British Collectibles and Curiosities

Sotheby's Art at Auction: The Year in Review 1995-96. Published by Conrad Octopus Ltd., 1996. 1st Ed hardcover with dust jacket. This annual reference w...

Mallett catalog from 1997. Softcover catalog photographed in color with all the objects fully described. Typical Mallett catalog of important furniture, porcelain etc. Always a great...

A fine English table top lectern, missal or book stand of brass, featuring a reading top with pierced quatrefoils at each corner. The revolving recta...

THE EQUILIBRIAD by William Samsons with illustrations by Lucian Freud. London: Hogarth Press, 1948. Limited Edition. 8vo, 8 5/8 x 5 5/8 in (220 x 140...

Italian Master Drawings: From the Wolfgang Ratjen Collection 1525--1835, Personal Property of Herbert Kasper. Published by Paul Holberton Publis...

8 Volumes. William Shakespeare, The Plays of Shakespeare. Bound in full tan calf with covers displaying gilt bordering. Raised band spine with panels displaying beautiful gilt detail...

Christie's Sale Catalogue of the Contents of Castlegar, Ballinalsoe, Co. Galway and remaining contents of Somerton, Castleknock on 24th and 25th May, 1988. 1st Ed softcover auction c...

This engraved glass was crafted to commemorate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Sixteen years following the coronation of her father, King George VI, the official coronation of Queen Elizabeth II represented a fascinating mix of tradition and modernity. Held at Westminster Abbey, it was the first official celebration of its kind ever to be televised — approximately 27 million people in the United Kingdom alone tuned in to watch their new Queen don her crown for the first time. Considering the widespread popularity of the event, commemorative objects such as this became highly desirable, as people around the world sought remembrances of the joyous occasion. This glass is an exceptional example of its type that remains in excellent condition. One side reads "The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth 1953," while the other displays the initials "ER II...

English military munitions box of thick full cowhide leather over cork with painted royal coat of arms and mottos on the top: " Honi Soi (qui) Mal y Pense" and "Dieu et Mon Droit" su...

According to Eleanor Garvey "The Artist and the Book" (p. 122) this work is "perhaps the most harmonious of Maillol's illustrated books." Aristide MAILLOL, illus.; LONGUS author Daphnis and Chloe; A Most Sweet, and Pleasant Pastoral Romance for Young Ladies, translated out of the Greek of Longus by Geo. Thornley. London: A. Zwemmer [printed in Paris by Philippe Gonin], 1937. Limited Edition. 8vo, 7 3/4 x 5 1/2 in. (200 x 132 mm); pp. vi, 211,colophon,12; Copy 21 of 250 numbered copies on hand-made Maillol paper and SIGNED BY THE ARTIST on the colophon, with 52 original woodcuts, and 4 woodcut initials, printed in bistre; leading and bottom edges deckled. Full vellum with laced-in thongs, gilt lettering on spine, faint; pencil notations and tipped in label from earlier booksellers on inside front cover, edges stained on first 2 and last 2 blanks. EXTRA SUITE of 45 WOODCUTS in a separate vellum portfolio, printed in black. Fine copy in simple cardboard slipcase. Colophon: "Aristide Maillol engraved with his own hand the wood-cuts which illustrate this book, The text is that of Thronley's translation of 1657, revised and augmented. Philippe Gonin of Paris undertook the achievement of this work, and printed it on his hand-press, for A. Zwemmer, London. Paris December 7th, 1937", followed by MAILLOL'S SIGNATURE IN PENCIL. Garvey 174; Garvey Wick 22; BNF32393010 Condition: FINE An ancient Greek novel written during the Roman Empire, the only known work of the 2nd century AD Greek novelist and romance writer Longus, translated by George Thornley...

Presented is an original 1875 map of “North America.” The map was issued in Volume 1 of the Ninth Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, published in Edinburgh. The map was drawn by famous Scottish mapmaker John Bartholomew. The map depicts North America, to include Greenland, the Dominion of Canada, the United States, Mexico, the countries of Central America, and the islands of the West Indies. Prominent rivers, mountain ranges, and cities are labeled on the map, and country borders are emphasized in red. The Encyclopædia Britannica has been published continuously since 1768, appearing in fifteen official editions. The landmark ninth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, often called "the Scholar's Edition," was published from January 1875 to 1889 in 25 volumes. The editor and author of the “Foreword” was Thomas Spencer Baynes, the first English-born editor after a series of Scots. After 1880, Baynes was assisted by William Robertson Smith. The 9th edition is often lauded as a high point among early editions for scholarship. The 9th edition was far more luxurious than any previously printed Encyclopædia Britannicas, with thick boards and quality leather bindings, premier paper, and a production which took full advantage of the technological advances of printing in the years between the 1850s and 1870s. The publishers took advantage of the new ability to print large graphic illustrations on the same pages as the text, as opposed to limiting illustrations to separate copper plate engravings. Although this technology had first been used in a primitive fashion the 7th edition, and to a much lesser extent in the 8th, in the 9th edition there were thousands of quality illustrations and maps set...

