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.

Vilhelm Hammershoi Music Room

Sotheby’s offers Hammershøi interior scene with highest ever estimate for the artist

18 April 2023

A major painting by Vilhelm Hammershøi (1864-1916) will be offered at Sotheby’s evening sale of Modern art in New York on May 16. Pitched at $3m-5m, it has the highest estimate ever placed on a work by the Danish artist.

Nelson bust

Nelson memorabilia busts expectations at Dorset auction

17 April 2023

Nelson memorabilia from a private collection in Devon was keenly fought over at Duke’s Spring auction.

Reverse painted mirror

Reverse appeal reflects export mirror’s condition

17 April 2023

This 18th century Chinese export reverse-painted mirror in a period gilt frame took a five-figure sum at auction.

Mosaic roundel

Pick of the week: Mosaic for the Bloomsbury set in demand at Berkshire auction

17 April 2023

Boris Vasilyevich Anrep (1883-1969), a Russian who lived and worked for most of his life in Britain, is not well known today.

The Study of Sociology by Herbert Spencer

On the origin of the ‘survival of the fittest’ comes to London auction

17 April 2023

This copy of 'The Study of Sociology' by Herbert Spencer is a first edition from 1875 in original cloth.

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Surely you know Albert Smith?

17 April 2023

Forgotten today, a collection sold in Somerset remembers a multi-talented showman and author

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Porcelain appeal powers Du Boulay vase

17 April 2023

A strong performer in the Anthony du Boulay (1929-2022) sale at Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium) in Dorchester was this 10in (24.5cm) enamelled chinoisierie milchglas vase.

Symbolist drawings

Symbolist quartet leads Christie’s drawing auction series

17 April 2023

A six-figure sum for Belgian Symbolist Fernand Khnopff was the top lot of Christie’s drawing-focused sale.

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South American funerary urn stands-out as private collections galore come to Essex auction

17 April 2023

Among the highlights of Sworders’ (25% buyer’s premium) latest Fine Interiors sale was a remarkable anthropomorphic funerary urn from Ecuador.

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Latest Lowry drawing shows rise in demand over three decades

17 April 2023

Simple Salford street scene dating from year after he left art school is now at £70,000 hammer price level

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Dealers go to auction as the trade adapts to a new business landscape

17 April 2023

A spate of businesses taking stock and personal collections to the saleroom reflects wider changes in the market

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Two single-owner collections of drinking glasses on offer

17 April 2023

The sale held by Catherine Southon at the Farleigh Golf Club in Surrey on April 26-27 includes a single-owner collection of 18th century drinking glasses.

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Another winner from Denton Hall consignment

17 April 2023

A high price for a Victorian work sold outside London came at Tennants’ (22% buyer’s premium) latest British, European and Sporting Pictures sale.

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Real money for Lequeu’s fantasy at Drouot auction centre

17 April 2023

The Drouot auction centre was also celebrating drawing week with no shortage of drawings and works on paper on offer.

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How colour influences value when it comes to Lalique glass

17 April 2023

The latest dedicated sales held by one particular auction house show how the value of Lalique glass – the epitome of inter-war glamour – is determined by its colour

Hubert Robert drawing

Roman views by artist Hubert Robert drew attention in Artcurial sale

17 April 2023

Also during drawing week, and on the same day and just around the corner from Christie’s, Artcurial held a related art auction.

Salon du Dessin

Buzz returns to Paris drawing week

17 April 2023

Paris works on paper events draw a line under Covid as attendance figures bounce back

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Seeing double eagle heads while drinking

17 April 2023

Enamelled imperial eagle tankards or 'reichsadlerhumpen' – large three or four-litre glass drinking vessels enamelled with the 56 coats of arms and the quaternion eagle of the Holy Roman Empire – were popular from the 16th to the late 18th century.

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Raise a toast to Ireland

17 April 2023

‘The Land We Live In’ is a toast that appears on a number of Irish decanters made in Cork and Waterford.

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18th century glass: politics that is mixed with pleasure

17 April 2023

The ideas of ‘liberty’ as a cause and a concept were not confined to the coffee shops of Boston and Philadelphia.

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