Early success for The Collector: Fine & Early Works of Art and Furniture 22 Oct 2020 Auctions News

The second of a new schedule of specialist auctions, The Collector, started off with a bang at Stowmarket auctioneers Bishop & Miller, with lot 1 a Late Elizabethan/James I oak & inlaid canted cupboard, English, Sussex, circa 1600 – 1610 attracting early interest. With fierce internet bidding against a number of telephone lines saw this lot reach a hammer price of £15,000 (incl. buyers premium).

Starting the auction as we meant to go on, there were a number of fine lots to come, including a collection of needleworks from a private collection to some of the most stunning and fine furniture from the 16^th, 17^th and 18^th centuries, it really was an auction for all the collectors out there!

So here’s top of the lots from this specialist auctions:

Lot 4 a Stuart crystal Memento Mori jewel, late 17th Century. Had an enamelled reclining skeleton above script I REST, below a facetted rock crystal panel with the reverse inscribed AC Feby 27 92. Sold for £3,240 (including buyers premium)

Lot 14 a Rare small William & Mary side table, English, circa 1690. The exceptionally small side table with twin plank top above a front frieze with drawer, having multi turned legs joined by shaped stretchers, on original bun feet. Sold for £3,840 (including buyers premium)

Lot 17 which was an Exceedingly fine Louis XVI necessaire, took a hammer price of £10,800 (incl. buyers premium). This necessaire had an octagonal gold container, with a hinged cover, lined with red velvet containing nine sewing tools in individual compartments and two reels and was a fantastic example.

Lot 119 a Fine mid 17th Century needlework with the discovery of Moses in the bulrushes, with figures representing the pharaohs above, a crocodile representing the Nile in the foreground, with mica windows and seed pearl necklaces, Exodus 2. Sold for £6,480 (including buyers premium)

Lot 122 a Pair of 17th Century silk embroideries, with a shepherd playing a musical instrument with sheep and a dog and the second with a mother and child in a landscape with a lion and tiger, possibly panels from a box. Sold for £2,640 (including buyers premium)

Lot 124 a Mid 17th Century needlework picture, with a mother and child with attendants, lion and unicorn, a building with turrets, flowers and animals, a milkmaid, an arch of flowers and butterflies. Sold for £4,320 (including buyers premium)

Lot 179 a Fine 16th Century walnut Spanish table, circa 1580. This beautiful piece of furniture had rectangular legs above angled square section channel foldable legs united by an iron stretcher, supporting the single plank top. Sold for £6,000 (including buyers premium)

Lot 199 a 19th Century Scottish Folk Art figural snuff box/ The standing figure with a black Balmoral hat above a jacket kilt and sporran, the figure with a hinged back to reveal a storage compartment, raised on a later base. Sold for £2,400 (including buyers premium).

However the real star lot of the auction was by far the very last lot of the day. Lot 208 a rare 17th Century model of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Jerusalem, in olivewood, intricately inlaid with mother-of-pearl, bone and ebony with rosettes, lozenges and stellar motifs, with removable sections. This wonderful model had a main dome lifting to reveal the interior, the central tower surrounded by four panels inscribed in Latin with the four points of the compass, in front of the main entrance an inlaid design of the Jerusalem cross. With interest from across the world for this, 6 telephone lines booked and fierce online bidding, the winning bid from the UK of £27,000 including buyers premium saw this new and interesting auction a firm part of the auction calendar for 2021!

This is the first of many specialist auctions for Bishop & Miller, shipping to buyers across the UK and America, these auctions will be a key feature of auction calendar going forward into 2021.

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