Sotheby's

MADAM – ATG's report ‘Sotheby’s introduces new fee on top of the hammer price and buyer’s premium’ (News, ATG No 2454) will raise eyebrows.

Sotheby’s has introduced a new fee called an ‘Overhead Premium’ that is payable by all auction buyers across its salerooms and online auctions globally.

The ‘high season’ of summer auctions in London held by Sotheby’s and Christie’s generated £205.8m including premium last week.

Rare early map of the region from three years before the Alamo has another saleroom outing

Sotheby’s held the first of this summer’s ‘super sales’ last week as it combined a series of three Modern and Contemporary art auctions into a marathon four-and-a-half hour live-streamed event.

Though largely made up of books, the star turn in a US sale of 100 lots called ‘Churchill in Charge’ was a portrait by the photographer usually known simply as Karsh. The sale was inspired by the 80th anniversary of his assuming the office of Britain’s Prime Minister.

Sotheby’s July Hong Kong series will include ‘a lost masterpiece’ of Qianlong yangcai porcelain recently found in a Dutch country house.

London auction of dealer's works follows similar 2013 sale and Rafael Valls offering held this April

Different in style, medium and subject but both bringing demand, two contrasting works by David Bomberg (1890-1957) sold above estimate at Sotheby’s auction of works from the Daniel Katz collection.

The two most expensive lots in an online London books sale of just 100 lots could hardly have been more different.

The move towards online auctions during the lockdown has not led to the disappearance of intense bidding battles, as witnessed with a number of works at the Daniel Katz auction (see main report) and earlier at the Rafael Valls sale (see ATG No 2440).

Sotheby’s Paris (25/20/13.9% buyer’s premium) reported a cumulative total of €5.4m for the five online sales it held over two weeks in mid May through to early June. The initiative attracted new buyers, said the auction house, with 35% in the jewellery sale and 27% in the Contemporary art auction.

From the 1950s-70s, the Rolex produced a range of memorabilia given only to dealers to promote the brand. A vibrant market has grown in the past decade that has broadened the world of watch collectors beyond horology.