The Travel Sale: Natural History and Maps. November 2001: Sotheby's London. 1st Ed softcover. Lots 1-16; New Zealand 17-22; China Trade and Far East Asia 23-51; India 52-74; Africa 7...

Presenting an absolutely gorgeous and extremely unique and rare 19th century British Tunbridgeware hair pin/bobbin or slide. This slide is unlike any of it’s kind we have seen before…. it is a very rare survivor ! From circa 1860–1880. Made of walnut with gorgeous marquetry inlay on the entirety of the front with classic Tunbridgeware micro-mosaic all over the front. The rear is walnut. The marquetry inlay appears to be various different woods, namely, maple, walnut and satinwood. Would have been worn in a Lady’s hair bun with the micro-mosaic facing forward. This would have belonged to a very elegant lady in the mid to late 19th century. Tunbridge ware is a form of decoratively inlaid woodwork, typically in the form of boxes, that is characteristic of Tonbridge and the spa town of Royal Tunbridge Wells in Kent in the 18th and 19th centuries. The decoration typically consists of a mosaic of many very small pieces of different coloured woods that form a pictorial vignette. Shaped rods and slivers of wood were first carefully glued together, then cut into many thin slices of identical pictorial veneer with a fine saw. Elaborately striped and feathered bandings for framing were pre-formed in a similar fashion. There is a collection of Tunbridge ware in the Tunbridge Wells Museum and Art Gallery in Tunbridge Wells. The famous makers of Tunbridge ware were in the Tunbridge Wells area of Kent; their most notable work was from circa 1830-1900. Early makers of Tunbridge ware, in Tunbridge Wells in the mid-18th century, were the Burrows family, and Fenner and Co. In the 19th century, around 1830, James Burrows invented a technique of creating mosaics from wooden tesserae. Henry Hollamby, apprenticed to the Burrows family, set up on his own in 1842 and became an important manufacturer of Tunbridge ware, employing about 40 people. Edmund Nye (1797–1863) and his father took over the Fenner company when William Fenner retired in 1840, after 30 years in partnership with him. Thomas Barton (1819–1903), previously apprenticed at the Wise factory, joined the Nyes in 1836, and worked as Nye’s designer; he took over the business in 1863 and continued there until his death. In Tonbridge (near to Tunbridge Wells), George Wise (1703–1779) is known to have had a business in 1746. It continued with his son Thomas, and Thomas’s nephew George (1779–1869), who took over in 1806. In its early years the company made articles such as workboxes and tea caddies with prints of popular views; later items had pictures created from mosaics. Their workshop in Tonbridge, Wise’s Tunbridge Ware Manufactory, was next to the Big Bridge over the Medway; the building was demolished in 1886 to widen the approach to the bridge. Tunbridge ware became popular with visitors to the spa town of Tunbridge Wells, who bought them as souvenirs and gifts. Articles included cribbage boards, paperweights, writing slopes, snuffboxes and glove boxes. At the Great Exhibition of 1851, Tunbridge ware by Edmund Nye, Robert Russell and Henry Hollamby was shown; Edmund Nye received a commendation from the judges for his work. He exhibited a table depicting a mosaic of a ship at sea; 110,800 tesserae were used in making the picture. The manufacturers of Tunbridge ware were cottage industries, and they were no more than nine in Tunbridge Wells and one in Tonbridge. The number declined in the 1880s; competent craftsmen were hard to find, and public tastes changed. After the death of Thomas Barton in 1903 the only surviving firm was Boyce, Brown and Kemp, which closed in 1927. Marquetry was an old technique which was continued by Nye and Barton to create images such as birds or butterflies. ‘Green Oak’ as caused by the fungus Chlorociboria aeruginascens. Stickware and half-square mosaic was invented by James Burrows in about 1830: a bunch of wooden sticks of different colours, each having triangular or diamond-shaped cross section, were tightly glued together; in the case of stickware, the resulting block was dried, then turned to form an article such as the base of a pincushion. For half-square mosaic, thin slices were taken from the composite block, and applied to a surface.[1][2][4] Tesselated mosaic, was a development by James Burrows of half-square mosaic; it was adopted by George Wise and Edmund Nye. Minute tesserae were used to form a wide variety of geometric and pictorial designs. Many sorts of wood were used for the various colours; about 40 were in regular use. Only natural colors were used; green was provided by “green oak”, produced by the action of fungus on fallen oak. Designs for articles were often taken from designs of Berlin wool work.

