A well-documented ‘exhibition quality’ upright piano by John Broadwood & Sons sold at £8500 (estimate £2000-3000). The instrument (numbered 57006) was finished on June 2, 1881, as a relatively plain piece.
However, after purchase by decorating firm Cowtan & Sons of Oxford Street, it was sent to a furniture maker – one Mr Frauer of 46 Greek Street, Soho – to be mounted in ormolu and ornately crossbanded and inlaid. On September 29, 1881, it was sold by Cowtan for 120 guineas.
A pair of good-quality Victorian mahogany elbow chairs in the Hepplewhite style sold at £3400 at the auction on June 25-26. One was impressed Bertram & Son, Dean St, Oxford St, W and applied with a Bertram & Son paper label – a reference to the retailer and cabinetmaker (best known for its brass inlaid and marquetry furniture) established by William Bertram in 1830.
French revivals
Two good examples of French ‘revivalist’ furniture sold well. A large kingwood and gilt bronze-mounted vitrine set with vernis Martin panels in the rococo style made a multi-estimate £20,000 (estimate £2000-3000) while a similar pair of serpentine bombé form pier cabinets took £4400.
Near-life-size late 19th century walnut carving thought to depict Charles V – £14,000 at Sworders.
A well-carved and near-life-size late 19th century Continental walnut figure of bearded man wearing an ornate helmet and full armour, believed to be Charles V of Spain, sold as expected at £14,000.
Two very different mahogany longcase clocks with regulator movements both found buyers. An early 20th century clock by Birch of London with a silvered circular dial and a movement with a fully enclosed mercury pendulum sold at £5000.
More unusual was the clock dated 2001 and marked for Albion and Jones – for the clockmaker and restorer Colin Bent of Albion Clocks in South Woodford and wheelcutter Arthur Jones.
The clock, with a thermometer and barometer to the glazed trunk door, came with the original handwritten drawings and calculations for its construction.
A similar month-going regulator by the maker was sold at Bonhams in December 2017 for £4000. This one took £3300.
Silver and tortoiseshell table clock by William Comyns – £3100.
Much admired for its 7in (17cm) silver and tortoiseshell case, an eight-day timepiece marked for the goldsmith William Comyns (London, 1913) and the retailer Mappin & Webb of Oxford Street sold at £3100. It was one of many pieces in the sale from the collection of Bryan and Valerie Steele.
Dancing decoration
Sold at £7000 (estimate £3000- 5000) was a Victorian silver four-piece tea set plus a matched pair of tongs) marked for Joseph Angell (London 1852 and 1853).
It followed the maker’s best-known style, each piece chased and embossed with figures cavorting, dancing and drinking outside a tavern in the manner of a painting by the Flemish artist David Teniers. Weighing 127oz, the set came in a fitted oak retailed by Thomas’s Bond Street.
The 1930 Waterloo Cup, an impressive 105oz silver gilt cup and cover made by Sebastian Gerrard in the manner of Paul de Lamerie for what was the premier event in the coursing calendar, sold at £3000. It was engraved with the arms of Molyneux and bore the inscription Waterloo Cup 1930 won by Church Street.
The buyer’s premium was 23%.
