Framed Stumpwork Panel depicting a Bowl of Flowers, English, 1930s
Price: £351950s Regency style needlepoint kit bag
Price: £75Biomorphic Form Purple glass Bowl, European possibly Czech Chribska, 1970s
Price: £35Brass and Enamel Campaign Serving Set, Made in British India mark, 1920s
Estimate: £30 – 40Chinese Soapstone Brushwasher decorated with flowering Lotus, early 20th Century
Price: £45Vintage Gilt Metal Powder Box with a Tapestry Panel, probably French, 1930s
Price: £10PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE IS FREE UK SHIPPING ON THIS ITEM. For international buyers the shipping cost will be reduced by the UK shipping cost, so don't worry if you are outside the UK, you still receive this benefit!
Two brooches - Jerusalem Mother of Pearl and Egyptian Silver, 1950s
Price: £15PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE IS FREE UK SHIPPING ON THIS ITEM. For international buyers the shipping cost will be reduced by the UK shipping cost, so don't worry if you are outside the UK, you still receive this benefit!
Victorian ladies watch chain c1900
Price: £40Striking 1950s applique summer handbag
Price: £65Intricate Czech glass necklace 1930s
Price: £65Group lot of three jade necklaces
Price: £45Stunning demi parure by Hobe 1950s, necklace and bracelet
Price: £250Hobé et Cie was founded by Jacques Hobé in France in 1887. While he was trained as a master goldsmith, his business focused primarily on finely crafted sterling silver jewelry. William Hobé, his son, moved to the United States around 1920 bringing his family's acuity for producing high quality jewelry with him. (Credit: Google)
Victorian Silver Buckle set with Paste Stones, German circa 1900
Price: £100The sparkling stones and high quality mounting (there is a considerable weight of silver in this piece) would have made this buckle a striking addition to the Victorian ladies' wardrobe and it could equally well catch the eye today.
Gilt metal and Glass Bead Necklace by Louis Rousselet, French 1920s
Price: £35This necklace comprises three delicately modelled gilt metal stylised flower heads with yellow glass beads at the centre, joined on either side by further glass beads and flower heads and then a chain with fine metal and glass bead links.
Wedding Cake style glass bead necklace, Venetian 1930s
Price: £25Small Chinese Ginger Jar decorated in Famille Rose enamels, second half C20th
Price: £25The stamped mark to the base reads ‘Zhongguo Jingdezhen Zhi (China Jingdezhen Made)’ with the letter ‘V’ between two lines. In the early 1950s almost all the factories in Jiangxi, the province where the kiln town Jingdezhen is situated, were merged into larger units, each made up of ten to fifteen previously independent factories. From this time factory numbers such as we have here (=V=) came to be used and many pieces are found with a wide variety of letters and numbers indicating the various cooperatives. The quality of the productions varied and it is a reasonable assumption that increasing years witnessed a decline. While other examples of this type of jar exist, some with their original domed covers, this piece is of the very best quality, indeed the work matches earlier pieces in the style very closely, and a dating to the mid 1950s seems quite plausible. It shows that the Chinese potters continued to produce to a high standard when they chose to do so and provides a pleasing memento of the closing era of a tradition of porcelain production stretching back long into the past.
Silver Brooch in the form of a Butterfly, Taxco 1940s
Price: £65Art Deco Galalith Necklace and Pendant with Coral Red plaques, 1930s
Price: £75Galalith is a a synthetic plastic made out of the interaction of casein and formaldehyde and was introduced to the fashion world by Coco Chanel in 1926. The commercial name is derived from the Ancient Greek words 'gala' (milk) and 'lithos' (stone).
Celluloid Bangle with Tortoiseshell style decoration circa 1930
Price: £20PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE IS FREE UK SHIPPING ON THIS ITEM. For international buyers the shipping cost will be reduced by the UK shipping cost, so don't worry if you are outside the UK, you still receive this benefit!
