The stuff of legends

The late Maurice 'Dick' Turpin, a celebrated antiques dealer and largerthan-life character, had wide-ranging interests, from fine furniture to Blue John, revealed in one of Sworders' final sales of his London home's contents

THE cover of the Sworders auction catalogue for 'Dick Turpin: The Legend Lives On' was an artwork in itself. Meg Wileman, head of photography at the auction house at Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, brilliantly portrayed the late antiques dealer in two lines (Fig 1). The minimalist master Fougasse could hardly have done it better.

Turpin, whose given name was Maurice, was born in 1928 and died in 2005. Following the death of Jackie Mann, the companion of his later years, Sworders held the first of two final sales of contents from their London home last month; remaining jewellery and objects of art will follow shortly. Although Turpin was primarily known for high-quality furniture, his keen eye ranged widely and several of his interests, including figurative bronzes, Chinese and other porcelain and reverse-painted mirrors and pictures, were represented in this session.

Turpin was a bulky man with equally sizeable glasses and moustache. His figure and surprisingly high-pitched voice were known to dealers and in auctions not only in Britain, but around the Continent and the US. Once, he spent a week walking the length of Manhattan from Wall Street to Harlem, returning home with a full shipment. He was combative, relishing the jousts of auction; if worsted, he would loudly congratulate successful bidders he approved of and deride those he didn't. He also had a repertoire of risqué and other rhymes and ditties, which might emerge at any time.

He began as a 'runner', finding things in country shops and sales to sell to established London dealers, before setting up shop himself in Portobello and progressing to Old Brompton Road and eventually Mayfair. His heyday was during the decades when the best 18th-century English furniture ruled the market.