New Arrivals Page 4. Gothic, Anglo Japanese & Aesthetic Furniture

NIF 10C
AE 4
A Rare & Important Aesthetic Movement display cabinet.
Design attributed Dr C Dresser
Probably made for Bushloe house & originally bought in Leicestershire where Bushloe House was built. This outstanding commissioned piece has all the character intimate to Dresser. On close examination of the Frog wardrobe, dressing table, chest of drawers & dressing table mirror designed by Dr C Dresser which also came from Bushloe House exhibited in Harry Lyons shop New Century in Kensington Church Street where I was lucky to examine it many times (I later bought the shop from Harry) & after close inspection of the bedroom suite while it was there & also the cabinet they would all seem to be made by the same maker, the Ebonising is quite thick & the gilding is also applied with a number of coats. The construction also points it to Bushloe house pieces. As you can see there are many elements particular to Dressers intimate style especially the Elephant sidetable & the Elephant corner chair both in a similar style as this.
There is a painted mark to the base that reads Betts & a date in pencil for Feb 6 1871 which puts it at the correct time for Bushloe House. The condition is very good & without any restoration. The blue felt lining although quite worn in places is original & probably an indication that this cabinet was made to hold an extensive collection of chinese porcelain.
Height 95", Width 60", Depth 21". Circa 1871.
£POA.
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A cabinet made Ogden's of Manchester also attributed to Dresser has the same deeply incised gilding to the door pillars are also very much the same, & that particular chamfering to the doors which is identical to the sides of the display cabinet, even the base is similar in shape & the incised gilt star to the central base mirrors that on the stretcher of a chair by him.
The differing gilded details to the shelves of the display cabinet which are quite remarkable are devices in all his work, & the dot & zig-zag details are quite unique to Dresser & also used on his incredible angular coal box, & his remarkable chair with arched base, & even his Egyptian style stool has that incised line & dot details which the display cabinet has. A number of his fire dogs have identical zig-zag details to the base of the pillars. A Wedgwood plate by Dresser has the same boarder detail to the carved & gilded details to the base of the cabinet.
The Knurl post at Bushloe house has the same style of carving to the top of the door pillars which is also quite similar to the twin pillars on a drawing by Moyer Smith who we know worked for Dresser especially the zig-zagging just below the carving. Dresser was known not to be able to draw the human figure or face competently & it is known that where there is this figural detail in a design it was usually worked on by Moyar Smith or a designer working under Dresser, therefore it is important point that this cabinet has no figural work making it likely a pure Dresser design.
For relevant images relating to the Ogden's cabinet, coal box, chair & stool & the other items I have mentioned above please e mail me on sales@puritanvalues.com

NIF 11C
Edward William Godwin (1833-1886) for William Watt, A rare & important Old English or Jacobean ebonised curved back elbow chair, on tapered supports with X-stretchers.
This armchair manufactured by William Watt is a unique example one I have never come across before, or seen anywhere, in regard to the cane seat which is unusual in as much as the cane wraps around the seat & still retains it's original inner hoop used to hold the cane where the back meets the seat & where the arms meet the seat & is no doubt a very early version & to Godwin's preferred seating choice 'in cane' & once re-caned will also have a much cleaner line to the whole design.
Godwin was the first designer to incorporate hygiene within the design of furniture & wrote many articles pertaining to this. In Susan Soros page 53 & 54 headed, 'The Sanitary Approach To Furniture Design' on page 53 it states that ,'This concern for domestic hygiene was a frequent theme in his writings & in an article on the furnishing of his own house in London he asserted that ''cleanliness...I take to be the first consideration in all domestic design.'' Godwin had a phobia for dust & dirt & on page 54 it notes that he designed a great many chairs in numerous styles with cane seats whose flat surfaces would not harbour dust or germs & could easily be cleaned, & goes on to say that, '' In addition, his popular Jacobean or Old English chairs first designed in 1867 had cane seats.
See Soros, Susan Weber ‘The Secular Furniture of E.W. Godwin’ for similar chair with high stretchers.
