Antiques, Fine Art and Interiors Sale

Lindsay Burns & Company

Post-Sale Report

Antique, Fine Art & Interiors Sale

7th - 10th December 2021

The four-day auction sale with online bidding and telephone bidding included property sourced from throughout Scotland.

The sale played host to a board selection of three centuries of Scottish furniture and fine art, which provided very strong results. A very rare 18th century Scottish Provincial high-backed armchair (Lot 117) lead the charge on the first day of the auction with a battle between two telephone bidders reaching a final price of £2,820. A late 18th / early 19th century carved wooden figure of a highlander  (Lot 183) was an exciting returning friend of Lindsay Burns & Company. The rare figure was sold in 2017 when we offered the Rattray collection of the famed Perth tobacconist shop, it did not disappoint again when it sold for £8,160. The Scottish applied arts of the early 20th century were beautifully expressed on a grand scale with a large early 20th century Glasgow school white fire surround and overmantel (Lot 49), selling for £1,055. The sale had a very large section of Scottish glass produced by the Perthshire firm of Monart, with a wide selection of colours and styles all achieving high prices. The star was a rare ‘U Shape’ vase (Lot 395) in vibrant swirling orange and black, the tigers stripe design clearly clawed in the buyers producing the top price of £720. The Scottish fine paintings lots had a beautiful range of landscapes, sporting and portraits subjects in both watercolour and oils. The strongest results were most certainly from the Modern & Contemporary works with a boldly coloured floral still life with vivid red ground by David McClure RSA RSW RGI (1926 – 1998) (Lot 227) achieving £3,000. The Interiors Sale also offered a larger pastel still life by Brian Keany RSW (1945 – 2007) (Lot 1036) which reached £1,100 after strong interest from two local collectors, one of the strongest market prices for the artist in recent years.

The traditional furniture and works of art had a comprehensive showcase of periods with styles. A rare late 17th century longcase clock (Lot 7) started the sale with a more than triple high estimate price of £1,680. A beautiful 19th century amboyna, marquetry and porcelain gilt metal mounted bonheur-de-jour (Lot 103L) was the lead piece of the contents of a large private home in Fort William. It achieved the highest price for European furniture at £3,600. The carpet section highlight was a fine antique Heriz carpet (Lot 139), the beautifully woven design in subtle rustic shades and deep indigo was won by a determined telephone bidder for £2,160. Another piece that really captured the imagination was a Louis Vuitton monogramed canvas square travel trunk (Lot 172), the transatlantic streamliner labels all over the sides were testament to its provenance. The allure of the great age of steam and the 1920s lead to a roaring result of £5,160. The spirit of the Art Deco continued in glass with a large Lalique Bacchantes vase (Lot 440), a modern reissue of the iconic original, sold for £1,260. The Interiors sale did not disappoint the dedicated collector either. A large group of Marvel and DC Comics (Lot 1110) which were consigned from a private individual, who collected them as a child when they were first released. They clearly had eclectic taste in superheroes and the headline editions appeared to be the very early Issue No.4 of The Fantastic Four, the first Issue No.1 of Ghost Rider and The Tomb of Dracula Issue No.10 containing the first appearance of Blade. After huge presale interest and many online bids the hammer fell at £2,640.

The gold and silver lots in the sale continue to perform well with many lots exceeding their high estimates. The most notable piece of silver was a stoppered wine ewer and matching pair of goblets (Lot 308) embossed and chased with an Indian inspired design sold for £1,800. The gold prices continued to exceed expectations with a large group of gold chains and an elegant gold cigarette case (Lot 332) that sold for £1,080. The three top jewellery lots provided the auction’s Christmas sparkle, all old cut diamonds with such life and character. The first was a late 19th century diamond crescent brooch (Lot 341) sold for £3,240, followed by a very elegant diamond three stone ring (Lot 343) which sold for £3,000, ending with the impressive 3.64ct solitaire diamond ring (Lot344) sold for £7,320.

