Sale-rooms
Wooden spoons and spatulas
Alistair McAlpine
On 22 February the contents of the late Elizabeth David's kitchen are to be sold by Phillips. If this sale goes well there can be no finer proof of my theory, for it contains pots, pans, wooden spoons, spatulas and cookbooks — almost 200 lots of them. Most of the contents of the sale could be bought new at Elizabeth David's shop in bright, shiny condition. What makes the pans, pots, wooden spoons and spatulas in the sale of special interest is that they were all used by Elizabeth David herself. This sale, I believe, will be a triumph, for Eliza- beth David, although much admired by professional chefs, has become the patron saint of amateur cooks in Britain. As a champion of French and Italian cooking, she is credited with changing the British attitude towards food and drink. Her first book, A Book of Mediterranean Food, pub- lished in 1950, is a classic. The first glow of light in the culinary black hole that was Britain of that time, she introduced the general public to the idea that there was something better to eat on the Continent and that British cuisine might be improved. We have all benefited from her efforts. I for one shall try to acquire something from this famous kitchen. I don't care really what it is as long as it was used by her.
One form, perhaps even the strongest, of political communication is the cartoon. On 4 February, Bonhams are to sell a cartoon by Ralph Steadman estimated at £400- £600. It caricatures Robert Maxwell and is inscribed 'The rats leaving a sinking SHIT'. On the sinking Maxwell is written in capi- tals close to his bows 'HMS MAXWELL' This cartoon is prophetic. It could have been published any time in the last few years. It appeared, however, in the late Six- ties when the Sunday Times insight team exposed Robert Maxwell's activities with Pergamon Press. As a result of their expo- sure and the subsequent enquiry, the Director of Public Prosecutions ruled him unfit to run a public company. I suspect that this lot will fetch a good deal more than its estimate.
The contents of Miss Cranston's Willow Tea Rooms in Glasgow were sold in 1933. Furniture and tableware were designed by Rennie Mackintosh, they fetched only a few pounds. This, however, will not be the case when the collection of Doctor Thomas Howarth is sold at Christie's on 17 Febru- ary.
Doctor Howarth started collecting in the 1940s and discovered examples of Mackin- tosh's work in the sale-rooms and junk shops of Glasgow for little more than they fetched in the sale of 1933. Mackintosh at that time was all but forgotten. Dr Howarth set out on a crusade to return Mackintosh's reputation to its rightful place among giants of architectural history. His collection is comparable only with those of the Hunterian Art Gallery or the University of Glasgow and Glasgow School of Art. The collection covers every facet of Mackintosh's work and career.
Collectors wishing to indulge their own fantasies or those from their private past should attend at Bonham's on 9 February so that they can acquire lots from a sale of original art work for pulp fiction. The cov-
ers of such titillating works as Think Fast Sister, Vice Racket of Soho, Call Girls of
New York, White Slave Traffic, Tip Toe Through A Graveyard, Me and My Ghoul are on offer. Their estimates range from
L200-£300. Just one word of warning for politicians — the gentlemen of the tabloid press will almost certainly study the list of purchasers published by the sale-room.
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