Philip Clarkson Review
An Eye for Design: A Fitting Swansong
I never stopped learning from Philip Clarkson
The collection of a lifetime went under the hammer at our Chester saleroom on September 15th and 16th in a monumental 1000+ lot two day auction.
Philip Clarkson, a former teacher of Graphic Design and Photography at Chester Art College, was a enthusiastic and knowledgeable collector and his personality and passion for design shone through from Lot 1 to Lot 1024.
Those who were lucky enough to view the sale would have seen our rooms rammed full of eclectic treasures, from Whitefriars and Murano glass, to Goldscheider ceramics, vintage travel posters, British Railway signs, guitars, music memorabilia, enamel signs, sculpture, and over 700 items of Poole pottery! It was mind-blowing mid-Century heaven!
Remarkably out of the 1000+ lots only one failed to sell which is testament to Mr Clarkson's astute eye and the experience and knowhow of the cataloguers!
The auction formed a swansong for us at Pullman House, which has been my Byrnes of Chester home for the last 19 or so years.
The next Chester auction is at newly designed premises - five minutes from Pullman House. Fittingly, I had been taught art by Philip Clarkson before I decided on a career in fine art auctioneering. Later Philip would become a great loyal customer of mine at Byrnes. So the relationship was reignited after many years, passion was shared once again. I never stopped learning from Philip Clarkson.
Top 20 Lots from the Philip Clarkson Collection: An Eye for Design
1. Attributed to Evelyn Mary Dunbar - oil on canvas
The Philip Clarkson Collection (Part II)
£5,600
2. Arthur Dooley textured & polished bronze 'gladiator'
The Philip Clarkson Collection (Part II)
£3,100
6. LMS travel poster 'Midland Hotel Morecambe, England's Latest Seaside Hotel'
The Philip Clarkson Collection (Part I)
£1,500
10. British Railways totem sign: Chester General
The Philip Clarkson Collection (Part I)
£1,300
11. George Wallace Jardine oil 'As the Sun Sets'
The Philip Clarkson Collection (Part II)
£1,200
16. Keith Murray for Wedgwood: Unusual grey glazed shouldered vase
The Philip Clarkson Collection (Part I)
£1,000
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