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Lot 94
RUPERT BROOKE - 'LITHUANIA A DRAMA IN ONE ACT', first edition published by The Chicago Little Theatre 1915, cover design by C. Raymond Johnson, thought to be one of only 200 copies issued Condition Report: Nicks to edges, staples rusted and centre pages detached, split half way down spine and mark on back cover, however for paperback of this age very good
Lot 95
ISAAC ASIMOV - 'FOUNDATION', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1953 British first edition in dustjacket, together with Arthur C. Clarke - 'Prelude to Space', Sidgwick & Jackson 1953 first edition in A/F dustjacket and various science fiction paperbacks including Asimov, Clarke, Moorcock and first Penguin edition of John Wyndham - 'The Day of the Triffids' 1954 (12) Condition Report: Foundation - price clipped, nicks in edges, some foxing on page ends and endpapers Prelude to Space - price clipped, boards damp stained, tears in edges, grubby, ex owner's name on endpaper
Lot 96
J.R.R. TOLKEIN - 'THE LORD OF THE RINGS' FIRST EDITION SET WITH DUSTJACKETS, published by George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 'The Fellowship of the Ring' Second Impression December 1954, 'The Two Towers' 1954, 'The Return of the King' 1955 (3) Condition Report: The Fellowship of the Ring - foxing on endpapers, owners name in pen on endpaper dated 1955, Sydney bookshop sticker on front endpaper, dustjacket price clipped and creased at top The Two Towers - foxing on endpapers and page ends, owner's name and address in pencil on endpaper dated Feb. 1955, Sydney bookshop sticker on front endpape, dustjacket price clipped, staining to front, creased on edges , slight nicks, wear on edges, slight foxing on spine The Return of the King - foxing on endpapers and page ends, Sydney bookshop sticker on front endpaper, dustjacket price clipped, edges creased, foxing on spine
Lot 97
IAN FLEMING - JAMES BOND FIRST EDITION BOOK 'THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN', Jonathan Cape 1965 with dustjacket, together with first edition 'Thunderball', Jonathan Cape 1961 no dustjacket, 'Colonel Sun' A James Bond adventure by Robert Markham, Jonathan Cape 1968 and 'Goldfinger', The Book Club 1959 no dustjacket (4) Condition Report:Man With The Golden Gun - book very good, dustjacket price clipped, crease on spine, staining to back not very visible Thunderball - no dustjacket, book very go apart from slight signs of wear Colonel Sun - book very good, dustjacket price clipped, faded spine, small nicks to spine top edge Goldfinger - no dustjacket, stain and creasing to spine
Lot 11
Two bottles of Grand Vin de Leoville, 2000 (2)Delivery of this lot can be arranged with a specialist courier. Please contact our office for details Condition report Report by GHLevels good on both bottles. One slightly lower than the other.The first approx. 2 to 3 mm lower than the bottom edge of the red cap and the other around 1 cm lower than the bottom of the cap. Labels with some scuffs and small holes.
Lot 385
China. An 1866 to 2001 mint and used collection in twenty three binders, including M/Ss. From 1981 onwards a near complete run, including unaddressed FDCs including M/Ss, serviced cards, sheetlets booklets, pictorial cards, maxim cards, used and unused, bulletins, some Presentation packs etc. Early years sparse, but does have various small dragons from Shanghai. 1949 World Federation of Trade Unions mint, 1950 All China Conference mint, 1951 Airs, 1958 Afforestation Campaign mint, 1959 Inauguration of Peking Airport mint, 1966 Women in Public Service mint, Afro-Asian Writers' Meeting mint, 1970 to 1971 Taking of Tiger Mountain mint, 1971 to 1972 Afro-Asian Friendship Table Tennis Tournament mint, 1972 30th Anniversary of Publication of Yenan Forum's Discussion mint, Tenth Anniversary of Mao Tse-tung's Edict on Physical Culture mint, First Asian Table Tennis Championships mint, 1974 UPU Centenary mint, Huhsien Paintings mint, Agriculture mint, 25th Anniversary of Chinese People's Republic mint, 1975 Fourth National People's Congress mint, 1976 Medical Service's Achievements mint, Going to College mint, 1977 11th National Communist Party Congress mint, 1978 Galloping Horses mint (no M/S), 1979 30th Anniversary of People's Republic mint including M/S, Camellia of Yunnan mint including M/S, Scenes from Pilgrimage to the West mint, 1980 Paintings of Qi Baishi set and M/S mint, 1980 Facial Make-up in Peking Operas mint, 1980 Kites mint, Return of High Monk Jian Zhen's Statue mint, Lotus Paintings including M/S mint, Guilin Landscapes mint, Tarrying Garden mint, Scientists of Ancient China mint, White Flag Dolphin set mint and booklet, 1981 Palace Lanterns mint, The Twelve Beauties plus M/S mint, 1982 Year of the Dog plus booklet mint, 1982 Sculptures including M/S mint, 1983 Year of the Pig mint including booklet, Scenes from the Western Chamber M/S mint, Terracotta Figures M/S, Female Roles in Peking Opera mint, 1995 Table Tennis M/S mint, 1988 Year of The Dragon mint including booklet
