Auctioneers

Stockmarket jitters may not have had any noticeable impact on the upper ranges of the Impressionist and Modern market but further down the scale things were looking less rosy. At Bonhams (19.5/10% buyer’s premium) on June 24 the 95-lot sale took £446,020 with a 52 per cent take-up by lot.

The World Cup may have come to a disappointing close for English fans, but sporting enthusiasts can now look forward to a summer of Wimbledon and cricket Test matches.

SOTHEBY’s lost one of their senior directors and serious innovators at the beginning of this month when Philippe Garner joined Phillips, de Pury & Luxembourg with the position of Worldwide Director of Photographs and 20th and 21st Century Design.

Sotheby’s announcement of the discovery of a cache of Nelson memorabilia that has been hidden away for almost 200 years has generated huge media interest.

UK: Edinburgh auctioneers Lyon and Turnbull are expanding their business with the creation of three new jobs, two of them in silver and jewellery.“We are bucking the trend by continuing with our expansion plans as other auction rooms in Scotland reduce their workforce and close offices,” said vice-chairman Paul Roberts.

Following the last minute cancellation of Bonhams’ July 8-9 sale on the premises at Moynes Park in Essex, the nearest thing to a traditional English house sale this summer is likely to be the contents of Branton Court House in Yorkshire which Bonhams are offering in three parts at their Hepper House saleroom in Leeds on July 16, July 23 and August 6.

UK: The Fine Art Auction Group have added to their network of regional salerooms with the acquisition of Taylor’s of Honiton in Devon.

This vase may have come from relatively humble surroundings but the London trade had no doubt that it was fit for a king. The 18th century blue ground imperial vase, 133/4in (35cm) high, was offered at Bearne’s, Exeter on July 2.

Every picture tells a story, but in the case of Théodore Chassériau’s large portrait of Comtesse de Latour-Maubourg, it was condition as much as content that revealed the artist’s state of mind at the time.

It may not look like a particularly important piece of furniture, but this early 19th century mahogany framed sofa, right, played a crucial role in the dynastic history of Cleveland Lodge, North Yorkshire.

THE success of the Regency mahogany bookcase, right, contributed a large chunk of the £86,000 hammer total taken at Hall’s (15% buyer’s premium) of Chester on May 31.

It is believed that only two copies of Johann Simon Kerner’s Le Raisin, ses espèces et variétées… were completed, but then this German botanist did make it hard work for himself in choosing to illustrate it with original watercolours.

Bonhams Auctioneers announced today that the contents of Moyns Park, an Elizabethan manor house in Birdbrook, on the Essex-Suffolk border near Haverhill, had been sold prior to auction.

With their lively if somewhat comic subject matter, these so-called ‘Scotsmen’ famille rose plates, 18th century, always receive a warm welcome. But the comic depiction of this kilted couple of the 42nd Foot Regiment belies the fate that lay in store for them.

Concerns that turmoil in the world’s stock markets would spill over into London’s June round of Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary sales proved to be largely unfounded.

Christie’s King Street, may not have had their best ever sale but they did have the week’s most admired snuff bottle: a black and white jade inscribed example, signed Shixiang, 1740-1850.

Sotheby’s Olympia clinched the week’s loftiest price for an Asian work when a mighty £480,000 was placed by a Japanese telephone buyer probably bidding against the reserve for a complete set of Ando Hiroshige’s (1797-1858) 120 woodblock prints: The One Hundred Famous Views of Edo.

This quartet of Meissen white figures from Augustus the Strong’s Japanese Palace was a centrepiece of the June 13 evening sale from Longleat, contributing £2.9m to the overall total.

Following hot on the heals of a gold cased pocket watch which took £25,000 Sherborne auctioneers Charterhouse (15% buyer’s premium) found further horological success on May 31 with this early 19th century carriage clock, right.

One of the more curious sections of Sotheby’s sale at Billingshurst on 21-22 May was devoted to natural, rather than man-made statuary.