18th May, 2024 9:30 GMT/BST
Country House Sale
532
Hugh William "Grecian" Williams FRSE (1773–1829) Scottish
"On Loch Auchry, West Highlands"
With facsimile inscribed label verso, pencil and watercolour, together with a further example by the same hand "Ben A'an?, Loch Katrine", and a further watercolour likely in the hand of John Varley depicting "Dolbarden Castle, Snowdonia", 37.5cm by 50cm and 41.5cm by 51cm respectively (3)
Provenance: For Hugh Grecian Williams, Christie, Manson & Woods, "Drawings", 16th June 1970, lot 117
Sold for £170
Estimated at £100 - £150
All three works are on paper, watercolour, bodycolour and the two Williams ones have pencil.
a) On Loch Auchry: The paper has yellowed/darkened. Some fading, particularly to the greens, which are now bluish. Some timestaining/darkening to the edges. One bright white retouching to a brown spot in the sky to the right. The mount is undulating.
b) Ben A'an: Slight undulations to the paper, and a yellowing of the paper, with timestaining most evident at the edges. A few tiny pitted damages, now white, in the sky and a 0.5cm damage and scratch below, retouched, in the trees middle left edge. A second 0.5cm retouched damage to the very centre of the picture, and few tiny white dots. There are a few minor foxing spots, and fading of the colours, particularly in the greens.
c) Dolbarden Castle: A more textured paper, slight undulations across the sheet, with fairly extensive foxing spots and timestaining, and darkening to the edges. White debris is emerging from under the mount top left corner. There is a line of adhesive at the middle of the top edge. There is a white lump of material above the smaller tower and a scratch/indent in the paint above the right end of the buildings. A slight retraction/flaking of the paint in the trees - minor. Some fading and muting of the colours, especially notable in the greens.
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Auction: Country House Sale, 18th May, 2024
The Country House Sales offer an appealing mix of traditional antiques and curiosities, good furnishing pieces and specialist collectors’ items. The sales incorporate the contents of important properties and private collections as well as individually consigned lots redolent of the English Country House.
Included in the sale will be an extraordinary collection of Treen and Metalware, put together over many years by David and Hilary Hide. The Hides, who lived in the North of England, had a fascination for British vernacular objects and developed a deep knowledge of their subject. The extensive collection will be sold in fifty lots. Highlights of the collection include an 18th Century Treen Lignum Vitae Mortar with similar hardwood pestle (estimate: £300-500 all figures exclude buyer’s premium), a Pair of George III Carved and Turned Mahogany Candlesticks sold with a Pair of Olive Wood Brighton Bun Travelling Candlesticks (estimate: £150-250), and a group of three George III Mahogany Cats or plate stands (estimate: £100-150). Also of interest are a group of three Mid-19th Century Toleware Spice Boxes (Estimate: £80-120), and a group of Lignum Vitae Treen String Boxes from the 19th Century (estimate: £100-150).
The sale will also include rugs from the Collection of the Late Nicola Pyne. Nicola Pyne was born in 1948 in South-West London. Her early years were spent at the family house in Strawberry Hill, which backed onto the Thames. She was academically able, attending Lady Eleanor Holles School before obtaining a BSc in Physics from Birmingham University. She had a lifelong love of studying and also completed a degree in Biology from Birkbeck. Nicola worked for many years with IBM before leaving to pursue a teaching career specialising in Physics, Chemistry and Biology. She loved to travel and visited many countries in Central Asia, the Middle East and India, developing a love of different cultures and filling her house with artefacts from around the globe. Her travels led to an interest in ethnic items including jewellery, wood carving and of course tribal rugs and related weavings. The items in this collection will be denoted throughout the catalogue with a ~ symbol.
Viewing
Wednesday 15 May - Friday 17 May 10am-4pm and morning of sale from 8am
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