Antiques Trade Gazette 55 letters to the editor
Government should get real over online tax
SIR – Just read your interesting article about online trading and HMRC (HMRC issues fi nal alert over online tax, Letters, ATG No 2045). Being a hard-working, 50-hours-a-week tax and National
Insurance payer, I get great pleasure in spending my savings on my specialist collecting fi eld, on items I see on the internet, mainly eBay. Over the past 12 months I have sold about ten items on
eBay, items that I no longer want or which have been replaced by better. According to the link to HMRC that you kindly put in the article, if I sell a similar item on more than one occasion in a 12-month period I will be classed as a trader and have to pay tax. I know the country is on its backside and the Government
needs to screw as much money as it can from people like me, but come on, let’s get real. Virtually EVERY eBay-er in the country has sold more than one item in 12 months – virtually every working-class person in the country with an eBay account. HMRC is barking up the wrong tree. There are many high-profi le, highly-paid tax evaders in this country.
From a hard-working taxpayer Via email
Where are the Chippendale covers?
SIR – I wonder if any of your readers can throw light on this conundrum. In many of the bills from Chippendale one
reads (say) “2 Oval card tables of fi ne yellow satinwood…” then “2 Damask Leather Covers to the tops lined and bound”. (I quote from Appendix 2 to a recent article in Furniture History by Dodd & Wood on Chippendale furniture at Stourhead, but numerous references to these covers can be found in accounts quoted in Christopher Gilbert’s book on Chippendale.) Presumably other cabinet-makers of comparable
standing also supplied these. In all my years, with Christie’s, with Bonhams, as
an antique dealer etc, I have only once come across one of these covers. This was at Christie’s in the late ‘60s/early
‘70s when we had for sale a lacquer “bureau-en- pente” which had apparently been the subject of a family dispute for a hundred years or more and
been lodged in the offi ce of a French notaire for safekeeping. The cover was of heavy leather, tooled at the edges, with (from memory) a chamois or other soft lining, but heavy, almost indestructible. This is my point. What happened to all these
covers? Even in houses that have remained in the same
family since they were furnished they seem to have completely disappeared. (Seat and smaller furniture also had its covers of “Fine Barré striped cotton” et al, but it is more understandable that those might by now have perished.) Why? They still had a use in the early years of the
last century when housekeeping remained of a high standard and there were enough servants to ensure that a house unoccupied was ‘put to bed’ properly. Any insight into this would be welcome.
Julian Guest Via email
We can help an antiques business to fi x problems We would love to fi nd an family-run antiques
SIR – I am currently working on the second series of the BBC2 show The Fixer with Alex Polizzi. This is a BBC2 series that helps family businesses
that are not fulfi lling their full potential. All of the six businesses we have worked with in the last series have done very well.
business interested in being involved. Email
celia.frayne@
twofour.co.uk
Celia Frayne Assistant producer, The Fixer
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Issue No: 2010
Issue Date: 08/10/11
File Name: NE01-04
PROOFED:
Issue 2010 | 8th October 2011 UK £2.00 – USA $6.50 – Europe €3.95
auction reports page 22 | COMMEMORATIVES
New name, same game for Historical & Collectable
Issue 2029 | 25th February 2012 UK £2.00 – USA $6.50 – Europe €3.95
Honiton Festival a fi rst for National Antiques Week
HONITON in Devon is the fi rst town to announce a major festival to mark National
asia week
new york page 40
25 pages of previews and adverts for the Big Apple’s Asiafest
Exports down 1%, imports up 42.6%
■ Shifting forces start to show up clearly in trade fi gures
Ivan Macquisten reports
antiques trade gazette User: IVAN
Issue No: 2013 Issue Date: 29/10/11 30 29th October 2011 30 29th October 2011
THE balance of trade in the UK’s fi ne art and antiques industry swung heavily towards imports in 2011. The latest statistics, compiled from
File Name: AR01-02 auction reports
■ Five and six-figure sums from the Far East help UK auctioneers balance the books
Roland Arkell reports
China has ‘saved regional Luxury
raw Customs data by Antiques Trade Gazette, show the value of overall exports down 1% to £3247.9m, compared with a 42.6% rise in imports to £3882.8m. Although these fi gures assess the value of art and antiques moved across UK borders, rather than that bought and sold, they give a clear indication of market forces.
