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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Candlesticks by Coker and Cafe light up sales in Cambridge and Lewes

23 July 2018

Pairs of Georgian candlesticks by the best-known London specialist makers such as William Cafe and Ebenezer Coker continue to sell well enough, as long as condition is acceptable.

Sir Francis Drake wart and all portrait fetches £290,000 at auction

23 July 2018

An early Anglo-Dutch portrait of the swashbuckling English sea captain Sir Francis Drake topped Bonhams’ Old Master paintings sale on July 4 in New Bond Street. It sold for £290,000, just below its juicy £300,000-500,000 guide.

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Market confidence as regional firms invest in expansion

23 July 2018

Auction houses in Bristol, Staffordshire and Norfolk have chosen to invest in new premises this year. Suggesting continued confidence in the regional auction market, Bristol Auction Rooms, Potteries Auctions and TW Gaze are planning to open new salerooms by the autumn.

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Buyers on the scent of Chiswick Auctions silver

23 July 2018

This novelty silver scent bottle, below, appealing to two niche sections largely immune to the swings of the larger silver market, was a target for collectors when offered at Chiswick Auctions (25% buyer’s premium).

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Celebs give Old Masters the glitz

23 July 2018

Can endorsement by stars such as Beyoncé and Victoria Beckham boost the market?

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Spoon and snail on offer – but nothing sluggish about bidding at Somerset auction

23 July 2018

Considering that Norwich was, after London, the largest and wealthiest city in England from the Middle Ages to the Industrial Revolution, its assay office (1562-1705) was comparatively shortlived. As such, secular silver produced in the city rarely appears on the market.

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Falcon Studio silver from HG Murphy family flies into Salisbury sale

23 July 2018

Woolley & Wallis (25% buyer’s premium) is currently selling across a number of auctions a cache of items from the family of HG Murphy (1884-1939), whose Falcon Studio produced some of the finest English silver of the inter-war era.

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Extensive library dedicated to agriculture sold over two days in London auction

23 July 2018

Comprising some 3000 books ranging in date from 1473-1840, one of the finest collections of books on agriculture ever assembled was dispersed by Forum Auctions (30/24/14.4% buyer’s premium inc VAT) in a July 10-11 sale that totalled £1.6m.

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Medal awarded to the militant Irish Suffragette who tried to blow up a cathedral comes to auction

21 July 2018

It’s déjà vu all over again… yes, we bring you another excellent and evocative Suffragette item of memorabilia up at auction in this, the centenary year of the signing of the Qualification of Women Act. In other words, votes for women in the UK – aged over 30, that is.

'Sketch of the Analytical Engine' by Ada Lovelace

Ada Lovelace computing book taken to £95,000 at Cirencester auction

20 July 2018

A book by the 19th century computer pioneer Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) – known as ‘the Countess of Computing’ – has sold for £95,000 at Moore Allen & Innocent in Cirencester.

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Movers and shakers: the latest arts and antiques appointments

20 July 2018

Our latest look at new roles in the art and antiques trade.

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Nelson memorabilia sails into auction for collecting options at various price points

20 July 2018

Whether your budget runs to four figures or a hefty six figures, two lots sold recently show how various price options can be available in a certain collecting market – in this case, Nelson memorabilia.

Pencil holder

Personal effects of former King Edward VIII and wife Wallis Simpson head to auction

19 July 2018

A watch, writing set and magnifying glass belonging to the controversial couple the Duke and Duchess of Windsor - the former King Edward VIII and wife Wallis Simpson - will be offered at auction this weekend.

Eugene V Thaw

American art dealer Eugene Thaw’s collection heads to Christie’s

19 July 2018

“Great art collecting need not be based on a great fortune. Education, experience and eye are more important.” So said the late American art dealer and collector Eugene V Thaw who died aged 90 earlier this year.

The Man

Can’t you hear me bidding? Rolling Stones legend Charlie Watts’ former home has items going under the hammer in Gloucestershire

19 July 2018

You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you might find you get one of the objects from a former home of Charlie Watts, the legendary Rolling Stones drummer.

Carpathia gold medal

Liverpool hero’s gold medal from Titanic rescue offered at Buckinghamshire auction

18 July 2018

A gold medal awarded to the bursar on board the RMS Carpathia, the ship that famously rescued survivors from the Titanic in 1912, will be offered at Bourne End Auction Rooms this summer.

‘Hungers Prevention...' by Augustine Mathewes

5 highlights from single-owner sale of early English books at Skinner in Boston

18 July 2018

US auction house Skinner is holding a single-owner sale devoted to early English books in their Boston rooms.

Judges in California shelve law for artist resale right

18 July 2018

The 1977 California Resale Royalties Act has effectively been shelved after panel of judges struck down the law – the US’s only ‘droit de suite’ law for visual artists.

Blockchain conference Christies

Blockchain could be “subtle botox” for the art market but not a “facelift”

17 July 2018

Blockchain for the art world is a big opportunity but caution is needed. That was the verdict from Christie’s Art + Tech Summit.

Potteries Auctions

Staffordshire auction house expands in the Potteries

17 July 2018

Staffordshire’s Potteries Auctions is expanding with a second saleroom to increase its auction frequency to two a month.

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