#Strong #bidding #Barry #Lock #Collection #Antique #Collecting
The Barry Lock Collection of paintings, ceramics and furniture achieved over £112,000 at the Cheffins’ recent Fine Sale.
Consisting of 53 portrait miniatures, 200 pieces of Chelsea-Derby ceramics and multiple pieces of furniture, the auction house said that the collection saw strong bidding across all sections.
A prolific collector, Barry Lock was a senior lawyer at Clifford Chance and personal solicitor to Sir Geoffrey Wilkinson, Nobel prize winner for Chemistry. The sale of these items followed the success of a number of silver items sold at the Cheffins Jewellery, Silver & Watches Sale in April.
A number of Old Master works were consigned as part of the collection, including a portrait of Henry VIII by a Follower of Hans Holbein which sold for £4,000 and a period portrait of Cardinal Reginald Pole, from the Anglo-Italian School, dating from the 16th century, which sold for £1,100.
Among the miniatures, the rarest examples saw high prices paid, for example a Portrait of Henry Benedict Stuart the ‘Cardinal of York’ by the Circle of Christian Friedrich Zincke achieved £4,000. Similarly, a Portrait of Thomas Knox, the 2nd Earl of Ranfurly, by George Engleheart (1750 – 1829) sold for £3,200 and a Portrait of John FitzGibbon, 2nd Earl of Clare by Henry Collen (17989 – 1879) sold for £1,800.
Patricia Cross, Head of Old Master Paintings at Cheffins comments: “Barry Lock had an exceptional eye for quality and was a deft collector. His eclectic taste ensured that his collection of paintings and miniatures included rare early portraits which are scarce to come to the market combined with quality 18th-century works, both of which were highly sought after by both private collectors and the trade. There is also definitely still a market for portrait miniatures, which is dominated by specialists and trade buyers who were out in force at the sale.”
Among the furniture in the collection, a pair of Victorian rosewood yellow upholstered window seats sold for £1,400 and will be returning to London, and a rosewood and parcel gilt specimen marble chess table, dating from the 19th century sold for £3,400 to a buyer from the USA.
The vast selection of ceramics also saw high prices paid, with three Chelsea-Derby coffee cups and stands from circa 1775 making £550, a Flight Barr and Barr Worcester part service from 1820 achieved £460 and a group of Chelsea-Derby neo-classical decorated porcelain from 1775 made £460.
