Now is time of the collector as global antique sales drop 11pc
ANTIQUES CAN not only enhance the home but add handsomely to its value. When chosen with care, quality pieces can prove a good long-term investment.
Research by UBS and Art Basel reveals that global sales of antiques and fine art fell 11 per cent last year to US$56.6bn. This was the lowest recorded since 2010, reflecting economic uncertainly in the salerooms but presents an opportunity for purchasers.
Period furniture has been particularly knocked but “prices for good things have picked up”, says Simon Myers from R.N. Myers & Son, noted dealers based in Gargrave, near Skipton. He recently sold an early 18th century walnut bureau with a good colour for £4,000 which he says is not only very practical but “currently undervalued” and would have been twice the cost only a few years ago.
He tips quality walnut which is untouched, not cleaned off and compromised, as well as good early mahogany. Noted makers, like Gillows of Lancaster, command a premium.
“Currently, it is the time of the collector”, says Kevin Smith of Windsor House Antiques, who started trading in Leeds in 1957.
He has a superb library table, c1810, made by Snowdon & Sons of Northallerton (£5,450) and a Victorian Sutherland table from Heath Hall in Wakefield, c1890 (£1,800), as well as a pair of stone urns from 1700 which came from Harewood House (£9,000).
For a limited time, Smith is offering some exceptional pieces at almost half their original price.
Early oak is achieving very good prices which explains the large number of questionable pieces on the market today.
Professional advice should be sought, ideally from an experienced member of the British Antique Dealers’ Association (BADA) or a specialist auctioneer. BADA members are individually vetted and elected and subscribe to strict standards.
When buying in the saleroom, always seek a ‘condition report’, which should be informative even though it often comes with disclaimers as to liability, and take into account the buyer’s premium of 20-30 per cent plus VAT.
Keep valuations up to date for contents insurance. Ask an independent broker for advice. Hiscox Insurance, for instance, offers 10 per cent discount for clients with valuations and, if articles are photographed, a further five per cent premium reduction.
One of the best ways to see a good range of antiques and discuss with experts is to attend a quality fair. Aside from the BADA Fair and forthcoming Masterpiece, both in London, Olympia Kensington offers two events with far more dealers – around 160 – with pieces ranging from £100 to £1m. Now in its 45th year, Olympia attracts some 30,000 visitors.
Harewood House near Leeds hosts a major antiques fair next month, attended by around 30 specialist exhibitors from across the UK. Silver specialist Mary Cooke is bringing some exceptional pieces of York silver. Since the city’s assay office closed in 1856, little has survived.
One example is an Argyle, made in York by Hampston & Prince in 1790. They are thought to have been containers for gravy or a sauce as the design incorporates a form of heatpreserving element. They are named after the 3rd Duke of Argyll and he and the Duchess became tired of their sauces arriving cold at the table at Inverary Castle.
Two other York silver pieces to be seen are Charles II tumbler cups, used to drink from when travelling by carriage so that they would tumble back to the flat point. They were made in 1680 and 1678 respectively (each £8,950). The price for such York silver has increased 15-20 per cent in a decade, says Cooke.
Ceramics have shown very different levels of appreciation depending on their age, factory and style in recent years. Spode with good local views has jumped 25 per cent, says Carolyn Stoddart-Scott of a spill vase she is bringing to Harewood. It has a hand-painted view of York Minster from c1820 and costs £340.
Meissen and Sevres are the only two factories to have been consistently collected since their inception. “Italian tin-glazed earthenware or maiolica is the only pottery which falls into the same category,” says Will Richards, deputy chairman at Dreweatts & Bloomsbury Auctions.
Many English ceramics, unless from the first few years of production, are now low in popularity with younger collectors seeking different subjects, such as film posters. However, Richards has seen the work of a few noted modern ceramicists jump in value, such as Dame Lucie Rie whose record at auction has been broken four times in two years. Other leading names include Hans Coper and Michael Cardew.
Early studio pottery is fashionable and shows marked appreciation. Look for William de Morgan, Moorcroft and the Martin Brothers, Robert and Edwin. Dreweatts sold an aquatic vase by Robert Wallace Martin last week for £1,612. As the popular BBC
reveals, similar pieces can be found at charity shops and car boot sales.
Antique maps can still be found at modest prices. Those seeking Yorkshire subjects can see a very early topographical map of the West Riding by the noted cartographer, Jan Jansson, dated 1646 (£595) at Harewood, exhibited by J Dickinson Maps & Prints.
Sculpture has always enjoyed a global following and Dino and Raffaello Tomasso in Leeds have an international reputation, notably for continental European pieces. They are showing at London Art Week in early July when specialist exhibitions and events are held across 50 of the capital’s art galleries and auction houses.
A mix of 19th and 20th century bronze sculpture is to be offered by Garret & Hurst at Harewood. It includes
by Dominque Alonzo, c1920, for £4,450, up from £2,500-2,750 in a decade.
Bonhams say the global market for Chinese art splits into three different sectors. There are craft objects made from export between 1600-1850 which continue to be affordable.
Instead look for quality archaeological material: Neolithic jade carvings, Tang glazed burial horses and spectacular Bronze Age ritual and functional vessels. The third group are the finest examples made by the Imperial art workshops, notably jade and lacquer carvings, often made for court officials and intended for secular display.
Sotheby’s have a major Chinese sale on May 10 which includes a rare large carved cinnabar lacquer dish from the late Yuan-early Ming dynasty from the collection of Sir Percival David. This is the fourth time it comes under the hammer and instructive to see the price changes: £650 (1962), £1,900 (1970), £1,600 (1972), estimate of £400,000-£600,000 (now).
To see other appreciation, a white glazed bowl with Xuande mark sold at Sotheby’s for £300 in 1972 and should make £30,000-£50,000 next month, whilst a pair of Imperial yellow glazed dishes with Zhengde marks that made £2,600 in 1972 could realise £50,000-£70,000.
In paintings, there is a strong demand for modern British – notably Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Ben Nicholson and David Hockney – says Ian Walker of Walker Galleries in Harrogate.
“Investors have moved away from the more traditional aspects of St Ives painters such as Sanhope Forbes who painted realistic scenes of fisherfolk to the naive aspects of Alfred Wallis and faux-naive Christopher Wood. Their prices have risen enormously,” reveals Walker.