Feb 1, 2021
Up until the pandemic, many school leavers embarked on what has become known as a Gap Year, prior to going on to university, during which they travelled to broaden the mind, experience other cultures and generally have a good time.
I’m in favour of this idea. When it works well, the 19-year-old who returns tends to be a bit more mature, understanding and appreciative of home, parents and the world around them than the 18-year-old who departed. That can only be a good thing when they are expected to knuckle down to academia once more. Pity those who have to go straight from school to uni on that score.
A rather magnificent pair of pietra dura columns in our January 28 sale reminded me that the Gap Year is no new phenomenon. From around 1660 to the 1840s, we knew it then as the Grand Tour.
A rather more exclusive arrangement available only to the offspring of the truly wealthy, usually when they came of age at 21, could last several years.
This rite of passage tended to take as its theme the rounding off a gentleman’s education by steeping him the classical, neo-classical and Renaissance wonders of Europe, especially in Greece and Italy. I’m quite sure that when these young bucks managed to slip away from their attendant chaperones, they also indulged in more lively activities, but the mementoes they brought home with them in the form of statues, architectural pieces, paintings and objects went on to form some of our nation’s best-known collections. Without them, our tradition of collecting art and antiques would not be what it is today.
Jan 25, 2021
Lockdown continues to confuse: what are the guidelines for auctions at the moment?
Premises must remain closed to the public but online-only auctions, website sales, ‘click and collect’ and deliveries can still be undertaken. Auction houses and valuers can also offer professional services.
The Society of Fine Art Auctioneers (SOFAA) has received confirmation from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) that art and antiques businesses can continue to trade through the latest alert level 5 national lockdown in England which was announced on January 4.
SOFAA chairman Helen Carless said: “DCMS confirmed auction houses must physically close to visitors but they can offer online-only auctions as they have been able to during both of the previous lockdowns.
“They can also continue to offer probate and other valuations.”
The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy also confirmed to trade paper Antiques Trade Gazette that “tradespeople that have to go to other houses to work can continue as long as they operate in a Covid-secure way”.
Many UK auction houses are adopting a ‘business as usual’ approach and are continuing to conduct sales and accept consignments into auctions to be staged in February and March.
So there you have it: while we cannot welcome you through the doors of our Fernhurst salerooms as we would like, if you want to get something valued, or want to sell it, or want to bid on something, all of this is permitted now under the conditions set out above.
I hope that helps!
Jan 18, 2021
Comic Cuts, Victor, Valiant, Eagle, The Beano, The Dandy, Whizzer & Chips – these are just some of the weekly comics that entertained youngsters from the 1930s onwards in Britain. Across the Pond in the United States, Action Comics led the way with its first superhero, Superman, in 1938. Copies of the first issue have changed hands at auction for hundreds of thousands of dollars, culminating first in a $1.5 million price in 2010, then a $2.16 million bid in 2011 for a copy owned by the actor Nicolas Cage, and then a $3.21 million bid in 2014. Key to those top prices was the pristine condition of the comics.
This month we have had two more reminders about what an astonishing market this is.
Comic store owner Billy Giles, who died in 2019, had bought a first issue of Batman – published in 1940 – for £2,200 in 1982. Now the all-but mint condition copy has sold at auction for £1.6 million.
Hard to beat? Yes, but Tintin, that great invention by the Belgian author and illustrator Georges Remi, known as Hergé, did just that in the same week.
OK, we’re not actually dealing with like for like here; the Tintin illustration was a framed original gouache, ink and watercolour painting produced for the story The Blue Lotus, the character’s fifth adventure. Nevertheless, in all essentials it relates closely to the Batman comic, especially as it was meant to serve as the cover picture for the story, but was rejected. The price? €3.2m or £2.8m.
So Batman may have more superpowers, but Tintin packs the greater punch.
Jan 11, 2021
Catch them early – that’s what they say. Well, one auctioneer has taken this to heart more than anyone else that I have heard of before as he handed the gavel to his three-year-old daughter.
