We found 40842 price guide item(s) matching your search

A SIGNED PRODUCTION SCRIPT FOR THE SIMPSONS NO. FABF09 'SMART AND SMARTER' with a signed cover to include the signatures of the production team comprising Matt Selman, Professor John Frink, Michael Price, Kevin Curran, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Ben Odenkirk, and Carolyn Omine, with shipping envelope (1) (Condition Report: last couple of pages have light creases), We cannot guarantee the authenticity of signatures, potential purchasers should satisfy themselves of the veracity of signatures prior to purchase

Children's books to include Bond, Michael "A Bear Called Paddington", Collins, 8th impression 1968, illustrated by Peggy Fortnum, pink cloth, d-w not price clipped, Dr Seuss "The Cat in the Hat", Collins and Harvill, first published in Great Britain 1958, illustrations throughout, laminated boards, the corners rather bumped and the front board corner very rubbed, Greene, Graham "A Little Steamroller", illustrated by Edward Ardizzone, the Bodley Head 1974, oblong quarto, illustrations, pictorial boards, d-w price clipped, Dahl, Roald "George's Marvellous Medicine", illustrations by Quentin Blake, Jonathan Cape 1981, turquoise cloth, d-w not price clipped, quantity of Ladybird books to include "The Farm", illustrations by C F Tunnicliffe and "What to Look for in Winter", illustrated by C F Tunnicliffe and various other volumes to include Winnie the Pooh, Roald Dahl, Paul Gallico, etc (3 boxes) 

QT MAGAZINE NO. 21 BRENDA GRAHAM Please note: We have blurred certain parts of the photographs to comply with The Saleroom's guidelines on nudity. Good condition, apart from age-related wear to covers. Ref. T.

1960'S GLAMOUR MODEL BRENDA GRAHAM PHOTOGRAPHS Size: 7 x 5 inch. Very good reproduction photographs. Please note: The photographs are much better quality than our camera suggests. Ref. T. 312

ORIGINAL 1960'S POSTER & MEMBERSHIP CARD FOR THE MOTHERS CLUB BIRMINGHAM Poster advertising the Graham Bond Organisation group at Mothers on 4th Oct 1969, good condition except for pin hoes in corners Size 20 x 30 inch Ref SM

A 1987 Jimi Hendrix poster published by Splash with artwork by Nona Hatay, from the collection of Graham Oliver of Saxon

A box of N gauge model rail, wagons and carriages, mainly Graham Farish, some boxed

A Jimi Hendrix ' Astro Man ' original poster, from the collection of Graham Oliver of Saxon

A Saxon concert poster for 1983 European tour, from the collection of Graham Oliver of Saxon

GREENE, (Graham), The End of the Affair, first edition, London, W. Heinemann, 1951Condition Report: Inscribed and dated 1951. Not price clipped. Endpapers darkened, shelf lean, top and base of spine with wear. See image of dustjacket for its condition.

GREENE, (Graham), A Burnt Out Case, first edition, Heinemann, 1961, together with The Comedians, The Bodley Head, first edition, 1966, and A Sort of Life and Travels with my Aunt, The Bodley Head, both first editions, (4)

GREENE, (Graham), The Heart of the Matter, first edition, Heineman, 1948, also 19 Stories, first edition, Heinemann, 1947, (2)Condition Report: Heart of the Matter price clipped.

GREENE, (Graham), The Third Man and the Fallen Idol, first edition, London, Heinemann, 1950Condition Report: The end papers and rear of the boards are of a darker colour. There is some creasing to the top of pages 162-163. There is shelf lean and wear to the top and base of the spine. There are splits and losses to the dustjacket, see the extra images.

GREENE, (Graham), May We Borrow Your Husband, first edition, London, The Bodley Head, 1967, together with The Comedians, first edition, The Bodley Head, 1966, also The Lost Childhood, first edition, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1951, and three further Graham Greene titles, without dustjackets, (6)

GREENE, (Graham), The Quiet American, first edition, London, William Heinemann Ltd, 1955

Rex Preston, 'Country Train' colour print 32.5 x 65cm, pencil signed. Graham Carver 'Thorpe, Wharfdale' Limited edition print of 500, signed (2)

Graham Glynn, Three Studio Pottery Items includes one baluster form lipped vase, lidded squat pot and small cache pot (3)

GRAHAM Winston, Jeremy Polkard - Ward Lock, in blue cloth, together with another, Night Without Stars. (2)

GRAHAM Winston Demelza - Ward Lock & Co., red cloth with dust cover.

