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Click here to subscribeTwo large trunks containing a quantity of vintage fabric curtains and remnants including 'Potpourri' pattern cotton curtains by Sanderson, further curtains in marine life and sailing boat patterns by Sanderson, remnants and fabric scraps of pink chintz cotton by Bernard Wardle, cotton remnants in violets pattern, upholstery braids, vintage paper patterns etc (2 full trunks)
A very rare early illustration to a mid-13th century obscene poem, Bukhara, Iran, late 16th century, ink and opaque pigments heightened with gold, depicting lovers including a figure in a distinctive black hat, in various coupling positions in a brightly coloured and patterned tile interior, with 2 lines of Persian nasta'liq above and below within cloudbands on a gold ground, and diagonal line of the same above and below, outer border decorated in gold with animals on a floral ground, signature top left, mounted, glazed and framed, painting 26.5 x 17cm. Provenance: Estate of costume designer Anthony Powell (1935-2021)Ostensibly, this single folio was part of a manuscript of the collected works (Kulliyāt) of the renowned Persian poet and mystic, Saʿdī of Shiraz (d. 1292 CE). The painting is partially framed by five couplets that belong to a short narrative poem (masnavī) that is found in the little-studied and unpublished collection of Saʿdī’s obscene works (khabīsāt), which are featured prominently in the earliest manuscripts of the Kulliyāt (see D. Ingenito, Beholding Beauty: Saʿdi of Shiraz and the Aesthetics of Desire in Medieval Persian Poetry). The poem, which comprises seventy couplets, recounts the story of a handsome young man who marries an uncomely and ill-mannered woman. Upon experiencing an erotic fiasco during their first night together, the young man begs his father-in-law to allow him to divorce his wife. The father rejects this request by telling the young man that he would have to spend time in jail in order to pay back his daughter’s dowry. After thinking at length about his miserable condition, the young husband resorts to the uncanny expedient of seducing and sexually subjugating his wife’s entire family and entourage, without discriminating between women and men of any age. Being the only family member who has not been assaulted by the young man, the father consents to the divorce of the couple with no further hesitation. The five couplets quoted in this folio pertain to the central part of the poem, which offers a detailed description of the orgiastic spree undertaken by the young man. As is often the case with Saʿdī’s obscene works, in these lines, explicit descriptions of sexual acts are juxtaposed with delicate similes and metaphors that are drawn from the poet’s inimitable lyric styleThe combination of high and low poetic registers in Saʿdī’s ludic narration in verse is reflected in the stylistic elegance with which the painting portrays scenes of sexual disinhibition. In fact, in this folio (if one takes into account the contents of the entire poem), the visual and literary texts simultaneously stage the lewd and the alluring dimensions of eroticism: intimate body parts are covered and uncovered by fine garments, while mechanical forms of sexual penetration reveal seductive tensions between bodies enraptured by desire. The decorative aspect of pieces of clothing, rugs, curtains, along with the delicate rotation of different limbs, seems to mimic the rhetorical embellishments with which Saʿdī’s lines describe multiple forms of vaginal and anal intercourse. Whereas the poem, line by line, offers a list of the young man’s sexual encounters with the members of his wife’s family in chronological order, the painting portrays all of them simultaneously. The orgiastic aesthetics of the visual representation does not allow onlookers to recognize specific details found in the poem (apart from a candle held by a young man on the bottom right). The young husband, as a serial penetrator, occupies a different timeframe in each section of the painting. While his physical features appear to be always the same, different erotic settings are distinguished by different garments. At the center of the painting, as a bizarre variation of the erotic scenes, the young husband appears to have a darker skin color. Moreover, instead of having sex with a beardless male or female youth, the darker boy seems to be penetrating a bearded man. A man with similar facial features and hair appears on the top right of the painting. One could assume that this adult male is the visual depiction of the young man’s father-in-law who, in the versified plot, fears the sexual intentions of his daughter’s husband after having been made aware of the erotic tumult he has brought to his family.Stylistic features of this painting suggest that it was produced in Shiraz between the 1560s and the 1570s CE (see, for instance, a Gulistān copied in Shiraz in 1575). Visual representations of Saʿdī’s bawdy verses (and, in general, of obscene poetry) are extremely rare before the 17th century. Nonetheless, a manuscript of Saʿdī’s Kulliyāt copied in Shiraz in 1566 (British Library, Add. 24944) presents a painting that is strikingly similar to this one [reproduced by Boone, see attachment] and illustrates exactly the same erotic masnavī. Even though both Lâle Uluç and Joseph Allen Boone misread Saʿdī’s poem as a text on “lovemaking techniques” and its visual representation found in Add. 24944 (f. 333) as a “brothel scene,” these documents attest to the existence of a Saʿdī-centric tradition of erotic iconography that developed in Shiraz during the second half of the 16th centuryWith special thanks for this cataloguing to Domenico Ingenito, Associate Professor of Persian Literature, University of California, Los AngelesFolio stuck down