Jasmyne Sitter took to the rostrum on January 2 in Michigan to close the bidding on an artwork after being lifted up there by her father Jordan, Prinicipal Auctioneer for Park West Gallery.
“Sold” she cried out, clearly delighted with her starring role.
OK, it may have just been a bit of fun, but I’m willing to bet that this moment will prove to be an enduring memory for young Jasmyne and thrilling enough to sow the seeds of curiosity in her father’s choice of career. In another 20 to 25 years, we may well see her conducting the entire auction, and that makes me think of who else might be running the world we love by then.
In other words, what makes a good auctioneer?
Assuming traditional live auctions will continue to take place by then – and I think they will regardless of how much timed online auctions come to dominate – it is certain that any auctioneer worth their salt will still have to be a bit of a showman (or woman). It is not just the art and antiques themselves that attract keen bidding, it is also the sense of occasion and the ability of the Master of Ceremonies (for that is what an auctioneer is) to generate the atmosphere and enthusiasm, to be able to read a crowd and, in keeping proceedings lively and competitive, not to lose sight of bids as they come in.
Jasmyne has plenty of promise; I’m almost certain she’ll be among them.
Jan 2, 2021
This is the time of year I like to look ahead to see what the next 12 months are likely to bring. If the last year taught us anything, it is to avoid predictions. So here goes: Auctions will continue to transfer increasingly online now that attitudes and confidence have caught up with technology. While we may lose some of the excitement of the live auction room experience, health considerations, as well as the convenience and cost savings of being able to do everything from the comfort of your own home will win through.
Brexit changes mean we will have to work harder on filling out customs paperwork for purchases sent overseas. It’s a pain, but something we will just have to deal with.
More people will start to buy fine art and more younger people will switch on to the possibilities and wonder of antiques as they log on to bid. Often they will come across antiques for the first time by accident as they scour online catalogues for luxury goods like jewellery and watches.
Anniversaries will play an important role once more: Chanel No 5 turns 100 in May, the month before Prince Philip reaches his centenary. Louis Vuitton turns 200 in August, while the pre-Renaissance poet Dante marks his 700th birthday in September.
November 11 marks the centenary of the first Poppy Day to mark the Armistice.
So much to remember, honour and celebrate.
Dec 14, 2020
A friend of mine has just bought a pair of perfectly serviceable table lamps from an online retailer. They will be delivered within the next week and should fit in with the interior décor of their house nicely. They look fine for what they are, but if I’m honest they are made out of fairly cheap materials and I suspect will have a fairly short shelf life, despite actually being rather pricey, to my mind.
I know I’m biased, but I would argue that with a little bit of patience and the help of a free online auction alert service, my friend could have found a much better pair of lamps of classic design and more solid materials in a saleroom like mine. Recycled, well designed, long-lasting, chic and almost certainly a great deal less expensive than the repro versions they have just bought, antiques like these are the ultimate ‘green’ must-haves that everyone keeps saying they want.
It’s still not too late to find that special something for your loved ones this Christmas at auction, and it’s as easy as browsing online and registering to bid. What’s more, it’s an exciting and enjoyable process. Why not give it a go.
Dec 7, 2020
One of the legacies of the Second World War and rationing was the hoarding mentality.
I can well remember an elderly relative who used to collect plastic and paper bags, as well as string. She would use the latter to tie up neat piles of the former and stack them – never to be used again – in the hall cupboard.
For today’s de-clutterer, this approach to life is as alien as it gets, but it was an understandable mental state for those faced with long-term uncertainty, and a hard habit to kick once the threat of war receded.
Really, we should be thankful for the hoarders, for without them numerous attic finds would never have emerged into the light. Some of the best stories we read in the news these days about auctions are those that involve the discovery of some extraordinary item that has been hidden away in a barn, old chest or mouldy cupboard.
It’s not just the windfall these can bring to their unsuspecting owners; it’s also about rekindling our burning curiosity for hidden secrets that have the power to transform lives. Perhaps that’s why tales of buried treasure feature so often in our literary canon.
