Furniture

Carolean court cupboard emerges from Cumbrian chicken shed UK: EARLY oak furniture attracted the higher prices at the quarterly sale ‘Antiques and Collectors’ sale at the Skirsgill Salerooms in Cumbria where the most valuable lot was a James II one-piece oak court cupboard.

£25,000 bid sees trade becoming less perfectionist in hunt for quality UK: FEW dealers will talk bullishly on the record and the auction scene in the provinces does remain patchy – but all the evidence is that there is still money around and auctioneer Guy Schwinge saw its effect at his latest Dorset sale.

UK: WHILE Christie’s sale of the collection of the Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava lacked much of the memorabilia one so often associates with these events, the personal gap was filled in some measure by the elements from The Owl House.

UK: IT HAD been forged as ecclesiastical strongchests for church treasure in medieval Europe and wrought in the form of bedsteads in 17th century Italian villas, but it was only with the rise of industrial manufacture and the growth of the middle-classes in the 19th century that iron became a commonplace element in the gardens, and then the houses of the British gentry.

UK: FURNITURE from the East Coast of Africa is hardly common currency within the Cotswolds antiques trade but it was given unusual prominence last month with the appearance of this substantial 18th century hardwood chest with brass studwork decoration at the Gloucestershire rooms of Wotton Auction Rooms on March 23-24.

UK: AS two of the wealthiest and most densely populated of the Southern Counties – housing large communities of former expats, retired professionals and alpha-class commuters – it is hardly surprising that West and East Sussex have a multitude of salerooms.

UK: IS this Gothic revival red walnut foldover card table, left, another rediscovered work by the great William Burges?

UK: THIS Victorian gilt overmantel mirror, right, was the unexpected highlight of Plymouth Auction Rooms (buyer’s premium 10 per cent) February 24.

UK: SIGNED cabinet photographs of Oscar and Constance Wilde flank one of their younger son, Vivian, which has been inscribed and dated 1891 to the reverse – although the well known portrait of Oscar is known to date from 1889.

UK: NINETEENTH century brown carcase furniture of country house proportions and impeccable provenance attracted the higher prices at this monthly sale in the Cotswolds.

UK: AS good-quality traditional antiques become harder to find – no piece of furniture made more than £1500 among the 902 lots at Bristol – collectables are becoming more and more of a commercial proposition at auction.

UK: NEXT year, with the beginning of a new millennium, 19th century furniture will seem far older than it actually is. But for some time now the finer pieces have been making prices comparable to their 18th century exemplars and this was certainly the case when this late 19th century satinwood and mahogany breakfront bookcase came up for sale at Heathcote Ball (10 per cent buyer’s premium) in Leicester on February 25.