New appointments for Suffolk auction house
Suffolk auctioneers Bishop & Miller Auctioneers have expanded their team of specialist valuers with the appointment of a period oak specialist and a paintings specialist.
Steven Stockton is joining the team as a paintings specialist covering the whole of the Eastern region. After a decade working in prestigious roles for Bonhams and Tennants, Steven is returning to his East Anglian roots to help build upon the specialist departments of paintings at the Stowmarket auctioneers. He will be covering the region for valuations of a wide range of paintings, both at Bishop & Miller’s Suffolk headquarters alongside covering Norfolk.
Steven has spent the last five years as senior valuer, auctioneer and Harrogate office manager for Yorkshire’s Tennants, along the way sourcing paintings that have broken world auction records for artists, including Cecil Rochfort D’Oyly-John and Bertram Priestman. Prior to this role, he was a senior valuer and office manager for Bonhams in Surrey. Dealing with estates and collections for, among others, a Saudi princess, a Russian oligarch and a Greek shipping magnate, the highlight of which was the sale of a pastoral landscape by Claude Lorrain that achieved over £700,000. Steven said: “I’m looking forward to coming back to East Anglia and building on the already stellar reputation the Bishop & Miller team have. We will be growing the paintings and Pprint department and offering more regular sales for collectors.”
David Houlston, previously senior oak specialist from Bonhams, is joining the team as specialist consultant for period oak. David will be assisting with the development of the auction house’s period oak auctions and increasing the numbers of specialist oak auctions it holds each year. David said: “I am delighted to offer my support as a consultant to the ambitious and dynamic team at Bishop & Miller. They are focussed on meeting the continued demand for regular, dedicated oak sales and I feel that their location in Suffolk provides an excellent position from which to develop this desired specialist sale”.
Bishop & Miller’s Oliver Miller, said: “We are very excited to be expanding our team of specialists. To have such a prestigious oak specialist such as David on board with us will really excel our oak auctions next year and help us achieve the UK oak specialist auctioneer’s status we are busy working towards.
He continued: “To be able to welcome Steve back to East Anglia and into our growing team to help expand our pictures auction is another fantastic addition. This is another area we are seeing exponential growth in for 2022 and we are looking forward to seeing how this area develops especially as we venture our business into Norfolk.”