Decorative furniture from the 19th century was in keen demand at Guernsey auctioneers Martel Maides (17.5% buyer’s premium) on March 15-16 including a pair of satinwood demi lune commodes, one pictured right. Painted in the Adam style, they featured classical maidens and cherubs, mother-and-child scenes and stylised emblems of the harvest, travel art and music. The 3ft (90cm) wide tops had been repolished but the paintwork was original and, apart from some minor painted-in repairs to veneer chips to the edges, the commodes were in original condition. They sold to a UK dealer at a lower-estimate £6500. The same buyer at the St Peter Port rooms took a 19th century French kingwood and ormolu-decorated inverted breakfront bookcase.
One of a pair of 19th century painted satinwood commodes – £6500 at Martel Maides.
Featuring Sèvres-style floral and figural plaques and ormolu caryatid brackets to the shelves, the bookcase stood 8ft 5in high x 6ft wide (2.5 x 1.8m) and doubled the estimate at £5200.