Latest News Articles by Terence Ryle
Separate parts of Somerset silver sale give bidders plenty of choice including a reference library
04 February 2019Offered to a packed and enthusiastic saleroom, the 750-lot silver sale at Lawrences (22% buyer’s premium) of Crewkerne was divided into three parts: an extraordinary reference library, a broad sweep of the market for British and Continental white metal and a niche single-owner collection. It brought two-and-three-quarter cheers.
Lantern clocks illuminate Essex auction
04 February 2019The names of two 17th century makers took these two lantern clocks way above estimates at Sworders’ (23% buyer’s premium) sale at Stansted Mountitchet. Both were from the Barbara Holliday collection that majored on Modern British art (see Art Market, ATG No 2377).
Durham Ox meat platters beef up sale
04 February 2019The best meat platters have weathered the dip in fortunes of Staffordshire pearlware. The Durham Ox series remains a favourite pattern and there was no shortage of northern private bidders when two c.1820 examples were offered at Tennants’ (20% buyer’s premium) Leyburn sale on January 12.
Hydrangea vase blooms in Devon
04 February 2019This late 19th century cameo glass vase by the highly collectable Stourbridge maker Stevens & Williams was the outstanding offering among the 195 lots at Michael J Bowman’s (17.5% buyer’s premium) sale at Chudleigh on January 19.
Cotswold School Arts & Crafts sconce speculation
04 February 2019A set of four Cotswold School Arts & Crafts wall sconces, one shown below, was catalogued by Moore Allen & Innocent (20% buyer’s premium) as in the Wild Strawberry pattern and in the manner of Ernest Gimson (1864-1919).
Furniture: Georgian on buyers’ minds
04 February 2019With vendors now well adjusted to realities of the market, the demand for standard Georgian furniture is unspectacular but steady.
Salisbury auction house sees in the new year in style as department sets a new high
21 January 2019Historically the first major sale of the year, the January ‘furniture’ auction at Woolley & Wallis (25% buyer’s premium) turns eyes towards Salisbury for evidence of what the next 12 months will bring.
Lenci figure at Adam Partridge goes back to Italy
21 January 2019Dated c.1930, this Lenci figure of a girl in fashionable culottes, below, was estimated at £200-300 at Adam Partridge (20% buyer’s premium) but appears to have been spotted as one of the rarer products of the Turin factory.
Gem from Old Sodbury
21 January 2019The traditionally ‘dead’ period between Christmas and New Year was enlivened by the December 28 sale at Wotton Auction Rooms (17.5% buyer’s premium) in Gloucestershire – to the extent that more than 20,000 people suffering withdrawal symptoms worldwide viewed it online and 1360 of them registered to bid.
Sweet music box in Lincoln auction
21 January 2019The continued interest in Victorian music boxes in this age of Spotify and streaming was evident when three were among the 1500-lot sale held by Unique Auctions (17.5% buyer’s premium) to launch the new year.
Guillemin torchères shine in Selborne
21 January 2019Topped by the 17th century Dutch bottles at £30,000 (see ATG No 2375), the year’s first sale at Hannam’s (23% buyer’s premium) had other treasures among the 2000 lots including the French bronze figural torchères, right.
Pottery’s equal opportunities: Modern ceramics is a collecting field ahead of the game when it comes to female talent
14 January 2019The drive by, among others, the Royal Academy and the National Gallery to promote women’s importance in art would have required little effort had campaigners looked at the world of modern ceramics.
Barlow sisters on the ball for rare Doulton Lambeth vasel
14 January 2019Among the first women potters recognised by the public as individual designers worthy of collecting were Hannah Barlow (1851-1916) and her sister Florence. The first women artists at Doulton’s Lambeth factory, they joined in 1871 and 1873 respectively.
Salerooms steam in with toy treats
14 January 2019Christmas has little, if any, effect on collectors of vintage and antique toys, but that doesn’t stop auctioneers mounting festive season specials.
Quare takes £30,000 in west London and other clock highlights in recent auctions
14 January 2019Topping a number of good pre-Christmas clock sales was a rare table/bracket clock, among the last made by London ‘Golden Age’ name Daniel Quare (1649-1724) with Stephen Horseman, who became his partner at the Exchange Alley workshop in 1721.
Miss Lonelyhearts is cherished
14 January 2019Inscribed to a fellow dramatist, a presentation copy of the 1933 first of Nathaniel West’s classic black comedy, Miss Lonelyhearts, did exceptionally well at Christie’s New York (25/20/12.5%).
The world comes to Cockermouth
07 January 2019Three-day auction at Cumbrian saleroom demonstrates global reach of art and antiques.
Three early pieces of pottery and glass at auction
07 January 2019Serendipity had it that three early pieces of European pottery and glass – two of them dated – were offered for sale across a trio of English regional auctions in a matter of days in December.
Dirk suits snappy Highlander
07 January 2019A fine example of a dirk, without which no Highland formal dresswear is complete, was among the stand-out lots at Cuttlestones’ (17.5% buyer’s premium) sale at Penkridge on November 22.
From cartridge loader to corkscrew
07 January 2019One of the more unusual corkscrews to come onto what is a fiercely competitive collectors’ market recently was a brass, steel and wooden contraption of the type one may have seen clamped to the bar of fin-de-siècle brasseries.