A set of Scottish Red Deer antlers on a mahogany shield wall mount - by the taxidermist Graham Teasdale (inset plaque to back), six points, mounted with a cut upper skull, brass plaque inscribed 'Diabaig 5-10-99 G.C.H', 57cm at widest, 64cm high; together with two Fallow Deer antlers. (3) 

Graham Sendall (British, b.1947) 'The Groyne' limited edition colour print, signed, inscribed and numbered 6/50 lower margin, Certificate of Authenticity pasted verso, dated May 2014 15 7/8 x 15 7/8in (40.3 x 40.3cm), gilt frame (64 x 63.5cm)

Peter Graham Wood (Yorkshire 1941-): 'Fleetwith Pike - Buttermere Cumbria', watercolour signed, titled verso 20cm x 26cm

Trade catalogue.- Game & poultry.- Graham, Graham & Co. Pheasant, Game & Poultry Food Manufacturers, printed on pink paper, wood-engraved illustrations, central bifolium loose, folds, original ornate printed wrappers, lower wrapper faded, upper wrapper little faded, little spotting and light staining, small 4to (244 x 186mm.), Trowse, Norfolk, no printer, 1882.  *** Unrecorded charming trade catalogue from suppliers to the Royal Households.  Offering all necessary for the rearing of game and poultry, including aromatic feeds (which will keep the birds in optimum health we are told), coops, ornamental aviaries, troughs, and fencing. Also includes supplies for dogs and horses. 

CUNNINGHAME GRAHAM R. B.  The District of Mentith.  Ltd. ed. deluxe 60/250, signed by the author & the illustrator, D. Y. Cameron. With a slipped in orig. etching by Cameron & plates being reproductions of his wash drawings. Quarto. Leather backed brown cloth with title label, light damp stng. & some wear & rubbing, in torn d.w. but contents clean. Stirling, 1930; also A. F. Hutchison, The Lake of Mentith, Its Islands & Vicinity, subscribers list, illus. by Walter Bain, orig. dark cloth in d.w., Stirling, 1899, with a slipped in envelope of photographic views of the Lake of Mentith & Vicinity.

LIVERPOOL FOOTBALL CLUB; a Carlsberg autograph book with engine turned metal covers, containing signatures of various LFC players, to include Doug Armstrong, Grahame Lloyd, Ray Clemence, Ian St. John, Bobby Graham, Brian Hall, Phil Boersma, Emlyn Hughes, Roger Hunt, Lee Koo, etc.

Commemorative coin packs, comprising the 1989 UK Brilliant Uncirculated £2, two Heinz uncirculated coin collection 1983, two Commonwealth Games commemorative £2 1986, two 1997 Alexander Graham Bell commemorative £1 notes, and The Rothmans Cambridge Collection of Rare Banknotes (8).

Vintage Graham lawn aerator and tools

GRAHAM HART (b.1951) A mixed media on board titled 'Walberswick'. Monogram bottom left, details verso dated 2024. Image size 50cm x 30cm

GRAHAM HART (b.1951) A mixed media on board titled 'Southwold Huts'. Monogram bottom left, details verso dated 2024. Image size 60.5cm x 60.5cm

A large quantity of 1950s & 1960s Autosport magazines, together with Rex Hays, Vanishing Litres 50 Years of Grand Prix Racing, published Macgibbon & Lee 1957, red bound with dust jacket, official programme Silverstone dated September 14th 1957; Aintree Grand Prix D'Europe dated 20th July 1957; Daily Express Trophy Meeting Silverstone dated 3rd May 1958; similar dated 5th May 1956 and a pencil signed signature of the British racing driver Graham Hill.

Graham Farish by Bachmann, Class 350 four-car Desiro EMU, in London Midland livery, boxed, (one coach missing wheels) untested.

Three N Gauge tank engines, boxed Graham Farish 2-6-2T in BR Green, Graham Farish 0-6-0 Pannier Tank (in incorrect box), and a Graham Farish 0-6-0 chassis with a white metal J50 body, also boxed,all untested.

Two Graham Farish by Bachmann N gauge Diesel locomotives, Class 47 "47474 Sir Rowland Hill" ref 372-242, and Class 24 Green Diesel no D5013 ref 372-976, both boxed untested

Graham Farish by Bachmann N Gauge locomotives and multiple units, including Class 50 50004 in BR Blue, Class 57 57301 in Virgin livery, Class 170 two-car Multiple unit in Cross Country livery, and Class 170 two-car Multiple Unit in London Midland livery.

After Peter Graham. Highland Rovers, print, 49cm x 72cm, together with John Trickett, A Pointer of the Moors, signed limited edition number 96/500, 22cm x 32cm.

Four signed cricket bats from the 1990's. Signed by: Neil Sargeant, Mark Butcher, Adam Hollyoake, Jason de la Pena, Alec Stewart, Graham Thorpe, Andrew Smith, Gladstone Small, Richard Illingworth and many more, a 'Super Crown' cricket ball, and a signed silk tie from the England v New Zealand Test 1994.

