auctioneers of fine art, antiques and collectables

Dear Subscriber, A very Happy Christmas to you from Chiswick Auctions.  Our last sale of the year is this Tuesday 20th December, after which we are closed until 4th January. Our first sale of the New Year on 10th January is not to be missed.   It will feature specialist Toy and Book sections and a huge range of other fine things.  The catalogue will be online fully at the beginning of January, but there is already a … read on »

In 1959, Peter Forrest was a young man living in New York. One day, he was sitting in his local restaurant when a truck drew up outside, loaded with thousands of books. He asked the driver what he was going to do with them. The driver, rather to his surprise, said he was going to dump them in the East River. Peter had a better idea: he offered him a small fee to take the … read on »

Dear Subscriber, A quick note to inform you of new progress here at Chiswick Auctions. From this week we have a new member of staff.  Tracie Vallis, who previously ran the toy department at Bonhams, is heading a new venture here at Chiswick.  The plan is to have toy sections in our fine sales, but also to have a twice yearly (initially), specialist toy sale with the best items collected during the preceding months.  Tracie is collecting … read on »

Dear Subscriber, At Chiswick Auctions we are as ever, planning the next 'fine' sale - and i'm pleased to say, that we are already (so soon after our September quarter of a million pound extravaganza), cataloguing for another on November 8th! This time there will be an emphasis at the beginning on jewellery.  We have some large diamonds and masses of jewellery of all sorts, which will form the first 200 or so lots of the sale.  … read on »

 Sale of Printed Books and Manuscripts, Tuesday 13th September 2011, at 12noon Dear Bibliophile I’ve always been rather fond of The Golden Cockerel Press. It is not as rarefied or austere as The Doves or Ashendene Presses, or as ‘crafty’ and floridly ornate as The Kelmscott, and yet it embodies, for me, a peculiarly English sensibility, a gently ‘pastoral’ vision of the world. Although it didn’t restrict itself to publishing English writers (God may have been an … read on »

Dear Subscriber You probably know that Chiswick takes part in a number of television programmes, including Dickinson's Real Deal.  At a Dickinson's valuation day that I was participating in recently, a lady brought in a small clock that she had purchased for less than £5.00 at a car boot fair.  The little brass clock was quickly identified as housing an early 18th Century pocket watch movement signed by the father of English clock making in the … read on »

Our catalogue for 28th June is in the final stages of completion and is now available to view on our website. A huge selection of lots - Jewellery, Silver, Pictures, Bronzes, Oriental Art, Ceramics, Books, Furniture.... [caption id="attachment_1863" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="A small selection of the variety for sale on 28th June"][/caption]

Dear Subscriber, Here at Chiswick we try not to bother you with endless promotional emails and keep communication to the minimum - but we have got some very exciting lots coming up in the next few weeks! To start with - if anyone is looking out for jewellery, we are in the process of selling the contents of some unclaimed safe deposit boxes for a well known department store.  These lots are being divided up into the … read on »

Dear Subscriber, If you hear sounds of the farmyard issuing from our next sale of Printed Books and Manuscripts, don’t be alarmed – someone will be trying out the Speaking Picture Book. Printed in about 1890, this is more of a box than a book. By pulling and releasing cords on its side (those familiar with the ‘talking’ Action Man will know the principle) it produces remarkably lifelike sounds of birds and animals including a donkey, … read on »