June's Item of the Month is a rare Ashford black marble neoclassical campana urn, Derbyshire, England, circa 1840, attributed to Selim Bright. Ashford marble is actually not a marble, but a dark limestone, quarried near Ashford-in-the-Water in Derbyshire. The first recorded customer was Bess of Hardwick in 1580, but by the 18th century the market for [...]
April's Item of the Month is a rare, large and finely carved sandalwood table casket, made in Mysore, South India, circa 1860. An almost identical, albeit smaller casket, described as a 'jewel box' is in the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, (accession number 9672:1 to 9/(IS)), and was noted as acquired by the India Museum [...]
March's Item of the Month is an unusual cabinet maker’s wood sample board, circa 1950, in the manner of Gordon Russell. This unusual sample board must have been made and used in a cabinet maker’s workshop, based on the diversity and variants of woods included (rather than in a timber merchant, for instance). It may [...]
February's Item of the Month is a rare Regency padouk, ebony and rosewood hexagonal table lantern in the form of a Gothic tower or folly, possibly Anglo Indian, circa 1825. The fashion for Gothic Revival architecture first appeared in the mid 18th century and gained momentum alongside the Neoclassical styles popular at the time. The [...]
Throughout the year, we're going to shine a spotlight on one stock item per month and delve a little deeper into it's history. The first in this series is our wonderful Architectural Model Rotunda: a rare and fine architectural model rotunda, French, circa 1880, in rosewood, kingwood and boxwood, with ebony mounts, of good colour. Prompted [...]
Mark Jones Antiques would like to wish our clients a happy, healthy and peaceful Festive Season, and to thank you for your business in 2022. We look forward to working with you in 2023. With very best wishes, Mark Jones
With Christmas just around the corner, we are celebrating Snaffles at Mark Jones Antiques. Mark Jones Antiques are delighted to offer four rare original works in watercolour by Snaffles, Charlie Johnson Payne, all of which have come from one of the best Private Collections of Snaffles works in the country. Alongside these rare pictures, we [...]
Cheltenham Festival Week...our favourite week of the year! Although this year it will be a very different Festival, as we are all confined to watching it from the sofa. If you're looking for a way to celebrate your winnings or commiserate your losses, we have a wonderful range of works by Snaffles, Charlie Johnson Payne [...]
Mark Jones Antiques are privileged to have sold The Cigar Case of Two Kings of England. This was an extremely rare opportunity to acquire a treasured personal possession owned by Queen Victoria's son, Edward VII, when he was Prince of Wales and then gifted to his grandson Edward VIII, the only abdicated Monarch of the [...]
The Grand Tour of the late 17th, 18th and 19th centuries saw many upper class, wealthy and aristocratic gentlemen travel to Italy and Europe, particularly Rome, Venice and Florence, for pleasure, education and inspiration. This afforded them the opportunity to view important classical and Renaissance works of art and architecture. The term 'Grand Tour' was [...]
