More than 300 lots of early oak furniture, Turkish and Persian carpets, mirrors, works of art, ceramics and longcase clocks are for sale at The Pedestal on November 20 at Moor Park Mansion in Hertfordshire.
The catalogue cover lot is a 3ft 2in x 6ft 8in (98cm x 2.03m) Queen Anne black japanned bureau cabinet, guided at £20,000- 30,000. The cabinet was produced following the late 17th century trend for lacquered objects and screens brought back to Europe by the East India Company. The exterior of this cabinet is heightened with gilt chinoiseries and its interior is unusually of faux tortoiseshell, an expensive and difficult-to-acquire material.
Makers of the era tried to emulate the effect with the use of what was historically known as ‘Mulberry wood’, with burr alder, ash and elm also treated using aqua fortis or nitric acid, heat and lampblack to create the tortoiseshell-like effect.
Without a blockbuster hitting the big screen this Christmas, the Star Wars franchise is taking a breather – but there is no such let-up in the memorabilia market.
Ewbank’s of Surrey will feature a production-made fibreglass Darth Vader helmet in its November 15 sale consigned from the archives of ‘Propmasters’, purveyors of movie props, costumes and associated ephemera.
The helmet was constructed within the production interim of Star Wars A New Hope (1977) and The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and is believed to have been used as a transitional test production piece for departmental reference rather than screen use.
Estimate £15,000-20,000.
ewbankauctions.co.uk or see this item on thesaleroom.com
This pair of Commonwealth silver plates above, London 1645, bear the contemporaneous arms of the Puritan Bulstrode Whitelocke (1605-75).
Whitelocke was an English lawyer, writer, parliamentarian and Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England. On the outbreak of the English Civil War he took parliament’s side, using his influence to prevent King Charles from raising troops in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.
The broad rim form of these plates corresponds to contemporary pewter plates of the time and was a feature in vogue from c.1640-80. Consigned by a local private lady, they are estimated at £10,000-12,000 each in a sale at Stride & Son in Chichester on November 15-16.
