Ideal table for Christmas dinner

THE ideal table at which to sit Christmas guests will go under the hammer at Moore Allen & Innocent’s selected antiques sale on Friday, December 12.

The William IV mahogany dining table features crisp carved legs supporting a wide girth table, with plenty of space for candles or a festive centrepiece.

With three extra leaves, the six-seater will extend to host 14 diners comfortably, or 16 cosily. It carries an estimate of £3,000 to £5,000.

No Christmas dinner would be complete without a roaring fire, and an oak club fender, handmade by Robert Thompson of Kilburn, “The Mouseman”, in the 1920s or 1930s, is bound to both impress and amuse guests.

Thompson got his nickname “The Mouseman” because of the trademark rodent he carved onto all of his pieces. On this example, the mouse scurries along the base of the fender, which carries an estimate of £1,000 to £1,500.

The sale features some rare and interesting pieces. Two matching examples of 19th century pottery – possibly in the form of the Duke of Wellington – might look like miscast eggcups, but are in fact novelty stops to hold open a sash window. They carry an estimate of £200 to £300.

Meanwhile Wellington’s old adversary Napoleon features on a water jug decorated with a cartoon in the style of the period celebrating the dethroning of Bonaparte, and dated April 3 1814. It carries an estimate of £300 to £500.

Of local interest is a silver vinaigrette dated 1843 and made by Taylor and Perry of Birmingham. The lid of the box – used to store smelling salts – is engraved with a picture of Cirencester Parish Church. It carries an estimate of £400 to £600.

But the item with the potential to create the most excitement is a 19th century Chinese jade screen, carved with images of an air dragon and a sea dragon, on an ornate rosewood stand. With a candle glowing behind the screen, the piece would make a fascinating centrepiece for that dining room table. It carries an estimate of £3,000 to £5,000.

A William IV mahogany dining table	An oak club fender, handmade by Robert Thompson of Kilburn
“The Mouseman”; novelty stops to hold open a sash window	A silver vinaigrette engraved with a picture of Cirencester Parish Church
A water jug decorated with a cartoon depicting the dethroning of Napoleon	A 19th century Chinese jade screen