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Lot 143
A Standish mahogany 12 drawer entomologial cabinet and collection circa 1870 100cm.; high by 53cm.; 21ins wide by 47cm.; 18½ins deep drawer size 46cm.; 18ins wide by 41cm.; 16ins deep by 6cm.; 2½ins high This cabinet contains a recently assembled collection of colourful and extraordinary butterflies, moths, beetle, scorpions and other insects and spiders. The Victorian era was truly the great age of discovery, the world was becoming a smaller and the push was on to uncover all of nature’s great secrets. Pioneers ranged across the planet looking for new species and evidence of those long lost. Every type of creature, mineral, fossil and plant became ‘collectable’, some of their sheer beauty, some which had yet to be named and added to the ever increasing lists and some for the economic benefits to be gleaned from their discovery and management. The wealthy and learned were predominant in their need to discover, name and possess specimens. Those who discovered species or examples of nature’s creations had them named after themselves and vast reference collections were formed and prized not only by the major institutions but by private collectors too. These were times when natural history collections marked out the status in society of those who owned them. Following naturally from this pursuit it became imperative that suitable ways of housing collections were created and a whole industry evolved engaged in the manufacture of ‘collectors cabinets’. The ‘cabinet of curiosities’ was born. The quality and precision with which this specialised furniture was created was second to none! British cabinet makers were at the forefront of this revolution. Hundreds of years of skill and ability contributed to the production of fine and beautiful cabinets built from the finest materials the planet could offer. Wealthy collectors would commission series of cabinets styled to grace their beautiful homes. Museums employed high skilled cabinet makers to create the settings for their collections and to build cabinets that would not just protect the items within by would look magnificent in these ‘temples of knowledge’. Today these pieces of furniture would be impossible to make to such a standard, the skills are not there and the materials are no longer available. Cabinets once used to protect and display entomological or other collections ‘crossover’ very neatly to other collecting pursuits. It is possible to buy examples of this golden age of cabinet making for a fraction of what it would cost today to even try to emulate the standards of the original makers.
Lot 178
A Watkins and Doncaster 20 drawer mahogany collectors cabinet circa 1900 the hinged door with ivorine makers plaque Watkins & Doncaster, Cabinet manufacturers and Naturalists 36, Strand, London WC 125cm.; 45ins high by 52cm.; 20½ins wide by 47cm.; 18½ins deep drawer size 47cm.; 17ins wide by 38cm.; 15ins deep by 5cm.; 2ins high This twenty drawer cabinet is by a leading name in natural history paraphernalia and equipment. Watkins and Doncaster were founded in the 19th century in London and are still active, although somewhat less central now being base near Hereford. The cabinet contains a superb collection of British moths by Sid Imber and, again, The quality of work and standard of setting is of the very highest level. All have data and are in excellent condition. Sidney Imber was born in 1925 in Brixton fire station where his father was a serving full time fireman at that station. (‘This was a time when firemen and their families actually lived on site’). Aged 17 and a half years ‘Sid’ joined the Royal Marines and trained at Chatham. His war was spent in Burma where he fought for two years under Mountbatten and was awareded the Burma Star. He returned to the U.K. in 1946 where he met his wife to be. He married Olive who was one of ‘Rothschilds Girls’ and he joined the Metropolitian Fire Service where he served for 33 years rising to the position of Commander of the London Fire Service. Oliver Imber who worked as P.A. for the Rothschild family has been married to Sid for 63 years and recalls that according to Sid’s mother he was always interested in insects. Even as a baby in the pram his attention would be trained on a butterfly or beetle as if transfixed. For Olive and the perfect holiday (and their courtship) was spent riding though the countryside together hunting for butterflies and insects. They travelled all over the British Isles on this pursuit and , indeed, all over the world building Sid’s superb collection of butterflies, moths and other insects. Sid’s attention to detail and the correct labelling of his specimens is commendable. His ability to ‘set’ and insect is second to none. He achieves perfection again and again. He believed that every specimen in a collection should be taken by the collector himself and specimens from other sources should not be included. To this end it was not unusual when in the field for his wife Olive to make an interesting capture and offer it to Sid only to be told to release the specimen so that Sid could genuinely ‘net’ the insect himself in order to add it to his collection! The following three lots which contain nearly 2000 specimens bear witness to Sid Imber’s absolute focus on perfect setting, totally comprehensive labelling and taxonomic order. Data labels are of extreme importance with any natural history collection and all the specimens herewith have full date and provenance. The quality of the setting and layout is superb and the three cabinets encompass the three most famous makers, Gurney, Brady and Messrs Watkins and Doncaster.
Lot 179
A Brady 12 drawer mahogany collectors cabinet circa 1890 76cm.; 30ins high by 51cm.; 20ins wide by 49cm.; 19ins deep drawer size 43cm.; 17ins wide by 41cm.; 16ins deep by 5cm.; 2ins high This cabinet is by Brady who with Gurney, were the leading entomological cabinet makers. Brady made cabinets in London in the 19th and into the early part of the 20th century. This cabinet carries all the vital indicators of identification of a ‘Brady’. (Interestingly, Brady virtually never labelled or ‘plates’ his cabinets, unusual at the time when tradesmen tended to affix a plate, sometimes ivory, sometimes silver, to their work. This cabinet contains Sid Imber’s beautiful collection of fantastically delicate and vibrantly coloured specimens of tropical Lycaenids. Many of these specimens sport long and delicate tails and on the hind wings.
