A Henry Moore (1898-1986) work purchased by its current owner in a charity shop 20 years ago was believed to be a print by the artist featuring four studies for the Mother & Child (a common theme of his).
However, when the owner took it to a routine valuation at Forum Auctions it was taken out of its frame and found to be an original c.1947-49 drawing/watercolour by Moore, complete with his signature - and another drawing on the reverse, a single version of the image. Both are in Moore’s trademark mixture of inks, watercolour and wax crayon.
Forum’s international head of Modern and Contemporary art, Alexander Hayter, worked closely with the Henry Moore Foundation, which holds the archive of Moore’s work and is the authority on authenticating his works. The research took two years and the drawing/watercolour will be included in the artist’s forthcoming catalogue raisonné (and is listed in the Henry Moore Foundation’s archives under 2022.15).
The estimate at the south London auction on December 14 is £20,000-30,000.
forumauctions.co.uk or this item can be seen at thesaleroom.com
Six-page letter from JRR Tolkien penned to an early reviewer of The Lord of the Rings on November 25, 1954, estimate £30,000-50,000 at Christie’s.
Christie’s conducts an online sale running until December 14-15 titled The Alphabet of Genius: Important Autograph Letters and Manuscripts. The sale features a remarkable array of correspondence by famous names from across the fields of literature, art, music, science and the history of ideas.
This six-page letter from JRR Tolkien penned to an early reviewer of The Lord of the Rings on November 25, 1954, thanks her for “treating the work as literature” and expounds on the realism, moral nuance and historical tradition underpinning the book: from the economic plausibility of Gondor to the decadence of the Elves.
Tolkien says he would have written before, but has been plagued by “business, troubles, illness, and journeys”.
Estimate £30,000-50,000.
christies.com or this item can be seen at thesaleroom.com
One of four Limoges gilt, copper and polychrome champleve enamel gemellions (medieval hand-washing bowls) estimated at £7000-10,000 each at The Cotswold Auction Company.
A group of medieval hand-washing bowls will go under the hammer in The Cotswold Auction Company’s annual Christmas sale on December 12.
The four Limoges gilt, copper and polychrome champleve enamel gemellions - which have come down by descent to the present owner - date to the first half of the 13th century.
Gemellions are shallow bowls that were used during the Middle Ages, both by priests at the church altar and by wealthy households in a domestic setting at meal times. They usually came in pairs, hence their Latin name ‘Gemellus’, which means ‘twin’. Often decorated with colourful enamels and gilding, gemellions are characterised by their jewel-like appearance and are adorned with Gothic figures, animals and heraldic devices.
Similar examples to those on sale can be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Louvre and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Each of the four in the sale (one shown here) is estimated at £7000-£10,000.
cotswoldauction.co.uk or this item can be seen at thesaleroom.com
Set of four Irish Georgian candlesticks, 1755, estimate £3000-5000 at Peter Francis.
This set of four Irish Georgian candlesticks were consigned on a house call, appearing from what the vendors thought was a box of silver plate. They were unaware it was a set and yet more surprised to learn they were made in 1755.
At Peter Francis in Carmarthen on December 13 they are guided at £3000-5000.
peterfrancis.co.uk or this item can be seen at thesaleroom.com
An archive of letters written to clan chief The Mackintosh of Mackintosh, the majority of which are personal autographed letters from the British royal family, estimate £1000-2000 at Tennants.
An archive of letters written to clan chief The Mackintosh of Mackintosh, the majority of which are personal autographed letters from the British royal family, are coming up for auction in the Books, Maps & Manuscripts Sale at Tennants of Leyburn on December 13.
Written in the first half of the 20th century, many of the letters discuss shooting at Moy Hall, the seat of the Chief of Clan Mackintosh, and were written by Prince George (later King George V), Prince Edward (later King Edward VIII), and Prince Albert (later King George VI). In addition, there are letters from Queen Mary, the Duchess of Albany, and the last letter written by The Mackintosh’s son, Angus, before he died in North America in 1918.
Alfred Donald Mackintosh of Mackintosh (1851-1938) was the 28th Chief of Clan Mackintosh and Chief of Clan Chatton. He and his wife divided their time between Moy Hall, near Inverness, and Cottrell House in Glamorgan, his wife’s family home.
A great friend of King George V, he devoted a great deal of his time to hunting, shooting, and fishing.
The estimate in this North Yorkshire auction is £1000-2000.
tennants.co.uk or this item can be seen at thesaleroom.com
McMaster of Dublin boardroom clock, estimate £800-1200 at Ryedale Auctioneers.
