Clarks’ sale on Monday has plenty to offer dealers & collectors alike as many of the choice lots are entering the market for the first time in their history.
Top of the list has to be the French Napoleonic prisoner of war bone model of an English 74 gun third rate battleship in its original straw work box which has been in the same family since the 19thC. It is firmly believed to have been made c.1810 by a French prisoner of war at HM Prison Dartmoor. The superbly detailed ship sits on a galleried carved bone plinth which unusually, is painted with sea & the ship colours. A guide price of just £600-800 has been attached.
From the same property came an 18thC. Indo-Portuguese table cabinet. Decorated with inlaid bone & gilt corners the cabinet hopes to outstrip its £100-200 guide despite faults. A Portuguese rosewood chest of drawers on a barley twist stand is in at £200-400 while an 18thC. library table, needing some tlc is in at £100-200.
There are some impressive pieces of more traditional furniture. A twice restored mahogany Irish wake table, which has been in the same family since Edwardian times, asks £600-800 & a set of ten Edwardian mahogany Chippendale style chairs, again from the same household, ask £300-500. A visit to a large Devon home near Exeter saw an entry of an impressively proportioned 17thC. oak Baroque armoire which carries a guide of £600-800 whilst a 16thC. Jacobean coffer asks £100-200. A fine George III walnut bookcase bureau with brass fittings is in at just £300-400 & a fine quality 18thC. gateleg mahogany table with brass fittings asks £100-200.
For the first time vintage motorcycles enter the fray at Clarks. Four motorcycle projects, two BSA & two Triumph go under the hammer with a Triumph Tiger Cub asking £800-1000. Auctioneer Paul Clark says “We have had them in the saleroom for a little while now & they have drawn admiring comments” adding “I am hoping the interest manifests into bids for their vendors”.
Among the collectables a rare pre-war Meccano No.6 with its wooden box catches the eye at £500-600 & a charming small 19thC. globe by Tisley ought to go between £50-100. A private collection of 20thC. HGV & truck books has prices from just £10 & hope to find a new home as do a collection of Georgian & Victorian rummers, again with prices from just £10. A 1930’s Noke flambe tobacco jar asks £60-80 a Moorcroft leaf & berry jug of unusual autumnal colourway goes under the hammer at £150-200. There are many collectable coins including those graded by NGC, the Numismatic Guaranty Corporation. With prices starting from just £10 it is a must for collectors. There are many Asian entries but a pair of Chinese Qing dynasty stupa-shaped altar vases at £600-800 would make a fabulous mantlepiece display.
There are seventy four lots of silver including a George Nathan & Ridley Hayes decorative 1895 Chester silver bowl & cover ask £200-300 whilst a John McDonald Scottish silver Georgian teapot goes under the hammer at £300-400. The stand out pieces among the silver though are a Wang Hing Chinese silver comport, brought back from Hong Kong at the outbreak of WW1 by naval Sub. Lt. James Henry Taylor of HM Naval Base Tamar, which asks £600-800 & a heavy commemorative silver wall plaque in tribute to Sir Walter Vaughan Morgan, former Mayor of London which hopes for £1500-2000.
There are a few stunning pieces of jewellery. An impressive diamond ring in excess of 3ct goes on offer at £15000-20000 & a Victorian pearl necklace with diamond & Kashmir sapphire clasp ask £1000-2000. A fine Victorian diamond & ruby ring should have appeal at £400-500. An 18ct gold cocktail ring set with diamonds & a large zircon is up at £800-1000 while a 1920/30’s art deco 14ct gold ladies diamond necklace with approx. 3.2ct diamond, hopes for £1600-1800. A 19thC. Victorian yellow metal ring, which tests as 18ct gold, set with diamonds & a rare demantoid garnet asks £500-600.
Entries are now being sought for the big two winter sales – November & New Years day.
