Features

A number of key sales for dealers and collectors of antique silver were postponed earlier this year. However, plenty is on offer this month and with lockdown in England set to recede, April features a bumper crop

Georgian silver bow corkscrews by Dublin makers are rare beasts and appeal to both silver collectors and helixophiles.

A recent sale at Dawsons’ (23% buyer’s premium) sale in Maidenhead included two George IV tablewares by Edward Farrell chased and embossed with tavern scenes in the manner of Dutch genre painting.

A late 19th century christening bowl offered by Hampshire auction house Hannam’s (23% buyer’s premium) was admired both for its artistry and ownership history.

This Neo-classical silver tea service combines the talents of two giants of the Regency era.

This George III silver table snuff box by Phipps and Robinson, London 1814, is engraved to the cover with a plan of the battle of Talavera in the Peninsular War.

This Victorian silver and enamel cigarette box is decorated to the lid with humorous scene from John Surtees’ Jorrocks, Jaunts and Jollities.

The sale at Bellmans (22% buyer’s premium) in Wisborough Green, West Sussex, on March 8-11 included an example of Alexander Crichton’s famous walrus silver and glass claret jug.

Bolstered by a strong melt price of over £15 an ounce, domestic silver hollowwares and flatwares are selling strongly. However, it is the pieces of collectable value – novelties, provincial rarities and the work of the best Georgian, Regency and Victorian smiths – that continue to perform best in the market

Rolex made the reference 6150 Oyster Perpetual Explorer for around two years after the 1953 Everest expedition. It is believed that Tensing Norgay wore a prototype of the watch, the first Explorer model to have the Mercedes hands, while completing the ascent.

Auction houses are getting back to normal for this latest staging of the New York Asian art spotlight, although new import taxes are having an effect.

At the peak of his fame in the 1969, the Anglo-Italian jewellery designer Andrew Grima was invited by Omega to create what would become the About Time collection.

With classic watches usually priced in five or six figures, it is worth discovering the less well-known brands and especially those from the 1980s, says newly appointed Lyon & Turnbull specialist Sarah Fergusson

Introduced in 1960, the Bulova Accutron 214 was among the first commercially successful electronic watch.

The Oysterdate Monte Carlo series were the first chronographs produced by Tudor.

A recent Sotheby’s New York (26% buyer’s premium) sale included this rare ‘Red Racing Dial’ Speedmaster consigned by the original owner.

This rare 1940s Longines British military issue is appropriately nicknamed the ‘tuna can.’

Unrestored models selling for top results

When Freya Simms presented at a European art market conference in late January, forecasting what dealers should expect in 2021, the LAPADA chief executive illustrated her slides with an image of someone dragging a ball of red tape up the hill.

Brexit, CITES, new ivory act on the way… it can be hard for the UK art and antiques trade to keep up with the many regulations. However, the good news is that much of CITES has not changed fundamentally, as this update from expert Kim McDonald of The Taxidermy Law Company reveals