See also Sotheby’s with Paul Reeves ‘The Best of British Design from the 19th & 20th Centuries: The Selling Exhibition’, London 14th-20th March 2008, p. 53
Height 86cm. Circa 1867.
£POA.
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NIF 12C
A pure Anglo-Japanese oak Hallstand of very fine quality in the manner of E W Godwin, with upper panels depicting songbirds perched in a cherry blossom tree & a central bevelled mirror with the lower panels depicting apples & pears, the central section with central drawer flanked by arched & half turned details with turned uprights to the front & a strong Anglo-Japanese design incorporated into the umbrella/stickstand compartments to each side with Sunflower carved details to the front & back with a lower shelf encorporating the drip tray compartments to each side with zig zag detailing to the chamfered edges all stood on turned ball feet with shaped supports to each side.
Height 73 3/4". Width 78", Depth 17 1/2". Circa 1870.
£POA.
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NIF 13C
An Anglo-Japanese Octanganl occasional table with four drawers with brass handles of Japanese style fretwork details flanked by finely detailed shaped upper supports united by a central shelf encorporating eight slender ring turned legs.
Height 24", Width 24". Circa 1880.
£POA.
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NIF 14C
An impressive Gothic Revival oak fireplace surround attributed to Bruce Talbert with carved floral details to the top sides with turned supports with stunning hand painted tiles depicting cranes & wading birds in riverside scenes with further tiles in green with little winged dragons back to back in raised relief surmounted with four smaller blue triangular details & smaller brown lozenge tiles & green marble effect tiles with zig-zag details.
Height 57", Length 78", Mantle Depth 15", Opening Height 45 1/4", Width 38 3/4". The opening measurements could easily be made smaller to accommodate most size inserts. Circa 1880.
£POA.
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NIF 15C
A good quality Gothic Revival double wardrobe attributed to Lambs Of Manchester with castellated cornice & superb quality stylised brass hinges & handles to the doors which open to reveal full hanging space & a full width internal lower drawer.
Height 82 1/2", Width of cornice 50", Depth of cornice 25 1/2". Circa 1885.
£POA.
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NIF 16C
A good quality Anglo-Japanese writing desk in the manner of E W Godwin.
Height 47 3/4", Width 36", Depth 20 3/4".
£POA.
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NIF 17C
A Mahogany tea table attributed to E W Godwin.
Height 23 3/4", Width 25", Depth 25". Circa 1880's.
£POA.
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NIF 18C
A good Gothic Revival oak coalbox attributed to Dr C Dresser & made by Benham & Froud
Height 17 1/2", Width 23", Depth 12". Circa 1880's.
£POA.
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NIF 19C
A good Gothic Revival oak bookcase/sideboard with an oil painting to the top depicting a Pre-Raphaelite head of a child, flanked by semi-circular shelves & an open shelf below with two divided spaces below & three drawers below those & two cupboards to the base. A rare & a very interesting piece.
Height 64 1/2", Width 51", Depth 17". Circa 1880's.
£POA.
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NIF 20C
A rare Gothic Revival geometric architect's desk, with a cupboard to one side and a bank of five drawers to the other side, with a sliding top opening to reveal compartments for storing drawing utensils.
Height 30"/76cm , Length 36"/94cm. Circa 1870s.
£4500.
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NIF 21C
An oak coalbox dsigned by Dr Christopher Dresser, for Benham & Froud. See 'Architect-Designers Pugin to Mackintosh 5-29 May 1981' exhibition catalogue by the Fine Art Society with Haslam & Whiteway, p. 34, item 30 for an example
Height 19", Width 18", Depth 19 1/2". Circa 1870's.
£POA.
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NIF 22C
A good quality Gothic Revival oak adjustable bookstand.
Height 10", Width 9".
£POA.
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NIF 23C
An Aesthetic Movement carved & Gilt Wall Shelf with embossed leather panels designed by Bruce Talbert & probably made by Gillows.
Height 45", Width 55", Depth 11". Circa 1870.
£POA.
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NIF 24C
A Gothic Revival painted, carved and pierced oak side chair, possibly designed by William Burgess, with animal forms of an elephant and a mythical bird to the upright terminals, leather seat, 106cm high
£POA.
