Auction alert: The Art & Design Sale

Although we’ve known about Grayson Perry for years, mainly due to his famous penchant for cross-dressing, we didn’t really know much more about him and his work. Thanks to watching his 3 series of Grayson’s Art Club, he’s now a firm favourite (as is his wife, Philippa) in our house – for his work, his warm personality and his infectious laugh.

Today’s featured auction includes a pottery plate by him (pictured above) – and another by Philippa – both with very reasonable estimates. In addition, are a couple of pumpkins by ceramic artist, Yayoi Kusama, who we previously featured on our blog over 20 years ago.

The Art & Design Sale at Cheffin’s takes place on Thursday 23^rd February 2023, from 10am. A total of 442 lots come under the hammer and we’ve highlighted eleven of our favourite ones below.

Bid live and online at The Saleroom where additional fees will be charged.

Lot 7: Rambouillet, a suite of 16 Lalique glasses
To include four water goblets, four Bordeaux wine glasses, four Sherry glasses and four Madeira glasses, each raised on twisted stems and spreading circular feet, acid-etched marks to underside. 13.5 x 10.5cm, 10.5 x 8.5cm, 9.5 x 7.5cm and 9 x 6.5cm
Estimate: £200 – £400

Lot 37: Norman Makinson for Wedgwood
A Festival of Britain mug, 1951, printed factory marks and hand painted ‘C-6446 B’ to the underside. 7.5cm high
Estimate: £150 – £250

Lot 39: Philippa Perry (1957-), Normal Life 
Produced for Grayson’s Art Club, earthenware plate decorated in blue and white, stamped marks to underside . 27.5cm diameter
Estimate: £100 – £200

Lot 40: Sir Grayson Perry CBE, RA (1960-), Lion Queen plate 
Printed with a design of Queen Elizabeth II as a lion set within a border of alternating E R initials and head portraits of Queen Elizabeth, printed marks to underside . 22cm diameter
Estimate: £100 – £150

Lot 77: Julian Opie (1958-), Walking, Dancing, Undressing, Smoking, 2006
A lenticular moving image print. 15 x 10cm
Estimate: £100 – £200

Lot 78: Yayoi Kusama (1929-), Yellow Pumpkin and Red Pumpkin
Two painted cast resin sculptures published by Benesse Holdings, Japan, each stamped to the underside and contained within their original presentation boxes. 10 x 8 x 8cm
Estimate: £600 – £800

Lot 100: A Louis Vuitton lady’s hat box or square steamer trunk
Circa 1940s, the leather-bound monogrammed body with lift-out ribbon Cage Paradis, stamped to hardware. 46 x 51 x 44cm
Estimate: £1,000 – £2,000

Lot 184: Carl Jacobs and Frank Guille for Kandya, a pair of Jason chairs
Each with bentwood one-piece seats raised on tapering beech legs, labels to underside.  73 x 52 x 40cm
Estimate: £150 – £250

Lot 201: A counterpoise model single weight trolley lamp by Hadrill and Horstmann
The adjustable chromed lamp stamped with maker’s mark
Estimate: £150 – £250

Lot 221: A bent plywood magazine rack
Of triangular form.  27 x 41 x 30cm
Estimate: £80 – £120

Lot 442: Sir Peter Blake CBE, RDI, RA (1932-) A for Alphabet
Signed ‘Peter Blake’ (lower right); numbered 30/95silkscreen, unframed.102.5 x 77.5cm
Estimate: £150 – £250

Auction alert: Danish/Swedish and English mid-century

146 lots are coming under the hammer on Sunday 12^th February 2023 at Harrisons Antiques. They describe the sale as a “Very Rare Danish/Swedish and English mid-century ONLY” auction. The sale, which starts at 10.30am, consists of almost 150 lots; there’s a large selection of vintage sideboards, dining and coffee tables, desks and sets of dining chairs.

The buyer’s premium is 20% plus VAT. Bidding via EasyLiveAuction incurs a further fee of either a flat £3.00 or 3% of the total price.

