Lyon & Turnbull

At a time when catering for niche interests is a profitable path for auctioneers, recent sales in Scotland, Ireland and England have shown that the furniture market can still come to life – provided it meets three criteria.

ATG’s selection of auction lots bought by internet bidders on thesaleroom.com from the period October 4-11, 2018. This includes both the highest prices over estimate and the top prices paid online.

A private collection of more than 30 pieces of Pilkington’s Lancastrian lustre excelled when offered at Lyon & Turnbull (25% buyer’s premium) in Edinburgh on October 10.

Two leading regional auction houses – Lyon & Turnbull and Dreweatts – are trying new format sales this autumn in the hope of increasing demand for traditional European art and antiques. Both are creating room sets for viewing works.

Auction house Lyon & Turnbull hails the encouraging return of American interest at its September 5 sale.

UK dealers buying foreign silver, overseas bidders taking British work and generally solid interest for traditional pieces of mid-ranking silver brightened up the normally quieter late summer sales across the country.

August is the month when Scotland takes it up a notch while the rest of the art world has a breather.

One of a collection of ornithological and other natural history works from a country house library offered in an Edinburgh sale was a scarce, complete copy of a work that created a bitter fall-out between author and illustrator.

Once-fashionable drum tables took a big hit during the furniture slump and while the best can do well, others can be picked up cheaply.

Chinese ceramics tend to dominate Asian sales in the UK, but occasionally other mediums get to share the limelight.

The coming weeks will offer some special, if sometimes very costly, opportunities for bird lovers.

The feast from the east that that has put bread (and some Michelin-starred meals) on the table of dealers and auctioneers for more than a decade continues to do so at sales from Scotland to Surrey.

Several decades ago, when China was shut to the Western world, encounters with foreigners were understandably rare.

In the year of the 150th anniversary of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s birth, Lyon & Turnbull has sold the very key used to open his design masterpiece, The Glasgow School of Art, in 1899.