Batemans Auctions 31st May & 1st June 2013 Sale Report

BATEMANS

AUCTIONEERS & VALUERS

SALE REPORT – 31st MAY & 1st JUNE 2013

Every so often a deceased estate comes to auction with generations of
provenance behind it and from a property largely untouched for decades,
such estates are not common and the opportunity to auction them are a rare
privilege. The first part of one such estate, that of the late David Powell MBE,
was offered at Batemans’ June sale.
David Powell was a widely respected member of the farming and local
community, whilst also being the much loved centre of his large family. He
was a man with boundless energy, enthusiasm and good humour. He served
with distinction in the Royal Marines, and was awarded an MBE at the end of
the Second World War for his contribution to the liberation of Copenhagen.
Following the war he started his farming career in Yorkshire but moved to
Cambridgeshire to marry the niece of William Scott Abbott, in whose memory
the William Scott Abbott Trust was founded and which owns the local
educational Sacrewell Farm. Mr Powell managed Sacrewell Farm until 1982
and contributed a great deal to its success, putting a real emphasis on
educating children as to farming and where their food comes from, he
introduced the school tours that many locals will well remember. Throughout
his later life he was involved in many local societies, including a role as
president of the Stibbington branch of the Royal British Legion, and organised
the Poppy Appeal for 14 years.
Highlights from the estate included a Chippendale period mahogany wing
armchair of elegant proportions, the straight square legs with blind fret work
carving. Despite its somewhat tired and shabby appearance its quality shone
through and sold after intense competition to an Essex buyer for £4800. The
same buyer also acquired a George II wine table with an unusual burr walnut
tray top for £1500. Other furniture highlights included a Victorian rosewood
Davenport selling for £920, George III mahogany bachelor’s chest selling for
£1700 and a Georgian three seater settee selling for £1200.

A Chippendale period mahogany wing armchair – sold for £4800
The Saleroom, Ryhall Road

Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 1XF

Tel: (01780) 766466

BATEMANS

AUCTIONEERS & VALUERS

left – A George III mahogany bachelor’s chest – sold for £1700
right – A Victorian walnut davenport – sold for £920

Among the smaller items from the estate three items in particular stood out.
The first was a gold and black enamel brooch, set to the centre with a
monogram in diamonds and to the surround with further diamonds, it
purportedly came with royal provenance. Bearing the monogram of Frederic
William, King of Prussia, the brooch was believed to have been given by him
to Joshua Watson, a philanthropic banker who was instrumental in raising
significant sums of money for the relief of German widows, orphans and
others suffering hardship during the Napoleonic Wars. It sold above top
estimate to a London dealer for £2300. Another item of quality was a marine
compass by Dudley Adams of London, dating to the last quarter of the
eighteenth century. In superb condition and sitting within its original fish skin
case, it sold to a top provincial dealer for £2400. Finally, a George II sampler,
found rolled up in a drawer, and literally not having seen the light of day for
many years, was worked by Dorothy Robson, aged 10 in 1748. With various
verses, alphabets, Florentine work, animals and flowers, its colours remained
vibrant, there was no evidence or moth holes and it had only light patches of
staining. As a consequence it sold strongly to an Irish dealer for £1200.

left – A diamond and enamel brooch presented by King Frederic William of Prussia – sold for £2300
right – A George III brass marine compass by Dudley Adams, London – sold for £2400
The Saleroom, Ryhall Road
Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 1XF

Tel: (01780) 766466

BATEMANS

AUCTIONEERS & VALUERS

If the estate dominated the two day sale it by no more means stole all the
limelight. In the ceramics section a Copeland & Garrett pottery part dinner
service decorated in flow blue, popular with the American market, in a
botanical pattern was in a mixed condition but had four good meat platters
and a soup tureen, and sold well beyond expectation at £1300. Two other,
more modern, dinner services selling well were a Royal Doulton ‘Carlyle’
service which, despite being seconds, sold for £580, and a Royal Albert ‘Moss
Rose’ service selling for £350. A small Doulton Lambeth jug decorated by
Hannah Barlow with a hare and harebells realised £240.

