House & Gardens

Camden Lock is now famous for its market – the fourth most popular London visitors’ attraction, counting about 100,000 visitors each weekend – but it used to be known for the Pickford horse stables and horse hospital until the Regent’s Canal was no longer used to transport goods on barges in the early 1970s.

To commemorate the origins of the market, the owners commissioned a number of bronzes, mainly depicting horses and those working with them, to be installed around the market and in the market halls in the 1990s. Some of these life-sized bronzes will now be sold at auction in Summers Place Auction’s Sculpture and Design for the House and Garden live sale on Tuesday, 21st October 2014 (and some in the sealed bid sale closing on the 22nd).


Summers-Place-21-October-2014-Camden-Horses

18 bronzes and statues will be included in the live sale and the particular highlights are no doubt the two monumental horse’s heads, both about 3.2 metres high and 3.7 metres wide, they are being sold as individual lots, with an estimate of £15,000 – 25,000 each. Also included in the sale is a bronze stallion, which is over 2 metres high and estimated at £5,000 – 8,000.

There are various bronze groups depicting how blacksmiths, grooms and farriers used to work with the horses, most of them around 2 metres high with estimates ranging from £3,000 to £25,000. They are now being sold due to the redevelopment of the market.

Summers-Place-Auction-21-October-2014-Large-Bronze-Horse

There are also six lots of classical marble busts included in the live sale. Sets of four carved white and variegated marble classical busts, including Julius Caesar, Augustus, Constantine the Great and Apollo are expected to fetch £5,000 – 8,000 each.

There is also a near pair of marble Shakespearean busts on pedestals, which are 2 metres high and estimated at £2,500 – 4,000.

 

James Ryland Chairman of Summers Place AuctionsJames Rylands, auctioneer and co-director of Summers Place Auctions, says: “We are delighted to be able to offer these wonderful statues in our next sale. The life-sized bronzes will no doubt appeal to anyone who loves horses, but for many Camden fans, this could also be an opportunity to own a little bit of Camden Lock’s history and bring back great memories of many visits to the market.”

Viewing times: Friday 17th to Monday 20th October 10am to 4pm and on the morning of the sale, or by appointment at Summers Place Auctions, The Walled Garden, Billingshurst, West Sussex, RH14 9AB.

The catalogue will be available a month before the sale and will be fully illustrated on the website.

For further information on the auction, please visit www.summersplaceauctions.com or call 01403 331331.

For press information, images or to interview the specialists, James Rylands or Rupert van der Werff, please contact Silke Lohmann (silke@exclamationpr.co.uk/ 07932 618754).

 

Summers Place Auctions are the world’s leading auctioneers of Garden Statuary and fossil decoration. The sales are held in the new award winning 5000sq ft gallery nestling within 6 acres of walled gardens and the arboretum of the Victorian mansion, Summers Place. Their specialist sales of Sculpture and Design for the House and Garden in May and October include examples of the finest garden ornaments. Regular Natural History sales are also taking place with the main sale in November.

Forthcoming Sales:

21st October – Sculpture & Design for the House and Garden live sale

22nd October – Sculpture & Design for the House and Garden sealed bid sale

17th – 28th October – Halloween online auction, a celebration of the weird and wonderful

26th November – Evolution live sale

Tuesday, September 16th, 2014