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Lot 397

BERNARD MEADOWS (BRITISH 1915-2005) RELIEF: THE WATCHERS. 1966 (BM99) monogrammed (lower right), inscribed by Artist First idea for Molloy, Saml Beckett (to reverse), edition of 6 plus 1, bronze15 1/2 x 11 1/4 in/ 39.4 x 28.5 cm The Artist;Gimpel Fils, London. Exhibited: Gimpel Fils, London, Bernard Meadows, 9 June - 26 August 2016. Literature:Bowness, Alan, Bernard Meadows: Sculpture and Drawings, Lund Humphries, London, 1995, p. 144, no.99 (plaster illustrated). In the 1960s, Meadows did not continue to plough the ‘Geometry of Fear’ furrow, much as perhaps his gallery and the market would have liked. Instead, like his contemporary Kenneth Armitage, he looked to find a new sculptural vocabulary that spoke to the nascent optimism of the 1960s. An element of joy returns. Sculptures such as Relief: The Watchers are classic Meadows of this period. Although superficially abstract, their strong anthropomorphism is clear, the rounded forms being heads (with eyes), although slippery enough to also connote bellies or even an entire body reduced to a singular form. This shifting nature of what the forms could be is enhanced by the smooth surfaces. In contrast to his 1950s sculpture, there are no jagged edges to arrest the eye, to turn you back on yourself. Instead, Meadows’ sculpture flows with you and the space surrounding it. And in this way his work returns to the conceptual world occupied by his former employer and mentor, Henry Moore.

Lot 113

Space / Astronomy / Flight / Sport - a collection of x6 signed / flown FDCs, comprising: British Astronomy FDC signed by Patrick Moore, 1966 British Technology FDC signed by Patrick Moore and Bernard Lovell, 2007 The Sky At Night FDC with printed signature of Moore, 1975 Joint Services Expedition cover signed by David Bellamy, Alan Baldwin, and Warren Blake, and x2 flown Columbia Flight STS-2 covers. With a Horse Racing first day cover signed by Lester Piggott and Willie Carson. All with certificates of authenticity.

Lot 22

A Bernard Moore flambe pottery vase decorated with an underwater scene. The surface features red fish swimming among stylized aquatic vegetation. The fish and plant designs extend around the body of the vase in continuous, interwoven detail. The piece has a short neck with a slightly flared rim and a rounded shoulder tapering to a narrow foot. The base is inscribed with the Bernard Moore mark.Artist: Bernard MooreIssued: 20th centuryDimensions: 10"W x 7.5"HCountry of Origin: EnglandCondition: Age related wear.

Lot 26

Decorated in traditional flambe glaze, this Bernard Moore pottery vase features a continuous Japanese-style dragon motif encircling the body. The design depicts a flying dragon surrounded by stylized clouds, rendered in red on a two-tone cream and oxblood ground. The shoulder is bordered with a geometric key pattern in red, continuing the theme of East Asian decorative influence. The base is marked with the Bernard Moore signature and the BM monogram in red.Artist: Bernard MooreIssued: Early 20th centuryDimensions: 4.25"HCountry of Origin: EnglandCondition: Age related wear.

Lot 27

A covered ginger jar produced by Bernard Moore, featuring design work by Hilda Lindop. The flambe jar is finished in a dark-silver lustre glaze. It is decorated with mermaids and fish in pearlescent finish against a midnight blue ground. The cover is embellished with grotesque fish motifs in complementary tones. The base bears the Bernard Moore mark and artist monogram.Artist: Hilda LindopIssued: c. 1910Dimensions: 8.25"W x 9.75"HCountry of Origin: EnglandCondition: Age related wear.

Lot 28

The central image features a stylized Viking vessel with several oars, rendered in deep flambe red glaze with gilt outline accents emphasizing the ship's form and surrounding water. The plaque is housed in a thick black wooden frame designed for wall display. Bernard Moore, known for his work with experimental glazes in the early 20th century, produced a range of decorative flambe pieces, often featuring historical or mythological themes. Bernard Moore marked on the reverse side. Frame size: 10"L x 1.5"W x 8.25"H. Sight size: 5.75"L.Artist: Bernard MooreDimensions: See DescriptionCountry of Origin: EnglandCondition: Age related wear.

Lot 586

Y Property from the Estate of an Edinburgh Collector: Henry Moore O.M., C.H., F.B.A. (British, 1898-1986), Two Heads, signed in pencil, ed. 38/50, lithograph, framed. Image 22cm by 25cm. Provenance: Bernard Jacobson Gallery, London 2003. Note: this lot may be subject to A.R.R.

