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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An open and shut case for rare Louis Vuitton box

16 October 2017

The European decorative arts that preceded the tribal session at John Nicholson’s (24% buyer's premium) on October 10 had included a handful of notable bids, not least the £14,500 (estimate £300-500) tendered by an Italian buyer for a small early 20th century Louis Vuitton leather box measuring just 11in (27cm) across.

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The polar explorers who searched for fellow explorer Franklin

16 October 2017

A single-owner collection focusing on the polar regions was a notable feature of the travel section of the October 4 sale held by Dominic Winter (19.5% buyer’s premium). It included, at a 10-times estimate £3000, the posthumously published Memoirs of Lieutenant Joseph Rene Bellot.

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Leonardo result will be Old Master record

16 October 2017

Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi will more than double the Old Master auction record when it is offered at Christie’s New York next month.

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The career of an artistic Playboy

16 October 2017

As part of a fifth anniversary auction at Farleigh Court Golf Club on November 1, Catherine Southon is offering the first part of an archive consigned by the family of the commercial artist and cartoonist Francis Wilford-Smith (1927-2009).

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Riding the rising crest of the Oceanic wave

16 October 2017

The designated tribal art department at Woolley & Wallis (22% buyer’s premium) in Salisbury is now in its third year – and increasingly picking up consignments and regular buyers from well beyond its immediate hinterlands.

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Celebrated Singapore artists in Winchester

16 October 2017

The Winchester saleroom Andrew Smith & Son (15% buyer’s premium) unearthed eight works by two of Singapore’s most celebrated 20th century artists for sale on September 13.

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First round of auctions in Bavarian capital

16 October 2017

The first round of Munich auctions took place at the end of September and produced several notable results for paintings and sculpture. They include a rare appearance at the rostrum for a work by a Greek artist who studied in the Bavarian capital and a 19th century Orientalist subject painted in Rome by a German artist shortly after a return journey from Greece.

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St Ives group artists shine at reopened Tate St Ives and in national auctions

14 October 2017

The picturesque Cornish seaside town of St Ives inspired a generation of now well-known artists and sculptors, most of whom are regular names at auction and in dealerships.

Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner at Lockdales auction

Rolex watch attracts 100 bidders and sells for £230,000 at Suffolk auction

13 October 2017

The market for vintage ‘tool’ watches continues to burn hot. Lockdales in Martlesham Heath, near Ipswich set a new house record this week when a Rolex Oyster Perpetual Submariner sold at £230,000 (plus premium).

Martin tellarium and planetarium

Rare Martin planetarium on offer at Bonhams scientific sale

13 October 2017

Sextants, microscopes, telescopes and tellariums all lead the way at Bonhams scientific instruments sale with a Benjamin Martin tellarium and planetarium in the spotlight.

Derby

Rediscovered landscape by Joseph Wright of Derby goes under the hammer in Bourton-on-the-Water

13 October 2017

An 18th century oil has previously attributed to Joseph Wright of Derby (1734-97) has been declared an autograph work one week before going under the hammer in Bourton-on-the-Water.

Drawing by Alberto Giacometti

WATCH: Alberto Giacometti drawing takes £130,000 at Cambridge auction

12 October 2017

A double-sided sketch by Alberto Giacometti (1901-66) has posted one of the highest prices ever for a 20th century drawing sold at a UK regional saleroom. It sold at Cheffins of Cambridge today for £130,000.

Model train Sheffield Auction Gallery

WATCH: Sheffield auctioneer sells “fantastic piece of engineering” as model train bid to £13,400

12 October 2017

An extraordinarily detailed steam engine built by a modelmaker over many years has sold at auction for £13,400.

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Star Wars Jawa figures up at auction show extra value of pristine packaging

12 October 2017

Much as I enjoyed playing with my Star Wars figures, eagerly ripping them from the packaging instead of keeping them pristine would have damaged my earning power in future years had I consigned them to auction.

Federico Beltran Masses painting

Dramatic auction result for portrait of leading 1920s Hollywood couple

11 October 2017

A double portrait of the two early 20th century Hollywood stars Pola Negri and Rudolph Valentino drew an appropriately dramatic competition at Bonhams in London.

Drawing of The Thames by John Constable

John Constable view of The Thames emerges at Oxford auction

11 October 2017

Oxford saleroom Mallams will offer a John Constable (1776-1837) landscape drawing on October 18. It will be estimated at £12,000-15,000.

‘Salvator Mundi’ by  Leonardo da Vinci

Christie’s to offer Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Salvator Mundi’ in New York with $100m estimate

10 October 2017

Christie’s will offer Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Salvator Mundi’ at a New York auction next month. It will carry an estimate 'in the region of' $100m.

Ship logbook Australia

Logbook recording brutal treatment of teenage 'exiles' transported to Australia sells for £11,000 at Gloucestershire auction

10 October 2017

A logbook recording three voyages to Australia and the Far East made in 1847-52, two of them transporting young prisoners, or 'exiles', to Australia, led Dominic Winter’s latest sale.

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Will this Chinese vase become the first million-pound lot in Scotland?

09 October 2017

Glasgow saleroom Mulberry Bank will offer a late 18th century Qing famille rose bottle vase with an estimate of £1.5m-2m in its October 20-21 auction.

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George Bailey back at Dreweatts as end beckons for Bloomsbury Auctions

09 October 2017

Update (July 2019): auctions resumed at Bloomsbury in 2018 following Gurr Johns' purchase of Dreweatts and Bloomsbury in 2017. In February 2019 it expanded the number of sales at its London office at 16-17 Pall Mall. The original story is below.

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