Unity in Variety: The David Bonsall Collection of Decorative Arts & Design

Collector David Bonsall has led a fascinating and varied life, from decorative arts dealer to supplier of 20th century fashion, record shop owner and DJ.

This February, our auctions Unity in Variety: The David Bonsall Collection of Decorative Arts and Design in London (14 February) and online (7–15 February) reflect his passion for ground-breaking designers and features works by his personal design heroes, including Christopher Dresser and Edward Godwin.

Here, David highlights five rare and special lots from his collection coming under the hammer, with additional insight from Bonhams specialists.

Conical sugar bowl, c. 1885
Dr Christopher Dresser: Made by Elkington & Co

“This Dresser sugar bowl combines two magic ingredients: great design and rarity.” — David Bonsall

Dr Christopher Dresser may arguably be considered the first industrial designer. His designs can be found in most mediums, including furniture, glass, ceramics and metal work. This sugar bowl epitomises the clarity and modernity in his metalware designs: it is astonishing for 1885 and still looks modern by today’s standards.

“Dresser stressed the importance of function, simplicity and mechanical skill, believing that industrial and scientific progress would lead to an entirely new style of art,” wrote Vidar Halen, author of the comprehensive book, Christopher Dresser: A Pioneer of Modern Design, “Above all he promoted a rational and scientific attitude to design, based on appropriate and inexpensive materials combined with suitable and restrained ornamentation.”

Anglo-Japanese occasional table, c. 1875
E.W. Godwin: Manufacture attributed to Collinson & Lock

“A fine example of Godwin’s engagement with Japanese design.” — David Bonsall

Edward William Godwin was a very accomplished man: “an architect who had no compeer in England and a designer of consummate skill”, as one of his many obituaries stated in 1886, as well as an interior designer, theatrical producer and furniture designer.

Godwin originally designed furniture for his own use, as he found nothing suitable for his own home. He later worked commercially with cabinet-makers such as Collinson and Lock, William Watt, and Gillow of Lancaster and London, and exhibited his designs in Vienna, Philadelphia and Paris between 1873–78. He wielded the greatest influence in his furniture—this compact Japanese-inspired table could, in another’s hand, have been heavy, but Godwin’s use of the openwork sides gives it a lightness and presence.

Rare dining table, c. 1930
Denham Maclaren

“A British designer at the top of his game pushing the boundaries of Modernism.” — David Bonsall

Born in 1903, Denham Maclaren worked across several disciplines over his six-decade career, including painting, poetry, photography and furniture design. In the latter, he experimented with modern industrial materials such as glass and tubular steel—as illustrated by this dining table. Its interplay of materials highlights the characteristic aesthetic and functional properties of the thick textured glass surface, lacquered wood bases and tubular steel supports.

In 1930, Maclaren opened his own studio and showroom in London and, six years later, retailed his designs through Duncan Miller Fine Arts. While his furniture output was relatively small—often designing works for his own use and ceasing production by the late 1930s—Maclaren is an example of a British designer who embraced the tenants of Modernism, as set forth by figures such as Walter Gropius and Le Corbusier.

Keith Murray vases by Wedgwood

“Architectural design applied to ceramics by a sorely underrated designer.” — David Bonsall

New Zealand-born Keith Murray moved to England with his family in 1906. He served with distinction in the Royal Flying Corps during the First World War before training as an architect at the Architectural Association in London.

From 1933, Murray’s work as a designer for Wedgwood encapsulated a very British 1930s modern aesthetic, conceived on architectural lines: simple and elegant shapes combined modernism, with traditional approaches to ceramic production. Many of these shapes feature in David Bonsall’s collection, with examples in most colourways. They also perfectly showcase Wedgwood’s matte glazes. Murray’s work was shown at major industry exhibitions in Milan, London and Paris from 1933–37. In 1948, he retired from his career in ceramics to focus on his busy architectural practice.

Lot 189
Seditionaries Parachute Shirt

“An iconic item from the start of the punk revolution.” — David Bonsall

In 1976, Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren renamed their London fashion shop from ‘Sex’ to ‘Seditionaries’, bringing a punk twist to their previous risqué and fetish-inspired clothing—this strappy, black sateen parachute shirt was among their first designs. Other pieces in the new range included bondage trousers, jackets and boots. At the time, fashion and music were closely interlinked: members of The Sex Pistols often wore similar tops as they sent ripples through the underground punk-rock music scene, creating new subgenres and changing what it meant to be a ‘pop star’.