Lot 372
Bermuda. An 1865 to 1962 mint and used collection on loose album leaves with a number of shades and some covers. Includes 1920 Registered cover to Brooklyn bearing 1920 War Tax block of four and sing 2 1/2d; 1920 to 1921 Tercentenary of Representative Institutions - both issues mint; June 15 1937 First flight cover Bermuda to New York - cover re-directed to London. A sound collection for expansion
Lot 524
Great Britain. 1969 to 1991 First Day Covers in four albums. Includes 1969 Concorde with Filton cancel. Three bundles of Presentation packs 1970s to late 1980s and two binders of unmounted mint commemoratives, definitives and Regionals, mainly in traffic light strips of three or larger blocks
Lot 507
Tristan da Cunha. A small cover album housing a range of Postal history, First Day and commemorative covers from early 1920s to 1996. Includes a GB King Edward VII 1d on cover to London, cancelled with a Gibbons Type III (1921) handstamp. A front addressed to Cape Town with a Gibbons Type III (1921) handstamp with the cross. 2d Postage Due strike alongside. 1936 cover to London with full set of King Edward VIII all cancelled with Gibbons Type VII cachet in violet. 1937 cover to Ewell, England with a Gibbons Type VI cachet in blue, a straight line Tristan da Cunha in black, London F.S Paquebot 30 MR 37 CDS in black, 1/2d and 1d Postage Due adhesives applied tied with Epsom rubber handstamp and 1 1/2d F.B.C. handstamp beneath, 1937 Philatelic cover to Cape Town bearing 1937 Coronation pair and 1/2d King George VI all tied by four Tristan da Cunha Gibbons Type VII cachets in violet. 1938 cover to Johannesburg with fine Tristan da Cunha Gibbons Cachet Type V(?), heavy 1d handstamp and 1d South African Postage Due tied by Johannesburg 27 Jun 28 CDS. 1949 cover to Twickenham England bearing 2d King George VI with rectangular boxed Tristan da Cunha/Settlement of/Edinburgh/South Atlantic in violet Gibbons cachet IX) further cancelled by Cape Town Paquebot 14.10.49 CDS in black, with Postage Due/One Half Penny in manuscript. Cover to Chelmsford, England with 1/2d and 1d adhesives of St Helena tied by Gibbons Type VIII cachet in violet and T in oval, 1/2d Postage Due handstamp in black alongside. Further 'early' covers include an undated cover to Pietoria with 2d South African adhesive tied by Gibbons cachet 5 in violet and a Crawford Penguin label. A 1950 2 1/2d letter card to Twickenham with both boxed Tristan da Cunha settlement of Edinburgh in violet and Cape Town Paquebot CDS in black. Similar cover with markings as above on reverse of a cover with additional Tax markings. Also a 1962 cover with black boxed Resettlement Survey 1962. The collection progresses to modern commemorative covers and FDCs, many signed including Return of the Islanders and later various cruise liners (58)
Lot 655
A Burmantofts Faience lustre vase probably by Joseph Walmsley, shouldered form with everted rim, painted with scrolling design between geometric borders, in red and petrol lustre, and another Burmantofts Faience vase decorated with foliate stems, painted TL monogram to first vase, second vase impressed mark and Tl monogram, chip to foot rim of main vase, second vase minor professional restoration, 20.5cm. high (2)
Lot 310
Circle of William Powell Frith (1819-1909, British) The Tambourine Girl, oil on canvas, indistinctly initialled lower right, 24 x 19cmBorn in Aldfield, North Yorkshire, Frith was encouraged to take up art by his father, a hotelier in Harrogate. He moved to London in 1835 where he began his formal art studies at Sass's Academy in Charlotte Street, before attending the Royal Academy Schools. Frith started his career as a portrait painter and first exhibited at the British Institution in 1838. In the 1840s he often based works on the literary output of writers such as Charles Dickens, whose portrait he painted, and Laurence Sterne. He was also a member of The Clique, which also included Richard Dadd. The principal influence on his work was the hugely popular domestic subjects painted by Sir David Wilkie. Wilkie's famous painting The Chelsea Pensioners was a spur to the creation of Frith's own most famous compositions. Following the precedent of Wilkie, but also imitating the work of his friend Dickens, Frith created complex multi-figure compositions depicting the full range of the Victorian class system, meeting and interacting in public places. In Ramsgate Sands, Life at the Seaside (1854) he depicted visitors and entertainers at the seaside resort. He followed this with The Derby Day, depicting scenes among the crowd at the race at Epsom Downs, which was based on photographic studies by Robert Howlett. This 1858 composition was bought by Jacob Bell for £1,500. It was so popular that it had to be protected by a specially installed rail when shown at the Royal Academy of Arts. Another well-known painting was The Railway Station , a scene of Paddington station. In 1865 he was chosen to paint the Marriage of the