Art in Seventeenth Century Holland : the National Gallery, 30th September to 12th December 1976 : by Christopher Brown National Gallery London. Published by Order of the Trustees, Pu...

Unusual, sterling silver-mounted threaded crystal match striker with hand-blown light green handles, London, circa 1910. Hallmarks are rubbed in ...

Edwardian Period, sterling silver-mounted threaded crystal match striker, Birmingham, England, Ca. 1910 (year mark is rubbed), Salmon and Gluckstein, Ltd.- makers. Measures 2 1/2 inc...

AUTHOR: DICKENS, Charles. TITLE: Our Mutual Friend. (20 Parts in 19). PUBLISHER: London: Chapman and Hall, 1865. DESCRIPTION: FIRST EDITION A PERFECT SET IN THE ORIGINAL 19 PARTS. first issue of text with "pricipal" for "principal" in part 14, illustrated by Marcus Stone, original pictorial blue paper wrappers. CONDITION: A completely unsophisticated set with none of the spines being rebacked, some wear to the head and foot of spines, chipping to a few corners, internally clean and bright...

Sotheby's Art at Auction 1997-1998 Edited by Emma Lawson. Published by Sotheby's, London, 1997. 1st Ed hardcover with dust jacket. This annual reference...

A lovely SIGNED LIMITED EDITION by the GOLDEN COCKEREL PRESS Bates, H.E. / John Nash ill. Flowers and Faces. Waltham Saint Lawrence: Golden C...

A beautiful English Wedgwood Jasperware plate or dish with scallop seashell design, circa 20th century, England. This piece is a matte stonew...

One of the most desirable of all nineteenth century color plate books. RARE. Morris, Richard. Flora Conspicua; A Selection of the most ornamental flowering, hard, exotic and indig...

A rare first edition, with near-fine dust jacket of the children's classic. Grahame, Kenneth. The Wind in the Willows; with a frontispiece by Graham Robertson. London: Methuen and Co., 1908. First Edition. 8vo. 7 1/2 x 4 3/4 in. (190 x 120 mm). pp. [1] + viii + 302 + i. Laid paper, deckle edges, t.e.g. With a captioned frontispieces, "And a River went out of Eden", on coated paper after a pen-and-ink drawing by Walford Graham Robertson (1866 – 1948); tissue guard. Original blue-green cloth with gilt illustration on the spine (Toad dressed in a driving outfit and goggles) and upper cover ( Pan playing flute to Rat and Mole by the river) and a single gilt rule on the upper cover. In the second issue publisher's pictorial peach-color dust jacket printed in black with price of 7/6 instead of 6/-.The spine of the dust jacket slightly darkened but in excellent condition with a couple small tears at head expertly repaired on verso; scattered foxing and discoloration to dust jacket and pages, wear to spine edges consistent with age. [Grolier: One Hundred Books Famous in Children's Literature, no.61; Osborne I, p. 349; Hunt p. 45 & 66; Hahn, D. Oxford Companion to Children's Literature, p. 241-242] Condition: Near fine in Near fine dust-jacket. This is the FIRST EDITION with a SCARCE DUST JACKET of one of the essential classics of children's literature. The book is based on bedtime stories that the Scottish-born banker and author Kenneth Grahame...

A handsome and scarce English Arts & Crafts period miniature oak bureau from the early 20th century. Exquisitely hand-crafted in England over a century ago, exceptionally executed, t...

1 Volume. Mrs. Steuart Erskine, Beautiful Women in History and Art. Bound in full brown morocco with boards displaying gilt corner and border detailing...

This vintage stunning Edwardian platinum & diamond lavalier necklace dates from the early 20th century. The hand crafted pendant is both beautiful & alluring. It is embellished with ...

Folds into a rectangular table perfect for a coffee table. Folds open for the green baize playing surface with stick and balls.

Title: HIDCOTE THE GARDEN AND LAWRENCE JOHNSTON. Published by The National Trust, 2007. Hardcover with jacket. Often described as “the most beautiful garden in England,” Hidcote is...

