YOU might think you have everything in your house and there’s nothing further you could possibly add to your home furnishings…
Well, do you have a dinner gong?
And not only a dinner gong but one made by the famous furniture designer and maker James Shoolbred.
Jas Shoolbred & Co was first established in the 1820s with a drapers store in Tottenham Court Road, London. In the 1860s and 1870s the business became highly successful in the design and manufacture of high-quality furniture and accessories, and in the 1880s it opened its first large department store in London. It also gained a Royal Warrant reflecting the quality of its goods.
In our next sale on Tuesday, we have an oak dinner gong that bears the company’s impressed mark and dates from the 1890s.
The design is a good example of late Victorian aesthetic with the brass mounts to add decoration. The brass gong was made by Townshend & Co, brassfounders based in Birmingham who were very active at this time. The metal sheet has an etched leaf design which Townshend’s trademark says is from an ancanthus.
With both the gong frame and the brass gong bearing makers’ names, this makes this piece an attractive Lot. Our modest estimate of £250 to £350 unfortunately reflects the subdued appetite for antique furniture at the moment, but what could you buy new from a furniture store for the same money?
Our last column a fortnight ago highlighted the sale of three paintings by Norman Cornish, perhaps the greatest artist to have been produced by the Durham coalfield, and we finished by asking: “Are Norman Cornish paintings a good investment?”
Of course, anyone who purchases a work of art does so because it looks good, but no one would be disappointed to learn that as well as gracing their home, their painting’s value has increased.
We estimated that the smallest of the three Cornishes, showing one of his trademark figures walking to work along a path past a power station, would reach up to £2,500, but it went for £3,800. Similarly, the piece showing miners scaling the pit gantry exceeded our expectations, reaching £7,000, and we estimated that the man with the greyhounds in Edward Street in Spennymoor would fetch up to £6,000, but the hammer went down at £7,500.
So as well as being pieces of art that encapsulate the spirit of the Durham coalfield, perhaps a Norman Cornish should be regarded as a good investment.
Peter Robinson
Thomas Watson Auctioneers, Darlington.
- The auction is on Tuesday, with viewing Saturday and Sunday 10am to 1pm, and Monday 9am to 4pm. For further details, visit thomaswatson.com
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