The World Art lots had many strong prices which were headed by the Chinese Art. Both the largest and highest achieving piece was an imposing Chinese carved darkwood display stand (Lot 82) from the late Qing Dynasty. The panels were richly carved with symbols and mythical beast in deep purple Zitan wood. The rarity of the piece drew in international interest and after a long telephone bidder battle was sold for £8,640 to a client from the Far East. The earlier period of the long and dynastic Qing dynasty was also covered with a large 17th century blue and white porcelain vase (Lot 455) depicting a design of a phoenix running around the body. The phoenix is a symbol of virtue and grace in Chinese art and is often associated with the Empress, buyers were obviously impressed with the vases quality as it sold for £2,640. A large and richly decorated bronze censor (Lot 480) with elephant head details from the same consigner also brought in a lot of online interest and sold for £3,120. The other highlights included a Japanese tanto dagger (Lot 516) with delicately lacquered scabbard covered with flying cranes which sold for £720 and a rare Islamic talismanic shirt (Lot 174) covered in protective sacred invocations which sold for ten times its estimate for £3,960.

The Interiors Sale proved to have several pieces that caught the designer’s eye, continuing the strong taste for Mid-Century & Modern Design. A pair of bold green glazed bamboo effect hexagonal table lamps (Lot 908) were the most viewed items of the entire sale, despite a modest estimate the competition was fierce and the buyer had to battle bids from all avenues to win them for £935. The 1970s could not have been embodied more successfully in the three suites of teak Modernist furniture at the end of the sale, with examples by G Plan (Lot 1192) and A.H. McIntosh & Co. of Kirkaldy (Lot 1266) each sold for in excess of £600.

Make sure to view the items in our next Antique & General Sale on 27th & 28th of January 2022 when the catalogue goes live online at the end of the month. Lindsay Burns & Company’s Antique & General Sales always host a strong offerings of jewellery, silver, gold, ceramics, works of art, militaria, coins, books, clocks, furniture and paintings for both the collector and those with an interior designer’s eye.

All prices including Buyer’s Premium of 20% + VAT

Notes to Editors

Lindsay Burns & Company is a family run firm of Auctioneers and Valuers located in Perth, conducting quarterly Antiques and Fine Art Sales together with regular Antique & General Sales. All our auctions are conducted live online via our state of the art live bidding platform. We provide valuations for sale, inheritance tax and insurance as well as advise on the sale of Antiques, Fine Art and Chattels. With our own transport we are well equipped to undertake the uplift of a single item or clear an entire estate.

Established in 1982, 2022 sees us celebrating 40 years in business, the saleroom and offices at located at 6 King Street in the City of Perth. The premises date back to 1834 and the interior with its stained and leaded glass windows provides a suitable background for the sale of Antiques, Fine Art and Chattels. With its own car park the consignment and collection of goods is simple and convenient. For further information please visit www.lindsayburns.co.uk

Lot 103L. A 19th century amboyna, marquerty, porcelain and gilt metal mounted bonheur-de-jour, sold for £3,000

Lot 139. An early 20th centuryHeriz carpet, sold for £1,800

Lot 172. An early 20th century Louis Vuitton monogramed trunk, sold for 4,300

Lot 174. A talismanic shirt, Iran or Turkey, 20th century, sold for £3,300

Lot 227. David McClure RSA RSW RGI (1926-1998) Still life, oil on canvas, sold for £2,500

Lot 332. A Goerge V 9ct gold cigarette case, sold for £900

lot 341. A yellow and white metal diamond set crescent brooch, sold for £2,700

Lot 343. A white metal three stone diamond ring, sold for £2,500

Lot 344. A white metal diamond solitaire ring, 3.64 ct, sold for £6,100

Lot 395. A rare Monart vase, shape U, sold for £600

Lot 455. A Chinese blue and white porcelain jar and cover, sold for £2,200

Lot 480. A Chinese bronze incense burner and cover, Qing Dynasty, sold for £2,600

Lot 1110. A large collection of comic books to include Marvel, King Comics, DC Comics and other, sold for £2,200