Rupert Toovey’s Articles – Page 14

Celebrating More Than 500 Years of The English Gold Sovereign

An Elizabeth II Royal Mint proof sovereign four-coin set commemorating the 500th Anniversary of the First Gold Sovereign 1489-1989

This week I am in the company of Toovey’s Coin specialist, Mark Stonard. He shows me An Elizabeth II Royal Mint proof sovereign four-coin set which commemorates the 500th Anniversary of the First Gold Sovereign in 1489 through to 1989. The set includes examples of the whole family of Sovereign coins and includes a five pounds, a double-sovereign, a sovereign and a half-sovereign. Cased and with its certificate it has just sold in his specialist coin sale for £4600.

Mark says “In 1489 Henry VII ordered the officers of the Royal Mint to produce a new money of gold. It wasn’t the first English gold coin but it was certainly the largest and most important at that date. The coin became a symbol of stability and power and every monarch had their own versions struck up until James I in 1603.

“The Sovereign was reintroduced in 1815 after the Battle of Waterloo when it was found that there was demand for a new 20 shilling gold coin. The new coin was produced in 1817. It was about half the size and weight of the first Sovereign. The reverse was decorated in relief with a depiction of St George defeating the dragon designed by Benedetto Pistrucci. He was one of the world’s most celebrated gem engravers at that time and it shows in the quality of his design. His design was used until 1825 when it was replaced by the Royal Coat of Arms. In 1871 St George appeared again but next to a shield. It wasn’t until 1887 that Pistrucci’s earlier St George design was reintroduced for Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. It’s appeared on every subsequent Sovereign to the present day.”

I ask Mark if it is just the value of the gold which gave this set its value. He replies “The high gold price certainly has to be taken into consideration but condition, date, the quality of design and the rarity of the coins in question also have a significant affect on values. This set sold for almost double its bullion price.” I suggest that the value reflects weight plus artistry and Mark agrees. He continues “There is an increasing appetite amongst collectors to buy and sell their gold coins in our specialist auctions as the prices are strong but realistic.”

Whether your passion is for Saxon Sceats or a gold proof Sovereign Mark’s knowledge is extraordinary.

Chet’s Modi and NFU Mutual Celebrating Our Farming Community

Harry O’Neill ploughing with his 1963 Massey Fergusson

I caught up with Chets Modi, the Managing Partner of the Horsham, Henfield and Chichester offices of NFU Mutual at the 2023 West Grinstead Plough Match and Agricultural Society ploughing match.

Chets explained “For more than a century NFU Mutual has provided insurance to farmers, their businesses and families, and today that quality of service is available for people from all walks of life. We are a mutual owned by our customers with no shareholders which allows us to provide a very personal service with a long term view in all that we do. Our customers are members.

“The value of community was instilled in me as I grew up and I love that, through my job, I live amongst our brilliant farming community. Through our offices we bring this community together with social events and gatherings – farmers often work on their own so meeting with friends and neighbours is important and we see that as an integral part of our role. Farming sits at the heart of our business.

“I help on the committee of the West Grinstead Plough Match. It provides a great opportunity for the public to see what farming is really about.

Chets Modi of NFU at the 2023 West Grinstead Plough Match

“I’m an ambassador not just of the NFU but also of the farming community. We help to bring farmers into schools, sometimes they bring tractors, sometimes the children visit the farms. It is important that our young people know where their food comes from. As a parent I want my children to value where their food comes from and good stewardship. There’s a lot to celebrate in the diversity of approaches to farming in this part of the world.”

I commented on the significant changes in the values of art, antiques and collectors’ items in recent years and how at Toovey’s we always impress on our clients the importance of making sure that their valuations are up to date to ensure they pay the correct premiums and to be able to plan for the future. Chets replied “I agree, especially for the type of high value homes and collections we insure under our Bespoke Home Insurance policies.”

I walked out into the fields and discovered Harry O’Neill of Whitebridge Farm, Wineham, ploughing with his 1963 Massey Ferguson, proudly watched by his Dad and Grandpa. I learnt that this was only Harry’s second season competing in the West Grinstead Plough Match. He was doing a fine job. It’s exciting to see a passion for farming seeded in a younger generation.

Celebrating 40 Years as an Auctioneer and Valuer

Toovey’s Toy specialist, Auctioneer and Valuer, Chris Gale

Chris Gale is celebrating his 40th anniversary as an auctioneer and valuer.

40 years in a profession is cause for celebration and the depth of expertise that time, experience and wisdom brings is apparent in all that Chris does.

He is one of the people I most respect in our profession.

I first met Chris Gale in Horsham, some 39 years ago when we were both starting out and working at Horsham Auction Galleries in the Carfax.

Chris says “Even in those days you wanted your own saleroom, or to be a Vicar.”

The friendship that was born in those days has endured and we have worked together continuously over all these years.

A hugely respected valuer and auctioneer. He maintains an unwavering care for the interest of our clients and the highest professional standards.

Throughout his career Chris has focused his exceptional eye on all the major collecting disciplines. He says “We forget that nothing was ever made in isolation. A Georgian cabinet was made to have a Georgian painting and a pair of candlesticks to accompany it.” But alongside his extraordinary breadth of knowledge Chris is one of the most highly respected toy specialists in the country. Over the years several millions of pounds worth of toys have been sold under his gavel.

