A marvellous Corliss & Wheelock steam engine, built by Crepelle et Garand, Lille, which was awarded grand prix at the Exposition Universelle, Paris 1889, leads The Connoisseur's Library Sale at Bonhams Knightsbridge on February 7-8. Still in working order, the engine is a testament to the extraordinary industrial innovation of the 19th century. An important engine with a long working and exhibition history, it has an estimate of £20,000-30,000.
Other sale highlights include:
- An important Irish George I walnut and featherbanded, sycamore, cedar and marquetry 'architectural' secretaire cabinet Circa 1725, possibly by John Kirkhoffer. One of an important group of four similar Irish walnut and marquetry secretaire cabinets which all appear in Irish Furniture, the seminal work on the subject by D. Fitzgerald, Knight of Glin and James Peill. Estimate: £20,000- 30,000.
- A beautiful pair of J. & W. Cary 15-inch Terrestrial and Celestial Floor Standing Globes, English, circa 1820. The Cary family began making globes in the late 18th century and produced some of the finest examples of the time at their address 181 the Strand. The first globes by Cary were advertised in the 'Traveller's Companion' in January 1791. Estimate: £12,000-18,000.
- A Group of Five Racehorses by John Rattenbury Skeaping R.A. (British, 1901-1980), 90cm (35 7/16in) long. A delightful bronze sculpture of five racehorses, signed, dated, numbered and inscribed with foundry mark, 'John Skeaping 77 4/7' on the base. Estimate: £10,000-15,000.
- A late Victorian Renaissance revival ebonised oak and parcel gilt snooker/billiards table by Waring and Gillow, together with two late Victorian scoreboards by J. Bennett & Co. along with an ebonised and parcel gilt cue stand, the snooker table and scoreboards circa 1900. Estimate: £9,000- 14,000.
- A Gentleman Labrador, by Thierry Poncelet (Belgian, born 1946), oil on panel. Estimate: £6,000- 8,000.
- A George IV gothic revival painted and parcel gilt bergère attributed to Gillows, circa 1825, probably after a design by William Porden. An identical bergère is illustrated in F. Collard, Regency Furniture, 1985, Woodbridge, p. 175. Both of these examples are closely comparable to at least two of the armchairs which feature among the superb gothic revival furniture shown inside the Drawing Room at Eaton Hall, as depicted in one of J.C. Buckler's series of prints called "Views of Eaton Hall", produced in 1826. Estimate: £3,000-5,000.
