An Auctioned Packed April...

Well we really sprung into spring with our special April auctions. On top of the usual ‘3 days of auction’, McTear’s had another 3 unique auctions featuring various pieces of Victorian, Edwardian & Scottish Jewellery, Miniature Spirits and works of art. 

All taking place on the 17th of April, The Miniature Spirits Auction kicked off the day of auctions at 10.30am. This auction included 103 pieces of Miniature bottles of Whisky, Gin, Vodka, Rum and Port, with most lots meeting their estimation and a few exceeding them. An example of this would be this Whisky Miniature Ceramic Selection which has some well known items such as a 12 year old Springbank and a 21 year old Glenfiddich. After an estimate of £30 - £50, the miniatures went under the hammer for £120.


Lot 43

Later on in the day we had 300 stunning lots of Victorian, Edwardian & Scottish Jewellery, with prices ranging from £30 - £8000. Again, some of the lots not only met the expectations held, but also surpassed them, like this beautiful Edwardian Opal and Diamond set clover brooch. After an estimation of £150, this ended up going for a whopping £1000.

Lot 202

The last auction of the day featured some out of the ordinary pieces of ceramic, works of art and jewellery. With various Art Deco pieces and even a Mulberry handbag this was a very enticing auction to be at. One particular piece that grabbed the attentions of bidders was this Ceiling lamp in the style of W.A.S Benson. After an estimated hammer price of £150 this unusual lamp sold for a fantastic £1100. 

Lot 537

To see what other exciting items went under the hammer have a look here.

McTear's featuring Muriel Barclay

With McTear's April auctions coming up soon that feature some fantastic examples of Muriel Barclay’s work, we thought it would be a good idea to learn a bit more about her and her painting.

Growing up locally in Glasgow’s West End, Muriel started off at Edinburgh University where she went on to move down to London and work at Jaques O’Hana’s Gallery. On her return to Glasgow, Muriel studied Drawing and Painting at Glasgow School of Art and History of Fine Art, alongside teaching history and raising her three sons. In 2001 she finally left her textbooks and picked up her paintbrush to become a full time painter after encouragement from various Art Institutes.

Muriel paints with an extremely individualised style, influenced by her study of the history of art and culture. She is one of Scotland's best figurative artists who paints with an almost poetic style, capturing the image of her paintings exquisitely. Her work contains collections from portraits to horses, and from ballet dancers to flamenco dancers, all uniquely beautiful and quirky. Muriel has had her work exhibited at some of the best galleries including Thompson's Gallery (London) and Contemporary Fine Art Gallery (Eton) and currently has her solo show at The Lemond Gallery in Glasgow, which showcases some of the best examples of Scottish Contemporary Art.

McTear's are extremely lucky to be auctioning some of her fabulous work and in 2008 'Pink Tutu Tune' sold for £7645*, which was the highest price to be achieved at auction for a maiden painting in a public auction by any living Scottish artist.

The Scottish Contemporary Art Auction on Sunday 13th April includes some superb examples of Muriel’s work with estimates ranging from £400 to £4000.


Lot 1781: 'Finding Chord' Estimate: £3000 - £5000


Lot 1784: 'Pink Passage' Estimate: £400 - £600

With the success of her previous paintings, we cannot wait to see how Muriel's artwork does at our upcoming Scottish Contemporary Art Auction on the 13th of April.

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