1 Volume. Aeschylus, The Tragedies. First Edition. Bound in full brown calf with the covers displaying a modern Cambridge-style paneled design, toned and s...

Remarkable in scale and artistry, this George III-style cup and cover was created by the famed London silversmith Hannah Northcote. Set on a circular foot and taking the form of a vase, the cup features two leaf-capped handles and a detachable domed cover crowned with a bud finial. Astounding in craftsmanship given the scarcity of gold at the time of its creation, the sentimental message engraved within the frontal cartouche indicates the prestigious provenance that further distinguishes this cup. Originally commissioned by Robert Peel, the father of 19th century British Prime Minister Robert Peel, the gold cup...

Sotheby's Summer Travel The New Grand Tour, Aspen, Basel and More The Dukes Of Northumberland 500 Years Of Collecting, June-July 2014 London and New York. Published by Sotheby's, 2014. 1st Ed softcover. Beautifully illustrated catalog with great information on museums, books on travel, summertime attractions in NYC, Aspen Art...

An antique 19th century Victorian period market scale by J.H. Piper & Co. of Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England, UK. Cast iron base, bowl rest, interio...

A one of a kind! Created in England circa 1850, this "Peson" (or spring balance scale) was used in butcher shops to weight animals ( pigs, sheep, ...

Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers. London: Chatto & Windus for the FLORENCE PRESS, 1910. Limited Edition. 4to, 10 x 7 1/2 in. (253 x 189 mm); [6] leaves, including 1 blank + 120 pp + [2] leaves, including 1 blank. 12 chromolithographed plates by Norman Wilkinson, printed on plate paper and not included in the pagination, legends on tissue guards printed in red. This is COPY no. 4 OF 12 COPIES PRINTED ON VELLUM, as noted on the limitation page, on verso of second leaf: «Of this edition of Virginibus Puerisque / have been printed on Aldwych hand- / made paper 250 copies, of which 235 are / for sale; on vellum 12 copies, of which 10 / are for sale. / Vellum Copy No. 4». Limp vellum binding with four green ties; gilt lettering on spine and upper cover, t.e.g. Very faint spotting to front free endpaper, slight offsetting of ties. Otherwise a pristine copy. Provenance: William Russell Flint (from the family, by descent). [Beinecke, Stevenson 79; Ransom 278:6; Tomkinson 85:6; Prideaux 13] Fine. A splendid edition of Stevenson's first collection of essays which promote a spirit of playfulness in defiance of both the hardships of human life and the restrictions imposed by bourgeois callowness. The volume brought together essays that had been previously published in the Cornhill Magazine and Macmillan’s: “Virginibus Puerisque i” (1876); “ ii” (1881); “iii: On Falling in Love” (1877); “iv: The Truth of Intercourse” (1879); “Crabbed Age and Youth” (1878); “An Apology for Idlers” (1877); “Ordered South” (1874); “Aes Triplex” (1878); “El Dorado” (1878); “The English Admirals” (1878); “Some Portraits by Raeburn” (previously unpublished); “Child’s Play” (1878); “Walking Tours” (1876); “Pan’s Pipes” (1878); “A Plea for Gas Lamps” (1878) The essays inspired Norman WILKINSON (1878 – 1971) to create the 12 striking and lyrical images that accompany the texts. Wilkinson was a British artist, renowned for his poster work and honored by the British Admiralty for coming up with the idea and design for “dazzle camouflage...

A lovely Whittington Press edition of POEMS by Seamus Heaney, Melvyn Bragg, D. J. Enright, U A. Fanthorpe, Michael Foot, Duncan Forbes, John Fuller, Seamus Heanery, Michael Horovitz, Ted Hughes, Adrian Mitchell, Jenny Joseph, P J Kavanagh, Laurei Lee, Ptere Levi, Brian Patten, Lawrence Sail, Jon Silkin, Jon Stallworthy, Charles Tomlinson. POEMS FOR ALAN HANCOX Andoversford: Whittington Press, 1993. First, Limited Edition. Royal 8vo, 11 x 7 7/8 in. (280 x 200mm); pp. 41; Two wood engravings by Miriam Macgregor. Number XXXVIII of 50 specially-bound, signed opposite the title-page by each of the 19 contributors, with signed proofs of the two engravings on Zerkall cream wove paper (265 x 190 mm) in a pocket at the back. Set in Goudy Modern and printed in black, the wood-engravings in brown, on Zerkall cream smooth laid paper on the Heidelberg press. Quarter-bound at the fine Bindery in brown Oasis and Whittington printed paper-covered boards, gilt spine titling, headbands, top edge gilt, mauve Hahnenühle endpapers; matching paper-covered slipcase, reinforced in brown buckram at the head and foot. A fine copy in a fine slipcase. [Butcher 118] Condition: fine. An elegant tribute to Alan Hancox was assembled by Alan Tucker...

