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Suitcase Leather Gifted 1920 Ehofmann Dr John Vance Fitted Interior
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
A fine, high quality leather suitcase, the top leather embossed 'JGV', with reinforced corners, leather handle and brass hardware, the lock stamped 'EHOFMANN 11457' No key. The inside with brass label 'To Dr John...
Category
20th Century German Art Deco Trunks and Luggage
Materials
Nickel
Suitcase Steamer Leather Original Interior Blue & White Ticking Leather 22" long
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
A fine, 19th century, high quality, leather, overseas, travelling, steamer suitcase with exposed straps, handles and brass hardware with lock stamped with a crown and 'VR (Victoria Rex) patent' and key. Bearing brass owners label incised 'J Tully' and the front embossed 'Warrantied Solid Leather'. Original blue and white ticking and leather interior with straps and internal folding divider and compartments. Bearing maker's label 'J C Sweeney, manufacturer of portmanteaus, trunks, India overlands, ladies boxes, travelling bags, hat cases...
Category
Antique 19th Century English Victorian Trunks and Luggage
Materials
Leather
Trunk Steamer Overseas Travel Leather Nickel USA Original Interior 82cm 32" long
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
A fine large 19th century, thick, high quality leather overseas travelling trunk with reinforced exposed straps, handles and chrome hardware stamped USA with internal locking mechani...
Category
Antique 19th Century English Victorian Trunks and Luggage
Materials
Nickel
Curtains Mentmore Rust Silk Velvet Embossed Gilt Embroidered Applique Set Three
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
The mentmore towers, stateroom curtains magnificent & exceptionally rare set of three, massive, Gothic Revival, silk velvet, rust coloured, embossed & gilt embroidered & applique curtains
Exceptional Provenance :
The Staterooms, Mentmore Towers, Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild, Mentmore Towers.
Bernard Nevill (1930-2019), Fonthill, Wiltshire acquired from the Mentmore sale Sotheby Parke Bernet, Mentmore House, May 1977
Ilustrated World of Interiors, Positively Victorian, 20.02.02
The silk velvet embossed...
Category
Antique 1850s English Gothic Revival Curtains and Valances
Materials
Gold
Map Hanging Wall County of Devon C&J Greenwood 1827 Exeter Cathedral Lundy Isle
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
C & J GREENWOOD MAP OF THE COUNTY OF DEVON, FROM AN ORIGINAL SURVEY, PUBLISHED 1827, WITH ENGRAVING OF EXETER CATHEDRAL AND MAP OF LUNDY INSET, 6ft 2 ...
Category
Antique 1820s English Early Victorian Maps
Materials
Paper
Bed French Carved Painted Old White Susani Upholstered Louis XVI King 150cm 5ft
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
Louis XVI, carved & painted, double bed upholstered with susani, woven textile with flowers & lovebirds & custom made bedspread, sold with custo...
Category
Antique 1790s French Louis XVI Beds and Bed Frames
Materials
Textile, Paint
Bed Tester Spanish Baroque Carved Dark Green & Gilded Leather Superking 6ft180cm
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
Rare, Spanish Demi-Tester, Baroque Bed With Carved, Green Painted & Gilded Posts 181cm, 6ft High, Floral Painted Leather Headboard, sold with custom made box spring mattress base, ac...
Category
Antique 1720s Spanish Baroque Beds and Bed Frames
Materials
Giltwood, Paint
Bed Italian Venetian Painted Trompe L’œil Baroque Fortuny Superking 6ft 180cm
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
Magnificent, 18th Century, Venetian, Trompe-L’œil, Painted, Bed, Superking 6ft, 180cm wide, With Massive 213cm, 6ft 10in Shaped Headboard & 149cm, 5ft Shaped Footboard & Fortuny Bedcover, sold with new custom made box-spring mattress base...