Lot 164

Modern miscellany.- Collection of letters and signatures addressed to E. Stanley Jones & others, including: Elisabeth Frink, Levi Fox (2), Barbara Hepworth (signed booklet), Sue Ryder (3), David Bellamy, D.Y. Cameron, Sir John Lavery, Bruce Bairnsfather, Rowland Hilder, Charles Oman, Bernard Levin, Sir Maurice Bowra, Sir Hugh Casson, Sir Roy Strong, Jacob Bronowski, Leonard Cheshire (2), Clare Francis, Patrick Moore, Lord Denning, Ranulph Feinnes (2), Bernard Lovell, Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, Sir Basil Spence, Peter Scott, CV Wedgwood, together c. 130 letters, folds, a few removed from albums, v.s., v.d., 20th century (c. 130).

Lot 2376

An early 20th century Bernard Moore red flambé glazed vase, the ovoid baluster body decorated with peony against a taupe ground, painted marks to base, height 24cm.

Lot 2379

A rare early 20th century Bernard Moore flambé glazed figure of Little Red Riding Hood, modelled seated cross legged, painted 'BM' monogram mark to interior side, height 10cm.

Lot 1167A

-THIS IS A CHARLES HANSON TRACK THE TREASURE FIND, ALL MONEY RAISED GOES TO KATHARINE HOUSE HOSPICE CHARITY, STAFFORD- A pair of 20th century probably English sang de boeuf type rouge glazed bottle vases, the ovoid flambe globular bodies below short slender necks, both unmarked, in the style of Bernard Moore, with worn foot rims and stilt marks, each approx. 12.5cm high. (2) Condition: some scratches and wear to bodies; some surface marks, no signs of chips or cracks. 

Lot 190

Bernard Moore flambe low shouldered onion vase, 14cm tall, signed to base. In good condition with no obvious damage or restoration. Some light surface wear.

Lot 167

Set of 9 original vintage art exhibition advertising posters. 1. Karsh A Birthday Celebration - An exhibition organised by the International Center of Photography, New York, and sponsored by Merill Lynch Europe Limited 25 February to 24 April 1988 at the Barbican Art Gallery, featuring a 1954 black and white photograph by an Armenian-Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh (1908-2002) depicting an English actor and director Laurence Olivier in an elegant suit and tie holding a drink as he looks over his shoulder directly at the viewer. Good condition, folds, creasing, tears on edges, minor staining, pinholes. Country of issue: UK, designer: Yousuf Karsh, size (cm): 76x51, year of printing: 1988; 2. Turner: The Second Decade 1800-1810 exhibition at The Tate Gallery 10 January - 27 March 1989, featuring an artwork by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851) titled Kew Bridge c.1805, depicting a bridge over Thames river, with Brentford Eyot in the foreground and Strand-on-Green seen through the arches. Good condition, folds, minor creasing, pinholes, small paper losses on left corners and image. Country of issue: UK, designer: Unknown, size (cm): 76x51, year of printing: 1989; 3. Paint & Painting At The Tate Gallery London 9 June - 18 July 1982, an exhibition about colour and technique in painting and the artists' colourmen's trade. A Working Studio on the lawn with free, practical advice on watercolours, oils, acrylic, alkyds, brushes, grounds and media. - featuring a detail of Claude Monet Painting at the Edge of a Wood, c.1887 by John Singer Sargent. Produced by Richmond Towers Public Relations Ltd., London. Good condition, folds, creasing, pinholes, minor staining. Country of issue: UK, designer: Unknown, size (cm): 76x51, year of printing: 1982; 4. Victoria & Albert Museum British Art and Design 1900-1960 artwork exhibition presented with assistance from The Baring Foundation featuring a photograph of 'Mindlsave' a 1934 sculpture by Leon Underwood (1890-1975), a British artist, sculptor, printmaker, painter, an influential teacher and promoter of African art. Fair condition, folds, crease marks , tears on edges. Country of issue: UK, designer: , size (cm): 76x51, year of printing: 1983.; 5. What's new at the Victoria & Albert Museum? Spring 1987 featuring announcements of various art exhibitions - Art and Design in Europe and America 1800-1900, Towards a Bigger Picture: Contemporary British Photographs, Painters and The Derby China Works 1785-1848, Fashion Tracks Designer Clothes for the 1985 Pirelli Calendar, Hand Coloured British Prints - English Artists' Paper: Renaissance to Regency. Good condition, creasing, folds, pinholes. Country of issue: UK, designer: , size (cm): 76x51, year of printing: 1987.; 6. Romantic Lebanon The European View 1700-1900 An exhibition of oil paintings, watercolours, prints and photographs at Leighton House, London 10 February - 8 March 1986, featuring a stunning artwork depicting men gathered at the feet of an ancient building framed with mountains and trees. Good condition, folds, creasing. Country of issue: UK, designer: , size (cm): 76x51, year of printing: 1986.; 7. Four Rooms an Arts Council Exhibition at Liberty, London that took place February 10 - March 10 1984, devised by Howard Hodgkin, Marc Camille Chaimowicz, Richard Hamilton, Anthony Caro, featuring a collage of photographs by John Badminton depicting different rooms in the house. Good condition, folds, creasing. Country of issue: UK, designer: , size (cm): 76x51, year of printing: 1984.; 8. Studio Ceramics Today 25th Anniversary of the Craftsmen Potters Association of Great Britain 5 October until 27 November 1983 at the Victoria & Albert Museum, featuring a photograph of various pots, vases, bowls, jugs, plates on tables set over light background with colourful frame of symbols and signatures. Good condition, creasing, folds, pinholes. Country of issue: UK, designer: , size (cm): 76x51, year of printing: 1983.; 9. English pottery manufacturer and ceramic chemist Master Potter Bernard Moore (1850-1935) exhibition at Victoria & Albert Museum 15 December 1982 - 6 February 1983, featuring a photograph of a red flambe glaze vase. Good condition, creasing, folds, pinholes, tears on edges. Country of issue: UK, designer: , size (cm): 76x51, year of printing: 1983.

