A House Full of Wonders

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Built in the 1840s and spanning four generous floors, with original fireplaces still in situ, hardwood boards underfoot and working shutters at every window, it was a house that had always kept the modern world at arm's length. To step inside was to leave the city behind entirely – a warren of rooms accumulated over decades with the passionate, instinctive eye of a true collector: someone for whom beauty was found not in the grand or the fashionable, but in the honest, the handmade, and the quietly extraordinary.

^{A pair of faience greyhound figures, late 18th century, Continental (£1,000-1,500)}

The contents offered here reflect a singular vision, drawn from the vernacular traditions of Britain and northern Europe. Folk art and devotional sculpture predominate: a late 15th-century Madonna and Child of exceptional refinement, the crowned Virgin still touched with gilding at her robes, stands as the collection's crowning piece; a powerfully carved 17th-century figure of St Roch's dog retains its original painted and gilded surface after four centuries; and a pair of late 18th-century Continental faience greyhounds, each poised elegantly on a cobalt plinth, bring an aristocratic counterpoint to the whole. These sit alongside painted French and Scandinavian dowry chests, their polychrome surfaces still vivid, and a 16th-century iron-bound oak strong chest of commanding presence.

^{The Selected Contents of 14 Prior Street, Greenwich, London}

Animals recur throughout: cats in marble, faience, Staffordshire and Persian pottery; flocks of painted wooden decoy pigeons; naive oils of terriers and shire horses; an ironwork cockerel weathervane. There is wit here, and warmth, and a collector's delight in the unexpected.

Assembled with joy, curiosity and an unerring eye, this is a collection that rewards the curious, and Sworders are delighted to bring a selection of it to sale.

Tuesday 23 & Wednesday 24 June | 10am

fineinteriors@sworder.co.uk | 01279 817778

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