Category
Antique 1730s European Baroque Beds and Bed Frames
Materials
Paint
Bed Tester Mahogany Chippendale Claret Red Damask Duke Hamilton Scotland Banner
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
The Faringdon House, Chippendale Period, Mahogany, Claret Red Damask, Tester Bed Incorporating The Arms Of The Dukes Of Hamilton, The Royal Banner Of Scotland & Tree Of Life, sold with new custom-made, luxury, pocket sprung, king-sized mattress 5ft, 150cm wide
- With the Royal Banner of The Royal Arms of Scotland In The Tester, the Coat of Arms of the Dukes of Hamilton in the Head Curtain & Tree Of Life In the Bedspread: all Gold, Silver & Polychrome Embroidered.
- ‘ I can remember, during the tedious or frightening but always sleepless nights of fire-watchings in wartime London, that the place I longed to be in most intensely was the Red bedroom at Faringdon, with its crackling fire, its Bessarabian carpet with bunchy flowers, and above all its four-post bed, whence from beneath a huge fat fluffy old-fashioned quilt one can gaze out at the view, head still on the pillow... ‘ Nancy Mitford, Essay on Faringdon House, the home of the the real ‘Lord Merlin’, 1950. Mitford affectionately portrayed her great friend Lord Berners as 'Lord Merlin' in Pursuit of Love and Love in a Cold Climate.
- Created in 1643, the Dukedom of Hamilton is the premier peerdom in Scotland and the third oldest in the United Kingdom. The head-curtain incorporates the coat of arms of the Dukes of Hamilton prior to 1711 when they were combined with the Dukedom of Brandon. The oak tree and inscription ‘Through’ alludes to the tree that Charles II hid in at Boscobel in 1651. The inscription ‘Sola Nobilitas Virtus‘ translates as ‘For Virtue is the only Nobility’.
- The tester incorporates the Royal Banner of Scotland. The earliest recorded use of the lion rampant as a royal emblem in Scotland was in 1222. Since 1603, the lion rampant of Scotland has been incorporated into both the royal arms and royal banners of Scottish and British monarchs.
- Beds symbolise life and the Tree of Life is a significant, cross-cultural symbol; symbolising health, growth, strength, flowering, abundance and longevity.
- PROVENANCE : ‘The Red Bedroom’ was the main guest bedroom at Faringdon House, the home of Lord Berners, composer, writer, painter, from 1918 until his death in 1950. Faringdon House was the centre of a glittering social circle during the 1920’s and 30’s and guests included Evelyn Waugh, Siegfried Sassoon, John Betjaman, The Mitford Sisters, Salvador Dali, HG Wells and Gertrude Stein. Many famous guests slept in the "Red Bed", including Salvador and Gala Dali and Nancy Mitford. It is not known where Lord Berners acquired this tester bed and research is underway to see if documentary evidence can be found relating to the history of this tester bed before acquisition by Lord Berners
- Hamilton Palace, home to the Dukes of Hamilton for nearly 300 years was furnished with treasures to rival the Royal Collection. Exquisite furniture, famed paintings, coveted objets d’art, finds from antiquity: it was the hoard of a family Daniel Defoe once called ‘great possessors.’ There were two enormous auctions at Hamilton Palace in 1882 and 1919 and the stately home was condemned for demolition in 1921. Many of the treasures from Hamilton Palace are now on display in international museums and collections. National Museums Scotland, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Museum, the National Trust, the Louvre, Lennoxlove House and Boston Museum of Fine Arts.
- Chippendale period, mahogany, tester bedstead with finely carved, fluted and reeded baluster columnar front posts surmounted by a moulded cornice. Re-upholstered in a two-tone claret red damask, with red and gold passementerie replacing the previous threadbare silk damask. The banner, armorial and tree of life embroidery...
Category
Antique 1770s British Chippendale Beds and Bed Frames
Materials
Damask, Mahogany
Boot Scraper Jack Iron Country House Trestle Base 19 Century Spanish
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
Unusual iron boot jack with the trestle base. Integral plate to screw to a wall.
Attractive free flowing form.
Been placed outside so there is some rusting in the patina.
Very p...
Category
Antique 1880s Coat Racks and Stands
Materials
Wrought Iron
fishing float double buoy glass green rope
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
EXTREMELY RARE, GREEN GLASS & ROPE, DOUBLE FISHING FLOAT, c.1910
Exuding character and injecting atmosphere and conversation
Can be placed in the home or the garden
The green glass...
