Museums and Institutions

Natural history and antiquities gallery David Aaron is involved in the planned exhibition of a theropod fossil at Hollytrees Museum in Colchester. The fossil may be key to uncovering a new dinosaur species.

A bonheur-du-jour secrétaire by celebrated cabinetmaker Roger Vandercruse Lacroix (1728-99) has been purchased by a museum in Kansas from French dealer Galerie Léage for a six-figure sum.

The British Museum raised the £3.5m needed to buy a gold pendant discovered by a metal detectorist in a field in Warwickshire in 2019.

Following the last-minute withdrawal of arguably Sotheby’s headline lot of the latest round of Old Master sales in New York, it has been announced that the rare double-sided panel by Antonello da Messina (c.1430-79) has been acquired by the Italian Ministry of Culture.

The Royal Air Force Museum has purchased two preparatory drawings for major wartime paintings by Walter Thomas Monnington (1902-76).

The number of archaeological objects unearthed by the British public in 2024 (the most recent available figures) has soared to close to 80,000 items.

A 'lost' portrait of Scottish poet Robert Burns, rediscovered at auction last year, has been loaned to the National Galleries Scotland for exhibition by its new owner.

A bust of 18th century politician and landowner John Gordon of Invergordon (1707-83) has been blocked from export by the UK government in the hope a museum will raise the £3.1m needed to keep it in the country.

Three photographs of computing pioneer Ada Lovelace (1815-52) have been acquired by the National Portrait Gallery in a private treaty sale.

Arts charity Jerwood Foundation has purchased a William Coldstream (1908-87) sketch from an art dealer in Somerset.

A 15th century Flemish devotional triptych discovered in an almshouse in Dorset is to be offered at auction next month with an estimate of £2.5m-3.5m.

An enlarged copy of the original ‘His Masters Voice’ picture by Francis Barraud (1856-1924) is now on display at a museum in Rochester.

The J Paul Getty Museum has purchased a Hellenistic gold box-bezel ring, describing it as “one of the finest and best-preserved surviving examples of this ancient jewellery type”.

A group of woodblocks from artists Eric Ravilious and Tirzah Garwood that had been missing for 72 years has been recovered and purchased by two museums.