Art Deco continental black spinel and marcasite ring, 1920s
Price: £35Egyptian Revival scarab ring, 1930s
Price: £25A Set of Six Blue and White Willow Pattern Coasters English Ironstone 1980s
Price: £25These coasters formed part of their range. The decoration employs the transfer pattern technique developed in England in the mid eighteenth century and a staple of nineteenth century productions. Printed designs were 'transferred' to the ceramic surface allowing the production of extensive services in a matching pattern. The Chinese derived 'Willow Pattern' design seems to have been first used around 1790 and was probably designed by Thomas Minton for Spode. All the versions contain similar elements besides the pagodas and landscape scenes most notably the three figures on a bridge and a pair of flying swallows. In order to promote sales, various stories were invented based on elements of the design. These coasters are an amusing recollection of times past and highly practical in addition.
Egyptian Revival necklace depicting Tutankhamun c1980
Price: £45Chinese Blue and White Snuff Bottle circa 1900
Price: £45A green glass paperweight, Tweedsmuir Glass, Chris Dodds, late C20th
Price: £25It is sold with a matching contemporary illuminated stand which enhance the decorative effect considerably and provides a modest light display installation for the home (see image 6).
A set of three Millefiori Glass Paperweights, possibly Italian Murano, late C20th
Price: £75This set is sold with matching contemporary illuminated stands which enhance the decorative effect considerably and provide a modest light display installation for the home (see illustrations 5 and 6).
Matching Trio of a Bakelite plaque and a pair of Salts, Italian Fontanini, mid C20th
Price: £25An Octagonal Brass Tray with a roundel of an elephant, probably Persian early C20th
Estimate: £30 – 50Large Cinnabar and filigree silver brooch, 1930s
Price: £45A set of three Brass Lizards, Peerage Brass, England 1930s
Price: £55Stunning rope and tassel necklace, signed, c1990
Price: £35Two Brass Art Nouveau Style pitchers, Joseph Sankey and Sons circa 1910
Price: £75‘J.S.&S’ was the mark for Joseph Sankey and Sons, a firm based in Bilston, Wolverhampton, who specialised in the manufacture of art metalware. Production seems to have started in the late nineteenth century and the firm registered designs, many in the art nouveau style, from 1896 to 1914. These ewers or pitchers were clearly a popular design to judge from the numbers found today but were referred to in the catalogues simply as ‘hot water jugs’. They were made in brass and copper in three finishes, hammered, lizard skin and art nouveau style, as here. At least six different sizes are known and sometimes the size number can be found on the base (indicating the number of pints the vessel would hold) along with the manufacturers mark, as is the case with the smaller ewer which is marked '2'. The larger ewer is only marked 'solid brass' but its height indicates its capacity which is six pints.
Popular in their day, these brass pitchers are highly sought after now for their obvious decorative appeal but clearly could also serve as flower vases providing a striking enhancement to an interior setting.
Constructed necklace with jade, egg yolk amber and cherry amber
Price: £250Outstanding swirl Bakelite necklace with faux cameo, 1920s
Price: £45Art Deco style Amber Glass Rocket Vase, probably Czech Rosice 1930s
Price: £30Unique 40 strand micro coral bead necklace, India 1910
Price: £85Pair of Edwardian Chinese silver brooches, c. 1910
Price: £25American 1980s statement necklace with intaglio pendants
Price: £25PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE IS FREE UK SHIPPING ON THIS ITEM. For international buyers the shipping cost will be reduced by the UK shipping cost, so don't worry if you are outside the UK, you still receive this benefit!
Nesting Set of Four Small Brass Trays with an engraved designs of Bats, Chinese C20th
Price: £30Sowerby Amber Glass Centrepiece circa 1930
Price: £75The Sowerby family came from the North West of England near Carlisle and settled in Gateshead in the late eighteenth century. The firm Sowerby Glassworks is known from 1807 onwards and continued production until 1972, concentrating on pressed glass. Catalogues of their wares still exist and they produced pieces in a wide variety of styles and shapes which retain their popularity today.
The centrpiece figurine, which was intended as a flower holder or ‘frog’, is rather unusual; normally the figures are female but the style of the modelling is identical. Similar designs to the bowl can be found in a 1936 catalogue but versions of it even appear in another catalogue from 1882. Many centrepiece/bowl combinations are found and some of them are not always original. This may possibly be the case here but if so the ‘match’ is extremely pleasing to the eye and the two elements set one another off perfectly to produce a striking example of Art Deco decorative design.
