This pair of 16-bore ‘roller primer’ pistols by the Forsyth Patent Gun Company are numbered 203 and 204 for c.1809, making them the earliest pair of Forsyth pistols recorded.
Formerly part of the W Keith Neal Collection (sold at Christie’s in 2000) and pictured in the book he co-authored with DHL Back, Forsyth & Co: Patent Gunmakers (1969), the pair comes for sale at the Bonhams Knightsbridge Fine Antique Arms & Armour auction on September 23.
Estimate £8000-12,000.
Christie’s London is holding a timed online sale of Picasso ceramics closing on September 17, including Vase aztèque aux quatre visages estimated at £60,000-80,000.
Christie’s London office is holding a timed online sale of Picasso ceramics closing on September 17. This 21in (54cm) vessel, Vase aztèque aux quatre visages, is number 26 from an edition of 100 conceived in 1957.
Estimate £60,000-80,000.
An early Robert Thompson adzed oak cupboard, c.1918, estimated at £800-1200 in Hartleys’ September 16 auction.
An early Robert Thompson adzed oak cupboard, c.1918, is estimated at £800-1200 in Hartleys’ September 16 auction in Ilkley.
It is of canted multi-panelled form, the ledge back carved with trailing ribbon, the burr fascia with central panel flanked on either side by a door with lug handle and enclosing shelving, on stiles with incised banding, and measures 3ft x 13in x 4ft 9in (91.5cm x 33cm x 1.45m).
The cupboard was given as a wedding present in 1918 and then by family descent to the vendor here.
This rare 8in (20cm) early 19th century pearlware jug is decorated to one side with a pheasant on a rocky outcrop and to the other with a scene of Thomas Knaginton, The Famous Mole Destroyer.
At Morphets in Harrogate on September 10 it is expected to bring £600-800.
All Blacks jersey worn by Bruce McLeod, estimated at £1500-2500 in the Rogers Jones September 12 auction.
Cardiff saleroom Rogers Jones is holding its two ‘flagship’ auctions, The Welsh Sale and Selections & Collections, on one day for the first time: September 12.
Fifteen lots in the latter auction, running in the afternoon, come from the family of the late Norman Gale (1939-2005), former Wales rugby union captain. They include this All Blacks match-worn jersey estimated at £1500-2500.
It belonged to Bruce McLeod (1940-96) who played 46 matches for the All Blacks between 1964-70. The shirt is believed to have been swapped with Gale at one of the two matches in which they played each other: once on June 14, 1969, during the second test on Wales’ first tour of New Zealand, and also in Cardiff in 1967 where Gale kicked a penalty – highly unusual for a hooker.
Apart from great ball skills and prodigious workrate, McLeod “had a rather unsavoury reputation as a player, who pushed the boundaries of fair play and was not shy in delivering ‘sporting justice’ on the field of play”, according to Rogers Jones.
One of a pair of capriccio views of Naples with Vesuvius erupting by Juan Ruiz estimated together at £8000-12,000 at Sotheby’s in an online-only auction from September 18-23.
Sotheby’s will be holding an online-only sale of Old Master paintings from September 18-23.
Among the works on offer will be a pair of capriccio views of Naples with Vesuvius erupting by Juan Ruiz (fl. mid-18th century), one shown here. Few details are known about the artist although it is thought he was a Spanish émigré and the elder brother of Tommaso Ruiz, a painter also working in Naples around the same time.
The pair is estimated at £8000-12,000.
George III ebonised cased table clock, c.1770, marked for maker James Cowan, estimated at £400-600 in the Semley auction on September 12.
This 20in (51cm) George III ebonised cased table clock with an eight-day striking movement, c.1770, is marked to both the arch and the backplate for Edinburgh maker James Cowan.
Apprenticed to Archibald Straiton in 1743, Cowan was made a freeman of the Incorporation of Hammermen of Edinburgh in 1754, working until he died in 1781.
It has a guide of £400-600 at Semley in Shaftesbury, Dorset on September 12.
Ship’s bell cast for The Dottin 1744, estimate £200-300 Perkins George Mawer on September 19.
The sale at Perkins George Mawer in Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, on September 19 includes this large mid-18th century ship’s bell cast for The Dottin 1744.
Estimate £200-300.
Ceremonial rock crystal and gold mounted staff of office or tipstaff, first half of the 19th century, estimate £5000-7000 at Dix Noonan Webb on September 15.