Category
Vintage 1910s English Nautical Objects
Materials
Rope, Blown Glass
Lamp Table Mandolin Francesco Perretti & Figli, Napoli Early-20 Century
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
Early-20th century, Francesco Perretti & Figli, mandolin upcycled into a table lamp, 29” high
A fun piece of signature and conversation mood lighting which can also be played
Injec...
Category
Antique Early 1900s Italian Table Lamps
Materials
Bone, Mother-of-Pearl, Spruce
Lamp Table Guitar Electric Ion Sunburst Rock&Roll Vintage
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
Vintage, rock and roll enthusiasts lamp or guitar that can be strummed or played.
Upcycled from a vintage, guitar for the discerning rock enthusiast. Oozing attitude and style, thi...
Category
Vintage 1970s Table Lamps
Materials
Wood
Plates Commemorating Le Tour De France 1959 Luneville Faience
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
- Fabulous rare set of Tour de France commemorative plates for the cycling enthusiast
- In original condition, no damage
- Luneville 1959
1. June 25 depart Mullhouse, 26 June, 17 July, 18 July
2. June 29 Rennes June 30 Blain July 1 Nantes
3. July 2 Rochelle July 3 Bordeaux, July 4 Bayonne, July 5 Bagneres de Bigorre
4. July 6 St Gaudens...
Category
Vintage 1950s French Mid-Century Modern Sports Equipment and Memorabilia
Materials
Pottery
Chinoiserie Toile Hangings Curtains French Blue & White Rococo
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
- Exceptionally rare pair of large, Rococo Chinoiserie blue & white cotton bed curtains. Measures: 4ftwide 7ft9"hig.
- Chinoiserie was the height of fashion during the Rococo and these hangings would have been a luxury item, making a exotic statement in the bedroom. They have been used as wall hangings for the last 35 years.
- From a private collection, purchased 35 years ago from a set of six removed from a Chateau in France. One was purchased by Nina Campbell...
Category
Antique 1750s French Rococo Tapestries
Materials
Cotton
Hobby Horse Ride On Pull Along Mobile Wheels Childs Toy Wood Leather Modern
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
- Unusual folk, hobby horse trainer on wheels
- Exudes charm and character
- Usable & robust in good working order
- Great collector's piece also
...
Category
Vintage 1950s British Folk Art Toys
Materials
Leather, Pine
Bookends Pair Marble Art Deco Architectural Ochre
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
- Very fine quality evoking classic Art Deco architectural designs
- Beautiful form with the layered segmented curves creating soft yet bold fo...
Category
Vintage 1930s Italian Art Deco Bookends
Materials
Siena Marble
Globe Table Terrestrial Swedish
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
A Swedish 12 inch terrestrial globe, circa 1900. Measure: height 59cm
Just purchased more information to follow.
Category
Antique 1890s Swedish Baroque Revival Maps
Materials
Paper
Box Tobacco 17 Century Friesland Baroque Birch Sliding Lid Love Heart Horse Lady
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
This romantic and charming box has characteristic carving from the area.
With chip-carved geometric decoration to the sliding lid and sides, carved with a horse, two hearts and a...
Category
Antique Late 17th Century Dutch Baroque Decorative Boxes
Materials
Birch
Lignum Vitae Treen Vices Pair of Minature Tree of Life
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
- Collector's specimens
- Lignum vitae is sought after for the beauty of its grain, coloring, patina, density and toughness
Translated from Latin, vignum vitae means “wood of lif...
Category
Antique 1750s English George II Models and Miniatures
Materials
Wood
Brass Mortar and Pestle Minature
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
Measures: Mortar height 5.5cm
Mortar width 10.2cm
Mortar depth 10.2cm
Pestle: 10 x 2.5cm
just purchased more information to follow or on request.
Category
Antique 1890s English Baroque Revival Models and Miniatures
Materials
Brass
Bedcover Hanging Curtains Italian Linen Green Ivory Damask Handwoven
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
Exceptionally rare, Italian, 17th century, green and ivory, damask, linen, woven bedcover
- Made as a luxury item in the mid-17th century, woven with a damask pattern characteristic...
