Front Page and News

More than half a million pounds in fines have been issued to art dealers and auction houses by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) in the six months to April 2025.

Works by two of the biggest names in art history put in a strong performance at the latest series of Old Master auctions in London.

London’s Treasure House Fair concluded last week after a seven-day run and many sales.

A rare poster heralding the birth of the British punk movement hammered for a massive £43,000 (plus 24% buyer’s premium) at Omega Auctions on July 1.

A fine example of the Libertas Americana silver medal is estimated to fetch between £50,000-80,000 at Anderson & Garland’s Fine Silver and Objects of Vertu auction in Newcastle on July 22.

Almost singlehandedly, Sir Laurence Whistler (1912-2000) revived the tradition of British diamond point engraving in the post-war era. His stippled glass goblets were particularly innovative: engraved on both sides of the bowl with views of the English countryside, they create an illusion of perspective.

The first of six new episodes of the BBC’s Fake or Fortune? airing on Monday, July 21 features a picture of a summer garden bought for £130 at Ardingly Antiques Fair.

Paxton House in Berwick-upon-Tweed has been reunited with an important Regency sofa it had lost for a century.

A tiny Oxfam shop in Headington, Oxfordshire, was celebrating after a set of 12 books dropped off by an anonymous donor later sold at Bonhams for £13,000 (£16,640 with premium).

The incoming EU Regulation 2019/880 on the import of cultural goods, which became effective from June 28, continues to cause concern for the art and antiques market, with TEFAF the latest to warn of its impact.

A substantial collection of 18th and 19th century Cape silver, made by European silversmiths practising in South Africa, is coming for sale at Strauss & Co in Johannesberg.

Bonhams Skinner has moved to a new location in Boston’s Back Bay neighbourhood.