Latest News Articles by Terence Ryle
The toon mark
07 December 2020Four early pieces of Newcastle plate and a selection of other silver rarities sold at auction this autumn
Slimline sale in Cheffins still one to remember
09 November 2020Auctioneer makes his debut on the Cambridge rostrum with reduced but memorable offering
Caterpillar Club races to record
02 November 2020Gold pin awarded to Second World War Polish pilot later executed after the Great Escape
Wally birds and Moorcroft retain star appeal
26 October 2020Topping a 360-lot, £242,000 single-owner collection of Martinware and Moorcroft at Kingham & Orme (23% buyer’s premium) was a Robert Wallace Martin grotesque bird.
Urns and mug make big earners
19 October 2020Coadestone urns to this design were a personal favourite of company founder Eleanor Coade herself.
What a relief: Italian surprises emerge at Mallams' auction
19 October 2020Brought 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).
Ewe beauty: Rice collection in demand
05 October 2020Further pieces from English porcelain specialist’s collection are among highlights in Lewes.
Mouseman lucky 13
05 October 2020The best of 13 Mouseman pieces that sold at Morphets (20% buyer’s premium) for a total of £41,000 was a classic early adzed oak and burr oak sideboard made in Robert Thompson’s Kilburn workshop c.1928-30.
Lot watched by eager beaker bidders
05 October 2020Silver by major names from the early to late years of last century were major eyecatchers at the Lacy Scott & Knight (20% buyer’s premium) 20th Century Design Sale in Bury St Edmunds.
Dealer Jack Webb’s superb 1000-lot militaria collection brings white-glove result
28 September 2020London dealer Jack Webb, who died last year aged 94, was known for the variety of unusual pieces at his Camden Passage shop, but the D-Day veteran’s personal enthusiasm was for militaria.
Casablanca and a right carry-on in court
28 September 2020Backing up his upbeat view of the future for salerooms (ATG No 2444) veteran auctioneer Chris Ewbank enjoyed a 99% success rate at the latest outing for his Sports & Entertainment specialist department.
US hero given British honour
28 September 2020As heroic a defence against the odds as Rorke’s Drift, and certainly more important, the twin battles of Imphal and Kohima are much less well known.
Bottle vase supplies a £55,000 Chinese surprise
24 August 2020Solid selling punctuated by a number of estimate-eclipsing bids made the July 17-18 sale a very welcome return to business for Tennants (20% buyer’s premium).
Five O’Clock means it is time for Belleek
24 August 2020Around the year 1904, during the Second Period of Belleek production in Fermanagh, Ulster, designer William Harris designed the Five O’Clock pattern.
Vernacular crafts treasured for innate charm make hefty sums in the saleroom
17 August 2020Some aspects of the traditional antiques market continue to perform with zest – and ‘folk art’ is among them.
Sales platforms for totem station signs
17 August 2020Collected by a Scottish enthusiast, 26 railway station totems – the enamel signs introduced across the UK by newly nationalised British Rail in 1948 – gained UK-wide interest at McTear’s (24% buyer’s premium) in Glasgow.
Dresden Shepherds get bidders flocking in
10 August 2020Pair thought to be Derby are rated as Gilbody rarities by specialist and dealer who competed
Sewing box takes Bleasdales’ top spot
10 August 2020Delayed for a month by the pandemic, the specialist sewing sale held as a timed online auction on thesaleroom.com at Bleasdales (20% buyer’s premium) of Warwick proved a profitable stitch in time. The sale, which covered the gamut of collectables, closed with only 16 of the 665 lots failing to get away.
It’s not what you know but Who you know
03 August 2020The response among Sixties regulars at a north London pub to the fly poster, below, advertising a gig by the High Numbers may well have been: The who?
Golden Age longcase underlines long and lucrative career of great London clockmaker
20 July 2020The maxim that major names and top quality will always sell was underlined in the biannual specialist clocks sale at Dreweatts (25% buyer’s premium).