Figure 7. Edith Martineau (1842-1909), 'Ragwort in all his Glory', signed, water-colour, original frame, 11¼ in. x 9¼ in. Sold for £910 in January 2009. This was a beautifully direct study from nature and sold easily against an estimate of £500-£700. Very similar indeed to the work of Helen Allingham; had it been by her, it might have made £3,000-£4,000.

In July 2008, one dealer commented to me that he had rushed to consign goods for auction so that they would be sold before the autumn and he likened the panic at the prospect of a slump in the market as akin to 'trying to catch the last chopper out of Saigon'. The market relies upon a willingness amongst vendors to consign and a commensurate eagerness amongst collectors and dealers to acquire.
The one major development in the last year has been the rapid and pronounced slowdown in the consignment of quality items to auctions. This is as true in the provinces as it is in London; it applies just as much to the sale of teddy bears as it does to the sale of tiaras. The shortage of supply arises from one main perception: that this is not a good market in which to sell unless one has to.
Surprisingly, the truth is more forgiving. Admittedly, all auctioneers had a quiet autumn last year ('plenty of time to file those old catalogues away on shelves', said one) and this was due largely to the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September that blew a cold, hard wind through all the salerooms. Perversely, the bank went under on the day that Damien Hirst's landmark sale at Sotheby's made a triumphant £100 million. Some of the City buyers at that auction felt considerably less wealthy the following day. The slump was beginning to turn into a recession and confidence was weak. Art is always a luxury to its end user and an extravagant purchase in a time of economic downturn can seem reckless (so much so that Sotheby's no longer puts its own name on its carrier bags). I sensed this lack of enthusiasm amongst potential sellers and trimmed my estimates accordingly. The selection we offered in Crewkerne in January 2009 was rather light on 'star lots' but the results were very surprising: 170 lots met with keen interest and only eight (5%) were unsold (I had had 25% unsold in July 2008 and 29% unsold in October 2008). Similar results were reported across the country for months to come: auctioneers observed very enthusiastic bidding from private buyers, many of whom were keen to put their money into something that would combine the pleasure of purchase with the prospect of a bigger dividend than building societies or shares were offering. 'We have to put our money somewhere', lamented one lady with a hint of despair in her voice because her accountant had shocked her with the news that her savings were destined to yield just 0.8% interest in 2009. The accountant had added that many of his clients were heading for substantial losses on their investments. Coupled with this, the weakness of the pound was disastrous for buying abroad but enticing for collectors in America or the Eurozone so a buoyancy from these buyers lifted spirits somewhat. However, these cheering results for sales did nothing to tempt vendors to consign higher value lots. Logic insisted that it was not a good time to sell the family Gainsborough as the property market was almost entirely becalmed and the wider assumption was that 'nothing [any good] is selling at the moment'.