Latest News Articles by Terence Ryle
The Tennants sale barometer shows ‘steady’
04 December 2017If, as generally accepted, the tri-annual fine art sales at Tennants (20% buyer’s premium) can be regarded as something of a barometer of the middle market, the outlook following the autumn sale on November 18 appears rather more steady than the Brexit nervousness talked about elsewhere in the economy.
Byron, Boatswain and an auction buy with plenty of bite
04 December 2017In a category of its own – and bringing one of the highest prices at the Tennants autumn sale – was a brass, tooth-edge dog collar engraved Rt. Honble Lord Byron.
Big names bring the impressive prices in Leicestershire
04 December 2017Two big names dominated the 20th Century Decorative Arts sale held by Gildings (15% buyer’s premium) in Market Harborough on November 7.
Ekco wireless tunes in for a resounding auction result
04 December 2017Sometimes described as the wireless which saved Ekco, the radical Bakelite circular Model AD65 radio designed by Wells Coates in the 1933 sold in its tens of thousands. It restored the fortunes of the Essex factory after a disastrous fire in 1932.
Couple of pearlers at Hampshire auction
04 December 2017Two examples of the 19th century European craftsmen’s love of mother of pearl shone at Hannam’s (20% buyer’s premium) sale at Selborne on November 15.
Best Trevanion & Dean sale is a suite success
04 December 2017Founded three years ago, the Whitchurch, Shropshire, firm of Trevanion & Dean (19% buyer’s premium) enjoyed its best sale so far when the 950 lots, ranging from Renaissance art to contemporary glass, totalled £250,000 on November 18.
Last selection of Yeats family lots come to Irish auction
27 November 2017The material connected with William Butler Yeats in the family home of his son, the late Senator Michael, has proved as controversial – and profitable – as the great man’s writing itself.
Silver and money bank bring in Castlecomer sale big bids
27 November 2017A week before Fonsie Mealy’s William Butler Yeats sale, the auctioneers’ neighbours, kith and rivals Mealy’s (20% buyer’s premium) had a couple of eyecatchers in its November 8 sale at Castlecomer.
Cracking price at Suffolk auction
27 November 2017Entered into the October 21 sale at Bishop & Miller (18% buyer’s premium) by a Suffolk vendor thinning out his collection, these carved boxwood nutcrackers, right, made an immediate impact on bidders at the Stowmarket rooms.
Lorezl lady of the lamp is Butterfly Girl
27 November 2017Though probably better known for his bronze and chryselphantine Art Deco figures, Austrian sculptor Josef Lorenzl also worked for Viennese ceramics factories and, in particular, Goldscheider, for whom he designed the extremely popular Butterfly Girl.
Chinese art cataloguing: be factual and full – but non-committal
18 November 2017Despite the imperfections of the market for Chinese works of art, for many regional auctioneers this still vibrant area has done much to offset the soft prices for brown furniture which used to underpin the home market.
Gardner figures are Russian in at Exeter auction
13 November 2017Autumn has been the setting for so many specialist sales round the regions that an all-disciplines, quality sale such as that held by Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood (21% buyer’s premium) at Exeter on October 3 was almost a rarity.
What goes around comes around to a Kent saleroom
13 November 2017What expert James Opie described as “the most intriguing collection I have ever come across” provided Rochester auction house C&T (18% buyer’s premium) with its biggest statement yet in the toy soldiers market.
Dresser leads low-down on post-1860 design sales scene
06 November 2017With sales of post-1860 design a seasonal fixture round the country, an argument could be made for Scottish auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull (25% buyer’s premium) having a geographical edge.
Saleroom man of mystery with a Watford connection
06 November 2017Classic names of 20th century design and a high-priced mystery artist provided the eye-catchers outside the fine art at the October 26 Decorative, Contemporary Art and Design sale held at Ewbank’s (22.5% buyer’s premium).
Farmer who sowed Decades of Design sale format seeds
06 November 2017Stourbridge auctioneer Will Farmer held the first of his biannual Decades of Design sales at Fieldings (17.5% buyer’s premium) 12 years ago and rather wishes he had copyrighted the phrase – now almost a generic term for post-1860 dec arts sales.
Prime Pilkington by talented pottery artist
06 November 2017Offered at a wider-ranging, paintings and decorative arts sale at Dreweatts (24% buyer’s premium), this Pilkington’s Royal Lancastrian lustre vase, below, would have stood out at a post-1860s design sale.
The elusive Gordon Maule
06 November 2017Figuring why a specific lot did unexpectedly well is part and parcel of reviewing auctions but this oil on board lunette of a pastoral idyll below is more of a challenge than most.
Chinese lots sit comfortably in two sales
30 October 2017More evidence that Chinese lots can leave auctioneers sitting pretty came in sales north and south.
Strong demand fuels high prices for live-steam models
30 October 2017“A very niche but hugely vibrant market,” said specialist auctioneer John Morgan of the hobby of live-steam modelling.