The 20th Century Design Sale on 3rd October offered an varied array of ceramics, glass, furniture and decorative objects, and was headed by two good examples of the work of Loetz, a renowned glass works founded in 1836 in the Southern Bohemian town of Klostermühle, today part of the Czech Republic. The factory was famous for their fine iridescent glass, and on offer in the sale was an Art Nouveau Gilt Mounted Loetz Iridescent Papillon Glass Vase, which was designed by Gustav Gurschner and sold for £2,500, and an Art Nouveau Gilt-Mounted Loetz Phaenomen Glass Baluster Vase that sold for £2,000.
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Results: 20th Century Design Sale 3rd October
The top lot of the sale, having sold for well above pre-sale estimate, was an English Oak Dresser made by Peter Hall & Son of Staveley, near Kendal (sold for £2,800). The firm was founded in 1972 and made Arts and Crafts style furniture following the tradition of Arthur W. Simpson of Kendal and Stanley Webb Davies of Windermere. By the same makers was an English Oak Dining Room Suite that sold well, too, at £1,500. Amongst further good lots of furniture in the sale were a Pair of Italian Leonard Zanotta Adjustable Trestles that sold for £1,300.
Finely crafted wooden objects were notably in demand during the sale; an array of Sixty-Seven Carved Specimen Wood Animals and Birds by Perry Lancaster, Cambridge, sold for £2,000, and a collection of intarsia figural birds and feathers by T.A.G. Smith of Nottinghamshire sold well throughout. Amongst Smith’s lots in the sale a Large Barn Owl Feather sold for £750, and a Barn Owl in Flight sold for £900. Further items from the collection will be sold in the February 20th Century Design Sale.
Amongst the ceramics in the sale, an Art Deco Essevi Pottery Figure made from a model of a girl in a swimsuit by Sandro Vachetti sold well at £1,400, and with provenance from The Michael and Geraldine Leventis Collection was an Urn and Cover featuring hyenas and zebras made by the South African Ardmore KZN Ceramic Studio sold for £1,500.
