An exceptional Louis Napoleon Gilt-Bronze Surtout de Table Suite by Ferdinand Barbedienne, once part of the contents of Skibo Castle, home of Andrew Carnegie, is set to go under the hammer with an estimate of £180,000-250,000 (all figures exclude buyer’s premium) in the Autumn Fine Sale at Tennants Auctioneers on 14th November. The suite comprises 34 pieces, including a jardinière centrepiece marked with the arms of Bourbon, four candelabra, numerous comports and it is sold with seven brass-bound, fitted wooden cases. Two further lots of exceptional gilt-bronze centrepieces are also on offer in the sale; a Napoleon III Gilt-Bronze Garniture of Three Centrepieces by Monbro Ainé, (estimate: £35,000-45,000), and a Napoleon III Gilt-Bronze “L’Abondance et la Fécondité” Jardinière by Christofle & Cie (estimate: £25,000-35,000).
One of the earliest lots in the sale is a 17th Century Italian Walnut, Bone and Ebonised Pietra Paesina-Mounted Table Cabinet (estimate: £2,000-3,000). Pietra-Paesina or ‘landscape stone’ was used to great decorative effect in the 17th century. The Albanese limestone has natural veining that, when polished, provides a perfect background for the painted landscapes on table cabinets. Also hailing from Italy is a Macassar Ebony, Ebony, Engraved-Ivory and Marquetry-Inlaid Writing or Library Table in the manner of Ferdinando Pogliani, made circa 1870 (estimate: £1,000-1,500).
From closer to home are a George III Carved Mahogany Chippendale-Style Pembroke Table (estimate: £1,000-1,500), a late 19th century Brown Oak Ebonised Centre Table in the manner of George Bullock (estimate: £2,000-3,000), and an early 20th century Mahogany, Japanned and Gilt-Decorated Six-Piece Bedroom Suite attributed to Waring & Gillows (estimate: £2,000-3,000). A good Victorian Cast iron Garden Urn attributed to the Andrew Handyside Company, Britannia Iron Works Derby is offered with an estimate of £2,000-3,000, and from the Estate of Peter Haigh of Norwood Green, Halifax comes a George III Carved Giltwood Girandole Mirror dating from circa 1760, which is offered with an estimate of £1,500-2,000.
A good Walnut Eight Day Longcase Clock by one of the most important clockmakers of the late 17th and early 18th century, Joseph Windmills of London, will be offered with an estimate of £5,000-7,000. Windmills was appointed Warden of the Clockmakers Company and in circa 1702 he succeeded the famed Thomas Tompion as Master of the company. The clock was made circa 1705 and is being sold from the Estate of Peter Haigh. From the same collection comes a good circa 1860 “Lichfield Cathedral” Brass Striking Skeleton manel Clock, which is attributed to John Smith of Clerkenwell and retailed by William Jones (estimate: £1,000-1,500). Further notable clocks in the sale include a good and rare Walnut Veneered Striking Pull Quarter Repeating Table Clock, made circa 1750 by Joseph Smith of Chester, part of an interesting clock-making family (estimate: £4,000-5,000), and a Mahogany Chiming Wall Clock made circa 1870 by W Potts & Sons of Leeds (estimate: £800-1,200).
Numerous antique and good furnishing rugs are to be offered in the sale, with highlights including a Peking Carpet made in East China circa 1890/1900 decorated with dragons and phoenixes (estimate: £2,000-3,000), a circa 1900 Ushak Carpet from Central West Anatolia (estimate: £2,000-3,000), a modern Fine Ghom Carpet from Central Iran (estimate: £1,200-1,800), and a circa 1930 Feraghan/Mahal Carpet from West Iran (estimate: £800-1,200).
Taking place on 13th November is the Asian Art Sale, which will include the Property of a North of England Collector. Comprising a diverse selection of Chinese objects, the collection will be sold in forty-five lots. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, both sides of the collector’s family resided in China, and a few of the objects now on offer entered the country in the 1920s. Highlights of the collection include a Chinese Bronze Ritual Food Vessel (estimate: £5,000-8,000) and a Chinese Limestone Carving of a Narrow-Waisted Bodhisattva, probably Tang Dynasty (estimate: £4,000-6,000).
Interesting lots from other vendors include a Chinese Parcel-Gilt Copper-Alloy Incense Burner bearing the Hu Wenming mark (estimate: £1,000-1,500). Hu Wenming (1573-1620) was one of the most accomplished castmen of the late Ming Dynasty, specialising in Archaic-style gilt-bronze ritual vessels for the scholars’ desk. The shape of this censer is typical, inspired by examples from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, decorated with fantastic animals drawn from the Classic of Mountains and Sea Shan Hai Jing.
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