Latest News Articles by Laura Chesters
Art and antiques trade braced for new EU cultural goods laws
16 July 2025Details of how to manage the new European Union regulations on importing cultural goods have emerged, sending shockwaves through the art and antiques trade.
Christie’s reports flat first half auction sales for 2025
15 July 2025Auction house Christie’s reported auction sales of $2.1bn (£1.6bn) in the first half of 2025, on a par with 2024.
Final plea to save Hepworth sculpture for the nation as 80% of funds raised
15 July 2025Yorkshire museum needs the final £600,000 by August 27 to save a Barbara Hepworth sculpture
Original Jane Birkin Hermès handbag takes €7m at Paris auction
11 July 2025A new record has been set for a luxury handbag as the 'original' Hermès Birkin bag was hammered down at €7m at Sotheby's in Paris.
Photo London to be first artworld event held at newly refurbished Olympia
10 July 2025The newly redeveloped Olympia, set to be unveiled later this year after a £1.3bn makeover, will host 'Photo London' in May 2026.
Leica prototype takes seven-figure sum
10 July 2025A Leica prototype camera took a hammer price of €6m (€7.2m including premium) against an estimate of €1.5m-2m at an auction in Austria.
New book goes behind the scenes in the auction world over the past 70 years
09 July 2025Auctioneer Neil Lanham publishes a “chronicle of country life, auctioneering and world record prices spanning more than 70 years”
Complete signed first edition run of seven Harry Potter books comes to auction
08 July 2025A group of seven first edition hardback copies of the Harry Potter books, all signed by author JK Rowling, are being offered by Heritage Auctions.
Bonhams hosts ‘farewell’ Downton Abbey props auction and exhibition
08 July 2025The third (and final) Downton Abbey film is set to be released in September and a goodbye auction of the hit TV series and film franchise’s props is being hosted by Bonhams.
Eighty art market firms hit with fines totalling over £500,000
07 July 2025More than half a million pounds in fines have been issued to art dealers and auction houses by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in the six months to April 2025.
Fake or fortune: your chance to decide
07 July 2025Can you spot a fake from the real deal just from glancing at a photo?
Is Ardingly ‘Churchill’ Fake or Fortune?
07 July 2025The first of six new episodes of the BBC’s Fake or Fortune? airing on Monday, July 21 features a picture of a summer garden bought for £130 at Ardingly Antiques Fair.
ATG stars in second Braxton blockbuster
07 July 2025James Braxton is celebrating the launch of his second book. The antiques specialist published his first book last year.
Crowdfunding project to bid for Turner at Sotheby’s hits six-figures
01 July 2025A crowdfunding project by Bristol Museums Development Trust to bid for JMW Turner’s 'The Rising Squall, Hot Wells from St Vincent’s Rock, Bristol' (1792), has reached in excess of £100,000.
WWI plaque turned into a coffee table returns to South Shields after 50 years away
01 July 2025A First World War roll of honour brass plaque, that had been made into a coffee table, has returned to South Shields after 50 years away with the help of Gloucestershire auction house Dominic Winter.
Treasure House Fair exhibitors hail brisk early trade with series of sale successes
30 June 2025Early sales in the first hours of Treasure House Fair warmed up the third edition of the Chelsea event.
TEFAF pledges commitment to Maastricht venue as tough EU rules bite
30 June 2025The incoming EU Regulation 2019/880 on the import of cultural goods, which became effective from June 28, continues to cause concern for the art and antiques market, with TEFAF the latest to warn of its impact.
Opening night sales heat up Chelsea's Treasure House Fair
27 June 2025Early sales in the first hours of Treasure House Fair heated up the third edition of the Chelsea fair.
Swedish auction house take-over as Stockholms Auktionsverk buys Uppsala
26 June 2025The latest saleroom round-up including news of Stockholms Auktionsverk acquiring fellow Swedish auction house Uppsala Auktionskammare
National Trust buys 'lost' Victorian silver centrepiece discovered by London dealer
26 June 2025A Victorian silver centrepiece sculpted by Alfred Brown for Hunt & Roskell has returned to its ancestral home after more than 120 years.