Auction Reports

The currently vibrant market for Oceanic art was made plain to staff at John Nicholson’s (24% buyer’s premium) of Fernhurst in February this year when a Maori putorino or bugle flute, estimated at £50-100, sold to French dealer for £140,000. Surely, similar good fortune would not be repeated any time soon?

The designated tribal art department at Woolley & Wallis (22% buyer’s premium) in Salisbury is now in its third year – and increasingly picking up consignments and regular buyers from well beyond its immediate hinterlands.

The European decorative arts that preceded the tribal session at John Nicholson’s (24% buyer's premium) on October 10 had included a handful of notable bids, not least the £14,500 (estimate £300-500) tendered by an Italian buyer for a small early 20th century Louis Vuitton leather box measuring just 11in (27cm) across.

The Winchester saleroom Andrew Smith & Son (15% buyer’s premium) unearthed eight works by two of Singapore’s most celebrated 20th century artists for sale on September 13.

Originally due to be hosted by Rome, the 1906 eruption of Vesuvius meant that London was a late replacement to hold the fourth modern Olympiad in 1908.

Initially described as a 19th century glass font for an oil lamp and pitched at £40-60, this bell-shaped vessel drew wide interest before the September 1 sale at Tring Market Auctions (17.5% buyer’s premium).

Part of a consignment from a deceased estate in Totnes, this stoneware bowl by red-hot studio pottery favourite Dame Lucie Rie was a near certainty to exceed the £6000-9000 estimate when Chudleigh auction house Michael J Bowman (17.5% buyer’s premium) received a £20,000 commission bid from Japan ahead of the September 23 Devon sale.

One of the most sought-after models in the jukebox world is the Wurlitzer Peacock Type 850, designed by Paul Fueller in 1941. It is generally considered the biggest, the showiest and ‘most jukeboxy’ jukebox of them all.

Cheap sterling can help bring in the foreign buyers – but only if auctioneers can deliver the right goods. These were much in evidence at Chorley’s (20% buyer’s premium) sale at Prinknash Abbey on September 13-14.

A collection of early 20th century Chinese silver attracted wide interest at Catherine Southon’s (18% buyer’s premium) September 6 sale at Selsdon, south London.

An Irish family portrait attributed to Francis Wheatley (1747-1801) led the picture section at Clevedon Salerooms (20% buyer’s premium) on September 14 in Bristol.

“Many think that the fashion for older mahogany furniture has died a death. However, the prices achieved at this sale go to show that these items are still incredibly desirable.”

Top-seller at guns specialist Southams (15% buyer’s premium) in Bedford on September 20 was acased pair of flintlock double-barrelled travelling pistols.

Perhaps the rarest of all Beswick’s output is the pit pony figure Spirit of Whitfield.

A selection of good online illustrations plus a brief noncommittal description can be the regional auctioneer’s safest route when offering Chinese works of art. It proved successful when a porcelain bowl was consigned to the September 7 sale Greenslade Taylor & Hunt (19% buyer’s premium) held at Taunton.

Early to spot the rise of interest in taxidermy, Tennants’ (18.5% buyer’s premium) latest Natural History sale on September 20 was led by a top-quality diorama with a back story adding to its appeal.

Narwhal tusks, once sold for colossal sums to Elizabethan gentleman as unicorn horns, continue to be in demand as sculptural natural history objects of contemplation.

Cameras, scientific and medical instruments specialist Flints (20% buyer’s premium) held its inaugural sale on September 21.

Auctioneer hails return to form for Swansea and Nantgarw porcelain at Cardiff themed sale...

A heavily carved and silvered wood ‘console table’, offered with an estimate of £1500-2500 at Lacy Scott & Knight’s (20% buyer’s premium) September 9 sale came with a somewhat exotic story.