Tag: Auction Highlights

Entries Invited for December Auction of Selected Paintings

George Percy Jacomb-Hood
George Percy Jacomb-Hood

As the November auction goes on view, the December sale is already taking shape.  The Select Sale of Paintings has a number of works already consigned; among them a beautiful oil on canvas by George Percy Jacomb-Hood.

Jacomb-Hood was born at Redhill on 6th July 1857, the son of an engineer and director of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway. He was educated at Tonbridge School and received formal art training at the Slade School; here he won a travelling scholarship and the Poynter Prize. He continued his study under J.P. Laurens in Paris. Throughout his successful career Jacomb-Hood exhibited widely, including at the Royal Academy and at the Paris Salon. He was an original member of the Royal Society of Portrait Painters but later resigned his membership. Jacomb-Hood worked for The Graphic and The Illustrated London News, travelling to India with the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1905 and with King George V for the Durbar in 1911. On the latter trip he was a member of the King’s personal staff and became a Member of the Royal Victorian Order (MVO) in 1912. Jacomb-Hood lived for most of his life in London and died on 11th December 1929.

While working for The Graphic he was sent to Greece in 1896, the same year that this oil on canvas was painted. His travels obviously inspired him to paint this scene based on Greek mythology. This original work depicts Pan seated beside a nymph in a wooded area, the God is playing his flute causing the faun-like children of Pan to dance around in the background. It is signed and dated 1896 to the bottom-left corner. Estimated at £3000-5000, the painting measures 100cm x 100cm and is presented in a sympathetic gilt composition picture frame.

Further entries are invited for the Select Sale of Paintings and although the deadline for entries is the 21st November it is recommended to bring works for inclusion in the auction on the week commencing 12th November. Other specialist sales featured in the December auction include: Silver & Plate, Jewellery, Oriental Ceramics & Works of Art, and Antique & Period Furniture. Pre-sale valuations are free of charge at Toovey’s Spring Gardens salerooms in Washington, West Sussex. We are happy to provide no obligation valuations on single items or entire collections, please do not hesitate to contact us by email or telephone with any queries.

“Bruneliana” sells at Toovey’s

The Brunel/Noble silver trunk

The Brunel Hawes Archive was successfully sold by Toovey’s in November 2010. The sale made national newspapers including the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph, and was even a topic of discussion by the National Trust in a fascinating blog post. Since the single owner auction it has been well reported that Toovey’s have established themselves as the leading auctioneers in the successful marketing and sale of items relating to the Brunel family. As the main port of call for selling items relating to Sir Marc Isambard Brunel and his son, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, it is unsurprising that an array of related items have gone under the gavel at our Spring Gardens auction house.  Items offered for sale since the Brunel Hawes Archive include ‘The Great Eastern ABC’ (featured in a previous blog post), that sold for £9000. In the same auction a slightly tatty copy of  the scarce publication ‘A Complete History of the Great Eastern‘ sold for £800.  This fascinating pamphlet published by the Liverpool department Store, Lewis’s, advertised the ship’s final use as a floating music hall. A mug and nursery plate commemorating the Thames Tunnel sold for £580, showing the demand is not just for I.K., but for his father, Sir Marc, too.  Among the slightly more unusual items offered was a silver trunk that once belonged to the famous engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel which also beared the marks of his granddaughter’s husband Saxton William Armstrong Noble, who coincidently, was also an engineer. The oak and metal bound trunk sold for £1750 in March this year.

