Decorative Art

A suffragette’s true identity may have been uncovered by an auction house.

Amassed by the headmaster of one of Britain’s finest public schools, the Silk collection of Staffordshire portrait figures provides a fillip to an overlooked market

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

In Fairs, Markets & Centres in ATG No 2516 we featured a story about 'The Venus of Meudon', a 1.9m tall sculpture by the Dadaist sculptor Jean Arp. Owned by dealers Karin and John Haines, it stands in a commanding spot at the Melford Antiques, Interiors and Lifestyle Centre in Suffolk.

A dab hand at Christmas shows, Andrew Singleton of Suffolk House Antiques in Yoxford has held one annually for over 25 years.

Rounding off the Wedgwood section of Skinner’s December 3 auction of European Furniture and Decorative Arts is a small selection of Fairyland lustre ware.

The windmill cup was the most popular of the novelty silver wager cups produced from the late 16th century until the early 18th century.

When Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685 (which had given religious freedom to French protestants), a flood of Huguenot refugees travelled across Europe to places where they could practise their religion in safety.

A collection of silver assembled over half a century by a Brussels general practitioner with a passion for 18th century French silver is to be offered for sale by Dupont & Associés, Morlaix Enchères, at Drouot in Paris on December 6.

As very personal items, typically weighing little more than an ounce of bullion, the most numerous silver survivors from the 17th century are spoons.

This Charles II silver mounted coconut cup is particularly rare on account of its marks for the Hull silversmith Edward Mangie (1634-85).

This pair of William III silver candlesticks came for sale at Potteries Auctions (20% buyer’s premium).

Given their relatively small metal content, many silver-mounted ‘tigerware’ beer jugs survived the great bullion melting of the English Civil War, making them perhaps the most recognised example of late 16th century silver today.

A carved oak falcon depicting Anne Boleyn’s royal badge discovered in a Devon auction and bought for £75 could soon be on display at Hampton Court Palace if a dealer gets his wish.

On December 2 Australian auction firm Shapiro will be offering the collection of Spode blue and white earthenwares assembled over the past 25 years by Russell Brooks. The majority were purchased in first 15 years mainly in England but also in Australia.

Many sales in late November and early December are assembled with presents in mind and silver and jewellery are much to the fore.

Most angles on the collecting spectrum were covered in Bamfords’ (24.75% buyer’s premium) three-day autumnal catalogue.

Records were set for studio pottery when the collection of the late New York art dealer Dr John P Driscoll was sold last week.

A group of antique snuff boxes has been recovered after a theft more than 40 years ago.

Pictured here are two early English pottery tankards – both of them documentary pieces.