Auctioneers

Bonhams have announced the appointment of a new managing director of Scotland and confirmed that new premises have been found in Edinburgh.

Bonhams chairman Robert Brooks has issued a public statement taking a strong stand against the guarantee system following the November art sales in New York and London.

Gagosian’s bid gives Sotheby’s new heart

Anyone who picked up Sotheby’s latest Chinese catalogue for their November 7 sale in London could not have failed to notice the stunning blue and white Qianlong moonflask on the catalogue cover, the piece that topped the sale when it sold for £2.5m.

Aggressive estimates rather than a fallout from credit-market losses were responsible for the first ‘wobble’ in the international art market, say Sotheby’s.

BEARNE’S have been forced to withdraw a large number of lots relating to Lord Byron from their November 7 sale.

When the last of the 823 lots in the sale of the contents Ariane Dandois’ Gallery on the Faubourg St Honoré in Paris was hammered down by Sotheby’s on October 26, it provided a $32.2m (£16.9m) grand finale to a month of sales devoted to traditional areas of the decorative arts in New York.

PREVIOUSLY unpublished letters from the poet John Betjeman are to form part of the setting for a travelling display of early 20th century jewellery designer Helen Holmes at Bonhams.

The descendants of James Thursby Pelham, a renowned early 20th century collector who was advised by R. W. Symonds, are in the process of selling some fine English furniture.

Two different pistols with very different stories sold at provincial auctions in the UK in October.

Collectors of Clarice Cliff have voiced their opposition to increased auctioneers’ charges with some refusing to attend Christie’s latest sale of the popular Art Deco pottery.

Fellows & Sons, the Birmingham-based auctioneers and valuers, are to expand their operation to London and have appointed Richard Slater to spearhead the initiative.

Sotheby’s have posted their highest price in Paris since the French auction market was opened to foreign firms in 2001.

ESTIMATED at just £1000-1500, a work catalogued as by a follower of Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) has sold for £2.2m at the Gloucestershire saleroom of Moore, Allen & Innocent (15% buyer’s premium).

THERE must be something satisfying about a sale that performs as expected. Vendor, auctioneer and buyers all have their hopes and desires affirmed and most people come away happy.

Tamlyns’ sale held in Bridgwater on October 2 included this unusual copper food mould in the form of a hedgehog, standing 7in (17cm) high.

One of the highlights of the September 11-13 sale at Gorringes (17.5% buyer’s premium) was this marquetry panel by A.J. Rowley after a design by Frank Brangwyn (1867-1956).

Bonhams have announced a series of senior management changes for their European operations. They include the appointment of former deputy chairman Matthew Girling in the new role of Bonhams CEO Europe.

SPINK have set a new record for an English silver coin with the £180,000 they took for a 1663 Charles II silver Crown on September 27.

CHARTERHOUSE auctioneers in Sherborne, have broken the auction record for a Military Medal group only two months after the previous one was set.