Auctions

The highlight of this year’s Old Master picture series in London was a pair of Roman vedute by Bernardo Bellotto (Venice 1721-1780 Warsaw).

The 21st century equivalent of an unknown masterpiece brought in to the front counter of a saleroom must be the treasure that surfaces on an auctioneer’s computer via a routine email.

Initially catalogued as “an Eastern walnut three-tier table, brass mounted and fitted three flaps, 2ft (64cm) wide when open” and estimated at just £150-200, the appraisal of this stylish table seen at Simon Chorley of Southam, near Cheltenham, Gloucester on November 30 was radically upgraded when it was identified as the work of Aesthetic architect and designer Edward William Godwin (1833-1886).

ON December 28, 1792 Anglo-Irish statesman, orator and philosopher Edmund Burke (1729-97) enacted the melodrama in Parliament that became known as the Dagger Scene.

A set of 38 individual original metal printing plates used for the illustrations for John Lennon’s first book, are to go under the hammer on December 2 at Dickins of Middle Claydon, Bucks.

Son of Sir James Thornhill, brother-in-law to William Hogarth and serjeant painter to the King, John Thornhill was also a founder member of the Whig Beefsteak Club.

While many are still finding the market sluggish for standard English brown furniture, there is no shortage of demand at the top end as shown by results from the latest sales in London.

The highlight of the Lowestoft porcelain sale conducted by enthusiast Russell H. Sprake at The Beaconsfield Club, Lowestoft on the evening of October 27 was this rare blue and white birth tablet.

November saw the art market hit a new high as Christie’s capped a remarkable series of New York sales with a record $240m (£131m) for post-War and Contemporary art.

The discovery of two small panels by Fra Angelico (c.1395-1455) in a semi-detached house in Oxford ranks as one of the most remarkable art finds this country has ever witnessed.

Feeding frenzy sets new record as bidders get their fill despite absence of Lloyd Webber Picasso

Sotheby’s Impressionist and Modern art sale of 83 lots on November 7 generated $238m (£131.5m) and was the auctioneers’ highest auction total since the previous Impressionist and Modern high water mark of May 1990.

IT was the Gothic furniture that was in strongest demand at Sotheby’s Haute Epoque sale in Bond Street last week, none more so than this massive 16th/17th oak refectory table that was bid to an astonishing £420,000 (plus premium).

A Stradivari violin, which has been played in concert halls all over the world, is being offered for sale by Corsham-based auctioneers Gardiner Houlgate in London on November 6.

An auction of promises will be held at Moreton Hall School on November 10, with the proceeds helping to fund a scholarship in the name of the late Shropshire auctioneer Richard Allen.

The highlight of the two-day sale of clocks and watches conducted by Gardiner Houlgate of Corsham, near Bath on October 19-20 was this rare 17th century coach or clockwatch consigned by a Bristol family who had owned it for at least a century. Measuring 31/2in (9cm) across, it is shown here a little over life-size.

AMERICAN folk art moved into new territory at Sotheby’s New York on October 6 when this life-size Indian chief weathervane with a rich verdigris patina sold for $5.2m/£2.9m (plus 20/12% buyer’s premium).

The 2001 Irish heritage laws are again being tested after a local council announced its intent to stop the sale of an 18th century fireplace on the grounds that – although not fitted in the property until the early 1970s – it is now an essential feature of the house.

“A MOMENT of European importance” is how architects acknowledge Tyringham Hall in Buckinghamshire. It is one of the greatest country houses designed by Sir John Soane (1753-1837), the leading architect of his generation.

Renowned Bristol-born graffiti artist Robert Banks, better known as Banksy (b.1975), has made himself into a globally-recognised phenomenon by planting his subversive guerrilla artwork in the world’s best galleries, museums, and amusement parks.