My favourite story is about a man who bought a painting in a Philadelphia flea market for $4 in 1989. It was the frame he wanted and when he removed the picture to re-use it, he discovered an original copy of the Declaration of Independence hidden behind. Its estimate value? Around $2.5 million.
Nov 30, 2020
One of the most fascinating collecting fields is that of coins. Created as trade goods, for thousands of years they have made their way across land and sea in exchange for commodities and services. As such, the most ancient of coins can be found far from the places where they were minted. They can also cast light on the lives and influence of those who lived in ancient times. For instance Ancient Greek coins were minted in what is now Sicily, part of Italy, but was then part of the Classical Greek empire.
Secrets from our own ancient history can also be uncovered by coins. The important thing is to preserve as good a record as possible of the find site; this is largely successful today thanks to the excellent Portable Antiquities Scheme, which rewards finder and land-owner alike, provided the rules have been followed.
All this sprang to mind a week ago with news of a record auction price for one of the most exciting finds ever: the first known gold coin of Caractacus, king of the Catuvellauni tribe in the first century AD. Caractacus entered legend as a leader of the resistance against the Roman invasion and features in the work of Tacitus, the Roman historian, who writes about Caractacus’s famous speech to the Roman Senate following his defeat and capture. So impressed were the Romans that they pardoned him and allowed him to live in Rome until he death.
The fact that Caractacus could mint such an impressive coin demonstrates his power and influence, while details that appear on the coin fill in other gaps in our knowledge.
Nov 23, 2020
The current debate around the TV series The Crown reminds me of the great closing line from the film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, starring James Stewart: “When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”
I suppose it was an early example of what we now call Fake News, something that has become endemic in the multi-media modern age. Does it matter that much of what is broadcast in The Crown did not happen? I suppose it doesn’t if you approach the whole series as fictional entertainment, but because it is so clearly presented as the story of our current Royal Family, the risk is that many, if not most, people will take it at face value, and that may be neither fair nor healthy.
A similar challenge has arisen among all the art and antiques programmes on TV over the past 20 years or so. Have they been a good thing?
Many in the industry dislike them because in some cases they have presented a rather misleading picture of how things work. In reality, few people would buy from dealers in order to sell at auction – i.e. buying retail to sell wholesale – because it reverses the process, meaning you are more than likely to lose money. But sometimes the truth has to take a back seat in the interests of drama and entertainment.
It’s an irony that this fantasy is now referred to as Reality TV. Having said that, the burgeoning interest that these programmes have created in our wonderful industry is only to be welcomed.
Nov 16, 2020
One of the best things about auctions is that they bring an opportunity to tell little-known or forgotten stories. My favourite of the past week or so has been news that a copy of an early folio of Shakespeare’s plays is being offered with an estimate of £30,000-50,000.
This is a fourth folio dating to 1685 – a first folio would be priced in the millions; one sold in New York in October for nearly $10 million.
Comparatively little is known about our nation’s finest writer, but we do know that at the time of his death in 1616 no single volume existed bringing all his 36 plays together. That task, creating what is now known as the First Folio, was only completed seven years later in 1623 by the playwright’s colleagues and fellow actors, John Heminge and Henry Condell. Without them, it is unlikely that Shakespeare would enjoy the status he now has in our historical firmament, especially as without Heminge and Condell’s work, we would have lost at least 18 of the plays, including The Tempest, Twelfth Night, As You Like It and even Macbeth.
The First Folio was never guaranteed. The two actors had to spend some time acquiring the rights to publish and then at least as long persuading the publisher that it was a good idea. In the end it came out a year later than expected.
The Second Folio came out almost a decade later in 1632, with a third emerging in 1663.
That Third Folio is actually the rarest because it is believed so many copies were destroyed in the Great Fire of London three years later.
First Folios are, by comparison, easier to find and the latest tally is 235 copies survive today.
