“I welcome the effort in preventing the trade in modern ivory poaching. Nothing is more distressing in animal conservation terms than the deliberate killing of endangered species for profit.”
Auctioneer body SOFAA board member Jeremy Lamond in response to the findings of the new CITES report.
“There was a real buzz to the bidding and Jonathan, our auctioneer, had a great time extracting every last penny for a great cause which we are delighted to have been associated with.”
James Grinter of Reeman Dansie, which ran the recent charity auction to create a national centre for the artist Thomas Gainsborough in Sudbury. Jonathan Benson led the sale.
“We had to crawl our way through the overgrowth to get into the property. It was a bit of a time warp inside, nothing had really been moved since the property was built in the 1960s.”
Greg Bateman, managing director of Batemans, on how the auction house discovered two watercolours by 18th century British painter Thomas Girtin (1775-1802).
“Oral tradition has it that high-spirited Mozart could be quite hard on his footwear: In spring 1789, Mozart, who was also well known for enjoying fancy clothes, apparently stamped his foot with such force during a concert in Dresden that his shoe buckle burst.”
Dorotheum catalogues Mozart’s shoe buckle, which goes under the hammer October 30.
“The best is strong but we did feel a slight lift in all-round enthusiasm – with the glaring exception being almost anything Victorian.”
Clifford Lansberry of Gorringe’s speaks about fine English furniture following the auction house’s autumn sale.
