Antiques Trade Gazette 11


right elements


Right: from a small collection of embroidered costume in the Richmond consignment came this mid-18th century English stomacher, worked in coloured silks on linen, that fetched £1000.


Left: the colours on this mid-17th century composite panel, probably made from the sides of a casket, were still fresh and helped to take the price to a quadruple-estimate £12,000.


Below: an English beadwork bag inscribed I Pray God To Be My Guide 1638 in white beads along the border. Sold for £2800 from the Richmond collection at Bonhams.


Overall all but nine of the 63 lots


changed hands to generate just over £260,000. Bidding was enthusiastic but not


wild. While the take-up was high, not everything sailed past those realistic guides and the audience was sensitive to pieces in less than tip-top condition. For those that were well preserved or with fresh colouring – all-important factors in this field – bidders were prepared to pay a premium. One case in point was an 11½ x 10in


(29 x 25cm) mid-17th century composite panel, probably made up from the side sections of a box and featuring biblical scenes from the Book of Esther with wonderfully fresh colours. This was battled over by two room bidders to £12,000, four times what was predicted. Another was a 15in (38cm) square


17th century picture, satin-stitched in coloured silk and metal thread with a central panel of a garden with spot motifs of garden flowers and animals. Well-preserved and finely executed, this


outstripped its £2000-4000 guide and was finally knocked down for £8500. Similarly, the slightly larger 9 x 12½in (23 x 32cm), mid 17th century panel of Solomon receiving the Queen of Sheba pictured on the facing page, worked in coloured silks and metal thread with padded figures and applied spangles to the entire ground, was well preserved with good strong colours throughout. Estimated at £10,000-15,000, it sold for £18,000 to a commission bid. The highest price in the collection


proved, as expected, to be the opening lot, a 15in x 14in (38 x 35cm) tortoiseshell-bordered needlework mirror frame which was one of no fewer than four 1660s silk-embroidered and raised- work examples included in the Richmond consignment. This had an ivory silk ground


embroidered in coloured silks and incorporating padded, raised and coil-work and was distinguished by a


continued on page 12 Bonhams remain cautious over jade that made the grade at £160,000


WHILE Bonhams were dispersing the Richmond embroideries and English furniture in New Bond Street, their Knightsbridge saleroom turned up an unexpected result in a general sale of Chinese and other Asian works of art. The selection of 50 or so jades and hardstones offered towards the end of the sale included this 5½in (14cm) long reticulated carved plaque described as a belt buckle, appliqué or fitting. The auctioneers had left it undated with a modest £400-600 estimate only to see it contested by Chinese bidders up to £160,000 on the day.


After the sale Colin Sheaf, head of Asian art at Bonhams, issued a statement about the piece saying: “It is a very nice coloured stone, white jade, which is very popular with buyers at present. We remain comfortable with the way it was dated; to be precise we thought the date of manufacture was not at all clearly defined, or possibly relatively recent. While we understand why some buyers were excited by it, in our opinion the surface polish is not commensurate with that found on an 18th century jade of standard type.“ The jade section also produced the next highest price of the auction, the double-estimate £26,000 paid for a 2¼in (6cm) high, mottled green jadeite pendant also undated and carved with a pair of long-tailed birds beside a prunus tree. Overall the 311 lots totalled £436,150 with a 63 per cent volume take-up.


Above: 5½in (14cm) long reticulated carved white jade plaque – £160,000 at Bonhams.


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