Something special for a grand garden

SOME fine Victorian garden furniture features in James Adams's forthcoming sale in their St Stephen's Green showrooms. The window display is currently taken up with a set of four magnificent 19th century cast iron urns that are estimated to fetch £5,000 - £7,000.

The urns are strikingly decorated with swags and rosettes and they all appear to be in sound condition. It is unusual to find a matching set of this quality, and a very large Victorian cast iron campagna urn, with a wide shallow bowl on a pedestal stand, would be the ideal focus for a vista in a very grand garden. Its catalogue estimate is £1,400-£1,600.

There are several further pairs of cast iron urns, with estimates of between £1,000 and £2,500. A Victorian cast iron garden seat with gothic back has a top estimate of £350, and just inside the garden door is the place for a Victorian cast iron hallstand, with branches for hooks. It is estimated at £300-£500.

Otherwise the sale has 400 or so lots of furniture, silver, porcelain and pictures. Among the most interesting items are two Victorian rosewood wellington chests, very similar but not matching. These tall, good looking masculine chests are particularly suitable for apartments and townhouses, because they look good and don't take up too much wall space.

Lot 348 has a fall front writing compartment dotted with drawers and pigeon holes. It is valued at £800-£900. Lot 356 has decorative scrolls atop its locking pilasters, estimate, £800-£1,000).

Lot 389 is a very attractive mahogany chest of drawers that has obviously been well cared for over the years. Its elegant bracket feet are repeated at the back, instead of the more pedestrian block feet often found to the rear. It is estimated at £2,000-£2,500.

Lot 355 harks back to the time when women had time to attend to their correspondence in a leisurely and orderly fashion. It is a Victorian slopefront stationery box in coromandle wood - often known as zebra wood for its wavy stripes - decorated with Sevres porcelain lozenges. The box opens to reveal compartments for stamps and seals, cards to show the days and months and a porcelain plaque for writing notes on that could be wiped clean. It is estimated at £500-£700.

There are three large desks on offer, including a Victorian mahogany partners's desk for £2,000-£3,000. A Victorian twin pedestal desk with a red leather top has a restrained Art Deco look, and there are concealed trays that slide out on either side to take extra paperwork. It has a top estimate of £900.

Anyone who is looking to fill a very large room overnight should look at lot 385, a 19th century, Louis XV style drawingroom suite that has 11 pieces, including an elegant window seat, a screen and two sofas, all upholstered in gold fabric. It could fetch up to £7,000.