Name: Auction: GEORGE III MAHOGANY SECRETAIRE BOOKCASE LATE 18TH CENTURY
Brand: Lyon & Turnbull
Price: 750 GBP
Availability: OutOfStock

Day One: 02 September 2020 | From 11:00

Day Two: 03 September 2020 | From 11:00

Sale number: 609The huge success of our September 2020 Five Centuries auction was thanks in no small part to a selection of furniture and works of art from Balcarres House, Fife, home of the Earls of Crawford &amp; Balcarres. Balcarres House, commanding a view across the Firth of Forth, has been home to the Lindsay family since 1595. The 206 lots of furniture and works of art provided a cross-section of life in a grand country mansion – and evidence that the British country house look has never really fallen from fashion. A total of 1836 bidders registered for the sale – some 1626 of them choosing to participate across four online bidding platforms.<blockquote>“The collection provided a rare glimpse into another world and a time gone by, and it truly captured the spirit we aim to achieve in our ‘Five Centuries’ auctions” said our Head of Sale, Douglas Girton. “From the rare and beautiful study of Bacchus and Ariadne by Giuseppe Piamontini (1664-1742), to the barn-found objects such as a rare Victorian bicycle, buyers responded with huge enthusiasm”.“It was thrilling to witness such lively bidding across all collecting categories. I was particularly encouraged to see so much interest in traditional 18th century furniture, which goes against everything we’ve been hearing recently. I’m delighted for our vendors, who’ve had to wait so long to see their items go under the gavel. It was worth the wait!”</blockquote>Balcarres, Scottish home of the Earls of Crawford and Balcarres, takes its name from the Gaelic baile carrach, meaning rough or stony settlement. Located in the East Neuk of Fife, not far from the village of Colinsburgh, the house originated as a Z-plan tower in the 16th century, with improvements and extensions taking place over the next three centuries which have substantially altered its appearance, but kept to the Scots Baronial style at its core. The house sits in a prominent position with views over the surrounding countryside and across the Firth of Forth to the Lothians, Bass Rock, the Lammermuir Hills, and the Edinburgh hills. Balcarres commands ‘the enjoyment of pure and fresh air, of proximity to the sea, and a prospect embracing rock and meadow, island and lake, river and ocean, well-nigh boundless…’The Earl of Crawford is one the most ancient extant titles in Great Britain, created for Sir David Lindsay in 1398, who married a daughter of Robert II. The title has stayed with various branches of the Lindsay family ever since. Alexander Lindsay (1618-1659) was created 1st Earl of Balcarres in 1651, and the 6th Earl of Balcarres, another Alexander Lindsay (1752-1825), sold the estate to his younger brother Robert in 1791, who enlarged the house with a bow-fronted Georgian extension. Subsequent additions and improvements were untaken in the 19th century, the first headed by the Scottish architect William Burn 1839-1843, who greatly enhanced and unified the Scots Baronial design of the house, and later by another Scottish architect, David Bryce 1863-1867, designer of Fettes College. The terraced gardens have long been a celebrated feature of the house, and were described as ‘second only in Scotland to those of Drummond Castle. Their character is truly magnificent…’. The Earldoms of Crawford and Balcarres have been joint since 1848, when James Lindsay, 7th Earl of Balcarres, put forth a claim for the Earldom of Crawford, which had remained dormant since 1808, when the 22nd Earl, George Lindsay-Crawford, died unmarried.The objects, furniture, and works of art presented in this sale provide a cross-section of life in a grand country house. Through them we get a glimpse into the public and private lives of the previous generations who called Balcarres home. We get to see the things they collected, as well as the things they used, from the rare and beautiful, like the terracotta figure study of Bacchus and Ariadne by Giuseppe Piamontini (1664-1742), to the everyday objects like the collection of copper kitchen wares. The collection provides us with a rare treat to peek into another world and a time gone by.&nbsp;

Douglas Girton | Specialist at Lyon & Turnbull Auction House

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393A - The Lingholm Collection - Main Interior

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Furniture & Works of Art inc. Property of the Earls of Crawford & Balcarres

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Lyon & Turnbull | Online Auction Specialists

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the moulded cornice with swan neck pediment above a pair of pointed astragal glazed doors enclosing adjustable shelves; the associated base with a secretaire drawer with a green baize writing surface, drawers and pigeon holes, above three further long drawers, raised on bracket feet

GEORGE III MAHOGANY SECRETAIRE BOOKCASE

LATE 18TH CENTURY

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