Latest News Articles by Terence Ryle
Auction full of West Country wonders
18 October 2021Including seafaring, tin, copper, studio potteries and fishing, a Penzance sale covered just about everything from the region bar pasties.
Dapper dummy made in Austria, brought to UK, now heads to US
18 October 2021This ventriloquist’s dapper dummy was one of the surprise star turns at Halls’ (23% buyer’s premium) Shrewsbury auction.
Scandal and sedition in ceramics
27 September 2021Salisbury sale offered commemorative ceramics from single-owner collection
If life gets you down a cup of tea always helps
27 September 2021While Americans demonstrated by throwing tea into the harbour, the British registered complaints by putting the leaves into suitably decorated teapots.
Desirable davenport discovered in Ilkley auction
20 September 2021Few furniture forms suffered a bigger crash in prices than the davenport.
Relics from rare Keith silver to symbols of Jacobite rebellion feature at Edinburgh auction
06 September 2021The rarest Scottish provincial town marks, known only from spoons and ladles, are those of Stonehaven, Ellon and Keith.
Not bad for a sewer find – 400-year-old candlestick proves 'where there’s muck there’s brass'
06 September 2021With the unusual provenance of having been dug out of a London sewer during excavations in 1930, the 15th or early 16th century copper alloy candlestick shown here underlined the truth of the maxim that where there’s muck there’s brass.
Barn find jukebox could be golden oldie
30 August 2021A classic ‘barn find’ piece, this somewhat dilapidated jukebox was spotted as a potential golden oldie at Gardiner Houlgate (22% buyer’s premium).
Cover star with substance to follow at North Yorkshire summer auction
23 August 2021Front page pair of £68,000 candelabra headed a varied auction with plenty of highlights
Snuffbox copy has its own charms
23 August 2021Along with its Summer Fine Art sale, Tennants held a jewellery, watches and silver sale on July 17.
Antique furniture: Quality counts if condition is poor
09 August 2021The dictum that class is permanent was borne out in a Newbury saleroom by prices for damaged pieces
Drury bronzes and a devilish buy at Dreweatts
09 August 2021From the same north London home as the Chinese Export mirror and an Irish dining table sold at Dreweatts was this pair of bronzes by Alfred Drury (1856-1944).
Mortlake tapestry leads the way
09 August 2021Depicting Bacchus and Ariadne riding a golden chariot drawn by leopards, a monumental Mortlake tapestry led a small but significant textiles section at Dreweatts.
Chinese ritual wine vessel has considerable animal attraction
05 July 2021Based on Warring States (475-225BC) archetypes, archaistic bronze ritual wine vessels, zun, formed as tapirs became popular during the Northern Song period, remained so through to the Qing dynasty, and are major draws in Western salerooms today.
Collector's guests at Georgian-themed dinners turn out for dispersal at Suffolk auction
28 June 2021Richard Miller (1947-2018) was a man with many interests and a good eye.
Marble and so much Moore
21 June 2021Polymath Gerald Moore’s collection and his own artwork both attract bidders as Summers Place saleroom returns to action
Opium pipe blows away estimate in auction of Finch collection
21 June 2021A tobacco pipe which opened the series and an opium one which ended it – interspersed by a cigar stub – met keen demand at Bellmans (22% buyer’s premium).
From portraits to kitchen china: Dewlish House auction
24 May 2021Dewlish House yields ‘good old-fashioned house sale with everything on offer’
Kinghams showcases British art pottery in new venue
17 May 2021Second sale since auction house move and name change is a British art pottery success
Porter’s oak chair for guarding in comfort brings strong bidding at Batemans
17 May 2021Intended to keep servants warm in the draughty watches of day and night at the entrances to grand houses, this porter’s chair was bought at Christie’s in 1989 and used in the vendor’s living room ever since.