Asian art dominates Cotswolds sale

Asian art dominated Cirencester auction house Moore Allen & Innocent’s recent sale, with the top lot a cinnabar lacquered box and cinnabar lacquered scent bottle beating its £100 to £150 estimate to sell for £880.

The cinnabar wares were sold as part of a mixed lot which also included a cloisonné rectangular table-top box decorated with five-toed dragons, two small cloisonné dishes, an embroidered pin cushion, and four wooden stands.

Other lots that attracted interest from bidders were:

• A Chinese rosewood low coffee/opium table with scrolled top – designed at just the right height on which to sit an opium pipe – achieved the third highest lot price at £680
• A mixed lot including a pair of Cantonese famille rose vases, Chinese crackleware dragon decorated vase, a Chinese famille verte teapot, and a Chinese polychrome decorated Gu shaped vase bearing a four-character Qianlong mark to base sold for £520.
• A plate designed for the European market by a Chinese artist, achieved £500. The plate depicted lovers in a scene, with a European city in the background. The clothes were distinctly 17th century European, but the facial features of the lovers were most certainly Oriental.
• A late 19th Century Chinese white metal pierced bowl with four clawed dragon and stylised cloud form decoration achieved £340
• Two Chinese blue and white chargers and a pair of Cantonese famille rose vases sold for £320.

Elsewhere in the sale, there was a good showing for antique and vintage clothing at the biannual textiles sale.

A box containing assorted vintage lace and silk undergarments, which had carried an estimate of £100 to £150, sold for £700. The 19th-century lace was in good condition with no signs of the deterioration common with material of its age.

Three baskets of lace trim and netting achieved £680, while a collection of clothing including a velvet bodice with filigree work decoration and white undershirt, a black circa 1900 bonnet, and various linen and vintage clothing sold for £400.

A late 18th or early 19th-century gentleman’s linen waistcoat with embroidered decoration achieved £320, while an Irvin RAF sheepskin flying jacket, together with cap, Mark 8 RAF goggles by Halcyon, and scarf achieved £300.