Cheffins

Cheffins was founded in 1825 and is a UK firm of valuers, surveyors, property advisers and auctioneers.

The company’s fine art auctioneers and valuers business is based in an office in Cambridge. Its sales include regular antiques and interiors auctions, fine art, art and design, specialist books, maps an prints, an oriental sale and a wine sale.


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Dolls in demand: a selection of recent highlights

14 October 2024

An Adelaide Huret bisque shoulder head fashion doll with accessories hammered for £16,000 at Cheffins’ (25% buyer’s premium) teddy dolls and bears timed online sale on September 5, four times the high estimate.

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Dresser design did not descend to the masses

14 October 2024

Despite his pioneering aesthetic, many of Christopher Dresser’s designs were too complex and costly to be easily mass-produced.

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Heyde Antarctic toy set in pole position

14 October 2024

The Heyde Ernest Shackleton 1908 Antarctic Exploration Set is one of the rarest and sought-after productions from the German toy maker.

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Textiles: Sumptuous stumpwork emerges from Eve Clarke collection

27 August 2024

Examples of this three-dimensional technique stand out as part of a dealer’s collection

2655 PV Cheffins Cockermouth Church 1

Intriguing gold snuff box relating to a Cumbrian row in 1850 emerges at auction

09 August 2024

An 18ct gold presentation snuffbox by Nathaniel Mills is coming up for sale at Cheffins (25% buyer’s premium) Jewellery, Silver & Watches sale in Cambridge on August 15.

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Middle East painted to Western taste by Huysmans

06 May 2024

To understand how European audiences viewed the Middle East in the 19th century, you could do worse than look at the body of work produced by Belgian artist Jan-Baptist Huysmans (1826-1906)*.

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Ornate mirror has the Thomas Johnson look about it

29 April 2024

The furniture highlight of Cheffins’ (25/20/12.5% buyer’s premium) latest Fine sale in Cambridge was the catalogue cover star.

North Polar Sea chart

Pick of the week: Discoverer of Franklin’s fate

15 April 2024

The commercial fortunes of a 19th century map of the Arctic offered at Cheffins (25% buyer’s premium) this month were boosted greatly by its annotations.

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How Gwen John sought creature comfort

08 April 2024

Watercolour of a sleeping feline – possibly her favourite cat – takes £19,000 in Cambridge saleroom

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Frodsham given to a lifesaver

08 April 2024

This 18ct gold pocket watch by Charles Frodsham with accompanying chain (offered separately) was presented by Sir Victor Horsley (1857-1916) to the man he credited for saving his son’s life.

Watercolour by JMW Turner

Rediscovered JMW Turner watercolour sells for £37,000 at Cheffins

20 March 2024

An early watercolour by JMW Turner which had been hanging unidentified in the vendor’s dining room for over 30 years overshot a £20,000-30,000 estimate at Cheffins in Cambridge, selling at £37,000.

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How George Romney was riled by prison hardship

15 January 2024

Some of the artist’s most modern and dramatic works were derived from his social concerns

‘English School’ plumbago on vellum portrait miniatures

Pick of the week: Scientist made his living as a painter

18 December 2023

The most remarkable result at Cheffins’ Fine Art Sale in Cambridge was provided by a group of four ‘English School’ plumbago on vellum portrait miniatures.

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Presentation copies with a special touch

04 December 2023

Pictured here are two fine 19th century presentation copies that, unexpectedly, topped sales in South Cerney and Cambridge in October.

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Vivien Gribble worth more than a dabble

27 November 2023

Little-known artist tutored by Cedric Morris comes under the spotlight thanks to her portrait of him

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Grab an almost half Nelson

30 October 2023

Cheffins of Cambridge is offering a marble bust of Lord Nelson, after Franz Thaller (1759-1817) and Matthias Ranson (fl. c.1800).

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Specialists had gone on a Frank Algernon Stewart hunt

23 October 2023

Two watercolours by Frank Algernon Stewart (1877-1945) were among the best performers in a collection of works amassed by two former gallery owners.

Cedric Morris picture

Cedric Morris allegorical work from 1938 comes to auction

16 October 2023

An allegorical bird and flower oil painted by the artist-plantsman Cedric Morris (1889-1982) in the shadow of the Second World War comes to auction this month.

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The Birleys up close and personal

16 October 2023

Group of paintings the artistic couple kept at their beloved manor house find new homes after auction

Ann Forbes

Ann Forbes portraits show natural talent of an artist excluded from formal training

09 October 2023

While the Dundee-born painter Catherine Read (1723-78) is considered the first Scottish women to work as a professional artist, a close second was Ann Forbes (1745-1834).

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