The Magellan Centre welcomes enquiries from all international customers. For Chinese and South East Asian customers we confirm we are able to translate and respond to most email requests or queries in Chinese and other Asian languages. Our Auction Catalogues should be available as a Chinese translated version up to three weeks prior to each auction sale date.
麦哲伦中心欢迎所有国际客户的询问。对于中国和东南亚的客户,我们确认我们能够翻译和回复大多数中文和其他亚洲语言的电子邮件请求或查询。我们的拍卖目录应在每个拍卖日期前三周以中文翻译版本提供。
The Magellan Centre is a small auction and study centre located within the Swinton Park Estate in North Yorkshire and it's current growth and development schedule is designed for completion in 2021.
Swinton Park Castle is the ancestral seat of the Earl of Swinton and its history dates from the late 1600 and includes that of Lister Mills — one of 19th century Europe’s largest silk factories.
The Magellan Centre is a division of The Centre for Early Furniture and Art Ltd, and was inspired by the visions of furniture historians Louise Forster and the late Victor Chinnery, author of ‘Oak Furniture, The British Tradition’. Victor's work at the initial stages of the business helped Louise to create the foundations of the Centre, and his books and scholarly works in relation to early English furniture continues to provide important reference points for it's experts.
Louise is a well-regarded furniture historian with extensive knowledge in relation to the impact of silk route trade on Western art. Louise studied fine art and art history at Newcastle and graduated in 1982. Having worked as an independent expert for over 30 years, building valuable private collections of early furniture and art for corporate and private clients, much of Louise’s work has involved finding, appraising and successfully purchasing, extremely rare items at auction at a national and international level. Louise is the senior director of The Magellan Centre.
Dr Philippe Smolarski is the Senior Director of The Magellan Centre's Asian Arts department and brings to the team performance 25 years’ experience within the oriental market.
Philippe is especially knowledgeable in art of the Steppes, Western Asiatic and Chinese archaeology, and received the title of Honorary Doctor of the Institute of History, from the Mongolian Academy of sciences. While working as the director of the Richard Liu Foundation, the European Institute of Chinese Studies in Brussels, between 1999 and 2006, he was engaged in the institute’s aim to forge connections between Europe and China in the areas of arts and culture. Philippe is French and speaks English, Chinese, and Russian.
In relation to team performance, The Magellan Centre is a combination of senior experts and general valuers who are based on-site at Swinton, also a slightly larger group who work remotely. The Magellan Centre experts are supported in their work by a group of young valuers, designers, systems operators and art handlers, who are also available to help with clients practical requirements on-site in relation to valuations, auction previews and throughout auction days.
Our forthcoming live and online Spring Auction 2021 is now postponed. The new date for this sale is expected to be announced in March 2021, and we will showcase forthcoming highlights of all sales as soon as it is safe for us to do so in alignment with Covid-19 Government Guidelines.
Since the beginning of the outbreak, TMC has naturally been surveying the situation globally and its potential impact on our clients, employees, and business and we continue to monitor the position. Correspondingly, once we as a team can work together again directly, we will resume completion of the final necessary adjustments to our sales calendar, and business model to take into account the full impact of the virus at that point.
The finalisation of these adjustment processes includes the installation of greater online capacities for sales, and the range of services we provide will not be affected.
In order to safeguard the health of our team, our clients, and the public our priority at this time is to minimise direct social contact.
Our offices and galleries are therefore closed until further notice regarding all sales, public visits, and direct appointments.
We are though still available to assist our clients remotely, and our full team continues to work under strict Covid-19 guidelines to ensure the security and safety of our premises, also to carry out essential services regarding the necessary detailed planning and rescheduling for upcoming sales.
To reach us by telephone or email, please do so using the following information:
CLIENT SERVICES
+44 (0)1765 688 940
reception@themagellancentre.co.uk