An array of 20th Century Design is coming up for sale at Tennants Auctioneers on 14th June, and amongst the over 250 lots is a colourful and vibrant collection of glass by contemporary glass-maker Ruth Dresman. Being sold from a Private Collection of Glass and Studio Pottery, each piece of Dresman’s glass is engraved using a unique sandblasting method. One of her favourite subjects is underwater life, and the pieces in the present collection include a Lobster Vessel (estimate: £150-250 all figures exclude buyer’s premium), an Octopus Bowl (estimate: £100-150), and a Plaice Bowl (estimate: £100-150).
Amongst a wide range of furniture and furnishings by Yorkshire icon Robert ‘Mouseman’ Thompson and his workshop is an impressive English Oak 7ft Refectory Table, made in 1932 having been commissioned by King’s College at the University of Aberdeen. Indeed, the college’s Coat of Arms is painted on one of the table supports. The table was removed from the Taylor Library in 1995 due to modernisation and building work, and it is now offered for sale with an estimate of £5,500-6,500. Also of interest is a good English Oak Chest of Drawers dating from the 1940s/50s (estimate: £3,000-5,000). A wide range of furniture by the other Yorkshire Critter carvers is also up for auction, with pieces by the likes of Squirrelman, Wrenman, Beaverman and Gnomeman.
Modern design furniture in the sale includes pieces from the private collection of a retired architect. With examples by leading names in design, highlights of the collection include an Eames Lounge Chair by Charles and Ray Eames (estimate: £800-1,200), a Set of Three Merrow Associates Rosewood Coffee Tables made in the 1970s (estimate: £400-600), a Mahogany Convertible Single Bed Settee made be Robin Day for Hille in 1959 (estimate: £400-600), and a Danish Rosewood Wall Unit made in the 1960s by Poul Cadovius (estimate: £300-500). All the rosewood in the sale is sold with appropriate CITES licences.
A small private collection of works by one the leading potters working in Britain in the 1970s and 1980s, Poh Chap Yeap (1929-2007) are also on offer. Born in Malaysia to a Chinese family, Poh Chap Yeap moved to London in 1948 to study law; however, his life took an unexpected turn when he found pottery whilst visiting Denmark in 1961. He found a place working at a pottery in the country, before returning to England and studying at Putney Evening Institute and Hammersmith College of Art. He was subsequently offered a research position at the Royal College of Art but left to set up his own commercial workshop and teach ceramics. Despite never being formally trained in traditional Chinese ceramics or even visiting the country, he produced fine stoneware and porcelain pots in the traditional Chinese style, recreating methods and glazes such as celadon, tenmoku and peach bloom. Such was the quality of his work, he became the first living potter to exhibit in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and went on to have his work exhibited at the V&A. Highlights of the collection include a Stoneware Vase with speckled glaze and iron brush decoration (estimate: £100-150).
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