Auctioneers

FOR more than a decade, Dorset saleroom Cottees have held biannual sales dedicated to Poole pottery. The most latest event had the sad distinction of being the first since the closure of the Poole Pottery just before Christmas.

The highlight of the Oriental sale conducted by Salisbury auctioneers Woolley & Wallis on May 22 was this underglaze copper-red Qianlong (1736-1795) mark and period moonflask standing 11in (27cm) high.

Not one but two international auction houses conducted sales series in Hong Kong in May.

Munich auctioneers Hermann Historica are known internationally as experts for arms and armour, medals and historical collectibles rather than tribal art, so they were on unfamiliar territory with lot 3324 in their latest blockbuster sale held from May 2 to 11.

Sotheby’s have opened an office in Moscow and appointed Mikhail Kamensky, a former director and presidential advisor to the Bank of Moscow, as managing director.

The Art Fund have thrown their weight behind the campaign to save Dumfries House for the nation with a £2m pledge towards acquiring the house and its contents. Christie’s, who are due to sell the contents at a showpiece sale next month, say such good intentions have arrived too late.

It was a more traditional 20th century picture that established a new house record for Chichester auctioneers Stride & Son on April 27.

Taunton auctioneers Greenslade Taylor Hunt are to merge with fellow Somerset saleroom Lawrences of Crewkerne.

SOTHEBY’S are celebrating a rarity – a profit in the first quarter of the year, when a seasonal dip in sales activity usually means making a loss.

Rumours are currently rife both inside and outside Sotheby’s that the company’s strategic business plan not only includes the stopping of sales at Olympia but also, even more controversially, the closure of their Amsterdam operation.

Among the many unique and important pieces of English pewter in the David Little Collection sold by Christie’s in King Street on May 1 was this mid 17th century broad-rimmed pewter charger.

Bonhams have become the latest saleroom to open an office in Moscow, a further indication of the growing importance of Russian buyers in the international auction market.

Auctioneers make commitment to future of South Kensington salerooms

After five years of preparation, work has now begun on Sworders’ new saleroom. The building, which employs state-of-the-art environmentally-friendly construction techniques, is expected to be completed by spring 2008.

JP Humbert auctioneers of Towcester have purchased Harp auctioneers of Northampton.

There’s been plenty of speculation about who might have paid £1.7m plus 17.5 per cent premium for the two recently-rediscovered Fra Angelico (c.1395-1455) panels of Dominican saints at Duke’s of Dorchester on April 19.

Dublin fine art auctioneers James Adam’s are to join forces with premier bloodstock sales company, Goffs, to host Ireland’s first specialist sporting sale in October.

For the second time in the space of a week a UK provincial auctioneer was celebrating a million-pound sale of works by one of the world’s most famous artists.

When asked in an interview of 1906 which of his works he valued most, pâte-sur-pâte master Louis Solon responded: “If the whole of my production were doomed to be destroyed, and I was asked to point out a few specimens that, in my estimation, deserved to be spared, it is from the works made at Minton during my last years there that I would unhesitatingly make my selection.”

Christie’s, who are currently reviewing the future of their collectables department in South Kensington, have closed their American Indian art department in New York. Their May sale at the Rockefeller Center has been cancelled and Delia Sullivan, department head since 1999, has left the company.