Digging deeper into the results (see tables on pages 4 and 5), it is fi ne art that shows the most dramatic change as a whole. Exports in 2010 rose by over 60%, but in 2011 they fell by just over
is very much one way, with antiques exports down 4.3% to £13.2m and imports up by 133% at £53.4m. Despite the burgeoning importance of Hong Kong and the Far Eastern markets, the United States remains the UK’s most important trading partner by some distance.
74x69_Layout 1 16/02/2012 14:54 Page 1 5%. Imports, meanwhile saw almost
THE FIFTH ANTIQUES WEEKEND
LINDEN HALL LONGHORSLEY, MORPETH NORTHUMBERLAND NE65 8XF
at
IT was once a common refrain that the strongest areas of the art market, from the very best ‘golden age’ clocks to contemporary pictures, were the preserve of a small number of London-based auctioneers. The dealers, vendors and auctioneers of Middle England remained
largely untouched. However, the booming Chinese works
of art market has – in terms of both its vendors and its auctioneers – proved rather more egalitarian. Centuries of commercial and military history dictate that rich deposits of Chinese art still reside right across the British Isles, and regional auctioneers are well aware that they are not confined to the nation’s great country houses. This round-up of recent Asian
highlights across the regional salerooms begins at the first dedicated sale of Chinese and Japanese works of art held by Nicholson’s (20% buyer’s premium) of Fernhurst, near Haslemere on September 29-30. Interest and controversy alike were
prompted by the performance of lot 638, a 13in (33cm) blue and white dish with a barbed, everted rim decorated with blooms of lotus, chrysanthemum, mallow, dianthus and camellia. In form and decoration this purports at least to be an early Ming dish from the Yongle
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(1403-25) period, examples of which can be found in a number of major collections. They have long been prized in the West: a near identical dish sold at Sotheby’s in Bond Street back in 1988 for £132,000.
PAGE 001,03-06
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Was it period? Nicholson’s made no claims as to its date and their estimate of £300-500 indicated it was to be sold without reserve. The vendor had inherited it with a recent probate
te a te
h a r
valuation from France where something in the region of €100 had been suggested.
Opinions at the view were certainly mixed. Some thought it 20th century, others an 18th century copy, but by the morning of the sale seven phone lines were booked and five bidders had registered online with the intention of bidding solely on this dish.
d a
The opening bid by a buyer in the room was £50,000, swiftly followed by another bidder straight in at £100,000. A two-way battle emerged for the piece,
e e
successful with a final bid of £250,000. Nicholson’s, who have taken
swoop, with a buyer who had flown in from Hong Kong for the sale emerging h a fi
measures to deter potential non-payers from bidding, say the transaction is going through. But some will still need convincing before the dish is accepted as Yongle.
e t
A 15th century Ming date was more universally accepted for a blue and white bottle vase decorated with a four-clawed dragon chasing a pearl. It was, however in woeful condition (it was lacking at least 3in from the neck and had several repairs) and the vendor had been turned down by one of the major London houses as the owner of an item not expected to realise their price threshold (generally thought to be a minimum of around £3000). Estimated here at £600- 800, chain-smoking Chinese agents, gambling that the market will continue to rise, competed it to £36,000.
d f f t e m t t e t
essentially wiping out the phones in one r w
consigned for the sale, pre-emiinent was a painted ivory figure of a geisha standing 9in (23cm) high. Polychrome
e s y fi ) h
ories nent
f a geisha chrome
figures of this type dating from asm as recently as the 1930s are flavour of
ur of
the month (Sworders of Stanstedted Mountfitchet sold one for £30,000 in
May) and this example, estimated at £600-800, was battled over by seven
y seven
phone lines, eventually selling to ag to a delighted mainland Chinese buyer for
d C £7500. JAPAN
For reasons well known to economists, the market for Japanese works of art has not proved anywhere near as strong as that of their BRIC-nation counterparts.
But the best still has the capacity to
impress, as demonstrated by this Meiji Tokyo school ivory okimono of a gentleman with a monkey upon his shoulder, 12in (30cm) high, sold for a mid-estimate £7000 at Nicholson’s on September 29-30. A signed tablet to the base was made in mother-of- pearl, an unusual feature possibly indicating the carver was of high merit.
two days, some £700,000 was accounted for by Chinese works of art. Simply put, at a time when standard European chattels continue to tailspin, “they have saved regional salerooms”, commented valuer Harry Hannam.
