GEORGE TINWORTH 'HUMORESQUE' WILL HAVE BUYERS SMILING IN CANTERBURY SPRING AUCTION

But pottery Punch and Judy show is no joke

First it was frogs playing rugby, a jokey Victorian pottery ornament called The Scrimmage. It sold for an estimate-busting £5,100, which was no joke in anyone's book. This time it's mice watching a Punch and Judy show and its owner is hoping it will sell just as well. He'll find out on Tuesday March 24, when the model, titled "Play Goers", goes under the hammer at The Canterbury Auction Galleries.

Both were made at the Doulton pottery works in Lambeth in central London by the George Tinworth, and both come from the same Hertfordshire owner who was so pleased with the price for Scrimmage that he has decided to part with another from his collection.

A more unlikely a subject for one of Doulton's leading ceramic sculptors to make would be hard to imagine. Most times would find Tinworth immersed in creating massive stoneware panels depicting Biblical or historical scenes. Examples can be seen in a number of cathedrals around the world, notably those in York Minster.

However, he is reported as having complained of being unable to finish such pieces satisfactorily "with a tired mind". His jokey 'humoresques', as he called them, showing animals in human situations, was his way of finding light relief. Consequently, they were produced in small numbers and without documentation, except for Tinworth's easily identified 'GT' monogram which many of them bear, hence today's often staggering prices.

Play Goers shows three mice with their backs to the viewer watching the show, while the Punch and Judy man - another mouse - can be seen peeping out above the stage. Flanking the booth are two further mice, one playing a hurdy gurdy and pipes, while the other holds a collection plate. Like Scrimmage, it is estimated at £3,000-4,000 reflecting its perfect condition, but such models are rare and sought after.

Everyone dreams of finding a valuable antique or work of art in their attic, so it was with some trepidation that an oil painting was taken to one of the saleroom's free Friday morning valuation days. The view of Newlyn Harbour with sailing boats and figures on the quay was discovered forgotten and gathering dust when its owner inherited his parents' house. It was painted by Gyrth Russell (1892-1971) who was born in Nova Scotia. Russell was Canada's official war artist but settled in England after the First World War. In its original frame, the painting is estimated at £1,500-2,000, despite some surface cracking.

Three oils by the Whitstable artist Daniel Sherrin (1868-1940) came from another deceased estate and were "found" in a charming Queen Anne house in Eastry, near Dover. They show respectively a field of cut hay with figures and a wagon being drawn by two horses (estimate £1,000-1,500); a village scene with pond to the foreground and church and cottages in the background (£900-1,200) and a river landscape at sunset with village and church in the distance (£750-1,000). Sherrin is known as a prolific and accomplished artist but also a character who frequently paid his bar bills with a painting and yet was a great benefactor to charity.

Few people know that Australian TV personality Rolf Harris (78) has a serious background in fine art. They remember him best for his "wobble board" and the hit song "Two Little Boys". In fact, Rolf attended the City and Guilds Art School at Kennington in the early 1950s and has exhibited at the prestigious London Royal Academy. His picture of two Aborigines in a canoe on a moonlit night could hardly be classed as fine art, but it was a thrilling memento for Viv Ayres and the appearance of her Kent dance troupe, The Bluebirds, on BBC TV gameshow The Generation Game. Now Viv has decided to sell the picture, which is estimated at £400-600 click here to learn more.

The sale also includes a small collection of humourous limited edition proof coloured etchings by Kent artist Graham Clarke (b. 1941) whose meticulously drawn scenes capture the idiosyncrasies of rural English life. Educated at Beckenham Art School and the Royal College of Art, Clarke designed posters for London Transport, but he is best known for his arch top etchings, a format established in 1973, when his exhibition at the Royal Academy Summer Show was a sell-out. His work in the sale has such titles as The Snook Cocker, Notte Today, Nethercott and Rue de Wakening which carry estimates from £150 -300. They come from a large house in Faversham.

Capturing the idiosyncrasies of early advertising employed to market Whitstable's famous native oysters are two early 20th century shop display advertising cards - "The Seasalter & Ham Oyster Fishery Co. Ltd., Whitstable", one showing a plate of oysters with the oyster fleet in the background, the other with decorative address label. They are estimated together at £500-700.

