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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The tale of Great Aunt Betty, key British designer of the 1920s-30s and a fiercely independent woman

03 March 2025

“To the inhabitants of Wyndham Road, an unremarkable cul-desac of bungalows in Andover in Hampshire, Mary Stewart Lockhart, the white-haired old lady in number 5, must have seemed equally unremarkable… None of them could have realised that between the World Wars she had been one of the leading furniture makers, designers and businesswomen in the country.”

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Bidders speak highly of mysterious 'silent companions'

03 March 2025

The so-called ‘dummy board’ or ‘silent companion’ is believed to have originated in Holland during the early 17th century.

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Series of Wilde results for the collection of comedy legend

03 March 2025

Famed for his range of characters, Barry Humphries was also a bibliophile of great taste

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Westwood and McClaren shirt suits parachuting punks

03 March 2025

A piece of British punk fashion history drew stiff competition at Newcastle saleroom Anderson & Garland (25% buyer’s premium).

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Wedgwood medallions form important part of slavery story

03 March 2025

Shortly after the production of the first batch of his jasperware abolitionist medallion, Josiah Wedgwood sent a package to Benjamin Franklin with a covering letter dated February 1788 saying: “I embrace the opportunity to inclose [sic] for the use of your Excellency and friends, a few Cameos on a subject I am happy to acquaint you is daily more and more taking possession of men’s minds on this side of the Atlantic as well as with you.

Adriaen Coorte still life

Saunders collection set to make a record for an Old Master collection says Sotheby’s

28 February 2025

A major consignment of Old Masters is coming up at Sotheby’s New York in May which the saleroom said is poised to break the record for any single-owner sale in this category.

The Amazing Spider-Man

First issue of The Amazing Spider-Man flies in Surrey sale

28 February 2025

A 1963 first UK issue of The Amazing Spider-Man comic – the first to solely focus on the superhero – appeared at a recent auction at Ewbank’s.

A Rest After Battle

Soviet school propaganda pictures hammer down at Wotton Auction Rooms

28 February 2025

Four monumentally sized paintings from the Soviet school emerged at auction in Gloucestershire.

Cedric Morris painting

Cedric Morris flower painting blooms at Cambridge auction

27 February 2025

A ‘never-before-seen’ painting by Sir Cedric Lockwood Morris (1889-1982) drew prolonged competition at Cheffins’ latest sale in Cambridge.

Alexander Nasmyth portrait

Former BBC Antiques Roadshow expert’s collection heads to auction

27 February 2025

A collection of works owned by the late BBC Antiques Roadshow expert and former director at Christie’s, Hugo Morley-Fletcher (1940-2022), has been consigned to Roseberys.

Abel Grimmer painting

Rediscovered Old Master painting heads to Salisbury auction

26 February 2025

A Flemish Old Master lost to scholars for almost a century has emerged from a private source at Woolley & Wallis.

Edward Elgar sketches

British Library acquires ‘missing’ pages of Elgar’s musical sketchbook through Christie’s

26 February 2025

A draft of a composition by Edward Elgar has been acquired by the British Library in a deal organised through Christie’s.

2684AB Reeman Dansie Charlie Letter 1

Letter outlines Bonnie Prince Charlie plea for support at crucial time in the 1745 Jacobite rising

25 February 2025

An autograph letter from Bonnie Prince Charlie was among a group of Jacobite relics discovered among a wide array of antiques during a Georgian townhouse clearance.

Rural Scenes

Photograph archive offers snapshot of early 20th century Shanghai

25 February 2025

Today it’s one of the world’s most populous and modernised cities but the Shanghai Albert ‘Bert’ Aiers would have found in the early 1900s would have been very different indeed.

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Monumental Hans Coper vessel unearthed in London back garden

24 February 2025

A key work by the Anglo-German studio potter Hans Coper (1920-81) has been found in a garden in London.

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Paris dealer wins auction battle for Kwele mask

24 February 2025

The Arts of Africa, Oceania and the Americas at Woolley & Wallis in Salisbury on February 19 included this striking tribal mask from central Africa.

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Pick of the Week: Peter Rabbit second printing prized

24 February 2025

Turned down by several publishers, Beatrix Potter shouldered the expense of privately printing The Tale of Peter Rabbit with Strangeways Printers in December 1901.

Gold stater of king Caratacus

Record-breaking Iron Age coin heads back to the auction block

24 February 2025

A gold stater of king Caratacus (15-54AD) that broke the record for a single Iron Age coin at auction in 2020 is returning to auction on March 12.

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Blown off course to occupied territory, Tommy the pigeon became an accidental hero to the Allies

24 February 2025

Tommy nearly made the supreme sacrifice to support the Allied cause in the Second World War.

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Cartier Courtauld jewels on display at Eltham Palace after £19,000 auction buy

24 February 2025

Two Cartier brooches commissioned by Sir Stephen Courtauld for his wife have gone on display at Eltham Palace, eight months after they were sold at auction by Dreweatts in Newbury.

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