Christie's

“With the exception of Dürer’s Apocalypse, the most influential woodcut programme from Germany was that of the Cologne Bible of 1478-79.”

The collection of Clarice Cliff formed by André Aerne, a voice professor at Butler University in the US who died last year, will be offered in an online sale at Christie’s this month.

For many years auctioneers have been itching to move the finest arms and armour from the province of the specialist collector and establish them with a wider audience as works of art in their own right.

Works by the Pre-Raphaelites and their followers continued to outperform the rest of the Victorian art market during the latest round of sales in London.

More 19th century art was offered in London when over 120 lots of European and Orientalist pictures went under the hammer at Christie’s.

Christie’s is weighing up options for the sale of the lease of its Old Brompton Road premises after it held its last sale before closing the popular South Kensington auction rooms.

The farewell party for Christie’s South Kensington, around the corner from Old Brompton Road at The Kensington Hotel on July 19, was a melee of former staff, clients and friends of the auction house. So packed was the room, moving from one end to the other was tricky.

At just after 10am on July 19, William Porter – the first of four carefully chosen auctioneers – climbed the rostrum to a ripple of applause from an audience of two dozen staff and a dozen or so buyers. “Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Christie’s South Kensington and welcome to the Interiors sale.” Long pause. “For the last time,” he said. “Boo,” heckled a voice from the front.

With the disappearance of Christie’s South Kensington the London market is in a state of flux. ATG looks to the future and considers the opportunities for the firms that seek to take its place.

The closure of Christie's South Kensington has meant several firms are vying to gain a slice of the market in one of London's wealthiest area as well as draw the specialist staff who are moving on.

I grew up with Christie’s South Kensington. In late 1975, when I joined the fledgling four-year-old Antiques Trade Gazette, CSK was in its first year of existence.

Landmarks along the Christie’s South Kensington memory lane...

Christie’s veteran Nic McElhatton believes the CSK model will be hard to replicate...

An extraordinarily rich and varied crop of book sales have taken place this summer.

ATG's selection of quotes about the closure of Christie’s South Kensington...