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NIF 25C
An important pair of Anglo-Japanese stools designed by Thomas Jeckyll & made by Gillows of Lancaster, each stamped Gillow 11439 and 11440, one signed in pencil and dated 1875.
See Christies South Kensington, Ken Hill, Snettisham, Norfolk, 13th September 1999, Lot 632 Note: These stools formed part of a group of furniture designed by Thomas Jeckyll for the industrialist Edward Green and his wife Mary for their home The Old Hall, Heath, Yorkshire in the 1870s. The furniture was removed to Ken Hill when the Greens moved there in 1890.
The signature of F. Branscombe is thought to be that of the upholsterer
Circa 1875.
£SOLD.
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NIF 26C
A rare & Important Anglo-Japanese two tier Rosewood sidetable designed by E W Godwin & made by William Watt. The square chosen top with flaming rosewood grain of a sculptural flowing form , with shaped supports shrinking & thinning but giving greater strength to the table & to it's top ensuring the top does not move or shrink & preventing splitting through shrinkage, the square offset splayed legs each with three incised details, the lower shelf with four sets of twin stretchers with opposing single upright supports joining each stretcher & joining the lower tier.
A superb quality table, pure to the Anglo Japanese principles Godwin adhered to when designing in this style. Simple beauty, strength & restraint.
The last image is from The Secular Furniture of E W Godwin by Susan Weber Soros.
Height 22 1/2". Length of the top 22", Width of the top 21 1/2".
Circa Late 1870's.
£POA.
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NIF 28C
A rare pair of 'Morris' oak reclining armchairs after a design by Phillip Webb & made by Jas Shoolbred. These armchairs are very close to the original design by Phillip Webb & superb quality pair typical of all Shoolbreds work, certainly one of the best makers in London in the late Victorian & Edwardian periods, they had workshops at Tottenham Court Rd, in London.
Professionally re - upholstered in A Morris & Co fabric.
Circa 1890.
£POA.
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NIF 29C
A Morris & co armchair professionally re upholstered in a quality Morris fabric.
Circa 1900
£POA.
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NIF 31C
A Morris & co armchair professionally re upholstered in a quality Morris fabric.
Circa 1900
£POA.
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NIF SOLD.
A rare sidetable designed by Phillip Webb & made by Morris & Co with a shaped & moulded top with six turned legs all united by subtle turned upper side stretchers & lower radiating stretchers with wavy shaped bottoms precisely joined at the centre. The underneath of the table top is as beautifully made as the rest of the table with a complicated array of flat supports for the legs which also hold the top firmly together stopping any shrinkage or joint separation & the ends of these are finished with precise chamfered edges. A beautifully made table with wonderful proportions, an early design classic of museum quality showing the true beginnings of the Arts & Crafts Movement.
Circa 1880's.
£SOLD.
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NIF 32C
A fine quality Mahogany side table almost identical to one in the Morris & Co catalogue with shaped top & Moorish undertier with 6 square legs with turned details to the upper parts united by 6 stretchers & united again by a circular plant holder.
Height 30" 68cm, Width of top 27" 59cm. Circa 1900.
£POA.
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NIF 33C
An important newspaper & magazine basket on stand designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, with pie crust moulding to the top edges & double skined cane work to the angled sides the basket held in place by large 1" circular dowls making it simple to lift from the base but retains it perfectly in place, with a staggered bead & line moulded detail to the base of the basket & sitting on 4 square tapering legs with a wonderful 45 degree half Ogee moulding to each corner of the 4 legs which are united by a classic H stretcher & on original brass castors.
An almost identical version is shown in Truth Beauty & Design by Adrian J Tilbrook & Fischer Fine Art 1986, page 69, last 2 images.
The authors quote Lutyens’s daughter, Mary, who stated that this piece was originally designed for his own home.
Height 29 1/2", Width 31 1/2", Depth 23 1/2". Circa 1900.
£POA.