George Henry Andrews watercolour

In April, a fascinating and possibly unique group of seven magic lantern slides were sold for £5800. Each documented the last few days of the Great Eastern and included views on deck with items grouped as lots prior to the breaking up of the ship in 1889. Two months later a mid-19th Century watercolour was consigned, titled ‘History of Steam Navigation‘, this monochrome watercolour by George Henry Andrews was probably a preliminary drawing for the ‘Illustrated London News’ for whom the artist worked for. The central view was of the S.S. Great Eastern but surrounding this was smaller titled vignettes including I.K. Brunel’s other ships the Great Britain and the Great Western. This original work sold for £3200. The most recent offering of “Bruneliana” appeared in August as part of the auction of Paper Collectables. A concertina style optical toy peepshow of the Thames Tunnel from the Wapping Entrance sold for £1100. Over the last two years a variety of photographs relating to Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his engineering triumphs have also featured in Toovey’s auctions and always attract considerable interest, more of these are already consigned for the Sale of Paper Collectables on 6th November. Some people might wonder why these items appear in Sussex when the Brunels are much more associated with Bristol and London. The days of internet advertising and Toovey’s direct marketing mean that successful sales of “Bruneliana” can be held in Sussex. These items have sold to private collectors, specialist dealers, institutions and investment corporations across the country.  As the Antiques Trade Gazette reported on the 24th March “The Sussex village of Washington has to a very large degree become the preferred point of sale for Brunel material in recent times.”  Those still wanting a tenuous link with the Brunel family and Sussex however, can find one in the schooling of Isambard Kingdom. Between 1816 and 1820 the young, future engineer attended Dr Morell’s Academy in Hove, where it is believed he nearly choked on a half sovereign. As a result of this local connection the Brighton & Hove 673 double-decker bus is named after the famed engineer – an arguably useless piece of trivia to finish with!

‘Exploring’ the July 2012 Specialist Book Auction

Lot 3044: Amundsen's 'The South Pole'

Toovey’s July Antiquarian & Collectors’ Book Auction catalogue is now online. The specialist auction includes a fascinating collection of books relating to the Polar regions. The list of authors include Robert Falcon Scott, Douglas Mawson, Fridtjof Nansen, Robert Peary, Roald Amundsen, Edward Evans, Apsley Cherry-Garrard and Ernest Shackleton to name but a few. The collection almost forming a who’s who of Antarctic and Arctic exploration.  The sale commences with two works relating to the Arctic region, Lot 3001 and 3002 are both two volume sets presented in contemporary leather bindings. Lot 3001 is David Crantz’s ‘The History of Greenland’ being the first U.K. edition of 1767 estimated at £400-600, while Lot 3002 is Peter Cormack Sutherland’s ‘Journal of a Voyage in Baffin’s Bay’ published in 1852, estimated at £600-1000.

Many of the works are first editions and provide first-hand accounts of travelling in the North and South. Lot 3027 is a 1922 printing of Apsley Cherry-Garrard’s ‘The Worst Journey in the World, Antarctic 1910-1913’. Taurus [84] described this work as ‘The best written and most enduring account of exploits in the Antarctic’ being the only first-hand account of Robert Falcon Scott’s ‘Terra Nova’ expedition. It is bound in the original blue cloth, a variant to that recorded in Spence [277], but which Rosove states is ‘significantly scarcer than the previous [cloth backed boards edition]‘. The two volumes carry a pre-sale estimate of £700-1000.  Another book relating to Scott is Lot 3026, Raymond E. Priestley’s ‘Antarctic Adventure, Scott’s Northern Party’. This first edition bound in the original decorated cloth is scarce, as ‘Many copies were destroyed during a fire at the publisher’s warehouse‘, see Spence [939]. Lot 3024 is a first U.K. edition of Scott’s ‘The Voyage of the “Discovery”, printed in 1905. This two volume set includes a mounted clipped signature by Scott on the reverse of the frontispiece, reflected in the estimate of £1000-1500. Further presentation copies can be found throughout the collection, Lot 3032 for example is Henrik Johan Bull’s ‘The Cruise of the “Antarctic” to the South Polar Regions’, which carries a presentation inscription from the author’s cousin, Johannes Catharinus Bull, aka ‘John’ to Miss Ivana Bull. John aided his cousin with the completion of the book and is acknowledged in the preface. This first edition is bound in the original decorated cloth and is offered with an estimate of £500-700.

