Bonhams

Bonhams’ mixed-owner ceramics sale on June 24-25 featured two exceptional English delftware dishes from ‘a distinguished family collection’ outside the UK.

Couple fascinated by worldwide development of ceramics – but with early English makers also prominent

Ahead of a busy autumn season for Asian art, Asaph Hyman, Bonhams’ global head of Chinese ceramics and works of art, discusses the pull of single-owner dealer sales, the shifting profile of the Chinese buyer, and what it takes to bring major consignments to the rostrum

A portrait by Robert Peake the Elder (c.1551-1619) was the top lot at the Bonhams (28/27% buyer’s premium) Old Master Paintings sale in London on July 1.

Bonhams offered the Contents of Monreith House: A Historical Seat of Clan Maxwell in two July sales from its Edinburgh saleroom.

Among the most eagerly contested lots at Bonhams’ latest sale of Fine Decorative Arts held in Bond Street was this set of four English heraldic beasts c.1600.

A “seminal document of Parliamentary history” has been purchased at auction by dealership Philip Mould & Company for a hammer price of £62,000.

A rare English silkwork portrait miniature of Charles I sold well above its £3000-5000 estimate for £24,000 at a Bonhams (28/27% buyer’s premium) sale that ran online from June 2-16.

The annual trials of watches that took place first in Greenwich and later at the Royal Observatory in Kew and the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington were an opportunity for the Admiralty to choose suitable timekeepers and for manufacturers to obtain an independent assessment of their merchandise.

The art produced by the British wartime prime minister was sniffed at and snubbed by critics for many years while being welcomed by dealers and auctioneers. But a new exhibition at The Wallace Collection underlines how his paintings are gradually gaining a serious status

As vintage wristwatches continue to dominate the watch market, finding interesting examples at reasonable prices has become a challenge. However, opportunities are out there

A Queen Anne olivewood oyster, holly and walnut cabinet on stand offered by Dreweatts (27/26% buyer’s premium) in Newbury was among a number of lots sold recently showing the commercial boost that royal provenance can provide.

Royal costumes and fashion have long been a source of fascination.