Decorative Arts & Ephemera
A group of twenty assorted artists Stamps in H&R Johnson sample Box, C20th
Price: £75
This is a most interesting group of stamps, possibly intended for tiles, nearly all with naturalistic designs of trees or stylised floral emblems. Twelve are mounted on thick clear plastic or perspex blocks while the remainder are mounted on wood. Examples of the pressed designs can be seen in images 1 and 2 and their appeal is obvious. The stamps are contained in a wooden box with the name of the well known tile manufacturers H&R Johnson Ltd printed on the front with the words ‘ceramic glazed tiles’ below. H&R Johnson began trading in 1901 and are still producing tiles in imaginative and innovative designs today. The box was clearly for tile samples rather than stamps and was presumably adapted by the owner of these stamps to hold his small collection. Perhaps this is why the three central dividers are missing (the grooves for them can be clearly seen in image 3); their presence would not have allowed all the stamps to fit inside! This assembled collection with its impromptu container was clearly used by an enthusiastic amateur artist. Both the box and the stamps look to have been made in the 1950s or 1960s and were clearly well used. Printing block stamps can be much in demand today and there is a family firm, Stamped in Tradition, based in London and Devon who produce a truly vast selection of handmade pieces in bronze, some of which are similar in design to some of the stamps in this box (see images 9,10). The tradition truly lives on then, and this collection allows the opportunity for experimentation today in an age old craft.
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.
Crown Winsor Jockey Teapot, 1980s
Price: £35
This amusing teapot depicts the head and shoulders of a jockey (his red cheeks implying perhaps a fondness for light refreshment between races) and the head of a horse. The modelling is vivid and colourfully painted, the white glaze with an original light craquelure. The base has a stamped mark. A circle with a cipher inside, above a crown and below the wording ‘Crown Winsor’ (note the spelling) and ‘England’ (rather indistinct).
Crown Winsor was a short lived earthenware manufacturer at the Sylvan Works, Longton, Stoke-on-Trent, England, previously the premises of the firm Shaw and Copestake, who traded under the well known name ‘SylvaC’ and went into voluntary liquidation in 1982. A workers co-operative trading under the name of Longton Ceramics attempted to take the business over but with little success and eighteen months later the enterprise was fully taken over by United Co-operative Society and run under the name of Crown Winsor. The Co-operative society already owned the Windsor Pottery works and the Crown Clarence Pottery works which was the source of the ‘Crown Winsor’ name. Production centred on whimsical and novelty items, sometimes made from the old SylvaC moulds but demand proved weak and the business ceased trading in 1989. This teapot is typical of their range and the elaborate cipher underneath seems to read ‘CW’ grandly announcing a trade name which unfortunately had a very short life
Chinese Qu Wine Decanter, Sam Seng Wine Co, late C20th
Price: £35
The Sam Seng Wine Company is based in Hong Kong. Founded by Hee Lin in 1974, it is known for producing a range of medicinal wines and rice wines, of which the ‘Qu Wine’, which originally formed the contents of this elaborate decanter or bottle, is the best known example. The Company seems to have adopted the practice of selling its wines in novelty ceramic containers which are now collectible items in themselves. This example is in the form of gourd on which sit three revellers each holding wine cups and seemingly rather the worse for wear. The complex and detailed modelling of the figures, which recalls that of earlier stoneware examples made at the Shiwan kilns from the Guangdong province, along with the extensive inscriptions are a surprising feature of an object which was essentially a ‘free gift’ but can certainly be enjoyed today. Fortunately the original trade label survives and the format of this suggests a late twentieth century dating.
Pair of small green depression glass Jars with bakelite Covers, 1930s
Price: £45
A pair of square green glass jars with cut off corners and curved bases and shoulders, the bodies with press moulded line and panel decoration and the tops with screw fittings to secure the black bakelite covers. The covers are marked 'GM' within a stylised 'A', '58', 'P' and the base of one has the same 'GM' symbol with 'U' '895' and what looks like a small triangle while the base of the other only has the 'GM' symbol and '95'. The style of these pieces is often termed ‘depression glass’ and refers to a whole range of modest glass wares, sometimes distributed free of charge, made during the 1930s in America around the time of the great depression. Certainly the form and decoration reflect the Art Deco era and the use of bakelite for the covers is consistent with this. Also, the glass here contains easily visible imperfections which were inevitable from a manufacturing process which emphasised speed and low cost and are something of a hallmark of these pieces. Perhaps originally intended for kitchen or bathroom storage (one lid has an old label reading ‘borax’, a cleaning agent) these jars are more collectors’ items now recalling the ‘thrift purchases’ of a challenging era.
