A Lifetime of Collecting
Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood are delighted to offer at auction on 10th March
2020 a fascinating personal collection of furniture and works of art formed by Roderick
and Valentine Butler at their home, Marwood House, in Honiton.
A particularly large needlework picture of a tiger that is included in the sale
on 10th March 2020.
Antique dealing has been the Butler family business in Honiton, Devon, for over
seventy years. For Roderick, a second-generation antique dealer and his wife and
business partner Valentine, who trained as a cabinet maker at the London College
of Furniture, building a personal collection of fine examples of various art forms,
primarily English with the early periods being of particular interest, has also
been the project of a lifetime. As they look to the next chapter of their lives,
this collection is now to be sold before, as in their words, they too "become antiques".
Roderick joined the family business at Marwood House, Honiton, in 1957. In the subsequent
six decades, he has built a reputation not only as a respected dealer but as an
authority, particularly on early furniture and metalwork. He is a Fellow of the
Society of Antiquaries, has been a longstanding member of the British Antique Dealers
Association and was for a number of years on the vetting panel of the Grosvenor
House Antiques Fair, chairing it in its end-days. His and Valentine's avid enthusiasm
for antiques, together with the history behind them, is evident in their combined
research efforts and published papers, consultancy work for various museums, membership
of the Antique Metalwork Society, Regional Furniture Society and a number of specialist
exhibitions held at Marwood House. These include "The Art of the Woodcarver", "Chairs
through the Four Centuries", "Marked Brass" and "English Bronze Cooking Vessels"
(a collection of over 200 items subsequently acquired by Somerset County Museum).
Many items from their exhibitions are included in this sale.
The majority of the Butlers' collection was purchased here in the West Country.
Whilst most items were sold-on through their antiques business, those pieces that
they kept are all notable in some way; be that for their quality or originality,
colour or rarity, and many of these pieces offered in the sale have not been on
the open market for some sixty years. The glazed mahogany standing corner cupboard,
the Fulford bed hangings and the Prime Ministerial seal are amongst many pieces
in the sale that were bought from Bearnes in Torquay in the late 1950s and 1960s.
Some of the interesting individual collections within the collection as a whole
are highlighted here:
The Bellows (Lots 392-415)
It is difficult to think of any other human invention requiring three specific elements
- wood, leather and metal - that has survived in form totally unchanged for at least
seven hundred years and which is still an essential piece of hearth equipment.
See the travelling tinker, his kit and bellows on his back, illustrated in the Luttrell
psalter c1320-40. There are none of that age here, but two 17th Century dated examples,
lots 397a and 412. Others with maker's names, including lot 401 by Alldays &
Onions, who later manufactured cars and a pair ascribed to a Philadelphia maker,
lot 395.
The Cast Bronze Cooking Vessels & Mortars (Approx 20 Lots)
Following a ten-year research project, the major part of the cooking vessels collection
was acquired by Somerset County Museum. A few were retained for further research
and other rare examples with previously unrecorded names acquired. These are now
included in the sale. Of note are the massive cauldron c1500 (lot 462) and the graduated
set of 'motto' skillets from the Fathers Foundry, Montacute (lot 450). The mortars,
from Medieval to 18th Century, are mostly illustrated and discussed in Michael
Finlay's English Decorated Bronze Mortars and Their Makers.
The French Plate or "Silver Form" Brass (Lots 348-357)
Domestic brass, which was mostly originally silvered, is comparable in design to
fashionable silver of c1715-c1765. It was not regarded as a cheap alternative, but
high status, as witness the silvered brass chandelier in the Queen’s Apartments
at Hampton Court Palace. For a discussion of French plate and two recently identified
makers, see the Journal of the Antique Metalware Society Vols 20 & 21, and the
Holland Martin Collection, Sotheby's, Sussex 22nd June 1993 catalogue.
The Brass, Copper & Ironwork (Approx 80 Lots)
Alms dishes are well represented including a rare, probably English, example with
applied reeded rim, lot 372 and among the warming pans and lids with inscriptions,
'Who burnd the bed Nobodie 1631' is a particularly quaint example (lot 382). Ironwork
includes several pieces with brass inlaid names and dates, a short-lived fashion
(lots 321 and 323) and of Irish interest, the brass door knocker inscribed "Wrenched
off in Dublin by Lord Deleval June 1882” (lot 268).
Thunderbox Lids - An Exercise in Treen (Lot 54)
Gathered from auctions in the remotest corners of the Westcountry, this collection
is testimony to the many conversions over the years of stool commodes to coffee
tables. These lids are a rarely considered aspect of the art of the wood turner.
They range in date from the 17th century to the 19th century.
And of note also the Herbert Read Collection of ecclesiastical wood carvings (lots
236-248) together with approximately 30 other carvings, both ecclesiastical and
secular dating from the 14th–17th Century
Other highlights include the 17th Century portrait of Catherine Sondes Countess
of Rockingham, attributed to the studio of Sir Peter Lely, which has been in the
collection for seventy three years. The rare gilded copper panels on the drawer
fronts of a German table cabinet, chased with 'the labours' of the months and each
with a sign of the zodiac, are so finely worked that each viewing reveals a new
detail. A so called Glastonbury chair, on which it would be unwise to sit, a masterpiece
from c1550-1600 and constructed of riven oak held together with pegs. A William
& Mary feather banded walnut lowboy of lovely colour and original condition; a fine
late 17th Century stumpwork framed looking glass dated 1671; and a large early 19th
Century Italian micromosaic plaque attributed to Gioacchino Barberi.
The Butlers have always had an eye for unusual, quirky and humorous items and there
are several examples in the collection such as a double-skinned deception tumbler
and a similar stemmed glass which could effectively be knocked over or the liquid
'thrown' in someone's direction without a drop being spilt; a collection of handsomely
turned 'thunderbox' lids; a chamber pot with an image of Gladstone inside the bowl,
and the salt glazed snuff jar with Royal association containing a note "Snuff given
by Queen Charlotte to George IV when Prince Regent".
There is also a particularly large needlework picture of a tiger, who proudly oversaw
many Butler family feasts. The Butlers consider themselves extremely fortunate,
not only to have handled so many interesting antiques made by people skilled in
so many areas of designing and making, but also to have been able to research and
share knowledge with curators, archaeologists and other professional and study groups,
including National Trust Collections' Managers, the Antique Metalware Society, the
Regional Furniture Society and West Dean College (as part of the students' syllabus).
There are many references in the catalogue to pieces that are illustrated in the
standard reference books on their subject, reflecting the importance to current
understanding of many of the items on offer. While the business and research activities
will continue at Marwood House, Roderick and Valentine judge that now is the time
to find new homes for this fascinating collection of antiques and works of art and
selling through present day Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood marks a long and cordial
relationship begun over 60 years ago in Torquay.
- Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood
- Butler Collection of Works of Art
Social Bookmarks
Please click the following links to flag this article to other people on the Internet.