BUSINESS AS USUAL?
Amidst political uproar, Roger Field heads to the auction rooms. Could this be the time to get a good deal on that much-desired suit of armour?
TO hell with Brexit, Nexit and Frexit, I hear you say. What we really want to know is how the complete disruption of politics, as we have known it for decades, has affected, and will affect, auction prices.
At the top end of the London market it was plus ça change, with a number of auction records broken in the fortnight after Brexit: foreign dealers and collectors in particular benefiting from the “cheap” pound. Although, let’s make two things clear: first, the rich are rich anyway and rarely suffer from the financial worries that assail we lesser mortals; secondly, even with the “collapse” of the pound, we are back to roughly where we were in 2014 against the Euro and way better than 2010, when the pound was near parity for those of us foolish enough to holiday in France.
Given that each bid at auction is roughly a 10% increase on the last bid (give or take), the recent 10% currency collapse means that foreign bidders are getting the equivalent of one extra bid at no extra cost to themselves.
A check around a few of the recent regional auctions showed it was very much business as usual, not least because, for the majority of items on offer, there would be little international bidding. Decent run-of-the-mill bits continue to sell within estimate, as long as those estimates are sensible. Something beautiful, unusual and desirable will soar – again, as usual – as people with money want the best and are willing to pay for it.
Thomas Del Mar’s Arms, Armour & Militaria auction on 29 June did, however, offer an opportunity to see if anything had changed post the vote, armour and weapons being very much an international market. The sale was 90% sold on the day, other items selling thereafter. I was there, finger twitching, to buy a 16th-century helmet. There were almost 50 on offer and, as this is a huge number to see in a sale nowadays, this had to be a great opportunity to get one at a sensible price as there was a good chance of the market being flooded. Fat chance. Prices soared. My big hope, a “composite” Close Helmet (all original but made up from parts from different helmets) blew its enticing £2,000£3,000 estimate and sold for £4,400. My fall back, a fine Burgonet (an open-faced helmet) at a juicy looking £900-£1,200, went for £2,100. Bidding went so fast that I never even got to stick my paw in the air. “Foreign bidders?” I asked afterwards. Yes and no, it seems. Yes, there had been European and US buyers there and on the phones. They were certainly active, not least as they now got that one extra “free” bid, but so were the usual Brit buyers plus some new-on-the-scene bidders who, realising how sculptural good armour can be, were buying for purely decorative purposes.
Answer then: same old, same old. If it was really good and decorative and desirable it sold well. An 18th-century German hunting trousse – an all-in-one chop up the carcass of the felled beastie kit, plus a knife and fork to then eat it with – set in a finely decorated scabbard depicting a boar and a stag hunt, was estimated at £5,000-£6,000. This item was a highly functional work of art and the cleaver sat massive in my hand. It was no surprise it sold for £7,500.
Over at Holt’s on 30 June it was much the same story: sensibly estimated and