Lot 216

A rare flambe ceramic figure by Bernard Moore, depicting the legendary Gazeka. This mythical creature, also known as the Papuan Devil Pig, was reportedly sighted by British explorers in Papua New Guinea during the early 20th century. The exaggerated features and whimsical stance of this figure capture the fantastical nature of the beast, which was rumored to be a giant marsupial resembling a tapir or a pig. Bernard Moore, a master of high-temperature flambe glazes, created unique experimental ceramic works known for their deep red and iridescent finishes. This particular example showcases Moore's mastery of glaze effects, with rich crimson and dark oxblood hues accentuating the expressive details. Artist marked.Artist: Bernard MooreIssued: c. 1920sDimensions: 5.5"HCountry of Origin: EnglandCondition: Age related wear.

Lot 213

A rare Bernard Moore flambe-glazed porcelain figurine depicting a seated elephant with a charming and expressive pose. The deep red glaze, characteristic of Moore's renowned flambe technique, showcases a rich tonal variation with subtle black and crimson hues. Bernard Moore, a celebrated ceramic artist of the early 20th century, was known for his mastery of flambe glazing, a process that creates a unique and unpredictable finish, making each piece distinct. This seated elephant is a fine example of his artistic legacy, combining elegance with whimsical charm.Artist: Bernard MooreIssued: 20th centuryDimensions: 3.25"HCountry of Origin: EnglandCondition: Age related wear.

Lot 7

An early ovoid shape vessel decorated with a nautical scene of ships sailing. Signed Bernard Moore to underside.Dimensions: 5.5"W x 7.5"HCountry of Origin: EnglandCondition: Age related wear.

Lot 73

A collection of three jazz-themed paperback books: Really The Blues by Mezz Mezzrow and Bernard Wolfe (Anchor Books, 1972), The Sound of Surprise by Whitney Balliett (E.P. Dutton, 1959, First Edition), and Somebody’s Angel Child: The Story of Bessie Smith by Carman Moore (Dell Publishing, 1975, First Laurel Printing). These books explore the world of jazz, from personal memoirs to critical essays and historical accounts. Lot measures 7.25"L x 2"W x 4.5"H.Issued: 20th century Dimensions: See DescriptionCondition: Age related wear.

Lot 198

Bernard Meadows, British 1915-2005 - Relief: Watchers, 1966; bronze, from an edition of 6, H52.5 x W41.5 x D8.5 cm (including board) (ARR)Note: titled, dated and numbered to the label on the reverse 'Relief: Watchers Opus 78, 1966 1/6'Provenance:with Gimpel Fils, London, GF1504 (according to the label on the reverse) Literature: Alan Bowness, 'Bernard Meadows: Sculpture and Drawings', The Henry Moore Foundation in association with Lund Humphries, London, 1995, BM99 p.144, (plaster version illus. p.144) Note:a sculpture by the same name from 1979 is in the collection of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. As an assistant to Henry Moore in the 1940s, Meadows turned to animal and biomorphic forms in his sculpture to avoid being compared to his teacher, and other reliefs evoke his popular subjects of birds and crabs. Meadows was included in the seminal British pavilion exhibition at the Venice Biennale in 1952, alongside Geoffrey Clarke, Lynn Chadwick and Kenneth Armitage. 

