Gorringes

A rare picture painted in India by Arthur William Devis (1762-1822) depicting a group of Bengali weavers was the subject of dramatic competition at Gorringe’s (25% buyer’s premium) spring fine art and antiques sale.

Sketches and journal by Emily Eden relate to her life in the UK then journey to the subcontinent

Some notable auction action has been generated by the artist Robert Polhill Bevan (1865-1925) over the last few months.

The opening two lots of Gorringe’s (25% buyer’s premium) Fine Art & Antiques sale on October 3 were leather-bound albums of photographs from British India.

Estimated at £300-500, a group of five hand-coloured prints of early 19th century Canada sold for £8500 at Gorringe’s (25% buyer’s premium) in Lewes.

Is Mason’s ironstone going through a collecting Renaissance? Well, perhaps

In recent times the work of newspaper cartoonists has been reassessed with a nod to its artistic, technical and historical merit.

Born into a family of artists, James Webb (c.1825-95) became a prolific painter primarily of landscapes, seascapes and river scenes depicting locations around England and Wales as well as the Netherlands, France, Italy and southern Spain.

Philip Taylor is stepping down as managing partner of East Sussex auction house Gorringe’s.

The Weekly Antiques Sale at Gorringe’s on February 27 included this fine Poole Pottery charger.

The quasi-medieval silver and glass ‘claret bottle’ designed by Charles Robert Ashbee for the Guild of Handicraft is one of the great pieces of the Arts & Crafts movement. Ashbee mentions it in his 1909 book Modern English Silver, saying: “The shape is taken from an Elizabethan sack-bottle found when digging the foundations of [my home] the Magpie and Stump in Chelsea.”

Although catalogued as Kangxi period, an ovoid blue and white vase offered by Stacey’s (20% buyer’s premium) on September 20 is a Transitional piece.

Gorringe’s book sale on October 11 in Lewes includes part 1 of the ‘vast selection’ of British topographical works from the library of Dr Brian Austen.

This textbook Edwardian Arts & Crafts planished silver chalice by Omar Ramsden and fellow Sheffield-born designer Alwyn Carr, pictured below, is of extra interest for its inscription.

A 1914 edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland proved one of the principal attractions in a July 26 sale held by Gorringe’s (23% buyer’s premium).

An English delft drug jar offered by Great Western Auctions (24% buyer’s premium) in Glasgow was both a polychrome and a documentary piece.

It is with great sadness that we announce the death, at the age of 82, of Julian Dawson, our much-loved former colleague and partner, writes Philip Taylor of Gorringe’s.

Dictionary inscription is that of the crime novelist’s maiden name, adding to value.