Designer Desire: Mark Rickard

Each Sunday, local antique dealer, Alistair Dryburgh of West Wales Antiques runs a (nearly always) weekly fair over on his Instagram feed. A couple of weeks ago, he had up for sale a trio of HUGE paintings by Mark Rickard.

They’d originally been commissioned in 1976 for a local club in Aberystwyth and represent Welsh rural life.

I instantly fell in love and proceeded to Google him to see if I could find any other artworks that he’d done. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a single artwork or any information about the artist himself… absolutely nothing at all!

His style reminds me of Joseph Herman and Stanley Spencer, especially the latter’s Clyde shipbuilding series.

I’ve messaged Alistair in the past few minutes and he’s said that the top two paintings – the tug-of-war and the sheep and cows – are still available, if you’re interested.

Tragically, we don’t have a wall big enough in our old cottage to hang one – not to mention multiple – paintings of this size… otherwise I’d have to own them.

If anyone out there can shed any light on Mark Rickard we’d love to learn more about him. An artist this talented must have produced more masterpieces… and hopefully smaller examples that could fit on our walls!

Price Points: Argentine asado grills

One of the lots that we featured on a recent Auction Alert post was an Argentine barbecue. Someone got themselves a great deal; it sold for £200.00… a lot less than the estimate.

Barbecues, known as asados in Argentina and other South American countries, are cooked on grills called parrillas. Over here, we refer to them as asado grills.

We had a look at the range of asado grills available online, and like any other type of cooking kit, they’re available in a wide range of prices. The ‘basic’ model, to me, doesn’t really come across as an asado – it’s a barbecue. The ‘better’ example, with its oil drum design, is known as a chulengo. This would be my choice, as it keeps the meat and the vegetables well apart during cooking… always my worry at a BBQ. The ‘luxury’ option is a crazy price; aimed at lottery winners, Premiership footballers and professional asado restaurants and caterers. It’s beautiful though!

Asado uBer-Q barbecue, rotisserie, grill plate and carry bag: £169.99, Lakeland
The stainless steel dual grill plate has air holes on one half, as well as a solid half for frying, so you can cook and fry multiple items at the same time without needing a separate pan. There’s also a powerful rotisserie motor, which is easily hooked onto one end of the barbecue, and drives either the spit forks for cooking larger pieces of meat, or the kebab accessory, which can cook up to six kebabs at a time. And with a choice between loose charcoal or an instant barbecue cartridge, there are a number of ways to fuel it too.
• Portable and versatile barbecue
• Stainless steel dual cooking pan
• Two rotisserie functions
• Folds flat to fit into a handy carry bag
• Takes loose coals or instant BBQ cartridge
• 55 x 35 x 45cm H.
• Lakeland 3 year guarantee included
Asado Argentine style Santa Maria double barrel charcoal grill: £650.00, eBay
The Double Barrel Grill has 2 separate grilling racks which can be raised & lowered over the fire by two separate round wheeled hand cranks. This means a variety of different food items can be cooked at different temperatures, but all at the same time. It also means that veggie food can be cooked on a completely different grill. Whether it’s cooking at home or for a large gathering, the double barrel won’t disappoint. All components are removable and the stand is collapsible making it easy to clean and transport.
The racks and the stand are manufactured from 3mm steel and will last a lifetime. The barrel is a classic 45 gallon drum which over time is cheap and easy to replace. The grill also comes with 2 separate coal grates.
The Double Barrel Grill consists of:
• 2 x racks
• 2 x coal grates
• 1 x 45 gallon drum
• 1 x collapsible stand
Overall dimensions: W 1020mm x D 720mm x H 1420mm
BM G-5 Plus dual Argentine grill: £6,980.00 (ex VAT)
It consists of two independent barbecues with V-shaped cooking grates and above fitted warming/resting shelves which height level are controlled by two large independent crank wheels(made in stainless steel) allow the chef to adjust the height of the cooking surface with the rise and fall of the flames. Stainless Steel V-Channels slanted at 4 degrees capture juices for basting and sauce preparation. The fuel drawers(baskets) for charcoal or wood fitted under the cooking grates, can pull out the drawer when the firebox door open for easy to fill up more coals. etc. Underneath of the fuel drawer mounted removable ash catchers (ash trays) for easy cleaning. Firebox door equipped with adjustable air dampers(vents) to increase or decrease heat in the barbecue.
The BMS-5 PLUS also equipped with the brasero (wood burner, amber maker), where the embers can be distributed into one or the other fuel drawer (right or left) via embers catching tray which leans against the fuel drawers. Asado style cooking (large pieces of meat) also available at the front of brasero (wood burner) on the spits (provided) with adjustable height and distance positions against the fire.
The Grill mounted on the heavy duty stand made of 50mm square tubing, two removable stainless steel shelves at the bottom and heavy duty braked casters wheels.
There are many other features included such as the front shelves, side bars for hanging tools and sauce pans, etc., gastronorm pan with the lid in between two cooking areas to keep food warm or use as a fat catcher while cooking something on the spits above, also included BBQ tools (grate scrappers and ash pokers), fat catching trays at the front of the cooking grates, etc.
Argentine Grills are designed to allow close temperature control during grilling, also channel fat away from the fire to a drip pan preventing flareups which damage the flavour of meat. Low and slow cooking, or a quick burning sear, is all up to you, because you’re in complete control with the ability to raise and lower the grilling surface with a simple rotation of the grill crank wheel. Argentine Grills can be used with charcoal or wood. Wood offers the best flavour to grilled meats. It also provides optimal heat that lasts longer than charcoal.
Overall dimensions: 214cm wide, 190cm height and 96cm depth.
The unit weight is 700kg

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BM G-5 Plus dual Argentine grill
£6,980.00 (ex VAT)