LONDON.- On 3 June Bonhams launches a brand new decorative arts sale offering furniture, sculpture, works of art, fine British ceramics, fine British and Colonial Silver and Portrait Miniatures.

Under the name, ‘Britain: Defining the Interior’, the sale will take place at Bonhams New Bond Street. It is being co-ordinated by Fergus Lyons, Head of Furniture and Michael Moorcroft, Head of Silver at Bonhams.

Michael Moorcroft explains: “This new sale offers a cross-section of the best in British decorative arts, and the chance for collectors and designers to see them in relation to each other. The catalogue will present groups of objects in real life settings to show how effectively they can be displayed together.”

A furniture suite by John Gordon (1760-1770), for example, appears in the catalogue against a dramatic architectural backdrop that emphasizes its potential. The chairs are estimated at £200,000 to £300,000 and the sofa at £100,000. “This suite, which was once in the collection of Jules Stein of MCA records, epitomises the zenith of 18th century English furniture making,” says Sally Stratton of Bonhams Furniture department.

The ceramics in the sale include major discoveries. Two 17th century slipware dishes by Thomas Toft and Ralph Simpson are estimated at £35,000-£50,000 each and a London delftware tankard worth £40,000-50,000 celebrates a wedding from the time of Charles II. These masterpieces of early pottery have not been on the market in more than a century. A Swansea pottery supper set from 1806 featuring a menagerie of exotic animals - including a tiger and other big cats, a Chevrotain, a kangaroo and a Nylghau (an Indian Antelope) – is estimated at £25,000.

John Sandon, head of ceramics at Bonhams says: ‘These pieces sum up everything I love about early British pottery. These are amongst the finest folk art that Britain produced.’

An impressive George III silver Tempietto Épergne by Joseph Preedy, London 1802 estimated at £50,000-70,000 is among the fine silver pieces in the sale which also include a George III hot water jug in the style of Robert Adam from Ickworth, house of the Marquess of Bristol. Estimated at £8,000-12,000, it is almost identical to a jug held at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The sale will go on view at Bonhams 101, New Bond Street from Sunday 31 May until 3 June.