The Clot Collection derives from the 1960s and 70s. Dali took to spending summer afternoons modelling the sculptures in wax by the swimming pool of his house in Port Lligat in Spain.  These were later cast in bronze by a friend of the artist, Isidro Clot, who ran the Diejasa foundry.

Modelling in wax means each sculpture actually bears the marks of Dali’s fingers and palms and this ‘lost-wax’ process is believed to produce the most superior casts.

The subjects of this series of bronzes derive from Dali’s abiding fascinations with Christianity, Spain and the nature of culture and his passion for his muse and lover, Gala.

Marcus Grey, Roseberys picture department director comments, “The Clot Collection has forty four works by Dali in total and we are delighted to present seven of these works in our forthcoming auction. They represent a good cross section of the subject matter and creative elements that Dali worked with and became famous for. The Dragon, Swan, Elephant bronze epitomises Dali’s surrealist vision by creating a work that appears tangible as one object but viewed from a different perspective appears to be something quite different.”

Dragon, Swan, Elephant, bronze, signed and numbered 2/19 PE, prestige edition, height 32cm, length 44cm, width 49cm.  Estimate £30,000-£40,000
Dali was famed during his surrealist period for making images which could be viewed in different ways.  This sculpture can be seen as an elephant, a swan or a dragon, depending on the angle from which it is viewed.

Carmen, Castanets, bronze, signed and numbered 4/25 AP, on a serpentine marble base, height 29cm, length 17cm, width 12cm.  Estimate £2,500-£3,000

Dali created this sculpture as a tribute to Spanish women.  It represents the archetypal Flamenco dancer, an enduring symbol of Dali’s beloved Spain.

Madonna of Port Lligat, bronze, signed and numbered 105/999 on a serpentine marble base, height 29cm, length 17cm, width 12cm.  Estimate £2,500-£3,000

As with most of Dali’s images of the Madonna, the face of this bronze is modelled on that of his muse and lover, Gala.

Winged Triton, bronze, signed and numbered 25/49 AP, height 33cm, length 10cm, width 24cm. Estimate £2,000-3,000

Saint Narcissus, bronze, signed and numbered 2/75 AP with marble plinth, height 28cm, length 17cm, width 14cm.  Estimate £2,500-£3,000
Legend has it that this Bishop of Gerona performed a miracle from beyond the grave in 1285.  As the city was being sacked by an army of non-believers, the saint released swarms of flies from his tomb which caused the soldiers to run away.

Pieta, bronze, signed and numbered 22/99, height 29cm, length 36cm, width 33cm.  Estimate £3,000-£4,000

Dragon, Swan, Elephant, bronze, signed and numbered 4/999, height 12.5cm, length 18cm, width 19cm.  Estimate £1,000-£1,500

Auction Details

Customers unable to come to the auction in person can bid online at www.the-saleroom.com or phone Roseberys before the sale to leave a bid or book a telephone line.

The auction will be held at 10am on 11 June 2013 at Roseberys Auctioneers, 74-76 Knights Hill, London SE27 0JD.

The dancing figure in the image is traditionally held to be Vaslav Nijinsky who went on holiday with his partner Sergei Diaghilev and Léon Bakst to the Lido in Venice during the summer of 1910-1913

Diaghilev was the founder of the famous Ballet Russes, Nijinsky the senior male dancer and Bakst the designer of costumes and sets for some of their ground-breaking modern ballets such as “L’après-midi d’un faune.”

Provenance
Property of Madame Barsacq of Paris, an heir of Léon Bakst
Sotheby’s London, Ballet and Theatrical Material 5^th June 1975
Private Collector
Exhibited
The Fine Art Society, Léon Bakst Exhibition, 1912, no.40, 41 or 43
The Fine Art Society, Léon Bakst Memorial Exhibition, 1927, no. 80 or 81
The Fine Art Society, Bakst, December 1973- January 1974 No 110, Lent by Madame Barsacq, Paris
Further information
‘Bathers on the Lido’ was created by Bakst alongside three companion pieces, in the years 1910-1912, two of these companion pieces are also known under the same title, one is of a smaller format and the other is of a similar size to the example being offered which has become known as ‘Popular Bathing at Lido’. The third is a full length study of ‘Nijinsky on the beach at the Lido’.

