Review of the Year: 2024

A new house record for a piece of silver was set this year at Tennants Auctioneers, when an extraordinary life-size silver model of a fox sold for £100,000 (all figures exclude buyer’s premium). The Sir Bache Cunard Testimonial was modelled by the renowned Victorian taxidermist James Rowland Ward, and presented to Sir Bache, scion of the Cunard shipping family, for his services to hunting in south Leicestershire by members of the hunt and local society. A work of art in silver, the fox had been passed down by descent through the family until it’s sale and comprised almost 16kg of silver. Indeed, silver sold well all year, with further notable results including an Edward VII Silver Wine Cistern and Stand, made by Barker Brothers of Birmingham in 1904, which sold for £17,000, over double the top estimate. The cistern was presented to Mr C.F. Elsey, the winner of the Memorial Plate of the late William Watt at Beverley Races in 1905

Overall, the Fine Jewellery, Watches and Silver sales have excelled this year, with a raft of top prices including Tennants’ highest grossing lot of the year – a very rare 1956 Patek Philippe Calatrava Wristwatch (ref: 2585), which sold for £105,000. The watch was one of only a handful of examples of this reference housed in a stainless-steel case that are known to have emerged onto the market, and garnered considerable attention leading up to the sale. Patek Philippe watches continue to be highly regarded at auction, and a further fine example, this time a more modern model in the form of a 2016 18 Carat Gold Annual Calendar Wristwatch (ref: 5146R-001) with power reserve indicator and Moonphase display, which sold for £30,000.

Leading the jewellery this year was an impressive Diamond, Pink Topaz and Split Pearl Brooch, which sold for £40,000 and featured four unusually large and well-cut topaz. Antique jewellery performed notably well, with three lots sold with provenance from Dutton Manor, Lancashire standing out; an Early 20^th Century Diamond Solitaire Ring sold for £23,000, an Early 20^th Century Colombian Emerald and Diamond Cluster Ring sold for £17,000, and an Early 20^th Century Colombian Emerald and Diamond Brooch sold for £19,000. Good emeralds were in high demand throughout the year.

In the auction world, provenance is key, and single-owner named-estate sales attract high levels of interest; in September Tennants sold the Selected Contents of Dykes Hill House, Masham, North Yorkshire, formerly the property of the 2^nd Earl and Countess of Swinton and sold on the instructions of the 4^th Earl and Family and the Trustees of the Lord Swinton Will Trust. The sale achieved a hammer price well above top estimate, and a 93% selling rate with highlights such as a 19^th Century Gilt Bronze Gueridon, possibly Russian selling for £40,000, and a Gold-Mounted Agate Snuff Box with pseudo marks for Paris, but perhaps made in Hanau in the 19^th century selling for £25,000. November saw the sale of the Selected Contents of Bell Hall, Naburn, York, which again garnered much interest to beat the top estimate and achieve an outstanding 99.7% selling rate.

An important bronze sculpture by the French artist and sculptor Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, who died in the trenches aged just 23 years old, sold for £30,000 in the October Modern and Contemporary Art Sale.  “Torpedo Fish” measured just 19.5cm high and was cast in the early 1960s from Gaudier-Brzeska’s hand-cut model. An integral part of the Vorticist movement, the artist was inspired by a type of electric ray, and the work represented the tension he felt between the natural world and the coming machine age.   In the same sale were two colourful works by Canadian folk artist Maud Lewis, which attracted considerable international interest. Lewis painted nostalgic, yet optimistic scenes from her Nova Scotia childhood. The Bride, an unusual subject for the artist, sold for £21,000. In the British, European and Sporting Art department, a sun-lit study by master of equestrian art Sir Alfred Munnings – “Lord Astor on Shooting Stick with Horses” sold for £80,000. The work was a preparatory sketch for a painting now held in the Clivedon Estate, Buckinghamshire. Selling well, too, was Dorothea Sharp’s impressionistic Paddling in the Shallows, which sold for £44,000.

In 2025, Tennants will introduce a stand-alone Asian Art Sale, which will coincide with the Fine sales, held three times a year. This follows on from a strong year in Asian art, with notable lots including a Chinee Celadon Jade Inscribed “Luohan” Boulder (sold for £88,000), a Pair of Chinese Porcelain Yellow Ground Medallion Bowls, Daoguang mark and of the period (sold for £70,000), and a Chinese Porcelain Charger, Kangxi, depicting two sporting combatants painted in famille verte enamels (sold for £24,000). 

The varied specialist sales at Tennants delivered some of the highest hammer prices of the year, with rarities emerging from all departments. Of note was a rare early Cello that sold for £50,000, having attracted keen private and trade bidders from around the country. The wonderful instrument had a 20 3/16” two-piece back, and according to accompanying paperwork from a stringed instrument specialist, the cello dated from the late 18th century and was probably English. The Fashion, Costume and Textiles department handled several good consignments from Scottish country houses and family collections. These were capped by the November sale of property from the Late Robert Bogdan of Barra Castle, Aberdeen, which included a rare pair of 18th/19th Century Palampore Decorative Curtains, which sold for an astounding £13,000. Palampore textiles were handmade in India, often on the Coromandel Coast, predominantly for the export market and they commonly featured complex patterns rich with plants, flowers and animals. Made with fragile, lightweight fabric, very few examples from the period survive today, leading to the fierce bidding battle for the present pair.

Jane Tennant, Director, says:

“In 2024 Tennants have held 78 sales and sold over 33400 lots with a total hammer price of £13.5m; we have also achieved an 89% selling rate for the third year in a row. Going into 2025 we hold every confidence in our consistently strong turnover and an industry-leading selling rate.

 Our range of specialists makes us well placed to handle house contents and single-owner collections, which will continue to be a major focus in 2025. As we look to the future, alongside strengthening our team, technology and photography, we are continuing to develop our range of auction-related activities that go beyond the standard auction transactions, including specialist talks and events tailored to the interests of our clients”.