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Henry Aldridge & Son The Devizes Auctioneers
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Devizes Auctioneers Expansion Goes Well
A truly fascinating archive of documents and memorabilia from General James Willougby Gordon are one of the highlights and are estimated to fetch in excess of £10000.
General Willougby Gordon was a personal friend of the Duke of Wellington and was the Quarter Master General at The Battle of Waterloo in 1815. The Collection includes The Most Honourable Order of the Bath (1815), The Royal Guelphic Order Knights Grand Cross (1815) and Knight Commander (1815), three of the most distinguished awards to be given at the time. A rare informal letter from the Duke of Wellington together with an accounts book chronicling the cost of the construction of the General's mansion in Chelsea are some of the rarer pieces. This house was built opposite Chelsea hospital at a cost of £8000 in 1810, which equates to several million pounds today. General Willougby Gordon's wife was a pupil of arguably the finest British painter J.M Turner. Another book gives an inventory of the General's Art Collection showing he owned three Turners at a cost of £105 each during the same period, eight weeks ago an oil painting by Turner's contemporary Sir Joshua Reynolds sold for £10,000,000 which is a considerable degree of inflation!!!. There are several original receipts for paintings from great painters such as Turner and Wilkie also included in the archive. A number of early 19th cent portrait miniatures of General Willougby Gordon and his family give a wonderful insight into the Late Georgian era.
The auction contains a number of good quality Antiques. Including a stunning Georgian four leaf D End dining table on reeded supports measuring 138ins extended Estimate £4000-£6000, and a smaller Victorian Extending dining table measuring 96ins is estimated to realise in excess of £3000. A 19th century German oak sideboard with intricately carved decoration showing period scenes, has caused interest from buyers in Germany and The Low Countries Estimate £1000-£2000, an 18th Cent French provincial dresser Est £1000-£2000 and a set of ten 19th century mahogany dining chairs of harlequin form Est £1800-£2500.
There is a 60 lot section of fine art to include a number of original Military and Maritime Gouache Studies by the prominent 20th Century Illustrator John Batchelor. He has illustrated books and magazines for publications including Time-Life Books, The Radio Times and the History of the Second World War and exhibited in Washington DC, New York and the Paris and Farnborough Airshows.
In the Collectors Section there are Postcards, Cigarette Cards, Books, Sports Programmes, Silver and Objects of Virtu. The Ceramics include a 19th Century Doulton Lambeth Classically Styled Garden Trough, Beswick, Sylvac, Carltonware and Charlotte Rhead.
Please contact either Alan Aldridge or Andrew Aldridge BA Hons MRICS for further information about this auction or any other aspect of the sale of Antiques and Collectors items on 01380 729199 or visit Henry Aldridge & Sons purpose designed Auction Rooms at Unit 1 Bath Road Business Centre, Bath Road, Devizes, Wiltshire. |