The history of these four pieces are well documented and can be traced back to The Fine Art Society in 1912 where the first English exhibition of the works of Bakst were shown.

In addition, Roseberys will be auctioning a pair of ballet shoes owned by Rudolf Nureyev with an estimate of £400-£600.  The shoes have excellent provenance, coming from a vendor who made costumes for the dancer during the 1960s.

The 21 leading independent auctioneers, members of the Association of Accredited Auctioneers (Triple-A), had sent more than 350 lots of furniture, silver, paintings, prints and works of art from all parts of the UK, first for an exhibition in Beijing and then for the auction in Xiamen, in Fujian Province.

Roseberys sent out three members of staff to oversee the event and they worked closely with Chinese auction house Huachen Auctions to lay out the sale and advise clients about the history and quality of the lots.  The BBC Antiques Roadshow and 19^th century European furniture expert Christopher Payne accompanied the Roseberys team to give a series of lectures about the virtues of such furniture and especially that made by Francois Linke, a number of whose pieces Roseberys had consigned.

The sale was hugely well supported with around 150 Chinese collectors and dealers attending. Buying was selective. It raised almost £1 million, covering the cost of the project with about a quarter of the lots sold, but that was not point of the exercise.

Said Triple-A chairman Chris Ewbank: “Our member auctioneers participated in the sale to test the market and gauge the appetite Chinese collectors have for Western antiques and works of art. We have proved it is possible to achieve such a sale. Now we know what is wanted and what is not.

“For example, virtually every lot of antique English silver found buyers, while clocks, bronze figures and gilt bronze works of art raised some surprisingly high prices.

“There seemed to be a strong appetite for affordable mid-market pieces in the £500 to £10,000 range, as is the case in the West, while ‘novelty’ items were well received.

“Victorian furniture sold well, but 19th century French pieces in the £10,000 to £40,000 range were possibly too expensive for what is very much an emerging market. Interestingly, however, statement pieces and rare one-offs at the high end of estimates were in great demand.

“We anticipate some private sales in the days following the auction.”

The top value lots of the sale were consigned by Roseberys including the collection of 19^th century French furniture by the Francois Linke. The highest achieving lot proved to be an important pair of Louis XVI style gilt bronze amboyna centre tables by Francois Linke, which sold for 2 million RMB (£200,000).

An Important Pair of Louis XVI Style Gilt Bronze Amboyna Centre Tables by Francois Linke, French, c. 1910

The next highest lot was a highly unusual Louis XV style gilt bronze mounted kingwood and marquetry writing desk and cartonnier, the clock dial signed Brindeau a Paris. It sold for 1.2 million RMB (£120,000), while a fine Louis XVI style gilt bronze mounted marquetry commode after a model by Jean Henri Riesener sold for 1 million RMB (£100,000). Both were also consigned by Roseberys.

A Highly Unusual Louis XV Style Gilt Bronze Mounted Kingwood and Marquetry Writing Desk and Cartonnier, French, c. 1880

Biggest surprise was the 82,000 RMB (£8,200) paid for a pair of late 19th century bronze Marly horses after Guillaume Coustou the Elder, which had been estimated at 38,000-50,000 RMB.

The sale was a ground-breaking initiative by the recently formed Triple-A. It was conducted by the Chinese auctioneer Huachen Beijing  Auctions Co Ltd. and promoted by EpaiLive Auction Co., the only on-line live bidding portal of its kind in China  .

Triple-A is a not for profit organisation which aims to provide an easy channel for Chinese buyers to access the UK auction market and to provide solutions to the historic challenges to Chinese buyers at auction of language barriers, foreign currency payments, and shipping.

