Auctioneers

Sotheby’s have posted their highest price in Paris since the French auction market was opened to foreign firms in 2001.

ESTIMATED at just £1000-1500, a work catalogued as by a follower of Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669) has sold for £2.2m at the Gloucestershire saleroom of Moore, Allen & Innocent (15% buyer’s premium).

THERE must be something satisfying about a sale that performs as expected. Vendor, auctioneer and buyers all have their hopes and desires affirmed and most people come away happy.

Tamlyns’ sale held in Bridgwater on October 2 included this unusual copper food mould in the form of a hedgehog, standing 7in (17cm) high.

One of the highlights of the September 11-13 sale at Gorringes (17.5% buyer’s premium) was this marquetry panel by A.J. Rowley after a design by Frank Brangwyn (1867-1956).

Bonhams have announced a series of senior management changes for their European operations. They include the appointment of former deputy chairman Matthew Girling in the new role of Bonhams CEO Europe.

SPINK have set a new record for an English silver coin with the £180,000 they took for a 1663 Charles II silver Crown on September 27.

CHARTERHOUSE auctioneers in Sherborne, have broken the auction record for a Military Medal group only two months after the previous one was set.

Ten telephone bidders drew battle lines with several bidders in the room for this 4ft 8in x 3ft (1.42m x 92cm) giltwood pier glass sold by Saltney, Chester auctioneers Byrne’s on September 29.

Mallams, who conducted their final sale in Bicester two weeks ago, have revealed they are in the final stages of negotiations to acquire a new saleroom site in Oxfordshire.

What price one of the most important legal documents in the history of democracy? On December 10, Sotheby’s New York will offer for sale one of just 17 surviving 13th century copies of Magna Carta.

There will be a new slant to this month’s Islamic week of sales in London. In a move presumably aimed to tap into new areas of the lucrative Middle Eastern market, Sotheby’s will inaugurate a sale of Modern and contemporary Arab Iranian Art. The sale will take place on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 24, immediately after their traditional Islamic works of art sale.

BONHAMS will auction off the contents of the Savoy Hotel on the premises in London in a three-day sale just days after it closes for a £100 million refurbishment.

Provincial auctioneer’s novel twist for breaking into the American market

This heraldic ceramic charger by Alfred and Louise Powell, c.1920, is one of 140 examples of Cotswold Arts and Crafts on view at Simon Chorley Art & Antiques from October 13-21 as part of a loan exhibition titled Cotswold Craftsmen, 1894 to the present day.

A pair of 19th century Venetian views by Italian artist Francesco Zanin proved to be the high point of a Silver Jubilee auction held by Ewbank auctioneers of Surrey on September 20 and provided their owner, a local Dorking family, with an unexpected financial bonus when they sold for multiples of their original estimates.

The auction of the Rostropovich-Vishnevskaya collection of Russian art was dramatically cancelled the day before the sale following an offer from a Russian businessman for the entire collection.

Bonhams, who have recently taken on a number of staff from Sotheby’s, have announced that Christie’s two most senior motoring directors and one of its motoring consultants will join their car department on November 1.

When Wales’ most popular 20th century artist Sir Kyffin Williams passed away last year he bequeathed the furniture from his Anglesey home to the University College of North Wales. Numerous pieces that the University did not require turned up in The Wales and West Country Sale at Bonhams Bath on June 25.

Humberts of Gloucestershire have bought the estate agency and fine art auction business of Halls of Shrewsbury.