Auctioneers

Evocative propaganda posters are being offered by specialist auction house Onslows on December 15 from a conflict that raged between the world wars.

The protocols around selling antique firearms and ordnance are increasingly strict. We talk to auctioneer Angus Ashworth about the perils that even an ex-army man can face.

We know how it usually goes with most stand-out Victoria Crosses offered at auction: Lord Ashcroft buys them and they go on display at his gallery in the Imperial War Museum in London. But the record for a VC sold at auction, which has recently been set at London saleroom Morton & Eden, actually went to another bidder with very deep pockets – but thankfully for medals enthusiasts, someone else who is looking to put it on public view.

Amid current stories in the media of drastic Royal Navy cutbacks, it is difficult to imagine a sizeable task force of British ships sailing thousands of miles to fight a war. But in 1982 HMS Brilliant (F90) was part of that fleet heading to the South Atlantic to take on, and beat, the Argentinians who had invaded the Falkland Islands.

The latest Old Master auctions in London gave encouragement to the sector as keen competition came for a noticeably higher number of works pitched at relatively attractive levels.

Marine and scientific specialist Charles Miller (20% buyer’s premium) featured several U-boat-related lots from various owners in his November 7 sale at the west London auction hub of 25 Blythe Road.

The £1.1m paid for this Graff yellow diamond ring at Fellows on December 7 makes it the top price achieved in the UK regions this year.

Among the weapons in demand from collectors are Eastern arms and cased pistols, judging by recent auctions. Here we take a look at a few examples – and a specific arms and armour feature will appear in an upcoming issue.

Two Qing soapstone seals sold to a Chinese bidder for Dkr1.1m (£130,640), around 100 times their estimate, at Bruun Rasmussen (24 % buyer’s premium) in Copenhagen on November 29.

Wiltshire auction house Henry Aldridge & Son (17.5% buyer’s premium) has established a reputation for Titanic memorabilia thanks to two specialist sales a year. Thanks to a lot sold in the November 11 auction, the Devizes firm also has a handy sideline in early photographs of Tibet.

Update (July 2019): auctions resumed at Bloomsbury in 2018 following Gurr Johns' purchase of Dreweatts and Bloomsbury in 2017. In February 2019 it expanded the number of sales at its London office at 16-17 Pall Mall. The original story is below.

A full saleroom and a sell-out are not necessarily features you associate with traditional fields such as English drinking glasses but there are always exceptions.

Sporting and ornithological art collected over half a century by the Astor family will be offered in a single-owner sale during Christie’s ‘Classic Week’.

Engraved 18th century glassware opened the sale at Woolley & Wallis (22% buyer’s premium) in Salisbury on October 18.

December is traditionally a month when Paris focuses attention on sales of Asian art, with auctions in the rooms across the city and at the Drouot centre.

Modern British art by blue-chip names drove demand during the week-long series of November sales in London.

This carved wooden figure of Guanyin dating to the Song dynasty (900-1279 AD) will be the headline entry of the Asian art sale to be held by Leclère at Drouot on December 16.