Few dealers in the last fifty years have had an eye as instinctive or a career as colourful as Ken Bolan. From a young boy gazing longingly through the window of a Berkshire antiques shop, to an international tastemaker with a reputation for style, boldness and flair, Ken’s journey through the art and antiques world has been one of passion, adventure, and unerring intuition.
Having opened his first shop in Switzerland in 1973, Ken soon built a thriving business importing English antiques across Europe. By the 1980s and 90s, the ‘Talisman’ brand had become synonymous with dramatic, architectural displays of sculpture, garden statuary and Continental furniture, traded from a vast brewery in Dorset and later a modernist showroom in London. Always one to sense a shift in taste, Ken was among the first British dealers to embrace vintage and post-war design, importing container after container of extraordinary finds from around the world.
This landmark auction offers a rare glimpse into the personal taste of a dealer long admired for his instinctive eye. Many of the pieces come with stories that speak to decades of fearless buying – from a cherished Danish painted cupboard bought at great expense in Copenhagen, to one of the sale’s standout works: The Monkey and the Dolphin, a monumental mosaic panel by Dame Elisabeth Frink, acquired after a close friendship with the artist.
The sale also includes the largest group of sculptures by Guy Taplin to appear at auction in recent years – a whimsical aviary of swans, curlews and wading birds that has lived alongside Ken and his family. Each item reflects not just a keen sense of design, but a life lived in pursuit of beauty, character, and authenticity.
Now turning his attention to a new passion – rewilding 140 acres of meadows and woodlands in the West Country – Ken continues to shape his world with the same creative eye. This sale is a celebration of that lifelong vision: an extraordinary legacy of objects, gathered across continents and decades, ready to begin a new chapter.
Guy Taplin (b.1939)
three carved and painted swans, with glass eyes
£2,000-4,000 each
Michel Zadounaïsky (1903-1983)
a rare sculpted and cast metal panel, dated 1933, depicting a silver patinated shark
£15,000-20,000
A large painted cabinet
dated 1772, Danish
£4,000-6,000
Dame Elisabeth Frink CH RA (1930-1993)
Aesops Fables 'The Monkey and The Dolphin'
a rare and unique mosaic panel
£300,000-500,000
A pair of sunburst doors
c.1971, American, by Billy Joe McCarroll and David Gillespie
£5,000-7,000
1969 Rover P5B coupe
£20,000-25,500
A collection of Palissy Ware plaques and dishes
Ranging from £200-500
After the antique
probably 18th century, a bronze figure of a putti
£6,000-8,000
A carved stone sundial
mid 18th century
£3,500-4,500
Few figures in the art and antiques world have shaped taste and defied convention quite like Ken Bolan. From the glamour of continental showrooms to the quiet beauty of rewilded West Country landscapes, Ken’s journey has been one of bold vision and creative instinct. This landmark sale opens a window into that world – a personal collection amassed over five decades, filled with sculpture, furniture, and design with soul and story. At its heart is a rare mosaic by Dame Elisabeth Frink, alongside standout works by Guy Taplin and many others – each piece a testament to a life devoted to beauty, character, and fearless collecting.
Private View
Friday 19 September, 18:30
The Studio, Berry Wood Lane, Donhead St Mary, SP7 9DH
Public Viewing
Saturday 20 – Tuesday 23 September, 11:00 - 15:00
The Studio, Berry Wood Lane, Donhead St Mary, SP7 9DH
Auction Conducted
Wednesday 24 September, 10:00
Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers, Cambridge Road, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, CM24 8GE
privatecollections@sworder.co.uk | 01279 817778
