Auctions

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


Cy Twombly, Untitled 2007

Sotheby’s reveals consignment win via livestreamed video

10 September 2021

Sotheby’s chose to announce its winning of a prestigious consignment via a livestreamed video involving specialists across the US, Europe and Asia.

Banksy's ‘Love is in the Bin’

Banksy’s shredded canvas ‘Love is in the Bin’ returns to Sotheby’s

09 September 2021

Billed as “an audacious piece of performance art” by Sotheby’s, although viewed by others as a publicity stunt, the half-shredded Banksy painting ‘Love is in the Bin’ is returning to auction with its estimate bumped up.

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Football memorabilia highlights: Beckham, Best, Ramsey, Matthews and ‘the greatest fight in English football’

07 September 2021

A selection of football memorabilia coming up at auction or sold recently – plus a Sir Stanley Matthews tea set from a dealer.

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Going for a Song – ‘Ru’ censer brings £320,000

06 September 2021

Stamford Auction Rooms set a house record when a Chinese pottery tripod censer shot over its £500-800 estimate to bring £320,000.

Colt gun

Gun used to kill Billy the Kid sets auction record for any firearm

06 September 2021

The gun Pat Garrett used to kill Billy the Kid has been sold for a world auction record for any firearm at Bonhams in Los Angeles.

Bottger Meissen tea set

Pick of the week: Meissen made with a homely touch

06 September 2021

This near-complete Böttger Meissen tea set, c.1725, came for sale at Keys of Aylsham on September 1.

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Renaissance revival carved bellows and Sir Alf Ramsey’s football cap are among four lots to watch

06 September 2021

With estimates from £350-4000, here are four previews of upcoming items this week.

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USA: the land of opportunity for traditional European art and antiques

06 September 2021

As the Silent Generation passes and Baby Boomers choose to divest, large deposits of once fashionable art and antiques are heading for auction in the US.

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Newark-minted ‘money of necessity’ at Dix Noonan Webb

06 September 2021

Siege money or ‘money of necessity’ was minted in Newark in 1646 during the town’s third siege and the last year of the First English Civil War.

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Silver celebration of a treasured plant at Baldwin’s

06 September 2021

Cyrene, founded by Greeks c.631BC in the uplands near present-day Shahhat in Libya, reached the height of its prosperity in the 5th century BC.

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Bonnie Prince Charlie’s pre-Culloden meal

06 September 2021

On April 14, 1746, two days before the battle that would seal his fate, Charles Edward Stuart held a lavish meal at Culloden House, the highland estate owned by Hanoverian loyalist Duncan Forbes (1685-1747) that had recently been commandeered by Jacobite forces.

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Silver salts count as York rarities

06 September 2021

Following an upturn in the fortunes of the silver trade in York, an assay office reopened there in 1776 and remained active until final closure in 1858.

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The restoration motivation: Rising interest in works that appeal despite condition issues

06 September 2021

Although condition remains a pivotal factor in the Old Master market, a number of lots sold recently in the UK regions suggest increasing interest for works that represent a promising restoration project.

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Rare example of an 'enconchado' painting makes 30-times estimate at Surrey auction

06 September 2021

An intriguing variation on an Old Master sparked a strong competition at Parker Fine Art (25% buyer’s premium) earlier this summer.

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Relics from rare Keith silver to symbols of Jacobite rebellion feature at Edinburgh auction

06 September 2021

The rarest Scottish provincial town marks, known only from spoons and ladles, are those of Stonehaven, Ellon and Keith.

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Previews: issue 2508

06 September 2021

A selection of 11 upcoming lots from auctions taking place around the UK and Ireland

Cigar cards

Bid Barometer: issue 2508

06 September 2021

ATG’s pick of auction lots bought by internet bidders on thesaleroom.com, featuring both the highest prices over estimate and the top prices paid online.

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One of the first coins struck in North America offered at Morton & Eden

06 September 2021

A tin of coins and medals consigned to Morton & Eden’s autumn sale included a number of early pieces from the American colonial period.

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Insurance broker's remarkable Elizabethan rarities offered at St James’s Auctions

06 September 2021

Starting his collection with a 1568 sixpence purchased in Swanage in 1957, marine insurance broker Christopher Comber (1944-2019) formed a remarkable collection of Elizabeth I coins.

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Travel to Stonehenge via Skye

06 September 2021

Many of the lots in a June 16 sale of books, maps and pictures held by Thomson Roddick (18% buyer’s premium) in Carlisle came from the collections of the late Dr George Kozikowski of Skye, a microbiologist, archaeologist and antiquarian of Polish descent.

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