A pair of Sir Winston Churchill glass decanters, by Garrard & Co., 1974

A bronze portrait of Sir Winston Churchill by Rufus Martin, 2023 This head and shoulders bronze bust is instantly recognizable as Sir Winston Churchill. He is wearing a British Warm greatcoat with epaulettes and has a half-smoked cigar in the left hand resting on his hip. His right hand is raised in his trade mark V-for-Victory salute. Signed ‘Rufus Martin 1/12’. Sir Winston Churchill (1874 –1965) was a British politician, army officer and writer. He was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945, when he led Britain to victory in the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955. Churchill represented five constituencies during his career as a Member of Parliament. Ideologically an economic liberal and imperialist, for most of his career he was a member of the Conservative Party, which he led from 1940 to 1955, but from 1904 to 1924 was a member of the Liberal Party. This portrait of Churchill by Rufus Martin is striking for its juxtaposition of this famous historical subject and the free and contemporary choice of presentation. Churchill’s tenure during the Second World War infused the nation with calm and confidence, providing the British people with strong leadership during its darkest hours. Martin succeeds in portraying Churchill’s unshakeable belief in a successful outcome for the Allies through his defiant stance, unwavering gaze and Victory V gesture. Together with the recognizable “Bulldog” facial features and broad shoulders, this bust captures the subject in terms of character as well as being an accurate physical portrait . Rufus Martin trained at Wimbledon College of the Arts, London, though his aptitude for 3D design and sculpture was apparent from a very young age. His mother, a portrait painter, showed him the portrait sculptures of Augusta Savage, Jacob Epstein and Augustine Rodin, which inspired him to create a bust of his late mentor, Michael Howells. He sculpts ‘intriguing individuals, always hoping to capture some element of their past or current struggles and to create something for the good of the community they inhabit and wherever possible for posterity’ – an ambition he has most successfully fulfilled with this powerful portrait. After leaving college in 2017, with first class honours, Martin has won many prestigious prizes including the Tiranti Prize at the FACE, the Signature Art Award, the Chelsea Arts Club show for ‘Amy’, the True Blue Show, the Salmagundi Open Show, New York, Green & Stone Summer Show, the Chelsea Arts Society Summer Show, RBA Rising Stars, the Royal Cambrian Academy Open, the Binny Mathews & Sons joint show, The Next Big Thing and has been published in the Kings House...

A carved fire surround from Sir Winston Churchill’s drawing room. This carved pine fire surround combines elements of both Rococo and Palladian designs. It has a shaped cornice abov...

A large art glass bowl by Michael Bang, of undulating circular, spiralling form, blown in clear glass with two swirls of opaque white and red pigment. Scandinavian, late 20th century. Michael Bang (1942-2013) Current And Advanced Glassmaking Art Michael Bang (1942-2013) was the son of Jacob E. Bang, Holmegaard's first designer. In the 1960s and 1970s, Michael Bang was a designer at the Odense Glass Factory, but moved with his family to Holmegaard in the 1980s when he joined the Holmegaard Glass Factory. Here he managed the design of the mouth-blown lamps in opal-white glass in which the glass factory specialised. Michael Bang was quick-witted, fascinating and fun and able to spellbind an audience when the glass factory organised talks and presentations. Many of his products have now become collector's items. Holmegaard carries his vases and flower pot covers in the MB range (1981), the Mandarin lamp...

An original portrait drawing by Sir Stanley Spencer of Daphne Spencer, his niece (and reputedly his lover), finely drawn with the sitter looking slightly to the right, pencil on car...

Captain Sir George Collier’s presentation silver entree dishes and covers by Richard Cooke, London 1803, each plain rectangular with gadroon borders, covers with detachable vine twist handles, the covers engraved: ‘Presented by the Old Madras Insurance Company to Captn. Collier, Commander of His Majestys Sloop ‘Victor’, for his persevering & gallant conduct in chasing for two days, partially engaging & ultimately sinking the French National Corvette ‘La Fleche’ of superior force while advantageously anchored at the Mahé Islands.’ Dimensions approx.: 150 x 290 x 200mm / 6 x 11 ½ x 8 inches Total weight approx.: 3513 grams / 112 oz. troy. Footnotes: These silver dishes were presented to Captain Sir George Collier KCB (1774-1824) for destroying the 22-gun French corvette La Flèche whilst commanding Victor, 18 guns, in the Seychelles on 5 September 1801. After escorting troop transports into the Red Sea ahead of the British invasion of Egypt, Victor fell in with La Flèche off Diego Garcia. After an initial engagement, the corvette escaped to windward only to be found again four days later. A short but fierce action ensued during which the corvette caught fire, grounded on a coral reef and sank before a prize crew could secure the ship. As reward, the Admiralty made Collier post captain and gave him command of Leopard, 50 guns. Born in London, Collier entered the Royal Navy in 1784. As a midshipman, he was wrecked off Madagascar in 1792 surviving among the natives of that island for six months before being rescued by a passing Portuguese brig. Unfortunately, the brig was immediately captured by a French privateer and for two more years, Collier was confined as a prisoner of war on Mauritius. Returning to service in 1795, he was given his first command in Suffolk Tender. Following the Peace of Amiens, Collier commanded the Sea Fencibles at Liverpool. After accompanying the expedition to Copenhagen in 1808, for which he was knighted for delivering the admiral’s dispatches, he saw action, and was wounded, supporting the military Campaign in Spain. After the war, Collier was made commodore on the African station where he was employed suppressing the slave trade with such rigour that he was elected an honorary member of the African Institution, founded by William Wilberforce...

A pair of French reverse glass paintings or cartoons, each of oval form, one depicting a man with a mass of hair or full wig using a brush to fence with a woman wielding a broom, the...

Garrard & Co, a very stylish, modernist style sterling silver pitcher and goblet set designed for Garrard by Alex George Styles in collaboration with John Churchill in 1974, as p...

Pair of glass decanters with stoppers and each with a Birmingham silver ‘Whisky’ decanter label. Dimensions Height 9.5 Inches Width 4 Inches ...

A pair of Blenko charcoal crackle glass decanters with charcoal crackle stoppers, circa 1950s.

Pair of antique Russian glass decanters Russian, late 19th or early 20th century Measures: Height 47cm, diameter 14cm Each cut glass decante...

Pair of bell-shaped glass decanters decorated with moulded vertical pillars below broad shoulder rings. The stoppers are of inverted bell form also featuring moulded pillars to match...

A perfect pair of French Art Glass decanters with silver bottle tops. There are alternating panels of clear and textured glass with a hand-carved effect in the etching. The top of th...