Sworders

Sworders are an auction house based in Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex. They have a history dating back to 1782 when their Bishop’s Stortford-based forerunner started out in agriculture and property sales.

In 2008 Sworders moved to new purpose-built auction rooms and they also maintain a valuation office in Hertford.

The firm stages regular sales of antiques and collectables as well as other specialist events including dedicated modern art and design auctions and quarterly Country House sales.


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Suffragette’s enamel design skills on show via flower power

16 October 2023

Sworders (25% buyer’s premium) timed online sale that closed on August 13 included this rare enamel by Ernestine Evans Mills (1871-1959).

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Elveden Hall sale: provenance creates a heady brew

09 October 2023

Country house auction boasted not just on-the-premises appeal but Guinness and Duleep Singh connection

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Paolo Venini and Fulvio Bianconi: two titans of Italian post-war glass

02 October 2023

Inspired by Carlo Scarpa’s use of murrine glass in the 1930s and 1940s, Paolo Venini (1895-1959) designed a number of vessels in the 1950s that have become classics of post-war Italian design.

Elveden Hall auction

Elveden Hall auction brings back the room bidders

18 September 2023

In what may have felt like a flashback to the past, when bidders actually attended day sales in person, the Elveden Hall auction held by Sworders was deemed a runaway success.

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Honoré Daumier takes on the law

18 September 2023

Among the lots on offer at Sworders’ upcoming Old Master, British and European Art sale is a small sketch of two lawyers by Honoré Daumier (1808-79).

Armchairs and sofa

Guinness family collection to be auctioned in rare on-the-premises sale at Elveden Hall

15 August 2023

A single owner collection from Lord Iveagh will be offered by Sworders at the Guinness family’s stately home Elveden Hall in Suffolk.

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Norwich secular silver survives to make it to auction

03 July 2023

Sworders’ (25% buyer’s premium) June 13-14 Fine Interiors sale included a collection of Norwich 17th century silver assembled by one of East Anglia’s best-known families.

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Adler led avant garde into the British art world

26 June 2023

Refugee artist provided first-hand experience of cutting edge style

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Surprise in the saleroom as 'manner of' Old Master makes over 50 times estimate

12 June 2023

Among a number of works at the latest Old Master, British and European Art sale at Sworders (25% buyer’s premium) sparking keen interest were a couple of contrasting paintings selling well above predictions.

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Kangxi blue and white delight in Essex

12 June 2023

The Qing hexagonal form blue and white jardinière shown here is a type used to grow flowers or bonsai at the Qing court.

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Georgian necklace evokes family memories

05 June 2023

A necklace composed of nine ‘Stuart crystal’ memorial slides comes for sale at Sworders’ auction of Fine Jewellery and Watches on June 27.

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Doulton delights packed in floor to ceiling

03 June 2023

A remarkable Nautilus Clock sold for £7000 when Sworders (25% buyer’s premium) offered the first part of the Ann Turner collection of Doulton pottery.

Norwich silver

Get a taste of silver from the Colman collection coming to auction in Essex

29 May 2023

Sworders’ next Fine Interiors sale includes a collection of Norwich 17th century silver assembled by one of East Anglia’s best-known families.

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Edward Bawden: Printmaker at the cutting edge

08 May 2023

A lively market has emerged for the linocuts of Great Bardfield artist Edward Bawden

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A rural Essex man who loved the city

08 May 2023

'Cattle Market, Braintree' from 1937 is a trademark Edward Bawden image. But it is also the artist’s only pre-war editioned print.

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Interview: 'Bawden prints are a bit of fun'

08 May 2023

Amy Scanlon, head of Modern and Contemporary art at Sworders of Stansted Mountfitchet, discusses her affection for Bawden prints

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Pressing engagement in Essex

01 May 2023

The oshi-e technique, meaning ‘pressed picture’, involves folding and pressing scraps of fabric, such as kimono cloth, and washi paper to create an image.

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Owned by a London connoisseur, gentleman collector and agent to Victor Rothschild

01 May 2023

This pair of 10in (25cm) famille verte and ormolu vases has a provenance to Arthur Tite (1904-84), the London connoisseur, gentleman collector and agent to Victor Rothschild, 3rd Baron (1910-90).

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Lewis Carroll’s ‘child friends’ photographs sell to French dealer

01 May 2023

A series of photographs taken by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-98) – aka Lewis Carroll – has sold for £94,400 as part of a timed online auction at Sworders.

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South American funerary urn stands-out as private collections galore come to Essex auction

17 April 2023

Among the highlights of Sworders’ (25% buyer’s premium) latest Fine Interiors sale was a remarkable anthropomorphic funerary urn from Ecuador.

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