Celebrating the end of slavery in most British territories, this rare silk banner achieved $17,750.
Review by Z.G. Burnett, Photos Courtesy Chiswick Auctions
LONDON — On January 18, Chiswick Auctions offered more than 160 rare and historic artifacts, mostly from the sciences. However, the top lot was a large blue and gold silk banner proclaiming the Abolition of Slavery Act in 1834 that ended the owning, buying and selling of humans as property in most British territories, freeing 800,000 enslaved peoples worldwide. The act received royal assent in 1833 and put into effect on August 1, 1834; the banner flew at $17,750.
Next was an Eighteenth Century anamorphoscope, a device that restores images distorted by anamorphosis, an optical illusion achieved by drawing an image or projection from a distorted lens or angle. These images have appeared in both Western and Eastern art since the Seventeenth Century for a variety of reasons. According to the catalog, “After the 1745 Jacobite rebellion in Scotland, images showing the likeness of the Young Pretender (Bonnie Prince Charlie) were outlawed. To overcome this restriction, his supporters kept paintings of him that could only be viewed properly by observing the reflection in a brightly polished metal cylinder like an anamorphoscope. Such objects often carried messages of political protest or support but were also developed for novelty purposes.” The anamorphoscope had some repairs and replacements, and sold with five anamorphised paintings for $7,100.
Another viewer took third place, a rare Negretti & Zambra “Magic Stereoscope,” in excellent condition with no replacements, for $4,940. These were used to view two separate images from the left and right into one, three-dimensional image, and circa 1850 there was no finer stereoscope maker for viewing glass plates than Negretti & Zambra. The lot included four pairs of lenses, and the body of the viewer was covered in leather. This is only the third example of this finish to come up at auction in the past 25 years.
Prices include buyers premium and were converted to US dollars based on the exchange rate on the date of the sale. For information, www.chiswickauctions.co.uk.