Lot 197

Bernard Meadows, British 1914-2005 - Drawings for sculpture, 1966; pencil and gouache on paper in a shared mount, two, each signed with initial and dated 'M 66', each 13 x 17 cm (ARR) Provenance: the Collection of Klaus Hinrichsen (1912–2004) Note: Klaus Hinrichsen (1912–2004) was a German-born art historian who fled Nazi Germany in 1938. He was interned at Hutchinsons Camp on the Isle of Man from 1940, where he organised exhibitions featuring refugee artists such as Kurt Schwitters. Prevented from working in public art institutions after his release, he dedicated himself to collecting and researching maps, ethnographic works, and lithographs, meticulously cataloguing his acquisitions. He sourced items from Sotheby’s, Christie’s, and antique dealers, prioritising historical significance and conducted extensive provenance research at the British Library. His archive, including records and ephemera from his time in internment, is now held at the Tate Gallery. As an assistant to Henry Moore in the 1940s, Meadows turned to animal forms in his sculpture to avoid being compared to his teacher, and his drawings evoke abstracted anthropomorphic forms. Meadows came to public attention following his inclusion in the Venice Biennale in 1952, alongside Geoffrey Clarke, Lynn Chadwick and Kenneth Armitage. 

Lot 345

THREE PHOTOGRAPH ALBUMS CONTAINING SIGNED PHOTOGRAPHS OF CELEBRITIES AND POLITICIANSSee below for signature names. We are unable to guarantee the authenticity of all signatures and advise viewing in personRed Celebrity Album: Raquel Welch, Michael Cane, Richard Burton,. Elizabeth Taylor, Roger Moore, Client Eastwood, Isla Blair, Deryck Guyter, Jeremy Beadle, Brigit Forsyth, Robert Gillespie, Christopher Benjamin, Tommy Cannon, Bobby Ball, Kenny Everett, Brian Glover, Peter Egan, Arthur English, Tony Britton, Penelope Keith , Jim Davidson, Michael Bentine, Leonard Rossiter, Leonard Parkin, Martyn Lewis, Cilla Black, Matthew Parris, Bernie Winters, Janette Brown, Bob Holness, Jim Browen, The Cast of Rainbow, Sarah Green,  Roy CAstle, Rod Hull, John Pertwee, David Attenborough, Arthur Negis, Barbara Cartland, Cyrill Fletcher, Paul Daniels, Tom O'Connor, Ted Rodgers, Gordan Burns, Glynis Barber, Nigel Havers, Peter Davison, Giles Branderth, Gina Anderson, Nigel Davenport, James Cossins, Hannah Gordan, Donald Churchill, Michael Denison, Glynn Edwards, Michael Elphick, Lionel Blair, Richard Attenborough, George Cole, Dennis Mortimer, Timothy Spaal, Timothy Healy, David Jason, Victoria Wood, Keith Barron, June Whitfield. Blue Album: Morcombe & Wise, Ronnie Corbett, Ronnie Barker, Frankie Howard, Steve Davies, Mel Smith Griff Rhys Jones, Pamela Stephenson, Marti Caine, Max Boyce, Rowen Atkinson, Reece Dinsdale, John Thaw, Irene Handl, Patricia Hayes, Melvin Hayes, Bernard Cribins, James Bolan, Dickie Davies, Alistair Burnet, Henrey Cooper, Jack Charton, Eric Bristow, Terrance Griffiths, Kenneth Kendall, Harry Carpenter, Bruce Forsyth, Melvin Bragg, Des Lynam, Gordon Honeycommbe, Pamela Armstrong, Pat Coombs, Jimmy Cricket, Russel Harty, Frank Bough, Harry Secombe, HArold Goodwin, Lenny Henry, Nigel Hawthorne, Benny Hill, Carole Drinkwater, Michael Hordern, Brian Johnston, Jimmy Greaves, Ian St John, Carole BArns, David BEllamy, Sandy Gall, Peter Sissons, Celina Scott, Angela Rippon, Esther Rantzen, Richard Baker, Rolph HArris, Noel Edmunds, Michael Aspel, Terry Wogan, Michael Parkinson, Eamonn Andrews, Lorraine Chase, John Unman, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Russ Abbott, Windsor Davies, Peter Bowers, John Cleese, Mike Yardwood, Christopher Biggins, William Franklin, Val Doonican, Patrick Moore, Brown Album: Harold McMillian, Alec Douglas, Edward Heath, Harold Wilson, James Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher, Denis Healy, Michael Foot, J.Enoch Powell, Geoffrey Howell, George Brown, Peter Alexander Carrington, Cyril Smith, David Steel, Shirley Williams, Tony Benn, Sally Oppenheim, Norman St John- Stevas, Winston S Churchill, Pope John Jonas Paulas II, George Thomas 1st Viscount Tonypandy, Barbara Castle, Lord Denning, Mrs Indira Ghandi (Indian prime minister), Douglas Hurd, Also others indistinctly signed

