ESSEX.- Lovers of taxidermy and Sir Rod Stewart delight. The singer has had a clear-out and is offering fans the chance to buy a piece of his quirky interior style.
Among the 20 items for sale are a stuffed and mounted fox, estimate at £2000-300, a George III carved and gilt wood settee with a price tag of £1,500-2000 and a couple of elaborate gilt wood clocks.
Stewart and his wife Penny had a sort-out of their belongings after selling their home in Epping, Essex last year.
Sworders Fine art auctioneers sold some of Stewart’s furnishings at this time and is putting a second wave of items under the hammer this month.
Leading the price list is a George III marble-topped gilt wood hall table with a price tag of £4,000-6,000.
John Black of Sworders said “ Last year at about this time he sold some of his items with us because he was selling his house in Essex”
This is what we have this time, more items from them. He’s having a clear-out”
A Flag Day for Sworders
During the Great War there were many fundraising events designed to provide aid to wounded soldiers or those suffering in the theatre of war. Thousands of British women of all classes became involved in Voluntary Aid Detachments (VADs) and some put their organisational skills to use by setting up and running their own war charities. Particularly popular were 'flag-days', when small colourful paper flags, emblems and badges were sold for a penny or more each. Agnes Brysson Morrison, the daughter of an Edinburgh lawyer, is credited with starting the movement that would raise over £25m before the war's end.
Although produced in large numbers these paper flags were quickly discarded and are surprisingly rare today. A collection of 47 different 'penny flags’ will form part of the Military section in Sworders’ Homes and Interiors sale on October 29. Each pin is dated in the album (from March 10, 1915 to April 25, 1917) with examples including the fabric pink rose for Queen Alexandra's Rose Charity (June 21 1916); 'Help Russia' (July 4th 1916) and 'YMCA Hut Day', The Young Men's Christian Association opened hostels for soldiers on leave and awaiting training who had to stay overnight in London - these were known as huts. This evocative collection is estimated at £80-120.
Imperial Chinese £1 charity shop find to bring £50,000
Purchased for £1 from a Hertfordshire charity shop earlier this year, a Qianlong famille rose wall vase will carry an estimate of over £50,000 at Sworders in the autumn.
The lucky purchaser of the vessel – that is inscribed with an imperial poem – was unaware of the significance of his find and had been deluged with bids and enquiries after placing it for sale on eBay. He took the decision to withdraw it from the online auction site and take it to Sworders fine art auction room for a fuller appraisal.
The 8in (19cm) high pear-shaped wall pocket with ruyi handles and a yellow ‘sgraffito’ ground is inscribed with a poem praising incense alongside a yuti mark and two iron-red seal marks reading Qianlong chen han ('the Qianlong Emperor's own mark') and Weijing weiyi (be precise, be undivided).
The wall vase now form’s part of Sworders' Asian Art auction on November 8 with an estimate of £50,000-80,000.
