News

Clocking Up Another Year Of Top Prices

One of the rarest and most unusual antique clocks to come on to the provincial auction market in recent years sold for a resounding £26,000 at Surrey auctioneers Ewbank Clarke Gammon Wellers on Wednesday December 9. The 18th century table clock by the eminent London scientific instrument maker, Richard Glynne had been expected to fetch £5,000-8,000. It was purchased by a UK dealer.

“The result crowned a highly successful day,” said auctioneer Chris Ewbank. “The clock aroused a huge amount of interest in horological circles and it was competed for by bidders in the room, and others on 6 telephones. It was one of the most valuable lots we have sold this year and certainly the most unusual clock I have ever seen.”

It dated from circa 1720-25 and is thought to be a unique survivor of an era when clockmakers competed with each other to produce the finest work. There were several unusual features, notably a revolving globe standing above the clock case intended to tell the passing phases of the moon.

The trefoil shaped chapter ring was another extremely rare feature, although  one example is known to have been made by Glynne's contemporary Richard Street, who had been apprenticed to the great British clockmaker Thomas Tompion. Glynn and Street worked close to one another, the former being in Fleet Street from 1718-1729 when he retired, while the latter had premises there until he is thought to have died in 1722.

The clock had only a single hand, which is not unusual, but in this case it was fixed and instead, the whole of the inner dial revolved. As a result, in order for the hand to follow the contours of the inner border of the chapter ring, it was fitted with a cam and spring loading causing it to expand and contract in length.

Research by the auctioneer Chris Ewbank indicated that while many scientific instruments signed by Glynne are known, this was the first clock he had seen bearing his signature. The clock was been sent for sale by executors of an estate in Winchester. According to family tradition, it was inherited through the Bohn family of Hull and through earlier connections from the Boleyns.

Another good clock in the sale was consigned following pre-sale publicity about the first. Known as a strut clock because of the rear pivot strut support, they were designed by the great Victorian carriage clockmaker Thomas Cole (1800-1864) and gained their popularity from their slim, flat case which was more portable than the square bulk of traditional carriage clocks. This example, by important London Victorian maker W. Vasel, sold to a UK dealer for £2,500. The clock was formerly owned by H J Morgan, a motor racing aficionado who lived in London’s Montague Square, before moving to Godalming in Surrey a few years before his death. It was sold on behalf of a member of his family who had inherited it.

A 19th century boulle mantle clock with gilt metal figural mounts from a home in Hindhead sold for £1,100 to a collector in Malta bidding on the telephone. It had been estimated at £200-400.

Auctioneer Chris Ewbank reportted strong prices across the board, with the sale raising a total of £210,000 and 35 lots selling for more than £1,000, proving yet again that regional auctioneers are able to achieve London prices without the costs associated with selling in the capital.

Ceramics proved particularly well received, a Chelsea tureen and cover decorated with flowers and exotic birds proving to be the top lot. From the same home as the boulle clock, it sold to a London buyer for £3,500. A Copeland Parian figure, known as “The Veiled Bride”, from a home near Leatherhead, sold to a Surrey collector for £3,300, both prices being multiples of their respective pre-sale estimates.

A large William Moorcroft vase measuring 9½ inches in height and decorated with the Claremont pattern sold to a Devon collector for £2,500 against an estimate of £1,200-1,800 and a pair of Chinese turquoise ground moon flasks colourfully enamelled with panels depicting a battle scene on one side and a peacock on the reverse sold for £1,100. From a house in Winchester they were purchased by a collector in Ohio bidding on the internet.

Highlight of the works of art section was a charming 1920’s bronze lamp with an alabaster shade, modelled with the figure of a boy with ivory face and hands, standing by the trunk of a tree. By Julius Schmidt-Felling (1895-1930) the lamp was estimated at £1,000-1,500 but sold for £3,200 to a Home counties collector. In the same section, a half of a coco de mer nut carved with Islamic scrip and applied with gilt metal mounts and chain sold to a London dealer for £1,050 to the surprise of its Guildford owner who was expecting only £80.

