A rare stained glass window of St Margaret of Antioch by Pre-Raphaelite and Arts and Crafts luminary Sir Edward Burne-Jones is coming to auction in Tennants Auctioneers’ 20th Century Design Sale on 4th March with an estimate of £15,000-20,000 plus buyer’s premium. As the vast majority of Burne-Jones’ stained glass windows remain in their original buildings, it is extremely rare to see an example of his work coming onto the open market.
A further gem of the Arts and Crafts era on offer in the sale is a Silver and Enamel Cigarette Box by Omar Ramsden and Alwyn Carr (estimate: £4,000-6,000). Omar Ramsden was one of the most acclaimed and successful silversmiths of the early 20th century and a key influence on both silversmithing and the Arts and Crafts movement.
The sale will also offer a bumper selection of fine and early pieces by Yorkshire Arts and Crafts furniture maker Robert ‘Mouseman’ Thompson from good private collections. From the collection of a Lady in the North East of England is a fine oak carving of two Fighting Stallions (estimate: £5,000-7,000), a Panelled Cupboard (estimate: £5,000-7,000), and a 1930s panelled double wardrobe (estimate: £6,000-7,000).
Rare and unusual pieces of Mouseman include a Panelled Kneehole Desk from the 1930s with a cupboard to each of the side panels (estimate: £5,000-7,000), a circa 1928/9 Monk’s Chair with mortar and pestle decoration and an unusual mouse with lifted head (estimate: £2,500-3,500), a 1930s Single Wardrobe (estimate: £2,000-3,000), and a Burr Oak Jar and Cover made by Thompson craftsman Fred Suffield (estimate: £1,500-2,000). Also of note is a fine Mantel Clock from the mid-1960s, decorated with a carved elephant to each side of the dial (estimate: £3,000-4,000).
A collection of Mouseman furniture from legendary chef Marco Pierre White’s hotel the Rudloe Arms in Wiltshire is also on offer. Highlights of which include two impressive 12ft Refectory tables, which were originally commissioned in 1949 for The North Riding School in Scarborough, offered with an estimate of £2,000-3,000 each. A further private collection formerly in Denton Hall, Ilkley, West Yorkshire, includes a range of good octagonal tables and sets of dining chairs.
Also on offer in the sale is an unusual and playful Private Collection of Automata dating from 1970 to 2000, which will be sold in 33 lots. These little works of art are mostly made of wood, and notable lots include ‘Aviator’ by Tony Mann in which a goggled pilot flies a goose-shaped aeroplane with flapping wings (estimate: £300-500), and Frank Nelson’s ‘Nelson’s Revenge’ in which Nelson on his column pokes at pigeons flying around his head with a sword (estimate: £200-300).
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