Bonhams

Chinese Girl – the iconic work from Vladimir Tretchikoff, the Russian émigré who settled in South Africa – was sold this week at Bonhams’ South African art sale in London for £840,000, to set a world record for the artist.

Bonhams have announced that they will not be following Christie’s and Sotheby’s in raising buyer’s premium thresholds.

It’s usually the stuff of fairy tales, but a collection of $20 gold coins and medals valued at around $1m for sale at Bonhams in Los Angeles in June is real enough.

The handwritten draft of one of John Betjeman’s best-known poems, ‘The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel’, is just one of the gems in the next tranche of the Roy Davids Collection to appear at Bonhams Bond Street.

Six pencil studies for The Days of Creation by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (1833-98) carry an estimate of £150,000-250,000 at Bonhams’ 19th century art sale in New Bond Street on January 23.

When it comes to rock and pop memorabilia, and The Beatles in particular, if the provenance is not only right but of the first magnitude, prices can soar.

Leica cameras proved one of the must-have auction prizes in recent sales with record prices at Westlicht in Vienna and Bonhams Hong Kong.

With London now accustomed to high levels of spending by private Russian buyers, the latest auctions in this sector once again produced some eye-catching prices for particular lots.

Bonhams’ Chester rooms will offer the Michael Boorer Pewter Collection on November 22, providing an opportunity for pewter collectors to bid for items used in pubs 300 to 400 years ago.

Bonhams’ December 3 sale at Brooklands will bring a powerful symbol of the Battle of Britain back to its spiritual home.

Recently rescued from Kent & Sussex Hospital in Tunbridge Wells, a selection of 13 Carter tiles attributed to Phyllis Butler are to be offered at Bonhams Knightsbridge on October 16.

A collection of 27 intaglios from the collection of Prince Stanislas Poniatowski (1754-1833), nephew of the last King of Poland, came to auction in London last month with a intriguing back-story.

This Russian military medal demolished an estimate of £10,000-15,000 at a recent sale held at Bonhams Knightsbridge.

Following the late summer sales in Edinburgh, Bonhams have announced that they are to sell the contents of Hensol, an historic Category A-listed mansion at Mossdale, Castle Douglas.

Bonhams have released limited financial results for 2011, setting company revenues at £111m, a 22% increase on 2010, according to the Financial Times.

While the eyes of the world have been on the 2012 London Games, the Olympic influence did not leave the auction scene untouched.

The major Scottish sales series is already under way but Bonhams will offer their designated two-part sale later, starting on August 20 in Edinburgh.

There were several highlights at Bonhams’ (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) latest portrait miniatures sale in Knightsbridge on June 28.

The outstanding lot at the latest three-day sale at Bonhams Chester was this extremely rare c.1680 tankard.

Bonhams have integrated Lalique back into their broader mix of 20th century design auctions.