Auctioneers

The Charterhouse saleroom must be under doctors’ orders. Two private collections included in the Dorset April 20-21 auction come from consignors with ‘Dr’ in front of their names.

Tangible mementos of the dark years of 1940-45 were offered at a St Peter Port sale held by Martel Maides (17.5% buyer’s premium) on March 15-16.

Special forces memorabilia making special prices is not a top-secret scenario in the militaria world. The appetite is always high for the exploits of small elite units where bravery and hair-raising tales are the norm.

The extra push of archive items accompanying medals at auction is well recognised but such material is increasingly on the advance in its own right. Honours offered with log books, diaries, maps, letters and so on are very attractive to buyers given the background story they create about the recipient.

ATG’s weekly selection of items on sale at auctions and dealerships.

A photo collection sold at C&T formed part of an archive relating to Brenda Long, secretary to General Sir H Ismay (later Lord Ismay), Chief of Staff to Sir Winston Churchill from mid-1944 until the end of 1945.

A classic Second World War British Commando 2nd pattern Fairbairn Sykes fighting knife sold with scabbard for £550 at Hansons (17.5% buyer’s premium) on March 21 against an estimate of £100-120.

ATG’s weekly selection of items on sale at auctions and dealerships.

Early children’s books and games provided some of the highlights of a March 15 sale held by Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood (21% buyer’s premium).

Three articles recently published in ATG focused on the sale of a painting and in each case the key issue was authenticity. Here, lawyer Milton Silverman provides advice, including legal precedent, on how auctioneers can avoid disputes relating to authenticity as a result of misattribution.

ATG’s weekly selection of items on sale at auctions and dealerships.

Research to be followed up or indeed already done boosts the background story and value of a medal group.

With every one of the 531 lots sold, from an oak gateleg table that opened proceedings to a 1925 Douglas motorcycle, the March 29 Bonhams (25/20/15% buyer’s premium) sale of contents from Glyn Cywarch, a Welsh home of the Lords Harlech, was one of those ‘white-glove’ sales in which auction rooms take such pride.

A large, late work by JMW Turner appears at Sotheby’s on July 5 with an estimate of £15-25m.

ATG’s weekly selection of items on sale at auctions and dealerships.

Featured in a recent report (ATG No: 2286), a copy of Sir Charles Doyly’s Views of Calcutta and its Environs that sold for £14,000 at Chiswick Auctions (22% buyer’s premium) on March 22 was one of many lots – both printed and manuscript – that came with a Harrington family provenance.

ATG’s weekly selection of items on sale at auctions and dealerships.

This is an edited version of an open letter by Anthony Coleridge, chairman of Christie’s South Kensington (CSK) 1987-2001, to Christie’s owner François Pinault (see also news, ATG No 2287, for Christie’s response).

Hans Christian Andersen did not confine himself to the fairy tales that are his principal and lasting legacy.

A record sale total, the trade in buying mood and traditional furniture selling well – all further evidence that 2017 so far is proving rather less catastrophic than some had forecast.