Latest News Articles by Terence Ryle
Meadows on organic auctions growth
10 July 2017While many in the trade believe the future lies in specialisation, Gloucestershire auction house Dominic Winter (20% buyer’s premium) is making significant inroads into the general market beyond its renown as expert in books, maps and other works on paper.
Rotating rarity turns heads in Wiltshire
10 July 2017Highly collectable in itself, this 1920s car showroom lightbox advertising sign, right, had extra appeal to one bidder at automobilia specialists Richard Edmonds’ (20% buyer’s premium) sale at Chippenham on June 16.
Godwin connection makes big difference to auction vlalue
10 July 2017Originally entered for a general sale at Charterhouse Auctions (20% buyer’s premium), a distinctive little walnut table with brass leg attachments caught the eye of auctioneer Richard Bromell who diverted it to the fine sale in the Sherborne rooms on June 22.
Tiger displays bite as Kent tartanware checks in
10 July 2017One of the earliest examples of the lucrative tartan tourism, which dates back to George IV’s visit to Edinburgh in 1822 and was turbo-charged by Queen Victoria’s love of the Highlands, were the sycamore boxes and trinkets made in small factories in the little Ayrshire town of Mauchline.
Dealers duel for lecterns in college consignment
10 July 2017Entered by a leading UK college, two very similar pairs of mid-18th century mahogany lecterns, one illustrated above, became the focus of two major West Country dealers at Tayler & Fletcher’s (20% buyer’s premium) June 22 sale at Bourton-in-the-Water.
Sculptures hard to figure out in Cumbrian auction
26 June 2017Standing by the stairs of a modest Cumbrian seaside home, a pair of 19th century treen figures dominated the sale, both physically and in price terms, at 1818 Auctions (20% buyer’s premium inc VAT) at Milnthorpe on June 6.
Seats you sir: 20th century furniture design classics
26 June 2017Two pieces of seating furniture which no early 20th century wealthy middle-class home would have lacked went comfortably over estimates at sales from Hampshire to Yorkshire in May.
Salerooms wish for many happy returns
26 June 2017Returning clients are usually welcome, but few more so than the couple who consigned two pieces of Red Anchor Chelsea to the sale at Lacy Scott & Knight’s (17.5% buyer’s premium) on June 10.
A Swell sale under Dreweatts' new ownership
19 June 2017“I’m enjoying quite a honeymoon period,” said Mark Law, new joint owner of Dreweatts (24% buyer’s premium). He took on the day-to-day running of the Newbury auction house on May 9 ahead of taking over formally with investor partner Gavin Alexander later this summer.
Simmonds Cotswolds Arts & Crafts horses gallop to £21,000
19 June 2017A carved wood sculpture by William G Simmonds (1876-1968), one of the great forgotten originals of the Cotswolds Arts & Crafts movement, sold for a record £21,000 (estimate £3000-6000) at Mallams Oxford (20% buyer’s premium) on May 25.
Regency dolls’ house delights in Kent auction
19 June 2017Comprising what amounted to a crowded Regency household, fully and elegantly furnished and inhabited by half a dozen bisque or parian dolls, a c.1820 mahogany dolls’ cabinet was the outstanding offering from C&T Auctioneers (18% buyer’s premium) in Tunbridge Wells.
Thornycroft’s thoughtful but flash Gordon sculpture
19 June 2017Led by the 17th century Goan hardwood, ivory and bone tabernacle which took a 100-times-estimate £36,000 from a European bidder (see Pick of the Week, ATG No 2294), a recent sale at Chiswick Auctions (22% buyer's premium) also included a tribute to a quintessential Victorian imperial hero – General Gordon.
Collecting market fuels record Salisbury sale
19 June 2017Largely based on three private collections – and helped by the strength of the collectables market – the spring sale of silver and boxes was the best yet for Salisbury auction house Woolley & Wallis (22% buyer’s premium).
Silver standard sets pulses racing at Dublin auction
12 June 2017Dublin dealer sells an Irish selection as he hands the reins of the shop over to his son.
Hand of Daum is good news at Cheltenham auction
12 June 2017Conscious that Art Nouveau Daum glassware has been bringing renewed interest of late, auctioneer Catrin Hampton was quickly in touch with potential buyers – particularly Americans – when a table lamp was brought into the Cheltenham rooms of Chorley’s (20% buyer’s premium).
Calculating a good price - slide rule fetches £9500 at auction
12 June 2017Readers old enough to remember using one at school may also recall Sam Cooke’s 1960 song in which he lamented “don’t know what a slide rule is for”. Today, few teenagers would know what one was.
Nothing like a dame for provenance - ballerina after Barre sells in Gloucestershire
12 June 2017The appeal of this 16in (40.5cm) tall French silvered bronze of a ballerina offered at Wotton Auction Rooms (21% buyer’s premium) on May 23, undoubtedly owed much of its success to its provenance.
Amber light means go for it at North Yorkshire sale
30 May 2017‘Group lots should be viewed’ was the wise recommendation in the catalogue description of this mixed bag offered at Tennants’ (18.5% buyer’s premium) sale of vintage costume, textiles and dolls at Leyburn on May 13.
Positive signs as provincial auctions deliver good results
30 May 2017Such are the positive reports coming in from the provinces that one begins to fear what the finger-crossing superstitious call the curse of the commentator and the more rational know as the reversion to the mean.
Top marks: the trade is head of the glass for once
30 May 2017Two small private collections of glass, Art Nouveau and contemporary, were clear areas of interest at Cheffins’ (22.5% buyer’s premium) Art & Design from 1860 sale at Cambridge on May 11.