Auctions

The stellar sporting entry to John Nicholson’s (24% buyer’s premium) sale in Haslemere on April 25 was an early oil by the prolific equine painter, John E Ferneley (1782-1860).

The increasing market interest in modern designer silver was well catered for among the contents of North Mymms Park offered at Sworders.

Three modestly valued works at regional sales.

A late 19th century Art Nouveau centrepiece is one of the highlights at Quittenbaum’s Munich sale on May 15.

ATG’s calendar of book auctions taking place in the UK and Ireland from May 8-18, 2018.

Given the GlaxoSmithKline link, it was not a surprise to see four apothecaries’ cabinets among the contents of North Mymms Park sold at Sworders.

Main stage at the design auction at Dorotheum in Vienna on May 30 is taken by jewellery designed by Josef Hoffmann, one of the leading lights of the Wiener Werkstätte.

Among the silver from North Mymms Park lots offered at Sworders, a couple of 18th century classics, a c.1735 Scottish bullet teapot and a pair of John Cafe London 1775 table candlesticks, were eclipsed by the surprise success of a scantily catalogued Oriental teapot.

Pride comes before a fall and in the case of Napoleon, Smolensk came before Moscow. On May 18 Ketterer Kunst is selling a 2ft x 2ft 7in (60 x 79cm) scene of Napoleon observing the burning city of Smolensk.

A rare 18th century variable microscope by eminent instrument maker George Adams sold for £88,000 at specialist science and early technology auctioneer Flints (20% + VAT buyer’s premium).

Numerous works of art in the spring sales at Van Ham in Cologne come from the extensive legacy of Friedrich Wilhelm Waffenschmidt (1925-2017), founder of one of Europe’s leading electronics retailers.

ATG’s selection of auction lots bought by internet bidders on thesaleroom.com from the period April 26-May 2, 2018. This includes both the highest prices over estimate and the top prices paid online.

I was consulted by an art dealer who bought a painting at auction which turned out to belong to someone other than the vendor. The painting went back to the true owner, the consignor to the auction was not worth suing, but did we have a case against the auctioneer?

In the bicentenery year of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the Gothic genre continues to capture the popular imagination, writes Kate Quill.

Gothic literature is perhaps most alive in the public imagination today through cinema, with horror films inspired by the classic Gothic stories going back to the earliest days of the medium.

The photobook genre is almost as old as photography itself and can be collected at all price points, as Bonhams’ Matthew Haley reports.