s o o t
premium) of Chichester had the market, rather than expertise, to thank for the success of their September 30 sale. Pre-sale commission bids of up to
premium) of Chichester had the market, rather than expertise, to thank for the success of their September 30 sale. Pre-sale commission bids of up to
Certainly Strides (15% buyer’s d t
£4200 gave the auctioneer some warning that a 7½in (19cm) porcelain vase decorated with five children was worth considerably more that their estimate of just £100-£200. It had come in for sale
) p te o
£4200 gave the auctioneer some warning that a 7½in (19cm) porcelain vase decorated with five children was worth considerably more that their estimate of just £100-£200. It had come in for sale
Certainly Strides (15% buyer’s
Of the £850,000 generated across the two days, some £700,000 was accounted for by Chinese works of art. Simply put, at a time when standard European chattels continue to tailspin, “they have saved regional salerooms”, commented valuer Harry Hannam.
taste was an unusually large early 20th century carved coral figure of Guanyin. Bought at Spink in 1980s for a price in the region of £400-500 (it was missing a section of foliage to one side), it was estimated at £1500-2000, but sold at £20,000. This is certainly one of the few areas of the market where an auctioneer can give good news to a vendor who bought their antiques as recently as a decade ago. Of the £850,000 generated across the
Also chiming with current Chinese taste was an unusually large early 20th
Also chiming with current Chinese h c
century carved coral figure of Guanyin. Bought at Spink in 1980s for a price in the region of £400-500 (it was missing a section of foliage to one side), it was estimated at £1500-2000, but sold at £20,000. This is certainly one of the few areas of the market where an auctioneer can give good news to a vendor who bought their antiques as recently as a decade ago.
0 ( e to o s t 0 g uyer for
000 in ted at
continued on page 5 375 Live Ltd PAGE 001, 003-004
2010.indd 1 O F H A T T ON GA R D E N
Knut#ford Antique Centre
‘T e best in the North West’
T ree fl oors of fi ne quality antiques and collectables
Open every day except Monday
113 King Street, Knutsford, Cheshire WA16 6EH (Jnc 19 M6) Tel: 01565 654092
www.antiques.gb.com
A n t i q u es Tr a de Ga z e t t e: 115 Sh a f t e s b u ry Av e n u e, L o n d o n, WC 2H 8A F. P R I N T ED IN THE UN I T ED KI N G D OM Of more than 40 Chinese ivories
INDIA Doubtless encouraged by strong prices, Anglo-Indian ivory and horn games boxes have made regular appearances in UK salerooms recently. Staple issues from the workshops
from a house clearance in Bognor Regis. In fact, bidding opened with a pre- emptive strike of £10,000 from the same Hong Kong telephone bidder who then ignored £1000 increments to jump forward in bids of £10,000. Also bidding on the phone was Kensington Church Street dealer Richard Peters who was ultimately successful at £155,000.
from a house clearance in Bognor Regis. In fact, bidding opened with a pre-
Buying for stock, he told ATG: “It’s a wonderful rare Imperial mark and period Daoguang (1821-50) vase. What’s so desirable about it, apart from its superb colour and freshness, is its decoration.” The subject of five boys fighting for a helmet is a pun for ‘eminent’ or great. The five boys refer to the children of Dou Yujina, the scholar, educator and official of the Five Dynasties period (907-60) whose model offspring, five sons who each achieved eminence in the civil
‘Five boys’ vases are ideal objects for Chinese collectors who aspire to high values in family life. Similar iconography was seen to the later vase offered by Brightwells (17.5% buyer’s premium) of Leominster on September 28. This 13in (33cm) high club-shape vessel, with polychrome floral decoration and an unidentified red seal mark, was applied in high relief with figures of children climbing an orange ribbon. It was contested to £10,000.
Chinese taste porcelain from the 19th century continue to bring remarkable sums, even when damaged. Byrne’s (21% buyer’s premium) sale in
Chester on September 21 included a 9in (22.5cm) vase of lobed baluster form decorated with bats, lotus flower and scrolling foliage in famille rose enamels.
century continue to bring remarkable sums, even when damaged. Byrne’s (21% buyer’s premium) sale in Chester on September 21 included a 9in (22.5cm) vase of lobed baluster form decorated with bats, lotus flower and scrolling foliage in famille rose enamels.
emptive strike of £10,000 from the same Hong Kong telephone bidder who then ignored £1000 increments to jump forward in bids of £10,000. Also bidding on the phone was Kensington Church Street dealer Richard Peters who was ultimately successful at £155,000. Buying for stock, he told ATG: “It’s a
wonderful rare Imperial mark and period Daoguang (1821-50) vase. What’s so desirable about it, apart from its superb colour and freshness, is its decoration.” The subject of five boys fighting for
service, earned him reverence as the ideal parent.