Pick of the collectors’ items was a splendid scratch-built live steam 3½-inch gauge model of the Flying Scotsman in appropriate green and black London and North Eastern Railway livery which at nearly four feet long will make an imposing Christmas present. It was purchased by a West Sussex collector for £1,000.

There will be an unexpected Christmas surprise for members of the Tarporley Hunt Club, a Cheshire dining club believed to be the oldest in the country, after one of the members rescued one of its 19th century trophies. The William IV two-handled cup, decorated appropriately with horse-drawn chariots and classical figures, was presented as the Tarporley Hunt Cup in 1858. It was made by Irish silversmith James le Bass in Dublin in 1832-33, and was inscribed with the winner’s name, James Platt, and his horse “Welsh Heiress”. The trophy was estimated at £1,200-1,800, but club member William Speilgelberg, a retired Grenall’s brewery executive, placed a winning telephone bid of £2,500 to return it to the club’s trophy cabinet.

A London dealer paid an estimate-busting £1,200 for an early 20th century silver plated caviar dish modelled amusingly as a turtle with millefiori glass eyes, which was sent for sale by a Surrey vendor.

Good furniture was a strength of the sale, notably an early 18th century walnut chest of drawers with cross banding and herringbone inlay which sold for £3,200 against an estimate of £2,000-2,500. A 19th century French burr walnut and ebonised cabinet on stand inset with Sevres-style porcelain panels and figural gilt metal mounts overturned an estimate of £500-800 to sell to a London buyer for £2,600 bidding on the internet

The same estimate was carried by a Regency rosewood circular breakfast table from a Surrey home which sold to a buyer from Bath for £2,400, while a pair of Regency mahogany circular side tables with brass lion’s claw feet doubled their estimate to sell to a Weybridge private buyer for £2,000. A 19th century walnut and parquetry inlaid breakfront credenza was secured by a Surrey dealer for £2,000 who also paid £1,600 against an estimate of £600-1,000 for a George III mahogany boxwood and ebony strung and parquetry inlaid bow-fronted sideboard. A 19th century walnut and parquetry inlaid side table from a London property was estimated at £300-500 but sold to a London private buyer for £1,600.

Most valuable painting in the sale proved to be an acrylic and collage abstract picture on canvas by Sir Terry Frost (1915-2003) titled “St Ives Harbour” which was found leaning against a wall in the attic of a house in Addlestone, Surrey, left there when previous occupants moved. It sold for £2,200, while a limited edition print by the same artist sold for £1,300, which was more than double its estimate.

An oil on canvas by the Danish artist Bertha Wegmann (1847-1926) of wild flowers in a glass vase was dated 1906, but had a label showing it had last been on the market in 1988, when it was purchased from the Pyms Gallery. This time out it sold to a Cobham collector for an above estimate £1,600.

Bringing a mystical touch to the picture section were two 18th century or earlier illustrated leaves from a Kalpasutra manuscript from the ancient dharmic religion of Jainism of Western India depicting the saint Jina Parsvanatha, who was protected by the seven-headed snake. They sold to a Welsh collector for an above top estimate £1,500, while a portrait from North West India showing a Maharaja seated smoking a hookah sold to a London collector for £1,400 against an estimate of £400-600. From the same Farnham vendor and the same region of India was an early 20th century watercolour of paired riders on three camels, which sold to an internet buyer from Indianapolis for £1,300, more than four times the pre-sale low estimate.

In jewellery, a George III gold and diamond-set memorial ring with an inscription dated 1755 sold for £950 and a man’s 18 carat gold wristwatch by Schaffhausen in an Asprey presentation box proved irresistible to another internet buyer from Italy, who won it with an above estimate bid of £1,200.

Entries are always welcome for Victorian and later auctions at Ewbank Clarke Gammon Wellers, the next of which will be held on January 13 and 27, 2010 and for the saleroom’s Spring sale of antiques and fine art auction on March 17. For further information, please contact the auctioneer on 01483 223101 or antiques@ewbankauctions.co.uk.

We take this opportunity to wish all clients and buyers a Happy Christmas. The saleroom closes on 23rd December and reopens at 9.30 am on Monday 4th January