CHRISTIE'S OAK COUNTRY FURNITURE JOHN FARDON COLLECTION

CHRISTIE'S THE JOHN FARDON COLLECTION A SELECTION OF OAK COUNTRY FURNITURE AND WORKS OF ART MAY 1ST 1996 THIS CATALOG CONTAINS 84 PAGES AND 309 LOTS

This is the second tranche from the Fardon collection to be sold at Christie's South Kensington. The previous segment came under the hammer on March 16th 1994.

As on that occasion the breadth, rarity and quality of the items being offered is exceptional.

In this sale there is a concentration of English sixteenth to early eighteenth century cast bronze domestic objects. Bronze is traditionally an alloy of tin and copper. However with domestic ware a different alloy was employed which contained lead and often some zinc. The, addition of these elements made the casting easier to accomplish and created a less brittle alloy especially suitable in or over the open hearth.

No copper or zinc were mined in Britain until Elizabethan times and the brass and bronze industry relied, until the seventeenth century, on these metals being imported from Europe. Tin was readily available from Cornwall from the earliest times.

Several methods were employed by the founders to make their pots, mortars, skillets and posnets. Mostly they were cast in clay or sand moulds with an inner core suspended between the outer elements of the mould. With large objects it was important to get the mixture at exactly the right temperature so that the metal flowed freely and this had to be accomplished not with the aid of a thermometer but an eye. Maker's marks, owner's initials and dates were added by cutting them in "mirror" lettering on the inner side of the outer mould.

As well as the many large London founderies there were hundreds of smaller founderies in the provinces, York, Bury St Edmunds, Reading, Worcester, Gloucester and Northampton all being prominent in the seventeenth century. Many craftsmen were at work in the West of England perhaps because of their closeness to tin supplies and the good ports.

A survey of inventories of sixteenth and seventeenth centuries gives us some idea of what kind of cooking implements were in people's homes. Of all the latten, brass, copper and bronze implements 80% were used for cooking. Every family possessed a cooking pot. These lead/bronze "crocks", "couldrons" or "pots" were of rounded form. Cooking pots either stood in the hearth on their three feet or were hung over the flames.

They were used for cooking whole meals and for boiling water. There are a number of good examples in the sale.

Skillets were used much as saucepans are today and there are rare examples from Thomas Palmer N. Palmer and John Palmer of Canterbury (lots 151, 161, 162 and 175), Clement Tosier of Salisbury (lot 157), and John Fathers of Montacute in Somerset (lots 164, 171 and 172). Several are decorated with improving legends such as "C V B Loyal to his Magiste" (lots 154 and 160), "Pity the pore" (lot 179), "Love they Neighbour" (lot 165) and "This is good vare" (lot 170), or with their founder's names.

Mortar-, were used to grind up spices, and to break up flesh much as  ^{use grinders and food processors today. T-,,%•o of the many interesting examples on offer with the Arms of England and}

^{Ireland (lots 193 & ------- -"}

^{227), from the brief Commonwealth peri-}

^{6d when the two i Parliaments were um-}

^ted.

^{There are also several}

^{smaller mortars deco- 239}

^{rated with symbols}

^{such as the fleur de lis, the sign of purity, the rose or a crown, representations of the monarchy. Most devices on mortars have a symbolic meaning, now often lost, rather than possessing any heraldic significance.}

^{One exceptional large two handled mortar is inscribed "I WAS MADE FOR FRANCIS KEBLE" (lot 239). This is dated 1659 and bears the maker's initials and mark of Edward Neale. Henry Neale operated at Somerford in the first half of the century but moved to Burford in Oxfordshire in 1653, when his son Edward began to cast on his own account. Edward died around 1695. The quality of the Neale mortars is well above average and they are much prized.}

^{There are also some interesting brass warming pans including one rare example by Charles Appleby of London (lot 253). Amongst the furniture section are two _early carved boxes, one dated 1650 and inscribed "Thomas Beament Made This" (lot 1), and another Tudor box decorated with an array of carved mythological beasts including griffings, a wyvern and a unicorn (lot 308).}

^{There is a late sixteenth century armchair with an inlaid back panel in the style of the "Nonesuch" furniture (lot 303) -and of course the fine bedstead (lot 309), dated 1570 which shares many features with the wood-work at Sizergh Castle in Westmorland and another bed from Sizergh now at the V & A. The sale also contains many rare domestic items from the seventeetnth century in iron, lead, wood, horn and leather, just as one would anticipate from such experienced, active and gifted collectors.}