Bonhams

Bonhams chairman Robert Brooks has issued a public statement taking a strong stand against the guarantee system following the November art sales in New York and London.

PREVIOUSLY unpublished letters from the poet John Betjeman are to form part of the setting for a travelling display of early 20th century jewellery designer Helen Holmes at Bonhams.

THERE must be something satisfying about a sale that performs as expected. Vendor, auctioneer and buyers all have their hopes and desires affirmed and most people come away happy.

Bonhams have announced a series of senior management changes for their European operations. They include the appointment of former deputy chairman Matthew Girling in the new role of Bonhams CEO Europe.

BONHAMS will auction off the contents of the Savoy Hotel on the premises in London in a three-day sale just days after it closes for a £100 million refurbishment.

When Wales’ most popular 20th century artist Sir Kyffin Williams passed away last year he bequeathed the furniture from his Anglesey home to the University College of North Wales. Numerous pieces that the University did not require turned up in The Wales and West Country Sale at Bonhams Bath on June 25.

Bonhams, who have recently taken on a number of staff from Sotheby’s, have announced that Christie’s two most senior motoring directors and one of its motoring consultants will join their car department on November 1.

This 18th century needlework panel appears to be a fragment of a work conceived on almost Bayeux Tapestry proportions.

After over 30 years at Hepper House, Bonhams have relocated in Leeds.

Bonhams have announced a major strengthening and enlargement of the ceramics department at their New Bond Street rooms with the immediate appointment of two former Sotheby’s specialists.

At any other sale the circumstances could have proved disastrous, but when the boat tent in the stewards’ enclosure in Henley-on-Thames flooded during The Henley Sale at Bonhams on July 21, things went swimmingly.

In the 1950s, a farmer in Ingatestone, Essex found a tiny silver tag measuring just 3/4in (1.8cm) long on his farm. Shaped like a shield with a ring, one side was engraved LORD RICH above a stylised bird and the other featured a family crest.

Bonhams are to take advantage of Sotheby’s decision to end Japanese sales by recruiting their top specialist and consultant.

Bonhams will be hosting an event with The Antique Collectors Club to announce their forthcoming publication Gillows of Lancaster and London, 1730-1840, Cabinet Makers and International Merchants, a furniture and business history.

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.

Bonhams have joined the push for Middle Eastern business by announcing the opening of a sales office in Dubai with a first auction scheduled for early November.

One of the highlights of the recent Islamic sale series in London was this 2ft 4in (74cm) high, mid-19th century signed white marble bust of Maharajah Duleep Singh by John Gibson RA.

On March 6, amid a scrum of journalists and anoraks, Bonhams sold the Angels collection of stage and screen costume including Obi Wan Kenobi’s hooded cloak from the original Star Wars film, knocked down below expectations at £45,000.

Bonhams have changed their buyer’s premium rates globally to match Sotheby’s and Christie’s with immediate effect.

The pair of seven-light brass candlestands pictured here proved to be the highlight of a special themed sale held at Bonhams’ on January 29 titled The Gentleman’s Library Sale.