Prince of Wales.Later in his career he painted two series of five pictures each, telling moral stories in the manner of William Hogarth. These were the Road to Ruin (1878), about the dangers of gambling, and the Race for Wealth (1880) about reckless financial speculation. He retired from the Royal Academy in 1890 but continued to exhibit until 1902. Detail of After the Bath, a late nude by FrithFrith was a traditionalist who made known his aversion to modern-art developments in a couple of autobiographies - My Autobiography and Reminiscences (1887) and Further Reminiscences (1888) - and other writings. He was also an inveterate enemy of the Pre-Raphaelites and of the Aesthetic Movement, which he satirised in his painting A Private View at the Royal Academy (1883), in which Oscar Wilde is depicted discoursing on art while Frith's friends look on disapprovingly. Fellow traditionalist Frederic Leighton is featured in the painting, which also portrays painter John Everett Millais and novelist Anthony Trollope. Frith lived a curious domestic life - married to Isabelle with twelve children, whilst a mile down the road maintaining a mistress (Mary Alford, formerly his ward) and seven more children - all a marked contrast to the upright family scenes depicted in paintings like Many Happy Returns of the Day. Frith married Mary on the death of Isabelle in 1880. In his later years he painted many copies of his famous paintings, as well as more sexually uninhibited works, such as the nude After the Bath. A well-known raconteur, his writings, most notably his chatty autobiography, were very popular. In 1856 Frith was photographed at 'The Photographed Institute' by Robert Howlett, as part of a series of portraits of 'fine artists'. The picture was among a group exhibited at the 'Art Treasures Exhibition' in Manchester in 1857.
Lot 329
Sir Thomas Lawrence, PRA, FSRA (1750-1829, British ) Charles Abbot, 1st Baron Colchester PC, FRS 1757-1829, oil on canvas, 62 x 75cmProvenance: Deceased estate from country house in Suffolk in 2014There is an identical portrait of the same sitter By Sir Thomas Lawrece, PRA in the Parlimentary Art Collection at Westminster, Accession number: WOA 2725 and given by Lord Colechester in 1825, this portrait is catalogued as after the original, but it is likely that it is a studio version.Abbot, Charles, first Baron Colchester (1757-1829), speaker of the House of Commons, was born on 14 October 1757 at Abingdon, Berkshire, the son of the Revd John Abbot (d. 1760), a fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, and rector of All Saints, Colchester, and his wife, Sarah, the daughter of Jonathan Farr, a citizen and draper of London. He was educated at Westminster School from 1763 and at Christ Church, Oxford, from 1776, winning the college prize for Latin verse in his first year and the chancellor's prize the year after. In 1778-9 he studied civil law in Geneva and obtained a doctorate, which was complemented by bachelor's and doctoral degrees in English civil law in 1783 and 1793. Elected Vinerian scholar by the University of Oxford in 1781, he was promoted to a residential fellowship in 1786. After being called to the bar from the Middle Temple in 1783 and joining the Oxford and Chester circuits, he surrendered his fellowship in 1792 to practise in the equity courts.Artist:Lawrence, Sir Thomas (1769-1830), painter and draughtsman, chiefly of portraits, was born on 13 April 1769 at 6 Redcross Street, Bristol. Within two or three years the very young Lawrence had revealed his talent for drawing, being capable particularly of sketching, in pencil, likenesses of people.The year 1790 marked full public recognition of Lawrence's achievements, in terms of prestige as well as of art. In that year he exhibited at the Royal Academy twelve portraits, among them two full lengths, the actress Elizabeth Farren (1789-90; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) and Queen Charlotte (1789-90; National Gallery, London). Reviews of the exhibition warmly praised both paintings, which rank among his finest achievements. Paint is handled with a richness, crispness, and confident pleasure seldom seen in British art, while the likenesses and costumes are seized with equally pleasurable confidence. And complementing the freshness of portrayal is a vivid, fresh response to differing aspects of English landscape.Lawrence had been bidden to Windsor in September 1789, to paint the queen and also Princess Amelia (1789; Royal Collection). Although the queen's portrait was not acquired by the king, Lawrence at twenty had received his first important royal patronage. Gainsborough was dead, and Lawrence was widely recognized as the successor to Reynolds, whose health and art were in decline. George III pressed the Royal Academy to elect him an associate in 1790, but it refused because of the regulation against election of associates aged under twenty-four. However, it elected him the following year. When Reynolds died in 1792, the king appointed him