Alnwick and North East Interest Items in The Fine Art Auction

Anderson and Garland auctioneers are privileged to sell the principal contents of The Old Manse, Alnwick, by instruction of the Executors of Ian and Ena Robertson in our Two Day Summer Fine Art Auction.

Ian Alastair Robertson, 1929-2009

Ian was born and lived in Alnwick all his life. Alnwick was his passion and he served the town as Councillor for many years and Mayor on six occasions.

He trained to be an Auctioneer and Valuer with Anderson and Garland in the 1950s, leaving to set up as an Antiques Dealer in Bessie Surtees House, a Jacobean merchant’s home on Newcastle’s Sandhill near to the river. Ian started the Narrowgate Salerooms in Alnwick in 1968 from where he built up a reputation as a hardworking knowledgeable Auctioneer. He managed to combine both businesses with skill and honesty, earning the trust of all who had dealings with him.

During his life he supported many local charities and was made Honorary Alderman of the District of Alnwick in recognition of the exceptional service rendered by him to the town and Alnwick District Council. Ian’s wife, Ena, died earlier this year and we are privileged to have been instructed by their Executors to sell the principal contents of their home in Alnwick.

The Contents of The Fine Art Auction

The Fine Art auction contains 773 exquisite lots comprising of the principal contents of Ian and Ena Robertson’s estate from The Old Manse, Alnwick as well as items consigned from other estates and private vendors throughout Northern England and the Scottish Borders.

Ian Robertson’s varied and eclectic collection spans the 18th and 19th Centuries and in certain areas has a particular focus on Alnwick and Northumberland in general.

The auction includes an extensive collection of:

Chinese, Japanese and other Asian ceramics and Works of art
British and European ceramics
Glass
Prints, Watercolours, Drawings, Oil paintings and Maps
Books, Pamphlets & Paper Ephemera
Collectors’ items
Furnishings, Lamps and Lighting
Musical instruments
Plated items
Modern, Antique and Foreign Silver
Objects of vertu
Jewellery
Rugs & Carpets
Clocks
Furniture

Alnwick and North East Interest Items in The Fine Art Auction

Ian Robertson was a highly respected figure in the Alnwick community, both as a member of the councils and as an auctioneer. He possessed a deep knowledge of the town and curated a spectacular collection of antiques and rarities from Alnwick, Northumberland and the North East.

A variety of these antiques and ephemera are to be auctioned off in The Fine Art Auction. Some notable objects included in the auction are as follows:

Alnwick interest prints

Various Artists (19th Century British School) "Plan of the Town and Borough of Alnwick, 1827" engraving, 29 1/2 x 28 1/2in; together with sundry views and topographical engravings relating to Alnwick, various sizes, all framed. (10)

Estimate £40 - £60

19th Century British School - watercolour.

A humorous cartoon depicting the Alnwick tenantry column surmounted by an ass, inscribed, watercolour, pen and ink, 42 x 52cms, framed.

Estimate £40 - £80

Percy Foster - watercolour.

Character sketches of Alnwick celebrities; together with a self portrait drawn for James Catnach, signed with initials, inscribed and dated 1832, pencil, 32 x 19cms, framed. (5)

Estimate £50 - £80

Ian Robertson's Gavel

The gavel of Ian Robertson, Alnwick Auctioneer, in turned ivory; 18cms long; together with his walking stick, of shepherds crook form, with gavel terminal, inscribed 'Ian A. Robertson, Auctioneer Alnwick', 138cms high.

Estimate £50 - £80

A rare documentary Alnwick interest jug

Rare documentary Alnwick interest jug: a Sunderland pottery jug, inscribed 'John and Margaret Richardson, Alnwick (sic) 1844', printed to one side with the Independance Order of Oddfellows, Manchester Unity, the reverse with Remembrance, a verse on pink splash lustre ground, waisted foot, scroll moulded handle, 16cms.

Hartshorne (C.H.) A Guide to Alnwick Castle, 8vo, gilt morocco, illus. with engravings, Alnwick 1865; Murdock (Harold) Earl Percy's Dinner-Table, 8vo, cloth, engraved frontispiece, Boston 1907; Hicks (J.G.) The Percy Artillery: Records of the Percy Tenantry Volunteer Artillery, 1805-1814", gilt cloth, 1899; and sundry other books and pamphlets relating to the Percy Family and Alnwick Castle. (10)

Estimate £60 - £100

Alnwick interest books

Alnwick interest: The Alnwick Mounted Police Association list of subscribers and minute book for 1845, two quarto vols; Skelly (George) A Guide to Alnwick and the District, 8vo, original boards, engraved frontispiece, Alnwick 1882; a Register of Admissions to the Duke of Northumberland's School, Alnwick, 1811-1911, 8vo, gilt cloth, Leicester 1911; and sundry other books and soft-cover publications relating to the town and district of Alnwick. (9)

Estimate £100 - £150

Alnwick interest pocket watches

Two silver pair cased pocket watches, on with roman dial around a train painted scene, the movement by J & J Gibson, Alnwick no.1210, case by James Heals, Birmingham 1839, engraved John Atchinson 1860; the other by J. Daglisk, Alnwick, no.8624, the case by William Linsley, London 1825; and various watch papers and watch silks.

Estimate £200 - £300

Attributed to Robert Hudson, Newcastle upon Tyne: a George III oval mirror.

Attributed to Robert Hudson, Newcastle upon Tyne: a George III oval mirror plate, finely engraved cherubs, portrait of two Kings, a pastoral scene of a gentleman wearing a tricorn hat playing a horn, a shepherdess in landscape, all within a tasselled rope design, within a lacquered wooden oval moulded frame, the back bearing a paper inscription 'This oval mirror was engraved by Robert Hudson of Newcastle on Tyne piror to the year 1788', 33 x 25cms.

Estimate £400 - £600

Books and pamphlets relating to The Percy Family and Alnwick Castle.

Estimate £60 - £100

A set of twelve George III parcel gilt side chairs in the Louis XV style.

A set of twelve George III parcel gilt side chairs in the Louis XV style, the moulded frames with cartouche-shaped caned backs and seats, the seat rails carved with ribbons and foliage, raised on cabriole legs headed by fan carving.

NB. These chairs were at Syon House, the spectacular London home of the Duke of Northumberland, and stood in the apse at each end of Robert Adam's Great dining room until the 1990's.

Alexander Millar - pastel.

November Morning, Byker, Newcastle, signed, pastel, 26 x 41cms, framed.

Estimate £3,500 - £4,000

Ralph Hedley - oil.

A Tyne river keel-boat loaded with coal, signed and dated 1905, oil on canvas, 101 x 126cms, framed.

NB: This is probably "Weel may the Keel Row" exhibited by Hedley at the Bewick Club, Newcastle, 22nd Annual Exhibition in 1905, then subsequently at the Laing Art Gallery in 1938, The Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead, 1938/9; Darlington Public Art Gallery, 1939; and Middlesborough Art Gallery, 1940.

Estimate £6,000 - £9,000