Key antiques and interiors auctions around the UK in February 2024
Antiques Auction of the Month
The Warner Dailey Collection
22nd February at Sworders, Essex
Aged just 14, Anglo-American antiques dealer Warner Dailey recognised a Hepplewhite sideboard, which he bought for $400 and sold on to a top American antiques dealer for $1,700 (who gave it a $12,000 price tag).
A few years later, in the late 1960s, the fledgling expert found his way to a job on the front desk at Christie’s.
A move to the Russian works of art department connected him with Malcolm Forbes, the American publisher and Fabergé collector, who offered Warner a retainer to find items for him. At this point – the golden age for dealers, when treasures could be found everywhere, from auction houses to markets in London and Paris and even roadside skips – Warner’s life as a ‘runner’ began.
Today, Warner’s home in Lewisham, south London, groans with pictures, tribal art, antique furniture and objects collected over the years. Now he wants others to enjoy them, so he has consigned 300 lots to Sworders.
‘Estimates range from £400 for the passport of a sailor, who travelled to Antarctica with Sir Ernest Shackleton, to £16,000 for a pair of pistols bearing the crests of Lord Byron’s father,’ says head of sale Mark Wilkinson. ‘Warner Dailey is very much the dealer’s dealer – a tastemaker with an exceptional eye.’ Expect quirky, unusual and elegant pieces up for sale. sworder.co.uk
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February 2024 Auctions
7th Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs, Lyon & Turnbull, 22 Connaught Street, London, W2 2AF. lyonandturnbull.com
7th The Oxford Library Sale, Mallams, Bocardo House, St Michael’s Street, Oxford, OX1 2EB. mallams.co.uk
8th The Interiors Sale, Cheffins Fine Art, Clifton House, 1&2 Clifton Road, Cambridge, CB1 7EA. cheffins.co.uk
9th Costume, Accessories & Textiles, Tennants, The Auction Centre, Harmby Road, Leyburn, North Yorkshire, DL8 5SG. tennants.co.uk
9th & 23rd Antiques & Interiors, Tennants, Harmby Road, Leyburn, North Yorkshire, DL8 5SG. tennants.co.uk
13th–14th Interiors, Dreweatts, Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 2JE. dreweatts.com
13th–14th The Collectors’ Auction, Anderson & Garland, Anderson House, Crispin Court, Newbiggin Lane, Westerhope, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE5 1BF. andersonandgarland.com
14th Fine Art & Antique Auction, Trevanion Auctioneers & Valuers, The Joyce Building, Station Road, Whitchurch, Shropshire, SY13 1RE. trevanion.com
19th–21st Antiques & Interiors, Bellmans, Newpound, Wisborough Green, West Sussex, RH14 0AZ. bellmans.co.uk
20th Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas, Woolley & Wallis, 51–61 Castle Street, Salisbury, SP1 3SU. woolleyandwallis.co.uk
20th Design (Decorative Arts and Studio Pottery from 1860 to the present day), Roseberys, 70–76 Knights Hill, West Norwood, London, SE27 0JD. roseberys.co.uk
21st Fine Pottery & Porcelain, Woolley & Wallis, 51–61 Castle Street, Salisbury, SP1 3SU. woolleyandwallis.co.uk
22nd The Pictures Auction, Anderson & Garland, Anderson House, Crispin Court, Newbiggin Lane, Westerhope, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE5 1BF. andersonandgarland.com
22nd The Important Private Antique Doll Collection of Austin Smith and Margaret Harkin – Part 1, Special Auction Services, Plenty Close, off Hambridge Road, Newbury, RG14 5TR. specialauctionservices.com
22nd The Warner Dailey Collection, Sworders, Cambridge Road, Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, CM24 8GE. sworder.co.uk
22nd The Art & Design Sale, Cheffins Fine Art, Clifton House, 1&2 Clifton Road, Cambridge, CB1 7EA. cheffins.co.uk
27th Fine Clocks, Barometers and Scientific Instruments, Dreweatts, Donnington Priory, Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 2JE. dreweatts.com
27th Old Master, British and European Pictures, Roseberys, 70–76 Knights Hill, West Norwood, London, SE27 0JD. roseberys.co.uk
27th–28th Toys, Dolls, Models, Antiques & Interiors, The Cotswold Auction Company, Bankside Saleroom, Love Lane, Cirencester, Glos, GL7 1YG. cotswoldauction.co.uk
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