Auctioneers

The auction process is a key part of the secondary art and antiques market.

Firms of auctioneers usually specialise in a number of fields such as jewellery, ceramics, paintings, Asian art or coins but many also hold general sales where the goods available are not defined by a particular genre and are usually lower in value.

Auctioneers often provide other services such as probate and insurance valuations.

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Nude reveals the Cubist talents of Cissie Kean

09 January 2023

Cissie Kean (1871-1961) dedicated her life to painting after sustaining a severe injury during a riding accident as a young adult.

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Two Turners offered at Christie's Old Master series

09 January 2023

Two works by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1775-1851), an early oil on canvas of the Thames and a watercolour of Switzerland, feature in Christie’s Old Masters series in New York.

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Stiff competition at Suffolk sales indicates strength of Staffordshire pottery market

09 January 2023

Collectors of Staffordshire have noted a number of higher prices of late and further evidence of a more active market came when a pair of Victorian Staffordshire flatback figures was offered by Lacy, Scott & Knight (22.5% buyer’s premium).

Ian Davenport’s Lift 2021

Lyon & Turnbull to hold House of St Barnabas charity auction

07 January 2023

Lyon & Turnbull is hosting a charity sale of Contemporary art to raise funds for The House of St Barnabas.

Bonhams

Bonhams’ annual turnover breaks $1bn for the first time after string of saleroom acqusitions

06 January 2023

For the first time in its history Bonhams has reported an annual turnover of more than $1bn (£840m). The figures released for 2022 follow a raft of acquisitions by the company.

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Dunhill ‘Aviary’ lighter sparks a bidding battle at Chiswick Auctions

02 January 2023

An auction record was set for an Alfred Dunhill ‘aquarium’ lighter at Chiswick Auctions.

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Herschel museum buys manuscript memoir

02 January 2023

Two Herschel family-related historic items – a Royal Society King’s medal and a manuscript memoir – have changed hands at auction and in a private sale.

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Rothschild Qing cache packed away but now seeing the light of sale day

02 January 2023

A major draw to a recent Dreweatts’ (25% buyer’s premium) sale of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art was a cache of Qing porcelain and hardstone carvings previously owned by Anthony de Rothschild (1887-1961).

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Sitter appeal: Portraits from Victorian sportsman to 20th century businessman bring demand

02 January 2023

The record-setting piece of Beswick pottery at a recent sale at Potteries Auctions (20% buyer’s premium) – a rare variant of a shire horse model that fetched £11,300 (ATG No 2569) – was not the only lot bringing notable demand.

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Services surface from a country house

02 January 2023

Dreweatts’ (25% buyer’s premium) ‘part II’ sale of Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art at the end of last year included Chinese export porcelain from ‘the china store of a Somerset country house’.

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Folk and drama prints proved popular with urban audiences

02 January 2023

By illustrating and combining popular folk songs with scenes of dramas of the time, the artist or workshop named Ding Liangxian created a new type of woodblock print for urban Chinese audiences in the second quarter of the 18th century.

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Ceri Richards shows his personal side

02 January 2023

Despite a few surprises among the lots at Rogers Jones’ (24% buyer’s premium) third and final Welsh Sale of 2022, the solid performance of at least one of the leading pictures was probably more expected.

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Bizet and Caxton in the mix

02 January 2023

Highlights including signed opera score from a varied auction held in North Yorkshire

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Bellotto by royal appointment

02 January 2023

One of four works as commission for the Polish king is the star lot of an Austrian collection

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News in Brief – including an auction record for any netsuke

02 January 2023

A round-up of art and antiques news from the previous seven days, including an 18th century Kyoto carving setting an auction record at Bonhams for any netsuke.

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Hiroshige took a stand for the vertical format

02 January 2023

The Rokujuyoshu Meisho Zue (Famous Views of the Sixty-odd Provinces) series was the last great landscape work created by Japanese ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858).

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Dealer Hawkins to sell townhouses tempters

02 January 2023

Antiques dealer and taxidermy specialist Emma Hawkins is selling a collection from her townhouses in Edinburgh and London at Sotheby’s this month.

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Sword makers and armourers forced to turn to peaceful pursuits

02 January 2023

The Komai family of sword makers and armourers were among the many Japanese metalworkers courting a new clientele during the Meiji period (1868-1912).

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Pick of the week: Take tea early with an Elers English caddy

02 January 2023

Although Dutchmen John and David Elers came to London sometime in the 1680s as silversmiths, the brothers are remembered today as the potters who brought fine unglazed stonewares to Staffordshire.

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Two birds dish brings in £165,000 at Kinghams

02 January 2023

The sale at Kinghams (23% buyer’s premium) in Moreton-in-Marsh included a 12in (30cm) carved cinnabar lacquer dish dating from the late Yuan or early Ming period – c.1350-1400.

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