Auctions

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


Constable

Three John Constable pictures come to auction at Chiswick including portrait of his uncle

29 May 2019

Following the sale of two vibrant ink on paper sketches by John Constable in March, Chiswick Auctions is to offer three more works by the Suffolk-born painter in its British & European Fine Art sale next month.

Renaissance stone putti

Record for Hans Daucher sculpture as putti point to earliest example of Renaissance architecture in Germany

29 May 2019

A pair of early 16th century carved stone putti was the toast of a recent auction at Sotheby’s Paris. Created for the chapel of a famous German Renaissance banking family, they sold as part of a collection from a French château for €1.95m (£1.71m).

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Five militaria auction highlights – including a Second World War V1 flying bomb rudder

28 May 2019

A Second World War V1 flying bomb rudder recovered in Kent and kept as a ‘souvenir’ by a Home Guard member is among the militaria highlights in five recent auctions.

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Abbey Road Studios recordings from 18 stars including Ed Sheeran come to auction at Spink

28 May 2019

Original master recordings from Abbey Road Studios of artists including Blondie, Ed Sheeran, Alanis Morissette and The Killers will be offered at auction in June.

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Early typewriter pushes all the right buttons at German auction

27 May 2019

An example of the first commercially produced typewriter – one of only five in private hands – has sold for €100,000 at auction in Germany.

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Bonhams expects record bid for Tompion’s miniature ‘Q Clock’

27 May 2019

Bonhams will offer the most valuable English Golden Age clock ever to appear at auction as part of next month’s sale of the Clive collection.

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Da Qian is Woolley & Wallis’s 11th £1m-plus lot

27 May 2019

A painting by the celebrated Chinese 20th century artist Zhang Da Qian (1899-1983) sold for £2.3m (plus premium) at Woolley & Wallis.

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Pick of the week: Gruesome way to jog your memory

27 May 2019

In the Late Middle Ages the chaplet, made in many materials from boxwood to precious metals, was a commonplace aid to keep count of the repetition of prayers or the chapters read in a Book of Hours.

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£40,000 sleeper is Edo export survivor

27 May 2019

Unusually for an Asian art sale, the top price at Sworders' latest offering in in Stansted Mountfitchet was paid for a Japanese work of art.

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Five lots to watch at auction this week including a 19th century Italian table, a Royal Crown Derby tureen and a horse-racing cup

27 May 2019

With estimates from £300-12,000, here are five previews from upcoming sales this week.

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Market-fresh rural scene from Norfolk sells at Keys' auction

27 May 2019

A bucolic Norfolk landscape by English artist John Alfred Arnesby-Brown (1866- 1953) emerged as one of the top sellers in an auction dedicated to East Anglian art at local Aylsham saleroom Keys (20% buyer’s premium).

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Two salerooms make cards the real deal at top-deck levels

27 May 2019

Playing cards from two recent provincial sales are featured here – five examples from a 250-lot, single-owner collection offered in Gloucestershire, and a single pack from a Worcestershire sale.

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Third slice of pre-Columbian works on offer at Drouot

27 May 2019

At the Drouot auction centre on June 6 the Paris firm of Binoche et Giquello will be selling a third instalment from a US collection of pre-Columbian works from Meso, Central and South America which is expected to realise in the region of €3m-4m.

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Furniture rolls back the years

27 May 2019

Two collections assembled since the late 1960s enthuse a fresh generation of buyers.

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Elisabeth Frink maquette flies to five figures

27 May 2019

Inside Manchester Airport stands a sculpture dedicated to John Alcock and Arthur Brown, two aviators who made the first non-stop transatlantic flight in June 1919.

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Well-known private collection of African art comes up in Sotheby’s Paris auction

27 May 2019

Tribal art makes regular saleroom appearances in Paris, which is one of the major commercial centres in this sector.

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Early oak takes root in spring

27 May 2019

One of the best pieces of early oak at spring provincial sales was an17th century carved oak mural livery cupboard sold at Henry Adams (20% buyer’s premium) of Chichester.

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Dutch dealer goes miniature for tableware and furniture

27 May 2019

Illustrated below is one of seven lots of Dutch ‘white metal ’ miniature tableware and furniture entered into a weekly general sale at Gorringe’s (21% buyer’s premium).

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Henry Lamb portrait tops sale while German bronzes perform strongly

27 May 2019

A portrait by Henry Lamb (1883-1960) making its first appearance at auction fetched a sale-topping £18,000 at Cambridge auction house Cheffins (22.5% buyer’s premium) on May 9.

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Illustrious former owners boost modern value at New York tribal art auctions

27 May 2019

Spring is a traditional point in the saleroom calendar for New York to mount its tribal art auctions.

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