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.

Elizabethan manuscript on cheese

Pick of the week: Cheesy does it for £45,000 Elizabethan manuscript at auction

29 May 2023

Leading the sale at Dominic Winter on May 17 was a highly unusual Elizabethan manuscript treatise on cheese and cheese making.

Norwich silver

Get a taste of silver from the Colman collection coming to auction in Essex

29 May 2023

Sworders’ next Fine Interiors sale includes a collection of Norwich 17th century silver assembled by one of East Anglia’s best-known families.

Jennifer Lee's pot

Latest Jennifer Lee top price at auction pushes studio potter close to Rie and Coper levels

29 May 2023

Mallams regained the record for a pot by Jennifer Lee (b.1956) on May 18 when a large asymmetrical vessel from c.1990 sold at £40,000 (plus 25% buyer’s premium).

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Conan Doyle celebrated in Chicago

29 May 2023

‘Sherlockian scholar’ is the term Potter & Potter (20% buyer’s premium) uses to describe Robert Hess.

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Nelson portrait in ‘warts and all’ fashion generates an extraordinary bidding battle

29 May 2023

Despite being a copy by a little-known Norfolk painter, ‘authentic’ portrait makes remarkable price

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How Omega pottery became a part of the Bloomsbury Group story

29 May 2023

Estimated at £20-40, this large ‘continental’ turquoise-glazed bowl sold for a surprise £5800 at Tayler & Fletcher (21% buyer’s premium) in the Cotswolds.

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German artist Scholz's 'scandalous' picture takes six-figure sum at auction

29 May 2023

Berlin is obviously a good place to sell paintings by the German artist Georg Scholz (1890-1945), one of the leading representatives of Neue Sachlichkeit (new objectivity).

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Chinese teapot with Dutch touch

29 May 2023

This rare Chinese export teapot, cover and stand is painted with the arms and motto of the Dutch Republic and the cypher of the Verenigde Oost Indische Compagnie – better known as the Dutch East India Company.

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Hungary's Munkácsy bid to more than three times estimate at Swiss auction

29 May 2023

Like many of his colleagues, the Hungarian painter Mihály Munkácsy (1844-1900) visited the major art centres of his day, such as Munich and Düsseldorf, before finally settling in Paris in 1871.

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Wooden netsuke achieve top prices at Viennese auction house

29 May 2023

Wooden examples of the art of netsuke are now the focus of collectors following ivory restrictions.

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Member of French clockmaking dynasty to feature in German auction

29 May 2023

The signature Fortin à Paris on the dial of this 21in (53cm) high marble and gilt bronze clock shows that it was made by a member of one of the most prominent Parisian clockmaker dynasties of the 18th century.

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Furniture that created a ‘new language for woodworking’

29 May 2023

Fresh-thinking range of furniture features in a four-day auction showcasing modern design styles

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Franco-Turkish artist Hamdi Bey's 'fashionable' picture takes €1m at auction

29 May 2023

Top lot of Dorotheum’s (25/20.84% buyer’s premium) Viennese sale of 19th century paintings on May 2 lived up to its expectations.

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Silver owned by the 'Golden Ball' gambler who frittered away a fortune comes to auction

29 May 2023

This pair of silver wine decanter stands or bottle coasters by Philip Rundell (1746-1827) for Rundell, Bridge & Rundell, (London 1819 and 1820) sold for £10,500.

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Naval artist and shipbuilder go into battle together

29 May 2023

Bonhams’ (27.5/26/20/14.5% buyer’s premium) latest Marine sale was led by an elegant depiction of a famous naval battle between British and French ships that took place towards the end of the American War of Independence.

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Expressionists emerge together

29 May 2023

Van Ham of Cologne is offering a work by the German Expressionist Otto Mueller on the occasion of its 500th sale: the painting Frau und Knabe (Woman and Boy) from 1922.

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Charity shop Chinese jars find at £20 sells for £46,000

29 May 2023

This near pair of Qianlong mark and period doucai jars were a charity shop find for a keen-eyed London vendor.

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Galizia heads a selection of ‘Old Mistresses’ on offer at Vienna auction

29 May 2023

A previously undocumented painting, bought from an English dealer by a European collector in 1995, shines at Vienna sale.

Bedchamber sword of Tipu Sultan

Auction record for both Indian and Islamic object smashed by Tipu Sultan’s bedchamber sword

25 May 2023

A sword taken from the Indian Muslim ruler Tipu Sultan when he was defeated and killed during the fourth Anglo-Mysore War was hammered down at £12m.

Xuande mark and period cloisonné ‘pomegranate’ box and cover

The £19 Chinese box now worth £230,000

22 May 2023

The highlight of Dreweatts’ Asian art sale on May 17-18 was this very rare Xuande (1426-35) mark and period cloisonné ‘pomegranate’ box and cover.

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