painter-in-ordinary. In 1794, at the earliest permitted age of twenty-five, he was elected a full academician.During the 1790s Lawrence seems to have believed that he could combine activity as a portrait painter with producing occasional history paintings. At the Royal Academy in 1791 he exhibited, as well as several portraits, a small history painting, Homer Reciting his Poems (1790; Tate collection), a composition commissioned by the antiquarian scholar and connoisseur Richard Payne Knight. The effect is of a pastoral landscape, attractive but hardly ambitious, nor particularly classical in mood. More interesting may have been the Shakespearian subject Prospero Raising the Storm (exh. RA, 1793), a large canvas he is said to have later utilized for the portrait of John Philip Kemble as Rolla (1800; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, USA).In 1797 Lawrence exhibited his most ambitious attempt at a history picture, turning back for inspiration to Milton's Paradise Lost, the poem which had been a source for recitation and delineation by him from his boyhood. The huge canvas of Satan Summoning his Legions (1796-7; RA) was his final effort to create a grand historical composition. It was very unfavourably received, but Lawrence himself defiantly continued to esteem it. After seeing it again in 1811, he wrote despondently of experiencing a sense of 'the past dreadful waste of time and improvidence of my Life and Talent' (Layard, 84). Darkened though the painting now is, and extremely difficult to assess, it is by no means unimpressive, for all the old master echoes and its debt to the style of Fuseli.Lawrence's international reputation was recognized by a succession of honours from foreign academies of art, including those of Rome (1816), Florence (1820), Venice (1823), Denmark (1823), and New York (1818). From his status and official position flowed numerous obligations, many performed, it seems, more dutifully than eagerly, and as printed his annual addresses to the Royal Academy students can only be termed insipid. But he made a point of being accessible and helpful to younger, sometimes foreign, artists, and would thus be gratefully remembered by, for instance, Eugène Delacroix. On the death of John Julius Angerstein in 1823 he actively urged the retention of his collection in Britain, for the nation, and was appointed one of the superintending body (later trustees) when the government purchased the collection and the National Gallery was founded in 1824.Despite the pressures upon him, Lawrence's art preserved all its vitality, while gaining in empathy and depth. To the annual Royal Academy exhibitions he regularly managed to send some six or more new portraits, and the range of his sitters was matched by the range of his interpretation. With absolute assurance he captured the bright-eyed vivacity of the two very young Calmady girls (1823-4; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York) and the stony, quasi-judicial severity of an octogenarian in Lady Robert Manners (1825-6; National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh). Simplicity and directness characterize his Lady Blessington (c.1821; Wallace Collection, London). A quite unusually serious, Wordsworthian blending of sublime natural setting and reflective child gives resonance to the deservedly famous portrait Charles William Lambton, 'The red boy', (1824-5; priv. coll.).
Lot 330
Sydney S. Morrish (1836-1894, British) An elegant lady wearing a white silk dress and gloves, a bonnet with a pink parasol holding a Manchester terrier puppy, oil on canvas, framed, signed lower left and dated 1870, 55 x 40cmThis lively, spirited dog breed is a true terrier. Bred in Manchester, England, for the common man's sports of rat killing and rabbit coursing, he's got game and he loves to show it. The Gentleman's Terrier (as he is known in Victorian England) is not a sparring dog but loves a good chase, making him a flyball and agility expert.Though his looks suggest a miniature Doberman Pinscher or a large Miniature Pinscher, the Manchester Terrier is his own canine. A wee dog with a strong bark, he's got personality to burn: loyal, hearty, and a terrific watchdog who adores hanging out with his people. Among terriers, the Manchester is known to be one of the more well-mannered and responsive breeds and today spends his time as a terrific companion who can hold up his end of the conversation.The history of sunshades goes back thousands of years, but it was during the Italian Renaissance of the 16th century that umbrellas and parasols were introduced to Europe. At first the items were large, used interchangeably, and generally carried by a servant to protect the wealthy from the elements and sun. Some were heavy (made of leather) but silk, paper, and cotton grew in popularity. During the 1700s parasols had already evolved into a woman's fashion item, designed and decorated to match each promenade dress or walking suit, and was clearly defined as a sunshade; not for rain and