Small circular ceramic plaque after Fragonard marked Limoges, framed, late C20th
Price: £25
The scene reproduced here is found on many porcelain and occasionally glass shapes dating from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, most of them made in one or other of the workshops at Limoges, France. Often referred to as a ‘Courting Couple’ we see here a lady and gentleman in eighteenth centur dress in a rustic garden setting with trees and an architectural niche in the backgound. The lady is seated listening to the standing gentleman who is playing a musical instrument, perhaps a guitar or a lute. The composition is loosely base on a picture by the famous eightenth century artist French Fragonard entitled ‘The Music Contest’ (see image 7). Not all of these pieces are very old and this one probably dates to the late twentieth century. The frame with a gilt metal border at the front, which is marked ‘Danish Design’ is consistent with this. Marked ‘Limoges’ on the front (other examples have ‘Fragonard’ in addition) this plaque is also marked ‘Meissner’ ‘Limoges’ ‘France’ to the reverse which confirms the provenance of a piece which is a modest reflection of the eighteenth century rococo style.
Pair of Chinese hand painted jade Eggs with modern stands
Price: £25
Each of these eggs is made from light green coloured jade formed into the shape of an egg. Both are attractively painted in bright colours with birds and flowers, the designs complementary rather than matching. They were made in China, doubtless as tourist souvenirs and are most likely quite recent in date but the combination of the stone shape and colour and the careful decoration make them attractive decorative items nevertheless.
Pair of continental style openwork border Dishes, probably Chinese C20th
Price: £20
A pair of small oval dishes with openwork borders and loop handles, decorated to the centre with fruit, the reverses with impressed marks ‘4’ and iron red stamped numbers ‘12’ (rather indistinct on one). These dishes follow closely pieces made by the German ceramics manufacturer Schumann whose premises were located in Bavaria and which made fine quality hard paste porcelains, tastefully decorated with floral designs, from their beginnings in the 1870s to the mid 1990s when the business ceased trading but close inspection of the fruit surfaces here indicates that they were not hand painted but produced by the technique of laser printing which is evident from the ‘micro dot’ effets which here can be seen even by the naked eye. This suggests late twentieth century Chinese work and the paste of the foot (also the numbering at the back) confirms this.
Trade+Aid Teapot, Van Gogh Café Scene, UK 1990s
Price: £25
This is an amusing enamel teapot, the rectangular body curving in towards the lid and with a loop handle and spout. It is brightly decorated in coloured enamels with a Parisian Café scene after the painting by Van Goch whose first name can be seen on one of the sides. The original is in the Kröller-Müller Museum Otterlo, Netherlands (see image 7). The base of the teapot is marked ‘Trade+Aid’ ‘No.158.UK’ and it comes from a range of teapots produced for ‘Charlotte di Vita Collections’ under the trading name ‘Trade+Aid’. These were hand crafted items using traditional techniques whose sale benefited charitable projects and initiatives worldwide. The various designs were usually limited editions and some are quite collectible today
Pewter Plate in the Art Nouveau style, marked Joh. Heidl, C20th
Price: £20
This is a circular pewter plate, flat with a narrow turnover rim, also flat and ridged at the edge, the centre with an embossed head portrait of a lady with flowers within a pentagonal border, the reverse with the engaved name ‘Joh. [Johannes?] Heidl’ at the bottom. Similar plates, often called card trays, are known from the early twentieth century, many made by the German company WMF (Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik) but some also in France. The designs often have lady’s head to the centre in the Art Nouveau style but the work is much more sculptural and highly raised. The mark on this piece cannot be traced but its appearance implies that the maker took some pride in his work and the lettering style is consistent with an early twentieth century dating. But while this could possibly be a later pastiche there are no parallels for this version of the design either. It is best, then, to regard this dish as in the Art Nouveau style, if of uncertain date and to enjoy its decorative appeal.
