Auctioneers

A trio of oils by Venetian artist Antonio Ermolao Paoletti (1834-1912) were consigned to Dawsons (23% buyer’s premium) of Maidenhead from a private London collection.

South Cerney sale of nearly 900 lots mirrors the huge offerings held in Germany

The hunger among buyers to acquire good quality jewellery stayed strong during lockdown, writes John Benjamin.

Among the many successful online-only jewellery auctions that took place during the lockdown was that held by Bromley-based saleroom Catherine Southon (18% buyer’s premium), writes John Benjamin.

Archaeological discoveries were a continuous source of inspiration for jewellery in the 19th century. Ancient goldsmithing techniques were studied and relearned. Jewels found during excavations of Roman, Egyptian, Hellenistic and particularly Etruscan sites were copied or reinterpreted.

Two very different Japanese works on paper performed with equal gusto at Sworders’ (25% buyer’s premium) recent Asian art sale, both making 10-times-estimate sums for a vendor from Hertfordshire.

The Paris auction centre Drouot opened its doors again last month in France following the lockdown.

It is thought that the German artist Adelheid Dietrich (1827-91), renowned for her incredibly detailed still-lifes of fruit and flowers, completed only 50 paintings during her career.

A Qing dynasty (1644-1911) embroidered silk hanging scroll topped Sworders’ (25% buyer’s premium) Asian art sale on May 28, selling online for £21,000.

Vienna saleroom Dorotheum (28/25/22/18% buyer’s premium) was hoping to send a positive signal for the art market from its latest Old Master sale.

A recent sale at Dorotheum (28/25/22% buyer’s premium) in Vienna was topped by this spectacular diamond and aquamarine tiara-necklace by Cartier London.

Christie’s (25/20/13.5% buyer’s premium) recent sale in Paris of books and manuscripts was led at €125,000 (£113,635) by a Nobel Prize for Literature medal awarded in 1947, just four years before his death, to the essayist, critic, novelist and dramatist André Gide.

The stand-out lot at David Lay’s latest Cornish art sale was an oil by Dod Procter (1891-1972), a leading member of the colony of avant garde artists working in Cornwall in the 1920s-30s.

Following the removal of four lots from a New York sale, Christie’s has expressed frustration at being denied access to key information on possible looted antiquities.

One of the few first-edition copies of 'Harry Potter and The Philosopher’s Stone' inscribed and signed by JK Rowling has sold at Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh for £100,000 (plus 25% premium).

Auction houses, dealers and antiques centres in England began to reopen their premises to the public on June 15. All have taken steps to ensure buildings are ‘Covid-secure’ with new layouts, hygiene regimes and occupancy restrictions.