McMaster is known as one of Dublin’s finest clock makers working in the second half of the 19th century. Measuring 23in (58cm) high, this boardroom clock with applied carved decoration, break arch silvered Roman dial, a subsidiary chime silent indicator and three-train fusee movement is one a of a number of clocks from a private collection consigned from a house clearance near Sheffield.
In need of some minor restoration, it is estimated at £800-1200 at Ryedale Auctioneers in Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, on December 9.
ryedaleauctioneers.com or this item can be seen at thesaleroom.com
A 1926 panorama by Charles Cundall titled A Cup Tie at Crystal Palace, Corinthians V Manchester City, estimate £100,000-150,000 at Bonhams.
This 1926 panorama by Charles Cundall (1890-1971) titled A Cup Tie at Crystal Palace, Corinthians V Manchester City leads Bonhams’ online-only Football: The Beautiful Game Sale from December 4-13. It is estimated at £100,000-150,000.
The painting is part of a single-owner collection assembled over 25 years by Chris Beetles of Chris Beetles Gallery on behalf of the ‘chairman for an FA Cup winning team’.
The group features more than 100 works and over 50 artists from the early 19th century to the present day, from views of crowded cup-ties and floodlit evening games, to portraits of single players, cartoon commentaries and figure studies of athletic duels.
bonhams.com or this item can be seen at thesaleroom.com
This Banksy screenprint, Agile - which includes a personal dedication from the artist - carries a guide of £40,000-60,000 at McTear’s.
A Banksy screenprint - which includes a personal dedication from the artist - carries a guide of £40,000-60,000 at McTear’s in Glasgow on December 14.
Agile, featuring a rodent sliding down a freight box, was issued via the Legacy of War Foundation website in 2022 as part of a fundraising campaign to support civilians affected by the conflict in Ukraine. This particular print was not part of the initial limited edition of 50; instead, it was produced specially as a gift to the vendor, complete with the personal dedication Thanks Chris followed by a peace symbol.
mctears.co.uk or this item can be seen at thesaleroom.com
Fairyland Lustre jar in the Ghostly Wood pattern, produced by Wedgwood in the 1920s, estimate £6000-8000 at Ewbank’s.
Ewbank’s of Send, Surrey, is selling this Fairyland Lustre jar in the Ghostly Wood pattern, produced by Wedgwood in the 1920s, with an estimate of £6000-8000 on December 8.
Decorated by Daisy Makeig-Jones (1881- 1945), it features colourful layered scenes of white robed, hooded figures carrying burning torches as they make their way through trees populated by fantastical creatures resembling bats and dragons, alongside pixies and goblins - offset by a fleeing white rabbit dressed in a scarlet jacket.
ewbankauctions.co.uk or this item can be seen at thesaleroom.com
A set of documents relating to the quelling of the 1849 Cephalonia rebellion by Henry George Ward, Lord High Commissioner to the Ionian Islands, is on offer at Staffordshire auction house Cuttlestones on December 7.
Hailing from a local, private collection, the documents include an original 1849 printed proclamation issued by Ward declaring martial law on the Islands, and related ephemera.
The proclamation poster is dated August 30, 1849, and is printed in three languages: English, Greek and Italian, showing the recent influences on the islands. In 1864 they were gifted by the British to the new King of Greece, George I.
Estimate £800-1200.
cuttlestones.co.uk or this item can be seen at thesaleroom.com
The December 6-7 auction at Adam Partridge’s Liverpool saleroom includes a collection of silver relating to the British empire.
This 236oz George III table centre by Richard Sibley I for Makepeace of London (London 1825) is engraved Presented at a meeting held on 25th August 1824 by vote of the European Inhabitants of Prince of Wales Island in the East Indies to the Honourable William Edward Philips Esqr. as a memorial of the sense entertained of his merits and a token of their unfeigned respect and attachment for his mild and beneficent administration in the government of that island.
It is estimated at £7000-10,000.
Phillips served as governor of Prince of Wales’ Island (Penang Island) on six occasions from 1820.
adampartridge.co.uk or this item can be seen at thesaleroom.com
Jasmine & Moths (Pink), by Mary Fedden, signed and dated 1988, estimate £3000-5000 at Kinghams.
Shown here is a 1988 oil on canvas by Mary Fedden (1915- 2012), Jasmine & Moths (Pink), signed and dated 1988.
The 19½ x 23½in (50 x 60cm) work was discovered in a local Cotswold property by Gloucestershire auction house Kinghams, owned by a private client who purchased it at the time of creation.
On December 7-8 it will be estimated at £3000-5000 at the Moreton-in-Marsh saleroom.
kinghamsauctioneers.com or this item can be seen at thesaleroom.com
