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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Soviet travel posters included in Surrey auction

19 October 2020

Ewbank’s of Send, Surrey, will feature a series of rare 1930s Soviet travel posters in its Vintage Posters auction on October 30.

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Single-owner collection ‘represents something of a return to form’ for the Spode market

19 October 2020

The 'Indian Sporting' series is the most celebrated of all Spode blue and white transfer-prints. This multi-scene pattern (there are 17 different designs in total) is based on aquatints by Samuel Howitt from 'Oriental Field Sports, Wild Sports of the East' by Captain Thomas Williamson, published in 1807.

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Medal saluting bravery of ‘Colored Troops’ sells in Salisbury

19 October 2020

A Colored Troops Medal or Butler Medal was offered for sale at the Medals & Coins, Arms & Armour Militaria at Woolley & Wallis (25% buyer’s premium) in Salisbury.

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Bidders shell out for sign and a noted beauty

19 October 2020

Entered by different vendors to raise money for charities, and accordingly given token estimates, petrol signs and Irish banknotes took the top prices at Clarks Auctions Rooms (17.5% buyer’s premium) in Liskeard.

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What a relief: Italian surprises emerge at Mallams' auction

19 October 2020

Brought back to England by 19th century travel writer Richard Ford, a carved alabaster relief of the Madonna watching over Christ was the outstanding lot from a Gloucestershire country house offered at Mallams Cheltenham (22.5% buyer’s premium).

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Old Master oils: vive la différence

19 October 2020

Two Old Master oil on panel paintings by 17th century Dutch artists featuring very different subjects were best-sellers in large mixed-discipline sales held in Paris and Monaco.

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Promotion poster pre-Titanic tragedy comes to Wiltshire sale

19 October 2020

This lithographic poster design of Titanic and Olympic, c.1910-11, was withdrawn after the disaster of 1912 so there are only a handful in existence today. They would have been used in travel agents and White Star Line offices to advertise the liners.

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Buyer has a new home at £2200

19 October 2020

Boxes such as these fashioned and painted as cottages are among the most desirable of all 19th century caddies and boxes.

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Pre-emptions: stepping in at the fall of the gavel

19 October 2020

Pre-emption, the right of a French museum or institution to step in at the fall of the gavel to claim a lot at auctions staged in France for purchase at the hammer price, is a common occurence in such sales.

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Venetian works by ‘follower of’ Canaletto make big sums in their own right

19 October 2020

A high-quality veduta of Venice by one of Canaletto’s followers was the runaway star at Chorley’s (22.5/15/12.5/10% buyer’s premium) two-day auction in Gloucestershire.

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Actress portrayed in pastel

19 October 2020

At Ivoire Nantes’ (24% buyer’s premium inc VAT) auction in the French city on September 29, this 2ft 1in x 3ft (64 x 91cm) signed pastel by Louise Abbemé (1858-1927), showing the actress Sarah Bernhardt seated, sold for €8200 (£7455).

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Dealer hails ‘exceptional’ campaign chest

19 October 2020

An early 19th century campaign chest designed to be broken down into two parts for easier travel has been hailed as “exceptional” by the specialist dealer who bought it at an Essex auction.

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All you need for a civilised packed lunch

19 October 2020

Motor cars became more affordable and reliable particularly in the 1920s-30s, making day trips increasingly popular.

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Portuguese works pop into Chichester saleroom

19 October 2020

A pair of late oil landscapes by Silva Porto (1850-93), a pioneer of naturalism in Portugal whose works appear rarely outside his home country, drew multiple bids at Chichester saleroom Henry Adams (20% buyer’s premium).

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Affordable art: Three works sold for under £1700 including a Sylvia Gosse street scene

19 October 2020

Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales including a Sylvia Gosse street scene.

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Mobile wardrobe brings demand in Norfolk

19 October 2020

At TW Gaze (18% buyer’s premium) in Diss, Norfolk, on August 12 this early 20th century Louis Vuitton wardrobe trunk, no 796731, sold for £4200 against an estimate of £1800-2500.

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Humbert Craig’s Irish outlook brings benefit to Locke & England

19 October 2020

Irish artist James Humbert Craig’s (1877-1944) passion for the outdoors and landscape painting took him frequently to Donegal, Connemara and the glens of Antrim.

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Antikbar offers best of British

19 October 2020

What could be more British than a policeman in traditional garb standing on Tower Bridge?

Logical work proves popular

19 October 2020

Highly influential three-volume set on maths takes a record £90,000 sum in London

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Early 18th century documents detailing a slavery abolitionist's ill-fated project emerge at auction

17 October 2020

Decades in advance of Britain’s Slave Emancipation Act of 1833, 275 British men, women and children attempted to settle an African island to prove plantations could be run without slavery.

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