Time for a Sleigh Ride?

 

Lot 26.  A model of Santa's sleigh with two reindeer sold £35 (14 December)

O Christmas Tree

Lot 74.  A Whitefriars orange 'Bark' vase, 19.5cm sold £85 14th December 2022

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Lot 4.   

A Victorian cast iron stick stand, sold £120 on 14th December

Jingle Bells at Boldon

Lot 47.  Two bottles of Bells and three bottles of Famous Grouse (5) sold £45 on 14th December.  

A Merry Christmas to be had!

It's beginning to look a lot like a Steinway Christmas !

Going to a delighted purchaser after an online and telephone bidding battle is Lot 1, a mahogany cased Steinway and Sons upright 'Vertegrand' (Model K) piano, serial number 238725, circa 1925.  151cm wide, 69cm deep.  Sold for £1,700 on Wednesday 14th December this piano will be home in time for Christmas.

Friedrich Goldscheider (1845-1897)

 

For sale in our 14th December Antique, Interiors and General Sale is this Frederich Goldscheider, a painted terracotta, life size, seated young boy, wearing a cap, hands clasped together and feet crossed, approximately 127cm.

Estimate £400 - £600

Friedrich Goldscheider (1845-1897) created the Goldscheider Manufactory and Majolica Factory in Vienna, Austria in 1885.  The business became internationally renowned for its production of terracotta, faience, bronze and alabaster objects, both small and life size.  

Inspiration was taken from Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Orientalism which exploded during this period. In 1889 he won the Bronze Medal or terracotta pieces at The Paris International Exhibition. 

Is it a Bird?, Is it a Plane?, No its Squirrel Man!

 

A Squirrel Man oak stool.  For auction 14th December 2022

Wilf Hutchinson started out as an apprentice at Robert 'Mousey' Thompsons workshop, later setting up his own business under the moniker 'Squirrelman' by carving a motif of a squirrel on each of his pieces.  His son Trevor Hutchinson took over the business and continues to fly the Squirrelman flag, carving and creating from his premises located in Husthwaite, York.

Embracing Couple spotted outside Boldon Auction Galleries

Lot 2.

In the style of Henry Moore, a granite sculpture of an embracing couple holding an infant, supported on a square base.  61cm high

Estimate £300 - £400

For auction 14th December 2022

Tinkle the ivories in time for the festive season

 

Lot 1.  A mahogany cased Steinway and Sons upright 'Vertegrand' (Model K) piano, serial number 238725, circa 1925.  151cm wide, 69cm deep.  Estimate £800 - £1,200.  For auction 14th December.

Steinway and Sons introduced the 'Vertegrand' or Model K upright piano in 1903.  

This is the oldest unchanged upright piano design still in mass production.  Designed by Steinway director Henry Ziegler, the name 'Vertegrand' which is seen displayed along the top of the iron frame reflected the instrument's size relative to Steinway's then current line up of pianos, smaller than the Upright Grand yet larger then the Model V.  

An advert in the New York Tribune of 1910 described the piano as 

 "the embodiment of scientific research and musical progress of the Twentieth Century."

View of the Tyne by Alf O'Brien one of the North East's finest artists

Alf O'Brien (1912-1988) 'View of the Tyne' for auction 14th December 2022.

Alfred Ainslie O'Brien (1912-1988) was born in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear. He initially pursued a career as a painter and decorator – an occupation he credited with helping in his later fine art work. His work, in pencil, ink, watercolour and oils, encompassed townscapes, landscapes and portraits.  He exhibited widely in the north east and in London and opened his own gallery in his home town in 1968. The Bede Gallery, South Shields, held a retrospective of his work in 1989.