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.

Ewenny bowl and cover

Wassail bowl sets record for Ewenny slipware as Sir Kyffin hits new high at Welsh auction

09 August 2021

The latest Welsh sale at Rogers Jones in Cardiff – topped by a record price for a Sir Kyffin Williams picture – included this remarkable early 19th century Ewenny pottery slipware wassail bowl and cover.

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Pick of the week: Sleeper in Norfolk as Worcester 'Union Jack House’ cup is flagged up

09 August 2021

A solitary English blue and white porcelain coffee cup emerged from the relative anonymity of a one-line catalogue description and a £120-180 estimate to sell for £4100 at Keys in Aylsham on July 24.

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Antique furniture: Quality counts if condition is poor

09 August 2021

The dictum that class is permanent was borne out in a Newbury saleroom by prices for damaged pieces

Mosaic brooch

A Grand Tour micro mosaic brooch and a rare Star Wars figure are among four lots to watch

09 August 2021

With estimates from £50-1200, here are four previews of upcoming items this week.

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Lover and a fighter: Battle of Britain ace Peter Townsend

09 August 2021

Among the medal groups that impressed at Dix Noonan Webb's July 21 auction was one awarded to a famous recipient: RAF Group Captain Peter Townsend.

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Drury bronzes and a devilish buy at Dreweatts

09 August 2021

From the same north London home as the Chinese Export mirror and an Irish dining table sold at Dreweatts was this pair of bronzes by Alfred Drury (1856-1944).

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Slashed and rejected canvas now worth €120,000

09 August 2021

If Marie Bashkirtseff had her way, the portrait she painted of her cousin in the late 1870s would never have survived, let alone made it to auction.

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Clock salvaged from German ship scuttled at Scapa Flow re-emerges at Sherborne auction

09 August 2021

On a single day in 1919 the Imperial German Navy achieved the impressive feat of sinking 52 vessels. Unfortunately, they were its own ships.

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Portrait of a Grand Tourist turns heads at Bonhams

09 August 2021

A Grand Tour portrait that came to auction directly from the family of the sitter was among the most contested lots at Bonhams’ (27.5%/25/20/14.5% buyer’s premium) Old Master Paintings sale on July 7.

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Hoffmann hare inspired by Dürer leaps to £1.02m

09 August 2021

While Christie’s had by far the top-selling Old Master drawing of the latest series (the £7.5m Leonardo da Vinci drawing of the head of a bear - see ATG No 2501), a good number of other works on paper generated better competition although sold for understandably lower prices.

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Rare copy of pioneering black poet Phillis Wheatley's work makes £16,500 at Cotswolds auction

09 August 2021

Edition marked the first time a person of African descent had work published

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Relic from an airship disaster offered at Spicers

09 August 2021

A small fragment of a significant airship comes up for auction at Spicers in Old Goole, East Yorkshire, to mark a tragic centenary.

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Signal book of naval ships brings bidders to Shrewsbury sale

09 August 2021

Illustrated with 76 hand-coloured flags, a 1794 Signal Book for the Ships of the Line sold to an online bidder for £11,000 in a Shrewsbury sale.

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Relics reveal a distinguished military family

09 August 2021

The Galloways were a distinguished Victorian military family, as a number of items sold at Bishop & Miller (22% buyer’s premium) revealed.

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Silver salver gift to ‘Johnnie’ Johnson

09 August 2021

Cheffins’ auction in Cambridge on August 26 includes a silver presentation salver given to Air Vice Marshal James Edgar ‘Johnnie’ Johnson (1915-2001), the highest-scoring Western Allied pilot against the Luftwaffe and the RAF’s officially recognised top-scoring fighter pilot of the Second World War.

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Belgian buyers out in force as dealer's collection comes up for sale

09 August 2021

Despite a disappointing selling rate, dealer’s collection included notable results

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El Divino painting draws international bidders and sells 60-times over estimate in Stuttgart sale

09 August 2021

Nagel (25% buyer’s premium) in Stuttgart underestimated the international interest for a 16th century painting of Christ Carrying the Cross.

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Battered copy of Encyclopedia Britannia 'damaged at Trafalgar' sells at Charles Miller

09 August 2021

An intriguing condition report that mentions ‘water and smoke damage’ gives a clue as to what happened to this battered copy of the Encyclopedia Britannia sold in a Charles Miller (24% buyer’s premium) auction.

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Art Market: Are Old Masters suffering from long Covid?

09 August 2021

After a difficult period because of the pandemic, the latest round of Old Master sales in London returned to some kind of normality.

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Medals and militaria: Victoria Cross sets army auction record

09 August 2021

A new high for a British army Victoria Cross as 'exceptional’ example also sets a house record for a medal at Dix Noonan Webb

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