Latest News, Views & Insights

20TH CENTURY ART & DESIGN, LATEST NEWS

“I was raised to appreciate the classical shapes and styles of Josef Frank"

Otto Billström joined our Design Department in January this year and believes his Scandinavian heritage aided his appreciation of 20th century design. Let's find out more about him...

LATEST NEWS, ASIAN ART

Rare Yuan Shikai Rank Badges Come To Auction

Lot 190 in our auction of Asian Art on Friday 14 May is a rare collection of Chinese rank badges from the Yuan Shikai period (late 1915 to early 1916).

LATEST NEWS, MODERN BRITISH ART

Women Artists Triumph in Modern British & 20th Century Art

Women artists put in a particularly strong showing at our recent auction of Modern British and 20th Century Art. Works by Mary Fedden, Bridget Riley and Paula Rego contributed handsomely to the April 20 sale total of £676,000.

20TH CENTURY ART & DESIGN, LATEST NEWS

It Started With a Click

When writer and broadcaster Rosie Millard purchased a Georgian town house in North London with her partner, they turned to buying at auctions during lockdown to complete the refurbishment. 

20TH CENTURY ART & DESIGN, LATEST NEWS

Items From The Guardian’s Design Correspondent Come To Auction

Our Design sale on 4-5 May includes a group of Arts & Crafts items from the estate of the design writer and biographer Fiona MacCarthy OBE (1940-2020). Married to the Sheffield-based silversmith and designer David Mellor (1930-2009), who she first met when conducting an interview in 1967, MacCarthy’s background as a journalist for House and Garden and the Guardian helped to lay the foundations for seminal works on C R Ashbee, the Omega Workshops, William Morris, Eric Gill, and Stanley Spencer. 

20TH CENTURY ART & DESIGN, LATEST NEWS

Gabbertas Studio’s Most Iconic Designs Come to Auction

Sworders Design department is delighted to be offering a selection of some of the Gabbertas Studio’s most iconic designs, some of which are extremely rare versions of designs or prototypes made by the hand of Mark Gabbertas himself | DESIGN WEDNESDAY 5 MAY 2021

LATEST NEWS, PAINTINGS & SCULPTURE, MODERN BRITISH ART, SPORTING ART

Holt Festival Returns

Following Covid's cancellation of the Festival in 2020, the charming Georgian market town of Holt in Norfolk is delighted to be resuming its role as host of East Anglia’s celebration of creativity, Holt Festival, this summer, and Sworders couldn't be prouder to be sponsoring not one, but two art prizes this year. 

20TH CENTURY ART & DESIGN

Illuminating Icons | Max Ingrand for FontanaArte

Taking over from Pietro Chiesa as the artistic director of FontanaArte in 1954, Max Ingrand would lead the Italian design house to previously unseen frontiers, setting the artistic tone which defines the company to this day.

LATEST NEWS, BOOKS & MAPS

Controversial Letters From A Remarkable Archive Go Under The Hammer

A letter from the Nazi high command discussing arrangements for the visit by Edward Duke of Windsor in October 1937 is going under the hammer in our timed auction of Books and Maps (ending Sunday 18 April).  The document signed on behalf of Adolf Hitler forms part of a remarkable archive related to Charles Eugène Bedaux (1886-1944) and his second wife Fern Bedaux, nee Lombard, (1892-1972). 

20TH CENTURY ART & DESIGN, LATEST NEWS

Ambience Encapsulated

Few designers of mid-century lighting are considered as pivotal as Hans-Agne Jakobsson. Continuing the aesthetic legacy founded by the godfathers of Scandinavian design, Alvar Aalto, Poul Henningsen, and Erik Tidstrand, Jakobsson drove the evolution of lighting concepts to new boundaries - and to bigger scales than ever before.

LATEST NEWS

Update | Coronavirus (Covid-19)

The latest information on our forthcoming sales following the government's recent announcement 

HOMES & INTERIORS, LATEST NEWS, FINE INTERIORS

The One That Very Nearly Got Away

With an end to lockdown finally on the horizon, we take a few moments to continue a time for reflection, as Sworders' Chairman Guy Schooling recounts a whimsical tale of a treasured item that tried desperately to escape his clutches...

FINE WINE & PORT, LATEST NEWS

Cheers to that! Triumphant Results For Fine Wine & Spirits

Our timed sale of Fine Wine & Spirits, which ran from 5 - 14 March, was a triumph with a sold rate of almost 99% and a sale total of £113,130. 

LATEST NEWS, FINE INTERIORS

All The Small Things | 18th Century Doll's Houses Go Under the Hammer

Sylvia Ewen from our Picture Department takes a look inside a late 18th century dolls house belonging to BAFTA award-winning costume designer Evangeline Harrison, ahead of it going under the hammer in our March Fine Interiors auction.

20TH CENTURY ART & DESIGN, LATEST NEWS, PAINTINGS & SCULPTURE, FINE INTERIORS, MODERN BRITISH ART

Badgemore Grange | The Sally Hunter & Ian Posgate Collection

The impressive collection, charting the lives of an artistic couple, is to be auctioned at Sworders in the Spring.

