BCA steams into reuse

Above: Part of the 19th century railway sheds outside Paris


Paris France - DAVID Ackers of France's premier demolition and salvage company, B.C.A. Materiaux Anciens S.A., has today posted a gallery of images of a historic nineteenth century steam engine and railway goods shed complex on the outskirts of Paris for which BCA are seeking interest. Bruno Cottier, head of BCA, is hoping that this fabulous early reclaimed structural ironwork can be found a new home or homes where it will be reused, rather then being scrapped and sent for recycling. Contact BCA via their website for more info.

BCA architectural ironwork elements for sale

Photo gallery of the engine sheds

Northfleet to be demolished

Demolition is set to begin at a 200-year-old industrial site as plans to turn it into a housing development press ahead.

SEEDA (South East England Development Agency), a government-funded organisation responsible for regeneration, will start the 30-week demolition of Northfleet Embankment. The majority of the disused industrial buildings on the derelict 40 acre site will be demolished, although some in the west and north will remain for redevelopment.

SEEDA proposes to create a housing development on the site, although no planning applications have been submitted yet.

A spokeswoman said: “Its closeness to Gravesend and Dartford makes the site a prime development location, just a mile away from the new international station at Ebbsfleet.”

San Francisco Architectural Heritage open house

San Francisco, USA

San Francisco Architectural Heritage invites the public to the annual Holiday Open House at The Haas-Lilienthal House, 2007 Franklin Street on Sunday, December 6th from 12 noon to 3:00 p.m. The Ballroom of the Haas-Lilienthal House will be filled with San Francisco, architecture, and Victorian themed items, and green arts and craft items.

examiner.com

The Recycled House

Mark Hill and Kate Shipp have bought nothing new for their house, 95 per cent of their possessions are pre-owned, ranging from the 1940's gas stove to one of their beds that they found in a skip.

"Everything is something found that we've used. I would describe our style as quite Eccentric" says Kate.








Above: All photo's taken by Charlie Pinder Photography

Recycled House

Sotheby's offer the exquisite collection of the greatest Florentine antique dealers

Sotheby's, Palace Magnani Feroni, Via Dei Serragli 8, Florence Italy

Sotheby's Italy have held a four day sale from 12th-15th October 2009, to auction a selection of of 1,800 lots from the dealing dynasty stock of the spectacular Salvatore Romano and his son Francesco Romano. The total sum exceeded the pre-sale low estimate, reaching €10,508,407 / $15,505,155 (pre-sale estimate: €10,361,060 - 15,435,780 / $15,287,744 -22,775,493).

The auction comprised of sculptures from the 14th to the 18th century, Old Masters paintings and drawings from the 1600s and 1700s, 19th-century Italian paintings, furniture and decorative objects including antique textiles and an interesting library. The collection bears witness to the legacy of one of the 20th century’s greatest Italian antique dealers.

In the Old Master paintings and drawings section of the auction, both Pompeo Batoni’s Madonna col Bambino (est. €100,000 – 150,000) and St. Gerolamo by Nicolas Tournier (est. €50,000 – 70,000) were offered.

Among the significant number of sculpture lots were a number of Haute Epoque sculptures – the great passion of Salvatore Romano and the main focus of his research, among which is the Madonna col Bambino, a magnificent white marble sculpture attributed to Maestro della Madonna Piccolomini and dating to the end of the 15th century (est. €70,000-90,000). The sculpture was formerly housed in the celebrated collection of Samuel Kress, a significant portion of which now forms part of the collection of the National Gallery of Washington.

The furniture lots included a spectacular group of four scenographic pedestals, each centred by a grotesque masque, similar to those preserved at Palazzo Pitti in Florence, dating to the 17th century and estimated at €30,000 – 50,000.

