Bonhams raises premium thesholds
Bonhams has changed the price thresholds for its buyer’s premium. The new rates in the UK exactly mirror Christie’s charges but are slightly different from Sotheby’s adjusted fees structure which comes into force next month.
Bonhams’ new fees schedule applies from November 1. The last time the company amended its buyer’s premium was in September 2016. Global CEO of Bonhams Matthew Girling said: “This change reflects the current market and is an important part of maintaining our global competitiveness.”
The new thresholds are: 25% – up to £175,000; 20% – from £175,000 up to £3m; and 12.5% thereafter.
Premiums at wine sales will become 19.5% in the UK and 22.5% in the US and Hong Kong. None of the changes apply to sales of motor cars, coins and medals, which have different premium levels.
Trust buys Chester silver tumbler
The Peter Pemberton silver tumbler bought by The Tyrer Charitable Trust.
A silver tumbler made by 17th century Chester silversmith Peter Pemberton has been bought by a trust to ensure it will stay on public display in its home town.
The tumbler has not been seen in public since the 1970s but has now been bought for a five-figure sum from a private collector and will go on display in Chester’s Grosvenor Museum this week.
The new owner is The Tyrer Charitable Trust, a charity set up by Chester legal specialist Aaron and Partners which helps to put important and historic works on show to the general public.
Pemberton became a freeman of Chester in 1676-77. The tumbler is believed to have been made the following year.
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Mining art museum
A former bank in Bishop Auckland will reopen as a museum this month housing a collection of art made by former miners in the area.
The Mining Art Gallery will include works by the Spennymoor-born ‘pitman painter’ Norman Cornish and others by Tom McGuinness and Bob Olley. It is set to open on October 21.
Record for British five-pound coin
The 1839 ‘Una and the Lion’ five-pound coin – £340,000 at Baldwin’s of St James’s.
Baldwin’s of St James’s set a new record for a British five-pound coin when an example of the 1839 ‘Una and the Lion’ took £340,000.
Deemed a ‘good, extremely fine’ example of perhaps the most-wanted of all British milled coins, the obverse displays the famous ‘young head’ portrait of Victoria by William Wyon, while the reverse portrays her as Una leading the lion.
In March this year a ‘Una and the Lion’ five-pound coin (with some minor surface marks) fetched £170,000 at fellow London saleroom Dix Noonan Webb.
Derby in Brum
An exhibition showcasing more than 250 years of Derby porcelain takes place at the Antiques for Everyone fair in Birmingham next month.
The November 23-26 show includes a number of pieces from all three Derby porcelain factories. Most works are on loan from private collections. John Astle of the Derby Porcelain Society, which is staging the exhibition, says it is intended to “show many lesser known, unrecorded and newly discovered pieces” to generate interest among the “collectors and enthusiasts” who attend the fair.
Ingram opens Mayfair gallery
Lyndsey Ingram, who is opening a gallery in Bourdon Street, Mayfair.
Modern prints and works on paper dealer Lyndsey Ingram is to open her first official gallery space in Mayfair.
Ingram, who set up on her own in April 2016 after working at Sims Reed and Sotheby’s, previously operated from a temporary space in Mount Street.
She will unveil her gallery next month on the ground floor of 20 Bourdon Street.
Cromwell Place applications open
Cromwell Place, the arts hub currently under development in South Kensington, has opened applications for membership.
There are six different ‘tiers’ of membership on offer. The highest level is billed as resident membership, for an office space and use of facilities including exhibition space (around £5000 per year excluding VAT). A total of 25 full-time offices are available for five-year leases.
Two rounds of applications will be held, the first closing in February 2018 and the second in April. The centre is set to open in late 2019.
Colnaghi launch
Dealer Colnaghi has confirmed the launch of its Colnaghi Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation to promote Old Masters and antiquities to a 21st century audience.
As previously reported, the foundation was set up by Colnaghi directors Jorge Coll and Nicolas Cortés, and will be run by Nicola Jennings as director of research and programming.
It launches with three initial projects: a partnership with the Wallace Collection of six masterclass videos on collecting; the publication of research into David Bowie’s Tintoretto in association with the Rubenshuis Museum; and Colnaghi Studies Journal – a new periodical publishing essays on significant discoveries.
In Numbers
£80
The total cost of standard admission tickets to visit PAD, Frieze and Frieze Masters on a single, non-VIP, day.
Standard admission tickets: Frieze & Frieze Masters one-day only combined ticket: £55.
PAD standard: £25.
Also…
BADA at the Lanesborough: £20.
Battersea Decorative: £10 at the door (but offers free ticket downloads from its website).
So a possible total of £110 for anyone who had the energy to visit all fairs on Friday, October 6, but not enough forethought to order a Battersea ticket.
