The Year in Review | A Look Back at 2025

A NOTE FROM OUR CHAIRMAN

2025 has been yet another remarkable and successful year for Sworders Fine Art Auctioneers, marked by exceptional sales, memorable events and continued confidence from collectors both at home and abroad. In what has at times been a challenging market, the strength of our offering and the trust placed in us by vendors and bidders alike has been especially rewarding.

Among my personal highlights was the remarkable attic sale held at the extraordinary Holkham Hall. This on-site event in north Norfolk captured global attention, drawing international interest and achieving truly outstanding prices. Equally memorable were the exceptional paintings removed from Boden Hall in Cheshire and offered for sale in Stansted Mountfitchet Auction rooms, including the magnificent double portrait by Sir John Lavery (1856–1941) depicting his beautiful wife and daughter, which realised an impressive £468,000.

The successes of 2025 underline an increasingly important trend within the market: the value placed on provenance and the reassurance it offers to bidders.

As we look ahead to 2026, we do so with confidence and anticipation. A number of important single-owner collections are already in preparation, and we look forward to sharing more details with you in the new year. 

Guy Schooling

SINGLE OWNER SALES

Over the past twelve months, Sworders has delivered an outstanding run of single-owner sales, strengthening our reputation for the careful stewardship of private collections and estates. Each auction has combined expert market insight, meticulous presentation and a personal approach to service—where provenance and storytelling have helped drive strong results.

The year began with Holkham | The Attic Sale (February 2025), the first auction ever held on-site at the Holkham Estate in Norfolk, attracting national and international interest. We then partnered with Guinevere Antiques for a final King’s Road farewell sale, achieving a 100% sold rate. Better by Design | The Principal Contents of Boden Hall peaked with Sir John Lavery’s La Belle Mère realising £468,000, while Paul Atkinson | The Nomadic Collector in Mallorca saw an Ottoman gold-damascened kilij sword sell for £18,200. In July, DREAMS | A Unique Private Collection celebrated eclectic collecting, with highlights including a 17th-century drawing attributed to Hajji Muhammad Husayn selling for £16,900. September continued with Ken Bolan | Nature Follows Form, offering an intimate view of a dealer’s distinctive eye.

^{Sir John Lavery RA RSA RHA (Irish, 1856-1941), 'La Belle Mère' (Sold for £468,000)}

Momentum carries into 2026, starting in February with Peter Petrou – Outward Bound, celebrating one of the antiques world’s most recognisable and adventurous styles of collecting.

If you are considering the sale of a private collection, contents or an estate, our team would be pleased to advise, offering a bespoke and discreet service from initial consultation to the final gavel.

DESIGN

The Design department is delighted to reflect on a hugely successful year. We’ve had the privilege of handling outstanding collections for our clients and achieving exceptional results throughout.

We began in January with an exemplary single-owner collection of Pierre Jeanneret furniture. Acquired over 40 years ago in India, it had remained with one family throughout their travels, before appearing in Sworders’ Design sale on 28 January. The collection was led by a file rack achieving £16,900 and a pair of chairs reaching £12,350. We were also thrilled to sell a Chanel No. 5 perfume bottle for £16,900. Dating to circa 1921, it had been purchased by the vendor’s grandfather while serving in the RAF.

^{Pierre Jeanneret (Swiss, 1896-1967), a teak file rack, c.1955 (Sold for £16,900)}

As we moved into spring, there was a clear and growing appreciation for Contemporary Craft. In our 30 April auction, standout results included Peter Collingwood's Macrogauze M234 and Akiko Hirai's volcanic glazed vase. There was strong demand for Art Deco pieces, from furniture to sculpture, as we marked the centenary of the movement. Mid-century modern design continued to inspire competitive bidding, with celebrated makers demonstrating their enduring appeal – including Alvar Aalto's model 70 coffee table, Jean Pierre-Vitrac's Eventail table lamp, and Eero Saarinen's Tulip dining suite. The sale underlined the breadth of the design market and the appetite for high-quality works across all mediums.

