BIDDING TO THE POWER OF TEN AT PETER WILSON, NANTWICH

Dutch master painting sells for £31,000

Ten phone bidders, some from the Netherlands, competed for ownership of a painting by a Dutch master in a sale at Nantwich, Cheshire, fine art auctioneers Peter Wilson on Wednesday April 23. When the hammer fell, it was a UK dealer who emerged victorious, but the bidding battle saw the price spiral.

The sublime river scene with fishermen in the foreground and barges under sail was by Hermanus Koekkoek Snr (1815-1882) the second generation of a dynasty of important Low Countries artists whose work is greatly appreciated internationally. Dated 1864, the oil on canvas sold for £31,000, a multiple of its pre-sale estimate.

“It was an exciting moment,” said Peter Wilson picture specialist Stephen Sparrow. “There had been an enormous amount of interest in it during the sale view and several Netherlands buyers – both dealers and private collectors – were keen to repatriate it, but they ended up disappointed. It was a privilege to be asked to sell it on behalf of the owner.”

Paintings recorded the highest prices in the two-day sale, the nearest contender to the Koekkoek being an equally sublime landscape by Alfred De Breanski Snr (1852-1928) titled "Near Arrochar, N.B.", a signed oil on canvas, which sold for a mid-estimate £6,000. Close behind was a more recently painted oil on canvas by the Italian artist Cesare Maggi (1881-1961) in stark contrast to the preceding two works. It showed rugged peaks in the Dolomite Mountains, a view which excited Italian interest pushing the price way beyond its estimate to sell for £5,500.

Alfred De Breanski Snr oil on canvas sold for £6,000                         Cesare Maggi oil on canvas sold for £5,500

Manchester artist Arthur Delaney (1927-1987) was represented by a number of his street scenes, two of which each sold for £3,200. One showed Tram 34 at Deansgate, while the other was titled “Mill Town in Winter” with Tram 39 picking up passengers in the snowy setting.

Paintings by living Manchester artist Geoffrey Key (b.1941) continue to be popular. Among several works by the artist in the sale were two oils on canvas featuring horse racing, one titled “On the Bend” and the other “Neck and Neck”, which each sold for £3,200. Both were signed and dated ’04. An earlier work by the same artist, a street scene titled “Hong Kong Steps” was dated ’94 and sold for £2,700, while a more intimate interior titled “Lovers with Urns”, signed and dated ’03, sold for £2,800. A red chalk drawing of an elegant standing lady by Sir William Russell Flint (1880-1969) provided a pleasant surprise for its owner when it sold for £2,700 against an estimate of £700-900. The drawing bore the gallery label of The Boydell Galleries, Liverpool.

Arthur Delaney oil on board sold for £3,200. Geoffrey Key oil on canvas sold for £3,200. Sir William Russell Flint chalk sold for £2,700

A highlight of the second day’s sale was undoubtedly a group of furniture from Hatherton Lodge, near Nantwich, formerly the country home of Take That singer songwriter Howard Donald. Relocation to a new London home, meant that an imposing full-size antique mahogany Burroughs & Watts snooker table, compete with matching free-standing marker board, overhead canopy and accessories was among the pieces surplus to requirements. It sold for £2,600, as did a late 19th century Louis XV style giltwood salon suite that had been estimated at £800-900. A Victorian marquetry sewing table sold for £900 and a Victorian mahogany dining table big enough to seat 14, for £1,900.

Ex Howard Donald of Take That: snooker table sold for £2,600, giltwood suite sold for £2,600, marquetry work table sold for £900, mahogany dining table sold for £1,900

The biggest surprise of the sale, however, was the price achieved in the ceramics section by a rare Liverpool creamware jug, dated 1789 and printed with a scene of the storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution. The oval transfer print was titled “Triumph of Liberty” and showed the attack by canon and troops above an inscription which read: “The first Attack of the Bastille/Taken by storm after a conflict of three Hours/by the Citizens of Paris, July 14, 1789”. The jug was estimated at £120-200 but sold for £2,700 after heated bidding between the eventual buyer, a private collector, and a several dealers.

 Another piece from the collection that was wanted above the others was an oval meat plate, circa 1799, obviously intended for the North American market as it was printed with Liberty holding a shield decorated with stars and stripes shield. She stands beside an eagle and as obelisk marked “Sacred to the memory of Washington” and there is a distant tall ship in the background. It sold for £1,150.

 The creamware was collected by the late Mrs Joyce Hunter, of Highfield Hall, Northop, Flintshire, whose late husband, Philip Brown Hunter, was Chairman of the Birkenhead shipbuilders Cammell Laird. He died last year. Her grandfather was of one of the three brothers who had founded John Holt & Co. in the 1860s. She predeceased her husband in 2005.

 Another piece that excited U.S. bidding was a Minton majolica pedestal decorated with flora, fruit and sweetcorn with impressed marks and the date code for 1879. Fully recorded and illustrated in the book Majolica British, Continental and American Wares by Victoria Bergesen, sadly this example was badly damaged, a fact reflected in the pre-sale estimate of £300-500. Despite this, however, two U.S. phone bidders competed with an Irish private buyer, the latter winning out with a bid of £3,000.

 A small selection of weapons and militaria yielded a Persian Shamshir (sabre with curved blade) which sold for £1,600 and a Scottish dirk and anther knife both by R.W. Forsyth Glasgow, which sold together for £1,000.

Creamware Triumph of liberty jug sold for £2,700,  Liberty meat plate sold for £1,150. Majolica pedestal sold £3,000, Scottish Dirk sold for £1,100.

Good pre-owned jewellery continues to sell well in the Cheshire saleroom, the most notable piece this time being a diamond and aquamarine line bracelet set in 18ct white gold alternately with 18 brilliant cut natural and untreated stones weighing a total respectively approximately 6.95ct and 5.84ct. It sold for £5,000, while an18ct white gold and diamond bracelet, the central row of princess cut stones surrounded by round brilliants, the stones weighing approximately 10 carats in total sold for £4,100. An 18ct white gold herringbone mesh clutch purse sold for £2,500.

Diamond and aquamarine line bracelet sold for £5,000. Diamond line bracelet sold for £4,100.  18ct white gold herringbone mesh purse £2,500.

For once plated ware achieved prices as high as silver in the sale, the most important piece being an electro-plated jug designed by Christopher Dresser for Elkington & Co., Birmingham. The jug, discovered home among kitchenware in a Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent sold for £4,000, while a plated double bottle coaster, the basketwork coasters sitting on wagon wheels sold for £1,050. Not to be outshone, a modern silver six-branch candelabra by Robert Welsh (London 1978) sold for £2,700.

Christopher Dresser design jug sold for £4,000. Plated coaster sold for £1,050. Robert Welsh silver candelabra sold £2,700

Entries are now being accepted for Peter Wilson’s next fine art and antiques sale, to be held on Wednesday and Thursday July 2 and 3. For further information, please contact the auctioneers on 01270 623878.