The autumn Summers Place Home, Garden and Natural History, live and sealed bid auction results:
 
The Live Home, Garden and Natural History Auction. Date: Tuesday, 27 September 2022 13:00 - 16:00 BST.
 
Members of the Royal Automobile Club on London's historic Pall Mall may recognise an impressive bronze fountain figure of Ondine by popular sculptor Alexandra Beale, which was auctioned due to a redesign of the gardens. The fountain was commissioned and installed in 2008 by the RAC, which opened in 1911. Built by the fashionable architects, Charles Mewès and Arthur Davis, who had already been lauded for the recently constructed Ritz hotels in Paris and London, and the interiors of some of the great ocean-going liners of the day. Ondine, a mythological figure of European tradition was a water nymph or sprite who could become human only when she fell in love with a mortal man. However, if the mortal was unfaithful to her, destiny would lead to them forfeiting their own life. Estimated at £5,000 to £8,000, (Lot 43). Hammer price £7,000
 
Further lots included a lead cistern fountain, which was part of this year's gold medal winning garden at the Chelsea Flower Show. The garden for the RNLI had been designed by Chris Beardshaw, well-known for his long broadcasting career, which includes the BBC 2 television series, Gardeners' World, Hidden Gardens and The Flying Gardener. Estimated at £3,500 to £5,000, (Lot 4). Hammer price £3,500
 
The catalogue front cover featured: Lot 19 Workshop of Bertel Thorwaldsen: An impressive and important suite of three carved white marble plaques probably 1830s, in bronze frames, the estimate was £20,000 to £40,000, (Withdrawn).
 
Other items which caught my eye…
A rare Georgian dated carved stone trough, initialled J R and dated 1752. Estimated at £1,500 to £2,500 (Lot 1). Hammer price £3,600
 
A pair of carved white marble urns, Italian, late 19th century. Estimated at £20,000 to £25,000 (Lot 17). Unsold
 
A carved white marble bowl on stand, Italian, 19th century. Estimated at £3,000 to £5,000 (Lot 22). Hammer price £3,000
 
A Roman style mosaic and marble circular table top on Sienna marble column pedestal, made up, possibly using ancient tesserae. Estimated at £2,000 to £3,000 (Lot 25.) Hammer price £11,000
 
A rare Coalbrookdale passion flower pattern cast iron seat, circa 1870, with registration stamp, others possibly obscured by paint. Estimated at £3,000 to £5,000 (Lot 34). Hammer price £3,600
 
An extremely rare Coalbrookdale Midsummer Night's Dream pattern cast iron seat, circa 1870, fully stamped ‘CB Dale Co.’ and with pattern and registration numbers. Estimated at £1,500 to £2,500 (Lot 35). Hammer price £3,000
 
A substantial pair of stoneware lidded urns, circa 1870. Estimated at £2,500 to £4,000 (Lot 40). Hammer price £2,500
 
The Sealed Bid Home, Garden and Natural History Auction, featuring the Rod Vass Collection. Date: 5th to 28 September 2022.
 
All bids were received by 16.00 BST.
 
Among the highlights was a collection of monumental sculptures based on television and film props created by Rod and Louis Vass, who set up Armordillo Ltd, a company specialising in designing and creating sculptural props for films, shows and events. During his long career Rod worked for the BBC on such classics as Doctor Who and Black Adder and for Warner Bros, Disney, Marvel and DC. Over the last decade, he has been joined by his son Louis, who has added his sophisticated digital sculpting skills to Armordillo's portfolio. Among them are three monumental polyurethane resin heads, which were made for the television series Beowulf. They are each almost two and a half metres high and estimated at £3,000 to £5,000 each, one of the heads has been designed to fit around a tree, (The Rod Vass Collection - Lots 358 to 373). Unsold
 
Other items which caught my eye…
A pair of unusual wrought and cast iron bi-folding gates, circa 1900. Estimated at £1,000 to £1,500 (Lot 105). Hammer price £1,500

A rare wrought iron entranceway, German, late 17th century. Estimated at £8,000 to £12,000 (Lot 106). Hammer price £16,200
 
A set of six Regency wooden Ionic Order pilasters. Estimated at £500 to £800 (Lot 143). Hammer price £3,000
 
A stained glass arched panel, circa 1900. Estimated at £150 to £250 (Lot 147). Unsold
 
A Victorian painted pine clock turret, late 19th century, one side mounted with a painted tin dial and surmounted with a weather vane base. Estimated at £1,000 to £2,000 (Lot 170). Unsold
 
A rare and early carved sandstone polyheaded sundial, Scottish, 17th century, 62cm high by 65cm wide. This sundial is probably a seventeenth century or earlier stone polyhedron. Estimated at £600 to £1,000 (Lot 219). Hammer price £1,500
 
A Coalbrookdale cast iron fountain base, circa 1870. Estimated at £1,000 to £1,500 (Lot 225). Hammer price £1,750
 
Summers Place Auctions is world-leading for Garden Statuary and Natural History. The first sale was held over 30 years ago as part of Sotheby’s Country House saleroom at Summers Place in Sussex, since which time the sales have flourished, establishing a global reputation.
 
Director, James Rylands was one of the original founding members of the Salvo Code in 1995 and Summers Place Auctions continues to be Salvo members following the Salvo Code; so giving greater confidence to bidders.