This work by Austin Osman Spare (1886-1956), pictured top, was discovered by the owner when he decided to reframe a more conventional watercolour by an amateur artist that had hung on his wall for many years. It will now be offered at Mellors & Kirk in Nottingham on December 9-10.
Spare, born in Smithfield, the son of a policeman, was an ‘enfant terrible’ on the Edwardian art scene. The youngest entrant at the 1904 Royal Academy summer exhibition, his work as a draughtsman, painter, illustrator and occultist quickly sparked controversy because of its sexually explicit and grotesque depictions.
Although an official war artist in the First World War, he later became reclusive, working inconspicuously in a series of studios across London, occasionally holding sales of his paintings, during what would now be described as ‘open studio’ events.
This watercolour of female nudes emerging from faces – including a portrait of the artist in the bottom left-hand corner – is estimated at £2000-3000.
Reeman Dansie’s Ceramics & Glass timed online sale closing on December 6 includes this pair of Doulton Lambeth vases, estimate £150-200.
Reeman Dansie’s Ceramics & Glass auction in Colchester, a timed online sale closing on December 6, includes this pair of 11in (27cm) Doulton Lambeth vases decorated with birds by Florence Barlow.
Estimate £150-200.
A pair of guns made for the Maharaja of Jodhpur to give as a present to the Maharaja of Jaipur in 1933 will be guided at £10,000-15,000 in Gavin Gardiner’s December 9 auction.
A pair of guns made for the Maharaja of Jodhpur to give as a present to the Maharaja of Jaipur will be included in Gavin Gardiner’s December 9 auction of Modern & Vintage Sporting Guns.
Dating from 1933, the pair of ‘twelve-twenty’ model lightweight self-opening ejector guns by Charles Lancaster is guided at £10,000-15,000.
The twelve-twenty was a model by Lancaster that was especially fashionable at this time, being a full size 12-bore gun, built using a very slim and lightweight action to give the lighter weight and faster handling qualities of a smaller 20-bore gun– hence the name ‘twelve-twenty’.
Clevedon Salerooms offers on December 10 a collection of works by Kathleen Hale, the creator and illustrator of the 18 Orlando (the Marmalade cat) children’s adventures, with this work estimated at £600-900.
Clevedon Salerooms offers on December 10 a collection of works by Kathleen Hale OBE (1898-2000), the creator and illustrator of the 18 Orlando (the Marmalade cat) adventures, a favourite bed-time read among generations of children.
Hale lived a full and interesting life including work as secretary to Augustus John before establishing her own direction. More than 40 lots of works in oil, sketches and cartoons as well as signed copies of her works in various translations are offered from the estate of her son Nicholas on the instructions of the executors.
The oils include this 13 x 15in (33.5 x 38cm) oil on canvas of a Siamese cat with three kittens in a basket, signed upper left, estimated at £600-900.
Feeding Time by Anton Hirschig is estimated at €8,000-12,000 in the deVeres auction in Dublin on December 8.
Feeding Time by Anton Hirschig (1867-1939) is estimated at €8,000-12,000 in the deVeres auction in Dublin on December 8.
Hirschig lodged with Vincent van Gogh at the Auberge Ravoux in the country village of Auvers-sur-Oise, 30km from Paris, after having been introduced by van Gogh’s brother, Theo. He occupied the attic room next to van Gogh’s.
The day Vincent van Gogh shot himself in the chest, a fatal wound, on July 27, 1890, Hirschig summoned the physician and also notified Theo, who arrived in time before he died. Hirschig remained at van Gogh’s bedside before returning to his neighbouring bed.
“He was lying in his garret under a zinc roof. It was terribly hot … He shouted all night, shouted a lot!” he recalled in a letter in 1911. Hirschig subsequently assisted at van Gogh’s funeral and left Auvers for good shortly after.
Clarice Cliff Brown Lily pattern conical tea for one set, estimate £1000-1500 at Wotton Auction Rooms on December 7.
This Clarice Cliff Brown Lily pattern conical tea for one set comprising teapot, sugar bowl, milk jug, cup and saucer has a guide of £1000-1500 at Wotton Auction Rooms’ 20th Century Sale in Gloucestershire reschedule for December 7.
