Bonhams

A round-up of art and antiques news from the previous seven days, including an 18th century Kyoto carving setting an auction record at Bonhams for any netsuke.

“We have been to the Pole and we shall die like gentlemen.”

Female artist at centre of early British Surrealism scene now fetches sizeable sums

Bonhams New York (27.5/26/20/14.5% buyer’s premium) had bidders hooked by the angling books included in its wide-ranging November 15 auction.

While Ascot Gold Cups are not uncommon, the sight of two heading down the home straight to a rostrum finish on the same day was definitely rare.

The latest series of Old Master sales in London put in a decent if not stellar performance, aided by one or two notable lots and a couple of important collections coming forward to the auction block this season.

In terms of numbers, both in component parts and the sum achieved, a collection of over 200 miniature books published by David Bryce of Glasgow (1845-1923) was a stand-out lot in a recent London sale.

Setting a major record for Duncan Grant (1885-1978) and equalling the highest price for any Bloomsbury Group picture, a painting depicting his fellow artist and close friend (and one-time lover) Vanessa Bell sold for £260,000 at Bonhams.

A ‘Siege of Louisbourg’ powder horn belonging to one Ranger Abijah Smith sold for $17,500 (£15,200) at Bonhams Skinner in an auction on September 28 in Massachusetts.

Chris Wynne dedicated his collecting energies to early guns by a London maker that became an international brand

Calculations on planetary movements rise to the occasion in New York saleroom

Full-blown repoussé ornamentation defined Baltimore silver in the antebellum period.

Era of pop art and protests also brought fresh design beyond the earlier ‘tool’ template

Documents were consigned among contents of a house owned by the Arkwright family

A couple of weeks after the Aguttes watches auction another collection in the same category went under the hammer in Paris.

The sale of Silver and Objects of Vertu at Bonhams Knightsbridge on October 20-21 was topped by a multi-estimate bid for a remarkable flatware service by Tiffany.