Antiques Trade Gazette 11


Left: a George II giltwood overmantel mirror by William Linnell – £260,000.


Right: a Vincennes bleu celeste broth bowl, cover and stand – £130,000.


Below: a set of six George I silver dinner plates from the collection of Whig politician John Smith – £29,000.


tops to the London maker Johan Richter (fl. 1767-96), who worked alone in 1770 but was later more famous in partnership with Domenico Bartoli. Together the partners executed several


of Robert Adam’s decorative schemes, but these table tops, probably designed by Adam like their bases, are among the earliest links between either men or the architect. Purchased for Mount Congreve in 2004, the 2ft 10in x 4ft 11in (87cm x 1.50m) pair sold to a UK adviser in the room for a mid-estimate £260,000. In high demand was a Vincennes bleu


celeste broth bowl with cover and stand dated to 1755. From the Baron Foley Collection, the piece more than doubled the top estimate to fetch £130,000. Rare and in exceptional quality and condition, it proved irresistible to several bidders who pursued it well beyond the £40,000- 60,000 estimate. A taste for French furniture, ormolu-


mounted in particular, was an underlying theme during the formation of the collection, reflecting the gardens which were inspired by Lionel de Rothschild (1882-1942), creator of the gardens at Exbury in Hampshire. Although largely eclipsed by its English counterparts in the sale, the French furniture still mostly got away, contributing some of the more notable lots. Fetching £100,000 against a £120,000-


180,000 estimate was a pair of c.1755 Louis XV ormolu-mounted marquetry encoignures by Joseph Baumauer. According to Ms Elborne, the demand for corner furniture has softened in recent years due in part to modern tastes for unadorned corners in rooms. Measuring 2ft 11¼in x 2ft 11in (89.5


x 89cm), the pieces were made of tulipwood, kingwood and amaranth and were bought for the house at Christie’s in 1942.


A late 18th century Louis XVI ormolu-


mounted bureau by Joseph Stockel fetched £90,000 against a £100,000- 150,000 estimate. Purchased from Partridge's, London, the 3ft 6in x 4ft 2in (1.07m x 1.28m) work was decorated with Italianate classical ruins fashionable in the 18th century as they evoked memories of the Grand Tour. There were a few casualties in this


section, however, which included an ornate Louis XV ormolu-mounted marquetry clock that failed against a £40,000-60,000 estimate and a pair of late Louis XV two-tone ormolu and white marble three-light candelabra with a Lionel de Rothschild provenance, estimated at £20,000-30,000. The rest of the contents, which will


include Mount Congreve’s extensive library collection, will be offered in the grounds of the house on July 10-11 by Mealy’s, in association with Christie’s.


Small but perfectly formed, laburnum longcase tops sale at £260,000


THIS fine Charles II longcase clock made in London by Edward East (1602-96) led the way at Christie’s furniture sale, The English Collector – 500 Years: Decorative Arts Europe, which followed the Mount Congreve house sale (see main report) at King Street on May 23. Made c.1670 of laburnum, the oyster-


veneered, architectural, striking eight-day clock measured only 5ft 8in (1.72m) high, small even by the standards of the architectural period in English clockmaking. From the property of a nobleman, this was its second outing at auction, having previously


appeared in the Sir John Prestige Collection at Sotheby’s in 1968, selling to Garrards for £7000. Here, against a £250,000-350,000 estimate, the clock fetched £260,000. Other similar examples have made more,


however; for instance, an architectural ebonised, pearwood longcase clock by Edward East sold at Christie’s in December 2006 for a premium- inclusive £355,200 and a silver-mounted example by Ahasuerus Fromanteel fetched a premium- inclusive £400,800 at Bonhams, London in December 2009. The five-lot collection totalled just shy of


£400,000, with the other highlight being a William III walnut, striking, month-going, longcase clock by Thomas Tompion, London c.1699, which sold for £95,000. Overall the 219-lot sale, which included


five larger collections such as property from the Duke of Leeds Will Trust, totalled £2.1m, with 63% sold by lot and 71% by value.


Right: a Charles II laburnum longcase clock by Edward East, London – £260,000.


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