JULY 14: MASTERPIECES

The June Masterpiece Fair was a blockbuster for antique clocks. With the uncoupling of two major dealers there were five important displays of the best of the best; Carter Marsh, Raffety, Howard Walwyn, Anthony Woodburn, and Ben Wright. There cannot be a finer assembly of important horology for sale anywhere in the world than at this fair. There were five tavern clocks on offer with prices ranging from £20-48k. In no particular order; an early shield dial by Gabril Holland, the smallest white round dial on record by Ralph Glover, the only recorded chain driven 8 day white round dial with bezel by Abraham Bernard now in the UK from the USA, a white round dial by Thomas Green and a smallish white round dial by Chas. Penny. All of these clocks were already known to Tavernicus.

The fair is clearly the market leader and although there was no major gimmickry this year i.e. no Spitfire at £8m, no classic cars, no scrap metal aircraft tables etc there was lots of bling for the overseas punters. Jewellery everywhere. For the serious art collector there were paintings priced in the millions; a Rene Magritte green apple with a table on it, a mere £3.5m, the same for a Lowry stick men painting. Restaurants galore, all from the same stable, Le Caprice, the Ivy, Scotts and so on. All aimed at the very top of the market and beautifully executed. It is worth reflecting on the fact that this fair was only born because the Grosvenor House Fair gave up its pre-eminent status. I wonder if they rue the day as its replacement is in a totally new class and there is no way back.

Other musings; the internet continues its inexorable rise. The saleroom-com the leading source of online antiques information and the bidding service reports that visits to its site are up by 80% and that each month they are getting 0.5 million visits. How long will it be before the Antiques Trade Gazette, a sister enterprise will go all electronic? Live bidding accounts for 27% of lots sold with 650 auction firms now uploading their catalogues for live bidding. The digital camera has made this possible. If you visit an auction room you will find them relatively empty and this will continue as a trend. There are now online only antique auction sites springing up. Where will we be in 5 years’ time; well the trend is your friend.

Meanwhile the major houses go from strength to strength but they are keeping all their options open. Bonham’s which has spent millions on its London operation is rumoured to be for sale or on someone’s radar at least. Christies and Sotheby’s strengthen their Asia operations, take on the trade with direct sales as well as auctions and are dipping their toes into online only auctions. They are ready whichever way the trend goes. The contemporary art market still fuels the engine of growth. In one week in May in New York $1.57bn of sales went under the hammer compared with the previous high of $1.34bn, with Christies setting an auction record of $745m in one session with bidders coming from 35 countries. Notwithstanding the trouble that guarantees have caused auctioneers in the past, Christies gave sellers 33 guarantees as to the price to be achieved. Sotheby’s sales were not in the same league by value perhaps because of board room diversion whilst they deal with shareholder activism, but still in excess of $330m in one sale.

In my next blog I shall write about the art detective on the net. A good summer to you all, time for a glass of rosé methinks.