CENTURIES OF TASTE: LEGACY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTION
A NEAR PAIR OF REGENCY BRASS-MOUNTED MAHOGANY BOOKCASES
ATTRIBUTED TO GILLOWS, CIRCA 1820
Important information about this lot
Price Realised USD 22,680
Estimate
USD 25,000 - USD 40,000
Estimates do not reflect the final hammer price and do not include buyer's premium, any applicable taxes or artist's resale right. Please see the Conditions of Sale for full details.
Closed: 8 Apr 2025
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A NEAR PAIR OF REGENCY BRASS-MOUNTED MAHOGANY BOOKCASES
These handsome and finely-made bookcases belonged to the cricketer Reginald Gervis Hargreaves (1852-1926) and his wife Alice, née Liddell (1852-1934). Alice was immortalized in the 1860s as the inspiration to Charles "Lewis Carroll" Dodgson for the title character in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. The story that became the 1865 beloved children's novel originated on 4 July 1862, when Dodgson, with his fellow Oxford don, Robinson Duckworth, invited the young Alice and her sisters, Ina and Edith, on a picnic during which he invented a fairy-story for the girls to pass the time. Dodgson, a friend of the Liddell family, practiced photography as well as writing, and Alice provided much further inspiration to him as a model in subsequent years.
The cabinet sections of the bookcases are labeled 'Emma Painting Materials' and 'Fanny Painting Materials', presumably for Reginald’s sisters, Emma Caroline and Fanny Helena Hargreaves. A photograph of the three siblings as children, circa 1860, was sold from the estate of Alice Liddell Hargreaves by Sotheby’s, London, 6 June, 2001, lot 59 and is today preserved in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (accession no. 2015.2038).
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Condition report
A Christie's specialist may contact you to discuss this lot or to notify you if the condition changes prior to the sale.
The condition of lots can vary widely and the nature of the lots sold means that they are unlikely to be in a perfect condition. Lots are sold in the condition they are in at the time of sale.
84 in. (213.5 cm.) high, 601⁄2 in. (154 cm.) wide, 191⁄4 in. (49 cm.) deep, the slightly wider 84 in. (213.5 cm.) high, 581⁄2 in. (149 cm.) wide, 191⁄4 in. (49 cm.) deep, the slightly narrower
With a clean, complete well-maintained appearance, structurally sound and ready to use. As stated in the cataloguing, the adjustable shelves to the upper sections are now fixed in place by later white-painted brackets; the backs of the upper sections with yellow fabric lining. Includes one additional shelf for the upper sections, not fixed in place.
Overall with scattered age and construction cracks. General marks, nicks, surface scratches, tiny losses and repairs consistent with age and use, including repairs to the proper right side of the gallery atop each of the lower sections, and to the wood beads securing the brass inside each upper door. The veneers with scattered fraying, lifting, and minor cracks with minor areas of losses and signs of infill and restorations. Scattered areas of minor sun-fading, most prominently atop the lower section each.
Each section of brass trellis with some minor surface scratches, casting flaws, verdigris and rubbing, as to be expected. Some repairs, executed with solder, glue and other techniques over time, throughout the trellis. Each of the doors to the upper sections has a row of plugged holes above and below the trellis section, presumably for a previous fabric lining.
Overall good condition, well-made with nice figuring to the mahogany, especially at the paneled doors. Ready to place. With 4 keys, one not removable from the slightly narrower bookcase.
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Lot 239Sale 23577
ATTRIBUTED TO GILLOWS, CIRCA 1820A NEAR PAIR OF REGENCY BRASS-MOUNTED MAHOGANY BOOKCASESEstimate: USD 25,000 - 40,000
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