Auctioneers

A lack of sufficient stellar consignments at the latest Contemporary art sales in London meant the overall total was down on last year.

Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia has acquired a Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-97) portrait of an Irish veteran of the French and Indian War. The foundation bought it at Sotheby’s Old Master day sale in London in December when it sold for £40,000 plus premium.

A Cardiff estate has provided a highly useful consignment to Welsh saleroom Rogers Jones (18% buyer’s premium inc VAT) with around 45 modern British paintings in all.

A selection of five pieces of Clarice Cliff offered at different price levels at Woolley & Wallis on March 20 .

Silver across five centuries caught the eye at provincial sales in February.

The concertina-cut novelty pictured here is one in which a painted roundel of a cottage pulls up to reveal a large mouse.

An impressive collection of 20th century British pictures will be offered at Cheffins in Cambridge on March 21 after Hertfordshire County Council took the decision to offload them.

Edward Seago (1910-74), perhaps the best-known 20th century artist who lived and worked almost exclusively in Norfolk, captured the atmosphere of his beloved East Anglia with sweeping compositions and a delicate palette.

Conducted by Christie’s Paris (25/20/12.5% buyer’s premium) in collaboration with Bertrand Meaudre of Paris dealer Librairie Landarchet, a February 20 sale featured the dispersal of the library of Marc Litzler for a premium-inclusive total of €4.4m (£3.82m).

A selection of highlights from auctions being held either as part of or timed to coincide with Asia Week New York.

Never wholly out of demand since top Victorian upholsterer Howard & Sons began producing furniture from its Soho premises, these built-for-comfort sofas and armchairs continue to excel whenever offered at auction.

The lot that gained all the publicity in a recent Shropshire sale, even national newspaper coverage, was a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.

Familiar striking shapes and bright colours retain a strong following despite a fall in demand from the 1980s-90s heyday.

The wealth of material brought back to Britain from the days of the East India Company was illustrated at John Nicholson’s (24% buyer’s premium) sale when four Indo-Portuguese or Anglo-Indian tortoiseshell and ivory works were consigned by different vendors.

Sylvia Gosse (1881-1968) was perhaps the best known of the women artists who worked closely with Camden Town Group luminary Walter Sickert.

Scottish artist Craigie Aitchison (1926-2009) painted few subjects more obsessively throughout his career than the crucifixion.

Post-war art stored in a cupboard for “many years” by an academic institution in Leicestershire drew strong bidding for two British artists in particular at Derbyshire saleroom Hansons (20% buyer’s premium).

Underlined by a £65,000 bid for a table cabinet, the attraction of Indo-Portuguese furniture – that combines familiar European forms with the exotic lure of the East – is as strong today as it was in centuries past.