A Doulton Lambeth jug decorated by Hannah Barlow – sold for £240

A private consignment of clocks including two George III bracket clocks and a
mantle clock dominated the specialist quarterly sale. A superb repeater
bracket clock with a twin fusee movement, quarter striking on five bells, by
Thomas Wright of London, sold to a West Midlands dealer for £2600, whilst a
brass inlaid bracket clock by John Speyer, another London maker, sold at a
mid estimate price of £700, and a mantel cock by Cribb of London achieved
£1000. Other clocks of interest included a ship’s clock by Cooke & Kelvey of
Calcutta which came with a fascinating pilot’s book painted in watercolours
of the shorelines from Calais to the northern coast of the Netherlands, selling
for £300, a late 19th century skeleton clock realising £360 and a Victorian slate
mantel clock of Egyptianesque form with twin fussee movement achieving
£1150.

The Saleroom, Ryhall Road
Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 1XF

Tel: (01780) 766466

BATEMANS

AUCTIONEERS & VALUERS

A Regency mahogany mantel clock by Cribb of London – sold for £1000

There were well in excess of a hundred lots in the specialist toys sale. A
Japanese tin plate super sonic moon ship drew strong interest, selling for
£210, whilst the same hammer price secured a Wren black Merchant Navy
Class locomotive, and an extensive collection of model buses realised £1000.
Strongest competition was reserved for two tin plate toys dating to around
1900. One was of a man pulling a cart advertising ‘Richford & Sons of Fleet
Street’ but the more unusual of the two was a French figure of a ballerina on
horseback which rotated around 360 degrees, at one point jumping over a
raised bar. These sold after much bidding to a London specialist dealer for
£720.

Two tin plate toys, circa 1900, ‘Equestrienne’ and tradesman pulling a cart – sold for £720

The Saleroom, Ryhall Road
Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 1XF

Tel: (01780) 766466

BATEMANS

AUCTIONEERS & VALUERS

Amongst the pictures this month was an oil painting by Howard Helmick of a
Breton fishwife selling lobsters that made £1800 and an atmospheric
watercolour by Sir Alfred East of the Grand Canal, Venice, which realised
£1200.

A watercolour of Venice by Sir Alfred East – sold for £1200

Frederick Frith, a renowned late Georgian silhouette producer was
exemplified in the sale by a family group and, in its original frame, sold for
£520.

A silhouette portrait by Frederick Frith – sold for £520
The Saleroom, Ryhall Road

Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 1XF

Tel: (01780) 766466

BATEMANS

AUCTIONEERS & VALUERS

The vertu and jewellery concluded the two day sale with aplomb. An early
19th century French silver gilt vinaigrette started the proceedings at £300,
followed by two Staffordshire enamel patch boxes. One was decorated in
black with a courting couple and the saying ‘Let us agree and wedded be’
whilst the other commemorated the famous victory of Admiral Earl Howe
against the French on the Glorious 1st June 1794. Despite much damage to
both they sold to a London dealer for £450. The jewellery included a Liberty
gold pendant set with a large tear drop opal and small diamonds. The opal
was considerably fractured but this did not stop enthusiastic bidding and it
sold above top estimate at £950. Also selling strongly was a Mikimoto
cultured pearl necklace realising £480 and a Moira gold, diamond and plique
a jour enamel flower brooch achieving £440. However, these pieces were all
overshadowed by another floral brooch by the esteemed jewellers Van Cleef
& Arpels. Set in 18ct gold with five petals of wood, the stamens in gold set
with three diamonds, it doubled its top estimate, selling to a London dealer
for £3900.

left – two Staffordshire enamel patch boxes – sold for £450
right – a Van Cleef & Arpels gold, wood and diamond 'clematite' brooch – sold for £3900

The Saleroom, Ryhall Road
Stamford, Lincolnshire, PE9 1XF

Tel: (01780) 766466