Auctions

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


David Roberts lithograph

Glimpse of a vanished painting

25 March 2017

A lithograph of David Roberts’ (1796-1864) lost painting The siege and destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans under the command of Titus took top honours at Staffordshire auction house Cuttlestones (17.5% buyer’s premium) on March 2-3.

Critics get an icy reception

25 March 2017

Crymogaea sive rerum Islandicarum… is a very rare history of Iceland by Arngrimur Jónsson, a scholar and teacher also known as Arngrimur the Learned.

A Chinese Kangxi period triple gourd vase that once belonged to the financier JP Morgan estimated at

International previews: Chinese works of art in Texas

25 March 2017

A Chinese Kangxi period triple gourd vase that once belonged to the financier JP Morgan will feature as one of the highlights in Heritage Auctions’ inaugural Asian Art sale in Dallas on April 2.

A carved sculpture of Christ by Giovanni Antonio Gualterio

Spice of sales life

25 March 2017

Dealers and fairs are embracing the ‘mix it up’ approach to offering a wide range of styles and eras, as noted in our BADA fair preview (ATG No 2282).

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The quiet Royal Copenhagen market shows signs of stirring

25 March 2017

The £810,000 wucai fish at Fellows’ (20% buyer’s premium) sale at Birmingham on February 27 (ATG No 2282) overshadowed everything else on offer but there were a number of other areas of interest among the 1250 lots.

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Bidder goes wild about Wilde

25 March 2017

Elizabeth Barrett Browning lots fall flat... but annotated Dorian Gray leaves treble the estimate

A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

Life on Mars proves healthy

25 March 2017

With BBC Radio 4 currently offering a season of programmes focusing on the Red Planet in fact and fiction, a couple of books from the Edgar Rice Burroughs series of Martian fantasies that made high prices in a recent US sale are an appropriate choice for these reports.

Edgar Degas study of the Borghese Gladiator

Bidding contest over gladiator sketch as Edgar Degas’ youthful drawing brings strong interest in Paris auction

24 March 2017

Among the many auctions devoted to Old Master, classic and modern works on paper that have been taking place during Paris’ drawings week was Christie's small, single owner auction of drawings from the studio of Edgar Degas.

Anatolian marble Kiliya stargazer

Ancient ‘stargazer’ marble figure leads Christie’s New York auction

24 March 2017

An ancient Anatolian marble figure dating to the third millennium BC will lead the lots on offer at Christie’s upcoming ‘Exceptional’ sale in New York on April 28.

verge pocket watch

British pocket watches to feature in sale of local man’s collection at The Canterbury Auction Galleries

24 March 2017

An 18th century gold-coloured pocket watch is among the lots expected to lead one collection in The Canterbury Auction Galleries’ upcoming auction.

Duckers shoe shop

Details of the shoe buying habits of literary giants Waugh and Tolkien bought at auction by Oxford’s Bodleian Library

24 March 2017

The Bodleian Library in Oxford has bought the historic customer ledgers of venerable Oxford shoemaker Ducker & Son.

bronze of amateur champion John Laidlay

Statue of modern golf grip inventor comes up for auction at Bonhams in Los Angeles

23 March 2017

A cold-painted bronze of amateur golfing champion John Laidlay is among the pieces appearing at Bonhams' upcoming auction in Los Angeles next week.

John Grave Simcoe’s Journal

Rare first-hand account of the American revolutionary war takes record bid at Bonhams

23 March 2017

Privately printed and distributed in Exeter in 1787, probably in quite small numbers, a copy of John Grave Simcoe’s ‘Journal of the Operations of the Queen’s Rangers, from the End of the Year 1777, to the Conclusion of the Late American War’ drew strong interest at a Bonhams New York sale earlier this month.

Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce owned by The Who musician and Chariots of Fire composer comes up for auction

22 March 2017

A 1965 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III DHC ‘Chinese Eye’ with a musical pedigree comes under the hammer at H&H Classics next week.

Elaine by Edmund Blair Leighton

Edmund Blair Leighton painting sells for £240,000 at Bournemouth auction

21 March 2017

A major price in the English regions came earlier today for a Victorian picture as Bournemouth saleroom House & Son took a £240,000 bid for an Edmund Blair Leighton (1853-1922) painting.

Harold C. Harvey portrait

Charity shop find bought for 50p gets £8000 estimate for Christie’s South Kensington auction

21 March 2017

A 50p charity shop find has been identified a Harold C. Harvey (1874-1941) portrait and given a £8000 high estimate at Christie’s South Kensington sale tomorrow.

Cheyenne Westphal of Phillips

Cheyenne Westphal starts as chairman at Phillips

21 March 2017

Ex-Sotheby’s worldwide head of Contemporary art Cheyenne Westphal is starting her new role at Phillips this week.

William Ilbery gold watch

Outstanding gold timepiece by “the father of Chinese watches” comes to auction

20 March 2017

Numerous 18th and 19th century watchmakers in Geneva and London made their living by manufacturing watches for the Chinese market, many destined for the Chinese Emperor and members of his court. One of the pioneers in this field was William Ilbery who was active in London from about 1780 until his death in 1839.

WEB Rupert Potter - Broad Leys Aug 1909 A 20-3-17.jpg

Snapshots of the ever popular Beatrix Potter collecting market

20 March 2017

An auction house which sold a 1937 handwritten letter by Beatrix Potter is offering another fascinating collection related to the children’s author just over two months later.

New home for Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions

18 March 2017

Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions is to hold the first sale in its new Pall Mall home in April.

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