Chorley's
January 2021 auction
Includes The Incredible 
Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho,

The postponed January auction at Chorley’s will take place on the 23rd and 24th March. ​

The auction, which includes a varied and significant collection of Military medals from soldiers who served in places such as Africa, India and Palestine, was postponed in January due to the lockdown. The auction also includes a vast array of extraordinary books and maps, a rare collection of early British porcelain, fine art, silver and jewellery.

The auction, which includes a varied and significant collection of Military medals from soldiers who served in places such as Africa, India and Palestine, was postponed in January due to the lockdown. The auction also includes a vast array of extraordinary books and maps, a rare collection of early British porcelain, fine art, silver and jewellery.
 
Military Medals
 
Noticeable pieces from the collections are the early 20th Century war medals, which give an intriguing insight into the lives of the soldiers who served in the British Army and each story differs. From the brave nurses and surgeons who helped save lives to those who crossed no man’s land under heavy shell fire.  This fascinating collection of medals also includes medals from the Gloucestershire Regiment, known affectionately as the “Glosters”, which was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 until 1994.
 
Significant medals in this auction include:
 
Lot 277   South Africa 1877-79, 1 clasp, 1879 (984. Pte C. Poolman. 99th Foot.), good very fine, with copied service papers.
 
              984 Private Charles Poolman was born in Sherston, Wiltshire in 1856. He joined the 99th Foot in 1878 and served in South Africa from 2 December 1878 - 29 December 1879. Poolman was discharged from service on 5 February 1890 having served 12 years 24 days with the Colours. Estimated value £500 – 600
 
Lot 284   A WWI 'Mesopotamia' R.R.C. group awarded to Sister A.C. Brumwell, M.I.D., Queen Alexandra's Imperial Nursing Service Reserve, Royal Red Cross, 1st Class (R.R.C.), G.V.R., silver-gilt, gold and enamel, with lady's bow riband, British War and Victory Medals with M.I.D. oakleaves (Sister A.C. Brumwell), first with light scratches to the enamel, therefore good very fine, others extremely fine.
 
              Sister Annie Constance Brumwell was born in Chippenham, Wiltshire in 1880. She was awarded the Royal Red Cross, 1st Class 'in recognition of valuable service with the British Forces in Mesopotamia' M.I.D. London Gazette 5 June 1919 (Mesopotamia). Estimated value £300 – 500
 
Lot 275   India General Service 1854-95, 1 clasp, Pegu (Ast Surgn J.B. Scriven. 1st Eur. Bengal Fusrs), minor edge bruise, good very fine and toned with a silver rib and brooch plus copied service papers.
 
              Surgeon John Barclay Scriven was born in Carlisle in 1828. He was educated at University College London and qualified on the Medical Board in 1849. He was promoted to Assistant Surgeon in 1851 and Surgeon in 1863. He spent most of his career in India and retired from service in 1881, Scriven died in London in 1905. The Roll of the Indian Medical Service, 1615-1930 lists him as serving in Burma, 1852-53, capture of Tonghu, medal, p137 refers. Estimated value £300 – 400
 
Some of the medals listed that belong to the Gloucester Regiment:
 
Lot 314   A WWI 'Somme' D.C.M. group to Sergeant M. Taylor, Gloucestershire Regiment:/Distinguished Conduct Medal, G.V.R. (2571 L.Cpl M. Taylor. 1/5 Glouc: R.-T.F.), 1914-15 Star (2571 Sjt M. Taylor, Glouc: R.), British War and Victory Medals (2571 Sjt. M. Taylor. Glouc. R.), extremely fine, with copied research including a photograph of the recipient/Provenance: Spink, London, 14 April 2007 (Lot 582)
 
              D.C.M. London Gazette 22 September 1916 'For Conspicuous Gallantry during operations. His bombing party suffered heavily and was reconstructed several times with fresh men but L/Cpl Taylor remained in charge during the whole action, which lasted over three hours, and contributed largely to the success of the attack'. 2571 Lance-Corporal Maurice Taylor served on the Western Front with the 1/5th Bn, Gloucestershire Regiment. In the early hours of 21st July the 144th Brigade and the 145th Brigade attacked the German position west of Pozieres. German resistance was strong and although the struggle continued for three hours, the attacking battalions were unable to capture any ground, 2 officers were killed and 2 wounded, Taylor was awarded the D.C.M. for this action, Gallantry Awards to the Gloucestershire Regiment 1914-1918 by Peter R. Littlewood M.B.E., p59 refers, Taylor was wounded on 3 December 1916. Estimated value £700 – 1,000
 
Lot 303   A 'Glorious Glosters' pair to Private D. Marks, Gloucestershire Regiment, taken Prisoner of at the Battle of Imjin River, Korea 1950-53, 1st issue (21127179 Pte. D. R. Marks. Glosters.), United Nations for Korea, unnamed as issued, extremely fine, mounted as worn
 
