Dear Friends,

Welcome to the March Edition of Bly's Bounty 2019 with our latest stock offerings and article.

We are pleased to announce our move into the adjoining showroom here at
533 King's Road as shown in the above image and hope you will have the opportunity call in to see us.
As a result of this move most of the pieces below are not yet on our website so please click the email link below each for further details.
As always our sourcing service is in full swing so do let us know if we can help find that special piece.
 

Best Wishes,
John and James Bly
 

A unique special commission Venetian opaline glass chandelier designed by Wilkinson's and manufactured by Albarelli & Neilsen in Murano. The chandelier has 8 lights on a single tier below two tiers of decorative flowers and leaves.
Contemporary.

Height: 39" / 99cm   Width: 36.25" / 92 cm
Please email for further images and price.

A fabulously stylish pair of 1930s Ebonised and Chrome Hat, Coat and Umbrella Stands.
Of pyramidal, pylon or rig form these sleek and elegant stands have chrome hooks and four sections for sticks and umbrellas. Incredibly stylish this rare pair retain their original metal trays.

Circa 1930
Height: 69.75" / 177 cm   Width: 15.75" / 40 cm   Depth: 15.75" / 40cm
Please email for further images and price.

A good mid-18th century French oak high back open armchair. The upholstered seat and back with shaped arms and apron standing on fine cabriole legs joined with cross stretcher and central carved boss. The apron carved on all sides with central shell motif and scroll and foliate decoration; the arm supports, legs and feet also carved with stylized leaf designs. Standing well and extremely comfortable the chair has been reupholstered in our workshop and covered with a French embroidery fabric depicting a landscape view through greenery and berries.

Circa 1750
Height: 43" / 109cm  Width: 28" / 71cm  Depth: 28" / 71cm
Seat: 19.5" / 49.5cm high, 23" / 58.5cm wide, 21"/ 53.25cm deep.
Please email for further images and price.

From our catalogue of reproduction lighting a good Adam style two branch brass wall light with classical back plate. Three pairs available.

Height: 18.5" / 47cm Width: 11" / 28cm
Please email for further images and price.

A charming early 19th century brass and copper bucket of tapering form with flared base. The carry arm with its original turned wooden handle.

Circa 1820
£465
Height: 6.5" / 16.5 cm  Diameter 9.5" / 24 cm 
Please email for further images.

Latest Article

From Spring to Winter

Of all the wonderful landscape paintings in the world it may seem strange to relate, on one of the warmest February days on record, the genre that appeals most to me is the winter scene.  From Andrew Wyeth to Hendrick Avercamp it's the silence that snow brings coupled with the sound of voices carrying over greater distance than they do in summer that captivate the imagination.  I know that seems a contradiction but when snow stops falling and has settled deep, there is a quiet unlike any other before all sounds are magnified. Laughter and shouting, the hiss of skates on ice or, in the case of Wyeth, just the wind cutting through a fence to create a musical note that changes according to the velocity. The grandest examples of winter landscapes are generally considered to be painted in oil, but I have a particular fondness for Gouache.

Gouache is similar to watercolour, but with a binding agent to make it opaque. This was traditionally gum Arabic but it is popularly known as 'water colours mixed with egg white'.  It requires an extra skill in its application because dries to a different hue than it appears when wet with lighter tones drying  darker and vice versa. The term, derived from the Italian guazzo, was originally applied to the early 16th century practice of applying oil paint over a tempera base, but however achieved the effect is of great depth and infinite detail. The example illustrated is by Paradyen, an artist at the Court of the Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst-Dessau who lived at the Court of the Czar from 1741 until 1755. While there he was employed to paint portraits of the Czar's family in addition to many landscapes.  Several of his portraits hang in the Old Masters Gallery of Dresden and in the last years of his life he gained further recognition in Paris, and is sometimes referred to in catalogues as 'Le Parisien'. One additional benefit of many Gouache paintings is that they are small enough to hang even on a crowded wall. Oh thank goodness, there's a storm on its way.