Category
Antique 1640s English Baroque Pillows and Throws
Materials
Linen
Armchair Child Sample Oak Baroque Jacobean Revival Crown Antiquarian
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
- Rare child's armchair or possibly a sample made when large country houses were being remodeled in the Baroque taste towards the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.
...
Category
Antique 1890s English Baroque Revival Armchairs
Materials
Oak
Magazine Rack Bamboo Faux Tortoishell Art Deco Lacquer Japan
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
The bamboo frame is painted to simulate tortoishell which you see on the finest pieces. The centre of each side has a fretwork panel with central ebonised plaque and a pair of floral lacquer...
Category
Vintage 1920s English Art Deco Magazine Racks and Stands
Materials
Bamboo
Table Low Sofa Vintage 1950s Map Isle of Man John Speed 1610 Thomas Durham 1595
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
- The juxtaposition of modern design and this ancient map create a unique small table and conversation piece
- This is the first map featuring the Isle of Man on its own.
- It is also the first map of the Island based on an actual survey, undertaken by Thomas Durham 1595 and was first published by Speed in 1605-1611 and reprinted many times over the next century. This is the second state or print from 1610.
The map is inset within a fruitwood box frame with a glass top. Supported by tapering stick legs.
The map is based on a survey (and presumably a MS map) by Thomas Durham, of whom nothing is known other that he was paid by Sir Thomas Gerrard to make a survey of the Island. This survey, almost certainly for military purposes, arose from the disputed possession of the Island during which time Elizabeth had assumed control in order to prevent the Scots or the Spanish from using the Island as a base.
Speed had used the Durham Map in his slightly earlier 4-sheet wall map showing invasions and battles of c1603/4 [ref: Shirley #261] - there are some differences from this 1605/10 map - Port Eran (rather than Earn on 1605);Knockalo point (= Contrary Hd) not on 1605;Spalbrecke shown west of Calf rather than E as on 1605/10. Thus it is possible that the Durham Map had even more detail than Speed used in his derived version.
In sea are four mythical beasts with riders: to NW of Island Unicorn with Scottish flag...
Category
Antique 1610s English Mid-Century Modern Sofa Tables
Materials
Paper
Renaissance Style Oak Tester 4 Poster Bed Armorial Tapestry Bedspread King Size
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
A vintage king size oak tester or four poster bed in the Renaissance style. Hand carved with Adam & Eve carvings in the headboard, figurative sculptures in the bedposts, three carved armorials on the pelmet rail and an armorial tapestry and velvet bedspread...
Category
Mid-20th Century English Renaissance Beds and Bed Frames
Materials
Oak
Lamp, Table, Floor, Guitar Electric, Jaxville, Condemned to Rock, Rock and Roll
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
Vintage, rock and roll or punk enthusiasts lamp or guitar that can easily be strummed or played. Upcycled from a vintage purple punk kick-ass guitar for the discerning rock chick. Oo...
Category
Vintage 1970s British Post-Modern Table Lamps
Materials
Acrylic
Arcon Chest Coffer Leather Armorial Spanish Baroque Gilded Brass Studwork Domed
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
Rare, early 17th century, Spanish, leather, ‘Arcon’ or domed travelling coffer with a gilded armorial & ornamented with brass studwork.
Surviving utalitarian pieces such as travel...
Category
Antique 1620s Spanish Baroque Blanket Chests
Materials
Leather
Strongbox Safe Iron Painted Armada Chest Nuremberg Renaissance
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
Rare, small, late-Renaissance, Nuremberg, iron, 'armada box', strongbox or travelling safe with its original, naïve, painted decoration
This is a rare, s...
Category
Antique 16th Century German Renaissance Arms, Armor and Weapons
Materials
Iron
Road Map Britannia 1675/6 No 5 Road London to Barwick, London Stilton Grey Frame
By John Ogilby
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
John Ogilby (British 1600-1676) cosmographer and geographick printer to Charles II.
A road map from Britannia, 1675/6. No 5, The road from London to Barwick: London to Stilton
In a grey painted and gilded frame.