snow. To make them collapsible developed around 1800, but ribs would break, paper tear, and the materials mildew if left damp. By the early Victorian era metallurgy had improved and alloy ribs were being used, nickel silver particularly popular. This type of thin strong metal was developed in Germany by craftsmen in an attempt to imitate the Chinese combination of copper, nickel and zinc, known as paktong.At the beginning of Queen Victoria's reign the parasols were quite plain, but by about 1850 tassels and frills grew in popularity. In each ensuing year the adornments became more ostentatious. If a dress had bows or flounces, the parasol could be adorned with the same decoration. This was a matter of taste, and ladies selected modest or extravagant versions for different circumstances, and based on what their income would allow. Of course it was only the wealthy who used parasols as a day-to-day accoutrement. A poor girl might have a simple parasol for church, or a Sunday afternoon stroll. It was during the 1850s the marquise parasol was developed, a style that tipped at the top, so a lady could hold the shaft straight and still shade her face well no matter the angle of the sun.During this time many houses featured racks (two horizontal parallel arms) for placing open parasols and umbrellas high overhead in front and back halls; ideal for implements that didn't close, could be damaged by constant opening and closing, or damp items. Parasol handles were usually straight, but some hooked examples exist. A plain parasol might have a wooden or metal pole with a bone handle, while the most expensive choices were of carved ivory shafts, decorated with inlaid jewels and gold banding. An in between version could be with carved horn and silver filigree accents. Throughout the Victorian era the handles grew longer, so "carriage" parasols were designed with a hinge in the middle to allow breakdown and ease of movement in tight spots.
Lot 268
John Wynn (19th century, Britisih) Portrait of Otley Hall, Ipswich, Suffolk, 1889, oil on canvas, signed and dated 1889 and further inscribed en verso 'Otley Hall 1889', framed, 27.9 x 43.2cm. Pride of place belongs to the Gosnold family, who lived here for 300 years from c.1400 first as tenants, then as owners. Bartholomew Gosnold (1571-1607) voyaged to the New World, where in 1602 he discovered Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard, which he named after his infant daughter. In 1607, 13 years before the Mayflower landed, he returned to found Jamestown colony in Virginia, the first permanent English-speaking settlement in America. It has been said that the two voyages were planned at the hearthside of Otley Hall.
Lot 274
After Sir Joshua Reynolds,(1723 -1793 ,British) Portrait of Charles James Fox, oil on canvas, 77 x 64cmCharles James Fox was born on 24 January 1749 and was the third son of Henry Fox, first Lord Holland and his wife Lady Caroline Lennox, daughter of the second Duke of Richmond. This made Fox the nephew of the third Duke of Richmond, a leading Rockingham Whig peer. Fox was educated at Eton and Hertford College, Oxford. His father exerted little control over Fox and encouraged him to be extravagant and dissolute. Fox lost vast sums at gambling, and in 1774 Lord Holland paid his son''s gambling debts at a cost of œ140,000. Almost 20 years later political friends paid off Fox''s debts and gave him a comfortable income. Fox subsequently gave up both racing and gambling. Fox was Falstaffian in character and none too clean in appearance. He was openly a rake and there were rumours that he was conducting an affair with Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. In 1768 he became MP for Midhurst, a family pocket borough. Fox immediately attracted attention through his ability and the quality of his speeches. In 1770 he was appointed as a junior Lord of the Admiralty but resigned in 1772 so that he could oppose the legislation that became the Royal Marriages Act in the same year. In December 1773 he became a junior Lord of the Treasury but the king, who disliked Fox for opposing the Royal Marriages Act, dismissed him in February 1774. Edmund Burke and Fox became friends and, because his uncle was a Rockinghamite, Fox was drawn to the Rockinghamites and opposed North''s American policy although he knew that the American war was popular in England. When North resigned in March 1782, Rockingham formed his second ministry. He appointed Lord Shelburne as Home Secretary and Fox became the foreign secretary. Fox announced on 30 June that he was going to resign but before he could do it, Rockingham died on 1 July. Shelburne was appointed as the new PM and Fox and his political allies refused to serve with Shelburne although other Rockinghamites did serve in the new ministry. However, the ministry was not strong and had to face attacks from both Fox and Lord North. On 14 February 1783 the two men negotiated terms by which they would overthrow the government, with the Duke of Portland as the new PM.