LATEST NEWS, OUT OF THE ORDINARY

The Original Super Model | Photographs Of Pre-Raphaelite Beauty To Be Sold

Original photographs of a well-known Pre-Raphaelite beauty - the muse of William Holman Hunt and the mother of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell - come to auction at Sworders in the spring. The two albumen prints of Julia Prinsep Stephen are expected to achieve £500-800 as part of the two-day Out of The Ordinary sale on April 13 and 14.

LATEST NEWS, PAINTINGS & SCULPTURE, SPORTING ART

Jane Oakley | A Retrospective on Sporting Art

As we prepare for our next Sporting Art sale, to be held on Wednesday 2 June 2021, Head of Pictures Jane Oakley takes a look back at some of the successes of the sale from the last three years.

LATEST NEWS, OUT OF THE ORDINARY

The Smallest Show On Earth

The UK’s only surviving Victorian flea circus comes for sale in our April Out of the Ordinary Auction. The miniature attraction, known in its pomp as the Professor Len Tomlin Flea Circus, has been consigned by Ankie Wild, who ran the Ribchester Museum of Childhood until 1995. 

LATEST NEWS, PAINTINGS & SCULPTURE, FINE INTERIORS

Fine Interiors Journal | March 2021

An exciting new development for the department is the introduction of the Fine Interiors Journal, a companion guide offering an overview of the sale complete with links directly to the relevant sections of the online catalogue.

LATEST NEWS, FINE INTERIORS

From The Collection Of Min Hogg

Founding Editor Of The World Of Interiors

We are extremely proud to include in our 30 and 31 March Fine Interiors sale, several pieces from the collection of Georgina ‘Min’ Hogg (1938-2019), the founding editor of The World of Interiors.

HOMES & INTERIORS, LATEST NEWS

Organised Chaos | Items From The Estate of The Late Douglas 'Dougie' Gray

Our Homes & Interiors sale on Tuesday 16 of March will include a collection of items from the estate of the late Douglas ‘Dougie’ Gray.

LATEST NEWS, FINE INTERIORS

Raising a Toast From Newcastle to Amsterdam

Until the end of the 17^th century, the quintessentially English drinking glass was unknown. At this juncture, European glass was awash with the popular Façon de Venise or Venetian fashion. Although this trend was not just produced by the eponymous craftsmen but throughout Europe, often with the assistance of migrant Italian glassblowers that helped to proliferate the ideas and skillset required. 

LATEST NEWS, PAINTINGS & SCULPTURE, FINE INTERIORS

The Beguiling Beauty of Psyche

The story of Psyche, like many Greek myths, is one of great drama and passion. Psyche, a mortal princess, was famed in the ancient world for her unrivalled beauty, and this beauty has been beguiling artists throughout history. Two 19th century artists who were both clearly under her spell were Pietro Tenerani and John William Waterhouse RA (1849-1917), and we are pleased to be offering examples of both of their works in our forthcoming Fine Interiors auction on 30 and 31 March.

20TH CENTURY ART & DESIGN, LATEST NEWS

International Women's Day | The Artistic Legacy of Ilonka Karasz

Sworders’ Design department celebrates International Women’s Day highlighting the artistic legacy of Ilonka Karasz, an unsung heroine of the 20^th century design period.

LATEST NEWS, FINE INTERIORS

Interior Design Trends 2021

The coronavirus pandemic has had a profound effect on how we view our homes. Demonstrated through examples of forthcoming lots from our March Fine Interiors auction, Charlotte Lee-Finglas talks us through some of the key interior design trends to look out for in 2021.

20TH CENTURY ART & DESIGN, LATEST NEWS

Clay Big Spender

Enthusiasm for studio and contemporary earthenware is at an all-time high, with clay’s chic status making its mark across the Instagram profiles of interior designers, celebrities, and collectors alike.

PAINTINGS & SCULPTURE, SPORTING ART

Departmental Dogs!

It goes without saying that Britain is officially a nation of dog lovers. And as we welcome entries of paintings of prize pooches for our forthcoming Sporting Art, Wildlife, and Dogs sale in June, we thought we would take a moment to introduce some of the beloved breeds that frequently grace our salerooms.

PAINTINGS & SCULPTURE, FINE INTERIORS

Captain Oates - A True Act of British Heroism

A painting depicting one of the great acts of British heroism – the Antarctic explorer Captain Lawrence Oates walking to his death in 1912 – comes to auction at Sworders next month.

OUT OF THE ORDINARY

Exterminate! Exterminate! An original Dalek comes to Sworders

Exterminate! Exterminate! An original Dalek that appeared in three episodes of Doctor Who comes to Sworders for sale in the spring.

FINE WINE & PORT

"It’s just a bottle of such rarity that you half expect to never see one!"

Sworders' Wine Specialist Paul Fox reflects on a palatable year for the Fine Wine and Spirits department...