Lot 289

A collection of six prints The first after Godfried Schalcken (Dutch 1643-1706), a young instrument player, engraving; the second François-Bernard Lépicié (French 1698-1755) after C. D. Moore, 'Le Jeu des Échecs', engraving, c.1746; a prospect of a Paris boulevard of the Louis XVI period, hand-coloured engraving; a boy with his mother holding grapes, etching and aquatint; 18th Century Welsh School, charcoal kiln view on the River Teivy, hand-coloured aquatint, 22cm x 23cm; and an offset lithograph after an aquatint of an interior scene.Qty: 5The first with notable toning, some damage to the paper in the upper left and minor damage to the figure's face. The second with some mount burn and light foxing. The third with notable toning and foxing, particularly in the upper half. The fourth with notable foxing. The fifth with some damage and repairs to the frame, losses to the black-painted glass slip, notable toning throughout. The sixth with some worm damage.

Lot 42

Bernard Moore (1850-1935) - a pottery flambé Solifleur vase, of shouldered form, rouge decorated with stylised turquoise and gilt coloured fish, stamped mark to underside, h.13cmSome colour inconsistencies to red ground areas.Top rim appears slightly ground-down to conceal former chipped losses.

Lot 21

A Bernard Moore Flambe Pottery Bowl, decorated to the centre with a sailing ship under a border of heraldic shields and foliage, signed to the back 20.5cm diameter

Lot 89

Sixties EPs, approximately three hundred and fifty EPs, mainly from the Sixties with artists including Cilla Black, Louis Cordet, Judy Garland, Anita Harris, Francois Hardy, Lesley Gore, Eve Boswell, Christine Campbell, Charlie Drake, Violet Carson, Peter Sellers, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, George Formby, Charlie Drake, Bob Hope, Kenneth Williams, Arthur Askey, Spike Jones, Bernard Bresslaw, Danny Kaye, Bobby Darin, Helen Shapiro, The Hi-Los, Kathy Kirby, Brenda Lee, Cliff Richard, Petula Clark, Doris Day, Eydie Gorme, Rosemary Clooney, Connie Francis and many more - various years and conditions

Lot 222

Comedy / Spoken Word LPs, approximately one hundred and forty albums of mainly Comedy with artists including Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, Beyond The Fringe, Stanley Unwin, Frankie Howerd, Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, The Goons, Bernard Cribbins, Hattie Jacques and Eric Sykes, Ronnie Barker, Kenneth Williams, Tony Hancock, Round The Horne, Terry Thomas, TWTWTW, Michael Bentine, Stanley Baxter, Morecambe and Wise, Fawlty Towers, The Frost Report, Benny Hill and more - some duplicates - various years and conditions

Lot 64

A Bernard Moore flambe vase of inverted baluster form, signed to base, 20cm high

Lot 136

BERNARD MOORE GINGER JAR - 17 CM (H) APPROXThe vase is in good condition for its age. There is some crazing and light scratches commensurate with age, we've added photos that show the signature to the inner lid and the base.