The Chessplayer & Other Essays by Edward Thomas, with an introduction by R. George Thomas and with two wood-engravings by Hellmuth Weissenborn. Andoversford: Whittington Press, 1981. Limited Edition. Royal 8vo, 9 7/8 x 6 1/8 in. (250 x 155mm); pp. viii +28 + colophon. Two small wood engravings...

English Victorian Modern sterling silver smoking box 1885. Rectangular with straight sides. Scroll-bracket handle mounted to central panel between two hing...

Sotheby's Art At Auction 1999 - 2000, Edited by Emma Lawson. 'sPublished by Sotheby's Parke Bernet Publications, London, 2000. 1st Ed hardcover with dust jacket. This annual referenc...

An extensive biography of the life of Louis XIII king of France who ruled from 1610-1643. This volume is the first edition of Howell's work and retains its original full calf...

AUTHOR: SLOANE, William Milligan. TITLE: The Life Of Napoleon Bonaparte. PUBLISHER: London: The Times Book Club, 1912. DESCRIPTION: NEW REVISED AND ENLARGED EDITION. 4 vols., 8" ...

Antique Victorian Brass and Scottish Agate Postal scale with Weights, Circa 1865-1870.

Late 19th century English Victorian painted diorama wall plaque of clipper ship with red flag painted in cloudy sky in mahogany frame.  

Large Antique English goose neck merchant's scale signed "Bartlett & Sons" of Bristol, England, circa 1880. Heavy Brass Commodity Scale with Weights Included

A fine antique 18th century map of the North American seaboard. Entitled "A New Map of North America from the Latest Discoveries 1763". By the Cartographer/Engraver - John Spil...

Art At Auction The Year At Sotheby's 1980-1981, by Sotheby's. Published by Sotheby Publications, 1981. 1st Ed hardcover with dust jacket. This annual reference work provides a view o...

Author: Woolf, Virginia. Title: The Years. Publisher: London: The Hogarth Press, 1937. Description: First Edition. 1 vol., 7-3/16" x 4-15/16", boun...

Kane, Paul (1810-1871) Wanderings of an Artist Among the Indians of North America; From Canada to Vancouver Island and Oregon Through the Hud...

17th Century English carved oak corbel “The Green Man”. Rare antique decorative architectural ornament of the enigmatic Green Man. Images and carvings ca...

Elizabeth, the Queen Mother : A Twentieth Century Life by Grania Forbes. Elizabeth, the Queen Mother is a celebration of the life of the nation''s most t...

Art at Auction: The Year at Sotheby's, 1985-86, Edit by Georgia Fogg. Printed by Sotheby's, London. 1st Ed hardcover with dust jacket. This annual reference work provides a view of t...

Art at Auction : The Year at Sotheby's 1981-1982. Published by Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1982. 1st Ed hardcover with dust jacket. This annual reference work provides a view of the year's...

The Price Guide to Victorian Silver by Ian Harris. Clopton Woodbridge: The Antique Collectors' Club, 1971. 1st Ed hardcover with dust jacket. 275 pp. A guid...

Sotheby's great sales 1987-1988 by Sotheby's Institute of Art. Barrie & Jenkins 1988, London. 1st Ed with dust jacket. This annual reference work provides a view of the year's develo...

An important and striking Walnut Chest dating from the Early 18th Century with fine color and original hardware. The slightly overhanging top over three graduated long drawers that l...

This collection contains Scots Guards and other English regiments. The soldiers have various poses, these include running attack, laying prone with weapons, standing to attention and...

Author: AUSTEN, Jane. Title: The Novels (Works and Letters) of Jane Austen. Publisher: Edinburgh: John Grant, 1911-12. Description: The Winchester...

Sailor's Woolwork of Royal Navy on Checkerboard Sea, circa 1865 The British sailor's woolie depicts a port side view of a three-masted ship with trapunto white sails on a rough s...

Persian Paintings in the India Office Library: A Descriptive Catalogue by India Office Library. Published by Sotheby Parke Bernet, London, 1976. 1st Ed hardcover with dust jacket. The catalog covers...

Rare, Art Deco Period, sterling silver-mounted glass owl-form match striker (with original glass eyes), London, England, year-hallmarked for 1925. Excellent detail. Matches are stru...