UK

The United Kingdom accounts for more than one fifth of the global art market sales and is the second biggest art market after the US.

Through auctioneers, dealers, fairs and markets - and a burgeoning online sector - buyers, collectors and sellers of art and antiques can easily access a vibrant network of intermediaries and events around the country. The UK's museums also house a wealth of impressive collections

Richard Burton books

Personal library of a pioneering British scholar of Armenian and Iranian studies comes to auction

28 April 2026

Volumes from the personal library of a pioneering British scholar of Armenian and Iranian studies form part of Sworders’ latest Books and Maps auction.

Police cordon

Police called to Ardingly fair after suspected live shell discovered by dealer

28 April 2026

One of the dealers stalling out at the two-day Ardingly International Antiques & Collectors Fair last week was shocked to discover a Second World War shell among his possessions.

Anderson & Garland auctioneer Fred Wyrley-Birch

Important collection of John Tunnard works brings demand in Newcastle

27 April 2026

Newcastle saleroom Anderson & Garland offered what was billed as “the most comprehensive private holding of works by John Tunnard (1900-71) ever to come to the market” this week.

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Clarice Cliff charger is among five lots to watch

27 April 2026

With estimates from £300, here are five previews of items coming up at auction this week

Morris & Co tile panels

Morris & Co Labours of the Month tiles work wonders in Edinburgh to reap a £75,000 auction reward

24 April 2026

The latest Design Since 1860 sale at Lyon & Turnbull in Edinburgh was topped by four Morris & Co tile panels depicting the Labours of the Months dated to c.1865.

Australian Aboriginal cricket team poster

Souvenir poster celebrates proud 19th century Aussie pioneers of the cricket pitch

24 April 2026

The first Australian sporting team to tour internationally included players Johnny Mullagh (traditional name Unaarrimin), Harry Bullocky (Bullchanach), Dick-a-Dick (Jungunjinanuke), Johnny Cuzens (Zellanach) and Twopenny (Murrumgunarriman).

Japanese boro futongawa

The world of dealer Gordon Reece comes to Wiltshire

24 April 2026

As a dealer, collector and enthusiast of ethnographic art, Gordon Reece spent a lifetime travelling the globe in search of artefacts.

Benjamin Constant's Odalisque

Flurry of exhibitions launched by art and antiques dealers for spring

24 April 2026

A round up of gallery shows launched this month.

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Royal Alice sets sail ‘on sailcloth’ as naïve paintings charm bidders

24 April 2026

Among the most intriguing naïve pictures sold recently was a simple and ostensibly unassuming painting of a ship offered at a recent Dominic Winter (22% buyer’s premium) auction.

A marble bust

ATG letter: AI attributions – are we building up problems for the future through questionable ‘facts’?

24 April 2026

Railtons [auction house] received this heavy and rather grubby Victorian marble bust just as our end of March catalogue was going to press.

Donna Williams and Ryan Parfitt

‘It’s like Liberty’s in Norfolk’

24 April 2026

Dealer duo win praise for new shop hosting 25 traders across two floors in a former furniture store

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Brounker Watts pocket watch up for grabs

24 April 2026

The London watch and clock maker Brounker Watts (c.1670-1717), an apprentice to Joseph Knibb, became a member of the Clockmakers Company in 1697.

A photo of Horace Brown fishing

Get hooked in by Horace at the National Vintage Tackle Fair

24 April 2026

This splendid image depicts Horace Brown, a former president of the Piscatorial Society.

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Key work by Joseph Southall secured for dealers' show just in the nick of time

24 April 2026

Next month’s exhibition on Joseph Southall (1861-1944), a joint effort by dealers Harry Moore-Gwyn and Sarah Colegrave, was six years in the making, yet the key piece came to the duo at nearly the last moment.

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Ann Lee Warner made an impact with a stellar chinoiserie cabinet

24 April 2026

Female artists and makers are well represented at this year’s Petworth Park Antiques & Fine Art Fair. Of particular note is Ann Lee Warner, about whom little is known, but whose name appears on a lacquer cabinet offered by Reindeer Antiques.

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Natural history books from stock of Amsterdam specialist shine in London saleroom

24 April 2026

The global market for natural history books is alive and well as demonstrated by the 326-lot sale dubbed Natural History: the remaining stock of Antiquariaat Junk 1899-2026 at Forum Auctions (27/26% buyer’s premium).

Antique items at a forthcoming fair

Builth Wells fair built on a good base

24 April 2026

IACF’s first outpost in Wales was established last year when the organisers took over Continuity Fairs’ biannual antiques fair in Builth Wells.

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Kiwi pin cushion picked out as a rarity at Gloucestershire sale

24 April 2026

Flightless bird walks away with a new owner as silver novelty rarities catch the eye at Kinghams

Dealers at Old Spitalfields Market

Splendid Easter holiday weekend in Spitalfields

24 April 2026

Old Spitalfields Market had one of its best days ahead of the Easter holiday weekend.

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Anglo-Indian furniture in a good market place

24 April 2026

Though sourced separately, the two best-selling furniture lots at Gorringe’s (25% buyer’s premium) latest Fine Art & Interiors sale in Lewes were both products of colonial India.

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