Two limited edition prints: Graham Everden 'Cope, Cornwall' 306/350, and Kenneth Leech 'Forest Walk' 133/150. Both framed and glazed. (2)

SHOOTING & HUNTING RELATED LEATHER FLASKS & ACCESSORIES. Including two large leather cases containing thermos flasks (cases 29cms and 27cms high), a conical leather case by G Martin & Sons, South Kensington (missing it's glass flask), two leather satchels (by Macpherson of Inverness and Graham & Co of Inverness), leather cartridge belt, leather cased binoculars and other items. Some items with the owners initials. *The initials relate to Ernest George Vans Agnew and Lt Col James Burns Vans Agnew of Barnbarroch (1899-1963). *CR See online images.

Royal Navy L.S. & G.C., G.V.R., 1st issue (3) (268677 J. H. Salmons, E.R.A. 1Cl., H.M.S. Adamant.; 215875. James Foden, A.B. H.M.S. Attentive.; 307249. Ag. Blake. Sto. P.O. H.M.S. Hawkins.) suspension re-affixed on first, edge bruise to second, light contact marks, generally very fine (3) £100-£140 --- John Henry Salmons was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in July 1914, and served during the Great War in the submarine H.M.S. E-32. James Foden was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in August 1917, and died at R.N. Hospital Haslar on 19 March 1919. He is buried in Haslar Cemetery. Alexander Graham Blake was was awarded his Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in 1920, whilst serving on the China Station. Sold with copied research.

Monty Python's The Life of Brian (1979) British quad film poster, starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam, directed by Terry Jones, 76 x 101cm, folded and rolled.

Graham Farish and Dapol N Gauge items comprising Class 57/3 Diesel 57301 'Scott Tracy' Virgin Trains locomotive and forty-nine passenger carriages and goods wagons, the majority in original boxes.

Graham Greene The Little Steamroller illustrated by Dorothy Craigie, published Max Parrish 1953, first edition in colour pictorial boards and matching dust-wrapper

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS ink and watercolour with wax resist on paper 24.5cm x 19.5cm (9 5/8in x 7 ¾in) The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS signed, gouache with wax resist on paper with collaged elements 22.5cm x 16.5cm (9in x 6 ½in) The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS signed, ink and watercolour on paper 20.5cm x 16.5cm (8in x 6 ½in) The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) TWO STUDIES FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS gouache with wax resist on paper with collage elements 22cm x 16cm (8 5/8in x 6 ¼in); 22.5cm x 17cm (8 5/8in x 6 5/8in) The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS gouache, watercolour with wax resist and oil on paper 25.5cm x 17.5cm (10in x 7in) The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS signed, coloured pencil, watercolour and gouache with wax resist on paper 20.5cm x 16.5cm (8in x 6 ½in) The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS gouache and watercolour with wax resist on paper 20.5cm x 16.8cm (8in x 6 5/8in) The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS ink, crayon, oil, watercolour and gouache with wax resist on paper with collage elements  19.5cm x 17cm (7 5/8in x 6 ¾in) The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS watercolour and gouache with wax resist on paper with collage elements 25cm x 20.5cm (9 ¾in x 8in) The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS ink, watercolour and gouache on paper 24.5cm x 19.5cm (9 5/8in x 7 ¾in)  The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) THREE STUDIES STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS crayon, pencil, watercolour and gouache with wax resist on paper 11.8cm x 9cm (4 5/8in x 3 ½in) each The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) FOUR STUDIES FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS signed on one of the works, gouache with wax resist on paper, some with additional collage  25cm x 19cm (9 ¾in x 7 ½in) each The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) FIVE STUDIES FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS gouache with wax resist and oil on paper 12cm x 9cm (4 ¾in x 3 ½ in) (4); 12cm x 3cm (4 ¾in x 1 1/8in) (1) The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS gouache, ink and watercolour on paper  18.5cm x 13.5cm (7 ¼in x 5 ¼in) The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

After Graham Evernden. Petworth, Trevisick, pair of artist proof prints, signed and titled, 54cm x 42cm.

A George V oak and leather stool, by Arthur Simpson of Kendal, c.1930, rectangular with brass studded leather lattice straps, on square tapered legs, with maker's label to underside, 'Arthur W Simpson The Handicrafts Kendal' and stamped 4671, 41 x 30 x 25cms high.PROVENANCE: The Graham Smith Retirement Auction - 50 years in the Antiques Trade.

A Victorian miniature beechwood and brass studded stool or cracket money box, with mahogany and satin birch top incorporating a slot for coins, 18.5 x 9 x 12cms high.PROVENANCE: The Graham Smith Retirement Auction - 50 years in the Antiques Trade.

A late George III mahogany tray wardrobe or press, c.1820, the dentil cornice above two figured mahogany doors opening to reveal four sliding trays and a pair of drawers with swan-necked handles, the base with four long graduated and cockbeaded drawers, on bracket feet, 129 x 59 x 215.5cms high.PROVENANCE: The Graham Smith Retirement Auction - 50 years in the Antiques Trade.