Mallams

The artist Mary Fedden (1915-2012) was a great lover of opera.

A combination cigarette case and lighter given to Elvis Presley by the king of Thailand sold for six times its top estimate.

Captain EF Hunter’s 'Map of Arabia and The Persian Gulf' was one of the lots fetching sums considerably in advance of what looked to be quite modest estimates in an Oxford book sale.

Schedules for all sorts of auction series have been shaken up by pandemic restrictions, and the Asian art sales reflect this – but plenty is still on offer at the upcoming series

Michael Harris signature piece sells well at auction alongside Louis Osman silver spoons set

Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty, has been a favourite subject in art since ancient times.

Portraits boosted takings at Mallams’ (24% buyer’s premium) latest picture sale in Oxford.

Collection in Cheltenham auction is latest in a series of valuable consignments with Ford family distinguished provenance

A painting by Derby artist Ernest Townsend (1880-1944) was among the works that caused something of a surprise at auction early this year.

The Mallams (20% buyer’s premium) two-day Jewellery, Watches and Silver sale in Oxford included some exceptional silver lots.

A special focus on stand-out lots in decorative art & design auctions coming up this month.

Pictured below are two textbook Kangxi (1662-1722) period blue and white vases.

Back in May, Bonhams sold 22 pen and ink drawings by Cecil Beaton (1904-80).

Brought back to England by 19th century travel writer Richard Ford, a carved alabaster relief of the Madonna watching over Christ was the outstanding lot from a Gloucestershire country house offered at Mallams Cheltenham (22.5% buyer’s premium).

A wealth of Indian and Islamic art and artefacts are available to view and buy in late October from both participants at Asian Art in London and auction houses whose sales are timed to coincide with the festival.

A mix of works across different periods and genres drew attention at the first Pictures through the Ages auction at Mallams (27% buyer’s premium) of Oxford.

The recent Mallams (22.5% buyer’s premium) live online sale of Chinese, Japanese and Islamic art in Cheltenham included Chinese works on paper and textiles from a relative of Katherine Talati (1922-2015).

As implied by an extensive inscription, this souvenir chess piece was produced by Carlo Joseph and Arthur Alphonse Giuliano, sons of the celebrated Italian artist jeweller Carlo Giuliano, to commemorate a chess match played via telegraph in 1897.

The auction calendar has been much changed by Covid 19 restrictions. However, as indicated by these lots offered for sale, an increasing number of auction houses are transacting safely behind closed doors holding timed sales or ‘live online’ sales with bids taken via bidding platforms such as thesaleroom.com or over the phone. Typically purchases can either be collected safely and couriered, or stored by the auction house until the current government guidance is lifted. With auction houses set to be able to be reopen premises to the public from June 1, more and more sales are now being added to the auction calendar.