Andy Pandy Oil Lamp, German, Karl Meyer, 1950s
Price: £35
Our users of a certain age will recognise the small seated figure wearing a blue and white striped jump suit with a white frilled collar but others who need to rely on a Google search will easily discover his identity. It is Andy Pandy, the earliest creation by the BBC for childrens’ television, who made his first appearance in 1950 and was then seen frequently in the years thereafter with a remake in 1970 and again in 2002. Accompanied by his companions Teddy, a teddy bear, and Looby Lou, a rag doll, Andy, a marionette doll, entertained young children with a collection of unrelated songs and games with no ongoing narrative. Viewers were invited to sing or dance along and each episode ended with a variation on the famous song: "Time to go home / Time to go home / Andy is waving goodbye."
TV linked merchandise was created even in the earliest days of the medium and this charming small ceramic oil lamp, hardly the safest accessory for the nursery, is an amusing example. Andy sits next to a table with an urn on the top which forms the base of the lamp. Oil or paraffin would have been contained inside and once lit the wick could be adjusted by turning the round flat knob on the side. This has the trademark symbol for the German toy manufacturers Karl Meyer (see image 7). The base is marked ‘FOREIGN’ which was a common requirement for items imported into the UK after the second World War and allowed the makers to conceal their country of origin, which might have been useful to some of them at the time. A true piece of nostagia whether the figure represented is familiar or not.
Novelty match holder with cat, Klimax Japan, mid C20th
Price: £20
This is a novelty ceramic match holder made in the form of a cat, colourfully dressed with a slightly puzzled expression, holding a vase to contain the matches. The base is stamped in orange ‘Klimax’ ‘Hand painted’ ‘Foreign’. Little seems to be known of the firm, but they produced modest, hand painted decorative ceramics before and after the second world war for the export market. Their work is often similar to Noritake or very late Kutani pieces and concentrates on tableware and vases. These march holders seem much less common. The word ‘foreign’ was used by Japanese manufacturers when there was a feeling that the true country of origin should not be advertised. It was more common before the war but used sometimes afterwards, so a dating here to the 1940s or 1950s is the most likely. Not the most sophisticated ceramic item, but certainly an amusing one!
Pair of petit point Tapestry Pictures, The Needlewoman Shop London, mid C20th
Price: £55
A pair of oval tapestry pictures depicting a lady and a gentleman in eighteenth century dress, framed and one with a label for ‘The Needlewoman Shop’ in Regent Street, London to the reverse. This attractive and finely worked pair of needlework images was most likely created from preprinted pattern tapestry canvas. Various examples of these were produced during the twentieth century including the popular ‘Gobelin’ range. The Needlewoman Shop traded in Regent Street from 1928 to 1985 and was something of a mecca for those interested in fine sewing in all its forms. The likelihood is that the patterns for these pictures were sold by the shop, possibly along with the threads required, and then framed by them after the customer had completed the kit successfully, but this is no more than an educated guess. The format of the label suggests a dating in the 1950s.
The fine stitching used here is a version of needlepoint termed ‘petit point’ because of the small size of stitches used. In general needlepoint, designs are stitched onto fine canvas using a simple tent stitch, a small, diagonal stitch that crosses over the intersection of one horizontal and one vertical thread of the canvas forming a slanted stitch at a 45-degree angle. Petit point uses the same technique but with much finer stitching and thread on a much finer canvas often requiring magnification for the work to be carried out. It allows more intricate designs and shading effects as can be clearly seen here. The technique was particularly popular in France amongst the aristocracy in the early eighteenth century which perhaps determines the choice of subject here but with their intricate stitching and complementary frames, this pair of tapestries would definitely be a candidate for boudoir accessories in the present day.
Delft style garniture vase, probably Chinese C20th
Price: £20
The marks underneath this vase proudly announce production at Delft, Holland which is written below the standard apothecary bottle and the cipher ‘JT’ (from Joost Thooft, the company owner from 1876) with, in addition, a painter’s mark, which cannot be identified and a date code leeter ‘R’ for 1896. There are also some impressed letters and numbers which are hard to identify. The form and decoration is similar to that of a Chinese eighteenth century garniture vase (there should be a cover to this in addition) which is entirely consitent with original Delft pieces which copied or based themselves on Chinese models, although the shape here is exaggeratedly slender. But the mechanical craquelure glaze is totally unauthentic as is the thickly potted body and the paste of the base which is most likely Chinese and therefore yet another example of the European style pieces they made during the late twentieth century, a few example so of which can be seen elsewhere on this site. A novelty pastiche then but with the potential for the display of small flowers which it would complement rather well.