Sloane on the range

DAVID WHITE/Sunday Star-Times

NEW AUCTION HOUSE: Dunbar Sloane Senior and Junior at the new Mt Eden, Auckland, auction house with a 1964 Porsche which is going under the hammer.

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One of the newest names in the country's increasingly competitive art and antique scene is also one of the oldest, or is it the other way around?

Wellington-based Dunbar Sloane, one of the country's best known fine art and antiques auction houses, has bought new auction rooms in Auckland, two years after closing its last premises there.

When the company closed its Auckland offices media speculation placed the blame on the effect online auction houses such as TradeMe were having on traditional operators.

But Dunbar Sloane co-owner Dunbar Sloane Jnr said that was not the case. The online business had affected the market for bric-a-brac and cheaper second-hand goods, but fine art and high quality antiques were still being sold through the main auction houses, he said.

The company had been forced to close its former Auckland premises because the building was owned by the adjacent car dealership which wanted to expand and would not renew the lease.

Dunbar Sloane continued holding auctions at the Langham Hotel, but setting up items for display had proved problematic.

So the company bought its own building at Akepiro St in Mt Eden. It's being fitted out for the first onsite auction in October.

Sloane said although the art and collectibles market was increasingly competitive, he was confident the company had found its niche. Prices for work by artists such as Hotere and Woollaston peaked about two years ago, but the company was ideally placed to cater for growing interest in Maori artefacts and historic New Zealands items.