Dreweatts

A group of pictures from the collection of the late art dealer Duncan Campbell, who died in 2011, were among the lots drawing interest at Dreweatts.

Artist battles back to regain favour with auctioneers, private buyers and dealers

Three Victorian bangles were among the most popular lots of Dreweatts’ (25/20/12% buyer’s premium) sale of Fine Jewellery, Silver, Watches and Objects of Vertu.

One of the highlights of a busy week in the salerooms came at Dreweatts’ auction of the Sir William Whitfield (1920-2019) collection.

“A fabulous example of how an auctioneer can sell these collections so successfully outside of London,” said Dreweatts’ (25% buyer’s premium) managing director Jonathan Pratt in the wake of Donnington Priory’s latest auction of European furniture and works of art.

A key feature of the ceramics section of Dreweatts’ sale on February 19 will be 55 lots from a local private collection featuring 18th century English porcelain.

Business was certainly hard-won but the elite of Britain and Ireland’s regional fine art auction houses enjoyed a largely positive 2019.

Victorian silver novelties do not come much better than this claret jug, formed as a 9in (23cm) tall kneeling elephant by James Barclay Hennell, London 1881. The hinged head (currently lacking tusks) forms the cover.

Preview held in imposing stately home helps to boost interest ahead of first sale section.

Bidders respond positively to auction combination of quality, freshness and pricing.

It’s been a challenging couple of decades for classic English furniture but early winter has witnessed a few stars across the provinces, be it classic English or more exotic overseas material, to offer some gleams of encouragement.

Our weekly selection from salerooms.

A Qianlong teapot which made £800,000 in Dorchester provided the stellar result among some exceptional Asian art lots offered for sale in the UK regions and Ireland last week.

It was not catalogued as such, but this silver ring modelled as a standing lion with a gold-coloured mane is designed by Moshe Oved (1885-1958), the owner of celebrated Bloomsbury antique shop Cameo Corner where jewellery expert John Benjamin first learnt his trade.

A sale of Modern First Editions at Bloomsbury Auctions on November 14 includes this ‘near mint’ 1950 copy of Graham Greene’s 'The Third Man and The Fallen Idol'.