The Triple-A membership represents the highest level of standards and service in the profession, jealously guarding its accreditation standards with a rigid code of practice to which all members must adhere.

*Prices quoted do not include the 15% buyers’ premium.

This spring and summer, Rosebery’s valuers are taking to the road and holding free valuation events at a number of venues in South London and Kent.  From jewellery to pictures, furniture to ceramics, Rosebery’s valuers will be able to tell you all about them.

All you need to do is bring along your object or objects.  If it’s too big to carry then bring a photograph instead.

There is no need to be a member to come to any of the venues.  Simply come along, enjoy the surroundings and a cup of tea and find out all you wanted to know.

Friday 10 May
11am-3pm, Dulwich & Sydenham Golf Club, Grange Lane, College Road, London SE21 7LH

Friday 21 June
11am-3pm, Chislehurst Golf Club, Camden Place, Camden Park Road, Chislehurst, Kent, BR7 5HJ

Friday 19 July
11am-3pm, Royal Blackheath Golf Club, Court Road, Eltham, SE9 5AF

The large printed cotton kerchief dates from the 1840s and is entitled ‘To The Admirers Of The Noble Game Of Cricket’.   The central panel features images of the first All England Cricket Eleven of 1846 including W. Dennison Esq. Clark, Martingell, Pilch, Lillywhite, N. Felix Esq. Guy, Hillyer O C. Pell Esq. Dorrington, A Mynn Esq. Sewell and Dean. The border features images of various cricketing stances: play, forward, leg half volley, home block, the draw and the cut. The texts of cricketing rules also apply.  Right at the top there is an image of a cricketer riding a flying bat – the nocturnal mammal, rather than a cricket bat.

The kerchief is framed and glazed and measures approximately 90x104cm.  The estimate is £300-£500.

It comes from the estate of the late Hon. Christopher Lennox-Boyd, a greatly respected collector of textiles.

Herne Hill Baptist Church

Rosebery’s has teamed up with local charity ‘Dulwich Helpline and Southwark Churches Care’ to run an Antiques Discovery Day at Herne Hill Baptist Church on Saturday 20 April from 10am until 2pm.  Valuations begin at 10.30am.

For £5 visitors will be able to bring along an item to be valued by Rosebery’s experts, be it a picture, ceramic, or piece of jewellery; in fact, anything they want to know more about.  A further two items may also be valued at a cost of £2.50 each.

All the proceeds go to Dulwich Helpline and Southwark Churches Care which provides friendly volunteer support for isolated older people.

There will be stalls selling cakes, books, bric-a-brac, handicrafts and refreshments.

10am-2pm, Saturday 20 April, Herne Hill Baptist Church, Half Moon Lane, SE24 9HU (corner of Winterbrook Road).

Rosebery’s is a founder member of the Association of Accredited Auctioneers designed to market and auction Western antiques in China.   The South London auctioneers will be shipping a range of clocks and watches, silver, jewellery, pictures, furniture and works of art and collector’s items to China for the sale.

Apart from a charity sale in the Forbidden City in 1988 and the auction of a single sculpture last year, participation by Western auctioneers in mainland Chinese auctions has previously been impossible.

Rosebery’s associate director Peter Greenway visited the Beijing International Art Fair in December at which plans were laid for this auction.  He says, “China’s middle class market is growing rapidly and there is real status to be gained there from owning Western antiques and works of art.

“It is amazing to think that items brought to us here in South London will be sold more than five thousand miles away.”

The sale will be held in conjunction with a Chinese auctioneer and Epailive, Asia’s only on-line live bidding portal.  They will promote the event directly to more than 100,000 registered members.  Catalogues translated into Chinese will also be published online.

