Welcome to the TimeLine Auctions February 2015 London Sale
Happy New Year,
I am pleased to welcome clients new and old to our February 2015 London sale.
We are proud to commence with the Sir Richard Ground Collection of British and Continental Bronze Age items, probably the best assemblage to come to market for more than a decade.
Following the success of our December 2014 sale we are pleased to welcome back auctioneer Lindsey Gundersen, a celebrity TV presenter and newsroom anchor who has a considerable reputation as an actor and presenter. Lindsey will be auctioning our Roman, Byzantine and Viking gold jewellery on Thursday 12th; and our Greek, Western Asiatic, Medieval and Post-Medieval gold jewellery on 13th.
Lindsey will be joined on Friday by Peter Bufton, who will conduct the sale of Western Asiatic antiquities. Peter was at various times head of several departments at Christies London, and eventually a director of the company; he was later Vice-President of Sotheby’s in New York. A noted specialist in Chinese jade and Japanese ceramics, Peter has developed his career as an independent Far Eastern art consultant.
Clients may be interested to learn that the specialist celebrity sections of our December sale were a great success. Lindsay’s top-selling item was Lot 744, the Robert the Bruce seal matrix which fetched £151,250. Our other celebrity auctioneer, Sean Kelly of the TV series Storage Hunters, realised £47,795 for Lot 382, the Viking box brooch. A short promotional video of the December auction, including the sale of both of these items, is currently available to view from the front page of our website.
In an effort to provide more information to bidders and vendors, we have added an absentee bid-counter to the website for each auction. This offers a running total of the number of bids placed directly with us, and their total value. The seminar presented by Lindsey Gundersen was also recorded and the content can be viewed from our website.
Last but not least I would like to welcome John Cherry FSA as one of our Specialists. John is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a former Keeper of Medieval and Later Antiquities at the British Museum, where he worked from 1964 to 2002. John specialised in the culture of medieval Britain and its European context, publishing many finds and acquisitions such as the Savernake Horn, the Talbot Casket and the Dunstable Swan Jewel. His many other professional appointments include: Member of the Treasure Valuation Committee (2006-14); Director of the British Archaeological Association (from 1977 to 1982); Trustee of the York Museums Trust (from 2002 to 2008); Vice President of the Society of Antiquaries of London (from 1996 to 2000). He is presently a Trustee of the Emery Walker Trust. John has published a number of medieval-themed books, including ‘The Middleham Jewel and Ring’, ‘Medieval Decorative Art’, ‘Medieval Crafts: A Book of Days’ and ‘Goldsmiths: Medieval Craftsmen’. He has also contributed regularly to Antiquaries Journal, The Burlington Magazine, and the Journal of the British Archaeological Association. He is currently at work on a book about Dr Richard Rawlinson's (obit. 1755) collection of seal matrices held at the Ashmolean Museum.
Robin Baker
Chief Auctioneer
TimeLine Auctions
