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Current Sales |
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Fine and Rare Wines
21 Nov 2009, San Francisco and Los Angeles |
Antique Arms and Armor and Modern Sporting Guns
23 Nov 2009, 220 San Bruno Avenue, San Francisco |
California and American Paintings and Sculpture
23 Nov 2009, Los Angeles and San Francisco |
Decorative Arts and Glass
24 Nov 2009, Chester |
Doulton and Beswick Wares
24 Nov 2009, Chester |
British and Continental Collectable Ceramics
24 Nov 2009, Chester |
20th Century Prints
24 Nov 2009, Chester |
Watches & Wristwatches
24 Nov 2009, Knightsbridge |
Clocks & Barometers
24 Nov 2009, Knightsbridge |
British & Continental Pictures
24 Nov 2009, Knightsbridge |
Art & Antiques
24 Nov 2009, KNOWLE |
Fine Silver & Objects of Vertu
25 Nov 2009, New Bond Street |
The Merchiston Collection of Fine Portrait Miniatures, The Property of Mrs Eleanor Hamilton
25 Nov 2009, Knightsbridge |
Fine Portrait Miniatures
25 Nov 2009, Knightsbridge |
Fine Continental Furniture, Sculpture & Works of Art
25 Nov 2009, New Bond Street |
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Full sales schedule |
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High Prices Achieved for the Family Jewels of Arts and Crafts Legend George Hunt
A collection of jewellery by Birmingham designer George Hunt (1892 – 1960)
was sold at Bonhams in Knowle. Five stunning pieces, ranging in estimate from
£450 – 5,000, which have all passed down through Hunt’s family,
sold following the interest shown during a Bonhams’ travelling exhibition,
‘George Edward Hunt – the Silent World of an Arts and Crafts Jeweller’.
George Hunt was born in Dudley and lived for most of his life in Harborne, Birmingham,
studying at the Margaret Street School of Art and the Vittoria Street School of
Jewellery and Silversmithing on scholarships. Under the leadership of Arts and
Crafts master jeweller Arthur Gaskin he studied alongside the best of the best,
and went on to receive further scholarships and local and national awards for
his work. Hunt went on to exhibit widely across the UK as a craft member of the
Arts and Crafts Exhibition Society, and in Paris, and counted such illustrious
figures as the Queen Mother among his many titled clients.
A Bohemian-looking character with long curly hair and cape and hat, Hunt designed,
fashioned, enamelled, set, carved, and finished his jewels at his simple studio
in Bull Street, Harborne. Tarn Harrison, Bonhams’ Jewellery Specialist in
Knowle, explained the appeal of Hunt’s pieces:
“George Hunt truly was the quintessential Arts and Crafts jeweller, working
on an item entirely on his own from conception to completion, from draught on
paper to object,” she said. “Despite being a sole manufacturer, he
was considerably prolific, and he had a keen commercial awareness and an ability
to embrace the many influences and trends - such as Egyptian, Historicism, and
Art Deco - but these were always executed with an erudite Arts and Crafts spirit.
Many of his pieces are large in size and bold in design, using a variety of techniques
including wire and bead work, and employing different methods of enamelling.”
Bonhams’ sale featured five pieces, including a stunning rosary –
one of only two known to have been made by Hunt – which was formerly on
extended loan to the Birmingham Art Gallery and Museum. The ivory, enamel and
gem set rosary is 132cm long and fetched an above estimate £6,720. An enamel
and gem set necklet is sold for £4,680, a green agate necklace for £1,920,
an enamel, crackled quartz, agate and moonstone dress clip for £792 and
a green agate, grey agate, moonstone and amethyst brooch for £552.
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Contacts |
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U.K.
Julian Roup
Press Office & Marketing
Tel: +44 (0)207 468 8259
e-mail Press
U.S.A.
Levi Morgan
Director
Public Relations
San Francisco
+ 1 (415) 503 3348
Australia
Kieran Grogan
National Marketing and Media Manager
Bonhams & Goodman
Tel: +61 3 9823 6270
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