A pair of printed linen curtains, circa 1970, the natural cotton background with a wheat field design in olive green running into the lower edge230 x 180cmtogether with a singleMorris & Co ‘Strawberry Thief’pattern curtain260 x 180cm£70-100 (+29.4% BP)No rips but some marks which may clean off and some fading to the outer edge as expectedlining partially detached in some places which will need restitching
Leslie Arthur Wilcox (British, 1904-1982)Jeannette, Trafalgar 1805 signed and dated 'LAWILCOX 70' (on Jeannette's raft lower centre)oil on canvas122.9 x 194cm (48 3/8 x 76 3/8in).Footnotes:ProvenanceWith Fortnum & Mason Ltd.This large work 'Jeannette, Trafalgar 1805' was painted for the RSMA Jubilee Exhibition at Guildhall, London. Mr Garfield Weston purchased the work, and for many years it hung in Fortnum and Mason's store, Piccadilly.During the battle of Trafalgar numerous boats went out to collect possible survivors. It was the crew of HMS Pickle who came across a female amidst the wreckage. William Robinson, also known as Jack Nastyface, who volunteered for the navel service in 1805 and wrote the following;'Among those who were thus preserved from a watery grave was a young Frenchwoman who was brought aboard our ship in a state of complete nakedness. Although it was in the heat of battle, yet she received every assistance which was at that time in our power; and her distress of mind was soothed as well as we could; until the officers got to their chests, from whence they furnished her with needles and thread to convert sheets into chemises and curtains from their cots to make somewhat of a gown and other garments so that by degrees she was made as comfortable as circumstances would admit; for we all tried who would be most kind to her'. The young woman was a survivor of the French 74 gun Achille and was the wife of one of that ship's crew who could not bear to be separated from him when he was ordered to sea. Disguising herself as a boy, she had entered the ship with him and had served at his side until she was told that he had been killed during the battle. Her reaction to his apparent death gave her away.This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: AR TPAR Goods subject to Artists Resale Right Additional Premium.TP Lot will be moved to an offsite storage location (Cadogan Tate, Auction House Services, 241 Acton Lane, London NW10 7NP, UK) and will only be available for collection from this location at the date stated in the catalogue. Please note transfer and storage charges will apply to any lots not collected after 14 calendar days from the auction date.For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com
THREE BOXES AND LOOSE ASSORTED FABRIC AND CLOTHING ACCESSORIES ETC, to include boxed Barry Wang tie and cuff links sets, gents gift box containing a watch, tie, wallet and socks, baseball catcher's mitt and ball, boys reversible waterproof coats with tags attached, John Lewis table runners, pairs of shop display curtains, Cozee Paws pet bed sealed in packaging, used pet bed, steel wellington boot rack, etc
Collection of pleated curtains in gold fabric with green band and highlights, three large curtains (W120cm, Fall - 200cm), matching single curtain (W70cm, Fall - 125cm), and another matching single curtain (W84cm, Fall - 130cm), all with thermal linings, together with matching tie backs (five curtains and five tie backs total)
A 1996 Pennine Pullman folding trailer tent. Can be used without pegging out. Has full awning that doubles size of area (awning does require pegging). All interior linings and curtains present. Lightweight, easy to tow and pitch and very comfortable to sleep in.Includes step, Aquaroll and waster water containers. Upgrades since manufacture:- Mains 230V hook-up.12V integrated battery charger. 12V socket points.
A pair of curtains in a heavy glazed cotton Chinoiserie fabric; gathered heading, thick thermal lining with cotton top lining. Slight grubby marks along edges and folds, sun bleaching marks to lining (each curtain approx. 256cm hem width x 280cm drop), together with a pair of matching tiebacks and a pair of voiles with pencil pleat heading (see Lots 610 and 611)
A pair of curtains in a heavy glazed cotton Chinoiserie fabric; triple pinch-pleat heading, thick thermal lining with cotton top lining. Good condition apart from slight grubby marks along edges and folds, sun bleaching marks to lining (each curtain approx. 156cm hem width x 266cm drop), together with a pair of shorter voiles with pencil pleat heading
* Wainwright (William John, 1855-1931). Portrait of an Actress, 1912, watercolour on board, depicting a female dressed in period costume holding a scroll in one hand, standing in a doorway with pillars to one side and curtains to the other, behind her flags and tents, signed and dated, sheet size 36.7 x 27 cm (14 3/8 x 10 5/8 ins), framed and glazed (54.5 x 44 cm), together with Linton (James Dromgole, 1840-1916). Portrait of a girl, 1880, watercolour, depicting a young lady standing in costume, holding a pocket watch on a chain in one hand, signed and dated '80', sheet size 19.8 x 14.6 cm (7 7/8 x 5 3/4 ins), inscription to mount 'To Mrs Lane [?] from James D Linton Sept 80', framed (30 x 23.6 cm)QTY: (2)
A set of curtains, 20th century, each with floral print on a cream ground with red tassels, comprising: a pair of curtains each measuring 260cm high x 195cm at the widest end, with matching pelmets; a similar pair of curtains, each measuring 260cm high x 380cm at the widest end, with matching singular pelmet; a single curtain measuring 260cm high x 400cm at the widest end; and a further curtain measuring 260cm high x 410cm; together with two pairs of cream floral curtains with one matching pelmet and tassels, measuring 238cm high x 304cm long and 242cm x 242cm (14)Please refer to department for condition report
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