2018: A Remarkable Year
Sworders Fine Art has held a string of phenomenal auctions this year. Beginning with The Residual Contents of North Mymms Park, one of the most significant house contents sales of 2018, which included an important and extraordinary collection of 16th and17th century tapestries with impeccable provenances via J P Morgan to the Paolazzo Verde in Genoa, selling for a gross total of in excess of £1m.
This was followed by a further two-day auction to celebrate ten years in our wonderful building. The Anniversary Auction included collections from the length and breadth of the United Kingdom, from Glasgow to Alderney and Cornwall to East Anglia. Highlights included a red lacquered George II bureau bookcase selling for £14,260 and a pair of George III satinwood pier tables achieving £9,000.
Into September, having previously welcomed Royalty, we welcomed pop royalty in the form of Sir Rod Stewart! Sir Rod, having recently moved home and in need of a good old fashioned clear out, entered 40 lots for our Fine Interiors sale, attracting huge global media interest (and die-hard fans). Among the lots, which all sold well over estimate, were a pair of Victorian leather armchairs making £9,340.
October brought the auction of an important collection of Robert 'Mouseman' Thompson furniture from the iconic Art Deco Horlicks factory in Slough. The cache of 45 lots of Arts and Crafts oak furniture comprised one of the Mouseman’s largest commissions from the prime period of his career. It sold for a staggering £290,280, three times the high estimate for the collection.
Understanding new trends has also led Sworders to enhance its sales programme with regular auctions of East Anglian Art, Modern Design, Contemporary Prints, Asian Art, Fine Wine, Jewellery and Watches.
Next year, we begin the season with The Barbara Holliday Collection of Modern British Art and Traditional Furniture, followed, in March, by The Principal Contents of Holland House, near Southwold.
