John Nicholson’s will be running a Valuation Day on Wednesday 30 July between 10am-3pm at:
The Grange Community and Leisure Centre,
Bepton Road
Midhurst
West Sussex
GU29 9HD
For further information, please contact Andrew Swain on 01428 653727 or sales@johnnicholsons.com
I have just completed a Q&A for a trade magazine, and it made me think, once again, of how the public view not just auctions but the wider art and antiques trade. While there are still a few people running cobweb-ridden, cluttered shops in country backwaters, where the stock seems to have been there from new, don’t make the mistake of thinking that auction houses and dealers are still living in the Dark Ages.
The auction process is both more complicated and exciting than retail, and that means we must have technology that is able to do a lot more than just complete a customer’s order online.
Live bidding, previewing lots for sale with multiple images, registering bidders from dozens of different countries, fulfilling our obligations under due diligence and other regulations means we must be at the top of our game all the time.
I’m delighted to say that this is as much a young man and woman’s game these days.
The excitement of buying and selling, collecting and doing deals knows no barrier when it comes to age or generation. It’s just the things that we choose to trade in that change over the years.
Thinking about this, it never ceases to amaze me how what are, frankly, in my opinion a series of unattractive daubs flung together in the name of Contemporary art can make millions at auction when highly accomplished and rather beautiful Victorian landscapes can be had for buttons.
I suppose that fashions change and, with them, tastes. Don’t get me wrong, I think a great deal of Modern and Contemporary art has a lot to offer, but it is also rife with mountebanks. However, the flipside of what has been a rather subdued market for late Victorian and Edwardian painting is that you can pick up stunning art for very little indeed.
Just browsing through one of the online auction platforms the other day, I worked out that, with a fair wind behind me, I could fill a whole wall with stunning Victorian and Edwardian watercolours for less than £2,000. Some of the pictures looked a bit tired, but closer inspection revealed that they simply needed a new mount and frame, and at these prices this was very much a realistic option.
I have no idea whether art like this will enjoy a renaissance in years to come – although it certainly deserves to – but those cherry picking now will be in the best position to capitalise if it does. And if prices remain in the doldrums, well they will have a fantastic selection of art gracing their walls, which they will never tire of.
John Nicholson’s are seeking a SALEROOM TRAINEE.
Although no formal qualifications are required for this position, you must be able to contribute to work which involves reasonable physical lifting.
Other qualities required:
– Driver (full clean licence)
– IT literate
– Good telephone manner
– Available to work at least one Saturday per month
Please send your cv in the first instance to Phil Hildreth at phil.hildreth@johnnicholsons.com
An exceptionally rare Louis Vuitton wardrobe steamer trunk dating from the 1920s or earlier sold for £130,000 hammer at John Nicholson’s on June 11.
Although the metal covering identified it as possibly one of the limited number of hermetic Explorer trunks of the period, the interior was all but gutted, and the trunk had been used as a toolbox for many years by the consignor who had no idea of what it was.
Louis Vuitton revolutionised the travel trunk, ignoring the curved tops of earlier trunks that allowed water run-off because they could not be stacked for storage.
His flat-topped trunks became hugely popular and the Explorer was covered in zinc, copper, brass or aluminium to cope with the singular challenges of tropical climates.
The company made just a few of these, and all in 1892, although released later. The 44 x 22 x 21½in wardrobe steamer trunk at John Nicholson’s Fernhurst rooms can be dated to the early 1920s or earlier thanks to its unique serial number, 748929. It was missing the paper label and almost all the internal fittings, though those that remained identified it as a double hanging wardrobe trunk rather that one with a chest of drawers to one side.
The surviving central catch is engraved with the Louis Vuitton name, Champs Elysée and the original London address of the company, 149 New Bond Street, opened in 1900 and closed in 2010 when the store moved across the road.
June is the highlight of the year for the British art market, with dealers and collectors flying in from all over the world to take part in art and antiques fairs and auctions, and innumerable gallery shows also open.
While all this activity is largely based in London, all sorts of things worth visiting are going on outside the capital too.
You’ll never go wrong with a visit to Petworth – the Antiques Capital of the South, as it is known – and you can follow this up with tickets for the Petworth Summer Festival in July.
While schools and universities start to celebrate the end of exams and wind down for the summer, it will be business as usual across the regions auction rooms, and one of the best times of year to look for something special, with everyone else distracted.
I’ll be holding at least four cracking auctions a month, including specialist sales in Oriental works, fine antiques and paintings, so there’s bound to be something in there for you somewhere.
Meanwhile, think about the sporting occasions from May to July that inspire us – and themed sales: the F.A. Cup Final, the Derby, Royal Ascot, The British Lions tour, Wimbledon, the British Grand Prix, and, of course, our own Goodwood Festival of Speed. And this list doesn’t even begin to cover August, which will see The Hundred, cricket’s explosive festival where every ball counts, and the Women’s Rugby World Cup.
Big money is to be had when it comes to anything collectable directly associated with global sporting superstars. Lionel Messi’s six World Cup match-worn shirts from 2022, took $7.8 million at auction in December 2023, while Diego Maradona’s Hand of God jersey sold for $9.3 million in 2022. Tennis memorabilia linked to Nadal and Federer is already reaching the $100,000 mark – so start collecting Sinner and Alcaraz shirts and racquets now if you can manage to get your hands on them courtside.
It promises to be a wonderful summer!