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NIF 34C
A top quality set of six Gothic Revival oak dining chairs designed by Charles Bevan & made by Gillows of Lancaster with protruding shaped strip to the head rail & canted corners & dot detailing beneath, the central vertical upright with central circular disc & angular cross member with conforming dot detailing to the lower edges with through tennons to the ends & raised buttons to the fronts & another central raised button above the central V & further dot detailing to the lower seat sides on hexagonal tapering front legs.
Height 36"/91cm. Circa 1870's.
£POA.
All these chairs have been gently knocked apart, joints cleaned, glued reassembled, clamped & refinshed in our workshops.

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NIF 36C
An English School armchair.
Circa 1900
£POA.
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NIF 37C
A superb quality three piece bedroom suite, made by Ogdens of Manchester, an important maker of high quality decorative furniture from the North, the stylised floral painted designs are attributed to Dr Christopher Dresser.
Consisting of a treble wardrobe opening to reveal three large upper linen slide drawers with two small over two wider drawers below, & full length hanging space with smaller lower drawer behind the right hand side door.
A large white marbled top kneehole washstand/dressing table with three upper drawers & two generous size cupboards to each side.
& a single bedside cabinet.
Wardrobe height 84", Width of Cornice 76" , Depth of Cornice 25".
Washstand height 64", Washstand Width 54", Washstand Depth 23 1/4". Circa 1870's
£POA.
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NIF 38C
Howard & Sons. An exquisite & fine quality (1/4 sawn) Oak breakfront bookcase with good proportions & an interesting lower section. The half moon cornice with dentil moulding, further dentil moulding below & to the outer cornice with 4 upper glazed doors, each glazing bar with fine moulded details, the doors opening to reveal adjustable shelves to the centre section with 4 cupboards below, each door with fielded panels opening to reveal generous storage to the Lower cupboard with pigeon holes to the upper parts on 6 feet with decorative arched supports.
Height 85" 216cm, Width 53 3/4" 134cm, Depth at the centre 16 1/2" 42cm. Circa 1890.
£POA.
Howard & Sons were established by John Howard at 24 Orange Street London in 1820. In 1854 they moved to the centre of the West End at 22 & 36 Berners Street. They made the highest quality furniture some of the highest of the period & were commissioned by many important clients & made furniture for many important houses such as Elton Hall, Huntingdonshire & Sudbury Hall in Derbyshire & at the end of the 1890's they made the interiors for Mr Vanderbilt’s Yacht. They exhibited at the GreatExhibition in 1851 and in exhibitions in America and at the Paris Exhibition in 1900 they won two gold medals and a silver. They had the royal warrant and were commissioned to produce twenty four pieces for the Royal Collection and supplied a number of royal residences with pieces for their private collections.
Stamped Howard & Sons Berners Street to the top of the lower righthand door & the upper righthand central door with the in house design number stamped to the top of the right hand lower door ‘Howard & Sons Ltd, Bernier St. No. 3469 2128’,.
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NIF 39C
An oak wall cabinet with embossed leather faces to the door panels, atributed to E.W.Godwin & probably made by William Watt.
Height 37", Width 20", Depth 6". Circa 1870's.
£POA.

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NIF SOLD.
An Important Gothic Revival oak bracket clock from The Middlesex Guildhall, in Parliament Square London which now houses The Supreme High Court, the highest court in the country & has a rich legal history that is evident in its design & decoration. The clock was probably designed by Henry Charles Fehr & carved by H H Richardson. It is from courtroom three the grandest of them all which is written on it's original removal ticket, that is still attached to the top of the clock. At the time of construction the choice of a neo-gothic style was unusual, but the well-known critic Nikolaus Pevsner classified it as a very free interpretation of Gothic, with an almost art nouveau flavour, especially to the sculptures to the exterior.
The Guildhall was designed by Scottish architect James Glen Silvewright Gibson, (1864 – 1951), the building is situated opposite the Houses of Parliament, & flanked by the Treasury & Westminster Abbey. Gibson demonstrated a modern approach to his design by “keeping it quite distinct in scale & style so as to preserve its own individuality”. The Supreme Court building stands on the western edge of Thorney Island & was originally part of the sanctuary grounds of Westminster Abbey.

