News topics

What do auction houses feel about doing business in challenging times? Read our exclusive survey to find out

Among the highlights of the Fine Jewellery sale at Adam’s in Dublin on May 12 was this remarkable Louis XV hardstone, gold and gemset cane handle.

A seemingly never-ending bidding match ensued at Cortrie in Hamburg on May 9 for a tourbillon-watch by the German watchmaker Richard Miklosch (1939-2014) .

Sir Robert Walpole’s first seal salver re-emerged from a century in a US private collection to sell for a hammer price of $190,000 (£140,500) in New York.

A rare 18th century medal issued to commemorate the death of explorer James Cook is to become part of an exhibition marking the 300th anniversary of the explorer’s birth after being sold at auction.

A round-up of art and antiques news from the previous seven days, including the upcoming auction of garden statuary from the collection of art historian Sir Roy Strong

Ahead of planning your summer reading, take a look at this selection of recently published art and antiques books.

ATG’s pick of auction lots bought by internet bidders on thesaleroom.com, featuring both the highest prices over-estimate and the top prices paid online.

With Sixties and Seventies style again part of the collecting zeitgeist, vintage Kutchinsky pieces are now common currency for the best of the UK’s antique and vintage jewellery dealers and auction houses. However, it also pays to look further afield.

Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium) of Dorchester sold a Victorian diamond and natural saltwater pearl double pendant brooch for £570,000 earlier this year, a house record for jewellery.

This oil on panel portrait of a saint is an addition to the small number of autographs by Quattrocento painter Antonello da Messina.

The Fine Jewellery & Watches sale in Bellmans in Billingshurst on May 21 includes this Boucheron yellow guilloché enamel and brilliant cut diamond flower brooch.

Jodocus Hondius’ additions for his edition of Gerhard Mercator’s pioneering 'Atlas Sive Cosmographicae Meditationes de Fabrica Mundi et Fabricati Figura' made the work one of the most accomplished collections of maps from the early 17th century.

Just a small thing, I saw that you wrote in ATG No 2743 that £22,500 for Casino Royale was, you believed, the joint-highest price for a straight, uninscribed copy.

An intriguing Jacobite relic was sold at a recent Mellors & Kirk (24% buyer’s premium) auction in Nottingham.

Benedetto Pistrucci (1783-1855), who worked as chief engraver and chief medallist to the Royal Mint, had two daughters who he trained in gem engraving.