The stock had been stored on the first floor of the city's Palazzo Magnani Feroni and had laid untouched for over half a century. Sotheby's held the sale insitu, using the palazzo to display the collection for the four-day view, with the auction itself held on the terrace. It was primarily marketed a the Florentine trade, who would be hard pressed to absorb so much. A third of the sale covered by commissions in advance was an encouraging start and the event was well attended, but much of the buying came from absentee bidders. It was reported that at least 30 per cent of the buying was non-Italian, and there was a mix of trade, private and institutional bidding.


Above: Pietà with St. Giovanni and Maria Maddalena, a group of figures in wood which was and written about by Leo Planiscig in 1929 and is attributed to Giacomo Cozzarelli (1453-1515), sculptor, painter and architect and one of Francesco di Giorgio’s best pupils (est. €10,000 - 15,000).


Above: [ITALIAN, 13TH CENTURY, A PAIR OF STONE COLUMNS AND AN ARCHITECTURAL FRAGMENT, WITH AN ADDED BASE] Coppia di colonne binate in pietra e un frammento in pietra; con una base non pertinente le colonne: cm 153 secolo XIII
ESTIMATE 5,000 - 7,000 EUR


Above: ITALIA SETTENTRIONALE, LOMBARDIA, FINE SECOLO XIV
[NORTH ITALIAN, LOMBARDY, LATE 14TH CENTURY, A LIMESTONE ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENT CARVED WITH A FIGURE OF ST. LOUIS OF TOULOUSE]
Elemento architettonico in arenaria scolpita raffigurante San Ludovico da Tolosa tra due colonne stilizzate coronate da capitelli fogliacei, quello di
sinistra con giglio araldico, che sostengono un arco inscritto:"ST LUDOVICUS REG KAROL FULIUS" Altezza: cm 63; larghezza: cm 48,5; profondità: cm 18
63cm., 24¾in.; width; 48.5cm., 19 1/8 in.; depth 18cm., 7in.
ESTIMATE 15,000 - 25,000 EUR

Sotheby's

Join the National Antiques Week

The theme for the first National Antiques Week 23 - 30 November will be 'Antiques are Green'. Antiquesnews is encouraging every dealer in the UK and beyond to upload the 'Antiques are Green' logo to their web site.

"The aim is for every dealer to encourage newcomers - particularly the younger generation, into the world of antiques and to publicise the fact that dealers offer excellent value to buyers. Much has been written recently about what good value antiques offer – this is the ideal time to promote that fact," said Antiquesnews. The website gives numerous ideas of how to embrace National Antiques are Green week.

National Antiques Week

The call of nature at auction

UK gallerist Edward Horswell has reported a growing interest in all things animal related, especially lions, tigers and bears immortalized in bronze. "Our perennial love of animals and a postcrisis quest for quality have led to six-and-seven-figure prices for bronze animal figures, whether 19th, 20th or 21st century," said Mr Horswell.

The mid-19th century marked a turning point for animalier, the French word for the school of artists who made animals their subjects (and frequently used zoos for inspiration). Mr Horswell reports, "animalier has been stubbornly recession proof. Since the banking crisis, we're finding that bronzes from the 19th century are particularly strong. Prices for the very best pieces have increased by at least 50 percent in the past ten years."

Some of the biggest stars of the period are Isidore Bonheur, Pierre-Jules Mene, and the so-called Michelangelo of the Menagerie, Antoine-Louis Barye. In the early 20th century, Rembrandt Bugatti, a member of the Italian automotive family, created the genre's most coveted pieces. Today his work, based on subjects in the Antwerp Zoo, can fetch millions.


Above: Bugatti's Babouin Sacré Hamadryas (1909–10), one of 11 casts, sold for a stunning $2.3 million at Sotheby's in late 2006, driven up in part by buyers pushed out of the market for Giacometti sculpture, which now can sell for $20 million. (The previous Bugatti baboon on the market--in 2000 at Tajan in Paris--brought in about $965,000.)


