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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Sex sells: The Pearl erotic magazine

07 July 2025

The notorious Victorian-era erotic magazine 'The Pearl' (subtitled 'Journal of Facetiae and Voluptuous Reading') was published by William Lazenby in London between July 1879 and December 1880.

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Eclectic collection of Looe antiques dealer goes under the hammer

07 July 2025

Dealer’s art and antiques being dispersed at auction includes Newlyn School works and Clarice Cliff

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Ornithologist provenance trumps pope, cardinal and king owners

07 July 2025

Watercolour can be traced back to nobleman and antiquary who commissioned the illustrator Leonardi

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Lowestoft porcelain collecting focus shifts back to East Anglia

07 July 2025

Two auctions held in the region underline demand for the locally produced ceramics

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The hand of Holland

07 July 2025

A collection of ceramics by the Hanley-born pottery painter Arthur Holland (1896 1979) comes for sale at Potteries Auctions in Newcastle-under-Lyme on July 12.

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Plates pay homage to physic garden

07 July 2025

Chelsea Red Anchor period ‘Hans Sloane’ plates are named with reference to the royal physician, traveller, and natural historian who helped transform the Chelsea Physic Garden into a centre of botanical knowledge during the Enlightenment.

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Woolf takes bidders to the lighthouse

07 July 2025

Swann Auction Galleries (25% buyer’s premium) recorded head-turning sales during its series of New York sales in May.

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Works of Confucius with French royal twist

07 July 2025

A foundation document of Western sinology appeared at Freeman’s Hindman (28% buyer’s premium) in Chicago.

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Interest lodged in Beilby tumblers

07 July 2025

Among the great Beilby discoveries of recent times was the emergence - from two separate sources across 14 years - of six small firing glasses decorated in red, yellow and white enamel with Masonic emblems.

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Liverpool and Limehouse: Maurice Hillis ceramics collection appears at Bonhams

07 July 2025

Ceramics expert’s collection sold at auction included notable pieces made on Merseyside but also a Limehouse cup that proved very popular with bidders

Landseer landscape

Landseer view of a loch without animal life brightens US auction

07 July 2025

British artist famed for The Monarch of the Glen also painted landscapes for his own pleasure

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Essex glass extra

07 July 2025

A biannual addition to Sworders’ calendar is The Glass Sale - the first on October 28.

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William Billingsley: artistic genius and utter rogue

07 July 2025

The great Georgian porcelain decorator and technician William Billingsley (1758-1828) was that recognisable type: artistic genius and downright rogue.

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Bookseller reveals purchase of Sendak’s Blake first editions

07 July 2025

London rare book dealership Peter Harrington has revealed that it placed the top bid on the first editions of William Blake’s 'Songs of Innocence' (1789) and 'Songs of Experience' (1794) at Christie’s Maurice Sendak auction last month.

Turner painting

Turner’s earliest exhibited painting makes huge return for eagle-eyed vendor

03 July 2025

A ‘lost’ landscape by JMW Turner (1775-1851), thought to be the first oil painting the artist ever exhibited, sold for £1.5m at Sotheby’s latest Old Master evening sale.

Union Jack flown at Trafalgar

Flag flown at Battle of Trafalgar brings spirited bidding at Christie's

03 July 2025

Still bearing the physical scars of battle, a monumental Union Jack flown by HMS Spartiate at the Battle of Trafalgar led Christie’s Exceptional Sale in London on July 1.

George Gower portrait

‘A handsome bee’: Portrait of Elizabethan dandy makes major sum at Bonhams

02 July 2025

An extraordinary Elizabethan swagger portrait drew dramatic competition at Bonhams’ latest Old Master sale.

Canaletto view of Venice

‘Prime period’ Canaletto makes record £27.5m at Christie’s

02 July 2025

A painting by Canaletto (1697-1768) once owned by the first British prime minister Sir Robert Walpole sold for £27.5m at Christie’s latest Old Master evening sale.

Magdalene Oduno vase

Magdalene Odundo takes British studio pottery to a new high at Sotheby’s auction

02 July 2025

British studio pottery moved into new financial territory at the end of June with the sale of a vase by Dame Magdalene Odundo (b.1950) for £570,000.

June Gibson by Ben Enwonwu

Ben Enwonwu paintings bring strong interest at Surrey auction

02 July 2025

Nigerian artist Ben Enwonwu (1917-94) is sometimes described as ‘the first African artist to gain international recognition in the modern art world’.

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