Latest News Articles by Laura Chesters
Plea for museums to raise £6m to keep nautical chart archive in the UK
14 August 2025A British maritime chart collection spanning 200 years has been temporarily blocked from export to give UK museums the chance to raise funds to keep it in the country.
Bermondsey Antiques Market attracts new investment and marks special anniversary
13 August 2025Bermondsey Antiques Market is celebrating a new investment from Bermondsey Square Community Fund.
Fake or Fortune? investigates if this a rediscovered Angelica Kauffman
12 August 2025The latest in the new series of Fake or Fortune? featured a work possibly by 18th-century artist Angelica Kauffman.
Lavery portrait auctioned as Trinity House Paintings sell-off begins, report reveals
11 August 2025The sell-off of works once owned by failed art gallery Trinity House Paintings has begun with Sir John Lavery’s portrait of Mrs Geoffrey Birkbeck being sold at a Dreweatts auction.
Haradin’s last wishes granted as toy soldier business is handed on to Morphy
11 August 2025Morphy Auctions will take over Old Toy Soldier Auctions (OTSA) following the death of founder Ray Haradin.
Portobello Road terrorist prevention traffic restrictions hamper antiques dealers’ trade
08 August 2025New traffic restrictions on Portobello Road have affected the trade of the antiques dealers in shops and stalls along the famous west London street.
Fake or Fortune? Does this artwork have the hand of artist Frances Hodgkins?
05 August 2025The latest in the new 'Fake or Fortune?' series featured a work possibly by Frances Hodgkins (1869-1947).
Sworders to host first London selling exhibition at its Cecil Court gallery
05 August 2025Sworders’ London gallery at 15 Cecil Court is to host its first selling show this month.
Stolen Solario Madonna returns home to Italian museum
04 August 2025A stolen painting of Madonna and Child by Antonio Solario (1465-1530) has been returned after more than 50 years.
Joshua Johnson duo up for auction in Boston
04 August 2025A pair of portraits by Joshua Johnson (c.1763-c.1825), one of the earliest black professional painters in the US, are coming to auction on August 19.
Book covers the Marchant story
04 August 2025Marchant Asian Art is under way with its move to its new home in Brook Street, Mayfair (to open in January 2026), and has unveiled details of some of its centenary celebrations.
Latest hires including picture specialist Richard Kay joining Woolley & Wallis
01 August 2025The latest Movers & Shakers including at auction houses Woolley & Wallis, Bonhams and 1818 Auctioneers.
Historic Piprahwa gems return to India in private sale after planned Sotheby’s auction cancelled
31 July 2025A collection of relics linked to the historical Buddha will now go on public display in India.
Plea to find gold and silver jewellery stolen from Wiltshire antiques shop
31 July 2025Wiltshire Police are appealing for information after gold and silver jewellery was targeted at Old Bank Antiques in Royal Wootton Bassett.
Second Louis Vuitton trunk steams into Surrey saleroom
30 July 2025Following the sale of a rare 1920s Louis Vuitton Explorer trunk for a hammer price of £130,000 at John Nicholson’s on June 11, a second example emerged at the Surrey auction house this month.
Fake or Fortune?: Two Renoirs - or are they?
29 July 2025The latest episode of Fake or Fortune? featured two separate artworks belonging to different owners purporting to be by Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841-1919).
Signed first edition run of seven Harry Potter books takes six-figure sum at US auction
29 July 2025A group of seven first edition hardback copies of the Harry Potter books, all signed by author JK Rowling, were hammered down at $130,000/£97,500 (or $162,500 including premium) by Heritage Auctions.
Pair of paintings come to auction from first known black American professional portraitist
28 July 2025A pair of portraits by Joshua Johnson (c.1763-c.1825), one of the earliest black professional painters in the United States, is coming to auction this summer.
Plea to return Japanese elephant bronze stolen from Pimlico Road gallery
28 July 2025Pimlico Road gallery Anthony Outred is appealing for help to recover a Japanese Meiji period bronze elephant that was stolen from its premises.
Latest Arts Council annual report reveals six objects saved for the nation
25 July 2025Half a dozen artworks were saved for the nation in the past year and are on display at museums across the UK.