Three days left for Summer Olympia Fair

Olympia Art & Antiques Fair, June 5-15 2008


Above: A pair of Portland stone roundels C.1760, £14,000


Above: Thornton Kay (Salvo) and Alex Puddy (Architectural Heritage) discussing the show


Above: A pair of huge lions and reclining youths, £120,000


Above: A pair of urns, C.1860, £18,000



Olympia Art and Antiques fair is full of all sorts of treasures and trinkets from over 250 of the art world's best known names, and this included Salvo Dealer Alex Puddy from Architectural Heritage.

His impressive stand was filled with many interesting pieces including a pair of beautiful Portland stone roundels from the estate Plas Llangedmore Cardigan, Wales and dating from around 1760, priced at £14,000.

The remnants of Chelsea still lived on as flowers peered out of a pair of Italian marble campana shaped urns, C.1860, priced at £18,000. Alex Puddy later joked that he would be selling the plants of at £2 each and three for £5, as he did at Chelsea!

Other interesting pieces included a pair of huge nineteenth century cast iron mythological beasts, upon which a pair of warrior youths recline, priced at £120,000. On the opening day Alex had already made a successful sale of a large campana urn with two female masks on and raised on a solid marble base. Its provenance is from Chateau Germain Paris, France, C.1860, priced at £26,000.

Olympia
Architectural Heritage

Cast iron bath sofa comes to Salvo Fair

Salvo Fair, Knebworth Hertfordshire




JASON Davies of Architectural Forum and Colleen Gowlett of Salvo are turning an old cast iron bath into a sofa which they hope to complete in time to be on sale at the forthcoming Salvo Fair. The picture shows George Peppard and Audrey Hepburn sitting on the first known cast iron bath tub sofa seen in a New York apartment in the film Breakfast at Tiffany's in 1961

Posterity summer auction 21st June

Ledbury, Herefordshire UK

POSTERITY will be holding a summer auction of 200 lots of architectural and garden antiques on 21st June 2008 in Ledbury, Herefordshire. Among the lots will be a full size snooker table, arcade ten pin bowling machine, marble fire surround, milliners cabinet, French bakers table and a mixture of furniture, architectural and garden antiques and materials.

For more information please contact; Tel 01531 636380.

Posterity Antiques

First flushing rim thunderbox WC for sale at Salvo Fair 2008

Above: Optimus patent thunderbox loo by Dent & Hellyer of Red Lion Square, London, c1870, the first toilet with a flushing rim, on sale at this year's Salvo Fair for £595 from Antique Baths of Ivybridge

Salvo Fair 2008, Fri 27 Jun - Sun 29 Jun, Knebworth, Hertfordshire UK - ANTIQUE Baths of Ivybridge will be bringing an original patent Optimus thunderbox to the Salvo Fair this year, the first loo with under-the-rim flushing. This WC, consisting of a valve closet surrounded by a fine Cuban mahogany enclosure, dates from 1870, when Dent & Hellyer invented and patented the first flushing rim bowls of their Optimus and Artisan models.

Before the Optimus the flush came from a spout placed under the lid which swirled the water around the conical bowl but did not always clean it. The flushing rim, seen as a vast improvement, was patented by Dent & Hellyer and made for them by Thomas Twyford of Stoke on Trent. Twyfords were potters and sanitaryware makers who rose to prominence after the cholera outbreaks of the 1840s and 1860s, the death of Prince Albert, and the near death of the Prince of Wales, the future Kind Edward VII, from water-borne cholera and typhus.

Thunderbox is the name given to the whole assembly, which was plumbed into the new-fangled mains water supply providing the flush, and the equally new-fangled sewers which got rid of the effuent. The thunderbox contained the Optimus' innards in an elegant mahogany enclosure. The D handle was lifted to open the water supply to flush the pan (seen on the right in the closed position in the photo above) either from the mains or from a concealed cistern. The thunderbox was the epitome of posh Victorian toiletry from 1870 up to the late 1880s when the all-in-one wash-out, and then syphonic flush, pottery toilet pans were introduced.


Above: Nick Cowan of Antique Baths of Ivybridge in the cast iron bath open air pre-restoration yard

Above: Fabulous old hand carved 5ft 9ins Spanish marble bath from Barcelona. Price £3,750

Above: Japkap lead lined pine high-level cistern, restored and coated to comply with modern water regulations. Price £350 including antique brackets

Above: Old wooden stepped commode. Price £175

Salvo Fair
Antique Baths of Ivybridge

Werff pleased with Summers Place sealed bid results

Above: Falcon II set on a natural stone base, by Chris Drury, (Britsh born Sri Lanka, 1948), estimate: £1200-1800, hammer price: £2599



Above: A composition stone figure of a goddess on a pedestal, second half of the twentieth century, estimate: £800-1200, hammer price: £1706



Above: 'Resolve' by Thomas Joynes and Adam Paddon, enamelled stainless steel, estimate: £2000-3000, hammer price: £3600



Above: The highest selling piece a modern group of three divers, estimate: £10000-15000, hammer price: £13000


Summers Place Auctions, Billingshurst, Sussex UK

SEALED bids, after the recent Summers Place live auction at Billingshurst, were opened on Tuesday 27th May. Rupert van der Werff said, "A group of three modern stainless steel divers were top of the sealed bid lots fetching £13,000. Contemporary sculpture was the strongest area as just about everything sold, and sold well. There are two markets operating and the contemporary one is very strong, and we will continue to expand into this area [what is the other market?-ed]. Private treaty is closing in a few weeks for the large architectural bits, in which we have had alot of interest. A number of unsold lots from the live auction and the sealed bid auction have also been sold via private treaty. We were pretty pleased with the sale given the current financial difficulties, particularly in the second tier market in which these lots appeared. Sixty six percent were sold by lot, not including fossil. We were delighted that the new initiative paid off, as it was a risk."

Summers Place Auctions
Summers Place Auctions video preview

Drummond Shaw interviewed in 2008

Hindhead, Surrey UK - DRUMMOND Shaw of Drummonds Architectural is interviewed by Thornton Kay of Salvo in the back yard of his Hindhead, Surrey UK premises in May 2008.

The business is having a big trade clear-out and the video shows some of the deeply discounted items available including 300 Victorian ropetwist edgers for £500. These will be among many items Drummonds is bringing to Salvo Fair in June where they will be having a very large stand.

The interview includes Drummond's thoughts about where the salvage trade is now, how the new business is going, including the flooring made from reclaimed oak and stone, and a move away from less profitable architectural antique fittings such as doors and Belfast sinks.

Finally we get to hear a surprise new announcement about the future of Hindhead.

Drummonds Architectural

Love London

1st - 21st June 2008, London UK


Above: Recycled sculpture at London Zoo


Love London is an annual green festival, celebrating projects and organisations that are making a real contribution to creating a more sustainable capital. Throughout June hundreds of events will take place across the city with ordinary Londoners and grassroots groups showcasing innovative local events alongside high-profile regulars such as the Camden Green Fair and the Revolve Brighton to London Eco-Rally. This huge variety of events is expected to draw some half a million Londoners.

One of the many events which will be taking place in conjunction with Love London is The Recycled sculpture Show which will run until September 5 at London Zoo. Hubcaps, crockery and tyres have been used to create a new batch of arrivals at a zoo. More than 20 artists have provided eco-friendly animals such as a great white shark made from old hubcaps, a 'Tyreannosaurus' – built, not surprisingly, from used tyres – and a chicken consisting of broken crockery.

Love London