Now, three pieces that may have been passed down from the Tooth family are available from Dawson’s Auctioneers and Valuers’ upcoming sale in Maidenhead on August 26. Each lot was made in the 19th century in French Japonisme taste.
One is a c.1887 four-tier walnut display stand, decorated with stylised incised foliage. That piece is estimated at £1000-1500, as is a walnut bank of display shelves from c.1885. The third piece is a walnut side cabinet made, like the previous pieces, by the Parisian cabinet maker Gabriel Viardot. The item is highly decorated with inlaid mother of pearl and carved decoration of architectural exteriors and floral studies. There is a 12 character Japanese signature to the top compartment side and G Viardot to the opposite side with the date 1887. It is estimated at £2000-3000.
Dragons crawl across all three of the pieces in bronze and ormolu and carved into the furniture.
Property of the Tooth family?
Each object is catalogued as “property of a gentleman gallery owner. From the estate of the late Anthony Tooth from the Tooth gallery London”. Whether this refers to Arthur Tooth & Sons is a matter of speculation.
"It is difficult to prove with absolute certainly which gallery these pieces originated from, however the original gallery sign was present in the property, as were a number of paintings from the gallery and a few gallery catalogues which the family have retained," says Dawson's managing director Aubrey Dawson. "Mr. Tooth passed away in 2015 but his family have told us that he owned the gallery in London and used to specialise in fine paintings. All of the paintings and furniture in the property are included in this auction".
