A rare piece of English cartographic history is included in Dominic Winter’s 30th anniversary sale in Cirencester on September 12.
The 180-lot auction contains a set of 49 first state uncoloured engraved playing card maps and two explanation cards produced in c.1717 by John Lenthall. Although advertised for over 30 years, few copies are recorded in existence today. The auction house cannot find any record of a near-complete pack in this first state (which lack the normal foliate borders that identify it as a Lenthall issue) and concludes that it is therefore probably unique.
The set is contained in a modern purpose-made book box and is guided at £20,000-30,000.
dominicwinter.co.uk or see this item on thesaleroom.com
Cheffins of Cambridge is selling this portrait of Lord Byron’s famous Newfoundland hound, Boatswain.
Byron seems to have acquired Boatswain (pronounced ‘Bo’sun’) in 1803 when the poet was 15. Large and striking with a thick piebald coat and muscular physique, the hound was one of Byron’s favourite pets. When he died from rabies in 1808, Byron had an elaborate tomb created and the dog was enshrined in the grounds of Newstead Abbey.
The 3ft 7in x 4ft 11in (1.11 x 1.52m) oil was painted by Nick McCann (b.1957) and shows Boatswain in 1808 overlooking the lake at Newstead wearing his brass collar engraved with the inscription The Hon’ble Lord Byron, C.W. ELLIS MANSFIELD.
The picture comes in a hand-made ‘Hogarth’-style frame designed by the artist and is estimated at £7000-10,000 in a two-day sale on September 12-13.
cheffins.co.uk or see this item on thesaleroom.com
On September 6, Clevedon Salerooms in Bristol will include two sections of an artichoke embroidered panel by William Morris (1834-96) from the set designed in 1877 for the drawing room of Smeaton Manor in North Yorkshire.
The panels, the largest of which measures 6ft 10in x 3ft 5in (2.1 x 1.04m), were made between 1877-1900 by embroiderer Ada Phoebe Godman. She lived at the manor and was the daughter of Isaac Lowthian Bell, a patron of Morris. They have passed by descent and are guided at £8000-12,000.
clevedon-salerooms.com or see this item on thesaleroom.com