Victorian Chinese turquoise beads 1900
Price: £400Tibetan turquoise and silver necklace 1930s
Price: £45A Poole Pottery Atlantis Vase by Jenny Haigh, 1970s
Price: £45Long Art Deco carnelian, bloodstone and goldstone necklace 1930s
Price: £95Goldstone is a type of glittering glass made in a low-oxygen reducing atmosphere. The finished product can take a smooth polish and be carved into beads, figurines, or other artifacts suitable for semiprecious stone, and in fact goldstone is often mistaken for or misrepresented as a natural material. It was first made in the 17th century in Italy. (Credit: Wikipedia)
French Art Deco Machine Age galalith paste necklace 1920s
Price: £25Mexican silver bracelet set with turquoise plaques, c1990
Price: £75Pair of Italian faux tortoiseshell earrings, 1980s
Price: £15PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE IS FREE UK SHIPPING ON THIS ITEM. For international buyers the shipping cost will be reduced by the UK shipping cost, so don't worry if you are outside the UK, you still receive this benefit!
Two Chinese Fans, painting on silk, 1960s
Price: £15A Ceramic Moneybox in the form of a Pig, Helensgate Ceramics, mid twentieth century
Price: £25A Pair of Japanese Lacquered Porcelain Ginger Jars and Covers, late nineteenth century
Price: £250A Chinese Cloisonne Box and Cover circa 1900
Price: £75A Chinese Crackleware Famille Verte Ginger Jar decorated with Warriors circa 1880
Price: £45'Crackleware' glazed pieces, usually with 'bronzed bands, were a staple output of the Chinese potteries from the mid nineteenth century onwards and were produced in a wide variety of mainly vase shape forms, both in polychrome and blue and white and intended as decorative pieces for the Victorian rooms of the West. As with other ceramic types, the quality deteriorated and this piece is typical of late nineteenth century productions of a more modest level of craftsmanship but still retaining a naif charm. As with many ginger jars, this one lacks its original domed cover which would have been decorated to match.
A Blue Glass Sunburst Design Bowl, probably Sowerby, 1930s/1940s
Price: £45There is a record of the Sowerby Glassworks at Gateshead from as early as 1907. The first productions were of Vitro-Porcelain or "Milk Glass" type pieces. In the 1900s they produced designs from the 'Arts and Crafts' period and in the 1920s began producing another well known range: the iridescent "Carnival Glass." During the 1930s, Sowerby produced several Art Deco glass designs of which the current piece is one. The firm was eventually taken over in 1957, and finally closed in 1972.
A Pair of Glass Vases or Paperweights, probably Selkirk Glass, Scotland, 1980s/1990s
Price: £25Stunning jade and silver lariat necklace, 20th century
Price: £150Chinese Fan, painting on silk, 1960s
Price: £15Japanese Fukagawa Imari Bowl, signed, circa 1880
Price: £380The Fukagawa kilns produced the best quality Imari items made in Japan in the late nineteenth century for export to the West. Their history starts with Ezaiemon Fukagawa who in 1856 became head of his family's porcelain business and in 1875 founded Koransha (The Company of the Scented Orchid) in Arita, Japan, to produce tableware for export. In 1894 the modern Fukagawa company was founded by Chuji Fukagawa, with the Fukagawa trade mark of Mount Fuji and a stream, as its trade mark. Dating here is within the Meiji period (1868 - 1912) probably around 1880. This conforms with the script mark used as opposed to the later symbol design.
