Wessex Auction Rooms - November Auction Review
With over 25 of our Antiques, Collectables & Furniture auctions held at our Wiltshire auction room each year, and so much variety in each one, it would be easy for me to only ever write about those auctions.So this month I was determined to focus in on one of our other specialist auctions… but then last weeks auction proved to be so diverse that I just had to share some of the results.
It’s always a delight when a proper old school antique shines at auction, and a 19th century Swiss music box in our recent Antiques and Collectables auction not only shone, it was the highlight of the sale. The rosewood four-airs overture music box had a marquetry inlaid lid with classical foliate scroll decoration. The names of the four airs were detailed to a paper label inside. Whilst the earliest music boxes date to the early 1700s, and were developed from snuff boxes, the music box with airs sees its origins in the late 18th century, when Antoine Favre, a Swiss watchmaker, created small musical mechanisms to incorporate into watches. These musical mechanisms were developed and became the cylinder music box with a clockwork operated mechanism. The creation of the steel tooth expanded the repertoire and ability of the music box and with it, the demand. Notable makers include Nicole Freres, LeCoultre, F Nicole and Reymond Nicole. Our music box was without makers name, but this did not deter the bidders. After a fierce internet battle, the hammer finally fell at £6,500 and is heading to its new home in America.
An extensive collection of vintage Vogue magazines dating from the 1930s to the 1980s stormed ahead of its conservative guide. The winning bid came from a determined internet bidder, with the three boxes of magazines selling for £2,200. It was fascinating to look through some of the magazines and to see all those fashions that we think of as iconic being heralded for the first time. Vogue has carved a name as an influential fashion and lifestyle magazine. The first issue appeared in 1892 but it wasn’t until 1909 when Condé Montrose Nast purchased Vogue and launched it as a women’s fashion magazine with a focus on beauty, composure and etiquette. To have a large collection dating from the 1930s onwards is rare, and provides an absorbing insight into those decades.
An unusual lot to be found in a saleroom, was a set of Scottish bagpipes, with horn mouthpiece, turned wooden pipes and leather pipe bag with tartan cover (missing chanter), together with two spare chanters (one stamped 'J&R Glen of Edinburgh', the other 'G. O. Macdougall Aberfeldy'), all housed within a leather carry case. The bagpipes were part of a car load of items that the vendors brought to us with zero expectations. They fully anticipated us to politely say no thank you and to take the items to charity. However, stuffed at the front of the car boot were these unassuming bagpipes. Notoriously difficult to play, we saw an enormous amount of pre-auction interest in this lot. Who’d have thought there were so many bagpipe players! Or perhaps it was the thought of Burns’ Night on the horizon (January 25th) and the draw of piping in the haggis. The bidders were not perturbed that the bagpipes were not in mint condition, and went on to sell for £1,700. We are not sending them to Scotland however, the winning bid came from America.
Another lot which the vendors were expecting to take to charity but thought as they were passing they’d bring in to show us was a charming pencil and watercolour depicting the Three Graces by Thomas Rowlandson (1757 – 1827). Similarly they’d brought along numerous items, most of which continued on their journey to the charity shop but as soon as we saw this picture we knew it was a goody. It had all the usual signs of foxing, but it was the artist who caught our attention. Thomas Rowlandson was an English artist and caricaturist of the Georgian Era. He is most known for his political and social satire and his caricatures are often bawdy. The Three Graces have been depicted time and again in art, but Rowlandson’s portrayal is a wonderful combination of a caricature depicting three nude and pouting women together with his obvious skill as an artist in defining the female form in a few strokes and lines, yet in a realistic manner. The picture was not large, measuring 19 x 15cm, and after intense bidding sold for £1000 to a room bidder.
Wessex Auction Rooms are always consigning for forthcoming auctions and welcome entries, Monday-Friday 9am to 5pm at our auction rooms just off Junction 17 of the M4 (Chippenham) with no appointment necessary. Or on an appointment basis at our central Bath office, or at your home. Contact the team on 01249 720888 or email enquiries@wessexauctionrooms.co.uk