The auction market is sizzling. Is it a response to the pandemic? An act of respect for these troubling times in which we are living? Or just a matter of getting a beautiful piece and making you feel part of something bigger? For those seeking comfort, joy and positivity during a world in crisis, we have just what you need with our latest House & Garden March sale with leading auction house Lawsons, online now.
It’s your chance to find a new favourite to bring home, and update your space with a curated collection of more than 300 extraordinary items that make it easier than ever to pick up a key piece from the comfort and safety of your sofa. After all, the tide is turning decoratively speaking. Read more, ‘How Shipping Delays Turned Used Furniture Into a Hot Commodity.’
The best houses and gardens have something extra with a return of unbridled pleasure; and these antiques, vintage collectibles and garden ornaments are easy to layer on top to make your pad even more appealing.
The sale has furniture, ornaments, statement pieces from mirrors to chandeliers, chairs, and commodes, pots and statutes that have an important part to play for the sensory-starved and pandemic-weary.
These are the things people are most likely to notice first when they visit – that draw people to a space.
Pieces that will provide a solid source of joy – with lighthearted moments around your interiors and gardens that make us feel more positive after we spend time in them.
They are great pieces in which to keep spirits high for 2022.
They have a way of transforming a house into a home. Or a backyard into a garden.
You’ll find antique French, Venetian and European tables, chairs, commodes, cabinets, mirrors, lighting, desks, rugs, paintings, bronzes, garden fountains, statues, garden benches, planters, urns and much more.
These are beautiful items to upgrade your surroundings and make your living spaces cheerier and more mindful.
On offer is an exquisite Louis XVs style gilt bronze figural mantel clock, (LOT 45, $2500), an elevated Georgian chest of five drawers, (LOT 43, $2500), all kinds of chandeliers including a fine quality Empire style bronze and crystal 76cm design, (LOT 51, $4000), a mid-20th century French or Italian mirror 1.42cm, (LOT 56, $4500), an elegant pair of towering Rococo Revival giltwood mirrors, mid century, 1.52cm, (LOT 88, $16,000), a spectacular pair of rare 20th-century European mirrors in excellent condition, 1.95cm height, (LOT 89, $20,000), a pair of carved timber architectural pillars, LOT 99, $2000.
No matter what you’re seeking, you’re likely to find just what you’re looking for in this curated collection that covers all tastes, budgets, and settings.
They are the cross-cultural things that will instantly elevate your house or garden, whether you live in the country, city or coast.
The pieces we’ve sourced are beautiful examples of their kind that will last and make your life better. There is garden furniture like they have on the Riviera with planters and Anduze-style pots you won’t have to go into debt, (LOT 15, estimate $900 a pair).
There are plenty of statues and other ornaments to add a sculptural note, the kind that have featured in grand European gardens for centuries.
Don’t let the idea of adding them to your backyard seem intimidating. They can transform a space, however small, by creating a focal point in your courtyard or garden.
Find plenty of garden items in earth tones that will blend in. It’s about how the colour and material reads from far away as most people spend just as much time looking at their garden from the house as they do from outdoors.
Seek out large, decorative urns on plinths, figural fountains, big pots unlike anything else around you can use to anchor something at the end of a path, to mark an area you’ve become interested in, or to cover up something you don’t want to see.
Also, impressive French-style garden mirrors, (LOT 8), cast iron horse head plaques with rust patina, (LOT 11), pairs of steel and cast iron planters with black finish, (LOT 16), the most spectacular hand-carved sandstone lidded urn on matching plinth, (LOT 23), a cast-iron statue of the ancient Greek discus thrower with residual bronze finish and weathered patina, (LOT 24), a bronze dragon statue holding the pearl of wisdom, (LOT 30), a mermaid fountain holding shell, (LOT 29), a pair of cast iron urns and plinths in a painted black finish, 1.12cm, (LOT 131), and much more.
This stuff just fits everywhere.
