Auctioneers

The auction process is a key part of the secondary art and antiques market.

Firms of auctioneers usually specialise in a number of fields such as jewellery, ceramics, paintings, Asian art or coins but many also hold general sales where the goods available are not defined by a particular genre and are usually lower in value.

Auctioneers often provide other services such as probate and insurance valuations.

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Collecting couple who revived the ‘unfashionable’ Victorian market

03 January 2022

Rose and Gallichan sale reflects pioneering spirit of a duo fascinated by late 19th century design.

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Medal reflects unofficial Olympics that followed the 1904 St Louis flop

03 January 2022

This silver medal sold for £3250 at Fellows (23% buyer’s premium) is one of a relatively small number awarded at the Intercalated Games in Athens in 1906.

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‘Tommy’ was a remarkable wartime countess

03 January 2022

A group of medals awarded to a First World War ‘Tommy’ sold for a mid-estimate £2400 at Kent auction house C&T (22% buyer’s premium) on October 20-21. Not that unusual, it would seem.

Lion pin cushion

Novelty pin cushion in our pick of five auction highlights

24 December 2021

ATG’s weekly selection of items that caught bidders’ eyes includes a lion pin cushion that made over 13-times estimate in Scotland.

Ste Croix et Les Rasses

Skiing posters slide into January sales

23 December 2021

Whether or not you can make it to the slopes this season, a skiing poster for your wall at home is always an attractive option.

Portrait of Prince William

UK buyer sought for rare portrait of the future King William IV

22 December 2021

An export block has been placed on a portrait of the future King William IV painted during the American Revolutionary war, in the hope a UK buyer can be found.

Christie's

Christie’s sales hit a five-year high but slip behind Sotheby’s for 2021

20 December 2021

Auction house Christie’s reported preliminary total sales of $7.1bn (£5.2bn) including fees for 2021.

Dawsons

Dawsons invests in larger premises

20 December 2021

Dawsons Auctioneers is relocating to a larger new premises and plans to hold all its sales as live online-only without room bidding.

Biffin watercolour

The £9000 tribute to the talented Miss Biffin

20 December 2021

A rare work by Sarah Biffin (1784-1850), the early 19th century artist born without limbs, sold for £9000 at Sworders on December 15.

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Pick of the week: German armour blows off to the Windy City

20 December 2021

Catalogued as ‘fine and exceptionally rare’, a north German parade cuirass is on its way to the Art Institute of Chicago after being sold at auction.

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The Wright map that plots a route to £365,000

20 December 2021

A copy of Richard Hakluyt’s 'The Principal Navigations, Voiages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation' takes a six-figure sum at Devon sale.

Butterfly screen

An Art Nouveau butterfly-shaped screen and a three-piece Georgian silver tea set are among four lots to watch

20 December 2021

With estimates from £300-5000 here are four previews of upcoming items.

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Banksy prints bowl up at auction

20 December 2021

Two Banksy prints donated to charity set high prices for their respective individual editions at a Bristol auction.

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Fine example of René Magritte's Surrealism comes from Swiss collector who moved to the US

20 December 2021

A select 13-lot auction of works from the collection of Amalia de Schulthess at Bonhams (27.5/25/20/14.5% buyer’s premium) in New York on December 7 was led at $8.4m (£6.36m) by a classic René Magritte (1896-1967) Surrealist painting.

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Bratbys on offer bought direct from the artist

20 December 2021

Two works by ‘kitchen sink’ realist John Bratby (1928-92) were offered in the latest picture sale at Olympia Auctions (25% buyer’s premium).

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Hindu legends and real life

20 December 2021

Modestly estimated at $3000-5000, a richly illustrated manuscript that presents in two finely bound folio volumes a pictorial record of the ‘Costumes et Plantes de L’Hindoustan’ made $80,000 (£58,395) in a New York auction.

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Tantalising sketch gives glimpse ‘of a young Francis Bacon’

20 December 2021

Shepeard collection includes a drawing thought to be an unrecorded portrait of the artist

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Kepler masterpiece leads New York auction boasting a string a of six-figure results

20 December 2021

A Christie’s New York (25/20/14.5% buyer’s premium) online timed sale achieved six-figure bids for no fewer than eight lots and very high prices for a great many others while running up an impressive and premium-inclusive total of close on $4.75m (£3.45m).

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Hans Coper pot comes in at a hefty $260,000

20 December 2021

When Phillips held an auction in London on November 10 in association with Maak Contemporary Ceramics of selections from the collection of Dr John P Driscoll, it produced a number of record-breaking prices for Hans Coper (1920-81) and ended with a new auction high for the studio potter of £520,000 (ATG No 2518).

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Art rarity: the trade outbids private buyers

20 December 2021

A sight increasingly uncommon at auction – the trade outbidding private buyers on key lots of Modern art – occurred a number of times at Sworders’ (25% buyer’s premium) latest sale in this category.

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