Five highlights at UK auctions for August

1. Gold models

The sale of Objects of Vertu at Toovey’s in Washington, West Sussex on August 7 includes two impressive examples of mid-20th century Australian goldsmithing.

Both of these finely modelled high-carat gold sculptures of antipodean wildlife were made in the early 1960s by a craftsman by the name of SA Schagen for the venerable Sydney jewellers Prouds.

A gold model of a koala bear, standing just shy of 4in (10cm) high on a pink and black variegated stone plinth, is estimated at £30,000-40,000.

Gold model of a koala bear by SA Schagen, estimated £30,000-40,000 at Toovey’s. View the catalogue entry for this gold figure.

The larger of the two groups measuring 21in (53cm) depicts a scene familiar to many ornithologists: the extraordinary courtship display of the Satin Bower Bird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus). The male displays his array of ‘found objects (here a scattering of opals, agates and two platinum and sapphire feathers) while the female look on from the nest or bower made of sticks. Signed by Schagen and marked for 18ct and 20ct gold, it is dated 1961. The pre-sale estimate is £120,000-180,000.

2. Early golf book

A third edition of Thomas Mathison’s The Goff…, estimated £8000-£12,000 at Lay’s.

The August 8 Books & Works on Paper sale at Lays in Penzance includes a copy of the first printed book entirely dedicated to golf – Thomas Mathison’s The Goff. An Heroi-Comical Poem. In three Cantos....

The narrative – a poem of over 300 lines reminiscent of a Greek epic – centres on a game played on the Leith Links between two protagonists. The primary characters, 'Castalio' and the younger 'Pygmalion', are identified in the notes as Alexander Dunning, “late governor of Watson’s Hospital, an excellent classical scholar,” and Mathison himself, “author of the Poem...where he describes his low stature, his skill in Goffing, and his employment at the desk, as a writer.”

There are many references to early Scottish golf culture including the 'Caledonian Chiefs', prominent members of Edinburgh's social elite instrumental in forming the earliest known golf club, the Company of Gentlemen Golfers, established in 1744.

The book was first published in 1743, and again in 1763 with this copy a third edition from 1793 that includes a dedication ‘To all the lovers of Goff’, two additional short poems and the notes that divulge the names of the two players that were abbreviated in previous editions.

In fine condition in a later Sotherans binding, it is estimated at £8000-£12,000.

3. 19th century samplers

One of three 19th century samplers made by girls at a Bristol orphanage on offer at Tennants. This one is estimated at £1500-2500.

Three 19th century samplers made by girls at a Bristol orphanage will be sold in Tennants’ Fashion, Costume and Textiles Sale in Leyburn, North Yorkshire, on August 16.

The samplers on offer here were worked by girls at Ashley Down, Bristol, an extraordinary institution. At a time when there were very few orphanages and the only alternative was the workhouse, George Müller (1805-1898), a Christian preacher, built a vast orphanage from donations that would care for over 10,000 children in his lifetime.

Müller gave his charges an education well beyond what was expected at the time, kept the girls until they were 16 or 17 and made sure they had a position to go to before they left.

The Ashley Down samplers follow a model that makes them instantly recognisable. Most often using red thread on pale linen, the girls worked the alphabet in different fonts across the top and personalised the bottom with a range of motifs, both characteristic of the school and of their own design. The examples now up for sale were worked by AF Broton, shown here (estimate £1500-2500), Emily (£1500-2500) and EB (£300-500).

4. RAF logbook

The logbook from RAF air gunner F/O JL Memory, offered together with an Irvin flying jacket, estimated £600-800 at Baldwin’s.

Baldwin’s militaria auction on August 8 includes the Irvin flying jacket and observer’s logbook from an RAF air gunner F/O JL Memory. He undertook and logged 44 operations, notably one on D-Day, June 6, 1944.

On this date Memory records a successful attack on an enemy submarine while was on anti-submarine patrol as part of No 502 Squadron off the coast of France. Later that year, on December 28 – on his 44th and final operation – Memory and his crew were on anti-shipping patrol over Skagerrak and Kattegat, where they attached a 5000-tonne motor vessel escorted by two enemy vessels. Memory records direct hits with two bombs and the ship was left burning well.

The lot is estimated at £600-800 in this sale held in London.

5. Cinefilms archive

The cinefilms archive of Brigadier Dudley Clarke, estimated £200-300 at Chiswick Auctions.

A collection of cinefilms belonging to Brigadier Dudley Clarke (1899-1974), a key figure behind British military deception operations during the Second World War, has been discovered by Chiswick Auctions.

The archive of home movies and related documentation will be sold on August 7 as part of a Photographica sale with a guide of £200-300.

Housed in a wooden trunk stamped to the lid DW Clarke are 16 different cinefilms taken from c.1930-70 in destinations including Indonesia, Australia, North Africa and the West Indies. Of particular interest to military historians will be the reels and notes that correspond with Clarke's time spent in Palestine at the time of the Arab Revolt (1936-1939). Clarke took up various postings in the Middle East and was tasked with organising the military response to the uprising and, as British defences increased in the territory, masterminding deception strategies in the region. Three reels are titled Jerusalem, 1936; Palestine Rebellion 1936 and Palestine & Syria.

Clarke led a quiet life after his 1947 retirement, and the full extent of his contributions to military deception tactics were not fully illuminated until the 1990s. It is now understood he contributed to the creation of three military units: the British Commandos, the Special Air Service and the US Rangers. He came up with the name of the Special Air Service in the early 1940s for a fictitious British paratrooper unit he hoped would confuse the Axis powers. David Stirling, founder of the SAS as we know it today, brought it into being.

The archive comes for sale from a West Sussex camera collector who bought regularly at local auctions in the 1980s and 90s.