In a remarkable life John Ogilby pursued, several careers, each ending in misfortune, and yet he always emerged undeterred, to carry on. His modern reputation is based on his final career, started in his sixty-sixth year, as a publisher of maps and geographical accounts.
Ogilby was born outside Dundee, in 1600, the son of a Scottish gentleman. While he was still a child, the family moved to London. When the elder Ogilby was imprisoned for debt, the young John invested his savings in a lottery, won a minor prize, and settled his father's debts. Unfortunately, not enough money was left to secure John a good apprenticeship; instead, he was apprenticed to a dance master. Ogilby was soon dancing in masques at court but, one day, while executing a particularly ambitious leap, he landed badly. The accident left him with a permanent limp, and ended his dancing career. However, he had come to the attention of Thomas Wentworth, later Earl of Strafford, Charles I's most senior minister. Ever one to exploit his contacts, Ogilby became a dance instructor in Strafford's household.
When Strafford was sent to Ireland, Ogilby accompanied him as Deputy-Master of the Kings Revels, and then Master of Revels. In Dublin, he built the New Theatre, in St. Werburgh Street, which prospered at first, but the Irish Rebellion, in 1641, cost Ogilby his fortune, which he estimated at £2,000, and almost his life. After brief service as a soldier, he returned to England, survived shipwreck on the way, and arrived back penniless.
On his return, Ogilby turned his attention to the Latin classics, as a translator and publisher. His first faltering attempt, in 1649, was a translation of the works of Virgil, but after his marriage to a wealthy widow the same year, his publishing activities received a considerable boost. One means by which Ogilby financed these volumes was by subscription, securing advance payments from his patrons, in return for including their name and coats-of-arms on the plates of illustrations. Another approach was to secure a patron, preferably in the court circle. Ogilby's first patron was Strafford, who found out too late that all leading ministers are dispensable when Charles I assented to his execution in 1641. As he re-established himself, Ogilby sought a new patron, the King himself.
In 1661, Ogilby was approached to write poetry for Charles II's coronation procession; he later published 'The Relation of His Majesties Entertainment Passing Through the City of London', and a much enlarged edition the following year, which included a Fine set of plates depicting the procession. Royal favour was bestowed in 1674 when John Ogilby received the title of 'His Majesty's Cosmographer and Geographick Printer' with a salary of £13.6s.8d per annum.
In 1665, Ogilby left London to avoid the Plague then ravaging the capital. The following year, in the Great Fire of London, Ogilby claimed that he lost his entire stock of books valued at some £3,000, as well as his shop and house, leaving him worth just £5.
As he sought to restore his fortunes, Ogilby was already looking in new directions. The initial opportunity he seized on was the reconstruction of London's burnt-out centre. He secured appointment as a "sworn viewer", whose duty was to establish the property boundaries as they existed before the Fire. Ogilby was assisted in the project by his step-grandson, William Morgan, and by a number of professional surveyors. The result was an outstanding plan of London, on a scale of 100 feet to an inch, on 20 sheets, although it was not printed until after Ogilby's death.
Ogilby then turned his attention to publishing geographical descriptions of the wider-world. In 1667, he issued 'An Embassy from the East India Company of the United Provinces to the Grand Tartar Cham, Emperor of China.' Buoyed by the response to this volume, Ogilby conceived an ambitious project, a multi-volume description of the world. The volumes were joint collaborations, in conjunction with the Dutch publisher Jacob van Meurs. 'Africa', published in 1670, was the least original of the three, both in terms of the text, maps and illustrations. In a similar vein, he issued the 'Atlas Japannensis' (1670), the 'Atlas Chinensis' (1671), and 'Asia' (1673). In 1671, Ogilby published the 'America', translated from Arnold Montanus' Dutch text. The 'America' is certainly the most original, and most important, of Ogilby's various geographical volumes, and its influence and popularity was immediate.
