News

Rupert Toovey of Toovey’s and Jeremy Lamond of Halls are bringing the auctioneering profession together in Oxford for a black tie gala dinner on Friday, September 21, followed by lectures the next day.

An interesting sporting gun found its way into Wallis & Wallis’s (17.5% buyer's premium) predominantly militaria sale in Lewes on June 12.

To most people air guns are the low-powered toys that little boys play about with in the back garden, but the air rifle has a surprisingly long history and at one time they were among the most feared weapons on the battlefield.

“My dear Caroline, The enclosed Ring once belonged to your Aunt Jane. It was given to me by your Aunt Cassandra as soon as she knew that I was engaged to your Uncle. I bequeath it to you. God bless you.”

“We had the idea of bringing speciality markets into the city before Mary Portas,” says Jackie Edwards, who runs two booming Sunday monthly markets in Winchester.

Made around 260 years ago, a rare English slipware press-moulded dish came undamaged from a Welsh Marches vendor into the Shrewsbury salerooms of Halls, lighting up the eyes of fine art director Jeremy Lamond whose specialty is ceramics.

The continuing strength of the Chinese market – both the seemingly endless supply of Chinese ceramics and works of art and the demand for them – has meant provincial auctioneers have had to become increasingly knowledgeable about what is on their doorstep.