Highlight in works of art and collectors' items is a fine 19th century French desk set, possibly by Morel & Cie of Paris, one of the leading manufacturers of the period. This would appear to be appropriate given that the three-piece set has retained its original velvet covered box embroidered in silver wire with arms which the auctioneer has identified as those of King William III of the Netherlands (1817-1890). The gold coloured metal and red jasper desk set comprises a paper knife with mother-of-pearl blade, a pen and a desk seal, each set with finials and mounts inset with turquoise and cast figures of salamanders. It is estimated at £3,000-5,000.

An equally unlikely object to turn up in a Kent saleroom is a gift from a U.S. President to a Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. The framed black and white photograph of Dwight Eisenhower (1890-1969) is signed in full and inscribed "To the Rt. Honorable Sir John Kotelawala, best wishes and high esteem". It is estimated at £400-600.

A Folkestone collector has chosen this sale to disperse a small number of Victorian bravery medals which recall some of the most historic campaigns in military history. They include a Crimea medal with bar for Sebastopol awarded to a crewmember of HMS Gladiator (estimate £250-350); Afghanistan, Egypt and China medals (each £150-200) and a pair to "41177 Pte. L. Maddin, Second Battalion Derbyshire Regiment" and later "Notts. & Derbyshire Regiment" comprising the India medal 1895, with bars for Punjab Frontier 1897-98 and Tirah 1897-98, and a Queen's South Africa medal. The pair is estimated at £200-300.

Pick of a number of good longcase clocks is a late 18th century mahogany cased example by John Vidion of Faversham, who is recorded as working in the town before 1774 to 1801. The arched silvered dial has subsidiary seconds dial and date aperture, and shows phases of the moon to the arch in a case with an attractive pagoda top and fluted and brass topped quarter columns. The clock is estimated at £3,000-4,000 and comes from an Essex vendor impressed by the price a similar clock by the same maker made in a sale at The Canterbury Auction Galleries last year.

A late 19th century mahogany longcase clock by Herbert Blockley, "Successor to Lund & Blockley, Duke Street, St. James's, London", has a brass dial with silvered chapter ring and chime/silent and chime/selector dials to the arch. The movement strikes and chimes on eight bells and a gong and is contained in a London style case with pagoda top. It is estimated at £2,000-3,000, while a typically Dutch late 17th or early 18th century oak and marquetry longcase by Bernard Van der Cloesen of The Hague, is the most valuable in the sale. It is estimated at £6,000-8,000.

From a London collector, the clock has a brass dial with silvered chapter ring and apertures for phases of the moon and calendar. The movement has an alarum mechanism and strikes on two bells and is contained in an oak and marquetry case inlaid with birds, ribbon and trailing leaf and flower motifs. Bernard van der Cloesen (before1650-1736) was born in Emmerik and having been married in the Hague, became a citizen of the city in 1688. With the establishment of the Clockmaker's Guild in 1688, he became Warden and later Master. In 1699, he succeeded Lubbertus van der Burgh as City Clockmaker for the Hague, being succeeded by one his sons, also Bernard, in 1735. In 1694, van der Cloesen made Christian Huygen's last clock for measuring longitude at sea.

Netherlands buyers will also be keen to repatriate a good 17th century Dutch rosewood and ebony Kast - a large, free-standing cupboard with two doors - but they'll need several men to remove it from the saleroom and a big house to accommodate it, which is why it's been sent for sale in the first place. At almost eight feet high and six feet wide, the family who inherited it simply couldn't cope.

Auctioneer Tony Pratt was shown the cupboard as it was delivered - in pieces because it was too big to put back together. "When I saw it I, joked with the owner that it was big enough to move into, "Tony Pratt said. "However, its quality and size is a definite plus to many people and we anticipate a great deal of interest, particularly from the Netherlands."

Topped by a deep overhanging cornice and a moulded frieze carved with a leaf and floral swag to the centre, the upper fitted cupboard has a pair of heavy panelled doors with raised centre panels, interspersed by plain split turned columns with cherub's head and scroll capitols above one narrow drawer. The base has a second cupboard and raised panelled doors with two drawers below and the whole stands on heavy turned bun feet. It is estimated at £3,000-5,000.

