February 9th, 2007 | 
Author: Shropshire auctioneers Brettells of Newport have launched a new website, where potential customers around the world can view online catalogues. The saleroom, which opened just four years ago, is now producing online catalogues for every weekly General Sale as well as for their specialist Antique & Fine Art sales. The new weekly catalogues will be posted on the site every Saturday/Sunday prior to the Tuesday sale. They will include lot number and a brief description of every item, along with images of the more collectable lots.
‘We are now living a 24/7 society and it was important to us to keep up with the times and provide this service for our customers who maybe cannot attend viewing days or who live too far away’, said David Brettell (pictured) who owns the saleroom. He is hoping the new website, which can be found at www.brettells.com, will attract more commission and telephone bids.
Vendors are asked to submit their lots as soon as possible after each Tuesday’s sale ready for the following week, to allow enough time for photography and cataloguing before the weekend deadline.
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Sotheby’s sale of the house of Hanover treasures at Marienburg Castle in Germany has reached a total over the ten days of 44 million Euros (approximately 30.2m), four times the expected total. Around 20,000 objects went under the hammer, in an unprecendented sale of items belonging to the German royal family headed by Prince Ernst August, the third husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco. Ernst August is a descendant of the last German Kaiser Wilhelm II. The sale was held to raise money to help maintain the family estate.
The single most expensive lot in the sale was a pair of massive blue ground 19th century Russian vases, (see picture) produced by the Imperial Porcelain Factory in St. Petersburg, which sold for 1.69million Euros (1.16m approx). Measuring 36″ (92cm) high, they were finely painted by M. Kriukov and S. Spiridonov with panels with allegories of wrath and pride.
French billionaire Bernard Arnault has sold his 49.9% stake in Bonhams. The 56 year old, whose $17bn fortune puts him at number 17 in the list of the world’s richest, has disposed of his shares for an undisclosed sum.
His involvement in the top London auction houses began with the purchase of Phillips by his LVMH luxury goods group in 1999. In 2001, Bonhams merged with the British part of Phillips, and he sold his shares in Phillips in 2003, retaining a minority shareholding in Bonhams. While LVMH remained as a partner, it left the running of Bonhams to its chairman Robert Brooks. The last few years have been very successful for the auctioneers, as they have moved into markets in America and Australia and boosted turnover.
A joint statement by the two companies said Bonhams had moved back into profit, which had enabled it to buy LVMH’s stake. Mr. Brooks said he was grateful to LVMH for seeing the firm through a period of growth and allowing them to buy back the shareholding.
LAPADA has organised a free legal seminar for members in conjunction with the city law firm Withers. The seminar will deal with four main topics: the first of these will be the risks involved when conducting valuations, looking at the different types of valuation and understanding the customer. The second will be money laundering, with advice on how to protect yourself against it and understanding the Proceeds of Crime Act. The third will be how to give investment advice without breaching financial services rules and the final topic will be the new rules for putting art and collectables into a pension and what this will mean for dealers and their clients. The seminar will offer plenty of time for questions and will be followed by a glass of wine. Pierre Valentin, Head of the Art and Cultural Assets Group at Withers will deliver the seminar, which will take place at 5.30pm on Wednesday 30th November at the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining at 1, Carlton House Terrace, London. Pierre Valentin is a former legal counsel at Sotheby’s and most of his clients are collectors and art market professionals.
Visitors to the Chester Autumn Antiques Show (27th-30th October), held at the Chester Racecourse and organised by Penman Fairs, will have a rare chance to acquire a piece of Merseyside’s cultural heritage when a collection of Birkenhead-made Della Robbia pottery will be offered for sale.
The pottery will be on the stand of Alison Davey of AD Antiques, from Staffordshire. She says this pottery is largely underappreciated by collectors. “Della Robbia pottery is hard to come by; the firm only lasted twelve years so a piece is not only a pleasure to own but also very collectable and potentially a good investment.”
Founded in Price Street, Birkenhead, in 1894 by sculptor Conrad Dressler and the artist Harold Rathbone, a former pupil of Ford Madox Brown. Rathbone named the pottery after a family of 15th century Italian sculptors, and there is a strong Renaissance flavour to the pieces. Although it was popular, Rathbone’s poor business acumen meant that the firm never made any money and the factory closed its gates for the last time in 1906. A selection of Della Robbia pottery is pictured here.
The fair offers a wide selection of art and antiques, with most items pre-dating 1900, although there is no official dateline as such. Items are vetted for quality.
Caroline Penman has also announced details of some new fairs to be added to her portfolio for 2006. The first of these on the calendar is the Lindfield Antiques Fair, which she first started back in 1968. Now, 38 years on, it moves from its old August date to the May Bank Holiday weekend from April 29th-May 1st and will be held at the King Edward Hall.
The second on the calendar is the Hove Antiques Fair, which will be held from July 7th-9th. The city of Brighton & Hove is of course known for its many antique shops and the Hove Town Hall should provide an ideal venue. The third venue for which details have been announced is the Digby Hall, Sherborne in Dorset, where the Sherborne Antiques Fair will take place from August 18th-20th. There will be 40 exhibitors at this fair.
Finally, a reminder that the Uckfield Antiques Fair (21st-23rd October) ends this weekend in the Civic Centre in what is Caroline Penman’s home town.