A Natural Eye - Applied Arts & Furniture 1st Sep 2020

Born in Germany in 1939, raised in Wuppertal amid the fire of World War II, and drawn to England with an excitement for exotic possibilities at the age of 18, Marianne Gale (née Bonitz) was a modern internationalist at heart who carried a deep affection for the decorative aesthetic that had blossomed across Europe in the early 20^th century. A love of language led her to perfect her adoptive tongue, it steeped her multicultural principles for family life and, in time, became her profession. To her, the cultural vernacular of human creativity was both a rich heritage and a living future that found expression in her relationships, her home and her garden.

Marianne’s eye for detail was forged in her father’s smithy and developed with obsessive vigour through self-taught knowledge of Art Nouveau. She frequented antiques fairs and befriended dealers to the point where she herself became an expert collector and accomplished trader. A desire to be surrounded by beauty brought Lalique and Daum glassware, Mackintosh lampshades, Morris fabrics and Bauhaus furniture into her home, which became a rich repository of Arts and Crafts and early modernist design. Particular passions included original Art Nouveau ceramic tiles, decorative vases, stained glass and bronze figures. Later in life, as worldwide travel mirrored the movements of her children and took her to South America, the Far East, Asia Minor and Africa, her collection expanded to include Japanese woodblock prints, Chinese woodwork, African art, ethnic jewellery and tribal ornaments. Increasingly eclectic, there nevertheless remained a common thread that was, above all, decorative, international but hand-crafted, and an embodiment of natural form.

Viewing by appointment only

Order of auction

1. Jewellery lots 1-56

2. Silver & Silver Plate 57-76

3. Works of Art 77-124

4. Metalware 125-177

5. Ceramics 178-267

6. Glassware 268-368

7. Asian 369-401

8. Books 402-407

9. Tiles 408-443

10. Lighting 444-466