Chris comments “Dinky, Corgi, Matchbox, model trains, dolls, teddy bears, and tinplate toys are still celebrated by collectors and those recapturing their childhoods. Often objects speak of happy times in our lives. When I grew up, the youngest of six, the few toys we had were precious. As a boy my Dad took me to the Tank Museum at Bovington in Dorset and bought me a Dinky Toys, 155mm tank which I’ve never forgotten. Dads Hornby, Dublo OO gauge model railway was to be admired but not touched in those days. These days, it’s too busy in the toy department to play with them – but they’re still to be admired!”

I ask Chris what he loves most about his job. He replies “The thing I love most about my job is the team at Tooveys – it’s like a family, it is family. There is something special in helping people as they acquire or sell their collections. The trust they place in you and how appreciative they are once the things have been sold. I still look forward to every day and the future. Even after 40 years, you never stop learning in this business.”

As I thank Chris his face breaks into a smile and he sets out to take the auction.

Neil Holland Artist and Architect Rooted in the Sussex Landscape

This week I am in the company of the celebrated Sussex Architect and Artist, Neil Holland. Neil has been busily preparing for his latest selling exhibition Neil Holland – Spirit of Sussex at the Oxmarket Contemporary gallery in Chichester which opens on Monday 10th October.

Neil Holland is an essentially English artist working in the Romantic tradition. His landscape watercolours capture what the artist Paul Nash described as the ‘genus loci’, the spirit of the place, ‘a reality more real’.

Neil grew up in Worthing and his love of Sussex, her enfolding Downs and the Weald have never left him. He attended Architectural School in Leeds where he found his love of the vernacular placed him at odds with his modernist tutors. Modernism in the Post-War period, and more recently, has argued that place and identity do not matter. But Neil’s work as an architect and artist speaks persuasively to the contrary celebrating the importance of context, place, to our English identity. He has been described as a contextualist. His work is modern in the vernacular. When I ask him what would be at the heart of his artistic and architectural manifesto he replies “Place is everything”.

British art over the centuries has been inculcated by influences from the Continent and America. But in the late 18th and early 19th centuries the British tradition of watercolour painting reached its heights influencing the international art world. Artists like JMW Turner and Thomas Girtin were exposed to the genius of John Robert Cozens through the informal academy of Dr Thomas Monro.

It is in this medium that Neil has chosen to paint restoring his sense of Englishness and place. He cites the Norwich School painter John Sell Cotman as a particular inspiration. Cotman wielded his watercolour brush boldly depicting landscapes with an increasingly brilliant palette. The graphic qualities of Cotman’s work speak to this artist-architect.

Talking about his paintings Neil comments “I’ve always been interested in landscape, how a building weathers into a landscape.”

His work breaks down the landscape into layers in a contrasting way. The palette and tone he employs references his experience of designing buildings taking our eye through the composition and narrative of the picture. These qualities can be seen in his watercolour titled South Stoke. These scenes are about story telling, a memory, not just the depiction of a moment in time.

The exhibition is a celebration of this modern Sussex artist and architect – a contextualist working in the vernacular. It runs until 29th October 2023. To find out more visit www.oxmarket.org/exhibitions/neil-holland-spirit-of-sussex.

“Prices for pocket watches have risen dramatically in recent years”

A late 17th century silver and tortoiseshell key wind pair cased gentleman’s pocket clock watch, by Nathaniel Barrow

It was Charles II who made the waistcoat fashionable and caused watches to be made differently so that they would fit in a pocket, hence the name pocket watch. They became rounded and flatter with no hard edges and glass was fitted to protect the dial.

These early watches were handmade with verge escapements like the late 17th century silver and tortoiseshell key wind pair cased gentleman’s pocket clock watch by Nathaniel Barrow of London. It had a gilt fusee movement with verge escapement and pierced and engraved balance cock striking on a bell. Nathaniel Barrow is recorded as a London watchmaker. He was apprenticed in 1653/54, made free of the Clockmakers Company in 1660/61 becoming an assistant in 1676 and master in 1689. He died in 1700. The watch’s silvered champlevé type dial had black Roman hour numerals and a single hand. The outer case lacked a section of tortoiseshell and was silver piqué inlaid with a scene depicting the sun, a tree and buildings. It is unsurprising that this fine pocket watch had been owned by Tom Robinson, the past chairman of The Antiquarian Horological Society and author of numerous horological books. It realised £3800 in a Toovey’s specialist watch sale.

It was not until Thomas Mudge invented the lever escapement in 1755 that watches attained a level of accuracy of within a minute a day. This new level of accuracy saw the widespread introduction of the minute hand. By the 1820s the lever escapement had become common. Watches were the preserve of the very wealthy. The Industrial Revolution allowed for the standardisation of machine made watch parts enabling watches to be made more quickly and less expensively so that by the mid-19th century pocket watches were being made in large quantities for the majority of men across Britain, Europe and America.

A late Victorian 18ct gold half hunting cased gentleman’s pocket watch

Demand is growing for these later watches too as the fashion for pocket watches returns. The 1896, Victorian, 18ct gold keyless wind half hunting cased gentleman’s pocket watch, with its jewelled lever movement, was hallmarked in Birmingham in 1896. Together with its 18ct gold curblink watch Albert chain and T-bar it realised £3100 at Toovey’s.

Prices for pocket watches have risen dramatically in recent years.

Perhaps it’s time to change your watch. Toovey’s Director, Tom Rowsell, is always pleased to offer advice whether you are considering acquiring or selling watches in this booming market.