17th Century Beadwork Basket with Connections to Stuart Monarchy Sells at Auction for £21,648

Fine & Decorative: Tuesday 11 March

A Charles II beadwork basket (c. 1660) led Roseberys Fine & Decorative auction (Tuesday 11 March), realising a price of £21,648 against an estimate of £3,000-£5,000. Following fierce bidding online and on the telephones, it sold to a UK private buyer. This example was exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, and came from the collection of Sir Frederick Henry Richmond (1873-1953), former Chairman of Debenhams and Harvey Nicholls. 

The basket, worked in coloured beads on wood boards, depicts a couple flanking a country manor house amongst a proliferation of charming animals and floral motifs. Their function is much debated, but they are sometimes described as layette baskets, used to hold children’s clothes during christening ceremonies, but could have been betrothal gifts or for holding gloves or sprigs of rosemary at weddings or festivities. They may have simply been used as table centrepieces in affluent family homes. The naive character of the imagery may be attributed to the fact that the baskets were often made by young women, as beadwork was a popular pastime for wealthy ladies of the period. 

The mid-seventeenth century saw British merchants import large quantities of glass beads from Venice and Amsterdam, ushering in a golden age of British secular embroidery. The Stuart Court favoured embroidered wares for decorative and ceremonial purposes. The lion and the unicorn depicted are almost certainly a reference to the Stuart Restoration of 1660, and probably a message of support for the Royalist cause.  

Further highlights from the sale included a pristine Louis Vuitton monogrammed canvas wardrobe trunk (c.1990s) that sold for £10,496, as well as a Meissen Louis XV ormolu and French porcelain mantel clock, that sold for £9,840.

Fine furniture was led by a beautiful Regency rosewood and giltwood games table in the manner of Morel and Seddon that sold for £9,840, and an Irish Killarney marquetry tilt-top table that sold for £7,610.

The auction was completed by a strong wine section, which achieved a 98% sell-through rate of 122 lots. The star lot was six bottles of 1982 Château Mouton Rothschild, Pauillac, Bordeaux, which realised a price of £4,723. 

High res images available for editorial use here. Please credit Roseberys. 
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Operating in London for more than 30 years, Roseberys Fine Art Auctioneers is a privately owned specialist fine art and antiques auction house and valuers, located in the heart of South London.

The team of world renowned experts and consultants offer both buyers and sellers a range of specialist art market services and a calendar of over 30 specialist auctions a year covering all areas of Asian Arts, Islamic & Indian Art, Jewellery & Watches, Old Master, 18th & 19th Century Art, Modern British & Contemporary British Art, Urban & Contemporary Prints & Multiples, 20th Century Art & Design, Impressionist, Modern, Post War & Contemporary Art and Decorative Arts, Fine & Decorative sales including Silver, Ceramics, Works of Art and Furniture.

In addition to hosting over 30 specialist auctions annually, Roseberys offers single-owner collection sales. Recent highlights include the Mary & Alan Hobart Collection (founders of Pyms Gallery), an Important Private Collection of Chinese Imperial Porcelain and The George Farrow Collection.