Latest News Articles by Tom Derbyshire
Buy a dinosaur skeleton and name a new species after yourself
06 April 2018The sale of a skeleton of a newly discovered species of carnivorous dinosaur to be sold by Aguttes auction house in Paris this June offers the opportunity to name it after the buyer.
Pete Townshend guitar smashed at end of The Who concert now on offer at US auction
04 April 2018High at the top of any list of seminal moments in rock history will be Pete Townshend’s penchant for often destroying guitars at the end of a gig with The Who.
Huge Heathrow murals by former RAF pilot come to auction after Terminal One revamp
03 April 2018A series of enamel murals by a Polish artist once imprisoned in a Russian gulag who later trained as an RAF Spitfire pilot are coming to auction after the revamp of Heathrow Terminal One.
Tri-ang sell-out auction strikes a blow for the traditional toy market beyond Star Wars and Lego
30 March 2018Despite Lego and Star Wars hogging the headlines when it comes to high prices paid out recently by toy collectors, the ‘old school’ has struck back to land a blow for more venerable brands.
Olympia antiques arms fair reloads for its second edition
13 March 2018The organisers of the inaugural Antique Arms Fair at Olympia London last September hope to build on the positive feedback from that event with the second one coming up in April.
Suffragettes in sashes replace snakes and ladders for board game up at auction
13 March 2018The suffragette memorabilia collecting market throws up some pretty strange items at times but few can be more unusual than the board game Pank-a-Squith.
Lord Ashcroft buys Sidney Day Victoria Cross medal group at Dix Noonan Webb auction
08 March 2018While the record-breaking Victoria Cross medal sold in November last year may have eluded him, Lord Ashcroft is far from inactive when it comes to buying more of these honours for his medals gallery at the Imperial War Museum in London.
People on the move - latest appointments
07 March 2018A round-up of people in the news across the art and antiques world.
Fred Dibnah heritage centre contents to be sold at auction
06 March 2018I interviewed Fred Dibnah once, as a wet-behind-the-ears journalism student in Preston. He had just come down from the third-tallest church spire in the country at St Walburge’s, which dominates the city skyline at 309ft high.
Tiffany tiles tempt US bid
05 March 2018A fresh-to-market consignment involving great names of Art Nouveau/Arts & Crafts and a New York buyer determined to have it… It hasn’t taken long for newcomer Heliers Auction (18% buyer’s premium) to come up with the sort of winning combination all auctioneers hope for.
First Doctor Who script up at auction
05 March 2018The script for the very first Doctor Who episode owned by the first actor to play the role is coming up at auction in the West Midlands.
Rolex made famous by Steve McQueen makes house record hammer price at Dudley saleroom Aston's
01 March 2018A Rolex of the model made famous after being worn by King of Cool Steve McQueen has set a house record at West Midlands saleroom Aston’s Auctioneers.
Brunel technical drawing instruments are sharp seller at auction
28 February 2018Brunel stories are like buses. Or maybe horse buses, considering the era. None for ages then all at once.
Doctor Who script for very first episode owned by William Hartnell comes up at auction
27 February 2018The original Doctor Who script for the first-ever Doctor Who episode is something always likely to attract high demand at auction. Chuck in the fact that it was used and owned by the very first Doctor Who actor, William Hartnell, and it just gets better and better.
Gertrude Bell furnishings on offer at Tennants
26 February 2018Furnishings that were once part of the family home of Gertrude Bell, one of the most fascinating figures of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, are coming up at auction at Tennants in North Yorkshire on March 17.
Brunel Museum to use Thames Tunnel archive bought at Bonhams as centrepiece of its expansion plans
26 February 2018A fascinating archive of designs for Brunel’s Thames Tunnel sold at Bonhams was bought by a museum dedicated to the pioneering structure to form the centrepiece of a £4.5m expansion, it has been revealed.
The First World War Victoria Cross winner whose tea rooms were bombed to bits in the Second World War
23 February 2018Having suffered five wounds and been taken prisoner in the First World War, fortune could have smiled more favourably on Victoria Cross winner Corporal Sidney Day by the time the 1939-45 conflict came around.
Concorde nose cone set to soar at auction
20 February 2018A saleroom that sold a selection of items related to the Dambusters has moved on about 30 years for its latest aviation lot: a nose cone from Concorde.
French sabre presented by Lafayette in Pennsylvania sale
19 February 2018Morphy Auctions’ March 1-2 Premier Firearms Sale in Denver, Pennsylvania, includes various other militaria categories, such as edged weapons.
Great hopes for 'The Great Gatsby' at Heritage Auctions
19 February 2018A signed and inscribed first edition of F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby has hopes of selling for as much as $100,000 in Heritage Auctions’ Rare Book auction on March 7 in New York.