2012 saw three major players in the UK fine art and collectibles industry (Apex, Baldwin’s and Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions) combine to create the UK’s newest ‘top 5’ generalist auctioneer under the banner of Noble Investments (UK) PLC. 2013 will see Baldwin’s and Dreweatts holding their first joint auction of Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria on the 5th June this year at Dreweatts London, 24 Maddox Street.
Noble Investments (UK) PLC Managing Director, Ian Goldbart, commented:
‘The collective efforts of, and expertise within Baldwin’s and Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions will enable us to provide a much broader presence in this fascinating market sector. We are delighted to be holding this inaugural joint auction and look forward to offering our vendors and buyers an enlarged platform through which to buy and sell a much broader range of collectibles.’
This first auction will contain 217 lots including the highlight of the sale, lot 6, the Superb and Extremely Rare WWII Pathfinder’s CGM & DFM Group of 5 awarded to Warrant Officer S J H Andrew, No 35 Squadron, No 8 (Pathfinder Force) Group, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve. Warrant Officer Solomon Joseph Harold Andrew was the veteran of a staggering 89 operational sorties and 315 hours of operational flying over France and Germany between November 1943 and April 1945. He was awarded the CGM and DFM for his role as an Air Gunner ‘of outstanding ability’ and considered to have skill ‘second to none’ in the Halifax and Lancaster bombers of No.8 Group – one of only 11 such gallantry combinations awarded, comprising: Conspicuous Gallantry Medal (Flying), G VI R (1715306 F/Sgt. S. J. H. Andrew. R.A.F.), Distinguished Flying Medal, G VI R. (1715306. F/Sgt. S. J. H. Andrew. R.A.F.), 1939-1945 Star, Air Crew Europe Star with copy ‘France and Germany’ clasp, War Medal 1939-45; the first two officially engraved, the remainder unnamed as issued, group court-mounted on board, with reverse pin for wear. This is an extremely rare and desirable group and is estimated to sell for £12,000 – 15,000.
In addition, lot 37, a Herbert Morton Stoops (1888-1948) oil on canvas, entitled ‘Strange Meeting, Argonne 1918’ is included in the sale. The picture portrays a British WWI soldier encountering a group of soldiers in a trench, only to discover they are skeletons. Previously exhibited at the King Street Galleries in 1991 as part of a third exhibition of Paintings, Drawings and Sculpture, presented by David Cohen Fine Art, this extraordinary painting is estimated at £2000 – £3000. The painting was used as the image on the cover of the exhibition catalogue as a representation of one of the most fertile periods in the history of British art. In the introduction to the catalogue, Jenny Spencer-Smith (Head of the Department of Fine and Decorative Art – The National Army Museum, London) describes the painting as inspiring ‘disturbing emotions’.
Also included in the sale are a number of fascinating items including, lot 37, a rare and emotive South Africa 1879 Casualty Medal, estimated at £10,000 – 12,000; lot 153, a pair of silver-mounted flintlock pistols for presentation to a Potentate, estimated at £2,000 – £3,000 and lot 175, An 1878 Pattern Home Service Officer’s Blue Cloth Helmet belonging to Henry Singleton Pennel VC Derbyshire & Sherwood Foresters (1874 – 1907), estimated at £1,200 – 1,500.
The full catalogue for this auction can be viewed online at www.baldwin.co.uk or at www.dnfa.com