Auctions

News and previews of art and antiques sold at auctions throughout the UK and overseas, from multi-million-pound blockbusters to affordable collectables.


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Watches: Wellington’s gift to opera singer rumoured to be his mistress

10 March 2025

A gold and enamel Dent pocket watch given by Arthur Wellesley, the Duke of Wellington, to the Italian opera singer Giuseppina Grassini surfaced for sale at an auction in Austria

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Martinware Brothers stoneware: a case of sophisticated simplicity

10 March 2025

Stoneware vases and jugs from the famed Martin Brothers also show their sense of style and character

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Rolls-Royce timepiece ‘given as Xmas present’

10 March 2025

This silver desk clock designed in the form of a Rolls-Royce radiator grille with a red enamel badge and a miniature Spirit of Ecstasy mascot perched on top is thought to have been given as a Christmas gift by the British luxury car maker to one of its distributors.

Books and works on paper auction calendar, March 11-17, 2025

10 March 2025

Our regular listing of UK and Irish books and works on paper sales

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Flower pictures by Garden of England artists bloom in Kent saleroom

10 March 2025

Focus on two flower paintings created in Kent by different artists but offered at the same local saleroom

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Jacobite collector bids five times estimate for Bonnie Prince Charlie letter

10 March 2025

Letter sent from Holyrood implores a nobleman to support his course in the middle of the Jacobite Rising

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Piaget winning at Polo

10 March 2025

Piaget launched its Polo wristwatch model in 1979.

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Top stories this week including the collection of a former Antiques Roadshow expert heading to auction

09 March 2025

The most viewed stories on this website over the last week included news of the late Hugo Morley-Fletcher’s collection of art and ceramics being consigned to Roseberys.

William De Morgan panel

Important William De Morgan architectural panel emerges in West Midlands

07 March 2025

A monumental and important William De Morgan architectural tile panel comes for sale in Stourbridge next week with a guide of £50,000-60,000.

Bustard William Hayes picture

Rare spotting: 18th century picture of a great bustard makes an appearance at Bonhams

07 March 2025

A depiction of a great bustard by the ornithological illustrator William Hayes captures the twilight years of a bird driven to extinction in Britain

Regimental inkstand

Inkstand presented to British Madras governor quadruples estimate

07 March 2025

An Indian silver inkstand, presented to the Duke of Buckingham in 1880 by a volunteer field artillery regiment in Madras known as ‘The Duke’s Own’, quadrupled its £1000-1500 estimate at Dreweatts.

Whitefriars Textured range

Whitefriars glass collectors drive prices upwards in Bedford sale

06 March 2025

By the time glass designer Geoffrey Baxter (1922-95) died his contribution to the Whitefriars story had already assumed cult status and a collecting hierarchy had developed.

Australian gold rush ring

Memento of the Australian gold rush brings major competition in Devon

05 March 2025

Among the earliest examples of Australian gold rush jewellery are the simple signet rings sold to miners in the settlement of Ballarat in the 1850s as a memento of the boomtown days.

Pocket watch by Lorenz Beha

Pocket watch by murdered Victorian clockmaker triples estimate

05 March 2025

A pocket watch by a watchmaker who was murdered in a highway robbery in 1853 sold at triple its estimate at TW Gaze in Diss, Norfolk

La Belle Mere by John Lavery

Lavery portrait of his wife and daughter makes six-figure sum in Essex

04 March 2025

An intimate work by Irish artist Sir John Lavery (1856-1941) has sold for £360,000 at Sworders.

Sèvres vases

Stand out pieces of Sèvres spotted at New York auction

04 March 2025

An exceptional pair of Louis Philippe period Sèvres hard paste porcelain vases has been unearthed in upstate New York.

2683NEDI NIB RWB David Coleman Typewriter Cropped

David Coleman’s commentary collection sells at RWB Auctions

04 March 2025

The personal collection of notes, research, transcripts and photographs belonging to former BBC sports commentator David Coleman (1926-2013) appeared at a recent sale held by RWB Auctions in Royal Wootton Bassett.

Fabergé pieces at Sotheby's

Castle Howard collection of Fabergé animals offered at Sotheby’s

03 March 2025

Sotheby’s is to offer a collection of 30 Fabergé animals from the Castle Howard estate on May 6 as part of its Fabergé, Gold Boxes & Vertu auction in Geneva.

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Pocket watches with historical back-stories bring demand in Exeter auction

03 March 2025

The latest silver and jewellery sale at Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood (26/25% buyer’s premium) in Exeter included two Georgian 18ct gold pocket watches from two generations of the Drummond family.

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Tom Roberts on track in Twickenham

03 March 2025

Born in London, artist Tom Roberts (1856-1931) became famous on the other side of the world painting the people and landscape of Australia.

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