Lot 3

A rare Royal Doulton figure of the Young Mother and Child, early 20th century, depicting a woman, standing full length, holding a small child whilst carrying a bag, standing upon rocky base, bearing marks to base: ‘HN.1301′ and ‘Young Mother & Child’, with Royal Doulton stamp, 36cm high x 11.5cm wide x 11.5cm deep.
Sold for £3,200

The Doulton catalogue describes this figure as the only one of its kind known. At 36cm high, it is very large for a Doulton figure of this type. It was given to the vendor’s mother by her employer. The vendor thought it was worth around £100. Rosebery’s valuers told him it was one of the rarest Doulton figures they had ever seen and placed an estimate of £2,000-£3,000 on it.  It was contested mainly by US buyers before being sold to a UK collector.

Lot 11
A Shelley Art Deco female figurine, 20th century, seated, wearing contemporary hat and fur, holding teacup, raised upon rocky base with circular foot, 30cm high.
Sold for £2,800

This figurine, made c. 1926 was used to advertise Shelley as a fashionable and stylish form of china. Because Shelley mainly produced tableware, figures usually command high prices. This one attracted a lot of attention from the USA before being snapped up by a Canadian bidder.

Lot 271
A Belle Époque gold and silver diamond set pendant with central oval pink topaz. Approx. 60mm x 40mm.
Sold for £10,000

This was an excellent quality art nouveau pendant c. 1910. Of a large size, it included a good pink topaz. Bidding was strong amongst UK trade and private buyers and it was eventually secured by a UK private buyer over the telephone.

Lot 261
An important ring, Carolingian. The circular hoop widening at the shoulders, the round bezel incised with a fabulous animal and a cross around which is arranged an inscription and the abbreviated form of ‘Sigillum’ can be deciphered.
Provenance: Sold at Sotheby’s 9th November 1937 Lot 506. With photo copy of catalogue description and letter from Sotheby’s relating to the sale.
Sold for £13,500

This lovely ring was in very good condition with excellent provenance. It was strongly contested by trade buyers from around the world and was eventually sold to one based in the UK.

Lot 516
Harry Clarke RHA, Irish 1889-1931- “Romance”; pen and black ink and wash, signed in pen, titled, signed and inscribed with address in pencil on the reverse, 33 x 44cm
Sold for £9,500

This was published in Nash Magazine in 1924. It was fiercely fought over in the room, on the telephone and on the internet before eventually selling to an international buyer.

Lot 720
Ossip Zadkine, Russian 1890-1967- “Femme allongée” (Lecombre 500); bronze with greenish patina, signed with initials, dated ’58 and numbered 5/5, 16 x 51 x 23cm
Sold for £18,000

This was one of an edition of five and came from a private collection. Two others have previously come up at auction. The last one was in 2007 and it made £15,500, as did the other which came up at auction in 2005. So, this is a record price for an edition of this sculpture.

Lot 630
Henry Scott Tuke RA RWS, British 1858-1929- Portrait of a girl quarter-length in a white and green dress; pastel, signed and dated 1894, in a glazed gilt oak frame with carved sight edge, 34.5x24cm
Sold for £5,800

This was an interesting lot being an atypical subject for the artist who usually painted boys or coastal scenes. It was also, as a pastel, an unusual material for Scott Tuke. An attractive picture, it was in what appeared to be its original gilt oak frame. It came from a private seller and was contested on the telephone, the internet and in the room. It sold to a private buyer in the room.

Lot 1001
A Chinese ivory carving of an immortal, late Ming Dynasty, standing full length wearing flowing robes, raised upon circular stepped base, 26 cm high, (a/f).
Sold for £1,500

Despite having some damage, the age of this Ming Dynasty carving guaranteed a good result. The vendor had brought it in to Rosebery’s having no idea of its value. It was hotly contested between a Chinese internet bidder and a bidder in the room before being won by the internet.

