National Gallery has a Luttichuys
The National Gallery has taken ownership of a portrait (pictured above) by Isaack Luttichuys (1616-73), the first work by the artist to enter a British public collection.
It was acquired from the collection of the late banker George Pinto (1929-2018) via a tax arrangement with his estate. Pinto was an art lover and patron of the National Gallery and a trustee of the Wallace Collection.
Last year the gallery acquired three pictures from the same estate (works by 18th century greats Jean-Etienne Liotard, Thomas Gainsborough and Sir Thomas Lawrence). They came via the Acceptance in Lieu scheme. Administered by the Arts Council, this allows for the ownership of works of art to be transferred to the nation in lieu of inheritance tax. In this case the Luttichuys picture settled £46,818 of tax.
Born in London in 1616 to Dutch parents, Luttichuys (pronounced ‘Lootickhouse’) spent his early life in England, where the family was known as Littlehouse, the literal English translation of the name. He later moved to Amsterdam and enjoyed a highly successful career as a portrait painter until his death in 1673.
Auction house Christie’s assisted in the arrangement.
Tennants takes on trio of valuers
Jody Beighton has joined Tennants.
General valuer Jody Beighton joins from his family’s auction house Paul Beighton Auctioneers in Rotherham. He has a keen interest in ceramics, particularly 18th century English porcelain, and joins as auctioneer and part of the general valuations team. He will conduct appraisals daily and catalogue the fortnightly antiques and interiors sales.
Rohan McCulloch has joined Tennants.
Rohan McCulloch joins as pictures specialist. McCulloch started at Bonhams Knightsbridge before joining Sotheby’s and later becoming a dealer. He has also worked at St George Valuations, Chiswick Auctions and Lyon & Turnbull.
Rick Parrish has joined Tennants.
Rick Parrish is a coins, tokens and banknotes specialist and has worked in the numismatic trade for 15 years. He joins from Numismatic Guaranty Corporation.
Freeman’s fills art museum role
Robin Nicholson has joined Freeman’s.
Freeman’s has appointed Robin Nicholson as art museum consultant.
With the Philadelphia auction house’s museum services department, he will offer consultation on collections policies, deaccessioning strategies, acquisitions and consignments.
He has worked as corporate art curator of the Drambuie Collection and with American art museums including at Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Frick Pittsburgh and Telfair Museums, Savannah.
In 2005-6, he worked with Freeman’s and Lyon & Turnbull on the sale of the Drambuie corporate collection.
Bonhams shakes up its motoring team
Maarten ten Holder has joined Bonhams.
Bonhams has made a number of changes in its motoring team. James Knight, who has been a member of the motoring division since 2000, is to step down from his role as group chairman of Bonhams Motoring and become a consultant with the department.
The team will now be led by Maarten ten Holder who joins as managing director of the division in London, with a worldwide remit.
Holder comes from RM Sotheby’s where he was the executive vice-president, heading up the European region.
Born in the Netherlands, he joined Sotheby’s in 1996 and held management roles across the major divisions in Amsterdam, Milan, New York and London. He left the company to take on his most recent role as executive vice president of RM Sotheby’s in 2018.
Bonhams has also acquired The Market, an online marketplace for classic and collectable car and motorcycle auctions founded in Oxfordshire in 2017.
Alex Fortescue, managing partner of Epiris (owner of Bonhams), said: “We have always had a clear vision for Bonhams: a digitally enabled business occupying the leading global position in its niches. This acquisition is another step towards this.”
Hall aboard
Helen Hall has joined Bonhams.
Helen Hall has joined Bonhams in the US as director of entertainment memorabilia. She has previously worked at Christie’s in London and New York and as an independent appraiser.
Bruneau to hold first militaria sale
Bruneau & Co in Cranston, Rhode Island, in the US will hold its first-ever historic arms and militaria auction on May 1 featuring more than 400 lots.
Most read
The most viewed stories for week April 15-21 on antiquestradegazette.com
1 Kempton back with a bang – and entrance fees
2 National Gallery acquires fourth picture from late art patron via tax scheme
3 New recruits at Bonhams and Gorringe’s
4 Peter Rabbit teawares star in our pick of five auction highlights
5 ATG letter: The Old Master left next to my garage
In Numbers
25.02
The weight in carats of a square emerald-cut diamond which has become the biggest and most expensive diamond ever to come to auction in Australia. It featured on a platinum and diamond ring sold for a premium-inclusive Aus$1.125m (£625,000) at Sydney saleroom Leonard Joel’s Important Jewels auction on April 20. It beat the previous record of a premium-inclusive Aus$575,000 (about £316,000) acheived at Leonard Joel last August for a 17.34ct diamond.
