Mallams

Mallams has been trading since 1788 and now has salerooms in Oxford, Cheltenham and Abingdon as well as a valuation office in Burford. 

In addition to conducting general sales, house sales and a biannual ‘House and Garden’ sale, they also hold specialist auctions of 20th century art, books and manuscripts, ceramics and glass, clocks and barometers, collectables, Eastern and Oriental art, furniture, paintings, silver, jewellery and watches.


Pen and ink silhouettes Mendip auction rooms

Five lots that caught bidders’ eyes including pen and ink silhouettes, a Qing model of a tree and an 18th century casket

12 October 2018

ATG’s selection of highlights sold at auctions this week, including a model tree taken from the Chinese emperor's Summer Palace.

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Studio pottery – UK regional salerooms are filling a market gap

08 October 2018

If the work of the best modern and contemporary artists is typically confined to a small coterie of London auctioneers, then the same cannot be said of the best modern and contemporary ceramics.

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Jennifer Lee’s craft recognised in academia and saleroom

01 October 2018

The profile of Scottish potter Jennifer Lee (b. 1956) received a £50,000 boost at the Royal Centre for Design in Kensington this summer when she won the Loewe Craft Prize 2018 with her abstract stoneware vessel illustrated here.

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Buyers become silver surfers

10 September 2018

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.

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Bissinger gem carving turns heads in Oxford auction

03 September 2018

This agate, enamel and gemset cameo brooch carved with the profile of a classical maiden is signed verso for Georges Bissinger.

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Cellarettes will stay together

16 July 2018

Entered from the same consignor, two c.1810 mahogany cellarettes were offered singly, rather than as a near pair by Mallams (20% buyer’s premium) at Abingdon. However, after two centuries, they will remain together after selling to the same private buyer on the phone.

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How mash-ups make successful mix

04 June 2018

Mod Brit and contemporary selection showing a swirl of influences ‘creates a buzz’.

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Saleroom selection: Three pictures under £1500 including a Peter Kuhfeld view of Venice

30 April 2018

Three more modestly valued works drawing attention at recent regional sales below £1500 included a Venetian view by English painter Peter Kuhfeld.

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Photogenic gems including Julia Margaret Cameron link

23 April 2018

An old photo of a former owner and a memorial inscription will seldom add commercial value to a Victorian locket. However, the example by the Phillips Brothers of Cockspur Street offered by Mallams (20% buyer’s premium) in Oxford on March 21 carried the inscription 'Julia Hay Norman, Died 3rd October 1873'.

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A time of war

16 April 2018

Military issue watches, particular those from the Second World War, are bringing ever stronger prices.

Soapbox: Does promoting the age of your auction house enhance its brand?

02 April 2018

Two views on the big questions facing the trade… This week we ask whether promoting the foundation date of an auction house benefits the business' branding.

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Smith leaves Oxford by design to join Lyon & Turnbull expansion

26 March 2018

Lyon & Turnbull has appointed Philip Smith, former head of modern & post-war art and design at Mallams, to the newly created role of associate director for modern art and design.

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Traditional sales at the double in Oxfordshire

12 March 2018

Two stand-out collections containing Old Master and traditional British works on paper were offered within 24 hours of each other in Oxfordshire.

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Works on paper loaned to Ashmolean museum sold at Oxford auction – 5 highlights from the sale

05 March 2018

A group of Old Master and traditional British etchings, drawings and watercolours, previously on loan to the Ashmolean museum, drew keen interest at Mallams in Oxford this week.

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Escritoire with a touch of ooh-la-la to excite bidders

26 February 2018

Pretty, petite and French – a seductive combination which won admirers of this kingwood and floral marquetry escritoire at Mallams’ (20% buyer’s premium) Oxford rooms.

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Designer Wendy Ramshaw's work re-emerges on the market

05 February 2018

Contemporary jewellery designer Wendy Ramshaw’s earlier work, including her signature ring stacks first made in 1967, is coming back onto the market.

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Superb provenance furnishes further strong Cotswolds results in Oxford

15 January 2018

The studio ceramics offered at the Mallams Oxford (20% buyer’s premium) Design, Modern British and Post-War Art sale were the major talking point (see ATG No 2324), but furniture by major late 19th century and early 20th century makers also made an impact.

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Regional rooms move studio pottery into the mainstream

08 January 2018

Two pre-Christmas sales, one at Woolley & Wallis (22% buyer’s premium) in Salisbury and one at Mallams (20% buyer’s premium) in Oxford, highlighted the move of studio pottery from esoteric niche into the mainstream market.

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Sculpture makes its Mod Brit mark at Oxford auction

02 January 2018

“Modern British sculpture is making extremely good money at the moment – it is a market moving as quickly, if not slightly quicker, than paintings.” So said Philip Smith, department head of Mallams (20% buyer’s premium).

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Wearing the Vorticist movement on your sleeve costs £29,000

18 December 2017

An extraordinary example of British avant-garde clothing made on the eve of the First World War sold for £29,000 (plus 20% buyer’s premium) at Mallams Oxford on December 8.

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