Auctioneers

Larger indoor fairs can go ahead in England now that coronavirus restrictions have been relaxed but many firms will retain coronavirus measures.

Asian buyers have become the dominant force at the top end of the auction market, according to Christie’s.

One of the rarest of all of the 31 car mascots made by Lalique between 1925-31 came up for auction at Kinghams in the Cotswolds.

Four Victorian bronze tortoises stolen from National Trust property Kingston Lacy in Dorset have been recovered nearly 30 years later.

A rare Georgian print on a sporting theme was offered by Northumberland auction house.

Remarkable sums were paid for vintage video games at Heritage Auctions – including a record-breaking $1.35m (£1m) bid for Super Mario 64.

The British artist John Glover (1767- 1849) would doubtless have faded into relative obscurity had he not chosen, in 1831, to make a new life in colonial Australia. He ended up being dubbed ‘the father of Australian landscape painting’.

The outstanding lot in the arms and armour sale held in London on June 30 by Thomas Del Mar (25% buyer’s premium) was the £96,000 16th century Augsburg close helmet illustrated on the front page of last week’s ATG (No 2501).

A sale at Wilson55 (22% buyer’s premium) in Nantwich this month was topped at £22,000 by an 18th century Flemish ebony and tortoiseshell veneered cabinet.

Cheffins (24.5% buyer’s premium) in Cambridge has enjoyed some fine referrals from Christie’s in recent times.

Two rare and evocative paintings depicting a 19th century ironworks in South Wales were hotly contested at a recent Dreweatts (25% buyer’s premium) sale.

Prize examples of French 18th century furniture were on offer at Drouot when Hughes Taquet of the auction house Hôtel des Ventes de Mantes-La-Jolie (26.4% buyer’s premium inc VAT) offered the collection of René Siméoni.

Artworks by another legendary musician, Bob Dylan (b.1941), drew decent competition once again at Tennants (20% buyer’s premium) this summer.

Among the earlier printed books, Bibles played their part in a wide-ranging auction held by Forum Auctions (25/20/12.5% buyer’s premium), and none so financially well as a fine, clean example of Robert Estienne’s Greek text Bible of 1550.

A round-up of art and antiques news from the previous seven days, including news of Colonial Williamsburg buying a Washington ‘Indian peace medal’.

Among the properties included in the June Thomas Del Mar sale was the McEwen collection of bows and associated items which proved unexpectedly popular raising £30,000, around four times its top estimate.

A recent sale at Bentley’s (19% buyer’s premium) in Cranbrook, Kent included a rare US Presidential lifesaving medallion.

The price gulf that once existed between good 18th century French furniture and very good late 19th century revivalism is no longer visible at auction. A quality reproduction can often outsell its period exemplar.