Auctioneers

The auction process is a key part of the secondary art and antiques market.

Firms of auctioneers usually specialise in a number of fields such as jewellery, ceramics, paintings, Asian art or coins but many also hold general sales where the goods available are not defined by a particular genre and are usually lower in value.

Auctioneers often provide other services such as probate and insurance valuations.

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Globes from 1816 take £50,000 in Wales

09 April 2013

This pair of full-size library globes was the pick of more than 800 lots from a Pembrokeshire country house sold by Carmarthen firm Peter Francis.

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Bauhaus chess set and Martin Brothers highlight New Jersey auction

09 April 2013

Rago Auctions’ recent modern auction in Lambertville, New Jersey featured a Josef Hartwig-designed chess set of the 1920s.

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Spoons sale is ‘Holy Grail’ for collectors

08 April 2013

Promising to rank among the auction highlights of the summer, Christie’s are to sell the fabled Benson collection of early spoons on June 4.

Christie’s to cut back their Dutch operation

08 April 2013

Christie’s are scaling down their Dutch operation with substantially fewer staff and a pared-down sales schedule designed to reflect the international auction calendar.

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Modern British prints take centre stage

05 April 2013

People sipping wine may be a slightly less familiar subject for Nevinson, but a copy of the print 'Sur La Terrasse, Parnasse' will appear at Bonhams sale of Grosvenor School and Avant Garde British Printmaking in New Bond Street on April 16.

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The board game that 'taught kids to be anti-semitic'

04 April 2013

Although offensive to 20th century mores, ‘The New and Fashionable Game of the Jew’ was deemed a suitable pastime for children at the turn of the 19th century.

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Rare Victorian vending machine takes £7500

02 April 2013

Once a common sight on British streets and in public buildings, late Victorian and Edwardian cast-iron vending machines were scrapped for their metal content as they became obsolete or necessary for the war effort.

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Elvis and The Beatles top charts again

02 April 2013

If ever there was a single record that could lay claim to truly starting the Rock and Roll era, it must be Elvis Presley’s first single ‘That’s all right (Mama)’, recorded in Memphis in July 5, 1954.

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Niche collection makes a case for silver

27 March 2013

Silver smallwork is a designated area of the silver market in its own right but even this particular sector has its own sub-divisions.

TEFAF unveil plans for a new fair in China

26 March 2013

TEFAF have announced that they are in discussions with Sotheby’s about the possibility of launching a high-end art fair in mainland China next year.

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Qianlong Bowl takes £260,000 in Gloucestershire

26 March 2013

The best Chinese works of art continue to prosper in the salerooms.

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Collector bids Byron memorial ring to £6200

26 March 2013

One hestitates to contradict the great metaphysical poetic and theologian John Donne who believed that ‘death comes equally to us all, and makes us all equal when it comes’.

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Halls open new Shrewsbury salerooms

25 March 2013

Halls’ new purpose-built fine art saleroom has now officially opened.

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Silverware to be sold to support Durham memorial

21 March 2013

Over 130 lots of silverware that once graced the tables of the Durham Light Infantry’s officers’ mess are to be sold at auction to raise funds for a new bronze memorial statue for Durham.

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Robert Henderson bracket clock in Salisbury

21 March 2013

Salisbury auctioneers Woolley & Wallis include this George III mahogany striking bracket clock by Robert Henderson, London in their sale on March 26.

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The Captain’s prize spice box makes £10,500

21 March 2013

Family tradition had it that this Mughal silver spice box was looted during the siege of Delhi in September 1857.

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Edward Prior watch: a perfectly preserved Ottoman treasure

21 March 2013

Edward Prior specialised in producing watches for the Ottoman market and an example in exceptional condition recently appeared at a sale held at the Canterbury Auction Galleries.

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Chinese Girl sale sets world record for Tretchikoff

21 March 2013

Chinese Girl – the iconic work from Vladimir Tretchikoff, the Russian émigré who settled in South Africa – was sold this week at Bonhams’ South African art sale in London for £840,000, to set a world record for the artist.

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Bromsgrove Guild garden statue takes £35,000

19 March 2013

This lead copy of Louis Weingartner’s 19th century bronze ‘Dryad and Boar’ was found hidden away in an overgrown garden before it was recently consigned to auction.

Bailey to run online saleroom but keeps a role at Sotheby’s

19 March 2013

George Bailey, one of Sotheby’s leading figures, with over 34 years experience at the auction house, has taken a step outside the company by launching an online-only auction house this month.

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