Latest News Articles by Terence Ryle
The furniture price adjustments that show a positive trend
10 October 2022While traditional antique furniture prices are still relatively cheap, contemporary and mid-20th century material continues to be an expanding market.
Testing the market for Batterham studio pottery
03 October 2022Works by one of the finest masters of thrown stoneware come to auction
Showy Victorian taste lights up Shropshire sale
03 October 2022Literally the highlight of Halls’ (23% buyer’s premium) Autumn Sale was a hall lantern demonstrating showy high Victorian taste at its most confident.
Flamboyant mirror frames make over 20-times estimate in Yorkshire
03 October 2022Complex cartouche-shaped marginal wall mirrors from the early 18th century are notably rarer than arched or rectangular examples.
The Swan’s jewels shine among Shakenhurst lots
12 September 2022With the added lustre of having been worn by a Fifties aristocratic supermodel, two jewellery items entered by her grandchildren were the stars at Bellmans’ (22% buyer’s premium) sale of items from a Shropshire manor.
Napoleon III exile skirt among high points at Dominic Winter auction
12 September 2022In exceptionally fine condition and probably never worn, a c.1730-40 embroidered silk skirt offered at Dominic Winter (20% buyer’s premium) also had a back story adding to its attraction.
Pressure point in the saleroom
05 September 2022Barometers among collections of two renowned polymaths test the market temperature
Strong demand for anti-slavery objects
29 August 2022Anti-slavery objects are enjoying a particular strong moment in the market as museums at home and in the US seek to fill holes in collections vulnerable to the label ‘pale, male and stale’.
Chinese items stand out in dealer selection
08 August 2022Items collected and meticulously recorded from the 1970s onwards by a trade couple had the attractions of ‘dealer’s choice’ provenances when offered at Hanson Holloway’s Ross (25% buyer’s premium).
Fresh wave of demand on the cards
08 August 2022Overseas interest in tribal art and Doulton Lambeth wares fuelled the higher prices at Cuttlestones’ (20% buyer’s premium) Penkridge sale but it was a new outbreak of cardomania which raised temperatures of collectors across England.
Cambridge sale suggests no slowdown in Chinese bidding despite global challenges
25 July 2022The reassuring news from the East began with the first lot offered at Cheffins’ (24.5% buyer’s premium) Fine Sale when 10 China-based bidders competed for a Republican-era porcelain Putai.
Careful approach pays off in Cheltenham
25 July 2022Mainland Chinese buyers bidding on jade, porcelain, wooden and textile offerings dominated the leader board at an Asian & Islamic sale at Cheltenham.
How Stan Dodds breathed life into carving
25 July 2022Three lots at Tennants’ (22% buyer’s premium) traced the history of Stan Dodds (1928-2012) – the first and foremost of the Critters.
‘Of a superior character to Tunbridge ware’, maker claimed
25 July 2022“Analogous to the Tunbridge ware but of a superior character” was Robert Russell’s description of his work at the 1851 Great Exhibition.
Specialist takes a shine to Persian silver
25 July 2022With 207 pieces of silver from the Levant and all points East to China on offer at Chiswick Auctions (25% buyer’s premium), the stand-out pieces were the work of Iranian smiths.
Furniture sits comfortably in the Dales
30 May 2022Pitched at a modest £300-500, a harlequin set of eight Charles II joined oak back stools was one of a number of successes among the furniture offered at Tennants’ (22% buyer’s premium) Leyburn sale.
Hunting pistol has plenty of stopping power
30 May 2022For 19th century sahibs in tiger country and bwanas dealing with charging lions, howdah pistols like the one offered at West Sussex gun specialist Gavin Gardiner (25% buyer’s premium) were the preferred sidearm.
Howard armchairs a hit with buyers
30 May 2022Chairs and sofas by Howard & Sons are a pricey niche market these days, largely immune to the varying fortunes of the wider market for Victorian and Edwardian furniture.
Street art: The inter-war version in ceramics
23 May 2022Popular figures were created in Chelsea by husband and wife duo Charles and Nell Vyse
Chaise longue value lies in the maker
11 April 2022Knowledgeable bidders spot a design by Owen Jones on offer in North Yorkshire