Forbes.com

Prices hit the roof at Gaze’s

Gaze Auctioneers, Diss Norfolk

Gaze held a Rural and Domestic Bygones Auction on Saturday 21 November 2009. Head auctioneer Carl Willows said, "Bygone door furniture hits the roof at Gaze’s. An enamel finger plate for Sunlight Soap sells for £2300 (incl. premium). Enamel signs generally making good money. No man traps but kingfisher traps going to £380. Baker’s trolleys- excellent display or shelving at £223."


Above: A Sunlight soap enamel finger plate, sold for £2,000.


Above: A Kingfisher trap stamped IXL, sold for £340.


Above: A 2" round jaw Kingfisher trap, marked XL to base, other marks rubbed, sold for £300.


Above: A pair of Bakers trolleys sold for £200 each.

Gaze

Michael Gainer back in charge of Buffalo Reuse

Buffalo, NY USA

Michael Gainer explains why he is now back in charge of Buffalo Reuse following months of tension and turmoil. In an audio interview available through the link below Mr Gainer said, "The green demolition company is back at work with a renewed mission."


WBFO News

David Heathcote in BBC's Art Deco series

David Heathcote in BBC's Art Deco series - The Art Deco movement swept through Britain in the 1930s, bringing a little glamour to everyone's life. In this series, architectural historian David Heathcote explores and enjoys four of the best examples of Art Deco in Britain.

Heathcote checks into Claridge's Hotel in London's Mayfair and explores the Art Deco makeover of the 1930s, which transformed the old Victorian hotel into a fashionable destination for the rich and famous.

Second life

The Guardian has put together an eco-minded article on how to transform old household goods. Ashe Deleuil shares her ethos of, 'give your things a makeover and make good from what you already own'. In the artcile She said, "I bought an old pine door from a salvage yard for £30 (try salvo.co.uk), and replaced the glass, hinges and handles.

Guardian

Thornton ICI chimney demolition

Explosive demolition experts Tobinson & Birdsell have carried out a successful impolsion at the Thornton Power Station near Blackpool.

Franny Armstrong green personality 2009

edie awards 2009

The edie awards recognise environmental excellence within projects and individuals. Winner of edie green personality of the year was Franny Armstrong, who has made some landmark independent films (McLibel, The Age of Stupid, Baked Alaska and Drowned Out). Her most recent project is 10:10, a campaign which aims to cut 10% of the UK's emissions within 2010. Launched in September 2009, 10:10 has since been signed up to by the UK's leading politicians, as well as by prominent organisations and individuals.

Unconnected to her work, during November 2009, Ms Armstrong was rescued by London mayor Boris Johnson from an assault in Camden, London. Ms Armstrong praised him as her "knight on a shining bicycle"and reported that he chased off the attackers and then insisted on escorting her home. During the 20 minute journey, she suggested that he adopt the 10:10 policy for the tube and that he pedestrianise Camden Town to which he replied that he wanted to pedestrianise all across London.

edie

Keeping warm without costing the earth

Sarah Lonsdale, reporter for the Telegraph, asks if it is possible for an average Victorian terrace to half its energy bills. "I’m in a quiet residential street in Balham, south London. The rows of smart Victorian terraces and semis, with their white stucco work and bay windows are now a desirable design classic. But for a government charged with reducing the nation’s carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050, they’re an absolute nightmare. Increasingly, too, for the owners who have to heat these solid-walled, single-paned, airy-lofted, yet rather lovely dinosaurs, they are a growing drain on family finances," said Mrs Lonsdale.

Architect Susan Venner’s has set out to prove she can reduce the environmental impact of her Victorian terrace home. The only visible sign of the project is the cork cladding on the outside end of terrace wall: to be specific, 180mm- deep cork, in two layers fixed with wooden battens up which a few climbing plants have started to move. "This cork cladding has had a massive impact on heating bills, we used it where ever we could. The 130-year-old solid brick walls of these houses let out masses of heat, now 10 times less escapes through this cork," said Mrs Venner.

