Among the Pocock lots on offer at Bamfords is a carving in laburnum wood of The Sleepy Dormouse from Alice in Wonderland. Signed and mounted, the piece comes with a preparatory sketch and was previously exhibited at the Royal Miniature Society in 1935 and in Chelsea in 1957. It is estimated at £150-250.
More than 85 lots featured, mainly dating from the 1920s-50s, by modeller and sculptor Alfred Lyndhurst Pocock (1882-1962). He worked for the London branch of Fabergé as well as working independently. He won a scholarship to the Royal Academy Schools in 1903 and began working for Fabergé in 1905. The RA had recommended Pocock when the company’s European manager, Henry Charles Bainbridge, needed to create models of animals for Queen Alexandra.
According to Bainbridge’s book on Fabergé (first published in 1949), Pocock was one of the sculptors who worked at Sandringham in 1907 alongside Boris Frodman-Cluzel and Frank Lutiger on Fabergé items for King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.
The lots at Bamfords have been consigned by the family of Percy and Winifred Bottley. The Bottleys ran the gem dealership Gregory & Bottley from the 1930s (the firm became Gregory, Bottley & Lloyd and was eventually bought by TimeLine Auctions in 2016) and worked with Pocock supplying him with gemstones. When Pocock died he left this collection to the couple.
Another example of the model animals being offered at Bamfords is this rock crystal carving of a mouse with ruby eyes guided at £40-60.
The collection will be offered without reserve on November 2, the third day of Bamfords’ four-day Fine Art and Antique Auction. The sale also includes lots from The Contents of Newton Old Hall, Derbyshire, and a collection of nutcrackers from Yorkshire collector Dennis Bradley (see Previews, p54-55).