Chanel ‘little black dress’ in silk crêpe de chine, c.1921, estimate £12,000-18,000 at Kerry Taylor’s sale on December 8.
Chanel is renowned for its ‘little black dresses’ and this example in silk crêpe de chine is one of the oldest known and the earliest to appear at auction. The label for Gabrielle Chanel, no 16995 dates it to c.1921. It forms part of the Sandy Schreier Collection of couture offered at Kerry Taylor’s Passion For Fashion sale in London on December 8.
Estimate £12,000-18,000.
Art Nouveau silver tea kettle by D&J Wellby, London 1909, with a silver-plated tripod stand with burner, estimate £300-400 at Mitchells on December 9-11.
This Art Nouveau silver tea kettle by D&J Wellby, London 1909, comes together with a silver plated tripod stand with burner.
At Mitchells’ three-day sale in Cockermouth on December 9-11, the estimate is £300-400.
Stone stele, perhaps from the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534AD), estimate £3000-5000 at the Cheffins Fine Art sale on December 9-10.
The Cheffins Fine Art sale on December 9-10 includes around 350 lots from the late Roger Moss, a former president of the Oriental Ceramic Society.
His collection was displayed in the historic Yorkshire farmhouse he purchased in 2003 after returning to the UK following a business career that included roles as finance director of British Airways during the launch of Concorde, finance director of the Mass Transit Railway Corporation in Hong Kong and a senior adviser to Goldman Sachs.
Stone sculpture was a favoured medium. Many of the items on offer are Chinese, along with others from Tibet, Nepal, Africa, India, Thailand, Indonesia and Europe. This 6ft 3in (1.9m) stone stele, perhaps from the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534AD) is guided at £3000-5000.
Chinese four-panel lacquer screen inlaid with mother of pearl and soapstone depicting court and landscape scenes, estimate €400-600 at Lynes & Lynes on December 5.
A contents auction held by Cork auction house Lynes & Lynes on December 5 includes this Chinese four-panel lacquer screen inlaid with mother of pearl and soapstone depicting court and landscape scenes.
Measuring 6ft (1.8m) across, its estimate is €400-600.
This Protona spy device disguised as a watch during the Cold War is estimated at £140-200 at Fellows on December 8.
This spy device disguised as a watch during the Cold War is estimated at £140-200 at Fellows on December 8. Manufactured in the 1950s by German company Protona, it includes an inbuilt Minifon hidden microphone and wire attachment, making it perfect for eavesdropping. These devices became available to the American market shortly after production.
La Bénédiction de L’aïeul (The Blessing of the Ancestor) by Édouard Moyse, estimate £20,000-30,000 at Sworders on December 9.
Édouard Moyse (1827-1908) is considered the first artist in France to regularly depict scenes from Jewish life.
At a time of anti-semitism in France (anti-Jewish riots had accompanied the 1848 revolution), Moyse chose to paint the synagogue, domestic scenes and the sometime painful events from Jewish history. The commercial success of ‘the painter of the rabbis’, paved the way for two other late 19th century French painters of Jewish subjects: Jacques Émile Édouard Brandon and Alphonse Lévy.
The 2ft 7in x 3ft 11in (77cm x 1.18m) oil offered for sale by Sworders on December 9, part of Fine Interiors auction, is titled La Bénédiction de L’aïeul (The Blessing of the Ancestor). It is expected to bring £20,000-30,000.
Two imperial German standards that flew above the tents of Kaiser Wilhelm II and Kaiserin Augusta during their tour of Jerusalem in 1898 will be offered by Thomas Del Mar at Olympia Auctions on December 2 in London.
Measuring almost 3ft 3in (1m) sq, they were the property of Thomas Cook and are being sold by the order of the liquidators.
On October 29, 1898, the Emperor and Empress of Prussia arrived in Jerusalem along with their entourage and were greeted by a 21-gun salute. The timing was planned to coincide with the German Reformation Day on October 31.
The German and Ottoman imperial courts commissioned Thomas Cook & Son to manage the imperial journey. This included building an encampment outside the city walls with 75 residential tents, six hospitality tents and six fully equipped kitchen tents along with several prefabricated buildings sent from Germany. The tents were comfortably appointed with furniture, carpets and fittings lent by local families.
Estimate £4000-6000.
