News

While the eyes of the world have been on the 2012 London Games, the Olympic influence did not leave the auction scene untouched.

The multitude of television shows devoted to antiques are rarely popular with the antiques trade as a whole – in a well-worn argument some credit them with the disintegration of the dealing community itself – but auctioneers are ready participants both for the publicity and the prospect of a decent consignment.

Every October for the past decade, the excitement whipped up by the arrival of ‘Frieze Art Fair’ in London has been the envy of many a fair organiser and the wider art world.

This Victorian silver stirrup cup will be offered at Charterhouse Auctions in Sherborne, Dorset on August 23-24.

One of the noted rarities among 19th century American firearms will be on offer in Lancashire on August 30 when Silverwoods of Clitheroe sell this John Walch Navy Model 12-shot percussion revolver.

Edvard Munch’s ‘The Scream’ came to the block at just the right time for Sotheby’s when it set the record for anything ever sold at auction.

As fans of BBC Radio Four’s ‘The Archers’ fear for the show’s gentle, bucolic nature becoming “darker and bigger”, a set of ten scripts coming up for sale act as a reminder of the early days.