Scotland

MADAM – I was pleased to see that a piece of furniture designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh for 78 Derngate, Northampton, had sold so well at auction early in November (front page, ATG No 2467).

Salerooms seize the chance as traditional dedicated auctions fade away in London

Shifting Covid-19 regulations have complicated the Irish and Scottish art markets but online and phone bidding has helped to keep results relatively robust

A Chateau De Pomès Pédérère Armagnac distilled in 1950 is estimated at £200-300 at McTear’s Rare & Fine Whisky Auction on December 16.

A group of 33 lots that came to auction from a descendant of the artist Phoebe Anna Traquair (1852-1936) drew a strong response at Bonhams’ (27.5/25/20/13.9%) latest Scottish sale in Edinburgh.

In its Whisky & Spirits sale on December 9, Lyon & Turnbull offers a number of 1960s Macallan whiskies including this 1962 The Macallan Gordon MacPhail 100 proof.

Two trademark scenes by Scottish artist John McGhie (1867-1952) impressed at Great Western Auctions (24% buyer’s premium) in Glasgow.

A painting by an English artist but with a Scottish subject drew attention at the latest Modern Made auction held by Lyon & Turnbull (25% buyer’s premium).

A Chinese export dinner service used in the home of three Georgian prime ministers comes for sale this week as part of Asian Art in London.

Formerly of McTear’s, Sarah Fergusson has become the new head of watches at Lyon & Turnbull.

The latest British & Continental Ceramics & Glass Auction at McTear’s (24% buyer’s premium) was topped by 'La Modista Il Cappellino', a 14in (35cm) Lenci figure.

This William de Morgan six-tile panel from c.1880 will feature in a two-day sale, Decorative Arts: Design since 1860, at Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh on November 2-3.

This striking example of Art Deco poster design promotes the Blue Train: the luxury overnight express between Calais and the French Riviera named after the dark blue Compagnie International des Wagons-Lits carriages used when the service resumed after the First World War.

A small group of Victorian transfer-printed stoneware crocks offered by Taylor’s (24% buyer’s premium) in Montrose on September 16 included a 7½in (18cm) butter crock with the logo of the Lothians Dairy Co of Slate Ford Road, Edinburgh.

Two pieces of Moorcroft Pomegranate pattern made exceptional sums within a matter of 24 hours at the end of September. Both were early versions of the popular pattern and dated 1912 – the year William Moorcroft left his studio at James Macintyre to run his own factory in Cobridge.

August is traditionally a busy month for Edinburgh saleroom Lyon & Turnbull (25/20% buyer’s premium) and this year was no exception – despite the exceptional circumstances.

The allure of well-priced, market-fresh chattels from a blue-blood country estate can pique the interest of the most world-weary auctioneer or antiques dealer.

Unearthed in a group lot at Lindsay Burns (20% buyer’s premium) in Perth, this Roman marbled Samian ware bowl is believed to closely relate to another in the British Museum.

This terracotta group of Bacchus and Ariadne was once associated with the Florentine late Baroque sculptor Giambattista Foggini (1652-1725) but is now thought to be his contemporary Giuseppe Piamontini (1664-1742).

Anthony Woodd deals in natural history, military and sporting pictures and Scottish landscapes mostly from the Victorian era at his premises on Edinburgh’s Dundas Street. His wife sells antiques in the gallery downstairs.