Bonhams Launches Oak Furniture, Folk and Naïve Art Sale in Edinburgh

Oak Furniture, Folk and Naïve Art

27 Sep 2022

Edinburgh

A late 17th century English silk-embroidered silver and gilt-thread stumpwork picture  

Bonhams announces the launch of a brand-new sale – Oak and Vernacular Furniture, Folk Art and Naïve Paintings – to be held at Bonhams Edinburgh on Tuesday 27 September. The sale offers everything from an eccentric late 17th century North Country large ash and elm Turner’s armchair (£2,500-3,500) to a rare late 18th century view of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich and a fantastic collection of 150 Welsh love spoons put together over many years (various estimates).

Bonhams Group Head of UK Private Collections, Furniture and Works of Art, Charlie Thomas, said: “This multi-faceted new sale offers a wealth of vernacular treasures giving the sale a defined look which is very popular with interior decorators as well as collectors. It’s difficult to pick just one object but my personal favourites include a late 17th century English silk-embroidered silver and gilt-thread stumpwork picture, estimated at £2,500-3,500 – it’s easily the best three-dimension embroidery I’ve ever seen. We are particularly pleased to be launching the sale in Edinburgh. The city is the embodiment of elegance and was the natural choice as location for this exciting new sale.”

Highlights of the sale, which is made up of 314 lots, include:

• The Royal Observatory, Greenwich and its meridian buildings from the south-south-east. British School. This view of one of the most famous and significant buildings in the world was executed in oils in 1790 and in believed to be unique. It is all but identical to the watercolour of the same view – almost certainly by the same unknown hand – in the collection of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, which is dated to between 1779-89. Estimate: £3,000-5,000.

• A late 17th century English silk-embroidered silver and gilt-thread stumpwork picture. The central oval cartouche depicting a ship in full sail gliding through a narrow body of water, flanked by islands with animals, with insects and birds above and a swan, hedgehog and snake amongst the rushes in the foreground, all under a radiating sun, the scene surrounded by ribbon tied scrolling and fruiting tendrils and vines, on a blue silk ground, in simulated tortoiseshell frame. Estimate: £2,500-3,500.

• A highly impressive Southwest oak jointed and panelled tester bed believed to date from the early 17th century with later additions. Estimate: £2,000-3,000.

19th century gilt painted zinc cockerel weathervane. Estimate: £800-1,200 (left); early 20th century half block model of a salmon. Estimate: £600-800 (right).

• An early 20th century half block model of a salmon. Estimate: £600-800.

• A 19th century gilt painted zinc cockerel weathervane. Estimate: £800-1,200.