Edinburgh

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

Shapes Auctioneers based in Edinburgh is to close.

For its final pair of exhibitions this year, The Fine Art Society in Edinburgh is staging Modern Scottish Paintings, 1940-85 and John Byrne Rock ‘n’ Roll from November 24-December 23.

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.

John Alexander (1686-1766) was the son of a doctor in Aberdeen and the great-grandson of the famous artist George Jamesone.

Three gallery shows will focus on Scottish art of the later 20th century.

Enhancing a growing reputation at Edinburgh auction house Thomson Roddick (17.5% buyer’s premium) for optical instruments, a recent sale included 18 lots of binoculars and the like.

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

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.

The July 28-30 antiques and fine art fair at George Watson’s College in Edinburgh brings 35 dealers from across the UK to stand in the foyer and assembly hall of this 18th century building.

The Fine Art Society in Edinburgh’s next pair of exhibitions from July 21-August 28 features works of the birds and the boys.