Bonhams

WHEN St John Price bought his first sycamore and penwork box from Halcyon Days in Brook Street, London for £30 in 1966, the term Mauchline ware was yet to be invented.

ANOTHER major dealership on the London antiques scene is to close with the announcement of the auction of the entire trading stock of Sampson and Horne Antiques at Bonhams on April 28.

The demand for golden age English clocks has been on something of a high for several years now and shows little sign of abating.

Traditionally a glass sale is always one of the last pre-Christmas auctions in the London rooms.

EARLY 17th century embroidery is a fairly rare beast, but it does surface occasionally.

BONHAMS have appointed Jonathan Horwich as Global Director of Picture Sales, starting on December 1.

THE familiar Art and Antiques mini-catalogues synonymous with Bonhams' regional general sales are to disappear at the end of the year.

ATG columnist Richard Falkiner has hailed the Roman cameo glass vase which has been unveiled by Bonhams as “the greatest classical find since the Portland Vase”.

It was Moorcroft’s take on flambé glazes that produced the highest price at Bonhams’ latest Ceramic Design sale.

SPECIALISTS at Bonhams have just announced that they have identified a magnificent Roman cameo glass vase, which may be the most important of its kind in the world.

IT’S all change among Australia’s leading auctioneers as Goodmans, linked to Bonhams since 2003, are to adopt the Sotheby’s brand instead.

BORN a wealthy European aristocrat and court painter to a Turkish Sultan, the Maltese count Vittorio Amadeo Preziosi (1816-1882) was nevertheless a familiar figure among the back streets of Istanbul.

BONHAMS have set up a new department devoted to sales of photography joining Sotheby’s, Christie’s and Bloomsbury Auctions in mounting specialist stand-alone sales in London in this field.

Scrimshaw, or carved bone and ivory, is very collectable, but the signature and scenes on this 7in (18cm) long whale’s tooth put it in a special league.

THE Exeter-based firm Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood are to take over Bonhams’ saleroom in Honiton in January 2010.

WELL-KNOWN silver dealer Nicholas Shaw is to leave the trade to become the new head of department at Bonhams. Following more than two decades working as a dealer, he begins work as an auctioneer in September.

BONHAMS are moving their musical instrument department from New Bond Street to their Knightsbridge rooms.

Bonhams sold their second WWII Spitfire aircraft in the space of seven months last week when businessman Steven Brooks paid £1.58m plus premium for a TR Mark IX specification model at an auction held at the Hendon RAF Museum on April 20. The plane had been estimated to make in the region of £1.5-£2m.

ELIZABETH Craven was no shrinking violet, even when judged by the freer moral standards of 18th century England.

DEMAND for Martin Brothers pottery may have tapered off slightly but it still provided three of the top prices at Bonhams’ recent Ceramic Design sale.