Auctioneers

Illustrated by Denver Gillen, Robert L. May’s poem about Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer was first issued in 1939 as a give-away booklet for children by a Chicago department store, Montgomery Ward.

JOHN Taylor was the Sawrey joiner and wheelwright, whose wife and stout, elderly daughter, Agnes Anne, kept the village shop immortalised by Beatrix Potter in Ginger and Pickles. But the first Taylor to appear in one of her books was his son, young John, who was the model for the terrier carpenter John Joiner in The Roly Poly Pudding.

On November 28 Spink officially opened the new showroom at their existing headquarters at 69 Southampton Row.

Christie’s are to increase the number of European salerooms offering the Christie’s Live online bidding feature.

THIS year’s ATG-sponsored Charity Football Match between the Dealers and Auctioneers has raised more than £10,000 for Breast Cancer Haven.

The 21st century equivalent of an unknown masterpiece brought in to the front counter of a saleroom must be the treasure that surfaces on an auctioneer’s computer via a routine email.

AS the football pundits say, it’s not winning the title that makes a great team, it’s winning it back-to-back. And against even stronger competition, Bloomsbury Auctions repeated last year’s feat by taking the much-coveted top prize in the annual ATG pub quiz.

Initially catalogued as “an Eastern walnut three-tier table, brass mounted and fitted three flaps, 2ft (64cm) wide when open” and estimated at just £150-200, the appraisal of this stylish table seen at Simon Chorley of Southam, near Cheltenham, Gloucester on November 30 was radically upgraded when it was identified as the work of Aesthetic architect and designer Edward William Godwin (1833-1886).

ON December 28, 1792 Anglo-Irish statesman, orator and philosopher Edmund Burke (1729-97) enacted the melodrama in Parliament that became known as the Dagger Scene.

This Edgar Degas bronze owned by the late art dealer Lillian Browse has been saved for the nation in a deal brokered by Christie’s in lieu of inheritance tax. It follows a similar sale recently arranged by the auctioneers that saw the National Gallery acquire two works by Italian artist Giovanni Paolo Panini.

Son of Sir James Thornhill, brother-in-law to William Hogarth and serjeant painter to the King, John Thornhill was also a founder member of the Whig Beefsteak Club.

Blandford Auction Rooms have ceased trading as the saleroom was closed by its owners on November 3.

While many are still finding the market sluggish for standard English brown furniture, there is no shortage of demand at the top end as shown by results from the latest sales in London.

Auctions to centre on Nottingham, Bristol and Newbury as others become offices

Bonhams have announced details of the second phase in their UK regional restructure, which will be in place by Christmas.

Woolley and Wallis chairman Paul Viney was back in the Radio Two studio with Terry Wogan for the 21st year running on Thursday, as he took bids for lots put up in aid of the BBC Children In Need appeal.

Sotheby’s have revised employee incentive packages in a move that should help stabilise costs and prevent key staff from being poached by rivals.

November saw the art market hit a new high as Christie’s capped a remarkable series of New York sales with a record $240m (£131m) for post-War and Contemporary art.

The discovery of two small panels by Fra Angelico (c.1395-1455) in a semi-detached house in Oxford ranks as one of the most remarkable art finds this country has ever witnessed.

Feeding frenzy sets new record as bidders get their fill despite absence of Lloyd Webber Picasso