Other energy-efficient measures that Mrs Venner has introduced include underfloor insulation and newly fitted reclaimed flooring, laid on top of the original wooden floorboards to increase the installation. The reclaimed boards were from a gym at Loughborough University and found on an ad on SalvoWEB!!

"Solar thermal panels on the roof provides hot water for most of the year. Finally, autumn and spring heating is now done with a super-efficient wood-burning stove, licensed for use in smokeless zones, fed with builders’ offcuts and collected wood from Tooting Common. We have very nearly reached the 80% emission reduction we have been striving for." said Mrs Venner

Telegraph

New trendy Ashmolean and old-fashioned Pitt Rivers

Above: Pitt Rivers does look similar to how it did in the 1901 photo. Now the display cases are chock-full and the spacious-lloking hall is crammed to the gunwales with stuff.

Above: Architectural spaces have been created at the Ashmolean but these are slightly disconnected from the exhibits. Here a load of unlabelled Chantrey plaster busts have been used as decorator items in a stairwell. Is that wrong? It is the modern way that salvage is used.

Oxford UK - TWO Oxford museums have been given a makeover in 2009: the Ashmolean and Pitt Rivers, the former at £60m costing more than any museum makeover since the £100m British Museum roof project, and the latter costing £2.5m. What do you get for your money? Both museums were founded on substantial early collections, with the Ashmolean (the oldest museum in England) having a more classic spread from Egypt to Pre-Raphaelite situated in a series of galleries, while Pitt Rivers was more ethnographic including huge North American totem poles and medieval English spells, located in many display cabinets in one large hall.

The money at the Ashmolean seems to have been spent on creating space - an architect designing a museum - and not on showing the collection, although the determined visitor will find plenty to satisfy. The labelling was not complete, and it was not obvious what some of the items were. This cannot be said of Pitt Rivers where the architecture and joinery has been left intact and the handwritten labelling intricately comprehensive. The pleasant and spacious ambience of a modern museum without a cluttered mass of exhibits is the Ashmolean. For an original Victorian museums the Pitt Rivers has no peer.

Both museums have free admission and both invite schoolchildren - older children at the Ashmolean and the youngsters at Pitt Rivers.

Rotting wood 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide

Each year anything between five and ten million tonnes of wood is thrown away in the UK. Recycling rates for wood have improved in recent years. In the mid 1990s, less than 2 per cent of discarded wood a year was recycled, that figure is now between 40 and 50 per cent.

However this still means that each year the equivalent of many forests are being buried in holes in the ground! As the biodegradable wood lies in landfills, gently rotting away, it creates methane, a greenhouse gas 20 times as potent as carbon dioxide.

"Kitchen cabinets are regarded as the low-grade end of the used-wood market. Most are made from wood chip and are bound by glue and other substances, all of which have to be filtered out when recycled. Because of present economic conditions, there is a surplus of used wood on the market. But the great hope for the future are wood-fuelled biomass power plants: wood surpluses could be burned as more of these facilities come on stream. Wood recycling groups, operating in virtually every city and county, are an excellent drop off and buying point for used-wood products. Find out where your local one is at the charity Furniture Re-Use Network www.frn.org.uk" said the Green and Confused Organisation.

Times online

Thornton Kay said . . .

The figures given by The Times are misleading. The article says 'In the mid 1990s, less than 2 per cent of discarded wood a year was recycled, that figure is now between 40 and 50 per cent.' and that 7m tonnes of wood is discarded.

The truth is that much more than 7m tonnes of wood is discarded from all waste streams in the UK annually of which around 7m tonnes is discarded from construction and demolition alone. In the mid 1990s 10 percent of this C&D wood, or 700,000 tonnes, was reclaimed for reuse as wood by the salvage sector. Officially less than 2 percent was recycled by being chipped, mulched or burnt, although anecdotal evidence is that unrecorded burning was much more prevalent.

In 2009 the amount of reclaimable wood being recycled increased to 50 percent, and 250,000 tonnes are reclaimed for reuse by the salvage sector.

