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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Record price shows another Rossetti could be on the rise

17 April 2026

Lucy Madox Brown Rossetti (1843-94) was linked to two of the most famous artistic families of the 19th century.

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Carpet at Christie’s lay under notable personages

17 April 2026

A 17th century Safavid carpet on offer at Christie’s in London on April 30 is woven into the ceremonial life of the British monarchy in the early 20th century.

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Why artist Joseph Southall chose to go to work on an egg

17 April 2026

Joseph Southall’s (1861-1944) picture Cymon and Iphigenia was probably made with the help of the artist’s chickens.

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Chorister commended by Elizabeth II

17 April 2026

This copy of The Holy Bible, Containing the Old and New Testaments and the Apocrypha (Cambridge: at the University Press, 1961) is signed in ink by Queen Elizabeth II on a mounted presentation plate, dated Christmas 1961.

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Mollie of Sydenham became a valued member of Hartnell’s team making sumptuous royal fashion

17 April 2026

Royal costumes and fashion have long been a source of fascination.

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Mug up on coronation dates

17 April 2026

The unknown maker of this commemorative creamware mug produced for the coronation of King George IV seems to have been in a rush.

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The best genre art generates big prices

17 April 2026

A strong result for a 19th century genre picture was achieved for the Italian artist Vittorio Reggianini (1858-1939) at Tennants (24% buyer’s premium) of Leyburn, North Yorkshire.

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Arms of Prussia Chinese export tureen emerges at Lempertz sale

17 April 2026

Founded in 1751 at the behest of the Prussian king Frederick the Great, ‘The Royal Prussian Asiatic Company in Emden to Canton and China’ aimed to profit from the trade between Europe and China.

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Véra Russell collection: A window into the world of art

17 April 2026

Collection of gallery owner and exhibition organiser includes letters from the likes of Bacon and Hockney

French sciatère designed by Jean Sarrazin

New French museum buys 17th century scientific instruments at auction

15 April 2026

A new museum currently under construction just outside Paris has made two purchases at Hôtel Drouot this month.

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‘Second Lady’ in style of Lely takes first place in price terms

10 April 2026

Top-seller when a collection of antiques from the estate of a descendant of one of Britain’s longest-serving chancellors of the exchequer went to auction in the Cotswolds was an oil painting “in the manner of 17th century royal portraitist Peter Lely”.

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Item revealed to be not a stool but a headrest puts in a spirited performance at auction

10 April 2026

Kali shaped from local hardwoods, typically ironwood, were traditionally made by canoe-builders in the South Sea islands.

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Pocket globes put the world to rights

10 April 2026

Two of London’s salerooms sold Georgian pocket globes on March 12. Both hammered well above what proved modest estimates.

Pocket watch

Second watch said to have been found on body of Titanic victim John Jacob Astor emerges at auction

10 April 2026

Two years after a Wiltshire auction house set a record for Titanic memorabilia with “the watch recovered from the body of John Jacob Astor”, another timekeeper making precisely the same claim is coming to market.

Alice Liddell's bed

Alice in slumberland: bed once belonging to Alice Liddell comes to auction

10 April 2026

Alice Liddell was just a 10-year-old living in Oxford in the 1860s when Charles Dodgson – better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll – spun a fantastical tale to her and her two sisters Edith and Lorina on a summer afternoon by the Thames.

Miss Vernon

Rediscovered portraits by Romney and Raeburn emerge at auctions this spring

10 April 2026

Mark the diary for the appearance of two notable British portraits at auction in Paris and in Cambridge.

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Arts & Crafts northern exposure: woodwork made in Cumbria and Yorkshire – auctioned in Cumbria and Yorkshire

10 April 2026

Lake District cabinetmaker and woodcarver Ernest John Oldcorn trained at Gillows of Lancaster but he found his niche after joining the Arthur W Simpson workshop.

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Cape Town connects the world

10 April 2026

Single-owner collection reflects both the port’s position linking trade routes and the artisans it attracted

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Market that relies on a stand-out selection of South African Modernists such as sought-after Stern

10 April 2026

The South African auction scene is heavily dependent on the work of the handful of painters who played a key role in shaping the nation’s art in the first half of the 20th century.

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The trick is to keep it original when it comes to magical content

10 April 2026

Magic books library reflects obsession of collector who prized exceptionally clean examples

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