A c.1825 plaque of Anne of Cleves by Marie-Victoire Jaquotot with an asking price of £225,000 from E&H Manners at Masterpiece London.
The event at The Royal Hospital Chelsea hosted 125 exhibitors (down from 150 previously) and among the early sales was a pair of parcel-gilt candlesticks on the stand of Koopman Rare Art. By John Bridge (1755-1834), co-founder of goldsmith, jewellers and royal retailer Rundell, Bridge and Rundell, the bases feature shells and three swans with outstretched necks.
They sold to an overseas collector on preview day at £110,000. Koopman’s Lewis Smith said “early sales have been brisk”.
A pair of parcel-gilt candlesticks by goldsmith John Bridge sold for £110,000 by Koopman Rare Art at Masterpiece London.
Many fellow exhibitors concurred. Jonathan Green, CEO of art dealer Richard Green, said: “We had an extremely good start to the show including selling two paintings by William Scott and Sir Matthew Smith. The strong market has continued from Maastricht to London. There is a real buzz.”
Folk art dealer Robert Young had a “really positive start” and was pleased to sell many of his significant pieces including a c.1760 Lion Passant weathervane to a US buyer for a “good five-figure price”.
Ceramics dealer Errol Manners of E&H Manners had a “terrific start to the fair”. He sold a number of six figure-sum items including a c.1825 plaque of Anne Cleeves by Marie- Victoire Jaquotot which had an asking price of £225,000 (pictured above).
Other major sales included a triceratops skull from the stand of David Aaron to a private collector for a six-figure sum, Winifred Nicholson’s c.1925-26 portrait The Warwick Family for £200,000 from Piano Nobile and Lynn Chadwick’s Walking Woman (1984) which sold for just under £2m at Osborne Samuel.