The Times story is greenwash. It is promoting the view that the best option for reusable old demolition timber is burning in waste to energy plants. All reusable wood should be reused. Burning reusable wood is never the best option, and it would only be carbon neutral if the world's forests are expanding by the amount of wood being destroyed and the energy costs of felling and converting the timber were nil. But in reality forests are contracting rapidly and the energy costs of growing new forests and logging and converting new timber are high.

14 NOVEMBER, 2009 02:52

Electrical insulator table

Architectural Forum, Islington London UK
Reuse of the week
A recrafted glass table made with a reclaimed ceramic electrical insulator base with polished ferrules.





Table for sale on SalvoWEB

Architectural Forum

Scrap wood table

A table made from random pieces of scrap wood which have been laminated together. Then carefully smoothed and polished only on one side of the finished block, leaving the underside rough to show off the process.







MAKE

IBS strike it lucky

IBS Reclaim, Oakley Buckinghamshire UK

"Now you are going to smile," exclaimed David Marlow, manger of IBS Reclaim in Buckinghamshire, when questioned about his latest ad on SalvoWEB; a medieval stone corbel carved from gritstone.

"Once in a while we all fall upon something or have a bit of luck. The truth is we purchased some yorkstone paving back in June/July this year from the Lancashire/Yorkshire borders, there was a crate of bits and pieces given to us free.

"The contents of the crate were of no value and most of it was put in the skip as unwanted waste, right in the bottom we discovered the head. You may recall that in the Denner Hill, IBS blog that Salvo recently featured there was reference to Dr Nick Cutler 'Apart from its sales and redevelopment, IBS has also donated old stone samples from its reclaimed stocks to Dr Nick Cutler of Oxford University's Centre for the Environment who was making a study of biodeterioration which includes the effects of algae and lichen on stonework. He was fascinated by David Marlow's knowledge of Sarsen stone and Denner Hill stone history especially the story of the snipers. . .' Nick examined the head during his visit and his conclusion forms the basis of the current advert on salvo. Some think it is a depiction of Christ others are not so sure, we remain undecided," said Mr Marlow.





Ad on SalvoWEB

IBS

Junk to Funk

Portland, Oregon USA

Junk to Funk fashion show will be held on Saturday 14 November at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland. Junk to Funk Recycled Fashion Show Contest is an annual production aimed to educate it's audiences about waste reduction, recycling issues and to inspire creative re-use. "We do this in a most unique way, through showcasing wearable art and couture fashion based on the creative use of 'trash' in an eclectic and often humorous production. Our vision statement is to restore our earth by creatively transforming our engagement with stuff," said the event organisers.

Junk to Funk also offers a unique opportunity for corporate events and community organisers to create inspiring entertainment for any event.



Junk to Funk

Making a profit from a piece the past

[pict. REUTERS]

Berlin, Germany

Twenty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the desire to own a piece of the history in the form of a concrete reminder of the capital's divided past shows little sign of abating. Once a construction worker, Volker Pawlowski is feeding the desire from a small warehouse in Berlin. "To me, the Wall is a product like any other. It's business," Mr Pawlowski said, standing in the midst of thousands of small graffiti-sprayed pieces, arranged according to size.

"After the wall fell I saw that there was demand there, were selling a piece of history" explains Mr Pawlowski, whose company bought 150 complete segments and remains the world's biggest wholesaler supplying about 90 percent of Wall relics sold in Berlin's souvenir stores. Mr Pawlowski also provides man-high wall segments to companies or institutions. A 3.6 meter high section of wall costs around €4,000 (£3,500).

The heavily fortified 106-kilometre Wall, built in 1961 and encircling West Berlin, was breached on the night of November 9, 1989. Hundreds of so-called Mauerspechte (Wall-woodpeckers) chipped away at the colourful chunks on the Wall's western side. At least two-thirds of the wall was shredded and most of it was reused to pave roads.