Lot 78

Autographs: Stage, Screen, Music, and Dance, including Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Clint Eastwood, Dusty Springfield, Mary Quant, Marianne Faithful, Lulu, Eric Morecambe, Ernie Wise, Barbara Windsor, Ninette de Valois, and others, 1960s-1970s. Autograph album, faux brown leather covers, ownership name to first page, containing approx.. 95+ signatures, many of which are dedicated to ‘Ceril’, and further captioned by her in ink, 5 x 8.5cm, signatures include:Jeremy Etheridge, Marguerite Vacani (signed on a small card loosely inserted), Roger Moore, with an additional ink sketch of the Saint stick-man logo (signed on a single-page), Ernie Wise with Dave Clark (Dave Clark Five) on reverse, Eric Morecambe (signed on a single-page), Jimmy Tarbuck, Janette Scott, John Rostill (The Shadows), five members of The Searchers including, John McNally, Tony Jackson, Mike Pender, Chris Curtis, and one other, Clint Eastwood, Dick Van Dyke, Richard Attenborough (signed on a single-page), Oliver Reed signed on a piece of paper taped in, Gracie Fields, David Kossoff, Britt Eckland, Kenny Ball, Harry Secombe, Susan Maugham, Cliff Richard (whilst he was filming Summer Holiday in 1962), Richard O’Sullivan, Ninette de Valois, Susan Hampshire, Eric Sykes, Una Stubbs, Dilys Laye, Joan Regan, Frankie Howard, Brian Rix, Bernard Bresslaw, Max Bygraves with Barbara Windsor on reverse, Freddie and The Dreamers, including, Freddie Garrity, Roy Crewdson, Bernie Dwyer, Derek Quinn, Peter Birrell, Beryl Grey, Donald Houston, Sean Connery (signed on a single-page), Des O’Connor, Alfred Marks, Dusty Springfield, Bruce Wells (The Shadows), Patrick Cargill, Vince Hill, Arthur Askey, David Jacobs, Frank Ifield, Hayley Mills, Melvyn Hazel, Charles Hawtrey, Nicholas Parsons, signed on a magazine page pasted down with Joan Sims on reverse, Leo Franklyn, Norman Vaughan, David Frost, Sid James, Peggy Mount, Warren Mitchell, Hermione Gingold (both sellotaped over signatures), Danny La Rue, Dick Emery, Mary Quant, Jimmy Edwards, Topol signed on a magazine page taped in, Marianne Faithfull signed on a piece of paper tipped in, and Marty Feldman signed on a sheet of paper loosely inserted. Provenance:The Collection of Ceril Campbell, celebrity stylist, TV Presenter, motivational speaker, life coach, author, and independent celebrant. Signed in person for Ceril Campbell who grew up in Chelsea, London and on Saturdays, whilst still at school, worked on the Kings Road in boutiques, Mr Freedom, and later Jean Machine, whilst studying fashion design. As a result, Ceril hung out with ‘the Chelsea crowd’, who at that time included Mick Jagger's brother Chris, Jane Birkin's brother and Marianne Faithfull, Patti Boyd, and others. Ceril’s father worked in the film industry and would often take her to the studios where many of these signatures were signed.

Lot 136

Bernard Moore, mottled Flambe model of seated monkey eating. 'BM' monogram to inside of base. Height: 7.5cm

Lot 64

Bernard Moore Flambe model of a dog playing with a yellow ball, L.11 x h.5.25cm.

Lot 59

In the manner of Bernard Moore, three Flambe models of a Poodle, Border Collie and a Basset Hound. Unmarked. (3)

Lot 51

Bernard Moore (1850-1935) A studio pottery flambe glazed vase, of squat form with a raised flaring neck, signed to the base, 20cm high x 23cm wideIf there is no condition report shown, please request

Lot 76

Bernard Moore (British 1850-1935) Three Art Pottery Figures and Another Early 20th century, comprising two monkeys in flambe and lustre glazes, both unmarked, and a white-glazed "Diakokan" figure, this bearing BM monogram, together with a further spill vase modelled as a monkey in mottled turquoise glaze in the style of Bernard Moore or Burmantofts, this unmarked.The larger monkey 9cm highOnly the larger monkey retaining one glass eye, this with some small glaze scratches, otherwise no damage or restoration to note.

Lot 75

Bernard Moore (British 1850-1935) Two Flambe-Ware Vases Early 20th century, waisted and bottle form respectively, the latter marked, together with two small vases, the wider by J. Howson (a pupil of Bernard Moore) and dated 1913, the other by Edward R. Wilkes (a decorator for Bernard Moore), these both signed.The largest 16cm highThe larger Moore vase with some scratches to one side, otherwise light generalised wear but no damage or restoration to note.

