Auctions

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


Chandelier

George II chandelier among the five auction highlights that caught bidders’ eyes in the last week

15 February 2019

ATG’s selection of hammer highlights over the past week includes a George II chandelier and an architecture model of the Piazza del Duomo in Pisa.

Valentine card

One of the oldest Valentine cards sells at auction… on St Valentine’s Day

14 February 2019

One of the world’s oldest surviving Valentine cards has sold today for £5800.

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Car badges and mascots: the world of automobilia at auction

13 February 2019

Every collecting field starts out with a broad umbrella title: classic cars, for instance. Easy. However, as you descend through the levels it not only drops into sub-sections, but veers off to the side, so you also get automobilia, the ephemera surrounding those cars.

Auction

UK’s modern and contemporary art auction market records highest growth in 2018

13 February 2019

Despite economic concerns such as Brexit and the possibility of global trade wars, the UK’s top contemporary art auction houses posted the highest growth for Modern and contemporary art sales in 2018.

Pure Evil and Mark Hill

Street artist Pure Evil to host Berkshire auction house Dawson’s next design sale in east London gallery

12 February 2019

The Welsh artist, whose real name is Charles Uzzell-Edwards, runs his Pure Evil Galleries on Leonard Street in Hoxton, east London, and Dawson’s will hold its third Design At Home auction at the venue on April 7.

Carel Weight

Five lots to watch at auction this week including Mod Brit art, an Arts & Crafts table and a Napoleon death mask

11 February 2019

With estimates from £450-9000, here are five previews from upcoming sales this week.

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Pick of the week: Sledge from Shackleton's Antarctic expedition takes £115,000 at Bonhams

11 February 2019

A sledge from the first expedition to the Antarctic led by Ernest Shackleton sold for £115,000 in Bonhams’ Travel and Exploration sale on February 6.

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Spoilum portrait sells at 19-times estimate in Nottingham

11 February 2019

An oval oil portrait painted by the Chinese artist Spoilum (fl.1785-1805) depicting Captain George Delanoe, a 1st Lieutenant and Commander of HMS Repulse, drew fervent interest at Mellors & Kirk's latest sale in Nottingham.

Lalique

Lalique love affair: Large glass collection first took off with a sparrow paperweight

11 February 2019

Group amassed over 20 years now going under the hammer at Bonhams is attracting worldwide interest from would-be bidders.

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Seven fabulous fans going under the hammer this month

11 February 2019

With many fans going under the hammer in the coming weeks it is an ideal time to get more familiar with this market where examples can range in price from a few pounds to the high five figures.

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Sigmund Freud portrait to be analysed by Vienna auction bidders

11 February 2019

Among the prominent sitters for the Austrian artist Wilhelm Viktor Krausz (1878-1959) was Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis.

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Alfred Jewel discovered again

11 February 2019

Among the more eagerly contested entries to the Woolley & Wallis (25% buyer’s premium) sale on January 24 was a late 19th century replica of the Alfred Jewel: the great example of Anglo-Saxon goldsmithing found in Somerset in 1693 and today one of the most popular exhibits at the Ashmolean Museum.

British and Irish book auctions: February 12-21, 2019

11 February 2019

ATG’s calendar of book auctions taking place in the UK and Ireland from February 12-21, 2019.

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10 jewellery highlights at auction for winter 2019

11 February 2019

A selection of 10 stand-out jewellery lots offered at auction in February-April 2019.

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Rare timepieces from wartime in Penzance and West Sussex

11 February 2019

A rare Longines centre seconds military wristwatch – a type developed in 1944 for the rigours of airborne work by the Research & Development team of the War Department – sold for a multi-estimate £11,200 at Barbara Kirk (15% buyer’s premium) in Penzance on November 27 last year.

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Mirror on offer in Stuttgart is looking good in ornate gilt frame

11 February 2019

Among the many decorative works of art in Nagel’s sale in Stuttgart on February 27-28 is this 3ft 8in (1.12m) high mirror in an ornately carved gilt frame.

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Ron Arad Rover seats roar into Munich saleroom

11 February 2019

In the early 1980s the London-based designer Ron Arad experimented with new forms of industrial design, incorporating materials that would otherwise have been discarded.

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ATG letter: Bid Barometer mystery sitter identified

11 February 2019

MADAM – Regarding Bid Barometer, ATG No 2377, your readers might be interested to know that the portrait painting featured is in fact a self-portrait of Helen Lessore (of Beaux Arts Gallery fame).

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Memento ring of the last Jacobite to be executed for treason sells in Chichester

11 February 2019

A local family that could trace a clear line back to the 1750 was the consignor of this gold, white enamel and citrine mourning ring to Henry Adams in Chichester.

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Previews: £30,000 plus

11 February 2019

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

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