Two early monk chairs made by Robert ‘Mouseman’ Thompson of Kilburn in Yorkshire during the 1920s-30s will be on offer at Lawrences of Crewkerne on January 17.
They are carved with a Latin inscription on the back that translates as 'Salvation through the Cross', indicating a commission for a religious institution.
The chairs differ slightly in decoration, with one carved on the top with faces (pictured) and the other with a fish and rosette. Each bear a trademark carved mouse.
They were purchased in London by the vendor’s parents in the 1950s and have remained in the family ever since.
Estimate £1500-2000 each.
lawrences.co.uk or see this item on thesaleroom.com
This sterling silver ‘jester’ bangle and ring suite above was made by Scandinavian jewellery designer Anna Greta Eker.
The duo is guided at £600-800 in a sale of jewellery on January 17 at Elmwood’s in Notting Hill, London.
Eker designed pieces at the applied arts centre Plus in Fredrikstad, Norway, which flourished from 1958 until the ‘70s. She designed both organic and geometric forms, often with a hand-hammered finish and mounted with uncut polished stones.
elmwoods.co.uk or see this item on thesaleroom.com
As part of a two-day silver offering at Woolley & Wallis of Salisbury on January 22-23 the auction house will offer the extensive pencil collection of Bond Street silver dealer Kenneth Bull.
Amassed across decades and dubbed The KB Collection, it was brought to public attention in 2012 when Bull, in collaboration with Dr David Shepherd, produced a book on the collection. It was also exhibited that year at London art fair Masterpiece.
Described as one of the most comprehensive collections of its type to come onto the open market, the 464-lot group shows the progression of pencils from the 1820s until the 1950s, with most made in silver by London firm Sampson Mordan.
This American novelty silver pencil by Tiffany above, modelled as the Art Deco skyscraper in Manhattan formally titled the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower, but better known as the Met Life Tower, is guided at £1000-1500.
woolleyandwallis.co.uk or see this item on thesaleroom.com
Prompted by a series of fatal mining disasters in the 19th century, a Royal Commission in 1907 recommended the establishment of a miners’ rescue service. This became law under the Coal Mines Act of 1911, which made the provision of rescue stations compulsory and brought about the creation of The Mines Rescue Service.
This ‘Spirelmo B’ smoke helmet and bellows were designed the same year the act came into force. The two-man apparatus required one man to pump air via the double-acting bellows into the rescuer’s helmet. With a good air supply, a rescuer could work for long periods in bad air.
This early set above was made by Siebe Gorman of London and comes housed in an original twin-handled red-painted metal container. The lot is estimated at £800-1200 in a two-day sale of art and antiques at Cheshire saleroom Adam Partridge on January 17-18.
adampartridge.co.uk or see this item on thesaleroom.com