Chinese collectors who aspire to high values in family life. Similar iconography was seen to the later vase offered by Brightwells (17.5% buyer’s premium) of Leominster on September 28. This 13in (33cm) high club-shape vessel, with polychrome floral decoration and an unidentified red seal mark, was applied in high relief with figures of children climbing an orange ribbon. It was contested to £10,000. Chinese taste porcelain from the 19th
a helmet is a pun for ‘eminent’ or great. The five boys refer to the children of Dou Yujina, the scholar, educator and official of the Five Dynasties period (907-60) whose model offspring, five sons who each achieved eminence in the civil service, earned him reverence as the ideal parent. ‘Five boys’ vases are ideal objects for
2/17/2012 4:14:29 PM
Regrettably the vase had a crack running across the base through the body and had been drilled, removing either a Daoguang (1821-50) or a Jiaqing (1796-1820) iron red seal mark of which only traces remained. Such condition issues would have kept its value down to a few hundred pounds a decade ago. Here it flew past its £100-200 guide to sell to an internet bidder via the-
saleroom.com for £26,000.
While the Jiaqing or Daoguang periods are traditionally thought to represent the last flowering of porcelain making in China, later 19th century wares, previously considered of mere decorative value, have also experienced remarkable price accelerations.
At Moore Allen & Innocent’s (15% buyer’s premium) selected antiques sale in Cirencester on October 14, a metre-high 19th century blue and white hexagonal vase, which carried an auctioneer’s
estimate of £1000-1500, reached £35,000 before the hammer fell to a Chinese buyer.
Recent Chinese highlights from the regional salerooms. From far left to right:
A Yongle style blue and white dish, £250,000 at Nicholson’s. A Daoguang mark and period ‘five boys’ vase, £155,000 at Stride’s. A ‘five boys’ famille rose vase, £10,000 at Brightwells.
A 19th century blue and white hexagonal temple vase, £35,000 at Moore Allen & Innocent.
A probably Jiaqing period famille rose vase, £26,000 at Byrne’s.
Below: additional highlights from Nicholson’s late September sale include, from left to right: a polychrome ivory figure of a geisha, £7500; a fragmentary 15th century bottle vase, £36,000 and a coral carving of Guanyin, £20,000.
of Vizagapatam in the second half of the 19th century, complete examples of the popular folding book form have been seen at Halls of Shrewsbury (£5200 In december 2009) and Clevedon Auction Rooms near Bristol (£5800 in September 2009). Two more Anglo-Indian boxes
appeared for sale at opposite ends of the country on consecutive days. A thick band of engraved scrolling
leaf decoration decorated the box offered by Cuttlestones (16% buyer’s premium) in Penkridge, Staffordshire on September 9. It opened to reveal an inlaid sandalwood backgammon board and two hinged ivory veneer boxes, one containing 32 draught pieces with two shakers and dice, the other with a complete set of ivory and horn chess pieces. There were various shrinkage cracks to the veneers but the condition was generally very good – enough to see it bring £6500 (estimate £1200-1800). The example seen at Great
Western Auctions (18% buyer’s premium), Glasgow on September 10 was decorated with bands of engraving depicting merchants, houses, birds, trees, canoes, the sun and the moon. It contained three rectangular boxes plus pieces for chess and draughts. Estimated at £1000-1500, it took £5400.
exactly the same increase – just under 45% – for both years. Interestingly, movements of pictures
between the UK and US grew in both directions, perhaps an indication of the growing polarisation of London and New York as the world centres of fi ne art sales Fine art exports to Switzerland –
important as an entrepot – fell by a quarter while those within the European Union have fallen by more than 50%. EU imports have risen very slightly, by 1.5%. Hong Kong has also seen healthy
PROOFED:
imports from and exports to the UK of pictures. In global terms, antiques exports from
the UK rose a healthy 30% in 2011 (a comparable rise to that of 2010), while imports increased by 25% compared to a 2010 rise of more than 60%. Again, within the EU, movement
KNOCKED down at £19m, Francis Bacon’s Portrait of Henrietta Moraes, above, was the top lot of London’s Contemporary art auction series last week by some margin. Offered at Christie’s evening sale on February 14, it was one of seven large-scale canvases produced by the artist in 1963 and one of 16 portraits of the model. With the estimate ‘on request’ only, but thought to be £15m-20m, it drew a three-way phone competition and sold to an anonymous buyer. Christie’s 65-lot sale generated a £70.3m hammer total and the overall £86.8m for the week was their highest overall total for a Contemporary art series in London. A full report will appear in a future issue.