With the warmer months came our 8 July auction, which further confirmed the strength of the market. The summer sale honoured academic, passionate collectors and was led by the Barry & Saria Viney collection of Eric Ravilious ceramics, which achieved a total of £29,419 with 93% of lots sold. Building on the success of our January Pierre Jeanneret offering, we presented two further private collections of Jeanneret furniture for Chandigarh, which together realised just over £192,000. This auction highlighted the importance of provenance and sourcing works from respected collections, and we were delighted to deliver such results for our clients.

^{Eric Ravilious (1903-1942) for Wedgwood, a blue 'Alphabet' egg cup (Sold for £2,860)}

Our final Design sale of the year took place on 21 October, as the evenings drew in. Opening with an extensive private collection of Brannam Pottery, we were once again honoured to be entrusted with important private collections. The sale also featured the first part of the David Rapley Collection of silver, with the second selection to follow in early 2026. Alongside these remarkable consignments, there was strong appreciation for quality works throughout the sale, with particular highlights including a George Nakashima coffee table from the 1960s, a 1957 James Tower ‘fish dish’, and a ‘drunken bricklayer’ vase by Geoffrey Baxter.

Overall, it has been a year defined by working closely with clients to manage their collections – both in acquiring and selling works. We have brought an extensive range of iconic design to market, across multiple periods and mediums, and achieved exceptional results. It has been a pleasure, and we look forward to building on this success as we continue to grow the Design department in 2026.

FINE INTERIORS

This year has been one of exceptional momentum for our Fine Interiors department, with numerous standout pieces coming under the hammer—all true testaments to enduring style, quality, and craftsmanship.

We opened our March sale with the selected contents of Tile Barn, Northamptonshire—the personal collection of King’s Road icons, lighting designer Charles Edwards and antiques dealer Julia Boston. Their distinctly English taste was met with enthusiastic bidding, and the collection realised close to £100,000. Highlights included a Persian Mashad Amoghli wool carpet at £27,300, a Deisis triptych icon at £10,400, and a portrait bust of a woman as Diana by Edward Arlington Foley at £9,750.

^{A Persian Mashad Amoghli wool carpet, first half of the 20th century (Sold for £27,300)}

June continued the strong run in Ancient Art that began at the end of 2024, with several pieces far exceeding expectations—most notably a Roman marble portrait head of Emperor Titus (c.80 CE), formerly in the collection of Franz Joseph II, Prince of Liechtenstein, and two red-figured bell kraters. Together these achieved nearly £40,000. Demand for silver also strengthened through the year, led by Victorian silver-gilt and glass centrepieces at £39,000 and a Victorian silver-gilt figural trophy at £31,200.

^{A Roman marble portrait head of the Emperor Titus, Flavian period, c.80 CE (Sold for £26,000)}

Our autumn sale on 16–17 September confirmed that strong demand and fierce competition remain for the highest-quality decorative arts across multiple disciplines. From an Isfahan silk and wool rug by the Seirafian family selling for £19,500, to Sir William Hamo Thornycroft’s bronze Putting the Stone at £15,600. Day Two featured a carefully assembled collection from a Coral Gables villa in Florida, achieving a 100% sell-through and £44,382. Featuring many of the titans of modern design—Soane, Peter Dudgeon, Charles Edwards, and HOWE—the collection highlighted how these names of modern and contemporary interiors have come to dominate the secondary market.

We rounded off the year with two superb, fresh-to-market sculptures from Barrington Hall, Hatfield Broad Oak, Essex—The Farnese Hercules and River God—which attracted significant pre-sale interest and global attention, together realising £80,600. A fitting finale to an outstanding 2025!

PICTURES

As 2025 draws to a close, the Pictures Department at Sworders looks back on a busy and rewarding year. Shaped by close conversations with clients and a shared love of pictures with character, quality and a story to tell, we presented nine specialist picture auctions, alongside strong representation within our single-owner collection sales.