Lot 143
A Standish mahogany 12 drawer entomologial cabinet and collection circa 1870 100cm.; high by 53cm.; 21ins wide by 47cm.; 18½ins deep drawer size 46cm.; 18ins wide by 41cm.; 16ins deep by 6cm.; 2½ins high This cabinet contains a recently assembled collection of colourful and extraordinary butterflies, moths, beetle, scorpions and other insects and spiders. The Victorian era was truly the great age of discovery, the world was becoming a smaller and the push was on to uncover all of nature’s great secrets. Pioneers ranged across the planet looking for new species and evidence of those long lost. Every type of creature, mineral, fossil and plant became ‘collectable’, some of their sheer beauty, some which had yet to be named and added to the ever increasing lists and some for the economic benefits to be gleaned from their discovery and management. The wealthy and learned were predominant in their need to discover, name and possess specimens. Those who discovered species or examples of nature’s creations had them named after themselves and vast reference collections were formed and prized not only by the major institutions but by private collectors too. These were times when natural history collections marked out the status in society of those who owned them. Following naturally from this pursuit it became imperative that suitable ways of housing collections were created and a whole industry evolved engaged in the manufacture of ‘collectors cabinets’. The ‘cabinet of curiosities’ was born. The quality and precision with which this specialised furniture was created was second to none! British cabinet makers were at the forefront of this revolution. Hundreds of years of skill and ability contributed to the production of fine and beautiful cabinets built from the finest materials the planet could offer. Wealthy collectors would commission series of cabinets styled to grace their beautiful homes. Museums employed high skilled cabinet makers to create the settings for their collections and to build cabinets that would not just protect the items within by would look magnificent in these ‘temples of knowledge’. Today these pieces of furniture would be impossible to make to such a standard, the skills are not there and the materials are no longer available. Cabinets once used to protect and display entomological or other collections ‘crossover’ very neatly to other collecting pursuits. It is possible to buy examples of this golden age of cabinet making for a fraction of what it would cost today to even try to emulate the standards of the original makers.
Lot 179
A Brady 12 drawer mahogany collectors cabinet circa 1890 76cm.; 30ins high by 51cm.; 20ins wide by 49cm.; 19ins deep drawer size 43cm.; 17ins wide by 41cm.; 16ins deep by 5cm.; 2ins high This cabinet is by Brady who with Gurney, were the leading entomological cabinet makers. Brady made cabinets in London in the 19th and into the early part of the 20th century. This cabinet carries all the vital indicators of identification of a ‘Brady’. (Interestingly, Brady virtually never labelled or ‘plates’ his cabinets, unusual at the time when tradesmen tended to affix a plate, sometimes ivory, sometimes silver, to their work. This cabinet contains Sid Imber’s beautiful collection of fantastically delicate and vibrantly coloured specimens of tropical Lycaenids. Many of these specimens sport long and delicate tails and on the hind wings.
Lot 16
Fiddle back mahogany table top cabinet circa 1820, of two doors enclosing two short and three long drawers with cedar linings, the top and doors inlaid with ovals at one time displaying lithographs of cherubs, width 33cm, height 32cm. Condition report: one detached print exists; the doors are slightly warped; both rear carcass joints have warped with splits and loss of veneer.
Lot 627
An early 18th century walnut bureau cabinet, break arch pediment, glazed arched doors with candle slides, fitted one long drawer below the fall, mid section moulding, above a further arrangement of two short and two long drawers featherbanded and crossbanded decoration on bracket feet 229 x 104 x 59cm (89 x 41 x 23in) Previously with mirrored doors, old repairs and restaining, handles replaced, two missing and some small veneer losses
Lot 639
A South German ebonized and crossbanded walnut bureau cabinet, late 18th century arched cornice with ebonised moulding, above two arched panel doors with morrored veneers to a shaped fall and bombe base, internally fitted a baise lined slide and drawers, dated lock plate 1782, with three long drawers below and elaborate scroll cast gilt handles and escutcheon, on bracket feet 224 x 122 x 64cm (87 x 48 x 25in) Two eschutchoen are missing, smoe veneer losses (one section present from the fall) and a moulding section loss from the cornice. Relined baise slide to the interior and on reduced feet
Lot 16
Fiddle back mahogany table top cabinet circa 1820, of two doors enclosing two short and three long drawers with cedar linings, the top and doors inlaid with ovals at one time displaying lithographs of cherubs, width 33cm, height 32cm. Condition report: one detached print exists; the doors are slightly warped; both rear carcass joints have warped with splits and loss of veneer.
Lot 549
AN EARLY 20TH CENTURY GERMAN MAHOGANY DISPLAY CABINET having a moulded top, a large central glazed door with shaped brass glazing bars and bevelled glass panels, the panelled base below with moulded ebonised strap decoration, the interior with label reading `Joseph Trier, Hof-Mobelfabrik, Darmstadt, Wilhelminenstr 25` all between open sections with ebonised columns and slender panelled ends, raised on tapering square sections legs. 184cm(h) x 92cm(w) x 38cm(d)CONDITION: Fading, some minor marks and scratches etc.
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306894 item(s)/page