NEWS

SILVER CANDELABRUM RAISES THE ROOF AT EWBANK

Bent but unbowed, imposing centrepiece sells for £7,500

An imposing two-feet high silver and silver gilt candelabrum, which survived a ceiling collapse in its owner’s home - albeit somewhat bent and battered - sold for a robust £7,500 in a sale of fine art and antiques at Surrey auctioneers Ewbank on Thursday December 13. The 16-branch candelabrum had been estimated at £4,000-5,000.

By the renowned contemporary designer Stuart Devlin, the candelabrum would make a stunning centerpiece to a Christmas dinner table but will require restoration first. “Each of the16 branches resembled a dripping icicle supported by pierced silver gilt panels and a couple of them had been bent out of vertical by the weight of the ceiling falling on it,” said auctioneer Chris Ewbank. “A great number of fragile porcelain and glass antiques were lost in the accident, but the candelabrum was robust enough to survive.

“Our vendor had purchased the piece directly from Stuart Devlin in the 1980s and was very attached to it. He was greatly relieved when it survived the ceiling collapse and was selling it only because he is moving to a smaller home.”

The candelabrum was purchased by post-war silver specialist dealer Styles of Berkshire bidding on the telephone. It was hallmarked for 1980 and weighed 122 ounces.

Stuart Devlin is one of the great modern day gold and silversmiths and is a former Prime Warden of the Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths (1966-7). An Australian, he now lives and works in Sussex.

Landscape by Jan Willem Van Borselen

However, eclipsing that price was the £13,000 paid by a Scottish dealer for the top lot in the sale, an oil on canvas by the Dutch artist Jan Willem Van Borselen (1825-1892). It showed a typical Low Country landscape with a windmill and cows in a meadow. Estimated at £6,000-10,000, the price was even more satisfactory given that the painting had been relined.

A portrait of Abigail Cotton (née Abney) after Sir Peter Lely was estimated at £800-1,200 and sold for £1,900 to a London buyer. Abigail was the daughter of James Abney 1599-1693 and sister of Sir Thomas Abney of Willesley Hall, who was Lord Mayor of London in 1690. She married Ralph Cotton of Bellaport. Family archives showed the portrait to be in the possession of Sir William Wiveleslie Abney at his home Measham Hall in Leicstershire, in whose home it was hanging circa 1900. There is a direct family descent to the present Viscount Combermere. The portrait was sold from the estate of a recently deceased member of the Abney family.

In watercolours, a pair of views of the Dartmoor by Alfred Fontville De Breaknsi (1877-1955) son of the leading watercolourist Alfred De Breanski, sold for an above estimate £600.

An unusual 19th century wooden panel expertly carved in relief in the style of the painting Return from Hawking by Sir Edwin Landseer sold to a continental dealer on the telephone for £1,000. The panel was signed Jos Gruber Innsbruck and was dated 1885.

Furniture prices were generally strong, the most valuable lot proving to be an early 18th century walnut bureau bookcase. The upper section had mirrored doors and the fall front in the base opened to reveal a well fitted interior of various pigeon holes, drawers and cupboards over two short and three long drawers. It sold to a local dealer for £3,800.

An 18th century mahogany and parquetry inlaid bureau fitted with various drawers and pigeonholes also did well, selling for £1,550 and an elegant early Victorian rosewood music stand doubled its top estimate to sell for £1,400.

A19th century mahogany and brass bound secretaire military chest with fall front leather-covered writing surface concealing a number of small drawers overturned a £500-800 estimate to sell £1,800 and a 19th century oval rosewood breakfast table on tripod base sold for an above estimate £1,700.

Anticipating the summer, a charming 19th century cast iron garden bench from the Coalbrookdale factory and decorated with the rare nasturtium pattern sold for an above estimate £1,300.

The sale was also notable for good clocks, one of them falling to a collector bidding on the Internet. Object of his desire was an 18th century mahogany longcase clock by Peter Amyot of Norwich, its brass dial fitted with seconds dial and date aperture. It sold for £2,000 against an estimate of £800-1,200, while a similar London-made clock by Joseph Franklin also exceeded its top estimate to sell for £2,200. It was purchased by a private local buyer.

An impressive 19th century twin-steepled architectural style brass skeleton clock under a glass dome tripled its pre-sale estimate to sell for £1,800.

Most valuable lot in ceramics was a Chinese bottle vase decorated with prunus and birds on an iron red ground, which sold for £2,200, a multiple of its pre-sale estimate.

Entries are now being accepted for the next fine art and antiques auction which will be held in the Spring on March 13, 2008, and for Ewbank’s regular monthly general auctions on January 17, 31 and February 14. For further information, please contact the auctioneer on 01483 223101 or antiques@ewbankauctions.co.uk.