London, 15 February 1935 - Classics Week returns to Bonhams this summer, bringing together an exceptional program of seven live sales and four online auctions spanning 24 June to 2 July. Emblematic of over 3000 years of artistic excellence and offering works ranging in provenance from recent single-owner collections to royalty, the series offers remarkable breadth across ceramics, clocks, Old Master paintings, antiquities and fine decorative arts.
Nette Megens, Group Head, Classics, UK and Europe, commented: "Bonhams Classics Week is a celebration of the enduring power of objects to tell stories across generations. From masterpieces of European craftsmanship to rare and unexpected survivals, each work offers a window onto its time, reflecting the tastes, ambitions and global connections of the people who made and cherished it. Together, the sales demonstrate the remarkable scope of the category and the continuing appetite among collectors for works that combine beauty, history and authenticity."
FINE GLASS & BRITISH CERAMICS
24-25 June, live auction at Knightsbridge
Leading the sale is a remarkable private collection of English Delftware, including a very rare large dish, circa 1740, painted with a spotted cat playing a fiddle with an estimate of £25,000-35,000 and a 'Fox' charger, circa 1670-1685, estimated at £15,000-25,000.
Also included is the Gordon and Sue Guy-Jones collection including a rare Bow large model of a lion, circa 1750 estimated at £5,000 to 7,000, and the Damment Collection of European Glass.
500 YEARS OF EUROPEAN CERAMICS
30 June, live auction at New Bond Street
Among the highlights is a rare Herend cased armorial tea service made for Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico, circa 1864 (estimate £10,000 to 15,000). Richly decorated in the Imari-inspired "Miramare" pattern and bearing the Imperial arms and monogram "MIM", the service was donated by the Emperor to a charity raffle in 1866 in which it was won by the forebear of the present owner, representing an unbroken provenance for over 150 years.
Further highlights include a refined pair of Sèvres pink and green ground cups and saucers, circa 1760 (estimate £40,000 to 60,000), each reserved with gilt-edged panels depicting children in landscape vignettes, alongside a Sèvres bleu céleste ground seau à verre from the Louis XV service, circa 1753 to 54 (estimate £30,000 to 50,000), both from a private collection of Sèvres porcelain.
FINE CLOCKS
30 June, live auction at New Bond Street
An exceptional burr walnut longcase clock by Thomas Tompion, London, No. 385, leads the selection, with an estimate of £150,000 to 250,000. It is joined by a fine and rare pre-numbered late 17th-century ebony-veneered Dutch striking table clock of small size by Thomas Tompion, London, circa 1675 (estimate £80,000 to 120,000).
Completing the group is a good early 18th-century walnut eight-day longcase clock by George Graham, London, No. 669, estimated at £20,000 to 30,000.
OLD MASTER PAINTINGS
1 July, live auction at New Bond Street
Leading the sale is a pair of watercolours by J.M.W. Turner RA (1775 to 1851), depicting Schloss Rhäzüns, distant view (estimate £350,000 to 550,000) and Schloss Rhäzüns, near view (estimate £300,000 to 500,000), both capturing the castle which still stands today, in the Domleschg Valley in the Kanton of Graubünden in Switzerland. These works carry an especially compelling provenance, having been presented by John Ruskin to the widow of the English painter John Wharlton Bunney, and are offered at auction for the first time.
Portraiture of the late 16th and early 17th centuries is represented by Robert Peake the Elder's Portrait of Catherine Howard, Countess of Nottingham (estimate £150,000 to 200,000), depicting the prominent courtier and close confidante of Queen Elizabeth I, alongside Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger's Portrait of Thomas Howard, 14th Earl of Arundel (estimate £150,000 to 200,000). The latter, showing the Earl wearing the collar of the Order of the Garter, was most likely painted to commemorate his investiture in 1611, reflecting the status and ceremonial grandeur of the Jacobean court.
A LIFE IN CERAMICS: THE PETER AND MARY WHITE COLLECTION
1 July, live auction at New Bond Street
Leading the collection is a rare Staffordshire slipware owl jug and cover, circa 1700, decorated in combed cream, orange and brown slips, an early example of English slipware estimated at £20,000 to 30,000. English porcelain is well-represented too, with a remarkable Limehouse vase decorated with a striking grotesque face estimated at £12,000-15,000.
The European section of the sale is anchored by two rare Meissen K.P.M. wares, a teapot with an eagle-head spout, and a very rare two-handled beaker decorated in red-camaieu (both estimated at £10,000-15,000).
ANTIQUITIES
2 July, live auction at New Bond Street
An Egyptian painted funerary linen square for Ta-Nedjem is offered with an estimate of £200,000 to 300,000. Representing a rare and museum-quality survival, with only around twenty comparable examples known.
Of exceptional historical interest, the fragment boasts a remarkable provenance: acquired in Qurna for the Lépine collection, later owned by the Parisian antiquarian Paul Mallon, who published it in Arts et Métiers Graphiques (no. 45, 15 February 1935), before being purchased in 1927 by Arthur Sachs for his wife and subsequently gifted in 1939 to his mistress, Jeanne Loviton. The piece has remained within her family by descent, further enhancing its significance and appeal.
Also included is a Medieval silver seal matrix set with a Roman carnelian intaglio, bearing the inscription 'Jesus is my love' estimated at £6,000 to 8,000. As well as remarkable works from the Paul Cohen Collection of Egyptian Works, an important collection of Byzantine bronzes, and a wonderful selection of Egyptian bronze cats from a private London collection
FINE DECORATIVE ARTS
2 July, live auction at New Bond Street
The sale boasts a series of exceptional items including two Important Late Medieval Royal Heraldic Embroideries dating to the mid to late 15th century, possibly produced in Islamic workshops in Spain (estimate £200,000 to 300,000), and a rare and impressive Greek icon by Georgios Klontzas, depicting the Fall and Redemption of Man (the Spada Triptych) (estimate £100,000-150,000), one of a series of fine Greek icons in this sale.
A fine Louis XV painted and ormolu-mounted commode by René Dubois (estimate £80,000 to 120,000) and a rare and important mid-17th-century Norwegian provincial silver peg tankard by Anders Andersen Heins of Trondheim, circa 1650 (estimate £15,000 to 25,000) lead the furniture and silver sections of the sale. The tankard bears the arms of Thomas Hammond, an English-born merchant who settled in Norway and became one of Trondheim's most prominent 17th-century figures through his involvement in the timber trade.
English decorative arts are further enriched by a rare and impressive late 17th/early 18th-century needlework, walnut and parcel-gilt pier mirror (estimate £30,000 to 50,000), incorporating earlier second quarter 17th-century needlework inserts within its ornate border, and a late 18th/early 19th-century marble bust of William Pitt the Younger by Joseph Nollekens (estimate £20,000 to 30,000).
Online sales:
The Grand Tour Sale, 9 - 23 June, Online,
Fine Books, 22 Jun - 1 July, Online
The Classics Online: Antiquities & Clocks, 22 Jun - 7 July
Travel & Exploration Online, 6 - 15 July
(Press Release)
