Charles Hanson with Robin Fletcher at Pantiles Tunbridge Wells.
Hansons
Derbyshire auction house Hansons has expanded into a fifth location, opening a saleroom in Tunbridge Wells.
Founder Charles Hanson has hired valuer Robin Fletcher as saleroom manager for the Kent venture with the first sale scheduled for May.
The new saleroom, as tipped in ATG No 2561, joins an antiques collective at The Pantiles Arcade which is led by decorative arts specialist Eric Knowles and business partner Robert Woodmansey.
The Hansons saleroom at 49 The Lower Pantiles will focus on quarterly fine art and antiques auctions scheduled for May 23, August 31 and November 21, followed by a range of specialist sales in due course. It will also host free valuation days on Fridays and Saturdays (10am-3pm).
Hanson said: “The Pantiles has a long heritage and connection to art and antiques. This traditional link to antiques combined with buoyant growth in the collecting market has provided an excellent opportunity.”
Woodmansey added: “Charles Hanson has joined a thriving centre of antiquarian excellence. His arrival will create synergies which will complement and enhance efforts made by Eric Knowles. Hansons’ arrival will spark a delightful renaissance, making The Pantiles a destination for those who share our passion for collecting and decorative arts.”
The Corn Exchange building containing The Pantiles Arcade.
Clock dealer Richard Price has also now opened in the centre. The horologist joins 20th century design specialist Mark Hill who launched in December.
They join decorative arts dealer Knowles, Woodmansey trading as Scottish Antiques, Art Deco specialist Jeroen Markies, Art Deco, Art Nouveau sculpture and glass dealer Hickmet Fine Arts, toy dealer Pete Redman, chandelier manufacturer and glass restorer Wilkinson and silver dealer Pamela Goodwin.
Robin Fletcher and Charles Hanson.
Founded by Hanson in 2005, the auction house’s Tunbridge Wells branch joins its salerooms in Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Oxfordshire and Teddington in London.
Noonans
Michael Welch has joined Noonans.
Valuer Michael Welch has joined Noonans to work on valuation events with a particular focus to source objects of vertu and silver, an area that Noonans is expanding into.
Welch, formerly of Bonhams, also previously worked at Phillips and is a member of the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow team.
1818 Auctioneers
Andy Bowden has joined 1818 Auctioneers.
Stamp specialist Andy Bowden has joined Cumbrian saleroom 1818 Auctioneers.
Bowden, who is a member of the International Philatelic Traders Society, will oversee six specialist stamp auctions this year, including a two-part auction that showcases a single-owner collection of Graf Zeppelin Covers.
1818 Auctioneers in Milnthorpe, on the Cumbria/Lancashire border, is run by saleroom manager Bill Nelson.
Criterion Auctioneers
Among the lots in Criterion’s first auction from its Gloucester saleroom, a timed sale ending on January 31, was this set of six plywood ‘Pretzel’ armchairs after Norman Cherner for the Cherner Chair Company. They were hammered down at £2600 against an estimate of £400-600.
Criterion Auctioneers has opened a new saleroom in Gloucester while planning a move into west London in the spring. Read more about its plans and the Gloucester saleroom here.
Sotheby’s
Wendy Lin is now chairman of Sotheby’s Asia.
Sotheby’s has appointed Wendy Lin as chairman of Sotheby’s Asia, reporting to Nathan Drahi, managing director in Asia (son of owner Patrick Drahi).
Lin will work alongside Nicolas Chow, co-chairman of Sotheby’s Asia, to help drive Sotheby’s expansion across the region. She has more than 20 years of senior management experience in luxury and art.
Having first joined Sotheby’s in 1997 to grow the business across Asia, she returned to the company in 2013 to become the managing director of Sotheby’s Taiwan and then was appointed deputy chairman of Asia in 2018. She previously worked in the world of luxury including at Chanel.
The appointment comes after Patti Wong, who became Sotheby’s Asia chairman in 2004, left the company and started her own Hong Kong-based art advisory firm earlier this year.
Sotheby’s is opening a new premises in Shanghai shortly and will launch a 24,000 sq ft headquarters in Hong Kong in 2024. It celebrates 50 years in the Asia region this year.
Phillips
Qing Shen has joined Phillips as senior consultant China, based in Shanghai.
Qing Shen has joined Phillips as senior consultant China, based in Shanghai. She will manage the business development team in mainland China.
She previously held a number of roles in the world of art, luxury and museums.
Wenjia Zhang, Phillips’ former regional director of China, has relocated to Paris with her new role as private sales director for Asian clients.
Wenjia Zhang, Phillips’ former regional director of China, has relocated to Paris with her new role as private sales director for Asian clients.
Zhang joined Phillips in 2018 as regional director of China.
Jonathan Crockett, chairman Asia at Phillips, said: “Over the last five years, our business in mainland China has experienced tremendous growth, with transactional activities across our global auction sales having increased by 318%.”
In the US, Lauren Peterson has been promoted to as regional director for the Chicago-Midwest region for Phillips. She will partner with Phillips’ specialists across all departmental categories to support the auction house’s growing business development efforts in the Americas.
Lauren Peterson has been promoted to as regional director for the Chicago-Midwest region for Phillips.
Peterson joined Phillips as a regional representative in Chicago in 2017 and was promoted to director of museum and corporate collections in 2021.
