Rare desk seal belonging to Sir Walter Scott sold for £14,000

A rare desk seal belonging to Sir Walter Scott has sold for nearly £14,000. The finely carved hand seal, set in lapis lazuli, gold and amethyst stones, is believed to date from his knighthood in 1820 and bears the writer’s family armorial.  It was sold for £13,860 by auctioneers Lyon & Turnbull. The figure achieved…

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Charles Rennie Mackintosh trio goes under hammer

THREE items connected to legendary Glasgow designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh will go under the hammer next week. Lyon & Turnbull is selling a bedside cabinet, a watercolour, and an exhibition catalogue in Edinburgh on Wednesday. The bedside cabinet was built for the blue bedroom at Kate Cranston’s Hous’ Hill and is expected to fetch between…

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Elements festival shines light on gold, silver, and jewellery

THE Elements festival celebrating gold, silver, and jewellery opens in Edinburgh today. Fifty makers from Scotland and the rest of the UK will be selling designer gold, silver, and jewellery at a fair. This year’s festival also includes an exhibition of award-winning work from the Goldsmiths’ Craft & Design Council (GC&DC) Competition, which is being…

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Auctioneer takes to slopes for poster sale

MISSING your January trip to the Alps? Auction house Lyon & Turnbull may hold the answer. The auctioneer is holdings its ski sale online on 27 January, featuring original lithographed posters focused on winter sports and travel. Ski resorts in Austria, France, and Switzerland – as well as Norway – are advertised by posters in…

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Mackintosh and Knox lead Lyon & Turnbull auction

WORKS by designers Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Archibald Knox are among the lots going under the hammer next week at Lyon & Turnbull’s decorative arts auction. The sale includes a previously unrecorded oak gate-leg table by Mackintosh, which dates from around 1910, when – in addition to the famous commissions for Miss Cranston’s tearooms in…

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Balcarres House auction spans three centuries

FURNITURE and art spanning three centuries from a Scottish country house will go under the hammer next month. Lyon & Turnbull’s “Five Centuries” auction in Edinburgh on 3 September will feature lots from Balcarres House in Fife, home of the Earls of Crawford and Balcarres. The Lindsay family has lived in the house since 1595.…

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Buy a slice of the golden age of steam at auction

Fourteen rare vintage railway posters advertising travel to Scotland are going under the hammer tomorrow (Wednesday). Lyon & Turnbull will offer the items in their Decorative Arts: Design since 1860 auction on 3 April. Of particular note is the original poster by Robert Bartlett for The Night Scotsman (lot 467) valued at £12,000 – 14,000,…

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Celebration of the best in gold, silver and jewellery

Elements 4, Scotland’s sparkling three-day festival of the very best in gold, silver and jewellery is underway in Edinburgh. Among the highlights is a sneak preview of the forthcoming Seasons collection, made in Scottish gold by Sheila Fleet OBE and inspired by the years of happiness she enjoyed with her husband Rick. The event, running…

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