Front Page and News


Rao Jie calligraphy

Sotheby's conducts its ‘longest ever bidding battle' as 20ft Chinese scroll flies over estimate

29 April 2025

Hong Kong auctioneer CC Wang conducted Sotheby’s ‘longest ever bidding battle’ when a calligraphy handscroll by a Yuan dynasty master took over 200 bids and 97 minutes to sell.

Hilary Mantel's desk

Dealer offers Hilary Mantel’s desk used to write Wolf Hall trilogy

28 April 2025

Among the attractions at this year’s ‘Firsts: London’s Rare Book Fair’ on May 15-18 is the desk upon which Hilary Mantel wrote her celebrated ‘Wolf Hall’ trilogy.

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Shanks joins LADAPA as new chief executive to replace Simms

28 April 2025

LAPADA, The Association of Art & Antiques Dealers, has announced the appointment of Elizabeth Shanks as its new chief executive officer from June 2025.

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Fashion expert Kerry Taylor expands offerings stateside

28 April 2025

Kerry Taylor Auctions is expanding with new premises in Jersey City, US.

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Arms and armour specialist David Williams joins Olympia Auctions

28 April 2025

Veteran antique arms and armour specialist David Williams is joining the Olympia Auctions team as senior consultant.

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Prisoners-of-war portrait bid to 80 times estimate

28 April 2025

Best known for his fairly routine genre portraits of German peasants and ordinary folk, Thomas Baumgartner (1892-1962) also produced an intriguing series of paintings depicting soldiers from the First World War.

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Reform Club acquires William IV clock that appeared at Cirencester auction

28 April 2025

A new addition to the permanent collection of the Reform Club on Pall Mall is a William IV Scottish eight-day painted dial longcase.

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‘Nomadic’ dealer’s items set for new home

28 April 2025

Sworders’ run of single-owner sales continues with a two-day auction on May 13-14 titled Paul Atkinson, The Nomadic Collector.

Jiang Tingxi bird

‘Extraordinary discovery’: Kangxi bird paintings valued at £800,000 emerge at Roseberys

23 April 2025

A group of 19 album leaves from the celebrated ‘Imperial Manual of Birds’ have been discovered in homes in Dorset and London.

Christ Carrying the Cross by Luis de Morales

Dealer Daniel Katz sells Spanish Old Master to Getty Museum

23 April 2025

The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles has bought a 16th-century painting by Spanish Renaissance painter Luis de Morales (1509-86).

Charles Rennie Mackintosh cutlery

Strong demand for Charles Rennie Mackintosh works as cutlery suite makes five times estimate

23 April 2025

The latest Design Since 1860 sale at Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh was dominated by the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928).

Japanese Art Bonhams 2690NE

Bonhams’ Japanese art sales moved out of London

21 April 2025

In a loss to the sector, Bonhams has shelved its sales of Japanese works of art in London. Specialist Suzannah Yip, who had led Bonhams’ department for 18 years, has left the company after a decision was taken to move operations to Paris.

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Prick of the bunch at £14,000 hammer

21 April 2025

A diminutive Quaker pin cushion made to raise funds for a pioneering mental health hospital in York has sold for a remarkable sum at Woolley & Wallis.

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Ithell Colquhoun firmly in the market spotlight

21 April 2025

Seven works by Ithell Colquhoun (1906-88) lead Bonhams’ inaugural British Surrealism sale running until May 1.

Medieval manuscript

Dealer sells ‘feminist’ medieval manuscript to Getty Museum

17 April 2025

Dealer Les Enluminures has sold a ‘pioneering-feminist’ medieval manuscript to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

Timurid manuscript folio

Unique Timurid manuscript folio estimated £2m-3m at Christie’s

16 April 2025

A folio from a rare 15th century Timurid manuscript will be offered at Christie’s in London on May 1.

Medieval Kiddush cup

Earliest known Kiddush cup emerges at Sotheby’s

16 April 2025

The oldest known medieval Jewish artefact, a Kiddush cup from the 11th or 12th century, is being offered at Sotheby’s later this year.

Donald Trump

Trump's tariffs: trade seeks clarity on antiques exemptions as price of gold soars

14 April 2025

Dealers and collectors are still seeking clarity on whether the US ‘Liberation Day’ trade tariffs will apply to antiques.

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Lowry’s Going to the Mill goes to auction 99 years after purchase

14 April 2025

An early work by LS Lowry (1887-1976) first sold to the literary editor of The Manchester Guardian for £10 in 1926 and kept by his family is now estimated at £700,000-£1m in a May 1-2 auction.

Trade urged to be alert over financial sanctions reporting

14 April 2025

Art market businesses in the UK will shortly become subject to reporting requirements for financial sanctions.

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