Our Modern and Contemporary Art auctions continued to develop with a more focused approach, led by strong results for the St Ives School and the much-loved Great Bardfield Circle, as well as a rare group of Roger Hilton drawings. A standout addition this year was our dedicated Women Artists section, launched in April, with highlights including Mary Fedden’s Red Table (£28,600), Winifred Nicholson’s Goats in a Cumberland Landscape (1946) (£15,600), and Maggi Hambling’s Moon and Sea (2005) (£8,450), alongside a charming group of Madge Gill postcards (top at £2,000). Momentum also grew around British Surrealism, led by Maurice Denton Welch’s Flowers and a Demon (£13,000), and renewed interest in John Banting and Ronald Fern.

The Modern British market remained strong, with Terence Cuneo achieving £78,000 and Edward Seago £21,000, while Ken Howard and David Hockney each reached £33,800. Rediscoveries were among the year’s most memorable moments, including a double-sided drawing connected to Orange Still Life selling for £33,800, and a Chinese export painting correctly attributed to Spoilum achieving £13,000. In the Old Master sphere, exceptional works still drew international attention, topped by Franz Roubaud’s Tiger Hunt at £93,600, alongside strong British portraiture results including Elizabeth of York (£14,300) and an 18th-century portrait (£15,600).

^{English School, 17th century, Portrait of Elizabeth of York (1466-1503) (Sold for £14,300)}

We were honoured to handle collections formed with deep knowledge and passion, including those of David and Sheila Fuller and Malcolm Innes, and to present a private group of John Cyril Harrison bird drawings in November. Beyond the saleroom, demand continued to grow for valuation days in London, Stansted and Hertford, supported by rising online valuation enquiries, and we launched our first selling exhibition dedicated to Chris Gollon at our Cecil Court gallery.

Looking ahead, we remain committed to careful curation, strong representation and personal service, and look forward to another year of discovery and collaboration.

GLASS

Sworders’ Glass Department enjoyed a strong and confident year in 2025. The launch of our flagship specialist auction, The Glass Sale, marked an important milestone, showcasing works from the 18th century through to contemporary studio glass and demonstrating collector demand across every period.

Antique glass featured a spectacular late 18th-century highlight: a fine pair of Bohemian beakers attributed to Johann Josef Mildner. Their refined Zwischengoldglas decoration and fresh-to-market appeal drew intense interest and achieved £3,640. From the Art Nouveau era, a pair of Tiffany Studios bronze and Favrile glass candlesticks sold for £2,860 and will now return to the United States.

^{A pair of Zwischengoldglas glass beakers, late 18th century (Sold for £3,640)}

Enthusiasm for Lalique remained strong, led by a large contemporary limited edition ‘Grand Nue Venus’ figure, numbered 1 of 99, which realised £14,300. 20th century design also performed well, with an Alvar Aalto ‘Savoy’ vase for Iittala selling for £1,430, reflecting the enduring appeal of Scandinavian modernism.

Murano glass delivered rewarding results, including a Cenedese ‘Aquarium’ block at £1,040. Another private collection cosigned, from our Cecil Court gallery, consisted of a selection of Paolo Venini ‘Inciso’ vases also captured attention, with a particularly large example for this range achieving a substantial £2,600. British glass was well represented by the continued strength of Whitefriars’ ‘Textured Range’, with Geoffrey Baxter’s Kingfisher Blue ‘Shouldered’ vase at £1,430 and a large Meadow Green ‘Drunken Bricklayer’ vase achieving £3,120, demonstrating the reliable demand for rare colour and shape combinations.

^{Geoffrey Baxter (1922-1995) for Whitefriars, a 'Drunken Bricklayer' glass vase (Sold for £3,120)}

Contemporary studio glass produced some of the most dynamic results of the year. Dale Chihuly’s ‘Niagara Blue Pheasant Macchia’ four-piece set rose to £13,000, while the ‘Gilded Burgundy Piccolo Venetian with Lily’ realised £10,400. Two David Patchen vases, formerly in the collection of Sir Elton John, achieved £3,900 and £4,160, underlining the growing appeal of contemporary glass paired with standout provenance.

