Auctions

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


Copper ‘rescue’ button

‘Rescue’ button from search for lost Franklin expedition bid to eight times estimate in Exeter

27 June 2025

A copper button, made in 1852 as part of the effort to find survivors of the doomed Franklin expedition to the Arctic, has sold at auction for £6000.

Edward Seago oil study

Royal approval: Edward Seago works attract interest after emerging from Cotswolds house

25 June 2025

The ‘quintessential’ Cotswolds property Ready Token House near Cirencester has had an interesting recent history.

Life and Landscape on the Norfolk Broads

Pioneering Victorian photograph book found in closet now heads to Roseberys

24 June 2025

A scarce copy of a pioneering photograph book showing views of the Norfolk Broads has been consigned to south London saleroom Roseberys.

Books and works on paper auction calendar, June 24 to July 11, 2025

23 June 2025

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

Candlesticks

Candlesticks with Austen link light up auction

23 June 2025

A handsome pair of Regency period Egyptian Revival silver candlesticks with a Jane Austen connection sold well above hopes at Lacy Scott & Knight in Bury St Edmunds.

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18th century piano is among five lots to watch

23 June 2025

With estimates from £800, here are five previews of items coming up at auction this week

Abraham Lincoln photograph

Only photograph of Abraham Lincoln with a family member emerges at Bonhams

23 June 2025

Bonhams is offering a rare portrait of former US President Abraham Lincoln seated with his young son Tad.

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Spotlight: 250 years of JMW Turner

23 June 2025

Many works by the great British artist are now owned by institutions but smaller paintings and sketches are common sights at salerooms

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Blaschkas recreated marine life as intricate glass models

23 June 2025

The Bohemian glassmaker Leopold Blaschka’s fascination with marine life began in 1853, when the ship in which he was travelling to the US became becalmed off the Azores.

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Porcelain producer Nast was regarded as rival to Sèvres

23 June 2025

In its day, the Parisian porcelain manufacture founded by the Austrian born Jean Népomucène Hermann Nast in 1783 was regarded as a worthy competitor to Sèvres.

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Painter Devis whose passage to India proved to be a difficult process

23 June 2025

Artist survived a shipwreck but then spent a decade creating portraits and views of the local landscape

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Bid Barometer: issue 2699

23 June 2025

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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Indian bowl rarely seen on the market causes a stir

23 June 2025

This unusual 19th-century Indian enamel-on-copper footed bowl soared to 26 times its top estimate at Lindsay Burns (22% buyer’s premium) in Perth.

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Tibet caught on film and canvas including Dalai Lama enthronement

23 June 2025

Photo albums contain some of the first images of the remote country plus enthronement of the Dalai Lama

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Bidders vie in Vienna for rediscovered work by visionary landscape painter De Bles

23 June 2025

The Salvator Mundi drawing attributed to Leonardo da Vinci’s workshop which sold for €500,000 (ATG No 2692) was not the only sought-after work at Dorotheum’s (28/25/22% buyer’s premium) spring Old Master sale.

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Rare work by short-lived artist Horny comes to the saleroom

23 June 2025

Works by the tragically short-lived German artist Franz Horny are by necessity relatively rare.

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Sneak peek of summer auction highlights

23 June 2025

This summer, a diverse range of noteworthy lots will go under the hammer at auction houses across the UK. Her we spotlight some of these – from a flag flown at the Battle of Trafalgar and a recently attributed painting by Artemisia Gentileschi to a medieval encyclopaedia and a collection of mustard pots assembled by a former Eton housemaster

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Bank vault opens to reveal treasures ‘from Scandinavian aristocracy’

23 June 2025

Oxfordshire sale includes minaudière designed as an alternative to traditional handbags - plus a more conventional ‘French Jazz Age’ evening bag

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Buyer takes the underground route to Meissen

23 June 2025

Meissen decoration linked to mining is not a rare sight but a cachepot with cavern scene is sought after

Alfred Wallis painting

Grandmother’s Alfred Wallis purchases bring reward for vendor

20 June 2025

Provenance is all important when it comes to the works of Alfred Wallis (1855-1942).

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