1. Georgian bookcase in Essex
This imposing 10ft 5in (3.18m) wide Georgian mahogany breakfront bookcase is estimated at £2000-4000 as part of the Alderley House contents sale at Sworders on July 23.
Alderley House – a mid-19th century Grade II-listed country house by the English architect Lewis Vulliamy near Tetbury, Gloucestershire – was sold in 2017 by the Day family who are now relocating to the US and consigned the 500-lot collection to auction.
The stand-alone sale will feature a large quantity of Georgian and Victorian furniture and chattels which was acquired to furnish the 14-bedroom house in 2009.
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2. Victorian brooch in Norfolk
Victorian gold and silver brooch set with graduated turquoise stones in the form of a Coburg eagle – estimated at £5000-8000 at Keys.
This Victorian gold and silver brooch set with graduated turquoise stones in the form of a Coburg eagle, bears a ‘striking resemblance’ to 12 that was given as gifts to the train bearers at the wedding of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1840, according to Norfolk saleroom Keys.
The brooches, designed by Prince Albert and made by London jeweller Charles Du Vé, were given to all 12 train bearers, the unmarried daughters of nobility.
Keys is selling the piece in a three-day summer sale on July 24-26 estimated at £5000-8000. It has passed by descent to the vendor who is the great great-great-granddaughter of the English sugar merchant and philanthropist Sir Henry Tate.
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3. Cunard Line enamel sign
Cunard Line enamel sign – estimated at £200-300 at Tennants.
This enamel wall sign for the Cunard Line’s ships to Canada will be offered as part of the Thomas Stanley collection at Tennants of Leyburn in North Yorkshire on July 24.
Measuring 18 x 8in (45 x 20cm), it suffers from some losses mainly to the edges and is estimated at £200-300.
Thomas Stanley became interested in ships as a child in the late 1940s, watching them sail on Southampton Water from the Isle of Wight. He wrote to shipping companies requesting postcards of their vessels, which were duly sent. This sparked a lifelong appreciation of both ships and postcards, and an expansive collection of shipping and airline memorabilia.
The collection primarily consists of dining room ware from passenger shipping lines dating from the Edwardian era to the 1950s. Part II of the collection, due to be sold in November, will include pieces relating to the Titanic.
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4. Portrait of a poet
A hitherto lost portrait believed to depict the Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), author of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla Khan, will be offered at Wotton Auction Rooms in Gloucestershire on July 23-24, estimated at £500-1000.
Brought into the saleroom by a local private vendor, the 11 x 10in (28 x 24.5cm) half-length study in oil has inscriptions to the verso that identifies Coleridge as the sitter and the artist as William Shuter (active 1771-99).
One inscription dated 1873 states that the portrait was painted at Nether Stowey where Coleridge rented a cottage from 1797 to 1799-1800.
A portrait of Coleridge engraved by William Holl in the National Portrait Gallery and Scottish Portrait Gallery collections appears to relate to this painting. The engraving was used as a frontispiece in an edition of Coleridge’s collected works but the whereabouts of the original painting had been a mystery.
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5. Tinplate Alfa Romeo
A tinplate clockwork toy Alfa Romeo P2 – estimated at £4500-5000 at Unique Auctions.
Designed after the Italian racing car Alfa Romeo P2 – one of the most successful racing cars of the 1920s – this tinplate clockwork toy in French blue is guided at £4500-5000 at Unique Auctions of Lincoln on July 26-28.
Made by French firm Compagnie Industrielle du Jouet (CIJ), c.1920s, it is painted with a number ‘2’ in white and comes with a key. It is described as in excellent condition.
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