Decorative Art

Although outwardly simple objects, cedar ‘bent corner’ chests, still made today by the indigenous people of the Pacific North West, employ a number of sophisticated woodworking techniques.

A spectacular cache of sealed 17th century bottles unearthed by workmen in Worcestershire will come to auction this year.

On the death of the monarch, or when a statesman left office, it was required by law that any seals of royal authority be broken and defaced.

This opal, diamond, enamel and 18ct yellow gold choker, c.1898, is textbook René Lalique (1860-1945).

When he was only 20, the French sculptor Jules Moigniez exhibited one of his works at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1855.

This Doulton Lambeth terracotta plaque by George Tinworth will be included in the ceramics section of Skinner’s February 14 sale of European furniture and decorative arts in Boston.

Highlight literally and metaphorically of the Woolley & Wallis sale on January 8 was a pair of ormolu and hardstone-mounted candelabra, superb in themselves and packed with French royal history.

A trio of five-figure offerings got Salisbury auction house Woolley & Wallis (25% buyer’s premium) off to a great start for 2020.

It was during the Carter, Stabler and Adams period in the 1920s-30s that some of the most memorable Poole wares were produced. Much of this Art Deco range – red earthenwares covered in a white slip and a semi-matt-glaze before decoration in a variety of Jazz Age patterns – was based on the work of chief designer Truda Carter.

This 14in (35cm) earthenware ‘face’ charger made by Madoura to a design by Pablo Picasso carries an estimate of $2000-3000 at Neely Auction in Lantana, Florida, on February 16.

On January 30, Millea Bros of Boonton, New Jersey, will offer more than 400 lots of English and American furniture and decorative arts from the estate of Elizabeth ‘Betty’ Seeler (1926-2018).

The two-day sale at Case Antiques of Knoxville, Tennessee, on January 25-26 includes a number of Liverpool creamware jugs depicting a range of subject matter.

This 13in (32cm) Royal Worcester ewer decorated with owls by Charles Baldwyn (1859-1913) carries an estimate of $950-1050 at Broward Auction Gallery in Dania Beach, Florida.

The Homes & Interiors sale at Bonhams Los Angeles on February 3 includes this Sèvres flower vase or Cuvette à Fleurs Courteille, measuring 10¼in (26cm) wide, estimated at $4000-6000.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

A collection of Irish glass built in the 1930s by artist Jean (Musgrave) Jameson was topped by a pair of c.1800 flat-cut urns and covers Adam’s (23% buyer’s premium) of Dublin.

A pair of George III sauce tureens by Daniel Smith and Robert Sharp was among the early sales on the opening day of The Mayfair Antiques & Fine Art Fair.

This pair of 19th century electroplated cups, offered by Andrew Smith & Son (21% buyer’s premium) in Alresford on December 11, is stamped for the noted Sydney silversmith Evan Jones (1846-1917).

It took just one sale to disperse a collection of pre-civil war silver painstakingly amassed in just over a quarter of a century at the rate of one piece a year.