WW1 sweetheart brooch c1915
Price: £25Lovely large brooch by Thomas L Mott c1940
Price: £20Georgian neck brooch c1820
Price: £85Nefertiti suite of pendant necklace and earrings, 20th century
Price: £75Pair of chandelier silver earrings 20th century
Price: £35Chinese Framed Ceramic Plaque depicting Peony, C20th
Price: £150Taxco bracelet set with carved obsidian stones c1950
Price: £55Incredible quality Silver and paste brooch c1950
Price: £45Sweet Taxco heart bracelet c1980
Price: £75Liberty Dollar 1922 mounted as a pendant on necklace
Price: £35Incredible Taxco collar necklace c1960
Price: £300Islamic mother of pearl pendant and earrings c1950
Price: £18Rare early Czech glass brooch c1920
Price: £65Taxco silver bracelet, c1980
Price: £50Art Deco Wooden Cigarette Box, 1930s
Price: £25Gouache Painting of a Court Figure Scene, Indian or Persian, C20th
Estimate: £40 – 60Amber statement necklace with round drops c1960
Price: £65Classic oval amber brooch c1980
Price: £15Charming small amber pendant brooch set as an owl c2000
Price: £15Victorian Egyptian Revival motif necklace with red stones c1900
Price: £85Art Deco paste bracelet by Schreiber & Hiller c1930
Price: £75Murano White Glass Vase of abstract organic form, 1960s
Price: £55Chinese Soapstone Brush Washer with flowering lotus, early C20th
Price: £75A Chinese soapstone brush washer unusually modelled as a rounded triangular shallow basin in the form of a lotus leaf, footed and with a sprig of flowering lotus growing upwards from it with a vase behind in the form of lotus leaves. The skill of the carver is self evident and the design has been very carefully conceived, artistically employing the varied detail of the natural stone from which the piece was made. Soapstone was first used by the Chinese over three thousand years ago but began its popularity in the Ming dynasty (1368 -1644) with the height of production during the ensuing Qing dynasty (1644 – 1911) when a stone mined in the Shoushan village in northern Fujian was most commonly used. Shoushan soapstone is noted for its smooth texture, bright colours and fine grain and a wide variety of objects were carved from it. This piece is an excellent example of the genre and has survived in pristine condition to become a scholar’s object from the past which can be enjoyed and appreciated today. Production of soapstone carvings continued into the twentieth century and this is probably what we have here but almost certainly from the early years of the period.
Japanese Gouache Painting of Flowering Lotus, signed and framed, C20th
Price: £45Pair of Japanese Arita Shallow Bowls circa 1880
Price: £75The town of Arita in the former Hizen Province, northwestern Kyūshū island was a major cente for the production of porcelains in Japan. Best known for blue and white pieces it also produced polychrome wares as well, including the familiar imari colourings. While similar to Imari, the wider palette of colours used here is usually termed ‘Arita’ and the decorative appeal of the style is clear. These bowls probably come from an original set of five and their quality is much above average. Dating is to the Meiji era (1868 - 1912) probably around 1880.
Scottish Agate beads with purple banding c1920
Price: £125Pair of Japanese Blue and White Seto Ware Vases, early C20th
Price: £220The finely drawn brushwork here and the distinctive bright blue are characteristics of pieces made at Seto in Japan in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The city of Seto is located in the Aichi Prefecture and was the location of one of the Six Ancient Kilns of Japan. Pottery was produced there from the 13th century onwards. The kilns took part in the export of decorative wares to the West from the second half of the nineteenth century onwards producing a wide variety of forms, in particular pairs of vases, but with a speciality in flat plaques and table tops, for which they gained something of a monopoly. Their pieces are usually marked, to include the characters for Seto, and this pair of vases may have originally been signed themselves but with the marks partially obliterated in the firing process. The quality here matches anything else produced by the factories but the light weight and thinly potted body suggests a dating to the early 20th century rather than before, probably during the Taisho period (1912-1926). Nevertheless the skill in craftsmanship is obvious and contributes to a highly attractive pair of ornaments for a contemporary interior.
Tigers Eye bracelet with a large central carved dragon bead, certificate for 2012
Price: £15PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE IS FREE UK SHIPPING ON THIS ITEM. For international buyers the shipping cost will be reduced by the UK shipping cost, so don't worry if you are outside the UK, you still receive this benefit!