With its completion, Ogilby turned to a project nearer his heart, the description of Britain. Ogilby originally intended to devote one volume to Britain, but as the project evolved, he became more ambitious, as revealed in a prospectus issued in about 1672:
"This having oblig'd our Author to take new Measures ... to compleat within the space of two Years a Work ... considering the Actual survey of the Kingdom, the Delineation and Dimensuration of the Roads, the Prospects and Ground plots of Cities, with other Ornamentals ... into six fair volumes. The Four first comprehending the historical and geographical description of England, with the County-Maps truly and actually survey'd. ... The fifth containing an Ichnographical and Historical Description of all the Principal Road-ways in England and Wales, in two hundred copper sculptures, after a new and exquisite method. The sixth containing a New and Accurate Description of the famous City of London, with the perfect Ichnography thereof ..."
In the proposals, Ogilby emphasised the scale of the undertaking; no-one before him had attempted such a vast project. He estimated the total costs would be £20,000, a staggering amount. The cost of the complete set of six volumes was to be £34. At that time, Wenceslas Hollar...
Category
Antique Late 17th Century British Charles II Maps
Materials
Paper
Pillow, Cushion, Set, 19 Century, French, Needlework, Crimson, Velvet
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
The pillows or cushions are made from late 19th century crimson velvet. This has been applied with 19th century needlework panels. The needlework has a cream ground embroidered with ...
Category
Antique Late 19th Century French Rococo Revival Pillows and Throws
Materials
Tapestry, Velvet
Countye of Monmouth, Dated 1610
By John Speed
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
The countye of Monmouth with the situation of the townshire described Anno, 1610
The reverse with Monmouthshire, Chapter VI and an alphabetical list of towns.
In a beautiful Flemish oak polished and gilded frame
Cartographer: John Speed...
Category
Antique 1610s English Baroque Decorative Art
Materials
Paper
Pelmet, Tapestry, Baroque, 19th Century, Brussels, Morant & Co.
By Morant & Co.
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
This pelmet is exceptionally long. The Brussels tapestry is finely woven with fruits and trailing stems and the colours are not faded. It works as a hanging in its own right, but could also be adapted as a curtain or bed pelmet...
Category
Antique 1880s Baroque Curtains and Valances
Materials
Tapestry
Bed, 19th Century, Italian, Baroque, Carved, Painted, Gilded, Armorial Cartouche
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
The headboard is surmounted with a carved cresting and turned finials at each end, and the frame painted with scrollwork. The centre of the headboard has a cartouche containing a pai...
Category
Antique Late 19th Century Italian Baroque Beds and Bed Frames
Materials
Beech
Curtains, Set of 3, Silk Velvet, Charles II-Style, Burgundy Damask Cowdray Park
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
Each with a damask pattern of scrolling foliage, peonies, tulips and fruit. Massive pattern repeat, see image. Original braid. Cleaned and conserved.
Measures: Two height 315 cm., 124 in., width 107 cm., 42 in.,
One height 295 cm, 116 in., width 109.5 cm., 43 in.,
From the collection of the 1st Viscount Cowdray, Cowdray Park, Sussex, supplied by Lengyon & Co, circa 1910.
Francis Lenyon, Lenyon & Co, Lenyon & Morant
Born in England in 1877, Lenyon was trained as a cabinetmaker and studied at the South Kensington Museum in London. By 1900, he found work with Art Workshops, Ltd., and soon after with Charles Duveen, son of Sir Joseph Duveen. Employed by C.J. Charles for several years, Lenyon became well-known as cabinetmaker to England's aristocracy. He opened his own firm, Lenyon & Co., in 1904, and in 1912 merged with Morant & Co., to become Lenyon & Morant, holding royal warrants under four successive British kings.
In 1910, Lenyon made his first visit to the United States to supervise the interior decoration of Whitlaw Reid, and soon opened a New York branch of his firm. As in England, Lenyon 's American clients were wealthy and sophisticated and relied on Lenyon to furnish authentic and reproduction interiors in period styles. In the 1930s, Lenyon was hired by Nelson Rockfeller to serve as a major consultant to the reconstruction of Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia, and selected all the furnishings for the Governor's Palace there.
Lenyon was widely known for his expertise in 17th and 18th century British furniture...
Category
Early 20th Century European Charles II Curtains and Valances
Materials
Velvet
Set of Eight Tapestry Pillows Cushions Mid-17th Century Flemish Baroque Verdure
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
These pillows or cushions are made from two complete borders of a 17th century verdure tapestry so they are in aesthetic harmony. They depict profuse floral sprays and each cushion h...