Harrisons is located between between Barnsley and Doncaster in South Yorkshire if you’re interested in collecting any won items. If this isn’t a convenient option, they offer a postage service:

Small parcels (up to 1kg): £9+VAT
Medium parcels (1-3kg): £15+VAT

Delivery of furniture items to UK mainland for 1 item £85 excluding certain areas. Please contact us for more details on larger items and for more then one item. Also 2 man delivery also available.
Small items sent via parcel courier and sent at the buyers risk. Harrison’s will package to the best of our ability.

Lot 6: Bang & Olufsen Retro design 40″ Flat screen TV with motorised base

Estimate: £200 -£400

Lot 25: 6 Ultra rare Swedish chairs

By Sven Erik Fryklund for Hagafors Mobel

Lot 33: Frem Rojle round Danish teak table + 4 tuck away chairs

Estimate: £800 -£1,200

Lot 48: Rare blonde Ercol 493 elbow chair

Lot 54: Rare blonde Ercol love seat

Estimate: £200 -£300

Lot 56: Danish teak mid century trolley

Estimate: £100 -£200

Lot 78: Danish ceramic tile top nest of tables by Ox Art for Trioh

Lot 85: Le Corbusier mid century leather & chrome 3 seater sofa

Estimate: £400 -£600

Lot 112: Kofod Larsen mid century vinyl back headboard for G-plan

Estimate: £150 -£250

Lot 132: 4 Retro Italian Mid Century chairs

Estimate: £50 -£100

Lot 144: Janine Abraham + Dirk Jan Rol wicker chair

Estimate: £250 -£300

Lot 142: Danish trolley for Johannes Andersen for Toften

Estimate: £150 -£200

Lot 145: 9-Bay Danish Ladderax/wall unit

Modular with lots of spares
Estimate: £300 -£400

Botanic Garden antiques fair

Justin took a trip out on Saturday, visiting the Derwen Antiques Fair held at the National Botanic Garden of Wales. He said it was a very enjoyable day, so we thought we’d pass on the recommendation.

It’s an interesting location for such a fair with stalls housed in many areas of the site – including the old regency house, the stable block, theatre and even the huge, modern glasshouse.

Admission was £10, which is the going rate for this kind of event; however, it had the added bonus of the ticket being valid for a full week. This allows for a day browsing antiques and then the opportunity of taking in the amazing gardens on a subsequent day or days. It was well-organised and friendly – and there were some nice places to grab a coffee or snack.

He picked up some lovely pieces too – including a wonderful vintage thread box, antique kitchenalia and some fabulous pieces of old pottery.

The organisers are hoping to have another fair in 2023, so keep an eye out for future dates!

Designer Desire: Ronald Lampitt

Born in Worcester, Ronald Lampitt (1906-1988) was a painter, poster designer, book and magazine illustrator and children’s author. In doing research about his output for this post, I discovered that he created material for Brock’s Fireworks – who we featured here on the blog many moons ago.

Lampitt’s periodical work included illustrations for Readers’ Digest, Zoo, Passing Show, Modern Wonder, John Bull, Look and Learn, Treasure and Mickey Mouse Weekly.

Ronald Lampitt also illustrated books for Oxford University Press and, most memorably, Ladybird Books. Titles for the latter included Understanding Maps (1967), Birds and how they Live, Plants and how they Grow, Animals and how they Live and Insects and Small Animals.

Many of these books were in collaboration with his brother-in-law, Henry James Deverson (Lampitt was married to Deverson’s sister, Mona). The two men collaborated on a number of children’s books, including The Map that Came to Life (1948, Oxford University Press), The Open Road (1962) and The Story of Bread (1964, Puffin Books).

His other association with Deverson included working on the Mainly for Children series that was published by The Sunday Times during the early 1960s.

He both authored and illustrated the children’s book, The Story of Paint, in 1962.

His advertising poster design were commissioned and produced by British Railways, Great Western Railway, London Midland & Scottish Railway, Southern Railway and Brooke Bond tea.

These works remain a strong reference point for modern designers exploring high-quality poster printing, combining artistic illustration with commercial impact.

Find vintage copies of books that he illustrated on Abe Books and Amazon.

Image credits:
Art UK | Invaluable | Tumblr

H is for Home Harbinger

Tag: vintage