Highest prices for oil paintings furniture 1986-2000
LaThangue and Lowry oils sold at auctions in Devon
SOLD FOR £23,000
LAWRENCE STEPHEN LOWRY (1887-1976)
In January 1999 this tiny oil on board entitled 'Parents & Child' (detail shown), measuring just 7" x 5" became the first lot to be sold by Michael J Bowman at his auction house in Chudleigh for a price in excess of £20,000.
The vendor, a retired doctor living on Dartmoor, had been disappointed when selling his first Lowry in one of the main London rooms. Against an ambitious estimate of £12,000-18,000, national advertising produced a determined Liverpool telephone bidder who forced a major London dealer in the room to pay £11,000 above the reserve. The vendor was delighted!
SOLD FOR £20,500
A local vendor's hopes of £2,000 were wildly exceeded when this Gothic Revival inlaid walnut card table attracted a host of telephone bidders in March 1999. A major London dealer in the room triumphed against a mailing list client from Warwickshire on the telephone. The design of this unusual table is attributed to William Burges.
SOLD FOR £41,000
Henry Herbert LaThangue (1859-1929) - Oil on Canvas 16" x 10"
Local farmers offered this small canvas in distressed condition in Michael Bowman's auction at Chudleigh in March 2000. Their aim was to raise £60 to pay a vet's bill!
Several London dealers travelled to Devon for the auction and competed with strong telephone interest
CATALOGUES ON THREE WEB-SITES
Michael J Bowman's auction catalogues appear on three of the leading websites; thesaleroom.com (this is the Antiques Trade Gazette's website), Invaluable and UKauctioneers. This gives the auctions international coverage. Email requests for images, condition reports and bids from all over the world are regularly received. A good example of this occured in 2008 when a 'Sevres style' cup and saucer, believed by its owner to be of little value, attracted telephone bidders from Hawaii, USA and France, finally selling over the telephone to the American for £6,500!