Viewing for the Spring sale is on Sunday March 22 from 1-5pm; Monday March 23 from 10am-7pm and on the morning of the sale from 8.30. The sale starts at 10am. For further information, please contact the auctioneer, Anthony Pratt on 01227 763337 or click here.

FINE ART TO THE FORE IN EWBANK SPRING SALE

1100-lot auction is dominated by good pictures and prints

The Spring sale of fine art and antiques at Surrey auctioneers Ewbank will include some of the best – and most valuable – paintings offered for some time. More than half the 1,100-plus lots to be offered in the sale on Wednesday and Thursday March 18-19 are pictures and prints which alone are expected to raise around £100,000. They will be sold on the second day.

Interestingly, the sale also includes some of the most attractively priced paintings offered: more than 1,600 watercolours which represent the life work of Kent artist the late Keith Burtonshaw. Landscape views of areas of natural beauty from around the country, they will be sold in lots of three of four with estimates of £40-60 per lot. Click here for more on Burtonshaw.

In contrast, an oil portrait of Maid Marion, Lady Marian Fitzwalter of Leaford, the heroine to the legendary outlaw Robin Hood, is estimated at £10,000-12,000. Painted by the English born American artist George Henry Boughton (1833-1905), the picture shows Maid Marion in the garb of a Sherwood Forrester. Boughton was a member of the National Academy of New York, and an associate of the Royal Academy after 1879.

Close behind at £8,000-12,000 is another beautiful oil on canvas, a landscape depicting trees in blossom by the avant-garde Irish artist Letitia Marion Hamilton (1878-1964). Hamilton studied under William Orpen and Frank Brangwyn and in 1920 was a founder member of the Society of Dublin Painters, which took Irish art in a new direction.

A portrait of an Irish water spaniel, the dog sitting proudly in a landscape, by Clifton Thomas (1755-1828) is estimated at £4,000-6,000

The most valuable watercolour in the sale is by another woman artist, although this time from Canada. Emily M Carr (1871-1945) developed her style in part from the study of the art of native American Indians. She also studied in San Francisco, London and Paris and is represented in the sale by a scene in a wooded glade with an open landscape in the distance which is estimated at £5,000-8,000.

Sidney Nolan (1917-1992) was one of Australia’s most famous artists, probably best known for his depictions of the notorious bushranger Ned Kelly and his work is widely sought after. The Ewbank sale includes a single owner collection of 17 works by the artist, 12 of which are signed limited edition prints. They include numbers 1 and 3 from an edition of 75 showing Kelly lying dead on a horse being led by the sergeant of the squad that captured him, each of which is estimated at £300-500. A further five are from an edition of 60 titled Carcase which are each estimated at £500-1,000. One of two works in mixed media depicting Leda and the Swan is inscribed on the reverse ‘to Vick Happy New Year, New York. 1959 -60 with love X Sidney' and is estimated at £1,000-2,000. The other shows a rearing horse and is dated 6.6.56. It is estimated at £600-1,000, while a pastel titled Cantos of the Eye is estimated at £400-600.

Oldest paintings in the sale are two late 17th or early 18th century oils, more valuable of which is a Continental School landscape with a courting couple seated on a bridge with a ruined classical rotunda in the hills of the background. It is estimated at £4,000-6,000, while a bloody battle scene with horses and riders by the Flemish artist M Veer is estimated at £3,000-5,000.

Another battle, this one at sea, is re-enacted in an oil by John Bentham Dinsdale (b. 1927) titled The Niger, Tagus, capture the French Ceres 5th January 1814. An inscription on the reverse is interesting to marine historians. It reads: 'After a day long chase and through the night but on the second day the Niger came up with the French ship. After a spirited action the Tagus took over the fight and after a fierce and bloody struggle took the French surrender. The Ceres was taken into the Royal Navy and given the name Seine. The action referred to took place in the Cape Verde Islands, off the western coast of Africa. The French frigate's top mast was shot away and she was therefore unable to escape. The Frigate Ceres, commanded by the Baron de Bourgainville, was on her maiden voyage from France. Shortly afterwards the Tagus and The Phoebe arrived at Pitcairn Island and where greeted by descendants of the HMS Bounty mutineers who landed there some 27 years earlier. The painting is estimated at £3,500-5,000.

