An Auction of Style

Everyone runs out of storage space. Especially interior decorators and antiques dealers, who can’t help but stock up on mirrors, sofas, and all manner of ornamental folderol for their clients. Eventually, however, even the most spacious warehouse can hold no more, so four of the UK’s top traditionalist tastemakers have banded together to sell off some of their overstock at Christie's South Kensington on Wednesday, July 8.

The best known of this august group of gentlemen is Robert Kime, famed for his Indian-inspired fabrics (they are carried in the U.S. by John Rosselli Associates) and his close friendship with the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall (clients for whom he freshened up Clarence House in London a few years ago). The other sellers are Piers von Westenholz, an aristocratic Olympic athlete turned eminent dealer-decorator; David Bedale, a dealer known for exquisite 18th and 19th-century furniture and decorative arts; and James Graham-Stewart, a dealer with an appreciation for classic and often curious English country-house furnishings.

So what’s going on the block in London in just over a week’s time? More than 500 lots, most of the items pretty gutsy in scale or silhouette, with a great deal of Arts and Crafts furniture and Victoriana; some choice objects from the Georgian period; and interesting antique statuary and 20th-century art, including an Edward Bawden screenprint and a Ben Nicholson woodcut. (The catalogue is sold out but is posted in its entirety online at Christie’s website.)

There are about a dozen items I covet, a few of which are shown below:

A 1920s console table with willowy legs (Lot 3, estimated at $4,600-$7,500).

A 19th-century Chinese jar with the image of a pavilion (Lot 9, $1,100-1,500).

Once owned by George V of Hanover, this circa-1840 side table in the Moorish style bears an Arabic inscription that translates to “And there is no conqueror except of God.” (Lot 10, $11,000-$15,000).

An Arts and Crafts center table in the manner of Sir Robert Lorimer (Lot 66, $3,800-$6,000).

A 19th-century Ottoman lantern in the shape of a house (Lot 90, $910-$1,400).

A Robert Kime stool covered in an antique Persian tapestry (Lot 144, $3,100-$6,000).

A George II white-painted sofa (Lot 162, $3,100-$4,500).

A Scottish Victorian taxidermy case with golden eagles (Lot 310, $3,800-$6,000).

A modern George III-style table with a fossil-marble top (Lot 315, $3,100-$4,500).

 

Mitchell Owens
Editor at Large, ELLE DECOR