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In 1889, the artist John Singer Sargent (1856-1925) visited the 14th century manor house Ightham Mote in Kent and painted a picture of its occupants playing a game of bowls.

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

MADAM – In response to letters on credit card fees and buyer’s premium at auction houses in ATG No 2345, I would argue the assumptions made are misplaced – certainly in the case of how our auction house works.

The growth of new technologies such as blockchain will lead to a ‘fairer and more ethical’ art market, says The Design and Artists Copyright Society (DACS).

Our weekly selection from salerooms and dealerships.

MADAM – With high-profile seizures taking place, particularly in New York (‘Trade decries US crackdown on antiquities’, News, ATG No 2345), long-term damage is being inflicted on both the trade and museums.

Written in red ink on four sheets, the original draft script of Ronnie Barker’s famous ‘Fork Handles’ TV sketch of 1976 has been sold for £28,000.

It was a four-page Mozart manuscript of an unfinished Allegro in G for piano and four hands that led the Sotheby’s (25/10/12.9% buyers’ premium) sales of May 22.

Mark Goodman of Goodman Fine Art offers this picture by Patrick Heron (1920-99), titled '28 April 1980', in a show that features Heron and his fellow modern British artist Paul Feiler (1918-2013).

It is relatively rare to find items of 16th century costume on the market, especially pieces in good condition. It is therefore perhaps not surprising that this gentleman’s doublet from c.1580-1600 should end up going to a major museum when it went under the hammer in a Paris auction this month.

It was in December 2014 that Sotheby’s put an estimate of £100,000-150,000 on what it called at the time “probably the most famous and evocative illustration of the 20th century”.

Galleries want to encourage first-time visitors during London Art Week...

Results for Kakiemon and Meiji metalwork underline stronger market for Asia’s ‘second tier’

Though their output was dwarfed by their male counterparts, talented 20th century Irish female artists pack a punch in the saleroom when their art does appear at auction.

After a continuous 30-year period of trading, and a stockbook tally of around 10,000 pieces, Paris dealer in European ceramics Christophe Perlès has decided to take a break for a couple of years.

This ivory-inlaid fall-fronted cabinet is one of the highlights in a sale of Islamic and Indian art at Drouot by Ader on June 29.

A forthcoming exhibition of two private collections spotlights both the genius of 17th century clockmaking and the remarkable objects the market has yielded across a generation.

A late 17th century ebony veneered table clock with a pull quarter repeat took a mid-estimate £17,500 at Chiswick Auctions on June 6.

The recent crackdown on Russian money in London seemed to have little noticeable effect on the latest Russian art sales in the capital.