News topics

From a treasured piece of TV history to the evolution of the spirits trade, read what members of the art and antiques market had to say this week.

The most popular stories on this website over the last week included news of the Court of Appeals in London upholding a decision that said advisor Simon de Pury was entitled to a $10m fee on the strength of a handshake agreement.

A look at the top quality works on view at commercial galleries and major institutions in the run-up to London’s busy summer schedule of art fairs and events.

Russian art specialists MacDougall’s is marking 15 years since holding its first auction in London and has announced that its upcoming sale on June 5 will have a total estimate of £8.5m.

ATG’s selection of hammer highlights over the past week includes a rare ticket for a Beatles concert in Hong Kong, an Iznik tile made in Ottoman Turkey and owned by artist Sir Howard Hodgkin, and a Qianlong cinnabar lacquer treasure box and cover.

The £6.2m cheque that finally made the Trotter brothers millionaires is to be offered at auction in June.

Tracks recorded by David Bowie for his 1967 debut album that were later rejected have been sold at auction for a hammer price of £16,000.

When the 8000-ton cargo ship SS Politician left Liverpool for Jamaica and New Orleans in 1941 it was carrying 28,000 cases of malt whisky. Two days later it sank in the Outer Hebrides.

With so many Suffragette medals on the market during the past year and a half, coinciding in 2018 with the centenary of votes for women in the UK, it is the added extras that can make all the difference to auction price.

When Manchester City lifted the FA Cup this month they created football history by becoming the first club to win all three major English domestic honours in the same season. A watch coming up for auction from a very different era marks their first ever FA Cup success, however.

LS Lowry’s (1887-1976) painting of a back-street cricket match in Salford from 1938 is among the stand-out lots offered at Sotheby’s this summer. Ahead of the sale, it was unveiled today at The Lowry in Salford – a public gallery not far from the Old Trafford Cricket Ground – where it will remain on view until May 27.

A maquette for the famous statue of Mahatma Gandhi in London’s Tavistock Square that was valued at around £20,000 on BBC’s Antiques Roadshow will come up for sale next month.

As demand for Mod Brit art continues its upward trajectory, ATG takes a closer look at mid-century Irish work for sale at a forthcoming Whyte’s auction in Dublin on May 27, exploring the unique influences on ‘Mod Irish’ artists of that era.