Demand for Cotswolds School furniture

A  superb collection of Cotswolds School furniture by Oliver Morel created huge interest at Lawrences Auctioneers of Crewkerne in Somerset recently.

Consigned for sale by a West Dorset Vendor who had known Morel personally, the sale included 10 items of his furniture. The highlight was a large collectors cabinet, Morel’s last large commission. Feverish bidding saw the cabinet make £18,300, an auction record for the maker.

Other highlights included a Secretaire Cabinet (£9760), a domed top blanket box (£1950), a dining table (£1700) and a gun cabinet (£1580). Overall, the collection made just under £40,000 on the day.

Oliver Morel (1916-2003) was a furniture maker, teacher and farmer. “He made his furniture in the Arts and Crafts tradition of exemplary craftsmanship with superb materials and a simple honesty of design,” said Lawrences’ Simon Jones who got the lots in for sale.

“In 1934 Morel became an apprentice at the famous Edward Barnsley Furniture Workshop in Hampshire. Edward had inherited the Arts and Crafts mantle from his father Sidney who had established the Cotswold tradition of making furniture with his colleague Ernest Gimson. Morel moved to Moreton-in-Marsh in the Cotswolds in the 1960’s, where he established a workshop making high quality furniture.”