Lot 8335

A Bernard Moore flambé glaze vase with signature to base, 10cm tall, a Serves style turquoise and gilt coffee cup with exotic bird cartouche, 6.5 cm tall and an Italian Alfredo Santarelli lustre bowl, 13cm diameter (3)

Lot 659

Modern Poetry and Literature in original wraps. Including. Ronald Bottrall, Day and Night. 1974, London Magazine Editions, with ink dedication from the author to the title page. Imagination Dead Imagine by Samuel Beckett 1967. Beginnings by Eric Walter White 1976. Bernard Shaw and William Morris. London Wiliam Morris Society 1957 Limited Edition 350 copies, Collected poems by Humphrey John Moore. Outposts Publications Surrey. 1975. Poems from Prison by Said Zahari 1973 [dedicated and signed by author?].The Vanishing Island, Peter Howard and Cecil Broadhurst 1956 and others [14]

Lot 52

A Bernard Moore Arts and Crafts lustre bowl, of circular footed form, decorated with chrysanthemum flower heads and leaves, with cruciform floral band and Latin 'Friendship' script over graded ground, painted marks to base, diameter 26cm, (damaged), together with a 20th Century Japanese style porcelain bowl, circular footed form, decorated in the imari palette, faux painted marks to base, diameter 24cm. (2)

Lot 260

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS ink and watercolour with wax resist on paper 24.5cm x 19.5cm (9 5/8in x 7 ¾in) The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

Lot 271

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS signed, gouache with wax resist on paper with collaged elements 22.5cm x 16.5cm (9in x 6 ½in) The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

Lot 262

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS signed, ink and watercolour on paper 20.5cm x 16.5cm (8in x 6 ½in) The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

Lot 266

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) TWO STUDIES FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS gouache with wax resist on paper with collage elements 22cm x 16cm (8 5/8in x 6 ¼in); 22.5cm x 17cm (8 5/8in x 6 5/8in) The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

Lot 267

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS gouache, watercolour with wax resist and oil on paper 25.5cm x 17.5cm (10in x 7in) The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

Lot 261

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS signed, coloured pencil, watercolour and gouache with wax resist on paper 20.5cm x 16.5cm (8in x 6 ½in) The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

Lot 269

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS gouache and watercolour with wax resist on paper 20.5cm x 16.8cm (8in x 6 5/8in) The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

Lot 268

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS ink, crayon, oil, watercolour and gouache with wax resist on paper with collage elements  19.5cm x 17cm (7 5/8in x 6 ¾in) The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

Lot 270

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS watercolour and gouache with wax resist on paper with collage elements 25cm x 20.5cm (9 ¾in x 8in) The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

Lot 264

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS ink, watercolour and gouache on paper 24.5cm x 19.5cm (9 5/8in x 7 ¾in)  The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

Lot 274

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) THREE STUDIES STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS crayon, pencil, watercolour and gouache with wax resist on paper 11.8cm x 9cm (4 5/8in x 3 ½in) each The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

Lot 272

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) FOUR STUDIES FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS signed on one of the works, gouache with wax resist on paper, some with additional collage  25cm x 19cm (9 ¾in x 7 ½in) each The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

Lot 275

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) FIVE STUDIES FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS gouache with wax resist and oil on paper 12cm x 9cm (4 ¾in x 3 ½ in) (4); 12cm x 3cm (4 ¾in x 1 1/8in) (1) The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

