Auction Highlights

Leading the sale was a set of four George III giltwood open armchairs which achieved an impressive £88,400. Dating to circa 1775, these armchairs, of impressive scale, are attributed to John Linnell, the celebrated British cabinet and furniture designer. Linnell studied French ornament at St Martin's Lane before taking over his father's workshop in Berkeley Square. His designs reimagined French luxury for British interiors - a hallmark of Linnell's output.

These chairs relate loosely to a suite of seat furniture traditionally attributed to William and John Linnell. The extensive suite of at least seventeen armchairs, two settees and a smaller settee was almost certainly supplied to the 2nd Earl of Halifax (d. 1771) for Stansted Park, Sussex, and relates to a design by John Linnell (d. 1796) now in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. Several design features reinforce the attribution to Linnell. The tied-ribbon cresting and drapery swags on the legs are motifs directly borrowed from fashionable Louis XVI furniture and correspond to designs by the French décorateur J. B. Delafosse (d. 1789), with whom Linnell appears to have had a particular affinity.

We then have this impressive George III giltwood overmantel mirror which sold for £38,000. Of stately proportions, it is designed in the 'Modern' or 'French' style of the mid-18th century. It relates closely to a design, again by the father and son partnership of William and John Linnell. The mirror's design corresponds closely to a drawing of circa 1755-60 by the Linnell firm, executed as a pair of mirrors for Sir Molyneux Cope, 7th Bt, for Bramshill, Hampshire. In particular the drawing features a distinctive cresting in the form of a basket of flowers which was a recurring motif in the firm's works. 

The collection featured a stunning selection of fine art. Among the modern pieces was the elegant portrait La Loge a L'Opera by French artist Jean-Gabriel Domergue, which sold for £35,480, exceeding its presale estimate of £5,000-7,000. 

Domergue is famous for his portraits of Parisian women from the 1920s and 30s, characterised by their slender necks and wide eyes. He worked as a fashion designer for couturiers like Paul Poiret. He was appointed curator of the Musée Jacquemart-André in Paris and was recognised with the Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur.

From the more traditional works, there was this characterful 17th century work by Flemish School, A Fete Champetre of Foxes and Swans, which also sold for £35,480. The exact meaning of this anthropological subject is unknown, however in medieval art the fox is synonymous with cunning and deceit and was used to symbolise corrupt religious figures or institutions. The geese or swans are traditionally elegant and graceful and may represent the gullible and foolish, who are easily misled and who are especially vulnerable away from water.

In this work the fox is preaching to the flock as they are led away with shepherds' crooks. Therefore, it may represent an allegory of corrupt clergy exploiting and misleading the innocent flock. When it appeared at auction previously it was sold as a pair with a work by the same hand entitled Reverse World with the aftermath of the hares defeat of the human race. Other versions of the latter subject exist, notably in the Bucovice Chateau Prague where it is part of a hare themed ceiling decoration in the Room of the Hares, built in 1637.

Finally, the sale included a portrait of Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough (1660–1744), which achieved £22,860. A captivating subject and remarkable artist combine in this work: Sarah Churchill was a close confidante and adviser to Queen Anne, a shrewd political operator whose ambition and intellect left a lasting mark on British history.

Long attributed to Kneller, the portrait has now been correctly identified as the work of Adriana Verelst - a talented artist whose contributions have been overlooked for centuries. Previously misidentified as “Maria Verelst,” Adriana was the daughter of portrait painter Herman Verelst and received prestigious commissions, including works for Welbeck Abbey and James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos. Her skill and output firmly establish her among the foremost portraitists of her era, reclaiming a legacy that history has too often ignored.

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