"The Berlin Wall around the World", published this year, documents 120 segments of the wall in about 40 countries. They include a 2.6 tonne segment bought at auction in 1990 by an Italian businessman and donated to Pope John Paul II.

Welt Online

Interesting lots at Mallams

The Restorers Workshop, Saturday, 7 November, 2009


A rare late 16th century Italian bronze mortar. The wasted body decorated in relief with three masks within moulded supports with scroll and leaf decoration. The flared bowl incorporating four bands and rim, on stepped base. The underside with foundry mark of a stylised rose, 4 7/8" high; together with the associated pestle sold for £900.


Mallams Auctioneers, Abingdon Oxfordshire
Above: A colour decorated plaster model of a male torso for demonstration and instructional purposes. The rib-cage is removable revealing various individual components, numbered for lecture purposes, the half-skull with dissectional brain. Possibly by Adam Rouilly, 38" high on plinth base sold for £260.


Above: An old stained pine lepidopterist chest with knob handles and skirt base. Each drawer containing a selection of British butterflies and moths including Purple Emperor, Large Tortoiseshell, Fritillaries, Death's Head Hawk Moth etc, 13" wide x 12" high, sold for £160.


Above: A pair of Victorian rollers. Possibly Indian, each perched on a branch decorated with fern and grasses and rockwork bases, each beneath glass domes of a slightly different size, sold for £90.



Above: Four Asian birds to include a Crimson Sunbird, a further Sunbird, Small Minivet and Green Leaf Bird, each perched on a lichen covered branch decorated with foliage on a mossy base, cased, sold for £60.

A continental walnut cased polyphon with shaped case and winding lever to the front, the inside of the lid with a colourful label and complete with nine 8 1/4" discs, the case 11" wide, sold for £210.

Mallams

Nearly half sells at Summers Place

Summers Place Auctions, Billingshurst, West Sussex

Auctioneer and one of the Experts in Charge, James Rylands said: “The buying in the sale was selective with good items selling very well. The highest price was paid for the Four Seasons, as it is great to find a set of oversized figures, which although were not very old, had been very well carved. The figure by Andreoni also sold well above estimate because it was a virtuoso example of fine carving. We were very pleased to be able to include such an impressive selection of Coalbrookdale – one of the best groups to be sold at auction for a while.”


Above: An impressive set of four carved limestone figures representing the Seasons, last quarter of the 20th century. Estimated at £60,000/80,000 eventually sold to a private Irish bidder for £106,100.


Above: A carved white marble figure of a vestal virgin by Orazio Andreoni. Estimated at £20,000/30,000 sold to a private buyer from South America for £50,900.


Above: A late 19th century carved white marble fountain, removed from The Pheasantry, 152 Kings Road London, estimated at £25,000-40,000. The fountain eventually sold for £30,500 to a member of the US trade.



Above: A pair of composition stone figures, mid 19th century from a model by John Bacon. The figures were removed from the facade of the Lord Nelson Public house in Boston, Lincs in the 1960‘s. Estimated at £6000-10,000 and eventually sold for £14,900 to the English trade.

Summers Place Auctions

Government reuse campaign

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has recently launched a radio and print advert campaign aimed at promoting the three Rs - waste reduction, reuse and recycling.

The £800,000 initiative, entitled ‘Remember. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle', is being delivered as part of the government's Act On CO2 campaign. Environment secretary Hilary Mr Benn said, "Making better use of everything around us will really help us to tackle the impact our waste has on climate change, and save us money too. That's why our campaign is encouraging everyone to rethink what they might think of as ‘waste' and ‘recycling' - we can all do things like put our old sofa on Freecycle rather than taking it to the dump, or recycle our old mobile if we get a new one."

Although the scheme has been likened to WRAP's long-running Recycle Now campaign, a Defra spokeswoman said, ""It's quite different to Recycle Now which is quite a broad campaign. This is about making better use of everything. We are trying to look at all three Rs - moving it up the waste hierarchy. It complements Recycle Now and is not intended to replace that but moves the debate on."


