24 2nd April 2011 auction reports Nelson’s hairs – apparently


FOR the second time in just over a month, locks of Horatio Nelson’s and Emma Hamilton’s hair have excelled at auction. The £44,000 bid at Woolley and Wallis


on January 27 for a locket thought to contain hair belonging to the famous pair (see front page of ATG No 1976) was certainly an impressive sum, but it was trumped by Holloway’s (21% buyer’s premium) on February 22. The Banbury, Oxfordshire firm had


found two locks of Nelson-Hamilton hair and a letter of provenance when a writing case from Shakenhurst Hall in Worcestershire was unlocked and the contents examined at the saleroom. The letter read: Lord Nelson’s hair


given me, September 1841, by Mrs. Joseph Carew, widow of Mr. Cadogan of Calais, at whose house Lady Hamilton died. Mr. J. C. Was the eldest son of the late Mr. R. Pole Carew (brother to Admiral Sir C. Pole) of Anthony near Saltash, and brother to the present Mr. C of that seat. M. M. Henry Cadogan was the British consul


in Calais and (although the letter was incorrect in that Lady Hamilton died at a boarding house rather than at his home) he did support her financially, paying her outstanding bills and arranging for her daughter Horatia to return to England. The hair may not have been presented


in a gold, enamel and pearl locket but this letter of provenance proved vital to


The auction house reported plenty


of interest in the room, and from five telephone bidders, before selling to a UK-based Chinese buyer through the- saleroom.com at £27,000 (estimate £3000-5000). Elsewhere in the sale, bidding


Above: locks of Lord Nelson’s and Lady Hamilton’s hair with the letter of provenance, £52,000 at Holloway’s.


its success. On the day, a bidding battle ensued between two private collectors, one eventually securing the lot for an astonishing £52,000 – over ten times its high estimate of £5000. A pair of Chinese Yongzheng (1722-


35) mark and period yellow ground saucer dishes were the second highest lot of an eventful antiques and fine art sale. Measuring 5½in (14.5cm), the


underside of the rims were incised with bands of flowers and vines and both dishes were in good condition, with only minimal imperfections. The provenance was listed as the banker Sir Edward de Stein (1887-1965), and then by descent.


through London dealers H. Blairman & Sons, the National Trust acquired two 17th century objects connected to their Surrey property, Ham House. Both were provenanced to the Tollemache family, the descendents of Elizabeth Murray, Countess of Dysart who lived at Ham. A commemorative silver and gold


locket bearing the inscription verso H D of Gloster referred to the Duke of Gloucester, the short-lived youngest son of King Charles I. The National Trust believes that


the locket was a personal possession of Elizabeth Murray, but its precise significance is not yet clear. The second item was a 19in (47cm) wide French strong box or coffer-fort that is recorded as being in the Duchess’s bedchamber at Ham in a 1683 inventory. Measuring 18in (47cm) wide, it is made in oyster-veneered olive wood with gilt-bronze strapwork. Estimated at 300-400, the strong


box sold for £2800 whilst the locket took £2500 against an estimate of £600-800.


Gabriel Berner Cantonese vases linked to Tiger of Mysore


A PAIR of 18th century Cantonese covered vases proved the major surprise at Wingetts (17.5% buyer’s premium) of Wrexham on March 16. They were consigned for sale by the family of General


George Vaughan Hart (1752-1832), a career soldier who served with the 46th Regiment of Foot during the American War of Independence and then in India, where he took part in the battles of Seringapatam and Bangalore. From 1812 to 1831 he served as Member of Parliament for County Donegal. By tradition the 2ft 2in (66cm) ovoid-form vases were


taken following the capture of Tipu Sultan’s palace in Seringapatam in 1799, the final confrontation of the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War. They are very finely decorated in famille rose and gilt,


but had unfortunately suffered a few battles of their own, displaying significant damage and losses. The general consensus seemed to be that one was restorable but the other, with a badly broken neck and only part of the Dog of Fo finial remaining, not. The auctioneer’s pre-sale estimate of £300-400 reflected this uncertainty. On the day, the quality and (somewhat tenuous)


provenance ensured all phone lines were taken, though the eventual buyer at £21,000 was in the saleroom. From the same source was a set of three hand-coloured engravings after Sir Robert Ker Porter (1777-1842) titled The Battle of Seringapatam and dated 1802. Condition again was an issue – one of the prints in particular had old repairs – but the frames were original and they fetched £1500 (estimate £300-500).


Above: the pair of large Cantonese vases from the family of General George Vaughan Hart sold for £21,000 at Wingetts on March 16. One of the vases was particularly badly damaged (see left).


Above: this pair of stained ivory tusk vases were consigned to Bridgwater auctioneers Tamlyn & Son (15% buyer’s premium) by a Somerset family. Dating from the first half of the 20th century, possibly c.1930, they were originally given to a family member who was a government official in the East. The polychrome decoration in particular chimed with Chinese taste and nine phone lines were booked when they were sold on March 15 – all Chinese buyers from different parts of the world. Eventually the tusks sold to a Chinese buyer in the UK for £10,000.


Above: this Japanese cloisonné box c.1890- 1910, a form properly known as a ‘kogo’, turned up at a Richard Winterton (17.5% buyer premium) valuation day at the Lichfield Auction Centre. Although it measures just 3in (8cm) in diameter, the signature is that of the master Kyoto cloisonné craftsman Namikawa Yasuyuki (1845-1927). On March 3 it was contested by eight phone bidders before it sold to a UK buyer at £5800.


Above: a 19th century hand-painted pictorial guide to the wonders of the ancient Indian city of Agra, unearthed in a Cheshire home, attracted interest from both Indian and British museums at Peter Wilson (17.5% buyer’s premium) of Nantwich on February 16. Painted on linen-backed paper on a carved wood scroll, it was illustrated along its 24ft 6in (7.5m) length with more than 32 sites. Each was titled in English and Urdu, beginning at Shah Guda’s Tomb and passing The China Tile Tomb (seen here), The Fort, The Taj Mahal and ending at Khan Douran Khan’s House. It sold for £13,000, a multiple of its presale estimate, to a London-based dealer against competition from an Indian museum.


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