Auctioneers

AUCTIONEER Martin Lawrence of Petersfield firm Jacobs & Hunt was not expecting much when asked to conduct a probate valuation in a top-floor council flat in a rundown part of Southsea.

A REMARKABLE Chelsea porcelain bust with the potential to establish a new record for English porcelain will be offered for sale by Bonhams on April 18.

JAMES Murdoch is stepping down from the board of Sotheby’s to concentrate on his role with his father Rupert’s TV networks.

A RUGBY-tackling mystery hero and a life-size pottery Great Dane helped scupper a daylight smash-and-grab raid targeting a rhino horn libation cup.

“THERE shall be one measure of wine throughout our whole realm, and one measure of ale and one measure of corn – namely, the London quart.”

THE Fine Art Auction Group Ltd, trading as Dreweatts and Bloomsbury Auctions, have appointed Will Richards as deputy chairman of Dreweatts.

THE High Court has ruled that Sotheby’s were not negligent in cataloguing and valuing a judge’s gold chain of office as late 17th century rather than a spectacularly rare survivor from Tudor times.

THE first sale at new premises for Ipswich auctioneers Lockdales, now at the former officers’ barracks in Martlesham Heath, included two pieces of silver and enamel ware of the type associated with the Solvychegodsk region.

SOTHEBY’S have released more details of their 2011 results, showing a 7% rise in revenue to $831.8m against global sales figures of $4.9bn. Profits were $171.4m.

David Hockney (b.1937) and the late Lucian Freud (1922-2011) have captured the public imagination at the moment.

BONHAMS have renewed their call for better client protection in the wake of Auction Atrium’s demise, with the online auction house still owing six-figure sums to consignors.

THAMES Valley accountants James Cowper have been formally appointed as liquidators to Kensington-based online firm Auction Atrium.

A WELL-PRESERVED James Hammond typewriter from the 1880s is itself a rare item, but the example offered for sale by Gildings in Market Harborough in Leicestershire on February 21 attracted greater interest on account of its first owner, Lewis Carroll (1832-98).

ONLY a matter of weeks after the closure of Bonhams’ long-running saleroom in Knowle, a new auction house has opened in the Warwickshire town.

CHICAGO-based auctioneers Leslie Hindman are to open a new auction facility in Denver, Colorado.

FRESH from their multi-million dollar Prospero triumph in New York, Baldwin’s are preparing to offer an outstanding selection of Islamic rarities as part of London Islamic Week in April.

The latest sale at Duke’s of Dorchester included this 16in (41cm) wide French chinoiserie ormolu and lacquered bronze mantel clock c.1750.

THE term ‘masterpiece’ is all too commonplace in auctioneering hyperbole, but just occasionally it rings true.

IN what promises to be a massive test of the market for golfiana, Christie’s will auction the world’s most important private collection of golf art and memorabilia on May 30.

THE two Tiffany works of art that gave strong performances within days of each other in recent US sales were not the usual lamps, glassware or table silver.