Museum acquisitions
Museums often acquire works through donations but, in spite of funding constraints, they also make purchases to expand their collections, either bidding at auctions, negotiating private treaty sales or, in the UK, via the Acceptance in Lieu scheme.
Friends of Versailles buy Sèvres snuff box at Bonhams
29 December 2025A snuff-box made for Madame Adélaïde has set an auction record for a Sèvres box, selling for £150,000 (or a premium-inclusive £190,900).
Jerwood Foundation buys sketch by British realist painter Coldstream
19 December 2025Arts charity Jerwood Foundation has purchased a William Coldstream (1908-87) sketch from an art dealer in Somerset.
Seeing ghosts: Leighton House holds show to highlight ‘lost’ objects it hopes to recover
19 December 2025Despite its name, a new exhibition, 'Ghost Objects: Summoning Leighton’s Lost Collection', at Leighton House in west London is not, in fact, a séance.
Museum launches funding plea to keep rediscovered 15th century almshouse triptych in Dorset
25 November 2025A 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.
London dealers sell antique and ancient glass to US museum
12 November 2025Art and antiquities dealers Oliver Forge and Brendan Lynch have sold two glass items to a US museum.
Huguenot Museum buys 12ft reproduction of His Masters Voice
06 November 2025An enlarged copy of the original ‘His Masters Voice’ picture by Francis Barraud (1856-1924) is now on display at a museum in Rochester.
Getty Museum reveals latest purchases including £100,000 ancient Greek ring
31 October 2025The 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”.
‘Lost’ Eric Ravilious and Tirzah Garwood woodblocks saved for the nation after emerging for sale on eBay
29 October 2025A 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.
Identity of mystery Battle of Waterloo black bandsman revealed
21 October 2025The identity of the mystery sitter in a portrait sold at a Sussex auction, who was depicted in the uniform of a cavalry regiment and wearing a Waterloo Medal, has now been revealed by the National Army Museum.
British Museum launches fundraising plea to buy £3.5m 'Tudor Heart' pendant
15 October 2025The British Museum is trying to raise funds to buy a gold pendant discovered by a metal detectorist in a field in Warwickshire in 2019.
Museum successful in bid to secure Russell alms dish
13 October 2025The Gordon Russell Design Museum in Broadway, Worcestershire ran a successful campaign to purchase a Lygon brass alms dish by the English designer and craftsman that came to auction in West Sussex last week.
Museum purchases exceptional record of tea production from Asian art dealer
13 October 2025Asian works of art specialist Alastair Gibson has recently completed the sale by private treaty of a set of Qianlong gouache scenes depicting tea cultivation and production.
Cotswolds design museum launches fundraising appeal to buy Gordon Russell dish
08 October 2025The Gordon Russell Design Museum in Broadway, Worcestershire is fundraising ahead of an auction.
Edward VI portrait goes on view at Hampton Court Palace after selling at Roseberys
01 October 2025A portrait of King Edward VI that sold at a Roseberys auction earlier this year has gone on public display at Hampton Court Palace.
Charleston buys collaborative Bloomsbury Group painting at Gorringe’s
22 September 2025A rare collaborative work by Duncan Grant (1885-1978) and his lover, the Russian-American artist George Bergen (1903-84), has sold at auction to Charleston, the East Sussex farmhouse where the painting was created.
Burges jade bowl revealed as Bedford museum purchase from Scottish auction
15 September 2025The long journey through private collections, auctions and dealerships taken by a William Burges (1827-81) jade bowl has ended at a museum and art gallery in Bedford, it has emerged.
French royal château launches campaign to buy rediscovered sculpture
15 September 2025The Château Royal de Blois in France has launched a fundraising campaign to buy a terracotta bust of Louix XIII's brother Gaston d'Orléans.
British Museum buys pair of Gainsborough Dupont sketches from dealer Karen Taylor
08 September 2025Art dealer Karen Taylor has sold two oil sketches by Gainsborough Dupont (1754-97) to the British Museum.
Barye bronze bounces back to US museum
08 September 2025An 1843 cast of Antoine-Louise Barye’s (1795-1875) celebrated bronze Theseus Battling the Minotaur has returned to the museum that displayed the work for the last 18 years.
National Trust acquires two Joshua Reynolds paintings in £24.5m tax deal
04 September 2025Two key paintings by Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-92) have been acquired by the National Trust from the Rothschild collection.
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