London

A previously unrecorded family archive relating to Richard Grindall (1751-1820), an able seaman aboard Cook’s Second Voyage, surfaced for sale in London last week with spectacular results.

Several dealerships have completed sales to institutions after the winter showing of London Art Week (LAW).

The 19th & 20th Century Photography sale at Dominic Winter on May 18 includes several works by Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-79).

The inscription “To dearest Clare from her affectionate P.B.S….” proved key to the price achieved by an 1812, two-volume Venetian edition of the Poesie toscane of the lyric poet Vincenzo da Filicaja (1642-1707).

Two transatlantic spring fairs bring the twin collecting areas of historical photography and photographica into focus in the spring.

British photographer Bert Hardy (1913-95) is best remembered for his contributions to Picture Post, the UK’s pioneering photojournalistic magazine of the mid-20th century.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

This original poster design for a Mediterranean travel poster by British artist Frank Newbould (1887-1951) was among the highlight sales at the recent Connect Art Fair.

In his next exhibition London dealer Guy Peppiatt focuses on the drawings of John Downman (1750-1824) and George Romney (1734-1802), two contemporaneous British artists who at first glance seem very different.

The photographica department at Chiswick Auctions will be taking over the firm’s South Kensington gallery for the duration of May when highlights from the 19th & 20th Century Photography sale on May 24 will be on view.

A round-up of dealer news and events

At the recent Chelsea Antiques Fair a 19th century bronze bust of Isis by Pierre-Eugène-Émile Hébert was bought by an Egyptian businessman who came with no intention of buying anything specific.

Polar material in a travel and exploration themed sale held on March 2 by Bonhams (27.5/25/20/14.5% buyer’s premium) produced a bid of £24,000 for a letter that Robert Falcon Scott wrote to a friend, Lady Goodrich, about his planned British Antarctic Expedition of 1910.

'Les Footballeurs', a 1916 oil on canvas by Andre Lhote (1885-1962), is among the works on offer at Mayfair dealership Connaught Brown’s exhibition 'Towards Modernity'.

Old Masters dealership Colnaghi is collaborating with Direzione regionale Musei Veneto and Venetian Heritage on an exhibition of Renaissance sculptures to coincide with the 59th Venice Biennale.

“It’s not often we offer for sale a library of nearly 200 volumes by the same publisher as a single lot – and certainly not one that fits in a small suitcase.”

The Jewellery, Watches and Objects of Vertu sale at Dix Noonan Webb (25% buyer’s premium) in London on March 15 included more fine silver and enamel vesta cases by Sampson Mordan & Co to add to those sold by the firm in September 2021.

Estimated at £20,000-30,000, this cast of the Warwick vase by John Samuel Hunt, London 1845, sold for £32,000.

The Art & Antiques Fair Olympia returns for its first in-person summer event in two years – at lower prices than before the pandemic.