Auction watch: 7 key lots at this month’s sales in London and New York

Palmetto Hall: The Jay P. Altmayer Family Collection sale, New York 19 January 2017. Photography courtesy of Christie’s Inc. New York (c)

Compared to the flurry of design auctions before New Year, January’s calendar is a more sedate affair.

All the key auctions are taking place in London and New York on 19 January, with hundreds of antiques, paintings and trinkets set to change hands.

January auctions: Bonhams globes — From Bonham’s auction, ‘Contents of a Gentleman’s Library’: a pair of 21” John and William Cary terrestrial and celestial globes, early 19th-century. Lot 225. Estimate: £15,000-20,000

Getting things underway in London is Bonhams’ 10am Knightsbridge auction, ‘The Gentleman’s Library Sale’. Definitely not one for the minimalist, there’s something for everyone in this auction – from art enthusiasts to globe-trotters (and even globe collectors).

From Bonham’s auction, ‘Contents of a Gentleman’s Library’: a combined finger tellurium and planetarium, early 19th-century. Lot 226. Estimate: £1,000-£1,500 — From Bonham’s auction, ‘The Gentleman’s Library Sale’: a combined finger tellurium and planetarium, early 19th-century. Lot 226. Estimate: £1,000-£1,500

An aristocratic theme also unites Sotheby’s 10am auction, ‘Of Royal and Noble Descent’, featuring pieces from the collections of the Marquess of Dalhousie and The Lords Dungannon and Trevor, among others.

From Sotheby’s auction, ‘Of Royal and Noble Descent’: a pair of George III mahogany side chairs, circa 1760. Lot 347. Estimate: £3,000-5,000

Over at Phillips, David Hockney is the man to watch. The artist – whose major retrospective opens at Tate Britain next month – has several important works in the ‘Evening Editions’ sale of 20th century artworks at 6pm, including his 1978 paper pulp artwork, ‘Steps with Shadow F’, expected to fetch between £400,000-£600,000.

From Phillips’ auction, ‘Evening & Day Editions’: David Hockney, Steps with Shadow F (Paper Pool 2), 1978. Lot 23. Estimate: £400,000-600,000

Across the pond, things will take a more traditional turn as the Jay P Altmayer family’s collection from Palmetto Hall goes up for auction at Christie’s in New York. Lots reflect the property’s antebellum heritage, and the eclectic – but classical – taste of the Altmayers, who amassed European furnishings, Southern Art and historical US pieces inside the Alabama plantation property.