Auctions

News and previews of art and antiques sold at auctions throughout the UK and overseas, from multi-million-pound blockbusters to affordable collectables.


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Sandby tops Hooton Pagnell dispersal

10 December 2015

Topping Bonhams Knightsbridge’s marathon nine-hour sale of items from Hooton Pagnell Hall in South Yorkshire was this 20½in x 2ft 5in (52 x 76cm) watercolour and gouache work by Paul Sandby (1730-1809).

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£165,000 record for Great Escape Rolex

09 December 2015

A 1940s Rolex wristwatch whose RAF owner was murdered by the SS after the Great Escape has sold for £165,000 in Buckinghamshire.

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Helleu portrait emerges at Sworders

07 December 2015

Paul César Helleu (1859-1927) is best known for his Belle Epoque portraits of beautiful society women.

Like Day and Night – figures restored and sell at Bonhams

07 December 2015

A 21in (53cm) pair of late 19th century Meissen figures emblematic of Day and Night after the models by Heinrich Schwabe were sold by Bonhams in support of West Dean College’s full-time ceramics conservation programme.

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Harrison medal for horologist Taylor

07 December 2015

Dr John C Taylor, the horologist, inventor and clockmaker, has been given the Harrison Medal by the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers for his services to horology.

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John Winter sale at Sotheby’s recalls former director’s passion for Italy

04 December 2015

Sotheby’s will rekindle their connections with former director John Winter this month thanks to a 186-lot single-owner sale in New Bond Street.

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Modern masters head to Tajan’s sale in Paris

03 December 2015

This 11 x 7in (29 x 20cm) Tête de Femme by Alexej Von Jawlensky is one of over 170 works by a roster of some of the biggest names in modern and contemporary art that will feature in a two-part single-owner sale to be held by Tajan in Paris next week.

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Rangoon ‘exhibition’ bowl makes £11,500 in Essex

03 December 2015

A growing market for silver from the sub-continent culminated in a bid of £11,500 for this 9in (23cm) early 20th century Burmese bowl by Maung Yin Maung of Rangoon.

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Spanish royalty on offer in Madrid

01 December 2015

A pair of royal portraits by the Spanish artist Miguel Jacinto Meléndez (1679-1734) go on sale at auction in Madrid this month.

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Devastating fire at Surrey centre

01 December 2015

A major fire has caused significant damage to Bourne Mill Antiques Centre, home to about 70 dealers in Farnham, Surrey.

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Majolica masterpieces buck the trend

30 November 2015

Two versions of a celebrated German majolica tureen appeared for sale in a matter of weeks – both bringing sterling prices in an otherwise soft market for 19th century ceramics.

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Sextant story of shipwreck cannibalism

30 November 2015

A simple pencil message on a wooden sextant case sold at a London auction tells a story of desperate shipwrecked sailors adrift in a dinghy and running out of food and water.

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Qing bamboo brushpot bought for £700 makes £58,000 in Dorchester auction

19 November 2015

The primary draw to the regions – rather than London – during last week’s glut of Asian works of art sales was the auction titled ‘In Pursuit of the Scholar’s Spirit’ conducted by Duke’s of Dorchester.

Christie’s change antiquities schedule

18 November 2015

Christie’s have announced major changes to their antiquities sales calendar in London and New York.

Chance offer gives Gloucester dealers new town-centre home

16 November 2015

A lifeline has been thrown to the 60 dealers at the Gloucester Antiques Centre on Gloucester Quays which closed earlier this month with six weeks’ notice given to quit.

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Major lots help generate over $2bn total in New York auction fortnight

16 November 2015

The large sums of money changing hands at the top end of the Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary art market was underlined at the latest auctions in New York.

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Modigliani tops Christie’s ‘Artist’s Muse’ sale in New York at $152m

12 November 2015

Christie’s latest cross-category sale entitled The Artist’s Muse set the second highest ever auction price for a work of art when Amedeo Modigliani’s Nu couché (Reclining nude) sold at $152m (£104.8m).

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Lichtenstein’s Nurse sets artist’s record

12 November 2015

A new auction record came for American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) when 'Nurse' was knocked down at $85m (£58.6m) at Christie’s cross-category sale entitled The Artist’s Muse earlier this week.

Gloucester Antiques Centre dealers move to city centre after landlord gives notice to quit

10 November 2015

The Gloucester Antiques Centre has been saved by a local property developer after the 90 dealers at the centre were given six-weeks notice by their landlords the Peel Group to quit the three-storey premises on Gloucester Quays.

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‘Yongzheng’ vase posts £114,500 record for Carmarthen auction house

09 November 2015

Welsh auctioneers Peter Francis set a new house record when this 8in (19cm) celadon glazed vase sold via the-saleroom.com to a bidder from mainland China for £114,500.

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