It's Risen Perfectly!

The Great British Bake Off host has owned the wall-hanging for more than forty years, but has decided to sell as part of a house move. The wall hanging comes to sale in our 25 October Design sale with an estimate of £3,000-5,000. Based in Colchester for much of his career, Peter Collingwood was at the forefront of weaving for half a century. His trademark ‘microgauze’ hangings of woven linen and steel - many of them sold at the time through Liberty’s and Heal’s - use the traditional craft to create very modern visual abstractions. Today they are admired and collected worldwide.

^{Bake Off Star Prue Leith}

Prue Leith, who ran a Michelin-starred restaurant in Notting Hill from 1969-95, received her hanging as a Christmas present in the late 1970s.  Measuring 1.73m high by 42cm wide, it is signed and stamped 'Peter Collingwood M.199 No.2'.  It had been hung on a bedroom wall alongside a David Hockney print. ‘I love modern art and have collected many pieces over the years. I particularly like the clean, elegant lines of Collingwood,’ said Prue.

^{Peter Collingwood (1922-2008), 'M.199 No.2', a microgauze wall hanging of woven linen and steel, signed on label and stamped 'Peter Collingwood M.199 No.2', 42cm wide, 173cm high}

She has decided to sell the hanging after downsizing to a smaller home with less wall space. She also noted it might be a good time to sell. ‘My husband, John Playfair, is an avid reader of Antiques Trade Gazette that keeps us on top of the market for many Modern British artists. In the paper he saw the prices Sworders were getting for Collingwood weavings so that’s why we are selling it in Essex’. At Sworders we have sold several similar pieces including, earlier this year, a large Collingwood hanging that made a record £20,000. Bought directly from Collingwood in the early 1980s by the vendor’s mother, it was sold in May to benefit the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.

^{Peter Collingwood (1922-2008), 'M.199 No.2', a microgauze wall hanging of woven linen and steel, signed on label and stamped 'Peter Collingwood M.199 No.2', 42cm wide,173cm high}

Head of Design and Specialist John Black agrees that the market for Collingwood’s distinctive work is experiencing a sweet spot. ‘Collingwood was almost a forgotten figure at the turn of the 21st century, but prices have risen for his art weavings, as they are rediscovered by a new generation. It’s well deserved - he was as important to the British post-war craft revival as Lucie Rie and Hans Coper – and in the right home, they look fantastic.’

The wall-hanging will be offered in our 25 October Design sale, browse the full sale here.