Category
Antique Mid-17th Century European Baroque Textiles
Materials
Tapestry
Cosmgraphy and Astrology, 1686 by Richard Blome from the First Edition
By Richard Blome
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
Cosmography & Astrology
Large oval engraved plate with inscriptions outlining the various parts of cosmography and astronomy; below, two emblematic figures with scientific instruments either side. Lettered with title, dedication, and various inscriptions. To his Excellency Roger Palmer, Earle of Castelmain and Baron of Limerick in Ireland, Embassador Extraordinary from his majesty King James II to his Holyness Pope Innocent 11th anno dom 1686. This plate is humbly DD by Richard Blome. On paper and retaining its original coloring.
Sheet width 26 ½ cm., 10 ½ in., height 41 ½ cm., 16 ½ in.,
In a part-gilded Sansovino frame...
Category
Antique 1680s English Charles II Decorative Art
Materials
Paper
Pair Beds Tester 19c American Colonial-Style Mahogany Douglas Fairbanks Pickfair
Located in BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
This pair of half-tester beds were acquired for the guest suite at Douglas Fairbanks Sr and Mary Pickford’s Beverly Hills estate, Pickfair, which housed a collection of early 18th century English and French period furniture, in the 1920s. Life Magazine described Pickfair as 'a gathering place only slightly less important than the White House, and much more fun.'
The beds passed by descent to Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and in family tradition were used as the main guest beds at his farm in Virginia, subsequently his home in Washington, then Westridge in Pacific Palisades, Los Angles until 1948 when the family moved to No 8 The Boltons in London and finally in 1973 to the ‘Vicarage’ in Palm Beach. They were inherited by his daughter Daphne in 1988 who continued the family tradition using them as guestbeds at her homes in London and Suffolk. Daphne is now 73 and when she downsized she gave the beds to her granddaughter AIslinn, the great, great grandaugher of Douglas Fairbanks Sr, who had “always loved these beds”. There is a photograph of the beds at Pickfair amongst the family papers which they are trying to locate. Daphne Fairbanks has written a letter discussing their history and some of the stars who slept on them which will pass with the beds :
‘I should think almost every well known person in the film industry slept on these beds ‘
Aside from being exceptionally rare as antiques, these beds represent a unique opportunity to acquire an iconic piece of history from the golden age of movie making having been owned the “King of Hollywood” and slept on by countless stars, politicians, royalty and socialites. They have passed through 5 generations of the Fairbanks dynasty who have continued the family tradition of using them as their main guestbeds.
The turned posts are surmounted by finials and have fine, reeding and carved decoration. The shaped headboards have scroll crestings above strikingly, beautiful, figured veneers The rails are also veneered The ends have a finely, carved turned rail. The beds stand on lion's paw feet. Two of the original castors remain. The colour and patina are exceptional.
These pieces do not require a Cites certificate, they are not made from Swietenia humilis.
Measures:
Height to top of finials 193 cm., 76 in., to top of siderails 18 in., to mattress slats 14 ½ in.
Overall Length 213 cm. 84 in., internal headboard to footboard 77 ½ in, internal to siderail & corner cut-out 75 ¼ in.,
Overall Width 109 cm., 43 in., outside rail to outside rail 41 ¾, internal width 39 3/8 in
Pickfair, 1143 Summit Drive, Beverly Hills, California, 90210
In the 1920s, the two most famous homes in America were Pickfair and the White House. Silent film superstars Mary Pickford, 'America's Sweetheart,' and dashing Douglas Fairbanks were the original Hollywood super couple. Individually, they were wildly famous the world over, even more so when they fell in love and married. Douglas had bought the property in the Hollywood hills which they made their home and which the press christened Pickfair, combining their last names, which stuck. They created a romantic legend that drew a steady stream of international royalty, politicians, scientists and artists. An invitation to the Pickfair mansion meant you had made it in Hollywood.
