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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English baron revealed to be the mystery portrait sitter

24 November 2025

A Shropshire dealership has rediscovered a lost portrait of an Elizabethan lawyer through heraldic research.

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Lynch images of a rural idyll impress in Dorset sale

24 November 2025

A group of works by James Lynch (b.1956) brought good competition in the regions after emerging at Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium) of Dorchester, Dorset.

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A Seamaster fit for a civilian

24 November 2025

The 165.024 reference Omega Seamaster 300 was one of the most robust and practical dive watches of the Sixties.

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John Minton fishing scenes net strong four-figure prices

24 November 2025

Towards the end of the 1940s and in the early 1950s, the artist John Minton (1917-57) painted a series of works in Cornwall, producing pictures mostly featuring boats, fishermen and harbours.

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Courvoisier portrait watches produced for Ottoman market

24 November 2025

Philippe Auguste Courvoisier (1803-73), a member of the famed Courvoisier family of Swiss watchmakers, specialised in the production of watches with portraits of 19th century royalty, such as Queen Victoria, Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte or, in the case of watches sold in London and Stuttgart, the Ottoman Sultan Abdulmecid I.

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Jean Rousseau’s £62,000 tulip bud

24 November 2025

Jean Rousseau (1606-84) came from a renowned watchmaking family that settled in Geneva, the cradle for prosecuted French Protestants in the 1630s.

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French automaton tea drinker rises from a jar to take a sip

24 November 2025

This 19th century French ‘tea drinker’ automaton emerged as part of a single-owner sale at Duke’s (25% buyer’s premium) of Dorchester.

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Early example of Explorer black dial boosts demand

24 November 2025

The Rolex reference 6150, often dubbed the ‘Pre-Explorer’, was introduced in 1953 and famously tested by various Everest mountaineering expeditions over the coming years, including the first official summit by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay of Mount Everest on May 29, 1953.

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Elkanah Settle’s heartfelt, personal tribute to (insert name here)

24 November 2025

‘Settle bindings’ are the name given to a small number of surviving books published between c.1700-23 by Elkanah Settle (1648-1724).

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Tractor with bidder pulling power

24 November 2025

This 1949-51 Massey Ferguson demonstration model by Mills Models of Sheffield comprises Ferguson TE-20 tractor with clockwork mechanism, two different ploughs, rubber wheels and Ferguson badge to front of the grill.

Barbara Biro in her antiques shop Outrageous Vintage

Antiques shops and centres: four reasons to be cheerful

24 November 2025

Centre and shop openings across England give grounds for optimism in often challenging times

Tribute to James Brett: A privilege to have known and learnt from him

24 November 2025

Re: Obituary for James Brett and following tribute letters (ATGs 2716 & 2717).

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Wheel progress in price terms

24 November 2025

Nine years after taking a premium-inclusive £1375 as part of the The Robert White Collection sale at Bonhams, this Pastilles Valda shop display sales automaton came back to the same auction house in London.

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Tethered model cars take a turn on racetrack and rostrum

24 November 2025

Tether car racing, which began in 1930s California, sounds a strange concept to modern ears but is in fact a hobby still going strong worldwide*.

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‘The one that got away’ from dolls' house expert Vivien Greene

24 November 2025

Some of the earliest dolls’ houses are also referred to as baby houses, although they were more like detailed miniature houses and it is said that the aim was not play but to reflect riches.

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Top stories this week including a Chinese vase that appeared on Antiques Roadshow making 25 times estimate

23 November 2025

The most viewed stories on this website over the last week included news of a vase valued on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow back in 1986 making a major sum at a London auction

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Jewellery sales bring good cheer ahead of festive season

22 November 2025

Auctions with half an eye on the gift-giving season proliferate throughout late November and early December.

pocket watches

Nelson, Hardy and Collingwood watches 'worn at the Battle of Trafalgar' emerge at Spink auction

21 November 2025

Pocket watches owned by Horatio Nelson, Thomas Hardy and Cuthbert Collingwood and consulted throughout the Battle of Trafalgar, are coming for sale next month.

Louise Phillips with Ingrid Nilson

BADA plans first antiques fair outside of London

20 November 2025

The British Antique Dealers’ Association (BADA) is launching a new fair in the East Midlands.

Carter Oliver boxing painting

Rare piece of boxing history packs a punch at eight times estimate

20 November 2025

A rare visual record of a ‘legendary’ boxing match that took place in Gretna Green in 1816 drew a strong contest itself at an auction in North Yorkshire

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