A 1958 Gibson semi-hollowbodied electric guitar ES-335, £60,000-90,000 at Christie's.
1. Mark Knopfler’s Gibson guitar
The Mark Knopfler Guitar Collection is heading to Christie’s on January 31. More than 120 guitars and amps feature in the sale from the singer-songwriter and Dire Straits frontman.
Among the lots is this 1958 Gibson semi-hollowbodied electric guitar ES-335. Knopfler first played a Gibson ES-335 on Bob Dylan’s 1979 album Slow Train Coming, in an attempt to achieve a bluesier sound. He eventually purchased his own Gibson’s in the late 1990s from guitar specialist Rudy Pensa. It is estimated at £60,000-90,000.
2. Pair of torchère figures
Pair of ebonised plaster torchère figures of the ‘vestal virgin’ by Humphrey Hooper, estimate £2000-3000 at Dreweatts.
Dreweatts of Newbury is selling the contents of Cairness House in Buchan, Aberdeenshire, on January 31.
The neoclassical house designed by James Playfair (1755-94) for Charles Gordon of Buthlaw and Cairness (1749-96) fell into disrepair until 2001 when the new owners embarked on a full restoration of the house and grounds. The project won the Georgian Group Architectural Awards prize for the best Georgian country house in Britain in 2009.
Among the furnishings purchased for the property was this pair of ebonised plaster torchère figures of the ‘vestal virgin’ by Humphrey Hooper (1767-1844). He produced a variety of similar plaster and terracotta figures after the antique designed to support candelabra, lamps and clocks.
This pair, signed to the cast and dated Oct 1st c.1810 with later storm shades, is estimated at £2000-3000.
3. BBC 1970s lightbox
Among the lots in the BBC Archive auction at Omega is this 1970s ‘On the air’ lightbox. It comes with its cover featuring a stencilled BBC logo and is estimated at £200-300.
Merseyside auction house Omega Auctions will offer a collection of vinyl records, music memorabilia and equipment from the BBC.
The 285,000 duplicate items will be offered at auction with the money raised to fund the digitisation of its content archive. The first of the BBC Archives sale will be held on January 30 with more than 400 lots offered.
Among the lots in the BBC Archive auction at Omega is this 1970s ‘On the air’ lightbox. It comes with its cover featuring a stencilled BBC logo and is estimated at £200-300.
View this BBC lightbox via thesaleroom.com.
4. Burr-walnut desk
Victorian burr-walnut kidney-shaped desk attributed to Gillows, estimate £3000-5000 at Aldridges of Bath.
This Victorian burr-walnut kidney-shaped desk attributed to Gillows is coming up for sale at Aldridges of Bath on January 30 estimated at £3000-5000.
It features an arrangement of 11 drawers with gilt-brass foliate handles, each pedestal with concealed Bramah locks, the sides with ebonised mouldings and the back with adjustable bookshelves, raised on Cope’s patent castors. The centre drawer is signed to the underside in pencil D. Taylor. The desk measures 4ft 3in wide x 2ft 5in x 2ft 1in (1.3m wide x 73.5cm high x 63cm deep).
5. Parisian fin-de-siècle book
Reprint of The Pretty Women of Paris, a privately printed 1883 guide that rates and reviews 240 fin-de-siècle Parisian sex workers, offered with the original, estimate £2000-3000 at Bonhams.
Bonhams is selling the library of the London antiquarian book dealer and collector Robin De Beaumont (1926-2023) in a timed online auction that closes on January 31. The collection tells the story of book production in the Victorian and Edwardian era with the occasional eclectic addition.
De Beaumont, a specialist in 19th century bindings and illustrated books in particular, began his professional life in the book trade in 1978, when Stanley Gibbons purchased his collection and hired him to sell it in a newly established book department. Henceforth a full-time dealer, he amassed a second library of over 400 books, prints, illustrations and woodblocks that he donated to the British Museum in 1992.
During his career De Beaumont was occasionally accused of owning a time machine. Most pieces from this, his third collection, are in exceptional condition or otherwise extremely rare.
Pictured here is a copy of The Pretty Women of Paris, a privately printed 1883 guide that rates and reviews 240 fin-de-siècle Parisian sex workers. Offered with a 1996 reprint that contains a preface by De Beaumont, the lot is estimated at £2000-3000.
