Out & About Magazine Autumn 2020

T he auction world is always a market driven by a good resale value. After what has been a very strange and different last few months worldwide, something I have seen unaffected by the Covid-19 pandemic is the certainty that quality items sell, and sell well. Lots which have been the most sought after have been the higher quality, fine and rare lots which have, as a result, often doubled if not tripled their guide prices. Our September auction is the result of a lifetime of collecting. Marianne Gale (née Bonitz) was a modern internationalist at heart who carried a deep affection for the decorative aesthetic that had blossomed across Europe in the early 20th century. Marianne’s eye for detail was forged in her father’s smithy and developed with obsessive vigour through self-taught knowledge of Art Nouveau. She frequented antiques fairs and befriended dealers to the point where she herself became an expert collector and accomplished trader. A desire to be surrounded by beauty brought Lalique and Daum glassware, Mackintosh lampshades, Morris fabrics and Bauhaus furniture into her home, which became a rich repository of Arts and Crafts and early Modernist design. Particular passions included original Art Nouveau ceramic tiles, decorative vases, stained glass and bronze figures. Later in life, as worldwide travel mirrored the movements of her children and took her to South America, the Far East, Asia Minor and Africa, her collection expanded to include Japanese woodblock prints, Chinese woodwork, African art, ethnic jewellery and tribal ornaments. Increasingly eclectic, there nevertheless remained a common thread that was, above all, decorative, international but hand-crafted, and an embodiment of natural form. fashion and quality. Over the years, I have seen that if you buy good quality items they will always have

Lalique Within the glassware, of particular merit is a Ren é Lalique Sauterelles ovoid glass vase, frosted blue and green with moulded grasshopper design on reeds, grasshopper in stained green, ground in stained blue, etched signature to base R Lalique, 27.5cm high. Ren é Lalique was, and indeed is, considered one of the greatest jewellers and master glassmakers of his time and was a pivotal contributor to the Art Nouveau movement. Particular passions included original Art Nouveau ceramic tiles, decorative vases, stained glass and bronze figures

Clarice Cliff Part of the large ceramic section, included a collection of Clarice Cliff. There are several lots of varying designs and patterns from a fish service to teawares and dinnerwares. Clarice Cliff is widely regarded as one of the most influential ceramicists of the 20th Century. Her designs are widely recognised and often copied.

O&A AUTUMN 2020 52