ANTIQUEJUNE/JULY 2017

SummerExclusive

LONDON FAIRS

ALSO INSIDE Saleroom Spotlight• Lots to watch • Specialist advice

Your essential guide of what not to miss

COLLECTING

C E R A M I C S F U R N I T U R E J E W E L L E R Y I N T E R I O R S F I N E A R T P R I N T S C L O C K S

Plus:9 WORLDWIDE

BROCANTES TO DISCOVER

WHY PICTURE FRAMES ARE BACK IN STYLE

AN INSIDER’S GUIDE TO TRIBAL ART

COLLECTING JANE AUSTEN

200 YEARS ON

ANTIQUE CO

LLECTING VO

L 53 N0. 2 JUNE/JULY 2017

ANTIQUE COLLECTING 35

Top right A Regency Warwick vase on a silver stand, silver, London, 1812, maker’s mark of Paul Storr, height 42.5cm (16¾in), weight 247 oz. £75,000 on sale from Koopman Rare Art. Image courtesy of Koopman Rare Art

Right A pair of Victorian silver fi gural vases. London, 1849, maker’s mark of of Hunt and Roskell, stamped with the retailer’s mark of ‘Hunt & Roskell, late Storr & Mortimer’. Height 38.8cm (15¼in), weight 385oz. £275,000 on sale from Koopman Rare Art at this year’s Masterpiece. Image courtesy of Koopman Rare Art

In the case of many early 18th-century brooches, the backs are often as beautiful as the front. Nicholas Norton explained: “The reverse of many antique brooches of Portuguese origin is often decorated with intricate, colourful enamel work, while the front is set with stones mined in South America. Quite a number of 18th-century brooches tend to be on the large side as, of course, they were designed for wearing down the bodice of a dress or as a stomacher – but there is no reason why they can’t still be worn like that today.”

Other antique brooches can be small and discreet, he added.

Aside from the fabulous geometric designs of art deco brooches, by the likes of Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, the most popular brooches tend to be inspired by fl ora or fauna, hence the prevalence of butterfl y,

bee and insect brooches, as well as diamond fl oral sprays of varying sizes.

Don’t misshe celebrated interior designer Rose Uniacke at

this year’s Masterpiece. Rose trained as a furniture restorer, gilder and specialist in paint and lacquer before becoming a respected antique dealer.

She is well known for her ability to create calm, balanced, refined interiors often incorporat antiques.

The London-based designer was, this year, selected as one of the world’s best 100 architects and designers by the Architectural Digest. Visit her stand B8.

EXPERT INSIGHT AGNEWS STAND C27Decoding the Pre-Raphaelites

Agnews, which is celebrating its 200th anniversary in 2017, will present some of its most important works during the London summer season. The London-based gallery, which specialises in Old Master paintings and works by the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, will exhibit a work by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (1833-1998), The Heart of the Rose, (above) at this year’s Masterpiece.

The language of fl owersAgnews’ director, Anthony Crichton-Stuart, said: “Flowers – or the esoteric language of fl owers – are an integral part of Pre-Raphaelite paintings. One of the principles that defi ned their aims was “to study nature attentively”. The Pre-Raphaelites carried out this belief in their faithful depiction of nature, which they also imbued with great meaning, and in Burne-Jones’s case, his ethereal depictions of legend and lore. Burne-Jones’s The Heart of the Rose depicts Love, winged and holding a pilgrim’s staff and leading the poet into a walled garden where a beautiful woman in emerald green sits surrounded by a briar rose in full bloom. An iris grows near Love’s feet, indicating the end of the quest, while the lilies near the wall signify the purity of this love. The painting is emblematic of the heart’s desire but it is also an allegory not only of the quest for perfect love, but also its dangers.

For more than a decade, Burne-Jones was fascinated by the Legend of the Briar Rose, derived from Chaucer’s poem. His obsession must in part have been due to his own state of mind as a result of his doomed and tumultuous love affair with his Greek model, Maria Zambaco.

Agnews will also be showing paintings of major art historical signifi cance at its London townhouse during London Art Week, see overleaf for more details.

Fact file WHAT: London Art WeekWHERE: Locations across London WHEN: June 30 to July 7TICKETS: None requiredMORE DETAILS: www.londonartweek.co.uk

Good pedigree

Brooches with a distinguished royal pedigree are always

popular, such as the magnificent diamond brooch (left), which was once in the collection of Catherine the Great of Russia. Together

with other similar diamond brooches, it would have

originally been attached to one of her many lavish gowns. Another notable brooch was

the George III diamond flower brooch which S.J. Phillips sold to the former prime minister

Baroness Thatcher in the ‘80s.Mr Norton said: “It remained a firm favourite of hers and

she was widely photographed wearing it in Britain and

abroad. She also chose to wear it when she sat for her official portrait by the artist

Richard Stone, which hangs at 10 Downing Street.”

bee and insect brooches, as well as diamond fl oral sprays of varying sizes.

Baroness Thatcher’s often-worn brooch: a George III diamond

fl ower brooch modelled as a six-petalled fl ower

The former prime minister wore the brooch on many occasions as seen in this photograph

Brooches had until recently fallen out of fashion – now they are back in vogue for

both women and men

An early 19th-century painted sarcophagus c. 1805-1810, which stood in the garden of Sir John Soane’s country house. Image courtesy of Rose Uniacke

Burne-Jones’s The Heart of the Rose, 1889, depicts Love holding a pilgrim’s staff