Located at 1143 Summit Drive, in San Ysidro Canyon in Beverly Hills, the property was a hunting lodge when purchased by Fairbanks in 1919 for his bride, Mary Pickford. The newlyweds extensively renovated the lodge, transforming it into a 4-story, 25-room mansion complete with stables, servants quarters, tennis courts, a large guest wing, and garages. Remodeled by Wallace Neff in a mock tudor style, it took 5 years to complete. Ceiling frescos, parquet flooring, wood panelled halls of fine mahogany and bleached pine, gold leaf and mirrored decorative niches, all added to the authentic charm of Pickfair. The property was said to have been the first private home in the Los Angeles area to include an in-ground swimming pool, in which Pickford and Fairbanks were famously photographed paddling a canoe.
Pickfair featured a collection of early-18th century English and French period furniture, decorative arts and antiques. Notable pieces in the collection included furniture from the Barberini Palace and the Baroness Burdett-Coutts estate in London. The highlight of any visit to Pickfair was a large collection of Chinese Objects d'art collected by Fairbanks and Pickford on their many visits to the Orient. The Pickfair art collection was wide and varied and included paintings by Philip Mercier, Guillaume Seignac, George Romney, and Paul DeLongpre. The beds were acquired for the bedroom suite in a new, guest wing.
The mansion also featured an Old West style saloon complete with a burnished ornate mahogany bar obtained from a saloon in Auburn, California as well as paintings by Frederic Remington. In the 1970 Volume 2, Number 10 issue of Mankind Magazine it states there were twelve Remington's from 1907 purchased from the Cosmopolitan Publishing Company that 'were Mary Pickford's gift to her husband, Charles 'Buddy' Rogers.' The interiors of Pickfair were decorated and updated throughout the years by Elsie De Wolfe, Marjorie Requa, Tony Duquette, and Kathryn Crawford.
During the 1920s the house became a focal point for Hollywood's social activities, and the couple became famous for entertaining there. An invitation to Pickfair was a sign of social acceptance into the closed Hollywood community. Dinners at Pickfair were legendary; guests included Charlie Chaplin (who also lived next door), the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Greta Garbo, George Bernard Shaw, Albert Einstein, Elinor Glyn, Helen Keller, H.G. Wells, Lord Louis Mountbatten, Fritz Kreisler, Tony Duquette, Amelia Earhart, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Joan Crawford, Noël Coward, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Eleanor Roosevelt, Pearl S. Buck, Charles Lindbergh, Max Reinhardt, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Edison, Lillian Gish, Gloria Swanson, the Duke and Duchess of Alba, the King and Queen of Siam, Austen Chamberlain, Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko, and Sir Harry Lauder. Lauder's nephew, Matt Lauder Jr., a professional golfer whose family had a property at Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, California, taught Fairbanks to play golf.
When Fairbanks and Pickford divorced in January 1936, Pickford resided in the mansion with her third husband, actor and musician Charles 'Buddy' Rogers, until her death in 1979. Pickford received few visitors in her later years, but continued to open up her grand home for charitable organizations and parties. In 1976 Pickford received a second Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement in Film. The Honorary Oscar was presented to her in the formal living room of Pickfair, and televised on the 48th Academy Awards. Introduced and narrated by Gene Kelly, it provided the public a very rare glimpse inside the fabled mansion.
Empty for several years after Pickford's death, Pickfair was eventually sold to Los Angeles Lakers owner, Dr. Jerry Buss, who continued to care for the home, updating and preserving much of the unique charm of Pickfair. In 1988 it was purchased by actress Pia Zadora and her husband Meshulam Riklis who demolished Pickfair replacing it with a large 'Venetian style palazzo'. They received harsh criticism from a nostalgic public, including Douglas Fairbanks Jr who was quoted in the LA Times, 'I regret it very much. I wonder, if they were going to demolish it, why they bought it in the first place.'. The only remaining artifacts from the original Pickfair are the gates to the estate, the kidney-shaped pool and pool house, remnants of the living room, as well as the two-bedroom guest wing, which the beds were acquired for and, which played host to visiting royalty and notable film celebrities for over half a century. The guest wing was once used as a honeymoon suite for Lord Louis and Lady Mountbatten...
Category
Antique Mid-19th Century North American American Colonial Beds and Bed F...
Materials
Mahogany