Lot 1272
A Chinese carved cinnabar lacquer pot and cover, probably Ming Dynasty, overall relief decorated with flower heads and foliage, 6 cm wide.
Sold for £1,900

This pot and cover was tiny but punched above its weight, having both age and quality in its favour. Two telephone bidders vied for it until, in the end, it was won by one based in China.

Lot 1416
Etienne-Henri Dumaige (1830-1888), bronze, ‘Unveiling the Princess’, a large exhibition size French Egyptian Revivalist figural group, the princess stands to sinister, adorned with jewellery and wearing diaphanous robes, as the crouching attendant reveals her from behind a tapestry robe, signed H Dumaige to the edge of the robe , 78 cm high.

Two examples sold, one at Eldred’s, USA, in 2006 and at Christies New York in 2002 and both examples had a rouge marble plinth that is lacking here.
Sold for £6,500

This high quality French bronze was discovered by one of Rosebery’s valuers during a home valuation. They come up for sale rarely in the UK and are more often sold in the USA. The casting was exceptionally ‘crisp’ suggesting it was an early cast. It was bought by UK based trade.

Lot 1441
A Steiff blond mohair teddy bear, early 20th century, with trademark Steiff pewter button in left ear and with humped back and long limbs, 49 cm high.
Sold for £4,000

This was an early bear, made in c. 1920. It was also quite a large example. However, it is thought its silver colour is the reason it achieved such a high price. Private collectors and UK trade fought over it before it was snapped up by a private collector.

Lot 1816
An unusual 1920′s Queen Anne style shagreen and carved silvered gilt bureau, ivory mounted, the fall enclosing a fitted interior of small drawers and pigeon holes above a frieze drawer flanked by lopers, raised on eagle head, scallop shell and acanthus leaf carved base, 111cm high x 68cm wide.
Sold for £6,000

While small pieces of shagreen; card cases or boxes, come through the saleroom relatively frequently, shagreen furniture is very rare. This bureau was discovered during a home valuation. It was fought over between a private collector on the phone and London based trade in the room who eventually won the day.

Lot 1820
A mid-19th century Irish Killarney marquetry and yew wood games table, the hinged top centred with a paterae of Muckross abbey flanked by ferns within a band of foliate marquetry and a enclosing backgammon, cribbage and chest boards, within thistle and clover banded reserves, raised on a faceted baluster column, qudrapartite base with claw feet, 74cm high x 78cm wide.
Sold for £5,600

A private vendor brought this in for valuation. It was hotly contested, proving that Irish furniture remains strong. It was, unsurprisingly, bought by an Irish bidder.

Triple-A has forged commercial links with Asia’s only on-line live bidding portal www.epailive.com. This service promotes Triple-A auctioneers’ sales directly to more than 100,000 registered collectors of fine art and antiques in China and posts catalogues translated into Chinese online.

More significantly, an escrow system – operated independently of Epailive – guarantees payments are made by successful bidders. On registering to bid in a sale, bidders are contractually required to commit funds to cover their purchases. This money is accessible to the auctioneer following the sale within 48 hours of the fall of the hammer.

Early signs are promising with Triple-A firms reporting an encouraging level of demand for the first sales listed on the platform. The objective is to increase international confidence and understanding of the UK auction business through a programme of targeted marketing, quality assurance and educational presentations to key growth markets.

“The internet is having an increasingly significant impact on our individual businesses, but auctioneers and their buyers have been wary of dealing with each other when they are separated often by thousands of miles and obvious language barriers, Chris Ewbank, Triple-A’s Chairman, said.

“The biggest problems for UK auctioneers and their clients have been the difficulties of placing their sales before Chinese bidders and, because of differing practice and a culture of delay, Chinese buyers have frequently been slow in paying or have refused to pay at all. The new escrow arrangement gives huge advantages to sellers, who will henceforth have certainty of prompt settlement.

“Ours is a market sector in which credibility and service are key. Triple-A provides a platform from which to broaden foreign consumers’ understanding of precisely what they should expect from a UK auction house and what the auction house requires from them.