salerooms’ Tuesday-Saturday
Master of Line 6th October 2011 - 29th February 2012
10am-2pm / 3pm-6pm
10-11 Park Place London SW1A 1LP/ Tel: +44 20 7629 6531
info@aktis-gallery.co.uk
www.antiques.gb.com A n t i q u e s Tr a de Ga z e t t e: 115 Sh a f t e s b u r y Av e n u e , L o n d o n, WC 2H 8A F. P R I N T ED IN THE UN I T ED KI N G D OM
Above: Anglo-Indian gaming board, £6500 at Cuttlestones.
9/30/2011 3:49:41 PM
Antiques Week. With its 85 dealers, two fi rms of
auctioneers and numerous associated specialist fi rms, from November 14-20, the fi rst ever Honiton Antiques Festival will showcase events ranging from special dealer exhibitions to talks a fair and auctions. The initiative is backed by Honiton
Town Council and its Mayor, Councillor Vernon Whitlock, Honiton Chamber of Commerce, Honiton Museum and Honiton Tourist Information Centre. “Honiton is the jewel in Devon’s crown when it comes to hunting for antiques.” said organiser Elizabeth Chilcott. “By joining forces, we the traders in antiques- related businesses in the town, intend to attract a big infl ux of collectors and enthusiasts during the seven days of the Festival.”
“We also hope to showcase the diverse range of skills and knowledge our people
antiques trade gazette 375 Live Ltd
antiques trade gazette User: IVANUser: IVAN
Precious Metals £1043.07 are as follows am Thursday Antiques Trade Gazette 31 Antiques Trade Gazette 31 Issue No: 2013Issue No: 2013 O F H A T T ON GA R D E N
have about antiques and fi ne art from all periods in history. We’re sure there will be something to interest people of all ages and tastes,” added dealer Valentine Butler. The festival will also promote the
“Antiques are Green” message and encourage new, young collectors who might be looking to turn their hobby into a career. The organisers will communicate with careers advisers in the county and students from Honiton Community College will fi lm events during the week. Exhibitions happening all week in
Honiton include: Chairs from 1650 to the Twentieth Century at Roderick Butler, Marwood House; Clarice Cliff Pottery at Upstairs Downstairs Antiques; Prints and Maps of Honiton at Graham York Rare Books; Contemporary Art at The Grove Antiques Centre and, on the quirky side, Skirt Lifters and Glass Hats, also at The Grove. Honiton’s auctioneers are also
backing the festival. Bearnes, Hampton and Littlewood will hold a series of free
continued on page 3 Issue Date: 29/10/11Issue Date: 29/10/11 File Name: AR01-02File Name: AR01-02 PROOFED:PROOFED: Above: Jack Yeats’ A Fair Day, Mayo sold for €1m (£917,430) at Adams on September 28. A one-man Irish economic miracle
BECOMING the most expensive painting ever sold in Ireland, A Fair Day, Mayo by Jack Butler Yeats (1871-1957) was knocked down at €1m (£917,430) at Adam’s in Dublin on September 28. In a result which could provide a much-
need shot in the arm to the Irish art market, the price was the second highest for the artist, only marginally behind The Whistle of a Jacket, which made £1m at Christie’s in May 2001. The bidding started at £300,000 and three bidders were still in contention up to £920,000. It fi nally sold to a private collector on the phone, underbid by the London
trade. Afterwards the auctioneers said they believed the painting would be staying in Ireland. The 2ft x 3ft (61 x 92cm) oil on canvas showing a bustling country fair in West Coast Ireland was a well-known picture to followers of the country’s greatest modern painter. It dated from 1925, a key year when the artist began to move away from his early narrative style towards expressionism. Yeats had lent it to Eamon de Valera, the leader of the new Fianna Fail party, who displayed it in his offi ces at Suffolk Place before it was sold for £250 to the vendor’s family in 1944. The buyer’s premium was 18 per cent.
Above: Anglo-Indian gaming board, £5400 at Great Western Auctions.
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LONDON
S UM M ER CA P I T AL OF A R T RRP £1 0
STEP INTO LONDON ALL THE DEALER EXHIBITIONS
ON VIEW THE VERY BEST AT AUCTION
THE GLORY OF SUMMER FAIRS
shopping for art & antiques this summer S U P P L EM EN T
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