin bust designed by Peter Saville from the New Order single Round and Round, from a limited edition of 20 given out by Factory Records.

 

 

Also on Friday 11th September is our C20th Art & Design auction at 11am.  This sale comprises approx 400 lots to include; Ceramics, Glass, Silver, Sculpture, Pictures & Furniture from Art & Design movements such as Arts & Crafts, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Modernism, Modern Art, Pop Art, Urban Art, Contemporary Art and many more.  One favourite lot is this Longines stainless steel keyless wind open face 1/10th split-second chronograph stop watch, which was made for the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games. It has an estimate of  £500-700

Viewing for all three auctions takes place on Thursday 10th September 10am-7pm, Friday and Saturday from 9am.  

 

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