Even if it’s a new bench to put outside to enjoy the alfresco life, seek out beautiful, affordable garden seating with teak benches, (LOT 187, $900), that can be left out all year without falling apart – not just in obvious places, like on a deck or around a pool, but out in the landscape. Along a garden path, or driveway, which creates a destination within the larger garden. Then there are sets of lions, (LOT 20), modern steel planters in the form of a Roman bath with black finish, (LOT 38 and Lot 39, $600), wrought iron garden tables, including a 2.1 metre design, (LOT 37), and striking antique French industrial windows fitted with mirrors, (LOT 35).
There are the most beautiful urns on plinths, (LOT 36), that will transform your view when you look out a window. Because the best homes are about having lovely big windows with great views of pretty things like statues, or fountains. Even a master bedroom looking onto a balcony with a pair of planters. You will find it all.
Find the pillars, and the artefacts you see in the best houses in the world. It’s all here.
From our own collection, there’s antique Chinese leather boxes, baskets, silver trays, cushions, and paintings. All our homes have silver trays for serving drinks for unexpected guests, which is such an easy way of making your parties, however small, look glamorous.
Wherever we go we buy paintings of flowers in pretty colours with frames in a good patina – they work wherever you put them. We’ve included a pair or excellent Belinda Black watercolors of pansies framed in bespoke painted olive finish by Thomas Hamel Design bought at Martyn Cook Antiques bought back in the early 1990s, LOT 127, $2000, and an inherited French vintage still life painting depicting a bouquet of flowers in beautiful condition, new wiring at back, LOT 128 $1500.
Remember style is all in the accessories. It’s amazing how pretty paintings or prints, trays or the right cushions, can make a room look like a classic interior. These are pieces worth owning.
Pandemic-weary households are embracing a trend for nostalgia and look longingly back at times past. We want heritage, stories, and clear provenance instead. This sale squares with one of our core philosophies: buy classic pieces that are made well, hardwearing, the first time. It’s decorating for inheritability. This also means eschewing trendy looks for more timeless design concepts. Natural materials such as timber, stone, cast iron, and bronze have staying power. Most won’t have to be replaced for decades, even for generations.
Embracing vintage furniture pieces has so many benefits. It is sustainably responsible since you aren’t using resources to build a new piece of furniture, and from an aesthetic perspective, it is such a wonderful way to make your space feel timeless.
When you include pieces that are from all different eras it’s impossible to date your space and the design feels unexpected and fresh.
People are seeking a return of unbridled frivolity, joy and a dose of the pretty. This makes sense; it represents an element of release after being so tightly wound. We can also probably thank the success of the Netflix romp Bridgerton which was viewing manna for the sensory-starved and lockdowned at home. Set in the homes of England’s 19th-century Regency elite, this was a period of artful elegance and decoration for the sake of it, founded on the classics.
An eagerly anticipated second series of the show will premiere on March 25, 2022. We predict this will prompt a fresh desire for the visual appeal of architectural adornment, both inside and out.
Shipping delays have also turned used furniture into a hot commodity.
An antique table or gently used sofa can be yours within days, while many furniture sites estimate a new sofa or table will arrive between July, and August 22 which is why old stuff is the newest trend in interior design.
The sale is a lesson in using things in new, different settings – an opportunity for people to buy soulful things that have been well designed and well made with a story. It will add variety and stop your home from getting stale. People are far happier when their home is unique to them and expresses their own style.
The last two years have made us all realise how a well-designed home using elements that are unique to them improves our well-being and happiness.
We’d truly love you to find a timeless piece from this special sale to enjoy forever.
The secret to success is in your hands with this sale. We hope you will join the huge trend to acquire a beautiful antique or vintage piece for your home and garden. So get in quick with our sale as we continue to lean into our personal tastes and needs, living in the future where individuality and confidence rules.
MELISSA PENFOLD MARCH HOUSE & GARDEN SALE – ENDS 7PM – MARCH 8.