Lot 263

JOHN PIPER (BRITISH 1903-1992) STUDY FOR WATSON HOUSE MURALS gouache, ink and watercolour on paper  18.5cm x 13.5cm (7 ¼in x 5 ¼in) The following lots (260 – 275) represents the most complete collection of studies by John Piper for his landmark commission to decorate the exterior of Watson House in south-west London. After the nationalisation of the gas industry post-war, the newly-formed North Thames Gas Board redeveloped a site on the banks of the river that had previously been the offices of the Gas Light and Coke Company, building Watson House in 1959 – at the time a very modern statement in concrete and glass, created four years before Harold Wilson’s famous speech about Britain’s future fuelled by the ‘white heat of technology’. Although Piper had come to the fore in the 1930s, as part of a European-leaning British avant-garde that included Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson, by the late 50s he was still very much at the centre of the ‘new’ in Modern British Art, having created – alongside artists such as Graham Sutherland, John Craxton and Keith Vaughan  – a visual language that was inspired by natural forms but which excavated behind those forms to express human emotion and frailty. And Piper and Sutherland had just recently been engaged on the decorations of Basil Spence’s stunning modernist cathedral for Coventry, which opened in 1962 – the same year Piper was invited to create a 250ft long mural for the porte cochère of Watson House. The mural was to be entitled ‘The Spirit of Energy’ and consisted of 32 fibreglass panels – again a very modern material for an architectural setting (and according to Piper expert Frances Spalding, these murals are also believed to be the only example of Piper using fibre-glass moulds for external use). Piper’s preliminary studies anticipate the visual and tactile possibilities that fibreglass allows, not least a contrast between opacity and translucence – which in the studies is expressed in the interplay of opaque oil and bodycolour over translucent layers of wax and watercolour. The idea behind the commission – the expression of a metaphysical concept, ‘the spirit of energy’ – also allowed Piper to approach the work with the same freedom that he had applied to the windows at Coventry, whose purpose was to express equally metaphysical ideas of the divine. His work had never been so loose and abstract. As such, Piper’s work at Watson House – both the studies and the final panels themselves - represent a key moment in his career.  By the mid-1980s, the Gas Board had moved out of the building and it lay empty for a number of years. It was scheduled for demolition in the early 1990s, when Crispin Kelly – a developer and one of Bernard Kelly’s sons – acquired the site and redeveloped it, transforming the main block of laboratories into 70 apartments and the ground floor into spaces for artists’ and photographers’ studios. The architects Lifschutz Davidson oversaw the project, retaining the building’s mid-century character, including the double height spaces and large windows of the main building, giving London one of its earliest iterations of American-style industrial ‘lofts’.     Upon completion, Watson House was re-named ‘The Piper Building’, in honour of the creator of its unique and striking decoration – with Lifschutz Davidson adding electric sun blinds to the new steel balconies in a bright ‘Piper’ yellow to extend the artist’s imprint across the whole building.  The murals themselves were afforded Grade II listing in 2022, in recognition of their cultural significance.These wonderful, spirited gouaches, executed with Piper’s trademark bravura use of watercolour over a wax resist, were until recently displayed in the building’s foyer – on loan from Bernard Kelly’s collection - and though they have been seen by its many residents and those using the studio spaces, this is the first time they have been on public view. Having long been an admirer and collector of Piper’s work, it seemed very appropriate, then, that Bernard Kelly should take an apartment in the building that bears the artist’s name.  Bernard proceeded to buy not only more work by Piper but also paintings by his son Edward Piper and grandson Luke Piper - the latter being commissioned by Bernard to paint the view of Wandsworth Bridge from his apartment.

Lot 567

Bernard Moore studio pottery flambe vase, 13.5 cm high

Lot 326

Bernard Moore 'Gazeka' porcelain grotesque figure, 'Daikokan', and a monkey, white glazed, unsigned, max. H14cm (3)

Lot 165

A Bernard Moore glazed pottery squat vase, mixed lustre colourway, marked Bernard Moore to base, approx. 8cm high x 9.2cm wide. Further details: general wear, slight scratches.

Lot 220

Bernard Moore Large Flambe Vase decorated with Dragons (27cm H) (1)

Lot 134

Bernard Moore, Red Flambe Squat Vase. Height: 4cm

Lot 345

Signed Presentation Copy by Thomas Moore Moore (Thomas) The Poetical Works of Thomas Moore, Collected by Himself, 10 vols. sm. 8vo, L. (Longman, Orme, Brown, Green & Longmans) 1840-1841, each with engd. frontis, dated engd. title pages, Inscribed f.e.p. on Vol. I "From the Author," with further inscription on hf. title. Vol.1 "To Mrs. Eliza Ann Bernard, not only as the Friend of a very dear friend of mine, but as one who is herself worthy of all admiration and regard, I have great pleasure in presenting this copy of my Poetical Works, April 29th, 1841, Thomas Moore," uniform blind decor green cloth with harp, gilt decor. & lettered spine. Nice Association Set. (10)

Lot 20

A Bernard Moore Pottery vase, baluster form, painted with flowers and foliage in gold on a deep red flambe ground, printed Bernard Moore, 26cm. high

Lot 259

Four boxes of 7 inch singles, labels include; Coral, Parlophone, RCA, HMV, Columbia, etc. artists include; Dolly Parton, Gene Simmons, Alice Cooper, Ultravox, Motorhead, Dr. Feelgood, Buddy Holly, the Crickets, Manfred Mann, Pat Boone, etc. plus some comedy including Peter Sellers, Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Tony Hancock, Bernard Miles, the Goons, etc. Condition fair to good.

Lot 587

Modern Poetry and Literature in original wraps. Including. Ronald Bottrall, Day and Night. 1974, London Magazine Editions, with ink dedication from the author to the title page. Imagination Dead Imagine by Samuel Beckett 1967. Beginnings by Eric Walter White 1976. Bernard Shaw and William Morris. London Wiliam Morris Society 1957 Limited Edition 350 copies, Collected poems by Humphrey John Moore. Outposts Publications Surrey. 1975. Poems from Prison by Said Zahari 1973 [dedicated and signed by author?].The Vanishing Island, Peter Howard and Cecil Broadhurst 1956 and others [14]

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