J.C. the carpenter features in Moore Allen’s Christmas story

TOYS, wine and a carpenter with the initials J.C. all feature in Moore Allen & Innocent’s Christmas auction in Cirencester on Friday, November 20.

Tradition demands that the last general sale before the festive period is dominated by traditional gift ideas, and this one is no exception.

In the toy section are a selection of four children’s tricycles from the 1950s and 1960s. As auctioneer Philip Allwood pointed out, trikes are like buses: you wait ages for one then four – all from different vendors – come along at once.

The branded tricycles include a model by the London-based Triang, which made children’s bikes until 1971, and a Pashley from Stratford-on-Avon, where traditional-looking tricycles are still handmade today.  Each of the bikes carries an estimate of just £10 to £20.

Elsewhere, among the boxes of train track, Skalextric sets and teddies are a couple of distinctive dolls. The Lone Ranger and Tonto dolls, which date from the 1970s, when their show was still a Saturday television staple, come with a selection of original accessories.

Better still is a 1977 Farrah Fawcett doll, complete in her box which – had the original owner taken a pair of scissors to it – would have provided printed cardboard accessories including a skateboard, skis and a tennis racquet. The actress, sadly, died in June this year, making this 12-inch likeness of the Charlie’s Angels star all the more poignant.

Over in the wines section there are some spectacular tipples, including a single bottle of Haut-Pomerol Grand Premier Cru L’Evangile 1928, which carries an estimate of £150 to £200, a Chateau Citran 1939, which is expected to achieve around £50 to £80, a half case of Chateau Moutineau 1971 St Estephe (£80 to £120) and a half case of Chateau Smith Haut Lafitte Grave 1976 Grand Cru Classe (£60 to £100).

Meanwhile, a case of Warre’s 1977 vintage port carries a £150 to £200 estimate, a 12-bottle case of Chateu Lascombes Grand Cru Classe 1975 Margaux for Alexis Lichine & Co, each bottle individually numbered and bearing the label ‘not for resale in the USA’ is expected to make £200 to £300.

One Christmas tradition – the decorated fir tree –  was introduced to this country by Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert, who imported the tradition from his native Germany.

Albert is also credited for kick-starting the gothic revival taste, which became so popular in Victorian households from the 1860s until the end of the century, and some good examples feature in this sale, including an oak writing desk, bearing a Gilberts of Swindon label, heavily decorated with grotesques masks, carved ionic pillars and scrolling acanthus leaf decoration.

It carries an estimate of £300 to £500 and is, in the words of Philip Allwood, “one of the best examples I’ve ever seen.” Gilberts, of course, has been selling furniture in the railway town since 1866.

A Victorian gothic buffet, also in oak, is decorated with dragon carvings and a boar’s head on each door. It carries an estimate of £300 to £500.

Less extravagantly decorated, but still very much in the gothic revival taste, is an oak dresser (£300 to £500) and matching table with six chairs (£300 to £500), all featuring a scrolling oak leaf design and handcrafted a good 100 years after the Victorian pieces they imitate. All the items are dated between 1975 and 1978 and marked with the carpenter’s initials – J.C. 

Finally, of significant local interest is a long case clock, made in Cirencester by a clockmaker called Tanner sometime between 1840 and 1856, although the north country oak and mahogany case predates the face and mechanism by some twenty to forty years.

The clock features a dial with Roman numerals and a cartouche of a chapel by a river. Mounted on top of the case is a brass bird, which could be a phoenix, the emblem of Cirencester which features on the town’s coat of arms and was taken in turn from a Roman column found in the Abbey Grounds.

Also on the face of the clock, which carries an estimate of £100 to £200, is the maker’s Christian name, which, wrapping up the Christmas theme nicely, happens to be Joseph.

The final auction of the year is the Selected Antiques sale on Friday, December 11. For more information about buying and selling at auction, log on to www.mooreallen.co.uk/furniturefinearts

A gothic revival desk	A gothic revival buffet
The face of the Cirencester clock	A dresser in the gothic revival manner
The J C initials from the gothic revival dresser	A selection of wines
A selection of four children’s tricycles from the 1950s and 1960s
	The Lone Ranger, Tonto and Farrah Fawcett