With widening engagement and clear momentum, 2025 has provided an exciting platform for 2026, with two further editions of The Glass Sale scheduled for April and October.

CARS

Our June Classic Cars and Automobilia sale was led by a superb 1930 Rolls-Royce 20/25hp Doctor’s Coupé, which achieved £47,200. First owned by the 7th Marquess of Downshire, it also carried a wonderful family story—bought in 1947, sold in 1955, then remarkably reunited with the vendor in 2003 after he spotted the ‘RX 6000’ number plate at the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts’ Club National Rally.

^{1930 Rolls-Royce 20/25hp Doctor’s Coupé with coachwork by Hooper (Sold for £47,200)}

Other highlights included a 1934 Rolls-Royce 20/25 Sedanca de Ville, selling for £20,000, and a Suffolk barn find collection that drew strong interest—topped by a 1968 Jaguar 340 at £6,130 and a 1958 Series II SWB Land Rover at £4,012. We also saw growing demand for 1980s–90s classics, with low-mileage Volvos performing strongly, including a 240 GLT at £14,400 and a 740 GL at £5,350.

^{1989 Volvo 240 GLT Estate (Sold for £14,400)}

Looking ahead to 2026, we’re excited to build on this momentum, with more standout consignments, fresh-to-market discoveries and continued strength across both pre-war prestige and modern classics—promising another year of memorable stories and strong results.

JEWELLERY 

One of the standout moments of our spring season was a pair of early 20th-century diamond earrings from a private family collection, offered at auction for the first time, which went on to achieve £14,300.

Unheated coloured gemstones also proved to be exceptionally sought after. A three-stone Ceylon sapphire brooch attracted strong interest from both UK and international bidders, ultimately realising £15,600—a clear reminder of the continuing demand for top-quality sapphires.

^{A sapphire three stone bar brooch, c.1940s (Sold for £15,600)}

Summer brought one of the department’s favourite lots of the year: an exquisite Art Nouveau gold, plique-à-jour enamel and diamond brooch by Albert Chambin. Celebrated for its luminous colour and exquisite craftsmanship, it perfectly captured the elegance and innovation of the period, selling for £3,380.

Diamonds returned to centre stage in our November Fine Jewellery auction. An unmounted 5.60ct emerald-cut diamond drew determined bidding and achieved £48,100, underscoring the global appetite for fine single stones. A diamond ring set with a round brilliant-cut diamond also performed strongly, ranking among the highest-value lots of the sale.

Modernist jewellery remained popular throughout the year, with collectors responding to bold, sculptural design. Highlights included a striking diamond brooch, and an amethyst and diamond ring by Grima, both demonstrating the enduring appeal of distinctive 20th-century design and its resonance with today’s market.

ASIAN ART

Our May Asian Art auction spanned centuries of ceramics, metalwork, books, works on paper and textiles, drawing strong bidding across categories and an excellent turnout at our London gallery.

A key highlight was a collection from Arthur Probsthain, the historic bookshop founded in 1903 opposite the British Museum. The group proved highly desirable, with many lots beating expectations and achieving nearly £40,000 against a low estimate of £13,950. Other notable results included a large Tibetan bronze figure at £16,900 and a Republic Period famille rose vase at £15,600, both from the collection of Desmond Kirkpatrick (1932–2024). Leading the sale was a Jiajing blue and white jardinière (1522–1566), which realised £23,400 after competitive bidding.

^{A large Tibetan bronze figure of Avalokiteshvara, early 20th century (Sold for £16,900)}

In November, the department’s strength was underscored by a late Qing parcel-gilt bronze basin, formerly at Baronscourt (provenance to the Duke of Abercorn) and bearing an inscription to Hu Wenming, which sold for £28,600. Further highlights included an 18th-century jade box and cover carved with the bagua, taijitu and zodiac animals (£11,050), and a qingbai-glazed bowl (£8,450).

