Auctioneers

Phillips have announced the appointment of Cheyenne Westphal as chairman, reporting to CEO Edward Dolman. Formerly Sotheby’s worldwide head of Contemporary art, she will start in her new role in 2017.

Just under $1.2bn changed hands at the top-end of the art market in New York this week as Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Phillips all held their Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary auctions over seven days for the first time. Here is ATG’s pick of individual highlights sold across the week.

Made under the watchful eye of the third Qing emperor, a Chinese porcelain vase valued at just £12 in the 1950s sold for £750,000 at the latest sale held by Mallams in Cheltenham.

Bonhams set a record auction price for any British motorcycle with the sale of a 1938 Brough Superior 750cc BS4 for £331,900.

Christie’s have announced details of their latest ‘themed’ sale – an evening sale of British art which will take place in London on June 30.

Interesting oddities that were ironed out in subsequent editions bump up demand when it comes to book collecting. A good example of this is coming up at Wolverhampton auction house Cuttlestones on May 6.

A large Indian gouache on paper miniature was the unexpected highlight of a specialist Islamic & Indian Arts sale at Roseberys in London last week.

A selection of works by David Tindle (b.1932) will be offered at Grand Auctions in Folkestone on May 9.

A portrait by Eugène Delacroix redolent with associations to Nineteenth century French Romanticism has been secured by the Paris museum dedicated to his work.

Certain moments in films stay razor sharp in the mind long after you have seen them. Mention ‘Jack Nicholson’ and it is odds-on a mental image will spring up of that terrifying ‘Here’s Johnny’ scene from The Shining.

A rare American stamp stolen in 1955 in one of the most famous thefts in philatelic history has been recovered after turning up at Spink.

In the space of just 48 hours, two paintings by the self-taught Welsh artist and horticulturalist Cedric Morris (1889-1982) raised the auction bar for his work to a new level.

A watercolour by Eric Ravilious (1903-1942) drew serious bidding at Sworders this week, overtaking a £40,000-60,000 estimate before it was knocked down at £85,000.

Three leading specialists in orders, decorations and medals are leaving Spink to join rival London firm Dix Noonan Webb.

Christie’s Paris are to sell two figures of mourners as part of their European Sculpture and Works of Art sale on June 15.

Made under the watchful eye of the third Qing emperor, a porcelain vase valued at just £12-15 in the 1950s is expected to bring over £20,000 when it is sold at auction on April 27-28.

Sotheby’s has announced the appointment of two new co-European chairmen as well as the establishment of a new strategy board which is set to drive growth.

The prosecution in the trial of the Cols Rouges – the erstwhile portering staff at Hôtel Drouot, the communal saleroom facility used by most Paris auctioneers – have called for prison sentences of up to five years and fines of €250,000 for those found guilty of theft and criminal conspiracy.

The man himself may have disappeared in 1974 but a series of cheques showing Lord Lucan’s spiralling gambling debts have now emerged and will be offered at auction later this month.

An important collection of early chess pieces will be offered as part of Sotheby’s Islamic sale in London on April 20.