Auctioneers

THIS year’s Dealers vs Auctioneers chairty football match will take place on August 29 at the Bank of England Sports Club, Roehampton.

This walnut table by the English architect-designer Edward William Godwin (1833-86), was spotted by Jeremy Lamond from Shrewsbury-based Halls during a routine valuation visit to a house in the Welshpool area.

Christie’s are to adjust their buyer’s premium thresholds, with effect from June 2, in line with changes announced by Sotheby’s last week.

THE battle over Antiquorum, the world’s leading clock and watch auction house, has stepped up a gear, with significant moves from both sides.

Tennants are hosting a study day titled The Marquetry Furniture of Thomas Chippendale.

CONTEMPORARY art may still be heading skywards, but the imminent buyer’s premium rate increases – and Sotheby’s latest set of results – show that pressure at the margins is as intense as ever.

As of June 1, Sotheby’s auctions in New York and London will be subject to new buyer’s premium thresholds that will hit further buyers of ‘middle range’ art and antiques.

THE gargantuan sums of money being spent at the top end of the contemporary art market continued unabated as the latest sales series in New York saw a staggering overall premium-inclusive total of $990m.

A HANDWRITTEN letter written by Albert Einstein in the year before he died giving his thoughts on religion drew spectacular bidding in London last week when it sold at £170,000 (plus premium) against an estimate of just £6000-8000.

Dreweatts have secured a preview for their forthcoming Urban Art sale at Selfridges.

Fears that New York’s flagship May sales might usher in a market meltdown were allayed last week as Sotheby’s and Christie’s posted solid results for Impressionist and Modern art.

A rare intervention by the London Assay Office has resulted in the wholesale withdrawal of a 124-lot collection of silver bosun’s calls scheduled to be sold in London last week.

Photo from 1866 rescued from the attic sells in Nottingham...

Two auctioneers, two Gérôme sculptures, but two very different estimates

Around 260 people attended a champagne reception on Thursday, May 8 to mark the official opening of Sworders new saleroom in the presence of HRH Princess Michael of Kent.

There was high drama at Christie's latest decorative arts sale in London, when half the £3.1m total came from this Glasgow school panel by Margaret Macdonald Mackintosh, which sold to an American collector for £1.5m (plus premium).

Auctioneer unhappy about need to opt out at short notice

All eyes were on this 3ft 3in (99cm) high Roman marble double bust of Bacchus and his lover Ariadne at Bonhams Antiquities sale on May 1.

READERS who watched the recent BBC drama Miss Austen Regrets will recall the scene in which a startled, bemused but not overly enthusiastic Jane is told by the Prince Regent’s librarian that his royal master is a great admirer and that she should feel quite at liberty to dedicate any new novel to the Prince.

The Louvre have secured the return of a French Crown Jewel after 121 years, through a private sale with Christie’s New York.