Latest News Articles by Terence Ryle
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Dresden Shepherds get bidders flocking in
10 August 2020Pair thought to be Derby are rated as Gilbody rarities by specialist and dealer who competed
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).
Bromsgrove metalwork blows estimates away
20 July 2020From the house clearance of a deceased estate, a small collection of Arts & Crafts metalwork triggered an estimate-demolishing response from dealers and collectors at Fieldings (20% buyer’s premium).
Caughley namechecks Mr Berridge
04 May 2020Made within 20 miles of Halls’ (23% buyer’s premium) Shrewsbury rooms, 76 lots of mid to late-18th century Caughley soft paste porcelain from two local collections attracted countrywide bidding.
Pottery expertise provides firm foundations as works by the Martin Brothers, De Morgan and Dresser emerge
27 April 2020Held over three pre-lockdown days on March 5-7, Evesham saleroom Kingham & Orme’s (23% buyer’s premium) auction was rich in the best of English and European decorative arts.
Sex Pistols ‘holy grail’ is punk pick
06 April 2020Among a 200-lot list of vinyl records by a galaxy of rock and pop stars, punk provided the outstanding performance at Cottees’ (18% buyer’s premium) specialist sale at Poole.
Shell out for unusual furniture
30 March 2020As a young man in the 1960s, British creative designer Anthony Redmile (b.1937) took the London interior design scene by storm. Although his work was hugely eclectic, he became best known for his quirky designs taken from the animal kingdom.
Sunny outlook for the first Canterbury weekend format
30 March 2020With Storm Ciara getting under way (in pre-coronavirus days…) it was not, perhaps, the ideal time to launch the new weekend sales at Canterbury Auction Galleries (20% buyer’s premium).
Spode service heads to US
23 March 2020With supply generally exceeding demand for Spode services – such was their abundance on tables of the 19th century middle class – prices at auction remain modest.
Sale drives towards a sell-out
23 March 2020With just five of the 630 lots of toys and models failing to get away and an £80,000 total well above top hopes, Special Auctions Services’ Newbury sale was, said auctioneer Hugo Marsh, “just like the old days – even better”.
Kashmir woollen design is surprise top seller as a family estate comes to Yorkshire auction
23 March 2020Long unseen material from the country home of an ancient English family brought some estimate-demolishing five-figure bids at Morphets (17.5% buyer’s premium) including a genuine sleeper.