We enjoyed a very good Masterpiece, selling amongst other things three Gillows wine coolers (two of them shown here being used as jardinières), my lovely Dandy Donkey, the pair of striking Chinese collages on the back wall and the Giroux inkwell from the April newsletter. Apart from the donkey, which attracted adults and children alike, the big draw on the stand was the 1620 table cabinet illustrated below. This is one of a very rare group of cabinets which, in the opinion of Peter Thornton of the Victoria and Albert Museum, ‘constitute the earliest recorded manifestation of Chinoiserie taste in this country’. They are all connected to a ballot box made for the East India Company in 1620 which was painted in colour on a black ground ‘mordant gilded, silvered and varnished’. As far as we can ascertain only five others exist and this is the only one available on the open market.
Wick Antiques was established by Charles Wallrock in the early 1980s. Having grown up in the Antiques world Charles developed an extensive wealth of knowledge.
Subscribe
