Taking the top honours at the October 22-23 sale, was a set of 12 (10+2) late 19th century mahogany Chippendale-style dining chairs. From a private Cardiff vendor, the chairs, with carved and shaped cresting rails and splats, needed of a bit of attention to the red hide and brass stud upholstered seats, but the timber was in good condition, and said Mr Taubenheim, “ready to go for Christmas”.
A good long set of chairs is always hard to come by and it was almost
certainly the number which took the chairs beyond the £9000 top estimate to the £12,500 bid by a private buyer against competition from the local trade.
A Georgian mahogany breakfront
bookcase with glazed doors above two panelled doors flanked by two columns of four drawers, also found favour.
Phillip Taubenheim was a bit worried that its huge height might prove a
problem. In good condition, with the original wafer-thin glass, the bookcase did have a few large scratches to the front but it still got away at a respectable £4200 to the Warwick trade.
From other sections, a collection of 19th century tin-glazed earthenware tiles with painted manganese purple birds in various poses brought £900, and an 11in (28cm) long 19th century Kutani figure of a sleeping cat with golden patches on a white ground and wearing a green, red, orange and yellow spotted bow made £820.
£12,500 chairs justify ‘realistic’ furniture market
While many provincial auctioneers berate the slowing down of the brown furniture market, Phillip Taubenheim of Gloucestershire auctioneers Wotton Auction Rooms (10% buyer’s premium) is finding it pretty healthy. “As long as we are realistic with our vendors and they are realistic with us, everything seems to be OK,” he said.