Lot 276
Circle of Richard Cosway (1742-1821, British) Portrait of a young woman holding her child, circa 1800, pencil, pastel and watercolour on paper, framed in an oval gilt frame, 26 x 21cmBorn in Tiverton, Devon, the son of a schoolmaster, he was initially educated at Blundell's School but allowed to travel to London aged just 12 to take lessons in learning. He won a prize from the Society of Artists in 1754 and by 1760 had established his own business. He exhibited his first works aged just 20 in 1762 and was soon in demand. Such was his success, that still not 30, Cosway was elected one of the founder members of the Royal Academy (he is included in a group portrait of the 1768 founders, though some accounts suggest he was appointed an Academician three years later, in 1771. He painted the future King George IV in 1780 and was appointed Painter to the Prince of Wales[1] in 1785-the only time this title was ever awarded. His subjects included the Prince's first wife, Maria Anne Fitzherbert, and various English and French aristocrats, including Madame du Barry, mistress of King Louis XV of France. Cosway's pupils included Andrew Plimer (1763-1837). From 1995 to 1996, the National Portrait Gallery in London held an exhibition entitled Richard and Maria Cosway: Regency Artists of Taste and Fashion, with 250 works on display. On 18 January 1781, Cosway married the Anglo-Italian artist Maria Hadfield. Maria was a composer, musician and authority on girls' education and was much admired by Thomas Jefferson, who wrote letters to her decrying her marriage to another man and kept an engraving made from one of Cosway's paintings of Maria at Monticello. The Cosways' marriage is thought to be an arranged marriage and later a marriage of convenience due to his being 20 years her senior. Richard was "well known as a libertine and commonly described as resembling a monkey." The film Jefferson in Paris depicts Maria Cosway's romance with Thomas Jefferson and also depicts Richard Cosway as effeminate, something which is not certain historically. Richard realized his wife's talent and helped her to develop it.In 1784, the Cosways moved into Schomberg House, Pall Mall, which became a fashionable salon for London society.[1] In 1791 they moved to a larger house in Stratford Place. However, the marriage did not last, eventually being annulled. In later life, Cosway also suffered from mental disorders and spent some time in various institutions. He died in London in 1821 and was buried at Marylebone New Church. Sir John Soane bought more than 30 objects put up for sale at auction after Cosway's death
Lot 278
Circle of Richard Cosway (1742-1821, British) Portrait of a young lady holding a bouquet of flowers, circa 1800, pencil, pastel and watercolour on paper, framed in an oval gilt frame, 26 x 21cmBorn in Tiverton, Devon, the son of a schoolmaster, he was initially educated at Blundell's School but allowed to travel to London aged just 12 to take lessons in learning. He won a prize from the Society of Artists in 1754 and by 1760 had established his own business. He exhibited his first works aged just 20 in 1762 and was soon in demand. Such was his success, that still not 30, Cosway was elected one of the founder members of the Royal Academy (he is included in a group portrait of the 1768 founders, though some accounts suggest he was appointed an Academician three years later, in 1771. He painted the future King George IV in 1780 and was appointed Painter to the Prince of Wales[1] in 1785-the only time this title was ever awarded. His subjects included the Prince's first wife, Maria Anne Fitzherbert, and various English and French aristocrats, including Madame du Barry, mistress of King Louis XV of France. Cosway's pupils included Andrew Plimer (1763-1837). From 1995 to 1996, the National Portrait Gallery in London held an exhibition entitled Richard and Maria Cosway: Regency Artists of Taste and Fashion, with 250 works on display. On 18 January 1781, Cosway married the Anglo-Italian artist Maria Hadfield. Maria was a composer, musician and authority on girls' education and was much admired by Thomas Jefferson, who wrote letters to her decrying her marriage to another man and kept an engraving made from one of Cosway's paintings of Maria at Monticello. The Cosways' marriage is thought to be an arranged marriage and later a marriage of convenience due to his being 20 years her senior. Richard was "well known as a libertine and commonly described as resembling a monkey." The film Jefferson in Paris depicts Maria Cosway's romance with Thomas Jefferson and also depicts Richard Cosway as effeminate, something which is not certain historically. Richard realized his wife's talent and helped her to develop it.In 1784, the Cosways moved into Schomberg House, Pall Mall, which became a fashionable salon for London society.[1] In 1791 they moved to a larger house in Stratford Place. However, the marriage did not last, eventually being annulled. In later life, Cosway also suffered from mental disorders and spent some time in various institutions. He died in London in 1821 and was buried at Marylebone New Church. Sir John Soane bought more than 30 objects put up for sale at auction after Cosway's death
Lot 282
