London

Written off by some as a dying area, the latest Old Master series in London defied the naysayers with encouraging results during its traditional ‘grand finale’ slot at the end of the London sales season.

The Zettler Glass Manufactory was founded in Munich in 1870 by Francis Xavier Zettler (1841-1916) and his father-in-law Joseph Gabriel Mayer (1808-83) – two men who combined a deep religious conviction with a love of medieval culture.

Mayfair Art Weekend (which was held from June 30-July 2) may not be the time to make major sales but remains an opportunity to raise the profile of commercial galleries in the area.

In our continuing series looking through the keyhole of ‘bricks and mortar’ shops, ATG talks to Mark Coxhead. He works at Gutlin Clocks, a 22-year-old father and son family business specialising in buying, selling and repairing antique clocks.

In ATG No 2292, I noted as a record the £13,000 sale of a copy of Thomas Wright’s Original theory… of the universe… (1750), as part of the Christie’s April 26 sale of the Beltrame library.

West London‘s Chiswick Auctions is to open a new showroom in South Kensington manned by at least eight former Christie’s staff.

A pair of lions from the funerary monument of Charles V of France was the toast of Christie’s Exceptional sale in London on July 6.

A new auction house is to open in London hoping to find a gap in the market for cameras, scientific and medical instruments.

The latest Old Master sales in London put in a solid performance with the overall total from last week’s auction series running at £115m (including premium) with one day sale still to take place at the time of going to press.

A set of four hunting scenes by John Nost Sartorius (1759-1828) is being offered on the art market for the first time at Rountree Tryon Galleries in Mayfair.

Bonhams Knightsbridge is keen to assert its place in London’s evolving auction scene, managing director Jon Baddeley tells ATG.

“It is something, at the age of 31, to be among the most discussed, most successful, most promising, most admired and most hated British artists.” So wrote the critic Charles Lewis Hind about the war artist CRW Nevinson (1889-1946) in 1920.