February 2025 – Toovey’s Blog

Celebrating Thirty Years Of Art & Antiques At Toovey’s

I cannot believe that it is thirty years since we started Toovey’s. Many of the passionate and dedicated people who have leading roles within the company were there in those early years.

Amongst these were my Dad, Mum and my Uncle Edward. Alongside them were my brother Nick Toovey my brother-in-law Tom Rowsell, his brother William and Chris Gale.

In 2018 Nick and Tom became equity holding Directors. It has been marvellous to share the business with such talented and principled people. We share the same values and recognise the importance of being a family firm where people are valued – our clients and our team. This has allowed us to build a regional auction house with a reputation for being a centre of expertise for the valuation and sale of art and antiques, with leading specialists and international marketing.

Every time I say lets do a fund raiser they just say yes – my thanks to them and our team.

And to Ed and his fantastic Jazz quartet

To Patrick and Cathy Roberts for such extraordinary canapes – dessert ones to come don’t rush off

To all who donated prizes to the auction.

To Wiston for sharing our values and always being so generous – thank you for sponsoring the bubbles this evening in such a good cause

And to my darling wife Teresa and our daughters, Emma and Hester – thank you – you can only do anything in life if you are supported by the people who love you most.

Juan Manuel Blanes’s oil, Gaucho on Horseback in a Uruguayan Prairie Landscape

We opened on a stormy Valentine’s night in 1995 and were overwhelmed by the support of clients and friends. Our investment in our people and tooveys.com allowed us to weather the storm of Covid. We were described as ‘the poshest click and collect in Sussex’! I must say though, it is lovely to have the salerooms packed with people again.

Alongside art and antiques people are at the heart of our business. The pleasure of accompanying people through their art, collectors’ items and antiques remains as strong as it has always been. We all value objects which allow us to speak of our lives – the prompts to fond memories. Many will also celebrate the beauty of a piece, whilst others collect in the pursuit of knowledge, continually refining and adding to the depth of their understanding of a particular field or period, training their eye to the subtle details which set exceptional objects apart. In an age which increasingly confuses information with knowledge and understanding, this is a generous, exciting and refreshing community of people to accompany.

Provenance and the human story behind individual objects or collections add a frisson to the prices achieved for them at auction. This has been reflected at Toovey’s sales again and again over the years and never more so than in the case of the large oil of a Uruguayan Guacho on horseback by Juan Manuel Blanes. The first owner of the painting was the notable Spanish aristocrat Baldomero Hyacinth de Bertodano, 7th Marquis de Moral. He lived at Cowbridge House near Malmsbury in Wiltshire and it remained with his family until it was sold at Toovey’s for a world record breaking £1,150,000.

None of this would have been possible, though, without the generous support and encouragement of the collectors, our clients, friends and supporters. On behalf of all of us at Toovey’s I would like to thank you.

The Rich Art and Craft of Satsuma Ceramics

A pair of Japanese Satsuma earthenware vase by Kinkōzan, Meiji period

For more than two hundred and fifty years Japan had lived in relative isolation from the outside world. American gunboat diplomacy, instigated by Commodore Perry in 1853, opened up Japan for trade with the West. The Japanese did not wish to be a subjugated nation and turned to their rich tradition of arts and crafts to articulate their place in the world as a civilized nation. It was from these traditions that Japanese manufacturing began to emerge alongside the desire to benefit from trade.

Satsuma ceramics met with great success at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1867. In contrast to earlier pieces Satsuma from the Meiji period (1868-1912) was elaborately decorated and predominately produced for export. After its success in Paris this finely conceived style was adopted by the ceramic artist, Kinkōzan Sōbei VI (1824-1884). He brought it to Kyoto and the Awata district became the centre of Satsuma production. The wares produced here were similar in style and taste to the Satsuma produced in other towns and cities like Osaka and Yokohama. The extravagance of these designs contributed to its popularity in Western markets.

Satsuma had become an aesthetic term rather than denoting place. However, the personal styles of the leading painters was articulated through their skilful use of palette and brushwork. Amongst these artists were Kinkōzan and Seikozan, whose work can be seen here.

A Japanese Satsuma earthenware vase by Seikozan, Meiji period

These richly ornamented vases capture the essence of Meiji Satsuma. Borders and details are lavishly defined in raised gilding. The painting is jewel like.

What was new in this Satsuma genre was the manner in which landscape imagery was employed to convey a narrative about Japan as can be seen in the decoration of these Satsuma vases from the Meiji period.

The pair of Japanese Satsuma earthenware vases by Kinkōzan are painted with an expansive scene of figures, pavilions, bridge and pine, divided by a vertical panel of sparrows flying above peony and fence. The Japanese Satsuma earthenware vase by Seikozan is painted with arhats, children and bijin, within borders of simulated brocade. These scenes open a window onto an exquisitely serene world inhabited by the Japanese educated classes. These vases realised £480 and £900 respectively at Toovey’s.

The Meiji period witnessed Japan’s evolution from a feudal, closed society, under the rule of the military shoguns, towards its manufacturing modern era. Satsuma ceramics is a quintessential expression of the Meiji period which continues to delight the imaginations of western collectors and our sense of the exotic.

Objects of Virtue from the Houses of Boucheron and Cartier

A Boucheron silver and silver gilt ruby set powder compact and lipstick case

The French Houses of Boucheron and Cartier were not only famous for their jewellery but also for Objects of Virtue during the late 19th and 20th centuries.

Over the millennia silver and gold have been used to create the finest objects of virtue. I am often asked what an Object of Virtue is. The term comes from the French Objets de vertu and describes pieces made in gold, silver, enamel, bronze, ormolu, glass, porcelain, semi-precious stones, etc which are valued for their artistic virtuosity

As the 19th century drew to a close Victorian tastes were reinterpreted in lighter more delicate styles influenced by France’s Belle Époque which spanned from the late 19th century up until the start of the Great War in 1914. It was characterised by optimism, regional peace, economic prosperity, scientific and technological advances and an era where the arts flourished influencing the tastes of other nations including our own. Objects of Virtue from the period combine opulence with graceful lines set with a variety of gems or enamels. Its influence continued to be felt throughout the 20th century.

Amongst the leading designers and makers of the 20th century was the house of Boucheron. This French firm represents a family dynasty founded by Frederic Boucheron in 1858 who opened his first store in the Galerie de Valois at Palais Royal in Paris. The cornerstone of Boucheron’s reputation for making pieces of the finest quality was seeded in 1866 when he won a Gold Medal at the Paris Exposition Universelle in 1867. Throughout the 20th century the house of Boucheron remained one of the world’s great jewellery designers and makers. Queen Elizabeth II had a collection of Boucheron jewellery. Louis Cartier was also considered a master. In the early years of the 20th century Cartier opened his shop in London.

A Cartier sterling silver and varicoloured enamel basket of flowers

The Boucheron silver and silver gilt, ruby set powder compact and lipstick case displays the house’s virtuosity with their flowing pierced leaf scrolls, flowers and ruby cabochons. The joyful Cartier silver and enamel flower filled basket was just 8cm high. It was so precious to its former custodian had restored it. They realised £600 and £480 in Toovey’s specialist Objects of Virtue sales.

It seems to me that objects that we consider to be truly beautiful are amongst the most precious in our lives. After all it is part of our human purpose to make beauty in the world and it is therefore surely right that we should celebrate it.