Beeston Rec, Dolf Sweerts, LASSCO and Ronsons feature among several auctions of architectural antiques, antique garden ornament, and reclaimed building materials coming up over the next ten days in Cheshire, London, Gloucestershire, Norfolk and Oxfordshire.
 
Friday 14 June - Saturday 15 June: Beeston Reclamation, Cheshire A two day sale to be held by Wellers of architectural salvage and reclaimed building materials Beeston Reclamation including a large Victorian gothic sandstone entranceway and the first class smoking saloon from the 1902 RMS Walmer Castle by Harland & Wolff.
 
Saturday 15 June: T W Gaze, Norfolk A modern design sale of over 500 lots featuring furniture, sofas, chairs, lighting, glassware, crockery, pottery and artworks from the 1960s and later.
 
Saturday 15 June: LASSCO, London A one day auction presided over by Dreweatts of 1,000 lots of architectural salvage and decorative ornament at Brunswick House with modest pieces in the low hundreds up to some pretty spectacular stuff including a large lump of carved fruity oak from the original gates of London's Temple Bar.
 
My personal favourite is the c1854 chimneypiece in the French Empire Italian Palazzo style by John Thomas made for Sir Samuel Morton Peto, a wealthy builder and railwayman. There was a push for using British polishable limestones and marbles around this time. Although the catalogue cites 'marmo verde' the green marble is definitely Connemara from Ireland. The marble used may be all British - Kilkenny black, Ashford or similar for the base, green Connemara marble (definitely) for the mirror surround, Petit Tor or Babbicombe marble (likely) from Devon for the columns, and (possibly) Fauld Alabaster from Staffordshire for the roundels.
 
Dreweatts introduction to the auction catalogue sets the scene:
LASSCO was established at St Michael's, Shoreditch in 1977, successor to the old established East End firm of Geo. Amos & Sons. Its founder, Adrian Amos, grandson of the eponymous cabinet maker and saw doctor, is now handing over to the next generation: his sons, Harry and George, and the directors of the firm's three branches, Bermondsey, Vauxhall and Oxford, Nick Newman, Ferrous Auger, Chris Martin and Anthony Reeve.
 
The company has been at the forefront of the Architectural Salvage trade well before its inception, adopting the term soon after it was coined by Dan Cruickshank in the Architectural Review in 1978 …
 
… The discoveries it has unearthed [often quite literally] have been confirmed by assiduous research and a deep knowledge of architectural, and London's, history. From enormous piles dug out from Billingsgate's Roman Wharves through medieval doorways, to lost works of the Great Architects of the 18th Century, to exiled Parisian boiseries, to unappreciated relics of 20C style - the LASSCO stock is History manifest and reclaimed.
Tuesday 18 June: Mallams, Oxfordshire A two day antique sale including a large number of garden lots on the Tuesday.
 
Wednesday 19 June - Thursday 20 June: Baron Dolph Sweerts de Landas, Christie's South Kensington (Viewing prior at Dunsborough Park) Garden statuary and antique garden ornament - from the auction catalogue:
Christie's is pleased to announce a summer auction of magnificent outdoor statuary, garden ornaments and gardening antiques from Dunsborough Park: Garden Statuary from The Collection of Baron and Baroness Sweerts de Landas Wyborgh

Originally built in 1630, it was not until the 18th century that Dunsborough House, as it was then known, first had gardens formally laid out. In 1991 the current owners, a Dutch noble family, embarked upon restoring the six acres of walled gardens with the help and advice of garden designers Penelope Hobhouse and Rupert Golby.
 
During their ongoing twenty year project, the couple has collated an extensive collection, adorning the gardens with all manner of objects including sculptures and fountains, urns and pedestals, seats and sundials, and even antique gardening tools including watering cans and sprinklers.
 
The auction will feature over 500 lots of all sizes, great and small, and is expected to realise in excess of £2 million. Catering for collectors with grand parklands, small courtyards or modest gardens, estimates range from £200 to £150,000, with pieces made from all manner of materials to suit all tastes and styles.
 
Please note: Entrance to the Dunsborough Park viewing is by catalogue only (admits two).
In the preface to the auction catalogue Dolf Sweerts ends:
I have been considering an auction for a few years but regularly shrank away from parting with a collection of objects that I have assembled with passion. These objects have dominated the lives of my family through their formative years and they have happily brought us to Dunsborough, a place which gave me raison d'être. Our children are now going their own way and as none of them have shown any desire to take on the mantle, this sale was inevitable. I have chosen to prune in order to grow elsewhere while we are still young enough to do so
Among the highlights are a Coadestone Tiger, sejant, and a Coadestone Lion, guardant, a John Van Nost lead figure of Victory, Val d'Osne cast iron fountains, a Ducel cast bronze stallion by Lequesne, a large Britannia by Blanchard, and a large Coadestone Medici urn.
 
Saturday 22 June: Ronson Reclaim, Gloucstershire Auction of architectural salvage including iron gates, staddle stones, garden ornament, cast iron baths, antique garden ornament, reclaimed walling stone, setts, flagstones, roof tiles, a gazebo or belvedere, revolving summerhouse, cider mills, millstones, stone gateposts, garden benches, tables, troughs and tree guards. Ronsons is also holding a pre-auction sale of 20% off reclaimed building materials from 15 June.
 
Beeston Reclamation, LASSCO, Sweerts de Landas and Ronson Reclaim are Salvo Code members.