LONDON.- Yorkshire men and a Mouseman were among the stand-out regional pieces to lead the way at auction in North Yorkshire recently says Barnebys the auction search engine which tracks the sale of some 500,000 items through 1,600 auction houses internationally

Furniture and art from Yorkshire as well as pieces by the creative minds of the North saw buyers reaching for the paddle at Tennants at the end of last month. The sale saw a surge in interest for traditional pieces, such as this 17th century Oak Press Cupboard made in the Leeds area c.1650, which went for £14,000.

Pontus Silfverstolpe, co-founder of Barnebys says: “Despite the fact that the major international auction houses have chosen to focus their activities in London, the regional art auction scene continues to thrive. The arrival of online bidding means that in reality these regional sales are no longer regional but are truly international. Buyers are finding them because of their presence on Barnebys website as well as many other social media sites. The old divide between London and the regions is now academic as buyers from all over the world shop online and bid online. Our research suggests that online bidding now accounts for up to 40% of all bids taken at auction. This is a revolution for the art and antiques world. However small your antique shop is, if you are connected to the worldwide web you are on the world’s Highstreet, right alongside the great names of the trade, and buyers will find you and buy.”

He adds: “One of the truths of the 2016 art market is that there is no longer any division between regional art sales and those in London, Paris, New York or Hong Kong, if you are linked to the internet and online bidding.

At the Tennants sale Items with a strong Yorkshire connection were much in demand, an impressive bronze head of 'Morris,' a champion Swaledale Ram by the York sculptor Sally Arnup (1930-2015) attracted both local and national attention selling for £4 800 against an estimate of £1 500-2000. Northern artists such as Norman Cornish and Tom McGuinness also caught the eye of many bidders.

Again, Tennants proved their lead in the market for Robert 'Mouseman' Thompson furniture, the icon of Yorkshire Arts & Crafts design, by selling 100% of the lots in the sale. Leading the way was a 1920s/30s English Oak Monk’s Chair, an early piece which reached £3,000.

International pieces were not forgotten in the North East, as the top lot in the whole sale, an important landscape painting by leading Filipino artist Fernando Cueto Amorsolo (1892-1972), attracted much interest from the region before being sold to an international buyer for £20,000.