West Sussex

With the advent of modern tournament chess in the Victorian era came the issue of game time.

IACF Ardingly in January had a very enthusiastic thumbsup Tweet from Worthing dealer Henry Nicholls.

Rare Japanese Meiji gold coin emerges at auction in West Sussex

Collections relating to leading British film director Lewis Gilbert (1920-2018) and his wife of 53 years Hylda (d.2005) provided very different lots for Billingshurst auction house Bellmans (22% buyer’s premium).

Japanese antique ivories have been gradually disappearing from the catalogues of prominent dealers and major auction houses but good examples are still being sold in the regions.

The windmill cup was the most popular of the novelty silver wager cups produced from the late 16th century until the early 18th century.

An opportunity to buy a portrait of one of Charles II’s mistresses emerged at a recent Bellmans’ (22% buyer’s premium) sale in West Sussex.

Estimated at £400-600, a Meissen chinoiserie decorated porcelain snuff box took £12,000 at Bellmans (22% buyer’s premium) in West Sussex.

Given that most antique furniture at auction tends to be good value only for the buyer these days, one can perhaps understand why it occasionally does not always receive the attention it once merited from auctioneers and valuers. As a result, occasionally a special item slips through.

Bellmans is selling the script and production archive of film director, producer and screenwriter Lewis Gilbert (1920-2018) on November 17-18.

Rowland Leach runs interior design and antique business French Loft with his wife Mary, specialising in 17th and 18th century French and English country furniture.

Incorporating 40 coloured litho plates, a copy of The Last Works of Henri Matisse, a folio collection of 1958 issued by Harcourt Brace of New York, led a sale held by Toovey’s (24.5% buyer’s premium) of Washington in West Sussex at £2600.

The sale of July 15 proved to be its most successful since lockdown for auction house Bellmans (22% buyer’s premium).

A menu celebrating a landmark in British aviation – the first flight from London to Brighton, accomplished in 1911 – sold for £750 at Bellmans.

Combining technical mastery with recurring motifs derived from nature, Pierre Sterlé’s (1905-1978) style is instantly recognisable.

The second day of Bellmans’ (22% buyer’s premium) sale on August 3-5 included a Chinese hardwood table that catapulted way above its £1000-1500 estimate.

A couple of Modern British works on paper drew keen attention at a recent West Sussex auction.

Thomas Riley was one of the few professional tattooists of the Victorian and Edwardian era and – with patrons among international royalty and the aristocracy – a key figure in the changing perception of tattoos from ‘sailors’ marks’ to ‘body art’.

The Petworth Park Antiques & Fine Art Fair returned last month with 60 exhibitors and plenty of sales.