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

Jean-Léon Gérôme picture

Orientalist painting authenticated on BBC show 'Fake or Fortune?' heads to auction at Sotheby’s

13 October 2021

A picture bought for around £4000 and eventually authenticated on the BBC programme 'Fake or Fortune?' as by 19th-century French artist Jean-Léon Gérôme is to be offered at Sotheby’s with an estimate of £80,000-120,000.

Neil Grenyer, Brian Goodison-Blanks and Cristian Beadman

New appointments – the latest news across auction houses in the UK and overseas

13 October 2021

A round-up of moves across the art and antiques sector.

Buying online

Online art sales hit $6.8bn for first half of 2021

12 October 2021

Online art sales reached $6.8bn (£5bn) in the first six months of the year, up 72% on the first half of 2020 according The Hiscox Online Art Trade Report.

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Maiolica dish makes £1.04m impact at auction

11 October 2021

An extremely rare and early Italian maiolica dish, discovered broken in pieces in a drawer, was hammered down at just over £1m at Lyon & Turnbull.

Breviary of Ludovico da Romagnano

Manuscript missing for 30 years returns to Italy

11 October 2021

Part of a medieval manuscript stolen in Italy more than 30 years ago has been returned with the help of London firm Bloomsbury Auctions.

Afflictorum Conservatrix groat

Pick of the week: Follow the Hird for an Elizabethan extravaganza

11 October 2021

A group of 52 Tudor, Stuart and Commonwealth England hammered gold coins rediscovered after 60 years shine at auction.

British Guiana One-Cent Magenta

Stanley Gibbons starts shared ownership for collectables

11 October 2021

Stanley Gibbons’ plans to offer shares in the world’s most expensive stamp are set to become a reality with the launch of a new fractional ownership website.

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Battersea dealers delighted to be busy once again

11 October 2021

Exhibitors at The Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair in Battersea Park celebrated a busy event, with opening day sales up by about 10% on the last fair held in January 2020.

Mourning rings

Mourning glory: set of rings takes £31,000

11 October 2021

Gold and enamel mourning rings remembered at Birmingham auction.

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Asian art auction previews: Fan of sculpture

11 October 2021

This 3ft 5in (1.03m) buff sandstone figure of a male chauri (fan) bearer from 9th-11th century central India, possibly Rajasthan, forms part of Dreweatts’ Asian Art Part 2 sale in Donnington Priory on November 11.

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Famous tree, we presume

11 October 2021

A section of wood taken from the tree where Stanley met Livingstone in 1871 sold at Sworders’ September 14-15 Fine Interiors sale for £2400.

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A taste for travel from the Fox Pointe Manor Library

11 October 2021

Housed in his home – Fox Pointe Manor in Anaheim, southern California – the rare book collection of radiologist Howard Knohl and his interior designer wife Linda reached more than 80,000 volumes.

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Social whirl: the Audrey Pleydell-Bouverie library

11 October 2021

Coming to Cheffins’ October 21 auction directly from the library of the Hertfordshire estate, Julians Park, the home of society hostess Audrey Pleydell-Bouverie, is a collection of 70 of the principal books.

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Plath and Hughes items with personal insights

11 October 2021

Consigned by Frieda Hughes, who was not yet three years old when her mother took her own life, a collection of Sylvia Plath’s letters to Ted Hughes was sold by Sotheby’s (26/20/13.9% buyer’s premium) in a timed online auction.

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Ludlow fair is fully booked

11 October 2021

Two Cs Fairs is fully booked indoors at Ludlow Racecourse on Saturday and Sunday, October 23-24.

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On the shortlist: Asian Art in London award nominees

11 October 2021

The awards shortlist for Asian Art in London’s Indian and Islamic season have been announced. The Antiques Trade Gazette Award for Outstanding Indian or Islamic Work of Art from an Auction House and the Apollo Award for Outstanding Indian or Islamic Work of Art from a Dealer each have three finalists. Winners will be announced on October 21.

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Asian art auction previews: Gone fishing

11 October 2021

This 9in (23cm) Iznik jug from Ottoman Turkey, c.1580, has an estimate of £40,000-60,000 at Christie’s Art of the Islamic & Indian Worlds sale on October 28.

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Go on a treasure hunt at Firsts

11 October 2021

Tolkien classic in bespoke binding is one of the highlights as the London event returns

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The long read: an Arabic manuscript

11 October 2021

On October 21 in London Plakas is offering this endowment document for the religious complex of the vizier Zaganos Pasha in Balikesir with the tughra of Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror, dated beginning of jumada i AH866/February.

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Antiques at garden centres encourage growth

11 October 2021

At many garden centres the array of what’s for sale other than plants and pots includes furniture, firepits, and fleeces – and in an imaginative retail move, some offer antiques and antique fairs.

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