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.
As Ken Bolan prepares to part with a collection of stock that spans decades, we invite you to step inside his Dorset studio, perched atop a stunning landscape that Ken is thoughtfully rewilding. This is a space where his discerning eye, instincts, and lifelong love of form have flourished, shaping a collection that reflects years of creativity, exploration, and impeccable taste. From the carefully curated arrangements to the light-filled corners that have inspired him daily, the studio itself is as much a part of the story as the pieces it has housed.
Private View
Friday 19 September, 18:30
The Studio, Berrywood Lane, Donhead St Mary, SP7 9DH
Public Viewing
(Highlights) Monday 1 - Friday 5 September, 11:00 - 17:30
Sworders London, 15 Cecil Court, London, WC2N 5EZ
(Full Sale) Saturday 20 – Tuesday 23 September, 10:00 - 16:00
The Studio, Berrywood 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