Art Deco Shagreen Picture Frame, 1930s
Price: £110Shagreen is a natural hide, typically from shark, stingray or dogfish, worked through special processes to produce a granular surface effect. Known in China and Japan from the earliest times and popular in Europe in th eighteenth century Shagreen enjoyed its greatest popularity in the Art Deco period where it was used as a covering for writing desks and well-dressed cabinetry and smaller items such as the picture frame we have here. The clean lines of this piece and the palette of colours employed fit exactly with th ethos of the Art Deco period and a dating to the 1930s is extremely likely. A luxury item at the time it could be used now to provide enhanced presentation of a favourite image adding to it a hint of true elegance.
Japanese Blue and White Porcelain Bowl decorated with hydrangea, early C20th
Price: £25Hydrangeas flourish in Japan and also carry a hidden meaning of apology and gratitude based on a mythical story of an Emperor, who angered a woman he loved by neglecting her, and gave her in recompense a bunch of blue hydrangeas as a symbol of his deep emotion and gratitude. Used here as a decorative motif, the painting of the flowers is skilful and elegantly combined with the plainer exterior. The paste of the foot rim suggests an early C20th dating, perhaps to the late Taisho era (1912-1926).
Japanese Noh Figure Doll of a Lady, Showa Period (1926-1989)
Price: £55Dolls such as these were made for display, sometimes at the special ‘Doll’s Day’ or ‘Girls Day’ festival held annually on the third of March and termed ‘Hinamatsuri’. The elaborate dress is sometimes known as ‘Hagoromo’ (‘feathered’) and the mask with its fixed expression derives from the well known ‘Noh theatre’, a major form of Japanese musical drama created in the fourteenth century which combines dance, music and song and is still performed today. The actors are all male and play the female roles wearing a lady’s mask.
The craftsmanship of this piece is self evident and it was most likely made in the second half of the C20th. It can stand equally well on its own or as part of a wider collection and would be a desirable acquisition either way.
Davidson Glass Topaz Briar Table Centrepiece, 1930s
Price: £45George Davidson founded the Teams Flint Glass Works in 1867, which later became known as George Davidson & Co. In the 1880s the company began producing pressed glass tableware in a variety of shapes and by the 1920s their designs began to reflect the new Art Deco trends. The firm continued production until the 1980s, closing in 1987. Some of their catalogues still exist and one from the early 1930s shows a piece very similar to this one (see image 11). The colour is known as ‘Topaz Briar’ and the swirling effects resemble other pieces in their ‘cloud glass’ range, a pattern for which the firm was famous.
The colourings and small size of this piece make it an unusual find amongst the Davidson wares which can be seen today and the presence of all three elements (perfect and complete) make it a desirable addition to a collection of twentieth century pressed glass.
Chinese lace agate earrings and necklace suite
Price: £75Taxco clamper bracelet, attr. to Justo or Jorge Castillo, 1940s
Price: £450Justo and Jorge Castillo come from the Los Castillo workshop. Los Castillo was an influential and ongoing design and manufacturing enterprise established in 1939 by Antonio Castillo and his brothers Justo and Jorge and their cousin Salvador Teran. Los Castillo is known for sterling jewellery and fine pieces in "married metals" combining various metals such as silver, copper and brass. Castillo who arrived in Taxco in 1923, began his long career working for William Spratling at Taller de las Delicias. He married Margot van Voorhies prior to opening Taller Los Castillo bu they were later divorced in 1946. (see The Little Book of Mexican Silver Trade and Hallmarks, 2013)
Tooled Leather Writing Slope with a Rustic Scene, circa 1910
Price: £85The ink pot has a lid that opens to reveal the lettering ‘KKA’ ‘PRIV’ with a double eagle head. This was made for the Austrian navy and similar pieces are dated to around 1900. It is just possible that this implies Austrian manufacture of the slope itself. Also to be seen are sheets of headed notepaper (16, Malvern Road, Thornton Heath, Surrey), an envelope addressed to Mrs E.L.Fisher of the same address postmarked 1918 and a funeral card in memory of Henry Stoke and dated 1912 . This must have been a luxury product in its day and is a relic of a time when communication was by writing rather than text message or email. An ornament then, rather than a practical addition, to the office of today.