IT is impressive that so many auctioneers have managed to react so efficiently to the current inconveniences. The reports so far indicate that, for all the difficulties and dangers of bidding without physical inspection, enough people are willing to chance their arms to make online operations practical, at least in the short term.
I have praised Sworders of Stansted Mountfitchet in the past for giving a condition report for every lot. The firm is not alone, but perhaps more will be encouraged to follow it now, as it lessens the risks in viewless bidding. Sworders also sometimes illustrates the backs of paintings, which, as I remarked a couple of weeks ago, is important to serious picture buyers.
There was a good example of this in Sworders’s March 10 and 11 sale, in which the cataloguers told us about the reverse of a 51½in by 37½in portrait of a French nobleman in armour (Fig 2), described as ‘Circle of Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659–1743)’. They noted that there were no labels and the canvas had been relined. ‘Seen under UV light, some small scattered retouching in places throughout, however, there is no sign of any large repairs or damage.’ It had come from a country dealer and was ‘presented in a stable condition, ready to hang’.
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Denne historien er fra April 22, 2020-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds