Antiques
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# 13837
PIDCOCK'S GRAND MENAGERIE.
Copper token issued by Pidcock’s Menagerie, London, circa 1801, featuring a kangaroo and joey
Æ halfpenny, diameter 29 mm, weight 11 grams. Obverse: a kangaroo left, facing back, a joey in pouch, THIS KANGAROO’S BIRTH. SEP. 10. 1800. Reverse: a lion standing right, facing back, with dog on back, LION AND DOG 1801; plain edge. An extremely fine, near mint example with lustrous brown patina. The Grand Menagerie of …
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# 12502
THOMAS HALL
Copper token for Thomas Hall, taxidermist, London, 1795
London : Thomas Hall, 1795. Æ halfpenny, diameter 30 mm, weight 12 grams. Obverse: Three quadrupeds. THE KANGUROO . THE ARMADILLO . THE RHINOCEROS. Reverse: T. HALL CITY ROAD NEAR FINSBURY SQUARE LONDON 1795 / THE FIRST ARTIST IN EUROPE FOR PRESERVING BIRDS BEASTS &c. Dark brown patina with reddish highlights and excellent detail; a …
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# 18666
Maker unknown.
Aboriginal King’s Brass Plate (1820). “King Taptalla II.” King of the Terrara Tribe, Shoalhaven River, New South Wales.
[Title from mid nineteenth-century manuscript note]. Brass breastplate or gorget, crescentic, maximum diameter 140 mm, anterior with engraved lettering KING TAPTALLA II, foliage motif repeated at each of the upper corners, emu and kangaroo dos-à-dos at the centre (design only partially completed); diagonal cut mark running from lower left to upper right edge; the surface has been …
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# 16540
Double sided cheat’s handkerchief
[China, circa 1850]. Manuscript calligraphy in Chinese characters in black and red ink on silk, 410 x 425mm (irregular); arranged in vertical columns, surrounded by a narrow border; a well preserved example, with minor restoration in places. The so-called “cheat’s handkerchief” was used as an aid by students undertaking civil service examinations under the keju …
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# 21672
Maker unknown.
Male ancestor figure. Humboldt Bay, New Guinea.
[Probably first half of the 20th century]. Wood with black and red painted decoration; height 39.5 cm; no repair or restoration; mounted on a perspex base. Provenance: J. F. G. Umlauff, Hamburg (the ethnographic dealership and associated museum established in 1868 by Johann F. Gustav Umlauff ran until 1974); Ketterer, Munich, 18 November 1978, lot …
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# 19307
GREIG, Brian
The Southern Skies Orrery
A handmade working orrery by master instrument maker Brian Greig, Melbourne, circa 1991, based on a design by W. S. Jones, London, early 19th century. Melbourne : Souther Skies, circa 1991. Ebonised timber stand on three turned wooden legs, engraved circular zodiac plate, model spheres of the sun and the first six planets (to Saturn), …
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# 18054
George Philips and Son
Philips’ 18 inch merchant shippers’ globe
London : George Philips and Son, circa 1925. Terrestrial globe, measuring 18 inches (46cm) in diameter, 36 half gores over plaster sphere, printed in colour (some restoration and overpainting), the equator graduated in degrees, the major shipping lines and distances between major cities marked, mounted on a calibrated brass meridian ring, sitting on brass rollers within …
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# 19082
HESLOP, Robert
Copper halfpenny token for Robert Heslop, dealer in natural curiosities, Finsbury Square, London, 1790s.
London : Robert Heslop, n.d. [c.1795]. Æ halfpenny, diameter 29.7 mm. Obverse: A male contortionist and a monkey. Around the perimeter: CAN YOU DO SO. Reverse: An inscription on six lines THE FIRST SHOP IN LONDON FOR NATURAL CURIOSITYS PAINTINGS COINS COLOURS FOR ARTISTS &c. Around the perimeter: R. HESLOP NO. 86 CHISWELL STREET FINSBURY …
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# 19088
BOULTER, Daniel (1740-1802); BOULTER, Joseph (1743-1819); BOULTER, John (1745-1816)
Copper halfpenny token for Daniel Boulter’s ‘Exhibition of natural and artificial curiosities’, Yarmouth, Norfolk, 1796.
Yarmouth : Joseph, Daniel and John Boulter, 1796. Æ halfpenny, diameter 29.8 mm. Obverse: A female seated holding a scroll inscribed BOULTER’S EXHIBITION OF NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL CURIOSITIES. In ex. YARMOUTH in a straight line. Reverse: Three figures symbolising Asia, Africa and America presenting various curiosities to Britannia, who is recording them in a book. …
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# 17289
A large Victorian English mahogany serving tray
English, circa 1850. Turned mahogany, 600 mm in diameter, pair of brass handles, remains of maker’s label, felt-lined. A handsome Victorian serving tray, turned from a single piece of mahogany, perfect for use or display in a library setting.
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# 17306
BARDIN, William (c.1740-1798)
A new, accurate and compleat terrestrial globe,
accompanying the Geographical Magazine. Originally laid down by Mr. James Ferguson, F. R. S. Improv’d by G. Wright, and made by W. Bardin, Fleet Street, London. Published as the act directs by Harrison & Co., No. 18 Paternoster Row, Augt. 1st, 1783 (cartouche). Published by G. Wright & W. Bardin Jan’y 1st 1782 (inscription at South …
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# 18847
Maker unknown.
A pair of Chinese export camphorwood and leather trunks with brass mountings circa 1850
The large trunk measuring 104 x 52 x 49 cm, working lock and key, with stencilled writing ‘… Melbourne, berth 57, 58. Not wanted on voyage’ (the name of the ship and port of origin have been erased); the smaller trunk measuring 63.5 x 31.5 x 26 cm, with the brass name plaque of ‘Mr. …
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# 17965
NEWTON & SON
Newton’s new & improved terrestrial globe containing the latest discoveries
London : Newton & Son, circa 1840. Terrestrial globe 6 inches in diameter, handcoloured printed gores over plaster base, graduated equator band, the oceans with an analemma, supported on a contemporary stand of turned cedar with brass axis. A very good example. A fine early mid nineteenth century table globe with Antarctic detail such as the …
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# 18176
[TAKAMATSU, M.]
Japanese merchant’s catalogue of Chinese export furniture, with original mounted photographs.
[Japan] : M. Takamatsu, [c.1910]. Quarto, 250 x 190 mm, bound in Japanese folding accordion style, in the original wooden boards (textile coverings perished), wet stamp of the merchant ‘M. Takamatsu’ to front and rear pastedowns, comprising [38] leaves of thick card with 152 sepia printing-out paper photographs of Chinese export furniture, probably destined for …
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# 17700
HAMMER, Armand
The quest of the Romanoff treasure. (Presentation copy inscribed by the author)
New York : William Farquhar Payson, 1932. First edtition. Octavo, buff-coloured linen boards (sunned and lightly foxed) with gilt stamped Imperial Russian crest (the Romanov double-headed eagle) to upper board, gilt lettered spine; pastedowns with offsetting, rear hinge a little weak; a presentation copy, inscribed on the front free-endpaper ‘To Roy E. Tilles, with all …
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# 17436
Kittinger Company
8 inch terrestrial globe
Buffalo : Kittinger, circa 1930. Terrestrial globe 8 inches in diameter, colour printed gores over pasteboard base, graduated equator band, ecliptic and Greenwich meridian, the oceans with an analemma and currents, calibrated brass meridian ring, engraved calendrical paper horizon ring with zodiac laid on wood (in expert facsimile), supported on the original stand of four turned wooden …