November 2006 Last Sale at Southam - Sale Report
"Saleroom revises Anglo-Japanese values – to £80,000
Initially catalogued as “an Eastern walnut three-tier table, brass mounted and fitted three flaps, 2ft (64cm) wide when open” and estimated at just £150-200, the appraisal of this stylish table seen at Simon Chorley's auction at Southam, near Cheltenham, Gloucester on November 30 was radically upgraded when it was identified as the work of Aesthetic architect and designer Edward William Godwin (1833-1886).
A similar Anglo-Japanese side table with staggered, folding shelves, fretwork stretchers and delicate brass fittings resides in the Metropolitan Museum, New York.
A revision to the website description saw a deluge of interest including an enquriy from Max Donnelly of Bond Street dealers The Fine Art Society. He was in the room to buy it at £80,000 (plus 15 per cent buyer’s premium). " - Antiques Trade Gazette December 2006
POST SALE REPORT 30.11.06
Just as one swallow doesn’t make a Summer, so a few high prices don’t make a recovery; however at Simon Chorley Art & Antiques’ recent auction there were definite signs that the market might be improving, having been in the doldrums for a while. Ordinary ‘brown’ furniture is still proving very difficult to sell, but anything with a bit of quality or extra interest seems to attract more attention.
The sale held on the 30th November at the Tithe Barn, Southam, on the outskirts of Cheltenham (the last the firm will conduct there as their new saleroom at Prinknash Park is in the final stages of construction) showed how difficult it can be for auction valuers to advise on estimates. Far from being a precise science, while valuers can refer to prices fetched previously by comparable items, it is impossible for them to predict all the factors, ranging from the global economy to the local weather, that may deter or encourage the crucial two bidders needed for a lot to sell and which will thereby determine the price achieved by an item on one particular day. Many people outside the auction business are quick to draw attention to estimates when they have been exceeded, but don’t seem to notice when items are sold within or below them.
The undoubted highlight of the sale on 30th November was a small and rather impractical looking table designed by Edward William Godwin, a late 19th Century furniture designer who was one of the leaders of the Aesthetic movement which included the more widely known figures Oscar Wilde and James Abbott McNeill Whistler. Initially unrecognised when catalogued in a dark hallway at the home of the late Mr Michael Peterson (former organist at Tewkesbury Abbey) where it was hidden beneath a cover and used as a telephone table, its significance was realised when it was delivered to the saleroom prior to the auction. Thanks to some strong last minute advertising through the internet, the table’s origins were brought to the attention of the pre-eminent collectors and dealers in Godwin furniture and it realised a colossal £80,000. This price surely reflects the appeal of the designer rather than the table itself which, it has to be said, was not of particularly fine quality and illustrates that the rare and unusual will always command high prices irrespective of the general state of the market.
Another noteworthy price achieved at the auction was £21,000 for a painting of the Madonna and Child with St John, executed in the 18th Century after an earlier picture by Correggio. A busy port scene by the British artist William Webb realised £6,000. Some of the more quirky antiques in the auction also caused a great deal of interest, with an unusual pair of Regency cut glass decanters (each with three stoppers) realising £680 and a carved ivory walking stick £2,000. The impressive selection of clocks in the auction was headed by a particularly fine George I bracket clock in a red lacquer case by the London maker Peter Garon which was fought over on the telephone and finally sold for £13,000 to the trade.