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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Affordable art: Three works sold for under £1650 including a William Henry Hunt self-portrait

06 January 2020

Three modestly valued works selling at regional sales including a William Henry Hunt self-portrait.

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Wyndham Lewis portrait sells in Exeter

06 January 2020

A bid of £5000 from a Contemporary art gallery in London secured this post-war portrait by the writer and Vorticist painter Wyndham Lewis (1882-1957).

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Asian art in Los Angeles: late Qing vase draws bids at Bonhams

06 January 2020

This 12in (30cm) cong form vase with elephant-head handles is decorated in qianjiangcai enamels by Cheng Men (1833-1908) – one of the best known of the late Qing period porcelain painters.

‘The mocking of Christ’ by Cimabue

France blocks export of €19.5m Cimabue panel following sale to overseas buyer

03 January 2020

The French government has blocked the export of ‘The mocking of Christ’, a medieval panel by Cenni di Pepo (known as Cimabue) that sold in October for €19.5m plus premium at auction house Actéon.

‘The mocking of Christ’ by Cimabue

Six top Old Masters sold at auction in 2019

30 December 2019

This year has seen some notable action in the Old Master market including some major rediscoveries which led to some extraordinary bidding at auction. Here ATG picks out six highlights sold across 2019.

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It’s Grimshaw down south

28 December 2019

Paintings by Leeds-born artist Louis H Grimshaw (1870-1943) are often overshadowed by his better-known father, John Atkinson Grimshaw (1863-93).

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Sporting scenes tracked down by eager buyers

28 December 2019

Several 19th and 20th century sporting paintings from named estates provided a healthy boost at two regional salerooms.

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Drawn to Paris in its prime

28 December 2019

Paintings by 20th century artists who flocked to Paris during its artistic heyday were the main focus in a sale of Impressionist, Modern, Post War & Contemporary Art at south London auction house Roseberys (25/20/12% buyer’s premium).

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Rediscovered Giambologna bronze cast bought by Versailles 

24 December 2019

A ‘rediscovered’ lifetime cast of Giambologna’s 'Rape of a Sabine' topped Sotheby’s sell-out sale of works from the collection of the Count and Countess of Ribes in Paris.

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Winter wonderland – vintage skiing and skating poster selection at auction

24 December 2019

Christmas is around the corner and for some a spot of skiing or skating may be on the cards.

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British Museum is third time lucky to buy 1000-year-old seal matrix

23 December 2019

A rare Saxon walrus ivory seal matrix will go back on display in the British Museum – after the institution missed out on buying the object twice before.

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Walking cane once owned by controversial Titanic survivor comes to auction in Cornwall

23 December 2019

A walking cane once owned by Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon (1862-1931), a controversial Titanic survivor, is to be offered at auction in Cornwall.

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Second ‘lost’ Marlborough gem sparkles in Cambridge

23 December 2019

An intaglio ring became the second of the ‘lost’ Marlborough jewels to surface at auction in 2019 when it sold for £36,000 (plus 22.5% premium) in Cambridge.

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Chinese clock winds up in Sussex - plus a round up of the latest auction results for clocks across the UK

23 December 2019

Guangzhou bracket example leads a selection of stand-out timepieces sold in the regions.

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Royal Copenhagen in Newcastle

23 December 2019

This 12½in (31cm) Royal Copenhagen blanc de chine vase offered by Newcastle’s Anderson & Garland (22% buyer’s premium) on December 5 has an underglaze ‘three waves’ mark dating to c.1870-90.

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Games of genius and Uncle Sam

23 December 2019

Among the selection of instructional games and pastimes featured at Forum Auctions (25/12/12% buyer’s premium) on November 21 two of the more successful lots were published by Edward Wallis.

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New Olympic record breaker

23 December 2019

A copy of the 1892 Olympic Manifesto made an auction record for sports memorabilia when it was hammered down for $7.5m (£5.73m).

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M marks the Mauretania

23 December 2019

Holding for 22 years the Blue Riband for the fastest Atlantic crossing, the great Cunard liner RMS Mauretania is a magical name for collectors of maritime memorabilia.

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Japanese snake slithers beside maps and cup

23 December 2019

Alongside two key early maps of colonial North America (see News, ATG No 2422) the sale at Ramsay Cornish (20% buyer’s premium) in Edinburgh on December 7 was distinguished by five-figure bids for two rare items.

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Pick of the week: Faraday iron filings create a magnetic pull on bidders

23 December 2019

Michael Faraday’s laboratory notebook from 1851 includes a series of diagrams illustrating what he called ‘magnetic lines of force’ – the magnetic field lines that are central to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry.

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