Auctioneers

The inaugural Modern Made auction held by Lyon & Turnbull at the Mall Galleries in London last week recorded a hammer total of £800,000 (close to £1m including premium).

A rifle from the personal armoury of Tipu Sultan sold for £60,000 in Oxfordshire last week.

A hunger strike ‘Fed By Force’ medal awarded to Suffragette Selina Martin (1882-1972) has been snapped up at auction by an Australian museum.

The month of March produced an unusually large number of awakened sleepers across the UK’s regional auction rooms – from an Old Master drawing to a rare Marklin tinplate train.

Three bona fide country house clearances are on the horizon – one conducted by Duke’s of Dorchester following ‘on the premises’ viewing and two others offered in quick succession by Dreweatts at Donnington Priory.

This 19th century painted photograph of an Indian maharaja was the stand-out picture in Sworders’ (23% buyer’s premium) dispersal of the Chelsea home of the late Henry Wilson – a World of Interiors photographer who died in a bicycle accident in 2017.

A ‘turn-up’ religious text was one of the earlier, rarer and more expensive items in a Somerset sale.

France’s annual Journées Marteau event, organised by the French auctioneers’ association SYMEV (Syndicat National des Maisons de Ventes Volontaires), takes place this weekend, April 5-7.

Among the best furniture lots in the regions so far this year was the small early 19th century centre table attributed to George Bullock (1777-1818) offered by Stride & Son (18% buyer’s premium) on March 8.

Weekly clearance sales are increasingly being replaced by newly branded formats as auction houses are responding to fresh consumer trends.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Prices high despite lack of good-quality stock as buyers aim for top standards.