Twitter sign from the company’s San Francisco office, sold for $100,000 at Heritage Global Partners.
Harry Ballin and Simon Watson from Windsor Auctions and Devon firm Lyme Bay Auctions have been hosting The Gavel and The Gabble podcast since June last year.
In their fun and upbeat weekly show, available online (check it out on Spotify or podcasts.apple.com), they discuss items that have come into their salerooms and interview people from the around the trade.
“Lots of our customers had suggested that we should turn our auctioneer chatty style into a podcast and we felt there was a gap in the market”, says Ballin. “The antiques and auction house industry has an almost never-ending supply of content and we are doing our bit to promote it and those who work in and around it.”
At Fieldings in the West Midlands Rachel Holland, head of business development and Asian art specialist, is joined by colleague Kayleigh Davies, a toys specialist and a regular valuer on Channel 5’s Cash In The Attic, on their Hammer Time podcast They have produced three shows so far including a guest appearance from Philip Serrell who “reveals the truth behind his scarf”. The show can be found on Spotify.
For something a little different, you could also try the Antiques Radio Show, hosted from Australia by silver historian, consultant and valuer, Jolyon Warwick James. The monthly show is on Spotify, Apple and Google Podcasts.
A sign of the times
When they’re not appearing on podcasts, auctioneers and dealers can be found bantering on Twitter. The social media network was itself the subject of auction action last week when it sold office furniture, equipment and miscellanea from the firm’s San Francisco office as part of new owner Elon Musk’s downsizing of the business.
Eames plywood LCW lounge chair, $1650 at Heritage Global Partners.
The timed online auction, held by Heritage Global Partners on bidspotter.com, prompted a flurry of media coverage and bids, with the top lot being a company sign that sold for $100,000 hammer.
There was even something for interiors lovers to get excited about: five Eames plywood LCW lounge chairs with a label dated 2015 caught the attention of bidders who pushed them to hammer prices ranging from $1350 to $1650, which, with fees, is quite some way beyond what a new one could be bought for at retail.
The chair was first launched in late 1940s and was one of the earliest Charles and Ray Eames successes. Herman Miller discontinued the LCW in 1957 but re-introduced it as part of the ‘Home Classics’ range in 1994, using a variety of wood finishes since then.