Attributed to William Holman Hunt (1827-1910, British) A Troubadour Resting with his Capuchin Monkey, 19th century, oil on canvas, 45 x 36cmThere have been performances in public places for gratuities in every major culture in the world, dating back to antiquity. This art form was the most common means of employment for entertainers before the advent of recording and personal electronics. Prior to that, a person had to produce any music or entertainment, save for a few mechanical devices such as the barrel organ, the music box, and the piano roll. Organ grinders were commonly found busking in the old days. The term "busking" was first noted in the English language around the middle 1860s in Great Britain. Up until the 20th century buskers were commonly called minstrels in America, Europe and other English-speaking lands.The word "busk" comes from the Spanish root word "buscar", meaning "to seek" - buskers are literally seeking fame and fortune. Busking is common among some Gypsies, also known as the Romani people. Romantic mention of Gypsy music, dancers and fortune tellers are found in all forms of song poetry, prose and lore. The Roma brought the word busking to England by way of their travels along the Mediterranean coast to Spain and the Atlantic ocean and then up north to England and the rest of Europe. In medieval France buskers were known by the terms troubadours and jongleurs. In northern France they were known as trouveres. In old German buskers were known as Minnesingers and Spielleute. In obsolete French it evolved to busquer for "seek, prowl" and was generally used to describe prostitutes. In Italian it evolved to buscare which meant "procure, gain" and in Italy buskers are called buscarsi or, more simply, Buskers (see loan word). In Russia buskers are called skomorokh and their first recorded history appears around the 11th century.Mariachis are Mexican street bands that play a specific style of music by the same name.] Mariachis frequently wear ornate costumes with intricate embroidery and beaded designs, large brimmed sombreros and the short charro jackets. Mariachi groups busk when they perform while traveling through streets and plazas, as well as in restaurants and bars.Around the middle 19th century Japanese Chindonya started to be seen using their skills for advertising, and these street performers are still occasionally seen in Japan.In the US, medicine shows proliferated in the 19th century. They were traveling vendors selling elixirs and potions to improve the health. They would often employ entertainment acts as a way of making the clients feel better. The people would often associate this feeling of well-being with the products sold. After these performances they would "pass the hat".Easily recognized as the "organ grinder" or "greyhound jockey" monkeys, capuchins are sometimes kept as exotic pets. Sometimes they plunder fields and crops and are seen as troublesome by nearby human populations. In some regions they have become rare due to the destruction of their habitat. They are also used as service animals, sometimes being called "nature's butlers". Some organizations have been training capuchin monkeys to assist quadriplegics as monkey helpers in a manner similar to mobility assistance dogs. After being socialized in a human home as infants, the monkeys undergo extensive training before being placed with a quadriplegic. Around the house, the monkeys help out by doing tasks including microwaving food, washing the quadriplegic's face, and opening drink bottles. Capuchin monkeys are featured in the movies Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (and its sequels), The New Adventures of Pippi Longstocking (and its sequels), Night at the Museum (and its sequel), Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid, Ace Ventura When Nature Calls, and Monkey Shines. Ross Gellar (David Schwimmer) on the NBC sitcom Friends had a capuchin monkey named Marcel.
Lot 284
Attributed to Sir Thomas Lawrence RPA (1769-1830,British) Portrait of a Mother and Child with a Kitten, oil on canvas, 69 x 59cmSir Thomas Lawrence was born in Bristol. His father was an innkeeper, first at Bristol and afterwards at Devizes, and at the age of six Lawrence was already being shown off to the guests of the Bear as an infant prodigy who could sketch their likenesses and declaim speeches from Milton. In 1779 the elder Lawrence had to leave Devizes, having failed in business and Thomas's precocious talent began to be the main source of the family's income; he had gained a reputation along the Bath road. His debut as a crayon portrait painter was made at Oxford, where he was well patronized, and in 1782 the family settled in Bath, where the young artist soon found himself fully employed in taking crayon likenesses of fashionable people at a guinea or a guinea and a half a head. In 1784 he gained the prize and silver-gilt palette of the Society of Arts for a crayon drawing after Raphael's "Transfiguration," and presently beginning to paint in oil. Abandoning the idea of going on the stage which he had briefly entertained, Lawrence came to London in 1787, was kindly received by Sir Joshua Reynolds, and became a student at the Royal Academy. He began to exhibit almost immediately, and his reputation increased so rapidly that he became an associate of the Academy in 1791. The death of Sir Joshua in 1792 opened the way to further successes. Lawrence was at once appointed painter to the Dilettanti Society, and principal painter to King George III in lieu of Reynolds. In 1794 he was a Royal Academician, and he became the fashionable portrait painter of the age, his sitters including England's most notable people, and