An unusual ceremonial rock crystal and gold mounted staff of office or tipstaff, dating from the first half of the 19th century, was discovered in a recent house clearance on the outskirts of London.
On offer in the Dix Noonan Webb auction in London on September 15, the 10½in (26.5cm) tipstaff “is believed to be of possible historical interest and perhaps of royal association”.
One theory is that this piece may have connections with the coronation of King George IV on July 19, 1821. Another suggestion is that it dates from after the coronation, to his August 1822 royal state visit to Scotland (the first royal visit of a reigning sovereign since Charles II in 1651).
Estimate £5000-7000.
Victorian bargeware teapot, estimate £50-80 at Bushey Auctions on September 10.
A Victorian bargeware teapot with the legend God Bless Our Home to the side and miniature teapot finial has a guide of £50-80 at Bushey Auctions in Hertfordshire on September 10.
This dress, an original design for Jessye Norman by Christian Dior, has an estimate of £100-150 at Holloway’s auction on September 12.
The September 12 sale at Holloway’s in Banbury, the first under the ownership of Charles Hanson, includes the remaining contents of the Belgravia apartment of the American opera singer and recitalist Jessye Norman (1945-2019).
The sale includes ephemera, designer accessories, awards and presentations plus performance costumes. This dress, an original design for Norman by Christian Dior, has an estimate of £100-150.
Beadwork banner with the crest of the 1st Madras European Fusiliers, 102nd Regiment of Foot , estimate £600-800 at Lawrences of Crewkerne on September 10.
Soldiers serving in India were encouraged to spend their time gardening or engage in handicrafts rather than indulge in the evils of drink or other unworthy practices.
This fine beadwork banner carries the crest of the 1st Madras European Fusiliers, 102nd Regiment of Foot – a unit that transferred to the British Army from the East India Company in 1862.
At the Militaria, Coins & Medals at Lawrences of Crewkerne on September 10 it has an estimate of £600-800.
Colored Troops Medal or Butler Medal of 1864, estimate £8000- 12,000 at Woolley & on September 23.
This rare award, a Colored Troops Medal or Butler Medal of 1864, comes for sale at the Medals & Coins, Arms & Armour Militaria at Woolley & Wallis in Salisbury on September 23 with an estimate of £8000- 12,000.
Struck at the Philadelphia Mint and mounted by Bigelow & Kennard of Boston, these medals were issued by the Union General Benjamin Butler to members of the African American battalions that fought under his command at The Battle of Chaffin’s Farm and Newmarket Heights on September 29 and 30, 1864.
Butler – who read the battlefield reports with great care – was moved to commission this medal, a hybrid of campaign and gallantry award, to honour an estimated 197 selected men.
It comes with a printed card reading: This medal I designed and caused to be struck in memory of the valiant charge of the Coloured Troops at New Market Heights and Chaffins Farm on that day…Please accept this as the First and only Medal ever struck to commemorate the bravery of Negro Soldiers by the white man…You know how well deserved.
The sale at Lacy Scott & Knight in Bury St Edmunds on September 12 includes this 11½in (29cm) Fabergé silver mounted wild boar’s tusk cigar-cutter. Marked for the workmaster Julius Rappaport, it carries a silver plaque with an inscription in Cyrillic for Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov ‘in remembrance of a successful day’s hunt’ in 1912.
Prince Felix is most famous for his role in the assassination of Rasputin at the Moika Palace in December 1916. After the revolution, much of the Yusupov family’s treasures were nationalised and sold by the state or housed in museums. This piece, in its original holly box, was last sold by Christie’s Geneva in 1986.
Estimate £12,000-18,000.
Martin Brothers stoneware vase decorated with jellyfish and snakes, estimate £1500-3000 at Potteries Auctions on September 12-13.
Dated 1889, this 9in (22cm) Martin Brothers stoneware vase decorated with jellyfish and snakes has an estimate of £1500-3000 at Potteries Auctions in Staffordshire on September 12-13.
Russian brooch c.1870, estimate £2000-4000 at Roseberys London on September 22.
The Jewellery & Watches sale at Roseberys London on September 22 includes this Russian brooch set with a central cabochon cushion-shaped spinel to a surround of rose cut diamonds and gold beaded petals. Dated c.1870, it has an estimate of £2000-4000.
