Lyon & Turnbull

A country house library in south-west Scotland was the source of an album of 19th century photographs of India that provided a Valentine’s Day surprise at Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh.

The rising popularity of the tribal art collecting scene is tempting auction houses to take steps in that direction.

More than £730,000 worth of pictures changed hands at Edinburgh saleroom Lyon & Turnbull’s (25/20% buyer’s premium) recent sale of Scottish art.

It was around this time of year when wealthy skiers with chalets to decorate would dial in from the slopes of the world’s most prestigious resorts to take part in Christie’s South Kensington’s annual Ski Sale.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

Former Christie’s vintage poster specialists Nicolette Tomkinson and Sophie Churcher have teamed up with Lyon & Turnbull to launch dedicated auctions this year.

With sales of post-1860 design a seasonal fixture round the country, an argument could be made for Scottish auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull (25% buyer’s premium) having a geographical edge.

Dated by the Edinburgh auctioneers to c.1815-17, a group of watercolours made on a voyage to the Middle and Far East was bid to a far higher than expected £13,000 in a 650-lot Lyon & Turnbull (25/20% buyer’s premium) sale of October 11.

Figuring why a specific lot did unexpectedly well is part and parcel of reviewing auctions but this oil on board lunette of a pastoral idyll below is more of a challenge than most.

Sales held on consecutive days in Edinburgh and London produced two lots that ended up selling for far, far higher than expected sums.

So much more successful than their 18th century forebears, today’s Jacobites go from strength to strength.

Security shouldn’t be too much of a problem when opening a gallery space if one of your new neighbours is a former prime minister protected by armed guards. But aside from Tony Blair’s London residence down the road, Lyon & Turnbull had plenty of its own reasons for choosing Connaught Street, just north of Hyde Park, as the location for its new showroom.

A raft of contemporary and post-war art featured in the busy August schedule in Scotland. Such art remains a picky and tempestuous market north of the border. The latest results were scattered with a mix of bullish and more subdued results.

The highlight of Lyon & Turnbull’s sale of Scottish Silver & Applied Arts on August 16 was a Jacobite drinking glass with a difference.

The British Museum’s big summer exhibition on Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai is over, but more art from the Land of the Rising Sun is in the offing (also see International Events, ATG No 2305).

August is traditionally the month when most of the auction world takes a breather. But in Scotland, where well-heeled holiday-makers tread, there is no let-up.