              Taken prisoner of war at Imjin River, 26 April 1951. Confirmed on the roll in Korea 1950-1953 Prisoners of War The British Army compiled by Peter Gaston. 21127179 Private Donald Roy Marks was from Bedminster Down, Bristol. He was serving as one of the lorry crew towing an ammunition trailer in the battle area when he was taken prisoner and spent 2 years and 5 months in captivity. A newspaper article is included with the lot headlined "Mother Hears 'Missing' Son Is Set Free" in which she quotes "It's so wonderful, I can't settle down to cook the lunch”. Estimated value £500 – 600

The sale showcases a large selection of books and maps, dating back as early as the 16th Century, one of the most noticeable pieces being The Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, an African (1782) by Charles Ignatius Sancho, published two years after his death. 
 
The British abolitionist, writer and composer was born on a slave ship (c. 1729) in the Atlantic and later sent to England, where after many years of slavery, he was able to start his own business as a shopkeeper while also writing and publishing various essays, plays and books.  Sancho became a devout supporter of the British abolitionist movement and was the first known Black Briton to vote in England and to have an obituary published in the British press.

Other notable pieces in this collection

• The sale features one of the earliest books to promote free emigration to an Australian colony, Godwin’s Emigrant’s Guide to Van Diemen’s Land (1823) by Thomas Godwin, Second Edition, 1841. 

 
Estimated value: £2,000-3,000

• The Life of George Washington (1807) by David Ramsay documents the first president of the United States’ life from his early years to his death in 1799. Historian Ramsay was a contemporary of Washington and writes with the insight of someone who was present at some of America’s most momentous moments.

 
Estimated value: £300-500 alongside other book lots

• With the pandemic sparking a renewed obsession with wild swimming, Psychrolousia: Or The History Of Cold Bathing: Both Ancient and Modern (1706) by Sir john Floyer and Dr Edward Baynard is expected to do well in the sale which also features Febrifugum magnum, or, Common water the best cure for fevers, and probably for the plague by John Hancocke, Fourth Edition, 1723.

 
Estimated value: £200-300 alongside other book lots

• Some of the more amusing books in the sale include Thelypthora; Or A Treatise on Female Ruin (1780) by Martin Madan who expresses his controversial views on marriage and polygamy. The Wife (1773) and The Husband: in answer to The Wife (1756), by prolific novelist Elizabeth Haywood, detail how each partner should conduct themselves in an 18th Century marriage.

A rare collection of early British Porcelain, dating back to the golden age of British porcelain, the18th century, is also in the March auction. The collection which is also going up for auction in March, predominantly features from Worcester, and also Chelsea and Limehouse. The affluence and elegance of the 18th century was when an obsession with Chinese porcelain was in full swing. British architecture was changing, and neoclassical style began gaining popularity.
 
The emergence of English porcelain factories began developing innovative and new techniques, exciting possible buyers. The collection in the sale is of exceptional provenance, having been sourced from respected dealers and each piece chosen by the vendor for its unusual characteristics and rarity. The principal contents of the collection are rooted in an interest in Bristol and Worcester wares made circa 1750-60, purchased between 1984 and 1993.

Significant items to keep an eye out for include:
 

• A Chelsea white model of an owl (circa 1745-49) Naturalistically modelled in great detail, perched on a rocky base 20.5cm high. The Chelsea porcelain manufactory was the first important porcelain manufactory in England, established around 1743–45, and operating independently until 1770. Its wares were aimed at a luxury market, and its site in Chelsea, London, was close to the fashionable Ranelagh Gardens pleasure ground, opened in 1742.

Provenance: Albert Amor: Treasures from Toronto Exhibition 1993. 
Estimated value: £15,000-20,000
 

• A Worcester wine-funnel (circa 1754) painted in bright famille rose enamels with blue and orange enamel rocks from which grow flowering peony branches and bamboo.

5½ in. (14 cm.) high
Provenance: Acquired from The Cohen Collection Exhibition, Albert Amor Ltd. May 1992
Estimated value: £10,000-15,000
 

• A Worcester creamboat (circa 1752-53) of Wigornia type, the hexagonal form with a geranium leaf moulded under the lip, the angular handle with moulded terminals, crisply embossed with a chinoiserie landscape, carefully picked out in a distinctive palette including yellow, blue, puce and green, panels of green diaper and half-flowerheads inside the rim and a flower sprig within the interior, 11.cm long

This example corresponds to moulding F in Clarke and Riley's classification.
Provenance: Sotheby, Parke Bernet sale, 16th Feb 1973, lot 266
Acquired from Albert Amor Ltd. October 1986
Estimated value: £10,000-15,000
 
Auction: Tuesday 23 and Wednesday 24th March 2021 at 10am at Chorley’s, Prinknash Abbey Park, Gloucestershire GL4 8EU and online via www.chorleys.com
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