We also continued to build our dedicated offering for Indian, Islamic and Southeast Asian art. The Probsthain group included Indian works such as preparatory sketches (£1,430) and a portrait of a statesman (£1,105). This momentum carried into DREAMS | A Unique Private Collection, where nine works on paper made over £25,000, led by a Mughal portrait attributed to Hajji Muhammad Husayn at £16,900. In November, three unusually large Indian mica paintings depicting rare religious scenes sold for nearly £13,000 to a US-based collector.

OPEN HOUSE

Our much-loved Homes & Interiors sales evolved this year with the launch of Open House in September—our new weekly timed sales. Designed to be more accessible and more frequent, Open House also reintroduces the pleasure of viewing items in person before bidding. The weekly format supports all our departments and clients, providing a regular platform for pieces that sit outside our specialist auctions.

The year brought plenty of highlights. In February, a Louis XV-style tulipwood, amaranth, porcelain, and gilt metal credenza, from the second half of the 19th century, reached £1,275. We were also pleased to handle collections for executors, estates and private clients nationwide, with standout lots including a rare group of Second World War medals and ephemera awarded to Air Commodore ‘Vic’ Willis MBE DSO DFC RAF (sold for £6,500) and a Doulton Lambeth ‘Christmas Waits’ figure group (sold for £4,615).

^{A rare group WWII medals and ephemera, awarded to Air Commodore ‘Vic’ Willis MBE DSO DFC RAF (Sold for £6,500)}

We were honoured to present important private collections throughout the year, including further items from the collection of Nigell and Heather D’Oyly, Property of the 1st Viscount Trenchard (and thence by descent), the remainder of the David Rapley Collection, and an East Anglian Private Collection. A particularly memorable moment came with a silver-mounted inkwell inscribed ‘The Ear of Bos’ from the D’Oyly collection, sold in the week marking the 210th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo.

And as Christmas approaches, the team has been busy preparing another sale—available to view online throughout the festive period.

RED KITE SUPPORT

At Sworders, community and compassion sit at the heart of what we do, reflected in our annual tradition of supporting a chosen Charity of the Year. In 2025, we were proud to champion Red Kite Support, whose work provides essential services and support for people in our local community when they need it most.

Selected through our staff-led process as part of our commitment to corporate social responsibility, Red Kite Support resonated strongly with our team and our shared desire to make a tangible local impact. As Claire Hayter of Sworders Fine Art said: “We are delighted to be supporting Red Kite as our Charity of the Year for 2025. Their work is truly inspiring and, as a company, we are committed to helping them make a difference. Our team is eager to contribute, whether through fundraising efforts, special events, or raising awareness of the essential services they provide through our outreach.”

Throughout the year, colleagues got involved in a range of fundraising initiatives, from Sworders Honey and bake sales to a variety of other staff-led activities and moments of awareness-raising. Thanks to these collective efforts, we are delighted to announce that we have raised a total of £768 in 2025, helping Red Kite Support continue their vital work across our community.

After an excellent year, we now look ahead to all that 2026 has to offer. With a busy schedule already planned, we are honoured to start the year with a timed online sale The Georgian Group | Charity Auction, raising important funds for The Group’s conservation and education initiatives. The sale will run from Friday 16 - Sunday 25 January; click here to set a reminder. Following this, our first live auction of 2026 will be Design on 27 January; a preview of the sale is available to view here. This will be followed by the highly anticipated single-owner sale Peter Petrou | Outward Bound on 24 February - click here to find out more.

Be sure to keep up to date with the 2026 auction calendar here, and enjoy browsing the latest news over on our blog.

All at Sworders would like to wish our clients, vendors and partners a lovely Christmas and best wishes for the new year. We look forward to welcoming you back in 2026.

 ^{All sold prices shown include fees}