Auctioneers

USA: Swann Galleries will hold their inaugural auction of Contemporary Art on the evening of Tuesday, November 13 at their 104 East 25th Street New York premises. The sale comprises about 170 examples of photo-based artworks, paintings, prints and drawings as well as mixed media pieces and multiples by late 20th century artists.

There were two horological offerings last month at Christie’s South Kensington (17.5/10% buyer’s premium). The auctioneers kicked off on October 3 with a mid-range clocks and barometer selection then followed it up on the 10th with a grander offering styled as Important Watches.

Early Qing imperial porcelain has long been the darling of the Hong Kong Chinese auctions so when a Qianlong (1736-95) mark and period dragon vase with a previously unpublished pattern came up at Sotheby’s (20/15/10% buyer’s premium), Hong Kong on October 29, sparks flew and an auction record was set for a piece of Qianlong porcelain.

Christie’s are to make 23 staff redundant in Los Angeles, their second largest saleroom in America. The decision is part of an ongoing, worldwide cost-cutting programme undertaken by the company following the settlement of the $256m lawsuit over commissions and the downturn in the art market this year.

The show stopper at Christie’s Indian and Southeast auction on October 17 was this sublime grey schist Gandharan bodhisattva, 2/3rd century. The drapes of the robes falling about his body contrast with his powerfully carved bare chest, as he stands gazing ahead with a fixed stare.

THE last week of September saw Phillips host two offerings of toys, dolls, bears and collectables at their Edinburgh and Knowle regional salerooms. Both auctions had a healthy 75 per cent take-up with the larger 1129-lot Solihull auction totalling £116,691 against the £61,660 taken by the 345-lots offered at Edinburgh.

THE first sale by the Staffordshire-based auctioneers Wintertons to be held at Bakewell’s Agricultural Business Centre in neighbouring Derbyshire was a wide-ranging 639-lot event which attracted trade and private buyers from across the country and even some overseas interest in the telephone and on the book.

The most hotly contested property in Christie’s 335-lot Japanese and Korean sale on October 15 was a selection of Korean art from the Falk collection. Just over half of the reasonably estimated 55 Korean entries hailed from this New York collection, that attracted new American buyers as well as regular European privates and dealers.

Two rather different toy sales went under the hammer early last month. October 4 saw Christie’s South Kensington (17.5/10% buyer’s premium) put some 465 lots predominantly devoted to dolls under the hammer while six days later Bonhams & Brooks (15/10% buyer’s premium) offered an even bigger, more general 630-lot mix of playthings ranging from Dinkys and lead figures to dolls, soft toys and tinplate.

WHILE it was worrying that Phillips’ main Midlands saleroom could find only 100 furniture lots worthy of their main autumn sale, and that only five of those took more than £3000, such is the drought of quality goods in the provinces at the moment that the trade were determined to make the best of any opportunity.

As every silver dealer knows, the value of standard Victorian three-piece tea sets has gone down, not up, over the past decade. But introduce a fashionable style to the casting, and the price will inevitably soar.

FRANCE: After a long and frustrating delay, Sotheby’s and Christie’s finally got the official go-ahead late last week to conduct auctions in France. They were among the first four auction houses to receive a licence from the French Conseil des Ventes on October 25 and both houses swiftly announced details of their inaugural sales to be held later this year.

Christie’s will close their office and saleroom in Athens on November 30, with the loss of all seven staff. The company is also shutting offices in Oslo, Stockholm, Frankfurt and Copenhagen, with the loss of at least 12 administrative staff, with further office closures expected in Asia and America by the end of the year.

THE acceptance that silver has long lost its shine does not mean that there is no active market, just that prices are lower. After this sale of 340 lots at Phillips’ Midlands operation on 19 September the familiar picture emerged of modern pieces struggling, standard material chugging along and items with appeal beyond the metal doing rather well.

Job lots in local sales that are not widely advertised can sometimes yield the greatest bargains. As such, this William III oval silver spice box, right, was the treasure acquired with the detritus of a job lot by a local dealer at a Nottinghamshire auction for just £12.

The market continued to favour top-quality fresh-to-the-market works at the expense of lower-end entries at Phillips (15/10% buyer’s premium) antique and modern jewellery sale on October 10.

SOTHEBYS.COM are offering a rare portrait by Frederick Lord Leighton, which has been discovered in the estate of a collector from Indiana in the United States.

Like English haggis and Scotch rarebit, the idea of Welsh Whisky is somewhat dubious. A few years ago a Welsh bottling company began to market a product called Welsh Whisky, which won praise from American connoisseurs but was just Scotch whisky in disguise.The company subsequently ceased trading.

Sotheby’s (17.5/10% buyer’s premium) move to Olympia was accompanied by a rethink of auction selling categories. Their general ceramic and glass sales have been split into smaller specialised European ceramics, British ceramics and glass auctions each to be held tri-annually at Olympia.

Like most provincial auctioneers, Christopher Ewbank was rather apprehensive of the market prior to his October sale on 4 October at Send. “I was relieved really,” said Mr Ewbank after the sale where attendance was strong and the “furniture dealers were still out in force”.