Woolley & Wallis

Salisbury-based auction house Woolley & Wallis is a leading UK provincial saleroom.

Founded in 1884, they now hold regular specialist sales in areas from Asian Art and Tribal Art to 20th Century Design, Jewellery, European Ceramics, Arms & Armour and Fine Art.

In 2016, they opened a London office in Mayfair.


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Drug jar was designed for the Western market

01 May 2023

This blue and white drug jar was made in Edo period Japan, c.1650, for the Western market.

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London as seen before the big blaze

01 May 2023

View of the city ahead of the Great Fire was attributed to a Dutch artist who produced several panoramas

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Two single-owner collections of drinking glasses on offer

17 April 2023

The sale held by Catherine Southon at the Farleigh Golf Club in Surrey on April 26-27 includes a single-owner collection of 18th century drinking glasses.

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Privateer tribute forms the earliest piece of documentary Lowestoft

20 March 2023

A broad mix of English and Continental pottery and porcelain was on offer in the latest dedicated ceramics sale held by Woolley & Wallis (25% buyer’s premium) in Salisbury, a fair slice of it contributed by single-owner collections.

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Jewellery: Why Georgian paste is bringing some surprising sums

13 March 2023

Once dismissed as mere costume jewellery, Georgian paste is an art form in its own right with prices to match

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Romantic ring that is ‘so much more than the sum of its parts’

13 March 2023

A hugely romantic 18th century enamel, ruby and diamond ring sold for £16,000 at Woolley & Wallis (£25% buyer’s premium) in Salisbury on February 1-2.

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Mourning rings: Remembered in gold and enamel

13 March 2023

A collection of Georgian gold and enamel mourning rings with aristocratic pedigrees comes for sale at Woolley & Wallis on April 20.

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The sweet scent of victory – Nelson remembered in silver

06 March 2023

A private collection of naval and military vinaigrettes was among the highlights of a recent Woolley & Wallis (25% buyer’ premium) Silver & Objects of Vertu auction. It included examples of both familiar and less-familiar models.

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The exotic appeal of coconuts and porcelain

06 March 2023

Cups with coconut bowls mounted in silver or silver-gilt were fashionable rarities in western Europe throughout the 16th and early 17th century. At the time the coconut was, like other ‘exotics’ such as nautilus shells or imported pottery and porcelain, held in high esteem.

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London pictured as the Great Fire loomed

27 February 2023

A rare vista showing London before the Great Fire of 1666 is on offer at Woolley & Wallis’ sale of Old Masters, British & European Paintings on March 8.

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Auction action moves from idyllic countryside to rugged mountains

20 February 2023

Two Henry Lamb (1883-1960) landscapes, unseen in public since the early 1960s, attracted a flurry of bids

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Carpet and cabinet create international interest in Salisbury saleroom

13 February 2023

Five-figure stars from north India and South America took top honours at a notably international sale at Woolley & Wallis (25% buyer’s premium) on January 18-19.

Maltese coffee pot

Maltese coffee pot at Salisbury auction shows appeal of island life

30 January 2023

Italianate coffee pots and covered sugar basins are the most recognisable domestic forms in Maltese silver. And they are much coveted.

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Mr Brainwash convinces the bidders

23 January 2023

Works by Mr Brainwash (b.1966) are becoming an increasingly common sight at auction.

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Hiroshige took a stand for the vertical format

02 January 2023

The Rokujuyoshu Meisho Zue (Famous Views of the Sixty-odd Provinces) series was the last great landscape work created by Japanese ukiyo-e artist Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858).

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Asian art: Look through a lens of Tibetan Buddhism

02 January 2023

Creative examples featured in recent UK auctions show the influence of religion and culture on the Manchu rulers of the Qing

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Single-owner sauce: vinaigrettes on offer

14 November 2022

The Woolley & Wallis (25% buyer’s premium) silver department sold a private collection of over 100 vinaigrettes assembled in the 1980s.

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Rothschild taste sensations as bidders turn out in force at Exbury House sale

07 November 2022

The unashamed opulence of interior decoration that became known as Le Goût Rothschild as it spread from 19th century France to Austria, Germany and Britain is a style that has always been admired.

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A king cong leads Woolley & Wallis sale

07 November 2022

The top-seller of the small Chinese offering from Exbury House was this colourful, elaborate 18th century cloisonné cong.

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Perfume burners and famous horse set the saleroom pace

24 October 2022

Leading the sale of Fine Furniture, Works of Art & Clocks at Woolley & Wallis (25/12% buyer’s premium) in Salisbury on October 6 was a very fine pair of blue john and ormolu perfume burners by Matthew Boulton and John Fothergill.

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