Latest News Articles by Terence Ryle
Pankhurst’s angelic skills as tea service brings demand
28 October 2019Designed for the Suffragette movement by Sylvia Pankhurst, a 19-piece tea service was the star at Halls’ (20%) buyer’s premium) sale in Shrewsbury.
Celtic medal to club legend sells in Glasgow
28 October 2019A reminder of football’s early days, when huge crowds watched teams from the Scottish league playing counterparts from England, this 15ct gold medal with enamelled Scottish lion rampant was a hit when offered in its spiritual home of Glasgow by McTear’s (24% buyer’s premium).
Music box tunes in at 20-times guide
28 October 2019Selling at some 20 times the estimate, a 19th century mahogany-cased music box was the surprise success at Batemans’ (20% buyer’s premium) sale at Stamford on October 5.
Post rarity delivers a £24,000 result
28 October 2019Having stood at Guernsey airport from 1946-81, the island post box shown below came out of storage in 1988 for presentation to the late politician and lawyer Roger Perrot who died earlier this year.
Austin pedal car trundles into Cheshire saleroom
28 October 2019As one of the most meticulously made pedal cars ever produced, the Austin J40 is always a target when it comes to auction.
Strong private buying helps to fuel high hammer total and selling rate in Nottingham
14 October 2019Nottingham auction house Mellors & Kirk (20% buyer’s premium) added to the cautiously feel-good mood created by some highly successful autumn sales in the provinces when strong private buying brought impressive results across the board.
Great medals for a debut auction
07 October 2019A fine private collection amassed in the 1960s provided the base for the inaugural Russian Coins & Historical Medals sale held by Dix Noonan Webb (24% buyer’s premium).
Icons with Schellenberg provenance
07 October 2019Pitched at £200-300, this Russian diptych icon shown below triggered wide pre-sale Russian and East European interest ahead of Elstob & Elstob’s 20% buyer’s premium) sale at Bedale.
Chinese censer: from £50 to four figures
07 October 2019At the budget-price end of the Chinese boom – which tends to get overlooked – profits are there for the keen eyed, such as the vendor of this twin-handled censer shown here.
Trophy is a knock-out buy
07 October 2019Punching well above its weight, a 9ct gold Lonsdale Championship boxing trophy presented to legendary Glaswegian champion Benny Lynch was the top draw at Fellows’ (23% buyer’s premium) sale in Birmingham.
Alan Peters record set in saleroom
07 October 2019Underlining the market move from antique furniture to 20th century craftsman design, a 1982-83 chest of drawers set a record for a work by Alan Peters at the Modern British Living sale at Mallams (22.5% buyer’s premium) in Cheltenham.
Marks makes vendor happy on a modest estimate
07 October 2019The catalogue description correctly read ‘Art Nouveau silver powder bowl by Gilbert Marks, hallmark London 1900, weight approx 8.79oz, 273.4gms, decorated with stylised thistles repousse’.
Buyers vote for political mementos
30 September 2019Turbulent as politics are today, they have yet to reach the rumbustious heights of a notorious 1826 by-election in Northumberland, memories of which were revisited at Newcastle auction house Anderson & Garland (20% buyer’s premium).
Lloyd’s candlesticks are Suffolk cover stars
30 September 2019Pair of candlesticks light up auction with surprise result.
Auction boost of ‘Butcher’ and King Billy
30 September 2019A rare contrast to the Jacobite glass which has served Edinburgh auction house Lyon & Turnbull (25% buyer’s premium) so well was a large mid-18th century goblet with a wheel engraved portrait of the victor of Culloden. It was inscribed 'His Royal Highness William Duke Of Cumberland'.
Fry's advertising sign sold for £5500 at Lindsay Burns auction
30 September 2019Just a little less famous than Fry’s 'Five Boys' image is the illustration by Tom Browne of a multi-class group outside a sweetshop with the line from 'Troilus and Cressida: One touch of Nature makes the whole World kin'.
Lonitz owls lead belter of a sale
30 September 2019Although the Hugo Lonitz factory produced a range of domestic tablewares and small collectables, it is best known for its naturalistic majolica groups, particularly animal and bird examples modelled in lifelike size and detail.
Chronometer takes four-times guide
30 September 2019Offered with an a/f catalogue caveat, this early 20th century marine chronometer, below, quadrupled expectations at Chichester saleroom Henry Adams (20% buyer’s premium).
Egyptian head brings smiles at Hartleys
30 September 2019After the Hartleys (17.5% buyer’s premium) September 4 sale, auctioneer Andrew Hartley admitted: “Furniture did not perform as it was hoped from tiny chinks of daylight discernible in the last few months.”
Carpet and chandeliers shine as elegant Shropshire hall boosts autumn auction
30 September 2019Boosted by the contents of a fine country home, the autumn sale at Cheffins (22.5% buyer’s premium) enjoyed moments of floor-to-ceiling success.