A rare Tudor manuscript designed to help with swan-keeping in the era when mute swans were owned by the English crown comes to auction in the summer. The two-volume manuscript included in our August 23 sale of Books and Maps was used from the 16th to the19th century by landowners in Norfolk and Suffolk.
21 June 2022
A favourite delicacy for the banqueting table, the swan has been deemed a royal bird from the Middle Ages. All swans flying free on open and common waters were regarded as the property of the crown and only the monarch could grant the privilege of owning a 'game' of swans to individuals or institutions. All such birds had to be marked and pinioned to assist in any dispute over ownership, or for swan upping, the annual overseeing of the marking of the new cygnets. A Swan-Master was appointed both to care for the royal swans and to oversee and regulate swan-keeping throughout England. He was assisted by deputies with responsibility for a specific and manageable region.
The manuscript included in our forthcoming sale references the ‘Hundred of Wisbech’ in Norfolk and Suffolk. The first volume dated 1566 contains over 600 marks, followed by 19 pages of manuscript notes concerning the ‘Laws and Ordinances regarding swan’. The names start with the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk, on to the Bishop of Ely and the Dean of York and finish with wealthy landowners.
The second volume is dated 1834 and includes notes on swan marks followed by 84 pages of swan marks and an index of owners. A similar manuscript was sold by Christies in 1999. This one, from the estate of Wisbech dealer Peter Croft, is guided at £8,000-16,000.
Our auction of Books & Maps takes place on Tuesday 23 August. Further entries are invited for sale until Friday 15 July. For more information and to discuss a consignment, please contact -
Frank Barnett
frankbarnett@sworder.co.uk | 01279 817778
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, to be held on Wednesday 24 September, opens a window into that world – a personal collection amassed over five decades, filled with sculpture, furniture, and design with soul and story.
7 July 2025
A major highlight of our forthcoming 'DREAMS | A Unique Private Collection' sale on 9 July is a remarkable archive of letters and manuscripts by John Ruskin (1819–1900), the celebrated Victorian polymath. This unparalleled group – numbering in the hundreds – is believed to be the largest collection of Ruskin correspondence in private hands and spans a vast range of topics from art and architecture to politics, religion, and personal reflection.
2 July 2025
'The Scented Garden of Abdullah the Satirist of Shiraz' - also known as 'The Bagh-i-Muattar' - quickly caught the attention of our book specialists, when a copy bound in full vellum was brought in by a local client to our weekly valuation day.
2 July 2025