Auctioneers take a trip round the world without leaving Suffolk
09 July 2021 Stowmarket saleroom Bishop & Miller is going global with an auction offering items from all corners of the world.The Explorer: A Collection of Objects From Around The World Auction includes lots ranging from Japanese netsuke and a Welsh armchair to Inuit snow goggles and a Swedish lambskin wool rug.
Here are five ideas on what to buy at the Bishop & Miller sale on July 16.
Goggle search
Estimated at £2500-3500, this pair of Yup’ik snow goggles (pictured above), also called nigaugek, was made of an Arctic bone face with zoomorphic eye slits and raised brows with incised decorations, which allowed only a small amount of light through, preventing the wearer of snow blindness.
The goggles are 15cm wide and 5cm high, and raised on a later stand. They come from a private Belgian collection of a NATO officer, stationed in Canada c.1970.
To bid for the pair of Yup’ik snow goggles view the catalogue entry on thesaleroom.com.
Welsh comforts
This Welsh late 18th/early 19th century stick back elm and painted armchair has traces of the old deep green paint remaining. The bar back is above a row of seven spindles to the very upright back above a solid shaped seat flanked by curled arms and turned front spindle above the turned legs united by an H stretcher. It is 58cm wide, 37cm deep, 97cm high, the seat 38cm high.
Estimate £2000-3000.
View the catalogue entry on thesaleroom.com to bid for the Welsh late 18th/early 19th century stick back elm and painted armchair.
Horse sense
Catalogued as being in ‘overall good order, some rubbed areas’, this Japanese wood netsuke of a horse is by Sari, Iwashiro Province, 19th century, signed in an oval to the base Sari. It measures just 43mm long, 37mm high.
Estimate £1200-1800.
View the catalogue entry for the Japanese wood netsuke of a horse via thesaleroom.com.
Don't be scared off
Offered with an estimate of £1000-1500, this 80cm high 19th century figure comes from the Nicobar Islands, Bay of Bengal, and depicts a Kareau (Scare Devil) figure.
It would have been made by a menluana, a ritual specialist or healer who communicates with the spirit world. The figure was set up outside a sick person’s house to scare and drive away the bad spirits thought to be causing disease.
To bid for the Kareau (Scare Devil) figure, view the catalogue entry on thesaleroom.com.
On the big screen
This late 19th century Ottoman Empire Mashrabiya screen, Syria, features mother of pearl inlaid stars and a series of small turned finials and carved panels. The hinged door to the central panel is 1.4m high, with each panel 51cm long.
Estimate £300-500.
View the catalogue entry for the late 19th Century Ottoman Empire Mashrabiya screen on thesaleroom.com.