Earliest piece of furniture in the sale is probably the late 16th or early 17th century so-called Armada strong box, an iron-clad affair topped by an oversize key which juts out from the lid and operates the customary intricate locking mechanism beneath. It is estimated at £300-500.

More valuable and almost as venerable in furniture is an imposing 17th century oak wainscot chair carved with leaves and scrolls, which is estimated at £6.000-8,000, while collectors of early oak will also be interested in a good 18th century oak dresser with plate rack back and cupboards and drawers to the base, which carries the same estimate, and an 18th century dining table (estimate £2,000-3,000). Pick of the early furniture, however, is probably a William and Mary walnut writing table with folding top and bobbin turned gate legs, which is estimated at £6,000-8,000.

Regency furniture is noted for its elegance and an unusually small rosewood drum top table from the period is no exception. It is estimated at £3,000-5,000, while equally elegant is Iris chair, a contemporary metal creation by Gerard Rigot. Rigot (b. 1929) was primarily a painter but turned to sculpture and furniture making, being best known for his fanciful chairs combining plants and animals. Iris chair, was made circa 2000 and as its name suggests, is modelled around stems and buds of the flower which form its back. It is estimated at £800-1,200.

In works of art, a pair of late 14th or early 15th century German bronze pricket candlesticks, each with three lion mask feet, is estimated at £3,500-5,000. The candlesticks were originally in the collection of the Pitt Rivers Museum in Farnham, Dorset and purchased by the vendor in a Christie’s sale in about 1978.

However, there is no doubt about the oldest objects in the sale – the auctioneer has a thermo luminescence analysis from the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art confirming that a Chinese Han Dynasty pottery figure of a standing boar was made between 1,500 and 2,300 years ago. In Chinese folklore, boars symbolise the wealth of the forest, and the model would have been a burial object with other animals and figures. It is estimated at £3,000-5,000.

From the same vendor is a pair of Chinese pottery figures of dogs or mythological beasts which were tested by the Ashmoleum Museum and confirmed to date from the six dynasty period of AD220-586 They too would probably have been burial objects and are estimated at £10,000-15,000. From the same country is a pair of baluster-shaped jars and lids decorated with fish, flowers and foliage, but dating from the 19th century, estimated at £3,000-5,000.

Arguably the most curious object in the sale, however, is 19th century lifesize lady mannequin, which was presumably once used as an aide to a dressmaker. The slim, yet somewhat moth-eaten young woman has a papier maché head and is supported on her original stand with a drawer which has retained the original key for fixing her positions. A statuesque companion of some 5 feet 7 inches tall on her stand, she was apparently acquired by the vendor at the sale of the contents of a French chateau. Bids of £2,500-4,000 are required to take her home.

The entire sale is on view on Saturday March 14 from 10am to 2pm; Monday March 16 from 10am to 5pm and Tuesday March 17 from 10am to 8pm. There will also be viewing on each sale day from 9.30-10am. For further information, please contact the auctioneers on 01483 223101. The sale catalogue with all lots illustrated is also be available for online viewing here.

ARTIST’S LIFETIME WORK IN AUCTION

Marathon will disperse 1,600 works in unique memorial sale

An artist’s lifetime work of paintings of beauty spots around the country will be sold in a marathon day-long auction to be conducted by Surrey fine art auctioneers Ewbank on Thursday March 19.

The 1,600 watercolour and oil landscapes by Keith Burtonshaw are expected to raise more than £20,000 making the sale an attractive opportunity for buyers of highly decorative and attractive works at affordable prices. They show such areas of natural beauty as Scotland and the Scottish Highlands, the Lake District, the South Downs, the West Country and East Anglia, the Derbyshire Moors, the Yorkshire Dales, Kent, London and Surrey, all painted with sensitivity in an atmospheric style and quality.

Bachelor Keith Burtonshaw (1930-2008) was a highly competent self-taught amateur artist, influenced by Constable, Gainsborough and Reynolds. He was born and lived in Beckenham, Kent, the son of a train driver who worked hard to educate his son by sending him to Penge Grammar School. However, the boy was less than academic, although he did show a great aptitude for art. As a result, he spent many hours during his youth in libraries, studying the work of the masters in reference books and visiting galleries, viewing the work of established artists.