ultimately most of the crowned heads of Europe. Caroline of Brunswick was one of his favourite subjects, and is reputed to have been his lover for a time. Financial problems plagued Lawrence. In 1796, Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth, one of Lawrence's close patrons, gave him £1,000 (an enormous sum at the time) to relieve him from his financial difficulties. Lawrence painted several portraits for Lord Seaforth, including a full-length portrait of Seaforth's daughter, Mary. In 1815 Lawrence was knighted; in 1818 he went to Aachen to paint the sovereigns and diplomats gathered there for the third congress, and visited Vienna and Rome, everywhere receiving flattering marks of distinction from princes, due as much to his courtly manners as to his merits as an artist. After eighteen months he returned to England, and on the very day of his arrival was chosen president of the Academy in room of Benjamin West, who had died a few days before. He held the office from 1820 to his death. He was never married. Sir Thomas Lawrence had all the qualities of personal manner and artistic style necessary to make a fashionable painter, and among English portrait painters he takes a high place, though not as high as that given to him in his lifetime. His more ambitious works, in the classical style, such as his once celebrated "Satan," are practically forgotten. The best display of Lawrence's work is in the Waterloo Gallery of Windsor, a collection of much historical interest. "Master Charles William Lambton" (1825), painted for Lord Durham at the price of 600 guineas, is regarded as one of his best portraits, and a fine head in the National Gallery, London, shows his power to advantage
Lot 276
A 19th Century Parianware commemorative Plaque of Princess Charlotte, contained within a rectangular black lacquer papier-mâché frame with oval gilt metal insert, produced to commemorate the death of Princess Charlotte in 1817, 6.5cm x 5cm CONDITION REPORT: Good general overall original condition to item, three small brown blemishes are noted to silhouette under glass, the first vertically towards the front of the hair, the second towards the right hand side of the piece and lower part of the neck, the third towards the very bottom right hand side of the piece where it becomes pointed.
Lot 409
Modern First Editions including Le Carre, John "Tinker Taylor Soldier Spy" Hodder and Stoughton, 1974 signed on title page by the author, blue cloth with silver titles, d-j not price clipped, Ballard J.G. "Empire of the Sun" Victor Gollancz 1984, black cloth, spine bumped, d-j not price clipped, other authors include Bruce Chatwin, Laurens van der Post, Julia Barnes, Graham Green etc. (1 box)
Lot 292
Five photograph albums containing interesting postcards and photographs dating from the First to the Second World War; subjects include the First World War Heavy Repair Shop in Rouen, early tanks, battlefield desolation, electrical engineering in Apapa, Lagos Port cranes, ships and locomotives, Cape Town tourism, colonial sport, tribal subjects etc.
Lot 298
Religious/Jewish interest, a late 19th Century walnut cased set of twelve silver plated bladed and bone handled Dessert Knives and Forks together with one further similar tray of six silver plated bladed Fish Eaters, the inlaid brass cartouche engraved "Presented to The Reverend Dr. Chotzner by the Members of the Belfast Congregation 1880", (the Reverend Chotzner in the 19th Century was the first Rabbi of Belfast and his son who was a Tory MP for West Ham in the 1930's was also a Jewish High Court Judge in India) sold together with two original photographs of Alfred Chotzner (one as a High Court Judge and a Hardback Volume "The Comrades", signed and dated by Alfred Chotzner May 25th 1937, (selection)
Lot 401
A 19th Century gilt tooled leather bound Scrap Book belonging to Sarah J. Robinson containing a fascinating collection of coloured engravings, vignettes, drawings and various verse etc., the front of the Album with applied armorial and the first hand written annotation/verse dated July 19th 1828
Lot 436
Lacombe, François “Dictionnaire du Vieux Langage François, enrichi de passages tirés des manuscrits en vers & en prose, des actes publics, des Ordonnances de nos Rois..." Panckoucke, Paris 1766; Richelet, Pierre “Dictionnaire de Portatif de la Langue Françoise extrait du grand dictionnaire de Pierre Richelet” two volumes, the first signed 'Pierre Dumesnil et Fils', Rouen 1803; Girault-Duvivier, Charles Pierre “Grammaire des Grammaires ou analyse raisonée des meilleurs traités sur la langue françoise…” two volumes, Janet et Cotelle 1822 (3)
Lot 1093
Group of military items to Major GJ Browne RAOC: Boxed Silver marked Kings Crown RAOC tie pin in coloured enamels: Glass Decanter etched with RAOC Motto and Queens Crown: Ice bucket in the form of a Drum with RAOC insignia: rare boxed Wedgewood jasper ware dish with RAOC insignia: nine engraved Pewter Tankards inc one from 1 Para Logistics Regt: ten wall plaques inc three Airborne: Wade ashtray with 321 EOD Unit insignia: three LP records "Utrinque Paratus", "Staff Band RAOC" and "Suatela Tonant Staff Band RAOC": a selection of military themed First Day covers: four framed prints/photos, two Northern Ireland themed, one Falklands and one 16 Para Ordnance Field Park RAOC March 1962: unframed photo of HM The Queen with Senior Officers of the RAOC March 1988.
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