The Spring Fine Art Sale at Tennants Auctioneers on 21st March is set to include a fine selection of Asian Art, pictures, furniture, clocks and works of art, and is complemented by the Fine Jewellery, Watches and Silver Sale which takes place concurrently. The sale includes a further instalment from The Eric Morton Clock Collection, as well as selected items from Hotham Hall, Hotham, York on instruction from Mr and Mrs Stephen Martin, and selected items form Moulton Hall, Richmond, North Yorkshire, the property of Lord and Lady Eccles.
A strong section of Asian Art is led by a fine pair of Chinese Porcelain ‘Nine Peach’ Vases, Tianquiping, with the Qianlong mark probably from the late Qing Dynasty. With provenance from Aldourie Castle, near Inverness, the vases are being sold with an estimate of £50,000-70,000 (all estimates exclude buyer’s premium). Throughout history, peaches have been China's most auspicious fruit, symbolising longevity, marriage, family and being harbingers of happiness. The nine peach pattern was much favoured by the Imperial porcelain makers of the Qianlong and Yongzheng periods.
The section includes a good offering of Chinese cloisonné enamel pieces, including a pair of gilt bronze-mounted Chinese Cloisonné Enamel Figures of Quails, mounted as Candelabra, dating from the Qianlong reign with later mounts. Estimated at £6,000-8,000, the quails were once in the Edwin Davies Cloisonné Collection, and illustrated in a V&A publication in 2006. Amongst the items from Hotham Hall, are a good selection of Chinese ceramics; highlights include a Chinese Porcelain Ovoid Jar from the Wanli period painted in underglaze blue with deer in a landscape offered with an estimate of £5,000-7,000. A large Japanese Bronze Okimono measuring 71cm high of an elephant being attacked by two tigers is also of note. Dating from the Meiji period, it sits on a rootwood base and is offered with an estimate of £7,000-10,000.
Amongst a broad offering of good pictures in the sales is A View of a Garden Pavilion attributed to John Inigo Richards RA (1731-1810) estimated at £20,000-30,000. Richards was a founding member of the Royal Academy, where he exhibited topographical views and he was frequently employed to record the grounds of country houses. View of the Bay of Naples by Prosper Marilhat (1811-1847) is offered with an estimate of £10,000-15,000; Marilhat was a French landscape painter whose studies of the Middle East brought him to the attention of the French public. This work probably dates from the 1830s when Marilhat began turning away from exotic subjects and became more overtly Neo-Classical in manner. Paintings from Hotham Hall on offer in the sale include December Morning No.1, High Austby by Herbert Royle (1870-1958) (estimate: £5,000-8,000). Also of note are two companion paintings of calves feeding by Walter Hunt (1861-1941), on offer with an estimate of £25,000-35,000.
A fine and rare William and Mary Walnut Marquetry Longcase Clock with bolt and shutter maintaining power is the top lot in the clock section. Estimated at £15,000-20,000, the clock was made by Daniel Quare of London, circa 1690; Quare was one of the most celebrated clockmakers of the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and examples of his work can be seen in major collections and museums around the world. Of interest is a fine brass engraved strike and repeat Grande Sonnerie alarm carriage clock by Henry Jacot of Paris, circa 1880 (estimate: £1,500-2,000). The sale also sees further lots from the Eric Morton Clock Collection come under the hammer, which include an unusual walnut Eight Day Longcase Clock by Thompson of Whitehaven circa 1740. The dial features an automaton with an early example of a Newcomens-type steam beam engine, which was invented in 1712 and the world’s first atmospheric steam engine. Used to pump water using a vacuum created by condensed steam, the engine became an important tool in training water from deep mines. The clock is offered with an estimate of £2,000-3,000. From the same collection comes a George II Ebony Veneered Pull Quarter Repeating Table Clock, signed Joseph Grey, Durham circa 1750 (estimate: £1,500-2,000).
Amongst the Furniture Section comes an exhibition quality satinwood and polychrome decorated display cabinet by Gillow & Co, Lancaster, late 19th century (estimate: £3,000-5,000) and a Sheraton Revival satinwood and marquetry decorated display cabinet circa 1900, attributed to Edwards and Roberts (estimate: £3,000-4,000), and an impressive Louis XV style marquetry decorated and ormolu mounted centre table (estimate: £4,000-6,000). From Moulton Hall, the property of Lord and Lady Eccles comes a figured walnut and feather-banded bookcase cabinet (estimate: £3,000-5,000). Period oak and vernacular furniture continue to perform well at auction, and a matched set of eight yew Windsor armchairs from the mid-19th century is offered in the sale with an estimate of £1,800-2,500.
Further lots of note in the sale include an Italian School white marble figure of a Nymph, circa 1900 (estimate: £8,000-10,000), a white marble torso of Apollo after the Antique, likely made in Rome in the 17th century (estimate: £3,000-5,000), and a fine Kashan carpet from Central Iran circa 1930 in finely knotted lustrous wool (estimate: £3,000-5,000).
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