*****Two points of similar Information below that I have located relating to HH Martyn :-
H.H. Martyn (1906--25) Firm of sculptors, carvers and modellers producing architectural sculpture, metalwork and ornamental plasterwork, with reproductions of Grinling Gibbons’ carving a speciality. Founded in London, the company also had studios in Cheltenham, Birmingham and Glasgow. Source: McKenzie, R., Public Sculpture of Glasgow, Liverpool, 2002, p.491. [SBC2005] H.H. Martyn & Co. Ltd (fl.1906--25) Firm of sculptors, carvers and modellers producing architectural sculpture, metalwork, ornamental plasterwork and joinery, with reproductions of Grinling Gibbons’ carvings a speciality. Founded in London, the company also had studios in Cheltenham and Birmingham. Their Glasgow studio opened in 1909 and operated from a variety of premises (including 30 George Square and 93 West George Street) until 1925. They provided metalwork for the former Union Bank, 110--20 St Vincent Street (1924--7). Sources: AA, 1906; POD, 1909--25. [G2002]
*****More information relating to the clocks provenance*****.
Lord Chancellor's Department: Assets of Cultural Significance
Lord Freyberg asked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by Mr Wills on 9 November 2001 (HC Deb, 487W) whether they will give full details of the 484 antiques and 78 paintings held by the Lord Chancellor's Department.[HL3858]
The Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (Baroness Scotland of Asthal): The two tables below provide details of the 484 operational (e.g. desks, tables, chairs) and 78 non-operational (e.g. paintings, sculptures) antiques and works of art situated throughout the country in buildings within the Lord Chancellor's Department estate as reported to Parliament on 9 November. The reported value for operational antiques of £1,405,062.65 has since been adjusted to £954,851.04. This is mainly due to the reclassification of several high value items as fixtures and technical bookkeeping adjustments.
NOTE : The entry below is taken from the above document.
Middlesex Guildhall Victorian carved oak bracket clock, sq silvered dial sig'd 'Martyn', in a sq case.....

NOTE : THE INVENTORY FROM THE ARCHITECTURAL ACADEMY ARCHIVE, LISTS H H MARTYN & Co AS EMPLOYED ON THE MIDDLESEX GUILDHALL :-
SCULPTURE WORK. PLASTER AND CARVING H. H. MARTYN & Co., LTD.. Cheltenham.....


Height 28", Width at base 22 1/2", Depth at base 12", the main body is 19" wide x 9 1/2" deep. Circa 1913.
£SOLD.
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NIF SOLD.
George Washington Jack for Morris & Co., a mahogany 'Saville' armchair, circa 1890, with wavy square arm spindles, on swollen front legs with later conforming casters, with original cotton mohair damask Crown Imperial pattern upholstery designed by William Morris and registered on 18th November 1876, 93cm high (the casters now replaced) See Parry, Linda 'William Morris' Exhibition catalogue:V&A 1996, p. 178-179, no. J.32 for a 'Saville' armchair in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Also see Parry, Linda 'William Morris Textiles', p. 150, fig. 22 for this upholstery. It is extremely rare to find Morris furniture still with the original fabric it started life with and, although slightly worn to the arms, the fabric is in reasonable condition throughout. A good museum example of an original Saville armchair with its original coat.
Circa 1900
£SOLD.
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NIF SOLD
A reclining armchair by Morris & Co, designed by Phillip Webb
Circa 1870.
£SOLD.
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NIF SOLD.
A rare pair of Gothic Revival dining chairs by J.G.Crace probably designed for Abney Hall (last image see Jeremy Coopers Victorian & Edwardian Furniture & Interiors page 53 Illustration 114). The head rails with solid Ebony carved florets the outer ones differing to the central one & double chamfered details which are used at all the back rest joints & at every corner below the seats with a double detail to the ends beneath each side seat rail & to the squares at the lower front legs a particular detail that has an attractive & functional purpose with wonderfully chamfered birds beak end details that stop & start on the classic H stretcher where they meet leaving a slightly chunkier part of the oak again for better strength of the joints & continuing to the back legs where they meet with a superb kick out detail. Retaining their original finish. Professionally re upholstered.
Circa 1857.

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