Letsrecycle

Trainspotters team-up with Damien Hirst

Trainspotters, Gloucestershire, UK

Trainspotters collection of industrial and vintage clocks was used in this latest video 'Big Black Hole' by The Hours, directed by Tony Kaye and art directed by Damien Hirst.

The tallest reclaimed treehouse

Tennessee Cumberland County, USA

Horace Burgess has built the worlds tallest treehouse which stands at 97 feet. Now in his 14th year of construction, he is still not finished! He has never measured its size but estimates it to be about 8,000 to 10,000 square feet. "I did count the nails which I hammered into the wood — 258,000, give or take a few hundred," said Mr Burgess.

The treehouse is supported by an 80-foot-tall white oak 12 feet in diameter at its base. Most of his materials are reused pieces of lumber from garages, storage sheds and barns.


USA today

Derwentside reuse

Derwentside Antiques, Derbyshire UK


Above: An internal stained glass door. The timber is reclaimed and the glass is original.


Above Cupboard made from reclaimed wood.


Above: A settle made from old internals doors.


Above: A pine table with a reclaimed timber top.

Derwentside

Profit in diversity at Gaze

Gaze, Diss UK

Auctioneer Carl Willows said, the sale of Architectural Salvage on October 31, "Was probably our most diverse sale for some time, bidding was dominated by the trade. This was probably a reflection of the number of quality items that had come fresh to the market from recent house moves and some demolitions.

"Naturally old favourites returned. Another fine run of selected York flags, this time from the Swan Hunter shipyard in Sunderland worked out at over £110 per sq. yard (including premium) but I still maintain is good value as against Axminster carpet.

"Flooring was generally mixed with a good variety on offer. Good oak parquet fortunately was bought, locally, as flooring rather than firewood. Oak boards did less well but worm free elm was o.k.

"A superb run of six cupboards in oak sold to Canadian trade for an acceptable £1950. Doors were as usual for us very variable. An interesting aspect of the sale was pronounced lack of enthusiasm for reproduction cast iron and concrete ‘decorative’ items. This may have been a reflection of the absence of private buyers and the dismal rainy weather but I believe it is a sign for the future . . .Has it had its day? Despite my hopes a modern bronze of ‘Jack Frost’ made £1100!!"

"Among the ‘house clearance’ items that come to mind were two clam shells selling to trade at £1200 and £1100 (+ buyers premium), a modern Carrara marble chimney piece at £1800 (+ buyers premium), four Blanchard columns and capitals at £650 (+ buyers premium) and a lead fountain at £580 (+ buyers premium). Not many phone buyers, but we appreciate seeing such a good crowd on the floor."

The next sale at Gaze is Rural and Domestic Bygones on 21 November. Despite it only being early days for consignments Mr Willows is optimistic," We have a nice horse drawn cart and a good collection of packaging and enamel signs," said Mr Willows.


Above: A run of cupboards and pigeon Loles in six sections, each with a pair of oak six panelled doors each section approx 52 1/2" wide x 87" high x 16 1/2 deep, sold for £1950.


Above: A bronze study of jack Frost - torso and out stretched hand, sold for £1100 (+ buyers premium)


Above: A lead fountain, the base 62" diameter, two tier with fluted outlet, sold for £580 (+ buyers premium).


Above: A set of four 19th Century terracotta sugar twist columns with elaborate Corinthian capitals, stamped M.H. Blanchard & Co., Blackfriars Road, London, 54" tall, sold for £650 (+ buyers premium).

Gaze

Clothes hanger chandeliers

Unbelievably nearly 8 billion clothes hangers are being sent to landfill sites per year. Industrial designers Alex Witko and Courtney Hunt have devised an ingenious way to reuse unwanted coat hangers, they call them 'Hangeliers'. These are chandeliers made from off-the-shelf plastic and wood hangers.



inhabit