After school, a series of odd jobs was followed by a period in the RAF, during which time he trained as a pilot. He subsequently worked as a clerk in the Beckenham office of the Prudential insurance company, but painting was his life and landscapes were his lifelong interest. He toured the country, capturing the mood and atmosphere of his favourite views, his handling of light making his pictures both technically accomplished and charming. Watercolour was his principal medium, but the collection includes a number of oils.

Burtonshaw was a member of the British Watercolour Society, the London Sketch Club, the United Society of Artists, the National Society of Painters, and Bromley Art Society. He also exhibited at the Royal Society of Marine Artists and the Royal Institute of Painters in Watercolours in London. His work can be found in collections around the world but his pictures have appeared only occasionally at auction previously, making the Ewbank sale a unique opportunity for collectors.

Ewbank will sell the collection in lots comprising three or four works based on the regional subject matter. The watercolours will be sold in lots of three or four estimated at £40-60, while the oils on board will be sold in twos, each estimated at £50-100

The sale is on view on Saturday March 14 from 10am to 2pm; Monday March 16 from 10am to 5pm; Tuesday March 17 from 10am to 8pm and on the morning of the sale, which starts at 10.30am. For further information, please contact the aauctioneers on 01483 223101 or click here.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS YET?

Rolf Harris Generation Game painting set to bring cash windfall for Kent dance troupe leader

It was a magical moment for the majorettes in the Kent dance troupe The Bluebirds when Larry Grayson invited them to perform on the BBC TV gameshow The Generation Game.

It was also a special day for Viv Ayres, who ran the troupe with her husband, John. Standing in the wings with her watching the girls perform their routine for the contestants to copy was the multi-talented Australian personality Rolf Harris.

He was there to paint one of his famous enormous pictures, the impromptu subject of which was always something of a mystery until the final few strokes of his brush – usually with bristles the size of a paperback book.

To Viv’s delight, after the show was over, Rolf presented her with the painting as a keepsake reminder of the occasion.

“The problem was the size of the picture,” Mrs Ayres said. It’s nearly seven feet wide and two feet deep and we didn’t have a wall big enough to display it.” Ever since, the painting – it shows two Aborigines in a canoe on a moonlit night – has been kept carefully rolled up and stored. But now Viv and Jon have decided to sell it.

“We kept it out of harm’s way on top of the wardrobe and it’s been there ever since. Then one day we were watching ‘Celebrity Cash in the Attic’ on TV and Sian Phillips, one of the celebrities, had a painting by Rolf which she wanted to sell to raise money for charity.

“We never really thought about its value until then but it’s time our painting went to someone with the space to display it and appreciate it.”

Mrs and Mrs Ayres took the painting to one of the regular free Friday morning valuation days at The Canterbury Auction Galleries, where it will be offered in a sale of fine art and antiques on Tuesday March 24. It is inscribed “To The Bluebirds nice memories of the Generation Game August 1981 With love, Rolf Harris” and his signature cartoon self-portrait. It is expected to sell for up to £600.

Retired school cook Mrs Ayres, 66, and husband John, 70, a retired bus driver, formed The Bluebirds troupe in Maidstone in 1974, quickly building a reputation for entertaining the crowds wherever they appeared. Word of their success reached the BBC and the invitation to appear on The Generation Game followed.

Rolf Harris, now 78, is best known for his “wobble board” performances of traditional Australian songs. He recently re-recorded his 1969 hit “Two Little Boys” to mark the end of the First World War, Proceeds from the new release will go to the Poppy Appeal.

However, he has also has serious background in fine art. He was formally trained in art in at the City and Guilds Art School at Kennington in the early 1950s and has exhibited at the prestigious London Royal Academy.

In 2000, he received honorary membership from the Royal Society of British Artists, joining a distinguished list that includes names such as Sir Winston Churchill and James McNeil Whistler. His portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, featured in a special edition of the BBC TV show Rolf on Art which he presented, was voted by readers of the Radio Times to be the third favourite portrait of Her Majesty.

His paintings have sold in the big London salerooms and are now sought after by collectors.

Picture shows Auctioneer Michael Roberts and specialist Cliona Milroy with the huge Rolf Harris painting.

For further information, please contact the auctioneer on 01227 763337 or click here.