Auctioneers

Medals for service in the Falklands, Northern Ireland and long service/good conduct denote a busy 1980s career. In value terms, for a non-special forces unit, it means a price probably within £1000 at auction. But it is a single action lasting about 17 minutes from start to finish which explains why such a group on offer at Woolley & Wallis on November 22 is estimated at £20,000-30,000.

The highlight of Lyon & Turnbull’s sale of Scottish Silver & Applied Arts on August 16 was a Jacobite drinking glass with a difference.

A 19th century painting depicting the death of Horatio Nelson soared to £21,500 at Lawrences (22% buyer’s premium) of Crewkerne on July 14.

Naïve-style paintings of livestock remain one of the liveliest sectors of the 19th century pictures market, judging by the response to several examples offered in Gloucestershire.

Recent country house contents sales at Chorley's, Halls and Hansons show that evolving the model is breathing new life into a traditional format.

Chiswick Auctions is to open its South Kensington showroom manned by a group of former Christie’s staff early next month.

A unique Victoria Cross and other awards won by one of the greatest heroes in Canadian history is to be auctioned by Dix Noonan Webb on September 27.

The surprise package of Sworders’ (22% buyer’s premium) Homes and Interiors sale of August 1 was an early buff stoneware jug of a type commonly associated with the potteries of Fulham and Vauxhall.

The wide-ranging summer sale at Ilkley saleroom Hartleys (15% buyer’s premium) on June 14 left auctioneer Andrew Hartley in an upbeat mood. He could look back on “some high prices in most areas, and in particular the furniture section showed early signs of a market waking up for items right across the board”.

Medals and orders can be heavy things. So what better way to carry around your various hard-earned gongs than a one-size-fits-all miniature version of them all?

The British Museum’s big summer exhibition on Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai is over, but more art from the Land of the Rising Sun is in the offing (also see International Events, ATG No 2305).

Back in December 1962, a Yorkshire show promoter booked a new Liverpool band to play at Harrogate’s Royal Hall on the strength of their first record which had charted at No 17 a couple of months earlier.

Considering there were only 150 men defending Rorke’s Drift against the Zulus, an impressive number of medals awarded after that epic 1879 encounter have come to auction recently.

Personal and unique insights into warfare score highly at auction. So it proved at Cambridge firm Cheffins (22.5% buyer’s premium) in The Connoisseurs Sale on July 6, when a journal revealing the private thoughts of a Second World War fighter ace credited with more enemy ‘kills’ than any other British pilot doubled the top estimate to sell for £16,000.

London dealership Marchant is to sell Chinese artworks at a dedicated auction in New York.

A 19th century oak snuff box offered at Lawrences (22% buyer’s premium) of Crewkerne on July 11 was inset with copper and inscribed Made from the wreck of the Betsy Cains which brought King William to England 1688 and A.Reed Esq. Mayor 1827.

In the days when loved ones in the armed forces would head abroad on service for up to several years, not knowing when or if they would return, ‘sweetheart’ brooches were a way of remembering them.

This focus on furniture kicks off with a royal link and three more cheers at summer sales for the furniture market which a number of auctioneers are saying shows modest signs of recovery.