Lot 528, a Regency writing table has just sold for a staggering £8k at a local Fine Art Auction breaking the auction house records for a table of this type.
The elegant writing table veneered in amboyna with gilt gesso mounts had been discovered in a property in the Tamworth area on a routine valuation visit.
Dating from the c.1820’s, the table came with a distinguished provenance as it was reputed to have once belonged to The Duke of Rutland whose seat is Belvoir Castle. Handwritten script in one of the drawers stated that it has been sold off at auction in the Edwardian era and the inscription ‘Duke of Rutland’. Measuring 140cm wide, the table was veneered in the exclusive and luxurious amboyna with the characteristic richly coloured tight scrolls making it the table of choice for any Duke. The gilt gesso acanthus detailing such as on the supports and plinth add to the drama and characterise the elegant Regency look, a look very much in fashion again with high end interior designers. Such quality or craftsmanship warranted an attribution to one of the great furniture workshops such as Gillows.
Estimated at £1.5-2k in Richard Winterton’s Fine Art Sale in Lichfield on 1st September, nationwide interest pushed the final selling price to £8k selling to a Southern buyer bidding on the phone. From the same source, Lot 525, an 1835 terrestrial library globe showing the ‘discoveries of Captain Cook’ sold for £2.7k.
Elsewhere in the same sale, Lot 526 a kingwood and tortoiseshell collectors cabinet on stand sold at top estimate for £6k. Lot 167, a rare and desirable 1815 Waterloo medal awarded to John Goulding sold for £3k adding to a total of over £15k for a collection of nineteenth century and later military medals discovered in a property in the Staffordshire moorlands.
The next Fine Art Sale is scheduled for 30th November and entries are now being invited. Contact Richard Winterton Auctioneers for further information on 01543 251081 or email [email protected]
