John Axford MRICS

John Axford is counted among the top Asian Art specialists in the auction world, described by Roy Davids and Dominic Jellinek, in their recent publication, 'Provenance - Collectors, Dealers & Scholars: Chinese Ceramics in Britain & America' as:  "The enterprising director of the Ceramics, Glass and Oriental departments … [who] has on occasion in recent sales outgunned his London rivals."

In 2005 John discovered an exceptional Yuan dynasty blue and white gourd vase from the Alexander collection, which he sold for £3,000,000, the first time the million pound mark had been passed by any UK regional auctioneer. In May 2009 he sold a rare jade water buffalo for £4,200,000 creating a new record which still stands as the highest price ever achieved at a UK auction, outside London, for any work of art.  John has since sold six further lots of Asian Art for seven figure sums, including £3,800,000 for a Qianlong jade deer from Crichel House in Dorset.

John is the Chairman of Woolley and Wallis, and is Director responsible for the Asian Art department. He joined Woolley and Wallis in 1993 after a brief spell working for Phillips auctioneers in London.

After studying Fine Art, sculpture and drawing at Leeds University, gaining a first class honours degree, John took professional exams with the Incorporated Society of Valuers and Auctioneers when in 1997, he became the first recipient of the Antiques Trade Gazette Ivor Turnbull Memorial prize, for achieving the highest marks in the country.

John makes regular appearances on the BBC Antiques Roadshow where he has been a member of the team of experts since 1999. He is a member of the Asian Art vetting committee for the Art Antiques London International fair. John writes and lectures on ceramics and Asian art and he is a member of the Oriental Ceramic Society, the English Ceramic Circle and the French Porcelain Society, The Society of Fine Art Auctioneers and Valuers (SOFAA) and The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

約翰·艾思福先生稱得上是拍賣界最著名的亞洲藝術品專家，這在路易•大維德和道明尼克•傑爾克 的最新的評論中有專文介紹。（出處：Collectors, Dealers & Scholars: Chinese Ceramics in Britain & America）。

2005年，艾思福先生在亞曆山大的收藏中發現一件罕見的元青花葫蘆瓶，最終拍出了300萬英鎊的 高價，而在此之前它被其他英國本土的拍賣商都錯過了。2009年5月，他又以420萬英鎊的高價拍 出了一尊罕見的水牛玉雕，艾思福先生由此創造了倫敦以外英國藝術品拍賣的最高成交記錄。此 外，他還成功的拍出了六件上百萬元的亞洲藝術品，其中包括一件由多賽特克利切城堡收藏的乾 隆時期的玉鹿。

艾思福先生從1993年開始就職于英國沃利斯拍賣公司，現任公司的副董事長兼拍賣行亞洲藝術品 部和歐洲瓷器部的總監。在這之前，他在英國倫敦的飛利浦拍賣公司工作過一段時間。

艾思福先生在利茲大學學習美術和雕塑繪畫專業，並獲得了一等榮譽學位。之後，他又在1997年 通過了拍賣機構鑒定師的專業考試，並且以國內最高分第一個榮獲古玩貿易公報艾弗•特恩布爾紀 念獎。

艾思福先生創作並演講了很多關于瓷器和亞洲藝術的文章。他經常參加英國BBC電視台"古董秀"的 錄制（這是一個英國本土的古董鑒定電視節目，每個季度會到英國不同的地區爲當地居民做免費 古董鑒定），並且從1999年開始正式成爲該電視節目的鑒定專家組成員。艾思福先生是亞洲藝術 審查委員會倫敦古董藝術品交易會會員、亞洲藝術社團會員、英國瓷器會的會員、法國瓷器社團 會員、藝術品拍賣和股價協會會員（SOFAA）和英國皇家注冊測量師協會會員（RICS）。