From the autumn, the 10-year-old firm, with salerooms in both Macclesfield and Liverpool and offices in Preston, Altrincham and Torquay, will mix quarterly smaller specialist auctions with quarterly sales titled Furniture & Interiors.
“In recent months we have taken the opportunity to reconfigure our calendar,” Adam Partridge told ATG.
“Growing to three and four days, some of the ‘old school’ sales were becoming too big and were proving hard to manage logistically.”
The four-day, 2700-lot sale held in Macclesfield on May 26-29 was among the largest art and antiques auctions staged during the UK’s lockdown attracting a record number of registered bidders – some 5016 in total.
Stand out lots
Partridge added that “these smaller sales will allow entries to stand out that much more – and they reflect the extra work the new offices are bringing in”.
A high street office in Torquay, where the firm has a representative, is scheduled to open in the near future.
The firm will continue to hold traditional-style sales across two days if necessary (the next Furniture & Interiors sale will be on July 29-30) but Partridge anticipates its specialist events will be one-day sales of between 500-800 lots.
The ‘trial’ calendar for the rest of the year includes, in Macclesfield, sales of Silver, Jewellery & Watches (September 4), Militaria, Sporting, Toys, Wines & Spirits (September 11), The Leonard and Alison Shurz Collection of Studio Ceramics (October 8-9) and Northern & Contemporary Art, Decorative Arts & Design (October 23).
Highlights include a single owner collection of Charles Horner silver and the medals and personal effects of David Hayden (b.1979), the first RAF non-commissioned officer to win the Military Cross.
Sales in Liverpool will continue as Antiques & Collector’s auctions with specialist sections devoted to collecting areas such as Rock & Pop, Asian art and Maritime antiques.
Until government guidelines on public gatherings are eased, all auctions will be primarily online-based, live-streamed events with phone bidding available.
