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

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Bring on the Clowes

09 October 2023

James Clowes (c.1643-1705), who was born in Astbury, Cheshire, became a Free Brother of The Clockmakers Company in 1671 – the same year as Thomas Tompion, Joseph Knibb, Daniel Quare and Joseph Windmills. He worked first in St Giles in the Fields and then at Saint Ann’s Blackfriars.

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‘Forgotten’ or not, a market that is good for profit

09 October 2023

Rediscovery of overlooked female artists is a welcome reappraisal – and driving ever-higher prices

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Mosse grew his pottery studio in Welsh barns

09 October 2023

Dealer Robert Pugh is bringing a collection of stoneware saltglaze pots by potter Michael Mosse (b.1951 in Yorkshire) from the 1980s onwards to the biannual Antiques in Tents.

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Chariot clock charges to Chester

09 October 2023

If you haven’t thought about the Roman Empire yet today, here’s your chance.

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First glimpse of what became the cult classic film Withnail and I

09 October 2023

When 'Withnail and I' was released in 1987 it was a British film that seemed destined to disappear into obscurity.

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Peter Cushing: fangs for the memories

09 October 2023

Peter Cushing’s (1913-94) six-decade acting career featured more than 100 films furnished many fond memories – and of course provided plenty of memorabilia.

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Take a peek at Pepys

09 October 2023

This small-scale 12½in (32cm) high William and Mary period ebony veneered striking bracket clock will be one of the horological entries in the three-day clocks and fine interiors sale at Hutchinson Scott in Skipton, North Yorkshire, from October 17-19.

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Samuel Johnson letter located and bought by UK institution at auction

09 October 2023

While its existence was known, the whereabouts was a mystery until a routine house valuation

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Estate fast becoming an antiques supercentre

09 October 2023

Another business launches near Stratford-upon-Avon offering 45 traders

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Corbels count as an unusual feature

09 October 2023

This Queen Anne period marquetry longcase featured in a sale of furniture, works of art and clocks held by Woolley & Wallis (26/20% buyer’s premium) in Salisbury from October 4-5.

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George Prior musical clock emerges at Roseberys

09 October 2023

After the establishment of trade with the Turks in the late 17th century, British officials began presenting gifts to Ottoman officials. Clocks were a favourite and the British ingenuity and quality led to a break in the dominance of the French and Swiss in this market.

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Top stories this week including news of the auction of Charlie Watts’ book collection

08 October 2023

The most viewed stories on this website over the last week included news of Christie’s sale of the late Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts’ extraordinary library of modern first editions.

Jewellery

Plea to trace stolen jewellery and a watch from Beccles and Bath

07 October 2023

Police in Suffolk have appealed for help to trace antique jewellery stolen from a shop in Beccles.

Canaletto painting of Grand Canal

Unrecorded Canaletto pair to headline Christie’s Old Master series

06 October 2023

A pair of ‘prime location’ Venetian scenes by the great Giovanni Antonio Canal, known as Canaletto (1697-1768), will lead Christie’s Old Master sale in London on December 7.

Hunger strike medal

Museum buys Suffragette hunger strike medal after successful fundraising campaign

04 October 2023

Glasgow Women’s Library has bought a hunger strike medal at auction at Bonhams after more than 500 people donated to help secure the piece of suffragette history.

Shakespeare

One of just five copies of a Shakespeare jointly written play in private hands comes up for sale through book dealer

03 October 2023

Peter Harrington Rare Books is offering a first edition of The Two Noble Kinsmen (1634) at Frieze Masters in London this month – the only extant Shakespeare play not included in any of the four folio editions.

Charlie Watts’ copy of The Hound of the Baskervilles

Charlie Watts books sale: it’s all over now

02 October 2023

Christie’s sale Charlie Watts: Gentleman, Collector, Rolling Stone combined stardust with an extraordinary library of modern first editions.

Spade form

Two ‘exceptional’ Lucie Rie and Hans Coper collections on offer from significant sources

02 October 2023

What has been billed by Phillips as ‘the most exceptional and significant group of works by Lucie Rie and Hans Coper to ever come to auction’ will be offered in London on November 1.

Elizabethan silver and porcelain goblet

Elizabethan goblet good to go after further examination

02 October 2023

Following examination by a committee of experts and testing at Goldsmiths Hall, an Elizabethan silver and porcelain goblet comes to auction.

La Balancoire

LAPADA fair footfall up nearly a third as it returns after four years

02 October 2023

LAPADA Berkeley Square Fair returned after a four-year break with visitors beating a path to Mayfair pushing footfall up 30% on the preview day (September 26) compared with the 2019 fair.

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