Decorative Arts & Ephemera
Novelty ceramic Wall Vase in the form of a Gretsch Guitar, English, 1950s
Price: £25
This is a fun ceramic wall vase in the shape of a guitar with an opening at the top for flowers or perhaps pens or stationery items and a string cord, which may well be original, for suspension. The shape is taken from one of the designs produced by the famous American guitar manufacturers Gretsch who began the manufacture of electric guitars in the 1950s, eventually reaching tremendous popularity in the 1960s after the Beatle, George Harrison, used one of their models during the band’s first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. This piece predates that and was most likely made in the 1950s. There is no mark for the manufacturer beyond ‘Made in England’ but it is possible that this is an example of Brentleigh ware, a firm which produced ceramic novelty pieces such as the pair of shoes to be seen elsewhere in this sale.
Pewter and brass box and cover in the form of a Mallard Duck, Gatco, Hong Kong, 1960s
Price: £25
This is a novelty box and cover, possibly for pills or more likely trinkets made from pewter and brass in the form of a mallard duck. The details are simply but amusingly modelled with an effective contrast of the two metals used. The base, in common with other examples of this model, has an engraved mark comprising a reversed ‘3’ below an ‘8’. Other examples carry a gold ground paper label which reads ‘Made in Hong Kong’ and this is sometimes found elsewhere on brass items which also have a label for the firm ‘Gatco’, implying that this was the manufacturer here (see image 11). These amusing boxes were made in Hong Kong in the 1960s and retain their charm today.
A pair of stamp collage Postcards, Alsace and Nice, framed, early C20th
Price: £45
These are a fine example of collage pictures where the image is made up or mainly made up from fragments of stamps. The technique was used in various parts of the world including America and China but we obviously have French work here. The artist, whose signature appears on both pieces, has chosen to represent two ladies dressed in local costume, that of Alsace and Nice. The first is seen holding flowers which fits with a rural location and the second standing on a rock looking out to sea which suits a maritime one. The heads and hands are painted and the costumes made from stamp fragments. Eagle eyed philatelists might be able to date these pieces form the stamps used but the amateur has to rely on the style and ‘feel’ of the representations and we are probably looking at the 1920s or 1930s. The frames and mounts, though, are likely to be slightly later. The appeal is obvious and while there may be other parts of France represented in the same way, this pair of pictures are most likely ‘one off’ and would be an individual addition to the decoration of an interior.
Cruet set in the form of three Friar Tuck Monks on a Tray, Hummel, West Germany, 1960s
Price: £55
The portly figures of ‘Friar Tuck’ Monks seen here are perhaps rather appropriate for a set intended for the serving of condiments : salt, pepper and mustard. The three similar figures are amusingly modelled with benign expressions, the smaller ones pierced at the top for salt and pepper with plastic stoppers underneath and the larger in two parts, here complete with the original spoon. This set comes from the ‘Hummel’ range produced by the German ceramic manufacturers Goebel. Founded in 1871, the company began to enjoy enormous popularity in the 1930s when Franz Goebel, grandson of the founder, began an association with a Benedictine nun Berta Hummel who later took the name sister Maria Innocentia Hummel. Hummel had produced a range of postcard drawings of figures which Franz Goebel realised he could turn into porcelain figurines. Production started in 1935 and was immediately successful. Sister Hummel died in 1947 but the association with her covent continued and figures in her distinctive style were produced for many years thereafter. Dating is established by the format of the mark, which went through many variations. Here we see a ‘V’ with a bee within at the top and the wording W.Germany. The German word ‘hummel’ means ‘bee’ and the ‘V’ stands for ‘Verkaufsgesellschat’ or ‘Distribution Company’. This bee has sharp angular wings set parallel to the tips of the ‘V’ which was the format used between 1960 and 1972. In addition all ‘Hummel’ pieces were marked with the model number which can be seen clearly here on the base of the mustard pot, ‘S 183’. For some, the Hummel figurine might be an acquired taste but few can fail to admire the whimsy here and this set would add spice, so to speak, any dinner table conversation.
Set of five small landscape paintings attributed to Charles Boyland Turner, C20th
Price: £110
While ‘antique’ in appearance, both in respect of the frames and the style of the paintings themselves, this set of small landscape compositions most likely date to the mid to late years of the twentieth century. As the inscriptions on the backs indicate, all five display Norfolk scenes and are attributed to the artist Charles Boyland Turner. Charles Turner seems to have painted many Norfolk landscape scenes and his pictures sometimes appear at auction. The style is always similar, traditional and with a nineteenth century ‘feel’, but Charles Turner worked in acrylic rather than oil paint, a much more modern medium, and was the author of a book on the subject, ‘Painting Miniatures in Acrylics’, published in 1990 whose cover displays an image very similar to these. Accordingly, while little is known about him, his work is relatively recent which is not to say that it is without its attraction. The five scenes depicted here are extremely pleasing. Many, but not all, of his pieces are signed but these are not, perhaps because of the size, and we have to take the labelling on trust. The close similarity with signed works, though, gives little reason to doubt the attribution.
Egyptian table decoration depicting a Pharoah and Attendant, c1940
Price: £45
This is a Egyptian souvenir table decoration depicting aPharoah and attendant. The sun is radiating down to indicate his divine rule. It is made from bovine buffalo bone, a material commonly used for Egyptian decorative objects.
Pair of Silver Filigree Bonbonnieres, probably continental circa 1900
Price: £110
A pair of bowls formed from minute and delicate silver filigree work, the shallow incurving sides with a deeply scalloped rim above an openwork foot with plain sides, the decoration in the from of leaves, perhaps those of a cabbage plant, with elaborate silver thread detail. The workmanship here is obvious but the provenance of these pieces less so. Silver filigree pieces were made in both Russia and China but there is little resemblance to those here. A much closer parallel lies in Portuguese work and there is one very similar bowl known to have belonged to one Charles William de la Poer Beresford, an Admiral and Member of Parliament who died in 1919. If there is a connection here, then this pair of bowls most likely date to the early years of the twentieth century.
French Souvenir Verre Eglomise Box and Cover, Sacre Coeur de Montmatre, circa 1900
Price: £55
This box, and others like it, was probably made in France as a tourist souvenir in the late nineteenth or early twentieth century. Formed as a small casket, the base is of pressed brass with relief decoration and four small pad feet. The lid has a ‘verre eglomise’, or reverse painted glass, bevel edged panel set in a brass mount and the box is lined inside. Some of the decoration of the lid is probably transfer with other elements hand painted on the back of the glass in true ‘verre eglomise’ style. The scene depicted is the well known Basilica of Sacre Coeur situated on the top of Montmatre, one of the most frequently visited sites in Paris and therefore eminently suitable as the subject for a memento of the ‘great city’. This is the ‘Grand Tour’ style rather towards its end with cheaper materials and a more mechanical method of production but an authentic example of a period souvenir to tempt the traveller.