Click on an image for full view and again for further magnification:

The sale also includes an account of  the cornerstone of Antarctic exploration, Roald Amundsen’s ‘The South Pole, an Account of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition in the “Fram”, 1910-1912’. Which describes the first expedition to reach the South Pole. Although a second impression of the first English edition, this two volume set was printed a month after the first printing. It is bound in the original red cloth with Norwegian flags to the upper covers and spines. This work is Lot 3044 and is offered with an estimate of £400-600.

These books relating to the Arctic and Antarctic are Lots 3001 to 3071 and are all illustrated on Toovey’s online catalogue. This Polar region collection joins other fascinating books within the auction, including Lot 3085 featured in our previous blog post. The Book Sale will be held on the 10th July 2012, commencing at 1.30pm, for viewing times and further information please visit www.tooveys.com.

‘Lyrical Ballads’ by Wordsworth & Coleridge in Book Auction

Lot 3085: Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth & Coleridge

Consigned for Toovey’s specialist Sale of Antiquarian and Collectors’ Books on 10th July 2012 is a landmark of English poetry, being a combined group of poems by William Wordsworth (1770-1850) and Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834).

Lot 3085 is described in the catalogue as: [WORDSWORTH, William, and Samuel Taylor COLERIDGE.] Lyrical Ballads, with a Few Other Poems. London: printed for J. & A. Arch, 1798. First edition, second issue, small 8vo (156 x 88mm) (Occasional minor spotting or soiling.) Late 19th Century green calf, by Riviére & Son, the spine gilt in six compartments with raised bands, lettered in the second and third compartments, gilt turn-ins, t.e.g. (endpapers replaced). Provenance: Geoffrey Ecroyd (armorial book plate); ‘Antony’ (presentation inscription to preliminary blank dated ‘17th December 1966’).

The majority of the poems are by William Wordsworth, but among Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s contributions is the earliest version of ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.’ The scarce first issue was published in Bristol by Joseph Cottle, printing five hundred copies but almost immediately disposing of his stock to the London publisher. Arch produced a new title-page and advertisement leaf. Arch also replaced the poem ‘Lewti’ with ‘The Nightingale’ causing a minor error in page numbering. This second issue of ‘Lyrical Ballads’ is still scarce, but admittedly the first issue is even rarer with only a dozen or so examples known.  This single volume will carry a pre-sale estimate of £1200-1800 when it is offered at Toovey’s Spring Gardens auction house in Sussex.

1948 Olympic Torch for Sale at Auction

The 1948 London Olympic Torch offered on 13th July in Toovey's Auction

A topical item has been consigned for auction at Toovey’s Sale of Collectors’ Items on Friday 13th July 2012.

The torch is Lot 2601 and is described as a London Olympics 1948 aluminium relay torch, the bowl pierced with the trademark symbol of interlinking rings and inscribed ‘XIVth Olympiad 1948, Olympia to London, with thanks to the bearer’.

The 41cm high torch was designed by Ralph Lavers, specifically to house the tablet-form fuel that it would contain. It is documented that 1720 of these torches were produced for the relay from Greece to England, allowing enough for those to be used for demonstrations, trials and spares.

This particular torch was given to the current vendor by a relative who was employed at management level by H.M.V. at their Hayes factory. To add to this provenance, H.M.V.’s parent company, E.M.I., produced the torch at their Hayes factory. Presumably, this was an ex-demonstration or trial model.  For some fourteen years the torch hung above the bar of The White Horse public house in Graffham near Petworth, West Sussex.  At some stage the torch has been converted to a wall light, having a drill hole to the stem and a bulb attachment to the interior.  This has been reflected in the £1000-2000 pre-sale estimate. Whether this modification will actually affect the final selling price will only become clear on July 13th at Toovey’s Spring Gardens auction house.