Auctioneers

The auction process is a key part of the secondary art and antiques market.

Firms of auctioneers usually specialise in a number of fields such as jewellery, ceramics, paintings, Asian art or coins but many also hold general sales where the goods available are not defined by a particular genre and are usually lower in value.

Auctioneers often provide other services such as probate and insurance valuations.

Burges brooch

Third Antiques Roadshow-discovered Burges brooch sells at auction

22 March 2024

A brooch by the great Victorian designer and architect William Burges, found with the help of the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow, has sold for £9500 at Leicestershire auction house Gildings.

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Artist’s still-life paintings snapped up at auction as museum wing opens in her honour

22 March 2024

The life and work of Austrian-British artist Marie-Louise von Motesiczky feature at Olympia Auctions and Amersham Museum

Roman Over Lifesize Trajanic Marble Bust Of Pompeia Plotina

“Three monumental sculptures with monumental prices to boot”

21 March 2024

Three over life-size Roman portrait busts with an 18th century provenance to Cobham Hall in Kent have sold for a combined £1.26m at Lyon & Turnbull.

‘Sunday Afternoon’ by LS Lowry

Second highest auction price for LS Lowry set at Christie’s

21 March 2024

Christie’s posted the second highest price at auction for LS Lowry (1887-1976) when ‘Sunday Afternoon’, one of his largest industrial landscapes, was knocked down at £5.2m.

John Lavery  sketch

Lavery’s sketch for Roger Casement trial among six-figure pictures at Dreweatts

21 March 2024

Dreweatts’ latest Modern and Contemporary Art sale was one of the highest grossing auctions the Newbury saleroom has ever staged in this category with a record number of registered bidders and three pictures making over £100,000.

Watercolour by JMW Turner

Rediscovered JMW Turner watercolour sells for £37,000 at Cheffins

20 March 2024

An early watercolour by JMW Turner which had been hanging unidentified in the vendor’s dining room for over 30 years overshot a £20,000-30,000 estimate at Cheffins in Cambridge, selling at £37,000.

Napkin

Napkin contract that signed a 13-year-old Lionel Messi to Barcelona FC comes to auction

20 March 2024

What is probably the world’s most famous napkin – the document that secured the services of a young Lionel Messi to Barcelona FC – comes to auction at Bonhams.

The Weavers by Arthur William Devis

Weavers work their auction magic for 18th century picture

18 March 2024

A rare picture painted in India by Arthur William Devis (1762-1822) depicting a group of Bengali weavers was the subject of dramatic competition at Gorringe’s (25% buyer’s premium) spring fine art and antiques sale.

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Etna charger erupts at Clarice Cliff auction

18 March 2024

Last sold in 1994, a well-known Newport Pottery promotional piece brings £18,500 in Stourbridge.

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The George Withers auction: ‘I knew this wouldn’t come round again’

18 March 2024

An auction house has existed in the Dore & Rees premises, a Victorian gothic building on Vicarage Street, Frome, since 1868.

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Marathon Withers collection sale brings £1.28m rewards

18 March 2024

“He stored everything like Russian dolls, everything packed away into something else."

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Watch counted as thanks to magazine editor Dickens

18 March 2024

A trio of lots relating to Charles Dickens offered at Chichester saleroom Stride & Son (18% buyer’s premium) included a presentation pocket watch.

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Travel tales by Emily Eden told in art and words

18 March 2024

Sketches and journal by Emily Eden relate to her life in the UK then journey to the subcontinent

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Smaller lamps making a bigger impact

18 March 2024

Are you a ‘big light’ fan or foe? According to various social media posts and newspaper articles last year, there is a move away from the ‘big light’ (in part due to Tik Tok influencers decreeing so) to lamps.

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Stand-out works on paper underline appeal of rarities from notable names

18 March 2024

If you wanted to sum up the current state of the watercolours and works on paper sector in a single sentence, you might say something like ‘flatter than ever for general works but exceptional lots routinely generating strong interest’.

Fang reliquary head

New benchmark for tribal art as Fang head makes €12.6m at Christie’s

14 March 2024

A new record for African or Oceanic tribal art was set at Christie’s in Paris as part of the sale of the remarkable Barbier-Mueller collection.

Julia Annabelle, Lady Shuckburgh

‘Quintessential English’ collection of family portraits comes to auction in Gloucestershire

13 March 2024

A group of portraits from the collection of the 3rd Earl of Liverpool, Charles Cecil Cope Jenkinson (1784-1851), will be offered at Gloucestershire saleroom Chorley’s auctioneers in April.

Faustina the Elder sculpture

Roman portrait busts highlight Lyon & Turnbull’s first ancient art auction

12 March 2024

Three over life-size Roman portrait busts with an 18th century provenance linked to Cobham Hall in Kent come for sale at Lyon & Turnbull this month.

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Teapot displays dual combination of Doccia porcelain technique

11 March 2024

Ceramics historian cited this item to show how two types of decoration were used in combination

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Pick of the week: All Blacks debut in a white top

11 March 2024

A shirt from the first time the famed All Blacks played in white instead has sold at auction.

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